Chapter 4
Odin of the Asgard emerged from the event horizon of the Star Gate. It had been eons since he had traveled by such means. He had been invited to work a treaty with Earth and her allies. General Hammond and SG-1 stood to greet him with Thor by their side.
"Father," Thor greeted him.
Odin looked about the soon figured they were in a bunker. He mentioned, "Your Gate is not in a public place."
Jack smirked back knowingly, "Is yours?"
Odin squinted at Jack not amused for Jack was right and the Asgard Gate remained in Odin's possession. "This is the great Colonel O'Neill that I have heard so much about," he sneered as he looked Jack over.
"Depends," Jack cocked his head. "What did you hear?"
Thor closed his eye for a second wishing he had some means of controlling Jack's mouth. In the new reality Thor was no longer the Supreme Leader of the Asgard. Odin was now the leader of the Asgard and Jack didn't seem to get along with him.
Odin looked to his son, "I prefer you to not speak so highly of this man in the future."
"Yes father," he gave a nod understanding.
Jack rolled his eyes, "Oh' come on, Odin. How many times have I saved your asses now?"
Odin informed, "The Asgard owe a debt to SG-1 admittedly." He paused and added, "But do not expect me to grovel before you, Colonel."
"I wouldn't think of it," Jack assured him.
Odin then addressed Hammond, "I am pleased you have invited the Asgard to partake in the treaty, General."
"It's my pleasure," Hammond assured him with a welcoming smile. "This way," He showed him to the stairs that led the briefing room.
As they walked Odin asked, "How much longer do you plan on staying on Earth, Thor?"
"I would like to stay until we can assure Anubis is neutralized." he requested.
"You have many duties to attend to back home," he countered.
Thor agreed, "I know father but Anubis…"
"Hasn't been an issue since his defeat," Odin insisted.
Thor countered, "He's still a threat father. Major O'Neill forecast it to be so."
Odin arrived at the briefing room and discovered Bra'tac of the Free Jaffa in traditional robes was already present. He replied to Thor, "Who is Major O'Neill?"
Jack spoke up, "My daughter."
Odin gave a sigh for he figured Thor was just finding excuses to stay. He greeted Bra'tac, "I am Odin of the Asgard. You represent the Jaffa."
Bra'tac rose to his feet and greeted the leader, "I am Bra'tac of the Free Jaffa. It is an honor, Odin."
Odin became very diplomatic, "The honor is mine."
Jack stood by and figured Odin could have been nicer to him if he choose but simply wasn't.
Hammond stated, "We are waiting for Selmak of the Tok'ra. Please have a seat."
Odin asked, "Tok'ra? I have not heard of them."
Daniel Jackson explained, "They are Goa'uld who rejected the genetic programming and resisted the whole worship me or die thing. Tok'ra means against the Goa'uld."
"I see," he replied and took a seat.
Hammond spoke to Jack, "Does not SG-1 have some work to do, Colonel?"
"Right," he gave a nod. He looked at Thor who took a seat beside his father. "You okay?"
"I am fine, O'Neill." Thor gave a nod as he was to be part of the meeting.
Jack gave a nod in return and led SG-1 out of the briefing room and into the control room. He wanted to stay and help Thor but he obviously he wasn't needed.
Walter spoke to Sam. "Major, I picked up a strange radio signal during our last dial out."
Sam asked going over the controls, "Where was the dial out too?"
"P9X-1988" Walter reported. "I swear the MALP picked up what sounded like music."
"Music?" she asked baffled.
Walter played the recording, "Listen."
In the audio recording a muffled sound of music could be heard. As the listened they could make out the words: "I'm hooked on a feeling…"
Jack cocked his head, "What the hell?"
Daniel suggested, "I think we should check that out."
Jack nodded, "Let's do that."
P9X-1988
In a desolate planet one man sat beside the wreckage. He was dressed in brown trousers with a white shirt and a red leather jacket. His auburn hair was cut short and he placed the headphones over his head and started to play the music once more on his cassette player. He wasn't sure what had happened but he was marooned on another planet and half of his crew had disappeared.
"Hey!" he heard a familiar voice.
He looked over and spotted the raccoon standing upright with what appeared to be a small human looking tree on its shoulders. He removed his earphones and asked, "What?"
"Yo Star-Lord," he huffed. "Something came through that ring we found."
"Something came through the ring, Rocket?" he asked jumping to his feet and followed the raccoon and baby humanoid tree to the ring. Peter Quill studied the contraption, "Looks like one of those things the military had."
The Gate started to move once more. The chevrons locked in place one by one. Peter stated, "Hide!" They scurried behind a nearby boulder.
The Gate established with an eruption of liquid energy. Peter looked on, "Wow," he whispered.
Rocket stated, "So that's what that thing does."
SG-1 emerged and found the MALP untouched. Sam immediately went to work examining the MALP, "Seems okay sir." she told him.
As Peter watched the team Rocket looked at Peter and stated, "They look like your kind."
"I see," he whispered.
"I've never seen your kind out here before," Rocket told him.
"Shh," he hushed the raccoon.
Jack heard the whispering along with Teal'c and Daniel. He gave a few hand signals to his friends. Teal'c went off silently.
Daniel tried to distract whoever was nearby. He spoke aloud, "This is a nice place here."
Sam looked up at him strangely for she had no idea what he was doing. "Daniel?" she asked.
He gave her a nod and called out, "I was just saying it's a nice place here."
As Peter watched Daniel and Sam, Jack and Teal'c came up on him. He suddenly found himself surrounded.
Jack asked, "Okay…Who are you?"
Peter replied, "I'm Star-Lord."
The raccoon huffed, "Don't tell him anything!"
Jack blinked shocked and asked, "Did your pet raccoon just talk?"
"I'm not a pet!" Rocket huffed.
Peter told him, "Will you shut up!" He looked at Jack, "You're human."
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Are you from Earth?" he wondered.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Who are you, Star-Lord?"
"Does that ring go to Earth?" he asked him.
Jack nodded, "It can."
He just looked on amazed and figured, "That ring can take me home?"
Rocket snorted, "Listen to yourself! Our ship crashed and half our crew just disappeared into thin air and you are talking about going home."
Jack asked, "What's your name, son? Your real name."
"Peter Quill," he told him. "I was abducted after my mom died when I was a kid. I don't know how to get back home. I haven't found Earth on any star charts."
"Come with me," Jack told him. He then asked, "Where did you get the talking raccoon from?"
Rocket nearly yelled, "I was genetically engineered!"
"What's the tree looking thing on its shoulder?" Jack wondered. The trio seemed crazy and odd to him.
"I am Groot," a small voice replied.
Jack stopped and looked the trio: A human who was abducted as a child from Earth, a talking raccoon and a talking baby tree. He felt his forehead, "No fever."
Teal'c stated, "The blending."
"Oh," Jack gave a nod, "must be from the Avengers' reality."
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.
Jack began to walk, "They get all the weird shit." He came to the clearing by the MALP. "Guess what I found!" he cheered.
Sam looked over at a grown man, a raccoon standing up right, armed with weapons and with a small tree like humanoid on its shoulder. She cocked an eyebrow, "Sir."
Daniel asked squinting, "Is that a raccoon? And a little tree?"
"I was genetically engineered in a lab," Rocket huffed. "Man what is it with you people? How many times do I have to say that?"
"I am Groot," the baby tree stated.
Sam looked on at the small tree, "That's amazing. It's so cute…" she caught herself and sucked in a breath.
Jack stated, "This is Star-Lord aka Peter Quill. He said he was abducted by aliens after his mom died. He's from Earth. And as you can see he has a talking raccoon and a small talking tree."
Peter stated, "Their names are Rocket and Groot. Groot is a seedling."
Daniel pondered, "They have to be from Avenger's reality."
"That would be my guess," Jack stated.
Peter asked, "Avenger's reality? Do you know what happened about a week ago? Something weird happened and two of my crew just disappeared and my ship practically disintegrated and crashed."
Sam replied, "Do you know what a multi-universe is?"
Rocket the raccoon barked, "Enlighten us!"
"It's when two or more realities exist in the same space. Like an alternate reality or universe." she explained.
Peter stated, "Oh' I get it…Like going to another dimension."
"Not quite the same," she told him. "In multi-universe there can be altered versions of your reality with slight differences. Say in one reality you were never abducted and your mom never died. These realities exist in the same place but on different levels. Well, a week ago two separate realities combined into one new reality. That affected you, your ship and your crew."
Peter asked, "You know where they went?"
"I don't know that," she told him. "Do you have another set of memories by any chance? One where you stay on Earth and were never abducted."
"No," he shook his head.
"Then you only existed in one reality. Your friends were affected but I don't know how yet." she told him.
Rocket asked, "Two realities collided? Wouldn't that be monumental?"
Jack stated, "Not nearly as monumental as a talking raccoon." He looked at his team, "Let's bring the raccoon back."
"They are stranded here Jack," Daniel told him. "They were directly affected by the blending and we do need to help them." He looked at the raccoon and squinted, "Is that gun?"
Rocket challenged, "You wanna see what it can do?"
"Nope," he shook his head. "Am I really talking to a raccoon?"
Peter stated, "You get used to him after a while." He looked at the ring, "I can walk through that ring and go back home?"
"Yes," Sam told him.
"In this reality thing…Is my mom still alive?" he wondered.
"I don't know," she told him.
"Peter," Jack started. "You're options are stay here or come back with us. Your mom may or may not be alive. We can help your find her."
"What about Rocket and Groot?" he asked concerned.
Jack grinned, "I can't wait to see Hammond's face."
