Chapter 7: The Fairest of them All

He walked Charlie back to the mirror himself, agreeing to meet the other man in two hours time along with Grace.

He had very little time to contact General Hammond and explain to him the situation and what he wanted to do. That was the easy part.

The hard part was having to tell SG-1.

After his hour long phone call with Hammond in which the older general was far more sympathetic than Jack had anticipated and had given him the clearance to have Grace remain in their universe, he sought out Daniel.

He needed the archaeologist's advice on how to proceed, or rather, how to tell Carter. Danny was Sam's best friend and would know what to do.

"So, let me get this straight: You and their Sam...?"

"Yeah."

"And she got-"

"Yes, again."

"I see. Thats..."

"Bizarre? Breaks so many cosmic laws? What?"

"I was gonna say 'wow' but those fit too."

Daniel was still holding a piece of artifact from the Ancient ruins on P8Z-422. He was gesticulating with it which to Jack said much more than what he was actually saying. He'd just revealed some life changing, career destroying news and Daniel looked to be taking it very well, but he knew his friend and Daniel was as terrified as he was. This would change everything.

"What are you gonna do?"

What was he gonna do? He was going to get Grace and get her settled into his house as soon as possible. But he knew Daniel was asking much more than that.

What about childcare? How did one explain to everyone about the sudden appearance of a little girl that just happened to be his? What would he tell Carter?

"I'll figure it out."

"We."

"What?"

Daniel finally put down the slab of rock he was holding. "We will figure it out."

"Look, Daniel-"

"We'll all help."

"You can't get Carter mix up in this. She's got a life now."

Daniel took off his glasses and begun to clean it. Standard delaying tactic when he was about deliver something Jack didn't want to hear. "Jack, don't you think she would want to be part of this. She is, technically-"

"No!" Jack shook his head and turned away from Daniel. "She's not Grace's... Grace's mother died. Samantha was her mother."

"I'm not saying that Sam could replace her-"

"I said no, Daniel. That little girl is going to know her real mother. I'm not gonna have her split between Carter and me, shuttling from one family to another. I'm definitely not gonna have her think of Pete as her stepfather."

"Is that why you don't want Sam to be part of this? Because you resent her for being with Pete?"

"Dammit, Daniel! You just don't get it. This has nothing to do with Carter. Nothing. This was between me and Samantha. We made that kid together. Carter had nothing to do with it. They are nothing alike. Samantha was married to another Jack O'Neill, Carter doesn't even see me that way."

"Oh, puhleese!" Daniel replied. "I can't believe you actually think that. We all know just how much she does see you that way."

"She's engaged to someone else, Daniel. That says plenty to me."

"Only because she thinks there's never gonna be anything between you two. If you just tell her how you feel-"

"It's too late, Daniel. She's happy with him. She's made her choice and I won't interfere with that. Grace doesn't change anything between me and Carter."

"What are you going to tell her then? What if she wants to be part of Grace's life?"

"I'll tell her the truth. I'll tell her that I don't want Grace to get even more confused about things."

Daniel thought about the little girl who was now caught up in the mess that Sam and Jack created. Grace had just lost her mother and now she was being forced to leave her very reality to live with a father she's only ever heard about, then deal with the alternate of her dead mother who was about to marry another man.

'Confused' was the least of the problems facing Grace.

Daniel joined Jack to meet Kawalsky and Grace at the mirror. They hadn't had much time after their little discussion to inform the rest of SG-1 and Jack decided to tell the rest of the team once he got Grace settled with Daniel at his house.

Grace would have to be checked at the infirmary first before being allowed off base. The two men had agreed that it would be wise to get the girl out of the mountain and quickly into something resembling 'normal'.

Daniel would stay with Grace whilst Jack returned to the mountain to tell SG-1 the news.

Carter, Jonas and Teal'c were still off world at the Ancient site and were expected to return the next day, but Jack was planning on recalling them briefly to tell them about his daughter.

Jack was understandably feeling apprehensive about meeting his little girl for the first time. This was a second chance for him at fatherhood and he was determined to not screw it up this time around.

He'd made so many mistakes with Charlie and he owed it to his late son and now his daughter to make things right.

The Quantum Mirror activated and they were able to see Kawalsky, Janet and a smaller figure whom they assumed was Grace.

The little girl was clutching Janet's side looking a little awed and scared by the whole thing. Jack grinned briefly at Janet who acknowledged him back with a smile before turning his gaze back to his little girl.

She was slightly tall for her age, long wavy blonde hair and the most startling blue eyes that Jack had ever seen. She was pure Sam and he couldn't help but fall in love with his daughter. There were only hints of himself on her, her slightly darker skin than Sam's, the curve of her lips.

Charlie touched the mirror forcing Jack to turn his attention from Grace. All three of them suddenly appeared on their side of the mirror.

"Dr. Jackson, it's nice to see you again." Charlie shook Daniel's hand, the two men exchanging brief pleasantries.

"Hey, Doc. How's it going?" Jack rocked back and forth on his heels his hands stuffed into his pockets. He glanced nervously down at Grace who was sneaking peeks at him.

Janet smiled and knelt down to the same level as her charge. "Gracie. I want you to meet General Jack O'Neill. Do you recognize him from the pictures your mommy used to show you?"

Grace nodded in the affirmative but didn't say anything.

Jack knelt down as well and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Gracie."

Grace shuffled her feet before finally looking shyly up at him. "Nice to meet you too, Daddy."

Jack felt a lump in his throat. He'd missed so much. This little girl had known him as her father all this time and he'd had no idea that she even existed. It was no ones fault, he couldn't even pin this one on himself, but he couldn't help but feel that he'd lost out on so many things.

He grasped her small hands in his and brought it up to his lips. She giggled a little at his actions and he couldn't help but grin back at her. He looked back up at Janet who looked about to cry.

He let go of Grace's hand and let her have a few moments with Janet.

The doc was speaking quietly to Grace and he assumed the two were saying goodbye. He saw his daughter nodding at whatever Janet was telling her and he couldn't help but feel bad that he was taking Grace away from the only family that she'd ever known.

She'd lost so much already and he was sure it wasn't right that she lose Janet and Charlie as well.

"Jack," Charlie interrupted his thoughts. "Jan and I can't stay long. We've brought as much of Gracie's stuff, but there's quite a few things you'll need to get. I've given Daniel a list..."

Janet came up to him and grasped his arm as if reading the doubts passing through his mind. "You'll do fine, Jack. I've put her medical file in her back pack. Just give it to your Frasier and they'll take care of everything. There's nothing to be worried about. She's perfectly healthy. She's a strong little girl, Jack, she'll get used to living with you pretty quickly."

"I know she will. Especially with the two of you helping out."

Charlie shot him a confused look.

Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and stared intently at his boots. "I may have asked Hammond for a huge, honkin' favor that I will certainly be repaying for the rest of my life..."

Janet looked at her husband then at Jack. "What?"

"Jack-" Charlie started, shaking his head.

"You're the only family Grace has ever known. She's lost so much already. I couldn't let the only two people left in from her previous life disappear into an unknown fate."

Janet forced him to look down at her and meet her gaze. "But what about Entropic Cascade Failure? According to Sam I'll start to suffer from it in a matter of days."

Jack gave her a sad look.

"You mean?"

He gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"How?" Charlie asked, feeling the loss despite having his Janet right there.

"Off world. She was a hit by a staff weapon treating one of our wounded."

Janet didn't know what to say.

"You saved that Airman's life, Doc. You have a chance to continue saving more of them."


First of all, I want to apologize to you guys for the lull between chapters. For this story and Plausible Deniability.

I'm kinda stuck with a plot idea for PD, which my beta and I are currently hashing out the details. As for this fic, it's partially written, but will probably take a back seat once PD gets going again.

I hope you guys like Russia! ;-) And who else is loving Supportive!Daniel ? I sooo love the unlikely friendship between him and Jack.

errin: I think you'll find that Jack isn't in the mood to explain much to Sam. He's basically separated the two Sams in his mind (Denial anyone?!), and isn't willing to share this part of his life with her. After all, she is engaged!

Kahuna: Man, I'm way to predictable. I guess we all know what we want to see in a story, and I'm basically writing that. Hmm. Maybe I should mix things up to make it more interesting? A pregnant Sam, perhaps? *veg*

PatriciaS: Sam's about to have a real rough time. Bad decisions, especially personal ones, have a nasty way of biting one in the butt.

RobinBishop1231: You've come to right place! I love me a babyfic.