Window of Opportunity
by Jen
In his defence, he'd been going crazy. Months (although he'd not known it at the time) of doing the same few hours over and over and over and over...
Daniel asking some god stupid question.
The briefing – the first one in a looooooong time where he knew afterwards what they'd been talking about.
The unscheduled return of SG-12.
Tests. Lots of tests. Lots and lots of medical tests (and no, the Doc wasn't about to let him get off future ones).
Translation. Oh. Good. God. How did Daniel enjoy that? How did he learn all that? The guy can speak how many languages, and most of the time Jack had the most basic grasp on English.
More translating...
Then time out.
It had seemed like a good idea at the time. It had been a good idea. He didn't know how long he'd been in the loop, but he knew it had been an age since he'd last kissed her. Last held her in his arms. And he did not like it one bit.
He'd planned it out. No walking up to her in her lab, the corridor, and kissing her. Besides, someone could see them and he didn't want to spend the rest of the loop in a holding cell (because then he wouldn't even get to see her and that really would suck). So it had to be timed. Just. Right.
Which meant the Control Room. With Hammond. And everyone else.
So he'd resigned. He didn't have to, but he'd decided that it would be fun to see the look on her face.
("You're resigning? What for?" had been code for "What the hell do you think you're doing? We haven't talked about this!")
Besides, he was getting sick of the BDUs.
But now it was over, and here he was, in yet another briefing. When they'd… what? Looped? Jumped? Restarted? he'd got up from the table without saying a word to Daniel.
She was his wife and he was feeling guilty about kissing her. Because he'd done something they could never do.
They'd kissed in public.
"What?"
"Nothin'."
OK, so it was kinda nice. Well, not the kiss. Actually, yeah, the kiss. Kissing her was always nice, sometimes better than nice, but that wasn't the really nice part.
The nice part was that he'd felt what it was like to be a nice, normal couple. Affection in public (and hey!, she'd kissed him back!), no hiding, no lying.
And it seemed like a good idea.
Except the woman he loved was Major Samantha Carter. And the man she loved was Colonel Jack O'Neill. And since when had either of them been normal people?
*****
"OK, what did you do?" she asked when they (finally) got home.
"When?"
"In the loop. Loops. You did something. What?"
"I did lots of things. I went to a planet, several times. I learnt a language that's apparently based on Latin. I rode a bike through the corridors of the SGC…"
"What?"
"I played golf through the Stargate..."
"You chipped balls at my 'gate? I've seen your aim, Jack."
"I took up pottery..."
"Huh?"
"Taught Teal'c how to juggle..."
"Wha'?"
"And... that's it."
"You're lying."
"How would you know?"
"Jack, I'm serious. What did you do?"
"Do you ever think about telling people about us?"
"What?"
"Humour me."
"Yeah, sometimes."
"OK," he said. "What do you think life would be like if we did?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. "Easier, I guess. No sneaking around, no leaving the house before dawn to go home to change. No lying..."
"Affection in public?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"After everything," he said, taking her hand in his, "I thought I'd want that too. But I want you to myself for a little bit longer. That OK?"
"You know it is," she said, running a hand through his hair. "I wouldn't have married you otherwise."
"For better, for worse?"
"Not that I actually said that, but yeah," she said. "I love you, quirks and all."
"Good," he replied.
"Just one thing," she said. "Kiss me on base again, time loop or not, and I'll kill you."
"How...?"
Sam just grinned.
