Jack noticed the beeping first. Annoying buzzing. Coming from the wrong side of the bed.

That beeping doesn't belong to me… But it tells me I'm in the lovely infirmary… Great. Retired, yet he still manages to make it to the infirmary. This is probably why I stopped coming here…

He blinked open his eyes just in time to see a hazy Sam come rushing in.

A hazy Sam, followed by a hazy – Fraiser and Martouf?

He immediately clamped his eyes shut.

"Jack? I thought you said he was awake? Jack? Please…"

Well, I can't ignore that – imaginary or not. He slowly blinked his eyes open again.

Sam. Blink. Daniel and Carolyn. Blink. Blink. Janet and Martouf.

Blink. Blink.

"Uh…Carter?"

"Jack! Hey! Welcome back!" Her super watt smile had him grinning at her.

But just momentarily. There was still the pesky issue of the dead people.

"Nice to be back. But…Carter…why do I see dead people?"

"Look who's talking!" Janet quipped back at him.

"They just came through the gate," Sam offered, trying to ignore Janet's comment but failing. "I'm thinking…well, I think they're from the same timeline as Ellie…"

"Wait…Ellie?! Ellie's here?" Janet asked frantically.

"I'm gonna guess she's the source of the beeping," Jack said, pointing to the other bed. "Hey, Ellie! Wake up! We have more guests."

He got nothing but beeps in response. Daniel peered over at her.

"She's still out, Jack," he said as Janet ran over to her.

"What? Nah. We both…left… at the same time…" He jumped up out of bed to make his way over to her. "What's with the beeping?"

"It's the EEG. Her brain activity is off the charts." Janet glanced up at the monitor before turning back to Ellie, peering into each eye with a penlight. "You said you both left. Left where?"

"We were –" he stopped, hesitantly glancing at Sam before continuing. "She said we were in a memory. I, actually…I think I slept through most of it…to be honest…" He paused again, embarrassed this time. Then he collected himself. "But we both left. I'm sure of –"

And there it was again. That nagging feeling that he'd forgotten something.

The two of them stood on the platform. He turned to walk through the gate. He could sense her behind him as he walked through…

"Jack!"

He jumped, glancing across at Janet's shout.

"What?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." She motioned towards his hand, hovering over Ellie's. "We don't know what would happen..."

"She's still in there," he quietly said; unsure where the thought came from, but just as sure it was true. "She's still there. We have to do something!"

He tried not to picture Ellie in that place, pushing the thoughts aside to stare at Janet sternly. She gave a reluctant sigh Jack took as permission.

He grabbed Ellie's hand, not sure of what – if anything – would happen. He just knew he wasn't going to leave her alone.

Not again. Not ever again.

And with that thought, everything flashed and he found himself standing in the living room of his cabin, staring at the most surreal image he'd ever thought he'd see.

There, lying on the floor, were him and Sam.

Dead.

It took him a moment to register what he was seeing; to remind himself it wasn't real.

It couldn't be real.

I just saw her…

"Jack…" That one word, whispered from a corner nearby.

But this time he heard it – it wasn't her calling his name.

She was calling "Dad". That's what he heard when she said his name, no matter how hesitant or unsure she said it.

The meaning was there, plan as day. It was the same meaning he put behind "Carter". It wasn't just a name. It was caring; love…everything you could put into a word. Not everyone could hear it, not every time. He knew Sam hadn't, not initially. Of course, it wasn't there every time.

But she eventually caught on. And he put it there more and more.

He turned and found Ellie huddled up against the wall on the other side of the room. He didn't think it was possible for her to look smaller or more fragile than she had already appeared, but she did. It was as if she was folding in on herself.

With grief.

"I couldn't help it. I wanted to distract them…long enough to get away. But…I guess I got stuck…"

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. To Jack, it was worse than if she'd been bawling.

"It's okay. We'll get out. Not a problem." He walked over to kneel in front of her, laying a hand on her arm. "Come on. You just have to get up."

"Everyone else was already gone," Ellie quietly said, gazing off at unseen memories. "Daniel, Vala, even Jon-Jack – freak accident on the way back down from the cabin, 4th of July. Teal'c – he went on a diplomatic mission for the Free Jaffa – never even found the ship. Cassie…Cassie got sick in the plague… Janet still cries… Everyone was leaving us… We couldn't understand why..." Her gaze focused and stuck fast on the two…the two in front of her. "I keep trying to figure out another way… Something I could have done…" Images started flickering around them, blurring by.

Jack could see himself, Sam, even Ellie. Different scenarios would play out, speeding by so fast he couldn't see what was happening. But they all seemed to end the same.

Him and Sam. On the floor. Dead.

Him and Sam. In the truck. Dead.

Him, Sam, and Ellie. On the floor. Dead.

Him, Sam, and Ellie. In the truck. Dead.

He shook his head and turned his focus solely on Ellie – the Ellie curled in front of him. He grasped her chin and forced her eyes on him.

"Ellie…what happened?"

"I'd come back. Only been home about six months… We ordered Chinese. Special dinner, mom said. Celebrating nothing, she said." She giggled, a sad little laugh. "The restaurant called…said they were super busy. Needed the driver to help there. I offered to drive into town and pick it up… I mean… I was 7…sorta…and I could drive. Six months…still thought it was cool." She laughed again, a tear threatening to fall. Then she stopped, staring at the couple on the floor again.

"Ellie…" Jack whispered calmly, urging her on.

"I came home. Found them…there." She turned to look right at him, and he could see anger creeping in behind the tears. "I hadn't ever known what happened. 'Til today."

Everything flashed and they were suddenly in the corner of the main room of Ba'al's place. Jack flinched to see himself up on that wall. That damn wall… But it wasn't him… It was Ellie.

She had just made everyone think it was him.

"I didn't understand it, until he realized there was no fear. Not with me, anyway. Not here." He forced himself to look at her again as she continued. "That's what they do, see; they get in your head. Use your memories against you. Your fears. When they realized this one wasn't working, they searched for another."

He could sense the flickering of images behind him, like a breeze on the back of his neck. But he didn't need to see them.

The sounds were enough.

"That's when I realized. It wasn't fear for yourself that threw you. It was fear for her."

They were back in the cabin, back with the couple on the floor. And Jack understood.

Trapped in that place... Sam on that wall... Some way out - any way out.

"I keep trying to figure out someway…" she repeated. "Someway to change it…"

He gently caressed the side of her face, trying to soothe away her worries and regret.

"Ellie – you've seen all the outcomes. There's nothing you could have done. Not without joining them. And I know they wouldn't have wanted that."

"But…but now I'm all by myself again… Everyone's gone…" she quietly sniffled. It was suddenly easy for him to see that, while she may be older, she really only had lived a short time.

He didn't know what to do. There was nothing to escape from here. And running away probably wouldn't cut it. He didn't know what she'd done for him, how she'd taken the fear out of his memory of Ba'al's torture.

He tried to think of his own grief. How he had eventually learned to handle Charlie's loss. And, immediately, he pictured the two of them playing catch in the backyard.

Charlie's laugh as he watched Jack reach wide for the ball.

"Think of something else, Ellie. Think of a good time." He held a hand on either side of her face, forcing her to look at him. "Come on. Your old man's an…well, an old man. Remind me. What's your favorite memory?"

Hesitantly, their surroundings flickered.

"Come on Ellie. Show me. Tell me your favorite memory."

More flickering.

"Come on! It's easy. Just like you told me. Just think!"

In a flash, they were standing on the dock outside the cabin. At the end of the dock, Jack could see the back of his own capped head over the top of the chair; curls on one side and a fishing pole on the other.

"It was the day before… Mom was coming back from a trip. We were going to meet her at SGC, and then we were going to Atlantis." She paused as they walked up to the couple at the edge of the dock.

They stood next to the chair and Jack could see the whole image now. Again, he found it surreal watching himself. But this instance was at least better than the past ones.

Jack (the memory version) sat in his favorite chair, arms wrapped around the young girl in his lap. Tiny hands were wrapped as far around the fishing pole as they would go, his overtop hers. The only sound was that of the reel as the line came back, followed by the quiet buzz as it was tossed back out and the plop of the lure hitting the water.

Back and forth. Over and over.

"I was excited," Ellie continued quietly. "Mom was coming home, which was always great. And it was my birthday the next day. The magic 4. I never understood why, but 4 seemed to be just the right age. I was suddenly ready to go through the stargate." She laughed and Jack could remember her excitement.

"We were going to visit Daniel. Him, Vala, and little Jon…they were on Atlantis." He remembered how frustrated Daniel had been, but overjoyed at the same time – a casual trip to Atlantis had turned into an extended stay when Vala, who had insisted on coming, had gone into labor.

He didn't know how or why he remembered it. But, just like before, he could see it clearly.

"Everybody was so excited about Jon-Jack. Couldn't wait to meet him…" Ellie's comment broke through his confusion.

"I don't know why you call him that!" Jack laughed.

"The poor boy's name is Jonathan Jackson!" she laughed back. "How could you not?"

"Still don't know where Daniel came up with that…"

Ellie smirked again.

"Lost a bet."

He laughed, watching as the pole went flying back over the water.

Back and forth. Over and over.

"What happened?" He knew he shouldn't have asked, knew it might keep them stuck in this…place longer.

But he had to know.

"I insisted on going by myself. Through the gate. So you insisted on treating it like a slide in the park. You went through first, to catch me on the other side…" She paused, quietly sighing to herself. "Mom was right behind me… I ran the last few steps, to make sure she didn't get too close…"

He remembered, just as other memories had suddenly come to him. He had been waiting in Atlantis; maybe ten minutes had passed, if that. He watched as Sam came through, laughing.

The laughter fading as she caught Jack's gaze.

There was no curly mop-top in sight.

"I never blamed them…you…" Ellie continued to watch the other figures on the dock, seemingly mesmerized by the line…

Back and forth.

"I was angry at first. I mean, it was my birthday. But Thor explained everything. And eventually I understood."

He was glad she understood. But that didn't mean he couldn't hate it.

Hate himself.

She turned and looked up at him, as if she knew what he was thinking.

Probably does…

She smirked.

Yup…

"I could have stayed here forever. Just casting out that line. Reeling it back in. The rest of the world didn't matter. All that mattered to me was that." She nodded at the couple in the chair. "Best day ever."

He held out his hand to her. She looked down at it, as if she was unsure. He didn't blame her – he could almost consider staying here himself.

But still…

She reached out hesitantly, finally taking his hand in hers.

And together, they walked away from sad memories, not looking back.