Sorry everyone - I had planned to keep with regular updates, but my extremely busy job keeps getting in the way. I promise to try and get back to regular updates. I hope you're still enjoying. Reviews mean everything!

It was like nothing she'd seen or experienced in her life. It was as if she was seeing a whole new world – but with an intensity and understanding that went far beyond simply looking at a video on a computer screen. It was almost as if she could feel the emotions of the people she was seeing.

That it was about the people on this planet was clear. The physical resemblance was strong. What she saw – or experienced – seemed to be a piece of their history. There was the pain and suffering of some kind of turmoil or war, followed by a period of rebuilding – and then peace. But it wasn't peace as in the absence of war – it went much deeper. It was as if the people had discovered a deep and fulfilling inner peace.

The video shut off at that moment and she blinked. It took her a moment to come back to the present, but when she did she immediately looked at the young alien man. He was regarding her closely, and then he smiled. He seemed pleased to have shared this little bit of his world.

"Thank you," she said softly, not sure what else to say or do. He bowed his head, almost as if he understood. He then moved towards the door, gesturing for her to follow. She stood up, feeling rather shaky, but moved towards him, giving one final glance at the now dormant machines.

"I wish you could tell me what that was," she told Danny. "I also wish I could communicate with you!"

Sam returned to her room to think about what she'd experienced, shaken like she had rarely been before. She knew she had to tell the General, but wasn't sure what to tell him. And then, there was the fact that she was actually nervous about talking to him after their recent interaction.

And it was her own damn fault! He'd tried to be decent about the whole thing, had treated her kindly since he'd regained consciousness. And what had she done? She'd thrown his friendship back in his face.

What had she expected from him? She had been the one to break it off with him years ago, she was the one who had broken his heart. And then she'd wanted to jump back into a relationship with him. Of course he didn't want that. Why would he? But he'd been decent about it and then she'd been a – a bitch.

She had to somehow get their relationship back to what it had been before they'd started dating. They could still be friendly but professional.

With that in mind she knew she had to go and speak with O'Neill and tell him what she'd experienced. And maybe he'd had a chance to communicate with his stick. She chuckled slightly at that, wishing she'd waited around to see him attempt to draw the Gate in the sand. Those were the kinds of things that used to make him laugh.

She went to his room and knocked, but there was no answer, so she made her way outside. She looked around, but other than a couple of the aliens, she couldn't see him.

"Where are you Jack?" she murmured. She began walking towards the beach, thinking he may have gone for a walk. He was doing so much better that he barely needed any help to get around.

It was a miracle, really, she thought. He'd been so sick – sicker than she'd been willing to admit. If it hadn't been for Marie and the aliens, he would most likely have spent the rest of his days in a care facility. He would have hated that.

Except she was pretty sure that Teal'c wouldn't have allowed that. She shivered slightly – thinking of what could have happened, and whether she would have let it.

She shook her head, knowing there was no good reason to think about that. It hadn't happened, Jack was better, and they now were faced with making it home.

The problem was that she had no idea where he'd gone. She'd gone and lost him!

She snorted softly at that. She'd lost him in more ways than one.

"Where are you Jack?" she said again. He wasn't at the beach, nor was he in his usual seat outside. He must have gone exploring like her.

She turned towards the buildings she'd been to earlier, hoping to catch sight of him. She saw one of the three stooges and waved, but the woman Curly didn't stop. With a roll of her eyes, Sam continued, starting to get worried.

Which is ridiculous, she told herself. The General is perfectly able to look after himself – better than anyone she knew. He had to be around somewhere.

She eventually found him – sitting and having coffee (or the alien equivalent) with three of their keepers (she was getting tired of calling them the aliens – they really had to come up with a name for these folks).

He looked like he was enjoying himself, even though the four of them were totally silent. She wandered over.

"Can I join you?" she asked.

"Carter. Of course," Jack nodded at her, unsmiling. His stern expression was made up for by the three smiling faces of the – people. She smiled back and sat down.

"What are you up to?" she asked.

Jack shrugged. "Just takin' a break. I went for a long walk and decided to come and have a drink and these folks invited me to join them."

"Oh," her eyebrows went up. "And what have they been telling you?"

"They haven't been telling me anything, Carter," he told her. "But they're nice people. I definitely get the impression that this is a hospital and they're doctors and nurses – or the alien equivalent."

"Yeah? That sounds about right. Did they show you anything?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know – any of the rooms or anything? I saw a bit this morning."

"Yeah, that's what I understand. Danny seemed to be pretty excited."

"Yes, well, I saw something pretty amazing."

"What was it?"

"It was – I can't really describe it. It was a video, but not one like I've ever seen. When he turned it on I could feel the emotions of the people on the screen. I think it was their history and it spoke of a time when they were at war. They worked hard to recover and found some kind of inner peace. That's really all I could get – but it was amazing."

Jack didn't seem surprised, or even particularly impressed, which made her wonder why she'd thought it so important to tell him. Or maybe he was still angry at her for earlier. If that was the case, it was going to be a long, hard journey home.

"Carter, you remember when we were talking about the four races a few days ago?" he said abruptly.

'Yes," she frowned.

"Well, I think we found the fourth one."

"The fourth – what Sir?"

"The fourth race – we found them. I'm pretty sure these are the Furlings – you know, the guys we didn't know anything about."

"Yes, I know the Furlings – or at least I know they were one of the four races. Are you telling me these are them?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you! Or at least I think so. And the crappy thing is that they're not furry – not furry at all!" he whined.

She chuckled briefly but then got to the matter at hand. "How do you know?"

"I don't know, Carter, but I'm pretty sure that's who they are. I think they went through some kind of war a long time ago that almost destroyed their civilization. It was then that they pulled back from the alliance, needing to concentrate on rebuilding their society. They became isolated from the rest of the three races and only now are willing to reach out again, beyond their own planets."

"Planets?"

"I think there's some kind of federation of planets under the Furlings. This is their home world."

"Jack, how do you know all this? Can you communicate with them?"

He frowned for a moment and then shook his head. "I don't know Carter. I can't talk to them, and it's not like I can hear them in my mind, or anything. I do sense them – I know when one of them is coming, for example, but that's all. It just seems like suddenly I know things, although I have no idea how I learned them. It's really weird."

"Do you think they can understand you?" she asked.

"Maybe, it's hard to tell. Sometimes I think they can, and other times they'll look at me blankly, as if they have no idea what I'm saying."

"They look at me like that all the time," Sam told him. "Why don't you try asking how we get home and see what they do."

"I'll try, but I don't think it's going to work." Jack took a breath and then closed his eyes. He sat totally still for a long time, but nothing happened. Finally he opened his eyes and sighed. "Nothing, right?"

"No, I'm afraid not. They just looked at you with their usual calm but rather blank stare."

"Yeah, I've noticed that. It's a bit weird."

"Did you try and use the stick to write some things?" she asked suddenly.

"I did," he nodded. "But that didn't do anything. I felt like a little kid showing them my artwork. It was as if they patted my head and said "good boy", but they didn't seem to recognize anything I drew."

"And you drew the Stargate?" she asked.

"No Carter," he said, sarcastically, "I drew an elephant. If only you'd been there to remind me."

"There's no need to be sarcastic, General. I was just asking."

He sighed. "Sorry. I guess I'm just frustrated."

"You and me both. Well, let's keep trying for a few more days and if that doesn't work we'll head out."

"It's a deal. Hey, do you think one of them would show me this machine you talked about? I'd like to see that."

"I can try and ask, but my powers of communication aren't so great."

"Just smile at them, stand up and head for the place you saw the machines. They'll figure it out."

She did just that, and Jack – uh – General O'Neill, followed her. The aliens – no, the Furlings, stood after a few seconds and started walking behind them."

"They're kind of freaking me out," Sam said suddenly.

"Really? I kind of like them – probably because they don't talk." When Sam looked at him he shrugged. "No technobabble," he told her.

She didn't know whether to laugh or to be offended. With the way things had developed between them, she found it hard to know when he was being sarcastic or whether he was teasing her.

It was when he looked at her expectantly, and then suddenly frowned, that she figured he'd been trying to tease her. "The perfect place for you then," she said suddenly. "Although I don't know if they have any fish," she said.

That stopped him and there was a moment of uncertain silence, and then he continued walking. "There have to be fish, Sa – uh – there's an ocean."

She pretended not to notice him stumbling over her name, and silently cursed herself for having made things awkward between them. "Okay, but you don't know there's fish in that ocean. Maybe it's like your pond!"

As soon as the words left her mouth she wanted to curse at herself. Her comment brought back all sorts of memories of the times they'd spent at Jack's cabin and her constant teasing about his lack of fish.

Neither of them said anything until they arrived at the building she'd been in with Danny, the silence this time extremely uncomfortable. She turned to the aliens – Furlings – and looked at them expectantly. When they didn't respond or try and stop her, she reached over to the door and turned the handle.

"It's in here," she said. She walked in, followed by Jack and the three Furlings. The room had been dark, but the moment they entered the lights came on.

"It's over here," she said, leading him to the machine across the room. As they approached, the machines, like the lights, went on. Sam assumed they were automatic and really thought nothing of it, until she looked at the Furlings. They all had shocked looks on their faces.

"Uh oh Sir. I think there's something wrong."