Sorry this took so long-was busy at school, and now I'm going on vacation home to family for Thanksgiving so it'll be another week or so. So Sorry! But this will get finished, I promise. So anyway, for those of you who don't recognize them, the first few lines up until Vala walking out and Daniel's comment are from the end of the episode "Counterstrike" in season ten. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review if you do! I need to know what you think before I can go on. :) Thanks!

Chapter 2

"There's nothing to be gained by second-guessing ourselves," Vala spoke up suddenly, but quietly. "Can't re-make the past…so look ahead, or risk being left behind."

Daniel, Teal'c, and Bra'tac watched silently, somewhat surprised, as Vala MalDoran straightened from her slumped position over the back of one of the black leather rolling chairs in the briefing room. Without another word the alien woman walked behind Daniel, around the long, dark wood table and down the stairs, leaving the men where they stood.

"She displays the wisdom of a battle-season warrior," Bra'tac commented in awe. Teal'c grunted in agreement.

Daniel, still hunched over his own chair, gave a small, blissful smile. "She's a mother--close enough."

Vala MalDoran was a mother. They had all known the fact for months, but for Daniel it hadn't really sunk in until that moment. That made the third past or current member of SG-1 to be a parent, and still left him, Sam, and Cameron out of the loop.

As Bra'tac and Teal'c nodded silently and turned to go themselves, Daniel stayed in the briefing room, sliding down into the chair he'd been leaning on as his mind wandered. He could only imagine what it would have been like to have a child with Sha're before she had died…or if she hadn't died. Not to mention that as he got older, he was realizing that his chances of ever having a real family at all were shrinking. It wasn't a pressing issue by any means, though still…

But no. Now wasn't the time to think about those things. The Milky Way still had an Ori problem. And speaking of problems…

Daniel looked up as the as unauthorized off-world activation klaxon went of, and Walter Harriman's voice echoed the warning through the base. Jackson shot to his feet and bounded down the grey metal stairs into the control room. Vala was already there; apparently this is where she had retreated to. General Landry entered the room from the other direction as Daniel arrived.

"What's going on, Walter?" Landry asked as he came up behind the 'gate technician. "Are we getting a signal?"

Harriman frowned. "Yes sir, but…it's SG-1's code," he answered, glancing uncertainly back at the two present members of the mentioned team.

"What?"

Landry, Vala, and Daniel had spoken at the same time. The general was frowning down at the Stargate through the room-length window that ran the wall in front of them, on the other side of the main bank of computers.

"SG-1 is here. How is that possible?" Landry demanded.

"Well, it either could be us—which has happened before…" Daniel started.

"Or it could be bad," Vala added.

"Yeah, that too."

Walter spoke up again. "General, where getting a radio signal."

Landry nodded. Behind him Mitchell, Teal'c, and Sam arrived to find out what was happening. "Let's hear it then."

A burst of static sounded through the room, but quickly cleared to become a voice—a voice that shouldn't have been coming from the other side of a wormhole.

"Stargate Command, do you read me? This is Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell of SG-1 calling the SGC."

"Hey, that's me!" Cameron yelped quietly. The rest of SG-1 stood wide-eyed.

Landry turned to look at Mitchell for a moment, surprise and confusion registering clearly on his face, then spoke to the voice on the radio.

"This is General Hank Landry, colonel. We read you here at Stargate Command, but would you mind explaining why you're there, when you're already here?"

The voice paused for a moment. "Uhm…well, general, that's kind of a long story, but to make it short—I'm not from there. None of us are."

"None of you? Meaning…?"

"Us, sir, the SG-1 I've got here with me. See, we just dialed you from our alpha site…"

"Hold it, colonel," Landry interjected. "What are you saying?"

"An alternate universe, sir," Sam answered, loud enough for those on the other end of the transmission to hear.

"That's right," came the voice of another Samantha Carter, over the radio waves. "You've met us before, though, actually. For most of you it would have been about seven years ago…"

A light came on in Daniel's expression. "You made it work!" he exclaimed suddenly. "The device, from P5R-322; you made it work."

"Yes!" a third voice answered happily. All of SG-1 who recognized the voice grinned, but none more than Daniel Jackson.

"Sha're!" he exclaimed incredulously. "Is that you?"

A soft laugh drifted to him. "Yes, Dan'iel, it is me. When we finally finished modifying the device, we knew your reality was the first place we should contact—and of course General O'Neill was only too happy to give his permission."

Vala was gaping open-mouthed at thin air. "W-what…?"

Now General Landry looked beyond confused. "What is this?"

"It's a long story, sir," Sam said. "Remember the incident on P5R-322 last year--what happened to Daniel…?"

Jackson grimaced. "I know I do. That recovery was not fun…"

"What?" Sha're's suddenly concerned voice asked.

Daniel smiled again. "Nothing. It's all right; I made it back here alive, at least. I'm fine. What about you?"

"We are all fine here, Dan'iel, and I am more than fine. I can't wait to see you again."

"Yeah, how is that going to work…?"

"Hold your horses, Doctor Jackson. I haven't said you could go anywhere yet," Landry interrupted, trying to regain some control of the situation. "Yes, I remember what happened last year, and I've read the mission report from what happened seven years ago here regarding that. From what I remember, that device was not very stable."

The alternate carter answered over the radio. "We've fixed it, sir. It took over a year to do it, but using it to travel through time and/or space shouldn't be dangerous anymore."

"Shouldn't be?"

"We're relatively sure, sir. We did do a few tests before contacting you and they all turned out fine."

Sha're spoke again next. "We know that it might be dangerous for most of you to come here because you have doubles here, but Dan'iel does not. It would be safe for him, and there is something here that we really must show him…" Her voice trailed off in a slight giggle, leaving all, thought mostly Daniel, confused and curious.

Mitchell's voice came again after that. "General?"

"What?" Landry answered, just a little annoyed at still being a bit out of the loop.

"Look, sir, I know things are crazy there right now--Dakara just got wiped out right?"

The general sighed. "Yes; that happened here too. What's your point, colonel?"

"I was just gonna say that I know everything's kinda whacked right now with the Ori problem and all, but there really is something over here that Daniel should see. We were just wondering if maybe we could….borrow him for a couple of days?"

Daniel looked to the general expectantly. "Is that all right, general? SG-1 isn't scheduled to go off-world again for a few days." He knew he sounded like a small child that wanted to go to the zoo, but at the moment he didn't care. Sha're was just on the other side of the Stargate, waiting for him in her reality. The shock of suddenly hearing from this Sha're again was drowned in the urge he had to get over there as quickly as he could and see her again, scoop her into his arms and kiss her.

Landry seemed to contemplate this. Finally he spoke again. "How would that work, exactly?"

The Carter over the radio answered. "Two of us would have to come through the 'gate now with the device. Then you would dial the alpha site from there, and when we went back through with Daniel and the device we would end up back here, not at your alpha site. It's not as complicated as it sounds, sir."

Landry sighed and looked back and forth between the open 'gate and Jackson, then to Sam. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Yes sir," both Carters answered together.

The general shook his head, still bewildered. "If you're sure…"

That was all Daniel needed to hear. "Thank you," he grinned, and then took off for the locker rooms to gear up for 'gate travel.

"Have fun!" Cameron called after him, shaking his head and smiling.

Vala watched him go, blinking rapidly in surprise. "All right, would someone mind explaining this to me?"

Sam laughed. "It really is a pretty long story, Vala. The bottom line is that they're from an alternate reality where Daniel's wife is still alive but he's not. They ended u stuck in our reality a few years back and the two of them kind of connected, I guess. They missed each other in their own realities." She shrugged. "We'll tell you more later."

Vala sighed and rolled her eyes a bit. "If you say so…"

By the time Daniel made it back to the 'gate room General Landry and the rest of his team were waiting there to see him off. With them were another Teal'c and Cameron Mitchell who stood on the lower part of the ramp with the time/space device.

"Jackson, there you are!" Cam called, ushering him toward the ramp. "These guys are in a hurry for some reason."

The alternate Mitchell grinned. "Oh, we're not in a hurry, but there's one hyper Jackson back on our side who's gonna to kill us if we don't get back with you soon."

Daniel smiled. "You don't say."

"Yeah, I do," Mitchell answered, reaching to shake Daniel's hand once he stopped in front of them. "Nice to see you again, by the way, Daniel."

"Thanks. I'd say the same, and it is, but then again I see this you everyday…" He nodded over his shoulder.

The other Teal'c moved in next to envelope Daniel in a hearty embrace, smiling. Daniel laughed and returned it.

"Hey, Teal'c, how are you?"

The alternate version of the big jaffa let go of his and nodded. "I am well, Daniel Jackson. It is indeed good to see you again." Then he raised an eyebrow. "Have you acquired new glasses since we saw you last?"

Subconsciously Daniel reached up and touched them. "Yeah, I have--though nobody around here seems to have noticed…"

Teal'c smiled, Mitchell grinned in amusement, and all of Daniel's SG-1 at once looked embarrassed from behind him.

General Landry broke the temporary lull in conversation that followed by turning toward the control room. "Dial it up, Walter," he called up to the Sergeant. Harriman nodded, and within seconds the 'gate had begun to spin, the first chevron lighting and locking in place.

"So you really made it work right, huh?" Daniel asked.

"Well, I didn't, but Carter and Jackson had plenty to do with it. Geniuses, those two…" Mitchell answered, patting the device. "Anyway, ready to go?"

"Are you kidding?" Daniel asked, grinning again as the third chevron lit. Then he turned to say goodbye to his friends, promising that he would be back soon and not to worry…and of course thanking General Landry again for allowing him to go on this field trip. When the stargate open he faced it again, more ready to go through it this time than any other before.

Mitchell slapped him on the back, grinned at him and picked up one end of the device. Teal'c picked up the other end and exchanged a glance with Mitchell that made Daniel wonder just what, exactly, they wanted him to see in their reality--besides Sha're.