–I'm going to miss them,– Aetom's voice echoed somewhat sadly in Jack's mind. The colonel stopped mid-action at the unexpected remark from the Tok'ra symbiote, his hand frozen over a carton of Chinese take-out propped on his lap. Sam, sitting on the couch beside him, noticed the abrupt stop in his movements and glanced over at him questioningly. Jack couldn't pull away from himself to respond but before it was necessary Sam looked away. Almost a week back among his own people and everyone was getting used to allowing for the second consciousness in Jack's mind. Sam adjusted to recognizing when Jack was having a Tok'ra moment faster than the others.

'Miss whom?' Jack queried as outwardly he looked down at Daniel, folded like a small boy before the low coffee table and biting into an egg roll with gusto while nodding at something Teal'c had said between morsels of kung pao chicken. It was painfully familiar except for the fifth addition, Captain Megan Rawlins, propped on the chair behind Teal'c's left shoulder as she used a fork of her own to snatch bites here and there of the Jaffa's dinner, to the latter's allowance. They were at Sam's house for dinner, a team outing, Rawlins there because Sam still felt responsible for her despite the young woman's recent reassignment to another field team. Jack was proud of Sam for her conscientiousness to the people under her, attributes of a person bound to become a good leader. He didn't mind the young captain's company; she was a pleasant enough person, and Jack figured if he was going to be dragging a near-stranger into the group Sam had just as much right to, as well.

–Your friends,– Aetom answered, and Jack felt the remorse of being severed from the people sitting around him. It was too close to Jack, too easy for him to internalize as his own sadness, and he forcefully moved it away, replacing the grief with images of Homer Simpson with a strangle-hold around Bart's throat.

Aetom smiled, allowed the diversion from sadness.

'You hardly know them,' Jack countered as he resumed eating, only partially aware of the conversation going on outside his head between his friends.

–It feels that I've known them as long as you have, and as well as you do. I will miss them when I have been moved into a new host, that is all.–

'Considering we haven't heard a word from the Tok'ra since we got here, you might not have to miss them at all, not for a long time.' Jack was only a little bitter at the thought, a little angry at the delay.

–Do you want me gone now?–

Jack frowned 'To get stuffed in a fish tank? No... you can stay, for a while, as long as you don't piss me off.'

Aetom shared in the joke rather than feel like the butt of it, the co-conspirator rather than the target, responding to Jack's personality seamlessly with a budding acceptance Jack was finding almost too complete for comfort.

'I think we're getting too used to each other,' he commented, a little worry slipping into his thoughts' tone.

Aetom acknowledged his fears, validated them, unconcerned himself, and responded only with, –Perhaps we are.–

Jack felt things gradually go quiet in his mind and turned his attention back to the gathering of friends around him. Coming home hadn't been as effortless as he'd hoped. He found out that the SGC had cleaned out his house, thankfully only moving his furniture into storage and confiscating a few of his personal items rather than toss anything in the trash. His house was still in his name, held in suspension by the military for a waiting period after his being declared killed in action, and for the last couple of days SG-1 had been moving Jack back into his own house. In the meantime he'd been crashing at Daniel's apartment, fair return on the numerous times Jack had harbored a homeless Doctor Jackson. It was better than staying in temp quarters on base the whole time.

Despite the easy and familiar company Daniel was under most circumstances, Jack was looking forward to being back in his own home, alone. Well... mostly alone.

Jack's attention perked when he could just barely hear the shrill chirping of his cell phone, stuffed into the pocket of his jacket which was thrown on the bed in Sam's spare bedroom along with everyone else's coats.

Jack set his carton on the coffee table and stood to retrieve it.

"Sir?" Sam asked.

Jack gestured abstractly toward the innards of the house, "My cell phone's ringing."

Daniel's brow furrowed and he stopped to listen, "I don't hear anything."

"Ah, but you don't have Superman hearing; be right back."

Jack reached his shrieking pocket on the fourth ring. He quickly withdrew the phone and answered into the small device, "O'Neill."

"Colonel, this is General Hammond."

"Yes, sir, what can I do for you?"

Hammond paused a moment and at once Jack was all business, mind alert.

"I think you should come in, we have... guests on base I think you will be most interested in speaking with."

Jack had three guesses whom that could be. 'The Tok'ra,' he thought, 'about damn time.' "I'm on my way, sir." He hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket, then strode swiftly back into the living room. When he all but burst into the room he immediately had everyone's attention.

"That was Hammond, I think the Tok'ra just showed up."

"They've found a new host?" Sam asked.

Jack shrugged, "General wouldn't say on an unsecured line, technically didn't say it was even the Tok'ra, but that's a fair guess it's them and they're here about Aetom."

Chinese was abandoned and jackets and car keys scrambled together. Though Hammond had only implicated Jack to return to base, within minutes they were all on the road back to Cheyenne Mountain.

"Jacob," the name was said with a note of surprise, "good to see you," Jack greeted when he walked first into the briefing room to find Jacob Carter sitting next to General Hammond. To Jacob's left sat Janet Fraiser, a peculiar addition to the congregated committee. The rest of SG-1 was trailing behind Jack like ducklings, filing into the room like an oil spill while Jack moved toward the head of the table where the two generals sat.

"Hello, Jack, how have you been?" the Tok'ra asked.

Jack sat down across from Jacob, "Well, depends on what you're here to tell me."

Jacob smirked, "We have a possible host for Aetom."

Jack grinned merrily, "Then I'm peachy."

"Before we made any arrangements to take you back to the Tok'ra base for the transfer I wanted to make sure you were both fully informed of the conditions. The prospective host is a woman, young... younger than the Tok'ra prefer for hosts to be, but her circumstances are unusual."

Sam, who had taken her customary seat beside Jack, asked, "Terminal illness patient?"

Jacob shook his head at his daughter, "No... one of our operatives, a Tok'ra by the name of Moshen, was hiding out in her village when the Goa'uld discovered his position and launched an attack. A number of locals were killed and wounded in the strike, and Moshen's host offered to lead the attacking forces away from the village and... essentially, sacrifice himself for the mission. Moshen was transferred into a villager who'd been severely wounded in the attack, a young man who has been told of the stakes of the Tok'ra resistance and has chosen to remain with us and fight against the Goa'uld that attacked and killed many of his people."

Daniel looked among his comrades, "I don't understand... where does a new host for Aetom come in?"

Jacob looked a little reluctant as he answered, "Moshen's new host had a mate, the young woman that has volunteered to become a host to Aetom."

Sam was watching her father closely, "I thought the Tok'ra were always eager for people to volunteer to become hosts... why don't you look happy about this?"

Jacob shook his head, "She's so young... sixteen."

Jack blinked, "Wow... sixteen years old? Does she even understand what she's getting herself into?"

Jacob nodded, "The Tok'ra have explained the commitment of becoming a host to her, and her mate has even told her of the hardships she can expect to endure as a Tok'ra. She still wants to do it. If she's adamant about taking on a symbiote then the Tok'ra are pleased to have her, but I thought I should present this to Jack and Aetom first. The Tok'ra were all ready to offer Aetom to this girl, but I told them to hold off... that Jack might have reservations about indirectly being the one to make someone barely more than a child a Tok'ra."

Jack's expression was intense, disturbed, as he mulled over the situation. Jacob was right to think Jack would balk at the idea of passing off his symbiote to a child just to be rid of it himself.

Daniel, the delicate diplomat he was, asked, "Why exactly is she so set on becoming a host?"

Jacob looked so paternal, so gentle, as he said, "To be with her husband. She's accepted that he wants to fight the enemy that killed so many of their own people and even supports his decision but she doesn't want to lose him for that cause. She's willing to become a Tok'ra herself to stay with him."

"At sixteen?" Jack asked.

Jacob nodded, "Her native culture marries very young, this young man is in fact her husband of two years."

Daniel chimed in, "Well, that's actually fairly common in a number of primitive societies, girls as young as twelve being married off to men twice their age..." he noticed rather disinterested looks all around the table and folded his hands quietly, "which is neither here nor there."

Jacob looked directly at the colonel, "It's up to you and Aetom, Jack. If neither of you are all right with this then the Tok'ra will wait for another symbiote to become available."

"So you're going to make her a Tok'ra anyway?" Jack accused.

Jacob's tone was sympathetic, even empathetic toward Jack's objections. "The Tok'ra can't afford to turn away a willing host, and she's been informed of the risks involved. Ultimately, it's not the Tok'ra's place to turn her away if this is what she wants. It works for both sides."

Jack was silent a long time, warring with himself, then he looked toward General Hammond, "I'd like to meet her and speak with her myself before I make a decision, sir."

Hammond nodded, "I understand."

Janet at last jumped into the conversation, explaining her attendance to the meeting in her ensuing words, "Colonel O'Neill, I know it might seem strange, but I want to make you aware of the physiological and psychological repercussions of losing your symbiote."

Jack looked at her, "You mean peace and quiet?"

Janet gave a tight smile at his remark then glanced toward Sam once. "Because of the length of time which you've been host to Aetom there are probably a number of physical changes that you've gotten used to. The heightened senses, your increased physical energy and strength, the small, long-term medical concerns that Aetom corrected like the trouble you had with your knees. Also, if you'll recall, immediately after Major Carter lost her symbiote when Jolinar died she had to go on massive doses of SSRIs.."

Jack barked, flabbergasted, "Are you saying I'm going to be depressed when Aetom's gone? That won't happen, Doc, trust me."

Janet was patient, "It's a matter of neurotransmitters, Colonel. The little data we've been able to obtain points to the symbiote altering body chemicals, seretonin being one of them, a deficit of which is a prime contributor to depression. Now, while the symbiote is present they produce a chemical that simultaneously blocks the production of seretonin in the host body while duplicating its effects on the body so the host doesn't feel the change, but..."

Jack cut her off, "Doctor, please. I appreciate your concern, and I'll take what you've said under advisement, but really it's academic since keeping this Tok'ra indefinitely isn't an option."

Janet stopped and nodded, "Yes, sir."

Hammond looked between Jacob, Janet, and Jack, as he asked, "Is there anything else?"

Sam spoke up, "General, request permission for the rest of SG-1 to accompany Colonel O'Neill."

Hammond looked to Jack, who gave a small assenting nod.

"Very well, Major. If there's nothing more, you're all dismissed. You may depart whenever you're ready."