Author's Note: This will be the last chapter, I hope you all enjoyed the story, I certainly have enjoyed writing it, but I've been a little short of inspiration lately and I'd like to focus on other things without drawing this out for too long. There were a few requests for more Jack/Sam but this story was about friendship and I feel loyal to all those non-ship fans. However, I think I came up with a solution to satisfy all. A giant thanks for all the wonderful reviews, you've truly made it worth the time to write this. (If you'd like to review anonymously you can now, so please do).

Bixata

Chapter 16

Jack was sitting on an infirmary bed, buttoning up his jacket, after Janet had given him the results of his latest brain scan. Yup, he was still nuts, but it was nothing she could prove, so essentially, he was fine. Fine and dandy, yessiree.

"Sir, I think we need to talk." Carter said suddenly from the next bed where she was waiting for him, her hands clasped in her lap.

Jack frowned at the words, disagreeing with her immediately. "No, I don't think we do, Carter."

"Was I even there?" She asked, and he could see a vulnerability in her eyes that he had never expected to ever see there.

"Where?" he asked carefully, not wanting to misunderstand exactly what she was asking.

"You were…you were happy. Up there on the surface, with Daniel and Teal'c and…when you thought I was Sara. Was I there with you?"

He didn't know how she could ask him that, how she could ever think that she wasn't important to him. But things had changed over the past two years in his absence and he knew that some part of her could never forgive herself for giving up on him. Just as he had never truly forgiven himself for Charlie's death. Perhaps her guilt would not allow her to see that it wasn't really Sara that had made him happy.

This wasn't the time for confessions, or sharing his feelings. Things were still a mess, in his head and his daily life. He was stuck in between the two phases of life, surviving and living, a huge step up from living and dying and he had to come to terms with who he was now. Like it or not, he had changed, big time, and though his instincts still fought to help others, there was a part of him that said to hell with it all. Let them worry about their own problems, who cares what happens, we're all going to die in the end. Eventually.

Being a perpetual cynic had its drawbacks and feeling so helpless in a world that could never know or understand what he had been through was no cakewalk. He loved his teammates, Hammond and Janet for all they had done for him. They tried so hard to make him feel normal, to act like the old days and yet allowing for the fact that they had all changed, accepting the new Jack and altering the nature of their friendship to encompass his new behavior. The foundation was there, reinforced and strong, but there were changes on the surface, a remodeling so to speak of their friendship to allow for his different personality.

But Carter was having a difficult time with it because of the very nature of their friendship and the potential they had once had for something more. She was trying to find her place but he kept changing the rules. Like thinking she was his wife.

It may have been Sara's name, and he may have behaved as though she truly was his wife, but it wasn't Sara he'd seen; it was Carter. And it wasn't Sara he imagined his life with, the mother of his child who was still alive, laughing and playing baseball. It was Carter.

God, he was a mess. He had actually believed it, almost needed to believe it: he was married to Carter, Charlie was alive, he had his two best friends and Earth was safe. That was his ideal life, one he could never have because Charlie was gone. And Carter…

He didn't deserve her like that. He needed her, and her friendship, like he needed Daniel's and Teal'c's but she had decided years ago that he wasn't worth the risk of anything more than that and he had accepted her decision. Nothing had changed in that respect. Pretending otherwise was a lie, a falsehood that would lend to the fantasy world he had created for his escape. If he were suddenly given a piece of his fantasy in real life he might never be able to differentiate the two again.

But how could he tell this to Carter?

"You were there." He admitted softly.

"So where was I? What do you need from me, Jack?" Her voice and her eyes pleaded with him, asking him to tell her what to do just as strongly as the use of his given name had. She needed him to take the lead this time, she didn't want to hurt him again.

He smiled at her, showing her all the love and affection he had for her. "We're friends, Carter. The best of friends. Who else would have put up with a guy like me for so long?" He stood up and walked over to her, pulled her off the bed and embraced her, rocking her gently. "Maybe, someday…" he left the thought unfinished but he pulled back to look at her, his hand gentle on her neck, and he saw the acceptance and hopeful smile of her face. "We'll go fishing," he promised.

She laughed and rested her head on his shoulder, holding him tightly around the waist. "I'd love to. We'll go up to your cabin in Minnesota, land of sky-blue waters?"

"Don't forget the loons." He interjected.

She continued. "Yeahsureyabetcha. Just as soon as Janet clears you we'll head up there, all of SG-1. And we'll even pretend to enjoy fishing."

"You won't have to pretend anything." He scowled, pushing her away to glare at her, fighting the smile on his lips. "You guys are going to love it and you'll hate yourselves for never realizing what an amazing experience it is sooner."

"Uh-huh." She mock agreed.

"Watch it, Carter." They started walking down the corridors, heading in mutual and silent agreement to Daniel's office. "I've got the wisdom of age and death on my side. You'll learn to appreciate my insight to life and living it."

He marveled at his own ability to talk about his experiences so openly. It wasn't particularly joke-worthy material, and certainly no laughing matter, but it was the truth. In the past he had often made jokes when they were inappropriate, and his sarcasm frequently had a self-deprecating edge to it. And Daniel had come back from the dead often enough to build up a repertoire of material regarding the same subject. But in that moment he realized something about himself, something he had realized earlier on a basic, instinctive level, but could never truly bring himself to believe emotionally and intellectually.

He could enjoy living again. He liked living, and he didn't want to die.

Carter had given him a calculating look after he spoke, and in that moment when she could have been uncomfortable and awkward she smiled instead, sensing something in him that suddenly made her feel safe. "I'm sure I will, sir. Between you and Daniel I've got the two greatest teachers alive. But maybe you should both take a lesson from Teal'c and me about staying alive. After all, we've only got the one life to live."

Laughter erupted from his throat and he didn't try to hold it in. He threw his arm around her shoulder as he laughed, his shoulders shaking with the unfamiliar feeling, his eyes starting to water at the overwhelming emotion. "Carter, you are absolutely amazing, you know that?" he told her once he had calmed down enough. "A national treasure, Carter, that's what you are. How'd I get so lucky to have you for a friend?"

She didn't bother to respond to the rhetorical question, but she smiled up at him, beaming with pride and affection.

They rounded the corner into Daniel's office and saw him and Teal'c staring down at a bunch of papers on the desk. Daniel was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Hey Danny, what's up?" he asked as he released Carter and they moved to look down at the papers.

Daniel looked up at him, his eyes bright with excitement and wonder. "Jack! I found it!"

"Found what?" Carter asked.

"The Lost City of Atlantis. We can go there!" he exclaimed happily, informing them about the set of eight symbols he had discovered that should send them to a Stargate in another galaxy, hopefully to the Ancient city of Atlantis. Once he had finished his passionate speech and looked at them expectantly he saw Jack's expression and his eyes widened in amazement. "Jack? Are you…are you smiling?"

"Daniel, I haven't got a clue what you just said about anything, but you always look like such a kid when you get so excited about 'the greatest discovery since we opened the Stargate' type stuff. It's like your birthday, Christmas and summer vacation all in one. So in this moment of happiness I'm going to exploit your weakness and inform you that we're all going fishing at my cabin once Janet gives me my wings, and you can complain all you want, but I'm just going to remind you about this very moment and there's no way you'll be able to turn me down."

"Uh, and why is that?" Daniel asked warily.

Jack gave him his most charming Irish grin. "Because when you guys tell me that there's nowhere you'd rather be than with me at the cabin, you're going to see that same expression of blissful happiness on my face."

Daniel stared at him for a moment, then slowly the smile returned to his face. "There's nowhere I'd rather be, Jack." He moved around his desk towards Jack and pulled his friend into hug, the same hug Jack had given him over six years ago after they'd destroyed Apophis' ships over Earth and realized they had all made it home, that Daniel had survived a fatal staff blast and the explosion of the ship after they'd left him behind.

"Welcome back, Jack," he said, choking on the emotion in his throat, fighting back tears of happiness and relief. "Welcome back."

Sam moved in and put her arms around the both of them, wiping her tears on the back of Daniel's jacket, and after only the briefest of hesitations, Teal'c engulfed them all in his massive embrace. Maybe it wasn't a sight you'd normally see on a top secret military base, but SG-1 was family, and they were finally together again, in every way.

The end