Jack dismissed the muffled noises in the middle of his elaborate reason on why no, he didn't want to call back, he wanted to talk now. He was a little more than annoyed when he was cut off abruptly. He tried Daniel's number again but was directed straight to his voice mail.

"Oh, for..." Jack said under his breath. He gave up for now and called Carter instead.

"Sam speaking."

"Carter! How's it going?" Jack asked.

"Colonel?" Sam was somewhat surprised to hear from him. "How was the fishing, sir?" He could practically hear the smile in her voice.

"Fine, it was fine. You and Jacob heading back soon?"

"Are you checking up on us, sir?" she asked in mock indignation.

"I want to spend some quality time with my team before we're officially back on duty, if that's okay with you, Major," Jack said with light sarcasm. "Jacob's welcome to join us, of course," he added generously.

Sam grinned at her father, who had looked up from the game with his grandkids to look inquiringly at her. "Colonel O'Neill just invited us to dinner, Dad. He's buying."

"Now, wait a minute-" Jack began.

"Tell him to count me in," Jacob said, sharing an amused look with his daughter.

"What time should we meet you, sir?"

"Can we talk about who is supposedly paying for this dinner that you suggested in the first place?"

"I thought you offered, Colonel. Shall I tell General Carter that you changed your mind?"

"That won't be necessary, Major," Jack said, playing the rank game.

"Yes, sir." Sam winked at her father. "We'll be home around 10 tomorrow morning. When would you like to meet?"

"That would depend on Daniel." Teal'c's return was, of course, scheduled in advance so there would be no surprises when the wormhole engaged. "I tried to call him but he hung up on me," Jack said in a slightly injured tone of voice.

"He said he had dinner plans with friends tonight, sir. I'm sure it's nothing personal," Sam tried to assure her CO.

"Yeah, well, I left him a few carefully worded messages. Nothing personal, of course."

"Yes, sir," she said, then smiled as she recalled their conversation. "He sounded so excited when I was on the phone with him. Apparently he and a few of his peers found some pretty important documents buried among a bunch of old references." She didn't know why she shared that with her CO; the colonel was well known for his impatience for everything related to her's and Daniel's work. Perhaps it was because she hadn't heard him sound so carefree and happy in so long. Much like how he missed her laugh.

"What?" O'Neill demanded.

"Sir?"

"He was working this whole time?"

Sam winced. Daniel was going to kill her. "I thought you knew."

"No, I didn't. Nobody tells me anything around here."

"That's not true, sir," Sam said automatically.

The line was silent and Sam could practically sense his skepticism.

"Did he at least mention when he'll be back?" Jack asked.

"Tomorrow.. but not specifically, no," Sam answered unhelpfully.

"I'll try him again tomorrow then. You guys need a ride from the airport?"

"If you insist, sir."

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day found Jack's attempts to reach Daniel met with no success. He frowned as the message telling him to leave a message came up once again. He tapped his steering wheel absently as he waited for the two Carters to arrive.

It wasn't long before Sam was smiling cheerfully at him from the curb of the pick-up points of the airport. He couldn't help smiling back; she looked so happy.

O'Neill stepped out of his truck to offer a hand in handling the luggage. He exchanged a warm greeting with Jacob, whose smile matched Sam's own. Their short week together did them both wonders.

"Nice to see you when the world's not in any actual danger. We should do this more often," O'Neill said.

Jacob snorted and climbed into the truck. Sam, who was already inside, tried not to show her amusement.

"Did you get ahold of Daniel?" Sam asked.

"No." Jack's frown returned. "I talked to General Hammond. Who, incidentally, not only knew about Daniel's plan for his vacation," Sam and Jacob could see the metaphoric quotes around 'vacation', "but actually planned the whole thing with him."

"I really didn't know, sir," Sam said, as if it was an accusation. "I only found out last night."

"That's not the point. Hammond said Daniel's flight should have landed over two hours ago but I still haven't been able to reach him." Jack tried not to sound concerned as Daniel was well known for letting his work dominate his life at times. Even common sense disappears, come to think of it.

"You think he's still back there caught up in his research?"

"I don't know. I'm just a little worried that he's not answering his phone," Jack admitted.

Sam was now worried, too. "Maybe I should give it a try."

Jack shrugged. "Be my guest."

She was in the middle of dialing her phone when Jack's rung. He flipped it open expecting his errant archaeologist and was ready to berate him for ignoring his attempts to get in touch when Hammond's voice came on the line instead.

"Colonel, head back to base. We need to talk," he said gently.

"What is it, General?" Jack's voice was tight in response to Hammond's quiet request. Sam shut her phone off, her attention now on O'Neill.

Instead of answering, the general asked instead, "Do you have Major Carter with you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Teal'c is already here. We need you two back ASAP," Hammond sounded exhausted.

"Sir, what's going on?" Jack demanded. Sam's concern was growing by the minute.

"We will talk when you get here."

"No, sir," Jack said forcefully. "I need to know what's going on now."

Jack could hear Hammond's deep sigh and couldn't help tensing as he waited for the answer.

There was a long pause before Hammond said, "I've been informed that Dr. Jackson was involved in an accident."

Jack tensed visibly as he asked, "Is he okay?"

"I'm sorry, son." The meaning was perfectly clear in those words.

Jack's breath caught, his blood turning to ice. All coherent thought momentarily left him. It took a few long seconds before he could gather himself.

"Understood, sir," Jack said, his voice perfectly controlled. "We're on our way." He slowly put his phone away.

"Sir?" Sam asked. O'Neill looked at her in wonder; how could she remain so calm?

She doesn't know yet, Jack thought, and realized he couldn't subject his commander to saying those words again, knowing what it cost him just now. That was why he wanted us all there together, so he wouldn't have to. Jack felt hollow inside; he would have to be the one to tell her.