Yes! I'm so happy! I got to type while I was down here visiting family! Aren't you glad you didn't have to wait another week:) Anyway, come on, guys, I only got one review for the last chapter. Please review if you like the story/chapter and want me to keep going! I really want to know what you think. It keeps me going, LOL. So, anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 28

Danny looked over at Jack again, who still sat beside his bed, when something occurred to him. "Jack, where did he get the glasses?"

"What?" O'Neill said suddenly, not expecting the question.

Jackson sighed. "The other me, Jack. He lost his glasses over there. Where'd he get the ones he was wearing a few minutes ago?"

"Ah! That! Out of his office." Danny raised an eyebrow. "I mean, well, your office, but it's still his where he's from, and he knew where he's, you'd, uh, kept and extra pair. I said I didn't think you'd mind, and besides that you were still kind of unconscious and all…"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Right. Whatever…" He trailed off when he saw Walter Harriman wander into the infirmary, seemingly on a mission. A second later the gate tech's eyes locked with his, and the man headed toward them.

Jack glanced over his shoulder to se what Jackson was looking at. "Oh, hey Walter. What are you doing up here?"

"General Hammond needs SG-1 in his office sir; all of you, if possible," he said, nodding toward Daniel.

Janet Fraiser walked up on the other side of the bed. "I'm sorry, but Daniel isn't going anywhere.

"Janet, really. I'm fine," Danny complained. "General Hammond just wants to see us. I'm not going off-world."

"Your body needs time to finish healing what the sarcophagus couldn't, Daniel. You need rest."

"And he'll get it. I'll make sure of it—after we see what the general wants. Come on, doc; you've already checked him over and given your diagnosis. We get it. Just let him out of bed for ten minutes for cryin' out loud," Jack said.

Fraiser looked back and forth between the colonel and the archaeologist for a moment or two, before glancing at Harriman and sighing.

"All right," the doctor relented, and then eyed Danny. "But if you don't that rest ASAP, I promise you I will hunt you down and keep you here until you do. Understood?"

"Okay, Janet. I understand. Thanks," Danny said, throwing off the covers.

Janet smiled. "I'll be right back with some clothes."

Jackson watched her go, and then slowly started to sit up. Halfway up a wince flickered across his face, and Jack's hands went immediately to take his friend's arm and help him the rest of the way.

"I got it, Jack," Danny protested, though he was, in fact, thankful for the help.

"Are you going to be okay?" Harriman asked in concern.

Danny nodded quickly. "Yeah. I'll be fine, Walter—just sore for a while, that's all."

"He did kinda get sliced and diced," Jack offered.

"Oh, nice, Jack. I'm sure Walter's just extremely grateful you told him that."

As expected, the sergeant had paled a bit. "Uh, yeah, uhm…colonel, I should be going. Just go to General Hammond's office as soon as you're ready."

"Will do," Jack smiled.

"Right. Uh, I'm glad you're all right, Dr. Jackson. I'll see you later." And then Walter Harriman retreated, trying not to look hurried.

Danny sighed in frustration. "Great, Jack. You scared him off—the only sane company I had at the moment."

O'Neill put an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Sorry, Danny-boy. Just having some fun. It's mandatory after having an extremely disturbing day."

"You can say that again…" With that Jackson's shoulder's slumped. A few seconds later he felt another hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Doctor Fraiser standing in front of him with a fresh pair of fatigues in her other hand.

"Here," she said, handing the clothes to him. "Now take in easy and get home and get some sleep as soon as you can, okay?"

He nodded. "I will. Thanks." Both doctor and colonel released him, allowing him to stand, but when he did an arm went around his middle.

Jack grabbed his shoulders again, and Janet put a hand on his arm when she saw Jackson grimace. "Daniel? Do you want me to give you something for the pain?" Fraiser asked.

"It's not that bad, Janet. Oh, and not that I'm extremely happy abut it, but you'd better start calling me Danny for now before somebody gets confused…"

Fraiser sighed. "Fine, Danny then. Now, I know it's not really that bad, but a little bit of painkiller would certainly help you function more normally until you can get back to bed and let it heal like I wish you would just do now."

Finally Danny smiled. "Fine—a little then."

"Okay. I'll get it," the satisfied doctor nodded, and then moved off again.

"You get let go of me, Jack."

"Sorry," O'Neill repented, holding up his hands and backing off while Danny pulled his pants on under the infirmary gown and then tugged the flimsy garment off over his head so he could slip on his t-shirt. He had the shirt tucked in and belt buckled by the time Janet returned to hand him a couple of pills, and when Fraiser had given another warning or two and finally left him and O'Neill alone he stepped over to a nearby water fountain to take the medication. Jack patiently waited while the scientist pulled on the long-sleeved green fatigue shirt, which he didn't bother to button, and put on his socks and shoes, which had been left beside the bed for him.

Finally Danny straightened, and looked around, searching for something. "Now where are my glasses?"

That was went Janet came running out to them again, spectacles in hand. "Sorry, I forgot to give these back."

"The missing glasses return!" Jack piped up, grinning.

"Ah. There they are," Danny said, glaring at O'Neill and taking them from her and putting them back on his face. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now remember, Danny, don't-"

"-Overdue it. I got it. Thank you, Janet—for everything," Jackson smiled.

Janet smiled back. "You're welcome. I'm just glad you're all right. We thought we'd lost you there for a while."

Danny sighed. "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault, Danny. Now come on; we'd better get to Hammond's office before he starts to wonder where we are," Jack said.

"Right, sorry. Coming…Thanks again, Janet. Talk to you later," Danny finished, and then followed O'Neill from the infirmary.

Sam and Teal'c were already waiting in Hammond's office when Jack and Danny arrived. The general himself sat quietly, seeming to be deep in thought, and Danny noticed that the screen had been drawn over the window on the other side of the office, which blocked their view of the conference room.

Sam was the first to look up when the two newcomers entered. "Hey. Teal'c and I were just on our way to see you when we got the word General Hammond wanted to see us. How are you feeling?" she asked of Jackson.

"Okay," he nodded, sitting as Hammond motioned him and Jack into chairs.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Jack agreed.

"That is good to know," Teal'c said.

"It is," General Hammond said then, entering then conversation. "Now, I suppose you would all like to know why I called you here so soon after your return."

"That would be nice, sir," O'Neill answered.

Hammond sighed. "Well, there's no easy way to tell you this, but…it seems we have more visitors on our hands."

"The off-world-activation alert a little while ago?" Sam asked.

The general nodded. "Yes."

"What kind of visitors? Cause you wouldn't tell us specifically unless…" Danny's eyes widened. "More visitors like the other me…?"

"It seems so. They came through the gate carrying some device, which was apparently the one from the planet you were on—the one that brought your future self here. This SG-1 is also from the future, the same year as he is, but what makes them different is that they're not from our future."

Sam sat up. "Wait. You're telling us that thing does alternate universes too?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, major. Now, from what your other self has said, their reality is more of an alternate future of this universe than a complete alternate universe in itself, but it is different."

"Okay, alternate future…where did they split off from? Have we figured that out yet?"

Hammond nodded. "Yes. That much was obvious as soon as they saw Doctor Jackson. They tell me that their reality was the same as ours until earlier on this day in their past."

Danny paled. "W-what? What are you saying?"

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah, this is all kinda confusing…"

General Hammond sighed and looked at Jackson. "I'm sorry, but it seems that in their future, you're dead—were never revived after being killed on hat Goa'uld base."

Danny's eyes closed and his head dropped. "Oh…then…who else is on the team?" he asked hesitantly, looking up again.

"Well, Colonel O'Neill isn't either. Apparently in their future he's been promoted-"

"Sweet!"

Hammond glared at Jack before continuing. "-A Colonel Cameron Mitchell leads this SG-1, there are older versions of Major Carter and Teal'c, and…"

Danny frowned at the general's sudden change in demeanor as he trailed off. "General? Who else is there?"

Finally Hammond sighed and looked at the archaeologist. "The other team member is an older version of your wife, Daniel." The General had chosen to call the two 'Dr. Jackson' and 'Daniel' instead of 'Daniel' and 'Danny'.

Danny sat silently for a moment, stunned. Sha're? Part of SG-1? Of course, he'd always imagined going back to Abydos with her once she'd been freed of Amaunet, but then again, working with both her and his friends didn't sound so bad either. Though of course, this Sha're wasn't working with him and his friends—just his friends, because he was dead in her reality. He swallowed hard. Perfect. This whole situation had just become a dozen times more complicated. How was he supposed to face her?

"Hey…Danny, you okay?" Jack asked, nudging his arm.

Jackson started in surprise. "Oh, uh…yeah, I…I guess…Wow. That's…that's gonna take some getting used to."

Sam patted her friend's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Danny. We'll find a way get them all back where they belong—future or alternate future—and everything will be back to normal before you know it. You'll be fine."

Danny gulped again. "Yeah…sure."

Hammond stood. "All of them are waiting for us in the conference room. We have a lot to discuss."

Teal'c nodded, standing as well. "I believe that to an understatement, General Hammond," almost a bit overwhelmed himself from the surprising turn of events.

The general smiled at that. "You're probably right, Teal'c."

Jack and Sam stood next, and Danny slowly stood after them. First an alternate Sam and Kawalsky, then a future me, and now this…

General Hammond opened the other office door, the one that led in the briefing room, and allowed SG-1 to go in first. Daniel, the other Carter and Teal'c, and Mitchell and Sha're were already seated, talking among them selves. When they heard the new arrivals to the conference room enter they all looked up, and immediately both Carters slapped their foreheads and rolled their eyes.

"Not again…" they said in unison, even though they smiled afterwards.

Jack grinned as he and his team made their way to the only seats left at the table, which had just enough chairs left for them and General Hammond. Teal'c was looking at his older self strangely, and it wasn't hard to see why.

Danny, however, stood frozen just inside the doorway, and it wasn't because the other Teal'c had hair.

It was Sha're. It really was. She was different, a bit older, and he had never seen her in BDUs before, much less black ones, but it was her. And there was no Amaunet. This Sha're was free, and the emotions that stirred within him at seeing her he didn't quite understand. He couldn't move.

O'Neill saw this, and quickly stood and again and went back to his friend, steering Jackson toward the chair that was left beside him.

"Come on, Danny-boy. Time to sit down…"

Danny gulped an obeyed, staring at his hands. Maybe for now, it would just be easier not to say anything to her, not look at her if he could. Not until he could straighten out what he was feeling, until he wasn't so stunned.

Hammond sat down last, at the head of the table where he usually did, and took a deep breath. "Well, now that we're all here, I suggest we decide what we're going to do about all this." There were nods around the table. "To being with, what are we going call those of you that have doubles—we want to keep the confusion as low as possible."

The older Carter spoke up. "That shouldn't be a problem, sir. I know you've all already decided what to call the two Daniels. My rank is different—I'm a Lt. Colonel, and…our Teal'c has hair…"

Jack nodded. Yeah, that's cool. Besides, we could always just call our Teal'c 'T' while you guys are here. I do it anyway."

Mitchell shrugged. "Fine with me."

Hammond nodded. "All right then. Now, how do we need to go about finding out how to get the lot of you home?"

Major Carter answered. "Well, we were going to have to figure out how that device the Goa'uld have works, or some way to commandeer it to study it, maybe, but…now we have it, or one just like it, anyway. We'll have to look over it…"

"We being who?" O'Neill questioned.

"Us," both Carters said together.

Cameron winced. "Would you two stop doing that?"

Both grinned. "Sorry," the colonel answered. "But anyway, both of us will be studying the device itself, and we'll need Daniel, Danny, and Sha're to help us read the Goa'uld writing on it."

Danny looked up finally, at Sha're. "You…can do that?" he asked.

She nodded. "I was a host for years; I retained enough of her knowledge to be able to read, write, and speak the language. Not to mention that the memories of when I was a host help me to better understand the inner workings of the Goa'uld even more than Teal'c at times."

Danny nodded "Oh…" No wonder she had joined the SGC. No wonder they had put her n SG-1. With all the knowledge she had, she must have been incredibly useful to them—and then, of course, it also seemed that she fit in well with his friends. That was good. He was glad she seemed happy.

The rest of the meeting was mostly a blur to Danny, as the rest of his team, his future self, and the other SG-1 team discussed plans for studying the device and getting everyone hoe where they belonged. He didn't notice that everyone had stood and was starting to leave until Jack tapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on, Danny-boy; briefing's over."

Jackson looked up. "Huh? What? Oh…Are we going to start on the device now…?"

Sam shook her head. "No. It's really late. General Hammond ordered us all to go home, get some sleep and be back here bright and early in the morning to get started to on this problem."

"What about them?" he asked quietly, nodding toward the five future visitors.

"They will remain on base," Teal'c answered.

Danny nodded. "Ah…"

"Dan'iel?"

Jackson stiffened, slowly turning to see Sha're standing behind him.

"Sha're…oh…hi…" he fumbled, not quite sure how to talk to this future version of his wife."

She smiled at him. "It is good to see you well. I'm sorry for everything that happened…"

Now he smiled back, trying to ease her discomfort as well as his own. "No. It's okay. I'll be fine. I, uh, I'm just not sure how to react to all this…"

"I understand. I am not sure either. This is all so confusing."

Danny nodded. "I know."

Then Sha're hugged him, and once he had clumsily returned the embrace for a moment she pulled away, but left a hand on his arm. "Good night, Dan'iel. I hope you sleep well."

"You too."

And then she walked away with her team and his older self. He watched her go, a small smile on his face even though there were tears in his eyes. It was good to see her that way, free, even though she wasn't really his. If either of them, she belonged more to the other him, the older one, from her time. He was already beginning to understand how his counterpart had felt while they were still imprisoned by Amaunet.

Sighing, he turned the other way to go himself, to head for home, sweet memories of his year with Sha're surfacing.