Alice: "How long is forever?"
White Rabbit: "Sometime just one second."
- 2010 Tim Burton adaptation of Alice in Wonderland
When they pulled up the drive, the rest of the tension she'd been feeling the night before immediately fled from her body. Perhaps it was her state of mind after all that had happened this week, or maybe everything that had happened in her life had led her to this moment, all she knew was that here, with him, she was comfortable and content in a way she never thought she would feel. The sun was just starting to set over Jack's fishless lake and it was the most beautiful sight she'd ever witnessed. She had been worried, unsure, and more than a little out of sorts thinking about coming here. After all, this is where he'd been longing to take her for so many years, this was his sanctuary. Yet standing here with him now, watching the early Autumn sunset, everything was so perfectly intrinsic and astoundingly uncomplicated.
They'd left just after breakfast and made really good time during this last leg of the journey. Jack offered her the keys when they stopped at a rest area about a hundred miles out from where they'd spent the night. She looked at him questioningly and he winked.
"What? Don't trust me to navigate?"
She'd snatched the keys from his hands and hopped back into the cab, this time on the driver's side. "Hope it lives up to all of my expectations," she teased, winking back at him as she started the engine.
"Oh, it will. Just you wait."
She returned his smirk and hit the gas.
As she drove, he was much calmer than she anticipated. Having expected him to act somewhat like an over-caffeinated drivers' ed teacher, she was pleasantly surprised by his demeanor. He seemed quite relaxed in the passenger's seat as he navigated her down the country highway.
She enjoyed driving and was liking Jack's truck. It handled well and once she'd gotten the feel of it, she relaxed into the drive. She'd only driven Jonas's truck twice during their relationship. He was a maniac about the damn thing. Once, he'd made her drive them to a friend's barbecue and she'd pulled over halfway there and handed back the keys, forcing him to drive with a broken ankle because she'd gotten sick of his admonishment of her driving skills and his insistence that he could do a better job even with his cast. Unfortunately, the second time she hadn't had a choice and couldn't relinquish the keys as he was too drunk to drive. He'd had her in tears by the time they'd reached home and the drive had ended up being the highlight of that night.
'But look at where you are now.'
She smiled at the thought, glancing over at Jack pointing out sights and telling her little facts about the area that they were driving through and Minnesota in general. She shifted her focus back in time to catch "Land of a Thousand Lakes" and something about fishing and walleye.
He'd held his tongue only slightly as she gunned the engine and they took off. She owned a classic car and a vintage motorcycle and though he knew she was a bit of an adrenaline junkie, he trusted her behind the wheel of his baby. He could tell when she had gotten the feel of the truck and he relaxed a bit more, stretching his legs out in front of him and gazing at the scenery going by. He caught her sideways glances and then noticed a pinched look, almost a scowl on her face for a few moments before a smile lit her features once more as he brought up the topic of fishing.
He knew he'd get the lowdown sooner or later and instead of asking about it, he started giving her a crash course in Minnesotan history. The cabin had been his second home no matter where he'd ended up in the world and it was almost sacred to him. It was a refuge, a healing place. And, a place that he'd wanted to share with her for so long that it had broken his heart each time she'd turned down his previous invitations. Oh, he knew her reasons, respected them, even agreed somewhat that it'd been a right decision, but there was a regret about it that he couldn't let go. 'Just imagine if you'd done this sooner!' He couldn't help but wonder where the last few years would have taken them if she'd have accepted one of those propositions.
They were only a couple of hours away from the cabin when she pulled the truck into a travel plaza. "Coffee?" she asked, pointing to the last Starbucks for a hundred miles.
"Sure. Plain, black, none of that froo froo crap Daniel's always trying to get me to try."
"Jack, espresso is hardly froo froo. In fact, studies have shown…"
He cut her off quickly by throwing up his hands. "Ack! Carter! We're on vacation! No studies, no statistics, no theories, got it."
"Yessir." She mock saluted him and turned toward the coffee shop.
He grabbed some sandwiches from the sub shop and when she returned with the coffee, took back the keys.
And now they were here. The sun was just starting to set over the lake and it drew her to the dock as it bounced off the water and lit up the changing leaves. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.
"Wow."
Jack snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Beautiful isn't it."
"I knew it would be, but I never imagined this." She settled her hands over his and leaned back into his chest revelling in their new familiarity.
They stood that way, entwined on the dock until just a sliver of light could be seen between the trees. As the sun slipped further down the horizon, he turned Sam around in his arms so that she stood facing him. His heart sped up and he could feel his palms beginning to sweat as he stared into her shimmering blue eyes.
Shimmering?
"Sam, what is it?" he asked as he brushed away a tear that had trailed down her cheek.
"Nothing. Everything. I...damn it, why is this so hard?" Her eyes moved from him to the ground and she took a deep breath trying to steady her roiling emotions.
He lifted her chin with his finger, "Hey. You can talk to me. If we've found out only one thing in the last two days, it's that we can actually talk to each other, right?" He brushed her hair away from her forehead whispering, "Can I help?"
"No. Yes. Maybe?" She paused, looked out at the lake then back at Jack. "This is all just a little overwhelming, isn't it?"
His eyes met hers again before his hands moved from resting on her shoulders to caress her face. "Yeah, it is but it's a good kind of overwhelmed. Look, I know it's cliche, confessing our feelings while the sun sets in the distance, and you know how I feel about cliches, but it all feels…"
"Perfectly normal."
"Yeah."
Her heart began to race and the world slowed down when his lips barely brushed hers on their way to her ear. Her breath stopped as he whispered, "I love you Samantha Carter."
She gasped. Turning her face to his, their lips met full force; her knees threatened to buckle and she was sure she'd fall if he were to let her go. Like lightning that strikes hard and fast with the fury of an exploding star leaving the brush smoldering, threatening to burst into flame with every whisper of wind, this kiss seared into them with a scorching intensity and left them spent yet wanting.
They broke away, both breathless and Sam lay her head on his chest and sighed. "Jack?"
"Hmm?" He was still trying to recover his senses, his body slowly betraying the true burn of his desire.
She looked up and he saw the same fire burning in her eyes. "Let's go inside."
