That afternoon the training group was assembled in the flight ready room, decked out in full flight gear, and now two Captains lighter than they had been that morning. Noticeably absent were several of the Colonels, including Colonel Carter and the General.

"Attention," Jack called as he entered the room followed by Colonels Ferretti, Carter, Dixon, Reynolds, Barnes, and Edwards. "For those of you who are not aware, the people standing up here with me all have the rank of Colonel, something they have earned, which is a fact that some of you seem to have forgotten. If any of you know, right now, that you cannot work with one of these Colonels, inform either myself or Colonel Ferretti at the end of the day, because they don't want you on their teams, and I don't want you on their team."

"I trust each and every one of them with my life and in turn, I'm going to trust each of them with your lives. These are the leaders of the new SG teams. Many of you seem to have forgotten that the rank of Colonel is not easily obtained, which really bothers me, especially considering that I wrote a recommendation for each and every one of these people to achieve the rank that they current have."

"I have also heard some rumors that people believe that there is something going on between me and Colonel Carter. To that, all I have to say other than "it's none of your business" is that we're friends, very, very good friends. Will there be any problems with that?"

"No sir" chanted the trainees.

"Good, now let's go fly" on that final note Jack turned to walk out of the room.

----

The General's speech seemed to have reassured many of the men. Most of the guys had ignored her before and now she couldn't go anywhere without one of the trainees trying to start a conversation with her. She wasn't sure if it was because they suddenly realized that she had earned her position, or because they felt the sudden need to try and win her over, now that they realized she would be leading one of the teams on which they coveted a spot and most likely, they wanted to remain on the General's good side.

But that afternoon in the training camp was by far one the best by Sam's standards. She had to admit that she had missed flying and that there was nothing better than flying something she had designed herself.

The end of the test flights came and Sam was the last to land her plane. As she shut down the engine and popped the canopy, Jack approached and tried his best to suppress an amused grin as Lt. Green climbed out looking slightly green. The General dropped into the seat Green had just vacated and flicked the switch to shut the canopy.

"Sir?" Sam questioned.

"Let's go. You've been flying people around all day who have no idea what these things can do, which I'm sure was fun. I don't know about you though, but I just want to go out and fly for as long as I can. Mitchell and Teal'c are going to fly with us. Think of it as a reward for putting up with not being able to really fly today."

So that was how the four of them came to spend the next hour flying around the solar system. When they finally did land and get out, Jack thought that seeing the grin on Sam's face was totally worth using his status as a General to get the extra hour in the air.

----

For Sam, things were starting to look up, especially as the 5 team leaders sat in the breakfast meeting the day before the mission to visit the Jaffa, waiting for the General and Ferretti to arrive.

After stepping around the subject for the past few days, the General had finally had enough and had asked all of them to submit a list of who they wanted on their team, figuring that the sooner the teams started to gain a tentative form, the sooner they could take care of any problems that came up and the sooner they could start to bond into a 'family'.

The fact he was smiling as he approached the table made some of them worried, but Sam just returned the smile and figured she had nothing to worry about.

"Well, guys, I am happy to say that for those of you who asked for the same guys, we were able to work things out last night, so everyone should be happy." He said waving a hand between himself and Ferretti. "All the trainees are now officially members of SG teams." He passed around lists to each team leader, saving one for himself. "The benefit of getting teams formed now is that it allows you to pick personnel over the coming weeks that will fit in well with your team. So, let's go give the trainees the good news," Jack said, standing to leave the table.

Needless to say, most of the trainees were thrilled. Cam just about passed out when Sam welcomed him as the 2IC of SG-1. In fact she had to repeat herself twice before he believed her and then he broke into the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face. She also added to her team the two Lieutenants that had rescued her from Pete a short time ago, Blackridge and Green.

Although Sam had originally considered Lt. O'Neill, she had decided against it after talking with him, his reason being that he might make the 'original' members slightly uncomfortable. So with that in mind he went to Dixon, head of SG-2.

All that was left was an overnight trip to visit Ishta and the Free Jaffa, and the first part of training would be over.

----

The next morning, the new SG teams stood in the gate room geared up and ready to head out for the first time. The wormhole formed and General Jack O'Neill stood on the ramp, turning to the newest SG team members he said: "Let's move out," and turned to lead the group through the Stargate to meet the Jaffa.

'To say the recruits were impressed with the Jaffa would be understating things' thought Sam.

She was proud of her team. They had handled things quite well, were respectful of the Jaffa and the only thing that had been questioned on the mission was the team's sleeping arrangements.

The past routines of SG-1 had kicked in and despite General O'Neill no longer being a member of the team, he was the one left sharing a tent with Sam. The two Lieutenants quickly became tent-mates while Daniel and Cam had a restless night. Teal'c had disappeared with Ishta not long after their arrival there and Sam didn't expect to see him until the next morning.

As her team sat around their own campfire that night, one of the Lieutenants finally braved the question, "Why do you guys have such strange sleeping arrangements? No disrespect intended, sir or ma'am but, most of the teams I've been on had individual tents."

"Well on one of our first missions when we left the then Captain Carter alone," Jack began, "I ended up having to trade my handgun to get her back. From there on out, it was kind of a silent understanding that there would be no one left alone, if it could be helped. Then there's the fact that Teal'c really didn't sleep so he didn't need a tent. Add that to the fact that Daniel likes to move around a lot while he sleeps."

"Do not" interrupted Daniel.

"Do too"

"Do not"

"Do too"

They both glared at each other, before Daniel turned and asked: "Sam?" he said expecting her to take sides and back him up in the argument.

Grimacing slightly, Sam said, "I'm afraid I have to agree with the General on this one Daniel. I might still have scars from the one time I shared a tent with you".

Laughter broke out through the group.

Suddenly something dawned on Cam, as he turned to Sam who was sitting next to him, "And you claim to be my friend" he said with a wounded look "you didn't see fit to tell me about this prior to letting us choose sleeping arrangements?"

Sam didn't even bother to look guilty as Jack looked at the man and leaned in front of Sam to pat the man on the shoulder, "Just be glad that's all the hazing you get, we had Sam wearing a dress".

If anyone noticed his reference to the female Colonel by her first name, they didn't seem bothered by it.

----

It was Cam who was woken instantly in the middle of the night by what he thought was a scream. He quickly grabbed his sidearm and poked his head out of the tent to see Daniel, who was on watch, already approaching the tent that Sam and the General were sharing.

He saw the 2 Lieutenants poke their heads out also, but they quickly disappeared back inside when they realized that there wasn't an emergency.

'What is going on?' he thought. Automatically pulling his boots on and lacing them up, he approached Daniel and quietly whispered, "What happened?"

"Sam had a nightmare. Jack is in there with her now, they'll be fine" Daniel reassured.

"Does it happen often?" questioned Cam.

"Only when she's under a lot of stress, hasn't been getting enough sleep, or if the planet we're on triggers something." responded a voice from behind.

Cam turned around to see the General standing there, he made to rise and apologize, but the General just waved him down and explained, "We already talked about it, and when the team is formalized, there will be a meeting where things are discussed and one of those things is this. She'll be fine, probably on the quiet side today, but she'll be okay."

The conversation ended as Sam appeared from her tent and sat down between Cam and Jack, although slightly closer to Jack. Daniel handed Sam a cup of coffee and asked, "Are you okay?"

Sam took a deep breath, inhaling the cup of coffee before saying, "Yeah, I'm okay".

The two Lieutenants approached the campfire getting their own cups of coffee as the new SG-1 started their day.

----

They ended the day in much the same way. All the teams said good-bye to their Jaffa hosts, walked through the Stargate, and went through an official debriefing. It was only SG-1 though that sat in the mess hall for the unofficial debrief, with the special guest of General O'Neill. Once everyone had gathered their cup of coffee and dessert, Sam spoke.

"This is how I hope we end every mission. This is where we say much of what wasn't said in the debriefing, the part where we celebrate making it out alive, both figuring out how we did it and how we'll do better next time. I hope more often than not, General O'Neill will be available to join us, he taught me most of what I know and has a mind for tactics and survival strategy to rival the best."

"Gee Carter, you make me sound like a hero or something" claimed the embarrassed General.

"Well, sir, even if you don't consider yourself a hero, you do have a wealth of knowledge and experience that we would love to draw on whenever possible" replied Sam.

"You know she's right Jack, so just give up now so we can enjoy eating before going back to our offices and the piles of paperwork waiting for us." said Daniel.

Just the thought of paperwork made the Colonels and Generals groan.

Jack just smiled, "Never let it be said that I disagreed with the great Lt. Colonel Doctor Samantha Carter".

"Before you all go though, there's one more thing we need to discuss," began Sam, "I know I woke you all up this morning. Once we have a full roster, we'll sit down and talk about it. For right now though, just know that I'm really happy with how you guys have come together. We'll be getting four more members to add to the team before we're done, hopefully they will be people that we can all work with. Although it hasn't been formerly announced yet, Daniel and Teal'c will both remain on SG-1. Enjoy your weekend, and don't forget we'll have a team meeting here at 0800 hours on Monday morning before we go looking for the rest of our team. If you have any questions, remember that my door is always open, the only thing I ask is that you don't go hunting for me in my quarters-if I'm there I'm sleeping." She said, ending the welcoming speech on a lighter note.

"Yes, please don't go looking for any of us in our quarters;" stated Daniel, "Jack can be really grumpy if he doesn't get his beauty sleep."

The newly formed SG-1 just laughed, and Sam realized how happy she was with her choice of new teammates.

----

Monday brought new challenges as they went through the same process with the new trainees, although Sam was enjoying things a lot more this time around. There was a lot less pressure for her to look good with these people, as they already knew what she was capable of.

A few days in to the training and with the help of her team, she had already worked the list of names for possible SG-1 team members down to less than 20. Now it was just a matter of time for figuring out who would work best with her team.

She found herself with more free time than what she had had on Earth, and had to admit to herself that she could really get used to it. A lack of gate travel by SG teams resulted in a lack of alien technology for her to study.

She had the opportunity to spend time with her nieces and nephew, which most of the time also included spending time with Jack. The two of them had even taken advantage of a free weekend to go fishing in the nearby lake and Sam was beginning to look forward to the end of training so that she and Jack could 'officially' discuss pursuing a relationship. Not to say they hadn't discussed it already.

//Flashback//

They were both lounging on the sand of the lake, Jack with a fishing pole and Sam with a book.

"So, I've been thinking," Jack started to speak.

"Really? You do that?" Sam responded teasingly

"It happens on occasion," he retorted, playing along. "Anyways, I've been thinking that there is no way we are going to be able to hide any change in our relationship, so rather than trying to ask forgiveness afterwards, I think we need to go above board to at least the Generals, and probably the other members of your team once you get that figured out."

Now he sat silently, waiting for her response, and was surprised when she said "Okay."

//End Flashback//

Now she chanced a glance across the conference room table at her former CO, who gave her a reassuring grin as they waited until the meeting came to an end, knowing that today was the day the top brass found out about their desire to pursue a relationship.