Hello, and Happy New Year! Can you believe this started back in 2016? I can't. My beta wants me to blame her for the late arrival of this, but I say it's perfect timing!

Anyhow, enjoy!

M.

Chapter LI

May 17th, 2005

Jack's House.

From his position by the grill, Jack observed his yard. Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, and Janet were talking amicably with Will and Ashley. He couldn't imagine them not being there, even if Sam wasn't "his."

Jack scrunched up his nose thinking the only one that could spoil his night would be her fiancé and the pathetic way he walked around Sam as if he was a lost puppy searching for a new master. Although Jack knew there was more to the man than the eager lover boy he presented himself as.

Helen observed him watching his friends carefully, and the change of expressions on his face as she walked out of his house. She followed his line of sight and wondered what exactly he was thinking before she decided that he looked like he could use a distraction. "General O'Neill, thanks for having us here." Helen smiled at him.

"Well, I couldn't think of anyone else besides SG-1 and you guys," Jack answered honestly.

"Oh, General, don't let anyone overhear you. They might believe you are starting to warm up to us," Helen smiled. "Sam explained to me what happened. I didn't think you would be in a celebratory mood."

"Yeah, well. At the end, things turned out kinda well. I couldn't avoid a celebratory BBQ." Jack shrugged.

"If by 'kinda well' you mean that we let the Trust go with a hyper-drive-capable Al'kesh and enough poison to wipe out at least a dozen more planets, then I agree, things turned out kinda well," Sam said, joining them.

"I can come up with several ways that could be worse, Carter," Jack grinned. Sam snorted.

"Please enlighten us," Sam smiled.

"Dunno! Give me some time, and I'll get back at ya," Jack smiled back. Helen watched the exchange with a veiled smile.

"No, give me at least one," Sam asked.

"Come on, Carter. My brain can't think as fast as yours!"

"I can say it would be worse if you didn't return to us, Samantha," Helen said, her words barely breaking their eye contact. "As I already told you, I'm glad you escaped their vessel on time." Helen grinned.

"There's that," Sam grinned.

"See, there's that." Jack nodded in agreement.

"If you need more, there's the fact that you also got the Stargate back. I can't imagine how painful it would be for the General to find a way to explain how you got a replacement for your replacement gate when no one ever knew about the existence of a third one," Helen added.

"Aha!" Jack added triumphantly before he scrunched up his nose. "I told you it could be worse! Can you imagine all that paperwork?" He grimaced, making Sam giggle. "No giggling, Colonel!"

"Jack! Have you finished charring our meet yet?" Daniel shouted. "I'm starving!" Jack rolled his eyes and took one last look to the meat he was cooking.

"Dinner is ready!" he shouted. "Come on, Danny-boy, I thought you were starving."

May 21st, 2005

Underground Sanctuary.

Helen laughed as her head connected to the floor. The person behind such feat was standing above her, looking down at her in concern.

"Very well done, Samantha!" Helen grinned at her daughter's confused expression.

Sam and Helen were both flustered and panting due to the sheer amount of exertion. They had started a couple of hours earlier with a HIIT spin session created to help Sam develop her abnormal muscle-memory, which, because of her human upbringing, she never quite got to use. Now, after months of doing it in their free time, Sam could finish it at the same speed and with the same resistance that her mother used. Well, without the weights Helen had attached to her legs and arms.

After finishing their session, they went straight to the sparring area to continue Sam's training. And it was in the middle of it when Sam managed to finally knock Helen out of her standing position.

"I still don't get why you do this," Kate said, looking quite amused at Helen's current situation, sprawled on the floor and panting. "I mean, you are abnormal, she is abnormal, isn't this dumb? Aren't you already all fit by birth, or something?" Helen sat up.

"Fit, yes," Helen grinned. "Now, just like any other person or abnormal out there, we need to gain control of our 'powers.' Samantha needed to develop them," she explained.

"Yes, I get it for Sam." Kate pointed towards the standing woman, who was still having issues breathing. "But why do you put yourself through all this exercise, boss? If I recall correctly, all your muscles work fine," she grinned. "I know for sure you can kick my ass even without trying, and I mean, you are not even struggling to breathe anymore!"

"How do you know if you are good at something, Kate?" Helen tilted her head.

"By comparison?" Kate offered.

"Exactly."

"If my mom didn't fight as hard as she does, without fear of inflicting pain, I wouldn't fight as hard; thus, I would still move at the same speed, and I'll be using the same strength I used when I first arrived here," Sam pointed, helping Helen to stand. "Now, I just need to learn to fix myself as quickly as she does," she grimaced, noticing that Helen was not only breathing normally, but she wasn't sweating anymore. Bruises were disappearing as fast as they appeared, while she was still panting and sweating as if she had just finished running a marathon.

"Huh, I guess it makes sense." Kate shrugged. "Okay, I got to bounce, thanks for the show, girls." They watched Kate rush out of the gym before Helen turned around towards Sam.

"How about we go relax to the steam room for a while?" Helen asked.

"God! Sounds awesome!" Sam grinned. They walked away from the gym and towards the dressing room to get ready for the steam room. Once they were inside the hot room, they sat.

"So, Samantha, about that wedding of yours," Helen started, trying to contain a smile as she saw Sam flinch.

"What about it?" Sam asked wearily. Work had been hectic and had allowed her to forget all about the little fact that she was engaged.

"I was wondering what kind of wedding you would like?" Helen smiled.

The truth was Helen was hoping to get some information from her daughter to use whenever Samantha realized she was engaged to the wrong man, and finally, accepted marrying the man she truly loved.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it yet," Sam frowned.

"Okay. Have you ever thought if you would like a big, medium, or a small wedding?" Helen asked.

Something in the way Sam's eyes glimmered told her she lost Sam to some daydream.

Sam looked up and smiled softly. She imagined herself wearing a simple white dress, some flowers somehow attached to her hair as she walked down a short aisle. She could feel the breeze and smell the trees surrounding them.

"Small," she said.

"Family and close friends?" Helen continued asking. Sam's gaze still lost in dreamland.

Sam thought about getting ready for her wedding. Helen was helping her to get dressed. Ashley in a red dress that brought out her eyes. Janet and Cassie dressed in soft lavender. She heard a knock on the door and saw Helen grinning as she opened the door to allow both her fathers to enter the room. Nikola in a black tuxedo, trying to fight his emotions. Jacob, in his dress blues, not doing anything at all to contain the tears of happiness after seeing her.

Sam saw Daniel, Teal'c, Master Bra'tac, and General Hammond. Henry, Erika, and the baby that had finally been born. There was Kate too, perched in the arms of the husband Sam had yet to meet. Then, she imagined Mark and her sister-in-law, along with her niece and nephew.

And him, she saw him.

"Samantha?" Helen called, noticing the small and oh so telling smile she had.

"Uh, family and friends. That should be enough; besides with you and your whole crew of 'dead-people' there, we can't go crazy with guests, right?"

"That would be entirely up to you, Samantha. There are ways if you want to have a big wedding. Granted, you won't be able to call me 'mom' freely if there are many strangers." Helen pointed out.

"Yeah, I supposed as much. Nah, my guests' list is short. You, Will, Ash, Nikola, my dad, Daniel, Teal'c," she stopped and cleared her throat before she added. "General O'Neill, General Hammond and his wife, Janet, and Cassie. Oh, and Master Bra'tac. I would add Henry and Kate too since they have endured a lot of me around here," she grinned sheepishly.

"What about the other teams from the SGC?"

"I'm not sure. I think I will feel bad if they don't come, and they comment about it, but, at the end of the day, the ones I've said are the ones I need there, and I really don't want a huge wedding."

"Have you considered telling Pete you are abnormal?" Helen asked, blinding Sam with her question.

"I… no. I mean, I don't know how to bring it up, and it's not like he needs to know right away, right?"

"Well, at some point, you will have to explain things to him, Samantha. As I've once offered, there are studies of some people's healing and non-aging abilities."

"But?"

"I'm not sure you'll want to use those excuses for the man you are supposed to spend the rest of his life with. Yes, his life. Chances are yours will be far longer than his," she explained pointedly.

"I don't know, Mom. Maybe further ahead? When there's no chance to keep avoiding it?" Sam shrugged.

"Speaking of avoiding it," it was Helen's turn to grimace. "Nikola wants to meet him. I told him I would tell you, because I know him, and he can be an ass sometimes. He asked right after you told him," Helen flinched.

"You mean over two weeks ago?" Sam asked in dismay, "Will he behave?"

"I'm not sure." Helen shook her head. "I have hopes that he will. I can always stomp on his foot or elbow him if he doesn't," she offered.

"Well, we can go with you being my cousin again since that's what Pete thinks you are. I told him Ashley is my sister. But I have no idea how I would introduce Nikola to him." Sam sighed. "He doesn't look old enough to be my biological father."

"We need to keep our stories straight. I guess both Nikola and I can be your cousins. If Ashley joins us, she can be your sister, but she will have to watch it not to call me 'mom.'"

"God, this sounds so complicated," Sam said, leaning forward and placing her head in her hands. Helen rubbed Sam's back over the towel to try to reassure her.

"The truth is far simpler, Samantha. However, at the same time, it is equally complex," Helen said.

"That's not helpful at all," Sam muttered.

"I know," Helen smiled. "We need to leave the room now, Samantha. We've been here enough."

May 28th, 2005

Somewhere in the outskirts of Denver

"So, we are here to meet part of your real family?" Pete asked.

"A family is real, whether it's biological or not." Sam huffed. "My dad and brother are my family to even though we're not related by blood."

"Yeah, right. Sorry," Pete apologized.

"Never mind. On the next exit, take the left road. Then it should be the first entryway to the right," Sam said, directing him from memory, as the explanations of the map software she found crossed her mind, mixing with her parents' description of how to get there from the airport.

"Whoa, here?" Pete asked a couple of minutes later, looking at the expensive-looking entryway that gave way to an even more expensive-looking building. The distance from the gate to the entrance alone screamed of wealth. Feeling a bit uncomfortable in his best suit, he fixed his tie after he parked the rental car between a BMW Z4 and a black XLR Cadillac and looked around only to find more equally expensive cars around the parking lot. He whistled. "Babe, these people are loaded. I guess that applies to someone in your family too if they sent a private jet to fly us to Denver."

"I told them we could get some flights, or even drive here, but they insisted," Sam grimaced.

It was her father's idea to come to this place. Helen offered the plane, and Ashley convinced her it was for the best by telling her that by flying there, she wouldn't need to do an overnight. Now, Sam was sure Nikola went looking for the most expensive restaurant so he could make Pete feel lesser and maybe even scare him away.

"Okay," Pete shrugged and walked out to open her door, reaching it a bit too late. "Well, no wonder you look so beautiful," Pete grinned, looking at her in the black dress she was wearing.

"Sam, is that you?" Will's voice came from the entrance as he walked out of the restaurant and towards them.

"Will? Look at you! You clean up nice," she grinned.

"Well, you know Helen, she wouldn't have me in any other way," Will grinned. "Oh, you must be Pete. I'm William Zimmerman," he said, offering his hand.

"Peter Shanahan, nice to meet you."

"I'm not related to her, Helen is," Will grinned. Sam eyed him for using his extreme perception skills. "In case you were wondering," he added belatedly.

"So, they are all in there already?" Sam asked with a sigh.

"Of course, Sam! You know them and their impeccable sense of time!" Will said in his bad British accent, making her chuckle. Pete looked at them in confusion. "Don't worry; you'll get it," Will grinned.

"What are you doing outside then?" Sam squinted at him. Will sighed and jingled the key of a car. "Oh, there was a lip-gloss issue," he grinned sheepishly, scratching his head. "She went to retouch it but found out her lipstick wasn't in her purse. Helen assured me she placed it in her purse, but I believe it fell in the car since we had a previous lip-gloss issue, and she had used it then." Will was then right under the light, and Sam could see his lips were a little glossy.

"Only you can call a kiss a lip gloss issue, Will," Sam chuckled.

"Her definition, not mine," he said. "I couldn't help it. She looks amazing! When the waiter told us that we should visit the garden, we went out, and I saw her under the moonlight. We were all alone…" he trailed with a mischievous smile.

"That's so not something I want to imagine, Will!" Sam laughed.

"Hey, you started it." He grinned and pressed the button to unlock the car. The alarm lights of the black Cadillac parked next to them blinked, and he smiled. "If you both excuse me, I need to find the object before she kills me."

"Holy Moly! That is yours?" Pete said.

"Helen's actually. I'm just lucky to be allowed to drive it occasionally. You should go right in, Sam. You know Ashley and Nikola and how they don't like to wait," Will added as he walked around the car and opened the front passenger door.

"Wait, Helen is your cousin, right? The one I've met before?" Pete asked as they walked towards the entrance.

"Yeah," Sam grimaced.

"You never told me your family was loaded!" Pete stopped them by the door.

"Well, would that make any difference? It's not like it is my money," Sam shrugged. They heard a car door closing, and Sam eyed the parking lot, noticing Will was already returning.

"Everything okay?" Will asked.

"Yeah, just nervous." Pete grinned.

"Meeting your girlfriend's family is never easy," Will nodded. "I'll better get this to her, don't take too long."

"We won't," Sam nodded, and Will entered the restaurant. "Are you ready?

"I'm just trying to digest the fact that your family is loaded, but let's go in. Better do it inside that make them hate me because we are late."

"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked

"Yeah," he squinted. "Why are you so nervous? It is not like I am meeting your parents." Sam's eyes widened, but she bit her tongue not to say anything. "Let's go."

"Do you have a reservation?" The maître asked as soon as they stepped inside the entry hall.

"Yes, Bancroft," Sam smiled, giving her mom's alias as they had agreed.

"This way, please," he said and escorted them to a private room. Pete's eyes widened, and he tried to keep his surprise at bay.

The private room was huge, the wall towards the inside was white, and some paintings hang proudly. Several chandeliers illuminated the place, and Pete tried not to wince when he noticed the round table was set with too many dishes and too many glasses. The wall towards the outside was mostly glass, the curtains were open, and the view of the mountains was breathtaking, but what had caught Pete's attention were the chairs that looked highly uncomfortable.

Nikola cleared his throat. Sam, like everyone else, was already seated, and Pete noticed the maître was waiting for him to sit too. He grinned and took the last place between Sam and Ashley, and the maître lowered a heavy leather menu in front of him, and an awkward silence settled.

Helen noticed that Nikola would start being obnoxious, so she pinned him with a glare. While noticing them, Will eyed Sam so she would introduce them, or something. Sam's eyes widened, and she nodded curtly once.

"Nikola, this is Pete," Sam introduced him to her father, "Pete, this is Nikola," she stopped, remembering they hadn't agreed on which of his lasts names he would use. Nikola scrunched up his nose a little, looking a bit disgusted by Pete. A not so soft kick to his shin under the table coming from Helen prompted him to change his expression to something less intimidating. "Pete, you've already met Helen, Will, and Ashley," Sam introduced, in the order they were seated. Helen raised her eyebrow, looking at Will.

"At the parking lot, just now," Will grinned.

"Oh," Helen nodded.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bancroft," Pete said, not sure if he should offer his hand or not to Nikola. Ashley chuckled.

"He is not a Bancroft." Ashley tried not to grin.

"Precisely, I am Nikola Baumschlager," Nikola grinned in amusement. "Helen is the Bancroft one. Well, Helen, Ashley, and our dear Samantha, that is."

"I thought you said it wasn't your money?" Pete whispered, but they all had improved hearing.

"Is that an issue? If Samantha happens to inherit some money or not?" Helen asked, tilting her head.

"No, not really. I was, hmm, surprised," Pete said.

"We should order," Will offered. Pete smiled at him, thankful for the change of subject.

"I hope you don't mind, but we already did, Darling, when you went outside. Don't worry, nothing too out of the ordinary." Helen smiled. "The entry should be here any minute now."

"What I'm worried about is the wine, not the dinner," Nikola huffed.

"They still need to take your order for your drinks, unless you would like to share the wine with us?" Helen offered politely. "Ashley and Will are killing whiskey and gin tonight," she smiled.

"Not all of us can hold our liquor as well as you both do, Helen," Will said. "Some of us need them diluted. I'm getting a gin and tonic. Then I'm changing to a soda; I must drive later. Now, Ashley has been drinking the old Jack & coke, in case you were wondering."

"How do you do that?" Pete frowned, looking at Will as if he had three heads. The doors opened then, and a waiter entered with a bottle of wine.

"Saved by the door," Ashley whispered to Will.

"Chateau Margaux, 1995," the sommelier said and looked around the table searching for who would taste it. Pete's eyes almost budged out of his head when he heard the brand of their choice. He was stealing a glance at the menu on what to drink, but the prizes were unthinkable for him, even something as mundane as soda was priced three times its regular value.

"Will you do the honors, Helen, dear?" Nikola grinned charmingly.

"You do the honors, Nikola, I'll be content to sip it through dinner." Helen smiled politely, and Nikola beamed at her. Pete thought for 2000 dollars a bottle, he would more than beam at her, but it seemed the only one appalled by the wine price was him. No one else seemed to give it much of a thought as they watched Helen and Nikola exchange amused smiles.

"You know, darling, I prefer the Chateau Margaux 1982 from your wine cellar. But this is delightful," Nikola grinned, having approved the wine.

"Of course you'd prefer the '82," she rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised there are still some surviving bottles left. Now, if you must know, I've already stocked my cellar with the 2005 ones; in ten years, they all will be absolute perfection," Helen added, not even looking up.

"And wait ten years to taste it?" Nikola added in dismay.

"No, we'll wait ten years, so it is worth the same as the one you are consuming tonight," Helen grinned. It was then that Pete decided to go with the wine if only to treat himself with something he knew he could never afford.

"So, you seem to know a lot about wine," Pete started as the room fell silent, he took a sip of his wine not sure if he liked it, but they didn't seem to mind it, and for its price, he decided it must be good.

"Yes," Nikola answered curtly, tilting his head and squinting his eyes at him, trying to assess what his next question would be.

"Is that from where your money comes?" Pete let out, surprising Sam.

"Pete!" Sam hissed, blushing furiously.

"It's okay, Samantha. Curiosity is a good trait when correctly guided." Helen smiled. "No, our money comes from several companies in several areas of expertise, Mr. Shanahan. Wine is an acquired taste that Nikola and I happen to share."

"Well, mostly she buys, and I drink," Nikola grinned.

"That's pretty accurate, Nikola," Helen giggled. "Truth is, I own a decent wine collection. As you might have gathered, I buy wines I know will be good, and then wait on them until they are not only good but profitable. Unless, of course, Nikola finds his way to them." Their first course arrived at that point, and they allowed the food to be distributed around the table.

"Pour le hors d'Oeuvres, petit croque-monsieur et Croque tartiflette." The waiter announced, with not much of a thought, Helen, Nikola and Ashley let out a quick « Merci beaucoup," before he left.

"So, what did he say?" Will asked, looking at Helen.

"He only named the appetizer, Will. He wasn't reciting Baudelaire's poems."

"I know that." Will rolled his eyes at her. "I wanted to know what we're having."

"Well, literally translated, you are having a Mister Crunch and Crunchy Potatoes."

"Seriously?" Will asked, looking at Helen, wondering if she was joking.

"The name of this one is Croque Monsieur, Croque is eating something that makes noises when you bite it, and monsieur is, as you well know, Sir or Mister. The same goes for the Croque Tartiflette, whereas tartiflette can be trailed to the franco-provençal dialect where tartiflâ means potato, and thus, you'd have crunchy potatoes," Helen smiled.

"It's a fried ham and cheese sandwich and a potato and cheese pie," Nikola rolled his eyes, "it's not quantum physics, William."

"Nikola," Helen warned. "Mr. Shanahan, Samantha mentioned you are a police officer?" Helen asked

"Yes. I requested a transfer from Denver PD to Colorado Springs PD to be with her," Pete grinned charmingly. "Oh, Sam never mentioned what any of you do for a living?" Pete trailed off before he remembered. "Duh! You guys probably don't even need to work," he said almost in awe, getting a snort from Ashley.

"I'm sorry, that's funny. You'll see all of them are workaholics. And we are all, well, mostly Doctors," Ashley grinned.

"Like Medical Doctors?" Pete frowned.

"Helen and I are MDs," Will answered. "Helen and Nikola have several Doctorates. Ashley also has one."

"Social Sciences," Ashley added, awkwardly. "I'm the least nerd of them all."

"Now, I feel dumb." Pete shook his head. "I guess our children can inherit your beauty and your brains, Sam, and maybe a couple of millions," he grinned, placing a kiss on Sam's cheek, failing to notice her widened eyes and panicked expression.

"Yes, Samantha's genes are quite good, if I may say so myself," Helen grinned.

"Darling, you are one of the foremost experts in genetics, if you can't say so, then no one should," Nikola chuckled.

"So, Sam goes for Physics. Helen, genetics, Ashley is into social sciences," Pete said, munching his food. "What about you, guys?"

"Well, if I must, then I identify as an engineer. Although I possess several areas of expertise that come quite handy when it comes to our work," Nikola shrugged.

"And you?" Pete asked, looking at Will, who had grimaced.

"William is a forensic psychiatrist," Helen offered.

"Forensic, really?" Pete asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Will grinned.

"So, the police call you when they need your expertise?"

"They used to, yes."

"William worked for public safety before he joined our research facility," Helen explained, not giving away much. She had the feeling that the more information they gave him, the more risks they would have of him doing background checks on them. "William's skills were what we needed then and have proven valuable."

"Oh. So, you will work with them too?" Pete asked, turning towards Sam. "I mean, your job is cool and all, but it is highly risky. When we get kids…"

"Sam can join us if she wants, that's no biggie," Ashley said. "But I'm sure she loves her job; otherwise, she wouldn't be doing it, right? I mean, all those years of studying physics sure have paid off. Now she is working on deep space radar telemetry. Like a dream come true, right, Sam?"

"Right," Sam nodded. Pete looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "What's wrong, Pete?"

"No, nothing," he frowned. "I'm surprised you told them about your job, that's all."

"I'm a USAF officer, is hardly something I should hide," Sam added, with a raised eyebrow almost daring him to go on and reveal the truth about her work.

"Yeah, sorry," he grinned apologetically. "I guess there's nothing to hide about being a USAF officer stationed at Cheyenne."

"What about you, Mr. Shanahan? Do you have something to hide?" Nikola said in a threatening tone.

"Nope, I'm just a regular cop who fell in love with this remarkable woman." Pete grinned, placing another kiss on Sam's cheek. "I still can't believe how lucky I am," he said, looking at Sam, completely missing the utter disgust on Nikola's face.

"How did you meet?" Will asked.

"Sam's brother is my friend. He showed me a picture of her, and I told him I wanted to meet her. Somehow, she agreed, and almost a year later, here we are," Pete grinned.

"Really?"

"Yup," Pete said. The maître entered the room then, and with a small nod coming from both Helen and Nikola, he took the plates away and brought their second meal.

"Carpaccio de boeuf Canadien, purée d'aubergine, cheddar vieilli, pétales d'ail frites, prosciutto séché et huile de truffe," he announced, once all the plates where served, and another round of 'Merci' and 'thanks' went out. The room was silent as the waiter checked that all of them had their drinks filled before he left.

"Carpaccio of Canadian beef, mashed eggplant, aged cheddar, garlic petals fries, dried prosciutto, and truffle oil. I think," Ashley grinned. "It's been a long while since I used my French," she beamed when Helen gave her an approving nod.

"Thanks, Ash. I like to know what I'm about to eat," Will chuckled.

"Of course you would speak another language too!" Pete mumbled, shaking his head. Sam looked at him, wondering how many more plates her parents had decided for dinner if only to calculate how long the night would still be.

"Will there be more food?" Pete whispered to Sam as he gazed the size of the contents of his plate in dismay.

"Don't worry, dear," Helen said after exchanging a glance with Will. "We went for a five-course meal; you will be full at some point," Helen grinned, winking at Will.

"I sure hope so. Otherwise, we are stopping at some pizza place on our way back, Helen," Will warned joking while Helen scrunched up her nose.

"Fair enough," she conceded.

Although Helen had managed to keep Nikola under control, both Will and she were trying their best to keep the conversation light. Pete was the one talking almost non-stop and asking questions here and there that they all struggled to answer as politely and curtly as possible. However, Sam's reaction to the situation was the most telling. She kept herself quiet most of the night and found herself felt profoundly grateful when they announced the dessert. When the bill was brought over, Sam almost sang out of joy.

"It was a pleasure to meet you properly, Mr. Shanahan," Helen said as they all stood up after she had taken care of the bill.

"Pleasure was all mine, Helen," Pete grinned. "Ready, Sam?" She nodded.

They all walked outside to the parking area.

"Samantha," Helen called. "Will we see you soon?"

"I'll give Ashley a call to check our schedules," Sam grinned.

"Good. Goodnight then," Helen added as they finally headed to the cars. "See you both at home." She turned towards Nikola and Ashley, who had taken their cars out.

Pete noticed half in dismay how Nikola jumped inside the Porsche 911 that was parked beside the BMW Z4. He tried not to grimace when Ashley lowered the roof of the BMW, while Will walked around the car to open Helen's door to the Cadillac as he walked Sam to their ugly rental. He waved at them as they all left before he started the engine.

"Jesus, Sam, how much money does your family have?" Pete asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "What I know for sure is that Helen collects wines, cars, and books, while Ashley collects motorbikes."

"And then there are regular guys like me that collect stamps," he chuckled. "I think that went well. What do you say?" Pete asked as he finally left the parking lot.

"Yeah," she said, looking out of the window.

"So bad you need to be back at Cheyenne in the morning. I could have shown you my favorite spots in Denver."

"Yeah, too bad," Sam smiled, feeling grateful that they needed her on the base the following day.

May 28th, 2005

Somewhere on the outskirts of Denver.

"Will you stop being quiet, and start asking whatever is on your mind, William?" Helen inquired, not moving her head from where it was resting on his shoulder.

They had left the restaurant barely five minutes earlier, heading towards the mountains where the entrance to the Sanctuary was hidden. Getting out of the restaurant, they both had agreed they would go for a ride around if only to avoid being on the receiving end of Nikola's rant over Pete when arriving at the Sanctuary entrance.

"You and I both know she isn't invested in that relationship. If we had any doubts left about it, her reactions tonight pretty much squashed them, Helen."

"I know," Helen said, sighing. "Honey, this is a 420-horsepower car. Can you press the gas a bit further?" she asked.

"Well, I could. But I would like to have this conversation before I do it. You know, safety first," Will said. Helen sighed and lifted her head to place a kiss on his cheek.

"Then stop on the next viewpoint, it's only a few miles away from here," she offered, and he pushed the gas until he saw the sign and slowed down to park. As he maneuvered the car, she spotted a bench. "Come, let's get out there. And yes, I'm sure. It's dark out there, and there weren't many cars coming our way."

"Okay," he said as he got rid of his safety belt.

She was already walking towards the bench when he reached her door, shaking his head, Will followed her.

"You don't like him," he said, sitting next to her. Stretching his arm behind her back, he pulled her closer.

"To be honest, I found him rather charming now that I exchanged more words with him."

"But?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I like him. Maybe, if I didn't know what I know about him, things would be so much different."

"But you can't help what you know," Will said.

"No. Also, I'm not too fond of certain quirks Pete had tonight, there was some mild obsession with family money. And let's not forget he followed Samantha, endangering her out of his curiosity. So, I might not outright dislike him, but I'm not too fond of their relationship."

"Me neither," Will agreed.

"You know, at some point, I thought I was biased due to Jack O'Neill, and the way they look at each other," she said with a sad smile. "I don't think I am."

"I don't think you are." Will smiled, caressing her arm slowly. "So, when are you going to talk to her?" Helen sighed.

"Tomorrow. I need to breathe this one out before I go barreling into that conversation and make it all worse."

"You think it could get worse?" Will asked, and Helen chuckled.

"Honey, you should know by now that everything can go worse if you don't take the right precautions."

"You are right, as always," he said, then they fell silent, both looking out to the horizon. "But you know it is time," Will said.

"That it is," Helen accepted. "But not tonight, darling, not tonight."

"So, what we do tonight, darling?" Will asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

"Tonight, we enjoy this lovely view," she added, sucking her lower lip before she moved forward and kissed him.