Jack and Charlie drove up to the blue house and parked. They were both nervous about their latest mission: catch Sara up to speed about the Stargate program, Jack's life, and Charlie's descension.
"So, Dad. What's the plan of attack?"
"I don't know, son. I've only seen your mother twice since the divorce, the time that you…possessed Sam and… well, the other time is…well, that's a long story."
"Don't worry, Dad. I know the story."
Jack looked at the house; it was the same one that he and Sara had lived in for their entire married life. Now, he thought that he could just waltz in and bring Charlie back into their lives and expect not to hurt her again? Not likely.
"I think I should warn you, Charlie, it's not going to be pretty."
"I know."
"Well, let's go." He said, opening the car door and locking it with the remote on his key chain.
Father and son walked up the steps to the house and rang the doorbell. Charlie looked around the yard. It looked the same as it had when he'd been alive. "She didn't change anything, did she?"
"I guess not."
Sara opened the door and was visibly startled to see her ex-husband on the front step. "Jack."
"Sara. Can I come in?"
"Why?"
"I…well, we…have some things to talk to you about."
She glanced at Charlie, but didn't let on to knowing anything about who he was. "Okay. I have to go in a few minutes, but…come in."
The men walked in, and Jack cleared his throat. "Sara, do you remember what happened the last time we saw each other?"
"You meanwhen Charlie was possessing your second-in-command?" She asked, wearily.
"Well…yeah, but I was really talking about the other time."
She almost started to tremble. "Oh…that."
"Yeah. Do you remember anything about a stargate?"
She nodded. "You…well, he- whoever he was- said that he needed to get back to the Stargate. At first, I thought it was a load of bull, but…" Her eyes sparkled with a newfound curiousity. "What's this about, Jack?"
"In my missions with through the Stargate, I have encountered a race of beings on a higher plane of existence. They're called Ancients- actually, we call them ascended beings."
"Okay." She said, cautiously.
"For humans like us, we have to die to achieve this higher plane of existence."
"Die." She said, nodding with reservation.
"Yeah. I know it sounds insane and I probably wouldn't believe it myself, but I have a friend who has kinda made a habit of dying, ascending, and in essence resurrecting, so...I'm a believer."
"Resurrecting."
"Dad…" Charlie said, impatiently.
Sara's eyebrows were drawn together in an interested, yet skeptical look.
"Sara, when Charlie died, he became one of these ascended beings."
"Jack, have you run off and joined a cult? I mean, if you have, that's great, but…don't try to convince me that this load of bull is the truth, okay?"
"Mom! He's telling the truth. And…since he's decided to take the scenic route to telling you why we're here. I came back. My work with the ascended people wasn't as fulfilling as the work that I saw Dad doing. So, I came back."
She gulped.
"I know. It's hard to believe. And when Samantha told me that this was Charlie, I almost jumped down her throat too. But the thing is, this is Charlie."
She looked at the eighteen year old standing beside Jack, scrutinizing him as though he were an intruder into her home, demanding to be trusted. After all, that was exactly what he was doing, except that he was demanding entrance to her heart- not just her home. "Charlie?"
She could see the features that had linked him to Jack and those that had linked him to her own family as well. She could see things that had lain dormant in his features as a boy and yet emerged in his…rather sudden maturity.
"Yeah, Mom. It's me. Baseball loving, trouble-making me."
Tears slipped from beneath her eyelashes as she walked toward him in an effort to embrace him. "I've missed you so much."
He tightened his grip around her. "I've missed you too, Mom."
After what seemed to be an eternity, she stepped away from him and wiped her eyes. "So, you're here to what?"
"He's in the Air Force- civilian consultant. He'll be working under my command."
She looked at Jack, shocked. "I didn't think that was okay."
"There are no promotions involved with this and I've proved to the Air Force One that I can be objective in risk assessment. Besides, he's not under my immediate command. I'm just commanding the facility that he's working in."
"So…you're a colonel, still?"
He shook his head. "Brigadier General."
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh. Congratulations. You must be very proud."
He gave her a tender look. "I am."
"Dad has a few more things that he needs to tell you." Charlie said, eyeing his father, though he was speaking to his mother.
"Okay?"
"Sara, I…I got married again."
"To Samantha Carter."
"Yeah."
She smiled. "I'm glad. She'll make you very happy."
"She does."
"And Mom has some news for Dad."
Jack and Sara looked at Charlie. "News?" He asked his ex-wife.
"Well, I was going to call you, but I can never reach you…"
"Mom!"
"Okay. I'm getting married in a few weeks."
"Oh." Jack said, almost breathing a sigh of relief. "That's great!"
She smiled. "Thanks."
The doorbell rang. "And there he is. We're meeting with the minister."
"That's great." Jack said, sincerely. It was the first time since he'd seen her last that he realized that they had both healed and gone on with their lives. It certainly wasn't as awkward a meeting as he'd anticipated.
"Well, we better go. But before we do, I just wanted to tell you that Bruce is a great guy, and I know he'll make you happy." Charlie said, giving his mother one last hug before he left.
"Thank you. And…young man, if I don't get an e-mail at least once a week to know that you're okay, I'm going to have to come find you."
He smiled, then turned to his dad. "What's an e-mail?"