Title: Remember Me
Written By: iluvaqt
Disclaimer: as per default chapter.
Author's Note: Debbie and Gillian, thank you for reading. Sorry this next chapter is late. I was having trouble uploading.

Chapter 3

Briefing Room, S.G.C.

"Would someone please tell me something here? We've been prepping for this mission for over a month. If Jack…sorry, if the General has changed his mind, I think I'll just…"

"General O'Neill, is missing," Gilmor cut in bluntly.

She didn't know how the General tolerated Dr. Jackson's insubordination. Then again, the fact that he wasn't military spoke volumes. You'd assume that, working together for so many years, the General had earned some measure of respect in the eyes of his peers. When it came to Dr. Jackson that evidently wasn't the case.

"He hasn't been seen for a three hours and we haven't been able to contact him. We've sent officers to his home and he wasn't at the centre."

"What centre?" Daniel and Carter asked in unison.

"He volunteers at a youth centre some weekends. I believe Teal'c has accompanied him on occasion," Gilmor stated.

Teal'c nodded, but said nothing. Daniel noticed the troubled look on his face and questioned him.

"Jack asked you to speak with you, after the briefing. What was that about? Did he mention anything? Was he going somewhere?"

"General O'Neill did not discuss any plans with me. We spoke, that is all."

"Teal'c if you know something… is Ja…is the General in any danger?" Carter prompted.

"I do not believe so, Colonel Carter. However, I do have a good feeling about this. If General O'Neill has gone missing, I believe we must remain here, until we find out what has happened to him."

"I have spoken to my superiors and they agree," Gilmor said. "Until, General O'Neill returns, no more teams will proceed with their off-world missions. All SG teams already deployed have been recalled, and they will be returning shortly. In the meantime, we would like SG-1 to look into his disappearance. Colonel Davis will be flying in as the General's stand in."

At Carter's pensive look, Gilmor quickly assured them, "It's only a temporary situation."


Jack's apartment

Wondering around Jack's apartment, Carter is surprised to find that Jack lived in a very orderly and almost pristine space.

"Oma, comes to clean every Thursday," Teal'c said.

"Oh," Carter replied, looking a little sheepish. She hadn't said anything out loud, but Teal'c was remarkably intuitive, perhaps her body language had given her away.

"Oma?" Daniel asked curiously. "As in…" It couldn't be the Ancient one, Oma Desala. She posed as a cleaning lady? What did she hope to learn from Jack? Or on the other hand, had she come for Jack? He frowned and brooded over that thought. Jack wasn't dying was he?

Teal'c regarded him for a moment and then answered, "Oma is an elderly lady from two floors below. Jack calls her, Oma. I believe it means, grandmother."

A little relieved, Daniel let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. In the beginning, Daniel had found their differences of opinion constantly irritating and disheartening. But over the years, they'd grown to respect each other and in Jack, Daniel found the older brother and mentor, he'd never thought he'd have.

"Ah yes, in Dutch and German, and some parts of Asia. Indonesia was once colonized by the Dutch, until the Japanese took over and drove most of them out. Or killed them… Many of them adopted Dutch words, like Oma for instance…" Seeing that he'd lost his audience, Daniel pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose, and inclined his head thoughtfully. "So. What is she like?"

As Daniel went off on one of his tangents, Teal'c walked toward the picture frames that lined the sill on top of the fireplace. He picked up one of Jack and himself. It was of their first paint-ball trip. He grinned in remembrance. The men from the other teams had gotten many bruises that day. Hearing Daniel ask him a question again, he set the picture back down and thought about an answer. Perhaps Oma might know something about Jack. He looked to where Daniel stood.

"I would estimate that Oma is a woman in her early-seventies. A kindly, white-haired woman with a most generous nature. Her only weakness would be her pride."

"How so?" Daniel asked.

"O'Neill has offered financial assistance many times and she always refuses. She has no family and she lives alone. It must be difficult to get by in such circumstances."

Carter had wondered to the kitchen, but she could hear Daniel and Teal'c in the living room. "So the General pays her to clean the apartment," Carter said to herself, with an understanding smile. Finding the passage led to the bedroom, she stood in the doorway.

Even though the door was open, she still felt like she was invading his privacy. The whole time they'd known each other, she'd only ever been to Jack's apartment twice. And she'd never seen his bedroom.

Save a picture of his son on the bedside table, there were no other accessories in the room. It seemed to lack warmth. It felt cold. Detached. She imagined Jack in his bed, and in her mind's eye, she could see herself there next to him. It wasn't so cold anymore. There were various sized candles, of many deep colours on each bedside table. The light from the flickering flames, danced on the walls. She could feel an intense emotion building deep inside her, as she pictured his eyes on her, watching her, looking at her with…

"Sam?"

Her heart skipped a beat and she froze. She knew her cheeks were flushed. She could feel the heat of her skin. She felt flushed all over. What the hell was she thinking? "Ah, Daniel. Did you find anything?"

Daniel didn't say anything about how she looked, but she could tell he what he was guessing.

"Teal'c's gone to visit Oma. I thought I'd check out his drawers, maybe there's a note or a journal…" He gave her a quizzing look. "Unless, you'd like…"

"No," Carter quickly interjected. "Go ahead, I'll look around the lounge and kitchen." She quickly escaped his assessing gaze and found refuge in the kitchen.

From the kitchen, she could see the adjoining living room. There was no dining room, just bar stools against the extra wide kitchen bench. There are some landscape paintings in the living area and one abstract on the passage wall, which was visible through the kitchen archway. In the living room, several colourful cushions were scattered over a plain black leather lounge, and there were a bunch of a-few-day-old roses, on the kitchen bench.

Definitely a woman's touch, Carter thought smiling to herself. Looking around, she realized that there really was a side to Jack she didn't know a lot about. A pile of books and an easel suggested he had a love for art and literature. Then again, what he did for Merrin showed her a little of that.

After Sam had left the room, Daniel had gone through Jack's bedside tables. He found nothing of interest there, but an empty notepad, a pen, a torch, and a small tin of mints. The wardrobe was neat and uneventful. No skeletons in his closet. He tried the bathroom next.

Leaning over the sink, Daniel stared at his reflection in the mirror. The men at the gate said Jack had gone home last night. So he would have stood at the mirror this morning, shaving.

The medicine cabinet had aspirin, mouthwash, soap, extra razors, and cotton balls…all the average-type-bathroom stuff. Closing the cabinet, Daniel was about to leave the bathroom, when he noticed a piece of paper sticking out of the laundry basket. Lifting the lid, he found it was an envelope. It was addressed to him. Opening it, he crouched to read its contents.

Daniel,
This probably isn't the best medium for this message, but all things considered, I didn't really have much of a choice. On second thought, it doesn't really matter how I say it, I'm still going to sound crazy.

Thor visited me tonight. He told me that I've been granted a wish. Sounding like a fairy godmother story, I know, bear with me. Tomorrow my wish will be granted. It seems I wished for another life. One different from this one, I guess. I don't know how Thor thinks he can grant it, considering, I don't really understand what I wished for and when I said it, if I said anything at all.

Anyway, if it so happens that I up and disappear, I just wanted someone to know that it wasn't an alien abduction - as frequently as that has occurred in the past, this one isn't. We'll not - oh, you know what I mean. I'm not being held for ransom or anything, so don't think you're all going to come chasing after me. Don't waste the government's time or resources, much less your own.

The S.G.C. has far more important things to worry about than some grey, grumpy geriatric, doing a Houdini. If somehow, I don't make it back, tell Teal'c to watch Oma for me. He'll know what I mean. I know you'll find this, so if I come back and you've done exactly what I said not to, I'll court-martial you! Jail you for life, or send book-eating-cretins after you, something… As for Carter. I'm glad she's found a reason to get her noise out of wormhole physics and naquhdah reactors. She really needed to get out more. And Daniel, do I have to say it? This is for your eyes only.

Take care buddy. Something tells me, everything always works out the way it's supposed to. As we know only too well, the universe just isn't that big. I'll end up in someone's backyard - here's hoping they're friendly.

Jack.

Daniel was so engrossed in what he was reading, that he didn't even notice Teal'c in the doorway. "I don't understand it. It almost sounds like a suicide letter but my instinct tells me that Jack would never do something like that," he said aloud.

"I agree," Teal'c said.

Daniel jumped and knocked his head against the edge of the basin. "Owww." Standing slowly, feeling slightly unsteady, he rubbed his forehead vigorously and scowled at Teal'c. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

Hurried footsteps sounded up the passage and Carter soon appeared in the doorway. "What happened?"

Daniel continued to rub his sore spot with one hand, and discreetly slipped the letter inside his jacket with the other. He winced when Carter inspected it gently. It was fast becoming a reddish-purple bump. "Just bumped my head. It's nothing."

Carter turned to look at Teal'c. Teal'c just shrugged.

"No clues in the books. Did you find anything?" Carter asked turning back to Daniel.

"Whatever's happened to Jack, the Asgard had a hand in it," Daniel answered.

"How do you know that?" Carter responded with a frown.

"I can't tell you how I know. Just that Jack's gone along with it and we're not to interfere. Whatever that means. Seems he wanted whatever happened to him."

"I did not mention this before, because I don't take things said in confidence lightly," Teal'c said seriously. "But this morning O'Neill did seem strange."

"Strange as in…" Daniel prompted.

"Distracted. Concerned. He was not himself. When I spoke of our conversation after the briefing, he seemed not to remember, until prompted. After lunch when parted ways, he did seem less troubled. This now concerns me, when before, it did not."

Carter's phone started ringing and she answered it. "…You're sure… Okay, we're headed back now." Putting the phone back in her pocket, she told them what she'd learned. "The monitors show he never left the base. If the Asgard are involved it would explain how he disappeared without us knowing."

Looking at Daniel and Teal'c, she frowned again. "It seems the General went into one of the storage rooms at the base. The cameras don't show him ever leaving. They've searched the room and there's no sign of him."

"I'd like to check out that room myself. Maybe they've missed something," Daniel said.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and stepped back from the doorway to allow Carter and Daneil to pass. After a moment, he followed them down the passage. His conversation with Jack, earlier, gave no indication whatsoever of any plans to leave. If the General had been planning a short break, surely he would have spoken to someone about it first. Unless, he didn't get the chance, which made things seem all the more suspicious.

When the team arrived back at the base. They found yet another unexpected turn of events.

"General Hammond," Daniel exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm afraid, this isn't the manner in which I'd hoped to see you all again. If you would all follow me to the briefing room, there's something I need to share with you."


S.G.C. Briefing Room

General Hammond unfolded a letter and read aloud, "George, if I don't make it back, I need you to give this to my assistant, Tara Gilmor. My resignation might come as a shock to you, but I'm not one to leave behind loose ends. And if you could do me a favor, I'd really appreciate it if you were the one to tell my old team for me. Thanks, George. I'll see you around, Jack."

There was a stunned silence. Everyone couldn't quite come to terms with the news General Hammond had brought with him.

"If Brigadier General O'Neill doesn't return in the next 48 hours, his resignation stands," General Hammond said.

"That really doesn't give us a lot of time?" Daniel lamented.

"We don't plan to send out a search team," Gilmor stated solemnly.

"Then we'll contact the Asgard and find out how to reach Jack," Daniel argued.

"Even if I could recreate the Asgard generator, I wouldn't know where to start with the energy module. With the instability of the liquid naquhdah, it could take months. We don't have enough time," Carter said with frustration.

"There has to be a way to reach him." Daniel ran his hands into his hair, in his hands in an effort to cool his irritation at the hopelessness of their situation. He let out an agitated breath. Abruptly, he looked at the General. "You said that he spoke with you yesterday. What did you talk about?"

General Hammond looked uncomfortable. "He asked about my experience as General of the S.G.C. We spoke for a while. I got the feeling that he was troubled, but I didn't think it would lead to this. On all accounts, he sounded just generally, like Jack. I would have tried to persuade him otherwise if I knew he was planning to resign. He's a fine officer and an extremely capable leader…"

"I would firmly agree General Hammond. However, the O'Neill I spoke with this morning isn't the O'Neill that planned this," Teal'c said resolutely.

"What are you suggesting, Teal'c?" Carter asked.

"Perhaps, his is under some form of mind control. As I mentioned before, his actions and his manner don't seem to fit the General O'Neill we know."

"Colonel Davis will be arriving at 2200 hours. If the General has not returned by this time Thursday, his resignation will be sent to the Pentagon, and the joint Chiefs will appoint a new command. I'm sorry."

Gilmor left them alone and General Hammond gave SG-1 an apologetic look. "If you need my help with anything. You know where to reach me."