So, a few of you pointed out in your reviews that Pete was already gone by the time Jack was promoted… didn't even think about this! Sorry! (Thank you Vigaro500 and Nikki!) Now here's my patchy cover-story… (I use ellipses a lot :)

Sam was sitting in her car a few houses down from her brother's driveway in San Diego. The sun was shining, she could hear her nieces playing in their yard, and the trees couldn't have been greener. This is awkward. She decided. She wasn't expecting a response from the man who lived in her head, he was loudly singing 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' meaning that a bathroom was in use somewhere in Washington D.C.

She got out of her car and walked toward the familiar driveway, stopping when she noticed a familiar car parked in the driveway; it certainly wasn't her brother's minivan. Pete's here. That stopped the singing.

You're fiancé? Came his voice, he couldn't cover the jealousy.

My EX- fiancé.

Good.

What?

Good. I didn't like him.

You certainly seemed to when he came to visit.

Ah, but then you couldn't read my thoughts. The jealousy that was reaching her even though they were on opposite ends of the country was amazing.

How did you not know that we'd broken up… the wedding didn't happen.

I knew.

Then why did you say 'my fiancé?'

That's just how I thought of him.

Oh.

Yeah… Jack returned to his singing, not wanting to dwell on it, she walked up to the door and knocked.

Despite the fact that Sam and Pete had stopped seeing each other, Pete walking out of the rest of her natural life, he was still her brother's best friend. After he had been denied permission to attend the memorial service, Mark had flown in to watch her 'ashes' interred, and Pete had come along as moral support. In fact, they had buried a box full of sand, though nobody but SGC personnel knew this.

Standing on his doorstep was weird to say the least. She fixed her hair twice, tugged on her shirt, and poked at her cuticles before sticking her hands in her pockets. Relax, Sam, he's your brother. The worst he's going to do is hug you.

You don't know Mark.

What's he going to do?

Stare at me.

That's not so bad.

You don't know Mark.

Their 'conversation' was interrupted when the door opened, and, instead of Mark's familiar blue eye, she was faced with Pete's blank brown stare.

"Hi," Sam shifted her weight, keeping her hands firmly in her pockets.

"Sam…" Pete opened the door to let her in, "I thought… we thought you were…"

"Sam," Mark walked out of the kitchen and stared at his little sister.

"Hi," she started fidgeting again.

"We thought you were dead," Pete was suddenly able to make full sentences again. Sam shifted nervously, looking at the floor under her brother's stare. It was what he did, he didn't mean it to be intimidating but it was; he had only started staring like that after their mother died.

"Mark, don't look at me like that…" He crossed the room and hugged her, for once Jack had nothing to say.

"We thought you were dead," his voice cracked. "I went to your funeral… they wouldn't let me go to the memorial service, it was classified… you had ashes… I saw your tombstone."

And he's not talking about pizza!

Shut up, Jack.

Sorry- I slipped.

She ignored him, hugging her brother back, closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at Pete.

"They had the wrong ashes, the dental records they found were sketchy- it wasn't me."

"I can't believe I got you back."

"Imagine my surprise when I got back and everybody told me I was supposed to be dead."

"You've been gone for months though, where did you go?" Sam looked at her feet, she couldn't tell him the truth and it hurt. I'm sorry, Sam. He doesn't have clearance.

But he should know! He's my brother, our dad died working on this… we died working on this. He has a right to know.

I'm sorry- the President won't allow it. He doesn't need to know. She let a tear slip as she told him their cover story; "General O'Neill and I were on a diplomatic mission out of the country, sharing our knowledge with the Chinese researchers working at their deep space radar telemetry station. There was an accident- they thought we were dead… We couldn't find anybody who spoke English…" She chuckled as though she had a memory of trying to tell an old Chinese woman about satellite dishes.

"Thank God," Mark hugged her closer. I told you he would give you a hug.

Yes, sir.

We've already talked about that 'sir' thing.

Sorry. Pete was looking at her when she opened her eyes; he knew all about the Stargate Program and now he suspected that China had their own. Let him think that. Doesn't hurt me. She knew Jack was smiling.

"What happened to your leg?"

"It's a long story," they sat down and had a cup of coffee while Sam wove another tall tail, this one concerned a flight of stairs and a very ornery Chinese goat.

…………………………………...

Sam spent a weekend with her brother and his family, his wife was very emotional about it; Sam had been the one to set the pair of them up, ironically. She avoided talking to Pete, but he called her when she was back at the SGC, questioning until she gave him the answers he sought, leaving out the fact that she had actually died, just telling him that she'd been MIA for so long and with so much evidence of their death that they'd been declared dead. He hung up as soon as he had all the information, still not wanting to be associated with someone who had hurt him so badly. I guess I can understand that.

I don't think I'd want to talk to you either if you dumped me.

Well, we're not even dating for one, and it would be awfully hard to get you out of my head…

I stick like that, I know. Sam laughed as Daniel walked in.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"Oh… How's Washington?"

Peachy. "Peachy."

"Holy crap."

They both chuckled, this time it was Jack who got a weird look from his secretary.

Business continued as usual at the SGC, she wasn't' allowed to go offworld until her leg healed, but most of that time had been taken up by her visit to her brother. Soon they were back to missions and more missions. Daniel redoubled his efforts to find Merlin's weapon in his text, often keeping Sam up to the wee hours of the morning on the day before a trip; this did not sit well with Jack. He would yell at her in her head, call and yell at Daniel, and, if they didn't give it up, call Landry and have him get them to sleep. Unfortunately, none of the extra hours proved any more fruitful in the search for the weapon.

………………………………..

SG1 returned home after another unsuccessful search for the weapon. Sam's head was filled once again with Jack's thoughts, which brought a smile to her lips every time she walked back through the 'gate.

When they had first arrived back on Earth, their connection had dimmed as the space between them grew. After a time, the space between them didn't matter, they could hear each other as though they were in the same room even though Jack was in Washington and Sam was on the other end of an open wormhole. Luckily, they learned to control what the other heard a little more; Jack no longer had to sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.'

Hey, Sam. How're you doing?

I'm tired.

Any luck?

Not really, we found a few things that were stimuli. Want to know anything about building force shields?

Whoa.

What?

It's like you just downloaded what you learned into my head, or something.

Hmm.

What do you mean, 'hmmm?'

I don't mean anything, just… hmmm…

Fine. He locked her out of his head, refusing to speak to her. It was just as well, she had missed the first part of Landry's greeting and almost the debriefing schedule.

…………………………………………….

Sam arrived home that night surprisingly alert. Despite the rough weekend offworld she had a perk in her step. Sir, where are you right now?

Washington, in my bed, trying to sleep. His tone gave it all away. It had the usual Jack O'Neill edge, she could tell he was lying, even in thought.

Hmmm…

You know, I'm beginning to hate that 'hmmm' thing of yours. Sam chuckled, unlocking her house.

Jack emerged from the tall bushes beside her door, hurrying her into the house and closing the door behind them. You gave me a heart attack! She complained.

No I didn't.

Almost.

Not even. He smiled, pulling her close. She resisted at first, backing away and finding her back against the wall. Regulations! The word flashed in both of their minds.

"Jack…" The spoken word sounded out of place in her usually silent house.

"Sam…" He responded, coming closer to her, keeping her against the wall. He kissed her, softly at first, making sure that she was okay with it, but the kiss quickly turned passionate.

"The regulations…" She whispered in protest when they came up for air. Don't stop. She thought to him. He smiled at her before claiming her lips again, meeting no resistance when he ventured, once again, inside her mouth.

Every touch was intensified by the other's reaction; emotions flowed between them leading to more emotions, more intensity.

The kisses made their way away from her mouth and down her jaw, eventually finding her neck. His hands explored her back and hips, pulling her closer, and pushing her farther up the wall at the same time. She ran her fingers through his hair, massaging his shoulders and pulling him closer as he kissed her all over. He found her mouth again, and they knew that they were lost to any force or rule that had been keeping them apart.

………………………………………………..

Jack woke the next morning and was pleased to find a very naked Sam in bed next to his very naked self. He tilted his head down slightly and kissed her hair, her scent filled his nostrils and he smiled. I'm so glad I came to town this weekend.

Me too.

You're awake?

Nope. He laughed into her hair, causing her to roll around and face him, kissing his shoulder as she did.

What do you want to do today?

Well… it doesn't involve much clothing… or getting out of bed for that matter…

What about the SGC?

I'm on downtime this weekend, you knew that.

Yeah, but I forgot. She chuckled, kissing his lips this time. She got an immediate response, smiling wider, she allowed him to take the lead.

Breakfast came about eleven that morning, Daniel phoned to make sure she was still at home, getting the pair of them away from each other long enough to realize that they were hungry. While Sam finished assuring Daniel that she would stay away from the SGC for the entire weekend, Jack had found the eggs in the fridge and was well on his way to finding the bacon when she joined him.

He's so ridiculous sometimes. She thought to him.

I know! I mean, c'mon, this is you we're talking about! If you're not at work by now you've either died, been abducted, or are deathly ill.

Or I've got an extremely handsome man visiting me for the weekend…

Well, when this fellow shows up be sure to let me know because I want to knock him down. They both smiled and made breakfast in silence.

Where do we go from here? Sam asked as they loaded the dishwasher.

Back to the bedroom? Jack asked hopefully.

Of course, but after we do that… What happens about us at work…?

Well… I think I could retire.

No! You love your job!

I used to, but reading the paperwork on how exciting your job is… my job used to be… isn't the same as writing the reports.

Oh.

Yeah.

So… how long have you been thinking about this?

About thirty seconds.

Well. Let's… I don't know. Neither wanted to push anything at the particular moment so they just went back to Plan A; Jack carried Sam back to her bedroom and they stayed there for most of the afternoon.

For once, Plan A has actually worked.