All Lose, Whole Find

A few weeks later the news of Catherine Langford's death reached the SGC. Sam was visiting Cassie and furnishing their new home in Vegas. Teal'c was knee deep in the political machination on Dakara and Jack was unable to take time from his duties at the SGC. And so Daniel, and rightly so, represented them all at the funeral.

When he finally got back to Colorado Catherine's treasures were being delivered. And within the crates lay the key to his future – a ZPM. SG-1 would be no more. They had defied the odds, they had survived and now they would be scattering like dust in the wind: Jack at the SGC, Sam to Area 51, Daniel to the Pegasus Galaxy, and Teal'c to Dakara.

Jack just couldn't let them go. He thought of that line from the poem again "All lose, whole find". He hoped it didn't reverse itself in the perverse way the universe usually treated him. He saw how anxious Daniel was for his new adventure of discovery in Atlantis, Teal's for his assuming the mantle of authority on Dakara and Carter for a time to delve deeply into science while actually having a home life. But he saw his future in bleaker terms. His best friends and brothers in arms going their separate ways, to new adventures and he got to sit under the mountain and push papers. He hoped they would all keep in touch but that was a long shot. Perhaps there was room in Carter's life for him but he would not force the issue. As always her desires and happiness came first, always had, always will.

Jack just couldn't let them go. This was eight years of his life, eight of the best and worst, most exciting and most terrifying and shared with these people that changed him in more ways than he could express. This last year Jack had spent withdrawing from them, since he was no longer their team leader but responsible for all the men and women of the SGC and withdrawing from Sam since her engagement. But none of that mattered now. They were all about to part company and best of all Sam had parted company with Shanahan. All of their relationships would definitely change, maybe everything would fall apart and maybe, just maybe, there would be change for the better. They planned a trip to Jack's cabin, a time to say goodbye and a time to solidify the bonds that would always unite them.

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e.e. cummings - one's not half two.