Gate Room - Cheyenne Mountain:

Colonel Jack O'Neill stood alone on the ramp to the Stargate. As he waited for his three teammates to join him, he reflected on the events of the last few months.

Earlier, his team had visited a planet known as Calona, a world behind the Earth in many respects, but possessing a valuable resource called naquadria. It was on this world that the SC1 had first encountered their newest team member, Jonas Quinn.

Tragically, an accident had caused the death of a brilliant scholar and esteemed member of SG1. While Jonas had cowered in a corner, the lives of millions on the line, a denizen of Earth had saved the day, committing a noble act of self-sacrifice, before dying a slow, miserable death from radiation poisoning.

Instead of gratitude, the SCG had been blamed for the tragedy, accusations of sabotage had been made. It had taken Jonas some time to admit the truth, but after O'Neill's forceful confrontation, he had finally stopped lying. He confessed that the accident had been caused by his colleagues gross incompetence, not by the actions of the brave SG1 member.

After 'liberating' a certain amount of naquadria, Quinn had defected to the SCG. At first he hadn't been allowed off the base, but Jonas had put the time to good use, spending his days in his predecessor's office, eating grapes, learning about Earth's culture via television, and of course, reading the doctor's papers, books, and personal journals. He was allowed to roam the top-secret facility at will, and given unlimited access to highly classified material. He had even been allowed to visit the most top-secret military research lab, and was given progress reports on the most important project. Eventually Jonas had managed to finagle his way onto the flagship team.

Although Jonas hadn't studied the relevant subjects, or performed any research, unlike the person whose position he had taken, his photographic memory was deemed a fine substitute for hands-on experience.

Some might think it odd that the leader of an elite, closely knit military unit would allow the person partially responsible for the death of one of his most valued members to join the team as that member's replacement. However, O'Neill didn't have any problems with accepting Jonas as a member of SG1. Okay, Jonas HAD tried to place the blame for the disaster on an innocent party, but hey, the guy said he was sorry. That made everything hunky-dory as far as O'Neill was concerned. After all, if he hadn't taken Jonas, O'Neill would have been forced to work with a Russian! As far as O'Neill was concerned, outdated cold war hostilities were a greater consideration in choosing a team mate than little things such as courage, integrity, loyalty and truthfulness.

Yes, 12 weeks was ample time to forget. After all, he was a professional soldier, not given to sentiment. Sure, in the course of the five years they had worked together, O'Neill had developed a certain amount of affection towards his former teammate, but you can't waste your time regretting the past. As O'Neill had said to a grieving team member, "We lose people all the time. You've got to suck it up, and get on with your life". Taking his advice, the mourning period for their fallen comrade was extremely brief. Indeed, except for a brief comment by General Hammond about finding a replacement, and a few token mentions by Jonas himself, the missing team member was never spoken of.

O'Neill was certain that Jonas would be a fine replacement, easily able to perform his predecessor's duties. Hadn't Jonas expressed his desire to continue, and perhaps even surpass his fallen colleague's lifework? One egghead was the same as another to O'Neill.

Finally, the other members of SG1 joined O'Neill. Now all members of SG1 were present and accounted for. Smiling, Jack O'Neill led his subordinates through the gate, warmed by a feeling of happiness that everything was back to normal at last. Why, these days, he barely remember that Samantha Carter had ever existed.

The End