Chapter 54

Janet Frasier had pulled Walter Harriman aside to speak to him about his son's condition. The small brown haired boy sat on a nearby bed in an exam room with Jackie O'Neill reading a book.

"I went over his records and gave him more tests." she started. "The tumor is inoperable. Even in the future with medical advances on Atlantis this would be a difficult tumor to get to."

"There's nothing you can do," he sighed.

"Nothing I can do but we do have a ribbon device from Hathor and I have gotten permission from General Hammond to attempt to use it," she told him.

Walter stated, "Jackie is gonna try it."

"She is," She waved for Jackie to come into the room through the glass.

The door of the infirmary opened and in walked Charlie at the same time Jackie entered. Charlie came to see how the boy was doing.

Walter smiled, "Dr. O'Neill. Major O'Neill."

Charlie grinned, "That's why I like him. He treats us like adults and not kids most of the time."

Jackie added, "You can call us by our first names, Walter."

He nodded, "I could but I thought you both might want to remind those of us around you that you are adults along with yourselves."

Charlie paused and pondered, "You're doing that to remind us to act like grownups."

Walter nodded with a smile.

"Figures," he complained. He then asked, "How about Zach? How bad is the tumor?"

"It's in the brain stem," Janet told them. "As the tumor grows it will push on the brain stem until it ceases to function. First he will lose the ability to walk and then…" she gave a heavy sigh.

"It wasn't long after he went into a wheelchair," Walter recalled.

Jackie asked, "You get permission for me to use the ribbon device?"

Janet reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the device, "General Hammond said you got one shot at it. He doesn't want to put this little boy through unnecessary pain."

"I understand," she took the device. She then walked back into the room to see the boy.

Charlie added, "If this fails I can build a sarcophagus like before."

Janet told him, "General Hammond is not as easy to get things out of as your father is. He won't approve that. He's far more by the book."

Walter nodded, "When General O'Neill came to the SGC my job got harder as I had to basically do all the reports for him."

Charlie told him, "You would have made a cool general, Walter."

"I would have to take courses for that," he chuckled.

Janet gave him a warm smile, "If Zach is healed then I don't see what would be stopping you. I think you would make a great officer."

"Really?" he pondered. "I always wondered if I could have become an officer and done something more."

Janet asked, "Like go off world?"

"That would have been cool," he had to admit. He looked on as Jackie spoke to his son in the next room.

Jackie spoke to the small boy. "You ready, Zach? I'm gonna try to help you make that bad tumor go away."

"The thing in my head?" his small finger pointed to the back of his skull.

"I'm gonna try," she smiled. "I need you to lie down and just relax."

"Okay," he lay down on the bed.

Jackie placed the ribbon device on her hand. She leveled her open hand over his face and concentrated on seeing the tumor. A red light softly imitated from the device. It showered over the boy's face as he lay on the bed. She could see the tumor in her mind as the device isolated it and began to destroy the cells, shrinking the tumor in the process.

Walter admitted as he watched, "She can use that device pretty good. Captain Carter struggled to use one on her own."

Janet agreed, "She can wield that pretty good."

Charlie suggested, "Maybe Hammond should let her keep it on her when we are on base. It won't drain her like telekinesis and she can use it to fend off any Jaffa loyal to the Goa'uld."

Janet told him, "We have the iris installed now."

He asked knowingly, "Has the iris been breached before?"

She gave a heavy sigh, "I'll speak to Hammond but don't count on it."

Jackie finished and told the boy to rest. She walked out of the room and stated to Walter, "I eliminated the tumor. It's gone! I do not know if it will come back. He will need regular exams to check. He's resting now."

Walter to her, "I can't thank you enough."

"You don't have to," she told him warmly.

Athens

Meanwhile on Athens, SG-1 reached the cryogenic pods as the occupants started to be animated. The futuristic pods began to open one at a time. The first pod to open revealed a woman. She was dressed in a flowing white gown and had long black hair that was placed neatly up in a bun. Her skin was light brown and her features seemed flawless. Her large brown eyes fluttered open. She seemed slightly confused upon seeing SG-1.

"Where is my brother?" she asked in Ancient.

Daniel replied in Ancient, "Who is your brother?"

"Apollo," she replied.

"What is your name?" he asked in her native tongue.

"Athena," she told him.

Jack looked at Daniel, "What did she say?"

"Her name is Athena and she was asking for her brother, Apollo." he told him.

Jack paused and then looked at Sam, "You sure we can't put them back the way we found them?"

She shook her head wide-eyed.

Daniel rubbed his chin, "Oh boy."

SGC

Back in the SGC, Charlie and Jackie were trying to make themselves busy to fend off the boredom of being children again. They decided to take an inventory of artifacts recently brought back by other teams that were in a storage room with Hammond's approval.

Charlie finished taking notes on his clipboard as he peered inside a crate. He then moved to the next object as he worked. He removed a canvas from a mirror. He stood puzzled.

"Jackie!" he called out.

She looked up from another box, "What?"

"Look at this," he motioned.

She stood up and walked over and stood beside him looking at their reflections in the mirror. She noticed the dirt on her purple t-shirt. "Damn, I got dirt all over me." She wiped off her shirt and jeans.

Charlie stood in a red t-shirt and jeans and asked, "What are you doing? Look at the mirror."

"It's a mirror," she shrugged.

"Why would they have a mirror here?" he asked. "I don't remember any mirror! Do you?"

She paused, "Not in our timeline. I remember one in the first timeline that I saw while meditating." She puckered in thought.

Charlie reached up and touched the frame. He noted, "It's just a mirror."

Jackie shook her head, "I think we need to have Sam look at it. Let's see if they are back." She then led her brother out of the storage room. They stood in the hallways as men in uniforms walked by. General Hammond rounded the corner and spotted the kids. He walked up to them curious.

"Kids," he stated looking a bit baffled.

Jackie asked, "Is Sam back yet?"

"Captain Carter?" he asked.

Charlie squinted, "Who else? Are they back yet?"

"What's all this about?" he asked them.

Charlie told him, "We found this mirror while doing inventory and we wanted her to look at it."

"Mirror?" he asked unsure. "Inventory!"

"You said it was okay," he told him.

Hammond asked, "Who are you children and how did you get in the SGC?"

Jackie and Charlie traded glances.

Jackie asked, "You don't know who we are?"

"I do not," Hammond told her.

They traded glances again.

Charlie asked her, "You don't think?"

"Oh no," she winced.