Jack woke up before Melony did the next morning. No surprise there, really. She was tired, and whether she believed it or not, she was in a place that she loved, and with someone she needed to be with, and that helped her sleep deeper than she had in the month since she'd left. O'Neill paused at the door of the guest room just long enough to check and make sure she was sleeping, then closed it gently and went into the kitchen. He started a pot of coffee – knowing it would be the first thing Melony wanted when she woke up – and then picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Daniel's very sleepy voice answered on the third ring.

"Good morning."

"Jack? What are-"

"Melony's home. I thought you'd want to know."

"She is?" Suddenly Daniel was wide awake. "How is she? Did she say anything? What-"

"She's not staying."

"What? She has to."

"Daniel." Jack had had this conversation with him a month ago, he couldn't have it again. Not before a cup of coffee, at least.

"I'm coming over."

Like he'd be able to talk to her where Jack had failed? Oh, well, maybe he could. Who knew?

"Fine. I'll make breakfast."

He hung up and went to take a shower.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was the smell of coffee that woke Melony up. Good coffee was always worth being pulled out of a sound sleep for, and she took a deep breath, savoring the smell before she even opened her eyes.

You know, addictions are bad, right?

Coffee isn't the same as cocaine.

He gave her a purely mental caress – kind of a good morning hug – and left her alone. It was the first time she'd shown any sign of wanting to banter, and while he was glad to hear it, he wasn't going to push for more and remind her why he was pushing.

Melony pushed back the covers and went out into the hallway.

The sound of Jack showering told her that he was awake and getting ready for the day, and she remembered how she used to love sneaking up on Brad when he was in the shower like that. A pang of hurt laced through her, constricting her heart for a moment. God, she missed all that. She missed him.

Melony turned and started to head back for the bedroom. Maybe she wasn't ready to get up, just yet. She should probably go back to bed for another couple of hours.

Your coffee

I changed my mind.

Coffee didn't sound so great just then.

Melony. Turn around and go have a cup of coffee. It'll make you feel better

She scowled, and almost told him to go to hell, but it wouldn't have done any good to, and he wouldn't have deserved it if she had. He was only looking out for her, and she knew it. She sighed, and turned back around, and headed for the kitchen once more.

"Melony?"

The water had turned off without her noticing, and Jack stuck his dripping wet head out of the bathroom door – although the rest of him was quite hidden.

She looked around the entrance to the hall.

"Yeah, it's just me, Jack."

"How'd you sleep?"

She nodded.

"Fine. You want some coffee?"

"Yes. I'll be out in a minute," he told her, and his head disappeared back into the bathroom.

She found two mostly clean cups, and poured the coffee, then took hers and walked to the table, where she sat down with a sigh.

"Daniel's coming over for breakfast," Jack called from down the hall where he was going from the bathroom to his bedroom. "You want anything in particular?"

She noticed he didn't ask if she wanted to cook, and she didn't offer. Unless they were having heated water, she wasn't a lot of help in the kitchen, and Jack knew it.

"No. Whatever you make is fine."

She took another sip of her coffee, and felt the tense muscles in her back and shoulders relax just a little. Maybe she was addicted...

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Jack came out of his bedroom a few minutes later, he was ready for his day. In contrast, Melony – who was still seated at the table and almost finished with her first cup of coffee – was looking rumpled and sleepy. Her blonde hair was sticking out to the side in a couple of places, and flat from the pillow on one side, and there was even a line on her cheek where she'd fell asleep on her dog tag's chain. Dressed in Jack's sweats and a baggy t-shirt, she looked like a kid playing dress up. A sleepy, sad-eyed kid.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind and hugged her tightly for a few moments.

"Good morning."

"Morning, Jack."

"You don't mind Daniel coming over?"

She shook her head.

"Not at all." She suspected he was coming over to try and talk some sense into her, but Melony didn't mind that, either. Maybe he would be able to. Who knew? Nothing else seemed to be working, after all. She looked down at herself, seeing what Jack had seen. She wasn't really dressed for company.

"I think I'll go take a shower..."

OOOOOOOOO

"You can't go, Melony..."

Daniel's blue eyes were filled with sincerity and concern as he looked at her from over his coffee cup.

She shrugged, looking down at her own cup.

"I can't stay, Daniel."

"Why?"

"Because it hurts..." She swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat, and tried to explain herself – again. "I... I hate this place, now. I can't be here."

"We need you here."

She shook her head.

"No, you don't." That much was true, and she knew it. "The Goa'uld aren't a threat to Earth anymore, and with the defenses coming online soon, I'd just be in the way here."

Daniel looked over at Jack, hoping for some help, but O'Neill had already tried and failed to make her see reason. It was Daniel's turn.

"Why don't you come back to the SGC? Take over a team?"

"I don't want to... I..." She shrugged. She couldn't take another team. "I can't. It'd be too similar to... before..." A tear fell and landed on the back of her hand, and she wiped it off.

"Well... why not just be an advisor? Jack could probably use the help in the-"

"Daniel. She doesn't want to be at the SGC," Jack told him. That much was clear, and he understood completely. "But he's right, Melony. There has to be something you can do to keep yourself occupied."

"I don't want to keep occupied, Jack," she told him – told them both. "I want to go. I want to leave."

"You can't run forever."

"I know."

Daniel was looking at both of them, trying to think of something to say that hadn't already been said by one of them. He wracked his brain, trying to come up with some project, some... mission... that she could take on that would be enough to keep her from feeling useless, and at the same time would challenge her enough that she'd accept it. And it popped into his head so suddenly, he actually gasped. Melony and Jack stared at him.

"Why don't you send her to Atlantis, Jack?"