Disclaimer: All recognisable characters are the property of MGM/Amazon. No copyright infringement intended. I am simply taking my favourite two Gaters for a walk in an Alternate Universe.

Rating: M rated overall. This chapter is T.

Episode Tags: Takes place in Season 7 after 7.16 Death Knell, but before 7.21/22 Lost City.

TRIGGERS: Nothing specific.

A/N: I am planning on wrapping this story up with one (maybe two) more chapters after this plus an epilogue. I'd be happy to continue this story in this reality under another title if there is enough interest in seeing how Samantha and Grace deal with the fallout from Jack being frozen. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 23: Secrets

"Mummy! Mummy! Mummy! Guess what day it is?" Grace cried excitedly as she careened into the kitchen while I finished up making the morning coffee.

"Hmmm, I don't know Gracie. What day is it?" I asked, one arm crossed over me, the other cupping my chin in a thinking pose.

"Oh, c'mooon you know." She bounced, her long 'o' making her sound so much like Jack, I couldn't help but smile.

"I know! Wednesday!" I replied with my finger comically pointing up in the air. The look she gave me was one of pure exasperation, right down to the hands on hips stance and mouth dropped open, which on a 3-year-old was nothing short of precious.

"No Mummy!" She huffed, squeezing the bridge of her nose with two fingers with her eyes shut tight. Now that was me all over, normally when dealing with Rodney McKay, thankfully a man I had not met in this reality - yet.

Sweeping her up into my arms, I smiled. "It's Saturday Gracie – dusting and dancing day."

"Yay!" Grace squealed and cheered before hugging me around my neck.

"What's going on in here?" Jack asked as he breezed into the kitchen, already showered and ready for the day. He grabbed a travel mug from the cupboard and filled it with fresh hot coffee before securing the lid.

"We are having an existential discussion on what day it is, aren't we Gracie?"

"It's dusting and dancing day!" She announced, her little arms pumping up and down while she bounced on my hip. I hoped she would remain this excited over housework, though I felt the days on that were definitely numbered.

"Dusting and d… Carter… what are you inflicting on our child?" He asked with a smirk.

I smiled when he said 'our child'. I still wasn't quite used to no longer being a single mother. "Inflicting. Such as harsh word, Jack. Call it instilling an appreciation for one's home. The best way to get housework done is make it fun." I explained.

"It's dusting Carter." Jack laughed. "Dusting is not, nor will it ever be fun."

"And dancing!" Gracie interjected.

"And dancing… well, I might just leave you two to dust and dance." Jack replied giving Gracie a kiss on her cheek, then me a more – shall we say vigorous – kiss on my lips, to the point where I nearly audibly sighed. "Hammond called me into the base. He has received intel on some Ancient tech that may help fight Anubis, plus he wants to discuss what to do about a certain Lieutenant Colonel."

"Don't be too hard on Charlie."

"Too hard on him? The man is lucky to be alive. Teal'c has already mentioned the punishment he would receive if he were on Chulak."

"He's still a good man, he just…" I sighed, "…fell in with the wrong people after we lost Jack." I studied him, there was something in his eyes, something he knew that I didn't know. "What?"

"Sam, you might not be so understanding if you knew the whole story." He said with a tight-lipped frown. Then gave me one more kiss and ruffled Grace's hair. "I'll see you in a couple of hours." He said as he grabbed his coffee and a banana then headed out the door.

Whole story. What whole story. I closed my eyes to hold in the onslaught of pain that rocketed through me. Something was going on, and I had the unsettling feeling that I was being lied to about something. Something that mattered, something important. Grace wriggled in my grasp.

"Mummy, lemme go." She complained. I hadn't realised I was grasping her so tightly.

"Sorry." I replied listlessly and let her slip down to the floor. I set about cleaning up after our breakfast, my mind going 100 miles per hour trying to work out what this 'whole story' could be. I hadn't told Jack about my fling with Charlie. Is that what he was talking about? No, because he would be angry at me if that were the case. I slowly sat down at the table and dropped my head into my hands. I knew I was overthinking this. It was one of my major flaws, but I could not stop myself.

"Mummy?" Grace said poking me in my shoulder. "Dancing?"

"Ahh… yeah… sure. How about you put the music on? I'll get the duster and cloth." I replied. She merely stood next to me and watched.

"Mummy? Do you need Daddy?"

"He's at work, Gracie."

"Not this Daddy… my other Daddy." She replied. I felt my bottom lip quiver as I looked at her. I hadn't seen my Jack since before we came here. "Come." She said, tugging my hand coaxing me to stand. Leading me through the house to the lounge, we sat on the worn couch together. She snuggled up on my lap and placed her hand over my heart. Then she smiled and closed her eyes. I did the same thing.

"Hey, how ya doin'?" He said then smiled. I looked around at the golden tinged cloud, but Gracie was not with us.

"Jack." I said, then ran up to him. As his incorporeal arms wrapped around me, I felt a pressure, like he was there but not there. "God, I miss you!" I cried.

"Is he taking care of you?" He asked, his face buried in my hair. I fancied that I could feel his warm breath and heartbeat, but I couldn't because he wasn't alive. I pulled back to look at his golden tinged irises, instead of the deep chocolate brown I loved so much.

"Yeah, he is. Things have been great. It's like I have you back." I replied.

"You do have me back, Samantha. You know better than anyone that we are the same." He reminded me, his wispy hands cradling my face. I nodded, but still frowned. "So, what is the problem? Why did Gracie bring you here?"

I pushed away from him and paced a little. "Before he left, he said something, and now I am worried. Something about Charlie and the 'whole story'." I replied using air quotes. "How could he know more about our Charlie than me?"

"You forget Angel," he replied running his hand down my cheek, "he knows Charlie just like I did. He knows what Charlie is capable of and has seen a side that you never saw. Should never have seen." He replied. I looked at him and ran my fingers through his hair, focusing on the back part of his head that hit the wall. "You need to trust that Jack will tell you when and if he feels it necessary to do so."

"Do you know?" I asked in earnest. He looked at me and smiled sadly. I knew that look, "You do, don't you?"

"I do. Trust in him Samantha, trust in me." He smiled, "Now I believe it is dusting and dancing day, is it not?" I smiled and nodded. He tilted his head and threw his half smile at me, the one that I was fairly certain made me fall for him in the beginning. He let me go just as Gracie appeared and took my hand.

"Hey munchkin!" He smiled again. She grinned and giggled when he tickled her.

"Stop it, Daddy!"

"Go on you, take Mummy home." He replied. The last thing I saw as he faded was his smile and a wave. I opened my eyes to find Gracie staring at me with a huge grin. I grinned back and hugged her.

"Thank you." I said tearfully, then pulled back and wiped my eyes. "Now, did you find the music?"

"Only Daddy's music, not yours." She said clambering off my lap and over to the CD tower. She focused on the first spine, "Pavi-rot-ti, Julie Igloo… Igloo?" She looked at me with a confused expression. I snickered and came to her rescue.

"Iglesias… Julio Iglesias." I replied, annunciating the H sound of his first name. "Gracie, you know that Daddy kept his opera and instrumental stuff out in the open. Something about looking cultured, you've got to move stuff…" I said as I knelt and shoved aside one of his speakers beside the TV unit to find his secret stash of 60's, 70's and 80's country, rock, and pop that he didn't want anyone to know about. "…here you go, Mamas and the Papas, Billboard Top 100 1976, The Doors, Johnny Cash, Elton John, Queen, Elvis, oh my God – Cyndi Lauper – he's so not living that one down… Tina Turner, hey here we are Dolly Parton."

"Yay! Dolly." She bounced with excitement.

"Hmmm, I think we should start with Queen today, then put Dolly on when we are getting sick of cleaning. What do you think?" I replied. We had cleaning this place down to a fine art.

She smiled broadly, "OK Mummy."

I snagged the disc from the case to put it on while Gracie took it upon herself to stack the others in a pile on the coffee table, her prized favourite sitting on the top.

"Ready?"

"Yes, turn it up to eleven!" She sing-songed. I shook my head at wonder. The things kids picked up from adults. Like that for example, since I knew she had never ever seen the movie 'This is Spinal Tap', but still knew and understood probably one of the most iconic lines from it.

The sounds of Mr Fahrenheit bellowed out of the speakers as we made our way up the corridor to the back of the house. I snagged the bucket with cleaning cloths, spray, and the duster on the way past the linen press and gave it to Grace before grabbing the vacuum cleaner and wheeling it with us. By the time our 'Queen Greatest Hits' album had finished almost an hour and a half later, we had dusted, vacuumed, and danced our way through over half the house. In fact, we only had the living room to go since Jack had a cleaner come in once a month.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I need something to get me going." I exclaimed with a stretch and exaggerated yawn.

"Dolly! Dolly!" Gracie yelled, her bouncing even more pronounced than normal. She simply loved Dolly Parton, particularly '9 to 5', though I have no idea where that came from. Probably her father.

"OK." I agreed as I walked to the CD player and ejected the Queen disc. "Pass me Dolly." She leapt down the steps into the lounge and hurriedly passed me her favourite disc. I put it on and hit play filling the house with the poppy country sounds of Hush-A-Bye Hard Times. I watched Gracie jump and dance with a huge smile while she dusted her way around the lounge room. Grabbing my cloth, I bopped along with her as I wiped down the fireplace mantle and all the photos. As the song closed out, I swung her up into my arms and twirled with her twice before putting her back on the floor, knowing the next song was her favourite. As the instrumental sounds started up, she squealed.

"Working to 9 to 5… dah dah dah… use your mind… mmmmhmmm…" She sung and murmured the words she knew and hummed through the ones she didn't, or sang other words in their place which had me giggling at some of her creations. As the chorus struck up again, I joined in with her. When her favourite line approached, we turned to face each other.

"It's enough to drive you crazy and you know it!" We sang loudly together – me with my spray bottle microphone and Gracie with her duster microphone – our faces scrunched up followed by loads of laughter.

It was clear from the look on their faces that they hadn't heard nor seen me open the door and walk in. The vision of my wife and daughter dancing to Dolly Parton was surreal. My secret stash of music no longer a secret it seemed.

"I swear he's out to get meeee!" Grace sung loud and out of key before turning and seeing me. "Daddy!" She stopped and ran up to me. Sam hadn't seen me yet and hadn't heard Gracie call out, not that I was surprised, the music being as loud as it was. As the song came to a close, she turned, her eyes landing on me.

"Jack!" She startled, hitting stop on the disc before the next song. "How long have you been there?"

I chuckled, "Long enough to know why you're an Astrophysicist and not a singer." I replied with a smirk. She blushed and tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear.

"Yes, well… I majored in Physics, not Acoustics." She replied. "Speaking of acoustics… Cyndi Lauper… really? Not even my Jack had this one." She jibed as I took the steps down to her to brush some more errant hair away.

"Bet he did… you just didn't find it." I replied, placing a small kiss on her neck. I had to talk to her but wasn't sure how to start. I didn't want to do it in earshot of Grace.

I had read part of a report from Lieutenant Colonel Kawalsky during my meeting with General Hammond. He had confessed to being instrumental in the death of his Colonel Jack O'Neill. I still hadn't seen the man, probably because I would have killed him on sight. I was all for locking him away and losing the key, but the JCS wanted his very experienced boots on the ground in the fight with the Goa'uld since we had lost a very capable soldier in Major Sam Carter. The problem with that was that he had turned into an NID sympathiser which was the last thing we needed. General Hammond had the unlucky job of getting him back on our side. Since I knew the man, Hammond insisted that I be part of that solution. SG-1 needed a new team member and Hammond needed Kawalsky.

"Is everything OK?" She asked me. I smiled.

"How about we take the munchkin to the park? Looks like she has energy to burn."

"Yeah, she does. Let me grab our coats." Sam replied.

A few minutes later, we were walking hand in hand down to the park near the house. Gracie skipping along ahead of us. We found the park bench closest to the play equipment. We sat and watched Gracie play for a few minutes.

"Sam." "Jack." We both said at the same time. I chuckled and looked at her. She knew something was coming. I could read it in her eyes.

"You go." She replied. I took in a breath and reached my arm across her shoulders.

"So, I spoke to Hammond."

"About Charlie?"

"Yeah. Sam, I don't know how to say this but Kawalsky…" I stopped and took a breath, looking out across the park. This was hard.

"Like a band aid Jack." She murmured.

I looked back to her. Taking her hand, I squeezed, for myself as much as for her. "Kawalsky led your Colonel O'Neill into an indefensible position."

"Led, no… we were ambushed on our way to…"

"Sam…" I cut her off. "There was no way out, you were surrounded. Kawalsky knew that. He was under orders to ensure that Colonel O'Neill never left that corridor without compromising your life. Why do you think you were left untouched."

"No, I wasn't seen. There were crates... I was hiding…" She stopped and looked at me, pain arcing across her face as she replayed the scene in her head. Hot tears racing down her face. She closed her eyes jerkily and I knew she was remembering how her Jack had died. "Oh God..." Her hand came up to cover her mouth as a racking sob escaped. I felt her pain. I had been there, seen the love of my life taken away so cruelly.

"We had him complete reports about the NID infiltration, the Goa'uld attack, everything starting from six months before you arrived the first time, right up until the moment you came back. We have five years of intel about your SGA from him."

"Why?"

"Most other realities we have encountered have similarities with ours. It stands to reason that any plans the NID had in your reality will probably be mirrored in ours. We have names of those from your reality who were involved, which means we can root out any of those we didn't already find through my mission a few years ago." I replied. Thankfully there weren't many from his list still in play here. Unfortunately, the biggest and most annoying, Senator Kinsey, was still a thorn in our side.

"Oh… so what will you do with him?"

"The JCS wants him on a team. I agree with them." I replied as I looked deep into her eyes willing her to understand why we needed him even if my preferred option was to make him disappear.

"Because of Sam. They need another experienced soldier." She said, her tears still flowing. I nodded slowly and looked out toward the playground to check on Gracie. "What team?" She asked. I looked back at her. "Yours. SG-1? Jack, no. I can't… I can't lose you. Not again. Please!" She pleaded. She could read me so well. It was little things like the secret smiles, knowing glances and silent communication that made me realise that she really was the same as my Sam.

I pulled her into my arms. "Hey, you won't lose me. I promise. We don't have Makepeace, Maybourne or any of those NID soldiers. We cleaned house a few years ago. He's only getting orders from me and Hammond."

"You better promise. I can't bury you again Jack. I won't survive it again." She replied erratically, her hands gripping my shirt. I could feel her shaking.

"I know. I'm not going anywhere." I soothed, my hands massaged the back of her neck and head as I hugged her to me. There was no way I'd put her through that pain, I resolved to always come home.

"So, what was the ancient tech?" She finally asked when she was composed enough.

"Daniel thinks he knows where we can find information on the lost city."

"What is the lost city?"

"I'm afraid that's a question for Daniel." I replied hugging her tighter. There were reports of Anubis searching for it. Who knew why, but my guess was that it would help him dominate the galaxy. I couldn't tell her that though. Not yet. Not until we knew for certain what his plans were. I couldn't protect Major Sam from him, and I lost her. Doctor Sam, well she wasn't military. It was my job as an officer and her husband to protect her and our daughter. This time, I was determined not to fail. In finding Samantha, I had found so much more than just the woman I loved. I had found my family.

A/N: I may (or may not) have been known to clean my house to Queen Greatest Hits followed by Dolly Parton when I am almost finished, but not enough to consider everything done and I need to hit of enthusiasm to continue rather than to sit down and write more SG-1 chapters. My two boys *do not* get excited by the notion of cleaning the house.

Next Chapter: The next one will be the last (except the epilogue) unless I get enough interest from readers for a chapter where Jack and Sam find themselves in the house without Gracie for a few hours. 😍😉