Action/Adventure, angst, romance
Pairing: Sam/Jack
Rating: Older teens
Warnings: language, non graphic sexual situations
Season/Spoilers: up to season 8 Moebius 2
Disclaimers: This is just one way to further the adventure. The new show is good, but my SG1 ended on screen with Moebius 2.
Archive: Heliopolis, SJD, SJNC17, my site (http/anakin.david.free.fr/) … Anywhere else, just please ask before…
Thanks: my lazy muse, JPB for setting –what I hope is- a chain reaction, my unexpected but very thorough beta, Barbara (looking forward to extend the partnership!)
Copyright © Anakin David 2005
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This is a better edited version of what was posted first, up to Chapter 3. Chapter 4 is a newer chapter as of today, 5/31/06
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Jack fumbled with the knot of his tie, thinking.
The burial and memorial services on Earth had run smoothly, and the Carter family — what remained of it — had used that opportunity to rekindle the ashes of almost extinct family ties. Mark Carter had actually been a surprise to Jack, after what Sam had told him over the years. The man had seemingly made peace with his father's choice of career and had even been intrigued enough about Sam's to be a pleasant guest at the wake afterwards. Now Sam was requested at the other end of the galaxy to attend the Tok'ra ceremony.
She'd just left and was due back the next day, he mused, putting his dress jacket on its hanger inside his locker. He sat on the bench to remove his shoes.
Aside from political matters, nothing really important should befall the SGC in the next few days. The System Lords — or what remained of them — would leave Earth well alone for a while, and the Replicator threat had been eliminated, so the future of the world was currently safe.
He still had an important matter to settle first, but his phone meeting with the president should see to the main of it, and after all, he hadn't taken a vacation in more than two years. There was some seriously due downtime ahead!
He'd made up his mind, and as soon as he got a hold of Teal'c and Daniel, he would tell them.
He finished dressing in his more comfortable blue BDUs and exited the locker room.
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The wormhole activated and Sam stepped through.
Jack was awaiting her down in the gate room.
Her eyes searched his and fixated themselves onto him as she slowly stepped down the ramp.
She took a deep breath when she reached him and was surprised at the weakness in her voice when she said, "It's done, Sir."
Jack nodded softly, beckoning her to follow him into the corridor with a small movement of the head.
They walked silently to the elevator then waited together for the car to reach their level. As the door opened, Sam stepped inside, but Jack held her arm gently.
"Go change into more comfortable clothes, and then I'd like to see you in my office before you go home," he said gently.
"I'm not tired, Sir. I can…"
"Ah-ah!" he interrupted in a soft voice. "Excuse me for saying this, but you look like hell, Carter. I want you to go home tonight. Or, if it's too much of a strain to you, then take a VIP suite and sleep."
"Yes, Sir," she finally conceded.
Jack smiled briefly as the doors slid shut and retraced his steps to the stairs leading to the control room and his office.
About half an hour later, Lieutenant Colonel Sam Carter knocked on his door which was slightly ajar.
Seeing it was her, Jack rose from his seat and rounded the desk to go shut the door to the briefing room. "Come in!" he invited with a small smile. Sam entered the room fully and closed the door behind her as Jack slid the screen between the briefing room and his office shut, too.
"Sit down, please," he said, offering her one of the two seats facing his desk and going to sit in his own. The chair rotated until he was fully facing her. He smiled briefly, then rested his forearms on his desk, folding his hands together.
"The ceremony was all Tok'ra, and surprisingly a lot of them attended," Sam started. But as she saw him shake his head slightly in a negative manner, she stopped.
Jack smiled gently again, looking her in the eyes.
"I didn't ask you here to give me a report, Sam. These were private matters, and no one, not even the President, should know all the details of it. A 'nothing to report' on a clean official report sheet will suffice."
"Oh?"
"Yep," he resumed. "How long since the last time you even took a real day off, Carter?"
She shook her head dismissively. "Sir, I'm fine, I'm…"
"I know you are, Carter, I've never had any reason, as a commander, to doubt your ability to do your duty and what was necessary. Now I'm asking you as a friend. Doors closed, we're alone in this office, and I even asked the surveillance team to turn a blind eye on this office for a few minutes…"
She sighed. "What am I going to do if I take a day off now, Sir? With all due respect, my house doesn't need cleaning, my yard doesn't need gardening; I could go see Mark and his family, but even if things seem to be better in that area, it'd feel a little bit awkward to go there right now. I…"
"Or you could go to Minnesota…" he interrupted calmly.
Sam looked down briefly, a small smile drawing itself on her lips. "With you?" she said, looking at him with an amused spark in her eyes.
"And the boys."
"The boys?"
"Daniel and T'. They agreed on the condition that we all come, and I don't want to go alone, Carter…" he left the innuendo hanging.
She shook her head, smiling in defeat. "That's blackmail…" she murmured.
"Their idea, not mine… for once. Come on, Carter, I won't bite, we won't bite for that matter!"
She looked at him again and smiled, again. "Thank you, Sir."
"For what?"
"You know what…" she said, standing up.
Jack smiled to himself and stood up too.
"How long till we go?"
"A week. There are a few things I need to sort out about a strange discovery recently made in Gizah, then we're good to go… all of us. Special authorization from the President. Major General Hank Landry will be filling my shoes while we're gone. He's a nice guy and a good commander."
"General Landry?"
"I served with him once."
"Oh!"
"Carter?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Go to sleep!" he smirked.
She smiled tiredly and opened the door to the corridor. "Yes, Sir!" she said in a mock salute.
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"Is that correct?" Sam asked Jack.
"If it is, we don't do anything?" he replied, disbelieving what his eyes had just seen.
"Apparently nothing we did affected the time line," she resumed, matter-of-factly.
"But we didn't do anything!" he exclaimed.
"Not yet! Apparently we were going to, two weeks from now, but… now we don't have to…" she explained, getting slightly annoyed at her own words which sounded so illogical.
"Excellent! That's it! I like it!" Jack concluded in his usual enthusiasm, wanting to give his poor brain a break.
Daniel smiled and followed Teal'c out of the lab.
"Okay, I'm going to get this up to the lab for analysis…" Sam said, grabbing the wooden case.
"No! I'll take it!" Jack interrupted her, cutting off her attempt in the same motion. "There's a whole room full of geeks up there just dying to get their hands on this! You've got packing to do!" he reminded her cockily.
Sam smiled slightly as a soft blush crept up her cheeks… A whole week at his cabin, albeit with the boys, but it would be the first time she would step into his sanctum sanctorum…
"Carter? Packing!"
She turned her head and saw Jack at the entrance of the lab, grinning knowingly. She smiled fully and performed a small mock salute. "Yes, sir!"
"I'm not kidding!" he said raising an eyebrow.
"I know!" she replied with a fake serious look.
He rolled his eyes and disappeared again.
Sam smiled to herself and left in her turn.
When Jack came down from the science lab, he found Daniel pacing in his office. "Something I can do for you?" Jack asked, circling his desk to sit in his chair.
"Yeah, there are so many artifacts in that dig, I'd like to throw an eye at them before going to your cabin…"
"Ack!" Jack interrupted.
"But, Jack! Among those things is some stuff that's going to be sent to Area 51 pretty soon! Some have already been sent! Jack, I must have a look!"
Jack sighed and raised his hands. "Okay, okay! One day."
"One day! Jack, I'd need…"
"Ack!" he interrupted again, raising his pointer finger. "One day. Sam's coming if you're coming; you said yourself that you'd come if everyone did."
Daniel sighed in defeat. "That's blackmail, Jack."
"How strange! That's exactly what Sam said when I told her!" he grinned.
A half smile appeared on Daniel's mouth. "So it's 'Sam' now, eh?"
"I'll deny everything…" Jack said, grabbing a pen and a few reports.
Daniel chuckled and exited the office. "I'll call you when I'm at the airport…"
"No need to, just drive straight to the cabin; you know the road…" was the other man's reply.
He had been signing and reading reports for about 30 minutes when there was a soft knock on his door.
"Come in!" he said without looking up.
"O'Neill!" came the unmistakable baritone of Teal'c.
Jack put his pen down and looked at his friend.
"T?"
"I was just conversing with Master Bra'tac."
"How's he doing?" Jack smiled.
"He is well," Teal'c replied, bowing his head in thanks.
"So? Hence? However?…" Jack asked, beginning to feel the vein on his temple pounding.
My presence is requested at the new Jaffa council. Important matters are being devised at the moment, and Master Bra'tac asked that I attend."
Jack sighed heavily, looking up. "One day, T', that's what I gave Daniel. One day."
Teal'c bowed his head respectfully. "Thank you, O'Neill."
"Yeah, whatever… Ask Daniel to change the plane reservations for you, too… Sam and I will be expecting you."
Teal'c smiled slightly and exited the office.
Jack rolled his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. He looked at the piles of reports that were still in his inbox and checked the time, then put the cap back on the top of his pen and put his desk into order. 'Let's leave Hank Landry something to do…' he thought a bit aggravated at his friends.
He went to the locker room and dressed in his civvies. Passing Sam's lab on his way to the elevator, the dark room confirmed its owner had left the base. Checking his watch while waiting for the car, he decided he would warn her that Daniel and Teal'c would be a day late…
On his way to her house, he stopped at a Chinese take-out and bought a few items he could eat alone if Sam didn't want to share. He finally reached her neighborhood, exited his truck with his arms quite fully loaded, and rung.
After a minute or so, the light in her hall flicked on and she opened her entrance door. "Sir?" she said in a surprised tone, stepping aside to let him come in.
"I brought bait," he grinned, eyeing the paper bags he was carrying.
She took the hint and relieved him from one, starting toward her kitchen. "Is this a surprise dinner gathering at Sam's?" she joked. "Are the guys behind you?"
Jack winced, laying the second paper bag on her counter.
"What?" she asked.
"Daniel wanted to analyze some of the Gizah findings and Teal'c was needed on Dakara…" he rubbed his nose.
Sam's arms fell to her sides. "So this is a peace offering for telling me we're not going?" she said, disappointment showing in her eyes.
"No, no…" he denied, "they'll come the day after tomorrow…"
"Ah! That's good then!"
"That means you're still coming?" he asked warily.
"Of course I'm coming!" she replied smiling.
"You'll be a whole day alone with me!" he exclaimed.
"So what? You thought I was going to freak out? That I don't know how to defend myself against a trained Brigadier General's advances?" she teased with a twinkle in her eyes.
He was speechless for a while. She used that opportunity to step toward him and almost came face to face with him. "Or maybe it's you who should be worried… Sir!" she murmured huskily in his ear before stepping back abruptly, and starting to unpack the take-outs.
"Oooh, so not fair, Carter!" he finally recovered.
She giggled throwing him a look. "Gotcha!"
"That's bordering insubordination, colonel!" he joked.
"Downtime, general…"
Jack chuckled before turning serious again. "So you're okay with this? We could postpone a day, you know?"
"No, my mind is set, my luggage is ready, you can pick me up tomorrow morning like scheduled, sir. In the meantime, these take-outs are going to get cold. How did you know I hadn't eaten yet?" she asked, sitting on a stool at her counter.
He shrugged his jacket off and threw it to the back of a chair while sitting opposite her at the counter.
"Sixth sense, Carter… What were you doing? Some research on the Internet about your new project?" he teased.
"No, sir, as ordered, I was packing…" she said truthfully.
"Good girl!"
"I can be sometimes…"
"And what about the other times?" he teased.
"That's classified, sir…" she said, looking him in the eyes, wanting to push the game further, but at the same time not knowing exactly where she stood.
She saw in his eyes that he knew what her thoughts were at the moment.
He smiled enigmatically before resuming the conversation. "So, any particular bet on who's going to win the hockey championship this year?…"
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The flight had been uneventful, and a rental SUV was awaiting them. Jack headed straight to the road he knew so well, content to be alone with Sam.
He was not going to push anything. She'd just broken up with her fiancée, her Dad had just died, and despite whatever had happened between them in that observation room, nothing had really changed, yet. He was simply happy to show her his place alone before the others arrived. Teal'c had been the first to come, then Daniel, and now Sam. Tomorrow both their friends would arrive, and they would be complete again… maybe for the last time.
Sam was silent. He caught a glimpse of her relaxed features and decided not to speak, so the rest of the drive to his cabin was silent.
At last, he turned onto the small forest road that ultimately led to the cabin. The sun was setting, casting its orange dying rays onto the mountains around them.
Jack parked next to the back door. As soon as the engine shut down, Sam unstrapped herself and practically jumped out of the car.
Jack was a bit puzzled by her actions until he saw her staring at the mountains. The orange glow made them look like they were on fire, with white rivulets of snow on top of some of them. It was a natural show he was used to, but Sam wasn't.
He smiled to himself: he knew she would like it!
She heard the gravel crunch softly underneath his boots and turned toward him with a broad smile.
"I'm glad I came!" she said, enthusiastically stepping toward him.
He smiled broadly in his turn and opened his arms in a demonstrating gesture. "Simple but beautiful, huh?" he asked.
He was not prepared for Sam jumping into his opened arms and wrapping her own around his waist. Reflexively, he closed the embrace and kissed the top of her head without thinking. He was even more surprised when he felt her answering one upon his neck.
He gently pushed her and put a finger underneath her chin to make her look at him. "What's happening, Carter?"
She smiled enigmatically before answering, "When where you going to tell us, Jack?"
He looked at her, puzzled. "Tell you what?"
"That you have just been promoted to Homeworld Security?"
He was so surprised he pushed her and turned his back to her.
She let him have his space until he turned back with a serious look.
"How did you know?"
She ventured one step forward and took one of his hands, entwining her fingers with his. "Hammond told me."
"Spying on me, Carter?" he said in a hurt voice.
She chuckled. "He kind of had to, actually…"
"Why?"
She stepped closer and laid her head on his chest. "I asked him for a transfer."
Once again he pushed her to look her in the eyes.
"You did what?"
"I'll be heading the research department at Area 51. It's a good career move for me for now. I need to reassess my priorities, Cassie needs support right now, and then there's you…" she finished, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Me?" he asked, disbelieving.
"Dad…" she started before rethinking her words. "Let's just say I guess I was not as transparent as I thought I was," she said sadly.
He sighed and drew her back in his embrace. "I can't begin to tell you how mad I am at you right now," he murmured, once again kissing slightly the top of her head.
She chuckled.
"Now, would you care to explain why you asked George instead of me, and why he told you…" he asked, frowning.
"I called him to tell him about Dad's last wishes. We talked a lot. I was in a rather troubled emotional state, and General Hammond is not an idiot. He asked me how you were taking Dad's death, and… I told him I was seriously thinking of transferring, for various reasons. He said that he would approve it and start processing my request, but that he couldn't guarantee my transfer since he wouldn't be the one signing the final papers."
"Oh… That would be the top priority transfer he's asked me to look at after my vacation then, along with Cameron Mitchell's assignment to the SGC…"
"Cameron Mitchell? He deserves this; it was nice of you to think of him, Jack…"
"Aaah," he dismissed. "I promised he could go wherever he wanted…"
"So now you know how I know…" Sam resumed. "But I was rather taken aback when I learned you were going to head Homeworld Security, and you hadn't told us…" she said.
"There are several reasons why, actually, and it came with a promotion to Major General… But the main one is this hot blonde," he said, looking her in the eyes, and liking the sweet smile she gave him. "The second is that George called me to say he was retiring and that he'd thought of me, and the third is that maybe it's time for a change for me, a step back… I've come full circle, Sam. When Daniel and I first stepped through that ring, I was suicidal. Ten years later, I want to start living again…"
She smiled and hugged him tighter. "With me?" she asked softly.
He chuckled and kissed her hair. "Always…"
She leaned back and searched his eyes. He was relaxed, and for the first time she thought she saw the real Jack O'Neill in the tender way he looked at her. She leaned forward…
A flash of light enveloped them and left an empty spot. The trunk had yet to be unloaded and the house opened…