Title: John Doe

Chapter: Nine

Summary: Sam and Jack drive to the cabin.

Spoilers: A little for Beneath the Surface, yet again

A/N: Ok, I admit I have no clue how long it takes to get to Nebraska from Colorado Springs, and in all truths I have no clue where the cabin is even located. So, I'm making this up as I go along, and I'll probably try to avoid even mentioning the city they're going to. So ... if I get something wrong don't send flames! Let me know, nicely, and I'll fix it.
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She was quiet for the first few hours, staring out the window watching the scenery as he drove. On occasion she spoke, in broken sentences, mostly requests, things like needing to use the restroom or get something to drink. She turned the radio on somewhere during those two silent hours. He wasn't exactly sure when, he guessed about an hour into the drive. It was an oldies station at first, then changed into country as the drove farther. He could tell that the music was on to keep the conversation at a minimum, he couldn't remember much but he did remember that she couldn't stand country music, and that oldies wasn't very high on her list either.

Then, when he pulled into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant he turned the radio off and looked over at her. "You want something to eat? There's not many places past here, so if you get hungry later you might have to wait."

She nodded, "All right."

They got out of the car and made their way into the Burger King. He got a Whopper supersized with a coke; she got a medium Chicken Sandwich with a diet coke. They ate quickly since they had a long drive still ahead of them and spoke very little. Sam seemed to be thinking something over, which wasn't much of a surprise to him. She had just broken up with her fiancé; she was no doubt wondering if she had made the right decision.

When they got back into the car the radio came on once more, but he quickly turned it off as he pulled out of his parking space. She glanced over at him, but didn't say anything, instead just turned back around and looked out the open window again, her arm hanging out the window, and her fingers drumming the outside of the car door. He glanced between her and the road, studying her features. Her brow was furrowed and her lips were pursed together, she was deep in her thoughts.

Focusing his attention on the rode he collected his own thoughts. He hoped that by going to this cabin she had told him of would help bring back something, anything. Preferably about Carter ... or Sam as it was. His feelings for her had already resurfaced; they were one of the first things that had come to him upon waking. But, he had nothing to tell him why he felt so strongly about her. There were bits and pieces, here and there, but nothing solid, concrete.

He glanced back at the directions and turned right, then looked up to see what Sam was doing. She was still staring out that window; her fingers making that now annoying tap, tap sound. He ignored it, she was preoccupied, he wasn't going to push her to tell him what she was thinking about. She would tell him, in due time. He would wait until she was ready, he had enough time.

About an hour later he turned back to see what she was doing, her head rested on her shoulder. To him it looked painful. When he reached the next red-light he reached behind his chair and pulled out a pillow. He lifted her head, pushing the pillow underneath and let it fall back gently onto it. She stirred and murmured something in her sleep, but didn't wake. He smiled and turned back to the rode just in time to see the light turn green, he pulled out and continued on down the road.

Four hours and two gas stations later she woke. Yawning, she stretched out her arms and glanced around, trying to figure out where they were. When she saw the pump he was parked by she unbuckled her seatbelt, slipping on her shoes in the process. She yawned again as she opened the passengers side door and slid out of her seat and onto the ground. Stretching her legs she searched through the truck for her purse, when she found it she pulled out her wallet and made her way into the gas station. He finished gassing up and followed her, to pay for the gas and get something to drink.

She came out of the bathroom as he pulled out a Sprite and sleepily walked over to him, her feet dragging the ground slightly. She stopped not even an inch next to him and pushed him out of the way with her elbow, running a hand haphazardly through her hair. She pulled out a diet Cherry Coke and searched the isles for something to snack on. He followed her and grabbed a bag of Cheetoes while she grabbed Doritos. When they got to the counter she placed her things down and began to pull out some money to pay for it, but just as she had pushed him aside only a few moments prior he gently moved her out of the way, put his own things down, told the cashier what pump he had been at and then pulled out his own money. She crossed her arms defiantly, glaring at him. When they got to the truck she grabbed they keys and told him she was driving.

"No objections from me," he said walking around to the passengers side.

As she turned the key in the ignition she handed him her wallet and told him to put it into her purse. He did so and she pulled out of the gas station and onto the road, asking him where they were on the directions.

"Number 32."

"That far into it?"

He shook his head, "There's still a lot more to go."

"Oh," she sighed. "You know, you really didn't have to pay for me."

"It was only what? Two dollars?" He shrugged, "No sense in you paying for it when I had thirty dollars worth of gas to pay for already."

She sighed again, "I guess you're right."

"Please tell me you're not one of those women who thinks that she should pay for things like dinner and a movie instead of the man?" He smiled, "'Cos if you are we might have a problem."

She smiled at the hidden gesture, but shook her head. "You don't have to worry about that, you can pay for whatever you want. Whatever floats your boat fries your chicken."

He chuckled, shaking his head slowly. She looked over at him and her smile grew.

"What?"

He just continued to shake his head.

"Fine," she said, focusing her attention onto the road.

At least she was talking again.

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She had no clue how he did it, but he had managed to cheer her up once again. Glancing at the clock calculated that they had driven around 6 hours and had roughly around 8 to go. She figured that she'd let him drive again in 5 hours, if he wanted to. Otherwise she'd just continue on. But, when she glanced over she noticed that he was fidgeting in his seat. She guessed that he wasn't much of a passenger, and since this was his car he probably rarely ever had somebody other than him driving it. She just smiled at his awkwardness and turned back to the road.

Glancing at the steering wheel her bare hand caught her attention once again. Truth was, it was the only thing she had been thinking about since they left her house. She had called Teal'c, told him to check on her house in a couple of hours. But he hadn't called back yet. Although she had given the ring back she still didn't want Pete to be hurt, even if he was being an ass to her. She did still love him, despite herself. Now, whether that love was fading or not was a different story. Now, she was feeling an intense hatred for him at the moment, but was it going to pass? She wasn't sure. She just knew that this time she was spending with Jack at his cabin was not only for him, but for her as well. She needed some time off to think, to be alone, so she could recollect and sort through her thoughts. So she could make a defiant decision and say without a doubt that yes, she wanted to leave Pete or no, she wanted to give him a second chance.

Looking over at Jack again she thought that she had already made up her mind, she had told him earlier. She was through with Pete, it was over and that was that. But, was she really so sure? Could she really say that things were over? She had reacted in the heat of the moment; they had both been upset. And, she could actually kind of understand where he was coming from. If she had found out that he was spending time with somebody he had feelings for she would be jealous too. Given her history with Jack she understood why he would be jealous of him ... but she hadn't told Pete everything, hardly anything at that. So, he was really jealous for a good reason, he just didn't know about said reason.

Pushing the thoughts from her mind she focused on the road, watching as it stretched out in front of her and went on for miles, the white lines blurring together as she pushed on the gas, breaking 70. It was late, the sun had set and the stars were beginning to twinkle in the velvety, black night. She knew first hand of the vastness of that dark, endless sky. She sighed to herself, her hands gripping tighter on the steering wheel as he thoughts turned to Pete once again. She looked down to see the whites of her knuckles showing and loosened her grip. The clock read 2000, 7 hours until they reached the cabin.

She cursed herself for allowing herself to think about him again, she had made a silent promise to not think of him for the next week, and she had already broken it. She had been happy only an hour before, when she had started driving. Maybe she should just turn the radio on, or maybe even talk with Jack. It was what she was supposed to be doing, right? Talking seemed to bring back his memories on more than one occasion. Everything was right there, just beneath the surface. And all she had to do was talk about it and it would eventually find its way back. Before she had to watch herself, bringing back the memories from things like the memory stamp incident as well as the zatarc incident could bring back the wrong kind of memories, and while she was engaged that wasn't the most wise thing to do. Now, she wasn't engaged ... so, could they talk about things like Jonah and Therra? Would he remember? Would the feelings complicate things, if they even came back?

She hummed to herself, some nameless tune she either heard a long time ago or made up right then and there. It seemed familiar, but who knew? She turned to look at Jack and he was looking at her, a goofy grin on his face. His smile grew when she felt her own smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, spreading. She turned back to look at the road, "So. Is there anything you remember about this cabin? Lord knows you've told me about the fishing enough times. But never much about the actual cabin?"

She could tell he was shaking his head. "I don't remember anything. All I know is what you told me. Which was that it was in Minnesota."

She nodded, "Ok. Well ... from what I hear the bass grow this big," she gestured with her arms, spreading them out wide, looking over at him again.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really," she replied nodding.

"Wow." He thought about something for a moment, "There are no fish are there?"

She smiled, "From what Teal'c tells me, no. No fish."

"Right ... then why are we fishing?"

Oh, was this ironic. "Because, sir. It's not about the fish it's about the act of fishing."

He nodded, "Right ... the act of fishing. Got it."

She shook her head with laughter and once again focused on the road. It was 2032. 6 and ½ hours left and she would finally be at the infamous cabin. This was certainly going to be an interesting week.

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A/N: Feedback, please! Let me know what'cha think. And, thanks for all the reviews ... I really didn't think my story would get this many readers. So, next chapter will be at the cabin.