Samantha Carter glanced back at her doppelganger, it was slightly disconcerting seeing a face that she hadn't seen in almost two and a half decades staring back at her.

For her part the teenaged looking Sam was slightly freaked to be looking at a face staring back at her that she hadn't seen in almost fifty years. It was enough that she wasn't sure she wanted to look in a mirror but at the same time, there was a part of her that wanted to run and grab a mirror just to reassure herself that she wasn't old anymore. It had been a shock when her younger double had shown up with Daniel, Vala and a girl they had never before seen and explained their offer.

She glanced out of the puddle jumper's window, she wasn't sure that she believed that she was a copy of the original Samantha, though truth be told if the strange girl's explanation was to be believed and the new memories weren't really giving her a reason to doubt them, then she was less a clone and more a fragment of the original two Samantha Carters given form. It was a bit confusing really, even for her.

Basically the girl had offered the other Samantha, one which had come from the future and traveled to the past in an Altantian time machine only to stowaway in the hold in stasis for fifty years so that they could offer her a chance to do a memory exchange with her other self, a chance to be given a new body. Of course she hadn't found out until after she had agreed and the strange girl had cast a spell and melded her with her younger version that magic existed, and was very, very real. Still it hadn't been a painful experience being joined to the other version of herself, sort of like recalling a number of old memories. It had been slightly odd separating, especially when she had looked at her old body and known that there would always be a small piece of herself missing. It had been hard leaving her old body there, but everyone had known it was the only way things would work. There had to be something for the time reversal to work upon after all. She glanced at her other self and could almost read the other Samantha's thoughts, she was fairly sure that she was thinking about all of the science and knowledge gained over the years in the ship, just as she herself was busy processing all of her other self's recent knowledge about dimension travel and magic, not to mention the knowledge of the fate of the battle with the Ori and current events.

It was going to take awhile to sort out, but she had survived fifty years trapped aboard a spaceship with little to do but research a way to save herself and with only a couple of people to interact with, she was fairly sure she could survive knowing there was another her doing her job back home. Still no one that at all understood how things were would be likely to begrudge her enough time off to sort through her life. Besides, when it came down to it, she at least had part of her team with her, unlike Jack's clone. She couldn't help smiling as she glanced over at a younger Daniel. "Somehow I don't think you looked this good when you were a kid."

A teenage Vala smirked as she reached out and pulled the teenaged Daniel into a hug, "Hey, no poaching."

The middle aged Daniel glanced over at his Vala before his face reddened, he wasn't sure the exact moment when he realized that he was starting to think of Vala as being his, it was a bit disconcerting to have fifty more years of memory suddenly floating around in his head than he was used to but oh the memories. He smiled as he glanced over toward the front of the ship where the Jack clone was chatting with Gabrielle while busying himself with piloting their way toward a planet with a stargate, "I think our good friend made some alterations and upgrades."

Gabrielle chuckled, "I figured there was no sense wasting all the hard work Daniel put in the last several years getting into shape."

The younger Daniel frowned, "You could have fixed my eyesight at least."

"And ruin your charming good looks?"

The younger Vala chuckled, "He's perfect."

Samantha glanced around the crowded shuttle craft, "Not to burst everyone's bubble but…"

The younger looking version of Samantha sighed, "We're messing around with time, and didn't manage to actually save more than a handful of the Asgard we came to save."

Daniel shrugged, "I wouldn't call it a complete loss, I mean after all we rescued fifty years of knowledge that would otherwise have been lost. Not to mention our other selves."

The younger Vala glanced up at the cockpit, "So what happens now?"

Jack smiled from his spot in the front of the ship, "We slip back to our proper time, then slip through the gate to the other world and drop our Asgard friends into a stasis chamber until our other friends can find a solution to the cloning issue."

Sam glanced at John, "You really think it will be that easy?"

John shrugged, "Probably not but hey I can hope."

Rodney glanced around the facility, it still had a half finished look in places, in other places it looked maybe not old but settled. Which when you considered that it had been in operation continuously for ten years it was perhaps a fair assessment. He spared a glance at one of the monitors that was displaying a modified hyper drive blueprint showing quite a few tweaks over the original. "Any luck with the wormhole-drive?"

Sophie shook her head slightly, "While I've managed in my spare time to work on a potential computer system dedicated to making sure the calculations are correct, I believe that the margin for error leaves the sane at home. I've had more luck with refining the super-gate technology back engineered from Ori tech. That at least might be a viable way to move ships. There is also the possibility of a completely separate transportation method from one of the other databases being viable, but as yet I've yet to find anything worthwhile on it's own."

Sheppard frowned as he looked around at the various full screens filled with technical data he only half understood, "On it's own?"

"Several of the various technologies have the potential to have information that could be used to streamline the process somewhat. For example the Kryptonian database had various advancements to crystal tech that should increase the efficiency of the hyper drives by two percent."

"That doesn't sound like a lot."

Sophie smiled, "Two percent here and one percent there, and eventually it adds up to a decent amount of time saved."

John nodded, "So how are the ships coming?"

"I've been tweaking the ship designs slightly, I think you'll be favorably impressed John."

John glanced at the monitors as Sophie brought up the design for a cloaking device that worked independent of the ship's shields. "Where did you find that beauty?"

"It's a mix of several technologies, but it serves a purpose. No more choosing between hiding and shields."

"What's the downside?"

"Large power consumption."

"How bad?"

Sophie pointed to several spots on the display screen, "Basically the ship is designed to be powered by eight ZPMs."

Rodney coughed, "What?"

"One for the front shields, one for the rear shields, one for the left side of the ship's weapons and one for the right. One for the cloak and two for the drive system and finally one for the rest of the shipboard functions, including life support, though I'm planning to have organic backups for the life support systems in the form of strategically placed greenhouses and such things. That would also allow power to be diverted to other systems in the event of an emergency."

"Just how big is this ship you're planning?"

"It's a battle fortress style ship, adequate for housing several thousand scientists or troops depending on the need."

"Just how much firepower does the ship have?"

Sophie sighed at their shocked looks as she pulled the weapon specs onto the screen, "Not enough?" She frowned, "I am planning on including several flight decks for jumpers and combat craft, do you think that would shore up the defenses?"

John blinked as he did some quick mental calculations on the yield of the various weapons Sophie was planning on installing into the floating battleship. While he couldn't imagine all of the weapons being needed, it was being unprepared for hell on earth that lost the ancients the war with the wraith in the first place. Besides Sophie had obviously worked hard on the various designs and he didn't want to make her feel like she had made a mistake, even if he thought it was slightly overkill, "Sounds like a good option, drones?"

"Of course, in addition to the number of other weapon systems they'll have one hundred drone ports on each side. One of the reasons we needed the extra power for the weapon's systems. They will also have their own drone manufacturing plant, no sense in being someplace and running out of ammunition."

Mckay's eyes danced with excitement as he thought about how useful one of these ships would have been against the Wraith. "It would have been nice if we could have had one of those the last time the wrath attacked earth. How is the rest of the database going as far as sorting and organizing?"

"Well enough, I'm working my way through the various genetic databases, looking for viable options for building an army capable of crewing the ships. Though I might look into sending at least a couple of the less advanced ships back to the alternate earth as trade items. That is of course if you can give me a hand working out how exactly to get the super-gates to jump dimensions."

John rolled his eyes, "What should I do while you're working on that?"

"Take a look at the various manuals for the ships, they shouldn't be too hard, they all use close to the same interface as the jumpers. I haven't exactly had the time or test subjects required to test any modifications on that system yet."

John blinked, "I'm sure the ones we have are alright for now. How soon before you're ready for the researchers?"

"I believe I've modified the ancient teaching devices enough to assure the children receive an adequate education should you decide on a clone generation."

"Not going to make any recommendations?

Sophie shrugged, "While I'm not human, I'm not Asuaran either, I don't have the same issues with aggression my counterparts did. I'm a scientist, I make the toys, I leave what to do with them to you. Though if you did want a tiny little suggestion, it would be to take one of the large transport ships and go collect the ancients in stasis as I would love to get my hands on the V.R. tech, not to mention have their help with several projects. Besides there is much less risk of them trying to take over anything as they aren't exactly capable of leaving the stasis pods."

John grinned as he looked up at one of the ships, "How about this one?"

Sophie smiled, "Sure, if you like it. It doesn't have a name yet, but I'm sure you'll fix that."

Several weeks later, Jack O'Neill couldn't help the smile that graced his face as he looked around the discussion table at Stargate command. His friends looked in better spirits than he remembered seeing them in years. "Vacation was that good?"

Sam blushed slightly as she remembered her night of naked table dancing in the other reality as payment for the memories of her alternate self, "Yes sir."

Jack grinned, "Care to share?"

Sam shook her head slightly embarrassed but sort of proud of the cheers she had received, "Not particularly, but maybe later over a steak."

Daniel chuckled even as he rested his hand on Vala's leg, "and lots of beer."

Jack glanced at Teal'c, "No comments?"

Teal'c smiled, "No."

He glanced at Vala, "How about you?"

Vala smiled, "Well… I might have a copy I'd sell you… two hundred U.S. dollars…"

Sam's face blanched white, "Didn't know there were cameras."

Vala chuckled, "Raven was nice enough to get me a copy."

Daniel chuckled even as he glanced pointedly at Vala, "Don't worry the tape isn't going to find its way into any official report, is it?"

Vala grinned and was about to say something when the door opened and revealed Major Davis, she quickly switched gears and continued as if she hadn't been talking about something that would damage her friend's career, "We did get some nice video of one of their new ships."

Jack nodded and then gestured for quiet as he glanced at the man standing in the doorway, "Yes?"

Davis glanced around the meeting room. "Any word on John Sheppard and his team?"

Sam nodded, "Sorry we were just about to get to that, they decided to finish up a few projects and come back."

Jack nodded, "Said he could get us a few more ships, but that he wanted to spend some more of his vacation time. Not a problem is it?"

Davis frowned, "Maybe, long ranged sensors are detecting a ship. It's massive, vaguely alien and headed this way."

Sam grinned as she pulled a flash drive out of her pocket and plugged it into her laptop, "Don't suppose it looks like this?"

Davis blinked as the image of the ship from the sensors appeared on the screen, "Yeah, how?"

"You might try hailing it before opening fire. Not sure what the ship's name is but it's class designation is McKay Hellraiser."

Jack frowned, "Hellraiser?"

Sam shrugged, "It's got enough weapons to take out a Goa'uld fleet by itself with little to no damage suffered, thus Hellraiser. If you're nice he might even lend it to Stargate command."

Davis blinked, "How the hell did he acquire the ship?"

Samantha chuckled, "He made friends with the engineer that designed it. Plus he helped her sort out an issue relating to… never mind I think that's classified."

Jack tried to hold in the laugh as Major Davis tried to mentally figure out how much security clearance he would need to get the answers he wanted. "Steak at O'Malley's?"

Sam chuckled, "Sounds like a plan."

The teenage Samantha smiled as she glanced out the window of Atlantis before glancing back toward her companion who was still sprawled on the bed, "So what do you think of the job?"

John O'Neill smiled as he glanced at the naked girl standing at the window, it had taken a while to conjure up the nerve to ask her out but from there it had been a fairly quick path to sharing a room and bed. "I could get used to certain things."

Sam chuckled, "True, but we only have a few more weeks here before we have to head back to the Earth Base."

He chuckled, "At least the fishing is nice."

Sam chuckled, at least some things remained the same. "I'm going to miss some of the people back at the SGC. At least we can write, send emails and such things."

John shrugged, other than Daniel he didn't exactly have that many people to bother with back in the other world. Still he figured he should at least try to cheer her up, "We can always hold more inter-dimensional barbeques." He chuckled, "Maybe we can get you and the other Sam to dance again."

Sam chuckled, "You're horrible. Loki must have screwed up worse than we thought when he made you, the old Jack was never this amusing."

He chuckled, "Rules and regulations, besides you never knew him back in the day. Speaking of clones, how well do you think your alt's report of a cloning accident will hold up?"

Sam shrugged, "It's not like it hasn't happened before. We have a nice new world where tired old military rules don't apply, she's welcome to her world. Besides, after fifty years mostly alone on a starship I'm not sure how well I would do slipping back into dealing with large groups of people."

John smiled, "I'm glad to have you here, now I just have to figure out if it's an abuse of power to order you back into bed."

She smiled, "Most likely but I'm not going to complain if you don't."

Dawn glanced at Claire then back at the couple curled up on the guest bed together, "You want to steal the sheets or grab the camera?"

Claire chuckled, "Well… you know where the camera is, and the bed sheets look fairly easy to steal."

Willow snuggled up against Tara as she whispered sleepily, "They're going to steal our blankets."

Tara couldn't help the silly grin on her face as she snuggled her face into Willow's chest, "Let them."

Dawn tried to suppress her giggles as she tried to shrug nonchalantly, "I guess let them sleep."

Claire chuckled, "Well judging by the sounds through the walls last night, they could use the rest."

Willow sleepily waved her hand at Dawn, "Out, don't come back without coffee."

Dawn chuckled, "Just for that." She leaned in and whispered something to Claire.

Willow frowned as she heard the other girl mutter something before leaving. She wasn't sure what Dawn had said but it sounded important. She was however prevented from thinking about it more as she felt Tara's hands sliding down her back. "Oh."

Tara lightly nibbled at Willow's breasts as she tried to keep her thoughts off of the black mess her conscience was making of things, mostly that small mental voice that was asking her what the hell she was doing having sex with Willow again. While it was true that her and Claire weren't exactly monogamous, there was a large difference between sleeping with some cute girl because you wanted a change of pace for a bit and sleeping with an ex love of your life.

Meanwhile a giggling Dawn and a smirking Claire finished tossing Willow and Tara's clothes in the laundry. "So how long do you think it will take them to notice?"

Claire shrugged, "A few minutes to a few hours, depending on when they get hungry."

Dawn grinned happily, she was feeling more than a bit horny after seeing Willow and Tara curled up with each other, "So did you see any girls you liked?" She was having fun getting to know Claire, as she was proving different than she would have guessed, but she figured that being alive for most of a century would do that to you.

Claire shook her head, she replied only half seriously, "I did notice the cute guy that was wandering around earlier, any chance he's single?"

Dawn chuckled, "Nah, plus you would have to fend off dozens of girls giving you the shovel speech if you went on a date with Xander."

Claire chuckled, "Alas."

"You don't seem too broken up about it, or even the fact that Tara is snuggling with another girl."

"I'm not an immortal like Tara, but I do heal and regenerate unnaturally fast and I don't really seem to age, at least I haven't in over fifty years. So I expect Tara and I will be together for a long time. With that understanding comes a certain amount of freedom to live. I have faith that she'll come back to me and I to her. If not then I wish her the best of luck as she would me."

Dawn nodded, "If you say it enough does it help?"

Claire nodded, "That and icecream."

"Rocky road good for you?"

"Yeah."