THROUGH THE YEARS
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a/n: I wasn't going to answer this, but, so many of you now are asking, so I thought, 'what the heck!' Yes, Sara and Charlie will be coming into this story. How? You'll just have to wait to find out!
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Chapter 11: Miss Me?
November 1985 Colorado
USAF Academy: Wednesday
Sam entered General Kerrigan's office when she heard him yell, "enter."
"Sir, you wished to see me?", Sam asked tentatively, entering the room.
"Yes, Carter, please, come in and have a seat," the general replied, waving her in.
Sam shut the door and took a seat in front of the general's incredibly large desk.
"Carter, I was hoping to get a favor from you."
"Sir?"
"Nothing hard, Carter. You see, I have these two men who I believe will make excellent pilots. The problem is, they're both failing astrophysics, miserably. If they don't pass this class, they may not make it into their desired field. I was hoping you would be willing to tutor them."
"Of course, sir. I would be happy to help," Sam replied.
"Great!", the general exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Let me know what time is best for you. I was thinking maybe once or twice a week."
"Sure, sounds good, sir…uh, who are the men, sir?"
"Oh, yeah, a John Sheppard and Cameron Mitchell. Do you know them?"
"I know Mitchell, sir. We had a class together last year. But, I've never heard of Sheppard," Sam replied.
"Well, they're quite different. Where Mitchell is more military-minded, Sheppard is a bit of a prankster. You're going to have to watch your back around him," the general warned.
"Yes, sir," Sam said with a smile.
"Oh, and one more thing before you go, Carter."
Sam looked at the general with a confused expression, "sir?"
"Both men are still under the assumption that their shit don't stink. Make sure you break them of that assumption, cadet."
Sam beamed the general a huge grin, "yes, sir!"
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Friday
"Carterrrr! I don't want to do astrophysics! It's Friday night. Don't you have a boyfriend to take you out tonight?", Sheppard whined.
"No," Sam replied, picking his pencil back up and pointing to the equation he was supposed to be writing.
Sheppard smirked. "A girlfriend?"
Sam glared at him. "No."
"Ok, so no boyfriend, NO girlfriend, which by the way, I'm a little disappointed about . What DO you do on Friday night? Or do you always hang out in the library?"
Sam continued to glare at Sheppard. "Write the equation, get the next two pages done, and we can call it a night," she practically growled at him.
Sheppard smirked. "Cool," he replied and then turned his attention back to his book.
After what, to Sam, seemed like an eternity, Sheppard, proudly, handed her his paper.
"Sheppard, this is all wrong," Sam told him, sounding irritated. "Did you listen to me at all?"
"What? You mean when you were talking?"
This time Sam did growl. "SHEPPARD!"
"SSHH," the librarian shushed.
"Sheppard!", she hissed at him. "I am your last chance. If you don't pass this class, you won't be able to fly. If you really want to be a pilot, you have to pay attention."
"I'm sorry, but when you were talking about all that….stuff, my mind wandered."
"To what?"
"Well, I was thinking how pretty you look when you lecture. It's a good thing you're going for that whole astronaut thing because you would be horrible at teaching."
"What? Why?", Sam asked, a little hurt . She always thought she was good at teaching.
"Because all the boys would look into those beautiful blue orbs and immediately start daydreaming."
Sam still felt a little awkward when men complimented her on her looks, so she lowered her head to hide her embarrassment.
"The girls would probably be really smart in your class, though," Sheppard added a few seconds later.
"What?" Sam was still a little confused. "You know what? Nevermind. We have to get this done. So, try and pay attention this time."
"Yes, ma'am," Sheppard, sarcastically, replied.
Another hour passed before Sheppard was finally able to understand the basic principle Sam was trying to explain to him. "So, when do we meet again?" Sheppard asked, closing his books and stacking them up.
"Tuesday, 1400, outside of the west entrance. It'll be you and Mitchell, so I figured the cool weather would help cool your hot heads, " Sam commented, smirking slightly.
"Ooh, Carter, funny girl," Sheppard teased, shaking his finger at Sam as he headed out of the library.
Sam grabbed her things and headed back to her dorm room. Tina was already there when she arrived, sitting on her bed with the music blaring, sifting through a Sears Catalogue.
"Hey, girl, how was your tutoring session?", she asked when Sam came in and plopped herself down on her bed, letting out a loud sigh.
"Sheppard's a pain in the ass. He has absolutely no desire whatsoever to learn astrophysics," Sam complained.
Tina snickered. "Can you blame him?"
Sam looked at her friend with an incredulous look.
"Come on, Sam. Just because you get your jollies off talking about trajectory and velocity, doesn't mean everyone does."
"That's not the point. He wants to be a pilot. He has to know this stuff," Sam countered.
"Yeah, well, doesn't mean he has to like it," Tina replied, flipping a page.
Sam just moaned and laid down on her bed, looking up at the cracked ceiling.
"So," Tina started a few seconds later. "I heard Sheppard's a hottie?"
"What? Oh, yeah, he's alright. A little annoying, though," Sam mumbled.
"Sam! When was the last time you've been out on a date?", Tina asked, a slight hint of irritation in her voice.
"Uh, I don't know, why?"
"Because, you're starting to turn into that rigid girl you were when we first met," Tina told her.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on! Like you don't know. When we first started our freshman year, you were so uptight, always talking about loverboy. It took me months to finally get you to loosen up and start seeing other guys. Then, you get that letter from him, almost a YEAR ago, and you slide right back to the way you were. You were just starting to loosen up again when you just HAD to dance with that black ops officer. Now, just because you got some news about him, your once again, uptight-Sam."
I'm not uptight!", Sam replied, hurt that her friend would call her that.
"Sam, when was the last time you got laid?"
"None of your business," she told her, turning her attention back to the ceiling.
"Well, the last time I remember you getting any was with that one guy, Jones…"
"James," Sam corrected.
"Yeah, he was hot. What happened to him?"
"He graduated last year," Sam told her.
"Man, Sam, it's been THAT long! You need to go have sex!", Tina yelled at her.
"Tina, you can't solve everything just by jumping in the sack with someone!", Sam yelled back.
"Hey, as uptight as you get, Sam, you need it!"
"I do not!", Sam yelled back.
"Look, I know you've got this whole fairy-tale romance with Captain Loverboy, but come on, Sam, when was the last time you saw him? When was the last time you heard from him? You didn't even know he was promoted until a total stranger told you!"
"It doesn't matter, Tina. He will always come before anyone else," Sam mumbled, turning her body away from her friend, no longer wanting to argue.
"Sam, I just don't understand how you can be so willing to put your life on hold for a man you may never see again."
Sam closed her eyes to hold back the tears. Tina didn't understand. She may never understand. Sam was lucky enough to find the man she was meant to be with when she was only 16. She wasn't going to give him up, ever.
"Sam, when you tutor Mitchell and Sheppard next, just look at them. See if you find them attractive. If you can see yourself enjoying them, go for it. Go out with one of them, get to know him. You've got to have somewhat of a social life while you wait for Captain Loverboy to come back into the picture," Tina said, trying to get Sam to see her point and, at the same time, forgive her for butting in in the first place.
Sam sighed. Could she really date Sheppard or Mitchell without thinking of Jack? Probably not, but maybe she should try. It really had been a long time since she was with someone.
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Peterson Air Force Base: Monday
O'Neill! How the hell are you, boy?" Col. Cromwell yelled as Jack walked towards him.
"Better now, sir," O'Neill replied. Something about the crisp Colorado Autumn always put Jack into high spirits.
"Good to hear it!" Cromwell exclaimed as he patted Jack on the back. "I knew it wouldn't take long before they recruited you to the dark side."
Jack just smiled a sad smile at the Lt. Colonel. The truth was, whether he was a natural or not, he really wasn't looking forward to doing the sinister things he knew he was going to be ordered to do in black ops.
"So, you'll have today to get situated. Stick with me, I've already arranged for you to be on my team. I have tomorrow off, so you can take it off, too. You can spend Wednesday either on base or off, but Thursday and Friday, we have routine training exercises, so you have to be on base and ready to head out at 0600. Got it?"
"Yes, sir." Jack replied in obedience.
"Good. Oh, and Jack, I ran into that pretty blonde of yours from the Academy, I would suggest you take tomorrow to look her up before some eligible bachelor sweeps in and snatches her away," the colonel told Jack with a grin on his face.
"Yes, sir," Jack replied, a suggestion he planned on carrying out.
Jack spent the rest of the day getting used to the base. He had been there before, but not as a captain in black ops. He found himself able to enter areas he didn't have the clearance for when he was only a cadet touring the base.
When 1700 came around, Jack headed over to the housing office to find out where he would be living. To his surprise, he was given keys to a two bedroom house on base. Normally, houses were reserved for airmen with families. Jack realized that as an Air Force Captain, he was starting to see some perks! The house was only a few streets over from where the building was, so he threw his hold-all over his shoulder and walked the short distance to his new abode.
Jack looked around his new home. He didn't care that the house was very small. He didn't care that the only bathroom was on the second floor. He didn't care that the washer and dryer hook-ups were in the kitchen. He was just happy that he wasn't stuck in some tiny, one-room, dorm-style apartment with a roommate! Of course, the place was completely unfurnished, so the first thing Jack needed to do was find some furniture. Maybe some dishes, silverware, a few linens…. Jack was mentally preparing a list.
"Bed first," Jack said to the empty house and snapped his fingers. Grabbing his wallet, he headed back out of the house and towards the PX on the other side of the base.
A few hours later, Jack was happily lying on his newly acquired bed in his first house all to himself. He had put on the new sheets and blanket and, after showering and changing into clean boxers, Jack snuggled in to test his new purchase. Apparently, he made an excellent buy, because he was sound asleep within minutes.
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USAF Academy: Tuesday 1445
He had been watching her for quite some time now. The orange, red and yellow leaves that had fallen to the ground, created a beautiful background as the sun's rays reflected off her golden hair, making it shine brightly in the afternoon light.
She was wearing an Air Force jacket and sitting cross-legged in the small grassy area outside of the Academy. She had a book in her lap, but her attention had been mainly focused on the two men with her. One was sitting on her right, his legs stretched out in front of him, a book and notepad on his lap. The other was sprawled out on his side, on the ground right in front of her, a book was opened in front of him, but his attention was more focused on the blade of grass between his fingers.
He watched her as she interacted with the two men. He briefly wondered why he wasn't jealous of the men with her. He assumed it had something to do with the way she looked at them. It was different than the way she looked at him. When she looked at him, she had a look of love and respect in her eyes. When she looked at the two men with her, it was more of a patronizing look. A look like a mother would give her children. Or, perhaps a teacher, her students.
He saw her lift her arm up to look at her watch. Saying something to the men, they both jumped up and collected their books and papers. She stood up with them, wiping any dirt off of her butt. He watched as one of them, the taller one with somewhat curly hair, turn around and ask her something, a smile tugging at his lips. She lowered her head, a move he knew meant she was embarrassed. Then, he watched as she smiled and told him something. He shrugged his shoulders and walked off.
Sam looked at her watch and saw that it was already 1500. "Okay, boys, we can call it a day here," she told Sheppard and Mitchell.
They both stood up, grinning widely at being dismissed from their studying. They grabbed their things and started to head off.
"Hey, Carter, I was going to go get a late lunch. Wanna come with?", Sheppard asked, after turning around and throwing Sam the sexiest grin he had.
Sam lowered her head, embarrassed that he was asking her out. Should she do what Tina said and just go with him? He was attractive. He reminded her of Jack in many ways. Could she really start an actual relationship with someone like Sheppard?
Sam lifted her head back up and looked at Sheppard. "Not today, Sheppard, I have things I have to do. Raincheck?", she offered.
"Sure, Carter, catch you later," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. Then turned back around and headed off to catch back up with Mitchell.
Sam watched them walk off, wondering if she made the wrong choice. What could a little lunch date hurt, anyways? 'Oh, well,' Sam thought, picking up her books and starting towards the dormitories.
He watched her as she looked at the two men walk away. He saw her pick her things up and then start heading in his direction. Not wanting to hide, but not wanting to jump out, either, he stood there, leaning against the tree, as she approached.
He knew the moment she saw him. Her pace slowed drastically and her eyes connected with his. He could tell she was doubting what her own eyes were seeing. Even from the short distance he still was away, he could see the cogs whirring in that large brain of hers.
Her legs seized to move below her and she just stood there, staring at the man propped against the tree. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest, it hurt. Her eyes were drying out from lack of blinking and her entire body was visibly shaking.
She opened her mouth to speak, but found it was too dry to function. Forcing herself to close her mouth and swallow, she licked her lips and tried again. "Jack?", she whispered.
The distance between them went from several feet to non-existent within seconds of his name coming off her tongue. "Sam," he whispered back, taking her in his arms.
"Jack," she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Sam, I'm here. I'm here, Sam," he told her, rocking back and forth with her in his arms.
After a few minutes of just holding each other, Sam pulled away and slapped him on the arm. "Damn you, Jack! Do you realize how badly I've missed you!" she yelled at him, while wiping the tears off her face.
Jack laughed. He couldn't help it. All the emotions playing on Sam's face made her look so cute! "Sam, I love you," he told her, grinning his patented O'Neill grin.
Sam couldn't remember exactly why she was mad at him when he grinned like that. She couldn't help but smile back at the gorgeous man before her. "I love you, too, Jack"
He cupped her face and kissed her gently. "I've been dreaming of your lips for so long now, Sam," he whispered to her when he pulled back only enough to look in her eyes as he ran his hand through her now, short hair.
Sam moaned at the loss of his warm lips on hers and pulled him back to them.
A few minutes later, Sam and Jack finally pulled apart. Holding hands, they walked to Sam's dorm.
"How long are you here?", Sam asked once they started walking.
"Awhile. I was transferred to Peterson," Jack told her, turning his head to gauge her reaction.
A huge, happy smile broke out across Sam's face. "You're stationed here?"
"Yup," Jack replied, his grin broadening.
"Oh, Jack! That's great! I'm so happy! How'd you get transferred out here?"
"I was transferred to Cromwell's team," Jack told her, trying to be vague.
Sam stopped and turned to face him. "Black Ops?", she questioned, fear showing in her eyes.
Jack lowered his head. "Yeah."
"Why?", she asked, the only word she could get out.
"I'm good at it, Sam. It's pretty close to what I was doing in Special Forces, but, I get to actually see you when I'm not on a mission," he told her, squeezing her hand.
"You moved to black ops for me?" Sam asked, shocked.
Jack coughed lightly. "Yeah, Sam, I did," he whispered.
"Oh, Jack! How could you? If something happens to you, it'll be my fault!", Sam yelled, attracting attention from other cadets walking on the grounds.
"Sam, nothing will happen to me and it would never be your fault," Jack tried to soothe her. "I would have been moved to black ops anyways, Sam. It's just a bonus that I get to be here with you."
"Jack…"
"Sam, don't. This is our time together, finally. Let's just enjoy it while it lasts, okay?"
Sam, still upset about black ops, decided just to drop it for now. She squeezed Jack's hand to let him know and then entered her dorm.
"I have today off, what about you?", Jack asked as they walked up the steps.
"I'm free for the rest of the day," she told him, grinning.
"Good, we have to go shopping," Jack exclaimed.
Sam, not expecting that statement to come out of Jack's mouth, stopped, mid-step and looked at him with questioning eyes. "Shopping?"
"Yup. The Air Force gave me my first house, all to myself. Completely bare of anything!", Jack told her, still grinning.
Sam smiled. "Okay, first shopping, then you can take me to dinner."
"Deal," Jack said as they finished climbing the steps and walked to Sam's room.
Tina was in the room working on her homework when Sam and Jack walked in holding hands. Totally not expecting Sam to be bringing a man to their room, and definitely not holding his hand, Tina just looked at the couple, speechless.
"Tina, I'd like you to meet, Jack," Sam said, beaming.
"Uh, hello," Tina greeted, still wondering where Sam picked up such a total hunk.
"Hi, Tina, it's nice to meet you," Jack told her, smiling and causing Tina to go weak in the knees.
Sam smirked at Tina's reaction to Jack and decided to have some fun at her expense. "You know Jack, Tina. Captain Loverboy."
Tina's eyes bulged. "Y-your Captain Loverboy?"
"Captain Loverboy?", Jack asked with a twinkle in his eyes and looked at Sam.
"Yes," Sam replied. "That's what Tina nicknamed you." Sam grinned, proud of herself for flustering Tina.
"Ah," Jack said, as if it made perfect sense. "Well, Captain Loverboy's nice, but you can call me Jack," he told Tina, smiling at her again. Tina's knees weakened, once again.
Sam, finding Tina's reaction to Jack, hilarious, laughed out loud. Jack and Tina both looked at her after her outburst. Sam just shrugged while her face was still plastered with a gigantic smile.
"Tina, I'm going with Jack to pick out furniture for his house. I won't be home tonight, kay?"
"Uh, kay," Tina mumbled out, still incredibly flustered.
Sam and Jack both grinned at each other. Sam packed a few things, along with her books for the next day and they headed off.
"You're evil, Sam," Jack teased, as soon as they left the dorm room.
Sam smiled brightly. "Nah, she had it coming," she told him, wrapping her arm around his and leading him out of the building.
After several hours of shopping for anything and everything to put in Jack's house, the couple finally settled on a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Once they finished their meal, Jack took Sam back to his place.
They brought in all the small things they bought, but the furniture was being delivered the next day. "Well," Jack said, looking around once they brought in all the bags and boxes. "I don't know where we're going to sit."
"Didn't you say you had your bed delivered yesterday?", Sam asked.
"Yeah, I had to have somewhere to sleep."
Sam closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around him. "I think the bed is a great place to be," she said, seductively, batting her eyelashes at Jack.
Jack moaned in agreement and pressed himself against her. "Let me show you the way," he said, huskily, leading Sam up the steps to the bedroom.
Sam really, really liked his new bed!
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a/n: okay, my reason for bringing in Shepard and Mitchell: they're about Sam's age and rank, so it's likely they could have gone to the Academy at the same time she did. What? It could happen!
a/n2: My cousin is in the Army and I pictured her house she had on base when I wrote about Jack's. She really did have a washer and dryer in the kitchen! It was a very small house!