disclaimer same as beginning. I still don't own Stargate, no matter how much I write.
Lots of wonderful reviews for Chapter 8. Thanks so much. Looks like this thing is going to be 12 total, if pacing keeps up.
Arg, one swear word.
Notes: Sandy- The entire story is from Katarina's POV, therefore 98 percent (or more) of the female pronouns are Kate. I'm sorry it can be confusing, and have tried to make it clearer from now on. Thanks for reading it, I hope this is better. Cassie has disappeared from the show and is not in the cast list for Threads, so she is not included. Good idea though.
Chopin Girl- No disagreement on the hunk assessment. He's a near decade younger than Katarina, and she tends to see people's personalities much more than their looks.

Sitting on her porch, going over the last minute details she sank back into crisp morning air. Steam from the tea was creating an intoxicating pattern as it rose. Tonight was a big dinner with the two families and the bridal party. Jacob was planning on coming, and she was expected to keep up her end of the deal. There were far too many secrets being kept for her liking. Charles had called, informing her of her next assignment in some exotic local. She had shrugged it off, saying that she would get back to him. For now the warmth of an afghan and the steam rising from her tea was enough to keep her amused.

She should retire. She thought it and accepted it, even though she knew the consequences. Traveling the world to escape Brian's ghost had turned out to be a horrible idea. She liked it here, and hoped that she could settle down in this little house. She could even ring up her in-laws. No, no, she wasn't ready for that yet. But she could soon, in the future. Heck they were a stone's throw away. The only reason she had to avoid them was the long list of sympathetic looks and old tales of when the two of them were together. But that was reason enough to shut them out of her life since the funeral. She didn't want to be pitied, she had had him. Had owned him and he had owned her and that was nothing to be sympathetic about.

The neglected files sat perched on the side of the swing. All of it was terribly interesting and had peaked her fascination with science once more. Still, she would need more than papers and concepts to cure Jacob and Selmak, if they could be cured. She slid them back into her briefcase and picked up her teacup. Her hands seeped the warmth from the cup as she allowed the idea of miraculous. With alien technology at their fingertips, perhaps even the incurable could be cured.

The wind swept around and her thoughts turned back to her earlier misconception. She wondered about the general and Sam and the Kerry woman. How they all fit together in this mess. Maybe she was looking for something that wasn't there, or maybe they were all really good at hiding it. Now was the time to find out. She picked up the phone to invite Sam over for a little womanly chat.

Sam arrived shortly and curled in next to her, stealing some of the afghan's warmth. She handed Sam a spare cup of tea and the two looked on as the wind made the tree's branches dance. It had been so long since they had had a quiet moment together. No fighting or uncomfortable silences, just a peaceful moment.

"Sam.." Sam shifted uncomfortably, sad that the silence had been broken. "Could you humour me for a bit?"

"Yup." Came the annoyed response, Sam clearly knew where she was headed.

"I know that sometimes I read into things, but I'm having a hard time figuring out your current situation. You've told me already that you are in love with Pete, however.."

She let off, almost not wanting to ask. They were already less than a week away from the wedding. Despite her many attempts to talk to Sam before, this was the first time they had had a quiet moment together and now that it was here she wasn't sure if she wanted an answer.

"You want to know if I'm in love with General O'Neill?"

Yes, she supposed she was that damn obvious, and yes she did want to know. Sam sighed and took a sip of her tea.

"I thought I was." Sam's eyes dropped into her cup. "I don't really know. I admire him, more than anyone else. And he's an incredibly attractive man." Sam paused and her gaze drifted off into the unknown. "When you work with someone for so long, it is hard to tell what is time and what is love."

Not particularly. Well at least she didn't think so, in her case there had been a distinct difference between what she felt for Brian and what she felt for the other members of her unit. Then again she always had been more decisive than Sam. Well that wasn't the answer she had been looking for, it was just more indecision to add to the mix. The silence took over again and both sat in relative peace.

"Katie…"

"Mmmhmm?"

"What was Brian like?"

Words, thoughts, emotions and memories flooded the front of her mind.

"He was.." She smiled and laughed shakily "a total jerk." Sam looked up at her surprised. "He could be the biggest asshole in the unit and he always gave me the hardest time."

Sam laughed at her friend's description and urged her to go on.

"But then, there would be these moments.. when he would do something or say something that would send shivers to my spine. It was like he could see inside of me and knew what was needed at that moment."

She gulped back the overwhelming desire to see him again and smiled at Sam. Get it together girl, she thought, it was so long ago.

"Then one day he told me the team was officially broken up and that we wouldn't be working together anymore. He kissed me for the first time and slipped a ring on my finger, not even bothering to ask. We got married that afternoon."

"You? Acting impulsive?" Sam laughed at the idea. As far fetched as it sounded, she had been.

"When you're in love you'll do anything and defy anyone." She said it as if it was the most rational thing ever stated. Sam's astonishment grew as she spoke those words, but she really couldn't care. It was true. She'd have done anything to be with him.

"Then I'm not in love with Jack." She looked over at Sam, surprised by the announcement. "I'm willing to defy you and Dad by marrying Pete, but I'm not willing to give up my career to be with Jack. Even if you two are happier with the choice." She was floored by the simple statement, but there was clearly an element of truth in it. Sam's face did not change from its serene expression and she was willing to let it be at that. Hope was waning at this point. She turned her gaze away from Sam, wishing the situation to not come down to some desperate last minute conversation. The wind swept around them, and no more words were spoken until the sun set.

The dinner turned out to be a huge success. She hadn't seen Mark in ages, and his children turned out to be little darlings. Jacob was forced into a wheel chair for the event, meaning that there was an abundance of complaints coming from the retired general. She felt more like an outsider than ever. Sam chatted with Pete's mom and sisters, while the men kicked back and told tales. Jacob sat smiling at her, knowing she was up to something. He rolled her to her location and whispered conspiratorially.

"You trying to set Sammie up with Jack?"

Bored old man. She smiled.

"What do you think?"

He sized up the situation, his head rocking lightly from side to side.

"I think it's a lost cause. Sam isn't like us, Kate, she acts and feels differently."

There was more truth in what he said than he knew. Pete whispered a joke into Sam's ear and she smiled wildly, thwacking him lightly on the side. In that moment, a bit of hope was born. He could make her happy. Not the kind of love she had known with Brian, but perhaps Sam was unwilling or unable to risk the whole of her heart in the gamble. Not that she blamed her, when you lost it seemed you lost it all.

"I have to admit I like him." Her head whirled around to look at Jacob. "Don't look so surprised. I can be as easily charmed and entertained as the rest of them."

Well that left her alone in her thinking.

"Do you think she loves him? That she'll be happy with him?"

She honestly didn't know, she could only hope. He paused, looking out at the still laughing couple, before turning back to her.

"I think that Sam can take care of herself, and that you should think more about your own happiness."

She was deeply taken aback by that comment.

"I've already been happy."

He nodded, not about to disagree with her.

"Yes, but the present tense is so much better than the past."

She had no idea what he meant, but he seemed pleased with himself as he rolled off to tease Sam. Pete and Jacob began to talk as she fell back into her own little world. The rest of the dinner whirled around her as she sat.