AN: One-shot missing scene from 8x18 Threads. Constructive criticism gratefully recieved - not written anything for a while!

Not mine just playing

General O'Neill focussed on the open Stargate in front of him, waiting for the self destruct to blow them all to oblivion and hopefully disengage the wormhole. When it disengaged by itself it took a second for his brain to shift. "Shut it off!" he ordered Carter as the numbers slowly ticked down towards zero.

As the auto-destruct was cancelled he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and took stock of the room "Keep a wormhole open" he told Harriman, briefly grasping the Sergeant's shoulder. "Teal'c, Brata'c: find out what's happening out there". His attention turned to the woman next to him, on the surface she seemed calm but 8 years at her side had made him pretty finely tuned to her feelings. "Carter, with me."

Taking the stairs two at a time he hustled her into his office and gestured at the chair. As she sat down he noticed her hands trembling slightly before she forced them to still on her lap. Jack wasn't sure how to approach this conversation 'Are you OK' seemed pretty inadequate for the day she was having. But as usual she took the initiative.

"When do you know you're done?" she asked

"Done?"

"With all this. Saving the world. Sacrificing yourself for the greater good. The last few months it's all been getting too much. Then Dad and Daniel and today…" she broke off unable to continue as tears threatened.

Colonel O'Neill shifted, he had never been much use at deep conversations "I don't know. I do know that when your Dad has just died and you've nearly died isn't the time to be making life changing decisions. Who knows with Daniel, someone stopped that self destruct."

Carter nodded but he didn't feel that his words were having much impact "Go home, get Pete to look after you. I would say take some leave but until we know what's going on with Anubis I can't promise I won't be pulling you back. You need time to work though all this".

This seemed to have the opposite effect to what he was hoping, Carter looked even more despondent and refused to meet his eye

"Well talking of life changing decisions… I broke up with Pete."

"Oh."

"Yeah"

"Not a great day for relationships then"

"You too?"

"Apparently there's one big issue she couldn't live with" he gestured slightly towards her. Then he saw it, the exact moment she snapped. The good, compliant officer façade that she maintained so carefully broke and the fire-brand she kept so carefully tamped down rose to the surface.

"What issue? There is no 'issue'. Despite the rumours that I've had to contend with for 8 years there is no 'us'. Whenever I've broached the subject, and it's always been me broaching it, you've shut me down. And now, now that we're both single and screwed up you dare to suggest that this is somehow my fault?!" Carter delivered the majority of this at a furious whisper, rising at the end enough for General O'Neill to glance out into the briefing room to ensure that their conversation was still private. A glance that was not lost on Colonel Carter who rolled her eyes and looked down.

Normally, despite his reputation, he was skilled at maintaining his composure. Especially when Carter was involved, so perhaps it was the adrenaline that meant he snapped back

"I was trying to protect you. Everything I've done has been to ensure that you weren't compromised. And, selfishly me too and SG-1. We were a good team, a great team" he barked.

"Protect me?! I'm not some delicate flower who need protecting. I've spent my life in the Airforce. I'm a Colonel for Crist's sake. Half the base already thinks I slept my way up, apparently the CIA feels the same." The anger left her as quickly as I had arrived and she fought back tears again "What's been the point of all this dancing around. So that if asked we can say that we haven't broken the word of the regulations?"

It was cliché, but all we wanted to do was sweep her into his arms and take away her pain. Instead, mindful of the fact they were in his exposed office, Jack reached over and took her hand. "The truth is I've always been pretty passive when it comes to relationships." Then he realised how that might sound "Not like that" he hastened to add, even in her current state Sam couldn't stop the flash of amusement, "just passive when it comes to what to do next, the big steps" he trailed off aware that this was pretty inadequate

Sam looked him in the eye, he had seen that look before but normally only when the fate of the world was in their hands

"So what do you want?" she asked

And before he could stop himself, before he could consider the ramifications and talk himself out of it he responded, finally, truthfully

"You"