"What he means is, you have to get Jack to help us," Daniel clarified.

"I know," Sam said sadly, "I know."

Chap. 17: A Little Help from Our Friends

With considerable persuasion from Jacob Carter, Jack O'Neill agreed to meet with Sam. He'd discuss the project; he owed both Sam and Jacob that much. He had no intention of going any further.

While the scientific team traveled to Antarctica to retrieve the Ancient artifacts, Jack had returned to his home in Colorado Springs to be with Kerry and the boys. If Sam were involved in a plan to change the timeline, he was convinced it would happen, sooner or later. He wanted as much time with his family as possible before the fateful changes took place.

With that resolution in mind, Jack insisted the meeting take place in the Springs. Though he'd have preferred the non-committal outdoor café where they'd met when this whole thing started, he settled for Cheyenne Mountain. Top secret discussions weren't made for public places and Jack was someone who appreciated that fact.

In a small conference room, hidden from prying eyes, the two military officers sat down with each other, one hoping to gain the assistance of the other. Over a cup of coffee, Sam did her best to explain the incredible background information Colonel O'Neill needed to know. Without missing a beat, she discussed the existence of a race known as the Ancients and summarized some of their most notable technological advancements. Having done her best to avoid the endless technobabble she reserved for her Jack, Sam went on to explain that Jack O'Neill was the only one she knew for certain carried the Ancient gene, a prerequisite for operation of most Ancient technology, including the Puddle Jumper. She was asking this man to swallow and digest a great deal of foreign information. But she knew he could do it.

Jack's furrowed brow said all Sam needed to know. He was overwhelmed, intellectually and emotionally. As she knew he would, the man got out of his chair, stretched his six- foot- two-inch frame and started to walk around the room, stopping briefly to say what was on his mind.

"And how do you know this ship travels through time?" He asked skeptically.

"We've used it before," Sam said simply. "The concept itself is relatively straightforward, once we have the right pilot. Even then, there'll be some adjustments needed for the particularly short jump we have to make."

Jack continued to pace, picking up first a pencil, then a stray piece of paper to play with as he did so.

"Let's assume everything you say is true," he said, realizing in his heart he'd already made that assumption. "Why would I want to do this?"

"Because you know it's the right thing to do," Sam answered, feeling a tug at her heartstrings as she voiced the words. The decision was so much easier for her than for this Jack.

"Loosing my children is the right thing to do?" He asked testily.

Sam looked at him, struck again by how much he resembled her Jack. But the resemblance wasn't exact. This man looked younger. As much pain as he'd had, he hadn't survived the same physical stressors her husband had. What's more the extraordinary extraterrestrial events opened to them by their years at the SGC were foreign to this man. He is different, she reminded herself. His experiences have made him different. It's possible he won't react as Jack would. Still she chose to believe Colonel O'Neill would be enough like her husband to have the same basic values and perceptions of good and evil. What's more she knew he had a mind capable of comprehending all she was telling him.

"If we retained our memories, you can bet Ba'al figured out a way to do it too. You have to understand, Colonel," Sam said, "He hates you, or rather my husband. It's beyond his natural all encompassing evil, it's personal."

"So?"

"You've never had the pleasure, have you?"

"Pleasure?"

"Of meeting Ba'al, face to face," she replied matter-of-factly.

"No, I haven't. Until the other day I'd never even heard his name."

"My Jack knows Ba'al all too well," Sam said sadly. "Ba'al tortured him repeatedly a few years back. He tortured him to death over and over. Each time he revived him to do it again."

"And this man is still sane, able to function?"

"He is," Sam said proudly. "General Jack O'Neill is an incredible man."

"Great," O'Neill said. "What's that got to do with me and my family?" Whether from envy or irritation, his tone was becoming agitated and a bit hostile.

"I'm not sure. Maybe everything, maybe nothing," Sam replied vaguely. "I can't imagine he won't enjoy torturing this reality's Jack O'Neill as well. After all, my husband was a big part of the reason he had to go through all this trouble in the first place. I can't imagine he won't want to extract a bit more personal vengeance on you and your family. And those boys would be the perfect way to do it."

She had his undivided attention now. Though he'd never been through a Stargate, visited an alien planet or met this creature called Ba'al, Colonel O'Neill had experienced his share of less than ethical men and women during his time in Black Ops, not to mention his service in the Carter administration. There were people on this earth who'd stop short of nothing to gain revenge, those who had no respect for human life or even the lives of children. Everything Sam was telling him about this evil alien sounded infinitely more chilling. Still …

"Sam, if he's so malevolent, so vengeful," Jack asked, "why hasn't he done anything to me yet?"

Sam looked at the man with compassion. She was asking him to process information and experiences that weren't his, understandings that had taken her years of literal blood, sweat and tears to comprehend.

"I can't answer that for you," she admitted. "I do know he's done more than enough to damage your world already."

He was silent. She realized he had little to compare with the present reality.

"Earth wasn't meant to be at war endlessly," Sam said. "My world's far from perfect, but there's a freedom your world will never have. For all you know, your boys will be selected as Ba'al's slaves when they come of age, or they'll simply die in the war. And in the meantime, they grow up surrounded by the fallout of battle."

His silence continued. In spite of himself, he knew what she meant. The fallout of battle…

Now it was Sam's turn to push back from the table and stand up. If he wasn't following her, she wanted to be sure he did.

"The café you wanted to meet at… it exists in my timeline too," she said. "But it's different. It's busy, full of customers. The streets, the shops around it are full of life. I used to go there to get a taste of fun, of having a life, especially after I'd spent hours on end at the lab. The day I met you there … I wouldn't want that life… people were going through the motions, Jack."

Jack turned to look at her, his expression softening.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Calling me Jack," he said.

It was Sam's turn to be silent.

"Tell me about us," Jack continued.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked.

"You heard me," he said, certain she did. "Tell me about you and me, in your reality. What's it like? What are we like?"

Sam turned on her heel to face away from this man. This was more difficult that she thought it would be. Her feelings were close to the surface and it was becoming next to impossible to keep her reactions to him separate from her feelings for her husband. But she could give him this much.

Turning to face Colonel O'Neill again, Sam began.

"What are we like?" Sam repeated, a smile tugging at her lips at the thought of her Jack. "We're great together, that's how we are. In my timeline Jack was my CO for eight years, eight long years of life and death situations, saving the planet stuff. For eight years, duty and regulations kept us apart. I like to think we fell in love early on, like you and your Sam, but we never acted on our feelings until I was out of his chain of command. By then we'd developed a deep, trusting friendship. In the end, our love grew from that friendship. We respect and cherish each other. And I love him more than I ever imagined loving another person."

Jack smiled pleasantly, a far away look in his eyes.

"That's how I thought my Sam loved me," he said, sadness permeating his every word.

"Maybe it was just too much, the death of your child, I mean," Sam said, her heart going out to this man.

"You and 'General' O'Neill went through your fair share from what you've told me," Jack said. "And you're still together."

"We waited a very long time for what we have, Colonel," Sam said. "I don't think there is anything that could make us give it up now."

Jack nodded, then turned away to regain his composure. Without making eye contact he said softly, "I don't want my children to be slaves."

"I know," Sam acknowledged him.

"I need to talk with Kerry."

"You can't tell her what we're going to do."

"I can't tell her that her children are going to disappear at any moment?"

Sam simply looked at him.

"If this works, Jack," she said, "the Kerry you know will cease to exist. She won't remember having had any children."

Jack lapsed into silence, placed his head in his hands and sighed. When he looked up, he was resolute.

"In that case," he said, "I'm going home to say goodbye."

TBC