Early 1990, Kuwaiti Desert, Medical Aid Camp
A USAF black ops team had been sent to the Middle East. Despite their best efforts, even the best of the best managed to get lost in endless, empty desert. They were supposed to be in Saudi Arabia, but in the endless sameness, they missed. By all governmental accounts, Jack O'Neill and his team were not in the Middle East. However, that didn't stop them from nearly getting caught in a sand storm.
"Hold still!" the director of the camp snapped.
"If you'd stop torturing me, I'd stop moving!"
"Colonel, you of all people should know there are worse things in life than getting six stiches without anaesthetic!" the woman snapped through her face veil. "And if you don't stop fidgeting, I will rip these out and start again!"
Jack grumbled but held still. "You sound American," he said, looking suspiciously at her eyes.
"I am American." She turned away and pulled off her face veil and hijab. "You're lucky you found us before the storm hit. Even American soldiers can die in the desert."
"We're Airmen," he corrected with a tone. She turned back around and Jack practically jumped ut of his skin. "Oh my god! Charlie!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Charlie? Who the hell's Charlie?" She shook her head and smiled slightly. "Oh, right. That's me. The memory still comes and goes," she said, shrugging helplessly. "That's why you look familiar, isn't it? You're Jack."
He gave her an odd look. "What's going on here?"
"Got a couple of hours?" she replied lightly.
"What is going on here?" he repeated.
"I'm back," she said lightly. "But... I have no idea where I've been. Want something to drink?" she offered, moving to where she kept a jug of water.
"Damn it, Peta!" he snapped, causing her to look up at him. "What happened? Where have you been?"
"I don't know!" she snapped in return. She took a deep breath and sat down across frm Jack. "After Beruit, I don't remember anything until about a year ago... and it's not that I just don't remember, those years didn't happen for me. Trust me," she said at his sceptical expression, "I know the difference. I spent the first six months of last year a complete blank slate."
"And now?"
"Not so blank."
"When you remembered, why didn't you go back to Minnesota?"
She chuckled lightly. "And what do you think would happen to Mahin's heart if I showed up on her doorstep?"
"You're chicken shit," he muttered, smirking slightly.
"Damn straight," she said, shrugging slightly. "Everything I've remembered has been god-awful... I don't want the little I remember of home to turn out to be the same."
"What are you talking about?" Jack demanded. "You're mom's fantastic!"
"She was?" Peta inquired doubtfully.
He nodded emphatically. "After we got married, Mahin was the only one of our parents who wasn't ready to disown us and force us to get an annulment–even though she knew we were making a mistake, she was plenty vocal about that. She let us live in her house, even though we were kids who had no idea what marriage was. My god, she's taken care of Leila for the past six years and loved every second of it."
"That's really my mother?"
He nodded. "Yeah. And you're just like her."
"No, I'm not. I would never have let my daughter get married at sixteen."
"Do you not even know yourself anymore?" Jack asked, a bit sharper than he'd meant. "You do exactly what you want to do, hang the consequences–you always have. We got married knowing we'd have to get divorced, but you insisted we do it anyway. Not even Mahin could have stopped you!"
"She should have," she responded quietly. "We were playing at marriage because we knew we could... it was the most ridiculously stupid thing we ever did."
"Of course it was!" he exploded at her. "And that is exactly why we did it! We didn't want to admit that we were going to eventually leave each other, so we did the first thing that popped into our stoned heads!"
"Now I remember why I neve bothered to go back!" she snapped. "All we do when we see each other anymore is argue! Well, argue and of course have sex. Because, let's face it–sex was really what we had in common. Well, actually sex, drugs, and rock and roll, as they say. And then later after we were supposed to be friends again, your letters were always so superficial!"
"My letters?"
She nodded. "You didn't even tell me about Sara! I heard about her from you sisters! What, did you think I wouldn't have approved?"
"You wrote to my sisters?" He shook his head pushing the statement away. "And what about you? You're letters were just the same!"
"What sort of dating could I have done?" she demanded. "I lived in Middle East and I'm not Muslim–that severely narrowed any possible options I had!"
Jack couldn't respond to that. "Well, I– what about Leila?" he demanded.
This seemed to hurt her immensely. "Leila?" she whispered. "You know about Leila?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah... I tried to get custody, but apparently, you had written into your will that under no circumstance was I to have custody of her as long as your mother and siblings were all alive."
She flinched at the bitterness in his tone. "I meant to tell you, to explain... at least, I think I did."
"Oh, and that makes it alright," he muttered sarcastically.
Anger that Peta didn't even realise she possessed exploded out of her mouth. "Dammit Jack! She already has to deal with having her mother gone. God– I died when she was four years-old! And now, I hardly even remember her. Besides, even if I did, she is six years older than how I knew her. I have to find a way to reintroduce myself to her and the rest of my family without causing several aneurysms and you want to be a part of her life? I can't give my daughter a father just have him disappear for months at a time, possibly to never come back! And don't you dare say that's unfair because you know fair doesn't get to be a part of our lives!" She took a deep breath and wiped a tear out of her eye. "You have no idea how many children I have sewed back together without any anaesthetic or clean water, just so they can run back into the war zone that is their home. I don't want to remember my life, because frankly I don't think much of it was anything a sane person would voluntarily replay in their heads."
Jack was taken aback by the outburst and didn't say anything else for a few moments. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Clearly, we have a few things we need to work out."
Peta looked at him and then dissolved into giggles. "We never could communicate," she agreed.
He nodded. "No... you hit it dead on with that sex comment before."
She nodded. "Yeah, practically everything I've remembered about you is horizontal... a couple of vertical, maybe... but, whatever."
From there, Jack and Peta launched into a conversation that last half the night. By the time the sand storm had passed in the morning, they were friends, and neither of them had slept.
Author's Note: I'm a little bit happier with how this turned out... one last chapter to come. It'll probably be Jack trying to explain a few things to Sam... it'll go into more detail of how flawed this relationship actually was, if that's entirely necessary.
A USAF black ops team had been sent to the Middle East. Despite their best efforts, even the best of the best managed to get lost in endless, empty desert. They were supposed to be in Saudi Arabia, but in the endless sameness, they missed. By all governmental accounts, Jack O'Neill and his team were not in the Middle East. However, that didn't stop them from nearly getting caught in a sand storm.
"Hold still!" the director of the camp snapped.
"If you'd stop torturing me, I'd stop moving!"
"Colonel, you of all people should know there are worse things in life than getting six stiches without anaesthetic!" the woman snapped through her face veil. "And if you don't stop fidgeting, I will rip these out and start again!"
Jack grumbled but held still. "You sound American," he said, looking suspiciously at her eyes.
"I am American." She turned away and pulled off her face veil and hijab. "You're lucky you found us before the storm hit. Even American soldiers can die in the desert."
"We're Airmen," he corrected with a tone. She turned back around and Jack practically jumped ut of his skin. "Oh my god! Charlie!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Charlie? Who the hell's Charlie?" She shook her head and smiled slightly. "Oh, right. That's me. The memory still comes and goes," she said, shrugging helplessly. "That's why you look familiar, isn't it? You're Jack."
He gave her an odd look. "What's going on here?"
"Got a couple of hours?" she replied lightly.
"What is going on here?" he repeated.
"I'm back," she said lightly. "But... I have no idea where I've been. Want something to drink?" she offered, moving to where she kept a jug of water.
"Damn it, Peta!" he snapped, causing her to look up at him. "What happened? Where have you been?"
"I don't know!" she snapped in return. She took a deep breath and sat down across frm Jack. "After Beruit, I don't remember anything until about a year ago... and it's not that I just don't remember, those years didn't happen for me. Trust me," she said at his sceptical expression, "I know the difference. I spent the first six months of last year a complete blank slate."
"And now?"
"Not so blank."
"When you remembered, why didn't you go back to Minnesota?"
She chuckled lightly. "And what do you think would happen to Mahin's heart if I showed up on her doorstep?"
"You're chicken shit," he muttered, smirking slightly.
"Damn straight," she said, shrugging slightly. "Everything I've remembered has been god-awful... I don't want the little I remember of home to turn out to be the same."
"What are you talking about?" Jack demanded. "You're mom's fantastic!"
"She was?" Peta inquired doubtfully.
He nodded emphatically. "After we got married, Mahin was the only one of our parents who wasn't ready to disown us and force us to get an annulment–even though she knew we were making a mistake, she was plenty vocal about that. She let us live in her house, even though we were kids who had no idea what marriage was. My god, she's taken care of Leila for the past six years and loved every second of it."
"That's really my mother?"
He nodded. "Yeah. And you're just like her."
"No, I'm not. I would never have let my daughter get married at sixteen."
"Do you not even know yourself anymore?" Jack asked, a bit sharper than he'd meant. "You do exactly what you want to do, hang the consequences–you always have. We got married knowing we'd have to get divorced, but you insisted we do it anyway. Not even Mahin could have stopped you!"
"She should have," she responded quietly. "We were playing at marriage because we knew we could... it was the most ridiculously stupid thing we ever did."
"Of course it was!" he exploded at her. "And that is exactly why we did it! We didn't want to admit that we were going to eventually leave each other, so we did the first thing that popped into our stoned heads!"
"Now I remember why I neve bothered to go back!" she snapped. "All we do when we see each other anymore is argue! Well, argue and of course have sex. Because, let's face it–sex was really what we had in common. Well, actually sex, drugs, and rock and roll, as they say. And then later after we were supposed to be friends again, your letters were always so superficial!"
"My letters?"
She nodded. "You didn't even tell me about Sara! I heard about her from you sisters! What, did you think I wouldn't have approved?"
"You wrote to my sisters?" He shook his head pushing the statement away. "And what about you? You're letters were just the same!"
"What sort of dating could I have done?" she demanded. "I lived in Middle East and I'm not Muslim–that severely narrowed any possible options I had!"
Jack couldn't respond to that. "Well, I– what about Leila?" he demanded.
This seemed to hurt her immensely. "Leila?" she whispered. "You know about Leila?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah... I tried to get custody, but apparently, you had written into your will that under no circumstance was I to have custody of her as long as your mother and siblings were all alive."
She flinched at the bitterness in his tone. "I meant to tell you, to explain... at least, I think I did."
"Oh, and that makes it alright," he muttered sarcastically.
Anger that Peta didn't even realise she possessed exploded out of her mouth. "Dammit Jack! She already has to deal with having her mother gone. God– I died when she was four years-old! And now, I hardly even remember her. Besides, even if I did, she is six years older than how I knew her. I have to find a way to reintroduce myself to her and the rest of my family without causing several aneurysms and you want to be a part of her life? I can't give my daughter a father just have him disappear for months at a time, possibly to never come back! And don't you dare say that's unfair because you know fair doesn't get to be a part of our lives!" She took a deep breath and wiped a tear out of her eye. "You have no idea how many children I have sewed back together without any anaesthetic or clean water, just so they can run back into the war zone that is their home. I don't want to remember my life, because frankly I don't think much of it was anything a sane person would voluntarily replay in their heads."
Jack was taken aback by the outburst and didn't say anything else for a few moments. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Clearly, we have a few things we need to work out."
Peta looked at him and then dissolved into giggles. "We never could communicate," she agreed.
He nodded. "No... you hit it dead on with that sex comment before."
She nodded. "Yeah, practically everything I've remembered about you is horizontal... a couple of vertical, maybe... but, whatever."
From there, Jack and Peta launched into a conversation that last half the night. By the time the sand storm had passed in the morning, they were friends, and neither of them had slept.
Author's Note: I'm a little bit happier with how this turned out... one last chapter to come. It'll probably be Jack trying to explain a few things to Sam... it'll go into more detail of how flawed this relationship actually was, if that's entirely necessary.