Day 25
0906 hours
Medical Center
New York City, New York

For the umpteenth time since arriving Daniel looked in the direction of the receptionist, waiting until she felt his eyes on her and looked up before he made a show of watching the clock and letting out a deep sigh. The young woman sent him another apologetic look and shrugged, as if to tell him she was unsure what was taking so long as well. His appointment with Doctor MacKenzie was at nine am but apparently the man was already running late before he'd even seen his first patient! Not that Daniel really minded, he'd rather not even be here and if this meant he couldn't stay the full sixty minutes for his session then he was glad.

One of the conditions of his non-disclosure agreement was regular meetings with the good doctor. The OSI had made it sound like it was for his own benefit, as if Daniel should be grateful to have MacKenzie nearby because that way he could also talk about how he was dealing with losing his limb during his medical checkups, since the man was a psychiatrist as well. Fifteen years ago he may have bought that, back when he'd been a bit more naïve but after everything he's gone through since stepping through the 'gate for the first time, Daniel had lost some of his innocence. From Jack he'd learned more about military strategies than he'd ever wanted to know and in dealing with Kinsey, the NID and the Trust he'd experienced how the darker half of their government worked as well. Not to mention all the things he'd lived through with SG-1. All that told him the government in this timeline merely wanted to control and use him via the OSI and apparently MacKenzie too.

At least he was aware of their intentions, Daniel thought with a small frown. Aware and prepared, especially after Sam's message. The corners of his mouth threatened to curl up at the prospect of seeing her again, but he managed to hold the smile back and instead scowled at the door leading to MacKenzie's office at the end of the corridor. From the corner of his eye he saw the receptionist throwing him a worried glance, making him rub his left knee in an exaggerated manner and before he even had time to look at her with pained eyes, she cleared her throat.

"Mister Dodgson?" She came closer, suddenly appearing in his field of vision. "Mister Dodgson? I'm just going to check on the doctor to see what's taking so long, okay?"

Daniel grimaced and nodded his head. "Thank you," he replied politely. As soon as she turned around he reached for his crutches – he was still getting used to his prosthetic limb and used a cane at home for a few feet, but otherwise he needed crutches – and once she turned the corner he got up. Angling his head just right he checked to see if she was really going down the corridor and then, hearing her fading footsteps in confirmation, he quickly made his way over to the reception. Daniel's eyes went over the desk to the out tray he'd spotted a few visits ago and before he could change his mind, he pulled the envelope with his reply to Sam from his pocket and stuffed it between the rest of the mail heading towards the post office. In her message Sam had cautioned him about finding a way to mail his answering letter – in Ancient – that couldn't be traced back to him and this was the first thing that came to mind. As he made his way back to the uncomfortable chair in the waiting room, Daniel realized that Jack would have been proud of their cloak and dagger act if he'd been here…

He was just stretching out his good leg when the receptionist returned with a warm smile. "Mister Dodgson? If you would follow me, the Doctor can see you now."

"Great," he muttered and got up, internally rolling his eyes at his alias. After this timeline's Jack O'Neill had dropped by and Daniel had figured out that the man was involved, he'd started to suspect that maybe he was behind the ridiculous name. He hadn't really allowed himself to think too much about the counterpart of one of his best friends but now he realized that the OSI, or whoever was pulling the strings, had made sure the Colonel was assigned to their case as well. Knowing the man's specialty there was no doubt in Daniel's mind they had somehow reassigned him from the Arctic to Sam, since she was the most dangerous and the Air Force officer hadn't exactly denied it either.

Then there was Sam's message, in which she'd briefly and obscurely hinted at how she found him through the one piece of technology they all still possessed – their subcutaneous transmitters to be located and beamed up by Earth's ships – and that his name had given him away on the list of residents of his apartment building. Alice in Wonderland had been one of Cassandra's favorite stories when she'd just come to Earth and he'd started to explain to Teal'c and the alien girl about how Lewis Carroll, pseudonym of Charles Dodgson, had integrated mathematical concepts and references to French and Latin in his works. The two aliens had quickly lost interest but Daniel and Sam had ended up discussing the symbolisms and skills of the writer himself, with Jack mostly observing and every now and then surprising them with an actual argument one way or another.

Just because their Jack knew more about certain literature of course didn't mean this timeline's Jack did as well, but the memory of that night combined with Sam's instant recognition told him that she had somehow known what to look for. Perhaps her alias was similar or maybe that Colonel O'Neill had slipped up and accidentally revealed more to her than he'd intended. Daniel knew how deceiving Sam's wide blue eyes and enigmatic smile could be and so far he hadn't met or heard of any Jack O'Neill who'd been able to resist a Samantha Carter, so he didn't think it was inconceivable she'd tricked him. Either way, he had already decided he wasn't going to risk looking for Sam's alias since she'd more or less instructed him to reply and then wait until she'd contact him again. He wasn't intimidated by her brain and had no problem admitting she was far more equipped to deal with this situation than he was, but he'd support her in any way he could to fix the timeline!

"Let me just open the door for you," the receptionist said with a soft smile before she stepped away and gestured for him to enter. "Mister Dodgson is here to see you, Doctor MacKenzie," she announced as Daniel hobbled into the room.

"Yes, thank you, Trisha," MacKenzie acknowledged before waving her away. "It's good to see you again."

Daniel faked a smile and after setting his crutches aside, he shook the Doctor's hand. "Well, it's not like I have much of a choice, now do I?" He almost cringed at his own sarcasm and briefly wondered if he was subconsciously using Jack O'Neill's trademark in a way to keep his late friend close. Of course, he could always ask the shrink in front of him for some insight, but while buffing up, getting shot at almost daily and dying a few times had never really made him identify much with the soldiers of the SGC, he had become like them in their dislike for psychiatrists and baring his deepest, most intimate thoughts and feelings to a stranger. Or maybe the human-form Replicators had something to do with his dislike for people delving into his mind.

"If you could take off your pants and take a seat, we can take a look at your leg," the Doctor gestured at the exam table as he pulled the privacy curtain and went to wash his hands. "How are you feeling today?"

"Pretty much the same as earlier this week," he replied as he pulled himself up on the table after folding his jeans over a chair. He still had to drop by here twice a week, but hopefully that would change to once a week next month. Seeing the man's skeptical look, Daniel shrugged. "I'm fine."

MacKenzie sat down on a stool, apparently waiting for him to take off his prosthetic limb too, and seemed to read up on his notes from the last visit. "You do realize alarm bells start ringing when someone who has lost his leg tells his doctor he's doing fine, less than three months after it happened?"

"I do now."

The man muttered something before he started to examine what was left of Daniel's leg and briefly looked up at his patient. "It's all right to be angry or feel frustrated by such a loss."

"In the grand scheme of things losing a leg isn't that big of a deal, I guess," he replied nonchalantly. "I could have died out there; instead I'm sitting here mostly in one piece."

"Yes, I am aware of the circumstances," MacKenzie affirmed. "However, that does not mean you're not justified to be upset. There are plenty of people who lose a limb in an accident and they might blame whoever caused the accident or themselves, and they often can't see beyond their loss-"

"I guess I can," Daniel said simply.

The Doctor nodded but it seemed like he was more pleased about his examination than actually agreeing with him. "The scar tissue is healing nicely, far better than I'd expected the first time I was read in on your case."

"That's good."

"It is. However, I am concerned about your attitude. You may think you're fine now, but the blow could come later especially if you keep denying what has happened."

Daniel frowned and irritably rubbed at his leg as the man moved away to make some notes in his chart. "I'm not denying anything. I know exactly what happened to me and how lucky I am. I could have easily frozen to death."

"Yes, but I've seen this before. You know I'm an Air Force doctor, right?" When Daniel nodded, the man continued. "I deal with a lot of military patients and I can't tell you how many have lost one or more limbs overseas. They barely escape with their lives and then they soldier on, because unlike some people they actually survived a bomb explosion, or whatever caused their injuries. However, they think they can skip a few steps and go straight to acceptance and everything will be just fine."

"I understand, I really do," Daniel admitted as he started to put his prosthetic back on. "But I'm not a soldier, Doctor. If this would have happened to Jack, Teal'c or Mitchell it would have been worse; they are soldiers, that's how they identify themselves. From my team, I'm not the brawn, I'm the brains. Yes, it's difficult to get around and it hurts sometimes, but worse things have happened. For me it would have been worse if I'd suffered brain damage. In the end being forced to live as someone else, without my friends in a world so different and yet similar, kind of trumps the loss of a leg," he concluded.

MacKenzie nodded slowly before he went back to the sink to wash his hands after pulling the privacy curtain again. "Well, you make a good point there. Still… I want you to think about this, don't rush or push yourself too hard, too fast. If you don't want to talk to me about it, then try keeping a journal."

"We'll see," he mumbled, not really conceding to anything as he pulled up his pants. Daniel had meant every word of that, but he couldn't really explain it to the doctor without elaborating on his life. What was losing a limb after watching Sha're, Skaara and Sarah be taken as a host for the Goa'uld? After being tortured, suffering from radiation poisoning and dying more than once? He'd ascended to a higher plane of existence only to come back again, suffering memory loss to fight against the Goa'uld. How could he possibly convince MacKenzie that was doing fine if not even his timeline's MacKenzie seemed to accept that answer? At the moment he was more worried about Sam and what she was going to have to do to be able to fix the timeline. Mitchell didn't worry him nearly as much, because the man was rather laidback, especially for someone working at the SGC and he simply hadn't lost as much as she – or Daniel himself – had when the timeline changed. Besides, Sam would go stir crazy if she couldn't work!

"In your last session," the surgeon smoothly morphed back into the role of psychiatrist as he sat down in his black leather chair, waiting for him to join him on the couch. "You spoke about living on an alien planet for a year, where you met your wife…"

2000 hours
McChord AFB
Lakewood, Washington

Jack suppressed a sigh as Maybourne continued to rattle on about the OSI report on Cameron Mitchell and how it seemed the man was settling in nicely, just as they'd expected. This is why he hated these kinds of meetings and impromptu assignments like the visits he'd been forced to make to Jackson and Mitchell. First they want him to fly all over the country in a day, give a quick update to his CO, write extensive reports on his visits and the information he's gleaned from them and then his CO and the NID call yet another briefing to life, just to discuss the reports he's filed! Okay, so maybe it wasn't all about him and the NID had some additional information but it all came down the same thing; they still didn't know squat about the trio from the alternate timeline! And Jack was really starting to worry about his own mental health when he had no trouble actually admitting they might be from an alternate timeline…

Another thing that wasn't clear to him was why they had to have meetings at this hour. Just because most of them were living in temporary base quarters didn't mean they were on duty twenty-four seven! Apparently today's reason was that MacKenzie was joining them to fill them in on some of the things he'd learned about the archeologist and so he had to fly out here, but they could have easily had the meeting tomorrow morning. At least that way he didn't have to listen to Hammond muttering about missing his granddaughter's play. Jack didn't have the heart – or courage, really –to tell the man that most teenagers probably didn't even want their parents, let alone their grandparents to show up when they had to perform their mandatory play in front of the entire school.

"… agree, Colonel O'Neill?"

Crap! Jack was brought out of his musings by Maybourne's question and found everyone was looking at him. He really had to stop drifting off during these meetings, or Hammond might demote him to captain. "I'm sorry, what?" Despite his CO's exasperated sigh and the other Colonel's smug smile, he didn't regret his flippant attitude. It wasn't like they actually thought he'd been paying attention, anyway.

"Your visit with Doctor Jackson, son," Hammond spoke up. "After reviewing the recordings of your conversation with him and reading your impression of your little talk in your report it seems he speaks his mind more. Almost as if he is unaware that you are not the man he knew, or maybe he simply doesn't care; he certainly seemed to think you two were very much alike."

"What are you saying, exactly, Sir?"

Maybourne impatiently tapped his fingers on the file in front of him, waiting until he'd gotten everyone's attention. "What we're saying, Jack, is that so far you seemed to have gotten more out of him in your brief visit than weeks of surveillance have done."

"I agree," Doctor MacKenzie chimed in. "I've been seeing the man twice a week now, under the pretext of checking the healing progress of his leg. This week he's been especially open and talkative and I wasn't sure what had caused the change, but Colonel Maybourne's information has convinced me your visit was the reason, Colonel O'Neill. Granted, the man isn't divulging national secrets yet but he's sharing more of his life and the work he's done. Hopefully some of that will lead to useful information."

The direction this conversation was taking was setting Jack's instincts on high alert, just like last time before they'd told him about his new assignment involving Samantha Carter. He couldn't believe they thought he might be of help with the archeologist and even if he was, what did they want him to do? Clone himself so that one of him could be on the east coast with Jackson and the other half could stay here in Washington State? "Perhaps it's just acceptance of the situation, General Hammond. The man has been living in New York for almost a month now and he's had time to deal with it."

"Doctor, what is your professional opinion about this?" Hammond asked, looking at the man sitting across from him.

"From the very beginning he has seemed rather accepting of the situation, which concerns me to be honest. He is taking it too well and-"

"Oh for crying out loud," Jack whined, interrupting the shrink. "Why do you guys always have to do that, huh? I thought you were supposed to help him deal with this, not question his attitude once he's accepted the situation."

MacKenzie looked a bit offended at the interruption, or maybe the implication, and sat up straighter. "Colonel O'Neill, I have years of experience dealing with military patients who've lost one or more limbs and-"

"Please," he made a dismissive wave with his hand. "We can all sit here and talk about our experience with similar situations, but the fact is there has never been anything coming even close to the one we've found ourselves in! Who knows what the man has done and seen in his timeline, maybe losing his leg really isn't that important to him in the bigger picture! We just don't know and all we can do is make educated guesses. I don't know what goes around in the guy's head and neither do any of you. I also doubt that my visiting him lifted his spirits or anything, because I didn't see any big changes in him myself."

"With all due respect, General Hammond and Doctor MacKenzie, but Jack has a point," Harry Maybourne conceded with obvious reluctance. "We don't know what these people are up to and that's why we have to continue monitoring their activity."

"Yeah, about that, Harry," Jack said as he browsed through his folder. "What's up with your people? I could spot them a mile away when I pulled into Carter's street and while the daily reports from the surveillance equipment are detailed enough to bore anyone to tears, there are moments missing in the reports from the tail you put on her. Huge honking gaps up to half an hour! Now, I'm not saying I need an update every time she finishes a chapter in the library or have to know how many pages she reads in an hour, but I would like to know what the hell she's supposedly doing in the ladies room for half an hour!"

Before Maybourne had a chance to reply, Hammond had flipped open his own folder and seemed to skim through the mentioned reports. "Is this true, Colonel Maybourne? Are your men too lazy to check this out or are they simply incapable of doing their jobs? How can we know the rest of this is true, hm?"

"I-I will make sure to, er, debrief the two men in question personally and will ensure she gets a new detail… after conferring with Colonel Simmons, who's in charge of the on-site surveillance," Maybourne stammered with burning cheeks, almost latching onto Simmons' name when he thought of it, obviously eager to lay blame on someone else.

"I know you will, Colonel," Hammond replied with narrowed eyes. "Because I have a conference call with your commanding officer, General Kennedy tomorrow morning and I will make sure to add this to my list."

Harry nodded with a grimace on his face, his eyes darting between the three-star and Jack. "Of course, Sir, I understand."

"General, if I may?" MacKenzie spoke up after a moment of heavy silence. When he received a curt nod, he glanced down at his notes with a concerned look in his eyes. "There is one thing that worries me about Doctor Jackson after my conversation with him today. It has become clear to me that he's not the sort of person to focus on his personal difficulties, a quality he obviously shares with his counterparts. Even as we spoke about his own life and how he was adapting to his new identity and the loss of his leg, he told me he was more concerned about the welfare of his teammates than his own."

"I'm not sure I follow, Doctor."

MacKenzie frowned, seemingly searching for words. "When he told me about the first time he went through this Stargate… No, Colonel Maybourne, he did not go into detail about the enemy or alien technology," he said while holding up his hand to stop Harry from interrupting him. "He did however tell me about living there for over a year, getting married and becoming a part of their community-"

"Yeah, I'm sure that's all very interesting, Doc, but we don't have all evening," Jack said dryly.

"Right," the man cleared his throat awkwardly. "Anyway, obviously he cares deeply for the people in his life, perhaps as a result of being orphaned at such a youn-Ah, right, I'm sorry," MacKenzie looked sheepish when Jack glared at him and motioned with his hand to hurry it up. "When his wife and brother-in-law were abducted he didn't brood on his personal loss, but he set out to help them even though he was even less than ill-equipped for the task. All in all, I got the feeling he feels a tremendous sorrow and perhaps even guilt for those he couldn't help, but he never really stops to think of himself."

General Hammond gave the man a pointed stare before rubbing his bald head, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Doctor, could you please get to the point?"

"He mentioned how his life could have turned out so differently if he hadn't met his wife, or had never been recruited into his timeline's Stargate Program," MacKenzie tried to explain. When no one reacted, he seemed a bit frustrated. "Don't you see? This timeline's Jackson is exactly what he would have been in that case, how he would have ended up. It's possible this is the first time he'll start thinking about himself, or rather his counterpart."

"Are you implying he might reach out to our world's Doctor Jackson?" Hammond questioned angrily. "That would be against the conditions of his NDA!"

Maybourne tried to intervene by clearing his throat loudly. "Sir, with respect, it wasn't easy for us to find Dr Jackson. The man doesn't want to be found and he's basically hiding out in Egypt because he's been ridiculed out of the academic world."

"Oh come on, Harry," Jack said jovially, shaking his head. "They are basically the same person! Do you really think the other Jackson never went to Egypt? I'll bet he could tell you exactly what hotel, maybe even which room his counterpart is most likely staying at."

"Fine," Maybourne reluctantly agreed. "General Hammond, with your permission I would like to tap the other Jackson's phone too, just in case they use a pay phone or something."

Hammond was already nodding in agreement, before he seemed to catch himself. "Colonel, that's the NID's department. I'll pass your request on to General Kennedy in the morning."

"Thank you, Sir."

"General," Jack said slowly, waiting until he had his CO's attention. "If the Doc is right, I would suggest getting this done as fast as possible. I mean, the man might seem sympathetic but what do you think he's going to do? Just give his counterpart a pep talk and be done with it? Even if our Jackson had been married to his childhood sweetheart there's no one who would know him better than his counterpart; if the other guy manages to convince him he's been right all along, then I have no doubt he'll encourage him to seek evidence to proof his claims. Then what? If his counterpart makes his findings public the entire thing will come to light eventually and then the shit will really hit the fan. Sir," he added belatedly.

"Jack is right, Sir," Maybourne confirmed, briefly looking up at the Lieutenant General from his notepad as he hastily scribbled down some things.

Hammond slowly exhaled, his fingers rapping on the tabletop. "Do we know what the other Jackson knows? Does he pose a danger? Doctor, do you think the two Jacksons would work together on this?"

"I can't say for certain, General," MacKenzie shook his head. "I believe that he will reach out, but I can only guess as to the reason why – it could be as simple as plain curiosity or encouragement. Even if he tells him, I'm not sure his counterpart would believe him."

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Jack squirmed in his chair as a silence descended upon the room. He'd been expecting Maybourne to chime in anytime now about the other Jackson, but apparently he hadn't really investigated the man's claims. "Sir? During my visit to New York Jackson mentioned having bought his counterpart's book. Since I was waiting at the airport for my flight to Kansas, I got my hands on a copy of The Truth About the Pyramids by Dr Daniel Jackson and read it on the plane."

"I'm impressed, son," Hammond said with a small, probably amused, smile before he threw a glare in Maybourne's direction.

Harry, who was no doubt berating himself for not thinking of doing that himself, nodded at Hammond. "I'll have someone look into that. What's in it, Jack?"

"It's mostly about archeological records showing the evolution of pyramid design, construction and function but from what I recall from Jackson's first few interviews at Elmendorf, he's pretty close. Probably doesn't realize how close he really is, but if he gets a push in the right direction from his counterpart… I mean, he's already trying to find proof that aliens visited Earth and that the pyramids were landing pads for their spaceships."

"Excellent work, Colonel O'Neill," Hammond complimented him. "Colonel Maybourne?"

"We'll get right on that, Sir," Harry nodded, jotting down some notes. "General Kennedy already mentioned sending a group of excavators to Egypt after we learned the trio was speaking the truth. I'll check in with them and see if they've found anything substantial and make sure it gets back on a plane to Area 51 right away."

Hammond appeared to be satisfied with that and turned back to Jack. "How is your mission with Ms Carter going, son?"

"On my last visit she seemed less hostile but it's pretty clear the woman doesn't want me around," Jack replied with a shrug.

"I've read your report and the suspicions you had about her and Daniel Jackson," Maybourne commented. "Doctor MacKenzie, are you aware of the feelings your patient has for Carter?"

Jack had to stop himself from raising his eyebrows in surprise when the good doctor rattled on about the close friendship the two seemed to have and how it wasn't uncommon for such feelings to occur and perhaps even grow under the circumstances of their work in the other timeline… he quickly tuned the man out as he went on and on about different kinds of reactions and feelings of friendship, how they differed from romantic feelings, but could sometimes be confused by them. Jack was by no means an angel and certainly no innocent when it came to the military, but even he was surprised that there apparently was no doctor-patient confidentiality for Jackson. Of course, if the archeologist was a danger to the timeline it would be more than acceptable, but some of the things MacKenzie was sharing with them were simply of personal nature and had no real bearing on the situation.

It made him wonder if he himself had ever been discussed so callously after one of his mandatory counseling sessions. Jack had never really trusted shrinks and since he wasn't a big talker, he preferred to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself. Everyone knew if you went to the shrink it would get on your permanent record, but there had been times where he'd been ordered to have a minimum number of sessions with a base psychiatrist before he could be cleared for duty. His parachute incident above the border between Iran and Iraq; his skull fracture had made the total of nine days a blur and all he could recall was thinking of Sara and how his wife had kept him going. That had earned him some medical leave and mandatory sessions, but paled in comparison to when Cromwell had left him behind in the Gulf War and Jack had ended up doing four months in an Iraqi prison. That time it had been the thought of Tyler that pulled him through, but his recovery had been hell and he still had nightmares about that time. But now he couldn't help but wonder if his shrink back then been chatting about his confidential problems and experience with his superiors over a cup of coffee…

"… we can all agree on that, Sir," Maybourne replied to a question from Hammond. "So Jack, basically that just means you'll have to try harder with Carter. Spend some more time with her, get closer and try to coax some stories out of her like you did with Jackson. Only try to focus on the important stuff, okay? Don't worry about her actual explanations because even though we've pulled back the surveillance van, we're still recording everything from the audio and visual bugs; just not watching them in real time anymore. And this time do it without rousing her suspicion, please."

"General," Jack turned to Hammond, pointedly ignoring Maybourne's little 'order'. "I don't know if that woman will ever confide in me. She has control and trust issues and honestly, with all due respect Sir, this was a bad idea from the beginning. It's been almost four weeks and we still have nothing."

The three-star seemed to consider this for a moment before he came to a decision. "Turn on the charm, son. There must be something you can offer her to show your good will?"

"Well," he recalled his previous visit and how bored she'd been. "She wants to know how her two little friends are doing. I also told her to contact her OSI handlers to see about getting her a job, because the woman has too much time on her hands. The only problem is that she's either not qualified for the jobs or they go against the conditions of her NDA; too big a risk of exposure or too close to her fields of expertise. I asked her to reconsider the mission commander's job, but she didn't want it."

"Push harder, Colonel. It might the best solution; we don't want her to have too much time on her hands, it could be dangerous. Remind her of what she stands to gain by that."

Maybourne was already packing up his files, but spared him a glance. "She doesn't have her teammates around and with the exception of the couple of admirers that have been dropping by her house lately, she's all alone. Remind her she can have her family back…"

"Yes, about those admirers… have you checked them out?"

"Everyone in that town has been screened, Colonel O'Neill. But the last thing we need is for Ms Carter to get romantically involved with someone besides you or even get attached to friends. Remember that she can't get too comfortable here, either. And see about throwing her a bone in regards to her teammates; tell her about your visits, that might warm her up to you a bit," Hammond concluded.