A/N: Nope, still not mine. But I do love them.

Sam stood up from the couch with a sigh. After the last mission, SG-1 had been ordered on two weeks leave by General Hammond. Most people, she knew, would be grateful for the break, but Sam had been back at her house for two hours and was already itching to get back to work. She looked at the clock for what seemed like the hundredth time. 7:03 PM.
Suddenly, her stomach began to rumble, and she realised she hadn't eaten dinner yet. Smiling, she headed to the fridge, thankful to have something to do. The smile quickly dropped from her face when she opened the fridge and realised she hadn't been grocery shopping in a while. Things had been so hectic that there hadn't been any point.

"Damn," she mumbled to herself before brightening up. She headed for the phone, quickly picking it up and dialling, only to hang up again before the second ring. "Fishing. Right." Pulling open a drawer below the phone and quickly rifling through the few papers within, she pulled out a Chinese takeout menu and lifted the phone receiver again to place an order. She'd go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Sam was putting away the last of her groceries when the phone rang, the volume of it in her otherwise-silent kitchen startling her. She shut the door to the fridge and stepped across the room quickly to answer it.

"Ca-" she began to answer automatically, before remembering she wasn't in her lab on base. "Hello?"

"Hey, Carter!" came a very familiar voice.

"Hi, Sir," Sam said, a smile crossing her face.

"Sam, we're on vacation. Quit with the 'Sir' stuff, would you?"

"Of course. Sorry. What's up...Jack?" his first name crossed her lips awkwardly.

"Well, I ended up not leaving for my fishing trip last night. I'm leaving today instead. Thought I'd extend the offer one last time. I mean, really, what else are you doing?" Sam sighed.

"Nothing, actually," she paused, trying to determine if the next words would qualify her for a diagnosis of certifiably insane. "Sure. Let's go fishing."

"Great. Want me to pick you up?"

"No. That's not necessary. You've told me how to get there before, I can find it. I need to get a few things together. I'll meet you there." She heard a slight chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Sure, Carter. See you in a couple of hours."

Sam hung up the phone slowly, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with her impulsive decision to join Jack. She was sure of two things: one, something major was going to happen; and two, there was an excellent chance that this would end badly.

They'd decided to have a beer after dinner. One had turned into two which had turned into many, and soon they were both incredibly drunk. As they laughed about something neither of them would remember the next day, Jack suddenly fell quiet.

"Hey, Carter."

"Yeah, Jack?" she asked, still laughing.

"Hey, quit laughing at me. I gotta tell you something." The suddenly serious tone of his voice made her pause.

"Not laughing at you. Wha's up?" she asked, her words slurring slightly.

"I gotta tell you...you're really beautiful. 'Specially when you laugh. I like it when you laugh, Sam." A flush began to spread over Sam's cheeks.

"That's pretty too." Jack said, reaching out a hand to Sam's cheek to draw her gaze to his. Brown eyes locked with blue and both were absolutely still for a split second before moving in unison, crushing their lips against one another's. Sam raised her arms to wrap them around his neck and gripped the hair at the back of his head. He responded by using the hand that was on her shoulder to rotate their bodies slightly and press her backwards to lay on the couch they were sitting on. His lips moved to trail along her jawline and then down her neck, eliciting a soft moan from Sam as his teeth lightly grazed a sensitive spot at the join between her shoulder and neck. Sam released one of her hands from the back of his head to slide it down his chest and then back up as it slipped underneath his t-shirt. Her fingers skimmed over his muscles as she explored his bare skin, lightly travelling through the soft curls of his chest hair. He pulled away from her momentarily to pull the offending shirt off, quickly lowering himself towards her again.

Sam woke up slowly the next morning at first unsure of where she was. As she drew closer to full consciousness, she became aware of the pounding in her head and groaned, then bolted upright as the events of the previous evening began to hit her. It was chilly in the bedroom and she pulled the quilt up over her naked torso as she glanced around for her clothes. It was only as she did this scan of the room that she suddenly realised she was alone in the bed.

"Jack?" she said aloud to no response. She spotted her shirt from the night before across the room, near the door, and she slowly stood up to retrieve it, shaking off the dizziness that accompanied the action. A shirt, a glass of water, and an aspirin. That was what she needed. She still hadn't managed to locate her pants, but she'd be able to get some once she made it to the guest room, where her bag was. She felt a few aches other than the one in her head as she moved across the room, reminders of the night before. She pulled on the long tank top she'd worn the day before and exited the room, leaving the door open on the way. She glanced around, still uncomfortable with the lack of Jack's presence, when she realised the shower was running. Slightly mollified, she made her way to the guest room to pull on a pair of pyjama pants under her tank top. She'd need to shower before getting properly dressed.

She was in the kitchen, drinking her second glass of water and making coffee, when Jack emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed but his hair still slightly damp.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning, Carter," he said. She could hear reluctance in his voice and her stomach dropped. "Sorry I was already up when you woke up. I usually get up pretty early."

"It's...fine," she said softly. She wasn't sure why she felt so awkward all of a sudden.

"Look," they said in unison.

"Sorry." Sam said. "Go ahead."

"You sure?" Jack asked.

"Yeah."

"Look, Sam, about last night..." Sam held up a hand.

"I changed my mind. How about neither of us say anything? At least not until after breakfast?" she met his eyes for the first time since he entered the room and Jack was stunned to see something he'd never seen in her gaze before.

Vulnerability. He'd seen Sam hurt before. Sad, scared even. But this deep-set vulnerability was new, and if he was honest with himself, it was terrifying.

"Sure. Breakfast." Jack said, forcing the trepidation out of his voice.

They ate in relative silence, avoiding eye contact. They tidied up the few dishes they had made in the same silence, then grabbed their coffee mugs and headed into the living room, sitting at opposite ends of the couch.

"So..." Sam said, cautiously.

"So." Jack replied, looking her directly in the face. She quickly looked down, exceptionally interested in some invisible speck on the edge of her mug and internally kicking herself for acting like such an idiot.

"Look, Sam..." he paused. "It's not a secret. We both know how we feel."

"Clearly," she said wryly. Jack's cheeks flushed slightly and he grinned for a moment before becoming serious again.

"Our situation hasn't changed."

"Nope."

"This was a bad idea."

"Terrible. I knew I'd been right all along. I shouldn't have come here." Sam shifted uncomfortably in her place on the couch. She'd already set her mug down on the end table beside her and she began to fidget her hands. "In fact, Jack, you know, I think I'm going to grab my bag and go. I don't want to wreck your leave." She stood up and began to walk away from the couch, stopped in her tracks by Jack's hand grabbing her arm from behind. She was spun around and crashed into him. He put his hands at her lower back to steady her so she didn't fall.

They were so close. Jack caught her eyes again and dropped his forehead against hers. In an uncharacteristically unguarded moment, he let his eyes drift closed.

"I don't want you to go."

"I have to. We both know it, this-" she was stopped short when he kissed her again. She sank into the kiss but moments later pulled herself away sharply.

"No. Jack. We can't. It's not worth our jobs. SG-1 needs us." Jack sighed. He could hear doubt in her voice.

"You're right. You're right. This is crazy. There is no way...not now. You always were the smart one, Carter."

"I know," she smiled wistfully at him before walking quickly into the guest room to grab her overnight bag. Slinging it over her shoulder, she headed for the door of the cabin.

"See you in a couple of weeks, sir." Sam said, slipping back into the cold formality that made things so much easier. "Enjoy your leave."

"Yeah, Carter. You too. See ya." Sam slipped out the door, closing it softly behind her and dashing to her car. She flung her bag into the back seat and climbed into the front, starting the car and driving away as quickly as she reasonably could.

She'd been on the highway for five minutes when she felt the need to pull over. And when she did, something very unusual happened.

Samantha Carter dropped her forehead against the steering wheel and cried.