I open my eyes to the light of day, and something really feels weird… and it's not just the fact that I'm in my own bed… or in a bed for once. It feels really nice too. There's something or someone in my arms… and I feel hair. I cautiously and carefully look in the direction of the unusualness. It could be a Goa'uld plot so I may as well act casual.

My, haven't we all picked something up from Jack?

Anyway, guess what I see? Oh yeah, a mass of blonde hair that smells partly of citrus, and partly of something else, something… hmm, I don't know. You know… last night was one big blur; one very big blur... one very big albeit nice blur. This is just post-sleep disorientation… I'm sure my memories will separate from each other in a few minutes… or by breakfast at least.

Ah-ha! Now I remember… more clearly. Wow. It feels really nice waking up with Sam, our naked bodies moulded together. I have no qualms about mentioning that the word 'naked' sends shivers down my spine anyway when thought of in conjunction of Sam, but even more so now.

I still can't believe she loves me! This really is unbelievable. And how many times have I dreamt over this past year of waking up with her like this, only for it to happen now and be so much better than those fleeting dreams?!

Mmm… I can't help smiling at what happened last night. I honestly didn't think Sam was that wild. I knew she was wild, of course I did, but… wow. I'm going to find it hard keeping a straight face in briefings now. It's something else that turns me on about her. Hmmm… I could die right now. I just feel so at peace… although I don't think Sam would take too kindly to waking up with a dead body.

Eww.

I think I'll go back to sleep… I've never had that choice before, what with being an insomniac, and that fact that once I'm up, I'm up, but today is different. I just close my eyes, with what I'm sure is the world's dopiest smile on my face, and she shifts in her sleep, her hand going lower and lower as she kisses my chest.

I kiss her hair – it feels so natural doing that; it really does – and she almost purrs as her head shifts on my chest. Ok… so Sam purrs… or almost purrs? We-hell, you learn something new everyday. I didn't think she was the type… but there you go.

She's starting to wake up so I rub her back. This has the effect of her making a little confused noise as she too is disorientated from just waking up. I kiss her ear and whisper,

"Good morning, lover."

She raises her head and looks down at me, propping herself up on her forearms, and she grins. I grin back up at her and she kisses me, and she whispers in my ear after nibbling it,

"Good morning to you too… lover."

Good. She isn't beating me up… We make out on my bed and then as she lays under me, she catches sight of the clock and says as she strokes my arm, "Hmm, Daniel… we need to get to work soon."

Work? What work? Oh… right… work… Yeah. Can't believe I just forgot where I work. It's bad enough that I don't even know my own zip code… maybe that's on my personnel file too. Hmm. I reply, feeling mischievous,

"Maybe we could call in sick?"

She looks up at me, an eyebrow arched and asks as she tries to be serious but ends up laughing – oh, what a beautiful sight, "Both of us? Don't you think the General's going to get a teensy bit suspicious?"

I reply with a grin as we go back to making out, "Sure, why not both of us? He can suspect all he wants."

She holds onto my shoulders with a little laugh, and says, "Well, I think we have time for one more roll in the hay, but then it means having to speed shower, speed dress, maybe speed eat, and break the speed limit."

"Totally worth it though."

And it is. Of course it is. I wish we were on leave or downtime right now, because there is seriously nothing else that I would like to do right now than to stay in bed with her for the duration. Hmm, maybe I should ask her if she's doing anything during our next leave. Oh, I don't think there' s going to be a maybe about this… especially judging by how much my new girlfriend appears to be hot for my body.

It's nice to be wanted.

Oh.

--------------------

I'm in my office now, having arrived five minutes late, which isn't bad going seeing as we would have been much later if my girlfriend wasn't such a speed freak… hm, I think she's turned me into a speed freak too.

Oh yeah.

It's amazing how much work I've got through… my in-tray was waist-deep this morning, or felt like it at least but within a few hours, it was almost nonexistent. That's… that's never happened before – not as quickly at least. Everyone who's visited my office today has given me really weird looks… Balinsky's even stopped talking as incessantly… which could be construed as a blessing. I think it was down to me humming. I've just found myself doing it all day.

Jack strolls in and stops a few feet short of my desk for no apparent reason. I look up and he looks stunned. Ok… has he actually started taking narcotics now? And then it hits me.

I'm actually singing.

Yep.

Your Song as well.

Oh dear…

As I try to take the same leaf that Sam took out of Jack's book of frightening nonchalance yesterday when the SF walked in on us, Jack exhales and asks, his eyebrows slowly but surely shooting up,

"Good time last night?"

I just stare back at him, and then he stares at me, the two of us trying to faze each other. He then remarks, throwing his hands down and losing our little challenge in the process,

"Oh fer cryin' out loud…"

That is the little thing some people here at the mountain refer to as his 'ofcol'. Not particularly sure why anyone would acronym it… it just takes the life out of it; well, at least that's what I think. What do I know?

So, anyway, Jack says, "You're humming and singing… I've had reports from people requesting you and Carter both get checked out by Doctor Brightman for alien doohickies and… such… like."

Always the eloquent speaker. God, I miss him being on the team. Hey, what was that about Sam?

"… Anyway, just wanted to check up on you. How's it going?"

He raises a finger, remembering what happened the last time he asked me that question, and he says, "Ah, short answer… microscopic even."

I shrug, inwardly amused as I reply, "I'm fine, Jack."

He nods and then says, "You were late today. You're never late coming to work… or whenever you go home the night before to… enable you to come into work in the first place."

He makes me want to laugh sometimes… a lot of the time, with his roundabout way of trying to dig for information casually. I just reply, pushing my glasses up (why do I always forget to tighten these damn things?!),

"Sorry, Jack. It won't happen again…"

Hopefully. I guess Sam and I will just have to be careful.

"… So… what do you want, Jack?"

Jack is your classic multitasker. He doesn't come for one reason – he comes for several… including and especially because of boredom, but there are always other little excuses too. He replies,

"Well… I'm bored, and two of my team appear to have interesting lives these days… well, three to be honest. T's gone to booty-call Ish'ta."

His team? Well… yeah… he's finding it so hard to let go, and so are we. I guess we'll always be Jack's team, whatever happens, whoever's in charge. It was like that when he was doing the covert undercover operation to rat out the mole here at the SGC five years ago. It's sad that he couldn't confide in any of us, least of all me, but over the years since, I've worked it out… he really did have to cut all ties, and I suppose, if I was in his place now, I'd do the same. He had to be above suspicion in order to be scouted by Maybourne.

Ah, poor Teal'c. It's always something new with him and Ish'ta, always some new argument, or a lot of the time, the same argument… only it's phrased differently. It's like a bad soap opera… I swear, the number of times Ish'ta accuses Teal'c of insulting her parents, her ability as a warrior or a teacher; or her honour is laughable, but then again, Teal'c can be a Jaffa version of Jack when it comes to women… tact isn't his strong suit in that department. Poor man. I wonder how many times he gets beat up this time.

Anyway.

He comes round to smooth my hair again – I think he likes my shampoo; maybe it's for good luck to keep McKay away – and asks, looking serious for once, "Are you happy?"

Why is he asking me this? Is he really concerned? Does he have an ulterior motive? Ok… this paranoia is getting sillier by the minute.

So I tell him the truth. "Yes. I am."

Not particularly elaborate, but at least it's succinct and to the point… I hope.

He seems satisfied by the answer and he replies with a strange smile that doesn't really encourage me about how he feels about Sam and I being an 'us', "Good… that's good to hear."

I say to him, now feeling down as he tries to hide his sadness, "Jack, I'm sorry."

He looks at me, I look at him, and he knows that I know, that there's no need to bullshit. He looks down for a moment, perhaps to gather his thoughts and then he looks at me again. He says, a little gruffly,

"Stand up."

Ok… he's going to hit me now… and I probably deserve it, I don't know. I don't care. There's just a lot of pain his eyes right now. We've known each other for so long, pulled each other through the biggest and most violent of storms… he has a lot of leeway here and now.

I slowly stand up, making sure I know where his hands are, and when I do stand up, he looks at me for a moment, and then takes me by surprise when he hugs me. I get over the surprise and hug him back, whispering,

"Jack…"

I want to tell him that I never meant to fall in love with Sam… it just happened. It was a long process that started when we first met and something I didn't notice without guilt until relatively recently. I never wanted to make Jack sad. He has been through a lot, and I feel mean for all the things I thought about him and Sam together… even though I now know that it wouldn't have happened anyway.

He stops me though, rubbing my upper back as he says, his cheek against my hair, "No, Daniel… don't. You and Carter are happy and that's all that matters. I'll get over this. This is just some old man hanging onto the past."

I look at him, laughing a little despite not feeling good right now, and I say, "You're not old, Jack. You're only ten years older than me."

"… which makes me forty-nine, buddy. Not bad, I suppose, making General before I hit fifty."

--------------------

A little later on, after skirting past a fuming Teal'c who stormed down a corridor (I don't know what happened… I'm not sure that I want to just right now. Remember what I said about liking life too much?), I go to visit my girlfriend. I like referring to Sam as that – as sad as I am, it just gives me a little thrill saying 'girlfriend'.

Oh.

Anyway.

Sam's about to leave for lunch, looking a little worn out from all the work she's done, and I hug her, with the intention of making her feel better. Luckily, we're right under the security camera because the hug soon evolves.

I was going a little nuts not being able to touch her for the time between coming in and now, but we have to remain professional, despite not going on any missions this week (never a dull moment though… I'll bet something happens soon, as it usually does). Sam whispers in my ear as I have her pressed up against a wall, nuzzling her neck as she runs her fingers through my hair,

"Did General O'Neill go to see you?"

That certainly stops me. With her still between myself and the wall, I reply as I stroke her cheek, "Yeah."

So Jack went to see her too. Oh dear God. She says with a little shrug, looking as sad as I feel right now, "He'll get over it, you know."

I nod and reply with a sigh, "I know."

She rests her head on my chest as she says, "We'll just have to lay off the coupley stuff in front of him for a while."

I hold her close and am about to speak when we both hear Jack's voice, and we turn around, a little embarrassed considering our previous position, "I'm not a party pooper, kids. You don't have to creep around. I really am happy for you… and I'm sure T is… just don't ask him now – big domestic an' all."

Sam and I exchange a little look and then we invite him to join our hug. He looks awkward but eventually complies, and we hug him. Sam says to him with a little smile,

"You'll still be a big part of our lives, Sir."

Jack finally smiles as he says, looking at her, "I know, Carter… I'm paying for the wedding… if Jacob doesn't neuter me first."