Title: Jailbreak

Author: MotatoPotato

Spoilers: General series

Season: 10

Warnings: SJ Ship. Companion to 'Bad Moon Rising'. Some very mild language, very fluffy.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadly. I only twist what is there.

Notes: This is thirteenth in a series of same universe vignettes.

Please let me know what you think….It's how I improve and it keeps me writing!! Enjoy.

I wanted to say thank you to the people who have been sending me such nice, overwhelming messages. They really made my day!

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Jack O'Neill knew without a doubt if he didn't get away he would either blow up, or burn out. He had become accustomed to the political jargon and the diplomatic dances, was even good at it. After all, he was a master of tactics and despite some rough edges was very good at breaking down situations and finding solutions. Albeit unconventionally.

He would never in a million years admit that he was frustrated, near exhausted, and missing his wife to total distraction. He broke down and grabbed the phone. Jack just wanted to hear her voice, if only to listen to her speak geek. He negotiated his way through the mountain switchboard.

"Carter." She sounded terse and annoyed.

"Hey…it's me Carter…I just wanted to…hear your…I mean…" He was cut off abruptly.

"Can't talk, sorry."

She hung up.

//Ooookay then. // Jack stared at the phone blankly, shaking his head slightly. He had almost told her. He was so tired. Though he hid it well.

O'Neill let out a puff of air. //Guess I'll talk to you later...// He hoped there wasn't something really…bad…happening at the mountain.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sam hung up, trying to juggle her tools and her laptop as she headed to Dr. Lee's lab. He'd managed to screw with yet another device recovered recently.

Suddenly she narrowed her eyes. Something wasn't right about that call. She turned, heading back to her lab. He had almost just told her he called just to hear her voice.

Something was wrong. That was something Jack O'Neill would never say without the influence of pain medication. Probably not even then.

She waited impatiently to be connected, speaking briefly to Lt. Moore, Jack's receptionist before finally being patched through.

"O'Neill."

Sam heard the well hidden note of frustration and unhappiness. Usually it was much better concealed.

"Hey…I'm sorry."

"Heya Carter. Think nuthin' of it…"

Sam smiled and felt her own exhaustion and tension start to slip away as she heard the note drastically recede.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you called."

"Yes, well, phone calls do tend to make one less nuts."

She smiled feeling better than she had in days. "Jack?"

"What?"

"Thank you."

Sam could almost hear him rolling his eyes. "I have an idea."

She gasped in mock horror.

"Funny, Carter."

"I thought so." Sam chuckled. "Okay…go on."

"Cabin. For a week or two. We both need a vacation. Badly."

Her grin nearly split her face.

"Next week, and maybe part or all of the week after that."

Her face fell. "Melissa Jenkins and her husband are coming to stay here with me for a few days."

"So, invite them too. I'm gonna get you to that cabin even if I gotta go caveman again and drag you all the way there."

She considered. "I'll speak to them."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack stretched as he swung open the door of his rental truck. They had foregone the eighteen hour drive between DC and their Minnesota cabin, opting to fly out. They had enough stress at work as it was without adding a two day drive.

Sam jumped out the other side. Gravel crunched loudly beneath their feet as they made their way into the grocery store in the minuscule town twenty miles from their land.

The clerk smiled sweetly at Jack. "Hey there General! So nice to see you again." She looked curiously at Sam. "Have we met, Ma'am?"

Sam smiled. "Once or twice, I think."

They went through this ritual every time Sam came in with Jack. She was sure it was because the poor woman was just pining after Jack, refusing to believe he'd remarried. So the bit of information was erased soon after being absorbed. Jack thought that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard, of course.

The man himself threw her a suspicious look. "I heard that."

Carter flashed him an amused smirk. "Didn't say a word."

"Didn't have too." But he smiled back. The further they'd gotten from DC the more noticeably relaxed he'd become.

She gave an affectionate sigh as he stocked up on more cases of beer than any mere mortal would be able to consume in a year. "Jack O'Neill, If I cut my foot on one more of those caps you flick everywhere, so help me, you'll be sorry."

His eyes narrowed playfully. "Promises, promises."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack watched Sam wandering in front of the cabin as she finished speaking to her friend. He finished putting away the food, taking a swig from his beer. //I swear to god, those Ori will be begging me for mercy if they dare cut this trip short.//

Sam came in holding her palm over the mouthpiece. "Their sitter is sick."

Jack cocked his head and looked at her quizzically.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is it a problem?"

Jack still looked mystified. "Is what a problem?"

Sam grit her teeth. "If they bring their kids."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because you came up here to relax. Not baby sit…"

Jack gave her a puzzled frown. "It's fine. Though you should warn them that there are only two bedrooms."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam hung up feeling a pleasant warmth radiating throughout her body. Every time. The man did it every time. He was genuinely confused about why she thought he'd be unhappy with the fact that the guests Sam invited were now inviting two more along. He never stopped surprising her.

She thought once again how lucky they were to finally have this chance. How lucky she was to have found someone so…Jack. Growing up she'd of course she'd had an idea of the man she was going to marry. Certainly never crossed her mind she'd end up with someone so damaged in so many ways.

However in hindsight this is all she'd ever wanted or needed.

Someone who knew innately what she needed when she needed it. Respected her strength but knew when to lend his. Loved her even having seen her at her worst. Who could make her laugh and furious at the same time. Basically Jack.

She made it back into the cabin, only to try and strangle her rising laughter poorly. Jack was standing in the kitchen, one hand on the counter the other at his hip, staring balefully at the toaster. Which was sparking and smoking in wispy, sad, and very uneven curls. He glanced briefly at her before looking back wryly. "Hope you like your morning toast Cajun-style."

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Jack groaned and stretched around his drowsy wife, still curled against his stomach. Her friends were coming up today, and he still needed to make a grocery run to pick up some stuff for the kids. And more beer, of course.

Sam had other ideas for current occupations though. Not that Jack was complaining. Not one peep. Well maybe one or two. He let out a moan of raw pleasure as he proceeded to 'let' Sam have her wicked way with him.

Wicked ways were underrated.

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Sam came out of the cabin as she saw Melissa and Bill Jenkins clambering out of their car, helping a little girl and a boy who looked a year or two older out of the back seat. She gave Melissa a hug and then Bill.

Mel looked apologetic. "Thanks again for letting us bring the kids. You guys are both really okay with this? I know Jack doesn't get much downtime or visits with you…" Then she laughed. "Not that there's much to be done at this point." Then she looked around. "Where is Jack?"

Sam nodded emphatically. "Of course it is. He looked at me like he couldn't understand why I was even asking him. He loves kids." Sam smiled at Bill who was grinning widely. "And Jack just ran out to pick up a few supplies."

Bill looked contrite. "Speaking of kids, this troublemaker here is Kenny, and this little cutie is Emily. She said hello to the four year old boy and turned to the three year old girl only to find her hiding behind her mother, frightened eyes squeezing shut when she saw Sam looking at her.

Melissa shrugged worriedly. "She doesn't talk to anyone outside the immediate family. Not even her preschool teachers." She sighed loudly. "We're hoping she grows out of it, but it really isn't looking like it. It takes her ages just to be around someone else without us."

Sam reached out and squeezed her arm. "I'm sure she will, Mel."

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When Jack got back, the two kids were playing together on the stretch of grass between the drive and the house. He wandered over to them. "Hey kids." They both looked up, startled. "I'm Jack."

The boy stood bravely. "I'm Kenny. That's my sister Emily. She's three." Jack smiled and offered his hand, which the little boy shook eagerly before turning to run in and tell the grown-ups about Jack. O'Neill looked to the girl whose bottom lip was trembling, eyes turning bright with oncoming tears.

"Aw, kiddo, don't worry. I'm not going to hurt ya." He knelt down in front of her. He smiled. "Wanna know a secret?" She regarded him silently. "I might look like a mean old man, but I'm only mean to other mean old men. Not to brown haired little girls."

She looked at him solemnly for a moment as he returned her gaze. Her lips tugged up in a little smile. "Atta girl."

"Want a lift in, kiddo?" She walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck as he stood, turning towards the cabin.

The door banged shut behind him, the adults looking to the door to greet Jack.

After a few minutes of silence Jack finally had enough.

"What?" He looked a little annoyed.

Emily tugged his shirt.

"What's up, kiddo?"

She whispered in his ear, and he laughed as she settled back down on his shoulder.

"I know they're not mean old men, kid, don't worry."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam was the first to break the stunned silence. "Hey Jack. Uh…You remember Melissa?"

He nodded. "Sorry again about that lunch. Unfortunately diplomatic mumbo-crap waits for no man." Bill snorted in amusement.

Jack held out his free hand. "Jack O'Neill"

Bill grasped it firmly, still slightly shaken. He had assumed the high powered General had been wheedled into letting first them and then the kids come here. He'd also expected the man to seem a little more…arrogant. "Bill Jenkins."

Jack was holding his daughter. Who had spoken to the General. Emily who wouldn't let her daycare sitters or preschool teachers anywhere near her for three solid months. Who had yet to hear her voice.

Kenny, tired of the adult company, ran to the door and back outside where his abandoned trucks lay.

Bill reached for his daughter, who shocked him and her mother into silence again. She whimpered and clutched tighter at Jack, away from Bill.

"Easy, kiddo." Jack shifted her a little.

She pulled away from his neck and pulled a face at him, making Jack chuckle.

He smiled easily at Bill. "She's a charmer."

He looked first at his guests, then at Sam. "What's goin' on?"

Melissa shook herself. "Sorry, General…"

Jack interrupted her. "Jack. Vacation means no 'Sir's"

She smiled back at him. "Emily is just…usually…very shy…"

Jack poked the little girl's ribs. "That true?"

Emily giggled. Her parents once again left in confusion.

Sam however, once the initial astonishment wore off, was not in least bit surprised.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning Bill sat with Jack on the dock, casting reels.

"You know, Jack, I thought you were going to be this stuffed shirt SOB."

Jack looked startled, then started to laugh.

Bill turned red. "That came out wrong. What I meant was you're decent for a politically shark-like General." The red was becoming purple. "Oh crap. I mean…"

Jack was laughing uproariously. "Well, you're decent for an egghead."

This time Bill joined in the laughter. "Jackass."

"You're full of Bill-oney."

Bill groaned and let fly a sarcastic "Good one."

Jack smirked. "I thought so."

Both men turned at two little voices calling "Gen'ral Jack!"

Bill and Jack looked at each other and bit down their smiles. Kenny was covered forehead to toe in bright purple berry juice. Emily had two little fistfuls of berries which she proceeded to smear all over Jack as she tried to climb on his lap.

Jack clapped his sticky hands and groaned as he peeled them apart. "Alright, who wants to do a little wading in the pond?"

Bill just smirked at him. Until Kenny leaped on him.

Then it was Jack's turn to smirk.

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Sam and Melissa walked slowly in the woods, watching Kenny darting around in front of them.

"Sam, I can't tell you…Jack is just so…great. You really called a good one with that guy."

Carter smiled. "Don't I know it. He's great with kids. Animals too. Adults? Not so much!"

Mel gave her a grin. "You ever think about…"

Sam bit her bottom lip. "Oh. Well, honestly our situation the way it is…" She trailed off search for the right words. "He can't leave his job. At the moment he's the only one who can do what he's doing the way it needs to be done. He's too important to the…well you know what I'm saying. He loves the job. He also lives in DC, while I'm stationed in Colorado."

"I can't leave either. I love what I do. It's too important in the big scheme, you know? It wouldn't be fair to anyone, including a child."

She wished Mel knew why it was so important. On the other hand Sam was glad her friend didn't.

Melissa looked sad. "Do you want kids? I mean would you if the situation were different?"

Sam sighed heavily. "Maybe. But the situation isn't different."

They could still have kids someday. As things stood today, she knew they'd have to wait until circumstances changed. Or they could make them change with a decision that wouldn't put the whole planet at risk.

Melissa spoke again."Jack would make such a great…"

Sam was the one who looked sad this time. "He would. Did."

"Did?"

"He had a son. There was an accident."

"Oh…how horrible…I couldn't even fathom losing…" Then she fell into silence.

Sam walked on, lost in a wave of love and sympathy for her husband, who had sacrificed so much and was allowed very little return. He would never see it that way. As far as he was concerned, he did the only thing his honor would allow. He fought and he protected.

But he had always had her there with him as he did so. Neither would change a minute of it. Because it led them to where they were today. She tried to make it better any way she could. Which usually just meant enjoying a beer and watching the Simpsons with him instead of working on a project.

They rarely said the actual words. But she knew he loved her with everything in him. He said it in the tone of his voice, a quirked eyebrow, in his expressive eyes. He said it every time he brushed her cheek or anticipated a need.

He was quite simply the man she never knew she would love but always had.

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Sam gave Mel a tight hug as they prepared to leave on the fourth day. Jack had coaxed Emily into talking to Sam, much to her parent's delight.

Bill shook Jack's free hand. "Bye, Jackass."

Jack grinned "Bye Willy."

Bill groaned. "Touché."

Sam and Mel came over with Kenny.

Emily squirmed in Jack's arms. "Gen'ral Jack n Sam visit?"

He grinned at her. "Course, kid."

Emily threw her arms around Jack and smacked a kiss on his cheek. "Miss you!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Carter wrapped her arms around her quiet husband, leaning into him, sharing her warmth.

They stood for a long while on the dock listening to the quiet sounds of dusk.

Jack spoke quietly. "It wouldn't be fair."

Sam leaned in closer.

Their hearts ached. But it was put away for a day when maybe their family could grow.

But for now, it wouldn't be fair.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack was burning breakfast when Carter awoke.

They'd had a particularly rough session last night, lots of heavily charged emotions flying into the mix. Releasing aggression and tension. It was amazing how many ways they could show each other how they were feeling without actual words.

It was very Jack O'Neill. And it worked.

Frankly amazing that she felt comfortable expressing it the way they had last night. But it connected them in a way above anything she'd ever known.

//Ah god, I love the man. //

He shot her a grin as she padded in. "Mornin' homewrecker. Made you some Cajun pancakes to match the Cajun style toast. Darn. I should have made French toast instead."

Sam made a face. "Funny."

Jack smirked with a deliciously sinful glint in his brown eyes. "French themed, you know."

She caught on. "Oh?"

He inched closer. "Yep. French toast, Cajun cooking, French…"

She leaned into him. "Kiss…?"

He smirked. "I was going to say fries but…my pleasure."

And so it was.