Author's Note: Back again. Here is the next chapter . Here is the deal. If enough of you want another chapter on (chapter 8) Sunday and on (chapter 9) Tuesday. If not I will post (Chapter 8)Monday. So let me know, its up to you guys....

To my anonymous reviewers: marinrobin () there were quite a few soliders thank you for pointing it out. I changes all the ones I could find anddI double checked this chapter. I will be more conscious of it in the future. I hope this one is better. sgc126 () Thank you here is more, just for you and everyone else who reviewed. dp () Here is your more. kinnik72 () Yes, my other stories are here but only the complete ones and this one. I only post one story at a time unless it is a different fandom. If you go to my profile you will find all of them. I have five other SG-1 stories and a few others as well. yol() Why doesn't she tell him? She's scared at what he will think. I'm not saying its rational but that is how she feels. Also a more detailed explaination is coming. Soon.

After dinner, Charlie was sent upstairs while Jack and Sam cleared away the dishes. Sam was in the dinning room when the phone rang. Not really thinking about it, Jack picked up the phone, "Hello?"

The voice on the other end of the line demanded, "Who is this and where's Samantha?"

Not liking the other man's tone, he answered smartly, "She's a little busy right now. Name's Colonel Jack O'Neill. Who's this?" His voice was joyful, but it also had an edge to it, not giving the caller an inch.

"Jonas Hansen, Samantha's fiancé. Get her on this phone now." Jonas demanded, getting more agitated.

Jack looked over at Sam. He could see the fear in her eyes, even though she tried to hide it. "No, I don't think so. She doesn't want to talk to you."

Hansen's voice came back in the form of a sneer, "You tell her that she's mine. Not even another man will get in my way. I don't go away that easily," The phone was slammed down.

Hanging up the phone, Jack asked, "Care to explain that? He said he's your fiancé."

Sam didn't meet Jack's eyes, "He was but that was a long time ago. I broke it off before I went to Iraq. Jonas wasn't the man I thought he was. He shipped out a few months after me and has been calling me since he got back," Sam unconsciously rubbed the scar he had left on her arm.

Jack watched her trying to find …what he didn't know. He'd heard those same words before. He almost had it but the memory fled out of reach. It was the second time that she had tugged at this memory.

Reaching out, he stilled her hand, studying the mark, his eyes asking a question she didn't want to answer, "If he becomes a problem let me know. I don't want anything to happen to you." He turned to leave but paused, "Or I can teach you a few things." His smile wasn't a happy one, "Just in case."

His voice chilled her, but she knew it wasn't directed at her. Reaching out she touched his shoulder to show that she wasn't afraid of him. "I'll think about it. I'm already upgrading my hand to hand combat to level three."

"Really? Why?" he asked curious to why an astrophysicist would take hand to hand combat classes.

Shrugging she said, "There's an assignment I want and to get it I need to be ready for anything," Sam lied, well partly lied. That was only one reason she was taking the extra training. She was afraid of what Jonas might do not only to her but Charlie as well.

Jack frowned, "Where are you stationed again?"

"NORAD, I do work with Deep Space Radar Telemetry, but sometimes they need to send us places..." she faltered under his scrutiny, knowing he wasn't buying any of this.

Watching her reactions as she spoke, he was sure she wasn't telling him the whole truth about any of this. It seemed that she was being courted by the shadow world he wanted to escape. He could tell a cover story when he heard it. Spec-ops and black-ops did things to people, horrible things; he wasn't going to stand by and let it destroy Smiley Sam.

She turned to leave, but he caught her arm as she went past him. Swallowing, he said, "Sam, whatever you're thinking, that world isn't what you think. It eats you up inside. Don't do it."

Turning toward him, "Don't worry. It's not what you think. I'll be fine. I have some work to do before I can go to bed. 'Night Jack," she said as she lifted his hand from her arm and squeezed it before leaving him in the kitchen.

Jack watched her go, wishing he wasn't feeling such dread.

The trip across the desert was rough. The road, if you could call it that, was pitted with both small and large pot holes. Sam had to keep her whole attention on the road if she didn't want to break an axle.

Beside her, Jack had passed out with his head in her lap. She knew he was alive because she could still feel his breath on her leg. Taking a quick look at the bandage she had wrapped around his wound, she could see that blood had soaked through it. She hoped that he wouldn't bleed to death, and was glad she had taken the medic training course. She hoped there were supplies in the truck that she could use to help him.

Panic threatened to choke her, but she stamped it down. He was not going to die; she would find a way to stop the bleeding. She had to stop it. He was alive and so was she. There was hope and until they were both locked up once again, they were all right.

Sam looked down at the gas gauge. They were running out of fuel and she had no idea how close they were to the border. Neither of them knew where they were in Iraq. They had hoped that they were close to Kuwait, but since they had been driving for hours, it didn't seem likely.

In the distance, Sam saw a collection of ramshackle buildings. Hoping they had just enough luck and fuel to reach them, Sam pushed the gas pedal down and prayed. It was something she had not done in a very long time.

The truck lurched to a stop; Sam waited to see if anyone would come out and see who had arrived. The village was quiet. No one was there, and from the looks of it there hadn't been for a long time.

Laying him down, she said, "Jack, you rest. I'm going to look and see if we have anything useful in this truck or these buildings. You need water and so do I." Climbing from the truck, she had no idea if Jack even heard her.

Earlier, she had searched the cab and found a small amount of water which they had tried to ration, but it eventually ran out. Climbing out of the cab, she headed for the closest building, hoping to find shelter or anything useful. She located the village well but is was dry, probably the reason the village was abandoned.

The village had been thoroughly picked over and there was nothing left. Even some of the bricks had been taken. Choosing the best house for their camp, she moved to the back of the truck hoping to find something to help them in there.

She opened the canvas and found supplies, but not what she hoped. Boxes of weapons and other things filled the truck. Still not giving up hope, Sam shifted the heavy boxes around, thinking there might be other things behind them.

Near the back, she found a small med kit, a few more bottles of water and dried food. Best of all, at the bottom of the box, was a radio. She wasn't sure if it worked, but she might be able to do something with it. Back in the hovel, she cleared a space, laying out the blankets.

Leaving the supplies, she went back to the front of the truck. Jack was still unconscious, but using some to the water, she roused him. "Hey, wake up. I want to get you to the shelter. I'll be able to look after your wound there."

He rolled and got his feet under him. Sam helped him out of the truck and they moved to the house. She helped him climb inside and settled him on the blankets. Removing his shirt, she studied the wounds, wishing she knew more about what to do in situations like this.

Using the supplies, she treated the wound to the best of her abilities. Jack passed out sometime during her sewing it up. Curling up next to him, she slept, hoping that he would be all right.

With that last thought, she fell into an exhausted sleep.

Two days later, they went to Charlie's ball game and they saw him hit his fifth home run, winning the game. Both he and Sam raced to hug Charlie at the end of the game.

The boy jumped into his dad's arms and Sam hugged them both. They stayed that way for a moment, until Sam stepped back, embarrassed by her actions. "I have to go. There are some things I need to do at work. I won't be home for dinner."

With that she fled. Jack watched her go, wondering what was happening to him. The whole time he'd spent in that hole in Iraq after Hansen had got out, he'd planned on finding her and talking to her, but since he met Sam, he hadn't done any of that.

Sam made him feel things he wasn't ready to feel, the same way Hansen had done, but how could that be? Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Charlie, who was talking with his friends. They were making a plan to go out for ice cream.

Charlie pulled at his hand, "Come on, Dad, they're going for ice cream. Can we go, too, please?" He dropped Jack's hand and ran toward the jeep.

Jack stood there for a moment longer watching Sam disappear across the field and then hurried to catch up with his son. Throwing his arm around Charlie he said, "What flavor did you want?"

"Chocolate and Tiger Tiger. Hurry up. I don't want to miss the other boys," Charlie broke into a run.

Jack watched his son go, enjoying his happiness.

That night, Sam stood on the steps, unsure of what to do. Fatigue washed over her and she just wanted to climb into bed. She had spent the day arguing with General West about the future of this program. He wanted to mothball it and shove it all back into the drawer where it had been found.

She took a few steps toward her room, when Charlie came out of his, "Sam, are you going to read to me? We haven't done that for a while."

Turning, she looked at the boy silhouetted in the door way and smiled, "I could do that. Why don't you get your pajamas on while I change my clothes? Come to my room in about five minutes."

The smile that lit up Charlie's face made it all worthwhile. The tiredness receded and she went to get changed. It was the small moments like this that made her life seem worth while.

A few minutes later, Charlie was curled up with Sam on her bed listening to her read him The Hobbit. After a while, Sam looked up and found Jack standing in the doorway, listening to her performance. She smiled at him and patted the bed beside her.

Jack stood there listening to her read, wondering why she wasn't married yet. She was a wonderful mother. The more he watched her, the more he realized that he knew nothing about the woman who had been watching his son.

Charlie knew much more than he did; his son knew how she liked her coffee, what she liked on her pizza, and so much more. He found himself wanting to know more, so much more about this woman. He wasn't sure why, but he needed to know everything about her.

Listening to her read to his son was a place to start. Crossing the room, he sat down beside her on the bed.

Turning back to the book, Sam continued reading, trying to ignore Jack's close proximity. A little while later, Sam looked over at Charlie and found that he was asleep. Closing the book, she got to her feet and picked up Charlie, finding herself very close to Jack.

They stared at one another for a few minutes. Jack brushed her hands as he took Charlie from her. Something strong pulled at them as their eyes met once more. "Sam," he breathed her name against her lips as they touched gently.

Suddenly, she stepped back. "Put him to bed. I'll clean up in the kitchen."

With that said, she fled to the kitchen running from Jack and the feelings he stirred in her.

Sam leaned against the counter, her breath coming harshly as she tried to slow it. She was getting in way over her head and drowning. She knew that she needed to tell Jack who she was, but how could she? What would he think of her? Would he stop her from seeing Charlie? There were too many questions to upset the status quo.

Quickly she cleared away the supper she hadn't eaten and began to wash the dishes. There was a knock on the door. Still distracted by the kiss, Sam opened the door only to be slammed against the wall. She was given no time to react, before a set of hands grabbed on to her throat....

I hope you guys don't throw stones. I had to end it there. I will post the next chapter soon. If you leave a review even if it contains rocks, it is more likely to be sooner instead of later....