She awoke to a gentle robotic beeping and a harsh light in her eyes. The faces above her blurred in her vision, obscured by the glaring brightness and her splitting headache. Voices floated in and out of her consciousness, worried and calling her name. Sam tried to reassure them, but found that she couldn't speak. The beeping seemed to be attached to a device near her head and the light, she realized, as that of a flashlight. She had a glimpse of Dr. Janet and Jack before they faded into blackness.

Sam was conscious again. She could see Daniel and Teal'c standing near her bed. They looked terrified. Well, actually, Daniel looked terrified. Teal'c looked as impassive as always. "I…" her voice was harsh in her ears. "I'm-I'm ok guys." Samantha struggled to sit up and almost screamed. Jack seemed to come out of nowhere and catch her. She tried to smile at him before everything slipped away again.

When she came to for the third time, Colonel O'Neill was the only one there, sitting in the chair that she had occupied whenever he was hurt. Sam watched him for a moment, wanting to run her fingers through his adorably messy hair. She couldn't resist. "Jack," she whispered.

He shot up, a relieved half-smile appearing on his face.

"Carter. You scared us."

"Sorry sir." She marveled at how easily they slipped into the roles of CO and 2iC.

He looked at her for a moment, brow furrowed. "As your commanding officer, I am ordering you to never pull a stunt like that again."

"What?"

"You volunteered, Carter! What the hell were you thinking?"

At his words it all came rushing back, their capture, the Goa'uld, the symbiote. She had volunteered to be a host instead of Jack.

"I-I couldn't let it happen to you….sir. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Carter!" He paused and said in a quieter voice, "Sam. Seeing you get hurt….that thing. When you resisted killing me, seeing you black out from the pain, THAT hurt. When I saw you fall, I thought you were dead, and all I couldn't think was…I never told her."

"Told me what?"

"That…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "That I'm in love with you. That I have been since you walked into my life, since we froze together on that stupid mission. I just had to tell you, and if you don't feel the same, I won't ever bring it up again, but-"

She cut him off. "Jack." His name sounded so good when she said it. "Jack. I love you. I-"

"Hey Jack!" Daniel's voice came from outside. He opened the door. "Janet says-Sam! You're awake! I…." He trailed off, seeing both of their glares. "You-you know what-I'll come back later. Glad your feeling better, Sam, I'll just…." He left.

"What are we going to do?" Sam whispered.

"Well, there is a loophole, you know, in the regs."

"There is?"

"Yeah, you see, if two people get married, say, they can still serve together. Plus, don't you think the world owes us a bit?"

"Married?"

"For instance."

A huge smile broke out across her face.

"So, Jack, how do you feel about August?"

"It is August."

She grinned. "Better get a ring, soon then."

"Well, I think August sounds great. We can go fishing for our honeymoon."

"Right… "fishing"…."

THE END

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