samandjack.net

Story Notes: Spoilers: TBFTGOG. Musey and I have come to an understanding... although now she's demanding half my royalties. WHAT royalties?!


The military isn't the place to find your life partner. A friend, yes. An amiable date, sure. A casual screw, well, okay, if you want to go there. But nothing more. Nothing long. Nothing lasting.

Or so I've been informed. SG-3 felt it their duty on our last joint-mission to notify me of such things.

Why is this the case? I have my theories. Maybe it's because military people are just... weird. I mean, look at Makepeace, or any of his men; anyone from any war. We idolize war in movies and on television, but I've been in battle and I know the horror of it. These men know it even better than I ever will. They've seen too much they can't forget, done too much they can't undo. Things like that will wear down a person.

Maybe it's because of the regulations. Generally, the brass frowns upon officers hooking up - especially when the two officers are connected in the ever-important chain of command. And of course the two officers I'm thinking of... well, one reports to the other.

I won't lie and say I don't look at Sam and Jack differently than some of the others do. After all, I was in that alternate reality. I saw that Dr. Carter and Colonel O'Neill, the ones that were very much in love, that were, to my astonishment, engaged to be married.

That's the strange thing, though, the thing that always trips me up when I think about it. Until I saw them say goodbye - both going off to their respective deaths in order to save the lives of their counterparts in my reality - and until I was told, and saw that ring on Samantha Carter's finger... I didn't notice. I didn't see a darn thing different about how this other Jack and Sam acted until that moment.

So what does that mean?

The whole alternate reality thing - apart from being straight from a Star Trek episode - is as mind-boggling and perhaps even as controversial as cloning, or it would be if the quantum mirror was public knowledge. There are all these different versions of ourselves out there. Some are dead, some are alive. Some are single, others engaged. But all, technically, biologically, are US. And if my forte through the mirror is any indication, we act the same. We speak the same... or we 'don't' speak the same.

Sam and Jack... really, they don't do a lot of speaking, at least not about things that matter. I'm the chatterbox. But boy, they do a lot of talking.

Take the meeting we're sitting at, right now. One of the SG-3 members is rattling on and on about something to do with the MALP, picture clarity, sensor accuracy... something. Jack's scribbling on the cover of his report. Sam's staring at the wall behind the Marine. Neither are speaking. But wait, just wait...

There you go. That little glance. Jack looked over at Sam, and then, as though she knew she was being watched, her eyes slid over and met his. They had eye contact for maybe a total of three seconds, but they had an entire conversation. "Damn, this is boring." "Yeah." "Understand what he's talking about?" "Well, he's using layman's terms." "Smartass."

The smartass is, of course, friendly. Maybe even affectionate.

The Marine wraps it up and there, there it is, another glance. "He's done." "Thank God." "I can't wait to get out of here." "You and me both."

How do they do that?

Do all the Jacks and Sams out there do that?

You know, in some ways, not the obvious ones, they remind me of Sha're and me. I understood her language, to a degree, and she learned mine, but I can safely say that especially in the beginning, we did a lot of talking without our mouths. Body language, I guess you could say. And my friends do the same thing.

Now that everyone's getting up from the table, Jack jams his hands into his pockets. Sam takes extra long gathering her things up so she's done at the precise moment Jack saunters by. She steps in next to him. He makes a lame joke about needing to go brush off the cobwebs that accumulated over the course of the meeting. Sam, as always, smiles... a genuine smile, as though what he's just said is the funniest damn thing in the world, and if there weren't a lot of people around, she'd laugh outright. Jack then says something else, in a lower pitch, something I can't make out. Sam looks indignant and smacks him on the arm with her folder, but they're both grinning.

See what I mean? It's like they're courting... but no one's informed them of it yet.

There's other similarities. Sha're was a present on our first Abydos mission, kinda unwanted, definitely unasked for, something that made me feel awkward and weighed down. Analogously, 'Captain Carter' was a thorn in Jack's side until they both relaxed a little, let down their guard, saw each other as something besides "the soldier" and "the scientist". She was unwanted, perhaps considered a burden or a hardship by those that didn't exactly do their best to make her feel welcome. But now... things couldn't be more different. I couldn't imagine the SGC without Samantha Carter. I don't think anyone else can, either.

But back to what I was saying. Life partners - love? - in the military? Not according to SG-3. Nothing more stable than a couple of dates or a one-night stand. Choose whatever reason pleases you most... because I don't agree.

Maybe it's because of what I saw during my stint in the other reality, but by deductive reasoning alone, it all seems like a bunch of bull. That Jack and Sam loved each other. And it stands to reason that somewhere, deep down, way inside in some secrets cubbyhole they won't even admit to, MY Carter and O'Neill feel the same way.

I'm not saying that one's going to some day profess their love to the other. I'm not even saying that that's a good idea... I'll let you draw your own conclusions there. After all, some would say that this love they share acts as an unbreakable bond, something that will and perhaps has saved both their lives and maybe even the lives of others. Others would say - and I think that perhaps I WOULD agree with them - that we're on this planet (or should I term it another way?) for such a short time, that we should enjoy every second to its fullest. We should make the most of ourselves, do everything we can do for fellow generations, and be with the ones we love.

So far, both Sam and Jack are two out of three.

"Hey, Danny?"

I almost don't here Jack call my name, I'm so lost in thought, but I turn anyway to find my friends watching me: Jack, Sam, and Teal'c. Even the Jaffa looks a little sleepy from the meeting. "Yeah?"

"Hammond gave us some downtime... you want to catch a movie tonight?" He looks at the others. "All of us?"

I'm about to agree - sounds like fun - but Teal'c interrupts me. And he says something that makes me realize that he's not as sleepy as he appears... and a lot more perceptive than I've ever given him credit for.

"I believe that we already had plans for tonight, Daniel Jackson."

I smother a grin; it's a lie, of course. There are no plans. But we can quickly remedy them. "Yeah, guys, I'm sorry. I promised Teal'c I'd go with him to see a play tonight."

"Play?" repeats Jack. Good, he already looks bored.

"Yeah... if you want to come, they're doing Moilere's-"

"I think I'll pass."

I shrug, as though to say 'Your loss', and Teal'c and I start down the corridor. He looks down at me, and I can tell... now he's expecting a play. I sigh. Hopefully he won't notice that the play is being preformed by the local high school... or if he does, that he won't mention it to anyone.

We turn the corner and I catch a glimpse of Sam and Jack, talking in the hallway. Her hands are clasped loosely behind her, and his are - you got it - still in his pockets. "Seven-thirty?" I hear him ask, and she nods, smiles, and they part.

They aren't Sha're and me. They aren't even Samantha and Jack from the other reality. But they aren't the mentally-damaged, psychotic troopers SG-3 informed me of, either. They're no one else but themselves, and they'll find their way, wherever they're going... be that friendship, a casual screw... or real, true love.



The End.




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