Thank you SO much for reviewing...I really appreciate it!

To try and make this easier to read, I'm making each section longer so, hopefully those of you who find this confusing to read, will be able to read it with greater ease.

I forgot to do this the last few chapters but Sara Loughlin has been faithfully beta'ing this for me… thank you SO much, Sara!

I hope you like this chapter!


Alternate Reality.

"Oh boy."

The trek from the gate had been uneventful other than her CO's complaints about the sand and Daniel tumbling down a sand dune once. They were at the general location of the Tok'ra base when nearly two-dozen men, dressed in clothing that matched the sand in which they had been hiding, sprang up; zat'ni'katels pointed at SG-1.

"Carter?" Jack asked. "Know these people?"

"Lower your weapons, Colonel," She said. "They're the Tok'ra."

"We mean you no harm," one of the men warned. "But if you make any aggressive movements, we will fire on you."

"Same here," said Jack.

The man gave him an almost friendly smile. "But there are more of us."

"Cordesh," Carter murmured.

Another man stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Carter.

"Martouf!"

Martouf looked at Cordesh who was giving him a questioning glance. "I do not know this woman."

"But I'm right. Martouf, host of Lantash."

"How do you know this?" He asked, not answering her question.

"I was host to Jolinar… Jolinar of Malk-shur."

Jack, watching the Tok'ra carefully, saw him start and pale.

"Where is Jolinar?" Cordesh demanded.

Carter dragged her eyes away from Martouf and focused on Cordesh, the man who betrayed his people in her reality. "She died saving my life in my reality."

"In your reality?" Martouf repeated. "I do not understand."

"It's kind of a long story."

He looked at her for long minutes before saying to Cordesh. "I believe this one speaks the truth. Perhaps we should… listen to what they have to say."

The Tok'ra lowered their weapons at a sign from Cordesh.

"That's better," Jack said. "Now, take us to your leader."

"I will take you to whom you seek," Cordesh agreed. "But there is one condition. You must leave your weapons with us."

"Ah, no," the Colonel replied instantly.

"They won't hurt us, Colonel."

"They're Goa'uld's, Carter."

"They won't hurt us," She repeated. "Remember, I've been through this before."

"O'Neill, if they are the Tok'ra, we are in no danger," Teal'c reasoned.

"If you're asking for opinions," Daniel began, "I vote we take the chance."

Jack frowned. "Okay." He handed his gun to Cordesh. "But I want it understood that we're doing this in the spirit of future relations. I expect us to be treated as such." He warned.

Cordesh nodded.

They were instructed to step forward and were whisked away by the rings.


Our reality.

"SG's 1 and 5, you have a go."

Jack briefly wondered how many times he had said that in his few months in command.

"Several hundreds, sir," Walter said, correctly interrupting his look.

"That was just freaky, Walter."

"Yes, sir."

As the Stargate shut down, Jack headed back to his office and crossed his fingers.

Unbeknownst to SG-1, SG-5 had orders to search the Egyptian temple one last time for the Quantum Mirror.

Everyone seemed satisfied with their 'new' Carter... the Pentagon, the President... even Daniel.

Maybe it was only him... but he wasn't about to give up on his Carter just yet.

Å

Two hours later, on the planet.

"This really looks like the Stonehenge," Daniel marveled.

Sam nodded. "I'm getting some faint energy readings; this could've been a source of power thousands of years ago."

Daniel snapped a photo. "I haven't been able to find any writing on here..." He trailed off and made some more notes. Sam smiled and wandered to the other side. She was looking up at the tall stones when Teal'c called her.

"Major Carter."

She looked over atthe Jaffawho was looking through his binoculars.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know precisely the location that the UAVwas before it returned to Stargate Command?"

"Yeah. It stopped here."

He gestured for her to come closer. "Perhaps you should take a look, Major Carter."

Puzzled,Sam accepted the binoculars and gazed through. About half a mile away, an enormous building loomed.

"That's big."

"Indeed."

"Think we should check it out?"

He inclined his head.

"Daniel!" She called. "C'mon, we're going!"

The archaeologist looked up. "What?"

"We need to check this place out... come on!"

Daniel obviously wanted to argue but at a look from Teal'c, he trudged along without a word. Once they reached the building, they were stumped for a moment- there was no door. After half an hour of searching, Daniel accidentally found the door when he stepped onto a mat which triggered the opening. Without a backwards glance, he hurried in. Sam followed him in and then promptly pulled off her sunglasses.

"Hello…"

They were in a large, dark hall. Doors were every few feet with plaques on them. Daniel read the first one. "It's Latin… Scientific Artifacts."

"What?" Sam questioned.

Daniel ignored her and plunged down the corridor. "Um, this one says Alien Planet Research, this one says Alien Greenhouse, and this is… Alien Flora: Experimentation…" He was quiet for a moment. "Alien Artifacts, Alien Research, Alien History…" He looked at her. "Sam, this entire building is dedicated to off world research!"

"Okay, now we've got to be hallucinating," The Major said looking around. "I mean, the likely hood of this happening is-"

"Not as small as you think. In fact, we have several of these stations throughout this galaxy." A man said, stepping out of the room at the very end of the hall. "Welcome."

Daniel hurried towards him. "Hi, my name is Daniel Jackson," He gestured to Sam. "This is Major Samantha Carter, our leader, and the tall one is Teal'c."

The man bowed. "I am Remus. I oversee the Alien Artifact Retrieval Department."

"What is this place?" Teal'c demanded.

"A scientific, archeological, and cultural site."

"That's great!" Daniel cried. "I'm an archeologist, and Sam's a scientist."

"And you?" Remus asked, looking at Teal'c. "You are Jaffa, are you not?"

"Indeed."

"We have studied your race, but not closely. We prefer to study ancient cultures." He looked at Daniel who was obviously itching to ask if he could have a look around. "Would you like a tour?"

"Yes," answered the archeologist. "We would… right Sam?"

She hesitated. Remus looked harmless, but they had been fooled before. Giving another look at Daniel, she saw how much he wanted to do this. "We'd love too."


Alternate Reality.

"Garshaw," Carter greeted. "Thank you for meeting with me."

The woman nodded.

"I'm Colonel Samantha Carter of the Tau'ri. Over six years ago, I was host to a Tok'ra for a few days… Jolinar of Malk'shur."

Jack watched with more surprise and a hint of jealousy as Martouf once again stared at his second-in-command with longing.

"Jolinar does not currently reside in you?" Garshaw questioned.

"She died," Carter said softly. "Saving my life."

Garshaw nodded. "I-"

Martouf stepped forward and whispered something into her ear. Garshaw looked startled.

"Martouf tells me that you claim to be from an Alternate Reality?"

"Oh boy," She muttered. "Okay… there's this device called a 'Quantum Mirror'. If you activate it and touch it, you'll be transferred to an Alternate Reality, simple, no?"

All the Tok'ra looked a little dubious.

Carter sighed. "Okay, this is a long story."

In a few brief words, she sketched out how Daniel had first discovered the mirror and had been sent to an Alternate Reality. Barely touching on the Alternate Sam, she then described on her own transfer to this Reality and eventually finding out that she was unable to return herown Reality.

"In my world, we, the Tok'ra and the Tau'ri, are allies against the Goa'uld. In my reality, the Goa'uld are falling, one by one. We and the free Jaffa are working together and are eliminating them from our galaxy."

Carter kept her face straight, knowing she had 'embellished' her sentence. The Tok'ra didn't know that.

Garshaw bent her head and let her host, Yosuf, take control. "So, you came here to seek an alliance?"

"Yes," Daniel answered. "We did."

"We have heard much of SG-1 and their many… adventures, shall we call them? Not only defeating Ra, but also Sokar, and Hathor," Yosuf said. She bent her head again and Garshaw spoke again. "But the Tok'ra have operated in secrecy for thousands of years… if we were allies, you would only endanger-"

"Forgive me for interrupting, Garshaw, but that isn't entirely accurate. The Tau'ri have never revealed any of the Tok'ra's secrets… not even under torture."

She was silent for a moment. "I will speak with the Council of the Tok'ra and I will see what I can do."

She left; followed by the majority of the Tok'ra, Martouf and two others remained. As in her reality, Martouf asked her for a walk on the surface.

"I don't think so," came Jack's answer. "You're a Goa'uld, Marty."

The Tok'ra didn't correct him. "I will take good care of her, Colonel O'Neill."

"Sir, I'll be fine." When it appeared like he was still going to refuse her she added, "I am in command of this mission, sir. I'll be back in thirty minutes."

And to his absolute surprise, she walked away.

"She's not our Sam, Jack," Daniel said softly, once the rings had carried the two of them away.

Jack quirked an eyebrow, "Ya think?"

Å

The two sat in silence, both consumed with their own thoughts.

"So she never came back?" Sam asked.

Martouf was quiet. "No. Jolinar never returned to me."

"I'm sorry, Martouf, I know what she meant to you and Lantash."

"Actually, you are incorrect on one thing," Martouf began. "I am no longer host to Lantash... my former symbiote passed away several years ago. I am currently host to Selmak."

Carter's expression stopped him. "Are you all right, Samantha?"

"Selmak?"

"You know Selmak?" He asked.

"Know her? In my reality, my father is host to Selmak."

Martouf gave her his first smile, which Carter returned with one of her own.

"You have given me hope," He said quietly. "Hope that someday... Jolinar will return to me."

Carter stared over the golden sand. "Wherever she is, Martouf, she's doing her best to come back to you."

"You know this?"

"I do."

Martouf hesitated then slowly closed his hand over hers. She gave him a small smile and the two continued to sit there in silence.


Our reality.

Several hours later...

Sam and Teal'c exchanged relief filled glances as they entered the last room.

The room was immense, and dividers separated it into four compartments, each one still very large; all four were arranged orderly.

"And this is my department- Alien Artifact Retrieval. We rather recently acquired some new pieces, one of which is quite fascinating…"

Sam tuned out and surveyed the hundreds of shelves with thousands of cubbyhole held objects not being tested; their names, planet of origin, year found and any other information was contained in a small electronic device next to it. She was examining the device when she was jolted back to reality by hearing Daniel whisper, "Oh my god. Sam?"

She turned to look and gasped.

There, in its full glory, with the remote lying next to it, stood the Quantum Mirror.

Well...

(Hums)

Stargate... it's a great big world...

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