Sorry for the delay. I haven't been writing at all lately. Things have gotten a bit hectic around here… I agreed to foster a bunny, nothing like I expected. This is the beginning of the end, but I have so many storylines and SO MANY places I want to take this, so it's going to be multiple chapters. I am hoping you enjoy this ending, and it doesn't seem too rushed. This is about Disney World. I have been there a few times, but not when this would be taken place so I could mess up and mention a ride that wouldn't have been there when they were there trying to keep it accurate, but it would take forever to research. Also, there is not a lot of Disney detail in this story as other things are going on. Although I will bring up some rides and restaurants, this will not be a play-by-play of the park experience but everything else going on while they are there. I am currently working on Chapter 16, and it should have at least 2 chapters after that.
Sam knew for a fact she had gotten everything ready for their time at Disney World. After hours and hours of research, she had everything, their tickets, the flight, dinner reservations, hotel reservations to stay at the resort, and a rental car. Numerous chats and message boards indicated it wasn't entirely necessary to have a car, but who knows when an enemy will come knocking. She had thought about staying at the Shades of Green but really wanted Teal'c to have input. After looking at all the resorts, Sam was happy when he wanted to go stay at the Contemporary Resort, the monorail going directly to Magic Kingdom. She had decided to get a 2 bedroom suite which contained 4 queen beds. She had not told Jack of any of plans hoping the less he knew, the better.
Jack knew the trip was planned. He knew it was coming. He felt too old for the Disney magic that Teal'c had so deeply expressed he was interested in. Jack often forgot exactly how old Teal'c was. Jack had never been to the park himself. It opened when he was too old to enjoy it, and by the time Charlie had come around, he hadn't had the time to take him. Jack had stopped beating himself up a while ago, all the things he had missed with his son. He had learned to accept he would never watch him grow up, always the little boy in his eyes. There were times he still wondered what it would be like if his son had grown up. He still missed him every day. Time didn't heal his wound, and there were days brief moments Jack forgot all about his son being dead and wondering what the boy was doing at that second; then he remembered the same thing he's been doing for years now, he was dead. Since Jack now knew there was another plane, he wondered would his son have ascended. He didn't know, and if he hadn't, was there a heaven? The more he's seen, the less he knows. Jack knows this trip isn't for him. It's for Teal'c, and he was glad the man had this childlike wonder. He wasn't sure how Teal'c kept it all these years, but in the back of his mind, Jack slightly hoped that this trip would spark his own wonder once again but was still cringing at the thought of it.
Teal'c has caught up on Disney films. He has studied the park maps and knows when each park opens and closes. He knows that Jack is not excited to go on this trip and finds that here on Earth, it seems as though Disney doesn't seem to be something a military man should be interested in. Sam has insured Teal'c there is nothing wrong with wanting to go, and Teal'c had even talked to Jack himself, telling the man he would not be offended if he didn't want to go, but Jack simply smirked at the man and said he was just coming along for the ride.
Daniel had promised to send a video of one Jack O'Neill riding on Dumbo, knowing that he would be threatened with death by the man, but Jack would never follow through on the promise. Daniel had wished Deb could be included in the event, but she was gone; he could hardly keep up with her; she was investigating all kinds of tips that the Air Force gets from all over the world. If Daniel wasn't mistaken, she would be in India the week they would be in Florida. Daniel had never been to Disney World; Sam had said she was there a few times when she was young but didn't remember much of the trips. Jack had promised to take Charlie, but that never came to be. Daniel hoped that the trip didn't make his friend feel upset because Charlie never got to go. Daniel knew that Jack would never be over the loss of his son, but Daniel couldn't help but wonder if this would bring memories back that Jack would rather not let come to the surface.
The group of four arrived at the airport, bringing enough for the week-long trip to Florida. As they board the flight, Sam puts on a pair of Minnie's ears on and hands the guys Mickey's ears.
"Seriously, Carter?" Jack asks.
"Come on, get into the spirit," Sam claims, pulling the hat from his hands and sticking it on his head.
Daniel laughs, and Sam glares at him. He quickly puts his ears on and doesn't make any more fuss. Teal'c proudly wears them as they settle in aboard the plane. Sam goes over the plan, and Teal'c nods along, knowing exactly what the next week held in store as Jack and Daniel look at her as if she has planned out every detail of their life for the next week. Sam is the only one surprised when she hears the announcement they will be landing soon. When they get off the plane, the humidity was high, and the stickiness of the early fall weather was quick to touch their skin. They hadn't even made it to baggage claim when Jack's cell phone rings.
They all wait nervously, wondering if the trip is over before it has even begun, but Sam sees Jack with the brightest smile she had ever seen from the man.
Of course, she couldn't hear the other end, but Jack was heard saying.
"You're kidding? No, that's perfect!" Thank you, sir, you too, bye."
"What is it, Jack?" Daniel asks.
"Oh, nothing you'll find out soon enough, Daniel," Jack said, the smile never leaving his face. He eyed Sam with a look she'd only seen a handful of times before, she couldn't exactly place it, but it was a good thing. She smiled, knowing that they would all eventually know what the call was about it, and they went continued to get their bags and proceed to the rental car service.
Jack and Daniel were surprised by the rooms. Once again, Teal'c knew exactly what they were supposed to look like. Jack was surprised by how friendly everyone they have come across had been. They were easily having conversations; listening seemed genuinely interested. Jack was first to notice a large gift basket in the living area, with a note that said, "Thank you for your service." It had various snacks, a gift card and a magazine showing the layout of parks, a guide to the shows, and other various things.
"So Carter, what did you say was on the agenda today?" Jack asks.
"Well, it's a little late to go to a theme park today, so we're just going to unpack and go to downtown Disney; it has shopping and food, various bars," Sam explained.
Jack flipped through the magazine, finding a layout of the place Sam brought up, and read over what was there. The rest of the group had gone their separate ways for a while. Before Jack noticed, they had suddenly been waiting on him. He wasn't even sure where he was going. Sam had told herself she wasn't going to do this AGAIN, but Teal'c and Daniel had taken a room leaving the only bed next to Sam without conversation. She could always decide to take the pull-out couch but didn't want to act like this was an issue. There wasn't an issue between her and Jack, just with everything being out in the open, it was hard for her to deny it anymore. When they ignored their feelings, it was different, but now that she knew how he felt for certain, it was almost as if she couldn't deny herself or deny him anymore. She was playing with fire, allowing the man she cared so deeply to share the room with her, but she couldn't help herself.
The group loads up and heads to Downtown Disney. The group walks around, all of them grabbing sweet treats and selecting a few shops to go into. The World of Disney Store is massive and takes up more time than anyone was expecting; although they just walk away with a few small items, after all, is said and done, they decide that dinner is the best course of action. The group argues where to eat, finally deciding to go their separate ways and meet up to share their meals at one of the open dining areas.
After their meal, the group proceeds to 8trax, watching as people fully embraced the 70s and 80s dressed in the decade's fashion. Sam explains to Teal'c all the pop culture references, and Jack cringes when he sees a much younger man dressed in the same shirt he has sitting in his closet. The drinks start coming, and the group starts laughing and giving various stories from the 70s and 80s. Jack really feels old when Daniel mentions he was born in 1970. Jack would have already been 20 and started his career. As Sam talks, he also remembers that she is a lot younger than he is and wonders if the news he had just gotten over the phone when they got there was really as great as he thought it was just a few hours prior. He sighed, not wanting to think about how he was an old man, doing a much younger man's job, and wonders once again why he didn't retire. He looks down, swirling his drink as Daniel talks about some story from 1985 when Daniel would have been 15, and Jack would have been 30. Sam picks up on this, grabs his hand, and squeezes it before quickly pulling away and smiling at him, causing him to smile too.
A man who was obviously a bit too intoxicated comes up to the table.
"A pretty lady like you should have been asked by at least one of the men with you to dance; why don't you come with me?" The man asks.
"Thanks, but I'm fine where I m." Sam claims.
"Oh, come on now, let's have a little fun?" The man claims and grabs at Sam's arm. Before she attempts any evasive maneuvers on the man, Jack quickly stands up and yells at the man.
"I think she told you to leave."
The man doesn't recognize the danger he is in and smirks at Jack.
"That's not what she said, she said she is fine where she is, but I'm sure I can show her a real good time." the man claims, continuing to hold on to Sam, who quickly turns her wrist and gets out of his grip.
"Get out, now," Sam growled.
The man suddenly backs off, leaving the club mumbling under his breath.
Sam rolled her eyes and saw the look of concern that made her roll her eyes again.
"I'm fine, guys, but if you want to get out of here, I'm not opposed," Sam claimed.
It was getting late. They all had their fair share of drinks, and they were supposed to be waking up in the morning to be at Magic Kingdom.
The group gets back to the hotel, tired, and they head to bed, Sam reminding them they were going to rope drop for Magic Kingdom the next morning.
It's early morning. The sun had barely risen, and Sam on vacation is waking up Jack, who is grumbling.
"We're going to be late." She claims.
He grumbles again and hears the bathroom door close; turning towards the bed Sam was sleeping in, the bed already made, he looks out the window.
He hears the shower and knows that tonight, he is going to tell her and the rest of the group shortly after about the news he had gotten the night before. He decides he should at least stretch and get some coffee before showing himself. So he makes his way out to the living area, the coffee pot already going. Daniel looks ready to go.
"Danny, your up early," Jack mentions, as Daniel is almost always the last to wake up.
"Deb called me with an interesting find around 5 is. I think it might be ancient." Daniel described.
"Hmm, you don't say you realize a vacation means no work, right?" Jack asks.
"Jack, you know that isn't happening. I'm going to keep up with Deb, and that's the best time for both of us for her to call this week."
"You got it bad, Danny," Jack claims.
Daniel smirks. "I know."
Jack is happy for the man, Daniel had waited a long time, and Jack hopes that this is it for Daniel. The man, despite being 20 years younger, than Jack had gone through more than Jack can imagine. Daniel losing his whole family as a child, being bounced around the home to home, finding the love of his life on another planet, and losing her shortly after, dying and being where ever it is that ascended beings go, then coming back to the living. That was more than he has been through. So if Deb makes Daniel happy, Jack would be forever in her debt.
Jack sips his coffee as Sam comes out of the bedroom smiling, Minnie's ears in tow. He takes it as his queue is his turn for the bathroom. When Jack heads back out to the living area, the other three are discussing breakfast. They walk down to the monorail station, a wave of people there. Jack was shocked by how many people were willing to wake up so early just to go to a theme park. Sam hands each one of them their ticket to the park, and they get in the monorail, which takes them right to the front entrance of Magic Kingdom.
Jack catches a glimpse of the castle and Main Street USA, shocked by the detail of it as all. As they get down to the gates, there are people already lined up. When the rope drop finally happens, everyone takes off in different directions, and some headed straight for the shops and food while others go straight back where Sam claims there is a spoke and wheel kind of set up for each section of the park. Despite the fact Sam hadn't been there since she was a child, it was as if she knew this place her whole life and quickly directed them into The Plaza Restaurant for a meal before getting in line for the rides.
The group decides to go clockwise over to Adventure land first and get in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The day is already turning warm, no clouds in the sky, and the sun beats down as the humidity once again starts to climb. The line seems to be moving slowly, but before the group realizes, a young man is asking how many are in the group and lining them up to get into the ride. The group takes off, and Sam can't help but smile when dynamite explodes, and they go racing down the little hill. After the ride, they head over to Pirates of the Caribbean and are thankful when they feel the cool breeze of air conditioning hit them. Jack doesn't know what it is that makes this place so special maybe its the fact there is a bunch of little kids gasping and pointing, or maybe it's just the extra friendly staff everywhere, but he's starting to see why so many young and old alike have flooded into this park. When they finally get on a boat and go through the dark ride looking at scenes of pirates coming to shore, Jack can't help but smirk. Sam, of course, has learned the mechanics of the ride and is going into the engineering behind it all. When they get off that ride, they all stop for a drink deciding it was worth the cost of the reusable cup. They then get on the Jungle Cruise, and they all agree even though they were at Disney, it was too over the top.
Luckily with Sam's research, she found that September was one of the slowest times of the year, there was a risk of hurricanes, and this was one of the few months where school overlapped in North and South America, causing lower crowds. Despite all this, they were only 3 rides deep when they all decided lunch was needed. They walked to Liberty Square ordering from Liberty Tree Tavern. The group sat in the sun, watching the other park-goers pointing and laughing kids with giant mickey ear balloons walking around like they owned the place. The food was good and decently priced for a theme park, which was a good thing as much as Teal'c ate. After the meal, they took the Riverboat, which was relaxing, and showed them parts of the park they had yet been to; when they got off, they stood in the long line for the haunted mansion, once again Sam was telling how they did all the tricks with the ghosts.
The group had been enjoying their time relaxing and moving around, and it was nice that no one knew who they were, and they weren't given a second look. Sam was surprised by the groups of adult-only friends meandering around similar to SG-1. She even heard numerous groups saying they had come without their kids this time.
The afternoon was growing hot the wait time for splash mountain was long; they grabbed a fast pass for a time to return and decided that the hall of presidents would be a great way to cool off. It went on, but Sam was once again enthralled with the robotic presidents. Once they got back out, it was time for an afternoon parade, so they went back to Main Street USA to watch the floats of various characters and high school bands go down the streets. By the time the parade was over, it was time to walk back to splash mountain. Jack was a bit disappointed everyone was splashed but him. Sam said they could stand in line again, but the hour and a half wait time were too long, and Jack insisted they go somewhere else instead. The group went to Fantasy Land and watched their time meltdown waiting in line "It's a Small World." took almost an hour to get on the boats and by the time they got off it, Sam was humming the tune without even realizing, Jack telling her to stop multiple times. They grab a fast pass for Space Mountain and then go for dinner.
Dinner takes a lot longer than expected at Cosmic Rays, but the air conditioning was something they didn't want to quite leave and didn't until space mountain. Even though they had a Fastpass, the ride took 45 minutes to get on, and the picture is funny because they all look bored at going over the highest drop. Sam looks at the time and realizes that it's almost time for the light show and fireworks. She finds a spot to view the show, and as darkness falls, the lights go on the castle, and the show begins. Everyone is entranced by the words, the music, the lighting; Sam allows a tear to fall from her eye, wishing, knowing that a lot of her dreams had come true. She felt selfish, too; she knew that they would never come close to achieving everything they've ever wanted for a lot of people. She's done that and more, but she still wanted more. She still desperately needed one more wish to come true. "When you wish upon a star…." started playing, and the fireworks began. Sam had watched and heard the kids awing at sight. Teal'c and Daniel had somehow gotten in front of Sam and Jack. Jack took that moment to lean into Sam.
"Sam, I got a surprise for you," Jack claims.
Sam whips her head around, looking into his eyes, ignoring the fireworks.
"You do?" Sam asks.
"Yeah, that phone call i got yesterday, it was letting me I have been temporarily reassigned to Groom Lake," Jack claims
Sam looks at him like a hurt puppy, and Jack knows where Sam's mind is going.
"It's for 6 weeks starting as of an hour ago," Jack says, looking at his watch.
"Wait, so that means…" Sam stopped.
"It means I am no longer your commanding officer. You are to report directly to Hammond. I am running a security detail at Groom Lake for the next 6 weeks until a new man is trained. Luckily for me, the retirement was planned, and his last day is next week. So, I was allowed to take leave this week to be with you." Jack claimed.
Sam smiled widely, and he pulled her in; Sam had unleashed the tears she had been holding, so happy that this dream was coming true. She wasn't sure what this meant moving forward, but Jack seemed pretty happy, and she was elated. When she finally got her tears to stop, she looked up at Jack O'Neill and kissed his lips, lightly as if they would burn her or she would immediately be imprisoned. When that didn't happen, she kissed his lips more confidently, holding them there for more than just a few seconds until a particularly loud firework brought her back to her surroundings. When the show was over and everyone else moved along, Jack told Daniel and Teal'c the news. It took a moment, but then Daniel put it all together.
"About time you two do something about it!" Daniel claimed
Sam blushed, and Teal'c looked confused.
"I'll explain it to you later," Daniel claimed.
"So guys, the park has another 2 hours it's open." Daniel hinted.
"Yeah, Danny, why don't you and Teal'c look around. I'm getting old, you know. I think I might need Carter here to point me in the right direction back to the rooms." Jack claimed.
Daniel rolled his eyes.
"We'll knock before we come in," Daniel claimed.
Sam blushed even harder as Jack pulled her towards the exit, but it was worth every embarrassing moment.
Sam and Jack sit in the 2 bedroom suite alone; although the electricity is there, the fire is blazing. Sam still has 100 questions running through her mind, although he is not her commanding officer for the next 6 weeks. What happened after that? Is this something that was going to lead to an investigation, bigger problems down the road? She knew even if it did, she wanted this but was she being too selfish. What did this mean for SG-1? The SGC? The world? She was letting her mind wander as Jack had her wrapped in his arms on the sofa in the living area.
He sighed, knowing that Sam was already questioning everything.
"Sam, will you just trust me to know this is going to turn out fine? We're not going to blow the universe up by being together, you know," Jack claims.
"I know, but it's just every time I've seen us together, the world does fall apart."
"And every other time that was a Jack and Sam from a different universe, I can't and won't blame my love for you as the reason Earth gets destroyed," Jack claims.
"Jack." Sam breaths
"Hmm." He asks.
"Are we really doing this?" Sam asks.
"If you're ready," Jack claims.
Sam turns over, kissing him on the lips feeling the goosebumps all over as they make a conscious effort to move the relationship into uncharted territory.
The two move to the bedroom, and although Sam would want nothing more to fall into bed with Jack O'Neill, something seems off about the whole thing like this isn't quite right. She's not sure why. She goes to the bathroom and showers, changing in the bathroom and coming back into the room. Jack is a little bolder, and comes back out of the bathroom in a towel, and gets dressed in the room. Sam turns away not wanting to get overly stimulated.
"Sam, is something wrong?" Jack asks.
"No, it's just too fresh, too new for all of it at once. It's just now starting to sink in, and we've been standing on that line for a long time," Sam claims.
Jack nods.
"We can take our time," Jack claims, hoping she has a change of heart but doesn't push.
He decides to walk back out to the main living area and turned on the TV. Sam goes out with him, and they flick through the TV. Jack settles on some cartoon he's never seen before; Sam leans into him, snickering at the show.
Daniel knocks as if a police raid is coming through, and Jack swings the door open before Daniel gets his room key.
"Oh, hey!" Daniel claims semi-surprised the man in front of him is fully dressed and but then he sees the cartoons and decides this is just as normal as could be.
The group stays up for a short amount of time, talking about their next park destination EPCOT.
Jack turns to the bedroom first, followed by Daniel.
Teal'c lingers.
"Congratulations, Samantha, you and Colonel O'Neill will be the strongest relationship the galaxy has ever known," Teal'c claims.
"Thanks, T that means a lot. I really hope you're enjoying yourself." Sam claims.
"I am thank you for showing me what Earth has to offer, and we are lucky that for now, we are able to complete these adventures. We never know when a time will come where we are forced to be light years away defending everything Earth has to offer," Teal'c claims.
"I know, you're right; I'm sorry we haven't done this sooner," Sam claims.
"Do not be sorry, Samantha. This has been very revealing, and some of the best times I've had in my life," Teal'c explains.
Sam hugs her friend and tells him good night before going off to the bedroom.
Jack is sitting up reading something, and Sam smiles, looking at the time, deciding she shouldn't start anything and instead needed to go to bed.
"I have plenty of space, Sam." Jack offers.
Sam's hearts beat faster, and although she's been in this situation before, it feels just as exciting, and she gladly agrees, turning off the light near her bed, then going to his. Jack envelops Sam holding her close, and it's an odd feeling because it's exciting, but it makes her feel so safe.
"Night Jack." She mumbles before quickly falling asleep in his arms.