The next morning Sam, depression settling over her, sat at her window bench staring blindly out at the light fall of snow. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there when a light knock came at the door leading to the sitting room. She swiped her tears away and called out, "Come in."
The door opened revealing Jack. He cast his gaze around the room until it fixed on her at the window. "I wasn't sure you'd be up," he said walking over to her, Homer trailing after him.
"I've been up for a while," she said turning her head to look out the window. She didn't want him to know she was crying. When he was her CO she always tried so hard to be strong for him to be the soldier he expected. She could bear him thinking her weak.
He sat down beside her and studied her silently so long it made her nervous. Finally he looked away from her studied the room around them. "You're not a prisoner, Carter. You don't have to stay in your room all the time."
"Where would I go?"
"Where ever you want."
"I want to go home." She hadn't meant to say that but it came out none the less. She shut her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall again.
She started when she felt his hand on his knee. Sam opened her eyes and met his dark eyes filled with a deep concern an not a little guilt. "I know. I've been there. And if there was anyway I could get you safely back I would."
Sam nodded and attempted to smile. "I know. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be whiney, but now that things have kind of calmed down it's just really set in that I'll be here for a long time."
"You're not whiney, Carter. There's nothing wrong with missing home."
"Do miss it still? Earth?"
"Yeah, sometimes," he said quietly. "In the quiet times or when I make a joke no one understands. But I wouldn't trade anything for Sean, even all the Simpson tapes on Earth."
"They're actually on DVD now. No one uses VCRs any more."
"DVD?"
"It's like a CD but plays movies."
"Cool."