I just read Mandarax story, How Sam Agreed to Go Fishing (read it - it's fun!) and I realized - oh heavens, Vini has done so many stories that have been done before, but never a Threads story. So - this is my Threads - story - or maybe prequel. Silly, and done - but hey, I need a break from Angst and Adventure sometimes. So, in case you've found yourself with a shortage of Threads, here's my little version.

"I've broken off my engagement."

Jack froze, not sure what to say or how to react. He swallowed and yet the lump in his throat didn't want to go down. Crap – this was so not his forte. He didn't do this kind of thing. Just ask Sara, just ask all his girlfriends starting in high school. Jack O'Neill didn't know what to say or do at a time like –

"Uh – I'm sorry?" There, that was appropriate wasn't it? Except the look of surprise, and possibly disappointment on her face had him closing his eyes and practically groaning. Okay, so maybe not the appropriate response. "Uh – are you okay Carter? I mean, he didn't hurt you or do something or – something?" There – concern. That had to be good – didn't it?

"No, no he didn't do anything. I'm afraid I was the one who hurt him."

All sorts of thoughts scrambled through his brain. She hurt him? Well, he knew Carter was tough and had advanced hand-to-hand but surely she wouldn't – "Oh, you mean you hurt his feelings?" He gave a silent sigh of relief.

Her forehead crinkled in confusion. "Yes. What did you -?" Her lips turned up slightly. "You didn't think I meant I had actually – zatted him or something, did you?"

"Of course not Carter", he answered, looking indignant. "You'd never use an unauthorized alien weapon on Earth." He gave a shamefaced grin. "I figured you'd slugged him or something."

She giggled, and immediately looked guilty, as if laughing about anything to do with Pete was somehow in bad taste. "No", she said, sounding more serious, "I meant I hurt him by breaking it off with him." Her eyes filled slightly. "He really loved me but -"

"But?"

She shrugged, which of course meant absolutely nothing to him at all. He thought back suddenly to the moment she'd shown up at his house, that incredibly uncomfortable moment when Kerry had been there. She'd wanted to say something to him about Pete, but then Kerry had come out of the house. She'd been having doubts and they'd clearly been more than she could deal with.

"Are you – okay with this Carter? I mean, is it something you can resolve? Maybe it's just – pre-wedding jitters or something?"

She looked slightly peeved at that and he felt even more uncomfortable. She should be talking to Daniel, not to him. Daniel did emotion and feelings and 'lean on me I'm here for you' kinds of things. He, Jack O'Neill, was more the 'stick his foot in his mouth and say exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time' kind of guy.

"Look Carter, I'm not quite sure what you want me to say." He finally decided honesty was the best policy. Of course he wasn't about to be totally honest with her. He wasn't going to jump up and down and shout, at the top of his lungs, 'spud-head is GONE'. No, that would be far from professional or mature or what a general would do – but it was absolutely, totally, and completely what he wanted to do.

"Say what you think Sir – Jack", she told him. "I – want to know how you really feel."

Okay, so he'd just covered that in his mind. He looked at her carefully, considering what it would be possible to say to her, in his office, on base, deep underground, while they were both in uniform.

"Please Jack. I need to know."

Okay that did it. Damn it! Why did she have to pull out 'Jack' at a time like this? It meant this was serious – that she really wanted honesty and for him to do the feeling thing. He sighed. He'd had no trouble when her father was dying and he had no trouble when she – or any of those close to him were in trouble or in need. So why couldn't he do it now, when she was standing on the other side of his desk – ? Hell, that was it. She was standing on the other side of his desk. His general's desk.

He stood suddenly pushing his chair back into the wall. She looked surprised, and a little worried, as if she wondered if she'd overstepped a boundary.

"Come on", he said, walking around the desk. "Not here."

"Uh, where are we going Sir?" She asked as he walked toward the door, waving her to follow him.

"Out of here."

He didn't say another word, just walked as quickly as he could down the corridor. When they got to the elevator he jabbed the button, determined that the car would get there faster if he pushed harder. He didn't look at her, instead he looked at the light, wishing it would turn white. He tapped his foot on the concrete floor.

Finally the elevator arrived and the door opened. He moved in quickly –

"Ooph! Oh – I'm sorry General. I didn't see -"

"Ts'okay Captain", he waved at Captain Avery. "No problem – my fault. Coming Colonel?"

Sam smiled at Avery as he exited and hurried into the elevator. She watched as the general stabbed at the button again. She continued to glance at him but he still wasn't looking at her. She could feel her heart sink to her knees. What had prompted her to tell him now, like this? And why the hell had she pushed him for his answer. It's not like he could look at her and tell her how happy he was that she'd dumped poor Pete and 'oh, by the way Colonel, I'm madly in love with you and would you marry me and have my babies'.

She giggled, which caused Jack – no, no, the general – to look at her.

"Everything okay Carter?" he asked.

She didn't have time to answer before the doors opened and he strode out. This time there was – fortunately – no one else there. He made his way over to the second bank of elevators and did his little button massacring again. The elevator was already there so the doors opened immediately. They again rode up in silence.

Sam was feeling incredibly uncomfortable, not knowing what was going on. She'd never seen the general quite like this before. He appeared almost – angry – no, that wasn't quite right. He was certainly determined, although she thought she detected an air of nervousness about him. That couldn't be though – usually he was only nervous when one of the Joint Chiefs showed up. He wasn't even usually nervous around evil alien villains.

"Crap!" O'Neill stopped beside the guard's desk on the top level. "Sergeant, can I borrow your phone." He turned to Sam and grimaced. "Forgot to tell Walter – oh Walter, hi, it's General O'Neill. Yeah, I uh – just wanted you to know that I've had a personal emergency come up – no, nothing too bad – it's just – a leak, yeah, a leak at my house. I've headed over there to fix it. Oh, and I'm taking Colonel Carter with me. She's good at fixing – leaks. You know where to reach me – okay. Bye."

He handed the phone back to the curious Sergeant and headed out to the parking lot. Fortunately he had his keys in his pocket because he hadn't been thinking when he'd left. He glanced at Sam and realized she didn't even have a coat and it was chilly out today.

"Sorry." He took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders.

"Sir, you don't need -"

"Yes I do Carter. I'm the one who dragged you out of there."

"Uh Sir – where are we going?"

"Just – away from the base. Are you okay with that?" He stopped and suddenly wanted to groan. What the hell had he been thinking? He'd practically kidnapped her, for god's sake. "I just – needed to get away. You don't mind coming?"

"No, of course not." Her voice sounded soft and gentle and – hell, he grabbed her hand and headed towards his truck.

He opened the door for her, like an old fashioned gentleman and then got into the driver's side and quickly pulled out of the parking lot. He gave a small wave to the guard on duty at the gate and then was heading down the mountain road.

There was more silence in the car and he was pretty sure she must be thinking he'd totally lost his mind. Maybe he had, but he figured that if she wanted honesty then hell, he was going to give her honesty. He just couldn't do it in a room that still held too many memories of Hammond, with the gate outside the window and with nosey Daniel and wise Teal'c just waiting to come to his office at the exact wrong time. And then of course, there was Walter – guaranteed to totally screw up any moment of honesty. No this was better, even if she did think he had lost his mind.

She wondered briefly if he had lost his mind, but then realized this was Jack O'Neill she was thinking about. He didn't do things the way most – normal – people did. Oh, it wasn't that he was abnormal, it was simply that he had an unconventional way of looking at things and of dealing with things. She wanted to grin – hell, it was one of the reasons she – no, don't go there Sam.

The last few days had been a whirlwind of emotion. They'd almost lost the planet, she'd found out that Jack was dating Kerry Johnson (she wasn't sure which was worse – total destruction of Earth or Jack dating that, that – okay, don't be catty Sam), her father had died and she'd broken off her engagement to a nice, decent, caring man. Then, to top it all off, she'd gotten up this morning and decided it was time to open the door to that shitty room. Why had she thought that was a good idea, and why had she decided to go to his office? And why the hell were they travelling down the mountain?

Yup – he'd lost his mind alright, but then he had good company, because so had she.

He pulled into his driveway and turned off the engine. He took one look at her and closed his eyes. He was such an idiot. "Want to come in?"

She finally laughed. "Now you ask me?"

He grinned in response and rubbed his hands through his hair. "Come on, I'll make some coffee and then we can – you know", he waved his hands around, causing her to laugh even harder. He shrugged and opened the door.

This time she got out at the same time and walked with him to his front door. While he fumbled for his keys she couldn't help but look at him, thinking how handsome and distinguished and just plain sexy he was. For a brief moment she fantasized that he was going to grab her and take her to his bedroom and rip her clothes off and –

"Sam?"

"Huh?" She looked at him, startled.

"Aren't you coming in?"

"Oh, yeah." She could feel her face flame and noticed that he was looking at her strangely. She wanted to groan, praying he couldn't guess what had been going through her mind. She hoped he thought her red face was from the cold, not from the heat – the very hot heat of her imagination.

She followed him into his living room, and allowed herself a small peek at his butt. Her mind went back to that fantasy, but this time it was her turn to rip his clothes off –

"Sam?" This time he was laughing at her and she felt herself blush even more.

"Sorry Sir – my mind was wandering a bit."

"Yeah? What were you thinking about so hard there?"

Hard! Yeah – oh crap! "Nothing important Sir – really."

"Okay. Look sit down and I'll go put some coffee on. I'll be right back."

He couldn't help but wonder what she'd been thinking. He was positive she'd blushed when he'd spoken to her but he couldn't possibly figure out what would make Sam Carter blush. Of course, he'd love to be able to find out – and maybe cause her to blush, but he figured that was highly unlikely – at least not after eight years together.

God, had it really been that long? He knew her better than almost anyone else in his life, except maybe Teal'c or Daniel. He didn't think – no, in fact he knew – that he'd never been this close to anyone, including Sara. As much as he'd loved his wife, he'd had to keep so many things secret from her. He'd had to separate his work from his home life, which wasn't always a bad thing, but it meant there was too much he couldn't share.

Of course he still had to separate his life when dealing with Sam. It's not like he could let her into his personal life, not like he could with Daniel and Teal'c. Even though there was no actual sexism on his team – at least he hoped not – he did have to maintain a distance with her that he didn't with the others. Which was ridiculous really, considering that if he'd been gay – but he wasn't so there was no point thinking about that.

What he was doing was procrastinating. He finished making the coffee and watched as it began to drip down into the pot. He could feel his heart beating much too fast and wanted to kick his own butt. It's not like she was going to zat him or pull out a hidden staff weapon and strike him dead. She could simply get up and say 'you've got it wrong Sir, I think of you like a father or very much older brother.'

"Shit!" he pulled his hand back from the pot.

"Are you okay Sir?" she called.

"Yeah, just spilled a little coffee. I'll be right out."

He handed her the mug of coffee, with one sugar, two cream, just the way she liked it. He sat on the other end of the couch – not too close but he didn't want it to look like he was avoiding her.

"So – you broke up with Pete?" Well wasn't that a sparkling and witty opener. Jack meet moron – no Jack is moron!

"Yes." She took a sip of coffee, watching him over the rim.

"And, you're what, relieved?"

"Yes", she smiled. "I"ve been agonizing about it for a while now. I – he was a sweet guy and he really loved me, which was why it was so hard, but it just didn't feel right."

"Yeah, you mentioned you were having second thoughts."

She looked at him in surprise.

"You know – when you came over that -" Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that. At least that's what he figured when she put her mug down and looked sad, worried, upset maybe?

"I'm sorry Sir I – you and Miss Johnson. I don't want – will she be – I mean, maybe I shouldn't be here?"

Now that had to be the most confusing sentence Sam Carter had ever uttered. He looked at her in wonder when it dawned on him that she was flustered. He began to feel much better.

"As far as I know she wouldn't care", he said calmly. "Not that she'll ever know. I mean, why would she?"

"Well because – I mean, isn't she your – I don't want to presume, but it was obvious when I came over that – and she's very pretty. I understand that you're a normal man – of course you're a normal man – there was never any doubt and as such you want – or need, not that you – I mean, it's none of my business – your needs I mean - but not being able to – and the fact that she's not military must have been a relief."

He stared at her in amazement. That was the most convoluted conversation he'd ever heard and the wonder of it was he understood the whole thing and was really having a difficult time not breaking into laughter. And people accused him of not being able to communicate.

"There's nothing between Agent Johnson and myself", he said bluntly. "We only dated for a little while and then called it off."

"Really?" she looked at him with – what was that – hope? "I'm – sorry."

"You are?" he grinned, thinking back to his office a short – what was it, an hour ago.

He could see the grin slowly break out on her face. "No", she admitted. "I'm thrilled actually. I hated the fact that you were together. She's too – cute."

"Too cute?" he raised his brows. "Why, you don't think I should date a – cute – woman?"

"Well, of course. But not Miss Johnson."

"Okay", he nodded. "I can do that – or not do that I guess."

"I – was she upset?"

He had to be flattered at the fact that she assumed that he'd been the one to break up with Kerry, rather than vice-versa. Still, in the spirit of honesty with which he'd decided to have this conversation, he had to tell the truth. "She broke up with me", he told her.

He wanted to kick himself when he saw Sam's face fall. "She said it was because of my 'issues'", he informed her quickly.

"Your – issues?" She frowned in confusion. "What issues?"

"Well, there was really only one. Uh Sam", he decided to change the subject. "You know you asked me – back at my office – how I really felt about you breaking up with Pete?"

"Yes?" Her eyes found his and then flicked away quickly.

"Well, I didn't tell you the truth – or at least I didn't tell you how I really felt and I – couldn't, not there. Look, you know I wanted nothing more than your happiness, right?"

She nodded.

"And I would have done anything, anything at all to ensure that?"

"Yes", she said softly. He felt a warm – tingle – of something at her reply. She believed in him which meant so much.

"I would even, did even try and be happy for you and Pete. I figured that if that's what, who you really wanted, then I would be happy for you."

She nodded again, but this time her eyes didn't leave his face.

"But it was hell", he admitted. "I hated the fact that you were with him, that you were going to marry him and – when you told me you'd broken up I wanted to get up and holler and dance on my desk."

"You did?" her lips began curling up.

"Oh yeah. I just figured I'd better not or else Walter would call good old Doc MacKenzie and they'd haul me off to that padded room."

"I would have told them that you weren't crazy", she informed him. "I would have told them that you were -"

"That I was?"

"Jack – you were just being Jack."

He grinned. "That would have satisfied them, I'm sure."

She grinned back but then began to feel uncomfortable and again dropped her head. "What issue?" she asked again.

He sighed, knowing he had to deal with this now. "You."

Her head whipped up so fast he was sure her neck would be sore tomorrow. "Me?"

"Mmm hmm", he smiled crookedly. "She recognized that – I could never really love another woman -" he stopped, wondering if he was going too far, too fast.

"Another?"

"Yeah", he sighed. "She knew that I was – in love already. She wanted to know why we – I – hadn't done something about it a long time ago."

"And what did you say?"

"Nothing – at least not then. I thought about it though and realized that I couldn't – wouldn't. I – you know I'd never do anything to hurt you or your career -?"

She nodded. "I know", she said softly. "But – things change", she told him.

"They do?"

"Mmm hmm. This week – it's as if everything came together. We almost got annihilated, my Dad-"

He reached over and touched her hand, offering her quiet sympathy. She gave a small smile. "And then Pete took me to show me a house he'd bought for us. It was at that moment I realized – I had been searching so desperately for normal that I missed what was in front of my face."

"Which was?"

"That I didn't want normal. I wanted crazy and scary and fun and – and above all I wanted someone who would be there for me always, but who also knew I was okay by myself. I wanted someone who would die for me – but who also knew I'd do the same for him. I wanted someone I could talk to about the latest alien I'd encountered, and someone who expected miracles from me – and at the same time made me believe I could perform them. I wanted someone who could make me laugh at the stupidest times, usually when we were about to be killed – and who could make me believe in honor and duty – and doing what was right, even if it meant giving up what you wanted more than anything in the world."

"I – see. And did you – find this someone?"

"Oh yeah", she told him. "In fact I realized that he had been there the whole time. And you know what else?"

He shook his head, staring at her intently.

"On his death bed my father told me to go for it, to not let rules stand in my way. So Sir – here I am, and there are no rules anywhere in sight."

He grinned slowly and looked at the woman opposite him, not quite sure what to say, but for once not nervous about sticking his foot in it. "I –see", he finally said. "Well, that makes what I have to ask much, much easier Carter", he informed her seriously.

"What is it – Jack?"

"Wanna go fishing?" He grinned at her and then moved quickly so that he was sitting right beside her. He reached out and within a nanosecond she was in his arms and he was kissing her. Okay, so the rules still did exist – but who the hell cared. Not him, at least not right now and in a couple of weeks it wouldn't matter.

"What were you thinkin' about earlier Carter?" he asked a few minutes later, when they sat side by side on his couch, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Hmm?" she asked dreamily, still thinking about that kiss – those kisses. "Oh that. I was just thinking about you ripping my clothes off and dragging me to your bedroom to make love with me."

There was utter silence in the room and Sam frowned, trying to figure out – she backed up her brain cells and – shit! She sat up straight and looked over at Jack and turned fifty shades of purple. "I – didn't mean -"

Jack pulled her back into his arms and smiled. "That's okay Carter. In my fantasy it was the living room couch."

"Jack", she asked a few moments later.

"Mmm hmm", he answered as he nibbled on her ear.

"When can we go fishing?"