"General Hammond?" Jack asked, knocking on the door a few weeks later.
"Yes, Jack?"
"I…I was wondering…"
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if I could withdraw that resignation."
"What changed your mind?"
"It was an impetuous decision, and I would rather not go into it any further than that."
"I see."
And indeed, he did see. On Jack's left ring finger was a gold band. "Congratulations." He responded.
"Sir?"
"On your return to active duty."
"Thank you, sir."
"And congratulations again."
Jack's brow furrowed. "Sir?"
George motioned with a slight nod of his head to the ring on his finger.
They had finally gotten all of their feelings out in the open. And, now, they were on a date. Samantha Carter was sitting across from him, her face shining in the darkness of the pizza parlor.
"Do you ever feel like you want to just jump tracks in your life?" She asked, spontaneously.
"Jump tracks?"
"As in suddenly do something no one would ever expect you to do…be impetuous for once."
"Can't say that I have."
"Oh." She said, looking back down at her pizza.
"Why? Do you have something you'd like to do that would be considered spontaneous and even crazy?"
"Yeah."
"Well, what is it?"
"It's stupid. I should never have brought it up." She said, refusing to look him in the eyes.
"Carter…"
"I want to get married." She whispered, as if on command.
"Married?" He asked, surprised.
"We're not in the same chain of command…and who knows if we will be again!"
"Carter, did you drink a little too much beer?"
"I haven't had any beer. Janet's orders."
"Okay, then, how many beers have I had?"
"Dammit, Jack, you're not drunk and neither am I. But if you really feel that way…" She moved to get up.
"Sam…"
"Jack, this may be our only chance."
He looked into her sorrowful blue eyes. He'd almost lost her. He couldn't lose her again…not to his own stupidity.
"Okay…"
"Okay, as in you'll think about it?" She asked.
"Okay, as in, let's get in the car. If we leave now, we can get to Vegas by tomorrow morning."
The colonel took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you, sir."
--
Daniel walked into Sam's lab, his nose buried in a book. "Hey, Sam…it's great to have you back." He said, as he looked up to find a new scientist taking up residence in the lab.
"Hi." He said with an uncomfortable smile as he extended his hand toward the archaeologist. "I'm Dr. James Matthews."
"Dr. Matthews. Uh…where's Major Carter?" Daniel asked as he shook the man's hand.
"She resigned. They called me and offered me the opportunity to head the scientific community here."
"Right." Daniel said, smiling somewhat uncomfortably. "It's been great to meet you…hope you feel right at home!"
The doctor nodded. "Thank you, I'm sure I will…"
"But I have a meeting that I need to get to…if you'll excuse me."
"Sure."
"Thank you."
As he hurried from the lab, he ran into Teal'c. "Daniel Jackson, what is the reason for your haste?"
"Sam's not coming back."
Teal'c raised an eyebrow, his only indication of surprise. "Perhaps she requires more time to rest and recover from her last encounter with the Trust."
"If that were the case, there wouldn't be another scientist moving into her lab!"
"Hey, guys!" Jack greeted as he ran into them at the end of the corridor, his left hand in the pocket of his BDUs. "What's going on?"
"Sam's not coming back!"
"Ah." Jack said, emotionless. "Well, she did need some time off. She says this whole…ordeal has made her think about her life…"
"What?" Daniel asked, surprised. "And you didn't beg her to come back?"
"Danny…I did…believe me, I tried to get her to come back, but…she had other ideas."
"Other ideas?" Daniel asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Look, Danny…how about you come on over to my house, and we'll talk about it…SG-1 is still on stand-down until I can find a replacement for Carter…"
Daniel and Teal'c shrugged. "Why not?"
Only fifteen minutes later, the men arrived at the O'Neill house. Jack opened the door and motioned the men into the living room while he went to the kitchen. There, he found his new bride. "Hey!"
"Jack!"
"I brought home a couple of strangers…think we can find something for them to eat?"
She chuckled as she saw the guys in the living room, puzzling over the nonchalance with which Jack had accepted Sam's resignation. "I think so…" She said, with a thoughtful grin.
As she ducked into the refrigerator to get beer and to see if they had anything on hand that they could feed their guests, Jack put his arms around her waist and swung her back to face him. He kissed her soundly, and she let her arms encircle his neck. He pulled away, leaning his forehead on her own. "I love you, you know that?"
She nodded, smiling. "Yes, I do."
"Hey, Jack, we were thinking that maybe we should call Sam…" Daniel said, as he walked into the kitchen. "Or…we could just let you two get back to whatever you were doing…"
"You're fine, Danny…no harm done…" Jack said, pulling his arms out from around Sam's waist.
"So…you two seem to be okay after the whole…Pete fiasco."
"Better than okay." Jack said with a grin.
"Right." The archaeologist blushed. "And what about the whole POW thing?"
"That wasn't really Jack…and even though it took me a couple of weeks to realize that, I never really forgot how much he cares."
Teal'c joined the group. "Major Carter, it is good to see you feeling so much better."
"Actually, Teal'c, I'm not in the Air Force anymore. You can call me Sam."
"I apologize, Samantha Carter."
"Actually, it's Samantha O'Neill now." She said with a smile as she looked at her husband.
"O'Neill as in…" Daniel motioned between the newlyweds. "You two got married?"
"Yes, Danny…as a matter of fact, we did." Jack said, matter-of-factly.
"But…" Daniel stammered. "HOW?!"
"Actually, Daniel, Elvis married us…" Sam said, with a teasing grin on her face.
"O'Neill, may I inquire as to why you and Samantha did not include your closest friends in this nuptial ceremony?"
"Uh…T…that's a…" Jack stammered, obviously uncomfortable with the question, so Sam answered instead.
"Teal'c, we were tired of waiting…and since we were the only ones around, we went and got married. It had nothing to do with not wanting you, Daniel, Janet, Cassie, or General Hammond to be a part of the ceremony. And, who knows, we might renew our vows so that you can all be there…" She said, with a shrug.
"Only if that's what you want." Daniel countered. "I just…I mean, we're happy for you just…a little…stunned."
Sam smiled as she allowed her hand to find Jack's and interlace her fingers with his. "To be honest, we're a little shell-shocked too, but…we're happy."
"You better believe it." Jack said, before he kissed her.
Both Daniel and Teal'c took this as their cue to leave as the newlyweds were suddenly caught up in a world that was all their own. As the door closed behind them, Daniel grinned. "Well, I guess there's only one phrase that can best describe their love affair."
"What would that be, Daniel Jackson?"
"All's fair in love and war."
Teal'c let his mind chew on this as Daniel started the car and they drove back to the Mountain to share the news with the rest of the base.
Yes, this is the end, folks! I'm SO sorry that it has taken SO long for me to finish! I hope you all don't hate me! Reviews are ALWAYS welcome...hope you enjoyed the piece.