And now for the requisite apologies and excuses! I have not forgotten my stories and WILL finish them. I have been plagued by: writer's block (Stargate stories), vacation out of the country, a new job. All of the above kept me from this story but I hope to finish it this week. Please forgive me and I hope you're still reading! Vini

"Do you ever think about where we'd be if we hadn't left it in the room all those years ago?" Jack asked her.

"Yes, many times," she answered.

"Did you ever – regret your decision?" he then asked, softly so that Daniel couldn't hear. The Tok'ra had arrived and were administering the Zatarc test. Teal'c had volunteered to go first, and the rest of them were waiting their turn.

"Yes, many times," she answered again, equally as softly. "But we were needed, Jack. I think – as painful as it was – that it was the right decision. And look at us now. We finally were able to take it out of the room."

"We were, weren't we," he smiled at her. They sat quietly for a moment, contemplating all that had happened to bring them to this spot. Finally Jack sat up and took a deep breath. "Hey Daniel, whatcha doin'," he called over to his friend, who was sitting quietly on the other side of the room.

Daniel lifted his head and quirked an eyebrow. He then lifted the book he had been reading. "Uh – reading."

"What's the book?" Sam asked.

Daniel turned the spine so that he could see it, almost as if he couldn't remember what he'd been reading. "Life in the Middle Ages," he told them.

Jack snorted. "I'd have thought that living it for the past few weeks would have been enough."

"Yeah, but I wanted to see how accurate historians are to what we experienced."

"You do know that we weren't on Earth," Jack pointed out. "Things may have been very different here, than in Lothyrwen."

"Mmm, it's possible, although clearly the people were transported from Earth, so many of the customs would have been the same."

"Yeah, but their histories would have diverged the moment they were removed from Earth," Jack pointed out. "So while their history is the same as ours, there's no saying that what the people in Lothyrwen are experiencing now is the same as it was centuries ago here on Earth."

Both Daniel and Sam stared at him. He looked down at himself, wondering what was wrong. Nope, his fly was closed.

It was his wife – he couldn't help grin at that – who finally spoke.

"Uh Jack – that's very insightful," she told him.

"Well, I'm not an idiot," he informed her, realizing that he had stepped out of his usual clueless persona. "I do know a few things. They won't make you a general if you don't."

"I expect you know more things than you let on," Daniel told him. "But do you have to know Medieval history to become a general?"

"Actually – sort of. I had to study history for my degree. And no," he held up his hand, "that doesn't mean I want to talk about it." He shrugged and glanced at Sam. "I wish we'd get this damn thing over with."

"It won't be long," she assured him, taking his hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. "And there's nothing we're hiding this time," she reminded him.

Just at that moment the door opened and Teal'c walked in, looking as calm and unperturbed as usual. "It is your turn next, Daniel Jackson."

"Everything go okay?" Jack wanted to know.

"Indeed. Everything was fine."

Once all four of them were finished the test (and Jack was relieved that there had been no uncomfortable questions this time) they headed back to the room they'd been waiting in. It didn't take long for Hank to arrive, a smile on his face.

"Well, you're all cleared," he informed them. "The Zatarc test proved you're not under alien influence."

"Good!" Jack slapped his knees and stood up. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hungry. Anyone for going out and grabbing something to eat? Hank, you're welcome to join us."

"Thanks Jack, but unfortunately I have work to do. I wonder if I could speak with you for a few minutes before you leave though?"

Jack sighed. Seeing the serious look on Hank's face he figured that whatever it was, wasn't going to be pleasant."

"Hey look, why don't we all go to my place and order in," Daniel suggested. "I can take Teal'c and Sam, and you can have a driver drop you off when you're done. We'll go ahead and order so the food will be ready when you get there."

"Okay Hank, what is it?" Jack asked as he sat down in the chair opposite Hank's desk. He felt a slight pang at being on this side. He still missed the SGC and envied Hank being in the thick of things. He wasn't cut out to be a bureaucrat, stuck at a desk in Washington.

"I'm sorry Jack. I know you don't need this right now, especially after all you've been through. But I thought you should know." Hank took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Cummings has been arrested."

"Arrested? For God's sake – what for?"

"It turns out he was receiving money to try and destroy the Stargate program. There has been some concern expressed by a few at the Pentagon about his attitude towards it, but there had been no proof of him having done anything wrong. And then you were kidnapped."

"But – that didn't have anything to do with Cummings."

"No, but it was the way he reacted that really got people wondering. He accused you of going AWOL and wouldn't authorize any kind of search. That made a lot of people – the President included – angry. Everyone who knows you knows that you would go AWOL on purpose."

"Nice to know I still have some friends," Jack chuckled.

"More than you know," Hank said seriously. "You have no idea how frantic everyone was when you disappeared. And when the rest of Sg1 vanished – well, I thought the President was going to have a stroke. In fact, Jack, you owe me! I spent the last few weeks practically glued to the damn red phone. I swear the man called every half hour."

"Hey, what can I say? I've got friends in high places." Jack sat back and grinned. "But how did they find out about Cummings?"

"The FBI went into action and set up surveillance on him. I guess they managed to get quite a bit of proof. Enough for him to be arrested, anyway."

"But who paid him? I mean, who wants to shut down the Stargate? It couldn't be the Trust – they hoped to profit from it, not stop it."

Hank shrugged. "I don't think they know yet – or if they do they're not telling. As far as I heard, the investigation is continuing. I was told to warn you and your team to be careful. We have no idea what they're planning to do next."

They chatted for a few more minutes, but finally Jack stood up. "I should get going," he told Hank. "Thanks for everything Hank. I owe you a beer."

"Just a beer? I think a steak dinner is in order."

"Okay – that too."

"And by the way – congratulations! It's about time you and Colonel Carter stopped futzing around and got together. You're a lucky man, Jack."

"Yes, I am," he answered seriously. "She's an amazing woman and I have no idea why she loves an old guy like me – but I'm not complaining!"

"And so you shouldn't! How are you going to handle the long-distant relationship?"

"I'm not. If the Air Force can't work something out, I'm going to retire. I already told Connolly that for once I'm putting us first."

Hank's brows went up. "What did he say to that?"

"He was pretty decent, actually. I'll let you know what happens." Jack moved to the door. "I'll talk to you soon Hank – and thanks again."

The four teammates had a fun and relaxing night at Daniel's. With all the briefings and Zatarc test behind them, they were free to discuss all that had happened.

"So, do you think you'll still feel the effects of the prophecy, or whatever it was, now that you're back on Earth?" Daniel asked and then took a swig of beer.

Jack shrugged. "No idea. Not that I really believed it affected me when I was back there," he told them.

"Really? Well I think there was something. I mean, look at you and Sam."

"Look at me and Sam what Daniel," Jack frowned.

"There's no way you would have gotten together without some kind of - of power pushing you together."

"Daniel, that's not true," Sam argued. "Jack and I just needed a little time and space to figure things out."

"I too believe it was something beyond our understanding," Teal'c interjected. "There is no way that Colonel Carter and O'Neill would have figured things out. They are much too stubborn."

"Hey," both of them protested. "We are not stubborn," Jack exclaimed. "It's like Carter said – time and space!"

"Right," Daniel snorted. "Time and space and a miracle! But whatever it was, we're glad you finally figured it out."

Teal'c nodded. "We feared we would have to knock your heads together."

Jack and Sam looked at one another and then both shrugged at the same time.

"Well, we're glad too."

"That was Hank," Jack informed them as he put down the phone. They had all stayed over at Daniel's and had been eating breakfast when a call came through for Jack. "You've all got a week's leave and then it's back to work."

"Whew, they don't give us much time, do they?" Daniel complained as he took a sip of hot coffee.

"Well, none of us are injured, and our enemies wait for no man – or woman!" Jack told him with a smirk.

"What about you, Jack?" Sam wanted to know.

"I'm going to head with you to Nevada and I'll fly from there to D.C.," he told her.

"But I thought you weren't going back," Daniel frowned at him. "What about Sam?"

"That's one of the things I have to go back to discuss," Jack told them. "Connolly wants to see me to discuss Homeworld Security. And anyway it'll take me a while to get things in order if they do want to put someone else in charge." He turned to Sam and smiled. "Don't worry. I won't let them suck me in. I'm resolute that we're going to be together. No long distance relationships for us!"

"They are not going to want to let you go, O'Neill," Teal'c warned. "They may make it difficult for you to leave."

"Mmm – well, the last thing they want is a reluctant Jack O'Neill," he informed his friends. "Don't worry. I'll figure it out."

The next day Jack and Sam flew to Las Vegas, saying goodbye (for now) to their friends. As the plane took off, Jack reached out and took Sam's hand in his and smiled. They were finally starting off their new life together.

But first, he had one more thing to do. He had to go and see one Richard Lions.