Gen. Jack O'Neill sighed as he put the final signatures on orders that would probably change the world. Of course, he thought, if I stayed home sick one day it might change the world. Or end it.

He threw down his pen. He'd rather face a whole lot of Jaffa than deal with paperwork.

"Walter," he called.

"Sir?"

"Get Major Carter up here."

Minutes later, Sam was knocking on his open door. "Sir?"

"Carter, sit down," Jack instructed as he swung his feet off his desk and assumed a posture more fitting for a general about to handle official business. "Good news or bad new first?"

Sam looked puzzled and slightly concerned. "Um, bad," she replied slowly.

"You're being transferred out of the SGC."

Sam was speechless for a moment. "But, sir-"

"Easy, Carter," Jack said, holding up a hand to forestall her objections. "This leads into the good news. You're getting promoted."

Sam frowned. "What do I care about a promotion? I've been working on the Stargate program for eight years and we would probably all be dead if not for me!"

"Sam," Jack said, hoping to startle her out of tirade by using her first name.

Sam did indeed fall silent.

"Let me explain. You're leaving the SGC but you're not out of the Stargate program. You're being promoted so that you can lead the expedition to Atlantis."

Sam leaned back in her chair, stunned. A moment later, she was playfully frowning at Jack. "You're a jerk, sir."

Jack grinned. "That I am." He pulled a thick file from his desk. "This is just the beginning of all the fun you're going to have," he said as he gave the file a thump before sliding it toward Sam. "My advice is to get a trusty sergeant sidekick, like Walter, ASAP."

Sam grabbed the file. "I think you're right," she replied as she quickly flipped through the pages.

"Look at the bright side, Carter. You'll be in command of Atlantis, I'll be in command of the SGC, we'll both report to General Hammond...and the IOA," Jack added, rolling his eyes.

It only took Sam a second to realize what Jack was saying. "You won't be my C.O. anymore." She smiled, a special smile that she normally reserved for their fishing trips.

"That's right. What's a galaxy compared to Air Force regulations?" Jack quipped.

Sam smiled again, but said nothing. The rest of that conversation could wait until they were off base. "What about SG-1?" she asked.

"SG-1 is officially off-duty for the time being. You and Daniel are going to be busy with official stuff, so new members are being lined up."

"Daniel's going, too?"

"You betcha. Who else is an expert on translating Ancient? Don't say anything, though. I haven't told him he's going yet."

Sam was headed to her office when she bumped into Daniel in the corridor.

"Wow. What's that about?" Daniel asked, gesturing to the thick file in Sam's hands.

"Honestly, I don't know. I haven't really looked at any of it yet." She resumed her walk, calling back over her shoulder, "The general wants to see you." She accompanied the words with a wink that left Daniel puzzled.

Shaking his head, he headed toward Jack's office.

"Jack?"

"Daniel!"

Daniel accepted the unspoken invitation to come in and sit down. "What's up?" he asked.

"What's the one thing you want most?" Jack asked with a sweeping arm motion.

"To stop the Goa'uld from enslaving the universe?"

This was clearly not the answer Jack had been looking for. "OK. What else do you really want?"

"To go a week without risking my life to save the world?"

Jack deflated completely. "Come on, Daniel. Work with me here."

"I'm trying, Jack, but I really have no idea what you want me to say."

Jack took a deep breath. "It starts with At and ends with lantis."

"At...lantis. Atlantis?!" Daniel exclaimed. "Jack! Are you serious? I'm going to Atlantis?"

Jack help up his index finger and Daniel reigned himself in a bit. "You'll be part of the Atlantis expedition, yes. There's a lot to work out still, so you can cool the jets a little."

Daniel started babbling in excitement again before stopping short. "What about SG-1?"

"SG-1 is on stand-down until you and Carter are replaced."

"Why is Sam being replaced?"

"Daniel," Jack said in a tone that clearly indicated Daniel should stop and think it through. "Carter's going to be in command of the Atlantis expedition."

Eventually, Jack managed to get the exuberant archaeologist out of his office. That was two things crossed off his list. He needed coffee.

The night of Sam's official promotion and reassignment, Sam drove over to Jack's place.

Once inside, Sam felt a little shy and awkward. She'd been here more times than she could count, but this wasn't the isolated cabin in Minnesota. Not having to hide anything had become more uncomfortable than hiding.

Jack came to stand in front on her. "Weird, isn't it?" he said.

Sam grinned and relaxed a little.

Jack smiled. "I don't know what you'd call this thing we've been doing for the last four years, but I do know something else. This is our chance." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. "I say we take it, Sam." He flipped it open to reveal a candy ring. "So we can destroy the evidence afterward," he explained.

Sam giggled. "Yes."

Jack cocked an eyebrow.

"I mean yes, sir!"

Jack nodded in approval. "I should warn you, I plan on a very short engagement."

"How short?" Sam asked, slightly concerned.

"Hey, Daniel!" was Jack's reply.

Daniel, Teal'c, and General Hammond appeared.

"Wow. Ok," Sam said with a curt nod.

Jack looked at her, sobering up for a moment. "Really?"

Sam took his hand. "It's definitely not what I ever imagined, but now I can't see us doing anything else."

General Hammond happily performed the ceremony and somehow managed to keep a straight face when Jack pulled out another candy ring, handed it to Sam, and held out his hand expectantly. Daniel, who hadn't known about this part of the plan beforehand, simply rolled his eyes and shrugged. Teal'c looked on stoically, saying to himself that human customs would never make sense.

Once the others had left, Sam and Jack snuggled together on the floor, leaning against the couch.

"I did actually get you something," Jack said eventually. "Not a ring. They're easy to lose and impractical and everyone notices them." He reached into his pocket again and gave Sam a small package. She unwrapped it, curiosity aroused. Inside were two matching bracelets. They looked almost like medical alert bracelets, but instead of big red letters, the plates sported some kind of stone inlay. The stone glowed as Sam picked one up one of the bracelets.

"It's Asgard. It's kind of like those mood ring things, except it doesn't gauge your mood. This glow means you're alive and well. Orange means alive but not well. Red means...bad. No glow..." Jack trailed off. "Gift from Thor. I really do love those guys." Jack clasped Sam's bracelet around her wrist and she did the same for him. "Oh. Did I mention that your bracelet monitors me and mine monitors you?"

"Nice touch."

"Even better, it works long distance. Thor said they have unlimited range. So even if you can't report from Atlantis, when you get there, I'll know whether to be really worried or not."

"What do they do when you're alive and doing really well?" Sam purred.

"Let's find out," Jack said.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"

Sirens blared and lights flashed. Jack sighed as he left his desk and jogged down the stairs to the control room. Soldiers poured into the gate room and aimed their weapons as Jack demanded an explanation from the sergeant minding the computer.

"No I.D.C. No teams scheduled to check in." The sergeant paused a moment. "Receiving video transmission."

"Put it through," Jack ordered.

The video feed slowly came up. It was grainy and fuzzy with mildly distorted audio. Jack was very surprised to see who the caller was. "Jonas."

"Colonel O'Neill." There was a hint of relief in Jonas' voice. "I was hoping you'd do me a favor and let me come through."

Jack didn't miss the pleading look in his eyes despite the static in the feed. "Who's your friend?" Jack asked, his intonation on 'friend' indicating his doubt that the man standing in the room with Jonas was actually friendly.

"Otto. He's just making sure I get out of here safely."

"He won't be coming?"

"No, sir. Just me."

Jack nodded to sergeant. "Open the iris." He looked back to Jonas. "All right. Come on down."

Jonas sighed thankfully and made his way to the other side of the room with some difficulty. Jack headed down to the gate and ordered the soldiers to stand down but remain alert. "The second Jonas is through, close it up," Jack instructed.

Moments later, Jonas appeared and Jack stepped up to greet him. "We'll talk later. Infirmary, now."

Jonas protested weakly.

"You're on my base now."

"What happened to General Hammond?"

"He got promoted and I got bumped up a notch on the food chain. Which means you have to do what I say because no one here can countermand my orders. Infirmary. Let's go."

A few hours later, Jack and Jonas sat in Jack's office, waiting for Col. Mitchell. Once he arrived, Jack motioned him to the other empty chair. "Cameron Mitchell, Jonas Quinn." The two men shook hands, Jonas wincing as his arm was jostled. "Ok, Jonas. Care to explain why you showed up here looking like someone used you for a punching bag?"

Jonas sighed. "The Joint Ruling Council fell apart. Then there were power shifts, new people claiming leadership all the time. Finally, the Andari Federation gained control. They've been getting rid of any influential people who are non-Andari. Most of them have never been heard from again. They wanted me to work with them on the naquadria technology, but when I told them I wouldn't work for tyrants and terrorists, they detained me for interrogation and reeducation. I still refused. If Otto hadn't felt guilty about what his bosses were doing and gotten me to the gate, I would have been executed in a few hours."

"No going back this time, eh?"

"No. I guess I'm asking for asylum. Again."

"Want your old room back?" Jack quipped. Jonas shrugged. "What about your old job?"

"But Dr. Jackson's back-"

"There's been a lot of changes since you left. Daniel and Carter are getting ready to head off to Atlantis. Col. Mitchell here is in command of SG-1 and they're short an egghead."

Jonas looked first at Jack and then at Cam. Cam nodded and smiled. "I'd be mighty proud to have you on the team."

"I'd like that very much," Jonas said. Cam slapped him warmly on the shoulder, causing Jonas to grunt and hunch over in pain. "Maybe in a few weeks."

Jack agreed. "In the meantime, you and Lieutenant Hailey can catch up with whatever Carter and Daniel have left unfinished."

Cam frowned. "Homework?"

"I could always assign you to assist Dr. Lee..."

"I'm sure Teal'c and I can find something to keep ourselves busy until Quinn's in shape to ship out."

A/N: This doesn't really have a plot. It's more housekeeping/head canon, so I make no guarantees about this continuing any further. I cannot stand Torri Higginson/Dr. Weir so I'm imagining something I'd like better. No Landry, ever. I suppose this does vaguely follow my other Stargate stories where I have Sam/Jack 'date' under the radar. There's not much substantial Sam/Jack until season 4 and Jack is promoted in season 8, so that's what I'm using as a time reference.