Daniel had invited Jack to dinner the night before he and Vala were to head back to the SGC. Daniel knew that if he didn't try to help Jack and Sam in their… whatever it is that was going on… Vala would.

He loved her, but Vala drove him absolutely crazy sometimes. Daniel convinced her to let him handle it, let him bring it up, let him talk about it. She promised, as long as they could go to a Chinese restaurant. She had become obsessed with the food. Daniel put that on his list of things to thank Sam for.

"And then Daniel here, he ended up covered head to toe in this… what would you call it? Sludge? And it dried quick."

"And it smelled." Daniel reminded him.

"That was one way to put it." Jack said laughing. "It was everywhere."

"It took me a good month to get it all out of my ears."

"You should have seen T. He did that eyebrow thing, and said, 'Daniel Jackson, your odor is most unpleasant.' And that was a week after it happened."

"Try two weeks."

"Oh that was great!" Jack said continuing to laugh at the memory.

"Yeah, loads of fun." Daniel tried to sound upset, but the smile on his face gave his true emotions away. "Sam wasn't smelling that good either. She was right behind me."

"And if I remember correctly, she told you not to pull that lever."

"I swear I didn't pull it!"

"Right Daniel. You didn't pull it." Jack laughed.

That is how the dinner went, Jack and Daniel telling humorous stories about the time when they had worked together, Vala laughing the entire time. When the check came and had been paid, Vala left the two of them alone. She knew they needed time to themselves.

Jack and Daniel went to a dive bar, and ordered two beers.

"It was really nice to see you." Jack started, taking a pull from his bottle.

"Yeah, you too Jack."

"So things are serious with her?"

"Vala? Yeah, you could say that."

"Good for you." Jack patted Daniel on the back. "That's good."

"What about you?"

"Me what?"

"Sam, Jack. What about Sam?"

"Why does it seem every conversation with you lately has worked its way back to Carter?"

"Oh you know me, I just can't let things go."

They sat in silence. Jack finished his beer and ordered another round. He saw the look on Daniel's face.

"Just one more. That's all."

Jack took a deep sigh, and looked at his best friend. He then did something he never ever did. He told Daniel about the night before Sam went to San Diego.

"And then I called her, and told her that 'Dinner was a bad idea'. And I haven't heard from her since. There. That is what is going on with Carter and I. Glad you asked?"

"What did you expect her to do?"

"Call or something."

Daniel hung his head in disbelief. "Are you serious? Please tell me you're not serious."

"What?"

"You told her it was a mistake."

"No, I told her dinner was a mistake."

"No Jack, you told her it was a mistake." Daniel placed his hand on Jack's shoulder. "IT was a mistake."

Jack ran his hands through his hair. "Great." He mumbled.

Daniel broke the building silence between them. "Remember that time on P3X-505, when Teal'c tripped over that rock…"

That is how their evening ended. Jack drinking a few more beers and they were rehashing old stories like they did at dinner. They never once brought Sam back up.

Promises were made about getting together in a few months. The two friends hugged and went their separate ways.

-o-o-o-

Sam checked her phone after she had arrived in Washington. She had one message. It was from Jack.

"Carter… I didn't mean… Sam listen, I'm a jerk. I didn't mean… it wasn't a mistake okay?"

She had thought long and hard about what, if anything, she was going to say to him. Sam dialed his number and waited for his voicemail.

"No worries, Sir. We're okay." Her tone was cold. "You're right. We can't do this."

She checked into a different hotel. She needed to decide what she was going to do, where she was going to go. Even though she enjoyed working at Area 51, her heart would always be at the SGC.

She placed a call to her superiors at the Pentagon; she had made her decision. The SGC it was. Her meeting was scheduled for the following Tuesday.

She started looking at places to live in Colorado Springs, when her phone rang.

"Carter."

"Hey Sam." Jack said. "I… uh… got your message, and I uh… have to ask you something. Are we good?"

"Golden, Sir. We are golden." She responded. "Is that all?"

Her abruptness shocked him. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Goodbye, Sir." And she hung up the phone.

When Sam went to the Pentagon for her meeting, she was offered the position of running the SGC. General Landry had been promoted to Director of Homeworld Security.

General O'Neill was retiring.

Sam said yes, and accepted the position. Her record wasn't that bad after all.

TBC

Thanks to everyone who has stuck around this long!