Duty

Season: SGA Season 4 (though archiving this as SG1 because of the SJ)

Spoilers: SG1 The Scourge, Ark of Truth; SGA Adrift, Lifeline

Genre: Romance, Angst, SJ

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Notes: So I wrote this while marathoning the Sarah Connor Chronicles with my flatmate, and typed it while listening to Mighty Quinn the Eskimo by Manfred Mann (on repeat), so this might have turned out a little . . . odd.

It's about Sam being appointed commander of the Atlantis expedition. Someone requested it ages ago, and a scenario for it came to me after I scribbled the first few lines of this.

--

It was a cold, rainy day and it suited Sam's mood perfectly as she stared out over her backyard. She felt bleak – just a few hours ago the world had seemed so much brighter, full of so many plans and intentions.

The Ori had been defeated. She had thought her feeling of elation would last weeks. Months even. The greatest threat in the galaxy right now was Ba'al and she'd have to say that the SGC was pretty adept at handling whatever the remains of the System Lords could throw at them.

SG1 had been on extended leave while poor Cameron recovered from his rather extensive injuries received in their unexpected battle with the replicators. Sam had been spending a few days organising her affairs, tidying her lab and sorting out some things at home. Then she was heading for Washington. And Jack.

She hadn't seen Jack face-to-face in so long. They'd been so busy (when were they not?). Last she'd talked to him was before the mission to the Ori Galaxy. She'd tried phoning him since she'd returned. Several times. She'd tried at home, then at work, where his secretary told her that he was caught up in round the clock meetings, barely finding time to sleep. So she'd left a message.

Two days later he'd turned up on her doorstep, looking practically dead with fatigue. At the sight of her his eyes lit up. Sam had stared for a moment, frozen, and Jack was likewise still. Then, as one, they surged towards each other. Her arms twined tightly around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist as Jack took a step forward into the house, kicking the front door closed and moving rapidly into the living room. He propelled them over the back of the sofa so that they fell together onto the cushions, his weight settling comfortingly on top of her.

Their lips met frantically; bruisingly. Hands ran over each other as they both succumbed to their need for each other.

--

Much, much later they were sitting together at the kitchen table over mugs of coffee. After chatting for a while and catching up on each other's news, Jack apologised for not returning her calls. He ran his hand over his face tiredly.

'I'm sorry for not getting back to you. It's just . . . there's some stuff going on at the office . . .' He sighed heavily.

'It's okay,' Sam replied as she gently brushed her hand over his face, 'you don't need to tell me.' She stood up from her chair and moved around the table to sit in his lap.

'I know,' he pressed a kiss to her forehead, before continuing. 'I can't stay.'

'I know,' Sam sighed in response.

'I have to be back the day after tomorrow for more meetings,' Jack continued, resting his chin on her shoulder and speaking quietly into her ear. His hand came up to the nape of her neck and his fingers played in the strands of her recently grown hair. 'The IOA are being more difficult than usual.'

'Jack,' Sam said quietly to the side of his head, wrapping her arms around his chest. 'Let's just concentrate on the time we have. Like we always do.'

'I think I'm going to be tied up for weeks,' Jack replied regretfully. 'Looks like we won't be able to spend much time together during your leave.'

'We'll deal,' was Sam's stoic answer. 'Though I think I'll go crazy on extended leave here by myself.' She laughed lightly, her breath ruffling the short hair by his ear and causing the sparse hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end in a nice, tingly way. 'I haven't been alone on leave for a long period of time since you used to tell me to get a life because I was spending too much time on the base.'

Jack laughed softly in response, still not letting go of the tight hold he had on her. He needed the close contact. 'You're gonna go nuts.'

'Yeah, Sam replied ruefully. 'General Landry mentioned the need for qualified technicians to finalise work on the Midway Project. I could always go help out with that if I get bored.'

Jack huffed another laugh, 'I give you less than a week.'

'Sounds about right,' Sam replied. She pulled back slightly and rested her forehead on against his. A mischievous smile touched her face, raising the corners of her mouth. 'We still have two days, right?'

Jack grinned widely. 'Yup,' he replied smugly.

He then scooped her up before she could react and headed back towards her bedroom.

--

That had been several weeks ago. Three weeks and six days to be exact. She'd been to Midway with Bill Lee, made an unexpected trip to Pegasus and helped out the Atlantis expedition. She'd returned a couple of days ago to a message on her phone from Jack, saying that he would be around that afternoon, the afternoon of her arrival, and that they needed to talk.

Sam had been slightly concerned. He'd sounded worried, but she'd decided that there was nothing for her to do but wait.

So she went through her mail and started putting her groceries away. It was a dull, wet day; it hadn't stopped raining all morning. When there was a knock on her door she moved to answer it, expecting Jack. She was surprised to be greeted by two men in business suits. Sam vaguely remembered one of them from SG1's disastrous trip to the Gamma Site, with the carnivorous R75 bugs.

Immediately on her guard, she subconsciously took a defensive stance.

'Colonel Carter,' one of the men greeted her calmly.

'What can I do for you two gentlemen?' Sam asked. She was suspicious of the circumstances of their appearance at around the same time she had been expecting Jack.

'We're from the International Oversight Advisory. We'd like to talk to you for a moment, if we could.' They both showed their ID badges and Sam examined them before letting the men into the house.

--

Half an hour later Sam was alone, staring out on her backyard as the rain fell steadily. Thoughts were whirling around in her mind.

She heard a key turn in the lock of the front door and footsteps moving down the hall towards the living room, where Sam was standing. She remained unmoving at the window, watching the rain.

The footsteps came to a halt behind her. She felt Jack's breath against her ear as he exhaled heavily.

'They already came, didn't they?' He sighed. 'God damn it, I hate the IOA.'

'Atlantis.' Sam spoke resignedly.

'I wanted to explain the situation to you myself,' Jack said frustratedly, his arms coming around her from behind. Sam leaned back tiredly against his chest.

'There'd been a lot of pressure lately to replace Weir,' Jack continued. I've been stuck in meetings about it for weeks. We fought to keep Weir, but obviously the current situation has created an opportunity for the IOA. It was suggested that someone in the military take over. Not by the IOA.' He snorted then paused for a moment before continuing more softly. 'I didn't suggest it either.' He rested his chin on her shoulder and peered at her face. She was still staring out the window. 'And I didn't suggest your name.'

Sam sighed, 'I know.' She twisted in his arms and rested her head on his chest. 'I can't really say no, can I?'

Jack held her tighter. 'Not really. Saying no would be career suicide.'

'Yeah,' Sam agreed quietly.

'Command of Atlantis would definitely further your career though,' Jack added, trying to sound optimistic. 'They'll promote you to full-bird colonel. With a command like Atlantis you could be a general in a couple more years.'

'You were going to retire. Stay in the Springs. We'd go to the cabin for holidays. I was going to restrict my off-world travel. We had it all worked out.'

'I'll just wait a little while longer,' Jack replied stoically. He placed a kiss on the top of her head.

'Always waiting,' Sam sighed.

'Yeah,' Jack replied, 'it sucks.' He tilted her chin up and held his lips a breath away from hers. 'But it's worth if we have this to come home to, eventually.'

'True.' Sam smiled softly and closed the distance between them.

They'd make it work.

They always did.