A/N: Thank you very much for your response to the first chapter! Unfortunately, I am not able to respond to the reviews submitted from Guest accounts, but I really appreciate you taking time to let me know what you think! I just thought I'd let you know that the first chapter has been replaced with a corrected version, but other than my mistakes, nothing has been changed. I hope this chapter will not disappoint you.

CHAPTER 2

It was an early evening, when she went out for a walk with the hope that it would help her clear her head at least a little. There were a lot of thoughts circling in her mind, all connected to the decision she was facing and after she sat down on the couch with a mug of coffee in her hands and the intention of thinking about this situation, all she managed to achieve was a terrible headache. The internal battle inside her continued; there was only one possible option for her heart, her mind however kept questioning its correctness.

It seemed obvious that if she ever wanted to find true happiness in her personal life, she had to follow the path made available for them by Jack O'Neill. He was the man she was in love with and even if by some chance she managed to move on, he would always hold a very significant place in her heart. If, at the beginning of their acquaintance, somebody had told her that she would hold such feelings towards this man, she would have called them insane. She would have to be blind not to notice his physical attractiveness, yet she would never believe she could even like somebody so arrogant and cocky, who questioned her usefulness just because she was a scientist. Still, she soon realised that he was a much more complicated person than she would have ever suspected. She actually came to admire him as a leader, appreciate his sense of humour and positive attitude to her often crazy ideas. It was done unintentionally, yet at some point during the last three years she had fallen head over heels in love with him and the strength of her feelings made her doubt that she would ever be able to forget about him.

At the same time, she was aware how perilous it was to choose to follow her heart's lead. They would be forced both to keep everything in secret and risk facing serious consequences in case they were discovered, or make sacrifices, which she wasn't sure either of them was ready for. How could they be, when they didn't even know if their relationship was going to work out? It could turn out to be the best thing in their lives, and that would certainly make it worth those sacrifices, but at the same time, it could turn out to be a complete disaster, leaving them with nothing. Moreover, how would they choose which one of them should be the one to adjust? They both loved their jobs and were invaluable to their team and the program in general; also, neither of them would want to let the other be the one to leave SG-1. The best option seemed to keep everything a secret, at least until they would be able to decide how serious they were about this relationship, and if it even stood a chance in the first place. If, however, it was found out, they could be both court-martialled and lose everything; and the truth was that she knew quite a handful of people, who would be very happy if presented with such a perfect opportunity to compromise SG-1 and harm the reputation of the program.

The cool evening air turned out to be quite helpful indeed and it seemed to have made it easier for her to focus and think what was it that she truly wanted. The weight of the decision was overwhelming; her whole life seemed to depend on this choice and she was absolutely terrified that she would make a mistake, but realise it only after it would be too late to fix it and she would be forced to live in regret for the rest of her life. How was she supposed to do it then? How was she supposed to know which of those choices was the right one? She couldn't even discuss it with anybody; there was nobody, who she could explain the dilemma to and who could help her see it from a different perspective, possibly making it easier.

She didn't really have any particular place in mind or where she wanted to go and it was only when she reached a familiar place, that she was brought back to reality after being lost in her thoughts and she realised where she was. She didn't have any problems recognising the neighbourhood, where Colonel O'Neill's house was located; she actually found herself standing right in front of it and she wasn't able not to gently snort. It seemed that her subconscious had led her all the way there, that her thinking of him leading her to the place where he lived. It also made her realise how long she was actually out; their houses weren't very far away from each other, yet they weren't exactly close either and that it was completely dark by now, something she hadn't seemed to notice before, only emphasized how much time had passed. Nevertheless, she had finally found the answer for which she was looking, and taking a deep breath, she approached the Colonel's house, preparing herself for what was about to come.

She let out a long, shaky breath, raising her hand and knocking three times. Her heart was thundering in her chest, but she wasn't sure if it had actually slowed down for even a second since the conversation in her lab. Her whole body was trembling, although she wasn't sure whether it was because she was so nervous or so cold – probably a mix of both. It seemed to have last an eternity, during which she had almost turned and ran a couple of times before she heard sounds coming from the other side of the door. Then, before she knew it, she was standing face to face with him and all the courage she was able to gather, as well as the words, which she had prepared and kept repeating in her head, momentarily vanished.

"Carter?" he asked, looking at her with an obvious surprise in his eyes.

She was one of the last people, who he had in mind when he was placing the bottle of bear on the coffee table in front of the couch he was sitting on and stood up to see, who decided to pay him a visit. There was a moment, when he considered to simply ignore it altogether but eventually decided to check – it could be something important after all. And now he knew that it was; he couldn't think of many reasons why he would find an obviously anxious Samantha Carter on his doorstep at such a time of the day, and unless something had happened, she came to continue their conversation from earlier. He stared at her for a moment, trying his best to find any indication of what she was going to say in her body language, but other than the fact that she was extremely nervous, he couldn't see anything.

He swallowed, starting to grow nervous as well. If he was right when it came to the reason of her appearance, something very significant for his life was just about to happen. Either way, it was going to change. The remaining question was, basically, whether the woman standing in front of him was going to be present in it or not. He hoped for the former, of course; he couldn't imagine his life without her and he really wanted something more than the friendly CO to subordinate relationship they enjoyed now. After everything they have done, putting the importance of the safety of the world – universe – in front of their own happiness, risking their own lives just so that others could complain just how much money they were 'wasting' each year, it really wasn't a lot to ask for. It wasn't entirely up to him, though; he knew she cared about him, too, but it what she wanted didn't necessarily have to be the same.

"Umm… May I come in, Sir?" she asked, apprehensively raising her eyes to look at him, while she continued to fidget with her hands.

"What?" he was startled by the sound of her voice, but quickly shook it off. "Oh! Of course!" he said, moving to the side and giving her space to walk into the house.

He closed the door behind her and turned around. He stood there, rocking on his heels and watching her for a moment longer, and he could almost see all the wheels turning in her head while he waited for her to say something - anything. He didn't really have anything to add to what he told her before, and he also didn't want to press her to hurry up and give him the answer. It was also difficult to come up with any sort of conversation with something so huge hanging between them, making the atmosphere tense and rather uncomfortable.

"You were right, Sir." she said, after taking another deep breath and once again raising her gaze, but this time looking straight into his eyes. There was something in her eyes that made his heart flutter, and he had to fight an overwhelming desire to reach out his hand and cup her face, as well as remind himself that it didn't mean anything. There were a lot of things that he said and she could agree with him on a lot of them, not necessarily this one. "We can't go on like this anymore."

Before he was able to respond in any way, she took a step forward and placed her hands on both sides of his face. She paused just for long enough to check for any sign that what she was about to do could be unwelcome, and in the next second she pressed her lips against his. For a moment, he was completely stunned, not able to believe what was actually happening; he felt like a huge weight was lifted off his heart, which was beating furiously in his chest, while he realised the meaning of her actions. Then, as if suddenly woken up from a little trance, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, pressing her against himself and kissing her back.

They were completely breathless when the kiss came to an end. It was a fervent, fierce kiss, reflecting the intensity of all the feelings they kept bottled-up for the last three years. He didn't let go of her, though; his lips simply moved to place kisses along her jaw line, his tongue flickering against the little spot behind her ear. He smirked, hearing the soft moan that escaped her lips and feeling her melt into his arms.

"Are you sure? This is your last chance to…" he started, when he felt her hands tug at his t-shirt, pulling it up and unmistakably trying to take it off. Her actions were a good indication of what she wanted, but if they were to cross this line, there would be absolutely no turning back and he wanted to make sure that she was absolutely certain about it. He was quickly cut off, when she kissed him again and the message behind it couldn't be more clear.

He let go of any inhibitions that he might have been still holding onto and kissed her back with everything he had. Never breaking even the slightest of physical contact, they walked to his bedroom, dropping clothes on their way only to fall naked on the bed. They made love as if there was no tomorrow, finally able to express everything they felt for each other, and eventually fell asleep in each other's arms, sated and happy.