Sorry! It's been ages since I last posted a chapter for this one! Thankfully I managed to (finally) unstuck this chapter. Hopefully, now I can write the next one faster

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter XXVIII

March 26th, 2004

P3X-O72

Daniel walked towards the library he had spotted earlier to claim the one settee which seemed comfortable until the time for the meeting or sleep arrived. The second one, he knew, wasn't going to happen quickly, since according to his internal clock he had at least half of the day to go. The first one, though; he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Jack talked with half of the base staff before all the people on base had retired to bed. By their answer, it seemed that when the project failed to find all the scientist and crew to continue with it, the bright minds already living there decided to keep the base as ecological as possible, and as a result, the facility entered a power-saving mode. The only warmth place was what they defined as 'the living area.'

A few of the scientist offered a solution of sorts, they could meet in a room if they wanted, but the scientist didn't recommend it since the rooms weren't exactly spacious. Their other option was the library which unless they decided to do a sitting in a circle on the floor kind of meeting, it was too small to fit them all.

After the results of Jack's questioning had returned the same answer, they searched for Doctor Magnus and her party. They found her and half of her team in a lab, surrounded by computers and things he didn't remember seeing there before. She acknowledged them before she turned around, and Jack announced the news.

Doctor Magnus mysteriously smiled before she started to pack her things, and then she added a 'very well, then, I shall retire to bed,' in her odd accent he was sure he hadn't heard before from another person but her even if he had met a lot of British people during his career. Anyhow, one by one, everyone ended up turning towards their rooms as the warmth started to sweep away from the other areas.

Daniel shook his head, he had attempted to remain in his room to see if he managed to sleep out of sheer boredom, but he couldn't. Ceiling watching wouldn't work that night, and that was the reason why he had decided to find something to distract his mind. Indeed, the last thing he imagined was that he would be sharing the small library with anyone which made him stop dead on his tracks as he noticed the lights were on.

A frown took ownership of his facial expression until a thought occurred to him; it was probably Sam as she was worse than him on the no sleep department. But when he opened the door and entered the space, he had to look twice. On his, about to be claimed, spot, he found Doctor Magnus seated with her legs curled under her body and a concentrated look on her face. Something told him she knew he was there, in the same way, Sam always did.

"Doctor Magnus? I thought you retired to bed?" Daniel finally managed to ask. She raised her eyes and lowered the folder in her hands and smiled.

"Once you come of age, Doctor Jackson, one understands there's a difference between retiring to bed and sleeping. I'm very fond of the first one. Alas, the second one is always a bit harder to achieve," she untangled herself and smiled at him again. "I'm quite confident you were looking for this particular spot, Doctor. I assure you that even if your Colonel considers me dangerous for some reason, I believe you know that I don't bite," then she grinned mischievously, "at least, not if it isn't required."

"Huh," he blushed as she patted the place beside her. "I…"

"Come on, Doctor Jackson. I promise I'll try to behave. I was educated to be a proper host, and that means I can act the part in social situations," Helen grinned charmingly.

"What I don't get is, what are you doing here?" He asked, and she raised an eyebrow, moving the folder in her hands. "I mean, you could be reading in your room." He added while perusing the library in search of something to read.

"Yes, I attempted it. The light in the room I'm at isn't the best for reading, and I found this folder you gave me to be particularly interesting. However, I was overstraining my eyes on a bad light," he frowned, she smiled, "I have far too much of experience of candlelight reading."

"Ah, your exploratory side?" Daniel asked, not quite sure if he would get an answer or not.

"Something like that, yes," Magnus answered vaguely bringing the folder back to reading position. She smiled fondly, remembering that her passion for reading was one of the things that made Nikola invest his mind and time into creating a better power system which could help her to read more and him to work more. Not knowing what exactly was going on in her mind, Daniel looked at the folder in her hands, he had given them plenty of information to keep her occupied by General Hammond's, and possibly the President's, orders.

"Which one is it?" Daniel wondered. She seemed on a talkative streak, so he kept asking.

"Your take on Jaffa culture," Magnus lowered the file again and tried to keep the knowing smile out of her face. She had learned a long time ago that the best way to avoid a question you don't want to answer was to give more information you didn't mind sharing.

"You know? I find quite interesting that your depiction of their Kel' no'reem habit finds quite similar roots to what the Buddhist have explained about their transcending meditation; although, Buddhist seek it for illumination purposes rather than for healing. However, they believe that only an equilibrated human can reach illumination and while in the search for it, one can heal oneself by pure will," the frown on his face told her she had managed to distract him.

"Are you comparing the Jaffa's with the Earth Buddhist?" Daniel turned around to watch her with astounded expression.

"I wasn't. You were, subconsciously at least when you described the Jaffa culture along with the explanation of how they were expected to reach the afterlife. I can quote you 'to obtain it; they must be willing to live without their prim'tas and enter an altered state of consciousness, which in turn will allow them to evolve and leave their bodies behind. And thus, becoming an ascended being.' You were explaining precisely the point of seeking illumination, the ability to leave your body behind and 'reach the light.' Well, that's the abbreviated version of the teachings of one of my masters at least." She grinned.

"I never thought about it," he frowned. "Wait, you are already there? That description is around 500 pages in."

"I'm a fast reader, among other things," Magnus told him, closing the folder and observing him. Daniel turned around again, and she knew her attempt had failed.

"Explain me something, Doctor Magnus," Daniel stopped. She nodded once, for him to continue he believed, "for what I gathered, you were searching for Doctors Young and White before they were Doctors and kept them in a path convenient for you."

"Is there a question, Doctor Jackson? Or you want me to expand the reasons why they know what they know and not the whole truth?"

"I would like that, yes."

"I thought so; I will ask you to come closer. I certainly don't want them to learn such truth by overhearing it; and yes, really, you can trust I won't bite you. I'm not a vampire after all," Helen added.

Daniel nodded and walked towards her, and she did something he thought she would never do. Helen turned around and sat with her legs crossed towards the other side, where he was supposed to sit.

"I like to talk looking at whom I speak with, let's blame it on my British roots," Helen grinned. Daniel nodded and tried not to stare. With her sitting like that, it only required a bit of imagination, and he could believe he was talking with Sam. "Sorry, I can't avoid looking like her. I can turn around if you wish even if I would rather speak watching your eyes."

"No, it's okay. Truth to be told you are as much as her as you are different. We've seen closer resemblances," he smiled, remembering all the other Sam's they had faced during the years.

"Ah, should I even ask?"

"Well, you do have the clearance. We had the chance to see parallel dimensions."

"If you have encountered different versions of Samantha Carter; then, I should be not like her at all and yet somewhat similar. Anyhow, if you can take looking at me then, I shall explain what I mean."

"Please."

"Well, I hand-picked both Stella and Francis from their college expertise and nudged them into the career they have. Even if the decision was ultimately theirs, the other choice was good but not quite comparable; people rarely take the less important one or none at all," Helen said dismissively. "Once they took it, I took them under my wings, sort to speak. However, I can keep several things protected and separated from each other at the same time. I taught them everything they needed to know to thrive in their current professions except the complete truth."

"That you are abnormal," Daniel pointed.

"Yes and no. It is a bit more complex than that; and it is not only about me," Helen confessed. Daniel's eyebrows rose, and she chuckled. "They don't know I'm abnormal, because they don't know abnormals exists as a reality. They know about some weird species from the animal kingdom, which aren't your regular brand. However, they don't know about the human-like or humanoid-like abnormals which exist and thrive on the Earth."

"How? How you keep them apart? How you know you have to?" Daniel wondered.

"I presented them one abnormal once, under the guise of it being a rare species. They wanted to kill it."

"And you want to protect them."

"Yes."

"And if they wanted to kill the," he waved, "whatever it was, you couldn't allow them to know the truth since their first instinct was to destroy it."

"Exactly, even if they wanted to destroy it for studying it. I can't allow any species to find that fate; being a guinea pig is not what I wish for anyone."

"Then why did you tell us? I mean, Jack reaction was the same when he first learned about it," Daniel pointed out, and she nodded.

"You'll see, you all have the right mindset, Doctor; regardless of what you all think of me, and despite Colonel O'Neill's words, you all have been trying to protect life in the outside. If you are already doing it out here…"

"You believe we will accept it when back on Earth."

"No, Doctor Jackson. I'm quite sure you all have accepted it. The only issue you are yet to accept is that I exist and for some reason beyond what you've seen, you consider me the most dangerous one. I can assume a few motives for it, and for most, you would be right. Although, the only one that matters, you have it all wrong."

"The only one?"

"That's all I'm willing to say about this Doctor Jackson, is there any other question?"

"Yeah, you were looking for me before. Why?"

"You mean before when I invited you to that conference?" He nodded, "Or before when I pushed Catherine to search for you?"

"What?" he asked dumbfounded. Catherine told him she had reached him because of his book.

"Oh, trust her Doctor Jackson, she probably knows even when you gave your first kiss," a voice made Daniel jump out of freight since supposedly they were alone and he hadn't heard anyone approaching.

"Nikola," Magnus trailed, not looking amused.

"Helen, I was searching for that folder I was working on earlier?"

"William has it."

"Okay then, I leave you to continue with whatever gossip you were doing. Do try to keep your whispering lower," Tesla smirked before he left

"Let me guess, he too has issues with sleep," Daniel pointed.

"Don't we all?" Sam asked, entering the room.

"Sam!" Daniel jumped out of the couch, making Helen roll her eyes as she moved to sit on a much more proper way. "What are you doing here?"

"You mean, besides the obvious reason?" He blushed, "I was looking for Helen."

"What can I do for you, Major?" Helen smiled.

"Ah, you'll see. Colonel O'Neill knees aren't in its prime at the moment. Teal'c is Kel' no'reeming, and Daniel, sorry but you are always too gentle. So, Ashley suggested that you would be an excellent partner for a sparring match. I asked her, but she mentioned she didn't feel entirely comfortable if someone else wasn't present, just in case; whatever that means," she finished enumerating her reasons with a slight frown.

"There's no need to ramble, Major. I will gladly spar with you, and by that Ashley meant she needs someone who can control her since sadly, she can't do it herself. That means, either Nikola or I should be present. However, if you want to spar with her and she probably will be very willing, I can sit while you do so."

"Sam, you can't…"

"I can assure you, Doctor Jackson, under the right environment, Ashley is no more dangerous than a butterfly."

"And yet, the flutter of butterfly wings here could cause a hurricane on the other side of this world," Daniel said.

"It's good that this world is empty on the other side then," Helen smirked. "That's not exactly what that theory is about, Doctor Jackson. Samantha, I will check with Ashley to see if she wants to be your rival. Shall we find ourselves in their gym in ten minutes? I've already wrecked one of my beloved suits this week."

"Sure, go ahead. I'm going to check if everything is ready there. Come with me, Daniel?"

"Sam, why are you doing this?" Daniel doubtfully asked once they were out of Helen's sight.

"What? Asking for a spar? I'm too awake to be asleep, and if I don't do something soon, I might go crazy."

"You? Come on, Sam. I've been with you stuck on several cells along the years; you aren't the one who goes crazy."

"That's different, whenever we get caught, I'm always trying to come up with a plan to escape, which allows me to be distracted and sit still. Now, there's no way to go back until the sun is out and the weather goes back to normal, and we are not in a life or death situation which needs my extensive thinking," she trailed

"You are bored," he summed up for her.

"I am," she grimaced

"Then why didn't you come to find me, we could've found something for you to do."

"Like? I'm all ears, Daniel," She grinned as she stretched.

"Well, I don't know. Something."

"Right, that's why I asked Ashley to spar with me, and she sent me to H," she paused, remembering she was speaking with Daniel, "Doctor Magnus."

"Even after what she did to Ashley?" He asked worriedly.

"It's because of that. Listen, none of them will hurt me. I need to burn some energy and see if, after that, I manage to get at least a couple of hours of shuteye. If it works, then I'll be a happy camper tomorrow morning. If it doesn't, then I will be awake and probably grumpy and running on coffee."

"Okay, if this is what you want to do," he trailed, raising his hands in surrender, "You are old enough to make your own decisions."

"It is, and I am."

"But I'm staying here, and if she hurts you I will intervene," he added warningly. Sam smiled and nodded, thinking to herself that if Ashley barely managed to stop their mother, Daniel had the least chances than she had.

Helen's room

Same time

"I thought you were at the library reading," Will commented when he saw Helen entering their room.

"I was. Until Samantha found me," she smiled at him and walked towards her bag. He lowered the file he was reading and observed as Helen started to unbutton the shirt she had, he grinned.

"You'll better take your mind out of the gutter, you gal-sneaker," she smiled.

"Gal-sneaker? That's new."

"Not exactly, I haven't used that one since my return to the past," she pointed getting rid of her shirt.

"Not new then, but really, gal-sneaker? It does mean what I believe it means, right?"

"If you are thinking about a man very apt to seducing, then yes."

"I ought to learn more about your ancient language, dear," he commented in his awful fake accent, making her roll her eyes. "Why are you getting changed?"

"As I would say in my ancient language: I'm about to shake a flannin," he raised his eyebrow, "Samantha asked me to spar with her, or to observe as she does it with Ashley."

"Is that safe?" He questioned.

"Ashley?" she inquired, chewing her lower lip. He nodded once. "Probably not. However, I'm still able to fight her, and if I can't, then Nikola's still able to fight her full force."

"Even if he must change to reach full force?" He inquired, she sighed.

"If everyone is asleep or pretending to be."

"Huh. Why now?" She rubbed her face tiredly and sat on the bed in front of him.

"That's an easy answer, or I believe it is. Samantha saw what Ashley's capable of, and moreover, she saw what I can take and that made her wonder how much she can handle," Helen explained, a moment of silence settled as she allowed him to think it through.

"Did she tell you that?"

"There was no need, Will. You can come and watch if you want to and try to bring me back if I'm lost."

"She's your," she placed a finger over his lips to stop him.

"Walls always have ears, William," she scolded, he nodded, and she dropped her finger.

"You don't have reasons to hurt her, and you have reasons not to. I don't see you losing it."

"Will you come anyway?"

"Sure. Let me put some shoes on."

The Gym

"This is a small gym," Will commented as they walked inside. It wasn't exactly what he was expecting for a base of the size they described before.

"They didn't finish the real one, and the current power saving grid does not cover it," Daniel explained. "So, they moved part of what they use here. It used to be two rooms; they decided to take down the wall and voila!"

"How do you know all that?" Sam asked

"I was bored, and I asked," Daniel shrugged.

"Curious minds are always in search of something to ask for or learn," Helen smiled. "Of course, they are also not prone to sleep, as we all can attest."

"Ashley it's not coming?" Sam asked with a small frown.

"Ah, she's coming but only to watch," Will explained.

"Oh," Sam added a bit crestfallen.

"Yeah, I don't feel too comfortable fighting with you, even if mom is watching over. I don't know if I will be able to fix myself after," Ashley explained. "I might be if we weren't stuck inside. So, mom, it is. Don't let her deceive you; she has way more experience than I do," she added with a shrug plopping herself on the floor near the mats.

"I don't quite get why they would add a sparing area; they don't look quite like wrestlers to me," Helen added pacing towards the area, Ashley and Sam giggled.

"It's not a sparring area, mom."

"My best bet is Zumba or aerobics."

"Do I even want to know what that's all about?"

"Yeah, no. Stay with martial arts, you are good at it," Ashley grinned.

"If my flesh and blood don't feel like sharing. Then I shall investigate it myself, later. Ready, Major?"

"Sure," Sam answered.

"I believe she's waiting for some form of salute," Ashley provided as Sam started to bounce around not getting any movement from Helen.

"Ah," Sam blushed. "Okay, I can do it," she added, stopping bouncing around, making Ashley giggle.

"You are funny Sam, she was waiting for your attack," Ashley pointed, Sam blushed again, but before she had any chance to say or do anything else, Helen winked at Ash and moved to attack. The major reacted, taking a step back and one to the left and protectively raising her hands.

"Hey!" Sam exclaimed, moving to the side again, "what about saluting?"

"I've never been in a real fight in which people wait for you to salute them," Helen chuckled, "what about you?"

"No," Sam huffed, trying to punch Helen. "With people telling me to stop, yes."

They danced around each other, giving almost punches and kicks and moving forward and backward on what looked like a choreographed dance. For the outside eyes, it looked like they weren't even trying to hit each other until Helen landed a half blow to Sam's stomach making the Major double over.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Doctor Magnus asked, walking closer to her. Sam used the moment and distraction to kneel Helen's stomach. Then, the fight got harder. Sam was trying, and Magnus was avoiding. Blows and kicks kept coming over and over again, Helen blocked most of them, but she couldn't prevent a few, or she would hurt Sam, and with the current speed and momentum, the blow would be a hard one.

"You want to know," Helen told her as she avoided a kick.

"What?" Sam inquired not stopping her attempts.

"How does it work for you," Helen rolled to the side.

"Yes!"

"Then we should stop," Magnus affirmed, making Sam fall in a quick movement she couldn't anticipate. Helen watched Sam from her standing position and placed her feet lightly over the Major's chest, stopping her from moving. "I need you to surrender, Samantha," she added in an almost whisper.

"No, not yet," Sam answered, trying to squirm away from Helen's firm grasp. Helen wasn't budging. Instead, she pressed her feet a bit harder against Sam.

"You have to let it go... for now," Magnus finished, allowing her daughter to be free before walking a couple of steps away. Ashley nodded, and Will let out a breath he didn't know he was holding until then. Sam ran towards Helen, and with a quick grasp, they were both rolling on the floor. Magnus was the first one to get back on her feet, but Sam was up seconds later, rapidly trying to catch Helen with some punches. But, she couldn't; Helen moved away fast enough to avoid the attack.

"Stop yourself, Samantha," she warned again as Sam readied herself to attack again.

"Why?" Sam growled, moving forward. Searching to contact Helen's body as a rabid dog would.

"Don't you see it?" Helen frowned, dodging yet another attack.

"What?!" Sam asked, throwing a forcefully punch. Magnus saw the punch directed to her face and intercepted it with a hand. Then, she used their connection to push Sam toward her body.

"Them," Helen said as Sam fought against her tight embrace. "Are you ready to let them know?" Magnus asked firmly.

It was just the that Sam noticed. At some point during their fight, Teal'c and Jack had joined them, probably for training on their own. Nevertheless, they were closely watching the battle between mother and daughter. Sam panicked.

"No," Carter accepted. Smiling, Helen released her from her embrace. "But," Sam squinted, "I want to know," she pleaded almost pouting.

"Then, once we finish at the SGC, come back with us. We can test your limits in a safe environment. Unless you are ready to let them know, in which case, we could arrange another spar. You can use Nikola and me as your measurement tools."

"What about Ashley?"

"Ashley can be too much for any of us. For that, you will need to control your healing too. Let's save Ashley as your final test," she finished with a smile, before walking away. "Colonel O'Neill, Mister Teal'c, she's very well trained."

"Indeed, she is," Teal'c admitted making Sam blush. "So are you, Doctor Magnus."

"I had time to learn," Helen commented mysteriously. "Well, I guess I need another shower and hopefully this time when I go to bed, I'll manage to stay in bed. Good Night."

They waited until the three freaks were out of the gym, before speaking again. Sam was walking towards the door when his voice calling her made her turn around and walk to him.

"Carter," Jack called, trying to concentrate on what he was going to say and not in the way sweat made her skin glisten. Or on how rosy her cheeks were looking. He clenched his jaw trying to sway his mind from the current image of Sam looking even more disheveled than, the day he managed to get his head out of the hole he was hiding in and asked her out for once. Well, for that, he had to find a way to bend the rules.

"Sir?" Sam called, noticing how lost in thought Jack was. She had seen him doing it a few times, and she often wondered what could trigger such a deep concentration, or what was going inside his mind.

"Ah, did she bullied you into fighting her?" Jack squinted at her.

"No, sir. I asked her to spar with me. I found her technique to be quite different when she fought with Ashley, and I thought I might as well use it in my favor. I believe that's not against any rule?"

"No, Carter. It's not. However, you should have told us. What would've happened if she managed to hurt you as she did to her kid?" Jack asked out of concern.

"Well, she would've tended my injuries? She's a medical doctor, sir," she smiled.

"That's not what I meant, Carter." He sighed, and she did too.

"Daniel is here, you know to prevent that. Doctor Magnus brought Will along to do the same. They were my safe-keepers, and even with them here, she wouldn't hurt me on purpose, Colonel."

"How do you know that? You've met the woman for days!"

"Sir, is there anything you want to say to me? Or can I go get showered and jump into bed?" Sam asked, trying not to sound impolite. Carter was holding herself not to cross the line, he was too close to her, and the smell of pure Jack O'Neill was making her dizzy with need. She took a step back, knowing that answering to her body calls would be risky.

"I just want you to be careful around them, Sam," Jack whispered pinching the bridge of his nose, thinking he got it too far and feeling self-conscious after she took the step away from him. "You don't know what they are capable of," he added as he noticed her a bit distracted.

She was listening to him, but couldn't stop her thrill when by breathing deeply, Sam discovered that she could identify Teal'c and Daniel and even the faint remains of William, Ashley, and Helen.

"I know, and I thank you for your concern, Colonel," she smiled, shaking her head. He flinched, and Sam sighed. "I'm a big girl, Colonel. I stood up to the Shavaddai and fought against so-called Gods; why would I need to be more careful of what I already am?"

"The guy from the shavvies was a douche, but he was just a human with a knife. Now for the false Gods, we know how they work, if you can keep yourself away from the hand device, then everything is okay. However, with them, how can we know how we should act against them if we don't know what they are."

"I guess you are partially correct on that, Colonel, but if we don't test the limits, then how are we going to find out if we are capable of defeating them?" Sam asked. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came, so she nodded once before walking past him. "Goodnight guys!"

She walked out of the gym and inhaled deeply once again, smirking, "So that's how she knows when someone is close!" Sam muttered to herself and started to walk to her room. "She identifies them by their smell. Maybe that's how I knew before and just never realized," she shrugged. Sam always knew who was coming, even if sometimes the Major was too distracted to voice it. However, it wasn't until now that she had found an explanation for that ability of hers. "I guess one learns something new every day," she finished opening the door to her room.

"You do realize you were moving faster than the average, right?" Ashley's voice told her as she entered.

"What?"

"You. Were. Too. Fast." She punctuated. "That's why mom didn't try to hit you just to outsmart you."

"Which she managed most times. Wait, what do you mean she didn't try?"

"She stopped trying when you were moving over average; she packs a mean punch without moving fast. Once she's fighting, it's twice as hard or more."

"Can we go back and start this conversation? I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Oh, please. Like you didn't notice the moment mom stopped fighting and started to avoid hitting you," Ashley added with a knowing look, and then her expression changed. "Oh, you didn't."

"That's why I could hit her a couple of times?" Sam asked crestfallen, Ashley nodded. Sam sighed, letting herself fall on the bed. "So, I'm not as good as I thought."

"Hey, you stink. Shower before bed, girl," Ash grinned. "I'm sorry, I know you got your hopes up when you got her, but she's not that easy to get. I'm talking from experience," Sam groaned. "Look, she cares about you a lot, and she knows you are not ready, you don't know how to control your healing, nor you know your abnormal limits. How could she fight you full force? Mom knows you wouldn't be able to mend yourself as quickly as you will when you can control it. She already has enough issues with your Colonel not trusting her to land you in bed by kicking the crap out of you too."

"I guess I see the point."

"Good, go shower." Sam nodded and walked towards her bag, shouldering it she walked towards the bathroom and stopped at the entrance with a frown.

"Hey, if we were moving faster than average," she trailed off.

"They didn't saw you, at least not Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. Doctor Jackson did, but I don't know if he noticed how fast you were moving. He was more worried about you not getting hurt."

"Thanks."

Helen's room.

"Why did you stopped the fight?" Will asked as Helen entered the room, drying her hair with a towel. She turned around to watch him, "Don't tell me because Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c entered. You had her on the floor before they were in the room," Helen sighed.

"Sometimes, you notice too much for your own good," she whispered, kissing him softly.

"I know," he smiled, taking his time to feel the coolness of the silk of her nightgown against the warmth radiating from her body.

"She was attacking too fast and was coming too strong," Helen explained as if it made a lot of sense.

"What?" Will asked startled. Helen took a step back, allowing him to sit at the edge of the bed; and then, she stood between Will's legs, taking the top of her pajama off slowly to show him the parts of her skin that were darkening. "She," he trailed off as he softly trailed the extent of her injuries.

"Yes," she shivered. "I was trying not to hurt her and to do so; I had to let myself being hit. Nothing that a good night sleep won't erase. However, I preferred to be me in the healing process than having her with bruises. I don't think those would come up as a point in my favor the moment we go through medical inspection when we return," Helen smiled.

There was a knock on their door that made them frown in disconcert. Since Helen was on her feet already, she walked towards the door as she donned her blouse and opened it a couple of inches.

"Doctor Jackson?" she asked in surprise by seeing him at her door.

"Ah, can we talk?" Daniel asked, dubiously. Helen nodded.

"Of course, let me put something more decent on, and meet you at the library in a bit, Doctor."

"Oh, okay," he added, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Unless you don't mind speaking in front of William?" Helen asked. He shook his head no, "Give me a moment," she added, closing the door. "Will, can you show him the inside?" she asked him as she grabbed her bag and entered the bathroom.

Will looked at his outfit and thanked he hadn't gotten ready to bed as she was. It made sense to him that she wanted to try and sleep now he had seen the marks marring her skin, but he knew Helen preferred that her choice of short shorts and flowy camisoles to sleep did not go out the room. Will shook himself out of his thoughts as he walked to the door.

"Doctor Jackson," Will greeted the other man, opening the door. He felt a little self-conscious when the Doctor scanned him from head to toes. "She's changing; she will be out in no time. Please come in," Will pointed to the chairs that occupied a side of the room.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," Daniel apologized blushing.

"Ah, you didn't interrupt anything but her preparing for bed. Now, since I still have to shower 'preparing for bed' means she was going to steal my side and use the better light to read whatever she's reading at the moment until I'm done," Will explained with a grin, "what are you doing here?"

"I… we were talking before Sam asked her to fight, and I got a question that needs an answer. I tried to," he stopped as Helen came out of the bathroom dressed in yet another suit. She looked around; they were sitting at the only two chairs in the room. Thus, she opted for the bed's end. "I went to try and sleep, but the question wouldn't leave me alone," Daniel explained. The couple exchanged a knowing glance, but something in the way that Will looked at her, showed her that he was worried about what the archeologist might want to know.

"Ask away, Doctor Jackson; sleep eluded us long enough to put some more distance between it and us."

"When I asked about me, you replied with 'when I searched for you for the lecture? or when I recommended you to Catherine?' I'm wondering," he trailed

"What did I mean by it?" Helen asked, and he nodded. "While I risk to tell you something that I'm might be bound to repeat later, I'm going to answer that one to you, Doctor Jackson. As you already know, the Sanctuary was aware of the reality of the Stargate before the program existed."

"Yes, you mentioned it was a Sanctuary property before it was Langford property."

"Well, I've known Catherine for a long while. When she decided to start working again on the Stargate, she thought she could do it without my help, or without me knowing about it."

"But you knew."

"I did. I also knew it wasn't the first effort made on US soil to try to understand it," Helen added, making Daniel raise his eyebrow. "There was a lot of information pointing the disappearance of Ernest Littlefield to an accident with the Stargate," she said, waving her in dismissal. "When they brought forth the talk about starting the project again, Catherine's was the first name to be attached to it. It made sense, it was her father's work, and her fiancé's work. If someone could make head or tails of their research, it was bound to be her."

"So the project reopened."

"Yes, keeping her in the dark about some data they did understand, they started to plan how to create a way to power it up."

"Sam's project," Daniel offered, making Helen frown. "Oh, Sam was in charge of setting up a way to start the gate and to interface with it. Sam had a theory about the gate; that allowed her to finish the details of the program and supercomputers, even before Catherine approached me."

"I didn't know that," Helen said, sounding aggravated to Will's ears.

"It's something wrong?" Will asked.

"No," she shook herself to try and forget the rage that was building up inside her. Sam's presence as part of the Stargate Project should've raised a few flags with the people who knew her. In spite of that, she never knew Sam Carter until they found each other in the sewers. "I'm sorry, Doctor, you were saying?"

"I know Catherine searched for me due to my ideas. I ended up doing the correct translation and linking the writings around the gate with a star chart of sorts. Although, Sam had figured it out; her software was ready in less than two days because of her suspicions of what they might be led her to program it already, she only needed the final touches. I know she had some personal issues, and that's why she didn't go through with Jack and me the first time."

"It appears I'm not as well informed as I thought I was on that event," Helen smiled sadly. "I was contacted not only by Catherine but by people above the chain of command to let me know the project was starting. I gave them my position about it and what it could imply, but they didn't listen, and the project was rolled out. However, they were doubts about the correct translation of the inscriptions. Catherine called me when she gave up hope and asked me to leave my hiding post and help her with the translation."

"Then why they called me?"

"I was tied up in a mess of my own, and I considered this: if everything went right and at some point, people started to believe that aliens were not something to be hated and killed, then abnormals could stand a chance of being free shortly. If not, then, the long process would be still going. I informed Catherine that sadly, I couldn't be spared out of my issue; and mentioned her knowing a couple of exciting possibilities. Including you."

"Yes, and how did you know about me?"

"Oh, I remember asking the same question," Will added, "She knows a lot about an extended amount of people."

"I knew about you before you were born, Doctor Jackson, and I continued learning about you since the day your parents died," Helen added sadly. "They were close friends and very loving parents,
Daniel's eyes widened, and she smiled. "Yes, I was that Auntie Helen."

"You financed them," he frowned. "How?"

"That's part of the history I will hold, for now. However, I knew your parents taught you how to read hieroglyphs at a very young age, among other things. Anyhow, I followed your career ever since their passing."

"That's why Tesla mentioned you probably know when I got .." he trailed off, and she smiled.

"Yes. What I can say is as your parents and your grandparent before them, you didn't disappoint."

"Until the book," Daniel flinched.

"I own several copies of it; I'm yet to find the disappointing part of it. Maybe I bought the wrong book because, for what I've read, most of your theories were correct," Helen pointed.

"People don't know I am correct. My peers still joke about it every time they see me," Daniel commented

"Yet, you know better," Helen said. "It was your book what made me steer Catherine towards you. She wasn't sure, at first, she thought your ideas were too out of the box, I merely pointed that 'out of the box' was what she needed since not one of her squared minded workers had made any progress."

"Then she came searching for me."

"Yes."

"And the invitation years later?"

"I lost track of you; I don't like losing track of people I care about, and I considered the subject of that presentation could lift your spirits. I know how hard it is to fight the stigma of being the fish living out of the pond. It doesn't matter if you know they are the ones residing in a fish tank," Helen looked at him, noticing the confusion that her words had created. "I needed you to show up to know you were faring well; the subject seemed like something you would approve. Now, if you don't have more questions about this, I will ask you to retire Doctor. I need to sleep."

"Yes, of course," he added still a bit reflective. "It's..."

"You ought to understand, Doctor, that memories are a funny thing. When you remember, you bring forth the last time you reminisced about that the situation and not the first time it happened. That's why details are lost as we try to remember more," Helen smiled.

Daniel was too young the last time she visited, and although he remembered a day with Auntie Helen, the details about her were, at most, blurred. For him, Auntie Helen was all but an almost lost memory from a place in time when he was still a beloved son.

"Goodnight," he added, shaking his head and moving towards the door.

"What's wrong?" Will asked the moment the door closed behind the Archeologist.

"It's," she huffed. "If Sam was in the program, why I never knew about her?"

"Maybe, they thought she was you?" he offered.

"Do we have a radio?" He nodded. "And does Ashley?"

Instead of answering, Will rummaged through one of their bags, throwing a radio towards her when he found one. "Ashley?" she called over.

"Yeah, mom?" Ash answered a few moments later.

"It's Samantha with you?"

"I'm here."

"I just learned you worked on the creation of the supercomputer for the Stargate project," Helen commented.

"Yeah, cool right? I was amazed when they told me I was right on my theories."

"Did you meet Catherine back then?"

"Yes."

"And someone called Ryan Blaine?"

"Yes, why?"

"Ah, nothing. Goodnight, girls."

"Wait, when I met Ryan Blaine, he talked to me as if he knew me from forever. Then he mentioned something about me getting better at pretending not knowing him," Sam explained, and Helen could imagine the frown on her daughter's face.

"Huh, you might be correct, Will," she said to him, chewing her lower lip.

"Catherine told me my USAF file was quite well put together, but it wasn't until she met my father that she stopped looking at me as she knew me," Sam's voice continued. "Wait, they thought I was you."

"It appears so."

"But when she met my father…" Sam trailed.

"She didn't know I had you. There was no reason to believe we could be related," Helen whispered.

"Wait," Ashley interrupted them, "Are you saying that we didn't meet Sam earlier because they thought she was you?"

"That seems to be correct, Ashley," Helen commented, the three women sighed.

"Bloody hell, that sucks," Ashley added after a while.

"Ashley! Manners."

"It is true, mom. Imagine all the time we would've had if you knew about her."

"It doesn't matter, girls. We have time now. Let's rest; tomorrow will be another long day."

"Night!"The two answered.

Helen sat, staring at the wall for a while. Will gave her time to assimilate what she had just learned by disappearing to the shower; when he returned, he found her exactly where he had left her.

"How are you?" Will asked, sitting beside her.

"Not okay," she whispered.

"You are thinking of the what if's," he affirmed, and she nodded. "You know that won't change the situation."

"I know, Will. I know that all too well," she sighed sadly.

He saw the pained expression in her eyes, and he wanted to slap himself. Of course, she knew. She had to live most of her previous life, avoiding making things different. Helen turned around to watch him when silence went out for too long and saw his guilty expression.

"My life choices are not your burden, William," she said. She kissed him softly. "You don't need to walk on eggshells with me. Now, come," she added, moving backward on the bed, "make it better holding me tonight," and that was what he did.