Jack O'Neill hated waiting, especially at times like these. He knew from experience the last few minutes were the hardest. So he was very grateful when Sergeant Walter Harriman's face appeared on the monitor mere moments after he had dialed the Earth 'gate from Atlantis.

"Walter!"

"Sir?"

"What are you doing there so late? – Never mind. Who's in charge?"

"Sir? General Lan—"

This conversation was getting nowhere fast, and Jack's patience was long gone. "No, Walter. Who's in charge NOW? As in right this minute?"

"Yes, Sir. General Landry is still on the base, Sir."

"Ah… And he would be?"

Hank Landry's face appeared on the monitor next to Walter's. "Right here, Jack."

"Hank! Good to see you." Now he was finally getting somewhere.

Hank Landry turned to Walter. "Chief? Can we be sure that's him?"

"He used Colonel Caldwell's IDC code, Sir."

Hank looked back over his shoulder. "Any way that could be faked, Colonel?"

"Well, Sir. It is theoretically possible, but that's him."

Visibly relieved, but not nearly as much as Jack himself at the moment, Hank turned back to the monitor. "Well, Jack, if Colonel Carter says it's you…" He smiled, and Jack couldn't help smiling back.

"Colonel Carter?" he asked.

Her face appeared in the monitor, and Hank and Walter backed off. "Yes, Sir?"

He studied her for as long as he dared before answering. She looked good. Tired, of course, but good. Although, there was something there, some shadow he couldn't quite identify. Still, time enough for that later. "Colonel, is the 'bridge still working?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, then Mr. Woolsey and I will be back as soon as we get the final OK from the med folks. Weir, Shepherd and the rest of them have already been checked out. We all seem to be okay. And Colonel?"

"Yes?"

"I need you to do me a favor."

She looked surprised, but quickly recovered. "Yes, Sir."

"I'm sure Mr. Woolsey and I have been listed as officially Missing-In-Action. Could you please call his wife and let her know he's okay. That he'll be home as soon as we can get him on the first bird out to D.C? Probably late tonight or early tomorrow. This must have been terrible on her – not knowing. She must be worried sick."

By the sudden brilliance of her smile, Jack knew he'd been understood. God, he loved her. "Yes, Sir. I'm sure she'll be relieved to hear he's okay."

He smiled for her. "Thanks, Carter."

"My pleasure, Sir. Oh, and General?"

He saw the sudden gleam in her eyes, but couldn't see a way out. "Yes, Carter?"

"You do remember our bet?" At his nod, she continued, "You won. Sir."

He couldn't help chuckling. "It would seem so. Colonel."

"Only, you never said…"

"I still haven't decided. How 'bout we pretend you won… You're better at this kind of thing than I am, anyway…"

It was her turn to chuckle. "Yes, Sir."

They stared at each other in silence for several long moments, neither wanting to break their contact. Finally, Jack forced himself to speak. "Good. Then… later... Colonel." At her smile and nod, he continued, "Hank?"

Landry's face appeared back in the monitor next to Carter's. "Yes?"

"We'll be coming through by jumper, so make sure the gate room's cleared. And have two teams ready to head back out to Atlantis, they're going to need help here ASAP. Oh, make sure there's at least one qualified jumper pilot on those teams. Everything else can wait until my formal report."

"Sure, Jack."

"Good."

"And, Jack?"

"Yes?"

"If I remember correctly, Colonel Carter was on a pass before this whole business started." Jack nodded, and Carter turned a surprised glance at Hank on the monitor. "There's a lot going on right now, but I think the rest of us can handle things here while she finishes off the rest of that pass… If that's okay with her?"

Sam nodded, clearly still a bit surprised, and Hank turned back to Jack. "Good, then you should probably head back here as soon as possible, Jack…"

"On my way." And then, with a final, "O'Neill out," Jack reached forward and finally severed the connection.