After the furore had somewhat died down, Sam allocating a female SF to escort the Charmed Ones and a male one for Captain Jack on base, the Astrophysicist went in search of the Captain. Finding him playing cards with what appeared to be most of SG-3 in the Commissary, she stood watching them for a moment until one by one they realised that she was standing there, and they each stood to attention, apologising. She dismissed them and sat down opposite the Captain, who asked as he cut his pack of cards and shuffled them,
"So what happened to Doctor Jackson?"
She replied, looking down at her hands in her lap briefly, "He went back."
He didn't say anything for a moment, unsure of what to say, and she asked, "Why did you come here? Ok, I know you were chasing the Sycorax…"
He smiled and replied, "I was chasing the Sycorax but that was only my secondary objective. You see, the Charmed Ones, the Doctor and myself are here to protect you."
Blinking in surprise despite being told something similar by Phoebe before, she said, "I've heard that already, but why?"
"Ok, what I say now, I say as your friend…"
She raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged, continuing, "You're not able to protect the Duality. Well you are, but you won't be able to."
Puzzled, she asked, "Why not? I have these powers…"
"But you were never meant to take care of them solely. True, you're the back-up for the Guardian but you've got to admit that Doctor Jackson is way more powerful than you, and plus, he's got more experience in the whole glowy realm of things… What I'm trying to say is that you can't do this by yourself. There's a common theme of twos…"
The Doctor strolled in at that moment and picked up the thread, saying as he sat down next to a still surprised Sam, "The Duality wouldn't have found you that quickly if they hadn't used Cammie and Jacob. You see, everything in this life, in creation depends on twos, with very few exceptions. Man and woman…"
Glancing at Captain Jack who shot him a bemused look, he continued, "Fine, man and man, woman and woman… hot and cold, fire and water, air and earth, north and south, east and west. In your case…"
He looked at Captain Jack again, who shrugged this time, and then the Doctor patted Sam's shoulder as he said, getting up, "Come on Colonel, I'd like you to meet someone."
--------------------
The Doctor led Sam into the TARDIS, through the control room as he said, "You know when you asked whether I travel alone…?"
Looking around at her surroundings again, having never really got the fact that the outside was on the inside, she replied distractedly, "Yes."
"Well, I sort of lied."
Her attention snapped back to him as she asked, cautious, "Sort of lied?"
He remarked casually, "I wasn't sure if it would cause problems with bureaucracy and all those inconvenient little things you humans use to while away the hours."
He paused and then said with a grin, turning around, "There's a thought… I've never really sung the score from the Wizard of Oz… except that time on Canis Major IV… 'Oh, I could while away the hours, conferring with the flowers, consulting with the rain…'"
Looking down for a moment, she said in warning, "Doctor."
"Right! Yes… anyway, follow me."
She rolled her eyes as he led her up a spiralled staircase and then into a room with a large screen that was divided up into fifteen squares, each one containing a TV programme or a music video. She stood there, transfixed as she looked up at it, instantly attempting to work out how it worked. The Doctor, smiling knowingly, stood behind a soft chair, in which sat a young woman with sun bleached light brown hair.
He cleared his throat and said, "Colonel."
Sam looked at him and said, looking amazed, "It's… how many signal bands is that thing receiving?"
"A lot… now will you focus?!"
She murmured an apology and then noticed the young woman who now looked a little shy. The Doctor said with a smile,
"Colonel Jackson, meet my travelling companion, Grace."
Sam shook the young woman's hand, saying, "Nice to meet you."
Grace replied, "Likewise, Colonel."
Sam looked to the Doctor and asked, "Why did you wait until now?"
The Doctor replied seriously, "I think you need to pay a visit to Doctor Quinn."
Confused, she asked, "Wh…"
Suddenly realisation hit her and she staggered backwards, scared out of her head as she stared at the young woman, now noticing how much like herself she looked, and she said, shaking her head, "No… no, I can't be."
The Doctor nodded and said, "That's the reason why Doctor Jackson was visible to you for twelve hours. He didn't know about it though."
She shook her head again and said, wiping away a stray tear, "I can't be… he.. oh God, he wasn't corporeal. He only took on that form…"
She sank into a nearby chair, pensive and then looked up at Grace with a sigh. She remarked shakily, "Well, I guess this isn't the first time that one of my children have come to visit me but at that time, they were already born."
She looked up at the Doctor and asked, "You're in our future?"
He nodded and said, patting Grace on the shoulder, "We're on first name basis… well, no, not first name per se seeing as… No, we're on a Doctor-Sam basis."
Sam slowly got to her feet and kneeled by Grace's chair, noticing her cerulean eyes, and she closed her eyes before pulling the younger woman into a hug and saying, gently caressing her back, "I'm sorry for my reaction… it was a shock to say the least."