NOTES:

The idea for this story grew out of a conversation we were having on SG1toCascade, precipitated by alyburns's call for alternate storylines for the rest of S8. Somebody, I believe it was alyburns, suggested putting Daniel in command of SG-1, I suggested Jim and Blair as additional team members, someone else said, "Write it!" And the rest is history.

Due to encouragement and support from many people, especially Rauhnee, we now have a group of people interested in expanding this concept into a fully formed universe, which has been named:
           STARGATE: CASCADE - Daniel in Command

If you are interested in writing, illustrating, developing and reading stories in this universe, please join us at:
           http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stargate-Cascade/
Please understand that if you join, you will be seeing spoilers for yet-to-be-written stories in this universe, as plot concepts and character developments will be discussed onlist before they are written. Also, although the main stories in this universe will be gen, list posts may include slash or het, with explicit sexual situations.

Any other stories written in this universe will be posted at:
           http://www.stargate-cascade.com/

I'd like to thank everyone at Stargate-Cascade and Sentinel_Betas for their support, especially Andi, Caro, Sheila and T.W., who acted as primary betas for this story.

SPOILER WARNING:
This story is set after the S8 halfway-point episode, Endgame, and may contain spoilers to any and all SG-1 episodes up to and including Endgame.

Also Note: In this universe, Heroes did not happen, and Janet Fraiser is alive and well.

"You heard me, Daniel," Jack returned calmly.

"Are you out of your mind? That's... that's..." Daniel flailed, failing to find words to sufficiently express his outrage.

"Crazy? Whacko? Deranged? Insane? Delirious?" Jack supplied helpfully. Daniel fixed him with a glare that would have had System Lords quaking at his feet, but Jack remained unaffected. "Yes, it's possible I have taken leave of my senses," he admitted equably. "But the fact remains, with Carter out of commission, I'm fresh out of experienced field commanders. You, Dr. Jackson, are it."

"Wha... what about Teal'c?" Daniel flung a hand towards the stoic Jaffa, who had so far been silently observing the exchange with an air of suppressed amusement.

Jack tilted his head and studied Teal'c, as if giving Daniel's suggestion serious consideration. "Actually, with the way we keep running through SG team leaders, I'm tempted to give Teal'c his own SG unit... if he'd only agree."

Daniel blanched in shock. He rapidly looked to Teal'c then to Jack and back to Teal'c, his eyes silently begging both men for reassurance that he was hearing this wrong. He got none.

"But Jack!" Daniel sputtered, "You can't do that! We've lost Sam, and if you take away Teal'c, that's, that's..."

"Daniel," Jack said. "Things change."

"Yes, I know, but..."

"In any case, Teal'c's refused."

Daniel looked up in surprise. "You did?" he asked Teal'c.

"Indeed," said Teal'c. After the uncomfortable silence stretched a moment too long, he decided to take pity on his two Tau'ri friends and deigned to explain further. "While it is a great honor to serve with the Tau'ri, my first and foremost responsibility is to my people. I feel that the position of commander of an SG team incurs obligations I may be unable to fulfill."

"Oh," Daniel blinked a few times, digesting that information. "Um, are you saying that...?" He flinched at Teal'c's raised eyebrow. "Right. Stupid question. Forget that." Waving his hands in dismissal of his own stupidity, he once again focused his attention on Jack. "Jack. I mean, there are other experienced team leaders you could put in charge. There's Reynolds, Edwards, Ferretti..."

"Who all have their own teams already," Jack pointed out patiently. "I could play musical chairs with SG team designations, call Ferretti's team SG-1, 3 could be 2, 4 could be 3... At the end of the day, I'm still short one SG team leader."

Daniel opened his mouth, tried to think of something to say, couldn't think of anything, so he snapped it shut.

"Good," Jack stated, taking silence as consent. "Now, for your new team members..." He reached out, snagged two folders off his desk and offered them to Daniel.

"Wait, wait!" Daniel yelped in panic. "I'm not military!"

"Yes, I know," Jack said, in his most patient, 'you're telling me the obvious but I'll put up with it for now' tone. "Which is why I'm assigning two more civilians to SG-1."

"An all-civilian unit?" Daniel asked, intrigued despite himself.

"Well, I don't know if I'd call Teal'c a civilian, though nominally he is," Jack said, tilting an eyebrow at Teal'c. "And Ellison's commission's been reactivated, so nominally, he's military, but..."

"Wait a minute, Ellison?" Daniel flinched away from the folders he'd been about to accept. "You're assigning Ellison and Sandburg to SG-1?"

"Thought you liked Sandburg?" Jack queried reasonably.

"Well, yes. Blair's an expert in cultural anthropology, has a more thorough knowledge and understanding of psychological theories than most practicing psychologists, he's great with people, he thinks fast on his feet, he's simply perfect for a first contact team," Daniel gushed.

"Good," said Jack, once again pushing the folders at Daniel, and this time succeeding in depositing them into Daniel's nerveless fingers. "That's settled, then." He leaned back and made a big show of checking his watch. "Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but..."

"Wait, Jack!" Daniel wailed. "Ellison?"

"Well," Jack said, with a definitive snap of his neck. "You want Sandburg, you take Ellison. They are a package deal. Remember?"

"Yes, but... Ellison?"

"Better you than me," Jack proclaimed, pushing himself out of his chair. "Have fun, Daniel. Teal'c." He nodded at Teal'c, who returned the acknowledgement in kind, and walked out of the office, leaving a stunned Daniel staring at the folders in his lap.

"Teal'c..." Daniel finally said in a small voice. "I suppose there's no chance we can get Sam back, is there?"

"Doctor Fraiser feels Colonel Carter is lucky she has not lost complete use of her legs," Teal'c stated, his voice kindly. "She will not be joining an SG team again."

"Yes, I know," Daniel whispered, biting into his lower lip so hard he drew blood. He finally looked up when Teal'c placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Teal'c's eyes offered him everything he needed -- understanding, shared sorrow and regret, loyalty and support, confidence and determination.

"Right." Daniel drew a deep shaky breath, and gripped the folders tight in his hand. "Let's go meet SG-1."

Jim prowled the perimeter of the room. Prowl was the only word to describe it. The room wasn't that small -- it was the largest suite among the guest quarters on base -- but the way Jim prowled, he took up so much space, Blair felt positively crowded in his corner of the generously sized bed he was currently lounging on.

"Jim," Blair finally said, putting down the report he had been vainly trying to pursue. "Will you just settle down?"

Jim's response was to prowl with even more intensity, which Blair had previously thought humanly impossible.

"Jim!" Blair raised his voice in exasperation. "Sit. Down."

Jim sat, perching himself on the edge of the bed, his whole body twanging with nervous tension. Blair shuddered. He was no sentinel, and he could feel the vibrations from Jim's tightly gritted back molars reverberate in the back of his head.

"Man, what's the matter?" Blair asked, trying -- and mostly succeeding -- for a conciliatory tone. "You're wound so tight, you'll snap any moment."

"I just..." Jim blew out his breath. "Just can't get used to this place," he ground out.

"Yeah," Blair glanced around the room, apportioned with the barest essential furniture, even if they were solid, good quality pieces. The few posters adorning the walls did little to camouflage the bleakness of the grey concrete, and as for the endless stretches of twisting bare hallways outside the plain, utilitarian door -- they just didn't bear thinking about.

"You know," Blair pointed out reasonably. "We don't have to stay here. The General said we could stay off-base until he decided on an assignment for us. Daniel even offered --"

"No," Jim growled. "No, we can't. That'll give The Trust another opportunity to snatch us again."

"Oh, come on, Jim," Blair sighed. "What are we going to do, stay cooped up here the rest of our lives?"

"Oh, lord, I hope not!" Jim scrunched up his face and pressed a hand against his forehead as if his head hurt. Which it probably did. "But we can't go out there, not with those bastards still on the loose. Not until we catch them..."

"And from what we know of the extent of their organization, that could take years! If ever! I mean, how could we ever be sure we've got them all?"

Jim shot up from the bed and started prowling again, even more agitatedly than before. "I don't know, Chief! This is all just so confusing. The Trust, Goa'ulds, false gods, off-world travel, alliances with all those alien races, intergalactic war... Damn these people!" He suddenly turned sharply to a nearby wall and punched it hard. "What the hell right do they have to keep this all a secret?"

"Oops," said Daniel from the partially open doorway. "Bad time?"

"YES!!" roared Jim, drowning out Blair's affable, "No, not at all." Both Daniel and Blair jumped, and Teal'c, standing behind Daniel, raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"Er..." Daniel finally spoke. "We could come back another time..."

"No." Jim shook his head. "Like another time would be a good time?" He crossed his arms and planted himself firmly, staring down Daniel and Teal'c from across the room. "You're here. Might as well say your piece."

"Well..." Daniel looked to Blair for confirmation, finally coming in to the room at Blair's 'come on in' hand motion. He waited for Teal'c to follow him in and close the door, then straightened himself up to full height, unconsciously mirroring Jim's stance, and formally addressed both Jim and Blair. "I'm here to inform you of your team assignment."

"Really?" Blair said, palpable relief pouring from every cell in his body. "That's great!"

Daniel returned a tight-lipped smile, amused at Blair's enthusiasm despite himself. Even Jim, who had ensconced himself in the corner of the room farthest away from Daniel and Teal'c, relaxed into a wry smile.

"So," Blair prompted after a second, when Daniel failed to continue. "Which team? Diplomat? Negotiations? Search and Rescue?"

"Um." Daniel shifted the folders in his hand so he could push his glasses up his nose, then cleared his throat. "Er... SG-1."

Startled, Blair snapped around to Jim for confirmation, saw his own surprise reflected there, then jumped back to Daniel. "SG-1? First contact? With you guys?" He enthused. "That's... wow. Just. Wow!"

By now, even Teal'c had a half-smile on his face at the antics of their youngest member.

"Wow!" Blair continued to gush. "I can't believe... I never thought... Oh, wait!" Blair's body language suddenly shifted from happy excitement to muted concern. "What about Sam? Is she...?"

Daniel shook his head and looked down, shuffling his feet.

"Oh..." Blair's face fell. "I..."

Jim, sensing that Blair was unable to continue, took over. "Her legs?" he asked.

"Colonel Carter will walk again," Teal'c declared with unflappable certainty.

"Yeah," Daniel agreed, his shoulders hunching up tightly as he adjusted his glasses again. "Just not fast enough to run from a horde of oncoming Jaffa blasting staff weapons."

"I just..." Blair gripped a fold of the bedcover so tight his knuckles went white. "I just wish..."

"Not your fault, Chief," Jim said gently.

Blair just gripped the cover tighter. Daniel dropped down onto the bed beside Blair, tilting his head as he tried to look into Blair's down-turned face. "He's right, you know," Daniel said softly. "And you would have done the same for her, if your positions had been reversed. I know that. She knows that."

"Indeed, we all know that," Teal'c added.

Jim shifted close to the bed, looming over Blair and Daniel, painfully undecided over whether to radiate quiet support for his partner or glare his annoyance at Daniel's proximity to Blair. He ended up standing there looking rather constipated, and that finally drew a small smile from Blair.

"So," Jim said, relaxing his protective stance at this sign of Blair's acceptance. "Who's leading the team, then?"

All eyes in the room turned to Daniel, Blair's shining with renewed expectation, Jim's laced with wary caution and Teal'c's carefully neutral.

"Um, well, that's... ahem," Daniel hem-hawed. "Me," he finally admitted.

"Huh?" Blair said. Jim blinked hard. They both stared at Daniel, mouth agape, but Jim recovered first.

"You?" he asked, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm.

"Jim!" Blair admonished, but Daniel restrained him with a hand to his shoulder.

"You have a problem with that, Major?" Daniel asked, tilting his head up at the standing man.

"Major?" Jim frowned.

"Oh, right." Daniel looked down at the folders he had brought with him, pulling one out and extending it towards Jim. "Your commission came through."

Still frowning, Jim snatched up the folder and scanned the contents. "What the fuck is this?" he exclaimed. "What the hell is O'Neill thinking?"

Curious as to what had Jim so riled, Blair shifted up to his knees and sidled up to Jim, peeking into the folder. "Yup, Major," he confirmed. "Eligible for promotion to Lt. Colonel in half a year? Wow." He looked towards Daniel, who raised his hands in denial.

"I didn't have anything to do with that," he declared. "That's all Jack's doing."

Jim continued to stare rigidly at the folder.

"Are you not satisfied with the rank you were granted, Jim Ellison," Teal'c asked, his voice even.

"Satisfied?" Jim finally snapped shut the folder. "Heck, no. I didn't want this, remember?"

"Jim, if you don't want..." Blair began.

"No, Chief." Jim held up a hand. "I agreed to this, it's okay. Doesn't mean I like it, though."

"Major." Daniel cleared his throat. "If you are going to come with us..."

"Don't call me that!" Jim snapped. "Oh," he relented at Daniel's startled face. "Just call me Jim, Ellison, whatever you want. But not..."

"Fine," Daniel agreed. "As you wish. Now, as I was saying, if you're coming with us, we need you to be with us a hundred percent. If you have any doubts..."

"Doubts?" Jim shot back. "Oh, I have doubts. Frankly, I think you guys are all out of your minds. But," he overrode Daniel's attempt to speak with a sharp sweep of his hand, "I'm not about to let Sandburg go out there without me. I'm there to watch his back, and that's the only reason I'm there. Understood?"

Daniel stared at Jim, considering him for a long moment. Jim stared back with unwavering determination.

"Fine," Daniel finally said, his lips tightening into a thin line that could be called a smile if one were so inclined. "I can work with that."

Jim relaxed a fraction. Teal'c also nodded his acceptance. Blair looked dubious, but subsided when Daniel smiled reassuringly at him.

"Okay," said Daniel, flipping through the remaining folders and pulling out another one. "Now, our first mission..."

"Is that a ziggurat?" said Blair, peering into the folder over Daniel's shoulder. "Look, Jim, it looks just like the Temple of Light!"

"Yes, the similarities are striking, aren't they?" Daniel grinned as he passed some of the photos to Jim, who scrutinized them with guarded interest. "When I saw these MALP readings, I said..."

"We just have to go there!" Blair interjected, also grinning widely. "Are there any people here?"

"The UAV survey has indicated signs of inhabitation a few kilometers away from the temple," Teal'c supplied.

"Cool! Hey, maybe these people have sentinels! Maybe they..."

"Getting ahead of yourself, aren't you, Chief?" Jim said as he returned the photos to Daniel. "There're tons of similar-looking temples in Mexico, and they aren't all related to sentinels, are they?"

"Yeah, but see this symbol?" Blair tapped the photo he was holding. "This is exactly the same as the one that was on the Temple of Light. Hey, Daniel, do we have a copy of..."

Jim rolled his eyes and puffed out his cheek in fond exasperation as the two scholars lapsed into academese. Teal'c turned to him, the same exasperated amusement twinkling in the depth of his dark eyes.

"Perhaps," said Teal'c, "you and I should go to the armory and check out the equipment for our mission. Blair Sandburg and Daniel Jackson may brief us on these matters later." He turned to Daniel in a way that was somewhere between asking for permission and waiting acknowledgment of an order. Daniel just waved his hand indicating they should go, his attention focused on something Blair was pointing out in the photos. Neither of the scholars paid heed as the military half of the team stepped out the door into the corridor.

Walking down the hallway, Jim shook his head. "Academics," he said.

"Indeed," Teal'c acknowledged. "It is good to see Daniel Jackson having someone of a like mind to consort with. Ever since Robert Rothman was killed, none on the SG teams has had quite the same... joy in exploring other cultures as Daniel Jackson."

Jim's face darkened into a scowl at the mention of the unfortunate archaeologist, whose untimely death he'd read about in a mission report. It was the stuff of his worst nightmare. Well, one of them, at least. He had so many, he wasn't sure which was the worst.

"You are concerned about Blair Sandburg," Teal'c intoned.

"You're damn right I am! I mean, this isn't just adventure and excitement. There's stuff out there that, just..." Jim milled his hands around, unable to find words to sufficiently cover the enormity of the dangers, both expected and unexpected, they would be walking into.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "But Blair Sandburg will acquit himself well. You have faith in his abilities, do you not?"

Jim pulled up short, taken aback by this turn in the conversation. "Yes." He took a deep breath. "Yes, of course I do. But... he could get really hurt out there, you know?"

"I shall endeavor to do my best to keep him safe, Jim Ellison," Teal'c pronounced solemnly. "You have my word."

"Thanks. But I've never doubted that," Jim said, turning and starting down the hallway again. "Bullets and staff weapons... those we can protect him from. It's the other stuff..."

"And yet, you would allow him to go?"

"He's his own man. He wants this. I can't stop him."

"I believe if you asked him not to, he would not go."

Jim thought about that a bit. "Maybe," he finally allowed. "But I can't... He's given up so much for me, and here he is, getting to be an anthropologist again..." Jim paused, swallowing hard. "I never realized... how I missed that."

Teal'c silently inclined his head, gesturing for Jim to precede him into the armory.

Janet frowned at the schedule displayed on her office computer monitor. "Pre-Mission Checkup: SG-1," it read. She glanced at the clock to check the time. They were due in half an hour.

Making a quick decision, she marched out of the office and strode briskly into the main infirmary, heading for the only patient currently occupying a bed. Sam sat propped against a pillow, staring idly into space, a lax hand flopped over the closed book in her lap.

"Hi, Sam," Janet spoke brightly. "How you doing?"

Sam turned to Janet, returning a wan smile. "Fine, Janet," she said, in the tone of someone who had said it a hundred times too many, and didn't believe it any of those times.

Janet smiled down at her patient and friend, her sharp eyes not missing anything. "I was thinking," she said, "maybe it's time you got up and moved around a bit. A change of scenery will be good for you, you know? Get out, stretch a bit, go have a snack in the commissary, maybe?"

Sam dropped her eyes to her lap, fingers nervously tracing the covers. "Later, maybe," she replied.

"Sam," Janet said, a bit more firmly. "You have to get out of bed sometime, you know."

"I know, Janet," Sam said, without looking up. "Just. Not today. Okay?"

Janet stared at her friend a bit longer, contemplating whether to push further, then relented. "Okay," she agreed. "But tomorrow..." A chatter of voices from the infirmary entrance drew her attention. She turned to see Daniel walk in, followed by Blair. "Daniel? You're early."

"Early?" Daniel pulled up short, frowning. "Oh! Checkup! Yes, that'd be in..." He looked at his watch.

"Soon," said Janet, beating out Daniel by a fraction of a second.

"Yes," Daniel agreed. "But, we're here to see you. And Sam."

"Me?" Sam asked, startled.

"Yes. Hi, Sam," Daniel said, moving to hitch himself down onto the foot of Sam's bed. Blair followed and pulled up a chair, grinning a friendly smile at Sam as he sat down.

"Hi, Sam," said Blair. "You look well!"

"Thanks, Blair," Sam smiled. "You guys wanted to talk to me?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, we did," said Daniel.

"See, it's Jim," said Blair, almost before Daniel had stopped talking.

"Detective Ellison?" Janet asked, frowning.

"He's Major now," said Blair.

"But doesn't want to be called that," Daniel pronounced solemnly.

"Don't worry, he'll get used to it," laughed Blair.

Daniel radiated deep skepticism at that notion, but refrained from making any comments. "Anyway," he forged ahead. "Blair tells me that, uh, Jim hasn't been sleeping well."

"But I thought it was better since we moved you two into the same suite," Janet said, her frown deepening.

"Oh, it is, it is," Blair assured her. "Before, he wasn't sleeping at all. Now, he does manage to sleep, just not as deeply as he should be."

"What? Is it like he wakes up easily, or..."

"No. From what I was able to drag out of him, he says it's like he's asleep but not really. Like part of him remains awake?"

"Oh, dear," Janet muttered. "I wish he'll let me run some more tests. With his anomalistic drug reactions, I'm afraid to prescribe him anything."

"I've tried all the herbal remedies I could think of, and Sergeant Siler's spent countless hours adjusting the white noise generators, but nothing seems to work," Blair said. "He just says this place gives him bad vibes..."

"Vibes?" Sam said. "Like vibrations?"

Both Blair and Daniel turned to Sam, their mouths open. "Vibrations!" said Blair. "That's it!" said Daniel.

Sam smiled.

Jim took down another magazine of bullets from the shelf and turned to Teal'c. "That it?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Teal'c, checking an item off his list. "Next..."

"Next? There's more?" Jim asked.

Teal'c silently handed over the list.

Jim scanned the paper, his frown deepening as he moved down the page. "We're taking all this? I thought this was standard recon?"

"It is," Teal'c confirmed.

"You always take all this on a standard recon?"

Teal'c inclined his head, indicating an affirmative.

Jim stared hard at the list. "And you've used this? All this? On a standard recon?"

"We've found it prudent to be prepared," Teal'c replied.

"So you've actually had to use this."

"We have," Teal'c admitted.

Jim crumpled the list into a wad and threw it to the floor. "What, is O'Neill crazy?" he yelled. "We're going out there with just the four of us, and two of them are Blair and Jackson? We're supposed to protect them between the two of us?"

"Daniel Jackson is a formidable warrior," Teal'c said. "And Blair Sandburg will learn."

"But Jackson carries only half the firepower we do, right?" Jim persisted.

"As does Blair Sandburg," Teal'c pointed out.

"That still leaves us as the mainstay of defense!"

Teal'c's silence indicated he could not dispute that statement. With a muttered curse, Jim turned and headed towards the door.

"Jim Ellison," Teal'c called.

"I've got to talk to the man," Jim threw back. "He's lost his mind!"

Teal'c's raised eyebrow threatened to climb off his forehead, but he let Jim go without comment.

"...so if we install dampers on the bed, like we have on the Stargate," Sam said.

"Yes, yes! That might work!" Blair crowed.

"So what do we use for this?" Daniel asked.

"I have just the thing in my lab," Sam said. "Janet, you said I could get up...?"

"I'll get a chair," Janet smiled, turning to the door, only to pull up short when Teal'c appeared in the doorway.

"Doctor Fraiser," Teal'c greeted, taking in the group gathered around Sam's bed. "Am I late for my physical?"

"Physical?" repeated Janet, and the faces of the other occupants of the room indicated they'd likewise forgotten about the checkup. "Yes," Janet finally recovered. "I suppose we should take care of that before..."

"Where's Jim?" Blair asked. "Sam has an idea that might help him sleep better on base."

"Indeed. That is good news," Teal'c acknowledged, before addressing the question of Jim's whereabouts. "I believe Jim Ellison has gone to speak to O'Neill."

"To Jack?" asked Daniel. "What about?"

"He did not inform me," Teal'c replied. "However, he did indicate that he believed O'Neill has lost his mind."

Everyone in the room looked at each other.

"Uh-oh," said Blair.

"Should we evacuate the base?" Daniel asked.

The resulting laughter was loud enough to turn the head of the security guard stationed in the corridor.

Jack looked up at his visitor and waved him to the guest's chair, using the tail end of the wave to dismiss the sergeant who had escorted him to the office.

"What the heck are you playing at?" Jim growled as he sank into the chair.

Jack quirked an eyebrow and splayed his hand in a 'what did I do' gesture.

Jim glared, clearly not buying the innocent act. "Sandburg. Jackson. Putting them on the same team? One's a handful, but two of them? Are you nuts?"

"Ah, yes," Jack clasped his hands together, index fingers outstretched, and pressed his lips thoughtfully against them. "That my sanity is in question is definitely not in question."

Jim rolled his eyes. "Spare me your self-deprecating witticisms, I don't buy them one bit," he snapped.

Jack's eyes glinted with amusement. "If you don't buy them, why are you here?" he asked.

"Oh, cut it out, O'Neill," Jim griped. "For once in your life, can't you be straight with me?"

"I am straight," Jack assured Jim. "You ever known me to be crooked?"

"Yeah, right," Jim snorted. "Then what are you doing, sitting in that chair?" He gestured at Jack's chair behind the large oak desk.

"Sitting as crookedly as I always have?" Jack stated.

Jim's lips twitched, amusement bubbling up past his annoyance. "Why me?" he threw out. "Surely you have other people you could put on the team?"

"Other people?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, people who've been with you longer. Who have more experience, who you... well..."

"Trust?" Jack supplied. "Well, as I told Daniel, those people already have their own SG teams."

"And you trust me with your precious archaeologist's back?" Jim challenged. "How do you know, when push comes to shove, I won't just grab Blair and run like hell, leaving your man's butt hanging to dry?"

"Will you?" Jack asked.

Jim blinked. Jack smiled. Checkmate.

"You're a real bastard, O'Neill," Jim finally allowed grudgingly.

Jack shrugged his acceptance of the assessment. "Will that be all, Major?" he asked.

Jim grimaced. "If you think making a Major out of me is going to settle me down..."

"What? Never," Jack quipped, tilting his head to indicate the desk, the chair, the flag, the office, the entire SGC. "Haven't made an honest man out of me yet, have they?"

"Right." Jim was chuckling openly now, his ill humor totally dissipated. "Fine, General." Jim stood. "Have it your way." He headed towards the door, still shaking his head in bemusement.

"Ellison?" Jack called out just as Jim reached the door. Jim turned, and found himself caught in Jack's clear, open eyes. "Stay safe out there."

Jim looked at the man who was now his superior officer and commander, snapped a crisp salute, and left.

Outside, early morning sunlight bathed the mountain in its warm glow. Inside the base, Jack, dressed in casual civilian clothing, stepped off the elevator and walked briskly down the hallway, shrugging off his leather jacket as he went. He opened the door to the locker room -- and almost took a step back. Almost.

Arrayed before him were the SG team leaders currently on base, a dozen-odd men altogether, all looking fiercely determined. Oy. He sensed a mutiny in the brewing.

Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and nodded, acknowledging them all but addressing himself to the primary instigators in the center. "Ferretti, Reynolds, Edwards. What's up?"

"General," Ferretti returned. "Permission to speak our minds?"

"If I say no, can we forget this?" Jack asked plaintively. None of the team leaders moved an inch. "Thought not." Jack turned to Ferretti. "Well? What is it?"

"We heard you're giving command of SG-1 to Dr. Jackson," Reynolds spoke up.

"I am," Jack admitted. "What about it?"

"And you assigned Ellison and Sandburg to SG-1," Edwards continued.

"Yes?" Jack made an 'and so?' motion with his hand.

"General," Ferretti said. "You do realize that we -- all of us -- will be honored to serve under Dr. Jackson?"

Jack almost stopped breathing. Almost. He blinked hard, and coughed into his hand to cover his momentary lapse. "Yes," he finally managed. "Yes, I knew that."

"Then why..." one of the other team leaders began.

Jack put up a hand to stop the man. "Gentlemen," he said. "I appreciate your sentiment. I really do. But it wouldn't be right."

"But..." yet another team leader vehemently protested, only to be silenced by Jack's sharp glance.

"Do you really think," Jack asked, "I'll take away command from one of you and give it to Daniel? Or that he'll accept?"

"Then General, may we respectfully suggest you at least put more experienced men on the team," said Reynolds.

Jack shook his head. "Experience isn't always everything," he said. "I've made my decision. It's final."

The team leaders looked at each other. Finally, Ferretti sighed. "Well, General." He shook his head. "We had to try." He stepped up to Jack and flashed a wide grin. "Permission to see them off, sir?"

Jack glanced around the assembled team leaders and rolled his eyes. "One of you can go," he commanded. "Now, could I get to my locker, please?"

The wall of SG leaders obediently parted to let their commander pass.

Daniel looked around the bustling gateroom, nervously shifting the weight of the backpack on his shoulders that somehow refused to quite settle. His eyes fell on Jim and Blair, Jim fussing with the straps of Blair's pack, Blair good-naturedly letting Jim do as he wanted. And the room was suddenly too small and at the same time too big; the vertigo and extreme queasiness that had been periodically striking him since Jack so unceremoniously dropped command of SG-1 onto him overwhelmed him with sudden forceful vengeance. He was responsible for Jim and Blair, and for Teal'c too, standing so solidly behind them. Their lives, their safety, lay in his hands. God, how had Jack done it all these years? For that matter, how did he do it still? Daniel might be responsible for his team of four, but Jack was responsible for the whole of SGC. That was, god, how many people?

Then Jack was walking towards him, wending his way through the personnel and equipment scattered through the gateroom, dark warm eyes twinkling at him -- and Daniel felt himself grow calm, his agitation replaced by an expectant stillness. Peripherally, he was aware of Ferretti approaching Jim and Blair, greeting them jovially and engaging them in apparently light-hearted banter. But Jack's eyes filled his being, drowning out all else while infusing him with quiet steady confidence.

Then Jack came to an exaggerated stop in front of the group, clasped his hands emphatically in front of his chest, looked around at the departing team members and said, "Well? Ready to go?" Daniel watched in fascination as Blair straightened and took a deep breath, Jim stopped fussing and came to an easy parade rest, and Teal'c relaxed and met Jack's eyes with a knowing half-smile.

Jack beamed at the assembled team, letting his gaze linger a fraction longer on Daniel than the others, then turned to the control room and signaled them to start dialing. As the gate started turning, Sam came wheeling into the gateroom, with Janet pushing her chair.

"Sam!" Daniel called, feeling absurdly pleased that she'd come to see them off.

"Daniel!" Sam smiled back. "Blair! Jim, you have a good night's sleep?"

Jim exchanged a quick bemused glance with Blair before responding, "Yes, Colonel. Thank you so much."

Jack bopped up and down, his raised eyebrows demanding an explanation.

"Long story," said Daniel. "Sam'll explain."

"Actually, sir, I was thinking the dampers could help not just Jim, but other on-base personnel get better rest. See..."

"Dampers?" Jack made a face. "Do I want to know?" Seeing that Sam was eager to continue her exposition, he raised a hand to stop her, just as the wormhole formed with its distinctive kawooosh. "Carter," he said. "Write me a proposal, and I'll review it, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Sam replied readily, then turned to Daniel. "Here." She extended a hand to Daniel. "I made this... for luck."

"Luck?" Daniel reached out and took the offered object, which turned out to be a blue and gold braided wrist band. "Oh, Sam, it's beautiful!"

"Wow," said Jack, who had leaned in to study the braided band. "You finally learned to knit." He then realized that everyone was staring at him. "What?"

"Jack," Daniel said, with infinite patience. "This is braided, not knitted."

"There's a difference?" said Jack, then glanced around befuddledly as everyone turned away from him, giving him up for a lost cause.

Daniel bent so Sam could tie the band around his wrist, then smiled as Sam raised her own wrist, adorned with a matching band, and crossed it softly with his. A brief but tight squeeze of their hands, and Daniel stepped back, barely managing to exchange a warm smile with Janet before staggering under a hearty shoulder slap from Ferretti. "Go break a leg, Dr. Jackson," Ferretti grinned broadly as he clasped Daniel's hand tight. The significant glance Ferretti exchanged with Jim over Daniel's shoulder made Daniel wonder if their previous banter had been as cordial as it had appeared. But there was no time to look into it, as Jack chose that moment to step up to him, laying a firm hand on his shoulder. And once again, there was nothing but Jack, and the gentle and steady calm that seemed to flow from him directly into Daniel's soul.

"SG-1," Jack said. "You have a go."

Daniel was halfway up the ramp, his team falling into place behind him, before he realized he had moved. And as he walked towards the shimmering blue event horizon, he did not need to look back to know that Jack stood behind them, eyes quiet and solemn as he watched his people step into the unknown.

Walter held his breath as he covertly eyed the General. As the hours passed since SG-1's departure, the General had become increasingly restless, and now, he was... hovering. Vibrating with anticipation. Trying very hard to discreetly fade into the background of the control room, and completely failing. If he had been his usual loud, snarky, attention-drawing self, he would have drawn less attention. As it was, he had the entire personnel in the control room spooked and on edge, as everyone tried to go about their business pretending they didn't notice the General -- and failed miserably. One unfortunate airman, trying too hard to ignore the General, walked almost right into him. Walter winced. "Worse than a parent on the first day of kindergarten," he muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" asked the General, suddenly an inch away from Walter's face.

"Nothing, sir," Walter managed, once his heart was back down his throat.

"Thought I heard something about kindergarten?" the General insisted.

"Uh... um..." Walter searched his mind for something reasonable to say. Not that the General was likely to be appeased with anything reasonable, but coming up with something unreasonable was beyond him at the moment.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Walter saw the Stargate start to turn. "Off-world activation!" he yelled, turning smartly to slap the appropriate alarms. Yes! Saved by the gate! Now if only the General would stop breathing down his neck...

"Receiving IDC," Walter said, knowing full well the General could see the incoming code as well as he could. "It's... SG-1."

"Wow, right on time!" the General exclaimed, checking his watch. "Open the iris!" he shouted, already halfway out the room.

Walter sighed in relief as he slapped his palm down on the iris control device. He watched through the window as the General bounced to a halt at the foot of the ramp just as the iris swirled open. If he were a dog, his tail would be shaking so fast it'd fly off. But Walter's smile of indulgent amusement turned into a frown as the implications of the timing caught up to his mind. The base betting pool had gotten everything from "five minutes after they leave" to "get captured by some Goa'uld and finally rescued several months later." But nobody had bet on "return as scheduled." As a lark, Walter had placed his money on that. That made him a very rich man. Which did nothing to assuage the ominous dread that filled his mind.

The event horizon shimmered enticingly before Jack, the rippling blue surface coldly deflecting his ineffectual attempts to stretch his gaze far enough to see through to the other side. Blair was the first one to stumble through the gate, Jim following almost on his heels. Breaking sharply away from Jim's outstretched supporting hand, Blair managed to right himself on his own and lurched the rest of the way down the ramp. Jack barely got a glimpse of Blair's pale, grim countenance before the younger man rushed past him, then had to step back out of the way as Jim, who seemed determined to stay one step behind Blair, took no care to avoid insignificant objects like a General standing in his way. Jack swerved to Daniel and Teal'c, who had come through the gate mere seconds after Blair and Jim, for an explanation -- but Daniel, face even paler and grimmer than Blair's, refused to meet Jack's eyes and gave him a wide berth as he too stumbled after his teammates. Teal'c, at least, came to a halt beside Jack, and together, the two of them watched as the other three SG-1 members surrendered their weapons and gear to the sergeant in charge.

"I take it," Jack commented, "that things didn't go well?"

Teal'c, making it abundantly clear that such obvious understatements were beneath his contempt, walked away from Jack with extreme dignity.

"Okay," Jack called out after the retreating backs of his premier team. "Report to the infirmary, debriefing in an hour!" As they all filed out of the gateroom without any sign that they had heard him, Jack looked plaintively around the gateroom and asked, "I thought I was the General here?"

The nearest airmen straightened their backs and pretended very hard they hadn't heard the General.

"No injuries? Are you sure?" Jack asked into the phone, one hand gripped tightly on the equipment report from the armory. Ellison's machine gun almost totally depleted of rounds. Daniel's sidearm, likewise. Sandburg had reported his sidearm lost. Who knew how much usage Teal'c's staff weapon had got?

In her office, Janet rubbed her forehead, gathering the remnants of her tattered patience with a fortitude she hadn't known she possessed. "Yes, General. I'm sure."

"You checked twice?" Jack asked.

"General." Janet rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay," Jack relented. "How are they, um... non-physically?" Jack twirled his fingers, oblivious to the fact that Janet couldn't see him.

"General..." Janet sighed, wondering if she could get away with telling Jack to can his mother-hen act.

"Doc?" Jack prompted.

Janet peered out of her office door into the infirmary, where Sam, sitting in her bed, was staring at the backs of the SG-1 team members as they shuffled out of the room. "They just left, General," she told Jack. "You can see for yourself soon enough."

"Doooooccccc," Jack wheedled.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Janet said, blowing out her breath in exasperation. "No, none of them would tell me anything, and they wouldn't speak to Sam, either. Blair and Daniel wouldn't even look at her."

Jack winced and rubbed his forehead. Ouch. This was bad. Very bad. Very, very, very, very bad. "You sure," Jack tried one more time, "there are no injuries?"

"Unless you want me to catalogue every minor scrape and bruise, General?" Janet snapped primly.

"Er..." Jack back-pedaled, realizing he was about to incur the Wrath of Fraiser. "No, Doc. That won't be necessary." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement in the briefing room, and realized that SG-1 had arrived. "Doc? They're here. Talk later." He hung up.

In her office, Janet hung up the phone, and sighed deeply as she moved out into the main infirmary, where Sam's eyes were wide with the same pain and worry that squeezed Janet's heart.

Jack's fingers tapped a thoughtful rhythm against the oak desktop as he watched SG-1 file into the briefing room and seat themselves around the table. Jim was still glued to Blair's back, and Blair was still bristling, shutting himself off from everything, including Jim's concern. Daniel slumped into a chair and buried his face in his hands. In all these years, with everything they'd been through, Jack had never seen the man look so dejected, so utterly defeated. Only Teal'c stopped to glance at the General's office and acknowledge Jack's presence there before seating himself.

Okay, time to take the bull by the horns. Jack gathered up the relevant reports, tapped them briskly together on the desktop to align them, then strode out into the briefing room.

"Okay," he said, as he lowered himself into place at the head of the table. "Everyone present and accounted for? Nobody missing any arms, legs, or other important appendages?" Jack glanced around the table, but nobody even flinched a muscle. Okay. Tough crowd. At least Daniel had unburied his face at Jack's approach. But both he and Blair were staring hard at the table, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, and Jim's jaw was clenched so tight, it made Jack's jaw hurt.

"Well, then." Jack cleared his throat. "Anyone want to start?"

"We arrived at PPX-773," Teal'c finally began when it became painfully obvious no one else was going to speak. "As we knew from the MALP survey, on one side of the Stargate is a ceremonial structure that Daniel Jackson and Blair Sandburg refer to as a ziggurat. On the other side is a trail that leads to the habitation discovered by the UAV."

Jack nodded, indicating Teal'c should continue.

"Daniel Jackson offered Blair Sandburg the choice of which to investigate first, the ziggurat or the habitation. Blair Sandburg --"

"You killed them!" Blair suddenly burst out, stone-white knuckles clutching the edge of the table as he held his trembling body up and away from the table, his glittering eyes staring straight at Daniel. "You... you... you... you killed them!"

Daniel, face ashen-white, looked up into Blair's accusing glare. "I couldn't let them grab you," he whispered. "I... I couldn't take that risk."

Jack fought to keep at bay the tremors that threatened to overtake his body. He couldn't fall apart now, his people needed him. "Mr. Sandburg!" he said sharply. Waiting for Blair to settle back down, at least as far as it was humanly possible considering the circumstances, Jack turned his glance to address all the team members. "Now, can we have this in order, please?"

"Blair Sandburg chose to visit the habitation first," Teal'c picked up his narrative again. "The inhabitants were most welcoming. However, they did not speak English."

"Oh?" Jack raised an eyebrow. That was a rare one.

"They spoke a language similar to Quechua," Daniel finally joined in the reporting, but his eyes were once again riveted to the tabletop.

"Que- what?" Jack asked.

"It's the language spoken by the Chopec people of Peru," Jim supplied.

"The Chopec," Jack repeated. "That's the, the..." He flicked his fingers at Jim.

"The people who took me in when I was stranded in Peru," Jim confirmed.

"Okay," Jack nodded.

"Jim Ellison was able to communicate with them," Teal'c said, continuing the main narrative. "He acted as our main interpreter. Blair Sandburg also has some familiarity with this language, and he was quite successful in establishing a rapport with these people."

Jack had to smile at the thought of Jim being forced into the role of the main communicator. "So far, so good," he said.

"Indeed, things were proceeding quite satisfactorily," Teal'c agreed. "Blair Sandburg was situated a little apart from the rest of us, talking to some women and children. Daniel Jackson and Jim Ellison were speaking with the elders, attempting to lay the groundwork for further visits and exchanges between our peoples. Then a group of warriors returned to the village."

Teal'c paused, and he and Jack waited to see if anybody had anything else to add. But the other three were all silent once again, their eyes glued to the table, bodies radiating pain and anguish. Once again, Jack fought against the tide of despair and desolation that threatened to well up and swallow him whole. Not yet, he told himself. Not yet. Again, he gestured for Teal'c to continue.

"One of the warriors, who appeared to be their leader," Teal'c said, "pointed at Jim Ellison and started shouting something. The inhabitants of the village became alarmed, and suddenly everyone was pointing weapons at us. Blair Sandburg was cut off from us, and the warrior who had shouted at Jim Ellison was about to grab him --"

"You ordered Jim to shoot," Blair whispered, his eyes riveted to the tight knuckles of his hands gripping the table. "You... you ordered him to shoot! And you!" He suddenly turned on Jim. "You... you obeyed him! You... you... you... Those were women and children! And you just... you just..."

Absolute silence descended around the table, broken only by Blair's harsh sobs. Jack knew that his face had turned as white as Daniel's. His hands were shaking with the tremors he was no longer able to control. His head spun, threatening to be overtaken by a red haze. Don't do this, Jack, he told himself. Don't do this, Daniel needs you. Blinking hard, he finally managed to force himself to ask, "Daniel?"

Daniel raised his face, eyes brimming with tears he refused to let fall. "I... I couldn't," he repeated his earlier statement. "I couldn't let them take Blair. I just couldn't."

Jack nodded sharply, indicating that was sufficient for now. "Ellison?" he asked.

"I just reacted," Jim stated. "Daniel said to shoot, so I just... shot."

"What!" Blair erupted again. "You did it just because you were ordered to? You're back in the military now, so you're just going to blindly follow any orders they give you?"

"Mr. Sandburg!" Jack thundered. But this time Blair didn't back down.

"Those were women!" he shouted. "Children!"

"Jim Ellison was aiming at the warriors who were attempting to attack you," Teal'c said. "Unfortunately, there were women and children standing among the warriors."

"What, so they just got in the way? We kill innocent, defenseless civilians just because they happen to be in an inconvenient place?"

"Mr. Sandburg!" Jack roared. "Enough!" Jack wasn't sure whether Blair had responded to his command, or the trembling man had gotten too incensed to continue speaking, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Teal'c," he asked. "Any doubts in your mind as to whether this was necessary?"

Teal'c tilted his head and considered before answering carefully. "The alternative would have been to allow ourselves to be captured."

"Daniel? Considered that option?"

"I... I just couldn't." Daniel shook his head. "I just... couldn't take that risk."

"So you chose to kill women and children instead," Blair spat out bitterly. "You... you ordered Jim to kill them. You might as well have killed them with your own hands!"

Jack realized that Daniel had turned distinctively green. "Enough." He spoke rapidly. "We'll review this later, after everyone has had the time to calm down. Daniel, my office. Eveyone else, dismissed."

Daniel got up without a word and staggered towards Jack's office. Jack rushed after him without checking to see if his command was obeyed. He barely had time to hustle Daniel into the room and close both doors and draw the blinds before Daniel sank to his knees by the trash can and threw up. Jack quickly locked the doors, then slapped the intercom. "Walter," he said.

"Yes, sir," the sergeant replied readily.

"I'm turning off the security system in my office. Keep everyone away and hold all calls until I say otherwise."

"But sir..." Walter sputtered.

"Just do it," Jack ordered, and clicked off, then flicked a switch to disable the intercom.

The moment the door to the General's office closed behind Jack and Daniel, Blair was up and storming out of the briefing room. Jim jumped up to follow, and found himself face to face with a wall of Teal'c.

"I shall follow," said the Jaffa, and he too was gone before Jim could form any protest.

Jim closed his eyes. He heard Daniel retching and Jack ordering everybody to leave them alone. He struggled to turn down his hearing in deference to their need for privacy, but his senses spun out of his control. The glare from the overhead lights was painfully harsh. The low hum of equipment, the tapping of keyboards from the control room, the voices of the tech personnel talking amongst themselves -- all echoed weirdly from the walls, overlapping one on top of another until they merged into a dull throb that reverberated through his skull. The air felt hot and stifling, the stench of chemicals a sticky, stabbing itch throughout his nose and throat. He needed to get out of here, out of this mountain -- but no, he couldn't, could he?

Somehow, he managed to drag himself out of the briefing room and walk straight enough down the hallway so as not to attract anybody's concern. The corridors seemed to stretch interminably, but somehow he made it to his quarters. Opening the door, he flicked on the white noise generators and collapsed onto the bed.

Immediate silence and darkness shrouded him, engulfing him in a soothing cocoon of senselessness. Bless Colonel Carter, she'd worked some kind of magic with the white noise generators. In the space of half an afternoon, she had achieved what Sergeant Siler had been unable to do despite hours of fiddling. That woman was a real scientific genius, even if no one could understand half of what she was saying about ninety percent of the time.

And everyone had just been wowed by the bed. None of them, including Jim himself, had realized how much the vibrations that permeated the base were bothering them, until they were confronted with the reality of its absence. They'd all taken turns trying out the bed -- even Teal'c had been persuaded to take a turn. Blair and Daniel had ended up stretched side by side on the bed, laughing as Blair prattled on about the effects of sleep deprivation on primates. Jim winced as he recalled his pang of jealousy at the two men's easy rapport. What he wouldn't do now to get those smiles back on their faces.

A tendril of unfamiliar smell tickled Jim's nose, and he frowned, inhaling deeper as he tried to identify it. O'Neill? The General had been in here? Oh, Sam must have dragged him in here to try the bed, she was so excited about the prospect of installing these dampers on all beds in the base. He recalled Jack telling her to write a report right before SG-1 went off-world, but Sam must have decided a demonstration was more convincing. A tiny smile flickered on Jim's lips as he imagined Jack's befuddled expression as he followed Sam into this room. "You sure?" he would say. "This is their room, you know."

"Oh, it's okay, General," Sam would smile. "Jim said I could come in anytime, whenever I think of something that'd help him cope better with his senses down here."

"I'm sure that didn't include having me getting into his bed!" Jack would grumble, but Sam would fuss and push until he gave in. Then, once he realized exactly how comfortable the bed was with dampers, he'd jump up and order Sam to immediately fit one on his bed. No, he'd tell her to fit one on Daniel's bed -- or better yet, on his office couch, because that was where the guy actually slept most of the time.

Daniel. O'Neill's precious, precious Daniel. If Daniel hadn't ordered him to shoot, would he have shot anyway? No way to know now. No way to ever know.

The brightness of sunlight hurt his eyes until he got used to it, but the air was fresh, untainted by the chemical staleness that had choked him in the mountain, fresher, in fact, than any Earth air he'd ever breathed. Blair and Daniel walked side by side, head together in deep conversation, talking about this culture and that culture and this ruin and that ruin, their talk roaming from one corner of the earth to another and all over the galaxy in totally random order. He and Teal'c followed quietly, both content in the happiness of their two charges.

Then, as they approached the village, a familiar cadence struck Jim's ears. Stopping short in his tracks, he cocked his head, and smiled.

"Jim?" asked Blair.

"Quechua," Jim smiled down at Blair. "They're speaking Quechua."

"Really?" Daniel said. His eyes narrowed at Jim. "And you speak it?"

Jim listened some more. "It's a bit different from what Incacha's tribe spoke," he finally said. "But I think I can manage."

"Good." Daniel slapped Jim on the shoulder and gestured him forward. "You're on."

And so, a few minutes later, Jim strode into the village at the head of the group and raised his voice. "Greetings!"

It was like going home, like he was back in Peru, among the Chopec. The elderly man whom the villagers called out to be their spokesperson reminded him a little of Incacha. The members of SG-1 were greeted like long lost relatives, the people apparently put at ease by the fact that he spoke their tongue. Blair's tentative attempts to communicate in his halting Quechua became a source of much amusement, and when the women dragged him away to show him something, none of the other team members thought twice about it.

If he or Teal'c had gone with Blair -- better yet, if they'd insisted that they all stay together --

But it was too late for regrets. Way too late.

Blair walked and walked and walked, and everywhere he walked, there were people -- god, was there any place in this base that didn't have people? Startled looks, concerned glances, suspicious gazes -- wasn't there anywhere he could get away from it all? And now he was running out of corridor, damn it! This place seemed to have an infinite stretch of hallways, but of course he'd have to run out of it when he needed it.

Suddenly finding himself face to face with the door to a stairwell, Blair wrenched it open and started climbing.

A child's head, exploding right in front of his face.

A man's body, flopping like a puppet as he fell.

A bodiless hand, soaring through the air.

Daniel's hand, dripping with blood from the corpse he just shoved away.

His own hand, gripped tightly on the gun -- knowing when he shot, he could very well kill a defenseless woman, an innocent child --

Jim's body, pressed tightly against his, as they crouched behind a sheltering rock. Knowing he would shoot an innocent child if that was what it took to keep this body beside him warm and breathing.

Fuck. And Jim and Daniel had just done the very same thing. He was as guilty as they were, they were as nonculpable as he was.

With a sudden lurch, Blair realized he had run out of stairway. Fuck. He sank down onto the floor, curling up into a tight ball. He sensed, more than heard, the approach of footsteps, but he just curled even tighter, as if by making himself smaller, he could avoid being found.

"Blair Sandburg," Teal'c called softly. A moment later, he crouched down beside Blair. "If you require privacy," he continued in the same soft tone, "allow me to offer you my quarters."

Startled by the unexpected offer, Blair raised his head. Teal'c's eyes were calm and steady and ageless, and suddenly Blair remembered that the Jaffa was a lot older than he looked.

"I... I don't want to put you out," Blair stammered.

"It will be no inconvenience. There are many places on this base where I may spend my time," Teal'c said. "It is an honor to be able to provide you with something you require."

"I..." Blair swallowed. "You must think I'm a wimp, huh? Falling apart like this."

"Indeed I do not," Teal'c replied. "You conducted yourself most admirably today."

"No." Blair shook his head. "No, I didn't. It's my fault this happened."

Teal'c frowned. "How so?"

"I wandered off," Blair said. "If I hadn't been cut off from the team, maybe Jim wouldn't have had to shoot to get to me."

"That was definitely not your fault," Teal'c said. "If anything, the negligence was on my part."

"What?" Blair asked in surprise. "You didn't do anything wrong!"

"Indeed, I did," Teal'c said, shifting himself to settle in a more comfortable position. "You were performing your function -- to get to know the people of the village, to learn their customs and habits. I should have accompanied you when you moved away from the team, since Daniel Jackson and Jim Ellison were otherwise occupied."

"Oh," said Blair, considering what Teal'c had said. "I guess I hadn't thought of it that way."

"None of us did," Teal'c said kindly. "We all relaxed our vigilance too much. And even had I accompanied you," he continued, "there is still no guarantee that we could have extracted ourselves from the village without killing so many, once the warrior turned the people against us."

"Oh, yes, that," Blair scoffed. "Now that's a biggy."

Teal'c raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I should have known," Blair continued in the same self-deprecating tone. "I should have known. Two sentinels don't mix."

Teal'c's eyebrow rose even higher. "You believe that man to have been a sentinel?"

"Believe?" said Blair. "I know."

"How is that, Blair Sandburg?"

"He called Jim the black panther," Blair explained. Seeing Teal'c's incomprehension, he hastened to add, "It's Jim's spirit guide."

"Spirit guide," Teal'c repeated, as if he hadn't heard the word before -- which, come to think of it, it was possible he hadn't.

"It's..." Blair paused, trying to think of a way to explain the concept that didn't involve a several-hour recap of Anthro 101. "It's just... all sentinels have one," he ended lamely.

"I see," said Teal'c, in a way that said he didn't. "And sentinels recognize each other's spirit guides?"

"Yeah, well, not that I have all that much empirical evidence to support this, you know," Blair explained. "I've only ever found two full sentinels, and one was..."

"Alicia Bannister," said Teal'c.

"Yup," Blair nodded. "aka Alex Barnes."

"So I take it the black panther is Jim Ellison's spirit guide, and the other man, whom you believe to be a sentinel, recognized this?"

"I know it sounds far-fetched, but..."

"In our travels, we have encountered much that was previously thought impossible," said Teal'c. "I have no reason to disbelieve you on this."

"Oh," said Blair, taken aback by Teal'c's ready acceptance. "That's... that's..." He swallowed. "Thanks."

"No need, my friend." Teal'c smiled gently. "Is this why you did not inform Daniel Jackson of this?"

"Um..." Blair frowned. "I don't know. I've... Jim's a very private person, and he never likes to talk about this spiritual stuff, and honestly, it feels, to me too, like a very personal thing... We just don't... discuss it, unless it's really pressing, and, to explain this to other people... So, I've just gotten used to not talking about it... But, mostly, I just... kind of forgot."

Teal'c tilted his head, waiting for Blair to continue.

"I mean... everything just, happened so fast... I was so excited to be on SG-1, and going off-world, and we were actually going somewhere where there were people and..." Blair chewed his lips. "And maybe I didn't want to think too hard about what if they really did have sentinels, because I didn't want to wind myself up..."

Teal'c nodded. "It is less disappointing if you do not expect as much."

"Yes, exactly." Blair laughed bitterly. "So, see? For whatever reason I didn't tell Daniel that two sentinels don't mix, and..."

"Do you actually know that for a fact?" Teal'c asked. "You said you only have encountered two sentinels. Perhaps it was just Alicia Bannister and Jim Ellison that were unable to co-exist."

"You do have a point," Blair admitted. "Actually, that was one of the things I wanted to check out if I ever did find more sentinels. Alex was... I mean, she had five heightened senses, but she was a criminal, a rogue, if you will. I never did get a chance to observe two sentinels, who were both fulfilling their roles as tribal guardians, interact." He shook his head. "And now, I never will."

"We may yet encounter other societies that have sentinels, Blair Sandburg."

"You might," Blair agreed. "But after today? Once the General finds out what I did... or rather, didn't do... He'll throw me out of the program so fast, my head'll spin."

"O'Neill has made quite a few errors in his time," Teal'c remarked. "As have I." He paused. "Indeed, all SG teams have committed errors, at one time or other. If O'Neill dismissed people the first time they made a mistake, there would be none left to serve at the SGC."

"But all those people..." Blair shook his head again. "They're all dead. Because of me."

"We all contributed to their deaths, Blair Sandburg," Teal'c said. "Give us the courtesy of shouldering our own blames."

Blair glanced up, startled by the suddenly firm tone in Teal'c's voice. "I..." he said, looking into Teal'c's eyes. "I... Yes, you're right." Blair pressed his lips into a thin line. "But I just... If I keep doing this, then the same thing could happen again, couldn't it?"

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "But you may also find another society with sentinels, and this time, succeed in establishing a long-lasting peaceful relationship with them."

Blair looked down, his hand curling into a tight fist as he considered Teal'c's words. "I still wish I'd had the chance to talk to him," he finally said, referring to the sentinel on the alien planet. "I don't know if I could have gotten through to him, but I... I'd have liked to try. "

"He had a knife," Teal'c said. "We did not know if his intention was to capture you, or kill you on the spot."

"You didn't tell that to the General."

Teal'c turned to look Blair in the eye. "It is not my place to," he said. "Daniel Jackson needs to tell O'Neill in his own words why he made the decision he did."

"I..." Blair looked down again. "I was hard on Daniel."

"Your anger is understandable," Teal'c said. "Your grief is commendable. But what you must decide, Blair Sandburg," Teal'c laid a gentle hand on the younger man's shoulder, "is what you will do now."

"I..." Blair stared up into Teal'c's dark, ageless eyes. "I think... I should go find Jim."

"Good." Teal'c smiled, gently squeezing Blair's shoulder. "I believe he needs you."

Dry heaves racked Daniel's body as he continued to retch long after his stomach had given up all it had to give. Then strong, soothing hands were rubbing up and down his back, before gently but firmly pulling him up to rest against Jack's solid chest, and the hands shifted to rub calming circles around his stomach.

"Breathe, Daniel," Jack whispered. "Slowly. In. Out. In..."

Daniel's body shuddered as it struggled to comply. But Jack's voice, though gentle, was not to be denied. Tense muscles gradually surrendered to patient hands, and eventually, Daniel found himself resting comfortably in Jack's arms, limp from exhaustion and upheaval.

Jack held him for a long moment, mutely assuring himself that Daniel was okay, at least for now, then with one last tight parting squeeze, shifted Daniel's pliant body to lean against a wall. Daniel listened idly as Jack moved around the darkened office, illuminated only by a single desk lamp and the slits of light sifting in through the lowered blinds. The noises suggested Jack had opened a cabinet and was rooting around in it -- then Jack was back, settling himself down next to Daniel and dumping the stuff he had brought onto the floor. Daniel opened his eyes in time to see Jack twist the cap off a plastic bottle of water, and accepted it obediently when it was thrust at him. Jack waited until Daniel had rinsed his mouth and spat out the water, then shoved some paper towels at Daniel while he took back the bottle. Daniel finally noticed what else Jack had brought, and raised an eyebrow.

"You keep Jack Daniel's in your office?"

"What else?" Jack quipped as he poured some into a glass and pushed it into Daniel's hand. Daniel cocked his head at the glass, wondering if this was a good idea, then decided that if Jack thought so, it probably was, and drained it all in one gulp.

"Whoa, easy," Jack said as Daniel sputtered into a fierce coughing spasm. "Take your time, that stuff'll go straight to your head."

"Thought that was the idea?" Daniel said when the coughing finally subsided enough to allow him to speak.

"Yeah, well..." Jack shrugged and poured himself a shot, then drained it all in one go, without, Daniel noted, triggering a coughing spasm.

Jack tilted both an eyebrow and the bottle, offering Daniel more, and Daniel held out his glass. Jack poured them both another shot, and this time they both sipped their drinks sedately, unconsciously raising and lowering their glasses in unison. Putting down his glass, Jack tugged at Daniel's arm, which Daniel gave up without protest, and started deftly undoing the knots of Sam's wrist band. Daniel's eyebrows went up as Jack dropped the band into an empty glass and poured a shot of Jack Daniel's over it.

"Alcohol," Jack explained when he noticed Daniel's questioning look. "Just the thing to get out blood stains," he said, as he poured water over the alcohol and stirred.

Daniel watched the water grow dark with dust and dissolving blood, and shook his head, burying his face into his hands. "It's never going to come out."

"Okay," Jack said, setting down the glass with a definitive thump. "It's not." He leaned back against the wall and turned towards Daniel. "You got back in one piece. That's the important thing."

"And wha... what about all those people, the women, the children?" Daniel burst out. "They weren't important?"

"Daniel," Jack said. "Why did you start shooting?"

"I..." Daniel spread his hands, eyes wide. "I just couldn't let them take Blair! I just couldn't!"

"Why not?" Jack persisted. "Why not let yourselves be captured, and talk your way out? You're good at that."

"I... I don't know." Daniel squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hands into tight fists. "I just... If they'd killed Blair, I..."

"You thought they were going to kill Blair?"

Daniel shook his head. "I don't know. I wasn't sure. I mean..." He blinked hard, pushing back tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. "How did you ever do it? How did you ever stand aside and let us be captured?"

"I didn't," Jack said. Daniel's head whipped up, and he opened his mouth to voice his disbelief, but Jack stopped him with an upraised hand. "Aside from the times when getting captured was part of the plan, the only times I've surrendered are when I saw no other options. Obviously, you had another option, and moreover, it was the correct one, because you got yourselves back in one piece. And with nothing worse than scratches and bruises, if I might add."

"I... well, that was Jim and Teal'c. I didn't..."

"You didn't?" Jack said, his voice making it clear he didn't believe that even an iota.

"I..." Daniel swallowed. "I..." His eyes grew doubtful as his mind rapidly reviewed the events on the planet. "I mean, they were very fierce fighters, and very persistent. Chased us almost all the way back to the Stargate. If Jim hadn't been familiar with their fighting tactics, we..."

Jack's eyebrows rose as he mentally filed 'Chopec fighting tactics' as something to be discussed with Ellison at a later date. "Okay," he said out loud. "So Ellison knew their tactics. And?"

"And I told Teal'c to take point, and told Blair to stick close to me, which of course kept Jim close because he stuck with Blair, and Blair was concentrating on keeping Jim from zoning, because I kept making him listen for this and that, so I had to make sure Blair didn't fall behind or stumble or anything, and that's how Blair lost his gun, because I pushed him out of the way of an incoming arrow..." Daniel trailed off as he gradually realized exactly how much he had done.

Jack smiled. "See?" he said. "You did everything you were supposed to."

Daniel peered suspiciously at Jack. "And you knew that."

"I know you."

"Oh." Daniel looked down at his glass, staring into the cool amber liquid. "So about that 'There's no one left but you'...?"

"Oh, it's true that at the moment, there's no one else available who's qualified to be an SG team leader," Jack replied. "But I could have operated with one team short until someone else could be brought up to speed."

"So you pushed me into command because...?"

"You'd be good at it," Jack said. "Maybe even the best."

Daniel scrunched up his face. "I never knew you had such a high opinion of me."

"You didn't?" Jack said, sounding quite scandalized.

Daniel looked up into Jack's face, his lips finally twisting into a wry smile. "You think I'd be good at command," he said. "You don't know."

Jack sighed. "In a way, no one knows, until they're put on the spot," he said. "But you've been on the spot before. You've been in command before, not in name, maybe, but in fact."

Daniel shook his head. "I was never responsible for anyone else before," he said. "Not like this." He bit his lip. "And the first time I go out there with this responsibility... Blair's right. I chose to kill women and children to save our skins."

"And that's the decision you are supposed to make," Jack shot back. "It's the team leader's responsibility to protect his team."

"At any cost?" Daniel asked.

"In this case, it was the correct decision," Jack repeated. "Daniel, listen to yourself," he continued when Daniel looked unconvinced. "You keep saying you couldn't. You couldn't do anything else, right? Yes, there were other options, but what you did was the only option you could pick? That you could live with?"

"I'm not sure," Daniel said wistfully, "that I can live with the one I did pick."

"You can. You are," Jack assured. "You have to."

"Do I?" Daniel murmured, closing his eyes and leaning limply back against the wall.

Jack sighed deeply and slumped against the wall next to Daniel. "No," he conceded. They stayed there, sitting quietly, shoulder to shoulder, each wrapped in his own thoughts.

Finally, Jack cleared his throat. "You know," he said. "You could stay on base. Help me run the place."

Daniel stared at Jack, his head tilting as he tried to wrap his mind around this new offer. "Help run the base?" he repeated.

"Yeah. We never did get around to getting me a second in command, and..." Jack trailed off as Daniel let his head fall back against the wall with an audible thump. "What?" he asked.

"Why do you keep throwing more and more responsibility at me?" Daniel wailed. "Can't I just be a regular SG team member, obediently toodling after another team leader, who takes all the responsibility?"

"Like you were ever obedient?" Jack grumbled. Daniel shrugged and waved a hand, conceding the point. "Anyway," Jack continued. "Yeah, if that's what you really want, I can stick you onto another SG team. But that," Jack looked into Daniel's eyes, "would be a waste of a good leader."

Daniel looked back at Jack, thoughtfully chewing the inside of his cheek. "How long have you thought that?" he asked.

"That you'd be a good leader? Always." Seeing Daniel's look of plain disbelief, he added, "In fact, Hammond wanted to give you a team a few years back." Daniel's face descended into even deeper skepticism. "It's true, you can ask him," Jack defended himself. Daniel's face scowled into an 'if so, what happened?' question. "Um, yeah." Jack cleared his throat. "I... ahem, talked him out of it. What?" He pouted as Daniel's expression turned into exaggerated outrage. "I wanted to keep you with me! So sue me!"

A hesitant knock at the door broke the moment. "Sir?" came Walter's tentative voice. "I know you said not to disturb you, but..."

"What is it, Walter," Jack called out.

"It's the President, sir. He wants to talk to you."

"Oh, for..." Jack shoved himself up and grabbed the red phone off its hook. "O'Neill." He listened for a moment. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll call you back." He hung up the phone without waiting for an answer, then turned to find Daniel staring at him with bulging eyes. "What?"

"Th... tha... that was the President!" Daniel sputtered. "You hung up on the President!"

Jack milled his hands in a 'so what?' motion. "He wanted to talk about the budget!"

Daniel burst out into hysterical laughter. He extended a shaking hand as Jack approached wearily, and clutching Jack's helping hand, hauled himself up on his feet, still laughing uncontrollably. "Go... go... go talk to the President about the budget," he finally managed to choke out. "I'm not helping you run the place if it doesn't have a budget."

"So, will you?" Jack asked.

Daniel paused, and shook his head ruefully. "I don't know, Jack," he said. "I don't know what I want."

"Well, take your time." Jack patted Daniel's shoulder. "Think about it."

"Jack." Daniel reached out and placed a hand on Jack's arm. "What do you want?"

Jack looked into Daniel's eyes and said nothing. Daniel watched as a myriad thoughts passed behind Jack's eyes faster than he could catch them -- and then finally, Jack spoke. "I want," he said, "what's best for you."

Walter saw Dr. Jackson walk out of the General's office and head into the corridor, moving towards the elevators. He breathed a sigh of relief as he noted that the doctor was subdued, but otherwise appeared to be his normal self. He started towards the office, but stopped when he noticed that the room was now submerged in complete darkness, even the single desk lamp that had been on before now extinguished. After a moment's hesitation, he cautiously approached the closed door. "Sir?" he called.

"Just... ten minutes," came the General's voice, heavy with the weariness and sorrow he could not show the world. "Ten minutes, please."

"Yes, sir," said Walter, and walked away to hold the world at bay.

There was such a thing as too much quiet, Jim decided. The darkness and silence were no longer sheltering, as memories rose unbidden, pushing their way onto the surface of his consciousness in vivid detail available only to a sentinel. He longed for Blair's presence to stave off the demons of memory, but all he could see was Blair's angry, closed-off face as he stormed out of the briefing room, a taunting, tormenting vision in itself. With a heavy sigh, Jim gave up the useless struggle and surrendered himself to his memories.

The growl of an angry feline resounded through Jim's mind moments before the warrior strode into the village clearing. The accusing finger stabbed straight at his heart as the alien sentinel spoke the words Jim knew to be true, even as they were spoken: He is the black panther, who brings death and destruction to our midst! His fingers tightened on the trigger of his gun, but deeply ingrained habit kept him from pressing it that one millimeter further, and he waited, eyes locked on the warrior, while Daniel stood, eyes wide as he took in the unfolding scene before him. The warrior moved towards Blair, and Jim raised his weapon, aiming towards the man menacing his partner. A fraction of a second before he would have had to decide whether to pull the trigger, Daniel yelled, "Shoot!" -- and the world exploded in a kaleidoscope of blood and screams as his finger locked down on the trigger and the bullets flew out in rapid, deadly succession, splaying death and destruction through the heretofore peaceful village.

Then they were running, running, running, Daniel yelling at Blair to stay close and for Teal'c to take point, and he could see each and every piece of flesh torn from bullet-splayed bodies, the splash of blood making him flinch as each drop seemed to explode right in front of his eyes. The cries of the wounded and dying echoed in his ears, and the wails of anguish over fallen loved ones assaulted him like arrows stabbing into the very core of his being. He desperately wanted to turn down his senses, but Daniel kept asking him where their attackers were, how many, what were they saying, and Blair was plastered to his back, muttering, "Come on, you can do it, just concentrate." He fought to keep himself from zoning, only knowing that no matter what, he had to protect these two -- and suddenly, O'Neill's clear, soul-seeing eyes were in front of him, and his voice echoed through his mind: Stay safe out there, Ellison. Stay safe.

The feeling of impending doom receded, and Jim found himself responding readily to Daniel and Blair's directions. They were all going to get home. Every single one of them.

Jim lifted his head from the bed as the door opened and Blair slipped in. Blair closed the door and leaned back against it, and the two of them regarded each other across the room for a long moment -- then without knowing who moved first, they were in each other's arms, holding tight for all they were worth.

Walter hung up the phone, and huffed loudly. His heart was pounding rapidly, as if he had just run a marathon. He, a lowly sergeant, had just told off the President! Told him to just hold his horses and wait until the General called him back. Wait, he had remembered to use politer language than that, right? Right? Whatever. Wow, he really must have been serving under General O'Neill too long. To think! He, a lowly sergeant...

"Sergeant Walter," called Teal'c, making Walter jump a foot out of his chair. The Jaffa stood by patiently for the startled sergeant to compose himself before continuing, "Is O'Neill in his office?"

"Um, yes sir, he is," Walter answered, eyes twisting this way and that as he tried to figure out whether the General's requested ten minutes were up yet, and whether the Jaffa was even included in the General's plea to keep everyone away in the first place. Teal'c again waited patiently for the sergeant to decide what he should say. "It's just that... he's asked not to be disturbed."

"Is Daniel Jackson still with him?" Teal'c asked.

"No, Dr. Jackson left a few minutes ago. It's just the General..." Walter trailed off, fervently willing the Jaffa to read his mind.

"I shall stand guard, then," said Teal'c, nodding gravely.

Walter stared after Teal'c's receding back, convinced that the Jaffa really did read minds.

Teal'c climbed the stairs, reaching the top just as Jack was stepping out of his office. Ah. O'Neill had decided to end his seclusion, so his services as guard would not be needed after all.

Jack, seeing Teal'c, stopped a few steps away. "Hey," he said.

Teal'c simply inclined his head in greeting.

"Ellison and Sandburg?" Jack asked.

"I left them together," Teal'c replied. "They will work out their differences." He paused a second before inquiring, "Daniel Jackson?"

"Oh," Jack said. "He'll be all right."

"I am glad to hear that," Teal'c responded. "And you, O'Neill?"

Jack paused, clearly startled by the question. "Me?" he asked. "Me... well..." He straightened his neck with a distinctive snap. "I have a base to run."

Ageless eyes looked into clear eyes full with unspoken sadness. Then the gate started to turn, and calls of "Off-world activation!" resounded from the control room.

"See?" said Jack, as he stepped past Teal'c to rush down the stairs, Teal'c following immediately after.

"I never thought anything like this could happen," said Blair, his fist knotting tightly into the bed sheet. "I mean, I knew we were in a war, that we'd have to kill enemies, maybe watch our friends get killed... But I never thought we'd end up being the bad guys. Killing friendly, innocent people, who never meant us any harm..."

"That's what war is, Chief," Jim said. Reaching out, he clicked on the bedside lamp. The soft, warm glow from the lamp filled the room, reflecting off Blair's dark curls and illuminating the pallor of his face. "War is people killing each other who would be friends if they met on a street corner. People killing each other because of misunderstanding, misinformation, because of greedy, power-hungry leaders who stop at nothing to extend their domination. Just think." Jim waited until Blair looked up at him. "Teal'c is one of the most honorable and noble people I've ever met, and from all reports, he's not atypical of his people. But when we go out there to fight the Goa'uld, we inevitably kill many hundreds, if not thousands or millions, of his people -- people whom we should be happy to be allowed to call our friends."

"I... I know," Blair swallowed. "No, I thought I knew. But now..."

"We don't have to stay here, Chief," Jim said gently.

"What?" Blair turned towards Jim, startled. "Bu... but, where will we go? What about The Trust?"

"We could get new identities, go somewhere no one knows us," Jim said. "O'Neill will do that much for us."

"And what, we start a new life, just by ourselves?" asked Blair. "Never see anyone we know again? And even after all that, we'd still be looking over our shoulders for The Trust, wouldn't we? No matter how careful the Air Force is about forging our new identities, there's always a chance someone can follow the traces, right?"

"That's true enough," Jim admitted. "But it's a risk I'm willing to take -- if you want."

"Off-world activation!" The alarms started blaring. "Repeat, off-world activation!"

Blair and Jim sat silently looking at each other until the alarms shut down. Then Blair stood and started restlessly pacing the room, while Jim waited, eyes quietly following Blair's movements.

"I can't," Blair finally said. "I can't go live in some out-of-the-way corner somewhere when I know what we're up against. When I know I could be doing something, making even a small bit of difference..."

"Attention all personnel!" blared the speaker. "We have a Class C emergency! All SG teams report to the gear-up room. Medical personnel, on standby. Repeat...."

"Class C?" asked Blair.

"SG team member missing, search and rescue," said Jim.

As one, Jim and Blair rushed out the door and down the hallway.

Daniel heard the off-world activation alarms, but after thinking about it for a second, decided someone else could see to it, and went back to sipping his coffee. His head was still swirling with everything Jack had told him. Jack really thought he would make a good SG team leader? Not only good, but maybe the best? And not only Jack, but General Hammond had also thought about giving him a team? But then Jack had talked Hammond out of it... And now Jack was offering to have him stay on base, be his second in command... Why? Which did Jack want? To keep Daniel with him, or to send him out on his own?

I want what's best for you, Jack had said. Well, what was best for him? Damned if he knew. Did Jack know?

With Jack, it was safe. Comfortable. No responsibility. Not the kind he had been faced with today. And Jack... A part of Jack wanted desperately to keep Daniel safe. Happy. Content. But was that what was best for Daniel? Or the SGC? Or for Earth, for that matter?

Daniel snorted in derision at himself. Yeah, right. Like it would make any difference to Earth, or even just the SGC, what he did. Nope, no way was one man that important. No way.

"Attention all personnel!" blared the speaker. "We have a Class C emergency! All SG teams report to the gear-up room. Medical personnel, on standby. Repeat...."

Class C? Daniel frowned. Who could be missing, which teams were currently off-world?

Taking one last gulp of coffee, Daniel rushed out the door and down the hallway.

Controlled chaos reigned in the gear-up room as members of various SG teams rushed to get into gear in a room not designed to accommodate so many people at once. Bodies jostled as one person tried to move in one direction, another attempted to go the opposite direction, and a third picked that moment to get right in between the other two. Daniel finally managed to get to his locker and grab a fresh set of field gear, and as he changed, he noticed Jim and Blair huddled in a corner, Blair fiddling with something on Jim's clothes. Daniel felt a great weight lift from his heart. He'd destroyed enough lives today -- but Jim and Blair's bond with each other, at least, had not been strained beyond repair.

Shutting his locker, Daniel found the room had emptied enough for him to move easily out of it. He stepped into the hallway to find that a line had formed in front of the armory as the SG teams waited to pick up their weapons in turn. Teal'c, already dressed, stood by the armory, helping hand out the weapons. Ah. So he must have been one of the first ones to get ready. Daniel stepped into line and found himself a few places behind Jim and Blair. Jim noticed Daniel and straightened, which drew Blair's attention, and he turned. Blair's eyes met Daniel's.

Daniel held his breath, waiting for Blair to make a move, any move. Then Blair was stepping out of line and coming towards Daniel, Jim following right behind. Out of a corner of his eye, Daniel saw that Teal'c had turned to watch as the three came face to face in the hallway.

"Hi," Daniel said. He really didn't know what else to say.

"Hi," Blair returned. "I... uh..." He looked down at his feet, swallowed hard, then looked up, his face filling with resolute determination. "I'm sorry about earlier," he said.

"No." Daniel shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about. I mean, you were right, I..."

Blair shook his head. "No. At least, I had no right to... And..." He raised his eyes to meet Daniel's. "There's more."

"More?" Daniel asked. Becoming aware that the line had moved ahead without them, he shuffled a few paces to catch up. Blair shuffled right after him, and Jim followed, not budging an inch from his protective stance at Blair's shoulder.

"Yes," Blair said. "There's some stuff about sentinels I should have told you... and I didn't."

Daniel blinked. Blair hadn't told him something that related to their mission? Why? Realizing they were about to fall behind again, Daniel gestured them all forward. Whatever it was, he decided, now wasn't the time to talk about it.

Blair seemed to sense that also as he whispered hurriedly, "I know now isn't the time... but I want you to know..."

Daniel turned to Blair and waited.

"Teal'c said you'd give me another chance. Not that I think I deserve it, but if you do..."

Daniel suddenly realized that Teal'c had moved to join them, and was standing protectively near Blair, just as Jim was doing on the other side. He studied Jim's dark scowl and Teal'c's equanimous calm, and knew he better not mess this up.

"Well," he said. "If it's okay with Teal'c, it's okay with me."

Both protectors relaxed their guard as Blair flashed a tentative smile. Inwardly breathing a sigh of relief, Daniel slapped Blair on the shoulder and gestured him towards the armory. "Come on," he said. "We have a job to do."

The chat in the hallway had slowed SG-1, making them the last team to pick up their weapons and consequently the last to step into the gateroom. One step into the crowded room, and Daniel stopped, his eyes glued to the sight before him.

Jack. In full field gear, cradling his gun lightly against his chest, standing in front of the open wormhole. Jack. Jack was coming with them! Fierce joy surged through Daniel, along with relief, confidence, an indefinable sense of surety that everything would be all right. This was the way it should be, with Jack, standing in front of the assembled teams, leading them all into whatever might come. In the upturned faces of the personnel filling the room, Daniel saw reflected his own joy and confidence. All eyes in the room were centered on Jack, and Jack stood there, holding their lives, their trust, their loyalty -- carrying that burden so lightly, it seemed effortless; but Daniel saw, with sudden piercing clarity, how heavy and how hard it really was.

Here was one man who made a difference, one man who mattered. And the world needed more men like him, more men like Jack -- and suddenly, Daniel desperately wanted to be like Jack, needed to be like Jack --

And as if Jack had heard him, his eyes turned, and met Daniel's, and everything else receded as their gazes locked --

Then the moment was broken, and Jack raised his voice. "All right, everyone! Listen up! SG-22 was on PX3-45G, negotiating a mining and trade agreement, when they were hit by what sounds like the mother of all storms. There's been extensive flooding, landslides, collapsed buildings, and who knows what else. Two members of SG-22 are missing, along with an unspecified number of locals. We won't know any more details until we get there." Jack paused and looked around the room, waiting for everyone to absorb the information. "Now," he continued. "Even though I'm coming along, standard operating procedure dictates that in a joint mission, the leader of the most senior team leads the mission. Which means," he paused for emphasis, "for this operation, Daniel is in command! Understood?"

Stunned, Daniel gaped open-mouthed as a chorus of "Yes, sir!" filled the room. By the time he finally remembered to close his mouth, personnel and equipment were streaming up the ramp and into the wormhole. Those near enough to Daniel snapped crisp salutes at him as they passed, apparently accepting Daniel's sudden elevation to their commander without surprise or complaint. Then Jim, Blair and Teal'c were moving forward, following the rest of the departing teams, and Daniel automatically followed, walking up the ramp towards Jack. And Jack stood, waiting, and Daniel slowed and stopped in front of Jack as the others all passed into the wormhole, leaving just him and Jack standing on this side.

And Jack looked at Daniel, and for a moment, Daniel thought he looked old and tired and alone, and at the same time, he looked ageless and fierce and proud. Then he quirked a funny little smile, and with a slight tilt of his head, told Daniel to go.

And Daniel stepped into the wormhole, feeling Jack step in beside him, and stepped out onto the other side, into a waiting semicircle of SG teams, their expectant eyes all focused on him; and he saw Major David Lewis, leader of SG-22, standing there, soaking wet and covered in mud.

And he moved forward, away from Jack, towards the distraught man.

"Hey, David," he said. "What's up?"

Jack stood behind, unheeding of the pouring rain, as Daniel walked away and took command.

"Stay safe, Daniel," he whispered. "Have fun."

Dear General Hammond,

First of all, I am very, very sorry I forgot to call back the President. But I'm sure you can appreciate how missing teams can wreak havoc with one's memory. I hope you didn't have too hard a time appeasing him. Carter would be very disappointed if there were no funds for her new damper system for SGC beds. Oh, and she also wants to modify the FREDs for additional functionality in rescue operations. And Doc Fraiser is muttering something about needing some high-tech equipment to properly test Ellison and Sandburg's abilities.

On another note, I'm sure you'll be very pleased to hear that Daniel's taken to command like fish to water. He handled that rescue operation better than I could have. Of course, he figured out in about five minutes there was no way he was just letting me stand around without doing any work, and sat me down in front of the radio and handed me a stack of paper and ordered me to take good notes. I sat there for ten hours straight, talking until my throat was hoarse and scribbling until I thought my right hand would fall off. I am proud to report, however, that I was able to tell Daniel instantly at any moment where all the personnel and equipment was and what they were doing. That wet-behind-the-ears lieutenant who had been originally manning the radio whom Daniel carted off to serve as his pack-mule would never have been half as efficient. Daniel really knows how to get the most use out of available resources.

And before you tell me you told me so, let me hasten to add, I knew so too. Back when you suggested giving Daniel a team of his own, I wasn't grown up enough to let him go. I thank you for your patience in letting me grow up in my own sweet time. And now that I'm all grown up, I can eat ice cream before dinner and stay up all night watching TV, right? Right?

Never mind.

Brigadier General Jack O'Neill
Commander, SGC