Sam sat in her car outside of Jack's cabin. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she tried to figure out what she was going to say to him. Taking a deep breath she collected her nerves and walked boldly up to the front door.

Knock knock

"Coming!" came a muffled voice from the other side of the door. "Cater!" Jack said as he opened the front door. "This is a surprise."

Seeing him standing there smiling at her, her will power began to crumble. "Uhhh …..hi sir…… I need to talk to you."

"Sure. Com on in Carter." Sam followed him inside and stood nervously in the living room. "Can I get you something to drink? Beer? Water?" he yelled from the kitchen.

"Uhhhh no I'm fine thanks sir."

Jack came back into the living room nursing a cold beer in his hand. "So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"This," she said, holding out a small black velvet box in her hand.

The smile faded from Jack's face. "Pete proposed."

"Yeah," she said gently.

"When?" he asked taking the box from her hand and opening it to reveal a small but sparkling diamond ring.

"Last night."

There was a few moments of tense silence between them. "Well congratulations Carter," said Jack, forcing a small smile on his face, he handed back the ring and walked out onto the back deck.

"Sir!" said Sam following after him. "Sir I don't know what to do….. That's why I came here ……I …..I don't know what to tell him."

"You didn't give him an answer?" asked Jack, looking up in surprise.

"I told you," she said quietly, looking down at her hands. "I don't know what do."

"Sam," Jack said softly, moving a little closer to her.

She gave a small laugh. "I guess I just always thought that someday….we'd….you know."

"Me too. We're two people who weren't meant to fall in love but did," he said quietly. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, resting them there for a few minutes before letting them slide down her arms. Taking her hands in his, he looked her straight in the eye. "Pete cares for you a lot. And he's a normal guy. He's not off fighting aliens seven days a week. He can provide you with a normal, stable life. He's a good guy Sam."

"But he's not you," she said softly.

The moment was bittersweet. Sam had once again offered her heart to him, but he couldn't take it. Jack's heart ached at what he was about to say next. But it wasn't fair to Sam to keep her hopes up on just a "maybe". Because as much as he wanted her; more than anything else, neither of them had any way of knowing what the future held.

He sighed. "Carter, I don't know what's gonna happen in the future. Heck I could die tomorrow on a mission –"

"-don't say that," said Sam looking up at him with wide, alarmed eyes.

But he held up a finger, silencing her. "OR I could end up in a stuffy little office somewhere, signing papers for the next ten years. You deserve to be happy NOW. And Pete can offer you that."

"I know," she whispered, a single tear trickling down her cheek.

Jack's heart broke into a million pieces as he showed her the door. "Goodbye…..Sam."

"Goodbye sir." Goodbye.