"She's coming home."

SG-1 was sitting in Jack's office when he got the message, and they all reacted with similar smiles of relief. Even Teal'c, who was normally so stoic, seemed to have a slight lessoning in the tension around his neck and shoulders.

"When?" Daniel asked.

Jack shrugged.

"She didn't say when she'd get here, only that she was coming. God only knows where she is, so it could be a couple days, might be a week." He didn't care; he was just glad to hear she was coming.

"Did she say how she was doing?"

The messages they'd received – Jack and Daniel, that was – the last month were fairly short and hardly worth getting excited about. She was doing fine, she said, and making progress with the remaining system lords. Everything was going according to plan, and don't worry.

Of course, they'd worried. Jack looked like hell, Sam decided. Not only did he have all the duties of running the SGC, but to add to it, he was worrying over Mitchell so much and so often, she was surprised he didn't have an ulcer. And Daniel didn't look much better – although he had Janet to look after him and bully him into sleeping and eating.

"No..." Jack looked down at his wrist and read the message again. "Just says she's coming home, and will see us soon."

"Well, that's something," Daniel said.

Sam nodded her agreement.

"Yeah..." Jack didn't look so certain. He'd received lots of messages from Mitchell since she'd given him the device he was wearing, and most of them had been fairly upbeat and cheerful. The past month, all his messages had been... flat. Dull and lifeless, and it hadn't changed as the time had gone by. He had a feeling she was still searching, and was only coming home because Talon was making her – or because she'd given her word. Or maybe both.

"If she's here, we can watch her," Daniel said.

"Not if she's planning on leaving again soon."

"Where would she go?" Sam asked. "She could go be with the Tok'ra, but truth be told, I don't think she likes very many of them, and I can't see her staying there."

She, in truth, disliked a number of the Tok'ra, mainly because of their policies before the peace had come concerning the Tau'ri. Melony was quick to anger and slow to forgive, sometimes, and she hadn't liked the way the Tok'ra – most of them – had viewed the alliance with the humans on Earth as a 'let's see what they can give us, but mostly we'll keep whatever we find' sort of deal. Jack knew this and knew she was unlikely to go there and surround herself with them.

"She could go to Melonyville," Daniel said. "She has quite a set up there."

"She'd be alone."

"She wants to be alone, Jack..."

"I don't want her-"

"Sir," Sam interrupted. "Let's wait and see, okay? There's no sense getting twisted up about this until we know there's a reason to be. Maybe she's done what she set out to do and has found her peace with things..."

Jack looked skeptical, but he nodded. He'd get twisted up about it, but he wouldn't let it show. They could wait and see, but he was pretty sure they'd find her to be the same as when she'd left.

OOOOOOOO

He was right.

She came back two nights after Jack received her message. In the middle of the night, with her ship cloaked and orbiting Earth – since she didn't dare land it anywhere that someone might accidentally run into it and kill themselves without even knowing how – she beamed herself down to the surface, positioning her landing near Jack's house, since she was fairly certain at this late time he'd be home and in bed.

She was half right.

She had a key to his house. She'd always had a key to his house and had never found a reason to give it back. This particular evening she was glad that she had it, because she figured she could use it and let herself in, then sack out on Jack's couch until morning. She never even considered going to her own house. She hadn't been there since the accident, and had vowed she never would. Eventually, she'd have to decide what to do with it, but not then.

Jack was sitting on his sofa, his feet propped up on a coffee table and a cup of coffee in his hand, staring at a picture of Michael and himself in their flight suits. He looked over when he heard the key in the door, and was on his feet in an instant. By the time Melony had the door opened, Jack was there, ready to clobber whoever was breaking in. And he stopped at just the last instant, surprised to see who it was.

"Melony..."

"Jack."

Her eyes told him long before anything else could. They were achingly sad. Infinitely miserable, and just plain empty. There was no cheerfulness. No gleam of amusement that there should have been at having caught him in a pair of sweats with Mickey Mouse on the butt. She hadn't found her peace.

He pulled her into his arms, and she went willingly, burying her face against him as she held him close. More than willing to take the solace he offered, but unable to actually apply it to her own hurts.

"I missed you," He told her, squeezing her tightly as if he thought he could just squish her pain and send it away.

"I know. I missed you, too."

He reached over with one hand and shut the door again, made sure it was locked, and then led her over to the couch.

"How are you?"

She shrugged, looking down at her hands.

"The system lords are all under my control now. We finished the last of the minor-"

"Melony. That's not what I asked."

"I know."

She saw his cup of coffee on the coffee table where he'd left it when he'd went to the door and picked it up. Still hot. Good. She took a sip, and frowned.

"It's spiked," Jack told her, unnecessarily.

"Gah."

She didn't mind the taste of whiskey – especially good scotch like this was – but she hated it when it ruined the taste of good coffee.

"How are you?" He asked again, taking his cup from her and taking a sip, himself.

"About the same as I was when I left," She admitted.

"Is there anything I can do?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head, and Jack pulled her into his arms again. There was something he could do – whether it helped her or not, it was what she needed – and he did it. He held her close, reminding her that even though she thought she was alone, she wasn't. She had him.

"I'm sorry..." Her voice was breaking, now, and Jack felt the sting of tears in his eyes. "I tried to get better... I-"

"You're going to get better, Melony," Jack assured her. "It's just going to take time."

"I was away for a month-"

"Time here."

"I'm not staying here, Jack."

"You could stay with Sam..."

"That's not what I meant. I'll stay here – with you – tonight, but I'm not staying here on Earth any longer than it takes for me to decide where to go next."

"You can't keep running away, Melony. It's going to follow you wherever you go."

"I can't help it," she sniffed into his shirt. "I can't... stay here. All I have thought of was him since I saw the planet on the viewscreen."

"And before you saw the planet?"

"All I thought of was how empty I feel."

"At least sleep on it, okay? You can't make a decision like that when you're wiped out."

She looked like she could use some sleep. And a good meal or two – although Talon was capable of making sure she didn't lose an unhealthy amount of weight, and he probably had been taking measures to remind her to eat.

She nodded, but he was sure that she'd already made her mind up – long before she'd seen the planet on the viewscreen. Probably before she'd sent her message telling him she was coming.