Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are not my property. No copyright infringement is intended.

Sam stood in the clearing with Teal'c and Jonas, waiting for the Tok'ra ship to land. Aboard the ship were Colonel O'Neill and Colonel Maybourne, finally returning home after disappearing over a month ago.

Teal'c closely watched Sam as she nervously chewed her lip and became more impatient by the minute.

"He will be here momentarily, Major Carter" he tried to reassure her.

Sam glanced at him with a nervous smile. "I know."

Teal'c remembered the day he had found her crying in the locker room. She had been upset over losing Daniel and then thinking that maybe there was no way they would find O'Neill. Since then, he stayed by her side as much as possible, lending support in any way he could. Sam had finally realized that they were stranded on the moon of the planet, and now a Tok'ra ship was on its way to the Alpha site to drop off the two men there so they could gate home.

They saw the ship break through the clouds and set down.

Teal'c noticed tears in Sam's eyes. "He will be most happy to see you again."

"I've missed him so much" she whispered, perhaps not realizing that he had heard her.

They hurried toward the ship and just as they approached, the door slid open and there stood Jack. His hair was a little longer, he was dirty, barefooted and had lost a little weight, but to Sam he had never looked so good.

Jack limped off the ship. "Hey kids."

They all noticed his torn pants and the cut on his thigh.

Teal'c moved closer to Jack. "Welcome back, O'Neill."

Jonas grinned at Jack. "Good to see you, Colonel."

Jack looked at Sam as she stared at him, then she suddenly stepped closer to him and put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're okay, sir."

He could hear the stress in her voice as she let go and put her arm around his waist and looked up at him. "Let me help you, sir."

Jack put his arm around her shoulder and looked into her eyes. She looked as though she was about to burst into tears.

While he and Maybourne had been stranded on the moon, his thoughts had been of Sam and how much he missed her presence, her smile and even her technobabble. He thought about how nice it would have been to be stranded with only Sam to keep him company. He had known that if anyone could find a way to get them home, it would be her.

A sharp pain shot through his thigh and his arm gripped Sam's shoulder even tighter as he grimaced.

She looked up at him. "Are you in pain, sir?"

"A little. But I'll be okay as soon as I get home, get cleaned up and Doc Frasier sticks a few needles in me."

Sam smiled at his joke.

They all watched as two Tok'ra came out of the ship, carrying Colonel Maybourne on a stretcher. His eyes were closed.

They walked to the stargate and the men set Colonel Maybourne on the ground. Jack turned to face them. "Thanks for the ride."

"You're most welcome" one of them said and they returned to their ship.

Teal'c and Jonas picked up Colonel Maybourne as Sam dialed Earth.

When they came through the gate, General Hammond was standing at the bottom of the ramp with Dr. Frasier and one of the nurses. The General could see that Sam had her arm around Jack's waist and Jack was leaning heavily on her. He smiled at Jack as he limped down the ramp. "Colonel, it's good to see that you're alive."

"Thank you, sir. It's good to be home."

"Let's get them to the infirmary" Janet ordered.

Teal'c and Jonas went ahead with Colonel Maybourne and Jack sat down in a wheelchair as the nurse pushed him and Sam followed.

A few hours later, General Hammond entered the infirmary to see that Jack was asleep as Sam sat next to him.

"How's he doing?"

"Much better. Janet says his leg will heal. He was exhausted. He has lost some weight and was quite happy to have real food again" she said with a grin.

He looked at Sam as she watched Jack. She had not been herself since Jack had been missing and had spent many hours in her lab, trying to figure out where the two Colonels might be. It had been almost the same tenaciousness to get him home that she had had when Jack had been stranded on Edora. He had long ago realized the close relationship between his two officers and had seen how upset each would get when the other was missing or injured. When he heard about the zatarc test, it had come as no big surprise. He sometimes wondered what it would do to the other if one of them was killed in the line of duty.

He shook his head from the gloomy thoughts. "Major, you need to get some rest. You've been working very hard these last few weeks to bring Jack home."

Sam stood up. "Yes sir. I think I'll go to bed."

Sam glanced back at Jack one more time as she and General Hammond walked out of the infirmary.

§§§

It was after midnight and Sam couldn't sleep, so she got out of bed, got dressed and went to check on Jack.

She crept into the quiet infirmary and looked around to see a nurse sitting in an office at the far end.

Colonel Maybourne's bed was at one end of the infirmary and Jack's was at the opposite, next to the wall. She walked up beside him and stared at him. He looked peaceful. She quietly pulled the curtain to the end of the bed and sat down in the chair next to him. His arm was lying on top of the blanket, so she slid her hand under his and began to gently rub her thumb over his knuckles.

She thought about the weeks he had been gone. She wondered if he had missed her as much as she had missed him. As she gazed at him, she realized how relieved and thankful she was to have him home as tears began to sting her eyes. She took a deep breath to stifle the sob that was about to escape from her throat.

Jack heard her and opened his eyes to see her wipe the tears from her face with one hand, as she held on to his hand with the other.

"Sam" he whispered.

Sam looked up and her eyes widened in surprise to see Jack staring at her.

He squeezed her fingers.

She hastily wiped the tears from her face. "I . . . I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to be sure you're okay."

Jack smiled at her. "I'm okay, Sam." He paused for a moment. "I missed you too."

Hearing him call her Sam and to know that he had missed her, she couldn't keep the tears from coming. She leaned over and put her head on their hands. Jack reached over with his other hand and gently laid it on top of her head.

All the emotions she had been holding in since his disappearance had finally come to fore. She kept her head down as she tried to compose herself and in a few moments she raised up and cleared her throat.

"I should go and let you sleep, sir."

"Promise you'll come back?" he asked as he looked into her eyes.

Her voice failed her so she nodded her head and let go of his hand as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

He watched as she walked out of the room.

§§§

The next day, Teal'c volunteered to drive Jack home. They arrived at the house and Teal'c got out from the driver's side and went around to open the door for him.

"You really don't need to do that T, I can get out by myself."

"Just trying to be of assistance, O'Neill."

Jack slid off the seat and used a cane to help him walk. Janet had given him permission to go home if he promised that he would use the cane for the next three days until he went back for a check-up.

Jack got his keys out of his pocket, unlocked the door and they went inside.

Teal'c followed him into the living room as Jack sat down on the sofa and put the cane down beside him. Teal'c sat in the chair across from him.

Jack took a look around and Teal'c noticed the surprised look on his face. "The place looks cleaner than when I was here last."

"That is because Major Carter came the first week you were missing and cleaned your house. She used the key that you gave her for emergencies. She came every week after that to gather your mail and water your plants."

Jack's eyebrow shot up in surprise. "She did?"

Teal'c nodded his head. "She missed you and was most distraught at the thought of you never returning."

Jack looked down at his hands. "I missed her too."

"May I do anything for you before I return to the base?"

"No, I'm fine. If I get hungry, I'll order something."

Teal'c stood up. "As you wish." Teal'c headed toward the door.

"Thanks for the ride home."

Teal'c looked back and nodded. "You are welcome."

§§§

Jack sat with his legs stretched out on the coffee table as he ate Chinese takeout and watched TV as two hockey coaches discussed his favorite sport. He looked into the container to see that he had eaten all the food. He knew he would never take food for granted again, after having to live without it for the past several weeks.

His thoughts turned to Sam and how upset she had been last night when he awoke to find her crying. Sam rarely showed her emotions in that way, so it surprised him a little how much she had missed him.

He had just gone into the kitchen to dump the containers in the trash when the doorbell rang so he went to see who it was. He opened the door to find Sam and grinned.

"Carter, come in."

She smiled at him as he closed the door. "How are you feeling, sir?"

"Not too bad. Leg doesn't hurt too much."

She held something in her hands.

"What's in the bag?"

"I brought ice cream."

Jack smiled. "Excellent. You know where the bowls are."

Sam grinned and went into the kitchen as he went to sit down. A few minutes later, she came into the room carrying two bowls of ice cream and gave Jack the bigger bowl, then sat down on the opposite end of the sofa.

"Glad to be home, sir?"

"Yes I am and any time you're here in my house, you have to call me Jack."

"Only if you call me Sam."

"Agreed." He took a big bite of ice cream. "Oooohhhh" he moaned as he closed his eyes and savored the taste.

Sam smiled.

After he swallowed, he looked at her. "Do you know that when we were on that moon, I daydreamed about ice cream?"

"Really?"

He nodded his head. "I did. It was so hot there. Thanks for bringing this, Sam, it really hits the spot."

"Well, I know how much you like ice cream, sir . . . I mean Jack."

Their eyes met, then Sam suddenly looked back at the TV.

They finished their ice cream and Sam took the empty bowls to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher, then came and sat back down.

Jack turned off the TV. "Teal'c told me you cleaned my house, brought in my mail and watered my plants while I was gone."

Sam looked down at her hands. "I just wanted to help."

Jack stared at her for a few moments, thinking how beautiful but sad she looked.

"Thanks for getting us home. Teal'c and Hammond filled me in on how hard you worked to figure out where we were."

She looked up at him. "It's the least I could do for my CO."

"Is that the only reason you wanted me home?"

Tears filled her eyes as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "No" she whispered. "I missed you."

Jack held out his hand.

"C'mere."

She slid close to him, leaned her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist. He put his arms around her and gently squeezed as he hugged her to him.

"It's okay, Sam. I'm here now and I'm safe."

"I had to find a way to get you home. Even if it took the rest of my life, I was determined to get you home" she sniffed.

"I thought about you a lot while I was there."

She leaned back and looked into his eyes.

"Please don't ever disappear like that again . . . or if you do, you have to take me with you."

Jack smiled. "It's a deal."

She laid her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes, content to be in his arms and happy to have him home.

The End