Road to Nowhere
Part 2
Sam awoke with a start to find a hand covering her mouth and warm breath on her ear. "Relax, Carter. It's me. Don't say anything, okay?" She nodded in response and he released her. She turned over to find the shadowy form of her CO kneeling by her bed. He leaned closer to her and whispered quietly in her ear, "Listen to me carefully, Carter. We're in danger, but we're going to get out. I want you to do everything I tell you when I tell you. No questions asked. Okay?" She nodded. "First of all, get dressed in something dark. Put on a dark hat or hood, too. Next get your gun and any cash you have on hand, no credit cards. Leave your ID and your dog tags. Don't turn any lights on and move quickly. They're watching the house. Understand?" She nodded again. "Good."
Sam and Jack had managed to sneak out of her house without being noticed. They made their way through various neighbors' back yards to a car that was parked several blocks away. Jack had 'borrowed' the car from one of his neighbors. She couldn't help but be a little impressed at how quickly he could hotwire a car. He might even be able to beat her at it. At her raised eyebrow he only smirked, "Misspent youth."
A short while later they ditched the car in a restaurant parking lot and walked several more blocks to a relatively new subdivision. Sam hadn't felt the need to ask any questions or even speak a word since he had awoken her. She trusted her commander implicitly, but she couldn't help but be curious about where they were going and why he hadn't mentioned Daniel yet. Surely if she and Jack were in danger Daniel must be as well.
They walked up to a pretty yellow painted two story house. Jack rang the door bell incessantly until the front porch light came on. A minute later the door opened and a tall thin woman with short sandy hair opened the door. Sam was shocked to recognize a woman she had only seen once in real life, but many times in the pictures of Jack's former family. Standing in her bathrobe at midnight, Sara O'Neill glared at her ex-husband and demanded, "Jack, what the hell do you want at this time of night?"
He didn't respond. He just quickly and gently pushed past her into the house. Sam followed and he shut the door behind her. Sara continued to glare at him.
"We need your help, Sara."
She laughed mirthlessly, "When has the great Jack O'Neill ever needed anyone's help?"
"Now. Sara, listen to me…"
Sara ignored him and turned to study Sam. "I know you. You were there at the hospital when that…thing happened."
Sam nodded, "I was."
"This is Major Samantha Carter, " Jack introduced her. "She's my second in command."
"I see," Sara looked her over once more and then turned her attention back to Jack. "So what is this? A matter of national security? What help could I possibly be?"
"We have to disappear, Sara. The less you know about what's going on the better."
"Made one too many enemies, huh, Jack?"
"Something like that."
She studied him for a long while. She shook her head and told him, "You have some gall Jack. I haven't seen hide nor hair of you in the four years since…whatever happened. And then you turn up out of the blue in the middle of the night asking for my help?"
"Yes," he replied honestly.
She nodded seemingly satisfied with his answer, "What do you need me to do?"
"Thank you, Sara," Jack smiled slightly and then turned into full command mode. "We have to change our appearnce. Get hair dye for Carter. Something an Air Force officer could never wear." He turned and looked Sam over. "Get some of that self tanning stuff, too. And make-up to match it. Oh, and get some black dye for me."
"You have gone pretty grey there, Jack. I wasn't going to say anything but…" she shrugged. "Is that all?"
"We might need to borrow a suitcase."
"What ever you need. Take it," Sara began climbing the stairs. " I'll go change and be on my way. Tony's on a business trip, but Sabrina's here. I'll let her know you'll be here while I'm gone."
"Sabrina?" Jack questioned.
Sara stopped and turned back to face him. "My daughter."
"Oh," he said softly. There was tiny moment of utter sorrow on his face before the impassive mask quickly fell back into place. "I knew you had gotten married, but I didn't…I'm happy for you, Sara."
"Thanks, Jack."
TBC