Ok, so it wasn't maybe as soon as I said, but it's here. I'm going to try and update this every Saturday, so the next update should be in a week. Anyway this chapter didn't exactly turn out the way I hoped, but hopefully it works. As always please R&R!
"What can I do?" Jack asked a certain archaeologist and Jaffa as he pulled up a chair and sat opposite them in the commissary.
"Jack, it is your decision." Daniel replied, lifting his head momentarily from his historical book.
"Carter asked to be reassigned back here." Jack began, hesitating at whether to continue. "The file was on my desk when I walked back in after she arrived. Needless to say it didn't stay there long." Jack chuckled; he was always the one turning his discomfort into something funny. Teal'c raised an eyebrow.
"Jack?" Daniel asked warily, worried at the fact Jack was hiding his feelings.
"She told me Abi is my daughter." Jack stated, like nothing out of the ordinary, and Daniel coughed as he went to drink his coffee.
"Are you not pleased, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, noting the lack of expression on Jack's face.
"T, it's hard to explain, it's like waking up in the morning and finding… everything different." Jack frowned. "Well, you get the picture. Everything is changing again. Sam is back with a daughter. She's been gone what six years and then she turns up, with a daughter. Who is… mine."
"Jack, Sam brought Abi up with Pete, and now she has left the confines of that 'safe' life back in Denver to come back here. To ask for reassignment to a base that holds so many good and bad memories for her, it has to mean something. Mean something about the life she is leaving behind in Denver. Maybe it wasn't all it cracked up to be." Daniel answered, drawing the last line out.
"O'Neill, the Tau'ri work in unexplained ways. Colonel Carter is a strong fearsome warrior; maybe she found her life at Stargate Command to be better than her life with Pete Shanahan." Teal'c said and Jack sighed quietly. Pondering the thought.
"I've just got to do something." Jack mumbled, rising from his chair, looking at the confused faces of Daniel and Teal'c. He turned and threw the doors open, briskly walking to his office.
The door slammed behind the Brigadier General, he knew what he wanted and which pile to look in, so he took the first few folders off the top and sat down in his chair, resting the stack on his knees. He glanced at the top right hand corner on the front of the folders for the names, not finding what he wanted he dropped the small pile onto the floor next to him, and reached out for some more from the same heap of bright yellow personnel folders. As the heap diminished so did his confidence in finding the folder he wanted, but his confidence in knowing why the folder wasn't there increased. She didn't want him to know. He picked up the last folder and barely glanced at the name on the corner, knowing it probably wouldn't be hers, at least not the one at the bottom of the pile. As soon as the rank hit him, he opened the file and began to read. Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, United States Air Force 43-412-6775-320. He continued reading, until her got to her skills. Hand-to-Hand Combat: Level Four. When she left she was at level three, and he knew she hadn't been assigned a base, but had opted for a civilian job. Yet, she had 'upgraded', even though it wasn't needed for work reasons. The training was normally only available for members of special operations, not if she was working in the control tower at Denver International Airport. He turned over the few pages of history to look at her medical file. October 16th 2004 – Confirmed Pregnancy – 5 weeks. She left a week later. Jack sighed, his eyes darting over the brief 'contents' page of her medical file. May 28th 2005 – Gave birth to baby girl, Abigail Thera Carter6lb 8oz. His eyes darted over the page. His hands trembled and sadness swept into his eyes as he read the rest of her medical history. January 4th 2006 – Severe swelling and bruising around left eye, accident at home. November 2nd 2006 – Confirmed Pregnancy – 4 weeks, had an abortion. December 1st – Admitted to St Anthony's, 4 cracked ribs and broken collarbone. March 28th 2007 – Admitted to St Anthony's, broken arm, cracked rib. October 9th 2007 – Treated for depression. Jack threw the folder onto his desk. The pages scattered over it. He didn't want to know the rest.
"Shit!" Jack cried as he stood aiming for a blank space on the wall, his fist hitting it hard. The pain shooting through his knuckles, his hand and up his arm. Drawing back and punching again, his blood smearing across the plain wall, his fingers burning, stinging, bleeding. "I…"
"Jack?" He turned. The door was open and a figure stood there. His hand dropped to his side, hiding the bloody mess he had made of it. He motioned to a seat. "I, I saw you just now. You know don't you." Jack shook his head, walked around and pulled up another chair. He closed the door and locked it, before taking the seat.
"No, Sam I don't. If you don't tell me, I don't know. As far as I was concerned you was happy and I wasn't going to ruin it." Jack reached over and took her hands in his.
"Oh God Jack, your hand." Sam whispered, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand.
"Its fine. Just Sam, don't leave again. Don't shut me out." Jack gripped her hands tight.
"Jack, I picked up the phone to ring you so many times. To make sure you were all ok. To make sure you were ok." Sam said, her head cast downwards.
"I would have come and got you, and Abi. I would have come and got you out."
"I thought, after that night… well that you regretted that night. I thought you didn't feel the same as I did." Sam cried, her head cast downwards.
"I could never regret that night." Jack assured her, freeing a hand to tilt her head back up.
"I didn't know. I'm sorry." Sam looked into his eyes.
"No apologies." Jack stated. "But, please, tell me." Sam pulled her hands from his grasp, and pressed up against the back of the chair wrapping her arms around her body.
"You won't, you know…"
"I won't what, Sam?" Jack asked softly.
"You won't like it." She replied weakly, playing with her fingers as she began to explain.
So there, Chapter 5, again please R&R. Thanks.