Safe Bet
Epilogue
Authors Note: Again, I have to say thanks to all of my reviews! You guys make my day!
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The soft sunlight streaming through the sheer, blue curtains was what ultimately woke her up. The soft snoring from her right might have had something to do with it, but left on its own, she was far past used to it. She laid in large, unfamiliar bed for a while, but eventually got bored of it, and patience lost, rolled over to wake him up.
It hadn't even occurred to her at the time that the snoring had ceased. She was too busy thinking about the events of the last five days to care about anything else. The first two nights had been a bit strange, to say the least. She was still getting used to being there, to being with him. She had slept in the guest room those two nights, but after that, when she got comfortable and used to being there, being alone with him, things had changed.
At first they had decided to take things slow, make up for lost time, and enjoy the beginning stages of a new relationship. But after a day or so they figured that nine years of getting to know each other could easily count as a month or two of dating, all the things that took place during that time period had long since passed. They knew everything about each other, the others favorite food, color, down to their deepest secrets and well hidden fears. So, what then, were they waiting for?
It had been amazing, to say the least, the first time. She hadn't fallen asleep at all afterwards, she couldn't. She was too focused on his light snoring, which had changed from a nuisance to a guilty pleasure, his scruffy, unshaved face hidden in her back, the stubble from his chin scratching her bare skin, and the arm that was draped around her stomach, connected to the hand that was held tightly in her own. It was heaven.
He was awake when she turned over in the bed, his deep, brown eyes were glittering with happiness and the scruffines of his face somehow made him seem all the more appealing to her. This was the side she had always been forbidden to see in him. The relaxed, off-duty, truly happy Jack O'Neill. Not colonel, not general, and definitely not sir. It excited her to her very core to be allowed to witness this, and to be the cause for it.
"Mornin'," he greeted, still groggy. He must have only just waken up.
"Good morning," she replied, wrapping her arms around him and simply enjoying the sensation of a hug. The little things like that, that she had been denied for more than nine years, were what she delighted in most. She hid her face in the curve of his neck and she laid there, close to him, feeling the coolness of his skin on hers and the soft rise and fall of his chest. It was wonderful.
"So?" he asked, "what are we going to do today?"
She let go long enough to look up at him and answer his question, "Fishing, I suppose."
He grinned and she took her old position back, closing her eyes and resting for a few minutes. Lately she had been getting more sleep than she had gotten in years, but she was still exhausted, her routine was completely thrown off balance. Not that she had any complaints.
"We have to leave tomorrow," she reminded him gloomily. "The world probably needs saving by now."
She felt him tense and knew he was frowning, his arms tightened around her waist, as if holding on closer would make it possible for them to stay longer. "I know," was his only reply.
She lifted her head once more, "I don't want to go back. Things will change... we'll still be together, but we're not going to have the time for each other like we do now. I won't get to wake up in your arms–"
"Who said you don't?" he asked, giving her a serious look.
"It's not a secret, Jack, that I'm a workaholic. Most of the time I'm either working through the night, or I'm sleeping at the SGC. Rarely am I ever at home on a weeknight."
"You're forgetting I run the base where you're a workaholic at."
She gave him a lopsided smile, "You're forgetting that you have for a year, and it still hasn't worked once when you order me home."
"Well, maybe you'll comply if I order you to my home."
That made her grin, "I dunno... it does take a lot to get me away from my 'doohickey's."
"You left them for a week..." he reminded her.
"And your point is...?"
"My point," he said, pulling her closer to himself, although she had previously thought it impossible, "is that nothing is going to change. I love you, you love me, the frat rules now say that's okay, and there's nothing left to bring us down."
Hiding her face in his neck again, she sighed, "I hope you're right."
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Laughing, she attempted once more to unhook the fish. He was fighting her, that was for sure, although she couldn't understand why. Yeah, she'd just pulled him from his habitat, but she was trying to get him back in, if he would only... stop... moving. Just when she thought he was going to cooperate, he jerked once more, the hook breaking through his skin and causing him to fall– straight onto her lap.
She squealed in surprise, standing up quickly, and watching in horror as the fish flopped on the deck. It was going to die soon, she was sure of it. Cursing herself for acting like a teenager, she bent over and picked up the fish, throwing it back out into the water. Jack had wanted to keep them, and have them for dinner, but Sam had told him at the beginning of the trip, they were only out there for "the act of fishing" as he so lovingly put it. That meant, under no circumstances, would they eat what that caught.
He was laughing at her, hard and loud, and it was starting to annoy her. "Yeah, yeah," she mumbled, loud enough to hear. "I've still caught more fish than you have."
"Only two," he said defensively, "and the day is still young."
"Unlike you," she mumbled, lower this time, to give the illusion that she was saying it for her ears and her ears only. He picked it up, though, and she grinned at the face he made. "Well, at least in matters other than maturity." she added, causing him to smile.
"You know what they say, you're only as old as you feel."
"And you obviously feel fifteen." she continued for him, with a smile of her own.
"Exactly," he told her, "which is why I have the sudden urge to do this–" and without giving her further explanation he got up from the chair he was sitting in with an alarming speed– proving that although he was a little up there in years, he still had the vitality and skill of a solider half his age– grabbed her from her chair, somehow discarding the fishing pole she was holding onto, and hurling them both into the lake.
She broke the surface with a surprise shout, "Jack!" He had reappeared before she had, and was wadding right in front of her. Although she wanted to be annoyed with him, the look of joy on his face was too amazing for her to even try to pretend. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, rather passionately.
"What was that for?" he asked, as they broke apart.
She shrugged, "Do I have to have a reason?"
"Definitely not," he assured her, kissing her softly.
"I was thinking though," she told him, still holding onto him, managing to stay afloat. "Maybe you were right before– there really is nothing left to bring us down."
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That's all folks!
A/N: So there's the epilogue. It's short, but most of mine tend to be. I hope you liked it, and didn't think the ending was too cheesy. I had a great time with this story, and am absolutely thrilled by all the comments I received. Thanks once again!
