Jacob lost sight of Jack shortly after returning to the Tok'ra base. The wayward Air Force officer folded into the teeming tide of the shipping and moving of personnel and materiel and Jacob soon lost track of him. Jacob had looked for the colonel when he and Selmac could spare the time, but the truth was that those searches consisted mostly of quick looks around between tasks. Jacob's inclination was to stick close to Jack, reluctant to leave him adrift in the mass of Tok'ra with no idea of what he should be doing. Selmac had to point out that while Colonel O'Neill might not know what to do, Aetom would. In any instance, Jack would not be wandering the Tok'ra tunnels like a lost puppy; he'd be helping just as every able body of the Tok'ra force was, guided by his own knowledgeable Tok'ra companion. Still, Jacob didn't let that logic stop him from trying to catch sight of the fellow Earth native as he worked, to no avail.

Jacob did not see Jack O'Neill again until the following day, when all the crates and boxes were stowed on their small fleet of tel'tacs and Tok'ra were beginning to abandon the tunnel network and board ships for the trip. Jacob walked into one of the open rooms of the underground caverns to find Jack O'Neill standing before a mirror, considering himself. He was dressed in the simple tan clothes of the Tok'ra. Though it should have been ridiculous to see Jack O'Neill, of all people, dressed like a Tok'ra the gray-haired colonel didn't look half bad in the brown shirt and pants. It was a change to see him in anything other than olive green or Air Force blue, sparing that garish ensemble he'd shown up in yesterday. Colonel O'Neill, it turned out as he stood there in Tok'ra clothes, could carry the style quiet well.

"Nice threads," Jacob quipped, knowing that even if Jack was sporting the tan and beige with grace the colonel probably wouldn't approve.

Jack turned to Jacob, looked down at his attire, and returned, "I rather like them myself." There was a distinct lack of flippancy in Jack's tone.

"Really?"

Jack's answer was quick, "Hey, after the king of seaweed green even the Tok'ra fashion statement is a sight for sore eyes. We going? Aetom said I've been dallying."

Jacob shook his head, thrown to hear Jack mention so casually his symbiote, "Yes, we're going. The last of us will board the tel'tacs then the tunnels will be destroyed. We should only be stuck on this moon we're heading to for a couple of days, a last chance for Tok'ra scouts to verify there are no pockets of Goa'uld presence on the planet before we move in and set up shop, and the planet itself has a stargate so you can be sent home... after the Tok'ra have found a new host for Aetom."

Jack nodded. He then sighed as he left the hollow room and moved through the conspicuously empty blue corridors alongside Jacob. "It's one thing after another," Jack grumbled, almost to himself.

Jacob looked toward Jack, "You mean not getting the Tok'ra taken out of you right away?"

Jack nodded and rubbed at the back of his neck in distraction before turning his head to look directly at the older man, "Jacob, can you tell me if my team made it out all right?" To Jacob's momentary look Jack continued, "I was getting fitted for my halo and wings, or pitchfork and horns if you prefer, when the survivors of the SGC pulled out of P78-294 and Aetom wasn't in a position to see much more than I did. So is my team all right?"

Jacob saw deep concern in Jack's eyes, recognized the worry of a good leader (as Jack had proved himself to be time and again), and the former general finally answered, "They all made it out alive. Sam and Daniel were injured, Daniel pretty badly, but they're all okay now."

Jack visibly relaxed, relief smoothing the lines of his face and for the immediate moment even having a symbiote wrapped around his nervous system didn't seem to bother him.

"Actually, they're back on active rotation."

Jack made a curious sound in the back of his throat, asking without looking toward Jacob but still the strings of tension and edginess evident in his tone, "Did they get split up and assigned to other teams?"

"No... they reassigned someone to fill the vacant spot on the team and Sam was given command of SG-1."

"Really? Good."

"I thought George made the right call, too. Granted I'm biased, but I thought Sam was ready for command."

"I've seen her in the field, I know she is. In fact, she might not want to give the reins back when I get home," Jack smiled.

Jacob chuckled, "Trust me, Jack, you step through that gate and she'll be throwing the team back at you, and maybe herself too, so I better not hear about anything untoward." Jacob grinned and even Jack smiled, if not with a hint of uneasiness in the presence of the major in question's father. Jacob sobered to say earnestly, "They all took your death pretty hard."

Jack never gave a response to the last comment, and before Jacob could make any remark on his pointed silence they reached the ring room and the subject was dropped. Jacob knew, without having to be told... SG-1 was more than a group of colleagues or even friends, they were more like family members. It was something a commanding officer would never admit to a superior officer, and Jacob allowed the colonel to think his secret was still that... a secret.

Jacob was just relieved that Jack was alive. This would get a smile back on Sam's face, and for this instance he wasn't going to be concerned what that might mean beneath the surface as long as his little girl would smile again.