AN: Finally some Sam and Jack lovin' in this chapter! (Just a little though... We wouldn't want them to move TOO fast, now would we? Blinks innocently)
Warning: Get ready for some major out of character-ness. Go, sappy!Jack, go!
"Oh, uh..." Jack was at a loss for words. He looked at Sam and pleaded for help with his eyes.
"Uh, sir. I think the General mentioned needing to see us ASAP," she said, giving him a 'you so owe me for this' look.
"Oh, thank you, Major. I'm sorry, Laira, I'll be back in just a minute."
Laira shot a glare in Sam's direction and Sam just smiled sweetly at her and walked away with Jack.
"Thanks, Carter," Jack smiled.
Carter? What happened to 'baby'?
"You do realize that, if we get caught, the General is not going to be happy?" Sam looked at him nervously.
"I don't know what she's doing here."
She couldn't resist teasing him a little, even though the situation was less than funny. "She's here to see you, sir." Sam replied with a smile and a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she batted her eyelashes. She glanced at Jack to see his reaction. He just groaned and looked up. "Why me?" he asked once more. "Somebody up there obviously has something against me."
"I don't know, sir. A lot of guys would love to be in your position...being chased around by numerous women, all vying for your affections." Sam smirked at him.
"Yeah," he said softly, "but the one woman I want, I can't have." He looked at her purposefully and the smirk disappeared. It was replaced with a weak smile. "I'm sorry, Sam. I shouldn't have said that. It was way out of line."
"Is it true?"
"That I want you, or that I can't have you?"
"That you want me."
"Does it matter?"
Sam looked at the ground. "Yes."
"Yeah, it's true."
"You didn't seem too disturbed when I started dating Pete."
"That's because I thought you were happy. I didn't want to stand in the way of that. Your happiness is more important to me than my own feelings. I couldn't ask you to wait around for me. Who am I to ask you to put your life on hold for something I couldn't promise would happen? We live lives that are too uncertain to waste on pipe dreams. It wouldn't be fair to you."
"You said that my happiness is more important to you than your own feelings, right?"
"Yeah,"
"How do you feel? About Pete and me, I mean."
"It's not important."
"It is to me, Jack." Jack sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair.
"Sam, I'm really not good at this 'feelings' thing."
"Just try...for me." As she gazed up at him with shimmering blue eyes, Jack knew he was sunk. 'For me.' She would pull that out now.
He took a deep breath and began. "Alright, you wanna know how I felt? I was crushed. It felt like someone had reached into my chest and ripped my heart out. And before you say anything about my next comment, I realize that I had no right to feel that way and I was wrong, but...I felt betrayed...like you had violated some unspoken agreement we had or something." He looked up at her, expecting her to tell him off...to say that he was totally out of line to feel that way.
Sam looked at him sadly. "You know, when I actually let myself feel anything about it, I felt the same way. It was like I was doing something wrong. That's why I stopped letting myself think about it. I totally blocked out everything but the selfish, prideful side of me."
He looked at her surprised. "Sam..."
"Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter to General Hammond's office."
"Crap." Sam's eyes widened.
"Busted." Jack muttered. "Well, let's go face the executioner." He began to walk slowly, almost dragging his feet, back towards Hammond's office.
"Come on, sir. We better hurry, so the General doesn't have another reason to court-martial us."
"Besides lying to Laira?" Jack was confused.
"No, Jack." Sam smirked, leaned in and brushed her lips over his before turning and walking out the door with a slight sway in her hips.
Jack stared after her with his mouth open. Oh, I am in so much trouble. Speaking of which...I hope the cameras didn't catch that. He snapped out of his reverie and ran down the hall after her.