"Samantha?"

"Yeah?" she looked up from the book she was reading on her couch.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Carlos asked her as he sat down at the other end of the couch and placed her feet on his lap as he began to massage them.

"I was going to go shopping with Cassie tomorrow… That feels good," she told him as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the attention that Carlos paid her feet.

"At what time?"

"I don't know… some time in the afternoon probably… Why?"

Carlos hesitated before answering her question, "I know someone who would like to speak with you…" He continued to rub her feet in the hopes of calming her enough before he told her the real reason.

"Who?" She waited in silence for an answer. After a minute she opened her eyes and looked at Carlos. "Carlos?" she could sense that he was hiding something.

"A friend of a friend…" he was purposely being vague.

But Sam detected it and she wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily, "Who is it?"

He waited again before answering her, "Someone who would like to know about your involvement in the Stargate program… She's my best friend Oscar's cousin… She'd like to write an article on you."

Sam's eyes went wide as she snapped her feet from his lap and sat up straight, "What?!" she practically yelled at him.

"She wants to let the world know what you have done as part of the Stargate program. She is working on an article for Time Magazine…" Carlos winced at the glare he was getting from Sam… she was obviously not happy at the turn of events. "Samantha, the whole world wants to know about those who have worked at the SGC."

"And you decided to volunteer me? What were you thinking?" she yelled at him as she got up from the couch and began to pace around her living room.

"That you should receive some credit for saving the world. I am very proud of you and I-"

"I don't care if you are proud of me! What I did at the SGC is classified!"

"But the Stargate is public knowledge," he countered.

"It's existence, yes! But not the details!"

"But you no longer work there, so why not tell the world?"

"What? And try and make a buck off it?" She was mortified at his suggestion. She glared at him, "I will not dishonor the memory of everyone who died at the SGC by selling my story!" How could he think that she would agree to this?

"I did not mean that…" he replied as he got up and walked over to her.

"It sure seemed like it! … God, I can't believe this… There are hundreds of people who work there and put their lives on the line for Earth… I would never take advantage of the fact that I no longer work there and exploit what I did there! What my duty was!" As she glared at him she was further repulsed by the idea of speaking with a reporter.

Carlos noted how visibly upset she was and tried to calm her down, "I'm sorry Sam. I meant you and your former co-workers no disrespect. I will call Oscar's cousin and cancel the interview."

"You already had an interview set up? How could you do that?" She stared at him before she stormed off to her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

A distraught Carlos stood in the living room as he tried to figure out what to do. After a few minutes he finally called the reporter to cancel the interview. Unfortunately for him, the reporter and media had other ideas.

-----

The next morning Sam woke up early to go for a jog and clear her mind from the night before. She'd been gone for nearly an hour before she headed home… enough time for her to sufficiently clear her mind of the memory from the night before.

She wasn't ready for the sight she saw in front of her house though as she rounded the corner for the street she lived on. In front of her house there was a feeding frenzy of media outlets: TV Network vans, camera crews, photographers, and countless reporters. As soon as she saw them she stopped dead in her tracks. She quickly asked herself what they were doing before she remembered her conversation with Carlos. "He sold me out," she whispered to herself as she saw the betrayal before her eyes.

She continued to stare at the melee in front of her house for several minutes before she turned and started running again. She didn't know where she was going… all she knew was that she had to get away from there.

A few minutes later she ran into a neighborhood coffee shop. She sought out their public payphone and dropped in a quarter. The first time she called there was a busy signal. She was finally able to get through on the third attempt. "What did you do?"

"Sam? Where are you?"

"What did you do Carlos?"

"Nothing…"

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing? There's an entire army of reporters outside my home!"

"They just want to talk to you Sam! They want to put a face to the SGC."

"Well it's not going to be mine!" she told him before she hung up. She looked around the coffee shop as she debated what to do. She didn't have any ID or any cash on her so there wasn't much she could do. All she knew was that she sure as hell wasn't going back home right now. But, where could she go? A minute later she exited the shop and took off at a run… she arrived at her destination thirty minutes later.

TBC