Disclaimer: See Ch. 1

Authors Note: Thank you for the reviews! Sorry if there is space between my updates, just got a new schedule at work. Enjoy!

Jack drove Sam back to Cheyenne Mountain. It was a quiet 20 minute drive the whole way there. Not even the sounds of the radio were playing. Sam liked the quiet, it gave her time to think and reflect on the past few weeks and what had happened. Her main question to herself was how she let this happen. She was not one of these women you would hear about, one who thought she deserved it. Sam knew she didn't deserve any of it. She did however deserve to be happy and that was something that she needed to start working towards.

They had to wait a while to see Janet; apparently SG3 came back with injuries and broken bones of some kind. Needless to say she was surprised to see Sam and the Col. Back on base this late in the evening.

"Col., Sam, what can I do for you."

"Janet I need an exam."

"I just gave you one after the mission, has something happened."

"Oh yeah!"

"Sir, please."

"Ok, ok. Just tell her Carter."

"I think my ribs are broken."

"How?"

"Pete."

"Sam, why didn't you say anything?"

"It's hard to explain Sam, can you just take a look. I still have to talk to the General."

Janet did her exam and confirmed that Sam had not one, not two, but four broken ribs. It was amazing that she was able to breathe without difficulties. Sam was placed on medical leave, which Janet hand delivered to Hammond before Sam went to speak to him.

Jack stayed out of the room as Sam told Hammond about all that had happened in the past few weeks. He now understood her request for reassignment, and now asked her to reconsider. Sam said that after her week of leave, she would let him know her final decision.

When Sam was done with the General, she went to find Jack. He was in the mess starring into a cup of coffee that had yet to be touched. Her heart ached. She knew that in someway Jack placed the blame on himself and yet, to her, it all fell on her shoulders. It was her burden to bear.

"All done?"

"Yeah, would you mind taking me home now?"

"Not a problem Sam."

The drive back was also quiet. Jack stopped and picked up Sam's prescription and then drove to her house. He helped her out of the car and made sure that she made it inside before he asked if she needed anything and ordered her to call if she changed her mind. Jack had a pain in his gut when Sam closed and locked the door behind him. Inside he knew that leaving her was probably not the best idea in the world.

Sam took two of the pain killers and went to bed. She had to admit she was in a lot of pain from what Pete had done to her. Hard to believe that she took harder hits than that on an almost daily basis.

It was a quiet night. Early fall was like that, not to hot, not to cold. Just right. No snow had fallen yet and rain was not in the daily forecast much. Sam was dead to the world when she heard her door crack open to her bedroom and saw a shadow lurking there.

"I told you, you would regret giving up on us."

Before she could scream, her mouth was covered. The combination of the pain killers and her broken ribs made it painful to fight back. In the dark, she knew who it was. Pete. He had been watching her more than likely since he left. She should have told Jack to stay away.

"So what do you think that your Col will think when you don't show up tomorrow? Do you think he will come looking for you? Maybe he won't, but wait as quickly as it took for you to call him today, I'm sure he'll come check up on you in the morning. Shall we give him an early wake up call?"

Pete pulled Sam from the bed and dragged her to the living room. There she noticed one of her dining room chairs sitting facing the front door. Loose ropes hung around the arms and the legs. At least she knew that he was horrible at tying knots and used this knowledge to formulate a plan to get out of this. Once she was in place, she saw Pete reach for the phone and dial the familiar number to Jack.

"Hello?"

"Col. O'Neill, good morning. I have a surprise for you."

"Pete?"

"Good guess. If you want to see Sam alive again, you will get over here now." He hung up the phone and threw it on the couch. Sam thought that it was because of her that Jacks life is possibly in danger at this very moment. It wasn't until she saw Pete place the C4 to the legs of the chair that she knew he was really in danger. She waited, tears streaming down her face as she listened for the sound of Jack's truck pulling up in front of her house.

Pete cracked the door so the first thing Jack saw when he got to the stairs was that. He released the safety on his gun and gently pushed the door open. Immediately he saw Sam and the C4 on the chair. His eyes went big when he saw Sam tied to the chair ready to blow up.

"Put the gun down Colonel."

Jack obeyed; he was going to do whatever it took to get Sam out of there and to make her safe.

"Now time for you to make a choice. It's simple really. Sam or you. Pick."

A/N: I know I'm not nice this time. More is coming I promise.