Disclaimer: Still not my characters.

"I thought this would make Colonel O'Neill visible." General Hammond said at the debriefing when SG1, including a still invisible Colonel, returned from M4X-521.

"Yes, Daniel, I thought I was supposed to be visible after turning that little stone, doohickey thingamabob, and yet…" The arms of the uniform he was wearing spread out wide.

Daniel sat up straighter, looking incredibly frustrated. "Well, yeah. I mean, according to the text we translated, you should be. I don't understand why it didn't work."

Sam, who had been scribbling notes, and some sort of calculations on her notepad, looked up. "I think I might know why," she told them. She shifted slightly in her chair, her arm coming in contact with Jack's. He'd sat down so close to her, that he was practically on top of her. She briefly thought she wouldn't mind him being on top of her, if they were alone, preferably naked. She blushed, and dipped her head back to her notes, hoping no one had noticed. She had a feeling though that the Colonel had suspected something, as he swiveled his chair more to her, and his leg came in contact with hers, under the table. He didn't seem inclined to move it away, and in fact seemed to be pushing it further against hers.

General Hammond looked at her. If anyone could figure this out, he was fairly certain it would be Sam. "Major?"

Sam shook head to clear her thoughts. "Well, see, the effects of the machine didn't affect the Colonel right away when he became invisible, so it only makes sense that it wouldn't work right away to make him visible again."

Daniel looked at her. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Yes, Daniel, why didn't you?" Jack asked. "Are you slipping in your old age?"

"I don't know," Daniel replied. "I'm sure you can tell me all about it though."

"Enough." Hammond told them. He didn't mind their lighthearted bickering for the most part, but he needed his Colonel visible, and wanted to know how soon he could expect that to happen. "You were saying, Major?"

Sam looked up again from her notes. She'd gotten so used to Jack and Daniel's back and forth that she didn't even really notice it any more, especially when she was doing calculations. "Well, General, based off of the time it took Colonel O'Neill to become invisible after touching the stones the first time, I'm guessing it might be the same in reverse."

Hammond nodded. "And do you know how long it might be before we can expect to see the Colonel's smiling face again?"

"You can't see it, General, but I'm smiling right now. Picture it. I'm showing teeth and everything," Jack told him.

Sam looked over toward Jack, and shook her head. The man was truly incorrigible, and she adored him for it. She stood, walked over to the white board close to the General's office, picked up an erasable marker, and began scribbling notes and equations that Jack was certain made perfect sense to her, and possibly one or two other people on the planet, but just looked like a bunch of random numbers, x's, and line graphs to him. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off. "Carter, no offense to your, um, math skills, and whatever that is you've written, could we skip the particulars, and just give me a time?"

Sam should have been irritated, and would have been, had it been anyone other the Colonel, but she realized she wasn't. Tossing the marker back in its tray, she looked over her notes once more before speaking. "I'd say within the next twenty, to twenty-eight hours, Sir."

"I'm impressed, Carter," Jack told her. "You did that in less than fifteen words."

"Thank you, Sir. I try to make it so you can understand." She returned smartly.

One of the arms of Jack's uniform came to his chest, as though he were clutching it. "Ouch," he told her. "I gotta say, Carter, I'm kind of proud at this moment. I feel like you're really learning something from me."

Hammond was nodding, mostly to himself, and watching, the exchange between his own 2IC, and the best scientist he'd ever known. He was certain that one day they would burst into flames over each other. He hoped he both was and wasn't around when it finally happened. "Very well then," he told his flagship team. SG1 is off rotation, until the Colonel is fully visible again. Colonel, you are to report to Dr. Frasier, and no slipping out this time, without the Doctor's permission." Jack mumbled something, but General Hammond just ignored him. "Teal'c, SG-9 is headed to meet with the people of P3X-443 in 4 hours. Those people are quite friendly with some of the Jaffa who have left the Goa'uld. I'd like you to go with them. It might help if we show them that we have a Jaffa on our side too. It shouldn't take very long, as it's more of a diplomatic meeting, to help establish friendlier relationships."

Teal'c dipped his head. "I would be honored, General Hammond.

"Good. Dr. Jackson, SG-11 is going to M5X-661. From the MALP readings, it looks like there are plenty of ruins to examine. I'd like for you to go, as Dr. Purse is out sick. They leave in 2 hours."

Sam looked over, expectantly. When he said nothing, she asked, "And do you have anything for me, General?"

Hammond looked down at his notes. "Not at the moment, Major. I'm certain you have plenty of work in your lab to keep yourself occupied for at least the next 3 years. Besides, I'd like you here, in case we have a problem with the Colonel."

"Problem? What problem?" Jack asked, loudly. "Who said there was going to be a problem? What kind of problem? Daniel, are you not telling me something?"

Raising a hand, Hammond waved Jack down. "No one expects a problem, but if there is one, I'd like Major Carter to be the person on base to help out. Besides, she knows all your hiding spots, so should you slip away without permission, I'll let her search for you." Hammond told him, with a chuckle. "Okay, everyone has their mission. Dismissed."

SG1 exited the briefing room, and headed their respective ways. Sam walked along side Jack, toward the infirmary.

"Carter, you wouldn't really give me away if I decided to slip out, would you?" Jack asked.

She chuckled. "Well, now that you have to wear a uniform everyone can see, I think it will be a little more difficult than it was last time."

"I could always just run away naked," he commented.

Sam paused. The image of Colonel O'Neill, naked, did funny things to her insides. Damn him, for putting such thoughts in her brain. She shook her head to clear it. Fortunately, they were just coming to the infirmary, and she was spared commenting. "Here you go, Sir." She said as they walked through the door. "Janet, I've brought Colonel O'Neill safe, sound, and much more visible this time."

"Well, Colonel, it seems you won't be escaping so easily this time," the CMO told him.

Jack made a noise in the back of his throat that let them know of his displeasure.

Sam walked into the locker room, to find it empty. Colonel O'Neill was missing. Again. They'd found his uniform crumpled on his bed, with no sign of him. Daniel, and Teal'c had both come back earlier than expected, mostly due to inclement weather, on Daniel's part, so they were all searching. They still had about 2 hours before her estimated time for the invisibility to wear off, but she knew she couldn't be exact, and he needed to be found, before he became visible, fully naked. She let out a small whimper at the thought.

"Carter?" She heard the Colonel's voice coming from the showers.

"Sir!" She called as she walked toward him. "What are you doing? You know you're not supposed to leave the infirmary."

Jack snorted. "I just wanted a shower."

"They have showers there, you know," she scolded.

She could hear the sound of him toweling off. "I know, Carter, but…I wanted to be alone. I needed to think."

"You? Needed to think?" She laughed when she heard him snort.

"We've been over this, Carter."

Sam sighed. "I know, Sir, I'm just giving you a hard time. You know, like you did with me. The situation seems to have reversed."

"Interesting," was all he said. He pulled the shower curtain open, and looked at her.

Sam noticed that once again, he had to the towel wrapped around his waist, and her throat constricted. Damn it. "Um, you might want to get dressed, Sir," she told him, nervously. "The effects could be reversed at any minute, and you don't want to be caught in just a towel, do you?"

He considered her for a moment. "Depends on whom I'm with, I suppose."

"Sir?"

Stepping out of the shower, Jack took her hand, and pulled her toward him. She looked confused, and he smiled. A confused Carter was a rare, and beautiful sight. He took another step back, and brought her with him into the shower stall, closing the curtain behind them.

"Sir?" She asked again. Her stomach was suddenly in her throat, and her there was a rushing sound in her ears.

"C'mere," he told her, pulling her even closer, and placing a hand on the side of her face. "Listen, I don't pretend to know what's going on here, not that I do on a normal day, but since this has happened, I feel more free, if that makes sense."

Involuntarily, she leaned into his hand, and nuzzled it with her cheek. It was such a strange, and intimate feeling, and she relished in it. His hand was warm on her skin, and caused her pulse to speed up. When she started to speak, Jack put a finger over her lips.

"Shhhh," he told her. "Let me talk. I've been dreaming about this…you…me…forever to be honest, but now, I feel like-like I have a moment to make those fantasies come true."

"Fantasies?" Sam questioned, in a husky voice.

"Absolutely," he told her, before his mouth descended on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned into him, her body fitting perfectly against his. Her lips were warm, and welcoming, and he sighed as she opened up to him.

Sam's world spun off its axis. She was pressed up against the warm, hard body, of an almost naked, if invisible, Jack O'Neill, and it was magnificent. He was magnificent. She opened her mouth to the warm lips pressed against hers, and a streak of pure pleasure shot through her as his tongue invaded her mouth. Her lower body involuntarily pressed further into him. She moaned into him when a hand snaked around, and grabbed her ass, to keep her pressed tightly against him. She could feel his erection pressing into her stomach, and it made her shiver. She was fairly certain, there would be no lasting effects on his sexual activities from the machine.

Her soft moans made Jack want to strip her down, push her into the wall, and sink into her warmth. He could feel his temperature rising, and increased the pressure of the kiss. Their teeth bumped a few times in their eagerness, and he thought it only made this stolen time more memorable. When she suddenly pulled back, he felt lost. "Sam?"

"Air," she mumbled, her hands playing with the hair at the back of his neck. She couldn't remember how long she'd wanted to run her fingers through his incredibly sexy hair. She had a brief moment, where she wondered how hair could be sexy, but she pushed it away, to concentrate on the moment.

"Ah," he said. "Let's see if this helps." His mouth met the skin, and the side of her jaw, and he kissed a searing trail down her neck.

Sam's head fell to one side, to give him better access. "Not at all," she panted, "but don't stop. Air is overrated."

Jack smiled against her skin, and kissed his way back up, took her earlobe between his teeth, and gave a gentle tug, before his tongue darted out, and traced the shell of her ear. "You are delicious, Sam."

"And are you?" She asked. Her voice was thick with want.

"You'd have to tell me." When her hands grasped his shoulders, he pulled away from her skin, and met her lips. She kissed him briefly, before mirroring his actions, and carving a path of kisses, and licks down his neck, and across his naked shoulders. Her hands roamed over his chest, and back, his body muscled, and firm beneath them. Her finger skimmed down, across one of his nipples, and he arched into her. He clearly liked that, so she did it again. His movements made her bolder, and she licked, and nipped down his chest, causing him to groan.

His body was on fire, and Jack was no longer sure which way was up. When she flicked her tongue over his nipple, his breath caught, and he thought he might die of sheer pleasure. She was fully clothed, and had him on the brink of ecstasy. He grabbed her head, and pulled it back up to his, crashing his lips back on hers. "Sam," he whispered against her lips, between scorching kisses.

A movement in the locker room made them both still. Sam's eyes widened with panic, and she pulled back. Jack put his hand over her mouth.

"Jack? Are you in here?"

Jack rolled his eyes. It would be Daniel. The heat he'd felt only seconds before fled. He cleared his throat. "Um, yeah. Just drying off. What's going on?"

"Well, you kind of went missing, you know," Daniel reminded him.

Several choice words came to Jack's mind, but he refrained from saying them out loud. Sam looked like she was about to faint, and all he could think of was getting Daniel away from the locker room. He leaned forward, and whispered, "Stay here. I'll take care of this." When she nodded, he leaned in and gave her one brief kiss. "I didn't go missing. I knew exactly where I was. Be out in just a sec," Jack called. While Daniel had certainly thrown the proverbial bucket of cold water over them, all of Jack's body hadn't quite gotten the message. "Almost done drying off." The truth was, he needed another shower to cool off after all that. The thought of wringing Daniel's neck with the towel gave Jack a sick sort of thrill, and succeeded in helping him get his body under control. He ran his thumb over Sam's lips, and stepped out of the shower stall, making sure to pull the curtain behind him.

"So, been looking for me?" He asked, walking over to his locker, to put on a clean uniform.

Despite the incredibly loud pounding of her heart in her ears, Sam could hear the forced jovialness of Jack's voice. She loved Daniel like a brother, but at that moment, wanted to tie him up, and lock him in a closet. She rested her head on her arm, pressed against the tile, and waited. Her body was still on fire, and she could still feel Jack's hands, and lips against her body. She could here Jack rustling around, and agreeing to go back to the infirmary with Daniel. When their footsteps retreated, she made herself wait another 5 minutes before leaving the locker room, and making a break for her lab.

Forty-five minutes later, Sam had accomplished nothing, other than staring at the wall, and decided she should probably head down to the infirmary to see if the Colonel had become visible yet. She wasn't exactly sure what had happened between the two of them, well, she knew what happened, she just wasn't…sure. Either way, she had to face him sooner or later, and decided she might as well get it over with.

Jack sat on the bed, staring daggers at Daniel. Not that Daniel could tell, of course, but it made Jack feel better. He'd thought of all sorts of bodily damage he could inflict on the younger man. Sure, Daniel had bulked up in the past few years, but Jack had spent much of his life in the military, and was more than certain he could take Daniel out. He was pretty certain Teal'c would say it was justified.

"Hey!" Daniel shouted, pulling Jack out of his menacing thoughts. "I think you're coming back!"

"Huh?"

Daniel motioned, "Look, I can see part of your arm."

"Indeed, I believe you are correct, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c agreed.

Thank god. Jack was getting tired of the two of them just sitting in his little corner of the infirmary waiting. Daniel had tried chatting, at first, but when Jack didn't respond, he eventually gave up. It appeared miracles did exist. Jack looked down, and there was the outline of his left arm, after a few moments, he could see the outline of the rest of his body, and watched in fascination, as it slowly began to fill in with color. "Well, what do you know," he said, when he was fully visible again. "What?" He asked Daniel, who was staring at him curiously. "Am I not all here?" There was no mirror, so he couldn't check.

"No," Daniel said, slowly. "You're all here."

"Then, what?"

"It is nothing, O'Neill," Teal'c assured him.

Daniel shook his head, a goofy grin on his face. "Nope, nothing. Nothing at all."

Jack raised an eyebrow. The grin made him uneasy, but it was the bemused expression on Teal'c's face that had him really concerned. "What? Seriously."

They could hear Carter's voice, talking to one of the nurses. She was probably coming to check on him. She'd been almost on the money time wise, as far as his visibility was concerned.

Teal'c put his hand on Daniel's arm, and hauled him out of the chair. "I believe we need to go inform General Hammond, that O'Neill is himself again."

Daniel looked confused. "Huh? What? Oh! Oh, yeah, yeah. We do." He turned to Jack, the grin firmly back in place. "See you later."

They passed Sam on their way out. "How's the Colonel?" She asked.

"Completely visible," Daniel assured her.

She smiled. "Well, that's great. Where are you headed?"

"We are going to inform General Hammond of O'Neill's recovery," Teal'c told her.

Daniel nodded, and headed toward the door. Before stepping out though, he turned back around. "Hey, Sam, that's a nice shade of lipstick on you."

"Um, thanks?" She offered. She saw Teal'c's hand come out and punch Daniel in the upper arm, nearly sending Daniel to the floor.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Daniel asked.

"You know perfectly well, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c told him, dragging him quickly down the hall.

Shaking her head, Sam walked over to the Colonel's curtained off area. He was sitting on the bed, looking down, at his hands. She smiled brightly, at the sight of him. "Good to see you again, Si-" The words died in her throat when he looked up. "Oh, my god," she gasped, her eyes wide.

"What? What is wrong with me?" Jack asked. "Daniel and Teal'c acted weird too. Did that machine do something to me." When she didn't move, but continued to stare at him in horror, Jack snapped his fingers. "Carter! Hey, Carter. What is going on? Screw this." He jumped off the bed. "I'm going to go find a mirror."

"No!" Sam put a hand out to stop him. "You can't go out there."

Jack cocked his head to the side. "Tell me what's wrong then."

"Stay here," she instructed. "I'll be right back."

"Do I still have my hair?" Jack called behind her. What the hell was wrong with them?

Sam was back in just a moment, with a hand mirror, which she gave to him silently, before dropping into the chair Daniel had vacated, and looked at the floor.

Holding the mirror down, Jack wasn't certain he wanted to look, but knew he had to. He took a deep breath, and lifted the mirror, so he could see what was wrong. He saw his reflection, and noted nothing out of the ordinary, except…he looked closer. Except an obvious trail of lipstick along his neck, in the exact pale shade Carter was wearing. "Son of a bitch," he muttered, before looking over at her. "I guess the cat's out of the bag, eh?"

Fin

Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it!