Season 18
July 2014

Brigadier General Samantha Carter stepped into the command centre and wasn't surprised to encounter Sergeant Harriman coming from her husband's office reading from a clipboard. "Good evening Walter."

Harriman looked up from his papers. "Hello ma'am. He's just finishing up his last appointment of the day and should be done shortly."

"Good. Everything else set?"

"Yes, ma'am. I've cleared his schedule for this weekend and following Monday and the coordinates you specified are pre-set in the controls for the Asgard transport pad so you'll just have to enter the chamber and go."

"Thank you Walter," Sam said gratefully. "Without your help, I don't think I'd have been able to pull this off so smoothly—and without alerting him that something was up."

"Happy to help ma'am," Harriman grinned cheerfully. His watch beeped and he turned off the alarm. "Looks like it's your time ma'am."

"Thanks again Walter. Have a good weekend."

"You too ma'am—and happy anniversary to you both."

Sam flushed a little and gave him a bright smile before proceeding passed him and down the hallway. Hopefully her plan would work and hopefully Jack liked it. She certainly thought it was fitting for their upcoming anniversary. She knocked briskly on the door and without waiting for permission, entered the office.

Her heart squeezed at the impressive sight of her husband seated behind his massive desk. It was hard to fathom that in a few months he would be moving on and someone else would be sitting here.

Jack looked up with a slight frown on his face that quickly morphed into a pleased expression when he saw her. "Sam, this is a surprise. I was expecting SGC's liaison Colonel Pearce."

She smiled. "Check again."

His brow furrowed as Jack pulled his day planner towards him and ran his finger down the list of penned in appointment. His finger came to rest on the appointment in question and again his expression cleared, this time to one of amusement. "Ah, 'SGC representative.' Not 'SGC liaison' like it usually reads. I see Walter's hand in this."

"He doesn't get the full credit for this." Sam pulled on the cuff of her uniform. "Our anniversary is this week and we don't have anything planned really, so I thought I'd surprise you by coming by and taking you out."

"I never thought I'd see the day you'd advocate playing hooky from work." He tsked playfully and shook his head.

"I've had a sterling example set for me by a superior officer," she said dryly with a twinkle in her eyes. "And it's only for the last hour… Besides, can one play hooky if one takes one's boss along with one?"

He chuckled and conceded, "Good point. I am assuming if you're in cahoots with Walter about this, that my schedule has been cleared?"

"Yes. For both of us. Neither one of us have to be back to work till Tuesday."

"A three day weekend? That includes our actual anniversary? Excellent." Jack pushed away from his desk. "Well then General, spring away."

"Certainly General." She smiled and led the way out of the office. Returning to the command centre, she crossed through the room and headed for the Asgard transport chamber.

"Sam?" Jack questioned. "Forget something?"

She looked back to see him giving her a questioning look as he hovered near the doorway that lead out of Homeworld Command and into the Pentagon. "No, I didn't forget anything. We're not going to need a car—well, take one that is." She had to bite her lip to keep from saying anything else.

"So, not some place in DC?" He gave her a curious look as he crossed over to join her, a slight crease in his brow the only obvious sign that he was trying to puzzle out how the one-way Asgard trip fit into her plans.

"No, um," her teeth worried her lower lip. "I thought I'd take us someplace that has a little more meaning to us."

Jack reached out and soothed his thumb over lower lip to stop her from worrying it. "It's a surprise then?"

She swallowed. "Yes. So please don't look at the coordinates?"

"Okay." He lowered his hand and gave her his boyish grin. "Surprise away."

Sam flashed a thankful smile at him and opened the chamber door that she had come from a few short moments ago.

The chamber looked like an empty closet inside, illuminated by a single overhead light so the high-tech security pad beside the light switch looked incongruous.

She tapped in her code on the touch screen, scanned both palm and retinal prints, and double checked the pre-set coordinates were correct. Stepping back she waved Jack forward. "When you're done, done we can just go."

He stepped up the screen, entered his code, scanned his palm and retinal prints and then transported them over a thousand miles away from DC.

When the light from the Asgard transport beam cleared and their vision returned, the log walls of the cabin surrounded them and the evening Minnesota light spilled through the large windows.

Jack turned a slow circle, making an obvious appraisal of his surroundings and when he was facing her again he cocked an eyebrow at her.

Sam rocked back on her heels, tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear and gave him a shy smile. "Wanna go fishing for our anniversary?"

Jack released a bark of laughter and crossing to her, swept her up in his arms in a fierce hug. "Ya sure you betcha, snookums."

-FINISHED