Maternity Leave

"Ripple Effect"/Alternate Reality "Fourth Horseman"

Sam/Jack pairing and Daniel/Janet pairing

Dr. Janet Fraiser walked into the lab. She was shocked to find eighteen Samantha Carters in the same room. She could almost feel the brainpower around her. She had to laugh when one of the Carters walked around, offering coffee to all of her counterparts.

One of the Samantha Carters was talking to one of the others, and turned as she saw Janet walk in. Her face went pale, and she hurried to the door. "Janet?"

"Hi."

Sam was so shocked to see her. "Janet, you're…"

"Dead? Yeah, Daniel told me already."

"You saw Daniel?"

"And Teal'c. But they never told me where General O'Neill is."

Sam smiled. "He's in Washington. He was appointed as the Head of Homeworld Security."

"Our General Hammond…"

"He retired recently in our reality."

"Ah." There was a brief moment of awkwardness as Sam tried to comprehend the fact that her best friend was standing right in front of her. "So, is there anything going on between you and…"

Sam chuckled. "Only you would ask that question."

"So?"

Sam motioned for her to get out of the crowded lab. "Sorry, I was starting to get a headache. One of the other Samantha Carters went to MIT. She is spending all her time telling me that I was missing out. On what, she's never been able to convince me of, but…I can only guess that it's the Royal Geekdom."

"She's the one with the glasses?"

"Uh-huh."

"So, about you and…the absent General?"

Sam smiled. "You're not going to give up, are you?"

"No."

"All right. Before Jack moved to Washington, the team went up to his cabin to go fishing…well, you know…"

"Sam, I'm begging you to give me the details!"

"All right. We're sort of…dating right now."

"As in, you'd like to be engaged, but you're not sure how people will view that?"

Sam turned an embarrassed look to her friend. "You…well, I just got out of a relationship, and, I'm not sure that…this is a good time to say anything about…us."

"You're still worried about regulations, huh?"

"Sort of."

"Don't be. This is your one chance at life."

"So, what about you?" Sam asked, changing the subject. "Are you seeing anybody?"

Janet sobered up. "I didn't realize how hard it would be."

"What?"

"Daniel and I…"

"Ah."

"Well, then, I saw your Daniel, and…"

"He still secretly blames himself for your death."

"I noticed."

"Yeah, well…"

"He did that with Sha're, and Sarah, and now me."

"Yeah."

There was a long silence while the two women contemplated the vastness of the universe.

"I need to get back if I'm going to find a way for you to go back to your world." Sam said.

"Yeah…go ahead."

"But first, who did I…get involved with? Martouf already told me that it wasn't him…"

"Unscheduled Off-World Activation!"

She ran off, and Janet got an idea. A wicked idea.