Hello! Once again, sorry for taking so long. Hopefully, you enjoy this!

M.

Chapter XLV

March 20th, 2005

SGC

"O'Neill," Jack barked, picking up the red phone for the hundredth time that day.

"General O'Neill," he frowned when he heard the voice on the other end. It was not exactly one he was expecting.

"Doctor Magnus?" Jack asked, feeling a bit awkward for the way he had answered the phone. "I thought you didn't do phone calls and such," Jack trailed off after shaking that mental image of injured Sam for the umpteenth time.

"Is this a bad time, General?" Helen asked, noticing how distracted the General seemed to be.

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and thought about his current situation.

A few days earlier, a team had brought a stupid plant back to the SGC. Now, barely four days after, it had become a plague and the scientists were still trying to get rid of it. So far, only managing to make it grow even more. Of course, the pain-in-the-ass plant had reached and grown into the power circuits, provoking a blackout. After that, Felger recommended minimum light power. The scientists had come to agree that the lack of lights was dwindling the plant's growth. The bad part was they still were on minimum power, meaning they couldn't dial out.

Five days ago, he had gotten a new assistant. An 'administrative aid' he didn't know he needed. Now, Jack was still not too comfortable with the man, but so far, he was proving to be useful.

Now, and for the past few days, the calls about the President's arrival had Jack ready to throw his phone out of the window, or towards the first person who happened to be in his office at the time. He was seriously regretting agreeing to let the President visit so soon after his promotion to General, but he couldn't exactly say no to the man.

To add to the situation, a day later, he had agreed to send SG-1 to another mission. Somehow, although he had sent SG-3 with them to watch their backs, they went missing, and after a thorough search of the planet, SG 3, 11 and 12 couldn't find them anywhere.

Three days ago, Ba'al's appearance added to his to-do list. The Go'auld was claiming he had captured SG-1 and was requesting Camulus in exchange for his team.

He rubbed his face; it wasn't only his team. He had an inkling of the reason why Doctor Magnus was calling him. Four days ago, he had also accepted the request of Doctor Magnus to send Ashley with SG-1. She had convinced him saying it was for her own peace of mind, and to avoid repeating the issue of the previous mission. Jack happened to believe that having Ashley out there with Sam was the best idea of them all; the girl could teleport them if they needed. Now, with all of them missing again, he wasn't sure.

"Define bad," O'Neill whispered. Helen chuckled.

"Your brain being taken over by yet another alien repository while another enemy shows up at earth's orbit, and you got only one shot to get rid of them?" she offered.

"Then no, not that bad," Jack chuckled. "What can I do for you, Doctor?"

"It's fairly personal; I only wanted to know if my daughters' happen to be okay? One was supposed to be back a two days ago, and the other one was supposed to call me today."

"Oi."

"I believe we've already been through the salutations, General."

"What?"

"Oi, is Portuguese for Hello," Helen sighed. "Never mind. Are my daughters' still on this mission of theirs?"

"Kinda," Jack grimaced.

"That's so much more specific, General. Thank you," Jack could almost hear the rolling of her eyes. A mannerism that Carter would also do if it were her on the other side of the conversation.

"You know I can't discuss it, Doctor," he offered as an explanation, Helen huffed.

"Very well, then. I'll assume my daughters are still on that mission. I hope you'll contact me if you need help to retrieve them," Helen said.

"And explain your presence here, how exactly?" Jack asked, scratching his head.

"You don't need to explain it at all. No paper trail is needed, and before you know it, a team of one rapid healing, martial arts trained abnormal, and well, one immortal vampire could go and help you. You can give us the address, and we can make our way there, no one the wiser. Finding them should be a piece of cake if we set our minds to it as you well know."

"How much do you know about plants?" He asked as an afterthought, mostly because he was tired.

"It depends on the species. I can learn fairly quickly," Helen answered, not thrown off by the sudden change of topic.

"I'll bear that in mind, Doctor. Both options."

"You do that. Thanks, General."

"Not a problem, Doctor."

He lowered the phone and considered once more, the extent of his feelings for Sam. He looked at the letter he was writing to Hammond and thought that it could take the elephant out of the room and make that dream of his come true faster. The fact that it was the second time SG-1 went missing since he took the position, and despite the discussions he had with Will about how much he trusted them and their judgment, Jack wasn't sure he wanted to be the sole person responsible for sending her out with a chance of not being able to retrieve her. Powerful and hard to kill sister notwithstanding.

Then, as he looked at the phone considering he should've asked Helen's help to solve the plant issue once and for all, the lights came back on. His assistant announced him minutes later that the dialing system was back online effectively forcing him to push his worries about Sam, her sister, Daniel and Teal'c aside to solve the many issues on his table.

He looked at the red phone squinting at it, wondering if that call and the quick way everything seemed to be solved after it, were related. Jack chuckled, tiredness was making him see things that weren't there.

A few hours later and having talked to Camulus and Ba'al more times than Jack would've liked to; his assistant knocked on his door to announce him that Reynolds wanted to speak to him in the gate room. Jack frowned but walked down there any way only to find it filled to the brim with people. Volunteers to help him rescue SG-1 from Ba'al's hands if that was what he decided to do.

At that moment, with a lump in his throat, Jack understood something George had said to him once he had inherited Hammond's office. 'A General is only as good as the people he leads,' and indeed, the people of the SGC were the best of the best. O'Neill couldn't help but wonder how on God's Earth he had ended up not only being part of such elite but their Commanding Officer.

"I need to sleep," he decided and started the long process of getting out of the SGC.

After getting changed, Jack remembered having forgotten his keys back at his office. It was when the General was finally on his way out that an incoming wormhole stopped him from doing so. And his ever-trustworthy gut told him he was about to face yet another decision.

He couldn't be happier when Walter announced SG-1's IDC, but there was a slight issue with that. Ba'al had said he captured SG-1, and thus, the protocol dictated he shouldn't allow them to cross back to Earth. Then again, his team, his friends were telling him they were never captured, they were under enemy fire, and they had lost the access to the DHD. This time, the conundrum of the situation was standard base protocol vs. his desire to save his friends. Or like he thought, between trusting Ba'al or his team.

"Open the iris," he ordered, picking the most obvious one. Jack couldn't help but notice that Walter took a deep alleviated breath as he lowered his hand on the iris control. A couple of blasts came through the gate as SG-1 materialized at the gate room. He rushed down and reached Sam. "Ashley?"

"Home," Sam answered.

"Infirmary and debrief," Jack said, and they all nodded.

"So, what happened? Where were you?" he asked forty minutes later as SG-1 entered the briefing room. Because Ashley Magnus had participated in the mission, Jack had decided to keep the debrief for SG-1 only. The rest of the teams involved could get the quick version once they finished the debrief.

"We reached P2X-887, and I ordered SG-3 to remain by the gate. As agreed, we walked towards the rendezvous point, met Ashley, and walked towards the ruins," Sam started explaining.

"Well, we walked and accidentally stepped into a ring transport," Daniel said blushing. "We couldn't find the way out."

"And you couldn't use Ashley's skills? Teleport out or something?"

"Ashley Magnus indeed offered, General O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"But?"

"We knew she could teleport outside the planet, but we didn't know if the place we were at would allow her to teleport and survive," Sam pointed. "I had to order her not to."

"I bet she was a happy camper," Jack chuckled. "Well, it took you too long to get out."

"Yeah, Teal'c and I couldn't see much. We had to rely on the sisters' night vision. Did you know Sam has a great night vision?" Daniel grinned. "Anyhow, no matter how good they were at describing the text we found, it was fairly hard to translate it correctly."

"However, Daniel Jackson did manage to translate it after a while."

"I see, and I take the radios didn't work?" They all shook their head no. "How did you get out?"

"The place was a labyrinth, but there were directions on how to get. We finally ended up getting out on the other side of the mountain we observed when we did the first recon," Sam explained.

"Once we were out, low on provisions and tired, we tried to contact SG-3, but there was no answer. Thus, we concluded we took too long, and they must have returned to Earth," Daniel pointed.

"Ashley returned us close to the gate, and without SG-3 by the gate, she could easily go home before us. We didn't know there were Jaffa around, It seems the opening of the gate caught their attention, and they came running, probably thinking it was an incoming wormhole. Ashley had just crossed the event horizon, and we were standing by the DHD waiting to re-dial when they spotted us, and we fell under enemy fire."

"So, what was that about us being captured?" Daniel frowned.

"A long story, it's super interesting. It includes alien plants, zpm's, Camulus and Ba'al," Jack said, and SG-1 frowned. "But I'll tell you all about it tomorrow; I really need to sleep."

"Oh, sir?" Sam asked, stopping him from getting out of the room.

"Yes, Carter?"

"What about the President, is he still coming?"

"Yup. If my watch is correct, I believe we are somewhere around 36 hrs to the President arrival. You can pester my assistant about more information on the 'zero hour.' Anyhow, I'll expect you all to be here bright and early as always. Now, if that's all, I still need to place a call before I can leave this place after five days without contact with the real world. Toodles!" They watched him go and exchanged a confused glance.

"Is it just me, or is Jack behaving rather oddly?" Daniel asked.

"I believe General O'Neill is still getting acquainted with the new responsibilities of his position," Teal'c bowed.

"Yeah," Sam said, her frown in place. "It might be that."

Inside his office, Jack picked up the red phone once more and pressed the now very used nine button. "Will Zimmerman," he said, and then he flinched. He wasn't sure in which time zone they were down there, so he had to hope either his friend wasn't asleep yet or had already woken up.

"Zimmerman," Will's voice came from the other end, and a long yawn. "Sorry."

"William," Jack said, feeling a bit thankful to hear him answer. They hadn't talked since the last time Will visited him. A visit that ended up with him crawling up to bed unknowingly drugged and waking up happier than he had been in years. Now, the fact that Will had dared to slip something into his drink or whatever way he had done it had Jack's thinking twice about getting near that man ever again.

"General O'Neill!" Will let out surprised but couldn't avoid another yawn. "Sorry, it's really, well, I'm not sure if 2 am is early or late-night," he apologized. "You know, I thought you wouldn't call me anymore after what I did."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't. However, it's been five days since I've last seen my house and my own bed, which is mighty comfy. So, I'm tired, stressed, and I'm not sure if I am making good decisions."

"Well, for what it's worth. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me when I did it."

"Yeah, sure," Jack rolled his eyes, knowing the other man couldn't see him. On the other end, Will chuckled.

"You know what? I thought it could help you with your issue. I was going to ask, but then, I didn't, and ended up drugging you without consent. Did I say I'm sorry?"

"Yes, you did. Anyhow, you think we can repeat our beer thing? That is if you are willing to avoid the drugging part this time?"

"Yes, and I am. Any idea when you'll be free?"

"I think I can escape tomorrow, around 1800 my time?"

"Sure! See you then, General," Will said, sounding a bit more awake now.

"Jack, the name is Jack."

"See you later, Jack."

"No drugging old people, Will," Jack warned, and Will chuckled.

"I won't, not without consent."

"Cool. Bye."

March 21st, 2005

Samantha Carter's house.

Jack parked his car and looked at Sam's house. He left the SGC around 0100 after his call with Will, drove home and not even six hours later he was back at the office, due to yet another issue with the catering for the following day.

The cheeriness of Daniel and Sam when they dragged him out of his office for lunch told him they most likely made the smart decision of staying on base for that night. However, what surprised him was the fact that he had agreed to a BBQ that night at Sam's house.

"You are stressing over the events that will happen tomorrow, and over those that happened during the days we were missing, Jack. This gathering will be a chance to unwind," Daniel had said, pushing his glasses up a little. "And Cassie is in town," he added with a grin.

"If she is in town, then I'll better be there, right?" Jack said. He loved the girl too much. But, truth to be told, Daniel was right.

Jack had to stealthily ditch his assistant after the umpteenth call about the President's visit. Those calls were driving him more nuts than having his favorite team supposedly under Ba'al's hands, dealing with Bocce or that wacko plant that had threatened to take control of the whole damn mountain.

The General pinched his nose and then, checked the clock in his car and sighed, 19:30. They had informed him they were meeting around 1830 and at that time, he had still been glued to the phone talking about the decorations of all things! He had wished he could leave already. Then, in a move, Jack knew he wouldn't regret; he had transferred the call to his aid and boom! He had gone straight to the changing room and escaped towards the topside.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Jack finally got out of the car and towards the front door. On his way, he noticed some familiar cars and three bikes parked close to Carter's house. The fact that each bike was most likely worth twice the price of his SUV made him remember he was supposed to have met Will at his own home an hour ago. "Shit!" he cursed.

"Jack!" the door opened before he could try and ring the doorbell. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to get out of your car," Daniel said with a lopsided grin. His cheeks were a bit rosy, and he had a beer bottle in his hand, which made him think his friend was already a bit intoxicated. "You made it!" Daniel said happily.

"Danny-boy, drunk already?"

"Nope, I just had half a beer," Daniel grinned. "Ask me again once I finish it," he joked. It was a known fact that it didn't take much to make him drunk, even if he got better with the years at holding up his liquor. "They are in the back yard."

"They?"

"Yeah, you know, Sam, Teal'c, Janet, Cass, Ashley," Daniel started naming. "Oh, the Docs are also here," he grinned.

"The Docs?"

"Yeah, Doc Magnus and Doc Zimmerman. You know, they look cute together," Daniel added in delight.

"I didn't know they would be here," Jack said, deciding to ignore his last comment.

"I told Sam should call them and ask. Ashley was part of our last mission, and they are her family. We should get to know them too, right?"

"Sure," Jack agreed as they reached the back door.

"Uncle Jack!" Cassie was the first one to come to find him. "Have you met Ashley? She is super cool."

"Yeah, we know each other," Jack smiled at Cassie.

"You do? Why am I the only one who doesn't know her?" Cassie squinted at him.

"She was at that welcome back party they gave for me and SG-1, back in February. Anyway, how is school?"

"It's college now, Uncle Jack. It is still boring," Cass deadpanned, making the group of three women chuckle.

"Ashley, Janet, Carter," Jack greeted.

"General," all three of them answered with smiles.

"Uncle Jack says you know each other," Cassie said

"Yes, we do. Jack is also pretty cool," Ashley grinned.

"Yeah, he is. Right, Sam?" If Sam didn't love Cassie so much, she would've killed her for putting her on the spot. Then she looked at Jack and saw he was not only slightly blushing, but his eyes were searching hers. She smiled, the group looking at them completely forgotten as she lost herself in his gaze.

"Yes, pretty cool, indeed," Sam blushed under his gaze.

Ashley coughed to bring them out of their cloud, exchanging a knowing glance with Cassie and trying hard not to smirk at their shocked expressions after being somewhat caught in their little bubble.

"When did you arrive, kiddo?" Jack managed to ask.

"Just earlier," Cass grinned, and Jack frowned. "It's spring break?" she offered before he even asked.

"Ah, I see. You three must remember better than I do, but wasn't spring break supposed to be filled with parties and 'fun'?" Jack frowned in confusion.

"I don't know, sir. I was at the academy," Sam flinched.

"I was married around that age," Janet added. Jack turned towards Ashley.

"Hey, don't look at me," Ashley chuckled. "I did catch some spring breaks, but I'm quite certain they have nothing to do with what you are imagining," the way she put it made Jack understand that either she was a true party girl, or she was out hunting abnormals. Whichever it was, he wouldn't prod in case it gave Cass some ideas, and he knew that girl was good at trying new things.

"Don't worry, Uncle Jack. I'm just here for a few days; I was missing you guys. Then, I can let you know about all those parties and how spring break really works," Cass grinned mischievously, and Jack knew that if he had a drink, he would've spluttered it then.

Coughing, mostly to try and not to think of his niece dry humping at the beach under some weird upbeat music as the younglings did, Jack looked around awkwardly. On his search for nothing, in particular, he found the guys standing next to the grill.

"Huh, Daniel mentioned your mother being here too?" Jack asked before his brain caught up with what he had said.

"Oh shit!" Ashley swore, her eyes widening as she passed her glass to Sam. "She's going to kill me! I knew I forgot something!"

"Nikola requested her," Sam shrugged, making Jack understand that Ashley had teleported her mother back to the Sanctuary and was now going to bring her back.

"Oh, he didn't come?"

"No, something about a power emergency that needed his genius mind," Sam grinned.

"A nice way to boost his ego too, huh?"

"You know him. That is not so hard to accomplish," Sam chuckled. Jack then noticed he was monopolizing her and grinned towards the Frasier women.

"Sorry," he grinned. "I should get myself to my usual post, right?" he said.

"I think the guys have already solved that, General," Janet said.

"Oh, well. I'll see that the guys burn my burger the right way," he grinned. Turning around, Jack walked towards the grill, "Hey guys, should I cook?"

"Nah, Jack. We got it under control. It is just burgers, and Doctor Zimmerman here seems to be quite good at making them," Daniel said, and Will snorted.

"I had a job burning burgers when I was in college, I mean, 'cooking' burgers," Will grinned. "My scholarship was good, but having some extra income wasn't all that bad. It helped I didn't need to study all that much. General, how are you? I've heard you were pretty busy the last couple of days," he asked, raising an eyebrow. Jack gave him a slightly guilty look over the missed appointment and understood Will was calling him General to save appearances. Jack mouthed "I'm sorry!" to him and then continued aloud.

"Well, Doctor. These guys were giving me a run for my money, and you know how it goes, some other classified issues that we can't share are always around to complicate any day."

"I bet!" Will huffed. "I know from my experience at the network that being in charge isn't as much fun as the ones in charge make it look. I mean, I might be biased, but Helen is amazing at managing her time and maneuvering the many issues that can arise any given day. When I must take over, I pray she returns to her position asap," Will continued flipping some of the burgers.

"I guess I have no one to pray for anymore," Jack chuckled. "Being the man is exhausting."

Teal'c and Daniel observed the exchange surprised. Somehow, Jack seemed more open with the Doctor than they last remembered him being. Daniel looked at Teal'c and shrugged, having Jack in good terms with at least one of the Sanctuary crew was a good thing. Teal'c looked at the exchange deciding that the change had to do with them helping Jack to bring SG-1 back almost safely. Teal'c knew Jack enough to know he respected people who were unafraid of risking themselves to save others, and when 'others' meant Sam, it weighted even more.

"Burgers are ready," Will announced grinning at someone behind their backs.

"Excellent timing then," Helen said, making them all turn around. "Doctor," Jack greeted. "Whoa! You own jeans?"

"Cheeky. I did consider a full Victorian gown, but somehow these seemed more proper," Helen smirked. "I'm glad to see you've made it, General. We were starting to worry about you."

"For a moment, I also thought I wouldn't make it. Let's not talk about me, you've heard William here, burgers are ready."

"Let's eat," Will said, placing all the burgers on a plate. Teal'c grabbed it and started walking towards the table. They all sat around it and started passing the buns and the burgers around. Helen, who was sitting between Sam and Will felt observed and raised her eyes to find Cassandra Frasier squinting at her.

"I think mom already explained this to me, but why do you look so much alike?" Cass asked and then took a bite of her burger.

"Why do you think we look alike, Cassandra?" Helen asked in return, a smile on her face.

"I dunno? You can't be twins, right? 'Coz Sam doesn't talk funny like you do," Cassie shrugged biting her burger. "Mom said you were cousins."

"Cassie, food in your mouth?" Janet sighed, receiving a knowing smile from Helen.

"Right," Cass said, trying to swallow her meal as fast as she could. "I have a friend, and she has like a million cousins. I've seen their pictures, and she doesn't look much like any of them."

"Genetics can be complex," Helen shrugged in return and winked at Will when she felt his free arm on her waist.

"Yes, wouldn't I know," Cassie rolled her eyes. "Anyhow, there's Ashley, she has certain features that for sure make you look related, and she is your daughter, or at least that was what Uncle Jack said, right?" Helen nodded. "Well, she doesn't look that much like you. Shouldn't 'genetics' mean that she should look more like you than Sam?" Cass pointed.

"She's a smart one," Will commented, grinning at the situation Cassie had managed to push Helen and Sam into. Janet nodded.

"That she is," Janet grinned proudly. "Sometimes, too smart for her own good. Cassie, don't you think you are disturbing the Doctor?"

"Am I disturbing you, Doctor?" Cassie asked puppy eyes in place. Janet shook her head blushing at the attempt of her daughter to buy Magnus with her expression. Helen laughed, and for a minute everyone at the table stopped to look at the Doctor freely laughing, until they saw Cassie's pouty expression, one that all of them had fallen for at least one time.

"Cute puppy eyes, Cassandra," Helen grinned. "Ashley's expression was even more dramatic."

"Hey! It worked," Ashley defended herself.

"That it did, sometimes, it still does," Helen grinned. "No, Cassandra isn't bothering me, Doctor Frasier. I find her quite refreshing. What's your major, Cassandra?"

"I'm doing pre-med, among other things."

"She wants to be all of us," Sam explained.

"Well, you have excellent role models to follow. Indeed, it is a difficult choice. Samantha?" Helen asked softly, turning around towards her. Sam looked up, taking a sip of her drink. Magnus smiled softly, understanding eyes looking at Sam as if she was reading an open book. "It is up to you, Samantha."

"Really?" Sam smiled in surprise.

"She is part of your family, isn't she?" Helen asked, tilting her head a bit.

"Yeah," Sam said in a whisper. She had told Helen about Cassie, and how the thought of adopting the girl herself passed through her mind until Janet had offered.

"So?" Cassie grinned, she was following the conversation with her eyes. Helen turned towards her and squinted looking soberly at her. Cassie straightened up in return; somehow, she felt something big was about to happen.

"Can you keep a secret, young lady?"

"Yeah sure, you betcha!" Cassie grinned. "What's the story?"

"Would you believe me if I told you Helen is my mom?" Sam said, and Cassie looked from one to the other and then laughed.

"It's cool if you don't want to tell me, Sam. Next thing you are going to tell me is that Will is your dad and we all know Grandpa Jacob."

"I am adopted, Cassie," Sam smiled.

"I'm not her dad, that would be Nikola," Will shrugged. "He couldn't come," he added, making Helen chuckle.

"Wait, you are serious?" Cassie asked and looked around the table, everyone was silently watching the exchange before and now were nodding slowly in agreement. "Whoa, so you are like very old? You don't look very old," she frowned. The girl lowered her burger and started to fiddle with her fingers. They all observed her as she was concentrated on whatever she was doing.

"You okay there, kiddo?" Jack asked after a while.

"Sam turned 37 in December, and female humans can have babies since the first time a woman ovulates, which in most cases is somewhere between eleven or twelve, right? So, I guess you can be younger than Uncle Jack if you had her at 11 years old. So, you aren't that old if you are 48?" Cassie concluded with a confused frown. Helen looked at her seriously, and the girl blushed, worried about having offended her. "What?" She asked since everyone else was busy watching her in silence.

"Oh, kid. Don't get embarrassed but you'll never get it right," Ashley was the first one to talk.

"Excellent deductive skills, Cassandra, but I'm afraid Ashley is correct on this one."

"You are 55 then? According to my social studies class, there are lots of people having kids at 18. I know that is true 'coz many of my classmates were dropouts because someone knocked them up," Cassie added.

"No," Helen shook her head.

"Cassandra Frasier, will you stop annoying the Doctor?"

"I'm not annoying the Doctor, mom. She said so," Cass rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll give up. How old are you?" She asked, crooking her head, her burger long forgotten.

"I'm two hundred seventy-five," Helen affirmed, and Cassie laughed.

"I know it is rude to ask people's age, but you don't need to answer if you don't want to, ma'am," Cass shrugged.

"In August, I'm turning 276," Helen told her softly. Magnus kept her eyes on Cassie's eyes until she saw them widening.

"You are not joking," Cassie affirmed.

"I am not joking."

"And you look like that? Geez, I want to age like you! How is that even possible?" She asked curiously, Helen smiled, surprised as to how easily she accepted her age. But then again, the girl was an alien.

"Theoretically, I do not age. My physical appearance, underneath my makeup, is that of myself at age twenty-five when the process of natural aging was stopped on my body."

"That's so cool! Are you that old too, Ash?"

"Nope, I turned twenty-five a couple of months ago. I'm not sure if I'm stuck at this me, I'll get to you with that info in a couple of years. Deal?"

"Deal!" Cassie grinned. "What about you, Sam? Did you really turn 37?"

"Yes," Sam smiled. "Before you ask, yes, we theorize I stopped aging a while ago."

"Where can I sign up for not aging?" Cassie asked. Everyone went shockingly quiet when out of the sudden, Helen burst out laughing and everyone else followed. "What did I say?"

"Nothing wrong, dear. I find your take on life refreshing. Doctor Frasier, you have a wonderful daughter."

"I wish I could say I have much to do with the way her mind works," Janet smiled lovingly at her daughter. "But that is all her and always has been."

Will chose that moment to peck Helen's cheek and walk towards the interior of the house. The action made Helen blush slightly; it wasn't that she was unused to Will's displays of affection. It was the way the girl looked at her flabbergasted.

"Wait a minute, you and him?" Cassie whispered in awe.

"Cassandra!" Janet exclaimed.

"Indeed, William and I have been together for almost two years now," Helen nodded.

"They've known each other for ages though," Ashley added, gaining a roll of her mother's eyes. "What? It is true."

"Seven years is not ages, Ashley," Magnus pointed.

"It is," Cassie added.

"So, what would you call the amount of time Nikola and I've known each other?"

"Ancient history?" Ashley tried, making everyone paying attention laugh.

"Cheeky monkey," Helen shook her head. "History would've sufficed. 1860 isn't precisely ancient."

"Mom?" Cassie said, turning towards Janet. "Can I get her number for when I need help with history lessons?"

After a prolonged dinner and a fantastic dessert, Janet was the first one to call it a night. Cassie complained all the way through the house, but she knew it was holidays for her but not for the rest of her family.

The rest of the adults remained for a while longer. They all had noticed saw how Sam was enjoying having the friends that she considered family, and her actual family together and on good terms. Ashley then started telling about their experience off-world, making all of them laugh at the way she described it. Helen shook her head, finally understanding why her daughters took so long to get back home and call her.

It wasn't until Daniel couldn't stop yawning every couple of minutes when all of them decided it was time to leave. They all walked to the front door, Teal'c grabbed the keys of Daniel's car, and after bowing goodnight, he drove them both to the SGC.

Helen, William, and Ashley said their goodbyes; Helen was almost rushing them towards the bikes parked at the lawn. She had noticed the General lingering and decided that it wouldn't be bad for him to have a private moment with Sam.

"That's weird," Jack said as they watched the trio mount the bikes and wave to them as they started their engines and took off.

"What is?"

"I never imagined Doctor Magnus as a bike kind of person," Jack frowned, Sam laughed. "Oh, well, I guess some things can be explained by family bonds, right?"

"Yeah," Sam smiled, her eyes twinkling under the soft light of her porch. She was blushing under his gaze that held that same thing that made her feel unique and oh so loved.

Sam wanted to say many things and make him stay. Her romantic side wanted him to slowly close the distance between them and mold her to his body before kissing her senseless. Her wild side, on the other hand, wanted to grab him by the collar of his shirt and bring him close to her before exploring his mouth until she had it memorized.

Jack, on his part, was watching her every move, and the mental image of her tousled hair as she woke next to him, was giving him trouble to stand his ground and leave without breaking any rules. Then she bit her lower lip, and he groaned. Sam let out a breath, and without thinking, he embraced her tightly, and they both sighed in delight.

A car passed by, illuminating her porch, and they both took a deep breath before they forced themselves to take a step back. His hand reached her face, and his thumb caressed her cheek slowly.

"I should go," he whispered.

"You should," Sam affirmed breathlessly.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Bright and early," she smiled in that way they both knew was 'his,' and he took the final step away.

"Goodnight, Carter," Jack said from the final step of her porch

"Goodnight, sir," Sam answered, watching him walk away from her once more.

March 22th, 2005

SCG

If he were honest, Jack would say he wasn't feeling all that welcoming that day. He had reached home at a decent hour that would give him an average shut-eye; however, Jack was still feeling the tingly sensation of having embraced Samantha Carter. The way Sam's body had molded to his as they embraced the previous night also brought back memories of that extremely vivid drug-induced dream Jack had. Thus, for the better part of two hours, he tossed and turned trying to keep her out of his mind, and it seemed to him the moment he had managed to fall asleep, his alarm clock went off.

Jack sighed, even if he wasn't all that welcoming there was nothing he could do anymore. He hadn't postponed the 'zero hour' when he had a valid reason to do so. Cancel it now, when so few hours were left, and all the issues with catering and decorations were finally solved didn't make much sense. He shook his head; he still had to go and face the worst part of it all: his dress blues.

Now, the highlight of his morning came from the same thing he abhorred but attached to someone else. Samantha Carter, in her dress blues, could quickly become a fetish to any man.

It wasn't until the first time he had seen her when he became a man with a thing for uniforms. Jack's fascination with dress blues grew every time he caught her wearing them. It wasn't only the uniform though; it was the way she carried it, with such confidence that made it, her, even more appealing. Sam, in her blues, was the whole reason why Jack knew that a couple of hours of protocols and ceremonies for the President would be bearable.

After getting changed, he walked back to his office and decided to give the final touches to the note he had been writing to General Hammond for the past five days. He was about to print it and sign it when he remembered the previous night, along with plenty of other memories that made him understand that, perhaps, resigning his post should be the last string to pull.

Jack gave one glance to the red phone. It reminded him of that conversation with Will about how Doctor Magnus not only respected him but liked him too. Jack grinned, hoping that she had indeed grown fonder of him enough to pull some strings of her own if only to make her daughter happy.

Then, he looked at the screen of his laptop, and reread the note one final time; shaking his head, he added a simple 'never mind' at the end before he printed it out. Just on time too, because his aid knocked on his door then to let him know the President was finally at their gate.