The next morning at breakfast, Sam told Daniel what had happened. She couldn't go into detail about the situation, and that made her uncomfortable. She wasn't used to having to keep things from him.

"What are you going to do?" Daniel asked as he stabbed at his breakfast.

"I honestly don't know." Sam responded. "There are a few positions that I've been thinking about, but everything just seems wrong. Whatever position I take is a step backwards."

"There is always the SGC."

She smiled weakly at him. "Yes, and that is probably where I will go." She looked into her cup of coffee and then back at Daniel and Vala.

"So, are you going to explain this?" Sam asked, a twinkle in her eye.

"What you see is what you get." Vala started to laugh. "Right Daniel?"

He just shook his head and smiled.

"So…" Vala started, "Daniel told me, that Jack told him, that he ran into you."

Daniel shot Vala a look, "I thought I said…" he muttered under his breath

"And I thought I said." She countered.

Neither one noticed that Sam had choked on her coffee.

"I literally bumped into him."

"You didn't tell me that!" Vala exclaimed.

"It wasn't my finest hour." Sam said. "How much longer do you think that you are going to be here?" she said, changing the subject.

"For another week at least."

"Finding anything good?"

"Good for the general population. Not that I was really expecting to find anything else. It's just that with everything that has happened recently, it's a 'better be safe than sorry' situation."

"Completely understandable."

"How long are you planning on staying in Washington?" Daniel asked.

"I'm not really sure. I am going to go and see Mark and girls though. It has been forever since I've seen them."

The three friends sat there, catching up on things. Daniel told stories about Cameron and Teal'c, and filled Sam in on things that had been left out of the microburst transmissions. Sam told Daniel what to expect when he went to Atlantis.

There was just one thing missing from making this morning one of the best she has had in a long time.

His name was Jack.

After the group had gone their separate ways, Daniel and Vala to do what they were going to do, Sam was alone.

She had never felt so alone.

Even here, in Washington, everywhere she looked she saw him. She thought this was worse than what it would have been if she had been back in Colorado or Minnesota. Well, maybe not Minnesota.

Sam took out her phone and called 411. She was going to go and see her brother sooner than later.

-o-o-o-

"There may just be other humanoid life out there."

She started to giggle, and Jack squeezed her hand. Electricity shot up through her arm, and encompassed her entire being. She bit down on her bottom lip, to stop herself, and noticed that he was doing practically the same thing.

She felt his hand on her back. "Good morning Sam." He said. She felt him kiss the top of her head.

"I'm not ready for it to be morning yet." She mumbled and snuggled in closer to him, just breathing him in. Enjoying the night that they had spent together, asleep on her couch.

She looked across the lake behind his cabin. The moon was full and shining off of the lake. She couldn't have asked for a better picture of tranquility. She was leaning into him, her most favorite place to be.

"How would you feel about getting married?"

So awoke with a start. It had been a long while since she had dreamed about him. She looked at the clock in her hotel room. She had only been sleeping for an hour.

She picked up her phone and dialed a number she still knew by heart. One she would probably never forget.

"General O'Neill's office."

"Is the General in?" Sam said in a rush. She was starting to lose her nerve.

"Who is calling?"

"Colonel Samantha Carter."

"I will see if I can reach him."

She was put on hold. She was getting ready to hang up. This was just a bad idea.

"Carter?" Jack's voice entered her head, and pushed everything else away.

"Hi. I…" she took a deep breath. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I was… angry. Is there anyway that I could take you up on that cup of coffee?"

"Sam, I am really in the middle of something here."

"Of course. I didn't think about that, I'm sorry." She said in a rush. "This was a bad idea."

"How about dinner?" He said just as quickly.

"Dinner?"

"Dinner."

"Dinner." She said again, the word rolling around in her mouth. She nodded her head. "I would like that."

"Okay. Why don't we meet at my office at say 19:00?"

"Yeah sure you betcha."

They said their awkward goodbyes. Jack smiled, and for the first time in a long time, he meant it.

TBC