Sam pulled into the parking lot of O'Mally's and turned off her car engine. She took a deep, steadying breath, still slightly unsure of what she was doing here. She never just walked away when there was work to do, even when she was officially off duty. But she couldn't force herself to stay there any longer. Not while that box was still sitting on her desk. Not while the flowing script on the invitations kept running through her head like a bad song that stuck in her mind and wouldn't leave until she had hummed it for days. The words taunted her, shaking her confidence in everything she had been so sure of the past year.

But were you sure?

The voice was back. She chose to ignore it, instead opening the car door and stepping into the parking lot. The evening air blew a lock of her blonde hair across her forehead and she closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of it dancing across her face after a long day working underground.

The faint sound of laughter and conversation drifted from the restaurant across the breeze to her. It was an unintelligible blur of sound, but for a moment she was certain that she could hear him and her heart started pounding.

She had rushed over here after the General had called. Now she stood in the realization that she hadn't fully thought through seeing him after what had flashed so vividly in her head back in her lab. Of turning and seeing him at her wedding and hearing his voice in her head.

He's your friend and he's your boss. She told herself firmly. That's all. Don't make it complicated.

She took a deep, shaking breath and opened her eyes. She looked up, eyes searching the mostly darkened sky above in an effort to calm down. Looking up at the stars in the untold expanse of the universe always made her feel better. They were the same, night after night, year after year. They were dependable, predictable. Beautiful.

Directly overhead was the W shaped Cassiopeia. Underneath was Andromeda, the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbor. She wished there was a way to know if the Ancients had once lived there as well. There could be a whole other gate network, an entire new galaxy to explore. A little further down was Pegasus. She found herself thinking of the Atlantis team, hoping desperately they were still out there.

Her racing heart had slowed as her eyes lowered past the horizon and landed on the glowing lights of the restaurant. She pushed herself off her car and determinedly walked across the lot, up the stairs and inside.

Sam scanned the inside of the restaurant looking for the guys. She spotted Daniel and Teal'c by the pool tables. Daniel caught her eye and exuberantly waved her over. Grinning she walked over to join them.

"Sam!" Daniel said, gathering her up in a hug, "you came!"

"What? You didn't think I would?"

"He did not," Teal'c added, giving her a one arm squeeze once Daniel had let her go.

"It's just when I see you head to your lab with that many files I figure it's going to be a few days before you emerge again," Daniel said, waving an arm wildly.

"Well, sometimes even I need a break," she said.

"I'm just trying to remember if you've ever taken one before," Daniel asked in mock astonishment.

She elbowed him playfully in the ribs.

"I was confident you would join us Colonel Carter," Teal'c said.

"Thanks Teal'c."

He inclined his head. "O'Neill called you," he said. It wasn't a question.

"Oh." Oh. She cast her mind around frantically, but couldn't come up with a way to change the subject and instead heard herself say, "where is the General?"

"Hey Carter," said a voice behind her.

She whirled around and there he was, leaning against the bar, a beer bottle in each hand. He was wearing his leather jacket, dammit why did he have to be wearing that jacket? His silver hair stuck up just slightly more than he ever allowed at work, and she could just make out his five o'clock shadow grazing the edge of his jaw. Oh how she wanted to follow his jawline down with her eyes till it reached his lips but she tore them away to meet his instead. They were just as dangerous. She could lose herself in those coffee colored depths, set off with a impish twinkle that never failed to make her legs feel like jello when flashed in her direction.

"Hi sir," she said, cringing slightly as her voice came out more breathless than she intended. He held out one of the bottles to her, and she took it, immediately taking a sip and grateful for the distraction.

"Thought I was going to have to order you off the base Carter," he said. "You know how I feel about working weekends."

"I think you picked the wrong profession then Jack," Daniel said dryly. "Plus, you worked the last three weekends in a row."

"Doesn't change how I feel about it. Now that I'm a General, maybe my next order of business should be to declare everyone gets the weekends off."

"Ah, I'm not so sure the Goa'uld and replicators observe the traditional five day work week Jack. I think they're pretty much bent on galactic domination every day of the week," Daniel said.

"Indeed they are Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said stoically. "The Goa'uld do not concern themselves with weekends nor trivial matters such time paid off and leave to be sick."

There was silence for a moment and then Sam and Daniel dissolved into laughter. Jack chuckled and shook his head.

"Good one T," he said, waving a finger at him. Then he clasped his hands together, "now that Carter has joined us, should we rack up some pool?"

Sam's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.

"Or maybe dinner first?" He added.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Sam said.

"Carter, you can't throw down at pool on an empty stomach. Steaks first."

"Fine by me," muttered Daniel, picking at the label on his own bottle. "This beer went straight to my head."

Rolling his eyes so only Sam could see Jack motioned to the waitress. "Daniel, the beer always goes straight to your head. Maybe you should take a leaf out of Teal'c book, save yourself, and all of us, the trouble."

"We can't all just absorb alcohol like, like osmosis Jack!" Daniel sputtered, falling in next to Jack as they walked to their table.

She grinned, gave a small shake of her head and followed behind her bickering friends.

Soon the four of them were seated around a table enjoying their food. Sam dragged a piping hot fry through a pile of ketchup and popped it in her mouth. She sighed contentedly. This place had the best fries in Colorado Springs. The ones the base served weren't nearly as good. Her steak was perfect as well, she thought as she took a bite off the back of her fork and closed her eyes for a second, savoring the flavor.

She noticed Jack staring at her and she quickly averted her eyes and tried listening to what Daniel was saying.

"You see the shelves over the bar Teal'c? They all broke when I threw that punk into them when we had the armbands on. Completely smashed them."

Teal'c looked mildly amused. "You recount this tale for me every time we frequent this restaurant Daniel Jackson."

"I mean, I must have thrown him 12 feet across the room!" Daniel continued, ignoring Teal'c comment.

"You have previously informed me that it was eight feet."

"Uh, eight feet, twelve, whatever, the point is I totally knocked him out."

"Which you did with superior human abilities Daniel," Sam chided.

"Could have taken him without those," Daniel muttered.

Jack snorted into his beer.

Sam allowed herself to drift back through time. Sometimes that night felt a blur to her. Like a dream half remembered where all the details had become fuzzy. After the fight in the bar, she, Daniel and Jack had fled into the night, adrenaline coursing through every vein in her body.

They had stopped in an alley a couple miles from the restaurant, gasping with laughter at their exploits and daring. Daniel punched the air. "Who's the geek now?" He yelled loudly, his voice echoing into the night. He cheered and took off running again.

Sam was bent over laughing when she glanced up at Jack. The look he gave her caused her to stop mid laugh and to straighten up. It was as if an electric charge had suddenly raced through her, from the top of her scalp down to the very tips of her toes. He had never looked at her like that before, and the intensity both shocked her and awoke something inside of her as well. Her lips tingled, her skin flushed, and she stared back, meeting his gaze that was holding her captive. She ran the tip of her tongue over her lip and stared back. Inviting him, daring him, to push her against the wall behind her…

She risked looking at him again, he was still watching her. A shadow of the look from that night was in his face. Her heart began pounding and she quickly said, "You know, I actually can't believe they ever let us back in here at all, after that."

"O'Neill came back here after we returned from PX9-757. He offered compensation for all the repairs to the building and to assist in making them."

Sam's jaw dropped open slightly.

"He also informed them that Daniel Jackson was suffering from managing anger issues but would be receiving treatment before returning," Teal'c continued.

"You told them what Jack?" Daniel asked indignantly, his voice raising.

Jack looked slightly abashed. "Anger management issues Teal'c," he muttered.

"I do not have anger management issues!" Daniel said hotly, slamming his hands onto the table.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Then why else would you throw a man twelve feet into the bar?"

Daniel's mouth worked silently for a long minute, apparently too outraged for words.

Sam laughed lightly but her mind was working furiously. How had she never known that? How was it in the last four years she had never questioned why they were allowed back in a restaurant they had literally destroyed? Why had he never said anything?

She ate the rest of her steak without really tasting it.

Sam was still feeling too distracted after dinner to shoot pool up to her usual standards. She still managed to win two out of the three games she played. Jack had spent the entire time learning against the bar, watching her. She could feel his eyes on her even when her back was turned.

When she leaned over the table right in front of him to line up a shot her skin began to prickle from the intensity she could actually feel from his stare and a jolt ran through her. She startled and sent the cue ball bouncing wildly across the table, knocking into the nine ball and dropping it neatly into the pocket. She avoided looking at her opponent who exuberantly high fived his friend and instead turned to look at the General who was innocently sipping his beer.

"I ah," she stuttered, "I'm going to hit the ladies room."

She leaned her cue back in the stand and rushed to the bathroom without a backwards glance. Blissfully it was empty. She leaned over the sink for a long time breathing hard. Looking up into the mirror she caught sight of her flushed reflection gazing back.

A glint of the light caught the diamond sparkling on her left hand.

What are you doing? She thought to herself. You're playing with fire.

She splashed some cold water on her face and took a deep breath. She was going to go out and tell the guys she was calling it a night. She had given in too much tonight and indulged in a fantasy for long enough. She had to let go of something that could not be. It was time to go back and finish the invitations.

But she found that she would rather do just about anything except that.

The restaurant was almost completely empty when she walked back out. Jack stood alone next to the pool table.

She looked around. "Where are Daniel and Teal'c?"

"Teal'c said to tell you he was sorry to leave without saying goodbye, but that he wanted to get Daniel home while he was still capable of 'walking into his home under his own volition'." Jack made finger quotes in the air.

Sam grinned. "Think he'll make it?"

"Judging from how much Teal'c had to help him out of here, I have a feeling Teal'c will be carrying him to bed."

There was silence for a minute.

"Well," she said. "I ah, guess I better get going too." He didn't say anything and she turned to leave.

"How about one more game?"

His voice caught her, two steps away and she turned back around. There was no one else around the tables. "With who?" she asked.

"Well," he said, one side of his mouth stretching up to a smile that sent the flush shooting into her face yet again. "You've never played me."

She wracked her brain. Had they really never? "I guess you're right," she finally admitted.

"Great," he said, taking a step towards her, eyes never leaving her face. "Rack them up."

He was so close, she thought. So close. He blinked, slowly, but still his eyes never left hers. She was in danger of drowning in his eyes. Of completely losing herself. She was sure he could hear her heart hammering madly inside her chest. She should leave. She should get out now.

"Yes sir," she said.