So it's been a while since I've written anything for this story but here's another chapter, finally, I hope you like it.

So the episode Threads seems to be an episode that nearly every fanfiction writer has a go at at some point and this is my go at it. Enjoy

Sam knew that she was running away but she felt like she deserves it after everything that had happened. Her father had died and she'd broken off her engagement to a man she was now coming to realise she was never going to have been able to love fully.

Sam was sick of people asking her if she was alright, of course she wasn't, her world had just totally changed and if she was honest with herself she had no idea what she was going to do next.

That was why she'd taken a week off work. She had tried to go in, work gave her something to distract her from everything that was running around in her head, but in the end it had just been too much. She knew that the reason people were worried about her was because they cared, but right now all she wanted was to be left alone.

Sam sighed and turned off the TV she'd been attempting to watch, without much joy thanks to everything that was running around in her head, distracting her.

The one person she might have actually opened up to hadn't been among the many to ask if she was alright. When she'd gone to see Jack to ask for some time off he'd offered his condolences before giving her the time she'd asked for, no questions asked. Sam wasn't sure why it upset her so much that he hadn't asked if she was ok. He had stayed with her while father had died, offering her the support that she was in desperate need of, but after that she had become distant.

Sam could see only one reason for that, and that was Kerry, his new girlfriend. She'd been absolutely mortified when Kerry had come out of Jack's house. She had gone there to ask him what she should do, but it had never occurred to her to think that maybe he had found someone else, just like she had. Sam had almost been glad of the phone call that brought her to the SGC, and out of the awkward situation she'd landed herself in.

Sam growled and threw the cushion behind her head at the wall opposite in frustration. On Prometheus hallucination Jack had told her he was a pretty safe bet and Sam guessed that she had always just assumed that Jack would be there for her. Now she knew she was wrong though, because Jack was now dating Kerry.

Sam couldn't begrudge him that though, she'd moved on and so had he, but she couldn't help but feel a little bitter. He worked with Kerry but there were no regulations keeping them apart.

Sighing, Sam rested her head back against the arm of the sofa. Maybe she should leave Colorado for a bit. She had loads of holiday owing so she could take a couple of weeks off, go traveling or something, anything that was away from the Springs appealed at the moment.

The more she thought about it the more the idea appealed to her, she'd already started to run so why not keep running and see how far it got her.

Sam nodded to herself, her mind made up; all she needed to do now was ask General O'Neill for the time off. There were two options, well technically three but she didn't really fancy a face to face conversation with him right now, she might say something that they both regretted or that crossed that oh so thin line between friendship and fraternisation. As much as she wished she could cross that line, consequences be damned, she knew that she wouldn't, which left her two options.

Option one, she could email the General and ask for the time off that way, or option two, she could ring him. Ringing him held the same risks as talking to him face to face, but to a much lesser degree. On the phone she couldn't see him or get lost in his eyes. She shook herself quickly at that point, thoughts like that were not helpful in the slightest. Even with the possible risk though calling the General was appealing to Sam more than emailing him. It was more personal and it gave Sam a chance to hear Jack's reaction to her request rather than trying to guess what it was by what was written in the email.

A plan now fully formed in her head Sam sat up, then stood up, and headed to get the phone from the hall, the sooner she rang him the sooner everything would be sorted and she could keep on running.

She'd just dialled the phone and put it to her ear when the doorbell went. She was tempted to ignore it but when whoever it was knocked on the door, sounding like a hammer, she realised that whoever it was on the other side wasn't going to go away.

Sam sighed before she hung up the phone; she'd ring Jack when she'd gotten rid of whoever was at the door, and headed towards it to open it.

She opened it just as the person there rang the doorbell once more. When Sam saw who it was standing on her porch she froze.

Jack also froze before he gave a small smile. "Hey Carter," he greeted, "When you didn't answer I thought maybe something had happened."

Sam just stood staring at him. She really hadn't been expecting to see Jack outside of the mountain, let alone standing at her door. She had thought that the next time she would see him was going to be at her father's funeral, especially if she was going to leave town for a while and she hadn't planned on seeing him before she left.

When Sam didn't say anything Jack took half a step closer, worry clear on his face. "You ok Carter?" he asked in a low voice.

"Um," Sam mumbled, wondering whether to lie or tell the truth. "No," she then muttered truthfully, "I'm really not ok."

"Can I come in Sam?" Jack asked his voice low and quiet.

It took Sam a few seconds to respond. She wasn't so sure if this was a good idea, especially with how she was feeling, but she found herself unable to turn him away. Sam nodded once before she turned and headed back towards the lounge, replacing the phone in its cradle as she went. Jack followed her, making sure to shut the door behind him, before he kicked his shoes off.

Sam took a seat on the sofa, her legs curled up under her and a cushion clutched to her chest like a shield, not the one she had thrown earlier though, that one was still lying on the floor where it had landed.

Jack took one look at the way Sam was sitting, making her body small, and the way the cushion was acting as protection, and sat in the armchair rather than on the sofa with Sam. He could tell that something was up and it looked like Sam didn't really want him too close, and he didn't want to do anything to upset her further.

The two remained in an uneasy, awkward, silence for a few minutes, both looking anywhere but at the other. Eventually Sam took the leap and asked, "Why are you here sir?"

Jack looked away from where he had been staring intently at the bookshelf and locked his eyes on Sam. "I came to see if you're ok," he stated in a low voice, "With everything that's happened it figured you could do with a friend."

"Is that what you are sir?" Sam asked her voice more forceful and condescending than she'd intended, "A friend?"

"Yes," Jack answered in a puzzled tone, "We've been through a lot together and I've always seen you as a friend, probably the best friend I could ever want."

Sam looked at him for a moment before she shook her head and stood, moving away from the sofa and towards the mirror that hung on the wall.

"Sam," Jack called softly, standing and moving towards her, making sure he kept his distance, "Are you ok?"

"No," Sam snapped as she span on her heels to face him, "I am not ok sir. My father has just died when by all rights he should have outlived us all, and I've called off a wedding because I don't love the man who had proposed because my heart belongs to someone else, someone who I can never have." She took a breath then looked towards the door. "If it's all the same to you sir, I'd like you to leave now," she stated, her tone leaving no room for argument.

But argue Jack did. "No," he responded, "You clearly need someone to talk to Sam and I'm here, offering to listen."

"You're the last person I want to talk to sir," Sam spat, all her emotions and feelings coming forth and making themselves known, "Because it's your fault I broke it off with Pete. I've always loved you and I thought that maybe you felt the same way, but I guess not, you've obviously moved on and I hope you and Kerry are very happy together."

Her voice had been steadily rising as she spoke until she was shouting and in the silence that followed her last words she realised what she'd just said. Her face paled and she ran from the room, heading to the stairs and into her room, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

Jack stayed frozen in place, staring after Sam. He certainly hadn't been expecting that when he'd left the mountain to come and check on Sam, to see how she was handling everything. After that outburst it was clear to see that Sam wasn't handling it very well. Pulling out his phone Jack dialled a number and put the phone to his ear. When it was answered Jack spoke. "Walter," he started, "I won't be coming back in today. Make sure everything keeps running but if there are any problems ring my mobile."

"Yes sir," Walter responded, "I hope Major Carter is ok."

"I'll pass that along," Jack started before he hung up and pushed his phone back into his pocket.

Once that was done he took a breath then headed up the stairs after Sam. He came to a stop at her bedroom door and was about to knock when he heard something. He listened carefully for a few seconds and realised that what he could hear was Sam crying. "Screw it," he muttered before he pushed the door open and entered the room.

As soon as he walked in he saw Sam sat on her bed with her back to the door, her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking as she cried. Without thinking he moved from the doorway to sit beside Sam on the bed and wrap his arms around her.

To begin with she resisted and tried to pull away, but Jack refused to let her and just tightened his arms around her.

Eventually Sam stopped fighting his and turned her face into his chest, her hands coming up to clutch at his shirt, and continued to sob.

Neither knew how long they stayed like that, Jack's shirt getting wetter with Sam's tears with each passing minute, but when Sam's sobs turned to sniffling and light hiccups Hack knew that she was finished and that she'd gotten it all out.

When she stopped shaking Jack gently kissed the top of her head. Sam's grip on his shirt lessened but she didn't let go totally and nor did she make any sign of wanting to pull away. Eventually Jack cleared his throat lightly, causing Sam to jump at the sudden sound in the heavy silence that had been surrounding them. "Sam," he whispered, "Kerry broke up with me."

"I'm sorry sir," Sam was quick to say.

"Don't be ok, and can you please drop the sir, Jack will be fine," he responded.

He felt as Sam nodded against his chest and then he began to speak again. "She broke up with me because she knew that I was in love with someone else." He felt Sam stiffen and begin to pull away. He let her go and then looked at her face. "Sam," he whispered, "She broke up with me because I'm in love with you."

"M…m…me," Sam stuttered. When she'd heard Jack saying he loved someone else she had hoped it was her but realistically knew that it probably wasn't. Now however she knew differently.

"You," Jack stated, "And I have for a long time. I tried to let you go when I saw that you were happy with Pete, I couldn't move on. I thought that dating Kerry would help but obviously it didn't."

"You love me," Sam stated, her voice full of wonder.

"Yes Samantha Carter, I love you and you love me," Jack said with a smile.

"I'm sorry Jack," Sam suddenly said.

"For what?" Jack asked, having no clue what had suddenly come into Sam's head that she felt she needed to apologise for.

"For Pete," she informed her, "After what had happened on Prometheus I thought that it was for the best."

"You still haven't told me what happened," Jack pointed out.

"I will tell you Jack," Sam promised, "But not right now."

Jack nodded his head in understanding.

Sam suddenly starting laughing causing Jack to frown. "Something funny Sam?" he asked.

"Just that if we'd talked about this before we could have saved each other a lot of pain."

Jack shook his head. "We were always better at running away than talking," he mused.

"That we were," Sam agreed, her voice soft as she moved closer to Jack, her lips stopping inches from his, "But no more running away."

"No more running," Jack agreed.

He then closed the gap between their lips and kissed Sam. As the kiss went on both shared the same thought, no more running away was fun.