Pulling away from the clinic and into the mild traffic of the late evening, Jack tried to start some kind of conversation with his now pensive Major.
"So, you want to stop for a quick bite to eat before heading back to the house? Or I’m sure Ma’s got something in the kitchen she could whip up easily."
"Actually, sir, that’s not necessary. I think I’ll just see if I can get a hotel room near the airport and see if I can bump my flight up to leave in the morning or early afternoon. If you’d just drop me by the nearest hotel, I’m sure I could find something available."
More than a little disappointed, and not willing to let her off the hook that easily, Jack attempted to change her mind.
"Carter, I thought we agreed earlier to stay at my mom’s place and hang out. Remember, watching movies that don’t involve Sci-Fi or ancient cultures, no pesky commentators on why the writers or directors changed the true nature of the plot. Come on; don’t bail out on me now. I’d hate to see you holed up in a boring hotel room with an uncomfortable bed, tiny bathroom and lousy cable TV."
Going for the jugular, Jack continued thoughtfully, "Besides, Ma would be devastated if I came back without you. She’s dying to get to know you better, since you did manage to avoid answering all her extremely personal questions. I think she maybe even thought you didn’t like her or something."
Noticing the frown on her face, Jack quickly amended, "But if you really don’t want to stay, I’m sure she’d understand. She knows you’re going through a lot right now and wouldn’t be offended if you decided to go home. I know I won’t mind if you need a little time to yourself, just don’t think I’m not here for you if you need me."
"Thanks, sir, I appreciate that, really. And I did promise your mom that we’d go back to her house, so, okay. Let’s get going. Enough moping around, I’m not about to start this fight sitting down and crying to myself."
"Good for you, Carter. Now, about the food, do you want to stop and get something or…"
"Let’s just get home, I’m sure your mom has something edible in her fridge, unlike her son." Smiling smartly at the Colonel, Sam would never forget the ‘experiment’ growing in a salsa container at his house.
"Ha ha, very funny. So do you like liverwurst? It’s one of mom’s favorites." Grinning evilly to her, he asked, "Or maybe she has some of those pickled pigs lips still on hand?"
"Sir, that’s just plain sick. I wouldn’t dare touch, much lest taste anything so revolting. Please tell me you don’t eat that stuff."
"Just kidding, though I’ll have you know, I’ve eaten worse over the years. That yeast stuff the Clone pod people gave us was just about the nastiest crap I’ve ever had."
"Worse than the slop they fed us in Hadante?" They both grimaced at the reminder of the ‘prison’ where they met Linea.
"Definitely, at least that goop had texture. Though I’ll admit the gruel that Calder had us eat was pretty bad, too."
The blush rising in Sam’s cheeks at the mention of the memory stamp planet unsettled him, so Jack hastened to change the subject.
"Okay, how about PB & J, can’t go wrong with that, can we?"
Grinning brightly, Sam answered, "Sounds perfect."
"Great, two Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, some milk and a couple of movies and we’ll be set for an evening of fun. What’d ya think about that?"
"Too tempting to resist, if I may say so, sir. Your mom won’t mind, that we’re not sampling her home-cooking, will she?"
"Nah, Ma always loved making sandwiches for us kids. Saved her the hassle of cooking and then cleaning up. Plus, it gave her time to do the things she wanted to do." Jack explained.
"What sort of things did she do?" Sam asked curiously, anxious to know more about the mother of her C.O."Did she have any hobbies?"
"Why don’t you just ask her? She’d love to tell you all about herself."
Jack pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine.
"Here we are, any second thoughts?"
Sam unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to him. "No sir, not anymore."
Smiling at her response, Jack got out of the car and led Sam into the house.
Snuggling deeper under the covers, Sam tried in vain to sleep. It wasn’t that the bed was uncomfortable or that her ribs were hurting, but the position she was in was definitely not the one to which she was used to sleeping. The fact that she was not alone in the bed, may have added to the sleeplessness that she now suffered.
How could this have happened? How had something so innocent turn into something so dangerous? Not that similar scenarios like this hadn’t arisen, SG-1 was always walking into a seemingly peaceful place and then all hell erupted; but at least out in the field, she could explain, even reason with herself, that it was out of necessity.
‘Body heat is very important in cold places. It is important to maintain a level body temperature in order to maintain a level head.’ If the Colonel’s reasoning was enough to convince General Hammond and the CMO of the SGC, who was she to argue?
The current situation, to put it mildly, was definitely not one of those cases. There was no misdial or Stargate malfunction, no ice cavern or cold power plant, just a big mistake that she had caused by her very presence at the O’Neill house. Sam refused to believe, much less admit to herself that she really didn’t mind way things had played out.
The arm that encircled her waist and the hand that rested gently under her shirt, occasionally twitching or unconsciously groping her breast should have angered her beyond reasoning, but it didn’t. She felt a sense of comfort with the pressure of his hand there. As if she had always imagined it would, not that she dwelt on silly things like her C.O. fondling her.
No that would most surely be against everything her whole life had stood for; she was a strong willed, independent woman who didn’t need a man to be fulfilled. She had her family - sort of; a career - that took up all her free time; and friends - who, when needed, would lend themselves to distract her from the feeling of loneliness she carried with her on a daily basis.
Dragging her mind from the depressing thoughts, Sam reconsidered exactly how this ‘event’ came to be.
It all started when, after two very old, yet still enthralling movies, Jack suggested that they turn in for the night. The room at the top of the stairs on the right was to be hers and he was to stay in the one across the hall. Sam went into her room and changed into the shirt and shorts that were laid on the bed. The familiar smell of soap and cologne told her they belonged to Jack, and that he’d worn them recently. She didn’t mind, in fact, it was nice to know he’d thought of her in that way.
She barely heard the knock at the door downstairs, but she did hear the loud and exuberant welcome Jack gave the intruder.
"Patty, what are you doing here and at this time of night?" he asked.
"Well, Jon, what a surprise? What on earth are you doing here? How long have you been in town? How long are you planning on staying? Has something happened? Is mom okay? Jon, answer me Dammit."
Jack just laughed and pulled her into a bear hug, and invited her and the others with her into the house.
"To answer your questions, one at a time I might add, I’m here for a short visit, only been here a couple days, staying a couple more days and no nothing’s happened, Ma is fine."
Turning to the man standing beside his sister, Jack extended a hand, "Matt, it’s good to see you again."
Looking down at the two youngsters, he added, "Geez, you boys are huge, what’s your ma feeding you, Miracle Grow?"
Laughing at their uncle’s antics, James and Chris shook their heads. The elder of the two, James responded, "No Uncle Jon, just lots of vegetables."
"Bummer, huh?" Chris added.
"Definitely, a bummer. Patty, how dare you feed your children healthy food like that, don’t you know what that can do to a kid? Just look at me, scary huh?"
Turning the conversation back to the original questions, Jack inquired, "So what does bring you to Chicago in the middle of the night?"
"Matt’s sister Grace was in a car accident. Being her only next of kin, the police called him. We came as soon as we got the call. We drove all day and Matt’s going to go on to the hospital now. We didn’t think Mom would mind if we stayed here, but I guess we should have called first."
"Nonsense, you can stay here. Matt, I’ll take care of the family, you go check on Gracie." Giving his brother-in-law a nod, Jack closed the door behind the departing man.
His attention back to the boys, he whispered, "Now Grandma’s asleep, so go really quietly to the room at the top of the stairs, the one on the left, not the one on the right."
"Okay, thanks Uncle Jon." Both boys grabbed their backpacks and headed up to their room.
Guiding his sister into the living room, and onto the loveseat, Jack gave her the opportunity to vent her feelings.
"Thanks Jon, for everything. I’m glad I didn’t have to wake Mom up this late. I had worried about that part. Matt barely said two words the whole seven-hour trip. I think he’s scared. It frightened him that the police called because she couldn’t, and then the fact that they insisted he come immediately and didn’t give any details except that she was taken to County General. He doesn’t even know if she’s alive. Oh Jon, what if she doesn’t make it? What will we do? How will we explain it to the kids? How do I comfort all of them and myself as well?" Breaking down in sobs, Patty wrapped her arms around her older brother.
In soothing tones Jack gently rubbing her back and held her as she cried. "It’s gonna be alright, Patty. No matter what happens, you and Matt will get through this, just make sure you’re there for each other, that’s what matters the most."
Pulling back swiftly, Patty gasped, "Oh Jon, oh, I’m so sorry, I can’t believe how thoughtless I’ve been. I didn’t think- I mean – I just, oh Geez, I’m so stupid. Here I am crying on your shoulder when you’ve…"
"Hold it right there, Sis. Don’t go there, please."
His voice husky with emotion, then he cleared his throat and admonished, "You’re not stupid and you know you can cry on my shoulder anytime. I’ve dealt with the past - to some extent anyway - and it doesn’t make your grief less worthy or real. I love Gracie like a little sister and would hate to think of anything happening to her. Even so, you and Matt need to grieve together if things don’t turn out for the better."
Lowering his voice to avoid being overheard, Jack admitted, "I know, believe me, I know. But in the end, it was for the best that we didn’t. Neither of us was willing to admit that it had been over for along time and when he, uh—well, when the one thing binding us together was gone, we were done. I had figured out years before that if anything unimaginable happened, Sara would leave. I guess I just didn’t think it ever would, you know…happen."
Patty leaned into her brother’s embrace and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She stood to leave, and replied lovingly, "Goodnight Jon, and thanks for everything. You’ve always been there for me, even after all these years. I love you, you know that right?"
"Yeah, I do, back at ya. You and Matt take the room next to Ma’s. Will he be back here before morning?"
Seeing her negative response, Jack nodded, "Go to bed, I’ll lock up."
Upstairs in her room, Sam wondered what all the commotion was below her. Obviously something important must have happened, because the Jack O’Neill she knew wouldn’t put up with trivial problems that often arose in the middle of the night. For a while the muffled conversation peaked her interest, but the sound of footsteps on the stairs jerked her to attention. Pretending to sleep, Sam was relieved when she heard a young voice whisper sharply, "No you nitwit, your other left."
Sam buried her head in her pillow in order to stifle the giggle threatening to erupt. Listening to the muted sounds that filtered through the floor, she heard the sound of a door closing and a car pulling out of the driveway. Also, she could barely hear the distraught voice of a women crying. Sam was almost certain that she could hear Jack speaking softly in a comforting tone. The low rumble of his voice alerted her to the fact that he had intentionally lowered it, possibly so what he said could not be heard except by whom to which he was speaking.
Not long after, Sam could hear movement and a soft closing of a door at the bottom of the stairs. Unsure what had transpired, she was sorely tempted to ‘sneak a peak’ as Cassie would say. Her recognition of the footfalls on the stairway immediately terminated that idea. The creak of the bedroom door and the dim light from the hallway nightlight was enough to convince Sam to once again feign sleep. The soft click of the latch and gentle padding of bare feet across the room was almost more than she could take.
What the hell was he doing??? As the bed dipped down, she could feel him lying down beside her. Unintentionally tensing at his touch, his whispered breath in her ear was almost her undoing.
"Sam, something’s come up and I had to give my sister and her family the spare rooms. And before you ask, there is no way I’m sleeping on that couch, and neither are you. It’s a loveseat, for cryin’ out loud and no one, not even Anubis deserves that, got it."
Shifting down into the covers, Jack yawned deeply and finished with, "Night Sam. I’ll explain it all in the morning."
Returning her thoughts to the present with the night nearly at dawn, Sam lay surrounded in her Colonel’s- no, not hers- the Colonel’s arms and hadn’t yet managed to fall asleep.
Despite the fact that she’d had little sleep the previous nights due to the soreness of her wrapped chest, worried about the visit to the clinic and several weird and disturbing dreams, Sam still couldn’t find it in her to make herself relax enough to sleep.
Too many thoughts raced through her now weary mind. What did this mean? Was he trying to tell her something by sleeping with her—no, not that way - didn’t she wish it was, though?
Did she? Was his arm and hand there out of an old habit developed during his past marriage or was he actually telling her in his own subconscious way that she belonged with him?
Too exhausted to argue with her herself any longer, Sam finally gave in and admitted to her heart and mind that this was where she had always wanted to be, in Jack O’Neill’s bed, in his embrace. Wiggling slightly to regain a more comfortable position, Sam sighed with contentment and allowed the drowse of sleep to descend upon her.