A/N: Well, one good thing came out of me being unable to upload documents onto this site - I've completed writting this story including an epilogue.

Sammie and John enjoyed a lovely dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant in the southern Boston area that John lived by. Sammie had first encountered both John and the restaurant when she had been walking down the street one day when she didn't have any classes and was looking for a good coffee shop.

There he had been, sitting there reading the paper as he ate lunch at the little restaurant, when Sammie had tripped over his extended foot and fallen flat on her face. John, being the gentleman that he was, helped her up; apologized profusely and offered to buy her lunch to make up for the accident. Sammie, poor college student that she was, accepted the offer of a free meal and the two had been friends ever since.

After dinner the couple hit a local club that had excellent dancing music. Okay, so it was a swing club, but considering that Sammie loved to swing dance, John had taken the time to learn during the first year of their friendship and took her there at every available opportunity. It was a lovely tradition.

"Okay, it's only ten and I'm not tired," Sammie said. "I know I should be considering all the crap I have to do at school – but I'm graduating at the end of the week and I really don't care about anything else right now."

John smiled at his girlfriend, "Wanna take a walk?"

Sammie grinned, "I'd love to, John. You always do know how to put me at ease."

The two walked in the spring night air that was filled with the life of Boston. Neither said a word for a long time, just enjoying the company of the other in the intimate time that was the night. Finally, it was John who started to talk, picking up the conversation they had shared a few days before.

"Whenever I went on a mission, I always left a gun for Sarah to defend herself in case someone broke in." Sammie didn't say a thing. She knew by then that if he wanted to tell her the full story he would … and if he didn't, then she'd piece together what she could and not ask any questions. "When I'd been gone for about four months, I think, Charlie found the gun – Sarah had forgotten to put the safety on, I guess. Something like that, anyway."

She didn't need to be told what had happened, she could tell by the look of pain and despair that crossed John's face. Sammie tightened her grip on John's arm, resting her head comfortably on his shoulder as they continued to walk along the road. "Sarah couldn't take the guilt of it all … she shot herself with the same gun a month later."

"What did you do when you got home?" Sammie asked, her voice tentative and shy, wondering if he would answer her question.

John shrugged, putting one of his arms around Sammie's waist and pulling her closer to him, "I went on a mission that was supposed to be suicide, met this really geeky archeologist and learned how to survive again. Then I retired and moved up here."

Sammie kissed his cheek softly, lovingly as they walked on in silence.

A few moments later, Sammie started to speak, knowing that John wanted to know about her family but would never ask. "My mom died when I was sixteen. I told you that, didn't I?" he nodded once and she continued, "My dad and Mark never got along. Mark blamed Dad for everything wrong in his life: his parents not being together; Mom's death; everything. The curse of being a stepfather, I guess.

"Anyway, Mark is ten years older than me, and he's always been overly protective. He never wanted to see me hurt, or anything that could possibly cause me to be aware of anything bad. My Dad, on the other hand, knew that he couldn't protect me forever and taught me how to defend myself. By the time I was eighteen I had a Level Three advanced training in hand to hand."

John whistled appreciatively, "Remind me never to get you mad."

Sammie grinned up at him, "Oh, John, you've got nothin' to worry about – especially with that look you give me whenever I get upset."

John's face bore a look of confusion that was just too cute, "What look?"

Sammie kissed him lovingly. "That look," she said when she pulled away.

"I should remember that," John said with a smirk as they resumed their walk.

"Uncle Irving came to live with Dad and me after Mom died. He's Mom's older brother and has the same protective streak in him that Mark does. But I love them all, and that makes it all worth it."

"Yeah," John said, smiling slightly as he pulled Sammie closer. He looked down at his watch and noticed how late it was, "We better be getting back. It's almost 2330 hours. I don't want to get on your dad's bad side or anything."

Sammie just laughed as they turned around and walked back to John's car.

"Are you sure?" Jacob asked the woman on the other end.

"Yes, sir, Dr. McKay actually admitted that there's nothing more he can do about it. If we don't get another scientist in here soon who knows how to handle things like this … Sir, I don't think I need to remind you what could happen."

General Carter swore under his breath, "Thank you, Captain Hanger. I know just the person we can ask."

"If I may, sir. Who?"

"My daughter," Jacob was determined. Sammie was a genius – she was graduating three years early, for Pete's sake! He knew that if anyone could figure it out, she could.

"Sir?" Hanger was a little bit confused about the General's statement. Wouldn't it be biased of him to have his own daughter working for him?

"My daughter is graduating three years early from Harvard with a Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics, Captain. If anyone can figure it out, she can."

"Yes, sir."

A/N: Dun dun dun! How many of you suspected that Jacob was heading up the SGC?