We're into New Order now, and Sam might get to speak to Jack properly for the first time in, huh, months!
Doctor Elizabeth Weir looked up at the nervous sounding knock on her office door and saw Major Samantha Carter standing there. It was the real Major as apparently the one she had met on her first few days as commander of the SGC had in fact been a clone sent to infiltrate the team on Anubis' orders. The major seemed hesitant to enter and Elizabeth had a hunch as to why.
"Come on in, Major. How can I help you?"
Carter took a small step into the room. "Firstly, I wanted to offer my thanks for your guidance of the evacuation to the alpha site. Sasha says you also offered her some words of advice."
Smiling, Elizabeth answered, "For a civilian she handled the news from Major Davis reasonably well, but she was clearly nervous. I thought that as a fellow civilian, my words might comfort her more. I'm glad that your daughter got home safely." For security precautions, Elizabeth had ordered the real Major Carter to remain on base until all possible testing could be carried out. She had read all of the mission reports concerning Naquadah bombs in the heart or teeth and was not about to make any mistakes. Carter had been given the all clear and allowed to return home to her daughter, newly fostered daughter, Cassie and the live-in nanny, Sasha. Less than a day later, Carter had been back in the SGC demanding that Elizabeth do everything possible to help Colonel O'Neill. She could only imagine what Carter was going through and how eager she would be to have her family unit back together as much as was still possible.
"Thank you. Anyway, I came to see you to request again concerning Colonel O'Neill."
"Major, I made my position quite clear."
"I know, but there has to be a way to get a message to the Asgard. Colonel O'Neill has done so much, given so much for this planet and we need to do this one thing for him."
"Not for you then?" Elizabeth did not mean to antagonise the Major, but she also could not budge from her position. All 'gate travel was off limits and the altered Al'kesh was the most advanced piece of technology they had, especially now that the Ancient weapon seemed to be all out of its ammunition.
"Do you know how much of my own life I missed out on? I have a foster-daughter now. When I left on that mission, running after Jack, I had a daughter, a best friend and a girl I considered like a daughter. I come back and my best friend's dead, Jack and I have custody of her daughter and the man I love has had his brain re-written like a computer hard drive being wiped. He's spent the past few months happily forming a relationship with a woman he thought was me." She paused and Elizabeth allowed her to. "I've spent years keeping Jack at bay. Even after Daniella came along, our jobs and our careers meant more than us being happy. We both sacrificed everything for this job, for this planet. My best-friend gave her life for this job and I just lost six months of my life, of my daughter's life in a Goa'uld prison cell standing there and listening to how some imposter was raising my child and loving the man I had always kept at bay. He just learnt that the mother of his child, who he left alone with his daughter and who he embarked on a relationship with was an agent of Anubis. After everything he's done, you and the rest of the military are happy to just sit back? Really?"
"What exactly do you have in mind?" She had to be willing to give these people a chance.
"SG-1 can take the modified Al'kesh, the cargo ship, and use the co-ordinates from Prometheus and it should take just over a week to get to Othalla. We'll contact the Asgard and they can heal Jack, like they did before."
"I have two issues with that, Major. One: Daniel is too important at the moment. We need him to remain here, working on the translations. We still need to find Atlantis."
"Okay."
"Two: You have to remain here, too." Carter began to interrupt her, but Elizabeth silenced her with a wave of her hand. "It's non-negotiable. I'll allow Teal'c and Lieutenant Carpenter to try and contact the Asgard, but you are to remain here."
"Do you still not trust me?"
"Not a question of trust, Major." Elizabeth shuffled some papers in front of her, knowing that she had a phone call to make to ensure the mission could go ahead. "The truth is that, yes, there might be a trick up your sleeve and I'm sure my bosses would not want that risk out there. However, I am refusing your request on the grounds that you have just been a prisoner of war for six months and you are more than likely suffering from post-traumatic stress."
"Doctor Weir, I'm fit and able for work."
Elizabeth shook her head. "You just near broke down and cried in my office and what you said is correct. You've returned home, Major, after a stranger was allowed free reign in your house, to raise your daughter, do your job and date your partner. Sam," she changed to her first name, "go home, be with your daughters, mourn your friend and rest. Trust your team to bring Colonel O'Neill home to you. Is that clear?"
Carter nodded and half turned toward the door. "Thank you." With that, Carter left the room and Elizabeth wondered how her reign as boss could possibly get any worse. She really did not feel capable to this job.
SG – SG – SG
It still felt oddly comfortable, familiar, strange and unusual all combined when Sam entered her house. She tried to think of it as her home, but it was not easy. There were differences some subtle, like the new shoe rack by the front door and the types of shoes on them. There were new photo frames decorating the den and even some in the kitchen. The door of the refrigerator was covered in new drawings made by Daniella, ones that Sam had never seen before. After taking off her shoes, Sam made her way straight into the kitchen to get a drink. For six months she had only been given the barest of rations – water and a stodgy-stew that tasted like cardboard. She could not get enough of milk at the moment.
Closing the refrigerator door, Sam looked at the most recent drawing done by Daniella. It was of a house and there were five squiggles, each one with Cassie's handwriting next to it. The drawing showed Daniella's family – her father and mother, Cassie, Sasha and Daniella. Sam was not sure how Jack had been coping with a grief-stricken teenager and living in a house full of women. She was not sure how to cope with a grief-stricken teenager. How had the other Sam dealt with Cassie?
"Hey." Sam turned and saw Cassie sitting at the table just behind her.
"Hi, sorry I didn't see you there."
"That's okay. I guess a lot's changed." Cassie nodded her head towards the drawings. "I mean, I didn't live here when you were last here." There was a vulnerability in the teenager's voice and Sam could not quite place what it meant.
"I used to have my own bedroom, yeah."
"You can have it back, if you want it."
Sam looked up and met Cassie's watery, fearful eyes. Had Cassie been doubting that she was still welcome? "Cassie, honey, I love you like you're my own and this is your home. You can't doubt me on that, do you?"
"No." Cassie shook her head uncertainly. "It's just that everything changed after you were… replaced."
"Replaced." Sam laughed. "I like that word. Things haven't been easy for you, Cassie." She walked over to the table and put her hand over Cassie's, leaning over the table. "And I can't promise that they're going to be easy now. We have to hope that Jack comes home and then we'll… take things from there."
"He loves you."
Sam looked away, retracting her hands. "But he's been in a relationship with her."
"That doesn't matter. He's always loved you." Both women sat there in silence for a long moment before Cassie spoke again. "Do you love him?"
Without hesitation Sam replied, "More than life itself."
SG – SG – SG
Teal'c followed closely behind Lieutenant Carpenter, watching the corridor for any sign of the replicators. Thankfully, soon after they had dropped out of hyperspace Thor had arrived and saved them from being sucked into the black hole that was Hala's sun. Teal'c had immediately apprised the Asgard commander of the situation back on Earth with the frozen Colonel O'Neill and clone of Major Carter. Thor had promised his aid as soon as he was satisfied that the replicators were completely destroyed. Things seemed to be getting worse, as they normally did for SG-1, and the replicators had not only managed to adhere together to form some sort of ship, they had then attacked the Asgard vessel and they may have boarded. Hence why Teal'c and Carpenter were examining the damaged areas, listening out for any local replicator movement. Both SG-1 members were well aware that Thor was the only solution to regaining O'Neill's mind and, for Teal'c, he would stop at nothing to ensure that Thor saved O'Neill. Thor also had knowledge of cloning which had been used for his race over thousands of years to keep them alive. It was this knowledge that would be needed to sever any link that possibly existed between Major Carter and her clone. Despite the fact that the clone was now imprisoned in the SGC and Anubis and his ship had been destroyed, there was always a risk that further links could be made to either the clone or the real Major Carter.
Focussing on a noise behind him, Teal'c paused in his steps and sensed that Carpenter copied his actions. It had only been a second of replicator skittering and there was no any other signs of life near them. He could still not believe that the Major Carter he had been working with for the past six months was not actually Major Carter. She had, in fact, been a spy delivering all of their secrets back to Anubis himself. For the entire romantic relationship between O'Neill and Carter it had not been Carter and now, just as she returned to her family, O'Neill was no longer present. Teal'c felt he owed it to his friends for not having noticed any differences in Carter to do his utmost at bringing O'Neill back to life.
"I am not sure there are any replicators. Shall we proceed to the next section?"
"Yeah," Carpenter replied, "if we-"
Teal'c turned as Carpenter's sentence ended abruptly. He saw a blinding light where she had been and his eyes narrowed at the sight. "Thor, it is Teal'c. Lieutenant Carpenter has been beamed away. Was it your doing?"
"It was not I." There was a pause before Thor continued, "The replicator ship has just entered hyperspace. She must be on board."
Teal'c looked upward as he began moving back to the bridge. "Can you follow?"
"Yes," Thor answered and Teal'c felt the change in speed as they entered hyperspace.
SG – SG – SG
Daniel was feeling a mixture of frustration and glee. He entered the briefing room and turned to the System Lords sitting at the table. Their demeanours had not altered since they had arrived, neither had their position, which was what was frustrating Daniel so much. He knew the System Lords to be bluffing in their threats of attacking Earth or sending Ba'al to test the Ancient weapon. Luckily the Asgard had just arrived and contacted the Prometheus. If that did not sway the System Lords, then maybe the news Daniel had just received would. Smiling at the three of them, Daniel said, "That ship you guys sent here to 'test' our weapon – Ba'al destroyed it. He's taking control. He's taking Anubis' place as leader of all of you. Soon, you'll all be bowing to him."
"As you will, too!" Lord Yu spat, but Daniel did not hear anything else that anyone in the briefing room as an Asgard beam enveloped him. He soon found himself on the bridge of an Asgard vessel, face to face with Teal'c and Thor.
Daniel smiled at them. "Hey guys, I like your timing." He looked around them. "Where's Nicola?"
"The replicators have evolved further," Thor explained. "We believe they took the lieutenant."
"Well then we have to go and find her."
"Thor believes that Colonel O'Neill is the best option that we have to finally destroy the replicators once and for all."
"But he's-" Daniel paused as a beam of light blinded him. Jack appeared in a stasis chamber on Daniel's left. "Okay, then. We also need help with Sam." Another blinding light revealed two Major Carters – one standing freely near to Jack's stasis chamber, the other within a force-field on the right had side of the room.
"Daniel," Sam said in shock at her sudden displacement. "Teal'c , Thor! Where are we?"
"Aboard the Daniel Jackson above Earth," Teal'c explained.
"Wait, Daniel Jackson?" Daniel smiled with pride at the honour upon which the Asgard had placed him.
"That is correct, Daniel," Thor replied as he moved to a computer console and began moving around the stones. "I am going to link O'Neill's mind with the ship's computer and obtain any information we can to destroy the replicators."
"Is that safe?" Sam queried, stepping forward and taking her attention from Jack's stasis chamber. "Will Jack be okay?"
"I will endeavour to heal and revive him, but the information within his mind is of great importance."
Daniel watched the emotions playing on Sam's face. He wanted to object, to tell Thor that he had no right to risk Jack's life without his permission, but Sam was the closest thing that they had to a next of kin. He was also pretty sure that Sam knew Jack better than he did. In some ways, Daniel found it harder to view the larger picture; he saw Jack the person who needed to be healed and return to human life, not the overall issue of exactly what was in his mind and how there was no other way to access the long forgotten archives of the Ancients'. Sam nodded her head sombrely. She knew what was at stake. "How long will it take?"
Thor continued to move around the Asgard stones. "The human mind is complex, but it should be only a few moments before the link is formed. Trying to access the correct information may take longer."
"Hello?" Jack's voice said from everywhere around them. Daniel looked around him, trying to find the location of the voice before realising that it was coming from the computer. "Testing, testing. One, two, three."
"Jack?" Sam queried. "Are you okay?" Before anyone in the room could say anything else Jack appeared standing next to the stasis chamber. "Jack!" He turned to her and smiled.
"I'm here, well, I'm a hologram, but I'm here." He paused and gave a lopsided grin. "Good to see you here." He snuck a sideways glance at the other Sam. "Thor, before I start working on a weapon, can you sort out that thing?"
The clone crossed her arms and glared at all of them as Thor replied, "I am attempting to do so."
"You'd think you could be a bit nicer to the woman you've been sharing your bed with for the past few months."
"How much of you was Sam?" Jack demanded angrily. Daniel found it odd that a hologram could have such strong reactions, but then it was truly Jack's mind within it.
"I had her memories. Thankfully, not her personality." She sighed melodramatically. "Although it was incredibly tiring pretending all of the time. Did you enjoy hearing all of my stories?" She was looking directly at her twin now. "How I had to mourn the death of Janet when I really couldn't have cared less? Or being nice to all of you, God I wanted to vomit all the time. I complained to Anubis, I told him that I couldn't last much longer living with that toddler and crying teenager."
"Is that why you started working so much?" It was the only thing that clicked to be significantly different over the past few months in Daniel's mind.
"Ten points to the boring archaeologist."
"And why Daniella didn't want to be around her own mother." Jack's voice dripped with hatred for the woman he had allowed into his home and family, and into his bed.
"You wouldn't believe how much I wanted to kill her in her sleep." The real Sam snapped despite the clone's force-field and offensively approached until Teal'c held her back. The clone laughed. "Instead, though, I would climb into my bed with Jack and-" In a flash of light, the clone disappeared and Daniel looked at the others in confusion. The feeling was mirrored on Teal'c and Sam's face.
"She's in a holding cell," Jack explained and everyone turned to him. He looked directly at the only Sam remaining in the room. "We should…"
"Talk? Yeah."
"Later?"
"Definitely."
