Chapter 14
As they walked to the Gate with Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Charles O'Neill, Charlie took notice of Jackie. She was just his type physically and seemed a bit mysterious for she said little to him. He spotted the name badge of "Converse" and figured she was part of the team in the other reality and had no relation to him.
He smiled as they walked and tried to make small talk, "I'm Charlie. I'm a lieutenant too."
"I'm glad I got to meet you," she softly spoke.
"So what is your specialty?" he wondered.
"I'm a musician." she told him.
"Get out!" he cheered. "What do ya play?"
"I play thirty different instruments." she told him.
"I taught myself the guitar." he proudly proclaimed.
She gave a nod, "Very cool."
Sheppard teased his friend for he could tell he liked her. "You're wasting your time, Charlie! She ain't into you."
He rolled his eyes annoyed and spoke to Jackie, "Sheppard likes to play the girls…just to warn ya."
She looked over at him, "That true?"
Sheppard smirked, "Ya got it then ya got it. Unless you're into virgins, I wouldn't bother with him there hot stuff." Even Sheppard had to admit she was an attractive young woman.
Charlie lied, "I'm not a virgin!"
Jack snorted, "I may not be your father in this reality but you better damn well not be screwing around, Charlie."
"Yes sir," was all he could say.
Sheppard teased him, "He's a virgin."
"Shut up!" he huffed.
Sheppard dialed the Gate and spoke to his officer, "She's hot! I guarantee you I will wine and dine her way before you."
Jackie grew annoyed, "With due respect Major Sheppard, as attractive as you maybe, I find you rather irritating and annoying. If you make one pass at me, I will kick you in the nuts."
He grinned mischievously and stated, "Spunky one!"
Jack told him, "She will kick you in the nuts."
As he waited for the Gate to establish Sheppard asked, "So where did you get the hottie from, Colonel?"
He informed, "She's my daughter."
Charlie's mouth dropped, "What?"
Jack told him, "She's your half-sister."
Sheppard started to laughed, "Man Charlie! Only you could hots for your sister."
Jackie huffed, "If you keep picking on my brother, I will kick you in the nuts."
"Ha-ha," he didn't believe her.
Jack warned him, "She will and I will let her."
"Yes sir," he understood it was a serious threat to his manhood. He sent the signal and they walked through the Gate and back to Earth.
Earth - Alternate Reality
The Gate was not in the SGC but rather it stood in public view in the middle of New York City's Central Park. Armed guards and an array of armored vehicles stood guard over the Gate as protection. The officer in charge of the garrison was very familiar to Sam. She couldn't believe her eyes.
"Cameron Mitchell," she stated as a smile crept across her face.
Major Mitchell sported the green battle dress uniform as well and his side arm strapped to his hip. A green field cap was perched on his head. His blue eyes sparkled, "Sam! You made it back!"
She sighed, "Not quite. I'm her alternate, Major Carter. Your Sam…Dr. Carter had passed away two years ago. She sent herself too far back and ended up in 1980. She was given a new name and lived a long life."
"Our Sam is gone?" he gulped.
She nodded, "She left clues for me to follow that led us to the site off world."
"Damn," he sighed. He looked at Charlie. "Guess it's just you and me kid."
"I got my dad back." he told him.
He looked at Jack, "Colonel O'Neill! But you're not ours. You're from that other reality."
"Major," he gave a nod. He wondered what he meant when he told Charlie it was just the two of them. "You know my son pretty well?"
"I promised Sam that I would take care of him." he nodded. "He lost you, his mom and his step mom."
Charlie stated, "Hey I got a sister now."
Mitchell asked confused, "What?"
Charlie motioned to Jackie, "I got a half-sister. Our Sam is her mother."
Mitchell's eyes settled on her, "Our Samantha Carter is your mother?"
She nodded, "Yup."
A grin crept across his face, "I bet you're as smart as she is."
She winced, "Not really."
"You're Sam's daughter." he grinned. "You have to be a genius!"
She shook her head, "No!"
He didn't believe her, "Sure ya are."
Sam told him, "She's a musical genius. She can play thirty instruments. Her father is our Colonel O'Neill and her mother is your Samantha Carter."
"She's…" he debated. "Her parents are from two different realities. That's rather unusual."
"It makes her immune to cascade failure." she told him. "My alternate left clues that led us here. So, what is the situation currently? She said the galaxy had fallen to the Replicators. Charlie said you managed to push them back."
"We took a page for your reality and made our own SG teams. Our SG-1 consists of me, John, Charlie and a scientist that you might know…" he winced.
"Who?" she asked.
"Dr. Rodney McKay." he told her.
Daniel, Sam and Teal'c all started to groan.
"Oh' gawd," Daniel rubbed his head. For sure the situation could not get any worse.
"We managed to push them back though. McKay is a huge help." Mitchell told her. "President Weir has been very impressed. She will want to meet you guys."
Daniel asked suspiciously, "Elizabeth Weir?"
"You have one too!" he cheered.
"She's the President of the United States?" he asked surprised.
"No," he shook his head, "of the United Nations!"
"Oh," he looked befuddled.
Curious Sam asked, "Who is the President of the United States?"
"Not sure if you ever heard of him. President James Bausch." he replied. "He used to be Air Force."
Jack groaned, "Great."
"Personally I prefer to work with Liz." he told him.
Sheppard added, "We all do."
Jack caught a man who looked much like Baal walk up the Gate wearing a uniform. He handed a paper to Mitchell, "Latest report on the Replicators."
"Thanks Baal," he took the paper.
SG-1 stood wide-eyed. Jack motioned, "He's a Goa'uld."
"I know," Mitchell nodded. "We have a peace treaty with them and they are working with us to defeat the Replicators."
"That's Baal." he huffed.
Baal spotted Sam and greeted her cheerfully, "You're back!"
"I'm her alternate." she told him with a gulp.
He asked, "You're not our Samantha Carter?"
She shook her hoping there weren't any other surprises.
Mitchell explained, "They are the team from that other reality that Sam went to looking for help. She ended up in the past. That young lady is her daughter."
"I see." he then asked. "Will she be staying?"
Sam shook her head, "We do have to get back home."
"Can you take McKay with you?" he asked rather peeved.
She winced, "No! We already have of our own."
"You may have two," he tried once more.
"No," she shook her head.
Short Time Later
In a secured room in the United Nations Headquarters located in New York City, SG-1 was escorted to a briefing with General Hank Landry. The General was in his mid-fifties, had short dirty blond hair a chubby face. His belly stuck out over his belt and black trousers. He sported a white dress shirt and seemed very cheerful upon seeing the alternate of his old dead friend, Jack.
He motioned for his visitors have a seat at the large round table, "Jack! I know you're not our Jack. You're from reality number 666."
Jack did a double take, "You numbered the realities?" He came to a halt before a chair wondering if he heard the number correctly.
He nodded, "We did it to keep track of them. That's the best way to monitor all the different realities now."
Jack gulped, "And you numbered my reality 666?"
"It was just the way the numbers fell in order." he shrugged.
"Oh," Jack let out a pout. He felt as if his reality was somehow jinxed knowing the number. He took a seat at the table wondering what other surprises were in store.
As SG-1 settled around the table a short woman with long black hair and gray eyes walked into the room wearing traditional Goa'uld dress. She sported a flowing long white gown with gold trim and looked upon the visitors.
"This is SG-1?" the voice echoed.
Landry nodded, "Yes Qetesh."
Jack looked at Daniel, "Goa'uld?"
He nodded, "Minor System Lord."
"Former System Lord," she corrected. "I will be attending this briefing on behalf of the Goa'uld."
Daniel smirked, "I have a question, Qetesh. How does your host feel about all this?"
"Vala supports me fully." she informed.
Daniel asked Landry, "Doesn't it bother you that you have a working treaty with beings that suppress their host?"
Qetesh balked, "As part of the treaty we have agreed to no longer suppress our host."
Landry nodded, "To be in the Alliance they must follow the rules and not suppress their host."
"Isn't he cute!" stated the host, "all worried about little ole me?"
Daniel gasped, "You're the host!"
She held out a hand, "Vala mal Duran."
"Dr. Daniel Jackson," he greeted her unsure if it was a hoax.
Vala took a seat, "You see when the Replicators nearly wiped everyone out the Goa'uld realized they had to change their ways or die. Qetesh has been actively trying to reform the others and we work closely with the Tok'ra as well. Through the Quantum Mirror the Goa'uld have seen how fate can play out. Even if they win they eventually lose to a bigger threat. That forced them to reevaluate what they thought was true. Qetesh hasn't suppressed me in a very long time."
"But she did suppress you and took you against your will." he huffed.
"She did!" Vala nodded. "But then she changed. She rejected the programming she was born with and started to be who she wanted to be and not what she was programmed to be by the Queen."
Sam stated, "The Tok'ra did the same thing to survive. Did all the Goa'uld follow that model?"
"Only the ones who survived." she admitted.
Sam gathered, "So the Minor System Lords in this reality had to reject the Goa'uld programming or die."
"Exactly," Vala told her. Her eyes landed on Daniel, "Qetesh and I both find you very attractive."
"Um," he certainly didn't want anything to do with a Goa'uld and came up with an excuse, "I'm already taken."
Vala asked, "By whom? In all the other realities you are single." She cheered, "I've been watching you for a while now. In a few realities I think we end up together...Just thought that I would throw that out there."
Jackie spoke up, "Me!" There was no way she was about to let this flirtatious host take Daniel before she could even get him to ask her out to dinner.
For Daniel the lie was a lifesaver and he pointed to Jackie, "Her!"
Jack looked at him, "You and I have to talk." He wasn't sure if it was true or not but had some issues with the idea.
"Later Jack," he miffed.
Landry stated, "Your alternate here died, Dr. Jackson. So you won't suffer cascade failure if you decide to stay with Lt. Converse."
Sam and Daniel both asked, "Excuse me?"
Landry stated, "She is our Sam Carter's daughter. This is her home. She belongs here with us."
Sam gasped, "She was born and conceived in my reality."
"To a mother who is from this reality." he countered. "She belongs to this reality. You brought her home. Had her mother survived she would have returned and brought her daughter with her. Lt. Converse would have taken on her true name here."
"What's my true name?" she asked worried.
"Jacqueline Carter-O'Neill. Your mother was married to our Colonel O'Neill. You would have his name anyways." He insisted, "Dr. Carter would have brought you home with her and you would have been raised by your mother and your half-brother, Charlie. You belong here. This is your home."
Sam rebutted, "Her biological father is from our reality. Our reality is just as much as her home as this one."
Jack added, "I just found my kid. I'm not leaving her here."
Landry insisted, "But Dr. Carter is her mother and if she could have returned home she would have brought her daughter back with her."
Jack huffed, "If she could she would brought me and Jackie back with her. But she couldn't do that! She's my kid and she belongs with me in my reality."
Landry took another approach and spoke to the young woman. "Jackie," he smiled warmly, "your mother would have wanted to you to come home with her. It's up to you as to where you want to live. But before you make that decision stay and see what home would be like for you."
Jackie looked at Sam for guidance. "Would Mom want me to stay here? Would she really have brought me back with her?"
Sam slowly nodded, "She would have brought you back. I'm her alternate and I also know she would want you with your father if she could not be here with you." Deep in Sam's heart she too wanted to bring Jackie home but for Sam, home was in her reality with Jack and that cabin with the fishless pond.
Jackie wasn't sure what she wanted but did admit, "I would like to spend time here and see what my mother's reality was like."
Hank smiled, "We will give you a few days to decide."