A/N: This has, quite possibly, been one of the lousiest weeks of my entire life. I'm working upwards of 14 hours per day, taking full-time graduate classes, being mommy to 2-year old twins who I never see, and am trying to keep track of my husband who works 7 days a week on 2nd shift, which means he leaves at 2pm Sunday, and I don't see him again until Saturday. The workload is unimaginable, the pay is lousy, and there's really no bright spot on the horizon.

Or so I thought.

Tonight, while looking for a file on my computer, I went through my email folders. Just for grins, I went into the folder where I store my fanfiction reviews. (That's right, I'm too sentimental to trash them.) I always move them into one folder, but until tonight, I'd never gone back in and looked at them. Do you know how many emails are in that folder?

Close to 1100.

You guys rock.

Hope you like the chapter.

Chapter 8

Sam heaved a mammoth sigh as she followed Jack down the familiar corridors of the SGC. "I hate it when you're right," she mumbled grimly.

Without breaking his stride, Jack felt an amused smile sneak onto his features. "Good thing it doesn't happen often, then," he remarked over his shoulder.

Sam's expression didn't lighten much. Anxiety was too heavy in her belly for his words to cheer her. "Jack," she said tightly, "I don't like this."

At that, he stopped moving mid-step, almost causing her to crash into him. Looking at her sharply, he felt a mixture of guilt and remorse flood his heart. "I guess you must be pretty upset," he said with forced lightness, "You just called me 'Jack' when we're on-duty."

Realizing that what he said was true, Sam felt herself color slightly. "Cut me some slack," she muttered. "I'm under a little bit of stress right now."

Looking into his wife's weary blue eyes, Jack pleaded silently for her understanding. "It's going to be okay, Sam." Reaching out instinctively, he brushed a finger over her cheek. "I wouldn't do this if I thought for even a moment that I'd be in any danger."

Sam's gaze hardened. "You didn't think you'd be in any danger last time," she said flatly.

He shrugged. Her words were true enough, but they didn't change the facts. "It's Daniel," he said simply.

At that, some of the wind seemed to leave her sails. Nodding silently, she took a deep breath and motioned for him to continue. With a long look of regret at her clear anxiety, Jack sighed and resumed his trek down the corridor.

A few minutes later, he and Sam approached the door to his office, still shrouded in a strained silence. Opening it, Jack was somewhat surprised to see both Daniel and Teal'c sitting in the chairs opposite his desk.

"Hey guys," he said, a hint of a question creeping into the greeting.

Teal'c spoke first. "Greetings, O'Neill. Samantha. How are the twins?"

Sam smiled in spite of her grim mood. Thoughts of her two, chubby, drooling miracles always gave her a few moments of joy, even in the worst of times. "They're great," she replied. "Dad and Sarah are sharing them."

Jack shook his head. If he lived to be a hundred, he'd never understand how his ex-wife had come to be his nanny. Of course, given the fact that the other half of the child-care duo was an alien, he supposed nothing should really shock him anymore. "So," he said, shifting the conversation to the topic at hand, "what do we know?"

Daniel, who had been quiet to this point, seemed to spring to life. "She woke up for about fifteen minutes," he explained rapidly, "during which time she shared some facts about where she came from. It's an alternate reality; of that I have no doubt."

Jack nodded, unsurprised. "You mentioned that something unusual happened just before she lost consciousness again." Over an unsecured phone line, Daniel had been unable to discuss any specifics.

Looking fatigued but determined, the archaeologist met his friend's gaze squarely. "At first, she didn't recognize me at all. In fact, she even asked if I was a Goa'uld." Sounding sad, he sighed. "In her reality, the people of Abydos are still slaves."

Sam winced. "I'm sorry, Daniel."

Jack shared her sentiment, but still looked curious. "Obviously, in her universe, we never made it through the stargate."

Daniel shook his head. Then, suddenly looking a little guilty, he glanced away. When he turned back to his concerned friends, he took a deep breath before speaking. "I probably shouldn't have done this," he admitted frankly, "but I told her where she was."

Teal'c's eyebrow shot up. Clearly, this was part of the story that he hadn't heard yet. "You told her she was no longer on Abydos?"

Daniel cringed. "I told her that she was in a whole new dimensional reality." Looking somewhat remorseful, he met Jack's eyes squarely. "I couldn't lie to her. So I told her the whole truth before someone could command me not to."

Sighing deeply, Jack looked somewhat pained by the revelation. "Can't say I'm surprised," he muttered. "Still, this does complicate things."

Sam's eyes had grown wide as saucers. "I'll say it does," she breathed. "Daniel, you may have just compromised any chance she had at returning to her own reality. We can't let her go back home with too much knowledge of this universe. It could alter the timeline in her own world irrevocably."

Daniel seemed to be expecting her assessment. "I know," he said wearily. "But I couldn't let her lay there, completely terrorized by her surroundings."

Sympathy lurking in his eyes, Jack seemed to understand his friend's decision. Unwilling to make him feel worse, he pushed away the temptation to pass any judgments. Instead, he focused on the situation at hand. "How'd she take it?" he asked curiously.

At that, Daniel smiled. "Amazingly well," he said; pride evident in his voice. "She just seemed to… understand." He looked somewhat baffled by that fact. "I'm not sure I'd have been as calm in the same situation."

Jack was inclined to agree. "Hard to think anyone could be," he said slowly. "Maybe it was just shock?"

Daniel shrugged. "Maybe. But I haven't told you the really interesting part yet." Seeing skepticism on his friend's face, Daniel forged ahead. "Not once in our conversation did I tell her who I was, and yet somehow, she knew my name," he said simply.

Sam's eyes widened. "How?"

"I have no idea," Daniel replied, clearly at a loss. "Maybe she heard it while she was comatose?"

Jack released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "I don't think so."

Looking at Jack's serious expression, Daniel blinked. "Do you know something I don't?" he asked, sounding puzzled.

Jack mutely exchanged a look with Sam. Turning back to Daniel, he shook his head. "Just a feeling," he muttered.

This time, it was Daniel who shared a meaningful gaze with Sam. "He's been having a lot of those lately, hasn't he?"

Sam nodded. "You're telling me." Her voice conveyed a mixture of anxiety and affection.

Daniel heard the fear in her words and felt himself cringe inwardly. He had no desire to hurt his friends, but there was no denying the importance of this situation to his own well-being. "This probably has something to do with those damn stones, doesn't it?"

Sam sighed. Making the conscious decision to face her irrational fears head-on, she pushed any reluctance to speak of the device aside. "Actually," she said calmly, "I think it has more to do with the Ancient knowledge he used to have in his head."

Jack raised a hand and waved it. "Hello? I'm sitting right here."

Daniel glanced briefly in Jack's direction before continuing to speak with Sam. "What makes you say that?"

Patting her husband's hand absently, Sam replied without hesitation. "Something in his head directed him to the first set of stones on P3X-812." She shrugged. "I'm guessing it was a remnant of the Ancient library. How else could he have known what to do with that cylinder?"

Jack sighed in frustration. Looking at Teal'c, he shook his head. "I hate it when they get all scientific on us."

Teal'c's lips quirked upward slightly. "One would think you would be used to it by now, O'Neill."

Ignoring the other conversation in the room, Daniel seemed intrigued by Sam's logic. "You think the device is Ancient? The cylinder certainly fit the bill, but those paving stones aren't really their style."

Sam didn't seem to have an immediate answer for that. "I'm really not sure. But whether the device was Ancient in origin or not, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume they'd had knowledge of it."

Daniel inclined his head. "Which would account for Jack's unusual instincts about this whole situation."

"Either that," Jack chimed in, "or I'm developing my natural psychic abilities."

At that, both Daniel and Sam looked at him pointedly.

"Yes, Jack," Daniel remarked dryly, "because you've always been so very aware of other people's feelings."

Jack blinked. "Yeah, I suppose not."

Smiling, Sam looked at her husband fondly. Then, as her awareness of where the conversation was heading set in, she found herself growing serious once again. "Well, with Sha're showing no sign of regaining consciousness, there's really only one thing we can do."

Her words hung in the air like thick, acrid smoke. The four long-time colleagues exchanged looks of understanding.

Jack agreed with his wife's assessment of the situation, but he hated seeing the resulting pain in her eyes. "Look," he said quietly, "I'll be in and out in no time. Teal'c will make sure I don't do anything stupid. Isn't that right, T?"

As the large warrior nodded reassuringly at Sam, Daniel suddenly interrupted. "I'm coming with."

The bold statement, coming from a man who had been nearly immobile no more than forty-eight hours ago, caught Jack completely off-guard. "Daniel, don't you think you really ought to-"

"Me too." Sam's words were delivered with an uncompromising stare.

Still off-balance from Daniel's declaration, Jack looked completely pole-axed by the determined gleam in his wife's eyes. "But, Sam, what about-"

She interrupted sharply. "I already told Dad and Sarah that I wasn't letting you go out in the field alone. Sarah, of course, has no idea what you're supposed to be doing, but she completely understands my intentions. They'll keep the twins until we come back."

He gaped at her. "You mean you planned on coming with me?"

She nodded. "From the moment you told me you were considering the trip." She gazed levelly at him. "This is not negotiable, Jack. If you set foot on that planet again, I'm coming with you." Glancing at Daniel, she sighed grimly. "We're coming with you. Daniel has as more at stake here than any of us."

Jack looked at the resolute faces before him and made a noise of exasperation. Turning to Teal'c, he sighed dramatically. "Am I, or am I not the General around here?"

The Jaffa merely raised an eyebrow. "You could order them to stay behind, O'Neill," he said quietly, "but I suspect that such an order would result in a new and uncomfortable relationship between you and your sofa."

Jack laughed. "Of that, I have no doubt." Turning back to the objects of his frustration, he found himself confronting two rather irritated sets of blue eyes. Raising his hands in a sign of surrender, he spoke hastily. "Fine! I give up! You can come. Just don't be too disappointed when the trip turns out to be boring as all hell."

Sam smiled sweetly. "Trips with this group are many things, Jack, but 'boring' is rarely one of them."

Surveying the camp they'd just set up, Jack felt an odd feeling of peace creep over him. The Ancient ruins they'd come to survey were a good half-day's hike from the gate. Given Daniel's lack of stamina, they'd decided to walk a few hours and then camp for the evening. A fresh start in the morning would likely give the exhausted archeologist a better chance at making it to the site without collapsing. With their tasks laid out before them, the four had worked together seamlessly, performing the routine tasks in perfect, wordless synchronization.

Sam walked up beside her husband, noting the bemused look on his face. "What's up?" she asked quietly.

Watching Teal'c help Daniel to a seat by the campfire, Jack couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face. "This," he replied simply. "I've really missed this."

After a moment, Sam felt a similar smile lift the corners of her own mouth. "Yeah, me too." She hadn't even realized it until this moment. "It's been a long while since the four of us were on a mission together."

Jack turned to look at her. "True. Though, I must say, our last off-world mission together was pretty memorable."

Sam looked somewhat puzzled as she pondered his statement. Then, as the meaning of his words sank in, she suddenly burst into peals of amusement.

Hearing Sam's giddy laughter, Daniel looked over at the couple curiously. "What's so funny?" he asked.

Sam grinned. "Jack just pointed out that our last off-world mission resulted in some… ah, interesting consequences."

Daniel thought back for a moment and then grinned. "Two interesting consequences," he said cheerfully.

Teal'c, also smiling, added his remarks from his seat beside Daniel. "It is difficult to believe that so much time has passed since our last mission."

Jack sighed expansively. "You can say that again," he agreed. "It's been a hell of a year."

Sam gestured toward the fire. "Anyone interested in some coffee? I brought decaf for the evenings." The sun was just beginning to brush the tops of the trees, indicating a few solid hours of daylight still remained.

Settling down beside Daniel, Jack grimaced. "Sam, honey, maybe you should let Teal'c make the coffee."

Daniel chuckled, earning him a black glare from across the fire. He raised his hands defensively. "Sorry, Sam, but I've tried your coffee."

She sniffed delicately, dismissing the entire line of conversation. Still, she handed the packet of coffee to the large Jaffa as she changed the subject. "Daniel, your nose is a little red," she said matter-of-factly, pointing out the sunburn with a bit of smugness. "You should wear sunscreen tomorrow."

Making a face, Daniel sighed. "Somehow, in the rush to pack, I managed to leave mine behind."

Sam's smile turned affectionate as she considered his absentmindedness. "You're good at doing that, aren't you?" Daniel, gifted beyond measure in many ways, was hopelessly disorganized when it came to mundane details.

Handing Teal'c the small metallic carafe used for making coffee, Jack smiled. "That's okay, Danny. Sam never goes offworld without hers. Alabaster skin and all that." He winked at his wife as a devilish gleam twinkled in his eyes. "And she keeps it, shall we say, close to her heart." When Daniel seemed to miss the joke, Jack made it obvious by pretending to pluck something from beneath his shirt. Suddenly, the archaeologist seemed to understand.

"Jeez, Jack!" he cried with a wince. "Must you keep reminding me of the fact that you two are… you know…?"

Jack couldn't help laughing. Glancing at his wife to gauge her reaction, he was surprised to see an odd look on her face. Growing immediately serious, his voice conveyed his concern. "Sam? What is it?"

As Daniel and Teal'c became aware of the look in her eyes, they, too, grew silent.

"How did you know that?" Sam asked her husband quietly.

Jack's eyebrows drew together. "Know what?"

"The fact that I keep sunscreen in my bra when I'm offworld. How did you know that?" She tilted her head to the side. "I certainly never volunteered that information before we were married… And we haven't been on a mission together since we were married."

Jack opened his mouth to explain himself, when he suddenly developed a puzzled expression. "Honestly," he said slowly, "I have no idea."

Daniel looked at the couple, feeling the hairs on his neck stand up. "Okay, this is odd."

Jack turned to his friend, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "You're telling me," he muttered. "Because either the Ancients had intimate knowledge of my wife's underwear, or I really am developing latent psychic abilities. And frankly, I'm not sure which of those options disturbs me more."