When All Else Fails

Chapter Thirty Two

Disclaimer: Nah, show's not my idea. Characters aren't mine, either... although I think Fehr is in this chapter. He's mine. So is Bridges... and his wife, who is briefly mentioned. I make no profit off of this story, unless you want to count all the nice reviews I get...

XXXX

Sam woke to the ringing of a phone the next morning. From the amount of light coming in through the windows she could tell that she had slept late, but she didn't mind, that's what downtime was for, anyway. Well... when you're ordered off the base and can't work, that is. She reached over the side of the bed, fumbling for the phone. Jack was so disorganized the thing could be anywhere, except it's cradle. As it rang for the fourth time she picked it up off of the floor and turned it on, "Hello?" No use greeting whoever it was at the other end with her name, this wasn't her house. Carter would mean nothing to anybody calling for Jack.

"Hey, Sam." It was Daniel. "I'm picking Cassie up in half an hour, so we should be by your place in about one hour... you think you'll be ready?"

Oh, sure. Years of having only an hour to get her post-mission check up and a shower had perfected her technique of quick showering. She could be in and out of the bathroom, ready to go, in ten minutes tops, having done what would take most women 20 minutes, without dressing. "Yeah... are we going out for breakfast?"

"Breakfast?" he asked, a slight chuckle rising in his voice. "Sam, it's already 1146."

Well... when she thought she had slept in a bit she didn't think it was that late. "Oh... lunch then?"

"Yeah, sure..." he promised, "I'll see you then."

"Alright, Daniel." she replied. "See you in one hour."

He hung up the phone and she slid out of the bed, no use having to rush to get ready, even though she could. Nice, long, hot showers were a rarity for her, so she was going to soak up this opportunity for one. Her stitches were waterproof and the doctor had told her she could take her bandage off to shower, as long as she was careful not to pull the stitches. Half an hour later, she emerged from the steaming bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body and another towel-drying her short hair.

She ran into the living room for a brief moment, hoping the curtains were drawn, and grabbed her duffle bag. Thankfully, the room was shut off to the public so she didn't have to worry, and she went back into his bedroom to change. A pair of jeans and a baggy shirt later she was back in the living room, flipping through the channels on the TV, trying to figure out what the weather was going to be like. No rain, the forecast promised, and it looked like a clear, sunny day.

When she was satisfied that the weather man wasn't telling a stretched out version of the truth she headed back into the bathroom and applied what little bit of make-up she wore. That took all of five minutes, so by the time she was back into the living room she still had approximately twenty minutes until Daniel and Cassie arrived. His house was a mess, of course, and since she had nothing else to do she decided that she would clean up a bit. Cooking was a bit no, but she could clean... her brother had made sure of that when they were younger.

By the time the doorbell rang, nearly fifteen minutes later, she had cleaned the living room, kitchen, and started on the dishes. There wasn't much, since they had eaten pizza the night before, but there were plenty of glasses that needed washing. She dropped the cleaning, thankfully, and they headed off to the mall straight away, with the promise of stopping by the Chick-fil-A in the food court. It was a short drive, less than ten minutes, and since she was unable to drive with her shoulder (doctors orders, as well as Jack's) they took Daniel's CR-V. Cassie offered to take the back seat, since she was "crippled", and although Sam knew the girl was joking with the nickname it still brought a scowl to her face. Yeah, yeah, make fun of the one who got shot, close range, in the shoulder, with her own gun! How's that for rubbing salt in a wound?

They got their food first thing, and Sam opted for just a box of chicken nuggets and fries, yes... because of her arm. There was no way she was going to try to eat anything more complicated and give the other two another chance to make fun of her, no matter how good-hearted they were being. She finished with her meal, easily, and then the three of them took off around the mall. Sam got the feeling that Cassie really didn't need anything., only wanted to look and see if she wanted anything. Not that there was something wrong in doing so, she, herself, was an expert at window shopping.

When they passed by a store called Charlotte Rousse, Cassie had to go in. The line where window shopping and actual buying had been crossed and the girl ended up getting a pair of jeans, two shirts, and a pair of high-healed shoes that Sam wouldn't be caught dead in. Not because they were ugly, but... well, she had never really been fond of the pointy-toed heals, and these were no exception. She had to admit that the silky blouse that Cassie had gotten to match the jeans was really cute, and the jeans weren't that bad. At least they didn't have any holes in them, like most of the girls jeans did.

"It's the fashion right now, Sam," Cassie had explained. "And trust me, there are girls walking around with holes a lot worse than mine... these are just a bit worn, and you can't see anything in the way of skin. There is a girl in my Psych class who has a big hole right under her back pockets. That's trashy, if you ask me. We don't want to see your underwear, ya know?"

The girl had a point. Although there were two holes in her jeans they were small and the only one you could see the slightest bit of skin through was on the side of her knee. "There American Eagle," Cassie had told her, as if Sam had any idea of what she was talking about. Is American Eagle a store? Obviously, she guessed. Maybe she should start reading magazines more often.

"Where to now?" Daniel questioned, glancing at the younger of the two women.

"I think Hollister is down this way," she said, pointing to their left. "I wanted to see if they still had this purse I wanted..."

They headed off in the direction of the store, which was just a few stores down, and then Cassie went in and started to search for her purse. She didn't find it, but she did find two skirts and another pair of jeans. Sam wondered briefly where she was getting all her money, but then remembered that Cassie was 21 and did have a job. Besides, she could have been doing a lot more damage than she had. After Daniel and Sam managed to tear the girl away from the store Cassie's eyes landed across the hall, at a jewelry store, Kay's. Sam's followed, landing on what she assumed the girls was looking at.

"Well... it's just a cripple party at the mall today, isn't it?" she questioned, as she headed for the store. Cassie followed, mostly because Daniel began to push her, and soon enough Sam was a good distance ahead of them.

"We can go to another store," the young woman hissed at him.

"Why?" Daniel asked. "She won't suspect anything now- since she was the one to go there in the first place. No use tipping her off."

Cassie glared at him, but allowed herself to be lead across the hall nonetheless. Sam had already met up with the two men she had recognized and begun talking. When Cassie and Daniel made it to where she was standing, the one she had been paying the most attention to smiled at her.

"Hello, Cassandra."

Oh, God. Did he have to say her name like that? "Matthew."

"What's a jarhead doing shopping for jewelry anyway?" Daniel asked, not at all worried about the stereotype used for the marine. From what he could tell, all the marines at the SGC were damn proud of the name and Fehr was no exception.

"I'm not the one shopping, it's this flyboy over here, who doesn't know how to buy his wife's anniversary gift until the day before their anniversary." he motioned over at his friend, who Daniel recognized as Captain Bridges.

The man smiled sheepishly and turned back to the woman he was discussing a ring with, "I was out of town for the last couple of days... it was unexpected. I would have gotten it sooner."

She nodded at him, "Now, what size did you say your wife wore?"

"A seven," he informed her and she searched for the ring he wanted in the size he needed. Finally she found one.

"Now it comes with a year warranty, but you can get an extended warranty if you'd like. That covers sizing, cleaning, or any repairs that you may need." the woman handed him the ring so he could study it further. "The price is 420, but with the sale it's only 135, so I suggest that if you think she'll like it, you buy it. There's not many others at such a good price."

"Well... she's put up with me for five years, so I'd say she deserves the most expensive thing here." The woman's eyebrows raised, and he continued. "But, we flyboys don't get that hefty of a paycheck."

"This'll be it, then?" she questioned, as he handed her back the ring.

"Yes, Ma'am. That'll be the one."

During the conversation Daniel had begun to look around at the rings, and Sam, having nothing else to do and wanting to leave Cassie and Fehr alone to talk, did the same. Little did she knew, that Daniel had only started looking around to prompt her to do so, as well. It wasn't what they had originally planned, but it was probably working better than any scenario he and Cassie had come up with would have, much to Cassie's unrest. While the two older people looked around she was left to talk with the Lieutenant, and she had no clue what to say.

"How's the leg?" she asked, hoping not to sound to stupid.

"It's doing better... how's school?"

Well, at least he wasn't doing better at the conversing than she was. "It's good... This is my last year before med-school, so..."

"Are you going to be in the Air Force, like your mother?" he questioned.

She smiled lightly, "I already am... they're paying for my schooling. General Hammond had a lot to do with it."

"Oh," he hadn't known. "How is he doing? Do you guys keep in touch?"

"He calls every now and then, I babysat his granddaughters for awhile before they moved to DC. He's doing fine, misses work at the SGC, but he likes his new job and his daughter moved out there with them. She's a widow and needs all the help with the girls as she can get." Cassie's eyes flickered over to where Daniel and Sam were talking, as they looked down at the display of engagement rings. A sigh escaped her lips as she watched them, hopefully Daniel was having better luck than she is.

"Are the General and Colonel Carter...?"

Cassie turned back to Matt and smiled, "Not yet... Daniel, Teal'c, and I are still trying to plant the seed. They're both really stubborn."

"So, by looking at engagement rings..."

She nodded, "Daniel has already talked to Jack about asking her to marry him, now all I have to do is talk to Sam about whether she would accept or not. And I have a feeling she would."

"They're both really great people," he mused. "They deserve it after all they've been through."

That caused the girl to smile, "This coming from the man that just saved a great deal of people's lives? You're a good person, too, Matthew. Probably one of the best."

Fehr smiled sheepishly, causing Cassie to blush. She hadn't really meant to say something like that. "Ah... what I meant..." she gave up and grinned. "Well, it's true, you know? Everybody who works at the SGC is a hero in one way or another, you should be proud of it."

The lieutenant nodded, and turned back to look at his friend who was paying for the ring. "I wonder if I'll ever have that..."

"What?" Cassie questioned. "The ring? I should hope not?"

He turned back to her, ready to explain what he had meant, then noticed the smile on her face. "You're way too much like General O'Neill... it's a bit scary."

"Jack's been like a father to me for as long as I've been her, more so after mom died. Sam, too... she's always been like the cool aunt you can talk to about everything. They've helped me out a lot." The smile faded a bit and the conversation stitched to his musings, "I'm sure you will, Matthew. Like I said, you're a good guy... any girl would be lucky to have you."

"You too," he added with a slight smile. "That guy was an idiot to let you go."

Cassie blushed a bit in response. Yeah, he was an idiot... but she was starting to be thankful for that.

XXXX

"I wonder what they're talking about," Sam whispered to Daniel, her eyes turned towards Cassie and Fehr. "She's smiling."

The archeologist shrugged, looking at the pair as well. "I wonder what Jack would do if he was here..."

"Probably scowl and pretend like it didn't bother him," Sam offered with a grin of her own. Cassie looked over at them and she quickly turned her head, looking at the rings in front of her. "They're looking," she hissed at Daniel, who immediately did the same thing that she did. The two doctors pretended as if they hadn't been watching the younger kids talking, and had been looking at the rings the entire time.

"Oh, look how beautiful," Sam sighed, pointing at a square cut ring. "I've never had a square cut diamond before... they've always been tear-drop shaped."

"You don't like tear-drop?"

"I'd rather not have it, after the last two I got ended up back in the hands of the men who gave them to me... Besides, I've always liked the square cut's better. I don't know... they're different. I like different."

Daniel nodded, taking all the she was saying in. Ok... not tear-shaped, square-cut. Definitely not tear-shaped. Have to tell Jack that. "What about the number of stones? I know Pete's ring only had onebut what about the other?" Good move Danny boy, don't mention the psycho's name. Like that'll help any.

"They were almost the same, really..." Sam mused. "It was a bit disconcerting, actually."

Ok, no one-stoned rings, either. Scratch those off the list for Jack.

Captain Bridges finished paying for his wife's ring and went over to his friend, "Come on Matt... I gotta get home before Steph gets curious."

Fehr nodded and looked at Cassie, "I'll see you sometime later, then?"

Cassie smiled, "Yeah..."

He looked at Daniel and Sam, "See you when I get back to work." And with that he limped off, causing Sam to remember that he was supposed to be on crutches. She let it go and looked back at the rings.

"Anything I can help you with?" the woman who had been helping Bridges questioned. Sam looked up at her and smiled. She wasn't very tall, maybe 5'3, her hair was a dark shade of brown and hung just above her shoulder, and her eyes were bright hazel. She had to be no more than twenty two, so this had to be a job to help for her college.

"I'm just looking," she replied with a smile.

Nicole, as her name-tag read, returned the favor. "You and your boyfriend–"

"Oh, no," Daniel said, cutting in. "I'm not her boyfriend..."

She nodded, a bit embarrassed. "Not engaged then?"

Sam shook her head, "Not yet..."

Daniel noted the hopeful look in her eyes and turned to Cassie, "You know... I think Jack mentioned something about us dropping by the base for a bit."

"Really?" Sam asked, her attention turned away from the saleswoman to Daniel. "He didn't mention it to me..."

Well, he hadn't mentioned it to Daniel, either. But that didn't mean they wouldn't go anyway. "That's because you fell asleep." he informed her, using the first excuse that came to mind. Which, could have been true. She did fall asleep fairly early the night before. So, it was believeable.

"Oh," she turned back towards the sales woman and smiled. "Thank you, anyway."

"No problem," the girl replied. "I expect to be seeing you soon."

Sam smiled a bit at the implication and turned towards Daniel and Cassie, "Let's get going, then..."

XXXX

A/N: I figured since I made you guys wait so long I'd make the chapter a bit longer... let me know what you think. I love feedback, of course!