AN: Sam explains. After Singularity.

"So, is that Cassandra's dog or your dog?" Sam asked. Teal'c and Daniel were swinging with Cassandra, and Jack had disappeared further into the park with the dog. He seemed to be alternating playing and training and was trying for either roll over or play dead.

"Cassandra's, of course. But I may have to visit him from time to time. I mean, she is an alien. I'll need to make sure she's taking care of him properly," he explained. She didn't buy it. He got that dog for himself with Cassandra as his patsy. She took a seat next to him on the picnic table and tentatively broke ground on the subject that was distracting her.

"Sir, about the other day... I know, I didn't exactly follow orders, and I know that—"

"Carter, in the absence of an overriding mission directive, my job is to keep my team alive at all costs. That's what I'm going to do. Of course, I'm telling you get your butt back up there and out of that elevator."

"I know that, but I just couldn't leave her down there. I knew there was still a chance it would all go badly, but I just couldn't leave." He was quiet for a long moment, and Sam wasn't sure she was going to like it when he finally did talk.

"We're different than the others, you and I. We have this part of us that takes orders and doesn't think about the consequences. Because if we don't, we have to answer for every horrible thing we've ever done because someone else told us to. Daniel especially doesn't get that. But we have that other part of us, too. Sometimes, you look at the face of a scared kid and for that moment, you just get to be human. That's all that happened."

"Yes, Sir," she answered with her head down. The dog was licking her fingers now and she had to scratch behind those ears. It wasn't optional.

"He likes you," Colonel O'Neill observed.

"The feeling is mutual," she replied.

"If you don't get to be that human every now and then, dogs won't go near you. So, really it's all for the best."

"Oh, we can't have that." Sam knew he was letting her off easy for her insubordination. She was lucky. Not just to be avoiding the reprimand, but to have a CO who wasn't a total hard-ass. Maybe she didn't have his complete trust yet, but he was giving her a long leash on which to earn it.

"Just to be perfectly clear here, I'm never going to be okay with you disobeying an order that puts your life at risk. But I do understand it."

"Thank you. I hope you haven't lost too much confidence in me. I never would have done it if there was anyone at risk besides myself," she hedged. Sam needed him to know that she was on board with his philosophy there. She wasn't going to let her risks endanger her team.

"I know that, Captain. Why do you think this conversation is going so well?" she smiled at this and dipped her chin.

"What do you think Cassandra is going to name him?" she said scratching under the pup's chin.

"Probably something cool like... Homer."