Hello all! I have just emerged from a hideous Minnesota winter, which may explain the excessive angst that follows…Can someone remind me why I live in this state? Snow in May! That's just so wrong.

This is set shortly after Beneath the Surface. Should be a few chapters when finished.

As always, thanks to wackyjacqs for your beta work! You rock! Go read her stories people! She's a fantastic writer!

-Buried-

"How long's this gonna take Carter? I'm missin' the game ya know."

Sam sighed internally as Colonel O'Neill continued to pester her. She wanted to tell him again that if he would just let her activate the device, she could study it much easier and wouldn't need as much time, but his last reaction to that request made her bite her tongue. The Colonel had been a complete horse's ass at times these past few months and she seemed to make it worse every time she spoke. She tried to answer on a positive note.

"Could I just have another hour Sir? If I haven't made any progress by then, I'll ask General Hammond to send a science team to take a look."

She didn't add that she would do anything possible to accompany said science team, figuring the Colonel wouldn't take it well. At his curt nod of agreement and his waved hand back at the device, she sighed in relief that more harsh words weren't coming from him. She couldn't seem to stop making him mad lately and planned to do nothing that could possibly aggravate him.

Ever since they'd returned from P3R-118, the Colonel had been snapping at all of them, but Sam was beginning to feel like she was bearing the brunt of the attack. She didn't think he'd looked her in the eye once since they went back on duty.

Sam, along with the guys, had been recovering on base from having their memories stamped for 2 weeks. After that, they'd had a week of downtime and she'd spent hers holed up in her house, drowning her sorrows in chocolate and ice cream. She'd been hurt when the Colonel had rudely and swiftly dismissed her from his presence in the infirmary when they had first returned through the gate. After their briefing, he'd barely spoken to her, and when he did, it was stilted and brash. So, she'd slunk home after her recovery and power snacked, trying to figure out what she'd done. Sam figured maybe he'd be even nicer to her after their….closeness…in the plant. She knew they'd have to return to a professional relationship, but she was at a loss to explain why Jack O'Neill seemed intent upon completely eradicating the fact that they had feelings for one another. She didn't see a reason why they couldn't still be friendly.

She bit a groan back when she heard O'Neill click on his radio less than 10 minutes later and rudely address Daniel with the same question. Daniel's annoyed response drifted to her and she tensed, her hands hovering over what she thought was the control panel. They'd all been treading cautiously around the Colonel this mission and Daniel's tone was anything but cautious.

Sam closed her eyes in frustration when O'Neill tersely shortened Daniel's time at the nearby ruins and his heavy footsteps started in her direction.

"Change of plans Carter. We're outa here in 30 minutes. So finish up. I want to make the gate by nightfall." Without waiting for a response, the Colonel retreated to a nearby rock and plopped down and began snapping the cover of his watch back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Sam's thoughts grew more and more morbid with every snap. The past 3 missions had been hellish with this man, and her patience had almost completely eroded. The Colonel trampled the last shred of that patience when she reached out to flip what she had already determined was the switch to power the device up.

"HEY! What did I tell you about turning that damn thing on?! I'm not in the mood for heroics today Carter. If you continue to disregard my orders, we'll just leave now." With her hand paused near the switch, turned to respond.

"Sir, I know it's a risk, but if I have less time now, it would be helpful if I could just turn it on." She sighed when he waved off her request.

"No can do Major. You'll have to figure it out with the power off. Just hurry it up would ya?"

Sam seethed as she turned back to the machine. She rubbed aggravated hands over her face and imagined them strangling a certain Colonel instead. In this moment, she could begin to understand why some people got satisfaction out of squeezing the life out of people. She clenched her hands into fists and slowly counted to 10. She didn't relish going to prison for murdering her commanding officer, no matter how much she might enjoy it. She didn't look good in orange.

As Sam continued to futz with the device, having long ago run out of options without turning it on, she grinned evilly as she imagined powering it on and shooting out a beam of light that vaporized only those of the male persuasion. She would miss Daniel and Teal'c, but GOD! Would it be worth it! As her thoughts ran away, she grew more and more annoyed with the man whom she recently professed to having feelings for. He had seriously helped in diminishing those feelings with his attitude lately and she'd love to give him a good tongue lashing. She rehearsed a particularly nasty one in her head as she pretended to study the device.

"Oh sure Colonel, I would LOVE to cut my work time in half. Because you know, as long as you have a stick up your ass, I'll do your bidding no matter how ridiculous. If you want help pulling that stick out and beating yourself with it, just let me know Sir. It's not like some of us are actually WORKING on this mission or anything. After all, we MUST get home for your flipping hockey game. Your name really suits sometimes, you JACKASS!"

Sam growled internally and slammed her tools back into their case, giving up on the device, knowing she wouldn't get anywhere in the next half hour. Just as she was about to stand, calmly tell the Colonel she was done and get the hell away from him, his gruff voice stopped her. She turned and faced an irate Jack O'Neill.

"EXCUSE ME Major?!" Angry couldn't begin to describe the look on his face. Sam was confused, wondering what she did, when he elaborated and her heart dropped into her boots.

"Do you really think I CARE; if YOU think I have a stick up my ass Major Carter?" Sam gasped and dropped her eyes shut in mortification. She'd apparently spoken that sarcastic commentary out loud.

TBC…