1530 October 16 1997 [Local Calendar]

Cheyenne Mountain, SGC

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

"I'm telling you General, I think that, as crazy as it sounds, he's a time traveler… or at the very least he knows a possible future." Daniel Jackson distractedly explained as he was flipping through a book.

Jack leaned over to see what he was reading just to see a language that he couldn't comprehend. "So Daniel, what do the nails tell you?" He asked with no small amount of condescension in his voice as the script did in fact look like nails that were put into lines.

"It's not nails, Jack." Daniel said with a light glare. "It's Cuneiform, the written language of Babylon. After I caught Fred up on our missions he, completely out of left field, asked me about a name." He explained going back to his book, trailing a finger down the page. "And that name led me to this book, so it should be right… about… here." The finger stopped before tapping the page twice before reading. "And in that place there was Omoroca... A women who came forth from the Heavenly egg… Who walked among men by day... but at night... she would retreat to the great sea to... sleep. One of the beings called Onuses. The God Belus, came down on to Babylon... on to the place of Omoroca... and cut the woman asunder."

Silence dominated the room for a moment before Teal'c spoke. "Daniel Jackson, I do recall a story that has been told from First Prime to First Prime from the time of the occupation of Earth that the domain of the false god Belus was in open revolt against him. The situation became so dire Belus himself went out to kill the rebel leader. While the story is meant as a warning to not allow a slave worlds to rise up to the point that your gods must take personal action, I believe that in this case it can simply be used to confirm your text."

Jack was silent for two more seconds before he spoke up. "So how the hell does this help us? She's dead, and therefore unable to help us."

"I don't know about time travel." Dr. Fraiser interjected before Jack and Daniel could get into one of their debates. "But there was something odd with the blood work that we had to do as part of the physical." She passed files around that had images of blood as seen through a microscope.

Looking at the images and seeing nothing immediately obvious, General Hammond turned to the Doctor. "What am I supposed to be seeing here?" He asked.

"Sir, they have no white blood cells. None of them do, at least not in the sample that we took." She explained, showing a sample of her own blood that had the cells highlighted so that everyone would be able to see the lack of matching cells in the others. "And one more thing sir." She pulled out another image that at first glance had the standard double helix of DNA, however before he could identify what was wrong with it Carter carefully took it from him with a look of shocked amazement on her face.

"Wow, Janet, is this what I think it is?" She asked, holding the photo almost religiously.

After a nod from the Doctor and some more silence Jack broke it, as per the norm. "Care to fill us in so we can be equally impressed?"

"Sir, you are aware that normal DNA sequences have a standard of a double helix containing 46 chromosomes in a random sequence that makes you… well you, correct?" The Doctor asked him.

There was a brief pause as Jack blinked once, twice, and then three times before he replied confidently. "Of course I know that we have 42 chromiums." He lost some of his bravado before continuing. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sir, this DNA sequence is a triple helix, with 69 chromosomes." Sam explained with a confused tone of awe, before looking at Dr. Fraiser. "Do we have any indication as to what the other third of this sequence is?"

"Dr. Morton was the one who was doing the sequencing for their official SGC records, when he brought it to me he explained that he took a veterinary course for his M.D. and that these chromosomes, while not an exact match, are very similar to large reptiles."

"Wait." Jack said, rolling his hands back towards himself. "Backup, who's sequence is this?"

"This one belongs to Commander Drake." The woman replied, causing Daniel to perk up.

"Daniel, I really don't like the look on your face." Jack said, holding up a finger in warning. "Whatever you're about to say, don't."

"Go ahead Dr. Jackson, I for one am eager to hear your theory." Hammond overruled the Colonel.

Daniel leaned forward and almost took a conspiratorial tone. "You said that his DNA was similar to large reptiles, right?" After a nod from the other doctor in the room he continued. "In most mythologies there was a large reptile that was known as a Drake." He said, emphasizing the last word. Ignoring Jack's pleading look for him to stop, he finished his thought. "This creature was also called a Dragon."

Jack's forehead hit the table. "So what? Now he's a time traveling Dragon?" He asked, placing emphasis on the final word, even though his voice was muffled by the wooden table.

The table was silent for several minutes before General Hammond spoke. "Regardless of the situation, at the moment he's restricted to the mountain. You have a mission tomorrow morning, after you return we'll deal with our newcomers. Dismissed."

1033 October 17 1997 [Local Calendar (Earth)]

P7X-672

Milky Way Galaxy

Stepping through the Gate the team was immediately hit with the smell of sulfur and salt water. The ground before them was reddish brown with several thermal vents scattered around, less than 100 meters away was the shoreline of a massive sea or ocean.

As they were walking Daniel checked his pocket to ensure that he had the piece of paper that he'd written the cuneiform transcript of the story of Omoroca. He figured that if it was important enough that Fred had brought it up, he should probably keep it on his person. He didn't know why, but he trusted the odd Commander.

"Daniel, did you forget your tissues again?" Jack asked, turning to walk a few steps backwards to look at his friend. Their friendship was a strange one with a lot of bickering, jabs, and other antagonistic behavior, but the trust they put in each other put them closer to being brothers.

"No, just making sure that I grabbed everything this morning." The archeologist said as the team continued towards the waterfront.

After maybe a five minute walk they arrived on the beach and just stared out at the water that just seemed to go on and on. Sam pulls out some test tubes to get soil samples while Daniel pulls out his camera to record everything that he can see for future examination. After a moment he noticed something strange out in the water. "Did you see that?"

Carter turned her gaze in the direction that Daniel was looking. "It's coming right towards us." She said with a confused and curious lilt to her voice.

1517 October 17 1997 [Local Calendar]

Cheyenne Mountain, SGC

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

I was in the infirmary waiting for one of the duty sergeants to arrive so I could take my pre-physical training piss test when I'm shaken out of my thoughts by alarms going off through the base.

"UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION! REPEAT UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION!"

Before the announcement is even finished I'm already running up the stairs into the control room, having a SPARTANs speed and the fact that the infirmary is just down the hall from the gate room is a nice combination. As I come to a stop in the middle of the room I hear the next call both in the room with me and from the hall behind me.

"INCOMING TRAVELER, REPEAT INCOMING TRAVELER!"

As General Hammond and Major Davis come down the spiral staircase in the corner I watch as several security personnel enter the gate room and level their weapons at the event horizon.

"We have an IDC sir." The nameless sergeant that precedes Walter Harriman says to the General.

"Well? Who is it?"

Before the technician can speak, Major Davis steps up to the monitor to check it. "It's SG-1, sir."

"Open the iris." The Texan ordered. "Get a medical team down there." He then turned to me. "Commander, follow me."

"Yes sir." I reply with a nod as the Major paged the medical team.

As I enter the gate room for the first time I'm only a step behind the General. SG-1, sans Daniel, come through the gate soaked to the bone. As Teal'c and Carter sit at the foot of the ramp, Jack looks around aimlessly for a moment before his eyes land on me and his lost look forms into one of pure fury. Before the General can ask what happened, he speed walks down the ramp, past the General, and throws a right hook straight towards my jaw. The next thing I know, I have him in an armbar pinning him to the ground.

Replaying the last three seconds in my head I realize that my body's muscle memory reacted on instinct, the only reason he wasn't dead was because my brain didn't recognize him as an enemy. A temporary threat? Yes. But not an enemy.

"It's your fault! It's all your fault!" The Colonel was screaming at me trying to get a hand on me from his pinned position.

"Restrain him!" General Hammond ordered two of the airmen who immediately took the arm that I was using to keep the man immobilized.

"General! Don't trust him! It's his fault that Daniel's dead!" He shouted, causing me to get many confused looks.

"Get them to the infirmary and get them checked out." The General ordered before turning back to me. "Commander, my office. Now."

I follow the man up the spiral stairs before he leads me into his office. "Alright Commander, I wasn't planning to have this conversation today but it seems like I have no choice. What the hell did you give Dr. Jackson?"

Taken aback I pause for a second before my face hardens. "Given the way you worded that, can I assume that I've let something of my true identity slip?" Getting an equally hard nod I continue. "Just so I don't have to explain everything or give away more than absolutely necessary, can you tell me what you've worked out?"

The man worked his jaw for a moment, clearly debating whether or not he should just order me to explain myself. "We're fairly certain that you're a time traveler, your hint to Dr. Jackson was a pretty big giveaway. What exactly you are is up for debate, but we know that you aren't entirely human. We also believe that you're Army, not Navy. Other than that we have nothing." I take a moment to marvel at how they worked all that out in less than 24 hours, before Hammond reclaimed my attention. "I'll be blunt Commander, the only reason you aren't in an interrogation cell is the fact that you didn't hurt Colonel O'Niell more than you absolutely had to in order to defend yourself."

"Alright General, I believe I understand what you know. Let me explain what I can, don't ask for more, I'm limited on what I can tell you. If you want to know why, Captain Carter can explain it in more detail than I can." Getting a nod to let me know that he understood I continue. "Not long after arriving on P7X-672 SG-1 should have come into contact with an intelligent life form. He would write out a message in cuneiform that Dr. Jackson would be able to read, after getting his answer and fearing that they were servants of the Goa'uld he would render the rest of the team unconscious and alter their memories of the encounter to make them believe that Daniel was dead and prevent them from returning to the planet. I believed that by giving Dr. Jackson what the alien wanted to know would prevent this, looking back it probably made him even more suspicious." I say rubbing the back of my head.

"How am I supposed to believe you?" The other man asked, giving me a look like he wanted to trust me but he couldn't.

"Don't believe me, believe your own people. After SG-1 gets out of the infirmary, bring them up here for a debriefing and invite Dr. Mackenzie. While you're talking to them I'll make an appearance and a suggestion that should trigger them. Dr. Mackenzie will be able to verify a conditioned response."

Hammond looked at his desk for a moment before looking up at me with barely disguised anger. "I don't like playing these kinds of games with my people Commander, but I will play it your way if for no other reason than I have a missing man who I will get back. Dead or alive."

Giving him a nod and a salute out of respect I speak once again. "After we have Daniel back we can have a more in depth conversation about where I stand." I say before making myself scarce for the moment.

1600 October 17 1997 [Local Calendar]

Cheyenne Mountain, SGC

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

SG-1 sat at the conference table with General Hammond and doctors Fraiser and Mackenzie while the latter appeared confused as to why he was present.

"Alright SG-1, I'm sorry for your loss but I need to know what happened out there." Hammond said before he was interrupted by Dr. Fraiser.

"General, I can't allow you to question my patients while they're barely out of shock." She said, giving the larger man a cold glare.

"I'm sorry doctor, but this needs to happen as quickly as possible." The General said vaguely.

Before the doctor could offer a rebuttal the sound of steps on steel came from the switchback stairs behind SG-1, and as the team turned around all of their expressions were neutral at the sight of the newcomer.

————

Looking SG-1 in the eye I can see the neutrality of Sam, the stoicism of Teal'c, and the barely hidden rage of Jack.

"What do you want?" The Colonel asked costicly.

Ignoring him I turn to the General. "General, request permission to speak."

"Granted." He said, obviously hating having to play along in this dog and pony show.

"Sir, with SG-1 currently out of commission, I believe that SG-10 would be the most qualified." I say, purposefully leaving the end of my statement unfinished.

"Qualified for what?" The man asked, a confused look going around the table.

"For going through the Gate to extract Dr. Jackson-"

"NO!"

"SIR WE CAN'T DO THAT!"

"WE CAN'T GO BACK TO THAT PLANET!"

Teal'c, Carter, and Jack all screamed over each other before I could even finish.

The General looked surprised by the outburst. He turned to observe me, before he turned to look at his medical staff. "Dr. Mackenzie, what are your thoughts about that?" He asked, gently pointing to SG-1 who seemed to be trying to figure out why they reacted so badly to that idea.

The man studied the team sat across from him for a moment before he answered. "Well General, if I had to give my professional opinion, I'd say that that was a subconscious conditioned response." He paused for a moment. "The Commander may be correct in suggesting that a rescue-"

Before he could finish his sentence another round of explosive denials erupted from the other side of the room. Once they were once again quiet he turned to Hammond. "General, I believe that some level of mental manipulation is at play here, aside from their continued vehement opposition to returning to the planet there's also the fact that Colonel O'Niell strongly believes that Commander Drake is responsible, regardless of the fact that the Commander has never stepped through the Gate. This indicates that his subconscious is connecting Daniels 'death' with something that the Commander did, which if it was natural causes off-world, is impossible."

"Well that's because it is his fault." Jack said petulantly before scrunching his face in confusion. "Right?"

"General, I promise you that I will bring your man home." I say, going to attention.

The General looks around the table for a moment, looked at his clasped hands, and then finally looked at me with a nod. "SG-10 has a go, you'll be accompanied by Major Reynolds and SG-3." The unspoken 'to keep an eye on you' was heard nonetheless.

1637 October 17 1997 [Local Calendar (Earth)]

P7X-672

Milky Way Galaxy

Stepping through the Stargate had me as giddy as a school kid, I had always wanted to experience the feeling of being flung halfway across the galaxy. Catching my balance on the other side I survey the landscape around me. The women with me had no clue what to expect when they walked through the Gate and were still in the process of collecting themselves when SG-3 came through.

Major Reynolds chuckled to himself as he approached me. "Commander, I'm Major Reynolds SG-3's team lead, let's find Dr. Jackson and get home."

I nod. "We'll do all the heavy lifting, you guys get to have a nice walk on the beach."

He looked slightly incredulous at my tone, but didn't argue, our mission was to get Daniel or his remains and leave.

Stepping towards the water I motion for my team to fall in. As they do I step closer to Kerrigan, hoping that my conversation won't be overheard by the other team. "Sarah, can you sense Daniel? I'd check myself but my control is like a sledgehammer, everything around would feel it."

I watch as she zones out for a minute before looking back at me. "I can feel two consciousnesses, one is barely reacting, that usually means that they are unconscious. The other is moving our way, it feels odd, colder undertones that are shifting between angry and curious."

"That'll be the one that captured Daniel." I say before giving a slight hand gesture to the other two with the general meaning of possible hostile and hold fire.

As we arrive at the water line I watch as a series of bubbles move towards the shore. As they get roughly 20 feet from dry land a blue humanoid reveals itself from beneath the waves looking confused as it slowly steps towards the beach.

"Who… are you?" It asks in very broken English with a voice that most would identify as male.

"Hello, my name is Fred, and we're here to get back our man." I say with a deceptively chipper tone.

He looks at me before gesturing around at the barren landscape around us. "There is… none of you… here. Please… leave." He says, gesturing to the Stargate.

"Yeah… no, I don't think we will." I reply with my tone dropping ever so slightly.

He looks at all of us before he shoves his arms out at us, causing some kind of energy wave to rush over both teams. While SG-3 was rendered unconscious, none of the people on my team were normal and that was before you took their Company defenses into account. He looked shocked that we hadn't even moved before we made our move.

"Kerrigan, could you please hold him with a psionic grasp?" I ask blandly. As he is telekinetically lifted into the air I step towards him. "Doctor Jackson should have been able to answer your question about your mate, why attack the team before us?"

His struggles halt as he looks at me with fear, deciding to answer my question and hopefully survive another day. "They… serve… the… Goa'uld! You… serve… the Goa'uld!"

"No!" I shout, cutting him off. "No, the Goa'uld were driven off Earth millennia ago. Besides that have you seen anyone quite like us serving those snakes?"

"Your… abilities… are… strange… that… does… not… change… that… you… serve." He argued with me.

"Fine, I'm not going to argue with you about this." I say as I walk back next to Sarah. "Direction, depth, and distance?" I ask her.

As she points out into the ocean she replies. "50 meters down, 150 meters from shore."

Nodding to her, I remove my weapon, tactical vest, outer jacket, shirt, and finally my footwear, leaving me in just my pants and boxers. "Keep our friend here company while I retrieve our wayward Doctor."

Getting three identical nods, I briefly note the roaming gaze of Kerrigan. Giving her a smirk that causes her to blush, I make my way into the water. Once the water is waist deep I dive in and start to swim. I hold my breath for about a minute before I remember that with Environmental Defense I don't have to.

It doesn't take long for me to find the structure on the ocean floor, finding the door on the other hand is slightly difficult. The structure stands out as it's a cuboid shape in a relatively flat area, and is covered in bioluminescent algae of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. It takes about 15 minutes of searching before I find a glass looking… thing filled with an orange bioluminescent light. Waving my hand over it does nothing. Slapping it does nothing. Making weird faces at it does nothing… okay I wasn't expecting it to do anything but it made me feel better. Thinking for a moment I shrug and wave my hand over it again pushing the tiniest fraction of psionic power out with my action.

To my delighted surprise, the wall slides aside giving me access to the protected interior where I see a now conscious Daniel staring at me with surprise.

Swimming forward I find myself falling onto the ground as I force myself to take gulping breaths of air. "Fred!? What happened? Why are you here?" The other man asked, crouching over me.

"Well when SG-1 came back…" I take another deep breath. "Without you and claiming that you died… General Hammond authorized SG-10 and… SG-3 to recover you." I explain before standing back up. "We should probably get going, SG-3 is unconscious and my team is keeping our host secure." As Daniel widens his eyes and opens his mouth to speak I cut him off. "We can talk about it later, when we are in nice warm clothes, in the briefing room, with everyone else that wants answers from me." I sigh before gesturing for the man to follow me as I dive into the standing wall of water and begin to swim up.

It only takes the two of us a minute to break the surface of the water and a couple more to swim to shore. Thankfully Sarah is smart enough to have stopped holding the man-fish in the air with her mind, as that would cause so many questions it's not even funny.

As I slide my boots on, I turn to see Joan and Seni holding a member of SG-3 under each of their arms while Sarah has her weapon trained on our fishy friend. "SG-10! We're going home." I order, picking up the rest of my stuff from the sand next to the ghost.

Before too long we arrive at the Gate before I realize something rather important. "Uh, Dr. Jackson, would you mind teaching me the address for Earth?" I ask, staring down at the Dial Home Device.

Daniel walks up next to me and puts in the first six symbols before explaining the symbol at the very bottom is usually the point of origin. With that being pressed and the massive red gem at the center of the panel pressed, the Gate activates with a mechanical sound. The blue event horizon forms from the gray ring quickly moving towards the center before shooting out 10 or so feet and staying there before falling back into the blue shimmering pool.

Time to go have a fun conversation.

———

A/n: So here's my take on the first actual episode that we're present for. I'm so excited for all of this and I'm excited to share some of the things that have influenced me for so long with all of you. A quick thanks to a couple of reviewers, when you said that my writing has the potential to become one of the greats amongst WC fics I'm not ashamed to say that I, a man of nearly 30 years, just about cried. It means so much that you have that much confidence in my ability and I thank you. Also a few people have commented about how I handled Highschool of the Dead, to be honest I was a bit worried about how it would be taken since it felt more like Starcraft but I just didn't want five filler chapters of nothing happening so I decided to throw something in there that would give me a Waifu and some tech. It was a toss up between New Gettysburg or having the Flood infested High Charity appear in Asia with the Master Chief and Cortana. The deciding factor was that I wanted to purchase Cortana so that I could ensure that she would have knowledge from post Halo 3.

cough Infinity cough

Anyway thank you all for your support. It means the world to me.

Read. Follow. Review.