SG-1 were seated in the briefing room of the Cheyenne Mountain complex the next day as General Hammond explained the details of their latest mission. Observant in nature, it had quickly become apparent to the portly General that something was not quite right within the team as they had trooped in for their briefing that morning. There had been no sarcastic quips from Colonel O'Neill, nor any thinly disguised bantering between him and Major Carter. Dr. Jackson seemed unusually anxious about something and even the normally implacable Teal'c seemed mildly disturbed. General Hammond sensed that there was something going on with SG-1 and resolved to discover what in the world it was, just as soon as the official details were taken care of.

"Okay people. That's about all. See you at 1400 hours. Dismissed." SG-1 rose slowly from their seats and started retrieving their papers, a silent note of tension hanging in the air. Both Sam and Jack were concentrating so hard at maintaining their professional relationship that they had unwittingly lapsed into a dull silence, fearful of saying or doing too much to draw attention to themselves. Daniel was also concentrating very hard lest he should accidentally say something to incriminate his friends and Teal'c was confused as to exactly why Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter had to keep their relationship a secret.

"Major Carter, Colonel O'Neill? I want to see both of you in my office, *now*." Sam shot a worried look over to Jack, who attempted to shrug nonchalantly but failed miserably. Sam could feel her heart starting to pound with fear. Did the General guess already?

"Yes Sir."

Leaving behind a frowning Daniel and an equally worried Teal'c, they followed the General to his office. Sam's utmost concern now was formulating a convincing argument on why SG-1 should not be split up despite the fact that she was in direct contravention of United States Air Force regulations and having intimate relations with her commanding officer.

She shut the door behind her and came to attention in front of the General's desk beside Jack.

"At ease, Major. Please sit." Sam sat stiffly into the proffered chair and chanced a glance at Jack, who seemed equally as uncomfortable. He looked like he was actually squirming in his chair.

"Look, I've noticed this morning that something wasn't quite right with SG-1." He began.

"General Hammond Sir -" General Hammond signalled to interrupt her.

"Please Major, let me finish." Sam subsided further into her chair, wishing she could disappear off the face of the planet ... or more accurately, the universe. "Now, I don't know what's gotten you all so worked up, particularly you two, but I hope that whatever differences you have you can resolve it before you go on your next mission. I will not let my best team go into a potentially dangerous situation not having their minds a hundred and ten percent on the job, is that clear?"

It took a moment for both Sam and Jack to absorb the fact that General Hammond hadn't guessed the truth, and hadn't even come close. Sam began to expel some of the breath that she had been unconsciously holding.

"Uh, General, we weren't - I mean, we -"

"I *think* what the Major is trying to say is we had a *minor* disagreement this morning, one that I'm sure we'll resolve before we go on the mission today." Jack gave her a pointed look.

General Hammond looked from one face to the other, and at long last seemed satisfied with their response. He dismissed them with one last word. "Oh Colonel, Major - " they swung around as he addressed them again, "SG-1 is like family to me. If you've ever got any problems, don't hesitate to talk to me about it."

"Yes Sir."

"Sure, Sir."

They walked out of the General's office in relieved silence. Jack noticed the troubled expression that clouded Sam's face.

"Something on your mind, Carter?" he said discreetly, as two Airmen passed them in the hallway.

"Yes Sir, I think we have to talk." Jack gestured for her to follow him into his office. He took note of the deep frown still evident on her face as he closed the door quietly behind them.

Sam placed her face into her hands and let out a huge sigh. Behind her, Jack tried to lighten up the tension that was nearly visible in the atmosphere.

"Well, *that* was close."

She spun around to confront him. "Jack, that was *too* close. Did you see how quickly he noticed that something was different? It's only been a couple of hours, and he *noticed*." Sam irrationally felt that she was on the point of hysteria. Getting hauled into her superior's office had just rammed into her the significance of the consequences of their actions. They could get court martialled, or thrown out of the Stargate program, or demoted ... or all three. God. Her life, all that she had worked for, sacrificed so much for, could be wrested away from her in an instant.

What had she been thinking?

She hadn't been thinking of course. Sam had discarded the refuge of her intellect, the security found from hiding behind a veneer of military propriety when she had made that split second decision to respond to Jack's kiss. A microsecond in time when her instincts had taken over, her thoughts and rationalism shunted away into suspended animation. Except now they had been reactivated by General Hammond's attention just a few minutes ago.

She forced herself to take deep, controlled breaths as Jack looked on in concern.

The trouble now Sam realised, was that she couldn't go back and undo the last forty-eight hours as if it had never happened. Even if she could, she really didn't want to.

That was what shocked her the most. For most of her adult life, Sam had been used to relying on her intellect, her rational thought processes, her sense of responsibility and duty, as a foundation for making her decisions. Her choice in applying to the Air Force was made knowing that it was the most expedient way of achieving her life dream; her decision to forgive her father for her mother's death was made knowing the pointlessness of continuing to blame him for it; even her decision to break off her engagement to Jonas had been due to her carefully thinking things out, rationally realising that she would never be truly happy in a relationship with him.

And her scientific rationalism had served her time and time again. But now ... every synapse was screaming for her to stop, go back and undo as much of the past two days as she could. A relationship with Jack O'Neill, her Colonel, her commanding officer, would never work out. They would get found out, court martialled, barred from the Stargate ... everything she valued would be lost to her. And her father ... what would he think of her, his daughter, being stupid enough to get involved with an immediate superior? How ashamed he would be of her ... He was Tok'ra now, but there was still enough Air Force training in him to make him think badly of Jack ?

And Jack ... what about him? He'd get court martialled too, thrown out of the SGC which would slowly tear down his renewed vigour for life ... How would she even be able to look at him then, knowing that she'd been responsible for this? Knowing that, if only she had been strong enough to end this now, she could still save what they have, preserve their careers, their friendship, before it all crumbled to dust.

Damage control.

The problem actually was that there was no conflict. No titanic struggle between her mind and her heart for control, no agony in reaching that 'right' decision. Sam was shocked because she knew that deep in the depths of her soul she had already made that decision, that choice.

Her thoughts versus her feelings. And there had been no battle - her feelings had won.

And so she would risk everything, her career, her position at the SGC ... all to be with this man standing in front of her. This tall, well-built, caring, deeply sensitive man with the heart of a soldier and the gentle hands of a lover. This man, battered by tragedy, sorrow and self-loathing, yet still had the strength and the will to live. He had revealed himself to her, had entrusted her with his hidden fragility, his vulnerability apparent in the hesitation of every gesture, every caress.

And it felt wonderful. She cared ... *so much* for this man, her Jack. The clarity of thought did not dull the searingly strong emotion that she felt for him now. Yes. She *would* risk everything for him, to be with him ... because there was nothing else she could do.

"Sam? Sam ... look at me." Jack stepped forward worriedly at her continued silence. He came as close to her as military protocol allowed before tilting her head back gently with his hand, his only concession to the tumult of feelings whirling about inside him. What he was about to say to her, to offer her, was like someone pouring acid onto a burning wound.

He looked directly into her eyes, trying to gauge the level of her anxiety but was momentarily taken aback in surprise. Her round blue orbs showed no hint of the agony, the turmoil that he knew was in his. She was perfectly calm. None of that stoic, distant military kind of calm that he often saw her display to prove herself to superiors, but a genuine, deep seated calm that seemed to infuse her whole being.

It made Jack swallow the bile sensation that was rising up in his throat. This was going to be harder that he'd thought. He'd rather be facing a hundred snake heads than say what he was about to say.

"I know it's a big risk ...with us. I don't ... I don't want you to lose your career over this. You've worked too damn hard ... and I won't let someone like me get in the way of that. I understand ... really." Those last words were somewhat choked. "Besides ... I'll still be your annoying CO, making bad jokes on our missions."

Sam smiled and looked down, leaning against the desk behind her. "They're not *that* bad ... *Jack*." She looked at him expectantly but he continued to stare at his feet, as if afraid to confront the serenity in her eyes. She sighed in frustration. Sometimes this man was capable of hitting on the most ingenious solutions to complex problems, but at other times ... it pained her to admit it of one who she cared so deeply about ... but sometimes he was such a *man*. He had completely missed the subtle point that she'd been trying to make.

"Jack. Notice I'm still calling you *Jack* ... not Colonel ..." He looked up but all she could see was a puzzled expression in his eyes, intermingled with a hint of hope. He had been busy plunging himself into misery, wallowing in self-pity at the thought of returning to the role of friend and Colonel in her life. Losing her heart and his in the process.

He squinted at her and his forehead creased briefly into a frown. He had no idea what she was trying to say.

"Jack ... what I'm saying is ... I don't care about the risk. If we get caught, we get caught. I'm not going to live my life wondering what might have been." Sam took her hands off the desk and came to stand directly in front of him. "Seeing the other Sam ... how she'd lost her husband ..." her eyes flickered to his face, "it's not right to just, throw our chance away at happiness because of regulations... or protocol or whatever ..."

Jack took a few more moments to process what she was telling him, making sure he had heard her right and understood her meaning. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Are you sure? I mean ah ... I'd understand ... really."

The only response she gave him was a smile and a nod.

"Well *this* is a surprise." He said, intonating the words flippantly. He felt so happy he could burst out of his constricting dress uniform, but all he could do was stick his hands into his pockets and giver her a high voltage smile. He still had a lot of trouble expressing himself, but this was a start. He had Sam to help him out now.

"A good one, I hope." Sam returned his smile with a bright one of her own, lighting up her eyes in the process.

"A *very* good one." His grin grew broader as he cocked his head boyishly.

"Good." Sam replied, and walked to the door. "You can buy me dinner after our mission." She arched her eyebrow flirtatiously.

"Only if you get the beer!" he countered as she shut the door behind her. Jack walked around to his desk and shuffled the papers mindlessly. Damn, he couldn't stop grinning like a school boy!

Not that he minded ... really.

***

Sam walked into the lab feeling refreshed. After her talk with Jack she had taken a shower and changed into her more comfortable fatigues. She had planned to use the remainder of the morning analysing part of the naquadah generator they got from Orban.

As she rounded the corner of her work station however she spied a rather pensive looking Daniel entering the room, flanked by Teal'c.

"Hey Sam, I've been looking for you everywhere. Where've you been?"

Sam glanced at the two, a puzzled expression on her features. "What's the emergency?"

"Ah ... a little matter of getting pulled into the General's office after the meeting this morning ..."

Sam's face cleared as she understood his concern. "Oh ... that. It was nothing." She put down the object she had been studying and looked up at them, her blue eyes twinkling. "He thought we'd been arguing - all of us were so quiet."

"Of course." Daniel's quick mind immediately comprehended the situation and he let out a sigh of relief. "You and Jack weren't flirting and I wasn't saying anything."

"Daniel! We don't *flirt*." Sam protested.

Daniel looked over at the Major, his features suggesting the opposite. "Whatever. Anyway -" giving her no chance to interject "I guess we'll just have to, act more *normal* from now on."

"Yeah ... I mean, I think we were just trying too hard this morning." Sam glanced over to the door to ensure it was still firmly closed. "I know it's unfair of us to have dragged you guys into this. I want you to know it means ... a lot to me ... and Jack. Thanks guys."

Daniel's eyes sparkled with friendship as Teal'c replied, "You are most welcome, Major Carter." She beamed at the both of them in return, her good mood of yesterday reappearing. It seemed that things were starting to settle down after the initial upheaval. She and Jack had sorted things out somewhat and reaffirmed their desire to be together, she was reassured that her fellow team mates were happy to help in keeping the secret ... hell, they'd even managed to pass the General's radar, albeit with some minor difficulty. But all things considered, this beginning wasn't that bad. Not bad at all.