Email: Starblade10@yahoo.com
Rating: R
Pairing: Jack/Daniel (main pairing), Jack/Sam, Daniel/Paul Davis 
Category: A/U, Angst, A/A, ER
Archive: Area52, majordavis.com. Anyplace else that wants it, please ask first! 
Date: August 7, 2003 
Series: YES! The sixth part of "To Remember" Previous parts can be found here: 
http://www.area52hkh.net/author.php?name=Starblade 

(For your info, there will be 1 more story after this) 

Website: When it's up it will be at 
http://www.geocities.com/starblade10 

Disclaimer: The characters and situations of Stargate: SG-1 belong to 
MGM and lots of other people. I make no claim of ownership and I make 
no money from this. 

Notes: I would love feedback, on list or off is fine. Thanks to my beta, Sanna, for her 
hard work. All mistakes are my own, however. There is a plot idea inspired by Peter 
David.

Thank you all for your patience in waiting for this fic.

Warnings: None that I can think of.

Summary: Trouble at Cheyenne Mountain brings SG-1 together again. But can they 
handle the mission in the aftermath of Jack and Daniel's revelation?

This wasn't good, Daniel thought absently, watching as the cover stone tumbled off its precarious perch and crushed his parents underneath. He averted his eyes at the last moment, still unable to watch the final few moments, unlike when this had first happened, when he was eight years old, and could not tear his eyes away in the shock of the moment. 

The last time he had seen this, one of the earliest memories in his life, was when he and the rest of SG-1 had been trapped inside the machine on P7J-989, where their memories were replayed as amusement to the denizens of that planet. No matter how he tried, Daniel couldn't stop his parents from dying. Watching them die over and over again had brought the tragedy to the forefront of his mind again. 

This time, this was different than what the Keeper had shown him. A boy stood in the center of the museum room, tears streaming down his face. "Mom? Dad?" he whispered, as if he knew they wouldn't be answering. Daniel realized he was looking at himself as a child and he stepped backwards in surprise. 

"You could have changed things this time," a voice said from behind, and Daniel looked over his shoulder, half expecting to see the Keeper. 

Instead the figure turned out to be a man, but every time Daniel tried to focus on his features, he couldn't make them out, almost as if the man was out of phase, or blurred into this reality. "I've learned my lesson," Daniel retorted, "We can't change the past." 

The man raised a hand, "Oh, but what if I told you that this time you could have? That we have actually gone back in time?" 

Frantically he tried to remember what Sam had told them, years ago, about time travel, how you couldn't go back and kill your own grandfather. He couldn't put it into words, so he just shook his head. "You can't change the past," he repeated. 

"But I can, Dr. Jackson." The man smiled and since Daniel couldn't really see that face, that smile looked almost sinister. 

No, this wasn't good at all, Daniel thought desperately. 

Jack's intuition had once again proved correct. This was the most awkward briefing he had ever sat through. He and Sam had arrived together, though they didn't speak much on the military plane or in the car that had arrived to pick them both up. Then again, he wondered if they really had anything to say to each other at the moment. 

Thoughts of his own screwed up life left him as soon as they caught sight of Cheyenne Mountain. It looked like a base camp was set up outside the structure, complete with trailers, tanks and tents. What the hell was going on here? 

They were directed to a trailer where they met Colonel Davis and one Captain Jennifer Hailey. Jack had called her a four-foot-nine fighting machine and nothing had changed there. Otherwise she had tempered, matured, and though that spark of intelligence glittered in her eyes, she held herself with a careful bearing, not with that touch of insubordination that he remembered. 

He was so glad she was there, so he didn't have to face Davis alone. As it was, the man was already glaring at him, those eerie gray-green eyes shooting daggers at him from across the tiny trailer room. 

"We'll just need to wait for General Harris and Dr. Jackson, and then we can begin," Davis said, finally turning away from Jack as he spoke. 

Jack looked at Sam who just frowned at him and he sighed. Hailey looked at both of them quizzically, but didn't say anything. 

Daniel stopped in the doorway, after the General had already preceded him to a seat. He met Jack's eyes and nodded slightly before entering the briefing trailer. He sat to the other side of Jack, across from Davis, Hailey and the General. 

"So, why are we here?" Jack finally burst out, now that everyone was assembled. "And why are we /here/ here and not in the base?" 

"That will become apparent, Colonel O'Neill, as soon as Captain Hailey begins her presentation," Davis said smoothly, obviously not letting anything get in the way of his work. "I'd like to first introduce you to General Harris, who has been assigned here with the science teams." 

Right, the SGC had gone all geek on them. No more off world missions, but the gate was active for contact with various allies and for some experimentation. And as far as he knew, the Alpha site was still being maintained. However, things were a lot quieter now that they had been ten years ago when the Goa'uld had control of the galaxy. 

Harris smiled at them. "It is my pleasure to finally meet SG-1." 

"Well, three-fourths of SG-1," Daniel interjected. Jack couldn't help but agree. He missed Teal'c by their side, especially now with everyone else assembled here. It felt wrong not to have the big man seated across from Davis with them. 

Harris inclined his head in acknowledgment. "I'm sorry to have so abruptly called you away from your lives, but Captain Hailey believes you are the best hope we have of solving this problem." 

"Why us?" Sam asked, "None of us has been involved with the program for years." 

Hailey stood up and moved over to the portable projector. "I'll have to explain what exactly has been going on these past few weeks." She moved away and stood off to the side of the screen. 

"Exactly thirty-six days ago, we received an incoming wormhole." She clicked something in her hand, and the picture appeared on screen. 

The gate room coalesced into being, the images of the Stargate center stage. Chevrons locked into place and the event horizon blasted into existence. Normal procedure had the iris closing over the swirling wormhole. Then, for a moment, the iris shimmered and disappeared. A few moments later, it reappeared. 

Jack raised an eyebrow at that, and snuck a glance at Sam, whose attention was rapt on the screen. "What exactly was that?" 

"We don't know," Hailey said smoothly, stopping the video feed with another click of her hand. "The mountain was locked down for 48 hours - standard procedure when dealing with an unprotected wormhole. However, nothing seemed to result from it, until a few days later." 

"What happened then?" Daniel piped up. "Was it something like the Retu?" 

She shook her head. "Not exactly, Dr. Jackson. We never found evidence of an alien incursion. What did happen is that the SGC began to experience strange shifts in time and space." 

"What the hell does that mean?" 

She gestured, trying to explain, "Quite simply, you could walk through a door and be in the same room, only in another time. Three days after the distortions began, I walked into the commissary and saw the three of you eating at a table." 

"I don't remember that." Jack waved one finger at her. 

"Because it happened over ten years ago, Colonel, for you. The time shifts got worse, and we began to lose several levels to various time periods. Then we started experiencing shifting in space." 

Sam gasped. "Space?" 

"Walking out of the Gate Room and suddenly ending up on the 23rd floor. That was how it started. Then, you could walk out of the locker room and into the parking lot of the local supermarket." 

"Is that even possible?" Daniel again, as he reached up and touched the bridge of his nose. 

"You think the Stargate is causing this?" Sam broke in. "That it's generating some kind of energy that would cause distortions in the space/time field?" 

"We've run every single test we could think of on it, but couldn't find a damn thing," Hailey said, tossing her little projection remote onto the table. "And we would still be down there, until we had to evacuate. We've lost at least 10 people." 

"Lost them how?" Jack asked for clarification. 

"We have no idea what's happened to them. For all we know, they could have been dropped into the Middle Ages, or merged into the solid rock of the mountain." 

"Ouch." 

Sam was looking thoughtful, "That effect with the iris, it looked for a moment like the displacement in time was centered around the Stargate. Do you remember," and here she turned to Jack and Daniel, "when we went back in time? For a moment we were simultaneously straddling two time areas?" 

"1969," Jack commented. "Good year." 

"But, Sam, when we went back in time, we were still in the mountain. Granted, it was a missile testing facility then, but we didn't go anywhere." 

"Which is why this claim of space distortion is so interesting." Sam frowned. "I'd like to see the results of those tests you performed." 

"Of course." 

"Is the effect spreading?" Daniel asked. 

"You mean outside of the mountain?" General Harris answered, "Not yet, but that is our biggest fear. And the reason the three of you were contacted." 

Jack waved his hand again. "Sam, I understand, she gets all this physics stuff. But why me and Daniel?" 

"Because SG-1 has always been called up when the SGC is in trouble," Harris managed to say with a straight face. 

Jack found himself liking the man. "There's more, isn't there?" 

Davis opened up a folder and spoke for the first time since the beginning of the briefing. "The time distortions all seem to involve SG-1 missions of some sort, as do the space distortions. The supermarket, for example, was the one outside your old apartment complex, Daniel, when you lived here." He briefly glanced up at Daniel, then looked away. 

"So it's like someone sending us a subtle message." Jack frowned. "A little too subtle." 

Sam watched while trying not to look like she was watching. Daniel and Jack had their heads bowed over the paperwork Daniel had requested, trying to figure out if there was any pattern with the time/space shifting. She, meanwhile, was supposedly going over the data Hailey had gathered from the Stargate. 

This was the first time she had turned from the columns of numbers to watch the man who was still her husband, and his lover. She was able to separate enough from current events to speak to both of them about the situation at the mountain. However, she wasn't too sure she was currently capable to relating to Daniel as a person. She could keep her emotions in check if she concentrated on the job they were trying to do. Just SG-1, back together again. Minus Teal'c. 

She missed him, all of a sudden, her chest aching at the thought. Without Teal'c, they weren't really SG-1. They were just playing at this, pretending for General Harris and Captain Hailey, and everyone else camped out here. They hadn't been SG-1 for a long time now. 

She wondered if Jack realized this, her eyes on him as she rested her chin on her fist. They couldn't go back to being what they were. No matter how intense his friendship had been with Daniel, she couldn't imagine it being enough to translate into an affair. Janet's words of wisdom echoed in her mind, and part of her wanted to dismiss this as a simple mid-life crisis. 

She, Jack and the kids were a family. What right had Daniel to come in and screw that all up? She wanted to hate Daniel, and the anger rose up until she was gripping her fist so hard she was cutting into her palm. 

"Hey!" Jack called, "I might have something here." 

She nearly stumbled off of the stool before she caught herself. "What?" she asked, wincing at the bitterness in her own voice as she made her way to the table on the other side of the trailer. 

Daniel looked up at her, and she wasn't sure what she saw in his eyes. Truthfully she didn't care. They had a job to do, and she was determined to get through this as professionally as possible. Any impropriety would not be on her part. 

"This photo from one of the time/space shifties." Jack pointed. "It's not from an SG-1 mission." 

She lifted up the photo, which showed one of the containment rooms, where a tall cream-colored vase was placed behind glass. It was difficult to see in the photo, but it looked to be emitting some sort of light. "I don't recognize this, but we went on a lot of missions, Jack." 

Daniel peeked over her shoulder, "Oh, that thing." 

"What thing?" Jack asked. 

"I was with SG-11," Daniel held out his hand and Sam dropped the photograph into it. "Do they have any video of this? It was the vase that caused Major Covis to break in out hives, and we finally had to quarantine the thing." 

"Where were we?" 

Daniel waggled his fingers. "Tinkerbell." 

"Tinkerbell?" Sam asked, switching her gaze between Jack and Daniel's face. 

Jack half-winced, then answered, "Planet with the sparkly fairy type things. Hell of a sting." 

Ah, that planet. "Is this the only shift in time that doesn't involve SG-1?" 

Jack shrugged. "What we've gone through so far, yeah." 

"But it does," Daniel broke in. "It involved me." 

"But not while you were with SG-1," Sam argued. 

"Lots of the shifts involved part of the team," he countered, "The one by my supermarket, for example or when Teal'c and I." 

"Exactly," Sam turned to the computer on the counter. "Just you Daniel. Can we get the video feed on these files?" 

She opened up the files and began scanning the filenames. There was a lot of video taken, though not everything had been captured. That's why they had to piece this together, based on live reports in addition to what had been fortunately filmed. 

Daniel spoke softly behind her. "You think it's me?" 

Sam paused in mid-click, not sure how exactly to answer him. "I'm just looking for clues here," she reminded him, though she didn't turn around, "and I'm not seeing anything in the data files." 

She found the video file and called it up. Jack approached her on one side to get a closer look and she had to close her eyes for a moment. Enough, she thought to herself, think of the mission. 

The video began to run, but it wasn't much. The normal storeroom faded away with that same ripple effect, boxes and crates melting into the image of that encased vase. Light did emerge from the vase and traced some odd pattern on the wall, before it all faded away back into the ordinary storeroom. 

"Can you rewind that a bit," Daniel asked, whirling his finger at the screen. 

She tapped some keys. "What did you see?" 

"I'm not sure, but I think it's a message." 

"What?" Jack asked. 

He shrugged. "For a moment there, when the light hit the wall.I swear it looked like a pattern I'm familiar with. Sam, can you freeze it right there?" He put one hand on her shoulder and she had to fight not to shrug him off. "It's definitely glyphs of some sort and I'm certain it wasn't there in the past." 

"You think you can figure out what it says?" Jack asked curiously. 

Daniel lifted his hand from Sam's shoulder and turned to give Jack a look. "I'm not that out of practice. I'd like to check some references first." 

"You can get into the network from here." She twisted out of the seat. "It should enable you to access all your books if they're in the database, and they should be." 

"I know, you made sure of that," Daniel said. 

She flushed and turned away. It had been a project she started over ten years ago, when they were still deciding what to do with the Stargate program now that the Goa'uld were no more. She and Daniel had put together a one-stop shopping sort of library for archaeologists and linguists attached to the project. It had been a lot of work, and a bit of fun, working with Daniel like that. 

"Anyway, I need to keep reviewing this data, I'll just set you up over here, Daniel." 

"I gotta talk to the General," Jack decided. "Let me know when you find anything!" 

Daniel shook his head, "Just like old times, huh?" 

"Not really," she murmured, tapping the keys to put the video on this computer, so she could go back to her own research. 

"Sam." 

"There you go, Daniel, it's all ready for you." She turned away and he touched her shoulder again. 

"Sam, I'm sorry." 

She gently pulled away from him. "So am I, Daniel. Now, please excuse me. I have data to review." 

Sam was aware of Daniel's eyes on her, but ignored him. Eventually, he looked to his own work. 

"What we're dealing with here is some kind of infinity loop," Sam stepped away from the screen, presenting her findings to the original group, including General Harris, Captain Hailey, and Colonel Davis. "It's similar to what happened with SG-1 encountered the time loop phenomena on P4X-639." 

"Do you think the device on P4X-639 was somehow activated?" Hailey asked, gesturing with her pencil. 

"I'm not sure," Sam moved to take her seat. "I think the best course of action would be to take a team back into the SGC. That way I can determine what exactly is going on first hand." 

Colonel Davis looked put out and exchanged a look with the General. "Are you sure that's wise, Dr. Carter? We've already lost several personnel." 

"And you'll lose more people if the effect is allowed to spread," she snapped back. 

"I think Sam's right," Daniel spoke up, to her surprise. 

All eyes turned to him. "Um, I was able to compare the video feed from a few weeks ago, to the video of the event as it actually happened about 12 years ago. The more recent feed contains glyphs that weren't there the first time around. The glyphs contained a message." 

"What kind of message?" Davis asked. 

Daniel wouldn't meet his eyes, she noticed. 

"As far as I can tell, the words say, `Welcome back SG-1.'" 

Silence reigned around the table. Sam finally leaned forward. "So something, some alien being is causing the time shifts. It's bait." 

"For us." Jack finally spoke up. "General Harris, sir, I think it's time we gave `em what they want, don't you think?" 

The General frowned at him. "I don't think the wisest course of action would be sending you three in alone." 

"But we have to be part of the team that goes in," Daniel argued. 

Harris leveled his gaze directly at Jack, "I believe Colonel O'Neill is aware of the regulation that prevents married officers from serving on the same team?" 

"No way am I letting Daniel and Sam go in there while I'm sitting out here twiddling my thumbs," Jack retorted, as angry as Sam had ever seen him. He colored slightly and she wondered why. 

"Unless," Daniel raised his pencil, "you send in two separate teams. One with Jack on it, and the other with me and Sam. That way you won't be breaking any regulations. And all of SG-1 will be on the mission." 

"Daniel, that's semantics," Davis argued. 

"I thought the problem was a commander being forced to put someone he or she cares about in jeopardy. Neither of them will be in a place of command over the other," Daniel said. 

"He's got a point," Harris said. 

The gentle knock on his trailer door caught Daniel's attention and he left his post at his computer screen to open the door. He wasn't surprised to see Jack standing there; hands in his pockets, one eyebrow raised in expectation. 

He stood aside to let Jack climb in before closing and locking the door. "Jack," he started to say as he was enveloped in a tight embrace. He let out a breath and tightened his own arms around Jack's lean back. "This isn't a good idea." 

"Stop it Daniel," Jack whispered into his hair. "It's too late to change our minds." 

"Jack." 

"Shh," Jack leaned down to capture Daniel's lips and he was lost. It had been far too long since he gotten to hold Jack, to feel this man around him. 

Daniel gripped Jack's shoulders, digging his fingers into his sensitive back as he tried to get closer, pushing his hips against his lover's. "Jack," he said again, not in protest this time. He allowed Jack to push him back, until he hit the bed along one wall of the trailer. 

Jack gently pushed him back, kneeling between his spread legs to mouth his erection though his pants. Daniel threw his head back, just allowing himself to feel. He gasped as Jack freed his cock, stroking it once or twice before touching his tongue to the head. "God!" Daniel groaned. It was still so hot for Jack to be doing this to him, still something of the forbidden in their touch. 

God, Sam was probably only a few trailers away, they were in the middle of a military encampment and Jack was sucking his cock. He carded one hand through Jack's hair, guiding him, encouraging him to move faster, deeper. Right there, Daniel groaned, shuddering with the force of his orgasm. 

Jack crawled up the bed and buried his face in Daniel's neck. Daniel got enough mobility back to turn and capture Jack's lips, wanting to taste himself there. He reached down and cupped Jack's hard prick. "What do you want, Jack?" 

The other man moaned, "Like that, Daniel, just like that." 

He wondered if this would ever be old, if he would never be in awe that Jack O'Neill let him do this to his body, and touched Daniel's so sweetly in return. Daniel freed Jack's dick, felt the hardness throb against his hand as he skillfully jerked him off. Jack was so primed, so hard just from sucking Daniel. 

Jack was writhing and moaning, and Daniel reached down to tug on his lover's balls, keeping up the rhythm on his cock at the same time. God he loved it when Jack moaned like that. Finally, Jack's entire body stiffened and he came with Daniel's name on his lips. 

Daniel licked the salty fluid off his fingers, showing off slightly for Jack. Jack's hand snapped out, grasped his wrist and sucked his fingers into his own mouth. Daniel laughed softly. 

Jack pulled away. "I can't stay." 

"I know," Daniel said. 

"They assigned me the same trailer as Sam." 

"That makes sense, since she /is/ your wife." 

Jack turned back, brushing his fingers against Daniel's cheek. "I'll be sleeping on the floor when I get back there." 

Relief flooded through Daniel. "You did tell her." 

"Had to." 

"What are we going to do, Jack?" he whispered. 

Jack kissed him gently. "Tomorrow we're going to go and fix the Stargate. Then, then we'll see what happens." 

He held onto Jack, wrapping his arms around him for one last hug for the night. Daniel couldn't explain it, but he felt off, as if something bad was about to happen. Of course, he had the stress of tomorrow hanging over their head, never mind what he was going to make of his own personal relationships. 

Daniel pulled on the borrowed set of BDUs in the trailer they had designated the locker room. It felt oddly like coming home, though he been out of action for the past ten years. His life had been confined to teaching, crafting papers and dealing with stuffy colleagues at various conferences. Now, he felt as if he were coming alive again. 

The door to the trailer slid open and he looked up to see who had entered. 

He shouldn't have been surprised to see Paul standing there, holding his hat in one hand. "Daniel." 

He stood, straightening his shirt self-consciously. This was it; this was the conversation he'd been avoiding since he got here. "Paul." 

"I wanted to talk to you, before you went into the Mountain with Colonel Terrance." Paul started. "I didn't want to leave things like this between us." 

Daniel grabbed his pack from the locker and began double-checking it. "What do you want me to say, Paul?" He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

"Daniel, can we be friends after this?" 

He drew back, startled, "I can't believe you'd even ask that." 

"I refuse to believe the last five years were for nothing." 

He almost laughed at that. "You're the one who gave up on us." 

"What? As I recall, you were the one who was unfaithful, for almost a year!" 

Daniel let his pack fall and gestured wildly, "Yes, Paul. I cheated on you. I was wrong. I've never said I wasn't. But when I told you, you just gave up, you didn't even want to try to fix it." 

"I gave you my heart," Paul said in a whisper. "I thought that was enough."

"I think what happened was for the best," Daniel said slowly, realizing this was true. "It was time for us to end, whether or not Jack was involved." 

"You're saying hindsight is twenty-twenty." 

The door to the trailer slammed open. "Daniel? What's the hold up? Colonel Terrance is waiting." Jack bellowed before he stopped, coming face to face with Paul. 

Of all the situations Daniel never wanted to have, it was this one: him facing down both Paul and Jack. 

Jack nodded to Paul, "Majo.oh, Colonel Davis, sorry." 

Paul just frowned at him. "You know, Colonel O'Neill, I don't think you are." 

Daniel stepped up and put a hand on Paul's shoulder. "Paul, don't, please. This isn't the time." 

Paul just looked at him and Daniel had to stop himself from shivering. That look was cold, freezing him in his place. But Paul didn't push, merely nodded. He put one hand over Daniel's and gently freed it from his shoulder. "Dr. Jackson," he said softly and moved to leave the trailer. 

Daniel couldn't let him leave like that. "Paul!" 

He turned and looked first at Jack, then at Daniel. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I really am." And then he was gone. 

Jack cocked his head to one side but Daniel didn't answer the unspoken question. It was really finally over. Anything he had with Paul was just gone. 

"Daniel, we have to go." 

Right, there was no time to think about this. Hell, he should have thought about it 10 months ago before hopping into bed with Jack. Daniel turned and met Jack's dark eyed gaze and knew he'd do it again, in a heartbeat. "Right, let's go." 

Sam frowned as she saw Jack guide Daniel towards them. There was nothing she could say, really. Jack had come home to her trailer last night, but he had grabbed his pillow and made a neat little pallet on the floor. 

Frustrated, she had rolled over in the double bed and said, "Jack, we're both reasonable adults here. I'm sure we can share the same bed and not be a problem." 

"It wouldn't be right," he had said quietly from the floor and she had hated that she couldn't see his eyes, couldn't judge what exactly he was thinking. 

Now, as she readied her weapon - a newer semi-automatic that was safer and more efficient - Sam realized nothing she did now could save their marriage. Jack had made his choice. And she needed to do her job and stop thinking about this. 

"Ready to go, Sam?" Daniel said with forced cheerfulness as he approached their group. 

It might be a lot easier if Daniel hasn't been put on her team. She and Jack couldn't serve together, and he had been placed on Team B. Team B would go through the front door, attempt to draw the attention of whatever being was taunting them with this show. Team A, with both Sam and Daniel included, would enter Cheyenne Mountain from one of the exhaust tunnels that ran to the surface. They, hopefully, would be able to engage the Stargate and stop whatever was causing the shifts in time. 

Before she could answer Daniel, Jack stepped into her space. He put his hand on her waist, surprising her, and pulled her into a quick embrace. "Be careful in there," he murmured into her ear. 

She swallowed as he pulled away. "I will," she promised. He nodded and then turned to Daniel, putting his hand on his lover's shoulder. 

"You too." 

God, Jack did love them both. It was hard to see that suddenly. It didn't make her feel any better or worse, instead it merely confused her even more. Sam didn't know what to think. 

Daniel didn't know when things went so wrong. One moment he was following Sam, both of them flanked by the other members of Team A, creeping down the abandoned corridors of the SGC. The next, they were scattered, running through the halls from an unknown something that instilled a torrent of fear in them all. 

He dove into an open doorway and spun around, keeping his gun trailed on the hallway. He still couldn't remember what they were running from. 

"Be careful with that coverstone.." 

Daniel froze and turned around. He was no longer in the SGC, apparently one of the shifts in time had taken him back to one of the worst moments in his childhood. God, he didn't want to watch this again. 

"It's swinging." 

"It's okay, it's fine, we'll be fine." 

No, they wouldn't be. 

Sam knew something was wrong, her head felt clouded as she walked the deserted corridors of the SGC. Her heart beat louder in her chest as she took each step, almost as if she knew she about to face something horrific. She slowly got closer to a door at the end of the hallway. 

As her hand reached out to touch the doorknob, Sam realized how wrong it was that there was a doorknob. This door should slide open under a card reader. Instead, she twisted the knob and pushed the door open. 

And nearly cried out as she stepped into someplace as familiar to her as her own home, Jack's grandfather's cabin in Minnesota. She wondered if she had moved in time as well as space. 

Sounds of soft gasps and moans caught her ears. Sam walked towards the sounds, finding herself moving towards the master bedroom, where she and Jack had spent many a vacation together, the very place where their son had been conceived. She smiled at the memory, her hand reaching for the doorknob, as if in a dream. 

The door opened slightly at her touch, enough for her to catch a glimpse of the interior of the room. She placed her hand over her mouth in shock, as she got a perfect of view of Daniel straddling her husband. Both men were nude and the way Daniel was moving. Oh, God, was he. Jack had his hands around Daniel's waist, guiding his movement. Jack's eyes were focused only on Daniel and he hadn't realized she was at the door. 

She froze, because she knew that look on Jack's face. It was the same as when they made love, an expression of total love and affection, only apparent in moments of intimacy. Seeing it now, as Daniel writhed over him put things in perspective. 

"You could go in there and stop them. Take your husband back," a silky voice whispered in her ear. 

She whirled around, but there was no one there. Sam stepped back, then ran through the living room and through the still open door and back into the SGC. Alarms were going off, indicating an incoming traveler. Whatever time she had stepped into, the action would be in the Gate room. She took off in that direction, letting herself focus on that instead of what she had just witnessed. 

Daniel faced the creature, trying his best to ignore the screams behind him. The scene would only reset itself before it began to play again. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Why are you doing this?" 

"Come now, Dr. Jackson, I thought you'd want to figure it out on your own, rather than just hearing it all from me." 

It might have been better if he could see the thing. But the more he looked, the less he could make out. "Humor me," he said. "And while you're at it, could we get the hell out of here?" 

"Oh, does this bother you?" 

Daniel bit his lip to keep from answering. 

The being waved what appeared to be an arm and Daniel blinked. They now stood in the SGC's briefing room and he was glad of the change of scenery. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome." The being sat in the head seat, leaning back and crossing his legs on top of the table. 

Daniel remained standing. "I believe you were going to tell me who you were?" 

"Who, what? Who knows really.?" the form solidified a bit, revealing sharp masculine features, then blurred away again. Daniel glared at him and the being smiled. "You are a student of mythology, Dr. Jackson. You know that every pantheon of every Tau'ri religion has some sort of Trickster God, from Loki to Coyote to the Monkey King." 

"That's true, to a certain extent," Daniel said. 

"And you've learned that all mythology has some basis in fact. I am the Trickster God, Daniel Jackson. All stories come from me." 

"Are you saying you're some kind of Goa'uld?" Daniel asked, puzzled and trying to buy for time. 

The being laughed. "You know very well there are no Goa'uld anymore. To compare me to them is almost insulting." 

"Then what are you?" 

"I told you, I am a god, or, rather, more than a god. I exist in the subconscious of every race. I've lived before time and I shall be here until time ends." 

Great, this was all he needed, another alien megalomaniac. Daniel's hand twitched and he wondered if he could somehow signal Sam or the rest of his team without letting this, this Trickster know. "Then why the hell are you here?" 

Trickster smiled, a smile that split across the entire blurred portion of its head, giving it the impression of a mobile skull. "I'm bored." 

The doors to the Gate room opened as Sam approached and she ran past them, skidding to a stop at the sight of the Gate dialing in and Jack standing at the foot of the ramp. 

"Jack!" she called, wondering why he was here and not at the entrance to the mountain, like Team B was supposed to be. 

He turned and gave her a funny look. "Carter?" 

Not again, this wasn't her Jack. She had shifted in time. However, why weren't there any SF's in the Gate room? She looked up at the control room and could see no one there. "Jack," she stepped forward, then corrected herself. "Colonel." It was so hard to say after so long. "This is going to sound strange, but I'm not your Sam Carter." 

"Huh?" One confused eyebrow went up. 

Before she could explain further, the wormhole engaged on the Stargate. A single figure ventured through the event horizon. Teal'c. 

Her heart caught in her throat. Damn, it was so good to see him after all this time. "Oh, my god, Teal'c!" 

"Major Carter?" he inclined his head to one side as she ran and reached out to embrace him. His words stopped her. 

"Damn, Carter, he's only been gone a day," Jack grumbled behind her. 

She shook her head as she stepped away from Teal'c, slightly embarrassed at letting her emotions take over her like that. "You have to listen to me. I'm from about ten years in the future." 

Teal'c and Jack exchanged looks. "And you just stumbled into the Mountain with that story?" 

"In my time the SGC's been evacuated because of the malfunction in the Stargate." She tried to explain. "It's been opening pockets in time throughout the mountain. That was how I got here." 

"Have you told Hammond about this?" 

She sighed in frustration. "Look around you, Jack. The room is empty. There's no one in the control room. You have been displaced in time just as I have." 

He made that face at her. "So what were you planning on doing about it?" 

"Daniel and I brought a team in to run tests on the 'gate before we were separated." Before she had finished speaking, Jack had raised his P90 and trailed it on her. "Jack? What?" 

"Daniel Jackson is dead," Jack growled, "Therefore, you can't be from the future. Teal'c, grab her weapon. I don't know who the hell you are, but you're going to tell me what's really going on here. Where are the SF's? What have you done with the General?" 

What the hell? This confounded her. She racked her brain, trying to remember a time when Daniel was presumed dead. The only two times that came to mind were from before she had become a Major, so it couldn't be applicable now. "I'm telling you the truth." She let Teal'c take her weapon and stared Jack down. 

"Actually, she is telling the truth," a soft voice from behind them interrupted. 

Sam moved slightly to see. Both Jack and Teal'c gasped. Daniel stood in the center of the inactive Stargate, dressed in a cream sweater. He gave off a bright light, nearly glowing. As he walked down the ramp, his footfalls didn't make a sound. Again, this wasn't the Daniel from her time. But Sam was hard pressed to say exactly what was happening. 

"Daniel?" Jack whispered, his eyes widening in shock. He reached out to touch and his hand went right through Daniel's arm. 

"What are you? Some kind of ghost?" Sam murmured. 

He shook his head. "Have you ever met any kind of Ascended being in your universe?" 

"Universe?" she and Jack said at the same time. 

She looked at Jack then turned her attention back to Daniel. "Of course, Orlin and Oma Desala. But what do you mean, my universe? I thought we were only experiencing shifts in space and time." 

"Not entirely. This isn't some malfunction of the Stargate. This is the result of a malevolent being who is trying to merge two separate universes together." 

"How do you know that?" 

"Because he's telling me this right now." 

Jack tried raising Team A on his radio, but got only static in response. Dammit. He and Team B were supposed to be back up, but so far, they couldn't even find the first team. 

"Sir, what do we do?" Hailey asked. 

"We go to the Gate Room," Jack answered. All this trouble originated with the Stargate, it was the only place they could go. He marched toward one of the set of ladders that connected various floors; he would not play into the hands of whatever was doing this by taking the elevator. 

The rest of the team followed and Jack pulled open the door. "What the.?" he began, about to step back, but he wasn't in the SGC any longer. He was in a very familiar house, his own home, over twenty years ago now. 

"God," he whispered, walking into a living room he could barely remember. It was more than another lifetime ago. He physically recoiled when he heard the gunshot and knew exactly where he was. God, no, not again, he couldn't be too late again. He ran up the stairs, knowing what he would find when he opened the door. Still he could not stop himself from reaching out and grabbing the knob. 

And tumbled directly into the Gate room. "Oh, for crying out loud!" 

"So just because you're bored you're messing with the lives of millions.billions of people?" Daniel sputtered. It seemed the distortions that they were experiencing were just the beginnings of this thing's plan. 

"I'm starting small," Trickster said. It moved until it was gazing out of the observation windows into the Gate room. "With only four lives at first." 

"The time distortions," Daniel realized in shock. "That was just a ruse to get us here." 

"And you were so very quick about it. Thank the efficiency of your government for me, would you?" 

Daniel ran to the observation window, wanting to know suddenly what had Trickster so enthralled. "God." It was SG-1, including Teal'c and his own double. 

"First I've experimented with a variation, as you can see. A mix from different universes. But what would happen, I wonder, if a pair of doubles met?" 

"What are you planning?" Daniel murmured. 

"Your Sam Carter hypothesizes that two molecularly exact beings cannot exist in the same space, the same universe. What if I change that little principle?" 

The blast doors opened and another Jack O'Neill nearly fell into the room. Daniel read his lips and quirked a smile. Then, all serious once again, he whirled on Trickster. "What the hell are you doing?" 

"Watch." 

Sam wondered if this new Jack to enter the Gate room was hers. Maybe he could clear up exactly what this other Daniel was talking about. "Jack?" she ventured. 

"Sam?" he replied, keeping his weapon trailed on her as well as the rest of the alternate SG-1. "You've any idea what the hell is going on here? Oh, hey, Teal'c, good to see you." 

Teal'c inclined his head to one side. 

"Apparently we've been tricked by some kind of interstellar entity," she explained, "Who's been playing around with basic principles of time and space across different universes." 

"Sweet." Both Jacks said that at the same time and they glared at each other. 

It would almost be funny, really, except for the situation. She shook her head and turned to ask this other Daniel what they could do to fight this being and stop the shifts in reality. Before she could open her mouth she heard a yelp from Jack and whirled around. 

The two Jacks were sliding across the floor, barreling towards each other like two magnets. They collided with a flash of light. When Sam could see again, there was only one Jack, unconscious on the floor. She ran to kneel by his side and slapped his cheek gently. "Jack? Jack!" 

Jack opened his eyes and tried to fix his unfocused gaze on her. "Carter? I mean, Sam? I." he looked around, as if trying to figure out where he was. 

"Jack," the other Daniel knelt beside them. "Are you all right?" 

"Danny?" 

"Jack, focus," Daniel said. "I'm here, I'm real." 

"You died, Daniel," then Jack frowned. "No, no, you went away. Because I couldn't admit how I felt, you left." 

"Jack," he murmured, reaching out with one hand, then pulled it back sharply. Jack reached out to grab it, and his hands went right through Daniel like the mirage he was. 

"What's wrong with him?" she asked Daniel, because Daniel knew. When he leveled troubled eyes at her, Sam held her breath. 

"He's both Jack's. Trickster has succeeded in merging them together." Daniel said. 

Ok, now that violated several laws of physics. "That's impossible," she protested. 

"Haven't you seen enough of the impossible by now?" a voice said from behind them both. 

Sam grabbed Jack's weapon and leveled it at the being that appeared. Like this other Daniel, he glowed with a soft light, yet she couldn't quite make out its features. 

"By all means, Samantha Carter, shoot me." He spread his arms wide. "You'll only hit your Daniel." 

And Daniel came into view, edging away from the creature. "Are you ok, Sam?" 

She nodded, not taking her eyes off of, what did the alternate Daniel call him? Trickster. "How are you doing this?" 

"You have no concept of my power." 

"Again with the clichés," Jack groused behind her. "Has every Goa'uld seen Star Wars?" 

"He's not a Goa'uld," the other Daniel said. "He's like me, an Ascended being. One of the Ancients." 

"You are nothing like me, child. You don't even know how to use your power. It doesn't matter, really. In a few moments, you'll be flesh and blood, merged with your counterpart from this universe." 

"Wait," Sam cried, trying to distract the being, "Why are you doing this?" 

"After 100 thousand years, you too would be bored, Major Carter." He laughed. 

Apparently her distraction worked, because the other Daniel had called some kind of power to his hands and was firing bolts of energy at Trickster. 

Trickster continued to laugh, as he raised his hand. The energy reflected back at Daniel, lifting the man into the air. His form began to stretch and distort and he screamed. Even without a physical body, he could apparently still feel pain. Sam dove to the ground with the solid Daniel, trying to stay out of the firefight. There was no telling what that energy would do to an organic body. 

"Sam! What do we do?" Daniel cried in frustration. 

"Shoot him!" Jack shouted and she did, firing the weapon at Trickster. A barrage of bullets passed right through him and into the wall on the other side. Frustrated, she grabbed her 'zat and tried firing that instead, but the electricity seemed to have no effect. 

The other Daniel continued to writhe in the ball of light, nearly losing his form. To her shock, her Daniel rose into the air, limbs extended and stiff. Soon they would be joined together as well. "No!" 

Then she noticed Teal'c, still on the ramp to the Stargate. How had she forgotten about him? He spun out his staff weapon, opened the blast point and discharged a bolt of energy right through Trickster. 

A hole gaped in the being's side, Sam could see right through it. Trickster stumbled back. Daniel fell back to the floor beside her and the swirling balls of energy above them dissipated. The other Daniel slipped to the floor and then through it, before he regained some control of his form again. 

"What, what is this? What have you done?" Trickster twirled, but he was rapidly losing solid form, his body crumbling into nothingness. 

Teal'c held out his hand, calling into a ball of bright light the remnants of Trickster. 

"Thank you, Teal'c," the alternate Daniel said breathlessly. How could he do that if he didn't have any breath? Sam wondered. 

"How did you do that?" she asked. 

Teal'c looked at her, his dark eyes almost soft. "Like Daniel Jackson, I too am an Ascended Being." 

"I was the decoy," Daniel explained, "Trickster was supposed to think I was the threat, so he'd attack me and be vulnerable to Teal'c." 

Jack stood up shakily and she took his arm to support him. "It's almost a joke," he said, "How do you fight a trickster god? You trick him." 

"Yes, Jack." The other Daniel stepped forward and reached inside Jack somehow. Sam moved back and watched in awe as the other Jack simply stepped out of hers. Thank God they were back to normal. 

"That was weird," the other Jack said. 

She turned to Teal'c, "Can you get back to your universe with your own power?" 

"I can do that," the glowing Daniel interrupted. "But this Teal'c isn't from my universe." 

"What?" 

Teal'c nearly smiled at her. "I am your Teal'c, Samantha Carter. I have been watching the activities of this Trickster for some time. When the creature began his plan and brought forward the Alternate SG- 1, I colluded with Daniel Jackson in order to stop him." 

"Wait," Daniel stepped forward, "You're our Teal'c? You became an Ascended Being?" 

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sam asked. She had missed him for so long, and now it seemed he was there all along. 

"I could not, my path does not allow me to interfere with your daily lives." Teal'c looked pointedly at Daniel. "Though I attempted to influence you by other means." 

"The dreams," Daniel murmured. 

"Dreams?" she repeated. 

The other Daniel gestured and the event horizon appeared in the center of the Stargate, without it's usual 'kawoosh'. "We have to go now, we can't stay in this universe much longer. Thank you for your help," this he addressed to Teal'c. "Jack?" 

And the other Jack stepped up to the ramp beside him. He waved. "Take care kids, can't say it was fun." 

"Yeah sure, you betcha," her Jack grumbled beside her. 

They watched the alternate pair leave and stood in silence for a moment, all of SG-1 together for the first time in over ten years. "So, T," Jack began, scratching his head. He still looked a bit confused. "Why don' t you stick around for a while?" 

"I cannot, O'Neill." Teal'c look sad as he spoke. "I was only able to interfere because Trickster was an Ascended. He will be dealt with." 

"Not even for a visit?" Daniel put in wistfully. 

Teal'c smiled. "Perhaps I will surprise you, Daniel Jackson." 

Sam stepped forward. She wished she could hug Teal'c, could say a proper goodbye to him, but she knew she wouldn't be able to touch him. "Please take care of yourself, Teal'c. We miss you." 

"I know," he said softly. "I ask that you do the same, Samantha. I will be there if I am truly needed." 

Teal'c didn't say goodbye, he simply vanished. She swallowed, it had been good to see him, but it did hurt when he left. Somehow it was better to know he was out there in the universe, doing some good and watching over them. 

Sam clicked her radio. "Colonel Terrance? This is Major Carter." 

"Carter! What happened? Where are you?" Terrance's voice came through. 

"We're in the Gate room." She corrected herself, "Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Jackson and I are in the Gate room. Are Team's A and B all right?" 

The colonel chuckled, "We are now. We'll rendezvous with you in six. Terrance out." 

Sam let go of her radio and moved to where Daniel was quietly speaking to Jack. "They're on their way. Who knows what was going on out there while we were in here," she gestured towards the Stargate. 

"Yeah," Daniel said, his eyes shadowed. She wondered what he was thinking. 

She felt badly, realizing her friendship with Daniel was tattered without hope of repair at the moment. Seeing Teal'c again had reminded her of how it was when they were all together, SG-1 relying on each other. But like Teal'c she had moved on, made a new life for herself outside of being "Major Carter of SG-1." She was a mother, a woman with a lucrative career where she could still make a difference in the world. 

As if her eyes were pried open, Sam realized Jack and Daniel had never moved on, never restructured their identities with their new lives. This entire adventure made that suddenly clear to her. Jack was living with the desires of his past. She hoped it made him happy. 

With that, her decision was made. Janet had been right, was it only a few days ago? Jack had left it in her hands. She could force the issue, demand Jack come back to her, be her husband again. But Sam wasn't willing to walk the hallways of her past again. 

She wasn't angry any more, not really. Just sad, and a bit melancholic. She placed her hand on Daniel's shoulder, surprising him. "I don't blame you," she murmured, just as the blast doors opened, revealing the combined Teams A and B. 

"Sam," he whispered, before the others took her attention. "Thank you." 

She nodded and walked away from both Jack and Daniel. 

end