Sam stared after the brunette sauntering out the door. 'That was Vala?' she thought to herself. She'd read the mission reports, of course, and then there had been Daniel's lengthy discussion of her-- extremely long discussion of her-- downright long winded complaint of her. Odd that her first encounter with her should be so mundane as in a locker room gearing up for a mission. For someone that was so much larger than life it seemed almost a disservice to meet in such an ordinary way. Truth be told, Sam hadn't expected to encounter Vala, except maybe on the other side of the briefing room table. Daniel had said that he was unable to travel down to Area 51 due to being 'tied to his work', but he also said it was wearing off. When she had been asked to join SG-1 on this assignment she had envisioned walking back into the gateroom, Teal'c and Daniel joining her just like old times flanking her as they went up the ramp. Of course Mitchell would be there, and in the mental image of her minds eye, she cut and paste him into the group, modifying their marching order to incorporate the fourth member. He would take point, this being his team now and not hers. Shutting the door to her locker she headed up to the Control Room where she knew Landry and the team would be waiting for her.

It had been several months since she had last set foot in the SGC. There were a few new faces in the hallways as she followed the familiar route, who looked at her curiously, however the vast majority were faces she knew. They smiled at her as she passed making it feel to some degree as if she had never left. She sighed. It had been tough for her to go, but it had been the right thing to do. Cassie had needed her. It may have taken a call from the police and a trip to the hospital to wake her up to that fact but she was clued in now. After Janet's death everyone had assumed that Cassie would be fine. She gave all the appearance of bouncing right back. After all it wasn't the first time in her young life that her whole world had fallen apart. Like last time, she still had Sam after all. Cassie had quietly headed back to Chicago where she attended college after the services. If she had seemed quieter than usual, well that was only to be expected.

Shortly after Sam and Pete formalized their engagement, Cassie decided to move back to Colorado and go to school locally. Pete hadn't been thrilled about the addition of a teen-aged step-daughter/niece. It was fine when she was in another state or home for visits, but every day all day was too much for him to handle. Her former fiancee had already had issues being second fiddle to her career and he wasn't about to take third place behind Cassie, too. The two fought constantly when she wasn't home, which was fairly frequent due to the demands of her profession. When Sam and Pete managed to find time alone together he was filled with plans for 'their future' which, upon reflection, bore little resemblance to any future she wanted for herself. She had been caught up in the idea of having someone to come home to, but not to fussy about who that someone was.

'Next time I'm going to have a mid-life crisis, I'm going to buy a car,' she thought to herself as she strode into the control room. She paused in the doorway, taking a deep breath as she returned, however temporarily, to her former life. Clustered by Sgt. Harriman were her old team mates plus two. Vala was playing with the edges of her scarf, expanding upon the Gould's less than desirable traits, particularly their lack of honesty. Standing on either side were Teal'c and Daniel. The Jaffa's hair had grown since she'd seen him last, and he was looking stoic and mildly annoyed at Vala's commentary. Daniel looked up as if sensing her presence, though it was impossible to detect the sounds of arrival of any one person in the busy control room. He smiled at her, obviously pleased to see her again, his smile lighting up his whole face. For one brief moment there was no one else in the room, as juvenile as that sounded. 'One could thing came out of the Pete fiasco,' she thought as she grinned at him in return.

"Colonel Carter," Sam jumped a bit at the sound of General Landry's voice . Reddening slightly she hurried over to join the general, all business again. Daniel had been noticeably silent during their brief mission synopsis and it wasn't until they were assembled in the gateroom.

"Well, temporary or not, it's good to have you back," Daniel said, quietly smiling at her. 'I've missed you,' is what his eyes told her if his words did not. She returned his smile, not quite sure to say. In the mental scenario of seeing Daniel again, it had not involved a mission, or half of the SGC looking on.

"How good is this?" Mitchell commented to Teal'c, "Got the band back together?" Sam glanced around and saw Vala, who appeared to be sulking against the back wall.

"Uh, so what's with the extra back up singer?" she asked quietly. That question had been eating her since she figured out her identity in the locker room.

"Ah, she's good fun," Mitchell grinned, still jazzed that all SG-1 was standing here together with him. "Plus, we figured if Jackson were to. . ."

"Die." Teal'c interjected blandly when Mitchell seemed to search for the right word.

"Yeah, that's the word. It would jeopardize the mission."

Sam looked over at Daniel in concern, "When we talked a couple of days ago, you said you thought the effects were wearing off."

"Well it was," he drawled. "I just didn't want to test it from the other side of the galaxy."

Vala coughed loudly behind them, "Wow, just dying to get rid of me now, aren't you?"

"No, not dying to," Daniel commented with a grimace. She pulled herself off the wall and stalked towards the gate ramp.

"Oh, I know I'm not welcome here. Despite all my efforts to try and fit into your little stargating club, you can all rest assured, that as soon as I can safely part Daniel's company without killing the both of us, I will," she spun on her heel to point at Landry, "And you, You will wish you'd listened to me when I said, letting the Goa'uld come here was a mistake!" With a flip of her scarf she took the last few steps through the event horizon.

"Get to it, and good luck," Landry ordered them.

"Right, let's do this," Mitchell said as he started up the ramp. The rest of SG-1 followed behind him.

"Is she always this much fun?" Sam asked quietly.

"She's behaving at the moment."