She touched the mirror, it’s features smooth, black, and cold. She wondered. She thought hard. She remembered. She touched it once more.
Then, she took hold of it, firmly in her grasp the symbol turned freely. The mirror came to life before her eyes. She saw her own image reflected in the mirror, and she reached out to touch it. The figure in the mirror echoed her action, and for a moment the hands hung in the air, not quite touching, not pulling away, just pointing towards one another. She dropped her hand and fiddled with the controls in her other hand. The image blinked out, into another time and place.
It reflected a place filled with death and darkness, as were the next several images to shimmer through the mirror. Then it shifted into unfamiliar territory, a place clean and empty. Maybe the right one, finally. She lifted her hand to touch the mirror once again, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone from the room.
She was still inside the base, of that she was certain. What lay beyond the doors of the storage room she found herself in remained to be seen. She slowly walked away from the mirror, pocketing the control as she reached the door. She opened it and walked out of the room.
The corridor was empty. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach at what that might mean. She began walking down the hall, the soft thud of her boots echoing loudly as she strode with purpose. She made her way to the lift and descended to the level of the General’s office. If there was anyone there with the answers to her questions, he would be there.
She reached the office without encountering another soul, living or otherwise, and she was mildly surprised at how clean but empty everything was. She closed her eyes and sucked in every last drop of oxygen her lungs could hold, exhaling very slowly as she opened the door…
There in the large leather seat was General George Hammond, his head buried nose deep in paperwork. He looked up at the sound of the door shutting and his eyes widened in great surprise at the sight of her.
“Samantha?” he asked, incredulous.
She smiled. “Hello, sir.”
“How can this be? You’re dead!”
“I came through the quantum mirror…Dead?” She swallowed hard. She hadn’t expected to find herself dead.
“Yes, when the Goa’uld attacked a few months ago.”
She winced, the memory of her own survival against the Goa’uld too fresh in her mind. “I’m only here for one reason, sir,” she began. She paused, hesitating for a moment. Thoughts raced through her head. Was she really here doing this? Using such advanced technology for purely personal gain? It was so unlike her to even consider such an action, and yet, here she was. “Is Jack O’Neill here?”
The General frowned. “Yes, but—”
“I need to see him. Please.”
“Just who are you to come in here demanding to see Colonel O’Neill?”
She faltered for a moment before continuing. “I’m… his wife.”
He blinked twice before responding. “I beg your pardon?”
“In my…reality, I’m his wife.” She paused, again unsure of her own motivation in coming here. She couldn’t just replace her Jack with another, and yet… here she was, seeking him out. “We were married a year ago. I’m not in the military…”
“I see… I think. Why don’t you sit down… I’ll call Jack in.” At that, he reached over and picked up his grey phone. He pushed a couple of buttons. “Colonel O’Neill, I need you in my office right away,” he said into the phone. “Thank you, Colonel.” He hung up the phone and turned his attention back to the young woman sitting in front of him.
Her hair was quite a bit longer than he was accustomed to seeing round Carter’s face. She also looked a tad… more fierce than he remembered. “Were you also attacked by the Goa’uld?”
“Yes, sir. We would have been completely annihilated had it not been for the quantum mirror. Charles Kowalski and I were able to retrieve help and establish an alliance with the Asgard thanks to the people we found on the other side. But we lost a lot of good people before the Asgard were able to come to our rescue. Including…”
Before she could finish, the subject entered the room in the form of one Jack O’Neill. She sucked in a lungful of air; he always did take her breath away. “Jack,” she said softly.
Jack paled. He visibly, physically paled at the sight of her. He turned to the General. “Is this some sort of sick cosmic joke?”
“No, Jack… this is Samantha Carter. She came through the quantum mirror.”
He blinked hard at the General, then swallowed hard before turning to look at her again.
Her hair was long, that was different. But her eyes… they were still the bluest blue he’d ever seen, and still full of too many emotions for Jack to full digest, but it was, without a doubt, the woman he thought he’d never see again. The woman he never dared love out loud, but loved nonetheless was standing right before him.
But it wasn’t quite her. He knew that, but it didn’t stop his heart from racing.
“Carter?” He whispered.
“Actually,” she said with a small smile, “it’s O’Neill.”
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 ]