Hey its been ages! I can't believe the amount of reviews I've had for this fic - never know it might hit 200! - totally don't deserve them for making you wait so long but thanks so much and I hope this chap was worth the wait!

Circles

Chapter 12 - Resolutions

"Jack!"

"Leave me alone, Daniel." Jack strode quickly through the long corridors of the base, hoping Carter was in her lab so he could collect her and get the hell out of there.

"Jack, what just happened in there?" Daniel struggled to keep up with his teammate. Having finally had his cast removed earlier that day, he was forced to limp. Not that that would matter to Jack. He'd sensed something was bothering Jack before the rest of SG-1 had left to go off-world the previous day, but hadn't known enough about his temporary replacement to put the two together.

"Nothing you need to know about." Reaching the lifts, Jack hit the call button, feeling riled and a desperate need to see Carter; a particularly unprofessional need that he wouldn't have even entertained the thought of had the events of a few nights ago not happened.

"Sam's waiting for you topside." Daniel informed him, folding his arms across his chest as he glared at his equally stubborn friend.

"Thanks." Jack replied absently, thankful when Daniel didn't follow him into the elevator. He signed out distractedly, scanning the parking area for signs of his 2IC somewhat anxiously as memories of a few nights ago came back to him in a rush. Her stricken too-pale face, the cold wind blowing at her hair and unprotected body due to the loss of her coat. When he spotted her leaning back on his truck's hood, bundled up in a thick navy coloured jacket, he had to fight a strong urge to wrap his arms around her.

"Hey," She greeted him with a smile, her sharp eyes watching him disappear around the driver's side to unlock the car. It wasn't until they were sat in the relative warmth of his truck that Sam could see the angry red bruise on the right side of his face. "Jack, what happened?"

"Okay if we pick up a pizza and head back to mine?" He asked, pretending he hadn't heard her question. Right now he just wanted to spend time with her, recuperate from nearly loosing her through a deliberate action of Karrington's, that he hadn't even been wary of beforehand. Her expressive blue eyes gazed at him, gauging whether he was being deliberately evasive or if he was promising to tell her later.

"Sure."

"I'll never understand Teal'c's obsession with these movies." Jack announced for the fourth time, placing his empty beer bottle on coffee table.

Sam smiled patiently back at him, reaching forward to pick up another slice of pizza. "I said I'd watch the Simpsons with you."

"And you'd love it, but I promised T I'd make you watch the Star Wars films at some point." His classic O'Neill smirk made her laugh, a skill he was ridiculously proud of when it came to Sam Carter.

"Oh so this is for my benefit?"

"Don't say I never do anything for you." He shot back, getting up and heading for the kitchen in search of another beer. Waiting until he returned, placing a second bottle on the table for his companion, and opening his own before he even sat down again, Sam decided to broach the topic he'd been so keen to avoid so far.

"Are you going to tell me how you got that bruise?"

Her sapphire eyes tracked him as he sighed, finally looking up to meet her gaze. "I lost it with Karrington, just had to wipe the smarmy grin from his face. The son-of-a-bitch set you up on that planet, knew full-well how the village would react to his sleeping with that historian's daughter."

"Jack," She placed a hand on his shoulder, partly out of concern for him and partly in an effort to quell the rising anger she could see on his face. "We have to be careful. He must have some sort of plan that involves the SGC if he's linked to NID."

"I'm not sure it's as big as that, it seemed like he was trying his best to get you out of the picture today."

"You mean out of the SGC?"

"Or at least off SG-1. Maybe he wants the position on SG-1 to be permanent, it would sure as hell work out well for the NID if he managed that. And you know what, that would be the perfect way to get their little project of stealing stuff back up and running."

Sam nodded, thinking over what he'd said as she leant forward a little to run gentle fingers over the nasty mark he'd be sporting on his cheek for the next few days. "Are you sure you don't want some ice on that?"

"It's just a bruise." He clasped her fingers on his cheek with his left hand, moving their entwined hands to rest between them on the sofa. He stared at them as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand tenderly, before catching her gaze again with intense brown eyes. "I'm sorry about the other night."

Her eyes widened at his words, the threat of forgetting all that had happened between them to go back to the way things had been for the last few years causing dread to engulf her senses for a moment. "You are?"

His handsome face was sincere as his eyes dropped again to his hand holding hers. "I feel bad it happened like that. Seems like something I never imagined would actually happen and when it did I picked the wrong time and I'm sorry."

The rush of words escaping him were so honest and open that Sam gave in to the urge to close the distance between them and wrap her arms around his shoulders. As intelligent as she was when it came to science, feelings and relationship were her weakness. She'd never felt so much for one man in her entire life and it scared her, scared her so much that on some level she'd been almost glad of the rules forbidding their involvement.

Jack returned her embrace, wishing he'd never have to let go, when the realisation struck him. He pulled back, moving one hand over her blonde hair soothingly. "After all this is over, I'm going to resign. Maybe I'll even retire again, who knows?"

"You're going to quit the SGC?" She asked, the surprise evident in her voice. "Why?"

"It's for the good of the fish really, don't get up to Minnesota much these days, word is the fish are feeling neglected." He quipped with a half smile.

"Jack," The expression adorning her flawless face implored him to answer her seriously, wide blue eyes staring him down.

He moved his hand from her hair to cup her cheek, gently tracing the outline of her cheekbone with his thumb as he answered her. "I don't think I can be without you anymore."

"You can't quit because of me."

"I was supposed to retire seven years ago, Sam. I don't want to be involved in these political games anymore, I just want to drink beer and watch the hockey like normal people." It wasn't a spur of the moment decision by any means; he'd been entertaining the idea for a few months now, wondering if quitting the military would allow him some semblance of a normal life again. The additional bonus of escaping the Air Force regulations keeping he and his 2IC apart was also an important factor, but one he hadn't wanted her to know for fear of putting pressure on her.

He could tell by her silence that she wasn't convinced of his reasons, her eyes attempting to seek out some form of alternate truth from his face. Hoping to silence her thoughts - at least for a while – Jack pressed his lips to hers softly. It took her a second to respond, slightly surprised at his action, before she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders again and deepening the kiss. Finally coming up for air, Jack grinned at her and pressed an affectionate kiss to her forehead. "You think too much." He whispered huskily, folding his arms around her so her head rested against his chest.

Sam relaxed in his embrace, closing her eyes, content to enjoy him holding her close and listen to his steady heartbeat. As he stroked her hair absently she felt as though she would fall asleep, the days events finally catching up with her, when she suddenly registered the Star Wars theme playing in the background.

"Looks like I missed the ending." She told him softly.

"Ask T what happens, it'll make his day just talking about those movies." He set a kiss to her hair as his arms tightened around her. "Will you stay here tonight?"

Twisting herself round to face him, she rewarded him with the smile he'd fallen in love with before she moved to cover his mouth with hers.

A shrill ringing woke Jack a few hours later. Uncurling one arm from Sam's body, he reached out to silence his alarm clock, shortly before realising it wasn't that that was making the annoying sound. Finally grasping the silver cell from the nightstand, he flipped it open. "What?"

There were a few beats of silence before the reply came. "Jack?"

As he tried to place the voice in his groggy mind, he felt Sam shift and reposition herself closer to him, her arms tightening their hold on him. "Daniel? You have any idea what time it is?"

"It's nearly midnight… which has also got me wondering why you're answering Sam's phone."