AN: The additions to the chapter title (like Proving Ground, for this one) have no real relevance other than the fact that I thought it would be neat to have chapter titles like the episode titles.

Chapter Four (Proving Ground)

Sitting up in bed, at three in the morning with the lamp beside her burning away, Sam yawned once again, rubbed her burning eyes and continued reading. Every time the words blurred in front of her eyes, she blinked several times, wiggled to get rid of the ache in her back, and started again. Any moment now, she would reach the point of no return and fall asleep in this position - and that would give her hell in the morning.

Sam blinked, letting her eyes close to rest them a moment, and when she opened her eyes again, three hours had passed and she needed the toilet.

Creepy.

She pushed the reports down her legs, rolled the duvet back and headed for the door. Had she chosen the spare room next door to his room, Sam would have had an en-suite bathroom and wouldn't have to worry about bumping into him in the middle of the night. But that hadn't happened yet, probably because he was avoiding her too. They'd already managed it so their morning routines didn't clash. He got up half an hour later than she did, giving her time to wash, dress, eat breakfast and shoot down to the base before he'd even started his shower. It was all in the timing.

This time. This one damn time, Sam wasn't so lucky. She pulled open the door and nearly screamed.

'' Holy Hannah,'' she gasped, her fingers reaching for a weapon that wasn't there.

Colonel O'Neill froze in the doorway, dark eyes black in the dim light of the hallway. '' Why aren't you asleep? Your lights been on all night.''

Instinctively, she half closed the door, blocking the sight of her bed. She didn't want him finding out about the reports, her investigation into his wife's disappearance. God knew how he would react. '' I just fell asleep with it on, that's all,'' she lied easily.

'' You were reading. I could hear pages turning.''

Huh. '' Then you must have been awake all night too. What's the big deal?''

He narrowed his eyes. '' Nothing. Except that you've done it three nights in a row. Ever since your dad came home.''

'' He's not actually my dad,'' she said through her teeth, '' and if you must know, he pointed out that there are differences in mine and her pasts and that I ought to associate myself with them. I hadn't really thought about it before, since SG-2 have been grounded while I acclimatise.'' Well that sounded pretty realistic.

He put a hand on the door jamb, leaned into it. He took up nearly all of the doorway, she realised and was wearing.... very sexy black shorts. And a t-shirt, of course. But those shorts.... oh boy....

Seriously, looking at him was like getting punched in the gut, he was that attractive.

Oh boy indeed.

Mind. Gutter. Out.

'' Don't you think working on this at six in the morning is a little excessive?'' He was still suspicious.

'' Actually, I fell asleep at three, and when else am I supposed to do it?''

'' I don't know... maybe at work?'' the Colonel said sarcastically.

Hah. With the way General Thomas had her working? He'd got to be kidding! '' Look, Colonel, I appreciate your concern......''

'' I'm not concerned,'' he interrupted rudely. '' You're keeping me awake.''

Yeah, right, you bastard. '' My pages turning too loud for you?''

'' No. Your light is shining directly under my door. I can't sleep unless it's totally dark.''

Now that was a big fat lie. Her Colonel O'Neill could sleep anywhere. All he had to do was lie down and close his eyes. Though she'd only really seen him sleep off-world, and he didn't really sleep. He kind of dozed, always with half an ear listening.

'' Fine. I'll make sure I turn off the lights. Now, can I go to the bathroom, please?''

'' Whatever.'' He turned around and walked back to his room. He didn't slam the door, though she could see by the way his shoulders were tensed that he was just aching to do so.

Making as much noise in the bathroom as possible (turning the taps on extra hard and flushing the toilet twice), Sam wondered if he acted like that whenever he was angry. Would make for an interesting marriage, she thought, knowing only too well her response to such childishness would be, well, equally childish. She did slam the bathroom door, then her own bedroom door, before she piled all the reports together and shoved them in her briefcase. Or, rather, Daniel's spare briefcase.

Then she lay in bed, wide awake, until her alarm went off.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

SG-2's sixth mission was a mud bath. They completed their objectives, no problem, but as they trudged back to the Stargate, Sam glanced back at her bedraggled team and nearly laughed.

Captain Hennersey was covered in mud from head to toe, literally. The only white bit about her were the whites of her eyes, blinking furiously at the globs of mud that were dropping down from her hair. She had lost her hat early on in the mud slide and was taking things remarkably calmly.

Lieutenant Thake, on the other hand, had his jaw clenched, his hat pulled down over his eyebrows, and was muttering to himself about local customs of alien planets that insisted strangers be 'cleansed' upon leaving. He was moving stiffly with the cold, his shoulders hunched to prevent any mud from sliding down under his waterproofs.

The only person who had avoided the 'cleansing' was Dr Hadley, the linguist. He had been walking behind the team, chatting to one of the locals and had realised too late what they had in store for them. He'd called out moments before the mud slide started and his three other team mates were drenched in reddish-brown mud. He had only just finished apologising profusely.

Just as Sam reached the dialling device, it started to rain.

Again.

'' Kill me,'' Thake muttered.

Everyone else grinned.

'' This must be doing wonders for my skin,'' Hennersey said, trying not to open her mouth too much.

'' Ooh, just what I wanted. Baby soft skin,'' Thake said sarcastically.

Hennersey's dimples peeped through, barely, the mud. '' Your wife will be thrilled.''

This raised a tiny smile. '' I could probably convince her to take a bath with me.''

'' Too much information, Ben,'' Dr Hadley complained, dialling the co-ordinates for home.

Sam engaged the GDO, smiling to herself. She rather liked her team. And they were coping well with her replacing their old leader. She hadn't had a cross word from them, when she knew everyone considered the previous Major Carter to be a betrayer.

'' Let's go home guys. Warm water, soap, change of clothes. We'll all feel much better.''

'' Thank God.''

'' Amen to that.''

'' Gotta love base showers.''

General Thomas's mouth did not twitch when they arrived back. He did raise his eyebrows, however, and managed to look even more disapproving than usual. '' Briefing in an hour. Showers and infirmary. Dismissed.''

They nodded, saluted, and made their squishy way out towards the shower room, with officers throwing themselves out of their way good-naturedly.

'' I'm so glad SG-1 weren't around to witness that,'' Hennersey sighed. '' This is usually their milieu.''

Sam smiled. She was glad too. But, obviously, for an entirely different reason.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Sam was still discovering bits of mud later that evening, as she worked in her lab. She checked the clock one last time before she decided enough was enough and she would have to get something to eat. Just because SG-1 were a couple of hours late didn't mean anything. And there were plenty of people on hand to deal with them if something had, so she could go right down to the commissary, grab something to eat...

Why weren't her feet moving?

Almost as if they were reading her mind, the klaxons started clanging.

'' Unauthorised offworld activation!''

Now her feet started moving.

If General Thomas was surprised to see her, he didn't say anything. Thank God. It was well within his rights to have her removed from the control room.

'' Receiving SG-1's IDC, sir.''

'' Medics to the gate room!''

'' Open the iris.''

Eyes trained on that circle of energy, Sam didn't realise her breath was being held. God, was this what it was like for her? The other her? Waiting for her husband to return?

Colonel O'Neill stepped through the gate, walking straight, not a limp or a bloody limb in sight. Behind him came Daniel, Captain Boyd and Major Green.

'' You're late, SG-1!'' General Thomas shouted through the microphone.

The Colonel shrugged and raised his hands to the side.

'' Report to the infirmary. Briefing at 2100.''

The three military personnel saluted, though Colonel O'Neill's couldn't really be called a salute. Daniel raised a hand half-heartedly and was already walking towards the doors, chatting away to Captain Boyd as Green went ahead with his CO.

General Thomas finally looked at her. '' Was there something that you wanted, Major Carter?''

'' No, sir. Sorry, sir.'' She hurried away, wincing.

Sam studiously avoided the infirmary, and the corridor where Colonel O'Neill's office was located. In fact, she decided to finally head to the commissary and eat a substantial meal, so that by the time she got out, SG-1 would be halfway through their briefing and she could drive home.

It was a good plan, right up until she walked back into her laboratory to get her things and found both Daniel and the Colonel in there already.

'' Er, hi. That was a quick briefing,'' she managed. '' I was just about to head on home.''

Daniel looked at Colonel O'Neill and it was suddenly very clear that Daniel was nervous and the colonel was pissed off. '' Sam, we were wondering if we could have a word with you.''

Uh oh.

'' Sure. Go ahead,'' she said casually.

'' Major Green goes on paternity leave as of tomorrow.''

Oh shit.

'' Yes?''

'' And General Thomas thought.... thought....''

She closed her eyes. '' Please be kidding.''

Colonel O'Neill snorted. '' Apparently, he has a replacement for you lined up already. You're back on SG-1, Major.''

No. She couldn't do this. She couldn't see him every day, couldn't go home with him, couldn't come to work with him. This just wasn't fair. '' What? Does he have it in for us or something?''

'' I'm sure that's not it. It's just that, well, you're not married anymore and Sam's the leading Stargate expert in the SGF. SG-1 is the flagship team after all, and if you weren't, hadn't been, er, married, then she would have been on SG-1 in the first.... place,'' Daniel said weakly, giving both of them pitying looks.

'' Right,'' she sighed, frankly not having the energy to argue any more, '' in that case, I think I'll go home. Hard day and all.''

'' Yeah, we heard about the mud slide.''

Sam managed a smile. '' Thought you might have.''

'' There were footprints from the Stargate to the showers,'' Daniel said, tentatively smiling at Colonel O'Neill.

To be fair, the Colonel was at least trying not to look so stern. She recognised the signs of when he was making an effort to be polite. He'd never had to make an effort to be polite to her before, thought. At least not after the first few weeks of knowing each other.

Perhaps that was it. Perhaps she had to prove herself to him once again. It hadn't occurred to her before. Putting aside the fact that he had been married to her counterpart, Colonel O'Neill didn't give his trust easily. It had to be earned. She'd earned it with her Colonel O'Neill over five years ago. She would have to start anew with this one.

'' Who's replacing me?''

'' Some new guy. Jack? Do you know anything?''

Colonel O'Neill shook his head. '' I'm out of the loop on this one. Deliberately, I imagine. I can only think that the new guy will be 2IC of the base before long.''

'' What?'' Daniel and Sam exclaimed.

'' It makes sense, doesn't it?'' He lowered his voice considerably and unconsciously Sam and Daniel moved forward, aware of the security cameras on them. '' I've seen it happen before. A new CO moves in, he wants to have a 2IC he can trust. He can't get rid of me outright, so instead he replaces SG-2's leader.''

'' He can't just replace you,'' Sam pointed out.

'' No, but he could force me into retirement. Again.''

Holy Hannah. That hadn't occurred to her before. General Hammond, after all, had been forced into retirement, ensuring that everyone else wouldn't take the blame. But knowing Colonel O'Neill's reputation, his lack of respect for authority figures like General Thomas and his general attitude... he could so easily be given choice between retirement or dishonourable discharge for so many things. How many times had General Hammond covered up the illegal actions of SG-1? General Thomas sure as hell wasn't going to be so forgiving.

'' Well, you'll just have to be careful,'' Sam said eventually, giving her CO a stern look. '' Think before you speak and act. We can't lose you to some minion of General Thomas's.''

The smile on his face became less bitter at the disgust in her voice. '' You sound like the voice of experience.''

'' General Hammond was forced into retirement once before and his replacement, General Vidrine, had me making a naquadah bomb and sending it through the Stargate. We nearly blew up a chunk of the planet.'' She mock shuddered. '' And he split up SG-1. Then there was the time when you.... Never mind.''

'' Have there been a lot of differences in your lives?'' Daniel wanted to know.

Sam nodded and ran her fingers through her hair. This was one particular thing that was driving her up the wall. She had hoped there would be more professional similarities, but it wasn't the case. Her research was slow going. '' Virtually everything.''

'' If your memory's as good as... Sam's... maybe you should make a list of all the planets you've been too. Particularly those that could offer us technological advantages.''

Her brow furrowed in confusion. '' I've already done that. It was one of the first things General Thomas ordered me to do. You haven't seen it?''

He shook his name wearily.

She wondered how long this had been going on. She felt bad for not noticing that he was being slowly and surely shoved out of the loop. '' I've got a copy.'' She moved to her laptop swiftly and opened up the file, shaking her head as she did it. Her printer spewed out the paper swiftly and she handed it to Colonel O'Neill. '' In the future....'' she began, but trailed off.

He folded up the piece of paper and tucked it into a pocket. '' Anything you give to him, give to me. I am your CO now, after all.''

Oh goodie.