Disclaimer: I don't own stargate SG-1; it is the property of MGM. This story was written purely for entertainment value and no money has or will exchange hands. All original characters and storyline are mine. Thanx
To those who know me and have read my original stories certain characters in this chapter will be familiar – you know who you are. To everyone else don't worry no background info is needed there just my characters appearing in the stargate universe.
Ok well I have to thank my Dad and my Best friend for help with the names in this chapter, you'll see why if you read on... (And Thanx goes to all those who reviewed my last chapter.)
"So, have you thought of a new name yet miss Carter?" Thor asked the young blonde human who was sat cross-legged in air force fatigues on the padded shelf he's set up for her in the main control room.
She shook her head "No, I can't think of anything that suits – nothing seems right to me."
"I can understand how it would be difficult to change your name so suddenly. I have had mine for generations and cannot image being called anything else." The alien told her as he moved around the room cleaning items of equipment and sorting them out.
"Thor? Can you get hold of a newspaper from earth? It's just that I can use the trick my father used to do when I needed to make up a name." She asked as she mentally ran out of any possible names she could take on.
"Absolutely, it does seem a very unusual way of choosing names – although I must say that the practice is none existent in my race at the moment as you are aware."
She nodded and chuckled, it was strange, as an adult she saw it more as a problem than something humorous – although she had laughed about it once. But now she actually thought it was funny and she reasoned it was because part of her innocence had been reawakened – if that was even possible.
The Asgard sent her what she guessed was a disapproving glare.
"Sorry Thor, it must be the hormones." She apologised, her face turning pink.
"Ah yes, those could take a while to get used to but I'm sure you will have plenty of time. As for the newspaper? It will take a few minutes to find one that will not be missed." The young Sam nodded and decided to wait quietly.
As she did thought's raced through her head, in a few days she would get to start living her life over – but more than that she would get to be with Jack. She just hoped that he wasn't too pissed at her for what she'd done; she didn't want him to accuse her of throwing her life away too. Although she understood why he'd said what he had, Jack seemed to see himself as unworthy and she'd never quite figured out why. Part of her considered that it was the age gap that bothered him, but if that was the case then it wasn't going to be a problem anymore.
"Here we are, although I have to apologise as it's about five of your earth years old." Thor explained as he walked over to her and handed her the frail looking paper.
"Thanks." She accepted and started to scan the pages, looking for something that stood out or caught her eyes – she knew that she couldn't take over a complete name and that she'd have to take her first and second name from two different places.
"You know, I must say that I think you are very brave to ask what you did and to in fact to go through with it and I truly hope that you and the man – or young man that you share you soul with will be able to live your lives peacefully." And she looked up at him, surprised by this – in fact she was surprised he'd let her do it at all.
"Thor, why did you let me do this? I mean it must go against all your rules and principles." She asked.
It took a moment for the alien to give her a response, but the one he did give surprised her somewhat.
"Actually, I did it in order to stick to the rules and principles of my people."
"How?" she asked, not really aware that she had spoken, it was just the first thing that entered her mind.
"Because I simply finished the job that Loki started." She sent him another bemused look, but before she could ask another question he elaborated. "When a human is cloned it is not the simple copy of body that takes place with my people – it is a cloning of mind and spirit. You see a human's soul must also be copied; otherwise all you would have is a lifeless shell. But the problem does not end there, a person also needs their soul mate."
"What?" came the whisper. "What makes you say that?"
"We are a far more advanced race than you and in that comes spiritual advancement. Yours and O'Neill's soul match, there fore you are soul mates and one cannot be cloned without the other." The young girls face lost all colour, Thor noticed and she sat back against the wall with her eyes closed.
It wasn't as if she'd dismissed the idea, but to be actually told that they were soul mates had come of something of a shock and she knew then that this was the only thing that she could have done. Because if she hadn't part of her would always miss him and he would forever be searching for something that didn't exist – even if he didn't consciously know it and she didn't ever want him to feel that pain.
A day later, the younger Sam had finally found a new name and Thor had received a communication from an Asgard device he'd given to Major Carter. It seemed that arrangements had been made for the teenager to enrol in the local high school and somewhere to live had also been sorted out.
"It appears that your older self has connections with 'social services' on your planet." Thor told the young blonde who was changing to something that passed as normal clothes behind a screen. They had been sent up by her older self.
"Yeah I do – I mean she does, I had a back story all worked out before all of this actually happened." She explained, winning the battle with the pair of jeans she'd been given to wear. "I was worried that I'd be causing social services a problem so it's probably been arranged for me to be checked on but given no extra money – hence the bank account, but I'll probably end up with a part time job as well."
Thor nodded or bowed, she couldn't quite tell before he started to set up something in the centre of the lab.
"This platform will send you to the apartment that has been arranged for you, Major Carter has been good enough to put a locator inside the building along with everything else you will need for a few days and information on anything else that you had 'planned' so to speak." He told her as he put the last few coordinate confirmation codes into the control panel at the side of the room.
"Alright, well I guess this is It." she seemed to be getting more nervous by the minute and her stomach actually somersaulted when she stood on the now glowing platform.
"Yes well, it seems more to me like the beginning of something rather than the end of it." Thor told her, obviously missing the point of what she was trying to say, but she decided not to correct the Asgard.
Instead she offered her thanks, "Thank you Thor for everything that you've done for me and for not asking too many questions." It sounded slightly lame, but it was the truth and she could offer nothing more. Her mind was filled with the possibilities of what lay on the new path she had chosen and now it was time to take the first step.
Stepping out of the car, Liam surveyed the high school – he hadn't exactly enjoyed it the first time and now he was faced with having to do it all again, not a particularly good prospect.
And sure things would be different – he had a different name for one, it had taken him all of two hours to think of Liam Maxwell thanks to an anime show and the cover of a book Daniel and in his office. Then there was the fact that he'd done all of this before, not that he could remember that much of it, but he could write reports well and there was all the science work that Carter....
That was one place he wasn't going to let his mind wander to, she was even more out of his reach than ever before and if his mind started to properly contemplate a life without her... he knew that he couldn't handle it. No matter what his older self had said he knew that the only woman he ever wanted to be with was the same one he'd been in love with for over three years and she wasn't a part of his new life. He hated it.
The school bell rang just as he walked towards the front of the school and pretty soon his was surrounded by people 'his own age'. He rolled his eyes and wondered if he could just turn round and escape before anyone noticed he had even been there.
But it was then that he noticed a girl stood at the side of the busy corridor next to her locker, her blue eyes staring directly at him. Liam was caught off guard by her intense gaze and he stumbled over the feet of the person next to him before ending up against the locker next to the blonde teenager.
She couldn't break the eye contact even if she'd wanted to, she couldn't believe that he was actually here or that his eyes could look at her so freely. She'd began to wonder if he was even going to go to Colorado springs high school or whether the military would decide to send him somewhere else and she'd be stuck here all alone. But there he was. Looking completely bemused as to why she should be looking at him at all.
"Ah, um... could you tell me where the main office is?" Liam managed to stutter, still not moving from her gaze, it seemed so familiar and yet he couldn't place it and just standing there in silence was beginning to make him feel awkward even if she didn't mind it.
She nodded, realising that she had to actually have a reason for being there – at least for now until she figured out a way to tell him who she was.
"It's just down the corridor and on your right, I'll take you if you want." She offered remembering how easily he'd gotten himself lost in new places on missions.
"Thanks, I'm not so good with new places." He told her, proving her point and making her smile. That again looked familiar to Liam, yet his mind couldn't or wouldn't admit to who she reminded him of.
"That's ok, I got a bit lost when I started here, my names Amy Reid by the way." She said as they headed down the corridor.
"Liam Maxwell." She nodded and led him around a corner to a corridor much quieter and emptier than the last one.
"Well Liam, this is it. Just ask for Mrs Striffe, she'll give you your locker code, homeroom number and timetable – oh and probably a map to help you around. I have to get to homeroom now so I'll probably see you later." Amy told him, knowing that he was going to be in at least three of her classes because of something she'd over heard when she picked up her own timetable.
He watched her walk away for a few seconds before he realised he need to ask her something.
"Amy, wait up a minute." He called after her and she turned around, looking at him strangely. "How did you know I was new here?" he had actually wanted to ask her why she'd been staring at him but he was scared he was just imagining it.
She considered telling him the truth for a minute or even walking up to him, throwing her arms around him and whispering something only she would know in his ear... but something held her back, probably fear of how he would react. So instead she stuck with something close enough to the actual truth.
"I only started here a couple of days ago and I know the look that you had on your face when you walked in, complete and utter confusion when faced with the prospect of finding your way around." She smiled nervously and ran her hands through her hair, watching the way his eyebrows rose as she did, maybe he was starting to figure it out.
"Well then thanks and um I'd better go now so um... yeah, bye." He said, again wondering how the hell she made him feel so damn nervous – it was almost like she knew him.
"Ah English! My favourite subject." He muttered under his breath with distinct distaste for the lesson. He chose a seat in the middle of the class, the back row already being full.
"It's not too bad once you get into it, the teachers got some sort of fixation with Shakespeare's more violent and bloody plays." A male voice next to him informed.
"What?" Liam asked, turning to see the guy sat on the nearest desk.
"Oh, was no one meant to hear that? Sorry. I'm Todd by the way and you're the new guy right?" the boy asked.
Liam nodded, figuring that he needed to make at least one friend in the wonderful world that was high school.
"Yeah, the names Liam and I gotta say I'm getting kinda sick of this whole 'new guy' thing – how long does it normally last anyway?" he asked. He was beginning to feel like he was walking around the corridors with a neon sign attached to his forehead.
The other boy laughed. "It depends, normally a couple of weeks then everyone gets used to it but you might get lucky like Amy did and another new kid will start at the school to take your place."
Liam nodded, "You know Amy?" he asked, he was beginning to get unnerved by her – like she was following around or something.
"Yeah, she's friends with my girlfriend, it seems she finally found someone else with an active interest in science." Todd explained and then pointed to the door of the classroom."That's them now."
The curly haired brunette next to Amy seemed to be the girl Todd had been talking about, she was the same height as the girl and seemed to be quite a lively teenager.
"Hey Naomi over here." Todd called and the two girls walked over to where they were sat. Liam caught Amy staring at him again, only this time what annoyed him the most was that he stared right back. He didn't need any romantic complications – he didn't need anyone.
"Naomi, can you come up here and solve the problem?" Mrs Arrowney asked and pointed to the curly haired brunette who sat next to Amy on the row second to the front in the math classroom.
It was not Liam's favourite lesson by any stretch of the imagination but so far he'd managed to grasp most of it and even been able to answer some of the questions. His was begging to wonder if Thor had put something in his genes to make him clever – or maybe he was finally proving what Carter had said to him all along – that he actually was quite smart.
Luckily for him math was also the last lesson of the day and that meant he could head 'home' and get on with the homework he'd been given – for no other reason than it would kill time and divert his thoughts.
And boy did they need diverting.
Amy, the girl he had met earlier had been in most of his classes that day and she seemed to have taken an interest in him, something that he couldn't quite decide if he thought it was annoying or good. He felt like a hypocrite, he didn't think he'd be interested in another woman, well girl so quickly and he didn't like the way it made him feel. It was as if he was demeaning everything that Sam meant to him.
She watched him out of the corner of her eye and smiled every time he figured out the answer to something, no one else could understand what was actually going on so they didn't pay any attention to her side ways glances. Even the teacher didn't seem to notice that she'd spent most of the lesson looking over at him, well they wouldn't when she'd answered every question put to her correctly and already finished the exercise that she'd been set.
It was becoming clear that she would have to tell him before the day was over and before the situation go too out of hand for the truth to be told easily. He needed to know what was going on, why she was there and why she had such an interest in him. The last thing she needed was to be accused of stalking him.
"Alright class, if you could just finish the exercise for next time and back away quietly, the bell's about to go." The teacher's voice cut through Amy's thoughts and she took a few seconds to register the movement going on around her.
She knew that she couldn't let Liam leave without talking to him so she quickly put all her books and things in her bag and stood, waiting for the class to clear so that she could corner him.
"You want a lift home?" Naomi asked at Amy's side, she turned to the brunette and shook her head. Naomi was the only person in her homeroom she'd really talked to, due to a mutual like of physics. The girl was remarkably smart for her age and along with her boyfriend Todd she'd offered the hand of friendship – something her first high school experience had been lacking.
"No, it's ok thanks. You and Todd head off and I'll see you tomorrow, I have to talk to someone before I leave." She said and looked slightly bemused when Naomi widened her eyes.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with the cute new guy sat over there staring at you would it?" she asked, keeping her voice low.
Amy thought about protesting at the ridiculousness of the situation but decided to play along with a teenage response. "Ah yeah, he used to be at my old school only he doesn't remember me – we weren't in any of the same classes."
The other girl nodded, "Good luck." She told her before putting her bag over her shoulder and heading over to her boy friend who was stood waiting for her in the door way.
"I'm gonna need It." Amy muttered under her breath and then turned around to face Liam, who was as Naomi had just told her, staring right at her. Only he looked more annoyed than he had done earlier and before she had chance to speak he opened his mouth and spoke to her with a tone that reminded her of the way he spoke to young, unruly cadets.
"What the hell do you think you're playing at? I don't take kindly to be watch like a hawk everywhere I go Amy and I don't appreciate the sniggered whispers you and your friend were just sharing."
She nearly kept her mouth shut, but it occurred to her that she could let her anger out – he was no longer the colonel and she certainly wasn't a major anymore. "They were not sniggered whispers and I certainly wasn't watching you like a hawk – I just want to tell you something important." She countered, glad that Naomi had shut the classroom door behind her and that the teacher had left along with the class so that no one could hear their argument.
"Important? I bet, trying to score with the new guy?" he countered angrily. Although if he was really honest it was himself he was so annoyed with for the way he felt about her and maybe if he could get her to stop 'being' everywhere then he could get back to his depression.
"For crying out loud sir would you just get over yourself?" and she covered her mouth as soon as she said it, his eyes were wide and shocked as all colour drained from his face, she'd just given the game away in the worst was possible.
"Carter?" he whispered, glad that he was sat down so that he didn't have to collapse into his chair. "What the hell?" it was the only though running through his head. He couldn't quite grasp why she was there, he knew that in some way it was possible but for her to actually be standing there was just something else all together.
"I... um... well..." she was failing miserably at trying to explain what had happened and why in fact she was stood across from him, there was also the matter of why to explain and that would take some time.
Liam however was muttering choice words under her breath for a lack of anything else to do. This was either the best dream he had ever had or a cruel nightmare. If she was really there, really with him then he could have everything his old life had kept from him.
But how had she actually got there? Did the military know? Or the government? And what had she given up to actually be there? Why would she sacrifice everything good in her life just to be with him? He just couldn't allow himself to believe she loved him as much as he loved her. She was so much younger and could have someone so much better than he ever could be.
"How?" he breathed, catching her attention when he broke through the consuming silence that had fallen over the room.
Amy fought to find her voice, just managing to speak "Thor cloned me."
"Why?" it seemed that he could only handle one word questions for now, his mind was still reeling from finding out it had been Sam all along and not just some obsessive teenager.
"Because I asked him to." She replied, leaving out the actual reason Thor had agreed to clone her, she didn't think he'd be quite ready to hear the whole 'soul mate' speech just yet.
Liam shook his head and sighed. "That's not what I meant – why the hell did you do it Carter?"
"Because I wanted to." She told him honestly, her voice also becoming quite. The more she spoke it seemed the more she lost her nerve to continue.
But he really wasn't getting this – he couldn't understand why she would throw everything away just for this.
"How can anyone WANT to do this? Hell I didn't want to do this but I have less to loose than you. You have friends, family, a damn good job – which you love. It just doesn't make any sense to me why you would throw all that away just to be here."
Amy looked at him exasperated and she couldn't help her outburst "I didn't throw it all away, I knew what I was doing – I couldn't leave you here all alone!"
"What so this is some sort of 'don't leave anyone behind' crap? Geez Carter, you mean to tell me that you did all of this out of loyalty to the team motto?" He yelled, taking her aback by just how much he sounded like, well himself – albeit the older one.
"NO!" she shouted back, trying to keep herself from screaming the obvious answer. "And what makes you think this had anything to do with the team? THIS is nothing to do with them and it never has been." Her head was shaking furiously and her eyes pleaded with him to understand.
"Carter-" but she cut him off angrily.
"Stop calling me that! We're not military we're teenagers, goddamn it why did I think you'd understand?" she walked over to him as she said it and he stood to meet her verbal attack.
"Understand what?" he asked her, staring her right in the eyes. Anger meeting anger and yet he still refused to look at the obvious answer, still caught in an inferiority complex he could loose.
It seemed to her that word were never going to make him understand, he was so caught up in denial and a fear of hoping that he'd put barriers up in his own mind to block the truth and there was only one thing that she could think of that would tear them down.
In one swift action she closed the distance between them and before he could utter a word of protest she pressed her lips against his gently and took his hands in her own at his side.
Stepping back wards to gauge his reaction Amy was surprised by how tightly he was holding her hands. He looked dazed and his mouth was curved into a sideways smile.
"Amy." He breathed and she smiled at his use of her 'name', it didn't even seem to matter that he would never call her Sam; a name was still a name and said by him it seemed to accentuate the poignancy of her decision.
"Liam." She replied and then leaned in again to his far more welcoming kiss, his fingers slid out of her own and his arms went around her, holding her closely against him as her arms went around his neck.
It was liberating and exiting; she was actually able to kiss him freely and not worry about any consequences. It felt like in that moment she had gone from being Samantha Carter kissing Jack O'Neill into somebody else, they were just two people who were finally allowed to be with each other. They had a second chance at life.
"Are you in place?" the voice asked, concerned that his associate's identity may have been discovered.
"Everything's set sir and they don't suspect a thing." Replied the gruff male voice.
"Good, keep it that way. I don't want you destroying the best opportunity that we've had in a long time."
"I won't sir, this will go as planned. You have my word."
Ok well as you might have guessed there's more to this story than just two chapters, it seems I got to the end of everything I'd originally written and then came up with an entire plot for a more in depth story that'll go on for a while yet!
As always, positive reviews and constructive critism are much appreciated.