She's baaaack! Sorry - work life was crazy.

She woke up shmooshed against the Colonel. It was rather a pleasant awakening, although at first she was a bit confused. Hadn't they gone to sleep in their own sleeping bags? Then she remembered – he'd woken up not long after falling asleep, panicked at being stuck in the bag. She immediately helped unzip it and he'd looked at her in embarrassment.

"It's okay Sir", she said calmly, still half asleep. 'Why don't we open both of them and lay one out on the ground. We can cover ourselves with the other one and it won't feel so restrictive.

He'd mumbled something in reply but had helped her unzip the two bags and lay them out. He immediately laid down, his back to her. She couldn't help but smile in affection. For such a strong man he easily became embarrassed at simple things. With a gentle breath she'd closed her eyes and had quickly fallen asleep, feeling more relaxed than she had in days.

So now who's embarrassed, Sam, she said to herself. Her butt was pressed up against the Colonel and she could definitely feel that sidearm, although logically she knew it was simply his natural morning - reaction. On top of that – or on top of her was his arm. And he wasn't holding her loosely but had his arm wrapped tightly around her so she could barely move.

"Uh Colonel?" she said softly. She didn't really want to wake him up, but she had to take a trip downstairs. When he didn't move or respond she sighed and snuggled into him. Oh well, her bladder could wait for a bit. He definitely needed the sleep and she didn't want to disturb him. Of course there was absolutely no other reason for not moving – none at all.

The Voice made a rude noise of disbelief. She really had to shoot the damn thing! For now however, she simply closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

Jack woke up slowly, enjoying the unusual sensation of actually having slept through the night. He had that warm, comfortable sleepy feeling you get when you wake up after a good night and realize it's the weekend and you don't have to go anywhere or do anything.

He nuzzled his face into her neck, enjoying the feel of soft skin against his lips and the luxuriant smell of some kind of exotic smelling shampoo. Yup – he didn't have to go anywhere or do anything other than snuggle with –

Oh crap! He peered down at the head which was tucked into his neck. Yup – blond hair, soft warm body, and he had a great big – double crap! He didn't know what to do. Pulling back too quickly would wake her up and then she'd know. If he could just ease his way – he carefully, steadily lifted his arm, and immediately her breath hitched. He froze and waited. After a moment it seemed like she wasn't going to wake up so he continued.

He let out a soundless breath as soon as his arm was no longer touching her. Now, of course, there was the rest of his body – the body that was pressed up against her in a highly inappropriate manner. God, if anyone came by they'd be in danger of being court martialed.

He tried to scoot back carefully, without waking her up, because if she did, he'd be extremely embarrassed. Even though he knew Sam wasn't that innocent – still, she didn't need to know – to feel that much about him.

"Sir?"

Crap! "Uh, yeah Carter?"

"I'm sorry Sir – did I wake you? I kind of have to get up and use the little girl's room."

"Oh." He swiftly rolled away from her and sat up, keeping the sleeping bag over top of himself. "Sorry. Uh – no problem. I guess it's time we got up anyway." He squinted down at his watch and was surprised to see that it was almost ten o'clock. He had to look at it again to make sure he hadn't misread it.

He watched as Carter pulled herself up and then got to her feet. He bit his lip to stop grinning at the sight of her hair sticking up and the sheet marks across her face. It suddenly dawned on him that she usually looked much more put together when she got up in the morning when they were on mission. Yeah, but she usually bunked with Daniel or Teal'c, he reminded himself, so he may not have actually seen her when she first got out of bed.

"I wouldn't grin Colonel", she told him, eyeing him speculatively. "Cause if you do I'll bring a mirror."

He grimaced and tried to pat down his hair, which was obviously sticking all over the place. "Bad huh?"

She did grin at that. "Yes Sir. Pretty spectacular."

He sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "I won't tell if you won't Carter", he told her, his face breaking into a smile.

"That's a deal Sir", she laughed. "And now – to the lady's room."

"Uh Carter", he shouted down after her as she made her way down the ladder. "I don't have a lady's room you know."

She looked up at him, her foot on the lowest rung of the ladder. "You're telling me to watch out for the seat?"

He shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Wouldn't want you falling in."

She laughed again and made her way into his house. She couldn't believe how much better she felt this morning. A good night's sleep will do that to you Sam, my girl. She started to hum as she headed into Jack's guest bathroom. She grinned again when she saw the seat which, contrary to his warning, was down.

Jack grinned as he thought about Carter and realized, at the same time, that he felt pretty darn good this morning. Although his back was a bit stiff from sleeping on the ground – or his deck to be more accurate – at least he felt rested. After they'd laid out the sleeping bags he'd fallen asleep and hadn't suffered a single nightmare. Maybe he was getting through this.

He snorted. Sure O'Neill! One night's sleep doesn't mean you're all better. Still – he was on the way and he had Carter to thank for it. As he began to roll up the sleeping bags he couldn't help but whistle.

"Coffee Carter?" he called. He'd put the things away and had decided that he was incredibly hungry. He foraged around his kitchen to discover – not much of anything. Maybe they'd go out and get breakfast. He glanced at his watch and frowned – okay, maybe brunch.

"Uh – do you have tea Sir?" Carter answered, walking into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her hair. "I hope you don't mind. I borrowed a clean towel and decided to take a quick shower."

"No, I don't mind at all. Tea? I didn't know you drank the stuff Carter. I've only ever seen you have coffee in the morning."

She grimaced slightly. "Yeah, I usually do. I don't know why but this morning the idea of coffee just doesn't sound good."

"Okay." He looked up into his cupboard until finally, with a muttered 'there', he brought down a box of peppermint Tea. He looked at her with a doubtful look on his face. "Uh – I think this is all I have."

"That's okay Sir. I don't need anything. Can I ask why you have peppermint tea?"

He stared at the box as if it was something dangerous that someone had planted in his house. "I think it was Teal'c", he finally said. "Someone told him it was good for settling the stomach."

"But Teal'c never gets upset stomachs", she said, sounding confused.

"No, but I think Daniel convinced him to try it to settle Junior."

She laughed. "Why would he want to do that?"

"I dunno. He probably did it to humor Daniel. Uh, I'm afraid I don't really have anything here to eat. Feel like going out to grab something?"

Her immediate reaction was to say yes, but then she thought about how inappropriate this whole thing was. She'd just spent the night at her commanding officer's house – sleeping with him – and even thought all they'd done was she was pretty sure no one would believe them. If anyone from the base were to see them having breakfast together it could make the rumor mill explode. She sighed, about to refuse, when the phone rang.

"Janet or Daniel?" he asked her.

She looked at him strangely for a moment and then laughed. "Uh Janet", she replied. She figured the doctor would be checking up on the Colonel after his escape last night.

"Hello", Jack answered the phone. He shook his head and gave a thumbs down sign. "Daniel? What can I do for you?" There was a brief pause and then Jack spoke again. "Why don't the two of you come over and we can go out for breakfast – okay, okay brunch. I'm afraid I slept late this morning. Oh, and I'll call Carter and invite her to go with us."

Sam smiled, looking at him gratefully. This way she could continue to spend time with the Colonel and yet it wouldn't look bad. And it wouldn't cause any comment for her car to be here when they arrived as she lived closer than Daniel or Teal'c.

"Okay, I'll see you in half an hour." He hung up the phone and looked at his favorite officer. "Okay?"

"Yes Colonel – thank you."

"No problem Carter." He suddenly grew serious and walked over to her. "Thank you Sam", he said. "You – helped."

"You're welcome Jack", she smiled, "and thank you too. I finally managed to sleep."

"Yeah – it was good." He looked down, seeming rather uncomfortable. "I'm sorry if I put you in an awkward situation", he gestured towards his roof. "I hope you know I didn't mean anything – I'd never want to put you in an uncomfortable position.

More's the pity, she thought to herself. She then thought back to the position she's woken up in and really wished he'd put her in that position again. "It's okay Sir", she replied. "If anyone's to blame it's me. I mean I'm the one who drove over late at night and invaded your privacy."

"So you did", he gave a lopsided grin. "And thank you for that. I think you should probably go and dry your hair", he pointed at it. "You don't want Teal'c and Daniel to see you with wet hair."

She knew he had intentionally changed the subject, but she also knew he was right. She had to get herself together before they came. "Thanks!" she turned and headed back towards the bathroom but stopped just as she reached the kitchen doorway. She looked up at the Colonel and smiled. "I – it meant a lot Sir", she said and then headed out of the room.

Jack stood watching her somberly after she left. For the first time in a long time he felt angry – angry at Pete for stealing the woman he loved, angry at her for being so willing to give up what he'd thought they had together – even if it could never be expressed – angry at the Air Force and at aliens and finally – and probably most furiously at himself.

Why did his life have to be so f***'ed up?

It was almost forty minutes later when the doorbell rang and Jack made his way there slowly, hating the thought of losing this time alone with Sam. He opened the door to see a concerned Daniel and Teal'c standing there.

"Come on in", he gestured.

"How are you doing Jack?" Daniel asked with a frown. "You're looking good."

"Feeling good", he replied. When his friends continued to stare at him his sighed. "I had a great night sleep and now I'm ravenous, so let's go!"

"Where's Sam?" Daniel looked around the room. "We saw her car outside."

"Yeah – she's just in the bathroom. You know – adjusting her make-up or something."

Since Sam came out a moment later without a drop of make-up on her face, Teal'c looked at him rather quizzically. He simply shrugged. His friend might suspect something, but Jack knew he would never reveal anything to a soul. If there was anyone he could trust it was Teal'c.

"So, where are we going?" Sam asked. "I'm starving!"

Jack continued to feel a bit stronger every day, although after that first night the nightmares did come back. Some nights were better than others, and he still found himself panicking at anyone's touch or at being closed in anywhere. Still, he knew that Sam had been right and it would get better. He just wished it would happen sooner.

He'd been out of the Infirmary almost a week and they hadn't heard anything from Jacob or the Tokra. He was starting to worry about the time delay and he was sure Carter had to be feeling the same. The longer they waited the more likely that the damned alien would implant one or all of the embryos. If that were to happen, he didn't know what he'd do. He did know that he would never let a child of his grow up to be a slave or a host.

It was on the eight day since his 'release' that he got a call from the base telling him that Hammond wanted to see him – that they had visitors. He gave Sam a quick call and she'd also heard from Walter.

"It must be my father", she spoke quietly and calmly, although she had to be feeling as nervous as he was. He hadn't seen her since the day she'd stayed over and he found himself missing her presence. At the same time he knew it would be dangerous to keep on that path. She was engaged to be married and he had to maintain a professional distance.

"That's what I figured. I'm heading over now so I'll see you in a few."

"Okay Sir – thanks. I'll see you shortly." Sam slowly hung up the phone and stared at it for almost a minute before pulling herself out of her fog. When she'd first answered the phone her heart at leapt at the sound of the Colonel's voice. Immediately afterward she'd felt guilty. She couldn't think that – couldn't let herself move back to that place she was before where she spent all her time yearning for him, knowing she couldn't have him. She'd found a good man and she needed to concentrate on him.

Except that 'good man' had been a pain in the mitka all week. He'd gone off in a huff and had only called her two days later. When she'd heard him on the other end of the phone she hadn't felt her heart leap. In fact she'd immediately felt irritated – not a good reaction to one's fiancé. He'd come over the next day and she'd gone out to dinner with him, this time doing everything she could to pretend she was having fun and she focused solely on him.

It had all gone well- she could tell he was happy – until they'd gotten back to her place. He'd immediately taken her in his arms and made his intent obvious. Her reaction had been to cover her mouth and run for the bathroom, where she'd lost her dinner. She'd apologized profusely, but told Pete she wasn't feeling well. He had believed her – he couldn't not have with her throwing up so spectacularly – but clearly he had been unhappy. He offered to stay but she'd told him she would do better on her own and he'd seemed to be relieved to leave.

After he'd gone she dissolved into tears, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Once that was done she'd washed her face and had watched a stupid movie. By then she was feeling fine – and had ended up fixing herself a light dinner. She lay awake for quite some time that night, not because she felt sick or because of what had happened on the planet, or even about the Colonel. Instead she kept thinking about Pete and wondering if she'd made the world's most stupid mistake.

"Dad!" she cried, moving quickly to the former General and giving him a hug. "What took you so long?"

"Nice to see you too Sam", he said. His words were sarcastic but not the tone. Instead he gave her another quick hug and looked at her carefully. "You okay?" She was still pale and thinner than he liked.

"I'm fine Dad – just anxious to get this thing over with. What did you find out?"

"Let's wait for Jack to get here", he told her. "I'd rather not go through things twice." They moved to the Briefing room where Teal'c and Daniel already were seated.

"Hey guys", Sam said, giving them both a smile. She hadn't seen them in a few days as they'd both been loaned out to other teams while she and the Colonel were still on leave.

"Hey Sam/Hello Major Carter", the two men replied in unison.

"How are you doing?" Daniel looked at her carefully, seeing some of the same things as her father.

She shrugged. "Okay – just wanting to get moving on this."

"Hiya campers!" Jack walked in practically bouncing. He did a double take – surely pretend – and spoke again. "Jacob! Fancy meeting you here. Howya doin'? And how's good old Selmac?"

"We are fine Jack", Jacob said, an eyebrow raised. "How about you? You're looking a little better than the last time we saw you."

"Yup – I'm good, fine, hunky dorey, never better."

"You still look pale and as if you need to gain weight Colonel O'Neill", Selmac spoke, although Jack was sure it was Jacob who was giving him the smirk.

"Uh – yeah – well - General Hammond!" he turned to his CO in relief as he walked into the room. "Good to see ya Sir!"

George looked at him with one brow raised. "It's good to see you too Colonel. How are you doing?"

"Fine Sir. Good. Great."

"Good. After we're done you should check in with Doctor Frasier for a check-up." Without saying more, and completely ignoring his 2IC's scowl, he turned to the Tokra. "So Jacob/Selmack, what do you have for us."

Jacob bowed his head and when he lifted it there was a brief flash of his eyes and then Selmak spoke. "We believe we may know where Ra'mash has gone."