Mirrored Part 1 -
He nudged the dial to the right. The image before him showed the scars of an explosion and a hole in the wall. He would prefer somewhere a bit less damaged for his retirement. He nudged the dial to the left. The lighting was dim, but the walls were intact. It would be nice to have more to go off of, but he was tired of looking and knew if it didn't work out he could try again.
"Are you sure about this Jack?" Colonel Reynolds looked from the mirror to Jack.
"Yep, this isn't my reality and my reason for staying is gone."
"You have friends here."
"And I appreciate that, but I need to move on."
Reynolds nodded and put his hand out. "Good luck." Jack shook his hand before turning and stepping through the mirror. He waited for a moment before turning off the mirror, surprised at the lack of alarms. When the mirror turned off the room was plunged into darkness. Jack waited for his eyes to adjust before moving towards the door. He slowly cracked it open and peeked out, the hall was clear. He stepped out and straightened his jacket, making sure his glock was hidden. He had decided to go with street clothes, khakis and a t-shirt, instead of fatigues in the hopes he would be better accepted as a non-hostile, but he wasn't stupid enough to show up unarmed.
He heard voices around the corner, but he simply assumed an air of belonging and kept walking, giving the two women and one man a polite head nod of acknowledgement as he passed. They were wearing geek coats and the halls were too shiny to be the SGC, so he assumed he was at area 51. His assumption was confirmed as he got closer to the entrance. He ducked into the bathroom until it was closer to evening. He blended in with a group leaving for the day and walked out without being noticed. He found a car in middle of the parking lot, popped its trunk, climbed in, and waited until the owner kindly drove him off base. He waited until the car had been turned off for ten minutes before getting out of the trunk. If he chose to stay he might need to mention that Area 51, and the mirror, needed better security.
Taking the car would set off too many alarms so he walked a few blocks until he saw a motorcycle that he could use to get to the SGC. It took him a couple days to get there but he arrived a little before four on Friday afternoon. He used the burner cell he bought the day before to call the switchboard.
"Cheyenne Mountain, how can I direct your call?"
"Jack O'Neill, please."
"I will connect you with General O'Neill's office, sir." The line went quiet and Jack hung up. A general, nice, he must be better at kissing ass in this reality. His doppelganger's existence meant staying in this reality much longer wasn't an option. He dialed the switchboard again.
"Cheyenne Mountain, how can I direct your call?"
"Could you connect me with Samantha Carter, please?"
"Yes, sir."
It rang twice. "Colonel Carter speaking." He closed his eyes and pictured her face as she spoke before he hung up on her. He watched and waited for her to leave. He knew he ought to just head back to Area 51 or go turn himself in and ask to be taken to the mirror but his desire to see her won out over good sense. He was pleased to find this O'Neill kept a set of spare keys in his tool box too. He parked in her driveway and sat, screwing up the courage to knock.
Sam hit start on the microwave just before he knocked. She opened the door and was surprised to see him on her doorstep since her last stop before leaving work had been his office.
"General, has something happened?"
"No, no, everything's fine. Can I…can I come in for a moment."
Sam smiled, "Of course, I'm so sorry. Please." She stepped aside and closed the door behind him.
"Have you had dinner yet?" The microwave dinged as he was asking, making him smile.
"No, actually." He followed her into the kitchen and watched as she used a potholder to remove a small black tray from the microwave.
"Then how about we go get some dinner, some real dinner."
"Are Daniel and Teal'c coming?"
Jack shook his head, "Nope, just us."
Sam lifted her chin and sucked in a breath. "Really?"
"Really, ummmm…a…a date." Sam's eyes widened. "Unless that makes you uncomfortable."
"I'm surprised but…I'd like to go, just let me change. Where are we going?"
Jack shrugged, caught a bit off guard. "Rudolphs?"
Sam smiled, "Perfect. I just need a few minutes."
Jack returned her grin. "Not a problem."
She put on a black skirt that stopped just above her knees and a light blue button down top with black sandals that had a small heel. She touched up her makeup and looked at her reflection in the mirror. If she went through with this there would be no going back, they would be breaking the regulations, but now that they were not serving off world together it seemed less relevant.
Daniel was walking out of the deli with two footlong subs and half a dozen sugar cookies when he saw Sam across the street leaving Rudolphs, her favorite Italian restaurant. He put up his empty hand to wave at her and was about to shout when he saw that she wasn't alone. The man who had been holding the door for her caught up with her and she put her hand on his arm. Sam tilted her head and laughed as they got to his truck, a truck that looked a lot like Jack's truck.
The man opened the passenger door for Sam. His back was to Daniel and Sam turned to face him and Daniel as the truck door opened. She leaned towards him as he put his arm around her waist. Daniel watched as a tentative light kiss deepened. He felt like a voyeur, so he pulled his eyes away and started moving towards his car. He was glad Sam had moved on from Pete and he hoped things worked out better for Sam this time. Curiosity got the better of him and he looked back over his shoulder as he got to his car. Sam was in the truck and the man was walking around the back corner. Daniel squinted and almost dropped the bag of subs and cookies when he recognized Jack. He shook off his shock as he wondered how long they had been secretly seeing each other and why neither of them had told him.
Daniel knocked on Teal'c's door.
"Enter."
"Dinner's here."
"Excellent."
Daniel laid the subs and cookies on the table while Teal'c got out chips, drinks, and fruit. "Thank you for going out while I finished the training session."
"It was no problem, I needed a break from that translation anyway."
"Have you made progress?"
Daniel shook his head, "Not much." Teal'c inclined his head in sympathy as he took his first bite. Daniel slowly unwrapped his sandwich. "Have you noticed anything different about Jack or Sam lately?"
Teal'c shook his head. "Colonel Carter seemed fine this afternoon before she left and other than being inundated with the paperwork he refuses to do O'Neill seems fine."
"I guess."
"Why do you ask? Does something have you concerned?"
"I wouldn't say concerned, it's just that I saw them out tonight while I was picking up dinner and they seemed different."
"That is not possible, I spoke with O'Neill just before coming to my room to meet you."
Daniel dropped his sub. "Tonght?"
"Of course."
"He's still here?"
"He was as of twenty minutes ago."
Daniel pushed his chair back and stood up. "We need to go see him, now." Teal'c picked up his sandwich and drink and followed as Daniel rushed from his room.
"Jack, we have a problem, there's another you and he's with Sam, right now."
"Slow down Daniel and explain." Daniel told him what he saw, and Jack's brow furrowed as he listened. "Fine, we'll call her."
"And say what, the guy you're with is an imposter but don't let him know we know and keep him there until we get there?"
"Basically, yes."
"Jack."
"Daniel."
"We can't let him get away and for all we know if we alert Sam he'll hurt her or take her hostage."
"Fine, we'll take a couple teams and find them."
"Find them? I think it's safe to assume they're at her house since he wouldn't be stupid enough to go to your house."
Jack lips tightened into a line. "Makes sense."
"And you want to send a group of Marines into Sam's home? What would you be doing with Sam if you were alone with her in her home after that kiss? Is that what you want a group of Marines to see? Would Sam ever forgive any of us?"
"Damn it, Daniel, what do you want?"
"Just us, the three of us."
Jack slammed his hand down on his desk. "Fine, but we go in armed."
Daniel nodded. "Agreed."
