Author's Note: Well, this would have been completed sooner if my cat hadn't decided her new favourite place to sleep was my keyboard.

Plus I'm going stir crazy. Easter holidays, and I'm stuck inside with a whole load of work to do. My mum has to keep kicking me out the house to go for walks, because I'm annoying her!

Anyway, THANK YOU! Your reviews are amazing, and you've certainly exceeded my expectations for the first chapter.

OOH, BIG NOTE: I only know the basic layout of Jack's house, so for the purpose of this fic then we're going to have to assume he's got two extra rooms (a closet and a study) tucked away round near the bedroom and spare (if he has a spare) and it's too cold to camp out in the sitting area. Okay?

BLACKOUT: Part Two – Musings

They revelled in the silence as they dug into the ice cream tubs that Jack had bought. He had already tried his hand at stealing bites of everyone else's, but once again he found himself on the receiving end of Teal'C's stoic glare, and Janet and Sam had reinforced the knowledge that no man came between women and their chocolate, commanding officer or not. Jack had backed away quickly from them, knowing that, when required, both women could be scarier than Teal'C on a bad day.

Or Teal'C on a sugar high. But he didn't want to think about that.

Daniel was the only option left, and to Jack's dismay the linguist had already finished his, and was currently lying on the floor with his eyes closed, looking perfectly content where he was, thank you very much.

"Carter, give Daniel a kick. I think he died again."

Sam obediently nudged Daniel in the ribs, gaining only a small groan for her efforts. "He's been doing that a lot lately."

"Groaning?"

She grinned at the general. "No, dying."

He shrugged. "At least someone's become an old hand at it."

"Death by chocolate...what a way to go," Janet added, her eyes closed as if trying to picture it. She opened them again and looked at Sam slyly. "It makes you wonder why the hell we joined the Air Force."

Shaking her head, Sam turned to look at the tub next to Daniel. "Actually, I think he had the strawberry."

"Yuup..." came from Daniel's vicinity.

"There you go. Death by strawberry doesn't exactly have the same ring to it, does it?"

With a louder groan, Daniel sat up and blinked, trying to get used to the light. It was still raining outside, with the occasional rumble of thunder and flash of lightning alerting them to the fact the storm wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

He pushed himself to his feet, setting the ice cream tub on the coffee table as he got his balance, which was immediately snatched up by Jack, who checked to see if there was anything worth salvaging. At another death glare sent his way by Teal'C, he meekly handed it over, and the large Jaffa started scraping round with his spoon.

"Hey, Teal'C, any left?" Janet questioned, pleased when he handed the tub over to her and Sam, licking the remaining drops off his spoon. There was enough for both the women to scrape off to make a small spoonful each, and once finished they set it back on the table. Daniel watched, amused, as Jack picked it up, glanced inside and set it back down, an expression of petulance on his face.

"Hey! I could bring you up for conspiring against a senior officer!"

"Over strawberry ice cream? I doubt that would hold up in court, sir," Janet replied. He narrowed his eyes, but refrained from any smart-ass comments, knowing full well about Fraiser's preference for big needles and medical excuses to stick them in offending people.

He was saved from the comments from others as Daniel, who had been trying to reach over Janet to get his drink, stumbled and fell on top of her. She quickly thrust her ice cream tub and spoon into Sam's hands, announcing, "Save the chocolate!" before pushing Daniel's chest to get him off her.

The others burst into fits of laughter, Janet included, as Daniel stood up smoothly, attempting to regain his pride.

"Get a room, Danny," Jack grinned. Daniel swayed slightly; glaring at him, before grabbing his glass that Janet offered him and stalked (in a somewhat zigzagged fashion) to the kitchen. Although he was slowly getting more adept at drinking and handling it, he still wasn't quite up to par with the rest of them.

After clearing up the empty beer bottles, glasses and various food containers, they settled themselves in various areas of the sitting area. Janet curled up on the sofa, nursing a drink once more (non-alcoholic), Teal'C and Jack settled comfortably in their respective chairs, watching The Simpsons and Sam seated on a small stool by the window in the darker of the corners, watching the storm.

Daniel had decided it was time to go to bed, and was currently washing up in the kitchen before heading off.

And then it happened.

Of course, they had been half expecting it, but it always produced a startled reaction when it happened. Jack had some candles ready this time, and as he lit them he handed them out setting some on tables as he made his way back into the kitchen and along the hallway to the master bedroom and spare bedroom, which Daniel was attempting to find his way to.

Sam heard a low growl, and she and Janet turned to face the hallway, not able to see anything in the meagre light of the candles.

"Daniel, when I said get a room, I didn't mean the closet." There were definite sounds of someone hauling something out of the closet, and the others tried to stifle giggles; Teal'C looking vaguely amused.

There were mumbles of, "Sorry, Jack" and "Who put that there?" before Jack returned, scowling slightly.

"He should be conked out on the bed in about three minutes," he informed them absently, winking at Janet. "Aren't you going to turn in now?" he asked her innocently. She knew full well what the arrangements were, and Jack teased her mercilessly about it.

"If he snores during the night, you'll be getting the big needles next time we have an on-base epidemic," she warned, glaring at him as she made her way to the spare room.

The spare room was usually taken up by Sam and Janet, and during the winter Teal'C would kel'no'reem (or at least perform his version of 'sleep') in the study, where Jack had a fold-out bed. Daniel would take the master room and Jack would camp out in the sitting area on the couch, but they had decided that it was too cold that night with no heating, so much to Sam's embarrassment, Jack had offered to share his room with her and let Daniel and Janet camp together. When she had been with Pete, it wouldn't have bothered her, but now...

"I shall retire also," Teal'C stated as Janet disappeared, adopting a knowing smile as he bowed his head and headed to the study. "Goodnight, O'Neill, Colonel Carter."

They said their goodbyes, and suddenly an awkward silence filled the room. Sam glanced over to Jack, and he tilted his head to the side, his hands rammed in his jeans pockets. "I...uh...I guess I'll turn in too. You gonna be up for long?" The boyish grin he gave her almost made her wish he'd jump her and get rid of the tension in the air, but she reined her thoughts in and shook her head.

Whether it was to dispel the very graphic images that sprung up, associated with the thought of him 'jumping' her or as a negative reply to him, she didn't know.

"I'll be about ten minutes." She offered him a smile in return. "Just need some time to think."

He nodded. "I'll...uh – I'll blow the candles out in here and the kitchen – if you could do the hallway ones when you come to bed..." He trailed off, suddenly realising the implication of his words. She let out a giggle, and he narrowed his eyes playfully, before cocking an eyebrow to cover his mild embarrassment. "See you in ten, Carter."

"Yes sir."

She turned back to the window, detecting the slight change in light behind her as the candles went out one by one. His footsteps could be heard moving towards his room, and the door creaked as it opened then closed. Then she could hear no more, and her attention was torn between the fascinating patterns created by the lightning and clouds, and her inner thoughts.

Why should she expect any more? Of course, it had always been her fantasy to be kissed by a certain grey-haired general – but that was always what it had stayed. A fantasy. Well, unless they were under some sort of alien virus or alternate versions of themselves, then they could pretty much break a whole load of frat regs and not be brought up on charges for it. But that didn't count.

Had she really been expecting anything else to happen? She knew that both of them cared about each other, but the whole thing created a feeling of uncertainty whenever she even pondered it. The confessions had happened a long time ago, and they had been with other people since then. They also both cared too much about their jobs to do anything.

Although they had saved the world many times over – as Jack had once stated, didn't the world owe them something? His actual words had been something along the lines of, "If the big guy doesn't give us something in return for our 'favours' we'll go on strike and refuse to save the world," and Sam had spent the next ten minutes explaining that she doubted the President would appreciate being referred to as 'big guy' and if they went on strike; a) they would be court-martialled or worse and b) if the Goa'uld or any other xenophobic/psychotic race turned up at the doorstep to wipe out all humanity then SG-1 would go down with the rest of the world. Which kind of defeated the point.

Author's Note: Okay, I'm sorry! This was carrying on for too long, so I've posted this bit and I'm going to post the major S/J bit next. Review, or you don't get it. Oh, and review Silhouette too, or I refuse to post! Love you all x x x - Hope