Well, here's something I've been working on for a while. It started out as a random idea months ago, and I only managed to finish it yesterday and today, but I'm pretty happy with how its come along, and I hope you guys are too. Thanks to everyone who reviewed Whiskey Lullaby, especially those who usually hate those kinds of stories lol. Enjoy, and tell me what you think. Istalindar.
&
This was not looking good. Jack tried to peer through the darkness to see where he was and what was going on, but couldn't. There was no sound except for his breathing and the pounding of his heart in his chest.
Carter was going to kill him.
Much as he did not want to go to her wedding, he had promised. And he had planned on swallowing his pride and his misery and his arrogance (in that one day he would be 'the one') and stand alongside her. Not to give her away, Daniel was doing that. Sam hadn't even asked him, for which he was deeply grateful. He wouldn't have been able to tell her no, but he wouldn't have been able to give her to that worm of a man.
She was too good for Shanahan, too good for him, even. Hell, there probably wasn't a man on earth worth her. But she had picked Shanahan, and Jack had to respect that. But he wasn't prepared to let her go, to let her fingers slip from his grasp into Shanahan's
"So he's awake." There was a voice in the darkness and still no light. Jack strained his eyes trying to see who had spoken but couldn't. "You should thank me, really." There was a pause. "After all, you're missing Samantha's wedding. I very much doubted you wished to attend."
"She's my friend." Jack said tightly. "Of course I would be there."
"To see the woman you love more than life itself marry another man. How very noble of you, Jack. But you and I both know you couldn't do it."
"She's counting on me." Jack said. The voice laughed.
"For what? Daniel's giving her away. You're there as a token representative of her old life."
"I'm there as her friend." Jack said coldly. The voice was silent, and when it spoke again it had dropped to a whisper.
"Tell me, Jack." It hissed. "Tell me why Samantha did not ask you to give her away. You and I both know it is because you love her and she knows it. And yet, she is not marrying you. Why?"
"Because I never asked." Jack retorted. There was the sound of a gun being cocked which echoed in the room.
"Because she doesn't love you." The voice replied. "You were what she set her sights on because you were unattainable. She didn't want to get hurt so she took a safe bet. She doesn't love you." The words were echoing in his head; she doesn't love you, she doesn't love you, and Jack found it hard to focus. "Perhaps she'll love your corpse."
The lights flicked on and Jack looked up. The man in front of him was small, scrawny and looked more of a geek than Daniel. He was holding a gun and had a mean look in his eyes. Behind him stood an angel.
"Drop it, now." The angel said coldly. "Or I will shoot you in the back of the head so help me God."
"You wouldn't dare." The man said with a grin, looking up to meet Jack's gaze.
"Wouldn't I, though? Now. Drop. It."
&
Sam stood at the altar beside Pete, stomach churning. At Jack's continued absence, Daniel had slipped out of the church just before the wedding to call him. Daniel hadn't returned, and Jack was still absent. Teal'c, instead, was giving her away, and she squeezed his arm with clammy fingers.
"Remain calm, Samantha." Teal'c had said quietly as he led her up the altar. "This is a happy occasion."
"Where are they?" She whispered. Teal'c merely smiled, gently prying his arm away from her and leaving her beside Pete. This felt all wrong, without Daniel and Jack, ridiculous as it sounded, watching her six. It was her wedding, for crying out loud, not a fucking military operation. Sam glanced behind her and saw Janet watching her, looking slightly concerned. Sam turned her gaze back to face forward, and felt Pete squeeze her fingers.
She fought the urge to pull away.
She was resigning herself to a wedding without her friends when suddenly Daniel burst into the church, running full pelt up to the altar just as the priest asked if anyone knew why Sam and Pete shouldn't get married.
Daniel always had had a flair for the dramatic.
"Sam!" She turned and stood at the urgency in his voice.
"Daniel?" She asked quietly. Daniel skidded to a halt in front of her.
"I found this." Daniel said, handing her a slip of paper. She unfolded it with shaking hands, ignoring the looks Pete was sending her way.
You must choose who you love. 14 Old Street.
"Samantha." The priest said gently. "Is there something wrong?"
"Oh god." Sam whispered. Her gaze rose to meet Daniel's. "Daniel?" He shook his head.
"He's not answering any of his phones." Daniel said quietly. She closed her eyes briefly, and opened them when she felt Daniel's hand on hers. "You look so beautiful." He said quietly, letting go of her. She looked down and saw his keys in her hand. She smiled weakly and turned to Pete, who was staring at her with shocked anger.
"You can't." He said flatly. "Sam, don't."
"Pete-"
"If you walk out now you can't walk back in." Pete said flatly. Sam vaguely heard Janet's gasp behind her. Sam lifted her veil off her face and sighed, facing the priest.
"I'm sorry, father." She said quietly, before turning and running out of the church. She quickly unlocked Daniel's car and climbed in, gathering her copious skirts around her and slamming the door shut before starting the engine and burning her way out of there.
14 Old Street was in the oldest part of town, well aware from any of the commercial areas or indeed any area that Sam would ever have felt inclined to go. But she brought the car to a stop outside the abandoned hotel anyway, reached under the carseat and grabbed Daniel's 9mm, and headed inside.
The place was empty, and it was only when Sam reached the top floor, panting a little from running up twelve flights of stairs in heels and a corsetted wedding dress, that she heard voices. She slipped inside the door and cocked the gun.
"Because she doesn't love you." A voice in the darkness said. "You were what she set her sights on because you were unattainable. She didn't want to get hurt so she took a safe bet. She doesn't love you." Sam swallowed, recognising the truth in the strangers words but unwilling to accept it. "Perhaps she'll love your corpse." That, she could not accept. She took a deep breath and flicked on the lights.
The first thing she saw was Jack, tied to a chair, a huge bruise on his face. Second was the scrawny man standing in front of Jack, his back to her despite the change in lighting. But what caught her attention most was the gun in his hand.
"Drop it, now." She said flatly, raising her own gun. "Or I will shoot you in the back of the head so help me God."
"You wouldn't dare." The man said, and she would swear she could hear him smiling. She narrowed her eyes, panic at the thought of losing Jack changing to anger that this little man was challenging her.
"Wouldn't I, though?" She asked, a slow smile spreading across her face. This little man had ruined her wedding (though he might have saved her life) and was threatening one of the most important men in her existence. She was prepared to kill him by blasting off bits of him. Slowly. "Now. Drop. It."
&
Jack forced himself to look up at her, at his knight in white satin armour. She wasn't looking at him, her entire being focused on the man, and it gave Jack ample opportunity to stare at her.
This could have been his.
The beautiful woman sheathed in white satin, the sleeveless bodice fitting every curve of her torso, the full white satin skirts falling gracefully to the floor, the train elegantly stretched behind her. There were pearls at her ears and throat, and her face was flawless. The only thing spoiling the image was the hardness of her eyes and the vicious smile on her lips. She was fucking furious. He was hoping it was at his kidnapper, not at him.
"Drop the gun." She said again. "Or I will kill you."
"And get blood on your dress?" The man asked mockingly, slowly turning to face her. "Pete won't be pleased."
"Sir?"
"I'm fine, Carter." Jack managed, unable to drag his eyes away from her. Her attention returned to the man. "Drop your fucking gun, now." The man smiled.
"Of course." He slowly bent his knees, then suddenly twisted.
"Carter!" Jack yelled, jerking in his chair. Two gunshots went off, and the man fell to the floor. Sam stood still, looking less like a vision of beauty now so much as a fallen angel, the beautiful white dress and her face splattered with blood. "Carter?" She shook her head, turning her attention to her gun and putting the safety on it before stepping quickly over the man's corpse to Jack's side.
"Sir, are you okay?" She asked. He nodded, but didn't say anything. "Sir?" Sam bit her lip. "Jack?"
"I'm fine, Carter." He said coldly, his mood slipping by the second as the realisation that his best friend had left her wedding to save him, when he shouldn't have been in the situation in the first place and should have been able to save himself from the situation anyway. "You need to get back to the church."
"I think they'd try to exorcise me if I did. I probably look possessed." She said with a brief smile, stepping quickly back to the man and pulling a knife out of his boot to use on the ties on Jack's wrists and feet. "There's no wedding, sir."
"You dressed up for nothing?" He asked. She shook her head, coming back around to the front of him and facing him as he stood.
"I did have a wedding. But I left Pete at the altar."
"To come save my sorry ass. I think you'll be regretting that in the future." He said bitterly. She put her hands on his cheeks and rose up onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.
"I won't." She whispered before pulling back a little. She stepped back and her foot bumped against the corpse and she glanced down at it. "What did he want?"
"I don't know." Jack said, unable to move. His gaze was fixed on her and his mind had frozen…all he could think about what how she looked, pale and perfect and splattered in blood. She seemed all the more beautiful for it. And she had left Shanahan at the altar for him.
"He didn't say anything?" Sam asked, crouching beside the man and going through his pockets. Jack quickly came to his senses and took her arm, lifting her to her feet and pulling her away. "Sir?"
"I'll do that. You're going to ruin that dress."
"Too late, sir." She said with a smile, stepping over the corpse to search his other pockets. She met his gaze over the body. "Jack…I walked out of my wedding because it was the right thing to do. I wasn't going to get married without you."
"So you've rescheduled?" Jack asked, his heart sinking like a rock. She shook her head.
"Pete said it was him or you." She looked down again, focusing on her search. Jack stared at her in shock.
"And you picked me?" He asked incredulously. "Well, that was stupid."
"Of course I picked you!" She shouted, her head jerking up and blue eyes blazing. "Dammit, Jack!" She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Shouting wasn't easy in a corset and she didn't want to pass out. Not now. "Of course I picked you." She repeated more quietly. "There was never any competition." He raised his eyebrows and she swallowed.
"Pete…I was fond of him. Maybe even loved him. But you…we're friends. Good friends and more. We've fought together, died together." She shook her head. "You know more about me than Pete could learn in a lifetime of dedicated study. It means so much more. More than a ring could ever mean. That's why I left the wedding." He reached out and took her hand and was shocked to find it trembling. He tightened his grip and stood, pulling her with him. He stepped over the body, making her back up, then pulled her into his arms. She went, and Jack held onto her tightly, one hand cradling the back of her neck, her hot skin burning a brand onto his palm, and the other on the small of her back, the cool satin a sharp contrast.
"I didn't want you to have to choose." He whispered. She nodded, tightening her arms around his neck. "Come on." He said quietly, gently disentangling himself from her and taking her hand, leading her down the flights of stairs.
Hammond, Daniel, Teal'c and Janet met them in the foyer of the hotel, and Daniel and Janet rushed forwards as the pair descended the stairs.
"Jack!" Daniel stepped forward, letting Janet deal with Sam. "Are you okay?"
"She left Pete at the altar?" Jack asked softly. Daniel nodded.
"He said it was him or you." Jack nodded, and Daniel glanced at Sam, seeing for the first time the blood all over her. "Sam! Are you alright?"
"It's all splatter." Sam said, smiling weakly. "I'm fine." Daniel looked at Jack who nodded.
"She's fine." There was a small pause.
"Daniel? Did Pete-"
"He left." Daniel said quietly. "He said you made your bed." She nodded.
"I'm sorry it had to go down like that." Daniel just shrugged. "We need to get the Colonel to the infirmary."
"Right away. Come on sir." Janet stepped in, taking Jack's arm and leading him to the small fleet of cars blocking up the alley. Daniel led Sam away to his own car.
"Are you alright?" He asked. she nodded.
"Yeah. I just wanna go home." She said quietly. He nodded, putting the car into gear and driving away.
&
Sam stripped slowly, awkwardly undoing the laces of the corset. Daniel had gone, but not before quietly ensuring she had everything she needed first, and making her promise to call him in she wanted anything.
She wanted to be alone. She needed to think.
Her ribs expanded automatically as the corset came unravelled, the tight constricts of the bodice finally releasing. She laid it gently on the chair in the corner, followed by the skirt and the white negligee that had been uncomfortable all day. She grabbed her dressing down from its hook on the back of the door and wrapped it around her, padding into the bathroom. She caught sight of her face and stopped.
She still had the makeup on, still had the pearl and diamond grips in her military-short hair. But the would-be angelic picture was ruined by red splatters. Mostly gone, thanks to the Daniel, but there were a few on her hairline, one under her chin and one in front of her ear. Sam wetted a washcloth and scrubbed them away. They came off easily. Sam started scrubbing at her face as a whole, trying to get all the makeup off. Black and beige and pink smeared the white fabric, and eventually Sam gave up, dropping the cloth in the sink with a gasp. All she'd done is remove most of the makeup and smear the rest across her face.
She took a deep breath and let it out. Again. Again.
She did it until she was calm and then slowly raised her hands to remove the sparkling clips from her hair. She laid them one by one in their velvet box, then closed it with a snap. It sounded like the box to her engagment ring.
With trembling fingers she pulled that off too, putting it in its box which sat by the sink so the ring could rest there while she showered. Then she turned and twisted the bath taps, hot water gushing into her tub. She added the lavender bubble bath that actually relaxed her (and with her job, that was nothing short of a miracle so chances were it would work now), then turned off the taps, let the dressing gown puddle on the floor by her feet, and stepped into the water, sinking slowly down until she was submerged up to her chin.
She woke with a gasp and a splash, and was on her feet in an instant, shivering as the icy water ran off her in rivulets. She stepped out and grabbed the nearest towel, scrubbing herself down before picking up the bathrobe and wrapping it around her again. She pulled the plug and left the tub to drain, padding into the kitchen. She could see it was dark outside, and when she glanced around her kitchen she saw her phone was flashing: messages.
Crossing her fingers and hoping they weren't from Pete, Sam pressed play.
Beep 'Sam? Sam, it's me, Daniel. Pick up, would you? Okay then, just checking you're alright. Remember to call me if you need me. I'll call again in the morning. Hope you're alright, love you. Bye.'
Beep 'Sam, honey? It's Janet. The Colonel's going to be fine, so don't worry about him. But I wanna know, are you okay? It was a big thing you did, and you know you can talk to me. I'm gonna stay at the base tonight to keep an eye on the Colonel so give me a ring if you need me. I'll call in the morning. Take care, Sam. Bye.'
Trust Janet to know Sam had wondered. Trust her to know that even though Sam wasn't there, even though she was alone at her house trying to deal with her own problems, Sam would still want to know. The colonel's going to be fine…well, of course he was. He didn't run out of his own wedding, ruin an expensive wedding dress and have his entire life outside of the SGC come crashing down around his ears, did he?
Sam suddenly realised that she'd missed the first half of the final message, but as she moved to press rewind, she recognised the voice and stopped.
'…really disappointed. What's going on Sam? He loves you, you love him. But then you went psycho and ran out on him. you need to sort yourself out before you start trying anything else new. Bye.'
Mark. Sam groaned, covering her face with her hands. She'd forgotten about Mark. The whole family had been there. well, it could have been worse. They could have seen her after, looking like a character from Kill Bill, all splattered and filthy.
But she had saved him.
The thought gave her an unsurprising amount of comfort. When it came down to it, she'd saved him. He was alive because of her. He was alive.
Sam felt again the sudden knife-blade of panic that had surged up in her chest when she had skidded to a halt at the top of the stairs, seeing him there bruised and bloody, with his skinny little captor holding a gun. First had come the panic, then the fear, and then the rage.
How dare that man think he could bust her wedding, kidnap her best friend and then try and kill him? Did he not know who she was? Did he not realise how slowly she would eviscerate him for making the colonel late to her wedding? And how much he would scream as she slowly removed his limbs one by one, one for each bruise and cut the colonel bore?
She was still working on something suitably painful to do to the man to make up for getting splatter on her dress, but had difficulty bearing in mind that by that point in the man's torture he would probably be unconscious. Janet could probably help with that, probably. Epinephrine might do the trick.
The phone was buzzing irritatingly at her and Sam slapped at the delete button, and the nasal voice of her machine reported all the messages erased. Sam sighed.
She needed to get out more.
Oh yes, and look how well that had worked out.
Sam opened the fridge and sighed. It was practically empty: she was meant to go straight from the reception to the airport via the house to pick up the suitcases. Sam leaned back and caught a glimpse of them, still sitting in the hallway. It, actually, there was only one.
So Pete had been.
Actually, now that Sam thought of it, all of Pete's stuff was gone. There wasn't much of it, and he kept it mostly out of sight because he knew how she was about tidiness. But it was gone.
It was a relief. Now her house was hers, again. She'd worked for it, she'd payed for it. It was hers and hers alone.
Alone.
How wonderful.
Sam shook her head determidly, trying not to think about that. So what if she was alone again? Not only had she been alone pretty much since Jonas (and none of her alien 'boyfriends' counted as a) they never lasted and b) they were all dead), and surely being alone was better than being in a marriage with a man who clearly didn't understand her as well as he claimed.
Firstly, the wedding was rushed. At the time she would have called it 'enthused', but now she could see it was rushed. It wasn't the ideal time for a wedding, she had projects on the go and her leave wasn't due for another two weeks.
Two weeks couldn't have hurt. Still, that wasn't what rankled.
It was the fact that Pete could stand there, in front of a priest, in a church with an entire congregation, and ask her to choose. Like it was easier on her? When it was her friend in danger, her friend missing her wedding. Sam narrowed her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm herself and began searching for the takeout menus.
Actually, just the fact that he asked her to choose was the problem. Jack was in danger, he was pretty close to being dead, actually. She'd run out of the wedding to save her friend's life. That was it. And if Pete had a shred of decency, he would have realised that it was a choice she didn't really have. She had to do it. And if he'd understood her as well as he claimed, he would have grabbed a 9mm and helped her, and they could have rearranged the date for the wedding, sometime actually convenient, and had a giant party in honour of everyone being so happy and alive. But no.
Pete was such a brat.
That's right. He was a spoiled brat. Like a six year old.
Stupid Pete.
Sam rolled her eyes at herself and grabbed the phone, dialling the numbe for the thai takeaway quickly and ordering her usual. She fished a bottle of wine from the back of her cupboard…nice wine, she'd been saving it for when she and Pete came back, and popped the cork.
To her. To being single and alone and beautiful and smart. Hell, yes.
Sam grabbed the bottle and her glass and headed into the living room. She had journals to read and artefacts to think about, but right now, she didn't think she should. She was going to watch TV all night, fill her mind with junk, and just relax.
Her wedding, walking up the altar and getting ready and all the events of earlier seemed like a dream. Except for those two gunshots. Those sounded real in her head, almost as though they had happened a split second from now. She shook her head and flicked on the TV. This was crazy.
The show had just started when the phone rang. Sam heaved herself off the couch and went to grab it, bringing it back to the living room and dropping back onto the couch.
"Carter."
"Hey Sam, how're you holding up?" Janet asked. Sam smiled.
"I'm okay. Good, even. I feel a little relieved."
"Relieved?" Janet sounded incredulous.
"Bad, right?" She questioned. Sam could almost hear Janet's shrug.
"Well, Sam…I don't know."
"Because he obviously didn't know me that well. He didn't have to dump me because I ran off to save my friend's life. We could have rescheduled." Sam continued. "How is he, by the way?"
"Bored." Janet replied, grateful for a safer, well relatively anyway, topic of conversation. "He's doing well enough that he's awake and driving up all mad. He's trying to work his yoyo off the gurney but hasn't got it quite right."
"I can hear that!" Jack's voice ran through the background. "Hey, doc? Gimme the phone."
"Colonel…" Janet said warningly.
"Doctor…" Jack replied. Janet sighed. "Hey, Carter. How's it going?"
"Good." Sam replied. There was a silence.
"Good?"
"Relieved, a little. Dunno, really."
"Yet to hit?"
"Maybe. Or maybe actually it was a huge mistake and I should have worshipped your kidnapper instead of killing him." Jack smirked.
"I wouldn't go that far. What are you doing tonight?"
"Eating takeaway and watching TV." Sam replied. "It's a good life."
"I'll bet." Jack replied. "All I get is the Napleonic power monger and her minions. It's a subtle form of torture, but a real one." Sam grinned.
"Well, sir, I'm sure you can get through it. Special training and all that."
"You laugh, Carter." He said warningly. "One day it'll be you."
"And now the colonel needs some sleep." Janet said, evidently snatching the phone back. "Listen, Sam, if you need anything, just call me, okay?" Sam smiled.
"Alright, Jan. I promise you. I'm not broke and I'm not dying. I'm just…"
"Yeah." Janet said. "Alright. I'll come see you in the morning."
"Alright. Thanks for calling."
"Any and every time." Janet said. "Night, Sam."
"Night." Sam hung up just as her take away arrived, and with a sigh she dragged herself to the door. She was tired now, could barely be bothered to eat. But she paid the man and brought all the food back to the living room, sitting it on the coffee table and picking at it as she watched the backlog of episodes of her favourite TV shows. And when she'd gotten through as many as she could be bothered with, she put the food in the fridge and went to bed.
&
She woke in the morning with a grim tase in her mouth, having forgotten to brush her teeth. But instead of rising she curled in her bed, revelling in having it to herself, the clean sheets that didn't smell of him. This was her bed.
"Um? Sam?" That was Daniel. At her door.
Dammit.
"Hold on." Sam called, grabbing the dressing gown and dragging it on, appearing at her door, peering through the tiny opening. "Daniel." Daniel grinned.
"Morning. Or should I say afternoon?"
"Seriously?" Sam glanced back at her alarm clock. He was right. "God…um…gimme a second. Let me put some real clothes on. Who's here?"
"Me and Teal'c. We thought we'd pop round, see how you were doing." Sam nodded.
"Uh, thanks. Hold on." She shut the door and looked around. all her clothes were in the suitcase in the hall. "Daniel?" She cracked the door open again.
"Yeah?" She heard him come down the hall, his light tread on the carpet.
"Can you grab me my suitcase? All my clothes are in it."
"No problem. One sec." Five seconds later Daniel was back, and Sam opened the door slightly further to receive it, and caught Daniel looking at her searchingly.
"I'm fine, Daniel." She said quietly. "Good." He nodded.
"Okay." He headed back down the hall while she quickly got dressed and brushed her teeth and hair, and met her in the kitchen with Teal'c. Daniel wordlessly handed her a cup of coffee and she sat at the table, sipping at it.
Daniel always had known how to make good coffee.
"Pete's stuff is gone." Daniel commented eventually. Sam nodded.
"Yeah."
"He come by last night?" Daniel asked. Sam shook her head.
"He must have come straight from the wedding." She said. "It was gone by the time I got here."
"Speedy." Sam nodded. "Sam, are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes." Sam said definitely. "Look, I know you think I should be broken up about it and everything, but I left him. It was my decision and I know I made the right one."
"It was a hard one." Daniel said. Sam laughed slightly.
"You know it wasn't. You knew as well as I did what I'd pick or you wouldn't have given me your keys. Daniel, it's good that I didn't marry him. If nothing else, if he expected me to get married while one of my best friends was in danger, then he didn't know me at all. If he had, he would have understood that I had to go and would have rescheduled the wedding. Just because I left the wedding didn't mean I left him. he made that choice." Daniel didn't really have anything to say to that.
"Major Carter is correct." Teal'c said eventually. "She would not have been expected to do anything different, Pete Shanahan should have known that. Her last choice was not necessarily her final one. It is Pete who made the decision to end their relationship." Sam smiled at the large man, glad he understood.
"So what are you planning on doing today?" Daniel asked. She shrugged.
"Maybe some work. There's a lot I have to do. We'll see."
"Jack's back at home." Daniel said. "Janet released him this morning." Sam met his gaze. "You should go see him."
Sam understood. Knowing Jack how she did, that is to say, well, she knew he would be blaming himself. He wouldn't consider that she was happy to leave the marriage, he would simply be beating himself up over the fact she left the wedding to be with him. Because he had gotten abducted and because he couldn't get out of it in time. It wasn't logical or rational, it was just the way he was.
"Yeah." She said. "I know."
&
It took her until the evening to drag up the guts to drive to his house and knock on the door. Then she stood hesitantly, fidgeting and trying not to, until he opened the door.
"Carter."
"Jack." He froze at her use of his first name, and his eyes narrowed.
"Carter?" He asked, warning lacing his voice. She knew instantly he didn't want to talk.
Tough.
"We need to talk." She said, brushing past him into the house with more bravado than she felt. Jack sighed and shut the door behind her, descending the steps into his living room.
"Yes?" He asked. He looked impatient, and Sam realised she was gonna have to spit it out, and quickly, or the moment would be gone and chances were it would never come back again. And she didn't walk out of her wedding to leave it in the damn room, again.
"I know you." She began. "And I know what you're thinking. It isn't true."
"Carter-"
"Sam." Sam corrected him. He raised an eyebrow but didn't argue.
"You left your fiance at the altar to come and rescue someone who shouldn't have been in that position to start with. And from what I hear, he's not there waiting for you." Sam shrugged.
"Yeah, well." She paused, trying to say this as concisely as possible, and as quickly as possible to he wouldn't have a chance to make his own arguments. And good god the man could argue. "Jack…the whole thing was just one giant mistake. The wedding, I mean." She rolled her eyes. "Going after you was the first right choice I made in a while, and I'd make it again." She took a deep breath. "Thing is, there will never be anyone more important in my life than you. I will never choose anyone over you. Ever." She paused. "Well, if its Daniel I'll have to rescue to pair of you but the point still stands." Jack stood silently, and Sam marvelled in the fact that she'd managed to actually silence him. "It was something Pete didn't understand, and it was my fault that I let him believe he did."
"Carter-"
"Sam." She said firmly. "Look, Jack. He didn't get it. He didn't get me. Or he would have realised that when I found out you were gone I didn't make a choice. I didn't think about it. And if he'd known me as well as I liked to think then he would have supported that." She smirked, remembering Teal'c's words. "My last choice wasn't necessarily my final choice."
"You've been talking to Teal'c." Jack observed. She smiled. "Carter…Sam, look. I appreciate what you did, I do. But was it really worth losing Pete?"
"Yes." Her sure answer surprised him.
"Oh. Right." There was a long empty pause. "Why?" She shrugged.
"Because if he can't understand something as fundamental as how I feel about you or any of us in a hostage situation, then how on earth are we meant to actually be married? It'd be a nightmare. And it was something I realised as soon as he made me choose." Jack shook his head.
"Ultimatums aren't good for you." He commented. She grinned. "Sam." He said. "What are you going to do now?" She shrugged.
"I think I might ask you the same question." He got her second meaning instantly.
"Sam, I-" Her eyebrows rose, daring him to make some lame excuse. He came up blank.
"Look, Jack. I meant it. You are the most important person in my life. I'm willing to give this a try. Are you?"
"Why the hell would you want me?" Jack questioned. Sam look him square in the eye.
"Because if it had been Pete I'd run off to rescue, you'd have come with me, and then we would have gone back to the church, and gotten married." Jack raised his eyebrows.
"So because I wouldn't make you choose, you-"
"Yeah." Sam took a deep breath, realising they would end up talking in circles until she made a decision and made him make one too. "Look, Jack. I'm willing to give this a try. Are you or aren't you?" Jack stared at her, shocked she put it so bluntly. "Because if you aren't I might have to ask for a transfer, because this will be a huge mistake and I-"
"I am." Jack broke into her rambling and she sighed.
"Thank god." She breathed. There was a silence.
"So what now?" he asked. she shrugged and stepped up to him.
"Dunno." She replied, and rose on her tiptoes, her lips meeting his just for a second before she fell back down again. Jack threw caution to the wind and followed her, his hands going to her waist to pull her closer as his mouth slanted over hers. She smiled against his mouth as her arms twined around his neck.
"I have to say." He said breathlessly, pulling back slightly, "That I'm glad that he made you choose." She nodded, her bright blue eyes shining up at him.
"Me too." She replied. He grinned and kissed her again.
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