Author's notes: Well, it's been…. A few days since I last posted! And for that, I'm sorry. I usually only work 2 days a week, (stupid recession), but we're getting a new system at work and I've been put forward to work on another department that deals with the new system! Go on myself. So I need to be trained up on the existing system so I have an understanding of the new one. So I'm on at least five days a week for now.

It's doing wonders for my bank balance but not so much for my writing!

Anyway, here's chapter 6. I hope you all enjoy it. Sorry for the delay. Please review.

P.S. Lady T! Thank you so much for your review! I understood it perfectly. Ich liebe Deutschland! Es tut mir leid, meine Deutsch nicht so gut wie Sie Ihr Englisch! (I hope that makes sense!)

6

"No," Jack said, his face blank.

"Oh. I just thought with you being married in this reality too…."

"This is a pretty recent arrangement," Jack said softly.

"Really?"

"I was his Second for eight years," Sam said as she made herself comfortable on another chair, which she had placed close to Jack's.

"Oh. You're not in the military in my reality. You're a scientist."

"I am here too."

"So, do you have any kids in this reality?" he asked curiously, his eyes lighting up at the thought of new family members.

Jack looked over towards Sam, his eyebrows raised. Sam looked at her husband and gave a quick half smile. Jack looked back towards Charlie with a smirk on his face.

"We have a daughter," he said.

"Yeah?" Charlie asked as he reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a well loved photograph that was curling at the edges. He held out the photo, Jack stood up and walked over to him and took the photo from his hand.

It was the closest that he had been to his alternate reality son and the overwhelming urge to take him in his arms made him catch his breath. He quickly took a step back and swallowed. He sat back down on his seat and tried to control his breathing as he looked at the photo, his wife leaning in close.

"That was taken a couple of days before I left," he said sadly. "I'll never see them again."

Jack raised his eyes from the photo to look at the young man in the bed. He was obviously upset, and rightly so. Jack knew what it was like to lose his family. He again looked down at the photo and couldn't help but smile.

Charlie stood sideways, his face to the camera, smiling with one arm wrapped around a younger boy. The younger boy - Jayden - had his arms wrapped around Charlie's middle and was smiling manically at the camera. He had unruly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He looked almost identical to Charlie.

Charlie's other arms was holding up a young blonde girl on his back. Her long hair fell three quarters of the way down her back in soft curls. Her blue eyes sparkled as she smiled and held on to her brother tightly.

"How old are they?" Jack asked, his throat becoming tight.

"Jayden's eleven. Ava's eight."

"Bit of an age difference between you," Jack mused.

"I guess," Charlie shrugged with his good arm. "But you and mom didn't meet until I was eight. So that was to be expected."

Sam smiled and took the photo from Jack's hands. She stood up and walked over to Charlie. She handed him the photo before reaching into her own inside pocket. She looked at the photo in her hand and smiled before handing it to him.

He looked at the photo and smiled. Smiling back at him with a cheeky grin was a young girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes. She was sitting on the dock by the cabin, wearing a purple Tinkerbell swimming costume and her arms encased in purple armbands.

"She's beautiful," he breathed, drinking in the sight of his younger sister. "How old is she?"

"Three," Sam replied as she took the offered photo from his hands.

"She used to be blonde, with blue eyes," Jack grumbled. "And almost overnight. Boom. Brown hair, brown eyes."

"What's her name?" Charlie asked, looking between his parents, smiling as he realised that his dad had the same fears over Ava. He wanted her to be blonde too, Ava had stayed blonde haired and blue eyed - much to his delight.

"Danielle," Sam smiled.

"As in?"

"After Daniel," Jack replied as he stretched his arms out in front of him. "Miss impatient over there couldn't wait until she got to a hospital or the infirmary to have her. Daniel delivered her. She was Madison up until then."

"It must be a baby girl thing. Ava was almost exactly the same. Dad got mom there just in time," he paused. "Do… do you think I could…. Meet her?"

"We'll need to clear a few things…" Sam started.

"But I'm sure she'd love that," Jack finished.

"We might be able to get you back to your own reality to your family," Sam smiled, cupping his chin in her hand. "Keep strong."

Excuse me?

"Do you think we can?" Jack asked as they walked down the corridor away from the infirmary.

"Can what?" Sam asked as she pulled the zip on her jacket down slightly.

"Get him back to his own reality?"

"We can try. The Wraith will be a problem, maybe too big of a problem, but we can't just sit around and do nothing."

"Yeah," he nodded, then paused. "He really does love you."

"He loves her. I'm not her."

Jack gently grabbed her arm and stopped her. He turned her to face him and he cupped her cheek in his free hand. He could see the emotions race across her eyes. She had no idea how to feel.

"In a way, you are her. Even now. You're protecting him here, in this reality, just like you done in his. Thank you."

"He's your son, Jack," she sighed.

"But you don't have to do this."

"He turned up out of nowhere on my base bloody and bruised. On top of that we find out he's your son. I'm only doing my job."

"That, and you're in full mommy mode. You're taking care of him the same way you take care of Dani."

"I miss her," she whispered.

"I know you do. And she misses you. She asks me a million times a day when you're coming home. I have to tell her I don't know," he said sadly.

"I'm sorry," she breathed.

"Not your fault Sam. You have a job to do here. She knows that. She kind of understands that. She just wishes you'd be able to give her a hug every now and then."

"She'd love to meet Charlie," Sam smiled.

"Yeah!" Jack laughed. "That could be a bit of a problem though. I dunno if they'd let Charlie on Earth, and Dani can't come here. It's far too dangerous."

"There is a chance where we can't get him back to his own reality. He'll have to stay here. It's safe here for now, and who knows what information he has that we don't know about. He could be a real asset here. We'll need to wait until Keller says his arm is okay to use properly."

"We'll have to tell Sarah. He'll want to meet her. She has a right to know," Jack's mind whirled as thoughts bounced around him his head. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked up at the ceiling.

"We can get her clearance," Sam said quietly as she nodded. "If he stays, she'll have to know."

"I've been getting Dani stickers for you. I saw a Disney Princess sticker book at the store. I've hid it from her. I've been picking up the stickers for it when she hasn't been here. I thought you'd enjoy doing that with her."

"A sticker date? I'd love that," she smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"Colonel!" A voice called out from down the corridor. "General! I wasn't expecting to see you here!"

"Sheppard," Jack nodded to the younger man as he came to a stand still beside them.

"What can I do for you John?" Sam asked, diverting the conversation.

"McKay's been looking over the city logs and we found out when our guest arrived."

"How long?" Jack asked.

"He was in the room with the mirror for five hours before he started to move towards your quarters," Sheppard explained.

"He told us he passed out after he came through," Sam told him as they began to walk down the hallway again.

"Have we found out who he is yet? I know what he's told us, but has he been telling the truth?"

"He's my son," Jack said before walking ahead of the other two military officers.

"I didn't know he had a son," John mused as he watched the General move away from them.

"Yeah. Had a son," Sam smiled sadly before walking after her husband, leaving a bewildered Sheppard on his own.

Excuse me?

"Are you feeling up to this?" Sam asked as she stood next to Charlie's bed.

"Yes. I have to know," he said as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and moved to stand, Sam supporting him as he stumbled slightly.

"Nothing other than finding your reality will happen today. We need to make sure it's safe to do this."

"I know. Thank you," he nodded as he wrapped his arm around her neck.

Sam wrapped her arm around his waist and held on to the hand that was on her shoulder. He was still concussed and slightly unbalanced, but Keller had given him permission to move around. He was eager to see something other than the infirmary walls.

Slowly they made their way out of the infirmary and towards the secret room that housed the mirror.

"I can't wait until all of these drugs are out of my system," Charlie breathed as he stopped for the third time.

"It's more likely to be the concussion," Sam said. She knew all too well how bad concussions could get, remembering her time on the Prometheus.

"Yeah," he breathed as he started walking again. "Had a few of those. None of them pretty."

"Join the club," Sam laughed.

They entered the room to find Jack, Sheppard and McKay already there waiting for them, along with a team fully kitted out and ready to go. McKay held the control in his hands, Sheppard stood against the wall with the team, while Jack held on to the back of a chair. He motioned Charlie towards it. He gratefully sank down onto it and smiled at his dad.

"How do we do this?" McKay asked. "How do we know which one is his?"

"A friend of mine drew a smiley face on the wall opposite the mirror in glow in the dark pen," Charlie said. He could feel numerous pair of eyes staring at him. "Don't ask."

"Okay. Glow in the dark smiley face. Here we go," McKay said as he activated the mirror.

The mirror shimmered in front of them as it activated. McKay carefully navigated his way through the alternate realities before finding Charlie's ten minutes later.

"That's the one," Charlie said, leaning forwards on his chair. "Looks like they haven't found the room."

"That's a good thing," Jack said from behind him.

"You're good to go," Sam nodded towards her team.

The four men stepped forwards and placed their hands on the mirror, instantly appearing on the other side. They moved so two of them were on either side of the door. One man swiped his hand over the panel then readied his gun as the door opened.

Even from their position on the other side of the mirror the remaining members of the party could see that the Atlantis on the other side was mainly destroyed. A shot from Wraith weaponry flashed past the open door. Then three more. Parts of the city crumbled as it shook. The soldiers on the other side bracing themselves against the walls. The city was falling apart.

The door slid closed before them. The soldiers turned to face the mirror and shook their heads. Sam motioned for them to come back. They appeared in the room seconds later.

"From what I could see from the open doors, the city is crawling with Wraith, I counted seven soldiers and three others from where I stood. They seem to be having a good time destroying the place."

"There were another five in the other direction," another said.

"I'm never going home," Charlie said, sounding defeated. "I'm never going to see my family again."

"Charlie," Sam said sadly as he placed a hand on his shoulder and knelt down beside him. He turned to face her, tears in his eyes. Sam hugged him, careful of his still tender shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and buried his face in her neck.

Jack took a deep breath and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. It was the first time he had touched his son since finding out about him. He felt his son's shoulders shake slightly as he tried to restrain his emotions.

Jack nodded to everyone to leave the room. They all filed out slowly. McKay turning off the mirror and placing the control on the floor.

"I'm sorry kid," the first soldier said, before he left. "Going back there would be suicide."