Jack O'Neill stood in Arlington National Cemetery, wanting to actually be as alone as he felt. To his left stood Mark, his wife, Cindy, and their two young-adult children, Mike and Katie. To his right stood Hammond, Landry, Cassie, Daniel, Vala, Teal'c, Mitchell, Ronon, McKay and Keller.
Another empty casket was to be buried thanks to the Stargate Program.

He'd known this would happen. He'd been able to feel it in his bones that she wouldn't come back when she first announced her candidacy for Elizabeth Weir's job. He couldn't explain it. Maybe it was how the feeling he normally got in his gut resounded throughout his body at how violently he protested any thought of her death.

Now, he'd never see her again. Never see how the sunlight would reflect off her golden hair first thing in the morning. Never feel her sweet lips against his own. Never touch her again. Never hold her and whisper that everything was going to be okay. Never get swallowed up in the depths of the oceanic orbs she had for eyes.

He stared at the ground which had been unearthed to house her nonexistent body. It was darkening in color as even the heavens wept for the loss of this National Treasure.

It should have been me, he thought to himself.

Sam stood after her debrief at the Pentagon. She'd been successful in procuring the supplies necessary to fend off Michael and his army of hybrids, but it was a hollow victory until she knew that she'd seen the last of the threat. Jack could see that in her eyes as she tried to organize the reports she'd strewn across the table in front of her.

"Hey."

She turned, and gave him as wide a smile as she could muster. "Hey."

"Good work."

Her face became lined again as she thought of just how much still needed to be done. "Not over yet," she murmured, returning to her task of filing the reports into her briefcase.

Jack studied her. Her hair had been pulled back into a bun and she was wearing her dress uniform for the first time in ages. It hung loosely from her thinning frame, and he noticed how much weight she'd lost in her worry and sleepless nights.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine," she said, mechanically.

"Look at me," he commanded gently as he grasped her hand. She turned her blue eyes to him as he continued. "How are you doing?"

She inhaled and exhaled slowly as she set the briefcase on the table. "I'm worried," she admitted. "With the Hoffan drug being disseminated throughout the Pegasus Galaxy and Michael's army..." She sighed softly. "We're fighting a losing battle on two fronts, and I'm not sure how much longer our little band of airmen, Marines, and scientists will be able to hold out..."

"Hey, that's quitter talk." He chided, gently. "The odds were against us when we were fighting the goa'uld. And the Replicators..."

"We're still looking for Ba'al and his clones, you were almost killed by the Replicators in Atlantis..." She reminded. "And now with the Ori, the Wraith, and Michael..."

"Hey." He said, softly interrupting her.

She looked up at him with watery eyes. She wasn't on the verge of tears, but rather so overwhelmed and weary that she hardly knew what to do next.

"C'mere." He invited as he wrapped his arms around her.

She clung to him, sorrowfully, as a single tear slipped down her cheek and found its place on his dress uniform jacket. "I don't think I can do this," she whispered.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Sam's brother, Mark. Jack saw the pain in his blue eyes. He was the last one in his family alive. "I'm sorry, Jack," he managed.

"She was your sister," he said, softly.

"She was your wife," Mark returned with a soft pat on his shoulder.

They'd decided to marry before she returned to Atlantis, commanding the new ship which had just been finished at Area 51. There was virtually no reason to hold the secret any longer. Not with all of the threat.

Back in Vegas, where it had all began, they'd gathered SG-1, Hammond, Landry, Cassie, and Mark's family as witnesses to the small ceremony.
That day was the last time Jack had seen Sam's face brightened with pure and unadulterated joy. Even their wedding night had been tinted with the notion that she might not come back this time.

Jack nodded as Cindy walked over and hugged him tightly. "We'll be praying for you," she whispered.

He sighed softly. "Thanks."

"If you need anything, Uncle Jack..." Katie said as her mother released the embrace.

He managed a small smile as he looked at the young woman. "Backatcha."

They walked away as he remembered that last night together before she went back to Atlantis.

"Jack," she whispered as she lay awake beside him, running her fingers through his gray hair.

"Hm?" He murmured from where he lay on his stomach, tracing lazy circles on her stomach with his left hand as his cheek rested against the fleshy part of her shoulder.

"I want you to know," she began. "In case I don't come back..."

"Don't go there." He interrupted as his head snapped up and he looked into her eyes. "We've got another week before you're able to go, and I..."

"Please," she interrupted with tears shining in her eyes. "I...I need to say this."

His heart broke as he saw the depth of her sadness. He sighed. "Okay...go ahead."

"I love you, Jack O'Neill." She whispered. "I always have."

"I know." He said, seriously. "I love you too."

A single tear slipped down her cheek. "And even though I have a lot of regrets, being with you for however brief a time it seems, has never been one of them.

He wiped the tear from her eyes as he looked at her, tenderly. "You have nothing to regret, Sam."

Her lips trembled as she tried to fight back the tears which begged to be shed. "Yes, Jack," she managed. "Yes, I do. And they start with hiding my feelings for you in that damn room."

"I didn't stop you, did I?" He asked, earnestly.

"No, but I didn't give you much chance to..."

"And we're together now, aren't we?" He interrupted.

She managed a sad smile. "Yes, Jack. We are."

"Then, there's nothing to regret if you don't come back."

He rolled onto his back and looked at the ceiling as the conversation lapsed.

"I'll regret not coming back," she managed a few moments later as she rolled onto her side and fell into a restless sleep.

He felt another hand on his shoulder - this time from the opposite side. He turned to find Daniel and Teal'c looking at him, soberly.

"Thanks for coming," he managed. "Sam would have liked to know that you were here." He looked at the rest of the group. "All of you."

"She was doing what she thought she needed to do," Vala reminded him. "It was her choice..."

"Let Michael's hive ships continue their attack or give up her life to take them out?" He asked, bitterly. "Some choice."

"Colonel Carter saved many lives," Teal'c said, soberly.

"Yeah?" He asked after a moment. "Well, then why couldn't one of them have been her own?"

He walked away from the tangible reminder that his wife was dead as he left his colleagues behind him.

He walked over to the car that Hammond had ordered for him, and he looked up at the driver.

"Home, sir?"

"Yeah." He sighed, wanting to curl up in the backseat and never awaken again.

He'd known her for fifteen years, and in that time, she had given him so much. He'd only returned a fraction of her love and support. She'd saved his life more times than he could remember. She'd given him a reason to keep fighting when he thought that the fight wasn't worth the cost anymore. She'd taught him how to love when he thought he couldn't bear the pain that accompanied it anymore.

The minutes passed slowly as the car drove sedately to its destination. He stepped out of the car, and stared at the townhome with a small sigh.

"Sir?" The driver asked, rolling down his window.

"I'm okay." Jack said, looking over at the man absently.

"If you're sure..."

"Go on." Jack said, nodding. "I'll be fine."

The car backed out of the driveway as Jack looked back at the car.

"The next step is to actually go inside," the familiar voice encouraged.

"Not without you." He said, looking over to see a memory of his wife standing beside him.

"You're never without me. Especially now." She assured, soberly. "I'm still a part of you."

He sighed heavily. "Empty comfort given that I just went to your funeral."

"It's hard," she acknowledged. "I know that. But I also know that you can do this."

He shook his head. "No. no, I can't."

"What did you say when I told you I couldn't lead Atlantis in the battle against Michael?" She asked, soberly.

"Don't," he whispered as the pain in his heart grew when he realized he'd pushed her toward her death.

"I know you can do it," she quoted softly. "Becuase you've done it before. And you'll do it again."

"Don't make me do this, Sam." He whispered. "Not without you."

"I'm never going to leave your side, Jack." She murmured. "Because our love transcends every dimension we can think of, and a few we didn't even know exist."

"What am I going to do, Sam?"

"What you think is right." She said, simply. "Like you always have. Like you always do."

"Sam..."

She vanished, and he rubbed his eyes gently. He needed to get some sleep.

He walked into the house, almost unaware of his actions. He closed the door behind him and placed his uniform hat on the hat rack by the door.

"I still can't believe you invited General Hammond to this event," Sam laughed as they walked in the front door of his townhome.

"I invited you, didn't I?"

"And I was completely useless," she laughed.

"Not useless," he teased, kissing her nose. "You were gorgeous."

She blushed. "Jack..."

She was everywhere in his memory, he sighed as he walked up the stairs. There was the couch where she'd told him that she would be leaving for a three-month tour with the Prometheus. There was the coffee table which had housed the Loaded Questions game they'd played with Cassie and Daniel. He walked into the kitchen. He and Sam had made breakfast in this kitchen so often. He'd come up behind her and kissed the soft flesh at the back of her neck so many times.

He missed her so badly that his body ached to touch her again, smell her soft perfume, and feel the gentleness of her caresses.

He looked over at the counter in time to see the blinking light on the answering machine. He pressed the button mechanically though he probably wouldn't pay much attention to the voice.

"Jack? It's...It's me, Sara...I heard about that Carter woman you used to work with on the news...I just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about the explosion...She seemed like a good woman...Well...I guess I'll just...leave my number in case you need anything."

He closed his eyes as he felt the pain of his first marriage's end wash over him again.

"General O'Neill, it's, uh...it's Rodney McKay...I found Sam's laptop in her quarters when we were boxing them up...There were some letters she wanted distributed in case she...well, in case this happened...I'll leave it with Dr. Jackson at Cheyenne Mountain...anyway...again, I'm sorry for your loss..."

"Jack?" She asked, looking over at him from where she rested on the couch after being shot by the Ori soldier.

"Hm?" He asked from where he'd been playing his GameBoy.

"I...I need to talk to you..."

"Sure." He said, setting down the game. "What's up?"

She inhaled deeply as she toyed with the ring on her left ring finger. "In case...I don't come back someday..."

"Okay, stop right there."

"I'm just being a pragmatist." She defended. "There are some things you need to know..."

"I know, I know...no extraordinary means. We've done this dance before."

She looked over at him, somewhat surprised. "What?"

"When you were taken over by that...probe thing...Janet told me about your living will."

"Oh."

"I don't really want to back over that."

"This...what I want to tell you...is a little different than that..."

"Oh?"

She swallowed as she looked at her computer.

"In my personal directory, there's a file."

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay..."

"It's letters mostly. One to Mark. One to Cassie." Her breath hitched for a moment before she looked at him with moist eyes. "One to you."

"Sam..."

"The password's "fishing"."

"Don't..."

"Please," she whispered.

He sighed. "Okay. Personal directory. File with letter mostly. Password's fishing."

"Jack? Jack, I know you're there..." Daniel's voice interrupted his thoughts. "He's got to be home now," he murmured to another individual - probably Vala. "Jack, we're going to be at the hotel for another few days before we go back to Colorado. Do you want someone to come and stay with you? Teal'c's willling to go. I can go. If you want, we can all come."

Jack shook his head, nonverbally.

"Call us if you need anything."

The messages stopped, and Jack breathed a sigh of relief as he reached into the fridge. Only one beer left. He'd drunk the majority of it with the team the night before. Maybe it was time to break out the heavier stuff. He reached into the shelf above the stove and pulled out the scotch. He reached for a glass.

He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room of the Colorado Springs house. "Wanna glass? I can wash one."

"No, I'm fine, thank you Sir." She said as she took the bottle. She pointed to one of the family pictures on the wall. "So, do you ever talk to her?"

"Can we not talk about that?" He asked, tensing.

"Sorry." She grimaced. "How you feeling?"

"Can we not talk about that either?" He asked, walking over to the couch.

She inhaled. "Okay."

He sat down on the couch as she nervously looked at him. "What do you want to talk about?"

He looked up at her, and her face fell as she realized he didn't want to talk about anything.

"You want to be alone." She sighed as she set her beer on the table. "This was a bad…" She began. She looked back at him. "I should go."

"Finish your beer." He instructed. "And then you have to wait at least...an hour before you drive."

She sat down with a small sigh. "Sir…"

There was a long pause before he finally looked over at her. "What?"

"I should have done it." She said, softly.

"What? Stick your head in that thing?"

She nodded.

"Are you nuts?" He asked, studying the woman he loved. "Carter, you're one of this country's natural resources, if not national treasures."

She blushed lightly as he felt somewhat proud to have a moment alone with her where he could at the very least begin to tell her how he felt. "It couldn't have gone down any other way."

She looked over at him. She had more than a few things she wanted to tell him. He could read it in her eyes.

"I just…hope it's worth it." He murmured as he took a sip of his beer.

Now, he really knew what she'd been about to say when he interrupted her rant about how losing him would never be worth it - even if they got all that they had wanted to get. Her death was a hollow dent in Michael's plans.

He left the glass in the cupboard as he walked over to the couch with the bottle of scotch in hand. He sipped at the amber liquid, wincing for a moment at how it burned on its way down his esophagus.

By the time he'd finished half of the bottle, he had a plan.

-

"We need to take the fight back to Michael. Just like Colonel Carter." Jack said, pounding President Henry Hayes's desk emphatically.

"I know." The President said, seriously. "But I can't let you command it. You're not a fighter pilot anymore, Jack. You're the Head of Homeworld Security. It's about time you got that through that thick skull of yours!"

"She was my wife!"

"I know that, and I can only imagine how much you're hurting right now, but I can't approve the mission. And you know it."

Jack looked at the President with simmering anger in his eyes before he turned heel and left the room.

Hayes turned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "He's going to do something stupid, isn't he?"

They sighed. "Most likely." One of them admitted.

-

"How'd it go?" Daniel asked, looking at Jack as he walked in the door to the townhome.

"He didn't approve the mission." He said as he stormed into his bedroom, pulling the drawers open and filling a small regulation suitcase with his clothes.

"He didn't?" Daniel asked, surprised. "So...why are you packing?"

"Because someone needs to finish what she started, Daniel." He explained. "And I'm the best person to do that."

"Jack, you're the Head of Homeworld..."

"I KNOW!" He roared in the archaeologist's face.

Daniel inhaled as Jack returned to his task. "It's not going to bring her back, you know."

"Maybe not." Jack paused in his work. "But I'll be close to her again."

"Jack..." Daniel sighed.

"Are you coming or not?" Jack asked after a moment.

Daniel swallowed. "I guess...I'm not..."

Jack sighed before he turned back to close the suitcase. "I guess this is goodbye, then."

He pushed past his friend. "Hey, T, you up for an adventure? One last jaunt through space?"

Teal'c studied his friend before he looked at Daniel who had hung his head with a small sigh.

"Indeed, O'Neill."

"Excellent. Grab your coat. We leave for Nevada right now."

-

"What are you doing, Jack?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" He grunted as he pulled another scientist's body from the ship.

"Stealing a '304 class vessel?" His dead wife asked from beside him.

"That's it!" He said, closing the hold as he hurried to the bridge before anyone could stop him. He got on the radio as he ran. "Hey, T. You all clear?"

"Indeed, O'Neill."

"Great. I think we have a mission to carry out." He said, plotting a course for the Pegasus Galaxy.

"You're not qualified to do this, Jack. You're not qualified to keep a ship like this running."

"Yeah, well..."

"General O'Neill?" Came a voice on the radio.

"Vala?"

"I think you could use my help."

"And mine." Daniel sighed in resignation.

"T, did you hear that?"

"Indeed, I did."

"Get them on board, and then, let's go."

"Hey, don't forget me!" Cam called over the radio.

Sam released a frustrated sigh. "You know how this is going to turn out."

"And I'll beam them to the surface of a planet with a stargate. Just like you did." He said, sitting down at the navigator's chair as he set the zat down beside him.

"Jack..."

"Don't try to talk me out of this, Sam."

"Jack..." Daniel asked as he walked onto the bridge. "Who you talkin' to?"

"Sam." He said, starting the engines.

"Is...she still here?"

"No."

"Is she telling you to do this?"

"No, Danny. She's trying to talk me out of it."

"Jack..."

Jack looked at his friend. "If you want off, say something now."

"I didn't say I wanted off. Just want to make sure this is really what you want."

"Well, it is."

"Okay, then." Daniel sighed. "Off we go...into the wild blue yonder and all that."

He managed to get the hangar doors opened, and the ship raised itself out of the Nevada desert.

"Here we go." Jack murmured as he took the Captain's seat.

-

"Sensors detect three big ships on the radar." Vala announced.

"They're called bogies." Daniel corrected.

"Whatever. There are three of them, and they're probably big." She said, shrugging off his criticism.

"Sounds like Michael's hives." Jack murmured. "Weapons at maximum."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "That's StarTrek, Jack."

"Whatever. Shoot at them." He said, pointing forward.

Daniel sighed as he prepared to fire upon the ships.

"General O'Neill, this is Richard Woolsey of Atlantis," the nasal voice announced over the radio. "The ship you are on is the property of the United States Air Force. Should you return it to Atlantis this very moment, your insubordination may be pardoned."

Jack turned off the radio, and Daniel eyed him. "Still going through with this?"

Jack eyed Daniel. "Still not sure I want this?"

"No. No, I'm sure you want this." He sighed. "You've been trying to off yourself for fifteen years now. Just don't think this is the right thing to do."

Jack looked forward again. "Well, that's where we disagree."

Vala looked at him, silently, and he felt her gaze.

"Look, if we get in real trouble, I'll beam you down to the planet. You can take the Stargate back to Atlantis, and then head home from there."

"And you?"

"I'll do what damage I can." He said, simply.

"You won't even consider beaming down with us. Even if we set the autopilot to crash the ship into the hives?"

Jack swallowed. "I can't go back, Daniel. I stole a classified battleship with the sole purpose of destroying it."

"And she's gone." He finished.

Jack looked forward steadfastly. "I asked for weapons. Were you going to fire or should I?"

Daniel sighed. "Firing on enemy bogies."

"I have two more contacts on screen." Daniel murmured from where he sat beside Jack on the bridge.

"Fire."

"We don't know if they're hives..."

"I said, fire, Daniel." Jack said, soberly.

"Jack, you haven't slept much in weeks."

"Are you saying I'm crazy?"

"I'm saying that's a distinct possibility." He said, seriously.

"Fine. I'll fire." Jack said, reaching for the controls.

"Jack..."

"Who has ships out here anymore, Danny?" He asked, wildly. "Not us. They've all been destroyed. No one else has ships either. The only ships out there are hives, and I'll be damned if I let Sam down."

"You still see her?" Daniel asked after a moment. "She's dead, Jack. None of this will bring her back."

"She's always with me, Danny." He said, seriously. "Now, fire."

"No."

"Dammit, Daniel, I said "fire"!"

Jack moved to the other chair where he quickly fired off two shots, hitting each ship in the prime target for their complete and utter destruction.

"What's happened to you, Jack?" Daniel asked, studying his friend soberly.

"Find the next beacon and follow it." Jack commanded, ignoring the question.

Another ship came out of nowhere, causing an alarm to beep on the screen.

"Jack, get out of here." Sam whispered in his ear.

"I've got a bogie on our six." Jack announced as he maneuvered the ship out of firing range. "Am preparing to fire."

"It's a trap, Jack. Get out of here."

"No, Sam. I've got them." He announced, expertly moving the ship into a position to fire on the ship.

"I've got another contact on the screen," Daniel cried, noticing a second ship which dropped out of hyperspace. "It's behind us."

"Get us into hyperspace." Jack commanded.

A shot was fired on them. "They've taken out the hyperdrive."

Another shot was fired. "There goes life support..."

Jack looked over at his friend, knowing that they couldn't do much without the hyperdrive or life support. "I'm beaming you..."

He was interrupted as he and Daniel were engulfed by the flames which had come as a result of another fatal shot.

-

Woolsey sighed as he read the report from their allies. "It seems that General O'Neill and SG-1 have been killed."

McKay looked up from where he sat in the control room. "What?" He managed.

"Like Colonel Carter, they took a ship and continued her guerilla warfare tactics." He sighed. "When they lost life support and the hyperdrive, they flew their ship into one of the enemy targets and caused a massive enough explosion to take out both hives."

"Like Sam."

Woolsey nodded.

McKay sighed. "That was his plan all along."

"It would seem so." The IOA delegate managed.