Disclaimer: The other night I had a dream that I own Stargate and everything, then I woke up and realized that it's a very good thing I don't, because the actual powers that be do a much better job than I ever could. I write only for fun and earn no money for this.

Season: Mid to late season 5, between 2001 and Meridian.

Pairing: Sam and Jack

Spoilers: Brief references to Ascension, Between Two Fires, and 2001. Harder core spoilers about The First Commandment, Upgrades, Divide and Conquer, Window of Opportunity... the usual suspects. If there ends up being more I'll warn you at the beginning of the chapter in question.

Rating: PG-13 for language and some romance

Author's note: Thanks for taking the time to read my fic. This is the first one I have actually posted since I was a freshman (I'm a senior now). I have several stories going on in my head right now, but I'm starting with this one since it seems to be moving fastest. It's just a little something I write while I'm supposed to be paying attention in my government class (and I wonder why I've got a B in there...). Hopefully I'll be able to add chapters relatively quickly (my hope is twice a week) most of the story is already written, just not typed. If there is ever a long delay between updates, I've probably got a project or an essay due. Anyway, any reviews you feel like giving are greatly appreciated. Please enjoy.

Chapter 1: So it Begins

Sergeant Walter Harriman took a sip of his coffee and watched the readout on his computer screen. He had been ordered to take advantage of a period of time without any anticipated gate travel to run a full diagnostic on the gate system, since once the program was started, any interruption would force him to start over. Usually, Major Carter liked to be on hand for these, but such a check was dangerously overdue, and SG-1 was off world, attempting to broker a trade agreement.

Naturally, the gate chose that moment to light up and open with a whoosh, causing the technician to swear both over the lost hours of work and the spilled coffee caused by the sudden disturbance. He hit a few keys on the keyboard then reached out to close the iris, but the computer picked up SG-1's identification code first.

The Sergeant was only slightly tempted to close the iris anyway; he wasn't quite that annoyed with them. It was hard to be, Earth as they knew it would no longer exist if it weren't for them.

"Who is it?" General Hammond asked from behind Harriman.

He jumped slightly; he hadn't noticed the General's approach. After taking a moment to regain his composure, he replied, "SG-1, sir."

"They're not due back for another two days," Hammond wondered aloud. "Do you think they've secured the naquadah that quickly?"

Harriman shrugged, although SG-1's track record in such situations left him a bit more pessimistic.

By this time the team in question had appeared on the ramp, more than a little annoyed themselves.

The planet's inhabitants, a relatively advanced group descended from the Mayans of South America, were friendly enough, and had long since overthrown their Goa'uld overlord. To make matters even better, despite the fact that their existing naquadah mine was nearly dry, the UAV happened upon another vein relatively close to the Stargate that the Goa'uld must have missed or not gotten the chance to exploit.

As it was, the Mayans were more than happy to consider a trade: they had no adequate means of refining the raw ore themselves and therefore no feasible use for it. SG-1 was sent to suggest that the Mayans could mine the mineral, the Tauri could refine it, and they could split the naquadah equally.

O'Neill knew the stakes were high and his diplomacy skills were lacking, so he did the polite thing and allowed Daniel and Carter to handle most of the negotiations. Everything went according to plan, in fact it was quite boring in O'Neill's opinion, and with no ironically timed Goa'uld attacks, natural disasters, or other such ways for SG-1 to prove their valor, the Mayans were still skeptical of the Tauri's sincerity by the time the talks ended. Thus, they had requested that the visitors return to their planet to ensure their own privacy while they came to a decision.

Always aware of when to stop, Daniel requested that they be allowed to stay, on the grounds of learning more about their culture.

Even after the Mayans insisted they leave under threat of unspecified but no doubt unpleasant consequences Daniel didn't give it up, and an armed standoff nearly ensued.

It was Carter who managed to diffuse the situation by agreeing to leave immediately and giving their leader her radio and the coordinates of Earth, so that when they were ready they could contact the SGC on their own terms.

It was because of this that O'Neill wished to speak to Carter that day. Her actions would no doubt be seen as a blatant breach to security.

As he reached the bottom of the ramp, O'Neill handed off his P-90, M-15, and zat, then caught up with his second in command, who was standing a few steps away. She was struggling to unclip her primary weapon from her vest because a piece of fabric had gotten caught in the hook.

O'Neill came up behind Carter and touched her arm to get her attention. At that very moment the clip on her gun slid free unexpectedly and the P-90 dropped out of her grasp.

Jack stooped quickly and caught it, then gave it to the waiting aid and said, "Nice work back there, Carter."

"I'll be lucky if I'm not court martialed," Carter said with a sigh as she relinquished the rest of her weapons.

"Oh, you know the General," O'Neill replied with a shrug, "he'll understand when I tell him what happened."

"Got him wrapped around your little finger do you?" Carter asked with a smirk.

"You know it," Jack said. "Anyway, I'll stick with you whatever happens."

"Thank you, sir," Sam replied, flashing one of her million dollar smiles. "See you later."

From his perch above them, Sergeant Harriman saw the whole conversation. Unfortunately, people in the gateroom usually had to speak very loudly for those in the control room to hear them, so he couldn't make out everything that was said. However, Colonel O'Neill was neither especially quiet nor subtle, so the technician felt he'd gotten the general idea. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't sure when he'd last seen Major Carter looking so... smitten.

Harriman might have been a stickler for rules, and a little mad at the team, but he didn't want to get the subject of his current intrigue in trouble, so he waited until General Hammond was out of earshot before he turned the nearest technician and asked excitedly, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" she asked dully, paying more attention to her computer than her enthusiastic coworker.

"I think they're at it again," he replied.

"Who?" the second technician asked, becoming a little annoyed with the circumnavigous explanation.

"Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter," Harriman said, a little exasperated himself.

"Oh, them," she said, finally turning away from her computer. "I didn't realize they ever stopped."

Harriman looked momentarily aghast at his own lack of knowledge, but managed to flip the statement around by saying, "Well, of course, but I mean actually doing something about it."

"Really?" the woman asked, now truly intrigued. "What did you see?"

Sergeant Harriman explained the conversation he had watched unfold and his opinion of its implications, exaggerating or demeaning small details for effect.

"I've got to admit I didn't see that coming," the second technician said when he finished, "did you?"

"No, none of it," Harriman replied. "I wonder if something happened while they were off world."

"There's a good way to find that out," the technician said, eyeing him conspiratorially.