A New Ending

Summary: When the Asgard request that SG-1 appear before the High Council, Jack O'Neill convinces the President to let him leave behind his Pentagon responsibilities and join the team.
A/U Season 10 episode "Unending"

Chapter 1 - The General

"Good morning, campers. Excellent day for a trip to Orilla, don't you think?"

Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter's head snapped up from where she assisted one of the techs in getting the Odyssey operational. "General. What are you doing here?"

Jack walked into the control room and shrugged. "When I heard the Asgard wanted us to make a trip out there, I talked to the President about letting me go."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "And he said yes?"

Jack shrugged. "Well, actually, he tried to tell me I had no place being in space since Daniel kidnapped me a couple of months ago."

Amusement played on her lips. "You can't blame him, sir. You weren't at the Pentagon for several weeks."

"Yeah, but then I reminded the President that I haven't really taken a day off in at least a year, and we wouldn't know the Asgard if it wasn't for me, and—"

"And that worked?"

Jack bit back a smile. "Well, actually, the President said he couldn't let both Landry and me go, so we had a coin toss. As you can see, I won. Like most contests I have with Hank Landry."

Sam shook her head with a chuckle.

"Whatcha doing here?"

Sam looked back at the controls. "Well, with all the recent Ori skirmishes, I thought it wise to run a few simulations to make sure the hyperdrive and other systems are fully operational."

Jack leaned over her shoulder as he looked at the computer screens. "You know, there's a crew for that. Trained and everything."

Sam caught a glimpse of a couple techs snickering at his comment. "I know, and they are great at their jobs."

"But?"

Sam felt her cheeks warm with embarrassment. "But I built the first Daedelus class ship with my own two hands, sir. I feel a certain obligation to make sure the last one we've got is in tip-top shape."

"You know, Vala has this whole crate of things she claims are for recreational use. You didn't think to bring something like that to amuse you?"

Sam gestured to the console. "This is fun for me, sir."

"So, you keep saying," he said as he turned a slightly disgusted look down at the computer. "Really, I just came in to see if you'd be free for lunch."

Sam grinned. "Sure, sir. What time?"

"1300 hours?"

"I'll be there."

Jack moved toward the door. "Don't worry. I'll come find you if you forget."

Sam dropped her tray beside Jack's as they sat in the mess hall. "Uh, sir, where's everyone else?"

Jack looked at her, confused. "Everyone else?"

Sam nodded. "Daniel, Teal'c, Vala, Mitchell."

Understanding dawned. "Ah. Yeah, I didn't invite them."

Sam's heart rate sped up. "Sir. . ."

Jack brushed away her concerns. "It doesn't mean anything. I was just sort of thinking we could catch up."

She studied him. "Catch up."

"Like friends. Over lunch."

She picked up her fork as a nervous smile played on the corners of her lips. "Okay. How's DC?"

Jack looked down at his lunch. "Same as it was the last time you were there."

"Anything interesting happen with the IOA lately?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Are we that starved for conversation that we have to talk about them?"

Sam bit her lip. "Sorry. How's the cabin?"

Jack threw her another look, and she shoveled a bite of canned peaches into her mouth. "What do you want to talk about?"

She should have known better than to bring up the cabin. Between the monster that had shown up when General Landry had hosted an SG-1 retreat and what had almost happened two years ago. . .

"Actually, I'm here because I have a sneaking suspicion that you're not as happy on SG-1 as you once were."

Sam's fork stopped halfway to her lips. "What makes you say that?"

Jack took another bite of his mashed potatoes. "I don't know. The last few mission reports have lacked your usual enthusiasm."

"The last few mission reports have involved some pretty heavy topics."

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Including getting shot by the Ori, getting sent to an alternate reality, Emerson. . ."

Guilt surged through her again at the name of the Colonel who had been killed so that she would have the ranking authority on the ship. "I'm fine, sir."

He took a moment before he moved his tray out of the way and leaned forward to face her. "Carter, I'm not just some Pentagon shrub. This is me."

"So, I have your permission to speak freely?"

He reached for his water as he leaned back to his normal seated position. "Sure, Carter. Anytime. You know that."

She sighed. "I know what we've done looks great. We dismantled the goa'uld empire. We destroyed the replicators. Depending on who you believe, we've even taken out the Ori."

"But?"

"But I don't know if we're actually going to win this war. Adria's ascended, and even if she wasn't, her zealot army is still coming."

"We've faced impossible odds before."

Sam took another bite of her peaches. "Yeah. Sure. We can do it."

"Carter?"

She closed her eyes in defeat. "I know you seem to think I'm the smartest person you know, but I'm not so sure anymore. I had to ask Ba'al for help on the dialing program and the obelisk when we found Merlin. McKay had to help me not once but twice in two separate realities, and even then we barely managed to meet our goals."

"Smart people know when to ask for help, Sam."

"Yeah, but Ba'al said something before I asked him for help that got under my skin."

Jack leveled his gaze at her. "He's good at that."

She winced, remembering how well Jack knew that for himself. "I asked him if he underestimated me because I was Tau'ri or because I was female."

"And?"

She shrugged. "He said it was a little of both."

"And that's when you punched him."

Sam sat back, surprised. She hadn't put that in her official report. "No, but who told you—?"

"Teal'c."

She didn't know how she felt about Teal'c spilling her secrets—even if they were to Jack. "Since when do you guys talk about me behind my back?"

"It's not like that, Carter. He's concerned about you. We all are."

"All?"

"Daniel, Teal'c, and me."

"Oh, good. Because Daniel and Teal'c haven't been through anything intense over the last few weeks either."

Jack raised an eyebrow, likely the only sign he'd give that she was bordering on insubordinate. "Easy there, Carter. Didn't say I wasn't also going to be chatting with them on this trip."

She exhaled as she set aside her tray, her little appetite successfully abated. "Sorry, sir. I guess I'm a little more on edge than I'd like to admit."

"Because?"

Because of him, because of the Asgard summons, because of a hundred other things. "Because if the Asgard have asked us to come and meet with their High Council, then it's possible, we didn't get rid of all the Replicators. Just the ones my duplicate had under her control in our galaxy."

"Oh, that brings back good memories, doesn't it?"

She chewed her bottom lip for a moment before she decided to bite the bullet. "You gave me permission to speak freely, sir?"

He nodded. "It's just us. Made sure the rest of the crew ate earlier. What's up?"

"It's not just the Asgard that has me a little on edge. In some ways, it's—uh—you."

"Because even though we went fishing two years ago, nothing's changed?"

She looked up at him, somewhat grateful that she wasn't the only one thinking it. "Something like that."

"Are you saying you want to date other people?"

She shook her head immediately. "No. Of course not. I mean, it's kind of nice having an out when Barrett or, um, other people ask. I guess, I just want to make sure we're not just in a holding pattern."

"Carter, the only reason nothing happened two years ago was because you'd just broken up with Pete, and your dad had just died. I wanted to give you space."

"And right about the time I was ready to give us a shot, I was on a ship, and then we were fighting with the Ori, and I was back on SG-1."

Jack nodded. "Exactly."

Sam exhaled. "If I were ready for a transfer. . ."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

She backpedaled. "I'm just saying if I was ready, would that change anything?"

"You could always go to Atlantis."

Sam laughed. "Because the long distance things is working so well for us right now."

"Hear me out. Elizabeth Weir is always begging for more scientists, especially ones who are versed in Ancient technology. You're imminently qualified in that regard."

"Okay. . ."

"And if you were on Atlantis, you wouldn't really be under my command anymore because it's an international contingent. Your military experience would be a plus, you could command your own team, but ultimately, you'd be reporting to Dr. Weir, and she would be reporting to the IOA."

Sam's mouth fell open. "And we could—"

Jack gave her a grim smile. "And whenever you got leave, we could be a thing."

"And you'd be okay with only getting a week or two every year or so."

He was quiet for a moment. "It's a week or two we won't get in any other way."

She looked at his hand, wishing for a moment that even in the privacy of this empty mess hall, she had the courage to take his fingers in hers. "Then, I guess I have some thinking to do."