"Hey, Sam, you got a minute?"

Jack O'Neill's eyes had a bright gleam in them as he stuck his head in the room on the Prometheus where Sam and several other scientists were studying the data collected at the Ancient city site, the Beta colony's new home.

"Why?" Sam returned, looking very busy and tired.

"There's something I want to show you down in the site."

Sam hesitated for a minute.

She had been thinking, well, actually daydreaming, about Jack for the last hour when he had popped in.

But the Ancient city site was still a difficult climb from the location of the Prometheus down into the underground caverns and right now she was exhausted.

"C'mon, it won't take long," Jack promised.

"Alright," she agreed, pushing herself back from the table and standing up.

"Is it still cold out there? I haven't been outside all day."

"No, it's good. You'll be warm enough."

It didn't take as long as Sam had feared for them to walk down through the glowing passageway into the central chamber, a vast cavern the size of a city block bustling with activity as the colonists went about their business, transforming the long abandoned shell of a city into a vital, living organism once again.

The mood of the entire population had changed overnight from that of rough pioneers to a sophisticated bunch who now grandly thought of themselves as the new Ancients.

Survival was no longer a hope; it was a given, as they discovered more and more of the amazing legacy hidden within the caverns.

Jack pointed down a side passage that sloped upwards, away from the main hall, one of many such passageways radiating out from the central core.

"It's up here," he instructed her.

The passage twisted and turned a bit, but before long it leveled out into a circular area with a room just beyond that, a room flooded with natural light.

Sam smelled it before she saw it: natural air, blowing lazily into the hall from the bright chamber beyond.

"What in the world!"

Sam was delighted by the sight that met her eyes beyond the threshold.

A main room with several rooms off to each side was lit by three windows carved through the rock revealing Beta's gorgeous purple-blue sky.

She ran to the middle window and looked out, astounded to discover that the windows opened out through a sheer cliff, hundreds of feet above the plain below.

"I've been down there, just this morning," Jack said excitedly, pointing to the foot of the cliff below, "and even knowing these windows were here, I couldn't make them out. There are hundreds of these living quarters, all opening onto the sides of the mountain, basically undetectable from the outside. People have been claiming them all week and a lot have already moved in. So I thought I'd better get you in here to find the one with the best view."

Sam was speechless.

Although having adjusted to the idea that the underground cavern was their home now, Sam had spent the last week holed up on the Prometheus in the lab, with little time to herself to explore the Ancient city. Seeing these airy living quarters was completely unexpected.

"This view is great right here," Sam said, standing at the window looking over the hills and plains spread out below.

Jack moved in behind her, his arms stealing around her waist.

"That's what I thought."

He reached around and reverently kissed her cheek, then snuggled her against him.

They stood there quietly for a while relishing the smell and sound of the wind just beyond their window opening, both reveling in each other's nearness.

"Hey, Sam," Jack interrupted the silence.

"What?"

He sounded tentative, nervous even, very unlike the Jack she knew.

"I was wondering,"

"Do you think we… you and I…" he was starting to break out into a sweat.

Sam knew she should rescue him, but her hopelessly romantic side wanted to hear him spell it out, even if it was painful for him.

Jack cleared his throat.

"I want this to be our home together. I'm asking you to live here, with me. As my wife."

Wow, when he decided to go for it, he went for it.

Sam burst into tears.

Which, for one awful moment, Jack wasn't sure was a good sign or a bad sign.

"Yes!" Sam cried exultantly.

She turned around and put her hands on his chest, looking into his eyes with a love that amazed and humbled him.

"I want that with all my heart."

"I love you, Sam. I've loved you for a long time. I knew you were special the day you marched into that briefing room. But I think it first dawned on me that I loved you on Hathor's ship, when I thought Hathor had killed you with that ribbon device."

"I've loved you since you helped me get Dad to the Tok'Ra. I knew then that I could count on you for anything."

"Hmm."

Jack looked at her with hurt-puppy eyes.

"I thought you'd loved me since you first laid eyes on me."

"Okay, I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you," Sam laughingly amended.

"Sam. I want us to be officially married, the old-fashioned Earth-style stuff. Hayes said he'd do the honors, being Commander-In-Chief, and all."

"That would be perfect, Jack."

Jack smiled down on her, a playful glint in his eye.

But before that, I want to give you your first wedding present," Jack said, reaching into his vest pocket mysteriously.

He handed Sam a small object,a silversheen glimmering raggedly at one end.

Her eyes went wide and she began to cry all over again.

She threw herself into his arms, wrapping herself around him so tight he could barely breathe.

It was the remains of the chocolate bar.

A/N: I purposely did not tie up some loose ends, having left them to you the reader's imagination. Thanks for reading my 'happily ever after' story (that's all I seem to be able to write)!

Evvie (penname Revvie-S)