Sam had been in the bathroom for a while when Jack finally moved to the door. He knocked and called "Carter c'mon, please come out." When there was no response Jack continued to talk "Look, I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you, please come out"

The door unlocked and Sam stepped out. She wasn't wearing the sweater that she had been wearing before, now she just had on a small black tank top; but that wasn't what caught Jack's eye. There was bruising all over her chest and upper arms. Unconsciously Jack reached out to touch it; he laid his hands on her upper arms and when he finally looked up at her face he could see tears dripping down her cheeks.

Jack did the only thing he knew to do; he pulled her into his arms. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked after a few minutes?

"I thought I could stop him myself, but it just got worse, and I couldn't" she mumbled into his chest.

Jack sat them both on the sofa and just held her for as long as she needed him to. But it wasn't long until she was asleep. Jack gently laid her down and covered her with a blanket. He just sat there watching her for a while, making sure she was asleep before making his way to the cockpit.

The two pilots looked back at him as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Sir, is every thing ok?" the pilot asked.

Jack sat down in the spare seat "umm… yeah, but is it possible to contact Cheyenne mountain?" the co-pilot nodded and said something into his headset, before handing it back to Jack.

"Here sir, they're connecting you now."

"Ok thanks," Jack took the headset and put them on.

"This is the SGC" Walter's voice came thru.

"Hey Walter, this is O'Neill, would you do me a favour and get the General for me?"

"Of course Sir," after a moment another voice came on "Colonel is there a problem?"

"Well, yes and no Sir. The trip is going fine, and I think it was a good idea sending Carter with me, but I found out something I don't think you'll be too pleased about" Jack said then mumbled "I know I'm not."

"Colonel?" Hammond said in a questioning voice.

"Sir, it would appear Shanahan was not as nice as he seemed."

"What are you trying to say Jack?"

"He was hitting Carter. Pretty bad from what I can see; she has bruises all over her chest and upper arms. I'm not sure if there is anymore but I'm guessing there is."

There was a long pause before Hammond responded "when did you find out about this Jack?"

"Well there was a message on her answering machine when we got to her place that started me thinking, and she's had some bruising that she was blaming on missions or being clumsy at home."

"Ok, is she ok?"

"Umm…not really, I think it would be best to keep her away from him for a while. I was calling to see what you could do about that, Sir"

"Ok, I'll go listen to the message on her phone. Call if you need anything else Jack"

"Yes Sir, thank you. Em one thing though sir, I sort off deleted the message"

"No problem son, I'll have Walter have a look at it, and don't worry I'll makes sure he doesn't say anything. Keep me apprised" then the line went dead.

Jack looked at the two pilots, and handed back the headset, "I don't need to tell you to keep what you just heard to yourself do I?"

The pilot spoke "No sir,"

"Good, how long until we land?" Jack asked, "Still about five hours until we land in Shannon" the pilot replied.

Jack nodded "ok, I'm going try and get some sleep, but before I do, do either of you want any food? There's still some in the fridge?"

The co-pilot spoke this time "no thanks Sir, we were given food as well"

Jack nodded and left them alone. When he re-entered the cabin Sam was still asleep on the sofa. He moved to the seat next to her, and got comfy before falling asleep.

Jack woke four hours later, but when he looked to check on Sam she was no longer asleep and the sofa. He turned and looked at the table and a small smile spread across his face; both slices of cake were sitting on the table waiting to be eaten, but Sam was nowhere to be seen. He moved to stand when he heard the bathroom door open and Sam stepped out. She was now wearing her sweater.She smiled a small smile at him "Hi sir."

"Hey Carter, how long have you been up?"

"Not to long, I'd say about half and hour."

Jack nodded and moved towards the bathroom as Sam moved to sit down at the table. A few minutes later Jack reappeared and sat down at the table opposite her. They both started eating the cake, and Jack started explaining more about his family. "Well, I've told you I have five sisters and four brothers, what else do you want to know?"

Sam had to think about it for a minute. "Ok, what are their ages? You said they were all younger brothers and sisters, but what is the order?"

"Hum…ok it goes me and Krissy, then Mel and Sib, who by the way is married to Dixon, and another one of my old team members, Col. Jennings, is marred to Mel." Sam looked at him funny "I know, I know, most of my original special ops team married into my family. Ok, well back on track. Umm, next are Alex and Patch, then Mac and Sean and lastly Sahara and Mick."

Sam thought about it for a minute "So their all twins?" Jack nodded, "which means you and…" she trailed off.

"Yep, Krissy and I are twins"

"Wow."

Jack chuckled "Is that all you can say?" She just stared at him "I take that as a yes."

After a minute Sam snapped out of her trance "ok, anything else?"

"Umm… oh yeah, my dad is a Lt. General in the US Air Force" he said smiling. Sam laid her head down on the table and mumbled "What have I gotten myself into?" Jack chuckled softly.

"Don't worry I'm sure A-" Jack paused and looked at his hands realizing what he was about to say.

Sam reached over to take his hand. "I'm sure they'll all love you" he said after a minute.

"You're really going to miss her aren't you?"

"Yes I am, she was always there for me and me for her" he whispered.

TBC…

Well? What did you think? Let me know please!!