(This is set a few weeks later, just before Cold Lazarus. Thanks everyone for your awesome reviews and I hope you liked it!)

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Slowly, Captain Carter's confidence returned full blast. She was sleeping dreamlessly every night (with the exception of a few random nightmares, which honestly didn't effect her as horribly as they used to) and felt great even though she was waking up at 0220 still.

"Carter, getting any extra sleep?" the Colonel asked one morning as he handed her a mug of coffee.

She accepted it gladly. "Thank you. No, I didn't," she added with a sigh. They sat at one of the tables in the commissary.

"Think you'll make it through the mission tomorrow?"

She winced. "Yeah. I don't really have much of a choice." She was silent for a moment before she said, "I'm not going to complain about the lack of sleep. It took months the last time to get to this stage. It's like I'm on speed dial."

"Still…?" he prompted.

"The lack of sleep is irritating at best," she finished dryly, and she downed the rest of the coffee. She stared at the empty mug and said, "I'm gonna get a refill."

He nodded wordlessly and she poured herself another cup. Today felt like it was going to be a long day…

"TGIF," she muttered. Thank GOD it's Friday!

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It was only 2000 and she wanted to claw her eyes out from sheer boredom! Carter rested her arms on the desk and rubbed her eyes 'till they hurt.

"Tired much?" asked a voice from the doorway.

"Hey, Colonel," she mumbled without looking.

The Colonel walked in and picked up a pen she'd previously been holding and began to fiddle with it. "Carter, you're whooped. Go home. Get some sleep."

"What little of it I get," she muttered, forgetting momentarily her promise not to complain about it.

O'Neill watched her for a moment, sucking on his inner cheek before puffing out a breath. "Look," he said, rubbing his neck, "why don't I drive you home. It's Friday for another whole four hours; enjoy what left of it you have. And tomorrow morning, come over to my place with Daniel 'n Teal'c for my famous omelettes."

She thought about it for a moment. "It does sound good," she admitted slowly.

"I could always order you!" he joked with a grin that made her knees shaky.

Carter mustered a grin, too. "Well, alright," she agreed. "Give me two minutes to shut this down." She gestured to her laptop and he nodded. With that, they left together and were topside ten minutes later.

"Which car should we take?" she asked.

"Mine," he said. "I'll drive you home then go home myself. You'll have to give me directions, however."

As they loaded into his truck, she asked, "Why are you driving me home if you don't know where I live?"

He answered wryly, "Because you'll fall asleep at the wheel if I let you try to drive yourself."

His smirk didn't falter at her indigenous, "Sir!"

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When he finally pulled over to the curb outside her house, he shut off the engine and said, "I'll walk you up."

She looked at him, surprised. "You don't have to, sir!"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "My mother always told me that if I drive a pretty lady home, I better walk her to her doorstep and give her a proper 'goodnight' before driving off."

Carter snickered, despite her reddening blush at his compliment. "Well, thank you sir," she flirted. "What else did your mother tell you?" she asked as she opened the gate to her yard for them.

"Ah…something about…something else…"

Captain Carter grinned. "In other words, you made it up."

There was silence for a minute as they ascended onto the porch, and she turned to face him with a smirk of her own.

"Umm…yeah, pretty much. Used that one on all my dates in high school."

"Quite the lady's man, then?"

O'Neill shrugged. "Mmm…sort of."

"How many girls did that line work on?"

"Not many."

"So I'm…?"

"The first it's worked on."

Carter laughed and dipped her head, blushing vividly, looking up at him sheepishly. He leaned over and hugged her, placing a discreet, light kiss on her cheek before his chin cradled her shoulder. He squeezed her tightly, and she squeezed back.

When Colonel O'Neill leaned back, he paused, looking at her with something in his expression she couldn't quite define. For the strangest reason, he looked like he was about to kiss her again, and not just on the cheek…

But then he shook his head slightly, as though to clear it, and the idea was promptly thrown away. "Night, Carter," he said gruffly, avoiding her eyes as he turned to hurry down the stairs.

"Thanks for taking me home, sir," she said.

"Think nothing of it, Captain!" he called back in a sort of singsong voice that made her giggle under her breath.

Carter watched him drive away without looking back, and then went inside to change and go to sleep, her heart feeling uncharacteristically light.

Still, she reasoned, Of course he wasn't going to kiss me. Even if it weren't against regulations, if he were interested in me that way, he would've said something. The whole idea was just preposterous, she decided as she lowered herself into the covers. Simply preposterous.

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AHN AHN AHN AHN AHN AHN!

Captain Carter awoke to a hideous noise. It sounded like a cross between a dying cow and a sick cat… What was that noise?

Her eyes fluttered open, and she noticed her alarm clock's numbers flashing angrily at her as though to say, "HELLO! Wake UP!"

Oh, it's just my alarm clock…

Carter bolted upright. Her alarm clock.

Light filtered from under her curtains, and she heard a faint chirping of birds from outside the open window.

It was 0721. Not only had she slept to her alarm, which was set to ring at 0600, she had slept nearly an hour and a half past it!

This was way too amazing for the childlike excitement she'd had when she shook the nightmare. This was so incredibly awesome.

"No way," she whispered. "Holy Hannah, I slept the whole night. The whole night." Her chest swelled with pride and love, and it felt like all the gods – both false and divine – were smiling down on her and shining down their mercy. "I did it," she whispered. "I slept through it. No nightmare. No 0220 wake-up. I just slept through nearly an hour and a half of my alarm clock's irritable noise!"

Quickly, she leaned over and grabbed the phone to dial a number.

It was answered on the first ring by an upbeat Colonel O'Neill. "Hey Carter, saw you on the caller ID," he said cheerfully with the sound of burning sausage in the background. "Just getting ready for breakfast. What's up?"

"Colonel," she said seriously and incredulously, "I'm calling you at 0720. Do you know what that means?"

There was only breathing on the other end for a moment. "No way," his voice echoed her thoughts.

"Holy Hannah, YES!" she said excitedly. "I slept through my alarm clock!"

"You set your alarm clock on a Friday night?" he asked, amused.

"I had to! What if there was the remote possibility I slept through to it, like I did last night?"

"Mmm…true. So, you hungry?"

"Oh, I'm too excited to eat!"

"Carter, don't replace one health issue with another," he warned. "I don't want to have to call you to make sure you're eating."

She giggled. "No, sir," she agreed. "I'll be there…when?"

"Does 0900 sound good?"

"Done," she said. She hesitated. "Sir, where do you live?"

"Oh. Never mind that. I'll pick you up instead. Be there by 0830, 'kay?"

"Okay, sir. See you then," she said, and he said one more goodbye before hanging up. Hmm…it was 0730 now. Time to shower and get ready.

She paused for a moment. "Scratch the shower," she said aloud, and she went to one of her bathroom cabinets and got out a special, non-irritating bubble bath from it. She was going to soak in a bath for as long as time allowed, to celebrate her uneventful sleep.

As her bathwater ran, she chose jeans, sneakers, and her favorite blouse from the closet. This was going to be a good day.

Maybe she'd do something later…go to the park, or ice skating at the local rink…