Disclaimer: I dont own stargate. G'figure.
note: Yes! It's true! I'm back with another sam x jack fic, this one is three chapters (maybe four if I write an epilogue...which you will probably all force me to do, but it's up to you as the readers to egg me on). Uh, so, I'll just say, read, enjoy, I'm updating some time tomorrow as long as I remember! Please, let me know what you think and if it's as good as my others!
Chapter One: Finding Out
Sam pressed her hands onto the sides of the marble countertop in her bathroom, the edges pressing painfully into her palms and reminding her that she was not dreaming. She slumped her shoulders, and her head drooped down, hanging limply from her neck. With a muffled sob it jerked back up again, as she tossed her head, her tousled blonde-brown hair a mess. Tears slid out of the corners of her eyes and she glanced back down to the object on the countertop.
Nothing had changed. Her knees gave out on her and she slid to the bathroom floor, cradling her head in her hands as she sobbed, rocking back and forth on the cold, tile floor. It had only been one night, one stupid drunken night.
"And the best night of your life," a voice in the back of her mind told her.
"Until now," she whispered out loud, responding to her conscious that only she could hear.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she continued to sob, rocking back and forth like a child who needed a mothers embrace. Hours later, the mornings dawn found Carter passed out on the bathroom floor after she had cried herself to sleep.
General Hammond glanced at his watch once more, then looked down the red and black briefing table at the three men that were there with him, waiting, like he was, for the final member of their team. He caught Jack's eye, and the Colonel stopped tapping his pencil on the table, as he had been doing for the last ten minutes or so, and wordlessly asked if he knew what was keeping the Major.
O'Neill shrugged and ripped his gaze away from the General's eyes, but not before Hammond saw the concern that flashed through the Colonel's brown orbs. Grimacing, he looked over to Teal'c who, though masking it very well as he always did, was obviously concerned about Carter. His gaze was fixated on a point directly across from him, and had not moved since five minutes after the start of the briefing had passed with still no appearance from Carter. That had been over an hour ago.
Daniel was his next subject, and he was the most outwardly concerned of them all, but he had more liberty on his range of emotions than the rest of them ever would. The archeologist was fidgeting in his seat, looking at his watch, then back at the phone on the wall that he had used several times to call Sam, with still no response. They had all agreed that if in another quarter of an hour she didn't show up or respond to the twelve messages left on her machine, they would go find her.
Just as Daniel opened his mouth to suggest calling her again, the door opened and in strode Carter. Her hair was a tousled mess, though she had tried to fix it, and her make-up, usually subtle, was a little more obvious, as though she were trying to hide something. Her cheeks were stained with lines that each member present in the room could only assume were tears, and her cheeks were rubbed red, as though she had tried to wash those stains away.
O'Neill shoved his chair back and stood up to face Carter, his mouth slack with concern. "Carter, are you…"
She waved her hand, brushing his question away, and slid into her usual seat across from him. She looked over to Hammond, who until that moment, had been shocked into silence. Gathering himself together with a cough, he glanced at her sternly.
"Major Carter," he said in his usual Texas drawl. "You're late."
She ducked her head, and he could see her inner battle as she forced tears back from the rims of her eyes. When she looked back up at him, it was with all the calm collected-ness of any Air Force Major. "I'm sorry, sir," she said, fighting with her voice to keep it steady.
"In my office after the briefing, Major," Hammond said with a sigh, knowing, no matter how painful the situation was for her, he would have to get to the bottom of this.
Daniel tore down the hallway, barely sliding out of peoples way and successfully managing to spill at least two cups of coffee and three stacks of paper as he did so. He winced as he sent a cadet with an unknown object leaping backwards out of his way, but he couldn't stop.
Finally, he saw his goal in front of him. "Jack!" he yelled with as much breath as he could.
O'Neill stopped in his tracks and turned around, waiting for Daniel as he saw the archeologists mad dash for him. When Daniel reached him, he leaned on the wall, panting to catch his breath, his one hand latched onto Jack's shoulder.
"Sams…up…for…reassignment," he panted, watching Jack's eyes to make sure the Colonel understood correctly.
He did. First his brown eyes widened, then narrowed, and he found himself at a loss for words, knowing that if he spoke, his voice would be out of his control. Instead, he hoped Daniel would continue on his own.
His wish was granted. "Hammond just…told me…she's in…lab," he said, removing his hand from Jack's shoulder. After a moment, when nothing happened, he waved his hand down the hallway, as if saying "You going to get going!" And with a nod of understanding, Jack tore down the hallway.
Sam was leaning over, placing her scarce personal objects into a box when she heard a gruff voice behind her. "What's this I hear about reassignment?"
It was O'Neill, and Sam could hear the hurt in his voice. Straightening up, she glanced over her shoulder at him, not turning full around for she didn't want him to see the shape she was in. She shrugged in response and went back to packing her box. A slam behind her caused her to jump, and she spun around to find O'Neill with his hand clenched in a fist, his knuckles white, on top of her old desk. His face was drawn tight…he was upset.
She flinched and felt the barrier on her tears, and he must have seen her, for his face went slack and he strode over to her. After a moment, he spoke. "C'mere," he said, holding his arms out.
For a moment, she thought of refusing, and then her will broke and she collapsed into his arms, burying her face into his shoulder. He stroked her hair comfortingly, and decided it would be better to not bring up the subject again, though is heart wrenched at the thought.
Carter sat on her couch watching the television idly, her mind drifting back to her visit from her friends a few weeks ago. Daniel and Teal'c had come, their first contact with her since she had left the SGC eight months ago. They had told her that thiswas their first week off since then…Hammond had been sending them off world frequently. Sam realized as they said that that the General had kept them away from her as much as possible, until she was ready to talk to them on her own, and had mentally thanked him for that. Needless to say, however, they had been shocked to find out she was almost nine months pregnant, and even more so who the father was, after they finally wheedled the answer out of her.
She sighed in disappointment. Jack had skipped out on the visit, pleading a fishing trip that he had apparently had scheduled for months…but she knew the truth; it was because she hadn't contacted him since she left, and he was hurt.
Looking down at her enlarged stomach, she smiled grimly, feeling a swell of mixed emotions as usual. In the beginning, she'd hated it, hoped that it would go away….and then she felt guilty about that. Finally, she began to look forward to meeting the life that was growing inside her, but every now and then, the thought depressed her.
Again, she wondered if perhaps she could go back to the SGC after her baby was born. Hammond had told her a position was always left open for her, and perhaps some of the objects at Area-51 were too dangerous to be around…
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Puzzled, she heaved herself out of her seat and made her way slowly to the door. Twisting the handle, she opened the slab of mahogany wood just a crack and peered outside. What she saw made her gasp.
"Sir!"
