Spoilers for "Prometheus Unbound"

The Next Night

Jack walks in to where his wife is reading in bed.

"So I've got some news," Jack says, sitting next to his wife, "Our son is gay."

"How exactly is the news, dear?" she asks, looking over the top of the book at Jack.

"No; I mean, Ty and I talked, and he came out to me," Jack explains.

"Really?" Sam says, trying to keep a pout off her lips.

"Don't feel bad. I'm pretty sure the only reason that he did it was because I was there at the time. Also, I gave him plenty of openings. I just kept talking about how I would be completely fine if the were… et cetera."

"I just can't believe he's old enough to think about liking anyone," Sam says, taking his hand in hers, "He's eleven, for crying out loud. I'm not ready to have an amorous kid!"

"I know it! First there is the romance and puberty thing, and then he'll be driving, and getting a job, and going off to college."

"Let's just focus on one thing at a time," Sam interrupts, "He's ok with me knowing? I mean, you were supposed to tell me, right? You're not breaking confidence, are you?"

"No," Jack says.

The Next Day

Sam walks into her son's room half an hour before they normally get the kids up for school. She sits on his bed, and waits for his eyes to open.

"What's going on?" he asks, blurry-eyed.

"Your dad shared with me what you told him yesterday."

"Yeah?" Ty sits up, and tries to get his brain to function. He's still shaking off the last bits of sleep.

"I wanted to give you this," she says, offering him an envelope. "I actually write it for you on the day that you were born. I planned on giving it to you on the day of your high school graduation. I've known for a long time that I it was going to be on this occasion, though. I love you, bud," she says, kissing him on the forehead, and leaving the room.

Left alone, he carefully opens the letter up, and reads its contents.

"Dear Son,

I had no idea that it was possible to love another human being so completely.

You are so perfect right now, so bundled with potential. I look at you right now, and I know that you could be anything that you wanted to be. You are so full of possibilities that it literally makes my chest hurt.

Yet, who you are is probably already determined. Your genes have already build the hardware, and your time inside of me is most of the software. In many ways, you're already done. The rest of your life is just a revealing of who you are.

So, I wanted to let you know, right now, when you are still a mystery to me, that I love you with my whole heart. I am going to love you no matter who you are. See, I love you, because you are mine, for no other reason than this.

No matter what, forever.

Love,

Mom"

Ty is glad that she left him alone to cry over the letter without shame. A few minutes later she pops back into his room. He's still laying on the bed, although crying has stopped.

"How are you doing?" he asks.

"Come here," he says in a way that unconsciously imitates his father.

She crawls onto the bed next to him, and the rest their heads together.

"It was a good letter," Ty says, "Like, really good."

"I mean it," Sam says.

"I love you, because you're mine, too," he says.

Sam grins.

"It was a really nice thing to say, but it is okay, mom, if you'd rather have had a son who wasn't gay."

"No, I've thought about that. I've wondered if I would like to have you, exactly the way you are without being gay. Well, first of all I don't think that's possible. I think that if you weren't gay, you would be different. Second of all… it's not an illness. It's not a bad thing. Wishing it away would be like wishing that you were right-handed instead of left-handed. Different is not the same as wrong, son."

"How come so many people think it is?"

"Little kids are afraid of the dark, people are afraid of people who are different from them. Some kids never learn to turn off the nightlight, and some people never learn to treat others with respect."

Ty leans against his mother's shoulder, "I'm sorry," he whispers.

"I'm not," she whispers back.

-0-

Her extended SG-1 family was always telling Cassie how lucky she was to have left her planet, where people decided everything for you, and come to a world where you got to make decisions for yourself. It didn't exactly feel lucky to Cassie, since it involved the death of everyone she knew. Even if you put that aside, there was a certain benefit to not having to make decisions for yourself.

There was some ease in waking up in the morning, and putting on your dress; your only dress. It was much easier than going to a full closet, and picking out what you were going to wear. There was something very nice about someone telling you what you were going to be when you grew up. Someone making sure you got the right training for whatever that thing was ever since you were ten or twelve years old.

There was even something nice about someone deciding who you were going to marry; her father would certainly have done a better job of things than she had done.

There was no escaping the fact that if her whole planet hadn't died, she would be someone's wife right now. She'd probably have a baby, and certainly a trade.

She was going to be a merchant. She'd only been a few months into the training, but merchant, they'd decided.

Who was she to question their wisdom?

Granted, America didn't have merchants, exactly, and saying that she was going to be a business major wasn't exactly a road map to the rest of her life, but at least she had a plan. It had been a long time since she'd last had a plan.

She walks into the office of the community college and says, "Hi, can I get an application?"

Six Months Later

"Daniel, you can't go to Atlantis," Jack says with a sigh.

"Why not?" Daniel challenges.

"Because of your kids! You're a single dad, for crying out loud."

"It's not like I'm totally irresponsible. Catherine is willing to fly down, and Cassie will be there."

"Daniel, that's great, but neither of those is their parents," Jack protests.

"I'm only going to be gone for a couple of weeks."

"A couple of weeks if everything goes well," Jack points out, "You are after all going to a different galaxy. Who knows what could happen while you are there."

"Jack, I am the foremost expert on the Ancient language, I deserve to be there!"

"Why don't you try holding your breath, you haven't done that one in a while," Jack says dryly as they round the bend into his office.

Then Hammond turns around in Jack's big chair.

"General," Jack says with a huge grin on his face.

"I let myself in, I hope you don't mind."

"Absolutely not. Welcome. Miss the chair?" Jack asks bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Actually I do," Hammond says.

"Want it back?" Jack offers. He was never really fond of the job of General. It came with a lot more responsibility than he was found of. Of course, it also came with the ability to be home at night for his children which was a huge bonus, but still.

Hammond looks at Daniel, "I came to see if you'd be interested in joining the mission to Atlantis. That is, if your kids can spare you."

"Yes, Sir!" Daniel says with a wide grin covering his face.

"Sir?" Jack says pouting a little like his kids do when he eats the last of the fruit loops.

"He's the most qualified person on the planet, and the mission commander needs someone who can translate ancient," Hammond informs Jack.

"With all due respect sir, I think you should tell the mission commander that I need Daniel right here."

"You just did," Hammond says with the sort of grin that is mostly on the inside. He's spent a lot of years sending good men into the line of duty. It's nice to take his turn for once.

"I did. I did? You sir?" Jack says in shock.

"I'll have the chair shipped to Washington. You can requisition a new one."

That Night

Cassie wasn't alarmed when her father told her that he was going to ask Jack permission to go to Atlantis. She trusted Jack, and she knew that there was no way he was going to let her father go off to some other galaxy with the little kids waiting for him to get home.

At least, she thought that she knew that.

Turns out she was wrong.

When Daniel makes the announcement to the family they are mostly excited. Olivia is over the moon, and full of strangely specific questions about how the spacecraft works. Questions that Daniel can't answer. The little boys might not fully grasp what is going on, but they catch on the excitement of the group.

Cassie is displaying a mood which proves once and for all that she is still a sullen teenager. When the boys are tucked into bed, and Olivia is reading in hers Daniel confronts his oldest daughter in the living room.

"It's not that big of deal, I'm only going to be gone for a couple of weeks, and Catherine is flying down to give you a hand. You know that I appreciate everything that you do for the kids, and I'm not going to expect you to do even more. Actually, since she doesn't work you'll end up doing less than you usually do around the house.

"It's not about that!" she says.

"Ok, so what's it about?" he asks leaning against the cupboard behind him.

"It's about the fact that you are willing to risk your life in another galaxy! It's bad enough that you go through the gate all the time. These people disappeared! Now you want to go riding in as a white knight? Did you even consider what it's going to do to your family if you didn't come back?"

"Oh, honey," he says softly. This wasn't what he had expected, although he realizes right away that it should have been. He reaches out to hug her.

"No, mom died. She wasn't even doing any as risky as this, and she's dead! I don't think you get how real this is."

"I do understand how real this. I get how real it is for the people that we are going to rescue," he tells her.

She rolls her eyes, and starts to walk away.

"No, wait, do you understand how real it is? Your mom died on a rescue mission. She did save people that day, you know? Airman Wells, and a little while after he became a father."

"Sometimes it feels like you care about everyone else's kids more than your own. Sometimes, I wish you were just a little bit more selfish. At least, selfish on our behalf."

He puts a hand lightly on his daughter's face, and says, "My dear Cassie, I promise that I am going to do my very best to come home to you."