AN: Hope everyone is having a happy safe holiday if you celebrate Easter. Here's a bonus chapter just for fun.
"But did you do it?" – Episode 12
"So?" Daniel asked Jack from his bar stool. Jack had just joined him in the dive the frequented when they wanted to drink in peace away from anyone that might know either of them.
Jack gave Daniel a deer in the headlights look. "So."
"You chickened out didn't you?"
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"So what happened?"
"Nothing." Jack grumbled.
"What do you mean nothing?"
"Nothing happened."
"You chickened out."
"Did not."
"Did so."
"Not."
"Did."
"Fine. I chickened out. Are you happy now?!" Jack snapped at his best friend.
"I just don't get it Jack. You've been in love with each other for years now. You finally have a window of opportunity to get married before they assign you to the same chain of command again and you chickened out."
"It's complicated."
"Sam I love you. Please make me the happiest man in the world by marrying me." Daniel gave Jack a pointed look. "See. Not complicated."
"It's not that easy Danny. There's… stuff."
"What stuff?"
"Just… stuff."
"Jack O'Neill. Scourge of the Goa'uld… a chicken."
"I didn't chicken out."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Stuff."
"Right. Stuff." Daniel huffed. "Ask her tomorrow."
Jack scowled at Daniel. "We work tomorrow."
"So?"
"Right." Jack huffed.
Sam smiled at Jack when he walked into her lab. "Oh hey sir!" She said cheerfully.
"Sir." He grumbled under his breath.
"What was that sir?" Sam asked, her forehead wrinkling slightly in confusion at his mood. Two days ago he'd taken her out for a delightful dinner followed by some even more delightful time spent in his bedroom making each other come unglued. He'd been nervous through most of dinner so she'd come on to him to help him relax which he had. If she didn't know better she'd have thought she was going to be proposed to but that was silly wasn't it. It was too soon after Pete after all and they didn't need to rush things. She knew where she stood in his heart and he certainly knew where he stood in hers as she'd told him at length after her dad had passed while they waited for Mark's flight in from California together at the airport.
"Nothing."
"Is everything all right Sir?"
"Fine… fine… how's the..." he waved his hand vaguely at her work bench. "Doohickey?"
"Coming along fine. I should have some specs for you in a couple days. Nothing I can reconstitute with NAS parts but I could probably cobble something together in our machining lab in 51."
"Good. Good." Jack said bobbing his head absently while he picked up a pen off her desk and took great interest in disassembling it.
Sam walked over and put her hands around his to extract her pen before he had it completely apart. "We're ok right?" She asked him, her voice soft, a question in her eyes.
"Oh yah. We're great." Jack agreed and flashed her a grin.
"Ok. Good."
"Um… Carter?"
"Yah?"
"The other night... I mean, about the other night… I wanted to ask you something and never got to it."
"Oh?"
He gave her a cautious smile and looked down at their hands and removed one of his to place it gently on top of hers. "I ah… I had this plan all worked out… but then I was worried what if it was too much like last time and I never asked and you only said yes that time because you felt like you should so I tried to figure out if I should just ask you what you think about it or just go for it and I couldn't figure out which one to do."
Sam tried to hide a smile while she suppressed a chuckle. "Sir."
"Yah Carter?"
"I'd have said yes."
"You would?"
"Yah."
"Sweet."
Sam's grin widened and Jack grinned back.
"SO ah… if I ask you later tonight when we aren't, you know… at work…?"
"Absolutely." She assured him.
"Good talk Carter." He said, still grinning and walked out of her lab whistling.
"So?"
"So?"
"Why do I have déjà vu? So?"
Jack shrugged.
"Is there still… stuff?" Daniel asked, sliding his hands back and forth, elbows cocked to indicate quantity.
"Some of the stuff is handled." Jack hedged.
"But did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Did you ask her?"
"No."
"Why the hell not Jack?!"
"Because Danny... we are at work." Jack reminded Daniel.
"So?"
"So that's not the kind of conversation you have at work."
"We're having that kind of conversation in the commissary... at work" Daniel reminded him.
"That's different."
"HOW?!"
"It just is." Jack said indignantly.
Daniel howled in frustration. "I give up!" He got up and left.
A few moments later Sam appeared looking mystified. "What's up with Daniel?"
Jack grinned at her evilly.
"Oh." She said in understanding. Then she snorted in mirth. "Sir, that's just mean."
Jack grinned wider. "I know."