Sam couldn't explain what is was exactly that woke her up, but she at some point in the night she found herself wide awake, with a nagging feeling like something was wrong. Wrapping her sweater around herself, she quietly slipped out of the spare bedroom. Despite the darkness of night, there was a a small amount of moonlight coming through the living room window, outlining Jack's silhouette against the fireplace.

Padding softly across the hardwood, she could see him holding a up a picture in the pale light. He knew she was awake. He heard her as she crossed the room, and could smell her unmistakable scent, so he wasn't surprised when she came up right behind behind him. "Sir?" she asked softly.

On a closer look, Sam could see that he was holding a picture of SG1, taken last year. A small smile played across her face as she thought back to that day. They were off-world, P3X-5089, standard recon mission with SG6. There were some aztec-based ruins, that Daniel was crazy to look at. Bored out of his mind, Jack had played a prank on Daniel, hiding the rest of his gear, which had resulted in a minor male scuffle, but ended in the four of them rolling around in laughter. She didn't remember who had taken the picture, but she remembered how good everything had felt then. SG1 was kicking goa'ould ass, and replicator butt, and they felt unstoppable.

"I couldn't sleep", he said gruffly. Sam's heart ached, not just for her own grief, but for the man she saw in front of her. Very rarely, did Jack let down his soldier-facade, but in the soft glow of the moon, Sam could see the frown lines around his eyes and creasing his forehead, and how his eyes had turned a deep chocolate from their typical hazelnut. "I remember this day," he said wiggling the photo frame. "I thought Daniel was gonna kill me."

Sam took a few steps closer to him. "Awww you could've taken him sir."

He turned his head and his gaze caught hers. He gave a small smile. "I know...but still."

"That was a good day."

"Yeah it was," he said as he placed the picture back on the mantle. He sighed, and the sound stabbed like a knife through Sam's heart.

"Heyyy," she said gently. She quickly closed the space between them, and placed her hand on his chest, right over his heart. Her mind was reeling, she would normally never do anything like this with her CO, making sure she kept any emotions or feelings towards him deeply buried. But circumstances were different with the death of Daniel, and they were both in need of a comfort. She could feel his free arm wrap around her waist, holding her in a close embrace. Her eyes met his, and she shared all of these forbidden emotions in her gaze. His eyes warmed when the met hers, and he covered her hand with his own. "Everyone is allowed to grieve when the lose people they care about sir. Even tough old soldiers."

They held each others gaze, enjoying their close proximity to each other, but neither daring to say what they wanted to. Slowly Sam reached up with her other hand, placing it on the back of his neck at the base of his hairline. Standing up on her tip-toes, and using her hand to gently move his head forward, she placed a soft kiss on his forehead, letting her lips linger on his warm skin.

Her heart raced, as her lips left his skin, but as much as she wanted to continue, she knew that that was about as far as she dare let herself go, before she lost complete control of her emotional state. Jack's thumb traced small circles on the back of her hand, still holding it tightly to his chest, eyes never leaving hers. He smiled back at her. "Who are you calling old, Major?" Sam ducked her head, trying to hide her blush. Before she could say anything a yawn escaped her mouth. "Bed Carter."

She didn't want to leave his embrace, but she could feel her body energy depleting quickly. It had been quite a few days since she had a solid nights sleep, so she nodded against his chest. She took a deep breath and backed out of his hold, instantly missing the warmth of his body. As she headed back to the bedroom, she threw him a warm look over her shoulder. "Goodnight sir."