"One Of Those Days" By Rachelle Grubbs

This is my first attempt as fan fiction so I would really appreciate feedback, and if it's not too traumatizing I may attempt it again. This got to be a little longer than I expected (who am I kidding it got A LOT longer than expected) so i'll be posting it in parts.

Title: One of Those Days

Author: Rachelle Grubbs

Rating: PG (i'm guessing here)

Classification: Sam and Jack romance, of course :-)

Spoilers: There But For the Grace of God

Archive: Sam and Jack Relationship Archive, all others please ask

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to MGM, Gekko, and Double Secret, I'm just temporarily borrowing them and I promise to return them. However Kaylin, Jason, Daisy, Jessa and Jana all belong to me. Any resemblance to events or people living or dead is strictly coincidental.

Feedback: Love it

Dedication: To Wendy for reading and commenting on my story and for giving that little push that brought me out of lurking.

{} = thoughts

******* = switch between realities

=================================================

{It's going to be one of those days} Sam Carter thought as she entered the base. She had had a rough night, well maybe not rough, but definitely dreamed a lot. Not that they had been bad dreams, on the contrary, they had been VERY good dreams. But to her it was generally not a good sign when she started having dreams about Jack O'Neill. It was bad enough he distracted her at work on a good day, but after last night she hoped she could look him in the eye without blushing. She hadn't had too many dreams about Jack since the incident in the locker room after they had been infected with the virus, but ever since Daniel had come back from that alternate universe they had started again. Engaged to Jack O'Neill. It seemed so ridiculous but also so...

"Good morning, Captain," broke her out of her thoughts.

She looked up and found herself staring into the very gorgeous brown eyes of Jack O'Neill. "Good Morning, Sir" she replied. She tried to push all of the previous night's thoughts and images out of her head before she really got herself into trouble. It was fairly hard to do considering all he was wearing was his fatigues and a black t-shirt that only served to increase her imagination.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"What, uh yeah, I guess that last mission really wore me out," Sam fumbled. Her mind drifted again, forming a daydream about her, Jack and the elevator.

"Sam, Sam!" She looked up again.

"This is where we get off, Captain," Jack said. "Are you o.k?" he asked as they stepped off the elevator. He tried very hard not to sound too worried. He'd dreamed about her again last night. {Damn you Daniel} he thought. I finally get it under control and you come back and tell me that in some other universe I wasn't as much of a coward. Not only did I date Sam, I actually asked her to marry me.

"I'm fine, Sir," Sam said, her reply breaking him out of his thoughts. Just then alarm bells sounded.

"INCOMING TRAVELLER, UNAUTHORIZED."

Sam and Jack exchanged quick glances and sprinted off towards the embarcation room. General Hammond, Daniel and Teal'c were already there. "What's up, General?" Jack asked as he and Sam entered the room.

"Incoming traveller used SG-1's code," came the brief reply.

They all watched as the gate opened and a few seconds later a girl stepped through. She was dressed in the uniform of SGC and had the insignia of SG-1 on her arm. She was tall and slender with deep brown eyes and blonde hair that was thrown up in a messy ponytail. Noticing the armed soldiers at the end of the ramp she stopped, and smiled before speaking.

"I know you guys missed me but isn't this a little bit of an overkill on the welcome home," she said, still smiling.

Daniel watched the girl and noted how she looked familiar but couldn't place her. She took a few steps forward and the soldiers raised and armed their weapons. The girl stopped abruptly and looked past the soldiers. She noticed General Hammond and spoke. "Uncle George, would you please tell them to stand down. This isn't funny anymore."

"Identify yourself," was his response.

"You know damn well who I am, now tell them to stand down!" When they didn't move she spoke again, hands on her hips, clearly agitated. "Fine, my name is Dr. Kaylin O'Neill, lead team member of SG-1. Now will you *please* tell them to back off?"

As Kaylin spoke her focus moved to the people standing next to her "Uncle". She saw her parents, Sam and Jack, looking like they had no idea who she was either. And next to her father stood Daniel. As her eyes fell on Daniel the others watched as her brown eyes got very wide, the color drained from her face. Kaylin felt herself falling, striking her head on the railing on the way down. Sam, Jack, and Daniel raced forward, Sam calling for a medical team. They reached her at the same time. Kaylin's head rolled toward Daniel and the last words she spoke before falling unconscious were, "But you're dead!"

Daniel, Sam and Jack exchanged glances as Dr. Frasier raced up the ramp. "She's just fainted, and has a mild concussion. She'll be fine. Let's get her to med bay."

Jack bent over and carefully picked Kaylin up, making sure not to jar her head. As he looked down at her face he swore she looked like a younger version of Sam, only different.

"So who is she, Sir?" asked Sam.

"Never met her before, but hopefully when she wakes up she can give us some answers."

"Hopefully," Sam said, going back to her thoughts of how this girl reminded her of Jack and trying to figure out what her connection to him was. Daniel lingered behind his two friends, trying to digest what Kaylin had said. She had said he was dead and had looked like she had seen a ghost. They had reached med bay and Jack had laid Kaylin on one of the beds. Jack and Sam stood protectively over Kaylin as Dr. Frasier checked her for other injuries. Daniel smiled at the sight of them acting like worried parents over this girl. That was when it hit him, why Kaylin's face had seemed so familiar. She looked like the perfect combination of Sam and Jack. If he didn't know any better he would have sworn she was their daughter, but he knew Jack and Sam had only first met when she joined SGC and Kaylin looked to be at least eighteen.

Daniel was jarred out of his realization by a soft moan from Kaylin.

Kaylin slowly climbed back to a conscious state and as she did she really wished she hadn't. Her head felt like a truck was driving around at high speeds deliberately running into the sides of her head. She slowly opened her eyes and the light hit her hard. She let out a small moan before her eyes adjusted.

"So how do you feel?" came a voice.

She turned her head toward the voice and smiled at the unfamiliar face of Dr. Frasier.

"I've felt better, but I've also felt a lot worse. So am I going to live?"

"You'll be just fine," Dr. Frasier told her.

"Great now that we know she'll be o.k. maybe she can answer a few questions," Jack said.

Kaylin turned her head to the other side and looked at Sam and Jack.

"Mom, Dad, I had the strangest dream. I came through the gate and no one knew who I was and Uncle Daniel was alive and..."

Kaylin broke off suddenly as she caught the look that passed between them. Her focus shifted to the end of the bed where Daniel stood. She got very pale but managed not to faint again.

{I must be dreaming} Kaylin thought. She reached up and pinched herself on the arm.

"Ouch, guess I'm not dreaming," she mumbled.

"No, this isn't a dream" Sam said.

"Well, if this is real, then I need some answers. So let's start with you," she said as she again focused on Sam and Jack.

"Well, first of all we're not your parents," Sam told her as her mind briefly wandered to the previous night's dreams. Not that she would actually mind if Kaylin were theirs.

"Well, that's funny, because you look an awful lot like them," Kaylin replied.

"You've got to admit she does look like you, Carter," Jack said with a mischievous smile. Sam looked up at him and smiled, preferring not to respond to the comment.

Kaylin sat watching the exchange between the two of them and a knowing smile settled on her face. Daniel stood watching Kaylin, watch Sam and Jack and noted the smile.

Suddenly he heard a voice in his head 'I take it their not engaged in your reality.' It was what Catherine had said to him in the other reality. That's when it clicked.

"What were you doing before you came through the gate?" Daniel asked, his thoughts moving very quickly. He had a pretty good idea of where she came from but needed to be sure.

Kaylin shifted her focus to Daniel, "I was checking out a planet, JT4568, when I came across a room with some technology I'd never seen before. There was a mirror on the far side of the room. I touched the mirror and it seemed to flash a light. Anyway, I finished looking around and then headed back for home. Why?"

Daniel looked over at Jack and Sam and they understood where he was going with this.

"Someone want to share with me what's going on?" Kaylin asked the three of them.

"Sure, we think you're from a parallel of alternate universe and the mirror is what caused you to shift over to ours. The same thing happened to Daniel a while back." Sam explained to her.

{We have a daughter} Sam thought. That's why she reminded me of Jack. She has his eyes. She glanced over at Jack to find that he was already watching her. Sam noted that he seemed to be lost in thought. What she wouldn't give to know what he was thinking.

{Great} Jack thought {Why is it the me's in other universes seem to get it right with Sam and I can't} He looked over at Sam to find her looking back. Kaylin watched her parents, no not her parents, at least not here. She watched the look that passed between them. She knew that look. It was the same one that had passed between her parents her whole life. From the way she had watched these two dance around each other earlier it was clear that they weren't lovers, but she was also sure it wasn't because of a lack of want or desire. Here in this reality they were both military and she knew from experience relationships between officers were frowned upon. Kaylin smiled up at them.

"You know I've been trying to prove that alternate realities exist for years. The idea that realities could run along the same lines and be different but similar is absolutely fascinating." In the back of her mind she could see her father's face cringing as she got excited over scientific stuff. As she looked at Jack she could see some things were the same.

At that time General Hammond entered the room. "I see our patient is awake, so do we have any answers?" Hammond asked.

"We think Kaylin is from an alternate reality, Sir. She says she came across some technology similar to what Daniel described. That's how we think she ended up here," Sam explained.

"Keep me informed then," Hammond said before leaving.

Turning back to Kaylin, Sam asked, "How long have you been using the gate?"

"Well, they first opened the gate two years before my parents got married, so twenty two years," Kaylin stated.

"Twenty two years ago!" Sam, Jack and Daniel exclaimed all at once and all very shocked.

"Yes, our first contact was with a race called the Kenlix. They taught our first team a lot about the gate, how to use it, and about a race called the Goa'uld. They've helped us to avoid their worlds' at all costs. Our first team through spent nine months with the Kenlix. My parents as well as Daniel and Anna made up that first team. Two years later my parents were married. A year after that Daniel and Anna were married. I was born two years after my parents married. Mom and Dad were on the Kenlix home world when I was born. The Kenlix "blessed" me. That blessing turned out to give me an IQ that is unchartable and a photographic memory. From the time I was small the Kenlix leader, Jana, has taught me her people's history. The knowledge she gave me and the knowledge gained through our friendship with the Goa'uld resistance called the Tok'ra, has helped us to discover hundreds of safe worlds with lots to offer us. My brother and sisters have my gift as well," Kaylin finished.

"Brother and sisters." Jack said, quite shocked.

Daniel and Kaylin both tried unsuccessfully to stifle their giggles at the shocked look on Jack's face.

"Yes, a brother and two sisters to be exact," Kaylin said. "There's Jason who's four years younger than me, so that makes him fourteen. Then there's Catlin who's twelve and finally Jessa, who is the youngest at three."

"Wow!" Sam said, almost in a whisper. Four kids, it was almost unbelievable.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Daniel asking, "How did I die?"

It was the question Kaylin had been dreading. She had hoped he hadn't heard her say that he was dead, or that the question would just go unasked, but it had been and Kaylin felt he deserved an answer. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before looking up at Daniel.

Daniel watched Kaylin after he asked the question and when she looked up at him he really wished he hadn't. Daniel could see the deep pain and sadness in her eyes as she remembered that day.

"I was eight years old. You and I were in the gate room running some tests on the gate. There was a power surge in the computer and it supercharged the naquada. It was like a bolt of lightning. It jumped off the gate and hit you. You were killed instantly."

She finished, her voice barely above a whisper and tears were silently falling down her face. Sam gently sat on the bed and pulled Kaylin into a hug. The room was quiet for a long time. After a few minutes Kaylin pulled away from Sam and wiped away the tears.

"Usually my photographic memory is a blessing, but sometime it can be a curse," she stated. "I know this may sound strange but can you take me outside, on that little ridge on the side of the mountain. You know the one running into the forest?" Kaylin asked.

"Sure I'll go clear it with Dr. Frasier," Sam said.

When Sam returned with the o.k. Jack and Sam helped Kaylin out of bed.

"You know I can walk by myself," Kaylin said with a grin.

"Sorry" Jack and Sam said in unison. As the three of them left the med bay Daniel remained behind. He thought it would be good for Jack and Sam to be alone. Kaylin seemed to sense the connection and ever present tension between his friends and he thought she would be just the person to bring them together.

When the threesome reached outside Kaylin walked toward the end of the ridge and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night and you could see all of the stars.

"I'm looking for a star," she explained. "After Daniel died, Mom, Dad and Anna brought me out here and pointed out Daniel's star. I used to come out here and stare up at his star for hours. Sometimes I even talked to it. It made the pain of losing him a little more bearable."

"What star is it?" Jack asked.

"Sirius," Kaylin said. "This time of year it should be at right ascension 6 hours 42.9 minutes declination -16 degrees 4 hours 22 minutes," she finished, immediately finding the star.

Sam stood looking up at the sky, but couldn't find the specific star.

"I don't see it," she whispered.

"It's there," came Jack's voice. He was standing directly behind her. His breath was warm on her ear. His left arm had come up next to her to point at the star. He was standing so close that all she had to do was lean back a centimeter or two and they would be touching.

"I see it," she breathed, very quiet as she was fighting to keep her breathing under control and focus her thoughts on the star and not the man directly behind her. She was not winning the battle.

Kaylin had turned at the sound of Sam's voice and the scene before her brought a quiet smile to her face. All Sam had to do was turn her head to the right, and, as if Sam read her mind, she did.

"Sam," Jack whispered.

Sam turned her head at the sound of her name and as she did their lips met very lightly. When Sam didn't pull away from the contact Jack brought his hands up to her waist and turned her to face him. The loss of contact caused Sam to open her eyes. Blue met brown for an endless moment, both seeing the passion that they had only dreamed about the night before.

{This isn't happening} Sam thought.

The thought had barely crossed her mind when Jack moved in for a second kiss. This one was very different from the first. She felt his arms tighten around her waist and she moved her arms up around his neck.

As Kaylin watched this scene her smile grew bigger. As she watched their change in stature she decided to give them some time alone. She looked up at Daniel's star one last time before quietly heading back into the base. Once inside she ran into Daniel.

"You look like the cat that swallowed the canary," Daniel said, noting the huge and still growing smile on her face.

"Take a look outside and you'll see why," Kaylin told him, barely able to keep her smile from getting bigger.

Daniel stepped past Kaylin and looked outside. That's when the smile started on his face as well. There stood Sam and Jack completely oblivious to everything around them in a much needed and very passionate kiss.

"Well, it's about time," Daniel whispered to himself as he walked back inside. "Come on Kaylin, you can tell me all about your reality while they make up for lost time," Daniel said as he led her toward one of the briefing rooms. "Then we probably need to start thinking about how to get you home."

"Oh God, home! If time moves the same then my parents are going to kill me. I was due back from my mission 4 hours ago. I was already late when I came across the mirror," Kaylin said, her voice getting worried.

"Well, you'll definitely have a story to tell," Daniel told her, trying to reassure her.

*************************************************

General Jack O'Neill sat at his desk, his daughter Jessa on his lap playing on the computer. He had no idea what she was doing, he just hoped that she wasn't breaking into anything top secret. That was the problem with having genius children, you never knew what they were getting into until it was too late. He also knew he wouldn't have them any other way. He glanced at his watch. Kaylin still wasn't back from her mission and Sam was due back any minute.

Dr. Samantha O'Neill walked quickly through the halls of SGC making her way toward her husband's office. Their oldest daughter should have returned from her mission over 4 hours ago. Kaylin had a habit of being late, especially lately, but never this late. Sam was very worried and the fact that Jack hadn't sent anyone after her only upset her more.

At hearing his office door open Jack looked up and saw Sam standing there. He knew that look on her face and it meant he was in trouble.

"Hi mommy!" Jessa exclaimed.

"Hi munchkin, not getting into trouble are you?"

"No mommy," Jessa said with an angelic look on her face.

Sam smiled at her youngest daughter, "Jessa, Jason and Daisy should be returning any minute, why don't you go down and meet them. Daddy and I need to talk."

"Uh oh, Daddy's in trouble now," Jessa said with a giggle. For a three year old she could definitely grasp the obvious. She kissed her Dad on the cheek and hopped off his lap. She ran over to her Mom, gave her a kiss and left with her little brown curls bouncing as she walked down the hall.

"Sam, before you start I know I should have let you know hours ago she wasn't back yet and I should have sent someone to go look for her, but I thought she just needed some time. It's a dead world. How much trouble can she get into?" Jack said, trying to reassure his wife.

"Over 4 hours late, Jack. That's late even for her. What if the scans were wrong and someone was there?" she countered.

"Sam, the first thing people do is underestimate her. I've seen her physically take down half the men on this base. If there was trouble my money's on her," he replied, moving toward Sam.

"Stop it, Jack," Sam warned as he got closer. "I mean it, those puppy eyes will not get you out of trouble," she said, trying not to smile.

"Sam," Jack had reached her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "how much trouble could she possibly get into?"

"Considering she's your daughter, I'd say plenty," Sam said with a smile.

"You wound me, Sam," Jack said, a mock hurt look on his face.

"Awww. Want me to kiss it and make it better?" she said in that Mommy voice she used when Jessa got hurt.

"You're the doctor, whatever you think is best," he said grinning. He leaned down and kissed her.

"Jack," Sam said pulling out of the kiss, "If she's not back in 2 hours I'm going after her myself. No arguments!"

"Agreed," Jack replied and moved to kiss her again. Even after 20 years she still could make him as giddy as a school boy. "I love you, you know," he told her.

"I love you too, General," Sam said unable to resist calling him by his new rank. Twenty years and he still could take her breath away, whether he was kissing her or not. She leaned up to kiss him again. When they finally broke apart, they left the office in search of their other children. Both hoping that Kaylin was all right and would be home soon.

**********************

After what seemed like forever Sam and Jack came out of the kiss. They stood there staring at each other, faces still inches apart, still wrapped in each others arms, waiting for the other to say something. As Jack watched Sam, he noticed that she appeared deep in thought.

{She's probably deciding whether or not to slap me}, he thought.

{She was kissing you back, idiot}, another voice reminded him.

{That doesn't mean anything}, he shot back.

{You're a Colonel in the USAF and practically second in command at SGC, but you really can be slow sometimes. She LIKES You!}, the voice told him, placing emphasis on the last three words."

"Oh shut up," he muttered.

"Jack?" Sam said.

He refocused on her and noticed the confused look on her face. That's when he realized he'd said it out loud.

"Sorry, not you," he said sheepishly.

"Voices talking to you," she asked, trying not to laugh.

"Something like that. Ask you a question?"

"Anything," she told him.

"What are you thinking right now?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

She watched the emotions play across his face. Most people found him hard to read, but for her it was so simple.

"I'm thinking, that we really shouldn't have waited so long to do that." Sam finished, smiling at the relief that flooded his face. "Feel better now?" she asked.

"Much. I thought you were either going to slap me or tell me it was a mistake," Jack said.

"Oh, it most definitely wasn't a mistake," Sam said as she leaned up and kissed him again, loving the feeling of being held by him. Which till now had only happened in her dreams. When they broke apart again, Jack noticed how the moonlight made Sam's blue eyes sparkle. As his brain began to once again be able to focus on his surroundings he remembered why they had come outside in the first place.

"Uh, Sam. Not that I really want to change the subject, but where is Kaylin?" he asked.

"She probably went inside to give us some privacy Jack. Most likely she's being grilled by Daniel about her reality," Sam told him.

"You know we're never going to hear the end of this from Daniel. He's been privately harassing me ever since he got back from that alternate reality about my feelings for you." Jack said with a grimace. He hated the idea of Daniel being able to tease him.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have teased him so much, Jack. Pay back is a bitch," Sam said laughing. The idea of Daniel harassing Jack was too funny.

"We'll see who's laughing when he starts in on you," Jack teased back.

"We will have to talk to him though. This changes everything Jack. We have a lot at risk," she said becoming very serious. Relationships between officers was frowned upon, but a relationship between a Commanding Officer and someone under him could lead to the team being split up and the both of them being Court Martialed.

"Don't worry Sam. We'll be o.k., Daniel will keep quiet and we'll be careful." he reassured her.

Sam smiled at him. Yes, everything was going to be all right.

"Come on, let's go find Kaylin," Sam said, giving him one last kiss before they headed back into the base. As they entered they could hear Daniel's laughter coming from one of the debriefing rooms.

As they got closer they heard Daniel say "Oh God, you didn't" and he proceeded to laugh harder. "Then what?" he asked still laughing.

Jack and Sam entered the room just as Kaylin started speaking.

"Well, my parents were awakened at 3 am by three Pentagon Officials, four National Security Officials and several military MP's telling them that someone in the house had used a computer to hack into some EXTREMELY top secret files. My parents are standing there trying to understand what's going on when little three year old me comes downstairs and proceeds to tell them I did it, how I did it, and the flaws in the security systems that allowed me to do it. Then, to top it off, I proceed to tell them how their operation would be unsuccessful because of some major flaws. You should have seen their faces. It was absolutely priceless." she finished.

Daniel is laughing so hard he's practically crying as he pictures the scene she just described. "So what did Jack and Sam do?" he asked.

"They took me in and ran tests. That's when we found out about the gifts the Kenlix had given me. After that I wasn't allowed near a computer unless I was supervised by someone who could understand what I was doing. Which meant I was almost never allowed near one," she finished with a laugh. As she finished she noticed Sam and Jack standing in the doorway.

"Jack, Sam!" she exclaimed.

"We, uh, didn't think you would be in this quickly," Daniel finished.

Both Kaylin and Daniel were fighting losing battles with the smiles on their faces.

"Sorry to disappoint," Jack told them with a smile.

Seeing Jack's smile caused Kaylin to lose her battle and she smiled. "I take it things went well after I left?" she asked, most definitely wanting details.

"Very well," was the only answer she got from Sam.

They were enjoying keeping her and Daniel in the dark, she could tell from the looks on their faces. Well she'd let them win this round.

"Well I'm sure Daniel would love to harass you guys, but I really need your help in figuring out how to get home."

*********************

Jack and Sam O'Neill entered the embarkation room just as the gate opened.

Jessa was already waiting at the bottom of the ramp. Seconds later a young boy with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes stepped through followed by a girl, slightly younger, with shoulder length brownish hair and blue eyes.

"Jason, Daisy!" Jessa yelled as she ran up the ramp to meet her siblings.

"Hey Jessa" Jason said as he bent down to pick her up.

"Jana!" Jessa yelled, jumping out of Jason's arms into the arms of a tall woman with jet black hair and eyes. She looked human except her skin seemed to have a slight blue color to it.

"Hello, little one," she said smiling at Jessa.

She carried her down the ramp and stopped in front of Sam and Jack.

"Something is troubling you. What is it, old friends?" she asked.

"Kaylin hasn't returned from her mission," Sam told her, the worry starting again.

"It's not unlike Kaylin to be late, why are you worried?" Jana asked.

"Because she's over 4 hours late," Jack told her as he reached out and took hold of Sam's hand.

Jana's expression became worried as well. "That's not like her to be that late. Where did she go?"

"To a dead world, JT4568. She checked in on time and said she had found a room with some unknown technology and what appeared to be some ancient earth artifacts and was going to check it out," Jack explained.

"Would you show me the location of the planet?" Jana asked.

"Sure" Sam told her.

They went to the observation room and Sam pulled up the location of the planet and then showed her the pictures the probe sent back. As she watched the film an object caught Jana's attention.

"We need to go to the planet," Jana told them. "I think I may know what happened, but I need to be sure."

"Dial it up," Jack said without hesitation.

Sam, Jack and Jana returned to the embarkation room and stepped through the gate. Once on the planet Jana led them to the room Kaylin had discovered. She looked around the room and her eyes fell on the object she was looking for. It was a stone slab with the middle shimmering like a mirror.

"That," she said pointing to the mirror like object, "is what happened to Kaylin."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"It is a device that allows a person to travel to other realities. What your scientists refer to a alternate universe," Jana said.

"So you're telling me our daughter is trapped in some other reality?"

Jack was getting more worried by the minute. He didn't like the sound of this at all.

"Don't worry. My people have used this technology for hundreds of your years. I will go and get her back. It will be safer if you remain here and go back to Earth," Jana told them.

"Jana," Sam started but was cut off.

"Sam, you and your family are very special to me. I love you as if you were my own blood. I will not allow harm to come to Kaylin. It will be best if you return to Earth and I go and retrieve her alone," Jana told her trying to reassure her friend.

"All right," Sam and Jack said, more than a little reluctantly. Jana watched as Sam and Jack left and then turned back to the device.

"Kaylin, how do you manage to get into so much trouble?" she said to the empty room before picking up a small device and touching the mirror. She felt the surge, then turned and headed toward the gate and dialed Earth's address. As the gate opened she sent her access code through and prayed Kaylin was all right and that this had worked.

********************

"All right, explain to me again why we can't just send you back to the planet, you touch the mirror thing and you go back home." Jack asked with an exasperated sigh. They had been going back and forth for at least an hour and were getting nowhere fast.

"Jumping between alternate realities is not an exact science, Dad," Kaylin shot back. They had already had this conversation several times. "There is no guarantee that if I touch the mirror that I'll end up back in my reality. I could end up somewhere completely different or I could just end up not going anywhere," she finished and dropped down into a chair and put her head in her hands. "I just want to go home." she whispered.

"I know Kaylin," Sam said, sitting down next to her, "and I promise we will get you there."

"I know," Kaylin said with a smile, "I'm just frustrated and tired. All this knowledge in my head and I can't even get home."

"Did you touch anything before the mirror?" Daniel asked.

"No it was already shimmering when I entered the room," Kaylin said.

Suddenly alarm bells sounded, causing all four to jump.

"INCOMING TRAVELER, UNAUTHORIZED CODE! COLONEL O'NEILL AND CAPTAIN CARTER TO THE OBSERVATION ROOM."

Jack, Sam, Daniel and Kaylin all ran out of the room.

"What's happening?" Jack asked.

"Incoming traveler, sir. There is a signal coming through but it's not one of ours." the officer told him.

Kaylin was watching the screen and saw the code "Open the iris" she yelled.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I know that code. Now open the iris," she said over her shoulder as she ran out of the room toward the gate room.

"Open the iris," Jack ordered as he, Sam and Daniel followed her.

Kaylin stood at the bottom of the ramp. As the traveler stepped through she ran up the ramp and threw her arms around her.

"Jana, how on earth did you find me?" she asked as she pulled out of the embrace.

"The technology you found was once used by my people," Jana told her.

"Then you know how to control it? You can get us home?" she asked.

"Of course, my young one. In time I will teach you to use it as well. But for now why don't you introduce me to your new friends," Jana said, turning to the group assembled at the end of the ramp.

"Sure," Kaylin said as she led her down the ramp. "Guys this is Jana, leader of the Kenlix people. Jana, this is Dr. Daniel Jackson, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Captain Samantha Carter," she finished putting emphasis on the latter two's ranks and last names.

"Ah, I see you came into a reality similar to our own," Jana stated, looking at the very familiar faces of those who stood before her.

"Similar, but different," Kaylin told her. "As you can see Daniel is very much alive, they have had more than one encounter with the Goa'uld, and Sam and Jack aren't married, at least not yet," she finished with a mischievous smile on her face. Her smile grew bigger as she watched the expressions that crossed their faces. Finally she just laughed.

"We had better get going," Jana told her, "Your parents are very worried."

"I know, just let me say good bye," Kaylin said, turning back to her new friends. "Well it's been fun," she said. This was really hard, as much as she wanted to go home, she also wanted to stay. "Take care of yourself," she said as she hugged Daniel. "I plan on coming back someday and I expect you to be here. I'm not sure I could handle losing you twice," she finished.

"I'll be waiting," he promised, "you be careful too."

"I will," she promised. "Now as for you two," she said turning to Jack and Sam. "Take care of each other. I want to see some kind of progress when I come back." she said with a smile. Then getting very serious she said "Remember, you two have something very special. Don't ever let it go." She hugged both Sam and Jack then turned and walked up the ramp where Jana was waiting. "Oh, and Jack," she said turning back toward them, "don't give Daniel too much of a hard time, 'cause he's got plenty on you now."

With one last smile back she stepped through the gate. Jana and Kaylin made their way to the device. Jana tapped something on the smaller device she had brought with her then they both touched the mirror. Kaylin felt the surge and then noticed the room had changed slightly. Then they both headed back to the gate and dialled for home.

*************************************

Jack and Sam both paced back and forth in the gate room while their three younger children watched. Finally came they sound they had been waiting for.

"INCOMING TRAVELERS!"

The gate opened and out stepped Jana followed by Kaylin.

"Kaylin!" her parents exclaimed, relieved she was home and safe. She walked down the ramp and hugged her parents.

"Sorry I'm late, but you're not going to believe where I have spent my day," she said.

"Well you have a lot of explaining to do young lady. You scared us both to death. What happened to you head?" Kaylin laughed as the sentences came out of her parents mouths at the same time.

"Mom, Dad, you going to love this story, and I will tell all of you exactly what happened after I get something for this headache. Don't worry Mom it's just a mild concussion, and I've already been cleared by a doctor." Kaylin told her parents as she walked over and picked Jessa up for a hug.

"Come on guys lets go. I'm sure you have a million questions for me," she said to her younger siblings and they followed her to med bay.

Jack turned to face his wife just in time to see the "I told you so look" cross her face.

"What did I tell you Jack. If there is trouble our daughter finds it. She's going to kill us one of these days." Sam said with a smile.

"Yeah, but we wouldn't want her any other way," Jack said taking her hand and leading her out of the gate room to follow their children and hear the story Kaylin had to tell. From the way Kaylin had been smiling it had to be good.

Later that night Kaylin was outside looking up at the stars. Finding Daniel's star she sat down on the ground and looked up.

"I miss you Uncle Daniel." She whispered. "And boy do I have a story to tell you."

She proceed to tell what had happened. In the back of her mind she could see him smiling and laughing, especially when it came to Sam and Jack.

********************************

"Sam, would you quit moving around so much." Jack asked.

"Sorry." Sam mumbled.

"Comfortable now?" Jack asked.

"Very," Sam told him.

The two of them were sitting outside. Jack was sitting with his back against a tree with Sam leaning against him. He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter almost afraid if he didn't she'd disappear. Almost as if Sam sensed his fear, she leaned back, settling a little further into his embrace and then placed her arms on top of his and rested her head against his shoulder.

"So where is the star again?" Sam quietly asked.

"It's the bright one, right there," Jack whispered back.

"I see it," Sam said. After a few minutes Sam noticed Jack was lost in thought. "Penny for your thoughts," she said with a small smile.

Jack turned his head and looked at her. He smiled and gently kissed her. "You can have them for free," he teased. She smiled. "I love it when you do that," Jack said.

"Do what?" she asked.

"Smile. It makes everything else disappear," he told her.

"Well I have a lot to smile about," Sam said "What do you think she's doing right now?"

"Kaylin? She's probably outside looking at the stars."

"I can't imagine who she got that from," Sam teased.

"Me either," he whispered as he kissed the top of her head before settling back against the tree, but Sam continued to sit up.

"You know what I was thinking when I came in this morning?" Sam asked as she turned to face him.

"That you really, really wanted to kiss me," Jack teased.

"Besides that, smartass," she said with a laugh.

"I give, what were you thinking?" he asked.

"I was thinking it was going to be one of those kind of days," she told him.

"Well it certainly was," Jack said, agreeing with her. Sam was just about to settle back in his arms when he suddenly sat up and said, "Wait a minute, you were thinking about kissing me when you came in this morning?"

"Among other things. Didn't you notice you didn't have my full attention in the elevator this morning?" she whispered, her mind briefly wandering back to the daydream she had formed in the elevator.

"I noticed," he whispered with a smile.

"Jack," Sam said, moving closer

"Yes, Sam?" he asked.

"You're talking too much. Would you just shut up and kiss me already," Sam said with a mischievous smile.

"Yes, ma'am," he said as he moved in and kissed her. They were both soon completely oblivious to anything but each other and they were loving every minute of it.

Oh yes, it was definitely one of those days.

______________________________________________________________________
The End