A/N: Sorry for the wait again everyone. But thanks so much for all the lovely reviews and for taking the time to read! It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside I'm a little unsure about this ending still, so I hope you all think it's a good one. Let me know what you think. Maybe I'll go over this story again after a while and rework it a bit.

As always, thanks to wackyjacqs for your beta work! You made me feel so much better about this chapter! You rock my face off you sassy girl! ;)

Buried

Chapter 3

Sam threw yet another chunk of debris to the side and collapsed next to the Colonel's still inert form. Her waking moments two hours earlier had been in a panic. Her first memory upon waking was of O'Neill going deathly still after the device slammed onto him. She had scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her side.

When Sam had levered the machine off of the Colonel's body and knelt beside him, his skin had been ghastly pale and he hadn't so much as twitched. She'd inspected the knot already forming near his temple and had eventually pressed trembling fingers to his pulse point. She'd hovered over it, not wanting to discover that the injury had killed him. She'd had to breathe deeply and try again before her fingers felt his pulse pounding steadily. He'd apparently been simply knocked unconscious as she couldn't see any other injuries plaguing him. She'd rolled him onto his back and stuffed her jacket under his head, doing what she could to ensure at least some comfort when he woke.

Since then, she'd taken her ability to work on pure adrenaline to new heights. Sam had finally tended to her throbbing side, yanking a piece of jagged debris out and binding it tightly with the extra shirt in her pack. She'd then proceeded to begin digging her way through what used to be the entrance with her bare hands.

She was finally worn out now, and as she slid to the ground and watched the Colonel's chest rise and fall with each breath, she let herself worry for the first time. She had no idea what had happened to Daniel and Teal'c as her radio had been crushed and she hadn't been able to raise them on the Colonel's. The last she'd seen them, they'd been hunkered next to an enormous tree, firing at the advancing Jaffa. Sam sent up a rare prayer that they had emerged victorious and were right now coming back to help with reinforcements.

She leaned her head back against what she thought might still be a wall, and closed her eyes in exhaustion. She'd barely begun dozing when a groan had her head snapping back up. She sighed in relief when she saw the Colonel rub a weary hand over his face and through his dirt caked hair. Sam leaned forward to speak, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder.

"Sir? How are you?" The man licked his lips and grimaced as he tried to sit up.

"Carter…what?..." O'Neill gasped after speaking and put a hand to his head. Sam smiled slightly in sympathy, and backed up to give him some space. She figured he needed a minute for his mind to catch up, so she informed him of what she knew.

"You have a pretty nasty lump forming on your head, Sir. I woke about 2 hours ago and you've been unconscious the whole time. I figure you have a concussion." At his slight nod and frown of agreement, Sam continued, biting back a grin when he frowned menacingly at the device and absently rubbed at the lump she'd mentioned. "I started digging out the entry, but I don't think I got very far. Without tools, it'll take awhile. But I'm sure Daniel and Teal'c have already made it home and are on their way back to get us out." She tried to smile brightly at him, but he just nodded sharply and leaned his head against the wall.

Sam silently handed over his canteen, which was still about half full. When he felt it near his hands, he grabbed it and muttered "Thanks". She then watched as he took a long drink and proceeded to check himself for injuries. It was something they'd all learned to do after waking in a situation like this. She smiled in relief when he seemed to find himself in good shape. He probably had a pounding headache, but she knew he could deal with that pretty easily. She let her eyes roam over his face while his remained closed.

He'd looked better, definitely, but Sam couldn't remember a time when she'd been happier to see him. When he'd been knocked out, she believed the worst and had been petrified that he wouldn't wake up. Now that her adrenaline was wearing down, she felt tears of relief welling and blinked them away in horror when his eyes snapped open and met hers.

"Carter, what about you? You get hurt?" His words seemed to be those of concern, but Sam heard a tightness in his voice that she couldn't place.

"Ahhh…just in my side Sir. A piece of the ceiling stabbed me, but I removed it. Doesn't seem too deep, I should be fine." She tried to smile again, but he just stared at her with a stony expression and she faltered. When he finally spoke, he sounded tense.

"Well good. Since neither of us is hurt too badly, let's figure out what we need to do. Food? Supplies?" Sam hesitated slightly, not sure how to respond to his matter of fact attitude. Her hesitation cost her.

"Carter, I asked for a report on food and supplies. You've had plenty of time to assess the situation." Sam sucked in a breath at his terse comment, suddenly reminded of the fact that he'd been treating her terribly lately. In her panic when he was unconscious, she'd completely forgotten that he was angry with her. Unfortunately, she gave voice to those thoughts before she could think.

"Sorry Colonel, while I was worried about your life, I forgot that you're mad at me for reasons beyond my comprehension. And YES! I DID assess our situation. We have 3 MRE's between us and plenty of water. We also have the medkit, quite a bit of C4 and supplies to make a small fire. Does that satisfy you Sir?" She bit out the words through clenched teeth and stared obstinately into his face, so tired of the animosity that she didn't even care if he reported her any more. She wasn't surprised in the least when he snapped back at her the same way he had been earlier in the day.

"Major Carter, I don't know what the hell gave you the idea that you can sass me like a teenage girl, but if don't drastically alter your attitude, I WILL report you to General Hammond." At that, O'Neill stood and rifled through the packs himself, muttering the whole time under his breath. Sam got the distinct feeling he wasn't muttering her praises. She stood herself and faced his rigid back. She'd had enough and it was time he knew.

"You know what Sir? Whatever you may think of my attitude right now, yours is just as bad or worse. You've been a complete ass to me for weeks, and ordering me around like I'm back at the academy. If something has happened to make you believe we need to throw away 5 years of friendship and respect, then fine, I will be your yes-man, but don't you dare pretend like you don't know what you're doing. I know you're not that stupid." She'd spoken the entire thing to the back of his head, but by the way he'd stilled, she knew he was listening. But he didn't turn or respond for several minutes, so she gave up and decided to do exactly what she'd said. She'd be his yes-man and nothing more.

"Well Sir. We should eat. I'll prepare something." Sam silently prepared a fire and two of their MRE's and tried to ignore her heartache when he sat down stonily and ate without a single word. She stowed their used supplies and got up when he called to her.

When he told her to assist with removing some of the larger pieces by the entrance, she said

"Yes Sir."

When he ordered her to check their weapons in case they encountered Jaffa when they got out, she said

"Yes Sir."

When he commanded her to move a pile of rocks she'd made earlier to another spot in the room, she bit back a retort and said

"Yes Sir."

When he finally snapped and told her to stop acting like a suck up and sit down for a while, she shot him a sarcastic salute, sank to the floor and said

"Yes Sir."

The Colonel was soon standing before her and she braced herself for another dressing down.

"What the HELL is your problem Major?!" Sam stared back at him in defiance and slowly rose to her feet. When they stood on equal ground and she was a mere 3 feet from him, she spoke.

"MY problem?! With all due respect Sir, what is YOURS? You're being a complete butt head." His eyes flashed his anger at her and she was secretly excited. She'd been itching for a fight since at least a week ago.

"YOU are being insubordinate Major. I am not the one with a problem." He jabbed a finger in her direction and she snorted at him in disbelief.

"Insubordinate? I just said Yes Sir to every back-asswards order you gave me. WHY are you being such a jerk? I know that you know you are. So just tell me Sir." When he opened his mouth and then snapped it shut again, Sam knew she was getting to him, so she pushed on.

"What did I do to deserve this? A few weeks ago, we were fine, and now you're treating me like I've decided to suddenly take up with Apophis. WHY ARE YOU SO ANGRY AT ME?! TELL ME!" She hadn't meant to shout, but as her last words left her lips and echoed around them, she realized her heart was pounding and her face was flaming hot. His response, the one she'd been waiting for, completely floored her.

"HOW ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO STOP LOVING YOU?!" Sam gasped in shock and took a step back, stumbling slightly. She watched as his formerly red face completely drained of color. He apparently hadn't meant to say that out loud. Her voice came out choked and raspy.

"Sir!...I…" Sam nervously darted her eyes around them, not sure what to do or say. She focused back on him when O'Neill let out a deep sigh and she watched as the tension visibly left him.

"Carter, did I ahh…did I say all of that out loud?!" Though he sounded nervous, he also was slightly smirking at her, and she realized he'd called back her own words when she'd accidentally threatened to beat him with the stick up his ass. In spite of her shock and embarrassment, she rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Ah, yeah, you did Sir. In fact, you said it VERY loud." She stood nervously, clutching the edges of her green jacket, as he ran a weary hand over his face and the back of his neck. His shoulders slumped and he looked up at her in defeat.

"You're right you know" At her look of disbelief, he continued "No, really you are. I am being a jerk. It's just…" He waved his hand absently between them and stuffed the other in his pocket. "When we're alone now…I'm back in that damn plant…and you're not you, you're Thera, and I'm not me, but Jonah. And everything was easier." He sighed and paced a few feet away, turning his back to her again. But his words came again.

"It was harder than I thought it would be Carter. I don't…well…I can't look at you right now without it killing me. So I got angry, and took it out on you, because it makes it easier to not be so fricking in love with you."

Sam was utterly speechless. He had NEVER been so open with her and she had no clue what to do with him like this. She tried to form a response, but he obviously didn't feel one was required yet. He spun back around, walked toward her and stopped when they were toe to toe. He took her now clenched hands and disentangled them from her jacket. When they were resting in his larger, rougher, warmer hands, he looked directly into her already moist eyes and spoke.

"I'm sorry, ya know? If because of all that…if I've hurt you. I never wanted that..I just. I honestly don't have any idea how to do this. It's just easier…if we're not so…chummy…" He cast his eyes to the side and back again, obviously not pleased with his word choice. Sam cleared her throat and tried to speak without crying.

"Sir….I….what?...I mean…." Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath, gaining a sudden and unexplained bout of courage. She opened her eyes and looked into his. "You know I love you too, don't you?" When his eyes widened in shock she smiled ruefully and held up a hand to ward off any comments he may make. "I know we can't talk about it Sir, but I just…needed you to know." He choked out a respose, filled with the pain of the long awaited conversation.

"Sam...I…"

She interrupted before either of them could further cross the line they so carefully balanced on daily.

"It's fine Sir. We can leave it for now, okay?" She knew her voice sounded desperate and he looked into her eyes for long moments, seemingly searching for something, before he nodded. Sam smiled in relief at him and continued

"Couldn't you have just told me what was going on? We can take a step, or a few, back. I really do understand. It's been hard for me too, but when you treated me like absolute dirt when we came back, it broke me. I can't go from one extreme to the other like this. Couldn't we have just talked about it?" She lost the battle with her tears halfway through and sucked back a sob when she finished. He dropped her hands that she hadn't realized he was still holding and she hastily swiped at her face. Sam almost couldn't believe they were actually having this conversation. It felt surreal in a way and yet very real at the same time.

O'Neill's response was cut off when a faint voice called to them.

"Sam? Jack? You guys in there? Sam! Jack!" They looked toward the entrance as one and the Colonel cleared his throat.

"That'll be Daniel."

"Yeah." She watched in resignation as he walked closer to the rubble and called out to Daniel. As they listened to their people start digging them out, the Colonel turned to her.

"So Carter…we ahh…we okay?" He gestured between them again and she shrugged at him. She was still hurt that he'd decided to treat her like garbage instead of talking to her, but she knew that he'd revealed more today than he'd wanted to. He nodded at her silent response and shrugged himself.

"I'll ahh…stop being…what did you call me?...a butt head? Carter, I haven't been called a butt head since junior high." He waggled his brows at her and she smiled softly at his attempt to lighten the moment. She turned away as someone broke through the wall and gathered her pack.

Before she had time to process, Daniel and Teal'c, along with SG-7 were inside the crumbled structure and Colonel O'Neill was telling the guys what had happened and getting the details of the firefight from Daniel. Sam tuned in to hear that the Jaffa that had shown up before the temple collapsed were free Jaffa, and had assisted Daniel and Teal'c in gaining the upper hand. As they all filed out into the still damp outdoors, Daniel also informed them of his discoveries in the nearby ruins.

"You know, before all the stuff with the Jaffa, I had found the explanation of the device you were looking at Sam. Apparently, when 2 or more people entered within a certain vicinity, it acted as a sort of..well…truth serum. While inside whatever it's reach is, the people there are unable to lie and it even brings out the truth that people are hiding." At this, Daniel chuckled and shook his head, not noticing that Sam and Jack had both stopped in their tracks and were now staring in shock at Daniel. As he continued walking, they heard him express his doubt that a machine was actually capable of doing something like that.

Sam felt a light nudge at her back pull her from her stupor and she and the Colonel trotted to catch up with the others. The rest of the trip to the gate was made in silence as they attempted to sneak glances at one another.

When SG-7, Daniel and Teal'c had climbed the stairs to the gate and were about to go through, Colonel O'Neill stopped Sam with a hand on her arm, and smiled goofily.

"Umm…aliens made me do it?!" He looked pleadingly into her eyes and behind the goofy grin and lackadaisical manner, she saw pain, and his need to keep things covered up. Her heart broke all over again, knowing it would be a long time before they would ever discuss this again. She was shocked that they'd even had the nerve to say those words to one another and the courage she'd felt then had dissipated , leaving her unsure and uncomfortable with him. Sam knew though, that if things got much worse, SG-1 wouldn't be able to function properly. Not wanting to lose the people that had become her family, she steeled her reserve and looked at him, plastered a smile on her face and tried to convince herself that things were fine. That everything was normal again.

"Sure Sir…Aliens."

She didn't believe herself in the least.

The End

Thanks for reading everyone. I hope you are pleased with the ending.