Author's Notes: All right I'm DONE! I hope this isn't the let-down of the century but I finally got over the hurdle and have come in for a landing. I hope this wraps things up well for everyone who's still around and caring. Thanks for all the FEEDBACK. This story would never have made it to Chapter 2 without it. Maybe someday i'll write again, but for now i'll leave the stories to those who can actually write. Again, thank you all so much. It truly was a great experience to see how many people cared enough to write me about this little idea i had over a year ago.

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"General you can't put Sam Carter on my team. I can't work with her."

"Colonel O'Neill, don't you think you're being unreasonable here? Captain Carter is one of the smartest people on the planet and a very distinguished soldier. I can't imagine why you would object to having her on your team."

"Sir, she can't be-"

"Colonel she's on the team and that's FINAL."

"But Sir!"

"Not another word Colonel or you'll be court-marshaled."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid Sir. That seemed to get the general's attention. He fixed Jack with a look that screamed 'explain." "Samantha Carter is my wife." He thrust his marriage license at Hammond. He expected this battle, especially after being warned by Sam that she was slotted to be the fourth member of the original SG-1 scheduled to return to Abydos.

For a moment the general as dumbfounded. ----How could I not have been aware of this? Is this even permitted?---- "Colonel, what is the meaning of this?"

"I thought the meaning was obvious Sir."

"I wouldn't push my luck here son. Let's try to keep the sarcasm to a minimum. WALTER!"

"Yes Sir?"

"Please bring in Captain Carter."

"Yes Sir."

"Captain, it's nice to finally meet you. Please come in. It appears we have a situation on our hands here."

"Yes, about that Sir I was hoping I could explain."

"Let's save the explanations. I'm going to ask a few questions. You two are going to answer and then I'm going to make a decision and hopefully I'll never have to deal with this again."

Not sure if they were permitted to speak, Jack and Sam glanced at each other briefly and nodded slightly.

"Good. Ok. First question: How long have you two been married?"

"About three months Sir." Jack replied.

"That's not true Jack."

"Something wrong?" Hammond was becoming confused.

"No Sir. It's just that we were supposed to get married three months ago while we were in Nevada but it turned out that although we got married it didn't count." Even to her own ears Sam's explanation sounded sketchy.

"It didn't count?"

"No Sir."

"So you're not married?"

"We are."

"Then I'll ask again." The general was becoming increasingly irritable. "How long have you been married?"

"Three months." Jack responded

"Three weeks." Sam said.

Sensing the general's declining patience, Jack tried to explain. "Sir, three months ago in Las Vegas we tried to get married. We had a ceremony. It turned out that the chapel's license that allows them to marry people expired. So at that time we weren't LEGALLY married. About three weeks ago we had another ceremony. So yes, we ARE married, how long really depends on how you look at it."

"Colonel, Captain, will all of your responses turn out to be riddles?"

"I hope not Sir. I don't even know when my anniversary is."

----

After what felt like an extremely long meeting with the general to explain themselves Sam and Jack got permission to team together on a trial basis. They got one chance. If anything went wrong on this mission back to Abydos they would both find themselves on separate, different teams. If they were lucky enough to still be in the Stargate program. The only problem, which Sam was very quick to point out, was that they weren't really told what defined 'go wrong' on this mission.

Sam was excited. This was the first time she'd be going through the gate since she jumped back in time. She couldn't wait to feel the rush again. She couldn't wait to see Daniel again. Finally her life seemed right. She felt like everything she ever wanted was right at her fingertips.

She walked into the gateroom behind Jack and couldn't help but think about 'old times.' ----Technically the 'old times' haven't happened yet but I still can't help but think how great they were.----

The Stargate started spinning. The chevrons were locking in one by one. To Sam the seconds ticked by so slowly. After all this time she was finally going through the gate again.

The last chevron locked and the event horizon formed. The whoosh sent tingles up Sam's spine. She breathed in deep and started up the ramp to the gate. She stopped just before entering. Jack was a step behind her. She took a long look at the gate before Jack gave her a push through. ----Some things will never change.----

----

Something was wrong. The gate travel time was taking an eternity. Something was out of place, but being reduced to one's molecules and spread out across dimensions made it hard to think straight. Apparently it was possible to feel apprehension even when in a million pieces millions of miles apart.

Finally Sam fell through the gate. But she wasn't on Abydos.

"Close the iris!" said a voice that definitely did not belong to General Hammond. In fact it was a voice that seemed eerily familiar. A voice and a sentence that sent chills through her body and grabbed her stomach like a vice. ----No, it can't be. PLEASE IT CAN'T BE!----

Daniela and Teal'c were behind her. She as not so shocked to find Jack lying prone next to them with a medical team doing everything in their power to resuscitate him. Just then a stretcher came in and he was rushed out of the gateroom.

"What the hell happened!" Sam demanded of the closest airman.

"Ma'am, the General was about to dial out when the gate opened and you came through." He wasn't looking at her face, he was looking past her. Carter knew this wasn't a good sign. "Blasts were coming through the gate, the iris was already opened. He told everyone to leave the gateroom except for the marines. As he turned to leave, he was hit in the back, ma'am."

"He was supposed to leave hours ago." Daniel said as he walked toward Sam. He wanted to support her, wanted to be sure she'd be all right, but he knew that to offer his support openly in front of most of the SGC was the wrong move at this time. Carter had to show she was a soldier; she couldn't afford to fall apart right now.

Sam started to feel light headed. ----No, not again.---- The room started to tilt, slowly at first, but gaining momentum, she heard Daniel and Teal'c calling her name, but they sounded far away. Somehow it occurred to her that she was passing out, and then the world faded to black.

----

Sam woke up in the infirmary to Daniel standing over her; Teal'c was looming in the background. ----It can't be. I didn't dream it. It can't be, it just can't be. I WON'T LET IT BE!----

"She's awake" Daniel motioned for Teal'c to come closer. "Hey Sam," she tried to move but Teal'c stopped her.

"ColonelO'Neill, you have lost much blood, you should remain still." For the first time Sam took notice of her left arm. It was heavily bandaged and stained red.

"Yeah Sam, you just dropped when we were in the gate room. That was five days ago."

Something was different. She wasn't exactly sure what yet, but something was different, yet very familiar. "What did you say Teal'c?"

"I said you have lost much blood and should remain still."

"No before that."

"I said nothing."

"What did you call me?"

A voice came from the doorway. "What he always calls you."

Sam's heart skipped a beat. ----Is it possible?----

"Hey Jack, how's your head? You took a nasty fall from the blast in the gateroom. Daniel teased. "Good thing you were wearing that special armor."

Sam jumped out of bed and ran to Jack. She was crying hysterically and chanting "You're alive!" over and over to herself. Every nurse in the infirmary was suddenly chasing her, chastising her for exerting herself so much after losing so much blood. They even threatened to throw Jack out of the place, general or not. She hurled herself at Jack nearly knocking him over. "Easy Sam. Take it easy."

Regaining a bit of her composure she suddenly wasn't sure who or where she truly was. One minute she was stepping through the gate for what was supposed to be her first time, the next she was right back in the infirmary almost exactly how she left it so long ago. Sam pulled back from Jack a bit and lost her balance. ----Apparently I did lose a lot of blood. But now what? What life have I jumped back into?---- She looked down at her hands and noticed that she wasn't wearing a wedding ring. ----It never happened? Could it be that I just imagined the whole thing?---- Just then the thought of going back to being the Sam Carter she once was, USAF Colonel, resident expert on the Stargate, fiancé to Pete Shanahan ----Oh my God!---- was making her sick to her stomach. "I'm sorry Sir, I don't know what came over me."

Jack looked at her in a funny way. "Something's missing." He said to everyone and no one. Daniel was the first on to bite.

"What's missing?"

"Sam, where are your dog tags?"

Sam grabbed for her neck where her ID tags always rested. She found nothing there. "I don't know Sir."

"I have them O'Neill. They fell off while she was being transported to the infirmary." Teal'c punched the metal tags from his pocket and held them out to Jack.

"Thanks T. Wouldn't want anyone around here getting ideas." As he said that he slipped the chain over her head. Something on the chain caught Sam's eye. It was out of place, but somehow it wasn't. Between the two tags was a plain silver ring. "You're spoken for." Sam's eyes filled with tears of relief. It was okay. Everything was okay. "And what's with the 'Sir'? You're in the infirmary! Can't I be your husband at least until you can walk on your own"
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