disclaimer at the beginning. me no own. me no money. me like tea.
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A very full month later, she emerged at the baggage claim to see Sam standing next to three men. Curious, she moved behind a pillar to observe their interaction. The taller black man, clearly a body builder of some type, stood at near attention. No, she checked him off; he was a very attractive looking man, but clearly not Sam's type. She paused for a moment realizing that she might not know her type, before shaking off doubts and continuing. The next man was a much shorter geeky looking brunette who was looking at the oncoming crowd, clearly trying to decipher which one she was. He was bored and was trying his best to put on a good face for Sam. The last was the best option, in her opinion, though she was a bit shocked by his appearance. He was military, probably air force, with gray hair and the attention span of a child. Must be thoroughly charming, she thought with a sigh, otherwise she was sure Sam would never go for him.

Eh, she snuck her head casually behind the pillar. Leaning against the thing she tried to compose herself once more. As many weddings as she had planned, each one had its own unique challenges. This one she was sure would be far more boring than her typical wedding and she had brought more than ample reading material and doohickeys to entertain her.

She straightened out her suit and calmed her hair before taking a curt step in their direction. The geek's eyebrows rose and he motioned to Sam that she was approaching. The odd set of four turned in her direction and each offered some form of non-verbal greeting.

"How was your flight?"

"Long." Very long actually, she had been in the Orient. Sam smiled and motioned to the geeky man.

"This is Doctor Daniel Jackson."

He offered a shaky hand while the other remained firmly in his pocket.

"Hi, nice to meet you."

She smiled. "Lovely to meet you as well."

He relaxed a little and offered a smile.

"This is Murray."

Like hell he is. She offered the same smile and greeting before turning to the man who truly needed her attention.

"And this is General Jack O'Neill."

Her head practically flung back to Sam in surprise. She didn't think Sam had it in her to openly marry a general. What would her father think? Before Sam could respond the general had taken her hand and shaken it.

"Hi, nice to meet ya." He paused. "Didn't catch your name."

"Katarina De Geer." His eyebrows rose and he turned back to Sam. "It's my husband's name."

His mouth formed a small "oh" as she explained how she was related to all the more famous Mitchells in America. Ah, the life of a high profile family. After a bit of an uncomfortable silence, Sam suggested getting her luggage. She smiled and informed them it had been shipped. No use in trying to bring everything for these months over with the weight restrictions. So awkwardly they made their way out to a rented van and made their way to her rented house. The three men left the two of them at the house and drove off.

"You rented a house?"

"Mmmhmm." She turned the key in the lock and let Sam in. "I hate hotels, they drive me crazy."

The entire house was already filed with her furniture, rugs and paintings. Sam looked around the place as she went to go make some tea. Plopping her shoes off and letting down her hair, she boiled the water and let the tea steep. Glancing in the living room, she saw Sam sitting comfortably and took the opportunity to make a break for the bedroom. Quickly she shut the door and rid herself of the terrible clothes. Walking into the back of the closet she opened a covered bag and slipped on the familiar apparel.

Carefully she made her way back into the kitchen undetected and poured two cups of tea. Looking up from the album, Sam smiled at her friend's more familiar appearance. Taking the glass of tea she smiled and looked at the rolled over sweats, half hidden "semper fi" tattoo and black tank top.

"That looks more like it."

She smiled and looked over at the album. Brian's eyes looked back at her through the pages of photographs.

They had been good times, the best times.

"We were married for two years. Two very good years. " Sam smiled at the photographs. "You would have liked him, he was a great man."

"Do you mind me asking what happened?"

She shifted slightly, recalling the day that had forever changed the course of her life.

"We were ambushed. He took a bullet to the head. They operated. He was in coma for three months and then he went one night." She let out a sigh and glanced over at her concerned friend. "I sent in my papers within the week, by the funeral I was out of the marines. They handed me my flag," she gestured to it resting above the mantle "and I took my freedom."

Sam flipped to the last page of the album, before closing it and placing it back on the table.

"But, tell me about your fiancé! I was terribly shocked when I met him."

Sam jerked up in confusion.

"Met him?"

"Yes, the dashing tall gray hair thing you were flirting with."

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Katie, that is General O'Neill, my commanding officer."

"Your commanding officer?" A slight bit of teasing found its way into her voice.

"Yes!" Sam insisted.

"Oh Lord." She sank back into her couch. "How truly awful." She paused, realization setting in. "Then who on earth are you marrying?"

Sam began to squirm again. "His name is Pete Shanahan. He's a cop."

"A copper? You're marrying a copper?" She let out a disgusted noise. "How the hell am I supposed to put together anything decent on an officer and a copper's salary?" The annoyed noises continued. "Oh well." She grumbled on thoroughly disappointed. "I suppose I could call in a few favours." She settled back into the couch so she had a better angle. "So when am I meeting this Pete character?"

"Tonight. We're going out to dinner at O'Malley's."

"Nice." She picked up the teacups and adjusted her sweats so that the whole of the tattoo would not show. "Didn't think to check if I was busy?"

Sam laughed. Okay, well so she knew no one up here. Didn't mean she didn't have plans. She set the cups down in the sink. Damn, it did mean she had no plans. Oh well.

Sitting down at the restaurant, she carefully eyed the blonde man now sitting across from her. He was nervous, as he should be. He looked around for anything pleasant to say. Sam had gone off to the powder room, giving her the perfect chance to dig up all the dirt she needed on boy wonder. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth, just in time for her to cut him off.

"Listen; don't make this too hard on yourself." He looked confused. "I've known her far longer than you or probably anyone has. No one is going to be good enough for her in my eyes, so you can just stop trying."

"Eh.. umm.." escaped his lips as he processed her words. He was slow too, excellent. She would definitely be running the show. Taking a small sip of her champagne, she looked around the small area. Sam emerged with much better looking hair and was positively beaming in Pete's general direction. Oh great, they were sappy as well, the night was getting even better. He cheered up in an instant, who wouldn't, and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

The rest of the night was basically cooing and smiling and oozing. They wanted something small with their family and friends. The arrangement she found most interesting was their Bridal party. She would be the only Bridesmaid chosen by Sam; the rest would be Pete's three sisters. The Groomsmen were the three men she had seen at the airport and Pete's partner from Denver. She stifled a small groan as Sam gave the man a goodbye kiss. Perhaps all this wedding nonsense had made her cynical. She sank back into the driver's seat and looked up at the starry sky. Nah, she had always been this way. Sam sat back into the rented car's seat and looked over radiantly at her.

"So what do you think?"

She opened her mouth, but was cut off by Sam's hand.

"Wait, I don't want to know what you think."

She turned the keys in the ignition. "Ah, how quickly the memories return."

Sam looked unsettled and watched her intently. "You really don't like him?"

"I really don't like him." Okay, that was a bit harsh, even for her. "Sam, darling, he's fine. He's very simple and sweet and average."

Sam rolled her eyes. "What's wrong with that?"

She tapped the steering wheel a bit, trying to think up a better answer than "everything". "Nothing I suppose. It's just here you are.."

Sam abruptly cut her off and continued the well used speech "a woman with it all, who understands more than most people could ever dream of and you're settling."

"Yeah, I might have been planning on saying something resembling that."

Sam sulked.

"You are settling." She accused. With once glance she could tell, Sam had had enough.

"Yes! So what if I am? He's nice. He makes me feel normal. What if I like that? What if I don't want to be special and smart all the time?"

She could relate. Having had most of her childhood documented in newspapers had caused an increased desire for normalcy within her as well. Not that she went with the desire, she rebelled instead. Joining the marines as the only daughter and only child prodigy of a prominent businessman, and it went over so well too. She had heard the potential speech more times than she could count, but she liked her life thank you very much.

"Men that understand us don't exist anyways."

That hit a nerve. "They do, they just take a lot of time to find."

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence as Sam reconsidered her last choice of words, especially knowing that Katie had been happily married once. Perhaps she was settling.