Lady Taevyn – I try very hard not to let my OC's fall into the MS trap so thanks. Frozentear1 – glad you're liking it so far. There will be more O'Neill coming (and stuff for my other fics as well) but for now here is another part of this one. I also want to thank Mysfyt as always for being a complete guru, the extremely kind Cath for always reading my stuff even when she doesn't watch whatever show I'm writing about, and Leila for being interested enough to contact me and being around while I wrote this. I hope she likes the bits she hasn't read yet:)

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I don't like this place. Things just keep getting worse and worse. Upon discovering that Colonel Harper was no longer around, I considered my options. There were other majors and colonels and lieutenant colonels who outranked me but most had moved on to other postings following the demilitarisation of Stargate Command. With everything I read on the computer, it was clear that the only way back through the Stargate was to get someone important to listen to me. I figured that the only way home was to hope that the planet with the alien tech also existed in this reality. Which didn't really explain why I'd appeared in my quarters in the new reality rather than on the alternate alien planet but tying my brain in knots trying to figure out stuff like that wasn't productive.

The most important person I knew was General Hammond. The hike to his house took most of the rest of the next day. He had apparently retired to spend more time with his wife. I assumed it was because she was dying of the cancer she'd already succumbed to in my reality. I was, therefore, rather surprised when she answered the door. I'd seen her picture in the General's office so I knew who she was. The Hammonds listened politely to my tale after the General indicated that his wife knew about what he'd been up to all those years. I could tell he was finding it hard to believe my story – especially since he'd never had a Captain Storm under his command.

His wife, however, was more ready to believe. I was a bit relieved – like someone was on my side – until her eyes glowed and her voice changed. "It's not as though we are not aware that alternate universes do exist, George. Her information is quite detailed."

The Hammonds stared at me at my reaction to the presence of a symbiote.

"I apologise." I stuttered. "I just wasn't expecting a Tok'ra."

General Hammond was on his feet then. Face apoplectic with indignation. "How dare you speak to my wife like that?"

"Sir?"

"My wife is not a Tok'ra!" He spat the word out in disgust. "How could you think such a thing?"

"My symbiote is a Goa'uld." Mrs Hammond calmly pulled her husband back down into his seat, however, she was clearly terribly offended as well.

"What?"

"You know... the Goa'uld..." Hammond drawled sarcastically. "Our allies? The ones that were guiding our civilisation until the time of Ancient Egypt when the Tok'ra drove them from our solar system. Succeeded in robbing us of the Goa'uld presence for thousands of years?"

"Until the Tauri found their Stargate again and were able to reconnect with us." The Goa'uld smiled happily at her husband, taking his hand. "Together we defeated the Tok'ra, stopped the Jaffa Rebellion and wiped out the replicators."

"No..." I stood up, shaking my head. It was all wrong. Their voices were buzzing in my head. "No." Nothing made sense. All I knew was that General Hammond was happily married to a Goa'uld. I had to get out of there. Once again I ran. Backing out of the room I vaguely made out the Goa'uld saying "Poor child." in a way that seemed to indicate that she'd now decided that I was insane rather than from an alternate universe.

I ran for what must have been hours. I ended up at Colonel Harper's gravestone. White cold stone amidst rows and rows of cold white stones. Being there was almost comforting, so I sat by his grave and continued reading the information I'd stolen from the base. Everything the Hammonds had said appeared to be true. The Goa'uld did pose as gods around the time of Ancient Egypt and before that but according to this they were benevolent and guided our civilisation with the plan that once we were evolved enough they would reveal to us their true nature and we would take our place beside them as allies and friends. Ra was the Goa'uld assigned to watch over Earth until he was defeated by the Tok'ra – an evil group who believed that being technologically advanced gave them the right to rule over everything. As a last gift – before his defeat – Ra hid the Stargate so that Earth would be safe from the Tok'ra.

Was this all some elaborate propaganda from the Goa'uld or was this truly the way things had worked in this universe? If it were true, this universe had had it easy. The galaxy was a pretty safe place these days – all the main bad guys defeated – so there was no need for Stargate Command to be a military base. Nowadays it was a government department with teams of people travelling the galaxy for trade and technology exchange purposes. Most of the SG-teams were now reassigned to other countries in the hopes that one day our world could be as united as the galaxy was. The rest of my team were stationed in Iraq.

I thought about Indiana but discovered while shoplifting some WiFi net from a local business that he wasn't a scientist here. He was a mildly successful stand-up comedian. Without his PhD he wasn't called Indiana either.

I couldn't go back to General Hammond. I needed another perspective. Without the input of the friendly neighbourhood Goa'uld. I might be more willing to accept that things were different here but I really didn't want to take that chance with a snake in the room. Some things a member of an SG-team can't do easily and that's trust a snake. Even when dealing with our Tok'ra we all tread extremely carefully.

My only options left were Colonel Reynolds from SG-3 and Colonel O'Neill from SG-1. Reynolds was retired but lived on the other side of the country. O'Neill, however, still lived near Colorado Springs. Out of the two I thought that O'Neill was more likely to believe me anyway. Reynolds was a bit more likely to follow the company line. O'Neill, however, had always been especially wary of the Tok'ra. I hoped that this universe's O'Neill was similar and that I could trust that if he thought the Goa'uld were non-evil then they were.

Not that I really care. I should. I think I should be searching for the truth and screaming that they've all been deceived but so far I don't think they have. I think this universe is doing just fine without my intervention. As much as I hate it here. Nothing is going to bring back Colonel Harper. All that matters is getting back to my own reality. I have a freaking life there. Sure it sucks ass since Daniel died but it's all I've got. I don't want to exist without Colonel Harper and SG-5 and Stargate Command. I don't care that we're still out in the galaxy trying to fight for our survival. Allowing a non-Marine tear to escape down one cheek, I touch Colonel Harper's name carved out in the cold white stone and tell him how I just want to go home.