One week later:

They would've let her stay home another few days and recuperate. They probably would've preferred it, she thought, smiling warmly about her worry-wart friends. But it was too quiet there. Nothing to do but think.

About him. Her smile faded.

And even though he would be there, she knew she would be able to distract herself with her work. And if she was creative, she could avoid him most of the time. Jack would notice, though. That thick-headedness of his was only an act.

And he would be pissed. Sam tried to ignore the pain that thought caused.

As she turned the corner, she saw him at the end of the hallway and stopped dead in her tracks. He looked so good, and his face lit up when he saw her, stealing her breath. He lifted his hand up to wave as Sam spun on her heel and took off the way she came. But not before she saw surprise and confusion flicker across his face.

Smooth, Sam. She admonished herself. Very smooth.

She took the scenic route to her lab, sighing in relief when she made it without another encounter. She unsuccessfully stifled a yawn. There was a lot of work to be done today and she made a mental note to get some coffee.

Sam suddenly cursed inwardly, remembering that she would have to attempt to prep Jack for the return visit to Gelna, affectionately named P37-462 by the SGC. So much for avoiding him, she thought dryly, entering her lab.

She stood by her decision to move on, but seeing Jack everyday was going to make it that much more difficult. Fresh pain bloomed in her chest, and that, coupled with the exhaustion, made the thought of facing the day damn near impossible. Maybe Daniel could prep Jack instead. He was the one who dealt more with the PR part of their missions anyway, right?

It was bad enough she was going to have to deal with the whole Jack "thing", but the visit to Gelna was going to be...interesting. The prelim visit had originally gone well with the people, a race who were about 100 years behind earth in terms of technology. This planet was of more interest to the SGC and Earth than many others, due to some preliminary mineral readings - large amounts of naquedah were believed to be in the planet's soil.

It was not too long after that they had discovered how precarious the planet's political situation was. Divided into two warring factions, civil war seemed imminent. The side they had originally made contact with, the Gelnans, were the keeper of the keepers of the Stargate. The Shelnars, the opposing faction, were cruel, barbaric people – if you believed what the Gelnan leadership said. Sam took that with a grain of salt.

At first contact, the Gelnans seemed to be a friendly people. Gelna's leader, Jornan, on the other hand, had proved to be somewhat of an oddball with some jackass thrown in for good measure. According to Tanjin, Jornan's assistant, they had never seen the Stargate activated before. So you would think, Sam thought dryly, that Jornan would be at least a little bit interested in the travelers who had appeared right after.

But no. Interestingly, he couldn't give a shit less. Until, that is, a week or so later when the SGC was surprisingly contacted to begin negotiations.

Full of arrogance and obsessive love for custom, Jornan was requiring a ceremony of some sort before he would even consider discussions for any sort of trade. And of course Col O'Neill would have to participate.

Jack had a habit of being an ass when confronted with anything remotely resembling bureaucracy. And she had the dubious honor of educating him about the Gelnans, if she couldn't get out of it.

Pushing the thought aside, Sam focused on running some simulations, when something caught her eye.

She swore she could hear the hallelujah chorus as she realized the Starbucks Fairy had heard her internal plea and left her a steaming cup of coffee on her lab table. She set her things down and picked up the cup, using both hands to warm herself. She closed both eyes and inhaled deeply. Mocha.

Where did this come from? She thought for a second that maybe Daniel and had been looking for her and left his coffee there by mistake. He liked prissy drinks.

But no, it was full and hadn't been drunk from. She held the cup up and looked at the paper sleeve. There were words on there, normally where the barista writes the drinkers name. She damn near dropped the cup when she read it.

I remembered you liked these. Mocha, right? Jack.

What?

Sam read the words again.

Jack?

Surely not.

But it was his handwriting. Sam was confused. This was so out of character of him.

Warm fuzzies started to build up within her. No, she thought, trying to shake the thoughts from her mind. I can't let myself think this way. She forcefully slammed the cup down on her desk, the dark liquid splashing on her hands.

* * *

Sam sucked in her breath an hour later when she saw Jack approaching her in the hallway.

"Going to the conference room?" he asked, smiling at her. Jack didn't smile often. She was angry with herself when her heart fluttered. Where else? she forced herself to think angrily, and stiffly nodded at him. He matched her step, walking a little bit closer to her than usual. Electricity shot through her when his hand gently cupped her elbow.

"Did you eat today?"

That was an unusual question. She blinked, trying to regain the train of thought his touch had derailed. "What?"

"Did you eat? You weren't in the cafeteria this morning, and...." He looked a little embarrassed. "I just wanted to make sure you'd been eating."

"Oh," was all she could say. She'd eaten at home so she wouldn't have to join the rest of SG1 in the cafeteria. She wanted to see Daniel and Teal'c, but the problem was Jack would be there. And she wanted to see him, too - which was the problem.

Jack's next words came out a little rushed. "It's just that you were hurt so badly - " did he just shudder a little? - "and this is your first day back and you look a little pale..."

Sam forced herself to come up with something a little more intelligent than monosyllabic words. "Yes, Sir," she said slowly, trying to keep her voice even. "I ate before I left home this morning."

"Oh," said Jack, since it was his turn to say it. "Well, good then."

Fortunately they reached the conference room by that time, ending Sam's torment and the awkwardness of the situation. Daniel, Teal'c, and Hammond were already there. Settling into their seats, Sam was grateful that Hammond wanted to get right to the point.

"Welcome back, Major Carter. What's the status of our situation with Gelna?"

"Well, Sir, the preliminary readings indicate Gelna could have a very rich supply a naquedah. If we can come to an agreement with them, we could very well get all the naquedah we want."

"Do we even know for sure that it's naquedah?" Jack asked.

"Not yet," She responded, yawning.

Daniel grinned at her. "Tired, Sam?"

"Sorry. I haven't had any caffeine this morning." She saw Jack's face fall out of the corner of her eye and cursed inwardly. She had poured the coffee down the sink and threw the cup away, not wanting to be reminded of him in any way.

Not that it had helped.

"Then why are we even discussing anything until we know for sure?" Jack snapped at her, his voice hard.

Sam flinched and continued hurriedly, shifting back to business. She gave Jack a you're-not-going-to-like-this look. "The caveat is that there's a ceremonial ritual - "

"Dammit," said Jack.

"- that you'll need to participate in before they even let us do any additional testing," Sam finished. "I think it entails -"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jack pushed back. "Wouldn't Daniel be a better choice for this kinda thing? I always seem to get myself into trouble when I do ceremonial stuff."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed supportively.

"I have full confidence in your ability to complete the ceremony without causing an interplanetary incident." Hammond responded.

"Well, that makes one of us," Daniel muttered under his breath.

Sam hurried on. "Besides, Sir, as the leader of SG1 you're required to participate. Anyone else would be considered an insult."

Jack winced. "Fine. Whatever."

"You'd better start prepping now, Sir. We leave tomorrow, and Jornan is somewhat of an...oddball."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Carter, let's get started." He rose from his chair.

"Actually, Sir, I think Daniel is better suited for this than I am."

Two surprised pair of eyes turned in her direction. Daniel spoke first. "Sam, you spent most of the time with the people there -"

"But you've done more research," Sam countered, already high-tailing it from the room. "And I've got some simulations to run-"

"You sure Carter?" Jack said, his voice unreadable.

"Yes, sir. Daniel will do...."

And they lost the rest of her comment as Sam's voice faded down the hallway. She didn't see the bitter disappointment flicker briefly across Jack's face before he got himself under control.