Author's Note: Okay believe it or not I started writing this 4 years ago. When I returned writing fanfic again I had a bit of a habit of not finishing stories so I wanted to try and finish it before I began publishing. So far I've got about 18k words, it feels like it's a little over halfway but I'd really like to get it finished so I'm hoping, with some gentle prodding in the form of hits and reviews, that I'll be able to achieve just that. I hope you enjoy this story, it certainly has been enjoyable to think about these past 4 years.

Samantha Carter knocked on the base commander's door.

'Come in.' sounded a familiar voice. 'Carter.' he greeted her as she opened the door, his lips spreading into a shape that was something between a smile and a smirk, an expression she'd only ever seen directed at herself and one seemed to warm her from the inside out.

'Morning, Sir.' she said brightly, stepping over the threshold.

'How's the packing going?' he asked softly.

'The thing about transferring to Area 51 is that they already have lots of doohickies and gadgets to play with down there, so it turns out I hardly need to pack anything.'

'Doohickies, Carter? Have I rubbed off on you?'

She blushed and grinned, 'Perhaps just a little. What about you, Sir? How is your packing going?'

'Ya know, I never knew I had so much stuff in this tiny room.' He said thrusting his hands in his pockets and looking around at what were mostly empty boxes.

'You've been playing with your yo-yo haven't you, Sir?'

'Little bit.' he admitted. 'I do like procrastinating. Though holding a combat class at the Academy didn't really factor into my procrastination schedule for this week.' he mumbled picking up a random item and dropping it into a box.

'What's that, Sir?'

He sighed before explaining. 'I agreed SG-14s extended stay on 713, only after which Colonel Harvey informed me that he was supposed to be running a hand to hand combat class at the Academy this week.'

'Couldn't you ask someone else, Sir?

'I could. But it is a kind of procrastination and I doubt there'll be much call for any action, training or otherwise, working in an office in DC.'

'Yes, Sir.' she replied, with the slightest of shivers in her tone, still getting used to the idea of him being so far away.

'Though I guess there are plenty of parks for doing early morning Tai Chi.' he added softly adding yet another item to a box.

'Tai Chi, Sir?'

'Yeah, that's what I'm teaching this week.'

'Really?' she asked surprised.

'Oh no, not you too! It is a martial art you know. They've got competitions and everything and…'

'No. It's... It's not that, Sir. It's just... I've never tried Tai Chi before.'

'Oh.' he said embarrassed by his suddenly defensive tone and scrubbing his right hand through his hair. 'Well... if you're finished packing, you could always come along.'

'To your class?'

'Sure, why not? It's an open thing, lots of different abilities and ranks, I'm sure another person showing up won't make too much of a difference.'

'Are you sure, Sir?'

'Yeah, of course. Unless you don't...'

'No!' she exclaimed.

'No?' he asked, a note of hurt in his voice.

'No, I mean I'd love to come.'

He smiled widely and warmly. 'Excellent. The class is in the sports hall B. It starts at 2 and runs til 5, every day til Friday. That sound okay?'

'Yeah, great.' she said returning his smile. 'I'll see you later.' she said running from the room before she could agree to something else.

30 seconds later she slunk back into his office and pressed a folder into Jack's waiting outstretched hand.

'My um... my last mission report, Sir.'

'I'm sure Landry will enjoy reading it.' he said with a grin, dropping it into his still very full in-tray.

'Sir.' she berated softly.

'It's a joke, Carter. I love reading your reports, all those long words, scientific phrases... I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.' he teased.

'Yes, Sir.' she said grinning disappearing down the corridor.