I couldn't keep you in suspense over their conversation any longer. I hope you enjoy this little bit of ship...still more fluff to come later.

Thanks for all the reviews you guys sent in. I couldn't write without the encouragement you give me. Thanks!

NOTHING IS EVER THAT SIMPLE

By LetitiaRichards

Previously:-

He glanced from one to the other and turned away with a smile on his face, leaving them to talk together. 'At last!' he sighed when he shut the door behind him.

Chapter 13 – Revelations

The soft click of the door shutting sounded loud in the silence of the room.

"Colonel..."

"Sam..." he said, dispensing with formality, and closed his eyes momentarily with a sigh. "Sam!" He was determined not to give her the chance to interrupt his little speech he'd rehearsed. If she stopped him now, he'd never get it out.

She fell silent, hanging her head at the tone of his voice, despite its quiet huskiness.

"I really need to apologise. I owe you an apology," he sighed with regret. "I'm really sorry for the way I reacted the other night. I should have been able to control myself better than that. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." he paused, waving a hand in the air, searching for the appropriate wording. "...'react' like that. I should never have allowed myself that 'luxury'..."

"Jack... don't!" she said, effectively shutting him up with her finger pressed to his lips. "It was all my fault. I should never have kissed you. I'm the one who is sorry. More sorry than you will ever know. You could have died in that wreck. If you had, then I would never have forgiven myself."

She broke off while she gathered strength and fought to contain the tears that were rapidly filling her eyes.

"I wanted to kiss you Sam," he confessed. "I'd wanted to do that for so long, I just couldn't help responding the way I did. I'm sorry if it disgusted you," he sighed looking away in shame.

"What? Never Jack. It wasn't... I hated myself for pushing you. I just never realised how much I... You...? Oh god!" She'd cupped his chin to pull his face back so she could look him in the eye and tell him.

"Yeah, stupid huh?" Jack sighed, shaking his head.

"I know...I mean..." she hesitated, not wanting to push him into anything he didn't feel comfortable with. "It's just...I'd pushed you into it and I just wasn't...I never expected your reaction is all. I..."

"Sam," he sighed, looking into her watery blue eyes, "I was more than ready..."

"I noticed," she giggled, sniffing back the tears as she recalled the insistent pressure on her thigh that night. She was such an idiot.

He grinned back, and that lop-sided smile of his made her heart soar.

"We can't...I can't leave it like this Sam." His gaze was earnest and his words sincere.

"Me neither. So, what do you want to do about it?"

Jack sucked in a deep breath and held it momentarily before hereleased itloudly. He really didn't know how to say he was thinking of retiring. Hell, his condition was going to take a long time to put to rights. They were looking at months of therapy, Janet had warned. He couldn't expect Hammond to put SG-1 on stand down for that long. He had to move on, as much as he hated the choice, if she would have him, it would be better for both of them.

"That depends on what you want from me Sam," he prompted.

"Well, judging by your reaction, I'd say I know what you want from this. I would like for us to be together. I'm sick of leaving it in that room."

"Me too," he added with a big grin before she could finish.

"Really?"

"Of course. You have doubts?"

She shook her head; nope she was pretty sure, but how would he feel about the new proposals from General Hammond? She hung her head again, looking at the coverlet rather than into those dark eyes of his.

"General Hammond knows," she blurted out suddenly in the silence that had fallen between them.

"What?" Jack cried in shock.

"He says he's known for some time now that we were too close."

"Crap!" Jack sighed, running a hand over his face.

"He called me into his office for an explanation."

"Damn! So I guess that I'm gonna get a visit soon too, huh?"

"probably, but it's not as bad as you think Jack. It's okay. He's fine with it, except... Well, he has a proposal on how to settle everything, so that we can still work together and be with each other too."

"How's that?" he asked, gripping her hand tightly. He didn't want to be parted from her, not if he could help it.

"He's happy to leave things as they are for now, seeing as your away the team at the moment, but I'm to get a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in a few days. Then if we still feel we want to be together in six months time, I'll get another promotion making me a full bird Colonel. Two officers of equal rank working together on the same team...he said there wouldn't be a problem with the regs."

"In six months?"

"Janet assures me that it will probably be at least that long before you're fully fit for duty enough to take over SG-1 again," she grinned.

Jack grinned too. There are times when he knew he liked his CO better than others. Hammond was a wily old codger inside that hard military shell. He always said he was a teddy bear.

"And in the mean time I'll be at home where I will need at least one of my team to keep an eye on me. Now, who do you think Hammond will assign to look after me?"

"I can't imagine," she giggled. "though there will be times when I will have to be off-world of course, and I will have other duties to perform too. Because of my promotion, he's put in temporary command of SG-1 until your return, then we will both be leaders. Do you think you could accept that?"

"What about having your own team? Wouldn't you be better off, as much as I like the sound of you..."

"That's just it Jack. I will!"

"What? Did I miss something here? How?"

"Because, SG-1 is to be expanded. We're getting two more people joining us. They will be my team, while Teal'c and Daniel will still be yours, but we will always ship out together making it a six man double team, although you will still technically be in charge."

Jack sat there stunned by her revelation. Hammond had obviously gone into it with them in mind. He would have to thank him for that. No other senior officer would go to so much trouble to see them happy, and still able to serve together.

"And he's okay with this?"

"It was his idea. He said, that because we had shown that this thing between us hadn't interfered with the team dynamics before, he saw no reason to doubt it in the future. But, if any problems were to develop, then he would ultimately separate the teams."

Jack didn't know what to say. He could have his cake and eat it at this rate. Is this what she really wanted? he wondered. What did she see in an old battle-scarred veteran like him anyway?

"So you really want this?" he asked tentatively. "Me?"

"Jack. I want you more than anything," she said, shifting to sit on the edge of the bed, taking his hands in hers and kissing both along the knuckles. Leaning over, she pressed a sweet, chaste kiss on his lips, leaving him wanting more. "Is this what you want? You want that we could be together?" she asked, licking the taste of him from her lips with a dreamy sigh.

"Oh yeah!" he said, trying to meet her lips half way but failing. He dropped his head back to the pillow with a frustrated groan. His body wasn't quite up to this yet, but he was trying, and goddamn it he would win the fight back to health.

She soothed him by leaning down closer and giving him a deep scorching kiss which left him breathless and even more frustrated.

"Oh god Sam. I love you," he gasped, "You must know that, right?"

"If you hadn't noticed, I love you too Jack," she grinned, her smile wider than he'd ever seen it before, and it was just for him.

If it wasn't for his legs, he'd be the happiest man alive; but all that would change...in six months time, he'd have everything he wanted. SG-1 and Sam; what more could he ask for?

"So, you're happy with the arrangements?" she asked, brushing the hair from his brow with tender sweeps of her hand.

He closed his eyes and relished the contact. It felt so good after the last few months of despair and loneliness.

"Hmmm," he sighed happily. "More than!"

"Me too!" she agreed. "All you have to do now Jack is get better. I'll look forward to coming round and helping you."

He kept his eyes closed, relishing the contact, and that from now on it was legal. It was only moments later that Sam stopped because he had drifted off into a contented sleep.

She retook her seat but kept hold of his hand. Happiness and contentment curled up inside her and spread warmth throughout her body. She knew without a doubt that he would push himself hard to get back to fitness again, and she would be there with him all the way.

OoOoOoOoO

Jack sighed with impatience and pushed away the hands helping him. Jack was sitting on the edge of the bed and Daniel and Teal'c were helping to dress him.

"Daniel, you're not exactly helping ya know! You're trying to strangle me!"

"No I'm not Jack. I'm just trying to tie this tie for you." Daniel batted Jack's hands away and finished, satisfied at last with his efforts. Jack's shirt collar was way too big now, but it would have to do.

"If anyone were to strangle you O'Neill, I believe Dr. Fraiser would have done so by now!" Teal'c commented with a straight face.

Daniel burst into a fit of the giggles, but kept busy trying to get Jack ready for the ceremony. Jack just glared up at the Jaffa, who tilted his head up in defiance.

"A comedian huh?" Jack grouched. "I get no respect!" With another deep sigh, he allowed his friends to do what he couldn't and vowed to try and be patient with them.

He had struggled to dress himself but his fingers were still a little stiff and clumsy, his movements awkward and painful. He felt as weak as a kitten, as well as tired from the effort. Being upright for the first time in weeks, months even, had resulted in a doozy of a dizzy spell, but he was determined to be there; there was no way he was missing this for anything.

Once the tie was done, Daniel slipped the dress jacket over Jack's arms and fastened the buttons, while Jack silently cursed because it was such a simple thing to dress oneself, but right now even that was beyond his control. Daniel stood back looking at his best friend and sighed. The Jacket hung on the too slim frame, showing just how much weight Jack had lost. Jack looked down too, fuming at what had been done to him, but he didn't care about himself; today was all about Sam.

Teal'c and Daniel manoeuvred him into the wheelchair, carefully covering his lower half with a blanket and tucking it in round his frail frame to cover the fact that he wasn't wearing any pants as such, not with both legs in plaster.

"Are you ready O'Neill?" Teal'c asked the all important question.

Jack looked down at his baggy uniform with a sigh. He wasn't happy by any means, but it would have to suffice. Then he took in the sight of his legs, sticking out in front of him and nodded. Yeah, he was as ready as he'd ever be.

"Okay then kids; let's go!"

With that the trio proceeded down the corridors at a sedate pace, heading for the gate-room and Sam's promotion ceremony.

TBC