Author's Note: Thank you very very much to all those who have taken the time to review! I truly do appreciate it! Some of the reviews left have even got me re-thinking the story!


Chapter 28: Alone

Three weeks later
General Hammond's Office, SGC

General Hammond was sitting at his desk when he heard the knock on his door and bade the visitors in, "Come in." When he saw Duncan and Joe walk in he stood up to greet them, "Duncan. Joe. Have a seat. What can I do for you?"

"Thank you sir," a grateful Joe told him as he lowered himself into the chair across from the base commander.

George smiled at the veteran before him, "Joe, you're not in the military anymore. Call me George." George felt he had no right asking the man to call him sir when he had already given so much to his country.

"Old habits are hard to break!"

"General Hammond, I need a favor," Duncan told Hammond

"What is it Mac?" George was slightly shocked by his use of Duncan's nickname.

"I need to go away for a month."

George tried to hide his shock and unease of letting Duncan go, "Can I ask why?"

"You know why we don't want to reveal my real nature to the other races quite yet. I have another reason. I can't go to the other races without being in control of who I am and when, in addition to not knowing what I am capable of. I need a month to meditate and discover who and what I am. I need to be in control of all my powers and knowledge at all times before we gather our army. Once I can do that, then the others will readily follow us."

Not liking the idea but knowing that Duncan was right, and that there was nothing he could really do about it, he tried to see if at least he could bring him back sooner, "A whole month?"

"At least," Duncan told him succinctly as he waited for an answer.

"Where will you be going to?"

"To a temple in Asia."

George finally resolved himself to the fact that he would have to let Duncan go, but he hoped there was something he could do about that. "Very well. I'll take SG-1 off the list of current active teams and have them accompany you."

"George, I have to discover this on my own. Joe will come with me only to record what I discover."

"I'm not to keen on the idea of letting the man who is going to lead the battle against the Goa'uld go to Asia alone."

"If I am going to lead us and be successful, I have to do this alone."

General Hammond stared at Duncan as he reached a decision, "I can't stop you can I? Very well then… What am I supposed to do with Colonel O'Neill and the rest of SG-1?"

"I'll tell them. But in the meanwhile, they need to stay on active duty and go offworld. They need to grow as well without my assistance. When the battle begins, I don't know if we'll be able to fight together. We must each be able to fight on our own General Hammond," Duncan told him honestly. He had projected into the future and knew that indeed there would be trying times ahead for SG-1, some times he would be available to help, and other times he would not.

"When do you want to leave?" General Hammond asked him.


Three weeks later
Janet Frasier's house

Samantha Carter walked up the walkway leading to her friend's house and rang the doorbell as she looked around the neighborhood waiting for the door to open. As she heard the door unlock she turned her attention back to the door. "Hey Ja- Daniel?"

Daniel stood in the open doorway as shocked as Sam, "Sam… Uh hi…."

From inside, they both heard Janet's voice as she started to head to the front door to see for herself, "Who is it Daniel?" She didn't receive a response as she turned the corner and looked at the open doorway to see Sam standing there. "Sam?!"

Sam turned her shocked stare from Daniel to Janet, behind Janet she could see into the dining area that was romantically set for an evening for two. Realizing what she had walked in on, Sam started to back away, "Uh sorry, I'll come back some other time Janet." She told them as she turned to leave, hurt that neither of her two closest friends had told her.

Daniel turned back to Janet with an unsure look of what to do. Janet however knew that she had to tell her friend, "Sam, wait. Come back!" she yelled as she chased after her. She finally caught up with her as Sam was reaching for her car door. "Sam, I'm sorry I didn't tell you! It just kind of happened recently. I've been wanting to tell you. Please, come back and join us for dessert!" she pleaded with her friend.

Sam stood still as she heard her friend out and then turned to face her, "How long you two been seeing each other?"

"A couple of weeks, this is our third date."

Sam's face softened as she realized that they had been lucky to find one another, "I'm happy for you Janet. But, I don't want to interrupt. I'll come by some other time."

"That's ridiculous Sam! You're already here, come inside and we can talk."

Sam finally decided to join them since she really needed to talk to someone. Once they were inside they ate the dessert that Janet had prepared and started to talk.

"So, when exactly did the two of you get together?" Sam asked her friends.

"It wasn't exactly planned, we were working late one night and so we headed out to get something to eat," Daniel told her.

"What were you guys working on?"

"We've been working together a lot since we discovered your link with Duncan. We'd been trying to piece it all together and understand it and we started to enjoy each other's company I guess," Janet explained.

"Do you guys think there is any more to my link with Duncan?" Sam asked them seriously.

"No. I think we've found the extent of your link. Luckily, you're no longer feeling his pain anymore. Can you still speak to him telepathically?" Daniel asked.

Carter looked down as she tried to avoid the topic, "I don't know…"

Janet was surprised, she knew that Sam was developing a bond with Duncan and she thought they would have stayed in touch while he left for his retreat. "Haven't you contacted him since he left?"

"No. He asked me not to contact him while he was away. He said that he needed his complete attention on what he would be doing at the temple he went to."

Janet and Daniel both noticed the frustration and sadness in Sam's voice as she spoke and Janet was the first to inquire about it. "Sam, what's wrong?"

Trying to play it off, she responded in as nonchalant a manner as possible, "What do you mean?"

"Come on Sam. What's up with you and Duncan?"

Sam looked at both her friends as she tried to decide whether or not to tell them. She finally decided that she needed to tell someone, "I don't know. I really respect and admire him. And I'm grateful to him for saving my life. I feel like there's this really deep connection between the two of us… he understands me and now I can sometimes know how he feels… I can't explain it, but there's a certain comfort knowing he's nearby… That's what's got me so worried about our mission tomorrow. I just have a bad feeling about it and… And I can't get a hold of him and tell him because he asked me not to!"

"Sam you can't start thinking like that about our mission tomorrow. It's all in your head. Besides, we're going to be fine. SG-1 has been through a lot, and we're going to keep on going," Daniel told her. He was shocked to hear Sam explain her 'connection' with Duncan. Part of him wondered if it was in her head. "Listen Sam, SG-1 has always been about the team working together. That's what we do. We take the best from each of us there and come home alive. The moment you stop believing that, the team collapses."

"I know. It's just that there's so much more to my connection with Duncan," she told them as she tried to deal with her own frustrations concerning her relationship with Duncan. "Look, please don't tell anyone about this."


TBC