Author's note: When I got into SG-1 fanfic, I had no idea that I would end up writing two basically novel-length stories in half a year. It's been a ton of fun, though, and a lot of that has been because of all of you great readers and reviewers. I'm sad the story has come to an end, but I hope that you enjoyed the journey.
By the time they got back home, Jack and Sam were both completely exhausted.
It took about three hours to get to their house in Colorado Springs, which Sam thought was pretty impressive for intergalactic travel with a detour in military bureaucracy.
She had all these grand plans for when they got home of leaving his suitcase by the front door and dragging him to their bedroom, dropping clothes to the floor as they went. She wanted to finish what they'd started in that empty room in Atlantis and at the end of the pier and in that puddle jumper. Unfortunately, they'd both been up for nearly two days straight at that point.
They did leave the suitcase by the door and their clothes did end up in piles on the ground because they were too lazy to put them away, but after quick, perfunctory showers, they fell into bed - just not in the fun way. Jack pulled her close and her final thought as she drifted off into dreams was how much she'd missed sleeping beside him.
Sam woke in the middle of the night to Jack's hand slowly caressing her abdomen and his lips pressing sleepy kisses to the side of her neck.
"Jack," she sighed, arching into his hand as it moved lower.
"Missed you, Sam."
She missed him too, so much. She did her best not to think about what might have happened to him, but the sting of that possible timeline made her appreciate even more that she was with him right now.
Sam reveled in the feel of Jack's lips against her skin. She gripped his shoulder as he moved lower, traveling along her collarbone, her breast, and her torso. Jack normally shaved everyday because of work. The rough feel of his stubble against her skin was a new and mesmerizing sensation.
She had been so close to never having moments like this with him again. A tear leaked out of her eye and streamed down her cheek even as her breath hitched from the movement of Jack's hands and lips.
"I love you so much," she said, almost desperately.
His lips had been flush against her hip and she felt them curve into a smile before he moved again.
"Consider this a thank you," he said before placing a kiss on her inner thigh. "For the whole saving me thing."
Sam closed her eyes and sighed as he adjusted her body and shifted himself further down, applying his tongue with skill and a single-minded dedication.
If she had known that she could've had this as a reward for saving him in the field, Sam's professionalism around Jack O'Neill would have broken down years earlier.
It wasn't long before she was gasping his name and shaking in her release. She loosened her tight grip on his hair, unaware of when she'd moved her hands. Jack made a satisfied hum in the back of his throat as he pulled away and moved back up her body.
Sam could barely see the outline of Jack's body in the dark room, pale moonlight seeping in through the gaps in the blinds. She didn't need the visual because her mind supplied one. She had spent so many years looking at Jack O'Neill that if she was any kind of artist, she'd be able to draw his image by heart.
The exhaustion she was still feeling gave everything a fogged, fuzzy quality. Even though they were awake, it felt like a dream as they came together, their initial motions slow and languorous.
Sam lost herself in kissing Jack as he moved inside her, the feeling reminding her of what she'd been missing these past weeks...what she always missed when they were apart. Not just the sex, but the intimacy between them - the sense of connection that she always felt when they were together.
She had never felt this way with anyone else.
Jack switched up his rhythm and Sam's breath hitched. He slipped a hand between them and added pressure just where she needed it.
She shattered and he followed soon after, groaning her name against her neck.
As she lay in bed afterwards, his arm loosely draped across her, Sam knew that this sense of connection - this sense of home - whenever she was with him, was exactly why she'd said yes to Jack O'Neill's marriage proposal.
"Love you, Jack," she whispered.
Sam drifted off to sleep to the sound of Jack's voice against her hair, saying he loved her too.
When their alarm went off, it was five in the morning. Sam woke up confused and disoriented by the disconnect between the sound of the alarm and her inner certainty that she didn't have to go into work today. The bedroom was dark. It was still too early for the sun's rays to stream through the blinds.
Frankly, she was impressed that she remembered to set an alarm at all the night before.
"I'm calling in sick," she heard Jack grumble into his pillow, still half asleep.
She reached over and rubbed her hand up and down his back.
"We have to get up and pack. We bought tickets for a flight, remember?"
Or rather, Jack had called his assistant and asked the man to book two tickets to the Bahamas - plus a hotel room - after his initial travel plan was denied.
Jack tried to argue that after all they'd been through, he should be able to borrow the puddle jumper for their flight to Nassau since it had a working cloak, but General Landry hadn't gone for it.
Sam wished he had. It would have been infinitely more pleasant than trying to catch a ten o'clock flight in Denver the morning after returning from another galaxy. She couldn't even remember what time they'd gotten home last night. Had the sun even set yet?
Off-world jet lag was a bitch.
Fortunately, she still had her suitcase packed. God, was it only a few days ago that she had been wondering whether to cancel their vacation plans after losing Daniel? She only had to gather a few last minute items and then she'd be ready to go.
Jack still wasn't moving. She was pretty sure he'd gone back to sleep.
Sam moved her hand up to stroke it through his hair.
"Jack, time to get up."
He stirred, but didn't open his eyes.
"Back to bed, Carter," he mumbled. "...'s an order."
Huffing in frustration, she got out of bed and got dressed. She supposed that after almost dying three million light years away, he deserved a few extra minutes of sleep. She went to the kitchen to start the coffee and then packed the few remaining items she needed in her suitcase for their trip.
In the end, she decided to pack for Jack too. Sam opened the dresser drawer where she'd shoved the contents of his suitcase from the last time they tried to go on vacation. She took out all the items and placed them on the top of the dresser before closing the drawer.
Sparing a glance back at Jack, she saw that he was still sleeping, arms tucked under the pillow. There was a time when he never would have slept through this much noise. Part of it was exhaustion, she knew, but part of it was also the fact that without the constant threats to his life, Jack O'Neill had let himself relax, just a little.
It made her happy that he didn't have to be on guard all the time. She hoped that this recent adventure in Atlantis wouldn't set him back in that regard.
Sam grabbed Jack's suitcase from the hallway and dumped everything out on the floor by the side of his bed, just because she felt like it.
By the time she was done packing his stuff, the coffee was ready. She grabbed two mugs, placing one on the nightstand by her side of the bed and holding the other in her hand. Sam sat on the bed and leaned her head down to speak close to his ear.
"Jack," she called in a sing-song voice.
He shifted, but didn't open his eyes.
"I've had some more ideas about the jumper," she tried instead. "I dreamt about a few things we might want to try."
His eyes opened and he blinked a few times before turning on his side to look up at her.
"Ideas, Carter?" he asked, his voice rough with sleep. "You know I like when you have those."
Sam was so tempted to get back into bed with him, but they were on a timetable.
"Good," she said crisply. "You need to get dressed. I already packed for you. We can't miss our flight."
Jack leaned up and she handed him his coffee. He took a long sip and closed his eyes, moaning after he swallowed the hot beverage.
"Coffee in bed, packing my suitcase, saving my ass in another galaxy...you're my perfect woman."
"Damn right," Sam replied. "Now get your ass out of bed, General. We're leaving in fifteen."
Jack set his coffee on the nightstand, already starting to get moving.
"Like I said, my perfect woman."
She grinned back at him and loaded the car while he got dressed. They finished their coffee and were out the door with time to spare.
On the flight, she leaned against his shoulder and pulled out a few articles she'd been waiting to read. She got a pen and highlighter from her bag, ready to annotate if any of the authors wrote something worthwhile.
"Being on leave usually means not working," Jack commented. "You know, having fun?"
Sam tilted her head up. "This is fun for me."
He laughed and she could feel the vibration of his body against hers.
"Trust me, Carter, I know."
He kissed the top of her head and she could've sworn he smelled her hair.
"What?" she asked when she saw him looking at her like he had important things on his mind.
"This was what I wanted, when I was missing you on Atlantis," he said. "Moments just like this."
Sam leaned back against him and put down her pen and highlighter to hold his hand.
"We'll get a full two weeks of moments like this."
Sam couldn't remember the last time either of them had that much unforced time away from work, but as difficult as the scheduling had been, she didn't feel the guilt she thought she would. She'd almost lost Jack just days after Daniel was declared MIA. She understood why Teal'c had gone to spend time with Ry'ac, Kar'yn, and Bra'tac after that last SG-1 mission. Losses like the one they'd been dealt made you think about your priorities. There were other people to guard the planet while she and Jack took some time away from the stress and danger.
"It's about damn time, Sam."
She agreed.
Hours later, they finally made it to the hotel and were able to relax. Sam, at one point during the planning process, had made a list of possible activities and restaurants to check out during their trip, but they had both decided to take it easy for a couple days and not stray far from the hotel. Hanging out at the beach was the top priority for their first full day there.
After they settled in and unpacked, Sam started looking at the stack of magazines and brochures that had been placed by hotel staff next to the television in their room.
As she was reading through one of the magazines, a detail caught her eye.
Sam hesitated about making the suggestion, but eventually spoke up.
"So I was reading the hotel magazine…"
Jack looked over from the bed, where he was leaning against the headrest doing a crossword from a cheap booklet of them that he'd gotten from the airport gift shop. They decided to splurge and get room service the first night and were waiting for their dinner to be delivered.
"Carter, no one ever reads those. We're on vacation, remember? If you read something, it should be some sort of beach read. Or, considering it's you, some kind of scientific proof from a crazy person."
Sam walked over to sit on the bed by his legs.
"Ha, ha. Very funny." She handed him the magazine and he set down the crossword and pen. "I think there's something in here that you should see. Page sixteen."
She watched his eyes scan the list of facts about the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, saw them pause on the fact that had caught her attention and then keep going.
He looked back up and she knew that he was trying to read her expression.
"Looks like we could see the world's third largest wine cellar right here in Nassau," he deflected.
Sam was hoping he'd see it and she wouldn't really have to make the suggestion out loud, but maybe neither of them were quite as confident as they should be when it came to their relationship. He proposed, so she guessed it was her turn.
"I don't really want to be engaged, Jack, and I think..."
His face turned guarded before she could finish and all of the sudden she wondered if she was saying the wrong thing. Maybe she should let things continue on a traditional path.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing," he responded. "Flashes. It's fine if that's not what you want. We were both riding a we-didn't-die high earlier and if -"
Flashes.
She didn't know what his interrogation at the hand of the Replicators had to do with any of this, but she had to make sure that he didn't get the wrong idea.
"I want to be married," Sam blurted. "Being engaged isn't really my thing. I haven't had success with it before. Truthfully, I don't even know if I want a wedding, but I think I could be good at being married. To you. If you haven't changed your mind after the whole we-didn't-die high thing."
Watching Jack's expression change was like seeing the sunshine break through stormy clouds. Her nerves settled.
He looked back down at the magazine she handed him earlier and glanced at the fact that she originally meant to direct him towards.
"Hey Sam, did you know that you can get married after spending twenty four hours in the Bahamas?"
She grinned back.
"You know, I did read that somewhere. Eloping wouldn't be the craziest thing we've ever done."
"Not by a long shot."
She moved across the bed until she was leaning against the headboard too, her arm and thigh resting against his.
"And I was thinking, given your propensity for disaster," she continued, "that it might be good to make those changes to our in case of emergency details sooner rather than later."
Sam meant it as a joke, but the words felt too serious coming out of her mouth.
Jack placed the magazine on the nightstand.
"I think there's some saying about how you're not supposed to make life-changing decisions immediately after a near death experience."
She leaned against his side and considered pointing out that if they had to wait until they were both safe, they'd never be able to make any decisions.
Instead, she commented, "That sounds like one of those clichés you're always complaining about."
Sam didn't expect that Jack would try to pump the brakes on the whole elopement idea, but she supposed it made sense that it would be coming out of his own concern for her well-being and decision-making skills. She did have a history of not fully thinking through some of her relationship choices.
Jack was just dead wrong in this case. Sam didn't say yes because he almost died. She said yes because he asked. She suggested elopement because she didn't want to wait to be married to him.
"The thing about clichés is that they're clichés for a reason. Some of them hold some wisdom." He reached out and covered her hand with his. "You've been through a lot. We don't have to rush into this."
Sam almost laughed at the idea that she'd been through more than him. She raised her eyebrows at the suggestion that they were rushing.
"I have almost a decade of evidence that we didn't rush into anything, Jack."
God, if this had been rushing, what would going slow have looked like? They would have both ended up in a retirement home before they even kissed.
He didn't say anything, but he pulled her close and she knew that he agreed with her assessment.
"You sure you don't want to plan something with guests? Teal'c and Cassie and everybody?"
Normally, he would have mentioned Daniel by name and the fact that he didn't was an unpleasant reminder that she didn't want marring this day for the two of them.
Sam considered Jack's offer to wait. It would be nice to have their friends there for support, but she knew that having everyone attend might mean waiting for that elusive day when the Milky Way galaxy was finally at peace. That day might never come and she was so damn tired of putting her life on hold for someday.
"I don't want to wait," she told him. "Sometimes it feels like waiting is all that we do and I want more than that."
Jack ran his fingers through her hair and planted a kiss on her head.
"We'll have a party when Daniel wanders back," he suggested. "I'll even let him pick the type of cake we have."
Sam made a soft noise of agreement and turned to rest a hand on Jack's chest right above his heart.
"I like that idea."
A simple beach wedding with Jack O'Neill followed by a party with their friends at some unspecified point in the future sounded good. It sounded like exactly what she wanted.
Jack picked up the crossword and pen.
"Now help me with this clue while we wait for dinner. It says famous astrophysicist, but Carter doesn't fit. Should I call the company that made this and tell them that they messed up?"
Sam grinned and looked over at the puzzle. She laughed when she saw that he had not only filled in her name where it didn't fit, but also squeezed in "DONTVISIT" for the clue "Legendary lost city."
Yeah, even with the temptation of taking a puddle jumper to the mainland, Sam thought it might take a while before Jack O'Neill would consider returning to Atlantis.
"There's an S here." She pointed her finger at the page. "It's supposed to be Sagan."
He obliged her by writing the correct answer in smaller letters above her last name, but not without pointing out that she was way more impressive than Carl Sagan.
At the beach the next day, Jack rubbed sunblock into her fair skin just like he promised he would, while she looked at the information she'd printed out from the hotel's business center about local wedding rules and regulations.
He kissed her on the cheek once he finished his task and sat down on the towel beside her, cracking open a beer and sliding his new sunglasses down over his eyes.
"You know, I didn't agree to this so you would work through our vacation."
Sam flipped up her sunglasses and looked over at him, about to protest. Then she realized that she had been staring at pile of paperwork while Jack O'Neill had been applying sunblock to every uncovered inch of her body.
"Oh."
He smirked.
"Not that I don't appreciate your determination to marry me, Sam, but I think you're missing the forest for the trees."
Sam set the documents down and grabbed a heavy rock to place on top of them so they wouldn't blow away. She was almost done anyway.
"Could I blame the interstellar jet lag?"
He gave her a fond shake of his head and she knew - knew - that he was going to bring this up for years to come.
"I'll give it a pass this time," he said before tilting back his beer to take a sip.
Now that she was paying attention, there was something about the movement of his neck as he swallowed that she really liked.
There were a lot of things she liked about sitting next to a shirtless Jack on a sandy beach.
"Keep looking at me like that and we're going to end up teaching those children over by the water a very inappropriate lesson."
She laughed and it dispelled some of the tension.
They had promised each other a day on the beach just enjoying the sun and surf...and as much as she might be tempted to drag him back to the hotel room now that they were both fully rested, she wasn't going to.
Plus, she had some big plans later for catching him off guard in the water, dunking him, and tasting a hint of that salt water on his skin.
Jack handed her a beer and she opened it and took a sip.
"Pretty sweet place we picked for a honeymoon."
She looked at the beautiful turquoise water, the white sand beach, the clear blue sky, and the man beside her.
"Yeah," she replied. "Nice how it worked out that way."
They got married two days later in a short and simple ceremony. He wore khakis and a blue button-down shirt and she wore a summery white dress with pink flowers on it. Neither of them wore shoes for the ceremony. Sam liked the feel of the sand between her toes as she pledged her life to his.
After dinner at a nice local restaurant, they headed back to their room and walked out onto the balcony.
"Would you ever go back to Atlantis after everything that happened?" she asked.
Jack looked out at the ocean and she thought of all the time he must have spent out at the end of the pier, wanting to come home.
When he turned back, his look was contemplative. "Sure, someday. As long as you were there too."
"So I can save the day if something goes wrong?" she asked.
Sam could see the delight in his eyes and knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth.
"So you and I can abscond with one of those puddle jumpers, Sam," Jack replied. "Obviously."
"Obviously," Sam replied, a smile on her face. She leaned back against Jack and he wrapped an arm around her waist.
They watched the sun set in a parade of warm colors, content that they were both exactly where they were supposed to be.
Alive, together, and on the same planet.
"I've been brainstorming about that jumper thing, Carter," Jack continued later in bed, as if the conversation had only been put on pause, "and I have some ideas about multi-tasking."
His voice was low and teasing against her ear while his fingers moved in a slow caress across her bare collarbone.
Sam thought about his comment on Atlantis that her brain really "did it" for him. Truth was, Jack O'Neill's thought process really did it for her too. She was looking forward to hearing these ideas he brainstormed.
Even more, Sam looked forward to putting Jack's ideas to the test.
The scientist in her was curious about whether Jack really could multi-task while piloting the jumper and realized that figuring out something like that would likely require a lot of experimentation using different variables. The newly-married side of her was happy about the same facts, but for a completely different reason, and wouldn't care if the jumper ever left the ground.
Either way, it would be fun.
"Lucky for you," she said, repeating her words of two months ago, "I'm really into test pilots."