It started when she was four years old.
All the girls were playing hopscotch and Sam thought it was boring. She was more physical than that. The boys looked at her a little strangely when the little blond girl with ringlet pigtails and cute dark pink dungarees came over and asked to play in the jungle gym with all the boys.
They laughed and told her little girls couldn't cross the monkey bars.
She squared her shoulders, held her head high and told them. "Watch me."
At eight, a scientist came into school and talked about his work on career day. No one else paid much attention, thinking it was boring. But she listened intensively, then barrelled the man with questions. He had thought her cute and answered the questions as if she didn't really understand. After class, she had approached the man who had told her not many women made it in the world of physics, that she'd never been taken seriously, so not to "worry her pretty little head, because it's not even worth trying."
"Watch me." she told him.
At thirteen, she was placed in advanced classes and high school classes for her so she could graduate at age 14. Her father said it was too much pressure, and that she should enjoy being young. He didn't seem to understand. This was fun for her! She loved to learn.
"You can do what you like, but I don't think you will be able to do it. I think it's too hard."
Her eyes flamed, her head turned, and she stomped up the stairs, defiantly said, "Watch me!"
Growing up, she saw her brother arguing with her father, explaining time and again that he didn't want to join the Air Force. By the time she was nineteen, she had enough, if she joined the Air Force then the family name would stay in the Air Forces, the family legacy could continue. Then she and her brother had argued:
"You're going to be an astronaut. You can't do this! You're throwing your life away!" he argued.
"So, you don't have to, it's a win-win situation!" she argued back.
"For him, not for you! How are you planning to get into space?"
"There are ways with the Air Force. I can get on one of the programs that will get me into space."
"You can't!" he had argued.
"Watch me!" She told him, confidently.
General West scoffed at her ideas, but nonetheless couldn't argue, because he knew squat about computer programs or the gate. She knew more about it than most people. "You might be smarter than everyone else here, Captain, but I guarantee you, you will never get that gate open."
Unbecoming in her behavior to a senior officer, she picked up her papers and gave a look to Catherine who smiled at her. Both her and Catherine believed the same thing, so she squared her shoulders bravely and glared at him. "Watch me."
Her initial assessment with Colonel O'Neill was with a group of men. They had all been on his team previously, she wondered why they were here at all, as he clearly knew their abilities. But her new Colonel seemed to be assessing them all, writing on a clipboard as they went around. They'd already done physicals and mental abilities and were now on a shooting range. The furthest and hardest mark was ahead, the Colonel had asked them all to hit the hardest target first. When she had stepped forward as the resident military but "Science geek" all the men had laughed at her, none of them had hit the target. All of them special ops trained men hadn't hit the target, why should the little lady. The Colonel had shrugged and invited her forward. "You can't do it!" one of them had called.
As she raised her gun, she stared at the target, focussing at the center, and whispered, "Watch me."
She had come back from the parallel world. She had given a full account to himself and the joint chiefs that afternoon. He had always admired her professionalism, she had given the account clearly and steadily, telling them all she had learned. He was relieved, of course, to see her again. His wife going missing days at a time for no apparent reason was always terrifying, and he could see she was emotional over it. Outwardly she appeared in control, but he knew .
So that night, in the comfort of their bed, he had pulled her closer than normal. Without saying a word, she turned to him, wrapping herself into him, as if she was trying to occupy the same space as he was.
"Scared?" he asked her, squeezing her tight.
"Terrified," she whispered. "I don't know if I can sleep tonight." She confessed.
"What can I do for you to help you sleep?" he asked her, his hand gently caressing her hair as he tried to comfort her.
"Make sure I don't fade away to another world." She whispered, as she snuggled even closer, and finally she knew that she could close her eyes and let sleep claim her and she whispered softly. "Watch me."