Jack was whistling as he stepped into the control room. "Hello, General, how's things?"

Maybourne turned on him before Hammond could answer. "Where is SG-1?" he snapped.

"Here and there. I'm sure Major Carter is off doing some sciencey thing." He wiggled his fingers in the air. "Daniel muttered something about translations, I think. I usually don't pay attention when he talks because it's really boring. And Teal'c ... well he didn't say anything but that's not anything new, I'm sure he's off doing something important. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not talking about your SG-1, Colonel. I want to know where the future SG-1 is."

"If I had to guess, I'd say they were in the future." He shrugged.

"This isn't a joke, Jack, I have orders to take them with me! Where are they?"

Jack stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I honestly have no idea." He looked at Hammond. "Was I supposed to be keeping track of them, sir?"

"It would have been nice if you had, Colonel." Hammond grinned at him.

"Well, they were with us then they slipped away. I'm assuming it had something to do with Colonel Hughes' father."

"His father?"

"Yes, General, apparently the man died of cancer and the Colonel was quite upset about it. It is possible he's going to make an attempt at changing history, sir."

Maybourne looked at Hammond. "Where does Hughes' family live? I have to find them."

Jack held out a piece of paper. "Found this written on a pad of paper."

Maybourne snatched the paper from him. "Perfect, nice of them to leave you a note." He called to his men and swept from the room.

"Colonel, are you going to explain to me why you sent Maybourne after Colonel Hughes and his team?"

Jack held up a finger. "Hold that thought, sir." He tipped his head to one side and began counting quietly. "Four, three, two and one." He pointed toward the door. "Damn I am never going to get that right."

Sam rushed into the room followed by Mal and his team and Daniel. "We're here, sir. Sorry it took so long we nearly ran into Maybourne as he was leaving."

Hammond chuckled. "I see you had everything under control, Colonel."

Jack grinned. "Always, sir." He paused. "Okay, well mostly. Maybe just a smidge." He held his thumb and index finger close together. "All right, Major let's get these folks home, shall we?"

Sam smiled. "Yes, sir." She took a seat at the computer used to dial the Gate and began typing. "The timing has to be exact or you won't end up where you need to be. Get down to the Gate room and I'll count you down."

Mal nodded. "Thank you. All of you, for your help. We couldn't have done this without you."

O'Neill smirked. "Hey, if we can't help future us then there might not be a now us ... or however that works."

Mal laughed. "We aren't exactly you."

"No, but it's nice to know that the SGC will continue on after my wondrous self has left its hallowed halls."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Mal replied with a grin. "Okay, let's get down to the Gate," he told the others.

Oliver sighed. "Thank goodness, I'll be happy to be home."

"Wait, do you have your GDOs?" Sam asked.

Oliver tapped the inside of his left forearm. "Right here. We're good to go."

"Wait, where?"

"Uh ... maybe I shouldn't say anything."

Lee rolled her eyes. "Dr. McKay invented an implant using some Ancient technology. We no longer have a need to carry a GDO device. It makes losing it much harder." She grinned, grabbed Oliver's arm and dragged him from the room.

"Lee, you shouldn't have said anything!"

She shrugged. "For all we know, we are the reason McKay gets the idea to build the implants."

"I ... damn I never thought of that. Time travel gives me a headache."

"Yup, it does. Let's go home."

"I will second that!" Van said from where he trailed behind them.

Lee looked back and saw Mal shake Colonel O'Neill's hand before he stepped away and followed them from the room. She dropped back to walk beside him. "Everything okay, Colonel?"

"Yes, I wanted to say thank you again. If they hadn't helped us play keep away then Maybourne would have toted us off to some unknown location and we would have spent the rest of our days saying 'no comment' as they questioned us."

"That would have been no fun."

He chuckled. "No, it wouldn't. I bet Elias would be thrilled if we never returned."

"Well, then let's ruin his day and get our asses back home," she said cheerfully.

"Agreed." They stepped into the Gate room and waited at the bottom of the ramp. The Gate connected with the usual fawoosh and settled into the rippling event horizon. They all walked up the ramp and stopped before the shimmering surface of the wormhole.

"Counting down, now," Sam said over the PA. "Get ready to depart, SG-1 and good luck. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Mark, you are a go."

Mal waved to the control room then stepped through the Gate. He emerged on the other side, followed by his team. General Carter was waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp. "Hello, General, it's good to be home."

She smiled. "I'm glad to see you arrived safely. How was the trip?"

"If I never stay in another dump motel I will die happy," Oliver answered.

She laughed. "I have been waiting twenty-three years for this day."

"How did you manage to keep from saying anything?" Lee asked. "I never could have kept quiet."

"I knew how important it was not to change anything. General Hammond did the same for us."

"How did you know when it would happen?" Van asked her.

"I had no idea, not until you came into the room with the tape on your glasses. I knew that today was the day when I saw that tape."

Van grinned. "Right, because I asked you for some more tape!"

"I guess it's a good thing you broke your glasses then," Lee told him.

"I suppose so." He shrugged.

"Well, I suppose there's no need for a debriefing since I know exactly what happened while you were gone," Sam told them.

"It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to see your team in action," Mal told her. "It's different in person than reading about it in the mission reports."

"It is. A mission report can give you an idea of things but unless you witness it in person it's sometimes difficult to grasp it. I'm glad we were able to keep Maybourne off your trail long enough to get you home."

Mal nodded. "Colonel, I mean General, O'Neill's plan worked quite well."

She laughed. "He understands how Maybourne thinks and Jack knew he'd jump at the chance to corner you somewhere. You going after your father was a perfect story."

"And it worked." His smile was somewhat sad. "Even if it wasn't the truth."

"I know how badly you wanted to see him and I'm sorry you couldn't." Sam smiled at him.

"It wasn't the right thing to do. For all I know if he lived it would have changed the path of my life drastically. I may never have joined the Air Force and I can't imagine not being a part of this. As badly as I want him here, I don't want to lose any of this. I'm not sure the trade off would be worth it. I still have him, the memory of him lives on and I can never lose that."

She nodded. "You and your team are dismissed, go home and get some rest, you all deserve it."

"Thank you, ma'am."

The team left the room. Sam stood back and watched them go. Her eyes went to the Gate. To them it was just yesterday that they stepped through the Gate and ended up in 1999, to her twenty-three years had passed and she had carried the memory of those days with her. It was one of the reasons she was so insistent on choosing these people to be the new SG-1 team. She knew them and she knew they'd do one hell of a job.

"And I was right," she said quietly before she left the Gate room.