A/N
thanks as always to everyone that has read and reviewed the last chapter :-) sorry this one has been a few weeks in coming but here it is.
and as sometimes happens this has kind of snuck up on me, but I realised when I finished writing this chapter, that this is where I want to leave it. So yes, this is the final chapter of this story - and as it happens the Sam/Jack 'Heartbreaker' AU. Sorry for the lack of warning on that one :-) I hope you enjoy it.
warning for language. And a reminder that the timelines of events, and the dialogue for Children of the Gods is not exact in this. thanks to TamaraJagellovsk for the beta read :-)
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Sam sat in the infirmary feeling more than a little shell shocked. They'd gone through the gate to Chulak. Had been captured. Found Skaara. Discovered why the Goa'uld had abducted Share. Lost Skaara. Turned the Goa'uld's first prime against his God...and escaped back through the gate to earth...with a hundred refugees and Apophis' first prime in tow. She snorted. "One hell of a day," she mumbled to herself.
"What was that Carter?" Jack asked from the bed next to hers.
She looked up at him and shook her head slightly. "Nothing Sir," she answered quietly. And Jack...Jack had been...well, nothing short of magnificent really. You could say he'd saved them all single handedly. Admittedly it did take Teal'c, the big Jaffa to turn on his comrades, but he'd said himself that he'd only done it because he believed Jack could help save the people in the dungeon from being slaughtered.
But, now it was over. She was sad for Daniel, but she couldn't see that they'd keep the Stargate running just to get his wife back. She thought it would be a huge mistake to shut it down again and would tell them as much if she had the chance, but she didn't think it would make much of a difference.
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"...and the President happens to agree with you," General Hammond said to them in their post mission briefing.
Her head snapped to Jack, his to the General. "He does?"
"There will be nine SG teams, designations SG-1 through 9," the General stated. "Colonel, you will head up SG-1 along with Captain Carter. Major Kawalsky will take command of SG-2..."
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They hadn't had time to talk privately before she'd left the SGC, and now she sat on her couch, beer in hand trying to decide whether to go over to his place or not. She'd been through the gate now, she'd tasted what was like out there and she couldn't give that up. And she also now knew what it was like to work alongside Jack...and she couldn't give that up either. Not that it mattered whether she was on his SG team or another she realised, since he was Hammonds 2IC she'd be in his direct chain of command no matter which team she was on. And so her dilemma. She'd never thought she'd ever knowingly break an Air Force regulation...until now...
Jack sat in his truck outside her house, his thumb picking at the stitching on the bottom of his steering wheel, wondering what the hell they were supposed to do now. They both knew the ramifications of Hammonds words. If they wanted to have a relationship and stay inside the frat regs, one of them would have to transfer out of the SGC, or he'd have to retire. And he couldn't even fathom giving up active duty and retiring now, not that they'd let him anyway. And he knew there was pretty much no chance that either of them would be allowed to transfer out of the SGC either. And if he were completely honest, he didn't want them to. He loved going through the gate, and he especially loved going through the gate with her.
So that left two options. They had no relationship outside the professional, and that eventuation physically hurt him to even think about. Or...well, the consequences of the other option if anyone ever found out...
He got out the truck and jogged up her path, knocking on the door.
Even though Sam had half been expecting him, she jumped when the loud knock sounded. She placed her near full beer bottle on the coffee table and moved to open her door.
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Jacks thumb now picked at the label on his beer bottle as he sat in her living room.
"So," Sam began. "Where do we go from here?"
He shrugged as he took another sip of his beer. "There are quite a few options," he replied. "But I can only really see two that are feasible."
She nodded thoughtfully. "Agreed."
He looked at her, a wry smile coming this lips. "Shall we see if we came up with the same two?"
"Okay," she agreed, looking him in the eye and he motioned for her to continue. "The first is, we don't go back to being the way we were...before..."
"And how do you feel about that?" he asked quietly.
"Up until a few days ago, I would have been more than fine with it..."
"And now?"
"And now...now I feel sick about it," she admitted. "So the second option is...and I can't even believe I'm about to suggest this as a...as the viable option...is we both stay at the SGC as members of SG-1...and just be really really careful."
"And you don't have a problem with that?"
She pushed herself up from the arm chair and started to pace her small living room. "Of course I have a problem with it Jack...but now that I've..." she struggled for the right word. "Now that I've found you again, I have a bigger problem not being with you..."
"You know that rule is there for a very good reason," he pointed out, wanting to be sure she'd thought this through.
"Yeah I know," she answered. "But what is the real purpose of the frat reg?"
Jack shrugged as if it should be obvious to her. "People in the same direct chain of command can't have a personal relationship because there's the possibility it would affect any decisions made."
"Right," she agreed as she came to sit next to him on the couch. "But can you honestly say, whether we started back up or not, that your judgement when it came to me, or mine when it came to you for that matter, wouldn't be influenced by our past, by everything we've already been through?"
He thought about that for a moment and realised she was right. The only way to actually do this by the book would be for one of them to transfer out completely. And that just wasn't an option he was willing to entertain, and by the sound of it, neither was she. He shook his head slowly. "No," he admitted as he reached a hand out to her cheek. He looked into her eyes, letting her see that nothing had changed for him, he still loved her as much as he ever had.
Sam smiled slightly, her hand coming to rest over his before she shifted forward bringing her lips into contact with his. "I still love you Jack," she told him. "Have never stopped loving you." She swallowed before she continued. "I want you back in my life...and my bed..."
That was all he needed as he surged forward claiming her lips with his, his tongue claiming her mouth. She wanted him, and regs be damned, they were doing this.
She brought a hand up to tangle in his short hair as she pulled him to her, her tongue pushing back against his own. She pushed him back into the couch and climbed onto his lap, straddling him.
Jack groaned as she settled herself above him and felt her take advantage, her tongue forcing its way past his all too willing lips. Her fingers tightened in his hair, the nails of her other hand digging into the skin of his shoulder. He slid his hands up her thighs, gripping her ass, knowing there would probably be bruises there tomorrow. He tore his lips from hers, turning his head into her shoulder as she ground against his hardness. "Fuck!" he growled against the skin of her neck. Then he was left slightly bewildered as she started to move off of him. That only lasted seconds as she reached out and wrapped her fist in the fabric of his shirt pulling him from her couch down to the thick rug that covered her hardwood floor.
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Jack reached up and grabbed the old throw rug that sat neatly along the back of her couch, pulling it down over them.
"What?" Sam asked, his gaze on her as his fingers played along the back of her arm.
"You were amazing," he said softly.
She craned her neck up to kiss him on the mouth. "So were you..."
He chuckled at that. "Well thank you...and you were amazing tonight too...but I actually meant that you were amazing on Chulak."
She turned to better look at him. "Me?" she asked incredulous. "Jack, you were the one who saved us, saved all those people pretty much on your own."
He gave her a look. "I think I had a bit of help with that Carter, including from you."
"Yeah you did, eventually...but it was all you who convinced Teal'c to help us...'Many have said that...but you are the first I truly believe could do it...' ," she quoted.
He rolled his eyes and gave her a nudge. "Shut up!"
"I'm not making fun," she replied, finding she had to fight hard not to add Sir or Colonel this time. "Jack, if he didn't believe in you, we'd all be dead right now..."
"And how did this turn around onto me anyway?" he wanted to know. "We were talking about how well you did out there...or we were supposed to be...can't you just let me pay you a compliment for once?"
"No," she answered with a slight smile.
"Still as good at taking praise as ever then I see," he groused good naturedly.
She grinned then. "About as good as you are I guess."
"Yeah well..."
He moved so that she lay across his chest and smiled at her as she lay her chin on his breastbone looking up at him, he reached out smoothing a strand of hair from her face. "Well can we at least agree that we both did good on this mission?"
She smiled. "We can."
"But you just looked a hell of a lot hotter doing it than I did..."
She laughed and sat up slightly, running a hand slowly over his tanned chest. "Oh I don't know about that," she murmured.
He grabbed up her hand and brought it to his lips. "I love you Sam," he whispered.
She ran her thumb across his bottom lip and let out a sigh at how sexy that made him look. "I love you too Jack," she replied finally. His eyes moved to hers and her breathing stopped altogether. How can one man be so damned...she didn't even have the right words...
"Will it be enough?" he asked.
She didn't have to ask him what he meant. She knew exactly what he was talking about. They were embarking on something that was dangerous, illegal, was bound to be volatile and, she couldn't help thinking, a major fucking turn on...but she loved him, she believed in him, and if it ever got to be too much...well, he meant more to her than a wormhole ever could. But they were thoughts for another time...maybe...
She smoothed her hand slowly across his cheek and he turned into the caress. "I think so," she replied honestly. "All we can do is try right?"
He smiled, her answer good enough for him. Her squeal as he flipped her onto her back making him grin. This was what he wanted to think about tonight. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.
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A/N
well that's it. I hope you enjoyed this story and the whole 'Heartbreaker' AU series. I'll miss writing this version of these two - they've been fun. But I guess they always are :-)
thanks to everyone that has read, reviewed and followed this story as well as the whole series. I appreciate your kind comments and valuable feedback and hopefully I can have something else worthy to read up soon :-)