Jack played with the radio as he maneuvered his Ford F-250 alone the mountain road south of Colorado Springs taking the long way to his house.

Despite being exhausted, having slept little in the last 24 hours he needed some time to think.  When he pulled into the motel parking lot with Samantha Carter sleeping peacefully in his passenger seat he still couldn't understand the urge that had come over him to take her back to his place.  If there was one thing he did not need was the complication of Samantha Carter in his life.

He watched her sleep rather than wake her.  When she turned towards him, rubbing the side of her head on the corner of the seat he was transfixed.  Her blond hair was loose, settling around her face.  When a stray strand tickled at her nose he held in a chuckle as she absently swatted at it.

The minutes stretched on as she blew quiet breathes through her full lips.  Her blouse, the one he found locked tight in Boston hung loose, away from her neck.  He could see the strap of the creamy bra. 

Of the many women, human and alien that had crossed his path, she was the...what?  The most beautiful?  Maybe.  He had focused on the delicate skin below her eyes.  In the late morning sun he could see the faint shadow of lines, drawing away in wisps from the corners.  He liked them.  Rather he liked the idea of her being known to the world and to time. 

Was she the smartest?  Check.  No argument there.

Was she strong, determined, willful, compassionate?  She could have walked away after finding out about the surveillance and left them to the mess.  Instead she stayed and saved the lives of 32 people.  Maybe it was ego that made her see it through.  Jack quickly discarded that thought.  She was confident, that wasn't about ego.

Jack eventually pulled up to his house.  His internal debate over why Samantha Carter was someone he did not need in his life continuing as he unlocked the door.

Smiling to himself he thought about their conversation in the conference room.  The way she looked at him, as if she was ready to take him on in hand to hand combat.  Yup, for all the ways this woman is not your type, explain why you're getting hard just thinking about her.

Walking up to his kitchen counter he pushed play on the answer machine and checked his watch, 12:03 PM.  Not morning any more, he thought and turned to pull a beer from the fridge.

The machine beeped, indicating one message.

"Jack,"

Kerry.

 "I'm in Washington.  I guess...we'll talk later."

His smile fading Jack O'Neill had only one thought, shit.

________________________________________________________

Agent Kerry Johnson stepped out of the elevator alone.  Her hurried steps echoed along the deserted hall of a basement corridor.

She had arrived in Washington less than an hour ago.  She hadn't expected to awake alone this morning.  Since the time she met him she could tell Jack O'Neill was not the kind of man to leave a rose on her pillow.  She understood the limitations which both their positions placed on them.  While some might see an unwavering commitment to their jobs as an obstacle to a relationship, Kerry honestly believed for them it was a strength. 

When she called Jack three weeks ago, with the suggestion that they finally spend more than 12 hours together, away from Washington and the SGC she honestly believed that that they were ready.  Ready to make their arrangement more permanent. 

She was convinced that all she needed was the opportunity to show him that theirs was a relationship that could last.  That she could give him what he deep down desired the most. Someone he could trust and who could give back to him all that he had lost.  A child.

Arriving at her destination she swipes her access card.  With the familiar buzz and click she opens the door.  The small anteroom is occupied by a sole man dressed in a dark suit and tie.  His stands and walks her to a second door.  Once more she swipes her card as the man enters his code to a keypad.  The LCD screen above the pad flashes an image of Kerry.  The man enters a second code which activates a pad below the screen.  Placing her hand on the screen a horizontal beam scrolls down, then up.

The door unlocks.  Stepping back to open it Kerry is immediately assaulted with an array of voices and monitor signals. 

This is the communications command center of the CIA.

Stepping into the one of the secure conference rooms she takes a seat in front of a terminal and inserts her access card.  After entering her priority code she picks up the black phone attached to the terminal and dials.

Waiting as the call is routed through the system so to mask its origin she navigates through the computer's directory until she finds the file she needs. Clementine.

The click from the phone tells her the called has connected, a female voice answers.

"Doctor Ned Karlanski's office."