Classified
Classified
by Jackie W.
Summary: The two women in Jack's life finally meet. 5th in the In Demand series.
Category: Humor
Season: Season 6
Pairing: Jack/Sam
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 04/07/03
Title: "Classified (1/1)"
Author: Jackie W.
Email: jackiesfic@aol.com
Rating: PG
Classification: S/J Romance
Season: Season 6, After Changeling
Sequel to: In Demand, Momentum, Epidemic, and See Jack Run
Spoilers: None
Summary: When the two women that know all of his secrets meet, how will poor Jack cope?
Author's Notes: I have always had a soft spot for Sara O'Neill. (Not that I want her anywhere near Jack!) This is my tribute to her. She deserves some happiness. As always feed back craved!
Classified
Sara didn't really know why she was nervous. It wasn't as if she needed her ex-husband's approval to move on with her life. Frankly she had been surprised to hear his voice on the answering machine the week before. Other than a few brief meetings at Charlie's grave, they hadn't talked at all to each other in the last year. But she supposed it was the decent thing to do, to tell him she was getting married again. She would hate for him to hear about it from some random discussion with one of the few mutual friends that they still had. Besides, he had called her, saying he had something he wanted to discuss, so this would be a good opportunity to talk to him in person.
They had arranged to meet in the bar of a local restaurant. Will had dropped her off, and was at the back of the bar, playing pool. She wanted to talk to Jack alone first, but she needed her fiance close for moral support, and she thought she should probably introduce them to each other. Although Will actually had said that he knew who her ex-husband was, as Jack had taught various classes at the Academy, and Will was a full time professor there.
She barely glanced up when a group of people walked into the restaurant. Then she realized that a couple of them looked familiar. They had been with Jack over 5 years ago during that bizarre incident at the hospital. She still wondered about that whole episode to this day. The tall blonde, Captain Carter if she remembered correctly, scanned the bar, and upon seeing Sara, turned and said something to her three male companions. One of men she hadn't met nodded and he and the other two went off to the hostess desk, obviously to wait for a table. Sara was surprised to see that Captain Carter was headed her way.
"Mrs. O'Neill?" Sam said in way of a greeting.
"Captain Carter, right?" Sara replied. "And it's Sara."
"It's Major Carter now, but please call me Sam. The Colonel wanted us to let you know that he got tied up on base. He should be here in about 15 minutes," she explained.
"Thank you," Sara said, wondering if she should stay at the bar or wander on back by Will.
"I was going to get a beer. Do you want anything?" Sam Carter asked.
"Sure, I'll have a white wine," Sara accepted with a smile.
Well this was cozy. Luckily, Sara O'Neill had been a military wife for many years and could strike up a conversation with complete strangers easily. It was a skill that she was finding useful in the academic community as well.
"So, you've worked with Jack for quite a while?" she questioned the Major.
"I've been his 2IC for almost six years," Sam admitted.
"Wow! I didn't think that anyone could put up with Jack as a CO for that long," Sara said with a chuckle.
"I have to admit to almost throwing in the towel a couple of times," Sam confessed with a grin.
Just then Will Downing walked over to check on his fiance. "Sara, is everything ok?" he started, then recognized the woman she was talking to. "Major Carter, it's nice to see you," he said.
"Professor Downing, what a nice surprise," Sam exclaimed.
"You two know each other?" Sara inquired.
"Sara, do you remember me telling you about the brilliant lecture on Astrophysics I sat in on at the Academy a few months ago? Major Carter was the lecturer," Will explained.
"Astrophysics?" Sara repeated in surprise. "You're Dr. Carter!"
"Theoretical Astrophysics actually," Sam admitted. "And I'm guilty as charged."
"And you're Jack's 2IC?" Sara asked, more than slightly confused. Why would Jack have a scientist as his 2IC? It didn't fit with the type of work she assumed he still did.
"Yeah, I confuse the hell out of him," Sam laughed. "Most of the time on purpose!"
Jack O'Neill walked into the restaurant and headed straight for the bar. He was twenty minutes late, and he hoped that Sara wasn't too upset. Then he stopped short. There at the bar was his ex-wife and a guy who looked vaguely familiar, laughing along with his new wife. This could be very bad. Taking a deep breath, he shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled over to them with a casual air.
"Carter's not giving away state secrets is she?" he asked the group as he approached.
"Of, course not. Now as for O'Neill secrets, that's a totally different story," Sam teased.
"Hey! All of my secrets are classified!" Jack admonished with a grin.
Sara introduced the two men, who nodded at each other. Will then decided to make a strategic withdrawal.
"Major Carter, do you play pool?" he inquired, leading her away.
Jack caught Sam's eye before she left, and she silently let him know that she hadn't said a word about them to Sara. He let out the breath he had been holding.
"You're 2IC is very impressive. Nice, too," Sara commented.
"She should come with a warning label," Jack replied with a grin.
"Really? Why?" Sara asked, not sure she actually wanted to know.
"Besides the fact that she's way smarter than us? She's about to wipe up the floor with poor Will at the pool table," Jack said, nodding towards the back of the bar where the two had headed. "Will seems nice. I've seen him around at the Academy, but I've never actually met him before. Is this something serious?"
"We're getting married, Jack. In the spring," Sara said softly, watching closely for his reaction. Jack was a master at hiding his feelings from most people, but she had learned to read most of his thoughts by watching his eyes.
O'Neill let this news sink in. A few months ago, it might have hurt a bit. But now?
"I'm really glad for you Sara. It's good to see you laughing again. You deserve to be happy," he said. And he meant it. "So tell me about this guy. He'd better be good enough for you."
Sara looked at him in surprise, and then proceeded to tell him about Will Downing, who was a professor of chemistry, widowed with two pre-teen daughters. They had met two years ago at a party, and started dating shortly after that when a mutual friend had set them up. The two girls got along well with Sara, and Will had asked her to marry him a month ago.
"So you're going to be a step-mom. I'm glad for you. You were such a great mother, Sara," Jack said.
"Thank you, Jack," she managed to say, extremely touched. And once again she studied him closely. He seemed more at peace than the last time she had seen him. Maybe he had finally managed to move on, too. "So is there anyone special in your life?"
"That's actually why I called you last week. I didn't want you to hear through the grapevine. I got married six weeks ago," Jack announced with a smile.
"Married! That's great, Jack. Anybody I would know?" she asked, slightly surprised that she was actually ok with this news. Being so happy herself, she could only wish the same for him.
"You've met her. Blonde, way smarter than us, something of a pool shark," he quipped.
"Major Carter? Isn't that frowned upon?" Sara inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Court-marshable offence, in most cases. We found a loophole," he shrugged.
"Of course you did," she chuckled. "Jack O'Neill would."
"Come on, let's go rescue your fiance. And I would love for you to meet the rest of my team if you have time," Jack said as they headed back to the pool tables.
An hour later, Sara had to admit she was enjoying herself. Just as Jack had predicted, they had rescued Will as he was about to be beaten badly for the second time by an unrepentant Sam Carter. Then Jack had led them all over to a table occupied by the three men the Major had come in with, and had introduced the two newcomers to Jonas Quinn, Captain Wilson, and Teal'c, who Sara also recognized from that day so long ago. They had pulled up another table, making room for seven, and insisted that Will and Sarah join them for dinner.
They were a lively bunch, and Sara quickly got the impression that they were celebrating. An opinion that was confirmed a bit later when a short woman with reddish brown hair joined them and after being introduced as Dr. Janet Fraiser, she bought a round of drinks, claiming 'This round is on SG10 to thank you for helping them out with that little problem.' Sara had been surrounded by military secrets for enough of her life that she recognized that as code for being rescued. So, Jack was still doing the whole special ops thing in some way, although how a scientist and two civilians fit in she had no clue. Oh, well, another mystery to file away with the rest she had accumulated being married to a man that lived and breathed all things classified.
A couple of minutes later, Sara watched as Sam Carter (Or is that O'Neill she wondered) made her way to the ladies room. She had been waiting for an opportunity to talk to her alone, so she followed a minute later, and was waiting by the sink checking her make-up when Sam emerged.
"Sara! I didn't realize you were in here," Sam exclaimed.
"I just wanted a minute to talk. I feel like there are things that I should be telling you, but maybe you already know about them," Sara said nervously.
"If you mean about Iraq, and some of the missions before I met Jack, I know the basics," Sam admitted, after looking around to be sure they were alone.
"Good. There is a lot of emotional baggage that you are going to have to deal with. I just wanted to make sure you were prepared," Sara stated. "I never felt like I was really helping. Maybe you will have better luck."
"I have an advantage in that I have been in battle, and I have even been held prisoner," Sam confessed. "But you are wrong if you think that you didn't help him Sara. He once even admitted to me that the thought of getting back to you was what kept him going, crawling his way out from behind enemy lines with a skull fracture."
"Really? That's amazing. I don't think I ever heard Jack admit to needing anybody to get him through anything," Sara said shaking her head.
"But he does. Of course he was in severe pain with several broken bones when he let that out," Sam laughed. Then she sobered. "And he still does need you Sara. You and he share a grief that no one can intrude on. We shouldn't. It will always be something that you two have to deal with together. Will and I can only be there for support when you need it."
Sara nodded. It was the same with Will and the girls' grief over the death of his first wife, Joan. She would always be on the outside of that circle of grief, included only if they felt the need. She looked at Sam Carter with a new respect. The woman must have some experience with grief herself to understand it so well.
"Thank you, Sam. I think that you are just what Jack needs, someone who understands him enough to give him space when he needs it. And you obviously love him. I'm glad you two managed to find a way to be together."
"Thank you, Sara. And I understand him, alright. Enough to know that at this moment he is extremely nervous that the two of us have disappeared off together. He probably figures that I am pumping you for information," Sam smirked.
"Anything you want to know, Sam. You just call me. Maybe we should have lunch!" Sara laughed. "Jack won't know what hit him."
"Ooh, I'm so glad you said that. There is one thing that I am dying to find out. Jack knows everything about my family, but whenever one of us asks him about his, he just says it's classified," Sam complained. "So are there any in-laws I need to be worried about?"
The end (for now!)
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Jackie W.
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