Our Legacy - Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters nor profit from their use - I merely toy with them for my own amusement.
Summary: A gate accident strands Jack and Sam in the year 2034, when the SGC is under the command of General Samantha Carter. But all is not as it seems, and to get home, they first need to save the world.
Sam – who had been in the air vent – found herself laying on her stomach on the freezing warehouse floor. She leapt to her feet to escape the icy surface, almost colliding with Jake as he and Beth rushed to the General's side.
She confirmed with a look that Serena was in one piece, and then stepped to the Colonel's side.
"Are you alright, sir?"
"I'm good." He said distractedly, watching the family re-union taking place in front of him. Perhaps sensing her continued scrutiny, he continued. "They zatted me, that's all."
She nodded and turned to face the General and her children with him. They were helping the General to her feet, and Sam noted with concern the blood on her forehead and her general unsteadiness.
"How bad is her concussion?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. She does an even better 'I'm fine' act than you do." Jack said, meeting her eyes with a smirk.
Sam resisted rolling her eyes, and decided to go and find the first aid kit. She stopped short at the sound of a car pulling up outside, meeting the Colonel's eyes with alarm.
"Relax." The General said. "It's Cassie."
"Cassie?" Jack repeated.
"She knew about this?" Beth asked, sounding confused and hurt. "I thought it was just me."
"It was just you." The General assured her gently. "I made arrangements more than a year in advance for a message to be delivered to Cassie on September 9th, to tell her to come here. She's brought medical supplies."
"I'll go and meet her outside." Serena said, jogging for the door.
The General, propped up on either side by her children, met Sam and Jack's eyes.
"Thank you for the rescue." She said, with feeling.
"Always." Jack said softly. Sam's heart gave a tug, and she looked at him to find him looking right back at her with a small smile. A tiny noise that could have been a sob came from the General, and then she cleared her throat and said: "Cassie."
A middle-aged Cassie in jeans and a parka was jogging towards them, Serena following behind carrying a big paramedic's bag.
"Sam! What the hell is going on?" Cassie asked, going straight to the General and examining her head wound with gentle hands.
"Cassie, we have guests." The General said, nodding towards Sam and Jack. Cassie spun around, her jaw dropping open when she saw them.
"Woah." She said, in a tone so reminiscent of their own fifteen year old Cassie that Sam couldn't help but grin.
"Hi Cassie."
Cassie looked from her to Jack and back again, several times, eyes wide, and speechless.
"They're from the past, from the year 2000." General Carter explained. "They helped rescue me."
"Ok." Cassie said slowly. "I'm going to need a bit more information."
"How about we all move upstairs and you take a look at Mom's head first?" Beth suggested firmly. "Then we'll explain everything."
Cassie's gaze lingered on Jack, who nodded at her in agreement with Beth's proposal.
"Fine." She said, turning back to her patient. "Jake, would you carry her please?"
Major Sam Carter didn't know whether to laugh or sympathise with General Sam Carter's outraged reaction to that suggestion.
One medical examination and one long explanation later, the six of them - minus Sam who was at a computer studying a long document the General had given her, to help her prepare for this event in her own future - were seated comfortably upstairs, sharing a meal.
"What happens now?" Jack asked General Carter.
The General swallowed her mouthful of food, and then looked up at him. "Now, Cassie drives the kids home, and the three of us go straight to the IOA with our intel. I have a transport programmed to take us straight into the IOA's headquarters in Washington D.C."
"We should come with you." Beth argued. "What if you need back up?"
"Then I'll have the Colonel and Major here to back me up." The General said, smiling reassuringly at her daughter. "You've done an amazing job, honey, but this next task is mine."
"How sure are you that the IOA themselves haven't been compromised by the TUM?" Jack asked, seeing a flaw in this plan.
"Oh, I'm certain a few of them have been." The General answered breezily. "But not all of them, and thanks to Beth's work in the server room we now know exactly who has been replaced with imposters."
Realisation dawned in Jack's mind. "That's what you were downloading?" He asked Beth. "A list of the people who've been kidnapped and replaced?"
"Among other things, yes." Beth said. "I can't take much credit though, it was Mom's instructions that told me exactly which server to target and where to look for the files."
"Are my parents on that list?" Serena asked tensely.
"No, I had a quick look through while Cassie was patching up Mom." Beth assured her. "Your mom and dad are still … your mom and dad."
Serena relaxed visibly.
"Does that mean we can drop in on Daniel?" Jack asked hopefully, hoping to get a good look at exactly how his friend had aged – for mocking purposes when he got back to the year 2000, of course.
"Best not." The General answered. "We're playing fast and loose with the timeline as it is, let's not make any unnecessary side-trips."
"D'oh." He muttered. "When do we leave?"
"Right now." The General pushed away her empty plate and stood. "We have to assume that the TUM have realised I've been rescued, and are warning my imposter. We should get to the IOA before she has a chance to escape. Major?" She called, and Sam reluctantly shut down her computer and came to join the others.
The General turned to Beth, Jake, and Serena. "Don't worry about packing up the safe house, we'll take care of that later. Go home with Cassie, and wait there until you here from me."
"Be careful, Mom." Jake said, frowning.
"You too." She smiled, and hugged each of them. She looked at Cassie. "You have the equipment I told you about in the message?"
"The zats, secure cellphone, fake IDs and cred cards, and emergency transport activator? Yeah, I picked it up from your security deposit box on the way here. It's all in the car."
"Ok. You shouldn't need any of it, but it's best to be safe. Go, be careful, and if you run into any trouble use that cellphone to call me."
Cassie nodded, and the four of them reluctantly left. Beth and Jake both waved shyly to Jack and Sam as they went, and Jack felt a pang of regret to see his future children leave, knowing he probably wouldn't see them again until they were born.
The upper room of the warehouse felt empty with only Jack, Sam, and the General left. "I trust you found the safe and the time travel device?" The General asked them.
"We did, and the device is still secured down there in the safe." Sam answered.
"Go and get it. We won't be coming back here before you leave."
Sam nodded and disappeared down the stairs.
The General gave Jack a long, unreadable look.
"Any last minute advice, or warnings?" Jack asked. "Anything along the lines of 'when the time comes, cut the red wire'?"
Sam smiled and shook her head. "Just trust your gut. You'll be fine."
Jack shifted awkwardly on his feet. "They seem like great kids."
"They are." She said. She suddenly seemed to remember something, and went over to one of the desks, opening a drawer and removing something. She walked back over to him, and handed him a recent picture of Beth, Jake and Serena.
His Carter came up the stairs behind him, the time travel device in her hands, and she looked at the picture he was holding.
"To remember them by. Until you meet them again." The General said with a smile.
"Thank you." Sam said.
The General nodded and held out a hand for the time travel device. Sam handed it over, and the General stowed it in a duffel bag, which she handed to Jack.
"Don't let that out of your sight." She warned him.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
She handed Sam the laptop bag which Beth had carried on the rescue mission, and then produced another transport activator tablet.
"Stand ready." She ordered.
They disappeared in a flash of light.