Thanks all of you for your continued support, I love getting reviews.  I get all excited and jump around the room in squee mode, lol.  What can I say, it's the manic artist in me, lol, and I'm not ashamed to say it ;o)

Well, you knew it would happen sooner or later didn't you? If you didn't shame on you for not reading my other stories :P Yep, it is "Pee warning" time ;O). As usually, I have gone a lil manic with this chap, but there ya go. Thanks to Becky for beta-ing, :O)

Anyway shutting up now.

Disclaimer: This may come as a shock, but guess what…Stargate doesn't belong to me, it belongs to TPTB.

Spoilers: Chimera

Warnings: PEE Now!

Rating: 15 – More for subject matter and very mild swearing.

Little Ditty: You know what they say...write from experience…so I did.

*Chapter 4 – What Becomes of the Broken-hearted*

Rubbing her eyes tiredly Sam stepped out of her car and headed towards her front door.  All she wanted to do was sleep. Her eyes felt sore and puffy and she could feel the beginning of a tension headache forming at the top of spine. The pounding feeling in her skull didn't seem to want to leave and she craved 'something' to take it away.

Walking up the steps she noticed that the door seemed slightly ajar. Cocking her head slightly, thoughts from the morning filtered through confusing her. //I was sure I locked it this morning. // She thought to herself, remembering locking it as she left in a hurry.  A sudden panic-stricken thought struck her and her chest tightened in response. Pete!

Her breathing became shallow as she placed her shaking hand on the doorknob. It was one thing to prepare yourself going into battle, but another to have someone invade your home.  Adrenaline coursed through her veins, heightening her senses in preparation for what lay ahead. She knew better than to just walk in to an unknown situation, but her instincts began kicking in forcing her forward into the unknown.

Grabbing the nearest thing to her, she held the baseball bat firmly in her grasp; eyeing her surroundings. The house had been ransacked. Drawers were hanging off their hinges; its contents scattered across the room as if her home had been invaded by a tornado.  Turning towards the sofa, nothing could have prepared her for what lay in front of her; her brand new sofa was slashed to pieces; fabric peeled off the cushions like banana peel. Her hand flew to her mouth in shock, and her body trembled at the thought that someone could've done something like this; she felt violated.

Her footsteps echoed on the wooden flooring as she wondered round the house checking for signs that someone was still in the house. Going from room to room, the only thing she found was more destruction, her wardrobe had been completely emptied and splayed out on the floor. Something didn't seem right though; all her valuables were still there. Whoever had ransacked her home, they weren't typical burglars. This attack wasn't random; it was pre-meditated.  Someone had deliberately entered her home for the intention of warning her that they could get to her at any time.

Sitting down on her bed she picked up the telephone. Instead of dialling the police like she should've done Sam held the receiver in her hand with uncertainty. This wasn't a simple case of robbery; this was revenge. *And* Pete was a cop, admittedly a cop from out of town, but nevertheless she wasn't sure how the police would handle things. Questions plagued her. Would they take notice of her, or would they unintentionally shy away from capturing the person responsible because of the person's job? Placing the receiver back down for the moment, Sam curled herself on the bed pulling the pillow towards her in an attempt to seek some comfort. Silently the tears fell once more. She didn't know how long she'd been lying there on the bed before she heard the floorboards creak in the direction of the living room. Startled, she grabbed the nearest to her, the baseball bat. Her heart rate accelerated with nervous energy. Cautiously she headed towards the noise, armed and ready to take on the person that entered without her permission.

Creeping silently, her hand gripped tightly around the weapon. Venturing stealthily into the living room she heard the gentle sound of footsteps heading towards her. Her heart pounded in her ears as she raised the bat towards her assailant.

"Son of a…" Sam cried in defiance, jumping out at her would-be-attacker.

"Sam…it's me, Janet." Janet shouted quickly before Sam had the opportunity to swing the bat at her.

"Janet, my God, you frightened me, I thought that you were… What…wh… what are you doing here?" Sam gasped in surprise.

"I was worried. I saw your door open, and saw the mess on the floor and the sofa, and I thought that something had happened to you.  I was just about to call the police." Janet told her friend worriedly.

"No, don't." Sam shouted quickly.

"Sam, what the hell is going on? Don't give me any BS either."

Throwing the bat onto the wooden flooring, Sam sat down on the nearest chair indicating to Janet that she should do the same. Silence filled the room for a few moments while Sam tried to think of a way to explain everything. For weeks she'd been pushing everything to one side in the hope that it would all go away by itself.  As far as she was concerned, Pete was out of her life, never to return. Obviously Pete had other plans for her.

"It's complicated." Sam replied cryptically.

"I've got all the time in the world." Janet answered promptly, adamant in the fact that no matter what happened here, she was going to get to the bottom of it. "First of all, why haven't you called the police?"

"I can't, Janet.  Like I said, it's complicated."

"I don't care, Sam. You can't let this go, without reporting it." Janet argued strongly, turning her body towards her friend. Janet knew something was amiss, it wasn't like Sam to *not* report an incident. Taking her hand, she squeezed it firmly, letting her know that she wasn't going anywhere. "Sam." She pressured, watching her friend struggle internally.

Sam sighed; she knew that someone would find out eventually, and that it was only a matter of time. *But*, she didn't know where to start, or how to put it into words. "I know who did this."

"Who?"

"Pete."

"Pete? As in your boyfriend, Pete?"

"*Ex-boyfriend* as of several days ago."

"I don't understand…if you know who it is, why haven't you called the police?"

"Because he's a cop, that's why.  What makes you think they're going to believe that 'one of their own' would be capable of doing something like this."

"Sam, I'm sure this wouldn't be the first crime that's been committed by a cop. I don't understand your reluctance to call them."

"Can you imagine what would happen if I reported it? The press would get hold of the story; it would be all over the evening news."  Sam shouted angrily, standing up to walk away.  "I'm not prepared to sit back and watch my private life be made public because of *him*, Janet. Can you imagine what the Colonel, Daniel and Teal'c would do if they found out?"

A light bulb clicked in her head, and Janet finally realised what had been going on for the last few weeks, and why her behaviour had been so erratic. *But*, that was something that they'd discuss later, *after* the police had been called. She didn't care who or what the reasons were behind this attack, she wasn't prepared to let her friend let this go.

"Sam, I understand your reasons, but, you don't have a choice in the matter.  If you let this go, there's a chance he could come back."

"Don't you think I know that Janet that, that thought hasn't crossed my mind?  *If* he comes back, I'll be ready for him. *And* believe me, he won't get a second chance."

Janet heard her words, and became more certain that this wasn't the first incident between her and Pete, and if that was the case, then she figured out that if it's happened more than once, it was more than likely that he would come back again. "That's not the point, Sam, and you know it. If you won't call them…I will." Janet argued, now completely facing her with hands on hips.

The Colonel would have described it as 'Napoleonic power monger' mode, with little chance of resistance. Sam knew the 'look' and realised that her friend was not going to let this drop, without a heated argument; and Sam was too tired and emotional to cope with that right now.

"Okay, you win. I don't want anyone else hearing about this though."

"Sam, they're your friends. Don't you think…?"

"No, Janet. I've agreed to the police coming, but I don't want anyone else to know…"

Not wanting to push her to far, Janet agreed for the time being, but made her perfectly aware that this matter wasn't closed; not by a long shot.  Calling the police in though was her first priority.

Wandering through room to room in a daze, waiting for the police to arrive, she tried to catalogue the damage, and to ascertain if anything had been taken.  As far as she could tell nothing had been taken; everything could be replaced quite easily, which Sam was relieved about to, some extent.

Janet handed her a large cup of coffee, before taking stock of everything around her.

"He really has done a number on you, Sam.  Are you sure it was Pete? I mean I know I didn't know him that well, but he didn't seem to be the sort of man who'd do something like this."

"That's what I thought at first." Sam answered sadly.

Suddenly, Sam jumped up from the sofa and ran into the bedroom, quickly followed by a worried Janet. She didn't know what had caused this sudden outburst, but she was damned sure it must've been important.

"Sam, what is it?"

Unable to speak, she had to see it was still there. A panic stricken look befell her face as she rummaged through her wardrobe. She knew though that he'd done it, just to hurt her more. A sinking feeling emerged in the pit of her stomach when she pulled out her jewellery box.  Opening it up she didn't need to check through; it was gone.

Placing the box back into the wardrobe, Sam's anger threatened to bubble over.  Picking up the coffee mug she threw it against the wall in a fit of rage, before sliding down the wardrobe doors, clenching her fists in anger.

"Sam, talk to me."

"My mother's jewellery…he's taken it." Sam replied bursting into tears.  Out of all the things he could've taken, he chose the one thing that meant the most to me; my mom's wedding ring." All her emotions came tumbling forward and she pulled her knees up to her chest and wept; her body heaved with the effort of trying to contain all her emotions.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry." Janet empathised kneeling down next to her and scooping her up into her arms.

No words were required, the simple fact that her friend was there holding her was all that was needed.

***

Sitting in front of General Hammond, Jack shook his head, "…and then she told me she was resigning…just like that."

"And she didn't give any reasons for it?" General Hammond enquired stoically, clasping his hands in front of him.

"None."  Jack replied simply still reeling at her decision to leave the SGC. He knew that deep down this wasn't what she wanted, but, then again this seemed par for the course these days. "Her behaviour has been erratic these last few weeks, which could be attributed to what's going on in her personal life. *But* I never thought that she'd give everything up without a valid reason, and from what I've heard…she hasn't got one."

"Maybe she has, Jack, but one that she's not willing to share with us at the moment. Like it or not though, it's something that has to be done before her resignation can be accepted." Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly. "Talk to her, Jack, try and get her to open up to you."

"With all due respect, Sir. I'm the last person she wants to speak to at the moment."

"I understand that, but you are in her direct chain of command, Colonel. Major Carter and yourself obviously have some issues to work out, and I want everything sorted before she comes and sees me. Is that understood?"

"Sir…"

"Colonel, this isn't a request. Do whatever you must, but, I do not want to see her resignation letter on my desk without her having discussed this fully with you first."

"Yes, Sir."  Jack knew that once the General had made up his mind that there was no turning back, he had no alternative *but* to speak to her.  For the first time in his life, this was one order he wasn't looking forward to undertaking.

Walking out of Hammond's office, his mind filled itself with how he would confront her. Debating on whether he should go to her house or not, he failed to hear Daniel shout his name.

" Jack, I just heard about Sam."

Turning around, Jack noticed that Daniel's face showed signs of distress at the recent news, //Gotta love that old rumour mill//! Jack thought checking his watch. It had only been a few hours since she'd told him and already news had gotten around the base. Sam would've been impressed.

"News travels fast."

"Why didn't you tell me? I would've thought that after working together for the last 7 years, you'd have the common courtesy to at least…"

Jack listened absently while Daniel went off in frenzy; anger bubbling to the surface, like a pressure cooker waiting to boil over. He didn't know how it had started, but it certainly hadn't been his intention to keep this from them. It had obviously taken place when he'd been discussing it with the General. He understood Daniel's anger, but he didn't need to hear it right know, he had more things to worry about other than Daniel's feelings.

"Daniel. Look I'm sorry that you had to hear it this way."

"Your sorry." Daniel continued indignantly.

"Yes, *I'm sorry*.  What do you want me to do? Get down on my hands and knees and beg for forgiveness?"

"That would be a start." Daniel replied crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.

"Look, I don't know what happened myself. So I sure as hell haven't got a clue what to tell you." Jack started getting annoyed.

"Didn't she give you a reason?"

"Nope."

"Did you ask her why?"

"I never got the chance, Daniel. We…exchanged words…and then she left." Jack replied cagily walking to his office, with Daniel following closely behind.

Noting Jack's posture and elusiveness in giving him details, it was obvious that they'd had a disagreement. In fact he wasn't surprised by it. Over the last few weeks their behaviour towards each other had become decidedly bizarre. Between awkward silences and arguments over trivial matters while they were out in the field, Daniel had been surprised that they'd lasted this long without something 'giving'.

"What were you arguing about?"

"It wasn't like that Daniel."

"No? Then what was it like, Jack?"

"Don't start with me, Daniel. I'm not in the mood."

Relentless and un-yielding, Daniel was determined to get to the bottom of things, or at least get Jack to confess what was going on in his mind…if nothing else. "It must've been bad for Sam to just hand in her resignation. You must've really upset her."

Stopping in his tracks, Jack had just about had enough, and finally let rip off all the pent up frustrations that he'd been feeling for the last few hours. "It wasn't intentional f'crying out loud.  You know how she's been acting for the last few weeks. I think I've shown great restraint in not hauling her ass over the coals a long time ago."

"You know, Jack, there's this wonderful device humans have been using for years. It's called 'Talking'! Something you and Sam have done little of over these last few weeks. Instead of shouting at each other, why don't you…"

"I'll tell you what Daniel, if you think you're such an expert why don't you talk to her?" Jack said finally before storming off down the murky grey corridors of the SGC.

Bowing his head in reflective silence, softly he whispered, "Because it's not me she needs."

Fini Part 4 ;O)

RUN! Go Pee, then tell me what you think.