Sam Carter O'Neill tucked her son Nick in gently, kissing his sandy, baby-soft hair. She straightened up and gazed at his sleeping face for a moment in the soft glow of the little star-shaped night light. Everyone always said he looked just like her, with his big blue eyes and blond hair, but Sam always saw Jack in their little boy's mouth and chin, especially when he was relaxed in sleep. The four-year-old snuggled down under the covers and turned on his side to hug his favorite stuffed animal; a large dog his Uncle Daniel had given him on his first birthday. A soft smile came to Sam's face as she watched him.

She always felt so lucky in moments like this. There had been many times in the course of her career at the SGC that she had been sure she would never have the opportunity to get married and have children, and yet here she was, happily married to her once CO and with a beautiful little boy. She kissed Nick again, lingering for a moment and breathing in the smell of his freshly washed hair. Then she turned and tiptoed across the carpet and into the hallway, leaving the door open a crack.

Still smiling softly, she started down the stairs, catching the smell of new carpet. They had bought the home almost six months ago, but Sam could still detect that "new house" smell, especially on the stairs. As she reached the bottom, she could hear Jack talking quietly on the phone. Her smile faded. Usually they didn't get calls this late at night unless there was something wrong at the base. She came around the corner into the kitchen a little apprehensively and watched Jack as he said goodbye and hung up the phone. He was facing away from her, both hands flat on the counter, his shoulders hunched slightly and his head lowered. Without seeing his face, Sam could tell he was wearing his worried frown.

"What's the matter?" she asked, coming to stand next to him.

He glanced up sharply, as if surprised she would be there. Sam had been right. His worried frown was firmly in place. "That was General Landry."

Sam waited for him to continue, but he just dropped his eyes back to the counter. "And?" Sam pressed, touching his arm.

He sighed heavily and looked at her again. "Kelowna made contact with us again."

Sam frowned. "Kelowna? I thought the Ori destroyed everything." She felt a sudden surge of sadness well up inside her, as it always did when she thought of the destruction of Kelowna, and the death of Jonas Quinn.

Jack caught her look and turned toward her. "Jonas was the one who contacted the SGC."

Sam's mouth opened slightly. Surprise hit her and she didn't register that for a moment. "Jonas? They're sure it was Jonas?"

Jack nodded. "He came through the gate himself."

A grin split Sam's face at the thought of seeing their old friend again, but her excitement was dampened by the frown still present on Jack's face. "Jack, what's the matter? Isn't Jonas being alive a good thing?"

Jack sighed. "He wasn't bringing good news. Apparently, they're back to their good old days of hating each other." His voice was thick with sarcasm and he stepped away from her, his jaw clenched.

"How did they even survive the Ori?"

Jack shrugged, his shoulders tense. "A group of them managed to hide and live underground. They've been topside now for seven years but they still can't seem to take their heads out of their –"

"Jack!"

"What? Nick's asleep!"

She frowned at him, her head cocked to the side.

"Okay, okay. They can't seem to form a rational government without us babysitting them."

"And General Landry is agreeing to help them? How much babysitting are we talking about here?" Sam said, suddenly feeling weary at the thought of trying to get the Kelownans to cooperate with each other.

Jack shrugged, his eyebrows drawing together in a worried frown again. "A lot of babysitting. It'll probably be worse than babysitting Daniel's kids," he grumbled.

Sam rolled her eyes and smacked his arm lightly. "Really, Jack. Is this going to be an extended thing, or what?"

Jack gave her a mock glare, rubbing his arm as if she'd delivered a fatal blow. "If you must know, I really have no idea."

"What did the general say?" Sam said, attempting to draw on the reservoir of patience she kept especially for her husband and son.

Jack became serious again, slumping down in one of the kitchen chairs. "Some crazy terrorist group has been setting off bombs. Landry wants to at least help the injured."

"But you don't think it's going to stop there," Sam said, pulling out another chair and brushing a few stray Cheerios off it to sit next to him.

Jack shook his head, frustration evident in his clenched jaw. "It never stops there," he muttered.

"So . . . are we going over there to help? We have to at least find Jonas," Sam said, excitement bubbling up in her again at the thought of Jonas being alive after all this time.

Jack nodded. "Yep. Landry said Jonas specifically requested that me and you and Daniel and Teal'c go over there. Something about being the only ones he can trust."

Sam considered that quietly for a moment. While they would all do everything they could for Jonas, Teal'c was visiting his newest grandchild and probably couldn't even be reached for a while, and everyone had families to worry about now. "We have a lot to tell Jonas."

Jack snorted, but the corner of his mouth lifted as he looked at her. "Nah."

Sam couldn't help but smile at him, even while rolling her eyes. "When are we supposed to be at the base?"

Jack smiled at her for a moment, then he blinked and shook his head a little, the small smile staying on his face. "Uh . . . 0800 hours."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "What are you smiling like that for?"

His smile widened into a grin. "I was just thinking it would be funny to not tell Jonas we're married and then I could kiss you and see what he does."

Sam rolled here eyes for the third time, but she had to admit, it would be kind of fun. She decided not to mention that to Jack and got up to get the phone instead. "Do you think Jessica will still be up?"

Jack shrugged. "It's not that late."

Sam dialed and waited for their babysitter to pick up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jess? Sorry to call kinda late, but could you come over tomorrow morning at seven thirty? Jack and I both have to be at the base for a while," Sam said, hating to impose on her at such short notice and hating that Nick would likely be with his babysitter for most of the day. As much as she trusted and appreciated Jessica, she always felt guilty for leaving Nick for more than a couple of hours with anyone but Jack.

"Sure, no problem," Jessica replied cheerily. "Mike works early tomorrow anyway." She and her husband, Mike, lived just down the street and didn't have any children of their own yet. Jessica ran an online business from home which made her a perfect candidate for the often odd and long hours Sam and Jack had to be away from home. In fact, when they had first moved in, Jessica had come over and offered to babysit any time. Though the knowledge of the Stargate program had been public for six years now, they were still celebrities in many ways and Jessica had been thrilled at the chance to help with Nick.

"Thank you so much, Jess; I'll see you tomorrow," Sam said.

"All right, see you later."

Sam hung up the phone and turned back to Jack just as the phone rang. She turned and picked up the phone, seeing on the caller ID that it was Daniel. Sam hit "answer" quickly and held the phone to her ear. "Hi Daniel, did you hear about Kelowna?" she blurted.

"Hey Sam. Yeah, that's why I was calling. Are you guys going over there tomorrow?" Daniel said, not missing a beat.

"0800 hours. What about you and Vala?"

"Vala's going to stay with the kids but I'll be there. You know Jonas is over there right?"

"Yeah, crazy huh? Have you talked to Mitchell?"

"Mitchell's going in tonight. They're going to try and get the most seriously wounded back to the base."

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Bye, Sam. Say hi to Jack for me."

"I will. Goodnight, Daniel."

"So?" Jack asked.

"Daniel's going to be there in the morning, and Mitchell's going in tonight," Sam said, leaning against the counter.

Jack sighed and stood up, going over to kiss her. "I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a long day," he said.

"Nicky, come on buddy. Time to wake up!" Sam said, shaking the little four-year-old gently. Jessica was already here, but she didn't like leaving without at least saying goodbye to the little boy.

He rolled over sleepily and blinked at her. "Hi Mommy," he said, a little smile on his face.

Sam grinned at him. He reminded her of how Jack first woke up in the mornings. "Hey little man. Guess what? You're going to play with Jessica today, okay?"

He sat up and nodded eagerly. "Yay! I wike Jessica."

She ruffled his sandy mop of hair, making it stick up in even more directions than sleep had. "Mommy and Daddy will be back in a little while, okay?"

"Okay. You goin' on a mission?"

Jack came into his son's room with a chuckle, pulling on his BDU jacket. "Yep, we're going to go see if we can help some people who're hurt."

Sam smiled. Nick loved hearing stories of their off-world adventures, though usually they toned them down so the little boy didn't get frightened or upset.

Nick nodded seriously, responding to Jack's explanation. "Kay. Me an' Jessica will pway."

Sam laughed at the gravity he treated that sentence with and hugged him tightly, even though he squirmed away, eager to get down and begin "pwaying." Jack swept him up as he jumped off the bed and blew a raspberry into the little boy's tummy. Nick squealed and giggled, still squirming to get down.

Sam grinned at them, feeling profoundly lucky again. Then she looked at the little Mickey Mouse clock hanging on the wall above Nick's door and gasped a little. They would be late if they didn't leave soon. "We'd better go, Jack," she said, standing up and heading toward the doorway. Jack was still holding Nick, but at Sam's announcement he looked up at the clock too and realized what time it was. He set Nick down, giving him a good hug, and kissed the top of his head. Jessica came in then to help Nick get dressed for the day, and Sam and Jack somewhat reluctantly backed out of the room.

"Thanks again, Jessica," Sam said. "We'll try and be back at a reasonable time, but . . ." Sam shrugged. She knew Jessica was used to their strange work hours.

"No problem," the young woman said with a smile. "Me and Nicky are gonna have fun, huh buddy." She ruffled his hair and he grinned up at her.

Nick waved at his parents, even blowing them a kiss. "Bye Nicky, be good okay?" Jack admonished before heading downstairs.

They drove to the base mostly in silence, both thinking about what they would find when they got to Kelowna. As they pulled into the base parking lot, Sam looked over at Jack as he put the car into park. He turned the key and shut the car off, and caught her gaze.

"Jack, are you sure you . . ." Sam started.

Jack frowned. "Don't start."

Sam sighed and dropped her gaze. Neither of them were getting any younger but Jack was in his sixties now and Sam always worried about him going on missions, especially ones like this were they would probably be helping carry injured people and doing other heavy kinds of heavy labor. Technically, Jack had been retired for six-and-a-half years now, but he couldn't seem to stay away from the base, especially when it involved helping an old friend, and he was way too stubborn to ever admit pain or weariness until it was practically incapacitating him.

Jack had unbuckled his seat belt while Sam had been lost in thought and was opening the door to get out. Sam reached over and put a hand on his arm and caught his eyes again. "Just promise you'll be careful, okay?"

Jack pressed his lips into a thin line, just looking at her for a moment. Then he sighed and opened the car door. "Yes, mother," he said getting out.

Sam shook her head and opened her own door, and they walked into the base together. They stepped out of the elevator into madness. People were rushing through the hall, mostly medical teams with people on stretchers, not all of them heading for the infirmary. SG teams were bringing back more wounded then there was room for. The infirmary wasn't huge and it was clear not all of the injured Kelownans would fit there, so the guest rooms were being used as well. Sam realized that most of the medical personnel had probably been there the entire night, as she caught glimpses of their weary faces.

She glanced at Jack and saw on his face that he'd noticed the same thing. They were both feeling bad they hadn't been there the night before to help. They made their way to the gate room, carefully dodging the people rushing everywhere, and saw Daniel at the base of the ramp. They made their way over to him as a fresh batch of wounded were brought through the gate. Sam felt a thrill of excitement flutter in her stomach as she looked at the open wormhole, knowing that Jonas was somewhere on the other side.

"Hey, guys," Daniel greeted them as they came to join him at the base of the ramp.

"Did you just come through?" Sam asked glancing again at the activated Stargate where marines were still bringing wounded people through.

"Yeah. It's pretty bad over there," Daniel said, shaking his head. "I think we've got most of them moved through now, so I'm going to stay here and help set up some extra equipment in the barracks so we can use them for the wounded."

Jack nodded, his eyes flickering over to the where the medical teams were loading people on stretchers. "I think we'll head over there and see what we can help with. Find Jonas."

"Did you see him anywhere?" Sam asked, turning back to Daniel.

Daniel shook his head. "I think I may have seen him briefly in the crowd, but I haven't had a chance to look for him, either."

"Okay then, Danny boy, we'll see you in a bit," Jack said, clapping a hand on his friend's shoulder and heading up the ramp. Daniel shook his head resignedly at the nickname, a faint smile on his face, and lifted a hand in farewell to the O'Neills before turning and heading for the barracks.