THROUGH THE YEARS

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Chapter 4: Missing You

December 1982

Sam, wiping the tears from her eyes, ran down to the O'Neill house. She knocked on the door and it was soon answered by Rob. "Sam! You okay!" He asked in alarm at seeing the pretty blonde with red eyes and no coat.

"I'm fine, Rob. Thanks. Is Lizzie here?" Sam asked, her teeth starting to chatter.

"Uh, yeah. She's up in her room, go on up……Sam, are you sure you're ok?" Rob asked again in concern.

Sam smiled at the boy. "Yeah, I just got some bad news……My dad's making us go to California for Christmas."

"Oh no! Wait! Why, exactly is that so horrible!" Rob asked, teasing Sam a little.

Sam smirked at the boy's lame attempt to cheer her up. "Because, that means I don't get to spend my holiday with all of you." She told him.

"Yes, that is a bummer!" He replied, still smiling the familiar O'Neill smile at Sam. Then, a little softer told her, "We'll miss you."

"Thanks." Sam said, smiling at Rob, noticing for the first time how much he looked like his older brother.

Rob, feeling a little warmer than usual all of a sudden, motioned for Sam to go on up to Liz's room while he headed to the kitchen to get something to drink and cool him down.

Liz was in her room, sprawled out on her bed playing records when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in!" She yelled.

Sam opened the door and walked in.

"Hey, Sam!" Liz said, looking up at her friend and smiling.

"Hi!" Sam said, plopping down on the bed next to Liz.

"What's wrong?" Liz asked. Sam had been her best friend for almost a year, and she could read her pretty well by now.

"Mark won't come home for Christmas, so my dad is flying us out there for Christmas. We leave in the morning." Sam sadly announced.

"Oh no! But, we had plans for Christmas! You were going to have Christmas dinner with us!"

"I know! But what can I do! My dad is obsessed with all three of us being together for Christmas!" Sam whined to her friend.

"That sucks! You know, the worst part is I told Jack you would see him for Christmas!" Liz added.

"I know! I was looking forward to it!" Sam exclaimed before she remembered she was still shy and in denial over her crush on Jack!

"I thought you said it wasn't that big a deal?" Liz teased, sitting up to get a better view of her friend. Sam's cheeks had flushed once she realized what she had said. "Sam! Why don't you just admit you like him?"

"Okay!" Sam cried to Liz. She looked away from her friend and looked up at the ceiling. "I like him." She said so quietly Liz almost didn't hear it.

"Ha! Well, it's about time you admit it!" Liz screamed in excitement.

"I bought him something for Christmas. Do you think I'm pathetic?" Sam asked, looking back at Liz.

"Depends. What'd you buy him?"

"A model of a B-17 Bomber. He spent a good hour looking over the one on display at the base so I thought he'd like it. I went back to the gift shop and bought it after he went back to the Academy." Sam confessed.

"I think he'll love it!" Liz told her. "In fact, it sounds way better than what I bought him!"

Sam smiled. "I have everyone's gifts at my house. I'll bring them over tonight."

"Okay, then I'll give you mine at the same time." Liz told her. Sam and Liz hung out listening to music for a few hours before Sam's dad had called her home to pack.

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Jack paced nervously waiting for his parents to arrive to pick him up. His plane had landed early and he had been waiting a good twenty minutes already. He reached up to his jacket and felt the small box for the hundredth time. He was nervous about giving the present to Sam and was still a little undecided whether or not he would actually give it to her.

Shortly after he returned to the Academy after meeting Sam, he had been hanging out at the mall in Colorado Springs with some buddies. As they walked by a jewelry shop, a pendant in the shop window caught his attention. It was a small pendant of a shooting star. As soon as he saw it, he immediately thought of Sam. Telling his friends he would catch up with them, he walked into the jewelry shop and questioned the clerk about the pendant. By the time he was done in the shop, he had purchased the pendant, a small, gold chain for it, and had the pendant engraved and gift-wrapped! He had the jeweler engrave on the back of the shooting star: "Reach for the Stars, Sam. Always, Jack." He wasn't sure if it was too much, but, he knew she would love it and he really wanted to give it to her!

He reached up to his jacket and felt the box again. He had never been so nervous about giving someone a present before in his life! Lowering his hand, his eyes set on a familiar figure standing in front of him. "Dad!" Jack exclaimed, happy to see his old man!

"Jack! You look good, son!" His dad told him, reaching his arm around and hugging his son quickly. "Come on! There's a houseful of O'Neill's who can't wait to see you!" He told his son, reaching down and helping Jack with his bags.

The ride home was quick and Jack was anxious to see his family again. He walked into the house and was bombarded by his family members. "Merry Christmas, Jack!" Several of them exclaimed as Jack walked into the front room.

"Merry Christmas to you, too!" Jack responded, hugging his mom and kissing her on the cheek. "Man, I can't wait until Christmas dinner!" Jack said, smiling at his mom while he rubbed his stomach.

A few hours later, the O'Neill house had calmed down and were content sitting in each other's company, a complete family, once again! Maggie, reluctantly, pulled herself up off the couch to straighten the small mess her kids had made. She picked up Jack's jacket and a small box fell out of the pocket. "What's this, dear?" Maggie asked her eldest son.

Jack's face flushed slightly. "Oh! Uh, that's for Sam." He said quietly, getting up off the couch and hurrying over to his mom. "I saw it at the mall and thought of her NASA career. Uh, it's nothing, really." Jack said, trying to play down the gift.

"Oh, that's too bad she's not going to be here for Christmas!" Maggie exclaimed, sadly.

"What?" Jack asked, his head shooting up and turning to Lizzie. "I thought you said, you said, she would be here?" Jack stuttered out in disbelief.

"She was! Up until yesterday when her dad dragged her off to California to be with her retarded brother!" Liz grumbled, still upset over the situation.

"Elizabeth, don't call people names. You've never even met Sam's brother." Maggie scolded.

"I know enough to know he's a jerk and because of him Sam doesn't get to spend Christmas with us." Liz argued.

Jack looked like his favorite pet just died. He wasn't even aware he was looking forward to seeing Sam so much until the second he heard she wouldn't be there!

Liz saw the look on Jack's face. "Sam bought you a present for Christmas, too, Jack." She told him, standing up and going over to the Christmas tree. "She told us not to open them until Christmas, but, what she don't know…" Liz smirked at her brother and handed him one of the presents from under the tree.

"Elizabeth!" Maggie scolded.

Jack looked at the present apprehensively before taking it from his sister. He held the gift in his hands for several seconds. The only link to Sam at the moment. "I can wait." He said quietly and placed the gift back under the tree.

Liz watched the distraught look on her brother's face and felt sorry for him. She realized for the first time that there was something between Jack and Sam that was greater than either of them realized. Somehow, Liz knew that Jack and Sam would be closer than Liz and Sam, and even Liz and Jack ever could be! She sighed in sadness as she thought about her best friend in California.

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A few days later, Lizzie was up in her room, listening to her new cassettes on her new cassette player her parents got her for Christmas. After hearing a knock on her door and yelling come in, Liz watched as Jack sulked in her room and laid down on her bed.

"You okay?" She asked him, sitting up a little on her bed.

"Yeah." He told her, unbelievingly.

"Miss Sam?" She asked him.

"Yeah." He replied quietly.

"So, what was the big, mystery gift?" Liz asked him. He had refused to open Sam's present in front of everyone and instead, took it down to the basement to open in private. He hadn't said anything about it since.

"A B-17 Model." He told her.

"Is that bad?" She prompted.

"No. It was perfect. The best gift I got, actually."

"The best gift as far as quality..or…the best gift because it was from Sam." Liz questioned.

Jack turned his head and looked at his sister. Obviously not planning on answering her question. A few seconds later he looked back at the ceiling. "There was a letter from her. Wrapped in with the plane."

"Really?" Liz asked. Sam had told her nothing about a letter so her curiosity was definitely peaked now. "What did it say?"

Jack didn't say anything for a good minute. Then, sighing heavily, he looked back at his sister. "Why do I have to fall for someone so young?" He asked her, a sad look in his eyes.

"Jack. She's not that young! You should give her a chance. There's a chemistry between you two that I've never seen before. Besides, I just got her to admit she has a big, fat crush on you! You can't break her heart now!" Liz stated, throwing one of her pillows at Jack's head.

Jack smirked at the new information. "She gave me her phone number and address. In case I wanted to write or call her."

"Are you going to?"

"I want to. But, what if her dad gets a hold of them."

"You don't have to write porn!" Liz teased.

Jack threw the pillow back at her. "Like I was going to! I'm older than she is. Her dad probably doesn't want me courting his daughter."

"Excuse me, but did you just say courting! When exactly did we go back to the 1800's?" Liz teased her brother while dodging another pillow aimed at her head.

Liz and Jack hung out together in her room talking for the rest of the night, just the two of them, something they hadn't done in years!

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Sam walked into her house with the second and final load from the car and heard the phone ringing. Setting down her bundle, she walked over and picked up the phone. "Carter residence." She said into the receiver. Her father had insisted with all the military officers calling her house that she answer it more professionally than the normal hello.

"Sam?" Came a familiar voice over the line that Sam just couldn't quite place.

"Yes?" She replied back into the phone.

"It's Jack."

"Oh! Hi!" Sam said, excitement filling her body. "Uh, where are you?" She asked, hoping he was still at his parents.

"Back at the Academy, unfortunately. I got back this afternoon. What about you?"

"We just walked in the door." Sam told him.

"Oh!" Jack said, all of a sudden nervous. "Uh, can you do me a favor?" Jack asked her.

"Okay." Sam said, a little confused.

"Put the phone down, run up to your room and bring down the present that is sitting on your nightstand." Jack commanded in one breath.

"What?" Sam asked in surprise.

"I left your Christmas present in your room." Jack told her, sheepishly.

"You were in my room?"

"Yes."

Sam was silent, taking in this unexpected conversation, grinning on her end of the phone, knowing Jack couldn't see her. "You got me a present?"

"Yes. Are you going to keep asking me questions or are you going to go get it?" Jack joked with her.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Sam put the phone down on the table and ran up to her room. She opened her door and looked at her nightstand. Sitting on her nightstand was a small gift-wrapped box along with an envelope. She grabbed them both and ran back to the phone. "What is it?" She asked, toying with the present in her hands.

"Open it." Jack told her in a soft voice.

Sam unwrapped the paper and quietly gasped when she saw the famous jewelry-maker name on the box. 'Oh my gosh, he bought me jewelry!' She mentally screamed. She opened the box and gasped loud enough for Jack to hear her on the other end of the line. "Oh, Jack! It's beautiful! You shouldn't have! This must have cost a small fortune!"

"Turn it over." He told her, grinning from ear to ear on his end of the line.

"Oh Jack!" Sam shrieked after she read the message engraved on the back. "I love it! Thank you so much! Wow! This really makes the gift I got you look really cheesy!"

"No, Sam! I love the gift you got me! It was perfect! Thank you! I'm just shocked that you already know me so well."

"Uh, Jack?" Sam asked a few seconds later.

"Yes."

"How did you get in my house?"

"Oh! Liz gave me the spare key. I was going to just leave your present by the phone, but I thought it would be safer in your room. Did you get the letter?"

"Yeah, it's right here, just a minute and I'll open it."

"No! Wait! Wait until we hang up, I don't want you reading it with me on the line." He said, shyly.

"Oh. Okay." Sam replied, now very curious about what the letter said.

The two talked on the phone for at least an hour before Jacob came in the room and told Sam it was getting late and Jack realized he was going to have a very high phone bill to pay. Hanging up, Sam told her dad good-night and headed up to her room, letter in hand.

She closed her door behind her, ripped her clothes off, slipped on her pajamas and then hopped into bed. After snuggling under the covers, Sam carefully opened the envelope. She pulled out the paper and unfolded it. Looking at Jack's handwriting, she began to read.

Dear Sam,

I have to tell you first, I'm really bad at writing letters. So, don't expect Shakespeare or anything! I wanted to tell you that your present meant a great deal to me. I'm not just saying that, so don't think I am. I hope you like the necklace I bought you. As soon as I saw it I thought of you. God! I wish I could see you! I miss you! I know that's really sad considering I've only met you once, but still, I do miss you. You are so beautiful, Sam! And don't let anyone ever say you aren't, because they would be lying! Like I said, I'm really bad at this! Sorry! I'm glad you gave me your phone number and address. I'll write as often as I can. I'll even try and call, but, the phone bills a killer from this far away. I'm going to write my address at the bottom of this letter so you can write me, too. Please do. Sam, I know I'm too old for you. Maybe I shouldn't be writing you at all. I guess I just can't help myself. Writing to each other can't hurt, right? If you don't want to write me back, I understand. Well, I really hope I don't sound too much like an idiot. I guess I'll see you, sometime, hopefully.

Always, Jack

Sam read and reread the letter three times. She couldn't believe what she was reading! He liked her! He really liked her! She would have stood up and danced on her bed if she was sure she wouldn't disturb her dad! She carefully refolded the letter and slipped it back into the envelope. Looking at the envelope in her hands, she bent down and kissed the paper, then, she tucked the letter under her pillow and shut off her lamp. Dreams of Jack soon invading her mind!

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a/n: I intentionally wrote the letter to sound awkward. I thought back to notes I received from boys when I was young(er), thinking back now, they were pretty awkward and lame, but at the time, I thought they were works of art! I imagine Sam would think the same thing at this age.

a/n2: Sorry they didn't get to see each other this chapter, but certain reviewers (who will remain nameless, you know who you are!) want this to be a long fic. I'd like to take this story all the way up to the first mission to Abydos, and in order to make this seem real, they're not always going to be able to be together. Hope everyone still enjoys it!