A/N: Hi there guys… so I was listening to some Czech songs today… and now, when I am not able to study anymore and my mind just can't stop working so there is no way I'd be able to fall asleep, I'm sitting down to my computer, trying to write… It's supposed to be sweet story with no particular spoilers or anything… I got the idea while listening to one song… I won't say anything else but I promise you that I will add another A/N after the story to explain everything… like a sweet little bonus for you all :o) Hmmm maybe it will have more than one chapter… but because I have the idea in my head right now, I will probably write it all down and then just post it… one chapter in a time… I'm honestly not sure now :o))

As always there is the Intro to my story Taking little risks – it's about my approach to SG stories… you might wanna read it first.

Time-line – well Jack is General, Janet is alive and Pete… well who is Pete? :o) And I don't know about the rest… might be different from the time-line of the show – but this is fanfic right? Everything is possible :o)

Spoilers – well right now I cannot think of any… but who knows… ehm… :o)

Everything is possible in fairy tales

The day was warm, the sun was shining, and the wind was only light, so… the weather was simply perfect. And it was a shame that it was on P5L-356. Carter knew that back home it was supposed to rain for the whole week and that she should be expecting rather cold mornings… So she was enjoying it here. Yeah, those moons on the sky felt a bit strange, but she was already used to these things. She could even enjoy them.

Daniel was walking with Jack, talking about something. Well it was more like Daniel was persuading him to let him do something… Carter could hear it in their voices. Daniel was being persistent, trying so hard, those pleas in his voice were cute. And General's simple 'nope' was surely made just to irritate Daniel. She was smiling. It was nice having them here with her.

Teal'c was walking towards her. He has been here for some time now, trying to persuade some people to help him with finding some sort of tunnels. She was happy to see him.

"Teal'c! It's so good to see you!"

He smiled at her, like really smiled. She knew she was supposed to be in her full soldier-mode but she just couldn't resist. She hugged him. And to her surprise he hugged back. Those last weeks have been hard on them all. They've been separated, not working as a team anymore, all of them had their own things to attend to, their own jobs. There was no SG-1 anymore… so this … little trip was really most welcomed.

"It's good to see you too, Samantha Carter."

Others came soon after her and shared their greetings. It was like being together on one team again.

O'Neill was really enjoying this. After all that horrible time of doing paperwork and seeing all his people going through the Gate, he had the chance to accompany Carter here. She was supposed to have another SG team with her, but then Daniel came to him and asked him for this trip. And he was the CO of the whole base now… so who would dare to stop him?

During the way they felt into their good old routine. Daniel kept talking about some rocks from P5-whatever. He was enjoying it too much… but truth to be told, O'Neill wouldn't want to have it any other way.

And now he could see Carter all glowing with happiness. And everything was worth seeing that.

They spent some time together, just the two of them, few weeks ago.

They tried to talk few times… but they just couldn't do it. One evening they were sitting on the couch. Well this time it was more like lying there… she was so tired and he didn't have the heart to leave her there. It felt strange though. Having her in his arms with her head on his chest, running his fingers through her hair, holding her close. He lost track of the time back then… It was just about them being together.

"Jack?" She asked, almost whispered. She wasn't sure about the name. She wanted to call him sir but she couldn't. Not while being able to hear his heart beating.

"Yeah?"

She could hear the emotion in his voice… and he didn't mind her calling him by his given name.

"Do you remember the first time we were lying like this?"

"You mean Antarctica?"

"No… well I'm not sure if we can count that… I mean… being like this… just because … of us. " She couldn't even finish the sentence. She tried but she couldn't.

He held her tighter. He kissed the top of her head. And he didn't say a word. The silence was comfortable though.

"I remember, of course I remember."

"It was our team night. We thought that we'd never see you again. You left our galaxy, you just stepped through the Gate and … "

"Then I got back, Sam. And it was one of the best team nights we've ever had."

"Yeah… It was. And actually I don't even remember how we ended up on your couch sleeping in that position..."

He could feel her smiling. And it made him smile as well. She looked up at him and he could see all those little sparks in her eyes. His were full of passion and something deep.

"I was thinking about the whole thing. How you started to change, then being trapped on that damn planet, those plans you made… I know I started to cry back then."

"Yeah… I remember that."

"I felt so embarrassed. But you just held me and kept talking to me… and then I remember Daniel waking us up."

"He had a hangover with the size of Texas…"

And she laughed at him. He kept on caressing her skin while patiently waiting for her to say something more.

"I've always liked this… I feel safe you know? With you on the couch… And I cherish these moments because they are all we're gonna have…"

He could sense the change in her. This was the whole point… yeah, of course.

"Carter I know that I'm not the genius here… but let me tell you something."

"Yes, sir?"

"We are going to have a lot more than this… just give it time."

"How much time?"

"I wish I knew Sam… I wish I knew."

One lonely tear slipped from her eye. She wanted to be strong and brave…

"Sam I understand if you don't want to wait, if you want to move on… I mean… It's not like there's been something between us anyway…"

"Yeah…"

"Shit that came out wrong… you know what I mean right?"

"Tell me…"

She was asking him to tell her. She didn't wanna be just assuming. She needed to know. She looked deeply into his eyes, got lost in those chocolate depths and waited patiently.

"I care about you. And I know you care about me too. Deeply. But neither of us can do a single thing about it. Actually, I tried but…"

"What?!"

"Well… I tried to ask for retirement, again… but they refused. And then I tried to talk to some people about … rules. That didn't help either…"

"So you really mean this, don't you?"

"Of course I do… but I don't want you to regret it. And I'm not going to put you into any danger. That's why…"

"We have to wait… and we have just this weekend of being together … and acting like a couple of friends, just in case… yeah, I know… sir…"

She hurt him that day by adding the sir. It meant distance. It meant going back. And she has never told him what she wanted to say in the first place. Yeah, they kept on trying with talking but they just couldn't make it. It was too dangerous… too close to doing something … reckless.

So after coming back from that weekend, things started to be a bit different. For both of them. He got buried in paperwork and she started to work more in a lab and less off-world. They somehow separated. There were no more team-nights, no more late night chatting in her lab, no more joking in the briefing room. SG-1 did no longer exist, actually.

Teal'c left them and Daniel kept accompanying other teams. They didn't like it but there was nothing they could have done to stop it. And now here they were, together on a simple mission. They were looking forward to sleeping under the open sky again, having the usual awful food, arguing about staying up late and securing the perimeter… it was supposed to be like the good old times.

Teal'c told them about one place. He liked it there. It was up on a cliff, you could see some sort of an ocean down below, there were lots of places to hide and the view should be breathtaking. They decided to set up their camp there and just have a nice friendly evening.

They kept on talking all the time. And they all looked so happy together. Even Jack was enjoying this. He has never said a single thing but he was missing this. Having his friends around him, being out here and just trying to enjoy it and survive. He was missing Daniel's comments about everything, Teal'c looks and smiles and he was also missing Carter's laughter. She has always been the one to cheer them up and keep them together. She was their center. And it was just amazing to be in the middle of this again, having them around. He felt alive once again.

They sat up the camp. Teal'c asked Daniel to go with him and check something up. He couldn't recognize the pictures and letters craved into one rock nearby. Jack stayed with Sam. At first they kept on talking about Daniel's excitement. But very soon they became quiet. Both searching for some answers, both actually afraid of finding them.

"We don't have to talk if you don't want to, Carter."

"I don't know, Sir…"

"Huh?"

She looked at him. He seemed to be so unsure of himself. The big cocky General was not at all confident in his own personal life… that was a surprise.

"You practically shut me out, Sir. You don't talk to me if you don't have to. So the question is if you want to talk to me…"

He looked at her. And he got scared from the sincerity he has seen in her eyes. He needed some time to think. After their lovely spend weekend he got a bit scared. His self-control was not so good anymore. He had the chance to be with he, he had the chance to hold her, to wake up with her body snuggled into his, he had the chance to see her smile in the morning, while being still in her pajamas, drinking the first cup of coffee and eating breakfast. He could see it happening every morning… and that was just wrong. He couldn't and he wouldn't put her into that position.

"Did I do something, Sir? Did I say something or… what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on, Carter."

"Yeah… sure."

She sounded annoyed. And he could hear it in her voice. He could see her roll her eyes. Oh yeah, he knew her too well. But he was also aware of the fact that she could read him like an open book… so the only thing he could do was to be honest with her. But now? Now he got a bit angry…

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on, just cut the crap, General. Something's up and we both know it. And it's typical for you to run away and hide behind sarcasm if you don't understand something… or if you are afraid to deal with something. I thought that after all those years this could be different … but I was apparently wrong."

She sounded hurt and he was sure of that. And she was right. Usually after saying something like that she would apologize or try to make it sound different. She had never tried to put him into compromising position. He was her CO after all. But it wasn't a military thing… and now, on this planet, she just couldn't pretend anymore.

O'Neill knew that he had been acting like a jerk. But he was trying to protect her. From him. And the only way how he could do that was to avoid her as much as possible. It was awful and he was hurting all the time, but what else could have been done?

She didn't try to look away. She stood her ground. It was now or never…

"It was the only way, Carter."

"How do you mean that, Sir?"

"Avoiding you was the only way how to… keep you safe."

He sat down, leaned against a tree and just watched her. After a moment she came closer and sat down next to him. She knew this was being hard on him. But she had to know…

"Keep me safe from what exactly, Sir?"

"From doing something… stupid. I mean… after … the weekend I…"

"You what, Sir?"

"Geez Carter do we really have to talk about this?"

"Yes, we do. Because I have to know and you have to say it. I can't read your mind, you know? I can think some things but I just … have to be sure, Sir."

He sighed. She was being difficult. And yeah, she had the right to do so… but she could have known better than that.

"I'm not trying to push you, Sir. I just… need to know what is exactly going on. Because … I thought that we would… try…"

"That's the point, Carter, that's the point. I thought that too."

"And you don't want to anymore?"

He couldn't stand the pain and disappointment in her voice. He reached over to hold her hand. And she let him.

"Nothing's changed, Carter."

"Then why?"

"Because after having you all for myself I was afraid of not being able to keep my hands off you. I was afraid of doing something reckless. I had to figure out what to do…"

"And the only thing you could come up with was the shut me out?"

He looked directly into her eyes.

"It was one of the hardest things I have done in my entire life."

She leaned closer, she couldn't help herself. This was serious.

"I don't want you to push me away, Sir. I know it's difficult for you, but it's difficult for me as well. But after all those years I have some … training."

"Yeah Carter, me too. Trust me, me too."

He chuckled and then felt her smile against his cheek. It felt nice having her pressing her face into his gently…

"I know we can't do what we want to. I know we have to keep things exactly the way they have been for years. But that doesn't mean we can't talk to each other, have meals together or just chat in my lab in the middle of the night…"

"You miss that huh?"

"Yes, I do. It's nice… you always show up with an excuse and blue jello. And then you sit down and we talk till the morning. It's actually even better than most of my dates…"

He chuckled again. This woman was just impossible. He moved his arm to embrace her. She let him hold her close to his body. She let him kiss her into her hair. She let him breathe in the scent of her shampoo. He needed it. And she was enjoying his warmth. It was radiating from him through his uniform.

"I just don't want to compromise you, Carter."

"I know… but we can work on that. Just … don't shut me out ever again."

"I'll try."

"Thank you…"

And the moment grew even more serious. Jack knew he would want to kiss her now. Just the simple idea made his heart jump. It would be the best thing to do. And yet, they couldn't. They agreed on this. There would be no tasting of forbidden fruit. It would cause them some serious troubles. They knew that much. They took the small risk of sitting this close for a bit longer.

She smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat. As usually. He just loved her smile. She looked so… angelic while smiling but she had those devilish sparks in her eyes in the same time.

"So Carter… what's new?"

"Hmmm let me think… work-related?"

"Mhh, nope. Something about your life…"

He offered her a lollipop. She just laughed at him. It was blue – like her favorite jello. Oh yeah, every man had the small boy somewhere inside.

"Actually there is one thing. I have another niece."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah… Mark sent me some photos. I'm actually looking forward to visiting them. Things are still not too good between us but I guess we're just working on it."

"I'm glad to hear that, Carter."

"Yeh…. Well anyway, her name is Suzanne. She was born a bit early but she's okay. She's just adorable. And I might actually see her grow up."

"I bet she is gorgeous… She's Carter after all. It runs in the family…"

And here it was… the friendly flirting. It was the only way for them how to stay sane. Lots of things could have been said in this manner. And only they knew the true meaning. Or at least they hoped so. But Carter was pretty sure that both Daniel and Teal'c has known for some time. Actually Teal'c was there with Janet when they had been forced to admit their feelings out loud for the first time. So… yeah, they knew.

"I hope dad will be able to see her soon. He has missed too much already…"

"Don't worry. He seemed to be happy to see your bro the last time. And with these news… I think he's gonna be excited. Don't worry Carter."

"I hope so."

"He loves both you and your brother. And from what you have told me… and from what I have seen, he's pretty good around kids if he wants to. So… just don't worry."

"All right, Sir. I will trust you… I will try not to worry."

"That's my good girl…"

She laughed at this comment. He could be … such a guy sometimes. Teasing her and making her blush.

But she also noticed something in his eyes that hasn't been there before. She tried to figure it out but she couldn't. They started to talk about her motorcycle, about Jacob's bad habits, about Hammond… just two friends talking about their lives.

Daniel and Teal'c joined them soon. They kept on talking for hours. It was dark soon. The sky was pretty amazing out there. They were lying on the grass, watching the sky, creating names for the constellations there. They actually had fun. None of them seemed to mind the cold ground. This was just about them… the good old SG-1 together again, having fun off-world. Would somebody ever understand that? Yeah, maybe people from other SG teams… but … this was just them. Oh and the sky of course.

"I used to love this as a kid… My dad kept on creating new names and my mom kept on telling him to stop it. When they died I stopped with watching the sky… It just didn't seem okay anymore. I can still remember all those names though…"

"I know what you mean… I used to watch the sky back home. Mark was always making fun of me because I was trying to name all the stars that I would like to visit while being an astronaut."

They laughed at that. Oh how close she's been…

"Charlie used to love it… we had the telescope in the garden. Sarah just couldn't make us to go back inside. Once we both got a nasty cold after night spent outside. At first she was angry… but then she just kept on giving us hot tea… and no cookies. That was a punishment for not listening to her. Charlie was so happy anyway… After two days we've been out again, wrapped in blankets…"

They all laughed again. That sounded like something he would do. It was rare for him to talk about his past though. Carter looked at him and she saw something in his eyes again. Nobody could see them there so she just moved her hand a bit… to hold his. And he let her. He started to caress her hand absentmindedly with his thumb. She loved that. It was giving them both some comfort.

They had to go back the next day. Sam realized during the night where the problem had been. They were talking about children. He had no kids around him now. Cassandra was a teenager now. She still loved him, yeah, but it was different of course.

She even started to call him dad sometimes. He loved that… but nobody officially knew. Sam just overheard them talking once. And now she understood. General Jack O'Neill was missing some kids in his life. He had always been kind to all of them; nobody could make him feel like kids could. But there were none around him by now…

Sam felt a bit stupid for not figuring it out sooner. She tried not to mention it again.

Back home, he asked her to show him those pictures of her niece. She didn't want to at first… but then she realized that it might be a bit helpful. And if not, she would just try to offer him some comfort. She had some work to do first though.

They sat in her lab, it was around two in the morning… and they were going through some Carter's family pictures. Carter was telling him about the events, about the people… Sometimes it hurt but she didn't mind. She was okay with her past now… and she didn't mind sharing it with him. O'Neill looked happy but there were no sparks in his eyes. He had the look that was saying 'I'm missing something in my life and it cannot be changed. I've lost something and there is nothing we can do about it.' She knew that look way too well.

She wanted to hug him and make him forget. But the only thing she was allowed to do was to hold his hand in the dark corner of her lab where they couldn't be seen. Sometimes she hated all those regulations. Sometimes being a friend simply was not enough.

They shared breakfast around 6 AM. They had to start their days after all…

In the morning she got a brilliant idea. She would only need some help to make it work. Hopefully it would help her CO to find some happiness again. She wanted him to have sparks back in his eyes… and yeah, she actually believed that she knew exactly what to do to achieve that. And it was all about children... Yeah, she had a plan. Hopefully it would work...

A/N: so what do you think so far? I think I will leave you hanging now… you can try to guess what will she do… what her plan might be :o) I am working on the next chapter already… but really folks – let me know! :o) I have my big exam on Tuesday so I'm not sure when I'll be able to post the second chapter… hopefully soon!