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 I: In case anybody was wondering, there is nothing going on between General O'Neill and Samantha and he hasn't confided in anybody.


Chapter Six: Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, It's Off To P7L-886 We Go

The next day

It had taken exactly twenty-two hours and thirty-eight minutes for the dialing computer to calculate a revised address for the mirror's planet of origin, re-christened P7l-886.

There had been some question over who would be in command of the mission there; Jack and Colonel Carter were of equal rank and General O'Neill outranked them both, before Hammond had ended the discussion by placing Jack in charge, a decision accepted cheerfully by Colonel Carter and grudgingly by General O'Neill.

All four Carters were geared up and waiting in the 'gate room a full ten minutes before they were due to depart, along with the three military O'Neills and Teal'c, who after more than two years at the SGC had yet to be late for anything.

Jonathan arrived a few minutes later, having raided the nearest vending machine as soon as he had been told how long they might be expected to survive on MREs.

"Is he always this unpunctual?" General O'Neill demanded of nobody in particular, his tone testy, as the clock ticked down to 0900 and the final member of their party did not make an appearance.

Daniel was slightly breathless when he arrived and took his place with his team, muttering excuses about books he had remembered at the last minute that could prove essential and adjusting his pack, weighed down with the heavy volumes, to a more comfortable position. "Sorry I'm late."

At a nod from General Hammond, Lieutenant Simmons began the dialing procedure and the group in the 'gate room watched as each chevron locked in place, glowing softly.

"Chevron seven - locked."

"That never gets old." The look on Jonathan's face reminded Jack of the expression of wonder his own second in command had worn when she had seen an open wormhole for the first time - right before he had shoved her through it.

Hammond's voce filtered through the microphone. "SG-1, you have a go."


P7L-886

"How far is it to civilization?" Jack asked once the last of their group had stepped through the stargate.

"The UAV found signs of a settlement approximately sixty-five clicks south." Sam told him.

"Forty-five?"

"The stargate mustn't play an active role in their civilization." Daniel winced under Jack's glare. "I'm just saying."

"Okay," Jack sighed, surveying his newly extended team. He was confident that the three military newcomers would have no problems, but resolved to keep an eye on the three civilians. "We should be able to cover most of the distance by nightfall, then we can make camp and finish our journey tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan." The irrepressible Jonathan quipped.

Now that the group were all kitted out in green BDUs, it was increasingly difficult for Daniel to tell the O'Neills, and even the Carters apart but to his dismay, nobody else seemed to be having problems.

"Carter, take point… Major Carter." Jack clarified when four faces turned towards him.

"Yes, sir."

"I'll keep you company." Samantha volunteered.

"Teal'c, watch our six… and you, Daniel." Jack added meeting General O'Neill's eye, wanting to show the other man that despite his words of warning, he still trusted his friend.

General O'Neill did not speak against Jack's decision but the half-angry, half-pitying look he gave him before moving ahead to join Sam and Samantha spoke volumes.

"Well then," Jonathan straightened his pack. "To Oz."

"I say that!"


Night

Jonathan sighed wearily as he sat down next to the reluctant fire Teal'c was coaxing into life.

Seated next to him, Dr Carter looked similarly drained by the long hike.

"You two are out of condition." Major O'Neill told them unsympathetically. "Too much time cooped up in your lab."

"I like my lab." Dr Carter objected.

"Honey, if I ever complain about not getting to travel offworld enough, could you smack me?"

"If you'll do the same for me."

It had been several hours since they had last stopped to eat, and Jonathan was so hungry that even MREs looked edible – well, almost.

"Do you think that somebody somewhere sat down and designed these things to make sure that they tasted as bad as possible?" He asked, examining the meal pack as though it contained some kind of alien life form. He wasn't entirely convinced that it didn't.

"They all taste like chicken to me." Daniel said dolefully. "Except for the ones that are supposed to be chicken."

"It's the Air Force, Jackson, not a five star restaurant." General O'Neill snapped, ignoring Jonathan and focusing his words on the younger man. "If you can't take it, I'm sure that nobody will force you to stay."

"That's enough." Jack told his counterpart sharply. "You're out of line."

His reproof had no effect on the other man, who simply rose, MRE in hand and made his way to a fallen log a few yards away to finish his meal.

"What is wrong with that guy?" Jonathan asked.

"He's always been perfectly polite to us." Colonel Carter said, referring to herself and her counterparts.

"Quiet, but nice enough whenever we spoke." Dr Carter seconded.

"Weird." Abandoning his MRE, Jonathan dragged his pack over, unearthing a sizeable stash of candy bars and savoury snacks. "Anybody want some real food?"


A few hours later

With so many people, the night watch had been divided into hours rather than the usual two-hour long shifts.

Despite the fact that none of them had enjoyed the day's hike, Samantha, Jonathan and Dr Carter had all objected strenuously to the suggestion that civilians be exempt from watch duty.

It had been a point of principle for them, especially after Major O'Neill's suggestion that lab work had left them out of condition.

General O'Neill was sitting, surveying the area with an eagle eye when a hand on his shoulder made him jump.

"Sorry." Samantha said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"That's alright."

"It's my watch now."

"Would you mind some company? I'm not ready to sleep just yet."

"Of course not." She lifted a thermos. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Thank you." He gave her a slight smile as he accepted the cup. "There hasn't been a peep so far."

"That's good to hear." She sipped her coffee silently for a few minutes before speaking again. "What happened to her?"

"I beg your pardon?"

She looked down at her hands, running a finger over her wedding and engagement rings. "I was married." She said softly. "He died less than two weeks ago."

"I'm sorry."

"We've been discussing what happened, trying to work out what happened, why we were the ones pulled through when the mirror was broken and one thing that we all agree on is that since Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter were the only ones close enough to the mirror when it broke to be affected, it pulled in counterparts from four different realities. If it had stayed on any longer, who knows how many of us would be here." She stopped, taking a deep breath. "No Jack O'Neill was taken here from my reality, because there wasn't one there to take any more."

"And no Sam Carter came from mine." He finished for her.

"And you look like I felt when I first got here… like I still feel."

"We never intended for it to happen." He said quietly. "With the regs, and everything. But after Antarctica, it just felt so right. Only Kawalsky and Jackson knew about it, maybe Hammond." He gave a humourless chuckle. "Nothing much gets past that man."

"Sounds like the General Hammond in my world."

"We didn't find the mirror in my world, it's probably still sitting on P3X-233. When we first met the Tok'ra, they were able to tell us about Apophis' plan to attack Earth, and give us the information we needed to stop it. Martouf even volunteered to come along and help us." He swallowed a mouthful of coffee, not caring that it was barely warm by now. "We split up; Martouf sabotaged whatever ship's systems he could get access to, Kawalsky and I tried to grab Skaara and Sam and Jackson were planting C4 all over the ship." His expression darkened. "Jackson dropped a block of C4 and the noise was enough to alert a couple of serpent guards." He laughed bitterly. "But he wasn't the one they found."

"Oh God!"

"He left her behind." His voice was hard. "He let them take her. He didn't even radio the rest of us, I didn't know until we met at the rendezvous point, a few minutes before the ship blew. The rest of us were able to escape through the stargate but Sam…" He brushed impatiently at the tears forming in his eyes. "Hammond resigned not long afterwards, recommended me to take his place. I wouldn't work with Jackson anymore, he was removed from the program." He drained the rest of his coffee, grimacing at the taste. "We found out later that Apophis had escaped and, God forgive me, I hoped that he had taken Sam with him." He saw Samantha suppress a shudder at the thought of being held prisoner by the Goa'uld who had come so close to destroying her world. "I know. I tried to believe it, to convince myself that as long as she was alive, there was hope, that I could get her back. I nearly succeeded. Then I came here and I knew. She's dead."

"I'm sorry." Even to her own ears, it sounded foolish, inadequate.

"I know." He didn't say anything else.

There was nothing else he could say.

TBC.

Author's Note I: I was originally going to wait longer before revealing General O'Neill's story, if I ever did but since people seemed to want to know sooner than later, I put it in this chapter instead.

Author's Note II: I know that technically the mirror probably shouldn't have made a distinction between living and dead people, but I wasn't going to have a pair of corpses appear in the lab when the others arrived.