"I hope Selmac can heal him." Sam said, then gasped and stepped back as both Jack's and Jacob's pods opened.
"What the …?" Sam said looking at the two pods.
They watched as Jack sat up and turned to look at Sam, then he got out of the pod and walked over to Jacob. He put one of his hands over Jacob's chest and the other over his forehead, then he closed his eyes. They all watched and saw Jacob taking a deep breath, then he coughed, then he took another breath and coughed again.
Jack opened his eyes and moved his hands away, then staggered. Teal'c quickly grabbed Jack's arm to steady him.
"Teal'c, help put Jack back in the pod." Sam asked.
Teal'c got Jack back into his pod, then he closed his eyes just as the pod closed. Jacob opened his eyes and looked around, then he sat up.
"Dad, are you ok?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, the toxins were too much for Selmac to handle. I just managed to get the ZPM out before I collapsed. What happened?"
"Jack healed you." Daniel told him.
"What … how?"
"O'Neill possesses the healing powers of the Ancients." The Asgard said.
"Wow." Daniel said.
"Can you remove the knowledge from him?" Sam asked.
"Yes, I can do that." The Asgard replied.
"Thank you, and can we go to Earth?"
"Yes we can." The Asgard moved three stones and then they were in hyperspace.
"What happens now?" Daniel asked.
"Nothing at the moment, Daniel." Then Sam turned to the Asgard.
"How long will it take to remove the knowledge?"
"Not long, it is almost done." Sam turned back to her father.
"Dad, are you sure your ok?"
He smiled. "Yes Sam, I'm fine, and so is Selmac. She just told me she hasn't felt this alive in years."
"That's good to know … I think?"
Jacob got up and out of the pod then he gave Sam a hug. "You know Jack sure can be full of surprises."
"I know Dad."
"Sam, are you happy?"
"Yes, I am."
"Good, because if he ever hurt you …" Sam smiled
"Don't worry, he won't, both you and I know that."
"True, too true." Then they turned when they heard Jack's pod open. Sam stepped forward just as Jack groaned and opened his eyes.
"Man, talk about a headache."
"Jack?"
He turned to Sam. "Sam."
"Do you remember what happened?"
"I wish I'd been in the gate room to see the look on Kinsey's face when he read those retirement papers." He said smiling.
"You do remember?" He sat up and got out of the pod and stood in front of Sam, then he pulled his dog tags out and then hers.
"Everything, Sam."
Then he let go of his tags so he could take off Sam's chain, which held both her wedding and engagement ring. When Sam realised what he was doing, she took his wedding ring off of his chain, then he slipped her rings back onto her finger, then she did the same to him, and then they hugged and kissed.
"Any regrets?" Jack asked her.
"Yes, just one."
"One?"
"That our family and friends weren't at the wedding." Jack smiled then kissed her once more.
"I know." Then he turned to the others.
"Daniel, Teal'c, Dad." He said smiling at them.
"Jack … you and Sam …"
"Yep. And don't worry, there are photos."
"I hope so," Jacob said, then added "son."
"How long before we reach Earth?" Daniel asked.
"One hour." The Asgard said.
"Thanks for removing that crap from my head." Jack thanked the Asgard.
"You are welcome O'Neill."
Then Jack turned to the others. "Let's go and see the chair."
He put his arm around Sam's shoulders as she put hers around his waist, then they walked out of the bridge and down to where the chair was being kept, with the others behind them. They entered a big room where they saw the chair, the ZPM and thousands of the Ancient drone weapons that the chair could fire.
"Wow." Sam said when she looked around the room, which was ten times bigger than the gate room at the SGC.
She walked over to the chair and looked it over, studying it, while Daniel was looking for any writing. Jacob even walked over to the chair so he and Selmac could look at it closely. Sam was talking technobabble, which made Jack smile as he watched her check the chair out.
They were there till it was time to return to the bridge with the ZPM. When the ship came out of orbit they looked down at the Earth and smiled.
"I shall stay in Earth orbit till Thor and the other Asgard ships arrive." The Asgard informed them.
"Ok, thank you, can you send us down to the SGC?" Jack asked.
"Yes." Then they were down in the gate room, with Dr Weir and Kinsey there.
"We're back." Jack said unnecessarily.
"Welcome back, Colonel O'Neill." Dr Weir greeted him.
"Thank you, what's going on here?"
"I'm going to the alpha site." Kinsey announced.
"Mr Vice President, the President has not authorised you to go through the gate." Dr Weir countered.
"Who the hell are you to tell me where I can and cannot go?" Kinsey demanded angrily.
"She's following my orders." They turned to see the President there in the doorway. He walked over to them.
"Henry." Jacob greeted him.
"Jacob, you look good for your age." Jacob laughed as they shook hands.
"Well, I can't complain. I know what's been going on: Sam told me everything."
"Ok, we'll catch up later if you're still around then."
"Sure." Then Henry turned to Jack and Sam.
"Colonel, Major, what is that?" He looked at the ZPM.
"This, sir, is a ZPM, short for zero point module." Sam said.
"Meaning?"
"A battery sir, a big powerful battery." Jack said.
"How powerful?"
"Well sir, it has stored within it massive quantities of potential energy which – "
"Sam." Jack interrupted her before she could enter full technobabble mode. She smiled apologetically and turned back to the President.
"This can power the SGC for hundreds of years." She answered simply.
"Wow, that is a lot of power."
"Yes sir, it is."
"But we're going to need it to power the outpost sir." Jack said.
"Outpost?"
"Yes sir." Sam said. "Mr President, not far from where the second Stargate was found, is an Ancient outpost, and we think within it is a weapon capable of defeating Anubis. Sir, we need to go down to Antarctica within the next eleven hours."
"It will take too long to fly down there."
"I need the Prometheus." Jack said.
"Why Colonel?"
"The rings, sir."
"Of course!" Daniel exclaimed, and they all looked at him.
"The Ancients also built the ring transports, so the only way to get down to the outpost is by rings."
"What about the ice?" Henry asked.
"That's why I need the rings, I know what I need to do." Jack said.
"Permission granted Colonel, and good luck."
"Thank you sir … come on guys, we've got a planet to save." Jack turned around and walked to the door.
"Sergeant Harriman, call Peterson, we need a plane on the tarmac in half an hour, don't bother about a pilot for it." Jack called out and then the others followed Jack. Sam was last.
"Mr President, when this is all over Jack … Colonel O'Neill and I will accept any disciplinary action you will have against us for what we did over the weekend."
"I understand, you better go and catch up Major."
"Yes sir." She said, then she ran out of the room.
She caught up with the others as they were heading down to the locker room. When they came out, they once again followed Jack.
"Sam can you go and get us some food and drink, it's going to be a long trip for us."
"Sure." Then she headed down to the mess hall while the others followed Jack down to one of the storage rooms, where he looked around and started packing things.
"Teal'c, I need one of Sam's naquada generators." Teal'c left to go and get it, and Jacob and Daniel watched as Jack packed things up.
"Daniel, can you go to the locker room and grab my wallet?"
"Ah, sure."
"Jacob, I suggest you get changed." Jacob looked down to see he was still wearing his Tok'ra clothes, and so went off in search of more appropriate attire. Jack walked over to the phone, picked it up, and pressed three numbers.
"Dr Weir, it's Colonel O'Neill, I need some airmen on level twenty two … I'm borrowing some equipment, which I need on Prometheus … no they haven't got what I need, thanks." Then he hung up and returned to packing once again.
Sam returned shortly afterwards carrying two backpacks, closely followed by Teal'c, Daniel and Jacob.
"Need any help Jack?"
"I'm good, Sam." A few minutes later four airmen walked into the storage room.
"Good, take these crates to the surface, and put them in the van that will be waiting there. Teal'c, go with them please."
Teal'c did a slight bow then he walked to the elevator carrying the generator which was wrapped up in a cloth, followed by some heavily laden down airmen.
Ten minutes later they got to the car park. There was an airman waiting next to one of the vans.
"Colonel O'Neill, here are the keys to the wagon and van sir."
"Thank you airman, dismissed." The airman gave Jack the keys and saluted him which Jack did in return, then he gave a set of keys to Jacob.
"Can you drive the van?"
"Sure thing Jack." Jack got into the driver's seat of the wagon with Sam next to him and the others in the back. Jacob got into the second van and waited, then followed Jack as he pulled out of the car park.
They headed to Peterson Air Force base where they were told which hangar to go to.
Once there they got out and walked into the hangar to see Air Force personnel there. They all stood at attention and saluted, which Sam, Jack and Jacob did in return.
"At ease, is the plane ready?" Jack asked.
"Yes sir."
"Good, someone will return it once we're done. I need some help loading the equipment onto the plane." Then Jack walked up the steps as the others followed.
Once the plane was loaded, the airmen pushed the steps away from the plane and the door closed. Jack and Sam sat in the cockpit and did the normal pre-flight checks while the others were in the back sitting down with seat belts on. Jack started the engines then guided the plane out of the hangar, and moved towards the runway while talking to the tower.
A few minutes later they were airborne. "Sam, are you ok?" Jack asked when he noticed how tense she looked.
"Yeah, but these past few days have been hell and it's not over yet."
"I know, but it will be in a few hours." Sam smiled.
"I know. Hungry?"
"Yeah I am." Sam stood up and walked to the back end of the plane where the others sat.
"Sam, is everything ok up front?" Jacob asked.
"Yes, everything's fine."
She opened the two backpacks that she had packed with food, and passed one to her father.
"You guys must be hungry, help yourselves."
"Thanks Sam." Daniel said.
She turned around and walked back up to the front and sat down. She opened a bottle of water and passed it to Jack, since he hadn't had anything to drink since they all left for the Asgard home world fourteen hours ago.
"Thanks Sam." He drank half the bottle in one go, then he handed it back to her, and she passed him a sandwich. They talked about what to do with their home and what they were going to do when they returned to the SGC.
When Jack finished eating his sandwiches and cookies, Sam fed him some of the grapes, which he didn't mind. When the plane landed at Nellis Air Force base there were two Hummers waiting for them.
They got off the plane and hopped into the two hummers, and after the equipment was loaded into the vehicles they were taken to the Prometheus. It took two hours to reach the area. When they stopped outside the red and white hut they were greeted by the Prometheus personnel.
"Colonel O'Neill sir, we are here to help take the equipment down to the ring room."
"Thanks. You'd better get a move on, Anubis will be here in a few hours."
It took five trips in the elevator to get all the equipment down and into the Prometheus.