Here's another stand alone, once again, the idea just came into my head and my muse wouldn't let it go, it's pesky like that!! I've been working on it on and off for a little while, never actually expecting to finish it (my hard drive is littered with fics that I've started but never got anywhere near finishing). I just wrote it to shut my muse up but the other night, I actually completed it and so thought I might as well send it off to my wonderful beta Naliza to get her opinion. She seemed to like it and so I decided that considering it's all done I might as well post it, even if I'm not entirely convinced myself.
There is some mention of Sam and Pete here (quite a big mention actually) but he's not the nicest guy here. And contrary to my expectations, this isn't really a Sam/Jack fic (what's going on with me, I'm going to have to write something really shippy to make up for this).
Anyway, I've gone on for long enough, so I'll leave you to make up your own minds about this…
A Life Less Ordinary
The right side of Sam's face was burning, she could feel the swelling increasing around her eye, meaning that she could no longer keep it fully open. She walked quickly up the drive, trying to keep the tears inside, 'I will not cry' repeated through her head as a mantra.
Reaching the door, she knocked lightly, hoping that he would still be awake, that he was actually in. She shuffled nervously from one foot to the other, wondering if this had been a good idea. At one point, she would have gone straight to Janet but that option was no longer open to her, one of the many, many reasons she missed her friend. Daniel's apartment had been empty and so she had come here.
She was about to turn away, to leave, when the door swung open.
"Sam, what's happened?" Daniel asked on seeing his injured friend.
"Can I come in?" she asked quietly. Slightly taken aback to see Daniel answering the General's front door.
"Of course you can," Daniel said, opening the door to allow her entry.
"Who is it Daniel?" came a male voice.
"What are you doing here?" Sam questioned nervously.
"We were just watching a hockey game," he answered distractedly, staring at her bruised face.
"You weren't at home," she said, a statement and not a question.
"I'm sorry. Sam, what happened to you? Are you okay?" Daniel asked quickly.
"Carter, that you?" Jack called out, his mouth full of pizza.
"Yes Sir," she replied tiredly.
Sam heard him approach, despite acknowledging its futility, she tried to hide the bruise from him, knowing that he would overact. She was right.
"Carter, what the hell happened to you?" he asked, dangerously quiet.
"It's nothing Sir," she offered, trying to calm him.
"It doesn't look like nothing to me, it looks like someone hit you."
Sam closed her eyes and turned away from both Daniel and O'Neill. Daniel shot Jack a look, telling him to be quiet.
"Look why don't we go sit down, Jack why don't you put some coffee on," Daniel suggested.
"Fine," Jack agreed grudgingly. "I thought I was in charge and here I am getting ordered around in my own house," he grumbled quietly as he trudged to the kitchen.
Daniel led Sam to the living room and sat her down on the couch; she drew her knees to her chest as she sat. The remnants of a pizza sat on the coffee table; Daniel shut off the hockey game that was quietly playing to itself on the TV screen.
"Sam, do you want to tell me what happened?"
"As I said, it's nothing."
"I have to agree with Jack, it's not nothing."
Sam thought for a moment, wondering how would be the best way to discuss this.
"Oh by the way, I'm not with Pete anymore," she said glibly.
"Are you saying that he did this?" Daniel asked, clearly shocked.
"Um, yeah."
"WHAT?" Jack exploded from where he had been eavesdropping in the kitchen. He came out in to the living room, knowing that his cover had been blown.
"We had a fight, he lashed out, I told him it was over," Sam explained with a shrug.
"How can you be so glib about this?" Daniel asked.
"It's nothing Daniel, I've had much worse. It's over between us, no matter how much he begs," Sam explained. Jack watched her closely; he saw something more in her eyes.
"I'll kill him," Jack muttered, already moving towards the door. He grabbed his jacket and was about to leave when Sam moved herself between him and the door.
"Sir, don't do this. There's no point and you'll end up in more trouble than he ever could."
"He had no right to hit you like that," Jack offered quietly.
"I know that Sir and that's why I will never see him again."
Jack shrugged slightly as he gave in, it was his first reaction to get revenge for Carter but she obviously did not want him to and he could not go against her wishes.
"You need to go to the police, Sam."
"Why? He's a cop, nothing will happen to him. Besides I just want to put this and him behind me."
"You sure."
"I'm sure. I just need somewhere to stay the night until I get my locks changed tomorrow."
"You're more than welcome to the spare room," Jack offered.
"Thanks Sir," Sam smiled.
"Daniel, looks like you're relegated to the couch," Jack apologised. Daniel shrugged off Sam's apologies.
"Why don't you get some sleep and we can discuss this in the morning," Jack suggested.
Sam smiled gratefully at the offer, she did not want to talk about it right now, sleep sounded like a good idea. Any remaining adrenaline had worn off and she was feeling more and more tired.
Jack offered her a pair of sweats and t-shirt, which she gratefully accepted, she changed quickly and climbed into the bed. She had expected to quickly fall asleep but for some reason she could not drift off. After a while she gave up trying and got out of bed and went to the kitchen.
She was slightly surprised to find Jack in the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee.
"General?" she whispered, mindful of Daniel who was sleeping peacefully on the couch.
"Can't sleep?"
"No Sir. You?"
"Stuff on my mind. Come on," he said, handing over a steaming cup of coffee to her and grabbing one for himself.
She followed him out of the house and sat in the chair on the deck, pulling up her feet so her knees rested under her chin. The hot coffee was wrapped tightly in her hands.
"Carter, you want to talk about what happened?"
"I've told you what happened Sir."
"There's something else, I know there is."
"There's not Sir," Sam said, not understanding what he had picked up on.
"Tell me to mind my own business but you seemed to be talking from experience. When you said you'd had worse, you weren't talking about recently."
Sam cast her eyes down as she understood what he had picked up on. She did not know whether to tell him or not, whether this was something he needed to know.
"Jonas wasn't my first foray with the lunatic fringe. I'd just graduated from the academy when I met this guy, Matt. I was hustling pool in a bar and he almost beat me, he was your stereotypical 'bad boy', the last person an ambitious Lieutenant should take up with. He had issues and let's leave it at that but I thought that I could help. Jonas wasn't kidding when he labelled me 'healer of the emotionally wounded' but he wasn't my only failure, he never knew about Matt.
"Matt was another of those I couldn't help but he went further than Jonas or maybe Jonas didn't get as far because I left before he did. It was alright at first but then he lost his job just as I started to settle into mine. He felt threatened and in the end he turned to drink and drugs. At that point there was nothing that I could do but I didn't realise that at the time.
"I was convinced I could help, even when he hit me the first time and the second time and who knows how many times after that. I loved him, or I thought I did and that things would get better. I realised, or was made to realise that they wouldn't and so I left him. Once I was away from him I promised that I wouldn't let it happen again, which is why it's over between Pete and me.
"He came over tonight, we were supposed to be going out, just like we had been last night. I've been spending so much time at the base recently I've cancelled on him a few times. When he came over tonight, I told him that I didn't want to go out, that I wanted an early night. I asked him to leave so I could sleep and we just started fighting. He was saying that I only see him when it suits me, which I guess is true but I can't neglect my work at the SGC. I thought he understood how important my work is to me. Things were better once I told him about the SGC but he started getting jealous, of the time I spend with SG-1, with Cassie, especially after Janet died. He couldn't take it when I got hurt and he got jealous because I was concerned when you did.
"Anyway, I asked him to leave again and said we could discuss it tomorrow when we'd both calmed down and that's when he lashed out. He was so apologetic after it happened, saying he'd never do it again but I can't go through that again, I just can't," Sam explained, wiping a stray tear away from her left eye. She felt relieved to have it off her chest. It had been weighing on her mind ever since she had left her house. She was also relieved that Jack had let her talk without any interruptions. "Sir, I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything about this."
"Of course not," Jack agreed, he was slightly taken aback to hear her talk so candidly about this.
His first thought was that something like that might have happened but he had expected her to tell him to mind his own business. After that he was sure she would say it was Jonas, he did not expect it to be another guy. He was surprised that she was so willing to give him the details of what had happened earlier that night but he supposed she needed to get it off her chest. He considered for a moment as to whether he should share his past in the same way she had hers.
"You know I moved to Minnesota when I was a kid?"
"Yes Sir," she said, not understanding where he was going with this.
"Well, I moved out there with my mom from Chicago, to stay with my grandparents at first. We moved to get away from my dad. I don't really remember that much about living in Chicago but I do remember my parents fighting, a lot. My mom put up with him for years, him hitting her every time they fought, she kept telling herself he'd change."
"I remember moving around a lot as she would leave him and then go back a few days later. It was only when he turned on me that we left for good and moved out to Minnesota. It was only when he hit me that she realised that he wouldn't change. I haven't had any contact with him since, I have no idea if he's even still alive and I have no desire to find out," Jack explained with a sigh. It was the first time he had told anyone this.
"I had no idea Sir," Sam admitted, her eyes slightly wide with shock. She winced slightly as the expression sent a slight wave of pain through her face.
"Maybe you should get that looked at?" Jack suggested gently, effectively changing the subject.
"It's nothing, really," she reassured him.
"Okay but I'll get you some ice."
"Thanks."
While Jack went back into the house to find some ice, Sam quietly sipped her coffee thinking about what she had told her commanding officer and what he had told her. She had never expected him to say that, never had she thought that he had been through that. But he was so closed about his private life that it was not surprising.
Just as Jack came back outside, the sound of a car pulling up broke through the still and quiet night air. Sam could not help but shrink back in the chair as she heard the car door open and slam shut.
"It's okay," Jack assured her as he stood to meet the visitor.
He was not at all surprise to find Pete on his doorstep, about to knock on the door.
"Is she here?" he asked.
"She doesn't want to see you. Leave now," Jack answered quietly.
"So she is here, let me speak to her, I need to talk to her," he pleaded.
"You're not going anywhere near her. She told me what you did and if you don't leave my property, I'll have to escort you," Jack's voice was quiet but laced with anger, it was clear that this was not an exaggerated threat.
"So it's like that is it?" Pete spat, the faintest trace of anger appearing in his voice, replacing the almost pathetic tone his voice had previously held.
"Like what?"
"She already shacked up with you?" he asked with venom.
At hearing that, Sam could wait no longer, she could not expect Jack to defend her against those accusations, she was not going to sit back and listen to Pete bad mouth either of them in that way. She walked and stood beside Jack.
"Decided to stop your boyfriend fighting your battles?" he asked.
"He's not my boyfriend Pete and neither are you, not anymore."
"Don't say that Sam, please don't say that. I'm so sorry. It'll never happen again, I promise."
"You're right, it will never happen again because we're finished. After what you did, that's it," she said emphatically.
"It was an accident Sam," Pete offered.
"How can you accidentally punch someone?" Jack asked sharply.
"I didn't mean to do it Sam, I swear I didn't."
"I know you're not a bad person, I know you didn't intend for this to happen but despite that I can't trust that it won't happen again. We're done and I've got nothing else to say to you except goodbye," Sam before turning away into the house.
"Please don't say that, don't say that," he called to Sam's retreating form. "Fine, you screw your commanding officer. See if I care, you stupid whore," he yelled after she refused to turn back.
Jack saw red, not at the insinuation that their relationship was anything more than professional but at what he called Sam. He swung out and caught the unprepared man square on the jaw. Pete stumbled backwards but stayed on his feet. Jack took a step forward to take another swung at him but Sam grabbed his arm, pulling him back slightly.
"Don't," she whispered and he stopped, looking over at Pete with disgust.
"Doesn't feel so great does it?" Jack spat at him.
"Just go Pete or you won't just have General O'Neill to deal with," Sam warned.
Pete stood for a second, weighing up his options before spinning on his heel and quickly driving off.
"Are you alright Sam?" Jack asked with concern, looking at Sam who had sunk back into the chair.
"Yes Sir, what about you?"
"I'm fine," he replied, shaking his hand slightly. She grabbed the ice he had brought out for her eye and tossed it over to him.
"You're better off without him you know."
"I know, especially now. I'm sorry for what he said Sir."
"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault."
"My attempt to have a normal life didn't work out so well did it?" she shrugged.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" came a sleepy voice. Daniel was standing on the deck, looking like he had just had woken up. Jack and Sam both laughed slightly. "What did I miss?"
"It's nothing Daniel. Pete showed up is all."
"He came here? He's still alive?" Daniel asked with some humour but there was a serious note in his voice.
"Yes Daniel. As much as I'd love to offer his help with hand-to-hand training to the rebel Jaffa or maybe to slowly dismember him, I thought better of it," Jack explained, "I'm not sure why though," he added looking across at Sam's spectacular black eye.
"You shouldn't have hit him Sir."
"After what he said, I'm surprised you didn't hit him yourself," Jack said. He could see that what Pete had said had hurt her deeply.
"If he hadn't left when he did, I would of. Look, I'm going to bed. Sorry we disturbed you Daniel."
"Don't worry about it, night Sam."
"Night Daniel…Sir," she said, the tiredness showing in her voice. She walked slowly back to the room she had vacated less than an hour before; it seemed like it had been so much longer than that. This time she laid down on the bed and let sleep take her.
Jack and Daniel stayed outside, the Archaeologist falling into the chair Sam had just vacated.
"So what really happened Jack?"
"What I said, Pete showed up, he got mouthy, I lost it but he deserved it. He hit her, shows up to apologise and ends up calling her a stupid whore."
"He called her what?"
"What did she ever see in him?"
"Apparently he was charming, sweet, the usual. Oh and he wasn't an alien," Daniel offered with a shrug.
"A normal life," Jack completed.
"Yeah, she deserves it. We all deserve it, some happiness."
"She's not particularly happy now though is she?"
"No. You look tired Jack, you should get some sleep."
"What is with people bossing me about in my own house? And you do know that it's PhD after your name and not MD?" Jack grumbled.
"Just offering some friendly advice," Daniel replied innocently.
"Well thank you Daniel, I think I might actually follow your advice Doctor. Night Daniel."
"Night."
The next morning Sam was woken by the smell of cooking that was drifting through the house. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair in a bid to correct the damage done by the restless night's sleep. She was not convinced of her success but got out of the bed, shuddering slightly as the warmth of the bed was lost to her.
She found O'Neill at the cooker and Daniel nursing a large cup of coffee. She smiled weakly as she entered. She was greeted individually by a restrained smile and a broad grin from her friends.
"Morning."
"Hey Carter. Hungry?"
"Yes Sir. Thank you," Sam said gratefully, taking the proffered plate. She could not remember the last thing she ate but figured that it was probably something the commissary offered up.
"Got any plans for today Carter?" Jack asked. Sam swallowed her mouthful of food before answering.
"I need to get my locks changed and then I could do with going into the SGC."
"Why?"
"Because Pete has a key to my house, I'd prefer it if he didn't drop by," Sam explained, knowing quite well that it was not what Jack meant.
"I know that, I mean why go to the SGC?"
"There's a few experiments I want to run while I've got the chance."
"You mean while you're on down time?"
"Yes," Sam agreed reluctantly.
"I was going to go in too," Daniel offered in Sam's defence.
"No, neither of you are going anywhere near the base today. Carter, I will come with you to your house, just in case Shanahan shows up. Daniel, you can get Teal'c, pick up some food and some videos. We haven't spent much time together for a while, so while we have the chance we will take the opportunity, okay," Jack announced, sounding every bit like the General he was. There was absolutely no room for argument in his statement.
"Okay," Daniel agreed, slightly put out that he was not able to do the translations he had planned but he knew when not to question Jack.
"Sounds good Sir," Sam agreed. She recognised that they had spent less time as a four in recent months. There were O'Neill's responsibilities as base CO, hers as commander of SG-1 as well as her relationship with Pete. Daniel had been spending more time with Sarah as she slowly readjusted to life without a Goa'uld and Teal'c was enjoying living in the outside the world.
Thankfully there had been no sign of Pete at Sam's house and she was now in possession of a brand new set of locks to which she gave keys to Jack, Daniel and Teal'c. She was not planning to give out any more copies for the time being.
Jack had been right, it was nice to spend time with the original SG-1. Pete was not mentioned once, they just fell back into the comfortable routine that they had perfected over the years. They all knew that they would probably not get the chance to spend time together for a while, a fact that was emphasised as they were all called into the base after only a few hours.
Sam's last thought before throwing herself into her work with all her might was that some things changed and others were a universal constant.
So there it is, let me know what you think.