Disclaimer: I own nothing

Spoilers: None

Season: Season 7 AU

Character/s: Sam Carter and Jack O'Neill

Pairing: Sam/Jack

Author's Note: I wrote this on the train on my way back from London the other weekend, based on Patty Loveless – Lonely Too Long. In this story I am assuming that Pete doesn't exist and something pushes Sam and Jack together, possibly Janet's death. Hope you enjoy it. This hasn't been beta-ed so any mistakes are mine.

Lonely Too Long

I open my eyes and see you looking down at me. I smile "Good morning, how'd you sleep last night?" I ask, with a hint of mischief in my voice. You just smile at me and I know that we must have done something right and I don't feel guilty at all. Deep down I'm hoping that you don't feel guilty either because you finally gave in and turned to me last night.

It's only natural when you have been in the dark for so long that you would seek comfort in someone you have feelings for. No matter how deep the feelings are buried they always resurface and this time you couldn't resist them. It had taken so long to come to this point because we were afraid we would get our fingers burnt, unsure of each other's feelings.

Right now I feel a complete range of emotions; happiness that this has finally happened, desire for this to continue, fear that you don't want me anymore, sadness at the events that have finally brought us to this moment. I'm hoping against hope that there's nothing wrong that can't be cured with a new love, although I wouldn't call our love a new love. I've loved you almost since the minute I met you, seeing you across that briefing room table broke something in me and I've never been the same again. I'm guessing it's the same for you and I know that all you need is someone like me to be sure of, to be your love. The darkness that lives inside you due to Charlie's death will ease; I know it will, if you just let me love you.

I'll be waiting, standing right outside your heart, waiting for the smallest sign that you are going to let me in, a spark that will show me that you feel the same and I'll be there if you should want to turn to me. Because even though the Air Force Regulations state that our current position calls for a Courts Marshal, we ain't done nothing wrong. We've just been lonely too long. We've spent too long fighting against the feelings that have developed between us, too long putting our work first to the detriment of our lives, lied to too many important people in our lives about what we really do in the mountain that the only option left to us was to end up where we are.

I hope that you feel the same and that this is going to be a regular occurrence between us, but even if it isn't I will always be there for you, should you need to turn to me again.

All this time I've been thinking, you have been looking down at me and you finally open your mouth to speech and you voice exactly what I've been thinking, "We ain't done nothing wrong, we've just been lonely too long." I smile and stretch myself up so that I can kiss you. You respond and I know that I don't need to stand outside your heart, looking for a spark. The spark happened long ago and I've been in your heart as long as you have been in mine because we ain't done nothing wrong, we've just been lonely too long.

Please review