Title: "Out of the Darkness"

Author: Jackie W.

Email:

Rating: PG-13

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they parted they looked over to see people peering out of every window at them. Sam hid her face in Jack's shoulder, chuckling.

"Glad we could provide the entertainment," Jack grumbled, and Sam just reached up to kiss him again, making him forget why he was upset.

"They are all our friends Jack. They just want us to be happy," she reminded him.

"If they are really our friends they will all have disappeared by the time we get back inside," he suggested before capturing her lips again in another searing kiss.

Five minutes later when they finally made their way back into the house several groups were getting ready to leave and had only waited so they could say their goodbyes and offer up a well intentioned ribbing to the couple. Soon it was just the original four members of SG1 left, and Jack and Sam were immediately congratulated by their friends.

"Well it's about time you two got your act together. We were beginning to wonder of we were going to have to lock you in a room together. We thought for sure you would see sense while you were off with the Asgard," Daniel told them.

Jack shrugged. "She had enough to deal with, I didn't want to rush her into anything," he explained.

"As many of your Earth stories point out, 'All is well that ends well'," Teal'c commented. "And hopefully all will now be well for the two of you."

"Thanks, T," Jack acknowledged.

When they had finished clearing up Daniel offered to drive Sam home, but Jack told him he would do it. It took a minute but eventually their friend figured out that Sam wasn't going anywhere that night.

"Oh, um, ok," he stammered.

"Daniel Jackson, I believe it is time for us to take our leave," Teal'c said with a rare grin, enjoying both Daniel's discomfort and Sam's blushing.

And then there were two.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Sam brought up what Jack had admitted to a few minutes earlier. "Is that what the problem was? You thought I needed time?" Sam asked in dismay. "I thought I'd hurt you too badly and you couldn't forgive me."

"I just wanted to make sure you knew what you wanted and you didn't make your decision based on your needs of the moment," Jack told her.

"You are such a fool Jack O'Neill. I had begun to realize that I'd made a mistake even before the last mission, but once I couldn't see, well, it's amazing how things can be a lot clearer when you are suddenly thrown into a crisis. Whenever I was scared or feeling lost, it was you who I wanted there to hold onto. You were the rock I clung to in the darkness, Jack. And as I started to regain my vision, it became clear to me that you were the only one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I just had to figure out if you still felt anything for me, and you were not giving me any clues," she explained.

"So you came up with this rather unique method of figuring that out," Jack smirked letting his eyes roam over the sexy figure in front of him.

"Do you like the outfit?" Sam asked turning around so he could get the full effect.

With a groan Jack admitted, "Sam there wasn't a male here tonight that didn't love that outfit."

Sam grinned. "Teal'c actually ogled me!"

"T' has good taste in woman," Jack informed her.

"Well you haven't seen the best part of the outfit," Sam told him, walking up to him and leaning her warm body up against his.

"There's more?" Jack moaned, taking her in his arms.

"There's less," Sam corrected before conversation was cut off by their lips meeting.

A few heated moments later, Jack's hand had wandered under her skirt and discovered a small scrap of lacy material.

He leaned back to take a breath and couldn't help muttering hopefully, "I don't suppose they're black?"

"If we adjourn to the bedroom, I'm sure we could arrange for you to find out," Sam suggested huskily.

So they did.

And they were.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam awoke the next morning slightly disoriented. Then the evening's events rushed back and she wiggled under the covers in contentment. At her movement an arm came out to capture her and pull her hard against the body next to her in the strange bed.

"Hope you're not planning on going anywhere," Jack mumbled into her neck as he kissed it.

"Not in this lifetime," she sighed as she turned to face him.

"I like that plan," he said giving her a kiss. Then he groaned. "You know that this is going to be all over the SGC by tomorrow morning, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course. Besides everyone seeing that kiss I doubt that Daniel will be able to keep quiet about the fact that you didn't let him drive me home last night," Sam replied.

"I told him I would drive you home," Jack protested.

"He didn't believe you, Jack. Come on, it won't be so bad. We put up with false rumors for years. Now at least it will be the truth," she pointed out.

"You don't have to worry, you won't be there. Which brings up a good point. When did you tell the Pentagon you would start back to work?" he asked.

"I didn't," she confessed causing his hands and lips to cease their wandering instantly.

"Why not? You are coming back to the SGC, aren't you?" he asked suddenly panicked.

"I think so, I'm just not in any hurry," she admitted.

Jack sat up pulling her into a sitting position with him and looked her in the eyes.

"Sam, what's up?" he asked.

She blushed. "Honestly? Well first of all, if last night's little stunt had fallen flat I probably would never have come back," she admitted. "I couldn't imagine seeing you every day knowing you didn't feel anything other than friendship for me anymore. I know it would have been my fault for giving up on us in the first place, but I still couldn't have handled it," she explained.

"Well your 'little stunt' worked very well, so what's the other concern?" he asked. When she raised an eyebrow he pointed out "You said first of all… that implies a second of all."

"Very observant," she murmured. "I don't know how I'm going to get back and forth," she told him. "I can't drive after dark."

It was a tough confession to make. Sam was an independent person, and she hated admitting that she was not able to even commute to work on her own.

"We can work around that," Jack protested.

"How? And before you say anything I want you to imagine yourself doing whatever you are going to suggest," she challenged.

He opened his mouth to speak a couple of times but quickly shut it. She knew he was going to bring up some of the options she had already thought of and discarded. Then a smile lit up his face and he turned to her in triumph.

"Guess you'll just have to move in with me and carpool," he stated confidently.

Bingo. Whoa… wait a minute!

The best she'd been hoping for was dating and perhaps sleeping over occasionally allowing for them drive together.

She looked at him in surprise. "You want me to move in with you?"

His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her.

Oops. She'd forgotten how hard it was to put one over on Jack.

"That was your plan, wasn't it?" he accused.

Sam paused, then nodded. She caught his hands so they wouldn't distract her and looked at him with big wide serious eyes. "Eventually, but I figured we would work our way up to it. We still can," she said giving him an out. "It's taken us way too long to get to this point, Sam. And while I don't want to screw it up by moving too fast, I really don't see any need for us to go through unnecessary hoops to get to where we want to be. We aren't getting any younger," he reminded her.

"So you really want me to move in?" she asked.

He flipped her quickly so that he was hovering over her and as his lips descended to capture hers he grinned. "I may never let you leave long enough to pack," he threatened. "But what about you? You're the one who has problems with major life changes," he pointed out.

She had said that, hadn't she? And it had been true in the past. But none of those changes in her personal life had ever felt so right or so exciting. With a grin she took the final step out of the darkness and into a new life.

"Just promise you'll be there to hold my hand and I think I'll do just fine," she told him.

"I can do better than hand holding," he assured her.

And then he set about showing her just how much better he could do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The End