Cassie smiled to herself as she walked through the hall to the infirmary.

Yes she had gone against what Sam asked her not to do—but someone had to do…something…

"Hey faker." Cassie said, strolling up to Daniel's bedside and holding the bag of cookies over him. "I saved them from Jack."

"Hey Cass--you brought me cookies?" His eyes lit up as he took the bag.

"So…who shot you this time?" Sitting on the edge of his bed noticed that he wasn't hooked up to anything—this was a good sign.

"I'm okay, Doc just wants to make sure that my eyes are healed up—I'll be outta here in a little bit."

"Oh—see I thought you were all banged up again and in need of cookies…" she said reaching for the bag.

"Oh—well, my head still hurts…and cookies always help headaches…" Pulling the bag back they smiled at each other as Teal'c walked in.

"Hey T!" Cassie said as she waived him over. "So, I was thinking—we should have a party for Daniel, you know one of those 'hey you didn't die this time' parties."

"I don't know Cass—I'll have to check the mission roster." Daniel said sitting up from the bed.

"Alright—hey T, you wana hit up the commissary? I'm starving."

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The mission roster was clear and Sg-1 had the next two days off—the part was a go.

Sam was moving about the crowd with her arms full of chip bags as she ran into Cassie.

"OH—hey you, grab some of this and follow me will ya?" Taking three bags out of her arms, Cassie followed until Jack stopped in front of Sam. "Oh, sorry Sir—"

"Hey uhmm, I found someone…" Reaching behind him he pulled Pete by the arm up t o Sam. "See, I told you she was around here somewhere ordering people around…it's the promotion—gone to her head. Here Sam—give me these." Ever the gentle man, Jack took the bags from Sam and motioned for Cassie to follow him.

"Hey cutie." Pete said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Uhmm, what—I thought you had to work?"

"Oh that—Cassie called me."

"Cassie called you?"

"Yeah—and you said she didn't like me."

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Sitting out on the porch Cassie was quite pleased with herself at how thing were going.

"Heelllooo, Cassie." Jack said as he sat by her with a beer in hand.

"Hi Jack."

"So—nice party you put together here, it's been a while since we did this."

"Yeah…too bad Pete showed up."

"Cass-"

"Oh don't even think like you aren't thinking the same thing."

"I would be worried that he might not have anyone to talk to."

"Right—"

"Hey—uh, General…" The voice came from behind them—but it was unmistakably Pete.

"Oh—hey Pete." He had a way of saying his name, to the everyday passerby he was being polite—but Cassie knew better.

He sat beside them—beer in hand, not Jack's brand. "Thought I'd come out here and get some air."

"Carter delegating again?" Jack said with a smirk as he took a swing off his beer.

"Yeah, she uh—she's taken over your kitchen, no one is allowed in there."

"She probably found something to take apart."

Cassie felt the walls closing around her—and found an escape. "Well—I'm going to make sure she doesn't take the microwave apart…again."

This wasn't her intention—Cassie didn't want Jack and Pete near each other. This was bad.

Standing by the door Cassie watched as the two men spoke.

"So have you two set a date yet?" Jack asked as he took another swig.

"Uh no—not yet, Sam doesn't talk to you about—"

"No—she uh…tends to keep her personal life—personal."

"I guess that's that military thing she was talking about—"

"Yeah."

"She talks about you." Pete said in a tone that made Jack stop in mid swig.

"Oh?"

"Yeah—she says you're a good man—good friend."

"Look Pete, not that I don't thin you're a swell guy—but I don't think Sa--Carter would appreciate us talking like this." He stood and was about to leave when Pete stood up in front of him.

"Look—I'm not trying to step on any toes here—"

"Well that's what your doing." Jack walked around him and went back inside—Pete just stood there.

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No matter how hard she tried, the soda bottle top wouldn't give.

Finally frustrated to the point of searching for O'Neill's personal side arm—Sam put the bottle on the counter and saw a most interesting situation—Jack and Pete, they were talking. She watched for a moment and then moved to the doorway as she saw Jack stand abruptly and Pete stood up in his way—were they fighting? What is this?

Everything in her wanted to walk over there and find out what was going on—but the eyes around her would read into it and the last thing she needed was anything leading to rumors…

So there she stood in the kitchen, for the most part watching the two men in her life momentarily—facing off.

Jack walked off first, of course, and as he walked back into the house Sam turned back to the bottle on the counter.

As she struggled with it—that's when he came up behind her.

"Need a hand Carter?" Jack sat his beer on the counter and took the bottle from her.

"Oh—sure, thank you…Sir." Folding her arms over her chest, Jack stopped for a moment and looked up at her.

"You okay?"

"Yes, Sir. Why?"

"You uh—look…pissed off."

"I'm fine."

Again he tried to twist the cap and just as it loosened, Jack dropped the bottle and Sam tried to catch it—just as it spewed all over her.

Standing with the spewing bottle in her hands, Jack laughed her at as she tightened the cap.

"You're laughing at me?" Sam asked, obviously agitated about something other than the bottle.

"At you? Oh yeah—that's funny." He kept laughing as Sam looked over at the few people who had seen the commotion and were also laughing. "Hmm, so I guess you'll think this is funny too." She said, shaking the bottle and opening it so it spewed all over Jack.

He was laughing, then stood back and wiped the soda off his face and stared back at her. "I don't believe you just did that—I'm proud of you Carter, you're finally loosening up!" Grabbing another bottle from the counter, he shook it and opened it on her, drowning her in soda. This continued back and forth—each shaking their bottles and spaying the other. Sam sprayed him right in the face and he grabbed the bottle from her but she turned and wound up in his arms as he held the bottle behind her.

"Alright you win." Sam said, wiping the soda from his chin.

"You always—" Jack said as he caught sight of Pete over her shoulder—then he immediately let go of her and walked to the back of the house.

As Pete watched, Sam turned and blushed as she saw him.

"I uh—I'm going to clean up." Making an exit for the bathroom, Sam walked around the counter away from Pete and headed for the bathroom.

As Pete stood there, Daniel came up beside him.

"It's a team thing—we always spray soda on each other at parties…"

Pete turned and looked at Daniel as if to ask if he though he was stupid. "Yeah, right."

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In the bathroom, Sam rinsed her face off with water and looked in the mirror—this was going to cause a problem.

She didn't want to go back out there, not that anything happened—but it felt like something had. Maybe that's why she felt so guilty.

She sat on the counter and leaned on her knees as three soft knocks came on the door.

"Sam, it's me." Jack whispered through the door.

Without a word, she opened the door and saw Jack standing there in a fresh t-shirt.

"I uh—figured you might need this." Pulling a gray Air Force t-shirt from behind him he held it out to her.

"Thank you."

"Can we talk a minute?" Walking into the bathroom, he closed the door behind him and looked at her awkwardly then turned away from her.

Taking the hint—Sam quickly slipped off her shirt and put on the gray t-shirt.

"Okay…" she said putting her soaked shirt in the sink to soak.

"I'm sorry if—"

"Please don't." Those words, even if he hadn't said them—struck her. In an instant tears were rolling down her face.

"Oh whoa—Sam…hey." She had turned from him but he turned her around and tucked his finger under her chin so she had to look at him. "Hey—what else is going on here?"

"Nothing. I'm fine." She pulled out of his arms and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, Sir—I should get back out to the party." She pushed past him but he pulled her back again.

"Don't Sir me—can't you just talk to me?"

"NO—I can't."

"Why?"

"Because it always leads to—" She pushed away from him again—but this time he pulled her back and kissed her.

She fought against for a moment then went limp in his arms. Jack rested against the counter and pulled her with him as she began to respond to his touch. Her hands tightened at his waist as she pulled him closer with every breath.

She let go of everything, the military, their ranks, work, the SGC—everything and let him hold her, let him kiss her and touch her. But it was only an instant before reality came back with a jolt that pushed her from his arms and against the wall.

She covered her mouth and looked back at him—what just happened?

The three knocks at the door pulled her out of her shock.

"Sam?" Cassie called through the door. "Sam? You alright?" She asked laughing.

"Yeah—I'm fine Cassie." Sam stood from the wall and held her hand out to Jack so he wouldn't say anything. She closed her eyes for a moment and ran her hand through her hair—then opened the door and walked out into the hall, closing the door behind her.

Jack sat on the counter and leaned against the mirror behind him—What just happened?

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Out in the party—Daniel was still talking to Pete and Sam walked up behind him and took his hand.

"You ready to go?" Sam asked as she nodded at Daniel.

"Yeah—you okay?"

"Just tired, that last mission really took it out of me."

"Okay…Nice talking to ya Daniel."

"You too Pete." As Pete stood and fished for his keys in his pocket, Daniel shot a look over to Sam that drained the blood from her face.

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Sam drove home in her own car and Pete followed.

But once in the house, Pete didn't hold back as he did before.

"Are you in love with him?" He asked, before Sam had a chance to toss her keys on the counter.

"What?" She turned and looked at him slowly.

"Are you in love with Jack? It's a simple question—one that I would like an honest answer to."

"Pete—don't read into things."

"You let him hold you Sam."

"What?"

"You let him hold you—you push away from me when I try to."

"No I don't."

"Sam…"

"What is this?"

"You are wearing his shirt Sam!"

Looking down she realized the implication—but before she could look up to explain—Pete had walked out the front door.

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Sleeping on Jack's couch sounded better than cleaning the kitchen, so Cassie took a nosedive into the pillows as the last people left the party. Now she was content in listening to the muffled voices of Jack and Daniel as they cleaned.

"So you aren't going to talk about this at all?" Daniel asked as he dumped a stack of plates in the trashcan.

"Nothing to talk about."

"Jack…you stayed in the bathroom for over an hour—and when you came out—"

"Daniel just drop it."

"God—what did you do…Kiss her?"

Jack didn't respond.

Daniel stopped as he realized that Jack had fallen silent. Looking over to him the truth was dawning on him. "You kissed her."

"Daniel—"

"Oh my god—you kissed SAM?"

Cassie was awake and off the couch in a second. "YOU DID WHAT?"

The two men looked at Cassie as she stood by the end of the couch with her mouth hanging open. Jack had forgotten she was there.

"Cassie." Jack said, feeling the walls closing in around him.

"You kissed Sam? Ohmygod!" Cassie couldn't help but smile at this. "This is awesome!"

"WHAT?!" Daniel asked as he walked over to her and tried to quite her down.

"Daniel—this is perfect! Why are you freaking out about this?"

"Cassie…" Daniel said trying to sit her back down on the couch as Jack headed to the fridge and grabbed one of the last beers.

"Daniel—"

"Why don't you g out on the porch and grab the last of the plates?" Daniel said, pulling her up from the couch and all but pushing her out the back door.

As the door closed behind her, Cassie felt her pants pocket for her car keys—and ran around front to her car.

Inside the house…

"What does this mean?" Daniel asked as he sat across from Jack in the living room.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Jack you-"

"I know what I did Daniel."

"Then…you are just going to—"

"Act like it didn't happen?" That was his answer…to all of Daniel's questions. Without another word Jack retreated to his room and slammed the door.

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Sitting in the dark, Sam was staring into nothing as her doorbell rang.

Her heart leapt into her chest as she stood from the couch and heard the front door open.

"Sam?" Cassie called out into the dark house.

"Cassie?"

"Hey—why is the house so dark?"

Turning on a lamp beside her, Sam reached out and touched Cassie shoulder as she stood beside her.

"No reason…"

"So uh—Jack kissed you?"

"What?"

"I heard Jack and Daniel talking…"

"OH god—Cassie…"

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing."

"That's what Jack said—why are you doing this?"

"Cassie—it's complicated."

"OH no, that excuse worked when I was a kid but it won't work now—if anything I think the situation is just TOO SIMPLE for you to see it."

"Oh really? And what is that?"

"You're in love with Jack."

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With Cassie back at school—Carter got ready for work the next morning.

But as soon as she reached for the front door to head out to her car she felt ill.

For the first time since she started at the SGC---SAM CALLED IN SICK.

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"Hey Jack." Daniel said as he walked into the briefing room and sat next to him.

"Hey."

"Uh—where's Sam?"

"She called in sick." Jack was being evasive to a fault and wouldn't look at Daniel.

"She what?" Daniel asked, perking up his ears. "Is she alright?"

"She said it felt like the flu or something."

"Are you going to go check on her?"

"No."

Daniel paused a moment and realized what was really going on. "Is she doing this because of—"

"Daniel—I have a lot of work to do, I don't have time for your babbling. Just get this stuff done and give me the damn report." Shoving the files at Daniel, Jack stood from the table and stormed off to his office.

Oh this is going to be fun. Standing from the table Daniel headed for his office.

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After making the awkward call to General O'Neill, Sam had kicked off her shoes and jacket and collapsed back into bed fully clothed.

All was peaceful now…all she wanted to do was sleep the day away.

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"O'Neill."

"Hi Jack." Pete's voice came over the receiver like a dead weight.

"Shanahan, Carter isn't here."

"I called to talk to you."

"Why?"

"I need to talk to you."

They met at O'Malley's that afternoon. Jack changed into his civilian clothes and was well into his second beer by the time Pete walked in the front door.

Pete slid into the bench seat across form him without a word and motioned for the waitress. He ordered an ice tea.

The waitress left and came back with his drink and neither of the two men had said a word…until…

"I figured it was just some military thing that I didn't understand." Pete began as Jack continued to ignore him until he said something of interest. "They was she always needed to know where you were in the room, the odd way you too always seem to touch each other when you talk, how you would say something and her only answer would be a look. Maybe I'm blind—maybe I didn't want to see it. But I did see it—yesterday. She let you hold her."

Jack looked up from his beer and measured up the young man in front of him. This is not what he was expecting.

"What's your point Shanahan?"

"If you…tell me that you are in love with her—I'll back off."

"Excuse me?" He had Jack's attention now.

"If you are in love with her—I'll walk away."

"You're engaged to her Pete—"

"She loves you."

"Pete—"

"I'm not going to marry her because she can't have what she really wants—I don't want to be the runner up to her."

"It's not like that."

"I've already gone by the house and broke it off."

"YOU DID WHAT?" He was furious now, how could he hurt Sam like that?

"The engagement is off." With that Pete downed the last of his tea and walked out of the bar, leaving a very stunned Jack O'Neill behind.

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By 2 a.m. Sam couldn't sleep any more and was reduced to watching infomercials on TV while she dug into a pint of ice cream.

She had been weak today, let Jack O'Neill beat her. She was hiding from him and didn't even care if he knew it.

After Pete came over earlier, she had collapsed into bed again and cried herself to sleep. She couldn't remember the last time she cried over a man—oh wait, right…Jack…

She tried to fight off remembering what had happened the day before in Jack's bathroom but the taste of his lips lingered on her own and his scent was every where—or was it that she had put his shirt back on?

The knock on the door pulled her from her reverie.

"Coming!" She called out, but as she looked at her watch and realized what time it was she stopped short of the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me."

She didn't want to open the door.

She didn't want to talk to him.

She didn't want to—but she opened the door.

"You're wearing my shirt." It was the first thing that came to his mind when he saw her and it made him smile.

"Uh—what uh—"

"Yeah I know, what the hell am I doing here?" He walked pass her and closed the door as he pulled to the living room. "Why did you push away from me?" Holding her shoulders to keep her from walking away he stared her down until she spoke.

"What?"

"In the bath room…" Not that he had to remind her, but he'd play along for now.

"It was wrong—" She tried to pull out of his arms but he only held her closer.

"Really? So you didn't want to kiss me?"

"No."

"Ah Okay…and you felt nothing?" His hands loosened on her shoulders as he pulled her closer and let his fingers play along her neck.

"What?" It was enough to distract her.

"You didn't feel anything."

"No."

"Ah Okay…" He pulled her closer now and let his lips hover just above hers. "Cause if you didn't feel anything there's no harm in…" Holding her neck and waist he kissed her.

She tried to push away from him only to have him hold her tighter and fall onto the couch. He pulled her with him and now she was lying in his arms as he turned and lay beside her—she wasn't fighting him any more.

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He kissed her and she tried to pull back but all of her strength was quickly draining from her as his lips captured her own and his fingers moved through her hair.

The world disappeared.

She saw nothing but his eyes, felt only his touch and didn't even realize they were on the couch until Jack's legs entangled with hers.

Through the fog in her mind—her conscious was screaming and before Jack could get a hold on her she was off the couch and across the room pacing.

He sat up slowly and watched her. "Sam?"

Mumbling incoherently, she ignored him.

He stood from the couch and tried to touch her but she pushed him back. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?" Shoving him away from her, Jack stood there stunned.

"Sam-"

"NO! YOU—you ignore me for eight god damn years and right when I—I find someone, you…you…"

"It was out of my hands and you know that." He was trying to keep calm, trying to keep from yelling back.

"Why couldn't you just stay away? Why did you have to say anything?"

"You don't love him! Do you?"

"I could have—if you had just left it alone."

"What? What do mean?"

"What did you say to him Jack? Did you threaten to kill him if he didn't break it off with me? What? What did you say to him?"

"Is that what you think happened?!"

"Isn't it? You finally got jealous of seeing me happy with someone else?"

"This isn't about him."

"Of course it is!?"

"This has only ever been about us! It's always been us."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"This! Why now? What—all the sudden you decided that you know what you want—and what? You're going to make some grand gesture and retire so we can live happily ever after!? We both know that's not going to happen. So why—why are you doing this?"

"Because...I'm in love with you." He walked the length of the room to her and pulled her into his arms as he kissed her—but it was only a moment before she pulled back and rested her head on his chest.

"God—you have no idea how long I've wanted to hear you say that."

Running his hand over her neck he said, "Want me to say it again?" But he wasn't prepared for what she was going to say next.

Pulling back even farther out of his embrace Sam became calm as she spoke, "I can never have you Jack—I know that. We are always going to be Air Force officers, you'll always be my commanding officer, and that line will always be between us—it took me a long time to realize that. And right when I get to a point where it doesn't eat me up inside and I've found someone else—you do this."

"It doesn't have to be like that." He tried to hold her again but she evaded him again.

"I'll put in for a transfer first thing tomorrow morning."

"What?"

"I can't do this any more—please, just leave."