WHAT'D I MISS: PART TWO
Daniel and Teal'c arrived at the bar at the same time. The four friends had decided to drive separate since they were all going to their respective homes afterwards. Daniel and Teal'c who were the 'safer' drivers out of the bunch, arrived a good 5-10 minutes behind Jack and Sam.
Daniel was pretty sure Sam and Jack's lead feet were a result from their days as pilots. He assumed his two friends just never managed to get over their 'need for speed' complex. Quite the opposite from he and Teal'c. While Daniel was a careful and slow driver, Teal'c took the cake for following EVERY traffic law and citation! Even Daniel got bored driving with Teal'c and his insistence on waiting the 'required' 5 seconds at a complete stop at every single stop sign!
Teal'c and Daniel walked into the bar and Daniel immediately scanned the back of the bar towards their usual seat for Jack and Sam. "Well, well, take a look at that, Teal'c! Sam and Jack are sitting next to each other at our table! I knew it!" He exclaimed to his large jaffa friend.
"DanielJackson, do not you and I often sit next to each other at the same table?" Teal'c asked. Not seeing the obviousness that Daniel did.
"Well, yeah, but that's different, Teal'c." Daniel stuttered out. "Besides, we never sit next to each other when we're alone!"
"O'Neill and ColonelCarter are expecting us. They were not planning on remaining alone." Teal'c stated.
"Yeah, alright already, Teal'c. I'm dropping it!" Daniel exclaimed as Teal'c raised his eyebrow at Daniel.
The two made their way over and sat down on the other side of the table from Sam and Jack. There was already an unopened bottle of beer sitting on the table for Daniel and a 'Shirley Temple' for Teal'c. Daniel noticed Sam and Jack's bottles were already almost empty.
Daniel opened his beer and noticed that Jack's arm was resting behind Sam on the back of the booth seat. Normally, he wouldn't think anything of this, but, in light of recent events, he kept his eyes peeled for any sudden moves between the two.
The other three at the table watched as Teal'c carefully removed the brightly colored umbrella from his drink and folded it up. He then, slid the closed umbrella into his shirt pocket and drank from the twirly straw in his drink. "Teal'c, exactly how many of those umbrellas do you have now?" Jack asked his alien friend.
Teal'c looked at Jack with an expressionless face, obviously not planning on answering Jack's question.
Daniel then, turned his attention from Teal'c to Sam. He watched as Sam took a drink from her bottle and then leaned back against the seat. Right on Jack's hand! 'Uh huh! I definitely am not being told everything!' Daniel thought. He continued to observe his friends as the waitress set down three more bottles of beer. Daniel watched as Sam twisted the top off her bottle and slugged down another drink. And that is when Daniel remembered Pete! 'Pete! What the heck happened to Pete!' Daniel's mind shouted. He looked at Sam's left hand grasping her bottle. 'No ring!' Daniel noted. 'I definitely missed something! When on Earth did she call off the wedding! Was it before we left to fight the replicators? Was it after I was captured by RepliCarter? Was it after I ascended? After Jacob died?' Daniel was confused! 'When did Sam stop talking to me about this stuff!' He silently shouted in his head.
Daniel thought about all the possible scenarios that Sam was not telling him and started to get upset! Finally giving in to his anger, he took one more long drag from his beer and then popped the question. "So, Sam. Where's Pete?"
Sam looked down at her beer bottle. Jack's hand came off the back of the chair and rested on Sam's shoulder. Teal'c's body tensed very slightly next to Daniel. And, before anyone had to say anything, Daniel immediately felt bad for opening his big mouth again!
"He went back to Denver, Daniel." Sam said in a soft voice, still eyeing her beer. "I broke it off with him this morning."
"Oh, God, Sam! I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
Sam looked up and smiled a small smile at him. "Yeah, good, actually. I should never have allowed things to get that far. I made a mistake……..and I had to fix it before it went any further." Daniel watched his friend continue to play with the label on her beer bottle while Jack stroked his hand up and down Sam's upper arm and shoulder, trying to comfort her.
'Damnit! You did it again, you numbskull!' Daniel mentally berated himself. As much as he wanted to know, and he really wanted to know what was going on with them, he hated upsetting them, especially Sam! She was like a sister to him. He promised himself he would NOT upset Sam anymore! Period! No excuses!
Daniel observed his friends as Jack talked with Teal'c about the hockey strike and Sam seemed to snuggle just a little bit into Jack's side. 'Hmm!' Daniel started wondering again. 'If Sam called her wedding off this morning, how is it that Jack and her are so close already? They are definitely acting like they are 'together'! And what on Earth happened to those stupid rules and regulations that kept them apart for so long in the first place!'
Daniel joined in the conversation with his friends, still curious about Jack and Sam, but silently chanting in his head, 'I will not ask! I will not ask! I will not ask!'.
Jack looked over at Sam. "Do you want to dance, Carter?" He asked her softly.
Daniel softly choked on his beer.
Sam and Jack looked up at him. Sam with a look of concern for her friend and Jack with a look of annoyance.
"Yes, I'd like that." Sam answered, turning her attention back to Jack. Jack scooted out of the booth and gently pulled Sam out with him.
Daniel watched as his two friends walked hand in hand to the dance floor. "Teal'c?" Daniel started to ask, but, was once again, cut off by the jaffa.
"I do not know, DanielJackson. As I said before, they will inform us when they are ready. I see no reason in interrogating them." Teal'c said, giving Daniel that look.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just…..I know there is something they're not telling us!" Daniel complained.
Teal'c remained silent as he watched his friends on the dance floor.
It did not pass by Daniel how close the two were dancing to each other. Sam's face was mere inches from Jack's. Their right hands were intertwined, while Jack's left hand was pressed against Sam's back. And, Sam's left hand was slowly stroking the back of Jack's neck. Daniel blinked and looked again. Yup! Her hand was definitely stroking Jack's neck! 'This is just too weird!' Daniel thought, not taking his eyes off his two friends. He saw Sam's mouth moving and a smile light up her face. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but, was sure they were having a private conversation below the sound of the music.
When the song ended, they returned to the table, hand in hand. Daniel was starting to get excited! Ever since that first year when he had traveled to that alternate reality, he had silently rooted for Jack and Sam to get together. He never quite understood the military rules that kept them apart, but, then again, he never quite understood the military! Even after 8 years working for them!
"I'm going to use the restroom." Sam said to the men, letting Jack's hand go and heading off towards the other side of the bar.
Jack watched her go and then sat back down at the table. Daniel watched Jack as Jack continued to watch Sam walk to the restrooms. Curiosity, once again, getting the better of him, Daniel opened his big fat mouth again. "So, Jack. You and Sam? Are you two….you know!" Daniel asked, sounding very much like a hormone-driven teenager.
"Daniel! How can you even ask such a STUPID question! Sam just broke up with Pete this morning! What kind of man do you think I am! Her dad JUST passed away yesterday! Do you really think I would take advantage of her! I can't believe you, Daniel! I thought you had more respect for Sam than that! For crying out loud, have you completely forgotten about the rules and regulations? I'm still her commanding officer!" Jack yelled at the archaeologist.
"I'm sorry, Jack! I wasn't thinking." Daniel defended himself, lowering his head in shame. Jack's words really made him feel like he was two inches tall!
The three men remained silent the entire time Sam was absent from the table. Jack was silently fuming over Daniel's question. Daniel was mentally yelling at himself for acting so adolescent and Teal'c, well, Teal'c was just his normal, quiet self.
Sam came back to the table and immediately noticed the gloom over the table. "Everything okay?" She asked, retaking her seat next to Jack.
"Yeah, fine." Jack lied, smiling at Sam.
Sam, who knew these three men better than anyone else in the galaxy, didn't buy it. However, she really didn't want to get in the middle of it either. She had enough on her plate at the moment as it was! "Well, then, maybe we should call it a night. My brother and his family are arriving early tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, sounds good." Jack said.
Daniel and Teal'c agreed and they all scooted out of their seats in the booth. After a quick round of good-byes, everyone headed off their separate ways.
Daniel headed home to his house he hadn't been at in a couple weeks. As soon as he opened his front door, the smell of rotten food overwhelmed him. "Yuck! Gross! When am I going to learn to stop buying perishable foods?" He lectured himself, while heading to the kitchen to start throwing out the spoiled food.
It didn't take him long to clear out the kitchen, set the trash outside and then get ready for a much-needed rest in his nice warm bed. He slipped on a clean t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants and slid into bed.
He awoke early the next day. Much earlier than normal, and once again, berated himself for sticking his proverbial 'foot in his mouth' last night at the bar. He then, remembered Sam saying her brother was flying in this morning. 'I should call her and see if she wants me to come over to be there as moral support.' Daniel thought to himself. 'Her brother is probably not going to be happy about her break up with Pete.' Deciding it was the friendly thing to do, Daniel hopped out of bed and reached for his phone to call Sam.
He picked up the phone and pressed memory 3 and watched as Sam's phone number appeared on the phone's display as it dialed her number. He listened as the phone rang once, twice, three times. He was expecting the answering machine to pick up when he heard a click and a sleepy voice speak. "Yeah!"
"JACK!" Daniel yelled, completely surprised, into the phone.
"Daniel?" Jack's sleepy voice croaked over the phone. "What do you want? It's only……0600."
"Uh, I was calling to talk to Sam." Daniel managed to squawk out, still shocked that Jack was answering Sam's phone.
"Just a minute." Jack told him. Daniel could still hear Jack on the other end of the line. "Carter….Sam, hey, sleepyhead……Daniel's on the phone. He wants to talk to you." Jack spoke in a soft voice.
Daniel heard shifting and some whispering he couldn't make out before Sam finally came on the line. "Daniel?" She asked, sounding still half-asleep.
"Sam. I'm sorry to wake you. Uh, both….of you. But, I was wondering if you might want me to come over for moral support when your brother gets there."
"Oh! That's really sweet of you, Daniel. General O'Neill has already offered to be here for me, but you're more than welcome to come over too." Sam said in a low voice, still sounding tired.
"Oh! Okay then! Well, I don't want to be a third wheel or anything…." Daniel started.
"It's okay, you're not, Daniel." Sam said, cutting him off. "I would love for you to come over. My brother's getting in at 0900. Why don't you come over around noon and we'll grill out for lunch. Maybe you can let Teal'c know?"
"Yeah, sounds good." Daniel told her.
"Uh, Daniel, hang on, Ja-General O'Neill wants to talk to you, again. I'll see you later."
"Okay, Sam." Daniel said before Jack came back on the line.
"Daniel." Jack said a second later. "I know what you're thinking. It's not what you think! And, I'm not saying anything else. Just remember what I told you last night."
"Okay, Jack." Daniel patronized him. "See you at noon. Bye." Daniel hung up the phone and shook his head, a huge grin appearing across his face. "Sure, it isn't, Jack!"
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a/n: So, once again, is it or isn't it? Should I continue or stop here?