Disclaimer Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

Jack stumbled into the room, courtesy of a well placed hand in the small of his back. "Thank you," he quipped as the door clanged shut. He surveyed the room, not surprised to discover that the SGC hadn't changed much. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded, spinning to face Carter.

She slowly shook her head and sank down on a chair. "I don't know, sir."

"We were in the gateoom," he said.

"We were," she agreed.

"And now we're not."

She nodded. "I'm fairly certain that we've traveled back in time, roughly about thirty years. For a second or two, I think we were in both time-frames simultaneously, which is why the Stargate seemed to be there one minute and was gone the next."

"Little bump in the calculations, Captain?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't know what to say," she apologized.

"Daniel and Teal'c?"

She shook her head. "They were right behind us, sir. They should have followed us through."

He sighed and sat down at the table beside her. The room was a common barracks room, four beds, set up as bunk beds and a small table with four chairs around it.

There were no facilities in the room, no toilet or sink. Which, Jack knew, was a cost saving measure. Usually, the personnel who were assigned to the barracks were of a lower rank and all had access to a locker room down the hall. "Another energy surge?" he asked, referring to their little side trip to Antarctica.

She shook her head. "I don't think so, sir. The last time the gate spiked, we were thrown out the other end. This felt like a normal trip."

"So, now what?"

"If we really are in the past, our main goal has to be to NOT do anything."

"Excuse me?"

"There's something called the grandfather paradox." Jack stared at her, raising his eyebrow. "If you went back fifty years and murdered your own grandfather, your own father would have never been born."

"So you're saying that if we change our own past-"

"We could change our world in ways that we can't possibly imagine. We might even cease to exist, along with everything and everyone we know," she said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Captain, but - haven't we altered history already just by being here?"

Sam nodded. "We have to concentrate on damage control. At the very least, destroy our advanced weapons and technology."

"That's gonna be a little tough."

"We also cannot tell anyone anything about who we are or where we're from."

"This is a top secret facility. Anonymity does not go over big here," Jack said.

"Sir, we can't tell them who we are."We can only hope that Daniel and Teal'c never left our SGC."

"Why not? We could use the help."

"Can we use Teal'c's larva in the wrong hands?" she asked pointedly.

Jack heard the rattle of keys in the lock and looked up, watching impassively as an officer stepped in. He said a few words in a foreign language and Jack looked to Sam, recognizing it but pretending that he didn't.

She slowly shook her head, either not recognizing it herself or playing along. "Come with me," the officer said.

"Yeah," Jack muttered. He glanced at Carter and got to his feet following the officer out of the room. He shoulda called in sick this morning.

<><><><><>

"What the hell happened?" Daniel demanded, storming into the control room.

"The gate just shut down," Harriman said.

"Yeah, I saw that," Daniel said. "Open it back up."

"Belay that," General Hammond said, stepping forward.

"General Hammond?" Teal'c asked. "Why can we not open the stargate to P2X555 and rejoin Captain Carter and
O'Neill?"

The general sighed. "In my office, gentlemen," he instructed. "Sergeant, send a MALP through to P2X555 to verify that Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter aren't there. And notify SG-5. Presuming the colonel and the captain aren't there, SG-5 will complete the mission."

"Yes, sir."

"General," Daniel prodded.

"Doctor Jackson, Teal'c. Upstairs." Daniel followed the general up the stairs and into the man's office, declining his offer of a seat.

"What's going on, general?" Daniel asked. "Jack and Sam could be in trouble even as we speak. Why can't we go help them?"

"Doctor Jackson, this is going to sound odd, but if they are where I think they are, they've got all the help they need," he said cryptically.

<><><><><>

Sam sat in the back of the truck, staring at the colonel. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet since his return to the cell. For some strange reason, they hadn't questioned her. She didn't know if it was because she was the inferior officer or maybe they just didn't like to question women. Whatever it was, she didn't mind. From the way the colonel smelled she'd probably still have a headache from the smoke.

"Where do you think we're going?" she asked, clinging to the first topic that came to mind to fill the awkward silence.

"Where do we send our problems?"

"Area 51, great," she muttered, sighing. "Nevada in the summer, and me without my swimsuit."

"Chances are they'll probably try to split us up," he said, ignoring her words. "So, we're not going to have much time to-"

"Escape and hopefully live out the rest of our lives without affecting history," she interrupted.

"Or?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I can't think of an "or" at the moment, sir."

"There's an "or," he insisted stubbornly.

"Sir, you can't just will something to happen because you want it to be a certain way," she said.

"Captain... where there's a will, there's an "or." She frowned at him, wondering if the interrogators had done more than just try to asphyxiate him. "way," he corrected.

"Colonel, I don't know where or when we are. I have no idea how we got here, so I have no point of reference to use to figure out how the hell-" The truck jerked and she broke off, struggling to steady herself with her cuffed hands. "That didn't feel good."

"You get a chance, get the hell out of here," he said.

"Sir?"

"Trust me, living in the past has to be better than what they got planned for us in Nevada," he said coldly.

The door opened and a young man stepped in, pistol in his hand. "Flat tire?" Jack asked.

"I'm the one who arranged it," the lieutenant confessed. "Before I can even think of doing what's asked in the note, I need to know who you are and who gave it to you."

Sam stared at the man, wondering if it was some sort of trick, maybe they were being set up so that they could be killed while attempting to escape. Her eyes settled on his nametag and she stared, trying to process the information. "Oh, my God," she muttered. "My name is Samantha Carter, and... you gave me the note, sir."

"Carter?" the colonel asked.

"Sir, before we left, General Hammond gave me a note and told me to keep it in my vest pocket until I got to the other side," she explained.

"It's addressed to me. In my handwriting," the lieutenant said.

"What's it say?" Jack asked.

"Help them. And seeing as helping you will undoubtedly lead to court-martial, I'd like to know why I would do that," Hammond asked.

"Because it's your idea," Sam said.

"Albeit one you won't have for a few years."

"What?"

"I know this is kind of hard to understand, but - we've traveled back in time."

Hammond frowned, obviously not believing them. "I'm sorry. I can't help you-"

"We can prove it," Jack said. "What's the date?"

"August 4th, 1969."

"Sixty nine. Carter, what happened in sixty-nine?"

She shrugged. "I don't…the moon landing," she said, grasping the first memory she could come up with.

"The entire world knows that," Hammond dismissed.

"But not too many people know you watched it from your father's bedside in his hospital room... just two days after his first heart attack," Jack said.

"How did you know?"

"Because we know you. We will know you. And for some reason, thirty years ago, you decided we were gonna need help. Otherwise, you wouldn't be standing there with a note. Now are you gonna listen to yourself? Or not?"

Sam stared, trying to read the man's thoughts. Even if he didn't decide to help them, could they overpower him? Technically, she knew they could, but the handcuffs complicated things a bit. And how many m ore were outside? They'd doubtlessly shoot to kill.

"There are two other men, including the driver," he said, bending over and unlocking the colonel's cuffs.

"Thank you, thank you."

Hammond turned to her and Sam winced as his hand bumped into the cut on the back of her hand. "Ow," she instinctively pulled her hand back.

"I'm sorry, miss. Did I hurt you," he apologized.

"It's "Captain. And it's all right, Lieutenant." She took a second to enjoy the novelty of outranking her commanding officer. "Um, may I see the note?"

He handed it to her and sat beside her. "Look, we don't want to hurt anybody, but we are going to have to knock those guys out somehow," the colonel said.

"Will this do?" Hammond held up a zat and Jack took it.

"All right, call for help," Jack instructed.

"What?"

"We've mysteriously escaped," Sam said, shoving the note into her pocket.

"Ah." Hammond nodded, getting to his feet. He opened the back doors to the truck and jumped out. "Help!"

Jack motioned for Sam to move behind him as he readied the zat. She moved and squatted down, trying to be as small of a target as possible. The other two men appeared at the back of the truck and the colonel shot one of them, jumping down to get the other one.

Knowing that it was safe, Sam stood up, joining him. "Where's the rest of our gear?" he asked.

"Um, the Major ordered it shipped in a separate truck for security reasons. They should be right behind," Hammond said, staring in amazement at the two unconscious men.

"All right, good. Get down on the ground. Go." Hammond hurried to follow his command and Sam stepped to the side of the truck, out of sight of the road.

She heard the sound of the other truck coming. It stopped and she heard doors open. The zat fired twice and Sam waited, not knowing how many people were in the truck. "Clear," the colonel said.

Sam hurried out as Hammond got to his feet. She followed the colonel to the back of the second truck. He climbed in and pushed back a tarp, revealing a large box. He dug in it, tossing Sam a zat and GDO. "Everything you confiscated from us is in these two boxes?"

"Except for your ray gun, yes," Hammond answered.

The colonel nodded and stepped back. "Watch yourself." He fired the zat three times, disintegrating everything. "All right, your Major What's-His-Name had videotapes of this thing in action."

"Uh, yes. It was in those boxes along with everything else."

"Good," the colonel said, jumping down from the truck. "Carter?"

"That's it, sir."

Jack nodded. "Got any money?" he asked Hammond.

"Ah, yeah, I might have some." The lieutenant dug in his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. Jack took it from him.

"I'll pay you back, with interest," he promised.

"One more thing," Sam said. "You have to keep everything you've seen and everything we've told you a secret, and I
mean for the rest of your life."

Hammond nodded slowly. "General Hammond." I like the sound of that," he agreed. "What are you going to do now?"

"Well, you're better off not knowing. But I do want you to know that what I'm about to do keeps you from getting court-martialed." The colonel spun and shot Hammond with the zat. The lieutenant slumped to the asphalt, unconscious. "We need to get off this road."

He headed towards the trees and Sam followed him, casting one last look over her shoulder. She trotted to catch up, grateful that they were in the past. With any luck, they'd have at least a couple of hours head start on any search party. "Sir?" she asked, finally catching up with him. "What's the plan?"

"Find the Stargate," Jack said.

"That's it?"

"Elegant in its simplicity, don't you think?" he asked.

"And if we don't find it?"

"There's one in Antarctica."

"Yeah, and we nearly died there last time," she said, annoyed with his flip attitude. "Even if we find the Stargate, how are we getting home?"

"Well, now, that's all in the note. Right?"

"Umm, no, sir," Sam confessed reluctantly.

"No, sir?"

"It doesn't explain how to get back, at least not in so many words."

He held out his hand and she handed it to him, cringing at his anticipated reaction. He wasn't going to like this on a good day. And they definitely weren't having a good day. Of course, he hadn't been having a good week, month…months. In fact, he'd been a royal pain in the ass.

"Help them," he read. "August 10th, 9:15 A.M., August 11th, 6:03 P.M." That's helpful."

"Well, I suppose he had to be intentionally cryptic so as not to risk changing his own history," she offered as an explanation.

"August 10th... that's cryptic," he said, handing the not back to her.

"General Hammond specifically gave this to me, so it has to mean something," she insisted.

"Then you better figure out what it means, because I lived through the seventies once, I'm in no mood to do it again."

He spun on his heel and stalked away, leaving her no choice but to follow. Maybe she should go back, see if the search party had arrived yet. Compared to spending the rest of her life with Colonel the Grouch, captivity didn't seem all that bad.

<><><><><>

The ticking of the clock echoed through the quiet room and Sara found her fingers drumming in time, her fingers sliding smoothly across the polished surface of the table. She sighed and looked up at the clock again, her ire growing as the minute hand crept further around the clock.

"Maybe we should postpone-"

"No," Sara interrupted the attorney. "If he's not here by now, he's not going to make it."

She turned to look Jack's attorney in the eyes. "Why don't we do what we can without him," she suggested.

"Mrs. O'Neill, I can't fully represent your husband-"

"I'm not asking you to," she interrupted. "Look, this is simple. I'm going to move to Denver and live with my father for a bit. I think we'll get along just fine living with him. If, in six months, I decide that it doesn't work out, I would like half of the house to use as a down payment to buy my own. Our bank account and savings account, we can just cut in half." The attorney scribbled notes on his pad. "We bought some stocks to use for Charlie's education, I, of course, want those. There's some furniture of my grandmother's in the house, I want that, along with my car." She frowned at her own attorney. "I think that's about it."

"Your husband is a colonel in the US Air Force. He's got a fairly healthy retirement coming, and as his wife of fifteen years you're entitled-"

"Rod, we've been over this," Sara interrupted. "Mike is…very well off. His estate is my retirement."

"And if something happens? A catastrophic illness," he pushed, using an old argument. She and her attorney had been beating this topic to death since their first meeting two months ago. He was a good attorney and definitely had her best interests-and his fee-at heart. And he wouldn't listen when she tried to tell him that it was her fault. Ok, yes, Jack's job had a lot to do with it…but she did have to be honest and admit that their marriage was going to die as the result of one little indiscretion sixteen years ago.

"I'll deal with it if it happens," she said, her tone icy.

"What about custody?" Jack's attorney asked. Sara frowned, trying to remember the man's name. Richard, that was it. Richard.

"I think, given Jack's work schedule, Charlie is best with me. His doctors are in Colorado Springs and I'm sure we can work out holidays and weekends. Jack can see Charlie whenever he wants to."

Richard flipped through his files. "There's also an adolescent girl-"

"Cassandra stays with Jack," Sara said.

"Excuse me?"

"Cassandra is adopted. It was Jack's idea that we adopt her. And she also has…certain needs that are best fulfilled in Colorado Springs. My son and I will live in Denver. Cassandra can live with Jack…or maybe he can find her another home," she said, hating how callous she sounded.

She knew it would break Charlie's heart, but she just couldn't handle two children, especially not with all Cassandra's medical issues on top of Charlie's.

"Mrs. O'Neill, this is…"

"Not uncommon," Sara interrupted Richard. "Divorced parents often split the children." Sara sighed. "Jack works. His absence here is proof of that. If Jack has custody, Charlie will spend most of his time with a babysitter-"

"I'm sure Colonel O'Neill would be willing to alter his work hours," Richard interrupted.

Sara shook her head. "I won't ask Jack to do that."

"But you are if he has custody of Cassandra," Richard said pointedly.

"Cassandra is a refugee. Jack brought her home like a lost puppy. She is a beautiful child, but I can't handle two teenagers on my own." Sara got to her feet. "Those are my terms. Jack either agrees or we'll take this to court. I don't consider any of my requests unreasonable…and I don't think Jack will either." She picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder. "Presuming he comes home any time soon, let me know what he says."

She walked out of the room, her heart pounding in her chest. She quickly made her way outside, not relaxing until she reached her car and got inside. "Ok, that could have been worse," she muttered, knowing full well that the true test would be when Jack got home…if he made it home.

<><><><><>

Sam perused the racks of the second hand store, flipping through items, trying to find just the right mix of size and price. Fortunately for them, payday must have been just a few days ago, but still they'd only gotten a little over a hundred dollars. Gas was astonishingly cheap given what they were used to, but they still didn't know how long that money would have to last them.

So they were trying to conserve, which meant one change of clothes each. Hopefully, it wouldn't take them long to find out how to get home.

Her mind drifted back to the note. 'Help them. August 10th, 9:15 A.M., August 11th, 6:03 P.M.' So they were only stuck here for a week, presuming that the note held the key to getting home. Presuming that she could figure out how they'd ended up in the past, and presuming that she could find out how to get them back to the future.
That was a lot of presuming, and a lot of thinking…and she had absolutely NO idea where to start.

"Carter," Jack's voice cut into her thoughts. "We do NOT have all day." He appeared beside her, jeans and a jacket clutched in his hand. "If you can't find something, you can just wear your fatigues."

He spun on his heel and stalked towards the front of the store. Sam closed her eyes, her fingers clenching around a hanger. She was getting sick of this, sick of his bad attitude and horrible mood. Yes, it was probably her fault that they were here. She had to have figured something wrong, made some error in the calculations. But it wasn't like she did it on purpose. And she was just as stuck as he was.

"Carter?" He glared impatiently at her. Quickly checking the size, she pulled a denim skirt off the rack, knowing that it would likely go with anything, even the shirt and boots she'd already picked out. She hurried up to the register, laying her clothes on the counter to be rung up.

The clerk frowned at them, his eyes raking over their BDU's. "You know, it does get chilly at night," he said, pushing the buttons on the cash register.

"It's August," Jack said, pulling the bills out of his pocket. He handed them to the cashier and picked up his clothes, leaving Sam to get her own.

"He just come back?" he asked, handing her the change.

"Yeah," she answered, grasping the explanation for Jack's poor mood.

The cashier nodded. "Thought so. My brother's just like that." He handed her the change and bent over, pulling a couple of jackets from under the counter. "Someone just brought these in." He handed them to her. "They should fit."

Sam shook her head. "I don't-"

"On the house. Consider it a welcome home present. Even if you don't need them now, you will eventually."

"Thank you," Sam said, taking the jackets. He was right. They probably wouldn't need them for a month or so, but if she couldn't find a way home, they would come in handy. Especially since she knew there was no way their money would last that long.

"Sam?" Jenny stuck her head in the door. "Jack wants to go."

"Coming," Sam said, smiling at the woman. "Thank you," she said again to the clerk.

"Peace, sister," he said, holding up his hand, his fingers in a V shape.

Sam stepped outside, her eyes squinting because of the bright sunlight. Jenny smiled at her and held out her hands.

"Let me help you." She took the jackets. "This is cool," she said, running her fingers over one of them. Now that they were outside Sam could see what the clerk had given her. One of the jackets was a light tan color, made from some sort of heavy woven material. The other was your typical black leather bikers jacket, and one she knew the colonel would love. He wore leather jackets a lot, even used one as a winter coat.

"Yeah, it is," Sam agreed.

They made their way towards the bus. Michael was standing outside, a couple of paper bags at this feet, his arms crossed over his chest. "Michael?"

"He's changing," he answered Jenny. "If we leave pretty soon, we can make Lubbock by night fall."

"Which is good," Jack said, stepping out of the bus. "Sooner we get to New York, the better." He pointedly looked at Sam and raised his eyebrows.

"Right," she said, getting his meaning. "I'll just go get changed." She climbed up into the bus and made her way back to the living area. It took her only a few minutes to shuck her fatigues and exchange them for the skirt and peasant blouse. The clothes fit, which was a good thing since she knew they really didn't have time to exchange clothes.

The colonel was right; their best chance of getting home was probably tied to the stargate. And finding Catherine was the most likely way to find wherever the military had hidden the gate.

"You decent?" Jack called.

"Yeah," Sam answered, neatly folding her fatigues and shoving them into a corner. She needed to ask the colonel what they should do with their clothes. It seemed a waste to destroy them, especially since they only had two changes of clothes, but she also knew that even the tags inside the clothing could mess with the timeline. That, and considering the fact that they were in a style that wasn't going to even exist for a few years.

Michael was helping Jenny carry the groceries and Sam stepped forward, taking the bag from him. "I'll help her put them away," she offered. The couple's larder/kitchen was comprised of a large ice chest, a foot locker and a camp stove. It meant that they needed to stop frequently to buy more ice and perishables, but they seemed to do pretty well.

"Then I guess it's time to leave," Michael said, pulling the keys from his pocket. He returned to the front of the bus and slid into the driver's seat. Sam hurried to finish securing the groceries before sinking down on the bench. She estimated that it'd take them two days to reach New York. This meant that she had roughly forty-eight hours to figure out what do to with the Stargate when they found it.

<><><><><>

Jack walked across the clearing, using the flickering light of the campfire to guide his way. Michael and Jenny were in the bus, the young man having requested a little 'private time' for the couple. Jack could see Sam sitting by herself by the fire, her gaze apparently set off into the distance.

She'd been quiet all day; actually, she'd been rather quiet since their escape from Cheyenne Mountain. Carter when she was quiet was always something to worry about. Usually, when they were off world, she only got quiet when she was hurting or pissed. And since he knew she wasn't physically in any distress, he had a pretty good idea why she was so withdrawn. And he was pretty sure that the responsibility lay squarely in his lap.

Rationally, he knew that their situation wasn't her fault. Even if she'd made an error in the calculations, they still knew that something like this was a risk every single time they stepped across the event horizon.

He reached the campfire and sat next to her, not surprised when she didn't acknowledge his presence. He grabbed the pot of soup heating over the fire and poured two cups, handing one to her. "Thanks," she said absently, her gaze still riveted on the fire.

Jack stretched out his legs, inadvertently kicking one of the branches. It flared briefly, sparks rising into the dark sky.

"A flare," she muttered suddenly.

"What?" Jack asked.

"That's the only explanation. We had to have been sent back because of a solar flare," she said, turning to face him.

"I thought you said your math was wrong?" Jack said.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Sir, one of the things I was asked to research after the Abydos mission was alternative applications for the gate. Including time travel."

"Ok, what'd you come up with?" Jack asked, feeling the need to mend some fences with the woman. He'd been distinctly out of sorts the past couple of days and he knew he'd taken it out on her.

"What if a massive solar flare just happened to occur at the exact moment that we were traveling between Earth and another Stargate? If the wormhole itself was redirected closer to the sun because of the Earth's magnetic field, the increased gravity could slingshot us back to Earth," she theorized.

Jack shook his head. "If it's this easy, why haven't we tried it before?"

"Because flares are impossible to predict. Light takes several minutes to travel between the Earth and the sun, so by the time a flare of sufficient magnitude has been confirmed, it's already too late."

"Then how does this help us get home?" Jack said, tamping down on his frustration.

"August 10th, 9:15 A.M. It's in the note," she said.

"The time and date of the next flare?"

"Yeah. General Hammond must have used my own research to figure out what we needed."

"Ok. So now what do we need?"

"This is only a theory, so I think we first need to find an observatory, see what happens the day after tomorrow. If there's a solar flare, we'll know we're on the right track. Then we need to find the Stargate."

"It's in DC," Jack said.

"Sir?"

"Bout a year ago, Daniel was digging through old records. He had me do a search of every warehouse the gate was kept in. From sixty-six to seventy-eight, it was in an armory in DC."

"I know there's an observatory in Pittsburgh," Sam said.

"Carter?"

"My dad was stationed there. We went on a field trip," she explained.

"Ok." He sighed. "We'll get to Pittsburgh by tomorrow night, check out your theory the next day, then get to D.C.," he planned.

"Yes, sir." She moved to get to her feet.

"Carter," he said, reaching out to grab her hand. "I'm aah, I've been a bit of an asshole lately, I'm sorry," he apologized.

She sat back down. "Sir, if I can-"

"Sara and I are getting divorced," he said, saying the words out loud for the first time. He hadn't told any members of his team; Daniel didn't even know exactly what was going on. He knew that there was some tension between Jack and Sara.

"That explains it," she said softly.

"Explains what?" he asked.

"When a senior officer lives on the base for a week, people notice," she said sheepishly.

Jack grunted. Yeah, it would have been too much to hope for that no on noticed that he'd moved into one of the VIP suites for a week a couple of months ago. Hammond knew, but Jack had asked the man not to say anything. The last thing he was in the mood for was sympathetic platitudes. "I said I was getting the house fumigated," he muttered.

"Daniel drove by, he saw Sara still there and-"

"Put two and two together," Jack interrupted.

"Yeah. I'm sorry," she said sincerely.

"Bound to happen eventually," he said. "We were supposed to have a hearing yesterday," he confessed. "Decide who gets what and all that."

"And you missed it." She squeezed his arm. "I'm-"

"Don't," he interrupted. "It's not like you knew what was going to happen."

"Still, I-"

"Carter, stop," he ordered. "Drink your soup," he said, noticing the mug in her hand.

"Colonel?"

"The bus is off limits right now, you don't want to go tramping in the woods in the dark, so you may as well eat," he said, picking up his mug and taking a large swig of the cooling liquid.

"Why's the bus off limits?" she asked, following suit. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh," she said, her face coloring a bit.

"Yeah." He sighed and leaned back, picking up a long stick to poke the fire with. "How did your divorce go?" he asked impulsively. Normally it was a question he'd never ask someone, at least not a female under his command that he'd barely known a year. But he felt like he could talk with her for some reason.

When he thought about it, he really didn't know that much about her. Her late father was a general, she'd been married to some man named Jonas Hanson, and she lived with a cop named Pete. She had a penchant for blue Jell-O and had an annoying habit of getting obsessed with her work.

"I didn't divorce Jonas," she said softly, setting down her mug.

"Carter?"

She snorted. "I can't believe you don't know," she said, looking at him.

He shook his head, puzzled at her reaction. "I don't. You're not married and you live with Pete. At least, that's what I remember you saying," he said, recalling their time trapped in the glacier in Antarctica.

She sighed, wrapping her fingers around her mug as she settled down, her back against a fallen log. "My dad never liked Jonas. I never knew why but…sometimes I wonder if I didn't marry him just to prove my dad wrong," she said, her voice low.

"You know how they say hindsight is 20/20?" She craned her neck to look at him.

"Yeah."

"It was with Jonas. Looking back, I can see what he was doing. We'd move, sometimes twice a year. Jonas was with the quartermaster and he'd always tell me that the moving was a good thing. That he was in demand. He'd restructure places, streamline, and make them more efficient. That we moved because, as soon as he fixed one base, they'd need him somewhere else."

"That's aah…well-"

"He was lying," she interrupted. "It turns out Jonas was…getting creative with the bookkeeping."

"Embezzlement?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "And he kept getting away with it by paying off the right people."

"For how long?"

"Years. This is another reason he wanted to marry me."

"Huh?"

"I was his insurance," she said bitterly.

"He was counting on your father bailing him out."

"Yeah," she confirmed.

"It was starting to catch up with him though." She sighed. "I got tired of all the moving. It was always for him. It furthered his career. Mine was suffering. Things started to change after General Hammond contacted me about the Stargate. I transferred to the Pentagon and Jonas had no choice but to follow." She grimaced.

"I take it he didn't like that," Jack said.

"You take right. He didn't have any friends on the east coast. And his friends on the west coast didn't like losing their easy money. Eventually, he went back."

"And he pressured you every time he visited," Jack said.

"Yep." She nodded. "And after you went to Abydos and the stargate got shut down, the research petered out. Pretty soon, I didn't have a reason not to go with him." She set down her mug. "So, I transferred back out to California. The problem was, while I was gone, he'd gotten careless. People were starting to suspect."

"What'd he do?" Jack asked quietly.

"Framed me." She stated. "It's actually pretty pathetic how easy it was."

"You both had the same service record," he said.

"Yep. Same place, same time. He changed a few things, made it look like I used him… used his ID to embezzle. The problem was, I found out what he was doing before he could finish it. And then I made the second big mistake of my life. I confronted him."

"What happened?"

"He aah, he hit me and tossed me down the basement stairs and locked me in," she said evenly. "He then proceeded to frame me for his embezzlement and let my CO think I was AWOL."

"Carter." He reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder.

"It took me a week to figure out how to get out of there," she said, ignoring his gesture, her gaze fixated on the fire. "The problem was he came home early." She trailed off and he stayed silent, watching her. Her hands began to move in her lap, the fingers of one caressing the other. "He had his sidearm and his plans were to kill me and dump my…body and let me take the rap for his crimes."

"You shot him," Jack said, putting two and two together. He had to be dead. If he wasn't, then he would have been noted in her file.

"I killed him." She scooted around, turning to face him. "And then I spent the better part of the next year trying to clear my name and disprove everything he'd worked so hard to prove."

"You succeeded, or you wouldn't be here," he said.

"Only with a lot of help," she said. "Pete was the first officer on the scene, and I think, the only one that believed me. He aah, he kept digging and digging. Jonas' friends put a lot of pressure on him, on his boss."

"He was going to expose them."

"Yeah. Most people wouldn't have cared, but he did. And he finally did it, finally uncovered enough evidence to prove that I had nothing to do with it. He proved that I killed Jonas out of self-defense. I literally owe him my life," she said sincerely.

"Is that why he moved to Colorado?"

She shook her head. "Not quite. There was a price to pay for backing me up."

"They fired him?"

"No. Not quite. But it was made very clear that he was no longer welcome in California. He uncovered too much about the wrong people."

"So, you two came here?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. So, I'm afraid I'm not much good at advice," she said ruefully. "But I do know a good defense attorney if you ever need one."

"I'll bear that in mind," he said. He heard a creak and turned, seeing Michael and Jenny slip out of the bus. "I think our banishment's over. We should get some sleep."

"We could stay out here," she offered.

"Carter?"

"It's not like we never sleep outside," she said. "You could go get some blankets and we could just stay here by the fire," she suggested.

"You sure?"

"Yeah." She smiled up at him. "It'll be fun."

"Ok." He nodded. "I'll go get the blankets. Be back in a few." He walked towards the bus, intent upon getting their blankets before the two kids returned. Astonishingly enough, he thought as he picked up the blankets and pillows, he didn't dread the thought of sleeping on the hard ground; in fact, he was oddly looking forward to it.

<><><><><>

Daniel stared at the TV, barely noticing when Janet joined him, holding out a glass. "Here," she prodded.

"What? Oh, thanks." He took it from her, taking a sip and then leaning forward, setting the glass down on the coffee
table.

He leaned back, again staring sightlessly at the flickering TV set. "You are a million miles away," she complained.

"I'm sorry," he sighed. "I just can't stop thinking about them."

"They're going to be ok," she reassured him, her hand stroking his arm. He'd been like this the past few days, ever since the gate shut down, stranding him and Teal'c at the SGC while Sam and Colonel O'Neill were…somewhere.

"Jan, the last time this happened-"

"The last time this happened you were coming home, under fire," she reminded. "The situations totally different," she reassured him.

"I know I just wish I was with them."

He slumped dejectedly down in the couch cushions and her heart went out to him. He was taking it hard. It had taken all of her powers of persuasion to get him to leave the SGC for the evening. And even then, he'd only agreed to leave after they'd given both of their cell phone numbers and extracted a promise to be notified the instant the SGC heard something.

"I know," she said.

"If I was there, maybe I could help them get home," he continued.

"Where do you think they are?" she asked, sensing that he needed to talk it out.

He frowned. "Um, they can't be on Earth," he said. "There's only two Stargates and we have control of both of those. And they never arrived on the planet…"

"What about like last time?" she asked. "Do you think they're somewhere along the way?"

"It's the only place they could be," he said. "But General Hammond won't even hear about any sort of rescue mission," he said.

"None?"

"No, nothing," he said, frustrated. "It doesn't make any sense. It's almost like he doesn't care."

"I don't think that's the case," she said. "He would never do that to one of his people."

"That's how it seems," he said. "He won't let us search, he doesn't seem worried. Jan, it doesn't make any sense." He turned to face her. "What other explanation is there?"

She shrugged. "Maybe he just knows that it's all going to work out," she said, offering the only reassurance she could.

<><><><><>

"We'll just be a little bit," Sam said as Michael pulled the bus to the curb.

"It might be best if you didn't hang too close," Jack said, cringing at the thought of how much attention the psycadelic bus would draw.

"That's cool," he said. "We'll go wait a couple blocks away."

"We need some groceries," Jenny said.

"Ok," Jack said, following Sam out of the bus. "You guys go shopping, then come back and get us."

The door closed and the bus drove off in a cloud of exhaust fumes. "This place hasn't changed a bit," Sam said, walking towards the observatory. "It looks just like I remembered it."

"When were you here?" he asked.

"What?"

"When did you visit?"

"Umm…eighth grade," she said, turning to cover his back as he fumbled with the lock.

"Which means you're not going to be here for what, seven, eight years?" The lock gave and he pushed the door
open, holding it so that she could follow.

"More like ten," she confessed. "Forgot about that."

"As long as you haven't forgotten how to work this thing," he quipped, now following her as she led him into the observatory room.

"I remember. I just hope no one notices that we're here." She pushed buttons on some of the consoles, turning on the equipment without opening the large domed roof.

"What do we need to do?" he asked, helping her turn things on. This wasn't quite like the telescope he'd operated at Hanka, but it was close enough that he could figure things out.

"As soon as we get close to the time, we'll open the roof, align the telescope and look at the sun," she said, sitting down in one of the chairs. "Oh, and we've got to remember to use the hydrogen alpha filter." He raised his eyebrows.
"If we don't, we'll aah, well we'll burn our eyes out," she said, smiling a bit.

"Burn our eyes out?" he asked skeptically.

"Actually it's more like permanently damaging our retinas, same difference."

"Fine, we'll use the filter," he agreed, the idea of burned retinas not sounding too good. "Anything else?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Ok, how much longer?"

She looked at her watch. "Fifteen minutes."

"What happens if this doesn't work?" he asked.

She shrugged. "We stay here."

"In the past?"

"It's the only thing we can do, sir," she said. "Even if we find the stargate and go to another planet, we're still thirty years in the past. And if we do that, we risk messing up the development of a second planet," she explained.

He sighed, agreeing with her. "So, we stay here."

She nodded. "And try to live out the rest of our lives not messing anything up."

They sat silently for a few seconds and Jack watched the second hand of the clock complete circle after circle.
"What would you do?" he asked, feeling the need to fill the silence.

"Sir?"

"Let's say we're stuck here. What will you do?"

She thought a minute. "I don't know." She looked at him. "We can't join the military, that's for sure."

"Why not?"

"First of all, there's only one Jack O'Neill in the Air Force," she smiled.

"Actually, there's two," he corrected.

"Really?"

"But the other guy has only one L and absolutely no sense of humor," he deadpanned.

She chuckled. "Regardless of that, we can't run the risk of our fingerprints ending up in the database and creating problems for our future selves when they join up."

He shrugged. "Ok, military's out. Although that's probably a good thing. I doubt you'd enjoy it very much right now.

"Colonel?"

"Women's lib is just getting started," he said.

"Ah. Well then, maybe I'll teach," she said, smiling enthusiastically.

"A teacher?" He raised his eyebrows. That was probably the last thing he expected her to say. She just never struck him as the apple loving kind.

"Why not?"

"I'm just thinking if you say we need to minimize our contact with people, is a teacher a good job?" he asked pointedly.

She stared at him for a minute, her face falling. "You're right," she agreed.

"Look, I didn't mean," he started, not wanting to totally crush her enthusiasm. If they were stuck here he knew it was going to be tough on both of them. They'd have to find a way to fit in, find a way to contribute to a society that just wasn't ready for them.

For him, he figured that it'd be easy. He could live the quiet life. Find a place out of the way, probably up in the mountains and basically retire early. But he knew that the quiet life probably didn't appeal to Carter. She thrived on solving problems, on pushing her brain to the limit striving to comprehend what others found uncomprehendable.

Unfortunately, that kind of thinking didn't go well with flying under the radar. They couldn't afford to draw attention to themselves in any way. He honestly didn't know if she'd be content with the role society would thrust upon her.
"No, you're right," she agreed. "What if I flunked the wrong kid?"

Her shoulders slumped and he reached out, laying his hand on her arm. "We'll get home," he reassured her.

"Right," she said unconvincingly.

"Carter, I told you down in Antarctica that we'd get home, didn't I?"

"Colonel-"

"Hey, didn't I?" he insisted.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I was right then, and I'm right now," he said. "We're gonna make it home." He looked at his watch. "And in about three minutes, the sun will flare and we'll know."

"Three? Oh my God, I almost forgot." She jumped to her feet and opened the dome, quickly instructing him to turn the telescope. He followed her instruction and stood behind her as climbed up the short ladder and peered through the eye piece.

He fiddled as she watched, having nothing else to do. "Well?" he asked, impatient. She ignored him and he frowned, not sure if it was a good or bad thing. "Carter?" Still not getting a response, he shook her leg. "Captain," he said harshly.

She chuckled and looked down at him. "Have I ever told you how much I love it when I'm right?" she asked, smiling broadly.

"We're going home?" he asked.

"We're going home," she said. She turned and started down the steps. Her feet tangled in the skirt and she stumbled, falling forward.

Instinctively, his hands went out as he tried to catch her. The weight threw them off balance and they both tumbled to the floor. She landed on top of him, her body pressing him into the floor and knocking the wind from his lungs. He looked up, meeting her shocked gaze. Time stood still for a second as he stared, really looking into her face for the first time.

She looked back; her blue eyes open wide and her lips slightly parted. He saw kindness in her eyes, kindness and strength and realized that he was finally seeing the true Samantha Carter. Not the captain, not the general's daughter, but the woman.

"Sorry," she muttered, pushing herself off him. "I'm not used to wearing a skirt. Are you ok?" She got to her feet and held out her hand, helping him up.

"Fine," he said. "It takes more than a tumble to take me down, you know that." He smiled at her. He deliberately looked at his watch. "We better go."

"Yeah," she said. "Right." She looked around and he thought he saw her flush a bit, her cheeks coloring. "We better go," she agreed.

<><><><><>

Sam lay on the bench seat, the rhythm of tires on pavement lulling her into a near hypnotic state. The occasional flash of headlights washed in through the windows, illuminating the interior briefly, and then letting it fade into darkness.

They were driving through the night, afraid that the gate would be too well guarded and prevent them from gaining access to it if they waited until daylight to travel.

As she lay there, she watched the light wash over the colonel's face. He was sleeping, tired after driving all day. She noticed that his face was softer when he slept, more at peace and open. She'd never done this before, watched him.
When they were off-world and camping, their watches rarely coincided and even when they did, she was usually too busy keeping an eye on the horizon to give her teammates more than a cursory look.

There was something about him, something that drew her to him. He was a lot like Jonas, in a way. But he was also very different. He had something Jonas lacked, a sense of honor and integrity and she knew that she could trust him with her life. He respected her, which was something Jonas never did.

She liked him, she really liked him. And it scared her. She was afraid that she'd like him too much. One of the first lessons she'd learned as a woman in the military was that the only thing that was hated more than a traitor, it was an adulterer. This is why she'd always been careful to be more than circumspect with her teammates. It helped that they were all married, or had been until recently. Yes, Daniel was recently widowed and Teal'c's wife lived light years away but still, married was married. And 'married' was her safety blanket with the colonel. Married kept her from thinking all those things a good second in command didn't think about her CO.

And her safety blanket was gone now.

The last thing she ever expected to hear was that he and Sara were getting divorced. The few times she'd been over to their house, they'd seemed so happy together. Sure, there were the odd tense moment or harsh word, but everyone did that. Lord knows she and Jonas had raised the rafters a time or two.

This did explain his bad moods over the past few months. To say the least, divorce was stressful. She just hoped that there wouldn't be any fallout from his missing the hearing. She'd feel horrible if he was punished because of their little trip. He deserved so much better than that.

<><><><><>

Charlie sat on the top stair, straining to hear his mom's conversation. She was downstairs on the telephone and, thanks to the late hour and quiet nature of the house; he could just hear her voice filtering upstairs.

He knew that his parents were getting divorced, and knew what that word meant. His dad wasn't living with them anymore; he had a small apartment on the other side of town. Charlie really didn't like visiting him there, the place was pretty boring. He didn't even have a Game Cube.

Charlie knew how divorce worked. His mom and dad wouldn't live in the same house and he and Cassie would take turns, living in first one place, then another. His friend Jimmy liked living with his father the best. He didn't get to see his dad very often but when he did; his dad bought him a lot of neat things.

Charlie didn't think his own dad would be like that. His dad always said that time was better than stuff.

"We're supposed to be in bed," Cassie said, joining him.

"Ssh," Charlie whispered. He motioned for her to sit down. "She's talking to grandpa."

Cassie sat beside him. "What about?" she whispered. She was confused. She didn't know what divorce was, it wasn't something that her people did. Their parents married until they died and she didn't understand things like custody. Charlie had had to explain it all to her.

"About us," he said.

"Are we in trouble?" she asked anxiously.

"Ssh," he hushed.

"We're only going to need two bedrooms, Mike," he heard his mother say. "I know, and I've already spoken to Charlie's teacher. He can transfer to a school there in the fall."

"School where?" Cassie asked. Charlie ignored her.

"We won't move until June, that'll give him plenty of time to say goodbye to his friends."

"Move? But I like it here."

"Cassie, be quiet, I can't hear," Charlie chastised, slapping her gently.

"We'll still be going back and forth a lot. I know Charlie will want to visit Jack, and his doctors are here. It'll take time to find new ones in Denver."

Cassie gasped and Charlie dug his fingers into her arm, warning her to keep quiet. If mom found out she'd send both of them bed.

"No, Mike, I don't know what Jack will do with Cassie. Maybe he'll find her a new home. It's really not my concern. He brought her home; he can take care of her. It's better if she stays close to the SGC anyway."

Horrified, Charlie turned, meeting Cassandra's tear soaked gaze. Her hands were over her mouth and he could tell that she was trying not to cry out loud. He got to his feet and pulled her up, pushing her towards his bedroom. He shut the door and turned on the lamp.

She slumped dejectedly down on his bed. "I tried to be good," she said softly.

"What are you talking about?" Charlie sat next to her.

"I was bad and my parents went away and now Papa Jack is going to go away and it's all my fault," she said, her voice catching.

Charlie stared, trying to make sense of Cassie's words. Could she be right? He hadn't thought that he'd been especially bad lately. He'd done some things wrong, but he'd done far worse in the past and the worst that had happened had been him getting a spanking. She had to be wrong. There was just no way she was right.
She was wrong and he was going to prove it.

"Get dressed," he said, getting to his feet.

"What?"

"Mom has to be wrong," he said, not wanting to accuse his sister. She'd just argue or cry and then mom would know they were awake. "And I'm going to prove it," he declared, reaching for his clothes. They were just where he'd left them, piled on the chair.

"How can we prove it?" she asked, standing to join him.

"We're going to go ask dad. Now go, get dressed." He gave her a gentle push. "Just keep quiet and I'll come get you in a few minutes."

<><><><><>

Major General George Hammond sighed as he scrawled his name on the bottom of a requisition. Realistically, he knew he should care why Siler needed a gross of light bulbs, but right now it just didn't matter. Besides, he didn't know if he could concentrate on whatever story the man cooked up anyway.

His thoughts kept straying thirty years and a million miles away. He wondered where Carter and O'Neill were. He could only guess that they'd made their escape ok. He knew that Thornbird's search of the woods came up empty. And that the major spent the rest of his career bouncing from post to post, never quite able to shake the shadow of allowing a pair of spies to escape.

Fortunately, O'Neill had been right. Getting zatted had protected him from court-martial, even if he had been docked a week's pay.

That was the hardest part of his whole involvement, never knowing how it'd all worked out. He never knew if they made it home and hadn't dared to look. The last thing he wanted was to get any of them in trouble. If they were hiding, he didn't want to draw attention to them. And…if they were Soviet spies, then it definitely would not have been a good thing for him to be looking for them.

Reaching into his inbox, his fingers scraped bare wood. Raising his eyebrows, he sighed. Time to follow his personal rule; if the inbox was empty, it was time to go home.

He signed off his computer and got to his feet, quickly gathering his papers and shoving them into his briefcase. He couldn't stay here 24/7, just in case they got back. Despite his personal interest in SG-1's mission, he still had eight more teams to take care of.

He made his way down the stairs. He just needed to tell Harriman that he was leaving. Just as he reached the bottom, the klaxons wailed to life and George picked up the pace, coming to stand at Harriman's back. "Sergeant?"

"Unscheduled off world activation, sir," he said.

The wormhole splashed open and the sergeant closed the iris before checking his computer. "It's SG-1," he said, turning back to look at George.

"Open the iris," George said. He hurried out of the control room and into the gate room just as the iris spun open and two figures walked out.

"Yes!" O'Neill exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "We're home," he declared. "Thanks to one sparky young Lieutenant Hammond."

"How did you know, sir?" Carter asked. The pair of them were definitely wearing the clothes of the time and George knew that there were a lot of people who would kill to get a genuine retro leather jacket like Jack was wearing.

"When I was a young lieutenant, I was ordered to escort two people out of Cheyenne Mountain. In the vest pocket of one I found a note with my name on it. Needless to say, I followed its instructions," George said, relieved to finally be able to tell his story.

"But you couldn't have known when to give it to me."

"No, not until I saw the cut on your hand. Remember when I took your cuffs off," George prodded.

She nodded. "Then you've been waiting for this to happen."

"Ever since we met," he confessed. "I almost didn't let you go."

"But if you didn't, you would have changed your own history."

Jack shook his head and smiled. "Don't get her started, sir," he warned.

"It's going to be a long debriefing, people. We'll start-"

"General?" Harriman interrupted him, calling out over the PA. "We've got a problem on the surface."

Hammond turned on his heel, hurrying into the control room. He picked up the phone and listened to the voice on the other end. He vaguely noticed O'Neill and Carter joining him, both curious about the problem. "Sergeant, bring them down," he instructed, hanging up the phone. "Colonel, I think our debriefing will have to wait," he said.

"Sir?"

"Apparently, your children are at the surface," he said. "I suggest you deal with this and we will debrief at 0900 tomorrow," he ordered.

<><><><><>

Sam followed Jack through the halls, jogging a bit to keep up with his longer legs and fast stride. "You know, sir, you have to admire their ingenuity," she said, trying to dispel his dark mood.

He shot her a cold glare and swiped his borrowed access card through the reader; pushing the button with enough force that Sam feared he'd damage the mechanism. "Carter, either they've run away from home or-" He broke off, heaving a deep sigh and scrubbing his face with his hand.

"I'm sure Sara is fine, sir," she reassured him. "General Hammond would have been notified if something-I'm sure she's fine, sir." In truth, she couldn't be sure that the woman was all right. Yes, the colonel was Sara's next of kin, and yes, there was special attention because of Cassandra's true origins, but Sam couldn't shake the feeling that the main reason the children were here had a lot to do with the colonel's soon to be different marital status.

The elevator arrived at level sixteen and he hurried out, barely waiting for the doors to open. Sam followed, giving into her curiosity and concern about the children. Her parents were never divorced, but she did have some very real memories of how difficult it was to suddenly find your two parent household a single parent domicile.

The colonel stopped just outside the security office, pausing to peek in the window. She saw him slump slightly with relief before he straightened his shoulders and pushed the door open. "Charles Robert O'Neill! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked loudly.

He was using the tone of voice Sam recognized as the one he usually reserved for Daniel as his most obstinate. Both children visibly jumped and Sam smothered a grin, recognizing his tactic. Her father had used it on her enough times.

"Dad!" Charlie got to his feet. "You are here."

"Sergeant." Jack turned to the security officer who was standing inside the door, guarding the children.

"Yes, sir," he said, taking the hint. "Ma'am."

He stepped outside and Sam moved to follow, suddenly feeling a bit like an interloper.

"Carter, stay," Jack said, motioning for her to take a seat. Charlie and Cassie were seated at a metal table, two cans of pop in front of them. Sam had no idea what the weather was outside, but she hoped that it wasn't too cool; both children were wearing jeans, t-shirts and light wind breakers.

Sam moved across the room and took a seat beside Cassie, feeling the need to reassure the child. Jack pulled up a folding chair and sat beside his son. "Charlie, why are you here? And where's your mother?" he asked. Sam could tell that he was working hard to keep his voice even and calm. Charlie looked to Cassie, then down at his lap.
"Charlie?" Jack prodded.

"Mom was talking to grandpa and she wants to move to Denver and take me with her but she doesn't want to take Cassie and I don't think that's right. She has to be wrong," Charlie said, the words spilling from his mouth almost incomprehensibly fast.

"What?" Jack asked, his eyes narrowing.

"He's telling the truth, I heard it too," Cassie said, speaking up to defend her brother.

"What did you hear?" Sam asked.

"She said that since Papa Jack brought me home, Papa Jack can find me a new home. But I don't want a new home. I like it here," Cassie said, her voice breaking.

Sam looked over at Jack, feeling a bit ill at ease to have a front row seat to the beginnings of a custody squabble. She could see his features settling into a cold, hard mask and recognized the signs. He was pissed. He was more than pissed. He was downright livid and was doing his best to not show his anger in front of the children. "You know, colonel. I'm hungry," Sam said, grasping onto the first excuse she could think of. "Would it be ok if I took the kids down to the commissary and got them a little snack?"

Jack looked at her, frowning for a second before he caught on. "Yeah, why don't you do that," he said evenly. "I've got a few things to take care of and then I'll come join you."

Sam got to her feet and urged the children to do the same. She ushered them from the room, imposing upon the sergeant outside the door to escort her back down to the commissary since the colonel had their only access card. Something told her that they'd only seen the beginnings of the colonel's 'bad mood' days.

<><><><><>

Jack let himself into his apartment, automatically flicking on a light before flopping down onto the creaky couch. He did not believe it; he absolutely did not believe it. Sara being pissed at him he could take. Even though if anyone was the aggrieved party here, it was him. But to take out on the kids? He never realized that she could be that cold.

He'd gotten the kids home, finally. Things still weren't settled between him and Sara, all his hour long conversation on the phone had solved was her promising to talk to the kids and explain things.

He honestly didn't think she'd give on her decision. He knew she hadn't been too fond of adopting Cassie, but he never realized just how deep her feelings ran. Jack felt nothing but sympathy for her and he knew that she and Charlie got on like a house on fire. The problem was he knew if he pushed for Sara to keep Cassie, then she could play her trump card and his lack of biological paternity to keep him from seeing his son.

He would need to call his and her lawyer tomorrow, but Jack knew that he should start thinking of what to do with Cassie. He felt sick at the thought of trying to find her a new home, but he also knew that his job wasn't well suited to the life of a single parent.

Not only was it inherently dangerous, their recent mission only proved that anything could happen.

He still couldn't believe that he and Carter had spent the last week and a half thirty years in the past. And they almost hadn't made it back.

It had been shockingly easy for him and Carter to breach base security and gain access to the armory. A little tougher to rig up the trucks to charge the gate, but they'd managed, although if he never had to manually dial a gate again, it would definitely be too soon. Jack's shoulders still ached from his attempts to move the heavy inner circle of the gate.

Jack wished he'd known about Sara's decision before the mission, maybe then he could have asked Cassie if she'd been happy and what decision he should make now to make sure that her future would be as good as possible.
He still found it massively surreal when he thought about the woman he'd met today. There was a gentle wisdom in her eyes that calmed him, reassured him at the same time that it made him edgy. He had a decision to make now, and if he made the wrong one, he could alter her whole fate.

"Where is everyone?" Carter asked, slowly walking down the clanging ramp. Her footsteps echoed eerily off the walls and Jack looked around. This place was deserted. There was an air of abandonment around it, a chill stillness that spoke of years of neglect.

"Long lunch?" he suggested, his nerves still twanging from the close call they'd just had. There was nothing like fleeing in a hail of bullets to get the blood pumping.

"Real long," she muttered, looking around.

The door to his left groaned into life and Jack tensed, his fingers tightening on the zat. An older woman slowly walked into the room, her flowing white gown fluttering around her. "Hello, Jack," she said, smiling sweetly.

Jack stared, trying to place her. There was something familiar, but nothing he could put his finger on.

"So we know you?" Carter asked.

"Jack will recognize me," she said, holding her arms out. "Come closer."

Jack looked to Carter who shrugged. He stepped forward cautiously, surprised when a familiar tingle ran up his spine. "Cassandra!"

She laughed, pulling him into a tight hug. "Papa Jack."

"Cassandra's thirteen," Carter said.

"Not anymore, Sam," she said. "I've been expecting you - my whole life, in fact. You entered the Stargate a few seconds too soon, so the flare threw you far into the future. I've come to send you back where you belong."

"How did you know we'd come here?" Carter asked.

"When I was old enough to understand, Sam explained what happened, and that I'd be the one to send you home."

"Like a self-fulfilling prophecy," Carter said.

"Mm-hmm," Cassie agreed. "As much as I would love to spend more time with you, the timing must be precise. You have to go."

"Already? But there's so much that you-"

"Sam, you of all people know I can't," Cassie interrupted.

She raised her hand and manipulated some device on her wrist. Jack turned, staring in amazement as the gate opened, totally without its normal flourish. Carter stepped forward, her hand digging in her bag to pull out the GDO. She stepped up onto the ramp and Jack moved to follow her, stopping when Cassie laid a hand on his arm. "Follow your heart, Papa Jack," she said softly.

"Cass?"

"Follow your heart and you'll never go wrong," she said, smiling before giving him a gentle push. "Now go home, before you miss again."

"Sir?"

Jack gave Cassie one last look, before turning on his heel. "Let's go home, Carter."

A door down the hall slammed, pulling Jack from his memories. He sighed and looked at his watch, groaning when he realized that it was 0200. "Damn," he muttered. His briefing with Hammond was in exactly seven hours and he literally hadn't slept for years.

He pushed himself to his feet, tiredly making his way back to the small bedroom. Within half an hour, he was buried under the blankets, his mind just starting to slip into the comforts of REM sleep. Thanks to the quirks of the human mind, he got up and went to work the next morning, not even realizing that the woman in his dreams wasn't the same blue eyed blonde he was used to, but rather a smiling figure in a worn tan coat with flowers in her hair.

~Fin~

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