Jack wasn't ready to return to his office just yet. He felt completely drained from the day's stresses so far, but was also verging dangerously on giddiness from Carter's parting words. He needed to clear his head and get back to work, but like a boy knowing he should be in class and choosing instead to ditch school altogether, O'Neill simply could not bear to face the mountain of work sitting on his desk just yet. He wanted someone to talk to, but wasn't sure whom to trust. For all he had been through with Daniel and Teal'c, airing his current thoughts would put them all in an awkward position. Then inspiration struck. Daniel had said he needed to get to know this alleged daughter of his. He'd talk to her.

Turning towards the elevators, O'Neill quickly made his way through the mountain's tunnels towards the girl's assigned quarters. Knocking gently at the door, he heard a muffled thud and curse before Mia pulled it open, a look of confusion settling over her startlingly familiar features as she saw who it was.

"General O'Neill," she said, pulling herself up a little straighter. "I'm really sorry about earlier, I never should have opened my mouth," she rambled. O'Neill silenced her with a hand. "Don't worry about," he replied casually. "Would you mind taking a walk with me?," he added, gesturing down the hall.

"A walk?," she asked, confused. Then, "I guess," came the tentative reply.

"Excellent," he replied enthusiastically, turning to Foxworth to dismiss him. "I was thinking somewhere up top. Would you prefer woods or streets?," he asked politely.

"Either would be fine," she replied meekly, more confused than ever.

"Woods, I think," he said, guiding her gently towards the elevator to bring them back to the surface.

They walked in silence the rest of the way from the complex, easily finding a beaten trail to follow through the thick trees and undergrowth surrounding the mountain. Mia looked around in awe, taking everything in with those clear, blue eyes of hers. O'Neill watched her carefully, waiting for the wonder to dwindle on her face before asking what he wanted to know. At long last, she turned to her silent companion, clearly seeking a reason for this impromptu walk. O'Neill squinted at her, planning his words carefully. Clearing his throat, he finally broke the silence, asking, "So, what do you think?"

"It's beautiful," she responded, taking another appreciative look around. "But not why you asked me to join you," she added pointedly, levelling him with Carter's best stare. It was actually a bit disconcerting, how much she looked like Sam.

"No," he replied, shaking himself mentally. "I actually wanted to ask you something personal," he added rather obscurely, fixing his attention straight ahead along the path. If she was surprised, she didn't show it. "Your parents," he said awkwardly, "What were they like?"

Mia's lips quirked in a half-grin as she absorbed his question. "I would think you would know better than me," she replied lightly. Jack frowned.

"Not really," he responded.

"I honestly don't remember much," said Mia, shrugging.

"Well, what do you remember?," he asked, getting a little testy again.

Mia paused, thinking. "They were happy together," she said at last, resuming their walk through the woods. "I remember them smiling a lot, and laughing. They loved each other very much. You could tell by the way they'd look at each other, or reach out to each other without even really thinking. They were inseparable," she finished, eyeing her companion curiously.

"What happened to them?," he asked next, briefly meeting her gaze. Mia exhaled slowly, steeling herself against the response.

"My mother died in childbirth when I was three," she began, noting the General's wincing frown at the stark nature of her words. "My baby brother died with her," she added, a strange hardness creeping into her voice. Jack knew that edge all too well. Her defences were going up around the memories, as if to protect her from events long since passed. "My father," she said with a note of bitterness, refusing to look up at him, "killed himself two days later. He couldn't bear the loss of his family a second time," she finished, closing her eyes briefly against the memory.

Jack had gone ghostly white at her words, absorbing their full weight almost instantaneously. "Mia," he began, fumbling for the right words.

"It's not your fault," she said, meeting his gaze with those clear eyes of hers. "I know he must have blamed himself, but it wasn't his fault, either," she added quietly. "The timeline was just trying to fix itself," she whispered sadly.

"The timeline isn't capable of reasoning," said Jack with feigned certainty. "Your father was." Mia's eyes hardened at his words, her defences going up again. Jack sighed. "Mia, I know myself. It was a selfish thing to do, an easy out from the pain. You didn't deserve to lose both your parents like that."

"General, technically I don't deserve to exist at all," she said vehemently. "Daniel will argue otherwise, but the fact is, my parents came from an anomalous timeline and failed to live out their natural lives without effecting the repaired course of events. They should never have had me," she said with quiet passion, glaring up at him. "And nature erased them before they could make things any worse," she finished.

"If that were true, than why didn't nature erase you as well?," he asked pointedly. "They made their choices, Mia, but fact is, they wouldn't have been in that situation if it hadn't been for a General O'Neill very much like myself ordering the first mission to Egypt to retrieve the ZPM. So you see, I am to blame, as much as they are. And you do have the right to be here, however awkward it may be for all of us," he added passionately, noting with some satisfaction the look of surprise now registering across her delicate features.

"I think I understand now why Daniel said to trust you completely," she said numbly, still processing his words. That clearly startled him, but he chose not to comment. Continuing on in silence, Mia eventually asked, "Why did you want to know about my parents, anyway?"

General O'Neill sighed, suddenly feeling very weary. "You were right about having an opportunity," he said grudgingly, squinting into the distance. "I guess I just wanted to know what I'd be getting myself into," he added thoughtfully.

"Recon?," she asked with a note of amusement. His lips quirked upward in response.

"You could say that," he replied with a half-smile, stepping ahead of her along the path to continue their impromptu hike. Weary or not, it felt good to be off-base for a while, and judging by the serenity stealing back over Mia's face, he figured she could use a bit more fresh air as well.