Note: One day turn around. Boo yeah! I've gotta say that this was probably the most enjoyable chapter I've written since my Barista days. I so enjoy getting Jack and Sam hot and bothered. Still respectable enough for teens (I think), but if you're not into delicious steamy shippiness, turn back now.

Jack O'Neill was not nervous. He knew this because 50-something year old generals do not get nervous. Certainly, not when about to tell his favorite team and best friends about his upcoming promotion. The promotion that would effectively break up their family, taking him 1,600 miles away.

Away from her.

But that was not the real reason for asking them here tonight. No. The real reason was that Jack needed to know what Sam thought about the other reason he was taking the promotion. He needed to hear what she thought about his proposal.

Idea.

His idea.

Jack was thankfully pulled from his thoughts by the arrival of his team. First came Daniel and Teal'c, followed a few minutes later by Sam. Jack often wondered if Carter purposefully orchestrated her arrival so she wouldn't be alone with him.

Everyone was dressed for a casual night at his place, and the conversation flowed easily. After 7+ years of working in the field together, they worked seamlessly together. Daniel handing Sam a knife just as she needed one, Teal'c minding the steaks without being asked as Jack grabbed condiments and plates.

The team was working their way through several different pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, when Jack cleared his throat.

"I've kinda got some news."

"Knew it!" Daniel said, pumping a fist into the air. "Walter owes me $10."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Is there nothing you guys don't bet on?" she asked incredulously.

"I seem to recall, Lt. Colonel Doctor Kill Joy," Daniel teased, "that your name is down for more than a couple of these bets."

"Well sure," Sam admitted, feeling her face flush in embarrassment. "But they're the obvious kind! Like how many times a month I'll get called to fix the stargate, or the due date of one of Colonel Dixon's kids.."

"As amusing as all of this is," Jack interrupted with a knowing smirk. "I do need to tell you guys some things."

"By all means, Jack," Daniel insisted. "Please share away."

"I went to DC for a reason," Jack began. He glared at Daniel, daring him to try and interrupt again. Daniel pantomimed zipping his lips and then reached for his beer.

"Hammond is wanting to retire and…" Several voices interrupted him.

"Is General Hammond okay, Sir?"

"Why?"

"Has Hammond taken ill?"

Jack held up his hand and the trio immediately stopped talking.

"Hammond is fine, he just wants to retire to spend more time with the grandkids." Jack looked at his friends, wondering what they would say to his next words. "They want me to take his place."

"In DC?" Daniel confirmed. Jack nodded at Daniel, but his eyes sought out Sam's. She was starting resolutely at her beer label.

"It would be a promotion," Jack added. "Major General. Two stars."

Teal'c gave a respectful nod. "It would be a great honor, O'Neill."

"Wow, Jack," Daniel said, obviously impressed. "That really is a big deal. Congratulations."

"See?" Jack teased his friend. "I told you it had to do with 'boring military stuff."

"In addition to important SGC stuff," Daniel countered.

Jack spent the next 10 minutes talking with Daniel and Teal'c about the position. Sam asked one or two questions, but for the most part, was quiet. Jack watched as she picked up her beer for what seemed like the ten thousandth time and downed the rest of the beverage before abruptly standing up.

"I need another," Sam declared, heading to the kitchen. She grabbed another bottle from the refrigerator, but instead of heading back to the living room, opened the screen door and headed out to the deck. Jack looked lost, his eyes darting back and forth between Daniel and Teal'c and the retreating figure of his 2IC.

"Go," Daniel said softly. "I think you guys should talk."

Jack went.

*******************sg1sg1sg1sg1sg1****************

Jack also grabbed a fresh beer and headed outside. Sam heard the door open, and knew who it was without looking. It could have been Daniel, but she just knew it had to be Jack. Sam closed her eyes in resignation. She hardly ever called him 'general' in her head anymore.

The silence was heavy, as they stood several feet away from one another in the fading light.

"So," Jack said finally, tossing his bottle cap adroitly into a potted plant at the edge of his deck and taking a few steps closer. Against her will, Sam bit back a smile as she heard the slight tinging noise the cap made as it hit another small metallic object. The poor plant was probably peppered with bottle caps.

"So…we seem to find ourselves on my deck," Jack began.

"Déjà vu." Sam tried not to think of the last time she had approached Jack's deck.

"I don't think we'll be interrupted this time," Jack said quietly, determined not to say Kerry's name out loud.

"Probably not," Sam conceded. "Although I wouldn't put it past the guys to be spying on us from the kitchen." Jack immediately swiveled his head to check. Nope. At least not yet.

The silence was uncomfortable. "So, promotion, huh?" Sam glanced quickly at Jack, before returning her attention to the label of her beer.

"Yep," Jack replied, taking another step closer to Sam. As much as he wanted to stand by her side right now, he recognized that she needed some space. He could give that to her.

"See, the thing is…" Jack paused, trying to work out exactly where to start. "There are a lot of logistics involved in moving to a new command."

"I imagine so," Sam replied with a quiet sigh, sipping her beer as she patiently waited to see what Jack would say next.

"Apparently," Jack continued uncomfortably, "I'll need to resign my commission at the SGC as a 1-star before accepting a new billing as a 2-star in DC."

"That makes sense," Sam acknowledged with a small nod. She really needed space and time to process all of this, and having Jack O'Neill stand next to her was just not helping. It wasn't that Jack wasn't the best qualified for the position, it was just that the thought of not seeing him every day felt like a crushing weight inside her chest. It hurt to breathe. Sam felt her eyes tear up and angrily told herself to stop.

Jack pretended not to notice. "I'll be given two weeks to pack my things, figure out what to do about my house, stuff like that." He risked a glance at Sam, his heart tightening at the immense sadness in her eyes. He hated seeing her sad. He needed her to start seeing the larger picture here. He really wanted to touch her face, but reached out instead to brush his fingers gently across her exposed wrist. Sam looked up, startled.

"After I leave the SGC," Jack continued. "For two weeks, I'll be without a posting. You won't report to me." Sam sucked in a quick breath at the news, her eyes widening. For a moment, Jack saw joy flitter across her face, before it immediately disappeared.

"It wouldn't change anything," Sam reminded him. "Two weeks after that, you'll be in charge of everything again." She paused and then looked at him for the first time since their conversation began "Including the SGC."

Jack nodded. "This is true," he admitted. "But there's more to it than that." Confusion danced across Sam's face as she turned away from his expressive eyes. What more could there possibly be?

"It seems, Carter…" Jack began as he took another step closer to her. "That there are options."

"Options, Sir?" Sam was confused.

"You have impressed the hell out of the geeks at Area 51, and they would like you to head the R & D division." Sam's head jerked up and she turned back to face Jack.

"They want me to what..?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Lead Research and Development at Groom Lake."

Sam's mind was reeling. "Seriously?"

Jack chuckled at the shocked look on Sam's face. "Ah, come on Carter," Jack cajoled. "You are, without a doubt, the foremost scientific mind when it comes to all things Stargate. You can't honestly believe there's someone more qualified than you to keep the geeks in check with all the alien tech we discover."

Sam blushed. Well, when he said it like that…

"Now normally," Jack continued, picking up his beer and taking a long drink. "Air Force officers don't really have much of a say in where they are stationed." Sam nodded in agreement. "But as you might have noticed, we're not exactly the run of the mill AF grunts."

Sam chuckled. "No, not really."

"Which means, the powers that be would like to give you the choice. You can stay at the SGC and continue to lead SG-1…"

"Or…" Sam prompted. There was no way there wasn't an 'or' here.

"Or, you can take the post at Area 51."

"Wow," Sam said, exhaling audibly and picking up her own beer. "That's quite a choice."

"Pros and cons for both, I'm sure," Jack stated, taking another swig of his beer.

"Yep." Sam's brain was working furiously, even as she bantered with Jack. There had to be more here, otherwise, why not give her the news at the SGC? Or even in front of Daniel and Teal'c?

"One interesting pro," Jack began. "At least I think it's a pro, god knows it's an interesting one…" Sam was shocked to realize that Jack was babbling. Jack never babbled.

"Ah hell," Jack grumbled, putting his beer down and turning to face Sam. "If you take the gig at Groom Lake, you will be reporting directly to Colonel Franklin."

Sam didn't know why Jack thought this was an item of note. "Who reports to the head of Homeworld, right?"

"Actually, he reports to a civilian doc, another physicist, by the name of Mark Adler." Sam's eyes went wide again.

"Colonel Adler?" Sam had studied under Mark at the Academy.

"Retired," Jack clarified. Sam felt her head spin and gripped the deck railing tightly in an attempt to ground herself. She took a deep breath and turned back toward Jack, who was looking at her expectantly.

"Let me get this straight," Sam began. "If I were to take the Area 51 assignment, I would report directly to a military officer, who in turn would report to a civilian one?" She wrinkled her brow in confusion.

"A civilian one who happens to be former military, so he knows the big picture. Mark would report to me. We thought it might be helpful to have another level of scientific oversight."

Sam continued to look confused. "That isn't the way it's supposed to work."

Jack chuckled. "Well, it certainly wasn't the way it used to work," Jack began, "but seeing as how they really wanted me to work for HWS, I had a little say in the structure, and I thought it could be helpful to have another person help summarize and prioritize all the various geeky things coming from multiple sources and locations." Jack could see that Sam had just about figured it out.

Sam's mind was reeling. If what Jack was telling her was true, she not only wouldn't be reporting directly to him anymore but there'd be two additional levels of structure between them. Two!

They stood side by side for several long moments before Jack broke the silence.

"So," he began, nudging Sam gently on the shoulder. "Hypothetically speaking…" Sam grinned. A full 100-watt grin that lit up her face like a super nova.

Sam picked up Jack's trail of thought. "So hypothetically speaking…"

"We're at my house," Jack supplied.

"On the back porch," Sam continued to smile, her eyes dancing in the low light.

"With a few beers." Jack raised his bottle. Sam did the same.

"And there are no frat regs." Sam paused as she realized that the frat regs still existed. The smile slowly melted off her face.

Jack immediately recognized her concern and knew what to do. "So, in 18 days," Jack continued smoothly.

"Two weeks and four days," Sam added with a small smile.

"We're back here."

"Exactly like we are now."

"And there are absolutely no frat regs between us," Jack declared triumphantly.

"And I lean over and kiss you," Sam declared boldly, giving Jack that smile that he was certain was for him alone.

"And I so kiss you back." Jack looked at Sam with increasing desire. His fingers twitched with the need to touch her face.

"With tongue, if I recall." Sam tried to sound nonchalant, but the notion of Jack's tongue touching her was doing wonderfully wicked things to her insides.

"Oh, most definitely." Jack's eyes grew dark as he fixated on her lips. He really, really wished he could kiss her now. Judging by the look on Sam's face, she was thinking the same thing.

"I'd reciprocate, you know," Sam teased.

"With tongue?"

"Oh yeah." Sam licked her lips, causing Jack to groan in remorse.

Sam chuckled. "Sorry," she said apologetically. "That wasn't on purpose."

"S'okay."

"This is, though," Sam said with a gleam in her eye. Jack's eyebrows shot up so fast, Sam thought they might leave a mark.

"If you kissed me," Sam continued. "I'd probably make a noise."

Jack sucked in a breath. Evil woman! "What kind of noise?" Jack's voice was low and husky. They were playing a dangerous game, but neither could stop.

"Not sure," Sam replied, licking her lips again. Slowly. Purposefully. A needy sound escaped Jack. God, she needed to stop doing that.

"Might be a sigh, could be a moan."

Jack closed his eyes as he imagined the sound. "I'd really like to hear you moan," he rasped looking at Sam as if he wanted to devour her right here. The coil of desire that had been swirling around Sam's stomach bloomed into full on arousal. Teasing Jack O'Neill might not have been the best idea, but she wasn't going to stop now.

"During the kiss," Sam whispered, her eyes never leaving Jack's, "I would touch your hair." She had fantasized about running her hands up Jack's neck and through his hair for what seemed like years. She wondered if it was soft. She wondered if he would like it.

Jack stepped closer. "Sam," he rasped, "if you started making noises and ran your hands through my neck and hair, I'd have to touch you." Jack pantomimed touching Sam's hips and butt.

Sam's eyebrows shot up, and she chuckled, providing a much needed reprieve. "My ass, Sir? Really?" Jack gave her an apologetic shrug.

"What can I say, Carter? I'm just an ordinary guy and your six.." Jack glanced quickly as the aforementioned body part before darting back to her face, which was pinking up deliciously with the scrutiny. "It has been my honor and pleasure to watch your backside these part eight years."

"So you'd just touch it, huh?" Sam teased.

"I'd do more than that," Jack countered, his voice strained again with the imagery of what could happen next.

"My hands would cover that amazing butt of yours, and I'd pull you close." The thought of feeling Sam against him, and not being able to do anything about it now, was nearly unbearable. Sam let out a little gasp, as she imagined what it would feel like to feel all of Jack O'Neill against her. The feeling was intense.

"Oh," she whispered hoarsely, closing her eyes as she imagined the scene, her own body growing hot and slick with desire. Her skin tingled as she felt a warm flush spread across her entire body. She wondered if it was possible to have an orgasm through words alone. "There'd definitely be an audible moan after that."

"Oh yeah," Jack agreed in a gravelly voice, as he fought to control the roar of blood rushing through his ears and rapidly increasing erection. Fuck. They really needed to stop this. Sam was breathing shallowly beside him. Panting really. It was taking all of Jack's self-control not to reach over and kiss her senseless. He longed to touch her. It had to be his imagination, but good god, he could swear he could smell her.

It was Sam of course that pulled them back from the brink. She had always known (thought, hoped) that there was a wild masculinity within Jack O'Neill, and dear god, she could see that right now. But she knew him. Knew this wonderful, attractive, sexual man next to her. And she knew he needed for her to be the strong one now, because judging by the predatory look on his face and the visible (and impressive) bulge in his pants, Jack was moments away from pouncing.

And holy hannah, how she ached for him to do so.

But they couldn't. Not yet. They waited this long, they could fucking well wait another 18 days.

432 hours.

25,920 minutes.

Math. It always helped. Sam exhaled audibly, feeling a bit more in control. She took a small step to her left, away from Jack O'Neill and his radiating lust. She picked up her beer and touched the cool bottle to her forehead, giving Jack a sad smile.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "Good idea." He also took a step away, this time to his right. He picked up his beer and placed it directly on his crotch. Sam giggled.

"I know I've mentioned the no giggling rule, Colonel," Jack groused, eyes twinkling. His words held little bite.

Sam opened her mouth to speak, but it was Daniel's voice that echoed across the deck.

"Jack!" Daniel called from the kitchen. "Do you have any marshmallows?"

"Marshmallows?" Jack mouthed, tension breaking as he looked at Sam in confusion.

"Jack!" Daniel said again, poking his head out of the glass door that separated the kitchen from the back yard. "Marshmallows? Teal'c wants a s'more." Daniel eyed Jack and Sam curiously. They were standing a fair distance apart, but seemed…off. It was hard to see in the dim light, and Daniel moved to come forward when Sam stepped towards him.

"I'll help you find them." Daniel looked at her curiously, but shrugged.

"Okay." He turned and headed back inside.

Sam turned back towards Jack, wiping her damp palms on her jeans as she took a deep breath. The cool air helped. "I thought perhaps I could take this one, Sir." Sam's eyes danced with merriment as she boldly stared at Jack's obvious erection. Jack growled in frustration.

"One day, Samantha Carter," he drawled, his eyes still dark with intense attraction, "I'm going to really enjoy wiping that smirk off your face."

Sam's own eyes darkened with pleasure. "I look forward to it, Sir."

With a jaunty sway to her hips, Sam headed back inside.

I leave you all to your shit-eating grins and need for a cool beverage.

Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed this story! You comments are totally appreciated and very much encourage me to write more. Thank you!