Epilogue

A pinging noise caught his attention, and he shifted his focus to where it was originating from.

He frowned. "Sir," Major Kevin Marks called out and waited to get the man's attention.

The commander of the Odyssey turned to him. "What is it, Major?" Colonel Davidson asked, coming up to him.

"I'm picking up two of our subcutaneous transmitters," Marks explained with confusion.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one. "How's that possible?" he inquired and leaned over the Major's shoulder. "This quadrant of space is primarily devoid of planets and the few there are, don't have any Stargates."

Marks nodded. "I'm aware of that, sir," he said respectfully. "Are any of our other ships supposed to be somewhere around here?"

"No," Davidson tapped the screen to view the intel. "We're the only one scheduled to be here. Besides, if it was another one of our ships, there'd be more than two signals."

"An SGC mission, perhaps?" Marks guessed again. "Possibly one that went awry?"

The Colonel ran his hand over his jaw. "Possibly," he conceded to the idea. "Our long range comms should work out here. Contact the SGC and confirm. Report back once you have something."

"Yes sir."

o0o

She couldn't believe it.

After seventeen months missing and over a year searching, Samantha Carter had all but given up hope on ever finding her lost friends. That is, until the Odyssey picked up two lone subcutaneous signals where none of their people should and all of their people were accounted for – all but two. The transmitters were specifically designed and transmitted on a frequency unique to the SGC, so the chances of someone using them to set a trap were slim.

"Carter, calm down," General Jack O'Neill grumbled from beside her. "You're making the ship rock."

Sam smiled cheekily at him. "Like you aren't excited to see them again?" she challenged. "And do you know the statistical probability of me actually producing enough –"

"Ah!" Jack put up a hand and stopped her in her tracks before she could start spouting her technobabble. "I'll take your word for it."

She smiled triumphantly.

He moved closer. "You should consider the alternative," he mumbled in a warning. "We don't know what we'll find."

Sam refused to consider it – she had seventeen months ago and she would now. "We know they escaped."

"On a Cargo ship that was heavily damaged," Jack retorted. "We don't know what happened when Vala engaged the hyperdrive."

She shifted her eyes to him. "But we now know it didn't implode when she did," she pointed out. "If it had, their transmitters wouldn't be active. The signal also happens to be originating from a planet we know for a fact is habitable but doesn't have a Stargate."

"Sam," he whispered in worry.

"I'm choosing to believe they're okay," she cut him off before he cautioned her again about her optimism. She knew it came from a place of caring and love, but she didn't want to hear it.

Jack looked at her for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "Okay."

"My money's on Vala," Cameron Mitchell chimed in from a few feet away, Teal'c standing next to him. "It isn't the first time she's disappeared in a ship only to end up somewhere safe. She took care of them."

"Indeed," Teal'c concurred.

"Well, we're about to find out," Jack stated and gestured to the window as they came up on the planet.

Sam moved away from them and went over to Marks, leaning over him. "What've you got?" she asked, barely holding in her impatience.

"Transmitters appear to be in a populated area of the planet," Marks replied. "Appears to be a village or town of sorts."

She shot her husband an 'I told you so,' look before refocusing on the monitor. "They appear to be moving," she heard her own relief in her voice and smiled.

They were alive.

"Davidson, drop SG-1 and myself off on the edge of the village closest to where they are," Jack commanded, and she heard his relief and happiness.

"With pleasure, sir."

o0o

"This it?" Jack inquired as he took off his sunglasses to stare at the small stone cottage.

"Yep. This is where the signal is coming from," Sam confirmed.

"It's cute," Jack commented.

It wasn't something he expected to find the two of them living in, but it was on the skirts of the main settlement and quiet. He could understand why Daniel might have chosen it, especially if the natives weren't as friendly as one would hope.

"So," Mitchell said after a pause, "do we just go up and knock?"

"Pretty much," Jack confirmed.

The four of them walked to the door in unison – in SG-1 fashion – and knocked on the door.

Shuffling and low voices could be heard from outside, and one grew closer before the door opened to reveal his best friend.

"Jack," Daniel said in surprise and looked at the rest in shock. "Guys."

"Space money," Jack greeted and felt a smile grow. He should've known Carter was right – hell, he should've known Daniel would make it out of another scrape unscathed.

Daniel gapped for a second before composing himself. "Sorry, it's just…I never thought I'd see you all again."

Jack gave him an expectant look. "You gonna leave us standing out here?" before Daniel could answer, an angry cry came from inside the house, and he raised his eyes expectantly. "What was that?"

The others all shared a look before focusing on Daniel, who smiled softly at all of them, and opened the door further. Vala stood further in the room, holding a small bundle wrapped in dark green. She smiled brightly and waved as best she could.

Daniel walked over to Vala and wrapped an arm around her. "Come meet our son."

o0o

"I'm going to miss it here."

Daniel stopped packing to look over at a despondent Vala rocking their son as she fed him while he packed. "We've been here almost a year and a half," he smiled ruefully. "We made a home here – a life. I'll miss it too, and that's completely normal."

"What about everything we've started here?" Vala threw out. "You're in the middle of a lecture series, and there's so many upgrades I can do to the naquadah generator –"

"Vala," he softly cut off her rambling. "We don't belong here." They had briefly discussed staying, but they knew where they belonged, and it wasn't on Thessa.

"But –"

"I wrote down everything I ever taught and more," he reminded her. "And you have a functioning naquadah generator and bug zapper field that are showing great results. They have the knowledge on how it functions and can always make improvements themselves. More importantly, they have our knowledge, so they'll be fine."

She went silent for a long moment. "Everything's going to change," she whispered, looking scared at the thought. "What if we change?"

He dropped the items he held and crouched in front of her. "We will, but for the better," he promised her. "But the way we feel about each other? That will never go away. It'll only increase."

Vala still looked scared. "How can you be so sure?"

Daniel's demeanor softened and he cupped her cheek. "Because I love you so fucking much, it feels like my heart's gonna explode sometimes," he confessed. "I'm not the same man I was when we crash landed here – I'm so much better and it's because of you. I won't lose that."

He seemed to quell some of her fears. "So, what're we going to do when we're back?"

He shrugged. "We'll figure out the logistics," he told her before grabbing something out of his pocket. "But one thing I know for certain is I'm gonna make you my wife," he stated with utter confidence and revealed the ring he'd gotten during her pregnancy.

Vala's breath caught. "Daniel…"

He grabbed the hand not supporting the baby. "I've wanted to ask you for months, but I didn't think we were ready," he admitted. "Maybe we aren't now bu–"

"Yes," she blurted out before he could finish. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Daniel's lips twitched. "I didn't even get to ask."

"I don't care. My answer is still yes," she stated bluntly before wiggling her ring finger trapped under the weight of their son. "Now give me the ring and kiss me."

He chuckled at her bossiness but did it anyway because he loved this woman more than anything, and she just agreed to be his wife.

He had no fears of the future because he knew they'd be fine. In fact, they would be more than fine because what they had was real and had already been tested time and time again.

The End.

o0o

Author's Note: Well, that's all folks. Let me know your final thoughts.

Until next time.