Title: Wherever You Go, There You Are

Spoilers: Nothing new.

Rating: Um, PG just to be safe. Minor language.

Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 and Farscape are owned by lovely, wonderful people. I am not among them.

Author's note: Here's some military terms, just in case you're not familiar: OSD - Office of Secretary of Defense; SecDef - Secretary of Defense; SecAF - Secretary of the Air Force; CSAF - Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

Almost done. Really.

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Let's Face the Music and Dance

The group arrayed itself into small tableaus near the Stargate. Zhaan and Aeryn stood off to one side, out of the range of the MALP's view, Aeryn explaining the 'gate to her crewmate. Teal'c guarded the rear, standing near the DHD, but facing back in the direction of the temple, as Daniel dialed the gate. Jack waited in front of the MALP's camera, John and Sam a few steps behind him.

As the 'gate opened, Jack keyed his radio. "SGC, this is O'Neill."

"Colonel O'Neill," General Hammond responded, "what's your status?"

"Oh, the usual. Daniel's found an alien text to study, Carter's found a new ship to study, I'm winning friends and influencing people, and Teal'c - well, he's just having a good time."

"And how are your new friends doing, Colonel?"

"They're fine, but I doubt they'll be sending gift baskets to the SGC anytime soon. In fact, sir, I think I can safely say that our galactic reputation is safe."

Carter stepped up to the camera. "Sir, you mentioned something about getting assurances from Commander Crichton. What exactly are you looking for?" she asked.

"To be honest with you, Major, I'm not sure. We've made our recommendation to the Pentagon; I spoke directly with SecAF and he mentioned needing to ensure that Commander Crichton would not compromise national security. OSD is considering it, but they said they would need more time to review the request to bring back Commander Crichton and Officer Sun."

"Why?" Jack asked.

"Major Davis said that SecDef wanted to more fully asses the impact of Commander Crichton's return, specifically the effect it could have on external knowledge of the Stargate program. He characterized it as more risk management than denial."

"Now, why doesn't that make me feel any better?"

"Commander, if you can stay close to the Stargate for a while, we'll bring you home as soon as we can."

"And exactly when will that be?" Jack asked, while John stood silently, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Major Davis believed they would have their final decision in about a month. They plan on talking to the other people in the Farscape program. It will take some time to track them all down."

"Yeah, and that won't make anybody suspicious," Daniel said.

Sam, watching John closely, asked, "What restrictions are they going to place on John and Aeryn after they get to Earth?"

"That will be part of the Secretary's final decision. We expect that Commander Crichton and Officer Sun will have to be quarantined on the base for some time."

This was what John had expected. "No contact with the outside world, I presume."

"I'm sorry, Commander. I understand that you want to contact your family and let them know you're safe."

"Well, you know, the thought had crossed my mind."

"General," Carter asked, "Commander Crichton's father has an active security clearance. Would it be possible to let him know, without the details, that John is safe?"

"I wouldn't want to promise anything. We've never dealt with this issue before and the Pentagon is taking every precaution."

"You mean the Pentagon is being paranoid and recalcitrant." O'Neill said.

"Actually, CSAF and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs are on your side, Colonel."

"Okay," O'Neill replied, "so the bureaucrats are being paranoid and recalcitrant. Same difference."

"Major Davis seems to think if we just give it some time..."

"Nice to see my faith in the US military proven once again." John whirled and walked away, barely containing his anger. Aeryn shrugged at Zhaan and followed him.

Jack pointed a threatening finger at the little camera. "Tell Davis when I get back, I'm going to..."

"Major Davis has been doing everything he can to convince the Pentagon that there is no reason not to bring Commander Crichton back now. However, OSD has made their feelings clear on the matter."

"Who in OSD, sir?" Carter asked.

There was a slight hesitation from the general, and he glanced over his shoulder. "The Secretary is out of the country right now. We're communicating through his...advisors. There's not a whole lot more our people can do."

Carter shared a brief look with her teammates. "NID."

"That'd be my guess," O'Neill said.

She turned back to the camera. "And the President?"

"He is on Air Force One, flying to Reykjavik for the summit."

"What, they don't have phones on Air Force One?" Jack asked.

"I have been expressly forbidden to contact either the President or the Secretary on this issue."

"Issue!" Jack exploded. "This is not an issue, General, this is a person. One of our people, I might add, even if he is IASA. And we do NOT leave our people behind. Not on my watch!"

Hammond sighed. Jack knew that sigh as well as knew the exact words that were about to follow. "I'm sorry, Jack, but it's out of my hands."

"Request permission to stay on -667 until the President returns or Major Davis can get OSD's collective head out of its..."

Daniel jumped in before Jack could finish or Hammond could say no. "Request permission to stay and complete the survey of the temple."

"Denied. You have another assignment," Hammond said.

"General, I really could use some more time to decipher the last wall."

"You'll have to take pictures, Dr. Jackson, and do the translation back here." Daniel started to protest, but Hammond cut him off. "Washington is not going to change it's mind. You have been ordered to return home." He glanced over his shoulder again. "I expect to see you walk through our gate in the next thirty minutes."

Daniel again started to ask for more time, but Jack interrupted with a "Yes, sir" and a meaningful look at his teammate. Jack continued, "General, we need to go back to the temple, take those pictures and sweep the site. It's not that far away, but it will take 30 minutes just to pack every thing up."

"Very well, Colonel. You have exactly one hour. Hammond out."

The Stargate disconnected and the four teammates stared at each other for a long moment holding a non-verbal discussion: Sam already thinking, Daniel puzzled at Jack's capitulation then understanding, Teal'c and Jack silent, one waiting for the moment to act, the other waiting for his team to create a solution.

Sam broke the silence with a rapid-fire "Tollana. Nerim would offer them sanctuary. They'd be safe and we'd know their location."

"Yeah, Nerim would do it, but the Council might contact Hammond. Thor? Big, fast ships..."

"And plausible deniability. The Asgard could 'stumble' across them."

"We have to get in touch with them first. We could probably convince Thor not to tell Hammond, but if he's not around... What about Jacob?"

"We could send them to the Tok'ra base. Dad would offer them asylum, keep them there until we could get them to Earth."

"If Jacob's not there when we send them through, they'll contact Hammond to confirm Crichton's identity."

"We have time to go with them."

"Not really. We still have to wrap up the site."

"Besides, I don't trust the Tok'ra not to hold this over our heads later."

"Cimmeria." The other three heads swiveled simultaneously to look at Teal'c, then back at each other.

"They could contact either Jacob or the Asgard from there."

"It's a protected planet; they'd be safe."

"And the folks there trust us enough not to contact the SGC."

Teal'c nodded. "In addition, it is feasible that the gate address could be found by Commander Crichton in the temple. Knowing how the Stargate works, it would be natural for him to try the address as a way home."

Jack nodded decisively. "Then Cimmeria it is. I'll go find Crichton; fill him in. Carter, help Daniel finish packing. Teal'c, hang here in case Hammond gives us a call back."

Carter, following him a few steps away from the others, said, "Sir, with all due respect, I think John might take this better from me."

O'Neill turned to look at her. "Yes, Carter, I know." He ran a hand over his head and sighed. "Look, this is not much of a choice we're offering him; I want him to decide based on what he wants, not because..."

"I pressure him?"

"Not pressure, Carter. Sense of responsibility."

"You think he doesn't want to come home?" The tone of her voice matched her raised eyebrows.

"It's not about that, Carter. At least here he knows what he's dealing with. We're offering to send him somewhere else, with a promise of maybe getting him home someday. Not a good place to be in."

"And you think he can't make an objective decision if I'm there?"

He shrugged. "Consider it a compliment, Major." He waved in the direction of Daniel. "Besides, you've got the harder job. Make sure he doesn't get lost or kidnapped or something between here and there, hmmm?"

She stared at him for a moment, not quite sure how to respond, finally settling on a quiet, "Yes, sir," and a turn in the direction of the temple. Jack shook his head as she walked off and went to find Crichton.