Pairings: Sam/Pete

A/N: I am an S/J shipper. However, I don't believe that just because Sam didn't moon around waiting around for Jack that she's evil, or unfaithful, or any of the other silly things that people call her. So, er, Sam/Pete fluff was born - and it was rather easy to write, because they can be really cute together sometimes.

There had been a time when she hadn't liked to cuddle.

She'd had one or two boyfriends in the past who'd liked to practically lie on top of her while they slept, pushing her to the edge of the bed at the same time. It hadn't taken long for her to tire of pushing them off her - or even worse, climbing over them to the other side of the bed. They'd invariably ended up rolling over and clinging to her other side anyway.

Jonas on the other hand had practically ruled a line down the centre of their bed, and had only ever crossed it when he wanted sex. Plus, he'd always insisted on taking the side furthermost from the door, claiming that he'd need those extra few seconds of reaction time if someone tried to break into their room in the middle of the night. He hadn't seemed concerned about leaving her the more vulnerable side, but she hadn't minded, not really. She'd always been able to take care of herself.

There hadn't been anyone serious since then - certainly no one serious enough that she'd had to have the "Do you prefer the left or the right?" conversation with.

Not until Pete.

While spending time with him, Sam realised that she'd missed being with someone so tactile. He liked slipping his hand into hers, gently touching her shoulder for emphasis mid-conversation, or brushing her hair from her face.

And, as she was discovering, he liked to cuddle in bed. It should have been difficult to sleep with him pressed up against her back and his arms wrapped around her. It wasn't.

Well. Normally it wasn't, but tonight she was having problems.

Pete's arms tightened around her and he moved closer to her, kissing her neck. Sam smiled, turning so that she could kiss him back.

He was smiling at her, brown eyes sleepy but warm. "Hey you," he said.

"Hey," she echoed, smiling back at him.

It felt so good to be lying there with him holding her. She felt cosseted, maybe even adored.

"What are you thinking about?" Pete stroked the side of her face with the back of two fingers. "I could hear the cogs in your head turning, even in my sleep."

Sam was glad to be able to answer truthfully, glad that she'd have an answer that he'd like. Even if it would sound sappy. "I was thinking about you actually." Yup, it did sound sappy. "How I like sleeping with you."

Pete waggled his eyebrows lasciviously. "Why, Samantha Carter, is that an invitation?"

She prodded his shoulder, laughing. "No! Well, I do, but I meant actual sleeping."

He sighed, looking heartbroken. "Shame."

She prodded him again and lay back against the pillows, propping her head up on one elbow. "I'm sorry I woke you."

Pete shook his head. "Hey, gorgeous blonde in my bed." Sam arched an eyebrow. "Or I'm in her bed - either way, I'm really not complaining."

Sam smiled, but smiling led to yawning and yawning led to closed eyes. For a moment, it seemed like too much trouble to move.

"Sam?" Pete sounded tentative, a far cry from the confident man she'd come to care for. Sam opened her eyes and studied him.

"What's it like?" he asked, eyes incredibly open. "Going through the gate, traveling to other planets?"

Sam couldn't hold back her grin. "It's incredible. Like... nothing else I've ever experienced. When you go through the gate it's ice-cold, and you come out the other side totally numb. It feels like your breath is frozen in your chest, and it's hard to move for a few seconds."

Sam realised that Pete was eyeing her rather wistfully. "What?" she asked.

His look didn't change. "It's just... When you talk about the Stargate your whole face lights up, you know? It's beautiful to see."

Sam shrugged, feeling more than a little embarrassed. "I -" She didn't know how to continue.

Pete kissed the tip of her nose, and continued. "Okay then, tell me about some of the planets you've visited? Any of them have purple butterflies the size of dining plates?"

She felt cold again. "Pete, I can't. That is, you've got clearance to know about the Stargate Program, but I can't tell you about any of the world's I've been to."

His face fell and he looked away. "Oh."

Sam closed her eyes briefly, trying not wince. She'd naively thought that maybe everything would be okay, now that he knew what she really did for a living, but maybe she'd been too idealistic. After all, he knew about her job now, but he still didn't know.

When she opened them again, Pete was smiling, with a look of determination. "Well, if you can't tell me what's they're really like, how about you make something up?"

She gave him a surprised look. "Really?"

"Really," he replied.

Sam snuggled deeper under the covers. "Well, there was this one world..."

"Yes?" he interrupted. Sam leaned forward and kissed the dimple on his cheek, flicking her tongue across it."

Pete's breathing came a little faster. "Go on."

Sam thought quickly. "It was only ten percent land-based, and was inhabited by giant octopi." Pete didn't look too impressed, so she felt compelled to keep embellishing. "With laser guns."

He reached out to touch her hair, and then played lazily with her ear lobe. "How many laser guns did each octopus have?"

What he was doing was quite distracting, really. "Three," Sam declared.

Pete smirked. "Not four or two?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Three laser guns, and a universal translator in the fourth tentacle."

"Wow," he mocked gently.

"Indeed."

His fingers drifted down Sam's neck, causing her to squirm slightly. "And were these armed octopi friendly?"

Sam shook her head. "They demanded payment from us for encroaching onto their lands."

"So what did you give them?"

Sam bit her lip. "Me."

"WHAT?" Pete exclaimed, looking a little sheepish just a moment later. "I mean, what?"

"But I managed to buy my freedom from them."

"How?" Pete demanded, fingers now stroking the skin of her waist.

Sam lifted her chin best as she could while lying on one side. "I taught them about the hexadecimal system, and they were so impressed that they let you go."

"So, wait, this race of cephalopods was advanced enough to have invented laser guns, but they couldn't count in base sixteen?"

Sam smirked at him. "Shocking, isn't it?"

Pete tangled a hand in her hair and pulled her to him, kissing her very thoroughly. Sam kissed him back, running her hands along his chest carefully. Janet said that his injury from the hand-device was all but healed, but she still didn't want to hurt him.

Some time later the urgency had faded, and Sam lay with her head on Pete's shoulder, murmuring softly as he kissed her hair.

"Sam?" Once again Pete sounded vulnerable, but this time Sam wasn't so worried.

"Uh huh."

He paused. "Don't ever lie to me again. I mean, violent octopi aside," and he grinned briefly, "Please don't. I couldn't bear it."

Sam sat up so that she could look at him directly. "Pete, I promise you I won't lie, but I may not be able to tell you the truth either."

Again his face darkened. Sam could see the effort it took him to throw his disappointment aside. "Is it really worth it?" he asked. "Always keeping secrets - is it worth it?"

It was hard to do, but Sam nodded. "I love my job more than anything on the world. It's... I couldn't not go through the Stargate every day and not see what I do on a daily basis."

Pete's arm came up around her shoulders. "Then I guess I'm very lucky that you've been able to tell me as much as you have."

Sam relaxed gratefully into his embrace. Curled up against him, she knew exactly how lucky she really was.