O'Neill and his new companion were walking down a street. The street puzzled Jack because it looked like a zone hit by an armed conflict, which made him reconsider his position about the budget issues regarding the fallen highway.
There were holes in the road and in the sidewalks on both sides of the road. Some buildings had collapsed. Other buildings were still standing, but they had signs of destruction in the walls: holes caused by bullets and burns caused by what seemed to be energy blasts... Energy blasts? Jack frowned, surprised by his own thought.
As for the stores, some were abandoned and closed, others were half empty. Customers even had to get in line before they could enter a few of the stores, probably because the owners had to limit the amount of goods each customer could buy. It seemed that chaos had invaded the place in a not too distant past. However, people didn't look miserable or violent, fighting against each other to get food or equipment. Jack felt that they had been through tough times for a period and now, they were coping with the situation and doing their best to move on. Jack noticed billboards promoting TV shows and indicating the direction to Hollywood Boulevard and Beverly Hills, which made him guess he was in Los Angeles. Jack recalled the highways above his head. That made sense.
Okay, Jack was in Los Angeles. How did he go from Washington D.C. to the City of Angels?
O'Neill couldn't make a suggestion to himself because something else intrigued him. A military Humvee pulled over across the street. Two men got out of the car, dressed in a tiger grey BDU with a chest rig and a beret, plus a M4 carabine in their hands. The driver stayed in the car while his companions asked the people waiting outside a store nearby to leave the place. The civilians obeyed with no resistance and the soldiers calmly entered the store. Another military Humvee pulled over before the first vehicle. Again, two soldiers, a woman and a man this time, got out of the car, in the same outfit as their colleagues, who were in the store. The newcomers said goodbye to their driver, and the car went away. Then, the woman and the man greeted the driver of the first Humvee, and started to patrol the street. A LAPD car passed through and the driver waved at the two soldiers on the pavement. The two soldiers waved back at the LAPD car.
Jack noticed the patch on all these folks' beret and the blue chevrons on their sleeves.
They were in the US Air Force.
Since when was the Air Force watching the streets of Los Angeles and wearing a new BDU?
"Hey, Jack, whatcha doin'?"
The general turned and realized that he had stopped walking. His friend was a couple of steps ahead, nonplussed.
Jack asked naively, pointing out the opposite sidewalk, "What are these Air Force guys doing?"
"How do you know they are..." O'Neill's friend began, before dropping the question, remembering the man's background. "Uh yes, you know... Well, they're patrolling, like they've been doing since the end of the invasion." the young man said, coming back to Jack.
"The invasion?" Jack repeated, truely disconcerted.
The young fellow stared at O'Neill in a strange way. "You know, the guys with the glowing eyes and that thing in their belly." he reminded, widening his eyes and showing his own belly when he mentioned the categories.
Jack didn't move. The other guy continued, a bit worried about his buddy now, "Don't tell me you forgot it. You saved my life that year."
Jack remained silent. A man in the same condition as Jack and his friend walked by them and saluted them. Jack learned his friend's name was Robbie. The two resumed their walk to the soup kitchen and reached another street.
Jack didn't see any Jaffa or traces meaning the Goa'uld had taken control of Earth. They did raid Earth, they did invade some cities, but they eventually were defeated and left the planet. Jack could understand it based on posters on walls celebrating the courage of the men and women who fought against the enemy across the globe. Even if the Goa'uld had been defeated, they had caused a lot of damages, still visible in the area. The fallen highway, the energy blasts, everything started to make sense.
Jack and Robbie arrived at what used to be a parking lot. The stores behind were abandoned. That wasn't the most interesting, though. Indeed, there was a Tel'tak in this parking lot. It had crashed on a portion of the stores. The ship was half on that portion, half on the parking lot. Jack blinked, to be sure that he wasn't having a hallucination due to the alcohol in his organism. He wasn't, for military Humvees were forming a circle-like shape around the cargo ship, leaving space between the border of the circle and the ship. Air Force soldiers were patrolling near the cars and the ship. In the same outfit as the people Jack had seen earlier.
A woman exited the ship. She was wearing the tiger grey BDU and a cap instead of the beret. She also had a holster at the right side of her waist and was holding a case with the right hand. A man, in a tiger grey BDU without a beret or a cap, was accompanying her.
Jack stopped walking because he recognized the man.
It was Cameron Mitchell.
The pilot stopped when the lady and he arrived in a desert area between the row of Humvees and the ship. The lady handed the case to Cameron. Jack noticed that the lady was blonde and that she had a bun. Mitchell bowed his head, to say goodbye, and moved backwards. He spoke into a walkie-talkie and a few seconds later, transportation rings surrounded him, and Mitchell vanished in a ship stationed somewhere in the skies.
Cameron's colleague walked past a Humvee in front of her, to have a break. She was now outside the safety perimeter and could see the streets. She took off her cap and put it into a pocket of her pants. She grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in the other pocket of her pants, and lit up a cigarette. She looked at the streets in front of her, Jack being in one of them.
The man couldn't believe it.
Samantha Carter was smoking in this parking lot, in Los Angeles.
xxxxxxxxxx
When Jack thought it was over... It's gonna be a long ride... and I hope you don't mind ;) Thanks for reading!