Tidal Years, Chapter Eleven
Rating: PG-13 (shouldn't go higher, maybe lower at times)
Word Count: 1,786
Disclaimer: One half of SSK Productions is owned by pygmies & debt collectors. The other half is owned by her dogs. Logically, then, they own nothing.
Summary: Following the events of the episode "Dominion," SG-1 embarks on a mission that will change their lives forever, in more than one time line.
Pairings: Sam/Daniel & Mitchell/Vala.
Author's Note: This started as an idea for a missing scene fic for Atlantis and really spiraled out of control. This is also an attempt to fix things that were missing from the last two episodes, rewrite history, etc...

This is Your Life

Even though Vala knew that she had only been gone from Stargate Command for a matter of a few days, it had been good to get back. To get back home, she added. It sounded good, calling this place home. She hadn't had a home in a while, hadn't felt like she was home in even longer. It felt good. It felt right.

The only thing that left her the slightest bit unsettled, was hearing Teal'c's tale of them being trapped on the Odyssey for ten years in a time bubble, or something of that sort. She didn't fully understand the mechanics of how a ship could be stuck in time for ten years, then have time reversed to the moment that it was frozen. But ten years... She must have gone stir crazy, or just plain crazy, she wasn't sure which.

She folded her arms in front of her, watching Teal'c blow out another set of candles. "Oh, come on! You have to tell me," she fairly pouted. "It's driving me insane! I have to know what happened."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at her and continued to the next back of candles, but said nothing.

She stuck out her finger, pointing in the air. "You know, technically, there would be no danger of creating a time paradox because we've already changed future events." She smiled broadly, thinking her logic would finally win him over into telling her what had happened during the ten years. "You wouldn't be altering the future by telling us about something that's not going to happen anymore."

He looked at her. "Then why do you care?" he asked simply, moving to the door.

She followed him out into the corridor. "Ten years? Something interesting must have happened," she continued. "Obviously I hooked up with someone."

Teal'c's smile was enigmatic, but he said nothing.

She frowned slightly, pausing. She had to hurry to catch up with him in her new heels. After being on the Odyssey and wearing uniforms, she had felt like wearing something, well, pretty. "Was it you, muscles?" she asked.

His answer was immediate. "No."

"It can't have been Mitchell, can it?" she asked as she followed him around a corner. "I mean, don't get me wrong, but the man can—" She let out a small shriek as her foot stuck on something and she pitched backward.

And was caught by someone.

Vala opened her eyes. The someone who had caught her was Cam Mitchell. And he was staring at her. "Thank….you," she managed as he righted her. She readjusted her dress, and tried to look like nothing had happened. She pointed behind her to where she thought Teal'c was. "We were just….chatting," she tried to explain.

He looked at her. "You look…nice," he said. "You know that we're going off base in a couple hours, right?"

She nodded with a smile. "Wouldn't miss it."

Cam looked from her dress to her face. "Just don't….wear that," was all he said before turning and walking away, a little red on his cheeks.

Vala found Teal'c waiting for the elevator. "So, definitely not Mitchell, right?"

Teal'c said nothing, merely smiled.

Sam had fully expected the voice answering on the other side of the door to be General Landry's as it was his office door that she knocked on. She was surprised to hear General O'Neill beckoning her to enter. Nevertheless, she opened the door and went inside.

He was sitting behind Landry's desk. "Hank is off doing….General-ish things," he said, waving a hand in front of him.

She nodded, a tight smile on her face as she sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "He wanted me to assemble a report on the prospect of this time dilation bubble that I supposedly created," she explained.

He looked at her a little blankly. "Yes, the supposed decade we lived out, but was totally undone by…a doohickey….thing." He pursed his lips.

"Well, since Teal'c showed up in the engine room with a gray streak and stopped me from creating it, I've been doing some research," she began. "I don't think he'd make up something like this, sir."

The general leaned back in his chair. "I'm not saying Teal'c would. It's just a little….strange….implausible even."

Sam couldn't help but smile at that. "Implausible, sir? You do realize for the past ten years we've been traveling to other worlds through a gigantic ring. Comparatively, this is much more believable." She leaned forward. "There have been scientists on the brink of doing much the same thing—on a much smaller scale, mind you—for several years."

He fiddled with a pen. "Of course they have," he commented. "Eggheads of the universe, unite!" He held up the pen like it was a torch.

She cleared her throat unconsciously. "So, have you given much other thought to what Teal'c said about what happened?" she asked slowly.

"I try not to," he answered quickly.

"I know what you mean, sir. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the Asgard are gone, really gone." Sam felt a melancholy note slip into her voice and didn't try to stop it. "It's hard to believe."

"Yeah, it is," he said, still playing with the pen.

"I just always thought that they would be there," she continued, "and now…Now it just feels like the universe got a whole lot smaller without them."

"We have all their knowledge, Carter," Jack said. "It's not like they're gone forever."

She looked at him, a frown creasing her face. "But they are gone, General. Having their knowledge isn't the equivalent of having them there if we need them." She wasn't sure why he felt that way, or if he was just saying that. There was something about him that had changed since he'd left SG-1, and she wasn't sure she realized that until that moment. "It would be like humanity being wiped out, but having a computer. It's not the same."

He didn't say anything for a while, either because he wasn't sure what to say or because he didn't want to press the topic farther.

She took a deep breath. "It was never going to happen, was it?" she asked suddenly.

He frowned. "Excuse me?"

"What we had, what we might have had, what we felt. Whatever it was that was between us," she went on. "It was never going to happen."

He let the pen fall onto the desktop. "It couldn't happen, Carter. Both of us knew that a long time ago," he responded after a few quiet moments.

She nodded, feeling like something had just been lifted from her. "Thank you, sir," she told him, setting her report on Landry's desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel enter the briefing room.

"For what?" he asked, confusion filling his voice.

She smiled, shaking her head slightly. "I'm not sure you would understand if I told you, sir," she said, turning to leave the office. In fact, she wasn't quite sure herself, but something was different. Something had changed.

Teal'c was right, they had been given a second chance.

To use a phrase Colonel Mitchell had used on occasion before, it had all come down to this. Teal'c knew that this time, this mission was not about the fate of the galaxy, but it was just as important. The others who walked beside him just didn't realize that yet. They held in their hands their own fates, but Teal'c also helped hold them hold that burden now. Their future happiness had been entrusted to him when they had each pulled him aside to tell them something that they believed their younger self would benefit from hearing.

No one spoke as they continued toward the embarkation room. He enjoyed hearing the sounds of the base once again. He had missed those sounds, as well as the camaraderie with his fellow teammates.

He followed the four others with him through the entrance to the embarkation room. It felt good to be dressed in the green duty uniforms, all suited up for a mission.

Mitchell pointed to the spinning Stargate. "Now, that is how we're supposed to travel light years across the galaxy to other planets," he said with a smile.

Teal'c heard Walter call out the second chevron had been encoded.

Cam turned to Teal'c, standing at the bottom of the ramp. "You know, I'd like to think that I handled myself well, but I imagine I went a bit crazy being cooped up on a ship for so long."

Teal'c smiled, but did not feel that it was necessary to respond. That would probably have been the case if it hadn't been for the fat that Cam and Vala had been together and had their children to keep them busy.

Daniel pulled at his vest a little. "You know, Teal'c did tell me some of the things I learned from our time on the Odyssey."

Teal'c knew Vala would be the first to respond to Daniel. "He did?" she sounded annoyed. "Like what?"

Teal'c did not turn to look at them, just continued to look at the chevrons engaging on the gate.

"Oh boy, what were they…?" Daniel continued. After a moment, he continued, "Better late than never. Love conquers all."

"The best things in life are free," Cam chimed in with a smile.

"Let me guess: beauty is only skin deep?" Vala asked pointedly.

Teal'c turned slightly so that he could see them. Daniel looked at Vala. "Silence is golden," Daniel returned.

Teal'c looked at Cam. "Sometimes what you're looking for is right in front of you," he said.

Cam returned his gaze. "People can surprise you."

Looking at Vala, Teal'c spoke again. "Don't waste time on what isn't real." Teal'c turned back to watching the gate, but his next words were directed at both Sam and Daniel, as what they had told him had been ultimately the same. "Life is too short."

Daniel spoke quietly. "Don't wait too long."

Teal'c watched as the symbol for Earth spun closer to the seventh chevron. "Good things come to those who wait," he added quietly as the wormhole appeared.

Sam reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "You know, as hard as it is for us not knowing, it must be torture for you not to tell us," she told him.

Teal'c bowed his head. "Indeed," was all he said as they began walking up the ramp.

Landry's voice came over the intercom. "Good luck, SG-1."

As Teal'c was about to step through the event horizon, he heard Cam speak. "Just another everyday mission to save the galaxy, sir."

And then Teal'c stepped through the gate.