Title: Ad Infinitum – Chapter 10

Chapter Summary: They're back home.

Chapter Rating: PG-13 (language)

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Chapter 10/10

Jacob's POV

Consciousness arrived but brought a massive headache with it. I tentatively opened my eyes before giving up and shutting them again. Deciding that just one eye might be easier, I tried again and this time I recognized the SGC infirmary.

Oh god, not again. Slowly, I realized that my wrists weren't bound this time and someone's hand was lightly gripping mine. I turned to see my mother dressed in full uniform as she dozed off next to my bed. Three stars sat on her shoulder announcing her position as Lieutenant General and I breathed a sigh of relief, waking her up.

"Jacob? Oh thank god!" She was on her feet and holding me before I could even try to sit up in bed. "I was so worried!"

"I missed you too... Mom." I never thought I'd be so happy to call my own mother 'mom' again. "Alex?" I asked as fear burrowed itself in my stomach.

"She's right here," my mom said as she moved to the side and opened the curtain that separated the two beds in the infirmary. Alex seemed to be unconscious still and her own parents were by her side. Vala had tears in her eyes and I realized I'd never seen her cry before. Uncle Danny - my Uncle Danny, realized I was awake and hurried to my side as well.

"Hey, you're up... that's great. How do you feel?" He asked concerned.

"Head hurts," I admitted.

"Dr. Lam said you had a concussion." He explained.

"Does Alex have one too?" I asked, not remembering any rocks falling on her head although anything was possible.

Daniel shook his head, concern written all over his features. "No. They're not sure why she's out."

"How long have we been out?" I asked.

Mom glanced at the clock, "About twenty hours. What happened? Where were you guys?"

"I can't explain now, Mom. " Realizing something else might be amiss, I followed up with, "What day is it?"

"July 15th." My mom stated.

"2024?" I asked and she nodded with a frown, unsure of why I'd be asking.

She must've decided not to dwell on it because she followed up with, "You two were missing for eight days. We even had Thor try to locate you but he couldn't, we were so scared."

Her blue eyes had tears in them and I felt like a shithead for putting her and Dad through this... speaking of which, "Where's Dad?"

"At the Mess, the kids were hungry and you know how he gets when he can't do anything to help, so he took them up there for a bite." She wiped discreetly at her face, trying to re-assume her role as SGC commander because she felt much safer like that and my respect for her grew even more. I'd seen what she and my father had to go through to get to where they were and these people put everything they ever loved in jeopardy for me, for this family. I would never be able to repay them.

"Daniel, she's waking up!" Vala shouted from across the infirmary and Daniel left my side in a hurry. I looked over and saw Alex thrashing on the bed. She sat straight up in a hurry and I could see she regretted it right away as her hand shot up to her head.

"Ow." She complained. "What the fuck happened?" She then realized where she was and saw my mother and instantly looked apologetic for her language. "I'm sorry, Ma'am."

My mother smiled because she knew she was probably the only person that the rebellious girl addressed formally in the entire SGC, everyone else she called by their first names or 'you' if she didn't know them. She still called her Aunt Sam off-base but it still meant a lot to Mom that Alex would even apologize. "No problem, Alex. How are you feeling?"

"Like a truck ran me over... anyone happen to get its license plate?" She joked as Vala moved to hug her so hard I could hear Alex grasping for breath.

"Vala... I think you're suffocating her," Daniel said with a smile.

Vala broke up the hug but kept her hands firmly in Alex's arms. "You are so grounded, young lady!"

Alex rolled her eyes but nodded.

Dad entered the infirmary next followed by Olin and Jaen, the two dark-haired eight-year olds breaking into an excited smile as they saw Alex and I awake. Dad shared a glance with Mom, the two wordlessly communicating like I'd seen so many times before but never truly appreciated until now, and then he was at my side, ruffling my hair and pulling me into a quick hug.

Jaen quickly climbed onto the bed and sat down on my legs, holding a brown teddy bear. "I thought you were too old for teddy bears," I teased her, remembering how she'd asked me to put all her toys in the attic last month stating she was too old for them and she was finally a big girl.

"It's not for me, you doofus. It's for you." She said as she handed me the teddy bear with big sad eyes and a misplaced smile. "Dad let me get it for you because you were leaving for the 'demy, but he said I could give it to you when you woke up instead."

"Oh thank you, then. I'll take it with me to the Academy and I will name it Jaen and I'll talk to it whenever I miss you." I told her and she seemed satisfied.

Olin was sitting on Mom's lap, his big brown eyes showing as usual that he knew more about what was going around him than he ever let on.

Klaxons sounded, startling all present in the infirmary. Mom looked at the door and then back at me and I grinned as I saw the mother and the general battle it out inside her. "It's okay, mom. I'm awake and well, go see what's going on."

She smiled back at me and handed Olin to Dad then left in a hurry to find out what the fuss was all about.

Dr. Lam came to us soon, which meant that there were no medical emergencies related to the earlier alarm and we all visibly relaxed. She examined me first because of the concussion then Alex and seemed satisfied with our progress.

I remembered what Hypathia said about how everyone would eventually forget about Alex and mine's little 'trip' and I wondered how much of it was true. At this point, except for the concussion, I was starting to even doubt everything had actually happened.

Then again, it wasn't any crazier than everything else we'd seen before.

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Alex's POV

Once Dr. Lam gave us the ok to get up and walk around, Jacob requested a debriefing with everyone present. Even the wonder twins were sitting there and behaving their eight-year old butts; well, they weren't really twins but they were so close in age that Uncle Jack and Aunt Sam had decided to celebrate their birthdays together every year.

Cam, Teal'c and Dr. Lam were also present which meant the Briefing Room table was filled to its capacity. Jacob, always ready for anything that came his way or so it seemed, stood up to begin. "Thank you all for being here today... I know everyone here is wondering what happened regarding our-- disappearance, so I figured it was better to just tell everyone at once." Everyone seemed interested and concerned, so he continued, "Do you remember when SG-1 went to Alexandria all those years ago?"

Dad nodded, followed by all the adult heads on the table. "Yes, of course, we've been trying to find a way back in there ever since."

"It's not there anymore, Dad." I said.

"What do you mean? Is that where you were?" He asked worried. "Because I told you, it's dangerous in there! We were almost trapped!"

I decided to ignore the fact that he just admitted he'd been trying to think up ways to get back there even though he knew it was dangerous.

"What Alex meant," Jacob explained, "is that the Repository was destroyed soon after SG-1 was--" he paused as he searched for the right word, "transferred out of there and back to the surface."

"How do you know that?" His mother asked him.

"We were there, but it's not what you think." Everyone seemed downright confused and looked like they were about to start asking questions, but Jacob raised his hand to halt them. "Alex and I went out for a ride, on your old bike," he admitted to his mother and she gave him a look that said that even though she was simply relieved we were fine, he would still have to deal with her later. Giving her an apologetic look, Jacob continued, "I'd fixed the bike and I added some modifications that apparently caused the two of us to be sent back in time, or at least I think it was the bike, even though later we learned there might've been other reasons why we went back in time."

"We went back to 2006," I started to talk, giving Jacob time to rest. "We were with you when you discovered the Library and we stayed behind when you guys left."

"I think we would remember if you guys had accompanied us," my mother skeptically added.

"Apparently, you guys were made to forget we were ever there... she said--"

It was my Dad's turn to interrupt, "Wait, she?"

"Hypathia," I explained. "She said that you guys would eventually forget us, everything except maybe our names and the fact that we stayed behind."

The group looked like they were trying to remember and even Teal'c looked displeased that his memory might've been somehow altered.

Cam raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't you guys be in our mission report if you'd been present?"

Dad pursed his lips and shook his head, "It was an unofficial mission, remember? We weren't supposed to write reports."

"You said there might've been other reasons why...?" Uncle Jack asked in confusion.

"We thought that our going back in time was happenstance. We had the chance of accompanying you guys on the mission so we took it and once we were there, we found Hypathia and she explained that Alex and I were there because the database was about to be destroyed and they wanted to download that information into our brains."

Uncle Jack looked even more concerned, "Please tell me you guys didn't agree with it!" Then he saw our faces and he banged his fist against the table. "Jacob! That was irresponsible, you know what it did to me!"

"No, wait! Dad, let me finish!"

Aunt Sam slipped out of her General role for a second as she reached out a hand to comfort and quiet her husband. Then she was back to SGC commander, even though her eyes showed motherly concern for Jacob and me. She motioned to Jacob so he could continue the story.

"She explained that we wouldn't get sick like you did. The information won't overload our brains; it won't even be part of our conscious minds. It will, however, pass on to any offspring and so forth, little pieces of information that will slowly begin to surface. She promised that it would all happen very slowly, presenting no health risks to us or to any future-- offspring." He said uncomfortably.

I shifted, suddenly rethinking this whole offspring deal. I mean, Hypathia wasn't very specific about that... could I procreate with anyone or would I have to find someone with the right protein markers? Jupiter and Zeus, what if she meant that Jacob and I would have to-- no, I couldn't even go there. Plus, I had never made plans to have kids - I was only 15. Did this mean I'd have to have as many kids as humanly possible so as to ensure that they would also have kids and somewhere down the line one of them would access this information? Or could I just have one or two kids and let nature follow its course? I was definitely getting a headache.

"You mean unlocking genetic memory in humans? That's remarkable!" Jacob's mother's concern was quickly giving way to fascination as our explanation continued.

"Hypathia said that it's been happening already for over sixteen centuries." Jacob offered.

"So, let me get this straight," Mom spoke up, "you two went back in time, found us, went with us to the Ancient base, entered it with us the only time we were able to get in, had the entire knowledge of the Ancient stored in your brains then returned home and we don't remember any of it?"

Jacob and I nodded. "Pretty much," I replied.

"Wonderful," she said. "You're still grounded though."

I shrugged. She knew as well as I did that I could always escape.

Uncle Jack looked at Aunt Sam waiting for her view of our story. She didn't disappoint him, "Well, we know the Ancients have come a long way since their failed attempts at time manipulation that were abandoned on P4X-639. Whether this Hypathia figure was ascended or not, I believe she could definitely be able to take the kids back to a place and time that would enable them to find the repository. Plus it's very possible that they took extra measures to prevent us from remembering it; any race that masters time travel would probably also try to find ways to prevent negative consequences to their experiments. It makes sense," she concluded, announcing that the debriefing was concluded.

"I don't know about you guys, but time travel always gives me a headache and I think a steak at O'Malley's might just be the cure... who's up for it?" Uncle Jack asked around as he helped Jaen get up from her chair.

"I could definitely go for it," Uncle Cam said.

Mom and Dad quickly nodded as well and Teal'c bowed his head in silent agreement while Olin reached up to grab his hand, the two had instantly bonded over their reserved demeanors years ago.

Dr. Lam said she couldn't make it and Uncle Jack turned to his wife with a gleam in his eyes. "How about you, Ma'am? Care to join us?"

Aunt Sam stood up with an apologetic look on her face. "I need to finish up some work if I am to spend the weekend at home when Cassie gets in, so you guys go on ahead."

Uncle Jack didn't kiss her goodbye; these two were definitely not big on Public Displays of Affection. Maybe they should've taught a class at the SGC, my parents definitely should've learned from the best. But my godfather did share a look with his wife that showed just how much he appreciated seeing her in that uniform, handling the Briefing Room like the great commander that she was.

Jaen stole a quick hug from her mother before running for the halls. Jacob and I followed the group out, "There's no place like home, Dorothy," he teased and I laughed.

"There sure isn't, Cowardly Lion."

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