9

She looked up sharply.

"Daniel was there last night" he told her "Jacob rang him too, when I lost you I called for help, I knew he was already out looking for you" oh now her life really WAS over!

Daniel sat beside her and pulled her into a hug "Hey don't worry, we all do stupid things when we are upset" he told her… she hoped to god she hadn't propositioned him! Teal'c sat opposite her on the chair, she looked at him and saw only sympathy in his eyes.

"T, come help me start the grill, Jacob should be here soon" the two men left the room.

"What happened Daniel?" she asked

"Jack rang, as it happened I was less than a block away when he did, we had started at opposite ends of the town, when I got to you both, he was carrying you" she groaned "You woke up and told him you were the best lay he never had" Daniel was grinning at her, she flushed from head to toe with embarrassment. "He got into the back of my car with you wrapped around him and we drove to where he had left his, we transferred you to his car and he said he would take you home, I thought he meant to your home"

"That's it? I didn't do anything else to embarrass myself?" he coughed… oh great! "spill it, I have to known Daniel"

"Well you did say that he didn't want you and if I wasn't your brother you would have a piece of me" she groaned and buried her face in his shirt… "Hey I'm flattered!" he told her still grinning

"What am I going to do?" she asked him "how can I go back to work with you all after this? Oh Daniel I really screwed up"

"Naww, you didn't" her CO said from behind her "We all do stupid things at times, it was your turn that's all."

"Oh because YOU screw up often" she said sarcastically

"We all do Carter, you are just usually too controlled for it to happen to you" she snorted, he pulled her off the sofa and wrapped his arms around her, god he felt good, she melted into his embrace "now no more silly talk, your dad will be here soon, you did nothing wrong, your team looked after you, which is what we do… ok?" she nodded reluctant to break the embrace, he was so good at this!

The bell rang and Jack went to the door, her father came in with General Hammond. Jacob went straight to her and pulled her into another hug and once again she couldn't help but compare the two men.

"Give us a minute?" he asked of everyone else, they all filed out. He pulled her down to sit next to him on the sofa "Mark says he is sorry" he told her, she snorted. "Sam, how you doing after the whole Seth thing?" she hardly remembered that that was what set this all off. She shook her head, actually she wasn't sure any more how she was doing about anything.

"You sleep here last night?" he asked, she looked up shocked. "I came back early from San Diego, I know you didn't sleep at home" she HAD to protect Jack, he had done nothing wrong!

Before she knew it she had spilled almost the whole story, expecting the lecture again she was surprised when he didn't start in on her, he just said "Oh Sam" and held her tighter.

Selmak took over "Jacob is worried about you, but he is glad that Jack O'Neill is who he is, he knows he will always look out for you no matter what" she opened her mouth to say something but her fathers fingers covered her lips "He loves you as much as you love him, and it breaks Jacobs heart that you two will never be together while ever you are in the same chain of command, I must say though, it is probably the stupidest rule I have ever heard of!" Sam smiled, she knew her father could fill his guest in on why the frat regs were imposed. She felt better though, knowing that her father understood, and that he was not jumping to conclusions as he would have done before.

They went out to join the others, her dad and the General sat on the loungers talking, and Teal'c held centre stage as he had bought several films for them to watch on their next team night, the Die Hard series were first on his list. Sam smiled, she supposed they were the sort of film that would appeal to the Jaffa, one against many and winning.

Jack turned from the grill several times to glance at her, and at last she met his eyes, she smiled back, and he seemed happy. He managed not to totally burn the meat, and the evening went fine.

"Need a lift home?" her dad asked as he was leaving, Jack raised an eyebrow at her as if asking how much he knew. She kissed him and told him Jack was going to give her a lift to her car as he knew where it was. He looked surprised, but her father gave her a hug and told her he would see her the next time he was on Earth. He shook hands with Jack and left with the General, Daniel and Teal'c left just after, Sam once more helped to clean up and then Jack gave her a lift to the bar she had left her car at.

She swapped vehicles and, thanking him sincerely, she drove away. She looked into her rear view as she pulled out onto the street and saw him punch his car door, she was tempted to stop and go back, but she had pushed her luck and their friendship far enough for one weekend… hell for the year!

She got a pleasant surprise back at base the next day, she was going to be promoted! The secretary of defence himself was going to attend and she was going to be a Major! She was very pleased to receive the rank, she was still a bit on the young side for it, which made it even better. She wished she had known to tell her dad, but the General told her he had known, and had sent a message which he would pass on at the end of the ceremony… of course the ceremony didn't end properly, her heart was in her mouth when at the start of his speech her CO vanished.

When he was beamed back to them it was all she could do not to run and wrap her arms around him. He spent hours tied up with Thor, and Daniel over the next few days, and it was only after they had captured and sent off Nirrti and with her friends that she had time to reflect on what had happened once more.

She knew Thor would never hurt him, but the thought that someone could snatch him from in front of her and she may never see him again made her shake.

She once more found herself at his house. This time she had decided, she was not going to take no for an answer, she WAS going to seduce him. She parked at the end of the road in the small park, and picked his lock, she let herself in and made her way to his bedroom.

She heard his truck pull up and he came through the front door. "O'Neill you're a bastard!" he told himself before she could shout him. "What the hell did you do that for?" do what? She couldn't think of anything he had done that would provoke such a reaction.

"Sam!" he groaned and she heard the sound of flesh hitting the wall. She got out of bed and made her way to the passage door, "God Sam!" he said groaning, and she saw him punch another hole in the plasterboard wall.

"You called?" she said, standing framed in the bedroom door, wearing nothing but her sexiest underwear. He turned to her slowly, nursing his hand. He walked towards her as if he thought she was a dream and reached up to touch her face with one trembling hand.

She leaned into the caress, and closed her eyes. His touch as usual sending signals all over her body.

"Want to tell me what that was about?" she asked picking up his damaged hand and kissing the broken skin on his knuckles.

"No" he said and pulled her into his arms, he kissed her, no chaste peck this time, he demanded entrance to her mouth with his tongue and she opened to him. He groaned as he tasted her, his hand travelling to the catch on her bra and undoing it in one move.

He pushed her back into the bedroom and onto the bed and he followed her down, only breaking for air when they had to, they managed to get him as undressed as her.

They made love in a rush, a frantic coupling that satisfied their basic lust, but was not enough for either of them.