AN- Sorry for the confusion on her wearing the dress uniform last chapter. She was just looking at it, sorry I wasn't clear enough!


Sam had always been in the habit of leaving for meetings half an hour early, but now wasn't sure if half an hour would be enough. I-25 was backed up for miles and traffic was moving at a snails pace. Some idiot had decided that it wasn't considered drinking first thing in the morning if you hadn't stopped drinking the night before. The genius had managed to flip his car over the concrete median and had forced traffic down to one lane on the three lane highway.

Sam rapped her knuckles impatiently, glancing at her watch every twenty seconds. She directed her car to the left a little, and seeing that there wasn't any way to progress in that lane had drifted towards the right side of her lane. As she looked up the length of the emergency lane her mind drifted back to the first time she had ever ridden in Jack's truck.

It was just after she had been released from the infirmary after the whole incident with Jolinar. Janet hadn't been able to take her home due to SG-12's latest excursion with enemy Jaffa. Daniel had been buried in his office with a translation and Sam hadn't wanted to bother him. Normally she would have asked an SF to take her home, but she hadn't wanted to be around anyone she didn't know well. That left the Colonel. Sam gave a little smile as she remembered his dumbstruck look when she asked him for a ride.

"Why me? Uh, what I mean, is um... don't you want Janet to? Or Daniel?"

"I asked them, sir. They're both tied up. I could get an SF to, but I'd rather be around someone I know right now. I could just wait for Janet to finish up with SG-12. I'd like to have a look at my lab anyways." Sam turned to leave as Jack spoke up.

"Nice try, Major. Turn away from your lab. Now. You aren't supposed to get near that place for at least another week and a half. And I don't mind taking you home. It's just that I'd thought I'd be a little far down on your list. My ego is a little bruised about being below Space Monkey, but I'll get recover." He replied with a cheeky grin.

So ten minutes later they were topside and headed out the security gates of Cheyenne Mountain. The traffic hit them about fifteen minutes into the ride home. Sam's exit was only four exits off and Jack was getting frustrated. Before Jack had finished rolling his window down to shout obscenities to the trucker in front of them Sam had reached across him and rolled up the window.

"What are you doing?! That idiot needs to know how to use his gas pedal!"

"Sir, with all due respect, I'd like to be able to go home without you getting sent to the hospital first?"

"Are you saying I couldn't take on a trucker?"

"No, I'm saying you couldn't take the beating I'd give you, sir." She replied seriously.

"Well SOMEONE'S grouchy. That comment could be taken as insubordination, Major."

"Sir, if you get me home within the next ten minutes, you can do whatever you want with me." Sam replied wearily

At hearing this, Jack got an evil grin on his face. Suddenly he yanked his truck to the right and sped up the emergency lane, gaining many honks and hollers on the way. Sam was so shocked she just grabbed the armrests of her chair and stared openmouthed as Jack pulled his truck onto the exit ramp. Three minutes later, Jack had parked his truck in Sam's driveway and had walked around to open her car door.

"Now, about your promise in the car, how flexible are you?" asked Jack with a twinkle in his eye.

Sam suddenly awoke from her shock induced silence and burst out laughing. Then what Jack said sunk in and she quickly sobered up.

"Sir, what- I mean why would-" she stumbled out.

"Well, It's just that getting up to my season seats at the Avalanche Stadium can get tricky and it's easier if you can jump over the seats." he answered, feigning ignorance of Sam's dirty thoughts.

"Avalanche? As in hockey?" questioned Sam.

"Of coarse! What else could we do together that would require flexibility?" Jack asked with an innocent look.

Sam laughed out loud at the memory. Suddenly, she felt herself pulling her car towards the right.

'What the Hell?' Sam thought. She slammed the pedal and quickly shifted down to third to pick up speed. She quickly made to her exit and pulled into the gates of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. An SF walked up to her car and gave a shocked look at the driver of the car.

"Major Carter! What are you doing here?" asked the confused man.

"It's just Doctor now. Check you arrival sheet. General Hammond is expecting me."

The SF found her name on the short list and allowed her to pass. She pulled into the parking complex and exited the car. Her heels made a hollow clicking as she made her way up to what used to be her life. Her mind suddenly let loose all of her question's she'd been harboring for the past 24 hours. Why did Hammond need to see her for? Why did she need to read Jack's file? Are Daniel and Teal'c okay? Have they been captured? Sam glanced at her watch and picked up her pace. She had fifteen minutes until she had to be in the General's office and the elevator took a good five of those fifteen minutes.

Sam finally found herself outside the briefing room. It felt strange to say the least. She felt herself slipping into "Carter" mode as she called it. She had been Sam for a year now, and to be back in the place where she had been such a different person brought back many memories. She had first met Colonel Jack O'Neill here, had treaded the insubordination line for the first time with her arm wrestling challenge, and if she was honest with herself, had first started to fall in love with O'Neill here. She thought of all the bad news she'd receive in this room. How many scientific experiments had started in this room with her as the guinea pig. Her mind was filled with these thoughts as she stared at the lowered blast door.

Unbeknownst to Carter, four men were watching her through the security camera.

"How do you think she'll take it?" asked one of them.

"How would you take being lied to for a whole year and having you life changed falsely?" retorted one angrily.

"We all know we had no choice in the matter. Now, let's get this started so we can start mending some severely damaged fences." And with that three of them headed towards the briefing room.

Sam turned quickly when she heard the door open. Daniel was the first to walk through, and Sam rushed over with a huge smile and grabbed him in a crushing hug.

"How are you?! God, you look great Sam!" exclaimed Daniel

Sam looked down at her tailored black pant suit with a plain white button-up shirt. She had left the top button undone and had on minimal make-up. Her hair had grown out a little but was still short and mussy.

"Thank you. I've been okay. I started lecturing over at the Academy a little while after you left and it still feels weird to actually come home everyday. Pretty unreal sometimes how things have changed. Anyways, how are things with you?! Enjoying your time with the Nox?" questioned Sam excitedly.

Daniel had asked for permission to join the Nox shortly after Jack had been killed. Sam hadn't heard from him since the three of them had cleaned Jack's house out. Jack didn't have a very long will, but one of the stipulations was that the three of the remaining team members had to clean out his house. His cabin and most of his possessions had been left to Sam. That had been a topic of many fights between Sam and Pete, especially after Sam made it clear she was not selling it. Jack's truck had been left to Daniel with strict instructions to 'take care of his baby'. Teal'c receive all of Jack's video and DVD collection 'to learn more of our culture' as Jack put it. That day had been a very emotional one for the whole team and by the time they finished they all just said goodbye at his house and left.

"They are some of the interesting people in this universe. They seem very cold and distant at first as you know-"

"You mean arrogant and self-righteous?" interrupted Sam with a grin.

"Still have some of Jack's bad habits, huh?" Daniel asked jokingly.

"Yeah, I guess the more I thought about him, the more I began acting like him. Sorry for interrupting, please continue." urged Sam.

"Well, they have a very bad track record as we would say with less advanced cultures. They've been more careful because of it, but now that I'm there and am learning about their history, trade agreements have started taking place finally. It' really amazing how these people have survived and advanced as much as they have. See, when they first built their main city back on the planet we found them on-" Daniel was interrupted by the door opening and a very stoic Teal'c walking in.

"Teal'c!" Teal'c made his way over to Daniel and Sam and gathered her up in a bear hug.

"How are things on Chulak? Is Rya'c doing okay?" Teal'c had decided to join his mentor and son in their fight to free the Jaffa. He told Sam that he felt he could no longer assist earth without O'Neill there.

"They are well, Major Carter."

"It's not Major anymore Teal'c, just Doctor. Besides, just call me Sam or Carter. I think you can drop some of the formalities after being friends for over eight years, don't you?"

"As you wish, Carter." Teal'c replied with a faint grin.

"So, how are Master Bray'tac and Rya'c doing?"

"They are doing well. Bray'tac has taken a wife and is expecting child with her soon. Bray'tac is leading raids on Ba'al's ground forces on his new home world."

General Hammond walked into the room and smiled at the scene in front of him

"Sam, how are you?" He asked as Sam got yet another back crushing hug.

"I'm good, a little apprehensive about this whole meeting thing, but other then that I'm good. How are the girls?"

"They're doing well. Both are involved in the big school play again so they stay pretty busy with that. They only call me when they need money for fund-raises or their egos boosted a little." joked Hammond.

"Well, let's get this meeting started. Please take a seat everyone."Hammond waited until the three people had found a seat and then began.

"A year ago, we lost a fine soldier and friend. Today you were all brought here to be briefed on that mission and what happened-"

"Sir, we briefed you about the events a year ago, why are we doing this again?" interrupted Sam.

"You all are not the ones doing the debriefing. At least, not you Sam."

With this statement Sam turned to look at Daniel and Teal'c. Daniel just looked at his paper in front of him while Teal'c met her gaze with a steady one of his own.

"A year and a half ago, we received news that the NID had infiltrated our ranks and were preforming illegal operations. Now, as you all know, this has happened before, but the stakes were much higher this time. Off world operations would have been impossible to achieve due to the higher security measures taken after that first incident, but due to the extensive exposure that Colonel Jack O'Neill and the then Major Sam Carter had received, they were put on the top of the NID's list."

Sam sat there in a trance. The NID were after her? And noone told her? How could the Colonel have not told her? He of all people should have understood her need for this information.

"Now, before you start firing off questions Doctor, let me explain first. We discovered that you were being heavily observed. Colonel O'Neill wasn't under quite so much surveillance due to the fact that you were going to be the first hit. We found out that you were to be taken Off world and transported to numerous gate addresses and then picked up by the remaining members of the Off world NID base."

"Off world NID base? I thought that Colonel O'Neill had retrieved all of the operatives during his sting mission?" questioned Sam, now back into full military mode.

"We did too. It turns out that Maybourne had a team still out on a mission when the operation took place. The remaining members have been keeping in touch with earth through the many NID operatives here in the base. Now, as I was saying, you were to be taken off world. After which, they were planning on setting a trap for Colonel O'Neill during the rescue mission that would have been planned. Our goal was to find a way to keep you on Earth while buying us time to investigate more and discover who the leaks in our complex were. You were kept in the dark in order to make the NID believe that everything taking place was in fact real. After making sure you knew nothing about our operations, Teal'c became our liaison with the newest group of rebel Jaffa. We mounted a fake attack on SG-1 and SG-9, the SG team that we knew for sure contained an agent. The Jaffa were under orders not to kill, just to show a strong firearm display."

"How did the Colonel get killed? Was it an accident?" questioned Carter while trying to keep the moisture from her eyes visible to anyone.

"The attack went exactly according to plan, Doctor." Hammond answered.

'According to plan? How was that possible? Is he saying they meant to kill Jack? Wait, they were ordered not to kill...' General Hammond continued.

"The primary goal for this mission was to upset the NID's plan as much as possible, meaning you would being staying on world for an undisclosed amount of time and make them believe that Colonel O'Neill was gone."

"Make them believe... General, what are you trying to say?" she asked bewildered.

Hammond didn't say anything. Sam wheeled around in her chair to face Daniel and Teal'c. Teal'c betrayed no emotion but Daniel's face was covered in guilt.

"General, why was I instructed to read Colonel's O'Neill's file?" Sam asked calmly.

"We thought that you would better understand if you knew when he had been through and done in the past. Jack also wanted you to know everything in case something ever happened to him. He also felt it pertinent to keep this information of you being watched secret. We needed it to appear as real as possible. I hope you understand that."

Carter's mind reeled from the new information she was receiving. She was being watched? Jack was going to be captured with her as the bait? Is General Hammond really trying to tell her what she thinks he is? No, she saw him die...

They came under heavy fire as soon as they exited the gate. Everyone was running and trying to find cover. Carter had jumped behind a large boulder with Teal'c and began returning fire. She glanced over at the Colonel and Daniel. The Colonel was yelling something but she couldn't understand. She got as close to the DHD where the Colonel and Daniel were hiding as she could but if she'd gone any farther, she'd have lost her cover. The Colonel went to move towards her and just as he raised up to run, a staff blast hit him from behind. Sam screamed his name. He fell foward just as a member of SG-9 got the Gate open. Everyone started running for the gate but Sam pushed her way over to Jack. She threw herself down on the ground and cradled his head in her lap.

"Jack! Come on! We've got to get you home! Please, don't give up now! Come on!"

Jack opened his eyes and looked directly at her. His eyes were filled with pain, more pain then any staff blast could inflict.

"Sam, just remember that I've always loved you. I always have and always will. No matter what." and with that his eyes closed and she felt his body go limp. Sam never remembered being picked up by Teal'c and being carried through the gate. She was told later that she screamed and fought against Teal'c and had even punched him trying to get back to the Colonel.

Sam had left out what Jack had told her on the battlefield in her official report and never told Hammond what happened. She just walked into his office as soon as she was discharged from the infirmary and handed him her resignation and walked out of the mountain.

Sam drifted back from the memory. She saw him die! He couldn't be alive! Then the realization dawned on her. She had never checked his back. She never saw if there was even a wound. His words rang in her head 'I always have and always will. No matter what.'

Sam looked up at General Hammond, trying desperatly to hide the tears that were threatening to fall and tried to speak but was interrupted by the door opening and a loud voice saying,

"Hello, Campers."

***Hope you all liked it. Sorry it's taking so long to update. Feedback is a must or no more story!! I'm also looking for a beta reader if anyone's interested, just let me know***