Hammond hesitated, noticing the Vice President's reaction – although he was practically the only one who did. Everyone else in the room was looking at Ian or at McKay.

"We'll have more time later – hopefully – to ask Lieutenant Brooks any more questions you may have…" he said. "Perhaps we should take a quick break before we start discussing the other area of interest on the agenda for this morning… We have refreshments in the room next to this one, if you'll all follow Sergeant Hahn."

There were nods all around, and everyone in the room stood up and headed for the door, Kinsey sliding by with his eyes fixed on Ian, until the only people left in the room were Jack, Sam, Daniel Teal'c and McKay – who wanted refreshments, but was really debating how much chance he'd have of convincing someone else he was too injured to get them himself. As much as he ached, he really didn't feel like moving from the spot at the table.

"Why do I get the feeling he's going to be a problem…?" Daniel asked, watching as the Vice President left the room.

"He's not," Jack said, his own eyes glittering with undisguised hatred as he, too, watched Kinsey leave. "The first sign of trouble, and I'll make what Dotty did to him feel like a tip-toe through the tulips…"

Teal'c nodded his own agreement to that, and Sam couldn't help but feel just a little sorry for the man. But not for long, and not all that sorry. He had, after all, tried to kill Shawn – and had almost succeeded.

"Who's Dotty?" McKay asked.

"What's the next thing on their agenda?" Ian asked, quickly, not wanting to get into a discussion about Dotty. That was still a very painful subject with him. And not that he was all that curious about the upcoming discussions, but he wanted to know if he needed to stay or if he could go back to the infirmary. Cassie might not be able to come to the base just then, but he could call her if he had a free moment.

"The Homeworld Defense organization…" Sam said, hesitantly.

"The what?" McKay asked - although Ian looked just as confused.

"It's this idea they came up with," she explained – mostly to Ian. "With the new weapon in Antarctica, they want to make sure it's under control of a world-wide organization and not just our military…"

"It's not a very original name, is it?" Ian scoffed, shaking his head.

"There's more to it, Ian…" Sam said, softly. They hadn't actually had a chance to discuss any of this with the young man – he'd been in the infirmary – although Teal'c and Daniel had both been told what was going on, and had eventually given their own blessing to Jack to take the new position if it were offered to him. "There's talk of having Jack be in charge of the organization."

"It's going to be pretty hard to run that and lead SG-1," Ian said, grinning.

When everyone in the room turned quiet, Ian lost his smile, however, and turned to Jack, who was watching him intently.

"I'm not going to be leading SG-1, Ian," Jack told him.

"What?"

"If they offer me the position, I'm going to take it. Sam and I have already discussed it."

Ian lurched to his feet, almost stumbling over his heart, which had dropped well beyond his stomach and was somewhere in his shoes.

"You're not serious…"

Jack nodded.

"It'd be a chance to stay onworld – and actually spend time with Jake."

"But…"

He couldn't even think of anything to say. The one reason Jack had given was one that Ian could never compete with. And worse, he knew it.

"What about us?"

"The SGC will still be here, Ian," Jack said. "We're still going to need you here. Don't think for a moment that-"

"It's not going to be the same."

"I know."

"When were you going to tell me about this? The day before you left?"

Predictably, he went immediately from hurt to furious – although it wasn't the same kind of anger.

Jack shook his head.

"We talked to Teal'c and Daniel yesterday… I couldn't get past Fraiser to-"

"You should have tried harder!"

"Ian…"

"No!" He didn't want to be placated with some kind of worthless promise or some kind of lecture. Both would be empty – and he didn't want to hear either. "I can't believe you're doing this. The SGC needs you. I need you!"

Sam took a step toward him, reacting to the anguish in his eyes and his voice – hurt he couldn't have hidden if he wanted to just then.

"Ian…"

"You're leaving, too…" he accused, and now he felt an ache in his chest and a lump in his throat that made it hard to breathe – and certainly made standing impossible. He dropped back into his chair, ignoring the way his body protested at the motion.

She faltered, and nodded.

"We don't know for certain where the organization will be located… I-"

A light tap on the door was all the warning any of them had, and into the silence that fell between all of them the delegates started returning to the room, some of them now holding coffee mugs or pastries in their hands and murmuring softly in conversations, unaware of the interruption they were causing.

Sam started to move towards Ian, perhaps intending to get him to join her outside, but he turned away, facing the incoming diplomats instead, even though he couldn't have cared less who entered the room just then. She hesitated, and looked back at Jack, who gave her a helpless look. True, they should have warned him about what was happening, to cushion the blow that he was obviously feeling, but they hadn't had a chance.

Hammond gave them all an odd look when he entered the room with the President, but Teal'c was the only one who noticed it. The others were all looking at Ian – who was pointedly not looking at them.

"Now that we're all fed," Hammond said, smiling as well as he could while still wondering what was going on between Ian and the others, "It has been requested that we discuss the formation of the Homeworld Defense Organization. I'm sure those of you who weren't here when the initial proposition was made are now familiar with it, but in case you aren't, I'll have the Secretary of Defense come up and brief you all on it again. Just to make sure."

Hammond gestured at the man, who nodded and stood up. He had all the notes from the previous discussion – and had already been told he'd be the one who would be responsible for getting things rolling on this project.

"Thank you, General Hammond. As you all are aware, the weapon that was used to save the Earth from the smaller, deadly death gliders is an alien weapon that was found in the glaciers of Antarctica. It is our intent – and by this I don't mean the United States' alone – to find a way to continue using this weapon to protect our world from harm…"

The briefing went on, but Ian was only listening with half his attention. He was still in shock, and was only just beginning to run through scenarios of what life would be like now. He was going to lose everything. From Jack and Sam to Jake and maybe even Shawn if he moved as well. Were Daniel and Teal'c even going to stay? Daniel might. Maybe. But Teal'c had long ago made it plain to Ian that he was there because of O'Neill. Teal'c might leave, too. There was undoubtedly something he could find to do on Chulak – or somewhere else. The Jaffa were going to need leaders for their revolution, after all, and Teal'c was a perfect choice for that.

And as stingy as it made him feel, all Ian could think about as the Secretary of Defense droned on and on was just how empty he was going to feel without having all these people who had become his friends around.