Path of the World

by Psalm 136

President Kenneth Eliot never thought the end of the world would come during his presidency. The danger was supposed to be over. But SG-1 is needed now, more than ever. Final Battle fic.

Path of the World

Psalm 136

Stargate SG-1

Drama/General

Mentions of Jack/Sam, Daniel/Vala

Summary: President Kenneth Eliot never thought the end of the world would come during his presidency. The danger was supposed to be over. But SG-1 is needed now, more than ever.

Author's Notes: With a new president in office, I just wanted to explore what would happen if the Stargate was real and a new president had to deal with that knowledge… and the battle that could change the course of human history forever… or destroy Earth entirely. What would it be like to face that? And yes, the president is based on Obama, but this isn't meant to be a political statement of any sort – I just needed someone's voice in my head to help write this.

…

There was so much to be done. There were so many orders that needed to be given. There were so many plans to make, in case this didn't turn out as well as past incidents had. He needed to see his wife and daughters off, before Air Force One took them to Cheyenne Mountain and before he lost his last chance to ever see them. He needed to meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff… needed to meet with the Air Force's top generals… needed to… needed… there were so many things to do.

He wasn't even afraid to admit it: he, Kenneth Eliot, forty-fourth President of the United States of America, was terrified.

He had run for the presidency because he wanted to change things. He wanted to change the way Washington was run. He wanted to change the tone of American politics. He wanted to stop the recession from falling to a depression. He wanted to put regulations in place to make sure that nothing like this would ever happen again. He had wanted to do a lot of things when he and his wife, Lisa, had decided that he would announce his candidacy. He had been an idealist, but was tempered by reality. Now? He didn't know what he was, except that he was really scared.

This office, the Oval Office, had once been a comfort to him. He was surrounded by the artifacts from previous presidents and could almost feel their presence whenever he sat behind the desk. He could hear Thomas Jefferson, felt John Adams… he could feel Woodrow Wilson's quiet idealism in the corner, urging him to be moral and to lead his people in the way he felt best. He heard Theodore Roosevelt's insistence that America was to be the example for all other countries. He could feel the warm, wise presence of Abraham Lincoln, reminding him to unite the country.

Now, the room was dead, and he was completely alone.

President Eliot, the leader of the free world, quietly gave into his grief while he was still alone. Soon, he would allow his assistants and his generals in. Soon, he would be the leader of the free world again and protect the planet, no matter how that knowledge he needed to do that blew his mind. Soon, he would be the president. But right now, he was just Kenneth, and he was just a man.

The door opened, and his eyes shot up to see who it was, but his thundering heart was calmed, and he didn't wipe away his tears. It was Lisa, and he could see the tears on her face, too. She knew the situation they were in. He had told her. And she knew. She knew she would be leaving with their daughters and possibly never see him again. She knew he would probably die in the defense of their country and their world. She knew he would never leave, even if he wanted to. She knew how seriously he took his position as commander-in-chief. And she also knew that commanders didn't leave their posts until they were relieved of duty.

Kenneth somehow managed to stand on his own two feet, and, somehow, he managed to walk to her. With a muffled sob, he took her into his arms. He could feel her trembling and could feet the wetness of her tears seeping through his suit. He knew he was trembling, too. With a loud sniffle, he cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. He had to be strong, even though it usually turned out that she was the strong one.

He pulled back from their tight embrace to look into her beautiful brown eyes. He had experienced everything that was good in life with this woman. He had loved her desperately, and she had loved him back with the same fervor. She had given him children, and they had raised their beautiful babies from infancy to their childhood. Soon, he knew, his babies, Nathalie and Melinda, would be women. They would grow, but his love for them would never lessen. Just as his love for Lisa would never be lessened. Lisa and he… they had been on quite a journey, and it had all started because he just wouldn't give up until she went out for ice cream with him.

He had kissed her, then. She had tasted like the chocolate ice cream she had consumed with him.

And it all could come to an end tonight.

With that thought on his mind, he kissed her hungrily, almost forcefully, needing to impart all that his heart wanted to say but his mind couldn't process and his mouth couldn't say. His fingers clung desperately to her hair, where they had tangled, and her arms around his waist held him to her. He could taste her tears, and he was pretty sure he could taste his own as well.

"I love you, Lisa Eliot. Don't you dare forget that," he whispered when they parted for air. "I love you."

She nodded, her eyes blazing as they met his. "I won't. I love you," she told him almost angrily. She held his face in her hands and stared intently into his eyes. "I will see you again, Kenneth. This will not be our last meeting. I will see you again, and I will have stories upon stories of the girls getting into trouble at the Alpha Site, and you will have stories of our soldiers' bravery and how they triumphed."

He nodded mutely. Even though she was shaking with fear, Lisa knew exactly what she wanted to say and would say it. She would remind him of everything they had been through and everything they still had yet to experience. She was a brilliant, eloquent woman… and he loved her so much.

"The girls are downstairs, and we're ready to leave. Now, you need to say goodbye to them so you can get started," Lisa said, before wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you, Kenneth Eliot, and I trust that you will save us all."

Her faith in him was staggering, but he merely hugged her back. "I love you, too. I love you, and even if I never see you again…" he turned his face to see her eyes. "I was blessed to even have such a short time with you. You are everything to me, Lisa," he kissed her cheek and leaned his forehead against hers. "But I will see you again," he promised fiercely.

"I know." Lisa pulled away and wiped his tears away with her thumbs and then laughed half-heartedly when Kenneth kissed hers away.

Kenneth took her hand in his, and together, they left the Oval Office. He paused before continuing down the hallway, and he turned to the small crowd of people that had accumulated as he refused to allow anyone in. "I will be back in a few minutes. You may get started without me," he stated, and then left with his wife.

The fear and tears had been left behind in his office. He would remain a father until he said goodbye to his daughters, and then he would be the president. But not until then.

The walk to the foyer of the White House was painfully short, and Kenneth's heart shattered when he saw the raw fear in his daughters' eyes and the tears on their faces. They ran to him and to Lisa and clung to their parents for comfort and protection.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Nathalie asked, speaking through the lump that had undoubtedly formed in her throat.

"Is it the bad guys?" Melinda asked in a small voice.

Kenneth knelt down to his daughters' level and placed one hand on each of their cheeks. "Yes, it is the bad guys, but everything will be fine," he lied. "You and your mother are going to go away so you can be protected, and once everything here is fine, you'll come back. There is nothing to be afraid of."

Well, there was a lot to be afraid of, actually, but he didn't want his baby girls to be scared. That hurt worse than any blow.

Nathalie nodded. She was only eight, and she believed him. There wasn't any room in her mind for doubt. But Melinda was twelve, and he knew she knew better. But she nodded anyway and buried her face into his shoulder. Nathalie did the same. He rubbed their backs comfortingly, Lisa at his side, doing the same. He looked up when someone cleared their throat. It was Major Paul Davis.

He slowly stood up. "You have to go now, girls, but I'll see you later. I promise." That was a promise he wanted more than anything to be able to keep. "I love you both so much," his voice wavered slightly.

"Love you, too, Dad," the two girls mumbled in return, kissing his cheek.

Lisa faced him and solemnly kissed him. She leaned in and put her lips to his ear. "I love you."

"I love you too," he responded, and his fingers tightened around the fabric of her shirt, but he let go. "Major," he greeted.

"Mr. President," Major Davis saluted. "I'll escort them to Air Force One."

Kenneth nodded. "Bye," he said to his family, to the three women who meant more than life itself to him. He hoped it wouldn't be for forever.

And then they were gone, and he turned around and headed back to the Oval Office.

"Mr. President, NASA has just confirmed that the fleet has entered the solar system," a composed Air Force officer reported to him. "They'll be here within hours."

President Eliot nodded. "The Tok'ra?"

"No word yet, sir," the officer said.

"General," President Eliot called to the one man he could trust in this situation. The one and only Jack O'Neill. There was no time to reminisce on his awe of the man after reading eight years worth of mission reports and four years worth of an impeccable service record in the political space. But he knew he could trust O'Neill.

"Mr. President," the man's normally jovial voice was grave and rough. His eyes were hard.

"What's the situation?" he asked in a calm voice. Kenneth was calm. This was what he had wanted for so long. He was the president, and he would act like it. He had been frightened and scared and terrified earlier. Now, he needed to be strong.

"The Goa'uld have been regaining strength in the outer reaches of the Milky Way galaxy for the last few years, since Ba'al was executed. New leaders have risen, and they now seem to be playing nicer than they ever had within their own ranks. Their manpower comes from legions of loyal human slaves and quite a few Jaffa who defected from their new nation. They have motherships and other ships, but not at the volume we used to see," General O'Neill said, his emotions unreadable. "But they have united all of the mercenaries into one force. Frankly, sir, they're pissed and they're coming for us."

Kenneth couldn't help but feel grim amusement at the way General O'Neill put it.

"What are our options?" Kenneth asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"We have the Ancients' defense station in Antarctica, and some X-302s and the Daedalus. Since we found out about the impending attack, we've had factories sworn to secrecy and pumping them out as quickly as they can make them," O'Neill rubbed the back of his neck. "We should have more ready to be launched soon. But I don't know if it'll be enough to match the numbers the Goa'uld are bringing."

Kenneth fought off the sensation that he was drowning and kept his face composed. "Does General Landry and his people have anything?"

"Colonel Carter and her team from Atlantis just arrived five minutes ago with some technology they think might help. McKay and Carter have already taken over the labs at Stargate Command."

There was a flash of hope in O'Neill's eyes, and Kenneth clung to that.

"Have they attacked any other planets? Any clues on how they will attack?" Kenneth asked as he took a laptop from one of his aides and scanned the information and plans there. He clicked on a few items, edited a few of the words, added more orders to the end and then handed the laptop back for the aide to send.

"No," O'Neill sighed. "They haven't stopped since they left, according to our findings. They're intent on destroying us, only us."

Kenneth nodded wordlessly. His head was swimming, and he stood up from his chair, a little worried at the state of his mind because he didn't remember sitting.

"What do you suggest, General?" he finally asked, meeting O'Neill's eyes.

"Give them everything we have, Mr. President. We've fought bigger and meaner enemies before and come out on top. Our people at the SGC are the best, and they'll win."

There was raw belief in O'Neill's voice. Raw trust. Faith.

Kenneth wanted to believe in him. But the mission reports he had read sounded like fairytales. Stories. Movie plots. This was the stuff of great films. This didn't happen in real life. Except that it did. It was happening. It was happening again. And this was real life, and he wasn't so sure the good guys always triumphed.

O'Neill saw the doubt in his commander's eyes, saw the fear. He knew those feelings as well as he knew himself. He had seen those emotions in his own eyes, in the eyes of his friends: Sam, Daniel, Teal'c. Before he could respond, before he could say something, the red phone on the President's desk rang, and he answered.

"Yes?" O'Neill couldn't believe the calm that the president exuded. He was frightened – everyone was – but he sounded so serene and sure. O'Neill couldn't listen to the rest of the conversation as he was pulled to the side by Major Davis, who had just arrived from escorting the First Family to Air Force One. When O'Neill turned back, President Eliot had set the phone back into its cradle.

"Teal'c has arrived. He says that many Jaffa ships will be arriving within the hour from various space Gates," President Eliot said with a sigh of relief.

O'Neill couldn't help but grin. "I knew he'd come through," he said, very pleased.

"Also, General," the President said. "I want you at the SGC, leading the attack. General Landry is qualified, yes, and competent, but I want you there. You have an incredible record…" the President suddenly became just a normal man when he smiled, all traces of worry vanishing from his handsome features for a moment. "And I'm beginning to think you're something of a good luck charm."

O'Neill smiled grimly and nodded. "Yes, sir. Will the Daedalus be beaming me there?"

"Yes," Eliot glanced at his watch. "In about a minute's time."

"Sir," President Eliot looked back to O'Neill curiously. O'Neill's face was set with determination. "We'll get them, and we'll get them good, and they'll be gone."

Kenneth nodded. "I trust you, General."

"Thank you, sir," and with that, Jack O'Neill disappeared in a shaft of bright light.

President Kenneth Eliot turned to the other generals. "What else?" he straightened his back and squared his shoulders. He knew everything would turn out well. The Earth would survive. Billions of people would be saved. But now, he needed to continue to lead his armed forces until the end of the Goa'uld came.

…

"McKay, you're not listening to me!" Colonel Samantha Carter bit out, resting her hands on the table separating her and the insufferable Canadian genius. "The pilots of the X-302s can handle with the smaller ships with ease. Teal'c's men will help. But we don't know how to get past the new shields on the motherships!"

"And that's where you're not listening to me," McKay rolled his eyes at her. "I say we can."

"How?" she asked, her mind racing to find the piece of information that he had that she didn't.

McKay started to explain, but then she cut him off. "That won't work. You can't just blast at the motherships' shields and expect that they'll collapse. The Goa'uld technology is more sophisticated than that."

"What do you suggest?" he asked haughtily.

"Well, if we…"

Sam shuffled through reams and reams of paper that were scattered across the counter in the lab the two occupied. She found a report, one that wasn't terribly important, flipped it over, and began to sketch. She was in the middle of explaining how the right burst of energy at a specific spot on the shield might make the energy in the field surrounding the motherships collapse into itself when Jack O'Neill walked in.

Sam couldn't help but let herself relax. The muscles in her shoulders and neck had been tightening steadily over the past few days, and now she could be calmer. Jack was here. The whole team was present. It was different when it was just her with others, or just Daniel, or just Teal'c or just Jack. Each on their own was brilliant and strong, but together… together, they could save the world.

"What are you two up to?" Jack asked casually, though Sam could see the darkness in his eyes. "Figuring out a way to save our collective asses?"

"Well…" McKay trailed off. "Yes, frankly. We think we have it."

Jack looked surprised, and then nodded, allowing McKay to explain, but kept an eye on Carter.

"But the only problem is," Sam cut McKay off before he could get too excited about her idea. "Is that it's completely theoretical, and honestly, sir, we don't have any evidence to support it."

Jack nodded thoughtfully. "Do you think that the Daedalus could take the motherships, Carter?"

"Honestly, no," she hated herself that she had to admit that. "The X-302s and Teal'c's ships can take the gliders easily, and the Daedalus could take out two or three motherships by itself, before it's too damaged to keep going and has to land back on Earth or jump to hyperspace."

"The Atlantis defenses in Antarctica?" Jack asked.

Sam calculated and thought, and slowly nodded. "It's possible that, all together, it can work."

"I'll take that," Jack nodded. "Let's go."

Sam and McKay followed Jack down the hall to the control room, weaving through running people and panicked engineers trying to work out problems. If this was going to be the end of the world, she thought, then they'd go out fighting. They always did.

…

First Lady Lisa Eliot stepped through the undulating event horizon of the Stargate, holding tightly to the hands of her daughters, and appeared on the other side. She was calmed slightly by the sight of ABUs and BDUs that clearly showed that this facility was one that belonged to the United States' military. There were officers calming frightened people – the brightest minds of the world, the best of the best – and taking groups to rooms where they could relax. There was little to no actual chaos. There was an air of defeated acceptance.

And Lisa wanted to go back. She wanted to make sure Kenneth was okay, that he was calm and could deal with all of the chaos. But she needed to stay here. She needed to protect her daughters. She owed Kenneth that. No matter how much she wanted to be with him, their daughters were more important, and her daughters needed their mother.

"First Lady," a female officer approached her and saluted out of respect. "My name is Lieutenant Laura Cadman. There are rooms prepared for you and your daughters, and I'll take you to them, if you like. I know all of this is such a shock, but it'll be better for the girls to be in more relaxed surroundings that this," the lieutenant gestured to the chaos of so many people and so much confusion.

She had it right, Lisa knew. Lisa took a deep breath and smiled down at her girls. "Let's go," she nodded to the lieutenant, and she followed.

Once the girls were asleep and warm and comfortable, then she could worry. Until then, she would be strong for her kids. Until then, she would emulate Kenneth and be as strong as he was in the face of crisis and danger.

He promised he would see her again. He promised everything would be right.

Lisa found comfort in the fact Kenneth always kept his promises.

…

President Kenneth Eliot had had many occasions during which he spoke to the people who had elected him to lead. He had spoken publicly before Congress, before the Joint Chiefs, before the country, before the world. While he had spoken of important topics… no topic was more important than this, the fate of the world, and no audience was more important than the courageous men and women who would be defending the world. Strangely, he was calm, if not overwhelmed.

He was walking through the halls of a nameless hanger, where he had been beamed to from Washington, D.C., where all of the ships would take off from, thinking over the speech he himself had written. He had dismissed all of his speechwriters and written the speech in twenty minutes. It wasn't as perfect as his campaign speeches had been, or his Inauguration Address. But it was everything he needed it to be.

He needed to instill hope and convey his gratitude to them. He needed to tell them… he needed to tell them that they were all heroes for facing dangers he knew he had no stomach for.

He reached the hanger bay and was astounded by how many planes were ready to go, and how many pilots were waiting for him. He paused as the ranking commander announced his arrival, and he watched as every single soldier snapped to attention. He stepped up onto a small stage that had been erected hastily and walked to the podium that was standing on the stage. He could see a young airman in the back with a video camera, which undoubtedly was sending the image to Stargate Command as well.

The room was silent as the soldiers stood impossibly still in their at-ease positions, and as he attempted to compose himself.

Eliot turned his eyes to the men and women who had sworn allegiance to their country, to the Constitution of the United States… and to him.

"There is little time left until the enemy arrives at our doorstep, and there is little time before you must go to defend our planet and our country. I know this situation is not one any one of you, or even myself, thought of when we took our oaths. But we are here, on the precipice, and you all know, as well as I do, the consequences of failure. You know what will happen. But we will victorious. As Americans, we have faced enemy after enemy and come out as the victor."

"But our victory did not always come out of greater numbers," Kenneth reminded them. "We fought a war over two hundred years ago, not a war for taxes or actual slights. We fought a war for freedom, for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I ask you to once again fight such a war. We face a real threat. Our entire planet might be destroyed. But the threat is also to the cause of freedom in the universe. If we are gone, who will defend those who cannot defend themselves? Who will help those who cannot help themselves? Who will help those innocents? For this reason, we will prevail. The universe needs one who will fight for freedom. We are that one."

"And for this reason, I send you out to fight. You all have your orders… and now, you know what you are fighting for. You are fighting for that innocent child who has not known the taste of freedom until we arrived and vanquished the Goa'uld. You are fighting for that innocent child here on Earth who has not known the taste of slavery or death but will if we are not victorious on this day. You are fighting for the creeds that propelled a war two hundred years ago: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You are fighting for the United States of America. You are fighting for planet Earth."

With a heavy feeling in his chest, but the taste of hope in his mouth, he said his final words. "Go now. Protect all that you have sworn to. You are heroes all."

…

"Close the iris!" Jack yelled over the din of the control room. Goa'uld soldiers were trying to get in.

Chief Master Sergeant Harriman immediately followed the order, flinching at the sound of explosions against the titanium iris. But the iris would hold. It would hold.

It had to.

"Carter!" he turned to look at the blonde woman.

"Yes, sir?" she asked over her shoulder, bending over a computer.

"Status?"

"They're blasting gamma rays into the iris. We have to evacuate the room and go to level fifteen. There are auxiliary controls there. We have to go now, sir," she said, and he nodded.

Jack picked up the phone against the wall. "This is Major General Jack O'Neill. Evacuate levels sixteen to twenty-eight. This is not a drill. I repeat, evacuate to level fifteen. This is not a drill."

Suddenly, an explosion seemed to rock the entire mountain.

…

From the window in the Oval Office, Kenneth could see the lights in the skies, lights he knew to be indicative that more and more soldiers were dying. The TV was on in the background, and he heard the familiar voice of Washington's most popular news reporter relaying the information from NASA that this was the long-anticipated… something-or-other having to do with stars and space. He had given the order that that lie be fed to the public. There was no point in telling them. It would only cause mass panic. They had sent as many people through the Gate as they could, until the Goa'uld started the bombardment. Those who had stayed behind, either by choice, like him, or by force, like the majority of the planet, would either die or life would go on as though nothing had changed.

He hated himself for the fact so many people would die, if his men were not successful. He tried to convince himself that they would win, that the good guys really did win, but he wasn't sure. He just wasn't sure of anything anymore.

But he took a deep breath and thought of Lisa and Nathalie and Melinda. At least they were safe. At least. All things beyond that were details. If he survived, it would be a blessing to be reunited with his family. If the men fighting in space now won, it would be a blessing greater than he could imagine. But at least his family was safe.

Everyone who had needed to see him earlier had their orders and duties. He would be alone for a time.

He closed his eyes.

"Oh, Kenneth…" Lisa whispered, holding their brand-new daughter in her arms, looking up into his face. "Look what we made…"

There were tears in her eyes, and there were tears in his, and he kissed the face of his baby girl for the very first time. The perfect little child turned her face just as he did so, her tiny lips catching his cheek. Kenneth hadn't known what it was to love until that exact moment in time.

His breath caught in his chest and he couldn't breathe.

His lips tentatively met hers, and he would forever remember that she tasted like cheap chocolate ice cream from Baskin-Robbins. And she would never taste better than that innocent, perfect moment.

Tears burned behind his eyes, but he didn't let them come. He'd see her again. He'd see his daughters again. He had to. He had promised.

Little Melinda was four and spent most of her time reading, just like her mother. Nathalie, on the other hand, was a newborn and hadn't stopped screaming since she came out of her mother, it seemed. Except when she slept. When she slept, Nathalie was an angel.

Kenneth smiled down at the vision sleeping in her crib. He traced her tiny ear with his fingertip and froze as she moved in her sleep. When he was reasonably sure she was still asleep, he smiled again. Then he went to his bedroom to collapse into bed next to his wife. He was asleep before he hit the pillow.

This would not be the end, he promised himself. There was nothing he could do to make that promise come true, but he turned his eyes back to the lights in the sky. They would, though. They would save the Earth.

…

Daniel Jackson had been waiting anxiously for hours. He hated these kinds of battles. He hated waiting for people to come back, dead, to see the few survivors march back in with the burden of their dead. Most of all, though, he hated waiting for the end of the world.

He paced in the commissary in the upper levels. Boredom, coupled with intense fear, was never good for anyone. He glanced at Vala, who was sitting at the table, pushing around the last few bites of her ice cream. She looked up, sensing his gaze, and offered him a weary smile.

"Sit down, Daniel," she said quietly, and he obeyed her words. "I'm scared, too," she admitted, resting her small, feminine hand on his.

"I hope Mitchell and Teal'c are okay."

Daniel hated waiting for his friends to come back dead. He hated being helpless.

"They'll be fine," she assured him with a small smile. "Everyone will be fine. It's just a matter of time until they do."

"Yeah," he forced himself to agree as he stole a bite of her ice cream. "Yeah."

…

Colonel Steven Caldwell braced himself against the armrests of his command chair as the Daedalus was rocked by another blast from the motherships.

"Shields?" he asked, his voice tired from shouting out orders.

"At fifty-seven percent, sir," Lieutenant Marks, to his left, said.

"Good," he muttered. "Redirect fifty-percent of the power from auxiliary systems to the shields and the weapons. Fire when ready."

"Yes, sir," Marks said.

…

"Teal'c, you got him?" Mitchell asked over the radio, his eyes focused so harshly on the three gliders he was taking out that the rest of the world faded away.

"The glider following you has been destroyed, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c's serene voice came back to his ears. "I believe the tide of the battle is turning in our favor."

Mitchell let out a shout of excitement once he got the three gliders. They hadn't even known it was coming. "Really?" Still focused on the enemy, he glanced around and saw there were significantly less of the enemy than there were of the good guys. "Sweet," he commented as he saw the defense station in Antarctica send yet another wave of drones towards the motherships. He took aim at one of the gliders ready to commit suicide to protect the larger ships and grinned when he took it out.

…

In the upper levels, Sam was busy at the auxiliary controls, pulling up a set of security cameras from the control room. Everything looked normal, the iris was still holding, but she could see that the radioactivity was compromising the integrity of the titanium, and soon, the mountain would be overrun.

"How long do you estimate?" Jack asked, surprising her. She hadn't heard his approach.

She looked over her shoulder, meeting his eyes as a greeting, and then managed to pull up the main temperature controls in the embarkation room. She let out a sign as she did the math in her head. "I'm not really sure… several hours? Maybe more?"

Jack nodded. "That'll give us time to mobilize. We have waves of marines here, not to mention Colorado's National Guard that could be here within minutes, and all of the soldiers that could be brought in… even, if worst came to worst…" he trailed off.

"The Air Force Academy," Sam nodded. She understood. It might have to be done. They might have to send children into battle. "Any word on the battle?"

"Teal'c says we're winning," Jack shrugged. "But you know how he can be overly optimistic."

Sam couldn't help but grin a little bit. "Yeah. Teal'c's that kind of guy."

The moment passed, and Jack looked at her. "And how are you?"

"I'm okay," she sighed. "I just hate sitting here."

His warm hand rested on her shoulder and she leaned back into his touch. In it, there was comfort and safety and protection, and the biting fear that assaulted her heart was lessened. She felt she could finally breathe after a lifetime of not doing so.

"Me, too, Carter," he agreed. "Me, too."

…

Somehow, he still didn't understand how, it was over.

Kenneth dropped into his chair behind his desk and rested his forehead on the papers that had been scattered across all available surfaces for the past two days. He trembled from relief, from fear of what might have happened, from sheer nothing. He was exhausted, he hadn't sleep, and he most certainly hadn't eaten. He hadn't showered and was sure that he smelled something awful. But he nearly laughed out of happiness that he was able to worry about such petty things. He was alive. Everyone… everyone was still alive. Such a small number of heroes had saved over six billion people. It was mind-boggling.

Kenneth stood up and walked out of the door, followed by several Secret Service agents. "I want to give them all medals… awards… whatever," he said directly to the first military aide he came upon. "Every single one of them."

"Yes, Mr. President," the aide nodded and then continued on his way.

"Get O'Neill on the phone for me," he ordered. That man, whatever he had done, whatever he had said to inspire those men and women… whatever he wanted, he would get. The same would go for every single one of the survivors of the battles. The families of those who had died? They would get more than a military pension. They would… he didn't even know. But they deserved more than just a pension. Their loved one had died in defense of the planet.

His hands were shaking as he accepted the phone.

"O'Neill…" Kenneth managed to say.

"Mr. President," O'Neill's voice was once against jovial and cheerful. "And how are you this fine morning?"

Kenneth actually had to glance out of the nearest window. O'Neill was right; it was morning. He rubbed his eyes with his unoccupied hand. "A bit drained. And you?" he asked in his most genial politician's voice.

"Oh, quite well. Drained also, though."

Kenneth braced himself for O'Neill's answer. "Casualties?"

"Two hundred," O'Neill reported grimly.

Kenneth covered his mouth to hold in his gasp. Two hundred men and women were dead. Lives lost were never the price to pay, but it was necessary. Unfortunately. Nothing could ever be done for the wives who had lost their husbands, the husbands who had lost their wives, the children who had lost one of their parents… but life would go on. Thanks to two hundred men and women, life would go on.

"Thank you, General," Kenneth managed to say. "How is the mountain?"

"Relatively unharmed," O'Neill sounded much happier to talk about that. "The gamma rays did a bit of damage, and it'll be a couple hours until anyone can go down there without a suit, but everyone's fine… we're fine."

"Good," President Eliot said, letting out a sigh. "How did the battle at your end go?"

"Everyone did their job well. We only lost a few people." O'Neill's voice sounded harsher than normal.

Kenneth didn't like the way that sounded. Though he had only ever had a professional relationship with the man that had only been formed since he had been named President-Elect, only five months ago, he trusted O'Neill and only wanted the best for the man he wanted to have named 'Earth's Hero'. Yes, a lot of people had defended the Earth, and they were all heroes, but Kenneth knew O'Neill inspired something out of people. He was a real leader.

Kenneth smiled slightly to himself. It was good that O'Neill wasn't at all interested in politics or he wouldn't have a chance, come next election.

"Their names?" Kenneth prompted.

"Airman West, Second Lieutenant Robertson, Captain Kensington, and Major Tennyson."

"Injured?" Kenneth slowly asked again, not recognizing any of the four names in connection to O'Neill.

O'Neill was silent for a time. "Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter."

"Ah." Kenneth sighed. "Seriously?"

"… Both."

Kenneth closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, General." There was nothing else that O'Neill could hear, he knew. "When the Gate and the lower levels are safe and secure, contact me and bring our people home."

"Yes, sir."

Kenneth closed the phone and handed it back to the attendant who had brought it to him.

Two hundred. Two hundred.

He turned to look out of the window. But life would go on. The lives of billions and all those who would follow were bought at the price of two hundred. He had to remember that, no matter how many were dead or would die from wounds. Billions for two hundred. Billions.

…

Jack hadn't slept for days, but he couldn't find the strength in himself to stand up from the chair he had occupied for so long to leave. What if… what if Carter or Daniel passed while he was asleep? What if… what if he lost them?

He slowly moved the chair closer to Daniel's bed. Danny boy. He'd gotten hit when he was busy shielding a few wounded from enemy fire. That was so like him. And just like only Danny could, he had held off the Jaffa and Goa'uld for long enough and those wounded he had saved lived. Jack supposed they were with their families at that very moment.

"Daniel, I haven't given you permission to die," Jack whispered forcefully. "And I know you can hear me, so don't you forget that."

But he tenderly patted the younger man's cheek fondly.

"Spacemonkey," he nearly accused.

And then he turned to Sam. He hated seeing her like this. He stood over her, his eyes studying her pale skin, her blue veins visible through the translucent skin. His warm hand found her cold one and held her small fingers in his palm. He leaned closer to her face, his other hand on the pillow by her face.

"Don't do this to me, Sam," he murmured. "Please."

"Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson will wake soon," Teal'c said firmly. There was no room for argument in his words. It would be as he said. "You must rest, O'Neill."

"I know," Jack murmured in response. "But I can't leave them."

"They will be well-cared for," Teal'c stated. "If you collapse and join them in an infirmary bed, it will not benefit either."

"I know," Jack repeated. His voice hadn't risen above a whisper.

"Come," Teal'c's firm hands wrapped itself around Jack's arms. "Everything else can wait, and Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter will still be lying here when you awaken."

"Okay," Jack sighed. He looked to Vala, who had been sitting near Daniel's bed like a ghost since he had been brought to the infirmary, and nodded to her. She wordlessly nodded back, tearstains streaking down her face.

Led like a child by Teal'c, Jack went willingly to his base quarters and collapsed into the bed. Teal'c watched over him until he fell into restless dreams. Then the Jaffa warrior left to watch over Daniel and Sam, to protect those whom O'Neill loved best until he was in a more rested frame of mind to do it himself.

…

Kenneth, dressed in plain black pajamas, curled up in the bed he shared with his wife, trying to stretch himself out as much as possible. It felt far too empty without her. The entire White House, stuffed to the seams as it was with politicians, aides, assistants, and various employees, felt empty without his wife and his daughters to fill it with their brightness. But he was too tired to cry or think about them too much or worry too much. They were fine, after all. They'd be home soon, whenever the situation at the mountain was dealt with. They'd be home soon.

That thought should have soothed him into sleep, but it didn't. His mind was still racing from the fact two hundred people were dead, a battle had been fought in Earth's orbit, aliens had invaded Earth but then were fought against… he groaned as a headache finally settled in. He had been remarkably clear-headed all day. He had functioned on little food, but he had given orders successfully and hadn't been bothered by any crippling emotions. He had been scared, but there was something wonderfully familiar and comforting about telling others what to do.

Kenneth went over every single order he could remember and wondered if he hadn't given that order, one or two American lives might have been saved in the battle. He gathered the blankets closer to him, banishing those thoughts with the scent of his wife, the smell of her shampoo and her natural scent lingering on the covers. He took a deep breath.

She'd be home soon.

The door slowly opened and light bled in from the hallway, and Kenneth was inches away from screaming at whoever had decided to break his attempt at sleeping, but all of the fight in him fell away when he recognized the womanly form that was silhouetted by the light.

"L-Lisa?" Kenneth whispered.

"Kenneth!" she couldn't speak much above a whisper. He could hear the tears in her voice.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pushing himself to his feet, his legs wobbling, exhausted after a day of work. "Are the girls okay? Oh my God, I'm so glad to see you!"

"I'm fine, the girls are fine… exhausted with worry and fear, they're confused… but we're all fine," Lisa said, rushing into her husband's arms, her hands clinging at his black shirt, burying her face into his chest. "I love you so much, I love you so much."

"I love you too!" he returned, smiling into her hair. "We're still alive… the Earth is still turning…"

Lisa grinned into the fabric of his shirt and relaxed in his arms. Together, they breathed and existed and stood together, husband and wife, reunited. Two lovers who had not known if they would see each other again. Two people who cared deeply for each other.

"I want to see the girls," he said, running his hands up and down her back.

"Come on," she took his hand and they walked out into the hall and to the left. A moment later, they were walking into Melinda's room.

"Daddy!" Melinda shrieked, jumping off of her bed and running into his arms. "I missed you so much! I didn't know what was going on, no one would tell me, but everyone was…" she stopped talking and clung to her father.

"I'll explain everything to you and Nathalie in the morning, Lindy," he kissed her hair, holding in all of his emotions. He hadn't known if he would ever smell his daughter's hair again. "But I love you so much."

"I love you too, Dad," Melinda whispered, yawning into her father's pajamas.

"Go to bed, baby," he told her, and she obeyed him.

With aching tenderness, Kenneth tucked in his twelve-year-old daughter, like he had done when she was four, five, and six. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and smiled at her. She closed her eyes and soon, her breathing was deep and relaxed.

He went with Lisa into the next room where Nathalie was already out.

He wrapped his arms around Lisa's waist from behind and smiled against her neck. "Remember when she was a baby?"

"Oh, God," Lisa rolled her eyes. "She was a terror, she was."

"She and Melinda will be heartbreakers before we even realize it's happening," he sighed. "Our babies are growing up." With a grin, he dared to ask, "Can we get another one?"

"Absolutely not," Lisa whispered into his ear, grinning in return.

"God, I love you, Lisa," he said as he looked down at his second daughter.

"I love you, too," she replied. "Can we go to bed? I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, me too," he agreed, and quietly, they left their daughters to sleep and went back to their room.

Before long, Lisa joined him in bed and curled up close to him, facing her husband as he wrapped his arms around her. Her fingertips traced his handsome features and kissed his lips gently.

And for a moment, nothing was wrong with the world at all.

…

Many weeks later, Jack stood comfortably in front of a gathering of easily thousands, soldiers and civilians, dressed to the nines in his service uniform. He could see Paul Davis in the fourth row with his wife, as she worked as an aide in the White House and had the security clearance, and three rows back was Lieutenant Cadman, who he knew had served at Atlantis. He saw pilots who he knew had flown X-302s and various civilian personnel who had aided the fight as well. But in the front row, the row of honor, were those whom he knew deserved to be there.

Teal'c.

Daniel Jackson.

Samantha Carter. He met her eyes and she smiled wearily. Her arm was still in a cast, like Daniel's leg, but they were both alive.

He nodded to his teammates, and then addressed the group. "It is with great honor and great pleasure that I introduce to you… the President of the United States of America, President Kenneth Eliot."

The seated audience stood as one, and the soldiers saluted smartly as President Eliot walked up onto the stage and shook Jack's hand.

"I do not come today with trifling words… but to attempt to return to you the honor that you have shown our world with your actions," Kenneth, a normally eloquent man, found it difficult to speak. "You have all saved the planet. Each and every one of you. You have saved not only my life, but the lives of billions of people. I will give you, today, what I can, but I swear to you on the office of the President of the United States of America that, anything you ever have need of, I will supply. It is the very least I can do."

"Another sign of my gratitude… please, take these medals with my undying thankfulness for your service and the service of those who have fallen."

Airman George Aaronson

The Medal of Honor.

Christina Barbuscia.

The Congressional Gold Medal.

More and more names were called, and each person stood up and accepted his or her award, shaking the hand of the President and allowing him to pin the award to his suit jacket or her service uniform.

Colonel Samantha Carter

Slowly, Sam managed to get to her feet and walked with dignity and pride to the stage. Jack smiled broadly at her, and she returned it.

"Colonel," President Eliot greeted her and shook her left hand, smiling as she returned the shake.

"Mr. President," Sam returned.

"It is with great honor," the President said in a quiet voice. "That I bestow upon you the Medal of Honor, for gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. Your brilliance has saved the world more than once, Colonel, and I grieve that there is not more I can do to honor you for your service."

"Thank you, Mr. President," she said, overwhelmed as the President of the United States pinned the medal to her service jacket.

Sam returned to her seat, not paying attention to the aches and pains still present in her limbs. She touched the new medal on her jacket gently. She remembered the reverence with which the President had spoken to her and sighed. She smiled up at Daniel, and he smiled in return. When his name was finally called to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he got to his feet and picked up his crutches, but was stopped when the President raised a hand and shook his head, stepping off of the stage.

President Eliot faced Daniel, who was still standing. "I was just as scornful of you when I first heard of your work as anyone else, doctor. But with the knowledge I now have of what you have done for this planet and for the galaxy and for the universe, I am in awe of you."

Daniel looked down at the floor. "Mr. President…"

"Doctor Jackson, you are the true hero, sir," President Eliot continued, as though Daniel had not said anything. "You opened up the universe to us, and your immeasurable knowledge has saved us. It is because of your immense service that I am honored to bestow upon you the Presidential Medal of Freedom. You have freed planets and freed the minds of millions of people. You are a hero among men, sir, and it honors me that I am the first to give to you what you have deserved for so long."

"Thank you, sir," Daniel said in a quiet voice. "You don't know what this means to me."

As President Eliot pinned the medal to Daniel's suit jacket, he smiled and leaned in to Daniel's ear. "And just so you know, Doctor Jackson, you were right all along. You were right."

Daniel couldn't help but chuckle and shake the President's hand again. "Thank you, sir."

The President smiled charmingly and climbed back onto the stage and started to hand out the rest of the awards.

With much less ado than the previous awards, the President attached General O'Neill's pin to his service jacket with only a few whispered words and a shared smile between the two men.

And finally, all of the Earth names were called and all of the awards had been given out. However, President Eliot turned to his attendant and picked up one last box. "There is one last man I need to recognize. He turned his back against all former loyalties and with no reason to trust us, save General O'Neill's word, pledged his allegiance to our world. He has fought countless battles for our sake, so our children will not know the taste of slavery, so that our people do not know true fear. He has killed many of his own in the defense of our world. He has laid his life on the line. And on the eve of the greatest battle we have ever known, he offered his men and his own skills for our planet. We each owe him more than any of us can comprehend. Teal'c, I would like to offer you the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Honor, the two greatest awards our nation can give."

Teal'c stood up with all of the grace and dignity of a Jaffa warrior, and he inclined his head respectfully. "I would be honored to receive them, President Eliot."

Teal'c walked onto the stage and offered his forearm to the leader he had pledged his allegiance to. He had met the three presidents who had been in office during his time on Earth and found them all to be honorable men. President Eliot, however, was something special. Something different.

President Eliot accepted the forearm and grasped it. He then reverently attached the two medals to Teal'c's dignitary's robes.

"Thank you for everything you have done," Eliot said quietly, unable to quite meet the solemn eyes of the Jaffa. "There is not much more that I can say, other than that."

"My service was done out of love for the people of your planet and hatred of the Goa'uld, not for any reward, but I am grateful nonetheless," Teal'c inclined his head once more and returned to his seat.

President Eliot sighed, and gave his last words to his audience, and watched as they filed out of the room to the reception. Him, on the other hand… he needed to head back to Washington. There was still Iraq and Afghanistan to deal with, as well as a million domestic issues. But with the fate of the world off of his shoulders, these were small problems that would be solved.

…

Much later that night, the original SG-1 and Vala were holed up in Jack's house in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, exhausted from the day. Mitchell had fled to visit his parents and a young woman he had met when he had last taken leave. Vala was already asleep on Jack's couch, and Daniel had tucked a blanket around her to keep her warm, before taking the air mattress and falling asleep in front of the TV. Teal'c was meditating, his back against the wall, a mug of hot chocolate near his knee.

Jack and Sam were outside on Jack's deck, looking up at the stars.

"How you feelin'?" Jack asked her, adjusting the corner of the blanket she had wrapped around herself that had fallen down.

"Good…" she paused and reconsidered. "Better."

"Good," he said with a nod.

Sam yawned and scooted closer, leaning her head against his strong shoulder. Jack half-smiled down at her, and she couldn't help but beam back tiredly.

"We saved the world again," Sam said quietly.

"Well," he said. "It was mostly you."

Sam smiled against him but knew he didn't need her to remind him of his immense contributions by the way he moved his arm to wrap it around her.

The Goa'uld were gone, the Ori were gone… the Goa'uld were vanquished again. There seemed to be no other task left except to explore. Jack had a niggling feeling that they would meet another enemy again, sometime. Whether it was in his lifetime or not, they would meet another one. But for now, at this exact moment in time, there was only peace.

"I love you," Jack whispered to Sam.

Her eyes were soft as she looked up at him. "I love you, too."

"Really?" he asked her with amusement dancing in his dark eyes.

"Eh," she replied with a shrug.

Jack laughed into her blonde hair as they cuddled closer.

…

"Go back to sleep, Vala," Daniel told her, rolling his eyes in the dark.

"But I'm hardly tired. I slept all through the ceremony, except when your rather handsome president gave me that nice, shiny medal. I was really tired, you know. You keep worrying me, Daniel, and you keep getting hurt. Someday, you'll ruin your pretty face." Vala climbed off of the couch and crawled over to Daniel. "I really was worried about you," she told him in a low voice.

"I know," Daniel reached out for her hand and squeezed it.

…

And finally, it was over.

The President of the United States of America, in the White House, had no greater worry on his mind than to deal with the wars and squabbles in his own world.

Over six billion people slept in their homes, their houses, apartments, mansions, and hovels, unaware of the danger they had been in mere weeks ago.

Major General O'Neill closed his eyes and rested on his deck with the woman he now loved with no fear and no reservations.

Daniel Jackson, finally officially vindicated, slept deeply, half sprawled on an air mattress. Vala played with his hair as he slept, unable to sleep herself for the desire to watch him do so.

And Teal'c, a man separated from his own people, had no desire to be any other place in the universe except where he was. He had found his true purpose on this alien planet and was well pleased with the way his life had turned out.

It was over, and all was well.

…

Author's Notes: Okay, this turned out way differently than I had first thought. I just couldn't stop writing once I started. I'm very proud of the way this turned out. I have my reservations about the award ceremony – I think it's too long-winded and it isn't as emotional as I wanted it to be – but I truly do like this. I hope the relationship between Kenneth and his wife was believable, and that all of the other interactions seemed genuine as well.

Also, if any of you have ever served in the armed forces, I thank you for your service and for the honor you have done me and every single citizen of our country by your defense. This is meant as a tribute to you. Whenever a battle is fought for the citizens of the United States of America, the soldiers who fight, and die, are the only true heroes I can think of.

Please review.