They had been rescued, Jack thought, but had anyone ever asked them if they wanted to be rescued? Perhaps they had wanted to stay there, but that had never been an option, Jack knew that as well as Sam. So they had returned with Daniel and Teal'c, back to Earth, back to the SGC and the military. Jack hadn't known how to act towards Sam, and it looked like she hadn't had a clue either. That is why they relied both on rules, regulations and common politeness.
If General Hammond had noticed their odd behavior during the initial debriefing, he didn't show it. He just listened to their very brief and totally unpersonal report and sent them home, they had a week to sort out their feelings and to write a report.
And home they went, Jack to his house and Sam to her apartment. Oh, it was good to be home again. Jack had never been attached to material things, but now he realized that he had missed his house and his stuff. But what both Sam and Jack had missed most during their stay on P7X477 were their friends, Daniel, Teal'c, Janet and some others, and he missed them still. Within half a day Jack was feeling lonely, missing Sam more than any of the others.
That was what got him thinking in the first place. He just missed Sam and then progressed on to thinking about their time together, how tense it had been in the beginning and how relaxed and simply great afterwards, after he had confessed his feelings towards her. And they had had so much fun together. But more than that, he had discovered new sides in his friend and lover everyday. And now she wasn't his lover anymore, couldn't be. Or could she?
But Jack was certain that she couldn't be. He wasn't made for long term relationships, his marriage with Sara had taught him that much, so he could not be her lover anymore. But he couldn't live without her friendship, he had to find a way to preserve that.
By the time Jack had reached this conclusion, his holiday was already almost over. It had been a difficult decision and there had been a lot on his mind. But now he had made up his mind, he was going to call Sam. But he didn't have to, she called him, a moment before he picked up the phone, it rang.
He had known it was Sam, so he just said: "Hello." She greeted him as well, and then nervously stopped. He could feel her gather her courage and he waited. Finally she said: "We have to talk, Jack, about P7X477." He agreed and suggested that she came to his house, they could eat a pizza, drink a couple of beers and sit on the porch.
About twenty minutes later Jack's doorbell, way too soon, he still didn't know what to say. And neither did Sam apparently. They talked about the weather, the pizza and hockey. After a while the conversation was marked by uneasy silences. Sam was the first one to find enough courage, so she said: "We really have to talk, and the first thing is purely practical: how do you feel about me still calling you Jack? Would you mind?"
Jack stared, he had thought of a lot of things, but he hadn't thought of that. But of course, it was a problem. It wasn't that big an issue, if he called her Sam, but could she call him Jack? After all, he was her CO. And then he realized the problem existed only in their heads. So he smiled and kindly said: "As long as you remember that I'm your CO and call me Colonel when the President is present, you can call me whatever you like. I'll just call you Sam."
Relieved, Sam laughed. He was right, the command structure wasn't based on names, but on ranks, seniority and hierarchy. Then she said, still smiling: "You know, we still have to talk, flyboy." "What," Jack cried, "What did you call me?" He couldn't believe his ears. But teasingly she said - singsonged - it again: "Flyboy, flyboy." Without realizing it they slipped back into behaving like they had on P7X477.
Suddenly Jack felt much more at ease with Sam again, but he realized the danger. They had to talk and they had to adjust their behavior to the new circumstances. But he was still smiling when he said: "Well, flygirl, do you want to tease me, or do you want to talk?" Sam answered, remembering a Stephen King book: "What I'd *like* to do, is eat you like ice cream."
Again Jack smiled, but he didn't reply, he just waited. At last Sam grew serious again and said: "I'm sorry about that last one. It just popped into my head. It wasn't a lie, though. But I won't do that again. We'll talk now. If you want to, I can even start." He nodded and Sam gathered her thoughts.
After a few moments she took Jack's hand and said: "Jack, we had a wonderful time on P7X477, I thought it would be horrible, but you made it something special, you made *me* something special. But before that I already had a wonderful life with the SGC and our friends. And I don't want to ruin that. But I do want to remain your friend. Do you want to remain my best friend as well?"
Sam had looked at Jack when she talked, but know she looked away, embarrassed perhaps. But Jack turned her head towards him again and squeezed her hand, before letting go. "Sam," he said, "I couldn't have said it better. I agree with you and I'm really glad that you still want to be my friend. After all, only my close friends know what color underwear I wear."
Sam burst out laughing, then said, smiling still: "I did know that before we ever went to P7X477." Jack pretended to look shocked, but he was really glad that Sam could laugh at his stupid jokes. Perhaps things could go back to normal after all...
***
But they couldn't, at least they didn't. Oh, SG-1 functioned perfectly, they were closer than they had been before, more like family than just a team. And Sam was his best friend, he spent lots of off duty time with her and enjoyed it thoroughly. But he couldn't forget his love for her, couldn't forget how intimate they had been. And it wasn't just a sexual thing. He had felt as if Sam could read his mind, as if they were one mind in two bodies, and some of that was gone now and Jack wanted it back.
That is why Jack made up a plan. They had almost been back for one year and he was thinking about organizing an anniversary. But he wanted to make it special, he wanted to propose to Sam, hoping, of course, that she loved him as much as he loved her. The first step was to talk with General Hammond, his CO and more of a father to Jack than his real father.
Nervously he knocked on General Hammond's door, almost afraid to go in. After all, there would be no turning back after this. Almost shy he opened the door and stepped inside. General Hammond smiled at him, much like a father would smile at his son, and friendly asked: "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
As always, Jack became rude when he was uncertain. Now he simply blurted out: "I want to resign, Sir." General Hammond simply stared, then he managed: "What? Why?" General Hammond had realized that he knew what Jack was talking about. It was all about Sam. Jack either wanted to marry her or to get away from her. General Hammond firmly hoped the former. As Jack was gathering his thoughts and trying to hide a bright blush, a very unusual event for him. General Hammond mused about the last year. Jack had changed since they had come back from P7X477. He had mellowed considerably. He only was sarcastic, enigmatic and silent with strangers. He had allowed his friends to come close and had opened up to them as well. Not that he would ever wear his heart on his sleeve...
George Hammond actually smiled at that thought, remembering how they had first met, how he didn't have a clue about Jack's motives. But now Jack had his thoughts together and started anew. "Sir I only want to retire to be able to marry Sam, or at least propose to her." The blush which had been fading, crept back... Jack still wasn't used to talk about his feelings.
But General Hammond only smiled. He stretched out his hand and congratulated Jack, who let out his breath, not even realizing that he had been holding his breath. But Hammond continued: "I'm not done talking yet. Sam is like a daughter to me, especially since Jacob is with the Tok'ra, and I warn you: if you ever hurt so much as a hair on Sam's head, I will personally kill you in a terribly painful way."
But Jack only smiled. "I'm so glad that you approve of this, sir, I was sort of afraid that you would try to kill me straight away, just because I had this insane idea." George smiled too, especially at the idea that Jack was actually nervous about Sam's reaction. The man must be blind, the General thought.
But now they had to talk about practical things. General Hammond had realized that Jack would be leaving SG-1 sometime. That is why he now knew what he wanted. "Well, Jack," he said, "I understand your wish to retire, perhaps you are getting a little bit too old for active service as well." Jack self-consciously combed with his hand through his graying hair. But Hammond ignored that. "And I have been thinking about this moment a long time. The situation is simply this: the SGC can't afford to lose you. There is no-one on this base who knows more about the Stargate than you." And seeing that Jack was about to protest, "Yes, I know Sam can explain to you how the damn thing works, and Daniel can translate whatever gibberish Apophis and his friends scribble down, but you are the one who understands the practical part best. That is why I want to ask you to keep working for the SGC, but as a civilian adviser."
Jack had sort of hoped for something like this, he didn't want to leave SGC, he only wanted to avoid impossible situations *and* avoid breaking the regulations as well. So he simply agreed and continued to ask another question: "I also wanted to ask if I could use the Stargate for a private reason." When General Hammond didn't respond, Jack continued to explain: "it has been almost a year since Sam and I came back from P7X477, and I would like to go back there for an anniversary party. It should also be an engagement party, if Sam agrees to that."
General Hammond needed some time to think about that. After all, it was not really allowed to use the Stargate for fun, but then again, it wouldn't harm anyone. He made his decision: "Okay, but don't tell the President. By the way, who are you going to invite?" Jack had thought of that already, of course. It wouldn't be that many people, because he could invite only those people, who already knew the Stargate existed. It would be Danny and Teal'c, Janet and Cassie, General Hammond, with a smile to him, Jacob, if the Tok'ra could spare him and if Sam wanted to, and a few other people. Jack wouldn't even object to Martouf joining them.
Now that General Hammond had agreed to the plan, all Jack had to do, was find Sam and tell her about it. He didn't even know if she wanted to go back to P7X477. If he had courage enough to fight the Goa'uld, then he should be able to ask Sam a simple question, he told himself. Back in his mind a voice whispered: what *simple* question would that be?
Jack ignored the voice and headed towards Sam's lab. Casually he greeted her. She said hi, but didn't even spare him a glance as she was deeply engrossed in some new theory. He waited until she realized that he was still standing there and turned to look at him. Again she said hi, and he walked towards her. And again he came straight to the point, well not *that* point, but the one about P7X477.
Sam was very enthusiastic about it. "An anniversary party," she exclaimed, "what a great idea. What did you plan? A picnic perhaps... the weather must be great there now..." Sam's voice trailed off as she remembered their time there. Jack agreed that he had indeed planned a picnic. He explained: "General Hammond has agreed to the whole plan, and I thought that we could go there in the morning and clean a little and then about lunchtime, the others could come and we could enjoy ourselves."
Sam had no objections to his plan and happily worked on in her lab, already looking forward to the party, about a week from that day. Jack on the other hand became more nervous every day. He jumped when somebody greeted him and normal conversation became almost impossible. Jack would hardly ever hear what someone else said.
At last the day had come. Everyone they had invited agreed to come. Very early that morning Jack and Sam and a huge picnic basket 'gated to P7X477. Jack was so nervous that he hadn't even said hello to Sam, who was getting very worried by that time. She was thinking that Jack regretted his plan of going back to P7X477, that he didn't want to be reminded of their stay there.
That is why both of them acted very polite and very distanced. But when they arrived on the site of their house, or trailer or whatever, Sam started crying and Jack couldn't be distant and polite anymore. He embraced her and tried to comfort her. But that wasn't really necessary, Sam had cried because of the intense emotions, not out of sadness. She just felt a bit overwhelmed.
As Jack couldn't find the courage to talk, they started cleaning, hardly talking at all. Sam was feeling unhappier by the minute. At last she couldn' t stand it any longer. She sat down on the table and asked Jack to join her. He sat down next to her and Sam asked him: "What's wrong, Jack? I thought you liked the idea of coming back here."
Jack agreed, but still didn't say much. So Sam concluded: "Then this whole trip must be a disappointment to you, you don't like it anymore." But now Jack had to say something. Sam couldn't be more wrong! "You know, Sam," he started, "you couldn't be more wrong. I'm a bit overwhelmed, I must admit, but I really wanted to come back here." There he faltered, gathered his courage and took Sam's hand. "The reason that I wanted to come back here and be alone with you, is," looking in her eyes, "that I wanted to ask you to marry me, that is, if you would like to spend your life with a grumpy, sarcastic old man."
Sam couldn't believe her ears, was he really proposing to her? After all those years? But she had to say something, he was waiting for her answer. She kept it simple: "Yes, I want that very much." And then they kissed...
***
When the rest of the party arrived at P7X477 Sam and Jack hadn't cleaned very much. Luckily that wasn't necessary, because they could sit outside. As Jack remarked, they were really and truly happy campers. They had a lot of fun. When Sam and Jack finally found the courage to announce their engagement, everyone congratulated them, but there was a total lack of surprise, that surprised both Sam and Jack. Daniel commented: "Well, it's about time, all that unresolved sexual tension on SG-1 made it difficult to sleep at night." Teal'c agreed solemnly to that. Cassandra asked: "Were you both blind, or what, that it took you so long?"
And did they live happily ever after? No, they didn't, not forever, but they were very happy together and loved each other very much. When there was a threat, Goa'uld or otherwise, they worried very much about the other, but neither of them got injured too bad. All in all they enjoyed their life together as much as they enjoyed the day where it all began, back on P7X477.
(copyright (c) 2000 Christine Bosman)
So what did you think? Christine
"Archaeology is a fascinating pursuit, but, after all, one cannot work day and night... Peabody, my darling Peabody -- what a perfectly splendid time we are going to have!" Emerson to his new fiancée (Crocodile on the Sandbank)
Story Notes: Sequel info: sequel to Resolutions
Spoilers: I don't think so...
Archive SJA exclusive
Summary: Sam and Jack go back to P7X477 (You knew that, didn't you?)
Author's note: I have been asked to write a sequel to Resolutions and here it is. General Hammond is rather sarcastic in this story. I don't know if he is, but I would be if I was SG-1's commanding officer... Please send me feedback, I love it, good and bad.
Spoilers: I don't think so...
Archive SJA exclusive
Summary: Sam and Jack go back to P7X477 (You knew that, didn't you?)
Author's note: I have been asked to write a sequel to Resolutions and here it is. General Hammond is rather sarcastic in this story. I don't know if he is, but I would be if I was SG-1's commanding officer... Please send me feedback, I love it, good and bad.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]