Ch 20: The Decision

The next morning…

Sam was allowed to leave the infirmary with the help of crutches; Jack hadn't visited her again, and Sam was secretly disappointed, but of course she wouldn't let anyone know that. She hobbled her way towards her lab, still trying to get used to the crutches. She entered into her lab and began to pack up her laptop into the carrying case, Janet said that she needed to go home and rest, but she never said she couldn't bring her work with her.

Sam slipped the laptop case over her shoulders and began to hobble out of the room. "Carter!" Jack said as he took a step back so he wouldn't crash into her. "Do you need any help?" he looked down at her laptop. "I can carry that to your car for you."

"Thank you sir, but I think I can manage." She gave him a reassuring smile and headed down the hallway.

Jack stood still as Sam walked down the hall and disappeared behind the doors of the elevator. He sighed and headed towards his office. He shut the door behind him, walked over to his desk and sat down. He opened his drawer and pulled out a yellow folder with papers sticking out, he opened it up and pulled one of the papers out, he took a pen out of his pocket and he sat there, thinking if this was the right thing to do. After a couple of minutes, he decided it was, and he began to scribble some stuff down…

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Sam was in the middle of writing a 'fascinating' report when her doorbell rang. She sighed and moved her laptop off of her lap; she picked up her crutches and hobbled over to the door. She opened it and the first thing she saw were flowers that being pushed into her face, she backed away and the flowers were lowered. "Pete!" Sam scowled, why was he here again? Hadn't he got the point that she didn't want to see him anymore?

"Sam," Pete said. "I know… I know that I wasn't-"

"Pete, what are you doing here? You-"

"Sam, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I'm so glad you are! I was worried sick about you, I-" Sam rubbed her forehead. "Are you okay?" he asked, he looked at the bandage on her forehead.

Sam licked her lips. "Pete! Please leave, I can't handle this right now, okay?" she began to shut the door.

"Sam!" Pete stopped the door from closing. "Please, please reconsider me, I know I'm not perfect but-"

"PETE! Haven't you got the point yet? I'm not for you, and you are definitely not for me!" She slammed the door in his face.

"SAM!" Pete shouted; he pounded on the door. "Sam please?"

"Pete! Go, or I'm calling the police!"

"I am the police!" He shouted. "Sam, I just want to be with you!"

"PETE!" Sam shouted back, "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Pete stood on her porch for another minute; he then threw the flowers against the door. "Don't expect me back!" he stormed his way to his car.

Sam let out a sigh of relief, she shook her head, and hobbled over to the couch, she sat down and silently sighed. Why was her love life so messed up, she couldn't love the man she wanted, the man she could love was a jerk. A tear spilled from her eye, she quickly wiped it away and picked up her laptop again, and got back to work.

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Jack finished writing in the information he needed, he closed the folder and stood up, he grabbed it and headed out of his office, heading straight for General Hammond's office, outside the door, he hesitated then knocked. "Enter!" Jack opened the door and walked up to the desk. "Colonel!" General Hammond looked down at the folder in his hands. "Is that your report?"

Jack smiled, not saying anything. He handed it to General Hammond. "Dismissed." He said. Jack turned around and walked out of the room, he shut the door and let out a sigh, it was now almost official. He smiled and headed towards the commissary, he needed to celebrate!

He almost reached the doors to the commissary when he heard his name being called, turned and saw Cassie running towards him. "Jack! Do you know where Sam is? Mom left already, I was going to drive Sam home but-"

"You can't find her, she already left." Jack said. "She went home."

"She drove herself?" Cassie asked, her eyes growing wide. "Mom's not going to like this! She has a sprained ankle!"

"I know," Jack said. "It's her left, she drives with her right."

"Jack!" Cassie complained. "You should have offered to take her home!"

"I did… sorta." Jack said.

"She said no?"

Jack nodded. "I can take you home Cass, you ready?"

"Almost!" Cassie said; she hurried back down the hall. "I'll meet you at your truck in five minutes!" she disappeared around a corner.

Jack sighed and slowly walked towards the exit, he headed to his car and got into the drivers seat, he put his keys in engine and waited for Cassie. Ten minutes later, he spotted her running over to him. She got into the car and smiled. "Five minutes." Jack nodded and drove away.

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Jack pulled to a stop as he reached Cassie's house. "Bye Cassie." He said.

"Jack…" Cassie said; she bit her lip as if deciding she should ask. "Can we talk for a few minutes please?"

Jack turned off the car. "What's the matter?" He asked. "Something go wrong at school?"

"No, nothing like that," Cassie said, she looked down at her lap. "It's kinda personal."

"Cass, spit it out."

"You and Sam love each other, you always have, everyone on the base knows it, why are you letting your job get in the way of love?" she asked, she looked up into his eyes. "Sam really, really loves you, you should have seen her with you, she was so… so… you know."

Jack sighed and looked at his steering wheel. "Funny that you should mention that right now…"

"I've wanted to say it for awhile, but mom said not too." Cassie looked over at her house. "But she knows you're both in love."

"It's that obvious?" He asked.

She nodded.

He smiled. "Cassie, things just take time."

"Yeah, but seven years? Isn't that a bit long Jack? Even for you?"

"Thanks!" Jack said. "Sometimes we just have to be patient."

Cassie looked up at him. "You mean you're going to ask her?"

"I never said that!" Jack said as he raised his hands in surrender.

"But you implied it!"

"Not really I-"

"Bye Jack!" Cassie said, she quickly got out of the car and ran inside her house. Jack shook his head and drove away…

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I was going to write more to this chapter but I don't have the time right now, I'll try and update soon!

Thank you all so much for reading this! I hope you liked it!

Thank you SG-Fan for reading this over and fixing most of the mistake!