samandjack.net

Story Notes: Email: acheek@home.com

Archive: SJA, Heliopolis

Season/Sequel info: Fifth season

Spoilers: Ascension, tiny spoilers for Urgo and Shades of Grey

Content warnings: a few swear words

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Author's Notes: Huge thanks go to Valerie for the beta, while on vacation no less. ;) This story is a first for me, in that it's an SG-1 fic without the slightest *hint* of shippiness. I'm still wondering exactly how that happened! Dedicated to J, because she's cooler than any other big sister I know. Feedback feeds my muse, so please send your honest opinions. Copyright July 2001, A. Cheek.


Juggling his breakfast tray, a folder full of translation notes, and an ancient Greek dictionary, Daniel carefully made his way across the crowded mess hall to sit next to Sam. As he placed his tray down with a clatter, she raised her eyes to his and gave a perfunctory nod of greeting.

"It's great to have you back, Sam," he started off cheerfully, only to realize that she'd turned her attention back to her notes. Disconcerted by her cool manner, he took a quick sip of coffee. "We missed you these past few weeks."

The scraping of chairs alerted them to Jack and Teal'c's arrival. "Of course we did," Jack said, in what was an unusually jovial voice for so early in the morning. "How did the debriefing at the Pentagon go?"

Sam raised her eyebrows, her expression growing even more glacial. "Just peachy, sir." Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she turned her attention back to the scrambled eggs cooling on her plate.

"Of course, I thought we'd have had you back here a week ago, breaking down the doors to get to your lab, but to my surprise you actually stayed away for all of your time off." Jack cast a slightly panicked glance at Daniel and Teal'c, who also were surprised at Sam's lack of response.

Swallowing the eggs with a grimace, Sam then cleared her throat. "Yes, sir. I was busy. Had lots to do."

The three men were delivered from trying to salvage the conversation by the arrival of Janet Fraiser. "Hi, Sam," the petite doctor said, pulling up a chair at the end of the table. "I tried calling you last night, but got a recording that your number was out of service. And your cell phone was turned off."

Sam nodded with an air of distraction. "Right. It's going to be a few weeks before my new phone line gets hooked up." She pulled out a blank sheet of paper and hastily scribbled down a number. "You can reach me here if you need me."

Janet accepted the piece of paper, Daniel leaning over to read it as well. "Extended Stay America? Why are you staying at a motel?"

Gathering her notes into a tidy pile, Sam replied dispassionately, "Because my new apartment won't be ready for another week and a half."

"For what reason are you moving, Major Carter?" Teal'c inquired curiously. "You have told us many times how well your home suited you."

Pushing back her chair, Sam stood. "I changed my mind," she stated. "I got in touch with a realtor before I went to D.C. and put my house on the market. It sold pretty quickly, and I put most of my things in storage last week. You don't need to worry, sir," she reassured Jack. "I've already let General Hammond know how to contact me when I'm off duty. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have some reports to fill out before the afternoon briefing."

Staring at Sam's back as she stalked out of the commissary, Janet sighed glumly. "She's still pissed."

"Oh, I'd say so," Daniel agreed, taking another gulp of coffee. "Jack, did she give any hint of this before she left with those guys from the Pentagon?"

"Not really," Jack said thoughtfully. "How was I supposed to know that she'd decide to move? When I suggested a hobby, I was thinking knitting... or metalworking... whatever." He ran a hand through his greying hair. "Sure didn't expect this."

* * * *

Deciding that he'd rather not ask permission before coming in, lest it be denied, Jack strolled casually into Sam's lab. "Hey, Carter."

She looked up from her computer screen, her manner scrupulously polite. "Yes, sir? Is it time for the briefing already?"

Jack shook his head and grabbed a stool, wincing at her formality. "No, there's still another hour before that. Just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Just fine, sir, thanks for asking," Sam replied in a tone that suggested her patience was rapidly running out. "Anything else?"

"Well, yeah, actually. You sold your house? Isn't that rather drastic?" Carter's spur-of-the-moment decisions were usually related to trivial matters -- everything else was thought out and decided upon only after careful analysis.

"It was either sell it right away or wait for the neighborhood association to ask me to leave," she snorted. "The gas leak was a good cover story the first time, but after the Special Forces guys broke my door down, everyone around me probably thought I was a drug dealer. Besides," she continued, "packing up my things was a good excuse to get rid of some excess baggage. I can't believe how much junk I'd accumulated over the past four years, just because I had room for it. Why did I ever think I needed an entire house to live in?"

"I hate to ask," Jack cringed internally, "but does getting rid of excess baggage explain why there was a rental car in your parking place this morning?" She wouldn't meet his eyes. "Carter, *tell* me you didn't sell your car!"

With a sigh of exasperation, Sam placed her chin in her hands. "No, it's in storage until I decide what to do with it. Most of my stuff is."

Ah. He thought he was finally getting the picture. "Afraid the Pentagon didn't remove all the bugs again?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "They haven't given me much reason to trust them."

"This is true," he agreed. "At the same time, I don't get how that translates into your bad mood earlier this morning. I mean, *we* weren't the ones spying on you."

"Yes, sir," she replied tightly.

"But...?"

Slamming her hands down on the desk, Sam glared at him. "But none of you believed me, either! Hammond sent me for a psych evaluation, you said that everyone thought I was crazy, Janet said it was all due to the fact that I'd been working too hard--"

Jack interrupted her mid-sputter. "Now wait a minute, Carter, just because I--"

"And it's not like something like this has never happened before!" she ranted, beginning to pace back and forth, her brow creased in irritation. "Remember Urgo? We kept insisting that something was going on until Janet found out our minds had been tampered with. And if this had happened to you, or Daniel, or Teal'c, I'd have believed you, because I know you wouldn't insist on something that sounded so insane without good reason! But everyone just blew me off, saying that everything would miraculously be better if I'd just take it easy!"

"Carter, listen..."

"Take it easy! Get a life! Learn to relax! Do one thousand boring, trivial hobbies that hold no appeal for me instead of actually doing what I'm interested in--"

"Carter!" Jack bellowed, and waited for her to stop ranting. She shut her mouth with an audible snap and glared at him. "Carter, when I said we all thought you were nuts, I was teasing," he explained in a gentler tone of voice.

The look of confusion on her face was priceless, but he didn't dare laugh. "Oh," she said, bewildered. "I... didn't get that, sir."

"And that's why we've been suggesting you relax just a little bit, Major. Normally, you *would* have gotten it."

She sighed. "Maybe." Her expression was still troubled. "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"The rest of you don't always get *me*. When work is over, you want to head out and do other things. But what's here at the SGC is what I want to do. Nothing else comes close. What I learn and create here are the most exciting, interesting things I've ever done in my life, and then to have people tell me that this job, which I love so much, is responsible for making me crazy, it..." she trailed off helplessly. "No one understands. Not even you guys. Other stuff just seems so *dumb* in comparison."

"So you felt like we were trying to keep you away from what you like best?" She had a point, but he didn't believe for a moment that was the only thing that had her so tense.

She ran her fingers through her bangs in frustration. "Yes, sir, I guess. Sometimes I just wonder--" she chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "Sir, how do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Leave here and go pretend that the rest of the world is normal. So few people know the reality of the Goa'uld and what we've been up against. And compared to that, why the hell should I care about what new movie just came out, or what sports team won a game? And there are people out there who believe that those things are important!" She paused a moment, then continued. "I mean, *this* is our reality. The Goa'uld, and discovering new people and technology and... when I could be doing this, why would I want to play golf, or go fishing, or go to the mall, or take up knitting," she fairly spat the word, "and I just don't get why no one understands that telling me to take it easy means leaving what I love and going off to do something boring!"

Jack sat in silence a moment. "Do you know what we ended up doing that afternoon Teal'c and I came by your house?"

"What?" Sam inquired wearily.

He smiled at the memory. "We called Daniel and went to a sports bar so Teal'c could watch jello-wrestling."

She gazed at him in utter disbelief. "Jello-wrestling."

"Yeah. Sheer stupidity. A crazy aspect of popular culture -- violence, and wasting food." He raised his eyebrows, daring her to laugh. "We had a fabulous time. Before Teal'c suggested it, I'd have never thought of doing such a thing. But we laughed our asses off, and so did everyone else there. And Carter, I'm willing to bet that there were people at that bar who loved their jobs just as much as you do. It didn't mean they couldn't enjoy themselves doing other things."

Her dubious look didn't require words.

Jack continued on anyway. "I think you need to come out with us a little more often. Ah!" he held up his hand as she began to protest. "You came with us *once* when we took Teal'c bowling, and sometimes if we're lucky, you'll grace us with your presence for holiday dinners if your flight out to your brother's house doesn't leave too early. The world out there is why we do our jobs, Carter. People may not know what we're doing, but because we do, they're still mostly free. And that's worth experiencing."

She searched his face, trying to decide if she could talk him out of this plan. It didn't look promising. "If I come with you, do I have to pretend to be interested?" she asked in resignation.

"Nah, you just have to give things a try. Don't worry," he reassured her. "Teal'c exploring American culture tends to be interesting whether you want to get excited or not. And maybe you'll be bored with some of the stuff we do. But you might not. And if we're there with you, you'll at least have a few other people around you who understand why you can't always relate to the general population." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to regain his usual nonchalance. He wasn't one to have deep, intense heart-to-heart discussions, but the situation seemed to warrant it. "You'll get the hang of it again, Carter. You're just a bit out of practice."

Her voice sounded suspiciously rough. "I guess I don't have a choice in the matter?"

"No. We're going to make this an official SG-1 mission -- to force Major Samantha Carter to have fun. Whether she likes it or not."

"Sir, yes, sir!" she offered a slight smile.

"Now," he stood and turned towards the door, "I have some paperwork to finish before the briefing. I'll see you there. And Carter?"

"Yes, Colonel?"

"I'll dig out the phone number of an old friend of mine; we served together in the Gulf. He's a surveillance and technological expert, and he did a clean sweep of my house after the NID bugged it during that sting operation about a year or so ago. If you need someone to take a fine-tooth comb through your stuff, he's the man for the job."

Finally, one of her real smiles, not just a halfhearted attempt. "Thanks, sir. That's the best offer I've heard in quite a while."

* * * *

Jack strolled into Daniel's office to find the archaeologist waiting patiently. Teal'c sat in another chair, and closed his book at his friend's appearance.

"Well?" Daniel asked.

"She's going to be okay." He hoped so, anyway.

"With us?" the younger man persisted.

"Yeah," Jack smiled. "It'll take a bit of work, but she wants to be on good terms again. I think it's just--"

"Perhaps Major Carter felt that we ought to have believed her more readily?" Teal'c suggested.

"I guess. It was a bad situation all around. She did what she was supposed to do at first, and it backfired on her, and then when she ought to have come forward, she didn't feel like she could trust us enough to do so."

"We let her down." Daniel's expression was glum.

"No one's perfect," Jack reminded him. "And it'll be okay. In fact, I got her to promise that she *will* spend her free time relaxing."

Teal'c looked very impressed. "How did you accomplish such a formidable task, O'Neill?"

"I told her that we'd hang out and do stuff with her whether she wanted to or not. She's been isolating herself away from people -- I guess she thinks they can't comprehend what she's been through, so it was safer to stay away from them." Of course, Jack knew that getting her to actually *admit* such a thing would take a more forceful personality than any of them possessed. No, she'd just been very interested in her work. Right.

Daniel nodded thoughtfully. "You guys have stood by me at times when I did the same thing. We'll get her back to normal." He grinned after a moment. "Well, what passes for normal around here, anyway. It's what--"

"...friends do for each other," Jack finished the sentence.

"Actually," Daniel corrected him deliberately, "I was going to say it's what family does for each other."

After a moment's thought, Teal'c spoke up. "I must concur with Daniel Jackson's choice of words, O'Neill. It is more appropriate."

"Yeah. Guess so." Jack stared down at his hands. "God, we're talking mushy. Isn't it time for that briefing?"

* * * *

Teal'c's deep, soothing voice pulled her away from her reading. "Major Carter?"

"Yes, Teal'c?" Sam looked up from her notes, wincing at the stiffness in her shoulders.

"The hour grows late. Ought you not have gone home by now?"

Shrugging self-consciously, Sam waved her hands towards her work. "SG-12 found an interesting device on their last mission, and I was looking over some reports. It's really quite--"

"Major Carter," Teal'c interrupted her firmly. "I believe two weeks ago you promised O'Neill that you would not overwork yourself."

"I'm not!" she protested indignantly. "But I lost a week at the Pentagon debriefing after the mission on Velona, then I had a week off, and I just wanted to catch up on some things..." Her voice trailed off under his unyielding expression.

His voice softened even further. "Major Carter, there will always be more to learn and discover at the SGC. Even when we defeat the Goa'uld, it will be so." Turning his gaze around her lab, he continued. "There is more than a lifetime's work here for many people. You need not fear that you will lose the opportunity of discovery merely by leaving at the end of the day."

Sam stared back at him, trying to reconcile the stubborn part of her that wanted to bury herself in every minute aspect of the SGC with the other part that grudgingly acknowledge he was correct. In the end, she just smiled at him.

He took her silence for assent. "O'Neill and I are joining Daniel Jackson at his apartment this evening for dinner and a movie. Will you drive me there, and share our company?"

She considered the offer. If she was going to leave work, she still had some more organization to finish at her new apartment. But there were several boxes remaining that Barry Snowdon had to sift through in his search for surveillance equipment, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if she waited another week or more. At least she was able to use her car again. It *had* been bugged, and Sam still grew tense with rage at the thought of how the Pentagon had assured her that all the equipment had been removed.

Well. It had been taken care of. That was the important thing.

"Sure, Teal'c. Do you know what movie we're going to watch?"

"Star Wars," he replied with satisfaction. "O'Neill has finally agreed to view it."

Gathering her things together, she left the lab with Teal'c, taking a quick detour to his quarters for him to fetch a hat. As they drove off the base, towards Colorado Springs, they fell into an easy conversation as she asked Teal'c about his more recent forays into Earth culture. In return, he quizzed her on her new living arrangements, learning with satisfaction that she felt more comfortable in a smaller space with less clutter.

"Sometimes, at my old house, I felt like I was rattling around in it," she explained. "It wasn't even a very big space, but given how infrequently I was there, it was a lot more than I needed. It just feels... I don't know, relaxing to not have as much stuff around me all the time. And the security at my apartment is very good."

"What did you do with the belongings you chose not to keep?" Teal'c asked in curiosity.

"I had a yard sale." Noting his puzzled look, she smiled. "Another part of our culture, Teal'c. I took the things I didn't want, put them in my front yard so people knew they were available, and then negotiated the costs. Why don't we go to some one weekend when we have time?"

"I should enjoy that, Major Carter," he assured her. "So you find that having fewer possessions is conducive to a more peaceful state of mind?"

"Maybe," she smiled. "Although there is satisfaction in acquiring things as well. Speaking of that, do we have time to stop for a minute?" she asked, spying a Target in the distance, and having heard from Daniel of Teal'c's fascination with chain stores.

"I believe we do. For what purpose?"

Sam smiled once again, happy to be in his company. Even if she didn't always feel at home among most people, she was very lucky to have friends such as Teal'c and the rest of her team. "I need a new toaster."

fin.




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