A/N Sorry for the delay...I hope you have not forgotten me! I hate real life...I much prefer my fantasy life where I work on the Stargate set as a massage therapist and get paid to tell Michael Shanks to take his shirt off and touch Christopher Judge's arms...excuse me I need to be alone now, enjoy the chapter.

Shanks-Away!

Captain-Doctor

Wednesday 2:00am

Daniel was trying to focus on the book in front of him. He had been looking for the title for years and finally came across it on ebay, much to his delight and wasted no time in purchasing it. He was trying to get into the chapter on the formation of a certain South African dialect when a knock on his office door broke his concentration.
"Hey." Jack said as he entered.

"Jack, hi. What are you doing here?" Daniel asked dropping the book to his desk.

"Oh you know...Just thought I'd come in and..." Jack stopped unable to find an excuse.

"So, how's Sam?" Daniels asked, sensing his discomfort.

"Fine, I think. I haven't been down there in a while. Say do you ever sleep?"

"Sometimes, I catch up when you make me watch a hockey game." Daniel replied with a grin.

"Funny." Jack said. Without an invitation Jack sat in the chair opposite Daniel and began flipping through the pages of a book on his desk. Daniel could tell this was not a regular visit to kill time. Jack rarely did that now, and he never did it at two in the morning.

"So, you have a briefing in six hours, which is going to be hard enough for you to get through as it is, even more so with you being completely sleep deprived. I know you went home over five hours ago..." Daniel said trailing off hoping Jack would continue.

"So..." Jack said, not what he was wanting.

"So why are you here?" Daniel asked.

"What. I can't come by and see you anymore?" Jack said sounding hurt.

"No Jack not here with me, why are you back here in the mountain?" Daniel said trying to squash any more of Jack's procrastination attempts.

"Pete." Jack said simply.

"Pete, as in..."

"Carter's Pete yeah."

"What about him?" Daniel asked, trying to hide the shock he was feeling that Jack was actually opening up to him.

"He came to see my earlier." Jack continued.

"At home?" Daniel asked for clarification.

"Yeah, turned up around eleven. He was nuts." Jack said. Daniel gave him a questioning look. "Ok so not nuts, but he was upset." Jack said.

"Jack, if you are trying to tell me you killed him and have him hanging in your basement I really think you should talk to a lawyer." Daniel said picking up his book.

"Damn it Daniel!" Jack said jumping up.

"What Jack? What do you want? You come in here, obviously wanting to talk or get advice, but you won't tell me anything that's wrong." Without responding Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out some paper handing it over to Daniel without looking at him. Daniel took it and began to glance over it. A second later he looked up.

"Jack should I be reading this?" He asked.

"Would I have handed it to you?" Jack said in a more frustrated tone.

"I know you want me to read it but would she?"

"Just do it Daniel."

Daniel finished the letter a few minutes later but simply looked at it without saying anything. Finally Jack could not take it anymore.

"Well?" Jack asked throwing his hands up in the air.

"What, oh sorry...wow, who would've thought Sam could be so, mushy." Daniel said breaking out into a grin. Jack scrunched up a piece of paper and threw it at him grinning slightly himself; The tension seeming to break, Jack finally allowing Daniel in enough to help him with the problem.

"Pete brought it by, got all personal then drove off like a mad thing."

"Well I am assuming he found it, I can't blame him or being upset. His fiancé refers to you as her truth north and the partner she always desired. It has to hurt." Daniel said glancing back through the letter.

"What should I do?" Asked Jack. Daniel looked at the man and was stunned by how unsure he was. For as long as Daniel had known him Jack was always in control, and when he wasn't, he pretended to be. Now, the man Daniel was looking at seemed totally different. This was not General Jack O'Neill, this was Jack.

"Well, providing you don't want her to know you saw this, you can go back into her house and put it back. But that would involve finding out where it was."

"Not an option." Jack said

"Number 2, you hide it, never tell Sam you read it, chances are she will not look at them and if god forbid something happened to her she would think that it was given to you like she planed."

"Could work, but what if she moves, and knows where they are and discovers it gone, what then?" Jack asked.

"Option 3, you talk to her when she wakes up. She can tell you that she has moved on, that you can just forget what you read..."

"Or?"

"Or she could tell you that she feels the same way. And by all accounts I think the feelings are mutual." Daniel said, earning a glare from him.

"But we have been there before, and this is just going to have acting awkward and weird with other, which will lead to anger and frustration...did I mention it would be weird." Jack said sitting down again.

"Or it could be wonderful. I have no doubt that Sam has some very strong feelings for you Jack, I think I agree with what she said in this letter, you are to afraid, it does disturb you that someone could care that much for you."

"It doesn't disturb me Daniel, it, unnerves me." Jack said gesturing to him to accentuate the clarification.

"Yes Jack. But that question is, are you ready to try and make and something of it. Or are you going to ignore it."

"Well I have a little problem, it's called a regulation, that states nothing can happen."

"But there are ways around that, and whilst many of them lead to the retirement of one of you or the loss of a second SG 1 member, sometimes you have to look past that and see the greater good. I guess the only question is, do you love her?" Daniel asked.

"Damn it Daniel." Jack muttered.

"Simple question Jack."

"I don't, not care for her I guess I care..." Jack began to stutter.

"Jack, come on for once just forget the bravado and be honest." Daniel said looking him straight in the eyes.

"Oh all right Daniel yes ok. I do, I love Sam Carter, but what am I supposed to do." Jack asked once again jumping up form his chair.

"Tell her Jack. All you have to do is tell her." Daniel said reclining back with a smug look on his face.