Sam rotated her neck, which was becoming more stiff with every minute. Dinner the previous night had run very late, and as soon as she got back to Daniel's place, she had fallen asleep in seconds. Unfortunately in the wrong position, as she'd woken up with a very sore neck. Now, standing on one foot, balancing with the crutches, bending low over her desk, was not helping. She sat down, and rubbed the muscles, hoping to alleviate the pain.

As she sat back, she noticed the time. 0100. She decided to pack it up for the night, and go to bed. Putting the diagrams away, she checked her email one last time before she left the office. There was one from Mark and she opened it. It was a long newsy email, with the kids goings on, and where he was planning to go for vacation that summer. Towards the end, he mentioned that his wife had run into Pete recently while on a business trip. He had asked about Sam, and Lisa had mentioned that Sam was back in Colorado Springs.

Sam turned the computer off, angry. Why had Lisa said anything to him? It was none of Pete's business where she was right now. Sam turned off the lights, and headed to her quarters. Despite being tired, she couldn't sleep, as angry thoughts and memories circled in her mind.

Jack knew Sam was in a crappy mood the moment she arrived in the commissary. He watched her as she headed straight for the coffee and he waved at her to join him. She smiled a small, fake smile, at the lieutenant who carried her coffee cup for her, and sat down opposite Jack.

"Mornin."

"Morning."

"Good night?"

"Fine. You?"

"Well, I actually managed to get five hours of uninterrupted sleep, so I had a great night." Jack grinned at her, but she buried her nose in the coffee mug.

"Good."

"Sam, what's up?"

"Nothing."

"C'mon Sam. I could tell you had a bad night the moment to opened the door."

"How?"

"It's in the way you, er, walk."

"Walk?" Sam let a tiny grin of amusement slide onto her face.

"Normally, yes. But even with the crutches, I can tell."

"I just had an email that pissed me off."

"Oh. Anyone I know?"

"Mark."

"Ah. I thought you two got along."

"Sometimes."

"So what's the problem this time?"

"I thought he was on my side, but now I'm not too sure."

"Oh? Anything I can do?"

"No."

"Ya sure?"

"I don't want to talk about it, really."

"Well, you know where I am, at least for the next week or so."

"I've got to get going." Sam stood up as quickly as she could, and fumbled with her crutches. Jack could tell that whatever was on her mind, was really getting to her.

"Daniel and SG-1 will be back at 1300. You should bring Scott down to see them arrive."

"Sure."

Jack watched her as she navigated around the tables and a few errant chairs. Whatever had been in that email had upset her. When Daniel came back, he would ask him to take her home. He knew that Daniel would be better at talking to her than he would be.

"How often are teams late?"

"It happens."

"Does it worry you?"

"Not yet. Sometimes the if a member is injured, it can take them longer to get back to the gate. They're only a few minutes late right now, so we aren't worrying yet."

"How long till you do worry?"

"If they aren't here in 30 minutes, we'll probably dial the gate, and check in with them. If we can't make contact, decisions need to be made."

"Like what?"

"Whether or not to send another team. Why do you like to watch the teams leave and arrive?"

"I'm not sure. Probably because it's still so unbelievable."

"Unbelievable?"

"Yeah, I mean, I still have to see the other side for myself. The whole travelling to other planets thing, through the stargate, well, it goes against most of what I was taught in physics."

"I know what you mean."

"Really?"

"The first time I went through, Colonel O'Neill pushed me through."

"What!"

"Yeah, I was babbling about the science of the event horizon, and he just gave me a shove, and through I went."

"How was it?"

"Cold."

"Cold?"

"At the time, we hadn't perfected the calculations to compensate for planetary shift, and exited the wormhole freezing cold."

"Does that still happen?"

"No. It hasn't happened in a few years."

"Where is SG-1 now?"

"A planet designated P4J 6S2. When we sent a UAV it appeared to have abandoned naquadah mines about 5 miles from the gate. They went to go check it out."

"Was there anyone living on the planet?"

"Not that we know of. The scans didn't show any sign of an existing or previous population."

"What could've happened?"

"Anything from someone twisting an ankle, to, well, I've been in some bad situations."

It wasn't long before Jack ordered the gate to be dialed, and try to raise SG-1 on the radio. Scott watched in awe as the gate went into action, as Sam hobbled up the stairs to the control room. The moment the wormhole was established, Jack started trying to get in touch with SG-1. After a few attempts with no results, and the images from the MALP showing no signs of recent activity around the gate, Jack ordered a UAV to be readied, and the gate shut down.

The UAV sent back aerial pictures, showing no sign of the members of SG-1. Jack authorised two teams to go investigate, and they embarked at 1500. Jack left the control room to go check on Sam in the briefing room. She was pacing with her crutches, back and forth, around the long table.

"You just can't stay still can you?"

"No."

"Do you want anything?"

"No."

"You sure? You didn't eat this morning, so you must be starving."

"I'm fine Jack."

Jack looked at her white face as he left, and once back in the control room, ordered an airman to go get some sandwiches from the commissary. He knew SG's 18 and 24 would take at least 3 hours to walk to the mine and back. More than enough time to get Sam to eat. Once the food had arrived, he walked back up to the briefing room, placing the plate on the table. He grabbed a sandwich, and started eating as he joined Sam, looking out the window.

"I sent Scott back to the lab."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Has he been off world yet?"

"No."

"Still wants to?"

"Oh yeah."

"Next time we find a doohickey that requires his expertise, we'll send him."

"I won't tell him. He'll be bouncing around my lab for weeks."

"I'm sure he will be."

"How long until we hear from them?"

"If they have to go to the mine and back, about two more hours."

Sam looked at the clock as she took a seat. Jack reached for another sandwich, as they continued to talk. Jack noticed as Sam mindlessly grabbed a sandwich and started to eat, without breaking the conversation. Despite his worry for the missing team, he knew realistically there was nothing he could do, except wait. He used the time to attempt to cheer Sam up, and talking about her latest projects, and the few houses she had been looking at, seemed to be working.

Just before 1600, the gate whirled into action, and Walter announced the unscheduled incoming wormhole. Jack sprinted down the stairs. The radio crackled into life as Colonel Harris's face appeared on the screen.

"Colonel, report."

"General, there's no sign of them here. We found evidence of their camp last night, but nothing suggests foul play."

"Any signs of them along the trail?"

"Not much. There's a few footprints scattered around, but nothing to tell if they went off course."

"Any sign of them arriving back at the gate?"

"No, Sir."

"How long till it starts getting dark?"

"About 2 hours, Sir."

"Head back once it gets dark. Until then, keep looking."

"Yes Sir."

"Contact us if you find anything."

"Yes Sir. Harris out."

The gate deactivated, and Jack rubbed his hands through his hair. What the hell had happened to them?

AN: Sorry about the delay. I had some trouble trying to upload this chapter. More soon...