"Okay Sam, we're not getting anywhere. We've checked out how many places and there's been absolutely no sign of him. The last sighting was just west of the border where we think he crossed – after that zilch."

"I know Daniel. What do you want me to do? I have no idea where he'd be. This was always just a guess."

"Where's that 'O'Neill logic' you were so sure of." he said sarcastically.

Sam was silent, hurt by Daniel's anger and by the fact that they'd spent so many days on what was beginning to feel like a wild goose chase. She was starting to have this horrible feeling that they'd never see the General again. Maybe it was true – maybe he'd already been taken. Furiously wiping her face so Daniel couldn't see the evidence of the tears starting to fall she turned away.

"I guess I was wrong Daniel. You can blame me. I know it was all my fault anyway."

She heard a soft rustling and then two hands fell on her shoulders and gently turned her around. He pulled her to him and rested his head against hers. "I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean to lash out at you. I'm just scared and frustrated. It's not your fault - or rather it's all our faults. We caused this, all of us, and we're going to make it right. It's just going to take a little longer than we thought."

They stood there for a while, both trying to get a handle on their emotions and hoping to gain strength from each other. They had known this was a 'needle in the haystack' kind of search; it's just that they hadn't realized how painful it was going to be.

Suddenly a sound broke the stillness. "That's my cell phone", Sam muttered. Stepping away from Daniel she pulled it from her purse. "Hello" she looked at Daniel and mouthed 'Teal'c'.

She listened for a few minutes and then signed off saying, "Okay Teal'c, I'll tell him. Thanks, you too."

"Teal'c said to say 'hi'?"

"He did? That doesn't sound like him."

Sam grinned, although she still felt rather teary eyed. "Well actually he said to 'tell Daniel Jackson to remain strong as a warrior should."

"Oh, so in other words he said to say hi."

"Yeah!" she laughed. Teal'c was such a dear. They were so lucky to have him as a friend. She went on to tell Daniel what he'd told her about Senator Grayson.

"So, General Hammond thinks he may be involved? What are we supposed to do?"

"Just keep an eye out. The General and Teal'c are checking things out on their end. They just wanted to warn us in case we ran into him." Both of them were tired after another long day of traveling so Daniel flipped on the TV while Sam got out her laptop. She still felt like there was something she was missing.

They'd been sitting for a while when, out of the blue, the Asgard beam shone in the room and Thor appeared.

"Thor! What's up?" Daniel sat up from his bed.

"Greetings Daniel Jackson, Colonel Carter. I have come to share some news with you."

"Have you found him?" Sam looked hopefully at the little Asgard.

"No, I am sorry, I have not. I wanted to report some strange activity however."

"How so Thor?" Daniel looked worriedly at their friend.

"A few days ago my monitors picked up an Asgard transport beam. I do not know from what ship as it is cloaked but it did beam someone from and to the Washington DC area."

"If it happened a few days ago why are you just telling us now?"

"I am alone on my ship Daniel. I am unable to monitor everything so review my records when I have the opportunity. I have been concentrating on trying to find O'Neill. As of today I have also been assisting General Hammond in monitoring the activity of Senator Grayson."

"I'm sorry Thor. I know it's just you and we appreciate the help. Do you have any idea who it would be? Do you think it could be Jack?"

"No, although I assume it is someone who is involved in the plot to capture O'Neill. If it was legitimate Asgard business they would have contacted me or earth. No, whoever it is they wish to remain anonymous."

"They've got to know you're here. If you are able to monitor them they must be able to do the same with you."

"That is true although I have added addition technology to mask my presence."

"Really? When did you do that?"

"After I got to know O'Neill. He taught me to be 'sneaky'. I decided to modify my ship without telling the council."

The two humans looked at their friend and ally and could only marvel at how Jack's influence had spread throughout the galaxy. It looked like they were correct when they said he was 'special'.

"So, we know someone else is looking for Jack. I wonder if they're in cahoots with Grayson?"

"What is 'cahoots'?" Thor loved to learn new words.

"It means 'in league with' or 'in partnership with'. I'm just wondering if Grayson is working with the Asgard?"

"It is most likely. It would be difficult for the Asgard to work on earth without help."

"Well, thanks for letting us know Thor. Can you keep monitoring things?"

"I will indeed. There is something else that you must know. My equipment just recorded another anomaly."

"What is it?" Sam asked, concerned.

"There was a surge of energy last night."

"Okay – a surge of energy? Was it from the cloaked ship?"

"No, it came from earth but it was impossible to determine the exact location, just that it was not far from here."

"Alright. I'm still not getting this Thor. What was so special about this 'energy'?"

"It was Ancient in origin."

"Ancient?" Daniel stood up. "Are we talking 'Ancient' as in the builders of the gates, etc. etc."

"I do not know about etcetera but yes, that is correct."

"Do you mean to tell me that someone used an Ancient device on earth last night?"

"I do not know if it was a device or not, just that the energy signature was of the Ancient ones. I will continue to monitor and let you know if it happens again."

"And you don't know who or what it could be?"

"I am sorry, I do not. I must go but you may contact me if you need me again. I will let you know if I discover anything more." With that the Asgard beamed out of their room.

"What do you think it means Sam?"

"I don't know Daniel, but I do know it's somehow related to Jack. We've got to find him!" She sat back down on her bed, looking in frustration at her computer. There had to be something that would lead them to Jack! She started typing in various things but still nothing came up.

It was two hours later and Daniel was ready for bed. He quickly showered and changed into his sweats. Since more often then not he and Sam shared a room – both to save money but also to give each other company – he'd taken to wearing sweats to bed. Sam tended to do the same.

Just as he lay down, scrunching his pillow to try and make it more comfortable, he heard a squeak from Sam. He glanced over and saw her looking intensely at the screen. Her head came up and she looked at Daniel.

"I think I found him." She turned the screen so he could see it. Written there was a newspaper headline, which read, "Motorcycle crash injures one".

"Are you sure it's him?"

"I don't know for sure Daniel but it might be. It happened just after he would have crossed the border and just to the west of there. It says the rider was taken to hospital in" she looked at the screen again. "a place called 'Penticton'". Daniel quickly grabbed the map by his bed and checked it out.

"Yeah, here it is." He pointed to a place slightly north. "Did it say how seriously he was injured?"

"It says he was taken to hospital where the doctors said he was in serious but stable condition."

"But it could still be anybody."

"Yes, but it identified the kind of bike and it's the same one the General had."

"How in the world did you find it anyway?"

"Well, I looked under absolutely everything I could think of and then I decided to key in his motorcycle along with 'British Columbia'. This article came up."

"God. We'll have to go there first thing tomorrow. How far is it from here?" Sam did a quick check on the computer.

"It looks like it's about 200 kilometers. That should only take us a couple of hours. I wish we could go now."

"I know, me too. There's no point though – everyone will be asleep. Let's have a good night's rest and we can check it out. Let's just hope he's okay and that he's still there."

After a few minutes Sam turned off the light but neither of them got too much sleep that night, worried and yet hopeful about what tomorrow might bring.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Molly tried to get Chris to go to school but he absolutely refused. Knowing how traumatic this was for him she agreed to let him come to the hospital with her. She hoped to god Jack was okay, not just for his sake, but for Chris's as well. She didn't know how the little boy would cope with losing another person from his life.

The two of them sat in the small waiting room as the doctors checked Jack. She knew she should have insisted he go to the hospital sooner.

"Damn foolish stubborn man!" she muttered under her breath. "What is it about members of the male sex? You'd think going to a doctor was worse than being tortured!" Chris looked up at her, his eyes red from crying.

"Don't you like him Grandma?"

"Like who?" she asked, confused by his question.

"Jack. You sound like you're mad at him?"

"Oh heavens child." She reached over and pulled the little boy to her. "Of course I like Jack. I like him a lot. I'm just mad that he didn't go to the doctor sooner. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten so sick."

"I think he was scared."

"Scared? Why do you say that?"

"He used to get a funny look in his eyes. I think that doctors scare him. He's been hurt a lot."

She looked down at this dear little boy who meant the world to her and recognized that he was both innocent and yet had a very old soul. In some ways he was very much like Jack; a combination of innocence and the wisdom that comes from much suffering.

"Will he be okay Grandma?" the little boy asked, sniffling softly.

"If I have anything to say about it he will be!" She said fiercely. There was no way this man was going to die on her like her child had done. She'd do anything to prevent it if she could.

As the two of them were sitting waiting for news of Jack they saw a couple walk into the hospital and approach the front desk. The woman, a tall, very attractive blond, was followed closely by a dark haired man with glasses who was about her age. They looked like they could be husband and wife. As Molly watched she saw the woman pull something from her purse and show it to the receptionist. With a shake of her head the woman directed her over to the emergency desk.

"Over here Daniel" she indicated to the man. "She said to check with Emergency. If he was brought in here they'd probably recognize him." Molly continued to watch as the two walked over to the nurse on duty. The blond woman gave her a quick smile as she walked in front of Molly. The older woman thought she looked rather sweet. Too bad she's married, she thought. I bet she's the kind of woman Jack would like. She glanced down at Chris and was surprised to see him staring at the woman.

"Do you know her Christopher?" she asked her grandson. He was looking at the woman as if he recognized her.

"No. I just got a funny feeling when she walked by. I think she looks nice."

"Yes she does, and so does her husband." The dark haired man happened to glance over at the little boy at that moment and was surprised by the dark glare he received. Chris had decided he didn't like this man.

The nurse was in the middle of a call so the two people waited for her to be finished. Just then the doors to the emergency room opened and Susanna Johansson came out and walked straight over to Molly and Chris.

"How is he Susanna?"

"He's okay for now Molly. We've given him some strong pain medication and he's resting quietly. The doctor sent him for an MRI but we won't know the results for a while. Why don't you go home and rest? There's really nothing you can do here right now."

"No! I don't want to go home. I want to see Jack." Chris sounded on the verge of tears. The two women were caught up in trying to comfort the little boy so missed the fact that the two standing at the desk had both whipped around when they heard the name 'Jack'.

"I won't leave him. He has to be okay – he promised to come in and see me present our project. I can't do it without him!"

"Daniel", Sam whispered. "We don't know that that's 'our Jack'. Let's just wait and see what the nurse says." She'd reached out and grabbed his arm as he'd started to move to where the little boy was seated with the two women. He nodded but kept his eye on the trio.

"Can I help you?" the nurse was finished her call and smiled up at the couple in front of her.

Sam showed her the picture and asked if it was the man who was brought in a few weeks prior.

"Oh yes, he was here. I was on duty the night he came in. The doctors say it was quite a miracle. Usually such a bad motorcycle accident is deadly but he only ended up with a few injuries." The nurse was young and quite a chatterbox.

"Is he still in the hospital?"

"Who? Mr. Connor? No, they discharged him a few days after he was brought in."

"Mr. Connor?" she glanced at Daniel who grimaced. "Do you happen to know where he went?"

"No, I'm sorry. I know they wouldn't have released him without someone to look after him. He had a pretty badly broken leg and was pretty banged up. I assume he went to stay with his family or something."

"No! He's dead isn't he? Jack is dead and you're not telling me!" Sam looked around and could see that the little boy was practically in hysterics. Both the older lady and the nurse were struggling to hold him. He seemed intent on getting away from them.

"He's not dead Chris. They've just taken him for some tests to see what's wrong with him. He'll be back soon, I promise." Susanna looked up at Molly who was practically crying. They both knew that he was terrified after having lost both parents. They just wished they knew what to do.

"Hi there." A soft voice spoke to Chris. He looked up from where he was struggling with his grandmother to see the pretty lady in front of him. She was kneeling down and speaking to him calmly. For some reason he instantly felt better. He sniffed loudly but stopped pulling on his grandmother.

"Hi", he hiccupped softly in return.

"Was one of your friends hurt?" she asked.

"Jack. He's my best friend and he wasn't hurt, he's sick."

"I'm sorry, it's sad when your friends are sick. I'm sure he'll get better though. The doctors and nurses will take good care of him."

"What if he's dead?" he spoke with such heart-rending sorrow that Sam had to wonder what had happened to this little boy. She glanced up at the nurse who smiled and shook her head.

"No, he's not dead, I promise. The nurses and doctors wouldn't lie to you. They can't" she leaned in and whispered in his ear "the police would arrest them if they lied about that."

His eyes grew big and he asked "really?"

"Mmmm hmmmm. They're not allowed to lie to people. I'm sure the nurse is right and the doctors are just looking at him to see what's wrong. As soon as he's finished I'm sure they'll let you in to see him."

He sniffed again but looked much happier than a minute ago, although still obviously worried. "He promised he'd come with me to school when I have to show my project. We made it together."

"Did you? I bet it's wonderful."

"It is. Grandma said it was the most marl..evous project ever. Jack and me did an alien ship and aliens and everything." He was the one who leaned forward this time and whispered in her ear, "the aliens eat people! They're very mean. Jack said he believed in aliens even though Mrs. Stokes says they're a fignut."

Sam was a little confused by this but figured out that 'Jack' was considered pretty special by this boy for believing in aliens. "Is Jack in your school?"

The little boy laughed. "No silly, he's a grown up. He's really old. Not as old as Grandma but too old for school. We even named our aliens!" Clearly the boy liked to talk about his project. It probably took his mind off what was happening. She glanced up at Daniel who was waiting patiently. When the boy saw her look he scowled again. He didn't want the man to take this lady away.

"Really? You named them? What a good idea. What were their names?"

"I named mine Kyle and Jarod and Emily."

"What excellent names. They sound very evil!"

"Yeah! And Jack named his" he had to think a bit to remember, "oh yeah, he named his Mayberry and Simon." He looked at her proudly.

"Sam!" She looked up and nodded at Daniel. Yes, she was starting to get the same feeling. The names were just too similar.

"So", she turned back to the boy. The nurse had returned to her duties but the grandmother was looking on indulgently. She was happy that this woman seemed to be able to distract her grandson. "What do these aliens look like?"

"You wanna see?" he asked happily. Without waiting for an answer he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a very worn, crinkled piece of paper. He unfolded it carefully and smoothed it out before handing it to Sam. "Jack drew that! I added the fangs", he said proudly.

Sam stared at the paper without moving, barely even breathing. "Sam?" Daniel tried to get her attention. Without a word she handed him the paper. The boy didn't look happy at this.

"Oh my God Sam! It's him! It's our Jack."

"I know." Only Jack could have drawn such a perfect picture of an Asgard for a little boy doing a project on aliens.

"No!" the boy almost shouted. "It's not your Jack, he's mine!" Suddenly, from being a sweet little seven year old he was suddenly an angry child fearful of losing the one thing that had brought some security and happiness back to his life. The pretty lady tried to reach out to him but he pulled away, now mistrustful of her.

"Please", she said softly, "we're not going to take him away from you. I know you love him very much. It's just that we have been looking for our friend for a long time. We've been very worried about him and we love him too. I know him, he has lots of love to give. He's not going to stop loving you just because we're here."

"You'll take him away!" What could they say to that? That was their plan.

"Who are you people?" The older lady suddenly spoke for the first time. Sam looked up and saw her looking down suspiciously. Daniel moved over and sat beside her.

"As Sam said we've been looking for our friend for a long time. He disappeared months ago and all of us are worried about him."

"And you think that our Jack is your friend."

"Yes, we think so."

"What's his name?"

"It's Jack O'Neill. General Jack O'Neill."

"That's not my Jack!" the little boy cried. "My Jack's name is Connor and he's not a General!"

"Shhh Chris. Just let me handle this." She turned to the attractive couple in front of her. "My grandson is correct. His name is Connor and he certainly never said anything about being a General. You must have the wrong person."

Sam reached in her purse and pulled out the picture again. Silently, she handed it over to the woman. Molly looked down and could feel her face go white. She looked up and handed it back.

"It's him. It's our Jack." Chris started to sob and she reached out and pulled him to her. She looked up at the young woman, who began to speak.

"Please, can you tell me what's wrong? Why is he in hospital. The nurse said he'd been released weeks ago."

"After his accident – you know about that?" when Sam and Daniel nodded she continued. "Well, they wouldn't let him leave if he didn't have anyone to look after him. He was too badly injured. Oh, it wasn't life threatening or anything like that. He was just banged up pretty badly." she quickly added when she noticed the look on the woman's face. "It was just with his leg in a cast he'd need some help. I have an extra room in my house so they arranged to have him come and stay until he was better. Since he's been with us he started developing headaches. They kept getting worse but he refused to go to the doctor even though I begged him to. This morning he almost passed out from the pain so I called the ambulance. Susanna just told me they've sent him for an MRI to see if they can find anything." She stopped talking and watched the couple. They looked both releaved and yet upset at the same time.

"How do you know Jack?" she asked. She had been surprised both by the name but also by the fact that the man seemed to be running from something.

"We're his friends. My name is Samantha Carter and this is Daniel Jackson. We worked with Jack for eight years as part of the same team. He's a General in the Air Force and I'm a Colonel. Daniel here is a Doctor of Archaeology. We worked at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Last year Jack was transferred to Washington to work in the Pentagon but about six months ago something happened – something very bad – and he resigned. We …. were told lies about what had occurred and we believed the lies rather than Jack. He was hurt by our lack of faith and he left. We've been trying to find him ever since to apologize and make things right."

Molly sat and looked at this very attractive woman for a few minutes. She could tell that the woman had suffered greatly over what she had done. She could also tell that she was in love with Jack. She suddenly realized that this woman must have been at the heart of a lot of what had been bothering the man.

"I see. I can't understand how you could have not believed him after working with him for so long. I can see what kind of man he is and I've only known him for a few weeks. He'd never do anything bad – he's just not that kind of person."

"We know" Daniel spoke up for the first time. "We all feel horribly ashamed and can't understand how we were so quick to lose faith. We need to tell him how sorry we are. This has hurt him terribly."

"Yes, it has. Do you think he will forgive you?" She looked back and forth between the two. It was Samantha who answered.

"No. No, he won't forgive us and we don't expect him to but for his sake we need to let him know, to apologize. We also have to warn him. We believe some of the people who told these lies are out to hurt him. He's a very important man."

"I'll protect him!" Chris stood up and looked very fierce. "I won't let anyone hurt Jack!"

Sam and Daniel both had to smile. Jack had gained another protector. The little boy – Chris – suddenly looked at Daniel with a suspicious look on his face.

"Are you married to her?" he asked.

"Uh no. We're just good friends. We've been friends for a long time." Chris looked relieved but then asked a second question.

"Do you believe in aliens?" Daniel pushed his glasses up and looked at Sam for help. She grinned and shrugged her shoulders.

"Ah, yes, yes I do. I believe in aliens!" Chris gave him a big grin and nodded.

"Okay, if you're a friend of Jack's and you believe in aliens then I like you too." He turned to Sam. "I like you too Samantha. I think Jack likes you a lot!"

Not sure what to say to the young boy Sam was relieved when the nurse came out.

"Jack's finished his tests and he's been taken to a room. He's a bit doped up but doing okay. They're admitting him overnight for observation. You can go in and see him now; he's in room 523." She smiled and went back into the Emergency room.

"Would you like to come with us to see him?" Molly spoke softly. She worried a bit about Jack but she was confident these two wouldn't hurt him.

Sam wondered what would be the best. In some ways it might be easier if others were present. On the other hand she didn't know if it would be fair to him when he was groggy and on pain killers.

"Why don't you go in first? We'll wait a while." Molly gave her a knowing look but nodded.

"I'll let you know how he's doing. Will you be here?"

"Yes, we'll stay in the waiting room."

As Molly left with a skipping Chris the two friends looked at each other. They were both frightened, knowing that their search had finally ended, but not knowing how Jack would react.

"We should let Thor and Teal'c know." Daniel told Sam.

"Yes, I think we should let Thor know first and have him contact Teal'c and General Hammond. I'm worried about speaking over an unsecured line." Daniel agreed and went to find a private room somewhere where he could contact their alien buddy.

He returned almost 20 minutes later with a worried look on his face. "He didn't answer. I can't figure out what's wrong. He said he'd monitor our communications and he's always responded instantly before."

Sam looked worried as well. Thor wouldn't ignore them unless something else very important had come up. She wondered if they should contact General Hammond.

"You can go in now Samantha, Daniel." Molly was standing in front of them with a clearly relieved Chris.

"How is he?"

"He's good. He said he's gonna come to my presentation." Chris was happily bouncing on the souls of his feet. He definitely reminded them of Jack!

"He's still a little out of it but was joking around and complaining about being in the hospital. The medication seems to be helping the headache."

"Did you tell him about us?"

"No, did you want me too?"

"No, that's okay. Thanks Molly. Will you be here when we come out?"

"No, I have to take Chris home and fix him some lunch. Here's my address and phone number." She wrote it out on a piece of paper and handed it to Sam. "Call me or come over when you're done." She started to walk away and then turned. "And don't let him be his usual pig-headed self! Make him listen to you." With that she did turn away, pulling a wiggling boy beside her.

"Okay Daniel, this is it." As the two of them walked down the long corridor they both prayed that Jack would listen and that he would believe them. They knew this was going to be difficult and most likely painful – but they were doing it out of love for their former commander, teammate and, most especially, their friend.