A/N: Alright, I finally did it. The sequel finally came together, though I must say I never intended for it to be quite so long... This sequel is dedicated to Haylie, the person who has been bugging me since we watched "Threads" to write something (anything) including Daniel in a flag. I couldn't quite manage the actual flag, but I did mention it. I hope you all enjoy this!

Alteration Finds

When he woke up that morning, it had seemed like a normal summer day. Ryan had a baseball game, Maggie had to work at a basketball camp, he had a meeting at one, Cate had to go into the office for a bit… there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. That schedule, though, did not include a visit from his sister and that man. However, that was exactly what was happening.

Mark Carter had answered the strangely early ring of the doorbell only to find Samantha standing on his doorstep and that Jack O'Neill guy positioned about half a step behind her.

"Sammie? What are you doing here?" Mark couldn't help but look over the man next to his sister as he asked. Even though O'Neill was dressed in normal street clothes, there was a military air about him that Mark couldn't miss. It was that same air that unconsciously made him uncomfortable, an instinctive reaction triggered by the worst psychological remnants from his years of unfriendly estrangement from his father. He also looked worn, but beyond that there was something about his eyes that made his face look almost… fierce. Fierce and protective. Mark found the look more than a little unnerving.

"We need to talk. May we come in?" Sam looked about as nervous as Mark felt under O'Neill's glare, but beneath that he could sense a familiar determination he'd witnessed countless times when they were growing up. It had been there whenever they moved to a new neighborhood and had to make new friends all over again, it had been there when she told off the popular cliques at school that one time in junior high, it had been there when she'd told him and their dad to stop fighting back when their mom had just died, and it was there now.

"Yeah, of course," he replied, giving O'Neill another once over as he and Sam entered the house. "Excuse the mess. If you'd have called to say you were coming…"

"Sorry about that, Mark. I just wanted to make sure you'd actually talk to me and I figured this was the best way to assure that," Sam apologized while slipping out of her sandals and following Mark to the kitchen, O'Neill right behind her.

"Would you like anything for breakfast? We've got about seven different types of cereal and only one of those is pure sugar, I swear."

Sam looked up at Jack for a few moments while Mark watched them surreptitiously under the guise of making himself a bowl of Shredded Wheat. They didn't speak to each other, but apparently they didn't need to use words, or even hand signals, whistles, Morse code, semaphore flags, or any other form of communication Mark could think of at the moment in order to communicate. With a few raised eyebrows and a shrug from Jack, his sister seemed to know exactly what he wanted.

That's… that's just a little creepy, Mark thought. Since when did Samantha become so good at reading men?

"I'll just have a cup of coffee if you've got it, but Jack will have some of those Fruit Loops."

"Would Jack like coffee as well?" Mark asked. He didn't actually make eye contact with the man in question however. Sam noticed and frowned. She'd opened her mouth to reply with some none too pleasant words when a hand on her arm stopped her.

"Jack's fine at the moment," the man himself answered, keeping with the pattern and referring to himself in third person. "But Toto and Dorothy wouldn't mind a cup of the stuff."

It was a bad joke. Despite that, he saw his sister duck her head and stifle a smile behind her hand. Those actions alone made Mark want to stand and gape. He knew his sister was a genius, so how on Earth could she find something like that to be funny? When they were growing up she used to wipe the floor with boys who insulted her intelligence with sub par jokes and riddles. That she was now amused by them absolutely floored him. Part of Mark (the part that wasn't still gaping at her actions) thought that perhaps it was not that Sam appreciated the humor, but actually that she appreciated the man behind the humor infinitely so.

Mark was still puzzling over his sister's unfamiliar behavior when another person joined them in the kitchen. Probably for the first time in years, Mark failed to notice his son's tell-tale thumping as he made his way none too gracefully into the kitchen, still looking half asleep. He hadn't even realized his son was up; he was used to the kid sleeping in until at least ten in the summers.

"Aunt Sam?" asked Ryan in his deadpan 'I just woke up but I won't actually be fully functioning for a few more hours' voice.

"Hey, Ryan. How are you doing?" Sam greeted, smiling as Mark handed her cup of coffee to her. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Mark reluctantly getting Jack a bowl and spoon and pushing the carton of milk in his general direction. It wasn't exactly friendly, but it was a start at least.

"Great," the teen replied, though he sounded anything but that. "What are you doing here?" Mark glared at Ryan for his lack of politeness but Ryan ignored him, as teenagers were wont to do every now and then.

"We were in town and decided to stop by."

"But aren't you and dad still mad at each other?" There was an awkward silence during which Mark silently wished he could have made his son stay in bed another twenty or so minutes and Jack suddenly found his Fruit Loops the most interesting creations on the face of the planet. Sam was the only one of the three who didn't seem the least bit angry or awkward.

"Well, that's kind of why we're here. Jack and I, that is." Ryan paused, digesting the information and munching on the bowl of Cheerios he had poured for himself. Sam could almost literally see the cogs of his mind grinding underneath her nephew's shaggy brown mop of curls.

"Good, maybe Dad'll be in a better mood now." At this, Mark gave his son a look that clearly said there were limits to how patient he was going to be with him. Ryan just ignored him again and changed the subject. "Are you gonna come to my game tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. I don't see why not."

"Cool. I'll see you later Aunt Sam," Ryan said, taking his dishes to the sink and heading back upstairs, most likely to shower.

"Would you mind moving this discussion to the living room? We're much less likely to get interrupted in there," Mark suggested, still glaring slightly at the space his son had recently occupied at the table. Sam and Jack nodded in agreement and followed Mark to the other room, away from the comforting coffee aroma and into a fairly cluttered room that seemed to become exponentially messier each time Sam visited. She cleared herself a seat on one of the sofas, with Jack managing to squeeze himself in between her and a rather large box of unknown contents. Mark, however, chose to remain standing. Standing, after all, made pacing much easier.

Mark drummed his fingers absently on the wall a bit, filling the tense silence of the room with at least some noise. "So," he began eventually, not sure quite how to get the conversation rolling but suddenly finding himself getting quite desperate to get the thing over and done with.

"So," Sam echoed, words seeming to fail her as well. Next to her, Jack bit his tongue as he endured more uncomfortable silence. He'd done negotiations before, but somehow he figured locking the Carter siblings in a small room together wasn't in his best interests. They were just going to have to talk it out and he was just going to have to sit quietly through it. You're doing this for Sam… you're doing this for Sam…he repeated in his mind.

"This is a reconciliation visit?" Mark finally managed.

"Yes… we seem to have a lot of those, don't we?"

"Mmmm…"

"So…"

"Yeah…" A heavy silence settled in over the room as both siblings worked up the nerve to say a sentence that was neither monosyllabic nor did it state the obvious. Jack discretely slipped his hand over Sam's, squeezing gently in a reassuring manner. They'd come this far… there was no backing out now… and besides, he was still going to be there for her at the end of the day no matter what transpired next. He'd promised he would never leave her side, and Jack O'Neill didn't back out on promises like that.

"I'm sorry, Mark."

"I'm sorry, Sammie."

The apologies were simultaneous and with them came a palpable release of tension. Sam almost felt like laughing at her own prior nervousness. Mark, for his part, was doing a spectacular job looking penitent; of course, Sam surmised, he'd had much more practice than she'd had since he was married and she had never been.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack sat back and watched the Carter siblings in something approaching awe. Once they'd gotten through the initial apologies, the conversation had flowed much easier. He didn't release his hold on Sam's hand, though; he didn't want to break contact any sooner than was necessary. After all, it had been nearly a month since he'd gotten to see her in person! But besides that, Jack knew how much she'd worried about this meeting with Mark. He'd gotten more than a few distressed phone calls from Sam over the last few weeks or so explaining just how nervous she was about this. She needed support. The first time she'd had Jacob with her (actually, if he remembered correctly, it was Jacob who was doing most of the apologizing) but this time she didn't have him. This time all she had was Jack and he wasn't going to break that important connection with her any sooner than necessary.

Eventually, though, Jack's self-appointed job as Sam's pillar of strength turned into a test of willpower. He began to feel like fifth wheel as the conversation drifted to more personal issues, especially when Mark and Sam started to discuss the topic of Pete Shanahan. It seemed that ol' Pete was part of the core reason they'd fought in the first place. Now that was one topic that didn't lose its unpleasant edge with the passage of time, at least not for Jack. Before things got too uncomfortable for him, he excused himself with the intention of making himself a cup of the coffee he'd earlier declined. He'd made it quite clear to Sam before he left, though, that if anything, anything at all bothered or upset her, all she had to do was call and he'd be right there.

Jack ended up going through every cabinet trying to find a mug and making a fair bit of noise while doing so. Eventually he found one hiding behind the blender; it looked a little dusty but other than that fit for holding his coffee. Jack wasn't picky or even discerning about his coffee like some archeologists he knew nor did he care how it was contained just so long as he could drink it. He had just emptied the pot into the mug when another member of Mark's family entered the kitchen, gazing at him suspiciously.

"Who are you?" asked the teenage girl, muddy blonde hair tied back in a low ponytail. She looked fairly athletic and was dressed in red basketball shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. As Jack stared blankly at her with his cup of coffee stuck halfway between the counter and his mouth, he decided she looked like a suspicious, teenage, basketball playing female version of Mark and that she probably thought him a very strange burglar at the moment. He set his coffee down before speaking.

"Jack O'Neill, and you are…?" He answered as if his presence in that kitchen was a completely normal and everyday event. Jack had a feeling that he was supposed to remember the girl's name, but at the moment it was escaping him. The only thing his mind could think of was 'Magdalena', but he knew that wasn't it because that was the name of one of the nuns that had taught him in first grade.

"Maggie."

Ooo… so close, Jack! "Ah, so you're Sam's niece."

"How do you know Aunt Sam?"

Geez, haven't I been interrogated by enough Carters for one lifetime already! "I used to work with her in Colorado."

"Wait a sec; you were at Grandpa Jacob's funeral weren't you?"

"Yes, I was there." Finally, I'm getting a little recognition around here!

"Oh now I remember! You're the guy dad was complaining about for the entire drive to the airport last May! Are you here with Aunt Sam?"

Glad I'm so fondly remembered…Jack grouched to himself before replying. "Yeah, she's in that room over there talking things over with him."

"It's about damn time," Maggie grumbled quietly, going over to the toaster and sticking in two slices of bread.

"Amen to that," Jack replied softly into his coffee.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two hours passed. Two excruciatingly long hours during which Jack paced, worried, wished Teal'c and Daniel hadn't opted to stay at the hotel until they were done at Mark's, and nearly broke at least five fairly expensive-looking crystal glasses when he fiddled with some beaded decoration around the neck of a champagne flute. Maggie, who had been finishing up her breakfast at the time, had actually burst out laughing at his panicked expression and frantic saving of the glassware.

"You know, Mom managed to convince Dad not to strangle you once. I'm not sure she'd enjoy having to do it again," she called before grabbing a gym bag, basketball, and car keys and heading out the door.

Jack grimaced and poured himself another bowl of Fruit Loops. He was really going to have to thank 'Mom' when he saw her.

Sam and Mark entered the kitchen again soon after that. They weren't smiling per say, but both had a sort of relieved glow about hanging about them. They'd apparently come to a mutual decision, though what that was exactly Jack couldn't tell. He didn't ask, though, as Sam hugged Mark tightly. It wasn't his place to interrupt a family moment.

"We'll see you later for the game," she whispered to her brother before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Come on, Jack. The guys are probably getting a little antsy by now."

"You explained to Mark that Danny and T are here too?" Jack asked quietly, feeling the eyes of Sam's nephew glued on his back as they made their way out through the front door. The kid was probably hiding behind a banister or something, but Jack didn't care to check.

"Yeah, I told him we were having a bit of a reunion and that Sea World would eventually be involved." Sam could tell Jack's eyebrows were approaching his hairline without even looking back at him.

"Sea World? Nobody mentioned Sea World to me," Jack complained, feeling a little hurt he was so out of the loop but excited nevertheless.

"Well, nobody would have. It was my decoy." She had her back to Jack so she missed the look of childish disappointment that passed quickly over his face. "I didn't want Mark knowing he was the only reason we're all in San Diego. Don't want to make him feel that important, now do I?" Sam turned, flashing a familiar devious yet entirely brilliant smile his way.

"I am so entirely relieved you are not my little sister."

"So am I. Otherwise we'd be breaking some pretty big laws every time we so much as kiss."

"Hey! You know what I mean. And wipe that smirk off your face!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'The boys', as it turned out, weren't so much antsy as they were simply bored. Thankfully, neither Daniel nor Teal'c was anywhere near as fidgety as Jack was when he was bored so they at least managed to keep the lamps and appliances in the hotel room and lobby in one piece. They'd found slightly less destructive ways of occupying themselves until their friends returned from the most important phase of Operation: Carter. Daniel had, of course, brought work-type things along with him and was going through characteristically thick tomes dealing with Medieval England's mythology while Teal'c occupied himself with the massage chair in the lobby. Every so often he would reach over in Daniel's direction and the archeologist would hand over a few more bills without even looking up from his reading. Their behavior raised more than a few eyebrows, but the friends didn't even notice.

Teal'c's latest session in the massage chair had just run out when they heard the distinctive voice of Jack O'Neill over the organized chaos of the lobby.

"All I'm saying is that we should find somewhere better to park. That parking lot attendant is too cheeky for his own good," Jack grouched as they approached their friends.

"Jack! Sam! How'd everything go?" Daniel greeted her and Jack when they finally maneuvered their way over to where he and Teal'c had been waiting. He was dressed in jeans and a collared shirt; not exactly touristy, but the closest to touristy as Dr. Daniel Jackson ever got. Teal'c on the other hand was decked out in cargo shorts and a glaring Hawaiian shirt, a bucket hat covering his forehead. At least after all these years Sam, Jack, and Daniel had learned how to take Teal'c's clothing sense in stride. That didn't mean everyone else who passed the large man in the massage chair took it equally as well, however. At that moment, a kid tripped over his rolling luggage as his eyes lingered too long on the Jaffa and went tumbling across the lobby.

"Better than expected, though not everything's completely alright yet," Sam replied, completely ignoring the mini-accident scene behind her. Immediately both Daniel and Teal'c looked over to Jack in what could only be construed as an accusing glare.

"Hey! What are you looking at me for?"

"Your reputation for diplomacy is not nearly as strong as your reputation as a warrior, O'Neill," Teal'c stated plainly, looking his friend square in the eye.

"Yeah, Jack… you're not exactly known for making tense situations better," Daniel added, wondering not for the first time if it was wise for Jack to go to Mark Carter's house when he was obviously one of the reasons Mark was pissed in the first place.

"Hey, I know I've been known to screw things up royally before, but this time it wasn't me! Alright?"

"Jack's right, guys. Mark and I still have a few issues to work out on our own. However, in an attempt to do so, I plan on going to my nephew's baseball game tonight. Anyone else want to join me?"

It wasn't really much of a question. There was never any doubt that Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c would be tagging along too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Has T ever been to a baseball game, Sam?" Mark whispered to his sister during the top of the third inning. Ryan's team was batting at the moment, but Ryan was pretty far down the line up at the moment so Mark allowed himself to relax his focus on the game for a few minutes.

"I don't think he's actually been to one, but I know he occasionally watches them on TV. T's not big into watching sports; he prefers to actually be playing them," Sam whispered back, glancing over at her Jaffa friend who was currently downing a large bottle of water. He'd been asking question after question, much to the annoyance of not only Mark, but also to Jack who thought the Jaffa would be able to remember more of the rules of the game he'd first explained just under a decade ago. When Daniel eventually had attempted to re-explain the rules of the game to him, Sam had almost ended up on the ground laughing. Between the two of them, they managed to mangle the rules and objectives so completely that she was positive they weren't talking about Earth baseball by the end of it.

"Did you have to bring all of your guy friends along to San Diego?" Mark complained softly. He hadn't meant for his sister to hear. She had, though; years in the field had honed her hearing abilities and now was just one of the many times when Mark regretted burying that bit of information in the back of his mind.

"I told you this morning, Mark. We're all here together. I didn't bring them along for the ride; I'm sure they could all think up better things to do with their vacation time than watch you and me work out our differences." Sam's retort had a sharp edge to it that made Mark uneasy. Her voice had taken on that same tone the night of the wake. Mark knew very well it was a dangerous tone.

"Still, it's a little… weird…" he mumbled to himself, not knowing the exact word to describe the way he felt around Sam's colleagues and friends but not wanting to set Sam off by saying something insulting either. Somehow he always felt like he was walking in on a very exclusive inside joke whenever he was around them and that no matter how much he hung around, he would never quite get it. It was frustrating, a little unnerving, and after a while it felt like he was vying for his sister's attention. He went along with their presence, though, because he knew what they meant to Sam; at the funeral and the wake they were the ones who supported her, not him, her very own brother. They were the ones who'd spoken during the service, the ones who'd set up the wake, and the ones (and one specifically) whom Sam had run to after she had argued with him in the car.

They were by all accounts an insanely mismatched group of friends. A quite obviously career military man with the oddest sense of humor Mark had seen in ages, an archeologist who apparently was severely allergic to anything that reproduced with pollen or shed, a mysterious and stoic man who was probably a bouncer, a hit man, or some sort of an eccentric designer, and his sister, the geeky and brilliant military officer… Mark had been thinking about it ever since the funeral and he'd yet to figure out how any of them related to each other, let alone had become friends. He wasn't even going to start to fathom what his sister saw in Jack O'Neill. However, even he had to admit that there was something special about their relationship. Just from seeing them interact together this morning he could tell that. Hell, he would have had to have been blind not to see it.

When it came down to it, he was jealous. Jealous that she had found a family to replace him and their father and jealous that she'd found the man she truly and deeply loved all on her own. Jealous that she had people in her life who seemed to know each other inside and out and would probably go through hell and back for each other if need be. Sure, Mark loved his family and wouldn't trade them in for all the kingdoms of the world, but that didn't stop a little twinge of envy to spring up every time he saw Sam with them.

"Mark? Mark, Ryan's on deck. It looks like he'll probably bat this inning," Sam hissed at him, nudging him none too gently in the side to get his attention.

"Hey, cut it out Sammie. You've got sharp elbows, you know?" he complained, shaking his head as if that action were able to physically disperse his recent musings. Mark thought he heard O'Neill mumble something like 'You have no idea' but the connotations of such an utterance disturbed him so much that he blocked it out of his mind completely.

Ryan did indeed get a chance to bat, not that it ended up doing any good for his team. He was eventually struck out on a full count. At one point, Daniel and Jack had to restrain Teal'c from standing up and upbraiding the umpire (in his intimidating yet formal voice, of course) for calling a strike when he was convinced the pitcher had thrown a ball. At that point, most of the opposing team's parents sitting around Teal'c decided to move to different seats, some discretely while others basically sprinted to the farthest available spot.

"The umpire appears to not be able to see the ball accurately, O'Neill. This is the twentieth time he has made such an erroneous call. Should he not be relieved of his duties?" Teal'c reasoned once Jack and Daniel had him firmly ensconced on the bleacher once more.

"Uh… sadly, no," Jack answered cautiously. "Remember, it doesn't work that way. Umpires are only human, after all, and you know how many mistakes we tend to make." Teal'c didn't respond, instead exhaling strongly. At least he relaxed a bit so the other spectators weren't quite so scared to be within a five mile radius of him.

The rest of the game progressed without incident, though when Ryan Carter made a fairly miraculous diving catch in the sixth, Mark was sure Sam, her friends, and himself would have tipped over the bleachers in their enthusiasm had they not been bolted to the concrete. The catch aside, Ryan's team ended up losing. The boy's slightly sullen attitude as he met Mark and Sam after the game attested to that fact. Both siblings tried to convince Ryan it wasn't all that bad of a loss and that his team (and him in particular) had played very well but for the longest time it seemed as if he wasn't buying their compliments.

"Are you guys staying for dinner, Aunt Sam?" Ryan asked out of the blue. For the split second before he asked his question, both Sam and Mark had been convinced that they'd finally managed to snap the kid out of his minor stupor. After he asked, Sam supposed they had done that in a way, just not the way either of them planned.

"Uh, I don't know. We didn't discuss it," Mark answered honestly, looking over at his sister who for once looked just as nonplussed as him.

"I guess we could stay. That is, unless you guys don't have enough food for four more adults…"

"We don't. But we can go out to eat instead," Ryan supplied matter-of-factly. He looked up at his dad, noticing his 'And who exactly will be financing this adventure?' look and ignoring it. "Let's go to Zeppo's. We haven't been there in ages!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What am I supposed to wear to this dinner thing? Semi-formal? Casual? Do you think I can get away with wearing jeans?" Daniel fretted once done with his shower, tossing through his suitcase and looking for a suitable outfit for their dinner with the Carters. He had convinced the group that a shower and a change before dinner would be a good thing, especially since he had after the game somehow managed to stand next to a puddle of muddy water that a truck just happened to drive through at that exact moment.

"Daniel Jackson, your worries are unnecessary. You have packed several outfits that will fit the occasion," Teal'c assured his friend from his perch on his bed. It didn't have the magic fingers machine he liked so much, but it was by no means a shoddy bed. He watched Daniel rummage through the tiny closet with great amusement, while he himself was already dressed in a nice polo shirt and khakis. His forehead covered this time by a stylish fedora.

"But I know this means a lot to Sam. I don't want to make a bad impression on her family or anything. Would you wear the green or the blue shirt with these pants?" Daniel continued to worry, the damp ends of his hair dripping water onto his glasses and obscuring his vision slightly.

"I would wear neither."

"Neither?"

"Neither color flatters the tone of the slacks. If I were in your place, I would choose the maroon."

"Are you sure? Doesn't the maroon look a little… I dunno, flashy?"

"If you are so indecisive about your wardrobe, perhaps you would be better off in a flag?"

Daniel sputtered and dropped the hangers and shirts he had been holding while he deliberated. "What! Teal'c! What on Earth are you talking about!"

"I have it on good account that your flag outfit was one of your most popular with the personnel of the base."

Daniel remained silent, gathering the clothes that had fallen to the floor in his surprise. Those damn nurses! After all these years, they were still up to their old tricks! No matter what, his most embarrassing escapades always seemed to come back to haunt him in the worst ways possible, and it usually started with one of the nurses mentioning something to Sam, Jack, or occasionally Teal'c. He was successfully able to stifle a groan of embarrassment, but he could still feel his cheeks coloring. Damn them!

"I think I'll go with the maroon."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Nice shirt, Daniel," Jack teased under his breath while the he and the Carters, Daniel, and Teal'c were waiting to be seated at Zeppo's, a run of the mill Italian place. Daniel almost didn't hear the jab over the numerous rambunctious children bouncing around in their seats and getting bright red sauce all over their clothing. He did though, and discretely elbowed Jack in the ribs in return.

"Behave," hissed Sam to the two of them as a hostess who didn't look a day over seventeen seated them at a table as far away from the spaghetti-throwing children as possible.

"Yes, mother," Daniel replied with an eye roll. Jack just stuck with a trademark smirk.

A perky waitress came by once they were all seated and brought them water. She couldn't have been more than twenty-five and yet she immediately took a shining to Daniel, smiling at him not so coyly when he gave her his drink order. While his friends were more than used to Daniel's effect on women and simply laughed it off, Mark raised his eyebrows and Cate nearly choked on her water. Maggie and Ryan just gave the waitress glares that said something to the effect of 'are you insane!' and went back to bickering about some television show.

"Does that happen often?" Mark asked the group when the waitress had finally left.

"More often than you know," Jack smirked into his glass.

"So, Mark, what do you do for a living?" Daniel changed topics, purposely ignoring Jack's latest comment.

"Uh, I work at an insurance firm downtown."

"Worked there long?"

"Nearly fifteen years now, actually. I started right out of post-grad. Sammie tells me you're an archeologist."

"That's right."

"So how'd you get roped in with my sister's crowd? I mean, you're not exactly military or a science geek so I'd think all that deep space telemetry stuff must be pretty boring for you."

"Uh… not exactly. It's kind of a long story, but I've been with them since the beginning of the program and I couldn't dream of doing anything else," Daniel deftly evaded truly answering Mark's question. "Hey," he began as an idea popped into his head, "have you ever heard how Sam and Jack met?"

"No. What happened?" Cate had jumped in at this point, her interest piqued by Daniel's slightly devious yet completely innocent look. Even Teal'c was doing his own version of a smile by now.

"Daniel, you don't need to tell -"

"Sam joined the briefing a little late," Daniel related despite Sam's protests and her rapidly flushing skin. Over the last few months especially, Feretti and some of the other guys who's been at the first briefing had taken to giving the couple more than a little good-natured grief about their rather explosive first encounter. Sam went red every time without fail whenever they brought up her reproductive organs speech but Jack usually just sat back and laughed. "Jack wasn't too thrilled about having her forcefully assigned to him, mostly because he had a thing about working with scientists. Actually, I think he still does."

"Hey, if you noticed, I was nicer to you after you stopped sneezing every two seconds," Jack interrupted. "And I don't mind all scientists… just some."

"Anyways, Sam got all defensive because she thought he was going to shut her out because she was a woman and ended up making a few very feminist comments… then of course, she challenged him to arm wrestle." By now Daniel was openly grinning at Cate's awe and Mark's knowing half smile.

"Yeah, that sounds just like Sammie," he commented, sneaking a glance at his tomato-faced sister. He saw Jack slip his hand around hers and give it a light squeeze. She turned and grinned sheepishly and he grinned back, winking. They really were a cute couple, he had to admit.

"You know, Sam, we never did have that arm wrestling match," Jack teased quietly.

"You're on," Sam muttered back. "But somehow here doesn't seem like the best place."

By this time, the flirty waitress had returned, asking for their orders. The adults, save Teal'c, all scrambled quickly over the menu's choices as they'd been too caught up in conversation to actually look at them beforehand. By the time the waitress had left, Daniel was already starting in on another amusing anecdote about Sam. Occasionally, Teal'c would jump in with a story or two. Jack for the most part remained silent, enjoying listening to the stories as much as Mark and Cate were. Though he did put in his two cents on one topic in particular.

"If you ever have a broken bone, do not under any circumstances let Sam splint it."

This earned him a bit of a glare from Sam and confused looks from Mark and Cate. When the married couple looked over at Daniel and Teal'c for answers, all they saw were far-away looks that answered nothing.

"Umm… okay?" Mark finally ventured. "Should I ask why not?"

"Because you'll end up in more pain than you started, let me tell you." Jack was still receiving confused stares from the Carters. "I broke my leg once when some of our… technology malfunctioned and Sam was the only one around to set it," he said in further explanation. "Traumatized me for life." The last comment earned him a firm punch in the arm from Sam and a corresponding sympathetic wince from Mark. He remembered vividly just how hard his baby sister punched.

Once their dinners arrived, the conversation stemmed a bit. Mark took the opportunity to simply sit and watch them, all four of them, interact. It was scary how well they knew each other and how well they could push each other's buttons. They kept on laughing through dinner, telling stories that Mark could tell were slightly abridged yet hilarious nevertheless. T and his Star Wars obsession, Daniel and his unnaturally strong addiction to coffee, Jack and his non-existent diplomatic skills, and Sam… Sam and her 'doohickeys', Sam and her strange penchant for blue Jell-o, Sam and her motorcycle, Sam and her inability to cook, Sam, Sam, Sam. By the time he was almost done with his lasagna, Mark realized that he was finally being shown a side of his sister he'd been missing out on ever since she'd joined the Air Force. It was then that he'd stopped seeing her as a human being and started seeing her as a clone of their father – all military, all the time. When he'd introduced her to Pete, in a strange way he thought he'd been doing her a favor, introducing her to what he considered "real life". A life outside the military and her job. A life with someone who didn't tote around big guns and fly F16's for a living. A life with someone both she and he could live with and accept into the family.

It finally hit him that he'd been possibly the most selfish bastard on the entire planet for railing on his sister that night after the wake. She was so clearly in love with the man next to her, grey hair, military rank and all; he was an idiot for trying to convince her otherwise. He'd been convinced his life was the best way to live; he hadn't realized that she'd found her own life.

"Hey, Sam?" he whispered, not wanting to interrupt another of Jack O'Neill's strangely entertaining stories about Daniel.

"Yeah?" Sam whispered, turning to face him. Her wide blue eyes were fixed on his face in a penetrating yet perplexed stare Mark remembered all too well from his childhood. It was now or never, and never just wasn't an option. He'd seen first-hand what 'never' did to a relationship and there was no way he was going there ever again.

"I'm sorry." It took a lot to actually force the words his mind was screaming out of his mouth, but when he saw the look on his sister's face he knew it was worth it. Her smile that had been present most of the evening widened even more and lit up her face, and all of a sudden, he could see the bubbly, bright little girl who still looked up to her big brother for some things looking back at him. The sweet, optimistic, smart-ass Sammie who's biggest care in the world was figuring out how to beat the older boys at their own games.

Then she had to go and ruin the image by giving him a full-out, bone-crunching hug. The little Sammie he remembered had never been big on hugging him. Even kid geniuses believed in cooties apparently.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What was that all about?" Cate asked later that night as she and her husband stood in their driveway, waving off the car full of visitors. After a more than enjoyable dinner at Zeppo's, Mark and Cate had invited Sam and company back to the house for coffee and anything else they could find that could possibly taste good with coffee. Daniel had been, if possible, even more enthusiastic than Sam in accepting the invitation, mumbling something about not having had a decent cup all day when both Jack and Teal'c raised questioning brows in his direction. They'd had coffee, enough to appease even Daniel, and had chatted until it was decidedly dark outside. Even Ryan and Maggie had joined in for a while, listening to Daniel's stories and catching up with their fascinating and mysterious aunt. They were most curious about Teal'c and tried various ways of removing his hat, but even when Ryan tried sneaking up behind the man Teal'c still somehow caught him in the act. Thankfully, he took it all in good humor.

"What was what about?" Mark replied, playing dumb.

"What did you say to him?"

"Hmmm?"

"Jack. Mark, what did you say to Jack when you went off chatting?"

"Oh, nothing… I guess I'm just filling in where Dad can't anymore. I don't want him thinking that Carter family rules still don't apply just because old Dad isn't around to enforce them!"

"Somehow, honey, I don't think you're quite as intimidating in the eyes of a major general in the United States Air Force as your dad would have been, even if you are Sam's older brother," Cate said, trying not to laugh at her husband's attempts to protect his little sister from the big bad boyfriend. Mark turned and glared a bit, but ended up simply huffing resignedly.

"Yeah… I guess you're right. Still, if I ever get wind of anything bad on his end, he's going to have to watch out for one pissed off insurance seller!"

"They're quite a group, aren't they?" Cate mused as they headed back inside, pulling Mark's arm tighter around her shoulders.

"Yeah. I never thought I'd see the day when Sam would be friends with someone as humanities-oriented as Dr. Jackson. Though I still don't know quite what she sees in O'Neill…" Mark grumbled a bit, shutting the garage door behind them.

"He loves her, isn't that all she needs to see?" Cate reasoned. Mark looked at her skeptically, the words 'Isn't that just a little sappy?' threatening to escape his mouth at any moment. "I know there's more to it than that," his wife reassured him, "but it's so obvious when they're together… I'm glad she's finally found someone like Jack O'Neill."

"Me too."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So… that went well, didn't it?" Jack asked, hanging his collared shirt on the back of the chair in his and Sam's hotel room before flinging himself onto the bed. It had been quite an eventful day for him. Between navigating through the emotional limbo and rushing around San Diego, it had been a surprisingly draining day.

"Surprisingly, yes. One day total reconciliation… I think that has to be a record," Sam agreed, digging around her suitcase for her pajamas for a few minutes before finding them. She was about to head to the bathroom to change into them when Jack moved from his sprawled position on the bed over to just behind her with stealth that belied his ever-aching knees.

"And to think you were worried." His arms encircled her waist in a familiar hold as he smirked lightly down at her.

"Hey, there was always a chance you would say something undiplomatic and then this whole trip would have been wasted!" Sam countered, poking him in the chest for emphasis.

"Me? Undiplomatic? I don't think I can recall a time when I wasn't diplomatic -"

"421, 593, 227… should I go on?" she listed, not buying the innocent look Jack was sporting for a second. She'd seen first hand just how badly Jack O'Neill could get on with certain people.

"No. And I was going to say that I can't recall a time when I wasn't diplomatic where you were concerned."

"I suppose," Sam relented, moving her hands up to the back of his neck to play with the short hairs there. "Jack?"

"Yeah?" he whispered, leaning in and trying desperately to cling to a shred of sanity when Sam was so tantalizingly close.

"Thank you for today." Sam paused, her gaze lowering momentarily from his eyes to linger on his lips. Her forehead crinkled slightly as her eyes returned to his. "I love you, you know. Always."

"Always."