(A/N: I like this as an ending, but it's not official. If you all want more I might be able to crank out another chapter)

Thanks for all the reviews.

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Jack O'Neill was hiding in the elevator armed with the charged weapon of a spoon and a container of ice cream. Any technician who dared to override the emergency stop would wind up with a uniform smeared with chocolate moose flavoring.

The General was stuck between levels after having spent an excruciating lunch hour roaming the base trying to find one crevice in the entire mountain that did not resonate with rumors about him and his 2IC coming from the lips of unfortunate personnel who soon found themselves being handed a reprimand on behalf of his amusement.

He'd finally made a mad dash for the open doors of the elevator after hearing something about Carter's kissing talents and after selecting his level had punched his fist against that conveniently colored red button.

But some misshapen Ancient must have decided that they would take a break that day and hand the charge of Fate over to Anubis who was now hell bent on destroying his life by means worse than death, because Jack suddenly recognized that he wasn't in this contraption alone.

"Good Afternoon, Sir"

The voice was so indifferent and formal.

So deceptive that it could only belong to one woman…

"Carter" O'Neill acknowledged casually while dipping his spoon into the mixture of melting desert he was holding, hoping for once that the chocolate treat he was gulping down had some form of alien bacteria that made you hallucinate.

Sadly, things were never complicated when he needed them to be; but only when Earth was at risk, their allies were getting antsy, and cleverly displaced Goa'uld captured his flagship team. Those were the times when Murphy's Law really took a swing at them.

Never when his mouth acted quicker than his mind, the SGC was under siege of the Gossip virus, and he was stuck in an enclosed space with a woman he wasn't supposed to love. It'd be too much of a blessing to have his ice cream overtaken by alien influence.

"Hiding, Sir?" Sam continued as she leaned against the corner opposite him without seeming the least bit perturbed.

Damn, he'd taught her he art of relaxed cover up much too well.

"No. Not hiding. Strategically retreating from battle is more like it…" he responded with just as much ease, copying her stance and looking at her across the cramped area.

"Well, you shouldn't be hanging around me then, I seem to be attracting a lot of enemy fire as of late" she smiled a bit but her demeanor told him that she was frustrated, probably because she hadn't been able to find a decently calm lab since that morning in which to play with her doohickeys.

"Haven't gotten to fiddle with any of your science things, Carter?" he knew these kinds of conversations by heart. Every member SG-1 had them memorized. It was the speech they used to anchor themselves to the idea that they were half-normal and it was the rest of the galaxy that was screwed up.

"I was looking forward to analyzing the lithium properties of that artifact Daniel and

SG-2 brought back from PXY-806, but every lab on the base is in enemy territory" she replied, "I would've had my research with me if I'd thought of the elevator thing first, Sir. Good idea, by the way."

He was drawing odd patterns in his food with he tip of the spoon with the same type of avoidance that their talk was fringed with, "Yea, I've had some practice in the evasion of combat"

There was a proceeding lull after that and Sam sighed while slumping down the wall into a sitting position.

O'Neill mimicked her motion.

Silence…

"So," Carter mumbled.

"So…" he replied affirmatively.

They each scooted closer to one another till they were facing the familiar metallic doors and sitting side by side with their backs to the same wall. Jack offered her the spoon and she began to help eat his extravagantly large tub of ice cream, rotating the utensil between them with each bite.

"Did you know that Major Paul Davis is stalking us?" she commented without a hint of inquiry in her voice.

"What, following someone around while wearing camouflage and holding binoculars trying to look inconspicuous is considered stalking now?" he quipped.

Sam giggled.

Okay, so maybe Anubis knew what he was doing with fate…

"So, what's the wager on this one?" he decided the banter had lightened them enough to derive some humor from the situation.

Sam went along and gave him a mockingly thoughtful expression as she dug out another spoon full of delectable fudge and passed it to him.

"We're supposed to make a huge public display about what you said this morning, then were going to break off our respective relationships with our significant others, then somewhere between your retirement and the wedding we end up in the locker room and reenact the time I was exposed to the Broca disease" she hugged her knees with one arm nervously, wanting to decipher his response to this.

He handed her the spoon already loaded with the content of the container he held and grinned with unsubstantiated suggestiveness, "Sounds like a plan…" he hinted.

She smirked, "So does court marshal," she stated, licking the spoon clean.

At the mention of court marshal, Jack suddenly realized that watching Carter eat chocolate was potentially hazardous to his career…

"How're things with…Pete, going?" he tried not to sound like saying the name of her fiancé was equivalent to being used as an incubator for the Goa'uld.

Sam frowned and he could tell she didn't want to answer.

Maybe the man had died…

Joy.

"We're good…" she trailed off at the look he was giving her and she glanced away.

"He, uh…he bought us a house" she rested her chin on the top of her knees with a defeated manner and waited for the imminent feedback.

"That's nice…" Uh-huh.

"Yes. It's lovely. White picket fence and all…four bedrooms…an empty room for a nursery…" she was distraught to the fullest extent of the word.

"When do you move in?" isn't it Daniel's job to do the psychiatrist friend routine?

"I…don't"

What?

"I'm not…happy with Pete"

What!

"The house wasn't right, it wasn't…home"

W-H-A-T-?!

"So I broke it off…"