Thanks for the reviews guy they are really appreciated. Sorry the updates are slow. I can post more parts but they will be smaller.
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Saturday night soon came around, and Jack was nervous. He was never nervous. This is the same man who has lead teams out into battle to fight thousands of enemy fighters. His stomach never did the things it was doing now, then. Strolling through the house he was congratulated by each individual who he passed. Each sending their well wishes. He took a mental note of the face; he'd never met them before. Sara's friends obviously. Looking round the room he noticed the small gathering of SGC personal that he had invited. Well small compared to Sara's invited guests. Creating a pathway through the carpet of people he finally made it, safe at last. The past 30 minutes Jack had strategically avoiding relatives. He'd rather sit through a Carter or Daniel lecture than listen to them. He smiled at the small group that had formed, his family. As Jack's eyes darted from one person to the next, his eyes expressing his appreciation of them attending, he frowned.
"Where's Carter?" he spoke as he fully reached the group and settled into the warmth that radiated from them. Everyone shrugged, apart from Daniel and Janet who seemed to glare at one another. "Doc? Daniel?" he asked after noticing the glare.
"Late" Daniel replied. Jack gave him one of those looks, the 'I've not time for this' look. "Josh's probably running late at work or something". Janet turned her eyes towards the crowd at the other side of the room that was in hysterics about something.
"Yeah, of course he is" she mumbled as frustration set in.
"Huh?" Jack asked looking directly at Janet.
"Yeah, she rang me"
"And...." he impatiently said.
"She said she would be late".
"Nice of her to let me know"
"Jack!" Daniel cried. "She probably thought you'd be too busy to take on call on how she's going to be a few minutes late!" Satisfied with the answer and quite frankly sick of a certain persons name mentioned he changed the subject.
"You guys need anything?" Everyone shook their head.
"T?"
"I am fine O'Neill".
"Great" he said sarcastically. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a hand that rested on his shoulder. He turned round to see the smiling and slightly flustered face of his soon to be wife.
"Jack honey" he cringed at that word. "Were running low on beer". Smiling he turned round to face his friends.
"Be back in a bit guys"
"Do you require assistance O'Neill?"
"Sure T"
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Glancing down at her watch she noticed that 10 minutes had passed since she had got out of her car. For 10 minutes she had been standing on the pavement just outside his house observing. She watched people come and go, not noticing the woman who stood at the side. She watched people smile at one another. She watched lovers gently kiss each other on the lips. She watched friends greet each other with hugs and the males slap each other on the back. She had been sat in the car when some of the SGC guests showed up. They never noticed her. She watched as 2 men came out of the house, obviously in deep discussion about something. Smiling as the more bulky one of the men failed to understand something the other had said and was met with a cry of 'Oh for crying out loud, never mind'. She watched as his eyes settled on her, taking in her appearance. She smiled at the smile that graced his face. Throwing the keys to Teal'c she watched him make his way to her.
"You know its warmer inside"
"I just got here" she lied. He stopped in front of her and nodded his head. "Good party?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"Oh you know...."
"Avoiding the relatives, Sir?"
"You betcha" she laughed. She knew him too well. She noticed his gaze fall from her and dart around her as if looking for something or someone. "Josh not with you?" he asked softly.
"Erm no, he had to work. He sent his apology's". Not once Sam hadn't made eye contact with Jack since he'd asked where he was, causing Jack to be sceptical of the words coming from her mouth.
"No worries" he assured her. She could feel his gaze on her, making her feel uncomfortable. She couldn't help but feel paranoid. She hugged herself tightly to conceal the bruises from his piercing eyes, even though the clothes did that job she felt as though he could see right through them, right through the wall of lies she was hiding behind. "fancy giving an old man a hand" he asked relieving the tension, which had built around them.
"Sure" she smiled and went to move past him. But noticed the look on his face. "What?" she asked
"Well I was hoping for you to disagree with me on the old man statement".
"Wouldn't that be insubordination, Sir? Me arguing with a superior" Leaving a stunned Jack behind she made her way to the SUV. Teal'c she noted had left the keys in the door and left the door wide open, much to Jacks annoyance. She smiled as he mumbled something incoherently. Leaning into the back he pulled a crate of beer out and handed it to Carter. Smirking as he did.
"Too heavy for you Carter?" nodding her head down to the crate now in her hands, she indicated to him to throw another one on top. So he did.
"Never underestimate me Sir" she walked off with both crates in her hands. For a couple of seconds Jack just watched her.
"I never do, Sam," he said to the still air.
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"Didn't think you were going to make it back there" Jack asked Sam as he finally rejoined the group after a near fatal incident with a relative.
"I'm a big strong girl you know Colonel" Both officers smiled at each other, enjoying the banter and the light flirting. It was the something that had been missing from the team for a while now. Jack would make his orders Sam would follow them. No 'How are you doings?". No "Are you alright?". Nothing. Just two air forces officers who seemed to be in constant military mode. But tonight things were strangely different the rest of the group noted, tonight they were more at ease with each other than they had ever been. Their gazes occupied one another's face a bit longer than normal, when they both realised this they tore their eyes away and focused on something else.
"Drink?" Janet asked the crowd, but it was aimed more towards Sam. A chorus of 'Yes's" came. "Sam, mind giving me a hand?" she asked aware of the questioning looks coming from the Colonel and Daniel.
"Sure" she replied ignoring the quizzical looks towards her from her companions. Following Janet towards the kitchen she could feel one set of eyes piercing her back, his eyes.
"You know where the Colonel keeps the strong stuff?" Sam asked while shifting through the bottles placed on the kitchen table.
"No. Sam?"
"Ha" she exclaimed, "Just what the doctor ordered?" she said while waving a bottle of scotch in front of Janet.
"You don't like scotch" she didn't reply just started pouring a rather large quantity in the glass. "Sam? Sam? Are you okay?"
"Of course I am? I always am aren't I?" she picked up the glass and wasted no time in knocking the brown liquid down her throat.
"Talk to me, Sam"
"Isn't that what I'm doing?". As she poured herself another drink she heard a chorus of laughter coming from the main room, she shuddered. Again she helped herself to yet another generous helping of the bitter sweet drink, hoping it would help quell the emotions she felt building inside her, Janet looked on in concern and was about to take the glass from her hand. That was until someone walked on and interrupted the scene. Grabbing Sam's arm she hoisted them both outside onto the deck. The deck that Jack had spent days building, and days moaning about. Sam's mind was becoming clouded. The drink was rapidly being absorbed into her blood. The fact that she had consumed very little food in days was not helping. Looking at the drink, she considered putting it down, but looking at the sympathetic face of Janet made her think otherwise. She gasped out loud as the full force of the drink hit her. She felt it burn down her throat. They say alcohol kills brain cells; she just hoped it was the ones responsible for memo
ry. Her gaze fell upon Janet again. She turned away, unable to bear the look. As her mind became unable to control itself, emotions boiled to the surface. Hunched over the decking railing she felt her body tremble, then felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning round she felt herself being encased in a pair of strong arms, burying her head in the chest of the consoler. A pair of arms that definitely didn't belong to the CMO of Cheyenne Mountain. Drawing in a deep breath, she smelt him. Smelt the cologne he always wore to team outings, smelt the cologne he was wearing tonight. She started to struggle but felt his arms tighten round her.
"Shhhh its okay" he whispered into her hair. After a few moments the tears began to dissipate, and she fell into military mode. She pulled herself away from him.
"Sorry, Sir" she apologised.
"What for?"
"For this" she gestured widely with her hands.
"You wanna tell me what's wrong?" as she went to open her mouth to reply he cut her off. "The truth" he stated.
"Nothing" she turned away, heading towards the doors.
"Sam.." that caught her off guard. Stopping a few yards from the entrance she turned back around to face him, tears stung her eyes." Josh?" he asked.
"Just a disagreement" she lied. He eyed her suspiciously.
"Just?"
"Yeah, hence him not being here".
"So the whole work thing?"
"A white lie" she stated while shrugging. Jack started fiddling with the glass in his hand. He would place it down on the railing then pick it up. He was thinking about whether to say what he was thinking or lock it up in the box he called his heart.
"He's not good enough for you" he heard his mouth say. He noticed her face harden.
"Sorry?"
"Josh" he confidence rose. "You can do better"
"I thought so too. But that guy's gone, moved onto something better. I just don't wanna be alone anymore". He took a hesitant step towards her.
"You'll never be alone. You have us guys". She looked towards the party; through the small window she could see the back of woman who held Jack's heart.
"Not anymore" she whispered.
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She had seen Sam come back into the house, followed by a rather sober looking Jack a couple of minutes afterwards. Since then she had seen Jack a couple of times, he had suddenly found an interest in the relatives he had skillfully avoided earlier on. As for Sam, she hadn't seen her since.
"My father once told me a thinking woman is a dangerous one".
"Your father was a wise one Doctor Jackson".
"Ouch! Must be serious if your calling me doctor. What's up?"
"Nothing"
"Nothing?? Doesn't look like it" she looked at him questioningly. This encouraged him to explain. "Jack may be easily fooled but me and Teal'c aren't. Sam's hurting, I know it, Teal'c knows and you know it. We just want to know why".
"Daniel
"And don't give me the whole 'Jack getting married' speech. There's something else going on". Silence. "Is it Josh" Janet's flinch gave him the answer he needed to continue. But the emotions her body language showed gave Daniel the bigger picture." What's he done to her?" No lie could be told.
"Do you need to ask?"
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"Having fun?"
"Yasureyabetcha"
"I know this isn't your idea of fun" Jack went to interrupt. "I guess I kinda got carried away".
"It's fun really. I never knew how much uncle eddy could drink before he actually passed out, so it's been informative" he glanced over towards his unconscious uncle and smirked.
"Well he sure did provide the entertainment".
"He's an O'Neill what did you expect" she laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled his head down towards hers, there lips met for a short but sweet kiss.
"What was that for?"
"For you being you"
"Well that's a first?"
"What?"
"Me being complimented for being a pain in the ass sarcastic Colonel in the USAF!" she laughed. She glanced around the room.
"I don't see your team anywhere? They haven't gone home have they? I was hoping to meet them".
"You've met them before".
"I know. But then I was just the girlfriend but now I'm the fiancé!"
He chose to ignore that comment. "I'll round them up in a minute".
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Loneliness was said by some to be disease; others say it is a path we all live. In Samantha Carters opinion it was a curse. Nothing more, nothing less. Unfortunately she doubted this curse could be lifted by the kiss of a handsome prince, if it was the handsome prince she had in mind would be unavailable and undoubtabally unwilling to do the deed. No. Sam Carter was cursed for life. Her life as a daughter of a USAF officer at first was lonely. Moving from each base to another made it difficult to establish close friends and impossible to establish a relationship. The death of her mother was a hard blow. Sam not only lost her mother but her best friend. She spent nights confiding to her mother about the problems every teenage girl has, then on one cold Saturday afternoon it was ripped from her. Her Dad tried, as did her brother. She thought nothing could fill the emptiness her mother left that was until she met them. Her team members meant more to her than some of her family members. Her surrogate family as she liked to call them, made her life seem that little bit fuller. They meant more to her any million dollars, more than any life changing scientific discovery. Each one was unique; each held a special place in her heart, some more than others.
"Sam!" she heard her name being called. Her game of hide and seek had been ended prematurely. The seekers had found her.
"Daniel" she stated, smiling as the thoughts of him filled her mind. Daniel the comforter, the older brother, the listener. She noticed him being tailed by one unhappy looking Janet Fraiser."Janet?" she asked more than stated
"I'm sorry". She closed her eyes. She was apologising for breaking the promise of secrecy.
"It's okay" and it was. Her shoulders that were holding the burden of this secret felt lighter. She saw the look of relief etched in Janet's face. She wasn't sure if it was for the forgiveness or for the lightened burden.
"Sam?" he asked as he knelt down beside her. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why do you think Daniel?"
"So we wouldn't go round there and kick his scrawny ass?" she smiled at his machoness. He'd been hanging out with the Colonel too much.
"Yes" she said in all seriousness.
"Tell me" Janet, she had noticed had taken guarding her other side.
"I couldn't face losing you all because one man couldn't take no for an answer".
"You wouldn't have lost us"
"I would. Your trained members of the USAF whether it be civilian or in the force. You'd be trialed and jailed fasted than they can say astrophysics!"
"But what Josh did...."
"What Josh did to me couldn't be proven" Daniel was silent in thought.
"You should have told us"
"I couldn't" she started to shake, her eyes stung where the tears started to form. "I was scared Daniel. I lost who I was that night. He took my dignity, my pride and my courage. I will not let him take away my family, my friends". She could stand it no longer, her body trembled with tears. She heard Daniel move next to her, she didn't know where too. That was until she felt two arms gather her up. She didn't resist the comfort he offered unlike her encounter with the Colonel. Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes seemed like hours. Slowly she pulled herself together. Pulling herself away from Daniel she rubbed at her eyes like a small child would do. Her eyes felt puffy they always did, rubbing at them she tried to rid them of some of the swelling and redness. A vision of surrender was waved in front of her. She refocused and smiled at the gesture of Daniel offering her a tissue; she nodded her thanks and took it. Her smile grew as both Janet and Daniel took one of her hands in each of there's, squeezing it slightly. The support shown would have bought tears to her eyes. Would have if the door to leading onto the garden hadn't opened above them and the whole gathering emptied onto the decking. Unfortunately the decking wouldn't conceal her existence from that many prying eyes. Reluctantly she stood, dropping both hands.
"We're missing the party"
"I'll tell Jack your not feeling too good" Daniel stood and began to walk away. She stopped him by placing a firm hand on his arm.
"No. It's okay".
"Sam...." Janet started to intervene
"It's the Colonels night tonight. His and Sara's" with that she walked off and joined the party forming on the decking, ignorant of all the looks she was getting from Daniel and Janet.