A/N: I wrote this after watching "2010" and decided I wanted a little more ;)

Warnings: possible spoilers for "2010", sex

Renewing Old Ties

Sam arrived at the cabin and pulled up in front thinking with regret that it was the first time she'd actually been here. She had passed up invitations for fishing weekends in the past and had always declined, thinking it would look bad if she had gone away with her CO. Now she was nervous about seeing him again. She had purposefully driven under the speed limit so she had a little time to think. She hadn't actually seen Jack since she and Joe announced their engagement 4 years ago, and she really wasn't sure how she would react to him, nor he to her. He hadn't been happy for her, in fact he had said nothing at the time. Everyone else had been congratulatory but Jack had stayed silent, although Sam pretty much knew what he thought when she looked at him.

At the time, she had wanted him to say something, anything, so she would know how he truly felt. She wanted, needed to know, but they were so far apart with their opinions on the Ashen, that it got in the way and divided them. She remembered the feeling of loss. The loss of him. She had loved him, wanted him, and she was sure at the time he felt the same way. Those AF regulations were really the only thing standing in their way, and they had let the situation stand way too long. The fact that he just let her go, to date Joe, become engaged and then marry him with barely a word, proved that his feelings for her had definitely cooled and likely disappeared.

Once she arrived at the cabin Sam remained in the car for a while, still trying to decide how she would approach Jack with the plan. The "plan" was to try to fix the mess they'd made when they completely put their trust in the Ashen. It wasn't like she was here just to see Jack again; she needed him if the plan was to be successful. At least that's what she kept telling herself. "Oh screw it Sam, just get it over with." she thought as she got out of the car.

She tried the front door first, but he didn't answer so she walked around to the side…and there he was. "Damn. I'm in trouble" she thought as she looked at him. He looked so good, all scruffy and outdoorsy. The knot in her stomach started to feel warm. Feelings she thought she had abandoned came rushing back, and she almost forgot why she was there.

Jack saw Sam come around the corner of the cabin and felt all those old feelings come crashing down on his head in an instant. He hadn't seen her in 4 years but her face, those blue eyes, her body, had never left his thoughts. She looked beautiful, as she always did in his eyes. He'd spent a lot of time trying to get over her once she and that Washington pencil pusher announced their engagement years ago. He still wasn't quite sure how he had let that happen. Why he hadn't just pulled her aside somewhere, and ended their little "We can't be together because of AF regs" game they'd been playing for so long. But he hadn't because of the tension between them regarding the Ashen, and her belief that they were Earth's savior. To be fair, she wasn't the only one thinking that at the time, but he had wanted her to stand by him then and she hadn't. He had been angry with her, became stubborn, they had argued a lot, and a distance developed between them. It hadn't changed his feelings for her, but obviously hers had changed for him. He admitted only to himself how his heart had been smashed to tiny bits when she married Joe Whatsisname. All he could think was that he had let her get away. He would never touch her, make love to her, tell her out loud how much he loved her. As always, he had kept the part of his heart that belonged to Sam private.

Two minutes into the conversation, Sam knew things were going badly. Jack was still bitter over the fact that she hadn't stood by him. She agreed with him at this point, knew she had made a mistake and was trying to rectify it now, but Jack wasn't taking the bait. Their old "relationship" issues were in the way, unspoken as always, but they were there, on both sides. She could see it in his eyes and she was fairly certain he could see it in hers. When he informed her that maybe she should ask Joe for help, she felt hurt and angry. She gave up, walked away. She thought maybe she was angry at herself as well…she didn't want Joe's help here, she wanted Jack's. Had she ever really loved her husband? She wasn't even sure of that now. Seeing Jack again made her belly flutter and she realized exactly how much she had missed him in her life.

The minute Jack let the words out, he was sorry. He really didn't want Sam to leave. He had missed her more than he wanted to admit. He hadn't liked the way he had handled the conversation; he knew he sounded bitter and she knew what that was all about. It was the fact that she hadn't stood by him, but more than that, it was about Joe. Sam and Joe. Married. Sleeping together. Joe touching her the way Jack was never able to. It blurred his logical mind and everything he said sounded childish. "Geez…a dog?" he thought and winced. He followed Sam to the front of the cabin and caught up to her as she was about to get into a little VW Bug.

"Carter, wait." Jack called. Sam paused as she was about to get in the car.

"What Jack? You've pretty much told me to go to hell." she replied, her blue eyes on fire.

"When did I say that?" Jack asked. "All I said was you should ask your husband to help you!" Sam was getting in the car. He was digging himself in deeper and sighed with exasperation, waving his arms around. "Okay, look, don't leave and I'll give it some more thought." he continued as he held the car door so she couldn't close it.

Sam leaned back in the seat, deciding what she should do. Finally she got out of the car and glared at Jack, blue eyes flashing. "I know I made a mistake Jack. That's why I'm here. Is it absolutely necessary to rub in the fact I screwed everything up?" Was she talking about the Ashen now? She didn't even know anymore. "We need your help. We were a team once. Or are you happy that you don't even have to deal with that anymore?" Her blue eyes locked with his chocolate ones, asking for the truth.

"Yes. I mean, no! Well…I have been enjoying the quiet, the fishing, the not getting shot at all day." He watched Sam roll her eyes. "Yeah, okay, I miss it. C'mon, let's go sit down and chat shall we?" He held out his arm to point the way to the back of the cabin and let Sam lead the way.

They sat down on the chairs beside the cabin and Sam laid out the plan again for Jack, who listened intently this time around, asking questions when Sam's scientific babble made his brain burp. When she was done, Sam got up and wandered over to the pond, her arms crossed; Jack followed.

She stood still, gazing over the water, so many thoughts running through her head. They should have been about the plan, but they were mostly about Jack, the closeness they once shared and that she thought was over. She turned to him and locked her eyes with his.

"I'm sorry. That I didn't stand by you about the Ashen." she said softly. "I can't believe I was that gullible…I'm sorry." She averted her eyes and shook her head as tears threatened to spill over.

"C'mere." Jack replied as softly, as he pulled her to him, hugged her tightly, burying his face in her neck.

Sam wrapped her arms around his waist without hesitation, and gripped him as if she would never let him go. "I missed you." she whispered hesitantly, as the tears broke free. If it was wrong to let go with him now, she didn't care. She had not allowed herself to think about him very much the last few years and this was why. Her feelings for him had never lessened as she thought they would with time.

"I missed you too Sam." Jack replied into her warm neck and held her tighter. He wanted nothing more than to fix things for her, for them. To make this present all disappear so they could go back to the past. He pulled back from her, but only enough so that he could look into her eyes, to try to read what was there. He thought he knew, and he was going to take the chance he was right. He brought his hands up to her face and gently caressed each cheek with his thumbs, wiping away the tears. He moved in slowly, giving her the chance to turn away from him, but she didn't. Their lips touched softly at first and Jack felt as if he were on fire. He thought momentarily of that corny saying, "if this is wrong, I don't wanna be right", but all thoughts except Sam disappeared as the kiss slowly deepened, their tongues beginning an erotic dance.

Sam wrapped her arms tighter around Jack's waist and began to caress up and down the length of it as they kissed, their breathing coming more rapidly. The thought flashed through her mind that she was technically taken by another, that she was cheating, but it left as quickly as it had come. This was the man she wanted to be taken by…it had always been him. She let go of everything except Jack when she felt his hand caressing her breast through the light fabric of her t-shirt, his other hand running down her backside. She slid her hands under his shirt and started running her hands over his chest and stomach, savoring the warmth. She could feel his erection against her and reached down to brazenly brush her fingers over it, and smiled through their kiss as his breath hitched.

Jack's hands found their way under Sam's shirt, tracing her belly with his fingers, moving around to her back and softly covering every inch of warm skin he could find. Moving them back to the front, he pushed her shirt up and unclasped her bra, exposing her breasts to his eyes for the first time. He thought she was more beautiful than he had even imagined and cupping them in his hands, leaned in to kiss them softly, causing Sam to utter a soft mix of moan and sigh. When he began to suckle them tenderly, she felt her knees weaken and started to sink to the long grass. Jack held her on their way to the ground, began kissing her soft lips again. He couldn't get enough of them, the taste of her, Sam…she was addicting to him. He pulled back, feeling the need to ask before they went any further.

"Sam," he whispered, "are you sure?"

Her response was to crush his lips with her own as she unzipped the fly of his jeans, slightly surprising him, but not letting that stop him from reaching for hers and doing the same. Her answer was more than confirmed for him when she reached under his shorts and delicately began to stroke him. He grasped her jeans and pulled them off of her, bringing her panties and boots with them.

Sam's thoughts were swirling around in her brain, all about Jack and why they hadn't done this sooner, to hell with AF regulations. She loved him, he loved her…she knew that now, and regretted that they had ever argued and been apart. The loss of time almost brought up the tears again, but when Jack's fingers began to stroke she was back in the moment with a pleasure she had never felt with Joe.

Kissing Sam again, Jack smoothly laid her back on the grass, settling himself between her legs. Along with kisses and light suckles to her breasts, he entered her body, and made love in the grass, beside the pond with no fish, to Sam…his Sam now, finally.

They lay by the pond for a while, snuggling, not wanting to let the other go. "You do realize that this…go back in time thing may not work out." Jack finally said. "Then what?"

She knew what he meant and wanted to assure him. "It will, I know it will, with your help. But if it doesn't…" she paused, "Either way, I won't be with him." She turned her face up to him and laid a light kiss on his lips. "If it works…I guess we'll be back to the way we were…" she finished with sadness in her voice.

"If it works, we'll be together Sam. One day. You've always known what's going through my ole peanut brain. It ain't rocket science." he grinned as he ran his fingers through her hair.

As they walked back to her car, each was thinking that if all goes as planned, they wouldn't remember this afternoon, it will never have happened. Before she got in, they hugged each other tightly, wanting to delay the inevitable. Sam started to pull away, but Jack held her arms. "Hold on…there's something I want to say out loud." He cupped her face, looked into her beautiful blue eyes and added, "I love you. Don't you forget it." he winked at her as her eyes filled with tears.

Sam pulled him into another embrace and whispered into the warm skin of his neck, "I love you…always have."

He pulled back and let go of her. "Okay, well…see ya at the office." he said with a twinkle in his brown eyes.

Sam grinned, saying, "Yeah, sure, you betcha!" as she got into the little car. Smiling her patented Sam smile, she took one last look at Jack and drove away.