Chapter Text
Pas de Quatre
“What the fu… oh, sorry, didn’t see you,” Jack said, grabbing the balding man he’d just slammed into to keep him from falling in his ass. He straightened the hunk of fabric where he’d grabbed the man by his shirt. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fine, no harm done,” the man responded, brushing at the wrinkle Jack had created on his sleeve. “Say,” he said, looking up, “you sure look familiar. Did we serve together?” His brows knit together and he scratched the side of his head with a couple of fingers.
“Air Force,” Jack said, putting out a hand.
“Army. ’Nam?” The man shook Jack’s hand.
Jack nodded. “Could be. Enlisted in the Army at 17. Motorpool. ‘68”
“Can’t be it, then. I wasn’t there ‘til ‘70. Lucky to get out alive.” The man shook his head, no doubt remembering a few close calls. “Wait. You said Air Force.”
“I applied to the Air Force Academy and got in. I wanted to fly.”
The man was about to respond when a leggy blonde tapped Jack on the shoulder. “Hey you,” she said, “I lost you.”
“Never gonna happen, Carter.” Jack laid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I just about knocked..” he paused.
“Mike,” said the guy.
“Down,” Jack continued. “We were trying to figure out where we know each other from.”
Mike was looking back and forth between Jack and Sam, confusion sitting in his forehead like a cloud, his pale blue eyes squinting in thought before his face cleared. “Hey,” he said, pointing at Sam,”I know you, too!” He snapped his fingers. “Give me a minute.”
“We’ll, you look familiar to me, too.” Jack shrugged his shoulders. “I got nothin.” He pulled his billfold out of his back pocket. “Tell ya what. We need to get a move on, but here’s my card. Shoot me an email if you come up with anything.”
Mike took the card Jack offered, then pulled his own out of his billfold and offered it to Jack. “You, too. Been nice talking to ya.” He held out a hand.
Jack gave his hand a shake. “Same.” He nodded to Sam and they wandered off down the aisle, leaving a perplexed Mike Somebody behind them.
“Jack?” Sam stepped from their house onto the coveted patio and slipped her arms around him, pressing up against his back. “What are you doing out here? It’s nearly midnight.”
He slid his hands along her forearms “Just thinking about that guy from the hardware store.”
“Do you remember him?”
He pulled her around to his front and wrapped his arms around her. “Not yet,” he sighed, kissing the top of her head. “There’s something familiar about him and it’s driving me nuts that I can’t figure it out.”
Sam stood up on her tip toes and put her arms around his neck. Her lips brushed across his. “You know,” she whispered in his ear, “I’ll only be here,” she nibbled on his ear lobe, “two more days.” Her lips moved down his neck. “And I have plans.”
“Do they include me?” He wasn’t above a little nibbling himself, so he went to work on her neck just below her ear.
“Yah sureyabetcha!” she said, stepping back. Their hands clasped as he followed her into the house.
Late the next afternoon he received an email with a picture attached.
Jenny said you might remember this. I don’t want to know. Michael