Title: John Doe

Chapter: Thirteen

Disclaimer: Nope, they don't belong to me.

A/N: Well, yeah, I know she probably wouldn't take off her seatbelt. But since I'm writing the story and know that they're not gonna get into a terrible accident during any of my chapters, it doesn't really make a difference. So, yeah... wear your seatbelts everybody!
A/A/N: This is my favorite chapter, so be warned, lots of shippyness.

XXXX

"About what?" Jack asked, feigning ignorance.

She ignored the question. "We can't keep pretending like nothing's going on Jack. I did it before, and now you're doing it. As long as one of us acts like everything is all right then how will we ever move further?"

There was a confused look on his face, "What do you mean?"

"Damn it, Jack! Stop!" She yelled, frustrated by his attempts to end the discussion.

He sighed, "Not in the truck, Sam. When we get back to the cabin."

She said nothing further, instead sat back in her seat and put her seatbelt back, and stared ahead at the road. She could feel his eyes on her, but she would not look over at him. Pissed was a very good word to describe how she felt at that moment, not because he wanted to wait for the conversation, but because of how he had acted when she began it. He knew damned well what she wanted to talk about! He wasn't an idiot, although sometimes she would beg to differ.

After a few minutes of sitting in uncomfortable, awkward silence she leaned over and turned the radio on. When a song she recognized came on she turned the volume up and the music filled the air, pushing the awkwardness of the silence away for awhile.

There are places I remember,
All my life though some have changed.
Some forever not for better,
Some have gone and some remain.

"The Beatles, Sam?" Jack asked. She nodded her head, but didn't look at him.

All these places have their moments,
With lovers and friends I still can recall Some are dead and some are living,
In my live I've loved them all.

But of all these friends and lovers,
There is no one compares with you.
And these memories loose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Oh I know I'll never loose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I"ll often stop and think about them,
In my life I love you more.

She could feel him watching her again. Keeping her eyes looking ahead she turned the music up louder.

Oh I know I'll never loose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more.
In my life I love you more.

The song ended and a song she didn't know came on, but she didn't turn the music down. Jack did, however.

"Since when do you listen to the Beatles?"

"How do you know I've not always listened to the Beatles, Jack?" She shot him a look, "You don't know everything about me, you know?"

"You're right," he sighed. "But I'd like to."

"Oh, brother." She muttered under her breath. She wasn't sure if he heard her or not, but he didn't continue on with the conversation. And, the uncomfortable, awkward silence once again filled the atmosphere.

XXXX

When they pulled up in front of the cabin she held her breath, what was she getting herself into? Why had she even started that conversation, what was she thinking? He was still her CO, it was still against the regs. She was such an idiot.

She stayed in the truck while he got out and walked towards the cabin. When he reached the front porch he turned around and looked at her, she could see his right eyebrow raise adding onto the questioning look on his face.Yeah, yeah, she thought, I'm coming.

She got out of the truck and slowly began to walk towards the cabin, taking deep breaths with every footstep. She followed him into the cabin and he led her to the couch in the living room. She sat down next to him, although she made sure to leave a bit of space between them. He looked at her, waiting for her to speak, and she took a deep breath.

"About the other night..." she began, "before Daniel called."

"We almost kissed," he said nonchalantly, as if it was a regular occurrence.

"Yeah, that." She spit out, earning a questioning look from him. "You act like there was nothing wrong with it, Jack."

"There was something wrong with it?" He asked, to her the question appeared genuine.

"Everything was wrong with it!" She nearly shouted. Calming herself down she looked at her hands, picking at the fading nail polish on her fingernails. "It's against the regs, Jack."

He scooted closer and put his arm around her shoulder, "I know."

She pulled away, out of his embrace, and off of the couch. Standing in the middle of the room she glared at him, anger rising. "Stop it!" She yelled at him, "Just stop it!" She took a deep breath and rubbed her temples, "Please don't do that."

He was confused, "Don't do what?"

"Touch me! I can't... it's too much. We need to talk first, just talk, nothing else." Her eyes pleaded with him, "Got it?"

"If you say so," he said, not even attempting to hide the hurt in his voice. She winced and walked into the kitchen, he followed her and they sat at the table, opposite from each other.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, not daring to look into his eyes. "I know that was harsh, but... it was necessary."

He was silent.

"It's just, I want to talk about this before anything happens. We have to know what we're getting into, if we're even going to get into something. I don't want to start something, ruin my career, things not work out, and then have neither a career nor... you. You understand?" She looked up at him, finally, only to have him look away.

"I understand," he said softly. "Please, continue."

"First of all... I need to know where you stand. I need to know how you feel."

He looked up at her, his brown eyes sparkling. "You know where I stand, Sam."

"No," she shook her head, "I want to hear it from you. I need to hear it from you, it's precautionary."

"I tell you then you tell me?"

She nodded.

"My feelings for you are simple, Sam. I love you."

She had been expecting to hear those three words, but she hadn't been expecting the effect they would have on her. It literally took away her breath, leaving her struggling for air. They locked eyes and she felt herself shiver, though it had to be 75 degrees in the cabin. Her hands were shaking and her throat was scratchy as she stared at him. She could do nothing more, everything she had planned on saying was lost to her. Words were fleeting, it was like her mind had completely shut down.

"Uh..." he said after a few minutes, "don't leave me hanging her, Sam."

She cleared her throat, "I ... uh ... wow." Was all she could come up with.

He laughed, nervously. "Yeah ... wow."

She smiled weakly at him, her heart feeling like it was beating a thousand beats per minute. She could feel and hear it pounding in her chest and wondered if he could as well. She took a deep breath before saying anything further, thankful that her vocabulary had finally returned. "How do I beat that?" She questioned, then before giving him a chance to reply spoke again. "I don't really know what else to say, Jack, except that I love you, too. I know that seams a little ... monotonous, but that's how I feel."

Jack was silent for a moment, then he spoke, stumbling over his words like she had. "I ... uh ... wow." She smiled at him and he smiled back. "Not monotonous, you could never be anywhere near monotonous. And I gotta tell you, that phrase never gets old."

She smiled at him, but then remembered why they were having that discussion. Her expression sobered, "Now we know for certain how we feel about each other. The only question that remains is what are we going to do about it? Or, rather, what can we do about it?"

It was his turn to breath deeply, "I could always retir-"

"I would never ask you to leave your job. Besides, although you don't like to think so you're very important to program." It was her turn to be selfless, "I could always resign from the military, go back to my scientific roots, work with the SGC as a scientist. Or, more formally, the resident expert on the Stargate and co-creator of the DHD. It seemed to work in every other reality."

He shook his head, "You love being in the military, Sam. And besides, when I do retire I'm gonna need somebody to take over for me."

"And you think I'm going to be that person?" She questioned, then caught herself. "No getting off subject, Jack." She scolded him.

"Sorry."

She smiled, "We could always keep it a secret."

He gasped, "Colonel Carter I am shocked that you would even suggest such a thing." He smiled at her playfully, "Rebel."

She shrugged, "Just a suggestion. You got a better one?"

"Of course," he said confidently.

"Please," she replied, "have at it."

"Wait, first I'm gonna tell you why you're idea is such a bad one."

"Pray tell?"

"Well, first of all, Danny-boy and T would know in an instant, they're not idiots, you know? Not that they would tell anybody, of course, but when spacemonkey gets tipsy he runs off at the mouth. No secret is safe when he's around alcohol... even just a little bit of the stuff. Teal'c, well, he would never tell, in fact he would probably take it to his grave. But, that's not the point here."

"I'm beginning to think that there isn't one," she joked.

"Wait just a second," he scolded, "patience is a virtue you know." He smiled at the face she made. "The real point is I would never be able to keep it a secret, the words would be written all over my face. Trust me, everybody would know. And, you would have a hard time keeping it a secret too, or at least I hope you would."

"So what is your plan, O brilliant one?"

He smiled, "Simple. Just a simple request to the President and-"

She cut him off, "The President?!?"

"Sure," he said, trying not to laugh at the look on her face. "Why not? I mean, we have saved the lives of everybody on this planet ... more than once, hell more times than I can remember. Which, of course, really doesn't say much at this exact point in time... I still have a few blanks every now and then. But, come on, don't you think the man owes us a favor? I mean, isn't changing the regs, just for the SGC mind you, the least that he could do to show his gratitude?"

She thought it over, "Well, yeah. I guess that's a good point."

"Ah ha!" He shouted triumphantly, "Told you my idea was better than yours."

She raised an eyebrow, "How old are we again?"

He frowned, "We'll not go into that."

She smiled at him, "So, old man, what now?"

He smirked, standing up from the table and walking over to her. Pulling her into his arms he whispered, "Now ... I kiss you."

Before she could reply his lips were on hers, and her once again all her breath escaped her body. Pulling away she took a deep breath, a smile spreading across her face, reaching farther than anyone would think was possible. He smiled back and cupped her face in his hands, "God, I've wanted to do that forever."

She smiled, "Guess we better make up for lost time then, huh?"

Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him closer and their lips connected again. The kiss was passionate and hungry, leaving her breathless for a different reason. When the kiss broke she pulled back, out of his arms, taking hold of his hands. She pulled him along with her, into his bedroom, and kissed him again.

She sat down on the bed and pulled him with her. She scooted back, towards the pillows, and he followed.

He kissed her again, but pulled away. "Are you sure about this?" He asked, hovering over her.

"I've never been so sure in my life," she replied. Pulling him closer and into another deep, passionate kiss.

XXXX

She stirred in her sleep, half-awake, and scooted closer towards the warm body on her left. He mumbled and wrapped an arm around her waist protectively. Smiling to herself, she snuggled closer into his chest.

The sun was beginning to rise and the room was starting to brighten, she peaked over his shoulder and looked out the window. There was a beautiful view of the lake, a small bit of reddish-orange peaking over the waterline. It was beautiful, perfect. She looked back at the man she was snuggled against. There was a crease in his forehead and his jaw was clenched, he was perfect.

She looked out the window again and figured it must be 0730, maybe a little bit earlier. He mumbled again, incoherently, and she stifled a giggle. She would never have guessed he talked in his sleep.

Tracing imaginary objects on his chest she waited for him to wake. When that didn't work she placed small kisses leading from his cheek to his lips. He finally woke, the tell-tell sign being a smile that spread across his face.

"Mmm," he said sleepily, his eyes still shut.

"Wake up," she whispered, kissing him again. "You wanna go fish?"

His eyes snapped open and that small smile became a large one, "Really?"

She laughed, deep and rich, a smile spreading across her own face. "Really. Come on, don't the big fish bite early?"

He laughed as well and kissed her on the forehead, "Sorry to disappoint you, Sam. But there are no fish."

"Come on, Jack. Don't you have an imagination? Do you have any creativity, at all?"

He pulled her into his arms and rolled over, hovering over her. "I do, believe me, but I can think of something else I'd rather do."

"Later," she said, scooting from under him, and sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked over her shoulder, "I'm gonna take a shower, you coming with?" She searched the floor, looking for something to wear. She finally settled on his T-shirt and grabbed it, pulling it over her head. She glanced back at him again, an eyebrow raised.

He grinned and followed her, pulling on a pair of jeans.

They got to fishing a little bit later than she had originally planned.
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A/n: Like I said, my favorite chapter.