AN: Here's the end... probably in more ways than one. I'm taking a hiatus from writing for a while because the ideas aren't coming to me and since RDA left, I've barely been interested in the show. Thanks to everyone who's left comments and shared their thoughts. I never say never, so I may be back at some point. With that said, enjoy!

Chapter Eight

Jack stood there dumbfounded for a long time. He'd run across a lot of firsts that evening which he'd never seriously considered possible - getting a call from a drunk Sam, seeing Sam in a miniskirt, having Sam beg him to rescue her, and then getting a hug from Sam - all in all it was rather upsetting. And it wasn't a gentle hug either. She was nearly squeezing the life out of him with her grip. In that moment, he realized that hugs weren't supposed to be one-sided. E finally moved his arms in a way that seemed more familiar and natural than it should have, returning her tight embrace and fitting her body snugly against his.

She was taller that normal and so it was much easier for him to bury his face in her hair. Being so close to her, he lost the awful smell of the bar and the alcohol - he only smelled her, a scent that was more intoxicating in its own right. His arms held her as tightly as she held him; his palm pressed against her lower back to hold her secure. He closed his eyes and reveled in the feeling, in the embrace, in the undeniable reality that she really did love him.

Sam's state of sobriety, or lack thereof, delayed her immediate reaction, which was a good thing because she was just starting to panic that he hadn't returned her hug when his arms finally closed around her. Sober, she would have never made such a bold move. Luckily, she wasn't sober and therefore had no qualms with revealing how very pleased she was to discover that Jack really was her true love.

She loved every moment of the embrace, the possessive way his hand felt on her back, the gentle feeling of his other hand in her hair, the tender way he nuzzled her ear as he allowed himself to show what he felt for her.

They stayed that way, locked in an intimate embrace, until their arms actually started to feel fatigue from holding on so tight. Even still, Jack only relaxed a little and that was only because he knew she wasn't going anywhere.

"Carter, as much as I appreciate the hug, and really, I do, I'm kind of curious about it."

The happiness and the alcohol had made a secret pact that remained concealed until her words spilled out, quite unexpectedly to the tiny, rational part of her brain that was still quasi-functional. "The potion didn't work on you." She wanted to be horrified that she'd actually said that, but instead she only smiled over the veracity.

Unfortunately, such ridiculous words did not sit well with Jack, certainly not from his normally sane second-in-command while she was doing something so terribly out of character as clinging to him in the first place. He pulled back, prying her arms free of him. "What are you talking about?"

"Diane bought this stupid little joke potion and Janet told me it was safe, but it wasn't safe and apparently it wasn't a joke either." She tried to envelope him in another hug, but he held her hands firmly at her sides.

"Carter, what the hell did you drink tonight?" He wasn't sure he believed something she drank could affect every man, except for him, who came in contact with her, but he also wasn't sure he wanted to come down on the Sam's-been-body-snatched side of the coin either. Plus, he figured, some exotic, illegal substance would go a long way toward explaining why Sam was stark raving mad.

"Janet said it was sugar and food coloring, so I drank it. I mean, Diane's was supposed to get her a rich husband and Janet's was supposed to attract many lovers, so it's not like I had any sort of faith that it was going to work, but it did. There is no other reasonable scientific explanation for what happened."

"Other? As in you think a potion is a reasonable scientific explanation?" Jack stared hard at her. She looked like Sam. Sort of, at least. She talked like Sam. Provided he ignored the fact that she was talking about some kind of potion. If he were pressed, he'd swear that she was Sam. And yet, she wasn't dressed like Sam and she wasn't really talking like Sam and nothing she'd done that evening particularly smacked of Samness. The conundrum was too difficult for him to figure out quickly. He wasn't sure he'd be able to figure it out slowly either.

So he let himself get distracted. There Sam was, in from of him, fighting to get her arms free so she could wrap them around him. A thought which regrettably lead him right back to the conundrum. "Who are you and what have you done with my Carter?"

Sam grinned happily, not even caring that he didn't believe it was her. "Your Carter?"

Jack blushed. "My Carter or regular Carter. Take your pick."

"I prefer your Carter, Jack."

Jack grimaced. "Which clearly indicates that you aren't my Carter, now doesn't it?"

She tried to understand him, but his words made about as much sense to her as hers normally did to him. She shook her head and found the happy smile instantly reappeared. "It didn't work on you!" She stopped trying to get out of his grasp and just watched him, content that he was still in physical contact with her.

He was certain that Sam had left out a vital piece of information and he found himself mentally sorting through all the crap he'd heard to figure out what was missing. Surprising himself, he did find it. "Carter, what was your potion supposed to do?" Cause somehow he suspected the goal wasn't to have Sam harassed into hiding in the bathroom. A potion for that probably wouldn't sell.

The martini and beer buzz faded ever so slightly in the face of admitting her folly to Jack. She looked down. Her voice was quiet, not nearly as proud of her words as she would normally have been had she been reporting any other information. "It was love potion."

Jack cycled through a hundred emotions in the space of five seconds. He was excited and nervous and eager and worried and happy and hurt and everything else he could name. But mostly, he was amused. "Love potion?"

Sam couldn't meet his eyes. "I haven't seen Diane in fifteen years. She bought it as a joke."

Jack grinned as his hands found her chin, tilting her face up to his. "And what exactly was the purpose of your love potion?" Sadly, when he thought about it, love potion would actually explain the Don Juans vying for Sam's attention.

Sam closed her eyes, unable to meet Jack's stare when eh was obviously laughing at her. "It was supposed to make everyone love me."

Jack dropped his hands and took a deep breath. "Mission accomplished." Shooting a glare at the door that was pounding behind him, he chuckled. "Hate to break it to you, but you got yourself into this one, hon."

Sam's embarrassment quickly into giddiness that he'd used a pet name for her and just as quickly turned into irritation that he'd used a pet name for her while he was making fun of her. The only way she could get even was to drop the other shoe she'd been holding back on her pompous CO. She grinned maniacally at him. "There was supposedly only one person who wouldn't be affected by it."

Jack suspected that she was about to get him back for laughing at her, but he didn't know how it was possible or how to avoid it. "Which is me, apparently."

Sam's gloating smiled disappeared behind a real smile. "Only my true love isn't affected because he already loves me."

Jack's eyes were wide as he processed the words and their meaning and her glee that he was affected. "Which is why you were so glad that I was acting normal."

Sam nodded.

"Which is why you were so afraid I wouldn't act normal."

Sam nodded.

"Which is why you hugged me."

Sam nodded.

"Which means I'm your true love."

Sam didn't bother to nod. She pulled him close for another hug.

He turned his head to whisper in her ear. "Sweet." And then he turned his head further, capturing her lips under his.

Several intensely enjoyable minutes later, Sam came up for air and eyes the quiet door suspiciously. "We're probably going to have to leave here eventually." Just the thought unnerved her, so she bent a few laws of physics and managed to move a smidge closer to Jack. She liked being able to snuggled up to him when she was scared. "They don't seem to be trying as hard. Maybe it's wearing off?"

Jack held her tight. "How long is it supposed to last?"

Sam was so surprised that she pulled back to look at him. "It wasn't even supposed to work at all!"

"But it did." He settled his arms around her waist.

"Apparently." She discovered she really liked conversing with Jack when his arms were around her.

"So how long is it supposed to last?"

"I don't know."

Jack pulled her close once again, teasing her lips with his. "I guess we'll just have to stay here for a while."

Sam grinned at him. "How on Earth will we pass the time?"

"You'll think of something. You always do." He brushed his mouth softly over hers, gently tugging at her bottom lip.

"Only after you give me a brilliant idea." Her arms slid around his neck, anchoring his lips to hers.

At some point, the potion did wear off and the men abandoned their camp at the door, but Jack and Sam didn't notice for a long, long time.