Sam took a last look at the arid world she'd been eating, sleeping and trudging around on for the last two and a half weeks. She was glad to be going home, but what she wasn't glad about was the fact that home would be empty.
She watched as Daniel meticulously dialed, pausing before he hit the center of the DHD, giving her a smile. She'd been quite ... testy on this trip. Even Cam had kept his distance, not wanting to end up on the hit list...
Teal'c however, bless him, had taken it in his stride. Then she caught sight of the Jaffa as he moved nearer the gate and the look on his face – was that relief?
Sam shrugged her pack higher, pulling at one of the straps, trying to get more comfortable. She was dying for a long cool shower, very long – to get rid of all the sand that had collected in the most uncomfortable of places. She was trying to decide whether to call Jack or hit the showers first. After checking her watch, she decided that as it was almost 0400 hours at home, she would be better hitting the showers.
Daniel stood beside her as she sent the GDO signal. "Showers or phone?" he inquired.
"Shower," responded Sam.
Daniel frowned and clicked his fingers together. "Okay, I owe you," he called across to Mitchell as they prepared to enter the Stargate.
Sam shook her head. "When will you guys ever quit that? Daniel, its 0400 hours at home – you think I would disturb Jack at that time?"
Daniel looked a little sheepish. "Well, after that time ..."
"Jack's in DC and we are not overdue."
Mitchell grinned. "Right, almost on time - for a change."
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Sam felt like running down the ramp, she was in such a hurry to hit the showers, hoping she could get one before her post med, but she held back with the decorum that was expected of a senior officer.
Unexpectedly, General Landry was at the foot of the ramp and Sam wondered for a moment if there was anything wrong, given the time, however his ready smile dispelled any alarm. "Welcome back SG-1."
"Thank you sir, you're early, we're early ... nothing much to report though," responded Mitchell.
"De-brief in two hours then. You can hit the showers first, SG-7 are holding things up in the infirmary."
Sam smiled in relief, passed her weapon to the nearest SF, and once past the general, broke into a fast trot, the guys just behind her.
"Hey!" Mitchell called after her as she raced down the corridor.
Glancing back over her shoulder as he called out, Sam banged straight into someone, throwing them both off balance.
The first thing that registered was the class A's and a chest full of medals ... trust her to run into some brass... "Oh, sorry sir ... I ..."
The second thing that registered was the clatter of something falling and the hands that gripped her arms...
Startled, she looked up and found herself staring into a familiar pair of eyes.
"Jack?" Sam gasped out in surprise. Stunned, she took a step back, her eyes glancing down, then up again. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed as she took it all in – or tried to.
"Uh, you trying to put me back in that chair?"
Sam's mouth opened and closed. Her hands both rose of their own accord to touch the beloved face of her husband as she removed the space between them, a lone tear beginning to trickle down her cheek, its moist run slaking a path through the dust on her skin. "When... I mean ... oh, God, I don't know what I mean ..." the last words came out in rush as her heart sped up, trying to burst its way out.
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Daniel, Teal'c and Mitchell halted as they realized just who it was that was standing there.
Daniel saw the cane as it hit the floor and swallowed the lump that rose in his throat. Jack had been back in DC for the last few months and that had put Sam through such an emotional tug of war that Daniel had been on the point of pushing her into a transfer. There was no way Jack could escape his duties without resignation under normal circumstances, but given the current political climate, that wasn't even an option.
To see Jack finally on his feet, albeit with a walking stick, was something he had never fully believed would ever happen, at least not without some alien intervention, but...
He knew he was grinning like an idiot, he couldn't help it, as he watched Sam throwing herself against Jack, their arms embracing each other tightly, their love burnishing as bright as any star that Daniel had witnessed.
He exchanged a brief, but knowing look, with his team mates, their grins just as foolish as his own as they quietly crept past the couple locked together, lost in their world of each other.
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"Oh my... I can't believe ..."
"You came back early. I was going to surprise you at the ramp."
Sam grinned. "Well, surprise would be one word you could have used. When ..."
"Sam, can we talk sitting down somewhere?" interrupted Jack.
"Are you okay? I didn't hurt ..."
Jack shushed her with a quick kiss. "Nope. But you're going to have to pass me my cane and let me lean on you a bit. I don't do long distance yet."
"When did you? Oh God, every time I go off world I miss ..."
"No, you didn't miss it. I was keeping it as a surprise. So even if you hadn't been off world, you wouldn't have known."
Sam regarded him solemnly, weighing up whether he was being truthful, or just trying to ease the guilt she felt at leaving him.
That was how she felt whenever she stepped through the gate – that she was leaving him behind – and she was tired of it. There was no way that he could be beside her once again, out there ... and she wanted to be with him, to stand beside him. She never wanted to leave his side again. There was only one way that was possible though ... just one.
"Jack, we really, really need to have a talk."
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TBC
