Chapter Four: The Signature

Jack leaned back in the comfortable leather chair that had always sat behind General Hammond's desk. He could do this. He knew he could. He just wasn't sure he wanted to anymore. He didn't feel as if he had anything to prove. He had almost retired several times over his years working at the SGC. But the fight against the Goa'uld was too important to quit if his presence meant one less Jaffa or Goa'uld was stopped or one more innocent life was saved. From behind this desk, he might make a difference, but not more of a difference than anyone else could make. The only real thing that was keeping him here was the fact that without the SGC, he didn't have anything except a few good friendships that might just dwindle away if he wasn't around to keep them strong. That wasn't fair to Carter, Teal'c, and Daniel, but it felt like the truth sometimes.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Jack called.

Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter stepped in, looking anxious, but beautiful even in BDU's. "Do you have a few minutes, General?" she asked, wringing her hands.

Jack frowned in concern. "Of course." He watched as she shut the door. He stood and came around the desk to sit on the front edge. She hovered in front of him. "Everything alright, Colonel?"

"Yes, sir. I…I wanted to apologize, sir. I found your resignation in the trash a few days ago and I…I read it. I'm so sorry, sir. I know that it was private and I have recently had it made known to me how violating that feels. So…I'm sorry." She finished a little breathlessly. She hadn't met his eyes once during the whole speech, but on apologizing the final time, she forced herself to look him in the eye.

Jack let his face go blank. The impassive expression was a cover for the shock he was feeling. She'd read his resignation letter? She knew? What did this mean? Nothing. It means nothing. Just that she knows how inappropriate your feelings toward her are. She has a boyfriend. "It's…It's no big deal, Carter. But you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little…stunned," he said slowly.

"Of course, sir. I understand," Carter said, casting her gaze away again.

There was a long uncomfortable pause. "Was there something else?" Jack asked.

"Oh. No, sir. Thank you, sir. I'll go," Carter said anxiously, turning to the door. She stopped short of the handle and turned back. "There's just one thing I thought you should know."

All Jack could do was raise his eyebrows in question.

"I broke up with Pete," she said quietly.

"Why are you telling me this?" he said.

She looked away. "I just thought…What you wrote in the letter…"

"What about it?" he asked harshier than he'd meant.

"Just...I feel the same," she whispered.

Jack's heart simultaneously sank and soared. "You do? Is that why…?"

"Yes."

There was a long pause as Sam avoided his gaze and he couldn't tear it from her. "What now?" he asked at last.

Sam's eyelids fluttered as she registered his words. She looked up, her heart in her eyes and suddenly his was in his throat. "I could resign," she suggested.

"You're career is too important to you," he countered. "I could resign."

"The SGC needs you," Sam insisted. They were playing out an arguement that Jack had run over and over in his head since almost the day he'd met her. He wondered if she had been doing the same thing. He was tired of it.

"I don't care anymore," he said, closing the distance between them. He stopped just short of taking her hands. "You can't dangle this chance in front of me and snatch it away again. I won't keep it in that room anymore. If you hadn't wanted this, you wouldn't have said anything."

"Sir—"

"Don't call me that. Not during this conversation," he said, exasperated.

"We can't just ignore the regulations," Sam said plaintively.

"I know. That's why I'm resigning," Jack said.

"You can't do that!"

"Why do I feel like we've had this conversation a million times?" he exclaimed. "Sam, we can go around and around like we have been for years, but the bottom line is one of us has to resign. There are other more qualified people who can lead the SGC. But I love you and that's all that matters."

Sam smiled brilliantly at him and her eyes were bright as she whispered, "I love you, too."

Jack did take her hands then. He wanted to kiss her, but he respected her too much to risk it here. "Let me do this. If they really need me, I'll stay for a year or two, but then that's it. That's negotiable, but my retiring is not."

Sam nodded, resigned to his stubbornness. "Alright. If you're sure."

"I am."

"What will you do?"

"First things first. I'll write a new resignation letter." They both knew there was more to it than just the letter. Jack would have to discuss it with his superiors and negotiate how to get out of his assignment without leaving the SGC hanging. But it was a symbol, a promise that they would be together some day soon.

Sam smiled again. "Don't bother. I've got yours right here," Sam said, pulling the letter out of her pocket.

Jack took it with a grin, scrambled for a pen, and scrawled his signature at the bottom.

The End