Chapter 5
After getting Lizzy to school Jack drove back to Daniel's
"Hey Jack" he said opening the door, "You're just in time for coffee" he said, going to the kitchen
"Daniel with you its always time for coffee" Jack said truthfully but with a joking slant, Daniel looked at him
"So did you want some?" he asked raising an eyebrow,
"Well yeh" Jack replied knowing Daniel had won. Daniel smirked as he handed over the coffee. Janet walked in with Cassie who was holding Sha're.
"Ok mum" Cassie said patiently
"And she has a nap at 2pm just in case I'm not back" Janet said still panicking
"Mum I know, and if I get stuck you'll have your phone on" Cassie reminded her. Janet nodded turning to the 2 men,
"Are you coming then?" Janet asked them. They both nodded, Janet climbed into her car ordering the others to follow. They both looked like they were going to protest but she glared at them shutting them up. As Jack meekly climbed into the cab of his car Janet pulled out driving to Jake's mum's house. Jack and Daniel pulled up on the road outside as Janet pulled into the drive the gates open.
Only one car was evident in the drive a jeep 4x4 in red. Janet walked to the door marvelling at the exterior of the house. It was made from grey stone and huge. Somehow in the dull grey of winter it looked ominous and threatening. She knocked on the huge wooden door with brass knocker making an echoing sound. From behind the door Janet heard a
"Hang on" then several locks being undone. Then the door swung open revealing the last person Janet expected to see.
"Sam?" She said, Sam looked surprised like a deer caught in the headlights. She had known it was a risk coming back to Colorado Springs, she knew she might bump into one of her friends but hadn't expected them to knock on her door. She decided to just get this over with.
"Janet did you want something?" Sam asked, Janet nodded getting over her shock.
"Yeh can I come in?" Janet asked recovering more, Sam nodded. Janet followed after a moment; this had got a lot harder. She had so many questions she didn't know where to start.
"Coffee?" she asked quietly, Janet nodded. Sam lead the way through the house to the massive kitchen as she watched Sam made the coffee Janet wondered how to start this conversation.
"So your Jacobs mum?" She asked, Sam nodded taking a breath.
"I had him 8 months after leaving the SGC" she told Janet waiting for the realisation.
"Is he why you left?" Janet asked, she had always wanted to know. Sam's head bowed down.
"I knew I couldn't keep my career and family I watched dad fail for years and the SGC it draws you in. I knew I couldn't do both and Pete got a transfer to San Diego near Mark so we went and got married, then I had Jake." Sam explained. Only the slight shake of her hands revealed how nervous she was.
"So what are you doing here?" Janet asked still getting Sam to relax; this was not the time for anger at the way she had left.
"Pete got promoted to Captain as this was where he was stationed before and he knew the area." Janet nodded deciding to come out with the real reason she was there.
"How often does he hit you?" Janet asked harshly. Sam's mouth dropped open in shock and self consciously she tugged down on the sleeves of her jumper.
"I don't know what you mean, Pete would never hit me" Sam told her firmly
"Sam, Lizzy saw him hit you" Janet told her. Sam looked shocked
"Jake's friend from school, how do you know? Wait Lizzy?" She asked, Janet nodded
"She is Jack's adopted daughter, she told us she saw him beat you" Janet informed her not allowing Sam to change the subject. Sam was good but Janet had more practice, experience and stubbornness.
"But they were upstairs" she muttered to herself but Janet heard seeing it as an opening.
"Sam you may think you are hiding this from Jake but he knows, Lizzy tells me that he even hit Jake once" Janet said aware she was giving Sam hard truths.
"I didn't know" was the response from Sam who sat there looking shocked. She had failed, both her son and her marriage, all the time she had told herself by doing this she protected Jake, to find out she wasn't was a big surprise.
"When it began did he say he was sorry that it was just the once that it would never happen again, well it did Sam and now he has started on Jake. When will it stop?" Janet asked Sam just sat there knowing she had a huge decision to make.
"I can't leave" she whispered the fear coming through in her voice at the thought of leaving Pete and how angry he would be but then if it was for Jake and his sake then could she?
"Yes you can, and we will help" Janet promised. Sam sat silently
"He is getting help. He can't cope without me he would die; he is seeing a shrink to help him he will change. I promised him for better or worst I won't break that" Sam vowed explaining more about why she had stuck with him, Sam hated to fail and her perfect life was a big failure. She always saw the best in people and believed they could change and tried to fix them.
"Sam he hit Jake" Janet reminded her, "If he is getting help it isn't working it hasn't for 7 years" She warned, Sam sat thinking about it.
"What happened Sam, why did you leave without saying goodbye, you made it sound like weeks, you promised to tell them?" Janet said wanting to know sensing if she found out more about the past it would explain what was happening now.
"I got pregnant. I don't know how, we were using protection. I was ready to leave him before but being pregnant. I didn't know I could get pregnant after Jolinar. Pete reminded me of the danger of the SGC, I couldn't leave Jake alone. I wanted to be a good mum and I couldn't do both initially I just couldn't say goodbye there I wanted to do it at home. But Pete got a job near Mark who promised to help me with Jake. I couldn't say goodbye not properly it was to final like an end, then Pete said you wouldn't let me leave and that it was better to cut all ties," Sam explained for the first time realising how Pete had manipulated her.
"And when did he start hitting you?" Janet asked bluntly, Sam sat there quietly seeing her relationship in a whole new light.
"After we moved to San Diego, Pete's job was stressful he had a bad day, it was a misunderstanding" Sam explained still defending him.
"And how did his bad day compare to some of the ones we had, the fate of earth and the universe in jeopardy" Janet asked knowing that was no excuse. Sam sat silently it sounded so plausible when he said it but with Janet it sounded like a pathetic excuse.
"At first it was the once, then it happened again, I wanted to leave but couldn't I was 9 months along and had no one to go to." Sam admitted. Janet shook her head adamantly.
"Sam you could have come to us" She said surprised Sam hadn't known that. Sam shook her head,
"I knew you hated me for leaving" Sam told her looking down ashamed. Janet shook her head she knew Sam hated to fail in anything. This to her was a failure, she had always succeeded professionally and any failure personally had been balanced by that success, this time she had had no professional life and had given her personal life everything which had failed.
"We would have understood" Janet told her. Sam shook her head,
"No, you hated me" Sam told her, Janet looked at her shocked this was news to her
"I sent you wedding invitations with a note about why I left and apologising and you all returned them opened and resealed, I thought you'd read them and didn't care" She explained, Janet shook her head
"We didn't receive anything," Janet confessed
"But I sent it Pete put it in the post box on the way to work…" Sam trailed off guessing what had happened. Janet sat there quietly knowing Sam needed time to process this. As with most domestic violence cases Pete had isolated her socially and financially then manipulated her emotionally. Janet knew that although Sam was tough and didn't professionally take any stick off anyone personally it was a different matter. Her first fiancé Jonas Hanson had hit her repeatedly until one day Sam had broken it off, this time the pressure of being pregnant had meant Pete had an advantage.
"I still can't leave him" Sam said stubbornly,
"Why?" Janet asked shocked
"I can't leave Jake" Sam told her
"Why would you have to leave him bring him with you" Janet asked surprised
"Because Pete would get custody of Jake instantly, being a high level Cop and he is getting help he will change" Sam insisted, this is what Pete had mentioned causally with work colleagues getting custody being reliable trusted members of the community. "I don't want to lose my son" Sam told her fearfully.
"Sam he hit Jake" Janet reminded her echoing the words from earlier if there was one reason why Sam would leave Pete it was for Jake.
"But what if I don't get custody of him then I would leave him alone with Pete" Sam told her and that was the real problem not that she was afraid to leave Pete she was but that was a mute point, if she lost she would break the golden rule never leave anyone behind and if she left Jake alone with Pete she could and would never forgive herself. Janet's phone rang she answered it knowing it would be Daniel checking up on her.
"Hello…hey Daniel…..everything is fine…no don't worry….sure see you at home…love you too Daniel" Janet said putting down the phone to see Sam raising an eyebrow
"Love you too Daniel" she questioned
"Daniel and I kinda got married we have a child Sha're, she is 1 year old and is beautiful, you should come and see her" Janet said enthusiastically, Sam shook her head.
"Pete won't like that, I'm not meant to leave the house unless it's to pick up Jake or do chores," Sam admitted now realising how controlled she was how he had slowly taken over her life with his quiet persuasion putting her down and beating her when she was wrong and praising her when he believed she was doing something right.
"Sam you can't let this continue" Janet said passionately, she reached into her bag pulling out a digital camera that she had bought as she had known that it was domestic violence they needed to catalogue Sam's injuries.
"I have a way to get you out of this, we need to document everything then we can take it to a judge and we will have enough evidence to get him charged." Janet planned. Sam nodded automatically having learnt a long time ago not to disagree with Janet when she was in this mood.
"Do you think I will get Jake?" she asked, Janet nodded confidently.
"No judge would send him to someone like Pete, and if there is any problems then the president owes us a favour or 2" Janet promised, Sam nodded standing up.
"We should go upstairs" Sam decided leading the way into one of the huge bedrooms shutting the curtains. She slipped off the large jumper revealed bruises up both arms Janet didn't say anything but noticed they were in varying stages of healing. She wordlessly snapped the pictures of each bruise with a tape measure showing how big each one was,
"Have you got any more" Janet asked, Sam nodded slipping off her t-shirt leaving only her bra on. Her stomach and back were covered in more bruising some was purple others areas was yellow and there were blue places as well. Barely any of her skin was its normal colour. Janet documented that as well sensing it was best to remain silent, Sam wordlessly waited until she was finished putting on her t-shirt and slipping off her jeans. There were more bruises again Janet took pictures not letting her mind think how Sam got them. As Sam got changed again Janet spoke.
"Have you ever had x-rays or broken bones, any hospital treatment" She asked, Sam nodded
"I used an alias paid in cash, the name was Jackie Carter" Sam admitted not making eye contact, "You'll find records at USCD, Sharp Memorial, Kaiser and Alvarado Hospital, I swapped around a lot so they wouldn't get suspicious" Sam told her sadly listing most of the hospitals in San Diego. Janet nodded writing the hospitals down.
"I'll get those sent down" Janet promised, Sam nodded her eye catching the time on the clock.
"I better go I need to get some shopping and pick up Jake" She said standing up
"Sam here is my number if you need anything, and I mean anything phone me, you know my number on base, this is my home and my mobile" Janet said handing them over, Sam nodded ushering her out of the door. Climbing in her car she stepped on it aware she wouldn't be busted for speeding not while Pete was in charge. Finishing shopping she drove to the school where Jake was waiting. He jumped into the truck and they drove home. While Jake did his homework Sam alternated between cooking, cleaning and helping Jake, she was behind on her chores after Janet's visit. She heard Pete come in and went to greet him in the hall, he was in a bad mood she could tell by the way he slammed the door. Reaching Jake she gave him a can of coke and a bag of crisps telling him to run to his bedroom via the back stairs. He did fear in his eyes. Sam then went to greet him.