Stargate Command
Colorado Springs, CO
April 23, 1999

General Hammond was waiting for them in the gate room when they exited the wormhole. "Welcome back, SG-1. I take it you had a pleasant stay at Orban?"

"It was great to see the Urrone children playing and learning, General," Daniel said, walking down the ramp.

"Indeed."

Jack nodded, "I made some neat graffiti."

Kershaw followed Daniel and handed her weapons over to an SF. "They didn't remember us, but they weren't vegetables, either. Looks like the Colonel taking Merrin to school transferred the concept to everyone who received her nanites."

"They had a playground and Kalan showed us the classrooms they were setting up as well." Jack unclipped his MP5 and walked down the ramp. "I suggested we might be able to help them out with an educational system. Get some experts in and work out all the details."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Hammond said. "Considering this was just a follow-up visit, there's no need for a debriefing. Colonel, I'd like to have a word, the rest of you are dismissed."

Jack nodded and turned to his team. "Swing by the infirmary for another post-mission checkup before going anywhere else. Wouldn't want one of those little nanites to have caught a ride in one of us."

"Sure," Daniel said, rolling his eyes. "See you later."

He handed his own weapons and gear to an SF before following Hammond up to his office. Their little visit to Orban had reassured him somewhat in regards to the fate of the past-Urrone children, but it was still tough to see Merrin and Tomin like that, with no memory of their earlier visit. If it had been up to him, the children would have never returned to Orban. He'd meant it when he told Kalan they didn't deserve those kids.

"Colonel," the General said as he entered the office. "Take a seat."

Jack plopped down gracelessly and waited. "Sir?"

"I take it your little trip to Orban has reassured you somewhat in regards to the children?"

"I guess."

"Still not convinced?"

He shrugged, "I meant what I said before: the way they treat their children is absurd. Kalan hasn't made any promises about stopping this Urrone business. Just that they'll help educate those kids as far as possible instead of letting them live like vegetables after they sucked their brains out."

"Colonel…"

"You asked, Sir."

Hammond narrowed his eyes at him but eventually looked away, glancing down at the papers in front of him and writing something down. "I'll speak to the Joint Chiefs about the educational assistance for Orban you mentioned. If that's an option, I will be assigning it to another team, though."

"I understand," he said, grimacing.

"Do you, Colonel? Your behavior the past couple of days-"

"Yeah, I know. Enough reasons for a court martial, Sir. I don't regret it, though. Those kids had no childhood and were treated despicably. If I hadn't taken Merrin to Cassie's old school, they'd all be wasting away now just because the Orbanians can't be bothered to put in the effort to learn and gain knowledge like the rest of us."

The General sighed heavily, before rubbing a hand over his bald head. "I believe you made your thoughts about this more than clear the last time we had this conversation. In front of an audience, I might add."

"Maybe Kalan needed to hear it."

"Doctor Jackson was present as well."

Jack frowned, wondering where his CO was going. "I think Daniel's pretty much used to it, Sir."

Hammond suddenly looked pleased with himself, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms, "I thought so too. I'm sure Doctor Jackson feels the same way."

"Sir?"

"I think we can use this week's events and your, er, behavior, as a lead-up to your undercover mission, son."

"Getting snaked, having to negotiate with the System Lords, being let down by the Asgard, the Urrone kids on Orban…" Jack ticked all the events off on his fingers as he mentioned them. "I'd say we've definitely reached the stage of angry and frustrated."

"With SG-1's track record, I'm sure disillusioned will be coming soon," the General said dryly.

"Followed by forced retirement, so I can infiltrate the rogue NID operation."

"I would say that's a sound plan, Colonel."

He smirked, "Yes, Sir. I mean, you already have enough on me for a court martial from this week alone. Enough is enough at some point, right?"

"Exactly. Now, why don't you join your team in the infirmary for your post-mission medical exam."

"Yes, Sir."

Hammond stopped him when he reached the door, "Oh and Colonel? Make sure your mission report reflects your anger and frustration of this mission."

"Of course," he said. "Like that'd be a problem," he muttered to himself as he exited the office to make his way up to the infirmary.

His team had already finished their post-mission checkups and left the infirmary, but he didn't mind. Fraiser did a quick exam and declared him clean and healthy. She'd already done a more thorough exam the first time they'd returned from Orban, so this was more of a precaution than anything else.

After taking some blood samples the Doc dismissed him and Jack went to the locker room to shower and get a clean pair of BDUs.


Rodaca
Apophis' Domain
Milky Way Galaxy

The two suns were high in the sky, raising the temperature to almost unbearable levels. Sam wiped beads of sweat from her forehead and was reminded of the goo she'd applied to her face to protect herself against sunburn. It was a mixture of mud and some minerals Shen'ems had given her. Rubbing mud on her face and hands would have normally made her feel ridiculous, but she was long past caring. Besides, most of the Rodacan Jaffa who were outdoors wore it on their face, too.

Her gaze went to her daughter, who was playing with two Rodacan Jaffa children. Both the boy and the girl looked to be about the same age as Ife and, more importantly, had some primitive toys that fascinated all three of them. It put a smile on Sam's face to see her little girl playing with other children. That was one of the few things she couldn't give her, after all. Taking care of Ife, keeping her safe, stimulating her intellectually, reading to her and loving her were things she could do. Arranging playdates with kids her own age hadn't been possible. Until now, apparently.

The Rodacan Jaffa were very welcoming and after another gathering two days ago, close to a dozen Jaffa had joined them. The others were still contemplating their options or unwilling to desert their God, even though Apophis was dead and Klorel was fighting a losing battle to Heru'ur. There hadn't been any violence, threats or arguments even, and the Rodacans asked them to stay. They hadn't heard much from their Gods as of late and there hadn't been a shipping of food, so they could use all the help they could get.

Sam smiled and took a sip from her waterskin. She'd offered to watch the children while Bra'tac and Shen'ems went hunting with the other Jaffa. Over the past year or so, she'd become quite good at hunting and even skinning animals – her dad always told her there was nothing she couldn't do if she put her mind to it – but she'd rather skip it when temperatures were soaring.

The past year…

God, she couldn't believe it had been that long! But it was hard to deny when the evidence was sitting just a few feet away from her, playing in the sand. Tracking how much time had passed was difficult when they went from planet to planet, but she was pretty sure it had been almost a year in Earth time since Ife was born.

Even longer when Sam stepped through the stargate for the first time. So much had happened since that fateful day. She shuddered at the memory of those first few months. They had been horrific and while the sarcophagus had healed her body, she knew the mental scars would stay with her. That time was behind her, though. These days, she had Ife. And Bra'tac was a solid presence in their lives. Someone they could trust with their lives and who'd done so much for them. Back home, she had Jack who was fighting in her corner and he'd help her make it safe for her – and their daughter – to come home…

The sound of voices pulled her from her train of thought and when she turned around, she saw Bra'tac, Shen'ems and the other men coming her way. Two of the Jaffa were carrying a thick branch with a deer-like animal hanging from it and she could see the large bags others were carrying were full as well, either with other dead animals or perhaps fruit and vegetables.

A few women came from their houses to greet them and Sam watched them. In the short time they'd been here she hadn't learned everyone's names, but she recognized some of the faces. Wives welcoming their husbands, sisters greeting their brothers and admiring whatever it was the men had in their bags and younger boys running up with waterskins for their older brothers. The group went to the building Sam had dubbed city hall in her mind, although there were only a handful of scribes working there. It was where all the food and drinks were stored, processed and divided, though.

One woman came from the building and Sam recognized her as the mother of the little boy playing with Ife. The woman murmured a greeting as she passed her but kept her distance – she was one of the Jaffa not yet convinced to join the rebellion and seemed afraid of Sam after the demonstration with the hand device. Once the woman reached the children, she picked up her son and carried him back to the building, talking to him softly.

Ife and the other girl looked confused for a moment, searching for their friend. But that didn't last long, as Bra'tac, Shen'ems and an unknown Jaffa came their way and the Jaffa girl cooed. Sam suspected the man was her father and watched as he went over to his daughter, who stood up and started toddling towards him. A strange feeling washed over Sam as she watched the father and daughter, wondering if such a bond would be possible for Ife with her father. How long would it take Jack to find out who was behind Grieves' orders? And what if it all worked out but Jack had no interest in being a father? She didn't know him all that well and had no idea if he even liked kids.

"Sām," Bra'tac greeted, as he came nearer. "Are you well?"

She frowned and looked up at him, looming over her. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"It matters not," he said dismissively. "We brought back food. Plenty for several days."

"I saw the… large animal."

"Smaller ones as well and fruits and herbs. I sent Shen'ems back to help prepare the meat."

Sam watched as he sat down next to her and reached into his own bag to hand her some fruit, including what she'd started calling a pineana – it looked like a banana but tasted like a pineapple and was delicious. "Thank you."

He looked over to where Ife was watching them and beckoned her over. "Come, sefi."

"It's okay, Ife."

The little girl got up and toddled towards them, brow furrowed in concentration. She clambered in Bra'tac's lap when she reached them, greeting him with a big smile as she snuggled up to him, "Sbai."

"For you," he said, revealing a handful of soft berries.

"Oooh." Ife beamed at him and reached out to pick up one of the berries.

Sam watched the two of them and smiled. Even if Ife didn't have her dad, at least she had Bra'tac. He might deny it, but it was clear to her that the girl had him wrapped around her little finger. Quite a contrast to his initial reaction when Ife had been born… Sighing, she looked away and noticed a lot of people going to city hall. "Do I need to help with the food, too?"

"No, your assistance is not required. They will call for us when the evening meal is ready."

"Oh."

There was a comfortable silence between them as Ife munched on her berries and Sam ate her pineana. She wasn't as hungry as she'd been the past couple of weeks when they'd been going from city to city and planet to planet to turn Apophis' Jaffa, because she'd been sitting around all day. But Sam knew she needed to eat more. It hadn't taken long at all to lose the baby weight after Ife was born – probably because she hadn't gained much to begin with, aside from the actual baby – but lately she felt like maybe she was becoming too skinny. Meals and food in general was more common now compared to when she and Bra'tac had first fled the ha'tak, but they also walked a lot. Weeks or maybe even months ago, she'd also started to train with Bra'tac in lok'nel, an ancient form of martial arts. These days, there was little time to practice but she still did it at least once a week. Her food intake remained the same, though.

"What is on your mind, Sām?"

"Oh, um, I was thinking that maybe I needed to eat more," she said, surprised that he'd initiated small talk.

"Indeed," Bra'tac agreed. "However, I do not believe that is all."

"Well, it is."

He huffed and wiped Ife's mouth clean from the berry stains. "You were troubled, earlier."

"Oh. I was thinking about home, actually."

"As I suspected."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Bra'tac simply nodded. "You have not spoken of it in quite some time. It took strength for you to stay, when O'Neill and his men left for Earth from Hathor's compound."

"I guess."

"It is so."

She chuckled at his earnest tone, but couldn't help remember that moment on the planet when she'd sent Jack away. God, she'd been drawn to the wormhole. Knowing just a few steps would take her home had been tempting. But she never could have left Ife with Shan'auc and even if the baby had been with her, then it would have been too dangerous to go with Jack. Jack knew it, as did she. And Bra'tac, who'd probably seen her staring at that fluctuating event horizon. "I never would have left Ife."

"But if she had been present, would you have taken your leave to join the Tau'ri?"

"No," she said softly. "No, I couldn't. Not when the man responsible for shooting me is still out there and answers to a lot of powerful people who'd probably rather see me dead. Or in a cage, for experimentation if they knew about Herit."

"O'Neill knew this."

"Yes."

Bra'tac nodded sharply and lifted Ife off his lap, before getting up. "He will find those who wish you harm, Sām."

"I know, he said so."

"It will take time, but O'Neill will keep his word."

Sam was about to reply when Bra'tac turned and walked off, leaving her to wonder how well he really knew Jack.


Stargate Command
Colorado Springs, CO
April 23, 1999

Jack took a sip of his coffee, hoping the caffeine would kick in soon. It had been a long day after the ordeal with Merrin and the other Orbanians and then, just when he'd been getting ready for bed at home, he'd been called back into base. Something about unexpected guests was all they could tell him over the unsecure phone line.

An alternate Sam and Kawalsky were not what he'd expected.

Shortly after SG-1 had saved the planet from Apophis' attack, someone higher up finally decided maybe Daniel hadn't hallucinated the whole alternate reality business and another SG team had been sent to retrieve the quantum mirror, as Catherine called it, from P3R-233. It had been stored at Area 51 since then – and Jack could only hope Maybourne or whoever was in charge of the rogue NID crew hadn't played with it in the meantime – and all of a sudden, Doctor Carter and Major Kawalsky came through it from an alternate reality. An alternate alternate reality from the one Daniel had visited, apparently.

God, it was enough to give anyone a headache.

Jack was tired and he just wanted to get some shuteye, but this was one situation he couldn't ignore. By the time he'd been called in, the two alternates had already been transported to the SGC. It was… weird. Being confronted with them, especially without warning.

The alternate Sam Carter's hair was long, just over her shoulder. It had taken him a minute to realize she wasn't his Sam. There was something… vulnerable, in her eyes. Granted, he hadn't spent much time with Sam in DC or on Hathor's planet to really know all of her facial expressions, but during their night together she had been confident and on the planet there was steel in her eyes. Her entire demeanor was different. Plus, her hair had been way longer when she saved his ass from being snaked, although he supposed she could have cut it…

But no, Hammond and Daniel had explained the situation to him and then Doctor Carter and Kawalsky had debriefed all of them on their situation. Their world had been taken over by the Goa'uld and apparently, his alternate self was dead. They didn't know Daniel or Kershaw and their Teal'c never had a change of heart and was the enemy leading Apophis' attack.

He felt grateful all over again for Daniel's persistence about going to the address he'd taken from the first alternate reality.

"Jack!"

He looked up to see Daniel coming his way, carrying his ever-present large thermos cup. "Hey."

"So, I spoke to Doctor Carter and Major Kawalsky just now."

"And?"

Daniel sat down on the opposite chair and took a long sip from his cup before replying, "Well, apparently they knew the Goa'uld were coming for six months, but couldn't find a way to stop them. It's a bit sensitive-"

"Ya think?"

"-but I think they could be real assets for our SGC once they've had time to process everything and realized it wasn't their fault."

Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. He thought Daniel of all people would have some moral objections against keeping the two alternates. "We don't really know that, now do we?"

"What?"

"Whose fault it was."

"You think they asked the Goa'uld to attack them and left their stargate open for them?"

"Oh Daniel, better leave the sarcasm up to me," Jack said, sighing. "All I'm saying is that we have no idea who these people are. They might just be telling us what we need to hear."

He frowned. "Do you really think they'd do that? They were pretty convincing, if you ask me. I mean, Doctor Carter certainly seems traumatized and devastated. Kawalsky doesn't like me very much, so I'm not sure what to think of him."

"Well, they are from an alternate reality. If they were the same as our originals – the people we knew, then they wouldn't exist, right? That fork in the road stuff."

"Obviously there's already a difference between the two Sam Carters: the one belonging here is military and the Doctor isn't. And Kawalsky has never been host to a Goa'uld, according to Doctor Fraiser."

"Yeah, see, we already have a Sam Carter."

"I know, but she's been gone a long time and it might take even longer before she returns. If at all. You said she chose to stay with Bra'tac to start a Jaffa rebellion, right? Who knows how long that might take. Maybe she doesn't even want to return to Earth," Daniel said. He paused for a moment, looking pensive. "Can't say that I'd blame her, considering what happened on her mission with Colonel Grieves. He's still out there, doing who knows what and he might want to finish the job if she comes back if he's afraid she can testify against him."

Jack winced at the lie he'd told Daniel – and the rest of his team – about Sam, but it was the only way they could be kept out of the loop on his undercover mission to make their reactions as credible as possible. Hammond agreed. "That's true, but she might not take it well if she hears we've basically replaced her with an alternate of herself."

"I guess we'll see. When do you think the President and Joint Chiefs will reach a decision about her and Kawalsky staying on Earth?"

"Actually," he said, after draining the last of his coffee, "Hammond already got a call a few minutes ago. They're in. I was on my way to tell them."

"Oh, okay. Do you want me to come with you?"

Jack paused and considered it. That might be easier. Then again, there were some questions he wanted to ask this Doctor Carter because he'd gotten the impression she and his alternate were pretty close. "Um, why don't you tell Kawalsky and I'll let Doctor Carter know the good news."

"Sure, I can do that. I hope they're still awake," he added, checking his watch.

"Don't worry about that, Daniel. I doubt they're asleep and even if they are, this is the kind of news that you'd want people to wake you up for," Jack said.

Together, they went to the A3 quarters where the alternate duo were staying. On their way, Jack briefly went over the things Daniel had to tell Kawalsky, but more information would follow for the two alternates over the weekend, once they'd gotten some rest and could think it all through.

Jack knocked on Doctor Carter's door and opened it, not waiting for an answer. He could see her lying on the bed, distressed. Oh crap. He hadn't really thought this through or he'd realized she might be emotional – he wasn't very good at talking about feelings.

"Jack," she breathed softly, moving to sit up. "Please, come in."

"Well, I just came back from Hammond's office and the brass has decided you're in. You and Kawalsky can stay."

Relief washed over her face, "That's good."

"Yeah, I can see you're overjoyed," he said dryly.

Doctor Carter turned away from him, but not before he saw tears spilling down her cheeks. "I just never expected this. It's so… so hard."

Shit. Now he'd gone and done it. Made the poor woman cry. Great job, O'Neill. "Uh, look. I can't even begin to know what you've been through. I know, uh,… I know you've lost a lot."

"I lost you. I watched you die, Jack. Three days ago, trying to defend the mountain. And here you are, alive and safe in this perfect world, and you don't even know me."

"Well, I sort of know you," he said, sitting down beside her.

"I thought… Lieutenant Kershaw said that your Sam was killed off-world on her first mission. How could you possibly know?"

He followed her faze to a wedding photo on her nightstand. Holy crap! "I take it where you're from we were…"

"Married."

Damn!

"This makes you uncomfortable."

"No, no, not at all," he lied. "I just… I get confused."

She looked at him as if she could read him like a book, clearly seeing through his lie. "Just a couple of weeks ago we were celebrating our first anniversary. Then we got the call that the Goa'uld ships had been spotted entering our solar system."

"How did you two meet?"

"It was almost two years ago," she said, a nostalgic smile on her face. "I was working at the Pentagon as a civilian contractor and Jack was in DC to brief the President and Joint Chiefs about the Hathor invasion at the SGA. Of course, he didn't tell me that at the time."

"Of course."

"We started talking and I challenged him to a game of pool. It's just physics, so I've always been very good at the it but he wasn't bad either. We had fun. I don't even remember how many games we played, but we flirted and got to know each other a little bit…"

Jack took a deep breath as her voice trailed off and she stared at the wedding picture. That story sounded damn familiar. "And you went back to his hotel room with him," he suggested.

Her head whipped around and she looked at him with wide eyes. "How did you…?"

"Lucky guess."

"Because you think I'd go to a hotel room with you just hours after meeting you?"

He winced at the accusation in her tone, although he wasn't entirely sure why she was mad at him. She just admitted it was true! "No," he said slowly, "because I met my Sam in this bar and grill in DC about two years ago."

"Holy Hannah! You slept with her?"

"Yeah, she stayed the night. But I had to go back to Colorado in the morning and she left. Turns out she got reassigned overnight and arrived at the SGC before I did. Hammond sent her on the mission Kershaw told you about."

"Oh, my god."

Jack decided to forego the whole prisoner and snaking thing for now and continued, "We went back for her but she was gone. It took me a few months to realize that my Sam was the Captain Carter who'd gone missing off-world-"

"Because we never exchanged last names," she said, interrupting him.

"Yeah. Listen, um, I should probably be…"

"Stay."

"Sam…" He said softly, catching her gaze.

"Please."

"Look, you're dealing with a loss right now that I can't even begin to…What I mean is, maybe I'm not the right person to help you."

"Yes, you are. You're the only one who can. Look, I know you well enough to know that you don't have clue what to say. You don't have to say anything."

She looked so sad, all teary-eyed and emotional, so he opened his arms, "C'mere."

Her cheeks were wet against his neck as she hugged him. "Oh, I miss him."

"I know, I know," he murmured.

She hugged him tighter, sobs wracking her body. He suspected she hadn't let herself grieve for her loss yet and now it was all pouring out of her. All he could do was hold her and hope it was a comfort for her.

After a while, her sobs stopped and she slowly pulled back. "I'm sorry, I'm such a mess. I shouldn't have-"

"Hey, it's okay," he said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "You lost your husband. Crying is allowed."

"Thank you. You should go, though."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, giving him a teary smile. "Yeah, I'd like to be alone."

Jack figured his presence was too much for her. At first, it might have been a comfort but after pouring her heart out, it probably just felt strange. He'd experienced something similar when that Crystal Entity turned into Charlie two years ago. "Look, Sam."

"I'm okay."

"I know you are, but I also know my presence might be too much for you in the long run. I'm not your husband."

She nodded, sniffling. "And I'm not your Sam."

"No, you're not. Hammond said to tell you that you and Kawalsky could stay here indefinitely. But there's also an option to get you back home. It's going to take some time but we might be able to come up with a plan."

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't a possibility," Jack said. "But you need your rest. We'll go over everything with you and Kawalsky tomorrow."

"Okay," she nodded. "Thank you, Jack. Good night."