THROUGH THE YEARS

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a/n: To all those who pleaded and begged for me not to do angst, sorry! Hope you like it anyway!

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Chapter 13: Too Good to Last

March 1987 Colorado

Sam, hugging her books to her chest, walked out into the cold, Colorado winter towards the parking lot. Jack had promised to pick her up from school today since he needed the car earlier. After turning the corner of a building and seeing the parking lot in the distance, Sam heard someone behind her calling her name.

"Carter! Hey, wait up!"

Sam turned around. "Mitchell, what's up?"

"Hey, Carter, Tina's been looking for you. There is a huge party tonight at Brewster's. We wanted you to come. You can bring your captain. I know you don't hang out with us that much anymore because of him. I promise we'll be on our best behavior if you bring him," Mitchell told her.

"Oh, um, I would love to come, Cameron, but Jack and I already have plans tonight. I'm sorry," Sam replied, hugging her books a little tighter to her.

"Are you sure, Sam?" Mitchell sized her up, trying to figure out if she was lying to him as he asked her.

"I'm sure, thank you, though," Sam said with sad eyes. She really did miss hanging out with her friends. Not more than hanging out with Jack, though.

"Okay, well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us," he told her before patting her shoulder and turning to head back to the warm building.

"Bye, Mitchell," she called after him and then proceeded to the parking lot.

Jack had seen Sam coming and had hopped out of the car to greet her when Mitchell approached. He didn't want to interrupt whatever they were talking about, so just leaned against the car and watched them converse from afar. He saw the sad look cross her face right before Mitchell left and wondered what was upsetting her.

"Hey," he said as she walked up to him. "So, what'd Tina's boyfriend want?"

"Oh, he invited us to a party tonight," Sam told him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him lightly on the lips before pulling away and opening up the passenger-side door.

"And," Jack prompted.

"Nothing, I told him we already had plans," Sam replied, still looking a little sad.

"Sam, all we were planning on doing tonight was rent a couple movies. If you want to go to this party.."

"I don't, Jack! Let's just go."

Jack shut Sam's door and walked over to get in the driver's seat. He turned the car on, but before pulling out, turned back to Sam. "Sam, if I was on a mission, would you go to this party?"

"What? Yeah, probably, it would be better than sitting home and pining over you," she replied, grinning a little at him.

"So, why don't you want to go when I'm home? Are you embarrassed of me?"

Sam looked at him, her heart breaking that he would think she could be embarrassed. "No, of course not, Jack. It's just, I know you don't like hanging out with a bunch of cadets."

"Sam, I will if you want to. You know that," he told her, softly.

"I know. But, you shouldn't have to. Plus, you intimidate the other cadets. I think they would have more fun without us."

"Really? I intimidate them?" Jack smirked.

"Oh, shut-up! Like you don't do it on purpose. Your evil glares have half the men at the Academy dreading having study-hour with me."

Jack laughed. "Hey, as beautiful as you are, I have to do something to keep those vultures away from you."

Sam smiled. "I love you, Jack," she told him, a complete look of love on her face.

Jack looked at her. "I love you, too, Sam. Always." With that, Jack smiled and put the car in reverse, a night of movies and cuddling on the couch on it's way.

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Peterson AFB

Jack walked into the briefing room a little apprehensively. Cromwell and several other higher-ups had been meeting for two weeks now and had finally called Jack and several other black-ops officers in for a briefing. Jack took his seat between Major Thomas and Col. Cromwell and waited for the meeting to begin. Looking around, he noticed he was the lowest rank at the table and wondered what the hell was going on!

A few minutes later, Colonel John Schultz walked into the room flanked by two other men and took the spot at the front of the table. "At ease, men," he said, before anyone got completely out of their seats. "The situation in the Middle East is getting out of hand. I have been ordered to assemble a group of black ops teams for a covert mission in conjunction with several of our allies. You are the men I have selected. We will be leaving Monday morning for Italy. Once there, we will be joining forces with several other covert teams throughout the world in order to stop the situation in the Middle East before we end up in World War Three." The colonel stopped to take a drink of the water in front of him and look at each man at the table. "This will be an on-going mission, boys. No running in and out this time. We will be stationed in Italy for at least a year. So, kiss your loved ones good-bye and pack your possessions in to storage, 'cuz you won't be coming home anytime soon."

The colonel continued to talk about the mission, but Jack couldn't hear a thing due to the buzzing in his ears. He had to leave Sam for a YEAR! A whole year! How could he? She was the reason he joined black ops, now he was being torn away from her. He wanted to scream. Scream at the colonel, God, anyone who would listen. Why the hell was he picked for this mission?

After the rest of the details were given, Col. Schultz dismissed the men. Jack stood up in a haze and headed out the door, barely hearing Cromwell behind him yelling his name.

"O'Neill…. Captain….. Jack!", he yelled, trying to get Jack's attention.

It finally registered in Jack's head that he was being called and he stopped and looked at Cromwell.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I tried talking Schultz out of taking you, told him you were still green, too young, but the guy has a thing for you. He insisted you go on this mission. I know this is going to be hard on you and Sam," Cromwell told him, not knowing what to do to help the young man.

"I can't believe I have to leave her for a year," Jack said in almost a daze.

"I know, son, I'm sorry. Have you thought of proposing? If you're going to be gone for a year, you have to give her something worth waiting for," Cromwell offered.

Jack shook his head, no. "I can't. Not yet. She's still so young, Frank. I want to wait until she's at least out of the Academy. I can't tie her down yet. She still has a life to live."

Major Thomas, who had walked up to Jack with Col. Cromwell, decided to put in his two cents worth. "Jack, if you don't propose, what are you going to do? Expect her to wait for you? Like you said, she's still young, she has her own life to live. Are you really going to ask her to give it up for you?"

Jack just looked at the two men before him, a look of total loss written across his face. He didn't know what to do. Should he propose? Could he really ask her to wait for him? Was that being selfish? A whole year! How could this happen?

Col. Cromwell felt bad for the young man in front of him. "Jack, really, a year isn't that long. Before you know it, you'll be back in the Springs, completely forgetting you were gone for a year."

"In a year, Sam will be graduating and leaving the Springs. She'll be heading off somewhere for flight school. This was our last year together," Jack told the men, keeping his eyes on the floor, not wanting the men to see how weak he was.

"I'm sorry, O'Neill, I don't know what to say," Cromwell admitted.

Jack looked up at his superior officer who had become his friend. "It's ok, sir, neither do I," he told him in almost a whisper before turning and walking in a trance down the hall.

Jack left the building and headed for home. The cool air helping to clear his mind. As he turned the last corner and his house came into view, he saw Sam and Tina sitting on the front porch, a group of cadets scattered around in his yard. He stopped before any of them noticed him and watched the woman he loved.

She was laughing and in an obvious good mood. This upset him, knowing he was about to destroy her good mood with his news. He noticed several of the men eyeing Sam, something he had become accustomed to seeing, but still didn't like. Sam lowered her head in embarrassment and Jack immediately knew she was aware of the way the men were looking at her.

Could he really make her sacrifice so much for him? She's already given up so much of her youth to be with him. Turning down invitations to parties, dances, get-togethers to spend time with him. How much more could he ask her to give up? He loved her too much to ask her to wait for him. If they could stay together, it would be different. But, unfortunately, he had to leave her for a year, at least. To make her wait in loneliness was just selfish, and impractical. He remembered back to when she was dating Rob. She had turned to him because she was hurt and lonely because Jack wasn't able to be there for her. He couldn't do that to her again. Her laugh carried to his ears and he knew what he had to do.

He walked the rest of the way to his house. Sam, along with several of the other cadets saw him approaching and immediately picked up on the tension radiating off him.

"You okay?", Sam asked when he reached the porch. He said he was okay with her friends hanging out. If he was upset because they were there, she was going to be aggravated with him.

"No, actually I'm not. We need to talk, Sam. Can you ask your friends to leave?"

Sam looked over at Tina as Jack walked past her and into the house. Not knowing what was wrong with him, but a little annoyed that he just brushed her friends off, Sam just shrugged at Tina's questioning gaze. "I don't know, maybe he's being sent on another mission. You guys better go."

Tina threw Sam a comforting look and then walked off with Mitchell and the rest of their friends. Sam watched them leave and started to get upset. 'This better be important!' she grumbled under her breath and headed in the house.

Jack was standing in the living room, ramrod straight, with his back turned to her when she walked in. "What's going on, Jack?"

Jack turned slowly, his eyes were wet as he tried desperately to hold the tears back. "Sam," he croaked as he took a step towards her. "I've just been transferred to Italy for a year."

Sam just stared at him. Her world was crumbling around her and there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't have a problem holding back the tears and they were soon running down her cheeks even though her expression hadn't yet changed. "No," was all she could say.

"Sam, I'm so sorry," he said, walking the rest of the way to her and wrapping her in his arms. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," he kept saying as Sam's anger came on full force and she started beating her hands into Jack's chest. He continued to hold her tightly in his arms, taking the hits as if he deserved them.

"Why? Why? I don't want to be away from you!", she wailed when her hands had tired and she finally stopped pelting him and just crumbled into his body.

"I know, Sam. I know. But, we knew this wouldn't last forever, not yet. If I wasn't transferred, you would be leaving me in a year, anyways. It's just earlier than we thought. We had it so good for over a year, Sam. We have to hold on to that."

Sam pulled away and wiped the tears off her face. "Jack, I'll wait for you as long as I have to. I love you so much. I know we have to make sacrifices, it's just so sudden. I'm sorry for acting like a child. I'm sorry." Sam choked up again as tears reemerged and resumed their trail down her cheeks.

"Oh, sweetie, you shouldn't have to wait for me. You can't wait for me, Sam. I don't want you to. I want you to have a life. I don't want to take that away from you," Jack told her, his own tears finding their way out of his eyes.

Sam looked up at him in disbelief. "You are my life, Jack. I love you. I will wait for you, forever if I have to, Jack. It's only a year, we can survive this."

"Sam, it'll be more than a year. Even if everything goes as planned, I'll only be back for a short time before you graduate and leave for flight school. Then, who knows where you'll be stationed. We have no idea when we can be together again."

"Then I won't go to flight school. I'll graduate and convince them to let me work at NORAD. They were impressed with me last summer. They told me they would love for me to work there full-time."

"No, Sammie. You WON'T give up your dreams for me! No, DAMNIT! You won't!"

"My dreams have changed, Jack. You're my dream now."

"I can't let you," he whispered. "Not for me, not for anyone, Sam. Someday all your dreams will come true. I won't let you give them up."

"And yet, you're so willing to give up on us," Sam said, barely above a whisper as she stared him down.

"No, Sammie, I'll never give up on us. Someday, we will be together again. It's just not now. I'm so sorry, Sam. Can't you see, I'm doing this for you!"

"Damn you, Jack O'Neill! Don't you dare claim to be doing this for me! You're breaking my heart. Tearing it to shreds! Is that really for me? I'm willing to give up everything for you and you're just pushing me away! I thought you loved me? How can you hurt me like this?"

Jack couldn't take it anymore. His heart was on the verge of exploding. He wrapped his arms back around Sam and held her so close and so tight, she couldn't move. "I love you more than anything, Sam," he whispered in her ear. "Never forget that. Never. I'm going back to my office. Pack your things while I'm gone. I'll get more boxes while I'm out." With that, he kissed her on the head and rushed out the door, not looking back. Knowing if he did, he wouldn't, couldn't give her up.

Sam watched his back as he left. She covered her face with her hands and collapsed to the floor, crying hysterically until she fell asleep in exhaustion.

She woke up about a half an hour later, anger replacing her sadness and filling up her broken heart. Determined to pack and move back to the dorm before Jack returned, she called Tina and Mitchell and had them come over and help her get her things out of Jack's house.

Tina and Mitchell brought two other men with them and had all her things out of his house within the hour. Returning to her former room, Sam collapsed on her old bed and cried herself back to sleep, completely at a loss at what she was living for.

Jack watched his house as the cadets arrived and helped Sam move her stuff out. He knew her friends would take care of her and was happy they were there for her. He couldn't believe how much he had hurt her, but only hoped that one day she would understand why he did it. He hoped that one day she would know it was done out of love. He loved her enough to give her up. It tore him apart inside to do what he did, but he didn't know what else to do. She deserved the best of everything in life and he was going to make damn sure she got it.

The rest of the weekend went by in a blur. Jack sat in his living room, boxes all around him, drinking his misery into submission. Sam stayed away the entire time. He didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He loved her, he wanted to be with her. To hold her, touch her, kiss her, make love to her one more time before going on this God-forsaken mission. But, as much as he wanted her, he knew it would be harder on the both of them.

Monday morning rolled around and Jack reported for duty, standing at attention on the air field, awaiting his flight. He was still a little hung-over after his weekend drinking-fest, so when he heard Sam calling his name, he rationalized that it was all in his head. That is, until her beautiful face was standing in front of him. "Sam?"

"I'm sorry, Jack. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left, I'm so sorry," Sam cried.

"Oh God, Sam," Jack croaked, grabbing her and hugging her tightly. "I love you, Sam, always. I won't be gone forever. I promise. I'm so sorry for hurting you. I just want you to be happy. I love you."

"I know, Jack. I love you so much. I won't give you up, ever. Don't ever think I will," she told him, pulling away enough to capture his lips with her own and kiss him with all the love she had for him.

The kiss was everything Jack dreamed it could be and only broke it off when he heard his CO's footsteps approaching. Knowing he was leaving any minute, he looked Sam in the eyes. "We'll be together again, Sam. Go live your life. Do all those wonderful things you do. I'll never stop loving you."

"I love you, Jack O'Neill, forever," Sam told him as she pulled away and walked backwards to the crowd of people who were there to see the black ops officers depart.

Jack took one more look back at the woman he loved with everything he had before boarding the plane. He loved her. They were meant to be together, and someday, they would be. He knew it with everything in his heart. They would be together again.

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a/n: Just remember, 'Happily Ever After' always comes at the end of stories. Why? Because 'happily ever after' itself is not a story. If it was Sam and Jack happy all the time, that wouldn't be much of a story. The story lies in them trying to get to 'happily ever after'. (I hope this makes sense!)

a/n2: Does anyone else get that song 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' in their head every time Sam and Jack separate in this story? Or is it just me?