The Games, Reloaded

By Sam I Am – murraytheevilskull@hotmail.com

Rating: PG-13 (can't honestly be any more than that)

Warnings: Sam/Jack (that's a warning for anyone who don't like that!)

Category: Sam/Jack Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, probably AU fic as it couldn't happen in the series, friendship and a little bit of SG-1 Humour thrown in for good measure. (If there's anything I missed out someone tell me!)

Spoilers: 'The Gamekeeper' and any other of the usuals(you know what they are!)

Time frame: Sometime during Season 4, after 'Divide and Conquer' (I think!)

Summary: SG-1 step through the gate, but Jack steps back onto the metal ramp alone, not knowing what happened between him leaving Earth and arriving back again, but is everything, as it seems!

Archive: SJD, yes

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime / Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission. All songs are sung by Queen and the lyrics were used without permission (Sorry!) No Copyright intended, they just fit the story... and Queen are the coolest! In here there is also a few lines from the beginning of the novel 'The Wizard of Oz' by Frank L Baum. Again no copyright intended! If you want to archive my story TELL ME, or, to borrow a phrase from our beloved Colonel, I am SO gonna kick your ass!

Author's Notes: As most of you have guessed from the title, I couldn't help but notice that the Gamekeeper's machine is awfully similar to the Matrix, but without the whole robots trying to take over the world thing! So naturally I make a few comments in the story, not a lot, but I couldn't help but see the similarity.

Dedications: As always to my Best Pal/Editor. A fellow Queen fan and a good friend always encouraging me (even when I get 48% in the end of year Biology exam!) Thanks a lot, Baby! Also thank you to my friend, Cammy and her most insistent line 'Have you got anymore stories?' everyday for the past few months since I let her read one! And finally to all the S/J peeps out there. You rock! Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Everything that has a beginning has an end including... The Games, Reloaded!

~~~Å~~~

Prologue

Jack swaggered down the halls of the SGC. He greeted a few people and then finally reached his destination. He tapped on the door lightly.

"Come in."

As Jack opened the door he smiled. Trust Carter! She hadn't even looked up from whatever new 'toy' she'd obtained! How she understood how those doodads she was always playing with worked Jack would never work out.

"Hey, Carter. Whatcha doin'?"

He saw her suppress a grin at the sound of his voice. She continued to look down the eyepiece of the microscope, "Hey, Colonel! I'm just looking at the cooling device being used to stop the Naquidah reactor from overheating. For some reason the temperature cells are malfunc..."

"It was just a figure of speech, Carter! Geez!"

She grinned again. He picked up a gadget off the worktop and began to examine it curiously. He turned it in his fingers as he looked at Carter. Her eye still didn't move from the cooling device or whatever the hell it was!

"Sorry, Colonel. So what are you doing here?" she paused for a second her smile widening, "And put whatever you're fiddling with down before you break it!"

"How did you know!"

"Sir, since when have you ever come into my lab and not picked up something and started playing with it?"

"Good point."

She knew him too well! It was like she had eyes in the back of her head. He decided better than to keep playing with the gizmo and placed it back down on the workbench carefully. He answered her question, "I was gonna get a bite to eat before the briefing. I thought you might wanna come with."

"Nah. I've got to do thi..."

"I'll make it an order! Carter, you've been in here playing with that doohickey since 5:00am! That was about," he looked at his wrist watch, "8 hours ago and I bet you haven't had any breaks!"

He knew her too well! Sam knew he was right. As her CO he always knew what time she went into her lab to when she came out. Dammit!

"I won't take no for an answer, Carter!"

~~~Å~~~

They sat in the commissary, eating Jell-o. It was all there was on the menu today that seemed safe to eat. Just as they were finishing Daniel appeared in the doorway, he waved to them, and walked over to the coffee machine.

It seemed to be all the man drunk! Jack swore he must have a coffee addiction, so one mission he'd purposely got rid of all the coffee sachets in the MREs and stolen Daniel's secret coffee supply from his pack. It had worked until Daniel realised he had a good eight sachets in his pocket! So much for going into rehab!

After purchasing his coffee, he came and sat with them, "You guys ready for the briefing?"

This was going to be there first mission since Teal'c had cured himself from Apophis's brainwashing. He was finally back to being his totally normal self and everyone was much gladder for it.

Jack spoke as he began to play with the salt and pepper pots on the table, "Teal'c's peeing himself with excitement. He's been out of action for a good few weeks and having meetings with McKenzie every day cannot be healthy!"

Sam chuckled, "He's seems to be coping. Major Ferretti had a bet that he'd crack before the first fortnight. That reminds me... he owes me fifty bucks!"

"Carter! I'm surprised at you! I didn't have you down as the gambling type!"

A grin swept her face; "Here's a fact then. For my 21st birthday my friends and I went on a trip to Las Vegas! I won a total of seventeen hundred dollars and only lost around a hundred including hotel expenses etc."

Jack just gawped at her, "You?"

She gave an exasperated sigh, "Yes me!" Her grin widened, "So, you've heard 'Sam's Secret of the Week'! Now you guys have to give me some... and they have to be good!"

Jack looked quite unsure and turned to Daniel, "You first."

Sam smiled, "Come on, Daniel. Anything you like."

Daniel looked around and then lowered his voice, "You tell anyone and... and I'll lecture you on... Minoan agriculture!"

"OK," Sam said as Jack made a zipping gesture on his mouth. Sam smiled, "Spill the beans. What's Daniel's Secret of the Week?"

Daniel muttered something. Sam gave a small frown, "Sorry Daniel. Didn't hear that?"

His voice rose slightly so it was just a whisper; "I dress up as a clown some weekends."

Jack jaw dropped, as Sam's eyebrows rose. Jack spoke loudly, "You what?"

Everyone in the commissary looked over curiously. They just smiled until everyone went back to what they'd been doing before Jack's exclamation. Daniel sighed and shuffled awkwardly in his seat, "Some weekends I dress up like a clown."

Jack face was a picture of disbelief, "Why?"

"I go into the children's hospital dressed as a clown," Daniel shrugged and made a small smile, "It's quite fun actually."

They sat in a shocked silence for about a minute before Sam turned to Jack, "OK Sir. Your turn. Me and Dr. Jackson have told you some of our little secrets, what's yours? 'Jack's Secret of the Week'."

Jack sat in silence for a moment. Just hearing her say his name was enough to strike him dumb instantly. He shook away the cat that had a firm grasp on his tongue, as he said, "Anything?"

"Yes and we swear we won't tell anyone," Sam said seriously.

"Not a soul," Daniel nodded in agreement.

Jack lent closer to them at the table, "Not a soul?"

"No one will ever know," Sam said in reassurance.

"OK," he murmured, "I..." he broke off for a moment and then sighed. He took a deep breath, "I was bullied at school..."

"You're kidding?" Sam said surprised.

"I'm not finished," he said and then whispered, "I was bullied at school because... I was a geek."

Daniel choked and spat out a mouthful of his precious coffee and began to splutter. Thankfully, no one had been in the way! Everyone stared at them again. Daniel found himself trying to smile and then he shot out of his seat and grabbed a handful of napkins. Sam, Jack and Daniel began to mop it up with tissues as Daniel hissed, "Geek? In what sense?"

"In the sense... I was... well, brainy," Jack mumbled and then looked at his watch speaking hurriedly, "Oh look at the time! Briefing in five! Let's go!"

"Wait a second, Jack!" Daniel's eyes were popping out of his head, "Brainy?!?"

A small smile appeared on Jack's lips, "I act like a dumb ass sometimes, Daniel, but that doesn't mean I am." Jack looked down at his hands awkwardly, "I do usually know what you and Carter are talking about, I just don't let on," he gave a small snort, "Fear of bullying."

Daniel was absolutely speechless and Sam just stared at the Colonel sympathetically. Jack looked at his watch, "Four minutes..."

They all got up as Daniel murmured; "Teal'c will kill us if we're late!"

~~~Å~~~

Daniel, Sam and Jack walked into the briefing to find Teal'c sat in one of the chairs expectantly. They'd almost run all the way from the commissary and all of them were slightly out of breath.

"You are early," he stated as he sat back in the chair.

"Yeah, we didn't want to discover the consequences of the opposite, Teal'c!"

Teal'c just inclined his head. They all sat in their seats. They'd been on the chairs barely a millisecond when General Hammond strode into the room.

"As you were," he said to them as Jack and Sam made an attempt to stand up. The General gave them a brief smile, "Welcome back to briefing, SG-1"

"Oh, I've been dreaming of nothing else!" Jack said sarcastically, gaining a small smile and a fond shake of the head from his 2IC.

"It is indeed most pleasurable to be back, General Hammond." Jack shook his head. Someday he'd teach that Jaffa the finer points of sarcasm! General Hammond just nodded and turned to a TV stood beside him.

"MALP footage?" Jack asked as General Hammond nodded.

"The planet is K8W 721. The planet supports a breathable atmosphere and can sustain human life. We also believe that there could be a race of people on the planet."

He pressed play on the remote and the TV crackled into life. The MALP playback showed a plain grey room. It was lit by the Stargate and even then it seemed a cool grey colour. Before the MALP stood a door and a switch beside it.

"They certainly know how to decorate on K7W..."

"K8W 721, O'Neill." Teal'c interrupted and Jack gave him a look that said, 'What ever!'

Sam stared at the screen and addressed General Hammond, "Is that it, Sir?"

"Yes, Major. Looks like it must be civilised, but what is beyond the room we can't tell. We want SG-1 to investigate."

"OK, Sir. When do we leave?"

"1500hrs."

Jack nodded seriously, "Yes, Sir."

General Hammond stood, a small smile on his lips, "OK, SG-1. Dismissed."

~~~Å~~~

As they stepped through the rising metal door and stepped into the embarkation room, Jack turned back to Daniel to continue their argument...

"Daniel, listen! I'm telling it to you straight! I'd much rather eat a bowl full of scorpions with Maybourne watching me eat every one than speak to my cousin and her snooty husband again!"

"Jack! They're your family!"

Jack spoke darkly, "Oh, so that's why I hate them so much!"

Daniel frowned, "Jack, I'm serious! I have no family, except Nick and he's... preoccupied..."

"Ah yes! The Giant Aliens..."

Daniel's frown deepened, "Jack, you can't make the excuse you are going to a funeral just to avoid your cousin!"

"I can and I did! So there!"

Sam let out a snort. Both men spun around to her and frowned in confusion, as Sam muttered, "Men!"

Jack spoke indignantly, "Did I just hear, what I thought I heard?"

"Well, you are being silly! Honestly, Sir, she can't be that bad!"

Jack gave a visible shudder, "She is THAT bad! Mary..." he shuddered just saying the name, "Mary is just like the rest of my family."

Sam let out a small smile, "If they're all like you, I dread to think of all those O'Neills out there!"

"That's precisely it, Carter! They're nothing like me!"

Sam shook her head as she said quietly, "Me and my brother are always falling out and until me and my Dad went to visit him after the Seth incident I hadn't spoken to him for almost 6 years, but he's family! The least you can do is see them once!" Before Jack could protest, Sam said, "Just once and if you want me, Daniel and Teal'c will be there to support you!"

Jack smiled slightly, as Daniel pulled a face and Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Daniel began mouthing, 'NO!' desperately and waving his hands in a motion that said, 'No way! Have you lost your mind?'

The wormhole shot from the Naquidah ring. She could hear General Hammond's voice over the intercom saying, "You have a go, Colonel."

"Come on, Kids," Jack said as he strode up to the Gate. They stood before the shimmering wormhole as Jack muttered to Sam, "I'm holding you to the family reunion, Carter!" He shot her a grin as she sighed and shook her head in fake exasperation as they stepped into the wormhole...

~~~Å~~~

Part One

Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from Reality.

~Bohemian Rhapsody~

~~~Å~~~

Jack

There's no time for us. There's no place for us.
What is this thing that builds our dreams,
Then slips away from us.

~Who wants to live forever~

~~~Å~~~

Jack stepped out from the Stargate again as he stumbled onto the metal ramp. He looked about him. Where were Carter, Daniel and Teal'c?

"Whoa! Down boys!" He said as he saw about twenty men aiming guns at him. They didn't listen, in fact they seemed to all be ready to shoot him at any second.

His eye fell upon a group of four men all staring at him as if they'd seen a ghost. He looked at them. He'd never seen them before in his life! Suddenly his eyes fell upon the badges on their right arms.

'SG-1?' he thought, 'what the hell is going on? Is this some kind of joke?'

"Who are you?" A familiar voice rumbled through the intercom. Finally! Someone he recognised! General Hammond came strolling out into the room. Protected by the guns he approached. He repeated his original question, "Who are you?"

"General. It's me. Colonel O'Neill. You know. Great leader of SG-1, your 2IC, guy loved by the Asguard, totally crap at following orders, has come back from the dead enough times to... General?"

The look on the General's face was enough to shut him up. "Who are you really?"

"What? Is this some kind of joke? General, I only walked through the Gate a second ago!" He looked at the gun barrels pointed at him, "I walked through the Gate with Carter, Teal'c and Daniel on a routine mission to K8W 721 and ended up walking through the Gate here."

The General sighed wearily and quite uncharacteristically, "Colonel, if that's really who you are, you've been missing for almost two years!"

~~~Å~~~

Jack sat in his cell, spinning a yo-yo up and down, bored beyond comprehension. When the Doc had seen him she'd almost had a heart attack. The poor woman had shrieked with surprise and almost collapsed. After she'd calmed down a bit she'd done almost twenty different tests on him, some, he was positive, she'd invented just for the occasion! They were trying to prove he really was Jack O'Neill. As far as Jack was concerned, he hadn't been away from the SGC for more than a split second and yet here he was. He'd been MIA for a couple of years and everything was so strange! No one had even bothered to fill him in!

For instance, what the hell was Wannabe-SG-1 doing? Another thing, where the hell had he been? What had happened to his team?

There was a knock on the door. 'At last! Maybe I'll get some answers!' He thought as he grumbled, "Come in," Doc Fraiser sidled in through the door closing it behind her, "Oh. What's up, Doc?"

"Colonel." She acknowledged him. She still looked like she had when he'd first arrived in the Infirmary, "After your little reappearing act, it's a good thing we were able to hold down the rumours. No one, except those who were in the Gate room, knows you're here."

"And that's a good thing... how?"

"You are Colonel Jack O'Neill, but you have to understand. You were declared MIA after you'd already been missing several months. After Teal'c came back they gave up and admitted you were missi..."

"Teal'c! He's here. He's OK," Jack sighed, relieved, "So wherever we were, we're all back on Earth now?"

"Well, not exactly. After you die... disappeared, Teal'c moved back to Chulak to live with his family. Daniel couldn't bear to work here anymore and went to live in New York. He's only just come back from a huge expedition in Asia..."

"And Carter?" Jack asked. The Doc's silence was unnerving. Jack was about to ask again when she spoke.

"She still works here, but... she's Dr. Carter now." Janet looked at the floor, "She hasn't been on a mission since the one to K8W 721."

Jack was flabbergasted, "D-Doc? I've gotta see her. God, do you know how frustrating it is down here! I'm bored and confused out of my mind! I swear to God! I'm going nuts!"

"I'm sorry. The General said you could go to your quarters, but you are not to leave them..."

"Why the hell not! And you didn't tell me why I can't see Carter!"

"Colonel!" The woman yelled. He was stunned into silence. She gasped. It sounded more like a small sob than a gasp. She lowered her voice to a whisper, "I'm sorry, but you can't see Sam just yet and you have to stay in your quarters."

"OK. Sorry. Doc, are you OK?"

"Yes I'm fine," she said trying to shake something from her voice, "Now let's get you to your quarters. The General has already made sure there are no personnel on that level so we can put you in there..."

"You what? Does anyone wanna tell me what the hell is goin' on here?"

"Your disappearing act left a lot of people upset and shocked. Think what it would be like if we lost Teal'c, Daniel or Sam for almost two years and then all of a sudden they popped up out of nowhere! If anyone starts a rumour about you then we'll not only have the whole SGC gossiping, but also the NID and the Pentagon will be on our tails."

Jack really didn't understand the logic, but he decided arguing was useless so he followed the Doc out of the cell. Six airmen, all of whom had been in the Gate room when he'd come back through, escorted him down the corridors. He felt like a convict, not an old friend who had just returned from a prolonged holiday!

As they passed the Infirmary, Dr. Fraiser closed the door before leading him past. They gained a bit of distance from the room before she muttered, "I didn't want to clear out the Infirmary. It was unnecessary."

"You got that right!" The female Doctor frowned at Jack's comment as they walked up to his quarters. He was extremely surprised they hadn't given it away to someone else. He wondered why it was still his room. Surely General Hammond wouldn't keep it after he went MIA. It just didn't make sense.

Janet opened the door and peered inside. She flinched, "Sam! You gave me a shock!" She sighed gently, then turned to the airmen. She pointed to a Janitor's closet to their left, as Jack felt himself shoved into the small compartment. One of the guards told him to stay silent. Now this was weird!

"There you are! What are you doing in here?" Janet's voice rang clearly as she spoke into his quarters.

"Janet! I-I-..." Carter! He heard her voice as she stammered, "I-I was-... Wait a minute! What are you doing here?"

He could hear Janet lying, "I was looking for you! I was seriously worried when I couldn't find you. Anything could've happened! You could've..."

"Janet, don't lecture me. I'm really not in the mood!"

"You know you're supposed to be having your examination now, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Sam sighed, "I guess I'm nervous."

"And you have every reason to be!" The doctor spoke reassuringly and then gasped, "I almost forgot, you don't know. Daniel is on his way to visit because Teal'c is coming to say 'Hi' from Chulak! Rya'c has gone to the Jaffa equivalent of Summer camp and he had some free time..."

Sam's voice was sceptical as she interrupted, "Don't give me that bull, Janet! Neither of them have been here for almost a year and a half. I know why they're really coming," He heard Doc. Fraiser sigh as Carter continued shakily, "I know..." Her voice trailed away. He heard a small sob, "I've got the best friends in the world!"

"Hey. Sh-sh-sh. It's OK," Janet spoke in a calming tone as she obviously tried to hush a weeping Carter, "Now come on. Let's get you back to the Infirmary. Daniel will be here in about five minutes and Teal'c wi..."

"OFF WORLD ACTIVATION! REPEAT. OFF WORLD ACTIVATION!" The klaxons blared as Janet's words were interrupted. She continued, "Teal'c has probably just arrived. I need to go collect Daniel from the surface."

"Janet, can I go meet him? It's been so long since I saw him and I don't wanna go to the Infirmary!" She breathed in shakily, "I don't wanna know!"

"I'm sorry, Sam. You have to get to the Infirmary. One of the nurses will be there if you need help getting ready, but I think you know the drill by now. I'd hurry though! Knowing Teal'c he'll probably get there before you!"

"I dunno. I'm quite fast," he could here Sam smiling as she gave a small sniffle, "And I have the advantage!"

"OK. I'll be there real soon. I said I'd meet Daniel on the surface...."

"And I'll be a good astrophysicist and see you in the Infirmary."

He heard Janet's heels clicking as she walked out of the room. There was a knock on the door and it was opened as Jack was pulled out. He immediately looked up and down the corridors, but Sam was gone. Dammit! Jack spoke, "What was that about? And why was Carter in my quarters?"

"She comes here quite a lot," Janet said as she led him into his room. Jack could see that! The old and usually empty vase in the corner had been moved to the bedside table and was filled with sunflowers. There were used Kleenex all over the desk and a few hefty looking books were stacked near the back of his old bookcase.

"'Evidence of Quantum Theory' by Dr. Samantha Carter, PHD," he read the front cover and then collapsed on his bed. Carter's possessions seemed to litter the room.

"She's been coming here a lot more recently. She took your deat... disappearance the hardest," that had been the second time she'd almost said 'death' instead of 'disappearance' today and it was annoying him. She continued, "She talks to you in here. She finds it comforting. Simmons tried to get her committed to a hospital, but there is nothing wrong with her in the mental respect!"

Jack had a strange feeling that Janet was lying to him. He knew no one would just be committed for talking to one of his or her friends who was dead, or in his case supposedly dead. There was something she wasn't telling him.

"OK Colonel. I've got to go and collect Daniel from the surface. I'll check up on you later OK?"

"Yeah fine," he said as she closed the door behind him. He heard a key being turned in the lock. Dammit! No chance of escaping to go see Daniel, Teal'c and Carter now!

He looked around his room again. He noticed his desk was also strewn with papers. A pen lay on the desk, its lid still off. That was odd… his chair was missing. Ah well.

He rummaged through the drawers of his desk. In the top drawer he found an envelope with a label in Carter's handwriting.

Colonel Jack Colonel

That was really un-Carter like. Everything was so weird here! He opened the letter hesitantly. As he read it he became more confused than before.

Dear Colonel,

It's Carter. I needed to talk to someone and as you can't lecture me or anything, I guess you're the best candidate.

Daniel left last week, but Teal'c's still hanging around. He says he won't leave until I'm out of here, but I know he wants to get back to Chulak. He's going back to live with Rya'c and Dray'ac.

Daniel moved to New York to live in the city. He took it hard. Whether you realise it or not you're his best friend. The General says if you don't come back soon he's going to declare you MIA. Daniel had an argument with him about not going back to rescue you, but we don't have a choice. We can't go back. None of us can remember what happened on the planet and the General said you have to make it back on your own like we did.

The stupid thing about this is that we can't send anyone to '721 anymore. During the argument we could, but now they must have an iris of some kind. We sent a MALP through the minute Teal'c came back, but there was nothing.

Another thing, we've all come back at different times. I was first to be returned and everyone just assumed I was the only one of us coming back. Then two days later Daniel showed up and four months after that Teal'c came through. The worst part is I can't remember anything between when I stepped into the event horizon and stepped out of it again.

It was only a few minutes after I came back that I discovered my Dad was dead. He went on a secret mission for the Tok'ra and was flying in a Goa'uld trade ship. The Tok'ra didn't know there was a Goa'uld spy on the base. The ship was planted with a bomb and exploded when they tried to use the hyper drive.

Janet sent me home with a clear bill of health only a few weeks after the mission. She said I was perfectly healthy...

The next paragraph was unreadable from all of the crossing out and scribbling over. The paper actually had rip marks in it from where the pen had torn through it! Jack's eyes flicked to the next bit. There were now running ink stains from where tears had fallen onto the paper:

...feels guilty and won't leave me alone. The worst thing about all this was that it happened in the briefing room. And to top it all off Simmons was there. He almost had me committed to a mental institution. He said I was possessed or crazy and Daniel told him to get out of the Salem Witch trials! I wouldn't be surprised if Simmons tried to drown me at the moment. He'd easily succeed. Sometimes I wish he would and get me out of this nightmare.

I wish you were here so badly. I miss you, more than I should, but I can't stand this. I can't help thinking if you were still alive I'd be alright although I know I can't change the way I am now, but I just wish I could. It's becoming so hard to cope with all this and if I don't get better soon I might lose my mind.

I wish there was a way out of this. Suicide is out of the question. I have people watching me all day and I definitely can't hang myself, but I know I can't live with myself anymore

The writing just stopped. The pen looked as though it had been dragged from her hand! OK now he was confused out of his mind! What the hell was going on around here while he was gone? He felt worry over take that. Carter was in trouble for some reason and he was going to help her.

He looked around the room. He wasn't staying cooped up in here! He looked for something he could open the door with or anything he could use to escape.

A thought struck him. He looked up! Oh Yes! Vents! The perfect plan! He looked around the room and found an umbrella, obviously Carter's, and pushed off the wire mesh cover. He slid it along the vent and then jumped on his bed. He hoisted himself into the narrow gap. He was just about able to pull himself through it.

"First stop, the Infirmary...!"

He shuffled along the vents hoping he could find his way to the Infirmary and also hoping there would be a vent looking down over it.

Suddenly he saw light emanating from a grate in the floor of the vent. He heard voices:

"Dr. Fraiser, are you certain of the accuracy of your results?" That low drone could only belong to Teal'c.

"Yes I am," a small shuddering sigh came from the Doc, "I think about twelve months, eighteen at the most."

Jack pulled himself so he could see down through the vent. It was Doc Fraiser's office. OK. How the hell had he gotten to the Infirmary that quickly! And if the Doc had only just left to meet Daniel at the surface how come he was already in there?

Inside sat the Doc, her head in her hands obviously stopping herself from the brink of tears and opposite her sat Daniel. He looked about to have a mental breakdown. Teal'c stood straight and silent behind him, but the Jaffa looked as though he was... about to cry! Now, Teal'c never looked that distraught! His expression was almost ridiculous! He listened riveted to the conversation as Daniel broke the dreadful silence that had descended on the room.

"Oh God! Is that all?" His hopeless voice cracked part way through the sentence. He pulled off his glasses and raked a hand through his hair. Jack was shocked by Daniel's appearance. He could tell he'd been in Asia. His skin was more tanned and his hair longer than when Jack had last seen him. He spoke again, "Does she know yet?"

"No. You're the first to know."

Daniel sighed almost frustrated, "Shall I tell her?"

"If you want to," Janet said. She was staring at the table and looked as if she was going to cry again.

"God, I wish Jack was here. Maybe none of this would have happened."

"There was no stopping it, Daniel, but the Colonel would've been supportive and caring..." Janet snorted in a way of pure hatred for herself, "Yeah like you failed to do, Janet!"

"It wasn't your fault! There would've been no point arguing with Sam! She set her mind to it and she wasn't going to give up easily." Daniel rose as Teal'c moved towards the door, "I heard about the other day. I'm only sorry I wasn't here myself. Is that what this is about?"

"No. Not really. I guess if I'd looked harder in the first place I might have found it and she wouldn't be..."

"Oh for crying out loud, Janet! She doesn't blame you, so don't blame yourself. It, whatever it is, is undetectable," he sighed gently, "Before I see her again, I have to know... How has she been?"

"She's been OK. You know, still all bright and cheerful, but I know different. She's just hiding behind smiles... and in Colonel O'Neill's quarters."

Daniel smiled sadly, "She still talking to him in there?"

Janet gave an equally sad smile, "Yeah. She tells him everything," Janet gave a strangled choke; "I've heard her laughing at his jokes."

"Jack always knew how to make her smile," Daniel nodded, "And Janet? How is she? Really."

Janet nodded, "On the whole, she's depressed and shocked. She felt awful after what happened. Ah Dammit! I shouldn't have let her... Well, on her own she can't do anything! I should've asked her to stay at mine!"

"Janet, don't worry!" Daniel smiled gently, "I'll look after her now. I'm not leaving Colorado. I shouldn't have left in the first place!" He spoke determined and the Doc just smiled weakly as the two men walked out of the door.

Jack began shuffling again. As he approached the next vent, he heard Sam's voice, "Teal'c! How are you? Chulak still as beautiful as I remember?"

"It is indeed, Major Carter. I am well as is Rya'c. He's growing into a strong warrior. I wish you could return to Chulak some day."

"Yeah, so do I," She paused sadly and then gasped happily, "Daniel? Daniel! I hardly recognised you! Come here!" He looked down through the mesh. Sam sat on a gurney dressed in her fatigues. She began hugging Daniel tightly as he sat beside her.

"Oh Sam, it's so good to see you! How are you? I've missed you so much!"

"Even traipsing around those wonderful temples in Asia? Tell me, what's Asia like? Did you buy me one of those hats from Thailand as a souvenir?" She grinned.

"No. Sorry Sam! It was great. The architecture was stunning! Oh Sam, it was so beautiful! You would have loved it! I've brought back loads of photos! The weather was good except for the monsoon and there were loads of digs I visite... Wait a second! Do you do this on purpose?" He chuckled, "You always swing the conversation so it doesn't move to you! You're trying to avoid answering me!"

She smiled gently, looking slightly embarrassed, "So you worked it out at last!"

Daniel shuffled his chair closer as she continued to smile, but there was something in her face that told Jack that she wasn't really smiling at all.

"So how are you?" Daniel said gently as he grabbed Sam's hand and held it tightly, "I heard about the other day..."

"Can we not talk about this?" Sam's words were more of a plea than her usual bold speech, "Please."

"OK. I just wanted to say..."

"Daniel!"

"OK! OK. I won't talk about it!"

"Thank you. I know I shouldn't have been on my own! I know I should've gone to Janet's or something, but it's over and done with now, OK?"

"If Doctor Fraiser had not found you, you would most likely be dead!" Teal'c's matter-of-fact statement even made Jack wince, and he didn't understand what the hell they were talking about!

"Yeah. Thanks for the reminder!" Daniel said sarcastically.

"I wish Major Carter to know of the risk she has taken, Daniel Jackson."

"Teal'c. I'm not Major Carter anymore. Do you think you could call me by my first name?"

"I will indeed endeavour... Samantha Carter."

She grinned, "Close enough, Teal'c". The conversation, as usual, had changed from being serious to being the usual friendly banter that they had down to an art. Her smile fell as she turned to Daniel, "Daniel? I know Janet told you about me..." Suddenly she began shaking and stuttering, "I just... I wanna know... the r-results... H-how long?"

Daniel looked away from her as he suddenly became very interested with a book on astrophysics lying on the desk beside her. As he did this Sam's lip began to tremble. "Daniel?" She repeated gently. Her eyes wide and fearful, "Please. I'm-I'm nervous enough as it is! D-Don't stall!"

He cleared his throat uneasily, "She said you had about a year. Eighteen months at the most."

The look in Sam's eyes could have written a book. In the depths he saw despair and absolute giving up. He'd never seen that in her eyes before. Jack began to finally realise what was happening. Oh God! NO! Not Carter! This wasn't happening! It was all some really wacky nightmare!

"Sam? Sam, are you OK?"

"Yeah," her voice shook immediately proving she was lying, "Just a little sh-shocked that's all. A -year? I-I-I... I thought..." She gave a strangled sob as she broke down, "Oh God! A year?"

"Sam." Daniel pulled her into another hug as she began to sob into his shoulder. Her back shuddered as Daniel held her tighter. Jack wasn't surprised to see tears rolling down Daniel's cheeks, but even Teal'c had tears in his eyes.

Daniel and Sam were gently rocking backwards and forwards, as the man tried to comfort her. Daniel was murmuring softly, "It's OK, Sam. I'm not going anywhere. I promise. No matter what! I'm gonna stay here. I'm not going back to New York! I'll be here the whole time."

Her sobbing just increased as Daniel shared a desperate look with Teal'c. Teal'c obviously understood as he went back into the Doc's office.

He came back followed by the doctor. She had red rings under her now puffy eyes. Daniel turned to her, "Can I take Sam home?"

"Of course. Her stuff's in the bag... oh... wait a second... here," Janet put a bottle of pills into the bag, "Twice a day, OK?"

Daniel nodded gently. Sam had stopped sobbing and was now shuddering slightly. She was staring into space desolately before she looked down at her legs and then slowly turned to her stoic companion, "Teal'c, could you...?"

Teal'c inclined his head and moved over to Sam as Daniel got up. Sam wrapped her arms around Teal'c's neck as she was lifted from the bed. Teal'c held her in his arms as Daniel manoeuvred a wheelchair into position. Teal'c lowered her into the wheelchair. It all fitted together now! And Jack hated it!

Teal'c clasped the handles; "I will meet you on the surface, Daniel Jackson."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed, "I won't be long."

The Jaffa left wheeling Carter out of the room. Daniel turned to Janet, "What do I do if she starts... you know... fitting...?"

"If she goes into convulsive shock inject her with the drugs I gave her. If she stops breathing altogether, as she sometimes does, do CPR and call me the minute you can."

"OK. God, poor Sam! How many pills does she have to take every day?"

"At least seven different types, most of them more than once."

"Jesus! No wonder she's suicidal!" He turned to the doctor, "I'm gonna stay here in Colorado until... I won't be needed any longer. Can you tell General Hammond?"

"Sure. Are you gonna be OK? I mean coming back to Colorado. I know how awful you felt after Jack... You said you'd never come back here."

"When Sam's gone, there'll be no reason for me to stay here any longer and I don't think I'll ever come back here again. Since Jack died... I haven't had the heart to come back here. When Sam had the crash I should've stayed longer! Real supportive, Daniel!" He added the last statement to himself disgustfully, "God! I'm such a heartless son of a bitch! All I wanted to do was get out of Colorado, while poor Sam lay in a hospital bed after being told that she was paralysed from the waist down, that she would be fitting for the rest of her now reduced life, that she'd never be able to work in the air force again, that her father was dead and that General Hammond was declaring Jack MIA! She was going through the worst time of her life and I left!"

"There was nothing you could do for her! You know why she hated that hospital so much? Because everyone that visited her was perfectly healthy and able to walk and she really didn't want company. She told me afterwards she was glad she didn't have to lay there with people clucking over her protectively. She felt like a kid and she wanted some time to think." Daniel just nodded as Janet continued, "The other day when I found her, she wasn't breathing. If I had been a minute later..."

"Yeah," Daniel interrupted, "So, you don't know what's causing the fitting?"

"No. I still don't know the cause, but if she gets a serious shock she might start fitting again. I've been looking for almost a year and I can't find any abnormalities! None! I..." she sighed and turned to Daniel, "Just keep a close eye on her, Daniel, especially now."

"I will," he smiled slightly as he went to leave, "Whatever those bastards on '721 did to her I hope Jack is annoying them to the brink of killing themselves!"

Janet just smiled as he left. Jack began to crawl backwards through the shaft. As he reached his room, he lowered himself down to his bed and shoved the metal grate across.

Jack stared around the room, but didn't register anything in his brain. Carter. Sam was ill. Seriously ill. She had a wheel chair and from what he'd gathered she had fits, she was paralysed from the waist down and she'd had a car crash. He assumed that Simmons had seen her fitting and decided she was insane. He wanted to throttle Simmons so badly...

There was a knock on the door, "Colonel, it's me."

"Come on in," he said as Janet walked in.

"Colonel, General Hammond would like to speak to you."

"What about?"

"He has decided you can see the guys in a few days. He wants to talk to you."

Jack got up from the bed and followed her from the room. As they walked, Jack noticed that her eyes were no longer red and puffy. Something just wasn't right about all this...

~~~Å~~~

Teal'c

It's a long hard struggle,
But you can always depend on me,
And if you're ever in trouble,
You know where I'll be.

~Let me Live~

~~~Å~~~

"O'NEILL! I AM NOT DISTANT FROM YOUR POSITION!"

Teal'c shivered as a flurry of snow blew past him. He waded through the glacial gush as he tried to get to his friends. The rope fastened around his waist began to tighten as he felt himself being dragged along by the flow. He could see them. They were clinging onto the rock face for their lives as the slush-like waterfall gushed over their heads.

He had to get there soon. He watched as Daniel Jackson lost his grip one hand falling down beside him.

"DANIEL!" Major Carter yelled as she tried to reach his hand. She was now also holding on with only one hand, "I've got you! Come on, Daniel!"

Their hands were clasped tightly as Major Carter used whatever strength she had left to hoist the archaeologist back up beside her. She flung her arm back to the cliff edge trying to hold on again and almost falling herself.

Teal'c reached the edge. He tried to grab Daniel Jackson from the perilous position he was in. His fingertips were the only things holding him up. He hoisted him up from the cliff face and tied another piece of rope around his waist as he held the man in his vice like grip.

He turned back to his other friends as he saw O'Neill's hand slipping. His fingers slipped from the icy rock as the cascading ice became too much for him to endure and he fell.

"COLONEL!" Major Carter screamed.

Somehow his fingers connected with a snag in the rock, where he now hung, the icy sludge pummelling his back and head powerfully.

"Major Carter! My Hand!" Teal'c raised his voice to try and get her attention, but she continued to stare at O'Neill who managed to give a strangled shout.

"Carter!" She continued to stare as if she hadn't heard him, "Sam! Get outta here!"

At the sound of her first name, she started from her horror. She ripped her eyes away from him as Teal'c helped her up from the sheer cliff face.

Teal'c fastened the rope around her tightly, "Get back to the bank!" She grabbed Daniel Jackson and they began to push their way through the dense slush.

He turned back to O'Neill who was clutching at the slippery stone. Teal'c tried to lower a rope towards the figure dangling precariously, "O'Neill! The rope!"

He gripped the rope with one hand, but slid another few feet down the icy rock face. He was clasping to the very end of the rope, now with both hands. If Teal'c tried to pull him up he would fall, if he didn't he would fall.

"Sam, No!" Daniel said weakly as Teal'c turned in shock to see Major Carter abseiling down the cliff face. She had both her and Daniel Jackson's ropes tied around her waist. Both of the other ends were tightly secured to the round boulder holding him steady.

"Hang on, Colonel! I'm coming!"

Teal'c looked at O'Neill. He was fighting unconsciousness with every ounce of resolve he had. His voice was shaky as he tried to yell failing, miserably, "C-Carter! What are you doing?"

"Rescuing you."

"NO! Go back! Th-That's an order, Carter!"

"No chance in Netu, Sir. I'm not gonna lose you like this!"

When Major Carter reached him, she grabbed him around the waist as his grip finally slipped from the end of rope Teal'c had thrown to him. He clung to her. Teal'c could see the look in his eyes. Teal'c knew he was thinking he was more likely to kill Major Carter and himself like this. He shook his head, "L-Let go, Carter!"

"No Sir!"

"P-Please! You're g-g-gonna die!" he said desperately as their eyes locked for a second.

"I don't care! I'm not letting you go, Jack!"

With all the strength she had, she somehow managed to hold him up, which was nothing short of a miracle... and yet... she did not seem to find holding him up a difficult task. Teal'c knew that Major Carter did not have the strength to support O'Neill and not let him fall down the perilous abyss, especially due to the churned up ice that pounded against them. Teal'c pondered the situation as she looped one rope around O'Neill's waist. She knotted it tightly as Teal'c heard him murmur, "That was the- dumbest thing you ever did, C-Carter!"

"Thank you, Sir!" She called to Teal'c, "Pull him up!"

Teal'c dragged the limp form of Colonel O'Neill up the precipice as Major Carter did her best at ice climbing with Daniel Jackson, who pulled the rope taut and wrapped the next loop around the boulder, every time she climbed a bit. When O'Neill finally reached the top, Teal'c helped Major Carter to support him between them as they began to battle the deadly, freezing sludge to the bank where their other companion waited, shivering vigorously.

As they collapsed in the snowdrift on the bank, Teal'c looked at his friends. They would all die from hypothermia if he didn't find shelter and make them all as warm as possible.

"We must continue moving or you will all solidify!"

Major Carter rose up grudgingly dragging the Colonel up beside her. He groaned. As Major Carter murmured comfortingly to him, Teal'c began to make his way forwards. He made sure they all walked before him that way he would not lose any of them.

They stumbled forwards blindly as the blizzard hurled snow into their eyes. The wind howled as the snowstorm swirled around them. Teal'c heard Daniel yell, "Teal'c... Cave..."

Teal'c began to hurry them to the dark opening that appeared up ahead. They hurried into the darkness almost happily. The cave was at least dry, but it was still freezing. Then again they were all wearing sopping wet clothes.

The others all collapsed in a miserable, drenched, freezing pile on the floor. Major Carter shook permanently, Colonel O'Neill was unconscious within seconds and Daniel Jackson looked like a drenched rodent. He didn't have his glasses. They must've fallen down the cliff. The strange thing was that the anthropologist did not seem to be suffering from poor eyesight. He was acting as if he'd never lost his glasses.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in confusion. Just as he was about to inquire about Dr. Jackson's eyesight, Sam shuddered again more violently than she had been so far. He realised hypothermia would set in soon if he didn't warm them up.

He had managed to keep his pack dry. The rest of the team had thrown off their packs in desperation while clinging from the rock face against the freezing torrent that had surged over them.

He rummaged inside and pulled out two space blankets. That was peculiar, as he didn't remember having two present in his pack. His eyebrow raised another notch, but he continued searching in his pack. He found resources with which he could light a fire.

"Major Carter. Daniel Jackson. You must remove your wet attire."

The statement made Major Carter smile slightly, but she complied, as did Dr. Jackson. The Jaffa shook his head in amusement as both of them tried to hide from the other. It didn't seem entirely normal though. Major Carter did not get that embarrassed easily. Teal'c just lit the fire in a confused silence. His jacket was not wet and he would not need it as much as his friends.

He looked at them both. Major Carter shyly stood still shivering in her under garments, as was Daniel Jackson. He decided Major Carter deserved his jacket more. The poor woman didn't know what to do with herself. As he passed it to her, she shoved it over her head quickly. It covered her whole top half and it fell about her thighs. Teal'c was surprised the woman had not objected to him needing it as she would usually. Maybe it was the cold that was affecting her.

She glanced at O'Neill and blushed furiously. It was too cold for there to be any colour on her cheeks, so why was she blushing? Teal'c realised then that O'Neill was out cold on the floor in sopping wet clothes. He continued to tend the small flame that was flickering weakly. He found some MREs in his pack as he spoke to Major Carter.

"You must remove Colonel O'Neill's wet clothes items."

Daniel Jackson cut in, as Major Carter blushed even darker, "Don't worry, I think I'll do that!"

"Thanks," Major Carter murmured gently.

She turned away as Dr. Jackson sorted out O'Neill. Teal'c's mind was fixed on the fire. It was beginning to brighten up now. He put as much wood as he could spare on it. Soon he would attempt at cooking MREs. His friends would require the hot food.

"T-Teal'c?"

Teal'c glanced up at Daniel Jackson to see the man holding O'Neill's black t-shirt that was drenched in blood. Teal'c crawled over to the man. There was a huge wound in his side probably caused by his fall. The deep, jagged slash stretched from just above the man's hip to the ribcage where, by the looks of things, he'd broken two ribs.

Teal'c stated this to his friends as both gasped in shock. Major Carter spoke frightened, "He said he was in pain, but I thought... oh God!"

"There is no reason to despair yet, Major Carter. We must withstand the night and then a rescue team will be sent to retrieve us."

He grabbed his pack and pulled out bandages and gauze. It was the best he had to stop the blood. He began to dress the wound with the help of Daniel Jackson who seemed to have turned an interesting shade of green, although did not express the need to vomit.

He spoke as they finished, "O'Neill is badly injured, however if we do not distribute body heat he will be far worse."

Major Carter's vibrant shade of pink seemed to darken even further, as Daniel quickly grabbed one space blanket and huddled next to Teal'c. Teal'c looked at him in disbelief. Daniel Jackson would never do that to Major Carter. His actions were self-centred. Especially as they both knew that Major Carter was uncomfortable around O'Neill.

Teal'c shook his head in wonder. He had a feeling that something wasn't quite correct. He spoke again as he pulled his unconscious comrade near to him, "We must all conserve heat together. Major Carter, sit beside Daniel Jackson."

Major Carter cautiously picked up the other blanket and moved closer to Daniel. She was shaking violently, probably also from slight shock.

Teal'c felt Daniel shivering beside him as he tried to cook the MREs. Daniel stammered, "Hot f-food!"

"I will indeed attempt at producing provisions," Teal'c said gently.

"I'm so c-cold!"

"I had assumed."

Sam pulled herself closer to Daniel as she murmured, "Th-The fire is n-not working."

Indeed, little or no heat was being produced by the weak flames. However it produced light and that was still exceedingly important especially when it became dark.

The mission had been quite a disaster so far. They'd stepped through the Gate into the dark room. Once they'd opened the door they stepped out into a snow-covered forest. Colonel O'Neill, in an act of irrationality, had said they would continue into the snowstorm, as it was not very dangerous.

After an hour the storm picked up. They'd been walking past a glacier examining their surroundings in looks for civilisation similar to the room from the MALP reconnaissance. The glacier was quite fast flowing and was smashing powerfully against jagged rocks that stuck out from the surface. They were walking along the edge, when Daniel Jackson slipped. He sent the whole snowdrift into a mini-avalanche. Teal'c had latched onto a huge boulder. He looked up to see all his friends being pushed toward a cliff edge by the floating ice. They'd all managed to hold onto the edge, long enough for him to rescue them. He was at least grateful for that.

"T-Teal'c. He's w-waking up."

Teal'c looked over at Major Carter as she spoke. He noticed that Colonel stirring slightly beside him. Teal'c saw the care in the woman's eyes as she abandoned Daniel's side and crawled across the floor. She moved closer to the Colonel as she whispered, "He's even c-colder than I am." Colonel O'Neill's eyes opened slowly. He looked at Major Carter in shock as she murmured, "Colonel, d-do you know where we are?"

"K8... s-something!" he murmured back. He then stammered, "It's s-so cold."

Major Carter nodded and pulled herself slightly closer to the man, "I know, S-Sir. Just t-ry and get some sleep. I'll w-wake you when the f-food's ready, 'K?"

She'd barely said it before the Colonel was out cold again.

She looked up at Teal'c in despair as she murmured, "If w-e don't get back- to the G-Gate soon, he's gonna -die."

Teal'c realised the Major's words were the truth and that if he didn't escort them back to the Gate, O'Neill would be dead within a week.

~~~Å~~~

Daniel

The Show must go on. The Show must go on.
Inside my heart is breaking, my make-up may be flaking,
But my smile still stays on.

~The Show must go on~

~~~Å~~~

Daniel peeled away the blood-soaked bandage as Sam bit a piece of cloth to stop herself from screaming. The agony was vivid and dark in her usually pale eyes. Daniel winced as he saw the wound. It was caked with scarlet blood and dried mud. The charred skin was revolting and the skin was almost unrecognisable as skin.

Sam screamed through the cloth as Daniel tried to wipe the huge burn with a wet cloth. The wound was situated on Sam's right side and Sam had to lay almost completely still so as not to risk ripping the skin any more. The Jaffa's shot had just nicked her and so the wound was not fatal, not yet anyway.

Sam yelled as Daniel wiped again. He murmured apologetically, "I'm sorry, Sam, but I have to clean it."

Sam spat the cloth out of her mouth as she spoke, her voice still shaking from pain, "I know, Daniel, but don't worry about me! Look after the Colonel!"

Daniel felt tears in his eyes, "Sam, there's nothing I can do! I don't know what to do!"

"Well, stop helping me and find someway to help him!"

Daniel knew that look in Sam's eyes. She'd rather die than lose Jack. He'd known it for some time now, but this just proved to him it wasn't all his imagination.

Daniel just nodded meekly and crawled over to Jack. There was really nothing he could do. He'd splinted his leg and cleaned the wound on his shoulder, but Daniel knew his neck was broken. He was barely alive, but there was nothing he could do. If he even moved him slightly, he would die.

This mission had been one awful nightmare. The minute they'd stepped through the Gate they'd been captured by Apophis's serpent guards and Teal'c had then been brainwashed and turned back into First Prime.

They tried to escape and had succeeded up to the point when the serpent guards began shooting. Jack had thrown him out of the way of one shot, which had then hit him in the shoulder. He'd toppled backwards and fallen a few feet onto rocks. Sam, in a sudden rage, had run for the Jaffa shooting at least ten of them down. She'd received a shot to the side from none other than Teal'c, who then ordered they were thrown back in the cell.

All Daniel had suffered was a slight bruise from when Jack had shoved him over. Some how the Jaffa had got Jack back to the cell without killing him, but now they were not being given water and Daniel was on his own, in a sense.

This was his worst nightmare. There was no one here to help him get them out of here. He was the clumsy archaeologist, who could just about aim a weapon and had no training of how to cope in these kinds of situations. Jack couldn't be moved and Sam wasn't far off from that either. Teal'c was the bad guy again (how long had it been, four weeks!!!) and what was worse was that was, he had no way of getting them out. A chance of about a bazillion to one!

But he had to.

He turned back to Sam. She knew there was no chance they'd get out of this. Usually there would have still been a glint of hope in her eyes, albeit a small one, but there was nothing. It was incredibly un-Sam like. She almost never gave up. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember a time when Sam had ever given up completely.

But then again, he couldn't remember a time when Sam had lost it like she had earlier. Sam never lost her temper, least of all in the middle of a battle. He'd expect something like that from Jack, but Sam? It wasn't like her at all.

It was strange and Daniel had the eerie feeling he was being watched. The funny thing was he probably was. Apophis probably had some kind of camera rigged up in here, watching him failing to help his friends, just for their own sick enjoyment. But...

Daniel swivelled around. Nothing. No one. He was confused.

It didn't feel like he was being watched by a camera. He spent half his life in the SGC, where every move he made was recorded by a security camera. It felt a lot more daunting... as if there was someone here watching him. Someone sat feet away watching. As if there was someone stood in one of the shadowed corners, but there was no one.

He turned back to Jack and saw Sam watching him worried. Daniel knew the last thing Sam needed was for him to go nuts and from that little display Sam obviously thought he was. He felt sorry for her. The one thing she wanted to more than anything was help Jack and, though Daniel hated to admit it, Jack would be dead long before Daniel found a way to get them out of here. And now she had to deal with him and his crazy theories about invisible people stood watching him. Maybe he'd hit his head when Jack had shoved him over.

Sam spoke anxiously, "You OK, Daniel?"

"Yeah fine. Just feel as if I'm being watched..."

"Don't be so stupid, Daniel!" Sam answered snappily. Daniel flinched. Sam hadn't ever taken that tone with him before. I mean she'd bickered with Maybourne and other politicians like that, but Sam had never talked to him like that. Never. It was very strange.

He couldn't blame her. She was probably in absolute agony, she was stuck with an irritating and useless archaeologist while... the man she probably cared about more than any other was dying and another man she cared deeply about was strutting around with a hoard of Jaffa at his command.

"OK. Sorry Sam," he paused and sighed sadly, "There's nothing I can do for him..."

"Try harder," she said fiercely and then let out a small cry of pain. He looked at her as she caught her breath and her eyes fell onto the man lying beside her. Daniel saw tears in the woman's eyes as she murmured, "You have to try..."

A tear fell from her eye as she pulled a hand across her eyes. Daniel stared at her and murmured, "Your wound needs cleaning. I'll look at Jack again after I've sorted your wound out."

"Yeah," she gave a shuddery sigh and tried to give him a reassuring smile although it disappeared in a flash, "I'm sorry to flip at you, Daniel. It's just so frustrating. He's gonna die and I can't do a damn thing to help him."

"I know," he whispered as he crawled over to her and pulled the woman into his arms as she continued to cry, "I'm gonna do everything to keep him alive until a rescue team come for us, but until then I need to keep you well, or there may be two emergency patients for Janet when we get back."

Sam looked up at him still crying and pulled away slightly as she whispered, "If we get back."

"We will," Daniel said firmly as she stared at him. She shook her head hopelessly as he glanced at the inanimate man lying on the floor, "We have to."

She nodded gently as he looked at her and the burn on her side that seriously needed cleaning before it became infected, which in this place seemed an inevitability. If he could catch it quick enough it wouldn't happen.

He spoke softly, "Can I clean your side now?"

She looked at him for a second, sniffed and wiped her eyes again as she whispered, "OK."

Daniel spoke softly as he took the clean cloth again, "Now this will hurt a lot." She placed her handkerchief between her jaws again and bit down hard, squeezing her eyelids shut, as he murmured, "OK. Brace yourself."

~~~Å~~~

Sam

Those were the days of our lives,
The bad things in life were so few,
Those days are all gone now, but one thing is true,
When I look and I find I still love you.

~These are the Days of our lives~

~~~Å~~~

Sam's eyelids open with a shock. She shivered and pulled the blanket around her closer. She then realised she didn't know where the hell she was. The last thing she remembered was stepping through the Gate. She also realised she was in a bed in a cave-like room with no clothes on!

Her heart beat fast from fear. What had happened? She had absolutely no idea what had happened. Where were her team? Why in God's name was she naked in a bed in a cave?!?

She rolled over and realised that someone had been here. The uncomfortable mattress had a small dent where someone had been lying. She felt extremely frightened and self-conscious. She couldn't remember anything after stepping through the Gate on a routine mission to K8W 721.

Suddenly, the cloth covering the hewn doorway was pushed aside as a figure stepped into the room. The light from the room behind the screen blinded her momentarily and all she could see was a dark figure moving towards the bed. Sam almost screamed as the figure slid into the bed next to her.

She moved as far away as she could, covering herself with the blanket entirely.

"Sam? You OK?"

The familiar voice almost sent Sam tumbling over the side of the bed, "Daniel? Oh my God!" She gasped shocked, "Oh my God! Daniel!!!"

Daniel's worried face turned to her. Luckily he was wearing underwear! He stared at her, "Sam? What's wrong? You look pale." He went to touch her arm, but she pulled back wrapping the blanket tighter around her and moving as far away from him on the bed as she could.

"Don't touch me! What the hell just happened? Why am I here... with you?"

"Sam? You're worrying me! I don't understand! What's up with you?" he tried to move closer.

"Don't come any closer just... just stay there."

He held up his hands and didn't move an inch as he murmured, "OK. I won't move. Sam, it's me, it's Daniel. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong!?! What's wrong! This is wrong!" she looked down at herself and then at him.

"Sam?" he looked at her curiously as in finally understanding, "You don't know why you're here? You don't know where you are?"

She stared at him as she finally felt herself calming down slightly. She explained fearfully; "The last thing I remember was walking through the Gate with you, Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c on a routine mission to K8W 721. One minute I was laughing and joking with the Colonel and the next I wake up here with… you. Daniel, what's going on? Where are we?"

"You don't remember anything?" Daniel said his worried frown becoming equally as confused, "Oh God! You don't remember anything that has happened for the past nine years?"

"Nine years?" Sam mouth gaped, "Nine years!"

"Sam..." He was lost for words he just stared at her, "I think we need to talk. Get dressed and we can talk over breakfast."

When Daniel made no movement of leaving she said, "Daniel... can you go, please?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry Sam!" He grinned sheepishly as he grabbed some strange clothes from beside him, slipped them on hastily and hurried out of the room leaving her alone.

Nine years? She didn't remember nine years of her life! She looked around the dark and dreary 'room'. It was just a cave with a bed in it. The bed was just a straw mattress on a slab of rock with a blanket. Sam shivered again and looked around her for some clothes.

Why on Earth was she in bed... with Daniel?!? I mean she loved him, but not in that way! He was like her little brother! It was... weird even thinking about it!

By her side was a pair of trousers and a flowing top like the clothes Daniel had had. She also found her underwear and hurriedly got dressed. She slipped on a pair of sandals that lay by the bed and pushed the drape away from the door.

Daniel sat with his head in his hands and his elbows resting on some kind of table. She noticed that this was obviously the kitchen as there was a stack of bowls on the table and what looked like some home baked bread beside them. She also noticed that there were another two hewn doorways covered by cloth doors. From behind one came a faint light while the other looked dark like the bedroom had.

Daniel looked up at her and gave a small smile as she sat down on the huge hunk of wood that seemed to serve as a bench. He sighed gently as she turned to him, "Daniel. What happened? How did I end up here?"

"Well it's a long story... nine years long in fact," he looked at her and took a deep breath, "On K8W 721 we ran into Apophis. Sam, we never believed it possible, but his fleet was huge. We couldn't get back through the Gate, but we managed to hide from the Jaffa. You built a bomb using some C-4 and Naquidah. Apophis's fleet had created a force shield large enough to cover the whole fleet, which included at least twelve mother ships. In the centre of the ship was the generator.

"We stole two death gliders and flew out of there. We blew up the generator and destroyed all the ships. The problem was that Apophis wasn't on the ships. He called together all the Goa'uld to tell them how we destroyed his fleet. Of course the Goa'uld were scared and immediately decided we were a threat. They decided the best way to deal with us would be to take us out," he sighed exasperatedly, "Meanwhile on Earth, Senator Kinsey shut down the SGC..."

"He what?!?"

"I know! It was the biggest mistake he ever made... Anyway, the SGC was closed and we all left. You didn't rejoin the Pentagon, but decided to do work in Colorado instead, I went to stay in New York and worked in the archaeological museum, Teal'c went home to Chulak to live with Rya'c and Jack retired..." He gave Sam a sideways glance. He coughed awkwardly, "A year later you and Jack got married..."

"M-M-married? The Colonel and... me? You're kidding?" he shook his head and stared at her seriously, "M-arried? As in... As in...?"

"Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill," Daniel smiled gently, "That was one of the happiest days of your life..."

Sam sat there in a shocked silence. I mean she liked the Colonel, a little more than she should, but... married!

Daniel continued, "You became pregnant a few months later..."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Wait a second... Pregnant? Pregnant with... pregnant with Colonel O'Neill's baby?"

"Uh... yeah. In a manner of speaking," Daniel said awkwardly.

"Daniel, tell me," Sam said seriously.

"Pregnant with Jack's Babies, Sam. Josh and Amy O'Neill. The twins were born on 12th June. It's their eighth birthday in just over a month..."

Sam had frozen when he'd said Josh and Amy O'Neill. That was the imaginary family she had with...

OK OK. So she had thought about being married to Colonel O'Neill before, but it made no sense! Those kids were imaginary, a dream, unless she was thinking they were imaginary when she was actually having real memories. She was so bewildered she couldn't tell her imagination from what really might have happened.

Daniel continued, "You guys were the happiest couple in Colorado Springs. When the twins were having their fourth birthday, Janet called you and told you that General Hammond needed to speak to us urgently. We all rushed to see General Hammond. He told us that the Tok'ra had discovered the Goa'uld building more than 400 mother ships," Sam gasped, "They'd been building for almost five years. The Tok'ra said they would be finished within four months and would be on their way, with both the new mother ships and some others, to destroy Earth."

"Oh God!"

"Yeah. General Hammond tried to tell Kinsey, but he wouldn't listen. He said that we were making it up so we could get the Stargate Programme back up and running. We tried at least twenty times to change his mind so we could start evacuating people to a Beta site, but he wouldn't listen.

"You spent the next few months working in a covert operation to build a weapon with Naquidah, but you couldn't come up with anything. No one could. The Goa'uld attack was growing more imminent and everyone was worried out of their minds. Jack confided in me about how worried he was. He was terrified, Sam. I've never seen him so scared in my whole life."

"What was he worried about?"

"Don't you see!" Daniel said sadly, "He was frightened of losing his family. He'd already lost one family and he didn't want to lose another. He didn't want to lose the twins, he didn't want to lose you and he didn't want to lose the baby..."

Sam let out a small groan and put her head in her hands. Daniel winced apologetically, "Sorry! I forgot you don't know..."

Sam sighed and looked up as she whispered, "It's OK, Daniel, just carry on."

"OK, so Jack was concerned and he began to beg Senator Kinsey to start evacuations or at least send teams through the Gate to destroy the Goa'uld base from where the attack was originating from. Kinsey wouldn't agree and Jack almost got taken away by the cops for attacking him..." Sam gave him a shocked look. He continued, "Well, not attacking as such! It was more threatening to rip him limb from limb... but that's not the point! Jack got together a group of people, including, Teal'c and some of his friends who wanted to help us destroy the Goa'uld..."

"How did the Colonel contact Teal'c if he was on Chulak?"

Daniel sat in silence for a second as if making up an excuse. That was strange. He then said hurriedly, "He used a Goa'uld communication device that he found in Area 51... and, before you ask, Maybourne was on our side and smuggled it out for us. When they'd contacted Teal'c, Jack had finished making plans for their mission. He got help from at least eighty willing airmen plus a good score of Jaffa.

"One night they broke into the storage facility where the Gate was held and they all gated to Chulak. From Chulak they went to the Goa'uld base." Daniel stared at his hands uncomfortably as he spoke, "it was a catastrophe! Only one man survived. Teal'c managed to get a death glider with the help of Jack, but then Jack was shot trying to help one of the airmen. Teal'c saw him fall and quickly left in the death glider," Sam gasped at the thought. She'd never married Jack and yet the more Daniel spoke about him being her husband the more she felt she really was...

"He found the nearest planet and gated to Earth. He was badly wounded and Janet looked after him. When he was finally able to speak the first words he said were, 'I must see Samantha O'Neill immediately'. They sent for you and when Teal'c told you Jack had died, you collapsed. Janet got you to a bed worried that you might hurt yourself or the baby. At the time I was looking after the twins for you, when I got the call from the SGC telling me what happened.

He sighed sadly, "I rushed to the air force hospital with Josh and Amy. Jack had told you about the mission, but you had never expected him to die. You were devastated. The twins were crying all day and in the end you cracked. I found you with a gun in your hand about to shoot yourself in the toilets. I stopped you, but everyone was worried that you had psychological problems after that. They almost took the twins away, but Janet and me stopped them. They were seriously considering locking you up and making you have an abortion."

Sam sat in silence for a few minutes, her mind still reeling over the facts she'd been given. He was dead. In the pit of her stomach she felt an overwhelming feeling of loss. She felt frightened and alone and all she wanted was him. She didn't know where the feelings had come from so suddenly. She guessed it was from the part of her that remembered her life with him.

She realised she'd gotten distracted and Daniel was waiting to continue. She stared at him as she whispered brokenly, "Keep going."

Daniel observed her warily before continuing with his account, "Three weeks later, we were told that the Goa'uld ships had entered our solar system and were amassing out somewhere in the region of Pluto. Senator Kinsey restarted the Stargate programme, but we only managed to get one twelfth of the world's population through the Gate before they arrived. Billions of people were still on Earth when the ships came. Everyone thought they would just destroy us, but instead the system lords divided us up and took us as slaves. Cronos requested that all SGC personnel were given to him, but so did lots of the system lords. In the end they quarrelled over us and we were all split up." He sighed, "We are now property of Lord Yu. Luckily, he doesn't have a huge hatred for us so we haven't really been tortured or bothered in any way..."

"So... we're slaves. Off world?"

"Yes. Welcome to H8R 524!" Daniel said sarcastically, "We'd been living here about three months when you had Lizzie on February 3rd. You were silent for almost two weeks afterwards, but you finally realised that you should stop moping. You have three great kids and even in death Jack still loves you and that's all that matters. So you carried on being Mrs. O'Neill and that was about three years ago."

Sam stared at her feet still trying to get her head around it. It was just so much to take in. Daniel smiled gently, obviously trying in vain to cheer her up, "Pretty interesting nine years you missed, huh?"

Suddenly, a small yawn from behind her made her jump. She swivelled around as a boy wandered into the kitchen. He was quite tall for his age and thin. He had pale blue eyes and sandy hair. He had a spattering of freckles on his nose and was also wearing the clothes she now realised were slave attire. He grinned at her and she knew that grin very well, "Morning, Mom."

As he gave her a peck on the cheek, she flinched, but he didn't noticed and sat down beside her. He rubbed his eyes as he yawned, "Morning Daniel."

Daniel smiled at the boy as he said fondly, "Hey, Josh. Are your sisters getting up soon?"

He shrugged in an all too familiar way, "I dunno." He turned to Sam and spoke seriously, "Mom, Amy had nightmares again. They were worse this time. Lizzie was pretty upset, but I managed to get her back off to sleep."

Daniel looked worried again, "Poor Amy. I thought she'd gotten over the nightmares?"

Josh shook his head, "Nope. She's still having them."

Daniel spoke to Sam, concerned, "Do you want me to check on her?" He raised his eyebrow slightly. She understood. For crying out loud, she didn't even remember her kids. Though she did because she'd invented them... No! They were real she could see that! They'd never been her imagination!

Daniel got up and wandered into the other dark room, leaving Sam and Josh sat alone at the table. Sam turned and stared at the little boy. He looked about seven, which Sam reminded herself, he was. He smiled at her and she noticed he was missing a tooth. When she didn't return the gesture, he looked at her worried, "Mom? You OK?"

She felt tears welling in her eyes. It was so confusing! She felt scared to death because she had no idea what was going on. He spoke again in a whisper, "Did you have an argument with Daniel?" She shook her head as the boy spoke again, "Are you sad about... Dad?"

She looked at him shocked as she felt one tear rolling down her cheek. She gave a small snivel as she spoke, "I don't know why, but when I woke up this morning... I couldn't remember the past nine years of my life."

Josh stared at her in disbelief, "Nine years! You're kidding right?" He gave a small laugh, but when more tears began to roll down her cheeks he stopped and put his arm around her, "You're not joking, are you?"

"No. I'm not," she murmured, "I don't remember marrying the Colonel or having you or when Colonel O'Neill died or the Goa'uld taking over the world or becoming a slave... it's just gone as if it never actually happened."

"But, it did! It did!" The boy spoke quite sharply and Sam stared at him in shock. The boy immediately softened, "Sorry, Mom. The boys at school were saying that we've always lived here and that Yu created us. Nobody believes me."

She gave a small smile to the boy, which she hoped would reassure him that his Mom hadn't lost it, as Daniel stepped in carrying a little girl in his arms. She had golden-brown hair that was tied back in two plaits. She rubbed her dark brown eyes tiredly as Daniel sat her on his knee. She was wearing a worn, cream nightdress and holding an old teddy bear with one eye hanging off and a rip on its paw. She yawned tiredly and then noticed Sam through her heavy eyelids.

She stood up and clambered over to her collapsing in her lap heavily. She sighed contentedly and snuggled closer into Sam's body. Sam felt her arms instinctively enclosing the child close.

The girl clasped Sam's hand and began playing with the wedding rings Sam had just noticed encircling her finger. The little girl spun the bands around, as she felt them with her tiny fingers. One was a circle of gold with three stones on it. There were two bluey-green stones either side of a clear diamond. They glinted in the warm light of the overhanging lamp. The other ring was just plain, but it was obviously very important. Her wedding ring. The wedding and marriage she couldn't even remember.

From somewhere a horn blew and Daniel stood with the five bowls, "Josh, you gonna come help me?"

"Sure, Daniel," he slipped on a pair of sandals that lay by the door and grabbed a couple of bowls.

"Wait for me!" A voice came from the children's room as a girl ran out she was trying to do up the buttons on her cardigan as she ran along. She tripped and fell to her knees, "Oh for crying out loud!" She grumbled angrily as she rose from the floor. She spotted Sam and ran to her. Sam immediately began to do up the buttons as the girl plaited her hair. She had very long sandy hair the same colour as Josh's. She also had pale blue eyes, but they had red marks beneath them. Amy had had nightmares.

The girl smiled lovingly and gave her a peck on the cheek as Sam did up the top button, "Thanks, Mom."

She ran to the door slipped on her own sandals grabbed a bowl and followed Daniel and Josh out of the other door, that Sam assumed led out of their... cave.

She sighed softly and looked down at the little girl sat on her lap. Lizzie looked up at her with her big, gorgeous eyes and grinned widely, showing off her set of tiny white teeth. Her eyes were exactly the same as Colonel O'Neill's. She sighed gently as the tiny girl jumped off her lap grabbed her hand and waddled into the children's bedroom.

It was similar to her room except there was one single bed and a double bed. Also a small chest sat in the corner which Sam could see had their 'toys' in.

The little girl clambered onto the double bed and pointed to her shirt and trousers that lay on the stone shelf sticking out above it. Sam realised the girl was wearing her nightdress and that due to her height, or lack of, she couldn't reach. As Sam pulled the clothes off the shelf and sat down, the tiny child ran across the mattress and fell flat on her face in front of her. The girl grinned and gave a small giggle.

She smiled fondly at her little girl. She was trying hard to pull her nightdress over her hair, but just couldn't and had managed to tangle herself up in it. Sam gently removed Lizzie's arms from the sleeves and pulled it over her head. The little girl pulled on her shirt as Sam fastened it up gently. The child seemed to watch her as she helped her to put her trousers on. Sam then sat the girl on her knee and redid the short plaits of thin brown hair, fastening them tightly with the small white ribbons. When she finished, Lizzie turned to her, smiled brightly in a way only children can smile and crawled off the bed. She toddled over to the box and from it she pulled out a book.

The girl passed it to Sam as she clambered back onto the bed. Sam pulled herself up so she leant against the wall and looked at the front cover.

"I should have known!" she smiled at the little girl, who crawled into her arms and yawned cutely.

Sam opened the book and gasped gently. On the first page was handwriting she knew:

To Josh and Amy,

Happy Birthday!
I'll read this to you when I get the chance!

Love Mom and Dad

XXXXX XXXXX

Sam stared at the writing feeling an urge to cry. The girl looked at her worriedly and then pointed at the book as if telling her to start reading. Despite her sadness, Sam chuckled slightly as the girl frowned as if showing her she was the boss.

Sam turned the first page and began to read softly:

"The Cyclone. Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small..."

She paused as she heard Daniel and the twins come back from wherever they had been.

"Sam?"

"In here," she replied as they all trundled in.

Amy gasped and ran to the bed, "Mommy's reading!" She was carrying two bowls of soup. It smelt heavenly even though it didn't look as good. Amy passed her one bowl.

They all sat on the double bed and ate the breakfast hungrily, Daniel helping the small toddler and trying to prevent the child getting covered in soup.

When they'd finished, Sam began again as everyone, including to her slight surprise Daniel, listened with rapt attention. She read at least seven chapters before a horn blew and echoed around the dwelling.

"Right," Daniel said looking at the twins, "You guys ready for school?"

"Yeah," they both answered in unison. Josh looked at Sam worried for a second, "Is Mom gonna be alright?"

"She'll be fine. She's just a little under the weather this morning. Now go before you miss registration."

Amy gave Sam a quick peck on the cheek as she picked up a small satchel from the side. It had a curly 'A' sewn onto it. Josh did the same picking up an identical school bag with a 'J'.

"Bye, Mom. Bye, Daniel."

"See ya after school, Kids," Daniel said, as both twins hugged the little girl sat in Sam's lap.

"Bye, Lizzie," Amy murmured gently as she smiled at the little girl who waved as they dashed out of the room, "We'll be back to play later!"

Sam heard the cloth 'front door' flap as the children ran past it. She sighed gently, feeling content and empty, sad and happy at the same time. This was all so surreal!

She stared at the small girl on her lap. She could have sworn these kids were precisely the ones she'd imagined... nine years ago. She didn't know how, but something just didn't add up about all this.

She realised she still didn't know why she'd been in bed with Daniel! She seemed to be trying to avoid it. She'd already been told today that she'd forgotten almost a decade of her life, that she'd been married to her CO, that they'd had three kids together, that the Goa'uld had taken over the world, that she was a slave and, the one thing that seemed the most hard to come to terms with, Colonel O'Neill was dead.

Sam didn't believe it. Jack was here! She could feel he was nearby, but there was something else. He was distant.

Daniel smiled at the little girl on Sam's knee, "Did you ask Mommy to start reading?"

Lizzie nodded, her small, pearly-white teeth grinning cutely. Sam looked at him confused. Daniel sighed, "Ever since Jack died you haven't had the heart to read it. Amy reads it to the other two, but her reading's not very good. Slaves have no need for intellect," Daniel said quite indignantly.

Sam shook her head and spoke, "Daniel, I don't know why, but I think Colonel O'Neill is still alive! It's as if he's here, but not here. As if we're in the same room, but not."

"Don't be stupid!" Daniel snapped, "How can you be in the same room?"

Sam was shocked, "It was just a thought...!"

"I'm sorry, Sam," he murmured apologetically, "I miss him a lot as well. He was my best friend."

Sam smiled slightly, as he got up, "I've gotta go to work. I get to chop wood!" He said with sarcastic enthusiasm.

Sam gave him a small smile as he left. Lizzie turned to her and frowned as if showing her authority and then pointed back at the book lying in her arms. Sam realised what made that expression so familiar. She knew precisely who the small child had gotten that from. She smiled fondly and placed a soft kiss on the girl's head, as she continued to read.

~~~Å~~~

Two weeks had passed and Sam was finally learning to live with her sudden memory loss. Although she couldn't remember anything that had happened, she knew what had happened and that was comforting. At least she now had a better chance of remembering places, things and… people.

She'd realised certain things about her family after a few days that played heavily on her mind. Lizzie never spoke. She hadn't asked why because something told her she really didn't want to know. There was something sinister about it that gave her a sick feeling in her stomach that she couldn't explain.

She had discovered that Amy suffered from chronic nightmares. Almost every night the young girl would have a nightmare. Daniel said she'd been having them since the day Jack had died and at the mention of her husband's name, Sam hadn't pursued further on the subject...

Josh was asthmatic. Luckily, he'd only ever had one serious asthma attack and he'd been five, also just after Jack had died. At the time, it had been fine. They'd been on Earth and he'd had a proper inhaler. They had medicine now, although it wasn't very good and chances were if he had another serious attack he would die.

The final member of her family she didn't ask about.

Jack...

She never asked about him and no one ever spoke about him. The only person who'd even said his name after her conversation with Daniel had been Amy when she'd had nightmares and even then it had been 'Dad'.

Sam sighed. She'd been here for over two weeks and she still didn't remember the past nine years. She wondered if she ever would or if she'd spend the rest of her life without a single comforting memory.

She sat in the children's bedroom fixing one of Amy's nightdresses, as Daniel walked in with Lizzie. They'd been for a walk, not that there was much to see.

He grinned at her as he bent down so Lizzie could run to her Mom. She jumped into Sam's lap and Sam smiled pulling the little girl into a hug.

Daniel gave her a small kiss on the cheek and murmured, "Had a good day?"

"It was OK. Still haven't remembered anything. I fixed your journal for you," she nodded towards Daniel's old notebook on her left.

His grin widened as he grabbed it, "Thanks."

The book must be at least ten years old! He'd had it since before Sam's blank memory spot. She smiled, "Just needed to be retied with string. It's still not very secure, but it'll do alri..."

She gasped as a surge of something went through her and she grabbed handfuls of the blanket tightly. It felt as though she'd been split. The feeling cleaved her in half as Daniel's anxious face, Lizzie's frightened tears and the cave-like room began to faze in and out with another place. It felt as though she was being… copied. As though she were in two places at once.

The other place began to sharpen and focus and she found herself sat by a lake. The sun was rising over the mountains. It was beautiful. It was then she realised her head was lying on someone's shoulder.

She turned to face him and as she saw his face she gasped in her head. She tried to pull away from him, but she couldn't move. She had no control over what she did! She felt herself speaking although she couldn't hear a word she spoke. It was like watching a TV in mute. The volume began to increase, as did the nauseous feeling pounding in her head and writhing in the bottom of her stomach, like some really intense form of travel sickness.

She felt her body involuntarily leaning towards him to kiss him. He looked at her shocked and pulled back. Her lips moved again as she heard her words, "Why won't you kiss me?" Her voice didn't sound like her own, in fact she could hear two voices speaking at the same time in her head. One was hers, but was speaking in a tone she'd never spoken in before, the other was a highly familiar voice. A man... she couldn't work out who though!

"You're not Carter!" Jack growled as he leapt away from her.

"Kiss her! That's what we want to see and yet you still resist! The woman you love just declared her love for you and you still won't! Colonel O'Neill, you are too hard to please!" She heard the two voices say. She couldn't put her finger on the man's voice...

She felt herself being tugged back to the cave. As the lake finally melted from view, she saw cloaked figures and the look of disbelief and shock on Jack's face...

"Sam? Sam! Can you hear me?"

She blinked and found Daniel staring into her eyes. What had just happened? She began to realise something. The voice, the cloaked figures... they'd been familiar, but she couldn't place when she'd seen them before

She looked at Daniel. He was staring at her worried, waiting for her to speak, "I can hear you, Daniel."

"Sam! You just fazed out! You looked like you were in a trance! Are you OK?"

"Yeah," she murmured, "I'm fine."

Daniel's face-hardened suddenly and then his expression became sad, "Hallucinations," he said slightly, "It's happened before. Have you got a headache or anything?"

"No."

Daniel released a small relieved sigh, "Good." Sam turned to Daniel desperately, "Daniel, I saw cloaked figures and I heard a voice. I've seen them and heard that voice before!"

Daniel looked around and then spoke in a whisper, "You've had that delusion before. Sam, listen to me. Don't tell anyone about that. If they think you're crazy, they'll kill you or say you can't look after the children and take you away to Lord Yu."

"What?"

Daniel sighed, "Sam, Yu wanted you to be his... slave, but you were pregnant. When you had Lizzie, he wanted to take you, but I argued he couldn't take you until Lizzie had grown up. For some strange reason he listened to me and decided he would wait until then."

Lizzie looked at her and then pulled an imaginary zip across her lips. Daniel gave a small chuckle, "She learnt pretty early, that the day she started speaking would be the day he took you. We didn't even tell her. She just... knew," Daniel smiled at the little girl, "If you ask me, she's more like her Mom than she appears."

Sam smiled at that and the little girl came back into her arms, "So, you don't talk?" Lizzie shook her head and then stuck her thumb back in her mouth.

"Alright then," Sam murmured softly, feeling a tender smile on her face.

Then she heard a scream…

~~~Å~~~

Part Two

I want to break free. I want to break free.
I want to break free from your lies,
You're so self-satisfied. I don't need you.
I've got to break free.
God knows! God knows I want to break free!

~I Want to Break Free~

~~~Å~~~

Jack

There's no chance for us. It's all decided for us.
This world has only one sweet moment,
Set aside for us.

~Who wants to live Forever~

~~~Å~~~

Jack entered the General's office cautiously as the man observed him, taking a sip of steaming coffee from the mug in his hands. He spoke as he placed the mug down, "It's great to see you, Colonel and I apologise for my behaviour in the Gate room this morning."

Jack gave his friend a small sigh, "It's understandable from what I've heard."

General Hammond nodded and then motioned to the chair before his desk, "Please take a seat, Colonel."

Jack moved to the chair and lowered himself down into it as he murmured, "You wanted to see me, Sir?"

The General sighed wearily, "I've been told you've been... extremely wilful about seeing Dr. Jackson, Major Carter and Teal'c."

"Major?"

The General seemed to freeze for a split second, as if in blunder, before lifting his coffee and taking a sip hurriedly, before saying, "I'm so used to talking to you about Major Carter, I almost forget..." He sighed again and fixed Jack with an apologetic look, "There is something I need to tell you before I allow you to see them."

Jack's hopes lifted for a second as he said, "I can see them?"

The General snorted slightly, "Yes, Son. I've decided you should meet with them." His smile fell as he spoke seriously, "There is something about Dr. Carter that I should tell you."

Jack decided not to let the General know that he knew precisely what he was talking about. He spoke, feigning curiosity and anxiety, "What?"

"The inhabitants of K8W 721 somehow affected Dr. Carter's brain. We don't know how or why they did, but the effects caused serious fits."

"Oh God," Jack exclaimed, not entirely acting.

General Hammond took another sip of coffee and continued, "We didn't realise when she first returned as her first fit came a week after. Dr. Fraiser had just given her clearance to leave the base. Dr. Carter was driving home when she had a serious seizure and her car swerved straight across the road, two cars hitting it simultaneously on each side."

Jack sat in a shocked silence as he realised what the General was saying. The older man continued in his serious low tone, placing the hot mug on the table, "Thankfully, no one in the other cars were seriously injured, but... Dr. Carter's back was broken severely and she only just pulled through. Truth is Colonel… she's paralysed from the waist down."

"Jesus," Jack murmured, the shock finally sinking in. When he'd heard the conversation in the Infirmary a few minutes ago… it just didn't seem real. Everything was finally registering with his brain. It wasn't just a nightmare... this was really happening...

The General spoke again, "Dr. Carter's seizure haven't stopped and an 'old acquaintance' of ours has expressed a concern that she should be placed in special care. As far as we can tell we have managed to hide some of the Doctor's problems from him, but we know it can't be long until he discovers them."

"What other problems?"

General Hammond's age was beginning to show as he pulled a hand over his face with a sigh, "I've been told by quite a few people that she is suicidal and that she often drifts off into silent trances, her mind elsewhere. She has slight delusions... and it was reported that she sits in your quarters and talks to you." The General gave him a look before continuing, "Her health has been extremely poor and Dr. Fraiser informed me only today that... she won't be with us for much longer. She assured me she will be around for a year at the least, a year and a half being the predicted maximum. I'm sorry, Colonel. This must be hard for you. I know how much you care about Samantha."

Jack looked at the man shocked. First of all he'd mentioned 'feelings' and secondly, he'd called her Samantha. He either called her Dr. Carter or Sam, but never Samantha.

The General fixed him with that omniscient look again! "Don't look so surprised, Jack. I've known for quite some time how you two feel about each other," the man said, his blue eyes boring into Jack, "Returning home, not realising you were ever gone, discovering you've missed almost 3 years of your life and then finding out... someone you care about deeply is extremely sick must be difficult for you."

"Yeah," Jack mumbled not really sure what else he could say. He observed his superior officer as the man nodded gently.

After a second he murmured, "I'll summon Dr. Carter, Dr. Jackson and Teal'c. You will all meet in the Briefing room, tomorrow 1000 hrs. Understood?"

Wow. The General was pretty high strung! Jack nodded mutely and stood as the General muttered, "Dismissed."

As Jack left he couldn't help but notice the General's coffee mug… and the fact it wasn't on a coaster!

If there was one thing Jack O'Neill knew about his CO, it was the fact mugs always had to be on a coaster. Hammond didn't care about most mess, but that irritated him. So why was the hot coffee mug sat on the polished wooden surface?

Jack's eyebrow rose, but he didn't comment as he left the room, his 'Bodyguards' leading him back to his quarters.

~~~Å~~~

The next day at 1000hrs, Jack O'Neill stood outside the briefing room waiting to be called to enter. Daniel, Sam and Teal'c were all in there, the General, no doubt, trying to explain so as not to send them into shock induced comas when he entered... Jack shuddered. The fact that Sam actually might...

The SF beside him picked up the phone by the door as it let out half a shrill ring. The man spoke, "Yes, Sir," he looked up at Jack and gave a small nod.

Jack took in a deep breath to compose himself, before gently opening the door and slowly stepping into the room.

Straight away, his eyes fell on his team and he felt his heart clench in his chest. Teal'c sprang from his seat as if someone had suddenly poured molten metal all over his head. The look of complete and utter disbelief on the Jaffa's usual expressionless face made Jack blink.

Upon entering Daniel had fallen, most ungraciously, from his seat and was now still collapsed in a heap on the floor peering over the top of the table at him in unprecedented surprise as he whispered, "Oh my God!"

The person who Jack wanted and feared seeing the most was sat in her wheelchair with her back facing him. He knew from the way the muscles in her shoulders tensed and the way her hands, that had been lying on the table, relaxed before he entered, now were pressing into the table so hard they were turning white, that Sam was terrified of turning around.

He didn't blame her. In her position he would be too. He knew Samantha Carter well and knew that she conquered fear better than anyone he'd ever seen. She'd turn around. She wasn't one for sticking her head in the sand!

Slowly, still in her rigid position Samantha Carter reached one hand down to the rim of the wheel, her eyes closed as if still fearing what she would see, she turned her wheelchair until she faced him.

In the background he could see everyone else had frozen like statues, barely breathing from trepidation and anticipation of the moment the beautiful, although now handicapped, doctor opened her eyes and saw him.

The General had stood as he'd entered and was stood at the head of the table his blue eyes fixed on Sam and himself. Teal'c had moved to the back of Daniel's chair, helping the man to his feet and they now stood close together, staring at Jack as if they'd just witnessed a resurrection. Jack guessed in a way they had...

It was then he saw movement before him. Sam's eyelids flickered as hesitantly her eyes opened... She stared at him blankly. Her jaw didn't drop and she didn't suddenly start fitting... she just stared at him with her breathtaking eyes.

Everyone else suddenly disappeared. Only he and Sam seemed to exist. She was in her jeans and white t-shirt, her pristine lab coat on top of that, sat in that wheelchair, her wide, deep blue eyes staring up into his, making him feel as if he could drown in them. She wasn't moving an inch as if she was frightened to even breathe, as if he would disappear all of a sudden if she took her eyes off him.

He suddenly found his voice and it came out in a small croak as he whispered, "Sam?"

That's when her expression cracked. Her whole body began to tremble, her eyes began to water and a soft whine of absolute loss and agony left her lips for a second as she whispered, "J-J..." She gave a soft gasp, "Oh my god! I-It's you... You're alive!"

In one swift movement Jack moved forward and fell to his knees before her, Sam throwing herself from her wheelchair into his arms. She was shaking hard and Jack could faintly hear a voice, must be the General, alerting Dr. Fraiser.

She pulled her face back and stared at him as she murmured, "We... I... Oh God!" She used her arms fiercely pulling him to her tightly. She began crying as Jack began to rub her back gently, trying to calm her slightly. Beneath his fingers he could feel the way her bones were damaged toward her lower back. He looked down at her legs. They were quite literally thrown to the side out of the way.

Jack winced at the thought when he felt Sam convulsing fiercely. The Doctor and her medical team chose the correct time to speed into the room, pulling Sam from him.

He looked on helplessly, the Doc and her medical team injecting her with something. He felt absolute horror at what he was witnessing. Slowly, as whatever Fraiser had injected her with began to take effect, the convulsions in her body stopped and she finally lay still on the floor taking a huge gasp for air and beginning to choke and splutter.

Jack noticed for the first time that Daniel and Teal'c were now knelt beside her. Daniel clasped her hand tightly as he hushed the violently choking woman, who looked extremely pale and sickly from her sprawled position on the floor, legs still bent at odd angles, lifeless and practically dead.

Sam finally calmed down as the gentle Doctor and her team lifted the woman onto the gurney they'd brought with them. Janet spoke tiredly, "Let's get her to the Infirmary. See if you can run a scan on her brain for any causes..."

"But Doctor, you know that there never is..."

"Well, maybe this time there will be!" The Doctor snapped before apologising to the young male nurse, "Sorry, Pete. Just try anyway."

"Yes, Ma'am," he mumbled as him and the rest of the medical staff left with Sam on the gurney.

~~~Å~~~

Jack sat by Sam's bedside, looking at her beautiful face intently, as if wanting to remember everything about it in one instant. He'd known for a long while how he felt about Samantha Carter and truth was he'd been in denial about it from that split second on some unimportant day, whilst on some unimportant mission. That split second when, without warning, one small and innocent, yet powerful and dangerous, thought floated into his head...

'I love her.'

Jack sighed gently. Sam had been unconscious for about 5 hours. In those 5 hours, he'd never left the Infirmary and had been talking with Teal'c and Daniel. Once they'd both got over the shock that he was alive, they'd told him everything that had been happening around here whilst he'd been gone. Daniel and Janet even taught him what to do if Sam began fitting, both of them quite rightly assuming Jack was never moving more than 10 yards away from her... for the rest of her life...

Now they'd both gone, probably to give him some time alone, even though both had made up excuses that were so lame Jack couldn't even remember them now. The truth was that Jack was glad they were gone. When they were near he had a sick feeling in his stomach, something just not sitting right.

A flicker of blue caught Jack's attention and without realising it he was staring into Sam's eyes. He smiled hesitantly at the look of horror on her face as she stared at him, "Hi Sam."

"Oh my God! It can't be..."

"It's me," Jack sighed and then looked away unwilling to watch in case the woman began to fit again. That had been so scary...

"It wasn't a dream... You... You're really here?"

He felt gentle fingers clasp round his as she let out a gasp. He couldn't help it. He turned to look at her. And she was smiling.

Jack felt himself smile back as Sam pulled him into another tight hug, "Oh Jack! I can't believe... You are... I can't believe..." She hugged him even tighter as she shuddered with shock, tears building in her beautiful eyes, "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"Actually I do. Well, sorta," Jack replied.

"What?"

Jack cleared his throat, "Yesterday, when Janet kicked you out of my quarters, it was because of me. The General didn't want everyone to know I'd returned for some reason, so I was confined to quarters... I found that letter... addressed to me..."

Sam stared at him sadly for a second, "No one can understand what this is like for me."

"Who dragged the pen from your hand?"

"What?" Sam frowned at then closed her eyes slowly in realisation. She spoke without opening them, "No one. I cried myself into a fit." Her beautiful blue eyes opened again as she put on a smile, "Can we stop talking about this? You've probably heard enough from everyone else and I really don't like talking about it."

Jack nodded and then frowned curiously, "I can't tell what month it is because there are no windows! What's the date?"

"30th May."

"It's May! Really! Man, I need a new calendar!" She grinned at that. He continued, "May. I like May."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"You know!" She looked worried for a second and then lost the look, "I always go to my cabin in May. It's so peaceful that time of year. Minnesota's great and I love my cabin..."

"I never went when I had the chance," she sighed gently and then leant her head on his shoulder, "Tell me. What's it like?"

Jack didn't know how he could explain it to her. He sighed and looked at her, "Why don't I show you?"

She opened her eyes wide and smiled, "Really? You'll take me!"

"Of course. Why not?"

"For a start Janet won't be too happy..."

"I know what to do. I've been learning from Daniel and the Doc," he said seriously as she nodded and smiled quietly.

"Also, I didn't think you'd want to take me," she glanced at the wheel chair beside her, "I thought you'd never... like... me again..." her voice trailed away as she looked into his eyes.

"You're meant to be smart, but that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say!" he let out a small chuckle, "Carter, I will always... like... you," Sam snorted at Jack's voice. She smiled happily, "I always have and I always will."

"So," she stared into her lap, "You don't think I'm ugly…"

"Are you nuts?!? Carter?" he cupped her face in his hand forcing her to look into his eyes as he spoke, "You're beautiful and I know this sounds really corny, but it's not just about what you look like that matters. I like you, not what you look like! No! That sounds wrong! Ah damn! I'm not good at this!"

She just chuckled, "I know you don't have a clue what to say, but you don't have to say anything!" She leant in and kissed him on the cheek. He pulled back shocked. He stared at her for a second. He knew he loved her. He'd loved her almost from Day One, but this... this was strange. Carter would find it too awkward to kiss him like there had never been any regulations between them. She just wouldn't...

And what was just as strange was that she'd just repeated what the Sam who'd come through the Quantum Mirror had said when he'd found out that in her reality they'd been married. The strange thing was he'd never told Carter about that moment so how did she know word for word what she'd said?

He shook the thought away deciding to carry on as normal even though he had the feeling everything was not as it seemed.

He grinned, "Right. Pack your bags. We're going to Minnesota when the Doc releases you!"

~~~Å~~~

Four days later, they arrived at the cabin. Once there, Jack and Sam spent the whole day reminiscing about the good old times. Jack couldn't help but grin. Samantha Carter was sat in his old arm chair in his cabin in Minnesota, sipping a beer and smiling and laughing as if nothing was wrong. She was finally here and she loved it. He could tell. He'd seen it the second they pulled down the bumpy dirt track in his truck, driving slowly towards the wooden cabin. Her eyes had lit up with wonder her face almost glowing with excitement as she got lost in the beauty of it. She'd looked at him and grinned.

They'd always had a way to speak to each other without words and when she grinned at him he knew precisely what she was saying: 'Why in God's name didn't I just come with you when you first asked me?!?'

After a second, Sam sipped her beer before she glanced at her watch, "It's getting late."

"You want to go to bed?"

Sam giggled and blushed at the double meaning in his question before she whispered, "No, I'll stay up for a bit longer. Hey, why don't you put the radio on or something?"

Jack pushed himself up off the couch and moved to the sound system stowed in the corner of the room. He turned on the radio and soft music began to fill the room, spilling out of the speakers. Jack felt colour rushing to his cheeks and was about to change the channel when a soft voice spoke, "Jack?"

He turned to look at the woman sat in the armchair, her useless legs lying on the matching footstool. She looked nervous as she whispered, "Would you... I mean... Would you dance with me?"

Jack smiled realising that was the precise thought that had entered his head. He stepped towards her, unsure why he was doing this. She hesitantly lifted her arms and he bent slightly so she could fasten them around his neck. He placed his at the base of her back and supported her in his arms as he stood up straight again. She seemed to weigh nothing and he gently began to sway with the beautiful woman in his arms. After a second her eyes met his and she was smiling. A true happy smile. Jack couldn't believe the woman in his arms was the same that had considered suicide not so long ago.

She spoke softly, her eyes bewitching him so he just stared into hers, "Thank you."

"For what?" Jack asked confused.

Sam's smile faded for a second, "For making me happy. Making me feel like I belong somewhere." He watched as her eyes lowered to her legs dangling downwards, "Making me feel..." Her eyes met his as she whispered, "Making me feel loved."

Jack swallowed hard not really sure what to say. He held her close to his body and continued to sway. She laid her head on his shoulder as he rested his chin on her head. He sighed and murmured into her hair, "You're welcome."

They danced, Jack unsure as to why he could hold her up, for what felt like hours, until Sam let out a small yawn and said with a teasing grin, "You can take me to bed now!"

Jack chuckled at her humour and in one swift movement tipped her to one side and hooked her legs over his left arm. She let out a small giggle of surprise as he wiggled his eyebrows at her, "Yes, My lady."

He carried her through the cabin, her arms still wrapped around his neck. He stepped into the guest room, pushing the door open with his foot as he murmured, "If you need anything just shout." He'd already put all her stuff in here for her and she had a small en-suite bathroom. Her wheelchair stood by the side of her bed, just in case...

His eyes fell on the woman whose eyes gazed at him in a sort of confusion. He smiled and gently lowered her to the bed as he murmured, "Sweet dreams, Sam."

She continued to stare at him, her deep blue eyes wide with her surprised expression. After a few seconds her arms dropped from around his neck slowly and she whispered, "Jack? Why... Why are you doing all this for me?"

Jack stood up straight and mumbled, "Well, I... I... I'm really tired. I think I'm going to get to bed."

Sam's face fell slightly in disappointment before she smiled sweetly, "Night Jack. Oh, can you pass me my bag?"

Jack just nodded and grabbed her bag for her, placing it on her lap before turning to leave. He swivelled back around and murmured hurriedly, "If you want... The sun rises are pretty spectacular here... If you want we could..."

Sam grinned, "I'd really like that."

Jack sighed relieved and smiled back, "OK. I'll wake you up in the morning, OK?"

"Sure. Goodnight."

Jack grinned happily in reply and left her room feeling so happy he couldn't explain it. He wandered to his room sitting down on the bed and realised why his heart was racing and his hands shaking.

He breathed shakily, "I... I made her happy..."

~~~Å~~~

They sat on the old bench by the lake as the sun rose over the mountains. Sam sighed happily as she dropped her head onto his shoulder. He watched her as she smiled dreamily. She was in a world of her own, not really concentrating on anything. It was strange. She was never seen without the look of thinking on her face, but now her face seemed almost blank.

"I'm tired of this place. I'm tired of waking up every morning and wishing I hadn't woken at all. I'm tired of being alive."

Her sighed statement struck a chord in Jack's heart that made slight panic rise in his throat! This was so hard for him to comprehend! It just didn't seem real!

He turned to stare at her as the first light of the new day shone upon her face and illuminated her hair with its golden rays. She turned to him, "And when I do go it won't matter. I will always love you, Jack, even when I die. Always." They were to close for comfort. Not that Jack didn't want to kiss her, but it felt wrong! It all felt so wrong! It wasn't right! He turned away from her!

She seemed to sigh frustrated, "Why won't you kiss me?"

He was so shocked he turned to stare at her. Her expression changed to something he'd never seen her wear before. It wasn't Carter! Whatever it was, it wasn't Carter! No one had been who'd they'd said they were! It all began to make sense now! Daniel was a fraud! Teal'c was a fake! Doc. Fraiser was an impostor! And as for General Hammond...

"You're not Carter!"

She spoke irritated, "Kiss her! That's what we want to see and yet you still resist! The woman you love just declared her love for you and you still won't! Colonel O'Neill, you are too hard to please!"

Suddenly, Jack realised what was happening! He jumped away from her as he stared around him. No, it couldn't be, but as black-cloaked figures appeared out of nowhere he realised it was happening!

"You again!" he growled as Carter disappeared and was replaced by a familiar man with a funny hat and a cloak.

"Yes. It is I."

"What the hell are you doing?" He turned to the cloaked figures, "We set you free! Why the hell did you let him plug you into those machines again? And what are you doing on K8W 721?"

"Our world was destroyed by the Goa'uld," the Gamekeeper grimaced, "This world is much less wonderful. It's a barren wasteland, but it is able to sustain life and so it was a good choice."

Jack spoke angrily, "Then there are no plants for them to ruin! Why in God's name are you still using your machines?"

"My people began to use the machines by their own will trying to see our old world and live there. They became addicted to the machines. They have to stay in. After a year, they did not wish to see our world anymore. It was too painful, so I adapted..."

Jack glared at him, "What the hell is going on?"

"I've updated the system so as you can experience your imagination as well. Dreams and nightmares..."

"So, you're saying this is my imagination?"

"Yes," he said and then his expression changed, "I have to go immediately," he groaned, "My last impersonation! I connected with her! Oh dear... I will return soon after I have to sort out this mess!"

With that they all disappeared and Jack was left standing by the lake confused and not knowing what was really going on.

~~~Å~~~

Jack was sat in a deep thinking session for hours. The same unanswerable and very confusing problems kept playing themselves, then rewinding back to the beginning and playing again. It was like a non-stop flow of questions Jack couldn't even begin to answer.

Why had the Gamekeeper left so suddenly? What had he been babbling on about? How was the real Carter tied into this, as he knew somehow she was? Where were his friends? Were they experiencing the same crazy nightmare? Would they be trapped forever? How could he escape...?

That had been the only one he could even begin to answer. He had to find one of those doors that, in the last Gamekeeper scenario, had led from the SGC to the Gamekeeper's greenhouses.

Once he got out he could free Sam, Daniel and Teal'c from whatever warped dreams, nightmares and imaginary realities they were living.

He suddenly felt very alone. No one in this place was real. He wondered how the other's felt. They were all probably beginning to work it out themselves by now. He knew he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer and that he was the least likely person to work it out first.

He would just have to hope that he was able to find a way out of this soap opera version of his life and rescue his friends.

"OK, let's find the way out!"

Jack jumped into his truck. There had to be one logical place where an exit was in all their 'games'. Somewhere they could all get to no matter where they were. The exit had to be somewhere that would be in all their imaginary realities...

Then it struck him! 'How did you get here, O'Neill? That's how you get out!'

He suddenly began to speed down the road. Ideas popped into his head. This whole place was his imagination. This whole world was under his control, in a manner of speaking. Jack felt a small smile on his face as he imagined the road would have no cars on. He closed his eyes for a second and when he looked up all the cars were gone. They'd disappeared without a trace! Perfect! This was going to be a cakewalk!

Suddenly, the Gamekeeper appeared in the passenger's seat. He did not look like a happy camper!

"Colonel O'Neill! What are you doing? If you leave... they'll have nothing to watch and they'll blame me!"

"Oh, won't that be a terrible shame," Jack said sarcastically. He glanced at the man again as he said angrily, "I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life in this hell hole!"

The Gamekeeper spoke soothingly, "But you could have whatever you want. You can live your perfect life."

"It wouldn't be real," Jack replied, determined to not even be slightly tempted by the offer.

The persuasive tone in the Gamekeeper's voice was strong, "You can live your life however you want. If you want I can even make you forget that this isn't real. You could live in heaven for the rest of your life. Don't you want to live in you ideal world?"

Jack gritted his jaw tightly, "What about my friends. Not only Carter, Daniel and Teal'c, but the people on Earth waiting for us. Teal'c's son and wife, Carter's Dad, Fraiser and Cassie, General Hammond... everyone we know will be waiting for us to come home and I don't want them to go through what you showed me they'd go through."

"But it's your imagination. You imagine they'd take it that hard, but how do you know?"

"Because I know those people," Jack replied snappily, "And I know they won't rest until we're home, safe and sound."

The Gamekeeper spoke softly, "I can understand your dilemma, Colonel." He looked up at him and spoke, "But consider this. You could be with her here. Forever."

"What?" Jack said shocked.

The Gamekeeper gave him a knowing smirk, "You know who I'm talking about, Colonel. You are obviously not as unintelligent as you led me to believe." Jack frowned at the man angrily, but he continued to speak, enticingly, "You could be with her here, but if you go back..." He stared at him piercingly, "The honest truth is Colonel, you two can never be together in the real world. Even if you retired she'll probably go off with some gorgeous Doctor, someone she can talk to about her job and Astrophysics isn't exactly your forte, is it? Let's face it, Colonel, Samantha Carter is a very beautiful woman and very beautiful women don't wait around for men like you."

Jack tried to block out the voice and concentrate on the road, not that he really had to concentrate. Though he tried, the voice continued to talk, piercing into him like a verbal dagger. Jack felt his heart hurting and his mind reeling, but there was no way to block out that voice.

"Stay here and I can make you forget that we ever had this conversation. You could live in a Utopia with her, blissfully unaware. Not only would you benefit, but my people will also be happy. You could have her just like you always wanted."

Jack realised something, "If I stay, the rest of my team will never figure it out. If I've figured it out before them, then chances are they won't figure it out. They are all way smarter than me. That's why you're trying to stop me!"

"Yes. I need you, Colonel. But you can need me too. Just think of the perfect life you and Samantha could ha..."

"What would happen to Sam?"

The Gamekeeper goggled at him as he murmured nonchalantly, "What?"

Jack looked at the man as he slammed his foot on the brake coming to a halt in the middle of the deserted road. He could see a fear in the Gamekeeper's eyes as Jack spoke, "If I stay, none of them would be free. They'd all be living nightmares. You're only cutting me a deal so I won't rescue them. You're people want to see suffering. Sam would be stuck in a nightmare for the rest of her life." He sighed and stared at the steering wheel, "Even if she will never love me in real life that doesn't stop me from loving her." He looked up at the Gamekeeper, "And I won't let you do that to her or Daniel or Teal'c."

"Colonel!"

He stared at the panicking alien for a second and then said smirking, "You're not here!" The Gamekeeper disappeared, a look of shock on his face. Jack couldn't help but grin, "Finally!"

Suddenly, another idea floated into his mind. He'd just thought of a quicker way to get to the SGC. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again he was stood on the ramp. Why hadn't he realised before? The Gate had never been shut off the entire time he'd been here! The Gate was the exit!

He could hear General Hammond yelling, "Close the Iris! He's escaping!"

'The Iris is stuck!' he thought as he began running. The Iris jammed and he could hear the Gamekeeper screaming curses as he dived into the event horizon.

~~~Å~~~

He toppled down the steps and landed flat on his face. He looked up hesitantly and was surprised to find he was in the room from the MALP footage. He stared around wondering whose mind he'd just hopped, or more precisely tumbled, into. He saw the door before him. He stepped up to it and hesitantly pressed the button beside it.

The door rose up letting in a flurry of snow. Once the door was open, Jack was shielding his eyes from the snow that bombarded him. He knew it wouldn't be long before the Gamekeeper and his cloaked cronies caught up with him.

He stepped out into the snow storm.

'No Snow!' Jack thought closing his eyes, but he could still feel the snow sting as it hit him. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the same winter wonderland!

Why didn't it work...?

'Of course, you dumb ass! You're not in your imagination anymore! Who ever imagined this is the only one who can change anything!'

He let out a shuddery sigh and began to make his way through the blizzard. He hugged his arms around his chest.

'Note to self: Never step onto a frozen wasteland in jeans and a t-shirt!' He thought to himself as he stumbled forwards, 'Time to find Daniel, Teal'c and Sam!'

~~~Å~~~

Teal'c

I'm just the pieces of the man I used to be,
Too many bitter tears are raining down on me.
I'm far away from home and I've been facing this alone
For much too long.

~Too much Love will Kill you~

~~~Å~~~

Teal'c watched over his companions worried. They were all still shivering. He'd built up the fire as much as he could, but their condition continued to deteriorate. They needed to get to the Gate or they would all perish in this bitter cold.

They'd survived these two weeks and after the few days they'd spent totally snowed in Teal'c was sure they would get through this, if only they got back to Earth. They were running out of supplies and Teal'c knew that Colonel O'Neill would depart this life soon. He was surprised he'd even endured this long. It was peculiar and Teal'c could not understand why his comrade was not dead. By all respects he, Major Carter and Daniel Jackson should all be deceased by now.

Teal'c wondered why no one had been sent after them yet. They were supposed to have contacted Earth a week and four days ago and yet no one had been sent after them.

He gave a small shiver himself and pulled himself closer to his team mates and the tiny flame licking at the last of the wood. Daniel Jackson opened one eye slightly and croaked hoarsely, "T...?"

"I am here, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c murmured in return.

Daniel tried to give a small smile, but failed as he fell back into unconsciousness. Teal'c sighed. It had been the same with all of them for days. He'd only been able to keep each one awake for the maximum of an hour a day when he fed them as much as he could and gave them water although supplies were low and they were diminishing fast...

Teal'c heard something and turned quickly to the entrance. He lifted up his staff and stood up shielding his friends. He pointed his weapon at the entrance.

"Teal'c, I know you've g-got your staff ready to- sh-shoot me, but could you at least- let me in out of this g-goddamn b-lizzard first?"

Colonel O'Neill! He looked down at his unconscious companions in confusion, "You are not Colonel O'Neill! He is within this cave with the other members of SG-1! This is a deception."

Jack sighed as he stood outside the cave. He was freezing. He needed Teal'c to stop the snow and dry his clothes because he got hypothermic.

"T-Teal'c, listen to me! Have the- other me, C-Carter and Daniel been acting st-strange? I mean stranger th-an usual!"

Teal'c nodded, "They have, indeed."

"They're f-fakes, Teal'c. It's the G-G-Gamekeeper! You have to- trust me! He's using our imaginations, our d-reams and our nightm-mares to create this, but he made mi-mi-mistakes. T-T-Trust me, p-lease!"

Teal'c sat in silent consideration and then spoke, "I trust you!"

"NO!"

Major Carter, Daniel Jackson and Colonel O'Neill were suddenly attacking him. They began to strangle him. Teal'c couldn't fight them off though he tried.

"Teal'c, you have to imagine they're not here! Imagine they disappear!"

Teal'c closed his eyes and suddenly the pressure around his neck disappeared. He took in a deep breath and opened his eyes. Colonel O'Neill stood staring at him, his skin pale and his hair plastered to his forehead, snow caking him. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He was soaked to the bone from walking in the blizzard and was shivering violently, as he hugged his bare arms around