A Hidden Threat

Chapter 27

Jack cooked and they both sat and ate in silence. So much to say but neither of them could find the words to express it. Jack could see that she was tired. So he got up and took both their plates and began to clean up.

"Please Sir, let me clean up this time" she asked.

She hated being waited hand and foot.

"Nope not today, there will plenty of time for that" he said.

"I'll finish up here and maybe if you not too tired we can watch a flick or something" he asked in hopes that she would stay awake long enough to even turn the TV on.

She paused, "O.k....I promise I'll stay up this time" she said, as if she was reading his mind.

He cleaned up, and she took her usual spot on the sofa. She fought back the sleepiness and tried her hardest to stay awake. She hoped he would finish soon, cause she was quickly losing the battle.

"O.k." he said as he made his way to the living room, "What would you like to watch? I have classics, some thrillers I think I even have sci-fi and you know I don't do sci-fi" he said.

She chuckeled, just admiring his features.

"God he's gorgeous" she said to herself, but had to quickly return to reality.

"what-ever is fine with me" she said, knowing she wasn't going to last long.

"Ah, Ah, AH....you sure about that, cause i need to catch up on my Simpsons" he said jokingly.

She gave him that look of "I'll kill you if you put that movie on", but he had been so amazing, she just smiled and said "ok".

He was shocked.

"really?" he asked. "You'll watch the Simpson with me?"

"I don't always watch science, you know" she said.

"Yea right Carter, and my name isn't Jack O'Neill" he shot back.

They both laughed. It was nice. He could tell she was relaxing and that was always a good sign. She made herself comfortable, and he turned the TV on, and they watch it together. It wasn't long before she had fallen asleep. But it was where she fell asleep that had Jack grinning for ear to ear. She had first laid against his arm, as she had many times before. But she had fallen into such a deep sleep that it slowly became his lap. He had struggled to keep her head on his shoulder but realized keeping her down on his lap was a better solution. As she laid there he stroked her hair, and again her beauty amazed him. He slowly was dozing off as well and he knew that he would regret it later if he didn't get them both to bed. So he slowly lifted her up and carried her to bed. The temptation to bring her to his bed was overwhelming but he loved and respected her too much to do that so he brought her to the guest room. As he laid her down, she awoke. She looked at him and said softly "stay"" as the word came out of her mouth, she shocked herself. "Did I just say that?" she asked herself. They both didn't say another word. Neither of them really knowing what to say or do at this point, he looked at her calmly. He won't lie, her question did shock him but he didn't let on. He sat beside her, both starring into each other's eyes. So many years of unresolved issues, and now here they were. He slowly leaned downed and kissed her forehead.

"Always Sam, Always" He said. With that he slid into bed and wrapped his arms around her. She held on to him. Her grip was tight. He could sense her fear, worry in the way she held him. He began to stroke her hair again..."Shhh" he said, "we're going to be ok....shhhh sleep Carter" he said to her. But suddenly he could hear her small whimpers. It wasn't like Carter to give into emotions, but her hormones were going hay wire, and she wasn't able to control them as well as she did before this all started. He let her cry. He knew she needed to release all of the tension she was feeling. He just held her and let her cry into his chest. But it wasn't long before exhaustion overtook her, and she fell asleep against him, cradled under his chin, safe in his embrace. She had dreamed of this for years. And now here she was, safe in the arms of the man she loved, the man who loved her. Though she couldn't figure out how this was going to all pan out, she knew that she wasn't alone, and that his love would sustain them both.