Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or any of its characters.

Chapter 3

"You sure you're alright on your own?" Daniel asked Janet.

"I'm just going to get a travel permit for Chulak, I'll be fine" Janet answered and Daniel kissed her cheek gently before she turned around to leave.

"Janet wait a second" Sam said remembering that she had wanted to talk to Janet about her reaction to the news about what the Aschen were doing. "Can we talk?"

"Sure" Janet said and the two of them walked further away from where Teal'c and Daniel were standing sot they wouldn't be overheard.

"I wanted ask you about something but I haven't had the chance" Sam explained.

"Well now you do" Janet said with a small smile.

"When we were looking at the Aschen database, when we found out that they were sterilising us. You didn't react the way I thought you would" Sam said struggling to find a way to explain. "You were angry and upset and I that I understand but there was something more"

Janet looked down and Sam knew she had been right "What is it?"

Janet looked back up at her and took a breath to steady herself "Daniel and I were, talking about starting a family"

"Oh God, Janet, I'm sorry, I know how it feels, I know how much it hurts" Janet nodded her head and Sam stepped forward and hugged her. "We'll make this right"

"I know we will, we'd better go, we both have jobs to do"

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah" Janet said as she turned around and walked away. Sam turned back to where Daniel and Teal'c were stood waiting for her.

As Sam approached Jack's cabin she felt her nervousness climb a few notches. She hadn't spoken to Jack in years and the last time she had seen him was Daniel and Janet's wedding. He had stood at the back during the ceremony and then floated around during the party. He had only stayed there long enough to have a few drinks and to congratulate both Daniel and Janet. She hadn't spoken to him once during that time and now she was forced to come here and ask for his help.

She knocked on the front door but got no response so she walked around the side of the cabin. She saw him walk out from behind the back of the cabin but it took a moment before he saw her.

"Hi" she said as she walked up to him.

"Hi"
"So this is the place you kept threatening to take me?" Sam asked trying to alleviate some of the tension that had automatically and quickly built up when she arrived. "It's good to see you sir"

"I'm retired Carter, lose the sir" Jack said as he sat down in one of the wooden chairs that were next to him.

"Right" Sam said as she moved to sit in the chair next to him "Jack"

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked. He and Sam hadn't seen each other in months and hadn't spoken in years. He couldn't understand why all of a sudden she would want to visit him at his cabin.

"It turns out we made a mistake, a big one" Sam explained. She could feel all the emotions that always came when she saw Jack and she had to fight to hold them back.

"Which one? We made a few"

"Our alliance with the Aschen" Sam said bracing herself for the sarcasm and 'I told you so' that she knew was about to come.

"Oh that" Jack said "Not working out is it? Gosh I wish I'd seen that coming. Oh wait I did see that coming"

"It isn't what you thought, A couple of days ago I found out that I can't ever have children"

"I'm sorry to hear that" Jack said feeling genuinely sorry and a little guilty for his sarcasm..

"So was I" Sam said and took a moment to compose herself before she continued "According to the Aschen doctors I was fine, but not according to Dr Frasier. We got into the Aschen computer network, they keep statistics on everything. In the last couple of years, with out our even knowing it, they have managed to sterilise over ninety percent of the worlds population. The other ten percent are probably just a matter of time. Now we don't know how they've done it or how they've even managed kept it a secret this long"

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Jack asked

"Help us"

"Do what?"

"We can undo this"

"Oh here we go" Jack said, he had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"We send a message through the stargate to ourselves ten years ago, we stop this from ever happening"

"Stop this from happening?"

"We know it's possible"

"Why am I having this conversation?"

"We know what we have to do. I am almost positive that with the Aschen computer and solar observatory I can predict a flare within a few hours of it's happening and we should be able to get our hands on a GDO. So it'll come to down to accessing the gate within that window, dialling the right address and sending the message"

"Well if it just comes down to that, do it" Jack said a moment later.

"Look if I thought it was gonna be easy I wouldn't be standing here asking for your help"

"Just out of curiosity…say we do this. What happens to everything that happened in the past ten years?"

"It won't happen" Sam said she could feel that she was getting nowhere with this conversation.

"So we don't go to P4C 970, we don't meet the Aschen, then, what?"

"I don't know"

"Let me tell you something Carter, if you wanna erase your mistakes that's your business, my conscience is clear. I warned everybody, I threw up the red flag and everybody, including you shut me down" Jack said feeling some of his resentment come to the surface. He had known they Aschen couldn't be trusted and no one had listened to him, not even the people he knew should have. Daniel, Teal'c, Janet and especially Sam, they had been his family and they had ignored him.

"I'm asking you to put that behind us"

"You're not happy with the way things turned out? I'm sorry to hear that" Jack said realising he had raised his voice as all his emotions tried to pour out. The resentment and anger and emotions he knew now was not a good time to identify. "Personally…I like things the way they are. No more saving the world, just a…nice pond with no pesky fish in it. And the single most pressing issue in my life is whether or not to get a dog. There are a lot of pros and cons to consider"

"Jack I'm talking about the future of the human race"

"So was I"

"We're doing this" Sam told him hoping at least part of him wanted to help.

"Let me know how it turns out" Jack said walking away.

Sam followed after him "Our chances are lot better with you than without you"

Jack stopped and turned to look at her after a moment "Let me ask you something, what does your dearly beloved Ambassador say about all this"

"I haven't had a chance to tell him" Sam said sadly, realising that she had yet to break the news to her husband that they could never have children.

"Maybe he can help you"

"Yeah" Sam said walking away from him but she stopped and turned back to him. "I'm not the only person suffering because of this, I'm not the only person that you know, that you cared about that is suffering because of this"

Jack gave her a questioning look "Daniel and Janet were talking about having children and now they can't either" Sam told him before she turned and left.

Jack watched her leave and finally took a deep breath, despite all that they had been through he still cared about her way more that he should. He hated the thought of her suffering because of the Aschen and he hated the thought that Daniel and Janet were suffering too. They may have ignored him and his warnings but none of them deserved this.

As Sam walked away from the cabin she felt all of her emotions hit her at once. She couldn't believe how much her feelings for that man could still affect her. She had really been hoping that she could get through to him, that he would help them.

Daniel turned his head as he heard the familiar sound of a transport and saw Sam appear with a sad look on her face. He and Teal'c had only been back here for a few minutes after their search for the GDOs.

"We're on out own" she told him and Teal'c.

"You're kidding me, he said no"

"It is unfortunate"

"We can still do this, did you track down the GDOs?" Sam asked Daniel.

"Uh…yes and no, from what I can gather from the museum records, there's only one original remote left on display at the SGC"

"Okay, well that's are next stop" Sam said nodding her head. "Teal'c you should return to Chulak, we don't wanna arouse any more suspicion than we already have. It'll take at least two days but we'll contact you when it's time"

"I will be prepared" Teal'c said before leaving. Daniel walked over to the transport station and typed in their destination as Sam joined him.

This woman was driving them both crazy, she was to cheerful and chipper and just downright annoying.

"Alrighty everyone" she said as the elevator doors opened and she walked out "Everyone please step all the way out, we've arrived at level 28. Can anyone guess at what special room is on this floor?"

"The gate room" said a young boy standing at the front of the tour group.

"That's very, very close" the woman told him in that annoying, cheerful voice "Anyone else?"

"Uh, he's right, it's the gate room" Daniel said from the back where he and Sam were trying not to be noticed or recognised for which Sam gave him an exasperated look.

"Well, what I'm sure many of you don't know is that officially it was known as the 'embarkation' room because that's where the SGC teams 'embarked' from" She said making exclamation marks with her hands.

"Ok, now we're walking, this way" she continued in that voice which was becoming more annoying by the second. "and these people comprise the famous SG1, arguably the most important although not my personal favourite team of the entire command"

Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing as he and Sam shared a glance.

"And we're walking"

Daniel and Sam followed the tour group in to the "embarkation" room "Now of course the real stargate is in Washington at the JR Reed Space Terminal, this one is a perfect replica of the original. Should you want photos they are 27 dollars each and please do not touch the stargate itself, as you'll leave finger prints. See you on the other side" The woman finally finished and walked away.

"This is ridiculous" Daniel said to Sam as the two of them walked up the ramp toward the fake stargate.

"We couldn't break away until there were more people around. Once we're in the control room".

"Not her personal favourite SG team?" Daniel asked only half amused and Sam laughed.

"Just don't ask for the photo"

They both almost stopped as they saw Jack walking past them down the ramp "And we're walking" he said as he put his sunglasses on so as not to get noticed.

Jack was already sitting in the briefing room when Daniel and Sam both came up the stairs. "Hey, thanks for showing"

"We decided to take the last tour of the day" Sam said sitting down "So…when did you decide against getting a dog?"

"I'm still thinking about it. In the meantime I did a little shopping on your behalf. The Zats are completely operational, this however" he said showing them the GDO "presents a problem"

"It's a replica" Sam said "Daniel was this the only one?"

"Excuse me" they all heard a voice say and turned toward the door as Jack stood up "you people aren't suppose to be…" the man said before recognising who they were and walking further into the room. "Colonel O'Neill?"

"Sergeant" Jack said recognising the man "what are you doing here?"

"I work here now, sort of the operations tech adviser"

"Oh, well, you're doing a great job" Daniel said.

"Uh… this sections closed off" the sergeant told them Are you here for old times sake?"

"That's it exactly" Jack said

The sergeant smiled and looked at the table "Where did you get those?" he asked confused as he saw the zats on the table.

"The Zats?" Jack asked following his gaze before looking back at him. "Armoury, we're takin' em"

"Oh, no, no I, uh…"

"Sergeant, please" Sam interrupted his ramblings "This is really important. Do you know where are real GDOs went?"

"I'm not a sergeant anymore and you're not Colonels. You're not suppose to have that remote either"

"Uh that's good because actually we don't want that one, we want the real one" Daniel said .

"It's in the White House, in the oval office, on the Presidents desk" The sergeant told them.

Jack looked at Sam and Daniel who were both still sitting at the table. "Kinsey grab a souvenir on the way down?"

"Look guys, I don't know what's…"

"Uh…Walter?" Jack said questioningly as he tried to remember the mans name and Walter nodded his head. "Right now I need you to trust us. Just turn around, walk away, pretend we weren't even here. I'll bring everything back, I promise. Thursday"

"Then you'll tell me what's going on?"

"Absolutely everything"

"Ok" Walter said as he turned and left.

"Thank you" Sam and Daniel both said.

"Thursday" Walter replied as he left the room.

"Okay "Jack said sitting back down at the table "Last time I was in the Oval Office I got kicked out. Can we do without the GDO?"

"Radio?" Daniel asked.

"There's an EM dampening field around the terminal, part of the automated defences"

"So… we're about as far back in time as we're gonna go" Jack said.

"I think I can get it" Sam said after a moments thought

"Joe?" Daniel asked.

"He's a good guy"

"If you tell him, there will be no going back" Jack said

"Of course" Daniel added "If you don't tell him there'll be no going back"

"He'll do it" Sam stated deep in thought "I know he will"

"Then I guess we'll meet tomorrow" Jack finished

"At the lab"

"Okay"

When Sam was gone Jack turned to Daniel "You know Carter told me that you and Janet were thinking of having kids"

"Yeah, we were" Daniel said quietly

"I'm sorry"

"So are we"

"How's Janet taking it?"

"Not bad, she was pretty upset when she and Sam found out what the Aschen had done. I think right now she's more worried about what's about to happen, it's keeping her mind occupied"

"Well if we succeed, then none of this will have happened"

"I know" Daniel said sadly.

TBC

Authors Note: A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, please keep them coming.