after the Orlin Episode, Sam takes Jack up on his offer.

"I could...hang out." those words echoed through Sam's head several times during the last hours. Colonel O'Neill had made that offer the day before. She hadn't come back to it because that evening the alien appeared again and thus her efforts were not in vain.

But now she was alone in her house, and the silence felt overwhelming. It felt empty and painful. Here she had sat with him, dined with him. In her basement, he had built his little stargate... And then she lost him. It was remarkable how quickly the bond had developed between them. Now she was missing their interactions, their conversations... His smile.

Ugh, she had to stop thinking about it, she told herself. She had to call somebody... Daniel? No Daniel was a good friend, but he'd try and get her to talk about it. And sooner or later he would inevitably turn towards his own heartbreaks. He had a habit of doing that. She understood him, but it wasn't what she needed right now.

...She needed O'Neill. Jack O'Neill knew how to help without talking about it. But he could also make for a good listener if the situation called for it. She'd witnessed it before. Alright that was settled, O'Neill it was to be.

She picked up her phone from the coffee table by her sofa, found his name in her contacts, and started dialling.

Jack was rummaging through his fridge searching for anything edible. He found some cheese and bread, that would do.

While snacking his eyes travelled over the room, but he wasn't really looking at his messy living space, he was thinking about the last days. To be honest, he was wondering about how Carter must be doing now. She seemed to have gotten quite attached to that alien guy. He must've been the one she had a date lunch with. Jack recalled the twinge in his stomach he felt when Sam declined his visit because she had a date. But he tried not to dwell on it, Sam being happy and not lonely was more important than feeling jealous.

But...now he was gone. Maybe she was lonely... Should he give her space? Or check on her? Knowing Carter and how she could keep feelings to herself, for a very long time, until they became suffocating... He decided he should check up on her. That's what a good friend does, right? He'd call her and check if she was okay, that was a perfectly legitimate reason.

He started dialing her number which he had memorized. After all seeing a guy appearing out of thin air which only you could s was not that normal, even in their profession. He was just about to press the 'Call' button when his phone announced an incoming call. The screen read "Sam Carter" He picked up immediately.

"Carter?"

"Hello, Sir. I..hope I'm not disturbing?"

"No, no. Not at all. In fact, I was just about to call you."

"You were? What about?"

"To check how you're doing, after all that...you know..."

"Yeah..."

"So, why did you call?"

"Umm actually same topic"

"Ahh. Soo, how ARE you doing?"

"Well, you know 'bout your offer... "

"Which one, Carter?" O'Neill said in a playful tone.

He heard Sam chuckle. "The one about staying over...I'm feeling a bit-" there was a slight pause. "Lonely" she finished the sentence, at a lower volume. "And I don't wanna intrude if you already have plans or-"

"I'm coming Carter,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, be there in 10."

Sam tried to withstand the urge of looking to the in-drive every other second. She scanned the rooms if they were in an okay state and then inspected her appearance in the bathroom mirror. She stared into it far too long, finding faults where she could but fortunately she was interrupted by the doorbell.

"Sir," she breathed out in relief as she opened the door to see Jack O'Neill smiling at her.

"Sam, only request I have for this evening...no ranks."

"Right, Hi, Jack." he gave her a big grin in response.

"Hi, Sam. Will you let me in?"

"Oh right." she let him pass and proceeded to close the door behind him. Turning around she noticed he put down several bags, one looked like a sports bag and two like groceries.

"Sorry, it took a few more. I stopped in the store on the way. I wanted to bring you better stuff than beer."

"What's better than beer?" Sam chuckled. "It's like the only thing you drink." she was a little surprised at her own cheeky mood. Jack gave her a mischievous grin. He plunged his hand into the bag to present-

"Kombucha!" she cried out.

"Yass," Jack affirmed.

"Amazing idea." Sam exclaimed, taking the bottle she went into the kitchen. She lightly washed and dried it off. Jack knowing Sam well enough, rarely thought any of her actions to be pointless, thus he raised his eyebrow and inquired: "Care to share?"

"What?" Sam asked confused.

"Enlighten me." he smiled pointing at the water tap and than at the Kombucha bottle.

"Oh, it must look very weird I swear it's-"

"Saaam," he supportingly squeezed her shoulder. "I know you, I'm not judging I'm genuinely asking."

"Oh," Sam breathed out. "Well there's bacteria and viruses everywhere on surfaces, and this has been transported across the country through one truck if it got lucky, before it even landed in a storage, from where it was transported to the store, where somebody unpacked and put it into shelves all before your hand or mine ever touched it. And then it still had to touch that driving thigy in the store where everything goes, and went under the cashiers hands which also touch everything. And there have been reported cases of rats and other creatures in storages so you see, one can never know how many and what organisms have been in contact with this prior to it arriving on my kitchen counter where I eat...

"I am beginning to see what you mean," Jack nodded understandingly. He gazed down at his hands, "Then I should probably wash them too."

"If you wouldn't mind,"

"No worries," Jack replied. "The bathroom's at the end of the hall, right?"

"Yeah,"

Jack left the room feeling satisfied. He was being honest, he didn't mind Sam's behaviour one bit, she was the scientist after all. It actually made sense. And he felt a sort of prideful achievement, he was being initiated into key details of the lifestyle of Samantha Carter.

Jack returned. "Soo...Where should we start? Do you wanna sit? Do you want some tea? Or coffee... I could fix something up." she said, gesturing to the kitchen.

"Sam," Jack said, walking up to Sam and gently enveloping her hands in his, "I am here to help YOU. So YOU tell me what YOU NEED, alright? I am at your disposal."

Sam blinked.

"Okay?" Jack asked his hands still holding hers, his thumbs were now tracing the gentlest of circles on their skin.

"Okay," she nodded.

He smiled at her reassuringly. "Soo, what would you like me to do?"

she felt distracted from thinking by the sensation of their hands touching. Her gaze fixated on it. Jack abruptly stopped and his hold was loosening-"No, don't..stop." she breathed out. Looking up she caught the moment when a shy smile reappeared on his face.

"Do you wanna ta-"

"Not yet, she interrupted him, hands in her back pockets.

O'Neill nodded. "So distraction it is then. Shall we?" he pointed to the shelves behind her. He didn't want to do anything unexpected or make act like he was in his own home, after all she had just experienced a force home entry in a way. He may have been non-coporeal when he did but then doesn't change the shock and surely even increased a feeling helplessness in Carter.

"Hmm," he said standing before the shelves, examining their contents thoroughly. "Just a few good night books eh Carter?" he teased her lightly, putting a finger on one of the gigantic physics books she had stored in her library. Sam smiled at his comment. There were also math, astrophysics and astronomy books. Of course, Einstein made it there as well. "You know, I'm actually a fan of astronomy myself. I mean, it be crazy if I wasn't considering our job." he paused looking at Sam, she was listening to and observing him intently. "I've got a telescope, you could stop by some time when the sky is clear. If you'd like." He smiled at her.

"I would... Then maybe we could see Orlin's planet..." her voice died down. And O'Neill thought oh damn wrong direction, as Sam's eyes began filling with tears.

"I'm sorry Sam, bad example." he put his hands on her shoulders.

Her tears got more and a sob escaped her.
"Shhh" he hummed and pulled her into a hug, he felt her instantly wrap her arms around him. One across his shoulder reaching to just under his neck and the other around his arm, reaching to his shoulder. She cried and sobbed into his t-shirt and he gently moved his hand around on her back, drawing circles with his palm, with the other he held her steadily to give her a feeling of stability.

"I hate feeling like this," she sobbed.

"What do you feel like?" Jack murmured with a loving voice near her ear.

"Helpless, out of control, like it shouldn't have happened, I sh-shouldn't have allowed it."

"You think this happened because you lost control?"

"Yes."