A/N - Sorry it's been so long. I've been wanting to get back to this for a while now, but other things have prevented me from hearing the story. Also, I'm not surprised, but sad at the news that the Sci-Fi channel is canceling the show. I hope they get picked up by another network. I'm not ready to give over my love for this show.

Chapter 24

Dinner was a raucous event. Beer flowed liberally along with the food. Jokes and horribly bad one-liners were launched with deadly precision and counter attacks followed. More drink had spewed from various noses. The laughter was belly deep and enough to cause tears to flow unchecked down cheeks bright red with cheer and good company. It had been a long, long time since SG-1 had been together like this. Even Teal'c cut loose. The big man's dinner had been well received, despite the minor food fight between Jack and Daniel. Flecks of mashed potatoes still dotted Daniel's glasses, but two beers into dinner Daniel had ceased caring.

Jack was in the process of revisiting the old argument of "Burns as Goa'uld," but this time he had avid support for his argument from Cassie. Cassie could not believe Sam didn't get it.

"C'mon Sam. You can't be serious? You have to see the logic: Burns IS Goa'uld. It's perfect." Cassie'd had a few beers along with dinner and her tolerance was almost, but not quite, as low as Daniel's.

"Sorry Cass, but I just don't get it." Sam was grinning. She was pleasantly buzzed, but not so far gone that she lost herself in the argument. It was good to watch Cassie smiling and joking; really enjoying herself. Cassie launched into a long dissertation of the perfection of Burns as Goa'uld, but Sam only listened with one ear.

Instead, she leaned back and looked around the room. They'd finished dinner and moved into the great room and were now grouped around the fire. Jack sat next to her, his arm casually thrown over the back of the couch, his fingers resting lightly on her arm, occasionally stroking her absently, and listening avidly to Cassie's arguments, a huge grin plastered on his face.

Daniel was sprawled in an overstuffed chair. His eyes were at half mast and he was only half-heartedly following Cassie as she continued her animated defense of Jack's theory. Teal'c watched from his position near the fire. As always, he allowed the conversation to flow around and encompass him. Sam watched as Cassie suddenly appealed to him for support.

"T, ya gotta see it, don't you?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and his lips twitched in just the barest hint of a smile; huge by his standards, but barely noticeable. "Indeed, CassandraFraiser, your argument is most persuasive."

Sam felt Jack start next to her. She glanced at him in time to see the floored expression on his face. Disbelief colored his features. Jack pulled his arm off the back of the couch and leaned forward. "You're kidding. You get it? All this time? You get it?"

Teal'c nodded his head and said in measured tones, "Indeed, O'Neill. After our previous discussion, I rented and watched all of The Simpson's DVD's. I now concur with your assessment of Burns as Goa'uld. Though the degenerated state of his physical body argues against it, the premises is still sound. Burns is as arrogant and power hungry as any Goa'uld we have faced." As Teal'c ended his long speech, everyone in the room was staring, incredulous.

Sam and Daniel were floored. Cassie was speechless. Jack sat back, a slow grin crept across his face. He looked around at the rest of his team and punched the air with his fists. "Yes! I'm changing my Will. T-Man, you're getting the entire Collection."

Teal'c inclined his head graciously and the room fell into momentary silence. No one wanted the evening to end. These moments were few.

Jack was the first to stir the silence. He clapped his hands, "Okay kids, what movie are we watching?" He looked around expectantly.

"Star Wars."

Sam, Daniel and Cassie all groaned, but only Cassie piped up with a verbal objection, "Again Teal'c? Can't we watch something else?" She was almost whining.

Teal'c stared at her impassively before flicking an eyebrow at O'Neill. Jack acknowledged with the barest hint of a nod and slipped off the couch to fetch the DVD. "Of course it's Star Wars, Cass. What else would we watch?"

Cassie tried an appeal to Sam and Daniel, but they'd obviously already accepted their fate and were settling in to watch the movie. Cassie groaned in defeat and threw herself down on the rug, deliberately choosing a position that caused the most interference with Jack's attempts to load the DVD player. A small scuffle ensued as Jack tickled her ribs to get her to scooch over. The confrontation was over in minutes, leaving Cassie gasping and holding her stomach. Mission accomplished, DVD loaded, Jack was back on the couch, where he pulled Sam firmly to his side.

Sam reveled in the feel of snuggling close to Jack, without worry, without care for how it might look. Their friends - their family - shared their joy in this changed dynamic. And now their lives were headed in different directions - they all knew it. Soon Teal'c would join Bra'tac at Dakara and take his place on the Jaffa Council. Daniel had begun again to campaign hard for Atlantis. Jack was going to Washington.

Sam paid little attention to the movie. She knew it by heart. The importance wasn't in what they watched, but in the companionable silence of being together. As the team scattered and new duties and responsibilities changed the course of their lives, getting together like this would become increasingly difficult and so these times were precious, drawn out to the fullest, to be savored and enjoyed and never taken for granted.

As the movie progressed, Sam's family dropped like flies. Daniel was snoring softly, draped awkwardly in his overstuffed chair. The sight made Sam smile. Daniel's ability to sleep in virtually any position was a constant wonder. Cassie was sacked out on the floor, head comfortably supported by a pillow and a throw pulled up around her shoulders. Beside her, Jack's head was tilted back, his eyes closed, the arm draped around her shoulder was lax with sleep.

Sam moved quietly. She felt the need to be alone. With her family safe and happy, her thoughts drew her to contemplate her own future. The team was going its separate ways and the sadness of that fact pulled at her. She needed to find her own place in the changing landscape.

Sam slipped softly from under Jack's arm, replacing her presence with a pillow. Teal'c cocked his head at her in silent query. With a hand gesture, Sam told him she would return shortly. Teal'c nodded minutely in reply. With one last glance at Jack to be sure he was still asleep, Sam slipped from the house, grabbing Jack's coat on her way to the dock.

The soft click of the door brought Jack fully awake. He flicked his eyes to Teal'c, who glanced in return toward the door leading to the deck. Jack's eyes followed his gaze as he watched Sam walk to the dock. Jack had sensed a subtle tension about her, which seemed to grow as the evening wore on. Sitting beside her, he could almost feel the cogs and wheels turning. He wasn't sure what she was worrying over, but every now and then he'd seen her pull her lower lip into her teeth, working the problem over from various angles, seeking a solution. Now she'd left the group for the quiet of the dock and Jack knew better than to go after her, at least not yet. She would need some time alone before she would welcome him into her thoughts. He decided he'd give her till the end of the movie. If she hadn't returned in that time, he'd go to her. He could do that now and he wasn't going to squander the opportunity. Jack mentally set his internal clock to wake him when the final credits rolled and settled more comfortably into the couch.

Sam stood next to the chair she'd occupied to fish and gazed up at the stars. Even with all the wonders she'd seen over the years, the familiar configuration of her home constellations still had the power to awe her. As a child she'd dreamed of riding a rocket into space and touching the face of the moon. As an adult she'd walked on other planets and moons, explored new technology and bent and rewritten the known laws of physics, but the stars still called to her. Their majesty and constant presence a balm to her weary soul. She liked to think her dad's spirit was out there somewhere, at peace and joined with her mother, watching over her. Sam Carter didn't believe in god, at least not the Jeudao-Christian version, and she'd met enough self-proclaimed gods to last her a lifetime. Her scientist mind required the concrete and explainable, but she'd seen wonders enough to know there was more out there than her science could readily define and for the first time in her life, she felt comfortable with that thought. It was beyond definition and boundaries, but it contained her belief and her hope for the future.

But what did the future hold for her? The Goa'uld were routed, the Replicators dust and the urgent pace of the last eight years was slowing. There would be time now for exploration and research. And there was Cassie. The girl was still reeling from the loss of Janet and Jacob. Being here with them had begun to heal the wounds, but the process would be long and she would need more than this brief respite. And if Sam was honest with herself, so would she. Despite the truth that she and her dad had been closer than ever in the past years, Sam had gotten used to the idea that Jacob would outlive her and now he was gone. The ache of missing him wasn't as sharp as it had been, but the grief was still fresh. If Sam went to Area 51, she would be closer to Cassie and with the regular hours that accompanied a research position, she would have time to spend with her. Sam smiled to herself. She would also have time for regular trips to Washington. The knowledge that she and Jack were together and would be for the rest of their lives was a ball of comfort that sometimes bounced wildly around her chest and other times sat softly in her stomach, warming her from the inside out.

Sam's skin tingled and rose into spiky goose bumps as she felt Jack's presence behind her. His soft "Hey" hung in the air for a long moment before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back gently into his chest. His head dipped to nuzzle her neck and the chills shot straight up Sam's spine. The man touched the deepest recesses of her soul without apparent effort.

Jack felt Sam lean back into his chest as she cocked her head to the side to allow him greater access to her neck. Warmth spread through his veins, despite the evening chill. He loved this woman to the depth of his being.

After a moment Sam spoke softly into the night, almost hesitant, "Jack? What would you think if I took up the Lead Research position at Area 51?"

Jack shifted to his full height and tucked Sam's head under his chin. "General Kershnel's been begging for you for years, Sam." His answer was non-committal. Jack wasn't ready to give his influence to a decision he felt should be hers alone.

"I know and I've always turned it down. It was more important for me to be at the SGC, but now . . ."

Jack hummed a note in his head, "But now with the team breaking up and the threat mostly gone you think . . .?" Jack left it hanging, drawing out her answer as he ran his hands down her arms to join with hers.

"I think I'll be closer to Cassie. With the regular hours, I'll be able to spend more time with her and . . ." Sam left her own sentence hanging.

"And?" Jack's prompt was soft, hushed.

Sam turned in his arms to look up into his eyes. They were black in the moonlight and locked to hers with the intensity of a particle beam laser.

"I'd have time for regular visits to Washington, too."

The hum in Jack's head turned into a happy little jig. "I'd like that, but are you sure you want to leave the SGC?"

"Teal'c is going to be spending most of his time on Dakara and you know Daniel will badger you until you let him go to Atlantis. You're going to DC. SG-1 is breaking up, Jack. It's time I moved on too. Staying at the SGC would be too painful without the rest of you there." Sam took a deep breath and blew it out with some force. "I need to do this for me. I need to be near Cassie and" Sam snuggled into Jack and laid her head against his chest "I need to be able to spend regular time with you. If I'm still going off-world, I won't be able to do that."

Jack leaned back, lifting Sam's head off his chest to look into her eyes. "If you're sure, I'll sign your transfer papers before I leave for DC."

Sam nodded and felt a weight lift from her chest. "I'm sure."

Jack gazed at her for another long moment, then drew her back into his chest. "Consider it done." He held her for a long moment then said, "It's cold out here. Can we please go to bed or have you got more deep thoughts to run through that big brain of yours?"

Sam was caught between the impulse to laugh and hit him. He was such a lovable dork sometimes. "That's all for tonight, but tomorrow we talk about the wedding."

Jack glanced heavenward and put on a pained expression as they turned toward the house arm in arm. "D'oh!"