A/N: ok, well I want to say thanks for all of the reviews! i'm so happy people are reviewing! So, I decided I'd reply to each review. If I miss you, just let me knwo, and I'm really sorry.
Star484- Thanks! I'm having a lot of fun writing this on. I always planned to write an AU story.
SG1-Fanfic- LOL, yeah, the part with Daniel was a lot of fun :)
feb04- thanks, yep, that was my favourite line too!
Sci Fi Fan Gillian- Thank you:)
Soccer-Bitch- thanks :)
janissima- You'll find more about what happened in the AU in chapter 3
againjustjane- thank you, and yea, AU Jacks are great!
get carter- Thanks :)
GateSeeker2- You'll learn more about the AU in chapter 3
misstweedledee- Thanks, well here's another chapter for you ;)
LiMiYa- Thank you, and like I said for everyone else, you'll find out soon! ;)
Thanks everyone! And a special thanks to Jedi and anj for reading through this for me!
Spoilers:It's Good to be King, Window of Opportunity
"Realities Apart"
Chapter 2-
"The POTUS agreed to go look for the ZPM." Jack informed AU Jack in his office several hours later.
"Thanks," He replied sincerely. Jack nodded, and they sat in silence.
"So, uh… give Walter the address, and you and SG-1 can ship out in a few hours."
AU Jack nodded, and silence once again befell them.
If anyone would have walked into the office then, they would have seen quite a site. Two identical men, sitting on either side of the desk, staring uncomfortably at anything other then each other.
"So… are you and Carter… are you, you know, together?" AU Jack asked.
"What! No! That's against regulations." General O'Neill replied instantly. "Are you… in your reality?"
"No!" AU Jack replied just as quickly. "So, I'll go give that address to Walter." He stood, hoping to escape the awkward turn of conversation.
"Yes, and I'll inform SG-1." Jack was also eager to end the conversation.
AU Jack left, and O'Neill shook his head. Working at the SGC was indeed rather strange.
"Chevron 2 encoded." Sergeant Davis' voice echoed through the 'Gate room as the second chevron lit up.
AU Jack stood at the base of the ramp with SG-1. It felt rather strange, and somewhat eerie. General O'Neill had strictly instructed that Colonel Carter was in charge. That would be interesting to see.
He turned to look at the Colonel in question, and found her staring at him.
"Carter, would you stop looking at me like that!"
"Like what, Sir?" She asked, frowning slightly.
"Like you want to stick me in a lab and see how I tick. And don't call me 'Sir'."
"Sorry… Colonel." She turned back to look up the ramp as the 'gate kawooshed into life. Jack couldn't help but grin.
Daniel was standing on the other side of Sam, a permanent frown firmly in place. Jack rolled his eyes. They hadn't gotten off to a good start with their previous argument in the hallway outside of Infirmary earlier.
On Jack's right stood the ever stoic Jaffa.
"Please Teal'c, don't look so excited."
Teal'c merely looked at the alternate and raised an eyebrow.
A few minutes after the MALP disappeared through the event horizon, the General's voice boomed over the speakers, "SG-1 and company, you have a go."
AU Jack grinned, and turned to give a sloppy salute. Never had he imagined the he'd ever see himself sending himself through the 'gate. Even the thought confused him.
They ascended the ramp, Jack with an eager gleam in his eyes. His world's future depended on this mission. No pressure or anything.
Sam took the lead, and they soon found themselves exiting through the other end of the wormhole.
Jack surveyed his surroundings, holding loosely to his P-90 which was clipped to his vest (he was surprised that General O'Neill had allowed him to carry one). There was the usual of trees, much to his dismay, and in the distance he could see the ruins which appeared to have once been a magnificent city. No doubt Daniel would be itching to get his hands on it. That was the direction they headed in.
"Where exactly is this ZPM located?" Daniel asked.
Jack shrugged, "All I know is the 'gate address, not exactly where it is." He heard an indignant sigh from the archaeologists direction.
"So we're going to have to search the whole planet?"
"Yep." Jack replied with a small smile.
Three hours later, and they still hadn't found anything. They'd spread out through the city to cover more ground. There were only a few buildings which actually still stood, but even then it looked like they wouldn't last much longer. Jack had been through several building ruins that looked like they'd been laboratories; lots of different odds and ends that looked of many different technologies.
He was kicking through some rubble when his radio crackled into life. "Colonel," Sam's voice came through the radio. "I think we're going to have to contact the SGC and request another team or two to help with the search. We are on limited time."
Jack only had about another 24 hours before the entropic cascade failure started to kick in as a result of being in another reality. He grinned slightly as he reached for the radio to reply. It was as if she was asking him his opinion on the matter; as if he were in charge. Old habits die hard.
"Colonel Carter, O'Neill." Teal'c's voice interrupted him before he could reply. "I have located the ZPM."
Jack a threw a triumphant fist in the air. "Excellent T'! Where are you?"
"The north end of the city, O'Neill."
Jack set off at a dead run to the north. Every second he was in this reality, more people were dying in his. He only hoped that he could still reverse the situation.
He was the last to reach Teal'c's location, as he had been searching the southern end of the city.
Daniel, Teal'c, and Sam stood in a partially fallen building. Sam was carefully pulling a ZPM from a power outlet in the platform. It looked similar to the platforms which held the chairs on the other Ancients outposts.
"It looks like there was once a chair here." Daniel spoke, answering his thoughts. "It appears to have been ripped right out." He looked thoughtfully around the half destroyed building. "I can't wait to translate all the text I found. Hopefully some of it will explain what happened here."
AU Jack ignored the archaeologists excited ramblings, and focused his attention on Sam and the ZPM.
"Will it work?"
"I don't know," Sam shrugged. "We'll be able to see how much energy is left once we get back to the SGC… If there's any power left."
"Positive thinking, Carter." Jack replied.
Sam looked up at AU Jack, grinning madly. "It's almost got full power. More than enough to activate the chair several times over, and even activate the 'gate to Atlantis."
"Yes!" Jack punched a fist in the air. "I could so kiss you right now, Carter!"
Sam blushed slightly as she laughed at him. "Let's go tell the General the good news."
"You know I can't send anyone with you. You're going to have to go through alone." General O'Neill explained 20 minutes later in the Briefing Room.
AU Jack nodded, "I never expected anything else."
"Ok, then you can go through right away."
"Wait, there's just one more thing that I was wondering if you could do for me. Well, actually if Carter could."
"What?" Jack and Sam asked in unison.
"Did you ever find that Ancient space ship?" AU Jack questioned.
"The one where Maybourne decided to play king?" Jack smiled at the memory. It had been his last trip offworld, and of course they'd ran into an armada of Goa'uld. Jack had managed to blow up a whole mothership with the sweet little ship they'd found.
"With the time machine?" Sam asked. The lights seemed to flick on in her eyes as she figured out what exactly it was that the alternate Jack was asking. "But it only travels in large increments of time; a hundred years or so.
"What?" General O'Neill looked between them in confusion.
"You want to go back in time, and stop Ba'al's attack before he does any damage." Daniel said, catching on.
"If the ship does not travel in smaller increments than that of a 100 years, then how will you accomplish this mission?" Teal'c asked, looking at AU Jack.
"That's where I need Carter's help." He looked at her across the table. "Do you think that you'd be able to fiddle with the ship? Maybe get it to only go back a few days? Or even a few weeks?"
"I don't know, I mean , I don't know much about Ancient technology. I don't even know if it's possible."
"Well it's got to be possible," Daniel interrupted. "Remember how Jack and Teal'c got stuck in the time loop? That was only a ten hour time loop."
"Good times." Both Jack's said with a grin.
Everyone at the table looked to them. Teal'c had a slightly amused expression of his own, obviously remembering his own adventures of the loop. Sam and Daniel looked to each other in concern. They still had no idea what the pair had gotten up to during their months stuck in the loop. It was now obvious that the AU Jack and Teal'c had shared the same experience.
"Anyway," Sam continued. "The ship might not have the capability to do that." She looked to the alternate. "But I'll try. If that's ok with you, General?"
Jack nodded. "So how do you expect to do this? Go back in time, then through the mirror, and use the ZPM when Ba'al arrives?"
AU Jack shook his head. "I don't think it would go down well when another you shows up with a ZPM asking to go through the mirror. It would be easier if Carter gave me the directions on how to fiddle with the ship, and I could go through the mirror, and get to the ship there."
"Isn't that a little risky?" Daniel frowned.
AU Jack shot him a glare. "And if I don't take the risk, everyone on my planet will be killed, enslave, or worse."
"Well, we'll deal with the details when Carter figures this thing out." General O'Neill said, breaking of any chance of an argument. What was that about?
"If I figure it out." Sam added.
"I have the utmost confidence in you." Jack assured her. "But we only have 24 hours before the entropy thing starts up."
"No pressure then?" Sam sighed.
"No pressure." The General stood from the Briefing Room table. "Oh, and just yell if you need me to fly the ship." He grinned enthusiastically. "Or if you need my advanced human brain to help with the alien technology."
"Yes, Sir." Sam smiled, raising from the table.
"I can go find the text from P4X-639, the time loop incident," Daniel clarified for Jack. "See if that's any help. And I'll bring coffee." He knew that they were in for 24 hours without sleep, and Daniel couldn't survive without his coffee.
"Please inform me if you need any assistance." Teal'c spoke before giving a quick bow before exiting.
"I guess I'll just be waiting." AU Jack felt useless. Here these people were, working their butts off to save his world, and all he would do was sit back and wait.
A/N: well there you go! Sorry if the next chapter takes a while, we're coming up to the end of the school year, so exams are coming up :( But the next is a long chapter!