Knock, Knock Knock-knock knock, Bark! Bark!

Jack smiled hearing Rico's answering bark. He would never admit it to anybody, but he had missed having the dog around. Rico opened the door for him, and he stepped in, setting the pizzas on the coffee table in the living room.

Sam came in from the direction of the bedroom, dressed in what he thought looked like her pajamas. He lifted his eyebrow at her as she flopped down on the couch and placed her crutches on the floor.

She looked up at him, shrugged and said, "It's just easier for me to change as soon as I get home." Rico came over to inspect her and make sure she was all right. "Rico, beer."

Jack sat down on the couch next to Sam and opened the pizza box, grabbing a piece specifically for Sam. He placed it on a paper plate and handed it to her.

"Thanks."

Jack took the beer bottle from Rico's mouth and set it on the small table. "Aren't you going to drink anything?"

"When we're done eating, Sir-er Jack."

Rico stared up at Jack, waiting for his piece of pizza, which was never to come, and whined. "Lay down, Pup." Rico dropped his eyes, looking ashamed and laid down at Jack's feet.

"Jack, again, thank you for Rico. He isn't exactly a puppy, where'd you get him?" Sam asked, biting into her slice.

Jack stopped and put his pizza down. She was a genius, of course she'd ask eventually. He steeled himself for a moment and looked straight into her eyes.

"He was Charlie's. Two weeks before he died, we had a fight about toy guns, and he ran off to his room. Pretty much ignored me for the rest of the day. At dinner that night, he started complaining that his stomach hurt, but I thought he was trying to get out of eating dinner with me. It was Sara who realized something wasn't right. We rushed him to the hospital only to find out he was having a problem with his appendix. When he came home from the hospital, we had Rico waiting for him. He was just a puppy then, and could fit in Charlie's arms."

His eyes dropped to the dog on the floor, his last connection to his son.

"When Sara and I divorced I gave her Rico, at first because I couldn't handle having him around. Later I was glad I did. He helped her out more than I could have. Greg couldn't keep him, besides he knew I'd probably want him. When Janet gave me her first report on your knee, I knew it was the perfect opportunity for him to put into practice all the training Sara'd been giving him."

Sam scooted closer to Jack and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, so much," she whispered into his neck.

"You're welcome. I'm glad he's been such a help to you." Jack smiled softly and pulled her into a tighter hug.

Sam pulled away gently and smiled up at him. "So, what can you tell me about our recruits?"

"Other than what I've already said, nothing. I'm not allowed to say anything about one recruit and if I say something about all the others, you'll know who it is and figure out what's going on immediately."

Jack threw her a crooked grin, still keeping one arm around her shoulders. Sam didn't mind, of course. Had their situation been different, both of them would be feeling awkward right now, but nothing would happen to them now.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you when this is all over."

Sam nodded and went back to her pizza, but she noticed Jack still looked apprehensive.

"Jack, are you okay?" Before she could even think, his lips were on hers, softly, nervously, and then he pulled back.

Sam cocked her head to the side. "Jack?"

"I'm sorry. I, uh, well, I wanted to talk to you, and, uh…" He rubbed the heels of his hands furiously into his eyes and stood up. "Oh, for cryin' out loud! I care for you, Sam. A lot. Well, a lot more than I'm supposed to."

He flopped back down on the couch, frustrated with himself.

"I know you don't feel the same, and that's not why I gave you Rico or anything…"

"Jack."

"And I know I've been an ass to you lately…"

"Jack."

"And I never told you thank you, for getting me off that planet…"

"Jack!"

"Huh?" He whipped his head around, staring wide eyed at a smiling Sam.

"Shut up." She grinned at him and leaned in, capturing his lips with her own. It was his turn to be caught off guard. He quickly recovered and started kissing her back. They broke apart reluctantly and smiled at each other.

"Can I say something quickly?" Sam nodded, wondering if it had something to do with his previous line of thought.

"Thank you, for getting me off Edora. I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner, I was an ass and didn't realize just what you went through to get me home, until Janet started jabbing me and Daniel ripped me a new one."

He smiled softly and continued. "And I'm sorry for what I said before. But it's true, I haven't been the same since I met you. I've been better." He dropped a sweet kiss to the tip of her nose, and she smiled in return.

Jack kept one arm around her shoulders and reached for his pizza. This was definitely going a lot better than he'd thought it would, though he still didn't know for sure where they stood.

"Sam, I'd really like to see where this goes."

"But?"

"I can't tell you anything about what's going on right now, and I don't really think that's fair."

Sam could see the sincerity in his eyes when he looked down at her, making her insides go to mush. "It's no big deal. I can't be that big, right?"

"It's fairly major, Sam."

"Well, we'll handle it together. Jack, I've liked you from the beginning and the more I've gotten to know you, the more I've come to care for you. There're a lot of things you can't tell me, I'll just accept this as one of them." The smile Sam gave him made his heart flutter.

"How are you handling this?" he asked, sincerely.

"It's harder to get through some days than others. Rico helps out, drags me out of bed in the morning."

Jack smiled in remembrance.

"Yeah, he used to do that for me, too. He couldn't get up on the bed back then, but he sure could yowl."

The two of them relaxed against the back of the couch, their fill of the pizza finished. The rest of the night was spent making idle chit-chat, trying to avoid any talk of work, and getting to know each other better.

Jack noticed Sam growing tired long before she realized it herself. When she finally dropped off against his shoulder around 2200, he carried her up to her bedroom. He laid her on her bed and pulled the covers up to chin, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Stay." He barely heard the whisper and had he not been already so close to her, he would have missed it.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Sam lifted her head and kissed him gently and pulled him to her.

Jack stripped down to his boxers and climbed into the bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tight against his chest. He nuzzled up to her and let her soft breathing lull him to sleep.

A/N: Okay, so how did you like it? Did i do okay? Please let me know, i really wanna hear what you have to say.