THROUGH THE YEARS
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a/n: Sorry this has taken so long to get posted. I've been busy. Sorry for any mistakes, I'm trying to get this posted quickly because I will be busy for the rest of the week.
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Chapter 15: Second Comes Marriage
April 1988 Florida
Sam was in her room, reading a flight manual for the new jet she would be flying the following week. She had been home for over a week and Jack still hadn't called. She made sure she went straight to her quarters everyday after class so she wouldn't miss his call.
The base was pretty secure, so Sam rarely locked her door when she was awake. So, when she heard the knock on her door, before she could stand up and go to it, the door flung open and two of the men in her class came barging in. They were wearing handkerchiefs over their mouths, but it was still pretty obvious who they were.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked, merriment in her eyes.
"You, Lieutenant, are long overdue for some fun!" Sheppard, the only one who came over from the Academy with her, exclaimed.
"I'm studying this manual. Something the rest of you should be doing, too," she told them, grinning at how silly they looked.
"We have all next week to learn that manual, Carter. Tonight, you are having fun!"
Before Sam realized what was going on, Lt. Brian Conley, the other man in the room, snuck up behind Sam and pulled her arms behind her chair, tying them there.
Sam struggled against the knots, but it was no good. The damn man knew how to tie a sufficient knot! "Guys, really, as much fun as I'm sure this is, I'm really waiting on a phone call," Sam tried reasoning with them.
"Sam, you've been holed up in your room for over a week! You just lost a close friend, you need to loosen up. Sullivan would kick my ass if she knew I was letting you sulk!" Sheppard, exaggeratedly, exclaimed.
"I'm not sulking! I'm studying," Sam argued.
"Carter, you probably already have that damn book memorized, you can't fool us. Now, I'll untie your hands if you promise to go change into this dress," Sheppard told her, holding up a black dress he had pulled out of her closet.
Sam sighed. "Fine!"
Sheppard smirked. "Good, Conley, let her go."
Conley untied her hands and, after throwing him a dirty look, she stood up and snatched the dress out of Sheppard's hands. She walked to the bathroom and slammed the door shut, dramatically.
"Temper tantrums aren't going to work, Carter," Sheppard teased through the door.
While Sam was in the bathroom, the phone started ringing. After the second ring, the men figured Sam couldn't hear it, so Conley went over and picked it up. "Hello," he said into the receiver.
"Uh, hello. I'm looking for Samantha Carter, is this her room?" a male voice came over the line.
"Yes it is, but she is indisposed at the moment. Can I take a message?"
"Who is this?" the voice demanded.
Just then, Sam came out of the bathroom, wearing the dress. "Hot damn, Carter, you look amazing out of your pants!" Conley exclaimed, at the same time Sheppard snuck up behind her and wrapped a blindfold over her eyes.
Sam giggled, loud enough for the man on the other end of the line to hear her. "Well, it's not like I had much of a choice. If I didn't take them off willingly, you probably would have ripped them off."
"Damn straight, Carter! We're having fun tonight!" Remembering he was on the phone, Conley spoke back into it. "I'm sorry, who did you say you were?"
The only response he received was the click of the phone hanging up and the dial tone.
Shrugging, Conley hung up the phone.
"Were you just on the phone?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, you had a phone call," Conley told her, nonchalantly.
"Who was it?" Sam asked, desperately.
"Don't know, he hung up before telling me."
"Damn it! That was probably Jack! I have to call him back!"
"Oh no, Carter! Not right now. You're coming with us for some fun. You can call him back later," Sheppard informed her.
"John! I need to call him back. Who knows what he's thinking right now," Sam practically cried.
"Oh, Carter, Captain Loverboy isn't going anywhere."
Conley laughed at the nickname the former cadets had graced Sam's boyfriend with.
"That's Major, now, Lieutenant," Sam replied.
"Hmm, Major Loverboy? Kind of has a nice ring to it," Sheppard teased as he ushered Sam out the door, a hand on her arm to navigate her way.
Sam fought against him with no success and was soon led to another room. When the blindfold was removed, Sam was shocked to see at least forty people standing in the large room. "Surprise!" they shouted, once the blindfold was removed.
"What is this?" Sam asked, looking at Sheppard for some sort of explanation.
"It's a party, Carter. You know, people gather, talk, drink, dance, all in good fun."
"I know what a party is, John! Why are we having a party?"
"Ah, Carter, you don't need to have a reason to party. But, if you really must know, we've all been concerned about you. We wanted to try and get you to relax and have fun for at least one night," Sheppard told her, smiling his killer smile at her.
Sam smiled back. She really had some great friends. "Alright, John. One night. Bring on the fun!"
"That's my girl!" Sheppard exclaimed, leading her towards the crowd of people.
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Colorado
Jack hung up the phone and stared at it, unbelievably, as if it just told him the day he would die. He could feel his heart breaking. All this time away from her! Had she turned to someone else after he left? He didn't blame her if she did, it was what he wanted, wasn't it? He could feel the anger building. Damn it! Why did she have to mean so much to him? The thought of her looking at someone else the way she looked at him. The thought of her kissing someone else, being touched by someone else, making love to someone else, as much as he wanted her to live her life, the thought of someone else was killing him.
Jack stood up and threw the phone across the room. It crashed into the wall and broke into pieces as it fell to the floor. Before he could let his temper get any more out of control, a knock sounded on his door.
"What!" he yelled.
The door creaked open and Lt. Charlie Kowalsky stood there "Uh, hey, Major, we were going over to that pub on Ninth Street. You game?" he asked, a little worried for his own well-being.
Jack ran his hands through his hair and looked around his room. "Yeah, I'm in," he whispered and followed Kowalsky out the door.
The small Irish pub was quite busy when the men arrived. Jack headed to the bar to order the first round of drinks while the men found a table. "Hey, Mike," Jack said in greeting to the owner of the pub, standing behind the bar.
"Hey, Major. How's life treating you tonight?" the older man questioned, gathering the beer he knew Jack was going to order.
"Let's just say, if it was better, you wouldn't be getting my business," Jack told him.
Mike laughed. "That goes for you and every person here, son."
Just then, a tall blonde approached the bar. "Mike, I can't believe you talked me into this! This is so degrading! I've had at least twenty men proposition me!" the woman exclaimed in disgust.
Jack looked at the woman in amusement. It was obvious this wasn't her normal job.
Mike saw Jack eyeing the woman and introduced them. "Jack, this is my daughter, Sara. Sara, this is Major Jack O'Neill, he's stationed at Peterson."
Sara stuck her nose up at Jack indignantly. "Hmph, another military man. So, what made you join? The overwhelming sense to feel like a real-man? Or are you one of those pathetic men who doesn't have the brains to get a real job?"
Jack looked at the woman in surprise and then turned his head to Mike for some sort of explanation.
"Sorry, Jack. She's still sore that I missed so much of her childhood by being in the Navy. Don't take it personally, it's directed at me," Mike told him, throwing his daughter a disapproving look.
She wasn't phased by her dad's look and simply stuck her nose in the air and stomped off.
"So, why is she working here? She obviously isn't happy about it," Jack questioned.
"I was in a jam. Two of my waitresses called in tonight. I begged her to help out. She's a nurse over at the county hospital."
"Ah," Jack replied, acting as if he cared.
Jack couldn't stop thinking of Sam. All night, the voice of the man on the other end of the line invaded his mind. Jack drank and drank and drank, trying to rid his mind of the man. Jack remembered talking to Mike and Sara. He remembered sitting down at the table with the guys. He even remembered a couple games of pool. But, he drank so much, most of the night was lost to him.
The next morning, he awoke in his bed with no idea how he got there. He felt like he was still drunk as the room came in and out of focus. When he felt his stomach turn, he jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, just in time to spew the contents of his stomach in to the toilet.
After a good five minutes of emptying his stomach, Jack sat back against the bathroom wall. Sweat was rolling down his face and his head was still slightly spinning.
"Oh, that is just disgusting!" came a voice at the door.
Jack looked up to see a naked woman standing at his bathroom entrance.
"Who the hell are you!" he yelled in surprise.
The woman snorted. "My God! How drunk were you last night? You don't even remember me?"
"No!" Jack yelled again, getting annoyed.
"Huh!" she sighed in detest. "I'm Sara! Duh! My dad owns the pub you and your buddies were at last night," she replied, rudely.
Jack closed his eyes. The pain of the light and the sound of her voice causing his head to hurt more.
"If you don't mind, I really need to use the bathroom," her voice rang out, causing a sharp pain to shoot through his head again.
Jack slowly stood up and left her to take care of her business. He went to his kitchen and started a pot of coffee, trying desperately to clear his drunken head.
By the time Sara showed up in his kitchen, she had dressed herself and seemed to be in a bit of a better mood as she smiled at him and gestured for a cup of coffee.
He pointed to the cupboard where she could find a mug and continued drinking his as he read the newspaper in front of him.
When she sat down, Jack chanced a glance and looked at the strange woman in his kitchen. He remembered meeting her, but couldn't believe he had actually brought her home. His first impression of her was not a pleasant one. He had to admit, she was very pretty. Her tall, skinny frame and sandy, blonde hair, reminded him a lot of Sam.
Once Sara had a good cup of coffee in her system, she turned into a chatterbox, talking to Jack about anything and everything. As annoying as she seemed when they first met, Jack found himself actually enjoying her company and the two ended up spending the rest of the day together.
Unbeknownst to him, Jack's broken phone was unable to ring as his phone line incessantly tried to make a connection. Sam spent the entire day trying to get a hold of him, letting the phone ring and ring in a desperate attempt to get through, unaware of the condition of his phone on the other end.
Jack started spending more and more time with Sara. A small part of him secretly convinced himself that it was really Sam he was sleeping with at night. As much as he enjoyed Sara's company, she would never replace Sam in his heart. He was well-aware of this, but if Sam can find someone else to take care of her needs while they were separated, then so could he.
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August 1988 Germany
Sam had been sent on a two-week mission in the Gulf. It was only recon, but Sam still felt like she was finally getting somewhere in the military. She had been propositioned by a colonel to join Special Forces only a week ago and she was still beaming in pride. The mission was over quickly and she was sent to Germany to wait for her next orders.
Eating lunch in the base commissary, Sam was surprised when she heard a familiar voice enter the room. Looking up, she saw Jack O'Neill walking in the lunch line, talking with two other men with him.
Sam's heart started beating madly. She never was able to get through to him and he never called back. She had missed him desperately and was incredibly excited to see him standing there. Getting up, Sam left her tray on the table and walked over to the lunch line.
Jack was talking about hockey to the other two men and Sam couldn't help but roll her eyes, the man never changed! "Jack," she tried to say, nonchalantly, but instead it came out in a strangled whisper.
The whisper was enough and Jack turned around and stared at Sam as if he was seeing a ghost. Sam smiled at him and continued to just look at him, waiting for him to say something.
After what seemed like forever, a large smile graced Jack's face and he stepped out of line and smothered Sam in his embrace. "God, Sam! What are you doing here?" he asked, holding her even tighter.
"I was on a mission. I'm waiting to be shipped back to the States," she told him, holding him just as tight.
Jack pulled back enough to look in her face and caress her cheek with his thumb. "Why is it you look more and more beautiful every time I see you?"
Sam smiled and shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing, Jack," she told him.
He leaned in and kissed her before the men he was with coughed behind him and he remembered where he was. He pulled back to the sound of whistles coming from all over the commissary. Apparently, Sam and Jack were creating quite a scene.
Sam couldn't take her eyes off him. "Why don't you get your food. I'm sitting right over there," she told him, pointing to the table where her tray was still at.
Jack nodded and watched Sam turn and head back to her table. His heart racing at seeing her again. Barely conscious of what he put on his tray, he rushed as quickly as possible through the selection laid out before him and made his way over to Sam. Instead of sitting across from her, he sat next to her, grabbing her hand and holding it on his leg.
He scooted his chair as close to her as he could get. "God, Sam do you have any idea how much I've missed you?"
Sam looked at him, a hint of sadness in her eyes. "You were supposed to call," she said, barely above a whisper.
"I did," Jack exclaimed before stopping himself.
Sam looked at him for a few seconds. "The night Sheppard and Conley were in my room?" she asked him.
Jack looked down at his plate. The painful memory of hearing that man answer her phone coming back to the front of his mind. "I don't know what night it was. Some guy answered your phone and said he was going to rip off your pants."
Sam closed her eyes and sighed. She figured that was the reason Jack never called back. "Do you really think I was sleeping with him? Jeez, Jack, it was only a week after coming back from London."
Jack looked at her, hope flashing across his face. "You weren't….," he started, but she cut him off.
"No, Jack. I haven't slept with anyone since you. I told you I wasn't giving up on us! Sheppard and Conley came in my room and made me change into a dress for a party they were throwing. Tina ordered Sheppard to keep a close eye on me when we were both stationed at Homestead for our flight training. He knew about Sean and was trying to cheer me up by having a party. I waited everyday in my room for a week for you to call," Sam admonished.
"I'm sorry," Jack said, looking back at her. "I'm so sorry. I wanted to call you once I got settled into my own place, but they didn't have any houses available and I had to stay in the dinky base apartments for two weeks. I finally got tired of waiting and called you from there.
This time Sam put her head down, no idea what to say to him at the moment.
"I'm sorry," Jack said again. Sam wasn't quite sure what exactly he was apologizing for, but something in the back of her head, told her not to ask.
The two ate lunch and caught up on everything the other had done over the past four months. Jack leaving out certain details about a blonde woman he had become very familiar with. He wasn't lying. If she asked him if he was seeing anyone, he would tell her the truth, he just wasn't going to offer the information freely.
The two spent the rest of the day and night together, all the feelings and love they share shooting back to the surface. With Sam being one of very few women needing temporary quarters, she had the luxury of her own room, something Jack was equally thankful for.
They were laying in bed, exhausted from their second round of love-making that evening. "I love you, Jack," Sam cooed, stroking her hand across his chest.
Jack moaned. "I love you, too, Sam," he replied, pulling her closer. A second later, Jack jumped off the bed and threw on his pants. "I'll be right back," he told her, throwing his shirt over his head and walking out the door, not even putting on his socks and shoes.
Sam looked at the closed door for several seconds with a very confused expression plastered on her face. Eventually, she shrugged her shoulders and then leaned back against the headboard, still wondering where on Earth Jack ran off to.
Jack came back a few minutes later with his hold-all. He set it down on the small table in the room and unzipped it. Sam watched him, curious at what he was doing. He sifted through his things before exclaiming, "ah ha!" and pulled his hand out with a small box in it.
"Sam, I've had this for over two years, waiting for the perfect time to give it to you."
Sam looked at the small box and instantly knew what was inside. Her heart started beating erratically at what was to come.
"I've loved you for so long, Sam. I've wanted to marry you since you were sixteen, but I knew that wouldn't have went over well," Jack smirked at her, even though his heart was going crazy inside. "I was going to wait until you graduated from the Academy, but then I was sent to Italy and it didn't seem like the right time. But, all this time away from you, I've barely felt alive. You complete me, Sam. I can't go on anymore without you as a permanent fixture in my life." Jack opened the box and slipped it on her finger before she had time to say yes or no.
Sam was crying silently, tears rolling down her face in happiness. "Oh God, Jack! I can't believe you've finally asked me. You could have asked me when I was sixteen and I still would have said yes," she told him, and put both her hands on his face, pulling him down for a kiss. "I love you," she whispered right before their lips touched.
"Let's do it tonight!" Jack exclaimed, a few minutes after the kiss, pulling Sam towards the door.
"What?"
"Get married. There is a minister on base. He could marry us tonight and as soon as we show them the certificate, the air force can station us together."
"Jack! We can't get married tonight. I want to have a real wedding. With our family and friends there," Sam told him, still in surprise.
"We'll have another ceremony for them once we're situated. Sam, if we don't do this now, who knows when we'll see each other again."
Sam looked at Jack with the saddest expression that had ever donned her face. "Jack, we're not ready to get married," she told him, tears welling up in her eyes.
Jack's face turned from excitement to defeat. "What do you mean?"
"The same problems are still there, Jack. We're still going in opposite directions right now. I'm still finishing up flight in Florida and you're all over the world doing black ops. Even if I gave up everything I've worked for and moved to Peterson to live with you, you would barely be home and I would start to become bitter that I gave up my dream to sit in an empty house waiting for you to return."
Jack walked the two steps to Sam and wrapped his arms around her. "I just want to be with you, Sam. As much as I can."
"So do I, Jack. But, running out and getting married at the spur of the moment isn't going to make any difference." Sam pulled back and cupped Jack's cheek, turning his head so he was looking in her eyes. "I love you more than anything, Jack, and I can't wait until the day that I'm Mrs. Jack O'Neill. But, I want that day to be special, surrounded by our family, not in another country, with no one around but us. We'll get our chance, Jack. I know we will. We're just going to have to be patient a little while longer."
Jack leaned down and captured Sam's lips. He knew she was right. He had let his emotions at seeing Sam again get the better of him. He just loved her so much he couldn't stop himself. But, at least now, she had the ring. He knew that one day, they would be together and finally be Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill. Whether that was in the next few months or the next few years, it really didn't matter all that much anymore. She was willing to marry him. Now all they had to do was wait for their time.
They spent the next day together, mostly in bed and when the call came for Jack to head back to Peterson, they were both upset to have to leave each other again. Sam twisted her engagement ring around her finger as she watched Jack's plane fly out of sight, tears running down her face. 'God, what am I doing?' she asked herself. 'I'm being so selfish. All I want is Jack O'Neill and I actually turned down marrying him. What is wrong with me?'
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Jack was in the best mood Kowalsky could ever remember seeing him in. He was whistling on the plane ride home. Chatting with everyone. Smiling. Kowalsky was shocked. He had never seen the superior officer so happy before. "What's up with O'Neill?" he asked Cromwell, a few hours into their flight.
"Carter was in Germany, didn't you see her?" Cromwell answered, looking at the man as if he were insane.
"What, that blonde?" Kowalsky asked, never having met Sam before seeing her in the commissary.
"That wasn't just any blonde. That's the love of Jack's life. They were living together for over a year before we were shipped out to Italy. Now, she's in Florida, so they don't get to see each other very much," Cromwell informed him.
"What about that blonde he's been seeing back at home?" Kowalsky asked, low enough so Jack couldn't hear him.
"I don't know, but, if the ring I saw on Sam's finger is any indication, I don't think she'll be around much longer."
Kowalsky sat back, soaking up this new information.
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Cromwell was right, Jack had every intention of breaking things off with Sara as soon as he got home. He had used her to fill the void created by Sam's absence. Sara turned out to be a nice person, but Jack knew he could never love her. Liked her, lusted her, sure, but his heart belonged to someone else. Love was just never going to happen between them.
He called her over to talk as soon as he was home and situated. He was just going to come right out and tell her, he was in love with someone else and he was now engaged to that someone else. He would tell her he was sorry and he hoped she wouldn't take it too bad.
Sara arrived shortly after he phoned. Jack had been practicing what he was going to tell her since he called. "Sara," he started, "I'm sorry, but….," before he could get any further, Sara cut him off.
"Jack, I'm pregnant."
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a/n: Okay, the mystery of how Sara and Charlie are coming into this story is now solved!