Last one for today...

Enjoy!

M

Chapter 58

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

It seemed it finally was over. He wouldn't have to travel across the country to face any more trials. He wouldn't have those damned pictures pushed under his nose anymore. He wouldn't have to prove he was innocent. Even when his name hadn't ever been on the list of dirty people to start with.

He was fucking tired. Since this had all started, he was always in a defensive stance. As people tried to pry out of him, his true position inside the Government. Any mention of Home World Security was still classified as it had always been.

"What?!" he spat as the door of his office opened slightly.

"Bad time?" Daniel asked, with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Since February, that's all it seems to be, Daniel." Jack sighed. "Come in and close that door behind you."

Daniel plopped himself in the chair in front of Jack. For the past few months, he'd joined Jack on several of the trips. Although he'd an inkling as to what it might have contained. Daniel had never seen the contents of the file Jack was presented with every time he took the stand. Every time they wanted to make the jury believe Jack couldn't be trusted.

Every single time he'd admitted to strangers, he'd a relationship with his former 2IC. Eleven years ago, for the shortest amount of time, between her resignation and her recall to active duty.

Jack had answered every question with the same nonchalance he'd used when confronting system lords, but without the sarcasm. The last thing they'd needed was for his bad sense of humor to screw up the chance to clean up the government. To put an end to the Trust and hopefully get Sam back.

"How are you holding up?" Daniel asked after observing him for a while.

"What do you think?" Jack groaned.

"Not good, it seems. Talk to me, Jack."

"Where do you want me to start, Daniel?"

"I don't know… What's bothering you?" He offered. Jack chuckled dryly.

"Well… It might be that at least one thousand people know exactly how I look stark naked and fucking, Daniel. Because they couldn't find a nice picture of us kissing, or I don't know us just being home-y. No… They had to be pictures of us fucking." Daniel blushed.

"That's what it was?"

"Yes, Daniel. That's exactly what it was," Jack growled. "You can bet your ass that I didn't want to become the next porn star out there. I know she didn't want that either. But here were are… After six months, I've retrieved the same amount of files of us doing the deed as files of corrupted people. It's tiring."

"I'm sorry," Daniel said, not quite knowing what else he could tell him.

"Yeah, me too."

"If it makes you feel better, a whole damn town found me naked, and there was that time where I showed up naked after… you know?" Jack chuckled at his attempt of lightening the mood.

"Fuck, Daniel," Jack said sighing and resting his head between his hands. "I'm sure you don't want to see them at all. They were collected from our homes. It took me a while to be comfortable in that house or any other house I've lived after I learned about those videos."

"You knew?" Daniel asked, confused. "Oh! That's why you had our houses swept clean every other week?"

"Yeah." Jack grimaced.

"How?" He frowned.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Then you'd hate me," Jack shook his head.

"I can't hate you, Jack." Daniel rolled his eyes. "You saved my ass too many times. I'm forever in your debt."

"Maybourne." He stated.

"Maybourne?"

"Yup."

"How?"

"Remember when we got lost together?" Daniel nodded. "Well, he fessed up that they ordered him to watch them. I didn't believe him at first, then he mentioned details and I almost killed him."

"Wait? Watch them?"

"Yeah, these are snippets of video footage filmed at hour houses."

"Have you… seen them?" Daniel wondered.

"I have."

"Like now? For the trials? Or did Maybourne…."

"It was her," Jack said. Unable to say her name. "She gave me a second heads up and sent them my way. She said I should know. She sent me all those gizmos I used to clean our houses."

"So… All this time, you were speaking with her?" Daniel asked, surprised by that confession. Jack shook his head.

"No. That was the last time I heard her voice. I can't remember how she sounds now, Daniel. After watching those court videos so many times…" he huffed. "All I know is that the woman I listened to while she gave her version of her life… That wasn't her. She looked like her, she moved like her… but she didn't speak like her. It's as if she's gone, Daniel."

"I… Do you have the court video?" Jack nodded. Tapping his password to unlock his computer, he turned it enough so that both of them could watch it. Daniel gulped as she appeared on the stand. He wanted to cry as he heard her list the names. "God…" He whispered.

"Yeah…" Jack sighed in agreement. "I want to hope it's just a facade. That she's just acting like that… But I don't know, Daniel. Do I even know her anymore? Can we say for sure she's the same woman we knew?"

"I don't know, Jack," Daniel grimaced. "I wish I could tell you she is. However, almost twelve years is a long time. We've seen people change for less."

They fell silent for a while. Both watching her as the woman they both knew now as Lt. Commander Jenna Black question her.

"She was harsh while questioning her own witness," Daniel pointed out.

"For what I've seen of the other witnesses, she wouldn't do it, if she didn't know she could press 'em to speak." Jack pointed out.

"You think Sam's the mastermind behind all of this? You know, Commander Black did say it was a 'she' when she spoke on TV. I know names weren't given out and all for their safety." Jack sighed again.

"You have clearance, Daniel, so I can tell you that she was. There's a USAF file under Intelligence. One that points to her doing this as a USAF mission."

"You don't believe that," Daniel stated.

"I don't know what I believe anymore. Facts are that the file exists. Even if I didn't believe it, she was the mastermind behind it all. All the witnesses cleared themselves out. They didn't have enough clues, knowledge, or skills to pull it out themselves. The only one who hasn't been accounted for…." He waved towards the screen.

"It's Sam."

"Yeah."

"You know if she's taking her name back?" Daniel wondered. Jack had, after all, way more information than he would ever have.

"I know there's a valid military ID under her name."

"What do you think will happen when you see her?" Daniel asked after a while. Jack just shook his head.

"I don't have the slightest idea, Daniel. You know I loved or love that woman more than I value my own life… But, I'm not sure that's the woman I fell in love with. I'm not sure there's such a thing as us being on the same page, or even friendly. Twelve years is a long time."

"But you know what they say… Real friendship is the one that can endure time and separation. The ones that when you meet again, it seems time hasn't passed by at all."

"Then let's hope our was real, Danny-boy."

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

It was the third day in a row that they've stopped in front of the same house. Curiosity was killing Parker. Not even the fact that she could tell anyone that her name was Parker could quench it.

"Mommy?" Parker asked. Her mom's hands were pressed so tightly on the wheel that her knuckles were white. "What's there?"

Sam looked at her. She loved her daughter. She knew Parker was smart and her insight was always amazing. However, in moments like this, she also hated her a little. She was so damn much like Jack that it hurt. Her big blue eyes were trained on hers. Sam could read the questions like an open book. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed.

"What?" She frowned then. Noticing she hadn't really understood what Parker had asked. P smiled, knowing her mom wasn't quite paying attention. She hadn't seen her mother so distraught, ever.

"What's there?" Parker repeated carefully. "This is the third day in a row we come by, only to drive away again."

"God. I should've explained this to you first." Sam said. "Sam Carter. Samantha Carter…" She sighed, annoyed with herself. "Doctor Samantha Carter… She has a brother. His name is Mark. Mark has a wife and two kids… They are young adults by now…"

"You're Doctor Samantha Carter." Parker frowned.

That was, after all, the name she'd given her, this time around. A name she hadn't ever heard before, but she had read on those files as 'Major Doctor Samantha Carter'. She'd seen the attached picture of the younger version of her mom.

"Yes."

"You have a brother named Mark," Parker stated.

"I do." Sam sighed.

"Why haven't I ever…." Parker frowned, as she noticed the expression on her mom's face. The one she knew appeared every time she'd asked about her past or dared to ask about her own dad. "Nevermind. Are we getting down?"

"I'm not sure if I should, P. I'm not sure they'll want to see me."

"He's your real brother?"

"Yes."

"Then he's family, mom. You said that family will always love you, no matter what. Doesn't that apply to him too?"

"You are right, let's go," Sam said, getting out of the car. 'I hope you're right, P.' she thought.

Squaring her shoulders, as she'd done since the day she got her ID back. Sam walked around the car and waited for Parker to jump down. They walked to the door and with trembling fingers, Sam pressed the bell.

After a few moments, she considered just leaving. It seemed there wasn't anyone home. Even if she knew they were both there.

"We should go," Sam stated and turned around. But Parker stood firmly in place. She heard the approaching footsteps.

"Someone's coming," she said. Sam turned around when the door was opened. Her sister-in-law eyed her from head to toes and then slammed the door shut in her face. "Hey! That was rude!" Parker shouted.

The door was opened cautiously this time. The woman frowned, looking from daughter to mother and then back.

"Linda," Sam said.

"Hi, I'm Parker Carter. Nice to meet you." Linda's eyes widened in surprise. Then she looked again at the woman she knew a long while ago. A woman that supposedly had died in a plane crash. Someone who swore she would visit them. Then went and got herself killed in a test plane.

"We need to talk," Sam stated. Linda nodded, moving away.

"Let me get Mark for you."

"So, who's that mommy?" Parker asked as Linda walked away.

"Your Aunt Linda."

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" Mark asked when he spotted her as he came down the stairs. "You said you were coming back, you said you'd visit… You died, Sam! You fucking died! We buried you… We mourned you… Jack! Your friends! Heck! Even dad took the time to go to Arlington to pay his respects!"

"Mark," Linda warned.

"What?!"

"Parker, what do you say if we go get some ice cream while they talk?" Linda said. She didn't like her sister-in-law, but the kid shouldn't have to be a witness to a sour family reunion that came over eleven years too late.

Mark's eyes widened then, noticing the kid standing right next to his revived sister. Her spitting image. There was no doubt how they were related. Sam sighed and kneeled in front of Parker.

"Go with Linda, P."

"Are you sure, mommy?" Parker asked. Biting her lower lip and risking a glance towards the only man in the room.

"Yeah. She'll take good care of you, P." She said, looking at Linda for confirmation. "Linda, I'm sure Mark will bring you up to speed, once we're gone." Linda nodded, grabbed her purse and key before she walked Parker out of the waited for the door to close behind them. Then until they listened to Linda's car driving away before they turned to face each other.

"You promised Sam!"

"I'm here, Mark. Too late, but I'm here." Sam gulped. She wanted so desperately to allow the dam to break, but she couldn't. She couldn't allow the weight of her own actions to fall on top of her brother. Still, she was crumbling inside. "I'm sorry, I'm soo sorry. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to be back and tell you everything would be all right in its due time. But I couldn't risk you, Mark. If I came back to let you know I was alive… Well, your life as you knew it would've been over."

"And the girl? Is she yours?"

"Yes."

"I have a niece I know nothing about?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered again.

"So, what? You couldn't tell me you were going to disappear on us? God, Sam, you said you loved Jack, but you could cheat on him? How long did that take? How long did it take before you forgot all about him too? Like you did with me and my family? How long did you care?" Sam gulped. Her eyes were filled with tears. Each question cutting through her like a thousand knives.

"I didn't." She said her voice barely above a whisper. "I never forgot about you, or your family, Mark. I was always there. I saw the kids graduate through their school security system. I followed your moves, Mark. I never forgot."

"Yet, there's Parker."

"Parker will turn eleven in December. She never got to the fortieth week." She noticed he was doing the math in his head and waited.

"So… She's his?" Mark frowned.

"She couldn't be anyone else's, Mark. There was no one else. There couldn't be." Sam confessed with a look in her eyes that told Mark his sister was telling him the truth. "You can't tell that to anyone. Not even Linda. Not until I can tell him."

"He doesn't know."

"No."

"I'll try. Only because he cared enough to check on us all this time. So, tell me what happened?" He asked, finally taking a seat. She followed his example and started explaining to him that she was the mind behind the chaos created that year.

No matter how awed he seemed. Or how he looked like he was going to forgive her. It was her mind that she was always fighting with… The one that told her that it was only because of his own condition that he was able to forgive her. That only added more guilt to her conscience.

Her mind told her she was using him, her own brother, to get some peace of mind. Before she decided if she was going to hide forever or confront the mess that being Samantha Carter after almost twelve years would be. Her cellphone went off.

"Carter." She answered.

"Colonel Carter. We've reached a decision."