Chapter 4.

And the longest one yet. Weee!

Readers, man I love you guys! Thanks to Queen of Reviews, Ben, Vampirehelsing, Shiney Silver grl, janissima, Arrant Schemata, Sway 13, and Natters(for three reviews in a row!) I am doing this for you.

And for me. 'Cause my ego needs fluffing.

AND SHOUT OUT TO Angel of Fire SG. Cause she is reading this story as I TYPE!

Oh and along with SG-1, The Sixth Sense doesn't belong to me either. And if you don't know the ending to that movie (Where have you been, under a rock!), and wish it to remain a secret. Don't read this chapter.


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Jack stared down uselessly at the papers in front of him. He had read the first paragraph at least 4 times now. The only part he had retained was "Brigadier General Jack O'Neill" and then it went fuzzy. The individual words didn't stick in his brain and by the time he was done each sentence, he had already forgotten what it was he had read.

He knew this document was important, some government guy with an impressive title had sent it his way; but as he started on the opening paragraph for a fifth time he realized he couldn't even remember what the papers were concerning. Walter had told him the subject when he had first gotten to his office; but now...

Which reminded him, later he would have to say sorry to the lieutenant for snapping at him. Jack sighed, 0 for 3 this morning Jack, nice job.

Suddenly an image of Carter flitted through his head. Her mouth hanging open. Her skin slightly wan. Her eyes slowly filling with tears. He gritted his teeth.

He had done that to her.

He couldn't remember feeling so sick at himself. Not since his undercover NID bust. When he had demeaned her after she had worked her ass off to get him home. He had hurt her to play a part. For a job. Hell, For his country, as completely cliché and cheesy as that sounded.

But this time…this time there was no order from a superior to hide behind. No secret mission. Just his own god damned cowardice

…"I can't come to your wedding Sam…I won't"… Carter trying to blink back tears, tears that he had directly caused, then to the sight of that ring on her hand. Her hand that was clasping his with a desperate urgency. His stomach clenched again.

"What were you thinking Jack!"

Jacks head snapped up to see an irate Daniel standing at his door. Jack frowned, not that I don't agree with that question but, what did I do now?

Daniel stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. He didn't bother waiting for a response from Jack. "No, let me rephrase that 'cause obviously you weren't thinking." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "I just came from Sam's lab…"

Jack made a face.

Daniel gave him an extremly angry look. "Oh. Yah her, Jack. Remember? Tall, blue eyes, blond hair? Pretty? Is currently crying in her lab, apparently, over nothing? Goes by the name Sam?"

Pain flashed through Jack and he ground his teeth, just what he needed now, Daniel trying to be a smart-ass. "I get it Daniel."

Daniel held his hands up. "Oh! Well good! 'cause I don't!" He clenched his teeth together and gave Jack a withering stare. "Jesus Christ Jack! This is Sam! After 8 years together you can't manage to come to her wedding? Probably the single most important day of her life and you can't make it?"

Jack felt another stab of pain shoot through him and he avoided Daniel's accusing gaze.

"Damn it Jack! What reason could you possibly have for doing this to her!"

He was now in full-blown-indignant-Daniel mode. A phase he usually saved for when Jack wanted to blow something up or ignore an endangered species of some sort. Or maybe blow up an endangered species. Jack clenched his eyes tightly together, which seemed to set Daniel off even more.

"Is she just 'second in command'? Another one of your soldiers? I thought that after all this time, all the things you've been through with her, that she meant something more than that to you!"

A picture of Sam with that look of complete and total heartache flashed through his head and he suddenly was on his feet yelling right back. "God Damn it Daniel she does!"

A surprised look filled Daniel's face and he was silent.

Jack continued on with a quiet fury now. "She means a hell of a lot more! So much more it scares me. So much more that it makes me unable to think straight. Shit! She means so much more that it is illegal! Which is why I can't go to her wedding! Not to watch her marry someone else!" He clenched his eyes closed again, when he spoke again his voice was torn. "Cause I don't know if I could do it Daniel." Jack took a deep breath and fell back into his chair. He ran his hands through his short hair, causing it to stand on end. "I don't know if I could watch her give herself away to somebody else…somebody who wasn't…me."

Daniel stood still; his mouth slightly agape. A thick silence filled the room. "Oh."

Jack's eyebrow rose. "yah, Oh."

Daniel cleared his throat. "Well… you certainly… hid it well."

Jack gave him a sardonic look. "You think so?"

Daniel eyes were focused on something over Jack's shoulder, obviously in deep thought as he spoke. "Well I didn't catch on."

"Well you're kinda self-absorbed."

Daniel either didn't catch the barb or he completely ignored it. " I mean, I didn't catch on at all. I figured you were at least good friends, which is why I was…"

"Upset?" Jack added helpfully.

Daniel's eyes were still unfocused. "…yah," he finally brought his eyes to Jack's, " does anybody else know?"

Jack's mouth opened and closed a few times, "uh…" he rubbed his head again, making his hair stand up even more, " I'm pretty sure General Hammond has an …idea ... uh…Anise knows, Janet knew…Teal'c knows…"

Daniel held up his hand. "Whoa, whoa! How did Anise find out?"

"Zat'arcs."

Daniel's eyebrows rose. "Oh?" He thought about it for a second. "Oh!" he gave Jack a sympathetic look. "that whole thing where you were lying about that thing that you didn't know you were lying about…that must have been fun."

Jack made a face. "like a blunt force trauma."

Daniel frowned. "Teal'c knows too?" His look turned into a pout as he muttered, "How does Teal'c know and not me! I'm the people person in the group…how did I not notice?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well technically he found out during the Zat'arc session as well."

This seemed to lessen the pout Daniel was sporting. "Oh?"

"Though a few years back, when Carter became host to that snake, he talked to me then too and he has tried to talk to me about it a couple times since then, picking up on when I am moody over Carter missing or something."

"Oh…"The pout was back on Daniel's face. "And I was around when all this was happening?"

Jack shrugged. "Basically, yah."

Daniel's face screwed up into a look of concentration. "I can't believe I didn't pick up on it," he muttered more to himself than to Jack.

Jack leaned back in his chair. "Well as I said before you are kinda…"

"Self-absorbed, yah I heard you the first time," Daniel absentmindedly interjected.

Jack smiled over his small victory. He looked at Daniel. He could almost hear the gears turning in his head as he tried to comprehend it all.

Daniel's head tilted. "You know, now that I know, I can see it. It adds up. All of our past experiences."

Jack just remained silent as Daniel worked it out.

"I mean, you've got the time that we all had our brain stamped and you had an obvious thing going with Sam's alter ego. Then that time when we were in the time loop and I asked you if you did anything crazy you just looked at Sam with that look…and every alternate reality we've ever seen has you two together…"

Jack swore that if Daniel had a beard he would be stroking it right about now, as he stared off into the abyss over Jack's shoulder.

"It is kinda like the Sixth Sense," Daniel murmured.

Jack gave him a look. "What!"

Daniel's gaze focused on Jack, as if he just remembered that he was there. "You know, The Sixth Sense, with Bruce Willis and that kid who saw dead people?"

Jack made an incredulous face. "Yah, I know the movie Daniel, but how is it like what you are thinking about?"

Daniel went into explanation mode, his hands flying with his words. "You know, the entire way through you can't figure it out, but at the very end you're like 'oh he is dead!' and then all the little signs through out the movie make sense! Like why his wife was always ignoring him and why the kid was talking to him plus I think there was something about the colour red and…"

Jack snapped his fingers. "Focus, Danny, focus."

Daniel blinked quickly. "Oh right, well, it is the same thing! Now that I know…what I know…all the signs make sense."

He seemed proud of himself. At least he was no longer pouting. Then the thinking face was back marring his face. "Jack?"

Jack sighed. "yes, Daniel?"

"Does Sam know? Or even more to the point," he paused and asked tentatively. "does she feel the same way?"

Suddenly Jack was back to being uncomfortable. He gave a humorless laugh and stood up. He ran a hand down his face and leaned against his bookshelf.

For a moment Daniel thought he wasn't going say anything except maybe, 'go away Daniel.' The silence was becoming uncomfortable and he was about to say, 'never mind' when Jack began.

"During the Zat'arc incident she of course heard my…confession, and she said basically the same things back, that she cared more than she was supposed to for me…" he gave a small smile. "and you know, when it first happened I didn't know what to think. I mean on one hand it could have completely screwed up my career, or more importantly hers, but on the other hand I was so…happy." He winced at the cheesiness in his choice of words but continued on, "I mean I had nagging feelings about what was going us with us beforehand. Looks that lasted just that tad too long, but to hear her say it out loud…" he shook his head and his eyes grew distant and hard, "but that was four years ago and we agreed that it would stay in that room. We've never really talked about it since. We still pass the significant glances now and again," Jack sighed, "but she deserves more than that."

He looked up at Daniel who had remained blessedly silent through the little speech. He had a slightly awed expression on his face.

Jack frowned, "what!"

Daniel smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, it's just that I'm a little stunned," he paused, "I think that was the most I have ever heard you talk like that. All, what you are feeling. In fact, I think that is one of the only times I've ever heard you talk like that, especially at that length. Did it make you feel any better?"

Jack thought for a moment. "Not really. Actually, I think I'll resist doing that again in the near future." He sighed.

Daniel spoke up. "Jack?"

Jack smiled slightly. "Yes Daniel?"

"You love her right?" It sounded a bit more like a statement than a question.

Jack smile sadly and nodded. "Yah"

"Have you actually told her that?"

Jack was silent.

"Jack?"

Jack shrugged. "What good would it do now? She still deserves more, she's still getting married and it is still illegal. Wouldn't be fair to just drop it on her."

Daniel frowned. "Jack I don't pretend to know a lot about women. Hell I'm surprised I managed to find one who wanted to marry me."

Jack couldn't help but add. "me too."

Daniel rolled his eyes and continued on. "but if you love someone, it isn't something that should be taken lightly or ignored. Sam deserves to know."

Jack thought for a moment. "doesn't the saying actually go, 'if you love something, let it go?" he cocked an eyebrow at Daniel.

Daniel looked back at him. "Well a little known fact is that it doesn't apply to love in a secret military base under a large mountain in Colorado."

"Ah!" he paused, "I didn't know that."

The silence filled the room again, though this time it wasn't so uncomfortable.

Jack cleared "Well, it's not as if this hasn't been swell and all but I have stuff I have to pretend to read. And if you don't mind I'd also like to sulk for awhile as well, maybe with a bit a brooding thrown in there for good measure."

Daniel nodded. "right, sulk and brood and think about what I said."

"I already told you what I think."

Daniel gave him a questioning look.

"I am still just as surprised that you managed to find a woman to marry you."

"Jack." He said reproachfully. Daniel resisted the urge to roll his eyes again, Jack would only see it as a triumph.

Jack waved him away. "yah yah, I'll think about it."

Daniel gave him a scrutinizing look "…are you going to be alright?"

Jack gave his unlikely, anthropologist friend a smile. "Probably not, no. But I can maybe pull off an 'OK' if I try really hard."

Daniel smiled sadly. "Yah. Well like I said to Sam, if you need somebody to talk to…"

Jack grinned. "Trying to get on the inside track now huh?"

Daniel grinned back. "Yah, being the last to know stuff kinda…"

"Sucks?" Jack supplied.

Daniel nodded sagely "that one word for it."

Jack sighed. "welcome to my world."


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REVIEW MINIONS! please? Another Jack and Sam confrontation! Complete with scary mood music. DUN DUN DUUUNNN