Sitting together in the commissary, Major Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson watched as their commanding officer ladled his spoon with yet another heap of oatmeal.
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone enjoy oatmeal so much," Daniel reflected, watching in some amazement as Jack continued to eat.
"When you've been eating fruit loops for who-knows how long, a little variety helps," Jack replied, ignoring the stares of his team-mates.
"We got a message from the Tok'ra," Sam began. "Apparently they've been trying to contact us for over three months."
"Really?" Jack wiped the corner of his mouth, trying to sound interested.
"Who knows when they first realized that we were cut off; I mean there's really no telling how much time passed," she continued.
Daniel quickly interrupted, a question he had been dying to ask on the tip of his tongue. "Let me ask you something. In all the time you were..uh..looping," he said in want of a better word, "Were you ever tempted to..um..do something crazy? I mean, you could do anything without worrying about consequences."
Jack's spoon halted half way to his mouth as he considered Daniel's question.
"You know it's funny, you asked me that before."
"And?" Daniel prompted.
Without answering, Jack's gaze left Daniel and moved to Sam, watching her, recalling exactly what he, or they, had done.
Sam and Daniel watched him, noticing immediately the direction his eyes had taken. They looked at one another before returning curious glances to Jack. Suddenly, understanding dawned on Daniel, who swiftly turned his head back to Sam, his eyebrows rising high in shock and surprise. However, Sam was still in the dark.
But Jack didn't notice, he was too caught up in watching Sam. He couldn't help but notice her bemused smile, a smile which he distractedly returned before swallowing one more spoonful of oatmeal. But reality soon returned when he recalled where he was. Snapping out of his reverie, he suddenly put down his spoon then pushed back his chair and stood.
"Uh, I gotta go check on Teal'c. I'll see you guys in the mission briefing." Turning quickly, he left in search of Teal'c, fully aware of two sets of eyes boring into his back. He reached the commissary door and opened it, but not without leaving until he had one final glance back towards Sam.
"Hey, Teal'c, I've been looking all over for you," Jack O'Neill said, having finally found the elusive Jaffa.
"How may I be of help, Colonel O'Neill?" Teal'c put down what he had been holding and turned to face his commanding officer, giving him his full attention.
Jack looked behind him before he spoke, making sure no one else was nearby. "Well, uh, I thought maybe it would be best if we kept what we did in the last few loops to ourselves," he hinted.
Jack watched as Teal'c's eyebrow rose a few inches higher than normal.
"I just don't think General Hammond would be too happy with some of the things we did," he clarified, nodding in the general direction of Hammond's office.
"I shall of course remain silent, O'Neill," Teal'c replied with a nod of the head.
"Yeah, I knew you would," Jack said, though visibly relaxed. "Just, Daniel's been nosing about, asking what crazy things we did," he explained.
"I agree it would be wise if certain events remained between ourselves," Teal'c confirmed. But just as Jack turned to leave he carried on. "However, I do believe Major Carter would be pleased with your actions."
This got Jack's attention immediately, and he swivelled to face him. "What about Major Carter, what are you talking about?"
The expression on Tealc's face left no doubt in Jack's mind about what he was talking about. Jack's heart skipped then plummeted to the bottom of his regulation boots.
"I witnessed your kiss with Major Carter."
"Ohhh." Jack stood, mouth slightly open. He dug his hands into his pants pockets, and swayed back and forth on the balls of his feet, slightly embarrassed. He had thought Teal'c had been busy somewhere else during that loop.
"Ahh, do you think maybe we could, you know, keep that just between us as well?"
Just as Teal'c was about to reply, he stopped before any words could escape. "I am afraid that is not possible, O'Neill."
Jack simply stared, rather stunned by Teal'c's response.
"Why not?" he demanded.
"Major Carter is already aware of what occurred between you."
The next obvious question of 'how' threatened to erupt from Jack, until he noticed that he was no longer the focus of Teal'c's attention. Instead, his eyes were now focussed further behind him and just to his side.
Without having to turn around, Jack knew what he would find. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before swivelling his upper body in the direction of the door. And just as he had known would be the case, Sam stood in the doorway, eyes open wide, speechless.
"Oh crap," he said under his breath. Moments of complete silence passed before Jack managed to speak. "Uh, Teal'c would you excuse us?" It was more of a statement than a question, and Teal'c simply bowed before leaving the room.
From the look of Sam, she would have stayed rooted to the spot for a long time to come if it were not for the fact that Teal'c could not leave the room without her clearing the doorway. She quickly looked at Teal'c as he passed her, before her eyes returned to the man in the middle of the room.
An ever-ready sarcastic remark was about to escape, but the look on Sam's face stopped him dead in his tracks. She would have either slapped him or kissed him for it. Of course, if it resulted in another kiss from his Major, he would have eagerly gone ahead with it.
But instead, he watched her enter, silently closing the door behind her. He was glad; they needed to talk this through without any interruptions. Not that he had a clue what he was going to say.
"Uh, maybe I should explain," he finally began. Yeah, that was a good start.
Sam simply nodded in agreement.
"Okay," he started, running his hand nervously through his greying hair at the same time. "During one of the loops, we were working on deciphering the symbols. Just like we'd done several hundred times before," he added with obvious annoyance.
Sam smiled at his frustration. Encouraged, Jack continued. "Anyway, one time, Daniel asked if we'd ever done anything crazy 'cause there would be no consequences." He looked up to Sam, and noted he had her full attention.
Again she just nodded, prompting him to carry on.
"So, basically, we decided to eh, take a few loops out and do some things we'd uh... some things we'd always wanted to do." He was going to carry on, but the look on Sam's face stopped him. She had obviously understood exactly what he had always wanted to do.
He hesitated, knowing he should stop there; it didn't really have to go any further. But here, he realised, was another of those rare opportunites, only this one would most definitely have consequences.
His hands automatically ran through his hair again before he carried on. "During one of the loops, I handed in my resignation to General Hammond." He watched as Sam's eyebrow hiked further towards her hairline. "So uh, that way there would be no regulations standing between..." he tapered off, not completing his sentence.
For the past few minutes, his eyes had focussed on Sam and now he couldn't have dragged them away if he had wanted to. And he noticed, she appeared to be building up the courage to ask him something.
Walking towards him, slowly, she spoke quietly. "Sir, I have to ask this. Did we.. did we do anything other than kiss?"
Gazes locked, Jack sucked in a breath before finally answering her. "No, we didn't do anything else. Sam, if ever that moment comes, I want us both to be in a position to remember it."
Sam smiled, not completely realising the effect it was having on Jack. He was wondering what she was thinking but it didn't take too long for her to let him know.
"I just wish I could remember it," she laughed gently.
Some of the tension evaporated, and Jack returned to his normal self. "Oh, Carter, like I really needed that idea planted in my head," he groaned.
He moved closer, rules and regulations long forgotten. At this point, they were the furthest thing from his mind.
He watched her closely, taking in her reaction as he closed the distance between them. He stopped, inches away from her face, knowing that if this happened, their personal and professional lives would be changed forever.
He saw Sam's eyes widen as she realised what he was about to do. But instead of moving back she inched closer, eyes darting between his eyes and his mouth. They leaned closer, eyes drifting closed as their breath mingled in the air between them.
Finally, after long seconds of anticipation, their lips met, gently touching in a tender caress. "Sam," Jack whispered, before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
The kiss rapidly grew in intensity, both demanding more of the other. As their lips explored the other's mouth, hands roamed and explored the other's body.
Eventually Sam pulled back slightly, keeping her arms firmly round Jack's neck. For his part, Jack had no intention of letting go, he wanted to hold her for as long as possible. Regaining his breath, he began to place the tiniest of kisses across her face, her eyes, her nose and cheeks. Anywhere he could reach.
"So," Sam began, still slightly breathless, "What other crazy things did you do?"
Jack's only reply was a chuckle before he leaned in and claimed her lips for another kiss.