I'm so sorry for the delay with this, I got distracted by our two heroes and a shower...

Thank you so much for your feedback on this, I love reading your comments and opinions. Some of you have questions that will be answered very soon.

Okay, here we go...

Jack sits in the briefing room watching as Daniel sets up for the latest pre mission debrief. It's been three weeks since he made the decision to ask Daniel to pick Carter up from the infirmary, three weeks since he's seen or heard from her. Today is her first day back on active duty and as he waits for her entrance, he tells himself that he is fully ready to see her. He's spent three weeks trying not to think about her, about how she was and how she'll act around him when they finally see each other. There is a part of him that's surprised that she hasn't been here at all whilst on downtime, he thinks it may be the first time in nearly five years that she's stayed away from the base when she was supposed to. There is also a part of him that knows that she wouldn't want to risk seeing him.

Jack had thought, at one point, about going to her about telling her everything, he'd wondered if she deserved to know? But he'd decided, after several hours, that she would be devastated if she'd known about Hammond's awareness of the situation and of his warning. Hammond had come to him for a reason, as the commanding officer it was Jack's job to deal with the embarrassment, not hers. He had still felt an urge to go to her, so he'd packed up his truck and driven to his cabin.

He thinks back to the night of Hammond's visit, the words that his CO had spoken and the reality check that he had received on that evening. He'd spent the rest of the evening in his bed, wide awake, wondering what he should do. He had spent hours thinking about what Hammond had said, about the impact of this decision on Carter's career and for a while he had genuinely convinced himself that if she wanted to be with him, then the consequences would be worth it. Then the guilt slowly seeped into his veins.

Who was he to expect her to compromise on her career? Who was he to expect her to deal with gossip and judgement? Who was he to think that the chance of a relationship with him would be enough to risk everything she had worked so hard for? Who was to say that she wouldn't sacrifice her future in the military only to discover that he wasn't worth it?

He'd thought about everything he had to offer and found himself coming up short compared to her. She was young, beautiful, enthusiastic and on a path for success; He was old, his body was tired, and he had baggage, real baggage. Once he had started that line of thought it hadn't taken long for him to realise that she deserved better, better than anything that he could offer her. Even without taking their careers into consideration he realised that he just didn't deserve her. She would want a family, someone who could love her like she deserved to be loved and although he desperately wanted to be that person, hours of self-evaluation convinced him that he never could be. He wasn't and never would be good enough for her and he certainly wasn't worth impacting her career.

He was angry at himself for needing George Hammond to make him realise that he had just been kidding himself, annoyed that he had allowed himself to think that maybe he and

Carter could have a future and annoyed that he had begun to begin to pursue that before realising that he was being selfish.

"So, what did you do with your downtime?" Daniel asks, approaching Jack and slumping into the chair next to him.

"Not much, fishing." Jack isn't really in the mood for small talk but as always Daniel doesn't care.

"I thought that they might have sent us out on a few missions, even without Sam, not that I'm complaining."

Jack doesn't tell Daniel that it was he who had requested the downtime. He had visited Hammond early the morning after his visit and in the shortest meeting he had ever had with the other man he had requested the time off and Hammond had agreed. He had called Daniel and asked him to pick Carter up and said very little else. It had taken him just twelve hours to decide that he should go to the cabin.

"It's amazing that we lasted three weeks," Daniel mutters.

"What?"

"Well, usually we get called back, the Tokra or Asgard turn up or one of us gets kidnapped or almost dies… Maybe actually leaving the base on our downtime is the key to avoiding that?" he shrugs.

"Maybe," Jack nods.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asks. Usually Jack bounces back to the SGC after a break, but he's quiet, worryingly quiet. Jack shifts in his seat and meets his friend's concerned stare. For the first time ever he feels compelled to talk to Daniel about this whole mess, he thinks about it briefly before coming to his senses. He can't speak to him about this, he can't speak to anyone about it. It wouldn't be fair.

"Yeah," he forces a smile. "Left it a little late to drive back from the cabin, drove through the night." Jack watches as Daniel relaxes slightly, he believes Jack's lie.

"Did you go somewhere?" Jack asks, changing the subject. He instantly zones out as soon as he hears the words "archaeological dig in the desert" and only zones back in when he hears her name.

"Thought I'd ask Sam, but she went to visit her brother. I didn't hear from her at all actually-"

"My ears are burning."

Jack's heart skips a beat. He sits up slightly as Sam enters the briefing room closely followed by Teal'c. He braces himself for whatever she is about to throw his way and reminds himself that he deserves it. He looks up as she enters and walks around the table, sitting directly across from him. She still wears a sling, but she's walking with ease and there's no evidence of physical pain as she moves.

"I was just saying that you went to see your brother, I was hoping you'd have come with me on my dig. How's the shoulder?"

"Good, better. A couple more weeks and I'll be fighting fit."

She avoids his gaze but other than that she's doing a great job of being normal Carter. She, Daniel and Teal'c chat about their downtime and then she shocks him, she looks him right in the eye and asks him how he'd spent his downtime. It takes him a second before he responds.

"That sounds nice," she offers before turning to Daniel and listening to a story that he is telling Teal'c. Jack doesn't show it, but he's stunned.

~SJ~

Hours after the briefing is over Daniel wanders towards Sam's lab, bemused to find the door closed, she never works with the door closed. He knocks twice but there is no response. He tries one more time before leaving, deciding that she might be with Jack or Teal'c.

~SJ~

Sam stands frozen in her lab, her eyes wide until she can no longer hear the footsteps of whoever had been outside. She takes several deep breaths. She feels like a coward, but she can't risk seeing him alone. It had taken all her strength to get through the briefing whilst acting like everything was fine, she is so thankful for the training that allowed her to appear completely calm even as her heart was beating erratically.

She had promised herself that she would be professional, that he wouldn't know exactly how much his behaviour has impacted her. She has a job to do, he's made it clear where he stands, and she isn't one to beg.

She thinks back to the few hours after Daniel had arrived to pick her up from the infirmary. She had been almost silent on the car journey home, Daniel had asked several times if she was okay and she'd been grateful to be able to blame her shoulder pain for her silence. She couldn't actually believe that not only had he not turned up, but he hadn't even warned her that he wasn't coming.

The next few days had been painful. She had spent most of the time in her bed, wondering why he had changed his mind, questioning everything she thought she knew about him and his feelings. She had cried, just once, whilst questioning if he had realised that he just didn't feel the way he used to anymore.

She had wanted to go to him, to seek answers, there had been so many times when she had thought about going to him. So instead she called her brother and hopped on the first available flight.

Sam shakes herself from her thoughts, she doesn't want to think about the last three weeks. She wants to throw herself into work, to avoid him until their next mission and to hope that everything settles in the meantime.

~SJ~

It takes two days for them to run into each other alone. She had gone to the commissary in the early hours of the morning, unable to sleep and hoping that he wouldn't be around at this time. He had done the same.

She stills as he enters and stops in his tracks at the sight of her.

"Carter," he offers, he sees her composure slip for just a second. Her display in the briefing had been nothing but professional but he had hoped to stay out of her way for a little bit longer, knowing that she was probably angry.

"Sir," she forces a smile before turning back to the jello and fruit in front of her.

"A bit early for that isn't it?" he asks, forcing any kind of conversation he can. She doesn't respond and he watches as she swallows the lump in her throat.

How is it possible that he can make her fee like this? Why now? She thinks about how ridiculous it is that she feels this intensely now, after he has essentially shut down the thought of anything happening between them? She was fine before she fell through the gate with Ambassador Faxon and then everything changed. She was dealing with her feelings, why had she been so stupid, why had she held his hand?

What if he thinks that she can't work with him anymore? The thought fills her with dread. What if this is the event that pushes him over the edge and finally encourages General Hammond to take her off the team for the good of the Earth?

"Carter?" he takes a step towards her, concerned by her silence.

She takes a shallow breath; she knows she has to address this now. "Sir," She looks around to check that there is no one in hearing distance. The only person around is the one at the cash register and he is too far away to hear. "Uh," she starts, "I just wanted to say that…I understand, and you did the right thing."

He tries to hide his surprise, he'd thought that this would be one of the many conversations that they should have, but never do.

"Carter-"

"No, uh, it's okay, you don't need to say anything." She can't stand the thought of him confirming her worst fears and explaining why he didn't show. "You did the right thing, it was a bad idea and I think it's best if we just forget about it and move on?" She finally meets his stare. She wants to stay on SG1, she wants SG1 to function like it did before and the only way to do that is to fight through all her confusion, to take the lead in this and to make it as clear as she can that she is fine with his decision, despite how she actually

feels.

He watches her closely; she looks nervous, vulnerable even as she stands before him. He wishes that he could explain himself, that he could just apologise. He hates the thought of her believing that he didn't show because he didn't want to, but he's promised himself that it's over, that he won't jeopardise her career, so he nods and offers a simple, "Sure."

"Thank you, Sir." She is gone before he can respond.

He sighs and slumps into the nearest seat. She never fails to surprise him with her bravery. He knows that this moment was her attempt at making sure there is no awareness between them, that they can still work together. He didn't deserve that. He deserves her anger; he deserves her resentment. He had let her down and she still offers an olive branch, no matter how difficult it must have been.

He hopes, really hopes that they can move on from all this and that he doesn't lose her completely. He hopes that in time, in a few weeks they will slip back into whatever they were before this latest episode and he'll do everything he can to make sure it happens. He knows he's done the right thing; he just has to keep reminding himself.

~SJ~

"Major Carter."

Sam frowns as she hears her name. She is in the middle of a civilian coffee shop just near the base. She turns to find Ambassador Faxon sat at a table just across from where she stands.

"Ambassador, hi. What are you doing here?" She asks, moving towards him with her coffee in hand.

"I have a meeting with General Hammond and while I'm there Dr Fraiser wants to do a follow up on my leg." She spots his crutches resting against his chair. He gestures for her to sit and she does, she has a couple of hours before she's on duty.

"How is it doing?" she asks, sipping her coffee.

"Oh, it's fine, I'm a pro on the crutches now. What about you?" he gestures to her arm.

"Almost back to normal," she smiles. Today is her second day without her sling. It has been five weeks since they fell through the gate.

~SJ~

An hour later Sam is still sat across from him, listening and laughing as he tells a story about a diplomat who simply could not understand American culture and insisted on wearing cowboy boots everywhere he went. She realises that it's the first time she's laughed in weeks.

It has been two weeks since her encounter with the Colonel, she hasn't had much more contact with him, and certainly none alone. Janet cleared her for duty yesterday and General Hammond informed SG1 that they would be going off world in 48 hours. She's a little nervous about spending so much time with Colonel O'Neill but she's determined to show him that she is fine. She prays that she won't have to fake it for long, that eventually she will start feeling at ease around him again, that she won't keep questioning his decision, and in turn, her worth.

"Major Carter?"

She is shaken from her thoughts by the Ambassador, who is staring at her with some concern.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" she offers no excuse for her distraction but instead tells him, "call me Sam."

"Okay, then you can call me Joe?" he smiles. He thinks back to his last conversation with her before she had left the infirmary at the SGC, he had thought about asking to see her again buts he had seemed distracted so he'd waited and just as he was about to ask Dr Jackson had showed up to take her home. She'd been on his mind ever since.

"Okay, Joe." She glances at the time and sighs. "I should go, I have a mission briefing in an hour" she finds herself feeling slightly disappointed. She has enjoyed chatting with him, he's easy to talk to.

As she stands, he pushes himself to his feet. "Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?" He asks, refusing to miss out on his chance a second time. "I know your schedule is a little…erratic, but I'd really like to see you again." He sees a hint of surprise in her eyes and a slight blush creep upon her cheeks, she says nothing.

Sam's first instinct is to say no. She is in the middle of a complicated situation with her CO and involving someone else in that would only add to the confusion. But then she realises that for the first time in a long time she has genuinely smiled and laughed with this man. He was attractive and they worked well together on their mission; he was even willing to sacrifice himself to save her.

Maybe a date was exactly what she needed, maybe it would help her to stop dwelling on what's happened with Colonel O'Neill. Maybe it will help her to truly move on.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you-"

"No, it's okay," she tells him, "I'd like that."

Is she doing the right thing? This is where our story really begins to move. I'd love to know what you think.