Disclaimer in chapter 1

31

Sam was already in the room with the mirror when Daniel entered. While part of her felt like like she'd come home the minute she'd stepped through the wormhole, the other part felt as though she'd left a greater portion with Jack in the SGC. She knew with rest Jack would recover physically, but she, better than anyone knew how intensely he grieved. Not that it would be any easier for her. There was no denying how much she'd come to love him, and how difficult it was going to be to never see him again. But this SG-1 had risked everything to get her here and she couldn't waste the opportunity they'd given her. While the temptation to remain in this reality was nearly overwhelming, she knew she had to try to return where she belonged.

Taking a deep breath and focussing on the job at hand, Sam picked up a device resembling a large television remote. "This is the controller, right? It looks like the one I've seen before." Daniel looked up from the table of devices he was perusing and joined her.

"This one seems to control the location," he said, pointing to the dial on the blue side. "And this one the reality stream," he indicated, touching the magenta side. "At least that's how it worked for me. Would you like me to try it?" he offered.

"Maybe if you could find the reality you went to, it would give us a baseline."

"I'd kind of like to see how they're doing, anyway," he smiled. Sam watched as he manipulated the dials in tiny increments, guessing it took less movement to "tune in" closely related universes.

Daniel tried to watch the mirror as he touched the controls. "Not quite. . . ." he mumbled. Daniel handed the device off to Sam. "You try it, then I can watch closer." She found tapping the knobs rather than trying to turn them seemed to work better.

"That's it!" Daniel cried. "Stop there!" Sam looked up to see herself, bespectacled, long hair, and dressed in a lab coat. The woman on the other side was beaming, waving enthusiastically at Daniel. Then she stepped back so he could see she was still within the SGA, gesturing around the room so he could see it was undamaged. He bobbed his head, grinning and giving her a thumbs up.

"I wish I could talk to her," Daniel sighed and waved one last time as Sam tried the dials again. "At least I know they made it." Reaching over, she squeezed his hand reassuringly. They were silent as she scrolled through countless reality streams.

Every universe she tried, she seemed to see versions of herself, or the SGC, SGA, or area 51. The mirror she knew of from her reality had been destroyed, so if there was another in her universe, it would be on some other planet, and Sam was starting to lose hope. Maybe she was stranded here, in this reality. Or her option would be having to choose another one where she didn't seem to exist. She couldn't face everyone had sacrificed so much, just to have her end up in another reality, still not her own.

Sam saw the looks SG-1 were exchanging among themselves, questioning how long they were going to wait while she kept trying to find her needle in a haystack. It had been hours, but she couldn't give up now. She was close, she could feel it.

"I want you to go back," she told them. "I know about the radiation here and it's not safe. Besides, the longer you're gone, the harder it's going to be justifying your actions. I'm sure Kinsey's already got plans to use this incident to shut down the SGC."

"We're not leaving," Kawalsky stated, taking a step closer. "You think I could live with myself if I just left my best friend's girl?" Sam smiled at his tenacity. His loyalty seemed to be a staple in every universe.

"You're always there for me, Charlie," she assured him. Just then the scene on the mirror changed to an empty room. There was something familiar about it. The decor was definitely Goa'uld, but it was more than that. She'd been there. "I know this place," she whispered, stepping closer to examine what she could see within the mirror's frame.

There was nothing definitive she could say she recognized. It was more a feeling. Everyone stepped closer as well, trying to see if they noticed something familiar.

"I don't think we've been there," Janet said, looking up at Daniel.

"No, I don't think so. Although, there's something about that writing on the walls. . . ."

"It's Goa'uld," Sam confirmed.

"That was the enemy you told us about, right?" Ferretti asked.

"Yeah, so it's got to be close, if it isn't the right one," Sam said.

Daniel pushed his glasses further up his nose, scrutinizing what he could see on the gold embossed walls. "I've seen this before. . . . It's not Egyptian, exactly. . . ."

"It's earlier," she told him. "In my world you figured out how to read it." She didn't bother to mention he was considered a lunatic for his theories.

"I did? Wow. . . ." Sam looked over at Daniel. It was clear he was mesmerized by the writing and she was fairly certain when he returned to Earth, he was going to expand on his archaeological hobby.

Daniel broke his attention away long enough to look at her. "Well?"

Sam's gaze touched on all of them, settling last on Daniel. She took a deep breath. "I think this is it. I'm going to try." Everyone nodded at her, and Janet stepped forward, giving her a hug.

"It would have been great to get to know you better," she said, the expression on her face emotional. Sam squeezed her back, nodding, not trusting herself to speak.

"Lou," she said, sticking her hand out, surprised to find herself on the receiving end of a warm hug.

"Take care of yourself," he admonished.

"Charlie," she said, and didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him. Stepping back, she looked into his eyes. "Watch out for them for me, okay?"

"You have to ask?" he grinned. "Sorry I'm not around on your side to keep my eye on you," he winked.

Sam bit her lip to keep from crying as she turned to face Daniel. "I can't believe you did this for me," she said. "Risked everything. I'm not going to forget this—or any of you-you know."

Daniel swallowed. "I know."

"Tell my. . .General Carter I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say good-bye to him and I didn't mean to . . .well, mess up his program the way I did."

"I think helping to save the planet might carry some weight with him," he smiled.

Sam embraced him then suddenly stepped back. "Oh! Tell Jack I left a file for him and Charlie on my laptop. I think he'll figure out which one it is." Daniel took another step back and nodded.

"Thank you," she said, and touched the surprisingly warm surface of the mirror.