The scientist's fingers moved by themselves thanks to muscle memory, undoing her shoes while her brain was occupied otherwise. Sam Carter was alone in the women's locker on the 5th level of the Stargate Commend and was thinking about her team's recent mission. It had been eventful, to say the least. She, Colonel O'Neill, Daniel, and Teal'c were sent as reinforcements to the planet which SG-9 had been exploring. When they got there they got a hell of a shock when they discovered that Captain Jonas Hanson, the leader of SG-9, had killed a fellow team-member as well as taken to posing as a god to the locals.

But to call him a benevolent god would be a stretch. He was making the people work in mines. When Sam saw the site, she was reminded of the building of Babylon's tower. She realized just how fitting that comparison was when she met Hanson, for he was quoting the bible nonstop. For any human being to behave like that was highly immoral, unethical, and downright insane; but as if that wasn't enough the man in question also happened to be Sam's ex-fiancée.

Since meeting him on the planet she had tried to think back to the time when the two of them had been involved. She tried to remember the good times, persuade herself that he used to be different. But the more she thought back, the clearer she saw the hidden signs that she had ignored before. Thinking back felt blurry, almost like that had been a different person who had a relationship with Jonas Hanson. Sam recalled several moments when he needed to control her in some form.

It was not comfortable seeing him again. Sam was happy with her current life as a member of SG-1. She belonged, she got to live her dream and visit other planets. She felt more herself than she ever did in her life. Hanson on the other hand, was a remnant of another time, a reminder of another kind of Sam. A young woman that felt like she didn't belong. Like she had to prove herself to the whole world. She must've searched for a sense of belonging in the romantic relationship. And how was she not to? Being fed the idea of happy married brides and couples since she started playing with dolls. To be fair, for a time, it did give her some sort of happy feeling. But it became a menace as it progressed. She had started her study of the Stargate Data while they were a couple. She recalled how hard he made it for her to work sometimes. He didn't like her devoting more time to a project than to him. The fact that she couldn't even tell him what the project was about, only added to the tension. That and the growing gut feeling of uncomfortableness and of being trapped made her end the relationship.

After ending the engagement, her family and friends were surprised, some even shocked as to why she ended it. And though she tried to explain, some just didn't get it. They told her that she needed a man in her life to be grounded and happy. But she knew better, it was her life and she sure as hell didn't need to be grounded and it was her work that made her the most happy. Stupid traditional societal views. "Needing a man" was a centuries-old stereotype that was long-overdue to go out of fashion.

On the planet, she didn't feel as emotionally impacted by seeing her ex-fiancée as she would have imagined. Yes, when she saw him sitting on his make-throne of wood and straw she did feel glad that she gave that ring back. But the remorse she felt for him, was less for who he might have once been to her, and more a general pity for a human being having gone mad.

Colonel Jack O'Neill's hands stopped typing on the military laptop's keyboard. He lay back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk. This was his base office/quarters and besides him it was empty so there was nobody to reprimand him for his lack of manners. He was in the middle of writing a report about their most recent mission. But he was forced to pause for a while due to the immense swirl of thoughts building up in his mind, all of which he could not include in his official report.

They were thoughts that bothered him deeply. For example his perplexion at his second-in-command's taste in men. She was a brilliant scientist by all accounts and he had actually grown to like her personality - which said a lot, considering she was a scientist and he usually couldn't stand scientists. But somehow meeting her ex-fiancée made him look at her from another perspective. Of course, he realized she probably had relationships in the past. He assumed she currently had none since she never mentioned any, and considering how much time she devoted to the SGC he doubted she'd have time for any. But he had frankly never ever imagined her old flames to be the controlling-and-enslaving-an-entire-population-types.

But to be fair, he was also a military man. "Well she certainly has a type." a voice inside his mind said. Jack tried to not think in that direction, but his mind already displayed images of Carter kissing him wildly inside the men's locker room. A scene that had actually taken place a little over a month ago. But Carter had been under the effects of an alien virus.

However, the image that followed was not a real memory and was also not the fault of any virus. It was an image of him, Jack O'Neill kissing Sam Carter. The scene again took place inside the men's locker room, but this time he was not being pressed down on the ground, instead they were sitting on one of the benches, with Jack holding the scientist gently in his arms. Soon it was replaced by a second fictional scene, and this time the setting was Carter's lab. She was showing him some pretty alien rock and leaning close to whisper something into his ear, he was smiling and had an arm around her shoulder...

Jack stirred awake from his daydream and quickly got up from the suddenly much too comfortable chair. This was why working-over-hours didn't necessarily pay off. He decided he'd finish early tomorrow. He switched off the laptop and turn off the lights in the room. He was just going to stop by the locker to get into his civilian clothes and he was off home. An episode of the Simpsons ought to cure his weird daydreams, best pair it up with a good portion of sleep. As he walked down the corridors it occurred to him that he should check on Carter and tell her to call it a day as well, she had a habit of staying longer than anyone else from their team. A part of him wondered whether it was the best idea to see Carter in person after the daydream he just had. But he decided the best way to chase away such improper thoughts was to interact with Carter in a professional manner. That way his head would have nothing to misinterpret.

Sam had neatly folded her uniform and stashed it in her locker, she then changed into her civilian clothing: jeans, a striped shirt and white jacket. She checked for any misplaced items, donned her bag, shut the lights off and closed the door of the women's locker room. She turned around and she was startled by the figure standing opposite her.

Jack decided to first change and then go check on Carter. He was done quickly and was exiting the locker room, dressed in a pair of jeans, a flowery shirt and a black jacket. He closed the door behind him and at the exact same moment, he heard another door. He wheeled around and spotted Carter standing at the opposite end of the corridor, looking at him. She too was dressed in civilian.

Carter was the first to speak. "Sir," she said with a small smile.

"Carter." O'Neill replied.

"I was just about to leave." she said, taking a few steps toward him.

"Me too, well actually no, I was going to look for you first." O'Neill met her halfway in the middle of the corridor.

"You were?" She inquired, tilting her head slightly, looking up at him.

"Yeah you have this habit of overworking and I wanted to make sure you got some sleep tonight, the mission was intense." he said, looking into her eyes to see how she would react to that emotionally.

"That's thoughtful of you sir," Carter said, nodding appreciatively. She gestured to the corridor, O'Neill nodded and they started walking.

"Why were you here so late?" Carter asked.

"Finishing the mission report." O'Neill explained. "You?"

"I umm, took ages in the locker room." she replied honestly, "I keep thinking."

"You have a tendency to do that." he said, raising his eyebrows while grinning.

"Yeah... but this time it was more personal stuff."

"Ah..."

"Well...If, if you need to let some of it out of your system, I'm always here." O'Neill said, glancing at her.

"Thank you sir, I appreciate that." Carter said returning his glance, with a smile on her lips most. They reached the lifts.

"You need anything before we go?" Jack asked.

"Nop." Carter replied.

The door of the lift opened and the two of them stepped inside. O'Neill pressed a button and the door closed and they felt the lift go up.

"As for the stuff," Carter said continuing the conversation," Fortunately most of it is solved."

"Hanson." O'Neill guessed.

"Yeah him too." Carter nodded staring into the space in front of her.

"Hmm." O'Neill made a humming sound. He turned to look at Carter, her gaze looked lost in thought and she was lightly rocking back on forth on her feet. She dropped her eyes to the floor before she noticed O'Neill looking. She looked up at him and after a fraction of a second, a smile brightened her face.

"Smiling, that's good." O'Neill commented returning her smile.

"I just realized how happy I am to be here, working in the SGC, belonging to a team." she flashed him a toothy beaming smile which Jack O'Neill feel warm and fuzzy in the stomach.

The lift stopped and the door opened. This was the level where they had to get out and take the second lift which would take them to the surface. They rode the second lift in comfortable silence.

It was already dark on the surface. Carter and O'Neill headed to the parking spot. Carter spotted the Colonel's van right away. She knew O'Neill only for several months but his car was somehow very iconic, like himself. As they reached the row of cars, Carter remembered the morning before the mission.

"Shit." she cursed.

"Carter?" O'Neill said turning to her. "We take one step outside the base and you start cursing?" his tone was ironic accompanied by a raised eyebrow and curled up mouth corner.

"It's just I forgot that I came on a motorcycle." she explained, half-grinning and half-sighing.

"Ah" O'Neill voiced, looking at her black motorcycle. He then looked at Carter, at his van and finally back to Carter. "Need a lift?"

Carter looked at him for a moment, her gaze calculating. O'Neill met it with a reassuring smile. "Yeah, that would be great." she replied. O'Neill grinned.

Together they heaved the motorcycle into the back of the van, then got inside. They spent the first minutes of the ride in silence. O'Neill concentrated on the black road but glanced once in a while in Carter's direction. Carter was also watching the road but had also caught glimpsed the Colonel's way several times. Then they both went for the glance at the same time and their gazes unexpectedly met.

"So, where'd you live?" O'Neill asked. Carter began explaining where to turn to get to her house. O'Neill was memorizing the way for future reference. They reached Carter's house and Carter found herself wishing they had were still driving. Even though they barely spoke, the Colonel's company was comforting and a distraction from her thoughts.

"Everything Okay?" Carter turned, to see O'Neill looking at her thoughtfully.

"Yeah, yeah." Carter said, nodding.

"Lost in thoughts again?" O'Neill asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah." Sam said quietly, glancing down. "The mission was eventful."

"You know, it I could... stay for a while." O'Neill suggested, glancing at her house.

Carter glanced up at him. He had an inviting smile as he looked back at her.

"It's been a rough day on you, we could talk about it, or you talk and I listen...anyway you wouldn't be alone." he looked into her blue eyes.

As Sam looked into his brown eyes she recalled the hug they shared a few weeks before. O'Neill had come to find her on her stroll on the grounds, after she had avoided him for a week. Since than the personal tension had largely dissipated. But was it crossing lines when she'd let him in her house? But it wasn't like they were fraternizing, they'd just be two colleagues, two friends.

O'Neill raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

"I...I'd like that, Sir. If it's...if it's not too much trouble for you."

"Nop." get said grinning.

That hug on the grounds said more than words could. And she wanted to embrace O'Neill now, but she shouldn't make a habit out of hugging her Commanding Officer. Though, no one was here... And she had just been through years worth of emotions. One hug couldn't hurt, could it?

She leaned in closer to him and he raised his eyebrows at her in a curious manner.

"Umm, can I-can I hug you, Sir?" she asked, contemplating how desperate or awkward that had to sound.

But O'Neill didn't seem to mind. "Sure." he said with a grin and leaned closer and wrapped his arms around her. He let her go after about a minute, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

Carter smiled at him and said: "So, wanna come in for a cup of coffee?"

"I'd love to." Jack replied beaming.

Together they unloaded the motorcycle from O'Neill's van into Carter's garage. And as they settled into Sam's kitchen and the water for the coffee was brewing, Sam looked at O'Neill and thought to herself with a smile: "Yes, my job does make me happy but being able to share it with good people who I care about and who care about me, with friends, that makes me even happier."