Title: Inevitable
Author: csiAngel
Rating: K+
Summary: An incident on the Hammond causes Sam to miss Jack's retirement party.
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG1.
Season: Set post-series.
A/N: I started writing this fic. Then I read "The Parking Lot" by Crowded Angels and that is just the most absolutely perfect fic about Jack's retirement. So I wasn't going to bother finishing this. But then it wouldn't get out of my head, and I hate having part-written fics, so I've finished it anyway. But you should read "The Parking Lot"!
… … …
Sam offered Jack a sheepish smile when she reached her front door and found that he had opened it and was waiting for her.
"Sorry, Sir."
He stepped aside for her to enter. "You should be. You missed an excellent cake."
"You saved me a piece?" she asked as he closed the door and she dropped her bag to the floor.
"Of course."
"Thank you."
She could hear the voices of the team carrying through from her living room – apparently having some sort of discussion about Jaffa music. She shrugged off her jacket and stepped out of her shoes. She just needed a minute before she faced them all.
From behind her, Jack's hand landed on her shoulder and caressed it gently. "You okay?"
She lifted her hand and briefly squeezed his fingers. "Yeah."
He took a step closer and turned her round to face him. "Hey... You're okay. You're all okay. You brought them all back."
She swallowed hard and nodded. "I know."
He inclined his head towards the living room. "They wanted to see you, but I can kick them out if you want."
She smiled at his offer. "No, it's fine. I was looking forward to seeing everyone."
"Okay... Want some cake?"
"Maybe later."
"Okay." He turned to move into the other room, obviously expecting her to join him. But, instead, she remained where she was and touched his arm.
"Jack..."
He turned back, eyebrows raised in question.
"Before we go through..." She stepped into him, resting her hands on his hips as she softly pressed her lips to his. She had intended for it to be a brief kiss, to tide her over until they were alone, but Jack's hands settled at her waist and drew her closer and she went willingly into the deeper kiss he initiated.
"Happy retirement," she whispered when they eventually parted and she was pressed delightfully against him.
He grinned widely at that. "It is so far… Are you sure you don't want me to kick them out?"
She laughed, softly, "Let's give them an hour."
"Okay." He kissed her again, gently, then stepped back. "You go in and sit down, I'll get you a drink."
He turned towards her kitchen and she stopped him again with another touch to his arm. "Jack – "
She was going to voice her gratitude to him for being there; for bringing the team even though he was aching to be alone with her; for knowing that for a little while she would need that distraction while she processed the day.
But he pre-empted it all with, "Always." Then he nodded in the direction of the living room.
She settled for a smile - that hopefully said all that he apparently already knew - and she did as she was told.
Conversation ceased when she walked in while they all greeted her. Cassie stood to hug her, and Daniel moved off the couch so she could sit down next to Vala. She did so with Cassie still tucked under her arm.
When they were all settled again she asked them, "How was the party?"
They responded with mutterings and murmurings intended to sound positive about Jack's special occasion but she understood why they were struggling.
"I guess we kind of put a dampener on it."
"A little bit." Daniel shrugged it off, the others offering various gestures to do the same.
"Sorry."
"It was not your fault, Colonel Carter."
She smiled at Teal'c in appreciation for that attempt at reassurance. Though she couldn't quite bring herself to believe him.
"Daniel gave an excellent speech," Cassie told her, bringing her back and away from where her thoughts had been heading.
"I wrote the jokes for him," Vala added.
"You did not!" Daniel argued with her.
"Oh please, that speech was nothing before I added to it."
"The jokes did seem quite Vala-ish," Mitchell contributed, ignoring the glare he received from Daniel.
"And the rest of it was very Daniel-ish." Vala offered the man in question a pointed look and an exaggerated yawn.
Sam couldn't help but laugh, and Vala turned to her and winked.
"I'm sorry I missed it, Daniel."
"Don't be," Vala answered for him.
"Don't listen to her, Daniel." Jack entered and handed Sam a glass of wine before perching on the arm of the couch beside her.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Your speech was great! Even the parts you wrote."
"Thank you, Jack. I wrote it all."
"Did not!"
"If you did write it all," Mitchell cut in, "then you two have definitely been spending too much time together because some of those jokes were definitively Vala."
"We haven't been –" Daniel began to argue, only to stop when Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Vala wrote some of the jokes."
"I did not!"
Daniel looked at her as if he could not understand her insanity at all. Vala just grinned back at him.
Cassie lifted her glass to her lips but before drinking she commented, "You two are not as good at this as Jack and Sam were."
"I don't know," Mitchell defended them, "I think there's only us who are closest to them who've cottoned on."
"And the archaeology department," Cassie told him, "They were asking me about it at the party."
"There's nothing for you to have cottoned on to," Daniel tried to argue.
"Yet."
Teal'c's deep baritone drew all of their attention.
"What do you know, Muscles?"
"I have merely observed the two of you together. It is inevitable."
"That's romantic," Jack quipped.
"I like it," Vala grinned.
Daniel's eyes were narrowed as he looked at Teal'c but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.
"Anyway," the archaeologist eventually said, "How about a change of subject?"
Sam felt a lot of the tension she knew she had brought home with her ebb away as she listened to her friends update her on what she had missed in the months she had been away on the Hammond. She already knew some of it from Jack's emails, but it was just nice to hear them tell her, and watch them tease each other. And she was grateful that they kept the conversation away from the ordeal that had kept her from the party. They would know enough from the limited contact they had had with Stargate Command before they lost communication. There would be plenty of time – and a detailed report – for them to learn how exactly they had managed to prevent the ship from exploding and get the crew home.
It was when Sam caught herself yawning that her guests began to excuse themselves and say goodnight. With the efficiency of an SG team, they were tidied up, hugged and out of the door in less than five minutes. Daniel had offered Jack a lift home, wearing the most obvious smirk ever. Vala had pushed him out of the door.
Sam closed the door behind them and turned to face Jack.
"Do you want me to go?" he offered.
She shook her head. "No."
"Do you want cake?"
She was about to repeat her previous answer when she realised that cake was quite appealing. "Actually, cake would be nice."
"Go and sit down, I'll bring it through. You look like you can barely stand up."
Sam bit her lip. She had hoped that she had hidden her discomfort. Muscles she was not aware had been used were starting to ache but she hadn't wanted to complain. This was, after all, their first night together completely free from Air Force regulations. The fact that she had arrived exhausted – mentally and physically – and with pains and bruises forming all over her body, was not ideal.
"Go," he encouraged when she hadn't moved.
"Jack…"
"Sam…"
He held her gaze and his ground. He got it. And he wasn't expecting anything.
"I love you."
His lips curved into a smile. "I love you too."
They spent the next minute or so simply smiling at each other, absorbing the fact that they could finally admit that – out loud; in those words; to each other.
Then Jack spoke again. "So I'd prefer it if you didn't collapse right now. Go. Sit. I'm bringing cake."
"Yes, Sir."
"Carter," he warned and she giggled as she walked into the living room. Bizarrely, it seemed like a lifetime ago that those had been their forms of address.
She sat down, as instructed, but decided to wait until Jack joined her before getting comfortable. It wasn't long before he arrived with two plates, handing one to her then sitting down beside her. She shuffled closer to him, turning slightly to lean her shoulder against the back of the couch, so she could face him. He mirrored her position and they ate.
"God, this is good cake!" Jack exclaimed after the first mouthful.
"You'd think this was the first time you were tasting it," Sam laughed.
"Well… We didn't really feel much like eating cake earlier."
Ah. "But you said – "
"It looked excellent. It was a Stargate… But it tastes even better than I'd imagined… Actually, we should have sent some cake home with the others. There's like half a Stargate in your fridge."
"Maybe we can have everyone round again… I've got a debrief at oh-nine-hundred, my report to write and a saboteur to interrogate… But once all that's done, technically I am supposed to be on leave for the next week."
She was aware that she had practically growled the word 'saboteur', and when Jack had finished his recent mouthful of cake he offered, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't think I can."
"That's okay. But if –"
"No, I mean… You've retired and nobody's briefed me on what clearance you still have – if any." It felt good to joke, to smile.
"Funny."
"I will say this, though… I'm surprised I didn't laugh out loud when we realised the extent of the problem. It seemed typical that you and I were millimetres from finally being together and I was going to be killed - not by the Goa'uld or the Ori or the countless other threats we've faced, but by a fault on my own ship."
"I bet you were almost relieved to find out it was sabotage."
"Almost… At least it wasn't the universe trying to send me a sign."
"It has done its best to keep us apart."
"You could also argue that it did its best to push us together. And we kept us apart."
"There is that... But, now, here we are."
Her smile widened, just being with him - and knowing this was the start of something she had wanted for far too many years - easing away the remaining tension. She put her plate on the arm of the couch and nestled closer to him.
He put down his own plate and adjusted so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders, and encouraged her to rest her head on him.
"Here we are," she echoed as she settled into his embrace.
They sat, for a moment, in a perfect silence, just relaxing, just holding each other. Then Jack quietly remarked, "Do you realise you said, 'we can have everyone round again'?"
She shrugged against him. "We both know you're moving in… It was inevitable."
He laughed at that reference. "Romantic."
"I like it." She snuggled in closer and another silence enveloped them.
Sam was just feeling her eyelids droop and reluctantly acknowledging that she was going to have to sleep when Jack spoke again.
"Sam, are you sure you still want this? I mean, it took a long time to get here, and I'm old now and –"
"Mmm," she murmured, allowing her eyes to close, "Jack, I fell in love with you, not your dark hair or your firm body, or your smooth skin –"
He gently pulled her closer to him as she smirked.
"That's lucky then... Although I don't think I ever had smooth skin."
"Even better."
"Well, if you're sure that you still want this..."
"I am."
"Marry me?"
Her eyes shot open and she immediately sat up so that she could look at his face. He didn't relinquish his hold on her shoulder, though, so she couldn't go very far. "Jack –"
He met her eyes and brought up his free hand to tenderly cup her face. "Let's not waste any more time, Sam. I love you. And now that I'm finally allowed to do so, I want everyone to know that the most amazing woman I have ever met agreed to marry me… It might dent your reputation for being smart a little but I can live with that."
"I appreciate the sacrifice you're making there."
"Anything for you."
He held her tighter, sparkling, expectant, patient eyes locked on to hers as he waited for an answer.
"Is this because I nearly died? Again."
"No."
"Is it because I assumed you're moving in?"
"No."
"Are –"
"The ring that is currently in my jacket pocket would convince you that this isn't a reactionary, spur of the moment proposal... I just don't want to move from here to get it."
"A… ring." He really was proposing.
"I was always going to ask you tonight... That ring has been burning a hole in my desk drawer since I left the SGC..."
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open but he continued before she could voice any kind of response.
"... It was burning a hole in my chest today when we didn't know if you were - ... I know this probably won't be the last time that I don't know if you're coming home. I'd like to be damn sure that I did everything I possibly could to make you happy."
"You always have, Jack..." she told him. Then she inched forward and kissed him, softly. "So, yes. I will marry you," she whispered. "Then I can do everything I possibly can to make you happy."
They kissed again, passionately, then lethargically, then they would pause simply to gaze at each other, and eventually, they settled back on the couch, arms wrapped round each other and enjoying the moment.
"I don't think I could be happier than this," Jack commented some time later.
"Mmm. Me neither," Sam agreed, her eyes closed, and hand resting over Jack's heart.
"Do you know what clinched it?"
"That I said 'yes'?"
"No."
"The cake?"
He chuckled but responded, "No… Though that is really good cake… No. What really made me happy… was the fact that you didn't make me get up for the ring."
Sam laughed and admitted, "That was purely selfish. I didn't want you to move… I could stay here forever… I know it's not what either of us – or Daniel – probably envisaged for tonight -"
"Do I have to think about Daniel thinking about what we –"
"Okay, forget that part. But I am sorry that –"
"Sam… You're here. That's all I need… … But I don't think I can 'forget that part'. Thank you for those thoughts."
She couldn't help but laugh at the sound of absolute trauma in his voice. "Well, I think I've effectively broken the moment," she muttered, sitting up.
"Might as well have used C-4 on it."
"Let's move, then. We probably shouldn't sleep here anyway."
They both stood and Sam started to leave the room but then stopped. A moment of panic hitting her.
"This is real, right? I'm not unconscious on the Hammond and hallucinating?"
"If you were hallucinating, I think there'd be a bit more action," Jack smirked, "… This is real."
Her smile showed how excited she was about that.
Jack's hand settled on the small of her back as they walked out together, his other hand flicking out the lights.
"If it isn't real," he continued, "I'm going to be kicking some serious ass."
THE END