Sam sighed as she hung up from Allie's phone call.

She hadn't lied, really. The alternate version of her late husband wasn't exactly like him. He was just... an awful lot like him. But they weren't the same.

She supposed Allie was getting to that age where she really wanted a father and was, of course, curious about the man she'd never known. Sam had told her about her father before, but she knew that words couldn't fill the void made by Jack's absence.

It had been a little over nine years since Jack died, but she still missed him with every fiber of her being. He should be there for their girl, teaching her how to play hockey and taking her up to the pond for fishing trips. She'd briefly entertained the possibility of having this reality's version of him step in as her child's father. However, she'd had her reasons for not doing so.

Almost unwillingly, she thought back to the first and last time she'd seen the alternate Jack O'Neill...

Sam kept her gaze fixed on the table in front of her. She still couldn't believe the mess she was in right now.

Everything had gone downhill since her husband had died. Just as she'd started getting into a simple routine with their little girl in their new, horribly Jack-less world, the Ori came calling. She'd been called back to the SGC from her bereavement leave to fight, and was somehow the last one to flee the planet before they could arrive.

She was glad now that she had insisted on keeping Allie right by her side. At least in this alternate reality, they were safely together.

She had been pleased to find that this reality's Janet Fraiser was alive. She'd missed her friend very much. Daniel had also come through to see her, along with Vala and Cam. Teal'c was off world, apparently, working with the Jaffa. And General Landry had been the main one questioning her as to how and why she was there.

That left one person for her to see, and she was not ready for him. She knew he was coming anyway.

She heard a click as the door opened, and looked up.

There he was.

He looked just like her Jack, and was apparently the same rank. There were the same eyes and rumpled hair, along with a uniform straightened just enough to meet regulations. He even had the same weight as her husband, or nearly so. However, this Jack bore a hesitant look as he observed her. The camaraderie she shared with her Jack wasn't there.

The General took the seat opposite her.

"Hi, Sam," he finally spoke, his voice sounding a bit rough. She couldn't quite tell if it was from emotion or disuse.

She knew, from the initial flurry of questions and answers that had been exchanged upon her first entering this reality, that his Samantha Carter had been KIA on a mission. She hadn't dared to ask what her relationship had been with her former C.O. Seated in front of him now, she still wasn't about to ask - she didn't know if she could handle the answer.

"Hi, Sir," she responded. The response was correct. Appropriate. So coldly formal after what she used to call her version of him.

He huffed slightly. "Sir, huh?" His voice was soft, maybe even a bit hurt, and she could see his eyes flicker with an emotion she couldn't identify.

A pregnant pause filled the air before she answered. "I think it's best, Sir. After all, you're not my Jack, and I'm not the Samantha Carter you knew."

He stared for a moment. Gosh, how many times have we stared at each other like this? There had been too many times when they couldn't speak about their feelings, instead trying to communicate a myriad of desires and plans simply through their eyes. With this Jack, she was back at square one.

She broke the stare. She'd always been the one to do that before they'd gotten past the regs.

The General - she had to think of him as that only - drew back a bit. Only then did she realize that he had been leaning towards her. Now, he was more business like.

"We have three options for you... Colonel."

Sam nodded, gesturing for him to go on and explain.

"The first option is for you to go back on SG-1. I'm guessing you probably don't want that with a toddler running around."

Wide-eyed, she nodded once more. As much as she had loved every minute spent on SG-1, she knew her front line team days were over.

"The next option," he continued with an approving nod, "is for you to take over at Area 51. Colonel Sanders out there is floating rumors about retiring soon, and we all know you have the brains for it."

Sam's ears perked up a bit at this suggestion. She had been the lead at 51 in her own reality for a while, and could see herself fitting right in there.

The General looked down at the table now, steepling his fingers. She knew that gesture: he was very ill at ease.

"The third option," he paused, clearly choosing his words carefully, "would be for you to come to D.C. With me."

Sam stared at him. What?

She couldn't deny that there was a part of her that desperately wanted to say yes to this proposal. That part screamed that at least he was a Jack. She could see this man walking and talking and fool herself into thinking her husband was still there.

But what did he even mean by this suggestion? Would she awkwardly work for him and then leave for some other place at the end of the day?

"Can you... elaborate on the details of that plan, Sir?"

He shifted in his seat. Yep... definitely uncomfortable. "Well, I understand that you were married to your Jack O'Neill."

Sam's eyes stung at the reminder.

"I, um," he stuttered a bit now. "I was married to my Sam. We had a little girl and-"

"What?" Sam almost shouted, jumping up in her urgency as she remembered what had happened when an alternate version of her came to her reality. "Is it Allie? Are they the same?"

Jack moved quickly to round the table and grasp her hands reassuringly, even though he clearly didn't understand why she was panicking. "They're not the same. My daughter's name is Grace. She's a little older than Allie. What's wrong?"

Sam sighed and took advantage of the moment of weakness to squeeze his hands, steadying herself. "I was worried about entropic cascade failure."

His face looked so adorably Jack-like in his confusion that she almost laughed and kissed his cheek.

Instead, she pulled back and sat down. "Since they're not the same girl, that won't be a problem."

"Ah!" he breathed, flexing his hands before moving back to his own seat. "Good..."

Sam looked down, and then back up at him again. "You were explaining option three?"

"Yes, uh..." he was more awkward now than before after the unexpected jolt of panic. "We could be married."

Sam's eyes widened in shock at the suggestion.

Married? she thought, sucking in a breath.

They apparently had both been married to alternate versions of each other. She assumed this plan would simply have her stepping into the role of her alternate self. But this man wasn't her Jack. He surely had different memories with his own Samantha Carter. They had their own, slightly older, little girl. He'd seen his wife die just as she'd seen her own husband die. And now - what? Were they supposed to just pretend that these deaths had never happened and accept alternate versions as replacements?

"I don't..." she choked. "Can't-"

The General looked at her in concern, walking around the table again to grab her hand. Before he could, however, she jerked it back.

"You're not him," she snapped bluntly. "And I'm not her. I can't just..." To her horror, tears started falling in increasing numbers. She could just see her husband now, lying in horrible stillness on an infirmary bed. Jack O'Neill had never been able to stay completely still for long. To see him suddenly frozen in death had been so horribly unsettling that it still haunted her. She couldn't forget him and marry this man who stood here offering this out of what must be pity.

The General took a shaky breath. She glanced up at his face - and was shocked at the pain and tears in his eyes. He was clearly still suffering over his own loss. Pretending to be a family was not going to be good for either of them.

"We don't have to... do anything," he pointed out. "It would be a marriage of convenience. You could work at the Pentagon. Our girls would have both of their parents that way."

That idea gave Sam pause. It would be nice for Allie to have a father. And her heart already ached for poor little motherless Grace. But should they really pretend to be a couple for the girls? Would that create a stable home life for them? Or would the girls sense the tension between their parents and grow to resent them?

Better to be honest single parents than a pseudo-married couple.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Sir," she admitted softly. She could see him involuntarily wince at the word "Sir." To be honest, it pulled at her own heart strings as well. She had finally gotten to a place where she could call the man she loved by his first name. Going back to the title, even for a man who simply looked like him, hurt.

He went back to his seat, moving his hands and looking in every other direction uncomfortably. It was so Jack - her Jack in the past, that is. By the end, her Jack could look her in the eye, and usually followed it up with a kiss. This one couldn't.

She knew what she had to do. "I'll take option two."

The General nodded. The decision was made.

"I'll see that the necessary arrangements are handled," he stated as he stood to go. "Landry and Woolsey will get with you on the details."

He reached the door and turned to look at her. "If you ever need anything, Carter... just let me know."

Sam stared at his face, so like her husband's. While he didn't know her in the way her Jack did, he did at least care.

"Thank you, Sir," she whispered. They both knew this was goodbye.

He nodded. Then, he was gone.

Sam sighed once more as she shook off the memory. She logged out of the work computer she'd been using, and turned to the door. It was time to go home for the day.

Her phone interrupted her progress, however. Hoping this wasn't going to prod more painful memories, she looked at the caller ID.

She smiled a bit. This guy wouldn't be asking about Jack.

"Hey, there," she answered, injecting a little flirtation in her tone.

"Hey, gorgeous," the voice replied, a grin apparent. "Wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten our little date tonight."

Sam smirked. Her boyfriend wasn't Jack, but he was a comfortable stand-in who, thankfully, also made sure she didn't work herself into the ground. "I'll be there," she asserted.

"Sure you don't want me to pick you up?" he asked.

"No," she answered firmly. "I'll meet you there."

"Alright, Sam," he accepted good naturedly. "See you then."

"See ya." Hanging up, she continued making her way to the door. She still missed her Jack, but it was time to move forward. She couldn't be alone forever, and her Allie needed a father figure in her life.