Chapter Text
Jon had already left for school, so Sam was enjoying some quiet time. Despite having a long day ahead to look forward to, she hummed happily as she scrubbed down the kitchen. While the business was coming together, at the moment, she was having trouble finding the right fixtures for some departments. She frowned in frustration as she thought about the arduous task of contacting new vendors for supplies. She didn’t want boring, metal, big box shelves, which was all that she had seen. She understood the value in making changes that would make her store easy to navigate and still be efficient.
Maybe she should ask John Sheppard or Jack for their advice, but she hated that she couldn’t figure it out on her own. She sighed and blew at her bangs. Of course, she needed help. She’d spent years taking over other people’s businesses, but she never actively thought about starting her own until she met Jack.
While working at Stargate Investments had made her heaps of money, she was just glad to finally be out of that company even though she had filed a lawsuit for unjust termination. That had strictly been retaliation by her former boss and not in any way related to her performance.
Truthfully, she was concerned about West coming after her or Jack in some other way. Her former boss was often vindictive and reputedly had a a history of doing such things. Absently she bit her lip in worry. She had something here that she wanted, that she needed. Something she hadn’t had in a very long time and part of her was terrified it would all disappear like an ephemeral puff of smoke at a magic show if she closed her eyes for just a second too long.
Unaware of Sam’s inner turmoil, Jack was resetting a display in the front window of his own store. Harry had just called him, all but begging him to take the surplus off his hands. Chuckling to himself, Jack told Harry he will only pay cost. After all, Harry was the one who was desperate to unload too much stock before the end of his fiscal year. Jack only needed to fill in a couple of holes, he was perfectly able to stretch out their available products until the new merchandise arrived.
Behind him, a work crew was noisily drywalling the new area of the store. Jack had complained to the landlord about remediation and been given a green light to contract the repairs out rather than take another wash on the rent.
Jack smiled in amusement. Poor old Richard had lamented the bargain Jack had driven about the empty store front; it had sat empty for over two years, so he’d been losing money all that time. He’d boasted that he could talk Sam into renting the space, but Jack had laughed outright. Sam’s ambitions were a bit bigger than a tiny shop front that used to be a deli. It had been a good deli too, Jack thought.
Since meeting Sam, his thoughts would often turn to her. So much so, that he was fully aware that she not pulled up to either shop thus far this morning. He checked his watch and noted that Jon would already be at school. So where she was? Not wanting to spend ten cents just to pepper her with questions, Jack sent her a quick e-mail.
As he stared out the window, he subconsciously massaged his knee gently. Occasionally he would join her during her morning runs, not every day as his knee needed a couple of days to recover every time he did so. Sacrificing his body just to spend time with her had to account for something, didn’t it?
And then he pulled at his lip thoughtfully while he waited and continued to reflect on Sam. Which led him to the next question: just what exactly were they?
They had spent Christmas together at the house on Willow, chaperoned by Jon and Teal’c. In the past few weeks, their relationship had settled into what Jack supposed could be called comfortable. They had a very romantic New Year’s Eve night as his house after Jon had pointedly told them both that he’d been invited to the house of the girl he liked in art class. Her older sister was apparently quite popular so there was a big group of high school kids who came to celebrate with parental supervision and alcohol free. As her parents worried the girl he liked had no friends, they were delighted she’d finally invited someone even if it was a boy.
Jack had sent the kid off with his blessings that night. It was a quiet evening, not wanting to be in a bigger social setting. They watched Dick Clark cuddled on his living room couch until they got more interested in exploring each other instead.
Jack grinned just thinking about that night. It had been everything he’d hoped for and more. He even managed to drop by the house before work if he got up early enough and send the boy off to school before turning his attention to Sam.
Everything but one small thing and he could understand after the way he’d acted that she’d be cautious only days after they made up… but a month had passed since. And still it was unsaid.
Jack frowned. The worst part was she had no trouble at all saying those words to his nephew.
In his office at Peterson Air Force Base, Cam was busy checking the flight logs of his students when his personal phone rang. “Mitchell.” He said once he’d flipped it open so whoever was calling him this time would know he was at work and didn’t have time to chitty chat.
He was more than a little surprised to hear Sam’s hobby store owner/boyfriend on the other end. “What can I do for you, Jack?” He asked almost absently as he made notes on one of his students’ results that they needed more instructor time.
After hearing Jack’s run down of the last few weeks and his question, Cam decided they needed a face-to-face. This was a way more complicated answer then he could really cover over the phone in a five-minute call. “There’s a bar on Wilcox just your side of Castle Rock. Do you know it?”
Jack thought for a moment. “The one with the steer on the front?”
“That’s the one. Meet me there tonight at 2100 hours.”
Jack was surprised by Cam’s response but curious enough to want to find out why. “All right.”
“And don’t say anything to Sam. She’d kill me.” Cam admitted before he hung up.
Jack looked at his closed cell phone in his hand. What the hell? What could Cam possibly tell him that would piss Sam off that much if she knew he knew? Now he was more confused. Had Jack been thinking clearly he’d know better than to snoop behind Sam’s back after their last misunderstanding, but he couldn’t figure out why she wouldn’t—
His phone rang. “Hello?”
“Jack, are you at Abydos? Is Sam there with you?” George asked him directly.
“Yes, and no. I just e-mailed her a bit ago. She’s not over at the new store yet either.” He answered.
“I’ll call her. Stay put.” And with that George hung up on him.
Jack stared at his phone in confusion. This day was really piling on the weird.
Half an hour later, Sam and George showed up at Abydos just about the same time.
“Jack.” George greeted the younger man. “Why don’t we all have a seat and some coffee.” He suggested.
Sam moved to start the coffee maker for George when Jack’s voice called out to her. “I’ll do it, Sam.” He had no intention of letting her think any time someone asked for something on his stomping ground that he expected her to fulfill that want.
“What’s going on, Mr. Hammond?” Sam asked him, removing her coat.
But George was busy bustling around moving chairs to Daniel’s office so they could all sit. Once he had things the way he wanted them, Jack had returned with coffee for all three of them which he laid on the desk. George pointedly shut the office door.
Sam and Jack sat when motioned to do so and waited for him in anticipation.
George gave them a pleased smile before he started to speak with obvious glee. “After our little Christmas incident at my grocery store, I contacted an old Air Force friend I served with some time ago who is now in the Colorado Division of Child Welfare.”
“I’d take it by your behavior it went well, sir?” Jack asked him.
George preened for a little bit, ignoring Jack’s honorific for a change. “Our lovely, esteemed agent Vandersus is a contract employee.”
“I figured that. No one working directly for the department terrorizes kids on purpose,” Jack growled.
“And as such,” George all but crowed, “she is bound by certain rules.”
“Ones she broke, I assume.” Sam said.
“Oh yes. Several of them, in fact.” He grinned. “Having done so, she is now under review and is not allowed to contact anyone from any of her cases until the investigation is concluded.” George beamed. “I suspect that will take several months. At which point, Jon will have long since moved in with you and him staying by himself will no longer be an issue,” he said to Jack.
“That’s wonderful!” Sam said to George and then gave Jack a beaming smile.
“I agree.” George told them.
“Thank you, sir.” Jack finally said, relief clearly in his voice.
“No need to thank me, son. I was only doing my civic duty out of concern for the way she was scaring your nephew. The first goal of CPS is keeping families together, not tearing them apart.” He said sagely.
Sam and Jack both nodded in agreement.
“So now that that’s out of the way, how are the renovations going for each of you?” George asked them, picking up his coffee.