The two weeks flew by way faster than Jack had wanted and before long he was saying goodbye to his granddaughter and the rest of his family that wasn't returning to Cheyenne Mountain the following Monday.

On the way down to his briefing with Hammond and the rest of SG-1, he dropped Sam and Rico off in the infirmary with Fraiser so she could check out Sam's knee. He gave her a gentle kiss and headed off to the briefing.

He didn't know what planet they were going to be sent to, but he knew it was one they'd be familiar with so Sean could get the hang of going off world. He wondered how his son would handle gate travel. Most new recruits heaved their lunch the first time through, but he wasn't sure he wanted to warn the young man. He always got a kick out of their pea green faces.

Folder in hand, he entered the briefing room and sat in his usual seat next to the head of the table. Sean had taken the seat next to his and was eagerly doodling on the pad in his folder while waiting for the General to show up. He grinned when Sean stood up, dropping the pen on the table as he saluted the General.

"At ease, Lieutenant." Hammond sat at the head of the table and directed his next sentence at Jack. "Colonel, I know this isn't exactly what you expected for SG-1's first mission back, but I'm sending SG teams 1 and 17 to Edora for the Lieutenants' first off world mission."

"Sir-"

"Jack, the mining team just came back this past week. Laira's been asking for you to return. She said she had something to talk to you about. I see this as the perfect opportunity to get that out of the way," Hammond said, leaving no room for interpretation that the subject was closed.

"Yes sir."

"SG-17 already had their mission briefing. You'll be leaving at 1300 hours. Dismissed." The General stood and left to go back to his office before Jack had a chance to say anything. Jack jumped up to follow him, signaling for the rest of SG-1 to wait in there for him.

"Sir," he said, opening the General's door.

"Jack, this is not open for discussion. You're going to Edora." Hammond sighed, frustrated his best officer could get himself into this position in the first place.

"Did the mining team have any idea what she wanted to talk to me about, Sir?" He'd already decided it was useless to fight the General's decision.

"Not a clue, Colonel. Just that it was urgent."

Jack dropped his head in defeat and nodded. "Thank you, Sir. We'll be ready to go at 1300." He left the office and met his team back in the briefing room.

"You okay, Dad?" Sean had noticed his father looked like he'd just eaten a lemon when he walked back into the briefing room.

"Fine. We leave at 1300." He didn't say anything else, just left.

"Is he going to be alright?" Sean turned to Daniel, knowing he was his father's best friend.

"Not until we get back," Daniel answered, watching Jack stalk down the hallway.

Jack entered the elevator and strummed his fingers on the wall as he waited for the box to reach the desired level. He needed to blow off steam, but he needed to tell Sam where they were going first. God, he hated this. He never wanted to go back to that planet again.

When the doors opened, he trudged his way down the hall to Sam's lab and burst through the doorway without even knocking. Of course, the door was already open, but that didn't matter.

"Sir, can I help you?" Sam stood from where she was sitting at the computer, going over the reports that had been filed since her accident.

"First, you can stop calling me 'Sir', it's a little disconcerting hearing that out of my fiancé's mouth. Second, I know your knee is okay, but please sit down. And third, you can help me by telling me why Hammond has deemed it necessary to send us to Edora today!" he fumed as he plopped himself down in the seat across the table from her.

"What?" Sam ran around the table to stand in front of him. Had they not been in the SGC she would have grabbed him right then and there and held him tight.

"Yeah. Apparently, Laira needs to talk to me." He picked up a pencil and started fiddling with it, trying to avoid Sam's eyes. He knew she would be hurt by that, and hated seeing it.

"You don't think?"

He dropped the pencil as he completed that thought in his head and blanched. "God, I hope not."

Sam decided to risk it, and wrapped her arms gently around his muscular frame. "I know. Why don't you go find one of the guys and blow off some steam until you depart? I'll meet you guys in the control room."

Jack nodded as his arms came around her. He took comfort from her, but unbidden thoughts rushed through his head. With everything that had happened since he'd been stuck on Edora, it'd been just about six months since he'd left that planet.

Standing up, Jack gave Sam a small peck on the cheek and whispered, "I love you" in her ear. He looked back at her as he walked out the door to find Sean. He wanted to make sure he read the mission reports from that crappy mission.

He found his son in his office, sitting at his desk and going through mission reports, looking for the one he needed. He looked up just as Jack walked through the door. "You know, you really should do something about this office, Dad."

Jack snickered. "I know. It's rumored there's a desk under there somewhere."

Sean laughed heartily and leaned back in the chair. He'd found the file he'd been looking for when his father had entered and stared at the manila cover. Sighing, he tossed it on the desk and looked straight into Jack's eyes. "Why don't you tell me what happened on that mission? I'm pretty sure there's more to it than what's in your report. I already read Daniel, Teal'c, and Sam's."

Jack sighed as he sat on the corner of his desk. "Sean, drop it. Just read the report. I'm going down to the gym." He got up and left the room, Sean just sitting there, staring at the door his father had just walked out.

Jack's sulking form and firm scowl made sure he had a wide berth throughout the halls as he made his way down to the gym. Even if Teal'c wasn't there, he could still beat the snot out of the punching bag.

Of course, the only person on the entire base stupid enough to get into an elevator while Jack was in one of his moods just happened to be one of the most intelligent. Daniel had his head tucked into a file folder as he stepped into the elevator and obliviously pushed the same button Jack had already hit when he'd stepped into the box. Jack just shook his head at the man's unmindful nature, his mood dissipating as he stared at him.

"Daniel?"

He didn't lift his head, just arched an eyebrow. "What? Oh, hi Jack."

Jack stuck his hands in his pockets and teetered back and forth between his heels and the balls of his feet. "Whatcha doin'?"

Daniel finally looked up, noting the tense look in his friend's features. "Oh, just looking over some old mission reports. Where are you heading?"

"Gym," Jack grunted, his sour mood returning.

Daniel picked up on the change of atmosphere immediately and looked up from his reports. "Jack, I know you don't want to go back there-"

"Daniel," he ground out, barely keeping his temper in check.

"Jack, I just…"

"Just what? Huh?"

The elevator reached their floor and Jack stormed away, heading straight for the locker room to change. Daniel decided he wasn't finished with their conversation and chased him down.

"Jack, you know these people, that's all. Besides, I thought you'd made friends back there."

Jack furiously finished changing into sweats and sneakers before stalking into the gym. He completely ignored the archeological puppy dog he'd seemed to have gained as a shadow and set to immediately beating the crap out of the punching bag. It felt good to let out some of his frustration, since he knew it was always bad spar with someone when angry.

Why was everybody bugging him about this? He just wanted to forget it had ever happened. Sam had brought up a good point, though. Why else would Laira want to talk to him so badly? Just can't keep it in your pants, can you, O'Neill? He hit the bag hard to emphasize his point.

He didn't know what he'd do if Laira was carrying his child. He could just as well kiss his future with Sam goodbye. There was no way she'd want to continue their relationship if he had to go to another planet just to see his kid. That was, if he didn't decide to stay on Edora. It wouldn't be fair for the kid to grow up and not know his/her father. He'd want to see him/her grow up.

He was getting ahead of himself as he repeatedly punched the bag hanging in front of him. For cryin' out loud, he already had a kid that may or may not exist growing up. He wasn't sure he could even leave Earth. He had obligations here he had to stick with, including Sean and Jay. He didn't want to miss out on his grandchildren's lives either.

Gah! That still sounded weird to him. What would they call Sam, if they survived this newest curveball to their fledgling engagement? They were so new to the whole thing, and it was going so fast, he wasn't sure exactly how she would feel about everything, or if she would even want to be included in Sean and Jay's kids' lives.

No, he knew her better than that. She loved kids just as much as he did, though they'd probably be busy with their own soon, he hoped. He'd just have to talk to her one more time before they left, to make sure he knew where they stood with each other.

Daniel stood off to the side, willing to wait until Jack had tired himself out before continuing the conversation. It wasn't like he didn't have plenty to keep himself occupied until then.

He could tell when Jack's thoughts had come full circle three hours later and he'd worked through some of the more difficult issues raging through his mind because he started to taper off, not hitting the bag as hard. Eventually, he just dropped his hands to his side, and wiped the sweat off his brow. He was always surprised the older man could go for so long before tiring.

He peeked out over the top of his folder and lifted an eyebrow in Jack's direction. "Feel better?"

"Can it, Space Monkey." Jack didn't even bother looking at his friend as he stormed out of the gym.

Daniel sighed and followed the man out. He never really was one to understand when to let the subject drop, why start now?

"Jack-"

The man in question whipped around and got right up in Daniel's face, bringing their noses less than an inch apart.

"I thought you were the genius here, Daniel, or did that little vacation turn your brain to mush? We go, the Lt's get their experience, we come home."

"What about Laira?"

"What about her?" Jack turned and started walking back, hoping his annoying, talking shadow would give up and go away.

Daniel wouldn't give up, though. He just followed his friend through the halls not really paying attention to the grumbling Colonel ahead of him. He finally got the point when Jack slammed the locker room door on his face. He could have followed him, but they still had a mission to go on today, and going through the Gate with a grumpy Colonel was not his idea of fun.

Jack leaned against the door and sighed. He only had about an hour before they were supposed to leave and he was no closer to calming down than when General Hammond had told him where they were going. If that damn Space Monkey had left him alone he'd be fine right now.

Gah.

Screw it. The only person who could make him feel better was Carter, but she was busy. Oh well, he'd go bug her anyway. He wouldn't be there for long before they had to leave but hopefully it would be long enough to calm down. She had all day to make up the work he'd distract her from anyway.

He pulled his sweaty clothes off and threw them in the bottom of his locker. He'd take them home and wash them later as long as he didn't forget. He sighed as he stepped under the hot spray of the shower. He didn't want to go visit Sam if he reeked like a sweaty gym sock. Normally, he would have taken no longer than five minutes in the shower on base, but he had time and the water streaming down his head and back felt good and he didn't really want to get out.

He stood under the spray for another ten minutes before turning the knob and wrapping a towel around his waist. He pulled on his BDUs and headed to Carter's lab, a little more calm than when he'd entered the locker room. All he had to do now was grab his pack when it was time to ship out.

"Hey, Carter." He plopped himself down on the stool opposite of where Sam was diligently working on… something.

"You know, if I can't call you 'Sir-'"

Jack smiled and picked up whatever gadget just happened to be within reach of his fidgeting hands. "Sir is a title, just like Colonel. Carter is your name."

Sam sighed and pulled the doohickey out of his hands before he broke it. "Carter is my last name, Jack."

He grinned up at her, all his love showing through his eyes. This was so new to them, being able to acknowledge their feelings, they took advantage of it whenever they could. He turned serious, though, as he thought of the upcoming mission.

"What's wrong?" Ah, yes. If there was anyone he couldn't hide his emotions from, it was definitely Sam. She always seemed to know when his mood changed, sometimes before he'd even realized it.

"They just had to pick Edora, didn't they? I mean, we could go just about anywhere."

"You spent three months there," Sam said, coming up behind him. She didn't really care at that moment if they were on duty she wasn't Air Force anymore, so she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her chin near his neck. "You didn't run into any trouble the whole time."

"Oh, yes, because meteors burying the Gate wasn't a problem at all. I was just on vacation." Jack rested his hands on her wrists to hold her there. Not forcibly of course, but just enough for her to know he didn't want her to leave.

He sighed, and lifted her hands to his lips, kissing them gently. "Sam, if Laira… I just… I love you." He turned his head slightly and gave her a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"I know, Jack. I love you, too." She turned to the side and met his lips with hers. "I'm behind you all the way."

He smiled, his relief evident in his eyes. He really wasn't looking forward to this mission, but he felt better knowing he and Sam had a special understanding before he left.

He leaned back against her softly, letting her know he needed to stand up and she needed to let go. He looked her straight in the eyes and cupped her cheeks in his hands, rubbing his thumbs along her cheekbones. "I need to go make sure Sean has everything and grab my pack. I'll let you know what's going on when I get back, okay?"

She nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

"We should be back fairly soon, but Hammond wants us to stay at least a couple days." Sam could see the worried look in his eyes as he spoke and knew it had nothing to do with the mission. It'd only been about a week and a half since her knee had been healed and he wasn't satisfied she was okay yet.

"Don't worry, Jack. I have Rico. Sara trained him well."

That finally convinced him after seeing for over a month exactly how well the Golden really did take care of his charge. He shifted backwards and looked under the desk where he knew Rico was sleeping. The dog lifted his head and his tail thumped loudly on the cement floor.

"You take care of her, ya hear?" Jack rubbed his foot along the dog's side and Rico's eyes smiled back at him. Of course he would, nobody'd relieved him of Sam guarding duty yet.

Jack looked back up at the beauty before him and smiled. He felt a thousand times better after talking to Sam and knew that, no matter what, everything would turn out just fine.

"Maybe you should take him over and see Trish while we're gone. This is the first overnight mission Sean's gotten since they found out about the baby." He knew his daughter-in-law was probably a wreck, worrying about not only her husband, but their son as well, and that wasn't good for her or the baby.

Sam nodded.

"Sure. Maybe I'll bring Janet and Cassie by, do a girl's night or something," she suggested.

Jack pulled her into his arms one more time and turned to leave, letting his fingers and eyes stray with Sam for as long as possible before he had to let go and make his way down to his office to collect his wayward son.

Sean already had his gear with him and was just going over some last minute reports before they left when Jack found him in his office. He also noticed the younger man had managed to clean off part of his desk.

"Wow. It does exist," he snickered as he entered the room and dropped his pack next to Sean's.

"Yeah, well, it was getting difficult to find the reports I needed. Honestly, Dad, this is awful." Sean leaned back in the chair and sighed.

"I know where things are… sort of," Jack said as he picked up a few papers off the desktop and stacking them in his in-box. "Anyway. It's time to go. Sam's gonna check in on Trish while we're gone."

Sean gave a huge sigh of relief, not at all ashamed that his father had seen it. He was worried their son would decide to make an early appearance like his brother and if that happened while he was off world, Trish wouldn't have anybody with her. He felt like the world had been lifted off his shoulders knowing Sam would be looking out for them.

"Thanks. I really appreciate that," Sean replied as he grabbed his pack from beside Jack's and the pair headed down to the Gateroom. Neither worried about picking anybody up on the way. The members of SG-17 were Major Gavin's responsibility and Daniel and Teal'c were big boys, they could handle getting to the Gateroom on time.

Jack looked up to the control room from where he was standing at the bottom of the ramp and noticed Sam standing over Sgt. Harriman's shoulder. He smiled up at her and gave her a slight wave. He saw the pain in her eyes at being left behind immediately and wished he could take her with him.

Their eyes held each other motionless as the Gate dialed behind the two SG teams waiting to ship out. He so wished she was going with them, or that they were going somewhere else. He didn't want to talk to Lara again, although Garan was always nice to talk to. Hell, right now he'd go visit the damn Tolans to avoid the conversation he dreaded without Sam by his side.

Sam puckered her lips almost invisibly as she sent him a kiss, wishing him off. Jack made a grabbing motion through the air and then stuffed his hand in his pocket, grinning up at her. He was keeping it with him while he was gone.

During their silent exchange, Jack had noticed Sean close his eyes and let his head drop towards the ground. After sending a wink up to Sam he turned around and rested his hand on his son's shoulder.

"You okay?"

Sean looked up, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah."

"What were you doing?"

"Praying."

Jack cocked his eyebrow. "What? Like, 'Lord, we're goin' on a mission, don't let us die,' same thing before every mission, prayer?"

Sean laughed and shook his head. "No. I'm always prayin'. This was just more of a specified prayer."

"Ah." Jack raised his eyebrows quickly and turned to face the Gate as the last Chevron locked into place and the wormhole connected.

General Hammond's voice came over the intercom. "SG-1, you have a go. God speed."

Sam watched the new SG-1 walked up the ramp and through the event horizon, noticing Sean stop at the top of the ramp. Now she knew what it must have looked like to the people in the control room the first time she'd gone through as Jack pushed his son and quickly followed him to the other side. She could feel the tight clenching around her heart knowing they were SG-1 now and she wasn't included.

"It's always hard watching your people go off without you," George spoke up from next to her. She'd completely forgotten he was there.

She just nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Don't worry, Major, as soon as you're cleared, you'll be joining any team that needs you."

Sam started at the use of her former title. She wasn't in the military anymore, she'd been discharged. She was Dr. Carter now. "Um, sir?"

"I know, Sam, but it's gonna take a while to get used to."

"Thank you, Sir. I'm going to head back to my office now, get some work done." She looked down at Rico and slapped her thigh, signaling him to go with her, the happy dog willing to do whatever she wanted.

A/N: Okay, im sooo totally sorry! im having a hard time w/ writer's block on this one too, so yeah and life just sux right now w/ work and gettin sick and power outages and homicides in town n yeah, soooo... well this story is almost over, just a few more chaps, and i was only going to do 3 stories, but i've come up w/ soooo many more ideas that it would just seem too crammed into just those three so i'm gonna do more and hopefully get those out quicker. please review, thanks!