They decided to go to Jack's cabin until they got the results back from Walter. They'd couriered the cigarette butts to him and he was taking them to a lab to get analyzed. He would then hack into the government's data base to try and match the finger prints. They were relying on Walter to keep things under the radar.
His team, other than Teal'c, had never been to the cabin and he hated the fact that it was under these circumstances that they were going for the first time. Still, it was great that they were willing to come with him. Sam had turned a bit pink when he'd suggested it, but other than that had readily agreed.
As they drove north along the Minnesota roads, he couldn't help but sigh. If only he could be bringing her here for personal reasons rather than in the quest to find his kidnappers. He wondered briefly about her relationship with Pete. He hadn't heard anymore about it but was curious. He also knew, however, that he really didn't want to even acknowledge that the other man still existed. Maybe he'd gotten killed in the line – no, stop that Jack. Don't even think something like that! He knew Pete was a good man – otherwise Sam wouldn't like him. He just wished Pete would – disappear. Hey, maybe if he called the Asgard they could – stop!
What the hell are you doing Jack, he asked himself? Stop torturing yourself and let her go. Let her be happy for God's sake. She's found someone – nice – just be glad for her.
"Are you okay Jack?" Daniel asked from the seat beside him.
"Huh? What?"
"I'm just wondering if you're okay. You look like you're going to break the steering wheel."
Jack glanced down and realized that Daniel was right. He was holding the damn thing so tightly his hands had gone white! He consciously relaxed and glanced at his friend. Teal'c and Sam were talking softly to each other in the back seat. "Sorry – just thinkin' about something."
"Samuels?"
"Who? Oh, yeah – I mean yeah."
Daniel looked skeptically at him. "What is it Jack? Are you sure you're okay? Maybe we shouldn't be doing this."
"What? Going to my cabin?"
"No, I mean looking to find Samuels. Maybe we should just leave it alone."
"Are you crazy Daniel? There's no way I'm going to let that bastard – those bastards – get away with this. Besides, they'll just keep coming after me and the next time I probably won't get away."
"What about asking Thor to help get rid of him?"
For a second there Jack wondered if Daniel was referring to his thoughts about getting rid of Pete but then realized they were still talking about Samuels."
"No – even though the man is an evil son of a – he deserves a fair trial – otherwise we're no better than some of the people we fight!"
"Okay – although personally, I wouldn't mind sending him on a one-way paid vacation to Netu!"
"Daniel! I'm surprised at you. You're the one that's supposed to be our conscience. What happened?"
"What happened is that the bastard went after my best friend and hurt him. Philosophically I agree that he deserves a fair trial. Emotionally – I would like to take a staff weapon and fry him until he was a pile of goo!"
Jack was touched – really touched – by Daniel's show of anger and support. He knew from his voice that his friend was serious. God Samuels – you really don't know what you're in for! Jack was pretty sure that Daniel Jackson, in this state, was every bit as dangerous as any of the rest of them – and Samuels would never expect it.
"Thanks Danny", he said softly, glancing sideways at his friend. Suddenly, his mood lightened considerably. To hell with Samuels – to hell with Pete – to hell with Goa'ulds and aliens and threats of world domination, he was going to his cabin with his best friends. And he planned to have some fun!
"Okay, let's sing everybody!" he cried. "Who knows a good road song?"
The silence in the car was so thick it would have been funny, except that Jack was in too good a mood to notice. "Come on guys!"
"Jack, are you sure you're okay?" Daniel asked.
"Of course Daniel", he grinned. "In fact, I'm great."
Suddenly, from the back seat, came the slightly off-key voice of Sam Carter. "Hit the road Jack, and don't ya come back no more, no more, no more, no more-"
With a laugh, Jack joined in and for the next hour they sang a variety of songs, eventually even getting Teal'c to join in, his deep base voice sounding rather funny as they sang some kids songs. However, the thing that tickled Jack, more than anything, was the fact that Sam couldn't really sing. He'd finally found something his 2IC wasn't good at – and he loved it!
"Enough Jack! My throat is getting sore." Daniel couldn't take another verse of Jack singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall – although he did have to admit that the Colonel had a great voice. He was actually quite surprised to know that Jack could sing.
"Oh – yeah okay. So, anyone for a game of Eye Spy?"
Daniel, Teal'c and Sam were never so happy to arrive somewhere as they were to turn into the road to Jack's cabin. There was nothing more exhausting than a bored Jack, except for a 'happy' Jack. They'd never seen him quite so 'up' before and Sam hoped it wasn't fake or the precursor to a major crash.
His good spirits seemed to last well into the evening. He'd clearly loved showing his friends around his cabin and even a bit of the outside, although it was getting too dark to see much. That he was proud of this place and that it was special to him, was obvious. Sam had gotten quite choked up when Jack had showed her to what must have been Charlie's room. It still had kids stuff around and looked like it hadn't been used in a long time, although it was clean.
"Sorry about all the stuff", he'd said quietly. He didn't seem sad, just lost in thought as he looked at the models and toys spread around the room. There were a number of children's books on the shelves and even some action figures sitting by the bed. Jack slowly walked forward and picked them up and placed them carefully on one of the shelves.
"Jack, I can sleep on the couch if you'd rather me not use this room", she offered.
He looked at her, startled. "What? No – no it's fine. You're welcome to use it. In fact there's nobody I'd rather -" his voice faded and he stared at her, as if realizing what he was going to say probably wasn't appropriate, or wise. "You're welcome to stay", he finally said. "I – it's been like this for too long. It needs to be aired out and – brought back to life."
She nodded, understanding that he was talking about more than just the room. "Thank you", she said softly, a gentle smile touching her face.
Later that evening Sam could tell that the Colonel was in a quieter mood, but he didn't seem depressed. He was calmer than she'd seen in a while, and certainly more mellow. Oh, he'd laughed a few times and had even teased Daniel, but he'd lost the hyper edge he'd had earlier.
Later that evening, as she was getting ready for bed, she happened to glance out the window and saw him standing on the deck, looking out towards his small lake. She wondered what he was thinking about – and whether she should go talk to him. For some reason, she felt like there was something simmering, just under the surface that needed to be brought out. She thought back to that brief time with him on the Nox world. Maybe now was the time to deal with that.
She had just gathered her courage enough to make her way out when she saw him turn and head back in. Another missed opportunity!
The next day Jack insisted that she try fishing. Teal'c absolutely refused and stated that he would 'stay inside away from your voracious flying creatures, O'Neill.' Sam was pretty sure that mosquitoes were, in Teal'c's eyes, every bit as bad as any system lord he'd encountered.
"Your loss buddy!" Jack had muttered.
"I believe it is, rather, the insects' loss!" Teal'c responded in a dignified voice.
"Scared of little bitty bugs Teal'c?"
"Indeed O'Neill."
Daniel tried fishing, for a short while, but couldn't get the hang of the rod and reel. When he'd eventually hooked the Colonel in the – buttock – Jack sent him back to the cabin.
"Go read a book or look for ruins or something Daniel", the Colonel said in disgust.
"Ruins? What kind of ruins are there in northern Minnesota?"
"I don't know – maybe some ancient Inca or something got lost and came up here."
"Inca?" Daniel looked at him, not quite sure if he was serious or not. "Uh, maybe I'll go join Teal'c."
"Yeah, you do that Daniel. And – STAY AWAY FROM MY FISHING HOOKS", the Colonel shouted, rubbing his posterior.
"You okay Sir", Sam bit her lip to keep from laughing. She was sure it had been painful. It was a good thing that Janet insisted they kept up on their tetanus shots, otherwise she would have had to drive him to the hospital. She could just imagine how well that would have gone over.
"Fine Carter. God, how did he not kill himself on all those digs?"
"You know he's an expert at archeology Sir. It's just – fishing – and camping, and hunting, and hiking and – driving and other things – that he has trouble with."
He looked at her in wonder. She was amazing! She was the only person he knew who had a sense of humor quite like his. Although he found her gorgeous and compassionate (he didn't even need to say brilliant) he admitted to himself that her ability to laugh – at his jokes, at herself and – yes, admit it – at him – was what had made him fall in love with her.
"Are you okay Sir?" she finally asked. "Is your – uh – backside sore?"
He suddenly burst out laughing. God, what a pair they were. They'd lived through more than probably any human beings in history, had all died and come back, had been infested by aliens, watched each other be tortured, etc, etc, etc, - and she was shy about referring to his butt! What the hell was wrong with them?
"Sir?" she asked.
"Carter, do you ever wonder about our lives – about how crazy they are?"
"Frequently Sir."
"Oh? And what is your conclusion?"
"That as crazy as my life is, I wouldn't change it – nor would I change who I spend it with."
"No, neither would I Carter." After a few seconds he turned to her and grinned. "So, do you think we should get Daniel to try the canoe?"
They spent the rest of the day fishing and, contrary to all the rumors, there were fish in Jack's pond. She wondered why he told people there weren't any.
"It's because I only want to bring people I like", he said. When she frowned in confusion he continued. "That's why I tell people there aren't any fish. If they knew how good it was I'd get people asking to use the cabin all the time. This way I get to choose who comes."
"Oh" she responded. How the hell did he know what she'd been thinking?
"Carter, we've worked together for 7 years. I can read you like an open book", he answered her silent question, although he wasn't even looking at her.
She kind of wondered how much he could really tell about her. Did he know how she felt about him? If he did, and didn't say anything that could either mean he didn't feel the same, or that he was too worried about the regs. If he didn't know – that begged the question of why not! Surely he must know.
"Stop it Sam" he said softly, as he cast another line.
"What?"
"Stop thinking so much and just enjoy the day. That's the whole point of fishing you know. You let all your worries go and just concentrate on the fish. You'll notice that fish swim happily along, not bothered by anything. They don't worry and they don't think!"
"No Sir – that's probably why they get caught on a hook and eaten for supper!"
"Touché Carter!"
Just then Daniel shouted that Walter was on the phone. "Sorry, I better go get this. It might be about the finger prints. Uh could you hold my rod – my fishing rod?" Crap, he could feel his face turn red. He was pretty sure he saw a tiny smirk on Carter's face.
"Sure Sir. I'll look after it very carefully."
"Okay – uh – good. I'll be right back. Just watch that hook – you don't want to snag anything."
He was pretty sure he heard her say 'yes I do'. What the hell did she mean by that? He had a hard time not putting his hands over his butt. Suddenly he smiled – getting caught by Samantha Carter would definitely be an experience not to be missed.
By the time he arrived at the cabin, he was whistling. Unfortunately, that didn't last long.
"Colonel O'Neill", he answered. He listened for a few minutes, his face growing more serious by the moment. "Thanks Walter – I owe you for this. Okay, bye for now." He slowly hung up the phone, a faraway look in his eye.
"Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"What did Walter have to say?"
"Uh, he found out who the print belonged to."
"Really? Was it Abel?"
"Maybe", he answered.
"Maybe? What do you mean by that?"
"The finger prints belong to a Captain Jason Bronsky. He's a retired Air Force officer – fought in the 1st Gulf War and was honorably discharged after being wounded. It could be that he simply took the name Abel or it might mean that there's someone else involved."
"What – an Air Force Officer – god, why would someone like that be involved? Did you see anyone else?"
"No, just the three of them – mostly Abel and the guy who's dead."
Daniel could tell that the news had disturbed Jack. It wasn't that he was so naïve as to believe everyone in the Air Force was good – he'd been around long enough to know better. Still, it felt somehow life family – and it also made them wonder who else could be involved.
"Did he say anything else? About Bronsky", Daniel added, when Jack looked at him in confusion.
"Uh – yeah. He said he was originally from Montana – just south of Great Falls - and that he'd been raised on a cattle ranch. His parents are dead but he has a sister in Spokane. She claims she hasn't seen him in years. That's all he could find."
"Well, we could try Montana, although if he's hiding from Samuels that'd be the last place he'd go."
"I know." There's something -" Jack was trying to remember back to something he'd heard – something that Abel had said to Gerry. He'd been strapped to the table and they had been taking a 'break'. Jack had been pretty much out of it – as usual – but he did remember the occasional conversation between the two men. It had seemed bizarre to him, even at the time, that they could torture a man one minute and the next be talking about the previous day's football scores.
"What the hell was it?" he asked.
"What was what Jack?"
"Something he said – I know it could be important but it just-" He suddenly looked up and snapped his fingers. "That's it! I think I know where we can find Abel – or Bronsky."
"So they are the same person."
"Oh yeah – they're the same person all right! One day when – well, one day he was talking to Gerry about his 'first love'. Told him that when he was younger he'd been in the rodeo. Yup – bragged about being one of the best bare-back riders around."
"So you think -?"
"I think we need to find out where there are some rodeos going on because that's where I think we'll find dear Abel!"
Just then Sam walked in the cabin, Jack's fishing rod still in her hand. "Is everything okay Sir?" she asked. She'd worried when he hadn't returned.
"Yup – everything's fine Major. We're going to a rodeo!"