Dear Shippers,

Another thousand apologies for the long passage since I last posted for 'Never Say Never,' a futuristic story of the award winning 'Chosen Heart series.' If you happened across this story because of a chapter update please start with Chapter One? Other than Jack and Sam being bonded Ancients the novella series is cannon based. And with Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis sadly over, I stay true to the shows and characters. Thanks for hanging in there! Enjoy! Hail Dorothy

PS: The copyrighted materials of Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis belong to MGM studios. My warped imagination and love for Sam and Jack are mine!

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Chapter Sixteen

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Earth: A mile and half beneath the cabin.

"Jonathan James O'Neill!" Sam glared into a salvaged SGC monitor trying to reconcile how the new faculty had an uncanny resemblance to the Tokra off world tunnels.

"Excuse me." Onboard Atlantis, about to settle into the Ancient chair to launch the vessel, Jack irritably approached the com panel's screen and the hot, but evidently pissed-off dusty photocopy of Sam.

"So help me, Jack, if you don't show yourself I'll shot Harry."

"She's serious, Jack." Maybourne protested off stage.

"Whatever."

"Jaa-ck," Harry hit a high octave.

"Look guys, I'm a tad occupied launchin' this mother of all battle cruisers, saving the world again, yada yada." Jack rubbed his shirt sleeve over the dusty screen. "Don't they ever clean this joint?"

The counterfeit Sam's fair complexion turned boiling red. "Man, he's three fries short of a happy meal."

"Ya just noticed." Maybourne derided.

"Watch it, Harry, or we'll have a repeat of that oh, so memorable moonlit holiday. This time inside a black hole." Jack's jaw scissored tight.

"Sorry, Jack." Harry's head bobbed over the monitor. "But she has a loaded pistol jammed into a kidney and the safety's off."

"And she is?"

"She is your wife." Sam shoved Maybourne aside.

Harry wasn't lying. She held a Beretta M9A1 in her right hand. Shit! "Oh, like you're saying so makes it so."

"It's me, Jack," her voice softened and when she smiled those adorable dimples seemed real—almost.

"Please, believe her, Dad?" Charlie towered over the fake Sam's shoulder then glanced sheepishly at Jack's parental scowl.

"Squealer," Jack accused, shaking his right pointer at his eldest son.

"Sorry, Pops, but she is our real mom. I swear!" Charlie defended, cradling Sam's slender shoulders with his large hands. As if to reaffirm, Sam leaned against Charlie's chest.

"Yeah right! For all I know you're all Replicators." Cocking his head, Jack pressed his face to the monitor and yelled, "With the shield down the base could be swarming with creepy-crawlers." He gestured Sam. "Fine. Say something only Carter would say. Something a Replicator couldn't know."

"Holy Hannah, it's been in my head for three years, Jack." Sam pulled away from Charlie and closed in on the monitor.

"Hello!" He flourished a hand with a snort of mockery. "And your point would be?"

It-she snapped her fingers and said in a sensual tone that few men had ever heard from Samantha Carter, "You squeal like a pig rolling in mud when I nibble your—"

"Na-ahh!" His jaw unhinged, Jack practically jumped through the screen to silence her.

"Nibble his what?" Harry begged.

Sam waggled her dusty brown eyebrows and smiled evilly. "Let's just say 'his what' is not below his belt but close to his heart."

"You tell anyone and you die, woman."

"You believe me?" her chin jutted out, hope filling her eyes.

"Thinking." Brooding, but more pointedly doubting. RepliCarter had probably been along for the ride whenever he and Sam made love, a thought that would forever sicken him. What the female replicator hadn't perfected was Sam's cheeky mouth, especially when infuriated with him. So, Jack did what annoyed Sam most, he donned his duh expression and went to his happy place, fishing. Tens second later, he began to regret that he never caught that two foot bass. If only she'd—

"Hell, don't strain yourself, sir. Not like the fate of infinite galaxies dangles on the decision of one Homer-fanatic flyboy, whose plans A and B are to blow it up!"

Yep, she was pissed. "Dorothy?" His head snapped up and he smiled at her feistiness.

"Hi ya, Scarecrow." She winked an indigo eye.

"Dorothy, Scarecrow?" Harry mouthed. Charlie whispered something to Maybourne who snorted. "Will you two get a room?"

"If only." Jack's tender gaze embraced Sam before he glanced past her. "So where's two-faced RepliCarter?"

"Unconscious and in a Replicator foolproof cell, Jack." Harry assured.

"Sweet."

"How'd you know where I—we were?" Sam peered at her husband. "And what Fifth wanted before he made his demand?"

"Oh, that. Snuck in the backdoor." He tapped his forehead. "You two were busy strolling down memory lane and didn't notice little ol' me."

"But Fifth's still in my brain."

"Nope. I fried number Five's circuitry and," he checked his wristwatch, "got about twenty minutes before he figures out how to reconnect."

"That explains why I don't sense him—it. Thanks, sir."

"Hey, think nothing of it—that."

Sam stood, dressed in green fatigues, heavily armed and totting a backpack. "Ready to be transported onboard, sir."

"Not going to happen, Carter." He avoided her stunned look.

"Don't be a jackass. I demand that you take me with you."

Starching his sore shoulders he groaned. "Harry, does it say four-star General anywhere on my uniform?"

"Hey, I've got two of em, Jack, and she doesn't listen to me."

"Because I think my husband had too many beers when he promoted you, Maybourne," said Sam with disrespect unbecoming an officer.

"Carter, stand down."

"But he's. . ."

"My second in command. Fercryin' out loud, listen to the man."

"Over my dead body." She gave Harry a soiled look.

"That can be arranged-again." Jack looked at Maybourne. "Zat her if ya haveta."

"With pleasure." Harry leered in Sam's direction.

'Oh, no you don't." She brandished the pistol. Hands raised, Harry backed off, while Sam ranted. "Last time you shot me the two of you got marooned on a moon for three weeks."

"Ja-ack?" Harry looked desperate. "I made one trifle mistake and she hates me."

"I wouldn't call it trifle," Jack recalled those horrible weeks stuck with Harry, under the delusional influence of a weed and believing that he'd never see his wife again.

Sam's angry glint fixated on Maybourne. "Oh, I don't hate you. I've always disliked, distrusted and despised you."

"Why?" He was gullible enough to ask.

"You victimize innocent women for perverse selfish pleasures."

Harry coughed. "I happen to love and appreciate the female species . . . very much." He smiled. "And I'm not perverse. Although, I'm all for trying something new."

"Holy Hannah, you've seven and half wives!"

"And a dozen precious children," Harry proudly added.

"You sicken me."

"Now listen here, Mary Poppins, at least my kids were conceived by willing conscious partners."

"Bad answer, Harry." If the world wasn't about to end he'd enjoy their game of ping-pong mouth.

"Oh man!" Sam's lethal hands went for Harry's throat. The man barely dodged her attack.

"Geez, Dad," Grace whined from the backdrop. "They're driving us nuts."

"Timeout, kids!" Jack ordered with a T hand signal.

"Don't pull your kids lingo on me." Sam's flushed face crammed the screen. Harry looked for the nearest exit.

Jack stepped back, fearing she'd crawl through the monitor and assault him. "Samantha," he drawled his don't push me tone, "This is not your call."

"You're not doing this alone."

"Naah!" He scrubbed a hand across his blue bearded jaw, glanced at his watch then at the anxious beautiful face of his chosen heart, Samantha Carter-O'Neill, a face that could launch a thousand ships or delay them. "Three years ago you made a choice without me." Surprised anger scuttled across his face and into his voice.

Sadly, Sam met his injured expression. "Forgive me, Jack? Had our positions been switched, you'd have done the same. And if I'd told you about Fifth, you'd have stopped me."

"Dang straight!" He countered.

"And we'd all be dead." Harry harped.

Jack's fury dissipated. "Well, there's that. . ."

"Dad, you taught us to never leave anyone behind." Cassandra sidled up to her mother. Grace poked her face in the screen while Charlie herded the O'Neill clan. Next came JJ who looked scared as hell, but stubbornly acceptable of Jack's final decision. Jonathon James O'Neill junior was growing up to be a lot like his old man.

Sam stepped out of Jack's view. When she reappeared, Janet and Jacob were clinging to her like they'd never been separated. Jack's heart skidded against his ribs. They'd bonded!

"Dadda!" Janet giggled and thrust her chubby arms toward him.

Jacob elbowed his twin, competing for Jack's attention. "Cake?" the youngster asked, lurching at the screen.

"Um, kiddo, daddy's gotta a job to do. But when I home, we'll have chocolate cake, ya sure yabecha." He winked.

"Yum yum. . .sweet." Jacob blew a slobbering kiss to his father.

Jack's eyes misted. He tore his attention from the toddlers to Sam. "You play dirty, Carter." He accused.

"Learned that from my former commander." She juggled her wiggling armfuls, before handing the twins over to Charlie and Cassandra.

When Grace started to sob, Sam tenderly embraced her, stroking her hair.

"Dadda, bye-bye?" Janet hugged Cassandra's neck and looked at him with questioning blue eyes.

Jack's heart crumbled. "Just for awhile, sunshine." He pressed a smile.

"Don't lie to them, Jack." Sam insisted. Letting go of Grace, his wife looked beseeching at him, as did his children.

Their grief-stricken faces almost unhinged him. Almost. He touched the console to disconnect. "Oh, the Atlantis ZPM's in the cabin's refrigerator freezer."

"And you're flying Atlantis how?" Sam gawked.

"With the ZPM we absconded from Baal years ago."

Harry barged in. "Um, Jack, there's just enough juice for—"

"A one way ticket." He wagged his grey brows with knowing look.

"Jack!" Sam pleaded. "Sagittarius-A is one of the most unstable black stars in the galaxy. It's super massive and—"

"Closest to Earth, approximately 26,000 light years, give 'r take." He counted fingers but ran out of digits.

"How'd you—?"

"Thor." Jack engaged her stunned look that morphed into an exasperated Carter. "He borrowed your original plan, just tweaked it bit to throw off the bad guys."

"The Replicators want the ship's ZPM and the Wraith wants its technology."

"That's why you're a national treasure, Carter." He grinned. "Thor decided to think dumb like you and. . ."

"Your Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet failed to mention that even if you had a full powered ZPM there's a one in five-million-three hundred—"

"And a twenty-seven thousand odds that I'll return. Yeah, did the math."

"Please, Jack?" Tilting her golden head, Sam brushed the screen with her fingertips and blinked glistening tears.

Jack felt her warm touch on his skin. Dang Ancient wiring. "Hey, it's what we do, Carter. Take care of our kids and know that I love you well . . . more than fishing."

"And I love you."

"Always," he replied with a soft tenor of regret, "Goodnight, my sweet someone, goodnight."

Jack killed the transmission.

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Sam's fist slammed the keyboard. She turned on Maybourne. "Where's the transporter room?"

"Now, Sam, I promised Jack that you weren't leaving Earth." He blocked her path.

"We promised too, Mom." Charlie and Grace stepped alongside of General Harold Maybourne.

"Wrong answer." She wielded the zat'ni'katel and fired.

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Jack hovered over the driver's seat of Atlantis. It'd been a long time since he'd done this. "Like riding a bike," he muttered self-assuredly. When he sat down the chair lit up like a carnival ride. Jack drew a breath, rested his palms over the armchair's controls, closed his eyes and simply thought, 'To Oz.' Atlantis emerged from the frigid waters of Lake Michigan soared, then shot into the ebbing dusk light and out of Earth's atmosphere.

Manned by Thor and a skeleton Asgard crew, The Odyssey, left Earth's orbit and followed Atlantis' trajectory. Once Atlantis was on course Jack left the chair and rushed for the helm. This reminded him of that time Thor's ship had been overrun by Replicators, well there were several, but the first incident remained most memorable.

The odds of surviving that mission had been slim to nil. On a positive note, he and Thor would have gone down in a blaze of glory. Second time was a charm right? Back then, Jack had ordered Carter and Teal'c not to board the doomed vessel. His fear for Sam's safety had been a part of that decision. He'd been royally pissed when General Hammond overrode his command. In the end Carter's disobedience had saved his and Thor's collective asses. Carter wasn't here to save his ass, but she was safe. He tried not to think about the indignities she had suffered at Fifth's metallic hands. Yeah, Jack realized too late that she wasn't RepliCarter. But then, that was the story of his life. Too little too late.

Jack took the elevator to the ship's helm, confident Sam wouldn't leave their children behind and those he loved were out of danger. That's if the Replicators didn't crash Earth's defense shield. And then there were the life-sucking Wraith.

As the lift's door opened, Jack swore he heard the distinct swishing noise of chevrons, which meant—

"O'Neill?" Thor's voice chimed over the ship's intercom. Jack tapped a knuckle against his skull. He was used to the little guy being inside his noggin.

"Thor?" He blinked when the Asgard materialized as a hologram distracting Jack from the Stargate.

"O'Neill, all the Replicator ships left Earth's orbit and Fifth is onboard the home vessel."

"Nice." He smirked and scrubbed his hands in glee.

"Wraith darts are pursuing the Replicators. The Mother Hive also follows us. Your plan A appears operational."

"Thanks, good buddy. Let's hope the hounds chase the bait right down the ol' rabbit hole." Jack made a swooping motion.

"I am unfamiliar with hounds or rabbit holes, O'Neill. I must terminate communication until we exit hyperspace."

"Sure." Jack nodded glumly.

Thor vanished.

Jack was alone--totally. "Okay then. Hey, God Almighty, jump onboard whenever ya want. . ." He waited a beat. "Now would be nice."

With no outward reply from the Man upstairs, Jack felt the weight of the universe on his shoulders before he doggedly focused his piloting skills on the Ancient ship's control panel. At least they weren't Asgard stones. Which made him think about the alien blue diamond on Sam's wedding finger and dang, he couldn't stop thinking about her and the kids.

"Stay focused." Jack summoned years of discipline. Still, his thoughts meandered here, there and yonder. It'd been rough keeping Sheppard, Weir and the Atlantis team grounded, but he'd managed. Being a general ass had advantages. General Ass. Jack smiled. Sometimes, he cracked himself up. His mouth dipped low as he keyed the address for Sagittarius-A. He initiated hyperspace drive and felt the physical jolt as the flying city entered the no spin zone. He'd arrive at Sagittarius-A, hopefully with the Odyssey, Replicators and Wraith mother ships on his heels.

Sam didn't know it but there was a plan B. Thor would transport Jack onto the Odyssey seconds before the dead star's gravity sucked Atlantis and the enemy vessels into its orbit. And if that plan didn't work, Jack would be joining the heavenly choir that included George Hammond and Jacob Carter and his first born, Charlie.

Atlantis dropped out of hyperspace. Jack stared at the deadliest dead star ever to envelope the heavens. "Crap, this gas hiccup's humongous." Shocked into heart-pounding fear Jack prayed out loud, "Lord, if you've got something up your holy sleeves I'm open for a miracle, bands of angels . . . direct voice mail?" Silence. "Um, toss me a bone wilya?"

"Jack?"

"Huh?" Jack rasped. Since when did the Keeper of the Stars sound like. . . "Dang it, Daniel! What's it about, 'everyone, disembark and suicide mission,' that you don't get?"

"Must have lost something in the translation." Daniel sauntered forward wearing his blue-eyed smirk and trademark head bandana. "Besides I rarely listen to you. Why start now?"

"For cryin'out—" Jack blustered.

"I listen to you without fail, O'Neill. But we are a team, correct?" Teal'c stepped off the elevator.

His mouth ajar, Jack swerved toward the Jaffa. "Oh yeah, a team that's about to get flushed down one honking black hole." Jack pointed out the deck's bow port and the swirling mass of the collapsed star. "This is not a return flight, guys. At least Carter follows my orders. . ."

Short-winded, Samantha Carter-O'Neill rounded the top of the stairwell and stepped onto the helm.

"Holy crap! Whatcha ya doing here, Carter?"

"Saving our collective asses, sir." Rushing to a monitor she unhitched her backpack with one hand while the other danced across a keyboard.

"I knew that." Defeated, he dragged his hands over his face and through his silver hair.

"I ran another diagnostic, sir. If I divert power from the ZPM to the . . ." Her techno babble got lost on him. Peachy! They'd die together after all. At least their O'Neill clan was safe. Or not? His gut twisted. When he tried to mind-merge with Sam, she kicked him out.

"Carter?" he growled against her internal stonewall, but she ignored him.

The gate dialed up.

"Fer cryin' out loud! What?"

Daniel took a chair at the control panel beside Sam. "It's the SGC's I.D.C."

"Patch 'em through." Jack ground out, cupping a reassuring hand over Sam's left shoulder. Like him, she was shaking. He leaned into her, inhaling her sweet scent, his whiskered jaw brushing soft skin as she continued to enter critical data.

Teal'c approached the oblong, transparent screen that displayed their solar system. "O'Neill," his deep voice resonated against an odd static in Jack's eardrums, "A Wraith Mother vessel reentered Earth's orbit and has opened fire upon the SGC facility. . ."

Stunned, Jack stared at the screen and incoming Wraith vessel. Darts left the hive-ship by the thousands.

"Where's our kids?" Jack demanded of Sam, praying she'd brought them on board.

Apprehensively looking at him, high color pinched her ivory complexion. The answer was in her eyes.

Crap!

"H—o—m—e," Sam's lips moved in slow motion. Buzzing static blocked her voice, Daniel's and Teal'c's. The gravitational field of Sagittarius-A sucked Atlantis toward its dark pit, fifty-four seconds faster than Thor had calculated.

"Nooo!" Jack roared. He tried to think—act. He'd seen this happen before. SG-10 . . . Major Henry Boyd's team!

The Atlantis deck began to tailspin. So did Jack. As light faded into black he held Sam close and thought, There's no place like home, there's no place like home. . .