Jack nods absently and follows her up the path.
"Big kitchen, sunken living room, good yard." She stops to face Jack and says with a wide smile, "Perfect for a family, Colonel O'Neill."
It's the first house Jack has looked at, the first realtor he's talked to. She assumed he was being transferred to Colorado Springs and had come ahead of his wife and kids. He saw no reason to put himself through the truth again.
Inside, there's a fire burning even though there's no furniture. The previous owners are already gone.
"You see, here, the steps into the living room," she says. "And just look at the stonework on that fireplace."
Jack wanders down the steps, hands slung in the pockets of his jeans. The room is dark and he likes that. The last place had windows everywhere. Sara's living in it again; Jack put most of his stuff in storage, moved into a motel, and called Sara's father to say she could keep the house. The conversation did not go well.
The realtor flutters on to the dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, basement. Jack follows, not really listening. He checks out the plumbing briefly, notes that the heating system and hot water heater are only a couple years old, and figures he can buy a stove and refrigerator later in the day. They can probably get the walkthrough done by the end of the week.
She leads him outside. The yard is big enough, not that Jack will have any use for it. "There's an unfinished deck on the roof," she says, pointing. "The family was transferred to North Carolina before the work was completed."
Jack backs up and looks up. It has no stairs yet, but the railing is done and he can make out the general size. "Six by twelve?"
"Seven by twelve, actually." She smiles. "Do you watch the stars, Colonel O'Neill?"
The sky is blue and bright as he tilts his head back. He's pretty sure he knows where Abydos is from here. "Sometimes I look up, yeah," he says.
Sometimes, Jack thinks that if Daniel hadn't buried the gate, he'd shoot his way into Cheyenne Mountain and dial it up himself. Daniel showed him the symbols, and it would be so easy -- find a pretty girl, chart some alien stars. Hunt the big hairy things and bury the gate again, no turning back.
"I'll take it," he says, still looking up.
He's been thinking of buying a telescope anyway.
Thanks for reading!