She was on her way to her lab from lunch with Daniel by her side, he was excited over returning to P2R-117 the next day, with a new lap-top that would prevent him from coming back to the SGC without her.
"You know, Sam, maybe I shouldn't say that to you so soon but… It's getting really serious between us, we're… we're getting engaged," he concluded shyly.
Sam stopped dead in her tracks.
"Daniel I'm so happy for you!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.
"Thanks!" Daniel said, smiling. "It's kind of a full circle for me…" he trailed off.
"I know, it's great, really! Sara has been through so ugly things it's… And she knows what you're doing, she goes with you through the gate, no big secrets, no nothing… I wish you all the best, Daniel," she said, sincerely.
Daniel beamed, which gave him the boyish look she had first known him with. She smiled back and hugged him one more time before they resumed their stroll to their respective labs.
"When's Jack due?" he asked to change the subject.
"Sometime this afternoon… Big changes in perspective, but he didn't say more."
"You're still on that friendship recovery trip?" he asked smiling.
She chuckled.
"Yeah… He's far more supportive of a certain situation than I thought he would. There are really some sides of him that I didn't know existed… At least not that way."
"Makes things more interesting after 8 years!" he teased.
She chuckled again.
"Yeah."
"Speaking of the man…" Daniel said, pointing to the end of the corridor where a rather informal Jack O'Neill was standing in jeans, black sweater and leather jacket.
They reached him and Sam greeted him with one of her most dazzling smiles.
"Sir!"
"Carter, Daniel…"
"Jack."
"Daniel? Would you come to my office in say an hour, I've got a few things to discuss with you."
"Okay, Jack but… I was…"
"You were?"
"I was supposed to pack for the mission but I guess it cam be postponed."
Jack smiled briefly.
"Yeah, good… Carter?"
"Sir?"
"In my office, right now."
Sam looked at Daniel dumbfounded, then followed Jack as he headed to his office.
He carefully closed the door, then picked the phone to call his secretary.
"No one is to disturb me until I say so, all right?"
"Yes, sir," came the voice of the other man.
He looked at Sam, then smiled briefly before sitting down and motioning for her to do the same.
He took a deep breath.
"The Stargate is going public."
She took the news calmly, he looked at her briefly, then resumed.
"Since Doctor Weir, the president has been trying to put a civilian lead at the SGC. Up until now, he hadn't found the right person."
"And now he has," she said calmly.
"Yeah. It's a compromise but George thinks he's perfect for the job. I hope he is."
"And what about the military?"
"Oh the base is still under military jurisdiction, but in matters concerning the Stargate, it'll be a civilian taking the big decisions. There are lots of civilians in our ranks already, so basically that will not change much."
"He's going to organize the missions and all that stuff for us too?"
"Much as Elizabeth Weir shortly did, yes."
"And what about you?"
A corner of his mouth raised.
"As of midnight, I am officially and very eventually retired, Carter," he said smugly.
She was speechless for an instant.
"Retired?"
"Ya sure ya betcha!" he said grinning cockily.
"Does this mean?"
"Yes, that's exactly what it means," he said in a low voice, leaning over his desk to stare at her.
"Wow. This is going to have some getting used to."
"Sam," he started in a gentle voice, reaching across his desk to take her hand. "I'm not expecting anything, remember what I told you once, it's still there, and I still mean it, so it's your call."
"No, that's not what I meant I kind of…" she trailed, then took a deep breath. "I kind of thought I was going to see you here to, I… What are you going to do now?" she suddenly changed the subject.
He chuckled.
"Oh don't worry, Carter, I've got tons of plans for my retirement, one of which includes a certain Air Force Lieutenant Colonel," he teased.
"That's not what I meant--"
"I know what you meant, Carter," he interrupted her gently. "Look, I have a thousand things to do before the deadline, so why don't we wait for all this to settle in? Then we'll do whatever you want."
She smiled briefly.
"Sure, sir…"
"Not for long, Carter. Now go, I have to talk to Reynolds and Daniel about their new assignments. There are a few changes for you too, since you'll now be reporting to the new guy, but basically you'll have responsibility of the egg heads department.
She shook her head smiling at his slip of the tongue, remembering.
"Hey, told you that you're not one!" he said winking.
She chuckled.
"Yeah, see you in a moment, sir?"
"I don't know, Carter, I'm gonna have a very busy few hours," he said apologetically.
"Of course, Sir. I won't see you tomorrow, then?"
"I'll call you."
"Okay… Planning a retirement party?"
"Probably, I don't know exactly how or when yet, but who knows? I have a lot of things to straighten up before thinking about that," he smiled briefly.
She stood up gracefully and did a very formal salute.
He looked at her quizzically.
She beamed back. "It's probably the last time I can do that!" she explained.
He shook his head.
"You're gonna be my death, Carter…" he said smiling to himself.
"I was kind of hoping I would be your life instead, sir," she said very softly before leaving his office and a very dumbfounded Jack O'Neill inside.
Slowly a grin appeared and broadened on his face. He picked his phone and called his secretary.
"Is Colonel Reynolds done with his post-mission medical?"
:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:
EPILOGUE
Sam stepped out of the elevator and started towards her lab. She was a bit antsy. She had not seen the general before he finally left the mountain, and she had not managed to reach him on the phone either. So she was somewhat a bit wary of confronting the new leader of the SGC by herself. Daniel had gone back to P2R-117 in the wee hours of the morning, and Teal'c had yet to come back from his self imposed latest mission. So here she was, the leader of the flag team, alone to meet their new commander. He might be a civilian, he was still the commander of the base...
At the very least, Daniel could have stayed a little more! She thought annoyed. Her mind was still trying to calm the roller-coaster of emotions Jack's announcements had induced… Jack… She could call him Jack now… She smiled to herself and reached her lab.
She opened her laptop and read her mails. One caught her attention. It was from General O'Neill's former secretary and it informed her that her meeting with the new civilian master of the SGC was at 0815, which was… Two minutes ago! Damn traffic!
She rushed back to the elevators then decided to use the stairs instead since the car was busy. She ran down the stairs and reached her former superior officer's office, briefly knocking on the door and entering the room without waiting for an answer.
"Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter reporting, sir! Sorry I…" she then realized she was talking to an empty room.
"You already used that line on me far too many times, Carter," she heard behind her in a very well known, albeit unusually nasal voice.
She spun slowly, her eyes getting bigger by the nanosecond, and came face to face with Jack O'Neill, dressed in BDU's and rubbing furiously at his nose.
"Sir?" she said, not believing her eyes.
"Sit down Carter, I was going to tell my secretary to call you when you slammed the door into my face…"
"Oh! Sorry, sir!"
"Carter, stop with the military crap, would you?"
She had finally sat down. Jack blew his nose and sat down on the other side of the desk.
"Sir, what happened to the new guy?" she asked disbelieving.
"He's still on the program, Carter," he said.
"Then…"
"Oh for crying out loud, Carter!" he exclaimed, standing up again and circling his desk to come standing before her. "Stop thinking so much, you miss the logical conclusions!"
"I don't understand…"
He leaned towards her, cupped her cheek with his hand, stroking her skin with his thumb delicately.
"I am the new guy…" he said before drawing back.
She was so stunned that she didn't even register he had gone back to sitting in his chair.
"You mean…" she started.
"Yeah. I forgot to mention that the new civilian leader of the SGC is Mr. Jack O'Neill."
"Then nothing's changed!" she said in anguish.
He chuckled shaking his head.
"Oh yes, everything's changed. I'm not Air Force, Carter, I'm a civilian," he said smugly, sitting back down in his armchair. "Who knew that Jack O'Neill would one day accept an almost purely desk job!"
"But you're still the commander of the base!" she exclaimed in a frustrated tone.
"So?" he replied casually.
"So I can't… We can't… How long?"
"At least five years, then I'll retire for good… In the meantime I'll have to train one or several other possible leaders."
She was crestfallen.
"Five years! Jack I can't wait that long! I'll--" she started in anguish.
"Carter, sometimes you're the most brilliant human being I have ever encountered, but sometimes you are more than dense!" he shook his head, interrupting her.
"I beg your pardon, sir!" she exclaimed outraged.
"Carter," once again he came around the desk to lean on it in front of her. "The Air Force is not running the base anymore, I am not Air Force anymore, General Jack is retired, I am a civilian, the regulations flew outta the window the second after midnight this morning!" he smirked. "When I went to Washington, I knew the discussions would partly be about the duration of my commitment to the program."
President Hayes sipped his coffee grimacing: the damn beverage was lukewarm, he hated lukewarm coffee. He put it on the table in front of him and resumed.
"General, General Hammond here agrees with me that we need someone strong and well aware of the Stargate program to run the SGC when we decide to go public."
Jack nodded with a knowing smile.
"We want you to be that man," the president resumed.
"Aren't I already?" Jack smirked.
"Temporarily, that's what you said?"
"Yes, sir," Jack said, wondering where this conversation was going.
"We're asking you for five more years."
Jack almost jumped out of his skin, but eventually managed to calm himself enough to reply to the president.
"Sir, with all due respect, there's not a snowball chance in Hell that I'm going to remain that much longer in the Air Force. I have personal projects that require a long overdue attention, and they absolutely exclude any Air Force involvement of me!"
Hammond chuckled and the president looked at him raising his eyebrows.
"Then why don't you go ahead, resign?" the president askd as if he it was the most logical thing in the world.
Always a man of action, and despite a moment of stunned silence, Jack stood up, went to the president's desk, grabbed a sheet of paper and started writing furiously.
He signed and gave the sheet to the president wordlessly.
"With all due respect, sir," he simply said.
The president grabbed the sheet, glanced at George Hammond who looked very amused and then back at Jack.
"Sit down, son," Hammond's low Texan growl asked him.
He resumed his position on the sofa opposite George Hammond.
"I acknowledge you resigning your commission from the USAF, but I hereby immediately re-employ you to run the SGC as a government official," the president said, once more casually. "The pay is much better, you'll see…" he added, signing a sheet of paper he had obviously prepared some time before the meeting.
"I can't believe it's that simple," Sam said in a blow.
Jack stood up and reached for her cheek.
"Believe it, Sam," he said softly.
She stood up to reach eye level and put her hands flat on his chest. He automatically wrapped his arms loosely around her waist.
"So, is it okay to do this?" she asked before softly laying a kiss on his lips.
He smiled as she drew back.
"More than okay," he said, kissing her in his turn, much more deeply.
Her arms snaked up around his neck and she tightened the embrace.
"Good, because I'm going to want to do that very often," she said smiling.
"Then we agree at least on one point!" he said chuckling. "Now… Your place or mine?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yours, I'll rent mine."
"I was talking about tonight," he said.
"I know," she giggled, "me too, but I was also projecting on the long run."
He became serious again.
"You're serious?"
"Have been ever since the moment I stepped in the briefing room eight years ago," she nodded.
He smiled and hugged her deeply.
"We could ask Daniel and Teal'c to help us move your stuff?"
She giggled again.
"You're planning on adding rooms to your house?"
"What, not big enough for you? We'll buy another one!"
"No! I like your house in fact, I love your house… I'm simply saying that I have a lot of stuff…"
"And I have a large basement," he simply said before gently kissing her once more. "While we're at it, Pizza or Chinese?"
"Thai."
"Of course," he snorted. "Tell me, if I mentioned Thai instead of Chinese?"
"I would have asked for Chinese…" she winked.
He rolled his eyes.
"Note to self: I am so not asking Carter to choose again!"
"No but you can definitely kiss me again," she said in a low voice, rotating her pelvis against his to make him feel what to expect for the evening.
He closed his eyes frowning.
"Carter! We're on base! Kissing is already something we shouldn't be doing!" he said in a strangled voice.
"Only one last for the road," she said before kissing him deeply.
:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:
Jack arrived at his house from the mountain much too late for his own taste. He was more than an hour late and his temper did not improve as he realized Sam's car was no-where to be seen.
He exited his truck and went to the entrance.
The house was dim. He hung his jacket on the coat-rack by the door, and went to check his messages: none. He picked his phone and dialed her number but only got her answering machine.
He sighed and sat on his sofa, running a hand through his unruly hair. 'Was she having second thoughts?'
He decided a shower would help him clear his mind. He tiredly climbed the three stairs from his living room to the corridor.
Entering his bedroom, he froze.
There, lying on his bed was Samantha Carter in an obvious deep sleep.
His heart jumped in his chest.
He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her before reaching for her face and gently caressing it with the tip of his fingers.
She stirred and finally opened her eyes.
"Hey," he said softly.
She smiled drowsily. "Hey."
"Whatcha doing here?" he asked in a soft voice.
She stretched a little, making the loose shirt she was wearing run up to reveal her navel, which didn't go unnoticed by Jack.
"When I arrived and didn't see your truck, I used my spare key, put the car in the garage and flopped onto your couch. I almost fell asleep there, so I decided it was better to be lying in a bed and came here…"
He smiled and leant down to lay a soft kiss on her lips.
She moaned and tried to deepen the kiss but he drew back teasingly.
"Aren't you hungry?" he asked smiling.
"I definitely am, but not for food," she said, reaching for his neck and pulling him down.
He lost his balance and fell in a heap on the bed, barely avoiding crushing her under his weight.
He tried to regain a semblance of control over his betraying limbs, but found himself encased in a strong hold by a giggling woman.
"Carter!"
She kissed him hard and started unbuttoning his shirt.
Jack started answering to her kisses at last and started fumbling with her own shirt.
In short, they were both topless and in a frenzy of disrobing each other, then reality bit Jack hard.
"Carter!" he said, trying to steady her.
She continued her frenzied assault on his clothes, but he managed to grab both her wrists in a firm grasp and held her still.
"Carter," he said panting. "Just-- go slow-- It's-- It's been a long time for me and age doesn't help," he concluded laying a gentle kiss on her lips.
"Jack, I've waited eight years, I think this was slow enough," she said, trying to free herself from his grasp.
He added his weight to the vice his hands were exerting on her wrists.
"I know, me too, but it's all going to end too quickly if you don't let me cool off. Let me-- Let me make love to you as I've always dreamt, Sam.
The humility in his voice touched Sam deep in her core, and the honesty she saw in his brown eyes made her heart beat faster.
She relaxed and he loosened his hold on her wrists, then lightly traced random patterns on her stomach.
His fingers reached the top button of her jeans and he deftly loosened it, making the garment slide down to her ankles.
He took it off and threw it casually over to the chair next to his chest of drawers, which it missed by a few inches. Not bothering with it any further, he drew his attention back to the silky long legs that were now displayed before his eyes, and softly touched the skin with his fingertips, leaving a trail of goose bumps behind them. He went up all the way to her belly and gently laid a kiss in the hollow of her navel.
She shivered.
"Jack…" she said moaning.
He smiled sexily and reached her mouth with his, making hers opening under his, his tongue dangling with her own in an erotic dance.
While kissing her, he reached behind her back and unfastened her bra, ridding her of the lacy lingerie and replacing it by his calloused hands.
She tried reaching for the waistband of his khakis, but he denied her access, resuming his sensuous assaults on her body.
His hands left her upper body to concentrate on the last piece of garment covering her, and suddenly she was naked, for his sole eyes to see.
He sat up on his heels and took the time to admire her.
"You're beautiful, Sam. You know that?"
She smiled shyly.
"You're not bad yourself, but I'd like to see you all…" she said.
He smiled, stood up and took both his jeans and underwear out in one fluid movement, he quickly joined her on the bad, not letting her admire his toned hard body for long, and resumed his previous actions.
Jack slowly but steadily brought her up to a level of arousal she had seldom reached and was surprised when a first orgasm ripped through her body. He had only touched her! He was an expert, no doubt, but now she had an answer to the many hours wondering what his elegant hands and fingers could do!
He smiled smugly, satisfied of his effect on her. She smiled back then suddenly took his body in the vice of her slender legs and rolled them so she could take control of the things.
He mildly protested until he felt her lips on his chest, and then he relaxed in his turn and let her discover his erogenous sensitivity.
His arousal was such he couldn't wait to experience the joining of their bodies and souls, so he used one short moment of pause to gently roll her on her back kissing her sensually.
"Sam, I love you," he said as he completed the last stage of their sensuous journey.
They moved together in harmony, Jack bringing them slowly but steadily to completion, and when it occurred, although it was not simultaneously, it was as if they had always been meant to be.
Sam realized at this moment that whatever life would throw at them, they would overcome it as they had, all these years, because as soon as she had stepped inside that briefing room eight years ago, their two souls had merged. No matter the years they had spent apart, they had always been two halves of the same soul and their new life together was only one more stage in their merging.
As he rolled on his side to face her, she caressed his cheek lovingly and smiled.
"I love you, Jack," she murmured before laying a gentle kiss on his lips.
He smiled, tightened his embrace around her shoulders, and they both drifted off to sleep, content in the knowledge that nothing would now separate them.
The End.
