The First Ten Years

[jack_and_sam]

Title: The First Ten Years
Author: suzannemarie
Rating: PG
Spoilers References to various episodes throughout the series
Prompt: Bonsai

Summary: On the eve of Sam's departure for Atlantis, the original SG-1 has one last get together, leading to a quiet conversation about leadership at the end of the night.

“Says the man who kissed a girl and then got really, really old,” Daniel teased. He traded smiles with Sam who was dispensing fresh drinks.

“You caught a little case of old age yourself when you jumped into Machello’s body,” Jack reminded him.

“Machello tricked me.”

“So did Kynthia!”

“With cake.”

“Oh like it’s so much better that you fiddled around with instruments that you knew nothing about in a strange scientist’s lab,” Jack replied. “You always have to touch.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You fiddle with everything,” Daniel said.

“I do not.”

“You’re doing it with the bottle caps right now,” Daniel pointed out.

Jack set the bottle caps down on the coffee table and picked up his beer bottle with a glare. “Not the point.”

The conversation faded into the background for Sam as she took a seat and smiled into her drink. She could not think of a better way to spend her last night at home on Earth. Her SG-1 teammates had thrown a lively going away party for her earlier in the week. It was a night she would remember for a long time. (Who knew Siler was so gifted at karaoke?) As fun as that event had been, she was glad that the fortuitous timing of General O’Neill’s arrival at Cheyenne Mountain for a briefing allowed for a quiet get together with the original SG-1 before her departure. Sam had made a souffle. Daniel brought pizza. Jack brought beer. Teal’c brought his copy of Star Wars and a hopeful look.

Jack’s incredulous that’s where the plan to take out Anubis’s ship came from? followed a few minutes later by and that’s why Teal’c wanted me to insist on being called Red Leader? upon finally watching the movie had been a highlight of watching Star Wars. Now, with the movie watched and all personal news caught up, the gathering had settled into one of reminiscence and teasing. It had been a very good night.

Sam returned her attention to the conversation.

“You’re the one who put your head into that head sucker and wound up sharing a body with Merlin.”

“You’re one to talk. You put your head into one of them and had the entire Ancient database downloaded into your head. Twice!” Daniel retorted.

“That’s why you should have known better!” Jack told him.

“Wha-- So... It’s do as as I say, not as I do?” Daniel asked.

“I prefer to think of it as leading by example,” Jack said piously.

Daniel shook his head in exasperation.

Sam caught Teal’c’s eye and grinned. Teal’c gave her the barest nod in return, a gleam in his eyes.

“Teal’c?” Jack and Daniel appealed to him simultaneously.

“I see no reason for this dispute. You have both done equally foolish things many times,” Teal’c told them calmly.

“Well that’s just--” Daniel started.

“As if you’ve never done anything foolish,” Jack talked over Daniel.

“No such occasion comes to mind,” Teal’c said.

“No?” Jack asked.

“No.”

“What about the time you just had to take on Tanith’s ship from the ground?” Jack asked.

“I got my revenge.” Years later, Teal’c still sounded satisfied.

“Teal’c, you were almost killed when you didn’t re-materialize in the SGC after Tanith’s ship crashed into the gate,” Daniel pointed out.

“And I had to team up with Maybourne to save you,” Jack complained.

“Nevertheless, Shau’noc was avenged,” Teal’c said.

“Well, that was the most important thing,” Jack said sarcastically.

“Indeed.” Teal’c looked benignly at Jack.

“You really were just a few seconds away from being erased forever,” Sam interjected. “I have to agree with the others, waiting for a more advantageous moment against Tanith might have been wiser.”

“I merely made use of the opportunity before me to eliminate a Goa’uld,” Teal’c said. “My actions were entirely appropriate to the situation.”

“You don’t think you might have been pursuing your own agenda?” Sam suggested.

“At worst, my agenda intersected with the larger one.” Teal’c paused. “I was not, for example, taking risks for the sake of competing in a race,” he concluded pointedly.

It was Sam’s turn to be indignant. “We got access to some very useful technology because of that race,” she protested.

“Yes, it was very selfless of you to co-pilot a ship in the name of science,” Jack said drily.

“The race was just a nice side benefit,” Sam said loftily.

“A nearly fatal side benefit,” Teal’ pressed his point.

“That was a completely unforeseeable circumstance,” Sam said.

“Teal’c’s right,” Daniel said. “Getting technology was the side benefit of running the race for you. Especially since you participated in the race again the next year.”

“You too Daniel?” Sam gave him an injured look.

Daniel offered a impudent head tilt and shrug in reply.

“You came in second, didn’t you?” Jack goaded her.

“If someone hadn’t directed an energy pulse at our engines on the home stretch we would have won.” The incident still rankled. “I’ve never seen so many cheaters.”

“But at least you got access to useful technology.” Again Jack spoke drily.

“That really was the most important thing,” Sam recited with a grin. Then her smile faded. “They won’t be running the Kon Garat again for a long time,” she said sadly.

“They have a tough road ahead of them,” Jack agreed soberly. “But Hebridan has the resources for recovery.”

“So many worlds are in the same boat or worse,” Daniel commented with a sigh.

“Indeed the swath of destruction left by the Ori forces was wide,” Teal’c said.

Sam broke the brief melancholy silence. “At least it looks like they’ll have the time and peace to rebuild. There doesn’t seem to be another galactic threat on the rise at the moment.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Daniel said.

“If it doesn’t, we’ll deal with it,” Jack said firmly.

Nods greeted Jack’s statement.

Daniel stretched and looked at his watch. “On that note, I have an early call tomorrow for that check-in visit to Cimmeria.”

“Say hi to everyone for me,” Jack said.

“Will do.” Daniel picked up his glass as he stood. “A toast?”

Everybody followed suit.

“To good friends and new horizons,” Daniel said.

Various bottles and glasses were clinked together and all drank. They stood looking at each other, reluctant to break up the gathering.

“Well,” Jack said.

“Well,” Daniel repeated.

“When do you leave?” Sam asked.

Daniel looked at his watch again. “In five hours,” he said ruefully. “Not really worth going home. I’ll try to catch a couple of hours of sleep at the base.”

“So you’ll probably be gone before I get there,” Sam said.

“I imagine so,” Daniel replied.

“Then I guess this is it.” Sam spoke quietly. Her new assignment and impending departure was becoming more real to her by the minute. She smiled weakly at Daniel.

“This is it,” Daniel agreed.

Sam stepped forward to hug him. “I hate saying good-bye,” she said.

“Me too.”

“Has it really been ten years?” she said.

“Seems more like nine to me,” Daniel said.

Sam made a choking noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a sniffle.

“I’ll miss you,” Daniel continued. “Atlantis is lucky to be getting you.”

“Thanks.” Sam smiled at Daniel as she let him go.

Daniel smiled back. “Anytime you need an archaeologist.”

“You’ll be my first call,” Sam assured him.

“Good.” Daniel turned to Teal’c. “Is Jack taking you back to the base or do you want a ride with me?” he asked.

Teal’c looked at Jack.

“Why don’t you go ahead with Daniel,” Jack told him.

Teal’c nodded. “I will accompany you, Daniel Jackson,” he said.

Sam walked Teal’c and Daniel to the front door. They stood for a moment in the doorway, breathing in the chilly night air.

Finally, Sam reached out and rubbed Daniel’s arm affectionately. “Take care of yourself,” she said.

“You too,” Daniel hugged her one more time.

“Good-bye Daniel.”

“Bye Sam.” Daniel walked away.

Sam turned to Teal’c with a watery smile.

“I will save my good-byes until tomorrow,” Teal’c told her. “For now I will say good night.”

“You’ll be around before I leave?”

“Of that you may be assured. I will see you once more before you depart.”

“I’m glad,” Sam smiled. “Good night.”

“Good night, Colonel Carter.”

Sam watched Teal’c get into Daniel’s car. Daniel started the engine. She waved as the car drove away. Taking a deep breath, she closed the door and walked back to the living room.

Jack was nonchalantly tossing a bottle cap from one hand to another while he looked at the books on Sam’s shelves. As Sam busied herself picking up plates and glasses, Jack turned to help.

“You don’t have to do that, sir,” Sam said.

“Okay.” Jack followed Sam into the kitchen carrying an armful of dishes.

Jack set down his dishes and glanced around the room. “Your kitchen has tiny trees in it,” he observed, looking at three plants lined up along one of the counters.

Sam followed Jack’s gaze. “Yeah, I thought I’d try my hand at bonsai plants.”

“How long have you been doing that?”

“A few months. A scientist at the SGC is an avid bonsai gardener. We got to talking about it one day and after I’d expressed an interest she gave me those three plants as starters.”

Jack’s attention zeroed in on one of the trees. “Is that some kind of avaunt guard bonsai?” he asked curiously, pointing.

Sam groaned inwardly. Of course that would be the one he would notice, she thought to herself. She began filling the sink with soapy water. “I was trying to even up a section that had a couple of twigs sticking out. I overcompensated a few times with some of my cuts. It got a little lopsided.”

The bottom of the tree was very symmetrical. The further up the tree went, the more uneven it looked. One side was very obviously trimmed more severely than the other. Sam braced herself, anticipating further comments from Jack. When he picked up the plant to study it more closely, Sam became very interested in the dishes in the sink.

“So is bonsai a relaxing hobby?” Jack asked.

“Not at the moment.” Sam vigorously washed a plate.

Jack changed the subject as he continued to study the tree in his hands. “So, are you nervous about your new posting?”

Sam hesitated. “Yes, a little,” she finally admitted. “That’s probably not what you wanted to hear.”

“I’d be worried if you weren’t nervous,” Jack told her.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you nervous when you took over the SGC?”

“Yeah. It’s a big step to be responsible for all of the decisions and lives of an entire base.”

“It never showed.”

“I saved it for the resignation letters,” Jack said.

“You resigned?” Sam asked.

“I have a file filled with resignation letters that I’ve written over time.”

“I find it soothing,” Jack added in response to Sam’s incredulous look.

“If you say so,” Sam said doubtfully.

“Just wait,” Jack advised. “Two weeks and you’ll be writing your own letter.”

“It was two weeks for you?”

“One, actually.”

“How many of these letters have you written?”

“Oh I lost count after awhile. At least twelve.”

“Were you really serious about resigning?”

“I was the first time, but it took so long to get the letter written because of everything that was going on, by the time I finished it I’d changed my mind. After that, the letter writing was more like a relaxation exercise. You just have to make sure you don’t turn it in by accident.”

“Any words of wisdom to pass on that don’t involve resignation letters?”

Jack picked up a pair of clippers lying near the bonsai trees. “You mind if I...?” When Sam looked back at him, he waved the clippers in the direction of the lopsided tree in his hand.

Sam sighed. “Oh why not? I don’t suppose it could look that much worse than it does now.”

Jack studied the tree again. Then he quickly and decisively began cutting. A few minutes later he set the tree and the clippers down. Brushing the trimmings into his hand, he looked around for a waste basket.

“Under the sink,” Sam said.

Sam rinsed suds from the last dish and set it in the drainer to dry. She moved across the kitchen to examine the bonsai tree while Jack discarded the clippings. The tree was noticeably barer than the other two bonsai trees in her kitchen, but it was now, to all appearances, symmetrical. “Have you done this before?” she asked.

“No.”

“How’d you do it so easily?”

“I wouldn’t say easily.”

“I spent an hour of heavy concentration and ended up with what you saw. You spent five minutes and it looks like this.”

Jack shrugged. “I just looked at it long enough to get a feel for the way it’s growing and then tried to cut in the same direction. Once I saw what seemed like the way to go, I just followed.”

Sam regarded him with a mixture of aggravation and admiration. He had always had a way of applying a deft and simplifying touch to things. “Like a version of measure twice, cut once?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “There’s your advice. Figure out what you want to do and what your orders will be and then follow through. Once a decision is made, move forward. Change plans if you need to, but don’t pick at or second guess everything. If you don’t commit to a course, you wind up with bonsai trees that look like this one did.” He gestured toward the formerly asymmetrical tree. “Don’t be reckless, just be decisive. If you’re not, your people will lose confidence in both you and the mission.”

Sam leaned against a counter and gave Jack her full attention. “Any other dos and don’ts?”

Jack also leaned against a counter. He looked thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment. “You’ve been in charge before, you know this stuff. But here’s what General Hammond told me when I asked him the same question.

“You have good people under you. Let them do their jobs. They won’t always do things the way that you would, but if works, stay out of their way. Take them to task if you have to, but always stand behind them.

“Don’t let them walk all over you. Get all the input and advice that you need, but don’t forget that in the end it’s you who makes the decision.

“Treat everybody fairly and be consistent. If people can’t be sure what to expect from you, they won’t trust you.

“You will make mistakes. Others will make mistakes. No one likes it. But how mistakes are handled is almost always more important than the mistakes themselves. Looking for ways to solve the problem is usually better than casting blame.

“In the end, you’re going to have to figure out your own way of leading the expedition. I can give you advice. Others can give you advice. But you’re going to have to find the style that works for you and the ones under your command. I have every confidence in you.”

Sam nodded appreciatively.

After a moment’s thought, Jack gave a sly smile. “Also, I’d avoid all references to the locations of various reproductive organs.”

Sam flushed and looked down with a resigned smile. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?” she said.

“Nope,” Jack said cheerfully.

Sam brightened. “I’ll also remind people to stick to field rations so as to avoid any unexpected marriages,” she said.

“Touche,” Jack said good-naturedly. “While you’re at it, you might remember to not make any wormhole connections that go through a sun.”

“Well I hardly think that will be an issue with the Atlantis dialing device.”

“All the same, with the Asgard not around anymore for backup, if there’s a choice between going through a sun or not, I recommend not. I’m just saying.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. While I’m at it, I’ll try to avoid sticking my head in various Ancient devices.”

“Probably a wise decision. You might also try to head off any vengeance quests of your people.”

“And I’ll encourage people to not die repeatedly.” She paused. “Or to die even once for that matter,”

“Absolutely. You wouldn’t believe the paperwork that death entails. I also recommend not pissing off any powerful alien races. Or any additional powerful alien races.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You know what?” Jack concluded. “Just consider the past ten years an object lesson in what not to do.”

Sam smiled. “How about if I take a few lessons from the things that went right too?”

“That’d be okay,” Jack conceded. “A few things did.”

“Maybe that’s the lesson,” Sam said more seriously. “Look at all of the ups and downs we had, but in the end, things almost always came out okay.”

Jack gave her a nod. “If you take away nothing else, take that. When you do your best and give the people around you enough latitude to do their best, more often than not, things work out. Whatever you do, never stop trying. You’ll be fine Carter. Everything you’ve done for the past ten years has prepared you for this.”

They were were both quiet for a few minutes, lost in thought.

It’s been a hell of a decade,” Jack finally commented.

“Indeed.”

They smiled together at Sam’s word choice.

Any anxiety that remained for Sam about her imminent departure was beginning to be joined by feelings of anticipation. She didn’t know what her future on Atlantis would hold, but she was looking forward to finding out.