A/N: I'm SO not sure how you guys are going to take this chapter, but please bear with me.
Dedicated to: SG-Fan, Lea Marie, celticas, and withoutreason. Why? Because I am without any reason or sense.
SG1
Sam and Jack were locked in a staring contest that both Teal'c and Daniel were a little terrified to interrupt. After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, Jack ungloved one of his hands and pointed a finger at Sam, "You're lucky I don't throw you in the brig for striking a commanding officer, Carter. That was uncalled for."
Her clear blue eyes held no trace of the turmoil that was going on beneath her skin. A part of Sam wanted to break down crying and tell Jack how sorry she was, while another part wanted to punch him again. She could tell that he was falling back to their normal pattern of hiding behind the Air Force and she refused to let him know how much that hurt her.
"Yes, sir," was her stone cold reply.
"Good," Jack said, part of him wanting to screw all thoughts of those other women out of her mind, and part still seething over the blow she'd given his upper thigh. Her foot had hit a little too close to his package for him to be comfortable. "Get out of my sight, Carter. I don't want to see you anywhere near this base for the next two days. Dismissed."
Before she left, Sam came up to a snappy salute, "Yes, sir."
And that was the end of it.
Daniel and Teal'c maintained their silence while Jack removed the padding from his body. He glanced up at them angrily when they didn't leave after Carter. "Aren't you going to say something, Daniel?" he asked spitefully.
Daniel shook his head, "Not this time, Jack. You were both wrong, it'll just take some time for you to figure out what you need to do next." He started toward the door of the gym, stopped and turned back to his friend with a nod, "See you tomorrow."
Jack looked up at Teal'c, "You, too?"
Teal'c closed his eyes before saying, "Only twice in my relationship with Drey'auc did our arguments result in blows."
Jack cocked his head to one side, "What happened?"
Teal'c's deep brown eyes met Jack's, "You do not wish to know the circumstances leading up to these events, O'Neill. Only know that after one of them, Ry'ac was conceived; and after the other, a stillborn child."
The Tau'ri man nodded, unsure what to say. "I'll keep that in mind, T."
SG1
"Sam, you disregarded every aspect of the rules of engagement!" Sandra hounded her sister when she reached the commissary looking like a mess.
"Sandra, not now!" Sam nearly shouted. The men of SG-5 looked at her in concern – she was, after all, their Colonel Carter, but said nothing as the sisters fought. "I feel like crap and I was just ordered off the base for the next two days – don't talk to me about the rules of engagement."
Sue cocked her head at her sister, "How are you getting home?"
Sam sighed, rubbing her temple with one hand, "One of my bike's is in the lot, I'll just ride it. It'll give me a chance to clear my head."
On an impulse Sue stood up from her seat and hugged Sam tightly. "Be careful, Sam. It won't do anyone any good if you get yourself thrown in the brig."
Sam nodded as she pulled back with a wordless smile. "See you guys later."
SG1
The rain on his way home wasn't that surprising. What was surprising, however, was the motorcycle parked in his driveway and the very wet woman sitting on top of it. Jack thanked the airman who was driving the standard black SUV responsible for taking all the members of the SGC who had left their cars at Sam's house home for the night, before getting out of the car and walking over to where the theoretical astrophysicist sat in the rain.
Sam turned toward her boss as he walked toward her, hesitatingly and yet firmly. "Hi," she said.
Jack wondered if she forgot the 'sir' on purpose, "Hi." His eyes drifted over her soaking wet form, and that of the motorcycle, "Did you drive all the way from the SGC like that?"
Sam nodded, "I had to make a stop at my house first, though."
"Why?" Jack asked, wondering when this façade of calm that Carter exhorted would fade and reveal the emotions churning beneath the surface.
"To get my resignation letter to hand in to you," she said, reaching beneath her leather jacket to pull out a white envelope covered in a plastic bag to keep the rain off. "I already put one in the mail for General Hammond and President Hayes, sir, so there's really nothing for you to do."
Jack took the letter wordlessly. "Come inside, Carter. You're soaking wet."
Sam shook her head, "That's okay, sir. I was headed home anyway. You can stop by tomorrow to get your car back."
He grabbed her arm, preventing her from leaving, "No, Carter. You're going to come inside, take a hot shower and put on some dry clothes before I call you a cab to take home in the morning."
There was nothing Sam could do or say to make Jack change his mind and soon she was standing in his entry way, waiting for him to get her a towel so she could take a shower in the guest bath where she had a few things from previous team nights.
When Jack came back out, her teeth were chattering, "God, Carter, how long were you out there for?"
She shook her head, grabbing the towel desperately, "I don't know." Before his hand could release the cotton cloth into her grip, her hand shot out to still one of them. "I'm so sorry for what I did in the gym, sir. It was out of line for me to bring you down like that … it was just that you hurt me so bad and I wanted to hurt you back."
Jack's chocolate brown eyes met her baby blues. He was silent for a moment before softly saying, "Go take a shower, Carter, and get out of those wet clothes."
She hung her head, not expecting him to forgive her, "Yes, sir."
SG1
A/N: Please tell me it's not hopeless!
