"About what, sir?" Sam asked as she sat down in the chair he'd gestured towards.
"A few things," Jack told her, pacing in front of her nervously. "First off… the Wraith technology."
She watched him pace.
"What about it?"
"If we take it through the Stargate to earth, do you think it would draw the Wraith to us?"
"You mean would they be able to track it?"
He nodded.
Sam thought about it, but then shook her head.
"I doubt it, sir. Even if there were tracking devices on the items we've managed to obtain – including the darts – I don't see how they could track them from such a distance. Colonel Mitchell does have a tracking device on Fuglier, from what I've been told, and I'm positive she'd never be able to get a lock on the ship from this far away – or even if she were closer, like at the edge of this system…"
"It's too far?"
"I'm positive it is."
"Good."
"You were thinking of leaving it behind?"
Jack nodded.
"I don't want anything that will lead the Wraith to earth – and that includes their own stuff – no matter how much McKay wants to study it."
"It's very interesting technology, sir. Advanced, for the most part, but-"
He held up his hand to stop her, not caring at all what the technology was, and Sam fell silent with a slight smile. He interrupted her way too often for her to be hurt by it.
"It's safe to take home?"
She nodded.
"I think so, and McKay agrees."
Of course, Jack knew McKay might just lie in order to be allowed to take the stuff back to Earth. Sam, on the other hand, would be thinking of Earth first, and the technology gained second. Which was why he'd asked Sam and not McKay.
"Good."
He hesitated, and she knew he had more on his mind. Judging from the expression on his face, it was probably something she wouldn't like. She figured it was better to know what it was then to watch him struggle with the words.
"Was there more, sir?"
Jack scowled, knowing full well she was reading his expression better than he'd wanted her to.
"Whatever plan we come up with here for the Wraith is likely to be dangerous…"
She nodded, giving him a slight smile.
"I have yet to see us ever come up with a safe plan…"
"It'd be a blow for Earth to lose one of the few people that might be able to make something out of the Wraith and Ancient technology once we sent it back to Earth during this coming battle…"
Now it was Sam's turn to frown, because she knew immediately what – and who – he was talking about.
"I'm not going through the Stargate with the technology and leaving you and the others to fight the Wraith without me."
"Sam…"
"No. There are plenty of people on Earth who can figure that stuff out – just as well as I can – and I know you don't have a lot of people here that can-"
"I think it would be better-"
"I'm not going to run away from this fight."
"It's not running. It's-"
"I'm not going to-"
"I don't want to lose you."
She stopped in mid protest, not so much surprised by the words he'd just said, but by the anguish in his voice. His eyes were worried, and his entire body was tense.
"What?"
Jack hesitated, looking into her incredible blue eyes. Intelligent and beautiful and the window to one of the most wonderful souls he'd ever had the fortune of coming across.
"I don't want to lose you, Sam," he said, again, kneeling down in front of the chair she was sitting on so he wasn't looking down at her, and was instead face to face. "I can't lose you. You mean too much to me."
She was literally stunned into silence, her belly tightening up one second and her heart ready to explode with happiness at the final admission the next.
"I…"
"I know I just threw you for a loop," he told her. It was easy to see in her expression, after all. "But I needed to say it. Col- a friend of mine told me once – a long time ago – that I was crazy for waiting to tell you that, but…" he shrugged. "I've never been all that great with words." Or emotions, for that matter. He reached out and put his hand on her knee, his gaze locked with hers. "This could get really messy, Sam… the Wraith are worse than any Goa'uld, and I… if something happens… I don't want there to be any regrets for things left unsaid."
She looked down at the hand on her knee, and covered it with her own, but Jack wasn't finished speaking. Now that he was started, he wanted to get it out of his system before he chickened out.
"I love you."
She smiled, and swallowed an unexpected lump in her throat. The hand that was covering his own squeezed his hand tightly, and watched her, waiting for the words he'd hoped she'd say next.
"I love you, too, Jack…"
It was said in a slightly awed whisper – as if she couldn't exactly believe she was saying it – but it was plain as day. He smiled and leaned forward, hesitating only for a moment. She tilted her head slightly in silent invitation, and he captured her lips with his own.
It was a gentle kiss, and over far too soon, but Sam had an unsettling thought flitter across her mind as they broke apart, and he noticed the difference in her expression immediately. Of course, he was three inches away from her, so it was impossible to miss.
"What is it?" He asked her softly.
"I don't know if you're aware of this…" she said, hesitantly. "But the Light Ones release large amounts of pheromones… which effect those humans around them. You've been with Kale for-"
"Sam…" He put his finger tenderly against her lips, silencing her. "I know all about them. But I loved you long before we came here – and well before we started hanging out with the naked aliens."
She smiled, assured by the sincerity in both his expression and his voice, and this time it was Sam who leaned forward, instigating a kiss. And this one was much longer, deeper, and demanding and only ended when both of them were breathless.
They broke apart, and he gave her a warm smile.
"I brought you dinner…"
She nodded, not even looking at the tray on the bed nearby.
"I saw."
"Soup is just as good cold, you know…"
Her smile grew, and she stood up, pulling him to his feet as well.
"I love cold soup."