One week later
"Receiving Tok'ra IDC, sir!" the tech said.
"Well, open it," Jack said impatiently.
The iris opened and two members of the Tok'ra stepped out of the event horizon onto the ramp. Jacob Carter and Yosuf, his two favorite snake-heads – not that he liked that many snakes – looked up at the control room, and Jacob sent a little wave up to Jack.
Jack jogged down the stairs and went into the embarkation room. "Jacob!" he said. "Selmak. Yosuf. Garshaw," he added a little confusedly. "Hi to all of you."
Yosuf and Jacob exchanged amused glances, then Yosuf took his shoulders and planted a warm kiss on each cheek. "It's nice to see you again, Colonel," she said, raising her eyebrows at the sniggers from some of the SFs.
"Nothin' to see here!" Jack snapped. "Get outta here!" The SFs left hurriedly "No respect," he complained in his best Rodney Dangerfield impression. "I get no respect."
Not surprisingly, that was lost on Yosuf. "You are incorrect, Colonel," she said. "You engender much respect; not just from your own, but from Selmak, Garshaw and myself."
Jacob looked around. "Where's Sam?" he asked.
"Ah, just collecting the last of her toys," Jack said. "She'll be here in a couple."
"I hear you're gonna be a father again," Jacob said. "Congratulations."
"Yes, well …". O'Neill smiled. "It's pretty weird at my age, but there ya go." Never thought he'd be changing diapers at forty nine. Just goes to show; life could still surprise you. "And speak of the devil."
He smirked at Carter as she came in with a large box in her hands, followed by several Airmen with trolleys. "Geez, Carter; why not just take the 'gate while you're at it?" he complained.
She returned the smirk. "I'm not under your command any more, Colonel," she said. "D'you really want me to respond to that?"
"Ah … no," Jack said. During the last couple of weeks, Carter had shown herself to have a very sharp – very nasty – sense of humor and had got him a number of times.
He lifted the Velcro covering his watch. Damn; where were the kids? Ah, there they were! The evil doc, Kawalsky, Daniel and Teal'c came in. "The gang's all here, Carter," he said.
Teal'c came over to her. "Samantha Carter; be well," he said. "I will think of you as we fight separately against the false gods." He bowed. "Tek matté."
She stretched upward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Tek ma'tek, Teal'c," she replied.
"Sam; we kinda gave you a hard time when you first joined the SGC," Kawalsky said. "Thought you were gonna be just another feminist super-bitch." He grinned. "I'm glad I was wrong."
Carter chuckled. "I didn't exactly help with that line about reproductive organs," she said. "I was a little … tense back then."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh, now she admits it," he said.
"Well, you're a great scientist, a kick-ass soldier … and you're hot," Kawalsky said. "I can tell you that now you can't bring me up on charges."
She coughed. "Hot?"
"Yeah. Still a bit skinny, but get a few pounds on you …".
"Uh … Kawalsky; have you met my dad?" Carter said hurriedly. "Major Charles Kawalsky; Major General Jacob Carter." Evil, evil woman.
Jack had never seen Kawalsky go so white. He snapped up straight and saluted. "Sir!" he said. "No disrespect intended."
Jacob chuckled. "At ease, Major," he said.
"We'll miss you, Sam," Daniel offered, giving her a gentle hug and a soft kiss to the cheek.
"That goes ditto for me, Sam," Fraiser said, glaring at Kawalsky.
The Major took a step backward, holding up his palms in an apologetic gesture. Jack had suspected for a while that his 2IC had a crush on the doc, but he didn't want to know. The Air Force had strict codes on fraternization and while he wasn't big on some rules, that one was pretty damn important.
"Chevron four; encoded!" the tech said from the control room.
Carter looked overwhelmed, then she went white when General Hammond came in. "Sir!" she said.
"George," he said gently. "I'm not your CO any more." He nodded to Jacob – the two were old friends. "Hey, Jake," he added. "Look after this one; she's special."
"I know, George," Jacob said.
"Good luck, Sam; and be happy," Hammond said, patting her shoulder.
"Thank you," Carter nearly whispered.
"Chevron seven; locked!"
The wormhole gushed briefly into the embarkation room, then settled back, shimmering.
"Guess that's my cue," Carter said. She gripped the strap of her duffel tightly and stared at Jack with big eyes.
"Get your butt over here, Carter!" he ordered. She did so and he wrapped his arms round her, ducking his face briefly into her neck. "Remember. You are Sam Carter; you're not a victim."
"I'll miss you, sir," she said.
"I'll miss you too, Carter," he said. He gave her a cheeky grin, trying to lighten the moment. She looked like she was about to burst into tears, and he knew she'd hate that. "You have the best doohickeys on the base."
She spluttered with laughter. "That doesn't sound so good, sir … Jack," she said, sliding out of his embrace and retrieving one of her boxes.
He chuckled. "Come to think of it; you're right," he said. "Well, I never claimed to be good with the words." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. "So … see ya, Sam."
She brushed a quick kiss on his cheek. "Bye," she said. Then she stepped up the ramp, paused at the event horizon and turned to look at them one more. She took a deep breath, then turned back and stepped through the 'gate to her new life.
One year later
"Receiving Tok'ra IDC!" Sergeant Harriman said.
"Open the iris, Sergeant," Hammond told him. It had been a year since Sam Carter had left the SGC to live with the Tok'ra and they hadn't heard from her in that time. They'd seen Jacob a few times and he'd indicated that she was doing well, beginning to cope with the traumas inflicted on her body and spirit, but they hadn't actually seen her.
Much had changed in that year.
Major Kawalsky had asked for transfer to the Alpha Site, citing his wish to pursue a relationship with Doctor Fraiser. They'd been together for six months now, and the wedding was set for next year.
Doctor Jackson was involved with a fellow archeologist; a young British woman called Sarah Gardiner. They'd been involved before he joined the SGC and had met again six months ago when Sarah had been briefly taken over by a Goa'uld called Osiris. The Tok'ra had helped remove the Goa'uld, but as a result Sarah had learned all about the Stargate. She now worked at the SGC and was part of Doctor Jackson's research team.
Teal'c had been given permission to live off-base and so far it was going well. There'd been a couple incidents due to his own unswerving code of honor, but his neighbors loved that about him – and he'd built up quite the fan club.
Perhaps the biggest change had occurred in Jack O'Neill's life. Laira had given birth to their baby shortly after Captain Carter had left for Vorash. Unfortunately, she'd died in childbirth, leaving O'Neill to face single parenthood. His little girl was – quite frankly – adorable. Petite and delicate, taking after her mother, but with O'Neill's mischievous brown eyes. And just like her father, she could be cranky and bullheaded. Hammond chuckled at that.
The Colonel had chosen to withdraw from active duty, but had stayed with the SGC as Hammond's 2IC and chief tactical officer. He still went off world on occasion, but was no longer part of a first contact team.
SG-1 – the original SG-1 – was no more. But change comes to everyone, and it was only an idiot who refused to accept change.
Sam Carter headed along the corridor to the Colonel's after promising to spend some time with her old friends and pushed back her hair. It had grown in the last year, and was nearly at her shoulders now.
She'd missed her friends, but knew that she'd done the right thing by spending time with her dad – she was finally beginning to heal. She knocked softly on the door frame, then poked her head around the open door. "Sir?" she said.
His office – never the neatest place in the world – looked like it had been hit by a Mark Four. Papers were everywhere, toys littered the floor and a playpen stood near his desk.
And the Colonel … He lay back in his leather chair, boots propped up on his desk, unabashedly sleeping. In fact, he was even snoring. One arm dangled while the other supported his little girl on his chest. She was gorgeous. Light brown curls, big brown eyes and sweet dimples. She gurgled happily and wrapped her hand around her daddy's middle finger.
As for the Colonel. He was looking very well. Some more silver had crept into his hair – which was as unruly as ever – but he looked lean, tanned and healthy. And pretty sexy too, she had to admit. She'd always thought him an attractive man, but she only now realized just how gorgeous he actually was. A little older than her, but very … hot.
"Da … da …". The little girl bounced against her father and he woke up with a start.
"Hey, baby," he croaked, his eyes now fully open. Then he grinned. "Hey, Carter!" he said. "Welcome back to Planet Earth."
"Thanks, sir," she said, returning the grin.
"What's it worth for you not to tell anyone about me catching zees at my desk?" he asked.
"Oh, you couldn't afford it, sir," she teased. "No; your secret's safe with me," she added. She nodded to the baby, who was watching her with great big eyes. "What's her name, sir?"
"Jack," he corrected. "For cryin' out loud, Carter – you're not in the Air Force anymore. Call me Jack."
"Then I'm Sam; not Carter," she acquiesced.
"Fair enough." He got up, his daughter now secure on his hip, and stretched his long lean frame. "Anyway, Laira and I wanted to name her after the strongest women we know," he replied. He took one of Sam's hands. "Her first name is Kareen after Laira's mother. And her second … Samantha."
Sam blinked back a tear. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'm sorry about Laira," she added.
"Yeah; me too," Jack said. "She would've loved to see Kareen grow up."
His eyes shadowed and she recalled that Jack had missed out on seeing his first child grow up. Taking a leaf from his book, she whispered "Come here" and drew him into a gentle hug, kissing his cheek.
Jack brushed a soft sweet kiss to her lips and she didn't pull away. "Thanks, Sam," he murmured.
She smiled against his lips, then he became aware of Kareen heading determinedly to the door in her weird half-crawling half-toddling gait. "Whoa there, Houdini!" He jolted out of the chair and scooped up his errant daughter, putting her into her playpen. She began to play with one of her toys as he sat back down. "So … how ya doing really, Sam?" he asked.
"Better," Sam said. "I still have bad days, but I'm starting to get some distance from it." She shrugged.
"That's good," Jack said. He worried his bottom lip. "Uhh … while you're in town, you wanna maybe go out with me?"
"I'd like that … Jack," she replied.
His mouth split into a wide smile. "Cool!" he said, dropping another kiss onto her lips.
He grunted in surprise when she put her hands to the back of his neck and tugged him into a deep passionate kiss, her slim frame pressing up against his larger one. For several long seconds, their tongues parried and clashed and heavy breathing filled the air. Then she pulled back with a final hard kiss to his lips. "Very cool," she said with a smirk.
She got up and sauntered to the doorway. "Eight o'clock tonight – O'Malley's?" she added.
He just nodded, still stunned at the erotic sensations charging through his body. "Yeah," he managed to get out.
Sam walked out, waggling her fingers at him and Kareen in a jaunty farewell and Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat as body parts continued to make themselves known.
"Colonel O'Neill to the briefing room!" the PA blared out.
Crap. Could the timing be any worse? He got up and tugged at his jacket, trying to hide his arousal. Thank God for baggy BDUs!
THE END