Carter laid in bed, a bed which was not her own. Her original bed remained cold and empty in the Master bedroom, and had been so since that fateful day when Daniel went missing on a routine mission to P9X-909, twenty years earlier.
Her dreams were full of the man she had shared so many adventures with, and who had given her so much, expecting nothing in return. He was the same man that she loved with every fibre of her being, and missed with the same ferocity.
The sound of knocking interrupted her restless sleep and she awoke with a start, Daniel's name on her lips.
A young man entered the room and said, his face full of concern, "Mom, breakfast's ready if you want it, oh, and Uncle Teal'c and Uncle Jack are here."
She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eye before saying with a sigh, "I'll be down in a bit. Thanks."
He was about to leave, but she called him back, patting the side of the bed, "Matthew, come here a sec."
He sat on the edge of her bed and asked, "What's up, Mom?"
"I just wanted to say how proud I am of you, and I'm sure your Dad would be too."
"Mom..."
"No, hear me out. I know I don't tend to talk about him, but that's because it hurts. He was my best friend and then suddenly he wasn't in my life any more. Seeing you and your resemblance to him brings it all back."
He looked down at his hands and asked, "Mom, do you regret having me?"
She, taken aback, said firmly, "Matthew, I love you and I'm thankful each day that you're in my life. D'you know why you're called 'Matthew'?"
He met her gaze and replied, a hint of sadness in his eyes, "It was Dad's middle name?"
She shook her head and said, "No, not because of that. 'Matthew' means 'gift', and that's what you are."
She continued as she held his hand, "And I would never give you up for the world. Despite what Jack says, and you know his sarcasm, you weren't an 'accident'. Ok, you weren't planned in the traditional sense, but you happened and if I could turn back time, I would never stop you from happening. You're my only reason to live. Oh Gd, Daniel would be so proud of you, following in his footsteps."
She pulled her son into a hug, fighting back the tears pricking her eyes.
For twenty years, Daniel had been imprisoned on Ogygia by the Goa'uld Aphrodite, who had taken more than a healthy interest in him.
By day, he sat on the shore, his heart full of longing for Earth, and in particular, Carter. Tears streamed down his face each time he thought that perhaps she had forgotten him by now, or perhaps even married.
By night, he was forced to do Aphrodite's bidding, with not so much as death for a means to escape, and was repeatedly and painfully tortured.
For two decades, his mind longed for Earth at the very least, and he formulated many escape plans, only to see them quashed each and every time.
In the lowest of moments, he even considered suicide, and would have succeeded had he not been revived by a Sarcophagus. Aphrodite could not understand how he could resist her charms, charms that had seduced the most war-hardened of Jaffa.
She promised him immortality and eternal youth but his heart was unwilling. She even brazenly pointed out that Carter would age and lose her looks, while she would remain eternally beautiful and youthful.
He always replied that he loved Carter, and "true love transcends physical appearances, and temporal and spatial factors. That is something you will never ever understand."
His resolve to return home grew with each year that went by, as did the feelings of hopelessness, and that perhaps maybe he would die so far away from everyone that he loved.
Carter picked at her breakfast as O'Neill bickered with Teal'c about hockey, and Matthew went out to play football with Teal'c and Ishta's, and Felger and Chloe's kids. She smiled as she listened to her former team-mates' exchange.
O'Neill passionately told Teal'c, "For cryin' out loud, the Vancouver Canucks suck!"
"They are great warriors, O'Neill, and to my recollection have resulted in me winning forty-two bets."
O'Neill, the point he was making weakening by the minute, said to Carter, "Carter, back me up here."
She put her hands up and said with a grin, "Don't drag me into this, Jack! I hate hockey."
He retorted, "Oh, I forgot -- soccer's more your thing!"
Just at that moment, Matthew popped his head in and said, "Mom, Uncle Cam's car just pulled up."
To which O'Neill exclaimed, "No, not a basketball fan!"
Cameron and Vala entered hand in hand, and he said with a smile, "We're pregnant."
O'Neill immediately remarked, "What, both of you?!"
Vala retorted, "Yes, we were, but we decided that only Cameron should keep the baby."
Matthew came in to serve tea, and Vala loudly remarked, "Ooh, he does look more and more like my Daniel each day."
Carter tried to ignore the impromptu remark as Matthew blushed, Cameron cleared his throat in embarrassment, Teal'c raised an eyebrow, and O'Neill glared at the ex-thief.
When Matthew left to resume the football game, Carter left the room, visibly upset.
O'Neill exclaimed, "Jesus, Vala, she's reminded enough of Daniel without you sticking your leather clad self in it."
Vala looked a little sheepish as O'Neill left to console their friend.
Daniel continued his daytime vigil on the shore, dreaming of home, and also coffee when the mood took him. Suddenly, Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet, appeared next to him. Daniel stared at him at first in horror, and then happy surprise.
He hugged him in relief, as Thor said, "Doctor Jackson, the Daniel Jackson is in orbit around this planet, but Aphrodite has a shield to prevent transporting you out. I have only gained entrance due to taking advantage of a small gap in the shielding frequency."
Daniel replied, worried, "If it's impossible to escape, why are you here?"
"The Jaffa, Tok'ra and the Asgard have been searching for you for twenty Earth years. A Tok'ra operative managed to recently infiltrate Aphrodite's Jaffa."
"But how..."
"I will attempt to negotiate with Aphrodite, citing the Protected Planets Treaty, but should that fail, Ry'ac, Heimdall and Malek are attempting to disable the shielding technology."
"Dare I ask what's happened on Earth?"
"If you are enquiring after GeneralCarter, she is living with her son, Matthew."
Daniel's heart sank and he said, dejected, "Oh," thinking that she had moved on in his absence, but Thor continued, "Matthew is twenty years old."
It took him a split second to realise the truth and he babbled, overcome with surprise, "General?!... Our son! My son! Oh my Gd, it must have been that night in the Everglades!"
O'Neill eventually found Carter in her usual contemplative spot, on a bridge overlooking a stream.
She leant over the wall, her eyes streaming with tears, as thoughts of Daniel ran through her head.
He quietly approached her and remarked, "Playing Pooh sticks?!"
She stayed turned away from him, ashamed of what she perceived to be weakness, in front of the man she had always tried to impress back in her combat days.
He put a hand on her shoulder and said soberly, "Carter, it's ok to cry. Crying isn't a sign of weakness."
She dried her tears, turned around and replied, "With all respect, Sir... I mean, Jack, you haven't a clue what it's like to lose someone you love, only to be reminded of him every single day."
She turned back to the stream, as he retorted, "Carter, I know exactly what it's like. I lost Charlie. I met Daniel and for eight years he was like the son I never had, especially when he repeatedly argued with me. Charlie never got the chance to be a rebellious teen. And for the past twenty years, every time I see Matt, I'm reminded of both Charlie and Daniel. We all miss him Carter - you can't hog all the pity on that one."
She said, wistfully, "This was where we had our first kiss."
She began to sob uncontrollably, and the retired Air Force General took her in his arms, and she sobbed into his shoulder.
At the SGC, there was an unscheduled wormhole activation, so Doctor Cassie Fraiser, acting deputy head of the facility, ran to the control room.
Walter Harriman Jr reported to her, "Ma'am, receiving an encrypted subspace transmission."
"Who's it from?"
"The point of origin has been scrambled, Ma'am. Message decoded."
The transmission began to play: "This is Belisarinar of the Tok'ra, calling General Samantha Carter, head of Earth's Stargate Command. We have received news from Malek, Ry'ac and Thor, of Doctor Jackson's whereabouts. He is in the Eros cluster, the other side of the known Universe from the Milky Way. They are attempting to extract him from the planet. I will report again in five Earth hours."
Cassie grabbed a nearby phone, dialled '1', and said into it, "Sam, you're needed on base."
Minutes later, Carter appeared in the control room and remarked to Cassie, "What's up? The Langarans at each other's throats again?"
Cassie replied enthusiastically, "They found Daniel!"
Carter wasn't sure she heard her correctly, "What?!"
"Daniel. Y'know, Doctor Daniel Jackson... went missing twenty years back."
Carter began to feel faint so she sat down, and said, feeling numb, "How... who... Oh Gd."
Cassie replayed the message as Carter listened, her heart beating faster by the minute.
Precisely five hours later, with Matthew, O'Neill, Cameron, Teal'c, Ishta, Paul Davis and Vala present, another activation occurred, but this time there was no message.
This time, Daniel, Thor, Heimdall, Malek and Ry'ac appeared in the gateroom, thanks to an Asgard beam transporter and the open wormhole.
Carter sprinted out of the control room to Daniel and hugged him. He allowed himself to feel again and returned the gesture, relief washing over both of them.
She managed to pry herself from the man she had dreamt of for two decades, in order to thank Daniel's saviours.
The previous members of SG-1, Paul, Ishta and Cassandra all hugged Daniel, as Carter went to look for Matthew.
She found him outside looking hesitant, so she held his hand and they walked into the gateroom.
They approached Daniel and she said with a smile, "Doctor Daniel Jackson, meet your son, Matthew Melburn Carter-Jackson."
The two Jacksons stared at each other in surprise, and the younger man said with a shy smile, "Hi, Dad."
Daniel replied, still surprised, "Well hello there, Matthew. Wow... you... you look a lot like my Dad... your grandfather... oh wow, I'm a Dad..."
Later that night, after the necessary medical tests and cleaning up, Daniel slept in Carter's bed. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep in twenty years, and now that he was finally safe, he could finally close his eyes without having to worry about Aphrodite attempting to have her wicked way with him.
Carter laid by his side, watching over him, finally happy after twenty years of pain and heartache. Her Archaeologist was by her side, in her bed, and she was never ever going to let him go.
She watched his troubled features and wondered what he had endured.
Suddenly, he began to call out, "No! Please, no!"
Her eyes widened briefly before she wrapped her arms around him, whispering, "It's ok, Daniel. It's over. You're safe now."
His eyes flew open and he gasped, before taking in his surroundings. He relaxed but was unable to sleep again.
She said, "Wanna talk about it?"
He proceeded to tell her everything he had endured, and she listened, intermittently angering and cringing. She then held his head to her chest, stroking his hair and singing to him, undying love in her heart.