CHAPTER 29 (EPILOGUE): WORMHOLE X-TREME

Authors note: Little Tease of Part 3 for you – your welcome hope to see you all soon!

Little reminder: Sam and Jack disappeared in S8 just after Full Alert where Jack helped deescalate the situation with the Russians. Citizen Joe and Threads hadn't/didn't happen.

00000000000000000

[Cheyenne Mountain, Stargate Command – Milky Way Galaxy]

Daniel almost collided with Mitchell as they both rounded a corridor in an attempt to get into the command room, Mitchell pipping him by seconds.

"What have we got Sir?" Mitchell barked, "One of the SFs said there was an SG1 IDC?"

General Landry turned and Daniel saw the expression of pinched concern on his face. "We have. Specifically Colonel Carter's IDC was received." Daniel felt his chest constrict and words failed him for a moment.

"Sam?" he asked and Landry gave him a knowing look.

"We'll see. We've been down this road before haven't we Dr Jackson? I've sent the redirect to Alpha Site signal to whoever or whatever might be on the other end of this wormhole," Landry informed him. Daniel opened his mouth to argue about giving them the benefit of the doubt when Mitchell stepped closer to the window peering through, they all stared in horror as the iris began to shudder, part opening and closing, like it was receiving alternate commands.

"What the hell's wrong with the iris?"

Landry frowned and looked sharply at Walter expectantly.

"Sir!" Walter spun on the chair, looking at the General then Daniel, an odd expression of both confusion and excitement there. "There's another signal coming through. I think it's a message." He pointed to the one remaining working computer and Daniel craned his neck to see behind Landry. There on the screen, in black and white, were a string of words that lit a spark of hope inside his chest and curved his lips into a grin. Maybe today really was the day.

"Tell Siler, Jack O'Neill wants his Simpsons box-set back. That's O'Neill – with two LL's"

Landry turned and gave him a look of amused irritation. Daniel couldn't help it, "Same old Jack." As coded messages went, that one was pretty obscure. Surely only those closest to Jack would know the significance of words like that, a Goa'uld – or a Replicator – wouldn't ever think to open with it if looking to prove their identity it was inane, bordering on idiotic… it was completely Jack O'Neill.

"Like I said… we'll see," Landry replied shadows falling heavily across his face in the darkened command room, not giving up the hard ass act, which was for good reason Daniel acknowledged grimly. After what happened with Ba'al and his damn clone, even he was less inclined to trust just any Jack O'Neill that waltzed through the Gate, particularly one kicking down the door.

Walter looked panicked as he stared at his computer screen. "Sir! There's something wrong. The iris… I'm not in control," Walter exclaimed, "We're receiving some sort of signal, it's overriding my commands. Sir, I think we're being hacked!"

"Again?" Mitchell snapped, looking back at the wormhole suspiciously. "Damn. I thought all those Replicator bastards were dead." He glanced at Daniel, "Repli-Carter's dead… right? You said it yourself."

Daniel grimaced. "Technically I was dead myself at the time… a knife-hand through the chest will do that to you," he muttered, shifting on his feet. "We have no idea that's what this is… or who. Like I was saying, this could be the real Sam."

"We can't take that chance, not after the last time. Shut it down Walter!" Landry barked in alarm as they all watched as the Sergeant's hand went instantly to the palm reader for the kill switch.

"No wait!" Daniel shouted at the exact moment the power cut out and Walter's palm hit a blank reader. The overhead lights cut out abruptly and the red gloom of the emergency lighting flickered on. It was too late. All eyes turned to watch the iris as it opened fully over an active wormhole, leaving them exposed.

"Well that can't be good," Mitchell growled, going for his sidearm. "Permission to get the Replicator disruptor Sir and hope like hell!" he snapped at Landry, already moving towards the door.

"Granted!" Landry shouted after him. "Colonel, I don't want even one of those things getting out of the Gate room!"

"Sir, we've lost all power!..." Walter shouted out, the touch of panic in his voice, "…to everything but the Gate that is!"

"I can see that Sergeant!" Landry snapped staring at the blue light emanating from the ring and the chevrons that were glowing violently as a faint tremble seemed to be coming from the Gate lit only by emergency lighting. "Get it back up!" he ordered.

"Up? It shouldn't still be running. There's nothing powering it on our end!" Walter looked alarmed and Daniel glanced curiously back at the wormhole, that never bode well.

Landry grabbed the microphone, "I want SG teams one to five in the Gate room, now! Lock it down people. Weapons hot," he barked into it and Daniel flinched, there was already the standard security team, but clearly he was gearing up for a fight. Daniel turned to head down there when Landry stopped him with a sharp finger, tapping the microphone and realising with exasperation that it too was dead. But the men and women of the SGC were too well trained to need orders to defend the Gate room in a situation like this. Daniel could see them already filtering in, mobilising the mobile turrets as a small army descended into the Gate room, weapons on the shimmering event horizon.

Mitchell arrived with the Ancient weapon; his gene making it possible for him to use it. Daniel could see from here the excitable Colonel had clearly been itching to crack it open and give the Replicators his best; given as they were supposed to be extinct, at least in this Galaxy, that was a faintly terrifying prospect.

Daniel made one more attempt at reaching Landry through the haze that had clearly descended amongst the military 'to hold the line'.

"General…Hank, please," he implored, "What if it is them, that message was…?"

"Exactly the type of trick Ba'al would use, although given our iris problem, this stinks of Replicators."

Daniel sighed, knowing he'd have to pick his battle with Landry on this, but at least with the iris open there was a chance he realised, staring intently between Landry and the Gate, not quite daring to hope. He could feel the knot of tension and desperation blooming heavy as he spotted Teal'c stalk into the Gate room from the other side to stand next to Mitchell, his staff weapon trained on the Stargate.

It had been like this every time there'd been an unscheduled off-world activation. They'd never been declared KIA. How could they with all that had happened? No one could say for sure what the hell had happened to them. There'd been rumours of course; everything pointed to them being alive and hostages, possibly of Ba'al's. Jacob had flat out refused to sign anything with Sam's date of death on it, arguing it was much too soon to give up on POWs after only six months. Daniel tended to agree, especially with the strange sense of certainty he had when he'd de-ascended the last time – that Jack and Sam weren't dead and would be home soon. He was sure it was Oma's parting gift as she fought her eternal struggle with Anubis. The gift of recollection, at least in part. Surely this time was different – now there was an IDC and a message. Surely that meant something?

Landry was giving him that pitying look he was starting to get used to from people. "Dr Jackson, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to welcome them back and declare this all a big misunderstanding. But you know I can't take that chance. Especially not when some unknown force has apparently commandeered the SGC and overridden our control of the damn Stargate… again!" he snapped, echoing Mitchell's words. After all, without his last 'miracle near-ascended intervention inside a replicator's head' the Replicators and the Replicator version of Sam in particular would have overrun this base, the planet and the whole damn Galaxy. Because of course any version of Sam would aim that damn high.

But this time, no Replicators had come marching through. Nothing at all had in fact. "Have you even considered that Repli-Carter learnt how to do this from our Sam? The real Sam. You and I both know that if she wanted a way back onto this base from off-world, there's probably not a damn thing you or I or anyone could do to stop her," Daniel quipped and Landry merely scowled, crossing his arms and staring out at the event horizon.

It seemed however that they wouldn't get any more warning than that; the event horizon rippled and pulsed. Daniel imagined that the sensors, were they working, would be going crazy. As it was, everyone was on their feet, staring at the event horizon that seemed to be circling in a way Daniel recalled with faint horror from a briefing report of Sam's from years ago. The event horizon almost seem to being drawn to a point somewhere behind it. Almost exactly like it had when they'd gated to the planet with the blackhole. He'd thankfully missed that whole incident by being off world – and had consequently been stranded for two whole weeks on a dustbowl with a bunch of marines and a geological team not getting on at all. Still, the notion of a blackhole on the other end of the Gate still filled him with dread.

Then there was an explosion of dirt and debris which blew out of the event horizon, showering the ramp, spraying a thin layer of black iridescent dust everywhere. Before several boulder sized rocks of what looked like twisted metal came through next almost embedding in the concrete wall. Then energy blasts came shooting out from the other side and the soldiers in the Gate were scrambling to find cover. His heart in his mouth and unease growing Daniel was helpless to watch from his position in the command room, whilst Teal'c ducked down back in the doorway and out of harm's way. The blasts scorched the concrete, blowing dust and debris everywhere but missing anything vital. Daniel's heart sank. Just another trick then?

Two armour clad figures in metallic suits emerged at speed from the event horizon landing with heavy booted footfalls on the ramp. There was stunned silence as the two bodies encased from head to toe in metal armour that made Daniel think of Anubis' Super Soldiers. The two invaders stood and straightened up, looking around, they had weapons strapped all over their suits, but crucially nothing in their hands as they both raised their hands placatingly. Daniel's heart was in his mouth and his eyes like saucers as he got closer to the glass to see.

"Don't shoot. Friendlies… we're friendlies! I'm General Jack O'Neill and that's Colonel Carter!" The metallic modulated voice came through loud enough to carry from the figure in the front in the matt grey suit, his identity completely obscured. In the eerie red emergency light it was a frightening sight, with the headlamps on their helmets cutting through the gloom and alighting on the assembled soldiers with weapons pointed at them. But Daniel was sure it was Jack – it sounded like him. Hell, even the mannerisms in the gesticulating hands were achingly familiar.

"Well at least this one can talk in whole sentences!" Landry groused, inching closer to the glass to get a better look at them both.

"Lower your weapons. On the ground now!" Mitchell barked. To Daniel's relief they seemed to be complying, unstrapping what Daniel considered a truly unnecessary number of guns as they hit the grating with metallic thumps in the silence. But they were interrupted when two smaller figures, clad in less cumbersome-looking black armoured suits, materialised behind them brandishing smaller hand held guns, right before the Gate abruptly shut down, cutting off the main source of light and leaving them with just the red gloom, slashed through only by the headlamps of the assembled metal clad soldiers. Daniel's eyes went wide as silence descended in the room following the two further unexpected arrivals, until Mitchell's voice rose, loud and commanding.

"You two at the back. Weapons down! Right now! On the ground all of you!" He was waving the Ancient anti-Replicator weapon device around Daniel noted, wondering if that would do a fat lot of good if they weren't in fact Replicator's this time. Mitchell seemed to come to the same conclusion; handing it off to an SF and snapping a P90 into place instead.

The two larger metal clad figures who'd emerged first, introducing themselves as Sam and Jack, were already lowering weapons and getting down on their knees with hands up. The movements of the one he took to be Sam was accentuated by the metal suit which drew his eye, as it was giving off the oddest blue glow. But both of their behaviours he was relieved to see, were what you'd expect from someone familiar with the SGC's protocols for unscheduled arrivals and who didn't want to get shot.

The same couldn't be said for the two late arrivals. The smaller black suited figures were hissing in what it took Daniel a moment to realise was Asgard, or a dialect of it. They were still brandishing their weapons and clearly not getting the message – or ignoring it.

"That's Asgard!" Daniel exclaimed.

Landry looked at him and pointed at the microphone. "Then tell them to lower their weapons!"

Daniel frowned, "Why? The Asgard all speak English." He glanced at the microphone, "And tell them on what?" he questioned – given as the power was out to that too. Landry opened his mouth to respond when there was a sudden battery of energy blasts against the ballistic shielded glass of the command room from their newest suited arrivals, forcing everyone inside to drop for cover, until they realised it hadn't penetrated the reinforced viewing window.

Landry shared a look with him, "Well that can't be good," Daniel muttered standing back up somewhat more hesitantly, he couldn't remember the Asgard ever shooting first. If they were even Asgard – after all Goa'uld spoke English too.

The unfriendly not-Asgard turned their guns on the two metal clad figures knelt at the bottom of the ramp that he was hoping were the 'real' Sam and Jack. A twinge of unease went through Daniel as the black clad figures held their guns on them, looking like they really had no intention of listening to Mitchell and his teams barked instructions to lower their weapons before they got shot. The blue suited figure Daniel had taken to be Sam clearly had the same realisation as he did about their 'friends' and rose swiftly from her knees. There was no warning, just a sudden burst of movement in which had her diving towards the two figures and delivering a metal fisted blow directly to ones chest that sent it sailing back. But not before it got a shot off, hitting the armoured figure beside her that had declared himself Jack, as he'd stood up to join the fight. The blast knocked him back and Daniel startled in surprise – and relief, as it rippled out over a personal energy shield in the suit, dissipating quickly and leaving him unharmed but clearly pissed as hell.

"Shoot them!" the unarmed figure roared, the tone if not the modulated voice so damn familiar that Daniel watched Teal'c snap into action and raise his weapon as if on instinct to obey the command. The alien was raising its weapon pointing it directly at the figure claiming to be Jack, and T'ealc reacted, blowing a hole straight through its suited chest – only it didn't have a shield and fell back, smoke hissing from a gaping chest wound.

Daniel's eyes snapped to the blue suited figure which was still in motion, grappling for the weapon with the remaining assailant until it was free, ignoring Mitchell's bellowing too as she swiftly bought her foot up and delivered a blow that shot the unfortunate recipient across the room to snap violently against the concrete wall, leaving a dent. The body crumpled to the floor and didn't get up as Mitchell and his teams moved in, holding a gun over the bodies. The rest trained their weapons on Sam and Jack indicating she drop the gun she'd just acquired, as Mitchell reached down to unclasp the black helmet.

The Gate room seemed to still as it came away to reveal a bulbous green head rather than the familiar grey of the Asgard. Now that was unexpected! Daniel looked from it to the armoured figures in confusion. Oh God! He hoped this wasn't a parallel Earth thing, complete with a set of missing Jack and Sam – just not 'their' Jack and Sam. He wasn't sure he could take that disappointment.

"It's dead." Mitchell called out as he rose, gun trained on the two suited figures who had fallen still in the wake of the attack. "Whatever it is," he added, keeping his weapon cocked on the two figures standing on the ramp and indicated for them to get back on their knees. Daniel could see he was already thinking along a similar line

"You two," he pointed at them, "Helmets off. Now," he ordered, noting the serious number of weapons still strapped to them which Daniel realised they hadn't used to return fire on the Asgard, he was hoping that was a good sign. Mitchell must have clocked that too to be giving them some leeway now. "And finish unloading the weapons… all of them. Slowly."

"Yeah sure ya betcha," the bluish metal suited figure muttered, utterly unrecognisable beyond the mechanical voice modulator; it was a Jack-ism at least, strangely he was sure this was Sam it was coming from. But they were complying at least, as they continued to unload the weapons which would let everyone breathe a little easier after the recent excitement.

"Sorry about them. Nasty little buggers," the larger grey suited figure declared as he kicked a bag down the ramp towards them, which Mitchell glanced in and whistled loud about.

"Damn! That's some heavy duty firepower. You planning an invasion?" he questioned; far too casually for it actually to be idle, which made Daniel wonder just what the hell was in that bag and why they'd kick it away.

"Oh you know… always be prepared," the suited figure quipped and Daniel had heard enough. He ignored Landry's order to stay put and was flying down the stairs, through the corridor to come to a skidding halt in the Gate room, pushing past the armed soldiers without a care. Arriving just in time to see the helmet come off; dark irascible eyes stared straight at him with the lips forming a wry and oh so familiar smirk, even if the face it was set in seemed impossible. Brining Daniel to a complete stop his heart crashing against his chest and his breathing caught. He'd imagined this moment… and yet, he still couldn't quite believe it.

"My God… Jack. It's really you?" He stared back wide eyed at a sight he'd not expected to see again but had never really stopped hoping to. Daniel tried to move forward towards him on autopilot when Mitchell's hand slammed into his chest, holding him back; his eyes narrowed, shaking his head violently back at him.

"Daniel, I know what it looks like but look closer huh. Be smart," Mitchell warned him with a sharp rasp in his ear and Daniel took in the face of one Jack O'Neill, give or take the impossible feat of twenty years. His heart sank and something bitter settled in his gut. Not again.

"Hey Space Monkey. You miss us?"

0000000000000000

AUTHOR's NOTE:

That's all of Part 2 folks. Hopefully this has whet your appetite's for Part 3 and given you some indication of where that will be going. I really hope you join me for that ride too and hopefully we can have as much fun as this last one!

And Yes. He really did say 6months. Not 2 years. So I'll leave you to make of that what you will for now. Love you all and see you soon!