A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews. I hope you enjoy this next chap.
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Lif'kel embraced his mother and took one last look around peaceful Keb before entering the Stargate to return to earth.
Once on the other side, Cassandra was there to greet him along with a familiar old friend.
"Shifu" Lif'kel bowed, bestowing polite honor upon the ascended liaison.
For years Shifu, formerly known as the Harsseises child, had been the equivalent of a spiritual guide to the members of the SGC and particularly SG-1. He had shown up around the time of Daniel Jackson's death and Amanda Jackson believed that it had been her father's way of letting her know that he had indeed reached that higher plain of existence.
"Shifu has an interesting briefing in store for you, Lif'kel" Cassandra said.
Lif'kel tilted his head to the side, "Did you not call me back to earth for the purpose of retrieving Amanda Jackson and Jacob O'Neill?"
"Yes" Cassandra replied.
"Then should I not first be briefed on the subject matter relating to such a mission?" he asked.
"Yes, Lif'kel, and that is why Shifu's here" Cassie explained.
Lif'kel raised his eyebrows in curiosity and followed the Administrator and their guest out of the embarkation room.
Once they were all seated at the briefing table, Shifu began, "The reason your friends are overdue to arrive is because they have already journeyed home" the man in deep orange and beige robes stated in his gentle layer of voice.
"What does this mean?" Lif'kel wished to know. Everyone liked Shifu, but they would all like him better if he had been born with a "get-to-the-point" gene.
"Your friends have traveled to an age before yours…they were made to leave too early" he answered.
"Then they were caught by the time rift that Jacob O'Neill spoke of" Lif'kel said.
"Apparently" Cassandra stated, "but Shifu won't tell us what made them dial out too soon" she seemed to be patiently building frustration, an obvious side effect of having to talk for long periods of time with Shifu.
The calm man looked at her deeply, as he looked at everyone…he never saw the person, only the soul inside of them; his gaze could be taken as either threatening or soothing depending on who you were.
"That is not a relevant detail" he commented.
"It is if I want to send anymore teams back to that planet" Cassie snapped.
"You are an easily tempered woman, Cassandra Frasier…it is a trait that would not serve you well in the afterlife"
"Just get on with it, Shifu," muttered the woman, leaning back in her chair with annoyance.
Lif'kel was curious about the purpose behind Shifu's being here. Normally, the man who seemed to have achieved some culmination of physical humanity and ascension, would only appear in order to test those he guided to enlightenment or provide clearer views of the road ahead…Lif'kel knew not of any requirement for these skills at present.
"I do not believe that it is wise to pursue them yet" Shifu said.
"Why is this?" Lif'kel inquired.
"There is a task they must complete before they leave, they were forced into their present circumstances for a reason"
"Does Jacob not have the knowledge to return himself an Amanda to their own timeline without our assistance?"
"Yes" Shifu paused for a moment, thinking, "But I will see to it that both of them complete the task they must"
"And what exactly do they have to complete and how long is it gonna take?" Cassie cut in.
"As long as it takes" Shifu responded.
"Nice dig at the cliché" Cassie noted.
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Amanda woke up with her face smashed into the side of someone's chest.
She got up quickly, preparing to break a few bones, until she noticed who it was she was lying next to. She glared accusingly at the slumbering form of Jacob O'Neill and rolled herself off the bed, landing on her bottom on the floor and rubbing her tired eyes.
She must have thought herself to sleep again.
She glanced around for her glasses, not having remembered taking them off before dozing. Getting to her feet she squinted through blurry vision and felt around for the framed item on the table, and then the bedside stand.
"They're in the drawer" Jacob managed to grumble out as he slowly woke to find his nearly blind teammate fumbling around the room and making a good job of bashing herself up as she kept running into objects she couldn't see.
Amanda felt her way back to the bedside stand but by that time Jacob had gotten to them and was already handing the spectacles to her, "Thanks" she said with a yawn, "Coffee"
"Oh yes"
"Need some"
"Commissary"
The pair exited their quarters, not even noticing the guards tagging behind them.
A burst of noise greeted them when they entered the make shift cafeteria, Amanda muttered about how cheery some people could be without the incentive of a liquid brown caffeinated blood stream.
Jacob sat down and watched her as she grabbed their coffees.
Waking up beside Amanda was nothing new, SG-1 had to share a tent during off-world missions, but this was the first moment in their friendship he could remember where he'd woken up to her cuddled on his side.
He vaguely remembered growing sleepy and glancing at his watch, seeing that it was 2100 hours, he decided to retire for the night. He thought Amanda would take the other bed in the room once he reported this to her, but she was lost in increasingly lethargic internal thinking and the bantering that would ensue wasn't worth disturbing her for.
He had woken up maybe two hours later to find her still there and having fallen asleep with her glasses on, which he presently removed. He'd thought she looked cute, and again, that wasn't such an uncommon occurrence on his behalf, he'd always thought she was kind of sweet in her own bookish way. What was different this time was the feelings it stirred in him when he thought it.
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Shifu made his entrance into the past by appearing directly behind Amanda as she turned away from the counter in the commissary with a tray that harbored a large pot of coffee and two filled mugs. The contents of which were now splatter all over her hands, boots, and the tray because of her startled reaction to his sudden presence, "Shifu!" she whined.
The guards and a few other people looked automatically towards her, but could see no one there. Amanda noted their reactions and ducked her head, making her way over to the table Jacob was reserving for them.
"Shifu?" Jacob whispered when he saw the monk like man slide into the booth next to his teammate.
"It is good to see you, Jacob…I apologize for startling you, Amanda" he greeted, nodding politely in her direction.
"You think that maybe…I don't know, you could make yourself visible to other people before I start yelling out your name in public" she muttered between long drags of coffee.
"I did not wish to cause alarm," he said.
"Except in me, of course" she retorted.
"You are used to it" he ended pleasantly.
She glared at him.
"So, Shifu, buddy…not that I don't mind the company, but, what are you doing here?" Jacob asked, taking the other mug now resting on the table and guzzling it down in one go.
"I am here to ask you not to attempt returning to your own time, at least not until a later date" Shifu said.
"Oh really?" Jacob responded in a clear tone, as if his friend had just commented on the weather.
"Yes"
"Why?" Amanda asked.
"Because" Shifu offered as an explanation, shrugging is shoulders as if they should already know.
"Because…" Jacob probed.
"Your existence may depend on it," he stated simply.
"Okay…well if that's all that depends on us staying here" Amanda commented in a sarcastically uncaring manner.
"Shifu, if we stay here any longer, our entire future could go through an overhaul," said Jacob.
"This was meant to happen…your futures are secure" Shifu replied, just before he began to glow.
"Wait!" Amanda shouted as her friend attempted to disappear, "What is it we're supposed to do!"
The tangled, diamond shaped strands of light dissipated from their vision without any parting words.
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"So…you're saying you have to stay?" Jack asked, leaning back in his office chair and looking at his…son…a reality that still took some getting used to.
"Aaaapparently" was the dragged out response as the Major clicked his heals together and glanced around the office, "Ya'know, Cassie painted this place purple when she took over…said it gave the base some "personality"…I like how she decorates it"
Jack rolled his eyes; this kid was way too distractible, "How long?"
"Huh? Oh, until me and Dorothy get back to Kansas?" he attempted to look like he was thinking about it, "I have no idea"
Jack scrubbed his hand through his hair and pulled it down his face, swearing to himself that this kid got his insatiable ability to annoy from his mother.
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Amanda went giddy when she saw the working space her father had had set up for her after he heard she might be staying a while.
There were all the current files and records of the ancients and ascension on an oak-wood table that hosted a reading lamp, blank tablets, and an endless supply of sharpened pencils. Across from the table was a bookshelf, stacked with all the necessities from Greek to Babylonian mythology.
She squealed.
And then quickly covered her mouth, surprised by her own response…it was just that she had never been able to accumulate such a range of history in one place before. Amanda had sort of just study the relevant subjects as they were needed; she'd never been able to dedicate an entire day to study such a large number of topics at once.
"So…I take it you like the place" Daniel said with a quirk of his mouth.
Amanda hugged him and then raced to the bookshelf, snatching a pencil and tablet from the table and beginning automatically to copy down categories for everything she wanted to research.
Daniel felt himself smile as he watched her. He would have never thought himself the doting father type, but she brought out the spoiler in him.
Amanda knew she was acting like a kid half her age…squealing, hugging, and calling Daniel "Father" when he was still probably trying to come to terms with the fact that he'd actually be having a child sometime in the future, with Vala no less.
But seeing him…it made her that young girl again…the one she'd been when she'd lost him.
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