A/N: So all I can say is that I'm sorry that it has been so long. I will make no excuses and just tell you the truth – I had a really hard time writing this chapter. Luckily though, I did get 90 of the end done so hopefully it will start coming faster then this. Oh, a couple of notes… There will be some third person from Jack's POV in here. I know you all liked Kawalsky's POV but I had this planned from the beginning. Hopefully it will be clear when they switch. Also, I know Sam isn't wearing her jacket in the office scene at the beginnings of Threads but I couldn't figure out how else to do it. I tried to stick to the episode as best as I could otherwise. And thank you so much for all the reviews last time! I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter as much.

Warning: this has HUGE spoilers for the season 8 episode Threads. If you don't want to know what happens, please stop reading.

"Kawalsky?"

"Hey, Jack," I said. "It's been a while."

Chapter 2

And then I noticed the stars. Who in their right mind…

"You're a general?"

Jack picked up the coffee cup on his desk and peered into it, giving it a little extra swirl for emphasis. "I will never trust Walter with my coffee again." He poked at it, peered at it and eventually put it back on the desk.

"Sometimes a coffee is just a coffee, Jack."

"Well I like it better then the alternative."

"Which is?"

"That I've finally lost it."

I started laughing. "I'll say." Jack looked up at me sharply. "I mean, not only was somebody crazy enough to make you a general but you actually accepted." Jack glared at me for a few moments, I just stared back, full of mirth.

Finally he said, "They say that the more you acknowledge a hallucination, the more real it seems."

"Do they?" I asked with real interest. I'd never heard that before.

"I have no idea," Jack admitted.

"I'm not a hallucination, Jack."

"No, you're not. You're dead," Jack said. It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself that though.

Okay, so this might be a problem. I hadn't really considered the possibility that Jack wouldn't believe that I was really here. No one had mentioned I'd actually have to convince Jack that I wasn't some figment of his imagination.

"Well, the powers that be decided to give me a second chance," I said.

"So, not dead?" He asked, giving me a confused look and a raised eyebrow.

"No, I am."

Jack rubbed his temples and shook his head. "You ascended?"

"I've been given a task," I said, deciding it was best not to go any further into the discussion of just what exactly I was. It would only confuse the both of us. Jack was rapping his fingers on the desk and giving me a look that clearly said to continue. "To pull your head out of your ass."

There was silence. A long silence. "Well, as long as you're around and being a nuisance, mind doing me a favor? Go get Carter for me and –"

"I can't, Jack," I interrupted before he could get too far.

He turned suddenly angry and pointed a finger at me rather threateningly. "Don't give me that crap about not affecting the lower planes. I've heard it before. I didn't buy it then, and I'm not buying it now."

"No, I mean I can't," I said again. "You're the only one who can see or hear me."

"Well what good are you then?"

I was about to tell Jack that I wasn't sent to be his personal assistant when an airman I vaguely recognized knocked on Jack's half open door.

"Sir, Agent Johnson is here to see you," he said to Jack. I stood there awkwardly realizing for the first time how hard it was not being seen by anyone but Jack.

"Thank you, Walter. You can send her in." Jack then turned to me. "Look, Kawalsky, whatever you're here to say, say it and leave. Now really isn't a good time for me. I've got a mountain of paperwork, one of my best men is missing, there's still the threat of this ancient weapon –"

But before he could finish, Jack was interrupted by the arrival of one Agent Johnson. And to be quite frank, at that moment I would have given just about anything to be real flesh and blood.

88888888888

"I can come back if this isn't a good time, General," Kerry Johnson said as she stood in the door way of Jack's office. She had caught the tail end of Jack's little speech and seeing no one else in the room, figured it was meant for her ears.

Jack looked away from Kawalsky and stood up. "No, come in. I was just talking to myself." He knew it wasn't the best cover up but didn't have the energy to try harder. Kerry didn't push it and Jack was grateful for it.

"I brought by the reports on our latest suspicions," Kerry said as she handed Jack a vanilla folder. "You said to keep you informed."

"So I did." Jack took the report, letting his hand brush against Kerry's for a moment longer then was completely necessary. But as soon as he could, Jack tossed it on the desk. Neither of them were under any false pretext that Jack would actually read the file. It wasn't that he didn't care about loose Gou'ald running rampant around Earth; it was that he had enough on his plate and trusted Kerry to take care of it. This was just an excuse to see each other and they both knew it.

Kawalsky came around to Jack's side of the desk and whistled. "You are one lucky son of a bitch, Jack." Jack turned and glared at his old buddy. What he would give to make Kawalsky leave right now.

"You sticking around for the weekend?" Jack asked.

"You still have the weekend off?" She asked, tucking a strand of loose curly hair behind her ear.

"How is it that you get everything, huh?" Kawalsky complained. Jack ignored him and turned his full attention on Kerry.

"As much as I could get off," he promised.

"You get promoted," Kawalsky continued, seemingly oblivious to what was going on in front of him. "You don't die –"

"Then I'll be here for the weekend." Kerry smiled and Jack found himself having to shake his head. Those thoughts needed to end right here. They were not appropriate on base. "I better go and make sure you actually have food in the fridge."

"I think I have pasta."

"Yeah?" Kerry laughed.

"And beer. I'll come home we'll talk about the Gou'ald situation –"

"- heck, you don't even become a snake head, you get this comfy chair – " Jack sneaked a quick look at Kawalsky who was currently treating Jack's office like it was his own. In an act of vengeance, Jack pushed the chair in roughly as he made his way over to Kerry and was rewarded with a bit of an umph.

If Jack had stopped to think about it, he would have realized something was wrong. The desk or chair should have gone right through his friend. But he was too preoccupied with the dazzling women in front of him to notice.

"Wine, Jack," she said. "We are not having beer with pasta."

"Yeah, okay," he consented. "I think I still have a bottle somewhere in the basement."

"Then we'll talk." Kerry had turned slightly, making it clear that she was leaving and that she meant anything but talk.

Jack smiled. "I'll tell you everything I know." And with one last flirtaous glance, she was gone and Jack shut the door behind her.

"– and you get the girl," Kawalsky was practically yelling. "Why? Why in all that is holy was it my turn to die?"

But as he turned to give his old friend a piece of his mind he found Carter standing in the briefing room, watching him with a suspicious look on her face. Making Kawalsky bug off was going to have to wait.

888888

In less time then it took to reload a P-90, the fun flirtaous atmosphere dissipated, only to be replaced with tension so thick I began to have trouble breathing. The cause of all this turned out to be someone I did recognize, Captain Samantha Carter – though by the leaves on her shoulders she wasn't a Captain anymore.

What else had I missed in the last eight years? Jack was now a Brigadier General and Carter had been promoted not once, but twice. What next? Dr. Daniel Jackson in charge of SG-1?

You die once and suddenly you're not in Kansas anymore.

"Forget it! I'm not fallin' for it this time," Jack was saying vehemently in a discussion I had been doing my best to ignore. It wasn't working as well as I had hoped.

"Falling for it?" Carter repeated slowly. There was something about her tone that I didn't like.

Jack leaned forward onto his elbows in all seriousness and said, "Yeah! How many times have you thought he was gone, and then he shows up – in one form or another. I'm sorry, but we're not having a memorial service for someone who is not dead."

Carter was still starring at Jack skeptically and it was obvious she wanted to say something but she wisely held back.

Cocking his head Jack yelled out, "You hear that! I'm not buyin' it!" Oh yeah, he had definitely lost it. Speaking to someone who wasn't there at all. Even Carter gave him a suspicious look. Jack turned back to her. "What? He's just waitin' for us to say a bunch of nice things about him. Next thing you know, he'll come waltzin' through that door," Jack held out his hand to the open door, "like, right now. Waltzing ... now."

But no one came through. Carter just shook her head and after a moment Jack looked back down at the paper work Agent Johnson had left for him. He tapped his pen against the desk a few times and then looked back up at Carter. "Anyway, until we hear from Daniel, SG-1 is on stand down."

"Sir?" Carter seemed stunned and I detected just a hint of panic in her voice.

"You're on leave, Carter, which means I want you to take a break." Jack paused for a moment and then seemed to remember something and added, "Off base."

Carter clenched her fists and opened her mouth to argue but all that came out was a very defiant, "Sir."

"Don't you have a wedding to plan?" Jack interrupted. Though it was said in a very light tone, there were harsh undertones to his words that made me pause. "You've been off world for quite a few days now, I'm sure Pete is eager to see you."

Carter smiled sadly and said softly, "Yes, Sir, I'll go inform Teal'c" before doing her own waltzing out of Jack's office.

I watched Carter leave and was surprised to see that Jack was watching as well. Oh well, if there was bad blood between them what did it matter? I wasn't here to deal with that. I wasn't here to deal with Carter. I was here to help Jack find his soul mate.

Pushing any thought of Carter from my mind I turned back to my friend. Agent Kerry Johnson was who I needed to be thinking about. "Like I said earlier, you are one lucky son of a bitch."

"I mean, she's beautiful," I said sinking into the chair opposite of Jack's desk and kicking my legs up onto it.

"I know," Jack replied.

"Her hair, her eyes, her legs… not to mention other aspects."

Jack smiled wistfully. "And she's smart, intelligent, and knows how to handle a stressful situation. She understands when I don't want to talk and she laughs at my jokes –"

I laughed. "Now that is hard to believe."

"Well, she at least smiles at them even when no one else will."

God my life was easy. They were obviously perfect for each other and obviously in love. In fact, this was beginning to sound a little too perfect. Why did the Higher Powers need me if Jack had already hooked up with his soul mate?

"Sounds like you have things pretty well under control," I said swinging my legs down from his desk. "So when are you going to ask her to marry you?"

Jack froze and starred at me in shock. The shock quickly turned to a glare and that was becoming darker and angrier by the second. "Kawalsky are you nuts? Maybe you didn't realize that these stars on my shoulder actually mean something, but I'm the commanding officer of this entire base. I can't date anyone under my command and most certainly not my 2IC. It's against regulations."

There was silence after Jack's spiel as my mind slowly began to process what he had said and a couple of missing puzzle pieces began to fill in.

"Who are you talking about, Jack?" I asked slowly.

"Huh?" This time it was Jack's turn to look startled.

"Cause I was talking about that beautiful CIA agent, Ms. Johnson."

"Oh, yeah, she's great."

But he didn't sound so sure. He sounded a bit distracted and he was starring at something in the briefing room. I turned and found myself looking once again at Carter. She was talking to a young captain that I didn't know but as I watched she looked back at us – no, at Jack – and smiled softly, a slight blush coming to her cheeks.

Now it all made sense; now I knew why I was needed here. Jack was clearly in love but someone was holding him back. I was here to get rid of that obstacle.

I had to remove one Samantha Carter from Jack's life.