Author's Note: I do not own Stargate, Stargate SG-1, or Stargate Atlantis. Those are property of MGM, and while I would love to own Stargate, I sadly do not. I don't even own the S+J ship, nor do I own Jack O'Neill. Which causes me great sadness. But the story is what you're here for. Just don't sue me.

Jax, xoxo

Chapter One – In Dreams, Reality Seems Fatal

Sam sighed. It was another day at the SGC, another day where she had to pretend, and another day lying to herself to make herself feel better—that it wasn't the end of the world that the love of her life was right before her and she just couldn't get him.

"It's just not fair…" she muttered to herself while she was cleaning up her lab as best she could. Not many people were privy to the fact that she tended to mutter to herself. Usually, people thought that she just thought out loud when it concerned complex and logic-requiring situations. But lately, all she did was mutter to herself, and she was starting to know the reasons why.

But she brushed those ideas aside when someone knocked on her door. Part of her expected Jack, but she corrected herself. "Of course it's not Jack you idiot. He's sleeping like a normal person would at two in the morning." She paused, and then whispered to herself, "then again, a person is still knocking on my lab door at two in the morning."

Staying up late was not what you would call 'uncommon' in the SGC base, but most persons in the base tried to get as much sleep as possible. Usually, scientists and high ranking officials tried to get more sleep because their jobs tended to be more demanding. Sam Carter, however, was an exception. Sleeping for her was becoming less and less crucial to her daily life. Whenever she noticed this, she brushed it aside; she didn't really want to think about why she had stopped sleeping so much.

Another and louder knock on the door pulled her out of her reverie. Without another thought as to Jack, she opened the door. She couldn't have been more surprised.

"Pete!" she exclaimed, partially worried and partially confused. It didn't help much when she saw the person behind Pete. "Sir?" she asked worriedly to a rather disgruntled General Jack O'Neill.

Jack partially glared at her, at which Sam cringed. Although the cringe was very small and Sam hid it rather well, it didn't pass Jack whose eyes softened slightly and the chocolate eyes that she loved—no, she didn't love—danced. As she looked closer, she noticed that underneath his eyes were darker circles of purple; he hadn't been sleeping well lately. To prove this, Jack yawned, and caused Sam to stop staring and look at Pete whose visit was entirely too unexpected and unwarranted to allow her to feel comfort.

"Hey Pete. Why are you here…?" Sam asked. She scolded herself for sounding so ungracious, but she figured she could pass it off as being exhausted. "You are exhausted" she thought to herself. "When was the last time I got a good nights sleep…? You don't need sleep anymore." As Sam fought with herself, she heard Jack say,

"Yeah, Pete, why are you here at two am waking me up to get your ass down here to talk to your fiancée? Couldn't you call? …In the morning? When it's sunny? You know?"

Pete turned to Jack and glared at him. "I'm sorry, General, but last time I checked there wasn't a law against my visiting my ex-fiancée—"

"Ex?" Jack questioned curiously. "Sam never told me about your breaking up."

"Well of course she didn't. It wouldn't make sense to tell your superior officer that they were madly in love with them. Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to talk to Sa—"

Sam had heard enough that she knew that Jack had snapped his head up in her general direction. She also knew that her face was going to turn as red as a tomato in less than a few seconds. So, she did what she felt was the best idea: she quickly walked out of the room as fast as she could without falling, and as soon as she turned out of the doorway, she sprinted. As she ran, she heard the yells of Pete and Jack resound throughout the hallway and she saw the security guards start to stare at her. But she had to get away. She didn't want to tell Jack that way, and she didn't want Pete to still be around.

The more she thought about it, the harder she ran. She ran past the elevator—too monitored for her preference—and ran up the stairs towards ground level. She didn't care that it was seven flights. She took the stairs two at a time and practically burst out the door when she came to the top. She ran out to the SGC garden—an idea that was commissioned by the government to allow the SGC members a feeling of an outdoor garden at home—and fell down, panting and practically sobbing on the cold wet grass.

As she started to doze off, she murmured to herself about how cold she was. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she swore she heard the fuzzy voice of Jack telling her that it was okay. Then, warm arms around her carrying her back—"have I gotten married to Pete? No! I couldn't have!"— and a warm voice telling her it was okay.

Sam Carter blacked out.