Jack's driver pulled up to the curb in front of Daniel Jackson's apartment. She looked over her shoulder at General O'Neill and his friend, the large and, in her mind at least, rather intimidating Jaffa, Teal'c.

"Sir," she asked the general, "Would you like me to get Doctor Jackson for you?"

"No, that'll be fine, Airman. We're a bit ahead of schedule. I think we'll go up and get him ourselves."

"Yes, sir." She jumped out and went around to open the rear passenger-side door for the two men.

They stepped out of the car and headed towards the apartment building's front door. "We'll be back in a few minutes," General O'Neill reassured her before he and Teal'c disappeared inside.

------------------------------------------

Daniel Jackson had just finished putting on his tie when his door buzzer went off, nearly ten minutes earlier than he'd been expecting. While almost never being actually late, O'Neill was rarely that early anywhere, so the unusual occurrence caught Daniel by surprise. The door buzzed three more times before he managed to get to it and press the intercom button.

"I'm here," he informed the impatient person on the other end.

"Hey, Daniel." By then, he was not surprised to hear Jack's muffled voice come through the speaker instead of a more patient airman.

"Uh, you're early." Daniel looked around the room for his suit coat. Seeing it lying across the nearby sofa back, he grabbed it before informing his unseen friend, "Wait there, I'll be right down."

"We'll be here."

Daniel pulled the coat on, opened the door, and left the apartment. After locking the door behind him, he slipped his keys into his pocket and headed down the stairs. Jack and Teal'c were waiting for him outside the front door. Jack looked every inch the Air Force Generel in his blue dress uniform and Teal'c vaguely uncomfortable in his new black suit.

Daniel stepped outside and, with Teal'c beside him, started down the steps. He stopped and turned when he realized Jack wasn't following them. "Jack?"

"Yeah. Hey, listen guys." Jack's glance took in both of his former teammates. "I wanted a chance to talk with you before we got to the funeral. Carter's going to be upset, and—"

Daniel's concern for his grieving friend proved greater than his patience with Jack's hesitancy. "When we talked, she sounded okay. I mean, considering…"

"Indeed. I believe Colonel Carter is handling her father's death extremely well," Teal'c agreed.

"Yeah," Jack repeated uncomfortably, clearly not missing Teal'c's strange emphasis anymore than Daniel had. "That's why we needed to talk. See, Carter's, well, she's broken off her engagement."

Daniel opened his mouth to say, 'Really, that's too bad,' but one look at Jack's face silenced him. Jack looked anything but upset. Confused, Daniel looked across to Teal'c and was even more surprised at the slight yet knowing smile on his normally impassive features. What the hell had been going on while he was gone? "And?" he finally managed to ask.

"And --" Jack began, looking as uncomfortable as Daniel had ever seen him.

He was saved by Teal'c, who turned to Daniel and explained, "What O'Neill is attempting to tell us is that he and Colonel Carter have started to – I believe the phrase is 'see each other?' – outside of the SGC." Teal'c looked towards Jack, a strange mixture of amusement and disgust on his face as he added, "Finally."

Daniel turned to Jack, who stared at Teal'c for a few seconds before asking in amazement, "Teal'c? How the hell--?" .

It wasn't denial, and Daniel couldn't have been more surprised if – Actually, after everything they'd been through, he couldn't imagine anything surprising him more. Teal'c, on the other hand, seemed to think it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I do not believe we have enough time, O'Neill, for me to answer that question properly," the Jaffa explained in answer to Jack's rhetorical question, "The funeral for Jacob Carter begins in under two hours."

"Wait, Teal'c,' Daniel finally managed to get a word in edgewise. "You knew about this?"

"Indeed. I am surprised, Daniel Jackson, that you did not." Daniel couldn't quite shake the feeling that his friend was laughing at him.

He turned back to Jack. A thousand questions crossed his mind. He'd always known that his two friends had the potential for something more than just friendship. Hell, he'd seen it played out himself in two alternate realities, but he'd never thought anything would come of it here. Both Sam and Jack seemed too professional; too controlled and too dedicated to their careers, their team, and, ultimately, the planet to risk losing everything because of their emotions. While this had personally never made any sense to Daniel, who tended to feel first and only think rationally about his actions later, it had seemed to be working for Jack and Sam. When Sam had started dating and then gotten engaged to Pete Shanahan, he'd figured they'd somehow settled the issue.

Obviously, he'd been wrong.

Jack must have noticed the confused expression on Daniel's face but for once, he misread it. "Look, I know the timing sucks, but, as it turns out, the thing with…Shanahan," Jack still had trouble saying the name, "was all wrong from the beginning. We – Carter and I – Well, we've been screwing things up for a long time now."

Teal'c shifted slightly next to Daniel and Jack glanced at him suspiciously. The Jaffa remained silent, however, but as Jack turned away, Daniel couldn't miss the flash of agreement which crossed Teal'c's features.

"Jacob's death showed us we needed to do something about it before it was too late." Jack stopped, holding his breath as he watched Daniel's face intently for his reaction, clearly needing his friend's understanding and approval.

The younger man barely noticed his friend's scrutiny, though. His mind was already racing back across the years, remembering countless little moments between Jack and Sam which seemed so insignificant individually: just two friends talking, or the natural concern of a leader for a team member. Now, taken all together and seen from this new perspective, they took on a whole other meaning. Suddenly, Daniel understood.

He nodded his approval, saying simply, "She needed you, Jack." His friend's eyes met his, gratitude for Daniel's understanding shining from their depths. "What else could you do?"

--------------------

The chaplain had suggested the family wait in the privacy of the community room below the chapel until Jacob Carter's funeral. Mark and his family had arrived early, seeing little difference between waiting there or at the hotel. Sam and Cassie had been there for nearly half an hour themselves, having made only a quick stop at Burger King for food during the short drive from the airport to Peterson Air Force Base.

Cassie had been surprised when Sam had picked her up after her short flight from Denver in a dark civilian suit rather than the expected blue dress uniform. She had been even more surprised by what Sam had told her once they'd gotten into the car.

Sam had finally seen the light – thank God! – and broken up with Pete. Cassie had known a long time ago, from the way Sam had talked about him, that they were all wrong for each other. It wasn't only the stalking, either, although that was a bit creepy. Sam just didn't light up when she talked about Pete the way she did about, well, quarks and singularities, and stuff like that. Stuff like Jack, actually. Sam had always gotten excited about Jack O'Neill.

This had confused the heck out of Cassie when she had first come to Earth. The way her two friends had acted towards each other had seemed, in her child's mind, to indicate more than just friendship. When she'd asked her Mom about it, though, Mom had gotten real quiet – the way she did when she was upset but refusing to give in to her anger – then muttered something completely unintelligible to an eleven year-old from another planet about fraternization and responsibility. She'd concluded by suggesting Cassie never mention it again. She hadn't, but later, alone in the dark after her mother had died, she'd lain awake wishing real hard that Sam and Jack would get together and that they could finally be a family.

Now, maybe, that wish would come true. It just sucked that Jacob Carter had to die to make Cassie's dream a reality.

Cassie looked up from the table where she was watching Mike and Mandy play cards to where Sam was standing talking with Mark and Kristen. Considering her father had just died, Sam looked pretty good. Cassie had half expected her to be all tired and worn out, the way she had been after staying too late at the SGC during the months Cassie had lived with her before college. Instead, Sam looked sad, obviously upset about her dad, but not really bad. Cassie was relieved to see that, and couldn't help hoping it might have something to do with Jack.

As if he had heard her think his name, Jack O'Neill stepped through the community room's door with Daniel Jackson and Teal'c following behind him. Cassie jumped up and called to them as soon as she realized they were carrying several pizza boxes and 6-packs of soda. "Hey, guys, over here." She turned to the two kids playing cards, "Why don't you put those away so I can clear a spot for the food? And see if you can find me any napkins."

Mike and Mandy gathered up the cards before taking off towards the cabinets lining one wall on their hunt for napkins. The guys brought the pizza to the table and started spreading out boxes and separating sodas. The other adults came over to help. The kids returned having found both napkins and paper plates, and somehow, amidst the chaos of activity, the meal was properly spread out.

As everyone claimed their pizza, Jack snagged two slices of pepperoni, which Cassie knew to be Sam's favorite, placed them on a plate, and tried to pass the plate to Sam. "No, thanks," she declined with a wave of her hand. "We ate on the way over from the airport."

"Really?" At Sam's nod, Jack glanced across the table at Cassie for confirmation.

"Really, Jack, we did," Cassie promised.

Jack just stared at Sam, surprise evident on his face. Everyone knew Sam rarely ate when she was upset. In response to his surprise, Sam tried to explain, "I told you I'd eat."

Cassie recognized Jack's pleasure at Sam's words. "Yeah, but I didn't think you'd actually—"

"What, follow your orders?" she shot back, one eyebrow arched dangerously.

"Well – yeah."

Sam stepped really close to Jack. Placing her hand on his chest, she commanded softly, "Stop worrying about me, Jack. I told you I'm going to be okay." Then with a quick kiss on the cheek that surprised and pleased Cassie even more than the casual use of Jack's first name, Sam walked over to rejoin her brother and sister-in-law's conversation.

Jack followed, leaving Cassie standing at the table with Teal'c and Daniel. The three friends exchanged bemused glances, and Cassie knew they were all thinking much the same thing: Sam – and Jack – really were going to be okay. But, somehow, Cassie didn't think anyone besides Sam and Jack themselves was as happy about that as she was.