Stargate SG1 Fan Fiction ❯ The Secret Life of a Major General ❯ Chapter 29 ( Chapter 29 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 29

Suburbs, Denver, CO
June 17, 2005
Afternoon

Sam found Pete standing proudly in the living room of the house he had just purchased. She ignored the enormous, childish grin of satisfaction on his face and stated crossly: “Pete you and I have to talk.”

“Talk about what?” Pete asked as the pride and enthusiasm on his face was slightly clouded by puzzlement.

“Pete, why did you buy this house?”

“Sam, you said it’s what you wanted—”

“No Pete. Why did you buy it? Why did you buy it here? Why did you pay for it without even asking me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I just said Pete,” Sam resisted the urge to grit her teeth. “You bought a house Pete—this house—without asking me! You bought it and we haven’t even decided where we’re going to live yet!”

“I thought you’d be happy that I—”

“Happy?!” Sam shouted angrily. “I am not happy.”

“Why?” Pete’s face was now full of confusion.

“We did not talk about—you did not ask me. Marriage is about doing things together Pete—especially big things like buying a house!”

“But you’ve been so busy with work—”

“That doesn’t matter Pete!” Sam cut him off again. “I’m sorry if I don’t move quickly enough for you, but I don’t make impulse buys! Especially with a price tag like a house has!”

“I’m sorry,” Pete muttered as he looked down at the floor in the face of her anger.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it Pete. Not in this.”

“Why not?” Pete’s brow furled in perplexity.

“Pete, you made a major decision about our lives without asking me. If you do something like this—how can I trust that you won’t do it again—and most importantly, that you really respect my decisions?”

“I do respect you Sam!” Pete protested.

“Do you Pete? Do you really?” Sam asked as her voice dropped in volume and grew deadly soft.

“Of course I do!” Pete exclaimed. “You’re my fiancée!”

“Then I want you to explain something to me—”

“I already told you, I bought the house because I thought it would make you happy!” Pete shouted in frustration.

“That wasn’t what I was going to ask,” Sam squared her shoulders and faced him. “I was going to ask why you ran a background check on me back in January of last year.”

Pete’s open mouth snapped shut with a clink of teeth.

“The day after I first slept with you,” Sam drove the next point home in the same deadly voice, her blue eyes icy hard.

The silence grew between them. Pete rapidly looked at her, the floor, and elsewhere in the room his eyes never staying on any object for long. Sam held her stance patiently, letting her fiancé fidget uncomfortably. She would not be the one that broke the silence—he would answer her with none of his usual avoidance tactics.

“I was just curious,” Pete mumbled under his breath then looked up at her and spoke more clearly, “there’s no harm in that is there?”

“No harm? No harm?” Sam nearly choked on the anger that swelled in her chest. “Pete. You. Are. A. Police officer! You know very well the harm that can come from something like that!”

Pete’s gaze skittered away again.

“You ever heard the phrase—curiosity killed the cat?” Sam took an aggressive step forward. “And in this case, satisfaction isn’t going to bring it back.”

“Sorry,” Pete mumbled before turning aggressive himself. “But you wouldn’t tell me anything!”

“Pete! I work for the Air Force! I told you what I did was classified!” Sam shouted. “Does the term ‘national security’ mean nothing to you?”

Pete made a dismissing sound in the back of his throat, riling Sam even more.

“But you did a little more than run a trace on me didn’t you? After the trace you stalked me!”

“I didn’t exactly stalk you,” Pete mumbled defensively.

“Stalking is defined as following a person in or about a public place and is a class five felony in Colorado!”

Pete blinked at the legal jargon he was familiar with.

“Yes Pete, I looked it up.” Sam gave a tired sigh. “I’m a scientist. I tend to do those things. You followed me to Daniel’s place and then interrupted a stakeout—which as a police detective you should be all too familiar with and able to recognise—nearly got yourself killed and had the program disclosed to you!”

Sam threw her hands up in the air and started to turn away from him in disgust. “God, I wished I’d never made that promise to you!”

Pete took some steps towards her as his hands reached for her shoulders. “Sam, look, I said I’m sorry. And I am.”

Sam shot him a disbelieving look over her shoulder. As far as she could tell, he was only sorry about her finding out—not about doing those actions in the first place.

“Look, we can work this out,” Pete said as his hands closed on her shoulders from behind. “We’re getting married in a few days—”

Sam shrugged his hands off harshly. “Are we now?”

“Of course we can. All you need to do is calm down some—”

Sam whirled about and got right into Pete’s face. Her angry countenance shifting to a steely, hard-edged expression her fiancé has never seen before. The hardened face of the soldier she was but that she had never shown him

“No Pete. You need to acknowledge your errors. And I need to think some more about whether this relationship between us—when you clearly don’t trust me—is going to work in the slightest.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we’re going to get in the car—you’re going to drive to your parent’s place because of the dinner we’ve been invited too—and I’m going to take the time to think.”

“Can’t you think about it now—here?”

“No.” Sam began striding to the door and the vehicle parked in the driveway of the house. Her mind already analysing and classifying all the times she and Pete had been together, all the interaction between them and when with other individuals. How her relationship with him had affected her relationships with others—in particular her team that for years had been her family.

As Pete drove to his parent’s house in silence as instructed, Sam thought over the past year and six months. About Pete’s not understanding her dedication to her job, constant accusations about her relationships with her teammates and work, actions that revealed his distrust, and other emotional manipulations…

As incidents and moments began piling up in her mind as Sam forced herself not to dismiss them as isolated events, slowly but surely the scales began to tip out of Pete’s favour.