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kyiziWhat’s Simple is True
By Kyizi
Disclaimer: Stargate: SG1 and all related items do not belong to me. Only the story and all original characters therein are mine. No copyright infringement intended.
All notes etc in Chapter One
Previous Chapters
| Part One | Part Two | Part Three |
* * *
What’s Simple is True
* * *
Sam jumped awake as she heard footsteps in the hallway, rubbing her hands on the khaki trousers she had been given on arrival. She hadn’t seen anyone since she had been taken to her cell, no one had been by to tell her anything, and, although she knew why she was there, she wanted everything clarified.
Light was streaming in through the windows, and Sam scrunched up her eyes, realising that she must have slept a lot longer than she had suspected. She stood up, her legs almost groaning in protest at the movement. Falling asleep in a foetal position had not been her wisest idea. As the footsteps got louder, Sam determined that there were four people coming towards her and, since she was sure that she was the only one in that area of the building, no doubt due to her knowledge of the Stargate program, she was confident that they were headed her way.
After a few moments, they arrived and Sam wasn’t sure how to feel when she saw Jack standing directly in front of her. She knew she looked a mess, she could see it in his eyes. His face remained stoic, distant, but she could see in his eyes that he hated seeing her like that. She stood at attention, knowing that co-operation was her best option.
One of the soldiers opened her cell and she stood back a few paces as the group entered, and it wasn’t until they were completely inside her cell that she became aware of exactly who was there. Jack had been the first person she had seen, and her focus had been completely on him, but now that she had spotted Colonel Frank Simmons, she suddenly felt very afraid for her safety.
“Major Carter,” Simmons said with a smirk. His voice had that deceiving pleasantness that Sam had always despised about the man. “It’s been a while.”
“Not long enough,” Sam muttered to herself, but as Simmons raised his eyebrows, she realized she hadn’t said it as quietly as she had thought.
“Fourteen years is a long time to go without checking in on a mission, wouldn’t you say, Major?” Sam frowned and glanced at her former CO, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Oh, it’s all right, Major, I know all the specifics, General Hammond, made certain that you were covered.” There was a definite hardness to Simmons’ voice and Sam wondered exactly what he was talking about. Simmons moved closer to her, dropping his voice to a harsh whisper. “Listen to me, Major. I know you have no idea what I’m talking about, and I know that General Hammond wanted to make certain you’d get away with it, but trust me, I’m going to get you on something. And if I can’t,” he smiled sadistically, “then I’ll just have to get your children on something. I’m sure there are a few tests that we could benefit from.”
Sam balled her hands into fists at her side, trying desperately to keep them there. “You stay away from my children,” she ground out.
Simmons smirked. “I will get you on something, Major Carter, and if it means using your children to do so, then trust me. I will.” He stepped back and before Sam could say anything, he indicated the cell door. “You’re free to go, Major.”
Sam frowned and exited the cell, aware that Jack was following close behind her. He had yet to say a word and he hadn’t even met her eyes. Part of her was screaming that it was because he had turned her in, but something even stronger was telling her that he had had nothing to do with it, she only hoped that wasn’t wishful thinking on her part.
They made their way to the exit, stopping to check out. Sam almost laughed at that. Check out, as if she had been staying in a hotel for the night. The man behind the desk handed her a plastic bag, and Sam had a quick glance inside, noting that her nightshirt and dressing gown had been returned to her.
“General, there was a phone call regarding Major Carter.”
“A phone call?” Jack and Sam replied in unison. They glanced briefly at each other, but neither said a word before turning back to face the Sergeant.
“Yes, Sir,” the man replied, answering Jack rather than Sam. “A Major Amy Jackson said to inform you that Major Carter was to expect visitors.”
Jack nodded sharply and turned to leave, not bothering to indicate to Sam that she was to follow. She did, however, follow, and soon found herself in the blinding light of the sun. She smiled as the warmth swept over her; she felt as though she had been locked in the Antarctic for the last few days. She glanced at Jack, remembering when they had done just that, but his gaze was focused as he pulled out his mobile phone. He unlocked the car and opened the door for her, but didn’t look at her.
“Daniel, I’ve got her, you might as well turn back and go home.” Sam almost wanted to cry at the detached tone he was using. He climbed into the driver’s side of the car and slipped the keys in the ignition. “She’s fine. Yes. No, Daniel. I’ll talk to you later. No, don’t put Amy on the – hi Amy. Yes. No. It wasn’t me. Yes. I’ll speak to you when we get there, Amy.”
Sam couldn’t help the slight laugh as Jack rolled his eyes, obviously getting his ears chewed off by his best friend’s wife. He glanced at her and for a moment, as he caught her eyes and shook his head with a smile, it was almost as if nothing had happened at all. Jack seemed to realize this as well, and turned away.
“Look, Amy, I need both hands to drive, the sooner I can drive the sooner we get home. Yes, that is my way of telling you to shut up.” He smiled. “Listen, how are her kids?” Sam turned to him again, grateful to him for asking, especially when she could hear the strain in his voice as he did. “Okay, I’ll let her know. Yes, we’ll be there soon. Bye.”
Jack hung up the phone and placed in car charger. For a moment neither of them spoke, and Sam could almost feel the tension in the air. Finally, she turned to him to ask about her children, but he cut her off.
“Your kids are fine and Daniel told Amy to tell you that Liam was okay and nothing had happened.”
Sam let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and smiled gratefully at him. “Thank you.”
Jack nodded but didn’t reply. He turned and started the car, pulling quickly out of the car park, and Sam was not unhappy to see the building behind them disappear. She sighed and leaned back, allowing her eyes to close and, before long, she had drifted into an easy sleep, only slightly aware of Jack watching her in the mirror.
* * *
Sam jumped awake with a slight squeal. Her eyes looked around frantically as she tried to remember where she was.
“Sorry.”
The voice worked more in bringing her back to reality than the surroundings did. She was with Jack, her former CO, and she was in his car heading toward Daniel’s home and her children. She turned to Jack as he glanced in the rear view mirror.
“Pot holes,” he explained. “The road was full of them. Trust me when I say that was the smoothest route.”
She smiled slightly. “Of course I trust you, Jack.” Sam almost wished she could take the words back. His face seemed to freeze over and he swung the steering wheel towards her, pulling them to the side of the road and stopping the car.
“You trust me?” he asked, turning to face her.
“I don’t think this is the right tine, Jack.” Sam tried not to look into his eyes, but she couldn’t help herself, she never had been able to help herself. But there was something different in his eyes; something she had never seen before. He looked so…hurt and lost and betrayed and lonely and lots of other things that Sam had never wanted to see in his eyes.
“I think it’s the perfect time, Carter.” She wasn’t sure why, but it hurt when he spat out her name that way. It hurt more that she had said Jack, and he had replied with Carter. “Why are you here?”
Sam knew that what he was really asking was, ‘why did you leave?’ and that made it difficult to answer. “Sir, I don’t know how to…”
“I’m not your CO anymore, don’t call me ‘Sir’.”
“Well, I’m not a Carter anymore, so don’t…” Sam trailed off as her anger dissipated. Her eyes widened as he backed down, nodding his head. “Jack, I-”
“It’s fine.” He made a move to turn the key and start the car again, but she stopped him by placing her hand over his.
“Jack, please,” Sam pleaded with him and finally he turned to look at her. Neither of them attempted to remove their hands and Sam suddenly felt as if she had been transported back in time. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at him. She pulled back her hand and placed it in her lap, wringing her hands together. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what? For leaving? For coming back? For thinking I turned you in?”
Her head shot up. “I-I didn’t...”
“Yes, you did.”
Sam nodded. “You’re right, I did. At least part of me did. There was one part of me, the reasonable part, that was telling me that you were the only other person who knew I was back, so it had to have been you. But then there was this other part, and-and it was telling me that you’d never betray me, no matter how angry you were.”
“I’m not angry, Sam.”
She looked at him, a small smile on her face. “Yes, you are.”
“Okay, so I’m a little angry, but that other part of you was right. I’d never betray you. I might think about it, sometimes, but I’d never do it.”
“I know.”
There was a small silence and she knew that Jack wanted the other explanations as well. He wanted to know why she had left them all, why she had left him. But Sam wasn’t sure she was ready to give that explanation. She glanced at him and he nodded.
“Why did you come back?”
She smiled, grateful that he would wait for the other explanations, and took a deep breath. “My son.”
“Liam?”
Sam nodded. “He was at school and a bully tried to hit him, but the boy’s fist went right through Liam’s head.”
“Huh. That’s…strange.”
“Just a little.” Sam sighed. “I knew the only people who could help me were here, I knew I had to face the consequences of what I did. But I would do anything for my son, and the SGC are the only people that can help him.”
“What about…”
Sam’s breath hitched in her throat as she thought of her husband. “Orlin died last March.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” Sam said, knowing that he really was sorry that she had lost someone she loved.
“How did Liam take his new powers?”
Sam laughed, but there was no humour in it. “He hasn’t spoken a word to anyone since.”
“Did he know…?”
“About Orlin? No. We raised the kids as part of a normal family. No alien parents and no military ones either,” she finished softly. “We thought it was for the best.”
Jack nodded. “I know what you mean.” There was a slight pause before Jack finally started the car again. “More explanations later, I think we should get you back to your kids.”
Sam smiled. “Thank you, Jack.”
Jack pulled out and continued to head in the direction of Daniel’s house, but she heard his soft reply. “You’re welcome, Sam.”
* * *
The rest of the car journey was completed in silence, and despite the fact that she felt at ease with him now, Sam knew that Jack was still very hurt and very angry at her. The silence that had taken over the car was another one of those momentary lapses that they had been experiencing since her return. It was as if they kept falling back through time for brief moments, only to be brought into the present with a startling clarity. She had left them all with no explanation. She had left Jack and he was not about to forget that.
“We’re here.”
His voice shook her out of her reverie, and she turned and gave him a small smile before taking off her seatbelt and exiting the car. She closed over the door and headed straight to Daniel’s front door, not even bothering to knock. She quickly made her way into the living room and smiled as she spotted Katie and her girls watching television. She stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, just letting herself see that they were all right and that they were really right in front of her.
She felt Jack’s presence behind her and she turned to look at him. He was looking at her daughters with a mixture of feelings that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend; all she knew was that she suddenly felt a profound sadness in him.
“Momma!”
Sam turned as the twins came rushing toward her in a flurry of blond curls, quickly attaching themselves to her legs. She grinned broadly and disentangled them, kneeling down so that she could hug them tightly. She saw Katie launch herself at Jack, squealing at him and she exchanged a grin with him, once again falling through time.
“Momma, where were you?”
Sam pulled back, looking at her daughters’ faces and smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “I was with an old friend for a couple of days.”
Sarah frowned at her response. “That’s what Uncle Daniel said.”
“But Sarah said you wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”
“We thought you’d left to be with Daddy. He didn’t say goodbye either.”
Sam couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes as she bit back a gasp. It hadn’t even occurred to her that the girls would think that. It was true that Orlin hadn’t seen the girls over the three days he was in hospital before his death, he hadn’t wanted them to see him like that. He hadn’t wanted his daughters’ last memories of him to be like that; hooked up to all those machines, scarred and burnt and in no condition to breath or talk on his own. All his remaining energy had been used in a last ditch attempt to save himself, in trying to remain with his family. He had made himself human again. He had still died. She only wished the girls could have said goodbye.
“Oh, God, sweetie, no. I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere.” She pulled them into her arms tighter than she had held them before. She knew that Daniel and Amy were behind her; she had heard them approach. She thought Liam might be there as well, but she couldn’t see and, despite her intense need to see her son and hold him, she couldn’t see straight for the tears and was reluctant to let go of the girls.
“Well, you can blame me for keeping your mom away.” Sam started as she heard Jack’s voice, letting the girls pull back from her while she dried her eyes. He was crouched beside her, smiling at them. “I haven’t seen your mom in a very long time, and we had a lot of catching up to do, so she came with me when I went on a trip for my work.”
Sarah looked a little suspicious, but she seemed to let it slide, and Alice was more than willing to believe him, although that meant she was standing in her ‘I’m-cross-with-you’ stance. Sam bit back a smile as she wagged a finger at Jack.
“Next time you have to let us know where you're taking our Mommy.”
Jack smiled and Sam could tell he was holding back his laughter, but he looked at Alice with an amazing sincerity. “I promise.”
Alice broke out in a grin. “Good!” Jack laughed and she cocked her head to the side. “Who are you?”
“Alice!” Sam admonished. “Be polite.”
Jack simply chuckled and held out his hand for her to shake. “My name’s Jack.”
“I’m Alice, but you can call me Ali. This is my sister, Sarah.” Alice leaned forward as if to tell him a secret. “We’re twins.”
“That’s good to know,” Jack said with a nod, “I thought I was seeing double.”
Alice giggled and gave him a shy hug before turning to Sarah who was regarding Jack curiously. Sam wondered what it was that was going on in her daughter’s mind, but before she could question it, Sarah took a step closer to Jack.
“Do you work in a mountain?”
The question stunned her, and the look on her face must have clearly shown that, because Jack turned to look at her and seemed satisfied that she hadn’t said anything. Sam leaned towards Sarah. “Sweetie, what makes you ask that?”
“Liam asked Daddy why you were sad once, and he said that your friend had a little boy and that you were sad because he had died. He said that his name was Jack and he used to work with you in the mountain.”
Jack’s face was awash with emotion and Sam wished she could take back what Sarah had said, but she took a deep breath and continued. “Daddy told you that Mommy worked in a mountain?” she asked, hoping that Orlin hadn’t gone against her wishes behind her back. It was so difficult to argue with him now, she would feel guilty for being angry with him because he was dead, and he was no longer part of the arguments which meant he always won by default and Sam hated that.
“He said it in his head.”
“What do you mean, sweetie?” Sam asked curiously.
“He said it in his head.” Sarah tapped her head. “It used to make him sad because he couldn’t make you happy sometimes. He thought that only Jack and Uncle Daniel and Auntie Janet could help.”
“Sarah, sweetie,” Sam said, taking a deep breath. She moved so that she was directly in front of her daughter. “Did your Daddy actually say that to you?”
“No to me,” Sarah said, shaking her head, “to himself. Up here.”
Sam glanced at Jack and then up at Daniel and Amy. They all had the same look of shock on their faces as Sam was sure she had on hers. I wish Dad were here, he’d know what to do, she thought sadly. Or Orlin, then I could shout at him and not feel guilty in the slightest.
"Sarah, do you mean you could hear what your daddy was thinking?"
Sarah nodded. "Ali thinks silly things all the time, but daddy had lots of thoughts and you do, too, but Daddy said I wasn't supposed to listen because it made you sad to think of the mountain."
"Daddy said that in his head?"
She shook her head. "No, he said when I asked him about the mountain."
Sam took a deep breath and stood up slowly, trying to stop her legs from buckling under her. "Excuse me," she said, but she didn't wait to see if anyone had heard her before walking quickly through the house and out the back door. She began pacing the grass.
"Sam."
"I don't want to talk about this, Daniel." She heard him sigh, but didn't look up from the ground, where she was watching the path she was tracing very carefully.
"Sam, I don't think-"
"He lied to me." She turned to face him, refusing to let go of the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. "My husband lied to me about my children. How could he do that, Daniel? How could he lie to me like that?"
"I don't know, Sam…but if you think about it, do you?"
She shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. "He knew I'd come back." She smiled sadly and looked at Daniel again. "He knew that if I found out about it, I'd want to bring the children here…where we could keep them safe."
"I think he wanted to make sure he didn't lose you."
"Orlin knew I loved him, Daniel."
He took a step towards her and pulled her into a brief hug. Pulling back and looking into her eyes he nodded. "I don't doubt that, Sam, but maybe he knew how much you loved this life…and the people in it. You said it yourself the other night, you said you couldn't count the number of times you almost came back to us. I think he was scared of losing you."
"He should have told me."
"I know."
* * *
Part Five
* * *
By Kyizi
Disclaimer: Stargate: SG1 and all related items do not belong to me. Only the story and all original characters therein are mine. No copyright infringement intended.
All notes etc in Chapter One
Previous Chapters
| Part One | Part Two | Part Three |
* * *
What’s Simple is True
* * *
Sam jumped awake as she heard footsteps in the hallway, rubbing her hands on the khaki trousers she had been given on arrival. She hadn’t seen anyone since she had been taken to her cell, no one had been by to tell her anything, and, although she knew why she was there, she wanted everything clarified.
Light was streaming in through the windows, and Sam scrunched up her eyes, realising that she must have slept a lot longer than she had suspected. She stood up, her legs almost groaning in protest at the movement. Falling asleep in a foetal position had not been her wisest idea. As the footsteps got louder, Sam determined that there were four people coming towards her and, since she was sure that she was the only one in that area of the building, no doubt due to her knowledge of the Stargate program, she was confident that they were headed her way.
After a few moments, they arrived and Sam wasn’t sure how to feel when she saw Jack standing directly in front of her. She knew she looked a mess, she could see it in his eyes. His face remained stoic, distant, but she could see in his eyes that he hated seeing her like that. She stood at attention, knowing that co-operation was her best option.
One of the soldiers opened her cell and she stood back a few paces as the group entered, and it wasn’t until they were completely inside her cell that she became aware of exactly who was there. Jack had been the first person she had seen, and her focus had been completely on him, but now that she had spotted Colonel Frank Simmons, she suddenly felt very afraid for her safety.
“Major Carter,” Simmons said with a smirk. His voice had that deceiving pleasantness that Sam had always despised about the man. “It’s been a while.”
“Not long enough,” Sam muttered to herself, but as Simmons raised his eyebrows, she realized she hadn’t said it as quietly as she had thought.
“Fourteen years is a long time to go without checking in on a mission, wouldn’t you say, Major?” Sam frowned and glanced at her former CO, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Oh, it’s all right, Major, I know all the specifics, General Hammond, made certain that you were covered.” There was a definite hardness to Simmons’ voice and Sam wondered exactly what he was talking about. Simmons moved closer to her, dropping his voice to a harsh whisper. “Listen to me, Major. I know you have no idea what I’m talking about, and I know that General Hammond wanted to make certain you’d get away with it, but trust me, I’m going to get you on something. And if I can’t,” he smiled sadistically, “then I’ll just have to get your children on something. I’m sure there are a few tests that we could benefit from.”
Sam balled her hands into fists at her side, trying desperately to keep them there. “You stay away from my children,” she ground out.
Simmons smirked. “I will get you on something, Major Carter, and if it means using your children to do so, then trust me. I will.” He stepped back and before Sam could say anything, he indicated the cell door. “You’re free to go, Major.”
Sam frowned and exited the cell, aware that Jack was following close behind her. He had yet to say a word and he hadn’t even met her eyes. Part of her was screaming that it was because he had turned her in, but something even stronger was telling her that he had had nothing to do with it, she only hoped that wasn’t wishful thinking on her part.
They made their way to the exit, stopping to check out. Sam almost laughed at that. Check out, as if she had been staying in a hotel for the night. The man behind the desk handed her a plastic bag, and Sam had a quick glance inside, noting that her nightshirt and dressing gown had been returned to her.
“General, there was a phone call regarding Major Carter.”
“A phone call?” Jack and Sam replied in unison. They glanced briefly at each other, but neither said a word before turning back to face the Sergeant.
“Yes, Sir,” the man replied, answering Jack rather than Sam. “A Major Amy Jackson said to inform you that Major Carter was to expect visitors.”
Jack nodded sharply and turned to leave, not bothering to indicate to Sam that she was to follow. She did, however, follow, and soon found herself in the blinding light of the sun. She smiled as the warmth swept over her; she felt as though she had been locked in the Antarctic for the last few days. She glanced at Jack, remembering when they had done just that, but his gaze was focused as he pulled out his mobile phone. He unlocked the car and opened the door for her, but didn’t look at her.
“Daniel, I’ve got her, you might as well turn back and go home.” Sam almost wanted to cry at the detached tone he was using. He climbed into the driver’s side of the car and slipped the keys in the ignition. “She’s fine. Yes. No, Daniel. I’ll talk to you later. No, don’t put Amy on the – hi Amy. Yes. No. It wasn’t me. Yes. I’ll speak to you when we get there, Amy.”
Sam couldn’t help the slight laugh as Jack rolled his eyes, obviously getting his ears chewed off by his best friend’s wife. He glanced at her and for a moment, as he caught her eyes and shook his head with a smile, it was almost as if nothing had happened at all. Jack seemed to realize this as well, and turned away.
“Look, Amy, I need both hands to drive, the sooner I can drive the sooner we get home. Yes, that is my way of telling you to shut up.” He smiled. “Listen, how are her kids?” Sam turned to him again, grateful to him for asking, especially when she could hear the strain in his voice as he did. “Okay, I’ll let her know. Yes, we’ll be there soon. Bye.”
Jack hung up the phone and placed in car charger. For a moment neither of them spoke, and Sam could almost feel the tension in the air. Finally, she turned to him to ask about her children, but he cut her off.
“Your kids are fine and Daniel told Amy to tell you that Liam was okay and nothing had happened.”
Sam let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and smiled gratefully at him. “Thank you.”
Jack nodded but didn’t reply. He turned and started the car, pulling quickly out of the car park, and Sam was not unhappy to see the building behind them disappear. She sighed and leaned back, allowing her eyes to close and, before long, she had drifted into an easy sleep, only slightly aware of Jack watching her in the mirror.
* * *
Sam jumped awake with a slight squeal. Her eyes looked around frantically as she tried to remember where she was.
“Sorry.”
The voice worked more in bringing her back to reality than the surroundings did. She was with Jack, her former CO, and she was in his car heading toward Daniel’s home and her children. She turned to Jack as he glanced in the rear view mirror.
“Pot holes,” he explained. “The road was full of them. Trust me when I say that was the smoothest route.”
She smiled slightly. “Of course I trust you, Jack.” Sam almost wished she could take the words back. His face seemed to freeze over and he swung the steering wheel towards her, pulling them to the side of the road and stopping the car.
“You trust me?” he asked, turning to face her.
“I don’t think this is the right tine, Jack.” Sam tried not to look into his eyes, but she couldn’t help herself, she never had been able to help herself. But there was something different in his eyes; something she had never seen before. He looked so…hurt and lost and betrayed and lonely and lots of other things that Sam had never wanted to see in his eyes.
“I think it’s the perfect time, Carter.” She wasn’t sure why, but it hurt when he spat out her name that way. It hurt more that she had said Jack, and he had replied with Carter. “Why are you here?”
Sam knew that what he was really asking was, ‘why did you leave?’ and that made it difficult to answer. “Sir, I don’t know how to…”
“I’m not your CO anymore, don’t call me ‘Sir’.”
“Well, I’m not a Carter anymore, so don’t…” Sam trailed off as her anger dissipated. Her eyes widened as he backed down, nodding his head. “Jack, I-”
“It’s fine.” He made a move to turn the key and start the car again, but she stopped him by placing her hand over his.
“Jack, please,” Sam pleaded with him and finally he turned to look at her. Neither of them attempted to remove their hands and Sam suddenly felt as if she had been transported back in time. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at him. She pulled back her hand and placed it in her lap, wringing her hands together. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what? For leaving? For coming back? For thinking I turned you in?”
Her head shot up. “I-I didn’t...”
“Yes, you did.”
Sam nodded. “You’re right, I did. At least part of me did. There was one part of me, the reasonable part, that was telling me that you were the only other person who knew I was back, so it had to have been you. But then there was this other part, and-and it was telling me that you’d never betray me, no matter how angry you were.”
“I’m not angry, Sam.”
She looked at him, a small smile on her face. “Yes, you are.”
“Okay, so I’m a little angry, but that other part of you was right. I’d never betray you. I might think about it, sometimes, but I’d never do it.”
“I know.”
There was a small silence and she knew that Jack wanted the other explanations as well. He wanted to know why she had left them all, why she had left him. But Sam wasn’t sure she was ready to give that explanation. She glanced at him and he nodded.
“Why did you come back?”
She smiled, grateful that he would wait for the other explanations, and took a deep breath. “My son.”
“Liam?”
Sam nodded. “He was at school and a bully tried to hit him, but the boy’s fist went right through Liam’s head.”
“Huh. That’s…strange.”
“Just a little.” Sam sighed. “I knew the only people who could help me were here, I knew I had to face the consequences of what I did. But I would do anything for my son, and the SGC are the only people that can help him.”
“What about…”
Sam’s breath hitched in her throat as she thought of her husband. “Orlin died last March.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” Sam said, knowing that he really was sorry that she had lost someone she loved.
“How did Liam take his new powers?”
Sam laughed, but there was no humour in it. “He hasn’t spoken a word to anyone since.”
“Did he know…?”
“About Orlin? No. We raised the kids as part of a normal family. No alien parents and no military ones either,” she finished softly. “We thought it was for the best.”
Jack nodded. “I know what you mean.” There was a slight pause before Jack finally started the car again. “More explanations later, I think we should get you back to your kids.”
Sam smiled. “Thank you, Jack.”
Jack pulled out and continued to head in the direction of Daniel’s house, but she heard his soft reply. “You’re welcome, Sam.”
* * *
The rest of the car journey was completed in silence, and despite the fact that she felt at ease with him now, Sam knew that Jack was still very hurt and very angry at her. The silence that had taken over the car was another one of those momentary lapses that they had been experiencing since her return. It was as if they kept falling back through time for brief moments, only to be brought into the present with a startling clarity. She had left them all with no explanation. She had left Jack and he was not about to forget that.
“We’re here.”
His voice shook her out of her reverie, and she turned and gave him a small smile before taking off her seatbelt and exiting the car. She closed over the door and headed straight to Daniel’s front door, not even bothering to knock. She quickly made her way into the living room and smiled as she spotted Katie and her girls watching television. She stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, just letting herself see that they were all right and that they were really right in front of her.
She felt Jack’s presence behind her and she turned to look at him. He was looking at her daughters with a mixture of feelings that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend; all she knew was that she suddenly felt a profound sadness in him.
“Momma!”
Sam turned as the twins came rushing toward her in a flurry of blond curls, quickly attaching themselves to her legs. She grinned broadly and disentangled them, kneeling down so that she could hug them tightly. She saw Katie launch herself at Jack, squealing at him and she exchanged a grin with him, once again falling through time.
“Momma, where were you?”
Sam pulled back, looking at her daughters’ faces and smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “I was with an old friend for a couple of days.”
Sarah frowned at her response. “That’s what Uncle Daniel said.”
“But Sarah said you wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”
“We thought you’d left to be with Daddy. He didn’t say goodbye either.”
Sam couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes as she bit back a gasp. It hadn’t even occurred to her that the girls would think that. It was true that Orlin hadn’t seen the girls over the three days he was in hospital before his death, he hadn’t wanted them to see him like that. He hadn’t wanted his daughters’ last memories of him to be like that; hooked up to all those machines, scarred and burnt and in no condition to breath or talk on his own. All his remaining energy had been used in a last ditch attempt to save himself, in trying to remain with his family. He had made himself human again. He had still died. She only wished the girls could have said goodbye.
“Oh, God, sweetie, no. I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere.” She pulled them into her arms tighter than she had held them before. She knew that Daniel and Amy were behind her; she had heard them approach. She thought Liam might be there as well, but she couldn’t see and, despite her intense need to see her son and hold him, she couldn’t see straight for the tears and was reluctant to let go of the girls.
“Well, you can blame me for keeping your mom away.” Sam started as she heard Jack’s voice, letting the girls pull back from her while she dried her eyes. He was crouched beside her, smiling at them. “I haven’t seen your mom in a very long time, and we had a lot of catching up to do, so she came with me when I went on a trip for my work.”
Sarah looked a little suspicious, but she seemed to let it slide, and Alice was more than willing to believe him, although that meant she was standing in her ‘I’m-cross-with-you’ stance. Sam bit back a smile as she wagged a finger at Jack.
“Next time you have to let us know where you're taking our Mommy.”
Jack smiled and Sam could tell he was holding back his laughter, but he looked at Alice with an amazing sincerity. “I promise.”
Alice broke out in a grin. “Good!” Jack laughed and she cocked her head to the side. “Who are you?”
“Alice!” Sam admonished. “Be polite.”
Jack simply chuckled and held out his hand for her to shake. “My name’s Jack.”
“I’m Alice, but you can call me Ali. This is my sister, Sarah.” Alice leaned forward as if to tell him a secret. “We’re twins.”
“That’s good to know,” Jack said with a nod, “I thought I was seeing double.”
Alice giggled and gave him a shy hug before turning to Sarah who was regarding Jack curiously. Sam wondered what it was that was going on in her daughter’s mind, but before she could question it, Sarah took a step closer to Jack.
“Do you work in a mountain?”
The question stunned her, and the look on her face must have clearly shown that, because Jack turned to look at her and seemed satisfied that she hadn’t said anything. Sam leaned towards Sarah. “Sweetie, what makes you ask that?”
“Liam asked Daddy why you were sad once, and he said that your friend had a little boy and that you were sad because he had died. He said that his name was Jack and he used to work with you in the mountain.”
Jack’s face was awash with emotion and Sam wished she could take back what Sarah had said, but she took a deep breath and continued. “Daddy told you that Mommy worked in a mountain?” she asked, hoping that Orlin hadn’t gone against her wishes behind her back. It was so difficult to argue with him now, she would feel guilty for being angry with him because he was dead, and he was no longer part of the arguments which meant he always won by default and Sam hated that.
“He said it in his head.”
“What do you mean, sweetie?” Sam asked curiously.
“He said it in his head.” Sarah tapped her head. “It used to make him sad because he couldn’t make you happy sometimes. He thought that only Jack and Uncle Daniel and Auntie Janet could help.”
“Sarah, sweetie,” Sam said, taking a deep breath. She moved so that she was directly in front of her daughter. “Did your Daddy actually say that to you?”
“No to me,” Sarah said, shaking her head, “to himself. Up here.”
Sam glanced at Jack and then up at Daniel and Amy. They all had the same look of shock on their faces as Sam was sure she had on hers. I wish Dad were here, he’d know what to do, she thought sadly. Or Orlin, then I could shout at him and not feel guilty in the slightest.
"Sarah, do you mean you could hear what your daddy was thinking?"
Sarah nodded. "Ali thinks silly things all the time, but daddy had lots of thoughts and you do, too, but Daddy said I wasn't supposed to listen because it made you sad to think of the mountain."
"Daddy said that in his head?"
She shook her head. "No, he said when I asked him about the mountain."
Sam took a deep breath and stood up slowly, trying to stop her legs from buckling under her. "Excuse me," she said, but she didn't wait to see if anyone had heard her before walking quickly through the house and out the back door. She began pacing the grass.
"Sam."
"I don't want to talk about this, Daniel." She heard him sigh, but didn't look up from the ground, where she was watching the path she was tracing very carefully.
"Sam, I don't think-"
"He lied to me." She turned to face him, refusing to let go of the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. "My husband lied to me about my children. How could he do that, Daniel? How could he lie to me like that?"
"I don't know, Sam…but if you think about it, do you?"
She shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. "He knew I'd come back." She smiled sadly and looked at Daniel again. "He knew that if I found out about it, I'd want to bring the children here…where we could keep them safe."
"I think he wanted to make sure he didn't lose you."
"Orlin knew I loved him, Daniel."
He took a step towards her and pulled her into a brief hug. Pulling back and looking into her eyes he nodded. "I don't doubt that, Sam, but maybe he knew how much you loved this life…and the people in it. You said it yourself the other night, you said you couldn't count the number of times you almost came back to us. I think he was scared of losing you."
"He should have told me."
"I know."
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Part Five
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