My grandma got called late last night to get her Covid vaccine--the only catch--I have to drive her 2.5 hours each way today. Is it bad that this'll be my first road trip in almost a year and I'm just a tiny bit excited to see something other than the "four walls" of my town? Grandma's excited, too. She was up and dressed at 6am :o)


Sammi climbed out of the unmarked car and turned to look at Jack in the driver's seat. This was it. The moment she'd stop being Colonel Samantha Carter-O'Neill's clone and start being Sammi.

"You good?" Jack asked in a gentle tone.

"Right as rain," she nodded, knowing he didn't buy her bravado. Truthfully, she was nervous. She was leaving the relative safety of Jack for the unknown of John. While the two were identical in their DNA, John had two years of divergent experience and Sammi had two extra years of emotional baggage he knew nothing about. The last time she'd seen this emotional version of her CO, he'd distanced himself from her because she'd been engaged to Pete. Wow. There was a conversation she didn't really want to relive, she cringed at that thought.

"John will be happy to see you," Jack smiled tenderly, easily reading her, "trust me."

"I know, it's just..." she paused.

"Sammi," his stern, fatherly voice had her eyes snapping to his. "I never stopped loving Sam. That boy in there, despite our differences now, carries that part of me inside him. Remember that."

"That's almost poetic," she gave him a lop-sided grin; her fear abating for the time being.

"Don't tell anyone," he chuckled. "Gotta keep up my knuckle-dragging male reputation after all."

"Your secret is safe with me," she gave herself a mental shake, ready to begin the first part of her mission--convincing John to come with her, to start over.

"Take this," Jack handed her a small, triangular Asgard stone. "Carter wanted you to have a fail safe. This is programmed directly to a beaming transmitter in her office at the SGC. Use it only as a last resort because once you do, the cat is out of the bag."

"Understood," Sammi kept her panic inside. If she used the device, Jack and Sam would likely be facing court martial for going rogue to create Sammi. It truly was a last resort option.

"Everything you need is in here," Jack grabbed a medium-sized brown backpack from the backseat. "Even threw in a couple of extras," he grinned.

"Thanks," she didn't bother opening it up, she trusted him to provide what they'd discussed. "Guess this is goodbye." She blinked away the moisture pooling in her eyes. Walking away from him, from the life she remembered was harder than expected.

"Sammi—"

"Once Gracie is born give her a kiss for me," she smiled sadly but determinedly.

"You can count on it."


It was 0300 when Sammi knocked on John's apartment door. Keeping her hoodie pulled up to ensure no cameras could spot her face, she listened to his shuffling steps.

"It's the middle of the night," he grumbled, followed by the unmistakable sound of a semi-automatic handgun being cocked. Likely his preferred Beretta 9mm, Sammi smiled at the image.

"Lemme in John," she said simply, knowing her voice would sound enough like Sam's.

"Carter?" He breathed the name just loud enough for her to hear.

"Sort of," she cringed at the unease in her own voice, relieved when the door unlocked.

"Get in here," he growled, grabbing an arm and yanking her inside before quickly dead-bolting the door. "What are you—"

Sammi cut him off by holding up a finger. Reaching into her back pocket, she held the device detector up and made a quick sweep through the small space. Despite the dim lighting, she took in the rumpled twin bed and trash can full of takeout containers. There was an open textbook on the counter, but she couldn't make out the subject.

"I do remember how to check for bugs," John said in an exasperated tone, although Sammi heard a hint of relief as well.

She smiled, her face and body still concealed by her hoodie. It was comforting to see his surly personality was still intact.

As she finished her sweep, he shifted restlessly behind her. Convinced no one was listening she took a steadying breath. Here goes nothing, she thought, faced him, and lowered her hood.

John's brain stopped working as soon as he saw her. Sam—except this wasn't Sam, it was..."

"Call me Sammi," the girl held out her hand, "with an i." Mindlessly her grasped her offered hand as he tried to reconcile her voice with her young face. Her hand was strong and warm; it felt familiar against his. More importantly, it felt real.

"You're—" he opened his mouth then shut it.Calling her Sam's clone wasn't polite and he hated being referred to that way; no way he'd do that to her.

"Yep," she answered, popping the P in a way that was identical to his former 2IC. John felt his anger rising. Why would they do this to her? Had the Asgard violated Sam like they had him or did the government order a replica of their national treasure?

At the same time, a large part of him cried out in joy. He wasn't alone anymore. And of all the people who could have come for him; they'd sent her. Correction, they'd made her. For him? What did that even mean? But instead of voicing any of these reactions, he did what he always did and threw up emotional walls.

"Took you all long enough to check-in on me," he growled, withdrawing his hand and flinging himself onto an old futon. At Sammi's crestfallen look, he almost faltered, the need to comfort her as strong as ever.

"You disappeared, John," Sammi said simply. "Jack and Sam have been searching for you for almost two years."

"It took ya two years to find me less than two hours away?" He scoffed, but inside a ray of hope began to form. Maybe he hadn't been tossed aside and forgotten.

"We weren't looking for a Johnathan Smith," she sighed heavily, "let alone one who was scrubbed from existence. Someone erased you John, every last trace, then stonewalled our efforts at every turn."

"I heard the old man made General," he hedged, unwilling to give in to the allure of hope. "You telling me a General couldn't find me within his own organization?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Sammi sat down on the futon next to him. "It wasn't the Air Force that erased you, we think it was the Trust."

"Bullshit," he shook his head, "I'd have known if I was being manipulated by the Trust. Besides, some Air Force shrub showed up with transfer papers, signed by Jack, along with orders to sever contact. I know my own signature! I still have the don't call us, we'll call you note." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Damn!" Sammi cursed, stood up and started pacing. "We always wondered why you'd just disappear without reaching out. Jack did sign papers, but they ordered you sent to a city of your choosing with a generous annual stipend. He didn't send you away."

He arched an eyebrow, pretending to be calm, but the reality of the last two years was becoming clearer. He had been played. John held his breath as he thought over the last two years. Life hadn't exactly been easy.

It had been made clear the pittance of a stipend was dependent upon him keeping up his end of the deal, not making waves. At the time, he'd been so lost over losing his identity that it was easy to believe Jack would want to write him out of existence, but deep down he knew that wasn't Jack's MO. It had simply been easier to blame the guy for everything.

"So what now?" John shoved his emotions to the back of his mind to deal with later and focused on what was in front of him

"Now," Sammi gave him a lop-sided grin, "we get you the hell outta dodge."