TITLE: Telling Her

AUTHOR: Lt. Col. Samantha Carter (Trisha)

DATE: September 29, 2004

PAIRING: Jack/Sam

CATEGORY: Romance

RATING: T (I can't seem to write slut, it's just not me)

SPOILERS: Maybe for Threads. Anything that has Pete in it.

SEASON: 8

SUMMARY: Jack has something to tell Sam.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is how I'd like to see Jack and Sam finally get together. This is un betaed, so all mistakes are mine. This is a repost too.

DISCLAIMER: All Stargate SG-1 characters are the property of

Stargate SG-1 Productions (II) Inc., MGM Worldwide Television

Productions Inc., Double Secret Productions, Gekko Film Corp and

Showtime Networks Inc.

This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged

hands. No copyright infringement is intended. Anybody that you don't

recognize is probably mine, so if you borrow them please send me an

email to let me know where they are and have them home by midnight. :)

FEEDBACK: Sure if you want.

Sam was sitting on her sofa watching TV with Pete, well she was at one end and he was at the other end. She was tired from all the packing she had done that day. She'd taken the week off to pack up her little house to move into the new house that Pete had bought for them. Well, he had bought it for their wedding.

Sam was sore and a little depressed. She loved this house; it had been home to her for the last eight years. It had been the warm and cozy home to come to when the off world missions had been long and tiring, or where the team had come to hang out on team night sometimes. It felt like she was betraying a friend by leaving it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her door bell rang. She was getting up when Pete asked if he should get it. "No, I need to stretch my legs anyway. Just enjoy your movie."

Jack walked up to Sam's house. The lights in the living room were on so he knew that she was awake. He had something important to tell her and he had to tell her before he lost his courage. He hoped that she reacted to his news the way he had dreamed she did.

He rang her door bell and waited for her to answer it. Man was he nervous, he'd never been this nervous before. He prayed that he was doing the right thing right now. But for him it was no or never.

The door opened. "Sir? What are you doing here at this hour?" Sam asked him.

"Hey Carter, I needed to talk to you. It's kind of important. Can I come in?" He motioned to the room behind her.

Sam looked behind her and didn't want Jack and Pete in the same room for too long, so she made up her mind. "Actually, I need a little air. Do you mind if we talk out here? I don't want to bug Pete."

"Oh, Pete is here? Maybe I should just go. We can talk tomorrow." He said as he turned to leave.

She reached out for his arm to keep him from going. "No sir, please don't go. We can talk out here. Pete won't miss me; he's too into his movie." They stepped off the porch to her lawn.

Jack walked next to her. "So, how is your vacation? I hear you've been busy packing up the old house."

Sam looked at him. "It feels weird to be moving out of it. It's got so many fond memories fro me. All the times you guys would come over for team night, well when we didn't hang out at your place. This was the house my dad bought when he moved here to spend the rest of his days near me, when he thought he was dying."

Jack nodded. "I understand. It's a comfort zone for you. I feel the same way about my house and cabin." He told her.

She stopped and turned to him. "Sir, what did you want to talk about? I don't think you came over just to ask about my vacation." She asked.

He turned to face her also. "Well I wanted to tell you that there is gonna be a new C.O. of the SGC." He watched her face for her reaction.

"What are you saying?" She asked.

"The President wants to have a non military commanding officer; well he wants a non military person with military experience. So, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He let me retire and I still get to run the SGC." He explained.

He started walking back towards her house and she followed, still in shock. "So, what does this mean for the SGC and SG-1?" She asked.

He stopped at her door step and turned back to her. "Well nothing is really gonna change, except you can start calling me Jack instead of sir."

She frowned at his statement. "Why is that?"

"Because as of 1630 hours I am Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, retired." He smugly told her.

She was still in shock but needed to know more. "When does the new C.O. start, and do we know this person?"

He smiled at her. "You know him quite well in fact. He's a wonderful person, never too cranky or crabby. He knows how to handle everyone on the base, including Daniel. And he's usually fair when it comes to dealing with discipline."

"It's you." She said, and then she giggled.

"Hey, what did I say about giggling?" He laughed.

She smiled. "Well congratulations sir. You really deserve it. But why did you agree to do it? I thought you loved the military."

He took her hand. "I did it for one reason, for you."

"For me?" She asked.

"Well I did it for myself too. I did it because I love you Sam and want to be able to love you. I want to be able to tell you that I love you without being afraid someone would use it against us." He told her.

She grinned at him. "Do you mean it?" She asked him.

"Of course I mean it. I've loved you for a long time Sam and I hope that you feel the same way about me." He told her.

She touched his face. "Yes Jack, I do love you. I've loved you for a long time too."

He grinned. "I can't believe I almost lost you." He said as he bent down to kiss her.

Sam kissed him back, placing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. They only pulled apart when they needed air. "Wow, I've wanted to do that for years."

He laughed and cupped her cheek. "I have too, you don't know how long." He bent down to kiss her again, this time it lasted longer.

The door opened and Pete stepped out. "Sam, what's going on?" He asked, getting upset.

They pulled apart and turned to him. "Pete, I'm sorry but I can't marry you. My heart belongs to Jack. It has for a long time, but we could never act on it. I'm so sorry, but it's better that this happened now instead of after we got married."

When she handed him back the ring, he threw it across her yard. "I don't want it, but I thought I wanted you. I can't believe that you did this to me." He said as he stormed out of the house and got into his car.

Jack looked at Sam to make sure that she was okay. She just smiled at him and pulled him into the house with her. "I love you Jack."

He closed the door behind them. "I love you too Sam."

The End