The Commander's Return

(Small reminder: Last Sat. I put up two chapters, not just one. I only mention this because I looked at my stats and it seems a large number of people may have skipped over chapter 23 and went straight to 24...just thought I'd mention it smiles)

"Well…what does it say?"

"I'm not sure yet Lizzie, this is still going to take a little while to get in order, but if we get started now…"

"Gotcha!" Lizzie threw herself down at a seat and began grabbing up images from all around her.

Daniel too seemed to have his second wind and began to eagerly mark through the repetitions in the writings. Well into the night they both continued to work. Had there been windows they would have seen the sun both set and rise. Somewhere around 08:00 hours, they had it.

Daniel set a stack of images down in front of him. "Well that takes care of these." He looked across the table.

Lizzie's head was laid across her own stack of work. She wasn't asleep but she had already finished before Daniel and rather than cause him to lose his pace she had just waited. Her left hand was still playing with a dried out marker and she let it roll out of her hand and across the desk before falling unceremoniously to the floor. Slowly she raised her head, pulling the long silver strands of hair with it. "I'm done too." She yawned the last part.

"OK, let me see then." He held his hand out as the young woman placed her own copies in it. Slowly he began to reorganize their placement in the stack before standing and making his way over to the other side of the room. "Wow, this even makes it easier to put them in order. They have a sequence to them. Whoever wrote these knew exactly what they were doing."

"Did they leave a forwarding address by chance?" Lizzie asked still trying to wake up in her chair.

"Forwarding address, Lizzie?"

"Yeah like a 'this is who we are and here's where to find us'."

"Maybe. Let me just…hey can you throw me that roll of tape in the top drawer over there please?"

Lizzie reached down and pulled open the drawer and started peering into the unorganized mess to her right. She found the tape and threw it to Daniel with a great force that was effortless. It landed in Daniel's open hand with a loud smack and he winced. "Sorry."

"No problem." Daniel began taping photographs all around the room. The process took quite a while and by the time he was finished, Lizzie was sound asleep, her top half sprawled across the desk, face hidden by her hair. Her fingers were twitching ever so slightly from a dream.

Daniel stood on the far side of his office; slowly taking in each image in the order that they were intended to be read. "Oh my God." He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "This is unbelievable." He mouthed to himself.

Slowly he looked from the walls and shelves and boards now all covered in the multiple languages and dialects, to the girl asleep at his desk. All Daniel could think was 'how?'

As Daniel stood boring a hole into Lizzie with his eyes he noticed that her slightly twitching form began to move a great deal more. Suddenly her hands were sliding across the desk surface and incoherent sounds were escaping her lips. Suddenly she shot up to a seated position yelling out, "Take cover!" She gasped for a second as her dream faded into her reality. She remembered where she was and looked towards Daniel. "Sorry, fell asleep."

"Yeah, I noticed." Daniel said in a hushed tone.

Lizzie slowly began to take in the room around her, now a blur of tape and pictures. "So, this is it…"

Daniel nodded. "Yep."

Lizzie got out of her seat and began to walk up to the designated first image. "Have you read all of it?"

"Yep."

"Anything of use?"

"Yep."

"Any answers other than 'yep'?" She turned back to him with a faint grin.

"Yep." Daniel shook his head. "Sorry…um Lizzie, why don't we wait for Jack?" Daniel began to stutter. "He wanted an update as soon as we were done, and since he should be here…" Daniel looked down too his watch, tapping it for a second after realizing just how long they had been working. "Now, as a matter of fact."

"Really?" Lizzie completely forgot about the walls and started walking over to the doorway where Daniel was.

"Un-huh. He wanted to be here before Sam's arrival. So what do you say we go get breakfast with everybody else while we wait?"

"Sure Daniel, I'm famished." Lizzie rubbed her hand over her gurgling stomach.

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Lizzie and Daniel arrived in the commissary right as Mitchell, Vala and Teal'c were all getting seated. They quickly grabbed their own food and sat down with them.

"Lizzie, you look rather excited about something." Vala smiled at the girl.

"I just can't wait to see Sam. I can't believe she's gonna be here in less than half a day. Plus I can't wait to see how big…" Lizzie's words were cut into mumbles of aggravation as Daniel had quickly dropped his silverware and clapped his hand over her mouth. She gave him a dirty look that began to glow slightly blue before he slowly removed it, then a wide apologetic stare crossed her face when she realized why he had done it.

"Daniel, that was rather rude. Why did you do that?" Vala asked, giving Daniel a rather stern glance.

"Oh no reason, just didn't want to let out the surprise."

"What surprise?" Vala was keenly intent now.

"Oh, nothing, just something… Jack did for Sam…" Daniel slowed his sentence to a halt when he saw the look growing on Lizzie's face.

"So the General got Sam a welcome home present?" Mitchell asked before shoveling some food into his mouth.

"Yeah…" Daniel answered.

Lizzie leaned over to Daniel. "Something Jack DID for Sam?"

Daniel leaned over with an equal whisper. "Well I didn't have much time to think after someone started talking about people getting 'big'!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes at Daniel as he sat back in his seat. Suddenly her lips began to curl into a smile and even sooner she was giggling. Oddly enough she wasn't the only one. Now even Daniel was beginning to laugh profusely as the other three at the table began to look at them like they were crazy.

"Have you made some kind of joke Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c questioned.

Still fighting back laugher Daniel replied. "No, Teal'c, you'll see later. It's nothing…just a little inside joke." Lizzie's giggles were calming down as well.

Vala perked up again. "So…Daniel, work late again?"

"Yeah as a matter of fact, we worked all the way until this morning when we finished the translations."

"Really? You've finished?!" Mitchell finally put his fork down.

"Yeah, and Cameron, WE haven't gone over them completely, but I think it would be best if you were there when we did."

"Why? So you can make fun of me?"

"No, because I think you had a very VERY valid point." Daniel gave him a knowing stare.

"Well I'll be…" Mitchell looked at Lizzie who merely glanced between the two men before continuing with her cereal.

A call rang out from behind Lizzie Daniel and Teal'c. "Good morning, Campers!"

Daniel looked towards Mitchell. "And now would probably be the best time."

Lizzie popped out of her chair with ease and raced over to where Jack was approaching. She grabbed him in a hug that knocked the air out of him. "Easy kiddo, don't squeeze too hard."

"Sorry Jack, I guess I'm just really excited."

He leaned over a bit, "Me too." He grinned at her before looking to the rest of the team. "So Daniel, you finished with that project of yours yet?"

"Just finished it this morning Jack. Whenever you're ready, we can all go to my office." The look that was on Daniel's face as he looked towards Lizzie told Jack just how important it was that they all know.

"Well, I've already eaten…so there's no time like the present."

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Once the rest of the team had finished eating breakfast they all crammed into Daniel's messy office.

"So Daniel, are you the only one who knows exactly what this thing says?" Mitchell asked.

"Yeah, Lizzie kind dozed off before we got it all in order." Everyone looked towards the young woman who was once again yawning.

"Well, let's get this over with. Sa…Colonel Carter should be here pretty soon." Jack reminded.

Daniel moved to the beginning sequence of the walls and started the lecture that would for once keep even Jack O'Neill on the edge of his seat. "As we already know, these writings were found in Greece. They were separated into multiple sections on several different walls. The writings date back somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand years, possibly even further. Now we've already been over part of what the walls say."

Daniel took a few steps to his desk and picked up a file folder. "We know from these previously translated sections that there was some kind of uprising or battle on Earth during this time. We also know that these walls were made to talk about some source of 'future power'. Now aside from that basic information we discovered one and only one gate address." Daniel looked to Lizzie who was sucking on her bottom lip. "And the only thing we found on that planet, is sitting in this room right now." Now everyone was staring at Lizzie.

Jack coughed to draw their attention. "Thanks for the refresher, now can we get to the part that we DON'T already know?"

Daniel shook his head yes. "OK. So, Lizzie and I worked on translating these sections for a number of weeks. Last night however, Lizzie made a discovery." He lifted an image from his desk. "The reason we were having such a hard time understanding the walls was that they are repeats. Over and over again the same phrases appear in different languages. Now, when we removed the repeated sections, and reorganize what is left, we find something that is downright, surreal."

Mitchell crossed his arms. "Surreal?"

"Yeah. Basically, once the writings are cut down and put into the correct order and context, we get a story that explains a whole lot. But at the same time, it left me scratching my head more than ever."

"Ever as in?" Jack tilted his head.

"As in more than when I tried to find the address to Abydos the first time, and even more than when we found the tape of ourselves in a canopic jar in Egypt." Daniel stood straight. Everyone in the room knew the implications to his statement. Whatever was written on those walls from Greece was something more than a little important. "Now, I'm going to go over this once. So please, try not to interrupt. I'll cut it down to the most basic parts and paraphrase where it's needed. But this story, for lack of a better word, is going to tell us a lot about…you." Daniel looked straight into Lizzie's eyes. Then he looked at everyone in the room. "But it's also going to leave the rest of us with a lot of questions to answer."

The room was silent. Everyone looked at each other then towards Daniel as they became aware of the fact that something monumental was about to happen.

Daniel stepped back to the beginning section of the writings. 'There is a place where future power lays. It waits to be restored to those who need it most. It shall awaken one day, and be found by those who need it. They will know it, for it shall be a product of their world. This power comes in several forms. Together these forms, or parts, number twelve. And then there is the one of the twelve pieces that stands apart. Only with this one part, the key, shall the future power be released. Whosoever holds the key shall wield a power unknown to those of the past; for future power can only be born of the future. The power raised the Mountain. Olympus was struck down. The Titans and their children fell by the hands of future power, for what is power but the hands of those who make it.' Daniel took this moment to pause.

"Basically this first part tells us that there is a power somewhere in the universe. It is made of twelve parts. Now one of these twelve parts is more important than the others because it will release the rest. And as far as the Titans go, they were the original Greek gods. That said, we move on."

Daniel walked to another section of taped up images. 'The Titans knew of Earth; the dwelling place of the cradle of humanity. As long as the Titans and their kind knew of Earth, then the people of Earth were in danger. The future power was formed' "or in this context gathered", 'to destroy the evil power over Earth, and send it fleeing through the stars. Upon the destruction of Olympus, the destruction of Earth was made certain. And yet Earth remained. For it was not the power's destiny to destroy Earth, but to release it, and make it unknown to the rest of the universe so that it would grow to one day destroy the evils of the universe.'

Daniel stopped and took a deep breath. "Is everyone following along so far?"

There were a few nods. Teal'c was the only one to speak. "It seems that this 'future power' was what finally removed the Goa'uld from Earth. And that after doing so, they made this world and those who inhabit it seem extinct."

"Teal'c's right." Daniel looked down. "This power that we were looking for all this time, was, at least according to the walls, why no Goa'uld seemed to know about us when we first started roaming around out there. I realize that Apophis stumbled onto us during his little 'queen hunt' but that was probably a fluke. Plus, whoever these people were, they also seemed to know that if we were to remain hidden long enough, then we would also become powerful enough to return and defeat the 'evils' of the universe. And by the time Apophis did find us, we were."

"Alright now wait a minute!" Jack threw his hands up. "I thought that the Goa'uld left back with Ra and his buddies."

"Well they did. But ancient history shows that the Goa'uld were still around for a while after that. I mean, even without the gate, they still had ships and they knew where we were." Daniel took a breath. "Do you see what I'm trying to say Jack?"

Jack nodded yes but replied, "No."

"Ok. Just, hear me out. The 'power', or these twelve parts of it, was responsible for Earth being freed from the Goa'uld for the last time. This power, whatever or whoever," Daniel looked towards Lizzie as her eyes grew wide. "is why we were able to get to the point where we defeated the Goa'uld…because it hid us from them. It destroyed them and made Earth unknown to anyone else in the galaxy."

"Whoa." Was all Jack could muster.

"Daniel, I thought you said in the commissary that I should be here because of my earlier… ideas?" Mitchell questioned.

"That would be the last section, which I'm getting to." Daniel walked around his desk to the last section of the walls. 'The future power will return when it is time for it to return to its home.' Daniel took a minute. "The rest of this is addressed to the reader." 'Behold the grave of the key. Beware her wrath for she was locked away last due to a treacherous deed. Her heart was pure, but in the end it was stained. Forgiveness for the key known as Athena shall only be granted in death. Awaken the key, and take her to the other eleven. The warriors of future power shall then be restored to the future worlds from whence they came…' Daniel stood silent indicating that he was done.

"Future?"

"Her?"

"Athena?"

"Daniel?"

Everyone in the room was looking towards Daniel. Some eyes showed shock, others confusion. But the most overwhelmed set of eyes upon Daniel belonged to the young woman at the center of the room.

Slowly Lizzie stood up. "I'm a key?"

"Yeah Lizzie, I think you are. The address on the walls, the one where we found you…it was supposedly the 'grave of the key.'"

"And, I'm from Earth?"

"Possibly. It says that's where the power originated, but it also talks about the twelve warriors being from different worlds."

Mitchell cut in. "Wait a minute. You're saying that's why she does all the military stuff. She's from here? I was right?"

"What do you mean you were right?!" Lizzie was somewhat angered by the thought someone was withholding information.

"It's not like that Lizzie, it's just. Well, you've been reacting to things a bit like military personnel. You snap to attention. You say 'sir' and 'ma'am', plus you've been using a lot of Earth terms that no one but Earth residents use."

Lizzie put her hand over her mouth and turned to glance over the walls again. She spoke behind her hand. "Future?"

Daniel walked up beside her. "That would be where the questions start. Athena is a figure of the past. It could be that someone from the future met you in the past and joined forces with you, or your people. The walls were also referring to people from different worlds. So while you may be from Earth, chances are you weren't originally. But obviously some members of this 'team' were. And they would most likely be military, Cameron." He was trying to address the fact that Lizzie may have been around U.S. military personnel prior to meeting any of them, and before she was placed in stasis.

Lizzie just shook her head as tears began to well from the impact of everything she was trying to absorb.

"Daniel?" Jack looked at his friend. "What's the bottom line here?"

Daniel cleared his throat and Lizzie turned to look at Jack while she too listened to what was about to be said. She and Jack never took their eyes off of each other. "Lizzie seems to be a member of a team of twelve 'warriors' from the 'future'. Now from reading this and putting it into current context…the only warriors with control over the gate on Earth since it was buried…are us. But we haven't sent a team back to Ancient Greece. At least not yet."

"Holy crap." Was echoed from at least thee mouths in the room with one 'indeed' thrown in from Teal'c.

The silence that was now filling the room was suddenly pierced by the ringing klaxons signaling an incoming wormhole. Without another word they all began to quickly filter out of the office and made their way to the gate room.

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"Incoming wormhole!" Walter was calling though the systems as the team entered the gate room.

General Landry was in the control room. "Open the Iris."

The large metal structure that protected the gate spun open with the sound of sliding metal. The event horizon rippled for a brief moment before a blonde figure in baggie BDUs stepped forward. Behind her the gate shut down with a slapping sound.

"Welcome home Colonel Carter!" Landry greeted from the control room.

"Thank you Sir!" Carter called up from the ramp. Slowly and with a large smile on her face she made her way down the ramp. The whole time she kept a small grin on her face directed at Jack O'Neill, who seemed very proud of himself at the moment.

"Sam!" For all of the things that had been going on, Lizzie could have cared less. Seeing Samantha Carter again after more than a month was the cure all for her distress of the morning. She ran forward before Carter could even make it down the steps.

Sam didn't mind though. She threw her arms open. "Hey Lizzie!" She made a fake groan like people do when the hug the children in their families. Sam was totally ready to be a mom. "How's it going?"

"Better now!" Lizzie beamed as she backed up. "And don't worry, I didn't say anything…" She added with a small tone before winking and stepping back over beside Jack.

Carter appraised those standing before her. "Daniel." She gave him a wry smile.

Daniel stepped forward as a smile began to grow across his face as well. He scooped Sam into a large, but gentle hug. "I am so happy for you." He whispered in her ear.

"Jack tell you everything?" She asked in the same volume.

Daniel stepped back from the hug but they continued to hold each other's elbows. "He had a little help." Daniel looked towards Jack and Lizzie, both of whom were staring at the ceiling with their lips twisted. Jack finally gave a smirk at Sam that caused her to giggle. It was taking a lot of self control not to march over to him and kiss him in front of the entire room.

Now for the moment of truth. "Hello Teal'c," Sam greeted. She had a plan, and if anyone could be counted on to try and remain tactful, but with words that would take others a while to catch onto, it was Teal'c.

Sam stepped forward into his gentle embrace. "It is good to see you once again Colonel Carter." Teal'c paused for a moment before stepping back. When he had held her close, he could feel the change in her abdomen. Being a father, he knew what the change was, and now he understood why her outfit was so much baggier than usual. "Are you well Colonel Carter?" He smiled at her profusely.

Sam played it coy. "Of course Teal'c, why?"

"You seem, somewhat different…and your attire is of a different fit…"

Sam tilted her head. "Are you trying to say I've gained weight Teal'c?"

The jaffa's eyes became concerned. "Of course not Colonel Carter, I was merely stating that you…"

"It's ok Teal'c, I have been putting on a few. Guess that happens when you fly a desk and have tons of meetings…" She winked at Jack.

Now Sam had a tough decision to make. Who was going to find out next? Sam looked at Vala and Cameron and knew just the perfect candidate. "Vala."

The mass of black hair quickly bounded over to Sam and grabbed hold tight. "Hello Samantha! It's nice to…" Vala pulled back and looked down towards Sam's stomach. "That's more than a few pounds." She said still looking down. Vala quickly reached down to the Colonel's baggy jacket and maneuvered it more tightly around her abdomen to reveal a swelling belly. "That's a baby!"

"A what?!" Mitchell exclaimed with a look of utter shock on his face.

Vala turned around. "She's gonna have a baby, look!" She was pointing at her stomach. "What is it?"

"It's a baby." Jack said matter-of-factly.

"O'Neill." Teal'c addressed his old friend. "I believe congratulations are in order."

"Wait a minute…" Mitchell looked between Jack and Sam as they began to walk closer to one another. "That," Mitchell pointed at Sam's middle, "Is yours?"

"Well seeing as I'm her husband I'd assume it would be." Jack gave a cocky stare.

"Oh yeah." Mitchell was finally putting two and two together.

"So what is it?" Vala persisted.

Sam was now tucked under Jack's arm. "It's a boy." They both smiled at each other.

"Well congratulations!" Mitchell exclaimed. "Got a name yet?"

Jack and Sam looked at each other a bit uneasily. Telling Daniel that they were naming their unborn son after him was one thing, but explaining it to the others could prove difficult. "Well…why don't we wait until he's…"

"Danny!" Lizzie shot out.

Mitchell gave her a funny look. "Well that's a nice thought Lizzie, but don't you think, I don't know Cameron, would be a better name? No offense Jackson."

Sam was laughing, now standing slightly apart from Jack. They could never shake their military roles on base even when they were expecting a baby. "Cam, we already named him after Daniel. I hope you understand."

Teal'c smiled and Vala stepped over to Daniel and rubbed his arm. "Thanks guys." Daniel replied.

Cameron just stood with a strange look on his face. "How did she know?" He pointed at Lizzie. "So besides being from the future you have mind reading powers as well?" He questioned.

Lizzie's eyes shot open. "No!" She whined slightly. "I knew first, well after Sam and Jack that is."

Sam looked at Lizzie strangely. "Future?"

Jack turned to her. "Long story. Let's get you settled in first. Your stuff should be here in a few days." Jack began to lead her out of the room but the rest of the team exited first, all excitedly buzzing about the big news.

Lizzie however stood in the now empty gate room save for two lone SFs. She looked at the gate and things began to change. Where no one had been suddenly a form appeared. The man who had put her in her stasis chamber was now standing beside her.

"You ready for this Athena?" His green eyes smiled at her.

She was smiling at him as well. "I guess so. How about you, Sir?'

He was wearing something different than the costumes she remembered. "Oh, I don't know. Shouldn't be too bad. Plus I got you watching my six like the old days." He smiled at her.

"Colonel, you realize the old days were like a year ago right?"

He didn't answer her. He walked forward up the ramp to a now open event horizon. "You coming?"

Lizzie turned her head abruptly as the voice changed. "You coming?" This time it was a female voice. Sam was standing by the blast door with Jack waiting outside.

Lizzie quickly turned back to the stargate but no one was there. She made her way over towards Sam whose hand was now outstretched. She took it, happy to feel the familiar warmth of her friend.

Now they made their way to Daniel's office to explain to Sam what they themselves were still having a hard time comprehending. But not before Jack leaned around the corner door to the control room.

"Hey Walter, you better start counting up those bets!"

Thank you all so much for reading! Any head scratching going on????

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