Chapter Three: Requiem

The funeral was an unusually large spectacle that took place in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael. Alec Colson had wanted the funeral to be a small, family affair, but had finally succumbed to pressure from the government and media for a larger ceremony.

Government leaders had argued that a hero like Samantha Carter deserved a fitting send-off, while the media merely wanted to have plenty of pictures and video clips to satisfy the public's demand for more information about the dead woman and her daughter. It was thought by many that a large funeral would help bring about some closure for a nation in mourning.

Alec Colson had been released from the hospital only the day before and had immediately secluded himself at his estate, refusing to speak to anyone but family members. The only information coming out of the Colson household was that the graveside service would be closed to all but the very closest of family members and friends, along with the request that contributions be made to children's charities in lieu of sending flowers.

As Jack and Daniel walked into the dimly lit sanctuary, they were immediately assaulted by the abundance of flowers adorning the large room. It seemed that many had ignored Alec Colson's request and had sent large bouquets and flower displays anyway.

The sanctuary itself was crowded with an odd assortment of attendees. Many were dressed in simple black suits and Daniel assumed that they were the men and women that worked with CCT. Another large contingent in attendance wore uniforms. Along with Jack, there were several others in uniform including Hank Landry, Cameron Mitchell, and George Hammond, as well as several familiar faces from the SGC and Area 51.

When Hammond spotted Jack and Daniel walking down the aisle of the church, he immediately rose to greet them.

"Jack, Daniel…it's good to see you, although the circumstances could be better. Where is Teal'c?"

"We had the SGC contact him, but he was unable to get away from Dakara in time to make it. He said he would come and pay his respects as soon as he could," Daniel explained.

As Daniel continued chatting pleasantly with the General, they walked over and sat down in the pew that Hammond had previously been occupying. When Daniel realized that Jack had not taken the seat beside him, he turned around to look for him.

What he found shook him to the core. Jack was standing near the front of the church, staring intensely at the two coffins standing before the altar. One was large and draped with an American flag, the other tiny coffin sat immediately in front of it.

Jack did not touch the coffin; he did not break down or cry. He merely stood there, looking straight ahead, letting the reality of the situation finally sink in. A minute later, a woman approached him, put a hand comfortingly on his shoulder, and guided him to sit down in the front pew – the pew reserved for the family.

Daniel immediately recognized the woman as Carly Turner, Alec Colson's personal assistant. Once she had seated Jack, Carly then walked back down the aisle towards him.

"Dr. Jackson?" she quietly asked. "Mr. Colson has asked that you and General Hammond sit on the front row with the family. If you will please follow me…"

Daniel looked at her in surprise and then rose with General Hammond to go sit on either side of Jack in the front row.

As the service began, Cassie, Mark Carter, his wife and kids, and Alec Colson were escorted to the front row opposite Jack, Daniel, and General Hammond. Daniel directed a comforting smile at Cassie as he made eye contact with her, noticing immediately how red her eyes were from crying.

He was grateful when he saw Alec reach over and give Cassie's hand a reassuring squeeze. The two had grown close in the last five years, and Daniel knew that Alec considered Cassie to be like one of his own daughters.

Another thing Daniel immediately noticed was the way Jack's body suddenly tensed beside him. He looked up at his friend, and noticed Jack aim a brief and hostile glare in Colson's direction.

The two men had never gotten along. From early on, Jack had always viewed Colson as a loose cannon and he had resented Sam's close relationship with the aeronautical engineer. During the incident when Colson threatened to disclose the existence of aliens to the press, Jack had dismissed Colson as a mere nuisance.

The real animosity between them originated when Colson had returned to Earth from his exile at the Alpha Site. As the first hymn began, Daniel thought back to that turbulent time in all of their lives – five years ago.

Five years ago the Stargate Program had gone public, leading to a period of intense media scrutiny for all those who had been involved in it over the years. This one event changed all of their lives irrevocably.

Alec Colson had been one of the few to benefit from the event. Being no longer seen as a threat to national security, he was allowed to come home to Earth. With his return, the president had granted him a full pardon and had asked Colson personally to head up a special project at Area 51.

In contrast, the revelation of the Stargate had a negative impact on many others, including the members of SG-1. With the increased media attention and their growing fame, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, and even Jack found it increasingly difficult to lead normal lives. They became overnight heroes and celebrities, even though none had asked for the attention or praise.

In the face of all this, each of the members of SG-1 moved on to other things – in part to escape the public adulation being heaped upon them, and in part to just move on and start new chapters in their lives.

Teal'c had moved to Dakara, Daniel had taken off for Atlantis, and Sam had resumed her position as head of Research and Development at Area 51. More importantly, moving on meant that each now had a life outside of work. Teal'c had finally married his longtime love, Ishta. Daniel had tentatively delved into the dating scene at Atlantis, discovering a kindred spirit in the form of Dr. Kate Heightmeyer, the resident psychologist. Continuing the long-distance relationship they had embarked upon two years prior to the public revelation of the Stargate, Sam and Jack continued to fly back and forth between Washington and Nevada to spend time together.

Daniel had never found out exactly what happened between Sam and Jack. All he knew was that their relationship had ended abruptly and bitterly a couple of months after he had left for Atlantis. As far as Daniel knew, they were very happy together and although the logistics of their relationship had been difficult, they had learnt to deal with it and accept it.

Then came the breakup. Daniel could never get Sam or Jack to talk about it. It seemed to him that one moment they were a perfectly happy couple, and the next they couldn't even stand to talk about each other. A month after the breakup, Sam resigned her commission and married Alec Colson. The next year they had Emma.

Jack had never really recovered from the breakup and he had never really forgiven Sam. As far as Daniel knew, they had neither seen nor spoken to each other since.

As much as Jack blamed Sam for his broken heart, Daniel suspected that he put most of the blame on Alec Colson, hence the sharp looks that his friend was currently sending Colson's way.

The funeral service was thankfully short and simple. There were no elaborate eulogies, no sentimental testimonials as to how wonderful a person Sam had been. There were hymns, there were scripture readings, and there was a brief sermon from the minister extolling Sam for living an honorable life and for being a devoted mother. Instead of glorifying Sam as an intergalactic superhero, the minister chose instead to focus on Sam and Emma's relationship and how happy they made each other.

As he watched his friend carefully throughout, Daniel didn't know if Jack could've taken much more than that. Jack had barely held himself together, struggling every second to keep the tears from falling. Daniel thought to himself that it must be a terrible thing to love someone so much and to never have the opportunity to say 'I'm sorry.'

He was also grateful that, unlike Jack, he did not have to hide his emotions. He cried several times during the sermon, utterly saddened by the loss of two such vibrant people whose lives had been unfairly cut short.

When the service was over, the flag on Sam's coffin was folded back and the casket opened for viewing. Sam's body lay safely encased in the casket. Daniel half-expected her to be in her Air Force dress blues, but she was instead dressed in a simple navy blue dress. In fact Sam appeared much like she had when Daniel had last seen her, except that her body was now just an empty shell as far as Daniel was concerned.

Emma's casket, out of respect to Alec Colson, was thankfully left closed. Friends and colleagues marched by in a line, paying their last respects to Sam and Emma. The only ones who remained seated were those sitting on the front rows.

Throughout the ceremony and viewing Alec Colson remained stoically seated in the front pew, exhibiting no emotion whatsoever. The only action he took was to put his arm around Cassie who had begun crying as soon as she saw Sam's body within the coffin. He did not cry. In fact, he appeared abnormally calm and relaxed throughout the service.

Once the sanctuary had finally cleared of all the people except those sitting in the front pews, the coffin was again closed and covered with the flag. A group of pallbearers escorted the two coffins out of the room, followed by a somber Alec Colson still comforting Cassie as they walked together out of the sanctuary.

Carly Turner, who had been overseeing some details at the front of the church, approached the men sitting in the front pew and addressed them, "You all are going to the graveside service? It would mean so much to Mr. Colson. Sam always told him that you were her family – that is you three, Cassie, Teal'c…along with Mark and his family."

Daniel nodded in appreciation, "We would be happy to, Carly. Thank you for asking. It was a beautiful service, by the way."

"Thanks. We tried to keep it as simple as possible. You know Sam…she would never have liked a lot of fuss."

Daniel laughed. "Yeah…she never took compliments well. She always said that she was just doing her job. I can just imagine the cringe on her face if she saw all of the tributes they have had on TV this week."

Carly smiled sadly. "Yeah…that was Sam all right. I'll look forward to seeing you all at the cemetery."

Once Carly had left, Daniel turned to Jack and Hammond. "Well, it looks like we are invited to the private family service. Do you need a ride, General Hammond?"

"That would be nice, Dr. Jackson," the older general replied.

As the three men were walking out to the rental car in the parking lot, Jack suddenly stopped Daniel and pulled him to one side. Whispering so that no one else could hear, Jack asked, "Did you think Colson looked like a man who had just lost his wife and only living child?"

"I don't know, Jack. People grieve in different ways. Perhaps he is still in the denial stage or something."

Jack shook his head skeptically as he put on his sunglasses. "Colson's hiding something…and I'm going to find out what it is."

Daniel walked off towards the car, responding only with a disapproving shake of his head. As far as Daniel was concerned, Jack's vendetta against Alec Colson was merely a product of his residual jealousy over Sam. Jack stormed after him, ignoring Daniel's reaction, with a new sense of purpose in his step.

The three men then got into the car and drove off to say their last goodbyes to their beloved friend and comrade.

TBC