Title: Present Perfect

Author: Sue Corkill

Email:  scorkill@earthlink.net

Category: Sam & Jack, Romance

Status: Complete

Rating: NC-17

Content Warning: M/F, Graphic sex

Season/Sequel info: Four

Spoilers: Tangent

Archive: Heliopolis, SJRA

Summary: Sam finds a note from Jack.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Feedback: Cheerfully accepted.

A soft smile lit Sam’s face as she looked over to the corner of the Tel’tac where O’Neill slept. Teal’c sat quietly, a few meters away, meditating. She shook her head, gazing fondly at the two men. They were finally getting some good rest, after their ordeal on the X-301, both men were soundly sleeping...or meditating. Sam glanced through the open doors of the cargo bay; she could just see her father and Daniel as they sat in the command chairs. Both men looking relaxed for the first time, in oh about, twenty-four hours. And though she was exhausted, she found she was still too hyper from everything that had happened. The fear, hope, and excitement of finally rescuing Teal’c...and the Colonel. She sighed, her eyes drawn helplessly once more to her sleeping CO. The relief she had felt when the Colonel had awakened from his oxygen-deprived ‘sleep’ and then the overwhelming joy she had felt when he was finally on board the Tel’tac had seemed normal at the time. But now that most of the adrenaline had stopped rushing through her veins, it frightened her. All the feelings she thought she’d had under control after the Za’tarc incident had all come flooding back — in spades. Sam wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to keep her feelings bottled up, never showing anything more than collegial concern and friendship. She really hadn’t thought it would be as hard as it was turning out to be. God help her, she loved Jack O’Neill and no amount of regulations or her own conscience could stop it.

Still feeling jittery, Sam decided to forget about trying to rest or sleep for the flight back to Earth. According to her father, they had at least a twelve hour journey ahead of them, the fried engines of the Tel’tac unable to support a jump to hyperdrive. They’d have to limp back to Earth and hope that they’d be able to repair the ship enough for her father to return to wherever it was he needed to return! Besides, the minute she stopped moving, she’d start thinking...and she already had too much to think about! Sam looked around the cargo bay at the pile of discarded flight clothes and other equipment that lay scattered about and decided to do what she always did when she was tense — clean. Working quietly, so as to not disturb the sleeping and meditating men, she began picking up their flight jumpsuits and helmets. Wrinkling her nose a bit at the rather...manly odor emanating from the flight suit she recognized it immediately as Teal’c’s. Oh dear, she had been hanging around these particular men too long if she could tell them apart by their scent! Folding the garment and tucking it inside Teal’c’s helmet, she stashed it in a cleverly hidden storage cupboard and returned to where the other jumpsuit and helmet lay on the floor. Sam picked up O’Neill’s flight suit, and feeling like a giddy teenager, held it close and inhaled deeply. Yes, definitely the Colonel! That unmistakable woodsy, soapy, slightly spicy sent that was all Jack O’Neill. Sam jumped guiltily when she heard her father call from the bridge.

"You okay in there, Sam?"

Draping the flight suit over her arm, she crossed quickly to the open door. "I’m fine, just picking up a little bit."

The look her father gave her told her he suspected there was more behind that statement than she was letting on, but he didn’t call her on it. "All right, kiddo. You should get some rest though."

"What about you, Dad?"

Jacob chuckled, "I’ll be fine, and once you’ve had some rest — or when Teal’c’s finished meditating — you or he can relieve me."

"Okay, Dad." She slowly backed away from the door; "I’ll just finish up in here."

Deciding she’d spent enough time mooning over O’Neill, she started folding the flight suit when, to her surprise, a piece of paper fell out of one of the unzipped breast pockets. The slightly rumpled and folded bit of paper fluttered to the ground, to settle at her feet. Bending down, she picked it and unfolded it once, only to see ‘Major Samantha Carter, USAF’ scrawled across the paper. She recognized the handwriting immediately as the Colonel’s. She glanced over to the far side of the cargo bay where he still lay sleeping, he’d rolled over and now faced the bulkhead, all she could see was the back of his head. What should she do? The logical part of her told her to put the note — unread — back into the pocket of the flight suit. When, and if, the Colonel wanted to give her the note, he would. The woman-in-love part of her told her to read the note; and with a guiltily apologetic look towards O’Neill’s sleeping back, she gave in to her desire to know what he had written.

Sam —

I’ve done the math, and it looks like Teal’c and I aren’t going to make it out of this one. And hell, I don’t even know if you — or anyone — will ever find this note. Maybe someday someone will find the glider in the Ort cloud and get this to you, who knows? I just need to write this down though, so that it’s recorded somewhere. I love you, Sam. I don’t so much regret dying as I regret not having had the courage to act on my feelings for you. So, I guess there’s nothing else to say.

— Jack

Even though his declaration of love was not really a surprise to her, Sam felt the tears welling in her eyes as she folded the note back up and put it in her BDU pocket. She could hear Jack’s voice in every word. Brushing at her tears, she looked once more towards the sleeping figure of the man who loved her, realizing she was precariously close to losing control of her feelings! They couldn’t go on like this, she decided suddenly, something — or someone — would have to give.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam pulled her Volvo into the drive and sat, staring at the house, her courage ebbing now that she was actually at Jack’s house. The note she’d found in his flight suit currently sat burning a hole in the pocket of her jean jacket. She knew O’Neill was at home, he and Teal’c had been held overnight in the infirmary once they’d arrived back on Earth, Janet releasing them mid-morning after an uneventful night. Daniel had been co-opted to drive Jack home — over Jack’s protests, of course, and she had spent the day with her father, going over the repairs the Tel’tac would need. And then Jacob had left as well, to report back to the Tok’ra council and bring back ‘spare parts’ to complete the Tel’tac’s repairs. Leaving her alone...with the message Jack had thought she would never see, a confession of love and regret that tore at her heart. The last few days had shown her that she had been full of foolish pride to think she could just ignore her feelings and Jack’s brush with death had been a slap in her arrogance, showing just how vulnerable they all were in the face of life — and death.

Which brought her back to her current situation, sitting in her car, letting her fears once more gain the upper hand in the never-ending circle her non-regulation feelings for Jack O’Neill provoked. She took the note out of her pocket, carefully unfolding it and reading it again. Okay, she told herself, you can do this; if you can face a System Lord face to face and come out the winner, surely you can face the man you’re not allowed to love and try to convince him it’s okay to love. Sam sighed, refolding the note and tucking it once more safely away in her pocket. No guts, no glory, she told herself as she opened the car door and made her way to Jack O’Neill’s front door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack sat up, tossing the sofa pillow to the floor, not sure why he was so antsy. He wasn’t tired, he wasn’t bored, he was just...alone. As a general rule, he didn’t mind being alone, in fact he tended to prefer it, but after the terrible aloneness of space he almost wished he were back on base or anywhere that was full of people. He turned the sound up on the TV just to have more background noise and glanced over at the phone, wondering if there was anyone he could call, to just talk. He laughed humorlessly at the incongruity of Jack O’Neill calling anyone to just talk. If he actually did that, whomever he called would probably be rendered speechless! No, he’d just have to do like he always did — handle whatever problems he was having on his own.

He finally jumped up off the sofa and stretched, picking up the beer bottle on the coffee table. Empty, well, he had the cure for that at least. Walking into the kitchen, the annoyingly cheerful voice of the ball game’s announcer following him, he opened up the fridge and pulled out another long neck. Twisting off the cap, he tossed it casually on the counter and wandered back into the living room, taking a long draw of the cold beer. Ignoring the TV and the sofa, he went over to the picture window, twitching back the curtains he dropped them back in sudden shock when he saw Carter get out of her car — that was parked in his driveway! Well hell, this was certainly unexpected. He’d wanted someone to talk to, he just wasn’t sure Sam Carter was the right person. Never mind that he would have given anything to be able to talk to her — sans audience — when he was trapped in the glider. But, that was then...and this was now, back safe and sound on Earth and back to the status quo. What the hell was she doing here? And what the hell was he going to do? His wildly racing thoughts were interrupted by the inevitable sound of her knocking on his door, the noise ominously loud in the sudden quiet lull from the TV.

He shut off the TV and then took his time walking to the door, so much time in fact that she knocked again, a little bit harder and slightly more impatient sounding. Jack flung the door open, and practically found himself with an armful of blonde major as she momentarily lost her balance, one arm raised to once more attack his door. "Hang on there, Carter. I’m here already."

Sam flushed, and tugged her jacket back down, stepping back a pace as he stood blocking the doorway. "Ah, Colonel, sir..." She paused, looking more and more flustered and unsure of herself the longer he stood motionless in the doorway. He knew he was being a bastard, something urgent must be driving her, as she had never shown up at his house unaccompanied or unannounced before.

He continued to frown, but stepped back slightly from the door, angling his body sideways. "Come on in." She nodded and when he didn’t move, squeezed past him into the house. He noted she quickly put some distance between then, as she crossed over to stand by the fireplace, setting her purse down a nearby chair. He took another swallow of beer, then gestured towards an armchair with the bottle, "Have a seat, Carter."

"Thanks," she murmured, and sat down perched so far on the edge of the chair that it looked like she was about to fall off. She clasped her hands together in front of her, which in anyone else he would have taken as a nervous gesture, but this was Carter — what the hell was she nervous about?

He plopped down on the sofa, stretching his legs out in front of him. "So, what you brings you to my humble abode?"

"I, ah, wanted to ask you something."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Actually," she reached into the pocket of her jean jacket. "I wanted to give you something." She pulled out a folded piece of paper and extended her hand towards him; her elegant fingers trembling slightly as she waited for his response.

Jack caught his breath and his heart actually stopped beating for a brief moment before it began racing as he suddenly recognized what was dangling from her fingers. He quickly took another long drink of the beer, this time finishing off the bottle, trying to organize his thoughts. What the hell was she doing? She must have read the note; it was the only reason he could think of why she would have come to confront him with it. Her face had taken on a carefully neutral expression; he couldn’t read anything in her normally expressive countenance. Jack sat the beer bottle down, his movements deliberate as he stood and slowly crossed the room to stand in front of her. Plucking the incriminating note out of her hand and stuffing it in his shirt pocket, he said, "Thanks for bringing it to me." He walked away then, towards the kitchen calling over his shoulder, "Want a beer?"

He had just opened the refrigerator door when he heard her footsteps and then her angry voice. "So that’s it?"

Pulling another longneck out, he turned, letting the fridge door close behind him. Twisting off the top, he took a long draw before replying to the obviously irritated woman standing in his kitchen. "Yeah, I guess that’s it." She opened her mouth, but before she could speak he quickly continued. "You’ve made it perfectly clear on numerous occasions that you don’t want anything more from me." He brushed by her, leaving her speechless in the kitchen as he returned to the living room.

She was hot on his heels though, and he came to an abrupt halt, swinging around when he felt her hand clutching at his arm. "What if I want more?" she asked, her expression no longer irritated, her eyes and voice both filled with such longing that he caught his breath.

Jack carefully studied her, trying to see past the fragile hope he saw in her beautiful blue eyes and into her very soul. "Sam," speaking her name aloud sounded funny to his ears, and her eyes closed and then opened again, blazing even brighter at him. He carefully sat his beer bottle down, being careful to not dislodge her hand from where it still rested on his other arm. He patted the note in his shirt pocket, the rustling noise of the paper against the fabric of his shirt loud in the quiet room. "I meant everything I wrote in this note." He felt her hand tighten on his arm. "So, be very, very certain about what you want."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam relaxed the death grip she had on Jack’s arm, letting her hand slide in a subtle caress down his arm to his hand. Twining her fingers with his, she spoke with growing confidence. "I had a lot of time to think on the flight back to Earth; and I know the only way I can go through something like what just happened in the future is if we have something in the present." His deep brown eyes lost some of their caution and she could sense his entire posture start to relax even as his fingers tightened around hers.

"Holy buckets, Sam," he murmured, his voice a rough growl and his breath hot against her throat, tightening his arms around her. She responded by sliding her hands down to his ass and thrusting her pelvis against him. Rubbing herself against his burgeoning erection, she smiled as she felt his large frame shudder against hers. "God, baby," Jack groaned, his voice even more strained. "Please tell me you plan on staying?"

Before Sam could reply, her knees almost buckled when Jack gently bit the tender flesh of her neck and then laved the sensitive skin with his tongue. "Jack," she moaned, clinging to him. "Not even Thor could drag me away." She simultaneously heard and felt the ragged chuckle that rumbled from deep in his chest.

"Let’s hope he doesn’t make an untimely visit," Jack teased, continuing to suck and bite his way up to ear. His breath was hot as he whispered in a low voice, "Let’s continue this in the bed then, shall we?" Sam nodded weakly, well past caring about anything except showing Jack her love in the most intimate way possible. His lips found hers again for a brief kiss and when he pulled his head back she found herself gazing helplessly this desire filled eyes. Jack groaned, "Keep looking at me like that, Sam, and we won’t make it to the bedroom!"

She felt her start blushing and buried her hot face in his throat when he once more hugged her close. "Sorry," she muttered, "I’ve just wanted you for so long."

"Me too, baby, me too," Jack growled, and then shocked her by swinging her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her head once more in the crook of his neck as he carried her down a dimly lit hallway and into what she assumed must be his bedroom. He swiftly crossed the short distance to the bed and gently lowered her to her feet, keeping in constant contact with her.

Sam kept her hands clutching gently at his waist as he twisted slightly and turned on the bedside lamp. The soft light filled the room and she looked around curiously. Dark, antique furniture, a navy blue comforter; very masculine, very Jack — clean and uncluttered. Jack cleared his throat and she blushed again when she met his knowing gaze. "Just curious," she muttered, feeling suddenly shy and looking down at his feet.

Jack chuckled and he tilted her face back up with a gentle touch under her chin. "No problem," he told her, his eyes glittering. "It’s just that I’m curious about some other things right now."

Sam felt herself relaxing again and catching his mood she replied archly, "Such as?"

His hands grasped the open edges of her denim jacket. "Such as what you look like underneath all this clothing." She felt herself grinning idiotically as he tugged urgently at the jacket and she helped him by shrugging out of it, letting it fall off her arms and down to the floor. Her knit top quickly followed and she gasped slightly and quivered as his nimble fingers brushed her belly, making quick work of the button and zipper on her jeans. Shimmying a bit as he tugged at the waist, her jeans were soon pooled around her ankles.

Jack stopped then and backed up a step, and Sam suddenly wished she had on something more exciting than her plain white cotton bra and panties. Though apparently Jack didn’t seem to mind, as he reached out with one hand and ran his fingers caressingly from her collarbone and down between her breasts. He toyed with the front claps of her bra for a moment before deftly undoing it and slowly peeling the garment back to reveal her breasts. Any more nervousness Sam may have felt disappeared as Jack delicately traced one sensitive peak murmuring, "God, Sam, you are so beautiful."

She shivered at the emotional intensity in his words and his tender touch, whimpering in disappointment when his hand stopped its soft caress. "Jack," she pleaded, swaying towards him.

"It’s okay, baby," he whispered as he pulled her bra down her arms and off. His hands slid swiftly to her waist and he tugged her panties off her hips as well. He gently pushed at her shoulders then and she obediently shuffled her feet out of her jeans and panties and backed up the few steps it took to reach the bed. She stopped when she felt the edge of the mattress hit the back of her legs and sighed with relief as he gently lowered her to the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack gazed down in humble awe at the sight of Sam — his love and the woman he thought he’d never have — lying naked on his bed. She was beautiful, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide with passion, her shell pink nipples already hard little peaks when all he’d done was undress her! She shifted, her long legs moving restlessly and murmured huskily, "Jack, please...." Her plaintive cry rousing him from his reverie. She was actually here, in his bed and soon to be his fully — why was he just standing there?

"Sorry, babe," he apologized as he stripped of his shirt tossing it on top her clothing that littered the floor. "I just never thought I’d have you here, in my house, in my bed."

She smiled seductively at him, arching her back slightly to show off her pretty breasts. "Well, I may be in your house and your bed, but you’ve yet to ‘have’ me," she teased.

Jack paused in unfastening his trousers and grinned at her wolfishly. "Oh, let there be no doubt that you’ll be well and truly ‘had’ before we’re finished here tonight!"

Her lips curved into a breathtaking smile and her baby blues sparkled as she raised herself up on one elbow and held her other hand out to him. "Well, what are you waiting for, fly boy?"

Jack felt like his head was about to explode right there and then! He had always suspected that beneath Sam’s cool exterior was a seething volcano and it looked like his suspicions were correct. He quickly shucked off his trousers and briefs, his chest swelling with masculine pride at the pleased look on Sam’s face as she stared at him. She obviously liked what she saw, as her eyes traveled up and down length of his lean frame. Her look seemed to linger at his groin, and when she licked her lips, he couldn’t suppress a moan that came out as her name, "Sam...."

"Jack," she countered in a sultry voice, her hand still reaching out to him. He finally took her outstretched hand and let her pull him onto the bed. Kneeling by her side, he leaned over her, just letting his chest brush against her nipples as he gently grasped her shoulders. Bringing his face down to hers, he watched as her eyes fluttered shut and then he started placing wet, open-mouthed kisses all over her face while he rubbed his chest erotically against her breasts. He followed a leisurely path down her throat, along her collarbones; his hands gliding in soft touches down her arms, feathering up her ribcage before coming to rest beneath her breasts. Jack pulled back slightly, watching Sam’s face as he started caressing her breasts. Her eyes were still closed and her face had taken on a dreamy look, her lips parted as she softly panted in response to his touch. Satisfied, he lowered his head back down to her breasts and continued to place wet kisses all around them before finally tugging a rosy nipple into his mouth. She tasted like the sweetest ambrosia; the sound of her soft cries ringing sweetly in his ears as he suckled hungrily, pulling her luscious flesh even deeper into his hot mouth.

Shifting abruptly, he placed a restraining arm across her hips and with his now-free hand began to softly stroke around her tender opening. He felt a hand suddenly grip his arm where it rested low on her belly, ignoring the slight pain of her nails digging into his flesh, he continued his sensual assault. Increasing the intensity, Jack sucked firmly on her clitoris, carefully probing her slick channel with first one finger and then two, stretching her gently. He heard her gasp and then her whole body tensed at the combined sensation, her soft wail signaling the start of her climax. Jack continued to gently suck and stroke Sam throughout her entire release until she finally lay quiescent beneath his touch.

Jack crawled up her limp body then, pushing her legs further apart and urging her knees up, she moaned but complied, cradling him between her strong things. Propping himself up on his elbows, Jack cupped her face between his hands. "Sam, baby, look at me," he whispered hoarsely. She slowly opened her eyes and the look of pure love and satisfied delight he saw in her face humbled him. Gazing at her in open wonder, Jack couldn’t even begin to imagine what had he ever done to deserve the love of a woman as wonderful as Sam. He was just thankful that she did love him and that they had finally decided to act on their feelings. Delicately tracing her lips with a finger that trembled, he murmured, "I love you so much."

Sam’s lips slowly curved into a smile and she clasped his hips tighter with her thighs, moving her pelvis slowly against his erection, which lay trapped between them, pressing into her soft belly. "I know, Jack. I’ve always known." He kissed her fiercely then, pressing her back into the pillows, grinding his hips against her, tantalizing them both as he rock hard penis rubbed against her sleek and now swollen folds. Raising his head and locking his eyes with hers, he tugged at one of her legs and she brought her knees up even further, opening herself completely to him, her utter faith and trust almost undoing him.

"Sam," he breathed, adjusting the angle of her hips with a gentle touch and then gasping himself as he felt Sam’s hand close around his rigid length.

"Let me help, love," she whispered, slowly guiding him to her vaginal opening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam smiled contentedly, Jack’s weight on her and continued presence in her filling a void within her heart and soul that she had tried to ignore for more years than she cared to remember. When had this man wormed his way into her soul? She wriggled slightly, settling Jack more comfortably in her arms and he moaned. Quickly running her hands soothingly up and down his back, Sam felt him relax once more against her, nestling even deeper into her embrace. Thinking back on the events of the past few days, the very same events that had brought them to this point in time, Sam couldn’t help but shudder, her arms tightening convulsively around Jack.

"Hey," he groused, his voice muffled against her neck. "You’re strangling me."

"Sorry," she muttered, loosening her grip somewhat on him.

He easily pulled himself out of her embrace then, his inherent strength making short work of her attempt to continue holding him. He propped himself up on his elbows, and she found herself looking into his deep brown eyes. "So," he asked quietly, his expression somehow relaxed and tense at the same time, "whatcha’ thinking?"

Sam couldn’t help but grin, relief filling her at his question. Lord, she loved him so much and he knew her so well! "Just thinking about stuff," she replied.

"Well, I figured that," he countered, one hand slowly caressing hair, smoothing her bangs back from her forehead. "What kind of stuff?"

"How much I love you," she paused while he smiled and leaned down, kissing her briefly. "How I almost lost you."

His expression suddenly sobered at the grim reminder of the chain of events that had served as the catalyst to their current change in status. "But, you didn’t lose me," he countered lightly, though his eyes remained serious.

"Not this time," she agreed.

He sighed and continued to play with her hair. "It goes both ways, Sam." The look he gave her was pointed. "What you said earlier, about being able to handle the future if we had something here in the present, did you mean it?"

She nodded, unsure as to where he was going with this conversation, but intuitively realizing that their whole future rested on what was about to transpire.

"Then concentrate on the present, Sam, because that’s where our future lies."

Sam wrinkled her forehead, her mind racing as she automatically started dissecting her lover’s cryptic statement.

"Ah ah!" Jack admonished, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "None of that!" He lowered his head, kissing her thoroughly. "I can always tell when you’re thinking too much, Sam."

"You know me too well." And he did, she realized, he knew she would immediately start to over-analyze their situation. Leave it to Jack to cut straight to the heart of the matter, bypassing all the tired arguments and reasons as to why they shouldn’t act on their love.

"What I know is that we should accept what we have, for as long as we have it."

Sam studied his deep brown eyes carefully, the mix of caution and hope present in their depths reassuring her. He was right; the only place their relationship could exist was in the present and she would have to accept whatever they could work out. Of course, that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t try to ensure that all the variables worked in their favor! Sam reached up and gently caressed his cheek. "How did you get to be so smart?" she questioned, smiling tenderly as relief flooded his face at her words.

"Must be the company I keep."

THE END

scorkill@earthlink.net