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Edge of Campus (Wall) - Friday Afternoon

After ~~handwavily~~ calling Sam, Charlie headed down to where they'd agreed to meet. The wall separating the school from the rest of the town had stayed in good condition despite the troll invasion. He ran his fingers over a distinguishable crack in the stone. This was where they'd climbed over that weekend to get into town.

Charlie turned around and leaned against the wall to wait for Sam.

[OOC: For

carter_i_am. That they met is okay for broadcast, contents NFB.]

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Sam walked up a few minutes later, carrying two cups of coffee. "Hey." She handed one to Charlie. "Everything okay?"

"Hey!" he greeted with a smile. "You brought me coffee. How could things be less than okay?"

Sam just gave him a look.

"Things could be less than okay because I called you out here in the middle of nowhere where no one can find us?"

"I was going to go with things could be less than okay because it's us, but what you said is just as accurate." She sipped her coffee and checked for squirrels.

Charlie nodded. "Don't worry, it's no big deal, but I wanted to talk to you before I did anything because it might wind up affecting you too."

"What's up?"

He blew on his coffee to cool it down. "I want to tell Alanna everything."

"Wow, that's pretty serious." Sam couldn't help the smile, happy that Charlie had found someone. "You'll let me know how it goes?"

"'Course," he nodded. "Sure you're okay with it?"

"I told Jack a while ago," Sam told him, "though just about me. And yeah, I'm sure. First, I trust Alanna. Second, in this place, it's just not that big a deal, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know. Well," he shrugged. "For most people anyway. Could be different with her because it's not a 'now I've gotta live with you' thing, it's more. But I can't not tell her. I know she's gonna go home in the summer, and she'll probably end up with Jon or George, but I've got her now and I want her to know me for me."

He was talking too much.

"So, this is really serious, then," Sam said quietly. "And I don't think you should count yourself out of the running just yet, Charlie. There's parts of her only you know and understand now. That's important."

He suddenly didn't feel like the coffee. "Yeah. You know, I'd almost convinced myself that it'd all work out, but after being there? Meeting everyone?" Charlie shook his head. "She's got a future. She's got a daughter. I'm not a part of that. But I knew all this was gonna be temporary, and I'm okay with that."

He really wasn't. Well, he had been when it first started out, because it was harmless friendship, then harmless attraction. But now? Now he was getting in deep and denial was the only thing letting him keep his head above water.

"I'm okay with now. That's enough for me."

Sam made a face. "Sometimes what seems temporary ends up being anything but," she said, thinking of herself and Jack as well as Charlie and Alanna, "and there you are, knocked on your ass, and more surprised than ever."

"Charlie," she hesitated, since this really wasn't her area, but then added, "How do you know you're not a part of her life? Of her daughter? Have they told you?"

Charlie looked at Sam, and the look on his face made it clear that the answer was no. "You're the one who said as long as I don't know anything about the future, I can't screw it up. I can't know, so I'm assuming the worst without giving up what I've got now."

Sam was pretty sure she hadn't told him to be a pessimist. "Okay, yeah, there's a paradox issue, but that doesn't mean you have to assume the worst," she nudged him with her elbow. "Do what you want and what feels right to you, and just trust it."

"Which, granted, is a little easier to do with the fighting instincts," she admitted, "but we're young again. Maybe we can learn."

"You and me, change our ways?" he raised an eyebrow. Maybe if the world ended. Again.

"She's worth it, isn't she?" Sam asked, knowing full well she wasn't playing fair by asking the question.

He nodded without hesitation. "Seen a lot of things. A lot of weird things. Plus after being here, I'll believe pretty much anything is possible. But this? Feeling like this?" He shook his head. "Hard to believe. Scary as hell."

Sam held her coffee in both hands, but forgot about drinking it. "Oh, yeah. Terrifying. Jack's constantly surprising me, and sometimes I'd rather be shot again than deal with what he does to me."

"Er, not dirty."

Kawalsky cringed. "Maaan, I wasn't even going there." He gently and playfully punched her in the arm. "But yeah, same. Not dirty. We haven't..." He stopped before giving any more information than that and shrugged. "I don't get it. We went for how long growing up the first time, and I don't know about you, but there were a few people who came and went, but we had to go back to *high school* to find people that mattered, y'know?"

Sam was quiet, trying not to think of O'Neill, the big moron. "Yeah. For as much as I hated it when I first got here, and for as tough as the adjustment was, the people here are worth it."

"Believe me, it was a hell of a surprise waking up like this. There's still stuff that really gets my goat about being here and not being able to go back, but there's worse places to be."

"I was never a big fan of being dead," Sam rolled her eyes. "But now, I'm actually glad to leave the world saving to...okay, that's a lie," she sighed. "I miss them and going out with them every single day. My test at the Time Agency? Watching them die, or dying in their place. Not a tough choice."

"Nope," he agreed. "And you were with 'em for a long time. It's never easy to move on after that, especially when it's not your choice. I miss my job, but I can always get another one. But I get annoyed that I don't have a say in whether I'm allowed to see my family again or not."

"You could drop in," Sam suggested. "Take Alanna and run into them in a shop or a restaurant somewhere." Not that she'd done that with Mark or her niece and nephew, but that was a different situation. "You're younger, and they won't make as strong a connection, thinking it's just an incredible coincidence that you look so much like your younger self that they remember."

He thought about that for a while. "That's not a bad plan. Mom's in Florida now, but Jane's still in New York. It's worth a shot. Thanks, Sam."

"Glad I could help." At least one of them could have family.

"C'mon, let's get outta here before we OD on deep and meaningfuls."

She snickered. "We can't have that, now, can we?"

He put his arm around Sam and grinned as they headed back. "No way. Then we'd never make it to detention tomorrow."

"Totally worth it, by the way," she laughed.

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Edge of Campus (Wall) - Friday Afternoon

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