Jackson Junior XV: The Pandorica Opens

Summary: As one of her last official acts before maternity leave, Sam visits Eureka. In true SG-1 and Eureka tradition, nothing goes to plan... and if that wasn't bad enough, the Doctor appears with a stark warning. Sequel to Jackson Junior: Lost and Found.

Pairings: Sam/Daniel, Sam/Doctor, Cam/Vala, Jonas/Carolyn, Jack/Sara, Teal'c/Ish'ta, Cassie/OC McCarson, ShWeir, Lornifer, Jack/Tess

Rating: T

Crossover: Stargate: Atlantis, Doctor Who, House, Eureka

Category: Established Relationship

Genres: A/U, Action/Adventure, Crossover, Drama, Family, Relationship, Romance

Series: 15 of hopefully 15. I think this might actually be it... for now... ;o) As with previous stories in this series, telepathic conversation is in italics and delimited by apostrophes/single quotes.

A/N: The Pandorica arc is something I've borrowed from season 5 of Doctor Who. As this is roughly set in around season 19, SG-1 time, the other shows featured are set in their respective future timelines too.

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A/N: lyrics featured are from Worried Man Blues (George "The Possum" Jones version)

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Sam wandered around the corridors of the SGC, her swollen abdomen quite obvious beneath her blue base uniform. She tucked her hands in her pockets; something that she usually wouldn't have done, but she had gradually relaxed into her role as base commander. And besides, after everything she had been through recently, she felt the need to break some kind of protocol just out of relief.

And, well, she had just managed to complete what seemed like an unending pile of paperwork. She smirked briefly as she thought of how she had used her condition to send Cam to meetings in her place. She stopped by certain labs and watched demonstrations of particular pieces of equipment acquired off-world or developed in-house.

What saddened her somewhat was that the scientists – some whom she had considered previously to be friends – were nervous around her. It wasn't just her rank, she surmised. She had to admit that having Ancient abilities was more of a burden than a blessing most of the time. It alienated her from everyone but her closest friends. Sometimes, she felt like that around Daniel too, even if he did share her abilities to an extent.

But she took solace at times in his words to her on several occasions: 'People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer'.

At least she had him and their large family.

As they had become accustomed to, she sensed him before she saw him. Daniel appeared shortly, wearing civilian clothes and carrying a fair-haired little boy over his shoulder. She said, a touch surprised nonetheless,

"Hey."

He stopped in front of her and stooped to kiss her. He looked down at her but remained professional due to their environment. She looked up at Greg, or rather his back as the boy appeared to be asleep against his father's shoulder. She reached up to smooth his downy hair and she smiled. She looked up at Daniel as he smiled slightly at her.

'Are you going to be done any time soon?'

Sam hid a smile at the hint of teasing in his tone. She replied silently, 'Yeah, I'm pretty much done. Just on walkabout.'

As they walked away together, she slid an arm around his waist. He asked, worried, 'How are you doing?'

She nodded, now feeling quite tired. 'Good. The kid wouldn't sit still when I tried to nap.'

He turned to look at her in concern. She shook her head and changed the subject. She said aloud, "So, are you still coming with me to Oregon this Saturday?"

He appeared confused as he tried to remember what she was talking about. She rolled her eyes and sighed in despair. Despite everything, he was still a typical man sometimes. She said, "Oh, Daniel, don't tell me you forgot again. I mean, it's not like it's our anniversary, for cryin' out loud." She sighed, and continued the conversation silently due to the top secret nature of what she was about say. She said, 'Eureka... you know, that shiny place you've been wanting to visit for a month since you found out about it... where we've recruited key scientists from over the years.'

As she spoke, he appeared to realise something. He then looked embarrassed. He said, "Oh, um, right. Yeah, sorry, lot on my mind right now." He looked at her meaningfully. 'You know, with my wife being pregnant again, and having the weight of the universe on my shoulders.'

She snorted with laughter and retorted, 'You arrogant bas...'

'Shush now, Greg might be asleep but we still don't know how his abilities work.' He gently nudged her, and said aloud, "Anyway, as I seem to remember, you were just as excited when Jack finally handed over the files about it."

She shrugged, looking embarrassed. She said, "Well, how could I not be? It's amazing. I can't believe Jack didn't tell me about it before."

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Vala leaned into the backseat of the car to secure her youngest children into their car seats. She gently batted away her daughter's prying hands, and then her eldest son's as he leaned over from the front seat to pull his mother's hair. Vala finished what she was doing and once more batted away her oldest children's hands, before stopping her youngest from chewing their hands and/or items of clothing.

Giving up, she secured Samantha's seatbelt and gently slapped her hands when the girl proceeded to make her younger brothers cry. Vala closed the door and climbed into the driving seat and shot Francis a meaningful look until he sheepishly fastened his own seatbelt. She smiled when he did and she reached over to ruffle his hair affectionately.

As she started up the engine, she muttered to herself, "I don't know how Daniel and Samantha look after you and their army. You four are a big enough handful."

Francis looked up from fiddling with his belt. He said, "Momma, where are we going?"

Vala looked over at her eldest son. She smiled a little thoughtfully as she realised how much like his father the boy was getting. She said, smiling mischievously, "Your Pa calls it skinny dripping or dipping or some such nonsense." She pointed at him, feigning seriousness. "Remember, no-one tells Daddy this time, okay?" She looked into the rear-view mirror and caught Samantha's gaze. "That goes for you too, sugar."

When the older kids nodded effusively, Vala smiled again. She put the car into drive and pulled out of the driveway. She muttered, "Bad enough when he found out about our day-trip to Vegas."

She sighed as she glanced in the rear-view mirror to check on her children. She then said to her eldest children, "1... 2... 3... 4..." She began to sing, shakily at first, and Francis and Samantha joined in.

"It takes a worried man to sing a worried song,
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song,
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long..."

Vala smiled happily as she and eldest children continued to sing. She noticed that her baby sons were gurgling along with them. As she drove, she slid her sunglasses down over her eyes. It was times like these that kind of made the hellish times somewhat bearable.

"I went down the river, I lay me down to sleep,
I went down the river, I lay me down to sleep,
When I woke up there were shackles on my feet

Twenty-nine links of chain around my legs..."

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Carolyn looked out of her bedroom window, down into the front yard where Jonas was tending to the flowers with their son Henry's help. The sun was beating down on the fair heads of father and son but neither would listen to her persistent warnings. She forced back tears that threatened to fall each time she was left alone with her thoughts. Unbeknownst to their friends – even the psychic ones, she hoped – Jonas had moved out of the bedroom some months previously.

She hadn't noticed just how much they had drifted apart, and just how they only seemed to be together for the sake of their son, until he had started sleeping in the guest room. They had even stopped rowing, but what was left was far worse. They avoided confrontation, only putting on a happy front for their friends. She didn't know what had happened, and she felt as though she couldn't ask him.

She turned away from the window, and at last the tears fell. She couldn't live like this any more. She wanted her life back; or at least as much of her life that she had around her monster of a job. One day, Henry would be old enough to realise that all wasn't right between his parents. She didn't want him to find out like that.

She had rejected offers of help and advice from her friends, only confiding in her mother. Her mother hadn't been helpful, regaling old stories about her father. Jonas was nothing like her father. This wasn't a case of Jonas abandoning his family to pursue his career; this was, amongst other things, about Jonas not acknowledging her existence most of the time.

She closed her eyes and attempted to compose herself. When she opened her eyes, the contrast was stark – she looked as though she wasn't in as much pain and despair as she truly was. She got up and pulled open her wardrobe in order to get ready for another day at work. She was just going to have to be a lot ruder to Sam this time so the General would stay clear of her.

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Jack, wearing bermuda shorts and a t-shirt, looked out at the ocean. He was stood barefoot upon a pile of rocks and he closed his eyes as the breeze swept through his cropped white hair. He had finally given it all up. He hadn't in his wildest dreams thought he would have the strength to do it. He had retired. Now his life was his to do as he pleased with.

Well, okay, his life was now totally Sara's. He shrugged to himself. It was a small price to pay to be a free man of sorts. He had been involved with the Stargate for so long that he had forgotten what it truly was like to be free. He smiled slightly as he slid his sunglasses on. It had been a fantastic few months. He and Sara had travelled the world together, and he was spending a lot more time with her than he had previously.

He felt a new man. That was something he never thought he would feel either. It had taken long enough but it looked as though the universe was starting to look favourably on him. About time too, he thought.

He missed his friends though. When he was in Washington, he at least could keep tabs on them via official and unofficial channels. But now, he dreaded to think, everything was different; everyone had changed. Perhaps they didn't have room for an old man any more. He had seen them briefly since his retirement but there was too much to do; too much to see.

Well, both Daniel and Sara had practically had to force him to do something other than sit on his hands or go fishing. And he was glad that they had.

He soon became aware of a presence, and he looked down to see Sara clambering up the rocks that he was stood upon. She stood by his side, and remarked,

"Musing again?"

Jack smiled tightly. He said, "Just not used to being able to stand somewhere like this without looking around for snipers."

She appeared wistful as she looked up at him, knowing that he had gone through things that she couldn't truly understand, even if she knew about most, or at least some of them. She reached for his hand and rested her head against his shoulder. She said with a chuckle,

"Well, upside, you don't have to get that buzz cut every month."

He looked down at her with a smile and then freed his hand from hers. He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her. Feeling as though he had all the time in the world, he took his time, his other hand cupping her jaw. A man could get used to this, he thought.