I'm sorry everyone – this was supposed to be a short epilogue and then got longer and longer so there will actually be another chapter after this one. It's almost finished though and I have another story in the works.
When Jack woke up he could tell it was quite late by the amount of light coming in the window. It was unusual for him to sleep in but this time he wasn't surprised. It had been a long drive yesterday. He had just decided to get up and use the facilities when he heard a soft snort beside him.
He looked to his right and couldn't help but grin. Sam was sound asleep, mouth hanging open. A thin trail of drool was hanging from the corner of her lips and dropping on the pillow. For some strange reason this made Jack incredibly happy. Okay, call him weird; there was just something so … normal, so domestic about this scene. As wonderful as newly discovered (or at least newly admitted) love was, he knew that the day-to-day loving, with all its ups and downs, was even better. Looking at the woman he loved looking – well 'tousled' would be putting it nicely, made an incredible feeling of tenderness surge up in his breast. She probably even had morning breath!
For the first time in years he was looking forward to the future. He looked forward to being there when Sam was sick, when she was crabby, heck, even when she was angry. True love was being there for each other through everything, good or bad, and that's what he wanted with Sam. He'd had that with Sara but circumstances had ripped it from him. There was no way he was going to let that happen again. No, he was looking forward to a real life with this woman – a normal life! Or at least as normal as they could get!
As he lay on his side, propped up on his elbow and looking at the woman sleeping beside him, he knew he was the luckiest man in the world. God must have forgiven him, he thought, to have given him this amazing person. As she snorted again, smacking her lips together and turning over, he had to keep from laughing. Yes, this was real life!
On that thought he decided he'd really better get up. Very carefully, so as not to disturb her, he swung his legs over the side and stood. Expecting to feel tired or dizzy – the way he'd felt for so long, he was surprised and pleased to realize he felt great. Not only did he feel alert and strong, his knees didn't creak or even hurt. He tried bending his legs a bit and they still felt totally fine. The old 'kozars' were doing better than they had in years.
He walked to the door and opened it, taking one last look at the sleeping woman in the bed. Smiling, he walked out and headed for the bathroom.
Once he'd finished he realized he was starving. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten a good meal. He suddenly had a craving for pancakes and bacon! Damn, he didn't have any food in the house! Oh well, maybe he had some dried goods or something and when Sam was up they could head into town. He didn't know if she'd be very hungry but he definitely needed to eat. As he opened the bathroom door, planning to head to the kitchen, he heard a sound.
Stopping suddenly he realized that voices were coming from the main room. What was going on? No one ever came to his cabin and suddenly people were dropping in like flies. He hoped this wasn't something bad. Slowly he crept down the short hallway.
"Shhh Daniel Jackson, you will wake them up!" Teal'c's voice was actually louder than Daniel's had been when he'd spoken. Janet frantically waved her arms, trying to get the two men to be quiet. Jack and Sam both needed their sleep.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Three startled pairs of eyes turned towards the new voice. There, in the hallway, stood Jack, dressed in nothing but boxer shorts, a bemused expression on his face.
"Jack!" "O'Neill", "Colonel", three voices spoke at once.
"Yes, you clearly all know who I am, the question is, do you know where you are?" he asked sweetly. "The last time I checked this was my home. I always thought it was considered polite to let someone know when you were coming for a visit." The friends all looked guilty but not too worried. Although Jack's words were sarcastic, the tone of his voice was not. If anything, he sounded rather pleased with the world.
"Sorry Jack. We were worried about you so thought we'd better come and check and see if you were okay." Daniel answered for all of them.
"I see. All the way to Minnesota? Isn't that a bit out of your way?"
"We were very worried O'Neill." Teal'c added as if this made a trip half-way across the country a logical thing to do.
"Okay … but why were you worried?" Jack was leaning up against the wall, arms crossed. He was secretly very touched by their concern but didn't want to let on. They all deserved a bit of ribbing after scaring the pants off him.
"Well, you asked me to let the repairman in to fix your heat."
"Yes, I remember Daniel. I can certainly see why that would worry you." Jack raised his eyebrows.
"Well", Daniel continued, a sarcastic tone in his voice, "when Teal'c and I arrived at your house it felt like we'd walked into a furnace. The heat wasn't broken – you had it cranked up as high as it could go. When the repairman got there he said there was nothing wrong with it. Oh, by the way, you owe me $150. Anyway, Teal'c and I realized you must be sick again if you thought it was cold when it clearly wasn't. So, we called Janet and here we are." Jack almost expected to hear a 'ta da' at the end of the explanation.
"I see." Jack looked at his friends all sitting looking at him expectantly. God, he loved these guys! He was just about to say something when he noticed that they all looked quite pleased with themselves. Wait! When had they arrived? They certainly hadn't been here when he got home last night. Looking at the clutter around the room, and the fact that Janet was wearing what looked like a bathrobe, he figured they must have been here for a while. If that was the case, and they'd been so worried about him, why hadn't they checked to see if he was okay? Surely they wouldn't wait for him to wake up? Not if he was sick.
He looked suspiciously at his friends. Janet was the first to lose eye contact, followed by Daniel. Teal'c continued to look at him, as inscrutable as ever, but there was still something in his eyes.
"So, you came to check on me. Funny that you just let me sleep. If you were so worried why didn't you come in and wake me up."
There was a long pause. It was clear each of them was hoping the other would speak. It was Daniel who cracked first.
"We did. Well, we didn't wake you up but we did check on you. You – ah – seemed just fine so we left you to sleep." He stopped then but Jack could see the slight smirk hidden deep in those blue eyes. He swiftly glanced at Frasier and was sure he caught a smile, although she hid it quickly. Teal'c simply raised that damn eyebrow.
Jack could feel his face start to turn red. Damn it all – he was too old to be blushing for God's sake!
"Oh". He didn't quite know what to say. He cleared his throat and decided that he was not going to react. He hadn't done anything wrong! Well, now that he thought about it, yes, he had. But he wasn't going to feel guilty about it!
"What time is it?" That's the way O'Neill, just ignore it – and them.
"Uh, it's 11:30. We were just discussing going to get something to eat. You don't have much here." Daniel sounded peeved. He was really hungry.
"Well I didn't exactly expect guests Daniel. I was going to go in and get some food after …" He stopped. Oh shit, this was getting awkward. With a sigh he walked over and sat on the couch and put his head in his hands.
His friends looked at each other, starting to feel bad. Was he upset? Had things gone wrong? Everything had seemed to be okay when they'd found Jack and Sam together.
"Uh Jack, if you want us to leave we will", Daniel walked over and sat beside his friend. "We don't want to bother you. We really were just worried." And still are, he thought.
Jack put his head up and grinned. It was definitely the shit-eating grin Jack used when he was really pleased about something. Daniel, Teal'c and Janet all breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"No, you don't have to leave. I'm glad you're here. Just threw me a bit is all. I'd expected to come up and have the cabin to myself for a couple of weeks. Instead people keep popping up. I just had to take a moment to get used to it."
"Are you sorry Sir?" Janet walked over and sat in the chair across from Jack.
"Sorry?"
"That we all – uh 'popped up'?
Jack grinned again – "No. Actually I'm kinda glad. In fact – I was really glad last night that someone had … popped up!" He looked at his friends. Yes, they knew about Sam and him. There was no point in being uncomfortable or embarrassed. He could tell they were pleased but also felt awkward about saying anything.
Daniel grinned back. "Yes, that must have been a bit of a surprise."
"Tell me about it. I got here in the middle of the night and went to bed and there was someone already there!"
"And you instantly ran screaming into the night?"
"No, I got into bed too. I was cold, remember? Nothing like a good, warm teddy bear to snuggle up with."
"A blond teddy bear I assume Sir?"
"Yup – blond hair, blue eyes, great body. Yup – my favorite teddy bear." He grinned again – in fact, he couldn't stop smiling. Life was great.
Janet and Daniel both laughed and Teal'c actually smiled. "We're happy for you guys Jack. It's about time!"
"Yeah, well, what can I say? It hasn't been exactly easy." He grew more serious, knowing that there were still tough times ahead.
"Colonel, I would still like to check you over. You seem to be better but I want to make sure." Janet was looking seriously at him.
"Yeah okay Janet. Give me while though. I feel really great but I'm starving. I think we should run into town and pick up some groceries first." Jack glanced down and suddenly realized he was almost naked. Geesh! It was a good thing he'd grabbed his boxers. He often ran around his cabin in the buff! He also realized that he'd forgotten about the stupid rings! He could feel his ears getting red again. God, blushing twice in one day. He never blushed. He was a Colonel in the Air Force, for heavens sakes! Fortunately no one seemed to notice, or at least they weren't saying anything. Still, he'd better get dressed.
"So Jack." Damn, Daniel was using his 'let's talk about it voice'.
"What Daniel."
"It appears to have worked."
"What worked?" He looked in confusion at his friend. What was he talking about now?
"Uh, you're obviously better so the .. uh … Mai'thun thing – it actually worked."
Silence greeted this statement. What was Jack supposed to say? Yes Daniel, I had sex with Sam and now I'm all better. That was so not going to happen. He simply stared at the younger man.
"Do you think it's permanent or do you thing you'll have to keep …." Daniel's voice petered out as if he realized what he was talking about.
"Daniel!" Janet glared at the archaeologist. "For heavens sake, don't bug the Colonel about that now." Jack turned and looked at her. What? He was supposed to bug him about it later?
"Oh, sorry Jack. I was just wondering. Well, I've been worried you know!" he justified himself. "At least now you don't have to hide it from Sam."
Oh no! Jack closed his eyes. This was bad. He hadn't told Sam. He remembered his worry of last night. Their relationship was still so new. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea.
"Look guys" he said, very seriously. "Sam doesn't know about the 'cure' for my 'illness' and I don't want you to say anything."
"But Jack, she'll have to know." Daniel looked concerned, as did the others.
"Of course she will and I'm going to tell her. I just don't want her to get the idea that I – that we – oh hell, did you know, because of that. I wasn't even thinking about my illness last night. I love Sam – more than you'll ever know – that's why I made love to her." There, he'd said it! "Not because of some stupid addiction. I don't want her to get the idea that last night was to help me because it wasn't. I only realized what it meant when I woke up and felt better."
"Colonel, we know that and I'm sure Sam will too. There's something else you don't know. Martia told us that those drugs you were given wouldn't have had this effect if you and Sam didn't already love each other. There's something in the drugs that connect with – what did she call it? –your 'auras' and combine to create the addiction. It's much more than physical. There's a mental and emotional element as well. So, if you hadn't loved each other you wouldn't be addicted."
Jack looked surprised, but pleased. "Really? Wow. So what would have happened if we hadn't – you know" (he still felt rather uncomfortable about the whole discussion – especially sitting in his underwear).
"Martia said that it would have caused you to have an aversion to one another. You would never have been able to … Mai'thun."
"Oh"
Sam stood frozen listening to the conversation. She'd woken up a while ago and had wondered where Jack was. She'd decided to go and check, hoping everything was okay. As she'd padded down the hall she'd heard voices. At first startled, it didn't take her long to realize to whom they belonged. Smiling she was going to show herself when the conversation about Jack's illness began.
Surprised, and then shocked, she listened as they spoke. So that's what was going on. That's why her presence had seemed to help him. But why hadn't he told her that – making love – would cure him? It came to her in a blinding flash. It was the same reason he'd been upset about what had happened on the planet. He thought she would have done it regardless of her feelings for him. That it could have screwed up a possible relationship.
Suddenly she felt blazingly angry. He would have let himself die rather than tell her! Goddamn the man! Sometimes she wanted to kill him herself. What made her even angrier was their friends had clearly been in on it. How could Janet have gone along with it? Surely someone should have told her.
Wait. How had they helped Jack back at the SGC? They'd all thought he was cured. If she was the 'cure' what had Janet done? She remembered that the doctor had been uncharacteristically obscure about the whole thing. She'd definitely have to get to the bottom of this.
Turning silently she made her way back to the bedroom. She was still too angry to face Jack or her friends. She probably would have begun throwing pots at them! She went and sat on the bed and tried to calm down.
She thought about the conversation she'd heard. As angry as she was, she also recognized that he'd been worried that she would doubt his love for her if she found out about the cure. He needn't have worried. She knew him too well. He had made love with her out of love – not to save himself. Smiling, even in her anger, she was grateful for this man.
Still, she wasn't about to let him off scott-free for hiding this from her. No – he needed to learn a lesson.
The door to the bedroom slowly opened. Jack thought she was still sleeping. As he walked in the room he saw Sam sitting cross-legged on the bed. He went to say 'good morning' when he noticed her expression. Shit! There was one really pissed off Carter on his bed.
"Uh – good morning?" He stayed by the door. He hadn't spent years learning to identify danger to blindly walk forward into what could be a lethal situation.
"Is it?"
"I – kinda thought so?"
"It was. I woke up quite happy."
"And then ….?"
"And then I realized that this man I know – this man who is supposed to be a mature, intelligent person – did something really, really stupid."
"Yeah? Really stupid, you say?"
"Oh yeah, really stupid."
"I … see. Is it something he can be forgiven for?" Oh God, he hoped so. If this was the end already he didn't know what he'd do.
"Maybe, after a while. After doing a lot of groveling and apologizing."
"That could be arranged."
"And after promising to never, ever, ever do something like it again."
"Okay. I'm sure he'll promise if you just give him a chance." He looked just like a puppy that had done something wrong. She almost broke but hung on to her anger by a thread.
"All right then."
"Uh … okay. Is that it?"
"No, I'm waiting for the groveling and the apology – and the promise."
He walked slowly towards the bed. She followed him with her eyes but didn't seem to object to him coming closer. He carefully sat down, near but not touching her.
"I'm really sorry Sam. It won't happen again." There, hopefully that was heartfelt enough.
"Do you know what you're apologizing for Jack?"
"Uh, not really."
"So, when you say you won't do it again, you have no idea what you're promising."
"Mmmm – no. But I really do promise."
She choked back a laugh. He was so adorable. She turned and faced him, her expression losing its anger but still growing serious.
"Jack, I overheard you speaking with the guys." His face blanched. God, this was what he'd been afraid of. He turned to her and started to speak but she placed a finger over his mouth. "No, let me finish." Looking at him she realized he really was frightened. She hadn't meant to worry him so much. She began to speak. "I found out that you hid from me the fact that I was the 'cure' to what was wrong with you. Jack, I understand why you did it, really I do. But please, promise me you won't ever do something like that again. Don't you understand? There's nothing more awful than the thought of losing you. I'd do anything, anything at all to keep that from happening – not out of duty or friendship or pity – but because I love you more than anything in this world. Don't ever sacrifice yourself for some reason that doesn't exist." She could feel the tears begin to gather in her eyes. He reached over and gently touched her cheek. She turned and leaned into him.
"Don't ever do something so stupid again, okay?"
"Okay Sam, I promise. God, I love you so much."
"I know you do … and I love you. And by the way – don't worry about me thinking you made love to me just to get better. I know you too well. I'd never think that."
"Thank God!" He reached down and took her in his arms. Relief and love filled his heart. After a few minutes he pulled away from her.
"Our friends are all anxious to see you. They're also anxious to eat!" She laughed but looked a little pink. He was glad to see he wasn't the only one who was feeling a little uncomfortable about having them here with their relationship so brand-new.
"Do they know we .. ?"
"Mai'thuned?" He grinned – a whole new word had entered his vocabulary – and it meant so much.
She grinned back. "yes, Mai'thuned."
"Oh yeah! And they're happy for us – so come on lady! Get your butt in gear and get dressed."
"Hey, what about you? I'm not the one prancing around in nothing but boxers and nipple rings!"
He sighed. Yup, he'd known they were going to cause problems but he never thought the teasing would come from the woman he loved.
"I think you should get a matching set!" he muttered as he walked to his dresser and began pulling out clothes. She just laughed.
"Sam!" Janet walked up and hugged her as she walked into the main room. "You're looking fantastic! How are you feeling? Is that flu over?"
"Uh, not exactly. But I am feeling great right now. I'm starving."
"Okay everyone, let's go. It's about 20 minutes to town and we'll have to take two cars. Daniel, you can follow me."
There was no more serious discussion for the rest of the afternoon. The teammates – with Janet, who was an honorary member of the team, ate in town and then went grocery shopping. They'd all decided to stay at the cabin for a few days since they had a break anyway. It would be a great way to relax and have fun.
That evening, after Jack had fixed a home cooked meal, they all sat in the living room in front of a roaring fire. It was only then that the discussion returned to more serious matters.
"What about the General?" Jack finally asked. He'd been wondering all day but didn't want to destroy the relaxed and happy mood.
"We called him this morning, before you were up, and told him you were fine. Janet said she'd debrief him when we got back."
"I thought you said the phones didn't work here?" Sam turned and looked at Jack.
"Sorry – I just didn't want you getting out of bed. I liked you where you were." Sam turned red again and the others suddenly appeared to be looking intently at something on the walls.
Jack smiled slightly but then his expression sobered. "He's not going to be happy. He'll think we were hiding something from him."
Daniel simply said, "We were."
"What do you think is going to happen?" Sam was biting her lip. The others didn't know about the pregnancy yet – they just thought it was the relationship but it was now much more serious.
"We'll explain that there was nothing else you could have done. It was a case of life or death. It's totally explained by 'alien influence'."
"Maybe." Jack looked up at his friends. "We can say that but you know there'll be lots of people who won't buy it. We'll have to try and prove it and most of it will be our words against theirs?"
"No it won't. I've got the medical proof to show that you had to … do what you did or you would have died. There's no way they can refute that."
"There's just one problem Janet." Sam looked at Jack who nodded. "There's proof we didn't wait."
"What? What do you mean proof and waited for what?" Everybody but Jack looked confused.
"Last night wasn't the first time we … we were together on the planet. Before Jack got sick."
"What?" Daniel said, shocked. "But everyone said that Jack refused, that he was tortured and wouldn't uh – do it."
"That's true. He refused for a long time. But then I found out that they'd threatened to turn Jack into a eunuch" (she could feel him shudder beside her) "or kill him. I couldn't let that happen so I 'seduced' him."
Jack clearly objected to that story and started to object. "Hey, it wasn't just you – it was me too. Look guys, we were stuck together in one room for weeks. We were both frightened and unsure of what was going to happen so we turned to each other for comfort. But it didn't .. I mean we didn't - we stopped, okay, when we realized it was wrong."
"Why was it wrong?" Janet asked softly. "I think it was exactly right. You needed each other – hell, you loved each other, even if you hadn't admitted it yet. There's nothing wrong in that."
"There is according to the Air Force." Jack answered, equally as softly.
"But there's no way they'll know. Just don't say anything. What difference does it make to anyone Jack?" Daniel spoke fiercely.
"I concur O'Neill, Major Carter. There is no reason to tell General Hammond or the Air Force. We will not say anything."
Jack looked at Sam and took a deep breath.
"They'll find out anyway."
"How? Who's going to say anything? No one knows but us."
"Well, I'm afraid O'Neill junior is going to give it away pretty soon." Jack replied.
Teal'c looked confused. "You do not have a 'junior' O'Neill." Jack couldn't help but laugh although Teal'c's words had given him a sharp pang as he thought of his son. Sam's hand reached out and took his, giving it a soft squeeze. He looked at her gratefully but after a couple of seconds glanced over at Janet and Daniel. He had to laugh again; they both were doing a great impression of a wide mouthed bass.
"Jack!"
"Yes Daniel?"
"Do you mean to tell me that you and Sam are pregnant!"
"Sam! Did you take another test?" Janet squealed.
"Yes, and yes. I was still feeling sick Janet. I figured the other one may have been too soon. I found out last night."
"Oh sweetie!" Janet came over and gave her friend a hug. "This time I'm happy for you!" She turned to Jack. "And you too Colonel. You both deserve this."
"Hey Jack – way to go!" Daniel looked incredibly pleased. None of them seemed to get how serious this was.
"We appreciate it guys, and we really are happy, but there's still the problem of having disobeyed the regs. This could be really bad. They might let me retire but it's going to hurt Carter's career and she's no where near ready to leave."
They all sat there, trying to think of what could be done.
"Jack, surely the Air Force will figure you had good reason. Heck, who wouldn't choose to disobey the regs rather than become a eunuch? You can't tell me any man wouldn't have done the same thing. Those are definitely extenuating circumstances."
"Yeah, if we can prove it."
"Well Martia and some of the other women will testify to that fact. They'll also say you were tortured. I really don't think you have anything to worry about."
"And anyway", added Janet, "the dates won't be that far out. These new tests are pretty sensitive so I expect you aren't very far along. You can always say that the baby came a couple of weeks early."
"Janet! That sounds like something from a Victorian novel. Do you really think anyone would buy that?"
"By that time who will care?"
"Okay folks, enough. Let's get some sleep. We can't do anything about it now anyway and I for one am ready for bed!" He stood up and stretched and then turned to help Sam up. He was surprised to see her looking embarrassed. He glanced at the others and caught smirks on their faces.
"Oh grow up people!" he said in frustration. "I just meant it's late and I'm tired. God, you're all acting like a bunch of teenagers." Pulling Sam up from the couch he led her to the bedroom. He turned around just as he got to the hall.
"Goodnight everyone. Sleep tight. Sam and I are going to have sex now so please don't come and check on us." With that he turned and pulled Sam into the bedroom, closing the door with a loud 'click'. A muffled "JACK!" could be heard behind the door.