A/note: feedback :) Gary the cactus has been helping me (See profile). Must introduce the other OC. I can't tell you anything yet, but you won't like him in the future. That is all. Thanks to my beta! Enjoy!

~ 4 ~

The loud bang on the level above Sam's lab drew her eyes to the ceiling. Her fingers froze mid-type above the keyboard as she wondered if it was safe to move. The sound of hurried footsteps echoing down the hall brought Sam up from her chair when Leslie burst into the room.

"You gotta come see this!" her assistant squealed, grabbing Sam's hand and dragging her out of the lab. Sam automatically turned in the direction of the elevator, but was yanked the opposite way. Leslie pulled her towards the staircase.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, trying not to stumble up the stairs.

"You'll see!" Sam nearly hit the frame of the door as she was forced into the base's chemistry lab, which was currently under the control of Doctor Harry Midler. She found Harry wiping grime off his face and part of his desk destroyed.

"What happened?" Sam asked, her eyes widening. Harry pulled the dirty cloth from his face and tossed it onto the remnants of his bench.

"Might as well finish the job," he muttered, picking up a tray from behind him and beckoning Sam towards him with a finger. He placed the tray over the gaping hole in his desk.

"Doctor Dawson, can you bring me another power pack and magnifying glass?" he requested. As far as Sam could tell, she was looking at an empty tray with a small circle drawn in the middle. Harry rubbed his face and turned to her.

"We were looking into the conductivity of the material the device is made of. When the analysis came back, we found reason to believe the material is combustible." Leslie arrived with the requested items. Harry handed Sam the magnifying glass and pointed to the tiny black circle on the tray. Looking carefully, Sam found a tiny speck of dirt.

"You're gonna need these," Leslie offered Sam a pair of safety glasses and earmuffs. She hooked Sam by the elbow and pulled her across the room. Harry carefully place the two metal clamps next to one another on the tray and turned the power pack. He retreated, picking up the power cord of the pack and the end of an extension cord, to join the two women. Wedging the two connections between his forearm and stomach, Harry donned a set of safety gear.

Sam looked between the yellow fire extinguisher Leslie had picked up and the innocuous looking tray on the bench, wondering just how big this bang was going to be.

Harry held up the two cords and connected them.

BANG!

The explosion caused its observers to jump. There was no fire, but Leslie doused the hot metal of Harry's Swiss cheese workbench in carbon dioxide. The remnants of the power back fell to the floor and Harry disconnected the power cords. The distinct sound of the base's fire alarm went off and the specialised dry powder system clouded the room in white powder.

"Uh oh..." Leslie dived out of the room, followed very quickly by Sam and Harry. To stop the powder from getting into her eyes, Sam blindly ran out of the door and into a solid chest. The alarms rang around them and through blurry eyes; Sam could make out a tall figure with brown hair and tanned skin.

~ SJ ~

Later

Sam rubbed her eye with the palm of her hand as she carelessly continued to stir her coffee. She, along with Leslie and Harry, had been released from the infirmary relatively powder free. After much discussion, they had come to one conclusion about the Stargate: do not expose it to high temperatures. Or, as Leslie put it, 'do not put the device in a microwave'. Sam had pointed out that you would have to throw the Gate into a sun to make it explode.

"Feel better?" a voice asked. Sam lifted her eyes to a fair haired man with murky brown eyes, possibly in his late thirties, and green camouflage uniform. If Sam accurately remembered her Air Force ranks, this man was a Staff Sergeant.

"Yes, thank you," she smiled politely. The man pointed to the chair across from her. Sam nodded her permission for him to join her.

"That dry powder is awful stuff, hey?" he grinned, taking a bite from his green apple.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" her eyes narrowed sceptically. This man was familiar, but she couldn't place him.

"Sorry, my bad. Darrel Warner," he stretched out a hand to shake hers, "you kind of ran into me after that incident in Dr. Midler's lab."

The shaking of hands slowed as Sam tried to remember.

"Right! Forgive me," she shook her head, "I, uh, yes, I ran right into you."

"Nearly knocked me over," he nodded. She blushed in embarrassment.

"It wasn't intentional."

"I gathered that. It's okay. I probably shouldn't have been in the way. I was only passing through," he shrugged dismissively, munching down on his apple.

"I thought you were one of the fire wardens," Sam picked up her coffee, determined to appear comfortable. She felt a tiny flutter in her stomach that unsettled her.

"Oh no," Darrel shook his head and waited to swallow his mouthful of fruit. "I'm in charge of the bases armoury."

Sam mouthed an 'Oh'. Why would this base require an armoury? It was - for the moment - a research facility. Then again, after that moment had passed, it would not be unreasonable to expect men to arm themselves when travelling to other planets. It was also more secret than Area 51. Yes, now that she thought about it, an armoury for the base wasn't so unusual.

With her back to the door, Sam didn't see General O'Neill enter the commissary and limp tiredly towards the coffee machine. She never saw him in the mess at meal times, so she didn't expect to see him here now. Darrel was not so ignorant to the Commanding Officer's presence. His eyes met Jack's for the briefest of moments before he returned to conversing with Sam.

The General tried to not grind his teeth as he poured himself a particularly large mug of coffee. He was angry. For one, he didn't like the sight of Dr. Carter associating his Warner. This made him even more irate, because after all, his only claim over the younger woman was the fact that he was her boss. Nothing more. If she wanted to have any involvement with Warner, it was no business of his. She was a friend of a friend. Absolutelynothing more.

Darrel looked up again as the General left the commissary, this time, attracting Sam's attention. She looked over her shoulder to see the CO push through the main doors grumpily. She had keen observation skills, and noticed he was favouring his left leg slightly.

~ SJ ~

Stay Tuned :)
A bit of Canon next episode. Sam makes the gate work and discovers something (that we didn't see in the episode) :^P