A/N: Well, here it is... finally. I hope that the length of the chapter will make up for my long delay in finally getting it up. Enjoy!
Chapter 10 – Back to the Beginning…
Jack and Sam decided to have their 'wedding' on New Year's Day, after all what better way to start the New Year. For Jack and Sam there was no need for any kind of formal ceremony, which was definitely a good thing seeing as how that would be impossible given their current circumstances, so in typical Jack fashion they skipped right to the reception and therefore right to the wedding cake.
In the years to come their anniversary celebration would evolve into a celebration not just of their wedding but into their own special Thanksgiving ceremony where everyone simply enjoyed one another's company, being grateful that they were not in it alone.
***
Since that day everyone on the Odyssey settled into a routine. Before lunch time they all went their separate ways.
Sam diligently continued working in her lab with one noticeable change, Jack. He wasn't there to try and help, even if he could, he was there as a reminder to her that she wasn't in it alone and that she would always have his support. Much to Sam's pleasure, he didn't even try to play with any doohickeys, 'Wow', Sam thought, and 'He really is rubbing off on me'. Jack instead spent his time quietly working on his laptop and despite her curiosity Sam chose to not even try and figure out what he was doing: he wasn't disrupting her work so she wouldn't disrupt whatever it was he was doing.
Daniel still spent time learning from the Asgard core, but not with the same intensity as before because now Vala was here by his side. Having Vala there, with her never ending curiosity, helped to remind Daniel how he got started in this line of work and in turn his passion was rubbing off on Vala.
Cam and Teal'c continued their training with a focus on maintaining graceful and fluid movements as opposed to aggressive, intense movements.
Landry could still be found in his greenhouse. The plants now required little attention so he simply walked around and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere that they created.
When lunch time came around, everyone would meet back up and spend the remainder of the day together. It didn't really matter what they did as long as they were spending time together, in a way that most families struggle with and after all they had been through together they were definitely each other's family.
They started out playing a lot of chess with each other which quickly developed into a weekly tournament. Sharing stories from the 'good ole days', as Jack liked to call them, was not only a good way to pass the time but an entertaining way as well. Occasionally they would even indulge Jack and watch some episodes of The Simpsons, In exchange for their understanding Jack would give them lessons on 'throwing', it was a little awkward at first, but after a few lessons everyone started to really enjoy it.
And for the next thirty or so years that's how things continued on the Odyssey with little change.
***
In an effort to look at their problem in a different light, Sam started reviewing notes and security footage from their early time on the ship. She may not have figured a way to fix everything, but with the knowledge that she had managed to learn from the Asgard she had essentially surpassed what anyone could hope to learn in a lifetime, or maybe even two. With this new found knowledge, Sam was thinking, hoping, that there might have been something that was overlooked or dismissed at the time because she thought it was impossible.
One day while Sam was going over some of that information, she suddenly looked from her computer monitor and just started staring at Jack. Sensing that something was a little off, Jack looked up from his laptop only to see Sam giving him a strange look.
After a moment Sam suddenly said, "God I love you Jack!" before throwing herself back into her work in a way than Jack hadn't seen in years.
"Love you too hun," Is all that Jack said before turning his attention back to his own computer, having long ago figured out that he wouldn't be able to find out what was going on in that mind of hers.
***
A few months later everyone was gathered around a table when Sam unexpectedly said, "I did it."
Not missing a beat, Jack replied "Did what babe?" while eying the desert plate he had gotten earlier.
"I figured out how to reverse time in a localized field." As soon as she finished that sentence, everyone dropped their forks and stared at her.
Realizing that none of them would be able to find their voice any time soon, she proceeded to provide an explanation. "You see, it didn't actually take me that long to work out the technical aspects of it once I figured out that it was actually possible… and in that area I had a little help."
"Ahh hah!" Jack said, really excited. "So that's was the reason behind that unexpected declaration a few months ago."
"Yea," Sam started to say "I had been reviewing old security footage and saw where you suggested that it would be great if we could just go back in time and not get into this mess. At the time I didn't even think that it was even possible, but after thirty plus years of studying Asgard knowledge I was able to see a way in which I might be able to get it to work."
Having finally found his voice, Cam spoke up "That's great! So when can we get this show on the road?"
All Sam could do was turn her attention back to her almost uneaten plate of food. "Sam," Jack quietly said, reaching to take her hand in his, "What's the matter?"
"Maintaining the time-dilation field for all this time has almost completely depleted the ZPM and the power source in the Asgard core."
"So…" Jack started to say, "We don't have enough power to make it work?" he asked, looking to his wife to see if he was understanding her correctly.
"Hmm… There's irony for you huh? I create the field to buy us more time, I finally figure out how to undo it all, and that extra time is what makes it impossible."
"Are you sure?" Daniel started to ask, "I mean, if you had some more time could you…"
Shaking her head Sam said, "I'm sure."
"Hey Sam," Cam said after a while, "Do you remember when we were stuck out of phase? When you got shot and you had me use the power source from an Ori staff weapon to power Merlin's device," Cam finished, seeing a look of understanding on her face.
"We don't have anything even close to a power source that would be required to keep a reverse time field working for long enough," Sam said somewhat disappointed.
"Really?" Cam said getting up and walking towards Sam. Taking her hand, he led her to the observation window. "What about that?" he asked pointing to the Ori blast that was, albeit very slowly, approaching their ship.
At this point Daniel, Vala, Teal'c, Landry, and of course Jack joined them at the window, all quietly wondering what would happen next.
***
A few days later, all of their plans had been finalized and the time had finally come to set things right. Sam had made sure that all the power conduits were rerouted to go to the core to power the reverse time-dilation field; Teal'c had volunteered to stay old in order to provide a younger Sam with a crystal that would really, really quickly separate the Asgard core from the ship's systems and was behind a force field waiting for whatever would come next; everyone else was scattered around the ship, knowing that one way or another things were finally coming to an end.
With a slight movement of Sam's wrist, the time-dilation field was deactivated; the Ori blast struck the Odyssey, and in the middle of the destruction of the ship time was reversed to a minute before Sam would activate the field.
***
As soon as the field dropped around him, Teal'c quickly made his way over to Sam. Upon reaching her lab, Teal'c placed his hand on top of Sam's and gave her a look indicating that she should not proceed with this course of action.
"Teal'c, what are you doing?" a rather confused Sam asked.
"Now is not the time Samantha, insert this crystal into the ship's systems and then take us back into hyperspace," Teal'c said handing her the crystal that was in his hand.
Meanwhile…
On the bridge of the ship Jack started looking around, he could have sworn that Teal'c had been standing right beside him a moment ago but now he was nowhere to be found. Before he had a chance to ask if anyone had seen what happened to him, the ship jumped back into hyperspace. With this unexpected turn of events they did a quick scan and found that the Odyssey was not operating with any input from the Asgard core, which meant that they wouldn't be able to be tracked any more.
Instinctively, Generals Landry and O'Neill, Daniel, Vala, and Cam all made their way to Carter's lab, and hopefully some answers.
Before he even entered the doorway O'Neill started talking, "Carter, what's going on? I thought you wouldn't be able to get us safely back into hyperspace so quickly, that we were going to be in a time-dial field until you could figure it out. Also, did you happen to notice where Teal'c went off to?"
By the time he finished talking; O'Neill had reached to console in Carter's lab, where he found himself face-to-face with Carter and Teal'c.
"It's called a time-dilation field sir," Sam responded out of habit more than anything else "And as to why we made the jump to hyperspace, I was actually getting ready to ask Teal'c the same thing."
O'Neill, along with everyone else, turned their attention towards Teal'c.
"Teal'c" O'Neill started to say when he noticed the gray streak of hair that Teal'c had, "What's with the hair?" Jack asked, going slightly off-topic.
Gathering his composure, even though he never lost it, Teal'c began, "It is what you would call 'a long story'."
After Carter performed an analysis of the ship's systems to make sure that everything was indeed operating properly, they headed to the commissary to hear what Teal'c had to say.
"To start with, I should make it known that I am now 147 years old and while there is a lengthy tale, I can only divulge a small part of it. The risk of creating a time paradox is too great for me to risk divulging more that what is necessary."
"Nearly forty years ago, for me, Samantha activated the time dilation field to keep the Odyssey from being destroyed by a blast from the Ori ship. As you might have gathered, we were trapped for forty years. I am here now because of the work that Samantha did in finding a way to reverse time in a localized field. During those forty years she developed a way to sever the connection between the ship's systems and the Asgard core nearly instantaneously. The rest, as you might say, is history… that never really happened," Teal'c finished with a slight rise of his eyebrows.
"T," O'Neill started to say, "It's nice to see that you haven't lost your sense of humor. I do however have one vitally important question, when did you start calling Carter 'Samantha'?"
"It is her name, is it not?" Teal'c replied with a perfectly straight face.
"That's not what I meant and you know it, you have always called her by her rank and not her given name."
"It's ok Teal'c," Carter started to say before Teal'c had the chance to talk, "If you want to answer it, I don't see that causing a time paradox as long as you keep your answer simple."
Nodding in appreciation for her understanding of the concern that he would have, Teal'c proceeded to answer. "In the time that we have worked together, we have all been on the front lines, fighting a battle that was frequently putting our lives in peril. As such I called Samantha, and everyone else in the military, by their rank as a sign of respect for the sacrifices that they were willing to make. During the time that we were stuck on the ship, the constant danger did not exist and we all became as a family and it is customary for families to call one another by their given name."
"Thank you," was all that Carter was able to say.
***
SG-1 stood at the base of the ramp leading up to the Stargate waiting for the dialing sequence to finish while discussing the 'insight' that Daniel and learned from studying the Asgard knowledge base.
As the seventh chevron was getting ready to lock, Teal'c added one last bit of insight, "Good things come to those who wait."
As the seventh chevron locked in place and the Stargate was activated, General Landry wished them luck.
"Just another everyday mission to save the galaxy sir," Cam stated. To which all of SG-1 replied "Indeed."
The End
…
for now ;)
A/N: I shortened the total time spent on the ship to 40 years for a couple of reasons 1) 50-60 years is a bit of a stretch to keep both Jack and Landry alive, and I didn't want any character death and 2) having Jack around has to be a good influence on Sam, so why not have her solve the problem a lot quicker. With all the lines I gave to Teal'c at the end I did my best to stay in character for him, but he can be a little difficult to write sometimes, so just bear with me on that.
So there you have it, this story is finally finished. I know that this probably isn't the happy ending that you were wanting, but don't fret it will be coming. This story is now the start of a short series for me, I'm looking at 3-4 stories for it right now, with the next story being 'Continuing on from Continuum' (working title, don't know if I'll change it) where a much beloved character will make a return from the dead. I'd love to hear your guesses, but you'll just have to wait and read when I get the first chapter up for it… I know, I'm evil, but I've got to keep you interested somehow.
Thank you all so much for sticking with me while I wrote this story and for your continued support, it's kept me writing and continues to keep me writing more.