AN: Longer part here, in which you will finally discover what's going on. Well... sort of. :) Please R & R!

Chapter Three

He was wide awake, but he didn't know why. It never took more than a second for Jack to get his bearings. He instantly remembered the device, Carter's inability to leave it alone, and the distance between them and the rest of their team. His eyes cracked open, knowing that if Carter was right there, that it was only his turn for watch and not something bad waking him.

And she was. She was leaning over him, one eyebrow cocked, and an almost obscenely seductive smile on her face. He shook his head. There was something so very wrong with the predatory look in her eyes.

He sat up, carefully keeping as much distance between them as possible. She seemed determined to make it difficult for him and leaned over, resting her hands on his thighs. "Carter?"

Her startled squeak caught his attention. Not just because it was Carter and she was squeaking, but because it hadn't come from her. Carter continued to watch him in a way that made him quite glad he'd sent Teal'c and Daniel away. Daring to look away from her, Jack sought out the location of the squeak. He tried to focus on figuring out what was going on with Carter's voice rather than what was going on with Carter's body which was quite definitely leaning closer.

As soon as his eyes fell on the source of the squeak, Jack jumped to his feet, putting a good ten feet between him and Carter and, well, Carter.

"Carter?"

Both women looked at him.

"Um, wha-"

The squeaking Carter was crouching on the far side of the device. "Sir?"

The Carter who had been trying to crawl into his lap sat back on her heals and looked down. "I don't know, sir."

Neither woman was approaching him, but he felt compelled to back up a few more steps anyhow. One of the women was Carter, he was sure, but he wasn't sure what the other one was, nor which one was the other one. His first semi-conscious impression of Carter trying to crawl into his lap could easily have been confused with a very frightened Carter trying to wake him up without alerting the other creature.

He reached for his radio and prayed Daniel and Teal'c weren't out of range. "Daniel? Teal'c?"

Teal'c's voice sounded through, although the crackling revealed his distance. "We are endeavoring to return. Daniel Jackson was quite insistent that we return as soon as our mission was completed."

"Well, there's good news and there's bad news." He paused a moment, allowing his need for drama to be fulfilled. "The good news is that we figured out what the device is."

"Seriously? What? What is it?" Despite what had to be utter exhaustion, Daniel still sounded excited as a kid on Christmas.

Jack looked at the Carters and grimaced. "Actually, there's the good news of knowing what the damn thing does and then there's the bad news and then there's some really good news." Both Carters glowered at him for his statement.

"O'Neill, what is the purpose of the device."

"It's an ancient Xerox machine." The Carter who'd tried to climb in his lap giggled at his words and the other one glared at her. It was kind of creepy.

"Xerox? Like in copies?"

"That's what brings us to the bad news. It makes really good copies."

Still not getting the idea, Daniel sounded annoyed when he responded. "How is that bad?"

"That makes it very difficult to tell which is the original." Jack studied the women's faces, hoping there'd be something that would give him a clue as to which was the right one. But there was nothing - they were identical.

"Jack?" Daniel really wasn't catching on to Jack's nonexistent clues.

"The really good news is that there are two Carters now."

Jack stared at the radio, angry at the dead silence that answered him. "Uh, Teal'c? Daniel? Still there?"

Teal'c answered after another long pause. "We are here, O'Neill."

"Got anything to say?"

Teal'c annoyance was reflected in his voice. "You are mistaken. There is only one Major Carter; I give you my personal assurance."

Jack watched as both of the Carters cracked an amused smile. "And I assure you that there is a Carter and a copy of Carter and I can't tell you which is which. Hurry back."

He released his radio and dug a marker out of his pack. Then he looked at the Carters. "Ok, you first." He pointed at the one who was on the far side of the device. "Come here." As soon as she was within reach, he grabbed her right hand and painted a giant 1 on the back of it. When he was done, he sent her back and called the other one, the one who'd tried to jump him. It was harder for some reason to get the marker to work on her skin. He pressed harder, feeling the way she winced since her hand was clasped in his. He couldn't help but notice the way her hand felt while he tried again with a lighter touch. As always, he was floored by the light contact, even while he painted a ridiculous looking 2 on her. He looked up, meeting the eyes that seemed bright even in the darkness. The corners of her mouth quirked up the tiniest bit.

"Back over there." He knew it was a bad idea to pull for one of them - the consequences to his mental health would be dire if he was wrong and he didn't imagine the real Carter, if she wasn't the one he was leaning toward, would appreciate it very much. And it could potentially be dire for Carter as well if they eliminated the wrong one.

Jack shook his head, willing his thought process to find a new topic, preferably one that did not involve multiples of his team members. He did not want to even think about what they would have to do before they could go back to having one Carter. He doubted either one of the Carters particularly relished the idea either.

He stared at the two women alternately. It was very strange. He guessed it was something like being drunk and staring at twins. Something about it made his head hurt. They were identical, yet they weren't acting the same. The one he'd labeled 1 was staring at the ground, kicking her boot at something he was pretty sure wasn't actually there. The other one - the first one he'd seen when he woke up, the one his heart had deviously and insidiously decided was the real one - was sitting down, resting her chin on her knees and stealing glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

He could easily believe Carter choosing either option, possibly because he was looking at Carter having chosen both options. Carter 1 was the one who'd been crouched behind the machine when he'd woken. Carter - back when there'd only been one which already seemed like a wonderful, if distant, memory - had been in the same place when he went to sleep. The one that had woken him in the first place, however, had woken him in an attempt to seek his help. The original Carter certainly wouldn't have continued working on the device nonchalantly while it copied her. Of that much, he was sure. He tried to convince himself that was the only reason he believed it to be her, but his heart was swearing up and down that he somehow just knew.

Rather than reveal his preference, he just stared at them. And in a completely uncharacteristic move for Carter, both of her stared right back at him. They both looked annoyed, which Jack could easily understand. Carter would absolutely be royally pissed off that he didn't know which was the real one. Unfortunately, the copy had arrived at the same conclusion.

"Holy crap." Daniel's voice startled Jack, not only because Jack hadn't realized he'd been staring at the twins for quite so long, but mainly because it was simply not something Daniel often said.

Jack turned to his friends, trying to feign such coolness that everyone would promptly forget that he'd just jumped a foot in surprise at Daniel's voice. "Yup." He glanced at Teal'c, who was mesmerized by the Carters. "Told you so."

"I offer my apology, O'Neill." Teal'c reluctantly nodded at Jack. "There are indeed two Major Carters."

Daniel dared to approach them, leaning in to examine their faces one at a time. "No, Teal'c, there's only one Sam and there's one copy. The difficulty will be in determining which is which." He swallowed hard. "Like Jack said."

Had the situation not been quite so frightening, Jack would have gloated for months over Daniel's comment.

Daniel reached out, poking the first Carter in the shoulder. She glared at him and he immediately retreated to Jack's side. She seemed to have developed a penchant for glaring rather than talking. "Do they both speak?"

Both Carters glared at Daniel, who shrank back until he was closer to Teal'c.

"They both speak, Danny. I think, however, they are both so angry with me at this moment that words are failing them." He dared to watch the face of the second Carter. "At least, the real Carter is very angry at me. I don't much care what the other one is feeling." He had rarely seen such fury on Carter's face and, when facing twice that fury, Jack was starting to think Daniel had the right idea in backing away.

"What reason do they have to be angry, O'Neill?"

Carter 2, Jack's pick for the real one, stood up and folded her arms across her chest. "Could it be the way you're all staring at me? Or how about the fact that none of you can tell that I'm the real one?"

The first Carter shot the other one an evil look. "Or maybe I'm just a little annoyed that you're even contemplating the preposterous idea that she is the real one."

Daniel looked confounded. "Maybe the copy doesn't know she's a copy." He seemed disappointed.

Jack glared at Daniel because it was easier than looking at Carter angry times two. "I'm so sure the copy would just fess right up, Daniel. Did it occur to you that maybe she does know and she's lying? It's kind of frightening to imagine what a deceitful, non-human version of Carter might be able to do." He hadn't realized the truth of his snide remarks until he voiced them. Feeling particularly helpless, he looked at the Carters. He hoped to find one of them looking guilty or scared or worried.

Instead, they both looked rather smug, as though she'd been waiting a long time for someone to notice how very smart she actually was and how lucky they were that she wasn't the type to go off on a power trip and wield her superior intelligence over all of them. At least she was on their side for the time being. Jack sighed and thanked his lucky stars for small favors.