"Pete – just listen to me!" Sam cried as he yelled horrible names at her and insults that would have made SG-3 blush. "I wasn't sleeping with him!"
He glared at her, "And yet you're giving back my engagement ring and wearing his!"
Sam had had enough. "I could never marry someone I don't love, Pete. And I'm sorry, but I don't love you."
Pete raised his arm like he was about to slap Sam, but instead, he just turned around and stalked off. Before he slammed the door to her house, he turned around and said, "I hope you're happy with the cradle robber, Samantha."
That was the proverbial straw. Sam sank into a heap on her couch, tears streaming down her face. She sat there like that for hours, just letting out all the emotions she'd kept bottled up with a tight screw in her heart.
When Jack found her like that a few hours later, when he stopped by to talk with Sam about her resignation, he was enraged that Pete could leave her like that. Taking off his jacket, he sat down next to his fiancée on the nice sofa. He took her in his arms and began to stroke her back in soothing circles and soon she was quiet.
"You okay?" Jack asked quietly after a few minutes.
Sam nodded into his chest, "I just didn't expect him to be so mean about it."
"Shh, it's okay. Hey, did you eat anything today?" Jack looked at her suspiciously. He knew for a fact that as soon as she'd gone back to the SGC she'd barricaded herself in her lab doing anything and everything that could possibly be done by one person.
She shook her head, slightly embarrassed that he'd caught her again.
"Good."
"Good?" Sam was in shock. Did Jack O'Neill just say it was good she'd skipped two meals in one day?
"Yeah, we need to tell Daniel and Teal'c sometime about this…recent development…why not do it over dinner?"
She nodded again, "Can you call them while I get cleaned up?"
"Sure. But first, I need to tell you something about your resignation request."
"My resignation? Is it already that far up the chain of command that people are protesting my retirement from the military?"
Jack nodded, "Yep. Well, the thing is that no one up there wants to lose the woman that's single-handedly saved our collective asses more times than anyone cares to admit."
"So…what? I've been denied?"
Jack sighed, looking down, "Not exactly."
Sam was getting more confused by the second. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that you're getting promoted to head of the science department, a short stint with your birds before you get your stars and I'm retiring."
"What! Why?"
"You know how China's been bitching lately about the US military being in control of the SGC?" After receiving an affirmative, he continued, "Well, it seems that the President and Hammond came up with a way to appease everyone: a civilian commander. And that would be me."
Sam looked down at her hands, "How do you feel about it?"
"Man, Carter! No need to sound like a freakin' psychiatrist here!" Sam smiled at Jack: the very reaction he was aiming for. "I feel that some things are worth giving up if I get what I want in the long run – and I want you."
She looked up at him with complete adoration in her face, "I want you too." Their kiss was passionate and mind numbing…that is, until Sam realized where it was headed. "Stop, don't."
Jack's actions halted immediately. "What's wrong?" his voice rough and airy.
Sam shook her head, "This just…feels wrong. I've always thought I'd be the very cliché virgin bride that is so rare today."
Jack grinned at her lovingly. "Then a virgin bride you shall be, my love. Come on, I'm hungry – go change so I have a chance to call Teal'c and Daniel."
She grinned at she left the room to chance her clothes and wash her face. For the first time in a long time she was happy – and Jack O'Neill was the culprit.
Daniel and Teal'c's response to the news that their best friends were engaged was cliché at best, downright insensitive at worst. Daniel promptly dialed an unknown number on his cell to settle a few ongoing betting pools at the SGC.
Teal'c just bowed his head slightly and said, "I wish you many more happy years together. And I also wish you had not announced your betrothal until next Thursday. That is the day I had placed money on concerning this revelation."
Sam and Jack were in shock at their teammates' antics. Trying to get the better of them, Jack told them about Sam's promotions and his retirement.
"YES! I win again!" Daniel said as he jumped about the room in happiness (after finding out that he'd won over two thousand dollars). Teal'c just bowed his head slightly again, thinking that he should have paid more attention to the signals his friends submitted.
It wasn't that Daniel and Teal'c hadn't been happy for the couple, it was just that they'd known about their feelings for one another for so long…it kinda got old. They were used to seeing the hidden touches and stolen glances. The only thing they'd have to start getting used to was how open the couple was about their love.
Before Jack tried to succeed in surprising the two men again, the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of the Mexican take-out they'd ordered. Soon the four old teammates were eating in companionable silence, each reflecting over the years they'd spent together.
The next day, as the four friends walked through the halls of the SGC toward the commissary together, well-wishers who wanted to tell Sam and Jack congratulations for their recent engagement constantly stopped them. Each time an Airman or civilian did so Sam would smile politely and thank them while Jack glared at Daniel menacingly. If looks could kill, Daniel would have died over twenty times on that trip.
When they walked into the commissary, everyone stopped talking and then the room erupted in applause. Feeling the need to do something in response, Jack bowed, "Thank you, thank you very much," he said jokingly after everyone had quieted down.
"General?" Sam asked tentatively.
"What, Carter?"
"I remember you saying in DC that Colonel O'Neil with one 'L' had no sense of humor…he seemed pretty funny at the reunion."
Jack's smile was scary, "It's a long running joke back to when we were in the Academy together. You see, he was my fall-back guy for the first two years of the Academy. We were sorta on the outs then I wanted to get back at him. As a result he kinda lost all traces of his humor…it seems after he reconnected with Sue his humor came back."
"Oh."
After a few more minutes of relative silence (being constantly interrupted by people wanting to know different details about the wedding causing Jack to finally say that there would be a memo sent out to everyone the next day with all the information they had so far) an Airman came up and whispered something in Jack's ear that caused both his eyebrows to shoot up and a look of amusement grace his face.
"Come on, guys," Jack said as the Airman left to go back to his post. "Let's go meet some friends."
A/N: Want more? Or is this turning into a lost cause?