A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to get to the next chapter. If you are a regular reader then you know I've been busy. And I really appreciate you sticking with me.

Sandy

The Friendship Files

Chapter 8

The Man in Black

Sam Carter watched the video with a silly grin silently glad she was alone in her office. John will love it! She started a new email, typed a short note, attached the video and hit send. It would go out in the next databurst. With a click and drag she moved the video to a file she kept just so she wouldn't accidentally delete things she wanted to keep and went back to work.

* * * * *

John Sheppard entered his quarters, tossed his sidearm on the desk then kicked off his boots with a groan. He propped a pillow at the head, grabbed his laptop then kicked back on the bed to slog wearily through the large number of emails and alerts he'd received from Earth. Many were delegated to a follow-up file and others actually had current information that was pertinent to Atlantis and its military personnel.

Business taken care of, he went on to the more personal emails from friends and… He was surprised to see one from his brother. They'd hardly spoken since his father's funeral though they had managed to clear the air on some points of contention. It would take some time but he was certain they'd get to a point where they could speak to each other without arguing or coming to blows.

In short, the email said that their family-owned company, Sheppard Industries, had bid on and won a contract with the US government to build components for a top-secret project. John knew the "project" was the new F-304's being developed at Area 51 but hadn't known SI was involved in the bidding process.

Knowing that his brother was involved in all sorts of top secret dealings David's concern was what would happen next. John quickly typed a reply and sent it off though it probably wasn't necessary. By the time his brother received it he would already know about the confidentiality agreement and other legal gobblety-gook that went along with such a project. The difference was that now he, John, would be able to tell his brother what he'd been doing for the past decade or so with the Stargate program. David would now be privy to the fact that his no-longer-estranged brother had been living and working in another galaxy. He could tell him about the Wraith, the human form Replicators, Goa'uld, Ori and a host of other bad guys, and good guys, that David probably never even suspected existed. He just hoped his little brother was up for it.

The sender's name on the last unread email was Carter, S. Sam? Wonder what she wants? He clicked on it and was surprised by the contents. Very pleasantly so.

John,

Happy Birthday! Here's a little something to commemorate the day.

Your friend,

Sam

There was a video attachment. He hesitated a fraction of a second before opening it even though he was certain she'd never send him anything…embarrassing. Moments later he was grinning like a fool as he watched a YouTube video of a 5-year old boy playing guitar and singing Folsom Prison Blues, one of his favorite songs by Johnny Cash. The boy ended the song with a small flourish then John hit replay and watched it again before sending a response.

Sam,

Thanks for my birthday gift. It was perfect! Well, it woulda been if I'd had a beer to go with it! Haha!

Ditto,

John

He hit the replay once more, grabbed his guitar and played along. As the video ended he realized once again just how lucky he was to have friends.

End

A/N 2: http(colon)//www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=oDbAxhV2ofM