disclaimer: I own nothing

Author's Note: This story came from a reviewer suggestion, so thanks to LoneWolfOneill for the prompt. Hope you like it.

How shall man escape from that which is written;

How shall he flee from his destiny?

-Ferdowsi

It had started years ago.

No one knew it. No one thought of it. No one even considered it a possibility until it was far too late. They had been sent to eliminate Earth as a threat, and eliminate it they would.

The Goa'uld were not known for their subtlety. Which was why it worked.

It started when Russia had the gate. They hadn't known how to use it. Of course, the Goa'uld hadn't known that it was Russia, specifically. They had seen that these humans were more easily manipulated than the ones they were used to dealing with when it came to the Tau'ri and they decided to use it.

It had started with one.

Just one Russian soldier, an immature symbiote wrapped around his spine. Content to wait, as ordered, until they were mature. Until the time was right. No one knew it was there. So it had begun.

The symbiote had only taken over once, to ensure the arrival of more Goa'uld children were delivered to the Tau'ri. They made it through the gate. They were kept safe. They waited. And then, when the time was right, they rose.

The leaders of Russia, China, North Korea were first. They were easy to implant. These men wanted power. Wanted their countries to be the most powerful, most important in the world. It was all too easy for the Goa'uld to take over them completely and have none of the humans around them notice a thing.

Then came leaders in the Middle East, in Europe. Not all of them. No, there weren't enough symbiotes for that. But they were placed in the ones that could easily be persuaded to do what the Goa'uld wanted. Because a willing host, one who reflected the ideas of the Goa'uld, were much more satisfying than ones that had be bent to their will. Because it showed them that the Tau'ri were not infallible. They could be just as bad as the Goa'uld. They could be worse. Oh, so much worse.

The Americas were beyond their reach. But that was fine. They would fall all the same, and making the Tau'ri that had been such a pain in their side for so long woud be far better than simply taking their leaders and forcing them to submit.

The Tau'ri thought themselves better than their Gods. They thought to to make themselves an enemy. They thought to free worlds. They would pay for it. To eliminate the threat, they would make the Tau'ri a bigger threat to themselves than they had ever dreamed possible.

They would destroy themselves.

The galaxy would belong to the Goa'uld once more.

But all that would come later.

The first grain of sand had tipped into the bottom of the hourglass. The rest had no choice but to follow.

XXXXXXXXXX

In a dark house in Colorado Springs, General Jack O'Neill was on the phone with his wife. Their lives were constantly a juggle of who was where and when, but they had made it work. They would keep making it work. It helped sometimes that he outranked her and could tweak things in her schedule when he really wanted to. Needed to. Same thing.

"You're supposed to be home by now, Carter." He still called her that, even all these years of marriage and one child later. Not always, but often enough.

"I know, Jack. But I have to say."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Sam sighed into the phone. "Orders came down from the president."

That put Jack on alert.

"From the president? Why?"

"Something is coming up on NORAD's radar."

"Something has 'come up'? What is it?"

"We don't know. We're on alert."

"Should I come down there?"

"They'll call you if they need you. For the moment, I don't think we need another general on base right now."

Jack nodded, though he felt a little tense now.

"Did you get Grace to bed all right?"

"Oh. Yeah. Yeah, she's fast asleep."

Sam laughed at the answer.

"She's sleeping on the couch, isn't she?"

Jack stepped into the living room, glancing down at the little girl that was curled up on the cushions, fast asleep.

"Maybe."

Sam laughed again.

"What time did she get to sleep?"

"I'm not...completely sure."

"We have to be firm on bedtime, you know."

"I know. And it's not like it happens every night I'm alone with her. She couldn't sleep and she wanted you. I let her hang out with me."

"Well, hopefully I'll be home soon. I love you."

"Love you too. Take care of yourself, Colonel."

"You too, General."

Jack could hear the smile in Sam's voice before she hung up. He set the phone down and looked down at Grace. She looked very peaceful. He was fairly certain that she had used Sam being gone to her advantage, to get what she wanted, but he didn't really mind. He liked spending time with his little girl and if he indulged her a little, then that was all right.

Jack settled on the couch beside her. He could carry her to bed in a little bit. He picked up the remote for the TV. It was on mute, but he started to change the channel. The game he had Grace had been watching was over by now. He flipped to the news, though he doubted that it would be saying anything about whatever if was that was going on at the mountain. It wasn't like they were going to release that to the news. But the news had an uncanny way of picking up and reporting on the things that no one wanted them to talk about.

Nothing. That didn't mean anything. But if it had been something important, he knew that he would have been called in. Especially since he worked for Homeworld Security.

He eventually settled on some old reruns, keeping it on mute since he knew them well enough to not strictly need the audio. Grace shifted and moaned beside him, then opened her eyes. She blinked sleepily at him.

"Daddy?" she murmured.

"Yeah, Gracie. Go back to sleep."

Grace raised her head and looked around. At nearly five years old, Grace was already, in Jack's opinion, beautiful. She took after her mother more than she took after him. Her hair was the same shade of blonde and her blue eyes were perfect replicas of her mother's. Her face held a few of his features, but in a way that was more like a vague after thought of her genes. Sam's genes had won the game and he liked that they had.

"Where's Mommy?"

Jack nearly sighed, not wanting to start this again. Grace was used to her parents coming and going, but that didn't change the fact that she was a little girl and she wanted them both, not one or the other. Especially when her mother was supposed to be home by now.

"Stil at the mountain."

"Why?" Grace demanded, in the way that only a young child could.

"They needed her. You know your mother -always saving the world."

Grace scowled deeply, a look that Jack was well aware she had picked up from him.

"She was supposed to tuck me in."

"I know. And you know that Mommy doesn't miss things she says she'll do unless she has to."

Grace stuck out her bottom lip, but that was a look that almost never worked on Jack and it had certainly never worked on Sam. It had suckered Daniel and Teal'c a few times, but Grace should have known better than to try it with her father.

Jack stood up and bent, scooping Grace into his arms.

"It's time for bed. And you're going to stay there this time." he said, mockingly stern.

Grace giggled.

"Yes, sir." she said, in perfect imitation of Sam.

Jack carried her to her bedroom door. A large poster, tacked to the door, bore Grace's handwriting in large letters.

Grace Charlotte Carter-O'Neill. Authorized Personnel Only.

The block letters proclaimed her name and the little warning Daniel had taught her when he had been babysitting. He had obviously helped with the spelling. Smart as Grace was, 'authorized' and 'personnel' were a little outside her age range.

Jack bumped the door open with his hip and gently lay Grace in her bed. She was already asleep again. Jack smiled and tucked her in, kissing her forehead gently before leaving and pulling the door firmly closed behind him.

Confident that Grace would stay asleep this time, Jack went outside to climb up to the roof and use his telescope. Sometimes Carter would join him. He remembered when she had been pregnant with Grace and still insisted on joining him despite her belly making climbing up difficult. He settled in the chair and peered through it.

He was with Grace. He wished that she were home right. Sam -her names were interchangeble in his mind, because she had been Carter for so many years- should have been home. He had no idea why the SGC would be on alert when NORAD was. It was usually the other way around.

He thought on this deeply as he looked at the stars. He had spent so many years saving the world and dealing with this stuff. Leaving had been hard, but the best choice. But now he was antsy, not knowing what was going on. If it hadn't been for Grace, he would have been driving to the mountain right now. He might, if Sam wasn't home by morning.

Inspired by a thought, Jack pulled out his cellphone -he had brought it with him so that if Sam called he would know- and called Daniel. No answer. That didn't mean anything, of course, but sometimes Daniel wasn't required at the mountain when Sam was. Given the time, he might have just been sleeping.

He tried to focus on the stars, turning the telescope. He still wondered how many of them he had been to, though Sam insisted that many of the planets that had gates were not visible from Earth. It was a nice thought, though. And it didn't make everything seem quite so small.

After an hour, Jack was getting chilly, so he headed back down into the house.

His cellphone rang and Jack pulled it out of his pocket, answering it.

"O'Neill."

"Jack." Now it was Daniel.

"Hey, Daniel. What are you doing, calling so late?"

"Do you know what's going on?" Daniel asked.

"In regards to what?" Jack asked, deciding to tidy up a little before heading to bed himself. Sam wasn't going to be home tonight. At least, not early enough for him to keep waiting up for her.

"I just got called to the mountain." Daniel answered.

That made Jack pause and frown.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I was sort of hoping you might."

"No. I don't. Sam's there, though. Something came up on NORAD, apparently."

He heard Daniel sigh and grumble something that he couldn't make out.

"Stuff pops up on there all the time. And why would that mean I have to come?"

"Maybe there's a late night archaeological emergency."

"It should have had the decency to wait until morning." Daniel yawned, so hard that Jack could hear his jaw pop.

"If you're going to dislocate your jaw, don't do it right in my ear, Daniel." Jack ordered.

"Yeah. Well, I just wanted to know if you know what's going on. Bye."

"Bye."

Jack hung up. He wondered why Daniel had been called in. He still hadn't been. Of course, if little things were happening, it didn't really require a general to be called in. Especially one that was supposed to be on leave and was currently looking after his daughter. But not always being the first call made Jack a little restless.

The phone rang again, about three minutes later. He half expected Teal'c to be telling him that he had been called into the mountain as well.

"Hello."

"Jack."

"Sam."

That put him on alert, especially the tone in her voice.

"What's going on?"

"Are you watching the news?"

Tension throbbed in Sam's voice. Something had happened, Jack was certain. Something she didn't want to be the one to tell him.

"No. Hang on a second."

Jack turned the TV on. The late night show that had been on had been interrupted for breaking news. It was still on mute and he couldn't tell where he was seeing. He could tell what he was seeing well enough. There were shots of smoke and destroyed buildings. Soldiers and tanks. War.

"Holy Hannah." he said, borrowing the Carters' favorite swear. "Carter, where is that?"

"Europe."

"Where in Europe?" he demanded, annoyed by the vagueness in her tone.

"It doesn't matter where. It's going to be everywhere."

"Why?"

He heard Sam shudder out a breath.

"Russia just declared war on the entirety of Europe. China is siding with them. Their ships have been detected in low Earth orbit."

"Those ships don't have space-to-earth weapons." Jack said numbly.

"No. But they've delivered a message to the United States. To the SGC."

"What is it?"

"Surrender. Or they'll destroy us. If our ships come to join the fight, it will be considered a declaration of war against them."

Jack could barely comprehend this. An entire continent at war in the blink of an eye? That happened on backwards planets where no one respected anything to do with each other. Not here. Not Earth. Not anymore. They had left those days behind.

"Jack. You need to come in."

"Yeah."

"Bring Grace. Please."

"Of course."

Jack hung up the phone, staring at the horrific scenes on the screen.

Somewhere, miles of ocean and two continents away, a Goa'uld laughed through their host, watching the same images.

It had begun.

Author's Note: I wanted to show the calm before the storm, rather than jumping into the nuclear fallout. This story will be a very slow update. I didn't specify the names of the world leaders because I didn't want to date things. Also, I know absolutely nothing about the nuclear capabilities of any country in the world, so this is going to pure and probably inaccurate fiction.

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