Author's Note: Posted another chapter... I've made this one a bit lighter than the previous three. Let me know what you think ;)

-- d3vilish


Regretfully Yours...


Eight. The damn phone had rang eight times! She had hoped the person on the other end would have given up by now, but unfortunately not. It was her day off for cryin' out loud. The ringing stopped. Finally!!

A moment of silence passed as she began to relax into her pillow again.

Ring.

Fuck. It was her cell phone. Whoever it was…they were not giving up. Her head was still buried in the pillow as she answered, "Mmmh. Carter."

"Sam? Hey, what took you so long?"

"Pete?"

"Yea."

"Mm… what time is it?!" She shifted in the sheets stretching off the abrupt awakening.

"7:00." Yes she loved the man, but right now, she wanted to kill him. "Hey I was thinking about dropping by and making some breakfast before we went to check out the reception hall. Oh and I wanted to confirm our appointment with the florist for Thursday at 10 – you still have the day off right?" Shit! She had slept in. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Ugh, I'm sorry Pete. Teal'C is returning today and I need to be there to debrief him. Can we talk about this later?" She lied – Teal'C was still on Da'kara with the newly freed Jaffa. Right now she just didn't want to deal with any of the men in her life she just wanted to go back to being able to tinker with her little science projects… back to her life when it was just simple. The pressures of the wedding were just setting in – more accurately the pressures of forever had her second guessing the whole thing.

"Um, yea, sure…" disappointment in his voice, "…so then what should I tell her?"

"Who?" She answered still somewhere between sleep and awake.

"The florist."

"Right. Yea, sure keep the appointment for Thursday."

Still not sounding completely convinced, he bit his lip hesitating before adding, "You'll be there won't you?" He could hear her shifting in bed, no doubt missing the concern in his voice.

"Pete – yes, I'll be there. I really have to run, I'm already late. I'll call you tonight. Bye." Without waiting for a reply Sam snapped her phone shut and jumped out of bed. She was hoping to catch Jack alone to talk to him about having a memorial service for Daniel. The loss had been hard on her. Daniel was always there to listen especially since Janet passed away. And now? Jack wasn't there for her the way he used to be and Teal'C was off world. She just needed some kind of closure -- some peace of mind so she could finally break down and just let Daniel go.

She sat in her lab for an hour trying to think of the best way to bring up the Daniel situation again. Sam hated the idea of having to talk to General O'Neill about this – she hated it even more when he shut her down the last time they talked about Daniel. He had really detached himself since Daniel's capture – he'd been completely absorbed in his work which was highly uncharacteristic of him. He hadn't been by her lab in more than a month to annoy her. But then again, the situation with Anubis and the replicators had the base on high alert. It's possible he just had a lot on his mind.

No matter how much she justified Jack's behaviour, something didn't quite add up… she just couldn't help but feel like his icy attitude lately was directed towards her… and only her. Swallowing hard, she tried not to let her mind wander to the wave of emotions surrounding her CO. They would come crashing down and that was the last thing she needed right now.

With a large sigh and heavy heart she left for Jack's office.


"So rematch tonight?"

"Only if you think you can handle it." He smiled as he walked her out of the office. Kerry really did have a way of numbing his anger. Or maybe it was the combination of beer and Kerry. Either way, it made him breathe a bit easier knowing that he was able to feel attracted to someone else, someone new…someone that wasn't Carter.

"See you tonight then – I'll meet you there since I have a few errands to run. But General…" He lifted an eyebrow. "…step up your game this time." He couldn't wait to get his tongue between those lips again.

Rounding the corner Sam was a little more than shocked to see a woman in Jack's office -- red hair, early thirties, fairly attractive with quite an interest in what the General was saying. She'd never seen her before. Definitely not air force. Not even military. This woman who had General Jack O'Neill smiling was provoking millions of questions.

Sam remembered when he would smile at her like that… she'd forgotten how much younger he looked when he smiled. It had been quite some time. Stopping awkwardly at the briefing room table, she wasn't sure if she should turn around or just wait until he was finished. She felt like she was spying on him – witnessing something a bit more personal than just another meeting. They seemed comfortable with each other – like the way they used to be. Before she could change her mind and get the hell out of there, Jack motioned that it was okay for her to come.

Trying desperately to purge all thoughts of what she'd just witnessed Sam rehearsed her objective: Just talk to him about Daniel. That's why you're here. Ask about Daniel and then leave. She couldn't help but wonder who she was or how they knew each other. The real question being how the hell does she have clearance to the SGC?

"Sorry sir, I saw you were with someone and I didn't want to interrupt." He nodded slightly, eyes locked on the file in front of him. She couldn't remember a time that he found reading personnel files so interesting.

"What's up?" Eyes finally glancing upwards at her.

"Who was that?" So much for sticking with your plan.

"Um Kerry Johnson. CIA." His fuse was getting shorter. He knew he was being an ass. He knew she deserved an answer. They both knew that this wall would be up as long as Sam's ring finger was occupied. She belonged to someone else – he didn't need to explain himself to anyone – least of all her.

"I've heard the name... oh she was heading up the investigation with the Goa'uld at large after the incident with the Trust."

"Yeah."

Short – yet again. Jack was just too proud to let her know that he was at fault. Too proud to tell her that he just couldn't do this anymore and needed to detach himself completely from her. He had been seriously contemplating re-assignment the past few nights just to get away from seeing her every day.

Quickly realizing that she wasn't going to be getting any more details, she opted for the real reason she came to talk to him. "Sir, I wanted to talk to you about – "

" – Carter."

Holding her ground this time, "We haven't heard from him in a week!"

"Doesn't mean anything." He snapped.

She tried arguing – she failed. He was not giving her an inch – the General's mind was made up and that was the end of it. Sam swallowed hard realizing how much of this General O'Neill reminded her of her father – a stubborn military ass. If she wasn't such the obedient soldier she would have told him to fuck off for being such an outrageously self-centered, selfish asshole. But she wasn't. And she would never cross that line even if it meant picking up the pieces of herself and moving on.

"Oh and Carter…"

She turned her head back as she stood in the doorway not really caring or wanting to hear what he had to say next. Having your back to a superior officer while they addressed you wasn't exactly standard procedure but her will to play by the rules was quickly diminishing. "Sir?"

"Pete has been cleared. Jacob will be here within the hour."

Her heart dropped in its place finally making an effort to face her CO. "Pete, sir?"

"Yes…" fumbling through a bunch of files on his desk, he finally pulled one out. "Ah, here's the memo. You requested to bring Pete on the base – he's been cleared."

Shit! She had forgotten all about wanting Pete to meet her father before the wedding. Failing to hide the look of hesitation, she nodded and retreated back to her lab. This day had just gotten a whole lot worse.


...to be continued...