This was just something I jotted down while practicing my writing style... I like to write things by hand so I did this. It feels like it has an ending, but I may write more... not sure.

I do not own stargate or the characters, etc etc.

Since this story is from the POV of an outside observer, there will be some intentional misspellings of common Stargate terms. They are intentionally written since some random person at a coffee shop wouldn;t have any idea how to spell "Teal'c" ot "Naqueda."

Writer's notes.

I have decided to spend my time at my usual coffee shop observing people coming and going for reasons of character development and overall inspiration for my novels.

7-22-2000

There is a beautiful blonde woman I have observed enter the shop every morning for the past week. She always comes in at 6AM and orders a coffee and a scone. She then reads the paper for around 40 minutes before heading on her way. I have chosen to continue observing her for the following reasons.

On monday she answered her phone and I overheard the following: "Carter… are you sure sir? It shouldn't be doing that, no sir. Have Siler remove the power core and have him make sure no nakwada(sp?) is leaking. I'll be right in… Yes sir the core needs to be removed immediately to prevent some overload. The resulting explosion could destroy half the base. Thank you sir, I'll see you in a few." The woman than finished her coffee and left moments later.

After the first encounter there were two days on which she answered the phone, listened for a moment, then rushed from the shop without a second glance at her coffee or scone.

On both Wednesday and Friday she answered the phone and spoke to someone named "Colonel O'Neill." During both of these conversations she smiled and giggled several times in a way which made her face light up more beautifully than the rain when the sun turns it into a rainbow. (There must be a better way to describe this. I will have to experiment at home because that level of beauty needs adequate description.)

Because of the first three observations I have decided to observe her more. I feel I could piece together a wonderful fiction basing the main character on her. I simply need to observe her for a while longer and fill in the blanks. For example, I have no idea what nakwada actually is, but given her conversation about it I can only assume it is some sort of fuel or combustible. To make it more interesting we'll say its a top secret fossil fuel discovered on the moon in the sixties. Extra terrestrial is always a good seller!

Anyways. Today is Saturday, and I came by the coffee shop in the hopes she would stop by on her day off (which honestly, I can only assume this is) and get a chance to observe her for longer than her usual hour.

6:00 AM

She arrived right on schedule. Currently she is standing in line.

A man has just approached her. He's tall, maybe 6' or 6'2"? He has some grey in his hair. The interaction went as follows (I will be dictating from here on)

Man approaches from behind and puts his hand on her shoulder. She turns and beams at his presence (perhaps a significant other?)

"Sir!" she says

"Carter." his reply (okay not a couple. Guess they're military?) "Fancy meeting you here."

"Yes, sir." she smirked (inside joke?) "Daniel and Tealk?" (sp? Weird name, unsure of spelling. Maybe foreign?)

Hey, you know Danny. Needs his beauty sleep. Probably just overslept. He said he'd pick up Tea." (Tea? Could he mean the guy with the weird name? Maybe Daniel is picky about his tea…)

"Daniel and I were up pretty late working on the artifact from 635 fir, I'm sure he'll be here soon." (Artifact? Maybe they're archeologists.)

Well, what're you having Carter?"

"Just coffee and a scone, sir." She was second in line now.

"A scone, huh?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Alright. Well, go grab us a table, I got this."

"Are you sure, sir?" She looks strangely uncomfortable about his offer, like she's not sure it's okay.

"Jeez carter, I'm allowed to buy you a coffee. Go! Sit!" He is shooing her off with his hands but she hasn't moved. "Og fer cryin' out loud, It's breakfast Carter. You can get me next time."

"Okay sir. Thank you, sir." She graces him with a small smile of gratitude and heads to her usual table while he mumbles something under his breath that sounds like "yeah sure you betcha."

He watches her walk away like Romeo watched Juliet. This has forbidden fruit written all over it.

He's actually so lost in he doesn't even notice it's his turn to order. The poor barista finally gets his attention by saying "Sir?" instead of "next!"

I just looked back at her - Carter - and there are two men approaching her table. It looks like she waved them over?

One of the men is white, average height, and wearing glasses. Awful sideburns. They take up half his face. He'd be damn cute with a different haircut.

The other man is tall, African American, and extremely muscular. Body builder? I think he might be bald, hard to say though, as he is wearing a beanie.

"Hey Sam!" sys glasses.

"Hey Daniel, Tealk."

"Major Carter." Says muscles. (Okay definitely military. Tealk must be a last name like Carter. Now I can call her Sam.)

Major Carter, it appears someone is watching you." Muscles again. Good god that man is built like the Rock. Oh shit he means me.

"Hm? Oh no, she always sits there." (She's seen me before? Well at least she's not suspicious.) "I think she's a writer or something. She usually writes for awhile and then stares off into space for a bit."

"Could she not be writing what she observes of you?" (Damn, muscles is observant.)

She's giggling. "I think you've been watching too many conspiracy shows again Tealk. She's been sitting at that table as long as I've been coming here." (She's looking at me. Maybe I should leave?) "Trust me Tealk, she's harmless."

Okay, I decided to take a "break" so they don't realize I really am observing Major Carter, but here is what I overheard in the meantime.

Glasses = Daniel Jackson

Muscles = Tealk (or T as "Sir" likes to call him)

Sir = Colonel O'Neill/Jack

She = Majore Carter/Sam/Carter (I assume Major Sam Carter)

They are planning a trip to somewhere called… Edora? I'll have to look it up when I get home. Never thought I would regret leaving my laptop at home for these trips, but here we are. Anyway, Edora sounds like some sort of work trip? I am 100% sure at this point they are colleagues (which would explain the forbidden fruit look.) Sam said something about a malp (?) and talking to someone named Laira or Leia, or maybe Layra? About visiting her people. They were really vague like they were worried about being overheard. Definitely military, probably some BS classified shit. I'll have to listen harder next time because people love that sort of top secret fiction.

Oct 21, 2000

Okay so, It's been almost 3 months and I haven't seen Sam once. Until today. I had started to think maybe she moved or something. But here she is, sitting at her usual table. Coffee but no scone this time. To be honest she looks awful. Like she hasn't slept for the three months she's been gone. Her hair is unkempt, and for the first time I've seen her she is without makeup. She's just sitting there staring into her coffee, like she just had her heart handed to her on a platter. Actually, I think she's crying.

Her friend (Coworker?) Daniel just walked in! She hasn't noticed him.

Dictation time!

He's standing over her, hands in his pockets. I can't tell if she's noticed him, she's not looking up.

"I thought I might find you here."

"Hey Daniel." She sounds as awful as she looks.

He just pulled his hands out of his pockets, moved a chair back and sat down. "I was worried about you."

"Why?" she looks surprised. If she looked in the mirror maybe she would understand.

"Sam, you don't look good."

"I'm just tired Daniel."

"I know you're tired Sam. You barely slept in 3 months, of course you're tire. But it's more than that."

"Daniel." (it sounds like a warning.)

"Sam." He sounds tired too. "You have every right to feel hurt." (oh, this could be interesting!)

"No I don't Daniel."

"Yes! You do! And the fact that you feel you're not allowed to is just one more reason I hate the military." Wow he sounds pissed. People are looking. (Wait is he not military?)

"Daniel, keep it down!" That was pretty hushed, I almost missed it.

"Sam. You worked non-stop for 3 months to build that thing. You are the only reason he got home."

"What's your point?" She sounds venomous right now.

"Did he even say thank you? He thanked Tealk, I know, I was there. But you? I didn't even see him look at you."

"It doesn't matter Daniel. I was just doing my job. Tealk is the one who risked his life."

"Yeah, three months working yourself to death overshadowed by a couple hours of heroism. No reason to feel hurt there." So she's been at work this whole time? God I wish I could ask what happened.

"I have to go Daniel." She's leaving. Wait she stopped. She's not looking at him though. "Daniel, I appreciate what you're trying to do. But please, drop it. I'll see you in a couple weeks."

"I'm here if you need to talk Sam." She's already gone.

Oct 26, 2000

Okay, she's been here every day since Daniel showed up, but there isn't much to say. I want to know what happened but I obviously can;t ask. I also feel really bad for her. She looks better every day, but she is clearly hurting. Half the time she sits there crying. It's weird for a stranger to check on another stranger isn't it? God she's crying again.

I checked on her, I couldn;t help it. She just looked so sad, I really wanted to help. She was very vague, but grateful. I gave her a tissue and asked if she wanted to talk. She gave me a confused look, then said it wasn't really something she could talk about. She opened up after I pointed out I didn't know her and therefore couldn't tell anyone she knew anything. She giggles when I mentioned strangers on a train. That was a nice sound.

The gist of it seemed to be her friend was lost (missing?) and she worked really hard to bring him home, but when they found (?) him he didn't want to come back. He didn't even say thank you. It hurt. I think there's more to it, but to be honest, it's not my business. If I write my story I can fill in the blanks. She is just inspiration after all, right?

Nov 3. 2000

A saturday again. I actually broke the rules a bit. (Are there rules?) And sort of… befriended her. She is pretty brilliant. She says she works for the Air Force as a Theoretical Astrophysicist. She studies Deep Space Radar Telemetry (whatever the hell that means.) Anyways, none of that explains the whole "friend missing" thing, but whatever.

She has actually been spending most of her days here, working alongside me. I've been working on my latest mystery novel (which is almost done now thanks to her suggestions - she's a great proofreader) and she's been working on some sort of science paper that is way over my head. If I ever write Sci-fi I'll have to ask for her help.

So anyway. I guess her boss ordered her to take 2 weeks leave after they got her friend back because she worked so hard for so long he felt she needed the R and R. She goes back on monday. We were having a really nice conversation about the believability of my main character's escape from an impenetrable fortress when he walked in.

I can only assume by her change in attitude that he is the friend who was missing. Colonel O'Neill from the first entry. Mr. forbidden fruit himself. Clearly a commanding officer because she straightened right up when she saw him.

One thing I've learned about Sam this last week is she doesn't sugar coat. She tells it like it is. When he walked in, though, it's like… she's all business. What's the word… good soldier? I guess that's technically a phrase but that's what I'm trying to convey. Her personality is still there, it just took a back seat.

God it's really creepy I've watched her enough to know that huh?

ANYWAYS. I moved back to my own table. He asked me if I could give them privacy and Sam gave me a "sorry it's work" kind of look. So here I am, watching, waiting, and thinking she's going to need a drink tonight, even though it sounds pretty… civil?

Dictation:

"Sir, what can I do for you?"

"Daniel tells me I owe you some thanks."

"For what, sir?"

"Look, Carter. This isn't really the best place to talk… I tried to come by your place."

"You did?" I'm almost positive she is playing dumb.

"Carter, why have you been avoiding me?" Hah, I was right.

"I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

Now they're just sitting there, staring at each other. One considering calling the other's bluff. He thinks better of it.

"Well I'm sorry I keep missing you. Daniel Teal'c and I were thinking of having a team night before your leave is up… a bit of a bonding session if you will. What d'you say, join us?" (I asked her how to spell Teal'c one day after she mentioned him "strange name! How do you spell that?")

She seems to be softening up a little. "I'd like that, sir." She smiled, though it wasn't entirely free. "It's good to have you back." He is looking at her now like he just realized how much he hurt her and how to fix it. "I hear that's all thanks to you."

"It was a team effort, sir."

"But you're the one who didn't leave base for 3 months."

She looks unsure now. "What can I say sir, you know me and projects."

He's smiling at her, dare I say affectionately? "Well, thank you. For getting me home… I missed you Sam." that won him a true smile - not beaming, mind you, a small shy smile.

"I missed you too, sir." and with that he patted her on the shoulder and left.

She came to my table after. She didn't explain, just changed the subject. But she seemed different - happy isn't the right word… Normal? Like the last couple of weeks she has been hiding a deep depression that is just… gone now. Like suddenly she can be herself without forcing it. And now I'm realizing I may have made the best friend I could ever ask for, and it all started as some creepy research for a future book title.