It had been years since Jack stepped through a Stargate, he'd forgotten the toll it takes on a body. He always imagined it must be how dough feels under a rolling pin. He needed a second to catch his breath as he stepped into the warm, dusty Chulak evening. Chulak's yellow sun had mostly set, only a sliver of it appeared over the mountains to the east, the white sun hung slightly higher in the sky. Jack pulled up the sleeve of his brown leather jacket and checked his watch, both suns would descend below the horizon within the hour. He removed his sunglasses and scanned the stones around the Stargate, his eyes settling on three robed figures making their way up the path, one massive form towering over two smaller ones. Jack couldn't help the grin as he beheld the figure, climbing down the steps as the Stargate deactivated behind him with that familiar woosh sound.
The tall, muscular man's face was fixed in its usual stoic repose, but a broad, genuine smile spread as Jack drew closer. "General O'Neill, it is good to see you again."
"Teal'c, for the last time, I'm retired. It's just Jack now," Jack implored. He knew already that his efforts would be futile.
"A great warrior never loses his titles, O'Neill," Teal'c reminded him. "For a warrior remains a warrior up until his death."
"Yep," Jack affirmed. "I knew you were going to say that. So who are these strangers?" Jack asked, gesturing to the children accompanying Teal'c.
"You remember my children, do you not?" Teal'c asked sternly, as usual, Jack's subtle joke eluded his comprehension.
Naturally Jack knew Teal'c's young children. They were born from his wife Ishta, the Jaffa high priestess who served as leader of the all-female Hak'tyl resistance. She and Teal'c had married after he retired from Stargate Command. "Of course I do, they've just gotten so big," Jack remarked, looking between the two boys. "Bray'toc," he called the older boy who had been named in honor of Tealc's mentor, "Daniel," he said to the youngest in greeting. "Jeeze, Teal'c, they're growing like weeds."
"It is the way of things, General O'Neill," Teal'c announced. "We mark the passage of our years in the faces of our children. A lesson Rya'c is learning for himself with his own children."
"Right," Jack recalled as they began walking up the path. "How is Rya'c these days?"
"He is well," Teal'c replied. "I do not see him as much as I would like since he relocated to Dakara."
"Dakara?"
"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "He now serves as the head of the Free Jaffa High Council."
"Like you did," Jack remarked.
"No," Teal'c said with a slight grin. "He is much more suited to the machinations of political life than I ever was. Great warriors do not often make great political leaders."
"Ah," Jack concluded with a nod. "Kinda sounds like Game of Thrones."
Teal'c stopped, canting his head to look at Jack as he searched his memory. "I am not familiar with this game," he admitted. "It is not one I learned to play during my stay with the Tau'ri."
"Right," Jack replied flatly. "I forget, you've been gone a long time."
"Indeed I have," Teal'c affirmed. "I am always happy to see you O'Neill, but you have yet to divulge the reason behind your visit."
"Can't a guy stop in to see an old friend?" Jack asked.
"Indeed. However, I have found the case to be that undomesticated equines could not tear you away from your fishing pond since your retirement," the large Jaffa explained. "I have not seen you since Ishta and I were joined."
"Ah, yeah, about that," Jack's voice trailed off as he reached into the pocket of his jacket. He produced a crisp, white envelope with Teal'c's name printed in calligraphic handwriting. "This is the reason I came to see you."
"What is this?" Teal'c asked as he tore open the envelope. Jack watched silently as the big man examined the picture on the folded piece of cardstock, before opening it. "The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of Jonathan J. O'Neil and Samantha E. Carter..." Teal'c raised an eyebrow towards Jack. "You and General Carter are to be joined?"
"Indeed," Jack said with a haphazard shrug.
Teal'c gave one of his usual subtle nods of agreement. "I believe the appropriate Earth saying is, 'It's about damn time!' Come, General O'Neill. Tonight we will celebrate this momentous occasion, tomorrow we will honor the grave of Bray'tac and you may return to Earth."
"Actually, I kinda need you to come with me, T, to get measured for your tux," Jack informed him. "Well, if you agree, that is. I would like you to be one of my groomsman."
"Groomsman?"
"Yeah," Jack explained. "Tough job. Hafta wear a tux. Stand there quietly."
"I do not believe this task will present me with any difficulty," Teal'c informed Jack.
"You have to smile," Jack added. The corners of Tealc's mouth curled upwards and his eye widened as he...made a passable and sincere attempt at smiling. However, the effort it took him to force the expression was evident in its exaggeration of his features. O'Neill winced. "We'll work on that."
"Are there to be any more of these groomsmen?" Teal'c queried.
"Yeah," Jack replied. "A few. Sam's got five bridesmaids. Vala, Cassie, Jennifer Hailey, Dr. Lam and she was hoping to ask Ishta, actually."
"That must be why Samantha Carter has asked her to partake of a midday meal on Earth next week," Teal'c reasoned. "How many of your groomsmen have you secured?"
"Uh, two," Jack admitted sheepishly. "I've got Daniel as best man, and, well, you." Teal'c frowned. "What's wrong, Teal'c?"
"Though I have great respect for Daniel Jackson and all his accomplishments, I do believe myself to be the superior warrior," Teal'c announced.
"And what does that have to do with anything?"
"I believe this makes me the best man," Teal'c reasoned.
"It's not based on..." Jack's voice trailed off. "Well, if you and Daniel do want to fight it out…"
Teal'c shook his head. "I do believe the injuries Daniel Jackson would sustain in the conflict would be detrimental to the proceedings. As long as it is understood that his is only a ceremonial title."
"Yeah, I'll send a memo," Jack assured the Jaffa.
Samantha Carter was taping up a cardboard box in her Cheyenne Mountain office when Daniel Jackson knocked on the door. She lifted her blue eyes to him and offered a smile as she struggled to cut the packing tape with the blade built into the dispenser. Daniel took this as his cue to enter, setting a folder down on her desk and seating himself in one of the chairs facing it. Once Sam had successfully cut the tape, she slid the box off the side of her desk to rest atop an identical one labeled, "Gen. Samantha Carter - Office," in big black handwritten letters. She sat down in her chair, writing the same thing on this box with a big, black Sharpie. Once that was done, she recapped the marker and looked across to Daniel. "Daniel," she sighed, content with finishing that task.
"Can't you order someone to do that?" Daniel asked, gesturing to the boxes beside her desk.
"I can, but I want to do the packing myself," she admitted. "There are a lot of memories to sort through. Decide what I want to take, what I want to leave. A lamp I don't want anyone to know I'm stealing." Sam laughed, before examining the folder Daniel had set before her. She opened it and looked at the first page for a second, but quickly returned her attention to Daniel "So what's this?"
"Final inventory of my office and lab," Daniel replied. "I need your signature before I check out."
Samantha sighed softly as she glanced back down at the pages in the folder, shaking her head wistfully. "It's so strange to imagine leaving this place," she finally said. "I remember when it seemed like we'd never defeat Apophis, much less the System Lords. And then The Replicators, The Ori, Baal's last clones; now what's left?"
"Not much in this galaxy," Daniel answered. "The Lucien Alliance is out there, but they seem to avoid picking a direct fight with us. There is, of course, the Wraith in Pegasus, but the Atlantis Expedition is holding the line and keeping them out of our galaxy."
"Now that Atlantis is back out there," Samantha reminded Daniel.
"Yes," Daniel agreed. "Jack's last great conflict, as he put it. Convincing the IOA that Atlantis was needed out there to keep the Wraith from coming back here."
"They wanted to dismantle it for the tech," Samantha recalled.
"I can't believe more didn't change after it crashed into the San Francisco Bay," Daniel said blithely. "I mean yes, now everyone knows about aliens, and the fleet. They know some of our secrets and they know about some of the battles, but we still have kept the Stargate a secret. They still don't know about so many of those early battles, like Apophis or your Replicator clone."
"I'd just as soon nobody ever knows about that last one," Sam said coolly. "That's the nature of plausible deniability," she added. "Cover up as much as you can, even if part of the truth leaks out."
"I'm not sure I agree with that policy," Daniel opined.
"It is what it is," Sam countered. "There are some things that are still too big for the world. The Ancients. The Ori. The fact that most of the ancient pantheons of gods were aliens pretending. Even the benevolent ones like the Asgard. Some day the world will be ready for the truth."
"But will its governments be willing to tell it?" Daniel quipped cynically.
Samantha could only laugh. "Still don't fully trust the establishment," Sam noted.
"Well, as an archaeologist, I've seen countless examples where governments concealed crucial information and the ramifications of it," Daniel began. "And how many times did we see lies used to cow people and keep them living in fear and servitude?" He shook his head, letting out an exasperated sound. "I suppose it's not really my fight anymore, is it?"
Sam shrugged. "It could be. They'd still love you to take over for me," she said, gesturing around the office as though offering it to Daniel.
Daniel shook his head briefly before saying, "No. I didn't want the job when you announced your retirement. I don't want it now. I have the job I want waiting for me."
"Director of the Smithsonian," Sam said. "Congratulations on that, by the way."
"Thank you," Daniel replied with a broad smile. "Twenty years ago, I couldn't even dream about getting this job. I was laughed out of the academic community for my theories."
"Theories which were right," Sam reminded him.
"What a difference having a giant city ship crash in San Francisco makes," Daniel gloated. "Suddenly all of my papers are re-published and I've got five book publishers fighting for the rights to my work."
"Kinda gratifying, isn't it?" Sam asked.
"You're damn right it is," Daniel laughed. "Long time coming. Speaking of a long time coming," his gaze settled on the diamond ring on Sam's left hand. "How's the planning coming?"
"It's…" her voice trailed off as she shook her head. "Jack's being Jack. He doesn't care about the details. I showed him invitations, he said, 'Pick one.' I showed him China patterns, he couldn't tell the difference. I finally had to enlist Vala."
"Yeah, thanks for that," Daniel interjected sarcastically. "You've given her wedding fever, she wants to know if we're next."
"Well?" Sam looked across her desk expectantly. "Are you? How long have you two been together now?"
"Five years," Daniel answered. "Vala is, well, she's Vala. I don't know. Sometimes I don't know how seriously she takes any of this."
"Vala Mal Doran is a complicated woman, I'll give you that," Samantha admitted, "But I have never doubted her affection for you. You shouldn't either."
"I don't, but..." Daniel quickly ran out of any thoughts he might string together to complete the sentence. Suddenly the incoming wormhole alarm sounded in the gate room, causing Daniel to sigh with visible relief. He practically sprung from his chair and out to the briefing room. Sam followed at a slightly slower pace, down the spiral staircase, and into the control room.
As ever, Walter Herriman sat at the gate controls, glancing over his shoulder as Daniel and Sam entered and looked through the windows at the gate room below. "It's SG-1 returning from P4X-281 ma'am," Herriman informed Samantha.
"Open the iris," Carter commanded. A few moments after the iris opened, the members of SG-1 stepped through. John Sheppard and Ronon Dex came through first, followed quickly by Major Jennifer Hailey. A few seconds later, Dr. Cassandra Frazier stepped through, most likely having been the one who dialed the gate and lingered the longest, as she often did. Sam pressed the intercom button. "SG-1 report," she demanded.
"Mission was successful, ma'am," Sheppard announced. "We found an abandoned Trinium mine, just like Dr. Jackson's text said we would."
"Debrief in 5," Sam ordered. Sheppard nodded, leading Ronon, Hailey, and Cassandra out of the gate room.
"Do you ever get used to them being SG-1?" Daniel asked Sam as the pair of them climbed up the stairs and into the briefing room.
"Not fully," Sam admitted as she took her customary seat at the end of the long table. Daniel, being her second in command, took the chair immediately to her right.
"I suppose we have to accept that our time has come and gone," Daniel lamented. "My lab is now Cassandra's lab. Or it will be in a few weeks."
"It still stings every time I have to leave R&D and let Hailey and Cassie figure out whatever problem is bothering us," Samantha admitted. "It hurts more that they no longer seem to need my help," she added quietly.
"Well, you did hand-pick Hailey from the academy," Daniel reminded her. "That had to be because you saw the potential in her."
"It was," Sam agreed.
"And Cassandra's enhanced physiological capabilities extended to her mind," Daniel added. "She's got an MD, and two Ph.D.s already. And she just submitted her doctoral thesis in Archaeology, and once they review that, she'll have Ph.D. number three."
"I'm not saying that Jennifer and Cassandra aren't brilliant," Samantha protested. "I just wish they'd have let me pass the torch. It feels more like they yanked the darn thing out of my hands when I was up here doing meaningless paperwork." She and Daniel sighed and then broke out into a laugh. "Listen to us, telling stories. When did we get this old?"
"I don't know," Daniel responded, "But seeing as the odds were against us living this long? I plan to enjoy it."
"Technically you didn't live this long," Samanta reminded him.
"Oh, shut up," Daniel said with a groan. "I died and came back twice. The rest of those times I was only presumed dead."
"Fair enough," Sam granted him as SG-1 stepped into the conference room.
"...just saying that if you really wanted more action, you should have stayed in Atlantis," was the tail end of the conversation Col. John Sheppard was having with Ronon Dex as they walked in.
"Yeah, well, I couldn't see taking orders from the geek," Ronon barked in his usual, dour growl.
"I know you grew to like Rodney," John argued as he and the rest of his team sat down.
"I like him just fine working with him. Working for him is a different story," Ronon countered. "I notice you didn't stick around once he got the job."
"Actually, he left because if he didn't they were going to give him the job," General Carter interjected. "Colonel Sheppard turned down half a dozen promotions to stay in the field."
"Yeah, but in the end they got me," Sheppard lamented, prompting a laugh from everyone not named Ronon. "Anyway, our mission report, General Carter?"
"Please," Sam implored.
"As you know," Sheppard began, "We've been looking for sources of trinium so we could begin construction on the first series of Archangel Class battlecruisers. Dr. Jackson's research into the Asgard database yielded a gate address he thought was, uh, someone's workshop?"
As Sheppard glanced over at Cassandra Frazier, she spoke up, "Wayland the Smith, most likely. We think he must have been an Asgard ship builder. Norse myths don't have a specific smithing god, like Hephaestus of Greek mythology, or Vulcan in Roman mythology. Wayland was said to have been a legendary smith imprisoned by King Niðhad and forced to labor. Now as we've discovered many times, the human tellings of legends are distortions, embellished upon as they were handed down through the centuries. And there's any number of incon…" Cassie looked around the table. Major Hailey was rolling her eyes, Sheppard had long-since tuned out, Ronon had his head down and was in danger of falling asleep, General Carter was patiently waiting for Cassie to say something important; only Daniel was actually interested in what she had to say. She flustered and quietly finished, "We think we found an abandoned Asgard mining operation."
"I see," Samantha nodded. "And you think it's a trinium mine?"
"Preliminary soil samples look promising," Major Jennifer Hailey announced. "I'm convinced enough to send a geological survey to take core samples."
"Were you able to determine why the Asgard abandoned it?" General Carter asked.
"We found small piles of inert replicator blocks scattered through the facility we explored," Hailey responded. "Looked like a few hundred of the bugs had been there. Possibly a small scouting detachment, or part of a larger force. No way to tell when they died."
"Most likely at the firing of the Dakara superweapon," Cassandra added.
"Most likely," Hailey concurred.
"And did you find any other lifeforms?" Carter wondered.
"Nothing," Ronon growled. "It didn't seem like anyone had been there in years. Place was still as a grave."
"Okay," Carter concluded. "Hailey, I want you to put a geological survey team together for departure tomorrow at 0800. While they drill for their sample, you and Cassandra will see if you can get the facility's systems online."
"Yes ma'am," Hailey said.
"Ronon, you take a security team and start establishing an off-world habitat."
"Alright," the big man agreed.
"And I'll make a fire and roast some marshmallows," Sheppard volunteered.
"That won't be necessary, Colonel Sheppard. In fact, I don't see a reason for you to go on this mission," Cater told him. Sheppard scowled, sulking as he sunk into his chair. Sam glowered at her subordinate. "Colonel, you stay. The rest of SG-1, you're dismissed." As the rest of the team left, General Carter focused on the now-sullen Colonel John Sheppard. "John, what the hell is your problem?" she demanded.
"I dunno," he replied, staring into the surface of the table at the faint reflections in its polished surface.
"I think I do," Carter offered. "John, you're taking over this command in a few weeks. You had to know that your off world trips had to stop sometime."
"Do they?" Sheppard asked. "I could still go with SG-1 every now and then."
"That's what Jack thought, too," Daniel offered. "And then he quickly found that running this base is a full-time job in and of itself. In the beginning, he thought he'd still have time for off world trips, but he only made about a half-dozen."
"I had to deal with the same thing, John," Carter confessed. "I know it's not easy. But you have responsibilities here that need your attention. You need to prepare to take over in ten weeks. Effective immediately, I'm removing you from SG-1. Today was your last mission."
"Yes ma'am, I suppose you're right," John admitted somberly.
"Have you decided who will take your place?" Jackson asked him.
"I want to promote Major Hailey to LTC and have her take over," John replied, "She's ready."
"I'll start the paperwork," Sam announced cheerfully.
"Thank you ma'am, but can I make a request?" Sheppard interjected.
"You can," Carter said. "I can't promise I'll grant it."
"I'd like to be the one who pins her, ma'am," John said. "Sort of handing off the torch and all that. Make it my first 'official' act as head of Stargate Command."
"Dr. Jackson and I were just having a discussion about passing torches," Sam chuckled. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Who will be the fourth member of SG-1, then?"
"I'm going to let Hailey pick," John told her. "General O'Neill always picked his people when he ran the team. General Mitchell picked his people. You let me pick my people when I came here. It only seems right."
"Fair enough," Samantha granted.
Suddenly there was an alarm from the gate room. "Unscheduled off world activation," Herriman called over the intercom. Sam, Daniel, and Sheppard all jogged down to the control room. "Receiving General O'Neill's IDC, ma'am."
"Open the iris!" she exclaimed, taking Daniel by the hand to lead him down the stairs towards the gate room. Teal'c and Jack stepped through the event horizon and into the room. Sam ran over, practically leaping into Teal'c arms to hug the man. As he embraced her, she kissed him on the cheek. "Teal'c! It's been too long."
"Indeed it has, General Carter," he replied. "Daniel Jackson! It is also good to see you again."
Daniel and Teal'c exchanged a brief hug, nothing like the vociferous glomping Samantha had subjected the large Jaffa to. "Good to see you, big guy," Daniel grinned. "Uh, just out of curiosity, how many 'indeeds' did Jack get out of you before he gave you the invitation?"
"I believe it was three," Teal'c replied. "Why?"
"Pay up," Daniel said, holding his hand out to O'Neill. Jack reluctantly reached into his pocket and handed Daniel a $20 bill. "I told you, you couldn't get five."
"Yeah," Jack admitted. "I tried."
As the four of them turned to walk down the ramp, they noticed just about everyone in the gate room and the control room had their cell phones out taking pictures. "What in the," Daniel asked in a half-question.
"You'll have to forgive them," Sheppard announced over the intercom, he himself holding a phone. "Oh, uh, and me. This is the first time most of them have seen you four together."
"Ah fer cryin' out loud," Jack scoffed.
"Easy, Jack," Carter said slipping an arm around his waist.
"Like it or not," Daniel said, "We're heroes to a lot of these people."
"Alright," Carter yelled. "You have ten seconds. Give them a wave, guys." Jack, Sam, and Daniel waved to the amateur photographers. Teal'c stood, as ever, hands clasped behind his back, with his usual stoic expression on his face. After what was actually closer to fifteen seconds, General Carter cleared her throat. "Alright, everyone back to work!"
