Author's Note:

This sequel to Our Separate Ways is mainly to hash out some of the relationships developed in the first story, though I tried to work some action in there, too. But, the character relationships and interactions are really the main plot, which is why this didn't seem to fit into the first story, where liberating the Earth was the main plot. Anyway, reviews are welcome, and I hope you enjoy.

...

January 4, 2005 – Colorado Springs, CO

Janet slowly awakened to her internal alarm clock, and she suddenly realized that she wasn't lying on a pillow, or even a bed for that matter. She had her arms wrapped around the midsection of what seemed to be a man, with her head on his chest and his arm holding her against him. It had been a long time since she'd been in that situation, so she was startled a bit, but then she smelled the man and instantly relaxed, all the while keeping her eyes closed.

Jack. Wasn't Cassie here? Did the brat leave me like this? I'll admit this is wonderful, but it's also dangerous. Sam is divorced now. I need to know how he feels about that before I get swept away in this.

She finally opened her eyes and looked up to see Jack with a soft smile on his face.

"Good morning. Comfortable?" he asked her quietly.

She blushed slightly at the intimate sound of his deep, sleepy voice, as well as her position on top of him.

Don't kiss him! Don't do it!

"Just fine, Jack. You?" she shot back with a smirk on her face.

He chuckled. "We should probably get up. You have to head in soon, and I think I'll make an appearance, so that everyone doesn't show up here to bother me on my time off."

Jen, Vala, and Cassie were all watching from the kitchen but scattered when they started to get up off of the couch.

"Want some coffee, you two?" Cassie asked with a shit-eating grin that earned her a glare from her mother as Janet took the mug from the smug teenager.

"Sure, thanks, princess." Jack gratefully accepted the other mug.

...

Cassie went home to get ready for school, and everyone else got in Jack's truck and headed to the mountain. As Jack entered, he was pondering his morning so far.

All of the years I've known her, I had never had the chance to watch her sleep before. The spitfire she is when awake was gone. She looked peaceful, beautiful.

When she gave him that big smile in the gate room yesterday, he'd been surprised at the clenching he felt in his gut. And now, waking up to her like this, he found he could really get used to it. He'd missed her a great deal when he was traipsing around the universe, trying save Earth, and then the Asgard. She had been his lifeline over the past few years. He would probably be dead of alcohol poisoning, or any number of things, if not for her. This brought him to another thought.

I have to nip this in the bud right now. Her friendship means too much to me to screw it up with these kinds of feelings. I have no reason to believe she would be any more interested in a washed up, bitter, old man than Carter was, and I won't offend her by making the offer.

Jack made his way to the SG-1 locker room and found his locker was still there. Knowing it could be awkward if any of the others came in, Jack set about getting changed as quickly as he could. He took off his civvies and pulled on his BDU pants. He was doing the belt on them, when, of course, Carter would walk in.

Sam entered the locker room and saw the General standing there shirtless. Her jaw dropped a bit as she stared at the taut, scarred body of a warrior. Then she snapped out of it.

"Sorry, sir. I'll just…"

"It's ok, Carter. My locker is still in here for some reason. I'll be out of your hair in a second." He'd already pulled on a t-shirt and was putting on his boots as he talked.

He threw on his BDU jacket and said, "There you go. All yours, Colonel." Then he walked out of the room, leaving Sam sporting a regretful expression.

Throughout the morning, Jack made his rounds, greeting everyone as he went. He ran into SG-24 on their way to the gate room.

"Jenkins."

"Sir, it's good to see you again."

"You too, Major. How's old Colonel Wagner been doing?"

"As surly as always, but I'm sure you know that, sir."

"Yeah, I do. You know, kid. I've seen a lot of things in my day, but I never thought I'd see an SG team of Army Rangers. Good luck out there."

"Thank you, sir."

Sir this and sir that. God, I'm sick of this place already.

Jack made his way to Dixon's office and knocked.

"Come in."

"Dave, how you holdin' up back here?"

"Sir…"

"Dave, do me a favor, cut the 'sir' in private, would you?"

"Ok, Jack. It'll be hard though. You're big time brass now."

"Don't remind me. So really, how is running the show treating you?"

"It's got its moments, but I miss the field. And this is a lot to take in. I don't know how Hammond did it."

"I believe you. I wanted to tell you that I'll fight for you if you want to keep the chair, but I think Hayes already has mind made up that he wants me in it. He said this facility should be headed by higher than a Colonel, and you don't have enough time in yet for a star."

"He's mentioned that to me too, Jack, and I pretty much expected all along that you would come back and rescue me from the job."

Jack snorted. "That bad, huh? I can't wait to get started. So, what do you want to do, go back to SG-13?"

"I think so. They've had two new COs so far, one killed, one is injured right now, so it shouldn't break up any chemistry."

"Good. Well, I'll still have you as second of the base, so you don't think you are escaping all of this paperwork."

"That's the good news I've been waiting to hear."

Jack laughed. "Go get some lunch, Dave. I can handle the red phone while you're gone."

"I thought you'd never offer. I'll be back soon, Jack. Thanks."

Jack leaned back for a moment, and then he winced as he noticed Daniel catch sight of him from the briefing room. He soon heard the inevitable knock.

"Come!"

"Jack."

"Daniel."

"You chase Dixon out of here already?"

"He's getting some lunch. I'm just making sure his paperwork doesn't run away."

Daniel smiled a little. It sounded like the old Jack, and he had heard the rumblings that Jack was in top form today.

"Jack, listen, I know you don't want to talk about, well, anything really, but I need you to let me say this. I want you to know how sorry I am about getting so caught up in the whole Aschen alliance. I should have listened more closely to your opinions, and I deeply regret it."

Jack sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but he was tempted to talk it out.

Must be having a good day. Waking up with a beautiful doctor on top of you will do that.

"Look, Daniel, I won't deny that I was hurt by it, but you were just doing what you always do. You never trusted my judgment with regards to relations with other races. You always get carried away in that kind of thing. You were a constant pain in my ass, and many times, that's what I needed from you. And when you couldn't sway me to your way of thinking, I had Carter and Teal'c to help keep you in line. When I didn't have them either, you went off the deep end. As much as I wanted and needed you to believe me this one time, I never expected you to. It wouldn't have been you."

"What are you saying, Jack?"

"I'm saying that what makes you such a great asset is the same reason I knew you would never believe me. Carter and Teal'c, it's a different story. They had other jobs than to question my judgment. In fact, the reason we worked as a team was that they respected it. When they stopped respecting it, there was no one left to stop you. Questioning my judgment was your job, and I can't hold it against you forever."

"Wow. You really are in a good mood today."

"Thanks, Daniel," he growled.

"No, I appreciate it, really. And I still feel terrible about the whole thing and probably always will. Thanks, Jack."

"No problem, Daniel. Now go before someone overhears our little heart-to-heart."

Daniel chuckled. "Fine, I'll see you tonight."

...

When Dixon returned, Jack wandered down to Hailey's lab for a bit while Daniel headed to get a cup of coffee in the commissary. On his way there, he ran into Janet.

"Hey, Janet."

"Hi, Daniel, what's up?"

"Have you talked to Jack yet today?"

You mean other than pillow talk on his chest this morning? Stop it!

"No, not yet, why?"

"He's apparently in a really good mood. I think we're even friends again."

"What? Wow. Well, that's great news."

Why? Is it Sam? Did she finally make a move?

"Yeah, it is. Although, not so much for Sam and Teal'c. He still got issues with them, big ones."

She released a breath she didn't know she was holding before responding.

"Oh. Well, at least you got back into his good graces."

"Yeah. Well, I'll see you later Janet."

"Take care, Daniel."

...

Jack, meanwhile, continued to meander through the complex. He stopped by the gym to see Wilkins sparring with Major Griff, giving him a few cheap shots, and he just laughed to himself.

He started whistling as he walked down the hallway that leads to the infirmary. He walked in and went to the open doorway to Janet's office. He stood there watching as she was filling out some form at her desk, her back to the door.

"I know you're there, Jack. I heard you whistling."

"Well, far be it from me to come between you and your ever important paperwork."

He really is in a good mood. I haven't seen him like this since before the Aschen.

"There, it's done. Now, what can I do you for you?"

"I'm just killing time now. I've made my rounds, but I can't leave since it seems I'm your ride, along with Hailey and Vala."

"Ah, ok. I ran into Daniel earlier. He said you and him had a chat."

"Oh? Yeah, I think we pretty much smoothed things over. I just told him that on our team his job was to question my judgment, while the others were supposed to respect it, which kept him in line if I disagreed with him. When the others didn't respect it, there was no one to stop him from getting carried away, and I couldn't hold that against him forever."

"That's very astute, and also very forgiving of you."

"Yes, well, what can I say? It's a good day." He gave her a heart stopping grin that had the butterflies in her gut going crazy.

"So it seems," she replied and grinned brilliantly back at him.

"Ok, Jack, I have work to do. If you need to kill more time, you can always have your physical."

She laughed at the look of horror on his face.

If he only knew what I meant. I don't think I could get him near an infirmary bed right now without throwing him down on it and taking him.

"No, Janet, that's ok. I'll leave you to it then."

"I'll find you when I'm ready to leave."

...

It was finally close to quitting time, so Jack started off to round up his passengers when SG-24 returned early from their mission. No one was seriously injured, but he knew it was going to hold Janet up a little bit. He decided to go get Hailey first. He was whistling again as he headed down the corridor to her lab, which was incidentally right next door to Carter's lab. He walked in to see Carter already in Hailey's lab, and they seemed to be arguing about some sort of calculation. He walked in and stopped whistling.

Jen saw him and apparently noticed his good mood. She gave him a bright smile and then returned her glare to Carter.

"Colonel, Captain, problem?"

"No, sir. I'm just trying to get the Captain here to see the importance of not making so many assumptions about pre-existing conditions before running her experiments."

"And sir, I'm trying to reassure the Colonel that they are safe assumptions, and the data will be much more useful to us if they are factored into the calculations."

"Ok. Colonel, is there is a reason to believe that data factoring in Captain Hailey's assumptions would be useful?"

"Possibly, sir. But, it may also be a waste of time, or even throw us off track altogether."

"Captain? What makes you think they are 'safe assumptions' if Colonel Carter doesn't think so?"

"Prior experience, sir. And I know they are safe assumptions."

"What is the experiment?"

Sam looked at him incredulously, as if to ask if he really wanted to know, but Jen appeared unfazed by the question.

"We are studying the Aschen dampening field technology, trying to find ways to duplicate it and adapt it for our own uses," Hailey answered him.

"Right. Well, Colonel, you are a good enough officer to accept feedback from subordinates and know whether or not their input is helpful. Keep in mind that your knowledge of Captain Hailey's experience probably isn't as extensive as you think it is, especially when it comes to Aschen technology.

Captain, you understand the need to follow the orders of your superiors, whether or not you think they are right. You can always run the experiment with your own prejudices, on your own time, and then try to convince people of the value after the fact."

They both looked befuddled and a bit impressed.

"Oh, and Colonel? She's probably right. Are we on the same page now, campers? Good. Now, play with this another time. It's time to close up shop for the day. Jen, when you're ready, I'll be out and about around here somewhere."

…

They had two large tables at O'Malley's to accommodate Jack, SG-1, SG-2, Janet, and Cassie. The conversation was easy enough, except for Sam, Teal'c, and Mitchell. Mitchell because he didn't really know any of the others very well, except his teammates, and Sam and Teal'c because Jack acted like he didn't really know them very well. Jack was including Daniel in the conversation though, caused Sam to give him a questioning glance.

Janet was being extra observant tonight, trying to see where Jack's mind was regarding Sam. She noticed he was looking at her with a blankness to his eyes. She didn't see the pain there that she used to. He looked at her the same way he looked at Mitchell, and he had just met Cam yesterday. She'd noticed him looking at herself a few times too, and the stare unnerved and excited her. It wasn't the same look he used to give Sam, but it was something.

"Well, folks, it seems like this is as good a time as any. As some of you might have guessed, when my leave is up I will be taking command of the base. Dixon is going back to SG-13, and will be my second in command. I'll miss being out in the field, but I'm getting too old for all of that anyway."

"Yeah right, Jack. I'll give you a week of sitting behind a desk before you get back out there and do something dumb," Ferretti offered his support.

"It will be good to once again serve with you, O'Neill," Teal'c added. Jack barely acknowledged him.

"Congratulations, sir. It's quite an honor," Sam chimed in.

"Yes, well, someone's got to do it, and apparently I'm the only one qualified, according to the president."

...

Sam just sat there deep in thought. She was working hard to ignore the pang in her chest from watching Jack interact so easily with SG-2 and Janet. And then she considered his announcement.

He'll be my commanding officer again. Now, I only need those two words when I need to get my priorities straight.

After that, they all started drinking and relaxing. Sam was cleaning up at the pool table, until Wilkins went over and beat her in a game. She then beat him three straight times. He came back to the table grumbling.

"That God damn broad is a shark."

Jack laughed at his friend. "Yeah, I should have warned you. I'll also warn you not to call her a broad if you don't want her to kick your ass. It's a good thing you fight dirty, you would need it."

Sam overheard their exchange, and a little smile came to her face.

Since they had all voiced their curiosity about his classified adventures, they decided to leave a little early to head back to Jack's house.