Legolas watched with a smile as Merry and Pippin danced on the tables, entertaining the men of Edoras with their song about the tavern in Hobbiton. It amazed him, the speed with which humans were able to throw off sorrow and pain and enjoy life again. He himself was still reeling from the loss of elves and men at Helm's Deep. So many had fought and died in a single night, so many lives extinguished, some before they had a chance to truly begin. Yet for this night the dead were not mourned, but celebrated, the survivors telling tales of bravery from their fallen.
The blonde elf looked around, noting the lack of other elves in the throng that packed the Golden Hall. The few elves that survived were already gone, either headed for their homes, or to the Havens and ships bound for Valinor. They had departed much as they'd come, with muted thanks and few words.
"And what thoughts would trouble an elf this night?"
Aragorn's voice broke through the elf's thoughts. "Thoughts of what has befallen us, and what must come."
The ranger nodded, and handed Legolas a tankard of ale. "This is not the night for such thoughts, my friend. This night is meant for celebration."
Legolas looked around the hall. The faces of the Rohan people were joyous, each carrying a smile and ready to break out in laughter. It was their joy that lifted some of the sorrow from his own heart.
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder and gave a firm pat. "You should take a lesson from human's this night, Legolas. Our lives are not so long as yours. We take pleasure and joy where we can."
With that the ranger moved off, disappearing into the crowd.
The elf stared into his mug for long moments, before taking a sip. Not as strong as some of the drinks made by the elves, but then again few things were.
"And there's the elf now!" Gimli emerged from the crowd, grabbed his friend's hand, and started pulling him in the direction of the table Merry and Pippin had been dancing on.
"Gimli?" Legolas asked when they came to a stop in a group of men, Merry and Pip among them, all with nearly empty tankards.
The dwarf laughed. "I've been telling them tales of elvish wine, and they don't believe me, so I thought I'd invite you over to join in the drinking game."
"Drinking game?" Legolas looked around the circle.
"Aye." Gimli lifted his mug, the other men followed suit, and they drank deeply. When the mugs were slammed on the table a moment later, they were all empty.
"And what is the point of this drinking game?"
The smile Gimli wore became broader. "The last one standing wins."
"General Hammond, sir?"
"Yes, Major?" Hammond looked up from reports scattered across his deck.
"Colonel O'Neill's mother is here, sir. She's waiting at the front gate."
Hammond stood and straightened his uniform. "Have her escorted to the visitor's center, Major. I'll be there momentarily."
The young man nodded and closed the door to the office behind him, but the general didn't notice. He rested a hand on the large box sitting on the end table of his office. The box contained all of Colonel's personal effects, carefully searched to prevent any information leakage.
The general remembered his first conversation with O'Neill's mother. She'd been distant at best, with the reserved air of someone who was hearing long expected news. She hadn't asked question he was unable to answer, nothing about his mission, where he was, when he'd been expected back. Only a quiet, "oh," had greeted the news that her son was officially being declared missing in action.
Hammond shook himself, then picked up the box. It was the least he could do to deliver it personally.
The trip to the visitor's center was shorter than he would have liked. It was a large, separate building outside the compound proper made mostly of glass and steel. In general it was used by the mountain's staff as a sun room when not being used to impress dignitaries. Through the large glass doors he could see the top of a gray head peeking above the top of a leather lounger. The doors opened with a silent hiss, and he stepped into the brightly lit room.
"Mrs. O'Neill, I'm-"
"General Hammond. I know."
The chair spun around. The woman sitting in front of him was not as he'd expected. She sat with her back straight, white hair pulled in a tight bun. She appeared small and frail, but there was nothing frail about her voice. "Those are his things?" she asked with a slight nod towards his hands.
General Hammond nodded. "Everything that was in his office. Mostly it's pictures, supplies from his locker, personal items." He placed the box on a low coffee table.
Mrs. O'Neill eyed the box warily before standing and going over to it and taking the top off. She went through the box quickly, studying some things, disregarding others. She smiled when she picked up a pair of socks that had once been white, but had long since faded to a dingy gray.
"He never could keep his socks white," she murmured, then laughed. "Not in a million years."
"Mrs. O'Neill, if there's anything I can do-"
"The one thing I want you to do you can't, General. Let's not fool ourselves," she cut him off, her eyes never leaving the box. Finally, she picked up a large frame. "So this was his family?" She extended the picture to Hammond.
The General smiled in spite of himself. It was a picture taken at the last bar-b-que for the Cheyenne Mountain staff. Jack, Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c were all leaning against one another, hands thrown across each other's shoulders, covered in mud and paint. It had been the colonel's idea to add paint-ball to the list of activities. While the general had been understandably concerned about having over a hundred well trained individuals hunting each other on the backside of the mountain, he gave in. After four hours of fighting SG1 and a team of SF's returned, having 'killed' each other and officially ending the game. The picture was taken before the 'victory feast' as Teal'c had dubbed the bar-b-que. "They were his team."
She studied the picture a moment longer. "They're missing too, I suppose." She held up a hand. "I know, that information's classified."
Hammond looked away. By the time he turned back everything was placed neatly back in the box.
"I'm hoping one of those fine young gentlemen will be able to help me carry this to my car," Mrs. O'Neill said, eyeing the four men guarding the entrance.
"Of course. Gary, if you would."
A lanky redhead detached himself from the wall and strode over, picking up the box and heading back to the double doors with Mrs. O'Neill in tow. At the door she paused.
"Do you think he'll come back, General?" she asked without turning around.
"I hope so, Mrs. O'Neill," Hammond answered. "I certainly hope so."
"Are you sure, Major?"
Daniel's eyes moved from Sam to Jack, and back again.
"Positive, sir," she answered. "Or as close to it as I can be. The stars form the same constellations they would on earth, but they're inverted and in the wrong part of the sky. You studied astronomy, sir. You should know better than I do."
The colonel looked at the sky for a moment, then frowned. "It's not like we've had a chance to look up much, major."
"So what exactly are you saying, Sam?" the archeologist asked.
Sam pointed to the sky. "The inversion of constellations could mean we're on another planet that's exactly opposite of earth, but given the things we've seen, that's highly unlikely. Every time we've come in contact with what is supposed to be magic there is a logical explanation for it; Gou'uld technology, or an advanced form of life. Here there's nothing like that, which leaves only one explanation. Something must have happened while we were traveling through the gate, something that made it react like a quantum mirror."
"Wait a minute. If that's true, why havent we had any problems with the cascade thingy?" Jack asked.
Sam shook her head. "I don't know, sir. Perhaps we don't have counterparts in this dimension, which breaks about a hundred different laws supposedly governing alternate and parallel universes. The other solution is that our counterparts are so far away that we arent causing problems with the space time continuum."
Daniel soaked up everything Sam was telling them. So they were on earth, with no way of knowing what caused them to jump to an alternate reality to start with, let alone a gate to try and duplicate the process.
"We're screwed, aren't we?"
The words slipped out before Daniel could stop them, and his three friends turned to him. From the expression on their faces (with the exception of Teal'c, but then again, he really never had an expression) said they were all thinking the same thing.
"Unless we find a stargate and a way to figure out exactly what happened, we could be stuck here indefinitely."
Daniel looked up at the sky, and back towards the main hall where the victory party was still going strong. The people they'd met on their quest, the things they'd seen and experienced, all of it played through his mind. Stuck in a world where magic was real, where there were real elves and fairies and dwarves, even dragons if you were luck (or unlucky) enough to stumble on one.
They could have done a lot worse.
After a few moments of silence Jack stood and picked up his tankard of ale. "Well, nothing doing about it now, people. Let's try and enjoy the rest of the night, shall we?" With that he took a long drink of his ale and walked back into the party.
"I believe Colonel O'Neill is correct, Major Carter," Teal'c said. "We are already traveling to the only stargate that is known on this planet. There is nothing to be done until we reach it."
"Our chances of getting home are getting slimmer and slimmer Teal'c. What if I cant make it work?"
The jaffa cocked his head to the side and gave the major look number ten, the "why-are-humans-such-difficult-creatures-when-it-comes-to-simple-matters" one that Daniel found leveled at himself more often than not.
"I am confident that you will try your hardest, Major Carter."
Daniel sighed to himself, staying outside as the pair went in. Sam would try her hardest, would do everything in her power to get them back home, back to people who cared about them, back to exploring new worlds. That's what they wanted, that's why they were going through so much to reach Minas Morgul.
If that was so, then why did he feel so terrible thinking about leaving?
Sam stumbled a bit as she walked down the hall, one arm thrown over Eowyn's shoulder as they made their way to the women's quarters. The two began laughing, which only served to throw them further off balance.
"I think we're gonna wake half the castle," Sam snorted.
Eowyn closed her eyes to steady the room's spinning. "Half the castle is too drunk to hear a battalion of orcs stomping around." she steered them closer to the stone walls of the Hall, bumping against it none too gently.
Sam laughed, then leaned her face against the cool stone. "Whose idea was it to keep up with the men again?"
"Yours."
"Oh yeah." Sam pushed away from the wall and stared at the door in front of them. She was drunk, but not tired. "I think I'll walk around a bit," she said, pushing Eowyn towards the door.
"Are you sure?" Eowyn rested her hand on the doorknob.
"I promise not to fall down and bash my head in," Sam laughed. "Scout's honor."
That must have been good enough for the other woman, because she nodded and practically slid through her door, closing it behind her with a quiet 'click'.
Sam turned around and headed back to the Golden Hall. The few people who hadn't gone to bed were sprawled across the tables and floor, either talking or snoring happily. She pulled at the hem of the dress she wore, a dress Eowyn had insisted she wear for the celebration. It was only a little too tight across the chest and hips, but thankfully the two women were nearly the same height, so it came down properly. The pendant Legolas had given her rested between her breasts.
A blast of cold air hit her face, and Sam found herself facing the large double doors of the entrance hall, both of them cracked to allow the chill air to take away the smell of alcohol and sweaty bodies. She pushed the heavy doors open and took a deep breath, letting the cold chase away some of her intoxication.
"Are you well, Samantha?"
Sam turned around, and nearly fell over. After the ground and sky righted itself she found out who was talking. Legolas stood at the edge of the battlements, watching her.
"Fine," she answered after a moment, taking a deep breath. The cold air helped to clear her head.
A little.
The elf stepped towards her. "The hour is late, and most are abed. Why are you still awake?"
Sam shrugged. "Just getting some fresh air, that's all." She walked further into the night, until she was balanced on the edge of the battlements. "That was some party."
Legolas smiled. "I have been told that humans take any opportunity to celebrate, especially after a time of great hardship."
"I just hope they have great amounts of aspirin," the blonde muttered to herself. A tall glass of water before bed might get rid of the worst of her hangover if she was lucky. "We don't have to do anything tomorrow, do we?"
"No, not that I've been told. I doubt anyone will be in the mood for much work."
The elf's voice held more than a hint of laughter, which made Sam start giggling. She could imagine the whole of Edoras jittery and irritable from a massive hangover. "You don't seem affected, and I saw you and Gimli. Who would've thought someone so small could drink so much."
Legolas chuckled. "The last I saw of Gimli he was searching out a soft, quiet place to sleep off most of the ale. After muttering something to me about hollow legs."
The major laughed outright at that. She'd found herself watching Legolas during the drinking game, and Gimli was right. The amount of alcohol the elf had drunk could have drowned a horse.
"I have not seen you laugh so freely in many days, Samantha. It is good to see you happy once again."
The quiet words broke through her laughter, and Sam found herself standing closer to the elf that she would have liked. Sometime during her laughing they had moved closer to each other, and she was leaning partially on him, one arm balanced on his shoulder. "Thanks," she said, the words almost inaudible. The pendant burned like a brand against her skin.
She would never know who moved first, but suddenly she found herself kissing the elf, without the slightest inclination to stop anytime soon. She had the vague sensation of her legs giving out, only to be gathered in strong arms and supported against a firm chest as she was kissed.
Sometime later, Legolas lifted his head, and Sam found herself trying hard not to follow those lips. Why did the elf have to be such a good kisser anyway?
"Perhaps it would be best if you went to your bed, Samantha," he said quietly, watching her with glittering eyes.
"Uh, yeah," Sam fought to unscramble her brain, what little of it hadn't melted and run out her ears. She swung her legs playfully. "Could you let me down?"
Slowly, she was lowered until her feet touched the stones, cold seeping through the soft cloth of her slippers. Even then they didn't move, until he backed away.
" Good night, Samantha." The words were short and clipped.
Sam turned to leave, pushing open the large wooden doors a little more forcefully than necessary. "Goodnight, Legolas."
A THOUSAND apologies for taking so long inbetween updates, real world, work, finding better work, etc. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for reading this story, especially those people who've stuck around since the very beginning, a million thanks to you for your suggestions and support. Special whipped chocolate mousse thanks goes out to everyone for your reviews. Thanks for kicking me into gear while I was suffering through the dreaded writers block ::shiver::