They had been back for four days now and had spent the entire time recuperating in the infirmary. Despite the frequent visits from Daniel and Teal'c and the formal visits of his once-commander-now-friend Hank Landry to bring him up to speed on current SGC business, Jack was bored. The entire time he had been in observation, he had seen Sam very little. She was in another room of the medical level, and he was not allowed to stand on his feet except when he had to go to the restroom.
Dr. Brightman wanted to play it safe, so after the initial MRI upon their return, she had scheduled two more to see if the “vibrating” patches subsided.
In fact, when she had compared Jack’s test brought with them from the alternate reality with the initial test taken after his return, the results were astoundingly different. Where the first showed multiple intermittent dots throughout Jack’s body, the second showed several large ones, but what was even more surprising was that they had almost disappeared on the second MRI taken two days after the first. Now he was awaiting the results of the third and was getting royally pissed off. He had called Hammond several times to schedule a meeting at the SGC with Hank Landry and maybe another general, as George saw fit.
“Jack?” Daniel came next to his bed. “Has the doctor cleared you? Sam’s gone to the locker room to change; she’ll be leaving in a moment…”
“Oh?” Jack asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Well, she…” he hesitated. “She received a call from Pete when she was in observation; it probably has something to do with him…”
“Oh,” was Jack’s somber reply.
At that moment, Dr. Brightman came in with a smile, telling Jack he was free to go. He lost no time and went straight for the locker rooms. He met Sam just as she was coming out.
“Jack!” she smiled. “They cleared you?”
“Yes… Going somewhere?” he asked, raising an eyebrow somberly.
Sam looked at him a little surprised. “Yes, I was just on my way to tell you I had to run an errand. Meet me at home?”
“You’re going to see Pete?” he blurted out, jealousy taking control of his mouth.
She looked surprised for an instant, then held his inquisitive eyes. “I didn’t want to alarm you…” she started.
“So we’re back to square one?” he interrupted angrily.
“No!” she replied vehemently. “Not at all! I just need to set things straight with him! What did you expect?!” she exclaimed.
“I have a meeting with Hammond and Landry to discuss my new assignment and a possible promotion in about an hour,” he announced in a low voice, anger still lacing his tone.
“An hour? But how…”
“Videoconference,” he explained. “I have to know where I stand, Sam,” he said softly, defeat already seeping through his words.
She put her finger underneath his chin and raised his head so he could look into her eyes. “Don’t you know that by now?” she said in a gentle voice. “I need to tell Pete it’s over, and I need to do it right. You wouldn’t expect anything less from me, Jack.”
Relief spread across his face like a tidal wave, and he finally smiled. “I’ll be moving to DC,” he said, almost apologetically.
“I know, Jack. We’ll work it out; we always do…” and then she gave him a ravenous kiss, right in front of the security cameras, right in front of the two SFs who happened to be in the area and were standing, agape at the public display before them, until the wisest of the two quickly ushered the second down the corridor, leaving the scene.
When Jack recovered, he smiled cockily at her. “You know you’re evil, Carter,” he murmured huskily into her ear.
She smiled broadly and pressed herself intimately to him, causing him to hiss. “I’d suggest you take a cold shower, General. You wouldn’t want to be embarrassed in that meeting now, would you?” she raised her eyebrows suggestively.
He chuckled. “Payback’s a bitch, Carter, payback’s a bitch.” He said, opening the door to the locker room as she started down the corridor to the elevator.
“I’ll hold you to your word, General!” she said over her shoulder.
As he disrobed to get that precious shower he craved, Jack mused over the events that had driven them to this point. Sure, things would not be perfect as long as he was in D.C., but at least they’d be allowed to pursue what they had started, and he intended on making Sam an honest woman as soon as his transfer was approved. Right now though, he had a difficult meeting to think about…
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Sam was waiting for him channel surfing with a half eaten pizza on the sofa next to her.
He had called a while ago to say he’d check his house and grab a few things before he came, but that was an hour and a half ago, and she wondered where he had gone.
Her musings were interrupted by the knock on her front door.
Jack was on the other side, a grin plastered on his face and a carry-on slung over his shoulder.
“Everything good?” she asked, letting him in.
“Pretty much, yes… Although I’ll get a formal reprimand for my misconduct toward a junior officer…”
“What?!” she exclaimed.
He smiled cockily. “Kidding…” he slurred.
“Well don’t! This is serious, Jack, for crying out loud!” she said indignantly.
“I could ask you the same question,” he said, putting his jacket on a hook in her foyer.
“Pete was not happy, but then he’d thought I was dead… He’d started wandering the dating scene again; nothing serious, just to keep his mind off of me…” she shrugged.
“So he didn’t take it too badly?”
“Does that really matter, Jack?” she asked tiredly.
“It does to you…” Jack said, encircling her waist with his arms. “I don’t want you to feel guilty.”
“I don’t,” she assured him. “As a matter of fact, Pete was not surprised. He was probably bitter about it, understandably… He left after about twenty minutes and asked me to send him an invitation…” she said sadly.
Jack kissed her. “Dinner?” he asked when they came up for air.
“There’s a pizza on the sofa; I can put it in the microwave if you want…”
“Don’t tell me you’ve gone back to your old patterns already, Carter!” he joked.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Your loss! Luigi’s is delicious!”
“Well, as long as I can eat! I’m hungry!”
Later, they were sitting on the sofa, cuddling in front of a TV they were not really listening to, each lost in their thoughts and content to be back into their so new yet already comfortable domestic patterns.
“Jack?” Sam asked softly.
“Mm?” he replied.
“I couldn’t help myself…” she started.
“What?” he asked, softly kissing her brow.
“I checked on the Internet… The farm…. The farm is there… But the owners are said to be a Patrick and Kathryn Stockwell… Oma and Jim Tanner don’t exist in this world…” she said sadly.
Jack held her closer. “Maybe they do…” he started softly, “just not on this plane of existence… Did you know that Daniel died again?...” he said before capturing her mouth, his hands sliding underneath her sweater.
THE END
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 ]