Thanks to Marcus S. Lazarus for suggesting a scene. :o)

Also, apologies for the shortness of this chapter. It's just a little filler before they meet Hayes.

Some months later...

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Daniel had no time to feel warm or pleased. Being of either state of mind was far from his thoughts as the aftermath of Sam's phone call left him feeling horrified; beyond horrified. Despite his feelings about this world – this timeline – the Goa'uld showing up anywhere was always bad: Ba'al even more so now. He wanted to leave them to it; he really did, but his friends were out there, and he had to be with them.

No sooner had he hung up when he heard a sound from his living room. Instinctively, he reached for his cane and waited. He dropped his cane in shock, however, when someone rather familiar strolled into his bedroom.

He gaped in surprise. He said, "Major Davis?"

Davis looked at him oddly, wondering if the remaining member of this team with strange stories recognised him too. He wondered yet again – since meeting Colonel Carter – what he had been to these people; how much of a friend he had been. Not he, he repeatedly reminded himself. They knew some other man. However, he felt a small amount of regret, as though he would have liked to have known them had circumstances been different – had it all been different.

Daniel sighed softly as he realised that it wasn't the same man that he knew; the man with whom he had regularly played chess with, and who had taught him how to ski.

Davis cleared his throat as though embarrassed for some reason. He then said, "Doctor Jackson, you have to come with me. My superiors have requested your presence."

Daniel groaned wearily as he went about attaching his prosthetic limb, refusing any help from the major. The archaeologist said, "Well, it's not like I can run away from you now, is it..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

So, they finally needed her. Despite the potential direness of the situation, Sam couldn't help feeling a sense of smugness. They had put her through hell, and now they wanted her. The rational part of her questioned what they could use her for, considering that they weren't likely to trust her all that soon.

Where were her friends? Had the government of this place taken just her, and held her friends as ransom to ensure her co-operation? It wouldn't be surprising. In fact, she expected it. Feeling dead inside, she was escorted into and out of various nondescript rooms and corridors. Finally, at long last, she, and the soldiers escorting her, finally came to a stop. Without a word, they left the room, and she went to the door, only to have it slammed in her face.

She placed her fists on the door, as though giving up on pounding at the door. She closed her eyes and turned away from the door. She sighed, and said quietly, "Yeah."

She walked away from the door and looked around the holding room reluctantly. Her spirits rose on sighting a laptop, but they soon dropped when she discovered that it was password-protected and wasn't accepting the typical passwords used by the Air Force in her own timeline. She sighed angrily and slammed the laptop shut. She briefly considered throwing it across the room but decided against it.

She slowly turned on hearing the door open, expecting a soldier or some government representative. She stopped in her tracks, however, on spotting Cam. He seemed a bit rough around the edges – his hair was shaggier and he seemed to have lost some weight, but it was still him. She grinned after a moment's hesitation.

Seeing him, she felt the same things she did when she went to visit Mark after a long time, but without the underlying tension caused by their different perspectives of their father and their parents' rocky relationship.

Since returning to SG-1, Sam had never felt as bad not being able to visit Mark as often. Cam was like the little brother she had never had, plus he knew what she did for a living, because he did more or less the same thing. Or at least he had done.

The next thing she knew, she was hugging him tightly. He grimaced a little as he struggled to breathe but he didn't protest because he hadn't seen her in such a long time. He didn't care. In months – in a year – she was the only person from his own life whom he had seen. But it brought it all back; not that it ever went away.

Vala was still gone... and so was Teal'c.

It felt worse than a kick in the gut... which was why Sam hugging the life out of him didn't bother him all that much.

She let him go and he noticed that she was acting the way she usually did during tough moments in missions when he was certain she was going to cry but she never did. He, however, realised that his own cheeks were wet, and he wiped them, embarrassed that he had been that vulnerable in front of her. He loved her like a sister, but sometimes it felt as though he didn't belong on SG-1 and that he needed to constantly prove himself.

Crying wasn't a way to prove oneself as a capable leader or co-command of Earth's supposedly forefront planetary defence team.

But, hell, SG-1 didn't exist any more.

He was glad, however, that he had managed to wipe his tears away... especially when he laid eyes on Jackson. Man, that man had it bad; at least he himself had both his legs.

He was about to hug him when Sam practically threw herself at him. He suddenly felt a pang of longing as he watched Sam finally cry in Jackson's arms. At least they had one another, and at least he had them.

But there wasn't time for this. Ba'al was likely to take over the world. As stupid as he thought that world to be, he still felt that he couldn't let it happen. It just wasn't right.

His friends seemed to think the same thing too as they let go of one another and dried their tears. Within seconds, they were part of the old team that he had known before: professional, resourceful, and full of ideas. He could almost believe that things were back to normal; that Vala was waiting for him at home; that Teal'c was waiting for him in the gym... if he hadn't looked at Jackson's leg again.

That was like seeing Sam again after so long. It reminded him of what he had lost; what they had all lost.

Jackson looked tired. He said, "We should just leave them to it. We warned them and they separated us and made us into prisoners in our own country." He looked around at Sam and at Mitchell. "I have no problem with that. I probably should, but I don't. For once, I'm putting my foot down."

Cam looked at him meaningfully, although not as meaningfully as he would have liked. He understood Jackson's fatigue. He shared it too. But they couldn't just leave these people to it. It was still home even if it wasn't really Kansas any more. He wasn't sure how it all worked, but he remembered SG-1, or at least Sam and Kvasir, helping twenty or so different SG-1's to get home.

Cam sighed. "Jackson, our standing orders are to find technology to defeat the enemies of Earth. Okay, so we're screwed as far as finding anything goes, but..."

Daniel retorted angrily, "Oh, what makes you think we'll even be allowed to go through the Stargate to make things right?" He shook off Sam's hands as she tried to calm him down. He eyed her momentarily before looking back at Cam. "Even if we could, it wouldn't be like how it was – not for decades at least. The Asgard are probably dead here too. The Goa'uld more than likely still have that stranglehold on the galaxy that they had when we started out. We won't have the huge leg-up that we did. In short, it's all a mess out there."

Sam watched him sadly, knowing how accurate his words were. Nevertheless, she hated it when he got himself riled up, and for once, there was nothing she could do. The door opened and a man in a dark grey suit entered. He said quickly,

"You're here. Please follow me."

SG-1 exchanged a series of confused glances. They then shrugged and did as they were told. Noticing that Sam and Daniel were walking side-by-side, Cam cleared his throat. He glanced at the grey-suited man before looking at his team. He said quietly,

"Okay, standing order. You're standing either side of me." When Daniel shot him a rude look, Cam glared back. He said, "No fussin', Jackson. This is serious."