"Sam (and Jack), I know you've denied yourself the experience because you think it must invariably end in pain and loneliness."-Jacob Carter
Jack sat in his office, reading and rereading the letter. Its contents amazed him; she had quit the Air Force for him: to be closer to him.
"No wonder she refused her position on SG-1." He muttered.
"What?" Daniel asked, knocking on the door as he entered.
"Oh, nothing." Jack said, folding up the letter and placing it in his desk.
"Sam refused a civilian position on SG-1?" Daniel asked, sitting down in front of Jack.
"What do you need, Danny?"
"Teal'c and I are going to see Sam. See if she needs anything."
"Are you asking for permission?" Jack responded, sarcastically.
"Uh...no, we were wondering if you wanted to come with us." Daniel said, studying his friend.
"Ah." Jack replied.
"So?"
"So what?"
"Are you coming with us or not?" Daniel asked.
"Uh, maybe later." He said, not focusing on his friend.
"Okay...you want to go alone." He replied.
"Ya think?"
"I guess the real question then is do you want to go before or after us?"
"I have some things to think about." He replied calmly.
"So, we're first?"
"I don't know!" A frustrated Jack responded.
"I guess we don't have to go today...or even tomorrow." Daniel suggested.
"Yeah...thanks." Jack said, rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache.
"You going to be okay?" He asked as he stood.
"I don't know." Jack replied honestly.
Daniel left and Jack pulled the letter back out of his desk. He looked back down at the last line. What is Grace? He asked himself.
He glanced at his watch. He should probably get this taken care of. He took a deep breath. Why was he so intimidated? He had what he had wanted for the last seven years handed to him on a silver platter.
Yeah, kind of like the head of John the Baptist. He thought.
"Okay, that's enough of that. I'll just go to her place and invite her to dinner tomorrow night." He said, standing up straight.
Security blanket, bah...I'm going to wine and dine her so that she doesn't even know the meaning of a security blanket. Of course, he would invite her to watch the hockey game with pizza and drinks tonight if everything went well.
"Why wouldn't everything go well?" He asked as he got into his truck.