StargateFan- Glad you liked the kiss;)

sophiedb- A return visit. Ok, I won't make you wait, yes, there is this chapter.

Getcarter- lol, umm… you'll see.

Janissima­ thank you, and you're welcome.

Feb04- he he! You're right!

SG-Fan- Thanks, and I'm glad you like it!

Star484­ Sorry for the confusion, this chapter should explain everything

Sam Carter O'Neill wagtail JEDI- Thank you. I hope you like the last two chapters

Plague2005- Wow, thank you very much! Only 2 more chapters to go, and I hope they live up to your expectations.

Enjoy!

"Realities Apart"

-Chapter 10-

"I don't know how to express my thanks, Jack. If you ever need anything, just let me know."

"You're welcome, Mr. President. I might actually take you up on that offer in the near future." AU Jack looked through the window of Hammond's office to the Briefing Room at Sam. As soon as she noticed him looking, she turned away, turning a deep shade of red.

"My door is always open to you," President Hayes replied.

"Thank you, Sir." Jack said his goodbyes, and then he and Hammond joined the rest of Sg-1 in the Briefing Room.

"I trust this will be a long debriefing." Hammond took his usual seat at the head of the table.

Before anyone could begin, a great flash suddenly engulfed the room with a great, white light. It quickly dissipated, and everyone looked around in confusion.

"Uh, hello?" A male voice called from the adjacent office.

AU Jack stood slowly. "Hello?" he called back.

"Yeah, I need some help."

Sam looked wide-eyed at Jack. "Is that…" She trailed off in fear that if she actually said the name it wouldn't be true.

Jack wouldn't have responded anyway, as he was already reaching the door to Hammond's office.

"No! Don't come in!"

"Oh…umm…" Jack looked away. "Sorry… I umm…" he looked around, and reached and grabbed the SGC flag off a pole, and handed it to the person in the room.

Seconds later, Daniel walked out of the office with the flag wrapped around his waist; the rest of his body was exposed.

Everyone in the room stared at him.

"You act like you've never seen a naked guy before," Daniel joked nervously.

Jack took a step forward, and poked Daniel in the shoulder. "He's real."

"At least you didn't throw a shoe at me this time."

A huge grin spread across Sam's face, and she jumped from her chair and threw her arms around him. "Daniel!"

"Hey Sam." Daniel wrapped one arm around her, keeping the other held tightly on the flag.

When Sam pulled back she had tears streaming down her cheeks, but a broad smile that couldn't be broken. "It's good to have you back… you are staying, right?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes, I'm here to stay. Unless, I die again, hopefully not."

Sam stepped away from him, allowing General Hammond, Teal'c, and Jonas to great him. She walked over to Jack, wiping her tears away in embarrassment.

Jack simply pulled her into a hug, smiling blissfully. Sam, once again, turned a deep shade of red.

Daniel, who had witnessed the exchange, smiled and looked straight at Jack when he spoke, "There's nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged, to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."

"Time tells the truth." Jack grinned back.

Daniel shook his head. "Time is what keeps things from happening all at once."

Jack sighed. "You're not going to keep that up forever, are you?"

It had been a couple of weeks since Jack, and Sg-1 had awoken in the Infirmary, and there was still no sign of the alternate Jack. General O'Neill had been swamped by work, and he'd rarely seen SG-1. In fact, he hadn't seen Sam except for briefings and debriefings. So, with all the work, all thoughts of the mirror were pushed to the back of his mind.

SG-13 had gone missing offworld, and had finally made it back home a couple of days later after managing to lock themselves inside some sort of building with no way out.

SG-13's debriefing was about to begin when the phone rang.

"O'Neill."

"General, this is Flanigan from security. An alarm has been triggered on level 16, and it looks like the mirror's been activated."

Jack jumped from his chair. "Thank you, Flanigan." He hung up the phone, and raced out of his office. To be honest, he'd begun to suspect that AU Jack hadn't made it out alive.

SG-13 watched in alarm as Jack raced past them.

"General?"

Jack halted, and spun around to face Colonel Dixon. "Sorry, we'll reschedule for 0900 tomorrow!" Jack turned, and bounded down the stairs, and almost knocked over Sergeant Davis on the way.

"Walter! Can you page SG-1 to the Briefing Room, ASAP?"

"Yes, Sir." But Jack was already to the elevator, hastily pushing the button.

When he reached Storage Room 6, AU Jack was there waiting for him. They nodded to each other in greeting.

"SG-1 should be waiting for us in the Briefing Room." Jack led AU Jack out of the Storage Room.

No words passed between them on their way, but Jack noticed a bit of a bounce to the other man's steps. Things must have gone well, but surely he would be upset after everything that he'd lost.

Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c were already settled in the Briefing Room when the Jacks walked in. relief washed over all of their features at seeing two Jacks.

General O'Neill motioned for everyone to take a seat as he took a seat himself.

Everyone looked eagerly at AU Jack. "I made it to Antarctica, and all of the Jaffa are gone." He told them without any further delay.

"Well, that's great… but um… I'm pretty sure we were dead, but as you can see, we're not… dead. We were wondering if you knew anything about that?" Jack frowned in confusion.

"Yeah, that was Daniel's doing." AU Jack explained.

"It was?" Daniel asked.

"Not you, our Daniel." AU Jack couldn't help but grin. "You see, he turned back time, to before the attack even began. We were able to stop Ba'al before any damage was done. Daniel sent you all back through the mirror before he turned back time. Apparently that was easier than turning back time in both realities."

"He did?" Daniel looked shocked. "I can't believe he would do that! Interfering is completely against everything, let alone turning back time! Do the ascended beings just run around doing whatever they want with no consequences!"

AU Jack shook his head. He still wore a giddy grin. "It took a lot of convincing. They still descended him, or whatever you call it, after he did it. But you can't tell me that you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were in his position."

Daniel shrugged. "I guess I would've."

"Anyway, I brought both of the ZPMs." AU Jack said, and he bent over to pick a large case off the ground next to him, and placed it on the table.

"Actually, I think the President would agree with me when I say that you should keep one of them. One is more than enough for us, and you should have something to protect you." General O'Neill said.

"Are you sure?"

Jack nodded. "We can live with just one for now."

"Thank you." AU Jack spoke sincerely. "All of you. I have no idea how to repay you."

"We're just glad that everything worked out in the end." Sam spoke up for the first time.

AU Jack's eyes glued themselves on her, and a grin spread across his face. "That it did."

Sam shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, while General O'Neill glared back and forth between them.

"So, uh… that's gotta be weird." Daniel interrupted. "I mean, your planet was basically destroyed, yet you're the only one who remembers."

"Well, it's not like things have happened that only I remember before," his eyes lingered on Sam for a moment. "But yeah, it actually put some things in perspective."

"And what would that be, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

"I decided to retire. Hammond offered me a promotion when I told him. Of course, I declined. A desk job isn't really me" AU Jack looked at the General with a smile.

"Retirement?" Jack asked carefully.

That's when Sam noticed the ring on AU Jack's finger.

"So I can pursue personal needs." AU Jack responded.

General O'Neill watched as AU Jack looked happily over at Sam. Jack followed his gaze, but Sam was completely oblivious to them. Her eyes were staring down at the retired Colonel's hand. The source of her shock, Jack found, was a wedding ring.

Jack looked back up to Sam, and their eyes met for what felt like the first time in weeks. It lasted only a split second, and he saw pain in her eyes, but the wall was quickly put in place before she averted her eyes to the table.

AU Jack coughed. "Well, I should get back to my reality." He stood, and turned to the briefcase just as Walter appeared with another. Walter quickly took one of the ZPMs out, and placed it into the empty case, and handed it to AU Jack before exiting the room.

"I swear that man's psychic," Both Jack's said at once.

"Anyway, I'll walk you to the mirror." Jack offered.

AU Jack nodded, and looked to the others. "Thank you, once again."

Daniel stepped forwards, and shook his hand, and Teal'c bowed his head.

AU Jack looked across the table at Sam as she rose from her seat. He quickly walked around the table, and stopped in front of her. "Again, I'm sorry for anything I messed up."

Sam shook her head. "You didn't mess up anything."

AU Jack cast a quizzical glance over at the other Jack who stood there scowling. "Ok," He said, turning back to Sam. "Well, take care, ok?"

"I will, and umm… Congratulations." She blushed.

The alternate grinned. "Thanks." He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It was nice to meet you."

"You too," Sam barely choked out.

General O'Neill cleared his throat. "We should get going."

AU Jack nodded, gave Sam one final smile, and left the room with the General.

Sam looked to Daniel and Teal'c. "I'll be in my lab if anyone needs me." Before they could reply, she hurried out of the room.

Teal'c turned to Daniel. "As the Tau'ri would say, Daniel Jackson, you could cut the sexual tension with a sharp object."

Daniel laughed, "'With a knife', Teal'c"

The Jacks rode the elevator in silence. Jack was fuming over the fact that the other him had just kissed Sam in front of everybody.

AU Jack was all too aware of the General's current mood, and knew not to say a word. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little smug.

It wasn't until they were almost at the Storage Room door that AU Jack stepped in front of Jack.

"Listen, I didn't yell at you in Felger's lab, or talk to Sam so that you too would stop talking."

Jack opened his mouth to protest.

"I don't know what happened between the two of you," AU Jack continued. "But even I knew that something's up, and it's not the uncomfortable 'alternate versions of ourselves are married again'. Although, I'm sure that's part of it."

"Anyway, I was trying to help you guys out because you of all people know that she deserves to be loved. Before it's too late, and you're the one to do that. I feel like I'm becoming a broken record, for crying out loud. How many times do I have to say it before it gets into your thick head!"

"It's not that easy." Jack defended himself.

"It's not that hard."

"What about Pete?"

"Believe me, Pete's out of the picture."

"How do you know that?" General O'Neill asked.

"I just know… well, I have to get going."

"Wait… what exactly did you say to your Sam?"

"Nothing, I just walked up to her and kissed her." The same grin from earlier returned to AU Jack's face.

They began walking into the Storage Room.

"Oh?" Jack asked curiously.

"Yep, definitely brought on a time loop flashback."

Both Jacks chuckled as they reached the mirror which still lay open to AU Jack's reality. They turned to face each other uncertainly.

AU Jack extended his hand. Jack looked at it cautiously before finally taking it in a handshake.

"Take care." The both of them said in unison. They gave an identical grin, and AU Jack stepped to the mirror, and disappeared though it before the surface flashed, and the other reality disappeared.

A/N: ok, only one chapter to go :( I hope you liked this chapter!