A/N: Just to warn you, don't expect a nice happy resolution at the end of this chapter. Nothing will be resolved, there are a lot of issues to deal with and that takes time.
Jack stood there silently, not knowing what to do next. He had won though, right? He started taking steps to stand behind her, he quietly called out, "Sam?"
She didn't answer him but she felt him stop a step behind her. After a few minutes she quietly spoke, "Why?"
"Because I need you," he replied.
Sam shook her head. When she spoke it was filled with sadness and desperation for what she had lost, "I want you to leave."
Jack's jaw dropped, "What? Sam, no!"
"Yes." She finally turned to face him to show him that she meant her words.
"Why?" he asked her as he tried to place his hands on her shoulders.
Sam shrugged them off, "No, you're being selfish…"
"No Sam, I can make you happy!"
"Can you? How do you know?" she asked him unconvinced that he could provide her with a reason. "We never shared anything real… Pete and I had something, he was making me happy! And you… You took that all away from me!" she yelled at him.
"But I can make you happy!" he told her. He couldn't be losing her, could he?"
"How? Are you going to retire? Or did you want me to retire? Or did you want to try and hide whatever we would have had?"
Jack searched for the right answer to give her, but she was right, he didn't know how he was going to make it work. "I don't know… but I know-"
"No you don't!" Jack stared at her silently. Sam once again shook her head, "Get out of here," she ordered him before turning her back on him and heading for her kitchen.
"Sam!"
"Get out!" she told him under her breath.
Jack stared at her back, he had made a grave error. He had lost her, and his actions had cost her a chance of being happy. When he spoke it was barely audible, "I'm sorry Sam." He then turned and with his head downcast walked out her front door.
Once he was gone Sam broke down as there was no way to stop the storm of tears that escaped her eyes. She leaned against the wall and lowered herself to the ground as she hid her face in her hands. How had it come to this? For almost seven years she had placed her commanding officer on a pedestal with which she compared all men she met. But when she had been alone on the Prometheus suffering from a very bad concussion she had come to a decision. First and foremost was that he was on a pedestal, and he would have to remain there. He was something that she could admire but could never have; he was a sculpture in a museum. She had resigned herself to that fact, and, more importantly, that she deserved to be happy. And then she met Pete. She had compared Pete to HIM. How could she not, the pedestal was always there with a spotlight on it? As she got to know Pete better she realized that he was making her happy, right there and right then. As her feelings for Pete intensified the spotlight that shone down on the pedestal and the figure above it began to dim. She couldn't deny it, there would always be a little light shining down on that pedestal. For six and a half years it had occupied a large space in her heart. A pedestal and figure like his would always leave an imprint wherever it was, and it had made one on her heart. But she had moved on, and she was happy.
And in one night, all that had come to an end. With five little words he had brought her happiness, and the chance of it, all to a crashing halt. "I think I love you…" But did he? Did she even love him back? Sam didn't know the answer to that question. 'Can I love something I've never had? He's the piece of art in the museum that I can't touch. Pete's the reprint you buy and take home… Is that what Pete was to me? Was he a reprint? … No, they were completely different people, Pete loved me and he showed me. And I did care for him deeply… but was it love? God, I don't know! I don't know what to do…' Her desperation turned to anger, 'How could he do that to me? He couldn't even offer me anything concrete! Pete could and would have if… if he hadn't shown up… And I would have been happy! Damn him! He stole that from me!'
Her loneliness reappeared as she despairingly raised her head and looked up at nothing, "What am I going to do?" Ten minutes later she had an idea. She ran into her bedroom grabbed a backpack and filled it with a few things. She then raced to her garage and hopped on her bike and raced away from her home. She had a letter to write and a few people to see.
TBC
