After a week of more missions, briefings, and paperwork than he cared to think about, Jack O'Neill walked through the parking lot and stopped at his truck and slipped the key inside. Slowly he opened the door and pulled himself inside. The drive home from the mountain was unusually long because of an accident on the highway, but he managed to suffer through it and smiled as he parked the car in his driveway and turned off the engine.

He made his way to the door and paused when he noticed a familiar scent. It had been years since he'd smelled the sweet scent of butterbeer, but he'd know it anywhere. Curiously he turned around and a familiar figure stood before him.

"I must be dreaming." He reached his hand out towards the dark haired figure and smiled when his hand stopped at a knobby shoulder.

"No Jack. I'm quite real. Though I must say you've definitely aged these last few years."

"What are you doing here, Remus?"

Remus Lupin shook his head and smiled back at the man he hadn't seen in 12 years. "I had to know if you were still alive. Everyone else stopped searching, but I wasn't ready to give up. I knew if anyone could survive the death eaters it was you."

Jack chuckled softly as he pulled the other man into an embrace, and then quickly ushered him into the house. "How on earth did you find me?"

"It took a long time, but I managed. So you took your cousin's name, I see. I never would have guessed a Slytherin like yourself would have a taste for the military, let alone the American military."

"Well, I was never very good at being a proper Slytherin."

Remus rolled his eyes at Jack as they walked towards the kitchen and both took seats at the table. "You certainly had everyone fooled."

With solemn glance out the window Jack nodded. "That's a low blow, my friend."

"Well, considering how you left, I figured I owed you as much."

"What are you really doing here?"

"I wanted to let you know that Sirius escaped." Jack's jaw nearly hit the floor and the shocked expression on his face had Remus taken aback.

"He'll try to go to go after the boy. I'm sure of it."

Inwardly Jack sighed, wanting to tell Remus the truth, but knowing had no way to prove it. "He might not go after Harry."

"Not likely. He blames the boy for what happened to Voldemort. He'll come after him for revenge, if nothing else."

"You could be wrong. Maybe he just wanted to be free from that hellhole. I know I'd want nothing more that get out of Azkaban alive."

Remus sighed and shook his head. "I knew Sirius as well as you did. There's no way he'd leave a loose end like young Harry, without at least trying to finish what he started."

Jack watched as Remus reached into his jacket and pulled a small pocket watch and muttered softly to himself. "What was that Remus?"

"I have to be going. Have to catch a train in London in an hour. Apparating takes quite a bit out of me. I'll keep in touch."

Remus stood and walked towards the door and stopped just short. Jack reached out his hand and Remus took is and heartily shook it and pulled his friend into another embrace.

"Take care of the boy. If he's anything like his father he'll need looking after."

"Too true."

Both men laughed and Jack stepped back and waited for Remus to apparate. With a flash Jack was alone in his house and couldn't he help but feel a bit sad. A part of life he'd thought he'd long since left behind seemed to be rapidly catching up to him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it was all about to come crashing down around him.

The next morning when Jack went in to the mountain he was decidedly reserved. Even the General wondered about how uncharacteristically quiet his second in command was. By mid-afternoon Jack's feelings of dread had kicked into overdrive and the Colonel was more on edge than anyone had seen him in long while.

He left the base earlier than usual and when he made it to his house he had the distinct feeling that that he was being watched. Slowly he surveyed his surroundings, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. As his hand touched the doorknob he felt a tiny prick on his neck and his vision began to blur. He blinked trying to get his world to focus, but it was useless. He felt himself falling to the ground before he could stop himself, then everything faded to black.