Chapter 17: The end of the weekend

Ronnie thanks Daniel for driving her as she exits the car and makes her way into Sam's house. She immediately goes to her suitcase and pulls out her phone charger and plugs the phone in. After waiting a couple minutes, she turns the phone on and her heart flutters as she's notified of a voicemail. She quickly listens, it's Mark, saying that he wants to talk.

She checks the time, she can't remember what time he said his new flight is leaving, but knows it's sometime in the morning. She calls him, it rings once, twice, three times and goes to voicemail. Maybe he changed his mind and doesn't really want to talk to her. She sits on the couch, not sure what to do with herself, Daniel said he'd be back by 11 to pick her up, so she has almost 4 hours to kill. She should call Tiffany and check on the kids, but figures it's too early, as California is an hour behind Colorado. She'll call Tiffany around 10, that would be 9 for her.

As she sits there, she starts thinking about everything that's happened, this whole mess that she caused. All the things that she said to Jack last night, she can't believe she did that. If he hadn't turned her down, things would be much different now, though a small part of her is disappointed that he said no. That makes her mad, there should be no part of her that is disappointed that another man turned down her advances. She loves her husband, and that's all there is to it.

She's startled out of her thoughts by her phone ringing, she looks at the caller ID and sees that it's Mark. She quickly picks it up and says, "Hello."

"Hi." Mark says in reply.

"I'm glad you called." She says, not really sure what else to say.

"I tried to call you last night." Mark states.

"I know, I got your message this morning. My phone had died." She explains.

"You didn't think to charge it?" Mark asks, sounding confused.

"I, uh." She starts, but doesn't know how to finish, how to explain why she couldn't charge her phone.

"I tried calling the house phone too, but got nothing but the answering machine." Mark says.

"Oh, uh," she stammers.

"Please don't tell me you were with him." Mark says, feeling angry. After everything that happened, surely she wouldn't go back to him.

"It's not what you think Mark." She tries to explain.

"It's not what I think? You were with him, how can you say it's not what I think?" Mark grinds out.

"I had left my purse at his house, my phone was in my purse. I went over to get it, that's all." She says, hoping that that sounds reasonable.

"Okay, so why didn't you charge your phone as soon as you got back then?" Mark questions.

She takes a deep breath and says quietly, "I, I had been drinking, and I wasn't thinking straight." Then more quickly she says, " I slept on the couch, and there was someone else there too."

"Sam was there?" Mark asks, shocked, he can't believe his sister would go back over there, especially after what went down.

"No, no, not Sam, another friend, Daniel Jackson." She clarifies.

After a moment of silence, Mark says, "I can't say that I like the fact that you spent the night at his house Onica."

"I know Mark, I'm sorry. I didn't intend to stay, honestly." Onica says in earnest.

"I guess we can add that to our list of things to talk about." Mark says after a moment, then adds softly, "I'm sorry for leaving."

Onica closes her eyes to try and hold back tears. She had been hoping to hear something like that but didn't think that she would. Maybe he has forgiven her, or maybe he's open to forgiving her. Either way, she is so happy that he's making an effort. Though she doesn't feel worthy, and she's sure that it will take time before things are back to normal for them, she's glad for this start.

"You had every right to leave Mark, this is all my fault." She tells him.

"Things got complicated that's for sure, but I shouldn't have left. Look, um, I'm standing in the middle of the airport and it's pretty loud, can we talk about all of this when we both get home?" Mark asks.

A huge smile crosses her face as she says, "Of course Mark, of course." Then after a moment, and feeling kind of brave, she adds, "I love you Mark."

"I love you too Onica." Mark says in reply.

After they hang up, Onica feels her smile fade. Has she just lied to Mark again? No, she's sure she loves him, and she does want to work things out. She also can't help but to think about Jack, she still feels something for him. Onica knows that a future with him is not even a possibility though, he's made that very clear. She has to stop this nonsense, Mark is her husband, they have two kids and a nice life. She chose Mark, and she doesn't regret that choice. Though, she only chose him because she had messed things up with Jack too badly to have a chance with him again. That, and Jack had already married someone else. She just can't help this feeling that she's settling, and that makes her feel even more guilty.

She didn't have these thoughts before Jack was in the picture again. Before then, she was happy. Ever since she heard Sam say his name a couple of years ago, she started remembering everything she had made herself forget. Now that she's seen him though, spent time with him, all she feels is conflict. This confusion is almost overwhelming.

"I am not in love with Jack O'Neill." She says out loud. Though she can't help but think that it sounded more like a question.

It doesn't matter, she reckons, she will be home soon and Mark wants to talk. That's what she'll focus on. Her kids deserve two parents that love each other, and that's what they'll get. Though a small part of her is envious of Sam, because she has Jack chasing after her. She remembers when Jack chased after her. No, she must stop this, she can't afford to think like this, it will only lead to further disaster.


It was good to hear her voice, Mark thinks to himself. He does miss her, and he meant what he said, he shouldn't have left. He wishes he could see her now, but he'll have to wait until she gets home. Her flight leaves shortly before 3pm so she should land around 5:30 or so. He's leaving their car at the airport for her, so she doesn't have to worry about taking a taxi, so she should get home around 7pm. He knows they have a lot to talk about and work out, and he's really hoping they can work it all out.

Though, she spent the night at his house. Under no circumstances was that alright. He understands that she left her purse at his house, and she did say that she had been drinking, but did she have to stay all night? That part doesn't make any sense. She could have gone back in a cab, after all that's how she had to have gotten to his house in the first place. At least Jack had the common sense to have someone else come over.

Mark stops himself, he's getting angry and blaming it on Jack. He had just been talking to Pete the night before and realized that this mess isn't Jack's fault. He's just been blaming him for so long that it comes naturally. Well, this situation might not be entirely his fault, but he's definitely part of it, and Mark doesn't have to be his best friend.

He hears the boarding call for his flight, so he gathers his suitcase and lines up. He's already called Tiffany, the babysitter, to let her know that he was coming early, though he didn't go into detail.

He'll be home in a couple hours, so he's got that long to figure out what to say to his kids as to why their mother isn't there. He really doesn't want his kids to know about what all happened here this weekend, they don't need the stress and worry. Mark sighs and boards the plane and finds his seat, stashes his carry on and buckles himself in. He can't wait to get home and start working on putting this weekend behind him.


After Daniel drops Ronnie, or Onica, he's really not sure which, off at Sam's house, he heads back over to Jack's. What a crazy situation, he still can't believe that Jack was engaged before he met Sara. And to Sam's sister-in-law no less. He shakes his head at the mayhem. He feels bad for his friends though, he knows how they feel about each other, and how long they've waited to be together.

Daniel pulls into the driveway and notices that Jack's truck is gone, the tow truck must have come, he reasons. He parks and heads for the door.

"Honey, I'm home." Daniel says as he enters the house without knocking. He proceeds into the living room where Jack is sitting on the couch, glaring at him.

"Very funny, smart alec." Jack says, rolling his eyes.

Daniel sits in the easy chair and asks, "So, what do you want to do for a couple hours?"

"Nothing Daniel, nothing." Jack replies, closing his eyes.

"How's your truck?" Daniel asks, changing the subject.

Jack peeks at him and says, "The tow truck driver thinks it's a lost cause, but I'll find out for sure after it's been assessed by the adjuster."

"What about your license?" Daniel asks.

"What about it, Daniel?" Jack asks, irritated.

"What are you going to do?" Daniel questions.

"I was going to ask you for a ride to work." Jack says, flatly.

"Have you talked to Sam?" Daniel asks, changing the subject again.

Jack just looks at Daniel, and that's all the answer he needs and says, "You should call her Jack."

"I told you, she'll call when she's ready to talk." Jack says, softly.

"Yeah, but you know Sam, sometimes she needs a little push." Daniel says by way of reply.

"I'm not pushing her Daniel, if I push then things could get worse." Jack answers him.

"Okay, I'm just trying to help." Daniel says, defensively.

They sit there in silence until it's time to head out again, Daniel only hopes that things work out for his friends.