Mark and Pete were casually leaned against the back of Mark's minivan. He'd driven it all the way from San Diego just to visit his sister, who, according to Pete, was somewhere inside the military base in front of them.
"Why don't we just go in?" He asked again. In response, Pete pointed to the check-in station and the huge cement doors that would have to be passed to get into the base.
"Because, there are a bunch of military people sitting in those booths staring at us right now, eventually they're going to come out to check on us," he was right. As he spoke a military officer in fatigues came out from behind the cement doors and leaned in to talk to one of the men in the booths.
Mitchell crossed the parking lot, trying to appear nonchalant, as though he was the one who was always sent out to shoo away conspiracy freaks. "Hello, boys; Colonel Mitchell, what can I do for you?"
"Where's Sam?" Mark asked, getting a glare from the corner of Pete's eye.
"Which one, there are about five different 'Sam's' that work here."
"Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter," Mark said, glaring at Mitchell.
"She's busy, but if you want to give me a number she can reach you at when she's done running her simulations…."
"Bullshit," Pete said.
"Excuse me?"
"Stargate Program," Mark said a questioning not in his face.
"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know what you're talking about," Mitchell wasn't sure if Sam's brother was supposed to know this or not, but he couldn't prove the Pete had said anything or not so he couldn't push the point.
"What happened to Sam?" Mark asked worry in his voice, choosing to ignore the strange statements being made by his friend.
"Your sister is fine; she'll be calling you in a couple of hours."
"How did you know she's my sister?"
"Uhh..." Mitchell sighed, pulling the radio out of his pocket and conferring briefly with Landry. "Come with me," he said walking across the parking lot without checking to be sure they were following.
The pair of them were immediately separated, Pete was taken one direction by Mitchell, Mark followed the General.
"What happened to my sister?"
"All in time, Mr. Carter," Landry responded. They walked to the briefing room where a nondisclosure agreement waited on the table for Mark to sign.
Mark started reading the statement and glanced up at the man halfway through, "You guys must do some pretty heady stuff…" He only nodded and Mark turned back to the paper. After signing it, he looked up expectantly and received only a stern look from the General. Mitchell, having entered the room while Pete read, pushed a red button on the wall and a wall behind the window that he hadn't noticed before began to move upwards. He responded to the view with a sharp intake of breath even without knowing what the stargate was or could do.
"What the hell is that?"
"That," Mitchell paused for dramatic effect, "is the stargate"
"What the hell is that?"
"It's an alien device that was discovered in Egypt a couple of decades ago."
"And Sam…?"
"We go through it regularly."
"Why?"
"It takes us to different planets."
"What!"
"Something to do with wormholes and time and space, sometimes an alternate dimension or something. Sam's really the resident expert…"
"You're telling me, that my sister is an expert on this alien… thing… and she travels to different planets?" He didn't look convinced. "What kind of an idiot do you take me for?" Mitchell sighed and sat down; it was going to be a long day.
The wedding celebrations had stopped at the sight of the hunters dragging grown men behind them, men carrying strange-looking weapons, one with a gold symbol on his head. The one with the symbol on his head was dark like them but much taller and with huge muscles, the man pulling him was having trouble keeping up with the man pulling his paler counterpart.
"What is this?" Wynard asked, approaching the hunters.
"They were watching from the woods, with weapons," the hunter pulling Daniel responded. Wynard's face clouded with thought for a moment before he cleared his throat and spoke loud enough for the entire congregation to hear.
"Put them in separate cells."
Sam and Jack exchanged glances. Why was he being so harsh on their friends when they had been accepted into the fold so easily?
"They have interrupted a sacred ceremony; they will receive nothing until morning, when the ceremony has finished. Nobody is to think or speak of them until that time. Who knows what dangers these strangers bring, the one place they could've come from has been destroyed, its only survivors are safe with us," he smiled at Sam and Jack. He was obviously misreading their worried looks, assuming that Daniel and Teal'c were enemies of their fallen 'home' come to kill them.
The musicians took up their pipes again and blew the chords through, playing a new song. This one was louder and happier than the one before, obviously meant to redirect the crowd. Sam and Jack made their way to the side of the celebrations, planning follow the men who were carrying Daniel and Teal'c away. Wynard approached them, putting a soothing hand on Sam's shoulder.
"Do not worry yourselves on this happy night, it is a time for celebration, not a time to think about your old home, or old enemies," he smiled and went to join his wife before Sam or Jack could explain.
Not wanting to arouse suspicions, they danced to the next three songs and enjoyed a share of the feast that had been prepared before claiming fatigue and making excuses to turn in. Many lewd jokes were made and they received a few knowing winks as they made their way through the crowd, they weren't the first couple to leave but they were the tallest and most noticeable. Smiling and chuckling at the comments they went home.
As soon as they entered the house Sam began pacing. "We should go get them out tonight, Jack," she said, not missing a step. Jack sat down on their couch and watched her pace, the dress made even the stressed walking look beautiful. "There'll be no guards since nobody is supposed to even think about them, and we can talk big about how our enemies used to be skilled at escape…"
"You don't have to talk me into it," he smirked. Without wasting another moment the slipped out their bedroom window, climbing to the ground by way of the tree that supported their roof.
They walked along in the grass towards the jail-building, the one building that was at ground level, and slipped in through the side door. They were thankful that no shoes were worn in this village, it made their footfalls all the more quiet.
The jail wasn't anywhere near the market center, being farther down from the party than their own home, but they didn't speak anyways, falling on the old habit of military signals for communication.
Teal'c was alert when they approached the cells, but Daniel was still moaning in the early stages of consciousness. "DanielJackson," they heard Teal'c whisper before they had come around the corner, "Someone approaches…"
"T, how do you always do that? I thought we were being stealthy!" Jack whispered, trying to sound happy through the worry.
"General O'Neill?"
"Jack?" Daniel sat up to the sound of his lost friend's voice.
"Hi Daniel, are you okay?" Sam knelt down by the bars of her friend's cage.
'I could use some aspirin…"
"Sorry, we're a little behind on that around here."
"Damn," he cursed, holding his head. Jack was rooting around the building for some keys and found none.
"Well, looks like the guys that brought you down here took the keys with them. Time for plan B," he looked at Sam awaiting plan B.
"Why do I always have to come up with plan B?"
"'Cause you're smart like that," Jack informed her. He took her hand and squeezed it slightly, surprising their teammates, though Teal'c didn't react.
Sam sighed and looked around. Eventually she found what she was looking for and was able to pick the lock of Teal'c's cell. She gave him a hug before moving on to Daniel's door. "Is there anything you can't do?" Jack asked her.
"I'm not a very good gardener," Sam said, helping Daniel to his feet.
"I thought you talked to your plants?" Daniel asked, smiling and weaving slightly from the headache.
"She probably bores them to death talking about wormholes or particle mass…" Sam gave him a playful push, again startling Daniel and Teal'c.
"So… You guys seem to be doing okay after all this time…" Daniel said, watching them exchange a glance and separate slightly.
"We're alright," Jack responded, putting up his 'brave soldier' mask.
Sam locked the cell doors behind them, tossing her tools around the room. The four of them slipped out the side door again, moving silently into the night. They climbed carefully up the tree leading to their bedroom, Sam was as careful to go up last as she had been to go down first, keeping her short dress in mind. Coming through the window Sam could tell Daniel was making Jack uncomfortable and enjoying it.
"Only one bed, Jack?" Teal'c had his eyebrow raised and Daniel's eyes were swimming with laughter.
"ShuddupDaniel…"
"What?"
"So, are we leaving tonight or what's the plan?" Sam distracted her friends; Daniel seemed to remember that his comments had implied Sam and got embarrassed, the little blue dress didn't help either.
"Let's make it look like they kidnapped us," Jack suggested. The group agreed and they spent the next few minutes staging the act. Teal'c silently broke the window frame in the bedroom, suggesting a point of entry, while Jack shuffled the bed sheets, making them look like they had been used that night. Sam went around the house gathering things that she wanted to keep, a drawing one of the artists had done of the pair of them together from their first weeks in the village, her favorite ceramic bowl, and Jack's favorite shirt. They left their 'old' clothes because it would be suspicious if they disappeared. Daniel gave himself a tour of the house, enjoying the culture even if it was his friends' house.
"Daniel when we get back I'll tell you anything you want to know about this place, now lets go," even though Jack had enjoyed his time in the village he was looking forward to a hot shower and flush toilets.
Mark was in shock. His sister regularly traveled to different planets, his Dad had been part of an alien rebellion, and he didn't even want to think about 'symbiotes.' Mitchell had given him the basics, and finally talked him into believing that it was all true.
"So my sister was eaten by a wall?" Vala laughed and then looked at her hands.
"Yeah…"
"This is ridiculous, you guys travel to other planets and you can't even stop a wall?" It was Mitchell's turn to look at his hands.
Mark sighed; he had never even considered this possibility.
It took them twenty minutes to get to the jumper. There had been one tense moment when a scouting party had almost discovered them. Contrary to what Wynard had told the party guests, he had been thinking about the visitors and had sent out a number of search parties to locate any more of Jack and Sam's enemies that could be lurking around. They were touched, but wished he hadn't.
"Okay Thor, we're ready," Daniel said into the radio that Sam had retrieved from the bin; his had been taken away when they were tossed into the cells. Thor beamed aboard the four of them and the jumper, which was sent to a hallway in a distant part of the ship where it could take up all the room it wanted and still wouldn't be in the way.
"Greetings General O'Neill, Colonel Carter."
"Hi Thor," they responded in unison. He gave them an odd look that neither of them could place before turning to the controls.
"It will take us several days to arrive at Earth; I would suggest you make yourselves comfortable."
"Will do."
The four members of the original SG1 sat together on the floor of the bridge of Thor's ship. Nobody said anything for awhile, happy to be together again at long last.
"So…" Daniel started looking between Jack and Sam. Despite their dress they appeared comfortable, not to mention comfortable with each other. "You guys got married."
"What?" Sam was shocked, "But, we didn't…"
"Daniel that wasn't out wedding!" Jack said defensively. Though I wouldn't have minded if it had been…Unbeknownst to him, Sam was thinking along the same lines.
As they neared their destination they realized that, even though they'd spent so long apart, nothing had changed that much between them. The old friends could talk just as much about anything as they had been able to years ago when they still saw each other on a daily basis. It made them all miss their old working relationship all the more.
"General O'Neill, Colonel Carter, will you please join me on the bridge," it wasn't really a question. Thor expected them to come. Exchanging puzzled glances with their friends, the officers reported to Thor's side.
It didn't help Mark's nerves at all when the stargate activated, setting off the usual bells and whistles throughout the base. He had been sitting in General Landry's office, the only place he wasn't in the way, when it happened. Pete had been escorted back to the surface after Mitchell had given him a very vague explanation and assured him that Mark would be returned when the time came. Pete, not feeling as though it were his place to want to stay and make sure Sam returned in one piece, had left without much complaint.
Landry jumped up from behind his desk, where he had been 'reading' a report. Mark followed into the control room, watching as the stargate activated and a team came through. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen; three people emerged carrying a fourth in between them, staff weapon blasts followed them through, though Mark didn't know that the orange and red fireballs came from a staff weapon, or what a staff weapon even looked like. He was mortified to see that the man that was being carried was bleeding in multiple places, his team didn't look very good themselves.
Doctors rushed the 'gate room, putting them on gurneys and carrying them to the infirmary at top speed. "What happened?" He croaked. Landry gave him a sidelong glance, trying to decide what to say.
"This is what we do here, Mr. Carter," he left the room. Following the doctors to the infirmary to find out what had actually happened.
Mark went and sat in the briefing room, watching the 'gate as it sat there in its vaulted chamber. He was overwhelmed, not only by the fact that the huge device in the next room created wormholes to take people to other planets, but the fact that his sister apparently went through it regularly and that people getting mortally injured was considered normal by the man in charge.
Suddenly four people appeared in front of him, he didn't recognize them at first, but then he realized that it was his sister and the three men she had introduced him to last Christmas. To his surprise, his sister was wearing a strapless blue dress, and her CO was in the strangest brown getup he'd ever seen. "Sam!" He moved to hug her but found three men standing between him and his sister. All three of them had shifted slightly to act as a shield between Sam and whoever was in the room, not realizing that it was her brother and he meant her no harm.
"Mark!" She stepped through her friends and gave him a hug, "What're you doing here?"
"Pete had me standing in the parking lot until they gave me clearance," Sam's face had fallen at the mention of her ex, nobody but Teal'c noticed the storm that surfaced in the General's eyes at the mention of the cop's name. Mark began talking a mile a minute, reminding Jack uncannily of Sam, taking Pete off his mind and bringing a smile to his face. He told Sam all about the past few days, how worried he'd been when she hadn't answered her door, Mitchell greeting them in the parking lot, not to mention the people coming through the 'gate under fire. "Where did you guys come from? I thought the only way you traveled was by the 'gate-thing?"
"Umm, Thor beamed us in…"
"Like, 'beam me up Scotty?"
"Yeah, kinda like that," Jack responded quickly, knowing that Sam would try to explain everything to her brother. Even though he could be told everything now, didn't mean that it was good to tell him.
"SG1, glad to see you're back," Landry said as he came up the stairs from the control room. Mark gave him a look, surprised at how normal Landry seemed to react to four people suddenly appearing in his briefing room.
"Sir, we're not really SG1 anymore…" Daniel said, looking at Jack, who smiled and shrugged. Mitchell and Vala walked in, noting their companions.
"Nice of you to join us," Mitchell said coldly, still a bit sore on the fact that Thor had left him behind.
"Love the dress!" Vala complimented Sam smiling, Sam blushed and adjusted it. It had seemed so comfortable in the village and now she felt extremely underdressed.
"Jack, Colonel, I want you to report to the infirmary to be checked over, briefing in one hour," Landry said, matter-of-factly. "Mr. Carter I suggest you make a stop at the commissary and find a bed somewhere, you look awful."
Mark nodded, giving his sister another hug before they headed in their separate directions. There would be enough time for questions later, and he had a lot of questions.
The checkups took longer than expected, the doctors insisted on running some of Sam's results multiple times, making both she and the General nervous. They hadn't even been exposed to any sick villagers!
The briefing went smoothly; Mark was allowed to sit in so long as he promised not to speak. Sam and Jack explained everything that had happened, leaving out the parts where they had… developed their relationship.
After the briefing Jack decided it was best if he pretended as though nothing had happened between him and Sam, he headed to the commissary look for 'real food' as he told Daniel. It was empty; lunch time had passed hours ago. The staff were clearing tables, a few smiled at him when he came in, an unexpected surprise. He filled his tray and dug in, even though it was all cold. To his surprise, Sam followed him in a few seconds later. He'd expected her to go down to her lab and catch up, or at least change, but she walked in still shoeless and in the blue dress. He hid a smile and pretended as though he hadn't noticed her enter.
"General," she sat by him.
"Carter," he glanced up, trying to organize his face into an inquiring look, and not smile like an idiot. This trick worked until she took the jello off his tray, taking his spoon too and started eating. "Hey, I was going to eat that!" He tried, but his smile told all. Sam smiled back, taking another bite of the blue stuff. He hadn't realized it, but he'd grabbed her favorite out of all the choices- she was stuck in his brain.
They ate in silence; the silence would have been comfortable only a few days ago but now, at the SGC, neither knew how to respond to each other. "So… Daniel says that Hammond is covering for you."
"Really?"
"Yeah, you didn't expect them to just leave your position open did you?"
"No, just didn't think Hammond would want to take time out of his busy schedule for little old me," at Sam's questioning look he continued. "He sends me an email every week with his improved golf score and a challenge," that drew a smile.
"Do you plan on taking him up on that?"
"'Course not, I'd cream him; I've hit golf balls farther than he ever has," this brought a smile to his own face, remembering the look on the General's face when he had discovered O'Neill and Teal'c sending golf balls through the stargate. They both relaxed a little after their conversation and continued eating, ignoring the annoyed looks they were getting from the staff, who wanted to clean up and prepare to feed the masses that would be in for dinner in a few short hours.
They hadn't spoken about what Thor had told them, but Sam knew she should bring it up soon. They finished their meal and Jack handed the tray to one of the staff, getting a dirty look despite his rank. They walked out together, talking easily about their plans for the next few days; they'd been given a considerable amount of downtime and, though neither would admit it, they wanted to spend it together.
"Lets go fishing!" Jack suggested, as usual.
"Why is it that every single time we get a little leave you feel the need to fish?"
"Because its relaxing."
"Work is relaxing."
"Getting shot at by aliens and eaten by walls is relaxing?"
"No, but the kind of work you do on downtime is."
"Well this time you're coming to Minnesota and we're going fishing."
"Sir, it'd be just us; Mitchell, Vala, Daniel and Teal'c are all scheduled to go offworld tomorrow morning and that's wouldn't really be…"
"Anymore appropriate than the pair of us spending four months alone together…"
"Anyways, my brother is in town to see me, he stood in the parking lot for hours looking for me. I can't just go off to Minnesota."
"I hear Pete came too…" Sam was silent, she wasn't sure what to think about the fact that her ex-fiancé had done for her, or at least for her brother. This introduced an uneasy silence between them for the rest of the walk to Sam's lab. Normally, Jack would've made some excuse about needing to write a report and veer away, heading to his office, but he no longer had an office at the SGC.
They sat down in their customary places in Sam's lab, Sam behind her desk which had her computer and various doohickeys scattered across it, Jack pulled his favorite stool up across from her.
"Jack…?" Sam said after a few minutes, the use of his first name made his head jerk up even though she'd been using it for at least three months.
"Hmm?"
"Nevermind."
Mark had only one day left with Sam by the time they were both allowed off base. Mark was reminded of the agreement he'd signed and Sam was checked over twice more by the doctors, but they eventually made it to her house. They spent their day reminiscing, Mark enjoyed stories about various offworld adventures but gave her a little heat about her job anyways, "No wonder it didn't work out with any relationships…" He'd commented after dinner that night. That had earned him a sharp look, but she hadn't made a retort.
Jack was at Sam's house, sitting on the couch and having helped himself to the beer in her fridge, when she returned from dropping her brother off at the airport. "Hi, sir!" She said, smiling one of her truly happy smiles that were reserved only for him.
"Carter," he responded, pulling her into his arms and kissing her as soon as she closed the door behind her. Sam hugged him, sighing into his chest.
"When do we leave?" She asked, her overnight bag was already packed and sitting on her bed upstairs.
"I have two plane tickets for a flight that leaves in an hour."
"Are you kidding, we'll never get there and through all that freaking security if we left twenty minutes ago!" He smiled at her, pulling the slips of paper out of his back pocket, they were obviously not commercial flight tickets.
"Relax we've got a hop on a military flight."
"Going to Minnesota?"
"Yep."
"If you say so," she took the tickets from him and looked them over, they were sheets of folded up printer paper that the General had doodled all over.
"I made them while I waited," he explained. Sam laughed and kissed him again before going up to retrieve her bags.
The cabin was just as nice as it had been on her last visit; the lake reflected the beautiful sunset, reds and oranges dancing across the water and making the nearby trees ripple in the same hues. The first thing they did was open all of the doors and windows, regardless of the mosquitoes; the whole place needed to be aired out, "I guess I haven't been getting up here as much as I'd like…"
"It's still beautiful, Jack," she walked out and stood at the end of the dock, leaving her bag on the floor by the door.
"That's why I like it," he said, coming up behind her and circling her in his arms.
"Not the fish?"
"They don't make very good company," he said, spinning her around and kissing her again. This kiss promised much more than the tender kisses he'd given her earlier.
After a few minutes they broke apart, catching their breath. A loon called from across the lake, Sam turned around again, disentangling herself to see if she could catch a glimpse of the bird. Having no luck she turned around to seen the Jack had taken a small box out of his pocket, she froze, staring at the box.
"Sam… willyoumarryme?" He was so nervous that it all came out together. Cursing the nerves he took a tentative step close, opening the little box he'd had in his pocket since he'd arrived at her house that morning. He'd been working up the guts to ask her all day, and now seemed to be the perfect moment.
"Wh... What?"
"Will you marry me, Sam Carter?" His voice sounded confident, much more confident than he actually felt. He watched her face, she seemed to be in shock and he immediately started doubting himself. "I…"
"Yes," it was barely a whisper but Jack heard it anyways.
"What?"
"Yes, I'll marry you," it was barely any louder but the whisper sounded much more confident. His face broke into a contagious smile.
"I love you, Sam."
"I love you too, sir," she smiled at the look he gave her. "Habit," she claimed, pulling him close. He took the ring out of the box, a silver band with a sapphire and a diamond to either side, sliding it onto her finger gently. "I love you so much…" He pulled her into an embrace, letting the ring box fall from his hand and land dangerously close to the edge of the dock.
They disappeared into the cabin after that and didn't come out until the next sunset.
So there's that... should i keep going or is that good where it is?