Disclaimers: The usual stuff…don't own, only having fun…
Spoilers: None that I can think of…maybe something from Chimera.
~~AN: Thank you for the reviews – they really keep me going!! Sorry for the delay – my home computer doesn't get along with my office computer…J
As the audience holds its breath….
Sam was standing alone on a dock overlooking a mist-covered lake. The sun was just coming up over the horizon. She had never felt more at peace. Suddenly strong arms wrapped around her from behind, enfolding her in the most wonderful hug. Feeling content, she nuzzled against the cheek that was pressed close to hers. "I'm so glad you finally came up here with me. I've been so lonely without you," the voice had said. She had turned towards the voice, but his face was blurred and she couldn't see who it was. She recognized the voice, though, and it sent thrills through her body. She had finally made it; they had made it. It was exactly where she wanted to be. Suddenly she heard a ringing noise – his arms slipped from around her and he turned to walk away. She felt the cold air rush off the lake and into her bones. "It's your choice, Carter," she heard the voice say, as the image faded away. "Your choice." The ringing continued, angry because she wasn't paying attention to it. "The phone," she thought, slowly becoming aware of her surroundings. "It was just a dream." Reaching out one hand, she knocked the offending noisemaking equipment off the bedside table and onto the floor. The ringing stopped. Sighing, she rolled over and looked at the clock on the nightstand. 09:00 hrs. She groaned and buried her head back into the pillow. She tried for several minutes to recall more of the dream, but all she could recall was the sense of loss when he walked away. Giving up on the idea of extra sleep, she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her bedroom still smelt of rose petals. "Ugh," she thought, "and roses used to be one of my favorites."
Sam shook her head to dispel any lingering cobwebs. Yawning, she headed for her bathroom intent on a leisurely shower with lots of hot water. After that, she planned on a nice, hot cup of coffee. As she washed her hair, she contemplated what she was going to do about Pete. Last night with Jack had obviously changed her thinking. "Pete deserves more than just part of someone and that is all I can give." She decided to end things as soon as possible as not to string him along. Feeling refreshed after the shower, she wrapped herself in a robe and ambled down the hall to her kitchen. She felt that the sooner she resolved things with Pete, then the sooner she could talk to Jack about the future. She knew that she definitely wanted one with him in it.
Dumping the old grounds out of the coffee machine and replacing them with Daniel's special brand took only a few minutes. Flipping the machine on after filling it with water, she went to the front door to retrieve the morning paper. She eyed the full trash bags next to the door and decided to take them out. Trash day was tomorrow; she would just get an early start. Tossing the bags in the bin, she retrieved the paper from the front step and went back inside to the heavenly aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Dropping the paper on the coffee table in the living room, she picked up the two mugs left from last night. She spied the picture lying on the table and sighed. That really had been a fun evening. Too bad Pete wasn't the guy she really wanted to be with.
Going back into the kitchen, she put the two used mugs into the dishwasher and pulled a fresh one from the cabinet. She poured herself a cup of coffee and headed back into the living room to read the paper. As she walked into the living room, the phone rang again. "Major Carter," she answered.
"Hey Sam, It's me, Daniel."
"Oh hey, Daniel. How's L.A.?"
"Fine, fine. Listen, have you seen Jack?"
"Uh, no, not since he dropped me off last night. Why?"
"Well, I've been trying to reach him all morning. His cell is off and he isn't answering his phone at home. I ran into an old friend of his and he wanted to get Jack's number. I was going to call him to see if it was ok to give it to this guy."
"Oh. Well, he might have gone up to his cabin - I remember him saying that he was going to probably leave early this morning."
"That's right, ok. Well, if you hear from him before I get a hold of him, please have him call me, ok?"
"Sure, Daniel. Have fun. I'll see you Monday."
"Yeah. I will. You too. Tell Cass hi for me."
"Will do. Bye."
She hung up the phone and sipped her coffee. Although it wasn't unusual for the Colonel not to answer his phone, it was unusual of him to not call Daniel back. She decided to drive past his house on her way to the base to make sure that everything was ok.
The clock in the hall chimed the hour.
Sam wondered what to do with the rest of her morning. The house was clean; she had done the laundry earlier in the week…she decided to spend some time on the Internet researching the surprise party that she was going to throw for Cassie's 18th birthday. Cassie wasn't due home until late. She was scheduled to work that day, having gotten a job at a coffee shop downtown and would be going there directly from her friend Marie's house. That left plenty of time to surf the net and to spend a few hours on her latest project at the base before coming home. One of her favorite movies, "Sense and Sensibility", was on that evening and she wanted to see it again.
After about an hour on the computer, Sam had a pretty good idea of what kind of party to throw for Cassie - one that she and her friends could enjoy and not be encumbered by the "Old People" that would undoubtedly surface from the SGC. Satisfied with the arrangements that she had made, she printed off several confirmations and set them aside. Sam picked up her now cold cup of coffee and took it into the kitchen. She grabbed a muffin from the breadbox and, munching on it, went back into the living room. She sat down on the sofa, put her feet up on the coffee table and picked up the paper. The door slamming brought her upright again. Cassie raced full speed past the doorway calling out "I'm late and I forgot the store keys!" She raced back down the hallway long enough to yell, "Don't forget I'm closing tonight! I'll see you later Sam!" as the door slammed again. "I guess that's what Janet meant by "whirlwind", she thought, a sad smile brought to her lips at the memory of her lost friend.
Sam tossed the paper aside and decided to go to the base early so that she could get her stuff done and come home sooner. She went over to the desk and gathered up the pages that she had printed earlier and put them into a manila file. "No use letting Cassie find them by accident and ruin the surprise," she thought.
Walking into the hallway, she dropped the file on top of the manila file that already sat there. "Oh yeah, got to call Pete and arrange for him to get this - and then break up with him," she added wryly.
She dressed quickly and grabbed both files on her way out the front door. It was such a nice day out, that she decided to take her motorcycle instead of her car. Backing the bike out of the driveway, she made sure that her files were securely inside the saddlebag and took off. She remembered that she was going to check Jack's house as she neared the turnoff for his street. Signaling, she turned onto his street, but she did not see his truck parked in the driveway. "He must have gone up to the cabin," she mused, turning around. The rest of the trip to the mountain passed uneventfully, the roads were surprisingly empty of traffic.
Sam reached the first checkpoint and flashed her ID to the guard. Nodding, he waved her past and she stopped the bike in her usual parking spot. She grabbed the saddlebag and went inside. After passing the next checkpoint, she signed in at the elevator entry, acknowledging the sharp salute that the airman on duty gave her. She rode the elevator down to her lab with Sergeant Jones from video surveillance office who was on his way to the commissary. Sergeant Jones was a proud new Daddy and happily shared the latest pictures of "his little miracle" with Sam. Waving goodbye to him, she disembarked from the elevator and unlocked the door to her lab.
She flipped on her computer and dropped her bag down on the floor next to the desk. After logging in, she waited for her email program to boot up. She pulled the file on Cassie's birthday details out of the bag and noticed the other file that was still inside. She dropped Cassie's file on her desk and pulled out the other file. "Pete. I'm going to have to end it sooner or later. Might as well be now." She dialed his number and waited for him to answer.
"Detective Shanahan," he answered.
"Hi Pete. It's Sam."
"Hey babe! I am so glad you called. I am really sorry about last night and I want to make it up to you."
"Pete, I want to talk to you about that and other stuff…" she finished uncertainly.
"I can't tonight, how about next week? Listen; did I leave a file at your house? I thought I got everything when my briefcase dumped, but I am missing one important file."
"Yes, I found your file; that's one reason I wanted…"
"Yeah, uh, could you send that to me ASAP? It's really important." He said in a rush, cutting her off mid-sentence. "You can use my FedEx number 12345678 to pay for it. Listen, I have to go, but I really appreciate your doing that for me. Thanks, babe! Gotta go. See you soon – Love you." He hung up the phone.
"Well, really, Pete, the reason I called was to dump your boring ass…" Sam said to an empty line and hung up the phone in disgust. She dropped the file onto her desk as the phone rang.
"Major Carter," she barked.
"Sam, are you ok?" Daniel's concerned voice said.
"Yeah, Daniel, I'm fine. What's up?"
"Have you seen Jack, yet?"
"No, Daniel, I went by his house but his truck wasn't there. He must have gone to Minnesota like he said he was going to."
"Well, he still hasn't called me back. I'm beginning to worry." Sam envisioned Daniel's worried face, his brow all scrunched up.
"Daniel, he is a big boy. I am sure that he'll call you when he can." Or if he wants too, she added silently. "I'll have him call you if I see him, ok? I have to go now; I need to get some things done here if I'm going to leave early."
"Ok, well, call me if you hear anything."
"I will. Enjoy the rest of your convention. Bye, Daniel." She hung up the phone. She got a FedEx envelope from the storage locker and addressed the label. She contemplated writing a "Dear John" letter and enclosing it with the file, but decided against it. She would just tell him the next time she talked to him and make him listen. She walked back over to her desk and picked up Pete's file. Just then, the klaxons went off and startled her into dropping the file. Some of its contents spilled out onto the floor. "Damn sirens are unnecessarily loud," she grumbled as she knelt to pick them up.
She began to stuff them back into the file only to have several glossy pictures slither out onto the floor. Picking them up again, she saw a picture of herself, taken at a barbeque that Jack had thrown a few weeks ago. Confused, she quickly shuffled through the rest of the file. There were lots of different pictures in the file - herself and Cassie, with the rest of SG-1, and several of her through what seemed to be her living room window, taken with a telescopic lens. One in particular of her and Jack - she was laughing up at him and he was touching her arm and smiling in response to something she had said. Sam shifted her attention to the documents that were carefully attached to one side of the file. FBI background report, credit check, several weeks of surveillance information, personal history…all about her. Common aspects of a recon mission…or a stalker. The notations began soon after she and Pete had met. She sank down on her chair, the file clutched in suddenly nerveless fingers. "He had me watched? Followed me? Checked up on me? Oh God, what else does he know? And who is he really working for?"
She stuffed the file back into her bag and ran for the door. Slamming it behind her, she ran for the elevator to the surface. Her mind awhirl, she waited for the slow elevator, pacing the small area, wondering what to do. The thought of a security breach was uppermost in her mind. "General Hammond," she thought. "He'd be the best person to ask." She rushed inside the elevator and pushed the button for the Command level. Upon reaching his office, however, it was empty. Seeing Sergeant Siler in the control room, she asked if he knew where the General was.
"I think he's taking a few days with his granddaughters since there are no teams off-world right now. The girls are on Spring Break this week. I can call him if…" his voice died out as he realized that he was talking to empty air. Sam had rushed out of the room and back down the hall to the elevator.
Reaching the surface in record time, she hurriedly signed out, but tried to make it seem that nothing was wrong. She calmly walked over to her motorcycle and carefully placed the saddlebag on it. Pulling her gloves out of her pocket, she pulled them on and put on her helmet. Heading towards the entry gate, she noticed a car stopped there. The passenger got out and headed to the security shack. It was Jack. As she rode up to the gate, he turned his head and saw her. She flipped her visor up as he walked over to her.
"Hey, Carter. I, um, locked my keys in my truck so I had to get Sara to give me a ride up here for my spare set. I tried to call you but your phone just rang and then went out. Leaving so soon?"
She turned off her bike and pulled off her helmet. "No, sir, I really need to talk to you about something. I was just going to see the General. It's really important."
Jack nodded and walked back to the car. He stuck his head in the open window and said something to Sara. Sam couldn't hear what he said, but Sara nodded and waved at her. She backed her car up, turned, and went back down the road to the city.
Jack came to stand next to her bike. "What's going on? You look upset."
"Sir, you have no idea. Where's your truck?"
"It's at Sara's. I'll explain later, but right now I need to get my spare keys from my locker. Wait for me?"
Sam nodded and backed her bike up. "I'll grab my spare helmet from the office and we can go get your truck. Then we really need to talk. I think we may have a big problem here."
TBC….