Authors Note:

Hey guys. Thanks for clicking. This is just a little idea I had when writing my other J/S story "Wilted Flower" its a team story, post Continuum filled with drama and angst. While writing it I realised I knew why the characters were as they were but readers didn't so I had to put some back story information in so it made sense. I wrote this and think it works well on it own too so decided to post it as a one shot.

This is set maybe six months post Stargate Continuum. Jack and Sam are together but life is still very complicated. They are both still in the Air Force. There is no link to SGU.

Just a one shot, like catching a glimpse of an image but only seeing part of it.

If you are curious about the tittle let me know and I can explain.

I really need support and advice with my writing. Please let me know what you thought, even if you hate it.

Enjoy.

General O'Neill's house - Evening.

The golden sun sank beneath the horizon, lightening up the dull sky with radiant shades of pinks and purples. Somewhere beneath the changing sky lay two lovers, intertwined in each other's arms, oblivious to the world around them and the disappearing day. The pair was completely captivated in each other's presence, relishing the feel of their warm bare skin against the other.

The sensation of the feel of the other was so seductive and new, the couple were too transfixed in their company to care about the coming night.

General Jack O'Neill traced his rough fingers across his lover's body, circling along each dip and bump across her smooth skin. He drew patterns on his lover's delicate frame, tickling his way along her form as he tried to memorise every detail of her perfect body.

"That tickles." Colonel Samantha Carter idly told her partner, her mind a flutter at his touch.

"Shhh... I'm mapping out a strategic plan here." The General playfully scolded her.

Samantha giggled at his witty remark and gave a blissful moan as the man's hands trailed lower across her body. She twisted slightly to better fit into the curves of her lover, resting her head in that perfect spot in his arms, just right for her head.

"I missed you." She mumbled into his chest, the sound of Jack's heart beat steady and strong sending her into a completely relaxed state.

"I missed you too." He whispered back, hating that their time together was always tainted by the fact one would have to leave the other eventually.

It had only been a few months since their first night together, and they had always made time for each other since then. But it was getting harder and harder to say goodbye, the phone calls, the emails, the quick visits, it wasn't enough. They both craved more.

But so many things kept the pair apart.

"Stay." Jack muttered to Sam as she drifted into sleep. He desperately wanted her by his side every night, to fall asleep with her in his arms, to awake with her next to him. He wanted to make her breakfast every morning, he wanted to argue over showers, he wanted her.

"I've got a few more day's leave..." Sam murmured in reply to the invitation.

"That's not what I meant." Jack answered, breathing in as much of his scent as he could. Trying to keep it trapped in his senses.

"Jack..." Sam whimpered his name as she forced herself to waken and focus, sensing how close they were to a difficult conversation. She wasn't ready for their bliss to end.

The sound of his name rolling so freely off her tongue sent Jack's hormones into over drive, everything about the woman in his arms made his mind race and heart ache for her.

"Samantha..." Jack replied, the use of her first name emphasizing his emotion.

Sam frowned up at the man she loved with every drop of her soul. His scruffy face, his grey hair, that little scar above his eye, she knew all his features off by heart, and she knew what that expression meant.

Jack leant down and kissed the frown from his lovers face while his own face stayed as thoughtful as ever.

"What do we do?" She asked him, genuinely confused. This wasn't a problem she could solve overnight, it wasn't something that followed any laws of physics and couldn't be fixed by altering the way the components interact.

"I don't know." Jack truthfully answered. Just as lost as she was.

Night set in across the land and the two lovers, now lost in their own thoughts, could not see the stars that erupted to life above them, for the light in their hearts was dwindling.

"What do you want most?" Jack questioned her as the cold drifted into their bed.

"You." Was Samantha's simple reply.

"I'm yours." Jack lightly informed her. "Always."

"I know." She whispered to him. Twisting again to force themselves closer, trying to squish themselves into one being. "But it's not that simple." She loved the words he spoke, but knew their relationship couldn't be so easily labelled.

"I know." Jack softly replied, understanding exactly what she was thinking.

This woman had come into his life in a blur of blue Air Force uniform. She made him smile in a matter of moments and had somehow had him trying to explain himself. She was full of love, courage and light. A bubbly theoretical astrophysicist that was way smarter than him and could out do any of the guys on his team. She had guts and she had skill. And by the time they were to step through the gate to Abydos, he adored her.

By the time Jack had figured out that the warmth growing within him was more than friendship it was too late. He tried to fight it, he never let the object of his affections know the truth, nor did he let it compromise his work, or hers. But he couldn't stop the longing that grew with his heart; he couldn't stop admiring the way her hair bounced, the way her body moved and the way her smile could light up the world, the glow to her skin, the flush to her cheeks and the red of her lips. Everything that made Samantha wonderful, her heart, her soul, her mind and her body, made Jack O'Neill love her more.

When Jack finally knew he would always be hers, always be by her side, always there for her, in any way she needed, she had already healed him. Her presence in his life had mended his broken heart, filled his black mind with light and restored his soul. He was free. He felt good around her. Like the darkness in his past could be washed clean by her beauty.

While he felt that she deserved more, that he could never be enough for someone as magnificent as Samantha Carter, it didn't matter, because for some insane reason, she choose him. He almost missed his chance and he loathed the pain his actions had caused her. But he vowed to spend the rest of his life making hers better. Giving her whatever she wanted and then more.

"So what now?" Sam asked of Jack.

"I don't know." He replied, at a loss as to how to make things better for her.

The rules and regulations that divided them had been left forgotten, but the boundaries were still there, keeping them apart and now they saw them again. They spread like a wide valley separating the two lovers as they desperately tried to find a bridge to cross. Neither wanted to be the cause of the other's retirement, but while they were both United States Air Force officers there would always be a void between them.

"I'm tired Jack." She told him honestly. "I was leader of Atlantis. I was doing good work, and they took it away from me." Samantha couldn't hide that she felt defeated by the I.O.A, they had appointed her to Atlantis and she had thrived there. A natural born leader but then it was taken away. "I've been offered command of The General Hammond."

"I know." Jack quietly answered. "The paper work crossed my desk a few weeks ago." He turned so he could look into her bright blue eyes. "You'll do great. And I won't stand in your way." He told her truthfully, wanting to show his full support.

Samantha didn't answer, too lost in the features of the man before her.

"What do you want most Sam?" Jack questioned again.

Samantha weighed her options for what felt like the hundredth time in only a few days. She had re-joined SG1 when she returned from Atlantis, leading research and development at the base and continuing off world missions. She enjoyed being with her old team, working hard and exploring new worlds. But she felt like it was backwards step. She was a full bird Colonel now, she was leader and SG1 wasn't enough anymore.

But the idea of starting a whole new adventure on The General Hammond had its own draw backs. She wasn't sure if that's what she wanted either. The thrill, the challenge, the fun and the unknown, it was all very tempting. But she had already lived that life and had barely survived it. It was exhausting being on the edge of death every other week, fighting for the right to breathe as enemies of many different kinds came at her and those she protected.

Samantha wanted to move forward. But there were many paths ahead and each confused her.

"Right now. All I want is you." She finally told Jack, speaking truthfully. "Beyond that, I have no idea what I want."

Jack laid his lips gently upon hers and stared into the deep blue pools of her eyes. "When you're ready. When you make your choice, know that I will always be here for you." He cupped her soft face gently in his hands and spoke with great sincerity. "I will always be yours Samantha Carter. No matter what." He laid kisses upon her face before pulling the woman of his dreams into a tight embrace, refusing to let their forms separate and become individuals again.

What they were needed no labels, it was bliss.

He wasn't Jack without Sam. They belonged together.

In that moment of peace, with the love of his life in his arms General Jack O'Neill decided it was time to retire. No matter what choice Samantha made, Jack was ready for the quiet life. He was tired of the politics of his job; it had turned his passion into a chore and he was ready for life after the Air Force. He hoped she would be by his side, but knew he would never stop her from living her life. That was the choice he had made when she choose him, he knew he might have to let her go and he was at peace with that. As long as she was happy, than so was he.

Some ten hours later the sun began to rise on another new day. Fresh and clean and ready for a new start, it rose high above the world, sending its warmth down toward the forbidden lovers below.

A new day, bringing new hope.