He sat there strumming his fingers against his desk. He was bored. He eyed the pile of paperwork with animosity. How had his life ended up like this? He had never once imagined having a desk job.

Was there anyway he could possibly persuade the President to let him go off world every now and again. Would there ever even be that kind of opportunity, what with Colonel Carter proving to be such an effective leader. Not that he had ever doubted her.

Speak of the devil. He could see her walking towards his office carrying yet another mission report. This one was quick, even for her, they must have only finished the briefing half an hour ago.

She knocked before entering his office and placed the report on his desk.

"That was quick Carter, just how much jell-o did you have at lunch?"

"Ha, not as much as I wanted sir, seems someone has been prioritising on the red rather than the blue when they signed off the menu's!" and with that she left the room.

Jack sat for a while a puzzled expression sliding onto his face. Ok that was weird. He sat up in his chair so he could have a good look at the report she had just dropped in.

Holy macaroni! Instead of a nicely typed, in depth account of exactly what had happened on P3X-745, there lay a small folded piece of note paper.

General O'Neill

Your presence is requested in room 3B level 20 at precisely 1500hrs.

Colonel Carter

What the hell was going on? What was she up to now? There had been talk of practical jokes around the base these last few weeks but Carter wouldn't stoop that low, would she?

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1450hr

He stepped out of his office unsure of what lay ahead of him. He walked through the briefing room and out into the control room to check everything was running smoothly. Was it him or did Siler have a glint in his eyes. He cautiously carried on down the spiral staircase out into the corridor beyond. He strolled onwards and stepped into the lift reaching over to hit the correct button. The doors slid shut and opened again an instant later having only raised a level.

He made his way towards the appointed room, only sure where he was going due to the fact that he had checked the schematics of this level in his office only moments earlier.

He checked his watch. He was still a few minutes early but knowing Carter he could have turned up half an hour ago and she would have been ready.

He cautiously pushed open the door to find himself in complete darkness. A bright light suddenly appeared and caused him to squint. He found himself in a room full of SGC personnel, including one Sergeant Siler, none of them in uniform. He stared around, there must be at least 40 people in this tiny room. It was then he noticed Carter silently making her way towards him. She looked stunning. It was the only way to describe her. She was wearing a flowing deep blue dress hugging her in all the right places, accentuating the colour of her eyes.

"Surprise sir, we know your birthdays not till the weekend but we wanted to make sure everyone was on base."

This was certainly a surprise. How the hell had they arranged this without him knowing? Surely as General, he was supposed to know about everything.

The crowd was parting so he could see exactly what Carter had meant by surprise. The room appeared to be full of gadgets and gizmos, games and toys everything a bored General could ever dream of.

He was shocked. He pulled Carter over to one side,

"Did you do all this just for me?"

"Well sir," he could see the blush rising in he cheeks, "I did get help from Daniel and Teal'c. We noticed how bored you had become so we thought a rec room was exactly what you needed to liven you up a bit." The blush crept further up her cheek. If he didn't know differently his Colonel was getting shy on him.

"Thanks Carter," and he pulled her into a hug, "you look great by the way."

"Thanks sir."

He made his way round the room examining all his new toys and greeting people, thanking them for all the effort they had obviously put in.

As he got to the end of the room, he found Daniel and Teal'c looking shifty in the corner.

"Thanks guys," he said looking at them curiously.

"All credit goes to Carter," Daniel piped up, "It was all her idea she put the whole thing into action. You should have seen her she was in her element."

"Indeed," Teal'c added, " I believe you should return and speak to Colonel Carter, there is still a present left."

He regarded them both with mild curiosity, astounded by the length of Teal'c's speech, before heading back towards Carter. As he walked he noticed that there was no longer as any people left in the room and by the time he reached Carter, Daniel and Teal'c were the only ones left stepping out of the door. This left just him and Carter. He was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Carter."

"Sir."

There was a pause. Neither of them wanting to be the one to break the silence.

Finally after what seemed like hours, though was only a few seconds, Carter spoke,

"I would be honoured sir, if you would consider coming out to dinner with me."

Jack's mouth dropped, she was asking him out to dinner, he was never expecting this scenario, never in a million years. He was in such shock that he didn't answer. He looked up into those deep blue eyes, to find fear. She was worried he was going to say no. He could never say no to her.

"That would be wonderful Sam, but I'm on duty till 2000hrs."

"That's ok Jack, I've already sorted cover for you, I've been planning this for a while."

He stared back in shock. They had easily slipped into using there perspective first names. Ever since he'd been promoted he had been considering asking her out. He had just never had the courage and wasn't sure where all the regs stood.

Carter meanwhile had been fed up of waiting and she had taken things into her own hands. She had rung Hammond and hadn't been surprised to find he was already aware of the situation. He had spoke to various people above his head and had sorted it out so they were free to explore their feelings.

They were well attired for a meal out, her in that gorgeous dress and him still in his general's dress blues. She slipped her hand into his and led him out of the room into the waiting lift outside.