The kiss was bittersweet. His lips felt and tasted familiar, yet somehow it wasn't the same, and she knew it.
"You're not him, are you?" she whispered softly.
"No," came the inevitable reply.
"I just wish..." she started, knowing full well it was pointless.
"I know," he whispered in reply.
She gave him a small, sad smile as he withdrew from her and turned back towards the mirror. She watched it ripple as he stepped through and turned to face her. Behind him her 'twin' watched on. Within moments the mirror winked out with a brief, bright flash of light, and he was gone, again. Once more she felt the painful wrench of loss. Turning away, she fought against the grief that threatened to overwhelm her. These past few days had been so hard, so very, very hard. To be with, to stand beside, to talk to the man she loved after he had died - it was both a dream come true and a nightmare. It was like seeing something, needing it, wanting it, and yet it was just out of reach. No matter how hard she tried, how much she stretched, she would never be able to reach it. For he wasn't the same man, not really. Oh, they were so similar, almost identical, but it was the little things that he had gone through that had made him different. He was Jack O'Neill, but not *her* Jack O'Neill. The pain of that was indescribable. Maybe it was better that they couldn't have stayed in that universe. She couldn't have lived
there knowing that the one thing she wanted - needed - she couldn't have. Oh, sure, he may have one day felt something for her, but it wouldn't have been the same, and deep down she knew it. He would never be the Jack O'Neill she knew and had fallen in love with. It would always have been different. That difference would have destroyed her, eventually.
So Samantha took a deep breath, sniffing a little, and wiping away her tears. God, this was hard, so hard... She'd lost him twice... How could she even begin to cope with that? Why would she even want to? What was there to live for now? Everyone she knew and loved was gone.
Movement caught her eye, and she looked up to see Charlie Kawalsky was standing in the doorway, watching her carefully. From one of his pockets, he pulled a less-than-clean handkerchief, and gently wiped her tears away.
"I'm so sorry, Doctor C," he whispered. "If I could I'd bring him back just the way those grey aliens brought back Hammond."
"I know," Samantha choked. "I just..." He voice failed her and she began to sob in earnest as Kawalsky held her gently. After a few minutes he pulled away from her, wiping her tears again.
"Come on," he said softly, "we need to get moving. There's a lot of cleaning up to do, and at the moment we're the only ones here to do it. Besides, neither Jack would want you to cry over him. They wouldn't think they were worth it."
That brought a reluctant smile to her face. He was right. Jack had said pretty much the same thing just a few minutes ago. Blinking back tears, she let Charlie lead her out of the small storage room and into the dirty and staff weapon blasted corridor.
*****
The last three days had seemed endless. They had managed repair most of the important parts of the control room from supplies they still had in the facility, but the rest of the complex they could do little with. Contact had gradually been made with other parts of Earth as the Goa'uld withdrew, but things were in such disarray that it would be some time before help would be available. There were others in far more dire straits than they were, and they necessarily came first. They still had plenty of food and water, and they could reach the surface if necessary - not that there was much to see up there now. Samantha and Charlie had ventured up there the day after they had returned from the alternate universe to find that Apophis had completely
devastated the area as he left. It was kind of ironic, Samantha thought. Even if she had wanted to go home and clear up the anniversary dinner she and Jack had prepared, she couldn't. Their home wasn't even there any more. Instead there was simply mile upon mile of smouldering, burning ground studded with tree stumps and chimney pillars. It looked like the aftermath of an atomic bomb - and probably was, although they detected no discernable radiation. They were wary, however. One never knew what the Goa'uld could have left behind.
Now they sat in what was left of the briefing room, eating MREs and sharing a flask of water. Charlie was picking at his macaroni and cheese, a slightly puzzled look on his face.
"Why is it that no matter which one of these you pick, they always taste like chicken?" he complained. Samantha hid a grin while the General half glared at him. She took a sip of water, and finished the remaining mouthfuls of her meal.
"So what's the plan this afternoon, George?" she asked quietly. Samantha hated sitting around doing nothing - it gave her too much time to think, and she really didn't want to think right now. Work was the only thing that kept her grief at bay ... If she thought about it, she might give in to it and she knew she might never recover. She had lost too much.
George shook his head to say he didn't know yet. He had told both Charlie and Samantha that they needn't call him General any longer. He said they had been through too much now to stand on such formality. Samantha had nodded and immediately followed his wishes, although it did take some getting used to. Charlie said it just didn't sit right and continued to use his
commander's rank. George had tried to order him to call his by his first name, to which Charlie had countered that if by insisting that he call him George the General had given up his command, then he could no longer order him to do anything, and he would continue to call him General Hammond. George had had no reply to that one. In the end he had just shrugged and let
Kawalsky do as he wished. He still ordered him about though. Maybe Charlie's insistence had been a subtle plea for the General not to give up either. After all, the Goa'uld were gone now. They were free.
Free, but with one hell of a job on their hands. Out there, somewhere above their heads, whatever was left of the world's governments were struggling to bring their terrified and traumatised peoples back together and to some semblance of order. Then there was the knowledge that although Apophis had left, he had taken multitudes of people with him as slaves, and they now had to try and find them. The Stargate project would become common knowledge in the weeks and months ahead, and despite the cries of anger that such a thing had been kept secret to the detriment and endangerment of Earth, this would be the staging area for a multinational rescue operation. Maybe this would bring all the peoples of Earth together, finally, and for once and for all.
Maybe.
Samantha was shook from her silent musings - literally. The room's fixtures rattled and shook, and the table she sitting at skated across the floor. The lights flickered, then everything went black.
"What the hell?" George exclaimed.
"This seems a little familiar..." Charlie muttered.
Even in the darkness, Samantha could see the General look sharply at the major. A few seconds later a brilliant glow filled the room and two beams of light appeared, delivering two figures - one small and grey, the other tall and grey-haired. Samantha, George, and Charlie stood and stared in stunned disbelief.
"Thor?" Hammond gasped.
The small grey alien stepped forward and greeted them. "Greetings General Hammond, Samantha Carter. My apologies for not returning sooner, but the injuries Colonel O'Neill sustained were severe and it took us some time to repair them."
Samantha just stood and stared.
"Well," Jack said, "don't all speak at once-" He didn't get any further than that. Samantha launched herself at him and he staggered back a couple of steps before enfolding her in his arms and returning her frenzied and desperate kisses.
"You were dead," she said, half-accusingly, tears beginning to stream down her face. "I saw you... How... When..."
Thor spoke. "Some time ago a group of humans visited a planet once the stronghold of the Ancients and activated one of their devices. We were alerted when this happened and we were able to travel to Earth to help one of them - Colonel O'Neill - remove the information he had accidentally had stored in his brain."
Samantha looked up at Jack with a confused look on her face.
He half-shrugged against her. "I thought it was a dream... You know, bright lights, little grey men..."
"I always wondered how you suddenly returned to normal after spouting all that gibberish," Charlie muttered.
"So did I," General Hammond agreed. "We did those tests, but they seemed to come back normal - well as normal as they could get..."
"Well, you know, you wake up one morning and it's gone... Happens ... all ... the time?" He shrugged a little and looked at the others who were still staring at him. Samantha hugged him again, shaking her head slightly.
"When Samantha arrived to ask us for our help in removing the Goa'uld from your world," Thor continued, "we recognised the human we had helped previously and decided we would try to help him again. Unfortunately it took longer than we had anticipated."
Samantha looked back up at her husband, staring into his deep brown eyes for a few moments. "You're really real?"
Jack nodded. "I am, I promise."
"And you're *my* Jack?"
He looked a little confused at that question, but nodded. "I'm your Jack," he affirmed.
Samantha looked at him fiercely. "Then promise me something," she ordered.
"What?" he asked warily.
"Promise me you won't leave me again. I've lost you twice, I couldn't stand to lose you a third time."
Jack regarded her closely; obviously he had no clue what he was talking about. "You won't," he promised anyway. His next words were cut off as Samantha kissed him fiercely. Behind her, Thor nodded to General Hammond.
"We are very much in your debt," George acknowledged.
Thor inclined his head. "There may yet come a time when you may be able to help *us*. There are many things in the universe more fearful than the Goa'uld," he warned as once more the room filled with a powerful beam of light, and then Thor was gone.
Samantha and *her* Jack were too involved in reuniting with each other to notice.
The End
Story Notes: Email: Alexandra@ldedwards.com
Rating: G
Status: Complete.
Category: Sam and Jack. Missing scenes/continuation of story.
Warnings: A happy ending - of sorts.
Season/Sequel: Season 3. No sequels.
Spoilers: If you haven't seen 'Point of View' in season 3 yet, this will give some of the plot away.
Archive: SJadult [even though it's G-rated ], Sam and Jack, Heliopolis.
Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. This is the first fic I've been able to finish in well over a year. It would be nice to know how rusty I am!
Notes: As I said above, this is the first fic I've been able to finish in many, many, many months. I have to admit that Noda's recent fic re-inspired me. [Hope you don't mind, Noda!] It reminded me of the unanswered questions Point of View left - what happened to the other Sam? What about the Captain Carter Daniel saw? Okay, so I don't answer that last one here, but I gave the first one a shot, and here's my take on it. :) Thanks go to Ann, Jo, and Shaure for beta'g. I appreciate it! One last, final thing - I'm not sure if there's already a fic out there with this title, so if there is, let me know and I'll change it :)
Copyright Alexandra November 2001
Rating: G
Status: Complete.
Category: Sam and Jack. Missing scenes/continuation of story.
Warnings: A happy ending - of sorts.
Season/Sequel: Season 3. No sequels.
Spoilers: If you haven't seen 'Point of View' in season 3 yet, this will give some of the plot away.
Archive: SJadult [even though it's G-rated ], Sam and Jack, Heliopolis.
Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. This is the first fic I've been able to finish in well over a year. It would be nice to know how rusty I am!
Notes: As I said above, this is the first fic I've been able to finish in many, many, many months. I have to admit that Noda's recent fic re-inspired me. [Hope you don't mind, Noda!] It reminded me of the unanswered questions Point of View left - what happened to the other Sam? What about the Captain Carter Daniel saw? Okay, so I don't answer that last one here, but I gave the first one a shot, and here's my take on it. :) Thanks go to Ann, Jo, and Shaure for beta'g. I appreciate it! One last, final thing - I'm not sure if there's already a fic out there with this title, so if there is, let me know and I'll change it :)
Copyright Alexandra November 2001
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]