Chapter Text
unexpected invitation
Art by @Vikielll
It was a quiet morning as Sam finished her paperwork in her lab. Soon the time would come and she would have to pack her stuff.
It would not be an easy farewell, after all she felt comfortable here.
Sam sighed and was typing the last few lines when her phone rang.
"Carter?...are you serious?"
"Sir...Hi.." she smiled when she heard Jack's voice through the phone.
"You're determined to set a new overtime record, aren't you?"
Sam looked at her watch and hesitated,
"It's half past five..." she replied simply.
"And you haven't been home for the past week and the weekend before ...four days until Christmas, Carter and you get nothing better to do?" he asked in an incredulous and reproachful tone.
Sam smiled,
"I know, sir. I just wanted to get the rest of the paperwork over with...before I...uh, did you...did you want anything in particular, sir?"
she asked with cautious shyness, trying to distract from the painful thought of parting. Atlantis scared her a little, but she wouldn't admit it. Expectations were high and she wanted to do her best.
"No, I just wanted to invite you to my pool party..well, it's a shame..it's over now."
Sam frowned
"It's way too cold to..." Sam sighed, "you don't even have a pool...right?"
"No..but if I had one, I would..."
Jack's mind wandered briefly.
- how does Sam look like in a little blue bikini?
"..I'm saying, Carter...if you only think about work, you're missing out on the best."
Sam stifled a giggle
"Yes sir...I'll keep that in mind next time."
"Well.. and now to the actual reason for my call..."
Sam waited anxiously. After all, Jack wouldn‘t call her at the SGC just for having a little chat with her.
"Your birthday, Carter…"
Sam briefly lost control of her body and her head sank onto the desk.
"Did my brother call you?"
she asked while covering her eyes with one hand.
"No, he emailed me..."
Sam rolled her eyes and made an annoyed sound at how annoying he could be.
- He didn't... he wouldn't...why?
Jack continued happily, telling her how he and Mark had talked at Jacob's funeral.
He'd given him his email address, and how they both were so much into hockey.
But Sam stopped listening.
- Why can't he just drop it?
"..Anyway we both thought you should have a farewell party, after all we won't be seeing each other for a while.." he said.
- Why is he interfering in my life again? Isn't it enough that he knew about the SGC since Dad's funeral?
"And because your birthday is coming up, it would be a good opportunity..."
- He arranged the thing with Pete and it went terribly wrong. It wasn't his fault..yeah, but I've become more careful because of that.
"I offered him my cabin and he'll take care of the guest list."
- Surely, he would try it with one of his colleagues again.
"That's a great idea, right?...we haven't had a team night in a long time and Mark is bringing some friends with him..."
-Of course, it's not a privilege to still be single at the age of 40, but I still work a lot and there's only one man...god, yes...whom I can't have...but if he would ask me for something, I would do anything in the world...the answer could be so simple..but it is far more complicated.
She sighd
"That‘ll be great, hu? ...Carter?!" Jack called and pulled Sam out of her thoughts.
-Wait, did she already say yes? To what? And what had Jack just said?
"uh, sir, I don't know if..."
"Oh Sam, don't worry. I'll take care of the beer.. we've got everything under control."
Yes, she feared that and leaned back exhausted in her chair.
"Sir, I didn't want to make a big deal out of this...I..." she sighed
"I know that, Carter...thats why we will do this."
She imagined his mischievous grin
"Well, I guess I don't have any other choice..right?...."
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear!" he said happily.
Jack hadn't been to Colorado since his re-promotion to Major General and the two hadn't seen each other for at least that long.
He missed the team evenings together and he missed Sam even more.
"Looking forward to seeing you soon, Carter." He ended the call and Sam's heart did this sweet little jump. With a flushed face she just said,
"Yes sir..uh..see you then."
And at the same time she cursed herself for not following his wording.
- Yes sir, see you then?! How about 'I'm looking forward to seeing you too'? You are..why..can't you say it?
She laid her head on her arms, which were crossed on the table, and wanted to crawl under them.
Sam sighed and thought about what it would be like once she got to the Pegasus galaxy. Then her mind wandered back to Jack with a smile.
- Actually, I'm glad we'll see each other again before I‘ll leave. That I will go the Atlantis for sure means we won't see each other again, for weeks or even months.
She lifted her head and the smile turned to a serious, sad look.
Then she looked at her calendar and the slight smile, crossed her lips back again.
- 9 more days..then I'll finally see him again...