Jack O'Neill didn't know what to do with himself. Last night contained the most incredible sex he had ever had, with the one woman he was so in love with he couldn't breathe when he fully contemplated it.

Looking at the clock, 0700, he realized she'd be waking up about now. He could see her finding the note, but couldn't imagine her reaction. He idly wondered whether or not she even realized he did not stay the night.

After she had fallen asleep, he didn't let himself linger, he slid from her grasp and quickly picked up the mess of his room and put on some sweats. After picking up his living room and writing her a note, he came to the base; first thing he did was take a shower.

He did everything he could to wash her off of him, to get rid of her smell, the feel of her, even to the extent of merely throwing away the sweats he had worn in. He knew it was crazy, but swore they still smelled like her.

He wondered if he'd ever be able to go home without seeing her there.

He had broken last night, and she had seen it. He was scared; no one person had ever had that much control over himself or his emotions. Ever. It was a control he was not willing to give up, and a power he wasn't sure he trusted her with. He tried to tell her as much last night, but her pleading was too much for him, and he slipped a little deeper into the madness that she created inside him.

Walking through the base, contemplating the conversation he had just had with Hammond, Jack found himself at the one place that seemed oddly appropriate. The isolation room. He sat in the corner, head down, arms on his knees, and just let the myriad of emotions wash over him.

The anger had dissipated and a resounding loneliness had taken its place.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

After dropping the note to the floor and hurling the bagel into the wall, Samantha Carter grabbed her keys and ran for her car.

She made it to the base in record time, amazed she didn't get a ticket in the process. On the elevator ride down her nervousness caught up with her. What right did she have to demand anything more from him?

Remorse hit her square in the chest and she leaned against the back wall of the elevator as if it had been a physical attack.

She suddenly knew where he was. She switched the elevator button to the correct floor, and when she arrived at her destination broke into a sprint. As she turned the corner leading to the isolation room she stopped, caught her breath, and walked slowly to the door. Barely coming inside she stated:

"I thought we were ok."

He didn't look up. He knew she was there by the pounding footsteps that had echoed of the walls.

"Carter, where did you get this naïve notion that sex fixes things? It doesn't, especially not when it's considered illegal. But that's just the icing on the proverbial cake. Sex, is sex, Carter. Nothing profound. Don't be so childish. Happily ever after is a myth."

"You're wrong." Her claim was strong, her voice steady and with an assuredness he couldn't remember feeling.

"I speak from experience."

She hadn't moved from the door as she continued, "So, last night, that was just a one-off thing? Get it out of your system, use me for sex?"

"Use you, Carter? No, in this situation you don't get to point fingers when we're talking about using."

When he looked up he could see her head hung in shame. When she looked back up with glassy eyes, their eyes locked.

"I'm sorry, sir." Looking anxiously around and meeting his eyes again, she said in a soft, almost childish voice, "Can we… talk? Please?"

After a moment of silence, and the only sound she heard was of her heart beating in her ears, she heard a reply. One that was much more Jack O'Neill than he had been in the past two days.

"Sure, Carter. We can talk, but you'll have to come inside. I won't talk to you from the hallway."

"I can't do that, sir…"

The shocked expression on his face almost made her giggle, and she was quick to finish her statement.

"…this room is too full."

A slight smile graced his lips as he levered himself off the floor.

"That it is, Carter. That it is."

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Ok, there's a little more for you. I really have no ideas on where to go from here, and would love some ideas if anyone has any. Hope you liked it.