Chapter 43

Jack's new job wasn't going as smoothly as he hoped. For starters not only was he trying to adjust to filling Major General Hammond's shoes, he was ensnarled in a nasty divorce and left him homeless for the time being. He tried to get gas for his truck only to discover his wife had emptied the bank account and closed it. He tried to use his credit card only to find every credit card he had had been deactivated and closed. She had left him with nothing but twenty dollars in his wallet. To make matters worse she also started sending him boxes of his belongings as she cleaned out the house. Boxes were piling up in the briefing room and Jack needed to find a place to store them and fast.

Fred walked into the briefing room wearing green BDU's to pick up paperwork for his new job. He spotted the boxes and Jack's worried look. "What's all this, General?"

"My life in a box," he sighed. "Sarah sent me all my stuff. She's selling the house and wants it out."

"You need to get place of you own," he assessed.

"That's not happening for a while," he stated down. "She also closed out every account we have jointly. She said she is sending me a check for my half of what is left in the checking account after she pays the bills. I have twenty bucks to my name right now."

"Least she's sending half," he told him. "I've heard of guys who were totally cleaned out."

He assured him, "She's taking me to the cleaners right now. You know long we were married? Twenty-five years! After twenty-five years my whole life now boils down to nothing more than 'my half' of that life. When I said 'I do' I meant for life." He looked over at him, "What happened to your wife?"

"She died when Jackie was five," he informed. "I met her in France. I was a pilot during the First World War. Jackie reminds me of her."

"Never remarried," he gathered.

"Kara was hard to replace," he told him. "Sam reminds me a little of her though. She was that smart!" He then pondered, "She went from Sam Carter to Sam Shanahan?"

Jack shrugged, "I like Carter better. It flows of the tongue. Shanahan you kind of have to think when you say it."

"I have a nine bedroom farmhouse just a few miles south of here," Fred stated. "Why not just store the stuff in a room at my house?"

"You'd let me do that?" he gasped.

"Sure," he agreed. "I even have a bed if you need one."

"Right now I'm sleeping in quarters," he mentioned.

"You can stay with me and my daughter until you get back on your feet, sir." he offered.

"Thank you," he sighed relived for he honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do.

"You're broke right now," Fred gathered.

"Yeah," he confessed.

Fred removed his wallet from his hip and retrieved a few bills, "This should help get ya through for a bit."

Reluctantly he took the money, "I'll pay ya back!"

"I know you're good for it," he assured him. He put his wallet back and mentioned; "Now someone like Daniel, I wouldn't led money to."

"Why not?" Jack asked humbled.

"That guy would conveniently die before he could pay it back and then find some odd way of coming back to life after you have written it off," he joked.

"Or go to another reality," he chuckled. He folded the bills, "Thank you for this. People see the rank assume I must have a lot of cash. They don't know what a divorce can do."

"It can do a lot," Fred agreed.

Meanwhile

Sam wasn't having a very good morning either. She had just left her house after having a huge fight with Pete over Cassie and her belongings. Pete seemed to be pushing the young woman out of Sam's life. It was evident as the marriage continued that Pete had some control issues. As she walked into work she made up her mind that she wasn't staying with Pete for she feared what her divorce would look like later in life after witnessing what General O'Neill was going through. It was still early in the marriage and an annulment was on the horizon. After changing into uniform she went to find Janet for she needed advice. She found the doctor in a store room that was being converted to the new archeology lab. Janet was helping Daniel and Jackie set up the lab and clean.

Sam marched in, "I need your advice, Janet!"

She placed the broom down, "Okay! What's wrong?"

"I'm leaving Pete!" she sounded. "We had a big fight this morning over Cassie. He keeps pushing her away…"

Janet soothed, "It's okay! Just calm down."

Sam took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, "I can't stay with him. I see what General O'Neill is going through and I don't want that but that's the direction I'm headed in." She folded her arms unsure what to do.

Janet gently placed her hand on Sam's arm, "Why did you marry him after only knowing him for such a short time?"

"I met him right after we lost you. Cassie was having issues and so was I to be honest. He just swept me off my feet. I thought he would make a good father figure for Cassie. I wanted to give her a stable home life after losing so much," she explained. "I was wrong on this one."

Janet smiled, "Admitting you made the mistake is the first step to correcting it."

"Cassie was granted an emergency leave of absence and still went to class just get away from him," she sounded. "She was given a week off to be with you."

"We can bring Cassie into the SGC for the week," Janet suggested.

"She will need a place to stay," Sam replied. "We both will! I can stay in my quarters for a while but not when I'm not on duty."

Jackie spoke up from the corner, "You two can stay with me and my dad. We have huge nine bedroom house. There's plenty of room."

Sam asked unsure, "You're father won't mind?"

"He would insist," she assured her.

Daniel asked, "You need help moving your stuff, Sam?"

"Yeah, I do!" she nodded. "You know! That's another thing that bothered me that should have been a flashing red neon sign. Pete bought us a house and never consulted me on it. Then he presented it to me as a gift. It was strange."

Jackie stated, "It's called shock and awe! It's a tactic used to mentally disarm an opponent. Huge bombing campaigns are a prime example. He shocked ya with the house. He presented it as a gift, that's the awe part. Then he used it to leverage what he wanted…Which was you."

She admitted, "When he did that a big red flag was going off in the back of my mind and I just ignored it."

Jackie stated, "Never ignore a big red flag. It's your gut telling you something is wrong."

"I should have known better," she admitted.

Jackie soothed her, "You reeling from Janet's death. If our Janet is anything like this Janet then I can see why. She's got some big shoes to fill. He took advantage of that in every way possible. He knew you were hurting and did everything in his power to put you under his control. Cassie is a threat to him. She could talk sense into you and get you to leave so he wants her gone first."

Sam gasped, "I never thought of it that way."

"That's how predators work," she shrugged.

She countered, "He's not a predator! He's just a guy with some serious issues."

Jackie disagreed, "He knew what he was doing! Don't let him fool ya. I've seen it time and time again in my life. The man's a predator and you are his prey. He knew you were hurting from losing Janet and taking in Cassie. He took advantage of it."

Janet agreed, "He did know what he was doing, Sam. I think she's right about him."

Daniel cautioned, "This guy could turn on you, Sam. Maybe it would be better to get your things out while he's not there?"

She nodded, "Like today?"

He countered, "Like now!"

Few Hours Later

Jack's large black truck pulled into the long dirt driveway to the farmhouse. Fred rode shotgun as they delivered the boxes of Jack's belonging to the house for storage.

Fred cock his head as he spotted the blue pickup truck that his daughter drove to get hay backed up to the front door with boxes being unloaded. Sam's car was parked near the porch as well.

Jack asked, "Any idea what is going on?"

"Nope," he admitted.

Jack parked his truck next to Sam's blue Volvo and dismounted. He looked about as Daniel emerged from the open front door. "Daniel!"

He looked over, "What are you doing here, Jack?"

"Fred offered me a room," he mentioned.

He cheered, "And his daughter offered a room to Sam. She's leaving Pete and having the marriage annulled. She's going back to using her maiden name." He then grinned, "You should like that!"

Janet stepped out next, "Give me the box for Cassie!" She then noticed Jack and Fred standing and watching. "What are they doing here?"

Daniel replied, "Jack needs a room too."

"Oh," she smiled. "That worked out well."

Fred asked, "Cassie's box?"

Janet informed, "Jackie gave Sam and Cassie each a room. Though Cassie is in the Academy she needs a place to stay while on leave and during the summers. She's also expressed interest in the horses and offered to help out with chores."

"The orphan from another planet," he clarified.

Janet nodded, "Yes, that's the one. You see, Fred. I can't stay here and I can't bring her back with me. So, I need to make sure she will be safe after I go back home and I know you and Jackie well enough in my own reality to know you two will treat her like family. I feel better knowing she will have you two."

"Welcome," he simply stated for he understood Janet was trying to make sure her daughter would be set before she left.

Cassie emerged next with Jackie. She was smiling and looking forward to the new home as she brushed the dust off her hands and jeans. "I can't wait to see the horses!"

"Soon as we finish," Jackie assured her.

"Can I ride one?" she asked enthused.

"You can ride Thor!" she told her. She spotted her father and Jack and asked, "What's going on?"

Fred stated, "Jack needs a room too."

"The more the merrier," she grinned amused.

Jack asked, "Thor? Is he a horse?"

"Thor is my horse," Fred explained. "He's good with strangers and kids unlike that thing she rides."

She admitted, "Loki can be difficult."

Janet asked grinning, "You have a horse named Loki?"

"He can be tricky so I named him Loki," she told her.

She giggled, "You have no idea how fitting that is."

Jack wondered, "How many horses you guys got?"

Fred rattled off, "There's Thor, Loki and Millie."

"Millie?" asked Daniel.

"The mare," he told him. "She's real good with riders too. Loki is the pain…" He noticed Daniel's expression, "Something wrong?"

"I just find the choice of names interesting," he told them.

Sam emerged next, "Okay! Next box!" She then spotted Jack standing before his truck next to Fred. "Sir?"

He smiled at her, "We get to be housemates."

"Um," she wasn't sure what to make of the news.

Jackie told her, "Dad gave him a room."

"I see," she stated faking the confidence.

Jack asked, "So…No more Pete?"

"No more Pete," she confirmed.

"I'm glad," he smiled at her.