Chapter: Eighteen
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah ... they ain't mine,
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They walked hand in hand around the park, watching the other couples as they watched and the children playing on the slides and swings. When they sat down on the picnic blanket Sam had brought with them Jack noticed that one little girl swinging on the swings caught Sam's eye. She looked around six years old and from what he could see she had long, curly blonde hair. Jack decided to ask her about it.
"Do you know her?" He asked, looking at the girl.
She shook her head, "No ... she reminds me of somebody."
"Oh? Who?"
She smiled and looked down at the blanket, "It's a long and confusing story."
"I've got time." He stated, pulling her face up so that he could look into her eyes. "I'd like to hear about it."
"When I was on the Prometheus, for those four days I was alone, I saw people."
"People?" He questioned, his normal confused look dancing in his eyes.
"It was my subconscious mind trying to help me figure things out," she explained. "Most of the people ... figments, that I came into contact with were those I were close with. You, for example, and my father ... the rest of SG-1 as well. Each had a different idea of what was going on ... or, at least Teal'c did. He thought that the others and I had been taking by aliens, which wasn't exactly false, except for the me part. He-or rather I-told me that it was possible they were probing my brain for information about earth, and that by trying to fix things I was leaking out information to them. Daniel, not oddly, wanted me to study the gas cloud that we were in; thinking it was a life form in itself. You and Dad didn't really have an opinion about what was going on, although you did tell me to go save my ass. But, there was this little blonde girl I kept seeing, her name was Grace. The thing about her was that she was singing the nursery rhyme that my mother had taught me when I was seven years old. That little girl just reminds me of her."
He thought the explanation over. "...Wait, you saw people who weren't there?"
"I did have a concussion, Jack."
"Right," he nodded." And ... I was there?"
"Well ... my subconscious mind used your image to get something across to me. So, in essence, yes. In reality, no."
"What did I say to you?"
She looked away, "It doesn't matter."
"Then what's wrong with telling me?" He asked, moving so that he could see her face. "Just tell me Sam."
She sighed to herself, "To understand things you've got to know what my imagination of dad said. He told me that it was time to let go of the things that prevented me from finding happiness. That I deserved to love and be loved in return. He, of course, was referring to my feelings for you." She looked down at her hands, "Then, later on, you came to me. After making a comment about what friends are for we got into a ... discussion on our relationship. Basically, you said that the reason I had feelings for you was because you were a safe bet, if I set my eyes on you, what I knew I could never have, there was no chance that I could be hurt by another man." She looked back up, "But what you ... I ... didn't say was that by ignoring my feelings for you I'd be hurting myself a lot worse than any man ever could."
"...Oh."
She laughed slightly, "Yeah ... confusing, huh?"
"A bit," he admitted. "But none of that matters anymore."
She smiled, "You're right ... it doesn't."
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1403 Zulu
Sam pulled into her driveway behind the familiar dark blue SUV that belonged to one General Gorge Hammond. Glancing at Jack, who looked a bit nervous, she opened the car door and stepped out. He followed suit, putting on a pair of sunglasses as the sun came out from behind the clouds. Meeting halfway to the door Sam slipped her hand into Jack's, intertwining their fingers.
Jacob opened the door as they walked up the stairs; "You kids have fun?" He asked, a smile on his face.
Sam rolled her eyes and brushed past him, into the house, pulling Jack along with her. Jacob chuckled and followed them into the living room. They sat down and waited for Jacob to enter the room.
"So, Dad, what exactly were you planning on us doing?"
Jacob just smiled, "You'll see."
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Jacob pulled into the parking lot of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and shut off the SUV.
"Dad, what are we doing here?"
"Picking someone up," he said nonchalantly. After waiting in the car for a couple of minutes the passengers' side door opened and a smiling Cassie climbed into the large vehicle, looking back at the two sitting behind her.
"So, I take it their little conspiracy worked?" She asked, the grin on her face spreading. "It's about damn time."
"Cassie," Sam scolded.
"Oh come on, I'm 20 years old Sam. I've known the word since I came to earth and it's certainly not the first time that I've said it."
"Well, I was going to say mind your own business, but ... if you feel guilty about cursing who am I to stop you?"
Cassie rolled her eyes and looked over at Jack, "How's the memory coming?"
"It's good ... just about everything is back. I think it's just a matter of time before I remember everything." He shrugged, "It'll come sooner or later."
"Good to hear. Do you, ah ... have any clue as to where we are going and what we are doing?"
They both shook their heads. "Sorry, Cassie," Sam said, "we're as in the dark as you are. In fact ... we didn't even know that you were coming with us. Dad's been very secretive."
"Hey," Jacob said in his defense. "It's not me. This is all Sel'mac's doing. Apparently the three of us, Cassie not included, lack a life outside of work, so Sel'mac has been bugging me nonstop to get out and do something."
"Well, not like I'm thrilled to be going with you guys, but if I have a life why am I here?"
He shrugged, "Sel'mac likes you." He smiled over at her, "Haven't figured out why yet."
"Oh, that's not nice." She said, a joking pout on her face. "At least I have a life."
Sam giggled from the back seat and Jack sent her a look.
"What?"
"No giggling," he ordered.
"Haven't we gone over this already?" She asked, "I'll giggle any time I damn well please."
He mocked Cassie and pouted, "At least I have a life outside of work."
"I'd hardly call fishing on downtime a life, Jack."
"Well, I'd hardly call working on downtime a life." He pointed out, "Sam."
"Will you two quit?" Jacob said from the front seat, "We're here."
Sam looked out the window, a look of confusion washed over her. "Laser tag, dad?" She asked, "What are we, 10?"
"Hey," Jack called, "What's wrong with laser tag."
"My point exactly," she said with a smile. "Seriously dad, this is what Sel'mac wanted to do?"
Jacob nodded, "Been bugging me forever to finally come. I got a bit annoyed with it." He shrugged, "Oh, come on, can you honestly say that you don't want to?"
She shrugged, "I guess it will be fun..."
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She crept around a corner, her eyes falling on her target. Aiming her weapon she fired, he was hit. He turned to look at her, a glare in his eyes.
"Carter!" He called out, "You are so going down for this."
She started to run off in the other direction, disappearing behind the very corner she had just turned. She hid behind two barrels of fake "toxic material" and held in her laughter as he ran by. It had been more than thirty seconds so his weapon would be no longer disabled, he was on a mission of revenge and she was going to do her best to stay out of his way.
"Carter!" He yelled out, running farther away from her, "Sam!"
When he was out of view she came out from her hiding place and ran off in to opposite direction, bumping straight into her father. "Oh ... shit," he muttered as he shot at her, she was out for the next thirty seconds. Her father's eyes flashed and Sel'mac laughed, running off in the other direction. Sam followed the Tok'ra, they weren't getting away with this.
"Damn you Cassie!" She heard Jack yell out. Try as she might she couldn't hold in her giggle.
He had been close enough to hear her do so, "No giggling." He scolded, coming into view.
Her electronic vest flashed, she was back in the game. "Not gonna work," she told him, firing her weapon at him. His vest flashed and he cursed under his breath, giving her an evil look. She grinned and ran off in search of her father.
The game lasted twenty minutes or so and in the end none of those with military training won. Jack, former black ops, lost horribly with 54 misses and only 103 hits, Jacob/Sel'mac, who both had experience with weapons, came in a close third with 41 misses and 112 hits. Sam was a little better off only having 23 misses to go with her 124 hits. Cassie, who had never even held a gun in her life, won with only 12 misses and 143 hits, bragging rights went to the twenty-year-old college student.
Cassie convinced them that, since she won, she should pick where they went to eat. She decided on a little restaurant that her mother had been fond of, Jesse's Dinner. She said that they had the best burgers anywhere, thick and juicy. The other three agreed and with Cassie directing they were there in fifteen minutes, eating in less than thirty.
"You've done that before, haven't you?" Jack asked, taking a bite of his hamburger.
Cassie smiled, "Maybe."
"Ha!" He said, "I knew it. That's not fair."
"Actually, Jack, the fact that we're all military personal who carry weapons every single day kind of gives us the advantage. And even if Cassie hadn't done that before you still would have come in last place ... face it, you suck at laser tag."
He laughed, "You're right ... I do."
They talked amongst themselves as they finished their lunch and then they drove Cassie back to campus for her late class, Then Jacob drove them to Jack's house.
"I have to go back to base," he explained. "If you've noticed I've got George's car ... he's kind of stranded there without it." He smiled at them, "Have fun."
"I swear," Sam said when he drove off, "he keeps getting stranger and stranger each time I see him. Sel'mac is a bad influence on him."
Jack laughed and pulled her into his arms, even though they were still outside standing in the middle of his driveway. "You know though, we should take his advice." His fingers traveled up her back, then back down, then up again, sending chills down her spine.
"Oh?" She asked, "How do we do that?"
"Well ... I gotta few ideas."
"And do you suppose we do these ideas out here ... on the driveway."
"Hey ... if that's what you want, who am I to stop you?"
She swatted him playfully, then kissed him. "I love you," she told him, kissing him again.
He smiled and pulled her closer, "I love you."
She laughed, "With all the stress you cause me, you'd better." She pulled back, out of his embrace, her hands traveling down his arms until they reached his. Pulling him with her she made her way up the driveway and to the door and he pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and allowed her to lead him into the bedroom.
She pushed him down on the bed and he looked at her bemused, "What are you doing?"
"Having fun." She replied, crawling onto the bed.
"Oh," he replied. "Then by all means, continue."
She smiled, "I'd planned on doing so."