Never a dull moment-that would be how I would describe the last eight years of my life. From the moment I'd been electrocuted into a fictional reality—thanks mostly to Q of course-to my current situation-sitting in a cave with the SG-1 team with James T. Kirk at my side, again thanks to Q-it'd been a roller coaster of events.

I'd found out the bitch who stole my fiancé was actually a time traveling cop-like creature who made Doctor Who look like a newb; I'd fallen for James on board the original Enterprise and gotten pregnant with my wonderful son Caiden, but before his birth had been thrown from one reality to another according to Q's whims, meeting and bonding with dozens of people and creatures, all of whom may or may not remember me should I ever meet them again. Now here I am, possibly someone else's figment of imagination, aware that there was a very strong possibility that all fictional worlds are real and perhaps my own is equally as real, and fake, as the rest of them.

"So you're trying to tell me that you are the descendant of an Ancient, though you have yet to determine who or if they are still alive, and that you and your friend Kirk were brought here in order to find this ancestor of yours but that you didn't know that this planet was in the middle of a warzone with the Goa'uld, nor did you know that our team was arriving today?" O' Neill was leaning against the side of the cave near the entrance, looking just as incredulous as he sounded.

I brought myself from my musings and glanced over at Kirk. He kept quiet for the moment, though he seemed impressed with my ability to fib around facts and improvise—oh he hadn't seen me really get started yet. I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. Obviously he was too preoccupied with trying to keep up on the names and terms tossed around to think about anything else.

"Well Colonel we've already known that there are a number of humans with the ATA gene, it isn't entirely impossible that she is at least telling the truth about being a descendent." Carter spoke up from where she sat to my left.

"How do you explain the unfortunate coincidence between our arrival, their arrival, and the arrival of our Goa'uld friends then?" He looked back out the cave and scanned the area, his hands never having left his gun in some fashion since I'd first seen him.

I sighed and scratched my head, "I can't explain the coincidence of our arrival times. Kirk and I had only just gotten adjusted to arriving when the stargate activated and you lot jumped out. Like I said before, we hadn't seen or heard of any other life forms beside ourselves before you guys showed up. We're just as surprised as you are."

"I've never even seen a Goa'uld before." Kirk spoke up then and I winced. "So I'm just as surprised as you are."

Already he'd nearly given away our status as alternate reality beings and had just started to reference Spock when I'd managed to step on his toe to shut him up. What the SG-1 team knew, or believed, about us so far was that we were from Earth, but from their future, had been brought there by an Ancient, and that we were trying to contact the Ancient again in order to go home.

We did not know why we'd been brought to this particular time or place but that we were willing to aid the SG team if they needed it but that we were also not spies or there to sabotage their mission. Only Daniel seemed to fully believe us, with Carter close behind. O' Neill remained the skeptic I expected him to be while the other soldier, by the name of Jones, had disappeared with Teal'c some time before to scout out something and had yet to form an opinion on us.

Before anyone could question Kirk on his lack of Goa'uld knowledge, Jones came trotting back in, looking much worse than when he'd left.

"Where's Teal'c?" O'Neill was looking past the man.

"We found the crystals but were caught. Teal'c kept them off me so I could give these back to Dr. Jackson." Jones pulled out some blueish looking crystals and gently handed them to Daniel.

O'Neill frowned at the object, "No doubt he's expecting to die a warrior's death." He suddenly looked down at his gear, double checking everything. Carter began following suit without question. Daniel tucked away the crystals before he too pulled out his pistol and made sure everything was in order. "Let's go make sure he doesn't get one."

"Wait." The group paused and looked back at Kirk and I, "What can we do to help?" O'Neill eyed my pajamas and I winced, "I know we aren't armed but we can still help."

"Perhaps as a diversion." Kirk suggested. I glared at him out of the corner of my eye for the very suggestion I'd been trying to avoid.

O'Neill's eyes narrowed and I saw his lips draw into that sardonic smile I'd always thought was sexy. I knew now, however, that that smile meant I was about to be thrust into the middle of danger. Kirk and I, in O'Neill's eyes, were expendable. Hence, it was our job to basically waltz into the middle of the Goa'uld compound sometime later, set off some charges, and then run around like chickens with our heads cut off, making as much ruckus and causing as much damage as possible while the rest rescued Teal'c and made it back to the gate.

Successful plan? If you count getting shot in the leg with a Goa'uld weapon successful then yes. I had to basically carry Kirk out of the compound once we managed to set off the last of the charges without us also getting blown to smithereens. We rendezvoused with O'Neill and the rest of the SG team at the stargate, pissed off Jaffa close on our heels.

Of course, being SG-1, hell continued to break loose even with the stargate—supposed gateway to safety—opened. Something I couldn't pronounce or fully understand apparently was malfunctioning and the stargate wouldn't close without someone staying behind to manually close it. As luck would have it, again Kirk and I were expendable in O'Neill's eyes.

"Nothing personal." O'Neill had already sent the wounded Teal'c and Jones through and now he stood with his gun pointed towards Kirk and myself, Carter placing the last of the charges against the DHD, while Daniel hovered uncomfortably to the side. "But I still don't buy your story and we ain't got the time to prove it one way or another."

"Colonel I really don't think-"

"That's right, you don't Daniel, and that's why we're in this situation in the first place!" O'Neill spat at Daniel, his eyes darting between us and the tree line. "If you'd kept the crystals locked down then we wouldn't have had to come all the way out here to get them again now would we? Carter how are we doing down there?"

"Just about set." She suddenly stood and walked forward, handing Kirk the trigger device. "Make sure you're well enough away when you press that button."

Kirk glared daggers at her, "I know my way around explosives."

She grimaced but nodded, grabbing her gun and retreating behind O'Neill's back. She obviously didn't agree with O'Neill's decision either but O'Neill was correct. They didn't have the time to argue about us and our fate. I actually couldn't blame O'Neill nor did I hold malice towards him. In this reality, they were the more important characters and their success was more vital than our whoopsy appearance.

"Get outta here O'Neill." I gave him a small smile. "Maybe see ya around sometime."

His eyes hardened but he gave a quick nod before he grabbed Daniel, the most reluctant to leave, and basically threw him through the gate before he too stepped through, Carter having gone before them. Kirk and I didn't wait for the Jaffa to arrive or the gate to finishing closing before we took off towards the opposite tree line. Once safe within its borders, Kirk flipped the switch.

"Shit!" He pushed the button again but again nothing happened. As he continued to mess around with the trigger I scanned the area where the Jaffa would soon pour through, no sign of them yet. "A wire must've come loose on the charge." My gaze flew back to his face. I knew he was thinking about going over and resetting the wire but upon doing that the charge would most likely immediately explode.

"No way Jose. You're the captain and I don't even technically exist in your reality. If anyone is going over there to get blown up it's gonna be me." I grabbed for the trigger but he held it just out of reach. "Come on James give me the trigger!"

"You're a mother, Brenna; I can't let you do that. I am a captain and therefore I am more qualified for this sort of job-"

Knowing he was about to debate who was more suitable for sacrifice, I stood and high tailed it back to the platform before he could continue. Of course, given my luck, it was just at this moment in time that the Jaffa finally arrived. My sprint was made more "entertaining" with newly made holes, courtesy of Jaffa weapons as they tried to end my life.

Though I had no idea what I was looking for on the charge, I still jumped up and began pressing and pushing at anything I could reach, doing my best to hide my body behind the disc as much as possible, figuring the Jaffa didn't want to risk damaging the only technology that could take them after their bigger prey.

I was prepared to die. I'd faced death at least three times within the last week, and many times before that, and now, if anything, I was tired of always have to go through the peak of survival only to face death again. Q had brought us here for a reason and if that reason was to strand Kirk in the Stargate universe, kill me, and leave the Enterprise without a captain then perhaps that was what it should be. If that was what would end the war against the Q, or Ancients, then que sera sera.

"You also don't know what the hell you're looking for." Kirk's voice was suddenly in my ear and I was jerked off the platform, thrown back.

I landed on my butt just behind the disc and watched as Kirk found the wire and readjusted it. He leveled his gaze on me and in a Matrix-like moment, I watched as the disc exploded behind him. Everything slowed down then; I felt the fire and the pressure of the explosion pinning me to the melted ground, and I watched as the flames licked closer and closer to me, having already enveloped Kirk, but I didn't feel fear. I only felt empty. If this was the end of me then perhaps it was how I needed to be ended. A woman who thought she was real now destroyed in a reality she had thought was purely fictional after years of traveling through equally fictional realities.

I love you Caiden…