A/N: I know some of you may not have liked Sam's treatment of Jack, but Sam's a smart independent woman, I doubt she would have caved in so readily to Jack. She's a woman of science, she believes in things she can see and observe, she got that from Pete.


The next morning Daniel stormed into Jack's office, "What the hell did you do?!?!"

Daniel didn't know what to expect from Jack, but the look on his face when he looked up wasn't it. He saw a man sitting before him who looked as if he had just lost a part of himself. Jack blankly stared at him before resting his face in his hands, "I screwed up!"

He had never seen his friend like this, and it hurt him to see Jack so dejected. But he had to know what had happened, why Sam had resigned her commission the night before and left. Sure she had stopped by his apartment to say that she was going to be gone for a few days, but she hadn't alluded to anything. Only after learning from General Hammond of Sam's resignation did it dawn on him that she was saying goodbye last night. And it was all his fault. He had to know why one of his closest friends would leave. His attitude softened though as he saw the dejected man before him, he too had lost something apparenty. "What happened Jack?" he gently asked him as he sat down across from him.

"I pushed her away," came the muffled response.

"Jack?"

Jack shook his head in his hands before looking at Daniel. He saw the concern in his best friend's face. He had a right to know why he had chased away their teammate and close friend. "Pete told me he was going to ask Sam to marry him. I got selfish and I rushed over to her place and asked her to marry me…"

"You what?" a disbelieving Daniel asked.

"I asked her to marry me…"

Daniel had known for a long time that there was an attraction between Jack and Sam, he just never thought that either one of them would have the guts to do anything about it as long as they were both still in the Air Force. "What'd she say?" he asked him, knowing that the response he had received wouldn't be good, otherwise they wouldn't be having this conversation.

"She told me to leave… I denied her a chance at being happy with Pete… I couldn't promise her anything… He left her, and then she… she kicked me out…"

"You're an idiot Jack! What did you think she'd say? That she'd drop everything in her life for you?" When he saw the look on his friends face he knew that that was what he had hoped for. "Jack, if you thought she would, you don't really love her… She would never ask that of you…"

Jack looked down again, he knew Daniel was right. "I know, I… I was just so scared of losing her…"

Daniel voiced the question that was racing through Jack's mind, "Yet why didn't she want you?" He paused before answering, "You dropped a bomb shell on her last night… How else could she react when you had no promises or a plan for the two of you to be together…" He stopped and wondered how long it would be before he saw her again, hopefully not long. "Have you talked to her?"

"I can't find her," was the mumbled response.

"Can you blame her?" When Daniel saw the devastation in his friend's face he felt sad for him. Jack hadn't known what he was doing, he was reacting out of passion. Out of a passion for the love he felt for someone that he had never told his true feelings to. As much as he would miss Sam and despise Jack for pushing her away, he would be there for Jack. He had been there for him when Sha're had died. And even though Sam wasn't dead, he knew that Jack nursed a broken heart as a part of him died with her absence from their lives.

TBC