Behind The Scene Act III - Neighbors
Season: 3-7
Spoilers: 304, Legacy; 317, A Hundred Days; 503- Ascension; 509, Between Two Fires; 511,
Desperate Measures; 517, Fail Safe; 715, Chimera
Author's Notes: This story has nothing what so ever to do with my earlier story Imbroglio, but I
did decide to use the same time with regards to Sam's buying of her house (early season 3).
Extra points awarded if you can name the two television characters Sam's neighbors are modeled
after.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was raining when the real estate agent came to change the sign.
"Harold come quick, they're taking down the sign!" Mildred Spencer whispered excitedly from her
hiding place behind the curtain.
"Dear, you're inside our home," Harold Spencer replied patiently, giving his newspaper a crisp
shake from the comfort of his easy chair. "You don't need to whisper."
"I know that." His wife retorted, parting the curtains yet again to see how much progress had
been made on the sign.
Completely unaware of the keen eyes watching her every move, the young real estate agent
deftly placed a 'Sold' label across the swinging For Sale sign on the edge of the lawn. Keeping
her umbrella close, she then moved towards the house itself and bent down to remove the spare
key from the realtor box attached to the front door.
"I wonder who it will be," Mildred Spencer contemplated aloud still maintaining her prime position
between the window and the curtain. "I hope it's a family."
"You hate children dear." Harold replied as he turned the page of his newspaper. Would you
look at that; Microsoft split their stock again..
"I don't *hate* children!" Millie replied indignantly still spying on the real estate agent across the
street. "I just prefer them to be seen and not heard."
"And of course this applies to most children." Harold said with a chuckle as he set down the front
page and picked up the sports section.
"I'm just saying I hope it's someone quiet and respectful." She watched as the real estate agent
opened the front door and walked inside. "Maybe it'll be someone who will play bridge with us!"
Mille added hopefully.
"Yes dear." Harold replied in a monotone voice as he mentally crossed his fingers that whoever
moved in next door did not play bridge. He really hated bridge.
"Wonder when the new owners will move in?" Millie pondered aloud as she watched the agent
emerge from the house and lock the front door.
"I'm sure you'll tell me the moment they move in dear." Harold said knowing full well that his wife
would be privy to the arrival of their new neighbors within moments of their appearance.
"Oh, I do hope it's soon!" Millie said closing the curtains and turning towards her husband. "Don't
you love getting new neighbors?" Millie gushed happily as she headed into the kitchen to prepare
supper.
"Not nearly as much as you dear." Harold muttered under his breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Geeze Carter, what have you got in these things anyway?" Colonel O'Neill griped as he lifted
the last box out of his truck and carried it up the driveway towards Major Sam Carter's front door.
"Danny hasn't been giving you any of his rocks now, has he?"
"I heard that Jack." Daniel said carrying a box of his own.
"I do not believe DanielJackson has given MajorCarter any of his artifacts O'Neill." Teal'c replied
as he climbed the few stairs leading up to Sam's new house.
"Books sir," Sam replied as she attempted to take the box from the Colonel's hands. "I have a lot
of books."
"You know you don't have to keep every book you read Carter." Jack said side-stepping Sam's
attempts at taking the box from him. He set it down with a loud thud and boldly whipped off the
lid of this last box to see what she had in there.
"Jack!" Daniel admonished. "That's Sam's!"
"Really, Daniel?" Jack asked playing innocent. "I had no idea what so ever that this box marked,
'BOOKS-ASTROPHYSICS' was Carter's."
"Jack, has anyone told you recently that you can be a real ass sometimes?" Daniel said shaking
his head as he attempted to seal back up the box that Jack had opened.
"Frequently." Jack replied good-naturedly as he lifted out a book from the top of the box. "I mean,
come on Carter, who would in their right mind would read 'Black Holes and Time Warps:
Einstein's Outrageous Legacy'..?" Jack's voice faded as he read the title out loud. He turned the
book over, read a bit on the back cover and then looked up sheepishly.
"Actually Carter, this is a pretty good book. I think I read it last summer."
"I know you did Sir. I gave you the book for your birthday." Sam said trying not to sound too
amused. Colonel O'Neill was her CO after all; never a good idea to laugh at your Commanding
Officer.
Jack decided to try and take the attention off of himself. "Carter, you do realize you have nosey
neighbors, right?" He asked as he rummaged around in her fridgerator for one of the beers he
had stuck in there hours ago. He popped one open and gratefully sank onto one of the few
pieces of furniture Carter actually owned. Sam seriously needed to go furniture shopping…
"What are you talking about Jack?" Daniel asked completely baffled by the knowing looks being
shared between his teammates.
"I believe O'Neill refers to the woman gathering intelligence across the street." Teal'c said with a
knowing tilt of his head.
"Spying Teal'c." Jack clarified taking a long swallow of his beer. "The lady was spying on Carter,
and frankly, I found it damn annoying."
"Luckily for you Sir, the woman is my neighborhood and not yours." Sam said smiling as she
helped herself to a beer as well. "I think she lives with her husband."
"You just watch out for that lady Carter, we wouldn't want her sticking her nose in things it doesn't
belong."
"Why would anyone place their noses in areas that might cause them discomfort?" Teal'c asked
in a deadpan voice.
"I swear you do that on purpose now Teal'c." Jack said shaking a finger at his friend. With a
short laugh he stood up and headed towards the back door. Time to fire up the schnazzy new
grill SG-1 had gotten for Carter as a housewarming gift.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I wonder which one she's with…?" Mildred asked her husband as she steadied the plate of
homemade brownies and chocolate chip cookies in one hand and straightened her skirt with the
other.
"She may not "be" with any of them Millie, so don't you go be making a fuss now, you hear?" Her
husband replied seriously as he opened the door. After 45 years of marriage, he still loved his
wife completely, but knew she was a total busy-body.
"Oh shush Harold." Millie tutted as she stepped into the mid summer sunshine. "I'm just being
neighborly."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Harold muttered under his breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Knock, knock!" Mildred said loudly as she stepped through the open front door. "Anyone
home?"
"I think I see them out on the back porch," Mildred whispered knowingly to her husband. "Let's
walk around back."
"I couldn't talk you into coming back tomorrow?" Harold asked with a sigh. Through the open
doors, he could see their new neighbor and her friends laughing over an open grill.
"Harold, come *on*!" Millie replied tugging at her husband's arm.
"Coming, dear." Harold said feeling the weight of the world once again on his shoulders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And then Teal'c just looked at the guy and said, "You will move now." The guy was so freaked
out that he virtually leapt out of line and took his entire family with him!" Jack laughed, Sam
smiled and even Teal'c managed to look amused at Jack's little story.
Daniel however, was not laughing.
"Wish I had been there." Daniel said darkly taking a sip of his water. "Oh, but wait. I wasn't,
because Janet still had me locked up in her infirmary trying to undo all the damage McKenzie and
his goons did to me."
"Ah, shit Danny." Jack said contritely. "I had forgotten about that."
"It was only a few weeks ago Jack." Daniel replied measurably. "Wish I could say the same."
Jack was about to apologize yet again for allowing McKenzie to lock his friend away, when he
was saved by the arrival of a petite older woman and what had to be her husband.
"Hello." Sam said stepping up to the couple. "You must be my new neighbors. I'm Sam Carter."
"Sam?" Millie repeated with a slight frown. What kind of name is 'Sam' for a woman? She
wondered if this statuesque blonde in front of her was Gay. She was pretty certain she had never
met a Gay person before (because, after all, she would know right?) but 'Sam' seemed like a
good Gay name.
"It's short for Samantha." Sam explained as she accepted the plate of food.
"Nice to meet you Sam," Harold said sticking out his right arm. "My name is Harold Spencer, and
this is my wife Mildred."
"Millie." Millie said with a smile. "We live across the street in the yellow house."
"Nice to meet you both," Sam replied politely. "Would you like to stay for dinner? The Colonel
bought more than enough hamburgers to feed a few extra people."
"Carter is obviously forgetting how 'T eats." Jack muttered under his breath.
"Colonel?" Mille repeated eyeing the casual looking man flipping burgers. He certainly didn't look
like a Colonel.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill ma'am." Jack said raising the spatula in greeting. "Carter there works with
me doing deep space telemetry up there in Cheyenne Mountain."
"Deep space telemetry?" Millie repeated completely taken back. Was that even a job?
"I'm an Astrophysicist with the United States Air Force." Sam explained to the befuddled woman.
"Women are allowed in the Air Force?" Millie said aloud.
"Dear!" Harold chastised. "Of course they are! Haven't you ever watched one of those space
shuttle missions on tv? There are even female astronauts these days."
"Just think Carter," Jack said with a twinkle in his eye. "Maybe one day you can head into space
as well."
"Wouldn't that be something!" Harold said in awe.
"Yep," Jack said raising his beer and taking a long drink. "It sure would."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"All I'm saying is that you could have been nicer Jack." Daniel repeated as he helped gather up
the paper plates and empty potato salad containers from Sam's back yard.
"I was nice!" Jack said indignantly as he dumped his garbage into a large plastic bag. "Women
like me Daniel."
"So says the man who hasn't had a date in three years." He held up a hand before Jack could
open his mouth. "A *date* Jack. Kynthia doesn't quite qualify."
"Spoilsport." Jack muttered.
"So Carter," Jack yelled into the kitchen. "What do you think of your new neighbors?"
"They seem nice sir." Sam called out. "I think Harold has his hands full with Millie there."
"Betcha $5 bucks they don't have children." Jack called back.
"Why do you say that sir?" Sam asked surprised.
"That woman is way too interested in other people's lives to seriously have one of her own."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I ran into Samantha today." Millie said conversationally over dinner.
"That's nice dear." Harold replied cutting his steak. "How is she doing?"
"Horrible!" Millie said dropping her fork and leaning in. "Harold, the poor woman looks sickly!
She must have lost at least 10 pounds since last I saw her, and there were bags under her eyes
that no makeup on this planet could possibly hide!"
"Is she ill?" Harold asked worriedly. Although Millie showed way too much interest in the young
Major's extracurricular life, Harold enjoyed the woman for who she was. He had never met
anyone (male or female) who knew more about space than that young lady. Plus, she played a
pretty decent game of chess.
"I think so." Millie said nodding vigorously. "I asked her if everything was all right, and she
replied that it wasn't and that she needed to get back to work. She asked if we'd collect her mail
and water her plants for her as she wasn't certain when she'd be returning home again!"
"Doesn't sound good." Harold agreed.
"I just wonder what could be so darn important in that mountain of hers to keep her away from her
home."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Know what I saw today?" Millie asked as she carefully pulled a thread through her quilt.
"Your conscience?" Harold replied attempting to be funny.
"Ha ha, Harold." Mildred said not at all amused. "I saw Samantha walking in the park with a
suitor!"
"A suitor!" Harold replied doing a pretty good impression of his wife. "Imagine that!"
"Oh stop it!" Millie groused. "I haven't seen Samantha entertain anyone except for that female
doctor friend of hers, that teenage girl, and those three fellas we met when she first moved in.
Samantha Carter is a very beautiful woman, and it just didn't seem right that she was always so
alone in that house of hers.
"Maybe she brings her men in through the back door." Harold replied as he turned a page of his
newspaper.
"Now why would she do that?" Millie asked, clearly not understanding where he husband was
coming from.
"It certainly is what I would do if you were my neighbor."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Harold, get out here!" Millie called to her husband as she scurried away from the front room
windows and into the living room. "That colonel-fella of Ms.Carter's is heading this way!" After
spending so much of her time anonymously observing others, Mildred was rather
discombobulated to suddenly be the focus of someone else's attention. She could hear the
colonel walking up the stairs and quickly ran into the living room to sit down.
"Harold!" Millie hissed as she sat down on the living room sofa and picked up her needlepoint.
"You need to answer the door!"
"He hasn't even knocked yet Mildred!" Harold replied peevishly as he slowly made his way down
the stairs. Before Millie could reply a quick succession of knocks could be heard outside the front
door.
"See?!" Millie whispered as she urged her husband to hurry up. Exhaling loudly and wondering
just how his wife had managed to turn out the way she did, Harold opened the door.
"Good morning Sir." Jack O'Neill said politely offering his hand to Harold. He made eye contact
with Millie sitting in the front room and gave her a quick nod. "Ma'am."
"You're Dr. Carter's boss, right?" Harold asked leading Jack into the living room.
"That's right." Jack confirmed. "Major Carter works with me over at Cheyenne Military base."
"Is she there right now?" Millie blurted out before anyone could direct the conversation
elsewhere. She hadn't seen Samantha in nearly three days and while her absences weren't all
that unusual, it was odd that she left without asking the Spencers to pick up her mail or water her
plants.
"Actually she isn't ma'am." Jack said with a frown. "That's why I'm here actually. To find out if
you have seen Major Carter in the last 72 hours."
"She's missing?!" Millie said raising her voice.
"I'm afraid she may be Mrs. Spencer." Jack said trying to quell the feeling that something very
bad had happened to once of his officers. "Can you tell me when was the last time you saw
Major Carter?"
"Saturday morning." Millie said without missing a beat. "She got into that spiffy little car of hers
and headed off to the gym.
"How do you know it was to a gym ma'am?" Jack asked. He didn't doubt Millie's claim what so
ever, but he was curious as to how she knew where Sam was going.
"She had her gym bag with her." Millie explained. Jack just nodded.
"Is there anything more you can tell me?" He asked hopefully. If anyone might have noticed foul
play, it would definitely be Millie Spencer.
"Well," Millie began warming up to her audience. "About two weeks ago, I began noticing a white
van parked just down the block. I thought I saw a pair of binoculars once, and they seemed to be
watching Samantha's house."
"Did you tell Sam about this?" Jack asked.
"No." Millie replied shooting her husband a dark glance. "Harold told me I was imagining things
and not to bother Samantha."
"How was I to know you really saw something Millie?" Harold offered up in his defense.
"Because I *always* see things Harold!" Mille shot back.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Harold muttered under his breath.
As interesting as this couple was, Jack needed to get the hell out of there and back to trying to
find his major. "Besides the white van, did either of you notice anything else?"
"Sorry colonel." Harold replied regretfully. "I don't recall seeing anything unusual."
"Not since all those military folks were here causing such a ruckus a few months ago." Millie
added. "Did you ever catch the vandal who did all that damage to Samantha's house?"
Jack counted to five in latin before replying. "Yes ma'am." He said smoothly. "The party
responsible for causing all the trouble here a few months ago has indeed been caught." Actually
the party had been released, but these nice folks didn't need to know all that. Jack had a hard
enough time understanding an Ascended being with Daniel explaining it (using only one or two
syllable words), there wasn't a chance in hell he could explain it to anyone else. Even if it wasn't
classified 6-ways to next Friday.
"Thank you for your time." Jack said standing up to go. "I'm sure we'll locate Major Carter soon.
If you do notice anything unusual, please don't hesitate to give me a call." Jack handed Millie one
of his cards and quietly walked out of the house.
"I do hope they find Sam." Harold remarked as he shut the door behind the Colonel.
"Harold?" Millie asked puzzled.
"Yes?"
"That officer who was just here was named Jack O'Neill, right?"
"That's right."
"Then why does this card read 'Dr. Daniel Jackson'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He's back Harold."
"Do I even want to know Millie?" Harold asked with a sigh; wishing for the millionth time that his
wife would stop spying on people from behind the curtains.
"That police fella of Samantha's." Millie explained as she watched the happy couple walk up the
stairs and stop to say goodbye.
"It is odd that she doesn't invite him in though." Millie said aloud. "Don't young people usually
invite their suitors inside these days?"
"Millie! Would you please get away from the window and let the poor couple say goodnight in
private?!" Hmmping loudly Millie stepped away from the window and sat down in her easy chair
next to her husband.
"He seems like a nice enough guy, but I still don't think he's the right one for her." Millie said
picking up her needlepoint. "I still see her with that nice Dr. Jackson. He's an archaeologist you
know."
"I was in the room when he introduced himself Millie." Harold replied patiently.
"They seem perfectly compatible in practically every way!" Harold refrained from asking just what
Millie meant by 'every way'
"Millie, I think.."
"Shhh!" Mildred said excitedly as she ran across the room and parted the curtains on the far side
of the living room. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what Mildred?" Harold asked wondering if he needed new hearing aid batteries again.
Mildred already had her nose pressed tightly against the window and she breathed out reverently
as she spied the SUV parking in the garage next door.
"We're getting new neighbors!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like? Hate? Click the little button down there and let me know!
Season: 3-7
Spoilers: 304, Legacy; 317, A Hundred Days; 503- Ascension; 509, Between Two Fires; 511,
Desperate Measures; 517, Fail Safe; 715, Chimera
Author's Notes: This story has nothing what so ever to do with my earlier story Imbroglio, but I
did decide to use the same time with regards to Sam's buying of her house (early season 3).
Extra points awarded if you can name the two television characters Sam's neighbors are modeled
after.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was raining when the real estate agent came to change the sign.
"Harold come quick, they're taking down the sign!" Mildred Spencer whispered excitedly from her
hiding place behind the curtain.
"Dear, you're inside our home," Harold Spencer replied patiently, giving his newspaper a crisp
shake from the comfort of his easy chair. "You don't need to whisper."
"I know that." His wife retorted, parting the curtains yet again to see how much progress had
been made on the sign.
Completely unaware of the keen eyes watching her every move, the young real estate agent
deftly placed a 'Sold' label across the swinging For Sale sign on the edge of the lawn. Keeping
her umbrella close, she then moved towards the house itself and bent down to remove the spare
key from the realtor box attached to the front door.
"I wonder who it will be," Mildred Spencer contemplated aloud still maintaining her prime position
between the window and the curtain. "I hope it's a family."
"You hate children dear." Harold replied as he turned the page of his newspaper. Would you
look at that; Microsoft split their stock again..
"I don't *hate* children!" Millie replied indignantly still spying on the real estate agent across the
street. "I just prefer them to be seen and not heard."
"And of course this applies to most children." Harold said with a chuckle as he set down the front
page and picked up the sports section.
"I'm just saying I hope it's someone quiet and respectful." She watched as the real estate agent
opened the front door and walked inside. "Maybe it'll be someone who will play bridge with us!"
Mille added hopefully.
"Yes dear." Harold replied in a monotone voice as he mentally crossed his fingers that whoever
moved in next door did not play bridge. He really hated bridge.
"Wonder when the new owners will move in?" Millie pondered aloud as she watched the agent
emerge from the house and lock the front door.
"I'm sure you'll tell me the moment they move in dear." Harold said knowing full well that his wife
would be privy to the arrival of their new neighbors within moments of their appearance.
"Oh, I do hope it's soon!" Millie said closing the curtains and turning towards her husband. "Don't
you love getting new neighbors?" Millie gushed happily as she headed into the kitchen to prepare
supper.
"Not nearly as much as you dear." Harold muttered under his breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Geeze Carter, what have you got in these things anyway?" Colonel O'Neill griped as he lifted
the last box out of his truck and carried it up the driveway towards Major Sam Carter's front door.
"Danny hasn't been giving you any of his rocks now, has he?"
"I heard that Jack." Daniel said carrying a box of his own.
"I do not believe DanielJackson has given MajorCarter any of his artifacts O'Neill." Teal'c replied
as he climbed the few stairs leading up to Sam's new house.
"Books sir," Sam replied as she attempted to take the box from the Colonel's hands. "I have a lot
of books."
"You know you don't have to keep every book you read Carter." Jack said side-stepping Sam's
attempts at taking the box from him. He set it down with a loud thud and boldly whipped off the
lid of this last box to see what she had in there.
"Jack!" Daniel admonished. "That's Sam's!"
"Really, Daniel?" Jack asked playing innocent. "I had no idea what so ever that this box marked,
'BOOKS-ASTROPHYSICS' was Carter's."
"Jack, has anyone told you recently that you can be a real ass sometimes?" Daniel said shaking
his head as he attempted to seal back up the box that Jack had opened.
"Frequently." Jack replied good-naturedly as he lifted out a book from the top of the box. "I mean,
come on Carter, who would in their right mind would read 'Black Holes and Time Warps:
Einstein's Outrageous Legacy'..?" Jack's voice faded as he read the title out loud. He turned the
book over, read a bit on the back cover and then looked up sheepishly.
"Actually Carter, this is a pretty good book. I think I read it last summer."
"I know you did Sir. I gave you the book for your birthday." Sam said trying not to sound too
amused. Colonel O'Neill was her CO after all; never a good idea to laugh at your Commanding
Officer.
Jack decided to try and take the attention off of himself. "Carter, you do realize you have nosey
neighbors, right?" He asked as he rummaged around in her fridgerator for one of the beers he
had stuck in there hours ago. He popped one open and gratefully sank onto one of the few
pieces of furniture Carter actually owned. Sam seriously needed to go furniture shopping…
"What are you talking about Jack?" Daniel asked completely baffled by the knowing looks being
shared between his teammates.
"I believe O'Neill refers to the woman gathering intelligence across the street." Teal'c said with a
knowing tilt of his head.
"Spying Teal'c." Jack clarified taking a long swallow of his beer. "The lady was spying on Carter,
and frankly, I found it damn annoying."
"Luckily for you Sir, the woman is my neighborhood and not yours." Sam said smiling as she
helped herself to a beer as well. "I think she lives with her husband."
"You just watch out for that lady Carter, we wouldn't want her sticking her nose in things it doesn't
belong."
"Why would anyone place their noses in areas that might cause them discomfort?" Teal'c asked
in a deadpan voice.
"I swear you do that on purpose now Teal'c." Jack said shaking a finger at his friend. With a
short laugh he stood up and headed towards the back door. Time to fire up the schnazzy new
grill SG-1 had gotten for Carter as a housewarming gift.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I wonder which one she's with…?" Mildred asked her husband as she steadied the plate of
homemade brownies and chocolate chip cookies in one hand and straightened her skirt with the
other.
"She may not "be" with any of them Millie, so don't you go be making a fuss now, you hear?" Her
husband replied seriously as he opened the door. After 45 years of marriage, he still loved his
wife completely, but knew she was a total busy-body.
"Oh shush Harold." Millie tutted as she stepped into the mid summer sunshine. "I'm just being
neighborly."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Harold muttered under his breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Knock, knock!" Mildred said loudly as she stepped through the open front door. "Anyone
home?"
"I think I see them out on the back porch," Mildred whispered knowingly to her husband. "Let's
walk around back."
"I couldn't talk you into coming back tomorrow?" Harold asked with a sigh. Through the open
doors, he could see their new neighbor and her friends laughing over an open grill.
"Harold, come *on*!" Millie replied tugging at her husband's arm.
"Coming, dear." Harold said feeling the weight of the world once again on his shoulders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And then Teal'c just looked at the guy and said, "You will move now." The guy was so freaked
out that he virtually leapt out of line and took his entire family with him!" Jack laughed, Sam
smiled and even Teal'c managed to look amused at Jack's little story.
Daniel however, was not laughing.
"Wish I had been there." Daniel said darkly taking a sip of his water. "Oh, but wait. I wasn't,
because Janet still had me locked up in her infirmary trying to undo all the damage McKenzie and
his goons did to me."
"Ah, shit Danny." Jack said contritely. "I had forgotten about that."
"It was only a few weeks ago Jack." Daniel replied measurably. "Wish I could say the same."
Jack was about to apologize yet again for allowing McKenzie to lock his friend away, when he
was saved by the arrival of a petite older woman and what had to be her husband.
"Hello." Sam said stepping up to the couple. "You must be my new neighbors. I'm Sam Carter."
"Sam?" Millie repeated with a slight frown. What kind of name is 'Sam' for a woman? She
wondered if this statuesque blonde in front of her was Gay. She was pretty certain she had never
met a Gay person before (because, after all, she would know right?) but 'Sam' seemed like a
good Gay name.
"It's short for Samantha." Sam explained as she accepted the plate of food.
"Nice to meet you Sam," Harold said sticking out his right arm. "My name is Harold Spencer, and
this is my wife Mildred."
"Millie." Millie said with a smile. "We live across the street in the yellow house."
"Nice to meet you both," Sam replied politely. "Would you like to stay for dinner? The Colonel
bought more than enough hamburgers to feed a few extra people."
"Carter is obviously forgetting how 'T eats." Jack muttered under his breath.
"Colonel?" Mille repeated eyeing the casual looking man flipping burgers. He certainly didn't look
like a Colonel.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill ma'am." Jack said raising the spatula in greeting. "Carter there works with
me doing deep space telemetry up there in Cheyenne Mountain."
"Deep space telemetry?" Millie repeated completely taken back. Was that even a job?
"I'm an Astrophysicist with the United States Air Force." Sam explained to the befuddled woman.
"Women are allowed in the Air Force?" Millie said aloud.
"Dear!" Harold chastised. "Of course they are! Haven't you ever watched one of those space
shuttle missions on tv? There are even female astronauts these days."
"Just think Carter," Jack said with a twinkle in his eye. "Maybe one day you can head into space
as well."
"Wouldn't that be something!" Harold said in awe.
"Yep," Jack said raising his beer and taking a long drink. "It sure would."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"All I'm saying is that you could have been nicer Jack." Daniel repeated as he helped gather up
the paper plates and empty potato salad containers from Sam's back yard.
"I was nice!" Jack said indignantly as he dumped his garbage into a large plastic bag. "Women
like me Daniel."
"So says the man who hasn't had a date in three years." He held up a hand before Jack could
open his mouth. "A *date* Jack. Kynthia doesn't quite qualify."
"Spoilsport." Jack muttered.
"So Carter," Jack yelled into the kitchen. "What do you think of your new neighbors?"
"They seem nice sir." Sam called out. "I think Harold has his hands full with Millie there."
"Betcha $5 bucks they don't have children." Jack called back.
"Why do you say that sir?" Sam asked surprised.
"That woman is way too interested in other people's lives to seriously have one of her own."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I ran into Samantha today." Millie said conversationally over dinner.
"That's nice dear." Harold replied cutting his steak. "How is she doing?"
"Horrible!" Millie said dropping her fork and leaning in. "Harold, the poor woman looks sickly!
She must have lost at least 10 pounds since last I saw her, and there were bags under her eyes
that no makeup on this planet could possibly hide!"
"Is she ill?" Harold asked worriedly. Although Millie showed way too much interest in the young
Major's extracurricular life, Harold enjoyed the woman for who she was. He had never met
anyone (male or female) who knew more about space than that young lady. Plus, she played a
pretty decent game of chess.
"I think so." Millie said nodding vigorously. "I asked her if everything was all right, and she
replied that it wasn't and that she needed to get back to work. She asked if we'd collect her mail
and water her plants for her as she wasn't certain when she'd be returning home again!"
"Doesn't sound good." Harold agreed.
"I just wonder what could be so darn important in that mountain of hers to keep her away from her
home."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Know what I saw today?" Millie asked as she carefully pulled a thread through her quilt.
"Your conscience?" Harold replied attempting to be funny.
"Ha ha, Harold." Mildred said not at all amused. "I saw Samantha walking in the park with a
suitor!"
"A suitor!" Harold replied doing a pretty good impression of his wife. "Imagine that!"
"Oh stop it!" Millie groused. "I haven't seen Samantha entertain anyone except for that female
doctor friend of hers, that teenage girl, and those three fellas we met when she first moved in.
Samantha Carter is a very beautiful woman, and it just didn't seem right that she was always so
alone in that house of hers.
"Maybe she brings her men in through the back door." Harold replied as he turned a page of his
newspaper.
"Now why would she do that?" Millie asked, clearly not understanding where he husband was
coming from.
"It certainly is what I would do if you were my neighbor."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Harold, get out here!" Millie called to her husband as she scurried away from the front room
windows and into the living room. "That colonel-fella of Ms.Carter's is heading this way!" After
spending so much of her time anonymously observing others, Mildred was rather
discombobulated to suddenly be the focus of someone else's attention. She could hear the
colonel walking up the stairs and quickly ran into the living room to sit down.
"Harold!" Millie hissed as she sat down on the living room sofa and picked up her needlepoint.
"You need to answer the door!"
"He hasn't even knocked yet Mildred!" Harold replied peevishly as he slowly made his way down
the stairs. Before Millie could reply a quick succession of knocks could be heard outside the front
door.
"See?!" Millie whispered as she urged her husband to hurry up. Exhaling loudly and wondering
just how his wife had managed to turn out the way she did, Harold opened the door.
"Good morning Sir." Jack O'Neill said politely offering his hand to Harold. He made eye contact
with Millie sitting in the front room and gave her a quick nod. "Ma'am."
"You're Dr. Carter's boss, right?" Harold asked leading Jack into the living room.
"That's right." Jack confirmed. "Major Carter works with me over at Cheyenne Military base."
"Is she there right now?" Millie blurted out before anyone could direct the conversation
elsewhere. She hadn't seen Samantha in nearly three days and while her absences weren't all
that unusual, it was odd that she left without asking the Spencers to pick up her mail or water her
plants.
"Actually she isn't ma'am." Jack said with a frown. "That's why I'm here actually. To find out if
you have seen Major Carter in the last 72 hours."
"She's missing?!" Millie said raising her voice.
"I'm afraid she may be Mrs. Spencer." Jack said trying to quell the feeling that something very
bad had happened to once of his officers. "Can you tell me when was the last time you saw
Major Carter?"
"Saturday morning." Millie said without missing a beat. "She got into that spiffy little car of hers
and headed off to the gym.
"How do you know it was to a gym ma'am?" Jack asked. He didn't doubt Millie's claim what so
ever, but he was curious as to how she knew where Sam was going.
"She had her gym bag with her." Millie explained. Jack just nodded.
"Is there anything more you can tell me?" He asked hopefully. If anyone might have noticed foul
play, it would definitely be Millie Spencer.
"Well," Millie began warming up to her audience. "About two weeks ago, I began noticing a white
van parked just down the block. I thought I saw a pair of binoculars once, and they seemed to be
watching Samantha's house."
"Did you tell Sam about this?" Jack asked.
"No." Millie replied shooting her husband a dark glance. "Harold told me I was imagining things
and not to bother Samantha."
"How was I to know you really saw something Millie?" Harold offered up in his defense.
"Because I *always* see things Harold!" Mille shot back.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Harold muttered under his breath.
As interesting as this couple was, Jack needed to get the hell out of there and back to trying to
find his major. "Besides the white van, did either of you notice anything else?"
"Sorry colonel." Harold replied regretfully. "I don't recall seeing anything unusual."
"Not since all those military folks were here causing such a ruckus a few months ago." Millie
added. "Did you ever catch the vandal who did all that damage to Samantha's house?"
Jack counted to five in latin before replying. "Yes ma'am." He said smoothly. "The party
responsible for causing all the trouble here a few months ago has indeed been caught." Actually
the party had been released, but these nice folks didn't need to know all that. Jack had a hard
enough time understanding an Ascended being with Daniel explaining it (using only one or two
syllable words), there wasn't a chance in hell he could explain it to anyone else. Even if it wasn't
classified 6-ways to next Friday.
"Thank you for your time." Jack said standing up to go. "I'm sure we'll locate Major Carter soon.
If you do notice anything unusual, please don't hesitate to give me a call." Jack handed Millie one
of his cards and quietly walked out of the house.
"I do hope they find Sam." Harold remarked as he shut the door behind the Colonel.
"Harold?" Millie asked puzzled.
"Yes?"
"That officer who was just here was named Jack O'Neill, right?"
"That's right."
"Then why does this card read 'Dr. Daniel Jackson'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He's back Harold."
"Do I even want to know Millie?" Harold asked with a sigh; wishing for the millionth time that his
wife would stop spying on people from behind the curtains.
"That police fella of Samantha's." Millie explained as she watched the happy couple walk up the
stairs and stop to say goodbye.
"It is odd that she doesn't invite him in though." Millie said aloud. "Don't young people usually
invite their suitors inside these days?"
"Millie! Would you please get away from the window and let the poor couple say goodnight in
private?!" Hmmping loudly Millie stepped away from the window and sat down in her easy chair
next to her husband.
"He seems like a nice enough guy, but I still don't think he's the right one for her." Millie said
picking up her needlepoint. "I still see her with that nice Dr. Jackson. He's an archaeologist you
know."
"I was in the room when he introduced himself Millie." Harold replied patiently.
"They seem perfectly compatible in practically every way!" Harold refrained from asking just what
Millie meant by 'every way'
"Millie, I think.."
"Shhh!" Mildred said excitedly as she ran across the room and parted the curtains on the far side
of the living room. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what Mildred?" Harold asked wondering if he needed new hearing aid batteries again.
Mildred already had her nose pressed tightly against the window and she breathed out reverently
as she spied the SUV parking in the garage next door.
"We're getting new neighbors!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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