Jack cast his line into the pond and sighed in contentment. He and Sam sat out on the small wooden dock, their chairs close together in the confined space. When Sam had finally reconciled herself to fishing, her innate curiosity had kicked in. She had spent most of their time since asking him questions about the rods, the lines, the bait, how to cast; he'd actually surprised himself by answering with a patience he hadn't known he was capable of until she ran out of steam. She'd been quiet for the last ten minutes. He was thinking she wouldn't last for very much longer without saying something.

'This is great.'

He hid a smile as he began to wind his line back in. Ah, in the subject of Samantha Carter, he was an A student. 'I told you.'

'I can't believe we didn't do this years ago.' She murmured thinking she couldn't believe she hadn't agreed to it years ago.

'Yes, well.' Jack figured it was too soon for that discussion. They started talking about the reasons why she hadn't gone fishing with him and before they knew it they'd be talking about them. He figured she wasn't ready for that; not while she was grieving. 'Let's not dwell.' He added.

'There really are no fish in this pond are there?' She turned to look at him with nothing but amusement sparking in her eyes.

'No.' He agreed. Her laughter bubbled up and drifted over him. Life just didn't get much better than this, he thought as they smiled at each other. Their eyes held for a second before both glanced away. It was a perfect moment and a warm, fuzzy feeling stole over him as he mentally filed it away.

The sound of approaching footsteps heralded the arrival of Daniel and Teal'c. Jack cast his line out again. 'Nice.'

'Hey guys.'

'Daniel.' Jack kept his eyes on the pond. He felt the nudge of a beer bottle on his shoulder and reached up to take it. 'Thanks.'

'Walter also asked me to give you this.' Daniel reached into a jacket pocket and handed him a sheet of paper. 'It's the agenda for the President's visit. He said to call if you didn't like anything.'

Jack glared at Daniel who held his hands up and backed away to the stool he'd set up just to the side on the bank of grass. Jack put his rod down and snapped the folded paper open grumbling under his breath. He ignored the amused look Sam shot him. His eyes ran down the agenda as he took his first sip of beer. His eyes ran back down the running order. Meet and greet at eleven-hundred; Presidential briefing on the SGC's latest activities with the SGC commander at eleven-ten to twelve-hundred in Jack's office; a Presidential speech to the whole squadron in the gate room at twelve-fifteen; a reply to the President's speech by the SGC commander at twelve-thirty; a buffet lunch for the whole base in the commissary at thirteen-hundred. Crap. He was going to have to make a speech. He crumpled the sheet of paper and threw it on the ground beside his chair.

'Well?' Sam prompted.

'Hayes is arriving at eleven. There's the session to report. A speech in the gate room, the usual.' Jack said dismissively.

Sam looked at him doubtfully but turned her attention back to her line and made to recast. Her face showed her intent on doing it right despite the lack of actual fish.

'Hey, Jack!' Daniel called over to him. 'What exactly do I do with this?'

Jack turned to see Daniel staring curiously at a brand new fishing rod. His heart sank at the expression on Daniel's face as he remembered how many questions Sam had asked; Daniel usually asked more…he sighed and put his own rod down as he gave into the inevitable.

They stayed out fishing for a couple of hours before the fading light and their rumbling stomachs drove them indoors for food. Teal'c lit a fire and after their meal they gathered around the hearth sitting on cushions on the floor and using the sofa and chairs as nothing more than back-rests. A comfortable silence fell over the team.

Daniel took a sip of beer and reviewed the faces of his friends thoughtfully from his place on the right-hand side of the hearth. Sam and Jack had gravitated together and sat side by side with their backs against the sofa. He dropped his gaze to his beer and wondered briefly if they had taken advantage of the time alone at the cabin to finally acknowledge how they both felt about each other. That the two of them loved each other way beyond what the regulations allowed was rarely discussed but completely understood by the team. They probably hadn't discussed it, Daniel thought. For some reason he could never understand, while other rules were bent or broken, the rule regarding their relationship was one that they both kept. In his very biased position as someone who loved them both, it was way past time for them to find some happiness together. His eyes focused on Sam.

The Air Force Lieutenant Colonel seemed to get more beautiful each year as though each battle, each experience she went through simply honed the essence of who she was. She was too beautiful and too smart for Daniel not to have wondered at odd moments whether he and Sam might have had something between them…maybe if he hadn't been married when they had met. By the time he'd become a widower it had been obvious to him that Sam and Jack were falling for each other even if they hadn't been aware of it. He owed them both too much, loved them both too much, to think about doing something that would complicate it for all of them even though the Air Force regulations prevented the couple actually being together. He'd settled for being family and in truth he was happy with the way things had turned out.

His eyes slid to Teal'c who was watching Jack and Sam with a knowing look. The Jaffa warrior rarely missed anything. He preferred to sit back and observe; to only speak when he had something to say. It worked for Teal'c, and Daniel had often found that the Jaffa gained a great deal of insight into people with his approach. It was a skill that would serve him well when he officially became the leader for the Free Jaffa. Daniel took another gulp of beer to try and remove the lump that had jumped into his throat. He knew it was only a matter of time before Teal'c disappeared permanently to Dakara and he was going to miss the big guy. He shook his head a little in disbelief. If anybody had told him right after his return from their first visit to Chulak that Teal'c and he would become as close as brothers he would have laughed. Teal'c had been directly responsible for kidnapping his late wife, Sha're; directly responsible for her becoming infested by a Goa'uld. He had been astounded by Jack's idea to make the Jaffa a member of SG1 and the first few missions had been fraught. But they had gotten past it and now he couldn't imagine his life without the Jaffa. He suppressed a sigh and took another gulp of beer as his eyes flickered back to Sam again.

She would miss Teal'c too. She'd been through a lot in the last year or so, Daniel mused; Janet…the whole creepy thing with the Replicator…her father…a broken engagement – even if it had been by choice – and soon, Teal'c. His eyes slid to Jack. There was a rumour that Jack had been offered Hammond's job running the Department for Homeworld Security. If it was true and he took it, Daniel intended to punch his lights out. Sam didn't need any more changes and she certainly didn't need to lose the one person she needed the most. He was going to have to talk with Jack, Daniel mused, make sure he made the right decision and stayed at the SGC.

'Colonel Carter,' Teal'c's voice rumbled across the small space, 'of what are you thinking so seriously?'

Sam smiled back at the Jaffa. 'About the timeline.'

'You're thinking about the timeline?' Jack sounded a little indignant.

'Well, I was just considering the apparent lack of the butterfly effect.' Sam explained.

'I am unfamiliar with that term, Colonel Carter.' Teal'c noted.

'Will you stop encouraging her?' Jack grumbled but there was no heat in his words.

Sam simply smiled at him. 'The butterfly effect is part of chaos theory. It suggests that the smallest change in history could have major ramifications. Essentially if you transported a butterfly back in time, the merest flap of its wings might cause an alteration in the weather system that would change the course of history, like create a hurricane that destroys a city.'

'I see.' Teal'c murmured. 'I was unaware that a butterfly was capable of generating such a phenomenon.'

'Well, there would be other factors…' Sam began to explain.

'And you're wondering why our intervention in Ancient Egypt to recover the ZPM didn't alter the timeline?' Daniel mused interrupting Sam much to Jack's unhidden relief.

'Exactly.' Sam leaned forward. 'It's astounding that what we did didn't have a cataclysmic effect on our timeline.'

'Well, we don't know how many times we've had to go back to get it right.' Daniel said.

'What d'ya mean?' Jack couldn't help himself asking the question.

'Well, think about it. Sam's right. Given what we know happened thanks to the tape that we left for ourselves, it's unlikely that we didn't alter the timeline.' Daniel gestured with his bottle. 'Our alternate future selves had to live out their lives in Ancient Egypt after all.'

'So are you telling me now that you think we did alter the timeline?' Jack checked.

'We have no way of knowing for certain, sir…Jack.' Sam hastily corrected as he shot her a look. 'All we have are the references on the tape and they all check out so as far as we can be certain, there was obviously minimal impact to the timeline.'

'It's weird though that thousands of years ago our future selves were living in Egypt.' Daniel shook his head. 'Years and years before we were even born. It must have been like visiting an alternate reality.'

'I am uncertain of the difference.' Teal'c said ignoring the way Jack was frantically gesturing for him to stop talking. 'Did we not create an alternate reality by travelling back in time?'

'Not in the way you mean, Teal'c. In theory, each reality has one timeline which is linear. So say we're reality A.' Sam explained. 'Now, quantum theory supposes that every time a choice is made in our reality, it creates another reality…'

'B, C, D, etc.' Daniel murmured.

'Right but the past timeline, history and events of all the realities would be the same up until the point of divergence.'

'But when I jumped into the alternate reality where Earth was under attack from the Goa'uld they were ahead of us in the timeline so I must have also jumped into the future.' Daniel said perplexed.

'Not necessarily.' Sam said. 'The choices that had been made that created that reality may have only made the attack more likely to happen earlier in their timeline than in ours.'

'So what you're saying is we effectively went back into our own timeline in reality A and changed it.' Daniel concluded. 'Just erased everything from the moment we arrived in Egypt and hoped it would all unfold like before?'

'Yes.' Sam nodded.

'But we didn't change anything.' Jack said confused.

'I said it didn't look like we changed anything.' Sam corrected.

'But weirdly there may be a reality out there where we didn't go back in time.' Daniel mused ignoring Jack's intervention. 'After all, our future selves made a choice.'

'Or there could even be a reality where one of the references didn't match exactly to the tape and we didn't correct it.' Sam suggested.

'Really?' Jack shook his head. 'So you're saying if there had been fish in my pond we might have…' he gestured vaguely, 'let it go?'

She smiled at the not-so-unintentional pun. 'Maybe.' Sam turned to look at him. 'I wouldn't,' she emphasised, 'but there may be a me out there in some reality that might have considered the risk of going back and creating more damage was greater than accepting what would appear to be on the surface a small and insignificant change in the timeline.'

'I wonder how many times we had to go back to get it completely right.' Daniel murmured.

'We will never know, Daniel Jackson.' Teal'c said.

'I guess not.' Daniel sipped the last of his beer. He examined the empty bottle. 'Anyone want to split another?'

Jack looked at the mouthful left in his own bottle. 'Sure. I'll get it.' His knees cracked as he got up and he winced a little.

Sam stretched. 'Actually guys, I think I'm going to call it a night.'

'I am also ready to retire.' Teal'c got gracefully to his feet and held out a hand for Sam to grab. He pulled her effortlessly off the floor.

'Night.' Sam murmured, her eyes sliding to Jack's as he looked up from knocking the top of the bottle he'd retrieved.

'Night.' Jack watched her until the door closed. He grabbed a glass and headed back down to the fire.

Daniel accepted the glass with his half of the beer and viewed Jack over the rim thoughtfully. 'So anything you want to share?'

'Nothing apart from the beer.' Jack said easily leaning back against the sofa.

'Did you and Sam talk?'

'Sure.' Jack agreed. 'Mainly about fishing.' He pointed his beer at Daniel. 'And I think she mentioned she had some ideas on how we could have counter-acted the Dakara machine energy thing. Something to do with the way the replicators used to respond…I don't know.'

'You're kidding me. She came up with a counter-measure?' Daniel's voice rose with excitement before it hit him that Jack was trying to divert him. He shook his head. 'You know if you don't want to talk about it, we won't talk about it.'

'Good.' Jack said tipping his bottle back and taking a long gulp.

Silence fell between them. Daniel sipped his own beer and waited. It took less time than he had estimated before he heard Jack sigh.

'We haven't talked.' Jack admitted. 'She's got enough to deal with right now with Jacob dying.'

'That's very noble of you, Jack.'

Jack shot him a look but there was a distinct lack of humour in Daniel's expression that made him relax a little. 'Besides, what's there to talk about? Nothing's changed.'

'Nothing's changed?' Daniel repeated. 'Sam's not with Pete. You're not with…Kelly?'

'Kerry.' Jack corrected and his eyes flittered to Daniel curiously. 'How'd do you know about that?'

'Teal'c and I might have heard the two of you talking in the garden.' Daniel confessed hiding his face in his beer.

Jack looked away embarrassed. 'Well, it still doesn't change things.'

'Because you're both still in the Air Force and Sam's still under your command.' Daniel concluded. 'You know it wouldn't be the first time the two of you have broken one of the rules.'

Jack said. 'Some rules you don't break. This is one of them.'

'Yeah, remind me why that is again?' Daniel asked curious. 'It must happen all the time.'

'It does,' Jack admitted, 'more than anyone in the military would like to say and I'm not denying there's a lot of 'don't ask, don't tell' that happens even on the base.' He sighed. 'But the fall-out if you're caught…' he looked back up at his friend and away again. 'I couldn't do that to Carter.'

Daniel sighed. If there was one thing Jack was passionate about it was protecting others, particularly those he cared about. 'There has to be a way around it though.' He murmured.

Jack shrugged and his thumb grazed the top of the bottle. 'I'm thinking of retiring.'

'Retiring?' Daniel almost choked on his beer.

'I only came back to help fight the Goa'uld, Daniel.' Jack pointed out. 'And the last time I checked we'd won.'

'For now.' Daniel shot back.

'Let's face it, Daniel,' Jack said tiredly, 'I kinda took the first step when I accepted command of the SGC.'

'You're still part of SG1.' Daniel argued.

'Not really.' Jack shook his head. 'I haven't been out on a real mission with you guys for a while and I'm not counting that whole Maybourne thing. I would have had to have gone whether I was part of the team or not; I have the whole Ancient gene thing.'

'I can't believe you're ready to give up.' Daniel said. 'There has to be another way.' He pushed his glasses up his nose. 'I mean in the other realities Sam wasn't in the Air Force…'

'I can't ask her to give up her career.' Jack broke in. 'It's not fair to her.'

'Well, what about you? If you did retire from the Air Force, couldn't you continue to work at the SGC as a civilian?'

Jack gave a huff of laughter. 'That's what Kerry suggested.'

'Kerry?'

'When she was breaking up with me.' Jack explained. 'She suggested the President had appointed a civilian to run the SGC before.'

'She's right.' Daniel said.

'Sure,' Jack glanced across at the archaeologist, 'so all I have to do is ask the President to let me retire but keep me in charge of the SGC without giving the slightest impression to him or anyone else that I'm only doing it because I want to be with Carter.'

'But you would be doing it because you want to be with Sam.' Daniel said confused.

'But it can't appear that way.'

'Because people will start assuming you've broken the frat regs already and the damage to Sam's career and reputation will be done just as if you had broken the frat regs in the first place.' Daniel surmised. Jack didn't reply but Daniel figured he'd nailed it. He sighed. 'Won't people assume you're retiring to be with Sam anyway?'

'Maybe.' Jack admitted. Crap, he thought, he hadn't considered that.

'There has to be another way.'

'Well, if you find it let me know.' Jack muttered resting his head on the sofa cushions. 'Besides, I haven't talked with Carter and when I do…' he took a deep breath, 'there is a chance that she won't be interested.'

'Right.' Daniel snorted. He was pleased to see his own incredulity at the idea had reassured Jack. It was time to change the subject, Daniel thought. 'So I guess if you're thinking about retiring, you're not taking the Homeworld Security job?'

Jack stared at him. 'Did I miss the memo that announced I got offered the job?'

Daniel smirked. 'So you did get offered it.'

'Hammond recommended me,' Jack admitted, 'and Hayes is keen for me to take it.'

'But you're not going to.'

'Not really me is it?' Jack shrugged. 'Besides, Carter doesn't need anyone else disappearing on her.'

'Like you would if you retired?'

'I'd still be around.' Jack said defensively wondering whether he had fully thought the whole retirement thing through. 'I'm not planning on being somewhere off world.'

'Unlike Teal'c who's likely going back to Dakara permanently.' Daniel sighed.

'You know?'

'I know.'

'So, if you know…'

'I'm not planning to go to Atlantis anytime soon.' Daniel confirmed.

'She's going to tell you to go.' Jack pointed out.

Daniel shrugged. 'So you'll refuse to release me.' He pushed his glasses up his nose. 'It wouldn't be the first time.'

'Sure. Make it all my fault.' Jack finished his beer and set the bottle down on the floor.

Daniel looked at his glass which was still half full and got to his feet anyway. He was sharing the spare room with Teal'c while Jack was bunking on the sofa bed. 'You want a hand setting up the bed?'

Jack shook his head. 'Nah. You go ahead.'

Daniel nodded. 'See you tomorrow.' He made his way to the spare room lost in thought; there had to be a way to make it possible for Sam and Jack to be together. They came up with plans to save the planet all the time; surely they could come up with a solution for this, couldn't they?