Disclaimer: All recognisable characters are the property of MGM/Amazon. No copyright infringement intended. I am simply taking my favourite two Gaters for a walk in an Alternate Universe.

Rating: Still T...

Episode Tags: Takes place in Season 7 after 7.16 Death Knell.

TRIGGERS: Depression, Firearms, Suicide.

A/N: If you or anyone you know suffers from the Black Dog, encourage them to seek help. Ask them R U OK? Contains some bad language. I have no beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Chapter 15: Intentions

I sat on an uncomfortable fold out step ladder in storage room 3B on level 24 still in my suit from the service. Teal'c standing alongside me. I had the whiteboard ready with the translated message. At some point the message had changed, but there had been nothing else from Samantha. I chuckled at the very Jack O'Neill saying, often yelled in exasperation and more often that not directed at me.

"When do you believe Samantha will appear?" Teal'c asked.

I sighed, "I don't know. Sam didn't leave me any details. Everything I have is gleaned from Jack on that first day, before he went… you know." I replied twirling my finger in a circle near my head to suggest crazy. Teal'c just started at me. Sometimes I forgot he still didn't get Earth gestures. "Crazy Teal'c, this means crazy." He nodded his understanding. "He hasn't got any intention of seeing her."

"He would not dismiss Major Carter's request so blatantly, Daniel Jackson."

"Not normally, no. But she is another Sam. She will remind him what… rather who he has lost."

"Perhaps she has already activated the mirror." Teal'c said.

"Perhaps, the message did change. Though I am surprised that she didn't respond to my message or send one of her own." I replied, leaning forward to brace my elbows on my knees, the small board hanging precariously from my dangling fingers. Suddenly I heard the tell-tale sound of the mirror connecting. I looked up. The image flickered a few times before Samantha appeared. She smiled and waved. I waved back but didn't have it in me to return her smile. I held up my whiteboard with the translated message. She nodded, then wrote something on her own board before turning it around. Two simple words – 'Where's Sam?' – I dropped my head. Grabbing my pen, I scrawled my response and held it up for her to see. Her face dropped, all visages of the smile gone, replaced by sorrow. I dropped my head again. Only the sound of her coming through the mirror brought my head back up.

"Daniel. What happened?" She asked me, crouching down, her hand on my knee. God, she looked so much like my friend, right down to her changed hair style. Not as short as Sam's, but not the long bangs I remember either. I felt the emotion well up once more.

"Shot!" I choked out, "One of the Anubis Kull warriors killed her." I said, feeling the sting of more tears. I thought I had cried them all over the last week. Clearly not. She folded me into a hug. She felt so much like our Sam. It was enough to draw out my emotions once again. I missed her – my colleague, my friend, my sister – my world would never be the same. She pulled away.

"Where is Jack?"

"At home I guess." I responded. No doubt he would be on his couch, in sweatpants and a t-shirt, his only company a bottle of whatever he had in the cupboard. We had given up trying to limit his alcohol after we found he had been hiding it around the house. I doubted even his five days sober on base would stop him cracking open something. Hopefully with Janet and Cassie there, he would not be so quick to fall down that rabbit hole.

"I'd like to see him. Sam told me things had progressed between them."

"I don't know if that's a great idea Samantha, he's… not in a good place right now." I looked toward Teal'c. He was standing still as ever. I was hoping for some back up from him, but it didn't come. I looked back to Samantha, her hands still on my knees. "She tried to get him contact you, but he's…" I shook my head at the stubborn hard-headedness that Jack had displayed, "...he's a wreck."

"I know Daniel, so was I. Seeing Jack again after losing him was… hard." She looked down, presumably to collect her thoughts, "But I am glad that I did. Knowing that he was alive somewhere in the universe, even if he wasn't mine helped. He helped me, more than he knows. He gave me a reason to go on… and I found the greatest friend I have ever had in myself." She smiled at me.

I smiled back, memories of seeing both Sam's working together, the comradery, the compassion our Sam had showed Samantha when she was phasing out, and the heartfelt goodbyes brightened my otherwise gloomy day.

"How are things, you know, over there?" I asked.

She sighed. "Uncle George is still charge of the base, but it is pretty much mothballed. We hosted Thor and the System Lords about a year ago. We are part of the protected planets treaty. We can't advance beyond the level of the Goa'uld. We can still use our Stargate, but with the majority of our power generation centres destroyed, there simply isn't enough to keep it running." She replied. I remembered back to our own summit and how it was Jack's presence that forced the hands of the System Lords.

"What about you?" I asked. What I really wanted to know was what Grace meant, but I didn't know how, or even if I should be asking. What if I had it totally wrong?

"Me?" She sighed, "I'm moving to Arizona. There's nothing for me to do at the mountain anymore, and nothing in Colorado Springs. I'm going to see about a teaching job at the University."

"Don't you still have your brother?" I asked, then immediately regretted it when I saw the tears well up in her eyes.

"Mark and his family were killed when they levelled San Diego." She whispered.

"Oh Sam, I'm so sorry." I murmured, pulling her into my own hug. She had no one. Eventually I let her go. I wanted to ask her if she'd come here, but that was one more thing I didn't know how to word properly. She pulled away from me. Just then I remembered about the messages. "Hey, did you get my message?"

She looked at me strange. "No, when did you send it?"

I puffed out my cheeks, "Uh, last Thursday… and Janet told me that General Hammond sent one on Monday."

"I didn't get either of them. Did you get the one I sent on Friday?"

"No Sam, I didn't." I replied. Something was going on. "Our board was erased and the ladder against the wall when I came in tonight, but I didn't do it. Did Sam ever put it away?"

"No. It's been out since the day I first contacted her. Would Uncle George do it?"

"Unlikely since he sent his own message." I said watching her watch me.

"Charlie. He has been weird lately." She murmured but did not elaborate. "I'll try and come back in an hour or so. I have something to do first." She said, then grabbed some blank paper from her pocket and scribbled a new encoded message. She handed it to me before walking toward the mirror. Just as she was reaching out. I asked, "Sam, who is Grace?"

She turned and just looked at me, then at Teal'c, then back at me, a smile growing on her face. "Grace is my lifeline; she is a parting gift from Jack." She said, a hint of a smile. Then she turned as was gone with the sound of a whoosh. I smiled when she turned and waved before she left her room. At least she had something of her Jack besides a worn photo and memories.

"Samantha?"

I turned quickly at the sound of my name as I left the room. "Charlie! What are you doing here? Didn't Uncle George send you home?" I said quickly. When he realised that I noticed him fisting his hands, he quickly buried them in his pockets. Something was definitely up with him.

"He did, but I had paperwork to finish." He responded. I looked sceptically at the bases second in command. He hated paperwork as much as Jack had, but unlike Jack, he would never willing stay back to complete it. It was only natural that he would be promoted after Jack died. Charlie had been there for me in those dark days. I was ashamed that I had fallen into bed with him a week after we returned and stupid me forgot about protection. I knew should have stopped after that one time, but I was so lonely, and he had been so understanding and caring that I kept going back for more. Then, about a month and a half after coming home, the news I had been waiting for – I was pregnant. The problem was, she could have been fathered by either man. A week wasn't much space. I was so mortified that my dream could have potentially been with someone not my husband that I put a stop to his visits, much to his chagrin. The first time Grace smiled; it was clear whose she was. As she grew older, there was no mistake. My dream had come true.

"Ah, I see." I responded. His eyes flicked to the room with the mirror. We were supposed to destroy it but hadn't figured out how to do that without cratering the state of Colorado. So, it was left in a little used part of the base behind a heavy door with limited access. "I don't know why you still keep contact Samantha. They can't help us." He took a step towards me. I stepped back.

"They did help us, Charlie. If it wasn't for them, all this would be gone. If it wasn't for…" I faltered.

"For whom, Samantha? For him? Sure, he helped us take this all back, but I was there for you when we got back, but all you could think about was him. He's not your husband Samantha!"

"Charlie, what you and I did shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry. I was upset after losing Jack. I…"

"No… it wasn't because you missed Jack, you missed him." He snarled, jabbing his finger towards the closed door.

"That's not fair Charlie. You know how much like our Jack he was. Seeing him affected you as much as it affected me!" I yelled.

"Yeah, but I didn't fuck him!"

I drew in a breath. "Excuse me?" I yelled back, trying to not show the truth of it on my face. "You have no right to accuse me of that. What if I went to a clinic?"

He stepped closer. This time I held my ground. "A clinic! What clinic Samantha? When? Before Jack died, or the days after when we were being bombarded into the Stone Age? You can't lie to me. I know you were with him. Grace could only be mine or that Jack's, it's not possible for her to be your husband's and she doesn't look anything like me!" He accused.

"Of course, she doesn't look like you! She looks like a Carter." I yelled, ignoring his jab about the impossibility of her being my Jack's.

"You never did see photos of little Charlie did you!" He yelled back. "Grace is an O'Neill through and through."

"Not once did I confirm she was yours. You just assumed and I never corrected you! Grace is my daughter with my husband! How she was conceived is none of your business!" I yelled, then turned to leave, my strides eating up the corridor. I was nearly at the elevator when he grabbed my arm and pressed me against the wall.

"I cared for you, after Jack died. I believed you about the mirror, I came through it with you. I got you home again when we couldn't stay there." He all but growled, his face close to mine. "I was there for you; I fell in love with you Samantha." I felt his breath on my neck, then his lips and finally his tongue. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the crawling sensation.

I shoved him backwards. "Love? You never loved me, you lusted after the one thing your best friend had that you didn't have, and I was stupid enough to fall for it." I snarled, disgusted with my weakness when we returned home. I missed my husband so much. As for Jack, well I hoped that our frenzied coupling had given me what my husband and I so desperately wanted but couldn't have, but with the timing, I couldn't be certain, so I said nothing to Charlie and I let him believe she was his, until it was clear that she wasn't. Grace looked like a perfect blend of Jack and me. She was a gift I never thought I'd receive.

He roughly grabbed my shoulders and pushed his lips against mine, trying to shove his tongue into my mouth. Throwing my arms up to dislodge him, then slamming my foot on his, I pushed him away, "I'm leaving." I growled, then made for the elevator.

I looked at my watch for what felt like the tenth time since Samantha left 15-minutes ago.

"Daniel Jackson. Is your watch broken?" Teal'c asked.

"No." I sighed, pacing the room. Suddenly the mirror activated. "That was fast!" I moved quickly to stand in front of the mirror, but only saw Kawalsky. I waved, but he didn't return my gesture. I watched as he contemplated the controller in his hand. He approached the mirror with a scowl on his face. Something was wrong. Samantha did say he had been acting weird.

"What is he doing Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked as he walked up to stand beside me. The scowl changed to a vicious smirk before he threw the controller toward me. I looked down to see it land on the cement. I looked back up to see him manoeuvring a filing cabinet.

"He's blocking access to the mirror." I said quickly. "Keep this safe." I kicked the controller to Teal'c and without further thought, I reached out to touch the mirror. Coming out the other side, I turned quickly to narrowly avoiding Kawalsky's fist.

"What the hell Kawalsky!" I yelled. Between Jack and Teal'c, I had learned a few new moves since I last saw him.

"She's not coming. She's staying here with me. He can have the brat though!" Kawalsky yelled.

"What!" I yelled, "What the hell are you talking about?" He didn't bother answering me. "Are you and Samantha together?"

"She would be if it wasn't for the girl." He snarled. This felt strange. Something had happened, something had changed Charles Kawalsky from the man he was 4 and a half years ago to this bitter version of himself. He lunged at me again.

"Girl. What girl?" I asked as I dodged again, even though I knew who he meant. He stood back on the other side of the filing cabinet.

"You're telling me she didn't tell you about Grace."

"Grace is her daughter with Jack." I replied, dropping my stance. He chuckled and shook his head.

Then casually walking closer to the filing cabinet, he sneered at me. "Yeah, just not this realities Jack." He scoffed, before putting his weight behind the cabinet and tipping it toward me. I stepped back quickly bumping into the mirror and found myself on my back staring up at Teal'c with what felt like a tonne of filing cabinet holding me down. "Ow." I moaned. I looked back to the mirror in time to see it wink out.

"Daniel Jackson, do you require assistance?"

I looked up at him. "Yeah, get this off me please." I asked. Once I was on my feet, I continued – "We have to go and get Jack. Grace is his daughter." Teal'c just stared blankly. "Grace… alternate Sam and Jack must have… you know." I gestured. I watched as his eyes widened.

"Did Major Kawalsky tell you this?" He asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel Kawalsky, and yeah, straight after telling me that Samantha would be with him if it wasn't for Grace. Teal'c, we have to help them."

"Indeed." Teal'c replied.

As we made for the door, my phone rang. It was Cassie. "Hello!" I answered.

"Uncle Daniel, oh my God, Uncle Daniel you have to come… come now… he's gone crazy…"

"Whoa, Cassie, just calm down." I soothed, "What's going on?" I could hear Jack yelling and Buddy barking in the background.

"It's Uncle Jack, he's yelling and throwing things, I think he has his gun. We tried to stop him drinking but… please… please… Mum's trying to calm him down. I'm worried he'll do something bad!" She cried.

"Just relax. I'm on my way, get Janet and go to a spare room, just stay safe." I hung up. "Shit! Change of plans, you stay here. I will go and sort Jack out." I stooped to collect the controller and tossed it at him. "Try and find Samantha's reality, hopefully she'll be back soon."

"Do you not require my assistance, Daniel Jackson?"

I shook my head, "No, Teal'c… I got this." He nodded his assent and I hurried to the elevator. I knew Jack wouldn't hurt Janet or Cassie. I just hope he had enough presence of mind to not harm himself.