After the movie.

He just couldn't believe that he had made it back from that mission alive. He had a brief notion of relief, but other than that he just couldn't bring himself to feel anything. He had debriefed, he had left the base, and then he was on his way home. Only it didn't feel like going home. Their house had felt empty and dead ever since – that day. They had talked about selling it once, about moving, but neither had been able to muster the energy to take any steps or to even make a decision. So he drove home, but he took his time. He felt bad for being dull and indifferent. He used to rush home to greet his wife and son, happy to join them, eager to hear their voices. Now his son was gone and his wife probably didn't care that much if he came home at all, let alone at what time. When he finally made it, the house was dark. It felt even less like home than the last time. His key turned in the door, twice? Obviously Sara had better things to do than to wait for him. 'OK, now, O'Neill, that's not fair and you know it. How could she have known you were coming?' Still he was disappointed. He dropped his keys and turned on the light. On the kitchen table he noticed a single sheet of paper. Even from the distance he could tell it was Sara's handwriting. All of a sudden he couldn't breathe, and he had to grab the back of a chair to steady himself. He just knew.

She was gone. He had lost both his son and his wife, and both were his fault. He had been a lousy father, and when that damage had been done he turned out to be a lousy husband as well.

He sat on Charlie's bed again, and he held his gun again. He thought back to all the times in his life when he had been desperate, missions gone wrong, comrades lost, injuries, prison, interrogation, torture. He had survived it all, had gotten out of it, sometimes completely on his own, had stubbornly refused to give up. Because Sara had been there, waiting for him. Beautiful, smart, loving him for whatever reason. Now she couldn't stand to be with him, and he couldn't blame her. She wanted their marriage to be over, to be rid of him, and he still needed her like mad.

He agreed to the divorce and left their house to Sara, and then he embraced his new job with all the energy he could muster, spending as much time as possible in the mountain when he wasn't off-world. Who needed a life anyway?

~o0o~

When the trip to that sand planet went FUBAR, the worst part was to find out Sara was involved. He went into full soldier mode the moment he heard her voice on her answering machine.

~o0o~

Running down the hospital hallway he ordered:

"Everybody out! I need everybody out of here now! Let's go!"

And there she was. Sara stared at him in disbelief.

"Jack?"

He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her very closely.

"Sara? Are you all right?"

She was obviously confused, so he pulled her in a hug and whispered:

"It's me. This is me, baby."*

~o0o~

Later, when the situation was under control, there was time for another hug. He almost missed her voice when she breathed against his neck: "We were pretty great together, weren't we?"

But he did hear her, and he had the good sense to answer.

"We were the greatest."**

He did not hear what she said after he had left with the being that looked like their dead son.

~o0o~

* That's canon! He actually did call her "baby"! ** And that's canon, too. That's the line that kinda made me a Jack/Sara shipper. For the moment. :-)