Chapter two -o- Differences
"Jack" Sam said shaking her husband lightly. "Jack wake up" Sam said running her hand though his hair.
"Sam?" He asked sitting up and rolling his stiff neck. "I feel like I spent all night in a chair." He said as he shifted and opened his eyes as the night before came flooding back.
"That's probably because you did" Sam said stepping behind him to rub his neck.
"Has he woken up yet?" Jack asked looking to the bed across from them.
"Just for a few second here and there. He seems to be a little out of it though. Dr. Rosthin says that it's just his body's way of healing. He should be up and around in a few days" She said knowing that this was all going in one ear and out the other.
"He has the same eyes as Kiara" he said looking up at Sam.
"I know" She said nodding her head. "Do you want to tell Kiara? She gets out of school in a few hours"
"I don't know" Jack said looking back at Charlie. "I mean he's my son and she is his sister but then he's also not my son, he's the other me's son and we may be very different people. He may not even know Kiara."
"Yeah" Sam said nodding her head. "But if he didn't know her there maybe he should have the chance to know her here" Jack looked over his shoulder at her and smiled.
"Yeah maybe" Jack said nodding his head. "Love you"
"Love you too" Sam said smiling at him. "You should go get something to eat" Sam said knowing he wouldn't.
"No, I need to be here when he wakes up" Jack said looking up at Sam. "He may not be my son but he is my son." Jack chuckled at how ridicules that sounded. "I mean-
"I know what you mean" Sam said kissing the top of his head. "I'll run to the mess hall and get us some food"
"Jell-O" Jack said as she walked to the door. "And see if they have any-
"Cake" A voice from the bed said as he sat up a little. "I'm starved"
"Charlie" Jack said standing and walking to the bed.
"I'll be right back, Jack" Sam said smiling at him.
"Ok" Jack said knowing she was trying to give them a minute, because once every one knew Charlie was awake and well there were going to be a lot of questions. "So how ya feelin?" Jack asked pulling the chair to the bed but not sitting in it.
"Peachy" He said smirking at Jack. "My leg itches and my head hurts but I think I'll live" he looked up at Jack and smiled. "How are you doing?"
"Ah, well, you know, this happens all the time" Jack said shrugging his shoulders and putting his hands in his pockets.
"Right, the whole Dr. Carter and Major Kawalsky thing, that happened to us too" Charlie said nodding his head. "But that's not what I meant, Sam told me I'm not in this world" He closed his eyes for a second.
"Oh that" Jack said nodding his head. "It's...I mean...Its hard"
"I'm sorry" Charlie said pulling himself up farther. "Was it the gun?" He asked looking down at his hands.
"Yeah" Jack said nodding his head and finally sitting down. "Did you shot your self too?" He asked feeling very weird having this conversation.
"Yeah" Charlie said pulling the shoulder down on his hospital gown to show Jack the scar. "It hurt like hell" he said looking up at Jack.
"But I must have gone thought the gate on that first mission, why would I do that if you lived?" Jack asked a little confused, why would he go to Abydos to die if Charlie had lived?
"You did" Charlie said nodding his head. "You once told me a few years ago that almost losing me that way was somehow worse then if I had actually died. You blamed you, mom blamed you, it was a big blame fest" He said smiling weakly at him. "I think you felt unworthy of being a parent, and mom just let you go right on thinking that. I was mad at both of you for a while." Charlie said looking up at him. "Mom took us to California while you were on Abydos. When you came back you had changed, you wanted me back, so you filed for joint custody, by then mom didn't blame you solely, she knew the blame lay with both of you, so she didn't fight it. I spent every summer there till..." Charlie sighed and Jack wished he could help him. Jack just sat there watching as Charlie pulled himself together. "Till mom died in a car crash. After that I was always with you. When you were off world, of course then I didn't know that's where you where, I stayed with Janet a lot, me and Cassie were real close" He looked down at his hands again. Jack thought they must hold the answers of life the way he was staring at them.
"Yeah Cassie's a good kid" Jack said nodding his head and smiling a little.
"Cassie's here?" he asked looking up and smiling a little. "That's good"
"So how did you find out about the stargate? How old were you?" Jack asked looking for a more upbeat subject.
"I was 13 when I found out. Daniel told me when you were stuck in Edora." he said smiling at the memories of Daniel trying to make up reasons why Jack was still gone. "I stayed with him the majority of the time you were gone" He said looking around the room. "If Janet's here and I'm awake why hasn't she stormed in and ordered you out so she could give me the once over?'
"Well Janet just had a baby, she won't be in for a few weeks" Jack said looking over at the offices and smiling.
"Oh? With who?" he asked smirking at Jack. He hoped this element was the same in both worlds, he didn't know if he could handle Daniel being married to one of the nurses that always had a crush on him.
"Daniel" Jack said smirking. "It's their second"
"Just their second?" he asked finding this odd. Well at lest some things were the same. "How long have they been married?"
"About five years now" Jack said after thinking about it for a second.
"Oh" Charlie said nodding his head. "Well in my world they've been married about, geez almost ten years now, they're working on their fourth"
"Wow" Jack said doing some fast math in his head. "What about Sha're?" He asked.
Sha're?" He asked thinking about it for a second. Then he smiled and nodded his head. "Wasn't that the women that the leader on Abydos tried to give you?" He asked smiling.
"Give me?" Jack asked looking shocked. "No, see here he gave her to Daniel" Jack said looking at him funny. "So did Daniel come back with us after the first Abydos mission?"
"Yeah" he said nodding his head. "He lived with us for about two months then got a job at a museum about forty minutes form us. He got an apartment somewhere around there"
"But the Goa'uld did come back a year later and take Sergeant Fields?" Jack asked looking concerned.
"Yeah that happened about a year later." He said nodding his head. "You were recalled and Hammond was not very happy with you" He said smirking. "You told them you blow it up, which you didn't. Once he decided to let you go back you convinced him you had to take Daniel because he was the only one who could speak their language."
"Oh I bet Daniel loved that" Jack said shaking his head and smiling.
"Yeah, he was so board at the museum, but then after going through the stargate who wouldn't be?" Charlie said smirking which made him look even more like Jack.
"So we went back, Sam come with us?" He asked remembering his first meeting with the then Captain Carter.
"Yeah she did" he said nodding his head. "Ferretti and Kawalski too" He said nodding his head. "While you were there Daniel came across the cartouche with all the stargate maps. He was very excited, or so I'm told." He smiled and shook his head. "Anyway while you were gone Apophis and his Jaffa attacked, taking some of the people with him. When you got back Ferretti was wounded and Skarra and Sha're were gone."
"Wow" Jack said thinking how very different things were there in Charlie's world.
"Yeah" Charlie said nodding his head. "So when Ferretti woke up he told you he knew where they took Skarra and Sha're, so you went after them"
"To Chulak" Jack said smiling when Charlie nodded his head.
"Yep" He said nodding his head again. "That's were Teal'c came into the picture"
"Good old Teal'c" Jack said nodding his head. He was glad that their Teal'c wouldn't come as a shock to Charlie like it had with...the other Charlie.
"Yeah Teal'c was a good guy" he said nodding his head.
"Was?" Jack asked looking up at him.
"Yeah he died about..." He stopped and Jack could see he was doing a little math in his head. "About six years ago" He said frowning.
"How did he die?" Jack asked wondering if something similar had happened here.
"He was trapped on a planet half dead with Bra'tac. They had to share a symbiote, and Teal'c didn't service."
"That happened here" Jack said thinking it over in his head. "Teal'c said that Daniel got him through it."
"How could Daniel help?" Charlie asked confused. "He was on earth with you guys, wasn't he?"
"No, by then Daniel had died" Jack said shaking his head. "Well he ascended; he helped Teal'c live through it, though Daniel says he doesn't remember anything from that time"
"Oh" Charlie said nodding his head. "Daniel never died in my world, how did he die here?"
"While we were on Colona and Daniel got exposed to radiation" Jack said sighing. "He saved the people of Colona and then they had the nerve to blame it on Daniel. Like he would intentionally sabotage their stupid bomb." He smiled at Charlie. "Jonas, he's the guy that was with Daniel and Sam when you came thorough the mirror, he came through the gate with a supply of their special Naquadah and became a member of SG-1 for a while, while Daniel was gone"
"Right, I know who Jonas is" he said nodding his head. "The same thing happened with us, but it was SG-5 on the planet at the time. They lost one of there men when he saved them from themselves" He looked at Jack. "But Jonas only came through for a short while to apologies to us, he didn't bring and of their special Naquadah"
"Oh" Jack said nodding his head. "Why didn't SG-1 go there?"
"Daniel and Janet had just had a baby, like as in hours before you were schedule to go through, Hammond send SG-5 in your place"
"Oh" Jack said picking up a pen from the bed side table and playing with it. Jack looked over at the BDU's on the chair that Charlie had appeared in and a thought popped into his head. "How long have you been in the military?"
"Um, well..." Charlie looked down at his hand with a sheepish smile on his face. "I'm not"
"But you've got your BDU's" Jack said looking over at the chair.
"So does Daniel" Charlie said smiling. He laughed when it registered with Jack what Charlie was implying.
"You're a geek?" He asked smiling at him. Charlie smiled and nodded his head. It was a good thing he was so use to hearing that from the other Jack or he may have been insulted.
"I have two PhD's and I was working on my third when the Goa'uld attacked. I've been able to speak Goa'uld since I was about 14 and I speak 15 other languages now."
"Aw man" Jack said smiling as he shook his head. "Another egg head, you must get it from your mother" He said smiling at him.
"Don't sell your self short da...Jack; you're pretty smart even if you do hide it behind your 'Tough General' act." Charlie said smiling.
"General?" Jack asked shaking his head. "Geez, don't tell me I run the SGC" Jack said dreading the thought.
"Ok, I won't tell you" Charlie said smiling. Jack smiled at him and thought about the slip of tongue Charlie had just had.
"You can call me dad, I mean if you want to, I know I'm not him but I do look just like him and it might sound kinda weird if you keep calling me 'Da...Jack'"
"Thanks" Charlie said smiling at Jack. Jack nodded his head and a thought popped into his head.
"You said Daniel told you about the stargate when I was missing on Edora?" Jack asked putting the pen down.
"Yeah, you should have seen him, he gave me all kinds of reasons why you were gone, but in the end he told me" Charlie laughed making Jack look up at him funny. "I didn't believe him a first" Charlie explained. "I told him he was off his rocker"
"But eventually you believed him?" Jack asked smiling a little.
"Yeah, it's hard not to believe Daniel" Charlie said smiling.
"Yeah" Jack said nodding his head. "So what about Kiara? Is she in your world?"
"Kiara?" Charlie said sitting up a little. "She's here, she's here and ok?" He asked looking shocked and a little relived.
"Yeah" Jack said nodding his head.
"Oh wow" he said sitting back in his bed and smiling. "That's so great, I'm really happy to hear that" Charlie said sighing.
"Why, what happened to your Kiara?" Jack asked wondering if he really wanted to know.
"She was taken by Tanith, kidnapped while you were on Edora. Taniths' Jaffa took her to their ship, it left before you could get to them" Charlie said sighing. "I only really knew her for a few weeks before she was gone. Of course I have run into the snake that lives in her since then, that's never very fun" Charlie said closing his eyes and shaking his head.
"Oh" Jack said wishing he hadn't asked. That so easily could have been them, why didn't Tanith leave before they got there?
"Its one of the reasons that he attacked" Charlie said looking back up at Jack. "He had accesses to all the ancient knowledge there was, he built himself a nice little weapon and then came here, everyone made it through the gate to the alpha site, but I got cute off from the gate, then I remembered the quondam mirror. I figured anywhere was better then where I was."
"Did you just pick this place at random?" Jack asked
"No not really, I went through a bunch of places, most of which have already been over ruled by some Goa'uld or another. When I saw Sam, Daniel and Jonas standing in the room I thought this looked like the best place. As I was coming through about ten Jaffa destroyed the door and fired on me."
"Yeah I figured something like that must have happened" Jack said looking down at his leg. Charlie smiled when his stomach rumbled.
"I wonder where Sam got off to?" He asked looking over at the doors.
"Speaking of Sam, what's with this first name thing?" Charlie asked raising his eyebrows.
"What...oh" Jack looked down at his left hand. "She's my wife" He said looking up at Charlie.
"Oh" Charlie said nodding his head in surprise. "Regulations different here?" He asked, and then he took in Jack civilian clothes and smiled. "You retired?"
"When Kiara came into my live" Jack said nodding his head. "I didn't want to risk my life anymore, so then I was free to be with Sam."
"Well that's good" Charlie said nodding his head. "I'm glad you two are happy" He said smiling at him.
"Ok I think that's enough getting to know you time" Dr. Rosthin said walking into the room. He walked over to Charlie and smiled. "How you feelin?"
"Fine" Charlie said shrugging his shoulder. "I've seen worse then this before" He said looking down at his leg.
"So if you're just a civilian what do you do at your SGC?" Jack asked as Dr. Rosthin did a check up.
"I'm on SG-1" He said smiling at Jack. "I've been on the team for about two months."
"They let the both of us on one team?" Jack asked surprise.
"Your not on the team remember, General?" He said smiling at him. "You're meant to sit up in your office and wave good bye, of course you never do, you always find a reason that you need to be out there with us" Charlie said smiling. "Ouch" He said as Dr. Rosthin checked out his leg.
"Sorry" He said smiling apologetically up at Charlie.
"It's ok" Charlie said "I'll live"
"Ok I brought food" Sam said walking into the room with a try loaded down with just about everything there was in the mess hall. "I wasn't sure what you'd like so I brought you a few different things and-
"Fruit loops!" Charlie said smiling when he saw the little box. "Milk?"
"Of course" Sam said shaking her head and looking at Jack. "Well he's definitely you son"
"Yep" Jack said nodding his head.
"I talked to Teal'c. He said he'd be happy to get Kiara from school" Sam said handing Jack the same cereal Charlie had. She smiled as Dr. Rosthin nodded at her and walked out the door.
"Is it ok if she comes to see you?" Jack asked looking at Charlie.
"Yeah" he said nodding his head. "I'd really like that."
"Ok" Jack said nodding his head. "After we eat you think you'd be up to walking around a little?"
"Ya think?" He asked making Sam smile and Jack nodded his head.
"Ok then" he said smiling.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Sir your daughter is waiting in the Generals office" an airman said saluting him.
"I've been retired for five years now" Jack said looking the young man in the eyes. "Its just Jack, ok?"
"Yes Sir" he said nodding his head.
"What?" Jack asked turning his head like he hadn't heard in.
"Yes...Jack" He said nodding his head.
"Thank you" Jack said smiling at him. The airman walked away and Sam smiled.
"You know they're never going to stop calling you that" She said as they helped Charlie around.
"I can try though" Jack said looking over at Charlie. "You want to go see her, or go back to your very temporary room?"
"I'll go back, give you a chance to explain things to her. You can bring her down after you've talked to her, I wouldn't want her to be shocked or anything" Charlie said smiling at him.
"Ok" He said nodding his head. "Sam could you-
"Yeah" Sam said cutting him off. "I'll take him back; you go talk to your daughter."
"Thanks" He said smiling. "See you in a while"
"K" Charlie said nodding his head as he and Sam headed back towards the sickbay.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Hey dad" Kiara said when Jack walked in. "I was just telling George here about my science project."
"Oh" Jack said smiling at her. "How's that going?"
"Well moms been helping me with it" She said smirking at him. "But you know how she can get with all that science stuff"
"Yeah I do" Jack said nodding his head. He looked up at Hammond. "George" He said smiling at him.
"How's our new visitor?" Hammond asked looking down at Kiara.
"He's feeling much better. I was just about to tell Kiara about him" Jack said smiling at his daughter.
"I'll just leave you to it then" He said standing and walking towards the door.
"You don't have to, I'm sure we can talk somewhere else" Jack said smiling at him.
"No, I have something's to see to" he said smiling back at him. "I made some calls and if he wants to, he's welcome to stay here"
"Oh" Jack said touched that Hammond would think that far ahead. "Thank you"
"Well have fun" He said opening the door and walking through them. He closed the door quietly behind him and Jack looked down at Kiara. She was staring at him a small little smile on her face.
"So, who is he?" she asked sitting down in one of the three chairs in the room.
"Did you have a good day at school?" he asked sitting down next to her.
"Daaaddd" She said looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Ok, ok geez sorry for asking" Jack said playing hurt. "I can't help it if I want to know how my only daughter is doing in school."
"Fine" She said shaking her head. "School was great, I beat Mike Stansin in a spelling bee and Stephanie got her brand new shoes muddy, which according to her was just the end of the world. Sammie and Tammie are having a birthday party next weekend and they want me to come, the class frog jumped down Sarah's shirt today which was so funny" She said this all very fast and in one long breath. "Ok, so who's this guy?" She asked smirking up at Jack.
"Well ok then" Jack said nodding his head. "Kiara, Sam has explained quantum physique to you right?"
"Sure, there're a multiplied of worlds living right along side ours, we can't see them and they can see us. Some are almost completely the same and some are very different and some are kinda in the middle. There are some worlds where I was never born or Mother never died, probably some where that stupid snake got me and I've now got a snake in me, there are probably some where Charlie lived and..." She trailed off at the look on her fathers face. "I'm sorry" She said taking the look for hurt and not shock that that was one of the 'deferent's' she would pick.
"It's ok" Jack said smiling at her. "Well you know how Sam goes to different planets to find stuff and people to help us?"
"Yeah" She said rolling her eyes at him. This was all old news to her.
"Well one of the things they brought back was what we call a quantum mirror. It can take you from one of these worlds to another" Jack said smiling at her.
"Oh, did someone from another one of these worlds come here?" She asked very excited. "That's so cool" She said looking at him. "Who came through?" She asked then remembered the look he got when she mentioned Charlie. "It was Charlie wasn't it?"
"Yes" he said marveling at how smart she was. "He's down in the sickbay right now" Jack said nodding his head.
"Can I see him?" She asked jumping up out of her seat.
"Yes" Jack said nodding his head. "But you have to remember some of the things in his world are a little different."
"Right" She said nodding her head. "Like what dad?"
"Well like in his world his mom died a few years ago and Kiara honey" Jack said taking her by the arms. "In his world I didn't save you from Tanith and you are a...a..."
"A snake head?" She asked smiling at him.
"Yeah" He said nodding his head. Man if he felt this guilty from just the thought of having not saved her he couldn't imagine what that other Jack must be going through.
"Its ok daddy" She said making him smile. She hardly ever called him that anymore unless she thought he needed to hear it "You saved me here, and for now that's all that's important."
"Thanks sweetie" he said smiling at her. "So you want to go met your brother?"
"Yeah" She said smiling at him.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"So you married the old man huh?" Charlie asked smirking at Sam.
"Yeah" She said nodding her head and smiling at him.
"Have you two got any rugrats yet?" He asked as she helped him sit back down.
"No" Sam said shaking her head. "How you feeling?" She asked as she looked down at his leg.
"I'm good" He said nodding his head. He sensed the baby subject was a little touchy for some reason so he changed topics. "What are Daniel's kids' names?"
"Catharine Carter Jackson, or CC for short. She's about three and already speaks two languages. She likes to speak Latin to Jack to drive him nuts" Sam said smiling at him as she pulled the covers over him. "She's going to really upset when she gets older and Jack tells her he's been able to speak Latin for years"
"And the other one?" He asked smiling at her.
"Danny" She said smiling. "He was just born a few days ago, he's a real cutie pie, looks like he's going to take after his father in looks" She smiled.
"Wow" He said looking stunned.
"What?" Sam asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Well in my world there is CC, which Daniel just hates that we call her, she's six and a half, and if you don't add the half be sure she'll let you know. Danny, who just turned four and Michael who Jack has always called Mikey, he just turned two."
"It's odd that even though the timing is different they would have the same children" Sam said thinking it over in her head.
"Yeah" He said nodding his head. "Odd"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Dad what if he doesn't like me?" Kiara asked as they walked down the hall.
"He will" Jack said ruffling her hair. "Just like every one else."
"Ok" She said nodding her head. They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they got to the door Kiara stopped and looked up at Jack.
"You ok?" He asked smiling at her.
"Yeah" She said nodding her head. "Would you go get Sam and bring her out here?" Jack looked down at her wondering why she wanted him to do this.
"Ok" He said nodding his head. "You wait here"
"Right" She said nodding her head and leaning against the wall. Jack smiled at her and walked into the sickbay. A few seconds later Jack reemerged with Sam.
"Hey there kid how was school?" She asked smiling at her.
"It was good; dad can give you the scoop." She said looking up at Jack. "I'll be in there if you need me" She said pointing to the room.
"You don't want me to go in with you?" He asked a little concerned.
"Nope" Then she thought of something. "You don't mind do you? You can come if you really want."
"No" Jack said shaking his head. "You go, we'll wait out here, could you tell him Hammond made some calls and he can stay?"
"Sure will" She said smiling brightly at him "Thanks" She said happy that Jack understood she needed to go in there alone. She didn't know why she wanted to go alone but she did. She smiled at Jack and Sam and then turned and walked through the door.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Hey there kid" Charlie said smiling at her when she came around the corner.
"Hello" She said smiling at him. She stood a few feet away from the bed looking him over. "You look just like him"
"Like who?" He asked smiling at her.
"Like my brother Charlie, I have a picture of him by my bed at home. You look a lot like dad too, but you have Sara's nose."
"You've met my mom?" he asked wishing she would come a little closer. Was she scared of him?
"Yeah she comes to a picnic dad has every summer. She brings her two daughters and her husband. They're real nice" Kiara said stepping up to the bed.
"Oh wow" He said nodding his head. "She died in a car crash in my world" he said shaking his head.
"I'm sorry" She said walking around the bed. "My mom died when I was four"
"Yeah I know" He said nodding his head. "We have the same eyes"
"Yeah" She said smiling at him. She sat down in the chair now more comfortable with him. "So are you staying here, in our world?"
"Yeah, if they'll let me" He said smiling at her.
"They will, dad said that Hammond made some calls and you can stay" She said smiling at him.
"Well that's good to hear" he said smiling when he saw Jack open the door. Him and Sam just stood there, Jack waved and Sam put her finger to her lips in the 'shh' motion. "It's good to see you"
"Yeah" She said nodding her head. "It's a little weird though"
"Yeah" He said nodding his head. "Did Jack tell you what happened to you in my world?"
"Yeah, snake head" she said nodding her head. "This must be really hard for you" She said surprising him. "I could go, I don't want to make you sad" She said standing.
"No" he said smiling at her. "It makes me feel better to know that in some world you're ok"
"Ok" She said nodding her head. "Are things very different here?"
"Oh yeah..." He delved into all the different and Kiara made a comment now and then. After about half an hour Jack and Sam shut the door and walked down the hall towards her office.
"They seem to be getting along quite well" Sam said taking Jack's hand. He looked down at her and nodded his head.
"Yeah, like brother and sister, soon they'll be arguing all the time" Jack said as Sam laughed.
"No, there's too much of an age different, they'll get along fine" Sam said squeezing his hand. "So what a day, huh?"
"Yeah" Jack said shaking his head. "I thought after retiring this kind of stuff would stop happening."
"You're not upset that he's here are you?" Sam asked a little worried.
"No" Jack said shaking his head. "No it's just a little odd, I'm glad he's here, its going to be a very interesting few weeks"
"Yeah, he'll have to come stay with us till he gets some IDs and things; do you think he'll want to work here?" Sam asked thinking some things over in her head.
"You can bet on that" He said smiling. "You know he's not military? He's a geek" Jack said shaking his head. "I seem to be surrounded by them"
"You know you love it" Sam said pulling him into her office.
"Yeah well..." Jack was cut off as the door went shut behind him.
A/N- So what do you think? Things get interesting in the next few chapters and we see more of Daniel and the rest of the group. Let me know what you think...
A/N2- also there's a clip from Stargate I keep seeing and I don't know what it's from. Its Jack, he's hitting a ball around with a hockey stick, then he smashes in a car window, So if any of you know what Episode its from and season, I will be forever grateful... -)