Samantha Carter was late – oh, so incredibly late – for a very important meeting with a very important dignitary that had done something…very important. She should have left the house by six to avoid traffic. It was currently ten past eight and the meeting was at nine. Talk about everything going wrong all at the same time.

She'd lost her shoes.

She'd broken the button off her pants.

And the kicker? Absolutely no hot water in a ten-mile radius of her house. She'd checked by calling Cameron. He didn't have hot water either, but unlike her, he wasn't all that worried about it.

So, after a quick and cold shower, a thorough search of her house for her only good set of high heels, and the realization that she could safety pin her pants closed and wear a longer shirt, she was almost ready to leave. In fact, if she hadn't forgotten her car keys in her bedroom, she would have been out the door three minutes earlier.

Of course, if she'd been out the door three minutes earlier, she would have missed her visitor.

She opened the door only to find General Jack O'Neill with his hand raised to knock on it, a goofy smile on his face and two cups of coffee balanced in his other hand. She was so surprised she dropped her bag and keys on the floor.

"Good morning, gorgeous," he said. "Coffee?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I told you I was coming to visit."

"I know, but not until Friday. It's Thursday. I have a huge meeting that I'm already late for."

He held out one of the coffee cups, which she took, and shrugged. "I'm a General, Sam, who just happens to have been in charge of the SGC at one point in time. I'll come with you andhang out with Daniel while you're at your meeting."

"Daniel's in Boston, visiting your goddaughter," she said in response to the latter, which made his eyebrows arch in surprise. Then she processed the former and finally smiled. "Oh yeah, you're a General."

"Oh yeah," he repeated and leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "Grab your bag and I'll drive."

"Not so fast, flyboy," she said and pulled him in for a much longer kiss. When they broke apart, she reached down and picked up her bag and her keys. "Now we can go."

His eyes were practically glazed over and it took him a full minute to register that she was leaving the house and locking the door. "Are you sure this meeting's important?" he asked as soon as he snapped out of it and followed her down the steps of her front porch.

"Yes, Jack," she said with a grin.

"Just checking."

As she climbed into the passenger seat of his rental car she had to wonder why she'd been so concerned earlier. He was Jack – the safe bet – and he was sitting next to her, smiling at her, suggesting with his eyebrows that clothes would be optional later on in the evening.

"You're undressing me with your eyes, aren't you?" he asked, breaking her thought pattern.

She couldn't help but laugh.

Danielhad, on more than one occasion, gotten lost on his way to Aeda's Back Bay apartment building. Boston was a maze of one-way streets to begin with – adding his ineptitude at city driving to the equation usually equaled a lot of honking horns and the general feeling of being a jackass. It was his least favorite part of visiting her and it could have easily been solved by actually telling her when his plane would arrive so she could do the whole driving and parking thing, but he liked to surprise her. So, each time he came to visit, he rented a car and he went through driving hell all over again.

He cheered aloud when he pulled onto her street and spied a parking space not that far from the oversized brick building she lived in. Of course, his parallel parking skills left much to be desired, but that was why he'd rented a compact car. If worse came to worse, he'd get out and push it into a spot.

He parked and grabbed his bag from the back seat. His laptop was under the front seat and he pulled it out carefully. The man at the Denver airport had not been as gentle with his laptop as he had been with the barely clothed woman in front of him so he was desperately trying to make it up to the abused machine. Finally, his gear all gathered, he got out of the car and headed towards the familiar building.

Aeda lived on the bottom floor, in the back, and had used her access to the little plot of land behind the building to construct a garden, usingthe ample produce to feed most of the people on her block. So, when he rung the bell and no one answered, he figured that she was outside. He reached up, grabbed her spare key and opened the door. He dropped his stuff on the couch, and walked through the spacious apartment and out onto the deck.

She was covered in dirt and so was Bear, who had a carrot in his mouth and was simply refusing to give it to Aeda. He wasn't even chewing on it – he was just holding it in his mouth like he would a bone. Upon seeing Daniel, however, the Boxer dropped the carrot and ran at him, full force.

"Bear, no," he said in hopes of staving off the dirty paw prints he'd accumulate if the lovable creature decided to jump on him. Bear pulled to a stop just inches away from him and sniffed. "Good dog," he said and reached out to pet him. Bear took it as an opportunity and jumped up on him, which reduced Aeda to giggles.

"You're a pain in the ass," he said.

"Aw, don't talk to him that way. He's very sensitive," she said as she stood and wiped her hands on her already filthy jeans.

"I was referring to you," he countered and received a playful frown.

"You look tired," she said as she approached him.

"I hate driving through this city," he said.

"Well, if you didn't always insist on surprising me, I'd come get you and remedy that problem." She stopped at the edge of the deck and smiled up at him.

"Ah yes, but it's so much nicer to hear you exclaim, 'Why, Daniel, what are you doing here?'" He quirked his eyebrow pointedly.

She took the hint. "Why, Daniel, what are you doing here?" she said with false sweetness.

He stepped down from the deck and leaned in to kiss her. "You smell like dirt," he said.

She laughed. "You always say the nicest things," she said and smudged a line of dirt along his nose before meeting his lips with her own. He immediately remembered why he hated living in Colorado.

She pulled away, very slightly, and smiled. "How does grilled chicken and fresh veggies sound for dinner?" she asked.

"It sounds wonderful," he said.

She patted him on the chest and then moved past him and into the apartment. He followed her into the kitchen, shutting the deck door behind him so Bear couldn't come in and rub dirt onto every flat surface. The Boxer looked in at him with an expression akin to "no you didn't".

"Good, because we're having takeout." She took the phone from its cradle and handed it, plus a menu, to him with a smile. "Order whatever you want. I'm going to go take a shower."

He watched her walk towards her bedroom, unbuttoning her dirt-covered shirt as she did so. He looked down at the menu, then back up at her – just in time to see the familiar green shamrock tattoo on her back.

"I definitely got the short end of the stick on this one!" he shouted and was rewarded with her laughter as the bathroom door closed.

Bear barked in agreement.

This one is driving me crazy! I have the end written but I'm having trouble filling in the middle. Keep reading and keep reviewing! Thanks!