No POV

Brigadier General Jack O'Neill was confused. This in itself wasn't a strange occurrence; it happened every time he talked to Carter. Still. This was different.

He stared at his red phone before giving a passing SF an annoyed command. The President had just called him. This normally wouldn't be a problem. Odd, yes, but not a problem. The problem was that he had just been ordered to allow two civilians that were currently at the entrance into his base for full disclosure of the project, no questions asked. He had no names, no organizations, and only the President's word that they could be trusted. Sure, he liked the President well enough, but he could be a bit too trusting sometimes.

Needless to say, Jack was pissed.

There was a slight commotion outside and he got up to check, nearly stumbling in shock at what he saw.

Two people were being led down the hallway by a nervous looking SF, officers and airmen alike moving quickly out of the way, flashes of fear dancing in their eyes as they hurried off.

Now he was curious. He examined the man first.

He looked kind of like how Daniel might turn out, tall with grey hair, wearing a tweed suit and glasses. He was not young, but was standing tall and proud. His face showed no emotion beyond indifference, a spark of amusement quickly hidden in his eyes being the only exception as he observed the almost-chaos around him. He exuded a sense of calm, steady assurance, yet he moved like a man used to fighting for his life, a man weariness had caught up to but not yet taken over. There was a mercilessness there. This was a man who would protect those he cared about at all costs and fight proudly beside any he deemed worthy. Jack could respect this man easily, though he didn't have to like him.

He looked at his companion next.

The first thought he had was that this woman was dangerous. She wore a not-quite-skintight set of black fighting clothes, standing in a slightly defensive position though not obviously so, and she moved with the lethal grace of a predator without seeming to even notice. She was like a jungle cat poised forever to spring, the slight smirk indication that she always caught her "prey". To anyone else she would have looked normal. Short, blonde, hazel eyes; looking naïve, beautiful, and ageless. The military personnel, though… They saw a war veteran in her eyes, the feature that was causing the battle-hardened officers to shift away in discomfort and fear. In the way they never stopped moving, searching for threats, never stopping for longer than an instant. They were cold, calculating, fearless, inspiring an instinctive, wary respect. She was the top of the food chain, and she knew it. And quite frankly, she looked almost as good as Carter in that leather- but then, he might be biased. Still: Dangerous.

Jack POV

As my "guests" were brought into the brought into the briefing room, I noticed Major Davis following behind, looking worried. The woman that had just entered glanced at me, at the closed blast doors and back before rolling her eyes as if she knew exactly what was behind them, and I had the impossible sense that she did. And she wasn't pleased.

Our odd little group sat down. This ought to be interesting. The mystery man spoke first.

"Good day to you, General O'Neill. May I assume you have already received your orders?"

My eyes narrowed. They knew how strange this was, and took control of the meeting seemingly without a thought. Add in that he had a British accent and things didn't seem to be headed anywhere good. The last thing I needed was an international incident. "From the President, yes." I continued at the lack of response. "I would very much like to know who I'm speaking to."

"I'm sure you would." The woman finally spoke, her voice amused yet with a threatening undercurrent that could not be ignored. I couldn't repress the shiver that ran up my spine as she again turned her gaze on me. There was something primal there, and I wondered if I wanted to know just what would happen if it was set loose. Who were these people? "For now, you can call me Ace."

The British guy, whom I have now dubbed Mystery Man, turned to "Ace" in question and she shook her head minutely. So she was in charge, though she clearly respected him. Interesting. She spoke again.

"I only told you that so if we must work together in the future, you may call me by a name everyone knows," she paused with a mildly annoyed expression "and maybe get them to stop using that infernal title."

Her companion Employee? chuckled and raised a Teal'c-esque eyebrow. "Infernal?"

She groaned before replying "I have officially been spending too much time with you."

Mystery Man smirked. "Indeed. Perhaps you will even begin to speak proper English outside formal settings."

Ace let out a sort of feline snarl, making Jack flinch back. "Shut it, Mr. Tweed. No matter what I speak like, at least I'll never drink tea." She turned back to Jack "So. General. If you would like to begin?"

"Er, yeah. Right." Jack shifted uncomfortably, somewhat off-put by the sudden change in attitude. He glanced at the red phone, sighed, and began. "In 1928, on a dig in Giza, a Dr. Langford found a mysterious artifact that we call the 'Stargate'…"

'Ace' POV

Around three hours later, the General finally wound down, but I was barely listening anymore. They were fools! Opening the Chappa'ai without informing the Slayer? They almost go the planet destroyed as many times as we had saved it; almost made all those lives be lost for nothing! How dare they? They were playing with things too big for them, like a toddler on a roller coaster without an adult. When I was done with them, they would be lucky to be-

Chill, B. I heard Faith's voice resonating through our link. They were idiots, yes, and they undid many good sisters' work, but killing them won't help. Trust me, I know.

I sighed and rubbed my temples. I know. But we still should have known the moment the cover stone was lifted.

Yeah, thatisweird. Could the spells have worn away over time?

I don't… Wait; was there an apocalypse that year?

Fuck. The signal was lost. We should still ask about the spells, though. Suspicious otherwise, ya know?

Shit. I stifled a groan. Oh, well. The idiots' lives would be spared, for now. Thanks for calming me down, Fai. Later.

Later, B. I felt her retreat into her own mind as I tuned back in to the conversation taking place around me.

Giles was getting more specifics on our "allies" as the General grudgingly answered his questions. Going off what I heard, this place wasn't really half bad. Still, they should have left well enough alone. What part of 'A million years into the sky is Ra, sun god, sealed and buried for all time' did they not understand?

I suppose Hayes really does have a good guy in charge here, though- too bad Jack had already been Claimed. It was obvious the first time I looked into his eyes. People said that you could see a person's soul in their eyes, and for slayers this was somewhat true. While we didn't see actual souls, we could see a person's essence, and if there had been a Claim. Claiming is actually very rare; not only did the couple in question have to be in love, there had to be a mutual trust and respect. A desire to do everything they could to protect the other, yet the control to let what needed to happen, happen, no matter how painful. But it was quite clear in him. I could see the green breeze moving quietly in the background of his essence, which was more like an overcast sky in the calm before a storm. Yet for some reason the breeze seemed familiar to me, calming, yet forming a sense of sadness and betrayal in my mind I couldn't quite explain.

I sensed someone coming down the hall, and the pieces clicked into place. Please, not her. I can't face her. I don't want to face her!

I caught Giles' eye and he wrapped things up as I stood to leave. "If you'll excuse us, Deuce and Dusk will no doubt be getting anxious by now. Ace, shall we?"

"Yes, let's."

I resent that, B!

I know.

We moved quickly towards the elevator and I began to feel relief as the doors started to close. Then She came around the corner.

I froze, trying to keep my emotions off my face, but I think her shock was mirrored in my own eyes. Right before my view of her was cut off, I heard her whisper one word, so quietly I almost missed it even with my enhanced hearing. My eyes widened in pain and surprise- I'd not been called that in so long…

"Elizabeth…"

The doors clicked shut and the long ascent began, but I couldn't get her out of my head. Lt. Col. Samantha Carter.

The woman who taught me everything I knew pre-Calling.

The woman who abandoned me in a mental institution.

The woman my sisters both longed to meet and wished never existed.

Sammy Carter.

My older sister.

Sam POV

I stood frozen in the hallway, uncertain if that had really just happened. It can't have been real. Why would she be here, anyway? It's classified!Still, the look on her face after I whispered the name of my younger sister… It was almost as if she had heard me, and recognized the name. But she can't have. Even if it was her, which it wasn't, she would have been much too far away, right?

"Carter?" I snapped out of my trance to turn to my fine CO. Bad Sam. Still…

"Sir." I nodded to him "Who were those people?" I really did want to know- it wasn't often the SGC had unexpected guests. From our own planet, anyway.

Jack glanced at all the curious personnel around us and dragged me back to his office. My skin tingled where his hand gripped my wrist, and I really didn't want him to let go, regs or no regs. I decided not to think about that in favor of answers. I could deal with my arguing heart and mind later.

He turned to me with a troubled look. "I have no idea who they are. My clearance isn't high enough. I was ordered to brief them by the President. All I know is that the man had a British accent, the woman was in charge, and she called herself 'Ace'."

I sat down with a soft thump, my mind working the odds of this all being one huge coincidence. I called Elizabeth that when she started rebelling against Dad… No. Not her. It can't be. Not here.I took a deep breath "That's all you know?"

He nodded "That and that she somehow scared respect into everyone who saw her without doing a thing. Myself included. It was like she was a predator, and we were only left alive on a whim. It was…" He paused, and then looked me in the eye "Disturbing."

His frankness with me would have been normal talking about anything else, but not feelings. I knew full well that he didn't like talking about those, unfortunately. And this terrified me more than anything else.

"I thought you had the highest clearance?" I changed the subject to another point I had grabbed at- it was kind of worrying that the CO of the planet's first line of defense didn't have the clearance to know everything he may need to.

"Me, too," he had that endearing look of confusion that… Enough Colonel. Focus! "But apparently 'Ace' and everything about her is protected with the help of multiple countries. She even has diplomatic immunity here, andthe support of the President. This could turn into a huge problem if I don't cooperate. I'd like you to do some investigating, if you don't mind. Just don't do anything that can trace back to you. Please." He was looking really worried. How could I say no?

"Yes sir, I'll do my best." And, the worry was back, along with a nagging feeling that I knew the woman. I suppose that's actually possible, it's just not Elizabeth. It can't be. I'd know.

Right?

A/N: Okay, I didn't really change much here, more just condensed things.