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Death, Love and Time

As he walked up to the building that had been erected as the makeshift 'conference hall' for the Ori Peace Treaty, Doctor Jackson allowed himself a slight smile under his disguise as he studied the building before him.

It didn't exactly look like the kind of structure where galaxy-defining decisions would be made, but that was a necessary handicap given the speed that they'd needed to try and make something secure enough to hold the conference while not locating it on a planet where some of the locals might have a grudge against the Ori soldiers that they wanted to settle. As a result, they'd been forced to erect a temporary building on a relatively uninhabited planet some distance from the gate, thus limiting the chances of the conference being sabotaged by someone with a grudge out to eliminate the remainder of the Ori forces. It hadn't exactly been the most elaborate building to negotiate something that would decide the fate of the galaxy, but given the humble conditions that most of the Ori's followers had lived with back in the Ori galaxy, most of them hadn't really complained much about it.

At least, that's what he'd read in the mission reports, of course; having never been there himself, Doctor Jackson had no way of knowing if that description of events had just been exaggerated to make people back at the SGC think that the conference had gone better than it actually had. He'd known that the conference had ended with the Ori forces agreeing to the terms laid out by the SGC and the Asgard, of course, but that aside he'd really known very little about the fine details of the thing; he'd been more focused on trying to find an explanation for Sam's death while also coping with his new promotion to the head of Stargate Command, and looking over the files on the conference hadn't exactly been his top priority.

Now that he'd actually arrived, however, Doctor Jackson had to admit that it didn't really look that bad. The metal that comprised its body managed to look relatively warm despite being the standard grey of most installations of this kind, and the interior was tastefully decorated to create a comfortable feeling while still making sure that everyone present remembered that they were there for business purposes.

Although the largest room in the building was naturally set aside for the conference, the majority of the conference building included some living accommodations for more of the Ori ship commanders. Until they could locate a planet for the battlecruisers' crews to live on, the former Ori followers were remaining on their ships in orbit around this planet, with their assorted commanders staying in the conference building while the final terms of the treaty were finalised.

In other words, Doctor Jackson mused to himself grimly, looking up at the daylight sky that currently concealed the Ori ships above him from view, there's no way of knowing where Adria is right now, so I can't just pin her down and hope for the best.

All he knew for sure was that she was somewhere here; with the Priors having lost access to their powers following the activation of the Sangraal and the subsequent weakening of the Ori, only Adria would have had the power to manipulate minds in a manner like what would have been required for his future to come to pass.

Which meant that the weapon he currently held in his pocket- designed for the sole purpose of turning mental energy back against its originator in a confrontation- was most likely the only thing that could ensure the timeline he remembered wouldn't come to pass.

He wasn't going to delude himself into thinking that there was any way to negotiate with Adria at this point; he'd seen too much to think that she was even remotely capable of anything like redemption any more. He'd made his own efforts to get through to her back when she'd first tried to convert him to Origin while he worked to complete the Sangraal, and he hadn't made any impact whatsoever; the conditioning she'd undergone from her 'fathers' was too strong.

He might like to believe in the best of people when he could, but he'd long ago realised that some people either couldn't or didn't want to change what they were, and the years he'd spent in charge of the SGC had only increased that realisation.

Adria was a monster, pure and simple; if it was up to him to stop her, he'd do it.

All he wanted, more than anything, was to insure that his past self had the opportunity for the life he hadn't been able to live.

No matter what Sam might say to try and comfort him, Doctor Jackson knew he couldn't stay. He was too old and worn-down now to give her the life she deserved, and he knew all too well that he and his past self would never be able to share her even if she'd consented to such an arrangement.

After he'd saved the day here, he'd have to leave.

Where he'd go was a good question, of course- travelling through the Stargate was always an option, or he might try and get back into the archaeological game under a new name without his old rep-, but he'd work that out when the time came.

All he knew for sure was that he would never be able to stay here; seeing her alive and not being able to be with her would almost be a worse punishment than losing her in the first place…

"Doctor Ballard?" a voice said from off to the side.

Glancing over, Doctor Jackson was barely able to retain a flinch when he saw one of the former Priors standing beside him, his hand outstretched and an inquiring expression on his face.

He'd known that Priors would be here, of course- they were the most senior members of the 'crew' on any Ori battlecruiser, and they were hardly a threat now that their powers had been 'shut down' due to the absence of the Ori- but knowing they'd be there and dealing with them being there weren't the same thing. He knew that it wasn't this Prior who'd killed Sam, of course, but after what that action had done to him in his future, he supposed that he was only entitled to be a bit uncomfortable around them at the moment.

"Sorry; I wasn't expecting you to just… show up like that," he said apologetically, reminding himself not to ask the Prior for his name as he shook the offered hand; after a certain length of time 'serving the Ori', Priors tended to forget many of the specific details about their old lives, with only the general details remaining after a while. "I presume you've already met my… colleagues on SG-1?"

"Indeed," the Prior said, nodding briefly back at Doctor Jackson's past self and his teammates before he turned back to look at Doctor Jackson. "I understand that you are Earth's newest representative to discuss the terms of our treaty with the Milky Way galaxy?"

"Precisely," Doctor Jackson said, indicating his past self as he spoke. "And Doctor Jackson is here to help me make sure that all sides involved in the treaty get a fair deal; I have done my research, of course, but his first-hand knowledge of your way of life would be invaluable to me in determining the appropriate conditions for you to continue your way of life with the minimum of fuss."

"Of course," the Prior said, bowing slightly with no discernable change on his face; evidently he took no offence to Doctor Jackson's phrasing of his reasons for being there.

It wasn't proof, of course, but judging by his seemingly relaxed attitude towards the treaty, Doctor Jackson was reasonably confident that, whatever had taken place here that had required his absence in the original timeline, this Prior was not a part of it. So far he still hadn't 'sensed' anything that might tie into what he'd learned in the future regarding the identity of the persons responsible for Sam's death- he couldn't think the name; her belief that she still had the element of surprise was all he had, and he didn't know how sensitive her telepathy was-, but he was well aware that his ability was out of practice. After all, how else to account for the fact that he hadn't reacted to… her… presence in his future?

For his younger self, on the other hand…

As he and his past self walked into the conference room, Doctor Jackson allowed himself a brief glance over at himself- and he still couldn't quite believe that he was actually looking at himself like this; now he had some idea of how Sam must have felt during that second experience with the quantum mirror-, and was only slightly surprised to note that his theory seemed to be accurate. As soon as his younger self had entered the room, he seemed to become particularly edgy, evidently sensing what Doctor Jackson had suspected he would sense.

The truth of the matter was, he'd slightly bent the truth when talking to Jack and Mitchell in the future when he'd claimed that he could sense the presence of anyone who'd been empowered by the Ori.

The reality of it was, while he had some slight awareness of those who the Ori had 'enhanced' thanks to his own time as a Prior, he was particularly 'in tune' with Adria, due to her attempts to form a psychic 'link' to him while trying to convert him into a Prior. He could slightly sense other Ori 'agents', true, but his sense of them was nowhere near as powerful as it was when he was in Adria's presence.

Whenever he was near Adria after that, he always felt as though every nerve ending in his body was simultaneously on fire and frozen simultaneously when he initially arrived in her presence. It faded after a few seconds, of course, but it still left him with an undeniable… sense of her presence that he couldn't deny the existence of any more than he could deny the existence of the Stargate.

He'd only sensed it on a few occasions, but he'd hoped deeply that he'd never have to feel it again; the link to Adria, no matter how necessary it had been in order for his plan to succeed, just felt…

Wrong was the only word that could ever successfully describe it.

Being that connected, even for a brief time, to someone who wasn't Sam or Sha're?

He'd hated it.

Although, if the expression that had just flickered across his younger self's face was any indication, he definitely hadn't clearly remembered just how much he'd loathed it back when the link had first been created.

Nevertheless, as he took his place among the Tau'ri delegation for the conference, both he and his younger self managed to remain in control, taking care not to attract too much attention to themselves as they studied the room they were now in. Based partly on the internal structure of the UN conference room, the room consisted of several long desks laid out in a semi-circle around a central podium where the current speaker would stand when addressing the rest of the delegates to discuss the terms of the treaty. Thor was already located at the central podium, the Asgard serving as the central delegates in the current peace talks, with the Tau'ri delegates to his right, the Jaffa to his left, and the Priors and former followers of the Ori right in front of him.

As SG-1 entered, the group briefly exchanged glances with each other and subsequently split up, the two Daniels and Jack heading for the Tau'ri delegates' table while Sam, Teal'c, Mitchell and Vala took up position around the podium, ready to defend Thor if things turned ugly. Doctor Jackson had initially thought about requesting that Sam be transferred off the security team to limit Adria's opportunity to strike again, but in the end he'd decided against it; not only would Sam probably kill him herself for seemingly implying that she couldn't handle an attack that she would know was coming, but at least this way he could keep an eye on her and know when the so-called 'Orici' was about to strike again.

If he knew anything about Adria after all their time together when she tried to convert him to follow Origin, Doctor Jackson knew that she was, at heart, very set in her ways; she was a very charismatic speaker, and possessed some very 'interesting' powers, but she wasn't a very tactically-minded person. Her first plan to kill Sam had failed, but Doctor Jackson had little doubt that she'd be trying it again; as far as Adria was concerned, killing Sam was the only way to guarantee that his past self wouldn't attend the conference, leaving him with no other choice but to let this proceed and hope that Adria would slip up.

As the last of the delegates filed into the room, Thor began to address them, but Doctor Jackson couldn't focus on that right now; all his attention was on the other delegates, carefully studying them to determine which of them might be in on the plot against Sam's life. The former Ori 'delegation' were the prime suspects, of course, but Doctor Jackson doubted that even Adria's arrogance would cause her to be that obvious.

No, he was confident that, somehow or other, Adria's agent at this conference was present among one of the other delegations. The security forces scattered around the room would be on the alert for an attack from the Priors and the Ori's remaining loyal worshippers, but they definitely wouldn't be expecting something from the Jaffa or Tau'ri delegates (The Asgard, of course, were totally above suspicion; after all the time the Asgard had spent working with the Ancients in the past, the Ori could never have infiltrated them).

If only I knew where they were… Doctor Jackson groaned, as he studied his surroundings, barely even registering Thor's words even as Jack continued to earnestly take down details on the paper in front of him. In any other situation, Doctor Jackson might have found the current role reversal between him and his friend rather amusing- Jack taking notes while he was tuning out?-, but with the stakes the way they were right now, he didn't have the time for that.

Besides, his younger self was still paying a decent amount of attention to the situation; that probably cancelled out his own current inattentiveness-

Wait a minute… Doctor Jackson suddenly realised, looking over at his younger self as a sudden realisation hit him. He's not paying attention.

Oh, he was definitely listening to Thor's speech- the brief notes he was making on the papers before him proved that, if nothing else- but he was still only devoting a portion of his attention to the matter at hand, simultaneously constantly scanning the conference room around him as though he was looking for something.

In another situation, Doctor Jackson might have presumed he was looking for a friend.

But with the situation they were currently in, Doctor Jackson knew that it was something far more sinister than that.

Adria was here.

And, judging by the look on his younger self's face, she was about to use her powers…

Just as that realisation struck his future self, Doctor Daniel Jackson suddenly did something that nobody who knew him could ever have expected him to do in this kind of situation. Before the eyes of everyone in the conference room, delegates and security alike, he suddenly stood up in his seat, leapt over the table and crashed into Samantha Carter as she stood beside the podium, sending them both hurtling to the ground even as Thor turned to look at them quizzically.

For a moment Doctor Jackson almost thought that Adria had somehow replaced his younger self- just as she'd once posed as Osric during their quest for the Sangraal- to try and get rid of Sam while simultaneously framing him for the crime to get him out of the way, but then he felt a brief twinge of telepathic energy along the vestiges of his old link to Adria and realised what had happened.

Adria was about to try and attack Sam…

His younger self had acted to get Sam out of the way of Adria's attack; now it was up to him to try and neutralise Adria herself.

"NO!" he roared, unconsciously mirroring his younger self's actions exactly as he faulted out of his chair, charging towards the space in the middle of the room where the attack had come from; with the link now activated by something as strong as Adria's last attack, he could practically pinpoint her location even if he couldn't see her directly.

Even as he sensed Adria preparing an attack to counter his own assault with one of her own, he charged directly into the seat of a Jaffa delegate, sending the two of them hurtling to the ground even as Adria dropped her disguise to stare incredulously at him.

"Who… who are you?" she asked, staring at him in a mix of confusion and fear; evidently she wasn't used to facing something she couldn't recognise.

"What, you don't recognise me, Adria?" Doctor Jackson retorted, smirking slightly at the woman who'd once tried to seduce him as he reached up with one hand- keeping the other pressed against her neck in an attempt to at least try and hold her down- and pulled off his fake beard. "How about now?"

Adria's eyes widened in shock.

"Daniel Jackson?" she yelled.

"What?" Bra'tac said where he sat off to the side, looking incredulously at the older version of his old Tau'ri friend as he held the woman who had only moments ago appeared to be a very decidedly male member of the Jaffa delegation to the conference. "But… how is this possible?"

"Long story, Bra'tac," Doctor Jackson commented, his eyes narrowed as he continued to glare at Adria as he pulled out his 'Anti-Prior Gun' (He wondered how Mitchell would react to knowing he'd called it that) out of his pocket. "All you need to know is simple; she tried to stop me being here by killing Sam."

Narrowing his eyes as he glared at Adria, Doctor Jackson allowed himself a slight smile before he glanced back to see his past self hauling Sam back to her feet. "But guess what, Adria? You blew it."

"NEVER!" Adria roared, her eyes glowing in an almost Goa'uld-like manner as she looked back at Doctor Jackson. Instantly, a massive burst of red, fire-like energy suddenly erupted around her, sending Doctor Jackson and the Jaffa delegates flying back.

Even after his decade of mourning, Doctor Jackson was still fit enough to cope with most physical challenges he might encounter during his chosen profession, but a psychic attack like that at such close quarters wasn't one of them. Even as he hurtled towards the ground, Doctor Jackson was trying to adjust his fall to minimise the damage he'd sustain as he landed, but as he hit the ground, the shooting pain in his left leg told him all too clearly that he'd failed.

"And now," Adria's voice uttered, breaking into his momentarily pain-filled mind as he lay on the ground, "since my initial plan to restore my fathers has failed, it's time to start again… starting with you!"