CHAPTER TWO
Vala wandered around the SGC with no set destination in mind, her thoughts more on what she'd learned than on where she was going.
She had never wanted to fall in love with Daniel. It was fine when all she felt was lust. Lust was easy. Lust didn't break your heart when it wasn't reciprocated. But then she really got to know Daniel and saw the kind of man he was, someone who was willing to trust her if she showed that she wouldn't betray that trust, someone who was willing to be her friend. That was the beginning of it, when lust gradually transformed into love . . . and when she began to hope that, someday, Daniel would feel the same.
Now, she knew that was never going to happen. Daniel loved somebody else, someone who didn't love him. Sure, she could still hold out hope that he'd eventually turn to her for comfort and for the fulfillment of sexual needs that he'd never get from Sam, but did she really want to be a substitute? Could she handle hearing Daniel cry out Sam's name while in the throes of passion? She had no doubt that the sex would be great, but every time they got together, she'd know that she wasn't the one with whom he wanted to be.
No, she decided. She had too much pride and self-respect for that. She wasn't going to be someone's second choice, the person a man chose to be with only because he couldn't have the woman he wanted. Therefore, it was time to get all thoughts of being with Daniel out of her head. She was confident that she could do it. She would not let herself be a slave to unrequited love.
That decision made, Vala's thoughts went to Daniel and his feelings for Sam. He had loved her hopelessly for four years, knowing all that time that she loved someone else. That made Vala feel sorry for him. There must have been times when the pain was almost unbearable.
Making a sudden decision, Vala headed to Level 19 and went to Sam's lab.
"Hello," she greeted with a smile.
"Hey, Vala."
The dark-haired woman took a seat. "So, I couldn't help but notice that you and General O'Neill were spending a lot of time at lunch looking at each other."
Sam blushed scarlet, mortified that this woman had noticed the glances.
Vala decided to pretend that she was completely in the dark about the relationship. "Are you two having sex?" she asked.
"No!" Sam screeched.
"Really? I'd certainly have thought you were."
Sam glared at her. "If you must know, we've started dating."
"Ah. Two dates? Three?"
"One . . . so far."
"Only one? Tisk tisk, Samantha. A lady should never let a man know so soon that she likes him that much, and he surely does know after all that time you spent ogling him."
"I was not ogling!" Sam snapped. "And since when are you a lady? From what I heard, you've repeatedly thrown yourself at Daniel even though he's made it clear that he doesn't want you."
That comment hurt, and Vala looked away. Seeing the pain that had flashed over the other woman's face, Sam felt bad.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
Vala lifted her head. "No, I deserved it. I shouldn't have said what I did. And you're right. I did throw myself at him. But no more. I'm done with that."
That surprised Sam. "You are? Why?"
"Because I finally realized that it was never going to work, and I'm not going to waste my time and energy pursuing a man who will never want me like I want him."
"I'm sorry, Vala."
Vala stared at her. "You say that like you really mean it."
"I do. I know what it feels like to . . . care about someone you believe will never be yours."
"You are talking about General O'Neill."
Sam paused a while before answering in the affirmative.
"Then you've felt like this for him for quite a while."
"Sometimes, it feels like forever."
"And he's felt the same all this time?"
"I don't really know when he started feeling something for me, but it's been a long time for him, too."
"Then why didn't you do something about it before now?"
"Because it was against regulations."
Vala snorted. "If I wanted a man, I wouldn't let a little thing like regulations get in the way."
"Of course you wouldn't, but the general and I care about our careers and had too much respect for the oaths we took to toss out the regs and have an illicit love affair."
"But, now, he's retired, and regulations are no longer a problem."
"Yes."
Vala studied the woman before her. "I have to admit that I'm surprised."
Sam frowned. "Surprised? Why? About what?"
"General O'Neill just doesn't strike me as your type."
"Why not?" Sam then thought of something. "Wait a minute. If he doesn't strike you as my type, then why did you come up with that wedding scene when we were all talking to Martin Lloyd about the movie?"
Vala waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, that. I wasn't being serious. I picked the general because I wasn't about to pair you with Daniel, even if it was fake, and pairing you with Teal'c would be something I couldn't possibly imagine happening."
"And what about Cam?"
Vala paused. "Well . . . if I must be completely honest, I've thought for a while now that, if I couldn't have Daniel, Cameron would be quite satisfactory as a second option."
Sam fought really hard not to laugh. She could only imagine the look that would be on Cam's face if he knew that he was viewed as a satisfactory second option by Vala. Considering the fact that the woman had now give up on getting Daniel, he'd probably run for the hills.
"All right," she said. "So why doesn't the general strike you as my type?"
"Oh, I just pictured you going for someone who was more like you. You know, brilliant, passionate about his work, spouts off things that nobody else understands. Of course, I don't know much about General O'Neill, so I'm guessing that you and he must have many things in common that I am simply unaware of."
Sam didn't reply for several seconds. "We, um, do have some common interests. No, he's not a scientist, and he doesn't share my passion for work, but he has a lot of wonderful qualities. I have great respect for him and have always admired his dedication to the service and to the people under his command. He is one of the finest commanders I ever served under."
Vala couldn't help but think that what Sam had said was a fine statement for someone in the military to say about a superior officer, but it wasn't even remotely romantic.
"I see. Well, you don't have to have a lot in common with someone to have fantastic sex. I was always quite certain that Daniel and I would be amazing in bed."
Sam didn't know if she should be embarrassed by the woman's uninhibited statement or offended that Vala seemed to be implying that great sex was all she'd have with Jack. The latter won out.
"You talk like that's all he and I could expect from our relationship, and I have to say that's pretty insulting."
"Oh! Is that what it sounded like? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to give you that impression. I'm sure that you and the general will be quite happy together. I mean, you love him, right? That's all that matters. Doesn't one of your songs say that all you need is love?"
Sam frowned. "It wasn't really talking specifically about romantic love."
"Oh? My mistake." Vala got off the stool. "Well, I'd love to chat longer, but I think I'm going to go see what Cameron is up to."
Sam's frown didn't leave her face even after Vala was gone. She was feeling the need to defend her feelings for Jack, which was ridiculous. She didn't need to defend them to anyone, certainly not to Vala Mal Doran, who'd probably never had a relationship with anyone that lasted more than a couple of years, including all the marriages she'd mentioned. She'd certainly dumped poor Tomin as soon as it was possible to do so.
Putting it out of her mind, Sam firmly turned her attention back to work. She'd been at it for around an hour when Jack came in. She gave him a smile.
"Hey," she said.
"Hello. So, I thought that we should make plans for that second date."
Sam's smile got bigger. "Sure."
"How about tomorrow night? You're off on Friday, right? That means we could stay out later."
"That would be perfect."
"Good. Say eight o'clock, then?"
"Okay."
"All right. I'll see you then."
Sam was a lot calmer preparing for the second date. She was also determined not to have any unreasonably high expectations. It was only their second date, after all.
It turned out that she did enjoy the second date more that the first. The conversation was a bit more personal, though Jack still didn't delve into private emotions or really personal thoughts. But then, she wouldn't expect him to do so. He was a very private man and didn't often touch on that stuff.
After dinner, he asked if she'd like to go dancing. When she said yes, they found a club that was aimed at mature adults rather than twenty-somethings. As they danced, Jack did not hold her close in his arms, cheek pressed against her hair, which was a little disappointing, but Sam reminded herself again that this was only the second date, and he probably didn't want to seem too forward.
It was going on midnight when they left the club. Upon arriving at Sam's, Jack again walked her to her door.
"I had a great time," he said.
"Me too."
"Well, I should let you get to bed. It's getting late."
Sam didn't reply. She was tempted to take the initiative and kiss him, but she'd never done that before, preferring that her date make the first move.
Jack did finally make a move. After a long hesitation, he leaned forward and briefly kissed Sam's cheek. Then he smiled at her, wished her a good night, then headed for his car. This time, Sam went inside before he got to it.
Okay, so she was disappointed that it was only a kiss on the cheek. She'd wanted more. But maybe Jack was feeling nervous about jumping right into the bigger stuff. They were still adapting to this change in their relationship. She just needed to be patient, that's all.
Sam had just started getting dressed for bed when her phone rang. Wondering who would be calling this late at night, she looked at the Caller ID, her heart skipping a beat when she saw that it was Jack.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey. I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No. Is something wrong?"
"No. I just, uh . . . I have a fishing trip planned on a sweet little lake in Washington State. A buddy of mine has a cabin there. I'll be heading straight over there from here."
"Oh. It sounds nice."
"Would you like to join me?"
Sam's heart didn't just skip a beat, it started leaping around in her chest like a Mexican jumping bean.
Jack resumed talking. "I know it's rather short notice, but, knowing you, you've probably got tons of leave time accrued. I was figuring on a week, including travel time. We could do some fishing, maybe take some walks. And, yes, you can bring a computer, if you really want to."
Sam didn't hesitate. "Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes, I'd love to go with you."
"Great! We can discuss it some more tomorrow. I'll give you a call."
Sam was grinning now. "Okay."
"Well, good night, then."
"Good night, Jack."
Sam hung up, then had to stop herself from doing a little happy dance. Alone with Jack in a cabin out in the woods. Okay, so she'd learned last time that she could only take so much fishing before she got totally bored, but things would be so much different this time. It would be just the two of them, and there were no longer any regulations in the way.
Sam spent a great deal of the next day preparing for the trip. Though she knew that it was rather presumptuous of her to do so, she went out and bought some very sexy lingerie, not wanting to wear anything that she'd purchased when she was dating Pete.
When Sam went to bed that night, her thoughts were on how wonderful it was going to be if she was given the opportunity to wear her new purchases.
Sam put in the request for some leave first thing the next morning, and it was granted. She was coming back from Landry's office, feeling quite happy, when she ran into Cam.
"Well, that's quite a smile you've got there," the leader of SG-1 said. "May I ask the reason for it?"
"Oh, um, I'm just happy about something. Oh, by the way, I'm going to be taking some leave, seven days, starting Tuesday."
"Really? Planning on going somewhere?"
Sam smiled again. "Yes, I am."
Cam looked at her more closely. "Alone?"
"Cam!"
"Oh, come on, Sam. You think I don't know what's going on?"
Sam was now feeling more than a little embarrassed. "How'd you find out?"
"Vala."
Sam shook her head. "I should have known. All right. General O'Neill is going on a fishing trip, and he invited me along."
Cam's eyebrows rose. "You? Fishing?"
"It's not the first time. Daniel, Teal'c and I all went with him to his cabin in Minnesota a couple of years ago and did some fishing."
"And you enjoyed it?"
Sam paused. "Well, for a while."
Cam started to grin. "Then you got bored."
"Yes, but I'm sure that things will be better this time around."
"Well, I hope you have fun."
"Thanks."
It was a couple of hours later when Sam came to Daniel's office and told him about the second date and the trip. As she talked, he felt like someone had taken a meat cleaver to his chest. How he managed to hide his emotions from her was something he didn't know, but, apparently, he had because she seemed to be totally unaware of how her announcement had affected him. He told her it sounded like fun and that he hoped she'd have a good time. Then he told her that he had an appointment to discuss something with a member of his staff, which was a bald-faced lie, but he was struggling not to show how much he was hurting and needed to get her out of there now.
Once she'd disappeared around the corner, he shut the door, leaned back against it, and clamped his eyes shut so hard that it hurt. He made it to his desk and sat down heavily.
'Dammit. You knew he was going to ask her, and you knew that she might say yes. You were supposed to be prepared for it.'
Daniel now realized that he couldn't really have prepared himself for that, because, no matter how much he tried, he'd still have been hoping deep in his heart that she'd say no. He was such a fool.
Daniel made it through the rest of the work day by cramming his mind as full of other things as possible. Once he was at home, he tried to keep busy, doing household chores that he'd been putting off, but, as the evening progressed, he found it increasingly more difficult not to think about what might happen between Sam and Jack on that fishing trip. Since not thinking about it was proving to be beyond him, he focused on trying not to let it bother him, to accept the inevitable and move on.
By the next day, Daniel had succeeded in regaining control of his emotions, brutally shoving his pain way down deep inside the same corner of his heart where he'd kept his anguish over his wife's death. In an effort to help him come to grips with Sam's new relationship with Jack, he avoided situations that would bring him in contact with her, eating his breakfast at home and lunch in his office. He did the same thing the following day. He found that, as long as he didn't see Sam, he had an easier time concentrating on other things.
Unfortunately, all the hard work of building the walls around his heart came tumbling down when, late that afternoon, Sam came to his office.
"Hey. Where have you been these past couple of days?" she asked.
"Here mostly. I've been really busy."
"Well, I just wanted to say goodbye before I go. Jack and I will be leaving early in the morning."
Daniel viciously clamped down on the feeling of anguish that ripped through him. "Have a good time," he said, keeping his voice neutral.
"Thanks. I'm sure I will. See you next Tuesday."
As soon as Sam was gone, Daniel got up and headed to the locker room to change. He made the drive home a lot faster than he really should have. Seconds after walking through the door, he was heading to the refrigerator, from which he pulled out a beer. He had never been the kind of man who drowned his sorrows in alcohol, but he was desperately in need of something, anything, to take away the pain.
That beer proved to be only the first. A couple of six-packs had been left over from Jack's retirement party, and the archeologist went through both of them. After that, he moved on to the tequila that was also left over from the party. He had no idea when it was that he began to cry.
When a knock came on the door, Daniel ignored it. A few minutes after that, Vala came walking in, having picked the lock. She halted in dismay at the sight of Daniel sitting on the living room floor, his back against the couch, face wet with tears. Her gaze went to the empty beer bottles on the coffee table, then to the mostly empty bottle of tequila in Daniel's hand. She walked up to him and sat beside him on the floor.
"How'd you get here?" he asked, his voice a little slurred.
"I talked someone at the base into driving me."
"Well, you can just have them drive you right back."
"I can't. I told them to leave."
"Then get a cab."
Vala gazed at Daniel. In the time that she'd known him, they had all gone through hell and back, suffering a lot of pain and loss, yet she'd never seen him like this. It hurt a lot to see him this way.
Very gently, Vala took the bottle from Daniel's hand and set it on the table. Then she scooted closer and put an arm around his shoulders.
"Please just go away, Vala," Daniel pleaded, his voice breaking.
"No."
"Why not?"
There was a long moment of silence before Vala replied. "Because I care." It had taken a lot for her to admit that, but it would be worth it if it helped Daniel.
Daniel began to cry again. "I don't think I really knew how much I loved her until now," he whispered. "First, I lose Sha're and, now, Sam, except that I never really had Sam. She was never mine. She was always Jack's, even before they got together." His breath hitched in his throat. "I'm trying to be happy for them, but all I can think about is the two of them alone together in that cabin, i-i-in the bed."
"I'm sure it'll get better in time, Daniel. Time heals all wounds, right?" Even to her own ears, the statement sounded pathetically trite and not at all convincing.
"Yeah, sure. It only took three years and ascending to a higher plane of existence for me to move beyond Sha're's death," Daniel responded, his voice thick with bitter sarcasm. "I'm sure this won't take any longer than that, though I'll have to do it without the ascension. That might make it a bit tougher."
Vala sighed. She studied Daniel closely. Based upon how he looked and sounded, she guessed that he wouldn't be conscious for much longer. She got to her feet and tugged on his arm.
"Come on, Daniel. Let's get you to bed."
"I'm not tired."
"Maybe not right now, but my guess is that will be changing soon."
Getting the very drunk man on his feet and to the bedroom proved to be quite a challenge. After getting him settled in the bed, Vala gazed down at him. He looked back up at her, his eyes appearing even bluer than normal. For a moment, Vala toyed with the idea of joining him on the bed. In his inebriated and vulnerable state, he probably wouldn't resist if she made a move on him. But if she did that, he would forever hate her for it . . . and she would hate herself. As much as she might want him, she couldn't take advantage of him like that.
Daniel fell asleep around two minutes later. With another sigh, Vala went back into the living room and threw away the beer bottles. She found Daniel's glasses on the floor and set them on the end table. She was getting ready to put away the little bit of tequila that was left, then changed her mind and drank it instead.
Vala placed a call for a taxi, which arrived fifteen minutes later. As she got into the car and looked back up at the window of Daniel's apartment, she hoped that he would be able to get past the pain he was suffering and find a way to live with seeing the woman he loved with another man.
"Oh, God," Daniel moaned from under the covers. What the hell had he been thinking? What possessed him to drink more alcohol in one night than he usually consumed in an entire year? How on Earth was he going to go to work this morning?
Though he wasn't really in any condition to move, Daniel managed to stumble his way to the bathroom to empty his bladder. He then returned to the bed and buried his head under the pillow.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"
The very unwelcome and way too loud sound of a cheerful voice had Daniel peeking out from under the pillow. Vala was standing in the doorway with a cup of apple juice, a white paper bag, and a grin.
"Go away," Daniel snarled.
"No, I can't do that. I consider it my duty to help you recover from your little bender last night."
"I don't want any help. Go away and let me suffer in peace."
Ignoring his statement, Vala came forward. She set the juice on the nightstand and dug into the paper bag, pulling out a cup of chicken soup and a king-size bottle of ibuprofen.
"I did some research online to find out the best cures here on Earth for hangovers," she explained. "None of them sounded very reliable. Now, if we were on Alpha Telkira, I'd give you some bellon flower tea, and you'd be feeling better in no time. Perhaps we should take a trip there and pick some up for next time."
"There isn't going to be a next time," Daniel mumbled into the pillow. "Never, ever."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that, because it certainly wasn't easy getting you off the floor and into bed. I think I pulled a muscle in my back. And I'll have you know that I passed up a golden opportunity to seduce you with my very impressive feminine wiles. But then, with as much alcohol as you had to drink, I have my doubts that you would have been able to perform anyway." The last sentence earned her a heated glare from the archeologist.
After a whole lot of pestering and nagging, Vala succeeded in getting Daniel out of the bed and to the kitchen table, where he drank the juice, consumed the soup, and downed a thousand milligrams of ibuprofen. He then took a shower as Vala tried to figure out how to brew a pot of coffee.
When Daniel came back out of the shower and found a cup of coffee waiting for him, he was rather cautious about taking a sip. His caution proved to be well-founded.
"Gah!" he cried after gagging and spitting out the stuff. "What did you do? Put the entire bag of coffee in there?"
"No. The whole bag wouldn't fit."
Daniel poured all the coffee down the drain, dumped out the overflowing mound of used grounds, then fixed a fresh pot, Vala watching closely so that she'd get it right next time.
As he sat drinking a cup, he looked at Vala, who was sitting across the table eating some cornflakes.
"Thank you," he finally said.
"You're welcome."
Daniel's gaze intensified. "Why are you doing this?"
Vala didn't answer for a moment. "I told you why last night. Don't you remember?"
"Yes, I remember, and I appreciate you coming here last night . . . and this morning." Daniel looked at the clock on the wall. "If we don't leave now I'm going to be late for work."
Filling a travel mug with more coffee, Daniel headed to the SGC with Vala as his passenger. Once inside the base, they went their separate ways, Daniel going to his office and Vala to the gym. She sometimes liked to watch the guys work out and was feeling in the mood to see a bunch of well-built men lift weights. When she got there, she saw that Cameron was one of the men doing that very thing. She watched him for a while, admiring the play of muscles in his slim yet well-formed body. Yes, he would most definitely be a quite satisfactory second option. Actually, now that she knew that Daniel's heart belonged to another, Cameron's position might just be elevated to first option. She still had pleasant memories of stripping him down to his underwear when she was an amnesiac wanting to make sure he wasn't carrying any weapons.
As Cam finished his reps of bench presses and moved on to another machine, Vala sauntered over to him and plopped down onto a nearby bench.
"Good morning, Cameron."
"Hey." He stared at her. "Since I don't think you have an interest in working out, I'm assuming that you're here for the," he waved his hand around at the other guys, "eye candy."
Vala smiled in delight. "Ah, Cameron. You know me so well." She glanced about. "Yes, there is plenty of . . . eye candy here." She then very deliberately turned her gaze back to him and ran it up and down his body.
Cam was surprised to realize that she was hitting on him. She hadn't done that since she came with him to his high school reunion and pretended to be his girlfriend. Though he was flattered, he had no intention of being one of Vala Mal Doran's many conquests.
"So, I was thinking that we could get together for lunch today," the woman said. "It would be even better if we could have it somewhere off-base. I hardly get to go anywhere that isn't on a mission . . . or when I've been kidnapped and lost my memory."
Cam gave her a frown. "Vala, what is this all about?"
"Nothing. Why do you think it's about something? I would just like to go out to lunch somewhere, and since they would never let me do it unaccompanied, I am inviting you along."
"That's it? Nothing more?"
"That's it. I swear."
Cam thought about it. "All right. I do have a hankerin' for one of those big pastrami sandwiches from the deli near my place."
Vala smiled brightly. "I've never had a pastrami sandwich before."
"Well, then I'd say it's about time that you do."
Daniel massaged his temples, then rubbed his aching eyes. Though it helped, the ibuprofen hadn't been enough to completely get rid of his headache. Of course, it didn't help that he'd started thinking about what might happen once Sam and Jack reached their destination later today.
Daniel's gaze went to a photo on his desk. It was taken during the last year that Jack was a member of SG-1. The four of them were standing side by side, smiling into the camera. Just before the picture was taken, Daniel had dared to place a hand on Sam's shoulder. She'd responded by putting her arm around his waist and smiling up at him. It had made him feel good.
The archeologist recalled what happened just a few days after that picture was taken. She started dating Pete Shanahan. The discovery that she was dating someone totally blind-sided him and hurt like crazy. For weeks he was miserable, until Sam broke off the relationship when she discovered that Pete had done a background check on her because she refused to reveal classified information by telling him what she really did for the military.
This time, things were different. The man Sam was dating now was Jack, the guy she'd cared about like that for years. This relationship wasn't going to suddenly end after several weeks. How the hell was he going to make it through week after week, month after month, as their relationship continued to grow? It was a safe bet that Jack would be moving back to Colorado Springs so that he could be closer to Sam, which meant that, every time they all got together, Daniel would have to sit there and watch the two of them being . . . affectionate with each other. Based upon how he was feeling now, actually watching them being a couple would be almost unbearable.
So what could he to do? Avoiding all situations where he'd see Jack and Sam together would be quite impossible.
That's when Daniel thought of something. No, it wouldn't be impossible. There was a way. He could do the transfer to Atlantis.
A little voice inside Daniel was telling him that going to Atlantis would be running away from the problem rather than facing it, but since this was a problem that could never be resolved if he stayed here, why put himself through all that pain? He had already been thinking about going. Aside from the thing with Jack and Sam, it was something he really wanted to do, although, before, he had been considering making it a temporary transfer rather than a permanent one. Still, it was a big decision to make.
At any other time, Daniel would have chosen to think about it for several days, but, as luck would have it, he didn't have that luxury. At that very moment, the Daedalus was on its way back to Earth on one of its supply runs and would be arriving in five days. It would then remain on Earth for several days before heading off back to the Pegasus Galaxy. So, if he was going to do this, he had to make up his mind now. If he didn't catch a ride on the Daedalus this time, he'd have to wait months before getting another opportunity.
For the next hour, Daniel thought about it, weighing all the pros and cons. In the end, the pros far outweighed the cons.
The archeologist rose to his feet and went to General Landry's office.
"What can I do for you, Doctor Jackson?" the man asked.
"I've made my decision about Atlantis, General. I'd like to put in for an immediate transfer."
Landry frowned. "You're talking about a permanent transfer?"
"Yes, sir. I've decided that Atlantis is the best place for me. Now that the issue with the Ori has been dealt with, there's no reason why I need to stay, and, as you know, I've been wanting this for a long time."
The general was silent for several seconds. "I shouldn't have to tell you that I'm not happy about this. You are a valuable member of the SGC, and I don't like the idea of losing your knowledge and skills. I'm not exaggerating when I say that, without you, it's unlikely that we would have defeated the Ori. Is there anything I can say or do to talk you out of this? As I said before, I'd be willing to assign you to Atlantis temporarily. If, at the end of your time there, you still have your heart set on making it permanent, we could talk about it then."
"I appreciate the offer, sir, but I have made up my mind about this."
Landry let out a sigh. "Very well. I could refuse to allow the transfer, but I'm not going to do that. I am not the only one to have a say in this, however. The final decision is not mine alone."
Daniel got to his feet. "Thank you, General. As you know, the Daedalus will be arriving in a few days, and I'd really like to be on it when it leaves. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for the next time they come here."
"I'll try to get the transfer approved and processed as quickly as possible."
Thanking him again, Daniel left the general's office and returned to his own, his mind and spirit more at peace than it had been since Sam told him about her first date with Jack. He was confident that the transfer would be approved, just as it was last time. In less than two weeks, he'd be embarking on his new life, and he could put all this stuff about Sam and Jack behind him.
