Trust
Chapter Three
Disclaimer: Nope, the show isn't mine and neither are the reoccurring characters. I make no cash profit off of this fiction, only reviews.
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Fifteen minutes after Daniel left Sam's cell phone started ringing. She reached for the bag that she had set down beside the couch and pulled it out, answering on the third ring. "Carter," she greeted informally, not having looked at the caller ID to see who had called. There was no need, anyway, she'd figure it out when whoever it was started to talk.
"Hey, Sam." It was Pete. "Are you at home?"
"Yeah," she replied, stretching her hurt leg out on the couch, wincing at the stab of pain the motion caused. "Why?"
He didn't answer her question. "I've got a surprise for you."
"Oh yeah?" Sam questioned, "What is it?"
"Go look outside," he said simply.
Sam sighed, the last thing she felt like doing was getting off of the couch she was stretched out across, but... she was curious. With a painful grunt she moved her leg and reached for her crutches, but then decided against using them. The front door was only a few steps away, and what the general didn't know wouldn't hurt him. They were just a nuisance, anyway. She limped over to the front door, which was a bit harder than she had thought it would be, and pulled it open. There, sitting on her small, concrete porch, was a bouquet of red-roses. With a slight smile she looked around, but didn't see his SUV. Frowning, she bent over and picked up the roses. When she straightened up a pair of arms slid around her waist.
Her first instinct was to fight whoever it was holding her. However, he had already expected it, and felt her tense in his arms. "Calm down, Sam. It's only me."
Relaxing into the embrace she sighed once more. He was supposed to be in Denver working on some big case, what was he doing in Colorado Springs? Not that she wasn't happy to see him... it was a bit unexpected, but it was a welcomed surprise. Unless...
Had he been in the house during her and Daniel's discussion? She hadn't heard anybody moving around and her house had been exactly the same as it was when she left a few days prior... but it was possible that he had simply not touched anything. As far as she could tell, there was no implication that he had heard their conversation. He wasn't upset and if he had heard them talking he would be. She turned around in his arms slowly, plastering a smile on her face. "How long have you been here?"
"Just got here a few minutes ago... I saw the light on and thought I'd surprise you." He took in her unruly appearance and the bandage on her leg, "Are you alright?"
She nodded reassuringly. "I've been hurt worse before. Nothing big."
"You should be sitting down," he said with a frown. "I shouldn't have made you get up."
"There was no way you could have known," she replied, giving him a brief kiss. "I'm fine. It's only a few stitches."
He didn't believe her much, but he knew from experience not to argue with her about her well being. "Well, how about you sit down and I find something for us to drink? I'm thirsty, what about you?"
"A soda sounds great," she told him with a smile, as she pulled out of his embrace. "Then you can tell me why you're not at work."
Pete smiled and with a nod took off for the kitchen, walking slowly to make sure she got to the couch with no problem. When he was certain that she'd be alright he picked up the pace, so she wouldn't catch on that he was worried, and grabbed two soda's from her fridge. Upon returning to the living room he handed her the soda and sat down next to her on the couch, giving her enough space to lay her leg out if she needed to. "We wrapped up the case late last night... I finished all my paperwork a couple of hours ago and got the first flight I could down here. Called a taxi when I got here, because I thought you'd be at work, and when I noticed that you were home I let myself in through the back."
"I didn't hear," she confessed, taking a sip of her drink.
"I'm a cop, Sam... stealth mode is just as easy for me as it is for you."
That was true enough. She had broken into her share of homes... even taught Jonas the technique. She briefly wondered how the man was doing before turning back to her fiancé. "How long can you stay?"
He shook his head with a frown, "Not long, I have to head out tomorrow around noon. I thought we could go out to dinner and a movie tonight, but I guess that's not an option. So... how about I make something and we order Pay-Per-View?"
She smiled, "That sounds great."
"Good," he replied. "It's almost six now, so I'll go start something and you look for a movie."
He headed into the conjoining kitchen and she started to flip through the TV Guide, looking for a good movie to rent. "Um... what about Pirates of the Carribean?"
"Nah... how about something based on the present?"
"Mystic River?"
"Seen it already... and I'm not in the mood for a murder-mystery, are you?"
She shook her head, "Not really..."
"What about Alien Vs. Predator?" he asked. "I heard it's pretty good."
"I get enough Sci-Fi at work." she said with a sigh. "Oh... what about Finding Neverland? I heard that was really good."
"A click flick?"
"It's not a chick flick, Pete. It's about the man who invented Peter Pan, that's something everybody can relate to. I know you watched Peter Pan when you were a boy." She turned to look at him and he shrugged.
"Yeah, I did... if we can't find anything better we'll watch that. But, let's keep looking just in case."
Fair enough for her. She flipped through the Guide for a few more minutes, "What about Spiderman 2?"
"Have you seen the first one?"
"...No..."
"Do you have the first one?"
"...No..."
"Keep looking."
"That's it," she told him, turning around once more. "Take your pick."
"Finding Neverland is fine with me, I guess... when is the next showing?"
"Forty-five minutes. Can you be done with dinner by then?"
He nodded, "Yeah, I'm just making hamburgers and baked beans. That alright?"
"Sounds good to me," she replied. "I've got some chips in the pantry, we can eat some of those. So... Finding Neverland then?"
"I guess."
She ordered the movie and then started to flip through the TV stations to find something to watch until then. Settling on a rerun of Law and Order she stretched her legs out on the couch and laid her head on the armrest. The exhaustion caused by the past few days and the strain on her leg eventually lulled her to a much needed sleep.
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"Sam..." a voice called, pulling her out of her rest. "Sam... wake up. Dinner is done."
Her eyes blinked open sleepily to reveal her fiancé, sitting by her on the couch. He smiled at her and ran a hand through her hair, "Do you want me to bring you into the bedroom? You can eat later..."
She shook her head, "I'm fine... what time is it?"
"Just after 6:20, the movie will be on in a few minutes." He kissed her briefly on the forehead, "Are you sure you don't want to sleep some more? I don't mind if you're tired, you know."
"It's alright," she assured him, "I'm hungry."
"Ok," he sighed, "I'll fix you a plate. What do you want on your burger?"
"Just a little bit of mayonnaise and some lettuce." she told him tiredly. "I think that there's some sweet tea still in the fridge."
"There is," he replied, "I'll get you some."
He went back into the kitchen and a few minutes later he came back, carrying two plates in his hand. Handing one to her and putting the other on the table he told her to go ahead and start the movie, all he needed was the drinks. While he went to get them she turned it to the correct channel and a few seconds later the movie began. Pete came out of the living room not long after that, handed her a glass, then sat down on the couch next to her. She picked up her plate and leaned against him, then turned her attention towards the movie.
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"So how did you get home?" Pete asked a few hours later, after the movie. "I noticed that your car wasn't on the curb, and I doubt very highly that one of the SGC doctors let you drive..."
Sam smiled, no doubt thinking of how Janet had bossed Pete around after the incident with Orisis. "Daniel brought me home... he left only a few minutes before you got here."
"Oh. How's he doing?"
"Good... he's good."
"What about the Jackl and Teal'c?" the man asked, dumb to her feelings for her commanding officer. "How are they?"
She hesitated for a moment, though not long enough to cause any worry in her fiancé. "They're fine, I guess..."
"What about you?" he asked, his voice turning serious. "Are you alright?"
"You already asked me that."
"I'm asking again."
"It's nothing major, Pete... I'll be back to normal in a couple of days."
"I wasn't talking about your leg, Sam..." he informed her, resting a hand on her thigh. "I mean, at work. You know, saving the world and all that superhero stuff? Chasing down bad guys wears the hell out of me, and I'm a cop. You go after uber-villains on a daily basis and I can only imagine how much harder that must be than tracking down mere humans." He reached out to cup her cheek in his hand, "You never talk to me about work, Sam... why is that?"
She shook her head, "I can't. It's classified."
"I have full clearance and I'm not exactly asking you to give me a full detailed description of your day. Something is bothering you, Sam... I can tell. So, why hold it in? I can help..." he sighed, "if you would just let me."
Sam didn't reply and she dropped her head slightly, adverting her eyes from his.
"I was thinking the other day, Sam... and something occurred to me. I hardly know a thing about your life before I met you– and what I do know I learned from Mark. I know that things were hard on you, with your mother gone and your father and brother constantly fighting with each other, but there has to be some good things from your childhood that you could let me in on." He lifted her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. "I'm not asking you to tell me everything, Sam... and you shouldn't have to. But, why wouldn't you want to?"
"It's not that I don't want to Pete..." she told him. "I've had bad experiences talking about my past. Bringing up old ghosts is only going to make the present worse and I like things the way they are. I want to tell you, I do... but I can't."
It was his turn to shake his head, "Yes you can–"
A knock at the door ended his sentence short and Sam glanced towards the entrance to the house. With a sigh she got off of the couch, a bit painfully, and limped towards the door, leaving Pete to watch her go, a scowl on his face at having been interrupted during such an important discussion. When she made her way to the door she looked out the peephole and sighed once more. Wasn't this perfect? She closed her eyes for a brief moment, cursing her bad luck and his bad timing, before she opened the door, wearing a faux smile.
"What are you doing here, sir?"
Jack pulled off his sunglasses, "Why aren't you using your crutches?"
She ignored his question and stepped aside to let him into the house, "Is there something I can help you with General?"
He came inside when she moved out of the way, looking around the house. When his eyes fell upon Pete he frowned momentarily, but it was quickly replaced with a look of indifference as he turned around to look at Sam. "I'm sorry, I thought he was working... I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing. I hope I didn't interrupt."
Oh, God no. He couldn't leave. If he left Pete would start their conversation again... that wasn't something she wanted to deal with at the moment. "It's alright, sir. We were just talking... Come on inside, would you like something to drink?"
Jack shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to be around the happy couple. God was he an idiot. Maybe things were changing. Bullshit. She was happy with her life, why would she care anything about him when she was already engaged? He was such an idiot. "It's ok, Carter. Really. I just wanted to see if you needed any help... Daniel said that you looked a bit worse for wear. I was worried that I had let you out too soon."
Daniel. Damn him. He had only sent Jack here to try and force them into the conversation he thought they should be having. Yeah, that was another thing she could deal without at this moment. "I'm fine, sir. Really."
"Yeah... why don't I buy that?"
"Because whenever you say it you're lying," she offered with a slight grin. "I'm not though. I've been hurt much worse... as you already know, and I'll be able to come back to work in a few days. You said so yourself."
Pete got off of the couch and stood next to Sam, "She's right... you should stay."
Sam and Jack both looked at him in surprise. Pete was asking him to stay? Why?
"Pete?" she questioned. Shouldn't he be the one who wanted him to go? They were having a fairly serious conversation before Jack had arrived anyway... Wouldn't that take priority over whatever it was her boss wanted, in his eyes?
He smiled lightly at Sam, before turning back and looking at Jack. "We have to talk..."
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A/N: I know it's a bit shorter than the others... but there it is. Please review and let me know what you think. Cliffhangers suck and all, but I just had to leave it at that point, I couldn't get into what the conversation is without making the chapter really, really long! I figured you'd want the update sooner rather than later, so here it is...
Anyway, thanks to everybody who has reviewed! Keep it up :)
