Category: Sam and Jack romance/angst, Team/family angst

Spoilers: Directly for 6.15, general up until then.

Content Warnings: Angst, tension.

Summary: Things are still tense between Sam and Jack after she discovered he had been lying to her, but that all changes when a certain Harry Maybourne gets involved with ideas of alien weapons.

Episode – 6.15 Paradise Lost

Anxiously, Sam paced backwards and forwards behind the pilot's chair on the Tok'ra ship as they neared the moon of the planet Maybourne had led the other members of SG-1 to. As soon as she had received the full story from General Hammond, Sam had joined the other scientists on the planet in an attempt to discover where Colonel O'Neill had vanished to. From the beginning, Sam had been determined to find an answer, resorting to snapping at the other scientists when they tried to pack up and head back to Earth. It had been Daniel who had come to Sam's side and tried to make her see sense. He had told her that it had been days since she had slept properly, days since she had returned to Earth, seen her daughter, showered and eaten a proper meal. He always had a calming ability on her and so she had decided to allow everyone to return home without resorting to pulling her gun on them. Jonas Quinn had smiled at her as they neared the Stargate, promising her that they would all continue working on it from base. She should have had faith in him, but due to her lack of sleep, Sam had started to lose faith in finding O'Neill. A night off, spent at home with Daniella and Janet for company, had made Sam feel a million times better and it was the next day that she spotted the image of sun and moon that was so obvious in retrospect. Relieved at believing she had uncovered the location of O'Neill and Maybourne, Sam had then had to wait patiently for the Tok'ra to arrive with a ship.

Patience had ceased to be a virtue of Sam's over the tiring and stressful days which had not all begun when O'Neill went missing, but were all due to him. For over a week, Sam had been angry, upset and disappointed in the man she lived with for lying about her and their child. Whilst she had continued to find it difficult to move past what he had done, Sam had found the new thoughts within her mind increasingly difficult to ignore. Her mind was filled with questions and thoughts as to what she was actually doing living with her commanding officer, if it was in fact to benefit their daughter, or if it could possibly be damaging all three of them more than they realised. Sam could not help but wonder if they were raising Daniella to be confused over her parental situation or what would happen should either of them meet someone else. The fear that the pair of them had been incredibly naïve troubled Sam greatly.

Of course all of those thoughts had fled from her mind upon hearing that O'Neill was missing. She had immediately ignored anything regarding their home life and worked simply on getting her commanding officer home. It had troubled her after the others had suggested quitting that her reaction could be questioned. Thankfully there had not been any other military personnel present and she considered those on the planet close enough that they at least could have sympathy for her predicament. No matter what improper feelings anyone could speculate on their being between Sam and her team-mate, it could not be denied that he was also her house-mate and father of their child. There was still no guarantee that he was alive and safe, which was why Sam was pacing along the floor as if trying to wear a groove through which she could fall straight to the moon.

"Scans show a breathable atmosphere," the Tok'ra pilot commented as his hands flew across the display.

"I concur," Teal'c said from the co-pilot's chair. "And sensors have registered two distinct life-signs."

"Can you land?" Sam heard herself asking. Her heart was thumping loudly in her ears that she was only acutely aware of her voice. As the ship landed, Sam did not hesitate as she headed straight to the cargo bay doors. Her senses were still with her enough so that Sam did check the immediate area before proceeding out of the ship. The years that she had spent as a member of SG-1 told her that even if there were no other detectable life-signs that did not mean that O'Neill and Maybourne were alone here and no matter what her emotional state, her military training never left her. Soon, Sam spotted one figure standing and another sitting or lying on the ground and it entered her mind that one of them could be injured. She was sure that she recognised O'Neill's outline and tried using that information to reassure herself that he was fine. As she approached she called over, "Colonel?"

He turned towards her and she could see the look of relief upon his face. "Took your time, Major!"

Ignoring his jest, Sam purposefully strode towards him and threw her arms around him in the fiercest hug she had ever given anyone before. He stumbled backwards slightly, clearly taken aback by her sudden movement, but he recovered and kept them both on their feet, hugging her back. Distantly aware of Teal'c and Daniel speaking with Maybourne, Sam allowed herself to stay in an embrace with her commanding officer, closing her eyes tight. The lines between their working relationship and family life were blurring again by her actions of hugging him especially as both were in uniform. All that she could think was that she had almost lost him. If she had not figured out the connection the planet had with its moon, or if they had not been able to find suitable sustenance on the moon, he would have been lost to her. Sam had come to realise that she could not lose him and that, for the time being, she was content in hiding behind her daughter to keep him close. "Don't do that to me again, Jack. Ever. Understand?" Her voice was a whisper in his ear and she felt him nod against her; his stubble scratching her slightly.

"I don't plan on it." He pulled away from her slightly and his eyes found hers. "It was nothing against you or Danni, you know that, right?"

Forcing herself to nod, Sam clenched her jaw tightly in an attempt to compose herself. She fully pulled away from him and managed a smile, fighting a rising urge to hold him again and destroy everything by kissing him. Turning to the others, Sam spoke, "Is he okay to be moved?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Major. I would like to request not to return to Earth, however."

"We can discuss it on the journey, Harry," O'Neill answered and Sam was glad as was not sure that her voice would hold out. She had an awful feeling that things were not going to get easier.

Next Chapter – 6.16 Metamorphosis

Apologies to any of those who maybe wanted to see Sam shout at the science team, or cry on Teal'c's shoulders, but they were in the episode and I wrote this to have a pairing to the Prometheus hug!