A/N: Here is the penultimate chapter. It is a little angsty, but here's part of the SJ reunion you wanted!

Sam may be a little emotional in this one, but as I have expressed before, I find Sam to be a very emotional character...and she's hurt and tired. I love Sam a lot but when she's like this, it's such good SJ bait... I confess!

I've already got ideas for a potential sequel... not sure how we feel about that?

Thank you to marcyfoote, dpdp, Indy and guest who reviewed! I look forward to hearing what you think...

As always, mistakes are mine. Enjoy!

Recap: Sam nodded her head before looking at Jack. "Sir?"

"Sure, love a party." Jack said with a weak smile. "Teal'c?"

"I will be well enough to attend, O'Neill. I can feel my symbiote healing me already."

Banaphri smiled. "Thank you." she bowed her head before leaving to find her mother.

Daniel smiled at Sam. "A party in your honour."

Sam nodded before sighing. "Yeah, looks like it." At that, she walked away from the team, following the cobbled path that led to the castle.

All three men watched her walk away with a slight limp. Jack frowned and could feel Daniel's eyes on him. "Yeah, yeah, I've got it." he said, before wrapping an arm around Teal'c and beginning to follow Sam. "Tell Hammond we'll be back in time for lunch tomorrow."

Chapter 22

Once Jack made it back to the castle, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had quietly spoken to Teal'c on the way back, the Jaffa assuring the Colonel that he was alright. In fairness, Teal'c seemed to be walking a bit more by himself once they had reached his designated room.

He watched with a wince as Teal'c lowered himself gently to the bed and sat cross-legged in the middle of the mattress. There was a light sheen on his brow as the Jaffa settled himself.

"Can I get you anything? I have bandages in my pack." offered Jack, a concerned expression on his features.

"Candles, O'Neill. I wish to kelno'reem."

"Is that gonna fix your hand?" asked Jack wincing as he took in his mangled appendage.

"No, but it will help."

Jack nodded. "I'll find some candles but you got to let me dress it. You know, keep it clean until ol' Doc Fraiser has a look."

Teal'c bowed his head before closing his eyes. Jack hesitated a moment before leaving, he quickly bumped into one of the castle's caretakers who happily handed him over extra candles. Jack turned on his heel and walked the long corridor back to Teal'c's room. He paused outside of the room that he had been given as he noticed the door was slightly ajar. He peeked through and saw Sam standing in the middle of the room, her back to the door and her arm wrapped around her torso and she was staring out of the window.

He sighed, internally debating what to do before deciding on dealing with Teal'c first. That way he could prepare himself and Sam had time to do what she needed to do. He looked at the blonde, with an almost longing expression, before continuing the few steps down the corridor to Teal'c's room.

"Here, candles."

"Thank you, O'Neill." muttered the Jaffa, his eyes still closed.

Jack dotted them around the room and lit them for his injured team member before taking off his backpack to dig through it for bandages. With as much care as he could, he gently bandaged Teal'c's hand and with much persuasion, Teal'c allowed him to bandage his thigh.

"There, all done." said Jack softly.

"Thank you, O'Neill." replied Teal'c, his voice hard and tired sounding, like he was repressing the pain he was in.

"I've left some pain relief for you on your stand, if you need it."

With the last of his energy, Teal'c bowed his head. "I thank you, but I believe Major Carter will require it more."

A sharp jolt in his stomach at hearing her name made Jack leave Teal'c in peace. He stepped out of the room and closed the door softly, before making his way to his room.

He stood outside, his hand raised as he went to knock on the oak door. He mentally kicked himself, why was he hesitating?! He had spent the better part of twentyfour hours scouring the planet searching for her, snapping at his teammates, imagining a thousand and one scenarios of her declining health and death and advocating war in an effort to get her back. And now he was too afraid to knock on the door?

He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair before pushing the door open slowly.

It creaked loudly, filling the room with noise. Jack's heart thumped painfully in his chest, as Sam flinched at the sound and turned with speed to see where the noise had come from.

"Sir." she greeted with a croak.

Jack could visibly see her force herself to relax in his presence. She was still stood in the same spot he had seen her earlier. Her arm was still supporting her torso and her clothes were dirty, caked in dirt and blood.

"At ease, Carter." said Jack softly, his eyes on her as he reached behind him and closed the door.

Sam watched him move like a hawk, she could see him looking at her with a pitiful expression and she closed her eyes, willing her temper to stay in check. She didn't need that, not from him. "Sir, why are you here?"

Jack frowned. "I'm temping as a paramedic. I've bandaged up Teal'c-"

Sam turned to look at him. "Is he okay?" she asked softly, her hand resting on her chest. A bubble found its way to her throat as her stomach began to knot. Teal'c was hurt and it was all her fault. If she had kept her mouth shut, none of this would have happened. They would have been back under Cheyenne mountain eating subpar mess hall food.

"Yeah, Janet will need to have a look at his hand, but his leg is healing already. Go, Junior." said Jack carefully. He had seen the subtle shift in her body language and for a moment, he was confused. Then it hit him like a Goa'uld mothership, she was blaming herself. "Carter-"

"Is Daniel okay?" asked Sam, her heart rate increasing.

"Daniel's fine. I'm just-"

"And you?" Sam willed the bubble not to break. "You were set on fire."

Jack shook his head. "Look at me, I'm fine. I didn't get cremated, you put it out." Jack crossed the floor and moved to stand directly in Sam's line of vision. "Carter, what's going on?"

"Nothing." said Sam, looking at the floor, before moving to stand in front of the window. From the window, she could see the dark scorchmarks on the platform and the pyres that Prionn built were still standing. She could see buildings that had been decimated by the flames and she could see red splotches decorating the square, where people had fought and been killed.

All because she tallked about equality.

Sam felt her bottom lip wobble before she schooled her features as best as she could. She didn't regret helping the Saorsans, but she regretted the fear and hate that had spawned from that need to help. She regretted the death and danger she had brought to the people, all because she stood up to Prionn. How many people had died because of her? How many lives had she ruined?

Jack felt lost. He could see – hell, he could hear the war going on in Sam's head as she dissected the scene in front of her and she had only seen the end result of Prionn's campaign. He hadn't the heart to tell her of his version of events, but he desperately wanted to know hers. He couldn't imagine how she had felt alone in the darkness, waiting for an unknown entity to come for her.

"Carter-"

"With all due respect, Sir, I need you to leave." said Sam.

Jack closed his eyes as he heard the emotion in her voice. He could see her trembling, with what he assumed was fatigue and the effort it took for her not to break in front of him. He wanted nothing more than to envelope her in his arms and kiss her emotions away.

Jack bit the bullet and stepped forward. He reached out and placed a calloused hand on her shoulder. He saw her wince at the contact, but he kept his hand in place. "Sam, none of this is your fault."

At the use of her given name, Sam sniffed and turned to look at Jack. Her face, smudged with dirt and blood, did nothing to lessen Jack's heartbreak as he saw her cerulean eyes glassy with unshed tears.

"It is my fault." breathed Sam, a tear escaping. She reached up to brush it away, but Jack got there first.

"Sam, you didn't start those fires. You didn't order soldiers to terrorise the people and you didn't kill any of them, Prionn and his goons did. All you did was show the Saorsans a better life, a life that near enough all of the population wanted and now get to enjoy." said Jack softly, his hand cupping her face.

"Yes, Sir." muttered Sam, not meeting his eye.

Something in Jack's gut shouted at him. This isn't the real issue. Jack could see she was bothered about the whole mission, but something wasn't quite adding up. She was withdrawing from him where she had had no problem divulging to him before. "Sam, talk to me."

Sam pulled away from Jack's touch and she moved to lower herself to the bed. He watched as she pulled his pack closer to her, digging through it, searching for something. Jack immediately felt guilty, here he was trying to push her into talking and she had wounds that needed tending to.

He crossed the floor and pulled the pack from her. He reached in and began to pull out the equipment he needed. He had just pulled out the last bandage when a knock on the door sounded.

The door opened and Danu stood in the doorway, her face tight with worry. Her hand curled tightly around a bag. She observed the two for a moment before walking into the room. "I am here to heal you."

If Jack didn't know any better, he thought he saw Sam sag with relief. "Uh-"

"Sir, please?"

Jack looked at Sam for what felt like a millennia before he got up from the bed. "I'll leave you to it." He walked past Danu and out of the door before turning back. Jack looked at Sam. She looked exhausted. Lord alone knows what she had been through since she was taken from him. While Danu seemed friendly enough, he was sure Sam had still suffered, even if it wasn't at Danu's hand. Then it hit him.

She had suffered and she was in the process of building walls and locking the whole ordeal away. It hurt him to know that she didn't want to talk to him about it, but he couldn't blame her. He had done nothing to try and stop it.

"Make sure she gets some sleep."

Danu nodded and Sam looked at Jack, studying the man in front of her and she felt her heart break a little. She knew this would happen, he blamed himself for what Prionn did.

"We'll talk later?" called Sam, quietly.

Jack deflated. "Yeah, definitely. Sleep well, Major. You've earnt it."

"Yes, Sir." came the tired reply.

Danu raised her hand, a slight gush of wind closed the door, leaving Jack alone in the corridor. Jack waited for a moment, hoping Sam changed her mind and would call for him. When she didn't, Jack sniffed and found himself walking away.

His mind swimming with the enigma that was Sam Carter.

oOoOoOoOo

As Daniel crossed back into the settlement, he could see a flurry of activity. He watched as people greeted each other like old friends and were organising furniture being moved. He felt like he had walked onto a completely different planet from the one he had experienced before.

"Incredible what twentyfour hours can do." he muttered with a smile as he weaved through the people milling around. He walked up the long hill and found himself being drawn to the library.

He climbed the stone steps and pushed the heavy door open. He blinked hard as he registered the sight before him. When he had visited the library earlier, there were countless shelves holding old scrolls and books. There was a singular working table, where Daniel assumed Glic had written endless scrolls. Now, the book shelves had been moved to sit flush against the wall and there were small desks in front of a large blackboard It was covered with grime and dust after spending centuries in storage, but Daniel was sure Glic would come around to cleaning it.

"Glic?" called Daniel.

"Ah, Daniel. How do you fair?" answered the scholar, as he appeared from behind a bookshelf.

"This place looks incredible!"

"Yes," Glic looked around with a proud smile on his face. "Danu had a hand in helping me organise it. It is to be a school, where I will educate a select few who, in good time, will educate others."

"You're going to teach some Saorsans to be teachers?"

"Even better, Daniel, to be scholars, so they can record history as it happens and teach future generations all about it." smiled Glic. "This is the Saorsa I have dreamed of for centuries."

Daniel smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. Those scrolls we copied at the temple will come in handy."

"Absolutely!" Glic bustled around Daniel, stacking books more neatly.

Daniel frowned. "Glic, is everything okay?"

"Yes Daniel, it is perfect. Everything is as it should be." smiled Glic, he stopped and looked at Daniel with tears in his eyes. "The great Danu and I have spoken, come next harvest, I will no longer be in Saorsa."

"You're going to die?"

"Yes."

Daniel looked at Glic, a confused smile on his face. "Is that what you want? Are you scared?"

"Daniel, I have lived long enough. I have been blessed enough to receive a little more time to right the wrongs that have been done. I have lived to see this joyous day and I have lived to see the darkest of centuries. I am content with the time I have been given. It is enough for me to set my affairs in order and for that, I am forever grateful." explained Glic.

Daniel nodded. "I understand."He looked around the library once more. "Do you need a hand?"

Glic smiled and handed Daniel a cloth. "Thank you, Daniel."

oOoOoOoOo

After walking away from Sam in his room, Jack found himself wandering aimlessly around the castle grounds. He soon busied himself helping some of the Saorsans clean the ground in preparations for the coronation. Jack was pleased to see that it wasn't just the women who had been asked to tend to the preparations, the men were there helping and speaking to the women as equals.

Jack smiled and his thoughts drifted to Sam. How could she not see that she had done something great? She had freed an entire people from terror and she had done so in an incredible way. He wished he could help her see that, though part of him thought she already could. She was hiding her emotions behind the events like a good soldier, but still, there was something telling him that there was more to her behaviour than it seemed.

It almost felt like she couldn't trust him.

The way she had acted when they were alone... He just couldn't shake it. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was bothering her and there was no way he could until she talked to him.

Jack was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear a set of footsteps approach him.

"Jack?"

Jack turned and was surprised to see Bhanrí looking at him, concern on her features. "Bhanrí, everything alright?"

Bhanrí smiled sadly. "This day is bittersweet, Jack. However, I will sleep easier this night, even if my bed is colder."

"I'm sorry we couldn't save Rìgh."

Bhanrí rest a hand on Jack's forearm. "As I said before, he knew it would end like this. He would be proud of our daughter and I know he will be forever grateful to you, Carter, Daniel and Teal'c."

Jack nodded. "I'm still sorry. It can't be easy... losing someone you love."

Bhanrí smiled again, only this time, it was a lot happier. "They often find a way back to us, some more obviously than others." The queen looked up at Sam's window. "I hope you cherish that."

Jack followed her line of sight. "I will."