As Jim lowered the gun, Sam leaned eagerly forward to check the targets.

"Ten out of ten reds, and you hit one blue and nicked another one," she counted. "That's fabulous!"

"Indeed, the scores have much improved," Teal'c commented approvingly.

Jim scowled. "I'm still hitting about two out of every ten blues." He bent over his gun and started reloading.

"Oh, dear." Sam rolled her eyes. "Not going to be satisfied with anything less than perfect, are you?"

A twitch in his cheek was the only response Jim gave as he continued loading.

"Perhaps if you tried with Blair Sandburg's assistance," Teal'c suggested.

"He's not always going to be handy," Jim countered.

"That, I find hard to believe," said Sam. "I hardly ever see one of you without the other."

"He's not here now," Jim pointed out dryly.

"That's true," Sam admitted. Jim started to raise his gun again when Sam put out a hand to stop him. "How many rounds did you just shoot?" she asked.

"How many?" Jim thought about it. "I think about fifteen, sixteen. Why?"

"So aside from the ones that did hit the targets, there were a few that didn't hit anything? That went god knows where?"

"Yeah." Jim frowned down at Sam, wondering where she was going with this.

"But there are only ten red targets." Sam nodded at them. "If you want to be hitting only the red ones, shouldn't you be shooting just ten rounds?"

Jim's mouth dropped open, and Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"I..." Jim scratched his head. "You're right, of course, but I'm not sure..." He bent his finger lightly over the trigger and tilted his head, obviously replaying in his mind the mental and physical steps he went through when he shot at the targets.

"May I?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Jim handed her the weapon.

"Okay." Sam lifted the gun and took aim.

"No," said Jim.

"No?" asked Sam.

"No," Jim repeated. Looking at Sam to make sure she knew and consented to his intentions, he placed his hands on the wheelchair's handles and adjusted its position in relation to the targets. "Now," he said, "sit back as far as you can, and center your weight over your hips. Right." He waited as Sam wiggled into position, then reached out and shifted her shoulders for one last adjustment. "Okay. Now, brace your feet firmly on the footrest. Okay? Good. Now, raise your weapon... Wait, not like that." He reached out and placed Sam's arms into a satisfactory position. "Okay. Shoot!"

Sam tightened her finger on the trigger, and a volley of bullets flew out and all hit the center target dead on.

"Oh, wow!" Sam lowered the gun and grinned up at Jim. "Damn! That was amazing!"

"Pretty good," Jim grinned back, and Teal'c inclined his head in agreement. "Okay. Next, let's try..."

Teal'c stood by and watched as Jim worked with Sam. At one point, their eyes met over Sam's head, and Teal'c's knowing eyes locked with Jim's sky-blue ones for a second.

"So." Jim turned back to Sam. "How about getting out of that chair and trying a few other positions?"

-----

Jack listened to the voice on the other end of the phone, and raised an eyebrow. "Okay," he said. "Send him down." He put the phone back down, quirked his head at it, then turned his attention back to the paperwork.

A few minutes later, Pete entered the briefing room, escorted by a security guard. Halfway across the room, he paused and turned, his eyes glued to the Stargate. The guard was about to prompt Pete to proceed when Jack stepped out from his office, nodding at the guard.

Pete continued to gaze at the Stargate, seemingly unaware of the guard stepping away or of Jack's quiet approach. Jack slowly eased into Pete's field of vision, standing silently by until Pete finally looked at him.

"Hey," Jack said. "You came back."

"I..." Pete swallowed. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Not me you need to apologize to," Jack stated crisply.

Pete winced. "Yes, sir," he said. "I know that. I just..." He turned to the Stargate again. "I just..." He slowly walked up to the observation windows and pressed a hand against the glass. "I thought... Now that Sam wasn't going through the Stargate anymore, that maybe..." He sighed and dropped his hand, and turned back towards Jack. "But her heart is still here, isn't it? Even though she can't go through it anymore... This is still her life, and you're still her family. Not me."

"Oh," Jack said. "I wouldn't count on her not going through the Gate again. You should see what she's done with her chair!" He waved a hand in the air, as if that would give Pete an idea of the modifications Sam had made to the chair. "Given enough time..." He shrugged.

Pete snorted. "Sorry," he said. "I just had... this image of Sam... in a flying wheelchair..."

"A wheelchair with wings?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"Now, that would be a sight," Jack smiled.

Pete smiled back. "That would be... very Sam." He looked down, fidgeted a bit, then looked up again. "When I saw her with Teal'c this morning, I... I admit, at first I thought the worst. But when I calmed down... Of course, he's her friend, and... That's when..." He broke off, blinking hard.

Jack stood silently, waiting as the younger man struggled to get himself under control.

"She never..." Pete continued. "She never comes to me with that. It's you, and Teal'c, and Daniel..." He turned abruptly away to look at the Stargate again. "...and that."

Jack looked down at the floor, then raised his head again, and moved up to tap Pete's shoulder. "Come on," he said. "I think it's high time you and Carter had a talk."

-----

Blair and Daniel strode down the mountain path side by side, the loose gravel crunching rhythmically under their feet. Turning the last corner to the firing range, their gazes were immediately drawn to Teal'c's broad back, then out into the range itself.

And just as Daniel was about to let out a surprised gasp at what he saw there, Teal'c turned, raising a hand to command silence.

Cautiously, afraid to even breathe lest he break the moment, Daniel crept forward, followed by an equally quiet Blair. Just as they reached Teal'c's side, Sam, standing on her two feet, aimed the gun and fired a volley, as Jim let his hands fall away from her elbows, removing the last token semblance of support.

Sam smiled in fierce satisfaction at the targets and lowered her gun, then noticed Daniel and Blair, standing there slack-jawed. Frowning as she wondered what had them so taken aback, she looked around, and suddenly realized that Jim was standing two steps away, his arms folded loosely in front of his chest.

"Wha..." Sam turned quickly in surprise, losing her balance with a jerk. Jim's hands immediately shot out to support her, and Daniel, as if released from the spell rooting him to the spot, rushed forward, then stopped again a few steps away from Jim and Sam.

"Hi, Daniel," Sam greeted, still clinging to Jim for balance.

"You... you... you're standing!" Daniel blurted.

"Ah... Not very well at the moment, but seems that way, doesn't it?" Sam laughed.

"Okay, Colonel. Take a deep breath. Let's see if we can do that again, shall we?" said Jim. "There..." He took the gun from Sam and placed it on the ground, then patiently tapped and rubbed and prodded Sam's body until she was balanced on her feet again. "Okay, now..." He shot a glance at Daniel, signaling him to get ready. "I'm going to let you go," he said to Sam, "and you're going to walk to Daniel, okay?" Sam nodded. "Okay." Jim let go.

For an interminable moment, Sam balanced on both feet. Then she took a deep breath, and picking up a foot, moved it forward. She put the foot down, struggled to gain her balance, then determinedly picked up the other foot -- and toppled forward into Daniel's arms.

"Oh, my god. Sam," Daniel whispered, holding Sam tight. "Sam."

Sam hugged back, tears streaming down her face as she laughed.

Daniel turned big wide eyes to Jim, who folded his arms and stepped back, smiling quietly. Blair came running up then, followed more sedately by Teal'c.

"Hey!" Blair slapped Jim on the arm. "That's something!" He laughed happily up at Jim. "I always thought sentinels would make great physical therapists!"

Jim shook his head indulgently, and bent to pick up the forgotten machine gun from the ground. Exchanging quiet acknowledging nods with Teal'c, he began walking away as Teal'c reached in to hug Sam. Since Daniel wouldn't quite let Sam go, the three of them ended up in a weird tangle of arms and bodies, Sam laughing and crying, Daniel grinning like mad and blinking hard, and Teal'c standing solid and steady in the middle of it all.

Blair watched the celebration a moment longer, then followed after Jim at a half-run. "Hey, Jim!" he yelled. "Yo! Wait up!"

Jim stopped, eyes gazing into the far distance. "Hey, Chief?" he said when Blair pulled up next to him.

"Yeah?"

"You know, maybe we should take Ferretti up on that offer to go fishing the next time SG-1 and 2 have downtime together."

Blair's eyes widened as he looked up into Jim's face. "Jim..."

Jim turned, finally looking Blair in the eye. "It's time we got out of the mountain. Right?"

"Yeah," Blair swallowed hard. "Yeah, Jim. It is."

Suddenly, Jim turned his head sharply, his whole body coming to attention, then relaxed almost immediately. "O'Neill," he said. "And there's another guy with him."

They stood side by side, waiting until Jack and Pete came into sight.

"Ellison. Mr. Sandburg," Jack called out. "You haven't met Pete Shanahan, have you?"

"Hi," Pete said. "I've heard about you two. From Sam."

Jim and Blair looked at each other, then Jim moved to shake hands with Pete. As Pete finished exchanging pleasantries with Blair, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c came down the path, Sam rolling along in her chair, Daniel and Teal'c walking alongside.

"Jack!" Daniel ran forward as soon as he saw Jack. "Jack! Sam walked!"

"No, I didn't," Sam laughed as she speeded up her chair to catch up to Daniel.

"You did!" Daniel insisted. "You took a step! Everyone saw it, right? Oh..." He finally noticed Pete. "Hi, Pete."

Pete mumbled a greeting.

Sam stopped her chair and looked at Pete.

An uneasy silence descended over the group, as no one seemed to know quite what to say.

"So, ahem." Jack cleared his throat. "What's this about you walking?"

"Really, sir," Sam smiled. "Daniel's exaggerating. It was just a step. Barely."

"Ah." Jack put up a finger. "One small step, Carter."

Sam blinked, then smiled even more brightly. "Yes, sir."

"Okay." Jack waved his hands in a herding motion. "We'll scat." The members of SG-1 obediently waved or nodded good-byes at Sam and started down the path. "Shanahan, return her before dark, you hear?"

"Yes, sir." Pete agreed.

"Good man." Jack looked straight at Pete. "Take care of yourself."

Pete nodded.

Jack turned and strode away to catch up with SG-1, leaving Pete and Sam side by side, silently watching the departing group.

-----

"So," Jack said, as he came up alongside Daniel. "Decided where you're going on your next mission?"

"What next mission?" asked Jim.

"Oh, we were coming to tell you that," Daniel said. "We're going to Kassata."

"Kassata," Jack said.

"Yes, Jack. Kassata."

Jack thought about that for a moment. "How come I always get hungry when I hear that name?" he finally asked.

"Well, there's an Italian dessert called cassata."

"Oh, that'll explain it." Jack nodded. "So, do they serve pizza and ravioli, too?"

Daniel rolled his eyes, Teal'c's face shone with serene amusement, Blair guffawed, and Jim shook his head.

"Hey! Let's go out to that new Italian place tonight. My treat," Jack said.

The group came to a halt as all eyes turned to Jim.

"Yes, sir." Jim smiled. "That'd be great."

Jack slapped Jim on the shoulder, and the group continued down the path. Their mingled voices echoed through the air, floating up to the lone bird soaring high above.

~fin~