Disclaimer: Not mine; makes me sad.
Chapter summary: I don't wanna give stuff away! You can't have a chapter summary this time! ok, it's full of shippy goodness, then a trip to Jacob's grave. It's set about a week after last chapter. So the next Friday night.
A/note: this chapter is wickedly cliché, but it's so fun to write. This is the chapter by the way, and excuse me for my lack of detail.*wink wink* I imply, not elaborate. I also realise I NEED a beta, because whilst I get my best ideas at 3am, it prime typo time. Thank you to the lovely reviews too! A good day they certainly make. Cheers to Bill Shakespeare for the sonnet too. Number 116 if anyone is curious.

*shamelessly shippy, the fluff bunny attacked me. It's not all fluff though.

~SJ~

Not that he often had the chance to notice, spending eight years under a mountain after all, but the moon was full tonight. At least he presumed it was. The rain pounded on the roof of his car loudly, rendering the gravelly rambling of the radio to nothing more than static. Pulling up alongside his apartment block, he glanced down the empty and misty street. No one in sight, just a never ending radiance cast down from the sky onto the sleeping architecture. The random flash of lightning illuminated the street, revealing far greater detail.

He wasted little time in gathering his briefcase from the seat beside him and making a dash to the front door. The rain came down fast in big fat drops onto his service dress. By the time he made it through, his hair was flattened mercilessly to his head and water ran down his face, ears and neck. His shoulders were damp and his once mirror shined shoes now messy and spotty.

He snuck a peek at his face of his watch, speckled with moisture. 11:06pm. Lovely. He was meant to clean up his place and get up early in the morning. He was picking up Sam from the airport just after lunch tomorrow and intended to take the afternoon off. He just hoped he could wrangle enough sleep to give her a warm welcome tomorrow. Luckily, he was a minimalist and hardly spent enough time in his old apartment to allow it to become truly chaotic. Just a tidy up.

In the sanctuary of the elevator he loosened his tie, undid the top button of his shirt and undid the dress jacket. He ran a hand through his hair only to find that, yes, it was still rather wet and now his hand was too. Carelessly he dried it against his leg. Good thing he had a spare set of blues. Two actually.

The elevator doors dinged open and he stepped out into the darkened hallway. Automatic lights flicked on when he entered, fishing his room key from his pocket. He stifled a yawn and rolled his contracting shoulder muscles. Unlocking his apartment, he slipped inside, nudging the door shut behind with his foot. The living room was almost dark, though the glow from the sky and streetlight outside offered an eerie comfort.

It briefly occurred to him that he didn't have a spare room, and though it wouldn't be the first time he'd slept in close quarters with his former 2IC, it would be the first time he would be, you know, sleeping in very close quarters with his former second in command. Secretly, he was insatiably itching to try that particular sleeping arrangement.

Eh, clean up in the morning.

A flash of lightning filled the room, as he stepped further into the living room. His eyes may have deceived him, but was that a pair of white-socked feet resting on the arm of his sofa? He didn't leave those there. As if nature sensed his confusion, the room again filled with a soft and brief glow. Still there. Shall we try another crazy test please?

Curiously, he ambled quietly around the edge of the room. The socked feet extended into jean covered legs, long legs, mind you. The legs met at a buckled brown belt. Two slender hands gripped a book on a very nice torso, one he wasn't dumb enough to not appreciate, hidden beneath what may have been a soft pink sweater. His eyes travelled further up to... he'd keep that comment to himself. His gaze kept moving up and came to rest on a face he was glad to know so well. Sam. She seemed very comfortable sleeping on his sofa, given the content look on her face as her nose snuggled into her shoulder.

Speaking of nose, on the end of that lovely feature sat a pair of thinly rimmed reading glasses. Oh Christmas had come early for him! It was a sight he could only call adorable. He couldn't help himself now. There were presents that needed opening here.

He gently lowered his briefcase to the ground and with as much stealth as he could manage at his age, snuck over to the sofa, slipping in between the edge and the coffee table. He carefully sat down next to her hip and softly poked her in the side. Her head perked up, her eyes bleary for a moment before fixing upon him.

"Hey there..." she mumbled sleepily.

"Hi." He half whispered, though he wasn't sure why. He probably hadn't, the thudding of the rain drowned their words.

"What time is it?" she tried, opening her eyes more widely, but ending up looking slightly dazed. Another flash of lightning filled the room.

"After eleven. How long you been here?"

"Two hours maybe. Finished early and thought I might surprise you. Surprise. You're landlord let me in when he was fixing a window next door. He thought it was a good surprise too. He seems nice."

Nick, you sneaky bastard.

"Yeah. He likes playing matchmaker. Keeps introducing me to women in the building. Guess he won't be anymore." He gave her a pensive smile. "You get over here alright? Should have called me, I would have come an' got you."

"It's fine. Trip was good." She lifted a lazy hand to pat his arm. "Why are you all wet?"

"Rain does that."

"Oh." She concluded. She sat up and gave him a look over her shoulder. He gave her a shifty look before standing up and getting out of her way. "You better get dry. It's late." She went to walk past him, book still in hand.

"Whoa, wait up!" he reached over and hooked her around the waist, swinging her back into his arms, colliding with an intense thump. He careful removed the reading glasses from her face.

"I like these." He toyed with them between his fingertips, his lips rising into a boyish smirk. "Go to bed, I'll be there in a bit." He nodded his head down the hall, offering her spectacles to her. He didn't miss the darkness that swept past the usual blue ocean in her eyes. She met him in the middle for a very hungry kiss that she deliberately cut short, leaving him wanting a lot more. Little minx.

After a quick shower and a little mental preparation, among other things, he crept down the dark hallway clad in only a pair of black track pants and white boxer shorts. He opened the door to his bedroom, and found, for lack of a more appropriate word, his girlfriend standing in front of the window that overlooked his often too empty bed.

He tilted his head to the side slightly and made his way across the room, this time making no attempt to be quiet. He stopped two paces or so behind her. She stood still, arms folded, staring out into the night through the drizzling window. She had only a pair of powder blue pyjama pants and a white camisole to shield her form the cool night air. Though, to be fair, he wasn't even wearing a shirt of any sort at all. But guys weren't as sensitive to the cold as women. Apparently.

He began playing with his fingers in front of his belly.

"Whatchya thinking about?"

"Not much. Oddly enough." She kept staring out the window. "The window looks a little like an event horizon. Maybe." The rain pounded hard onto the window creating a sporadic symphony in tribute to each drop's demise. She turned and looked over her shoulder at him.

"You?" she asked.

"Usual." He raised a knowing eyebrow and tilted his head far to the left, leaving her with no doubt as to where his brain was. A dark twinkle flashed in her eyes as she approached him, into his eagerly awaiting arms.

~ ;-) ~

...Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error, and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

~SJ~

The first time the alarm clock on his cell went off, he answered it. When he realised it was an ungodly hour and he never wanted to see the evil device again, he tossed it under the bed. It was still raining, but more soothingly now. He rolled onto his side and found a nice warm body under the blanket with him. Hello. She laid face down, her arms tucked deeply under her pillow, which she seemed to have claimed as her own. He wriggled closer and greedily pulled her into his embrace, eliciting a sleepy grumble from her. She seemed able to humour him by turning a little and tucking her shoulders into his chest.

"Do we have to get up yet?" she mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Nup."

She sighed a contented 'mm' before drifting back to sleep.

Later in the morning, Jack carefully removed himself to go in search of caffeine. Coffee, tall and black, strong enough to wake a sleeping elephant. He took a guess that Sam was a tea person in the morning. At least that was what he had observed during the years. When he poked his head back into his room, she had shifted and may have woken since he left.

"Sam?"

She didn't stir. Her head lolled to the side, but not actively enough to indicate coherency. He frowned and weighed his options. Teacup now on the bedside table, he crawled over her warm body and settled into her side. He tucked his hands behind his head, letting a mischievous grin grow on his lips; turning his head, he whispered to her;

"Carter... Cassandra's pregnant."

Her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright in the bed.

"What?" she said, forgetting he was even there.

He watched the expressions play out over her face. Shock, confusion then a little intrigue. She looked over her bare shoulder at him, having worked out his little lie. Feeling that he may be too smug for this time of the morning, she personally saw to the removal of his smirk with a warm kiss. Evidently liking this kind of reprimand he willing pulled her atop him. Eventually, oxygen deprivation won out.

"I gotta go to work for the morning. I'll be back for lunch. Think you can amuse yourself for a few hours?"

"Uh, yeah, there are a few things I need to do." She left it at that. He had his suspicions but felt them best kept unspoken.

"Sam, listen very carefully because I don't do this often." His face became serious. He held up his car keys. "You can have my car this morning."

She tried to keep a straight face as she made a grab for them. She really did.

"Just drop me off at work and I'll grab one of the work cars. I'm not sure what time I'll get out, so..." he added with a shrug. After a little more play fighting than he had time for, he relinquished the beloved keys.

~SJ~

She stood at the main gate of Arlington National Cemetery, a bouquet of fresh, white daisies in one hand, her small black umbrella grasped in the other. She succumbed to a shiver which had nothing to do with the cold breeze that practically cut right to the bone. This place held some dark memories for her. Her memories of her last visit here, less than five months ago, flashed past her mind's eye with a frightening intensity. Slowly, she made her way through the endless rows of chalk white tombstones. She knew her way to his grave as if she made the trip every day.

After close to ten minutes, she saw it three rows ahead. She came to a halt at the end. The grass had grown over the space she remembered his body being lowered into.

"Hi Dad..." She tried to smile. Taking two hesitant steps forward, she gently laid the daisies to rest by the pristine headstone, before retreating to her original spot.

She was at a loss for anything appropriate to say to her departed father. It occurred to her suddenly that just because he was gone, didn't mean she had to go back to being 'Soldier Sam'. Besides, if he was watching over her (and past experience with Daniel only supported that possibility) all the more reason to hold nothing back. Might as well be open and honest with him now.

"Guess what... I'm finally happy." She smiled gently. "It took me a while to get here. You'd be proud of us though, we broke the rules." She chuckled to herself. "I'm glad I listened to you, Dad. I really am. He cares about me a lot. I learnt that a long time ago. I don't think I told you this with Pete or Jonas, but I love him." she lightly scoffed at her realisation. "That's the first time I've said it out loud..." she mused. "I'll be okay Dad. I promise. Jack won't let anything happen to me."

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she turned to look behind her. Sure enough, standing six or seven rows back under the shelter of a tree was Jack, in his blues and an overcoat. He wanted to give her some space. She beckoned him to her with a tilt of her head.

He came up and stood behind her, not touching her. Discomfort radiated from him. She clicked quickly. Charlie, Kawalsky, probably dozens of others. The man hated cemeteries. He offered a leather gloved hand, seeking as much comfort for himself as for her. She took it, turning back to where her father rested.

"I've never been less certain." She felt a white hot tear, just one, fall down her cheek.

~SJ~

Please review, or just read it, that'll do too! peace!