A/N: Thanks for all the feedback so far, everybody. In case anybody was wondering/didn't know, the chapter titles and story titles are all stolen from the Bard. The part of my brain that has been busily searching through ancient and wonderful books in the British Library is seeping into the rest of my life... On w/ the story, cuz that's why you folks are here!

Ch 3

Daniel and Teal'c watched in impressed silence as Carter drained her second cup of coffee since sitting down with them in the commissary for breakfast. She set the empty cup down next to her untouched breakfast and looked back and forth between them.

"What?" she demanded as she surveyed her breakfast tray and decided the only really safe thing on it was the container of yoghurt.

"Are you feeling well, Major Carter?" Teal'c inquired, slathering an unnatural quantity of butter onto a piece of toast.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Teal'c. Why?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two men she thought of as brothers.

"Oh, he might be a little bit concerned by the fact that you're drinking your coffee like the secret of life is hidden at the bottom of the cup," Daniel said as Carter refilled her own mug and his as well.

"Sounds like somebody's jealous," their CO said, interjecting himself into the conversation as he set his tray down on the table and took the seat next to Carter.

"Jealous? And good morning, Jack," Daniel added.

"Morning campers. And yes, seems you have competition in the coffee-addict category this morning, Daniel..."

They all turned back to Carter, whose face was once again obscured by the giant coffee cup she was polishing off at breakneck pace.

"Hey, come on, you'll give yourself an ulcer," Colonel O'Neill objected, not-so-discreetly moving the carafe to the other end of the table. "Rough night, Carter?"

She was doing her very best to avoid direct eye contact with her CO, knowing that if she looked straight at him she would turn bright red.

"Sam?" Daniel asked, the teasing tone from earlier replaced with sudden concern. It was very un-Sam-like to ignore a direct question from her CO.

"Sorry. Yeah, I... didn't sleep well is all."

"You sure? Maybe you should go see the doc," Colonel O'Neill suggested as he shoveled a large spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"I'm fine, sir... besides, I have that report to give to General Hammond this morning, I don't really have time to go see Janet."

"Fine. For now," he stipulated, pointing at her with his spoon, which was dripping milk, just for emphasis.

Carter went back to her breakfast, pretending not to notice that all three of them were watching her intently.

-------

That night after she finished up her work on the main computer in the gateroom, she headed for her lab, glancing at her watch in the process. It was just past eight, so why was the door closed? As she got closer to it, she saw that there was a note taped to the door, a folded piece of paper that said "Carter" on the outside in familiar handwriting.

Ripping it off the door, she opened it quickly and read it under her breath. "Carter, go home. I've officially had you locked out of your lab. Get some rest before you make yourself sick." He had signed it, 'your friendly neighborhood CO.'

Frustrated, she stuffed the note into her pocket and headed for his quarters to demand that she be allowed in her own lab. She had just raised her hand to bang on his door when she noticed a post-it on his door as well. Now even angrier, she snatched it off the door and read it with gritted teeth.

"Nice try, Carter, but I've gone home for the evening, and I strongly suggest you do the same. Teal'c will be checking up on you at nine, and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes if he finds you on base." She kicked the door for emphasis, earning a confused and scared look from a passing Airman and a sharp pain in her big toe. She added that note to the one already crumpled in her pocked, and headed for the locker room to change and go home, unable to believe she had spent the entire day avoiding that jerk because of a stupid little dream.

-------

She was absolutely furious that he had locked her out of her lab, and done it so sneakily too. Leaving those notes... he had obviously been too afraid of her counterargument to discuss it with her, and had resorted to childish tricks. General Hammond wouldn't be too pleased with his 2IC if he knew about this, she thought with satisfaction. What if there was an emergency and she was locked out of her lab? That would go over really well.

She had only been home for about an hour but she made up her mind: he was not going to get away with this. She grabbed her jacket and car keys and headed over to his house. She pulled into his driveway, hoping he had heard the loud roar of her bike and was now cowering in fear. She hurried up to his front door and started knocking loudly, not stopping until he opened the door.

The surprised look on his face made her pause. His hair was sticking up even more wildly than normal, and he was wearing an old gray Air Force shirt and navy plaid pajama pants. "Carter," he said by way of greeting, rubbing his face with one hand, still looking confused.

"Were you asleep?" she asked quickly, sounding much more accusatory than she had intended.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"What's UP?" she asked incredulously, stepping inside as he stepped aside to let her in. "You have me locked out of my lab and you really expect me to just let it go?"

"Oh. That," he said with a rueful grin.

She faltered at the look on his face and then continued. "Sir, if you have any complaints about the quality of my work, I would like you to follow proper channels in dealing with those issues..."

"I don't have any complaints about your work, Carter," he said calmly, as though they were discussing the weather and she was not standing in front of him basically throwing a tantrum. "Other than the fact that you do too much of it."

"General Hammond doesn't seem to have a problem with the amount of work I..."

"General Hammond doesn't care about you like I do."

"W..." she stopped, unable to think of a proper response to that.

He grinned. "Well, did I just render Major Dr. Sam Carter speechless?" he asked proudly.

"You're not..." she started, unsure exactly of how she had intended to finish her statement, because she suddenly found herself backed up against the front door, being kissed very, very thoroughly.

-------

She woke up on her own couch, looked around, and started swearing loud enough to wake the dead. Once was bad enough but if this became a habit she'd NEVER be able to look her CO in the eyes again, which could be a bit of an issue next time they found themselves surrounded by Jaffa.