Sam laced up her trainers, making sure the knots were nice and tight, and then let herself out of her front door. She'd been in Nevada for a few months now and was really enjoying the work she was going. It was different to what she'd done at the SGC but it was a good different. Part of being on the front line team meant she had never really had a chance to just sit and study the technology that had been brought back, she'd just given it all a quick look, written a basic report, and then sent it off to the scientists here at Area 51.

Now though, she was able to look at all this tech, and she was loving it. She'd taken charge of the research and development and after having a bit of a restructure she now had it all running like a well-oiled machine. It had taken her a while to get used to the added responsibilities that came with her new job, but now she had gotten used to it she was really beginning to enjoy it. Her team was mostly made up of civilians which had made some things easier and some things harder, but she'd managed to get them all working as a unit, which was something they had been struggling with before she'd arrived.

She locked her front door and tucked her key into her leggings before she started jogging down the street. She lived on base in the accommodation there and nodded to a few people she knew as she jogged past them.

It had taken her a while to get used to running in the heat, it was a lot drier and hotter here in Nevada than it had been in Colorado Springs, but once she'd gotten used to the change, she started to run a few times a week.

To begin with, she stuck to the base, using it as an opportunity to get to know her way around, but now she ran farther, usually down the main road to the little diner and motel that was about two miles away from the main entrance to the base. That was where she was headed now.

She wound her way through the base, staying off the main road as much as she could until she got to the front gate. She showed her ID to the guards at the gate and they waved her through.

"Enjoy your run ma'am," one of the guards said as she passed them.

Sam smiled at him. She'd gotten to know most of the guards since she'd been here. "Thanks, Travis," she said, "I'm going to stop for some food at the other end, so I won't be back for a while."

"Of course ma'am," Travis replied.

Sam smiled again and turned and started running down the road. She kept her pace even, not wanting to wear herself out before she got to where she was aiming for.

As she ran she took in the scenery and enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun on her skin. She'd made sure the sunscreen up before she'd left so she wasn't worried about burning, so she just took the chance to enjoy being out in the sun.

Part of her wished she'd grabbed some headphones, but she'd been in a rush when she'd left and she'd forgotten to pick them up. So instead she was just left with her thoughts. She thought about the various pieces of tech she'd been working on recently and spent a bit of time thinking about each piece in detail, organising the various details she knew in her head, ready for going back to work after the weekend.

Once she'd run out of work projects her mind turned to her old team.

It had been a long time she'd spoken to Teal'c, he was busy off-world dealing with the free Jaffa, but the last time they had managed to speak he had been happy. Rya'c and his wife Kar'yn were doing well and Teal'c had been a very proud father.

She spoke to Daniel at least once a week and she knew that he was happy doing what he was doing, getting ready to head off to Atlantis to join the expedition there now that they'd established contact with them.

Since his promotion and move to DC Sam had also been speaking to Jack multiple times a week, sometimes they would even speak daily. It had been weird for the both of them to go from working together every day to being on opposite sides of the country, but their chats had been good for both of them. Jack had needed someone to vent to about all the political crap he was now having to deal with, and Sam had needed some reassurance that what she was doing with her new team was the right thing to do.

Sam came to a stop in the parking lot of the motel and looked around. There were only two parked cars, which wasn't surprising since the motel was in the middle of nowhere and was only really used by people doing a UFO tour, and there was no person in sight.

Seeing that she was alone Sam headed towards room four and knocked on the door. She looked around nervously, she really didn't want anyone from work to drive past and see her here, and then knocked on the door again. This time it opened almost instantly and Sam beamed at the man who opened it.

He beamed back and wordlessly stepped to one side to allow Sam to come in. Once she was inside he shut the door and then the two of them turned to each other.

"God I've missed you," Jack said as he gathered her up in his arms and kissed her.

Sam smiled as she kissed him back and then they pulled apart.

"Anyone suspicious?" Jack asked her, resting his forehead against hers.

"I run this route a lot," Sam told him, "And I told the guards on the gate that I'd be stopping for some food so no one will be looking for me for a while."

Jack beamed again. "Ah Carter, you're such a schemer."

Sam laughed. "I learnt from the best."

Jack laughed in response. He then dropped his hands so rather than being wrapped around her waist they were now closer to her thighs. He then picked her up and Sam wrapped her legs around his waist. "Well in that case," he muttered, kissing her deeply as he moved towards the bed, "We've got some time."

"Yes sir," Sam breathed against his lips.

-/-

An hour later the two of them lay side by side on the bed, both naked and breathing heavily.

Sam turned onto her side so she was looking at Jack and trailed a finger over his chest. He turned his head to look at her and smiled. She smiled back but Jack knew her well enough to know something was wrong.

"What's up Carter?" he asked her softly.

"I just feel bad," Sam admitted, "Running around behind people's backs."

"We're not doing anything wrong, Sam," Jack reminded her, "We're not breaking any rules but we agreed to keep this quiet, at least for the time being, until we got a bit more settled." He propped himself up on his elbow.

"I know that," Sam said, "But part of me wishes we could tell everyone."

"There's nothing stopping us," Jack said softly, "If you want to tell people then tell people."

Sam shook her head. "No," she said, "I want to keep it between us but at the same time I just feel dishonest."

Jack leant forward and captured his lips with hers. "Look," he said softly, "I love you and nothing is going to change that. If you want to tell people tell people, if you don't don't, but we can't keep having this conversation."

Sam nodded. She knew he was right. They'd gotten together while they'd been at the cabin but they had decided to keep it a secret, not even Daniel or Teal'c knew that they had confessed their love for each other one night under the stars as they'd laid out on the decking of Jack's cabin, although Sam had a feeling that Daniel suspected something was going on.

Sam continued to let her hand wander over Jack's chest as she thought. Jack watched her with a small smile on his lips. He had wanted to shout it from the rooftops that the great Samantha Carter loved him and he loved her, but they'd both decided that for the time being at least they needed to keep it quiet.

They were no longer in the same chain of command so technically they weren't breaking any rules, but they both knew that as soon as they did announce something then the rumours would start. Jack had no issues with that, but he hadn't wanted Sam to have to deal with that sort of thing. They both knew that people would start to say that they'd been sleeping together for years and that he'd given her preferential treatment.

"No one who matters will think any less of you," Jack told her softly, "Because they know the truth, that we never did anything inappropriate while we were both at the SGC."

"At least not when we were in full control of our faculties," Sam countered, "But I think most people look past the incidents of alien interference."

Jack laughed and then glanced over her shoulder at the clock. "You should probably think about heading back," he muttered, "As much as I don't want to see you go people will start to worry soon and they might send out a search party. They can't have their best scientist go missing now can they."

Sam blushed but nodded. "You're probably right," she admitted.

As she got up and started to gather her clothes, which were strewn around the room, she said, "I'm glad you could make it a day early. If you'd come straight to the base tomorrow I don't know how I would have coped."

"You and me both," Jack told her, getting to her feet and helping her find the rest of her clothes. "Will you be there to show me around tomorrow?" he then asked.

Sam nodded as she pulled her shirt over her head. "I will be yes," she said, "Your reputation precedes you and there's a few people who are nervous about you coming around."

"And they thought a friendly face might keep me happier?" Jack guessed.

This was his first visit to Area 51 since he'd taken over from Hammond which meant no one really knew what to expect.

"I suspect so," Sam said. She had finished getting dressed by now and was now checking her reflection in the mirror. "Damn that's a bit close to visible," she muttered, touching a dark hickey that was just starting to appear on her chest.

"Sorry," Jack said sheepishly.

"It's ok," Sam said, turning to face him, "I can hide it on my way back and then it'll be under my clothes. It's only barely visible because I'm in workout clothes."

She adjusted her shirt so that the hickey was completely hidden.

"How about me?" Jack asked her, moving to check himself in the mirror. "Anything I'm going to have to hide tomorrow?"

"No sir," Sam purred, coming up behind him and kissing his shoulder blade, "Unless you're planning on being shirtless as part of the tour."

Jack laughed. "I'm not sure that would be a good idea," he admitted.

He turned around and captured Sam's lips with his own. "Now get going," he ordered jokingly, "And I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bright and early," Sam said.

They both moved to the door and Jack quickly grabbed his pants from the floor and pulled them on before he peeked through the curtains to make sure that there was no one around. Once he saw that they were alone he opened the door and Sam walked out. "Let me know when you get back," Jack said before giving her a quick kiss.

"Yeah sure you betcha," Sam replied with a smile before she turned and started jogging back towards the base.

Jack watched her until she was out of view and then shut the door. He leant his head against it for a moment and smiled. Damn, he was glad that he'd managed to get the weekend off. Sorting his tickets to get out here had been a little awkward. His secretary had tried to book him a ticket that would have gotten him in for tomorrow morning but Jack had managed to talk her into getting one that got him in for early today. He'd lied through his teeth about why, saying he fancied a day to explore some of Vegas, but since it was a weekend and he hadn't been working he'd somehow managed it. He was sure that somewhere out there the people who looked through all his finance reports would have questions for him down the line but the cost of the flight hadn't been any different so he knew that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it, especially since he'd paid for his own hotel room, and had hired his own car so that no one from the base would have to come and get him.

He moved back to the bed and lay back on it, feeling rather pleased with himself. All in all, he was pretty certain that he would get away with coming out a day early, and he was also pretty confident that no one would be able to guess that he hadn't spent the day in Vegas like he'd said he would, but rather in a small but clean motel room with the woman he loved.

-/-

Nearly back to the base, Sam was also smiling to herself. She was tired and she knew tomorrow she would ache from both the running and the other... extra circulators she'd been involved with, but right now she felt invigorated. She upped her pace slightly, her energy levels high even after her workouts, and was soon in sight of the gates to the base.

She came to a stop and handed over her ID and then waited patiently for the guards to check it over, not that it took long, after all, they'd been the guards who had seen her go out.

"Nice run ma'am?" Travis asked as he handed her back the ID.

"Yes thank you," Sam replied.

"Is it true General O'Neill is on base tomorrow ma'am?" Travis then asked her.

By now Sam had become a master at hiding her emotions so rather than blushing madly at the thought of the naked man she'd just spent a rather enjoyable hour with she just nodded. "He is yes," she said, "He gets in at some point this evening or early tomorrow I believe."

Sam knew that if she had been at the SGC her comments would have been met by knowing looks that she and Jack had come to expect whenever someone thought there was something going on between them, but Travis had never worked at the SGC, he only knew Jack by reputation.

"Is he really as gruff as people say he is?" Travis asked. The poor young man actually looked nervous, but there was also a hint of something else in his face, and Sam realised that it was excitement. Jack was something of a legend to anyone who knew about the programme, which Travis did as he also helped out in the labs sometimes when he wasn't on duty. He was a bright young man and Sam was hoping that one day he might be able to make the move to the SGC, she could really see him fitting in there.

Sam shrugged. "I worked with him for eight years," she said, "And like everyone he had his good days and his bad days." She kept her answer light, not wanting to go into too much detail for fear of giving something away.

She then smiled at Travis. "Tell you what," she said, "You're working with me tomorrow aren't you?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I'll introduce you if we get a chance."

"Thank you, ma'am," Travis said quickly, "Have a good evening."

"You too," Sam said to him before she turned and jogged back towards her quarters.