It figured. The first break she gets…

Jack was lost in thought as he and Sam drove in silence to the base. He had briefly given her all the information Walter had given him as they quickly dressed and hurried out the door. And he'd hated ever second of it.

A simple weekend. Just a quiet weekend. That was all I asked for her. Was that really too much?

She had been working hard. Nowhere near the long hours either one of them had pulled as SG-1 members, but still… It seemed the quiet was just as difficult as the threats of unknown (or even known) enemies. Jack leaving the Pentagon seemed to have given DC its nerve back. They'd begun their hounding about the program's worth, or lack-thereof, just over a year ago. And the longer Earth went unthreatened, the louder they got.

Sam, of course, handled it like a pro. And he was proud of all she'd managed as the commander of the SGC. It had been tough, no doubt about it. She'd had to cut back on teams, equipment – heck, even the jello took a hit. But she managed it all calmly, elegantly even. The folks she'd had to let go left solemnly, but understood beyond a shadow of doubt it was okay. If they had to leave to ensure the program would continue, they'd leave.

A lot better than I would have handled it. He glanced over at her with a small smile, which quickly faded at the look on her face.

She sat, image of calm. But Jack knew the gears were spinning.

And he hated it.

He knew exactly where her mind was, mostly because his mind had ventured to the same destination a number of times since he hung up the phone.

She was in the land of "what-ifs".

And he hated it.

Time to figure out what's going on.

Getting into the base was the same as it had always been, minus the looks of shock.

It hasn't been that long has it? Jack couldn't help thinking to himself. Doing the backstroke through his memories, he couldn't put a finger on the last time he had been there. Must've been a lunch or something.

He had a fleeting flash of a party – That was it. The last time he'd been here was on his way to the party for Rya'c's son's first birthday. How long ago was that…?

"It's been a few months," Sam offered as they made their way down in the elevator.

Jack looked over at her and gave her a smirk. She returned it briefly. They had always been able to read each other so well, it seemed like second nature.

"Jack…what if…" The smile faded as she attempted to voice her thoughts.

"Let's just find out what's going on, k?" He didn't want to have to burst the bubble she was fervently growing, but… "Look," he continued, turning her to face him, hands grasped on either shoulder, "I don't want to be the bad guy here…but…"

She curled into his arms, her own still wrapped around her chest.

"I know. We've had nastier enemies attempt nastier tricks. It just… It just makes me think… That's all."

"I know…" There really wasn't much more they could say. Or more they needed to say.

The doors opened on good ole level 28 to reveal a rather impatient archaeologist pacing the hallway.

"Sam… Jack!"

"Daniel…" Jack reluctantly released his grip on Sam, so she could assume general-mode, while glaring curiously at his erstwhile friend. "Thought you were off somewhere playing with rocks."

"Got back late last night," Daniel responded, rolling his eyes at Jack's familiar banter. He missed it, but not much… "Cam filled me in at breakfast."

"Has Sheppard arrived yet?" Sam asked as they made their way down the hall.

"Yeah, just a bit ago. He's with Cam in the briefing room." He glanced sidelong at his friends, gauging. "The…girl is in isolation. Still out."

"Out?"

"Yeah. Apparently Woolsey ordered her sedated."

"I thought she wasn't a threat? Since when do we sedate kids?" came the expected O'Neill response as they entered the briefing room.

"I promise you, Sir. That was solely Woolsey's call," Sheppard offered, greeting Sam with a head nod and a "Ma'am".

"Sheppard…"

"Sorry s–… force of habit." The men shook hands. "You were still a general last time I saw you. How's retirement treating you?

"Peachy, until today. Stop trying to change the subject."

"I called back to Atlantis once Sheppard arrived," Mitchell said as everyone instinctively took seats around the table. "He insisted it was duly called for. He felt Atlantis was being threatened.

"So he drugged her and threw her through the gate to us?" Daniel returned. "How sweet."

"There was no threat." Attention turned to Sheppard, who had remained standing beside the window looking down to the gateroom. "At least not to us."

"What then?" Sam queried.

"I don't know what it was, but I think Ellie was just…scared." John looked confused, like he was still trying to organize everything that had happened.

"John." He looked up at Sam as she continued. "What happened?"

"Atlantis went on the fritz. Power fluctuations, lights mostly. Just flickering and flashing. The gate controls went offline, but that was the worst that happened." He looked around the table, as if trying to get them to understand. "McKay checked – the shield, all the defenses were still up and running. And when she dialed the gate – if she did dial it – she dialed here. It was like…" He faltered again, not sure how much further he dared go.

"John?" Again, Sam gently nudged him to continue. When he did, he looked directly at her.

"It was like a scared kid. A scared, lost girl calling home."

The room went quiet as everyone contemplated the one factor that had yet been brought up. The silence continued until Doctor Lam walked in.

"Um…she's awake," she announced hesitantly.

"Carolyn," Sam called after her as the doctor was headed back down the stairs. She turned and walked directly to Sam, handing her the folder she carried somewhat begrudgingly.

"I'm sorry Sam… I can't explain it. I've checked. Various samples. Triple checked and verified."

Sam glanced over the test results, not really trusting herself to read them. She looked up at Jack as she handed them to him.

He looked over the scientific data, reading the random test results. He was sure they were all important, but there was one in particular he was looking for. And there it was, at the bottom of page three…

DNA RESULTS – DNA MATCH TO: LT GEN. JONATHAN O'NEILL (RETIRED), BRIG. GEN. SAMANTAHA CARTER

Nasty tricks there had been, Jack knew. But even mobsters stopped at kids.