Always Part 11 of 11

Disclaimer: See Original Post

"So, are you getting used to being human again?" Sam asked, taking a bite of her cheese omelet in the commissary.

Daniel bobbed his eyebrows and cut his waffle with his fork. "Well, it's not quite so hard this time. This time no one packed up all my stuff and gave up my apartment."

Sam smiled, taking another bite. She was famished! Course, she had a lot of calories to replenish that she had burned off in the last couple of day. "Well, you were gone over a year last time."

Daniel shrugged. "True."

"Greetings, DanielJackson. Colonel Carter," Teal'c said as he approached their table, his tray heavy laden with his usual breakfast fare.

"Hey, Teal'c." Sam moved her empty tray so he would have a place to sit down. "Have you guys heard anything about this bizarre discovery in Giza?"

Daniel shook his head, pouring more syrup on his waffles. "Just that it had the archaeologists there completely freaked out and it has something to do with the SGC. I guess everything related is being brought here ASAP."

Sam nodded. "I was in the General's office when he first got the call. I'm dying to know . . . What?"

Daniel was smirking, cutting his waffle into smaller pieces. "Nothing."

She set down her fork. "What?"

"I believe DanielJackson finds humor in your reference to O'Neill in such formal terms when both he and I are aware of the change in your relationship."

Sam's mouth fell open and she stared at Teal'c for a moment. He simply looked back, one eyebrow raised, then popped a grape in his mouth. Sam turned on Daniel, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes. "I thought you said you wouldn't say anything!"

"I didn't have to!" Daniel defended. "Teal'c told me!"

Her mouth fell open again. Daniel smiled, swirling a piece of waffle in his syrup. "I told you, Sam. We know you two. We've had to lay witness to this whole thing for eight long years."

Sam felt the heat rise in her cheeks and she laid her forehead in her hands. "For cryin' out loud . . . " she mumbled.

Daniel snorted and attempted to take a drink of his coffee.

Jack appeared, sliding into the empty chair beside Daniel, a smile on his face. "Fancy meeting you all here . . . "

"Morning, Jack," Daniel said, the stupid grin still on his face.

Sam kicked him under the table.

"Ow!"

Jack looked between them, a puzzled expression on his face, but didn't ask. "When you're done eating, I have something veddy veddy interesting for you to see."

Sam sat up straighter. "What is it?"

"Is it the mystery finding from Giza?" Daniel asked.

Jack smiled and wagged a finger. "Eat up, and you shall see. But . . . while I have the three of you here, I had a thought this morning."

"This would indeed be a momentous occasion."

All three turned to look at Teal'c, and Sam was sure she had to look as surprised as Jack and Daniel. Sam stifled her laugh by clearing her throat while Jack slide another sidelong look at the big Jaffa before continuing.

"As I was saying . . . to celebrate Daniel's return to the living, again, I thought the four of us could take a long weekend and go up to my cabin."

"And fish?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, fish! Of course. Or . . . just . . . you know. Hang out. Whatever. So, you guys in?"

"Sure. I'll go," Daniel said. "I could use a weekend away."

"As could I."

Sam crossed her arms on the table and met Jack's gaze over the napkin dispenser and condiment containers. One corner of his mouth tipped up in a lopsided grin.

"What about you, Carter?"

She pulled her lower lip through her teeth before letting herself smile, nodding her head. "Oh, yeah. I'll go fishing."

Daniel groaned and got up from the table, taking his and Sam's tray with him. Jack watched him go. "What's his problem?"

Sam shook her head. "Let's go see your big surprise."

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"Ah, Jack, you should say something . . . "

"College football is played on Saturdays. PRO on Sundays. And there are no fish in my pond . . . at all . . . where I fish. I think that covers it for me."

Daniel hit the keyboard and the video stopped. Sam looked to Jack, where he sat staring at himself on the monitor.

"Is that correct?"

He looked at her, raising his brows. "If it is, we don't do anything?"

"Apparently, nothing we did effected the timeline."

"But we didn't do anything."

"Not yet," she explained. "Apparently, we were going to. Two weeks from now. But now, we don't have to."

"Excellent. That's it! I like it!"

Daniel nodded his agreement, and he and Teal'c went off in separate directions. Sam reached for the wooden crate that held the treasured ZPM. With this power source, a world of possibilities opened up for them. Including opening a wormhole to Atlantis again.

"Okay, I'm going to get this up to the lab for analysis . . . "

Jack lunged off his stool, grabbing the box before she could lift it off the table. "Nope. I'll take it. There's a whole room full of geeks up there just dying to get their hands on this." He lifted the box, and paused to let his gaze shift over her body. Sam enjoyed the now familiar warming of her skin. "You've got packing to do."

He was almost to the door, and Sam figured she was almost safe, when he stopped and turned around.

"Now, wait a minute . . . "

Damn . . .

"If we can manage to go back in time five thousand years, steal a ZPM, hide it, leave ourselves a secret message, and still not change the timeline, can you seriously tell me . . . "

"No, Jack."

"Just one game? Just the last one . . . "

"No!"

"Please?"

"No!"

Jack huffed, shifted the box in his hands, and left the room mumbling under his breath. "Don't even know why they bother give me the damn star on my collar . . . doesn't do me a damn bit of good. No one listens to me anyway . . . "

As soon as he was gone, she smiled and sighed. God, she loved him.

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The sun had set half an hour before, and now the three-quarters moon reflected off the still waters of Jack's pond, making the water look almost black. He sat on the dock, his heels braced between two planks and his knees bent so he could rest his elbows on them. A lukewarm and forgotten beer sat on the dock near his feet.

Today had been great. Something he had wanted for years. Sam Carter at his cabin. Granted, Teal'c and Daniel came along for the ride . . . but it was still totally amazing.

He was still in shock most of the time. Couldn't believe that after so long, everything he wanted was right there in front of him.

Almost.

Jack heard her soft footsteps whisper through the grass before she stepped onto the small dock, and reached up to cover her hand when she laid it on his shoulder.

"I though you were just coming out to make sure we grabbed all the gear."

"I got sidetracked."

"Everything okay?"

Jack moved the beer out of the way and shifted to spread his legs to make room for her to sit. "Come here." Sam stepped between his thighs and sank down onto the wood dock, leaning back into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and laid his cheek against her hair.

"Jack?" she said after a few minutes.

"Everything is fine."

Sam twisted in his hold to look up at him. Even in the semi-darkness he saw the concern wrinkling her brow. "Talk to me."

He kissed her first, slowly, enjoying the soft feel of her mouth. Then he pulled back and stroked her cheek, brushing some hair behind her ear. "I don't want to hide."

She blinked, her gaze shifting over his face. "Jack, we can't . . . "

"I know. The way things are right now, we have no choice."

"Then what are we talking about?"

He licked his lips, buying time, trying to figure out what to say and what could wait. "Sam, we both knew something would have to change before this ever happened, right?"

She nodded. "But "

"We just never said what. I don't want to go into detail yet, but, there could be some things happening . . . soon . . . and if they do, then we may not have to hide anymore."

Sam shifted so she could look into his face better. "Jack . . . what kind of things?"

"I can't say. Not even to you. Will you trust me?"

She nodded. "Always."

Jack wrapped his arms around her and she leaned back into his chest again. A soft breeze blew in off the water, carrying the scent of earth and trees and life. Sam drew in a long, deep breath, releasing it on a sigh.

"We really should have done this years ago."

Jack starts to sing, slightly off tune, in her ear. "Land of sky-blue waters. Loofas. Yeah sure you betcha, snookums. Mosquitos . . ."

Sam chuckled and pulled Jack's arms tighter around her. Yup, this right here . . . this was heaven.

FIN