I think you're probably right. I think she sort of has to have that shield. It's really an unexplored area of Sam, how she deals with all the things she's done over her SGC career, whether necessary for survival or not. Jack would just tell her that they have orders and she followed orders and so stop being all melancholy. But Daniel would know, it's deeper than that. He'd be willing to take the time to pick away at those shields until he got through. Yup.

And thanks for the comment about my work. :)