"Jack... Samantha... Please join your hands. For as your hands are joined, so are your hearts."

Sam's heart pounded in her chest so hard she couldn't believe her shirt wasn't bouncing with each beat. She swallowed against the thick emotion in her throat and joined her left hand with Jack's, their fingers intertwined. He moved their hands up between them, level with their chests, and leaned in to kiss her fingers.

She smiled, her vision hazy from the tears in her eyes. For years, she had struggled to keep her emotions constantly in check. But now, it seemed silly and wrong to hide from Jack how happy she was. Tears of joy. Sam once thought the phrase sappy, now she understood.

Shedesh Malfour presented a length of red ribbon and wrapped it around their hands several times.

"We each are destined to find that one person who completes us. Who makes us better. That intertwine themselves so intricately into our lives and our hearts, they can and will never be removed. Jack and Samantha have found that person in each other."

Shedesh had told them to look at each other through the entire ceremony, because in the other person's eyes they would see their future. Sam met Jack's gaze, and the intensity was so overwhelming it made her breath hitch.

"I love you," she mouthed silently. He smiled.

Shedesh handed Sam a white ribbon, and with her free hand she wrapped it around their joined fingers just as Shedesh had with the red. She had to clear her throat, and force herself to breathe before saying her part.

"My life to yours, for as long as we both draw breath."

Shedesh gave Jack a matching ribbon. With the three ribbons around their hands, Sam looked into his eyes as he spoke his promise. Jack parted his lips and paused, just like he always did before saying something immensely important... or immensely sarcastic.

"My life to yours..." His voice wavered, and Sam held her breath.

Jack cleared his throat and shook his head slightly. He drew in a deep breath and huffed, the warmth caressing their hands. Sam brought up her free hand and laid her palm against his cheek, and Jack turned into it, his lips kissing her skin. He drew her closer, until their foreheads rested against each other, their hands sandwiched between them.

"My life to yours, for as long as we both draw breath." His voice was rough and deep, like honey over gravel.

"And with this promise, Jack and Sam are forever joined. Two souls. One life. One future. The union is complete."

"Ah! Hang on a second," Jack said with a smirk, raising his hand to stop the cheers of everyone gathered around them. "There's just this one little part of our ceremony I'd like to throw in here."

"Of course," Shedesh said with a laugh. "What is it?"

"The part where you say 'you may kiss the bride'."

"You may kiss the bride."

Jack's hand cupped the back of her head and his open mouth covered hers, sending shafts of heat and joy through her body. "I love you, Sam," he said against her mouth and Sam laughed, simply because she didn't know what else to do with the overflowing cavalcade of emotions that bombarded her heart.

"I love you, Jack O'Neill."

"Doctor Jackson."

Daniel looked up from the ring of condensation he was dragging his coffee cup through on the tabletop. "General Hammond. It's good to see you, sir."

"You, too, son." Hammond sat down at the head of the Briefing Room table. "Teal'c."

Teal'c bowed his head. "I, too, am pleased to see you once again, General."

Hammond sighed. "What can you tell me."

Daniel ran through the story again. "There was no solid evidence that we wouldn't be able to dial back once we disconnected. Maybe Teal'c and I should have stayed and--"

"If you had stayed, Doctor Jackson, we wouldn't have any idea right now that there was an issue at all. With you here we at least have some Intel to work with."

Daniel nodded and didn't argue. He saw General Hammond's point, but it didn't necessarily make him feel better. They were approaching ten hours at this point. At first, he had pushed it aside as a temporary issue, but with each passing hour his worry grew.

Footsteps came up the stairs, and Sergeant Siler came into the room. "General Hammond," he said with a salute. "We just completed another dial out, with no success. Sergeant Harriman has contacted all off world teams, and let them know the status of things here."

"Thank you, Sergeant. Do you have any idea what is creating the problem?"

Siler shook his head. "Not specifically, sir. Could be almost anything. A meteor strike, electrical surge, or one of the Gates being out of sync with the normal timeline. Sir, even something as simple as the Gate flipping over in the wrong direction could cause problems."

"Oh, I feel so much better now," Daniel mumbled and took his glasses off, setting them on the table.

"With your permission, sir, I'd like to run a full diagnostic," Sergeant Siler suggested.

"How long will that take, Sergeant?"

"Could be an hour or more, sir. No one will be able to dial in or out while it's in process."

"Understood, Sergeant. Proceed."

Siler nodded, and went back down the stairs.

"Ok. So now what?" Daniel asked.

"We wait, Doctor Jackson. Since the Alliance fell apart, contact with the Tok'Ra has been spotty at best. And you remember the wait we had to hear from the Asgard. But if this isn't resolved in the next 24 hours we'll start making inquiries. That's the best I can do.

Daniel nodded and tapped his fingers on the tabletop. "I understand, General."

"In the mean time, we'll let the Sergeant run the diagnostic on the system, and give it another try. If that doesn't work, we try something else."

"Sam probably would have had the damn thing figured out by now. Ironic, huh?" Daniel said with a sigh.

"Indeed."