There was nothing but darkness for a time; whether the time had been short or long, he couldn't be sure but it was certainly a 'time'. He couldn't even be sure how big or small the darkness was. It was just darkness; absolute darkness. He had no sense of where he was going or where he had been but, he noted, he didn't feel as though he was floating. He just, well, was.

Then there was light: only a sliver but there it was all the same. It was something; something in amidst all of the nothingness. Where was he now? Where had he ended up? He wasn't sure if he was corporeal enough to groan to express his growing displeasure at how things had turned out. The sliver grew and grew and he found himself squinting at the nonsense surging into his vision. He blinked, the light momentarily disappearing for the duration and he sighed, or at least thought he had.

The sliver of light and nonsense grew and grew until it expanded into sense. He quietly stared at what he eventually recognised to be the ceiling of the TARDIS. How the TARDIS – or any part of it – counted as 'sense' with its inside being larger than its outside was something else; but this was sense for him; something familiar – something which made more sense than what he had experienced.

He was shortly made aware of the fact that the TARDIS was in motion. He tried sitting up and groaned when he realised that his head was pounding. He lie down again, taking deep breaths as he considered making a second attempt to get up. This time, he did so slowly, grimacing through his dizziness. He hung onto the nearest railing as the TARDIS felt as though it had been hit by something or was overcoming a great obstacle. He closed his eyes and groaned again, feeling in part as though he was undergoing one of the hangovers he used to have after a night of drinking with Jack.

Daniel took another deep breath and opened his eyes, turning to look at the TARDIS console. The Doctor wasn't running around as he usually did. In fact, he was quite still, just passively holding onto a pair of handles – not caring about the bumps – although his eyes appeared to say much more as they looked at the TARDIS screen. The Doctor's attention was eventually drawn to Daniel, and he said, deathly pale,

"What have you done, Daniel?"

Daniel frowned as he struggled to get up with the aid of the railing. He turned to face the Doctor through the pain and dizziness. The archaeologist said, "What?"

The Doctor looked at him again as though wanting to chastise him but not knowing how to do so. Daniel got a sense of the Doctor's true age, almost as though the man before him had watched the universe grow old as preposterous as that would be considering he was only nine hundred and something years old and the universe, if he recalled rightly, was billions of years old.

Huh, Daniel thought, only nine hundred and something, as though that were nothing to him.

The Doctor said, his eyes fixed on the screen, "You blew up the Pandorica; you could have killed us both and destroyed the universe." The Time Lord suddenly grinned although he seemed a touch disconcerted. He said, looking at Daniel, "Daniel Jackson, Guardian of the Star of Ma'at." His smile wavered as he said the next part. "Guardian of a stone that has caused so many wars, so much bloodshed and has almost destroyed all of reality."

Daniel said almost defensively, "It's not Sam's fault."

The Doctor smiled slightly appearing almost cynical. "Of course not." He sighed and said, "We're still riding the explosion – we're back into our universe though, which is a start. Where we are exactly is another thing." He smiled more as something occurred to him. "Heisenberg was a funny chap; you'd like him."

Daniel still appeared disorientated. The Doctor regarded him solemnly and for once, let go of the pretentious attitude he tended to employ around humans, especially humans who did things he felt were morally corrupt, or indeterminate to say the least. He said, his gaze softening, "Thank you, Daniel. As big a risk as it was, thank you. You did what I couldn't."

Daniel frowned, finding it to be his turn to be cynical. He remarked, "I take it that's the closest to an apology I'll ever get from you."

The Doctor hadn't appeared to have heard him as his gaze once more was fixed upon the screen in front of him. Daniel, curious at this, made his way albeit carefully around to the Doctor's side of the console. What he saw on the screen confused him. It appeared to be a representation of pictures Sam had shown him from COBE – 'Cosmic Background Explorer', a satellite which provided microwave maps of the sky to show radiation left over from the Big Bang, and from 'WMAP' – the 'Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe'. The image appeared to duplicate, one above the other and then the two merged, the cycle slowly repeating.

Daniel looked at the Doctor for an explanation, much in the same way Sam looked at him for an explanation for some of Jack's oddest behaviour. The Doctor appeared grave although not in a reprimanding sense; he seemed to be trying to hide the fact that he was about as confused as Daniel felt.

The Doctor finally spoke, his voice quiet, almost awestruck. He glanced at Daniel, and said, "The first image is of the universe or at least a vague idea of what the entire universe could look like." He pointed towards the second image below it. "This second image is the shockwave of the explosion." He looked at Daniel slyly. "I'll leave you to fill in the blanks, as much as it is killing me to not jump up and down and impress you with my superior intellect."

Daniel frowned as he concentrated on what was going on, his head still feeling quite fuzzy. His eyes then widened in surprise as he inferred what the Doctor was implying. He stammered, "Y-you m-mean...?"

The Doctor nodded and said, grimacing slightly, "Oh yes, as though your head wasn't big enough."

"Holy shit."

The Doctor remarked, "As a certain, most excellent Jaffa would say... 'indeed'."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack Carter seemed to be the only person in Eureka to remember anything untoward happening. Admittedly, he thought, it probably wasn't the first time. What worried him was that even Jo appeared not to remember the things they had gone through. He had to wonder in the end whether he had had a prolonged dream or hallucination. If he wasn't too careful, he would end up before the town Shrink again. He couldn't let that happen; he had some sort of a reputation to uphold, and there was already talk that he was nuts; mainly talk from his wife, but nonetheless, it was talk, and talk had a habit of breeding.

No-one even remembered that General woman and her husband visiting.

Strange.

Still, he thought, stranger things had happened.

It still left him little consolation as he increasingly felt isolated. What the hell had he experienced?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A tired looking Sam left her kitchen for the quiet of the back porch. She sat on her favourite chair and draped a blanket over herself. Resting her head back against the chair, she watched the sun set as tears repeatedly surged in her eyes despite her best efforts. Pregnancy had taken a lot out of her as had, to a lesser extent, appearing to be happy around her children. Not being able to sense anything remotely like she had before from the younger five continued to worry her in spite of the tests which Carolyn and House had run on them.

It was just too hard to be strong all of the time. She had her family: her children, and her friends, but no Daniel. She feared the worst although she wasn't quite sure what the worst would be: death? Going insane like his older self? She sniffed as more tears ran down her cheeks as she tried once more to be brave. He would be back; he had always come back for her.

But then it only had to happen the once; last times usually did.

In spite of the hopelessness she expected to feel, she was hopeful. She had to be; after all, Daniel would have done the same for her. He would have stopped at nothing to get her home again; as he had when she had sacrificed herself in his stead when the renegade Asgard of the Pegasus galaxy had captured him.

She stared down towards her bump as she felt her unborn child kick. She reached under her blanket to smooth her belly. Her last child: definitely. There was no way she would let herself go through this again. Her age aside, she hated feeling so vulnerable, let alone bloated, gassy, hormonal, and being the size of a house. Perhaps if she hadn't been pregnant, she would have been able to avoid being captured by the Pandorica, and everything that followed would never have happened.

The waiting; that was what she hated the most – not knowing where he was; if he was okay – if he needed her help. The longer she went without being able to feel him, without being able to hear him inside of her head, the more alone – the more empty – she felt. She had felt the same, she recalled, during the many incredibly low moments she had had for the years she had spent alone; before she had started being honest about how she felt about Daniel.

With a pained sigh, Sam closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep as she tried to be patient.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack Carter had been locked up; 'finally' by some people's estimations. It wasn't the first time he had been locked up, but it was the first time in a long time, and he really felt his advancing years. They were treating him like a head-case, like he didn't belong. What he had seen, experienced, and heard – it had all seemed so real. They tried attributing it to drugs; some kind of powerful hallucinogen, but the Jack Carter of old had been no saint; he knew his drugs – what he had experienced had been real.

Or one hell of a hallucination.

Perhaps Tessa was right; it was the product of some weird Eureka-style mid-life crisis. He had never known his father after all.

Jack was seated on the floor in a corner of the padded cell, the corner furthest away from the door. He had long given up shouting, his throat now red raw from his earlier expenditures. His eyes were puffy from tears of frustration following his many attempts to escape. He had freed his sister, met his father, and had been to crazy places but no-one would believe him. No-one even remembered that damn box or Global Dynamics being evacuated; no-one remembered General Jackson and her husband visiting.

He cried silent tears. His whole world felt as though it was crashing around him. What on Earth or beyond had happened?

He heard a beeping noise and hesitantly looked up just as the heavy metal door of his cell opened, the force field behind it deactivating. He proceeded to then stare at the arrival: a tall blonde young woman, her hair just about touching her shoulders. Definitely a sight for sore eyes; literally.

He said, hoarsely, "I see you're still dyeing your hair."

She remarked with a slight smile, "Well, Dad, as they say, 'blondes have more fun'."

Her smile faded and she grew solemn. She said, "Tess told me what happened." She raised her eyebrows, as though surprised. "You had your wacky moments when I was growing up, but this has outwhacked them all."

Jack closed his eyes, his head resting against the wall behind him. He groaned, and said, "Great, one more person who thinks I'm nuts." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "How's the baby?"

She appeared bemused. "Alex is fine; it's you I'm worried about."

Jack asked bluntly, "What's happening out there?"

She cocked her head and said matter-of-factly, "Well, Jo is finally back in your office; in your chair this time. Tess is trying to act like all this isn't happening; caught her crying in her office earlier. Everyone keeps giving me weird looks and/or asking about you." She approached him, sitting down on the floor in front of him. She held his hands and she appeared scared. "Daddy, what's happening to you?"

Jack looked ready to snap at her like he had at anyone else that had tried to talk to him. However, he didn't. Instead, he looked at her pleadingly, and said, "Zoe, you have to do something for me. I don't know what's happened and..."

Zoe frowned and let go of his hands. She said cautiously, "Dad, you're gonna have to let this go."

He said desperately, "Please, just listen; ignore it if you want, but just listen. I need you to get Henry to contact a General Samantha Jackson. I asked the one time he visited but I don't think he listened."

"Who is she?" Zoe asked with guarded curiosity

Jack replied tiredly, "She's General O'Neill's successor and... my sister." On noticing her cynical expression, he snapped, "Just find the damn woman." His tone softened as he looked at his daughter. "Find her, and I promise you that I'll drop this."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The somewhat singed TARDIS had landed in the dark, in the middle of an expanse of grass. Looming over the ship, at a little distance from it, was a large house; a dark, quiet looking house. The door opened tentatively, as though the opener wasn't certain of what lie beyond the door. At last the door was open, revealing the Doctor who seemed somewhat shaken by recent events. Nonetheless, he smiled gleefully at being somewhere, well, still; stable.

As though to prove a point, he stepped out into the grass and bounced up and down. He announced excitedly, "See, terra firma!" He looked back at the TARDIS and laughed. "Ha! You can translate a billion languages except for Latin... and Welsh..." He looked into the TARDIS and waved at its other occupant. "Come on, even I thought you'd be quicker. Come on! Allons-y! Vamoose!"

The Doctor turned around, his grin fading a touch as he regarded the house. He glanced round to see that Daniel was finally emerged from the TARDIS, the Doctor reaching out as Daniel stumbled to a stop. The archaeologist looked up at the back of his house in awe. He glanced at the Doctor and said as though not believing his own words,

"I'm home."

"Well, as our good friend Jack O'Neill would say... talking isn't going to get you there."

Daniel began to walk to the house when he realised that the Doctor wasn't following him. He turned, looking at the Doctor in confusion. The Time Lord was casually leaning against the TARDIS, watching the archaeologist. He said,

"What?"

Daniel said, still confused, "Aren't you coming?"

The Doctor shook his head and said, "Not just yet; I've got some fixing to do."

"What kind of fixing?" Daniel paused as the Doctor looked at him meaningfully. He then said suddenly, "Oh, shit! Jack... um, the other one."

The Doctor raised his hands, saying, "Relax, Danny. As a certain general from Memphis, North Carolina, and Kansas would say... I've got you covered." He chuckled and continued, "Not in my odd accent of course."

He gave Daniel's shoulder a squeeze, and said with a soft smile, "I'll be around when you've stopped doing all those smooshy things that humans do when they haven't seen each other for an extended period of time." His smile faded. "And besides, you have a lot to talk about."

Daniel grabbed the Doctor's forearm much like Teal'c would grab Bra'tac's. He said sincerely, "Thank you, Doctor; thank you so much."

"Oh, Danny, it was all you. Really." The Doctor grinned. "Now go on. Anyone would think you didn't want to see your wife after all that kerfuffle."

Daniel nodded, half smiling at the Doctor. He walked through the grass, and as he did so, he heard the TARDIS engines thrumming. He turned to watch as the TARDIS faded noisily into the night. Daniel, taking a deep breath, proceeded to walk towards his house.

Inside, Daniel quietly made his way through the ground floor of his house. He smiled a touch on seeing a sleeping Jonas stretched out on the sofa, the Kelownan's snores quite audible. In a nearby armchair was a just as sleeping Jack O'Neill. Obviously, Daniel thought, retirement was taking its toll on the retired general. He recalled something Sam had said about their former commanding officer's sleeping,

"A mosquito farting two states over would wake the man."

Daniel hadn't seen the other armchair so almost leapt in surprise when he heard his name. He turned to see Teal'c watching him. The Jaffa smiled slightly as Daniel greeted him, and he rose from the armchair. He said, giving Daniel a big hug,

"It is very good to see you, DanielJackson."

When Teal'c had let him go, Daniel said, a touch teary-eyed, "It's good to see you too, Teal'c." He looked back at their sleeping comrades, and said, "Just like old times... except no Mitchell or Vala."

Teal'c continued to smile as he said, "That is an erroneous assumption, DanielJackson. The Mitchell family are lodging in various rooms on the first floor... as are the Brookes family."

Daniel chuckled, overwhelmed at the thought of his whole family being under one roof again. He said, "My God, I'd completely forgotten... Cassie had her baby then?"

"Indeed. Her name is MargaretJoanBrookes."

Before Daniel could say anything else, Teal'c gently prompted him to go upstairs. He said, in addition to pushing him towards the hall, "You must see SamanthaJackson. She has waited for you since she arrived here."

Daniel ascended the stairs, not daring to check any of the rooms in case he wake any of the myriad children under his roof. He entered his room to find the bedside lamp on his side still on. He found Sam lying on her left side, clutching one of his pillows. His heart ached as he stood at the foot of the bed watching her. He had missed her ever since that damn blasted box had taken her. He was relieved too; he had indeed sent her home.

He smiled somewhat as he felt himself reconnect to her thoughts and emotions, gradually feeling complete again. He was definitely home again; he didn't feel lost any more. She was his anchor; the one person that brought him home every time: physically, emotionally, and figuratively. He watched her stir in the sleep, murmuring his name. His heart at this, knowing just how much she would miss him, and feeling it to some degree.

Not caring that he had his shoes on, he climbed onto the bed and lie next to her. He reached out to stroke her cheek with his minor knuckles as he looked at her in awe, reminding himself of every little detail of her face. He looked down towards her swollen abdomen and gently caressed it, startled ever so slightly by their unborn child kicking him. His gaze returned to her face to see that she was awake and watching him.

Sam began to cry as she tried to sit up. With some assistance from Daniel, she sat up on the bed and he hugged her. She rested her head against his chest as he held her close, her cries growing into uncontrollable sobs as she closed her eyes, not wanting to let him go. He gently kissed her, his lips eventually nuzzling her neck and jaw as her sobs subsided.

He whispered, tears of his own running down his cheeks, "I've missed you."

Feeling more and more of his emotions and hearing his thoughts, she looked up at him, feeling whole once more. She slung an arm around his neck, gently pulling his head down towards her as she sought his lips with her own. As she did so, she felt a rush of thoughts, feelings, and emotions as she felt herself connecting with him, a white light from an unseen source glowing around them.

Smiling through her tears, she said, "You came back to me."

Between kisses, he whispered, "Like I wouldn't." He laughed through his own tears as his hand reached her bump. He said, "Holy cow, Sammy J, you're as big as a house."

She started laughing at what he had called her. She then said, very obviously not offended, "You sure know how to flatter a girl." She laughed again and said, incredulous, "Sammy J?"

He shrugged and said, flushed, "Admittedly not the best I've ever come up with. I'm working on it."

Concerned for her wellbeing, he gently helped her to lie down with him. He held her close, her head resting on his shoulder as he fell back into old routines, into normal, or what passed for normal, home life. He was finally at home with his wife and his entire family. He still didn't care that he was still fully dressed.

Daniel kissed the top of Sam's head as her fingers wandered over his shirted chest. He watched, initially surprised, as his body began to glow softly. When the glow faded, he found that he had been divested of all of his clothing, save his boxer shorts. His smile faded as he recalled recent events; how close he had come to losing his wife – how helpless and impotent he had felt.

He groaned as he felt tiredness creep up on him once again. He didn't want to go to sleep; not now. His fingers wandered across her back as he thought of everything, giving her a mentally visual account of the events that had occurred since her entrapment in the Pandorica: Jack Carter, attempting to destroy the Pandorica, being sent to the Eternals' realm, escaping.

When he had finished, she looked up at him suddenly. She said cautiously, "Daniel, what did you do?"

He looked down at her and said regretfully, "I'm sorry, Sam; they would have let the Pandorica back into our universe. There was no other way for us to escape with the universe intact."

Sam's eyes narrowed as she looked at him, the man before him apparently being responsible for the subject of her life's study. She said, disbelieving, "I'm married to the creator of the universe? Holy Hannah, I knew your ego was big but..."

Daniel looked at her sceptically. He said, "I don't know if what the Doctor implied was accurate. He can be quite dramatic."

"Like someone I know." She sighed, growing serious again. She said, "What about the kids? No-one has Ancient powers any more. Was that you?"

Daniel nodded, saying guiltily, "I had to protect them; they were attracting too much attention especially with the two of us out of the picture."

She asked, worried, "Do we give it back to them?" She propped herself up so that she was looking down at him. She said, "Daniel, I don't know what ethics apply to this situation. Jake, Claire, Grace, Greg, and Dani were born with those abilities; what right do we have to take that away from them?"

He replied uneasily, "We're their parents; it's our decision until they are old enough to make that decision for themselves." He caressed Sam's cheek, and asked, "What do you think?"

She sighed, a worried frown developing on her face. She said, "I don't know. I mean, if it keeps them safe, then sure... but those abilities are a part of who they are. Do we even have that right, to take that from them?"

"Perhaps they could have them back when they're old enough to make that decision for themselves. I don't know; I did what I did to protect them and I stand by that decision."

She kissed him, and said, "I appreciate it." She smiled briefly. "You know how I like you taking the lead."

Sam rested her head on Daniel's chest as he played with her hair, their thoughts filled with what had happened. Their thoughts centred on their children, and on the Ancient/Eternal which dwelt within Sam. That would be a hard subject to broach and neither were sure they wanted to cross that bridge just yet.