Just so Long and Long Enough
Jack sat at the kitchen table tapping his pencil on the crossword puzzle, coffee cup in front of him.
"Good morning," Sam said from behind him. He turned to see her standing in the doorway, in his blue flannel bathrobe.
"Well, " he said thoughtfully, "That old bathrobe didn't look that good the day I bought it."
Sam crossed her arms defensively. "It was all that I could find to wear."
"Maybe you shouldn't have left your clothes all over the house." He smiled, waving his pencil. Sam blushed and shook her head, embarrassed, irritated and happy all at the same time. She must still be awfully tired, she rationalized, as she sat down across from Jack, his brown eyes catching hers. It really wasn't fair that he should be so handsome this early in the morning. She wasn't ready for it yet.
"You're getting up a tad late, don't ya think? Want some coffee?" Jack put down his pencil and got up.
"Please. I guess I was just making up for lost time." Sam said, her head resting on her arms which were crossed on the table.
"I know I was." Jack said to the coffee machine.
"What?" Sam lifted her head.
"Huh?" Jack turned around. "Here's your coffee. Hey, give me that back."
Sam had the puzzle in her hands. "I'm not checking your answers. I just want to be sure none of them are in Ancient."
"Very funny. Now give it back." He was serious. He'd brought that all the way to Minnesota. She gave it back.
He came around the table to give her the coffee, then bent down to kiss the back of her neck, appreciating the advantages of a military haircut. Jack sat back down across the table from her, but didn't resume filling in the puzzle because something about her didn't seem right. Sam had her head propped up with one hand as she looked at him with concern.
"Problem?" he asked.
"What'd we do?"
"Well, now, Sam, you're a grown woman. I thought you knew."
Sam smiled, "You're in rare form today, aren't you?"
"Humor is my first line of defense."
"Against what?"
"Well, life in general, but you, more specifically." Jack sipped his coffee and waited for her reply.
"I'm not dangerous."
Jack studied her face for a while. He knew she believed what she'd said. "Well, then, what about it? We crossed the line."
"Pretty far, I'd say. I don't want to be court-martialed." Sam drank more of her coffee.
"Is that why I couldn't kiss you outside? Afraid of sat photos?"
She smiled. "You really think you've got my number, don't you?"
"Just the area code."
Sam put her head back down on her arms. Jack picked up their cups and poured refills. "Want one of my world-famous omelets?"
"Without the beer."
He threw the kitchen towel at her, then started cracking the eggs using only one hand. ""Sam, we're not going to be court-martialed. Things are different than they used to be."
"How do you know that?" Sam watched the eggs, impressed.
"We had an incident at the SGC a while back."
"An incident." Sam looked at Jack doubtfully. "I didn't hear anything about it."
"I get privileged information." Jack said grandly. "Anyway, I talked with a JAG I know…"
"I bet you know a lot of JAGs."
"Yes, I'm a very bad boy." Sam didn't doubt that. Jack mixed and then poured the eggs into the pan. "It's only going to be cheese- that's all I have. Anyway, this particular couple was fairly irreplaceable."
"Irreplaceable?" Sam sipped her coffee. He really was a poor liar, but it was cute to watch.
"She said there were several options, but the most important thing was not to hide anything from one's superior officers." Jack flipped the omelet. Sam was really impressed now. Then she wondered if this was a staple of his diet. Probably. He gave it to her and started on the next one.
"You didn't give this JAG any names, did you?" Sam said cautiously.
"No, she didn't ask."
"That's a good friend."
"Yes. I don't like lawyers. She is- I don't know- human." Jack finished making his omelet and sat down. "Of course, now that I've met a lot of aliens, I'm not always sure that's a compliment."
"Then what's plan A?"
"Well, it's a little late now, but I think we can get it done by quitting time tomorrow." Jack took a bite.
Sam put her fork down. "Get what done?"
"Get hitched." Jack watched her face, but not for long. She put her head back down on the table.
Jack picked up his cup and went into the living room, put his feet on the coffee table and stared at the cold fireplace. Sam eventually came in the room and sat on the floor next to the chair in which Jack sat, her head resting on the arm. He didn't move. Sam took his hand and laid her cheek against it. Jack looked down at her. You are dangerous. Then he lifted his hand and ran his fingers through her hair.
After a moment, Sam turned her face upwards to look at Jack, trying to read his thoughts, which she knew from experience was impossible. So she got up on her knees, kissed his neck and then let his short, steel-colored hair brush her face. Jack put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back.
"Carter, what do you want?" He let go of her, and closed his eyes, laying his head back against the chair. "You just shot me down."
"I didn't shoot you down. I didn't say anything." Sam said, rocking back onto her heels. "You surprised me, that's all. Tell me Plans B and C, Jack."
He sighed and wondered if was going to spend the rest of his life trying to figure her out. "One or both of us could be re-assed or I could retire."
"No!" Sam said with alarm. "Who knows who we'd get if you did that. General Bauer almost got us all killed. Dr. Weir's in Atlantis..."
"Yeah, but if we don't own up to it, well- that's where the court-martial comes in, or George could just send us wherever the hell he feels like. I wish we had time, but we don't." It was clear Plan A was the winner, as frightening as it seemed.
Sam smiled. "I feel much better knowing you really don't want to marry me. It's a shotgun wedding courtesy of the USAF."
"You are a smartass." Jack sat back in his chair with a wry grin.
Sam looked down. "You don't have to do it, Jack, and I won't take the chance. I already put in for a transfer to Area 51."
"Take the chance?" Jack shook his head in utter disbelief. "When were you gonna tell me this- when it came across my desk?"
"No." It was never good to see Jack mad, and to have him mad at her was almost unbearable- yet he'd done it more in one week than in her entire time on SG-1. They'd spent so much time talking past each other that they'd forgotten how to talk to each other.
"So what was this? A nice weekend and some hot sex before you take off for Nevada?" He couldn't help it, and he couldn't take it anymore. Not from her. Sam stood up and headed for the door. "You can't run off this time, Carter. There's twenty miles of nothing out there, and you're only wearing my bathrobe."
Sam turned around and stared at him. "I thought I couldn't lose. If I found out you wanted me, the regs wouldn't apply, and if you didn't, I might as well be there." She took a deep breath. "I won't take a chance on staying at the SGC and have it blow up in our faces."
Jack swallowed hard. He'd gotten her wrong again. "You're giving up the stargate because of me?"
Sam nodded. "You still have to approve it, sir. Either way."
The word didn't go unnoticed. "So you're throwing it back in my lap." Jack said bitterly as he stood up.
"No. It's your job."
"When am I going to see this paperwork?"
"I imagine it's under a pile on your desk right now."
"So I get to pit the fate of the galaxy against what we want?"
"It's always been that way, Jack." Sam said evenly. "The question is, what's going to win out this time?" She walked out to the dock and let the door slam.
Jack went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, then glanced at the clock and closed it. Ten o'clock was pushing it even for him. He leaned against the door for several minutes and then went out to find her, staring at the water.
"I'll let you go." He stood behind her, where the dock met the ground.
"Thank you, sir." She didn't turn around.
"Stop it, Carter."
"It's a good strategic decision." Sam almost spat out the words. "The Go'auld are defeated, the Replicators gone, we have some Asgard and Go'auld technology. I'm more useful in R & D. What I want to know is," she turned to look at him, her hands shoved in the pockets of the robe,"what if it was six months ago?"
"What if it was, Sam? Would you be asking to go then?"
The words echoed out across the pond.
"No, Jack..."
He closed his eyes momentarily. Jack knew work was her life, he just didn't expect to be slapped across the face with that fact.
She walked over to him and touched his face. "...I'd be asking you for the name of a good JAG."
They left Minnesota a day earlier than they'd planned. By sheer force of will, they managed to sleep in their own respective homes. Jack rose early the next morning and paced the floor, cursing the fact that Nevada was in the Pacific time zone. As early as he reasonably could, Jack phoned area 51, and then Sam.
"You're fired."
"Thank you, sir." Sam paused. "I'm going to miss you."
"I think we'll see more of each other this way."
Sam laughed and Jack stared at the receiver, wondering what the hell was so funny. Then he smiled. "Sam, you've got a dirty mind. Why don't you bring it over here?"
They lay tangled up in each other, while Jack mapped out the situation. "You've got about a week to get there. General Giuliano wants you to head up R & D, so you'll be directly under him. But I explained you'd be directly under me on the weekends."
"Jack! You didn't."
"Of course not. I'll save the jokes for Hammond." He pulled her up onto his chest, his eyes smiling.
"Do you have to call him?"
"I think so, Sam. It's a pretty big change, and he'll know why." Jack ran his fingers down her spine. "You're also the main contact with Darla. I've never heard of her but Giuliano seems to think she's damned important."
"DARPA, Jack." Sam suppressed a grin.
"Whatever." Jack shrugged. As far as he was concerned R & D could mean Republicans and Democrats, they were all about as useless 99 percent of the time. Of course, Carter would improve those numbers quite a bit.
"I guess General Hammond shouldn't have to find out from a piece of paper on his desk, either." Sam grew thoughtful again.
"It's O.K. It was a good strategic decision."
Sam raised herself up on her arms and evaluated his expression. "We've hurt each other a lot over the years. We've got to let it all go."
"I never hurt you."
"Shall we start with Laira and go from there?"
"Oh. No."
"We can't even talk to each other like normal human beings, and that makes you jump to conclusions."
"You always assume the worst-case scenario."
"It's my nature."
"Right, you blow up suns and make asteroids fly through the earth." Jack said, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Gotta be careful about that."
"Okay, here's the deal. Promise me you'll never bring up anything bad that happened before Dad died, or we can plan on years in counseling. Which is it going to be?"
Jack felt around in his soul. There were still a lot of raw spots. Orlin. Martouf. Repeated rejections to go to the lake. Joe Faxon. Humming. And that goddamn little black box. But shrinks?
"I'm good with forgetting about it." Sam said, nestling her head back down on his shoulder.
"Can you read my mind?" He turned and kissed her forehead.
"I've been working on that project for years, Jack, but it usually fails field testing."
"I hope you won't need it any more."
"Yeah. Me, too."
Sam was sleeping when Jack left to go to the base. He stood buttoning his shirt and watched her. She still worried him, and he suspected she always would, one way or the other. Despite what he'd told her the night she'd showed him Pete's ring, he really wasn't so sanguine about letting her go through the gate. He was so damned relieved she'd decided to stop going, so he wouldn't have to ask her to quit, but he knew if a big enough threat arose she'd want to go again.
Or he'd have to make her. He tried not to think about that possibility.
In fact, he shouldn't have been thinking about any of this. He'd known what he was getting into- it was her love of excitement and new ideas that had intrigued him in the first place. She liked thrills. A beautiful woman who liked guns and motorcycles, and who could fly a jet all the while telling him how a jet flies…damn. He looked over at her. Better get out of here while you still can.
Jack got up and started to leave.
"Jack?"
He shut his eyes, opened them, and turned around. "I have to go to the base." Stop being so beautiful, he thought. I'm weak.
Sam leaned up on her elbow. "All right. Just tell me good-bye."
He sat on the bed and pushed her golden hair back from her face, then tipped her head back and kissed her, his heart starting to pound, again. She pushed gently on his shoulder, breaking the embrace.
"Now get to work." Sam fell back on her pillow.
Jack shook his head with a rueful smile. He could live with the way things were.
At his office, he signed off on a few mission reports. It was nice to have a little lull in the galactic action, but his eyes were repeatedly drawn to the telephone. He really needed to call Hammond. They'd catch hell if he found out about them through the grapevine. Finally, he got up and closed the door.
"General Hammond." O'Neill greeted his boss formally.
"Jack…" Hammond warned, good-naturedly.
"Yes, sir, George." Well, that was just about as stupid, Jack thought. Now I've turned him into royalty.
"To what do I owe the honor of a phone call, Jack? I just left there, remember?" Hammond never really got tired of hearing from Jack. He was great entertainment.
"Yes, I know, George, and we all really appreciate you coming for Jacob's funeral. Carter especially." Jack swallowed.
"How is she?"
You have no idea. "She's good. In fact, that's why I'm calling."
Hammond sat up in his chair. Something in Jack's voice didn't sound right. He was nervous and that was damned rare for Jack.
"Jack?"
"She's fallen for some guy, George. She's asked to go to Area 51." Jack said, fiddling with the drawer pulls on his desk.
"Well, that was fast, I thought that wasn't going to happen for another couple of months." George was pleased Jack would think to call him. He'd hoped to receive an invitation any day now.
Jack looked at the phone. How did he know?
"Jack?"
"Yes, George." Jack's mind was racing.
"You were telling me about Sam and Pete."
Pete! Jack hit his head with the palm of his hand. So much had happened in such a short time that he had completely forgotten Sam was supposed to become someone else's wife.
"George, it's not Sam and Pete. It's Sam and me. George?" Jack said into a completely silent phone.
A few moments passed. "Hot damn, Jack! It's about time." George's accent was in full twang at the news.
Jack sat back in his chair, feeling relieved- for a few seconds.
"How does this affect the command, Jack?"
"It's a good strategic decision. We're not fighting anybody and she can work on the new alien technology." Jack hated saying it and hated himself for agreeing with it.
"All right, Jack." George paused. "I do want to let you know something."
"Yeah?" Jack didn't like the sound of it already.
"I'm retiring, and I have a replacement in mind. I'm announcing it in a week."
Jack didn't say anything.
"One of my areas of responsibility is Area 51."
Jack stood in the briefing room looking down at the gate as he had done hundreds, maybe thousands of times before. He remembered back to- was it really nearly a year?- when he'd almost quit over his own perceived incompetence, and then he'd realized anybody else would just be worse. Now it was the same damn thing, only the wrong person could have the whole damned galaxy FUBAR, not just the SGC.
Eight hours of freedom. That's what they'd had. Eight hours out of eight years. There was probably some kind of beautiful mathematical proportion that Sam could find in there, but Jack was damned if he could.
Sam let herself into the house that soon wouldn't be hers anymore. The place didn't even look lived in. The only things of any real value to her were her books, clothing and the pictures. It was a beautiful and empty house.
She walked into the bedroom and opened the drawer where she'd put the picture of Pete. It didn't feel right to throw it away, but she did. She went to the next drawer down, reached under a few sheets of paper and pulled out the picture of Jack and her in full combat gear, smiling over what was undoubtedly one of his jokes. That one she set on the nightstand. It's funny, she thought. All the time she was engaged to Pete, it never occurred to her to throw that one out. Well, it's just two team members having a laugh.
But if so, then why had she put it in the drawer? She picked it up and studied it. Now she saw, saw why she liked it in the first place and why it was put away. Jack was standing too close to her, his hand on her arm. They weren't looking at each other like team members. They were looking at each other like lovers. Sam unfastened the back of the frame because she knew Daniel had taken the picture, and he had a thing about proper dating. She pulled the back off, and saw that the picture was five years old. The things she could never admit to herself came out in a picture anyway. Bitterly, she thought of the sacrifices she and Jack- well, really all of SG-1- had made and hoped they were worth it. They had to be.
She put that picture in her suitcase along with the other things she needed, took a couple of books off of the bookshelf and started to drive back to Jack's house, and then suddenly slowed down just a few blocks away. They'd never even talked about her staying with him. She'd just assumed. But, she guessed she'd better run it by Jack. One never knew.
One did know. She pulled up to his house to find a young lieutenant standing on the doorstep. He immediately recognized her as she stepped out of her car, even in her jeans and sweater, and blushing, he saluted. "At ease, Lieutenant." Sam said. "What brings you all the way out here?"
"Package for you, ma'am." They were Jacob's belongings, she thought. Her chest tightened.
"Well, let's get it inside, Lieutenant." They walked to the government car and he popped the trunk. As she reached in, the airman hurriedly said, "I'll get that, ma'am." Sam looked at him. "Yes ma'am." She picked up the box. The young man hurried up the steps to beat her to the front door, and opened it for her. Sam set the box down just inside the door.
"That will be all, Lieutenant." He saluted her and walked down the narrow path to the street. Just before he got to the car, Sam saw him notice the mailbox. O'Neill.
Great, she thought. She waited for the car to leave before pulling out her suitcase. She didn't want him to give him the wrong impression, though he undoubtedly already had one. As she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open with her foot, Jack drove up. Sam smiled and shut the door, then walked down the steps to meet him. The look on his face made her stop halfway down.
"We're screwed," he said simply, looking up at her.
"What?" Sam held out her hand.
"Hammond's retiring and I have to take his place."
He came up the stairs and put his arm around her waist, and for just a moment nothing else mattered. "I like coming home to find you here." He kissed her in full view of God and the NID. He hadn't really been kidding Sam about the sat photos because he knew a lot of people wanted them gone. Too bad, now.
Jack put the box in the living room and then flopped on the couch, pulling Sam down with him. Neither one of them spoke as the news registered in Sam's brain. "I'll still be in your chain of command, no matter where I go."
"Yeah."
"I'll go to work for DARPA."
"No, Sam." Jack sat up and turned to her. "I won't let you."
Sam's eyes flashed and she started to speak, but Jack gently laid a finger across her lips. "Shut up and let me talk, for a change. I'm doing this because I have to. But you love your work. I'm not taking that away from you- you can do what you want and we'll figure it out."
"How?"
"You're working for Area 51 as of 6 pm, Sam. I'm not in charge of HWS yet. We've got time, maybe a week."
"I can't decide unless you, Jack, not General O'Neill, tell me what you want. You know what happens when you just tell me what you think I want to hear."
"We weren't gonna bring that up."
"What?" Sam shrugged obliviously.
Jack smiled, seeing himself in her. "I don't want you going through the gate." He took a deep breath. "But I won't stop you."
"Well, I wouldn't want to make the General look indecisive." Sam nuzzled the side of his neck.
"Plan A is back in effect, by the way."
"Plan A never works." Sam murmured from somewhere in the vicinity of his jaw. "Let's call it Plan B."
"Okay." Jack paused. "You'll marry me?"
"Yes," she whispered into his ear. Then she kissed it.
Jack had a funny feeling that this was another romantic moment that he was about to turn into a naked free-for-all. He grabbed her hand and stood. "Come on, Samantha. It's time to take this out of the room."
