A/N: Okay, as yet unbeta-ed, but i will repost once it is. Oh, and there's slight language in this one, sorry, but hopefully nothing TOO bad.

Sam entered the mountain that day, a barely contained smile across her face. She was positively giddy, on the inside. Any one observing her trek to her lab wouldn't have thought it was different from any other day she showed up for work.

SG-1 was returning to Earth today, and while she was nervous beyond all belief, surprisingly it had nothing to do with the actual mission. No, that wasn't true. It was the mission, just not the extraneous objectives.

She hadn't thought about Laira the entire time they'd been away, mostly because she'd been concentrating on Trish. She'd decided she didn't care what Laira had to say. It didn't change how she felt about Jack.

She was just about to open the door to her lab when the blaring Klaxons stopped her in her tracks. It was still early, way too early for the guys to be coming back, but she headed to the Gateroom anyway. As the resident Stargate expert there was always a chance she'd be needed anyway.

"Receiving IDC," Walter said as she came skidding into the Control Room behind General Hammond. Nobody'd really noticed her yet, so she stood back, hopefully out of the way.

"It's… SG-1? Sir."

"Open the Iris." Walter's hand was reaching for the palm scanner before the General had even started to open his mouth.

Mere moments after the iris slid open, the members of SG-17 emerged from the wormhole followed closely by SG-1, Jack being the last to step onto the ramp.

General Hammond approached through the side doors of the Gateroom, staring directly at his two teams.

"Stand down," he ordered the security teams. "What happened?" They weren't supposed to return until well past 1500. That was still over seven hours away.

He looked over at SG-17 and could tell they were just as confused as he was so he excused them to shower and post mission physicals.

Sam stared down at the men hoping to catch Jack's eye. It didn't take long, he was eagerly searching her out, hoping she would have come to greet them. She saw the invitation and ran down to the Gateroom. There was something there, when she looked at him. A mixture of joy and pain. She could only imagine what could have caused it, but could see how much he needed a hug. She wanted to run to him, but this was the SGC, their place of work. Their eyes connected and he muttered a barely audible, "C'mere."

As she walked into his arms, he smiled and whispered over and over, like it was his own personal mantra, "It's not mine. It's not mine."

Hammond cant his head slightly. "Colonel?" he barked.

Sam jumped, but Jack didn't let go for the time being. He kissed her cheek before releasing her with only one arm and turning to face the General.

The five followed Hammond up to the briefing room where Jack sat between Sam and Sean, Daniel and Teal'c across from them. General Hammond settled at the head of the table and Jack immediately spoke up.

"Sir, Laira brought some… interesting information to my attention." He shifted uncomfortably. Debriefs weren't his favorite things at the best of times, but this was tearing him apart.

"Two boys were brought through the 'Gate by four men not long after I got home. Laira mentioned my name, and it got the older boy's attention."

Jack swallowed, not quite sure he could continue. Under the table, Sam squeezed his knee in comfort, giving him the courage.

"Sir, he claimed to be my son."

"What?"

"Holy…"

"Jack?"

"That is most interesting, O'Neill."

Jack was pale from the emotion and visibly shaking at the thought that some… kid was out there, running around the universe claiming to be his dead son.

"We have to do something, Sir."

"Colonel, I'm not exactly sure what kind of jurisdiction we could possibly hope for. What would you suggest?" Hammond asked, his Texan accent standing out.

"How the Hell should I know!" Jack pushed his chair out from behind him and bolted upright. "Sir, this is my son-"

"Is it Jack?" George knew what he was doing, referring the to the man without his rank. "How do you know?"

"Sir, this is my son they're impersonating. Charlie died, and some whack job's trying to mess with my head!"

"And it looks like they're succeeding."

Jack had his back turned to the table, staring out at the Stargate. It was that piece of technology and his best friend that had brought him out of the depression he could feel trying to inch at his soul. He wouldn't let it claim a beachhead in him again, but it was trying.

"Sir," Sam spoke up softly, excusing herself from the General. She stood behind Jack and laid her hand on his shoulder.

"Jack." He wouldn't turn around to look at her. She could have sworn there was steam coming out of his ears. "There's nothing we can do right now. The trail's over six months old. I want to find out what's going on, just as much as you, but it's going to take a while."

General Hammond spoke up. "Colonel, I can't authorize any official inquiry. There's no evidence of anything other than what Laira has told you."

Sam could see the muscle twitching in Jack's jaw. It was something that happened rarely, and when it did it was significant. His eyes were cold as he stared off at the Stargate, no emotion reflected on his face.

"What if he's not my Charlie?"

Sam retook her seat by General Hammond and Jack could tell without even turning around she'd morphed into "Super Geek."

"It's possible, Sir," she said, looking directly at the General.

"I do not believe it is, Dr. Carter." Teal'c raised his eyebrow.

"If he came through before we found the mirror, it is," Daniel replied.

"Colonel, I will allow your team to investigate this in your spare time. If any of it comes to a head, I will reevaluate the importance of the investigation. Now, how did the recruits do?" Hammond stared pointedly at Jack's back and then glanced to Sean. The young Lieutenant had a slight grin on his face.

Jack sighed and turned to face his CO. "They did fine, sir. Paynan showed SG-17 around the village."

"And Lt. O'Neill?"

Jack let the pain of Laira's words slide off his back and gave just the slightest of smirks. "He's an excellent replacement for Major Carter."

Sam shot him a pointed look, hoping he couldn't see her amusement in her eyes. "Er… not that you're replaceable… or anything, Carter," he stuttered out.

"Okay, SG-1, you're released to the infirmary." General Hammond stood and entered his office, leaving SG-1 and Sam alone.

"Hey, Dad," Sean said, resting his hand on his father's shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

"I know. It'll take time," Jack sighed. Sam gave Sean a confused look behind her fiancé's back. It was not like Jack to just roll over like that. She'd have to talk to him on the way home.

Which was exactly what didn't happen.

Sam hadn't counted on getting the silent treatment from Jack, not that he was purposely avoiding he or anything, she could tell. Nor had she thought he'd ask Sean for a ride home. Jack's truck was at his house, where she'd left it, Sam having given him a ride into work the morning they left. He didn't want his baby sitting out where just anybody could get to it.

When she noticed Sean's car turn right at the end of the road leading down from the mountain, she was hurt and just a little angry. She'd tried to send Rico with him, but the dog had returned to her lab, head drooped and tail sagging. Obviously, he'd received some sort of tongue lashing from the Colonel.

Rico whined when Sam didn't immediately follow the men. She passed the turnoff that would have led her to Jack's and Rico tried to nudge his nose under her arm.

"Not now, Dog!" she snapped. Okay so maybe she was just a little peeved with her fiancé. He was treating her like she was the enemy.

As she pulled up outside her house, she realized just how long it had been since she'd stopped by. She'd been picking her mail up at the post office since she'd unofficially moved in with Jack, and she'd brought a lot of clothes with her so there was no reason for her to go home ever.

Rico dropped his head onto his paws and stubbornly refused to moved from the passenger seat.

"C'mon, dingbat." Sam got out of the car and opened her front door expecting the dog to be right behind her. Not surprisingly there were no messages on her answering machine, since her own message directed calls to either her cell phone or Jack's home phone.

Jack. God, that guy could be such a stubborn ass! What the hell was he up to anyway? She was trying to help him, and the idiot, because temporarily in her mind that's what he was, wasn't letting her.

She wandered into her kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards, not really expecting anything. She pulled an unopened bag of chips, left over from some sleepover with Cassie months before, and headed back into the living room for some quality TV time.

It was then she noticed the front door was still open and Rico was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, his high pitched howling cut through the early afternoon air, the sorrow plain to anyone within hearing distance.

She shook her head and stared at him through the open car door, their eyes locking. The pleading look from the dog almost broke her heart, but the fact that he perked up almost immediately and started wagging his tail cued her into the fact it was just a ploy to get her out there.

"Rico, get inside," she ordered.

"Rouwf!"

"UGH!" She threw her arms up in the air, the bag of chips still held tightly in one hand and cracked a few of the windows to give the dog some air. She slammed the door in frustration and glared at him. "You know how to open the doors, you can come in when you're ready!"

She stalked back into the house, closing the door behind her and flopped onto her sofa. It was official, this day sucked! She should have been at home… Wow, Jack's house was more home than her own was. She was supposed to be glad Jack was home and relaxing on his couch, with him next to her.

In her frustration she drifted off into an uneasy sleep, nightmares plaguing her restless mind.

"Sam! Please help us!"

She turned in place, staring into the cold cement room. There was what looked like a twin bed against one wall, a desk and chair against another, and a bookshelf across the room. She walked up to the desk and looked at the papers haphazardly strewn across the table top. There were multicolored crayons spread over the papers, most were drawings.

The one that stuck out the most, though, was what looked like a picture of a happy family. Three people and a dog stood outside a blue house, one Sam recognized easily as the house in which Sara and Jack had spent a majority of their marriage. She'd been to the house enough times during her friendship with Sara to know it.

The picture was obviously drawn by someone familiar with the O'Neill family. A young person at that, although it wasn't a child. Children, especially little kids had such a short hand stroke that straight lines usually ended up looking slightly curved and stuttery. They had to keep the sides of their hands planted on the paper while they tried to draw their lines. This drawing was more conducive to that of a bored teenager with nothing better to do. The detail might not have been all there, but Sam had to admit it was pretty good.

She flipped the paper over, feeling the slight waxy feeling when she was holding the picture. She was shocked at what she saw once her eyes locked at the sight she held in her hands.

The picture was scribbled, radiating anger and pain, dark black streaks across the sides and top. Of course, it only covered half the paper. The detail in the picture was frightening. There was a young boy lying on the floor, tears streaming out of his eyes. A man was standing in the doorway, his features blurred, almost as if the artist couldn't remember what he looked like.

What caught her eye were the two spots of color. The man's eyes were a striking color of blue, like it was the only part he could remember. It was creepy, Sam felt a shiver down her spine. The boy on the floor had blood streaming out of his… side? The drawing was accurate, the blood wasn't coming from his stomach or chest, but his side.

She was curious as to what would cause the bloody pool the boy was lying in until she saw the gun being thrown at the boy from the man. She hadn't caught that at first glance. The gleam in the man's eyes just proved he was behind it.

The other half of the picture was drawn from the boy's point of view. The edges of the picture were a faded red. The man was standing over him, victorious in his conquest.

Sam felt her heart break at the emotion she felt radiating from the pictures. She dropped it to the table and glanced at the rest of the papers laying there. These were more obviously done by a little kid. There were multiple drawings of stick figures, most a little boy and his parents. A few were just of the parents, chicken scratch reading "Mommy" and "Daddy" under each figure.

She smiled softly at these and felt the hope the artist had wanted when he'd been passing the time.

"We're not here." A sad voice broke the silence and Sam whipped around expecting to see a young man standing there. There wasn't. In fact, nobody was there at all.

"You need to find us. Please."

Sam spun in circles, looking for whoever was talking to her.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know. We were blindfolded."

A banging suddenly broke through their conversation, startling Sam.

"Sam?"

She heard her name being called and felt nervous, almost frightened. She looked for a place to hide, but under the desk wouldn't be too concealing. The bed didn't have low hanging sheets or blankets on it either. She decided to face the lone, locked door head on and deal with whoever came through.

"SAM!"

The pounding was getting louder now. She could see the door shaking in the frame from the force of the blows.

"Sam, please let me in!"

Sam jolted awake as she finally recognized the voice on the other side of her front door. Jack was pleading with her, obviously knowing she was in there. Like Rico sitting in the driveway hadn't been a dead giveaway.

She stormed up to the front door and yanked it open.

"What!" She glared up at him as he stood breathless on her front porch. Rico wiggled his way between them and stared up at his master, wagging his tail joyfully. Of course he was happy, Daddy was there. His new mommy just hadn't understood what he was trying to tell her. Jeez, human's could be so dim sometimes.

"I thought you'd be home when I got there," Jack said, worming his way through the door.

"What the Hell are you doing!" Sam demanded. She planted her hands on her hips and faced Jack defiantly. "You ignore me all day, and then expect me to be there waiting for you?"

"It's not like you've been anywhere else for the past few months," Jack snapped back. He sighed, not quite sure what was happening, and scrubbed his hand over his face in defeat. "I just thought…"

"That you could control my life?" Flashbacks of Jonas popped into Sam's head. She couldn't stand it and let herself fall against the front door. "I thought you were different. What happened?"

Jack was in shock, taken aback by Sam's assumption. His heart broke thinking she may not trust him anymore. He approached her softly and knelt by her side, resting his hands gently on her arms. He gazed lovingly at her and brushed her hair behind her ear.

"I didn't mean it, Sam." Yeah, Jonas had said that, too. "I only though that when I saw you turn left that you were going home. I though maybe something had happened to you when you weren't there. I was scared," he admitted sheepishly. "Trish had to suggest you might have come here."

She lifted her head enough to look into his eyes. She was surprised to see the honesty behind his words reflected in them. She suddenly felt awful for the way she'd acted. "You just left Jack, what was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, I was upset. Everybody, including you, kept telling me to be patient and let this simmer for a while. You know I can't do that!" Jack's temper was starting to flare again, but Rico quickly tamped it down, nudging his nose in between the two of them.

Sam had calmed down enough now to let her logical mind take over and pet the dog, giving him her apology. She knew Jack was no Jonas. That was part of what she loved about him. He'd been to Hell and back and was still sane, as much as a five year old trapped in a 42 year old's body could be.

"I know, Jack. I'm sorry I overreacted. You woke me up from a really creepy dream and I was still a little high strung." Sam grinned awkwardly and grasped the back of his shoulder blades, pulling him into a tight hug.

Jack held her just as tightly, relieved their slight mini-spat was resolved quickly. He pressed a kiss to her head before pulling back just enough to gaze into her eyes.

"Sean said he'd help me," he brought up. "I don't know what's going on, Sam, but we're going to get to the bottom of this."

Sam nodded and kissed him squarely on the lips. "We will, Jack, I promise. Unfortunately, it'll have to be in our off time, but with all of us working on it, it shouldn't be too hard."

Jack let go of Sam and stood up, his knee creaking more than it used to. Yeah, he was too old for that position anymore. The couple moved into the living room and sat huddled close on the couch. It was a comfort they'd both missed over the past few days.

Jack grinned boyishly. "Good. Now tell me about this dream you had."

Sam swallowed nervously and recounted her tail in alarming detail, certain not to leave anything out.

"What was odd, though, was the voice sounded like Sean. Maybe a little younger."

Jack just stared at her, not quite sure what to think. He could understand why she had acted the way she had when he'd interrupted her dream. He felt uneasy just thinking about it.

The room sounded eerily familiar, yet hazy, like something he remembered from a drunken stupor. Or possibly one of the million nightmares he'd had since Charlie's death.

"Hey, it was just a dream," he soothed.

Sam understood what he was trying to do, and was grateful for his attentiveness to her needs. Her needs. Shit. She had to tell him. As much as she didn't want to, he deserved to know.

"Jack."

"Hmm?"

She squirmed slightly in his arms, her eyes fixated on a loose thread in her couch. "Remember that conversation we had at the Cabin?"

"We had a lot of conversations at the Cabin. Which one?" he groaned back in response.

"The one after the decision about kids."

"The 'late' discussion?"

Sam shook her head. "The 'irregular' discussion."

Jack gave her a slightly confused look before understanding dawned on him. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, Jack. Not this month," she whispered. She didn't know how he'd take it.

Jack tried to lighten the situation as he felt his gut clench in disappointment. "So I guess that means not private welcome home party for Sam and Jack?"

Sam snickered at his attempt. She had to admit, to herself at least, that it had worked. She felt a little better. "Well, not exactly. I said irregular. It's already over."

She immediately regretted saying it when hope flashed through his eyes. "Sam, that doesn't mean no."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up." Sam shook her head gently.

Jack cupped her cheek and forced her eyes to meet his. "We have more than one chance to make a baby, Sam. It'll happen."

"This coming from Mr. Patience himself, right?" she laughed, finding the humor in his statement.

Jack just shrugged. "Sure, why not? C'mon, let's get home for an early dinner. I'm hungry. I kinda missed lunch."

A/N: Okay, here's the deal. I didn't even look over this before i posted it, so there's probably A LOT wrong with it, feel free to let me know what you find, or if anything's confusing. I just HAD to post this up tonight as a stress reliever. i spent all day at a bridal expo and man, anybody who knows me knows it was pure HELL! i want the groom's part! Just give me what i'm where, tell me where and when and it's all done! Holy Crap! that and i get claustrophobic in big crowds and there were over 400 brides there, so multiply that by at least 3 and that's about how many ppl were there. GAH! i'm just really frustrated cuz i found hardly anything that i liked. oh well, i put this chapter up in hopes that i'd feel a little better once i did. and guess what, i do. so i hope you like it and let me know what you think!

Oh, and there's just the epilogue left guys! i can't wait!