Uncharted Territory
Title:
Uncharted
Territory
Author: Suz W.
Spoilers: After Space Race, Avenger 2.0, Birthright,
and Evolution (parts 1 and 2) (episode tag)
Feedback: Always
welcomed and gratefully appreciated!
Old
Stories Referenced: “Whispers
of Doubt” and “True Intentions”
Rating: PG-13, S/J Friendship, Romance, Hurt/Comfort,
and Angst.
Summary: At a
Disclaimer: All publicity recognizable characters and places are
the property of MGM, Sci-Fi Productions, 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.
Copyright: The original characters, situations, and story are
the property of the author. Copyrighted
on July 8, 2007, by
Dedication: This story is dedicated to
Aud! It was great to hear from you again
and I want to thank you for continuing to follow my series despite how busy
life is for you! Your support means a
lot and it’s because of dedicated fans like you that I continue to write!
Jack could feel the sweat coming off
his brow in a constant stream. He was
hot, tired, and very frustrated. Taking
one of his hands, he swiped at his brow as he continued to run at top
speed. He knew his body was going to pay
for it later, but this was the only way he knew to keep from blowing up at
everyone.
It was early in the month of May,
and already summer had taken its hold on the mountainous region of
Jack knew that he shouldn’t go for a
run in the middle of a hot day, but with everything that was going on inside
his head, he knew he had to get out and try to sort through some of what had
been going on before he went crazy. So
choosing the trail that a lot of personnel used because of its proximity to the
base, not to mention the shaded areas, Jack had started out at a fast pace and
had yet to slow down.
Of course the trail was the same one
that he and Sam had used several times together, if for nothing more than to
find a few moments alone during stretches of time when they couldn’t get away
from the base. It was also the same one
that he had followed Sam on after he’d gotten back from being trapped on Edora. They had just started seeing each other back
then, and Sam had been concerned that his affections for her had changed after
she’d seen Laira kiss him goodbye.
Jack slowed down his pace and tried
to shake off the old feelings of yesterday.
So much had happened between them since then, both good and bad, but one
thing had remained steady and constantly growing…and that was his love for
her. Jack had never loved another woman
so much in his life, including his ex-wife, and he knew he’d never love another.
But it was that same love that not
only thrilled him, but scared him half to death. Any idea of his life without her was
unfathomable, and so because of this powerful emotion, he was now being forced
to make a very hard choice. The past few
weeks had been almost unbearable, but it was that dreaded Monday, two weeks
ago, that had sent them both reeling into a new world in which they were lost
without the other.
Jack picked back up his original
pace again as his mind drifted back to that unexpected morning…
Jack
knocked on the door of General Hammond’s office and waited for his invite
in. Upon hearing it, he opened the
door. “Sir, you wanted to see me…” Jack’s voice faded off quickly when his eyes
landed on Sam’s face. She didn’t look
upset, but she did look uncomfortable, as if sitting in here with General Hammond
had been torture as they had apparently been waiting on him.
General
Hammond’s voice rang in his head. “Yes,
I did. Come in, Colonel, and shut the
door.”
Jack
did as he was told, trying his best to keep the uneasy feeling growing in his
gut from showing on his face. He had
received the summons to
Moving
over to the chair next to Sam, Jack sat down carefully, trying to act as
nonchalant as possible. Blowing out a
small breath, he spoke up. “So, what’s
up?”
General
Hammond studied both of them closely for a moment and then folded his hands in
front of him on the desk. With a serious
face, he finally spoke up. “There’s no
easy way to bring this up, so I’m just going to give it to you both
straight. A formal accusation of misconduct
has been brought up against both of you.”
Jack
steeled himself to his chair. “What kind
of accusation?”
General
Hammond directly answered his question.
“About a week ago, an airman working in this facility came to me
regarding the two of you. He stated that
he wasn’t trying to cause trouble for either of you, but he felt compelled to
report to me what he’d seen. According
to his account, he and his wife were at a local outdoor café recently when he
recognized the two of you.”
Jack’s
mind flashed back to that very café where he and Sam had recently shared a
casual lunch together. Looking over
briefly at Sam, he could see that she was remembering the same thing, along
with trying her best to remain calm.
Jack looked back at the General, speaking up with a slightly defensive
tone. “Well, excuse me if I’m wrong
here, Sir, but I didn’t know it was a crime to share lunch with a fellow
teammate and friend.”
Jack
knew his face had immediately paled in color.
As his heart began to race faster in his chest and his career flashed
before his eyes, he looked over at Sam, who was now visibly trying to keep
herself from bolting from the room under General Hammond’s gaze. Jack cleared his throat. “Well,” Jack said, trying to pull it together
as quickly as possible, “he saw wrong!”
Sam
finally found a voice to speak with.
“What’s happened, Sir?” She knew
her voice sounded weak and pathetic, but it was all she could do to maintain a
normal appearance.
General
Hammond addressed her question promptly.
“I had asked the young man not to relay this information to anyone else
since I still needed to address it with the two of you, but apparently he must
have told someone, because in a few days time, it has gone up the wrong chain.”
Jack
almost didn’t want to ask the next question.
“And what wrong chain would that be, Sir?”
Jack
could feel his jaw tighten as he took a moment before responding. When he did, his voice was full of
tension. “Let me guess…Kinsey wants some
sort of inquiry.”
General
Hammond nodded curtly. “Yes, but it’s
not going to be anything quick and easy.”
He took a breath before going on.
“The Senator wants a full investigation into the allegations. He has requested to top officials that a full
investigation begin immediately…and he’s not backing down.”
Jack
couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Please tell me their not taking him seriously!”
General
Hammond gave him a sharp eye. “Very seriously,
Colonel, and that’s another reason why I’ve asked both of you here today. As far as anyone is concerned, this meeting
is in regards to an upcoming mission and nothing more. And as much as I pride myself on following
the rules and seeing that everyone on my base does the same, I’m not about to
give Senator Kinsey anymore satisfaction than he’s already getting from this.”
Jack
looked over at Sam, who made brief eye contact with him. Sam returned her attention to General Hammond
first and spoke up. “So where does that
leave us, Sir?”
Jack
nodded. “Of course not, Sir…we just
appreciate the heads up.” Sitting back
in his chair, Jack went on. “So what
kind of investigation has our good senator ordered?”
General
Hammond looked at both of them before continuing. “Nothing simple, you can be assured of
that. Private interviews will be set up
for both of you to answer to the charges, and your actions will be monitored
closely for one month’s time. What I’m
not suppose to tell you about is that the monitoring includes following your
movements off world and on, along with places you go when you’re off base. And I would also plan on your phone lines
being tapped.”
Jack
almost came out of his chair. “But they
can’t do that, Sir! That’s an invasion
of personal privacy.”
Sam
shook her head slightly. “How are they
going to monitor us off world if it’s supposed to be without our knowledge?”
General
Hammond answered her. “Through rather
planting a spy in one of the teams that accompany you off world, or choosing
someone who is already assigned to this base to keep an eye on you. Either way, I will not be informed of who
this person will be. The only reason I
even know this much information about the investigation is because I pulled
some strings in
Jack
couldn’t believe this was happening.
“And when is this month-long interrogation supposed to start?”
Jack
pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. “And what guarantees do we have that this
will stop after a month?”
The
General gave him a look that told Jack all he needed to know, although
Despite
the General’s words of reassurance, Jack couldn’t contain his agitation. “Kinsey and his pack of bloodhounds shouldn’t
be allowed to conduct this investigation in the first place, Sir! This is ridiculous and you know it.”
General
Hammond studied him for a moment and then responded in a softer tone. “Look, Jack, I’m not going to put my opinion
on this situation…and I’m going to ask that you don’t press me further for
one. All I can tell you is that both you
and Major Carter have my support, and I’m simply trying to give you fair
warning about the weeks to come.”
Sam
and Jack both gave him perplexed looks, and wanting to avoid any further
questions,
As
the General stood up, so did Sam and Jack.
Offering General Hammond a brief smile and Jack a quick glance, Sam left
first and headed immediately out of the briefing room in the direction of the
control room. As Jack turned to leave,
General Hammond’s voice stopped him. “I
am sorry about this, Jack.”
Jack,
who had been looking in the direction that Sam had just gone, turned back to
General
Hammond moved over closer to Jack and lowered his voice. “Well, if an opportunity ever presents itself
for a little payback…”
Jack
turned his head in
Jack shook the memory from his head
as he wiped at that sweat dripping into his eyes. Remembering that meeting had only forced the
pace he was running at to increase. But
even though he was breathing heavily, sweating profusely, and pounding the
ground with his feet so hard it reverberated into his head, he didn’t care. Kinsey had in one punch made his life a
living hell, but it was the fact that he was causing Sam pain that kept his
blood at a constant boil.
So Jack ran on, trying his best to
pass this day, just like the last two weeks, as quickly as possible.
It had been two weeks. Sam sat at the edge of a small lake near the
base and stared out over its glassy surface.
The water, still murky and dark from the spring storms, reflected the
beautiful day on its calm surface. The
sky, a bright sapphire blue, cradled the hot yellow sun directly above her, its
heated rays beating down on the Earth relentlessly. The air was also humid, making it harder to
breath, though she hardly noticed. Small
droplets of sweat slowly trickled down the side of her face as she continued to
sit there; every few minutes, she would take her hand and wipe them away, only
to find new ones forming on her brow moments later.
But it wasn’t the heat that was
bothering her…it was her heart and the fact that it was breaking into pieces
over the ongoing investigation to determine if she and Jack had violated
military protocol. Of course they had,
time and time again, but it was a secret that only they and a few others
shared. They had always been so careful
and guarded, always making sure of their company before any emotions beyond
what was expected were expressed between them.
But one time, in one careless
moment, they had shared a kiss outside of a café. And now their world was under scrutiny, and everything
she and Jack had built was in danger of being torn apart. For the last two weeks, she and Jack had
barely spoken for fear of coming across as anything less than professional, and
it was slowly killing her inside. She
had buried herself in her lab and all the work she had there, only coming out
for the occasional meal and for the one short mission their team had embarked
on.
But two weeks had taken its toll, so
after finding herself making mistakes in her calculations, she decided to brave
the outdoors for a run and some much needed time away from everything. After several miles, she’d arrived at the
lake, the very same one that she had playfully pushed Jack into at the very
start of their relationship years before.
Deciding to take a rest from her workout, she had found a place along
the shoreline not far from the small waterfall that was running strong from the
melting snow in the mountainous peaks above.
Sitting down to reflect and take in
the quiet of the moment, she couldn’t help but find her emotions suddenly
overwhelming her. As her bottom lip
began to quiver, she could feel her throat tightening up as tears threatened to
fall. Determined not to cry, she brought
her mind back a short distance over the past two weeks and found herself
remembering the interrogation and her encounter with Senator Kinsey .…
Sam
felt like screaming as loud as she could.
Sitting in one of the interrogation rooms on the base, the cement walls
around her seemed to be closing in, and the cold, hard metal of the chair she
was sitting on was becoming extremely uncomfortable. The room was void of any color, or anything,
save the small, metal table and two chairs, one for her, and one for her
interrogator. Of course everything was
being filmed, which made her even more uncomfortable, and after almost an hour
of practically the same questions, she wasn’t sure how much more she could
take.
Trying
her best to stay focused and calm, she waited as the man before her made
notes. After a minute, he finally looked
up at her and spoke again. “Alright,
Major Carter, I think we’ve got as much as we need for now. But just to confirm your statement, you are
ascertaining that neither yourself nor Colonel O’Neill are not currently, and
never have been, in a relationship beyond what is expected of your job as a
military member of the Air Force?”
Sam
could feel herself losing it. “Oh, for
cryin’ out loud, NO!” Sam was so tired
of having to lie straight to this man’s face, and she knew that with every word
she spoke, she was condemning herself to an even great punishment if anyone
were to find out the truth. Looking
straight into the man’s face, she continued.
“How many times am I going to have to repeat myself? I’ve told you all I know.”
The
man, a Mr. Blake who had been personally assigned to this case by Senator
Kinsey, seemed unphased by her sudden outburst.
Continuing to give her a suspicious and cool eye, he went on. “And you deny all charges that have been
brought against you?”
At
this Sam stood up. “Look, Mr. Blake, I
know you’re just doing your job, but this interrogation is over. I’ve answered all your questions, multiple
times, and frankly I’ve had enough of your accusations. If you have a problem with me leaving, I
suggest you speak to General Hammond!”
With that, she turned on her heal, opened the door, and walked out,
slamming it a little louder than she intended too.
With
her back against the door, she closed her eyes for a moment and took in a
cleansing breath, trying to compose herself before her colleagues saw her. She wasn’t use to having sudden outbursts of
emotions like that, especially during an official interview. But the man had pushed her to the breaking
point, and she was sure he had been instructed to do so.
Trying
to shake off what had just happened, she stepped away from the door and rounded
the corner, only to run into Senator Kinsey, who had apparently exited the
witness room right after she had and was waiting for her with an expression on
his face that spoke of nothing but hate.
After
a moment of just facing off with each other, Sam was determined to walk past
him without a word until he opened his mouth.
“Let me make something perfectly clear, Major. You’re done with your interview when I say
you are…or at least until I’m satisfied that all the questions have been
answered.”
Sam
just stared back at him, doing her best to keep herself from just reaching out
and hitting him. “I did answer all of
his questions…all the man was doing was repeating the same thing over and over
again, so forgive me if I choose not to have my time wasted. Now if you’ll excuse me…”
As
Sam started to move around him, she felt his hand come around her arm and grip
it tightly. Looking down at it for a
moment, she glared up at him. “Let go of
me…now.”
Kinsey
just stepped in closer to her. “You both
think you’re so smart…you can deny it all you want, but I know there’s more
going on that what you two lead everyone to believe. You just finally managed to screw up enough
for someone to see it, and now you’re trying to cover your tracks.” Gripping her arm even tighter, he went on,
keeping his voice low. “But you’re not
going to get away with it. I will make
it my personal mission to expose the two of you!”
Jerking
her arm slightly to try and free herself from his grip, she winced slightly as
his fingertips just dug in harder.
“Kinsey, you’re hurting me…now let go!”
As
Kinsey was about to say something else, Jack’s voice suddenly interrupted. “You heard the lady, Kinsey, so I suggest you
do it!” Jack’s voice growled with anger,
imitating the expression on his face. But
when Kinsey didn’t release Sam’s arm immediately, Jack grabbed Kinsey’s arm and
dug in his own fingers until Kinsey finally dropped Sam’s arm and jerked his
out of Jack’s grip.
Kinsey
just glared at Jack as he rubbed the spot where Jack’s fingers had been. “You’d better watch yourself, Colonel. You’re already in enough trouble as it is!”
Jack
countered back at him. “Kinsey, I don’t
give a rat’s ass what you think you know…but if you lay one more hand on
Carter, you’re gong to live to regret it.” Stepping fully between Sam and Kinsey, Jack
lowered his voice. “I’m sure you haven’t
forgotten our confrontation at her house?
I made a promise to kill you if you ever laid a hand on her again!”
Kinsey
just gave him an evil smile. “You’re not
going to do anything, especially here, Colonel O’Neill. But your defense of her goes a long way to
prove my point.”
Jack
just continued to look at him. “I’d
defend a snail against you, so of course I’m going to defend Carter. She’s my teammate and friend…two things you
don’t understand.” Looking back at Sam,
he took a step back and then grew an equally unwelcoming smile on his
face. “As for carrying out my promise, I
don’t necessarily have to be the one to do it…although I’d prefer it.”
Kinsey
snapped back at him. “Don’t threaten me,
Colonel…you don’t scare me as much as you’d like to believe you do.”
Jack
crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe
not, but I’m sure that Teal’c might be able to get a rise out of you.” At the mention of his name, Teal’c suddenly
appeared from around the corner, a dark, towering figure with eyes that were
focused only on Senator Kinsey. His arms
were held behind his back, causing the muscles in his arms to become emphasized
as they tightened and flexed with each movement he made.
Coming
to stand beside Sam, Teal’c gave her a brief nod of acknowledgment before
returning his hard stare to Kinsey’s face.
Standing in one of the permanent shadows in the hallway, only half of
his face was clearly visible, and the expression he held on it was anything but
friendly. With his deep-throated tone,
he spoke up. “Are you in need of my
assistance, O’Neill?”
Jack,
who was watching with amusement as Kinsey became visibly uncomfortable,
answered him. “Maybe.”
Kinsey
took a small step back as he pointed a sharp finger at them. “I will not be strong-armed by any of
you…including your
Teal’c
moved forward out of the shadows and came closer to Kinsey. “I have taken down men much more vulnerable
and pathetic than yourself; do not think it would be hard for me to dispatch
you.”
Mr.
Blake, who had emerged from the interrogation room, stood behind Kinsey looking
confused and ready to bolt. Kinsey took
another step back. “I do not have to put
up with this! I’m here on official
business…General Hammond is going to hear about this!”
Jack
responded sharply but in a lower voice.
“Go ahead and report us. I dare
you to do it…then you might be able to also explain to the General why one of
his best officers now has bruise marks on her arm from where your fingers
were!” Jack hadn’t yet actually seen
Sam’s arm, but from the look of pain that had been on her face when he’d come
upon them, he knew that Kinsey had left a mark…and for that alone he wanted to
kill him.
Kinsey
took a moment to think about what Jack had just said, glancing over at Sam, who
was now rubbing her arm. “This is
ridiculous!” Looking back at Mr. Blake,
he continued with an angry tone. “Come
on, Blake. We’re through here for
now.” Looking directly at Jack, he went
on. “But this isn’t over with,
O’Neill. I may not be successful in
proving the truth about you and Major Carter this time, but you can be assured
that I will always be watching…and waiting for my opportunity to ruin both of
you!”
With
that, he turned and stormed down the hallway, with Blake directly at his heels. They all watched until he’d disappeared
around the corner. Jack turned around
and looked at Sam, giving her a small smile.
“You okay?”
Sam
nodded. “I’ll be fine…I’m just getting
tired of this. I think I’d be able to
handle it better if this investigation wasn’t being handled by him.”
Jack
tightened his jaw muscles. “Kisney’s an
ass, and everyone knows it…at least we have that much going for us. No one at least on this base is going to give
much credit to anything he has to say, least of all General Hammond.”
Sam
looked like she was going to respond but then didn’t. After a moment of silence, she changed her
facial expression and spoke up. “Well,
thanks for coming to my rescue. You both
showed up at the right time. I was
getting tired of his endless ranting.”
Jack
nodded at her arm. “Well, I’m just sorry
we weren’t around sooner. That bastard
had no right to leave his mark on you.”
Sam
gave him a weak smile. “I’ll be okay…I’m
hopefully this will be over soon.”
Nodding in the direction of the elevators, Sam went on. “I’d better get going. I’ve got a lot of work to make up for the
hour I just wasted with them.” Not
wanting to linger any longer than was necessary, she thanked them again and
walked away, without looking back. She
could feel Jack’s eyes on her back and desperately wanted to turn around and
just run into his arms. But with all
that was going on, she wasn’t sure how long it would be before she would get to
have his arms around her, and that desperately worried her…
Sam could feel a tear tracking unnoticed down
her face. Sniffing, she was about to reach
up and wipe it away when she felt a gentle hand touch her shoulder. Surprised, she turned around and found Jack
squatting beside her, his eyes tracking hers with concern. As she gave him a weak, sad smile, Jack
reached up with one hand and used his thumb to wipe away her tear as his other
fingers gripped the side of her face.
Taking her hand, she placed it over
his that was holding her face and pressed it in a little more as she
momentarily closed her eyes in order to trace the memory of his touch into her
mind. After a few seconds of silence,
Jack’s voice broke into her quiet sanctuary.
“Sam, look at me.”
Sam opened her eyes, which were now
wet around the edges and took in a ragged breath. “Sir…what are you doing here?” Releasing his hand, she got up suddenly,
forcing Jack’s hand from her face and causing his balance to waver
slightly.
Jack stood up and looked at
her. “Sir? Come on, Sam, I seriously doubt Kinsey’s got
a spy hiding in the bushes. We didn’t
leave the base together, but apparently we had the same idea…and I guess fate
is just being a little kind today.
Frankly, though, I can’t believe we didn’t think about setting up a
secret meeting place like this where we could at least talk.”
Sam swiped a hand over her left
cheek and then looked at him. “But
that’s just it…I wouldn’t put it past him to have someone following us, even
out here. The man is a snake in the
grass, and after all the lying we’ve been doing…” Her voice faded out as she quickly turned
away from him as her tears unwilling began to fall.
Jack reached out and took her
shoulders, squaring her to face him again.
He could see how much agony she was going through, and it mimicked his
own. He wanted nothing more than to
destroy Kinsey for putting them through this, but he knew that bringing up his
anger would not do either of them any good.
“Com’ here…”
Sam shook her head as his arms
pulled her closer. “No…we can’t! It’s too risky…” As she struggled to free herself from his
grasp, Jack gave her body a slight shake and then took his hands and gripped
both sides of her face.
“Carter, listen to me! I don’t give a damn if Kinsey does have
someone watching…there’s no harm in me holding you. We need to keep our focus, yes, but we also
can’t let this opportunity pass us by.”
After giving her a moment to process what he’d just said, he could feel
her body relaxing as her emotions started breaking down. Pulling her towards him, he wasted no time
bringing his arms around her and wrapping them tightly, pressing her body into
his.
Sam’s arms slowly reciprocated, and
then she broke down in a wave of tears that ripped at Jack’s heart. Sobbing on his shoulder, he held her tightly
as he allowed her to cry, with silent tears of his own finding their way down
his cheeks. Minutes passed and the world
waited for them, with time holding its breath to give them the peace their
souls needed.
Sam finally took in a ragged breath
and then relaxed her grip on his body.
Pulling back, she looked into Jack’s face and noted the tear stains on
the surface of his cheeks. Reaching up
with one hand, she wiped at them, and then tried to give him a soft smile. “I’m really sorry, Jack. I guess these last two weeks have been
nothing short of a living nightmare, and I just feel lost in a fog, unsure of
which direction to turn and who I can turn to.”
Jack nodded. “I can understand that…it’s been nothing
short of hell, and all I’ve been wanting to do is hold you and reassure you
that I’m not going anywhere. I love you,
and I’m not going to let anything get in the way of that. We can get through this, you know, and we
will. We just have to give it a few more
weeks.”
Sam wanted to believe it was going
to be that easy, but she knew better than that.
Taking a step back from him, she turned and looked over the small lake
before them. “Jack,” she said, her voice
unusually small sounding, “you know it’s not going to be that simple…you know
that Kinsey’s not going to just drop this.
No matter what General Hammond does to keep him from officially watching
our every move, he will be watching unofficially,
especially now that he’s been presented with evidence that points him to the
truth of our relationship.”
Jack watched her carefully for a
moment and then moved around her to face her directly. “Sam, don’t tell me he’s actually got you
scared? Kinsey can’t do anything to
us…as long as we don’t give him anything while he’s officially investigating
us, there’s nothing he can do…even if he finds something out unofficially. He’d have to explain how he came about the
information, and Kinsey’s not one to be backed into a corner.”
Sam just stared at him for a moment
before replying. “But that’s just it,
Jack, I am scared. I’m scared for us,
for what it will do to our careers and reputations if someone finds out we’ve
been lying to them all this time, and I’m scared of how this will affect those
whom we know and care about…particularly the ones who don’t know we have this
secret relationship. They’re the ones
defending us! So how do you think
they’ll feel if they find out that we betrayed their trust?”
Jack shook his head and ran a hand
through his hair. He could feel his
nerve endings begin to vibrate. “I’m
banking on them understanding! It’s not
like what we’re doing in our relationship is affecting our jobs. I think we’ve done a good job at keep that
separate for the most part.”
Sam gave him a wry smile. “And how long are we going to be able to do
that? I just don’t know how much more of
this lying I can handle, Jack.”
Jack crossed his arms over his
chest. “Then I’ll retire.”
Sam could feel her frustration mounting. “But that’s just it…I know you would, but you
can’t…not now. There’s too much at stake
for our world, and I know you well enough to know that quitting isn’t an option
you could live with. You’d grow to
resent me…”
Jack interrupted her. “Not likely.”
Sam took her hat off and ran a hand
through her hair, gripping the ends of it for a moment. “You would…rather you can see that or not, if
something were to happen to this world after you retired early, you’d blame yourself
for not being there to help. And that
would come back maybe not directly on me, but on our relationship.”
Jack threw his hands up. “Then tell me what to do then, because from
where I’m standing, I don’t see any other reasonable options…and losing you
definitely isn’t one.”
Sam covered her face for a moment
and shook her head. “I don’t know!” Dropping her hands, she could feel fresh
tears beginning to surface. “Jack, I
love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone, and I know that will never
change.” A runner suddenly appeared on
the main trail not far from their position.
They both looked at the man, who seemed to not pay any more mind to them
then a quick glance as he continued on.
Jack watched as Sam looked nervously
around them. Pointing in the direction
the man had just gone, Jack spoke up.
“That man is not some hired thug for that bastard…it’s just a guy
running.”
Sam shook her head. “You don’t know that for certain.” Looking down at her watch, she sighed
heavily. “I don’t know what the solution
is, Jack. All I know is we can’t keep
talking about it here. We’re not getting
anywhere.”
As Sam started to walk back towards
the trail, Jack followed closely behind.
“Well when are we going to talk about it? Because I can promise you I’ll be on your
doorstep at 12:01 AM on the first day we’re allowed to go back to living a life
that isn’t monitored practically every second.
I’m not going to lose you, Sam…I love you too much and there’s no way
I’m giving Kinsey the satisfaction of making our lives anymore miserable then
they already are.”
Sam stopped and turned around to
face him. With her voice soft, rather
from fatigue or the fear of someone overhearing them, she spoke up. “I’ve got a mission coming up in a week with
the Prometheus to go retrieve a hyperspace engine from an Al’kesh. We would have already left, but the ship is
undergoing some crucial system checks and maintenance and it’s delaying our
trip. After I get back, this whole
investigation should be over with…we can talk then.”
Starting to turn, she stopped and
looked back at him. After a moment, she
moved forward towards him and gently placed her hands on either side of his
face. Giving him a sad smile, she spoke
up as her words floated over to his ears like a gentle breeze in a dream. “I love you, Jack O’Neill…never forget
that.” And in the flutter of a
heartbeat, Sam gave him a swift yet tender kiss before turning and picking up
her run again.
Jack stood there and watched her go
until she disappeared around the corner.
Turning to the lake, he suddenly felt a chill that reached into the
depth of his bones, and it left him terrified.
On such a hot day, what sense did it make to experience such a
sensation? The only thing he could
imagine was that it had to do with Sam…something was on the horizon that had
him terribly worried, only he couldn’t place what it was.
Looking in the direction she had
just gone, his mind rewound what Sam had just said… “I love you, Jack O’Neill…never forget that”. If he didn’t know any better, what she had just
said almost sounded like a goodbye, but for his sanity’s sake, he didn’t allow
his mind to take that notion any further.
Time, always the dictator of their fate, would tell the tale soon
enough.
Next Story---> "Into A Darkening Abyss"
Was it angsty enough for you??