A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and re-read this story (you know who you are!). Special shout out to G for kicking my backside back into gear. If you like this one, thank her, because she wouldn't let me give it up! As always, big thank you to Julie for beta'ing. Best beta ever!

Part 1

"Open the iris," Lieutenant General George Hammond's voice boomed over the speaker into the gate room. It had been a while since he'd had the pleasure of welcoming a team home, what with him settling into his relatively new position as the leader of Homeworld Security. But when Jack had called and asked if he'd like to beam over and play base commander for the day, George couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the men and women he'd commanded for over seven years.

The reason for the unexpected invite was the inhabitants of planet P2X-014, who called themselves the Kisqua. Days earlier, SG-1, led by Colonel Carter, had made first contact on the planet. When the Kisqua had learned that Earth was the homeworld of the Ancients, they had immediately requested the assistance of someone with "the gene" to help them activate Ancient technology they'd discovered on their planet. Seeing as Dr. Jackson had judged the Kisqua culture to be similarly advanced like that of the Asgard and Nox, General O'Neill had readily agreed. He said it was for 'planetary relations' and trade, of course, but George knew the truth. Jack jumped at the opportunity to go off-world every chance he got, and this was no exception. Knowing how difficult the transition from field commander to base commander had been on Jack, George had readily agreed. It had taken two days to organize the event, culminating in General O'Neill joining SG-1 on the Kisqua homeworld just this morning.

George smiled with nostalgia as he watched the four people who had saved the world countless times stride through the event horizon and onto the metal ramp. Dr. Daniel Jackson came first, his body turning to watch as Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter stepped through, followed by Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, with Teal'c emerging last.

"Welcome home, SG-1!" George boomed again, expecting Jack to look up with his semi-insubordinate smirk and wave. But that didn't happen. Daniel stopped moving forward and reached for Colonel Carter's arm, but she shrugged him off almost violently and kept striding toward the door. George continued watching as Jack grabbed Daniel, who had started to follow Sam, and jerked the archeologist to a halt. Angry words were obviously exchanged, but they were spoken too quietly for George to hear as Jack made a sharp slashing motion with his hand. It was a clear signal for Daniel to stop whatever it was he was trying to do.

"General," George said, speaking into the microphone that broadcast his voice into the gate room, "I want to see SG-1 in the conference room in five minutes."

He received Jack's sharp nod before the man stalked through the door, leaving the gate room. Daniel looked up through the glass and into the control room. The haunted look on the man's face startled him. Glancing to Teal'c, George watched as the Jaffa shook his head, a deep scowl on his face.

Swallowing back his trepidation, George ordered Walter to close the iris per protocol and turned to go into the conference room. He had enough experience to know whatever had happened on that planet had not been good.

"Where is Colonel Carter?" George asked the three men who walked into the conference room exactly five minutes later. The fact that she was missing the debrief sent even more klaxons blaring inside George's head. This was not good.

"In the infirmary, sir," Jack replied after he, Daniel, and Teal'c exchanged dark glances. "She'll be there for a while, sir," he added, being overly formal. "I recommend we proceed with the debrief without her."

"Alright," George nodded, accepting the assessment. It wasn't odd for a debrief to take place without one of the team members present, but it was odd for Colonel Carter, being SG-1's current leader, to miss it. Also concerning was that Dr. Brightman hadn't released Sam, even temporarily, to attend the debrief. All of this put George on edge even further. Something had happened on the planet. "Why don't we start with Colonel Carter's status," he instructed and prepared himself for bad news.

Daniel shifted nervously and glanced at Teal'c, who, surprisingly, also looked nervous.

"Sir," Jack stated hesitantly, his eyes looking at the wall over George's shoulder, "there's no simple way to say this," he paused and swallowed. "Colonel Carter was impregnated during the mission."

"Well, that's not technically correct," Daniel held up a finger, "she was artificially inseminated. No one will know if she is actually pregnant for a few weeks."

George felt his eyes go wide at their words. He'd been handed some doozies over the years but this...

"For the love of–" Jack snarled at Daniel, glaring at the younger man. "Carter was strapped down and had a tube forcibly–," his face mottled red with anger as he snapped his mouth shut and turned to George. "It was against her will, sir, " Jack said with a sudden deathly stillness.

George took a moment to steady himself. He needed to keep a level head while gathering the details, but after hearing what Jack described, he was fighting back his own anger. He'd already assumed something nefarious had happened, but this..."I will ask Dr. Brightman for a full–"

"Oh, it gets better, sir," Jack interrupted in a snide voice. His entire body was tense as he took a steadying breath. He pinned George with a dark stare. "They used my sperm."