Thanks for the reviews guys, glad you're liking it so far. SGCFan4ever; Stargate-fan; Vicky D; debcole; Revvie-S; Inchargrl. Here's the next chapter for you!
Harbinger of Sorrow...Herald of Joy.
By Lingren.
Previously:
"My name is Captain Jacqueline Miller. I've come to see Colonel Jack O'Neill. I need to talk with him...in private."
All eyes now turned towards Jack and he now raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked back at the General, and shrugged. He didn't have a clue who it was.
Chapter 2
"Hey...don't look at me." Jack scowled, placing a hand over his heart as a gesture of honesty. "I don't know any Captain Miller Sir. I swear to God. I don't know who she is. And where the hell did she come from anyway?" He looked towards the woman again, studying her hard. She was about 25 or thereabouts, and wearing an olive green baseball cap, very similar to his own, and one that had seen far better days. Her short fair hair just peeking from beneath it. Dressed in olive green BDU's and wearing the familiar jacket with the SGC logos on the sleeves, she stood patiently waiting for someone to say something. "She's wearing SGC gear Sir, but I don't recall anyone here by that name, so maybe she's from one of those... Alternate...thingy's...you know," he speculated waving his arms around in exasperation, knowing that Sam would understand him.
"An alternate reality. Yeah...it's possible," Sam theorised.
The General once more addressed the stranger.
"Where did you come from and how did you disable the Iris?"
"General Hammond. Technology has advanced since you retired Sir," she said with a smile, ignoring the part of the question which asked from whence she came.
General Hammond let go of the mike and stood back dumbfounded. He turned to see the same reaction to her statement on everyone else's faces. He couldn't risk the SF's finding out anything more before he'd had a chance to find out what it was she was here for, and ordered Jack to collect her and escort her to the briefing room.
"Stand down in the gate-room," he ordered before climbing the stairs behind him.
Jack by now was dead curious. Why did she want to speak to him? How did she know him? When and where had they met, if at all? He stood in the doorway to the gate-room, his hands thrust deep into his pockets, giving an air of relaxed calm, whilst inwardly ready to leap into action, before walking over to her. It was something he was good at after all his years of training. Now he could get a closer look at her though, he thought she looked vaguely familiar.
She never took her eyes from him the moment she'd spotted him framed in the doorway waiting for the door to open properly before stepping into the room. A Tiger, coiled ready for action, immediately sprang to mind as she took in his poised stance. In the flesh he was more handsome than she'd imagined, and taller too, but she recognised him without hesitation, having memorised his face from the photographs.
A shy smile lit her face, as he sauntered nonchalantly forward. She brought her hand up in a smart salute, waiting for him to reciprocate it, before offering it to him to shake. He saluted her back hesitantly, and placed his hand in hers. It was warm, and the grip was firm, and she was reluctant to let it go, bringing a slight frown to his face.
"Finally, after all these years, I get to meet you. I'm so pleased to meet you at last...Sir," she grinned, recalling that he was a senior officer, and he responded likewise with a curious lop-sided smile, that took her breath away.
He liked her too, whoever she was. She had an air of calm about her, despite her obvious nervousness. Her bright hazel eyes sparkled with mischief and her own lop-sided grin was infectious. He imagined her being unflappable in a crisis.
"You have me at a disadvantage Captain. I don't have a clue who you are. I don't recall ever knowing a...Jacqueline Miller," he stated, as he led her from the room and up the stairs to the briefing room, where the General and Sam were now waiting.
Sam looked her over, feeling a slight pang of jealousy when she noted the attractive young woman could hardly tear her eyes away from Jack. Her Jack. Captain Miller saluted the General then surprised them all by stepping forward and hugging him.
"It's so good to see you again uncle George."
Jack couldn't suppress a quick smirk at the incredulous look on the General's face when he almost suffered an apoplexy in surprise. Jack risked a peek at Sam and she sniggered back, both of them sharing a moment of pleasure at Hammond's expense.
The General coughed, and straightened up again, speechless.
Jacqueline then turned and walked across to Sam. She saluted in turn then shook her hand, before hugging her too. Sam remained stiff and almost unresponsive in her arms, still unsure about this young Captain's intentions. Jacqueline stood back looking intently at the slightly shorter Major.
"It's good to see you too...em...Samantha," she hesitated over Sam's name slightly. It felt strange to utter it to her face now. "It's been a long time. I never truly realised how incredibly beautiful you were when you were..." she paused a moment, leaving the sentence unfinished. "The photographs of you never did you justice; any of you," she continued cryptically, causing Sam to look at her curiously flattered but stunned by her comments.
"Wow...thank...you." Sam stuttered, her emotions in a whirl, along with her deepening interest.
"You said you wanted to see me?" Jack asked, interrupting them, bringing them back to topic. Jacqueline turned to study the Colonel again, sweeping her eyes over his face, hungrily, making Sam bristle with jealousy.
"Yes. But in private. What I have to say is between you and me only. I'm sorry if all this sounds a little peculiar, but it is very important." She stood quietly, her long fingers fiddling with the threadbare cap she'd removed from her head before Jack had collected her. She twirled it round in her hands, smoothing it lovingly as if it meant a great deal to her.
General Hammond nodded his approval, still dubious, but puzzled by her behaviour. He and Sam left them to talk, and before Jack could move to offer her a seat and to sit himself down, she flung herself onto him, hugging him with tears evident in her eyes.
"Oh God...I never thought I'd ever be doing this," she cried nervously. Jack was stunned, but cautiously put his arms around her, giving her a modicum of comfort she apparently seemed to need. He caught Sam staring up at him, her face level with the floor as she paused in her descent of the stairs to the control room. Her eyebrows rose in surprise, and he gave her a 'your guess is as good as mine' gesture, until Sam turned away abruptly and he could hear her booted feet clattering noisily down the metal steps. She sounded angry, and knew he would have some fancy talking to do once this woman revealed her mission and had gone.
Eventually, after what seemed to Jack an overly long time, Captain Miller released him from her fierce hug, wiping away the dampness from her eyes with her sleeve.
"I'm sorry. It's just...well I never expected to really meet you, not even in my wildest dreams. This is all so strange."
"You wanna tell me what this is all about?" Jack asked motioning her to sit at the table. She sat next to him, turning the chair to face him, while he sat facing the table in Hammonds chair, resting his forearms across it's polished surface, hands locked together by restless fingers, but his eyes were looking straight back at her. Taking a deep breath, she launched into an explanation.
"Funny really...now I'm actually here...I...I don't know how to tell you everything that's happened." She fidgeted for a moment. His gaze dropped to her hands holding onto that hat for dear life, as they lay in her lap, and his head reeled in the familiarity of the movements, as the long, slightly curled fingers flexed and stretched whilst caressing the cap. He looked back at his own hands, smiling as a tiny seed of curiosity took root in his brain.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?" he urged gently.
"I know all about you. I came here...from the future. Your future."
He was momentarily thrown by her statement. It wasn't quite what he'd expected.
"The future? Mine?" his eyebrows rose higher than Teal'c's.
She nodded, smiling.
"You have a mission to P7Z 488 tomorrow don't you?"
"How did you know...?" He was at once wary of her intentions until realisation dawned. "Ah...of course you would...because you're from the future...yeah right." His mouth reacted quicker than his brain again, making him sigh. "Sorry...stupid question...go on."
"Once there you will find an artefact that is emitting an EM field."
"That is why we're going," he stated the obvious.
"Of course. And that's why I have to warn you not to touch it. Whatever happens...please...don't go too near it."
"Why? Why should I not touch it?" his curiosity now peaked.
"It...It will kill you." Her eyes reflected back much sorrow as he looked into them, rooted to the spot, rigid in the bluntness of her statement.
He sought his voice again with difficulty. He was going to die? Tomorrow? What gives her the right to alter his fate? His thoughts jumbled together until he accepted her statement, but worried about his predicted demise and what it meant for Sam. He didn't like the idea of dying, not now it seemed imminent. He always knew he would die someday, but now it was actually going to happen, he didn't want to face it.
"So...it's gonna kill me? How?" His voice sounded a lot calmer than he felt.
"I don't know all the details, only that you touched it and it zapped you into the next kingdom."
TBC
