The SGC turned out to be one long, cold, grey tunnel after another. The way Daniel had described it, so full of action and life, Mia had expected more colour. And warmth. But despite the general bustle of everyone there, it seemed quite unlike anything she could have envisioned. She shivered involuntarily, fiercely missing the light and heat of her desert home.
SG-1 arrived at the infirmary mere moments after Mia and O'Neill. Mia sat quietly on a bed as directed while the examination began, listening intently as the General briefed his former teammates on their current situation.
"Hold on a minute," interrupted Daniel. "She says I sent her?"
"Yes, Daniel. She greeted me by name and said that you sent her."
"But that's impossible!" he countered quickly. "I've never seen this girl in my life."
On the bed, Mia cringed visibly.
"I'm sorry," said the nurse softly, setting yet another vial of blood to the side. "Did I hurt you?"
"No," said Mia numbly, staring at the small group huddled only a few feet away. It was amazing how familiar those faces could be, when she hadn't seen most of them in years, and those that she had seen being from a different timeline, no less. Daniel was much younger here than she could ever remember him being, and Sam and Teal'c carried themselves differently from what she could remember of them. Yet somehow, despite the unnerving differences she saw, they were all the same. Mia shivered again, already hating this dreary military complex with all her heart.
"I'm almost done," said the nurse reassuringly, checking her eyes, ears, and throat. Mia smiled wanly in response. SG-1 was now eyeing her rather disconcertingly, curiosity written over all their faces. As the nurse left, they approached, a volley of questions at the ready.
Mia listened patiently, waiting for them to stop before she spoke. At last an expectant silence fell over the group, and Mia took a deep breath, preparing herself for the complicated explanation ahead.
"First," she said, "I can't answer your questions the way you have asked them. You need to hear the full story, or nothing at all."
"O-kay," said O'Neill hesitantly.
"Secondly, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't interrupt. Daniel had me memorize a great deal of information, and I don't want to leave any of it out." They looked from one to the other, obviously biting back another full volley of questions as O'Neill said "Okay. Shoot."
"Have you recently acquired a tape and a ZPM from a dig in Egypt?," she asked, needing to establish her timeline. The group nodded, surprise and curiosity radiating from them. "Okay," she said, also nodding. "So you already know that an alternate timeline SG-1 travelled to ancient Egypt to retrieve the ZPM, only to end up stranded?". Again, the four people before her nodded silently.
Gathering her thoughts, Mia continued. "What you probably don't know about that mission was that it failed entirely. Not only was SG-1 stranded in ancient Egypt unable to return the ZPM to their own time, but they also made a key mistake that altered their timeline altogether." Four startled faces peered uncertainly from her to one another. Sam began to speak, but Mia interrupted.
"It was the original team who made the tape that you found, as a means to confirm that no damage had been done to the timeline. "However," she continued, "there had been damage, and a second SG-1 team appeared in ancient Egypt a few years after the first to repair the damage their counterparts had done. Daniel was the only member remaining from the original team, and the only member missing from the new team." SG-1 stared at her, rapt with incredulous interest. "In the new timeline that had been created by the first team's mistake, SG-1 as you know it didn't exist. Daniel taught English as a second language, Sam proofread scientific papers, Jack had never come out of retirement, and Teal'c had never left the service of Apophis. None of them had known of the SGC until the tape was found, and they were summoned to this complex for questioning."
Mia paused again to order her thoughts, while the group in front of her shifted impatiently. "The new Sam, Jack and Daniel used the puddle jumper to travel to Chulak in search of Teal'c. Their orders were to return directly to the SGC with him in tow, where the situation would continue to be discussed at length. Needless to say, they disobeyed. Daniel was killed in a fire fight getting Teal'c back to the ship, but the others made it, and made it back to Earth and ancient Egypt to help repair the timeline. My Daniel, from the original team, believes their plan worked, since a third SG-1 team never appeared to tell us otherwise. That being said, the second SG-1 team did ultimately create a paradox that couldn't be solved by simply laying low in ancient Egypt forever."
Sam opened her mouth to speak again, but again, Mia interrupted.
"Strictly speaking, I think Daniel was wrong on this point, but he left no room for debate. You see," she said, looking at each of the painfully familiar faces in turn, "I'm the daughter of the second Sam and Jack to travel back in time." Beside her, General O'Neill choked, while Sam stared at her, dumbfounded. "Daniel believed that the only way I could live a reasonably normal life without once again affecting the timeline would be to come here, to this time, where my parents originated. He didn't seem to think it would matter much that this was not the same timeline my parents came from, only that this is where they belonged."
Four incredulous faces stared back at her, obviously unable to formulate words. Mia sighed, feeling suddenly quite drained. "Daniel also said that you would have tests to prove my story. Don't worry, I don't mind. I have a hard enough time believing it myself, and I've known about it for years."
"Her tests have all come back clean, Sir," said a nurse brusquely, interrupting to hand O'Neill the results.
"That's good," he replied. "But we have another test for you to run."