Author's Note: Yeah so this started out as a missing scene for The Broca Divide and kind of evolved a little due to the influence of coffee! ) There might be another chapter in the works depending on the response... (hint hint please review!)

Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue. Have a nice day...

Spoilers: If you consider the tank top reference a spoiler then, yeah, The Broca Divide! )

Sam ran her hands through her hair in frustration. It was 3am. She had been working on figuring out this object for hours now. SG-9 had brought it back from a newly discovered planet and she just couldn't figure out what it was. It was like a bizarre alien logic puzzle of some sort... It was a simple grey ball, about the size of a tennis ball, completely smooth except for two characters carved on it. It was covered in a strange pattern of extremely thin lines, barely big enough for the eye to see. Sam could only assume that it opened out somehow, but without Daniel there to decipher the text and having poked, pulled and otherwise manipulated it in every way possible, she was at her wits end. As far as she could tell, it was made of naqada; the same material as the Stargate, which made it a very interesting find indeed.

Sam sighed. She had run out of coffee, her hair was ruffled and there were dark circles under her eyes. Yet she hated to leave her work unfinished. She decided to go get some more coffee in the commissary and give it another try. Putting the object on the table, she grabbed her mug and headed out the door and down the corridor.

She was surprised to see the light on in the commissary when she got there. There shouldn't have been more than a handful of people at the SGC at this hour of the night. She opened the door and looked around, frowning slightly in the bright light. There was a hunched figure sitting at a far table but even at that distance Sam could tell that it was Col. O'Neill. She got herself some strong black coffee from the machine and then approached her CO.

"Hello Carter."

Jack spoke without turning around. He knew her footsteps... Oh for crying out loud, get a grip O'Neill.

"Ah, hey Sir."

Sam had jumped slightly. She smiled at herself; both laughing at herself inwardly for being so childish and at the same time proud that she had not spilled her coffee. She couldn't help but note the fact that it sent a shiver down her spine when he spoke her name... He used her surname as though it was her first name, and spoke it with such... tenderness. Get a grip Sam, he's your CO.

"Sneaking up on me were ya?" he asked teasingly.

She grinned as she sat down. God he loved that smile... Stop that...

"I didn't think it was possible to sneak up on the great Colonel O'Neill!" Sam teased back.

"Nope." He smirked in a self satisfied way. "So whatcha doin here at this hour? No hot date?"

He raised an eyebrow. Sam snorted into her cup of coffee.

"Not quite... I've been working on something in the lab."

"Oh? What's the latest doohickey then?"

"Well, SG-9 were exploring the ruins of what we believe to be a Goa'uld..."

Jack tuned out after a while. He propped his head on his hand and looked at her eyes as she talked, taking sips of his coffee every now and again. She was so beautiful... He loved the way her eyes lit up when she was excited. He found his gaze wandering to her lips... if only he could kiss her, just once... Hey, hey, knock it off!

He shook his head and tuned back in to what Sam was saying...

"... can't make much progress without Daniel but I want to see if those lines make any discernable pattern."

Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Wish I hadn't asked..."

Sam blushed. She must have been babbling for at least five minutes now... Damn, she always forgot that Jack wasn't very interested in her 'doohickeys'. But he had seemed like he was listening... actually he had looked like he was daydreaming. Had he been remembering...? Whoa Samantha, don't go there...

Jack smiled, basking in the glow of her embarrassment.

"Don't worry Carter. It's not that I don't care... it's just that I... don't care."

She smiled. Of course, that was Jack all over.

"So, what are you doing here at this hour of the night? The Jack O'Neill I know is no workaholic..."

Jack looked momentarily uncomfortable. Sam leaned forward with interest, a curious smile playing about her lips.

"Sir...?"

"Oh yeah, you know... paperwork and... stuff."

He was pulling her leg and she knew it.

"What's your secret?"

"You're gonna laugh..."

Sam was surprised at this admission. It only fuelled her curiosity.

"Why would I laugh?"

She gave him her most sincere look.

Jack buried his face in his hands.

"Never mind..."

"Awww, come on..."

Sam grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands away from his face. Her nose was just inches from his. She pouted.

Jack's heart practically stopped. He couldn't breathe when she was this close to him... she made the whole world stand still. He couldn't help staring into the depths of her blue eyes... he could get lost in there...

Sam drew back slightly, realising the impropriety of her action. The intensity of his gaze was a little too much for her... it gave her butterflies...

"Hmmm... now what does this remind me of?"

Jack's voice brought her crashing back to reality. Sam blushed deeply. She couldn't remember clearly what she had done when she had become infected with the virus that had caused many of the SGC staff to revert to a very primitive mindset... All she remembered was pinning Jack to a bench... she was pretty sure she had kissed him, if only she could remember... What was clearly engrained in her mind, however, was Jack's later comment pertaining to the tank top that she was wearing now. She sat back quickly and took a long sip of her coffee. Jack's grinning face emerged as she lowered the cup again...

"It was really warm in the lab..."

Oh God, how do I get myself into these situations? I could have just thrown on a jacket when I left but noooo...

"Oh I'll bet... real steamy!"

Jack laughed as she blushed again. He loved it when he had her backed into a corner like that... Try using a different figure of speech Jack...

"Hey, stop changing the subject. Why are you here? Top secret mission?"

Jack's expression sobered.

"You honestly wanna know?"

"Yeah."

He sighed. She was gonna laugh at him for this...

"The Leonids are at their brightest tonight and I figured I'd get a great view from the top of the mountain... So there ya go, now laugh your socks off..."

He looked into his coffee cup, prepared for her taunts and yet she said nothing. When he looked up, she was looking at him with... admiration? Sam loved it when Jack showed those other parts of his personality that were usually hidden under the tough soldier exterior... She couldn't help but smile at him. Sometimes he was such a kid at heart... God I love him so much...

Jack couldn't help but return her smile... She beamed at him... Of course, it never occurred to him that an astrophysicist might find his love of astronomy highly attractive... She's so beautiful when she smiles like that... I love her...

Sam had no idea why she acted on that particular impulse when she had been ignoring so many others since she had met Jack but she suddenly stood up from the table.

"Show me."

Her movement interrupted Jack's train of thought and he gave her a brief look of confusion.

"The Leonids. Show me."

How could he resist that smile?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You sure you wanna spend your evening looking at a bunch of stars with an old guy like me?"

Jack looked over at Sam as she strolled beside him down the corridor of the SGC. There was more to that question than he was letting on... Sam looked him right in the eye. There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be.

"I'll survive!"

Jack couldn't help it... the thought of spending even the smallest amount of time alone with Sam made his heart skip a beat. Even if he could never tell her, or show her, how much he loved her, it was almost enough just to be near her. Seeing her smile, being able to touch her arm, watching her eyes light up; these were the moments that kept him sane.

Sam had to look at the ground before her heart positively beat its way out of her ribcage and jumped on him... She turned sharply and started to jog down another corridor.

"Leaving so soon?" Jack shouted after her.

"Be right back" she shouted over her shoulder.

Jack shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the wall, fingering his keys in his pocket. He really hoped she was coming back... oh what are you, 15?

Sam's heart was pounding even harder when she got back to where Jack was waiting, with the naqada ball clutched in her hand. She held it up so that he could see it and smiled breathlessly.

"Thought I'd mix work with play this once... Maybe you can figure this thing out?"

"Maybe." Jack replied, sounding about as unenthusiastic as was possible as he set off down the corridor again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack grabbed a bag from the passenger seat of his pickup before they headed up the mountain. Sam looked up at the sky while she waited for him. She couldn't see any stars... She rubbed her arms and shivered. How could she have forgotten to bring a jacket outside? Honestly, why do I feel like a teenager around him? Suddenly, something hit her in the side of the head. She picked up a large navy sweater.

"As cute as that tank top number of yours is, you'll be needing that."

Sam grinned and pulled on the sweater. She breathed deeply; it smelled like Jack. Okay Sam, lets keep both feet on solid ground here.

They set off up the mountain. Sam was well able to match Jack's pace but she was still holding the naqada ball and couldn't use both hands to climb up the steeper parts.

"Gimmie that damn thing will ya?"

Sam handed him the ball. Jack turned it over a few times in his hands, frowning at the markings on it. Then he merely shrugged, put it in his pocket and kept walking.

Typical Sam thought.

"Okay, here looks good."

Jack stopped abruptly and Sam walked right into him.

"Whoa there."

He spun around and grabbed her shoulders to stop her from tumbling back down the mountain. Sam gripped his wrists, purely out of shock and fear.

"Leaving so soon? But we just got here."

Jack's smiling eyes relaxed her. Sam couldn't believe that she was on top of Cheyenne mountain with her CO to watch shooting stars. Jack had a heard time believing it himself. Jack let go of her gently and opened the bag that he had brought. He spread a rug on the ground and took out a bottle.

"Have a seat. Sorry, I only brought one bottle of beer. You want it?"

"No, you have it."

Sam seated herself on the rug and, leaning back on her elbows, looked up at the sky. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark, she could see thousands of stars. The Milky Way traced its way along the sky in a beautiful stream of stars. Sam often found it hard to believe that she had really been up there. Since she was a child, she had dreamed of going into space. Yet here, now, it still seemed so far away... She heard a faint pop behind her as Jack pulled the cap off the bottle.

Jack sat down beside Sam on the rug and took a sip of beer. He offered her the bottle again, feeling that it would be impolite not to. She shook her head.

"Come on. Sharing is caring!"

Where do you come up with this crap O'Neill?

Sam smiled and took the offered bottle. Their fingers touched for a moment as the bottle changed hands and Sam felt like a spark was running through her entire body. Jack busied himself looking for Leo in the sky. It only took him a moment to locate it. Sam took a sip of the beer.

"Okay Carter, there it is."

Jack pointed towards the constellation. Sam frowned. Astrophysics might be her thing but she certainly didn't know all the constellations and she was so tired that she honestly couldn't find it.

"What am I looking for here?"

"Okay, well there's a triangle of stars here, and then these one makes up the tail."

Jack pointed towards the constellation as he traced it out with his finger. Sam frowned for a moment and then shook her head.

"I'm sorry Sir, I don't see it."

"Some astrophysicist you are Carter!"

Jack laughed at her. Relenting, he leaned in close to her, resting his head on her shoulder and propping himself up by putting his arm behind her back. He took her arm and traced the outline of Leo in the sky.

"There. You see what I see?"

Sam nodded breathlessly. She could feel his breath on her cheek and his hand holding hers. Jack was all too aware of how close she was to him and took a deep breath to steady himself. He let go of her hand and moved away slightly. He cleared his throat.

"Well, em, that's where they'll be coming from so keep a lookout."

Sam turned towards him.

"Ok."

Their faces were millimetres apart. They froze; neither wanting to move away but both aware of just how many regulations filled that tiny gap between them. Sam's thoughts were screaming at her: You shouldn't have put yourself in this situation Sam. Damn it just kiss him already, it's not like you haven't done it before. You're heading straight for a court marshal. Wouldn't be the first time for that either...

Jack's thoughts were running in a bizarre circle: Kiss her. No. Why? Cause. Cause what? The regs damn it! Well damn the regs. No damn you! You shut up! I'll shut you up in a minute. Not if I shut you up first...

Sam exhaled heavily, her breath forming an icy cloud in the cold night air. Before she could think any further, Jack's mouth was on hers. He wrapped his arms around her and Sam melted into his embrace. She felt both as though time had stopped and as though the universe was exploding around her. Her entire body tingled at his touch and she shivered as he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

Jack drew her closer to him and revelled in their closeness. The only clear thought that he managed to formulate was: hah! Shut you up...