But there was no new mission to come for SG-1.

There was still this other mission to complete.

At first they had thought about changing their tasks, but in the end they stuck to it. After all Daniel still had his natural gift for conversation, Teal'c still had his knowledge about culture, Carter was still a woman and Jack still had his diplomatic shortcomings.

Only change this time was SG-5. Though being a Marine Combat Unit Hammond had assigned them as backup for they were free. Jack wasn't very pleased about them as he felt like he was babysitted by them, but he was in no position to argue with anyone. He was the main reason the mission had been dropped in the first place thus he had no saying in any of it.

Thankfully they still split up when arriving at the village. Daniel and Teal'c headed for the town hall while SG-5 stayed on their own. It was obvious they didn't enjoy this babysitting mission either but also didn't complain about it. They just did what the General asked them to do.

Of course they had heard about the troubles with SG-1. Everyone on base had. It was simply not possible to keep it a secret with so many people working in this closed space together, day in, day out. However they didn't know the details, they only heard about "some difficulties" on the last missions. Jack was grateful to the General and all doctors to keep silent about the incident. It was something about SG-1 and not about everyone else.

In the end it was again him with Carter. Alone. Or at least he didn't see any member of SG-5 in his closest surroundings.

Even though they had talked about the situation it still felt for them to hang in the air around them. Jack was almost certain that it would forever stand between them, no matter how often they would talk about it in the future.

Their relationship was broken in some point or another and no conversation would ever fix it. Not even time would be able to. Jack was sad.

Again they ended up walking around through town. Again the weather was fantastic.

Again they weren't able to speak properly.

Jack really couldn't figure out how the others could act so naturally around her. He knew that Daniel also struggled but it seemed to work out so much better for him and Carter. And Teal'c was solid as ever in his conversations.

He was jealous.

"I think I packed myself too warm" Jack said while ripping on his long green sleeve.

"Yes, sir" Sam replied with a small smile. Again both knew he was trying to lift their spirits.

"The climate on this planet is actually almost perfect. This is caused by a phenomenon –"

"Argh, Carter!" Jack was waving around his face like he was trying to cast away a mosquito. "As far as I can see the climate today is not perfect for my clothes, and this is all I need to know."

She smiled. It was beautiful.

"You ever considered that your clothes might not be perfect for the climate, sir?" she asked sarcastically. The small friendly provocation was vivid in her eyes.

Jack commented it with a semi-comical look in his face. "Thanks, Carter, for replacing Daniel as the new smartass. I really needed that."

"Yes, sir" Again she smiled a broad smile.

Still it felt awkward for both of them. It still felt forced.

Again out of options to talk about they just walked ahead. Both were lost in their thoughts.

Once in a while Jack peeked at Carter walking besides him. She was always a little behind to remain in hierarchical order and leave him in command. A fact he had never really noticed before.

At first glance she seemed relaxed but Jack couldn't read his 2IC anymore. Over the last few weeks she had created a wall around her that was hiding her true self. Maybe this causing all the difficulties. He couldn't act naturally with her anymore because he couldn't read her anymore. And thus every interaction with her felt forced.

Jack wondered if it was the same case with him. Did he also hide behind an invisible wall he had created? Was it also impossible to read him?

He wasn't able to finish his thought as they were approached by a young man. Or precisely Carter was approached by him. In his hand a small flower.

Out of reflex Jack put a hand on his P90.

"This for you" the young man said. It was obvious what his intentions were. Behind him a small group of youngsters his age was gathering, watching in excitement.

Carter took the flower with a surprised face. She was a little embarrassed by the situation. "Thank you" she said short-bound but smiled out of hospitality.

The young man, maybe eighteen of age, smiled back at her, then turned around and ran back to his gang. He was welcomed with cheering. Everyone clapped him on his shoulder, obviously proud of his courage.

Carter started at them and couldn't believe what she saw. "Ehm?" was her only comment.

This brought Jack out of his tunnel. With shock he realized what he had just done out of reflex. He had reached for his weapon. Was he actually prepared to shoot a young man in a friendly village? Just because he got close to Carter?

"This is new one, Carter" he tried to joke but his voice sounded strange even in his ears. He started to feel really nervous and wanted nothing more than to leave the situation.

With shock he abruptly let go of his weapon. He felt like cleaning his dirty hand.

Thankfully Carter hadn't noticed. She was as shocked about the situation as he was but for a completely different reason. She looked at the flower in her hand as if it was a grenade that was about to explode.

"Carter, this is no monster in your hand" Jack tried to lift the situation yet again. Again he felt like he was failing. "Women usually enjoy these kinds of presents."

Without any answer she turned around and went on. Jack followed. Now she was in command.

However Jack was grateful. He let out a shaky breath. Hopefully she didn't hear it. A fist came to his mouth and pressed out the air from his lungs. He started to massage his jawline to soothe himself. He couldn't let it out by screaming. It would only alarm Carter that something was wrong.

His hand was shaking a little when he finally let go of his chin. Jack was lost in thoughts. He couldn't comprehend the situation. He was shocked the way he reacted. At first he tried to talk himself out of it by stating to his mind that he was a trained soldier who always must be alerted, but it didn't work. He even tried with explaining to him that the man could have held a knife, but still it wasn't working. No matter what he told himself nothing was going to work. Because he knew the reason why he had reacted like this. And he was bound to always react like this.

In front of him Carter was still occupied with her flower. Under normal circumstances Jack would have made fun of it or would have been eager to tell the boys about this embarrassing situation. They would taunt her with it for days and it would be great fun for all of them, but the situation wasn't normal anymore. And it would never be.

Again they didn't get far. However it was now Jack that was approached.

From the side a woman grabbed his sleeve. She was middle-aged and her grip was fierce. Before Jack could really react the woman was announcing it to the crowd: "It is him!" she shouted, "It is him!"

The first people around them reacted before Carter was even fully turned around to understand the situation behind her. More and more people started to make way to the Colonel. Jack was so perplexed he couldn't even move.

All around them shouts started to ring stating "It is him!" or "It is really him!". More towns people came over. Now Jack was beginning to feel overwhelmed with the situation. And worse, he started to loose sight of Carter who was now pushed away from him the more people shuffled around him.

"What the - ?" Jack started and tried to wriggle free from the woman who still had a fierce grip on his sleeve but when he looked down in her face he stopped in an instance.

The woman was crying.

"I thank you so much" she was sobbing and almost falling onto her knees.

The surprise was so real Jack started to look at the other people and was surprised even more when he heard the same grateful words from the others. Many were bowing to him or tried to clap him on his shoulder. What were they thankful for?

In mere seconds the situation was out of control. More and more people were surrounding him it felt like he was suffocated with people. In desperation he tried to search for Carter but couldn't see her blond head anymore. Panic rose inside him.

"Carter?" he whispered. His throat felt like being tied up. The first moment he wasn't even sure if he had actually said it.

More and more people tore on his military jacket. "Carter?" he whispered yet again.

It was then he finally snapped out of it. "Argh!" with brute force he raised his arms up causing many people to fall and stumble. The woman who started all of this fell to the ground.

The situation came to a shocking stop.

"What the hell!" Jack screamed outraged. "Carter!" Now his voice was back full force.

"Coming, sir" he could hear but not see her. Still he couldn't feel relaxed. This changed when he finally saw her fighting through the ocean of people. Now he was much calmer.

"It is really you" the woman on the floor continued crying.

"What am I?" Jack asked with a high and aggressive voice. Finally Carter had made her way through the crowd. His tension was almost gone by now, now that he felt her close besides him and within his reach. On the same time it was again shocking for him how much he was in need of control. How much he was in need of controlling her.

"The hero!" the woman answered with teary eyes.

A hero?! Under normal circumstances it was something that Jack would enjoy the most. He would bring it up in front of the others in every moment possible and he would begin to get on everybody's nerves. And he would bathe himself in the other's annoyance.

But as far as he could tell he was anything but a hero.

He was the greatest failure in the universe!

"Listen lady, there seems to be a misunderstanding." His voice was shaking.

She shook her head in denial. "But it was you who beat him. I have seen it with my own eyes!" Now her eyes were wide.

Still Jack was puzzled.

"I saw him too!" a man shouted from the back of the crowd. "He really did it! Because of him this molester is finally in jail! He saved us all!"

The guy from the alleyway!

The moment he had lost himself was the most joyful moment for all these people around him. It felt like the beginning of a terrible joke for him.

Again the crowd started their cheering shouts of thanks.

But Jack wasn't in the mood. His mood was gradually getting worse with every second. These people were thankful about his most terrible behavior he had ever shown! This was a joke, right?!

"Argh, stop it!"

He had scolded himself over and over about it. He had scolded himself about his failure. And these people were cheering on him for it?!

Like a robot he started to walk.

"Sir!" Carter needed a few seconds to gather her thoughts but he could hear her right behind him. She was following with fast steps. Was he walking this fast as well?

"Sir!"

The little flower was lying on the pavement.

No one was caring about it anymore. The next blow of wind and it was gone. Forgotten.