I own nothing, etc.
She dialed "1," hoping the one person she wanted to talk to more than any other would not be in some late meeting. She prayed for him to just pick up the phone and talk to her.
Her prayers must have worked because his voice, firm and steady, soon reverberated through the tiny speaker. "Carter!"
Sam couldn't help but smile a bit. She'd had both good and bad days since she'd rejoined SG-1. But no matter what each day brought, conversations with Jack - her Jack - always gave her a sense of rightness.
"Hey, Jack," she softly replied, savoring the intimacy for a brief moment before turning to what they needed to discuss. "Have you heard?"
She'd known him so long that she could just see a serious look settling on his face in the brief pause before he spoke. "Yeah, I heard." She knew he received regular general reports on what went on with the SGC, but she suspected he kept a special watch for SG-1's mission reports. The last one she'd written had been a doozy. "Any sign of Daniel?"
Sam pursed her lips, containing her frustration over the whole situation. Those darn "head suckers," as Jack had once dubbed them, had struck again, and Daniel, who knew the risks associated with the technology just as well as she did, had willingly engaged with it. She loved her team, but she was getting tired of them sacrificing themselves like this. Now, who knew what Adria would be doing to get valuable information out of his head? "No," she answered after a moment. "Not a clue. He might even be on another plane of existence for all we know."
Jack sighed. She could tell he was tired, and likely even more sad over the situation than she was. After all, he'd known Daniel longer than she had and had developed a friendship with him before Sam could really break the ice with her future husband. "Well, we won't give up," he concluded. "We'll find him. Or he'll just turn up eventually."
Sam wanted to believe that, but she knew they would all die some day. Who was to say this wasn't Daniel's day? As much as they believed Adria would keep him alive to question him, it was still possible he hadn't survived long enough for her to do that, or that she had already learned what she needed and killed him. "I hope so," was all she'd allow herself to say.
"He will," Jack said firmly, reminding her of when Daniel had disappeared while he was still in charge of the SGC. He'd refused to make any funeral arrangements, insisting Daniel was still out there. Thankfully, he was proven right. "How are you doing?" he asked her.
She thought a moment. "I'm ok. Actually, I think I'm more worried about Vala than anything else. She's got it pretty rough right now. You should have seen her, Jack. Cam said she nearly cried watching Daniel wear down, and she's going half crazy looking for him."
"I bet." Jack paused as Sam remembered a few times that she was in Vala's shoes. He went on. "That's the part of the job she hadn't really seen before, isn't it?"
Sam nodded, humming her assent so he could hear it.
"Sam. She'll make it. He'll make it. Believe me - I know this part of the job is hard, but we've pulled ourselves out of the fire too many times to just give up now."
Sam smiled. Cam had said something very similar to encourage the team, but hearing it from the man she'd been in the fire with so many times hit her differently. If Jack said it was going to be alright, it more than likely would be.
Then he continued. "Heck, he's probably just waiting to find the most awkward location in which he can pop up naked."
Sam laughed, feeling somewhat better. I guess I shouldn't worry too much, she concluded. After all, how many times had Daniel cheated death? Death had called for him so many times, it seemed like it had him on speed dial but could never quite get him to pick up the call. "You're right," she admitted. "Daniel's more resilient than I'm giving him credit for right now. We will find him, and he will make it."
She could just hear Jack smile. "That's my Colonel," he said with pride. She flushed a bit. It was nice to be his Colonel. Pete would have never understood all of this like he did.
"I've got to turn in soon," Jack said with obvious reluctance. "The President seems to get off on making me meet with him at the crack of dawn every Tuesday morning."
Sam chuckled, but he wasn't finished speaking yet.
"I have to ask, though..."
Sam's eyebrows rose as he trailed off. "What?"
"Ba'al. You really punched him so hard he fell to the ground?"
She laughed more than she had in a while. "Yes, sir!" she chirped, smirking at the thought.
She could just tell Jack was smirking, too, by the sound of his voice. "Don't suppose you got any footage of that...?"
Her lips curved into a smile. "Afraid not, honey. You'll have to ask Teal'c to describe it to you."
He laughed. "I did. I don't think I've ever heard him sound more proud of any of us."
Sam felt warm at the thought of their friend's praise. Then, remembering Jack needed to go to bed, she sighed.
"I love you," she told her husband.
Again, she could just see him. His eyes would be growing warm as his lips curved into the sweet smile he saved for her. "I love you, too, Sam," he responded. "Good night."
"Night," she echoed, ending the call. She hated saying goodbye. But, like Daniel probably was, Jack was just a plane away. In the meantime, she could always dial a number to reach him.