Chapter Text
“Not that I’m complaining but where the heck are we going?” Sammy asked Jon after hopping into the passenger side of his vintage 80s era coupe.
Jon just grinned. He had the car packed. They would have a picnic sometime after they got to their destination, do some sight seeing at a location he knew Carter would be delighted to see as she’d helped build it, then have a nice dinner at a swanky restaurant he’d found nearby. If they didn’t want to go home after dinner, they could lay out the picnic blanket in a park and watch the stars come out.
“Jon?”
Jon chuckled. “You’ll love it.” He glanced at her skeptical expression. “Trust me.”
“Right.” She said and crossed her arms over her chest while staring him down.
Jon wisely chose to change the subject. “I hear you’re dog sitting forever.”
Sammy laughed sadly. “Ginny apparently is terrified of flying. They won’t let her ride in the cabin and I guess she freaks out in her carrier in cargo.”
“Well, she’s little and, after all she’s been through, and it’s loud down there, so I can’t blame her.” Jon argued.
Sammy nodded. “Yah. Poor thing. Jack felt terrible after the second time she was cowering in her cage and he couldn’t get her to come out.”
Jon nodded. “Sam is going to be home part-time and DC the rest. How is that going to work with Gracie being Gretl?” He wondered.
“I guess she could stay with Vala.” Sammy shrugged. “Or at my house.”
“Wil and Mare will definitely be on board with that. They love her.”
“They love all kids. That’s why they put up with us.” Sammy pointed out dryly.
Jon chuckled as he agreed. “Touché.”
“I just don’t see how Sam is going to run OS and split her time between Colorado and DC.” Sammy said sadly. Gracie would grow up the same way Sam had, with at least one parent gone all the time. They had never wanted that for her but the president had personally asked Jack to say on as head of HWS and had maneuvered Sam into the position she was now in so Jack had vested interest in staying in place for now.
“They’ll figure something out. They always do.” Jon said with a shrug.
Sammy bit her lip thoughtfully as she stared out the window. He didn’t understand, she realized. Having been cloned long before she was, he didn’t understand Sam’s worries because they had avoided those talks before Pete. That’s how Pete had even happened. He was so sure everything would be just fine… but all it takes is one thing not being just fine and everything fell apart.
“You okay over there?” Jon asked his suddenly sullen girlfriend.
“Yup.” Sammy squeaked out and stared out the window.
“Right.” Jon huffed.
As they drove along, Jon thought about his last check-in with his older self. As they shared a plate of fries while waiting for their main entrées, Jack had talked to him about what Sammy was worried about. He supposed it made a little sense that she’d be worried he’d meet someone else while away. That’s what normally happened. The thing was, they weren’t normal. The rules said he couldn’t be married to get into officer training but the reality was, in his heart, he was already married to her, and he’d sooner chop off one of his arms then ever consider leaving her for someone else. She was literally the very air he breathed. His reason for being. Had been almost since they had met and he’d loved her enough to let her go multiple times in the past but that had been when their lives were too complicated to be together. They weren’t now. And he had every intention of hanging on to this having been given a second chance. Wasn’t that the whole point after all?
Sammy noted they were headed in the general direction of home… well, the place they called home as their other selves. “Jon?” She glanced over to him, her expression concerned. “Is everything all right?” To her knowledge they had not been specifically invited over which was the only time they tended to show up at Jack and Sam’s as they lived across town.
“Yah. We’re just doing some sightseeing downtown that’s all. Thought we’d have a nice picnic at Quail Lake.” He hedged.
“Oh.” She thought for a little bit. “Okay.” She agreed and smiled.
Jon sighed with relief internally. He was making her paranoid again. Crap. “We haven’t done anything fun in a while.” He explained.
She nodded. “We’re going to the zoo, aren’t we?”
He laughed. “Kind of?” He admitted. They were not but it would throw her off the scent for a moment.
“You could have just told me we’re going to the zoo.”
“We really are going for a picnic first. I have fried chicken and everything.” He chirped then cringed that his voice decided to squeak with adolescent objections to growth at that moment.
Sammy giggled at him though which made his embarrassment worth it.
“Did they decide what to do about the housing problems?” Jon asked her after they had been silent for a while.
“Jack talked them into letting Sam work from DC part of the time and Peterson the rest. Gracie will stay with us most of the school year since they committed to the play before they planned that whole thing out.”
“Winging it. The O’Neill Carter specialty.” Jon joked.
Sammy chuckled. “Hey, it’s what we do.”
“Watch it. I’ll out rank you.” He joked.
“Not like I can get in with an arrest on my record.” She huffed.
“What?” He asked her, genuinely confused.
“They aren’t going to accept my application after that crap Conner’s attorney pulled.” She explained, her tone dark.
“Carter, what the heck are you talking about?”
“I can’t get into the officer program with a criminal record.” She said slowly to him like he was struggling to understand. Which he was but not for the reason she thought.
“Who told you that?”
“Dad.”
“Dad. Dad dad or Wil dad?”
“Dad dad.” She grumbled.
Jon couldn’t help it. He laughed.
“What’s so funny?” She demanded, slightly affronted by Jon’s reaction.
“Dad. He lied to you to keep you in line. You can’t have a conviction without a pretty good excuse and an exemption. I do know a guy who they brought in because they wanted his hacking skills badly enough that they didn’t care the conviction was for hacking into the military’s records.”
Sammy fumed. “Why that…”
Jon just laughed. “So if you want to apply you can. There shouldn’t be any issue.”
Sammy frowned though. “Would you be mad at me if I said I didn’t?”
His brows drew together as if he was confused by her answer. “Why would I be mad at you for that?”
“I don’t know… we’ve just always had that dynamic.”
“No, they always had that dynamic. We get our own dynamic.” Jon said emphatically. He’d had to learn how to be Jon O’Neill instead of Jack O’Neill. The only exception was that he still bugged his older self about supplying him with beer so he wouldn’t get in trouble trying to buy it himself. Other than that though, with his new friends and Sammy in his life, he was his own person now. He just had a grumpy fifty year old man in his head bitching about kids these days that’s all. “Do you know what you want to do then?”
“No. I mean… a little? If I go into data analysis, we could work it out that I get into the FBI or CIA and work with you anyway. Mark’s pretty good in that field.”
“Carter.” He nearly barked then softened his tone. “Sam. Don’t. Don’t nerf your life just so we can be on the same continent. I don’t even know if I’ll go into the special forces this time. I might just stay a stick jockey and play Top Gun for a few years until I pay off the degree they gave me. I’ve thought about teaching for years.” He admitted.
“You have?”
“Yah. Wasn’t there stuff you wanted to do but didn’t because of your dad’s expectations?”
“Yah but nothing really sane.” She admitted with a flash of a smile. “But I really enjoyed working on quantum mechanics before when I was Sam.” She admitted.
“So do that. Where’s the best place to get a degree in that?”
“MIT.” She said without a second of hesitation.
“MIT. Huh. Weather kind of sucks but you’ll spend most of your time studying anyway so you won’t have time to worry about those first few deployments when everyone but my CO will be a brainless noob.”
“Thanks for not making me worry.” She said dryly.
Jon grinned. “Happy to oblige, ma’am.” He said in a fake western accent. “Do what makes you happy. If one of the not entirely sane things you wanted to do is on the table, do that. We’ll be fine, Sam. We’ve been apart before. I’ve come back loving you even more each time.” He admitted softly to her.
Sammy’s eyes widened. “You did?”
“Oh yah.” He agreed as he pulled into the park next to the lake. “You grab the blanket and sodas, I’ll get the food.”
“Yes sir.” Sammy said cheekily.
“Knock it off, Carter.” He grumbled but his smile took any sting out of his tone.