Sam paused in the middle of sorting through her mail and smirked. She'd only been half listening to Jack -- yes, that was very Bad Girlfriend of her, but she was okay with that -- yet she immediately knew his not-as-clever-as-he-liked-to-believe-it-was leading question would require her full attention.

Wedging her cell phone between her ear and shoulder, Sam swung her feet up onto her couch so she could untie her shoes. She had a feeling she'd want to be comfortable for the ensuing conversation.

"Fifty years," she repeated, mindful to keep her voice even.

"That's a lot of years."

"Sure is." She could tell he was trying to get her to veer their conversation down a certain path, but there was no way she was going to comply. At least not without some fun first.

"And ..." There was an empty second of silence as Jack waited for her to pick up his unspoken words. But when she didn't, her smirk now spreading into a toothy grin, he mumbled, somewhat annoyed, "Teal'c's not budging on his vow to keep what happened a secret?"

"He insists it's for the best. Which is probably true, but I still wouldn't mind knowing some of the details. So Daniel and I might've, uh, sent Vala after him."

Jack chortled, his annoyance gone. "You didn't."

"Teal'c's hard to crack. We have to use our best weapon."

"That's just mean, Carter." Then, after a momentary pause, "I've taught you two so well."

Now it was her turn to chortle. And roll her eyes for good measure. "I still doubt Teal'c's going to break."

"Probably not."

"Yeah."

"So ..."

Again there was expectant silence, and again Sam left it hanging over them. It was a good thing Jack was stuck in DC because there was no way she could've had this conversation and kept a straight face in person.

"So?" she asked, feigning confusion as she wriggled down deep into her couch and drew her knees up to her chest.

"Fifty years."

It was all she could do to keep from laughing. "Mm-hmm," she murmured through tightly pressed lips.

"Do you think you, uh, well ... maybe ... missed me?"

The way in which he rushed through the last two words made her throw her head back and feel loved. By a slightly immature man, sure, but she felt loved all the same. Then again, she could be slightly immature herself.

"I don't know, Jack," she said, sounding put-out by his question.

"You don't ... know?" He was trying to sound nonchalant, but she could detect a trace of exasperation and something else in his voice. Fear, perhaps?

"It sounds like I was pretty busy trying to figure out how to get out of that dilation field without getting everyone killed."

"But ... fifty years, Carter!"

She was sure he hadn't meant to yelp like he did, so she pretended not to notice. She figured that evened things out from only half listening to him earlier. "Well, maybe I missed you a little. But I'm sure the guys were there to keep me preoccupied."

"The guys." Jack's tone was flat.

"It'd probably be inevitable, don't you think? Three guys, two girls, lots of lonely years with no one else around. I'd say the odds are pretty high something happened."

"Hmm."

Sam lurched upright on the couch. Was Jack … intrigued?!

"Jack?" she barely managed not to bark.

"Yeah?" He sounded miles away. Which, okay, he technically was, but he wasn't supposed to sound like it.

"What are you--" Then it hit her. "Are you calculating the odds I hooked up with one of the guys?"

"You're the one who says I should work on my math skills."

"Yeah, but I never said you should--"

Oh. Clamping her mouth shut, Sam shook her head in appreciation. Jack O'Neill, he almost had her. Almost. And the fact she could barely feel her fingers because she was clutching the phone so tightly? She was totally going to ignore that.

"Carter? You still there?"

"Yeah, just ... I'm sure I missed you, Jack. A lot."

"Knew it."

Smug bastard. But Sam just couldn't deny the truth.

-the end-

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