Doctor Daniel Jackson was sat in the infirmary, Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Teal'c and General Hammond sat beside him. He had just returned from an unexpected visit to an alternate reality, and he was very glad to be home. The alternate reality had not been fun and he had no intention of ever going back there or even thinking about it again. The people around him would not allow that, though. They wanted to know where he had been for the past day or two.
"I was in alternate reality." Daniel replied to Hammond's question.
"Again?" O'Neill said rolling his eyes. Daniel was always the one getting into trouble. "Please do not tell us that we're going to be attacked." O'Neill pleaded.
"No, we're not." Daniel answered. The last time he had gone to an alternate reality he had seen that Earth under attack from Apophis' forces and had made it back to his reality just in time to prevent the same fate occurring here.
"Good!" O'Neill breathed a sigh of relief.
"How did you get there?" Carter asked her scientific mind already beginning to work.
"I'm not too sure. Their Simmons helped me devise a way to get home. He's a real smart kid." Daniel said and no one noticed the odd expression on his face. "Anyway, I have a computer disk with the program in." Daniel explained handing the disk to Carter.
Carter smiled. "Thanks, Daniel. So what happened?"
"I met the alternate Sam and Jack as well as the alternate Makepeace, General Hammond, Janet. That was about it."
"Where was I, Daniel-Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"Uh, you were dead." Daniel said uncomfortably. "I killed you, well that Daniel did."
"At last," O'Neill said, "A reality where I'm not dead."
"Actually, you died just before I left."
"What?" O'Neill asked seeming upset.
"Makepeace killed you because you killed Simmons."
"I killed Sim--. Wait a minute, Makepeace killed me?" Daniel nodded. "Oh, I am so gonna kill him!"
"Was I dead?" Carter asked.
"I'm not sure. You were alive just before I left, but I'm not sure how long they'll keep you alive. I think they may make you, I mean her, suffer. Although seeing your husband shot down before your eyes is suffering enough." Daniel said and O'Neill and Carter stared at him in shock.
"Oh for crying out loud. Is there any reality where we're not together?" He paused to see Carter looking at him. She looked upset. "No offense, Carter."
"None taken. So," She said turning back to Daniel, "The good guys are losing?"
"No, you two were the bad guys. In fact you were the leaders of the bad guys." Daniel said looking as anyone did when breaking bad news.
"Oh." Carter said completely shocked at this news.
"Oh," O'Neill said and after a pause he said, "So, we were married?"
"Yes, to quite a few people actually."
"I don't want to know, do I?" O'Neill asked.
"No, you don't." Daniel said shaking his head.
"What will happen to my alternate?" Carter asked still concerned about what fate would await her double.
"Killed, imprisoned - I'm not too sure. She'll get what she deserves for her crimes though." Daniel said trying to offer some semblance of comfort, but Carter still looked troubled.
~*~*~*~
"I do not deserve to be here!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She hated it here. It was hell, quite literally. This planet, Netu, had belonged to Sokar before her and Jack had killed him and took over the planet. They had terra-formed it into a living hell. Using some properties of the Gou'ald sarcophagus they had made the environment one that kept the inhabitants alive longer. Escape was no option. There was no control device for the Stargate, nor was there power to manually dial out. Even if someone did escape they would soon die without the healing properties of the atmosphere.
She had been here, she had no idea how long because there was no time scale on this planet. You just sat around doing nothing because there was nothing to do. To make matters worse the inhabitants of this planet had all been sent here by either Jack or herself, so they were not exactly friendly.
"You just keep telling yourself that, Samantha." The other woman said, "But no one here believes it. I told you I'd get you back for banishing me here."
"Oh, shut up, Kynthia." Sam snapped. Sam had sent Kynthia here years ago. She had seduced Jack, not a crime, but had caused him to age suddenly and he had nearly died. As punishment, Sam had banished Kynthia here before destroying the rest of her planet.
"I'm not afraid of you, I never was. And now that you're here I can finally get my vengeance. You killed my entire planet, you sent me to Hell, the only joy I have lived for is to see you die." Kynthia said as she instructed one of her loyal men to put Sam on her knees. Unwillingly, Sam kneeled on the floor in front of Kynthia.
This was not happening, she told herself, there was no way that she was about to be killed by this woman. Kynthia had only achieved power because she could cause everyone on the planet to age and live forever as an old person. That fear was large when one lived forever at the age they had first arrived, so most had become her loyal followers.
Kynthia reached for the torture device. It was similar in structure to the one that Sam had used on Kynthia and now Kynthia was going to use it on her. Sam closed her eyes preparing herself for whatever pain would come.
"Today is a good day to die." Kynthia said as she lowered the device to Sam's chest.
"Maybe for you." Someone said from the other side of the large hall. Everyone turned to see a female human stood in the doorway to Hell. She wore breathing apparatus to prevent from breathing the atmosphere and she held a zat gun. She pressed the trigger and Kynthia fell to the floor, screaming and writhing in pain.
Sam immediately stood and ran over to the woman on the other side of the room. "Charlie!"
"Mother." Charlie greeted, "Come we must go. My ship can't stay in orbit for long."
Sam smiled and Charlie turned to the others. "Whoever wants to join us, come."
"We can't survive off of this planet!" Someone shouted.
"As long as you pledge allegiance to my Mother, you can live anywhere in the universe. I will explain all later, but we must leave." Charlie followed her mother to the transportation rings in front of the Stargate and saw almost everyone follow her. She smiled as she looked up at her mother and the rings came down.
~*~*~*~
Colonel Jack O'Neill was stood on P4R 897 surveying the area. There was nothing but trees for as far as the eye could see. Daniel was in his element. He had found signs of an ancient civilization in a clearing not far from where O'Neill stood. Teal'c was keeping an eye on Daniel, because Daniel always found his way into trouble and it had only been two weeks since the Doctor's trip to the alternate reality. Major Samantha Carter had headed off in the opposite direction following some trails of supposed radio traffic.
"Sir, I think I found something." Carter's voice said though O'Neill's radio.
"On my way." He said. After telling Teal'c where he was going, O'Neill went over to see Carter. "What you got, Carter?"
She moved to the side to reveal a body. "I thought you should come see before I tried to move her."
O'Neill nodded and bent down to take a closer look at the body. He felt for a pulse. She had one. He stood back up and looked at Carter as he reached for his radio. He did not get the chance to do or say anything more before he felt a pin-prick in his lower back.
Carter attempted to catch her falling commanding officer as he fell to the floor. Cradling him in her lap she was about to reach for her radio when she felt something poke in her back. It was a gun.
"Don't even think about it." The woman who had been unconscious whispered.
"Who are you?" Carter asked.
"You shouldn't have interfered." Someone from in front of her said. It was the person who had disabled O'Neill, Carter realized as she looked up, and she too held a gun.
~*~*~*~
Colonel Jack O'Neill woke up with a giant headache. He was lying on a bed of some sort and, despite the pain, he forced himself to sit up. He saw Carter sat a few feet away from him on a chair with Daniel and Teal'c stood next to her.
"Jack."
"O'Neill."
"Sir," Carter said as they all ran towards him, "Are you okay?"
"Confused." He said simply as he closed his eyes. The sound of his voice echoed through his head increasing the pain ten-fold.
"What's new?" Daniel asked a cheeky grin spreading on his face.
"What happened?" O'Neill asked sitting up as he ignored Daniel's comment. He winced slightly as the room spun but it soon came to a stop.
"The girl you found thought you were Gou'ald. So, did her friends that were out looking for her." Daniel explained.
"I managed to explain to them that we were friends," Carter continued, "They brought us back here and allowed us to stay here until you woke up. Are you okay?"
"Just a minor headache. How long was I out?"
"Two days." Daniel said.
"Did someone tell the General? I mean, we were meant to be back after two hours."
"I went back." Carter said. "Are you well enough to move?"
O'Neill tested out his legs and nodded. "Yeah. We heading back?"
"If you're well." Daniel said.
"I am."
"Let's go, then." Carter ordered. "We'll, uh, wait outside while you get dressed."
~*~*~*~
"Colonel, may I have a word with you?" Major Carter shouted as she ran to catch up with the Colonel.
He turned. "What is it, Major? I was just about to go for a shower." He said and she realized that he was stood outside the locker room.
"Can I talk with you in private?" She asked and he opened the door walking in first. She let it close without taking her attention from Colonel Makepeace.
"What is it, Major? I don't have all day."
She took a step towards him and turned him to face her. Taking his face in her hands she placed a bruising kiss on his lips. He pushed her away.
"Carter, what do you think you're doing?" He asked, breathing heavily.
"I want you!" She whispered huskily bringing her lips to his again.
"Carter!" He shouted pushing her away from him. "What has gotten into you?"
"Don't you want me?" She teased stepping closer to him.
"You are a junior officer." He answered, but she was not satisfied.
"That's not an answer." She stepped towards him and he stepped back but found his back up against a locker. "You know this is what you want. What you have wanted since the day we first met. Forget everything that stands between us and admit what you want." She whispered.
"Carter, I am ordering you to back off." He shouted but she did not listen.
She was getting frustrated now. "You know this could have gone easily. You could have had a last bit of fun, before you die." She said, her tone rapidly changing from seductively sweet to frighteningly harsh. She drew a knife from her pocket.
He was totally confused. The Carter he knew would never be so insubordinate, she would never act like this. "What's going on?" He asked. Under normal circumstances he could have taken her, but she had a look in her eyes and it said 'do-not-mess-with-me'.
"This is the closest I could get to the real thing for now, so I'm sorry. No. I'm not." She said after some consideration. "I want you dead and you will be." Her eyes showing a glint of a crazed maniac. She raised the knife and was about to plunge it downwards.
"What on Earth is going on here?" Someone shouted from the doorway.
Carter turned. "Jack!" She whispered as her victim took his opportunity. He hit her hand away from him and grabbed her wrist. Turning, he pushed her against the locker and hit her arm against it until the knife dropped.
"Okay, what is going on here?" Colonel Jack O'Neill asked walking fully into the room.
"He attacked me, sir!" Carter shouted, tears forming in her eyes. "I had the upper hand when you came in. He was trying to... Trying to force himself on me, sir." Carter said a few stray tears falling down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away with her free hand.
"Makepeace?" O'Neill asked his jaw setting in a hard line at the thought of anyone trying to hurt someone under his command. If Makepeace had done anything to hurt Carter he would pay.
"She's lying." Makepeace said still holding Carter up against the locker. "She came onto me, when I refused she attacked me."
Not knowing whom to believe, O'Neill pulled Makepeace away from Carter and kept them both at arms distance from each other. He studied them both. He had known Makepeace quite a while. He was a marine, he believed in regulations and his duties, but why would Carter come onto him? Carter he had known roughly the same amount of time. He had never seen her get teary eyed over physical things, only emotional. But why would Makepeace suddenly attack her in the middle of the day when almost everyone was on base? Would he really be that stupid?
Suddenly Carter doubled over in obvious pain and she could not breathe properly. "Carter?" O'Neill asked kneeling down beside her.
"Jack." She pleaded with him as she fell to the floor.
"Got Doc Fraiser down here, now!" O'Neill ordered and Makepeace ran to the nearest emergency phone.
~*~*~*~
Colonel Jack O'Neill was stood outside the infirmary looking through the window at Carter. Doctor Janet Fraiser was still in there with her trying to assess what was the matter. Daniel and Teal'c were stood by O'Neill's side awaiting news on their friend. Fraiser came out of the room.
"What's wrong with her, Doc?" O'Neill asked not looking at Fraiser but keeping his gaze on Carter.
"She's suffering withdrawal symptoms." Fraiser said simply following O'Neill's gaze through the window to look at the pale, unconscious woman.
"Withdrawal? From what?" Daniel asked.
"I'm not too sure. But I gave her a synthetic compound close to what the body wants because I believe it's too dangerous at the moment to take her off of the drug."
"How did she get addicted to it?" O'Neill asked.
"I'm not sure. There's something else." O'Neill looked at her questioningly, prodding her to continue. "She's not our Sam."
"What do you mean 'our' Sam?" O'Neill asked looking through the window at Carter again.
"I did a thorough examination on her and the results don't match her records."
"Couldn't she have changed?" O'Neill asked.
"Not this much, and that woman in there, she's had a child. Our Sam hasn't."
"Alternate reality?" O'Neill asked wishing he never had heard of those two words.
"Alternate reality." Daniel confirmed and O'Neill grimaced.
"She is awakening." Teal'c said. Fraiser and Daniel ran into the infirmary, Teal'c followed slowly and O'Neill walked in last.
"What happened?" Carter asked sounding drowsy.
"You collapsed." Fraiser said. "I'm going to start lowering your dose of the drug you're addicted to now that you're awake."
"No! You can't I'll die without it." Carter protested and everyone stared in shock at her outburst except O'Neill.
"Sounds good to me." O'Neill said from the foot of her bed.
"Sir?" Carter asked confused.
"Give it up, Carter, or whoever you are. We know you're not from this reality." O'Neill said. He could not bring himself to look at her. She was an imposter and she had done something with the real Major Carter.
"You wouldn't really let me die, would you?" She asked her tone no longer soft and gentle. No longer needing to keep up the charade her tone turned decidedly nasty. "I mean my Jack wouldn't and no matter how you want to see me I'm still Carter. Plus, if you kill me your Carter dies."
"Who are you?" O'Neill asked finally looking up at her and seeing a vicious glint in her eye. How could he have not known the difference before now? He asked himself.
"Apart from being Samantha Carter?" Sam asked sarcastically surprising the others at the tone usually used by O'Neill. "Ask Daniel - he knows me. Don't you, Danny-boy?" Sam asked a smile forming on her face as she turned to look at Daniel.
A look of horror crossed Daniel's face as she smiled at him. "This is the Sam I met a couple of weeks ago in the alternate reality."
O'Neill rolled his eyes. Daniel had not shared much with anyone about the alternate reality, but O'Neill did know that things there were very different. "Where's our Carter?" O'Neill asked.
"I can't tell you that." Sam said turning her attention back to O'Neill. "She is alive though... For now." She added an evil grin spreading across her face as she watched O'Neill's reaction. "As long as I keep making daily reports to my daughter your Carter will be fine."
"What do you want?" O'Neill asked getting fed up with playing games. "And if you say control of this universe tough. Carter would rather die than let you have it."
She smiled up at him. "You're bluffing." She said simply.
"Try me." He threatened leaning on the end of the bed.
"You forget, Jack, that I know you." She purred, her tone soft as she sat up and approached him at the end of the bed. "I was married to my Jack for longer than I can remember. I know every expression, every thought, every feeling. You can't lie to me because I know you better than you know yourself."
He leaned in closer to her until their faces were only a few centimetres apart. "What do you want?" He asked his tone harsh.
Moving away from him she sat at the other end of the bed. "I want my universe back."
"Find we'll send you there." O'Neill said heading to the door.
"It's not that simple." Sam said freezing O'Neill in his place.
"How did I know you were going to say that?" O'Neill said turning back to face her but remaining at a distance. He was really beginning to hate alternate realities.
"I want control of my universe."
"Take control of it then."
"She has no power." Daniel said. "She lost it when her Jack died."
"Which was your fault." She snapped angrily glancing briefly at Daniel and then back at O'Neill.
"So, what do you need then?" O'Neill asked.
"One of you two." She said looking back and forth at Daniel and O'Neill. "Having Daniel would mean I caught him, turned him from the cause he betrayed me for. Having Jack would mean I could raise people from the dead. I'd settle for either but would prefer Jack." She smiled.
"And if we say no?" O'Neill asked knowing the answer but wanting to hear someone else confirm it.
"She'll have Sam killed." Daniel said.
"Do we have a choice then?" O'Neill asked sarcastically. "When do we leave?"
"As soon as I've had my next injection and gotten out of these awful clothes." She said referring to the infirmary gown which was uniform for all patients.
"Why do you need that stuff?" O'Neill asked as Fraiser gave her another injection.
"After Jack was killed, I was sent to Hell. I don't know if you've been to you Hell, but I doubt it's the same as mine."
"Oh yeah, we've been to Hell." O'Neill said not wanting to think about that mission - it was almost as bad as alternate realities.
"Jack and I designed it so no one could live if they escaped. My daughter came up with a treatment that I'm addicted to in order to keep me alive. I got off light considering what happened to Jack." She snarled directing her last comment at Daniel. Daniel bowed his head out as an apology.
Everyone was silent for a moment. "Shall we go then?" Sam said getting up out of the bed. "Oh, you'll have to wait for me to get changed. And you can't wear that." Sam said looking at O'Neill. "Daniel, find Jack some clothes." Sam ordered.
~*~*~*~
O'Neill knocked on the door to Sam's quarters. She had been given temporary quarters and there were guards stationed outside. He had to see if what he was wearing was right and he needed to know what their plan was. He felt damned uncomfortable in this get up. He wore black leather trousers that were tighter than his skin and a white V-neck shirt that showed off half of his chest. Daniel was adamant that this was what the other Jack had worn and if he had lied, O'Neill would kill him. He felt like everyone was watching him, which they probably were. It was pretty unusual to see a Colonel in the U.S. Air force walking around a military base in what he was wearing. O'Neill was not laughing though. Especially when he saw the grins that the airmen guarding the door had on their faces. He shot them a dark look that only higher rank officers could effectively pull off.
"Come in." O'Neill walked in and saw Sam stood in front of him wearing an all in one leather cat suit. His mouth dropped open as he stared at her. The leather cat suit hung off her every line and contour revealing too much about his 'Major'. If O'Neill had thought his trousers were tight he was wrong. His trousers seemed spacious in comparison to Sam's clothes. "Jack." Sam smiled enjoying his reaction.
"Carter." He managed to whisper.
"Now, Jack, to fit in you have to call me Sam. Otherwise people'll get suspicious." She said in a sweetly feminine voice that Carter would never use. It was a tone that was designed to get her what she wanted. She stepped towards him. "And close your mouth." She pushed his lower jaw up with a finger. "Ready to go?" She asked staying close to him.
"What... What exactly is our plan?" He asked trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling. He could feel her gaze on him and it troubled him. He could feel her body heat, due to their close proximity, and that only added to the problem. He had seen a look in her eyes. She was mentally undressing him and he did not like it. 'What's the problem?' An inner voice asked him, 'You were just mentally undressing her.' The voice continued before O'Neill silenced it. He shook his head to banish all of those thoughts from his mind.
She smiled. She had him tongue-tied. She had got to know this Jack over the past few weeks and knew he did not get tongue-tied. "Go to my reality, take over, you come back, Carter lives." She answered her tone nonchalant as if that were all there were to it.
"That's not very well thought out." O'Neill replied trying to get his mind back on track and out of the gutter.
"Fine." She snapped stepping away from him. "We go through the gate guns blasting. We take back the control room." She paused. "It's quite simple really."
"Why do you need me to do that? You must have more men either to attack from inside or with us." O'Neill asked bringing up the many flaws that her plan had.
"I do. I have my daughter and her team on the base. She got close to Makepeace after my defeat to prevent herself from being killed. Then I have my loyal fellow prison mates to come through the gate when I give them the signal. The base will be attacked from the inside and the out."
"I repeat: Why do you need me?" O'Neill asked brushing aside all uneasiness as he focused his attention on this badly detailed plan. It was easier to do that with her stood a few paces away. She made him uncomfortable when she was close to him. A bit like Hathor had when she was using that super-pheromone thing. Maybe this Sam had the same thing? O'Neill wondered. He would have to ask Doc about that.
"Oh, I don't need you - I want you." She whispered taking a step closer.
"But once you have control I'm outta there." O'Neill said waiting for her to step away.
"Not if I can change your mind." She whispered as she stayed close to him.
He scowled at her.
"Alright, I need you there because to be honest I don't like killing people." She said with a child like vulnerability as she made out that she was 'forced' to kill people. He almost believed her until she continued. "Not with guns, anyway." She stepped away again crossing her arms across her barely covered chest. "Now torturing that's the way to kill someone. With you coming through the gate everyone will be scared. Jack O'Neill will have risen from the dead. You were good at ruling our Empire and they'll be so scared they'll surrender. Then, they can either join us or die."
"They get a choice?" O'Neill asked sarcastically.
"Most of them. Those that led the rebellion won't. We'll be directly in charge of killing them."
"Who?"
"Martouf, Makepeace, Hammond, Janet. Although, I will personally kill Janet." Her voice bitter at her friend's betrayal.
"And after we've done all that you'll give me my Carter back?"
"Would I lie to you?" She asked. He looked at her with a look that said 'I'm-not-stupid'. "The answer's no." She laughed as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "I'm not that bad you know. Let's go."
~*~*~*~
O'Neill stood in front of the gate feeling like everyone's eyes were on him. He was probably just being paranoid, he told himself because whenever he looked up to the control room everyone was busy and no one was looking at him. He was still wearing the ridiculous 'under-cover' clothes that Sam had said were a perfect match for her Jack. Sam was stood next to him wearing her cat suit, whose zip had been slid down that bit further to reveal that bit more cleavage.
O'Neill looked away quickly. He was really seeing too much of her, finding out too much. How would he ever be able to look his Carter in the face again? Or would that not be a problem because his eyes would keep falling downwards?
Sam smiled as O'Neill quickly looked away from her again. She was getting to him and she loved it. She loved to see him squirm. It had always been so hard to intimidate her Jack, but this one... This one was easy - all it required was a bit more cleavage. She turned her head as the gate activated, flooding the room with blue illumination. Daniel and Janet Fraiser walked over as she and O'Neill began to make their way up the ramp.
O'Neill looked over at Daniel and Fraiser as they entered. He had asked Fraiser to find out if Sam were using some super pheromone or nishta type thing. She was clean, He had also spoken to Daniel and instructed him to lead a one-man mission to find their Carter. Daniel had accepted. He had asked about the prospect of Teal'c coming with him, but O'Neill had said it not wise. Teal'c was dead in their reality and it was going to be hard enough to explain O'Neill's return from the dead. That was a good question, O'Neill realized, how were they going to explain that?
"Car-- I mean Sam, how are you going to explain my rising from the dead act?" O'Neill asked as they approached the event horizon.
"You have other matters to be concerned with, honey." O'Neill tried not to react to her pet name for him. After all in a few seconds they would be in a place where the smallest out of place reaction would kill them all, including Carter.
"Like what?" He asked.
"Your Doctor, who I wanted to kill by the way, told me of something called entropic cascade failure."
"Oh for crying out loud. You're a scientist too?"
Sam smiled. "No, but I do know that if both Carter and I remain in the same reality for too long, your Carter will die. Ready to go home?"
She did not wait for an answer. She pushed him through the gate. Turning she smiled up at the others before going through the gate after him. How foolish he was, she thought as she flew across the stars to a planet in her own reality. He really thought he could fool her, but she knew everything. She knew Daniel was going to follow them and try to find his Carter, but he would not succeed. She could guarantee it.
~*~*~*~
Jack emerged from the gate on a familiar looking world and considering the majority of them looked the same, that meant something. He was on Netu. Sokar's Hell. They were not there long before the transporter rings engulfed them and he found himself on a ship in orbit around Sokar's planet. Of course that was only true in his reality. In this one he knew that Netu had once belonged to Sam and was poisonous to anyone who lived there a long time and then tried to breathe normal air. Sam had explained that Netu, and the planet it orbited, were the first planets to be taken back from Hammond and his team's hands. According to Sam, Earth was the key to the Universe and that was what she intended to take back.
Jack looked around him. Sam had already walked off to a console nearby to read something. There were loads of other people around him, but none that he recognized except one.
"Hey, you!" He shouted walking over to the one he recognized. "You're the one who pretended to be unconscious."
"My name's Charlie and yes I did. How else was my mother meant to switch places with her alternate?"
"Your Mom?" Charlie nodded.
"Yes, you know Samantha O'Neill. Didn't you know she took my Dad's name?" She asked smiling the same smile Sam did. It was meant to be sweet but not to Jack.
"Your Dad? Me!" Jack managed to gasp out, the shock and confusion evident on his face.
"No, this realities Jack O'Neill, but genetically yes I'm yours." She replied dryly. She hid her feelings as well as Jack did. That upset him. He hid his feelings and blocked himself off from everything because of his son, Charlie, and ex-wife, Sara. This girl should not have felt pain like that at such a young age.
"How old are you?" Jack asked following her as she walked off.
"Seventeen." She turned round to look at him and smiled when she saw the surprised and then confused look cross his face. Her genuine smile was just like her Mother's, Jack noted, both his and this reality's Sam. He just had not seen it often from Sam. "Why are you so surprised?"
"Aren't you the one who got close to Makepeace to stay alive?" Jack asked silently wondering if he had misinterpreted the meaning of 'getting close'.
"Yes. I'm also the one who married Graham Simmons at the age of sixteen. I also saw my Father murder many in front of my eyes. Why is that so surprising?"
"You're a teenager! Did you have a childhood?" Jack asked and an emotion flashed over her face. Just as quickly as the emotion had come it went leaving her face stony and hard.
"At thirteen my father banned me from seeing the man I loved. At the same age I married the man I loved and my father disowned me. At fifteen my husband left me with a child to look after. My Father took me back and Graham became my child's father until my Dad killed him. That was my childhood."
"I'm sorry." Jack whispered.
"Don't be. If my husband had stayed, my Dad would have killed him."
"Why?"
"He killed my parents' personal aids - Teal'c and Sara. Any more questions?" Jack was lost in thought so Charlie took that as a no and walked off. Jack remained where he was thinking, until Sam came over and got him.
"We're ready to go. Charlie's going to go through the gate first and we'll be immediately behind her. Ready?"
"Um, no. Two things."
"Which are? We don't have all day you know, the longer we wait the quicker entropic cascade failure sets in and your Carter dies."
"That's the first thing. I want to see my Carter before I go anywhere. I want proof she's alive."
Sam sighed. "Impossible. She's not being held here." Sam lied. "She's on a different base. Sorry." Sam said not sounding the least bit apologetic. "What was the second thing?"
"Who killed Teal'c and Sara? I thought Daniel told me it was his double, but..."
Sam cut him off. "It was. Anything wrong with that?"
"Your daughter was married to Daniel."
"And?"
"Nothing. I'm sure I'll think of something later, but for now..." He trailed off.
"Good, let's go." She said trying to hide her annoyance. She walked back into the main room with Jack close behind her. "Dial up Earth." She ordered and the gate began to activate. "Let's show them what we're made of."
~*~*~*~
Charlie was first through the gate. She looked around her. There was the usual guard complement surrounding the gate. For the 'good-guys' they were still vigorous in their work and would easily shoot first and ask questions later. Of course that was okay when the weapons being used were zat guns. She caught the attention of Makepeace and walked over to him.
"How's the colony coming?" He asked wrapping an arm around her and kissing her deeply. She responded but was glad that the charade in which she had to partake would soon be over. Makepeace had sent her on a three-week mission to terra-form a planet into a habitable one for them. She had done none of what had been asked of her. She had spent the three weeks first observing Carter and then rescuing her mother. Her mother's rescue had occurred only three days ago and on schedule, Sam had got herself caught by Jack.
"On schedule." Charlie lied after pulling away from him. "Why do you have all these people here?"
"Routine, Charlie, routine."
"I know, but, I was hoping we could be alone here." She whispered.
"Alone?" He asked, his eyebrows rising in curiosity as to what she had planned.
"Hmm-mm." She replied as she nuzzled at his neck. "But we're not." She pulled back and stepped away from him.
"Everyone out." Makepeace shouted and everyone filed out.
"Including the control room." Charlie whispered in his ear.
"And you lot in the control room." He shouted. Soon, both the control and embarkation rooms were totally empty bar Charlie and Makepeace.
Someone coughed from the side of the room as the gate disengaged. Makepeace looked up from Charlie, an annoyed look on his face. "I thought I sai--." He stopped abruptly when he saw whom it was stood at the top of the ramp.
"This is just typical of you, isn't it Makepeace?" Sam said walking down the ramp slowly. Jack remained where he was watching the events unfold as Makepeace stepped in front of Charlie. "I mean, you always were led by your penis. Heaven forbid if your mind ever got to see the light of day."
"How are you..? How is he..?"
"So articulate. I've really missed you." Sam said a smile forming on her face as she stood in front of him. She ran a hand through his hair. "We had some good times, didn't we?"
"Before he tried to kill me, honey." Jack said rapidly walking down the ramp. He could not explain it but he did not like seeing her that close to him, even if it was not his Carter. Sam stepped back from Makepeace and joined her 'husband' at his side. She wrapped her arm around his waist.
"You shouldn't have tried that, Makepeace. Haven't you ever heard the saying 'Can't keep a good dog down'?" Sam asked as Jack's arm encircled her waist.
"How? I mean I saw him buried. And how can you live without the rejuvenating atmosphere of Natu?" Makepeace asked a confused look crossing his face as Charlie rolled her eyes behind his shoulder.
"And isn't it sweet how he's protecting our daughter?" Sam said looking up at Jack.
"Very." Jack agreed, "But now that I'm back she no longer needs your protection." Jack said looking at Makepeace.
"She needs protection from you." Makepeace spat.
"Why?" Sam laughed. "She's the one who brought Jack back and who conceived how to allow me to live away from Natu. She's betrayed you, Makepeace, just as you betrayed us."
His eyes narrowed as he studied Sam and Jack. Sam's wide grin taunted him and Jack's made him want to turn to question Charlie, but Makepeace knew that that would lead to his death by either Jack or Sam's hands. How could she betray him like this? He wondered. How could he have been so stupid as to trust the daughter of both Jack and Sam?
Realizing what a fool he had been he let his anger take a hold of him. Turning fast, Makepeace spun his fist making contact with Charlie's jaw. Charlie flew backwards into the weapons locker.
"You little back stabbing cow." He spat just before he felt a hard blow to his skull.
Makepeace collapsed to the floor in front of Charlie. She was breathing hard, shocked by his outburst and the power and anger he had held. She looked up and saw Jack stood there, gun in hand, looking just as shocked at his own outburst as Charlie did at Makepeace's.
Unfazed Sam headed over to them and bent down next to the fallen Makepeace. Searching his body she found his card that allowed access to any room on the base. Swiping it through the security lock the door opened. She turned to the others. Charlie was still sitting on the floor and Jack was still stood in front of Makepeace.
"We don't have all day." Sam snapped. "Hammond will soon find out that Makepeace cleared the two most important rooms of the base for Charlie O'Neill. Hammond smell's bad situations easier than you can smell Makepeace's BO from two centimeters. Do you want to lose what we just achieved? Do you want to lose Carter?" Sam asked directing the last question at Jack.
He snapped himself out of the self-induced trance and offered his hand to Charlie. She refused it but stood up and followed her Mother out. Jack walked behind them the zat gun he had commandeered up and ready for any of Hammond's men.
~*~*~*~
Daniel was stood at the base of the ramp, nervously awaiting the activation of the gate. Simmons had tracked the first outgoing wormhole through to the other universe and had discovered it was Netu. That had not exactly pleased Daniel, he had enough bad memories of that place from the last time he was there. He also knew that if he remained on Netu, itself, he would become addicted to the atmosphere and though Janet had found an artificial substitute, Daniel did not want to be addicted to any substance. It had been bad enough when he had been addicted to the sarcophagus and that had only been for a short while, this would be for life.
So the solution was to get off the planet quickly and then get to Earth, to where Carter was probably being held. There was only one way he could see of doing that and that was hoping that that Netu was similar to his own and had transporter rings in the leader of the planet's room.
If it did not, Daniel would fail in his task set by Jack and Carter's fate would be left in the hands of Sam. He would not allow that to happen.
He knew that he had two hours upon arrival to Netu to get off of it. Simmons had given him the directions on how to get back to his own reality as well as the means to dial the gate without a DHD. He was incredibly clever, Daniel realized, just like the other Simmons. Daniel hoped that this Simmons would not fall to the same fate as the other had.
"Doctor Jackson, you have a go." General Hammond said. "Good luck, Doctor."
Daniel smiled before turning back to the gate and walking up the ramp. He braced himself for the harsh conditions on Netu as the wormhole took him across stars, planets and realities.
~*~*~*~
Jack, Sam and Charlie were in the control room. Jack was keeping guard on the door, while Sam and Charlie were getting a message to their armies on Netu's planet and the ship in orbit around it. Jack took his attention from his job to watch his 'wife' and 'daughter'. Okay, so Charlie was not his daughter but genetically she was. That kind of freaked Jack. In this reality he had married Sam but had still been with Sara. Was there another Charlie in this reality? A male one, son to Jack and Sara?
"What's up?" Sam asked turning to look at him.
Jack walked over to her. "I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Why do you need me here? I mean you didn't. You could have taken back this base without me. So, what's the deal?" He asked deciding to be frank and honest with her in the hope that she would be honest with him.
"You saw how freaked Makepeace was. He wouldn't have been if it were only I. A jail breakout isn't much, seeing a man killed before your very eyes yet still alive - now, that is something. Happy now?"
"I knew you'd be responsible for this!" George Hammond said from the doorway that Jack was supposed to be guarding. "You won't get away with this, Samantha, we'll fight back. We took this place from you once, we'll do it again. And I think you'll find you can't dial anywhere without my authentication codes."
"Charlie?" Sam asked not taking her eyes from Hammond. Surprisingly, he had not said anything about Jack being stood right in front of him.
"He's right, he's changed all of the codes. He knew what we were planning."
"How could you know that?" Jack asked and Hammond finally acknowledged him.
"Glad to see you're looking better, Jack. Join our side. I'll get you your Carter back, if you help me stop these peop--" Hammond fell to the floor a bullet straight through his heart.
Jack turned to see Charlie with the gun. "He was annoying me." Charlie said as a means of an explanation but Jack was suspicious. Hammond had known what was going to happen and he had known about Carter. He could have been Jack's way out of this place. But how could he have known all of that? There must be a spy in Sam's army. "I've broken his codes and am dialing to send our message."
"Jack? Are you alright?" Sam asked putting a hand to his cheek.
"Are my quarters the same here?" He asked jerking his face away from her touch.
"Yes. Exact same place, except you share them with me." Sam answered regarding him oddly at his sudden movement away from her, but Jack did not care. Well, there was not anyone around for him to have to keep up the act.
"Good. See you later." He said in a cold and distant voice as he headed to the door.
"You shouldn't be on your own." Sam said but Jack did not believe her sincerity.
"I can take care of myself." Jack said walking off. He could not describe how he felt. He had just seen his commanding officer and friend shot dead before him, but he was not bothered. He tried telling himself that it was because it was not his commanding officer, it was some alternate, but he could not convince himself of that.
~*~*~*~
Daniel made it to the large central room on Netu without seeing anyone, until now.
"Kynthia?" He asked as he approached a lone figure. She turned and he realized that it was, indeed, Kynthia. He had not known her that well, Jack had been the one to make contact with her, but he knew that it was her. Of all the places, Daniel thought ironically.
"Daniel!" She exclaimed running over and hugging him. "Have you come to rescue me, or are you stuck here too?"
"No, I can leave by the Stargate anytime. How about you? How come you're here on your own?" He replied pulling back slightly.
"I did not want to join Sam's foolish crusade so she left me here."
"Want to help me?" Daniel asked. He needed help to defeat Sam, or find Carter at least, and to do that he needed an ally. From the hatred in her voice when she had said the name 'Sam', Daniel believed that Kynthia could be the perfect ally.
"Do what?" Kynthia asked in a suspicous tone as her eyes narrowed. Being imprisoned in Hell could make the most trusting person doubt the most basic truth.
"Rescue Sam's identical twin and defeat Sam, herself." Daniel simplified and Kynthia smiled. Daniel took that as meaning yes.
"I still have some friends in Sam's Empire. They will protect us. Come on we must use the rings to get to the ship." Kynthia said taking his hand and leading him to the center of the room. "I could have used the rings long ago, but I cannot breathe up there after a certain time. If you promise to set me free. I will help you."
"Of course I will. But don't we need to be in the other room?" He asked and she smiled at him as she pressed a button on her wrist.
The transportation rings descended unexpectantly and engulfed Daniel as he wondered exactly how many women this Daniel had been with, after all she had just put her trust in him after everything through which she had suffered.
~*~*~*~
Kynthia was right and Daniel was glad. They had used the rings to get up to a ship and had sneaked around until finding someone that Kynthia trusted. That person had led them to Sam's room. His Sam. Daniel had been wrong when believing that she would be on Earth. If he could get her free and to a Stargate he could get her home and to safety. Then he could tell Jack and stop him from affecting this world too much. Daniel, himself had already done too much damage.
"This is her room." Kynthia whispered as she began to pick the lock. "Are you sure this twin can be trusted?"
"Yes. Don't you trust me, Kynthia?" Daniel asked but the door opened and he ran into the room before she could answer.
Daniel looked around the room and found Carter strapped to a bed in the middle of the room.
"Sam!" Daniel said running over to her.
"Daniel?" Carter asked, her voice weak, as she saw Daniel standing in front of her. "Where am I, Daniel? What's going on? I feel as if I've been here years."
"Ssh. I'll explain everything later, but right now we have got to go." He whispered un-strapping her. "Can you walk?"
"I'm not sure." She said standing. She wobbled slightly and Daniel steadied her but she soon found her balance.
"She will be seen immediately if we go anywhere with her dressed like that." Kynthia said from the other side of the room.
"I'll go look for something. You two stay here." Daniel said and as an afterthought he added, "And play nice." He disappeared into an adjoining room to look for clothes.
Carter looked over to Kynthia and she looked back. Each giving the other a 'look'.
"I do not trust you." Kynthia said.
"Feeling's mutual." Carter replied and then they returned to silence before Carter walked over to a nearby console and began typing in commands.
~*~*~*~
"Have you sent the message?" Sam asked her daughter.
"Yes. They'll be through the gate in a few minutes. Once they are I'm heading back."
"Why?" Sam asked suspicious of her own daughter's plan.
"My son is still on the ship. I want him here with me when we inform the planet and the galaxy that you and father are back. And who would you rather have in control of your flagship?"
Sam nodded. "I still haven't persuaded Jack to stay."
"But you will." Charlie replied with confidence.
"Yes, I will. I have the perfect plan. Don't forget to keep your eyes open for Daniel and possibly Carter. I know Jack sent Daniel after her. It's as if he doesn't trust me."
"Do you trust him?" Charlie asked as the gate activated.
"No, but after tonight he will trust me." The gate deactivated, a large group of men stood in the gate room. Sam smiled. Victory was within her grasp. Not only would she have this planet and the galaxy back in her hands, but she would also have Jack back.
"Should he though?" Charlie asked.
"Good luck, dear." Sam said not answering her daughter's question.
"You too, mother, you too." Charlie said and they both walked out separate doors.
~*~*~*~
The door opened abruptly and Jack turned. "Ever heard of knocking in this reality?" He asked as he turned. Sam was stood there and he was about to smile and greet her properly but then remembered he was supposed to hate her. It was hard to do, hate someone who looked so much like one of your best friends.
"Is that how you greet your Carter?"
"What else did you expect?" He asked harshly.
She did not answer him in words. She stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him slowly and passionately as his arms hung limp at his side. She pulled back slightly and looked him in the eye.
"What do you... Think you're doing?" He asked trying to avoid her eyes but he could not.
"Acting like husband and wife."
"There's no one else around."
"You want an audience?" She asked tightening her arms round him eliciting a response from his lower body. "Anyway, I'm just giving you what you want."
"And what is it you think I want?" He asked trying to ignore all feelings that registered with his brain.
"Carter, Sam, Major, whatever you want to call her. You can't lie to me, Jack." She whispered. "I know you want her and that you can't have her. Whereas I can give you what she can't. Now, if you still want to say no go ahead." She paused, awaiting an answer. "Do you?"
~*~*~*~
"Daniel, can you hurry up? We need to get the Colonel and get back to our reality."
"I thought you didn't know anything?" Daniel asked from the other room.
"I know one thing and that is that the other me is using Jack."
"We know that too." Daniel replied.
Carter shook her head though he could not see her. "Not to get this reality back or anything else as trivial as that. She's using him to get our reality. I just looked up some files on the computer. Luckily she uses the same codes as me." Carter shouted back to Daniel who was still searching for clothes in the other room.
"How right you are." Carter turned to see the teenage girl from P4R 897 stood in the doorway holding a gun up at her. "We're going to rule this universe and yours and any other we come across with potential. And now that you know our plan you have to die." She said with a cold voice.
"You would really shoot her when she looks exactly like your mother?" Kynthia asked and Carter stared in shock. Looking at Charlie, Carter could see a resemblance between the girl and herself and looking closer Carter could see hints of Colonel O'Neill in her.
"But she's not my mother. Am I the only one who gets the difference?" Charlie asked no one in particular.
"But it would be like killing your mother. How could you do that? Could she kill you as easily?"
"Oh, shut-up!" Charlie said firing the gun. Carter squeezed her eyes shut but felt nothing. She opened them to see the gun still on her but Kynthia lying on the floor, a bullet straight through the heart. "She was annoying me." Charlie said. "You shouldn't have used the computer. It lead me right here."
"What's going on in here?" Daniel asked running in. Charlie turned to see who it was.
"Daniel?" Charlie asked as Carter kicked the gun from her hand sending it clattering to the floor. Carter kicked the younger woman's legs out from underneath her sending her flying to the floor before she could react. Carter twisted Charlie's arm and dragged her to her feet.
"You!" Daniel said remembering her from P4R 897. She had been the one to tell him and Teal'c that Jack was injured. That must have been when they switched Sam for Carter. "You're the one who... You lied!"
"My name is Charlie O'Neill, not 'you'." Charlie said in an exasperated tone. She was beginning to tire of everyone calling her 'you' and not realizing the difference between realities.
Daniel looked on in amazement as Carter spoke. "How can you kill so easily?"
"Ever heard the saying: Like Mother like daughter. You have it in you too. You just deny that feeling along with all the others. Maybe if you didn't your O'Neill wouldn't be in my mother's bed right now." Charlie smirked.
"What?" Carter asked in a quiet voice. She understood what Charlie was implying but she could not believe it. O'Neill would never sleep with Sam. Would he? Why did it bother her so?
"Maybe if you allowed yourself to feel some of your feelings Jack would be in your bed rather than my mother's."
Sam released the teenager and punched her hard across the jaw on the opposite side to the already large purple bruise. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know me."
"I knew you had anger in you. And you're wrong - I do know you. I spent weeks studying you. I saw all the looks that passed between you and him. It's obvious to everyone else how you two feel about each other, even him. It's just you." Charlie said stepping away from Carter. "You hide behind rules and regulations when really you're just scared. You've hidden your feelings on everything for so long you can't even recognize them anymore." Charlie paused. "But I can see why you hide them because feelings are your downfall, aren't they Sam? I mean while you've been stood here listening to some home truths my guards have surrounded the room."
"What?" Daniel and Carter both said as the doors burst open and Charlie's guards entered.
"All three of you thought you could trick us, but you can't. Let's take them back to Earth, boys. My mother will be pleased." She smiled.
~*~*~*~
Jack stood there not knowing what to say. She genuinely seemed to be giving him a way out, he was not too sure if he wanted to take it anymore. Was this place so bad? He got to beat up the people he had never liked, his son was not dead, he had a daughter and a grandchild, not to mention more children on some other planet and he had a wife. He could stay here, get Carter and Daniel sent home and he could stay here. No one would miss him, Carter sure would not.
"What's the answer? I can give you what your heart desires." Sam whispered. "Not only can I give you the child you never had, but I can give you power. I can give you the galaxy and I can give you me. Carter will never give herself to you. She can't. She doesn't feel that way, but I do. I love you, Jack, and I know you love her. I don't mind being second best, but you have to know I'm the closest you'll ever get to the real thing."
His brain shut off. It must have, Jack told himself as he grabbed Sam around the waist and brought his lips down to hers. There was no other explanation for why he was kissing her back other than insanity. He did not know her and what little he did know he did not like. He should stop this, stop this right now, but he could not. He could not remove his lips from hers or his hands from her body.
All thoughts of Carter escaped his brain: the danger she was in, the attraction between them - it was all gone. All he could see, hear, smell, taste and feel was Sam and damn the other one. Sam was right, Carter did not care for him. He had realized it ages ago. Why would she fall for someone like him? He was old and an emotional cripple, what would she ever see in him? But this Sam, well she not only saw something she also wanted him.
At that moment in time he did not care about the consequences, all he cared about was having her for himself and if he could not have Carter he would have Sam. He was not too sure why he wanted this so badly. Maybe it was because of the deep attraction he felt for Carter. Maybe it was because it had been so long since a situation like this. Or maybe it was both of them, but he did not care. And that was why he was kissing her, because he did not care.
~*~*~*~
Carter and Daniel emerged from the gate on Earth with Charlie in front of them and big, strong men all around them. They had no chance of escaping these men. Carter might have been able to put up a bit of a fight, she may have been able to get away, but Daniel. Well, Daniel would probably end up killed and Carter would not let that happen. They just had to hope that O'Neill would rescue them, which he would when he found out they were here.
In the meantime, Carter hoped someone would get her some better clothes. She was wearing an infirmary gown that opened all the way down the back. But that was not what was really bothering her. What Charlie had said bothered her. She did not hide her feelings, did she? Carter asked herself. She did not really have romantic feelings for her commanding officer, did she? She liked him and a lot more than when she had first met him, but something more than friendship? She did not know if she would call it that. She had only felt what she had thought was love a few times. Jonas Hanson had been the love of her life, but when Carter had met Martouf and experienced Jolinar's love for him she had realized she had never loved Jonas.
So, the question was did she feel more for Jack than she had for Jonas? The answer was yes. Okay, Carter thought, next question: did she feel the same way about Jack as Jolinar had for Martouf? The answer was no, but they had known each other for longer than Carter had been alive. She could not compare the two relationships.
Her trail of thought ceased abruptly when she saw herself stood in front of her. She had met this Sam on P4R 897 but had soon been brought to this reality. Carter now knew of Sam's plans to take over the other reality by launching a full out attack and if Carter did nothing to stop it Sam would win.
"You won't win." Carter said breaking out of her captor's grasp and lunging at Sam. Someone else caught her.
"Now, now," A familiar voice said, "That's no way to greet your twin." Carter turned to look at Jack who was holding her back from Sam.
Satisfied that Carter posed no threat, Jack released her and went to stand by Sam. He slipped an arm round her waist and Carter looked on confused. Her hair was tousled from her attempted attack and as she stood there trying to control her breathing and rising anger she straightened it.
"Jack?" Daniel asked looking just as confused as Carter did.
"Yes, Danny-boy it's me. I have some news. I'm staying in this reality. You two are for now, as well."
"What?" Daniel said. "Jack, you can't be serious. You can't stay here and why are we staying? You know if the two Sam's remain here ours will die. Not to mention I have a double here too."
"You will both be sent home." Sam said. "Once Jack and I have control of this reality." She added. "It won't be much longer then you can go back to your boring little lives. From what I know it takes forty-eight hours for the decay thing to start, well you'll be home by then."
"How long until you try and take our reality?" Carter asked.
"Shut-up before you start annoying me." Charlie said. "Come on let's go." Charlie said and the guards dragged Carter and Daniel away.
"Jack, don't believe her!" Daniel shouted. "Don't trust her!"
Carter shook her head because she knew the words were falling on deaf ears. Jack would only hear what he wanted to hear and that, sadly, did not include the truth about Sam.
~*~*~*~
Carter and Daniel were led down a corridor and into one of the rooms that in their reality was a storage room, but in this was a prison. They were thrown in and the door shut behind them darkening the room. The one window in the door was the only source of light because being twenty-eight floors below ground level did not really allow for windows. Carter sat up. She could already feel the aching of her muscles from the hard landing.
"Daniel, you okay?" She asked searching the surrounding area with her hands for him.
"I'm fine. Ow! That's my eye."
"Sorry."
"What now?" Daniel asked.
"We wait."
"For what, exactly?" Daniel asked.
"Colonel O'Neill to see sense."
"And if he doesn't?"
"That's not a possibility, Daniel. Of course he'll see sense. He's not going to let his two best-friends rot in this prison while he goes play happy families with some manipulative bitch."
"That's what this is about."
"Excuse me? This is about us getting back to our reality and saving it from me, or the other me anyway."
"No it's not. It's about you being jealous that he's with her."
"Daniel, from now on the only words I want to hear from your mouth are details of an escape plan." She snapped and they continued sitting there in silence. She did not want to think about O'Neill with Sam. Carter, herself did not know how she felt about the Colonel, all she knew was that she was confused.
~*~*~*~
Jack was stood in the gate room. Since defecting to this side he had been given full run of the base. Sam trusted him and he could not help thinking maybe he should not be trustworthy. Did he really know what he was doing? He was going to stay here with Sam, allowing Carter and Daniel to return to a universe that he would never see again. Could he really stay here with Sam? She was not that different to Carter and Carter did not want him. What did he have left in the other universe? A broken marriage, a bruised heart, a forbidden love and a career in the air force. It was not much to stick around for. But Sam had lied to get him here. He knew she had. He knew she could have taken this reality back on her own, but he had to come otherwise Carter would have been killed and no matter what he decided he would let nothing hurt either Carter nor Daniel. And if the only way to insure that was staying, then stay he would.
He had to explain that to Daniel and Carter. He had to let them know that he would be okay once they were safely back in their reality. He had to explain his real reasons for staying, or the parts that did not involve admitting how he felt for Carter/Sam.
With this decision made, Jack headed out of the gate room and walked past the control room. He thought he should tell Sam where he was going. He paused outside the half-closed door when he heard voices. The voices belonged to Sam and Charlie.
"Okay, how did you get him to stay?" Charlie asked the curiosity getting to her.
"I slept with him." Sam said calmly and unattached.
"And how did you manage that?" Charlie queried, not sounding too surprised.
"Told him his Carter did not and could not love him."
"That was a lie. She already loves him."
"So? Is he ever going to find that out?" Sam asked and Jack could picture the smug smile on her face. "We have work to do."
"What did you want me to do with Makepeace? I mean I took him to the infirmary after O'Neill's attack, but did you want him dead?"
"No, not yet. He has his uses. Take him to the torture room and prepare the rack. Now, as for Janet, bring that traitor to the control room of the flagship at twenty-one hundred hours."
Jack glanced at his watch. That was in half an hour. What was she planning other than Janet's execution? He wondered.
"Yes, mother." Charlie said before heading to the door. Jack glanced around him and found something to hide behind. Once he saw Charlie walk past him he headed straight to the prison where Carter and Daniel were being held.
~*~*~*~
Carter and Daniel had remained in silence since her little outburst until the door opening interrupted them.
"Daniel?" A voice whispered. "Daniel, I've come to get you out. I'll get you back to your reality."
"Who are you?" Daniel asked as he headed to the doorway with Carter close behind him. As they got to the door their rescuer's face became clear in the light. It was Maybourne.
"Maybourne?!" Carter nearly shouted.
"Yes, is there something wrong with that?" Maybourne asked in a hushed voice.
"No, no of course not." Carter said lowering her voice as Maybourne nodded and they followed him down the corridor. "Where are we going?"
"I have access to a ship. We can use it to get to another Stargate and you can get back to your own reality."
"We can't leave." Carter protested standing still. Maybourne and Daniel continued walking for a few meters until they realized that Carter had stopped and they stopped too.
"Why not?" Maybourne asked.
Daniel stepped forward and answered the question directed at Carter. "Sam is planning on invading our reality."
"Yes, that and we can't leave my commanding officer here." Carter said recieving a puzzled look from Daniel at her priorities.
"Sam, give it up - he's gone dark side on us." Daniel said trying to make her see sense.
"No. I refuse to believe that. He's tricking her, okay? He's pretending because it has something to do with a plan to get us out of here." Carter protested angrily.
"Sam..."
"No! Daniel, we are not leaving without the Colonel. Even if you don't want to believe what I just said believe that he won't let anything happen to our reality. If we explain the invasion plan he'll come back to our side." Carter whispered through gritted teeth to prevent her from shouting.
Daniel reluctantly agreed and turned to Maybourne. "We have to find Jack."
"Fine. Follow me." Maybourne said walking back along the other way. Daniel followed close behind as Carter stayed at the back wondering why Daniel did not believe her. At the same time Daniel was wondering why Carter was so adamant at getting Jack. He began to wonder if she would ever realize what everyone else knew.
~*~*~*~
Jack was walking along the corridor when he heard someone call him. He turned and saw Sam walking towards him. She smiled the smile that Carter never had in front of him. It was a seductive one and Jack decided that he preferred Carter's smile when she laughed at one of his lame jokes.
"What can I do for you?" Jack asked trying to forget what he knew, or at least pretending to.
"I need to talk to you."
"Isn't that what we're doing?" He asked in a sarcastic but light tone. He did not want her getting suspicious that he knew the truth.
"In private." Sam purred walking off and leading him to their quarters. She opened the door and he followed her in.
"What is..." He was cut off as she turned, wrapped her arms around him and cutt off his words by covering his mouth with her lips. He closed his eyes, not from enjoyment of the moment but to hide his disgust and repulsion. She was nothing like his Carter and he could not believe that he had fallen for her.
She pulled away and he smiled to try and hide his true feelings. "What did you want to talk about then?" He asked and she looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Are you really that naïve?" She asked jokingly.
"Oh, right. Sorry, I got a lot on my mind." Jack replied realizing he had to focus or he may slip up and another mistake may cost him not only his life but also those of Daniel and Carter.
"Let's see if I can't do something about that, shall we?" She asked and kissed him before he got a chance to answer. As she overwhelmed his senses, his hatred for her began to dissolve. No! He ordered himself. He had to remember why he hated her. He had to get home to Carter. She pulled away. "I have some bad news. Carter and Daniel have gone missing."
"What?" Jack asked pulling away more. Was this her way of saying she had killed them?
"You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?"
"No. I honestly don't."
"Pity because I don't believe you." She said and grabbed his arm. She twisted him around so she had his arm behind his back. He felt something cool on his wrist and then she released him. She walked around to stand in front of him and he tried to step away from the bed, but he could not. He was handcuffed to the bed.
"Sam, what are you doing?" He asked before she pushed him down onto the bed and straddled him.
"I don't believe you because I know you. I knew from the very beginning what your and Daniel's plan was. I knew that he would follow us. I knew that you would agree to stay but that it would be a lie. You can't fool me, Jack, I've been one step ahead since the beginning." She paused and began to undo more of his shirt buttons. "Charlie thought I was wasting time, that I should have just taken over your reality after reclaiming this one. She thought me stupid for forcing you to come here with me. I knew that once you were here, you wouldn't leave."
"Why do you think I have something to do with their escape then, which I don't by the way?"
"Because you can't love me. I'm too different from your Carter, but even if you did get home and even if I don't take over your reality you'll never have her."
"Why? Because she doesn't love me? I heard you and Charlie. I know that she does." Jack spat as he squirmed under her touch.
Sam smiled as she bent closer to his ear. "You'll never have her because you've had me."
"What and you think she's nothing compared to you? She's more."
"Maybe so, but she'll never forgive you for sleeping with me." Sam kissed him once more before sliding off him. "See you later. I'm off to rule your reality."
~*~*~*~
Carter's jaw dropped as she walked into Sam and Jack's room. Jack was stood by the bed, facing the door with his shirt half-undone and his right wrist handcuffed to the bed.
"Carter!" He said realizing that she was not Sam.
"Sorry to disappoint you for not being Sam." She whispered as Maybourne and Daniel walked in.
"Sam knows you've escaped. She thinks I'm a part of it, hence the cuffs. When really I was on my way to help you."
"You were on your way to help us?" Carter asked confused.
"Yes. I, well for reasons that I don't want to go into, was on my way to rescue you two. I was going to come back to our reality with you. Now, can you un-cuff me?" Jack asked and although he was talking to all of them his eyes never left Carter's.
Daniel stepped forward to take a look at the cuffs but Carter stopped him. "Can you two leave us alone for a minute?" She did not exactly have a plan as to what she wanted to say, but she needed to talk to him, to see if she really felt 'love' for him. And she needed to know why he had been willing to stay. But all that would have to wait because at the moment she a reality to protect.
"Sure." Daniel said and Maybourne nodded.
"One minute. We do not have much time and soon Sam will figure that I'm the spy. Do you know what she'll do if she catches me?" He said before he followed Daniel out.
Carter stood there in silence looking at the floor. She had wanted to believe that Jack would come back to her side, but deep down she had not believed it. He had betrayed them. He was going to leave them and stay here with her.
"I can't believe you!" Carter shouted. "You were going to stay here. You were going to let Daniel and I go home on our own. You were going to let her take over our reality. What on Earth possessed you and what did you see in her?"
"I'm sorry. But I wasn't going to leave you two here and I wouldn't have let her get to our reality. I believed she cared for me, but I was wrong, that's why I changed sides. Please un-cuff me, we only have a short time until she launches an attack against our reality."
"I know. She told me her full plan. Or at least the computer did when I pretended to be her. She has hundreds of ships, sir. We can't stop them. She's found a new way to get to alternate realities. And I can't exactly go out there without being seen."
"Pretend to be her." Jack said abstractly.
"Excuse me?"
"Pretend to be her. Dress up as her and no one will suspect you're you."
"Number one, why should I trust you? And number two, no way!"
"You should trust me because you've never had a reason not to."
"What about this entire mission? You changed sides, sir, to me that says distrust." She said angrily not being swayed by his apologetic tone.
"I came back. And I was never going to let anything happen to you. Or Daniel." He added as an afterthought.
"Why did you come back? I mean what changed to make you not want to stay here?" Carter asked walking over to him and looking at the lock on the handcuffs.
"I wanted to stay here originally, because I thought there wasn't anything for me in our reality."
"What about the SGC? Your team? Me?" She accused as she looked up into his chocolate brown eyes. She had not meant to mention the last bit and she mentally kicked herself for it.
"If you let me finish, Major," he whispered, "I realized there was something for me."
"What was that?" Carter asked almost afraid to hear the answer. If he said 'you' what was she going to do? Would she run screaming from him in fear? Or would she run into his arms? Or would she simply stand there with no answer to give? What if he said 'you' and she realized she did not feel anything more than friendship for him? Could she really break his heart like that? But what if she did feel more for him, where would they go then? It was against regulations, that was why she had buried feelings for him and not acknowledged them.
But now they had been acknowledged, not verified, but an attraction on her part had been acknowledged. What if he did not say 'you'? What if Charlie had lied and he did not feel anything for her? Would that really matter when she was unsure of her own feelings?
Jack opened his mouth to answer her, but the door burst open.
"We do not have much time." Maybourne said.
"There you are, sir, all free." Carter said as Jack rubbed his wrist. She could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Now she did not have to hear an answer that could change everything.
"Thanks, Major. Now, what about my plan?" Jack asked a smile in his face.
"Sir..." Carter began to protest.
"Ah!" Jack protested, "Just do it."
Carter rolled her eyes as Jack headed for the door and it closed behind him. Carter moved to the wardrobe and pulled out one of the cat suits. She really did not want to wear this and there were two possible outcomes of the day. One: They got home and she would still be wearing this thing. Two: She would die still wearing this thing. She wished there were a third option.
~*~*~*~
Sam sat on her chair in the main hall of her ship. Her ship was currently in orbit around the planet with the rest of the fleet. It had not taken long to fly it here from Netu. Her ship was shaped like one of the great Egyptian pyramids and she had taken it from Apophis years ago. It was from here that she would lead the attack against the other reality. It would also be here that Jack, Carter, Daniel and the spy who had rescued them would come to die.
"Mother?" Charlie asked and Sam turned to look at her eldest child. All of her other children were off on some other planet being looked after by their grandfather, Jacob. "I mean no disrespect, but why do you allow O'Neill and the others to be free? Why did you let Daniel come here? We had no use for any of them, not Carter and not even to take their reality. I don't understand."
"I got bored." Sam paused. "I got bored of facing challenges from my inferiors. I tired of setting challenges that no one could ever succeed in. Your father was the only one who ever could, but even he can't anymore. So, I decided to challenge my alternate. She could at least put up a bit of a challenge."
"That's why you allowed her to be free although she knows all of our plans."
"Exactly. She will bring herself and her friends here to die."
"What happens if you don't stay a step ahead of her, if she gets the upper-hand?"
"Then there are no more games and she dies." Sam said opening a panel on the chair and revealing a red button and four smaller white ones. "With the flick of a switch she'll die. Or the press of a button anyway." Sam smiled at her daughter and Charlie smiled back finally understanding everything.
~*~*~*~
Jack stood outside the room growing more impatient as each second went past. How long could it take to put on some clothes? He asked himself and then he realized what she was putting on. He was about to see Carter in a skintight body suit. He had thought it would be bad enough to see Carter after seeing Sam in the suit, but after seeing Carter in an exact replica of the suit, he would never be able to look at her again without feeling guilty. Then he realized that he had a lot to feel guilty about. It had not occurred to him before that he would have to look at and be around Carter after his encounter with Sam because he was not going to go home. Now, though, Jack was going to go home and face Carter every day, knowing that, in a way, he had been intimate with her.
He glanced at his watch. From what Maybourne had said, they had until twenty-one hundred hours before Sam called for the public execution of Janet Fraiser and launched the attack on the alternate reality, his reality, Jack remembered. He could not, would not allow the attack to be launched against his reality. His home was unprepared for any battle and could not defeat the amount of ships that Sam had in her fleet. They had twenty minutes.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Jack said giving up on waiting and walking into the room. Surprising as it may seem, Jack sometimes forgot what gender Carter was. It had taken a while but when on a mission he could forget that she was a woman, all he would see was a Major who could take care of herself. It was his way of trying to dismiss his feelings for her. He stopped as he burst into the room to be greeted by the view of Carter looking more feminine than ever before.
He ran his eyes up her body, starting at the five-inch heel boots and going up the second skin of leather that showed her calves and thighs in their natural way. He became mesmerized by the leather covered flat stomach and accentuated breasts. Then his eyes met hers and he immediately blushed realizing that he had been staring.
"Uh, sorry Carter." He met her eyes again and saw a hesitant smile cross her face. Even under these conditions he loved to see her smile and her nervous smile was much nicer than Sam's seductive one any day.
"I feel very uncomfortable, sir." She said. "You wouldn't believe how tight this thing is." She said as she started to turn.
He grabbed her by the arms. "Don't turn! And have you seen what I'm wearing?"
She looked him up and down and had to admit that the trousers fitted him, and they fitted well. And that was not even mentioning the slightly exposed chest. She broke out of her daydream when she felt Jack's hand on her chest.
"Hey!" She jumped back almost falling because of the heels.
"Sorry," he blushed again, "I thought your 'no-comment' was a go ahead."
"To grope me?"
"No, to lower your zip."
"To expose me! To take a peak! Sir, I can't..." He cut off her ranting by placing a finger on her lips.
"One, don't call me 'sir'. Two, you have the total wrong attitude. Three, I was trying to make you look like Sam."
"Oh." She muttered as he lowered his finger.
"Now, are you going to lower the zip?"
"What's wrong with my attitude?" She asked as she lowered her zip slightly.
"A bit more. There's nothing wrong with it, if you were Carter. You're Sam now. You have to act like her."
"I don't know if I can. Is that okay?"
"Of course you can and the zip's fine. Hang on a minute you have a mole."
"Is that a crime?" She asked looking at him in confusion.
"Sam doesn't."
"Maybe hers is lower down."
"No, she has no mole on either breast."
"Exactly how much of her have you seen?"
"Umm, well, uh." Jack stuttered realizing that he should learn to keep his big mouth shut.
"Don't worry." Carter snapped angrily. "I get the picture. That's why you were going to stay. You got lucky. I can't believe you, si--, Jack, you slept with her?" Carter shouted angrily. "How could you? I mean, it was one thing when I saw you kissing the other me, but to sleep with her. That is just... Oh, God!"
"Sam, listen to me please." Jack said but Carter stepped away from him. He had to make her listen. He had made the wrong move and the only way out was to tell her the truth, the full truth about how he felt for her.
"Why? So, you can apologize? Tough I don't want to hear any apologies. Do you know how much it hurts to know that you slept with her? It's like a total kick in the teeth. You had the choice between good twin and evil twin and you choose the evil one."
"Sam, please." He said moving toward her and grabbing her arms when she tried to pull away.
"Let go of me, Jack." He did not. "Jack! Please!" She shouted as hot tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Sam, you have to listen to my explanation. I can't let you walk out that door without telling you. We're about to either return to our reality or we're going to die trying and I don't want to die with us like this."
"You want me to forgive you? You want me to believe a pack of lies you're about to make up? Fine. You're forgiven now let me go!" She whispered.
"I'm not going to lie to you. I don't really know why I slept with her. Actually I do."
"Lie number one?" Carter asked still in Jack's grip.
"Let me finish. I slept with her because I thought you didn't want me."
"What have I got to do with it?" Carter whispered as she watched him look down at his feet, too embarrassed to look at her and his hands slipped from her arms to hang at his side.
"She lied to me. She told me that you could never love me and I thought well she must be right, who'd know Carter better than herself but another her."
"Clarify why that made you sleep with her." Carter whispered as Jack looked up and finally met her eyes. She could see right through to his soul, to his inner most feelings.
He took a deep breathe. He had to tell her the truth. He had to tell her how he felt. He had to take the risk of admitting his feelings. "For the past three years, well maybe not all three but a long time, I've felt, I don't exactly know what, but it was strong. In some ways I care for you more than I ever cared for Sara but I knew that I never had a chance. You flirted back and I'd pretend it was just you having fun but I always had a thread of hope that you felt something for me. Suddenly I'm in another reality and your twin, evil as she may be, says you could never love me and I feel... I don't know I'm not good at this sort of thing." Jack paused.
Carter began to say something. She was not too sure what she was going to say, but he had just opened his heart as wide as was possible for him and further than most had ever seen. She did not forgive him for what he had done, but she had to at least let him know the truth. "Jack, I..."
He cut her off. "She lied to me. I over heard her telling Charlie how she lied to get me into bed. When I confronted her she said that I could never have you now because I'd had her. I guess she was right."
"Jack..." Carter started but the door burst open and Daniel came in.
"Whoa!" He said upon seeing Carter. He may have seen Sam wearing the cat suit, but knowing that it was Carter now and not Sam made a big difference. "Umm," He stuttered forcing himself to look at Jack. "Maybourne says we've got to go. They've just called Janet to her execution and that if we want this to work we have to play into Sam's hands."
"Are you sure that we can trust this guy? I mean, he's asking us to walk straight into Sam's lair, practically. He could be working for Sam."
"No," Carter said, "She's doing all this because she wants someone to challenge her. She's fed up with everyone being so inferior that they can't stand up to her challenges. She's not going to send someone to spy for her because she doesn't need to she knows our next moves because she's planned for them and she knows us too well." The others looked at her questioningly. "I know her too."
"So," Jack said, "To let Maybourne lead us would make it unpredictable."
"Exactly. She can predict us, but she can't him. All she knows is we'll turn up and whatever she believes will then happen probably won't."
"Let's go then." Jack said allowing Carter to follow Daniel out. He did not want her seeing him from behind; it was bad enough being dressed in these trousers but to have his junior officer see him in them - no way! Jack thought to himself.
~*~*~*~
Sam walked back into the main chamber and sat in her chair. She glanced at her watch. Ten minutes until victory. Janet was in front of her, kneeling defiantly before the chair. Sam had gone to get changed and was now waiting for the right time to kill Janet. She still wore a leather cat suit, but there was something about this particular one. This suit had a thin layer of flexible, pliable metal on it, a metal with the exact properties needed to deflect a laser beam. It was a laser beam that honed in on particular DNA.
This was the moment that she had waited for since Jack's death. As Jack had died he had instructed her to fulfil their plan, to claim a new reality in their name. And that was what she had done. She had tricked Jack and Daniel here so that they could be killed along with Carter. Sam had had her fun with all of them, more fun than planned with some. And now, with all the fun gone and no more challenges to set, it was time for their death. Of course if Jack had wanted to stay she would not have refused him, but his love for Carter was too strong for her to break. It was just as she had thought.
Seven minutes until victory.
Sam opened the control panel revealing the red button and four smaller white ones. Each white one coded for a different genetic pattern. The first was for Janet.
"You betrayed me, Janet, and for that you will die."
Janet stared her one time friend in the eye. "You will not succeed in your plan."
"Already have." Sam said pressing a white button and then the red. A blue laser pulse burst from the arm of the chair hitting Janet in the forehead. Janet's face showed neither fear nor pain, there was no time for anything to be registered, and she fell forward onto the floor. Just as she did the door at the far end of the room opened revealing Jack, Daniel, Maybourne and Carter - wearing a mirror image suit of her own, but Sam knew the difference. "What kept you?" She smiled standing up and stepping down the steps to the main floor.
"Trying to figure out your true intentions." Jack said walking off to one side as Daniel followed him and Maybourne went to the other side while Carter stayed in the doorway. Sam was unsure as to what they were doing.
"And what did you discover?" Sam asked smiling as she took another step closer, trying to cover up her unease.
"That you think you know us." Carter said walking towards Sam. "And maybe you do, but you don't know Maybourne." Carter finished as she imitated Sam's smile.
Fear flittered across Sam's face as she realized her double was right. That was why they had walked to their current positions and she had no idea why. Because it was Maybourne's plan. She had never thought of this variable. She glanced at Maybourne, the spy amongst her ranks, and that was all Carter needed. Carter lunged at Sam sending them both to the floor. They rolled about, each trying to get the upper hand but their equal strength prevented that. Just as one would gain the upper hand, the other took it for herself.
Jack watched as he and Daniel moved over to the console. As Daniel began to punch in commands to the console, Jack could not take his eyes from Sam and Carter. The rapid movement meant he could no longer tell who was who. He kept a watch around him as well, waiting for someone to see them. Everyone else was too preoccupied watching the two identical women fight.
Jack winced as one woman elbowed the other in the face causing the other to fall to the side. When both women stood the one who had been elbowed in the face had blood pouring down from her nose. The one who had elbowed the other threw herself at the other sending them both flying to the floor.
Jack tore his attention away from the fight to glance at Daniel.
"I can't stop the countdown." Daniel said looking up at Jack. Jack saw the panic in the younger man's eyes as he realized what that meant. There were now less than three minutes until this ship opened the portal that would be large enough to carry all of Sam's fleet through to their reality.
Jack looked over at Maybourne and caught the other man's attention. Jack shook his head ever so slightly that no one else would ever have noticed it. Maybourne nodded and turned to the console behind him. Jack then returned his attention to the twins and their fighting. Both women were now bleeding and they were tiring. Carter just had to hold out a few more minutes and then Maybourne would have enabled the self-destruct. With the limited time that the self-destruct would give them it was more than likely that SG-1 would be killed, but Carter had to keep Sam's attention or Sam would wriggle out of it and not be killed.
~*~*~*~
Charlie had not been watching the fight; she had been watching O'Neill, Jackson and Maybourne. She saw the slight shake of O'Neill's head and the slight inclination of Maybourne's. Her jaw set as she realized what their plan was and that her mother had been so foolish and blind that she had not seen it. Taking one step to the side of the chair, Charlie revealed the buttons hidden within the arm. She pressed one of the white buttons knowing for whom it coded and then pressed the red one.
The laser beam surged within the chair alerting everyone to the weapon's activation. Everyone froze and turned to look at the chair, including the two Sams'. Charlie ignored them all and walked off. She knew that her mother would know what was going on and she also knew that Maybourne had most probably set an auto destruct and that she had a limited time to escape.
~*~*~*~
Jack watched as Charlie left the room. "Damn, she figured it out!" Jack muttered and one of the Sams' followed her, most probably Sam. The chair began humming and Jack instantly recognized the sound of a weapon charging. Without conscious thought, Jack ran forward throwing himself at Carter. He and Carter fell to the floor and rolled so that he ended up on top of her. He shifted to look at the weapon and saw a blue laser beam shoot out hitting a console on the far side of the room next to the door.
The console erupted in a fire of sparks and noise as everyone else ran for cover and out the room.
Carter looked up at Jack and he looked back at her. He could not fail to notice the blood pouring down her face. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." She paused. "Thanks."
"Anytime."
"You're not forgiven, you know?" She whispered trying to lighten the situation.
"Didn't do it to be forgiven." Jack whispered as Daniel and Maybourne ran over to them.
"Did you guys see how close that thing was?" Daniel said in amazement.
"It's designed to seek out a particular DNA sequence," Maybourne explained, "If you hadn't moved her at that moment the beam would have re-directed and still got her." He said looking down at Jack. Jack glanced up at him and then back down at Carter as he realized how much of a close call it had been.
"How long until self destruct?" Jack asked helping Carter to her feet.
"Self destruct is in one minute. We better hope that there are escape pods or rings left to get us outta here." Maybourne said.
"What about Sam and this technology?" Carter asked trying to support her own weight but found her ankle was twisted. Jack offered her his hand and she accepted it.
"Sam's most likely escaped, but this technology and the majority of her fleet will be destroyed. There's no longer any risk to your reality. Follow me." Maybourne said and the other three followed him to the transporter rings, Jack helping Carter.
"What about your reality?" Daniel asked.
"Sam's fleet will be destroyed. I doubt she'll ever get any kind of power again." Maybourne said. He activated the rings. "I will take you back to the Stargate and send you back to your reality."
"Thanks." Carter said smiling up at the man whom she lost no love for in her own reality.
"You helped defeat Sam, no thanks are needed." Maybourne said as the bright blue light engulfed them.
~*~*~*~
Jack waited for the gate to engage. He was stood in the gate room of what he called the SGC, but he doubted that was what it was called here. Carter was stood next to him and Daniel was up in the control room directing Maybourne to which planet they should be sent. Jack glanced at Carter as the gate began to activate and she avoided his eyes.
"Carter, we need to talk." He said softly.
She looked up at him and their eyes met. "Sam and Jack need to talk," She said not referring to her double, but to herself. "Major and Colonel are fine. And while either of us are wearing a uniform or are on another planet we're Major and Colonel."
Jack nodded as Daniel joined them and the gate engaged, the kawoosh of the matter stream reached out to them as if to drag them in and then receded to await their own entry. Jack watched as Daniel turned and waved up to Maybourne. There had been no news of Sam, nor Charlie's whereabouts and all of their empire members had left Earth on what few ships had survived the blast.
Daniel went through the gate first and Jack and Carter approached the event horizon together. They paused at the entrance to the gate and looked at each other. "After you, Major." He said gesturing with his arm for her to go first.
"Thank you, sir. Oh, and I was wondering would you like to get together later?"
"Who's asking? Sam or Major Carter?"
"Sam. She'd like to sort things out with Jack."
"He'd love to. Now, after you." Jack said and Sam smiled as she disappeared through the gate. He was glad to be leaving this entire reality behind. He looked around at the room once more before making the journey across planets, stars and realities for, hopefully, the last time.
~*~*~*~
The end.
Story Notes: Season/sequel: Sequel to "Through the Looking Glass", set series three.
Comments: Feedback is appreciated, flames aren't, in fact I love feedback!!!. To avoid confusion, this reality's Carter is called Carter, the alternate is called Sam. Copyright © Elise Hudson January 2000
Comments: Feedback is appreciated, flames aren't, in fact I love feedback!!!. To avoid confusion, this reality's Carter is called Carter, the alternate is called Sam. Copyright © Elise Hudson January 2000
End Notes: Hoped you liked it and don't forget to let me know :> And I know there were things wrong (ie, there is no Stargate on Netu) but hopefully all errors are in the alternate reality so be attributed to reality differences.
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 ]