Title: Ascension is Overrated

Author: Mozambique

Pairing: S/J

Spoilers: Up through season 9, Avalon. Major spoilers for Threads though.

Disclaimer: I am not the creator of Stargate SG-1 and sadly do not own any characters mentioned in the following fan fiction. I am only borrowing them and promise to put them back when I'm done. Hopefully with as little harm as possible.

Notes: This is in response to ReganX's Guardian Angel challenge posted in the Stargate Challenge forum. I've changed it a little bit but it should still fill all the requirements when finished. It's also for all those people who thought my last Sam/Jack story was a bit depressing (oh how I agree with you), this should be a bit more fluffy. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

It wasn't often that the higher powers came and offered one of us "lost souls" a chance to gain life in death. It hadn't happened in the eight years that I've been here and from the mutterings of everyone else, I felt safe in guessing it hadn't happened in a long time before that either.

But even the fact that one of them came down here wasn't the strangest part of what happened. The strangest part of it all was that he was offering this ascension crap to me. Because, you know, it wasn't like I had done anything in my life to deserve a second chance and the memories I did have of life were a lot better then those that some of the souls here had. I had seen and done things that most would deem impossible and unbelievable. It was more then any man could have asked for.

Of course I said yes, who wouldn't? A chance to live again? To know all the secrets of the universe? And besides, I had been cheated out of life. Maybe I hadn't painted the Sistine Chapel or discovered the Polio Vaccine, but I had gone on the very first mission through the Stargate, and the second. It wasn't fair that my life was stolen by a snake invading my body. I wanted to live.

The minute this higher being showed up, things got very very quiet. People stopped muttering, screaming and arguing and all turned to watch this man progress through our ranks from a Stargate that had appeared out of no where. It was obvious that he wasn't one of us: he kind of glowed and it was a huge contrast to the dark, graying colors around us. I watched him, just as fascinated. And he was coming straight towards me.

"Major Kawlsky," the man greeted. His dark eyes boring into me in a way that made me feel like he was seeing my soul. Maybe he was.

"Depends who's asking," I replied, ever cheekily. The man smiled at me and motioned for me to get to my feet.

"Walk with me," he said and I followed obediently.

"Heard of soul mates?"

"Fairy tale nonsense," I scoffed.

"No, just extremely rare. The reason you lower beings consider it the stuff of stories is because most of the time, the two souls never meet. It's tragic really."

I stopped and turned to look at him, very skeptical. "You're trying to tell me, that everyone has just one perfect counter part? And that they have to find that one person out of the billions on earth?"

"No, they have to find that one person out of the infinite number of people in the universe."

"You really expect me to believe that?" This was getting too weird and I had no idea why it was important anyway.

He shrugged and said, "Whether you believe or not, doesn't matter."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"You want a second chance at life? The collective has decided to give you that chance."

"In return for what?" And here we got to the bottom line. Nothing was ever given for free. He smiled indulgently and continued walking.

"All you need to do is watch over Jack O'Neill – "

"You mean like a guarding angel?" I interrupted in surprise.

He paused for a moment, "If you wish. But you don't really need to look out for O'Neill, you need to help him realize that he has everything he's ever asked for if he'd just open his eyes."

"Meaning?"

"The other half of his soul."

"A soul mate, Jack has a soul mate? You're kidding me." I started laughing. The idea of Colonel Jack O'Neill – the man whose heart had turned to ice a long time ago – having a soul mate was probably the funniest thing I had heard in my entire lifetime. But my amusement dwindled when I realized that ascended being was not laughing. "Okay, maybe not. So I do this, then what happens?"

"We'll ascend you."

"And if I fail?"

"Then you simply come back to this."

Well, that wouldn't be too bad then. At least it wouldn't get any worse.

"Guess I don't have anything to lose. Will Jack be able to hear me?"

"And see you, but no one else."

"Well this will be a piece of cake then. Who is it?"

"Who's who?" The man said, smiling at me in a way that made it perfectly clear that he knew who I was referring to.

"Jack's soul mate," I said, exasperated

"You'll have to determine that for yourself. Are you ready?"

The man pointed to the Stargate which with all the talking, I hadn't even realized that that was where we had been walking towards. I stood at the base for a moment, looking up at the puddle of water. The last time I had stepped through this, I had been a Goa'uld.

I turned one more time and looked at the man, "Not even a hint?" He just smiled and I took a step forward through the Stargate and back into the SGC.

Finding Jack was harder then I thought it was going to be. He wasn't in any of the normal places I had expected. I checked the commissary, the rec room, the gym, even Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson's labs though why he'd be hanging out there I had no idea. In a last ditch effort I tracked down his office, but the name on the door said the room now belonged to a Dr. J. Felger.

Eventually, I headed up to the briefing room and took a seat in one of the large black chairs. He couldn't be off world could he? What would be the point of sending me here now if Jack wasn't even around? I dropped my head into my hands, elbows on the table and sighed. This wasn't going anywhere.

"Oh for crying out loud!"

I raised my head. Only one person I knew every said that: Jack. That's when I saw him. He was more weathered then I remembered, his hair had definitely grayed but it was Jack. He was sitting in General Hammond's office with a mound of paper work around him. I got up and opened the door without a knock. He glanced up at the intrusion and his face turned white.

"Kawlsky?"

"Hey, Jack," I said. "It's been a while."

AN: Hope you enjoyed. I welcome any positive feedback or constructive criticism.