Thanks to those of you who reviewed the first chapter; especially the loyal few - namely; Froggy0319; Gwil; Revvie-S; Natters and Jaka. Hope you'll love this one too.

It gets better, I promise. With the best fluffy bits coming later.

None but the Brave Deserve the Fair.

By Lingren.

Previously:

Jack needed go home, desperately. He glanced across at the clock on the wall. Time was marching onwards toward 1700hrs. At this rate, he may as well have stayed in his office and gone home at the normal time. Another hour wouldn't have made that much difference to his aching weariness. He just wanted out of this conversation. If they didn't drop it soon, then someone was going to get really hurt; and not in the physical sense of the word either.

Chapter 2

"Don't you have a date tonight?" he asked impersonally, trying not to sound too jealous, or callous; he wasn't sure which way he felt inclined, he still resented the man. "I distinctly recall you telling Daniel you were going out."

Sam allowed her fingers to drop from his arm, but still he refused to turn and face her.

"Yes, and no," she replied cryptically.

"'Scuse me?" he asked turning to face her. "This is me here. You'll have to excuse this tired old brain, but I could have sworn you just confused me. Yet again!"

"I do have a date, yes; but on the other hand it won't be for very long," she stated with a deep unhappy sigh.

Jack was still perplexed. He really did need to get some sleep.

"Why?" he demanded suddenly, not really knowing why he'd asked. He wasn't that curious, was he?

"Because I'm calling the whole thing off!"

"Oh!" was all he could answer. This time it was he who made for the door handle again, ready to leave. His fatigue addled his brain and he needed to go home while he could still think, and before he added insult to injury any more than he already had. He didn't want to know the details of her private life, not any more. It hurt too damn much.

"Don't you even want to know why?" she asked, a little irritated now by his apparent lack of concern.

"None of my business Carter," he snapped.

"Not even when it concerns you?" she half whispered, breathlessly.

He stopped dead in his tracks, halfway through the doorway. He turned on his heel slowly to look at her again.

"Me?" he asked innocently.

"Yes, you!" she replied as though he was a particularly dull-witted child.

"Don't inconvenience yourself on my behalf Carter. I shall be quite content to sit on my veranda with my pipe and slippers," he mocked, cringing inwardly at the very idea. 'What the hell was she playing at now?' His weary mind couldn't even begin to grasp at the connotations.

"Jack please! I said I was sorry. And this has nothing to do with your age so you can stop being facetious," she snapped, her control over her irritation at his deliberate obtuseness, slipping. She drew a deep calming breath and continued to explain in a smoother voice. "It does, however, have everything to do with how a certain detective was checking up on me behind my back."

Jack turned to look at her properly for the first time since she'd stunned him into stopping to listen to her explanations. Her face was flushed and tear stained, her eyes bright with unshed moisture, and they held a hint of sadness he'd not normally seen in her eyes before.

"So, you found out about that then?" he asked reasonably serious after being taken to task and shocked into a better humour.

"You knew?" she accused. "And yet you never told me?" her irritation had risen again and the words came out more like a high pitched squeak. More hurt welled up inside and a tear leaked to roll down her cheek, which she batted away in frustration.

Jack dropped his gaze guiltily.

"Yes and no" he replied straight faced, mimicking her earlier answer.

"Why?"

"Because Carter, I didn't want it to drive a wedge between you," he answered. "But I see now I was under a false apprehension."

"It was already too late by the time I found out."

"Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out," he lied. He was glad to get shot of the man. He wasn't what Sam needed.

"No you're not!" she accused, making his eyes snap back to hers again.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You never liked him, did you?"

Jack hedged a little before replying with another question, but it didn't discourage her from digging deeper.

"You really want me to answer that, honestly?"

"Yes!"

"Then, no! I didn't like him much. There! Happy now?"

"Because you were jealous?"

"No! I was not jealous. Why? Should I have been?" he countered, emphatically denying her accusation.

"Because you thought I would wait for you?"

Jack coughed a little to cover his surprise.

"Yeah. Like that'll happen," he sighed.

"Pete was nice. He was good company," she started, making Jack want to turn away and run. "But, he's not you!" she added softly.

The latter words hit him right between the eyes like a bullet.

He tilted his head sideways and frowned, studying her from under his long lashes, just to see if she was serious.

Sam gave a sudden enigmatic smile. She loved to see his brow furrow like that as he thought things through. That little vertical crease line right between his eyebrows was now a deep groove as he pondered her statement. It made him look so damn cute in her eyes.

"What?" he asked, even more bewildered as to why she was now looking at him like that, and was actually smiling at him. 'Weren't we just arguing?' he puzzled.

"I realised I didn't need Pete. Not when I have everything I want right here," she whispered, looking straight into his dark hazel eyes with renewed hope.

However, before he could think of a suitable answer, their little tête-à-tête was abruptly halted. General Hammond chose that moment to walk out of his office and was slightly taken aback when he discovered they were still there in the briefing room.

"Colonel? Major? Something wrong?"

"No sir!" they both replied, swinging round to face him.

"Just catching up on some...er...personal news General," Jack continued, rocking on the balls of his feet a little nervously, and leaving Sam to blush slightly.

"As I understood it Jack, you were tired. That's why I dismissed you all to go home! Wasn't that the case?"

"Yes it was General, and I am tired. Very tired sir."

"Then go home Jack! Sleep! Rest! Whatever. I gave SG-1 an order. Go! Actually leave the mountain! I'll see you both in the morning. Good night!" Hammond grinned, dismissing them again.

"Yes sir!" they both snapped off again before leaving the room to walk in silence along the corridor to the elevator; their moment for talking over what was in all probability the most important thing they needed to discuss, was forever lost.

"Sir," Sam started, but was cut short.

"Just drop it Carter! I'll see you tomorrow." With that Jack entered the elevator, leaving Sam bewildered and more than a little disappointed.

All the way up to the top of the mountain he stood silently berating himself for being easily provoked. 'God! He was so tired. Since when did our friendship take a nose dive to the extent that we were actually arguing? What the hell happened back there?' Jack wondered, feeling guilty about the so called petty argument that they had just had. Where was the love that was supposed to be there, running just below the surface for all this time? It felt like his world was disintegrating around him and he was powerless to stop the slide, despite Sam's latest revelations.

They never did have a chance to finish their so called conversation, there were just too many people around to be discussing anything of an intimate nature. Not one for talking anyway, Jack never created the opportunity, deciding instead to bury it like everything else in his life that became too painful to discuss. So their feelings and deep emotions, like their previous admission of several years ago, were left in the briefing room, never to emerge again.

Or so they thought.

As far as Jack was concerned it was business as usual between them over the next week or so, although there was still a coolness between them which left the other two members of the team confused. Jack ruthlessly pushed all his personal feelings aside and concentrated on with being the Commander of SG-1 and 2IC of the base. Losing himself in his work meant that he didn't have to dwell on what might or might not be.

OoOoOoOoO

Several days later, Jack sauntered into the control room, hands in pockets, to take up a position behind Sam's chair so that he could look over her shoulder. He appeared to read the information displayed on the monitor there, but Sam knew better than to expect him to understand any of it.

Down in the gate room below, Jack could see the iris in place and the blue glow from an open wormhole shimmering around the room. Red blister lights still flashed a warning of possible danger, but noise from the Klaxons had been shut off.

His nonchalant approach to any growing situation fooled everyone except his closest colleagues and of course the General.

"So, what's goin' on?" he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow at the rest of his team gathered round him.

"The wormhole activated a few moments ago sir."

"Ya think?" he quipped with his usual sarcasm.

Just then there was a distinct thump against the Iris, startling everyone.

"Carter?"

The wormhole deactivated and the iris peeled back revealing nothing. A technician wandered up the ramp with an analysis probe, and Jack watched as he swept the area.

Sam's fingers then ran over the keyboard with a speed which still dazzled Jack.

Getting no reply to his earlier question, he asked again. He didn't need to express it in so many words, she understood perfectly.

"So?"

"We're running some tests to determine just what it was sir," Sam explained.

"Anyone we know? Anubis or Ba'al by any chance?" Oh he was sooo hoping that either one had splattered against the Iris which would be a good thing.

"We're not sure yet sir," Sergeant Davis couldn't help himself and smirked at Jack's irreverence, though he hastened to hide it from his superiors.

"Do we know where it came from?" he inquired as no-one had thought to mention it to him.

"Uh...PZ5 747 sir," the tech informed him.

"Jumbo world?" Jack gasped in surprise, for once recognising the myriad spate of letters and numbers, then frowned. PZ5 747 was the planet they hadn't long returned from. The one with the very friendly folks and the great kids. It was a mission that would be forever imprinted in his memory as the best yet, but the very worst of de-briefings.

The nickname of Jumbo world, which Jack had coined, had nothing to do with its size at all, but rather that of the last three digits of the official designation, 747, which of course, Jack instantly recognised easily as that for a Jumbo jet, and it was now his own authorized name for the planet. Then his frown deepened, and he grew more serious.

"Carter, please tell me that wasn't one of our new friends that just went splat against the Iris!"

The results flashed up on the monitor in front of her.

"No sir. Analysis shows it to be the Sagan box we left behind with them."

They all looked to each other and sighed in relief, but that still didn't answer the question as to why they were being contacted.

TBC