"Ahh, takes me right back, waiting for a school bus. School days are supposed to be the happiest days of our lives, did you know that?"
Jack turned to the woman sitting beside him on the grass verge. Today was Cassie's school trip, and the bus was running around picking all the parents up to accompany them. Janet and Daniel had said they would go join Cassie on the trip, but Daniel had suddenly developed a very severe allergic attack, and Janet was taking care of him, so Jack and Sam had volunteered to go instead.
Sam seemed oddly tense, frowning as she looked down the road to see if the bus was coming. She was clenching her hands, and seemed very ill-at-ease.
"Major, are you okay?" Jack asked.
"Yes! Yes Sir, its just... well, school days weren't the happiest days of everyone's life Sir."
Jack looked at her. "You're kidding, right?" he said. "For a kid as smart as you, school must have been a breeze."
"Well, that was the problem you see. I was smarter than the teachers, so they didn't like me. And the kids weren't too keen on me either."
"Yes, but no offence Carter, but looking the way you do, I would have imagined a few boys were keen on you."
She shook her head sadly. "I didn't look like this at school. Basically, I was a geek."
"I can't believe that!" He couldn't. He couldn't believe that the intelligent, self-possessed, beautiful Samantha Carter had ever been one of those sad creatures who cowered in fear in the halls.
"Believe it."
Oh. That cleared a lot up, especially how nervous she felt about school buses. He remembered now. They had been riots on wheels. Loud, noisy, smelly, crowded, and if you were popular, as Jack had been, very fun. But he also remembered how it had been for the less popular kids. In the bus, where no teachers watched, the other kids were free to torment them, hurt them, make their lives a living hell. Jack had never done it, in fact he'd pulled more than a few kids out from under his friends fists, but he'd never gone out of his way to make friends with the geeks either. No, that wasn't completely true. One of them, a very pretty girl who was a genius at math agreed to go on a date with him. It was hell. She'd spent the whole evening showing him how clever she was, and how dumb he was. Adding up the dinner bill in her head, that sort of thing. He'd hated scientists ever since. And that had continued till he met Daniel and Sam. No-one could hate Daniel (it'd be like hating a puppy) and Sam, despite being smarter than most of the human race, was basically a good friend and a nice person. And right now, she was a very worried person reliving some hellish school days.
"Sam." he said to her. "Don't forget, this time, WE'RE the grown-ups."
She smiled as the bus came round the corner.
The woman who opened the door of the bus, and introduced herself as Miss Hoffmeyer, the school principal, didn't look like any school principal Sam had ever known. Most of hers looked like aliens from Star Trek. Miss Hoffmeyer was in her early fifties, with softly waving red hair and the most welcoming smile Sam had ever seen.
"Are you Cassie's parents?"
"No!" said Sam. "Janet couldn't come today, so we offered to come instead. Is that alright?"
Inside she could hear Cassie shouting, "Jack, Sam! Brilliant!"
"Well Cassie seems to think so. Come in, Miss?"
"Carter. But please call me Sam. And this is..."
"Jack. Just Jack." he said gruffly.
Sam looked round in surprise. Now Jack seemed to be the one who was tense and tightly wound.
They made their way to the back of the bus where Cassie was sitting.
"Janet couldn't come." Sam explained. "She's dealing with Daniel."
"Allergies!" Jack and Cassie send in unison, and laughed.
"Actually, I poisoned him." Jack said, as Cassie giggled. "I wanted him and Janet out the way so I could spend the day with the most beautiful woman I know."
Cassie giggled some more, as Jack suddenly looked up and met Sam's amused eyes.
"I meant Cassie." he stammered. "Not that you're not... I mean..." He trailed off as Sam and Cassie exchanged glances and burst into laughter. Jack kept quiet. He knew when he was beaten. At least Sam seemed to be more relaxed now. As long as Miss Hoffmeyer didn't recognise him, he'd be fine.
"Cassie! Come lookit!" someone yelled from the front of the bus, and Cassie went charging down the aisle, passing Miss Hoffmeyer on her way to the back. Jack cringed, and slipped down into his seat.
"Jack?" she said. "Jack O'Neill, did you really think I wouldn't recognise you?"
Jack said nothing.
"You two know each other?" Sam asked.
"Oh yes." Miss Hoffmeyer replied, smiling gently. "Jack was in the first class I ever taught. I must say, I taught your boyfriend quite a lot."
"Oh, he's not..."
"Told her!" said Jack suddenly, grabbing Sam's hand. "I haven't told her about you."
Sam looked at him like he was crazy, but didn't pull her hand away.
"I understand." Miss Hoffmeyer said. "It's been nice seeing you again Jack." and she bent forward and kissed his cheek, lightly, but in a distinctly unteacherish kind of way, and walked off.
Jack turned to Sam. She was staring so hard, he thought her eyes would pop out. "She taught me math." he said.
Sam nearly said 'looks like she taught you a whole lot more' but kept her mouth shut. He was her commanding officer, after all. Still, she couldn't help the incredulous expression on her face.
"Okay, so she didn't JUST teach me math." he said. "She was sort of... well... my first."
"You had an affair with your teacher!" Sam couldn't believe it. She'd always known Jack had been wild when he was young, but that was unbelievable.
"It was her first job!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down. "She was very young, and I was 18..." His voice trailed off as he realised Sam was trying very hard not to laugh. She wasn't succeeding. "What's so funny?"
"It's just so typically you!" she said between waves of laughter, tears running down her cheeks. "You sleep with your teacher, in school, in Chicago and years later you discover she's the principal of the school to which the only child you know goes to, miles away from Chicago! And you're still embarrassed!"
"That's typically me?" he said, confused. "Anyway, thanks for not telling her I'm not with you." he continued.
"Why?" she asked, calming down a little as she realised Cassie was coming back up.
"Well, I didn't want her to think I'd got to... my age... and was still single."
"But you are still single."
"Yes, but I didn't want her to know that. Thank you Major."
"No Major's." Cassie stated as she joined them. "We're not on the base. You have to call each other Jack and Sam."
Jack looked down. He was still holding Sam's hand. He raised it to his lips, and said softly, "Thank you Sam."
She looked deep into his eyes, feeling the little shivers that went around her when he kissed her. "You're welcome Jack."
*****
That school trip was a success. Cassie was happy. Sam finally begun to relax at the sight of a school bus. Jack avoided Cassie's principal, until he realised that she had sat herself down next to Sam, and the two of them were talking intensely, and laughing a lot.
On the school bus, on the way back home, Jack glanced over at Sam, holding a sleeping Cassie in her arms.
"Sam." he said softly, trying not to wake Cassie.
"Yes?"
"Do you remember what I said, about school days being the best days of your life?"
"Yes."
He looked at her, smiling gently in the red light from the setting sun, and at the child in her arms, that they'd rescued from death. "I was wrong. The best days of my life have been the ones I've spent with SG1."
She smiled gently, knowingly. "Me too."
The End.
Story Notes: EMAIL; MBIRKY@HOTMAIL.COM
RATING; PG
DISCLAIMER; THE USUAL
AUTHOR'S NOTES; THIS IN RESPONSE TO ELLSIE'S CHALLENGE TO WRITE SOMETHING INVOLVING SAM, JACK, A SCHOOL BUS AND A SCHOOL PRINCIPAL.
RATING; PG
DISCLAIMER; THE USUAL
AUTHOR'S NOTES; THIS IN RESPONSE TO ELLSIE'S CHALLENGE TO WRITE SOMETHING INVOLVING SAM, JACK, A SCHOOL BUS AND A SCHOOL PRINCIPAL.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]