By the time Teal'c and Daniel arrived to Jack's house, the ambulance was pulling away. Several of Jack's neighbors were standing around, whispering to one another. Daniel instantly followed the ambulance before turning to Teal'c. "Dial Janet."

The Jaffa nodded, selecting the doctor's number from Daniel's list of contacts in his cell phone. He handed the phone to Daniel just after he pressed the send button.

Janet stood to answer the phone, apologetically. As much as she hated to leave her friend in the middle of a conversation, she was the chief medical officer of a top-secret military operation. The job didn't include long vacations, and she'd already had a couple hours more than she usually did. "Janet Fraiser."

"Janet, it's Daniel Jackson."

"Daniel, what's wrong?"

"Jack's been sent to the hospital."

Janet's eyes widened in concern. "What? What happened?"

"I don't know...I got there just as the ambulance was pulling away."

"We'll be right over." She said, seeing Sam's absent look of worry.

"Well, we just got to the county hospital. I guess we'll see you in a few."

She nodded. "I just live around the corner. We'll be there in a sec."

"What happened?" Sam asked, looking up from her cup of coffee, despondently.

"Jack's been sent to the emergency room, via ambulance."

Sam shot up, grabbed her jacket and ran out to her car. Before Janet could say anything, she sped out of the driveway.

Janet sighed as she grabbed her keys and hurried to the hospital. "Those two..." She muttered.

--

Sam drove to the hospital, oblivious to what she was doing. As she walked into the waiting room, Daniel and Teal'c saw her. "Sam!"

She turned, almost blindly toward them. "What happened?"

"We don't know...we were hoping you did..."

She sat down in the waiting room chair. "I...I wish I did, but..."

"You realized who he was..."

"Yeah." She said, softly. Suddenly she stood. "You knew?! You knew who he was?!"

"Sam, he told us yesterday."

"He knew." She said, too calmly for that to be a good thing.

As Janet walked into the hospital, Sam walked out. "Sam!" "Major Carter!" The men called after her.

"What happened?" Janet asked, looking at the men.

"We, uh...Jack knows who she is..."

"What?"

"He knows who she is...not just on painkillers..."

"Oh boy." Janet said, wincing.

"However, we do not know why O'Neill has been brought to this medical care facility."

"Daniel, go after Sam...talk to her...find out if she's okay. I'll get Colonel O'Neill transferred to the infirmary."

Daniel nodded.

"Do you have a specific assignment for me?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes...I'm going to need you to help me get the Colonel to Cheyenne Mountain."

Teal'c nodded in acquiescence as Daniel ran out to the car. Sam was still in the parking lot, her car sitting quietly. "Sam, are you okay?"

She looked up at him. "Am I okay? Does it look like I'm okay, Daniel?"

"No."

She sat on the grass of the separator in front of her car. "I always hoped I'd find him, but I never thought I would...and I certainly never believed that I'd find him at work...I mean, Colonel O'Neill is so...different from Jonathan, yet...so much the same..."

"Jack's a forty-eight-year-old Colonel in the Air Force, who lost his son and his wife, spent a great deal of time on black ops missions..." Daniel said, sitting beside her.

"Jonathan was a refined English literary critic who had the voice of a phantom...but more than that, he was...they're both kind and compassionate. They have a steadfast moral compass." She gave a tiny grin. "They're loyal to the end..."

"Sam, he won't say it...at least not while there are regulations in the way, but...he loves you. He tried to let you move on with your life, but...he just can't. The fact that you fell in love with the same man over again, without knowing who he was...well, I don't need to say the rest..."

She sighed. "That's just it, Daniel...he's not the same man. The man before was more confident. He wouldn't have waited to tell me who he was...he would have known that I loved him enough to give up the Air Force..."

"Is that REALLY what he would want you to do? Especially knowing how much YOU love your job, and how much the program needs you?"

"So, what? Let HIM retire? He's already tried and failed TWICE!"

"Sam..."

"Daniel..."

"Maybe Jack was waiting for you to confirm that you still had feelings for him..."

She looked at him. "Daniel..."

"You said it yourself. Jonathan was more confident. Jack lost that when he lost Charlie and Sara."

She swallowed down tears as he stood. "Come on, I'll get you a cup of coffee..."

She shook her head. "I'd like to be alone right now..."

He studied her closely. "You're not just going to run away and pretend that this whole thing hasn't happened, are you?"

"When have I ever done that?"

"Two words: za'tarc testing."

She sighed. "I can't promise anything..."

"Jack deserves better."

She closed her eyes, not saying anything.

"You do too..."

She stood as tears returned to her eyes. She opened her car door, but hesitated before getting in. "Daniel, I know you're trying to help, but...I just don't know what to do anymore."

"I know this is going to sound cliche, but follow your heart. Not your head, not the regulations...your heart. I think you know how Jack feels about you...and I think you've admitted how you feel about him now that you know who he is...and I think you're willing to make this work, but...your mind is getting in the way. Just let that rest for a couple of days..."

"I don't think I can." She whispered as she got into the car.

--

She drove to a park where she sat on the bench, watching as children ran around, mothers followed them, men and women went about their business. Jack O'Neill...Jonathan O'Neill...The Phantom...Commanding officer...

Her thoughts were no longer clear and concise, like math equations, they were mixed like various colors of paints going down the drain together. The swirling, contrasting emotions made her dizzy, the absolute change of character was astonishing. She'd always been a woman to hide her emotions...now, she was found sitting on a park bench, trying to understand her emotions. Trying to sort them out.

She was angry that he had kept his identity a secret from her. But if he had known from the beginning, how was he supposed to invite her back into his life? "Hi, it's your Phantom, I've just gone through years of black ops missions I'll never be able to tell you about, my son shot himself with my gun, and my wife left me when I was recalled to active duty...not just to open the Stargate program, but to take on a suicidal mission. I'm just not ready for a relationship right now..."

She almost laughed at the obsurdity of the monologue that had just played in her head. It was something Jack would have said sarcastically. Then, she sobered as she thought back to their first few interactions as CO and subordinate.

"Oh, I adore you already."

"I like women...I just have a little problem with scientists..."

She blinked tears from her eyes. He had tried to find out how much she knew. If she recognized him. She closed her eyes in humiliation. He hadn't been ready to tell her what he knew at the time, and by the time he was, they'd been declared za'tarcs, and were forced to hide their feelings in that isolation room.

She gave a tiny chuckle as she thought about when Jack had met her dad.

"Get outta town! Sam's dad? I've heard...nothing about you, sir."

Of course he'd heard about her dad...he'd heard PLENTY about her dad. Enough to worry that the overprotective Air Force General would have his head if he continued to see his daughter. A part of her would always see her dad as the ultimate reason Jonathan had left her...out of respect for her relationship with her dad...out of a reasonable fear of what would happen if he didn't leave...

Now, the self-same man was best friends with her dad! Even going so far as to call Jacob "Dad" in good humor.

"Jacob! Thanks for stopping by!"

"What the hell? I was in the neighborhood. You need a lift home?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

She smiled, traces of sadness and happiness in her smile. She had nearly lost him then. She had just admitted her feelings for him under the careful readings of the za'tarc scanner, and he had been sent flying into outer space, supposedly to die of suffocation in the tiny space craft.

He'd been there when she needed him most...in whatever capacity she needed him most...doing everything in his power to keep her out of harm's way.

"You are next." The deformed man said, pointing to her.

"Uh, I think I'm next." Jack said, not needing to distinguish whether he was doing this to save Sam or whether it was merely a stall tactic.

"Nirrti has asked for this one." Sam had closed her eyes in defeat. Even the goa'uld were picking up on the mutual attraction.

"And I'm asking for you to take me instead…"

Sam's head jerked up and she saw the quick look he'd turned to her, reassuring her that if he had any say in the matter, she would be safe.

"No!" He said, pushing Jack back as he pulled Sam toward him.

He had been there to comfort her, allow her to place her head on his shoulder when she was so hot…

He'd been there when the super soldier came after her. He'd saved her again. He'd saved her countless times.

She groaned. And she'd repaid him by dating Pete and blowing up when she realized that he was the man that she'd been in love with for all of her adult life. Seven of those twenty years, she'd spent with the man himself, falling in love with him all over again. Yes, he'd been different. That should have been expected. Twenty years didn't leave you untouched, pristinely cared for like a treasured porcelain keepsake on your mantle. A family heirloom on display…

Her cell phone rang. "Carter." She answered, expecting to hear Janet, Daniel or Teal'c on the other end, saying that Jack was at the SGC and that either everything was going to be okay, or that she needed to hurry down and say her good-byes. What she didn't expect to hear was Pete's voice.

"Hi, babe."

"Pete."

"I know, babe, I'm as surprised as you that I'm actually talking to you. I mean, usually you're out saving the planet and all that stuff…so I was just going to leave a message…"

"Pete."

"I'm in the Springs, and I thought you and I could have dinner tonight."

"Pete, I can't…"

"You're going back to work, aren't you?"

"That's not why I can't."

"You're dealing with some alien illness that's keeping you at the Mountain?"

"No, Pete, I…I found someone…from my past, and…"

"It was that Jonathan guy, wasn't it?"

"What?"

"Sam, you talk in your sleep. You've been asking for this…Jonathan guy…and…you found him…"

"I'm sorry."

"Look, I wish I could say I was surprised, but…a gal like you was just too good to be true…I'll see you around, Sam."

The phone went dead in her hands, and she closed her eyes with a sigh.

Just then, her phone rang again. "Carter." She said, her tone somewhat indicative of her exasperation.

"Sam, it's me, Daniel."

"Daniel?" She asked, her tone turning to worry. "What happened? How is he?"

"Hold on, Sam, I'll get to your questions. Jack's fine. He's at the SGC. He must have passed out trying to follow you out the door. The Vicodin hit him faster than normal 'cuz he was running…or rather, hobbling…faster and father than Janet recommended."

"So, he's fine."

"Physically…yes."

"What do you mean, Daniel?"

"Sam, he…he thinks you hate him…"

"What?"

"Anyway, I thought I'd give you fair warning before you came in ranting and raving…"

"I'm not going to." She said, calmly. "I've been thinking…"

"I'm not the one you need to tell that to."

She nodded. "I know. Is he up to visitors?"

"I think Janet will make an exception for a team member…"

Sam stiffened. "I have a few more things to do before I can get there…"

"Sam!" Daniel said, realizing his faux pas as she hung up the phone. He closed his eyes in self-deprecation. "Oh…great! She said she was doing better, and YOU just single-handedly ruined it again!"


Sorry for the HUGE wait in updates...I've been really busy with school and work and family stuff...but I was in the mood for some romance on the Sam and Jack front this week, and this came out...it's not exactly what I was in the mood for, so I'll be writing the last chapter in the next couple of days. Again, SORRY! Please review, if you don't hate me for the unreliable updates to my almost finished stories!