Jack wasn't exactly prepared to be back under the mountain, but when the General told him that his presence was required because an Asgard ship was barreling towards Earth infected with alien bugs, he got his ass to the base, prepared or not. When he got there he was filled in on Carter's little mission and he was none to happy to hear about it.

"Why would Thor want Carter? And why would Carter take on such a crazy-"

"Jack!" General Hammond cut in when it became clear that Jack was getting ready to fly off on a tangent. "Thor told Major Carter he was looking for you, but you weren't here."

Jack felt a momentary pang of regret. Because now he was sitting around wondering if Carter and Teal'c had made it off the ship in time or if they were in pieces at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, too. Damned if he did, damned if he didn't, though, because even if he'd been there to lead them he'd likely have ended up getting them killed. His fault either way, he's too fucked up to serve and now his team is paying the price.

"The secondary gate is already on its way," General Hammond reminded him gently and he knew that his worry must have shown on his face. "As soon as it arrives we'll start getting it set up."

"Without Carter? How long is that going to take?"

"I don't know, son."

Jack nodded. "We don't even know if they made it." Harp on it, Jack.

"We don't know that they didn't."

He knew most of his pessimism was related to his bad attitude from earlier. What a great way to start his day – sparring with Carter and then finding out she'd used whatever fire they'd lit between them to take some suicide mission with the Asgard and tried to get herself killed. Now who knew where she was and if she was even okay? Had she been reckless because of what had happened between them? He should have known better than to attempt to pull rank on her, to discount her feelings, to shut her down... hadn't he learned well enough he was a tool for service and nothing more? And now his high-handedness may have very well gotten her killed.

It was bad enough she'd taken off on her bike after they'd kissed and he'd known she wasn't completely okay – he could feel the way she trembled before he'd pulled away from her. But he'd needed some space and so he'd left her to do the dangerous thing, hoping she was smart enough to make a decent decision.

He thanked goodness he'd at least seen her long enough to know the motorcycle ride hadn't done her in, because, from the way he heard it, she'd been beamed right out of the SGC, no decision making about it. She'd been pulled right into the Asgards' mess and she would have gone in to win because that was what she did. At least she'd had Teal'c. Strong, capable Teal'c. A man who Carter could rely on to watch her six. She'd taken who she knew she could count on, she was smart. Hadn't even asked if Jack was an option. Not from the way he'd heard it, anyway.

Jack paced from one end of the briefing room to the other, the windows overlooking the gateroom at his shoulder. The room looked just plain wrong without a gate standing tall inside it. He'd been there when the gate had been beamed away and remembered the instant feeling of elation he'd had when he realized that Carter had a brilliant idea to save their asses. But then he'd watched the ship crash into the atmosphere and burn up and despite knowing that SG-1 had a way of pulling itself out of scrapes of massive proportions, he found himself worried sick that maybe she hadn't been able to do what needed to be done this time to rescue herself and Teal'c.

But if she had, where were they? Were they okay? Surely they'd have gated to a safe planet. But even the safest planets had a way of becoming pits of terror and torture at a moment's notice. And they had no supplies. No food, no water, no camping gear – they'd be at the mercy of whatever people inhabited the planet or of their own survival skills, considerable skills, he'd grant them, but still... things could go wrong.

Incongruously he thought about her on the tel'tak coming back from Astarte's planet and the way he'd wanted to touch her – not the way he'd touched her in his kitchen that morning, but the way he'd wanted to just put his hands on her on that ship, to simply ground himself in her before things got complicated between them. Though, in the moment, it didn't seem to matter much how she thought she felt about him, he was willing – and able – to set that aside.

"Jack?" The General said his name as if he'd been saying it for a while.

"Yes, sir?"

"We've got a long few days ahead of us. Why don't you go... somewhere else?"

Jack frowned, already he'd worn out his welcome. "Yes, sir."

"Perhaps you'll want to reconsider your separation paperwork?"

"Temporarily, sir." Until Teal'c and Carter were back, in any case.

The General nodded. "Good enough for now, son."

"I'll be in my office, if you need me."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sam ran a hand through her hair and when her hand came away sweaty and gritty she wished she hadn't. She felt dirty and more than a little gross. Of course, it had been four days that they'd been on this planet waiting for Earth to get the secondary gate set up and functional after she'd heisted the SGC's gate to save Thor, Teal'c and herself just moments before crashing the Beliskner into Earth's atmosphere to destroy the Replicators.

Shortly after they'd arrived on the planet, Thor's pod had been beamed away in a flash of Asgard light and she and Teal'c had been left alone to fend for themselves. Though there was plenty to eat and plenty to drink, Sam would be the first to admit that she didn't exactly feel clean without her field kit and soap.

She hoped things were going on Earth the way she intended. Without being there she could only hope they'd do what she thought they would. She didn't have any idea how long it would take them to get the secondary gate to the mountain or how long it would take them to set it up, but she figured any day now the dial home would yield results. Then again, she wasn't there to spearhead the effort to reconnect the gate, so who knew how long it would really take? The technicians were good, but the truth was, she was better.

She wondered if the upheaval had brought the colonel back to the mountain and hoped it had. The idea of him separating from the Air Force made her physically hurt, and it wasn't just because she knew that their relationship would be irrevocably changed if left. She knew how much the program meant to him – and how much he meant to the program. He wasn't as easily replaceable as he seemed to think he was.

She wondered if he'd taken any time to think about what had been said between them. Was he still holding fast to his perspective about her feelings or had he started to turn loose from his beliefs and take her at face value? She wondered if their kiss had shaken anything loose inside him or if it had just locked him up tighter. Had it scared him, knowing what could be between them? In truth, it scared her a little, knowing that there was something real there instead of something she'd created in her mind. It was easier, in a way, when it was something that existed solely inside her.

Not that it didn't hurt when it was something that was hers alone. Not that she didn't ache, carrying it around all by herself. But the truth was, she didn't wish that kind of hurt on him if he was carrying it around now, too, especially not on top of what he was already carrying around. Maybe it wasn't fair to drop the bomb on him when she had. It had been selfish, now that she thought about it, to tell him how she felt when he was in the midst of dealing with what had happened to him on that planet.

Of course, she'd have never brought it up if Daniel hadn't. Daniel just had to go and open his big mouth because he was worried. Sam felt the anger well up inside herself again. She scuffed her boot through the dirt and drew Teal'c's attention. He raised an eyebrow at her, she shook her head in response and he went back to fiddling with the palm frond-y looking thing he was stripping for...whatever it was he was doing. Something for shade, she imagined. It was damned hot on this planet.

She shook her head and felt her hair flop limply around her head. "I'm going to take a dip in the river," she said to Teal'c. "See if I can wash some of this grime off."

Teal'c nodded once. "Very well, Major Carter. I will remain here."

"Thanks."

She wandered off towards the river, untucking her t-shirt as she went. She wondered how many more days she'd be stuck on this planet with her thoughts.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"How hard is it to set up a stargate?" Jack groused to Daniel over breakfast in the commissary.

"I'd say pretty hard," the younger man placated.

"It's been almost a week."

"Then yeah, pretty hard."

"They need Carter."

"Who isn't here to help."

"I know that, Daniel."

"I know you know. They're fine."

"We don't know that."

Daniel was quiet for a long moment while he took a bite of his scrambled eggs. Then, "So, did you get a chance to talk to Sam?"

"About what?" Jack asked idly, taking a sip of his coffee.

"About... you know," Daniel said, raising his eyebrows.

"Daniel," Jack hissed. "Carter was right, you don't know when to shut up. This is none of your business."

"I'm just worried about her."

"Well, stop worrying. It's between me and her and it's none of your business," he reiterated, punctuating each word with a jab of his finger.

Daniel raised his hands in surrender. "Fine."

But it made Jack think about talking to Carter and the way her lips had felt under his and the way her hips had felt separated from his fingers by supple leather. He'd lost a lot of sleep in the time she'd been missing thinking about that kiss and the way she'd tossed those parting words at him as she'd left his house with the files. You can call it a crush if you want to... But that kiss... Damn. He licked his lips in memory of her taste on them before he remembered where he was and who he was with and caught Daniel's sharp eyes on him. "What?" Jack snapped.

Daniel, wisely, just shook his head and shoveled in another bite of eggs. Jack took a snarky gulp of coffee and looked anywhere but at his friend.

The truth was, that the longer Carter was gone, the more he thought about that encounter in his kitchen and the less he thought about it with irritation. And the longer he thought on it the more and more difficult it was to maintain the hard line that what he felt was libido induced. Sure, his body reacted strongly to her, but it was hard to hold that line when he kept being pulled back to those moments on the tel'tak when all he wanted to do was touch her. What was up with that? That wasn't sexual at all. That was... there was an emotional element there he wasn't entirely comfortable with.

And while he wasn't yet ready to call his feelings anything in particular, while he wasn't ready to name his feelings the way she was, he was at least willing to admit that there was something between them that might not be properly categorized under the umbrella of commander and subordinate officer. And that kiss had blown that particular barn door wide open. Open, wide, perhaps, but did he even deserve to have those feelings?

But admitting that maybe he had feelings for Carter that were less than professional and more than sexual didn't even begin to make him ready to do anything about them. If anything, the idea was terrifying. He had nothing to offer her. Even if the regs didn't stand between them, everything that had happened to him did.

With her missing, it just shined a light on the feeling he wasn't supposed to be having – wasn't supposed to be having because the Air Force said so and because he'd learned his lessons, dammit, in Astarte's prison! He'd learned that he was death, destruction, despair, and pain. He'd learned that he had uses but that pleasure was no longer a thing for him. Astarte had been thorough, he'd give her that. He felt like every corner of his psyche had been overturned. He just never dreamed that in one corner of his mind he'd find Carter.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"How hard is it to set up a stargate?" Sam groused to Teal'c over yet another dinner of a coconut-like thing.

"I would imagine it is very difficult, Major Carter."

"It's been a week."

"In fact it has been nine days."

"Not helping, Teal'c."

If she didn't know better, she'd have said she saw a smile playing around his mouth above that ridiculous looking caterpillar he'd grown on his chin that she'd only mentioned once before she learned that there were some Jaffa rituals one simply didn't want to learn too much about.

"I would have believed you would appreciate some time away from the SGC," he said rather cryptically, if she said so herself.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Only that you have been under a great deal of pressure lately."

"And you think this is some great vacation?"

"It is an improvement upon the worry about O'Neill."

"So you too, huh? You and Daniel have some sort of divide and conquer thing going on?"

"I do not understand to what you are referring."

"Sure you don't," she muttered.

"O'Neill is a strong warrior."

"Yes, he is," she said, confused as to the apparent change in topic.

"But in my time with the Tau'ri I have come to learn that it is not always prudent to keep to oneself when coming to terms with situations that may be plaguesome."

"The colonel isn't exactly a talker, Teal'c."

"And yet, if he were going to... talk... I think it would be with you." With that, Teal'c got up and wandered away from their little shady lean-to leaving her alone with her thoughts.

If she thought she'd been able to hide her feelings from anyone at all, apparently she was sorely mistaken. She hoped that the knowledge didn't extend outside her team. If the General knew, though, he'd have had no choice but to split the team up already. The mere fact that SG-1 was still intact said that he didn't know. For that she could remain grateful. But it was disconcerting to know that she was so transparent to Daniel, Teal'c and her father and yet also at the same time how the colonel could have been so blindsided by the whole thing.

She waited around for Teal'c to return which he did in plenty of time for the sun to begin to set and then, like they had each night previous, they dialed home. When the gate connected, Sam let out a whoop that actually made Teal'c smile.

"Time to go home."

"Are you ready to be home, Major Carter?"

She had a feeling he wasn't asking if she was ready to be back on Earth.

"As ready as I'm gonna be. Let's do it?" She gestured at the gate as she waited on Teal'c to input the IDC just in case of iris placement, and then followed him through the wormhole.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Major Carter, Teal'c, it's good to have you home," General Hammond greeted the two wayward members of SG-1.

Jack for his part, couldn't take his eyes off Sam. She looked... well, pretty awful. She was dirty and sweaty and she looked tired and bedraggled and it took everything he had not to step forward and put his hands on her. Which is how he knew that he was in trouble. But at the same time he had the compulsion to touch her, a strong part of him was sneering at himself for even dreaming to touch her – like he was even worthy.

"I know I owe you a debrief sir," she started, "but all I really want is a shower."

Daniel laughed then and it drew the attention of not just her but of her commanding officer. He shrugged at both of them. "You do look a little worse for the wear, Sam."

"Permission to shower granted, Major Carter. We can debrief when you're done."

"Thank you, sir."

She started to walk off and like he was in a trance, Jack followed her. She stopped walking almost immediately. "Did you need something, sir?"

"What? No."

"Okay," she said slowly and started walking again. So did he. She gave him a sidelong look as he followed her out of the gateroom and into the corridor. They walked silently for a while, Jack concentrating on not letting the backs of his knuckles brush the backs of hers just because. "Are you sure you didn't need something?" She asked again when they'd made it to the door to the locker room and he found that they were just standing there, looking at one another.

"You had us worried."

"I was on a friendly planet."

"For all I knew you were on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean." He watched as she bit back a retort. "What?"

"What?"

"What were you going to say?"

"Nothing, sir."

"No, really?"

"Nothing. Sir."

He nodded once. At her reluctance to speak it he could pretty much guess what she was going to say, turn about being fair play and all of that. Maybe he'd just had a bit of a taste of how she'd felt countless times over the past few months.

"I think we need to talk."

She gave him a half smile. "Do we?"

"You know we do. But not here. And not at my place," he said quickly. Too easy to go back to more of the kissing at his place. Way too easy. And it had felt good, and pleasure was something he didn't feel, not anymore.

"You want to go out somewhere?" The way she said it made it sound like a supremely bad idea.

"We'll think about it."

"Can I think about it after my shower, sir?"

"Look, Carter, I know the last time we saw each other I wasn't exactly..."

"It's fine, sir."

"It's not... fine."

"We'll talk about it later," she said quickly.

That's when he registered other people in the hallway and the way he was standing a little too closely to her as they talked. He wondered if she was drawing him in or if he was going to have problems with boundaries now... after. He took a deliberate step back. "Yeah. About that thing on Teal'c's chin..." he asked her.

She disappeared through the locker room door.