Nap [TR; Carter]

[has_2ls]

[Continued from here]

Jack was quiet for a few minutes, chewing over what Carter had said. It sounded like him, apprehension about promotion, but if Carter (and everyone else, it seemed) thought he'd done a good job at general maybe he'd do a good job at the whole council thing, if it was meant to be.

The walk from the compound to New Atlantis was never long, as much as he traveled it, and he glanced between his hut and Carter's.

"My place or yours, Sam?"

Comments

[gate_expert]

Sam was about to say that his place was fine, but at the last second she said, "Mine." She'd been struck with an idea, and somehow, it seemed that her place was a little more appropriate for it, considering how many things had gone wrong (or at least, less than ideal) there. "That okay?"

[has_2ls]

"Sure," Jack said, slightly surprised. They didn't usually sleep over at Sam's place, only occasionally, but if she wanted to let Jack into the inner sanctum, he wasn't going to say no.

"Lead the way, fair lady."

[gate_expert]

Sam let them in--not that that required a key or anything, although Sam had been thinking lately about improved security in general--but she didn't sit down right away. She was thinking that she ought to go ahead and say what she was thinking before she chickened out and changed her mind.

"I was thinking maybe we should talk a little," Sam said, all in a rush that made it sound more like Iwasthinkingmaybeweshouldtalkalittle.

[has_2ls]

Uh oh. That, in Jack's opinion, was hardly ever a good thing and he settled in one of Sam's chairs, fingers drumming nervously over her little table. He hoped he didn't look too "I am so about to get dumped," but he didn't have high hopes.

"Look, if it's about the whole kids thing, I didn't mean we should have any right this second. It just...came up on accident, I swear."

[gate_expert]

Sam shook her head. "No, no, it's not... well, okay, it is a little bit about that, but not in the way you're probably thinking. I'm not upset about that. I don't really know what I think about that right now, because I've never had the chance to think about it, but that's not really what I want to talk about right now--it's sort of tangenitally related, though, because when it came up and I didn't want to talk about it, I realized that I don't give you very much to work with. I mean..."

Yeah, she was babbling, but there wasn't a whole lot to do about it right now; she was in it and good, and if she didn't finish, Jack would probably think she was dumping him. Hell, he probably thought she was dumping him anyway, so she had to hurry up and get to the point before he got the wrong idea.

"...every time we take a step forward, I freak out. I know that, and I can't really help it, it just kind of happens. Like today, when the topic of kids came up. I don't want you to get the wrong idea and start thinking that you're not important to me, because you are, even when I get antsy about things. And I want you to know that. So..." She reached under the neck of her shirt and pulled out her tags; they caught on her hair as she pulled them over her head (it was one of those rare days when she wore her hair loose on her shoulders), and it took her a moment to untangle them; but when she did she took Jack's hand, turned it palm up, and dropped her tags into them.

"I want you to have these."

[has_2ls]

Jack blinked at her for a long moment, the rush of words washing over him and his emotions going from steeling himself up to be dumped just when things had gotten good to Sam actually making a proclamation of feelings and giving him a tangible symbol of their relationship and how far it'd come.

He was way, way too simple for a woman like her.

He touched the tags lightly, fingers brushing over her name and blood type and all the things that made Sam who she was printed on little pieces of metal. After a little hesitation, he pulled his own tags off his head and placed them in her palm.

"I sort of want to tell you that I'm proud of you," Jack admitted, laughing a little. "But I think that'll get me slapped. Instead, I'm just gonna say I love you, which I think just about sums it up."

[gate_expert]

"I love you, too," she said, taking his tags and dropping them over her head and beneath her shirt; the tags fell just between her breasts, the metal still warm from where it had rested against Jack's skin.

[has_2ls]

Jack did the same with hers, then reached for her hand.

"Thanks, for this. I know it was a big step and I appreciate it, even if I thought you were gonna break up with me for a minute."

[gate_expert]

Sam flushed. "I kind of realized halfway through that it might sound like that, and that I really needed to get to the point before you got the wrong idea. But no." She took his hand. "I'm not going anywhere, Jack. Not even when I get skittish."

[has_2ls]

"Promise? This old heart can't take that much in the way of emotional acrobatics," Jack said, laughing warmly and squeezing her hand.

[gate_expert]

"I promise," she said, and leaned down to kiss him, soft and sweet. "You're too important to me, in more ways than I can tell you."

Oh, sap sap sap. But it was true.

[has_2ls]

Jack snorted. "When'd we get so silly, huh?"

[gate_expert]

She slid into his lap with an easy little movement. "Sshh," she said. "It's a secret." Despite how comfortable they were with each other right now, Sam wasn't really in to public displays of affection....but when it was just them, it was another story.

[has_2ls]

Jack kissed down her neck and shoulder. "I won't tell anyone. Black ops, sworn to secrecy, yadda yadda yadda."