"Holy Hannah" he heard himself say again. Unfortunately, he was still unable to move. It was like his feet had suddenly taken root to the floor.

He thought he saw her look up in his direction, smile and continue with her swim. He must have been imagining it, he was feeling a bit unbalanced at the moment.

Then the unthinkable happened again.

Sam very slowly, climbed out of the pool and walked over to the bench. She picked up the towel and dried herself off again. Instead of wrapping the towel around her body for modesty she wrapped it around her hair. She then picked up her discarded bathing suit and draped it over her arm.

Looking directly at Jack she smiled ever so slightly, walked up to him, very gently closed his gaping mouth with the tips of her fingers, kissed him on the cheek and whispered into his ear "enjoy your swim." She then walked into the locker room and started the shower.

Jack just stood there in shock for what felt like an eternity. He then shook his head as if to clear the daze he was in, walked over to the edge of the pool and dove in. He could almost imagine the cold water creating steam in conjunction with his incredibly overheated body. He must have swum about 50 laps before his head stopped racing.

Sam was just about to loose her mind. If one more person invaded her lab to give their condolences or to check up on her she was going to scream. She walked over to the door, locked it and shut the lights off. She then grabbed her laptop and found a corner to sit in. Maybe if they thought she was gone they would leave her alone.

Unfortunately, the ruse did not work, her friends new her too well. She had tried that same trick several times in the past.

As she sat down she started to think about Jack. It was strange as how she didn't think about Pete that often. Shouldn't she? She just broke off the engagement just over a week ago. Shouldn't she be second guessing herself or at least feel remorse. It felt strange that she was completely content with it. It was now in her past, a place where she wanted it to remain.

Then she thought about Jack again, she did love him, she knew this for certain now.

My God, she loved him. Finally admitting it had taken some getting used to. She had always had feelings for him, but love, this was an entirely new reality to deal with.

She knew that was why she could not marry Pete. Every time she thought of her future it always had included Jack, not him.

Jack. That would take some getting used to as well. Her inclination to call him Sir or General was ingrained. It had always been a matter of sanity for her. To only refer to him in that way kept him at a safe distance. It helped convince her that it was ok to deny her true feelings.

But, he was too much a part of her life. She couldn't even picture a day without him. She thought how wonderful it would be to start each day with him as well. Waking up next to him and then enjoying their morning coffee together sitting in their bath robes at the breakfast table.

She also new she could not marry Pete when she had realized that she did not want to have his children. She could not picture him as their father. That role had already been reserved for someone else. How could she marry a man with whom she knew she couldn't share this very important part of her future. She knew she wanted to have children, just not his.

UGH! She could not dwell on it any longer. She had to do something constructive, something to take her mind away from all of this chaos.

She ran to her quarters and grabbed her bathing suit and a towel. She was certain that she did not want anyone to find her where she was going. It was 2430. She was usually the only person who had a desire for laps this time of night, but just to be sure she made a quick detour to the control room and rigged the security camera to roll a continuous loop of the same, empty pool room footage. Desperate times called for desperate measures. She also wanted to make sure the pool was empty before she headed up to it.

She dove in and let the cool water wash her worries of the day away. She got into a good pace and when she hit lap 75 she was ready to call it a night. She felt blissfully tired and knew she could now sleep.

She swam over to the ladder to climb out then walked over to the bench which held her towel.

He was watching her. She just knew it; she didn't even have to turn to see for certain. It was a feeling she had grown accustomed to over the years. He had been quietly waiting for her to finish her swim. She was sure he had just not wanted to disturb her. Sometimes he got the hint and knew when she needed her space.

As she was drying herself off, something came over her, probably the result of a great workout and a clear head. She knew he would never make the first move. They had started seriously avoiding each when she started dating Pete. It had pushed him away for such a long time that she was sure he was a bit gun-shy.

She realized his feelings were still there when he had held her in the ISO unit. Watching her father die was one of the hardest things she had ever had to deal with. He was there for her, which instantly made the pain bearable. She had thanked him. His response was a heartfelt "Always." That one word had spoken volumes. Her father had been right. Why should she let the rules stand in her way of true happiness. She owed herself at least that.

Sam looked around the room, just to be sure they were alone, smiled a bit as she thought of his reaction to what she was about to do.

She unhooked her bathing suit and let it slip to the floor, slowly lifting each leg to remove the suit from around her ankles. She walked over to the pool and dove in.

At one point she quickly looked over to where he was still frozen in place. She smiled in spite of herself and did a few more laps. Thank God she had the foresight to rig the cameras.

She then very slowly, climbed out of the pool, her hips gently swaying as she walked over to the bench to retrieve her towel and discarded suit. She picked up the towel and dried herself off again. "Oh, hell girl go for it." she thought to herself. Instead of wrapping the towel around her body for modesty she wrapped it around her hair. She then picked up her bathing suit and draped it over her arm.

Looking directly at Jack she smiled ever so slightly, walked up to him, very gently closed his gaping mouth, kissed him every so slightly on the cheek and whispered into his ear "enjoy your swim." She then walked into the locker room and started to get ready for a good nights sleep.

She giggled as she thought "let him soak that into his brain for a bit."

That night when she was in bed thinking about the events of the past two weeks she was amazed at how different her life was now going to be.

Most of all… when did she become so brave! Walking past Jack with nothing on but a smile was something the "old" Samantha Carter would never have done.

RULES BE DAMNED! Out with the "Old" and in with the "New." She was determined not to let the rules dictate her dreams and desires. The "New" Samantha Carter was not going to let another day go by without letting Jack know exactly how she felt about him.

As she settled off to sleep she looked up and began to smile "Thanks Dad, you may not approve of how I started the ball rolling, but at least I got his attention."

The next morning Daniel sauntered into his lab about 0600 to get ahead on some translations he was working on. Of course the first thing he wanted to do was to make coffee. He went directly to where it usually was and found only a note. "See me! I have your coffee maker, Jack."

Daniel went directly to Jacks office to find him looking quite distressed.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked. Jack was in his normal BDU's, but was unshaven, his hair was a mess and he looked like he hadn't slept a wink.

"Good morning to you to Daniel" Jack replied irritated.

"Jack, have you even been to bed yet?" asked Daniel

"Sort of," he said looking at his watch, "I've had a good, well, I don't know, half an hour of sleep."

"Well, what happened?" asked Daniel for the second time.

"She made a pass at me." Said Jack

"Who, Sam?" asked Daniel, he then cocked his head for a second and said "Whoa, De Je Vu."

"Very funny." Said Jack, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
This time Jack's answer was a very unsteady "Yes." Anise wasn't even on the planet this time.

"Hey, wait a minute, isn't she engaged to Pete?" asked Daniel.

"Not any more" said Jack "she broke it off a week or so ago, right after the whole house buying thing… what an idiot… he should have known she would have wanted to take part in the whole process. Sam could never be happy in a house she hadn't had a say in."

"Well, unlike you, Pete didn't know Sam like the back of his hand and couldn't guess her every move." Said Daniel, he looked at Jack to see if it registered. "He couldn't have known half the things we know about her. I think that was a big part of the problem from the start." He continued half hoping that a light bulb was now going off in Jacks thick brain somewhere.

Jack just glared at Daniel. "I get it." He said with a smirk.

"Are you sure she was hitting on you?" asked Daniel "You know how you two are always playing cat and mouse."

Jack thought back for to the moment when Sam came up to him and kissed him on the check before heading into the shower. "Oh, yeah" said Jack "I don't think I could have interpreted this any other way."

"Well cool," said Daniel, "it's about time you two got on the same page. So why the no sleep and the trashed office?" asked Daniel, looking at the scattered paperwork. "Exactly how much coffee have you had anyway?"

"I lost count after the third pot." Said Jack, as he leaned back into his chair and scratched his heavy stubble.

As he was leaning back, a very refreshed looking Sam walked into Jack's office. She was grinning from ear to ear and looked as if she had the best night sleep of her life.

"Good morning campers." She said with a smile, intentionally using one of Jacks favorite phrases. Her smile grew even bigger as she saw the state of Jack and his office. It seemed she had quite an effect on him.

"Getting some work done Sir?" she asked in her most innocent tone.

Jack just looked up at her and gave a dumbfounded grin.