It took Jack ten minutes to find her. In fact he was surprised that no one else had noticed she was missing, considering she was the reason why there were lots of people were chomping on burgers and downing beers in the back yard.

He slid down beside her on the front porch step, deliberately nudging her shoulder with his as he did so. Sam peered up at him with a thin smile that didn't meet her eyes, forcing Jack to reach his right arm around her shoulder and pull her close, placing a soft kiss on her temple.

Sam squeezed his knee affectionately. "I can't not go."

"I know..."

"It doesn't stop me from not wanting to though..."

Jack sighed. "Yeah I know that too..."

Sam smiled up at him sadly. "And we both know that if I didn't you would be just as disappointed."

Jack nodded and mimicked her expression. "Yeah and we both know that you would be too."

Sam broke her gaze, staring down at their feet and nodded silently. A moment of silence slipped between them and Sam almost thought Jack was holding his breath; scared to say what was on his mind.

"Sometimes I feel that we weren't even given a proper chance..."

At the sound of her whisper, Jack shifted beside her, his head canted to one side. "What do you mean?" He murmured.

Sam shrugged, but they both knew there was more she wanted to say. Her eyes sought his and after a beat, she tried again. "We had to move apart, in order to be together... and... and just when I think things are going great, I get moved back to the SGC.... It was as hard for me as it was for you..."

Jack watched as Sam turned away again, her fingers picking with a bit of dirt on the step beside her. They'd talked about the change when it happened; how it would affect their relationship and what they would do to overcome any problems. They didn't talk about how, sometimes, Jack would call her when he couldn't sleep from worry, or how Sam often called before she went off on a mission. Despite that fact the both of them knew.

"You feel that each step you take, is taking you further away? From me? From us?"

Jack's quiet tone forced Sam to suck in a deep breath. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, as she nodded her head, feeling her eyes sting. "Yeah..." She let out a shaky breath, "But that doesn't mean that I want it to..." She looked up into his eyes, pleading with him to understand. "It took us years to get where we are now... and if I could stay, I'd...."

"You'd what?"

They stared at each other for long moment, their eyes roaming each other's. Silent communication always was a skill of theirs, but sometimes Jack wondered how much Sam was actually saying to him and how much of what he interpreted was just wishful thinking.

Sam tore her eyes away, causing Jack to wonder just what his face was projecting.

His head, heart and lungs were screaming at him, and for once he didn't have the ability to force their cries away. "Sam..." It took a squeeze of her shoulder to make her hands still. "How much, in there, did you hear?"

A wave of guilt washed over her and Sam felt tears prick in her eyes again as she risked throwing him a glance. "Most of it..."

A rush of air expelled from Jack's lungs, causing strands of Sam's hair to filter across her face. Remaining silent, he pulled her in closer and rubbed his hand up and down her arm before leaning his head unto hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her temple.

"It's okay," She whispered back.

"I should have spoken to you first, but you know Daniel...."

"Once he gets an idea into his head..." Sam finished for him.

They shared a small smile. "Something like that..."

"I agree, you know..." She peered up at him, unable to hide the grin that was threatening to emerge on her face.

Jack frowned, then merely raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You do?"

"Yeah..." Her grin increased two-fold.

"About which bit?" A nervous laugh tumbled out of Sam's mouth and she shook her head in amusement. "So....?" He waved his left hand in the air in front of them.

Sam uncurled her lip and smiled into his eyes. "I don't think we need to be engaged to know that neither of us are going to go anywhere while I'm away..." Jack nodded in agreement. "But..."

Jack's eyebrows almost disappeared. "But?" He asked, when Sam dragged her sentence out for far too long.

Sam simply shrugged. " I like surprises...."

A loud bellow of her name caused Sam to turn to peer into the house. A shadowed figure was heading towards them, and although neither could see who it was, Sam could recognise Cassie's voice from anywhere.

She turned back to Jack, almost missing the look of confusion on his brow. "Surprise me," She added, before leaning to place a kiss upon his lips.

It was meant to be small and quick, but the shock must have worn off on Jack sooner than expected and he drew her in further, savouring the moment.

"I should've known...." Cassie muttered as soon as she appeared in the doorway, their actions in full view.

"Five minutes," Jack stated, pulling back briefly, and not even looking at the young woman before pressing his lips back to Sam's.