A/N: Believe it or not, that last chapter had been knocking around inside my brain since I originally started writing this story all those months ago. I'd really wanted the whole turning point of the story to be totally unexpected – and from the sound of things, I at least managed that. Hope I didn't lose anyone with my abrupt shift in gears.

By the way, I forgot to commend dietcokechic on her pickup of my warped sense of humor – Sam was, in fact, killed by the Big, Bad Wolf. And, yes, I did plan that. (Cruel and ironic, indeed!)

Glad to see that (at least most of) my awesome readers no longer hate me with the fire of a thousand burning suns. Each and every review makes me feel all warm and fuzzy – even the ones that yell at me for being a heartless, evil wench – so thanks for taking the time to write them.

Anyway, I think I'm on a roll now, so without further ado...

Chapter 21

As Jack stepped into the stone circle, he couldn't quite keep the hairs on the back of his neck from standing up. The understanding of what he was about to do was more than a bit daunting. Still, the sight of Sam's unmoving, pale form left no doubt in his mind that he would go through with the procedure.

"So," he said conversationally as he stepped into the ring, "Since I'm not going to remember this anyway, can you tell me how this thing works?"

Bett seemed to consider his request. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she said after a moment. "Try to get as comfortable as possible," she directed as he made his way to the center of the stones.

Just as Jack began to quietly sit beside Sam and tenderly gather her into his arms, Bett stepped into the circle with them. "Whoa!" he said suddenly. "You're coming with us?"

Bett chuckled. "Of course," she replied matter-of-factly. "Otherwise, I'd be completely unaware that any of these events had taken place, and you'd be left with the knowledge of my people inside your head."

Jack blinked, digesting her words. "I really hadn't thought of that," he muttered absently.

She just nodded. "I wouldn't have expected you to. I've done this many times, so you needn't worry." Seeing the anxious expression that remained on his face, she tried to look reassuring. "It is a bit disorienting the first time, so I'll try to explain it as thoroughly as possible. Unfortunately, you'll need to get your wits about you fairly quickly once we arrive. I can't reinsert you too far before the moment of the attack, because you were climbing the cliff. Breaking your concentration during that climb would be devastating." He nodded mutely. "Nor can bring you back before you start the climb."

At that, he looked confused. "Why not?"

Bett explained. "In a case like this, we only wish to change one event. Fortunately, this is the ideal use of the ring. As I'm sure you're aware, the power to change the space-time continuum can be frighteningly awesome. Our experience has shown us that reinserting a consciousness too far ahead of the desired change-point can have unforeseen consequences. If I were to reinsert you before your climb of the cliff, you might be so preoccupied with the upcoming events that you could slip and fall. Or perhaps you'd change your mind about climbing up at all. Then, perhaps the Gak'Laan would not die at your hands. A simple thing, but one that might have profound consequences. What if, because you failed to kill the Gak'Laan, it attacked and killed a member of the rescue team sent to extract you from this world?"

Jack's eyes widened. "I get the point," he said quietly.

Smiling gently, she took a seat within the circle, facing Jack and his precious burden. "I'm afraid the window of time for your reintegration with your past self is very brief. You'll need to listen carefully. When I activate the Ring, you will feel an odd sensation of, for lack of a better word, shifting. In the briefest of moments, your mind will merge with your past self, and you will be momentarily disoriented. You must do your best to overcome this quickly because, as soon as you are aware of your surroundings, you will need to draw your weapon and fire at the Gak'Laan." She gazed steadily at him. "I saw your first encounter with the beast through use of my technology. Truly, your reflexes are amazingly sharp. I have no doubt that you can react in time to save Samantha this time around."

He closed his eyes briefly against the flash of pain that her words brought him. "What if I don't?" His features were clearly etched with guilt and terror.

Gently, Bett reached over and patted his hand. "Then we'll return to the Ring and try again. There is no pressure, Colonel. You can do this as many times as is necessary to get it right."

He opened his eyes and met her comforting gaze. Nodding at the simple truth in her words, he seemed to relax slightly.

Seeing some of the tension drain away from him, Bett directed his attention to the stones which they sat upon. "The tiles each have markings upon them," she said, pointing to several symbols etched in the seemingly-primitive rocks. "It would take far too long to explain their precise meanings to you now, but be assured there are many variables that must be accounted for. The ring can transport matter, or it can transport mere consciousness. It can cross space, time, or whole dimensions. In this case, we will be traveling backwards through time, which is actually fairly simple."

Jack looked impressed. "Really? How do you figure?"

She considered his question. "Well," she said slowly, "With reverse time travel, we are only putting your consciousness back into a place it had already been. That makes reintegration fairly simple. If, instead, we were planning to place your consciousness into another dimension – one with an alternate future – you'd be left with not only your memories of what your current consciousness had experienced, but also with the memories of your alternate self." Seeing the somewhat befuddled look on his face, she tried to explain more fully. "You say you've witnessed entropic cascade failure?" When he nodded, she continued. "Imagine that instead of having two separate beings from different dimensions located in the same reality, pretend for a moment that the second consciousness had become inserted into the mind of the first."

At that, Jack felt a sharp, dry laugh escape his chest. He couldn't imagine how screwed up Carter would have been if, rather than meeting her alter-ego face-to-face, she'd instead been bombarded with a whole separate set of memories from a completely different life – especially when the life in question did not include joining the military, but did include marriage to him. "Damn," he breathed expressively. "That would be…" Trailing off, he shook his head and repeated himself. "Damn."

Bett saw his understanding and agreed with his assessment. "Indeed, only those very experienced in Ring travel should attempt such a feat, and even then, only for priorities of the utmost importance. Misuse of this powerful tool can easily lead to the mental instability of the traveler, or worse."

Jack exhaled slowly. "I guess so," he said softly. Looking at the symbols on the floor curiously, he couldn't help be intrigued. "So can it be activated from out there?" he asked, pointing to the area outside the obsidian circle.

Bett nodded. "Yes. It has a control panel which can be used if the controller wishes to remain in his or her present dimensional state."

"And you can use it to move across distances, without changing time or dimensions?"

This time, Bett paused before answering. "Not exactly, though the result can be what you describe." She smiled grimly. "The Ring always operates by shifting dimensions. If you wanted to use it to, say, travel back to your own world, the Ring wouldn't move you the way the stargate does. It would, in essence, destroy your body, reach back in time and grab the past you a mere moment before the destruction occurred, and then place that version of you physically in the intended location."

Jack looked rather uncomfortable by that statement. "So, essentially, I'd have to die to be relocated?"

She met his gaze knowingly. "Essentially, yes, though you'd have no memory of it." As he shuddered slightly, she smiled again. "You see now why the stargate is a far preferable mode of transport?"

"You can say that again," he muttered darkly. Suddenly, Jack seemed to realize exactly why he was sitting in his present location. Gazing down at Sam's still form, he gently ran a finger down her cool cheek. "I think I'm ready to go now," he said quietly. "I'm sure she'll have a million questions about this thing anyway, so we might as well skip the rest of the tutorial until she's around to hear it."

Bett's eyes shone with understanding. "Of course. Just remember what I said about being as swift as possible when you arrive."

Jack nodded. "You don't have to tell me twice. I know what's at stake."

With a compassionate smile, she continued to gaze at him gently. "Once the procedure is complete, I will join you as soon as I can. When the Gak'Laan attacked Samantha, I was in my observation lab. While I can transport myself to any place on my world in mere moments, the events of this situation will occur so quickly that I may not arrive until after you've fired your weapon. Do not fear, I will find you." Bett's words were both confident and soothing.

"I hope you're not offended by this," Jack said dryly, "But if I do manage to kill that giant dog in time, I'll probably have other things on my mind besides your whereabouts."

Bett laughed musically and reached forward to squeeze his hand. "Indeed, Colonel, I'm sure you're right." Looking at him fondly, she inclined her head. "Are you ready?"

Jack took a deep breath and nodded. "Ready as I'm going to be," he said firmly.

After one, last examination of Jack and Sam, Bett squared her shoulders and began. Without standing up, she started wordlessly brushing her fingertips against some of the symbols etched in the stones beneath her. After a few seconds, Jack began to feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise again, but this time, from an external current pulsing through the air. Before he had a chance to contemplate the feeling more carefully, something completely indescribable happened.

Entering an active stargate was, by no means, an ordinary experience the first time one went through it. But, by comparison, gate travel was a walk in the park when held up against the completely alien sensations caused by the Ring. Brilliant, white light momentarily blinded Jack, while his ears were filled with an unpleasant buzzing noise. More immediate, though, was the overwhelming feeling that he was being pulled in all possible directions without going anywhere. It was like being on every roller coaster in the universe at the same time, but never leaving the starting gate. And then, just when Jack wondered how long the sensation was going to continue, he felt something suddenly snap into place.

It took him less than a second to get his bearings. He was standing at the edge of the desolate clearing on top of the cliff, staring at the hardened mudflow in front of him. Without hesitation, he pulled his Beretta from its holster and whirled around with nearly superhuman speed.

What he saw took his breath away. Sam lay sprawled on the ground, still panting from her near-death experience on the cliff face. A grey-brown flash of fur was bearing down on her with the momentum of a freight train. Just as the giant dog reached Sam's unsuspecting figure, two things happened simultaneously. The creature roared in victorious triumph, and Jack squeezed the trigger on his pistol. Three shots echoed off the barren landscape in quick succession and, instantly, the creature dropped to the ground.

For the briefest of moments, Jack experienced a wave of sheer panic. The creature was sprawled on top of Sam, who was issuing a wordless cry of pain. In less than two sprinting strides, however, Jack could see that, while she was lying beneath the wolf's full weight, her perfect, porcelain neck remained beautifully untouched.

Hurtling across the clearing, Jack felt sobs of relief well up in his chest. He came to an inelegant stop by nearly throwing himself at her prone figure. Pulling the giant dog's dead weight off of her, he blinked tears out of his eyes and rasped, "Are you okay?"

Sam winced painfully as Jack roughly yanked the huge animal away. "It took a swipe at my ribcage," she gasped, "but I don't think it's serious." Examining the shallow cuts on her chest, she didn't notice the emotional state of her CO. Without looking up, she continued to gently probe the wound as she spoke. "That was some shooting you did, sir. Thank goodness you were paying attention, or I'd have been in big trouble."

With those words, Jack was unable to hold his emotions in check any longer. A sob ripped away from his throat, in spite of his efforts to hold it in.

Sam's eyes instantly flew to his face. "Jack!" she said softly, "It's okay!" Reaching up, she caressed his tearstained cheek with her hand and gazed at him in bewilderment. "There's no permanent damage. I'm really okay!"

Jack shook his head and pulled her violently into his embrace. "But you weren't," he choked out hoarsely. "God help me, Sam, you weren't." Trying not to aggravate her injuries, he did his best to be gentle, but was fairly certain he was doing a lousy job. It just felt too damn good to hold her. He wasn't sure he'd ever let go. "I was too late the first time," he rasped desolately, trying to fight back the great, heaving sobs that threatened to unhinge him.

Sam felt the waves of intense emotion rolling off of Jack and was completely taken aback. She had no idea what he was talking about, but clearly something big had happened. In all of their years together, she'd never seen him in such a state. "Jack… Sweetheart… Slow down. I don't understand. What do you mean, the first time?" She ran her hands gently along his back, trying to console him with her simple presence. When, overcome with emotion, he was unable to speak, Sam held his shaking figure and mindlessly spoke soothing words of comfort in his ear. "Shhhh," she whispered. "It's okay." Pulling back slightly, she took his face in her hands. Looking firmly into his tormented dark eyes, she waited for his full attention before continuing. "Jack," she said once he was focused on her, "Please calm down and tell me what's going on. You're frightening me," she said simply.

Seeing the truth of her words reflected in those wide, blue eyes, Jack wiped the tears from his face and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, Sam," he whispered. "I didn't mean to scare you. It's just…" Trailing off, he tried to formulate a good explanation for their bizarre situation. As his mind wrestled to find the right words, he found himself completely distracted by how perfect it felt to have her once again sitting in front of him, full of life and warmth. Without giving the impulse a second thought, he swiftly leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers hungrily.

Sam felt the unbridled, desperate passion in his touch, and reacted to it instinctively. This she understood. No matter what else was going on inside her lover's head, she never doubted these powerful feelings for a heartbeat. Eagerly running her hands along his muscular chest, she began undoing the buttons on his shirt with wild enthusiasm.

As soon as he felt cool air against his bare chest, Jack suddenly tore his mouth away from Sam's and gently grabbed her wrists with his hands. "Carter," he gasped roughly, "we can't do that now."

Sam looked up at him in muddled confusion. Blue eyes still clouded with desire, she blinked uncertainly. "Why not?"

Without breaking their gaze, he smiled gently. "Because there's a small blue woman standing to our left, and I'm pretty sure we don't want an audience."

A/N: Better now?