A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm really happy that you're all enjoying it

Soccer-Bitch:Thanks!

Sci Fi Fan Gillian: Thanks!

Star484: lol! I love Jack's sense of humour! Thanks

misstweedledee: I hate exams too! And they're in two weeks cringes But thanks, and you'll find more out about Sam and Jack this chapter, it's very shippy

feb04: thanks, and about the Jack Daniel thing, there'll be more about that in chapter 5 probably.

Janissima: yep, your question will be explained momentarily, and there'll be even more about the reality differences in chapter 4

Stargate-fan: Thanks!

LiMiYa: Yep, I just love Jack's sense of humour!

Airam4U: Well thanks, and here's the next chapter

Enjoy!

Spoilers: Divide and Conquer, some previous spoiler warnings apply

"Realities Apart"

Chapter 3-

The ship had to be transported from Area 51 where it had been studied by scientists for several weeks. The quickest way to get the ship to Cheyenne Mountain was just to throw a pilot in, and fly it cloaked. It was a bit of a risk, but the President had agreed to it.

Jack had been a little dismal at the fact that Area 51 had used on of their own men, who had the ancient gene, to fly the ship. It would've taken too much time for Jack to fly to Nevada, when they could just use one of their own men, who'd been flying the ship during the tests.

So Sam had already been working for several hours. Daniel had already come and gone several times with coffee. The text from P4X-639 (the time loop incident) hadn't given them much. It was all about the history of the planet, and how they couldn't get the device to loop further than several hours. There was nothing about how exactly the device worked.

It was 2 a.m., and Sam gotten practically nowhere in 10 hours. The technology was so advanced, and she was beginning to think that what she was trying to do was impossible. She was at the stage where she had no idea of what to do anymore. It was just a continuous procedure of running into dead ends.

She wasn't sure exactly why or how she got there, but Sam suddenly found herself outside of the V.I.P. guest quarters, knocking on the door.

A minute later the door swung open to reveal the alternate Jack in a USAF shirt, and sweat pants. He squinted as the light hit his eyes, and he ran a hand through his sleep ruffled hair. He raised an eyebrow in surprise; obviously he hadn't been expecting to find her at the door.

Sam suddenly realized that she hadn't expected him to be asleep. It had completely slipped her mind of how early it actually was.

"Sorry, I woke you. I shouldn't have come. I'll just go." Sam quickly made for an exit, feeling embarrassed for even being there.

AU Jack shook his head. "I'm awake now; you might as well come in." He stepped out of the doorway, allowing her room to walk in.

She paused, looking at the entrance questioningly, and then stepped inside. Jack shut the door behind her, and the room plunged into complete darkness for a moment, before he switched the bedside lamp on. He turned around to face her, his face covered in darkness from the light behind him.

"So, how's the ship coming?" He asked, as he figured that was the reason why she was there. He hoped it was to tell him that she'd got it working, but from the somber look on her face, he knew that that wasn't the case.

Sam avoided eye contact, even though she could barely place his eyes in the dark. The lamp's light barely reached the further walls. Sam stood in the shadows, feeling safer in the dark, and giving her courage to voice her fears; "It's not so good. I've been working for hours, and I've gotten nowhere. I don't even know if there is a way, and if there is, I don't even know if I could do it. The technology is so much more ad…"

"Carter!" Jack broke her off, taking a step closer to her, and grasped her on the forearms with both hands. She looked up at him in defeat. "It's ok," He spoke quietly. "I shouldn't have asked you in the first place."

Sam stepped passed him, and sat down on the bed. "I just wish I could help."

"You already have." AU Jack turned to look at her, his face finally exposed to the small glow of light. "You helped me get the ZPM didn't you? Now thanks to you, my world has a chance. You've helped more than I could ever, should have ever asked for." He sat down on the bed next to her.

They fell into a thoughtful silence. Sam, no doubt, was frustrated with herself. Jack knew his own Carter well, and if they were even slightly similar, which they obviously were, then he knew this one too. Sam would do whatever it took to get things done, and Jack hated to be the reason for her to feel failure for something, even when she shouldn't.

"Don't blame yourself, there's nothing you can do."

"I'm not…"

"Yes you are," Jack interrupted. "I know you, Carter."

Sam closed her mouth, and peered curiously at him.

"You're looking at me funny again."

"Sorry," She frowned. "So… was I in the Air Force in your reality?"

"Yeah, still a Major, though."

"Oh? In the other two realities we've encountered I was a civilian."

"Same here." AU Jack responded. They fell into silence again as they both remembered the relationships their other alternates had shared in the other realities. It was something that they both tried not to think about often; the complications of Air Force regulations.

"What exactly happened before you came through the mirror?" Sam asked, curious as to her own alternates' fate. She still feared that their own reality would also come under attack.

She saw him cringe, and she instantly regretted asking. "It's ok; you don't have to tell me."

"No, it's ok." He paused, and turned his head to stare blankly at the dull, grey SGC walls. "We were in a meeting, SG-1, for our next mission to some planet, I forget the address. General Hammond got an urgent call. It was NORAD, upstairs; they'd picked up at least a dozen Goa'uld motherships entering our orbit."

"A dozen?" Sam raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, probably scared that we still had the ancient weapon in use. Anyway, Hammond instantly ordered to dial the beta site, but Ba'al was one step ahead of us; he was already dialing in. He appeared in one of those hologram things they stole form the Asguard, and started bragging about destroying the planet, and such.

"When we wouldn't surrender, he sent a ship, and blew up D.C. Then one headed straight towards us. Within hours they were in the base. We tried to keep them back, but there were too many of them." He paused, and took a deep breath before continuing. "I saw Jonas go down. I'm not sure what happened to Teal'c. That's when Carter suggested the mirror. You Carter's and your ideas." He smiled briefly as he continued to stare at an indefinable spot on the wall. He continued in a voice barely above a whisper.

"She was shot in the back by a damn staff blast when we were running for the mirror… she was dead before she even hit the ground." AU Jack paused, finally tearing his eyes away from the wall to look down at his hands in his lap. "I shouldn't have left her, I should've stayed."

"Why?" Sam frowned in confusion. Surely if Jack had stayed, he would've died along with her.

Jack lifted his head, and turned to look her in the eye. She almost did a double take at the pain, and longing she saw in his eyes. It was a look she'd barely ever seen; it was a rare occasion when his eyes told her everything.

A very vivid memory flashed into her mind.

"I'd have rather died myself than lose Carter."

"Why?"

"Because I care about her… a lot more than I'm supposed to."

"Oh…" Was all she could say.

"I never got to tell her how I really feel, and I'll regret that for the rest of my life."

Sam sat, awkwardly staring at his face, unable to look away. She was having a conversation that she'd once agreed to 'keep in the room'.

"Do you even care about him?"

"He's my CO!" She replied indignantly at the turn of conversation. Sam was not ready to voice something she'd kept inside for so long, something she'd never really admitted to herself.

"I asked if you cared about him, not if you were breaking the regs."

"You can't just come in here and ask questions like that!" Sam defended herself. She stood, ready to storm out of the room.

AU Jack quickly stood as well. "You're right, I'm sorry, I never should have asked you that. It's just that I've made a huge mistake, but I realized it too late. I lost her because of it. Because I thought I was doing us both a favour, but I was really just scared, that's why I never said anything. And I just don't want to see the same thing happen to you."

He stepped closer to her, and placed a gentle hand on her arm. "You deserve to be loved. You deserve to be loved to the end of the universe and back again. I'm such an idiot; I waited so long and now it's too late."

Jack pulled up his other arm, and placed it cautiously on her cheek. Sam felt her heart speed up, and her cheek warm to his touch as she was just helpless but to stare into his brown eyes.

"I love you Samantha Carter, I always have, and always will."

Sam bit her lip, and frowned. Her heart was now beating furiously in her chest, despite what her mind was screaming at her. Finally, after several moments of silence, she voiced the thoughts her mind was yelling for her to say. "I'm not her."

Jack brushed his thumb against her cheek, giving way to a new wave of sensations ripping through Sam's body. "I know, but I never got to tell her that, and I want you to know, that in my reality I loved you more than life itself, and I hope that the Jack in this world feels the same. If he doesn't, then he's a damned fool."

Sam felt numb. Her mind was still trying to tell her that this wasn't her Jack, but her body didn't seem to listen. Was he really any different from her Jack?

"I… I don't…" Sam stumbled. What was she supposed to say? A Jack O'Neill from an alternate reality was declaring his love for her, but it was really directed to an AU version of herself. Her mind felt like a tornado of confusion.

AU Jack shook his head. "You don't have to say anything." He dropped his hand from her face. A sudden wave of guilt washed over him. He shouldn't have laid this upon her.

"She loved you too." Sam blurted out. She already missed the warmth of his hand on her cheek. She continued to stare into his eyes as they registered shock and confusion.

"I mean, if she was anything like me, then she loved you."

Jack felt his heart constrict, and he stepped closer to her. He knew he didn't have to voice his thanks, words were definitely not enough. His gratitude was written clearly across his face.

Sam thought she saw a hint of tears in the corner of his eyes as she tilted her chin to look up at him. Jack looked uncertainly down at her, almost questioningly as he closed the distance between them. Sam closed her eyes in response at the last moment, and then his lips were on hers. Her whole body felt alive, and, without even realizing it, she began to return the kiss, allowing it to deepen.

AU Jack placed a hand on the back of her head, entwining his fingers through the short blonde strands of her hair. Sam wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling them even closer together. She felt Jack's other arm encircle her back, and run his hand up her spine. Her whole body began to shiver in response.

Their kiss grew hungrier; more desperate. Jack broke the kiss, too soon in both of their minds, but the need for oxygen had won out. He began to run a trail of kisses along her jaw, and down her neck. A small gasp escaped Sam's lips as she tried catching her breath.

From the puddle that had become her mind, Sam managed to extract one coherent thought. She pushed lightly on his chest. "Jack."

Jack's head shot up, his eyes opening wide. "You said my name." The corner of his lips curved up into a smile. He still held her tight in his embrace.

Sam tilted her head to the side, ignoring his comment. "What if… what if I can't get the time device to work, and you can't go back to save her?"

His arms instantly dropped to his sides like dead weights; reality crashing down on him. His eyes were once again afflicted with sorrow. "I'll still go through the mirror. Save whatever's left."

She knew that he would do whatever it took to save his world, even if most of it was laying in ruins. It was after he stopped the attack that she was worried about. Again, she remembered his words.

"I'd have rather died myself than lose Carter."

Suddenly, she knew exactly what AU Jack was thinking, and a flare of anger grew inside of her. "Oh no you don't! I thought you learned that lesson after Charlie!" He flinched at the mention of his son's death. Sam felt a sudden wave of sorrow for him, but quickly pushed it away. "I know that you wish you'd died instead of her, but I also know for a fact that she would want you to keep going, to keep living. She wouldn't want you to give up, that's not the Jack O'Neill she knew." Sam placed a hand on his arm, and he just stared down at where her skin touched his.

His silence only reassured Sam that she'd been right on the money; that he'd been thinking of ending it all once he stopped Ba'al. She was unsure if she'd swayed his thoughts though, and she sighed. "I should get back to the ship." Without another word spoken between them, Sam left the room, her mind more confused than when she'd entered the room.

A/N: once again, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! I was a little iffy about the kiss, it's only the second one I've ever written, so hopefully it was ok.

I'm going away for Memorial weekend, but I'll try my hardest to get it up beforeI leave, but if not it might not be until mid next week until I get it up. Thanks!