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

Sam left the Mountain and got into her car, thinking about SG-1's last mission that they had just returned from a few hours ago. Running into some trouble, they had been off-world longer than they had planned, but the team had returned safely to Earth. She buckled her seatbelt, glad to be getting away from her job for awhile.

After pulling out of the parking space she turned on the radio. A song came on and she listened to the lyrics, a song about missing someone far away and she thought about the distance between herself and Jack.

Upon arriving at their house, she glanced through the mail and recognized Jack's handwriting on an envelope.

After she and Jack had married, she found out that her husband had a romantic side. He had sent her a different card every week. Sometimes they were funny and sometimes they were just to let her know that she was in his thoughts. Sometimes they were like this one, telling her how much she meant to him.

Going inside and closing the door, she opened the envelope, pulled out the card and tears stung her eyes as she read the verse.

As she sat down on the sofa, her phone rang so she sniffed back the tears and answered.

"Hello."

"Sam?"

"Hi, Jack" she whispered and he heard her voice break.

"What's wrong?"

"I got your card."

"If I had known it was going to upset you I wouldn't have sent it."

"No, no, it's really sweet. I was listening to a song on the way home that reminded me of how far apart we are and then I get here and find your card and . . . I just miss you so much."

"I miss you too. I wish I were there to give you a hug."

"I wish you were here too."

They had spent a few days at his cabin between the time he had left the SGC and when he had started his new position in Washington. After confessing their feelings for each other, they wanted to start a life together. She apologized to Jack for getting engaged to Pete and Jack told her that Kerry had realized his feelings for her and had encouraged him to do something about their relationship. Jack had proposed and they had quickly gotten married in a simple ceremony before a justice of the peace, during the short time that Sam was not under Jack's command. After the ceremony, they called Daniel and Teal'c to tell them the happy news and word spread fast throughout Stargate Command. Jack called Cassie and General Hammond to let them know. Sam called Mark and he was most anxious to meet his new brother-in-law.

They agreed that whenever their schedules permitted, they would have another wedding with their family and friends.

Being apart was turning out to be really hard. They had promised each other that they would not go more than a month without being together, but something always came up. Either Sam was stuck off-world or Jack was busy in meetings with the President or Joint Chiefs. It had now been two months since they had married and Jack had started his new job. They talked on the phone every day when Sam was on Earth and e-mailed each other, but it wasn't the same as being together. The situation was making both of them miserable.

Sam wiped her eyes. "How are you?"

"Really tired. I just needed to hear your voice and know that there is someone in my life that keeps me sane."

She sat back on the sofa and took off her shoes. "Is it that bad?"

"It's just so different from running the SGC, bigger budgets and bigger egos. There are so many things to deal with and I can't keep going at this pace."

"Any idea when you can get away?"

"I'll be home this Friday."

Sam smiled. "Great!"

"I told the President I need a break and he agreed. I wanted to ask if you have ever met General Norman Grant."

"I've never met him, but I know who he is. I would see him occasionally when I was at the Pentagon. Why?"

"I ran into him the other day. We served in the Gulf together and he retired recently. He and his wife live here in Washington but they have a vacation home in the Springs. He owns his own plane and they're flying out there this weekend to stay a few weeks. He offered to let me come with them. We should arrive around 1500. Do you think you could meet us at the airport?"

"General Landry told the team that we deserve some time off so I'll ask. I don't think it will be a problem."

"Good. I won't have to catch a flight back until Tuesday afternoon so we'll have a long weekend together."

Sam smiled. "Sounds so good. Can we stay here in the house and shut out the world?"

"If I have my way, yes. It'll be good to have some private time, just the two of us."

They talked awhile longer and both reluctantly ended the call so they could get some much needed rest.

Sam took the card into the bedroom, placed it on the nightstand and looked at it one last time before getting into bed. She wrapped her arms around a pillow, wishing Jack was there beside her as she turned off the lamp and tried to sleep.

********

Friday could not come soon enough. Sam had purposely stayed as busy as possible to make the time go faster and she was finally on her way to pick up Jack.

He had called the night before to tell her that everything was set with General Grant and he would see her soon. General Landry had given her time off and she didn't have to report back to work until Wednesday morning.

Sam arrived at the airport an hour before the plane was scheduled to land. She knew she was early but was anxious to see her husband.

********

Jack sat in the co-pilot's seat as Norman flew the plane. Mrs. Grant had told Jack to ride in the front with Norman so they could chat while she sat behind them and read a book.

"So, Jack, you said you were recently married. Tell me about your wife."

"Her name is Dr. Samantha Carter O'Neill but everyone calls her Sam. She's a Lieutenant Colonel. We worked together at NORAD."

Norman glanced at Jack. "She wouldn't be related to Jacob Carter would she?"

"Yes. He was her dad."

"Was?"

Jack nodded his head. "Jacob died a few months ago."

"I didn't know that. How did he die?"

"Cancer."

"Oh, that's too bad. I worked with Jacob several times. Good man and excellent officer."

"Yes, he was."

They chatted as they flew and were now getting closer to the airport when they heard a noise that sounded like a car backfiring.

"What was that?" Mrs. Grant asked.

Norman looked down at the instrument panel. "I don't know but we're losing altitude."

They heard the sound again.

Jack looked out the side window. "We're losing fuel and there are flames coming from the engine."

Norman glanced out the window to his left. "Look for a clearing in the trees. We're not close to the airport yet." Norman picked up the radio. "Mayday! Mayday! Come in please!"

"This is Mike Gordon. I'm an air traffic controller at the Colorado Springs Airport. I have you on radar. Please state the problem and . . ."

"Come in! Come in!" Norman yelled but there was no further response.

They looked frantically out the windows to see if there was a place to land but all they saw were trees.

"Make sure your seatbelts are secure!" Norman instructed.

The plane began to shake violently just as the wing fell off, taking the engine with it.

"I can't hold it steady any longer! We're going down!" Norman yelled.

The plane came faster and faster toward the ground and Norman did everything possible to hold the plane steady. They suddenly felt the plane skim the top of the trees and felt the impact as a tree slammed into the windshield on Norman's side. He threw up his arms to protect himself as the windshield popped and blew away from its casing. The plane hit more trees and tore off the other wing as the plane toppled end over end, finally coming to a stop and bursting into flames.

TBC