A/N: Thank you melpomenemuseoftragedy for being my beta. I'd be lost without you xx

It had been two days since Sg-1 -minus Carter- had been retrieved by SG-3. Except for some cuts and bruises and Daniel's broken arm they were all okay. That man was a walking cliché. How he had survived 10 years of gate travel was a question that continually amazed Jack.

He had learned that SG-1 had delivered the ancient device and wiped out a considerable number of Ori and Priors. Those left would have to rebuild and regroup. It would take considerable time to do so. Earth and everything in their neck of the woods was looking safe. It should be a joyous time but…..

"I want you to promise me something."

Jack propped himself up on his elbow to look down at the women lying beside him; concern evident in her eyes as she looked up at him and waited for him to answer. She looked so beautiful laying there, the moonlight from the window streaming across her face. He didn't want to answer her question because he knew exactly what it would involve and he didn't like making promises he couldn't keep.

"Jack …" her voice was almost a whisper.

"What"? His tone matched hers and he lifted his hand to run it along her jaw line.

"I need you to promise me something." The change from want to need didn't go unnoticed by Jack. She looked into his eyes and he held her gaze. It was this that she took as permission from him to ask the question.

"If I don't make it back I need you to promise me that you won't blame yourself. That you won't give up. I'm so proud of you, of who you've become Jack. You're a different man from the one I met in a briefing room ten years ago."

"I'm different because of you…"

"No you'er different because of the things we've seen and done together. I never thought we would end up here. Sometimes I wished I hadn't been such a good little soldier and thrown the rule book out the window. But now I realize that being that soldier and not giving in to what I really wanted makes this, what we have now more special. I have never felt like this with anyone ever. You're my other half, the part I've been missing all these years. I need to know that you won't blame yourself for my decisions."

"Sam" Her name slipped out as a plea for her to stop. He didn't want to hear any more. The thought of never seeing her again was something he couldn't bare.

"The things I've seen and done are amazing, beyond anything I could ever have imagined but you know what makes it so special?"

"What ?"

"That you were with me every step of the way helping me become the person I am and that's what makes it worth while. All the cuts and bruises all the near misses they were worth it because they brought us here to this moment and I wouldn't change a thing.

Promise me you won't blame yourself?"

"I promise." There, he'd said it knowing full well if she didn't come home he would blame himself. Blame himself for sending her, for not being there to protect her, but if it made her sleep easier and go on this mission a little lighter then it was worth it…right.

Jack found himself out side Daniels Quarters. He hesitated. Did he really want to know what happened on the planet? Okay he'd gotten the official story. They reached the Ori base, deployed the device, were heading out but the device didn't go off. So Sam decided she could do it manually and told her teammates to go ahead and she would meet them at the designation location. So they left her alone and she went back in. The device went off but Sam didn't meet them as arranged. So eventually they had to leave without her. In the briefing the atmosphere was odd to say the least. The three teammates didn't make eye contact, not once. After their visit to the infirmary they went their separate ways. Something didn't fit.

Daniel opened the door without looking at who was on the other side and walked back inside the room.

"Expecting me were you." Jack tried to keep the tone light. If there was something on Daniel's mind he wouldn't talk if pushed.

When Jack walked into the room Daniel looked at him straight in the eye .

"I'm sorry Jack …"

"For what Daniel?"

"For not stopping him."

"Who…."

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"We were lucky to get out of the Ori stronghold without being noticed. When we were a safe distance away we stopped and waited for the explosion but it didn't happen.

Sam didn't know why it didn't go off. She said in every simulation they ran it was a success. There's nothing that should have stopped it."

"Daniel what are you getting at?"

"We knew the importance of the mission. We had to succeed, so Mitchell asked if the device could be detonated manually and of course it could so…"

"So Sam decided to go back in."

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean 'not exactly'?"

"I wasn't about to let Sam die Jack."

"You can't be serious Mitchell?" Daniel stepped in between Mitchell and Sam and watched his face carefully.

"Daniel its okay, really." Sam's protest floated over his shoulder.

"No it's not Sam. You won't make it out in time."

"It's a sacrifice we have to make Jackson. Sam understands that." Mitchell's tone was calm and unwavering.

"A sacrifice? You're calling her life a sacrifice. Why don't you go do it then Mitchell?" Daniel almost spit his name out. The thought that he had called this man a friend made him sick.

"Daniel please. I'm the best one to go back. We both know that it has to be me. If something is wrong with the device then I'm the only one here able to fix it." Sam's voice was equally as calm.

'Always the good little soldier' Daniel thought. He spun around to look at her.

"Well I'm going with you. The device is Ancient after all, you might need help."

"No Jackson we're staying put, Carters going back in alone."

Mitchell tone again amazed Daniel. How could he be so calm? he was sending his friend to death. There was something not quite right with this situation, he just didn't know what. He turned his attention back to Cameron.

"Why are you willing to send her back alone? The odds of her being caught and not being able to set the device off are greater than if someone was with her."

"You know he has a point Cameron. If I get caught there won't be an opportunity for anyone else to go back in and set if off."

"I'm sorry. You're going alone Sam."

"Colonel Mitchell it makes tactical sense for more than one person to go back in."

Teal'c who had been his usual stoic self stepped forward from behind Sam and joined Daniel. The two men now separated Sam and Cameron. They wanted to protect her.

"Teal'c I've made my decision."

"Go Carter. We'll watch from here until you enter the stronghold then we'll meet you at the coordinates as planned."

Mitchell turned his back on his teammates and walked a small distance. The two men turned to their friend. They knew that she was going to go in. She had been given a direct order and she would follow it. She looked at them and saw despair in their eyes.

"Colonel Carter you do not have to proceed alone."

"Teal'c I'll be fine."

Daniel wasn't military and had no problem disobeying orders and he was pretty sure Teal'c felt the same. They had a rule which they didn't intend to start breaking now. Leaving her behind wasn't an option.

"Sam we're coming with you."

"I gave you an order Colonel Carter. Proceed alone."

Mitchell obviously wasn't that far away and heard their conversation. Teal'c watched Mitchell. He knew all too well that sometimes sacrifices where necessary but something wasn't right. Teal'c was no fool.

Sam looked at the two men standing before her. So much to say yet she knew words weren't enough. Beside she'd been in worse and found a way out. This time would be no different right?

"I'll be okay, really. I'll meet you as planned."

"You're telling me Mitchell ordered her in there alone and for no good reason other than to save his own ass?"

"No Jack. I'm saying he ordered her in alone for a reason. I just don't know what it is yet."