Sam rolled over and slowly opened her eyes – she had a pounding headache. Once her eyes had focused she saw Jackie sitting just a few feet away from the bed in an overstuffed arm chair. Her head was perched against the side and a book lay across her chest – she had fallen asleep while reading. For the umpteenth time since first meeting the younger woman, Sam studied her features and marveled at how familiar they seemed to her. Yet despite everything, she could not place them.

"It's not polite to stare."

Sam jumped at the unexpected voice. She noticed the huge grin spreading across Jackie's face and couldn't help but smile as well.

"I thought you were asleep."

"Nah, just resting my eyes. I was too worried about you to sleep."

"Worried about me? Why?" Sam sat up in bed, curious.

"Because I made a mistake." Jackie finally opened her eyes and looked at Sam. "When I left home I grabbed the wrong bottle of aspirin by mistake. A couple weeks before I flew Jack to Colorado Springs, I broke my bottle of prescription sleeping pills, so I dumped them into an empty bottle of aspirin. You should have woken up 4-8 hours ago, when you didn't I got worried."

"You gave me sleeping pills?" Sam exclaimed. "How long have I been asleep?"

Jackie glanced down at her watch.

"Almost 16 hours."

"16 hours? Holy crap!" Sam swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Looking up at Jackie she continued, "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"We're going home."

"What?"

"I talked to Agent Barrett while you slept. Now that they have an ID for the sniper, they've been able to pick up his trail. They'll have him in no time. Meanwhile, Daniel has left nearly two dozen messages on my cell phone, wondering where we were and why we weren't picking up. I'm guessing you'll find just as many on your phone. Besides, you have to report back to the SGC bright and early tomorrow morning." Jackie paused. "That and something's come up…something that I need to take care of."

"Nice to finally see you awake Colonel."

"It's good to see you again too, Agent Barrett." Sam smiled as she and Jackie came down the stairs into the foyer of the American Embassy. "I'm sorry that I slept the whole time we were here and that we won't have a chance to catch up."

"It may not be much, but we at least have the ride to the airport to talk."

Sam shared a look with Jackie.

"Um…Agent Barrett?" Jackie interrupted. "We won't be going to the airport."

"A puddle jumper?" Barrett asked in surprise as he stood on the edge of the clearing where Sam and Jackie had left the jumper. Jackie had just disengaged the cloak and there sat the jumper in all its glory. "No wonder we didn't know you were here."

"That is one of its many advantages." Jackie replied. "The other is that the flight is shorter."

Sam smiled half-heartedly. The effect of the sleeping pills still hadn't totally worn off. She was definitely glad that she would have a few more hours to sleep. She excused herself from the two, said a quick goodbye to Agent Barrett, and headed into the ship. Once inside, she stored her overnight bag and laid down on one of the benches. A few minutes later, she heard Jackie call out a goodbye to Agent Barrett, enter the jumper, and store her overnight bag.

As Jackie reached above her head to store her bag next to Sam's, she glanced down at Sam's still form. She should not have had that reaction to two sleeping pills. Jackie wondered if the exhaustion that had built up since Sam's last leave, coupled with the recent loss and subsequent grief, hadn't prolonged the effects of the pills. She sincerely hoped that that was the case. Turning around, Jackie reached up and pulled down a pillow and blanket. Quietly she put the pillow under Sam's head and gently laid the blanket over her.

Moving to the front of the jumper, Jackie started it up, took a quick look over the systems, and took off once she was satisfied. Hovering just a few feet above the ground, she turned the jumper and waved one last farewell to Agent Barrett before cloaking. Clearing the trees, she settled in for the long ride ahead of her.

The puddle jumper was about halfway across the Atlantic when Sam finally woke up and made her way to the forward compartment.

"Good morning sleepyhead." Jackie smiled as Sam sat. "There's some food and coffee behind you if you're hungry."

"Where are we?" Sam asked as she sipped the tepid coffee.

"About an hour…hour and a half from New York City."

"Already?"

"We're in a jumper Sam; the trip isn't as long in one of these. Of course, sleep tends to make the time go by faster too." Jackie teased.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to sleep so long…"

"Don't worry about it Sam." Jackie interrupted. "You obviously needed the sleep. Besides, the more rested you are, the more prepared you'll be on your missions."

Sam nodded. The last few days had been hard on her…harder than they should have been. She was a soldier after all; she was used to much tougher situations than these.

Before they knew it, Sam and Jackie could see the Statue of Liberty and New York City sprawling out behind it in all its glory.

"That has to be one of my favorite sites." Jackie commented off-hand.

"Oh? Why?" Sam asked.

"The first time I saw it was when I was 16, I was on my senior class trip. Jack took some time off and met me in New York. Since I was a couple years younger than everyone else, I wasn't all that upset about leaving the group and hanging out with him for a couple days. He gave me the Jack O'Neill dime tour. Our last day before he had to leave, he took me to the Statue of Liberty where we would eventually meet back up with my class. At that point I had known about the SGC for a few years – he had such hopes that I would one day work there. As we stood at the base of the Statue he told me that every time he saw it he was reminded of the work that the SGC was doing to help the displaced humans on other worlds."

Sam smiled and nodded. She could appreciate the sentiment. Softly she quoted the statue's inscription:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

"It fits somehow, doesn't it?" Jackie asked as they passed the Statue of Liberty.

"Yeah."

"We should probably call Daniel and Teal'c." Jackie said as they flew past Chicago. When Sam nodded, Jackie reached over to the console and dialed Daniel's cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Daniel."

"Jackie! Where the hell have you been?"

"We were out of range, couldn't get any signal."

"So you're back?"

"No, not yet. But we should be back in about an hour, hour and a half at the most. So Sam and I were wondering if you and Teal'c wanted to have dinner with us tonight since we had to cancel on you guys yesterday."

"On one condition…I cook."

"You can cook Daniel?"

"Ha ha ha. See you at Sam's."

"Okay." Jackie smiled as she cut the connection.

The time passed quickly. Before they knew it, Cheyenne Mountain loomed ahead. Turning the jumper slightly, Jackie guided it back to the corner of the airstrip where Sam's car was parked. Once the ship had landed Sam stood and moved towards the back. She was reaching over hear head to pull down her bag before she realized that the jumper hadn't powered down.

"Jackie?" Sam asked, turning.

"I have an errand to run. You head home; Daniel and Teal'c are waiting for you. I'll catch up later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Jackie smiled. Sam was halfway out the back hatch when she called out to her. "Hey Sam!"

"Yeah?"

"Don't hold dinner for me, I may be a little late."

"Hey guys!" Sam called out as she walked in her front door.

"Sam!" Daniel exclaimed as he came down the front hall from her kitchen. He gave her a big hug. "Glad you're home." Daniel looked past Sam, expecting to see Jackie coming through the door. "Where's Jackie?"

"She had to run an errand. She'll be here later." As Sam was speaking Teal'c came out of the kitchen. Sam started laughing at the sight of him. He was wearing an apron and was covered in flour.

"Welcome home Colonel Carter." Teal'c said, just a hint of a smile on his face. "Daniel Jackson has been teaching me how to make traditional Earth desserts."

"I can see that." Sam laughed. "Well, while you two finish I'm going to go unpack."

The two men watched Sam as she walked up the stairs. There was something different about her; she seemed calmer, more rested. Shaking himself out of his reverie, Daniel headed back into the kitchen. Teal'c followed, thinking how much better his friend looked after her trip.

"DAMMIT!"

Daniel and Teal'c came running out of the kitchen at the exclamation that came from upstairs. As they reached the bottom of the stairs they saw Sam running down them.

"Sam?" Daniel asked.

"I have to get to the mountain." She half explained, as she reached for her keys. Teal'c's hand stopped her.

"General Landry said that he did not want you on base until tomorrow morning Colonel Carter." He said coolly.

"Teal'c," Sam replied. "I have intelligence pertinent to our mission at the SGC. Landry will make an exception this once."

Teal'c couldn't explain it later, but something in Sam's eyes convinced him that she did indeed need to speak to General Landry. However, he did not remove his hand from her wrist.

"We will take Daniel Jackson's automobile. However, we must turn off the oven before we leave."

General Landry was enjoying the quiet that was inevitable whenever SG1 was on leave. They were the SGC's flag team, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that they were the best. Despite that, there always seemed to be one tragedy or another striking his elite team. That line of thought inevitably moved his thoughts to the most recent tragedy – the loss of SG1's original CO, General Jack O'Neill. This tragedy was the reason for SG1's current leave. Thus, for about 15 minutes, Landry's thoughts had gone in circles as he stared, unseeing, through his window into the briefing room and sipped his coffee.

The sudden entrance of the subjects of his thoughts into the briefing room snapped Landry back to the present. Slamming his now tepid coffee down on his desk he stood up and stormed out of his office.

"Colonel Carter I thought I made myself clear…"

"Yes sir, you did." Sam interrupted to everyone's shock. "With all due respect, sir, you need to hear what I have to say. It could very well be a matter of global security."