Chapter 14

Jack woke to Oscar licking his hand and Anna staring at him. He looked at the clock; 0517.

"Can I help you, ma'am?"

"We need breakfast."

"Sam, honey. Anna wants breakfast." His sleep dazed mind hoped his wife wouldn't hurt him for passing the buck this morning; stupid thing to try and pull with a woman still fighting morning sickness this far into her pregnancy. He tried to bury his face in the pillow.

"Daddy, Mommy's in the shower." Anna said a little confused. He still had his eyes closed and was not moving. "Okay I'll make my own oatmeal." She turned and walked out determined.

He rolled over. The pillow was so soft and warm. Oscar barked and that's when it hit him, dammit. It was harder to separate his thoughts when he was half asleep, "Anna!"

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Same rules in this house." She looked up at him innocently, "Don't even try it. The microwave incident will not go gently into that good night. "

"I didn't know spoons could spark," she defended herself.

"Yeah, me neither." Anna smiled fully and her eyes lit up and he remembered why the rules were so important. Not for a repeat performance, but her little curious mind needed rules to prevent catastrophe's beyond her six years.

When Sam came down stairs Anna was at the table eating. She kissed Anna on the head.

"Morning, Anna."

"Morning, Mommy."

"Coffee?" Jack held out a cup to her. After eight or nineteen years depending on which half of his brain was counting this morning, he better know how she liked it. As he handed it to her he kissed her in a very routine sort of way. He looked at her apologetically. She smiled and he relaxed.

"What does your schedule look like today?" she asked.

"I have several meetings. Apparently things fall to pieces when I go on vacation. They can't live without my signature on something or other. Walter's got 'em lined up. How about you?"

"No meetings, just lab work. I'll keep her today. Janet wants to try and do an MRI this morning." He glanced over at Anna.

"I'll check when we get in and see if I have any breaks."

"Thanks. I 'm going to see about getting Anna's paper work expedited so we can get her back in school."

"Really!" Anna turned in her chair excitedly.

"Only a Carter could be excited about going to school."

"Jack!" "Daddy!" Sam and Anna exclaimed.

"Sorry. I guess you'll just be stuck with us boring adults for a little while longer, princess," he looked at his watch. "I'll be ready to go in 15."

Sam nodded and smiled tensely; she needed to regain some of her independence. Her car would be a good start. She still had not been home since they had returned to Colorado Springs.

Oscar came into the SGC with them again. He would eventually have to stay home, but while Anna acclimated, they decided it was for the best that she hold on to what was familiar and reassuring.

Janet was able to do the MRI first thing and then they went to Sam's lab. Anna had only been in the lab for a couple hours and had spent most of that time up at the lab table with Sam instead of on the floor.

"Mommy, I'm bored. I think Oscar needs to go for a walk."

"Anna, he's fine and I can't, honey. I really have to try and solve this problem. Your Dad said he could come by in an hour. You can play with him soon."

Teal'c appeared in the doorway, "Colonel Carter. Anna O'Neill." He bowed towards each.

"Hi, Teal'c. What can I do for you?"

"I will be departing earlier than expected. I will not be able to make it to lunch."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, but it's starting to look like I won't either."

"Can I be of assistance?"

"Uncle Teal'c, could you take me upstairs so I can take Oscar for a walk?" Anna was tugging on his hand.

Teal'c looked to Sam for permission. The phone rang again, "If you want to, you are welcome to." She paused to answer the phone, "Colonel Carter, one moment please."

He put his hand out and Anna reached for it.

"Come on, Oscar." Anna instructed.

"Thank you, Teal'c." She was glad she could take this call with a little less guilt and distraction. A bored Anna was almost as bad as a bored Jack.

"You are most welcome."

Teal'c signed them out and they made it to the surface. He was unfamiliar with six-year old ballerinas. They made for interesting elevator companions. Anna explained the basics of ballet and the importance of having a dog.

They walked and gave Oscar a chance to do his business. "You and Uncle Danny and Aunt Janet and Aunt Cassie are really nice to me." She said as she tried to balance on the curb.

"We are family, are we not?"

"Yeah, but…"

"There are no exceptions with family, Anna O'Neill." She smiled. The more time she spent with her family the more she realized they were exactly the people she remembered them to be. They took a slow and enlightening walk. She always loved walking with Teal'c. He never asked her to slow down or walk faster, he just walked with her. By the time they returned to the lower levels Teal'c was fully versed on ballet, dogs and many six year old things.

"Anna O'Neill, I am glad we spent this time together before I take my leave. I look forward to seeing you when I return."

"Me, too." She wrapped her little arms around his large neck. "I love you, Uncle T." He smiled.

Jack had made some calls and discovered that Teal'c was on his way down with Anna. He walked to the elevators to try and catch them when he found her hugging Teal'c. "Hey, save one of those for me!"

Anna smiled at him. "T, you joining us for lunch?" Jack asked.

"No, I must prepare for my departure."

"I'll meet you in the Gateroom later." Teal'c bowed.

As he walked away Anna yelled "Bye" to him over her shoulder. Teal'c knew this little girl held a special place in his heart in any timeline.

Sitting in the commissary with her Dad, Anna was leaning across on the table on her forearms. She had her legs tangled up under her, but they were barely resting on the chair beneath her. She was picking food off of her Dad's plate, because she had told him she wasn't hungry. Jack already knew this game and made sure he had lots of her favorites to choose from or he would certainly go hungry.

"Sorry I'm late, got caught up-"

"translating?" Anna finished his sentence.

"Yeah, I guess some things never change." Daniel laughed. "Hey speaking of losing track of time, where is your mother?" It seemed bizarre coming out of his mouth, and yet it was the reality.

"Prometheus, hyperdrive issue I think. Things came to a head at Nellis today. I think she'll be tied up all day with it – so looks like I get the prize."

"Prize?" Anna asked.

"You princess," Anna giggled.

"I can take her for a little while today if you need me too. I have a pretty flexible day."

"Thanks, I have a team coming back at 1400 with a debriefing scheduled for 1500."

"Is that alright with you, Anna?" Daniel asked to make sure she was comfortable with that. She nodded stealing another grape from Jack's plate. "So that was a really nice card you made for me. I loved the pictures and hieroglyphs. Where did you learn Ancient Anna?"

She picked up a noodle, put it in her mouth and then pointed at Daniel.

"I guess I should have figured that one out," then she pointed at Jack.

"You told me you didn't remember anything?" He accused Jack.

"You drilling me, for the same 10 hours, Daniel, over and over and over and over. Even I would retain something."

Daniel smiled. "So Jack-"

"Don't go there, Daniel." He eyed his daughter suspiciously. She seemed to be enjoying spilling his secrets.

"General?"

"Yes, Walter, what's up?" Jack answered without looking up.

"Sir, a crate just arrived for you. General Hammond said you would want to know immediately. And, you too, Dr. Jackson."

"Me?" queried Daniel. Walter nodded.

"Have 'em put it in the-"

"It's already in the Briefing Room, General."

"Thanks, Walter. Looks like we've got to get back to work. Come on, young lady. Daniel."

Daniel picked up his sandwich and followed.

On his way back to his office, Jack carried Anna. Her little legs had trouble keeping up when Jack was in a hurry. He looked at his little blonde angel and tried to recall if she was in the habit of ratting him out. His sweet, little, innocent looking daughter, with her cute little blonde curls, puppy dog eyes, and that grin; he couldn't recall anything specific. Maybe she was just being honest. Maybe? "You know sweetheart, I do have a reputation to maintain." She grinned and kissed him on the cheek. Jack decided school probably was a good idea.

Jack, Teal'c and Daniel invaded Sam's lab with the crate a short while later with Anna and Oscar in tow. Anna watched the screen from Sam's lap of a video recording from five thousand years ago.

On screen they watched as Daniel instructed Jack to participate as well… "Uh, Jack, you should say something here."

Jack reluctantly added, "Um, college football is played on Saturdays; pro on Sundays; and there are no fish in my pond ... at all ... where I fish. Uh, I think that covers it for me."

Daniel turned the video off.

Sam looked at Jack. Anna said, "Daddy, you said I scared away the fish."

Sam knew from her short time there that there were no fish in that pond, "Well, a apparently nothing we did affected the timeline."

"But we haven't done anything. This time travel stuff is giving me a headache." Jack said confused.

"Not yet we haven't. Apparently we were going to, two weeks from now, but now we don't have to." She explained.

"Excellent! That's it! I like it!" Jack exclaimed.

Sam reached for the ZPM box. "OK, I'll get this up to the lab for analysis."

"No! I'll take it. There's a whole room full of geeks up there just dyin' to get their hands on this. You've got to finish up so we can go home at a decent hour." Daniel and Teal'c looked to one another; things certainly had changed around here. Jack picked the crate up and felt something was terribly off but couldn't put his finger on the cause of his uneasiness.

"Come on, Oscar, Anna you're still with me. Teal'c, I'll meet you in the Gateroom in a few."

Teal'c nodded and he and Daniel made their way to the Gateroom.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Sam apologized when Anna looked at her disappointed. Anna hugged and kissed her before running after her Dad.

Jack caught up with Teal'c and Daniel in the Gateroom, the wormhole had already been established so there was little time to say goodbye, "Keep your head down and good luck."

"Thank you, O'Neill."

Anna wrapped her arms around Teal'c legs. "Bye Uncle Teal'c. Tell Rya'c I said Hi."

"I will and I will return to see you soon," she smiled.

Daniel, Jack and Anna watched Teal'c walk up the ramp and through the event horizon. When it shut down, they turned and walked out.

"Well, I'd say for an 11 year old memory you were pretty close to the day." Jack looked at him puzzled. "Well, you said you thought we would get the ZPM in two days, and you were only off by a day."

"Yeah, not too bad for an old guy," he smiled down at Anna.

"Pretty amazing that we did all of that and we'll never remember doing it."

"We're probably better off. Daniel."

Daniel didn't contradict him. Although he would very much like to remember having been to Egypt 5,000 years ago he knew how Jack's recent experience tainted the subject.

"You know with Sam out of commission for now, and Teal'c on Dakara I don't really have so much to do around here."

"You just got back, Danny." Jack felt a need to keep a close eye on him before he died again.

"Jack?" He whined.

"I'll think about it, Danny." It was the closest thing Daniel had gotten to a yes from Jack and he felt hopeful that he might actually have a chance at getting to go to Atlantis. "The Daedalus won't be back this way for 3 more weeks. SG-3 will be here in 10. Daniel, can you still take Anna?"

"Of course, come on Anna. Oscar, too?"

"No, he's going to stay here and protect me from the Marines."

Anna hugged and kissed her Dad and left with Daniel. Anna and Daniel made their way back to his office he went to the small desk in the corner to check his email. Anna looked at the familiar items on the shelves. Sure a few were missing from her recollection, but that was because he had yet to come across them.

"So were we working on anything the last time you saw me?"

"You were teaching me about the Atlantians."

"What have we covered?"

"That they were the ancients and why they left Atlantis."

At this point he figured he could probably learn more from her, "Do you like learning about this stuff Anna?"

She nodded, her fingers gently ran over a tablet. "This is where you learned that the Ancients built Atlantis." He nodded.

After the meeting Jack came to Daniels lab to retrieve Anna. She was sitting on the large lab table and Daniel was sitting on the stool in front of her. He was playing a linguistics game with her to work on her pronunciation. Anna was laughing as she tried to get the sound correct. Jack was glad she was settling in and he just watched the two for a few minutes.

"Oh hi, Jack," Daniel turned when he saw movement from the corner of his eye.

"Daddy!" Anna reached out her arms for Daniel to lift her down and she ran to him. "My tongue won't behave," she explained.

Daniel picked up her pack and handed it to Jack. "She's a lot of fun. She has a natural gift for languages," Jack smiled proudly.

Anna spent the final hour of the day on Jack's knee at his desk. Sure he had to reschedule a lot of meetings, but he found paperwork a lot more fun when he was bouncing his little girl on his good knee.

Sam on the other hand had not been off the phone or video conferencing for more than 10 minutes since 1030, except for the 30 or so minute distraction of the ZPM find. She had talked to nearly every Prometheus team leader by 1700 and left them with several possible avenues to pursue. But was still uncertain what was causing the problem or problems.

On the drive home she was exhausted, but still wanted her car, "Can you drop me off at my place?" He looked at her surprised, not surprised so much as he had been thinking and had to register what she just said. "I just want to get my car and pick up a few things…get my mail, you know."

"Will you be having dinner with us?"

"Of course, I only need a few minutes. Drop me off and you and Anna can go by the grocery store and I will meet you back at your place." She assured him.

"Sure."

But when he pulled up to the curb Anna insisted that she stay with Sam, since Oscar couldn't go into the store. "I have to go to the store by myself? I don't wanna!" Jack pouted dramatically.

"Daddy I promise, you'll be okay." She patted his shoulder.

"Alright. See you girls back at the ranch."

Anna walked around the house looking over the familiar and unfamiliar alike. She found an old picture she recognized of her Uncle Mark and family. She had not spent much time with them, her cousins were in college and she only remembered seeing them for a couple of holidays. She also found a picture of her mom and Grandpa. "Mommy," she ran into her bedroom. "When can I see, Grandpa?" Anna held up the picture.

"Well Grandpa can be difficult to get in touch with, but we'll try soon." Anna smiled down at the picture.

"Can we take this picture with us?"

"Sure." Sam took the picture and put it in one of the bags.

She finished collecting the things she might need. The pile was much larger than she had anticipated. She looked like she was moving in, which she realized she actually was and tried not to panic. She put the bags by the door. Anna was hopping from one foot to the other, "Anna, go to the bathroom." She didn't have much experience as a mother yet, but she had learned Anna's potty dance.

"kay." Anna complied.

Sam took a look around the house. It didn't seem so much like home anymore. Not without Anna as a part of it.

"You ready to go?" Sam asked when Anna returned. Anna nodded. "Let's go home, honey."

"No, only one of us needs to take the day off tomorrow and you ended up with Anna a good part of today. I know you had to reschedule a lot. I can take care of it." Sam said looking at the papers he had handed her after Anna went to bed.

"Yeah, but you have the Prometheus catastrophe on your hands right now. I can take care of this, really."

He reached for the papers, but she pulled them up to her and folded her arms around them in front of her protectively. "No catastrophe, only a little problem that we are going to solve." She assured him. "I want to do this Jack. They've got enough to work on after the calls today. If they run into any trouble, they have my number."

"You sure?"

"I really want to do this."

"Alright. Probably better if you do the tutu shopping anyway."

"Thank you. I've missed so much; it will be nice to take her to school. Any questions you want me to ask?"

"No I made some calls today. If that's the school she wants, it's fine." She was only partly surprised that he had already looked into it. "You know you can go to Nevada if you need to. I can take care of things here. It's okay."

"No, it's alright. They'll be fine."

"Okay." He said okay, but his expression concerned her.

While they were openly talking about all that directly dealt with Anna there were several issues being skirted around and one of them was work. This concerned her greatly. Their professional relationship was something she could always count on before. It had been along time since she felt him question her judgment. "What's wrong, do you think I need to go to Nevada?

"No, not exactly. I trust you."

"Well?"

"Something just isn't right, and I can't figure it out. You know when you know something and it's right there but you can't quite remember it."

She nodded, "Something happen today?"

"I'm not sure. Things are changing." She looked at him strangely, it seemed like an obvious thing to point out. "I don't mean in general. I'm having trouble with what I remember versus what's happening now. It's like history is being rewritten."

"Well it is."

"Yeah, I know but…okay in one version of my memories one week ago I went to the cabin and found Anna, in another version I went to Washington with Hammond.

"Okay?"

"George came to see me that night, but I ended up in Washington, not Minnesota. When the ZPM came in, we all went fishing."

"We all?"

"Me, you, Daniel and Teal'c."

"Okay. So your bothered because we're not going fishing with the guys?"

"No, you never went to Nellis to work on the Prometheus."

"And?"

"If Anna wasn't here?" She looked away. His question revealed more than she was ready to admit to herself. "You would have been in Nevada when the ZPM came in. Sam I'm not questioning your decision; I'm asking what has changed that causes the Prometheus to be grounded this time around?"

"I don't know. You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It's been bothering me all afternoon." She bit her thumbnail, thinking. He could tell she was thinking about a lot more than why the Prometheus was grounded. "You know we're probably not going to solve this tonight. You've got to be exhausted; go to bed."

"No I'm fine, I've got some work to do still."

He nodded and started to leave her to her work. "Oh I'm not sure what you were like when you were this age, but Anna's not allowed to use the microwave unsupervised."

She smiled guiltily.

"Yeah, I suspected. I'm going to have to have a talk with Dad aren't I?" Her eyes widened and he realized all of the implications of that statement. "We'll cross that bridge later…"

She had mixed feelings. She really did want to see her Dad right now. She wanted Anna to see him, but she wasn't certain she was ready to face him. "Don't forget to make sure the door is locked." She teased Jack.

"Funny, very funny."