Title: "The Ex Factor"
Author: Jackie W.
Rating: PG-13
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For the first several bars of the song they kept a respectful distance apart. But even at that distance Sam was intoxicated by the smell of him. She'd gotten a few tantalizing whiffs of whatever he was wearing earlier in the evening, but now it was combined with the smell of his soap and a scent that was just pure Jack O'Neill. The effect was overpowering.
Jack was having a similar problem, but in addition to the soft smell of Sam's perfume that was causing his blood pressure to do a little dance, he was also extremely aware of the feel of Sam's warmth under his hand on her back. Not to mention how incredibly small her hand felt engulfed in his larger one. He spent so much time trying hard to think of her as one of the guys (although he never totally succeeded) that this sudden awareness of her femininity was causing all of the blood to rush to places he really didn't want it to.
With a small groan he pulled her closer.
With a large sigh she leaned in.
This was probably the worst idea they had ever had, but somehow neither of them could manage to care at the moment.
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The ride home was silent, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Neither Sam nor Jack wanted to say anything to break the mood, so instead about half way back to Sam's, Jack had simply reached out his hand to capture Sam's and now was idly stroking it with his thumb while he contemplated where they went from here.
Sam was thinking along similar lines. The whole relationship with Pete had occurred because she's been so darn tired of the limbo her life was in. She couldn't go back to that. But the way forward was full of so many obstacles it was hard to see a way through. Without realizing it she let out a frustrated sigh.
Jack heard her, and wondered what she was thinking. He knew that tonight he'd been given a second chance with Sam. And this time he was determined not to let anything stand in his way. He'd tried to believe that her relationship with Shanahan was for the best as long as it made her happy. What the hell had he been thinking?
When they reached Sam's house he pulled up to the curb and walked around to assist her out of the truck. They walked up to her front door in silence while he struggled to find the right words.
"Sam," he began, only to have her raise a finger to his lips.
"I'm not going anywhere, Jack. I made that mistake once. The uncertainty was slowly killing me and I needed to force our relationship out of limbo. It was all or nothing, and out of fear of what the 'all' meant I moved towards nothing. It was a huge mistake and I'm sorry. But I can't go back to what we had. I can't live that way anymore, so we need to make some decisions," she told him.
Jack nodded and reached out to brush a stray hair behind her ear. His hand lingered on her cheek and he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. As much as he wanted to crush her to him and devour her lips, he kept the kiss gentle, no more than a promise.
"Give me a few days. I have some ideas I need to check out," he suggested.
She nodded her agreement but looked slightly concerned. "Don't do anything too drastic without consulting me. Promise?"
"Promise. SG1 is off-word on Monday for a few days. When you get back we'll talk. Maybe I'll have a solution by then," he offered.
For the first time in years Sam let herself have hope for a future for the two of them.
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Jack's spent a restless night thinking of possible solutions to their situation, until finally he admitted there was nothing he could do without some further advice, at which point he fell into a sound sleep, and dreamed extremely pleasant dreams. Sunday morning found him up bright and early, waiting until it was a decent hour in DC, at which point he put a call into Hammond.
Hammond was surprised by the call. For years he had been prepared for one of the two officers to walk into his office at any time and request help. He'd been dreading it, because short of a transfer, or losing one of them from the Air Force, his hands had been tied. But when he left for Washington he'd had a sense that Sam at least had moved on. Jack was impossible to read on the subject, which should have been a warning sign because he'd always been able to pretty much tell exactly how Jack O'Neill felt about Sam Carter up until that point.
"Why now, Jack?" he asked curiously.
It wasn't something that was easy for him to admit but Jack felt that since he was asking for his help that Hammond deserved his honesty. "I almost lost her George."
It turned out for once his timing was good. The President had been consulting General Hammond for weeks about his long-term vision for running the SGC. He wanted someone that was not in the military, but had military experience that the men and women putting their lives on the line could respect.
"Well, I think I might have a solution for you, Jack, if you're willing," Hammond reported.
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Nothing was going to be settled overnight, but Jack felt upbeat on Monday when he sent SG1 off-world. He stood staring at the Gate from the briefing room afterwards already missing Sam terribly, but knowing that it was better for them to be as far apart as possible right now. With hope looming the temptation to do something rash was overwhelming. And they had come too far to screw it up now. Still he hadn't been able to resist stashing a note in her backpack. He wondered when she would find it.
Meanwhile on P6X-299 SG1 had secured the gate, checked the DHD to be sure it was functioning and moved the Malp out from in front of the gate. (A lesson they had learned on a desperate run back to the gate years before when they'd had to slow down to go around it and almost gotten killed).
As they started the long trek to the ruins that had been deemed worthy of a full day hike there and back by virtue of the fact that Daniel thought the writing the UAV had picked up was Furling, they chatted quietly.
"So Jack was in a good mood this morning," Daniel commented. "I thought Sara's wedding might have been stressful for him."
"Guess not," Sam said. Jack had told Daniel and Teal'c that he was going to the wedding, but they hadn't told their friends that Sam was going as his date.
"I tried to call you Saturday. Teal'c and I went to a movie and wanted to know if you were available," Daniel continued.
"Sorry, I was busy. I got the message on my cell but didn't have time to call you back," she told him. "I tried calling you Sunday but I must have missed you. What did you guys see?"
"We finally got to see Bourne Supremacy. It was good," Daniel informed her.
"Yeah I saw it with Pete when it first came out," Sam acknowledged.
"Yeah, how are doing, by the way. You seem happier the last few weeks," Daniel commented.
"I am. I think everything worked out for the best," Sam told him. When he flicked her a concerned glance she smiled. "Honestly, Daniel. Moving forward with a relationship with Pete would have ended up being a huge mistake."
"Why is that?" Daniel prodded.
"I was going out with him for all the wrong reasons," she shrugged.
At that point they reached thicker grove of trees and Sam checked her instruments to verify the path they should take, glad to have a reason to break off the conversation. She wasn't quite ready to admit to her friends what was going on. Not until she was on surer ground. If everything fell apart at this point she didn't think she could handle their sympathy.
Several hours later they decided to take a break. When Sam reached in her pack to snag some power bars for them she was surprised to find an envelope nestled in with the food. As Daniel and Teal'c chatted she pulled it out to see that it was standard USAF stationary with 'Confidential' stamped above her name. She frowned and opened it.
Sam,
Hope the planet has lots of trees. Things here are looking up. Come back in one piece.
Love,
Jack
She couldn't help but smile. It was so perfect. No flowery declarations, just one simple word to let her know how he felt. And yet it ranked as the best love letter she'd ever gotten. She tucked the note back into the envelope and dug around until she found one of her waterproof bags and slipped it inside so that it would be protected if her pack got wet.
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It was Teal'c who finally put all the pieces together and clued Daniel in as to what he thought was going on. The Jaffa had seen Sam take the note out, and noticed that afterwards throughout the afternoon there had been a smile flickering across her features when she thought no one was looking. Putting together the fact that the note could only have been secreted in her pack by someone at the SGC with O'Neill's almost cheery disposition before they left, he deduced that his friends had finally gotten their act together.
Daniel was skeptical at first, but over the campfire that night he caught Sam with a faraway look in her eyes. He turned to Teal'c, who nodded knowingly. Daniel turned to Sam and studied her carefully. There was definitely something different about her. He was dying of curiosity, but one thing being on SG1 with three of the most private people in the universe had taught him was that there was no point in pressing. Sam would tell him what was going on when she was ready.
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The rest of the mission went as planned. Their campsite was a sort walk from the ruins the UAV had located, and Daniel spent the entire next day recording, making rubbings and trying to translate pieces of the writing that they had rarely seen before. It was Furling, and there was quite a bit of text on the walls that hadn't crumbled. Sam took a few soil and plant samples, but mostly she and Teal'c just assisted Daniel or kept watch while he worked.
They stayed at the same campsite that night, then were up bright and early in the morning packing up for the hike back to the gate. Daniel had to smile as the day wore on and Sam picked up the pace as they got closer to gate. One would think that she was anxious to get home. He found Teal'c returning his grin and knew he was just as excited as Daniel was to observe the interplay of their friends on their return.
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They weren't disappointed. It wasn't anything blatant, but they were watching for it and so didn't miss the look that passed between O'Neill and Carter when he greeted them at the base of the ramp.
"Welcome back Campers!" Jack enthused slapping a hand on Daniel's back. "I'm sure you have a million exciting and enlightening discoveries to share, but for now any highlights? The rest can wait until the debrief at 09:00 tomorrow," he ordered.
"Definitely Furling," Sam summarized.
"Well that is kind of exciting," Jack replied. "Hit the showers and the infirmary. Oh, and Carter, I need you to stop by my office when you are all done there," he added nonchalantly.
Still as Sam went to the infirmary so the guys could have the showers first Daniel couldn't help commenting as soon as she was out of earshot.
"Those two are so hiding something!"
