Day 67
Liddell Residence
Rainier, Washington

Sam entered her walk-in closet looking for something suitable to wear, dressed in her stockings and lingerie. In less than an hour she was supposed to meet Keith Branson, the retired salvage master in a restaurant in Olympia to discuss her – or Therra's – job offer. To her surprise it had been rather easy to track him down once she'd found his social networking page nearly two weeks ago; not having had much of a personal life for years, Sam wasn't all that familiar with those sites but now that she didn't have a job anymore she had been stunned to see how much personal information people would volunteer to the rest of the world! Keith, as he'd insisted she call him upon meeting him, had made it very easy for her by announcing most of his daily activities on his personal page and when he'd mentioned going to the Olympia Timberland Library on Tuesday, she had seen her chance and went there as well, accidentally bumping into him and making conversation.

It probably would have been easier to simply contact him online via her second laptop or even using the prepaid cell phone she'd bought in Atlantic City but since it would take some convincing to get him to accept the one-time job now that he was retired, she had decided a meeting in person would be best. Of course, she couldn't just go ahead and approach him like she normally would have done so she'd resorted to this plan, knowing her NID tail would follow and by having dinner with him tonight it would probably look like a personal matter rather than a business deal. They would probably think she and Keith would be going on a date or something since they couldn't really ask him what his talk with her was about without revealing themselves as NID and their interest in her.

Now all she needed was a dress that looked good enough for the NID to think she was dressed casually or even fancy but at the same time professional without looking like a business suit. Sam lingered on the dark blue dress she'd worn in Atlantic City but decided against the low neckline that was probably a bit too revealing. Most of her clothes were casual and the few dresses she had were almost all flimsy summer dresses because of her limited monthly allowance, the current weather and her plans to not stay here very long, so in the end she chose the little black dress she'd worn on her first night at the casino, with its non-revealing square neckline and cap sleeves and matching shoes.

She tried to ignore the memories from those days as she put the dress on and when she went back into her bedroom to blow-dry her hair, Sam found her mind wandering to the past week. Colonel O'Neill had dropped by on Sunday evening with a movie and pizza and admittedly, it had been a nice evening. She had a pretty good idea as to why he'd shown up out of the blue on her doorstep if his behavior lately and the attraction between them was any indication. After all, they had been back a week so he'd probably already filed his mission report and got new orders, most likely to get closer to her.

The question was how close? O'Neill hadn't really tried to make a move other than dinner and a movie, which he had tried to be casual about, just two friends watching a movie and eating at the same time. There hadn't been any inappropriate touching or him making a pass at her, but if he was anything like her Jack then he would probably be planning this like it was a mission to infiltrate a Goa'uld stronghold. And she had to admit, at least to herself, that he was very similar to her Jack in many ways. Sitting on the sofa with him, watching a movie and snacking on Frootees… it had reminded her of when Jack would decline an invitation to a soiree to mingle with the bigwigs whenever she was in DC and would claim he had a prior commitment, which was basically just a night in watching a movie together, eating popcorn and Froot Loops ending with the two of them making love – unless they fell asleep from exhaustion first.

Last Sunday it had definitely been the exhaustion setting in and he had dozed off, his head lulling back against the sofa's backrest and he'd snored quietly as the movie played on. It had surprised Sam that he allowed himself such relaxation in her presence, knowing how guilty he still felt about hurting her when she'd woken him up from a nightmare and how wary her own Jack was about falling asleep in unknown surroundings. His weight resting slightly against her and his warmth seeping into her had been achingly familiar though and before she'd realized it she shifted to get more comfortable and let her head rest on his shoulder. She had been tired too and tense, she'd been so damned tense for days wondering what would happen next and when the Colonel would drop by unexpectedly, which of course happened at the worst possible moment as she'd been working on her naquadah detector in her master bathroom.

It had been easy to just close her eyes and let herself forget everything as she lay against his side. It hadn't taken her long to fall asleep and sooner than she'd wanted he woke her up again. God, his face had been so close and his dark eyes almost hypnotizing as he looked at her. His lips had seemed so inviting and without thinking, Sam had licked her own and his breathing had audibly hitched, desire flashing in his eyes and she could have sworn his nostrils flared in that primitive passion she loved so much about her Jack. She knew he had been dangerously close to bridging the distance between them and kissing her but in the end he'd pulled back, nearly escaped as he appeared shocked at his own actions. Moreover, she had been shocked at her own reaction, inching closer to him and then… she wasn't entirely sure but it felt awfully like disappointment when he finally got up to leave.

O'Neill hadn't given a reason as to why he hadn't kissed her or an excuse for almost kissing her; instead he had simply gone back to the base, leaving her behind with her confusion. His actions – or lack thereof – were somewhat contradictive and Sam wondered if his conscious and marriage vows had gotten the best of him in that moment or if she had misjudged his intentions. The heat and desire she'd seen in him on various occasions spoke volumes as to how he felt about her or at least the physical attraction between them. Her experience with the NID over the years and the little trip to an alternate universe last year were enough to give her an idea of what the organization and the United States government could be capable of doing if they felt threatened, so she wouldn't put it past them to give O'Neill certain unethical orders to get closer to her.

As a matter of fact, considering the freedom – albeit somewhat limited – they had given her she would have been surprised if they hadn't taken extra measures to try and sway her somehow and taking into account how her and Jack O'Neill's paths always seemed to cross one way or another in any reality it made sense to give him that assignment. After all, they had already met on the ice when Daniel, Cam and she had first arrived here and their reactions towards him made it pretty clear they were familiar with his counterpart even if she hadn't mentioned him briefly in one of her interviews. So this O'Neill was qualified for such an assignment in more ways than one; his skills, her familiarity with the other him and the fact that he was already in the know about her existence and origin from the start. The NID had just gotten lucky that he also happened to be the counterpart of her dead husband…

Sam sighed, running a hand through her hair and putting the blow dryer away. Just a touch of makeup to work on the dark circles under her eyes and maybe a hint of mascara and lipstick, and she'd be ready to go! She reached for the cosmetics and got started, her mind unable to stop thinking about Colonel O'Neill. It was possible he hadn't kissed her yet because he didn't want to skip any steps in his plans to seduce her, she mused. Unless it was a life and death situation Jack had never rushed any of his plans and was able to exert a tremendous amount of patience, which was rather uncharacteristic for him in everyday life; it made sense for the Colonel to think along the same lines.

The problem was that it left her wary and almost waiting in suspense for something to happen. Sam knew herself well enough to know she liked to be apprised of thing, be in the know when she was involved in a situation instead of being left in the dark and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It had been hell when Jack had gone undercover all those years ago to find the rogue NID members that were stealing alien technology; deep down she'd known something was up because of his strange behavior but she'd been unable to figure it out on her own. For as long as she could remember people – her parents, teachers, family members – had been telling her she had an inquisitive mind and combined with her competitive streak it meant she liked to be aware of whatever was going on and preferably be at least one step ahead of everyone else.

Now she found herself in this alternate timeline, without her friends for the time being and preparing to restore whatever Ba'al had done in the past in a way that was accessible to her. With her advanced knowledge of alien technology and physics and what some might call insider information of people's counterparts as well as certain events that had happened in her timeline but not yet here, it was more likely than not that Sam was already several steps ahead of everyone here. The only thing complicating matters was Colonel O'Neill and his ever-present company. If she wasn't careful he could ruin everything for her – Daniel, Cam and basically all of mankind if Ba'al got here – and that was something she couldn't afford. What was even worse was that she might need his help for the final stages of her plan, so him not being around wouldn't work either.

Not that she thought he'd be willing to cooperate with her, not even if she would explain everything to him because she just knew he'd do whatever he had to to keep his son safe, even if there was a possibility Ba'al might enslave or kill everyone. O'Neill's mere presence in her life and his tentative flirting with her was proof enough of that, knowing he was still married despite his lies; she didn't like to think she had misjudged him so or that there was a version of Jack out there who didn't think twice about his vows, even if she knew that was a very real possibility with an infinite number of ever-growing alternate realities. Also, if Sam were honest, she didn't think she had the right to ask him to even consider helping her change this timeline, knowing the personal cost for him. She didn't think she'd be able to do so if it meant Cassie were to be wiped out of existence. It wasn't a choice that could be made and that was precisely why she wasn't going to ask.

1934 hours
McChord AFB
Lakewood, Washington

Jack was idly doodling on his notepad as Simmons was rambling on about the job Jackson wanted to get. He had no idea why he'd even been called to this meeting considering Sam was supposed to be his charge, not Jackson or that Mitchell guy. But apparently his input was required so here he was with his CO, General Hammond and Colonel Frank Simmons from the NID. Luckily Hank and General Kennedy seemed to be otherwise occupied and last he'd heard about Maybourne was that the rat bastard was flying to Kansas to rendezvous with Mitchell's OSI handlers to check in on the flyboy and would then move onto New York to check out Jackson's situation.

Either way, he was bored with Simmons basically reading Doctor MacKenzie's report aloud after already having gone through the initial assessment from the OSI. Of course, being Intelligence the NID didn't fully trust the OSI to do their job right – Jack had refrained from pointing out all the recent mistakes of Simmons' men – and had to weigh in on the decision as well, doing their own research into this company before hopefully coming to a conclusion as to whether or not the archeologist could apply for a job there.

With any luck the position was already filled by now and further discussion would be unnecessary, he thought to himself. It wasn't that he begrudged the man a job, it was probably a good idea considering the depressing mood in his apartment the one time Jack visited there. He was just bored and he hated evening meetings; he had to eat commissary food to be on time and it hadn't tasted very well, not even the cake for dessert had made up for it.

"… it is therefore Doctor MacKenzie's opinion that-"

"So," Jack rudely interrupted Simmons. "Jackson wants a job, right? MacKenzie says he's fit enough and mentally able to deal with this, so what's the hold up? Why are we even discussing this? I thought we had handed Jackson over to the OSI for exactly these kinds of situations."

"Colonel O'Neill," the NID operative said impatiently, "if you would just hear me out…"

General Hammond cleared his throat as the other colonel sighed in exasperation and waited until both of them were looking at him. "Please, Colonel Simmons, just get to the point. I would like to be able to take my wife over to see our grandchildren tonight before it's too late."

"Very well, if you insist General," Simmons replied in a haughty tone bordering on disrespect. "Doctor MacKenzie thinks this would be a good idea. It would probably pull Jackson out of his social isolation and might make him find more enjoyment in our, eh, world."

"And the OSI?"

"The OSI agree with that assessment, General…"

Jack narrowed his eyes at that delivery, wondering what the guy wasn't telling them. "Where was the job again?"

"A salvaging company, Colonel."

"Of… ships?" He questioned, with a slight frown. When the other colonel nodded in confirmation, he tried to picture it. "Doing what? I doubt he can be of much help aboard and with just one leg and a half he's probably not much use diving either."

"I think it's an administrative function, son," Hammond spoke as he browsed through the NID file they had both been given.

Jack nodded and decided to forget about his doodle for a moment and checked out the file, while Simmons continued on with his explanation as if either he or Hammond was paying attention. It was something about the alias and his credentials that they'd given Jackson, but he was somewhat aware of those as he'd been responsible for that excellent name and he'd read through his file before his surprise visit to New York City and Kansas a couple of weeks ago. "Where did he find this… J.S. Salvaging Inc?"

"Actually, they found him. More or less. You see, his OSI handlers had advised him to set up an account on an employment website, with Charles Dodgson's credentials," Simmons replied. "There was no intent on his part."

"Hmm, then why haven't you approved? Or better yet, why are you bringing this to our attention, Colonel Simmons?"

The man shrugged indifferently at Hammond's question. "These are important people and we prefer to tread cautiously when it comes to either Jackson or Carter."

"And they have no problems with a disabled man?" Jack inquired, barely glancing up from the file as he thumbed through it. When all he got in return was a shake of the head, he looked at the job description. "Cataloging artifacts… is that safe? I mean, we have no idea what kind of stuff this company deals with. For all we know this is some elaborate setup for Jackson to get access to something at the company, or maybe certain equipment or salvaged cargo. Not to mention Jackson's own specialty in archeology, his or his counterpart's."

"Remember, Colonel O'Neill, this company merely placed an advertisement that happened to trigger Jackson's preferences on the website. We made sure of that and checked his computer logs and online access-"

"Right, because your people are so good at what they do," he mocked dryly.

Simmons huffed as he plopped down in his chair, apparently finally realizing neither Hammond or Jack himself were interested in a presentation. "As a matter of fact, we had General Hammond's specialist install the same software on Jackson's computer as we did on Carter's and their activities are screened once a week."

"That eh, Folger, guy?" Jack muttered, trying to recall the geeky scientist from two months ago.

"Doctor Felger and his Avenger Program, Colonels," Hammond reminded them.

"Fine, whatever," he muttered.

"There are no conflicts with the other Daniel Jackson from our timeline if Mr Jackson takes this job?"

Simmons shook his head. "No, General, we don't think there would be any problems with that. Doctor Jackson has been ridiculed out of the academic world and is spending his days in Egypt. We doubt any of the professionals at the company, even the archeologists specialized in salvaging, would see the resemblance or even remember the whack-job for that matter."

"So, what do we know about this company? Why are they even looking for new people?" Jack asked, still suspicious. He couldn't help it, he thought as he took a sip of water. It was just in his nature and it seemed a bit convenient for this Jackson guy to find a job he liked. These days it was hard enough for most people to keep their job or get a new one, but to find one someone actually liked at exactly the right time? Not to mention the guy's disability. Just as he was starting to get better and indicating he wanted a job, this offer magically appears.

"It's new, but it's all above board, Colonel O'Neill," Simmons replied curtly.

"You looked into that?" It was more of a rhetorical question considering the report in front of him. "What does 'Joma Secu' mean?"

"Colonel?" Hammond questioned, seemingly peeking at the page he was looking at before paging through his own report.

The NID operative squirmed a bit, apparently losing some of his confidence. "We, eh, don't know."

"I thought you'd looked into it?" He couldn't help but say.

"We have," the man replied defensively. "Our specialists couldn't find any reference to it in English or otherwise, although we were of course limited in our search because of the short amount of time we have. However, it's highly improbable to have a significant meaning."

Well, that was a load of crap, Jack thought. It sounded like Simmons was just trying to cover his ass and it made him wonder if he'd actually looked into it as he claimed. "And this… Carlin-person? What kind of name is that anyway?"

"We ran a background check on Ms Carlin, it's included in the file and accompanied by what the OSI found on her."

"That all seems to be in order," Hammond muttered as he flipped to the back of the folder. "A bit thin perhaps…"

Jack raised a brow at the documentation, his eyes skimming the academic background that even had mentions of the schools she had attended as a child. "Nothing more recent?"

"We're still looking into that," Simmons replied, "but she appears to check out."

Not having seen anything money-related in the entire folder he looked up. "How is it financed?"

"An off-shore account."

"And that's not suspicious?"

"Colonel O'Neill, in this economy it doesn't surprise me. Besides, there are plenty of people working in marine salvaging that have been involved in locating treasures and they often choose for off-shore accounting because of more lucrative deals when it comes to those amounts of money."

"Treasures? Cool," Jack smirked. "I thought marine salvaging was more about towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship. You know, the boring stuff, like when there's an oil spill or some other precious cargo leaking from a sinking ship."

Hammond chuckled softly and closed his folder. "Well, if you and your superiors think this job is okay for Mister Jackson then I will sign off on it as well, Colonel Simmons."

"Thank you, General Hammond."

"Where did you say that company was again?" Jack asked, still not entirely convinced. There was just something off about this, or so his gut was telling him. Over the years he'd learned to trust his instincts and in this situation he simply couldn't afford to make any mistakes, not if the end result meant 'fixing' the timeline. Not when that also meant Tyler being erased from not only existence but also his memory, or perhaps he himself would turn into a new counterpart and… argh, it was too confusing! He hated science fiction.

Simmons rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh, clearly annoyed with Jack taking so long and asking too many questions. "A little over an hour from Jackson's apartment. Part of the Air Force's agreement with him was arranged transport so he wouldn't really have to worry about driving a car or taking the subway for a job or other trips."

"It's in New York?"

"Trenton, New Jersey, but that shouldn't be a problem."

He frowned, wondering if he'd heard that correctly. "You mean Trenton, that city where your NID agents lost Samantha Carter? That one?"

"They didn't lose her, Colonel O'Neill, they-"

"Oh right," Jack sneered, "they merely lost sight of her for over an hour!"

"These two events are completely unrelated, General Hammond, I assure you," Simmons ignored him and turned to the three-star General, who had the final say in this matter.

Hammond seemed pensive, glancing between the two of them as if trying to make up his mind. "It does seem unlikely Ms Carter has anything to do with this… she might be a genius, but I doubt even she would be able to set up a company like this in an hour, Colonel O'Neill. Besides, to what purpose would she involve herself with marine salvaging?"

"Oh, come on!" Jack nearly whined, added a belated "Sir".

"Do you have any idea how big Trenton is, Colonel O'Neill?" Simmons asked, looking slightly peeved. "It's over eight thousand square miles and has a population of about eighty-five thousand."

"So you're saying this is just a coincident? That about a week after she went off the grid for an hour Jackson receives a job offer in that very same town?"

General Hammond cleared his throat, sounding much like a referee between the two of them. "Colonels, please. I agree with you, Jack, that it seems very coincidental but at the same time you have to ask yourself what she would possibly gain by this. How could she even know Jackson's location or his identity? Besides, for all we know Ms Carter never even left that observatory."

"I must agree with you, General," Simmons said haughtily, briefly glaring at Jack. "There is no way for her to have anything to do with this without us knowing, let alone be able to find out any information on Jackson or Mitchell. Besides, what would she or Jackson gain by working with a salvaging company? It's not as if a private company can just enter the blocked off area of the Arctic Ocean the Navy is searching for this Stargate and what other reason could they have? I'm afraid you're letting your imagination run wild, Colonel O'Neill. Or perhaps you're getting too close to Carter…"

"Huh, I thought that was what you wanted, Simmons," Jack huffed, annoyed with being dismissed so easily.

"Gentlemen," Hammond's voice rang out in warning, but before he could say more the door to their conference room was opened and a pissed off Hank Landry stepped in, followed by an equally peeved looking General Kennedy. "General Kennedy, Hank," the three-star greeted them warily. "I was under the impression you had other business to attend?"

The two men grumbled something that didn't even come close to a respectful greeting in Jack's opinion and his standards were pretty low when it came to such things, but he did kind of like Hammond unlike the other goons he was forced to work with on this assignment.

"We were attending to other matters until one of General Kennedy's men gave us an update on Ms Carter's whereabouts," Hank told the Lieutenant General, before turning to him. "Jack, what exactly did you do on Sunday?"

"What do you mean, 'what did I do'?" Jack parroted, annoyed. "I submitted a report." It wasn't a real report but more of a progress update, which he'd kept vague since he was highly uncomfortable discussing things of any personal nature but especially this one. He'd mentioned them watching the movie and eating pizza and a growing closeness between them, but he'd neglected to share the almost-kiss he had pulled back from. Forgetting to take that darn DVD with him as he'd escaped Sam's house had been another thing he'd kept to himself.

Unfortunately he'd been forced to go get it, so the next day he'd dropped by during lunch, hoping that it would be less awkward that way. It wasn't. She had been busy in the house and since the garage door was open he'd walked in and found her in what had once been a storage room at the back of the garage, but she'd changed it into a personal gym. He had known that but he hadn't actually seen her use it up until that day, when she was all sweaty and kicking the living daylights out of a punching bag. It had been extremely awkward, with her seemingly shy and him disturbingly aroused by the picture she made and the attractive flush on her face. He had barely retrieved the DVD before he'd stuffed his tuna sandwich in his mouth and took off again.

"Yes, it seemed as if you were making headway, Colonel," Kennedy added.

"Yes Sir," he muttered, scowling at the two men who were supposedly superior to him – in rank only, obviously.

"Then do you mind explaining to us why Samantha Carter is enjoying a fine meal with a glass of wine in a fancy restaurant, all dressed up with another man, Jack?" Hank questioned, his caterpillar-like eyebrows shooting up. "Well?"

Surprised, he only managed to open his mouth but no sound came out. She was on a date with someone? "Who?"

"Does it matter, Colonel?" Kennedy replied, glaring at him. "She seemed to be enjoying herself with this man according to my people and yet you reported making progress with her regarding your assignment."

"Well, she never mentioned anything to me," Jack muttered, frowning to himself. There really hadn't been any indication as far as he was aware. In a way he should probably be happy about this development, Jack thought. But when he looked around the room and saw the dark facial expressions on the other men – well, except for Hammond, who just seemed upset – he realized this wasn't good news at all. Not for him but also not for Sam and whoever her friend was. From the beginning it had been made perfectly clear what was expected of him and using a romantic relationship had been the NID's way to keep Sam under their thumb in the only way they could, to make her more willing to what they wanted. But what would they do if Sam got involved with someone they couldn't control? Someone over whom they had no emotional hold? Would they get rid of that man if they couldn't find anything to blackmail him into doing what they wanted? And what would happen to Sam or to himself? Tyler?

Hank squinted at him, as if he was gauging whether to believe him before apparently reaching a decision. "It doesn't really matter anyway. At least now we know she's… receptive, to a romantic relationship of some kind."

"Who is this other man?" Hammond inquired quietly.

"He's in his mid-fifties, Caucasian, about six foot-" Hank was telling them, when Kennedy stopped him with a hand on his arm.

Peering at his cell phone, General Kennedy took over. "Apparently it concerns a retired widower, named Keith Branson. It seems they met in a library a couple of days ago," he explained, apparently just getting this new information.

"This is where you have to step up Jack; you better do some damage control here and close the deal soon before she runs off with this other guy," Hank added.

"Go son, we were about done here anyway," General Hammond dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

Jack nodded and quickly made his way out of the room. Now what? Obviously they expected him to right this but how? It wasn't like he could just go over to Sam and demand she stop seeing this guy. When did she have time to meet someone else? A man apparently close to his own age; he wasn't sure if that was comforting or not. After all, he already knew she was attracted to him. Making a decision, Jack walked over to his personal quarters.

2015 hours
Liddell Residence
Rainier, Washington

Jack was sitting on the steps leading up to Sam's door, waiting for her to come home. It was getting cold out and he was glad he'd detoured to his quarters to get his coat because he had no idea how long she would be. He got a sickening feeling in his stomach at the idea of her not coming home, not tonight. Surely Sam wouldn't… would she? He liked to think he'd gotten to know her – the person not her knowledge or all her experiences – pretty well during their road trip and he really didn't think she was the kind of woman to spend the night with someone she had just met.

Sighing, he thought back to the meeting he'd just left and reached into his pocket for his phone. He scrolled through his contacts until he had found the name of someone he'd used to work with, but who had retired from the service and was instead working for the FBI right now. There was just something off about this Trenton thing and that file about that woman was too flimsy. Everything important was there, with the exception of the last few years but it was too… he didn't know, there was just something he couldn't put his finger on. Dialing, he waited until the phone was answered.

"Farrity."

"O'Neill here," he replied curtly.

"Wow buddy, it's been a while!"

Jack cringed at the reply and was reminded of the reason they'd never really gotten along all that much. "Yeah… hey, remember that time I saved your ass? I need you to repay the favor."

"Sure thing, name it!"

"I need you to look into something for me… it's a company in Trenton, New Jersey. Marine salvaging, apparently. It's called J.S. Salvaging Inc and I want to know what they're up to."

"Hmm, okay. I'll look into it. Might be a while before I have everything. How urgent is it, buddy?"

Jack hedged, unsure if it was worth rushing but at the same time it would be best for him to find out if something was wrong as soon as possible. "A week? I just need the highlights, I'm not interested in the fine print."

"I can do that. Anything else?"

It was almost too easy, he thought to himself. Ah well, at least the guy came in handy now even if he hadn't been all that useful way back when. "It's owned by a woman, Therra Carlin if I'm not mistaken. Her paper trail is too… perfect. You know the deal, everything from day she was born until she graduates college and then some, but the specific school records aren't accessible because they're either stored in some warehouse and not on a computer or the school conveniently burned down and there's nothing left."

"That might take some more digging, buddy."

"That's okay," Jack replied through clenched teeth. "Look into how she financed that company too, okay? And I need a good picture of her, the one I was given is blurry and could be anyone."

Farrity was quiet for a moment but the sound of pencil on paper was clear through the line as he apparently made notes. "Want me to flag her in the system?"

"Sure, thanks. O'Neill out," he replied, immediately disconnecting the call. Now if the woman was using her ID or passport to travel then Farrity would know and so would Jack. If the NID weren't going to take him seriously then he would just have to some digging of his own. Well, have someone else do it for him mostly, but that was beside the point.

Jack was just about to get up to stretch his legs when a cab pulled up the curb. An unexpected wave of relief washed over him when Sam paid the driver and got out, alone. Christ, this was getting ridiculous, he thought to himself. "Hi."

"Colonel," she looked surprised, "what are you doing here?"

Getting up, he moved aside so she could pass. "You look nice."

Sam blushed as she dug around in her purse. "Um, thanks. It's the same dress from Atlantic City-"

"I know," he interrupted her with a small smile, giving her another appreciate onceover. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No," she shook her head and unlocked the door. "I was just, eh, out."

Jack followed her inside and closed the door behind him. "On a date?" He tried to ignore the rush of emotion going through him and denied to acknowledge it was jealousy – he was merely pissed off that she was endangering herself and this other guy with her reckless behavior, as well as him and his son – when she gnawed her lip. "Sam?"

"Dinner, with… a friend."

"A male friend?"

Sam leaned back against the wall, giving him a curious glance. "I don't see how that is any of your business, Colonel."

"Just… trying to make conversation."

"Really?"

"Really," he affirmed, taking a step closer. "I didn't know you were dating."

An elegant eyebrow rose and the corners of her mouth quirked up in silent amusement. "I didn't say I was."

"Oh, c'mon Sam," he cajoled, waving his hand at her outfit, "why else are you all dressed up, hm?"

"Can't a woman just have dinner with a male friend?" She asked, with a small smile.

"Looking like this? That's one lucky friend."

"I think you're reading too much into this, Colonel."

Her words were spoken softly but Jack got the impression she was enjoying herself instead of actually being annoyed with his questions. "A beautiful woman like you dressed up like this doesn't just have dinner with a male friend."

Sam pushed herself further back into the wall when he took another step closer and he could see her pupils dilating at this distance. "We've had dinner together on several occasions, once when I was wearing this exact dress."

"I know," he retorted with a smirk, briefly brushing his hand against her side. "That's my point."

"Really?"

Grinning, he replied to her slightly breathless question. "Really." Jack could see her swallow convulsively as he tried to convince himself this was a good idea. The NID was pressuring him into stepping up his game here but he had no idea if it was the right move. Sam could be so difficult to read sometimes but now he could clearly see the amusement and, dare he say it, arousal in her eyes. "You're a smart girl, Sam," he murmured, leaning closer.

"So I've been told."

Jack could feel her exhale against his chin as he looked into her dark blue orbs. His eyes briefly flicked down to her full lips before darting back up and holding her gaze. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted to… date," he asked, silently wondering if that was the right thing to ask. It wasn't like he had expected her to turn to him or something, or that he wanted to offer himself to her even though that was more or less what he'd been told to do. His heart sped up when the tip of her tongue peeped out to wet her lips, his gaze automatically following the movement.

Before he could close the distance between them though and capture her mouth, her hand came up to rest in the nape of his neck and she pulled him down, their lips crashing together in a wild, unexpected kiss. Hers moved smoothly and wetly against his, her tongue tasting them insistently until he opened his mouth and it slipped in. God, the taste of her exploded on his tongue as she pressed herself closer against him. Completely caught off guard Jack just went with it, following her example. Their tongues tangled together, dueling until she surrendered and explored the rest of his mouth.

A soft moan sounded between the two of them as their kiss intensified and he pushed her against the wall with his weight. Jack was just exploring her mouth, touching her soft gums before sliding down her sharp teeth and finding her tongue again when she pulled away. Dazed, he blinked a few times until she came into focus. "Wha-"

"I figured showing you might be better," Sam replied breathlessly.