So this is the final chapter, it's nothing like I originally expected it to be.  It started as a drama/romance shortish story but my fondness for angst turned it into this.  It's been a interesting ride and I especially want to thank Naliza for offering her amazing beta skills and being a really good friend to me.

Thanks to everyone who's reading this, especially for putting up with my cliff hangers over the months, seeing as I can't seem to write anything that doesn't have a cliff hanger I'm impressed that you've stuck by me!!! :)

Another thank you, to the people who have sent feedback, it's honestly appreciated, more than you know.  I want to say a special BIG thank you to the following people who have constantly offered encouragement and some very helpful suggestions: Arumanii, Bene, Crimson Regret177, Dark_faith, Dietcokechic, File109, Lynn, Macisgate, Mara Jade, Me, Nikkibear624, Sci Fi Fan Gillian and The Female Apophis.

I'm going to stop talking now before this turns into an annoying Oscar-esque acceptance speech, no one wants that and considering I've taken up enough of your time I'll just get on with it now…

*~*~*

Jack sunk into the couch and roughly ran a hand through his hair.  The last thing that he had expected to happen was an argument.  To be, honest he had been waiting for her to break down or deny that anything was wrong.

He heard Sam's car start outside and quickly pull out of the driveway.  Helping himself to a large scotch he sighed deeply.  He hoped that Sam was calm enough to drive safely.  He never really thought about following her, she would seek him out when she had calmed down, he knew that another argument would follow if he went after her.

Sam drove quickly out of Jack's driveway; the wheels spinning against the wet asphalt as she over revved the engine in her need to get away.  She drove through the deserted streets at a speed that was much faster than she would under normal circumstances.

Her heart was racing, thumping rhythmically and painfully against her ribs.  The anger in her heart had not decreased; Jack's attempts to placate her had only served to anger her further.

Pulling up outside her house, not caring at how haphazardly she had parked, she slammed the car door and rushed up to the front door.  She rummaged around her purse, looking for her house keys, in her anger she did not remember that she had put them in the zipped section.  Throwing her purse to the floor she collapsed heavily in the chair on the porch.

She remembered how she had come home to find Jack sitting in that very same chair, just before they had taken their relationship to another level, something she had convinced herself would never happen. 

For a while she just sat in the cold night air and watched her breath drift away from her.  The condensation clouds helped to take away some of the anger boiling inside her.  After a few minutes she stood up and begun another less frantic search for her house keys.  When she finally found them she let herself into her house and went straight for her bedroom, ignoring the pile of mail and the blinking light of the answering machine. 

As she laid on the bed, still fully clothed, a pang of regret tore through her soul upon smelling Jack's scent on the sheets.  Her last thought as she drifted into a light and restless sleep was of him.

She woke not even an hour later.  Rolling over and stretching out over the bed she became fully conscious when she did not meet the expected resistance of Jack's body sleeping next to her.  As her mind caught up with reality, the thought of her reactions, both to the events in the parking lot and what she had said to Jack at his house made her felt physically sick.

She knew that she could not leave the situation the way that she had.  She needed to make amends and she needed to talk to Jack about what had happened, otherwise she had the feeling that it would eat her from the inside.

After quickly brushing her teeth and washing her face, which was flushed from sleep and embarrassment over her behaviour, she grabbed her keys and went back to her car.

She drove much more sedately to Jack's house, obeying speed limits and driving in her usual courteous manner.  Not that there were many cars around at that time, the sun had just begun to rise, casting an eerily red glow through the streets.

She pulled up outside Jack's house and was very surprised to see that the lights were still on.  With a deep breath she stepped out of the warm confines of her car and slowly approached the front door.  She did not know whether Jack was still up or if he had left a light on should she decide to return.

As she opened the door and looked through to the living room she saw him sitting in the armchair by the fireplace, a short glass on the table beside him.  He stood as she entered; he did not approach her but instead closely watched her reaction.

She shuffled uncomfortably and took a deep breath as she walked down the steps into the living room.

"I'm sorry Jack," she offered quietly.

"For what?"

She sighed, he was not going to make this easy on her and he had every right not to.

"For everything, for overreacting in the parking lot, for shouting at you.  You didn't deserve that.  I shouldn't have shouted at you."

"I know why you did what you did in the parking lot, as I tried to tell you before, I understand.  More than you know," he said cryptically.

"Jack?" she asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Why don't you sit down."  As she sat on the couch, he retook his place in the armchair.

"Do you know that I spent four months in an Iraqi prison during the Gulf War?"

"I kinda figured," she replied, she had never been told specifically but from what she had heard around the base and been told explicitly, she had worked it out.

"To cut a long story short… It wasn't exactly Club Med, lets put it that way, eventually the place was liberated. When they came into my cell to get me out, I reacted…well, pretty much like you did.  I put the guy who tried to help me in hospital for two weeks and I would have killed him if I hadn't been stopped.  I didn't see him, I saw only the guys that had been torturing me for the past four months.  I had to deal with the guilt of that on top of everything else."

"So, you really do know what happened back there?" Sam asked, introducing some well needed levity to the moment.

"Oh yeah.  Sam, it's not an unusual reaction, it's nothing to be ashamed off but it is something we need to deal with properly."

"A shrink?  MacKenzie?" she asked sceptically

"Well maybe not Mackenzie but maybe a specialised counsellor with the right clearance."

"There are counsellors with the right clearances?" she asked, with raised eyebrows.  She was not aware of anyone else that might be aware of the program.

"Don't think so but you know that it can be sorted out."

"But that would mean telling General Stone, wouldn't it?" Sam asked nervously.  She had avoided telling her commanding officer about what had happened and it was not something she would relish doing.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I don't know, Jack," she answered quietly.

"Okay," he offered, not wanting to rush her into anything she was not ready to do.  "But there is something else, why did you lose it with me?"

"Because I could see you were disappointed with me, with what I did," she whispered.

"That couldn't be further from the truth, I was shocked and it brought back some memories that I've tried really hard to forget but I'm not disappointed in you."

"Really?"

"You know for someone so smart…" he offered with a cheeky smile, leaving her to finish the sentence.

"I'm sorry Jack, I'm so sorry," she whispered as she stood.

Jack stood and wrapped his arms around her; she accepted the gesture and wrapped her arms around his waist in turn.  She lent up and gently kissed him, as she reached her left hand up to his face she felt him tense.  They broke apart and she looked at him, she sighed deeply as she realised why he had tensed.

"Oh my God, Jack I totally forgot about this," she admitted, with a guilty tone.  She reached up and brushed a finger over his swollen cheekbone.  It was already turning an interesting purple colour, with the promise of a more impressive colouration to come.

"It's nothing, Daniel can hit harder than that guy," he joked, he was rewarded with a giggle from Sam. "It seems that now I've retired, I have to worry about people trying to poke me full of holes instead of aliens."

"It's weird isn't it.  I just assume sometimes that because we're on Earth, we're safe."

"You'd think that Earth owes us, I mean we have saved the planet once or twice.  They should send a memo to the scumbags of the city."

"I'll mention it to the President next time I speak to him," Sam replied, joining in the jest.

"I'm serious," he replied but his tone was anything but serious.

"Right, you want some coffee?" she asked.

"Coffee?  I was planning on getting some sleep and I think that you could do with some rest too," he said, breaking into a command tone.

"I've got to be at the SGC in a couple of hours, there's no point in sleeping," she rationalised.

"What do you have planned for today?"

"Paperwork mainly," she admitted, knowing where this conversation was headed.

"So nothing that can't wait until tomorrow."

"Jack," she started in as firm a tone as she could manage but she had to admit that she was pretty tired.

"Nothing that can't wait," he said firmly.  "You've got to sleep and General Stone will understand why you're taking the day off.  I think you could take the next year off and still have leave owing."

"Fine," she relented.  Jack took it as a victory but he knew that in reality, if Sam had really wanted to go to the base, she would have. 

After calling in to the SGC and briefly explaining the situation to General Stone, who was more than understanding and told her to take as much time as she needed, she went to bed.  She laid close to Jack, her arm stretched across his chest and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

*~*

Jack was in the kitchen, searching in the fridge for the fish he was sure had been in there a minute ago.  He had promised Sam that he would cook, giving him the chance to impress her with his culinary skills.  Sam's kitchen was definitely less equipped than his but it had everything he needed, thanks to some tactical purchases by him.

He turned quickly as he heard the low hum of Sam's bike pull up outside, looking over at the clock; he realised that she was back early.  He tried to look nonchalant as he heard the key in turn in the lock.

"Hey," Sam called out as she shoved open the door.

"Hey," he called back.

Sam dumped her helmet and leather jacket as she came through to the kitchen.  She nervously approached Jack and wrapped her arms around him.  He wrapped his left arm around her waist, while his right went up to her hair.

"How'd it go?" he asked, once she had pulled away from him.

"It was…I don't really know.  The counsellor seemed nice, it just seemed strange to talk about this stuff with a stranger," she admitted and it was not an easy admission for her.

"You gonna keep going?"

"Yeah," she nodded.  "General Stone said that he'll keep SG-1 on stand down until I'm ready to go back on active duty."

"He finally got his head round everything then?"

"Yeah, well at least I think so.  He's still on a pretty steep learning curve," she sympathised. 

He had been shocked when Sam had filled him in, as she had recounted the events he had almost looked more uncomfortable than she had.  The events of P4Y-543 represented his first crisis as commander of the SGC and he was still trying to find his way through the variety of events the universe tended to throw at SG teams.

Sam had been made more apprehensive about telling General Stone as she knew that she had lied to her commanding officer and left out pertinent details from her official report.  It was something that he had mentioned but not pursued, once he had realised her reasons behind her omissions.

Despite his initial shock, he had immediately organised for a specialised counsellor to be found to help Sam deal with what had happened.  He had impressively managed to cut through some of the bureaucracy and the counsellor had been on base within 36 hours.  The counsellor had also spoken to Daniel and Teal'c about the events, acknowledging that they had all been affected by what had happened to their friend.

"How about meeting Daniel and Teal'c at O'Malley's later?"

"If you're sure."

"It was my idea, Jack," she replied, her voice held the slightest hint of a warning.  Telling him not to treat her as a fragile object.

"Sorry," he said earnestly.  It was something he did without even realising it and was something that annoyed both him and Sam.

"It's okay or it will be," she whispered as she went to him for another hug.  Their lips brushed together and dinner was quickly forgotten about.

*~*~*

So, it's all over, my fifth story done and dusted.  Please let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole.  

I'd also be interested to know if you think I should write another established Sam/Jack fic or should I stick to gen (or as gen as I normally write), that is when I've finished university and will have more time to write.  Only another month until university is over…wow, that's scary!!

So before I go, another big thank you for all the support I've received over the course of writing this story!!

Have a happy Easter and thank you for reading!!!!!!!! :D