A/N: Fun Fact -- Death Knell aired on February 6, 2004. The following episode, Heroes Part 1, aired on February 13, 2004, with Part 2 airing on February 20th. For the purposes of this story, I assumed Heroes took place entirely on the 20th, making Death Knell the closest episode to Valentine's Day.

7th Valentine's Day – February 14, 2004

He'd almost lost her. Again. This time she had been seconds away from dying at the hands of one of Anubis' super soldiers. If he had been five seconds later—Jack clenched his eyes shut. No. He would not go there.

After she'd passed out in his arms, he'd carried her back to the gate. His arms and back had burned from the strain of carrying her four miles over rough terrain. But he wouldn't fail her.

It had taken Janet over an hour to debride her leg injury, another hour in surgery to stitch all the muscles back together. But Carter would live, Janet assured him. She would make a full recovery and be back to beating the bad guys in no time.

Due to the timing of her injury, she was out of commission when Valentine's Day rolled around. He'd taken her gift with him to the base, locked in the glove box of his truck. The plan was to drop it off at her house after work.

He knew she was dating someone; had caught her humming in the elevator a week before the whole super soldier incident. He told himself that he was happy for her. His Carter deserved everything she wanted and more. Even if that something didn't include him anymore. But she was still a valuable member of his team, so he felt no sense of guilt in swinging by with her gift.

The house was dark by the time he arrived. Only the porch light was on. He paused for a moment when it hit him. She was likely on a date with Pete .

It made sense. It also made him frown.

Pulling her spare key out of his pocket, he let himself in. Crossing to the kitchen, he placed the small gift bag on the counter and scribbled a note:

Sorry I missed you. Happy Valentine's Day —J

As he turned to leave, an envelope with his name on it caught his eye. Picking it up, he turned it over and pulled out a pair of tickets to tomorrow night's Avalanche game, along with a note.

Sir, I assumed you'd stop by. I bought these for us a month ago, before I got injured. Obviously, I can't go, but you can take Daniel. Happy Valentine's Day! —C

Jack grinned at the tickets. He realized she must have gotten these months ago. But that meant that even with her new boyfriend, she had still planned to take him to an Avalanche game.

Sweet.

Walking back over to the note he'd left, he added a postscript:

PS…I'll pick you up at 5pm for the game. I'll carry you to your seat if necessary. And no, I refuse to take Daniel. —J