Thanks to the people who clarified the review acronyms for me!


I'd gotten about halfway down the street when I stopped. Why did we do this? Anytime we came anywhere near real feelings, one or both of us would back off.

Sometimes I wished we'd never left it in that damn room. We could have been great together - we could have been a disaster - but at least we would have known.

And now the General would be sitting at home brooding. His happy go lucky charm was a mask for the horrors that lurked inside him. When he'd been leading SG-1, he hadn't had much time for brooding, but the last year ... I closed my eyes. The man had seemed to age overnight, a deep unhappiness taking up permanent residence on his face.

Then we'd gone to the cabin and he'd been like the Jack O'Neill I'd known before Ba'al ... before Pete ... before Janet ...

With a courage I hadn't known I possessed, I did a brisk 180 and rapidly found myself back on the General's doorstep. I knocked gently. The door opened and the General looked at me, the kitten draped once more round his neck. "Carter," he said gruffly.

Yeah ... he'd been brooding. "Sir," I replied properly. Then I sighed like a leaky tire. "I'm sorry for what I said; it was stupid and thoughtless."

He looked at me narrowly, then lifted up a hand to stroke the kitten. She purred and cuddled into his neck. I never thought I'd be envious of a tiny orange cat. "C'mon in," he said, holding the door open to allow me to pass.

I breathed out a sigh of relief and followed him in, then sat on the settee while he resumed his position on the recliner. "Drink your beer, Carter," he said.

I opened the beer and took a swallow, then looked over at him. Legs crossed at the ankles, eyes half-closed and kitten cuddled up to him, he looked ... at peace. I smiled slightly.

"What?" he asked, stroking the kitten's small body.

"I never would've pictured you with a cat, sir, but she seems to really love you," I said.

He grumbled and shifted slightly, but didn't stop his rhythmic stroking. "Well, she's a baby - what does she know?"

Beneath that joking response was a kernel of real vulnerability. The General always seemed surprised when people showed him affection, as if he believed he didn't deserve it. That the death of his son meant he had to spend the rest of his life alone.

But he had so much to give. It didn't seem right.

I thought briefly of Laira; the woman we'd met on P5C 768. She'd taken a real shine to the then-Colonel, telling him one of her people's folk tales as we waited to see the meteor shower, and teasing him about his ever-present impatience.

When he'd become trapped on Edora, I'd missed him and had worked hard to get him back. I'd had no romantic feelings for him at that point in our lives, so I'd not been hurt that he and Laira had obviously gotten together.

He'd been there for three months after all. The Colonel was a lonely man and Laira was a nice, caring woman. When we left, he promised to go back and see her. He managed to do so every couple of months, although the visits tapered off a little after she remarried, and it had now been four months since his last visit.

"Carter?"

I jerked up from my musing to find myself staring at the General's black-covered abdomen. Nice flat abdomen too ... "Sorry, sir," I said, willing my gaze not to go lower. "Just thinking."

"Of course," he said, tipping his beer bottle to me in a silent toast. He sat down next to me and flicked the bottle cap into the fireplace. "I bet you don't even quit in your dreams."

I smiled - he was back to teasing me about over-thinking. Things were getting back to normal. "Guilty as charged," I admitted. "I dreamed last night I was recreating the theory of relativity."

He shook his head with a small smile. "Only you, Carter ... only you." He took a pull of his beer. "Me ... there was a beach, the Baywatch women and definite frolicking."

I laughed - he was a such a guy at times. "Highly unoriginal, sir," I said. The kitten opened her eyes and looked over at me, then decided to come and investigate me once more.

I held out my hand and let her sniff my fingers. Seems she approved for she climbed onto my thigh, curled up into a ball and went back to sleep. I ran a finger over her head. "She really is sweet, sir," I offered. "Any progress on the name?"

"Yeah," he said. "Asha."

Asha? Unusual, lyrical and poetic. Not what I would've expected. I kinda thought he would've named her after a Simpsons character. It reminded me that the General was nowhere near the uncomplicated man he portrayed - he had depths within depths. "Asha," I repeated. "Nice. Does it mean anything?"

He shifted again. "Hope," he said. "It means hope." He sat back and linked his hands behind his head. "Bet ya thought I was gonna name her after a Simpsons character?" he teased.

I blinked. When did he add omniscience to his many skills? "Guilty, sir," I laughed.

He gave a low chuckle. "It wasn't for lack of trying," he said. "She's obviously not a Simpsons fan."

I gasped. "Sacrilege, sir!" I mocked.

"Samantha ...," he drawled suddenly, making me gasp - the tone was so sexy. "Do not mock a superior officer."

I blinked, forcing my thoughts out of the gutter into which that velvety drawl had dragged me. "Yes, sir," I said. I snickered. "I should leave that for you."

"Right!" He gave me a smirk. "And you think you can knock off the 'sir' for a while?"

"I can do that ... Jack," I said, my eyes narrowing. The General feigned ignorance about a lot of things, but he had to know that calling me by my full name in such a low purring tone had ... done things to me.

"Uh-huh," he said skeptically.

"I can." And now Sam the flirt took over from Sam the USAF Colonel. I shifted slightly, allowing the skirt to ride an inch or two up my legs - even before today, I'd known the General liked my legs.

He had nice legs too. And gorgeous eyes, great smile, strong arms and tight, firm ass. Quite a package.

His hand landed on my knee. "Playing with fire, Colonel," he taunted softly.

Good Lord; the man was the human furnace. You'd never get cold snuggled up to him during the night! "Oh, I think I can handle it, General," I shot back, squeezing his healthy knee.

He chuckled huskily. "Shut up, Sam," he replied, sliding his fingers into my hair and pressing a kiss to my lips. Not like the hard angry kiss of earlier - but a soft tender one. It was brief and light, but held passion and promise.

He was the only man on Earth who could tell me to shut up and not get a boot up his ass. Especially if he was going to call me Sam and kiss me afterward. His lips were soft against mine and I opened my lips, allowing him to deepen the kiss, before stroking my tongue along his. No way was I staying a passive bystander in this long-overdue kiss!

Great kisser, I thought hazily. But what else could he be, with that sexy mouth and long artist's fingers? I'd recognized that he was an attractive man the day I'd met him, but at the time I'd also thought he was a total jerk. Although it hadn't stopped me trying to seduce him under the effects of the Broca virus ...

Admit it, Sam! It wasn't just the virus. That had given you permission and the courage to jump him, but if that was all, would you have clung to the memory of soft warm lips, that hint of tongue, and the way he nuzzled your neck before hauling you kicking and screaming to the Infirmary?

And speaking of nuzzling ... his soft lips were now working at the hollow of my throat. Good Lord, the man has skills. I gasped and slid my own hands into his chaotic hair, lifting his face up to mine. "Fair's fair," I said, then dipped my head, concentrating on the pulse point just below his ear.

Just as things were heading past PG rating, I heard a distinct mew. Huh? The General's chest heaved - you're calling him 'The General' still? - and he laughed softly. "Oh, now you're hungry, huh?"

He got up and scooped up the little kitten. "Great timing, Asha!" I mumbled.

I could've sworn the little bundle looked at me smugly before she nuzzled into the General's chest. I shook my head - the General was so whipped, and he didn't even know it.


And we're back to the fluff!