Carter's Quarters, Atlantis
New Lantea, M35-117
Pegasus Galaxy

Jack smirked and leaned over his wife to kiss her soundly, his hands supporting him on the mattress. The goodbye kiss unexpectedly got deeper as Carter held his head in place and inserted her tongue into his mouth. He caressed her tongue with his briefly as his lips glided over hers, treasuring her taste after months of Carter deprivation. Her passionate response made his arousal flare up again and he was tempted to quickly divest her of her clothes once more… Groaning, he pulled back, swallowing her soft little whimper of protest until they broke apart with a resounding 'plop'. "I've got to go," he said hoarsely.

"Already?" She questioned, her hands smoothing down his black shirt.

He chuckled softly and straightened up. "I told Sheppard I'd drop by your quarters before going to your office to review all the paperwork and upcoming missions… that was almost two hours ago," he added sheepishly, after glancing at his watch.

"I told you I did most of the paperwork already and considering I am the only one who got seriously injured in the mine, the mission roster is in order as well," Carter said.

"Tempting as that may be, I thought we both agreed not to let our personal feelings interfere with our work?" Jack quipped as he shrugged on his BDU jacket.

She flushed before replying in an uncharacteristically whiny tone. "But you're here now anyway…"

"Oy, I'm afraid I'm a bad influence on you, Samantha Carter!" He smirked and leaned down for a brief kiss and as he got up he quickly snatched her tablet from the bed. "And I'll be taking that with me as well."

"Jack!"

He shook his head and took a couple of steps away from the bed to evade her hands. "No, you need to rest! All that, um, activity from just now can't have been good for your leg."

"My leg is fine," Carter protested with an eye roll. "Jennifer gave me some painkillers and I took one before you got here."

"Hmm." Jack narrowed his eyes at her, wondering if that was true – but even if it was he still had to go! "You barely got into those cute little shorts a moment ago," he reminded her.

She huffed and shifted on the bed until she could pull the covers over her legs. "That's just because the cast was in the way. Besides, I didn't need your help this morning or the past few days to get dressed."

That was true, seeing as how she had been dressed when he got here and knowing her, he was pretty sure she wouldn't have gone pantless these past few days either. But could anyone really blame him for using the thick cast and those tiny shorts as an excuse to get his hands on her legs again? "Maybe," Jack relented as he tucked her in. "But you're still going to have to rest, maybe read a book if you can't sleep, okay?"

"You can't expect me to just stay in bed all day," she said, eyes wide as if he had just suggested something completely outrageous.

"Just the rest of the afternoon while I run things from your office… I'll bring back dinner or maybe we can eat in the mess hall if you feel up to it." He understood that it was difficult for her to sit still and basically do nothing as she was quite the workaholic, especially here on Atlantis where she lived on base and he sympathized with her situation but at the same time he also knew how much she hated walking on crutches and how far away the mess hall was from her quarters. "I'll let you keep your laptop but McKay is gonna shut you out of the system for your own good."

Carter glared at him and muttered something incomprehensible under her breath but eventually she nodded in agreement, clearly getting that he would otherwise take her laptop with him as well. "Fine, but don't expect me to spend the next six weeks in bed."

"I'm not," Jack replied, smirking. "Don't worry; I have plans to keep you entertained."

"You do?"

He chuckled at the speculative look in her eyes. "Yeah sure, you betcha!"

"Plans that involve remaining professional while on the job and keeping up appearances?" She asked in a doubtful manner, raising an elegant eyebrow.

"Hmm, something like that," Jack said slowly. "But, I've got to go now before Sheppard comes looking for me."

"Jack-"

He smothered her protest with a quick kiss and walked over to the other side of the room backwards, still holding her tablet. "Don't forget you're supposed to rest! See ya, Carter."

"Bye," she mumbled, looking adorably pathetic in her bed with her tousled hairs and waving a goodbye with one hand.

Jack turned around, quickly looked down at his outfit to make sure everything was buttoned and zipped up properly, and gestured in front of the motion detector to open the door to the corridor. As he headed towards the control tower he was embarrassed to notice there was almost a spring in his step and he quickly looked around to check if someone had noticed. Fortunately, this wing seemed pretty deserted at this time of day and no one was around. Jack didn't need anyone pointing out to him why he was in such a good mood as that was pretty obvious; he had finally gotten to see his wife was fine with his own two eyes after worrying about her for the better part of a week since hearing about her accident.

Not only that, but in the privacy of her bedroom they had been able to hold, touch and kiss each other. Falling into bed with her and reacquainting himself with her toned yet feminine body hadn't been planned at all but after having been apart for months it had probably been inevitable. He certainly didn't regret it and seeing as how Carter had been reluctant to let him leave neither did she. It wasn't the smartest thing they could have done, considering they were officially on duty – well he was, she was technically on medical leave – and had been discussing their agreement about remaining professional only moments before!

They had been lucky no one had needed either of them during that time because he wouldn't have been entirely surprised if someone, like Sheppard, would have shown up at Carter's quarters while they had been exploring each other's bodies between the sheets! Luckily, it seemed the Lieutenant Colonel had a better sense of timing than some of their friends… Then again, it was entirely possible the base's 2IC was quite capable of filling in for Carter and had no reason to come looking for either of them. In a way, that was a good thing, Jack mused. It meant his plans for the next few days would probably work out better than expected…

Jack nodded at the passing personnel, who at times seemed a bit confused or caught off guard at seeing him while others seemed completely unfazed by his presence and simply returned the gesture. He briefly wondered if they even knew who he was; he expected the military folks to know him as most had been stationed at the SGC for a certain amount of time or at least had some kind of training there prior to being stationed here, but the civilians appeared the be the nonplussed ones so they probably had no idea. His 'odd' BDUs probably didn't help in that department either but they did make him stand out, which was precisely why he had chosen to wear these. Well, that and the fact that he didn't really like those Atlantis outfits. The all-black BDUs Sheppard seemed to prefer were okay but Jack preferred his own look and while Carter looked kinda hot in her commander outfit – in particular when she was wearing that rare leather jacket of hers – he didn't think that blue-grayish washed out color with red was really his thing.

When he finally reached the control tower he quickly made his way up to the commander's office and wasn't surprised to see Sheppard and McKay hanging around. "Whaddya want?"

"Oh, General O'Neill," McKay said superciliously, "it's you."

"General," Sheppard nodded and even straightened up a bit. "I was hoping to catch you."

McKay frowned and looked around. "Where's Sam?"

"Carter's resting, doctor's orders," Jack said curtly.

"You told me she'd be here," the scientist said, glaring at his team leader.

Sheppard simply shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Guess not. Sir, I was wondering if we could talk about the mission roster?"

Jack went into Carter's office and beckoned them in. "Sure, shoot."

"Well," the Lieutenant Colonel started as he entered the office, "I got a notification that my team's next mission is scrubbed and I was kinda surprised as Colonel Carter had already approved it a while ago."

Plopping down on his wife's chair Jack made himself at home behind her desk, smiling inwardly when he noticed all the pictures she had surrounded herself with while at work. He placed her confiscated tablet to his left and accessed her work laptop, using the commander's codes he'd been given to pull up the mission roster in question. "Oh, right. Hmm, yep."

"Sir?"

"Oh," he glanced up at the two men in front of his desk. "Well, Carter is the one who postponed that mission-"

"Why would Sam do that?" McKay butted in, his tone of voice incredulous.

Jack frowned at the head scientist, wondering if the guy thought he was making this up or something. "Because there's another mission that's left unfinished."

"General?"

"M5V-801 Sheppard," he replied after another glance at Carter's notes.

McKay huffed and crossed his arms. "The one with the frequent tremors – again!"

"Those people still need to move to another continent," Jack said. Even though the administrative work for this base had made him wary about volunteering to temporarily take over command as it reminded him too much of that year or so at the SGC – where he'd simply been signing paper after paper while sending good people out into danger – the missions here were of a different nature. Of course there were still dangerous ones, especially with all the enemies in this galaxy but at the SGC they rarely got to relocate people and simply watch out for them as the base's mandate differed from Atlantis. It was a nice change, especially after all his time at Homeworld Security. "Unless, of course, those tremors have miraculously stopped since that underground Genii mine fell into the chasm of nothingness?"

"Well, we were kind of busy at the time. You know, that whole barely escaping with our lives thing sort of put a stop to the negotiations," the scientist said. "We needed to get Sam to the infirmary in case there was internal bleeding and my hands were injured too!"

"Yes, I noticed," Jack remarked dryly. "I take it that's also why you still haven't filed your mission report yet, Doctor?"

McKay gasped dramatically and gestured wildly. "My seismic team already filed the reports on their findings weeks ago and it's not like we did or encountered anything worthwhile in that mine!"

"I still need a report," he said with a shrug. "Carter already filed hers and sent it to the SGC the morning after in spite of her broken leg and Doctor Keller's medical report was sent along with it, followed by a mission report two days later. You submitted nothing at all, zilch, nada…"

"Elizabeth never required a military-style mission report from me and only needed my scientific opinion on technology we encountered."

Jack raised a skeptic brow at the haughty tone and glanced at Sheppard when the man snorted and earned an evil glare from McKay. He had never been completely involved with Elizabeth Weir's command as she technically reported to the IOA but he had always gotten a lot of reports and attended meetings about Atlantis and such as director of HWS… so he wasn't entirely certain the scientist was blatantly lying to him but his teammate's reaction seemed to indicate it. Even though Atlantis had been run by a civilian it surely didn't mean they had abandoned the concepts of mission reports per team member? Then again, even if Elizabeth had done so – or even just in the case of McKay because Jack was well aware of how obnoxious the guy could be – he knew Carter wouldn't allow it, since she reported to both the IOA and the military chain of command and she'd had command long enough for McKay to know better. "Really?"

McKay stopped scowling at Sheppard and nodded. "Yes."

"I know Carter runs a tight ship when it comes to mission reports as they eventually make their way to my desk in DC," he warned him. "But, I guess I probably shouldn't have such high expectations of you, McKay."

"W-what?" The scientist spluttered, clearly caught off guard by his remark.

Jack shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Well, as you know Carter was my 2IC in the field for seven years and she never had any trouble submitting full mission reports and technical analyses. Or the occasional medical report when she was helping out our CMO," he added, smirking. "She even managed to do so atop of her lab work when she got command of SG-1. I guess she just raised the bar for the rest of you geeks."

"Obviously I could manage to do the same as Sam, despite the fact that I am basically running the entire science department as well," McKay was quick to say. "I just don't see why I should waste my time like that when there are other people who only have to write a summary of what happened as there are far more important things I could be working on."

"Oh, but I desperately want to hear your side of what happened, McKay," he said sarcastically.

"Well, when you put it like that… I guess I am the most qualified person to relay the events of that mission as precisely as possible, considering my superior intellect. Granted, Sam is almost in the same league as I am but she was injured and in pain so most of what happened after she broke her leg is probably a blur to her." The astrophysicist was smirking proudly until he caught sight of his hands. "Oh, but my hands are still injured so that would make it difficult to write a report."

Rolling his eyes Jack patiently counted to ten in his head before replying. "Doctor Keller mentioned your hands were fine in her report and she cleared you for duty. Considering your superior intellect I'm sure you can come up with a way to write those reports anyway."

"Maybe I can get Zelenka to…" McKay was muttering under his breath, a pensive look on his face. "Anyway, I don't think I'm needed to visit M5V-801 again. Like I said, my seismic team has already reported their findings and my skills aren't needed there. Besides, I don't think it'll be good for my hands; they're still recuperating and what if there are more mines down there and we fall into another one?"

"You ever hear of gloves? Fingerless ones if necessary," Jack retorted, exasperated. "Now, I need you to lock Carter out of the system since she needs her rest but didn't want to give up her personal laptop. Oh and get me one of those ear thingies before you gear up for your mission to M5V-801."

"But-"

"Ack! This is not up for debate! Now go," he added, making a shooing gesture at McKay.

Sheppard waited until his team's scientist had left the office before speaking. "Sir, with all due respect, negotiating with alien settlements isn't exactly why I joined the Air Force. That's why Colonel Carter agreed to go on the mission in the first place."

Jack smiled wryly. "Well, I'm sure she'd be thrilled to trade places with ya now but unless you've got a doohickey lying around here somewhere that can transfer her injury to your body, that's not gonna happen."

"Sir," he groaned, "I was just hoping maybe another team could do this one?"

"Do you know why I joined the Air Force, Sheppard?"

"Um, no, Sir."

Sighing, Jack tried to think back to when he'd just been a kid. "Well, there were actually several reasons but the most important one was that I wanted to fly."

Sheppard nodded in agreement, a small grin on his face. "That I understand, Sir."

"I got to do the flying part but it soon became apparent I was good at other things too and… well, I can't really tell you about any of that or I'd have to shoot you."

"Gotcha, Sir," Sheppard smirked.

Jack knew he understood; he'd seen the man's file after all. Besides, after spending the better of a decade at the SGC people had become quite aware of his own skills and past. Considering the personnel here on Atlantis had all come through the SGC at one point or another, he doubted the Lieutenant Colonel had remained unaware of Jack's reputation. "Eventually, I got recruited for the first mission through the Stargate and after a while I got recalled for a second mission. Afterwards, it was clear there was plenty of work left to do and I was assigned to command the flagship team of Earth's first line of defense. Now, was that why I had joined the Air Force?"

He grimaced, clearly sensing where this was heading. "No, Sir."

"Damn right it wasn't! But I had sworn to serve my country and they needed someone to do it," Jack shrugged. "Besides, friends of mine had been taken on that mission; I didn't trust anyone else to get them back."

"I would have felt the same way, General."

"Now, a decade later I'm heading up Homeworld Security, dealing with idiotic politicians and pencil pushers on a daily basis while flying a desk."

Sheppard nodded gravely in understanding. "Not exactly why you joined the Air Force."

"Exactly!" He exclaimed loudly. "As if being stationed in my most-hated city isn't bad enough I also have to deal with the IOA shrubs, as well as foreign and alien dignitaries to forge treaties for the safety of not just my country, but the entire planet. Does that sound like fun to you?"

"Um, not really."

Jack snorted at the understatement. "You know what I would like to do every day, Sheppard? Spend my days with my wife at our cabin, do some fishing, maybe get a dog… not having to worry about intergalactic affairs."

"You're married, Sir?"

"Um, yes, but that's beside the point," he quickly said, silently berating himself for letting that slip. "Do you know why I haven't retired yet?"

Sheppard seemed to think for a moment before hazarding a guess. "Because they need someone to do it?"

Jack nodded, pleased to have made his point. "Precisely! At this time, there isn't anyone else I would trust the position to and if the wrong person gets the job things will quickly go to hell in a handbasket."

"And we wouldn't want that," the man concluded grimly.

"Nope," he replied, rubbing his hands in glee. "Well, I'm glad we cleared that up. I assume this means there won't be any problems with your mission to M5V-801?"

Shaking his head, Sheppard checked his watch. "No Sir," he said, with obvious reluctance. "I'll go gear up."

"Excellent," Jack replied, smirking.