A/N: Okay I suck. But really it's more Calculus' fault. Remind me how this subject is going to be beneficial to my career as a publicist?

Story Note: So in this universe Sam never went to Atlantis cause when I started this fic back in 2006 (holy moly it has been a long time!) I had no idea that was going to happen. In my mind she married Jack sometime around when season 10 took place and had Jake and Kate soon after that. Also, the reason people seem to move around the country so fast is 'cause I figure important people just get "beamed" around by ships. That makes sense right?

Chapter 8

Sam did her best to bring her teammates up to speed on all she had learned. She explained about the SGC going public, their deaths, and the virus.

"So what's the plan?" Cam asked.

"Kate is going to find her brother who is apparently some sort of physicist and he is going to help us come up with a way to fix the memory problem. They have a time-traveling puddle jumper somewhere around here so once they make us forget this future they can send us on our way home," Sam explained.

Cam seemed to consider the plan for a moment before replying. "I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with these people screwin' around in my head. How do we know this is really the future and not some alien trap?"

Sam thought about the look in Kate's eyes when she told her SG-1 was dead and the feel of Jack's arms around her, holding on for dear life. "Trust me. It's real."

"You're sure?" Daniel inquired.

Sam nodded her head. "Positive."

"Did you happen to inquire about my marital status about the time of my death?" Vala asked.

Sam stared at the woman before replying. "No, sorry it must have slipped my mind."

The door opened and an SF came in. "I'm here to escort Colonel Carter to a research lab where Doctors O'Neill are waiting for her," he said without really making eye contact with any of them.

Sam turned to Cam and he shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to entertain ourselves until you get back." Sam nodded and turned to follow the man to the lab.

She could hear Vala whining as she left the room, "Why does she get to have all the fun?"

Kate was sitting in the lab with the young man who had been introduced to them as Jake earlier. She smiled up at Sam when she saw her enter. "This is my brother, Dr. Jacob O'Neill," she said to Sam. Sam wasn't quite sure how to react to being introduced to her future son, but held out her hand for him to shake. The young man just shook his head and turned back to what he was working on.

"It's just too weird," he muttered to his sister.

"You could at least be polite," she said with a frown in his direction.

"You could at least be polite," he mimicked in a sing-song voice.

Sam suppressed laughter at the siblings casual bickering before interrupting it. "So what are you working on?"

Kate picked up a small device from the table. "Do you know what this is?" she asked Sam while handing it to her.

Sam nodded. "It's a Tok'ra memory recall device. Do you think it can help us?"

"Well the idea of the device is to help you to recall specific memories," Jake began. "So I figured we could use it to isolate the memories you've attained while here and somehow reverse the device to suppress them rather than recall them. It would be kind of like, highlighting a paragraph in a word processor and then deleting that paragraph instead of the whole thing."

"Nice analogy," Kate added.

"I try," Jake commented.

"I know but it usually goes pretty poorly," Kate said with a smirk.

"Oh shut up, you know . . ."

"Ok!" Sam enthusiastically cut of the siblings once again. "Sounds like you've got a good idea to start with. Let's get to work."


Over the next few hours Sam worked with Jake and Kate to first isolate memories and then suppress them. It proved to be a slow and frustrating process. The only plus side to this was Sam began to get to know her children.

Jake was obviously brilliant and was following very much in her own footsteps. However, he was very quick tempered and prone to hold a grudge. It was obvious from comments he made that he resented his father a great deal and was only working here at his sister's insistence. In spite of his best attempts to hide it, it was also clear that he loved his sister a great deal and would do anything to protect her.

Sam found Kate to be vastly different from her brother in several ways. Despite her bossy nature, which was actually quite Janet-esque, she was incredibly patient and typically soft-spoken, except when Jake was really getting on her nerves. She liked to talk and filled the room with chatter most of the time. She laughed a lot, too. Actually her laugh was quite unexpectedly loud considering her soft voice and it startled Sam every time.

The young man who had introduced himself as Alex wandered in and out a few times with coffee for everyone and chocolate for Kate. From the soft touches and looks of concern, Sam also concluded that he was most likely the one responsible for the diamond on her daughter's left hand. She had suspicions about his parentage, but nothing had been said to confirm them.

Sam was finding it difficult to process all this information, so she focused on altering the memory device. Once they figured out what they were doing, the changes were easier than she had expected given the new technology available to them, and before she knew it they were finished.


Sam and Kate walked side by side down the hall the room where SG-1 was waiting. When they arrived, they explained the plan to the team. "So basically all that's left is to wait for the puddle jumper to be ready, zap your heads, and send you on your way," Kate concluded. Sam nodded in agreement.

"Cool. I always wanted to fly one of those things," Cam said.

"I just have one question," Vala began.

"Yes, you married Daniel, and yes, you had a son. His name is Alex and we're engaged," Kate informed her with a smile. She had known Vala well and had expected the question since she saw her in the infirmary.

"Oh . . ." Vala seemed to consider this information for a moment before turning to Daniel, who looked somewhere between completely distraught and quite pleased. "Well, that's quite alright by me!" she declared.

Kate smiled again and turned back to Sam. "I have to go get a few things ready. I'll send someone to bring you back to the infirmary when I'm ready for you."

Sam confirmed the plan and SG-1 settled in to wait.


Kate was in her office fiddling with the device. It was just so unfair. She'd finally gotten her mother back only to lose her again. They had a chance to change things here . . .

"You think you could fix things don't you?" Kate looked up to see Alex leaning in the door frame.

"I just feel like maybe we should just let them remember. Maybe then they could prepare themselves. Maybe . . ."

"And maybe if we don't put things back the way they were, we'll never be born and the virus will wipe the world out even more quickly. There's no way of knowing, Kate. It's not our place to interfere. We can't play God."

Kate nodded slowly. "I guess you're right." Alex came over and hugged her.

"Are you ready? Want me to go get them?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Okay, I'll take care of it." He started to leave, but turned back for a moment. "You're doing the right thing, baby," he reassured her. She nodded weakly and turned back to her desk. Alex left to go get the team.

Kate waited until Alex's footsteps faded away and pulled out a manila envelope and two objects from her drawer. She dropped them into the envelope and put it in her briefcase before heading to the infirmary where SG-1 was waiting for her.