Chapter Seven: Discussions

Charlie turned, his eyes widening. "Hi dad…"

"Hi…" Jack said, shifting his weight from one foot to another as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

There was an awkward silence that reflected how awkward this was for the author, being as she wasn't even in the room at the time, but is writing this while watching the security camera tapes, it's very evident the awkwardness the two men radiated.

"So what happened to make your reality different from ours?" Jack quietly asked after the silence became too much for him to bear.

"My mom killed herself, not me," Charlie said. "Then you went on the Abydos mission and retired. After that you got called back and met Sam. Then…"

"We got married and had the three little ones," Jack said. Charlie nodded. "So … um … what did you do?"

"I went to school and whatnot, graduated a year early and top of my class, and began working in the Stargate program almost right out of college," Charlie said.

"Oh," Jack said, feeling pride swell in his heart. "That's … good … Was it because of me and Carter?"

Charlie winced a bit at the use of Sam's last name, but ignored it. "Yeah, you and Sam really pushed for letting me in. It wasn't like I didn't know about it. You'd already gotten your head stuck in the Ancient database. We had to be told something."

"Ah … the Ancient head suckers … I'm pretty sure that happens to me in all realities," Jack said. He paused. "So … what else did you do in your reality?"

"Well, you coached my little league team … After you retired for the first time, of course."

SG1-SG1-SG1-SG1

"So, Daniel … Do I get to stay in this lovely place for the rest of my life?" Vala asked, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.

The two were in the commissary eating lunch - or rather, Vala was eating raspberry Jell-O and nothing else. Daniel, was eating lunch. "Daniel, are you even listening to me?" Vala asked when he didn't respond.

"Huh? Oh, right. I do have a house … But I don't really use it … I stay here most of the time," Daniel said. "I probably should look into letting you move there … And there's Caleb and the baby to think about…"

Vala rolled her eyes and continued to eat her Jell-O as Daniel rambled on about what he was going to have to do to his house. "And Daniel, can I have your credit card?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Because a girl needs more clothes than the ones they have here," Vala said, pointing her spoon at him.

"…Skaara probably needs clothes too…Where is Skaara?" Daniel asked.

"With Virginia, where else would he be?" Vala asked.

"That's a good point," Daniel said. Daniel looked up at Sam as she sat down at the table with a tray and began eating. "Hey Sam. Have you spoken with Jack yet about the kids?"

Sam looked up at him and glared.

"I'll take that as a no, then," Daniel said.

"He won't talk to me," Sam muttered.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Vala asked. "Talking helps."

"Sure it does," Sam grumbled before returning her attention to the items on her tray trying to pass themselves off as food.

SG1-SG1-SG1-SG1

"This is insane," Carolyn said as she paced.

"How so?" Cam asked, spinning around in her chair.

"Colonel Carter is about to get married and winds up with three kids by another man," Carolyn said. "General O'Neill finds his son alive in a different reality; and Dr. Jackson and Vala now have a two-year-old son and a child on the way."

"And…" Cam said, trying to draw her out.

"There are five children from an alternate reality here! Don't you find this the least bit … oh, I don't know – odd? It weirds me out!"

"Did you just use 'weirds me out' in a sentence?" Cam asked, stopping spinning and staring at her. "And yeah, it is a bit weird, but this is the SGC. You gotta be prepared for weird."

Carolyn sighed. "But this goes beyond normal weird. I can handle aliens, going to other planets, and even fanatical worshippers of invisible people. That I can handle. Different realities? Not so much … How are you coping with this?"

"I just learn to live with it," Cam said. "I mean, I read every mission report I could get my hands on while I was in the hospital."

"But it's so…" Carolyn sighed. "I'm still not used to the idea of aliens I guess…"

There was a knock on the door and Virginia stuck her head in. "Am I interrupting?" she asked.

"No, not at all," Cam said quickly.

"Right, so Daniel decided, or rather Vala decided for him, that she needs clothes and since Skaara also needs clothes we're going to the mall. Cam, Daniel says you have to come and I say Carolyn has to come. So you're both coming. Now."

"But I'm on duty," Carolyn said.

"Your dad already okayed it," Virginia said. "So, you get to come shopping!"

Cam grinned as Virginia dragged the young doctor out of her office. "This should be interesting," he murmured.