Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Chapter 1

To a complete stranger, Brigadier General Jack O’Neill looked completely engrossed in conversation with his close friend and former SG1 team-mate, Daniel Jackson. Of course, to anyone who knew him well, it was obvious that Jack’s attention wasn’t really on the subject of whatever it was Daniel was babbling about and definitely was on the tense figure of Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter as she made the rounds at her father’s memorial service reception. It was a sign of the deep friendship that had developed between the two men in the years since they had first gone through the Stargate to another planet that Daniel knew Jack wasn’t paying attention to him but kept talking to provide his friend with the cover anyway.

The two men were stood politely off to one side of the wide formal living room in the former Washington D.C. residence of the late General Jacob Carter. They each held a glass of punch and were dressed in formal mourning clothes; O’Neill in his sharp blue Air Force uniform; Jackson in an equally sharp black suit and tie. They made quite a pair; the soldier and the scholar. Two contrasting styles and approaches; one unshakeable bond that was a constant surprise to both men given their initial antipathy. The older had grey hair trimmed short, deep chocolate brown eyes and a classic hero’s face with deep carved lines and square jaw; the other had a lanky body honed in the gym and field work, startling blue eyes in an intelligent face and a new haircut that left the brown strands spiky in a messed up fashionable style that added to the slight air of absent-minded professor. In another setting, the single women in the room might have approached but there was a subtle tension in the way the men stood that warned others to stay away.

Jack nodded absently to Daniel’s comments and let his brown gaze flicker back to Sam. If he knew her – and he prided himself that he did – she was due to fall to pieces any minute…now. He sighed as he saw it. The momentary flash in the sapphire blue eyes as it hit her; her father was dead; gone; as in never coming back. For a millisecond, her classically beautiful features looked like she’d been hit by a zat, one of the alien weapons the team had discovered during their first year of Gate travel. He had to hand it to her though, Jack thought, she pulled it together fast. So fast that a less observant person might have missed the way her shoulders slumped or how her chin wobbled before she pinned her bravado back into place, excused herself from the well-meaning condolences of a matronly looking woman and slipped out the side door.

Jack sighed. ‘Dammit.’

‘It had to happen sometime.’ Daniel murmured switching from his thoughts on Incan mythology to their bereaved friend without breaking stride. ‘She was running on fumes a couple of days ago when I got back from…from…’ he struggled to find a euphemism.

‘Being dead again?’ Jack suggested sweetly.

Daniel’s eyes held a measure of resignation at the quip but really, thought Jack, the younger man was making a habit of coming back from the dead; a habit he was going to have to break now that it looked like the being mostly responsible for keeping Daniel from death, the Ancient known as Oma, was going to be battling the evil Goa’uld, Anubis, for the rest of affinity.

His gaze wandered to Sam’s fiancé who was stood with her brother on the opposite side of the room. Pete Shanahan seemed oblivious to Sam’s distress. In fact, the man had seemed oblivious to Sam all day. Jack felt the first stirrings of anger in his gut and took a deep breath. He had tried really hard not to have an opinion about Shanahan but the cop had seemed like an OK guy…until today. Maybe Shanahan was annoyed at not being able to sit with the family at the service, maybe…maybe the guy should get over whatever it was and go comfort the woman he supposedly loved and was going to marry.

‘Dammit.’ He said again as his gaze hardened and he felt his chest tighten with frustration; his hand clenched around the fragile glass he held ominously. Sam needed someone with her and Jack knew it should be Pete…so why wasn’t the cop moving? Maybe he should go…no.

He and Sam had recognised years before that their feelings went way beyond being team-mates or even friends but with both of them in the Air Force and in the same chain of command a romantic relationship between them was against regulations and there was no way around it. Sam had seemingly accepted the reality of their situation and moved on; she was about to marry another man after all. Jack had let her go – how could he have done anything else? They were where they were which meant military ranks that prevented him being in a position to offer her anything and it was important to him that Sam was happy. It had been hard to accept her being with someone else but he had tried to move on too.

He had begun a relationship with another woman, a nice woman…but Kerry wasn’t Sam and she’d quickly ditched him when she’d realised the truth; that Jack hadn’t moved on from his feelings for Sam at all. Jack flushed. He couldn’t blame Kerry for wanting out and even if he was prepared to admit she was right about his feelings, Pete was still Sam’s fiancé; Jack was Sam’s CO. The litany ran back across his mind like an old tape recording.

‘We should go after Sam.’ Daniel said conversationally.

‘Daniel…’

‘It doesn’t look like he’s going anytime soon and she needs someone now.’

Jack’s eyes flickered back to Daniel surprised at the edge of anger in the other man’s voice. The archaeologist was a passionate man when arguing his position but rarely roused to outright temper. Slow fuse, thought Jack. Most people underestimated Daniel because of that, usually to their detriment.

‘I’ll get Teal’c and meet you.’ Daniel continued.

Jack nodded slowly giving in because he badly wanted to go to her anyway; he handed Daniel his punch. He followed her escape route out of the side door and hesitated not certain which way to go next. His eyes scanned the corridor and he took a couple of steps down the hallway to glance through the dining room. The table was still laid out with the remnants of the buffet and the caterers were beginning to clear up. A movement beyond the French doors in the garden caught Jack’s attention and he glimpsed sight of Sam walking rapidly across the lawn.

He strode through the room and out of the doors. The garden was large; the patio giving way to a wide expanse of lawn and, at the back, there was a tall fence covered in ivy. It had an archway in the centre that led to a small walled garden filled with roses and it was where Sam had ended up. He hesitated in the entrance as he caught sight of her. She stood by the back wall near to a bench. Her back was to him but he could see her shoulders were shaking, her head, with its shock of sunshine blonde hair, was bowed and her hands covered her face. He took the remaining steps from the archway to her without conscious thought.

His hands rested lightly on her shoulders as he turned her to him before his arms slid around her to hold her as tightly as he dared. He hadn’t spoken a word and had expected resistance; he got none. She curled into him, burrowed her head on his shoulder and leaned on him while she cried. He shouldn’t be surprised, Jack thought, but he was. There were times he felt that Carter still tried to prove what a good soldier she was despite everything they had been through together. His hand stroked down her back as her sobs lessened and still, they didn’t speak.

Sam hiccupped and breathed in the scent of the man holding her. Jack. She’d known the instant she’d felt his hands on her shoulders that it was him; she would have known him anywhere. Her awareness came back in stages. Of the soft breaths that gently shifted her hair, of the scratchy material under her cheek as it pressed into his shoulder and of the way he was holding her, wrapped tightly in his arms. She felt comforted. She felt safe. She felt loved. By her CO. The thought had her stirring anxiously.

Jack knew the moment she came all the way back and he let her ease away, hiding his disappointment.

Sam took a step back from him and swiped at her face. ‘I’m sorry, sir.’

Sir. He really hated that word. He gentled his voice, hoping she’d look at him sometime soon. ‘You OK?’

Fresh tears sprang to her eyes at the question and he reached out to brush the tears from her cheek with a callused thumb. She finally looked at him and the depth of her grief hit him like a steamroller. ‘C’mere.’ He snagged her hand and tugged her toward the wooden bench. They sat down.

It was a few minutes before Sam realised he hadn’t relinquished her hand just kept it clasped in his own, the fingers rubbing against hers. It was amazing that the simple action filled her with the same comfort she’d felt when he’d held her. It had been almost a week since her father had died; a busy week what with Anubis trying to destroy the galaxy again, Daniel returning from the dead and trying to arrange a memorial service without explaining to her brother why their father’s body had been cremated…she dashed away another flood of tears.

‘You want me to get Pete?’ Jack forced himself to ask the question when she stayed silent. She was never normally this quiet.

Her blue eyes darted to him confused. ‘Why would I want you to get Pete?’

Jack’s eyebrows rose slightly. ‘Oh I don’t know…because you’re getting married to the guy?’

She flushed and a wave of red flooded her face. ‘I forgot I hadn’t told you yet, sir.’

‘Told me what?’ Jack asked.

‘I gave back the ring.’ Sam said. It was another item on the long list of things that had made the previous week busy. ‘Pete and I broke up.’

His brown eyes widened. The last time he and Carter had touched on the subject of her wedding just before her father had collapsed, she had told him that she was having second thoughts. She had been about to tell him the reason why when they had been interrupted. He wondered briefly at it. Looking back, he was sure she had been about to say it had something to do with how she felt about him but it could just be the way his ego wanted to interpret what she’d said. Hell, who cared, he thought with a flash of happiness, maybe there was a chance…he stopped that thought in its infancy. He was her CO; there were regulations…he halted the mental litany as he realised abruptly that she was waiting for him to speak. He opened his mouth to say the usual words of ‘sorry to hear that’ and couldn’t bring himself to utter them; he wasn’t sorry at all. He searched for something else.

‘I broke up with Kerry.’ OK, Jack thought, wasn’t quite what he’d had in mind.

‘The CIA agent?’ Sam checked although the other woman was imprinted on her brain especially the sight of her coming out of Jack’s house as though she was very much at home there.

‘Yeah.’ Jack shrugged at the unspoken question in her eyes. ‘It wasn’t working out.’

Sam nodded.

There was an uncomfortable silence; they were treading very close to the subject they never discussed – the subject that was against regulations for them even to discuss. Jack sighed. The idea that they’d left the elephant that was their unresolved feelings for each other in a room years before was laughable; the elephant usually accompanied them wherever they went and right then, Jack felt like it sat between the two of them like an unwelcome chaperone. He cleared his throat. ‘Sam…’

‘Hey, guys.’

Their heads snapped to the sight of Daniel standing inside the garden by the archway, Teal’c beside him. The large dark-skinned Jaffa was the fourth member of their team and despite the black suit and matching Panama hat that suggested he was human, there was still an alienness about him. The hat served to hide the gold symbol of a snake tattooed on his forehead; the mark of the Goa’uld Apophis. They had defeated Apophis years before and Teal’c’s people were now free from the slavery the Goa’ulds had subjected them to for centuries.

Jack waved the rest of the team over. They were both across the short expanse of grass in a heartbeat. Teal’c stood by Jack as Daniel took the seat next to Sam and folded her free hand into his.

‘How are you doing?’ Daniel asked.

The question shook the control she’d regained and more tears glimmered in the blue eyes looking back at him.

Daniel’s lips twisted wryly. ‘Dumb question, huh?’

‘Indeed, Daniel Jackson.’ The gentle agreement rumbled out from Teal’c’s heavy lips in a dark deep tone that prompted a shaky laugh from Sam. Jack’s brown eyes flickered to Teal’c’s with quiet gratitude.

‘Teal’c,’ Sam smiled up at the Jaffa, ‘I haven’t had a chance to thank you for coming all the way from Dakara.’

Teal’c inclined his head. ‘It is an honour to attend the memorial service of your father who often fought alongside me to free my people from the Goa’uld.’

‘Undomesticated equines, eh, Teal’c?’ Jack teased.

‘As you say, O’Neill.’ Teal’c’s brown eyes gleamed with humour.

Sam and Daniel exchanged an amused look. The joke was an old one and reminded them of the bond the four of them shared together. Sam felt the bubble of their protection surround her and relaxed. She trusted them with her life; after all, they’d been to Hell and back for one another; literally.

‘So how long are you staying for Teal’c?’ Daniel asked.

‘I do not know.’ Teal’c wondered at his reluctance to return to Dakara. He had spent years battling the Goa’uld to win independence for the Jaffa and now he had achieved his goal, there seemed to be an assumption amongst the Jaffa that Teal’c would leave Earth and return to lead them; it was a future Teal’c had never considered. ‘There is much to do on Dakara.’

Jack rolled his eyes. Only Teal’c could reduce setting up a whole new nation to such an understatement. He caught on something in Teal’c’s expression and he scanned the faces of the others thoughtfully. There were shadows under, and in, all their eyes; probably in his own too. They had all been through a tough time.

‘You know what we all need?’ He threw out casually.

Sam’s eyes were the first to narrow at him in suspicion. ‘What?’

‘A vacation.’

‘A vacation?’ Daniel repeated. He turned the suggestion over in his head. ‘Actually, you know Jack, that’s not a bad idea.’

‘Really?’ Sam asked before she could stop herself. Vacations were never usually taken by the team willingly.

Jack shot her a look. ‘I think,’ he stopped whatever smart remark Daniel had been about to make with another look, ‘we should all take the weekend off and go fishing.’

The other three looked at him dubiously.

‘Aw, come on. Rest, relaxation, some good company.’ Jack continued eagerly. His eyes met theirs hopefully. ‘It’s been a while since the four of us spent any time together.’

Daniel caved under Jack’s pleading eyes. ‘I guess a weekend of fishing couldn’t hurt.’ He guessed Sam would reject the idea of fishing but that the core one of spending a weekend together would be accepted.

‘I concur.’ Teal’c murmured realising the plan the archaeologist had formed. He hadn’t enjoyed the one and only other time he had gone fishing.

All three men turned to look at Sam. She was reminded briefly of the moment they had all decided to disobey orders to stop a possible attack on Earth. They’d all looked at her for her decision then too. At least, she mused, if they were all going fishing there would be no question of impropriety. ‘OK, I’m in too.’

Daniel and Teal’c stared at her in horror.

Jack’s face broke into a wide smile but before he could say anything, a movement by the archway had them all turning to find Sam’s brother by the entrance.

Mark Carter gestured back at the house to cover his unease at the way the four of them had turned as one; at the way the three men shielded his sister as though he, her brother, was the threat. ‘General O’Neill, there’s a call for you back at the house.’

Jack sighed heavily. The responsibilities of command. Why had he ever thought becoming a General and running Stargate Command was a good idea? His mind drifted to the conversation he’d had with the President that morning; of the new opportunity that he was being offered…more responsibility…another star on his uniform…and one that would mean leaving everything he’d built over the previous eight years including the team in front of him.

Sam squeezed his hand. ‘We’d better head back, sir.’

‘Right.’ Jack let her hand slip from his and they all stood up.

Daniel tucked Sam’s hand under his arm as he escorted her back to the house. Jack tried not to feel jealous that he didn’t have the same luxury of open affection that Daniel’s status as a civilian provided him with. He was barely back in the hall when he snatched up the receiver Mark indicated.

‘O’Neill.’ He listened for a few moments. ‘I understand. We’ll be back immediately.’ He dropped the receiver back in the cradle and turned to the waiting SG1 team. ‘We have to go, people.’

‘Right now?’ Mark asked incredulous.

‘Right now.’ Jack confirmed. His eyes went to Sam. ‘I’m sorry, Colonel, but we’ve all been recalled.’

‘What can be so important about deep space radar telemetry? Can’t Sam stay?’ Mark asked puzzled and a little angry at being left to deal with the rest of the reception alone.

‘I’m sorry but the situation requires Colonel Carter’s unique…uh…talents.’ Jack covered. The doorbell rang. ‘That’s probably the car they’ve sent.’

‘I’ll meet you outside, sir.’ Sam said seeing the huffy expression on her brother’s face.

Jack nodded. ‘My condolences, Mark. Your father was a good man.’

‘Yes,’ Daniel nodded, ‘I’d like to offer my condolences too.’

‘And I mine.’ Teal’c said.

‘Thank you.’ Mark said politely his eyes still on his sister.

‘One minute, Carter. We have planes waiting for us at Andrews.’ Jack said before he reluctantly left her with Mark.

Sam hugged her brother. ‘I’m sorry, Mark.’

‘Don’t worry.’ He indicated the room behind him. ‘I’ll handle it but don’t you want to talk to Pete before you leave though?’

‘You invited him and pressed him into coming, Mark. I told you we’re not engaged anymore and I don’t think talking to Pete right now is the best thing to do.’ Sam’s lips tightened at Mark’s unhappy expression. ‘I’ll call you later, OK?’

‘Right.’ Mark gestured at the door. ‘You’d better get going.’

Sam tried hard not to let his ultra polite tone upset her as she turned and walked out of the house; tried hard not to notice it was the exact same tone her father would use to make her feel guilty. She schooled her features before she climbed into the limousine and at the knowing looks wondered if she was fooling anybody.

‘So,’ she said brightly, ‘what’s the emergency, sir?’

Jack’s gleeful eyes met hers across the small space. ‘They found a ZPM.’

Chapter 2

The crate was on the table next to them. The ZPM, or Zero Point Module, nestled in a bed of straw. Sam’s eyes were automatically drawn to it. A long lasting powerful source of energy that was way ahead of anything humans had ever created. They needed the device to power the Ancient weapons on Earth; to travel to the Pegasus Galaxy and contact the team that had gone to Atlantis so many months before. Hope. It was strange to think that the steady orange glow of the object brought so much of the simple emotion.

Sam’s hands itched. Daniel and Teal’c had been sent straight to Egypt from Washington to collect the ZPM personally while Sam and Jack had returned to Colorado to prepare for its arrival. They’d had to wait hours before it had arrived at the SGC base under Cheyenne Mountain. There was so much analysis to do, Sam thought. Ultimately, they had to find someway of recharging it so it didn’t run out of power…maybe there was a way to hook up the generator Jack had created the first time the knowledge of the Ancients had been downloaded into his head but then would that work given the ZPM drew its power from sub-space…

‘Earth to Carter.’ Jack waved his hand in front of her face.

‘Sorry, sir.’ Sam pulled herself out of her thoughts to concentrate on what was happening around her. Daniel was pushing a video into the television they had hooked up in the room. Oddly, the ZPM hadn’t been the strangest thing recovered from the dig in Giza; a jar containing a perfectly preserved video camera had been the real shock. The camera was consistent with their current level of technology and it was the same make and model the SGC used for field work.

‘So,’ Daniel said, ‘as I was telling you, they found this buried with the ZPM.’

‘It is most strange.’ Teal’c said.

‘It’s incredible.’ Daniel said. ‘This is incredible.’ He, along with Teal’c, had already seen the tape; it had been the reason why they’d called Jack and Sam into Daniel’s office as soon as they’d gotten back. He pressed the remote and the screen flickered into life.

‘OK, my name is Daniel Jackson. I’m part of a team called SG1 and we have just travelled back in time five thousand years…’

Sam’s blue eyes widened.

‘Whoa.’ Jack’s hands gestured at the screen. He grabbed the remote and stopped it. ‘Is that you?’ His brown eyes glared at the archaeologist.

Daniel grabbed the remote back. ‘Just watch.’

The tape began to play again. The team watched as the Daniel on the screen explained what had happened; time travel to recover the ZPM. All four members of the SG1 team appeared one by one.

‘…and there are no fish in my pond. At all. Where I fish. I think that covers it for me.’ The Jack on the screen declared.

‘Is that correct?’ Sam asked Jack thinking about the weekend of fishing that her CO was insisting was going ahead despite the discovery of the ZPM since it was now safely at the SGC.

Jack ignored the question as the tape ran on and finished abruptly. He rewound the tape and turned to look at her. ‘Is this possible?’

‘Theoretically, yes, sir. We could have fixed the machine we found and gone back in time to recover the ZPM.’ Sam pushed her sleeves up her arms. ‘I can’t believe I agreed to it but yes.’

‘I guess the benefits outweighed the risks.’ Daniel murmured, his eyes sliding to the crate.

‘We messed with our own timeline.’ Sam gestured at the television. ‘There’s no telling how much damage we did.’

‘But like I said on the tape, well not me but him, that’s exactly why we left the tape.’ Daniel said.

‘Huh?’ Jack’s bemused eyes landed on the other man.

‘To provide our future selves, us, with a checklist, a set of references if you will, that we can use to ensure the future is the same.’ Daniel explained and gestured back at the screen. ‘If anything doesn’t match we know we screwed up.’

‘You mean like there being no fish in my pond?’ Jack checked.

‘Exactly.’

‘There aren’t that many references on that tape, Daniel.’ Sam pointed out. ‘Even if those match, there’s no telling how many more others don’t.’

‘But if the ones on the tape match given their range and randomness, isn’t it likely that others would too? Or at least be really close.’

‘Maybe.’ Sam allowed.

‘So if everything mentioned on the tape matches with what has happened in this timeline then we think we’re OK?’ Jack asked double-checking he’d heard correctly.

‘Yes.’ Daniel confirmed adamantly.

Jack’s eyes slid to Sam; she was the theoretical astrophysicist.

Sam shifted uncomfortably. ‘If everything matches on the tape then it’s unlikely that anything major will have been altered.’ She agreed.

‘And if it doesn’t?’ Jack questioned.

‘Then the right thing to do would be to correct the timeline.’ Sam stated firmly.

‘Teal’c?’ Jack glanced at the quiet Jaffa.

Teal’c inclined his head. ‘I believe we should watch the tape again, O’Neill, and see whether such a course of action is required.’

‘Then let’s watch the tape again.’ Jack pressed play.

‘…and there are no fish in my pond. At all. Where I fish. I think that covers it for me.’ They stopped the tape.

‘Is that correct?’ repeated Sam.

‘If it is, we don’t do anything?’ Jack checked.

‘Apparently, nothing we did affected the timeline.’ There was a hint of disbelief in her voice. All the other references had matched; there was only the question of the fish left. It seemed too good to be true.

‘But we didn’t do anything.’ Jack protested.

‘Not yet.’ Sam agreed amused at the confusion on his face. Temporal physics wasn’t the easiest thing for anyone to get their heads around including her. ‘Apparently we were going to. Two weeks from now but now we don’t have to.’

‘Excellent. That’s it.’ Jack tapped the desk as Daniel and Teal’c gave satisfied nods and both men headed back to Daniel’s computer console. ‘I like it.’

Sam breathed a sigh of relief and reached for the crate. Finally, she could begin her analysis. ‘OK, I’m going to get this up to the lab for analysis…’

‘No.’ Jack grabbed the crate before she could move. ‘I’ll take it. There’s a whole room full of geeks up there just dying to get their hands on this.’ His eyes danced with merriment as he looked at her. ‘You’ve got packing to do.’

Sam looked after him as he walked from the room and sighed. She wandered over to Daniel and Teal’c.

Daniel shifted his attention from the monitor long enough to glance over his shoulder at her. His lips twitched at the disgruntlement on her face from not being allowed to play with the ZPM and he quickly averted his gaze before she saw his amusement.

‘What are you guys doing?’ Sam asked taking in the text of the Constitution on the screen.

‘Daniel Jackson is attempting to help me create a system of government for my people.’ Teal’c stated.

Sam sighed. She asked a simple question…

‘Shouldn’t you be packing?’ Daniel kept his eyes on the screen. He could just see the faint outline of her glaring at him on the monitor.

‘Shouldn’t you?’ Sam countered.

‘I’m done.’ Daniel informed her gleefully. He gestured at the stack of bags in the corner.

‘As am I.’ Teal’c said.

Sam knew when she was beaten. It looked like the guys wanted the weekend to go ahead. She sighed again. ‘Fine. When are we supposed to meet?’

‘An hour from now in Jack’s office.’ Daniel reminded her.

Sam nodded and backed out of the room. It didn’t take her long to pull together a rucksack with all the essential items she needed or to change into blue jeans and a light top. She smeared another layer of lipstick over her lips and headed to the General’s office. He was on the phone; the phone; the one with the direct link to the President but he waved her in as soon as he caught sight of her lurking outside his door. She hovered awkwardly just inside, absently noting that Jack had also changed into civvies.

‘Yes, Mr President. Monday? We’d be honoured, sir.’ Jack scribbled a note on a pad of paper and nodded. ‘Thank you, sir. We look forward to seeing you.’ He hung up and scratched his head thoughtfully.

‘We look forward to seeing you?’ Sam repeated.

‘Yeah. He wants to come visit. Say hi. Thank us for saving the world. Again.’ Jack shrugged and pushed his chair back. He took the two steps to the second office door that opened out on the briefing room and poked his head around it. ‘Sergeant!’

Sergeant Walter Harriman appeared a moment later. Jack handed him the note. ‘Walter, the President is visiting on Monday. I’m going to need you to arrange everything. These are the details I’ve been given.’

‘I take it you will be cancelling your and SG1’s vacation this weekend then, sir?’ Walter asked nervously.

‘No. You do not take it that I will be cancelling mine and SG1’s vacation.’ Jack paused wondering if he had made grammatical sense.

‘I’m sure SG1 could cancel the weekend if you’re needed here, sir.’ Sam suggested seeing the momentary look of panic flit across the Sergeant’s face.

‘SG1 is actually going on leave, Carter. Suck it up.’ Jack smirked at Sam’s mutinous look.

‘Sir, there may be details that you will need to decide…’ Walter began.

‘I trust you, Walter. You choose. Bunting, buffet, whatever’s needed.’ Jack said firmly. ‘We’ll be back on Sunday at 1800 hours and you can brief us all on protocol and agenda at that time.’

‘But, sir…’

‘And you can call that phone line the techs rigged up at the cabin if something major happens that requires my attention.’ Jack’s tone indicated that ‘something major’ was probably nothing short of an invasion of Earth. ‘That’ll be all.’

Walter came to attention. ‘Yessir.’ He hurried out of the office.

‘Sir, don’t you think…’ Sam stopped at Jack’s raised finger; the finger that denoted the time for all discussion had come to an end.

‘You guys ready?’ Daniel asked from the doorway loaded up with his bags; Teal’c stood just behind him.

‘Sure we are, aren’t we, Carter?’ Jack raised an eyebrow at Sam.

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam sighed.

‘Then let’s go.’ Jack reached for the bag he’d stowed under the desk.

The alarm sounded.

‘Oh, for crying out loud!’ Jack muttered.

Chapter 3

Jack headed through the briefing room and down the staircase to the gate control room. The others exchanged a worried look before they dumped their bags and followed him. Sam slipped into the chair by the side of Walter ready to assist him.

‘Unscheduled incoming wormhole.’ Walter announced.

‘How many teams off world?’ Daniel asked.

‘Thirteen.’ Jack said folding his arms and staring out of the observation window at the ring.

‘Receiving IDC.’ Walter noted.

‘It’s Bra’tac.’ Sam confirmed recognising the code a moment before the computer displayed his name.

Jack glanced across at Teal’c who looked back at him with a mixture of concern and confusion.

‘Open the iris.’ Jack ordered as he started to head down to the gate room, Teal’c and Daniel following after him. Sam followed at a more sedate pace and Bra’tac was already stepping through the glistening pool of blue that was the event horizon of the wormhole and onto the steel ramp when Sam took her position with the others.

Bra’tac took a moment to steady himself, more to hide his shock at the strange apparel the SG1 team were wearing than to recover from the trip through the wormhole. His dark eyes landed with amusement on his former protégé who was wearing some kind of skin-tight blue jacket and Teal’c lifted one eyebrow as though in warning; he would not tolerate teasing even from his respected mentor.

Jack stepped forward to greet him with a smile. ‘Master Bra’tac.’

‘O’Neill.’ Bra’tac inclined in his head. His eyes drifted to Daniel and to Sam as he acknowledged them in turn. ‘I apologise for my unscheduled return but it is vital that I speak with Teal’c immediately. In private.’

Jack blinked but he nodded. ‘Of course.’ He hesitated as the two Jaffa made to leave the gate room before he cleared his throat and gestured at the group. ‘Uh…Bra’tac, we were all kinda about to head out on a…’

‘Vacation.’ Bra’tac nodded. ‘Teal’c spoke of this to me.’ He felt it was a good way for Teal’c to say goodbye to the Tau’ri. No matter what bonds Teal’c had formed with his friends, he was very definitely needed back on Dakara. Bra’tac knew Teal’c would carry out his duty to his people but if he could do it after finding some closure to his time with the Tau’ri so much the better.

‘So,’ Jack drawled the word out and rocked back on his heels, ‘will you need Teal’c for long or…’ he gestured vaguely.

‘A few hours only, O’Neill,’ Bra’tac reassured him, ‘and then I will return him to you to assist in your battle against the fish, hmmm?’

‘Come, old friend.’ Teal’c grasped Bra’tac’s shoulder and gently led him out of the gate room.

Jack’s expression cleared. OK, a few hours delay wasn’t so bad. His eyes flickered to Sam. Of course, three more hours on base and it would probably take C4 to get her out of the lab and away from the ZPM.

Daniel caught the look. ‘Jack, why don’t you and Sam go on ahead? I can wait for Teal’c and we can catch you up at the cabin.’

Sam’s eyes shot to Daniel’s face and he avoided her accusing gaze. ‘Daniel…’

‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ Jack asked hurriedly.

Daniel shrugged. ‘I don’t mind.’

‘Great.’ Jack grinned at Sam. ‘Let’s go then.’

Sam wasn’t immune to the gleam of eager enthusiasm in the warm brown eyes looking back at her and sighed. ‘Yes, sir.’

They retrieved their luggage and headed to the top of the mountain where their chopper was waiting on the helipad before Sam could come up with an excuse why it was a bad idea for them to travel on alone. They took their seats in the back of the chopper and were soon airborne, heading to the wilds of Minnesota where Jack’s cabin was located. The helicopter would drop them at an airfield and they would take a rented car for the hour’s drive up to the cabin itself.

It was difficult to talk with the noise of the engines and rotors even with the headsets, and they settled into enjoying the flight. Jack felt a twinge of envy at the pilot; he didn’t log enough time in the air these days, he thought with regret. Hell, he didn’t log enough time out in the field these days. His initial intention to join the rest of SG1 on the occasional off-world mission had gradually disappeared under the weight of command. He missed it. He missed being with his team; missed hearing Sam’s technobabble, arguing with Daniel over some random aspect of the mission and fighting shoulder to shoulder with Teal’c. He’d done better at command than he’d initially thought, his mind flashing back to a resignation note he’d typed once, but he still felt like it was an uncomfortable fit. He just wasn’t suited to sitting and watching the action, he admitted silently. He wanted to be out there…on the frontlines.

Not that they had many frontlines these days. The Goa’uld were mostly destroyed and those that remained were fleeing to remote parts of the galaxy to hide as their once trusted troops of Jaffa turned on them. They had utilised the ancient weapon on Dakara before its destruction to rid the galaxy of Replicators and Anubis had according to Daniel been neutralised by Oma for the foreseeable future so it left their galaxy pretty quiet. Not that theirs was the only galaxy…

He frowned. He had an uncomfortable feeling that the President was going to press him for an answer on the job he had offered Jack when he’d been in Washington. Head of the Department for Homeworld Security. General Hammond’s current post and the one his commander was leaving for a well earned retirement very shortly. A desk job. Sure he’d have oversight of the Stargate programme, the Atlantis project and the cool new spaceships but…but he wouldn’t be out there and he’d be even more removed from the action. At least there was the occasional lockdown or rampant plant to take the edge off the paperwork monotony at the SGC.

‘Sir?’ The voice of the pilot crackled through the headset and brought Jack out of his reverie.

Jack adjusted his mike. ‘Yes, Major?’

‘ETA in ten minutes, sir.’

‘Thanks, Major.’ Jack shifted on the bench and looked over at Sam who smiled back at him before returning her gaze to the sky. The smile was enough to raise his spirits and he wondered again how one woman, one smile, had the power to do that.

Samantha Carter. He smiled a little. In his mental list of pros and cons for leaving the SGC, she definitely fell into the ‘con’ column. If he left the SGC he wouldn’t get to see Sam that often and she would still be in his chain of command. At least if he stayed, he’d get to see her every day when she wasn’t off-world. Of course, she’d still be in his chain of command. His thoughts drifted back to his break-up conversation with Kerry.

‘Is the Air Force the only thing keeping you two apart? Rules and regulations? Because if it is, you’re making a very big mistake.’ Her eyes reflected her incredulity.

‘And you know what I should do?’ He asked.

‘Retire.’ She said.

‘Again.’

‘Don’t get me wrong you’re considered invaluable to the programme by the Pentagon but the President has appointed a civilian to run the SGC before. Just a thought.’

So, Jack considered, all he really had to do was convince President Hayes that he, Jack O’Neill, was still the right person to run the SGC but that he no longer wanted to be in the Air Force. Of course it was likely that the President would ask why and that was the sticking point…if he told Hayes about his feelings for Sam then he would in effect be admitting to his Commander in Chief that he had formed an inappropriate attachment to a junior officer. It would be a tacit admission that he was close to breaking, hell, had already broken the fraternization regulations in spirit, if not in deed. He didn’t figure Hayes would set JAG on him but it would certainly make for an awkward conversation particularly given Hayes’s own agenda to get Jack to take the Homeworld gig. His eyes landed back on Sam. He could never ask her to give up the Air Force and her career; she was a damned good soldier and a brilliant scientist; they needed her. But maybe they didn’t a grizzled veteran like him anymore. Maybe it was about time he did something about what was between them and provided them with some options. God knew he couldn’t take another Pete scenario.

The bump as they landed jolted him out of his thoughts and Jack stretched trying to get the kinks out of his neck as they climbed out. His easy brown gaze slid straight into the smirking face of the pilot who was staring at Sam with a knowing look. Jack felt his own features freeze. It was obvious the little twerp thought Carter was off for a dirty weekend with her CO.

‘Colonel Carter.’ Jack said careful not to let his anger show in his voice.

‘Sir?’ There was a flicker of surprise in her voice at the full use of her name and rank; usually he shortened it to her surname.

‘Why don’t you go ahead and pick up the car? I just have to confirm the arrangements for Daniel and Teal’c.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam nodded and headed across the tarmac towards the small building that housed the car rental firm.

The pilot and his co-pilot came to attention beside the aircraft as Jack’s hard gaze landed on them both. ‘When you get back to the SGC, Doctor Jackson and Teal’c should be ready to travel here to join myself and Colonel Carter. Make sure the helicopter is refuelled and ready to depart as soon as they are.’

‘Yes, sir.’ The two men answered in unison. Jack saw the flicker of surprise across the pilot’s face at the realisation that the couple he had just transported wouldn’t be alone and the sudden uncertainty at his original assumption. Jack decided not to push it any further. If he said anything directly the young officer would only believe his original assumption had been correct and that Jack was protesting too much. He settled for a firm nod before he slung his bag over his shoulder. He walked away and hunted with his free hand in his jacket pocket for his sunglasses.

Dammit. As much as he hated to admit it, this was the reason for the damn frat regs. There should never be a question that everything wasn’t above board with him and Sam. It wasn’t fair to her. She’d worked hard to achieve her current rank and she damned well deserved it. Not that anyone who knew her, anyone who’d served for a long time in the SGC would question that. Jack took a deep breath. He knew Major Sanders was new to the SGC; maybe he just hadn’t had time to settle in and get up to speed with how close Jack remained to his former team and the formidable reputation of SG1.

But it wasn’t all the Major’s fault, a small voice prompted in his head; Jack had created the situation by travelling alone with Sam. His heart sank a little at his realisation. He’d just been so eager to get away, to get her away from the SGC he hadn’t considered how it might have looked to someone else…damn. He sighed. Well, he’d done as much damage limitation as he could and hopefully Sam hadn’t noticed. He caught sight of her heading for the car lot and changed direction to catch up with her.

‘All sorted?’ He asked as he fell into step beside her.

Sam’s blue eyes snapped to his. ‘They gave us a jeep. It’s in lot C, sir.’

Jack sighed. ‘Lot C it is and we’re on vacation, Sam; lose the ‘sir’.’

‘Yes, sir.’

He shot her a look and relaxed when he saw the amusement glimmering in her eyes. ‘Do we have a key for this car?’

‘I do.’ She dangled the car key between them.

Jack made a grab for the key and she snatched it back out of his reach.

‘I can drive.’ Sam insisted as they drew to a halt at the only vehicle in lot C.

Jack grinned at her. ‘But you don’t know where we’re going.’

‘You wouldn’t give me directions?’ Sam checked.

‘Nope.’

‘You’re kidding?’ She stared at him for a long moment.

‘It’s a guy thing, Carter.’ Jack explained cheerily knowing there’d be hell to pay later for the remark.

She rolled her eyes and handed him the key.

Jack happily unlocked the doors and a few minutes later they were driving away from the air field. He made the familiar turns and was soon headed out on the road up to the cabin. It didn’t see a lot of traffic and Jack enjoyed the freedom of the open road. He’d been driving for a while before he realised that Sam hadn’t spoken a word since they’d set off from the air field. She was probably mad about the whole driving thing, he thought amused. He sneaked a glance at her and his eyes snapped wide open with shock before he wrenched them back onto the road. Sam was curled up, fast asleep.

He sneaked another look. She looked exhausted, he mused with concern. There were purple shadows under her eyes and faint lines of tension around her mouth and eyes that marred her otherwise flawless complexion. Screw appearances, Jack thought furiously, he’d done the right thing dragging her away on vacation. Hell, he should have done it sooner. He tried to reassure himself that with some good food and sleep, she’d be OK. He sighed. Sam always did have a tendency to overwork and he knew she’d missed the immutable influence of their late CMO and friend, Janet Fraiser, who had always ensured that Sam rested.

God, he missed Fraiser and knew Sam missed her more. Her grief was probably only surpassed by SG1’s god-daughter, Cassandra. Fraiser had adopted the young alien girl, the lone survivor of a planetary massacre, when they’d brought her back through the gate with them. In every way that mattered, Cassie had lost a mother that day on the battle field when Janet had been hit. Cassie had lived with Sam immediately after the tragedy but she had eventually asked to live with Fraiser’s colleague Doctor Warner and his family; the middle daughter was her best friend. Sam had been trying to juggle too much when she was on Earth and was just away too often off-world. Jack knew the decision had been hard on them both but especially Sam. Jack figured she saw it as a failure even though Cassie understood and he knew Cassie understood because with being at the SGC he’d managed to spend time with her on a semi-regular basis. Cassie was a wise head on young shoulders and as far as Jack could see she was dealing with losing Janet and the changes in her life with a dignity that most adults twice her age didn’t have. He had invited her along to the weekend but Cassie had declined claiming she already had plans…and maybe she knew the team needed some together time.

Jack frowned. It probably would be the last time the team was ‘together’ for a long while. Teal’c already had one foot on the other side of the gate. Jack knew the Jaffa was getting pressure to return permanently to Dakara to truly lead his people and in truth there was very little counter-argument Jack could muster to prevent it. He didn’t think the Free Jaffa would go for the ‘because we’ll miss him’ line in a big way. And they would miss him, terribly. He would miss him, Jack thought sadly. He couldn’t quite imagine life at the SGC, couldn’t imagine his life without Teal’c’s steady and resolute presence in it and he knew Daniel and Sam felt the same. He knew the three of them were all going to have to prepare for the moment Teal’c made his departure official. Another loss for Sam to cope with on top of everything else, he mused, one that left a huge gaping hole in the SG1 team she now commanded…well, at least she would have him and Daniel…

Daniel. He shook his head. He’d lost track at how many times Daniel had ‘died’ and come back. Was it five…six times now? He had worried that this last time Daniel wouldn’t return, more than he would have ever admitted to anyone. Sam had picked up on it; she knew him too well but he’d brushed her off. If he had admitted that Daniel might not come back…well, it just seemed to him that it would have jinxed any possibility of it actually happening. He’d lived through losing him seemingly for real too many times; didn’t want to do it again any time soon. If he’d gained one brother in Teal’c, he’d gained another in the young archaeologist. Jack smiled as he considered that his occasional verbal sparring with Daniel was probably similar to that of a couple of siblings poking at each other. Most of their arguments these days were simply because it was expected; most of the banter mixed with a lot of fondness. They’d realised a long time ago that underneath all of their differences they shared a lot of the same values and one of those was loyalty above and beyond to their friends. Jack took another sideways glance at Sam.

He knew Daniel and Sam were close. If he had assumed the role of Daniel’s older brother, Sam was definitely the sister Daniel had never had. They had bonded quickly; both of them finding a kinship with each other. It wasn’t just that they related to each other as geeks or that they had finally met someone else who could keep up with the speed of their thinking or that they had the same insatiable curiosity about their discoveries although Jack figured that was a part of it. For him, the two of them had simply just got each other right from day one. Maybe because when they’d met, in that first initial meeting, both of them had still been innocent in a lot of ways. Jack couldn’t contemplate Daniel being insensitive enough to abandon Sam when she needed them but then he knew Sam was aware of how desperately Daniel wanted to visit Atlantis and now they’d found the ZPM it made the trip a real possibility. Even if Daniel didn’t start bugging him to go, Jack knew it was only a matter of time before Sam told Daniel to go. He was going to have to cut that off at the pass, Jack thought as pulled up in front of the cabin.

He jammed the gear into park and turned off the engine as he reviewed Sam’s sleeping face and considered his options. He could wake her up or he could carry her inside and risk falling on his ass. So…which did he do? He wondered.

Chapter 4

Sam woke up slowly. She stretched and came more awake at the realisation that she was still in her clothes. Her blue eyes snapped open and she shifted into a sitting position with a swiftness born out of her years of mission experience with SG1. She’d been kidnapped in her sleep once and it had made her wary. A light woollen throw had been placed over her and it slipped down to pool at her hips as she took stock of her environment. OK, she was on a bed, on top of the covers and she was fully dressed although her shoes were missing. This was good. Her last memory was of getting in the car and deciding to close her eyes just for a moment. A blush stained her cheeks. God, she must have fallen asleep on the General…Jack. OK, correction; this was bad.

‘Oh boy.’ She muttered. It only took a moment for her embarrassment to be chased away by her curiosity as she realised that Jack had obviously placed her in his own room.

It was neater than she had expected. The furniture was solid oak, scarred and a little worn but sturdy. The bedding was a dark green that complemented the bare wooden walls of the cabin. There was an abstract picture on the far wall and she frowned as she realised it was trying to represent the solar system. She much preferred her art to look like the thing it was portraying. There was an absence of personal effects but her eyes fell on a photo frame atop the dresser. She shoved the throw to one side and padded across the bedroom to pick it up.

It was a picture of Jack’s late son, Charlie. Her finger swept over the happy image of the child. She had worked with Jack for months before she’d even known he’d had a child or the tragic circumstances around his death, an accidental shooting with Jack’s own weapon. Looking back to SG1’s first missions, she could see with perfect hindsight that he’d still been grieving for the loss of his son and his marriage which hadn’t withstood the strain of the tragedy. At the time, she’d been so in awe of him that she hadn’t picked up on the grief under the tough soldier act Jack wore so well.

She replaced the picture as her own grief swam to the surface and she pushed it away ruthlessly. She turned back toward the bed and caught sight of a note propped up against the lamp on the bedside table. She hastened over to pick it up.

‘Sam, gone for a few supplies the caretaker missed. This room’s yours for the duration. Make yourself at home. Back soon, Jack.’

Sam reread the note and put it back on the table with a sigh. She rubbed her hands on her thighs and pulled at her top. Her eyes landed on her bag and the fresh towels Jack had put out on the chair across the room. She wouldn’t mind freshening up. OK, a shower and some clean clothes. She gathered a few items from her rucksack and made her way a little nervously out of the bedroom.

She made a cursory exploration of the cabin to get her bearings; to her right was a door that led out to the den and kitchen area; her immediate thought was that they were going to be cosy with the four of them sharing the space. Opposite the bedroom door was another which led to a second bedroom with twin beds. It was half-filled with junk and boxes and she figured it didn’t get used often as a guest room. The door to her left at the end of the hall was the bathroom. She closed the door and threw the lock. The fittings were old and basic and she feared the worst as she turned the shower on full. She was pleased at the steady rush of hot water and quickly stripped off to take her place under it.

For a long time, Sam just stood with her face turned up and her eyes closed, and let the water flow over her, let the warmth soothe her. She reluctantly reached for her shampoo as the water started to lose heat. She was still tired, she thought, in a down-to-the-bone kinda way. It was just as well Jack had driven them up to the cabin; she probably would have fallen asleep at the wheel and driven them into a tree. Not that it excused the macho crap he’d pulled. She smiled. Back when they had first met it probably would have riled her into a feminist diatribe as she tried to prove she was just as capable as he was. In fact, she considered thoughtfully, the first year of serving with him had seemed to be all about proving herself.

Jack had made it clear when they’d met that he had doubts about her. She’d known enough about his military record and had been impressed enough by his initial leadership that she had wanted to wipe those doubts from his mind completely especially as he seemed to maintain a distance with her that he just didn’t have with either Daniel or Teal’c. She’d figured she’d succeeded in getting his approval after she and the other female personnel had stopped the base from being taken over by Hathor but then there had been Jolinar…

She frowned and reached for the shower gel as her mind turned to the Tok’ra symbiote that had briefly taken over her before giving up its own life so she would live. Jolinar had left memories of her own life in Sam’s subconscious and a changed blood chemistry that gave her residual powers to use Goa’uld technology. It had taken a long time before she’d been able to accept that whilst her experience had changed her, it hadn’t fundamentally smothered who she, Sam Carter, was.

It had taken a longer time for her to realise it hadn’t really changed how the people around her felt about her either especially Jack. She’d believed the experience had almost put her back at square one with her CO; that whatever trust she’d gained with him had been eroded. She wasn’t quite certain when she’d realised that he did trust her. Maybe when he’d given her permission to try something as his life hung in the balance…maybe when they’d met the rest of the Tok’ra…it was like a mathematical problem she couldn’t quite solve. Just like she wasn’t sure when her feelings for Jack had changed; when her regard for him had changed from professional respect and a friendship to being all the way in love with him. She did know the exact moment when she’d realised her feelings; it was etched into her mind like a carving. It had been the instant when they had gone to bring him home from Edora and he had walked away from her into the arms of another woman.

Sam smiled ruefully at the memory as she rinsed off. Really her first clue should have been the fact that she had worked night and day for three whole months to build a particle beam generator from scratch so they could rescue him. Oh, she’d admitted to Janet that she missed Jack but when her friend asked if it were a problem, she had brushed her off. Sam had truly missed the subtlety of the question. It had taken that moment on Edora for the truth to smack her over the head. Even now, she could still feel the gut-wrenching sense of loss as he walked away from her, the sharp sting of jealousy as he hugged another woman and the staggering realisation that she was in love with her CO. She’d had to turn away and take a breath; the whole thing had made her dizzy. Although, she mused, that could have been the not sleeping or eating properly for three months…she had pretty much collapsed as soon as they got back through the Stargate to the SGC…

Consciousness seeped back in and she opened her eyes unwillingly. The first person she saw was Colonel O’Neill sitting in a chair by her bed in the infirmary; he was reading reports. So it hadn’t been a dream. They really had managed to bring him home. Her happiness dimmed a little at the memory of him hugging Liara. He had obviously formed a relationship with the Edoran woman in the months that he had been trapped there. Jealousy brought a bitter taste to her mouth and Sam took a deep breath. Jack was her CO and she was not in love with him. Right.

‘Carter.’ Jack smiled a little self-consciously as his brown eyes snapped to hers and realised she was awake and staring at him. ‘Glad to have you back with us.’

‘Likewise, sir.’ She struggled into a sitting position and accepted the glass of water he handed to her gratefully. She smiled at the sight of Daniel asleep in the chair on the opposite side of the bed.

‘He passed out a couple of hours ago. I threw Teal’c out around the same time to do his kelno’reemy thing.’ Jack noted as he sat back down. ‘I’m still on Edoran time, I guess.’

Sam nodded. ‘What exactly happened, sir? I don’t remember getting back to the SGC.’ Her last memory was of stepping into the wormhole on Edora.

‘We stepped onto the ramp in the gate room. The General welcomed me back and I was making a joke…a really great joke, by the way, when you passed out with exhaustion.’ His tone was slightly accusatory. ‘You’ve been out for about eighteen hours. You missed the debriefing.’

‘Sorry, sir.’ Sam wasn’t sorry; listening to him describe his time on Edora given her new feelings for the Colonel and what she had surmised had happened with him and Liara would have been excruciating.

‘I hear I owe you a thank you.’ Jack said folding his arms. ‘Something about a partition beam thingy?’

‘Particle beam generator, sir.’ She automatically corrected before seeing the glint of humour in his eyes that gave away he’d been teasing her.

‘And I want you to know that the next time I get stuck on a planet I want you to work just as hard as you did this time to get me home. All hours. Night and day. Don’t stop for food or rest and feel free to work yourself into the ground again.’

Her lips twitched at the teasing tone even as she felt her cheeks heat, doubly glad that she’d missed the debriefing. ‘Yes sir.’

‘Seriously, Sam…’

Her eyes flickered back to his at the unusual use of her first name and widened at the intently solemn gaze he was directing at her.

‘Thank you. I’d almost…’ He cleared his throat. ‘Well, let’s just say it’s good to be home.’

She nodded slowly. ‘Any time.’

There was something in the way he was looking at her and she realised with a shock that she wasn’t feeling the professional distance that usually existed between them…

But then Janet had walked in, Daniel had woken up and the mood had changed. Sam smiled as she switched the shower off and reached for a towel. It seemed most of her personal conversations with Jack were interrupted by something. The last one had been a doozy: she’d turned up at his house unannounced and had been about to declare that she was having second thoughts about her impending marriage because they’d never really discussed what was between them when Kerry Johnson had walked out of his house. The rush of jealousy had been all too familiar and she’d known immediately that, despite the fact that Jack was involved with someone else, she definitely couldn’t marry Pete.

Poor Pete. He really did deserve better. She should never have accepted the ring. She shook her head. Maybe if she hadn’t, Jack wouldn’t have tried to move on too and she wouldn’t have ended up standing awkwardly in Jack’s back yard with him and Kerry. She’d thought when her phone rang giving her an out that the call had been a gift from God until the news of her father’s collapse had wiped that thought from her mind completely. She’d run from Jack’s back yard and raced back to the base. Jack must have followed her because he had turned up only moments after she’d spoken with her father and learnt the truth of his condition; that his Tok’ra symbiote, Selmak, was dying and he would die too.

Sam sat down on the edge of the bath as she towelled her hair dry. She’d been so grateful for Jack’s presence as she’d watched her father fade away; so grateful that whoever else was in his life he’d still cared enough to be there for her…

She glanced up at the sound of someone entering the observation room and shifted nervously as Jack sat down beside her. They both looked out at the sight below of her father lying in the infirmary bed saying a last goodbye to the Tok’ra who was with him.

‘You OK?’ His quiet question startled her.

‘Actually I’m fine.’ She replied ignoring the press of tears against her throat. ‘Good even, strange as that sounds.’ She attempted to explain her jumbled up emotions to him, to herself. ‘I thought I’d lost him four years ago. Since then we’ve been closer than we ever were my whole life. In a way, Selmak gave me the father that I thought I’d never know.’

There was a moment’s silence.

‘C’mere.’ She glanced at him and felt his arm sliding around her. She didn’t think about it, she just leaned into him and reached for his hand, holding it against her. At that moment, she couldn’t have cared less about the fraternization regulations or about where they were. She just knew she needed the comfort, needed his comfort and knew he’d known that too even though he didn’t have to be with her. He was obviously involved with the CIA agent and he believed she was still engaged to Pete; technically she still was. But he’d come to be with her anyway and for that she was deeply grateful to him.

‘Thank you, sir.’ She murmured.

‘For what?’ He sounded confused.

‘For being here for me.’ She admitted, swallowing the rest of what she wanted to say.

There was another silence.

‘Always.’

The word startled her and she turned her head to find him looking back at her with no distance, no evasion, nothing but love and worry for her in his eyes. She’d had to look away, only able to press his hand to her cheek, unable to speak, unable to tell him how she felt and then…

And then the Tok’ra had looked up at them and she’d slipped out of Jack’s hold to say goodbye to her father. The rest of the day was a blur in her memory…

‘Sam?’ Jack’s worried voice and the knock at the bathroom door startled her out of her reverie. He must have gotten back from shopping, she realised absently. She reached up with a trembling hand to brush her tears away. God, she had to stop crying every five minutes, she thought, ignoring the voice in her head that murmured she was grieving, that it was natural.

‘Yeah?’ She was proud that she’d managed to get the word out without her voice shaking.

‘You want a snack? Daniel called and they’re going to be another couple of hours yet. It could be late when we eat dinner.’

‘Sounds good.’ She answered. ‘I’ll be right out.’

‘OK.’

She heard his footsteps walking away from the door and tightened the knot on the towel around her body before she slipped out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. She slathered some moisture over her skin, dressed hurriedly and swiped a comb through her hair. Barely ten minutes had passed before she found herself heading towards the smell of frying peppers.

Jack turned at the sound of her footsteps and pointed at the breakfast bar. ‘Have a seat. There’s juice or I’ve got some beer or wine…’

‘Juice is fine. You sure I can’t help?’ Sam asked as she slipped onto a bar stool and fiddled with the cutlery that was set out.

‘It’s only omelettes. I think have it under control.’ He added the egg mixture to the frying pan.

She nodded and propped her chin on her folded hands as she indulged in watching him. He suddenly seemed to realise she was staring at him and glanced back at her over his shoulder.

‘What?’ He asked suspiciously brandishing the spatula.

‘Nothing.’ She reached for the juice and poured a glass. ‘I was just thinking.’

‘I’m shocked.’ Jack quipped as he frowned at the slightly charred edges of the omelette. He shrugged. It was edible enough. He divided it in two and slipped the portions on the waiting plates. He placed one in front of Sam before he walked around to sit next to her with the other. ‘So what were you thinking about?’

‘The Ancient weapon on Dakara.’ She covered hastily as she picked up her fork and took a hesitant bite. She pointed at her plate. ‘This is good.’

‘You don’t need to sound so surprised.’ Jack said smiling at her. ‘So why were you thinking about the weapon on Dakara? The Jaffa destroyed the mechanism right after Anubis tried to destroy the galaxy.’

‘I know.’ Sam swallowed another mouthful of food. ‘But before, when the Jaffa refused to destroy it, I began thinking of a way to counteract it.’ She gestured with her fork. ‘Just in case.’

‘You did?’ Jack wasn’t surprised.

‘Hmmm-hmmm.’ Sam warmed to her subject. ‘I didn’t have enough time to do more than some preliminary calculations and designs so it was nowhere near ready when Anubis did press the button but if we’d managed an outgoing wormhole we might have bought enough time for me to finish it. You see I’m certain the answer is in the way the Replicators were able to counteract the energy frequency of the smaller weapon you helped the Asgard build when you still had the Ancient knowledge in your head.’

‘Really?’

‘Really.’ Sam continued oblivious to the indulgent amusement coating Jack’s tone. ‘I think if I’d had more time I could have come up with an effective counter-measure.’ She forked up another mouthful of omelette. ‘Of course we don’t need one now.’ She was almost disappointed.

Jack glanced across at her. He could believe she would have come up with an effective counter-measure; she was that brilliant. She was intent on eating and didn’t notice his warm gaze for a moment. She was startled when she looked at him and found him watching her.

‘What?’ She asked reaching for her juice to cover her confusion.

‘Nothing.’

Sam smiled realising he’d mimicked her earlier reply to him.

Jack pushed his plate away and reached for his own juice. ‘So, what do you think of the place?’

His ultra-casual tone gave away how important her answer was to him and she took a sip of her drink to give herself time to think before replying. ‘What I’ve seen of the cabin so far has been great. Rustic,’ she admitted with a smile, ‘but charming.’

He relaxed at her answer. After years of her refusing to go fishing with him, he’d been a little worried that she was going to hate it. ‘Wait until you see the outside. It’s beautiful.’

Sam bit her lip. ‘I guess I missed that when we arrived. I…uh…I’m sorry I fell asleep on you.’

He waved away her apology. ‘You needed the rest.’ His eyes held hers. ‘I take it you’re not sleeping all that well?’

She shrugged, not wanting to admit that her sleep pattern was pretty much shot to pieces.

Jack decided not to press it. He’d had his own experiences with grief and knew Sam was going to have to find her own way through it; all he could do was be there for her when, and if, she did turn to him. ‘Well,’ he said easily, ‘that’s all you need to do for the next couple of days; rest.’ He picked up his plate and slid off the stool, walking round to slip it into the sink. ‘That and one other thing, of course.’

She looked at him warily. ‘What?’

He met her gaze with a smile. ‘Fishing.’

‘Right,’ she muttered, ‘fishing.’

Chapter 5

Jack cast his line into the pond and sighed in contentment. He and Sam sat out on the small wooden dock, their chairs close together in the confined space. When Sam had finally reconciled herself to fishing, her innate curiosity had kicked in. She had spent most of their time since asking him questions about the rods, the lines, the bait, how to cast; he’d actually surprised himself by answering with a patience he hadn’t known he was capable of until she ran out of steam. She’d been quiet for the last ten minutes. He was thinking she wouldn’t last for very much longer without saying something.

‘This is great.’

He hid a smile as he began to wind his line back in. Ah, in the subject of Samantha Carter, he was an A student. ‘I told you.’

‘I can’t believe we didn’t do this years ago.’ She murmured thinking she couldn’t believe she hadn’t agreed to it years ago.

‘Yes, well.’ Jack figured it was too soon for that discussion. They started talking about the reasons why she hadn’t gone fishing with him and before they knew it they’d be talking about them. He figured she wasn’t ready for that; not while she was grieving. ‘Let’s not dwell.’ He added.

‘There really are no fish in this pond are there?’ She turned to look at him with nothing but amusement sparking in her eyes.

‘No.’ He agreed. Her laughter bubbled up and drifted over him. Life just didn’t get much better than this, he thought as they smiled at each other. Their eyes held for a second before both glanced away. It was a perfect moment and a warm, fuzzy feeling stole over him as he mentally filed it away.

The sound of approaching footsteps heralded the arrival of Daniel and Teal’c. Jack cast his line out again. ‘Nice.’

‘Hey guys.’

‘Daniel.’ Jack kept his eyes on the pond. He felt the nudge of a beer bottle on his shoulder and reached up to take it. ‘Thanks.’

‘Walter also asked me to give you this.’ Daniel reached into a jacket pocket and handed him a sheet of paper. ‘It’s the agenda for the President’s visit. He said to call if you didn’t like anything.’

Jack glared at Daniel who held his hands up and backed away to the stool he’d set up just to the side on the bank of grass. Jack put his rod down and snapped the folded paper open grumbling under his breath. He ignored the amused look Sam shot him. His eyes ran down the agenda as he took his first sip of beer. His eyes ran back down the running order. Meet and greet at eleven-hundred; Presidential briefing on the SGC’s latest activities with the SGC commander at eleven-ten to twelve-hundred in Jack’s office; a Presidential speech to the whole squadron in the gate room at twelve-fifteen; a reply to the President’s speech by the SGC commander at twelve-thirty; a buffet lunch for the whole base in the commissary at thirteen-hundred. Crap. He was going to have to make a speech. He crumpled the sheet of paper and threw it on the ground beside his chair.

‘Well?’ Sam prompted.

‘Hayes is arriving at eleven. There’s the session to report. A speech in the gate room, the usual.’ Jack said dismissively.

Sam looked at him doubtfully but turned her attention back to her line and made to recast. Her face showed her intent on doing it right despite the lack of actual fish.

‘Hey, Jack!’ Daniel called over to him. ‘What exactly do I do with this?’

Jack turned to see Daniel staring curiously at a brand new fishing rod. His heart sank at the expression on Daniel’s face as he remembered how many questions Sam had asked; Daniel usually asked more…he sighed and put his own rod down as he gave into the inevitable.

They stayed out fishing for a couple of hours before the fading light and their rumbling stomachs drove them indoors for food. Teal’c lit a fire and after their meal they gathered around the hearth sitting on cushions on the floor and using the sofa and chairs as nothing more than back-rests. A comfortable silence fell over the team.

Daniel took a sip of beer and reviewed the faces of his friends thoughtfully from his place on the right-hand side of the hearth. Sam and Jack had gravitated together and sat side by side with their backs against the sofa. He dropped his gaze to his beer and wondered briefly if they had taken advantage of the time alone at the cabin to finally acknowledge how they both felt about each other. That the two of them loved each other way beyond what the regulations allowed was rarely discussed but completely understood by the team. They probably hadn’t discussed it, Daniel thought. For some reason he could never understand, while other rules were bent or broken, the rule regarding their relationship was one that they both kept. In his very biased position as someone who loved them both, it was way past time for them to find some happiness together. His eyes focused on Sam.

The Air Force Lieutenant Colonel seemed to get more beautiful each year as though each battle, each experience she went through simply honed the essence of who she was. She was too beautiful and too smart for Daniel not to have wondered at odd moments whether he and Sam might have had something between them…maybe if he hadn’t been married when they had met. By the time he’d become a widower it had been obvious to him that Sam and Jack were falling for each other even if they hadn’t been aware of it. He owed them both too much, loved them both too much, to think about doing something that would complicate it for all of them even though the Air Force regulations prevented the couple actually being together. He’d settled for being family and in truth he was happy with the way things had turned out.

His eyes slid to Teal’c who was watching Jack and Sam with a knowing look. The Jaffa warrior rarely missed anything. He preferred to sit back and observe; to only speak when he had something to say. It worked for Teal’c, and Daniel had often found that the Jaffa gained a great deal of insight into people with his approach. It was a skill that would serve him well when he officially became the leader for the Free Jaffa. Daniel took another gulp of beer to try and remove the lump that had jumped into his throat. He knew it was only a matter of time before Teal’c disappeared permanently to Dakara and he was going to miss the big guy. He shook his head a little in disbelief. If anybody had told him right after his return from their first visit to Chulak that Teal’c and he would become as close as brothers he would have laughed. Teal’c had been directly responsible for kidnapping his late wife, Sha’re; directly responsible for her becoming infested by a Goa’uld. He had been astounded by Jack’s idea to make the Jaffa a member of SG1 and the first few missions had been fraught. But they had gotten past it and now he couldn’t imagine his life without the Jaffa. He suppressed a sigh and took another gulp of beer as his eyes flickered back to Sam again.

She would miss Teal’c too. She’d been through a lot in the last year or so, Daniel mused; Janet…the whole creepy thing with the Replicator…her father…a broken engagement – even if it had been by choice – and soon, Teal’c. His eyes slid to Jack. There was a rumour that Jack had been offered Hammond’s job running the Department for Homeworld Security. If it was true and he took it, Daniel intended to punch his lights out. Sam didn’t need any more changes and she certainly didn’t need to lose the one person she needed the most. He was going to have to talk with Jack, Daniel mused, make sure he made the right decision and stayed at the SGC.

‘Colonel Carter,’ Teal’c’s voice rumbled across the small space, ‘of what are you thinking so seriously?’

Sam smiled back at the Jaffa. ‘About the timeline.’

‘You’re thinking about the timeline?’ Jack sounded a little indignant.

‘Well, I was just considering the apparent lack of the butterfly effect.’ Sam explained.

‘I am unfamiliar with that term, Colonel Carter.’ Teal’c noted.

‘Will you stop encouraging her?’ Jack grumbled but there was no heat in his words.

Sam simply smiled at him. ‘The butterfly effect is part of chaos theory. It suggests that the smallest change in history could have major ramifications. Essentially if you transported a butterfly back in time, the merest flap of its wings might cause an alteration in the weather system that would change the course of history, like create a hurricane that destroys a city.’

‘I see.’ Teal’c murmured. ‘I was unaware that a butterfly was capable of generating such a phenomenon.’

‘Well, there would be other factors…’ Sam began to explain.

‘And you’re wondering why our intervention in Ancient Egypt to recover the ZPM didn’t alter the timeline?’ Daniel mused interrupting Sam much to Jack’s unhidden relief.

‘Exactly.’ Sam leaned forward. ‘It’s astounding that what we did didn’t have a cataclysmic effect on our timeline.’

‘Well, we don’t know how many times we’ve had to go back to get it right.’ Daniel said.

‘What d’ya mean?’ Jack couldn’t help himself asking the question.

‘Well, think about it. Sam’s right. Given what we know happened thanks to the tape that we left for ourselves, it’s unlikely that we didn’t alter the timeline.’ Daniel gestured with his bottle. ‘Our alternate future selves had to live out their lives in Ancient Egypt after all.’

‘So are you telling me now that you think we did alter the timeline?’ Jack checked.

‘We have no way of knowing for certain, sir…Jack.’ Sam hastily corrected as he shot her a look. ‘All we have are the references on the tape and they all check out so as far as we can be certain, there was obviously minimal impact to the timeline.’

‘It’s weird though that thousands of years ago our future selves were living in Egypt.’ Daniel shook his head. ‘Years and years before we were even born. It must have been like visiting an alternate reality.’

‘I am uncertain of the difference.’ Teal’c said ignoring the way Jack was frantically gesturing for him to stop talking. ‘Did we not create an alternate reality by travelling back in time?’

‘Not in the way you mean, Teal’c. In theory, each reality has one timeline which is linear. So say we’re reality A.’ Sam explained. ‘Now, quantum theory supposes that every time a choice is made in our reality, it creates another reality…’

‘B, C, D, etc.’ Daniel murmured.

‘Right but the past timeline, history and events of all the realities would be the same up until the point of divergence.’

‘But when I jumped into the alternate reality where Earth was under attack from the Goa’uld they were ahead of us in the timeline so I must have also jumped into the future.’ Daniel said perplexed.

‘Not necessarily.’ Sam said. ‘The choices that had been made that created that reality may have only made the attack more likely to happen earlier in their timeline than in ours.’

‘So what you’re saying is we effectively went back into our own timeline in reality A and changed it.’ Daniel concluded. ‘Just erased everything from the moment we arrived in Egypt and hoped it would all unfold like before?’

‘Yes.’ Sam nodded.

‘But we didn’t change anything.’ Jack said confused.

‘I said it didn’t look like we changed anything.’ Sam corrected.

‘But weirdly there may be a reality out there where we didn’t go back in time.’ Daniel mused ignoring Jack’s intervention. ‘After all, our future selves made a choice.’

‘Or there could even be a reality where one of the references didn’t match exactly to the tape and we didn’t correct it.’ Sam suggested.

‘Really?’ Jack shook his head. ‘So you’re saying if there had been fish in my pond we might have…’ he gestured vaguely, ‘let it go?’

She smiled at the not-so-unintentional pun. ‘Maybe.’ Sam turned to look at him. ‘I wouldn’t,’ she emphasised, ‘but there may be a me out there in some reality that might have considered the risk of going back and creating more damage was greater than accepting what would appear to be on the surface a small and insignificant change in the timeline.’

‘I wonder how many times we had to go back to get it completely right.’ Daniel murmured.

‘We will never know, Daniel Jackson.’ Teal’c said.

‘I guess not.’ Daniel sipped the last of his beer. He examined the empty bottle. ‘Anyone want to split another?’

Jack looked at the mouthful left in his own bottle. ‘Sure. I’ll get it.’ His knees cracked as he got up and he winced a little.

Sam stretched. ‘Actually guys, I think I’m going to call it a night.’

‘I am also ready to retire.’ Teal’c got gracefully to his feet and held out a hand for Sam to grab. He pulled her effortlessly off the floor.

‘Night.’ Sam murmured, her eyes sliding to Jack’s as he looked up from knocking the top of the bottle he’d retrieved.

‘Night.’ Jack watched her until the door closed. He grabbed a glass and headed back down to the fire.

Daniel accepted the glass with his half of the beer and viewed Jack over the rim thoughtfully. ‘So anything you want to share?’

‘Nothing apart from the beer.’ Jack said easily leaning back against the sofa.

‘Did you and Sam talk?’

‘Sure.’ Jack agreed. ‘Mainly about fishing.’ He pointed his beer at Daniel. ‘And I think she mentioned she had some ideas on how we could have counter-acted the Dakara machine energy thing. Something to do with the way the replicators used to respond…I don’t know.’

‘You’re kidding me. She came up with a counter-measure?’ Daniel’s voice rose with excitement before it hit him that Jack was trying to divert him. He shook his head. ‘You know if you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t talk about it.’

‘Good.’ Jack said tipping his bottle back and taking a long gulp.

Silence fell between them. Daniel sipped his own beer and waited. It took less time than he had estimated before he heard Jack sigh.

‘We haven’t talked.’ Jack admitted. ‘She’s got enough to deal with right now with Jacob dying.’

‘That’s very noble of you, Jack.’

Jack shot him a look but there was a distinct lack of humour in Daniel’s expression that made him relax a little. ‘Besides, what’s there to talk about? Nothing’s changed.’

‘Nothing’s changed?’ Daniel repeated. ‘Sam’s not with Pete. You’re not with…Kelly?’

‘Kerry.’ Jack corrected and his eyes flittered to Daniel curiously. ‘How’d do you know about that?’

‘Teal’c and I might have heard the two of you talking in the garden.’ Daniel confessed hiding his face in his beer.

Jack looked away embarrassed. ‘Well, it still doesn’t change things.’

‘Because you’re both still in the Air Force and Sam’s still under your command.’ Daniel concluded. ‘You know it wouldn’t be the first time the two of you have broken one of the rules.’

Jack said. ‘Some rules you don’t break. This is one of them.’

‘Yeah, remind me why that is again?’ Daniel asked curious. ‘It must happen all the time.’

‘It does,’ Jack admitted, ‘more than anyone in the military would like to say and I’m not denying there’s a lot of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ that happens even on the base.’ He sighed. ‘But the fall-out if you’re caught…’ he looked back up at his friend and away again. ‘I couldn’t do that to Carter.’

Daniel sighed. If there was one thing Jack was passionate about it was protecting others, particularly those he cared about. ‘There has to be a way around it though.’ He murmured.

Jack shrugged and his thumb grazed the top of the bottle. ‘I’m thinking of retiring.’

‘Retiring?’ Daniel almost choked on his beer.

‘I only came back to help fight the Goa’uld, Daniel.’ Jack pointed out. ‘And the last time I checked we’d won.’

‘For now.’ Daniel shot back.

‘Let’s face it, Daniel,’ Jack said tiredly, ‘I kinda took the first step when I accepted command of the SGC.’

‘You’re still part of SG1.’ Daniel argued.

‘Not really.’ Jack shook his head. ‘I haven’t been out on a real mission with you guys for a while and I’m not counting that whole Maybourne thing. I would have had to have gone whether I was part of the team or not; I have the whole Ancient gene thing.’

‘I can’t believe you’re ready to give up.’ Daniel said. ‘There has to be another way.’ He pushed his glasses up his nose. ‘I mean in the other realities Sam wasn’t in the Air Force…’

‘I can’t ask her to give up her career.’ Jack broke in. ‘It’s not fair to her.’

‘Well, what about you? If you did retire from the Air Force, couldn’t you continue to work at the SGC as a civilian?’

Jack gave a huff of laughter. ‘That’s what Kerry suggested.’

‘Kerry?’

‘When she was breaking up with me.’ Jack explained. ‘She suggested the President had appointed a civilian to run the SGC before.’

‘She’s right.’ Daniel said.

‘Sure,’ Jack glanced across at the archaeologist, ‘so all I have to do is ask the President to let me retire but keep me in charge of the SGC without giving the slightest impression to him or anyone else that I’m only doing it because I want to be with Carter.’

‘But you would be doing it because you want to be with Sam.’ Daniel said confused.

‘But it can’t appear that way.’

‘Because people will start assuming you’ve broken the frat regs already and the damage to Sam’s career and reputation will be done just as if you had broken the frat regs in the first place.’ Daniel surmised. Jack didn’t reply but Daniel figured he’d nailed it. He sighed. ‘Won’t people assume you’re retiring to be with Sam anyway?’

‘Maybe.’ Jack admitted. Crap, he thought, he hadn’t considered that.

‘There has to be another way.’

‘Well, if you find it let me know.’ Jack muttered resting his head on the sofa cushions. ‘Besides, I haven’t talked with Carter and when I do…’ he took a deep breath, ‘there is a chance that she won’t be interested.’

‘Right.’ Daniel snorted. He was pleased to see his own incredulity at the idea had reassured Jack. It was time to change the subject, Daniel thought. ‘So I guess if you’re thinking about retiring, you’re not taking the Homeworld Security job?’

Jack stared at him. ‘Did I miss the memo that announced I got offered the job?’

Daniel smirked. ‘So you did get offered it.’

‘Hammond recommended me,’ Jack admitted, ‘and Hayes is keen for me to take it.’

‘But you’re not going to.’

‘Not really me is it?’ Jack shrugged. ‘Besides, Carter doesn’t need anyone else disappearing on her.’

‘Like you would if you retired?’

‘I’d still be around.’ Jack said defensively wondering whether he had fully thought the whole retirement thing through. ‘I’m not planning on being somewhere off world.’

‘Unlike Teal’c who’s likely going back to Dakara permanently.’ Daniel sighed.

‘You know?’

‘I know.’

‘So, if you know…’

‘I’m not planning to go to Atlantis anytime soon.’ Daniel confirmed.

‘She’s going to tell you to go.’ Jack pointed out.

Daniel shrugged. ‘So you’ll refuse to release me.’ He pushed his glasses up his nose. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time.’

‘Sure. Make it all my fault.’ Jack finished his beer and set the bottle down on the floor.

Daniel looked at his glass which was still half full and got to his feet anyway. He was sharing the spare room with Teal’c while Jack was bunking on the sofa bed. ‘You want a hand setting up the bed?’

Jack shook his head. ‘Nah. You go ahead.’

Daniel nodded. ‘See you tomorrow.’ He made his way to the spare room lost in thought; there had to be a way to make it possible for Sam and Jack to be together. They came up with plans to save the planet all the time; surely they could come up with a solution for this, couldn’t they?

Next: Chrysalis, Chapters 6-10