The ways Sam and Jack got engaged Story 5
Story 5- When things get confusing
Pairing(s): Sam/Jack
Spoilers: Well these stories are AU pieces so, think pre-Season 9 and Jack is in D.C. The rest is kind of explained.
When things get confusing
They talked all the time on the phone, in the way that good friends who happened to work together on a classified project, each time coming closer to that topic of a future together. But each time they broached the topic, one or the other of them would make a comment about putting it off for a ‘face to face’ discussion.
But they had yet to have their schedules mesh so that one could visit the other ever since Jack had been transferred to D.C.
So when the anniversary of Sam’s mother’s death was approaching, Jack realized for the first time no one would be there for her.
Jacob had died, Daniel had left for Atlantis, and Teal’c was off helping the new Jaffa Nation gain its footing.
So the job of ‘being there’ fell to Jack.
He had his secretary schedule him a meeting with Landry on Thursday and clear everything else from his calendar until Monday. The meeting was mundane and offered no real surprises other then an opportunity to speak with Teal’c via the MALP.
“O’Neill, it is good to see you,” Teal’c greeted his friend.
“You too Teal’c,” Jack said. “Things going okay?”
“They are well O’Neill. We are an infantile people when it comes to deciding our own ways,” Teal’c claimed.
“Everyone is at the beginning,” Jack reminded him. “Learn from your mistakes and everything will be fine,” he advised.
Teal’c bowed his head as the connection blacked out.
Back in Hank’s office, Jack asked a question.
“Is Colonel Carter around by chance Hank?” he asked, hoping it sounded more like an ex-CO looking for a friend then a man who had taken the whole weekend off to be with his friend who would hopefully, someday, be his girlfriend/fiancé/wife.
“She’s over at Peterson working with the engineers and Major, no Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell, who was slightly surprised you didn’t make it for the promotion ceremony by the way. They’re working on the X-302. They’ll probably call it a day any time now,” Hank said and worked to hide a smile. He had wondered how long it would take for the General to ask about Colonel Carter.
He had heard the rumors not even 24 hours after taking command of the SGC that the reason the biggest hater of politics and paperwork in the entire galaxy had accepted the job as Head of Homeworld Security was because he had secured a promise from the President of the United States that he could pursue a relationship with his former long-time 2IC, without either of them facing repercussions.
Hank hadn’t believed a word of it. Given the suddenness of the transfer, which had been caused by a heart attack on the part of now retired Lieutenant General George Hammond, there just hadn’t been time for that kind of thing to happen.
Still, Hank wouldn’t blame the two of them if they took the opportunity that Jack’s transfer offered them and ran with it.
“I think she was trying to get them to a point where they could work on their own until Monday. She took Friday and the weekend off,” Hank explained with a shrug at Jack’s questioning glance.
“Walter told me that this was the first time since he’s been here that she asked for time off on her own. He was concerned to say the least,” Hank concluded. “You wouldn’t know why she asked for time off would you?”
Jack cleared his throat. “It’s the anniversary of her mother’s death. Jacob was stationed here in Colorado Springs when it happened and with Jacob…,” he trailed off, “Well, I think she just needs some time to collect her thoughts.”
“Is this something I should be worried about?” Hank asked slightly concerned about one of his best officers.
“Nah, it’s Carter. No matter how many times she gets knocked down, she always gets back up. It’s what makes her one of the best,” Jack claimed with a small amount of pride.
“She doesn’t have any family around, does she?” Hank asked, the pieces starting to fall into place as to why Jack had come all this way to deal with business that could have easily been taken care of over the phone.
Jack shrugged. “A brother in California, other then that SG-1 was… is her family. I’ll stop by and check on her while I’m in town. Unless she gives you some hint otherwise, assume she’s fine Hank,” Jack advised.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jack thanked the Airman who drove him to his house. The ‘For Sale’ sign still stood in the front lawn and his truck was in the garage. He dumped his bag in his bedroom, which was pretty much devoid of any personal effects now. Everything had been boxed up for his planned move to D.C. Only just yesterday the President had asked him what he thought of the Pentagon and D.C. in general.
//Flashback//
“Honestly sir? I hate it. 90% of my job could be done from anywhere in this world or any other for that matter. I’d much rather be somewhere… else,” Jack finished lamely.
“Somewhere like Colorado Springs?”
Jack tried not to look overly eager at the idea. “Yes sir!”
“You’d have to be willing to make some compromises.”
“Like?”
President Henry Hayes held out his hand and started naming them off. “An office not at the SGC, most likely at the Academy or Peterson, a set number of days in D.C. per month, and lots and lots of time on the telephone talking with people. No hanging up because you have another call,” Hayes said looking at Jack pointedly.
“Of course sir.”
Hayes nodded his head. “I’ll have someone do some checking on available offices that can be secured like you would need. It will take some time,” he cautioned as he held his hand out to direct Jack out of the office.
“It’s the best news I’ve had since the defeat of the Goa’uld sir,” Jack claimed honestly. “I’d think I’d owe you one if you could get me out of D.C.,” Jack joked.
Hayes smiled. “Just remember that I have December 25th in the pool Jack. If you and Colonel Carter were to ever get married that is,” Hayes said, looking extremely innocent considering the comment he had just made.
Jack didn’t even get a chance to respond as he was swept from the Oval Office.
//End Flashback//
Now Jack was glad that his house hadn’t sold. Mentally, he added calling the realtor to his list of to do things for this weekend. Right now though, he just wanted to change clothes.
Twenty minutes later, he was parked in front of Sam’s house, right behind a vintage black Mustang, which he knew didn’t belong to Sam, given that her Volvo was parked in the driveway. He tried the bell at the front door, and no one answered. He went around back, and still no one was there.
So he walked across the street to the park. It took him less than three seconds to locate Samantha Carter.
But he quickly realized she was walking hand in hand with none other then Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell. When he saw the man wrap his arms around her in a hug, he turned around and high tailed it out of there.
Suddenly, the fact Sam had sounded happier over the phone these past few weeks made sense. Her voice had been laced with an unseen smile and he hadn’t had to work as hard to make her laugh. Jack had attributed it to her having dealt with all the changes of the past few months- Jacob’s death, Daniel’s trip, Teal’c’s leaving, and his own transfer.
Deep in a corner of his mind, he had hoped that part of it was due to him.
Due to them.
The possibility of their future.
Obviously he had been wrong.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jack tried to put it off as long as he could, but eventually he ran out of excuses not to go back to her house. He had cleaned his house from top to bottom, unboxed some of the things that had still been waiting to be shipped to D.C., and officially removed his house from the market.
After all, Sam was the reason he had come here this weekend. If she somehow found out that he had been in town, and hadn’t made an effort to see her, there would be no safe place for him to hide.
Even Thor wouldn’t be able to help him hide from Carter’s wrath.
So Major General Jack O’Neill swallowed his pride, prayed to whatever real god was out there that Sam would be alone, and drove to Sam’s house once again.
It seemed that either his prayer went unheard or his luck had finally run out because the same black Mustang was still parked on the street.
Jack sighed and forced himself to get out and walk to her front door once more. The windows to the house were open, giving Jack an opportunity to hear the conversation that was going on inside, something that he was grateful for when he realized what they were talking about.
“Are you sure about doing this?” Sam asked, her voice showing her hesitancy. “I mean, I feel kind of stupid.”
“Just sit down and listen Sam,” a male voice begged.
‘Mitchell,’ Jack mentally tagged it.
“Okay, so here goes. We’ve been dating for a while now, and I realized something the other day. Not a day goes by that I don’t picture the two of us being together, which got me thinking. Dreaming actually,” Cam chuckled. “The other night I dreamed of us growing old together and having a family. When I woke up, I realized just how much I didn’t want that to be a dream anymore, but a reality. Will you marry me?”
All it took was hearing the laughter in Sam’s voice as she said, “Yes Cam, I’d be honored to be your wife,” for Jack to flee towards the safety of his truck.
For some reason though, his feet took him to the park across the street. Realizing that he really wasn’t in any shape to drive, he plopped down on a bench which gave him a perfect view of the front of Sam’s house.
He watched Sam emerge from the house a half an hour later, Mitchell’s arm thrown over her shoulder as they walked to Cam’s car. It took longer than it should have for him to see that Cam was all dressed up while Carter was dressed… down. Gone was the skirt and blouse from earlier. Those had been replaced by a pair of sweats and what looked like a faded, old Air Force t-shirt.
Sam walked Mitchell to his car, gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before giving him a shove towards the vehicle saying something that Jack couldn’t hear. He watched her even as Mitchell drove away, and as she realized that it was his truck sitting in front of her house.
As if she could feel his stare, she quickly located him from where he was watching. Jack watched the smile that had left her face when Mitchell had drove away return in full force. In fact, it looked like a full out Sam Carter smile that Jack had long ago decided was just for him.
Sam almost trotted across the street to get to him, moving as fast as her legs and the traffic would permit. But other then standing up, Jack didn’t move towards her at all, waiting to see how she would react to his presence.
What she did surprised him.
She threw her arms around him, and Jack had to reach out and hug her back otherwise they both would have toppled to the ground. He buried his nose in her hair while Sam’s head occupied his shoulder.
Jack didn’t know how long they stayed like that because he was enjoying having her in his arms. He didn’t know how many more times he would get to hold her like that, so he was going to take the time to enjoy every opportunity he got.
When Sam finally pulled back, Jack realized there were tears in her eyes. She had been crying and he hadn’t even realized it.
“Hey,” he said softly, using his thumb to wipe away the tears, “You can’t be that upset to see me.”
“Happy is more like it,” Sam said through her attempt not to laugh. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to town?” she asked as they sat down on the bench.
Jack shrugged. “I didn’t want something to come at the last minute,” he lied, not wanting to tell her that his secretary had been told that only a world ending crisis was going to convince him to cancel this trip.
Sam eyed him like she didn’t quite believe him, but let it go.
This weekend in particular, she didn’t care how or why Jack O’Neill was in town, only that he was. Samantha Carter hated to need people, but this weekend had always been one where she just needed someone to be there for her. Sam had almost been glad for the couple of times in the past eight years when SG-1 had been on mission, because she hadn’t even noticed the date until it was already past.
Even her dad had made an effort after he joined the Tok’ra to make it back to Earth for this date every year. He didn’t always make it, but she knew he tried.
But this year, he wouldn’t be coming.
In fact, she had thought no one was coming, which was why she had been so happy when Cam had shown up a couple months ago with an official transfer to the SGC.
They had been friends in their early childhood while their fathers were assigned to the same base. Though they were separated by the transfer of Jacob Carter, they had renewed their friendship at the Academy.
Until Cam had been shot down in Antarctica, Sam hadn’t even known that he knew about the Stargate. But she was more then happy to welcome him to her team as her temporary 2IC. It felt good to once more have someone she trusted watching her six.
Sam settled herself against Jack, leaning against his shoulder.
Jack stiffened slightly and then wrapped an arm around her.
“I’ve missed this,” Sam said.
“Huh?”
“This,” Sam said waving her hands around. “Having you around. It’s been too quiet in my lab lately.”
“Carter,” Jack said in mock disbelief, “Are you saying that you missed me?”
“Yeah, I am Jack,” she said emphasizing his name, something they had been making an effort to do ever since the trip to his cabin.
“Well Sam, I’ve missed you too,” he said, squeezing the hand that has somehow found its way into hers. “You wouldn’t know that we talk almost every day would you?” Jack chuckled.
Sam nodded in agreement. “I thought about calling and asking you to come out this weekend, almost as much as I thought about getting on a plane to see you in D.C.”
“I kind of figured that and I knew you would never ask,” Jack admitted. “But now I’m not sure if I should have come without calling.”
“What does that mean?” Sam asked heatedly.
“You’re got Mitchell to lean on now. I feel like I’m stepping on his toes,” Jack explained.
“Cam’s been great, but he’s not you,” Sam assured him. “I’ll never be as close to Cam as I am to you.”
Jack quickly untangled himself from Sam. “I’m not going to stop you from being happy Sam. I think I did that when you were engaged to Pete, but I won’t make the same mistake twice. I’ll always be your friend Sam, and I’ll be there if you need me, but he should be the one you talk to. He needs to be the one you talk to. I didn’t share as much as I should have with Sarah and it ended up costing me my marriage. I don’t want to watch you make the same mistake,” Jack said as he stood up.
He gave Sam one last look before rushing to his truck and driving home.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jack felt bad about leaving Sam the following morning.
Bad enough and guilty enough to pick up Sam’s favorite breakfast sandwiches and drive over to her house.
It was early but not too early for him to ring the doorbell, knowing that Carter would be up. He hoped that the one person who wouldn’t answer would be the owner of the black Mustang which had returned to its spot in front of Sam’s house.
But as Jack’s luck had gone all weekend, Cameron Mitchell was the one who opened the door, wearing nothing more than a loose fitting pair of sweats.
“Sir,” Cam said stiffening a little, as though he was going to come to attention.
Jack ignored his reaction, more concerned about the reason he was here. “Is Carter up yet?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” Cam said, stepping outside and partially closing the door behind him.
Jack eyed the younger man. “Can I go in?” he asked.
“Not yet,” Cam said. “We need to talk. About Sam.”
Jack put his hand up to stop Cam from continuing. “I’m just here as friend. Nothing more.”
Cam gave him the once over. “You sure about that?”
Jack glared at the lower ranking officer who had the guts to question him. “Yes,” he growled.
“Then as one friend of Sam talking to another friend of Sam’s,” Cam began, “Maybe we can figure out just why when came I home last night, I found a very red eyed Samantha Carter who wouldn’t tell me why she was so upset. Now if she had been crying over her mom or Jacob, I’m pretty sure she would have admitted it.”
“Now while I might not be the smartest guy in the world, but I’m not stupid either. Sam cried last night and you show up this morning. Forgive me sir for believing that it was your fault, but you have to look at things from my point of view,” Cam explained.
Jack continued to glare at the younger man.
And Cam glared right back at him. “Sam is one of my oldest friends and while I have always respected you sir, Sam comes first. If I let you in the house, you have to promise me that you won’t upset her. Today is bad enough as it is.”
Jack nodded in acceptance. “I’ll try,” he promised.
Cam stood back to let Jack into the house, swinging the door open in the process.
“By the way,” Jack said, “Congratulations on your engagement. You’re a lucky man.”
“Sir?” Cam asked confused. “How did you know about it already?”
“I overheard you asking her yesterday,” Jack explained.
“Sir,” Cam said, sticking his arm out to keep Jack from going in, “I don’t who you think you overheard me asking, but you’re wrong. I asked Megan while we were up in a hot air balloon yesterday afternoon. There was no way you could have been there.”
“Megan?”
“Yeah, Megan Thompson, she’s an old friend of Sam’s from when she lived here as a teenager. Sam introduced us when the two of us went to the Academy together. We kept in touch and when I came back here a year ago to begin physical therapy we started dating. Every time I was in town, we would go out,” Cam elaborated.
“So you’re not engaged to Sam?” Jack asked for confirmation.
“No,” two voices said at the same time.
Jack turned to look at a disheveled Sam that had found her way to the doorway.
“I’ve got it from here Cam,” Sam said, squeezing the man’s shoulder as he went into the house. She waited until they were alone to speak again. “You really thought that…”
“Yes,” Jack said quickly. “And why did I hear Mitchell asking you to marry him yesterday?”
“Cam was practicing,” Sam explained. “You know, he wanted to make sure he got it right, though for all the practice he did, he told me that he just ended up blurting out ‘marry me’.”
Sam snorted and Jack laughed as he pulled her into his arms, tightening his grip on her so as to never let her go.
Without worrying about the consequences, Jack leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.
When they finally parted, it was Sam who spoke first.
“Wow.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, his eyes twinkling as he held her close. “So,” he asked, “Does this mean I should practice my proposal with Teal’c or Daniel before I ask you?”
Sam looked at him curiously. I don’t think that will be necessary,” she finally said slowly, unsure where Jack was taking this.
“Okay, then marry me?” Jack asked. “Not tomorrow, or the next day but someday when you’re ready… I just don’t want to take the chance of you getting away again,” Jack explained desperately.
Sam had been watching Jack’s eyes during his unexpected proposal, and was shocked by what she found there.
He was a mix of emotions.
His eyes declared his love for her, a gaze of hope and longing that made Sam’s heart stop. “Are you sure?” she asked.
Jack chuckled. “Aren’t I the one who is supposed to be asking you that?”
“Yes.”
“I love you and don’t want to go another day without letting you know that. I want nothing more then to spend the rest of my life loving you, though it took me hearing another man propose to you to realize it. I don’t have a ring or anything to really offer here other then a promise that I’ll love you for the rest of my life,” Jack quickly added in a rush of words. “You don’t have to say yes right now, I’m willing to wait.”
“No. I mean yes. I mean I’ll marry you,” Sam finally managed to get out.
“Are you sure?” Jack asked with an attempted innocence.
Sam pulled his head down for a kiss, which was all the answer he needed.
When they parted, Jack slung an arm around her shoulder. “So what do you think about a Christmas wedding?” he asked as they walked into Sam’s house, thinking about the favor he owed the President.
Pairing(s): Sam/Jack
Spoilers: Well these stories are AU pieces so, think pre-Season 9 and Jack is in D.C. The rest is kind of explained.
When things get confusing
They talked all the time on the phone, in the way that good friends who happened to work together on a classified project, each time coming closer to that topic of a future together. But each time they broached the topic, one or the other of them would make a comment about putting it off for a ‘face to face’ discussion.
But they had yet to have their schedules mesh so that one could visit the other ever since Jack had been transferred to D.C.
So when the anniversary of Sam’s mother’s death was approaching, Jack realized for the first time no one would be there for her.
Jacob had died, Daniel had left for Atlantis, and Teal’c was off helping the new Jaffa Nation gain its footing.
So the job of ‘being there’ fell to Jack.
He had his secretary schedule him a meeting with Landry on Thursday and clear everything else from his calendar until Monday. The meeting was mundane and offered no real surprises other then an opportunity to speak with Teal’c via the MALP.
“O’Neill, it is good to see you,” Teal’c greeted his friend.
“You too Teal’c,” Jack said. “Things going okay?”
“They are well O’Neill. We are an infantile people when it comes to deciding our own ways,” Teal’c claimed.
“Everyone is at the beginning,” Jack reminded him. “Learn from your mistakes and everything will be fine,” he advised.
Teal’c bowed his head as the connection blacked out.
Back in Hank’s office, Jack asked a question.
“Is Colonel Carter around by chance Hank?” he asked, hoping it sounded more like an ex-CO looking for a friend then a man who had taken the whole weekend off to be with his friend who would hopefully, someday, be his girlfriend/fiancé/wife.
“She’s over at Peterson working with the engineers and Major, no Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell, who was slightly surprised you didn’t make it for the promotion ceremony by the way. They’re working on the X-302. They’ll probably call it a day any time now,” Hank said and worked to hide a smile. He had wondered how long it would take for the General to ask about Colonel Carter.
He had heard the rumors not even 24 hours after taking command of the SGC that the reason the biggest hater of politics and paperwork in the entire galaxy had accepted the job as Head of Homeworld Security was because he had secured a promise from the President of the United States that he could pursue a relationship with his former long-time 2IC, without either of them facing repercussions.
Hank hadn’t believed a word of it. Given the suddenness of the transfer, which had been caused by a heart attack on the part of now retired Lieutenant General George Hammond, there just hadn’t been time for that kind of thing to happen.
Still, Hank wouldn’t blame the two of them if they took the opportunity that Jack’s transfer offered them and ran with it.
“I think she was trying to get them to a point where they could work on their own until Monday. She took Friday and the weekend off,” Hank explained with a shrug at Jack’s questioning glance.
“Walter told me that this was the first time since he’s been here that she asked for time off on her own. He was concerned to say the least,” Hank concluded. “You wouldn’t know why she asked for time off would you?”
Jack cleared his throat. “It’s the anniversary of her mother’s death. Jacob was stationed here in Colorado Springs when it happened and with Jacob…,” he trailed off, “Well, I think she just needs some time to collect her thoughts.”
“Is this something I should be worried about?” Hank asked slightly concerned about one of his best officers.
“Nah, it’s Carter. No matter how many times she gets knocked down, she always gets back up. It’s what makes her one of the best,” Jack claimed with a small amount of pride.
“She doesn’t have any family around, does she?” Hank asked, the pieces starting to fall into place as to why Jack had come all this way to deal with business that could have easily been taken care of over the phone.
Jack shrugged. “A brother in California, other then that SG-1 was… is her family. I’ll stop by and check on her while I’m in town. Unless she gives you some hint otherwise, assume she’s fine Hank,” Jack advised.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jack thanked the Airman who drove him to his house. The ‘For Sale’ sign still stood in the front lawn and his truck was in the garage. He dumped his bag in his bedroom, which was pretty much devoid of any personal effects now. Everything had been boxed up for his planned move to D.C. Only just yesterday the President had asked him what he thought of the Pentagon and D.C. in general.
//Flashback//
“Honestly sir? I hate it. 90% of my job could be done from anywhere in this world or any other for that matter. I’d much rather be somewhere… else,” Jack finished lamely.
“Somewhere like Colorado Springs?”
Jack tried not to look overly eager at the idea. “Yes sir!”
“You’d have to be willing to make some compromises.”
“Like?”
President Henry Hayes held out his hand and started naming them off. “An office not at the SGC, most likely at the Academy or Peterson, a set number of days in D.C. per month, and lots and lots of time on the telephone talking with people. No hanging up because you have another call,” Hayes said looking at Jack pointedly.
“Of course sir.”
Hayes nodded his head. “I’ll have someone do some checking on available offices that can be secured like you would need. It will take some time,” he cautioned as he held his hand out to direct Jack out of the office.
“It’s the best news I’ve had since the defeat of the Goa’uld sir,” Jack claimed honestly. “I’d think I’d owe you one if you could get me out of D.C.,” Jack joked.
Hayes smiled. “Just remember that I have December 25th in the pool Jack. If you and Colonel Carter were to ever get married that is,” Hayes said, looking extremely innocent considering the comment he had just made.
Jack didn’t even get a chance to respond as he was swept from the Oval Office.
//End Flashback//
Now Jack was glad that his house hadn’t sold. Mentally, he added calling the realtor to his list of to do things for this weekend. Right now though, he just wanted to change clothes.
Twenty minutes later, he was parked in front of Sam’s house, right behind a vintage black Mustang, which he knew didn’t belong to Sam, given that her Volvo was parked in the driveway. He tried the bell at the front door, and no one answered. He went around back, and still no one was there.
So he walked across the street to the park. It took him less than three seconds to locate Samantha Carter.
But he quickly realized she was walking hand in hand with none other then Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell. When he saw the man wrap his arms around her in a hug, he turned around and high tailed it out of there.
Suddenly, the fact Sam had sounded happier over the phone these past few weeks made sense. Her voice had been laced with an unseen smile and he hadn’t had to work as hard to make her laugh. Jack had attributed it to her having dealt with all the changes of the past few months- Jacob’s death, Daniel’s trip, Teal’c’s leaving, and his own transfer.
Deep in a corner of his mind, he had hoped that part of it was due to him.
Due to them.
The possibility of their future.
Obviously he had been wrong.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jack tried to put it off as long as he could, but eventually he ran out of excuses not to go back to her house. He had cleaned his house from top to bottom, unboxed some of the things that had still been waiting to be shipped to D.C., and officially removed his house from the market.
After all, Sam was the reason he had come here this weekend. If she somehow found out that he had been in town, and hadn’t made an effort to see her, there would be no safe place for him to hide.
Even Thor wouldn’t be able to help him hide from Carter’s wrath.
So Major General Jack O’Neill swallowed his pride, prayed to whatever real god was out there that Sam would be alone, and drove to Sam’s house once again.
It seemed that either his prayer went unheard or his luck had finally run out because the same black Mustang was still parked on the street.
Jack sighed and forced himself to get out and walk to her front door once more. The windows to the house were open, giving Jack an opportunity to hear the conversation that was going on inside, something that he was grateful for when he realized what they were talking about.
“Are you sure about doing this?” Sam asked, her voice showing her hesitancy. “I mean, I feel kind of stupid.”
“Just sit down and listen Sam,” a male voice begged.
‘Mitchell,’ Jack mentally tagged it.
“Okay, so here goes. We’ve been dating for a while now, and I realized something the other day. Not a day goes by that I don’t picture the two of us being together, which got me thinking. Dreaming actually,” Cam chuckled. “The other night I dreamed of us growing old together and having a family. When I woke up, I realized just how much I didn’t want that to be a dream anymore, but a reality. Will you marry me?”
All it took was hearing the laughter in Sam’s voice as she said, “Yes Cam, I’d be honored to be your wife,” for Jack to flee towards the safety of his truck.
For some reason though, his feet took him to the park across the street. Realizing that he really wasn’t in any shape to drive, he plopped down on a bench which gave him a perfect view of the front of Sam’s house.
He watched Sam emerge from the house a half an hour later, Mitchell’s arm thrown over her shoulder as they walked to Cam’s car. It took longer than it should have for him to see that Cam was all dressed up while Carter was dressed… down. Gone was the skirt and blouse from earlier. Those had been replaced by a pair of sweats and what looked like a faded, old Air Force t-shirt.
Sam walked Mitchell to his car, gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before giving him a shove towards the vehicle saying something that Jack couldn’t hear. He watched her even as Mitchell drove away, and as she realized that it was his truck sitting in front of her house.
As if she could feel his stare, she quickly located him from where he was watching. Jack watched the smile that had left her face when Mitchell had drove away return in full force. In fact, it looked like a full out Sam Carter smile that Jack had long ago decided was just for him.
Sam almost trotted across the street to get to him, moving as fast as her legs and the traffic would permit. But other then standing up, Jack didn’t move towards her at all, waiting to see how she would react to his presence.
What she did surprised him.
She threw her arms around him, and Jack had to reach out and hug her back otherwise they both would have toppled to the ground. He buried his nose in her hair while Sam’s head occupied his shoulder.
Jack didn’t know how long they stayed like that because he was enjoying having her in his arms. He didn’t know how many more times he would get to hold her like that, so he was going to take the time to enjoy every opportunity he got.
When Sam finally pulled back, Jack realized there were tears in her eyes. She had been crying and he hadn’t even realized it.
“Hey,” he said softly, using his thumb to wipe away the tears, “You can’t be that upset to see me.”
“Happy is more like it,” Sam said through her attempt not to laugh. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to town?” she asked as they sat down on the bench.
Jack shrugged. “I didn’t want something to come at the last minute,” he lied, not wanting to tell her that his secretary had been told that only a world ending crisis was going to convince him to cancel this trip.
Sam eyed him like she didn’t quite believe him, but let it go.
This weekend in particular, she didn’t care how or why Jack O’Neill was in town, only that he was. Samantha Carter hated to need people, but this weekend had always been one where she just needed someone to be there for her. Sam had almost been glad for the couple of times in the past eight years when SG-1 had been on mission, because she hadn’t even noticed the date until it was already past.
Even her dad had made an effort after he joined the Tok’ra to make it back to Earth for this date every year. He didn’t always make it, but she knew he tried.
But this year, he wouldn’t be coming.
In fact, she had thought no one was coming, which was why she had been so happy when Cam had shown up a couple months ago with an official transfer to the SGC.
They had been friends in their early childhood while their fathers were assigned to the same base. Though they were separated by the transfer of Jacob Carter, they had renewed their friendship at the Academy.
Until Cam had been shot down in Antarctica, Sam hadn’t even known that he knew about the Stargate. But she was more then happy to welcome him to her team as her temporary 2IC. It felt good to once more have someone she trusted watching her six.
Sam settled herself against Jack, leaning against his shoulder.
Jack stiffened slightly and then wrapped an arm around her.
“I’ve missed this,” Sam said.
“Huh?”
“This,” Sam said waving her hands around. “Having you around. It’s been too quiet in my lab lately.”
“Carter,” Jack said in mock disbelief, “Are you saying that you missed me?”
“Yeah, I am Jack,” she said emphasizing his name, something they had been making an effort to do ever since the trip to his cabin.
“Well Sam, I’ve missed you too,” he said, squeezing the hand that has somehow found its way into hers. “You wouldn’t know that we talk almost every day would you?” Jack chuckled.
Sam nodded in agreement. “I thought about calling and asking you to come out this weekend, almost as much as I thought about getting on a plane to see you in D.C.”
“I kind of figured that and I knew you would never ask,” Jack admitted. “But now I’m not sure if I should have come without calling.”
“What does that mean?” Sam asked heatedly.
“You’re got Mitchell to lean on now. I feel like I’m stepping on his toes,” Jack explained.
“Cam’s been great, but he’s not you,” Sam assured him. “I’ll never be as close to Cam as I am to you.”
Jack quickly untangled himself from Sam. “I’m not going to stop you from being happy Sam. I think I did that when you were engaged to Pete, but I won’t make the same mistake twice. I’ll always be your friend Sam, and I’ll be there if you need me, but he should be the one you talk to. He needs to be the one you talk to. I didn’t share as much as I should have with Sarah and it ended up costing me my marriage. I don’t want to watch you make the same mistake,” Jack said as he stood up.
He gave Sam one last look before rushing to his truck and driving home.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jack felt bad about leaving Sam the following morning.
Bad enough and guilty enough to pick up Sam’s favorite breakfast sandwiches and drive over to her house.
It was early but not too early for him to ring the doorbell, knowing that Carter would be up. He hoped that the one person who wouldn’t answer would be the owner of the black Mustang which had returned to its spot in front of Sam’s house.
But as Jack’s luck had gone all weekend, Cameron Mitchell was the one who opened the door, wearing nothing more than a loose fitting pair of sweats.
“Sir,” Cam said stiffening a little, as though he was going to come to attention.
Jack ignored his reaction, more concerned about the reason he was here. “Is Carter up yet?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” Cam said, stepping outside and partially closing the door behind him.
Jack eyed the younger man. “Can I go in?” he asked.
“Not yet,” Cam said. “We need to talk. About Sam.”
Jack put his hand up to stop Cam from continuing. “I’m just here as friend. Nothing more.”
Cam gave him the once over. “You sure about that?”
Jack glared at the lower ranking officer who had the guts to question him. “Yes,” he growled.
“Then as one friend of Sam talking to another friend of Sam’s,” Cam began, “Maybe we can figure out just why when came I home last night, I found a very red eyed Samantha Carter who wouldn’t tell me why she was so upset. Now if she had been crying over her mom or Jacob, I’m pretty sure she would have admitted it.”
“Now while I might not be the smartest guy in the world, but I’m not stupid either. Sam cried last night and you show up this morning. Forgive me sir for believing that it was your fault, but you have to look at things from my point of view,” Cam explained.
Jack continued to glare at the younger man.
And Cam glared right back at him. “Sam is one of my oldest friends and while I have always respected you sir, Sam comes first. If I let you in the house, you have to promise me that you won’t upset her. Today is bad enough as it is.”
Jack nodded in acceptance. “I’ll try,” he promised.
Cam stood back to let Jack into the house, swinging the door open in the process.
“By the way,” Jack said, “Congratulations on your engagement. You’re a lucky man.”
“Sir?” Cam asked confused. “How did you know about it already?”
“I overheard you asking her yesterday,” Jack explained.
“Sir,” Cam said, sticking his arm out to keep Jack from going in, “I don’t who you think you overheard me asking, but you’re wrong. I asked Megan while we were up in a hot air balloon yesterday afternoon. There was no way you could have been there.”
“Megan?”
“Yeah, Megan Thompson, she’s an old friend of Sam’s from when she lived here as a teenager. Sam introduced us when the two of us went to the Academy together. We kept in touch and when I came back here a year ago to begin physical therapy we started dating. Every time I was in town, we would go out,” Cam elaborated.
“So you’re not engaged to Sam?” Jack asked for confirmation.
“No,” two voices said at the same time.
Jack turned to look at a disheveled Sam that had found her way to the doorway.
“I’ve got it from here Cam,” Sam said, squeezing the man’s shoulder as he went into the house. She waited until they were alone to speak again. “You really thought that…”
“Yes,” Jack said quickly. “And why did I hear Mitchell asking you to marry him yesterday?”
“Cam was practicing,” Sam explained. “You know, he wanted to make sure he got it right, though for all the practice he did, he told me that he just ended up blurting out ‘marry me’.”
Sam snorted and Jack laughed as he pulled her into his arms, tightening his grip on her so as to never let her go.
Without worrying about the consequences, Jack leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.
When they finally parted, it was Sam who spoke first.
“Wow.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, his eyes twinkling as he held her close. “So,” he asked, “Does this mean I should practice my proposal with Teal’c or Daniel before I ask you?”
Sam looked at him curiously. I don’t think that will be necessary,” she finally said slowly, unsure where Jack was taking this.
“Okay, then marry me?” Jack asked. “Not tomorrow, or the next day but someday when you’re ready… I just don’t want to take the chance of you getting away again,” Jack explained desperately.
Sam had been watching Jack’s eyes during his unexpected proposal, and was shocked by what she found there.
He was a mix of emotions.
His eyes declared his love for her, a gaze of hope and longing that made Sam’s heart stop. “Are you sure?” she asked.
Jack chuckled. “Aren’t I the one who is supposed to be asking you that?”
“Yes.”
“I love you and don’t want to go another day without letting you know that. I want nothing more then to spend the rest of my life loving you, though it took me hearing another man propose to you to realize it. I don’t have a ring or anything to really offer here other then a promise that I’ll love you for the rest of my life,” Jack quickly added in a rush of words. “You don’t have to say yes right now, I’m willing to wait.”
“No. I mean yes. I mean I’ll marry you,” Sam finally managed to get out.
“Are you sure?” Jack asked with an attempted innocence.
Sam pulled his head down for a kiss, which was all the answer he needed.
When they parted, Jack slung an arm around her shoulder. “So what do you think about a Christmas wedding?” he asked as they walked into Sam’s house, thinking about the favor he owed the President.