Title: Resistant to Change

Author: Devra

E-Mail: paravati@optonline.net

Status: Complete

Category: epilogue, drama

Pairings: none

Spoilers: Old Debts, by MajelB

Challenge: Response to challenge #3

Season: 3

Rating: PG

Content Warnings: mild language

Summary: Jack has an epiphany regarding a member of his team.     

Author’s Notes: This story was in response to my beta Jenn’s Old Debts series. Hope this epilogue does that wonderful story justice. Many thanks to Jenn for her genius work on both writing and betaing…you are the absolute best. Almost forgot… Resistant to Change is in response to Challenge #3 on her website.

Resistant to Change

By Devra

Jack laughed to himself as he exited his house holding two bottles of beer, sliding the door shut behind him. Teal’c was inside watching and attempting to understand the humor of the Marx brothers. He had introduced Teal’c to the Three Stooges, Daniel upped him with Abbott and Costello, Jack had retaliated with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and today Daniel had thrown down the gauntlet with the Marx Brothers. Based on the expression that Teal’c wore on his face, Jack wasn’t too sure if the stoic Jaffa was really comprehending their strange brand of comedy.

The day was warm, hot almost, and you could feel the promise of summer in the air. Jack had invited the team over for a barbecue. The charcoal was lit and ready, and now he was just waiting for Carter before he threw the burgers on. The last mission had been harder than normal, and the team had been on prolonged down time to accommodate for their recovery. After careful consideration, Jack came to the conclusion that they just needed some time to reconnect with Earth, and each other, before their return to SGC on Monday.

Jack stood over Daniel, who was stretched out on a lounge chair soaking up the sun. Shaking his head, he swore his archeologist was part lizard, enjoying the heat and sun that would leave him and Carter begging for air conditioning. Daniel had removed his shirt over an hour ago, and with his sunglasses on, he wasn’t sure if Daniel was sleeping or not. Jack tapped the chair with his leg, but the other man refused to move. Secure in the knowledge that Daniel was Daniel and surely hadn’t put on any type of sunscreen, Jack realized that their resident archeologist was going to end up with a painful sunburn if something wasn’t done. Now, on a good day, Daniel was impossible to wake up. Getting him to go to sleep was a job unto itself, but trying to get Daniel out of bed required hazardous duty pay.

Jack shook the bottles of beer so the condensation dripped onto Daniel’s bare torso. Nothing. Tapping the chair a little harder this time, his only response was a sleepy “Go ‘way”.

“Daniel,” Jack called. This elicited absolutely nothing. With a wicked grin Jack tilted one of the bottles to pour onto Daniel when a commanding voice cut across his yard yelling, “Sir, don’t.”

“Oh Carter, shit, you’re no fun.” Jack handed her a bottle of beer as she approached.  She placed the bag she was carrying on the grass and took the beer.

Taking a sip, she looked down at Daniel. “Looks like it’s going to be painful sir.”

“Don’t I know it…what do you suggest we do to awaken Sleeping Beauty, here?”

“I have just the thing. Daniel asked me to get him something when I went to the store this morning.” Reaching into the bag she had placed on the ground, Sam pulled out a sack of ground coffee beans. Opening it, she stuck it under Daniel’s nose and waited a second for the desired result.

Daniel’s eyes opened as he inhaled orgasmically at the contents of the bag. Sitting up, he took the bag from Sam’s hands continuing to inhale with a blissfully stupid expression on his face. “Wow! Thanks Sam, what would I do without you?”

Sam smiled halfheartedly as an unbidden vision of their last mission, featuring Daniel and the others tied to posts and being beaten because of her, sprang to mind. She hastily shrugged it off.

“Jack can I brew this now?” Daniel asked expectantly.

Jack shook his head in wonderment. Great. That’s all they needed…a caffeine-high, sunburned, and he was sure by the end of the day, intoxicated, archeologist.

“Sure Daniel, but first, put on some sunscreen…or your shirt”.

“Why?”

Jack glanced at Sam with a ‘Well, duh’ look on his face. Queued, she leaned forward and gently poked Daniel’s shoulder.

“Ow, oh damn. Point taken.” Daniel grabbed his shirt from the ground, held tightly to the sack of coffee like it was a treasured artifact, and entered Jack’s house.

“Mission accomplished, sir.” Sam and Jack touched beer bottles in a toast.

“Colonel?”

“Up here Carter. Plenty of room.” Sam took the hint and began climbing the ladder up to Jack’s observation deck. As she neared the top, he leaned over the railing and helped her the last few steps up to the roof.

“How’re they doing?” Jack asked with a smirk on his lips as he resettled into his chair.

She turned to him with a full-fledged smile on her face. “Thank God we don’t report to SGC until Monday, sir. Daniel is going to need at least a day to recover.”

Sometime over the course of the day, Sam demonstrated her talents as a bartender and introduced Daniel to Mississippi MudSlides and then progressed to Irish Coffee after dessert. Sam laughed. “You know, Colonel, I decided that deep down Daniel really is a lush, as long as the drink contains coffee or chocolate.”

Jack grimaced in sympathy as to how Daniel was going to feel in the morning.

Sam seemed to read his mind. “Don’t worry sir, I gave him a full glass of water with four aspirin and when I left him he was sitting on the couch trying to explain to Teal’c the comedic qualities of Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble vs. The Honeymooners. I firmly believe that Teal’c hopes he passes out soon so he can have some peace.”

“Or he will just zat him and put them both out of their misery,” Jack commented wryly, adjusting his telescope.

“That’s a possibility too.”

They sat in silence for a moment, sipping their beers and enjoying the soft breeze wafting over the rooftop. Jack hated silence.

“How’s the arm Carter?”

Embarrassed, Sam unconsciously rubbed it against her body. “Healing sir. No residual damage. Dr. Fraiser says I’ll probably be on light duty for about a week and then back to full in no time.” Upset that she hadn’t remembered sooner, she inquired, “The knee Colonel?”

In response to her question, Jack flexed his leg. “See Carter, all there and in proper working order for the time being.”

Jack leaned over and began peering through his telescope. It was a comforting gesture. Something familiar to hang on to when the world was spinning out of control. When it seemed like everything was changing… changing. He was stalling.

“You know Carter, before I was recalled to active duty, I thought NASA was the way to go.” He threw her a sideways glance to gauge her reaction to his mention of her own previously pursued career choice. Her head lifted a bit in interest, and he continued. “I was disappointed in myself for never having the forethought to push my career in that direction. And now, even though we travel to different planets, I find it hard to equate traveling through space using our Stargate. It’s just not the same.” He stood up and motioned for Carter to take his place by the telescope. “So, when we come back to Earth after certain missions, I try to map where the planet was in relation to Earth. Then I come up here and try to find it through the telescope. I guess looking at the stars makes the fact that we travel through them more of a reality to me.” He pulled her gently away from the telescope and propelled her to one of the chairs that adorned the deck on his roof.

“We need to talk. We need to discuss the last mission.” Jack pushed gently.

Sam’s heart started to pound in her chest, so audible in her ears that she was positive Colonel O’Neill must also be listening to it. “Sir, I…”

“Carter, don’t pull a Daniel on me. Just shut up and listen, okay.”

“Mouth closed, Colonel.”

“I spoke to General Hammond, and….”

‘Shit,’ thought Sam. ‘I wonder if this is one of those stressful situations that will test the strength of my deodorant. Get a grip Major and pay attention!’ She mentally slapped her wrist.

Noting the faraway look in his 21C’s eyes, Jack sighed in exasperation “Carter, stay with me here, okay?” He raised his eyebrows for emphasis.

“Sorry sir.”

The echo of Daniel’s laughter through an open living room window suddenly permeated the night air. The two officers looked at each other and smiled.

“Daniel seems to be enjoying himself, sir”.

“I doubt the same thing could be said for Teal’c,” Jack chuckled.

The brief moment of levity ended all too soon and Jack took a deep breath, wanting to say his piece all at once before he either lost Sam’s attention or his nerve. “I spoke with General Hammond this week. I, uh, recommended you be given a command of your own… SG6 is yours for the taking… if you want it.”

Jack hung his head, busy examining a speck on his pants. After their previous mission and SG1’s run in with Cronos, while lying in his infirmary bed, Jack was hit by an epiphany. He was holding Carter back. She was more than capable of commanding her own SG team; she had been for a while. Carter really had handled this mission on her own, making a majority of the command decisions and doing whatever it took to save their collective asses. Again. He hadn’t wanted to lose her, to break up his “family,” so he held her close… never supplying her with the words of confidence that she needed to feel the desire to fly on her own. He was just being selfish, though. She was military, and Carter deserved more than to be just his second in command, a Riker to his Picard, a Spock to his Kirk….

“Colonel… I, uh… I don’t know what to say.”

Tapping her on the knee, Jack stood up and faced her. “Don’t say anything yet, Major, sleep on it, think about it, no hurry…just know that you deserve it.”

“Thank you for… for believing in me, sir,” she answered, bowing her head and trying to hide the hint of a smile that had graced her lips.

“Believe in your Carter? I trust you with my life…to guard my six… and my seven, and my eight…” He smiled as she suppressed a giggle. “Bottom, line, Sam, I couldn’t believe in you more, please know that. And I am positive that Teal’c and Daniel feel the same way.”

A howl of laughter from the window, followed by the crash of glass, accompanied by a loud “DanielJackson”…made Jack glance heavenward. “Of course Carter, I wouldn’t exactly ask Daniel that question right now…” He laid a hand lightly on her shoulder to emphasize his sincerity.

“Stay the night. We’ve all had a little to much to drink…Daniel’s been delegated to the couch, now…you can stay in the guest room. We’ll talk more in the morning if you want.” Swinging a leg over the railing, he glanced back at her. “I think it is time for all little archeologists to go to bed, now. Coming Carter?”

“No sir, if you don’t mind, I’d like to stay up here for a while.”

“Okay, but you’re just chicken, making me handle Daniel on my own.”

Sam laughed as she heard the Colonel start to call Daniel’s name from the moment he hit the ground.

She sat back on the chair, stunned. ‘Her own team,’ she thought…followed by a feeling of elation so great it felt that her heart would soar. ‘Leaving SG1’…followed by feeling of such desolation it felt like her heart would break. She knew that they would always remain friends…for a time. There would be no more barbecues at the Colonel’s house that she would feel comfortable going to, no more team nights and drunken revelries at Daniel’s apartment. ‘But her own team, the ability to forge her own rituals with new people.’ No more all night science fests with Daniel; they would be on different schedules, different teams, different workdays. SG1 would always be there, but in a different way. They would try for a while to keep their bond strong, but she knew that eventually it would progress to a head nod as they passed each other by in the hall, a quick cup of coffee in the commissary… the closeness would get lost in SGC’s everyday life. She knew that the decision the Colonel made in letting her go was as hard as her decision was going to be with regard to leaving.

With a sigh she got up and looked to the sky for guidance. Finding none, she decided it was time for bed. ‘No hurry,’ the Colonel had said. Well at least she was going to sleep on it. She entered the house quietly and found the Colonel in the kitchen drinking a hot chocolate.

Nodding her head yes at his silent offer for a cup of her own, she quietly went to check on Daniel.

“DanielJackson is out for the numbers,” Teal’c reported curtly. “He was most difficult tonight. If this is what my son is going to be like as he gets older, I most certainly am not looking forward to it.”

Sam gave him a quizzical look. “Out for the numbers Teal’c? Oh! Out for the count. I don’t think Ry’ac will be anywhere near as difficult as Daniel. I don’t believe anyone can be as difficult as Daniel.” Sam looked at her “younger sibling” and smiled. The Colonel had managed to change Daniel into sweats and a tee shirt, but the redness of his forearms, cheeks, and nose was a warning as to how much Daniel was going to complain in the morning. One of Daniel’s arms hung off the couch and the other was tucked snugly under a pillow as he snoozed away. Covered with a light blanket, he began muttering to himself in one of his 23 languages.

Teal’c looked at Daniel as one would look at a child who had done something so incredibly stupid, it took your breath away. “If you do not mind, MajorCarter, I wish to enter Kel-no-reem while DanielJackson is still in a state of sleep.”

“No problem, Teal’c. If he keeps you up, you have the Colonel’s and my permission to zat him into unconsciousness.”

“You have my word that I may take that into consideration.” He bowed slowly to Sam, dismissing her.

She walked back to the kitchen, shaking her head.

 Colonel O’Neill held up his hand to her. “Before you even ask, he threw up twice and threatened you in some alien language that I interpreted as you should never come near him again with alcohol. I changed his clothes, he passed out on the couch, and if he moves from that position, I gave Teal’c permission to inflict bodily injury.”

Sam chuckled as she sipped her hot chocolate. “I gave him permission to zat him, sir”.

“See? Great military minds think alike.”

In that instant, in that kitchen in her CO’s house, Sam made her decision. No sleeping required. “Colonel? I want to thank you for your confidence in me sir, but I’d like to stay on SG1, if that’s alright.”

“Alright? Of course it’s alright, Carter. But, may I ask why?”

Putting her hot chocolate on the counter, Sam shrugged her shoulders. Tears filled her eyes, but she would not let them overflow. “I guess it’s kinda hard to explain, sir. I just… I don’t think I could ever go through the Stargate without you, Teal’c and Daniel. I would worry about who was watching out for you, while trying to watch out for SG6. That’s not fair. Not fair to you, not fair to SG6, or to me. You guys are my family. I don’t want to lose that.”

Jack started to interrupt her, but Sam held up her hand. “Sir… you were very close to Ferretti, right? But then you both got your own teams. Now, it’s not the same, is it? Sure, you’re still friends, but the closeness… the everyday functioning, the inside jokes, the looks… it’s not there anymore, is it Colonel?” She turned and watched him fiddle with his mug, eyes on the table.

“No Carter, it’s not,” he replied softly. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad. We are still friends, but you’re right, it is different.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you sir, but I’m just not ready for things to be different,  yet. I guess I like things just the way they are.”

Jack raised his head and stared her straight in the face. “You could never disappoint me, Carter. I am proud that you’re a member of my team. Never ever think otherwise. Know that I have every confidence that you will make an excellent team leader whenever you are ready. Okay?”

A single tear fell from Sam’s eye. “Well, I’m being trained by the best.” She smiled.

“Carter? I want to thank you for saving our asses back on that planet, and ….”

“Sir?”

“Thank you for staying on SG1 and keeping the family together.”

Sam just smiled and took another sip of her hot chocolate. All was still right with the world.

The End

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