Yay! I have itnernet service. So 10 1/2 hours in a scion with a bad knee is very painful. However, I did manage to get the next chapter done. I'm sorry if the last chapter frustrated some of you. But surviving on very little sleep makes me do crazy things. I do realize that although I get enjoyment out of the fact that I know what's going on and you don't, it can be very frustrating from the readers point of view. However, I must say that it is also very frustrating for me to know that there were over 200 hits on the last chapter and only tw reviews, so this chapter is dedicated to 7 League Boots and AT Fan. Thanks for the great reviews guys! There's one more chapter after this guys. But with wedding stuff going on I have no idea when it will be up.
Chapter 13: Seeing Double –
An hour and a half after SG1 came back from their last minute mission, Jack stormed into the infirmary. Janet had said an hour, but no one had shown for the debriefing. Scanning the room he saw all empty beds except the one at the far end which was blocked from view by a curtain. He moved quietly and purposefully towards that bed. Pulling back the curtain he had the shock of his life.
"Colonel! What happened?"
"That's a long story." Sam answered.
"Where's the person you brought back on the stretcher?" Jack demanded, really confused at this point.
"Actually, sir…that was me."
"Impossible I saw you walk through the gate."
Sam bit her lip. This was not going well. Just then the curtain moved back revealing the answer standing next to Janet.
"Actually, you saw me walk through the gate."
Jack turned around and nearly fainted. He looked back and forth between the Carter lying in bed and the Carter standing next to Janet.
"Who the hell are you?" Jack demanded of the woman standing next to Janet.
"I wish I knew. But Janet and Colonel Carter told me that my name is Major Samantha Carter."
Jack sat down hard in the closest chair he could find. "How?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Λ
Flashback:
"Very well. Dismissed."
"It feels good to be going through the gate again." Daniel babbled as SG1 left the briefing room. "I can't believe how quickly the Ori are working."
Sam smiled as Daniel spoke. She knew it had been much longer since Daniel had gone through the gate, but she felt the same way. She was working on balancing everything in her arms as she left the briefing room. As she came to the door she looked up so as not to run into anyone or anything. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. There, standing at the far end of the hall was a being that looked very much like her.
"Hello Sam." The being said as it walked toward Sam. Seeing the look on Sam's face she chuckled. "Don't worry, you can talk to me, they won't think you're crazy. In fact, they think you went into an unexplained catatonic state."
"Oh yeah, that's much better than them thinking I'm crazy. Now Janet won't let me go through the gate any more."
"I didn't bring you to this universe to keep going through the gate."
"Wait, you brought me here?" Sam asked incredulously. The being nodded. Realization dawned on Sam. "You're Major Carter." The being nodded. "You ascended?"
"When I was brought back from P3X-666, I was still alive, but barely. The moment I went unconscious on P3X-666, Skaara appeared to me, told me he had been sent by Oma Desala to help me ascend. I watched while Janet tried to save my life. When I finally realized it was futile, I agreed to ascend. While on the table, I flat lined, Janet called my time of death, and all but one nurse left the room. She was the only witness to me turning 'all glowy' as Jack would say. We swore her to secrecy before I joined the Others."
"So why bring me here?" Colonel Sam asked.
"A few of us became concerned with the way things have been going since I ascended. Unfortunately, the Others would not allow us to interfere. With my knowledge of the Stargate Program I began to wonder if it would be possible to bring an alternate me to do the work for us. You're right you know, about P3X-666 being the point of departure for our two universes."
"That's why you chose me, my universe was the closest to your's."
"Exactly."
"So what exactly am I supposed to be doing?"
"You've actually already started."
"How so?"
"By bringing Daniel and Teal'c back."
"So what else am I supposed to do?"
"Help Jack."
"Great."
Λ
"Which nurse would that be?" Jack asked no one in particular.
"Lieutenant Carol Watson, General." Janet answered.
"Remind me to talk to her when this is done."
"She transferred, sir." Janet replied. "I guess we now know why."
"Right. Carry on Colonel."
"I spent the next two days trying not to look crazy. Ascended Sam kept talking to me and expecting a response. After you first ate breakfast with SG1 yesterday, she came to visit me in my office. I told her that I was ready to go home. I gave her until 1000 hours this morning to show herself to you, or I would tell you. From what Skaara said earlier, I think she tried to tell you but was stopped by the Others."
"And descended?" Jack asked when Sam paused. Then a thought occurred to him. "How did you know where she was descended to?"
"There was only one explanation: P3X-666 – the planet where she was mortally wounded – the point of no return."
"What happened on P3X-666 that required you to be carried back through the stargate on a stretcher?"
Colonel Sam sighed and glanced at the other two women.
Λ
Flashback:
Immediately the other members of SG1 lifted their weapons. Looking over her shoulder, Sam motioned for them to lower their weapons. She ignored their questioning looks as they obeyed her order, and turned back towards the approaching stranger. Several long moments later, a figure finally stepped from the bushes and stopped in shock and fright at seeing SG1.
"It's okay." Sam said, standing up and extending the bundle of clothes to the naked figure. "We're friends."
"My god…" Daniel and Janet whispered simultaneously. "It can't be…"
As the three stared in stunned silence, Sam approached the woman who was in all apparent aspects her double. She smiled gently as she handed the clothes to her.
"Thank you." The double said once the clothes were on. "You look like me."
"Yes I do." Sam answered simply.
"Are we related?"
"That's a long story. Do you have any idea who you are?" The double shook her head. "Do you remember anything at all?" Sam asked.
"I remember waking up here; it was dark."
"Uh, Sam?" Daniel interrupted.
Sam turned and raised an eyebrow at him in question.
"Can we have a word with you? Over here." Daniel answered her unspoken question.
"I'll be right back." Sam smiled at her double. "What?" She hissed at her three teammates.
"We were just wondering Sam," Janet spoke up. "If you knew who that was. Cause she looks a lot like you."
"That would be because she is me."
"Excuse me?" Daniel exclaimed just a little too loudly. Lowering his voice he continued, "And just how do you know this."
"She can explain it to you better when she gets her memory back. But cliff notes version: Major Carter ascended when she died. After you all left the infirmary, Janet. She brought me to this unvierse to 'fix' things. I told her she should talk to General O'Neill herself because I wanted to go home. She tried. The Others stopped her. She was descended. Any other ques…"
Sam was interrupted by something none of them had been expecting: entropic cascade failure. Her three teammates watched in horror as she went through the agony. If they hadn't believed her about the woman standing a few feet away being their Sam Carter, they believed her now.
While Teal'c and Daniel unfolded the field stretcher, Janet walked over to the woman who, for years, had been her best friend.
"What's happening to her?" Major Sam asked.
"That's kind of a long story." Janet replied.
"That's what she said."
Janet smiled. "She was right. For now I can tell you that your name is Major Samantha Carter. That woman over there that looks like you is Colonel Carter…"
"So we are related." Major Sam interrupted.
"In a manner of speaking." Janet fudged. "Now we're going to take you home with us. But there is something I need you to do before we go, okay?" Major Sam nodded. "No one is expecting you at home, but they are expecting Colonel Carter. So when we first get back, I'll need you to pretend to be Colonel Carter, okay?"
"But how? I don't know anything about her."
"Don't worry, I'll help you out. It's just for appearances until we can let people know what's going on."
Hope this chapter answered some of your questions. Final chapter coming soon. Don't forget to review!