AN1: About Sam. Please to remember that she is worried, stressed, uncertain, and at the mercy of the dreaded pregnancy hormones (which do whack you out sometimes). I would not expect anyone going through all that to be perfectly rational and appropriate at all times. Particularly not someone who is generally as uncomfortable about her identity and self-as-female as Carter was the first season, and continued to be up to the present. Give her an impossible task, tell her to save the world, and she's incredible. Ask her to deal with personal issues::wince: And at this point, Jack has yet to follow through on any of the assurances he made. Of course, he hasn't had time to, but considering that Sam is still dealing with the repercussions of a really bad relationship, I think her mistrust is understandable.

After the ordeal of confronting the Colonel while still staying within the bounds of military propriety, Sam escaped back to her lab, where she pretended to work. She did try, really she did, but it was no use. The thought of what she was turning into, combined with anticipation of the meeting to come, left her queasier than what had been normal the last few weeks.

"Hey." Her reverie was broken by a soft call. She turned to see Dr. Jackson leaning against the doorway.

"Am I intruding?" he asked.

"Not really," she said, grateful for the distraction from her own thoughts. And it really wasn't Daniel's fault Jack had been stupid.

"I'm not trying to treat you any different or coddle you or anything, I just wanted to see if you needed to talk with someone." Daniel walked in and sat on the stool across her work table. He gave his head a slight shake to get the hair out of his eyes; working in the military, Sam didn't often meet guys whose hair was longer than hers. "I know Jack's not really big on communication, not about emotional stuff, unless he's right on the edge. And I figured you hadn't had time to make any good friends since you moved here. So if there's anything you need to get off your chest, I'm here for you."

Sam looked at him thoughtfully. He was a nice guy, and since he wasn't in the military, she didn't have to watch what she said in the same way. "Okay." She pointed to the stool across from her.

Jack and Teal'c were on the shooting range. Teal'c preferred his staff weapon to anything the humans had, and Jack wasn't going to make him give it up despite his personal views on its accuracy, range, and rate of fire, but he still needed to be familiar with his comrades' weapons in case of emergency. You couldn't let your attention wander when using firearms, so it was a great way for Jack to keep his mind off the coming meeting. At least, that had been the idea.

"O'Neill." Jack lowered his weapon and turned to face the bigger man, removing the safety glasses and ear protectors as he did so. Teal'c had already removed his, and held his weapon down at his side. He'd remembered to put the safety catch on, Jack saw, not that he'd expected anything less. Still, it never hurt to check.

"Yeah?"

"You seem distracted."

"I dunno—" One look from the Jaffa silenced him. Jack still didn't know much about interpreting the alien's mood, but the guy had presence. And he didn't take crap often.

"Yeah, I am."

"Is it caused by the choice Captain Carter has to make?"

"Sort of." Jack turned to go back to his shooting, but Teal'c stood there, impassive as ever, and watched him. Jack didn't think he'd press it if Jack was unwilling to talk, but they'd both know he had avoided the subject, and he had the weird feeling T would be disappointed in him. It was the damndest thing; the guy looked younger than Daniel, but Jack kept getting these flashes where it felt like he was just a kid in Teal'c's presence. He sighed.

"Probably the single worst moment of my life was standing in the front lawn with Sara, hearing the gunshot from the house." He didn't turn to look at Teal'c again.

There was a silence as Teal'c considered this. "I am certain that Captain Carter will make the right choice in the end," he said at last. The two stood in companionable silence for some time. Jack took comfort in his friend's certainty.

Sam shook her head. "No, Dad would never understand. He's been a career officer all his life; the Air Force is what he lives for, and has been since Mom died. He might not even accept this if he knew the whole circumstances. Which I can't tell him, because it's classified. Pregnant with my CO's baby?" She checked her watch.

"Is it time for you to go up?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah." Sam stood up and stretched. "This is one meeting I really don't want to be late for." She gave him a half smile. "Thanks for listening."

"Any time." Daniel returned her smile and stood up. "I'll walk you up there, if you'd like?"

"Sure." Sam was grateful for his support, though she was kind of hurt that it was a teammate instead of the father of her child who was the one to give it. She hadn't seen … Jack … since their confrontation, and he'd hardly said two words to her then. This whole thing would be so much easier, and not just professionally, if Daniel were the father.