A/N: Well. This was certainly an adventure to write. I am, as I have said, determined to write a Campfire for every episode (yes, I'm going back and patching holes in the Season 1 Campfires, sorry). To that end, some episodes lend themselves to Campfires more than others. This was definitely an "other." I did not, as so many have, address Carter's penchant for talking to her plants. :::shrug::: Couldn't make that work. Thanks to Cagranosalis (Cags) for her excellent beta work and feedback. I answer each and every review that is posted (provided you review with an email addy to which I can respond), and I save every review. Thanks so much to everyone for your continued commentary and encouragement on these stories.

Set during and after One False Step.

Treading Lightly

Sam watched as Daniel disappeared into the small domed building, intent upon finding a way to communicate with the odd little aliens. She held her hands up against her chest, her left clutched tightly in her right, and looked around for a place to sit.

"Over here."

Looking up, she spotted O'Neill resting on the ground, his back against one of the other dwellings, positioned so that he was in the shade but could still keep an eye on the building into which Daniel had disappeared. As she moved to join him, O'Neill nodded toward Teal'c, indicating that he should keep watch. The Jaffa nodded, including Sam in his acknowledgement as he moved off to the edge of the small village.

"How's the hand?" The Colonel was already busily digging into their packs for a first aid kit.

Sam slowly opened her fist and eased off the bandana she'd hastily applied. She winced as the clotting blood pulled with the movement. "Fine, I guess. Hurts a bit. It'll be okay."

"Same hand you stabbed when we went back to Medrona, is it?"

Sam slid down along the wall until she was seated next to her CO. She dutifully held out her hand when he reached for it, leaving it where he set it atop his knee. "Yes, Sir. Same one."

"Gotta stop that."

"Yes, Sir."

Sam watched absently as the Colonel bent over her hand and began to take a careful look. She knew Fraiser would be lining her up for an extra set of shots for this and she fought back a shudder.

"Sorry, Carter. Did that hurt?"

O'Neill lifted his head and Sam's breath caught. The angle of the sun had changed, illuminating their little spot with the fading afternoon daylight. The amber light caught the Colonel's eyes, giving them an almost translucent look. For an instant Sam felt as if she could look directly into her CO...see his innermost thoughts. He blinked, screwing up his face in concerned puzzlement and the moment was gone.

"Carter?"

"Sir?" Sam shook her head. "Sorry. Spaced a bit. Just thinking about Dr. Fraiser's needles."

O'Neill shared a grimace. "Yeah. You've bought yourself an extra round at checkout time, looks like." Glancing back to where Daniel had disappeared, he paused, obviously thinking. Turning back to Sam, he pulled out his small Sterno. "I have a feeling this is going to take a while. Since we have the time, I'm gonna heat some water to clean this properly."

"It's okay, Sir, I'll–"

"Aah!" The Colonel held up a finger, forestalling her protest. "If I have to heat water anyway, we can also heat up food. No reason to have a cold lunch, eh?"

Sam smiled, digging into her own pack. "No, Sir." She handed him her canteen and watched as he began the process of warming up the water. Once warm he moved the pot onto the ground, careful not to let the water get too hot. He was gentle as he carefully cleaned her wound, frowning slightly in concentration as he worked. His focus allowed Sam the rare opportunity to study him without fear of reprisal or censure, and she savored the moment, storing the memory away to take out and later enjoy. The Colonel's deep brown eyes were intent upon his task, his long eyelashes rising and falling as he worked. The subtle lines that surrounded his eyes deepened as his gaze flicked from hand to med kit and back again. Despite the slight pain that came from his efforts, Sam enjoyed the warm feeling of her hand cradled in his. So focused was she on the him that when he spoke she missed the first part of his question.

"...meals for us?"

"Sorry, Sir. Guess my mind wandered.

O'Neill glanced up at her, his eyes questioning.

"You all right?"

Nodding, Sam flashed him an apologetic smile. "Yes, Sir. I was just thinking about...ah, about where the UAV could be."

"Hmm." O'Neill's eyes held her own for a moment, his gaze measuring. After a moment he nodded toward her bag. "Can you reach behind you and pull out some meals? I'm just about done." He finished tying the last wrap around her hand and gave her arm an absent pat as he cleaned up the medical supplies.

Sam fished out two MRE's from her bag and handed them over. The Colonel added more water to the pot and cut the bags open as she dug once more into her bag and produced their utensils.

"Teal'c." O'Neill keyed his mic as the water began to boil in their small pot.

"O'Neill. Is all well there?"

"Yes," responded the Colonel, with a slight smile toward Sam at Teal'c's words. "We're all fine here. Looks like Daniel's gonna be a while. Come eat."

"I shall remain along the ridge, O'Neill. I do not need to eat at this time."

The Colonel shrugged. "Suit yourself. Come when you're hungry."

Sam awkwardly tried to pour the water into her pouch, finding it hard to manage the heavy plastic MRE bag and the small pan of hot water with the bulky dressing on her left hand. O'Neill looked over at her then gently lifted both objects away, his fingers lightly brushing her skin. Sam tried to ignore how much she liked that tingling feeling.

"Let me."

"Thanks."

After handing Sam back her meal, the two sat quietly, eating and observing the coming's and going's of the odd little natives who, for the most part, ignored the two Earth officers. When she was finished, Sam yawned and leaned back, resting her head against the building behind her and enjoying the rare opportunity to relax while off-world.

"Sorry there are no s'mores."

Easing an eye open, Sam smiled at her CO. "No problem, Colonel. Maybe next time." She watched as O'Neill returned her smile and returned to his own dinner, then let her eyes slip closed again in contentment.

"Sure." O'Neill was quiet for a moment. "I was thinking that it's been a while since we had a team night. What do you think?"

"Tonight, Sir?"

The Colonel gestured vaguely at the village. "Or...whenever. You know. When Daniel gets our UAV back and we're home. Sure. Why not?"

"Sounds good, Colonel."

"Great. It's a date."

Sam snapped her head up and looked at him, her mouth falling open. Next to her O'Neill looked just as shocked. She watched as he slowly turned to her, his brown eyes bright in the fading afternoon light.

"I...well...you know, Carter. Not a date date. Just a...um, dinner."

Sam couldn't help it. He looked so flustered and...endearing...that she simply chuckled. She reached out and patted his arm briefly. "I get it Colonel. I am sure Teal'c and Daniel will enjoy the da– er, team night."

"Funny. You know, the penalty for laughing at your CO is that you have to bring dessert."

"Sounds good. I'm sure I can scare up some blue–"

"And not blue Jello, Carter."

Sam grinned again, looking forward to the end of this mission. "Yes, Sir."

Team night, as it turned out, had to wait nearly a week. Sam pulled her vintage Volvo into the driveway, parking behind the Colonel's truck. As she reached into the car to pull out the covered cake container, she smiled, wondering when the guys had all fallen into the habit of leaving the driveway open for her to park. Not that she wasn't grateful, it made it easier for her when she inevitably arrived late for the team nights, as she had tonight. Just as she was locking up her lab, Sergeant Siler had paged her to the control room. She'd waved Daniel and the Colonel on, promising to wrap things up as quickly as possible.

Now, nearly three hours later, she was climbing tiredly O'Neill's front steps, balancing the oversized cake in one hand while she rang his doorbell. The chimes had barely stopped ringing inside when the door swung open, revealing a rather rumpled looking Colonel.

"Carter!"

"Sir, sorry I'm late, I..." Sam trailed off, only now realizing that the house was dark behind her CO and that he looked rather sleepier than she would have expected for a man hosting a team get-together. "Did, um, you fall asleep during the movie, Sir?"

O'Neill waved Sam inside, flipping on lights as he went. As the room lit, Sam looked around and realized that she was the only one there. She stopped, the cake still balanced in one hand, the other resting on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. "Um, Sir? Where are Daniel and Teal'c?"

"In bed."

Sam glanced around in puzzlement. "Um...together?"

O'Neill turned from the counter where he'd started a pot of coffee. He scrubbed his hands over his face and through his hair, standing it on end. "Sorry, Carter. I was zonked on the couch. I'm assuming they're not together." He gave Sam a quick smile. "Daniel got one of his killer headaches soon after we threw the meat on the grill, so Teal'c drove him home."

"Teal'c?"

The Colonel leaned back against the counter, his hands jammed into the pockets of his trousers. "Yep." He shrugged. "It was either Teal'c or me, and..."

"Oh." Sam set the large cake down and rubbed her hands together nervously, wincing as she brushed across the stitches that Fraiser had put in when they got back from PJ2-445. "I should, ah...go." She began to edge her way out of the kitchen, acutely aware that she was here alone with her CO, relatively late at night. Off limits, off limits! Her brain was zinging with warnings. She was quite aware that her feelings for her commanding officer bordered on the "inappropriate" side of the Air Force's definition of professional relationships. She knew, because she'd spent an hour reading through the reg that dealt with the issue, Air Force Instruction 36-2909 to be precise; a supremely unsatisfying hour at that. Firmly telling her conscience to be silent, she gestured toward the cake, "Um, you can...you're welcome to the cake, Colonel."

"Carter." O'Neill stepped forward, laying a hand on her arm. "You eat yet?"

"No, Sir. I came straight from the Control Room."

"C'mon." The Colonel tugged gently on the arm he still held, leading her out onto the porch. "I'm pretty sure the fire is still...yep." O'Neill grinned back at Carter. "Teal'c built it pretty high before Daniel's migraine hit." With a tiny push he sent Sam on down toward the still burning fire in the pit at the end of his yard. "I'm gonna nuke some food, okay?"

"Sir." Sam stopped and turned to where O'Neill stood, silhouetted in the light coming from his kitchen. "I...it's okay. I can head home. You've already–"

"Aah!" The Colonel held up a hand. "Nope. We never got to eat. The steaks were on the grill when Daniel's head thing kicked in, but they left before we could eat. I sat down to call you, closed my eyes for a moment and crashed right out until you got here. So now I have four perfectly cooked steaks and two hungry people. Seems about right to me." He waved her toward the firepit. "G'wan, Captain. Sit, sit, sit. I'll be back in a minute."

Sam watched as he turned and returned to the kitchen, pulling things from the refrigerator and putting them into the microwave. She shrugged, despite the increasingly loud voice in her head. She needed to eat and he had food...it was all perfectly harmless, wasn't it? Keep telling yourself that, Samantha. Shut up, she silently ordered. Sam shrugged and crossed the lawn toward the welcome fire.

When O'Neill returned, Sam was settled on the worn cushion she so often occupied, her feet stretched toward the fire and her back resting against the picnic bench he always left so close to the pit. She had her head tipped back onto the bench seat and her eyes closed, but when she heard him approach, she peeked one eye open at him. "So, what's for dinner, Colonel?"

"Steak and salad."

"Sounds great."

She held both plates as O'Neill settled himself at her side, pulling out two bottles of Guinness from the pocket of his worn corduroy jacket. "Do you need a glass?"

"No, Sir. I'm good with the bottle. Thanks." She traded a plate for a bottle, setting it aside while she concentrated on the plate in her lap. The steak was juicy and tender and done just right; the Colonel had obviously decided against the microwave in favor of a skillet. They ate quietly, the silence between them comfortable. The fire before them burned brightly providing enough light to see each other but not so much that it masked the bright stars overhead. It was a perfect Colorado evening.

Sam ate her fill and finally reached back to set her plate on the bench behind her. "That was great, Colonel. Really." Sam took a long swallow of her Guinness and cast a sidelong glance at her CO. "Sir?"

"Carter?"

"Did you...did you really call Daniel "flakey?"

O'Neill fiddled with the remainder of his dinner, then he too set his plate aside. He finished his Guinness before turning to face her. "Well," he shrugged. "Yes. But he called me ignorant and condescending."

"Oh." Sam frowned and looked away.

"Not to worry, Carter, we made up."

"Yes, Sir. I know. He told me." Sam continued to stare into the fire, her thoughts wandering. She was only peripherally aware of O'Neill rising and disappearing into the house. After a moment she looked up to see him standing above her, two more plates balanced in one hand and two steaming mugs in the other. "Oh, Colonel, I couldn't eat the second steak."

"Nope, I'm saving those for breakfast."

"Sir?" Sam tried to still the flutter that raced through her at his words. She knew he didn't mean that in the way it came out, but she still couldn't prevent the frission of excitement that shot through her. The Colonel seemed to be oblivious to her reaction as he returned to his seat, his arm brushing hers along the way.

O'Neill handed her a plate laden with a huge wedge of chocolate cake and set the two mugs between them. "Tea for you, coffee for me." He took a huge bite of his cake and quirked a small smile at her. "C'mon, Captain. No sense in letting a perfectly good chocolate cake go to waste."

"No, Sir." Sam focused on her cake, her thoughts again turning to where they'd been wandering while he had gone inside.

"Carter."

"Hmm?" Sam absently played with the frosting on her fork.

"You know that it's not spaghetti, right? Most people don't swirl chocolate cake."

"Huh?" Sam looked up, then down at her plate. "Sorry, Colonel. Guess I'm more tired than I thought. Mind's wandering."

"Wanna share?"

"No, Sir. It's okay..." Sam trailed off, not sure if she wanted to voice her thoughts. It was nagging at her and she wanted to ask, but... Taking a deep breath she turned to him. "Colonel? Remember when you said these," Sam waved her hand to indicate the two of them and the campfire. "That we could consider this a...ah..."

"Safe zone?"

"Yes." Sam nodded, her eyes still on the fire as she considered her words.

"Yes. And? Therefore?" The Colonel's voice was softer, his tone slightly teasing as he sipped his coffee and waited for Sam to continue.

Sam could feel O'Neill's gaze as he turned his full attention to her. She swallowed hard, his intense focus unnerving her and she wondered if she really wanted an answer to her question after all. The words she wanted to ask rolled around in her head, bouncing from thought to thought in chaotic motion. No, this was probably a really bad idea... Just as quickly as she had decided to ask, she chickened out. "Ah...I was...just checking."

"Carrrterrr." The Colonel drew out her name, his low tone making her shiver. It got worse when he spoke again. " Just checking' is the same as 'never mind' in my book. Spill it." O'Neill leaned sideways and nudged her shoulder with his. "C'mon, Sam. Nothing's off limits here, remember?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Sam set her half-eaten cake wedge aside. She slid her legs up and wrapped her arms around them in an unconscious gesture of protection. Finally she asked, her voice barely audible, "I wonder what you would have called me if I had been the one on the planet with you? Sir."

"Hmm. Well, certainly not 'flakey.'" O'Neill set his own plate aside and leaned forward to gently lay another log on the fire. He fidgeted with a small twig, bending and flipping it around his nimble fingers, his eyes on the dancing flames. Several long minutes passed before he tilted his head toward her. "You know...I can't think of what I would have said to you. It's so...easy...to get mad at Daniel, you know? He's just so...so..." The Colonel waved his hand around airily, at a loss for the right word.

"Earnest?"

"Yes! Earnest is a good word. And not in the 'lost for forty years on an alien planet' way. Exactly." Still facing her, O'Neill sought her gaze and held it, his brown eyes intent upon her own. "You... Carter, you and I think so much alike that I can't imagine...I mean..." Now he looked away, obviously uncomfortable. "Anyway. I think it wouldn't have been an issue."

"Really?"

"Sure. At least not for me." He shrugged, then quirked a small smile her way. "You, on the other hand, probably would have had some choice things to say about me."

Sam's eyes widened in shock. "Um...no, Sir. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have dared to call you ignorant."

"You might have thought it."

"No. Never." Sam was adamant. The whole 'calling your CO an idiot" thing aside, if there was one thing Jack O'Neill was not, it was ignorant. He hid it well, but she was certain that her CO was quite brilliant.

"Good to know."

Sam felt herself relaxing, truly relaxing, for the first time since they'd returned. Between rigging the new sound wave generator for the planet, the multiple debriefings they'd had to endure and the ongoing issues with the dialing program, she'd been going full-out since they'd returned from PJ2-445. It was nice to just...sit a while. Especially here, with... Dammit, Samantha. Just...let it go for a while! Sam shifted, uncomfortable with the direction in which her thoughts had wandered...again. At O'Neill's curious look she faked a yawn. "It's getting late, Sir. I guess I should head home."

The Colonel nodded and rose smoothly, then offered her a hand up. "Sure, Carter. Thanks for staying."

"Thanks for dinner." She gave his hand a quick squeeze before dropping it and turning away. O'Neill rested his hand in the small of her back, gently guiding her through the dark yard and up to the side gate. Once there he popped the latch and led her around to the front of the house. The neighborhood was quiet, lit only by a few scattered streetlamps. In the distance Sam could hear the occasional bark of a neighbor's dog. Away from the warmth of the fire she could really feel the chill of the mountain air, and she shivered slightly.

"Cold?"

"A bit. The fire felt nice."

"Glad it was still going when you got here."

"Me too, Sir." Sam bent and unlocked her car, sliding inside with easy familiarity. She rolled down the window to speak to O'Neill, who stood, one hand laying atop to roof of her car, the other on the window frame. "Well, thanks again, Colonel. I really appreciate the...ah...'team night.'" She smiled up at him and was rewarded with a warm smile, his own eyes twinkling in response. "Though, I guess we can't really call it a team night, eh, Sir? Since half the team wasn't here"

The Colonel smiled again, then leaned close, his voice deliberately low and quiet. "Probably shouldn't really call it a date, either."

Sam froze, here eyes wide. "No. Sir." Yes, her mind screamed, Yes! Call it a date! For the last time, she firmly told the voice, SHUT UP! "Pr–" She cleared her suddenly hoarse throat and tried again, "Probably not."

The Colonel flashed her a last quick grin and rose, tapping the roof of the car as he did so. "Good night, Carter. Drive safe."

""Night, Sir." Sam rolled up the window against the evening's chill as she backed out of the driveway. She hoped he couldn't see well enough in the darkness to know how deeply affected she was by his suggestion of a date. Had there been more light, Sam might have seen O'Neill's face as he stood and watched her disappear into the night, a lingering look of longing that mirrored her own.