Chapter Four:

Going Home

"I take it you're only taking Finn with you, right ?" Charlie asked Jack while they were preparing the C-4.

"She's not existing in our universe. Yeah, she'll join us." Jack answered, not even looking at him.

"So... you know, she's my friend. And I want you to give her this... I mean... just in case that I don't see her again..." he said and wanted to give Jack his dogtags. Charlie's voice sounded sad and Jack could already feel what this girl meant to him. He still did not understand it but somehow he thought that it would be enough if Charlie and Finnley understood their strange friendship.

"No, Charlie. You will see her again. I promise. Cos you're comin' with us, too." Jack smiled and he enjoyed the way Charlie's face lit up.

"I am ? I mean... Am I ?"

"Yeah. Ya know, you died some years ago in our reality. And the other Jack told me about you and Finnley and whatever is goin' on between you two. Although I don't know what General Hammond thinks about it, I decided that you get a second chance. Besides, Finnley will lose everything. Her whole world cos there'll be no way back here. And from what I saw... You probably might be the only person who's able to ease her pain." Jack explained.

"Colonel... I don't know... You just cannot decide... I mean... what about the general ? Don't you think we need to tell him that Kawalsky... ?!" Sam looked at Jack kind of shocked. Of course she knew that he only wanted the best for Finnley. But she still did not feel very comfortable with this.

"Carter, whatcha think I should do ? Go home and ask him ? Sorry, that's not gonna work. And why shouldn't he come with us ? Kawalsky doesn't exist in our world. And dammit, now think about Finnley ! She'll be all alone... Listen, I talked to... Jack. And from what I know, Charlie's her closest friend on earth. He even said something about soul mates . C'mon, when I talk about such things and use words like soul mates in a serious way, I mean it. She needs Charlie, Carter !"

"Hammond will be pissed off..." Sam murmured.

"Yeah, he will. But I'm gettin' used to it..." Jack returned grinning.

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She was sitting next to Daniel's bed and held his hand. He looked like he was already dead, only his weak breath told her that he wasn't. Finnley knew that there was nothing she could do for him but being there. His wounds just did not stop bleeding.

"Daniel ? Daniel, you hear me ?" she whispered into his ear.

"Still here, Finnley, still here." he returned coughing and she could hardly understand him.

"Listen, Daniel, I think I need to change your bandage. You mustn't move, OK ?" she tried to sound calm although her thoughts were with Jack, Sam and Charlie who were out there to save the world. And all of them could be dead. Daniel nodded weakly.

"You're very brave, little Finnley." Daniel gasped. The staff weapon's shot hurt him pretty bad internally so he coughed blood every time he tried to say something.

"Hey, don't speak. You're still too weak." Finnley answered while taking off the bloody bandage from Daniel's breast. For a short moment she stared at the gaping wound then she began to dress it again. It looked horrible. A mixture of burned flesh and blood had sentenced Daniel to death.

In that moment, she realized that he would die, no matter what she did. There was no hope left for him, she could see it in his half opened eyes that reflected sorrow and pain. Lost in the look of her dying friend, she suddenly felt his hand grabbing hers.

"It's OK, Finnley. I'm alright." he whispered.

"I'm sorry." she cried desperately because there was nothing more that she could do for him.

"I'm dying. I feel it." Finnley nodded. It hurt her deeply that she could not tell him the opposite.

"Yes, you are..."

"But... I'm... not afraid. You know... I believe that death brings all universes together. And we're all one in death. And I'll be with Sha're again. So... you see... you don't have to worry about... me. Cos there's somebody waitin' for me... on the other side..." he said smiling.

Suddenly, there was no more pain. He looked at Finnley one last time, smiled and stopped breathing. She knew he was dead. Now there was this lifeless body lying there and for the first time, Finnley did not know what to do. She, Finnley, the genius who spoke ancient languages fluently, who was familiar with quantum physics, who went through the Stargate so many times, who knew how to fight and how to use an M 16. She, who helped saving the world and who always had a solution for any kind of problem, did not know what to do. She was in shock. Mouth open, shaking, whimpering and crying silently she got up and walked through the hall. From corner to corner, form wall to wall. But there was no place to hide. Daniel's body was still lying there and she could see it from any corner of the hall.

"Oh God !" she screamed, hoping that Charlie would return soon to take her away from here. For a second, she lost balance and fell onto the ground. But she did not care. She stayed like this, lying on the floor, still crying, down with her nerves, driven crazy.

"Charlie..."

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"Ready, Teal'c ?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, Daniel Jackson." the jaffa answered shortly.

"Alright, just give me two more seconds and I'm done with this, too."

When Daniel was finished, he got up and looked at Teal'c as he suddenly realized that they were not alone anymore. And Teal'c also knew that something was wrong.

"Teal'c ! Behind you !" Daniel shouted but Teal'c had already felt the jaffas' presence, and before one of them was able to attack the two SG-1 members, Teal'c had killed them with a couple of very precise shots from his staff weapon.

"Thanks, Teal'c. Without you, I'd be dead now... probably..."

"Not at all, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c replied.

"OK... I think we're done here... Let's get back to the mirror." Daniel said.

"We have to be careful, Daniel Jackson. Apophis knows that we are here. Those jaffa were sent to attack us. Now we are no longer invisible. We have to hurry up." Teal'c informed his friend.

"Well... one more reason to go home, right ?"

"Indeed, Daniel Jackson."

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"How far are we, Carter ?" Jack asked Sam who was preparing another C-4 package.

"Well, this is the last one, Colonel. If our plan works out, Daniel and Teal'c should be on their way home and the... O'Neills..."

"...should be having Apophis' balls right now, huh ?" Charlie finished the sentence. Jack grinned nodding.

"Yeah, right. So.. we're ready to leave ?" he wanted to know.

"Yes, Sir." Sam replied while starting the countdown.

"Alright, so we have another 15 minutes."

"Jack ? Jack, it's Daniel ! D'you hear me ?" he heard Daniel's voice crackling on the radio.

"Yep, Danny, what's up ?" Jack answered.

"We're done. We just found our reality again and we leave now." Daniel said.

"OK, Daniel. Understood. Listen, we just started the countdown. Carter will be there in a few minutes. Kawalsky and me, we'll get Finnley from the security level. 15 minutes, Daniel. If we don't make it in 15 minutes, you'll shut down the mirror, is that clear ?" Jack ordered.

"Yes, understood. Over." Daniel answered.

"Alright, guys, let's go !" Jack shouted but Sam looked at him shocked.

"Carter ? What's wrong with you ? C'mon, we don't have that much time left ! You heard what I just told Daniel. Go now and leave this godforsaken world !" he yelled at her but she just shook her head.

"No, Sir, I can't. I mean... I won't. You can't expect me to leave without... without..." Jack walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Sam, go ! This is an order !" he spoke to her quietly. He looked into her eyes and a stream of pictures was running through his head. And he remembered what the other Jack had told him. He could almost hear him say "Do something, Jack. Kiss her, embrace her, whatever. But do something !" And as these words echoed in his mind over and over again, he took her head in his hands and kissed her passionately.

Sam was surprised but she returned the kiss. Finnley had been right, she could not always run away from what she felt. And in a moment like this, when you think that you might lose the one that you truly love, you don't care about any regulations. As their kiss ended, Jack smiled at her.

"Don't worry, we'll make it ! And... I guess that girl was right..." he said.

"Jack's started the countdown. 13 minutes to go." O'Neill said and looked at his wife who was sitting next to him.

They were hiding in front of the embarkation room. Dead jaffa were lying all around them. Of course they had killed them. And now, Samantha and O'Neill were waiting for the right moment to surprise Apophis. Their bags were filled with C-4 and it would explode on their backs when the countdown was over.

"I think it's about time, love." Samantha whispered.

"Ya think ?" she nodded.

"OK... let's go !"

O'Neill opened the blast doors with his access card and the first thing he saw was a dozen of jaffa turning around and looking at them kind of confused. The next thing he saw was a dozen of staff weapons pointed at them and Apophis' angry face.

"You are O'Neill." Apophis remarked.

"Yeah. Cool, you still remember me after all those years. Think I made a big impression, didn't I ?" O'Neill answered with sarcasm dripping off his voice.

"I did not think that you were so stupid to come back. Now you will die !" Apophis said laughing.

"Hmmm... I actually thought we could have dinner... You, my wife and myself. How about that ? I mean... A couple of candles, colour on the walls, some nice romantic music... That would be nice, wouldn't it ?" O'Neill provoked him. Of course he only tried to gain some time. Apophis must not know that they were carrying a whole bag of C-4 with them.

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"Ya know, Charlie... I don't get this..." Jack started talking while they were sneaking through the SGC.

"What ?"

"You and..."

"Me and Finn ?" Charlie asked, slightly smiling. Jack nodded.

"We're friends. Good friends. And sometimes I believe that Finn is the only person on Earth who really understands me. And she cares about me, like no one else does. When she came here... I finally got someone to carte about, too." he tried to explain, pretty sure that Jack still did not get it. Knowing this, Charlie had to grin.

"I give up. Yeah, just laugh about me, just because I'm an idiot when it comes to feelings and emotions and friendships." Jack grumbled.

"Hey, c'mon mate, you just kissed Sam. Isn't that the beginning of..."

"Shut it, Charlie !"

Jack had missed talking to Charlie. The way they had made fun of each other, their conversations, everything. And right now, it was like he had never been away. Jack knew that this was not the Charlie he had once known. But he still enjoyed his company.

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Tears. Sorrow. Loneliness. Madness.

"C'mon, Charlie ! Where are you ? Where are you ? Where are you ? Please, please get me outta here ! A dead body, a dead body is in this room and I can't hide from it. I see it everywhere. Just... just take me somewhere else !" Finnley spoke to Charlie although she knew that she was all alone in the hall with Daniel's body.

The dim lights depressed her even more. Like a bird in a cage she searched for a way out but she had to wait for Charlie. She could not make it on her own, not again. Her shoulder hurt like hell, it felt like hundreds of stabs torturing her over and over again. It was freezing cold so Finnley could even see her own breath in the air. She slowly got up from the floor and took one of the blankets which were lying around. Still shivering with cold and fear, she sat down in a corner and kept on waiting.

"Charlie. Charlie..." she whispered. Once, twice... And suddenly, the doors opened.

Finnley took her gun and pointed it at the two figures that were walking over to her. She was not able to say who it way because her eyes were still filled with tears. And when they came closer and closer, she gave up. The gun was to heavy to hold in her trembling hand so it fell down and she just closed her eyes and accepted her fate.

"Finn ? Finn, you OK ?" a familiar voice brought her back to life again. She opened her eyes and saw Charlie's face in front of her, Jack standing behind him.

"C'mon, get up, we're goin' home !" he said with a calm voice that was like a cure for her. He took her hand so she could stand up. Still a bit shaky on her legs, she embraced him desperately.

"Hey, what's wrong with you ? What happened ?" Charlie asked, stroking across her dark hair.

"Daniel... Daniel is dead. And... I..." she stuttered.

"It's OK, Finn, it's not your fault. You did everything you could."

"How do you know ? You weren't here !"

"I know you." he returned shortly and smiled at her.

"Um... guys... I'm sorry to disturb you but... 7 minutes !" Jack interrupted them.

"He's right, we gotta go ! I bet your sister's already behind the mirror..." Charlie said and glanced at Jack.

Holding Finnley's hand, Charlie followed Jack through the corridors to the elevator.

Running against time. Tiredness. Exhausting. A horrible vision...