Disclaimer: 'Stargate SG1' and all the characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. As I doubt that the owners would be willing to trade their rights for some magic beans that aren't in any way magical, this is not going to change at any point in the foreseeable future.

Author's Note: A big thank you to everybody who reviewed the first chapter. There seem to have been a couple of problems last time I posted a chapter, so hopefully this one will work out.


Chapter Two: Forks In The Road

"I didn't think that I would be back in your universe again so soon." Dr Samantha Carter-O'Neill, having visited this universe before, had a distinct advantage over the other newcomers. "Actually, I didn't think that I would ever be back. I thought that you were going to destroy the mirror."

"Yeah." Jack looked a little sheepish. "That didn't turn out like planned."

"So I see."

General Hammond had ordered them all to wait for him in the briefing room.

So far, Samantha was the only one who seemed to be in any way comfortable with the situation, but then again, she was also the only one of the newcomers who had experienced an alternate reality first hand before today. One of the O'Neills, a general, if stars meant the same thing in his world as they did in this, stood by the window, a frown creasing his forehead, making no attempt to interact with any of them. Another O'Neill, together with a Carter, both military, sat at the briefing table, conversing quietly and Sam had been cornered by the last of her counterparts, another civilian, who was eagerly interrogating her, presumably about dimension hopping, while the fourth O'Neill - Jack had a sinking suspicion that he was a geek - listened attentively, occasionally chiming in with a question of his own.

"Alright, everybody, listen up." Figuring that General Hammond would soon be back, probably with the rest of SG-1 and, as likely as not, Dr Fraiser in tow, Jack wanted to get one point cleared up. "Everyone got a Teal'c where they're from? Big guy, gold tattoo, snake in his gut." A chorus of nods. "He's a good guy here, a valuable part of my team. Everybody got that? Teal'c: Good."

"If you say so." General O'Neill responded curtly, refraining from pointing out that the other man should address him as 'sir'.

Jack and Sam came to their feel as General Hammond entered, the others following their example after the briefest of pauses.

Hammond sat, acknowledging them with a nod. "As you were."

Forewarned, none of the doubles attempted to throttle Teal'c when he arrived. Samantha greeted him with a smile and, aside from a few scattered nods, none of the others seemed overly interested, accepting Jack's assertion that the Jaffa was one of the good guys and leaving it at that.

If Teal'c was shocked by the fact that there were four times as many Carters and O'Neills as usual, he did a masterful job of concealing it, with a raised eyebrow as the only evidence of his surprise.

Daniel, as usual, was slightly late and hurried into the briefing room, straightening his glasses. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was sitting at the briefing table.

"Whoa!" The archaeologist's mouth was open almost wide enough to swallow the stargate whole.

"That about sums it up." Sam said dryly.

"We hit a bit of a snag when we tried to get rid of the quantum mirror." Jack explained in a would-be casual tone.

"A bit of a snag?" Daniel repeated in disbelief, his wide-eyed gaze taking in the newcomers. He stared for a moment before remembering his manners. "I'm Daniel Jackson, I'm a member of SG-1." He looked hopeful. "I don't suppose I'm involved in the Stargate Program in your realities, am I?"

Although he would never have admitted it, even to his closest friends, it had been something of a blow to his ego to learn that in both the reality he had visited and the reality from which Samantha and the alternate Kawalsky had come, the Stargate program had been able to manage without him.

"Nope." The civilian O'Neill told him cheerfully.

Sam's military counterpart merely shook her head.

Samantha gave him a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, Dr Jackson."

General O'Neill fixed the younger man with an icy glare. "The Daniel Jackson of my world was a part of the program." His response was curt.

"Was?" Daniel was unsettled by the use of the past tense in reference to his other self but General O'Neill did not seem to be inclined to volunteer any further information.

"I'm going to have to consult with my superiors before we decide where to go from here." Hammond addressed the newcomers, bringing them back to the matter at hand. "And perhaps some of our allies will be able to help." Although he had his doubts about whether they would be able to do anything without the mirror, he kept this thought to himself.

After all, they did have something of a record for getting themselves out of impossible situations.


"So you're telling me that in your world Carter's a Colonel?" Jack asked incredulously, gaping at one of his counterparts, who nodded confirmation. "Did she join the Air Force when she was ten or something? So I take it she's your CO." Major O'Neill nodded again. "And what about you?"

The civilian O'Neill grinned in response to the question. "Dr Jonathan O'Neill, at your service." He joked, sketching a mock bow. "Astronomy's my specialty."

"You're a geek." Jack wasn't sure whether or not he should be unsettled by the fact that this didn't seem as unbelievable as it should have.

"Yup." His counterpart didn't even have the grace to be ashamed of his geekliness.

"Fork in the road stuff, I guess." Jack's tone was slightly doubtful. He looked across the table at General O'Neill, who drank his coffee silently, his gaze occasionally drifting to the table a short distance away, where the Carters were getting to know one another. "Anything you'd like to share?"

"No." The clipped refusal was all the response he was prepared to give.

'For cryin' out loud.' Jack thought, looking at the other man's sullen expression. 'Am I that much of an asshole?'

"So," He said, determinedly cheerful. "I take it we all like 'The Simpsons'?"


It was often said that rumours could travel through Cheyenne mountain at a speed exceeding hyperspeed but that, apparently, had not been fast enough to inform the Airman on kitchen duty of the situation.

When he had seen four near identical Samantha Carters troop past him, each armed with a glass of blue jello, the serving tray he had been holding fell to the ground with a resounding clang and he had spent the next couple of minutes doing a remarkably good impersonation of a goldfish.

"This is all fascinating." The counterpart Sam had silently designated 'Dr Carter' spoke excitedly. She had exchanged her suit and lab coat for blue BDUs but her long hair was still pulled back into a loose knot. "I know that according to quantum theory there are an infinite number of possible realities but to actually experience one first hand..."

"It's incredible." Colonel Carter finished for her, her face alight with the same enthusiasm. She sobered, remembering her temporal physics. "But what about..." She didn't need to continue, the other three had all been thinking the same thing.

"Entropic cascade failure." Samantha spoke softly. "Not exactly the most pleasant experience in the world." She exchanged a concerned look with Sam. "It only took a few days last time. If there are four of us here now..."

"I know." Sam shared her fear. "Maybe it won't be an issue." She tried to sound positive. "We could have everyone back in their own reality before it starts."

She hoped.

TBC.