11Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or any of the characters.
Chapter three. From now on, I'm gonna try to put some kind of quote or something like that from my life at the beginning of the chapter, just to kind of remember the good times I had in high school(though it's not over yet!).
"We're percussionists. You have to look(for us) in strange places." Charlie C.
Maria dusted herself off as she stood up. Fritz had once again dropped her off at her house, and, once again, almost run her over. She'd had to really jump out of the way that time, landing in the ditch, which was dry, fortunately. She was increasingly grateful for the healing given to her by that Tok'ra operative.
Turning to face her house, she noticed something odd. Sam was home early today, her car parked in the driveway. She was rarely, if ever, home early.
Intrigued, she quickened her pace to almost a run, heading for the front door. It was already unlocked, she noticed, before she started digging in her pocket for her key.
"Sam?" She called out as she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. "Where are you? Everything's okay, right?"
"Hey, Maria!" Sam answered. "Yeah, everything's great! Come in the living room-we have a guest."
Maria could hear the not so well hidden amusement in Sam's voice, and ran to the living room. Who in the world...
Turning right through the doorway, she was grabbed in a huge bear hug before she could even see who it was. But she knew who it was without even seeing his face.
"Dad!" She cried happily. "I missed you! But what on earth are you doing here?"
He laughed as he let her go and stepped back.
"Missed you too, kiddo," he answered. "And I'm here to make an announcement. Or, more like, repeat it, since Sam already knows."
"What is it?" She asked. Judging by their excited attitudes, it was obviously something good.
"What would you say if I told you that we were all going away together for a family vacation?"
"Um...I'd say that's awesome. Where, exactly?"
Wasn't her father supposed to be deceased according to the rest of the world, or something? His existence was classified, and, from what she knew, he'd been lucky just to be allowed to go to their home. Where in the world could they go?
At her question, her father smiled somewhat mischievously.
"P3xe5..." he rattled off a list of numbers and letters too long for her to remember all of it.
Wait... if she was remembering correctly...
"You mean another planet? Through the Stargate?" Maria wasn't sure she heard him right.
Samantha grinned. "Yep."
"But what about all that classified stuff? I'm a civilian." Sure, she knew what was going on, for the most part. But being allowed to do something like go through the Stargate, or even to just go back on the base, was something she was sure she'd never get to do.
"I've talked it over with General Hammond," Sam explained. "He said that, as a grandfather, he agreed this would be good for us as a family. But as a general, he's reluctant to do so, given all the red tape we'd have to go through. But he gave us the go-ahead anyway."
"In other words," her father interrupted. "He's going to turn a blind eye to you." Despite his attempt at seriousness, his lips twitching slightly betrayed his inner mirth.
Which reminded her...
"How's Selmak, Dad?" She asked, remembering how she found him three years ago.
In response, his head dropped, and his eyes glowed as Selmak took control and looked up.
"Hello, Maria, Samantha," the symbiote greeted them. "I'm well, thank you. I must say, I haven't had a vacation since the last time I saw you, Maria. I look forward to it, as I'm sure you are."
When Maria nodded eagerly in agreement, he laughed.
"You, of course, look forward to it for more than one reason."
No duh, Maria thought. The irony of his words were not lost on her.
"When are we going?" She asked, noticing several suitcases by the staircase.
"Tomorrow," Sam answered.
So soon?
"It's a good thing I'm exempt from the rest of my exams, then," she replied, not mentioning the part about the interrupted-and therefore, probably flunked- physics exam. She cringed inwardly at the memory of the interruption. They'd simply barged into the classroom-not to mention the school-, muttered some kind of legal excuse to do it, and made her go with them. It had been embarrassing, at least, and she'd wished she could've called out for help. But what could she have said? Nothing that would've made any sense to those who might have tried to help her.
"Why do I think I pushed you so hard to get exempt?" Sam mentioned. Then, seeing the look on their father/Selmak's face, added, "Not that I wouldn't have anyway."
"So how long are we going for?" Maria asked, so she could figure out how much to pack. "And is this, like, camping?"
"How'd you guess, kid?" Her father, now in control, teased. "We'll be gone for about three or four days, depending on the weather."
"It's summer, there," Sam added. "Even though it's almost winter here."
Then she studied Maria for a second, and looked concerned.
Crap, Maria thought. Was there still a bruise on her face or something?
"You look tired, Maria. Really tired. Everything alright?" She asked a minute later, tilting her head sideways a little to study her younger sister a little more.
Maria swallowed hard. She was so sick of lying...
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just worn out after another long day in the public school system," she explained, trying so hard to mean it, to make it sound casual.
Sam nodded in understanding, remembering her own high school days.
"I'm gonna go pack," Maria said suddenly, before either of them could ask any more questions about her day.
As she turned, forcing a smile, darted out of the room and up the stairs, she wondered if this was how Sam had once felt, years ago, before Maria met Selmak. And, if so, how did she keep it up for so long without breaking?
And that's chapter three! Please review! More exciting things to come later on, I promise, though I know this chapter can't be very impressive, with it being mostly talk and all. Hope you liked it anyway. :)