Jack scowled down at the man kneeling between his legs and waving a powder puff at his face. The hair stylist had already made *way* too much fuss over Jack's mop of snow-white hair, commenting on how thick it was despite Jack's 'advanced' years. That comment had pissed the general off more than he cared to admit. He was only 65, for cryin' out loud!

Finally the camera man tutted and shooed the makeup guy away, saying that the general looked 'just fine'. Jack grinned at him, and made himself comfortable on the couch, waiting patiently for the technicians to set everything up.

The house had changed very little in the last twenty years. At Daniel's request, the central heating had been upgraded to something a little more efficient, but Jack had insisted on keeping his open fireplace, maintaining that it added a splash of warmth and color to the large living room.

There had been a few other additions to their home. Daniel's bookshelves and a computer station in the living room, some ancient Egyptian artefacts (the unclassified kind) were spread around. Jack's telescope was mounted on a sturdy stand and positioned next to the French windows.

It had been a couple of years now since his creaky knees had prevented him from climbing the ladder to the roof over the garage, where his telescope used to be installed. These days, he spent most of his evenings sitting in a lounge chair on the deck wrapped in a blanket, stargazing from there.

His eyes drifted to the windows, noticing the gathering darkness outside, and he wondered once again why the hell he had agreed to this.

A moment later, Daniel came in, and the room seemed to brighten for Jack, as it always did when he appeared. Daniel looked great, dressed all in black, the somber tones of his clothing setting off the silver highlights in his sandy brown hair, darkened now with age.

The roving reporter for 'Good Morning America' had her hand slipped though his arm. The woman was tall, almost as tall as Daniel, mid-thirties, and very attractive. She wore her dark brown hair pulled into a tight knot at her nape, but her sparking brown eyes belied her austere appearance.

She smiled at Jack reassuringly as Daniel settled her into the chair opposite the couch. Daniel glanced around, obviously wondering where he should sit. This was Jack's interview; so technically, Daniel didn't need to be there at all. But he wouldn't have missed it for the world. His smile widened as Jack patted the soft cushion beside him invitingly.

The soundman finished attaching the wireless microphone to the reporter's lapel and looked at his watch. He held up his hand and began counting down, "Five... four...." The last three numbers were mouthed silently and accompanied by finger actions. He gave her thumbs up, and she smiled directly at the camera.

"For those of you just tuning in, we're talking today to Brigadier General Jonathan O'Neill, now retired, who was the leader of the first team through the Stargate back in 1996."

She turned to Jack. "General O'Neill, I'd like to start by thanking you for agreeing to be interviewed for 'Good Morning America'."

Jack nodded at her politely, a small smile lighting up his face.

"General, how did it feel the first time you stepped through the gate?"

"Cold. Damned cold! The first time, we didn't have Sam Carter to work out about the planetary shift thing, so we damned near got our ass... I mean out assets frozen right off, didn't we, Danny?"

The cameraman drew back the focus to include Daniel in the shot, zooming in on his face as he smiled, making the lines around his clear blue eyes crinkle. The soundman was throwing the reporter a filthy look as he tried to get the boom mike into position over Daniel's head. He hadn't been told to fix Dr. Jackson up with a wireless.

"Erm... yeah, we came out the other side all frosty," Daniel grinned, ducking his head in embarrassment. They were supposed to be here to interview Jack about his illustrious career, and Daniel had not expected to be getting filmed. The reporter cleared her throat, but the cameraman kept his lens focused on Daniel, who in turn kept his eyes downcast.

"And for those newly tuned in viewers, this is General O'Neill's spouse, Doctor Daniel Jackson, the person responsible for opening the gate in the first place. Doctor Jackson, how did it feel to be proven right about your controversial theories?"

Daniel sat up a little straighter, his eyebrows arching in surprise. He hadn't expected any questions about himself either. "Well, it felt great, for about a nanosecond. You see, it wasn't like I could tell anyone about it." He grinned nervously, hoping that this would be the last question thrown his way.

Jack squeezed his knee, out of the camera's line of sight, well aware of how uncomfortable this was making Daniel.

"Hey - this is MY interview, spacemonkey, go find your own reporter," he teased, mercifully drawing attention back to himself.

"General," said the reporter, grinning at Jack's use of the nickname and at Daniel's answering blush. "During the first eight years of the project, you led a team known as 'SG-1', whose mission was to procure alien technology to help in the defence of Earth..."

"No - that's what the NID wanted from us. But our missions were originally purely exploratory. We were looking for allies, not weapons."

Jack had known the question was coming. The reporter had apologized for it in advance, but her superiors had demanded that she ask it. If nothing else, it gave Jack a chance to tell the truth about what their missions had been about. At least in the early days.

"Of course, sir." She nodded, quickly changing the subject before Jack could climb onto his high horse. "Why don't you tell us a little about the other two members of Stargate Command's flagship team?"

Jack leaned back against the soft cushions and grinned widely. This was one subject he was more than willing to discuss. "Well now, I mentioned Sam Carter already. Of course it's Sam Shanahan now. She's Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Academy, churning out a whole new generation of bright-eyed, wet-behind-the-ears cadets looking for adventure. But back in the day, she was the best 2IC a man could ask for."

"And smart," came the softly spoken addendum from his right.

He glanced sideways at Daniel. "Hell, yeah. She was smart, all right," he conceded.

"Way smarter than you, Jack." With a sly grin, Daniel reached over to poke his arm.

Jack began plotting his revenge for that remark, but he couldn't help smiling back at Daniel. Payback would almost certainly involve a gag and possibly even the fur-lined handcuffs Daniel had bought him for his birthday four years ago. He'd have to see if his back was still up to it, after the crew had gone home.

The reporter was openly laughing now. "You are, of course, referring to Commandant Samantha Carter Shanahan, who was instrumental in setting up the original computer system, which controlled the gate dialing interface below Cheyenne Mountain. But what about the fourth member of the team? General, what can you tell us about Teal'c?"

"Ah, T. came from a planet called Chulak. He was First Prime to Apophis, which means he was the head Jaffa warrior. Hell of a sense of humor!"

The reporter faced the camera again, slipping seamlessly into informative mode. "Apophis, for those of you who don't read your history books, was an Egyptian god."

"FALSE god," supplied Daniel, off camera.

"DEAD false god," added Jack, entering into the spirit of the thing.

The camera swung around to focus on him yet again, and he shrugged. "Anyway, T rebelled, broke us out of prison and threw in his lot with us. We got him assigned to the team, and he fought beside us in the battle to free the galaxy from the Goa'uld."

Beside him, Daniel's voice whispered softly, "Drama queen!"

Fortunately, the reporter was asking another question, so Daniel was spared from Jack's wrath. For the moment.

"Where is he now, General?" the reporter asked.

"Who, T? Oh, he's doin' fine. He leads his people now. King Teal'c the First of Chulak. Hehehe!" Jack chortled to himself.

Daniel nearly choked. "Jack! He'd kill you if he heard you call him that!"

"Better make sure he never gets to hear it then, huh?"

Once again, the skilful reporter recognized the need to cut the men off before they got completely off topic. She inserted another quick change of tack into the conversation.

"You were promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in 2004 and took over command of the project from Major General George Hammond. That must have been a very proud moment for you."

"It was a very terrifying moment, is what it was. George was the best C.O. I had ever served under..... And one hell of a hard act to follow."

Daniel's hand found and entwined with his. "You managed just fine Jack," he murmured quietly. Jack squeezed the hand in his and grinned lopsidedly.

He shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed. "Well I did my best, and I think George was proud of me. You know, I still remember the day I first met him, when he was talking about writing a book about his life and career."

Jack stared sadly at a point just over the reporter's head, sighing as he continued, "It was finally published last year, just three months before he died. For anyone interested, it's called 'Stranger Things on Heaven and Earth.' And it's a very entertaining read."

The reporter smiled indulgently, not in the least bit surprised that O'Neill would blatantly plug his friend's book.

"You retired from the Air Force yourself ten years ago, General, just after the project was finally made public. Can you tell us what you've been doing since?"

"Well, Danny and I started the campaign to have U.S. military policy changed to accommodate gay and lesbian soldiers. That took up a great deal of our time."

She nodded solemnly, "Yes, "don't ask/don't tell" was thrown out three years ago, I believe. I'm sure you're very proud of that achievement."

"Hell, yeah. It was long overdue," said Jack, squeezing Daniel's knee again.

"Just one of many things you have to be proud of, Sir. Now, can you tell our viewers what has been the crowning moment of your life so far?"

Daniel threw Jack a worried glance. Most of their exploits as SG1 were still classified. He knew Jack would never disclose sensitive information to the reporter, but what was left was mostly just downright embarrassing.

Jack's mouth lifted up at one corner, and he looked slyly at Daniel.

"Easy. The crowning moment of my life so far was the moment when this here wonderful pain in the ass beside me said 'I do.'"

"Jaaaack!" Daniel's face flushed with embarrassment and pleasure, and his eyes went suspiciously bright. He had to lower his gaze from the honest intensity he saw in Jack's.

"Well, it's true. It's what we were fighting for all those years, you know? Freedom. All kinds of freedom. Not just freedom from the Goa'uld, but also freedom from oppression, tyranny and bigotry." That was what Jack and the rest of SG-1 had always wanted to achieve. And to some extent, they had managed it.

"Thank you, sir," said the reporter, dabbing a tissue discreetly at the corner of her eye. "One last question before we close. If you could go back and do anything differently, change one thing about your life, what would it be?"

"Hmmm, that's a hard one. Let's see." Jack scratched idly at his chin for a moment. Then he looked right into the camera and his face became serious. "There are actually two things I would change. The first is that I would have made sure my handgun was more secure on that day back in 1996, when my son Charlie found it. If I'd been more careful, I wouldn't have lost him."

This time it was Daniel's turn to do a bit of knee squeezing. Even after all these years, Jack still had not forgiven himself for his son's death.

"And the second thing. See, I had this rule that I always tried to live by. No one gets left behind."

"That sounds very admirable."

"Yeah, but I did leave someone behind." Jack's head snapped around so that he was talking directly to Daniel. "I left DANIEL behind. On a planet called Abydos, after that first mission. And then I wasted seven years trying to figure out how to get him back."

The reporter checked her notes and frowned, "I thought the follow up mission was less that a year later...."

"Oh, I got his body back," said Jack in a reasonable tone, glancing momentarily at the reporter. He turned to address the next sentence directly to Daniel again. "But it took seven years to win back his heart."

The reporter cleared her throat with a gulp. She felt like she had just intruded on a very private moment between the two men.

The cameraman swung around and focused on her once again. "Thank you, General O'Neill, for offering us this little insight into the life of one of the men at the forefront of the Stargate Project." After a small pause, she said, "This is Cassandra Frasier reporting for 'Good Morning America'."

"And...Cut!" said the soundman, making a throat slashing gesture.

Cassie got up to walk over to Jack and Daniel. She grinned and leaned down to hug both men warmly.

"Thanks Uncle Jack, Uncle Daniel. You're both naturals."

"Hey," Jack said, returning Cassie's hug. "Just remember us two old geezers when you're accepting the Pulitzer Prize, okay?"