AN:

Summary: Hey Carter Q15: After getting together with his original SG-1 friends, General Jack O'Neill lies awake in his bed whilst the others sleep soundly around his D.C. home. He had planned on waiting until the morning to tell all, but with sleep eluding him and with there being only person whom he actually wants to know, why should he wait? T-rated, post-series, Jack/Sam, Friendship/Romance.

HEY CARTER: QUESTION 15: CALLING ME 'SIR'.

Jack lay on his back staring up at the stationary fan on the ceiling, the darkness not absolute due to the moonlight that was shining in through the gap in the curtains. The duvet cover that surrounded him was soft and comfortable but it was his train of thought that was truly making feel warm inside. He smiled to himself and glanced over at the bedside clock. It was 3:26am, he was awake and he was happy.

Tomorrow was to be the big day, one he had been planning for a while...for years actually if he thought about it. Just a few more hours and everything would be different. He rolled back over onto his side and did his best to quiet the excited voices in his head, resolutely he closed his eyes, the sooner he got to sleep, the sooner the morning would arrive.

After only a few minutes he suddenly bolted upright and set his feet on the floor. "To hell with it!" He couldn't wait a few more hours, he couldn't wait a few more minutes or even one more second for that matter...he had to do this now!

He pulled on a pair of boxers to cover his modesty and made his way across to the bedroom door. From there he glanced left down the hall into the living room of his home. Everything was in the same level of darkness as his bedroom had been and the silence of the sleeping house was only penetrated by the sound of Daniel Jackson's soft snoring.

Jack grinned slightly, despite the fact that he now had two spare rooms, the archaeologist always ended up sleeping on the couch. A slight craning of the neck revealed Teal'c in his favourite chair lost somewhere in the depths of kel-no-reem. "Good." Jack whispered to himself. With both the boys asleep or oblivious to his presence it would make telling Sam the news a little more special. He wanted her to be the first to know anyhow, she deserved to be the first.

Jack settled the butterflies in the pit of his stomach and turned right, silently tracking down the hallway, past the shared bathroom and towards the spare bedroom door. It was slightly ajar and through it broke a pale tell-tale glow. Sam was still awake and working on her laptop and for that Jack was glad. Disturbing her from her sleep would only upset her and have her instantly thinking that something was wrong and he did not want that.

He didn't knock, he simply popped his head in round the door. "Hey Carter."

His dropping in on her or picking up the phone to speak to her even in the middle of the night had become a two way street and a regular occurrence in recent years. It had started when he had moved to D.C. a few years back and had almost become a mutual expectation ever since she had come back from Atlantis.

"Oh, hi Sir. I was wondering when you were going to get here." She smiled sweetly at him and instantly moved to set the laptop to one side so as to give him her full attention.

Jack took a moment to watch her as she shifted; graceful, elegant, feminine yet strong. She really was the most beautiful person that he knew and not just on the outside either, Samantha Carter had a beautiful soul, one that he enjoyed being around more than any other he had ever known. He swallowed at the catch in his throat and steadied the fluttering of his heart, she always did that to him, no matter how much he was around her, his reaction was always the same.

Sam watched as Jack stood just inside the door, not moving, waiting for the invite. Casually she patted the cover beside her on the bed and silently he made his way over. "What, no t-shirt tonight?" she asked, grinning mischievously at him.

"Uah..." Jack looked down at himself realising he had not thought this through at all, for obvious reasons he always wore more clothes around her. Then he realised it did not matter. There was nothing about him that Sam did not already know and therefore he had nothing to feel self-conscious about. Well...almost nothing. He shifted back against the headboard slightly, trying to subtly reposition his hands so as to cover his decade long need to be with her. That part of him she did not know...not yet anyhow...

Sam's lip quirked as she tilted her head, intently examining his face so as not to tempt herself to look down and see something that would without doubt cause her to act on impulse. "You okay, Sir?" she forced out, anything to keep her mind and her eyes out of the dangerous territory that he always evoked in her.

Jack nodded quickly, his head bobbing up and down a few more times than he would have liked. Without breaking eye contact he began speaking the first words that came into his head. "How would you like to not have to call me 'Sir'?"

Sam felt her eyelids flutter, she had not expected that one.

Jack, unconscious of his actions, grabbed one of the pillows and covered himself. "Or to not have to call me 'General', or your 'CO', or your 'superior' or anything like that?" he babbled, wondering how he could have started off so completely in the wrong place.

Sam shifted slightly and pursed her lips. "What...what does that mean?"

The look on her face told Jack that she knew something new was afoot but also that she had no idea if it was a good thing or a bad thing. "I mean, how would you like to be able to call me 'Jack'? Nothing more, nothing less. Just Jack O'Neill, two ells."

"I..." Sam shook her head. Maybe it was because it was half three in the morning or because he was not actually making any sense, but either way she was simply not following. "General, you know I already use two ells" she pointed out in attempt to give herself some space to work out what was going on.

Jack sighed deeply, she was not getting his meaning so he tried to figure out what it was he was actually trying to say. "I was going to tell you in the morning, all of you together but I just couldn't wait any more. Besides I wanted you to be the first to know."

"Know what, Sir?" Sam hand came out to catch his. "There's nothing wrong is there?" Concern instantly laced through her voice. She was sure she could not handle the thought of him being sick or in trouble or something.

"No, no." Jack reassured automatically, squeezing her palm before linking her fingers with his own in a reassuring fashion. "Quite the opposite actually." He paused to catch his breath, this was it. "I ah...it's official." Slowly he raised his eyes back up to meet hers.

"What's official?"

She still looked concerned so he tugged on her hand, making her glance down at their linked fingers, the duration of their connection was unusually long to say the least. He spoke whilst she was distracted. "As of a little over three hours ago, I am no longer in the service of The United States Air Force." Her head popped up. "I'm retired Sam." he told her with a flourish. "The paperwork finally cleared last week...they let me go today."

It took a few moments for the words to sink in but Jack watched as the meaning slowly began to dawn on his now ex-2IC, who unbeknownst to her, was literally about to be promoted and take control of the SGC...hence the delay, he wanted to make sure all of that was in place before he stepped out.

Sam's heart beat wildly in her chest. "You mean..?"

"That's right, I'm a free agent Sam...Samantha." He relished that last word, it meant everything to him. A while back, after she came back from Atlantis, he had stopped using it, opting to simply call her 'Carter' instead, it was safer that way...especially as they both knew that this day was coming, even if it did take about a year longer than expected.

"So, you are not a General any more?" It seemed that to Sam that she was so stunned all she could do was ask obvious questions. They had been waiting for this for so long that it just did not seem real.

"Nope! Now I am simply 'Jack'. Go ahead, try it out."

"O-okay." Sam was a little hesitant, she had not said his name out loud in his company in years, not since she had forbidden herself to do so after the Prometheus incident. She ducked her head feeling more than a little self-conscious. "I...I know this is stupid but...I don't know what to say."

Jack laughed slightly. "Why don't you ask me how I am?"

Sam shrugged, how hard could that be? "Alright...How are you, Jack?" The sentence was mechanical and so too was his reply, probably because he was mocking her Sam realised.

"I am fine Samantha, how are you?"

"I'm fine too...Jack." She said it again then pulled a face. "That's just really weird!"

"Probably because we both sound like Teal'c. 'How is it that you are doing today?'" Jack rather accurately imitated and Sam giggled slightly, dropping her head briefly onto his shoulder, something that she never, ever allowed herself to do.

His hand crept up to touch the fly away ends of her long hair even as she lifted her head again. He paused to gather himself. "But..." and the butterflies were back. "On a more serious note Sam."

"Yes." she answered pre-emptively, her eyes shining bright even in the dim light.

"But you don't-"

"Yes I do and yes, you don't even have to ask. We've been waiting for this day for years Jack, so don't even say the words, just do it already." Anticipation began to flood out through her, this was happening, this was actually really happening.

Jack blinked slightly as a self-assured and highly expectant grin spread slowly across her face. "M'kay." he uttered and finally, finally moved in to give her that long, long overdue kiss.

END.

AN: So...you can decide for yourselves if that was a marriage proposal or simply a 'will you go out with me Sam' I can't say I am particularly sure which it is myself, but hey, I suppose that's part of the fun ;)

Hope you enjoyed...until next time... ...