Ad Infinitum

By: Alice J. Foster

CATEGORY: Alternate Universe, Angst, Romance

SEASON/SPOILERS: Up to Season 10. Vala is part of the SGC and Jack is stationed in D.C. Oh brief mentions of Adria and The Pegasus Project.

WARNINGS: Graphic Sex, Sexual Situations, Language, Minor Character Death (mentioned but not described or thoroughly discussed).

AUTHOR’S NOTES: Future Story. Episode Related with direct mentions of Pilot, Emancipation, Brocca Divide, Brief Candle, Torment of Tantalus, Hathor, Past and Present, and every episode where Ancients were mentioned.

A/N I: I tried to make this story as historically accurate as possible. However, I've never been to modern or ancient Alexandria, so if you find any inaccuracies, please let me know so I can try to fix them.

A/N II: This fic assumes that Jack and Sam got married sometime during her assignment to Area 51 but they kept it a secret. This fic also assumes an established relationship with no definite status between Daniel and Vala and that Vala lost Adria sometime between Season 10 and the time Alex was born.

A/N III: Thank you to my beta Tricia :).

A/N IV: This fanfic has original characters - two play a major role and two play minor roles. Rest assured, however, that this is 100% Mary Sue-free

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:

http://obsessionscorner.shipperfey.net/

* * * * * *

PROLOGUE

*Alex's POV*

I had been trying in vain to ignore the ever-increasing volume of the discussion going on downstairs. I really, really hate the fucking air ducts in my house. I could hear my mom's voice loud with indignation then my dad's voice following with some deep sense of resolution. The shitty air ducts left me out of the current topic of discussion, thank god for small miracles. Hell, who knows, it could be about their past or it could be about which laundry detergent to use. They argue about everything and I am not joking. Last week they got into an argument about grocery coupons, the week before that about the archaeological dig in PX9-873

The loud shattering noise startled me and then silence followed...oh.

Ew. Yeah, arguing is like foreplay to my parents, except that they're not ashamed to do it in public and especially not afraid to do it knowing I'm a couple hundred of feet away.

I rolled my eyes in disgust, “oh come on. Why do I have to have the belligerent horndog parents?”

Knowing what's sure to follow, I got up from my bed and ran into my adjacent bathroom, throwing my glasses on the counter and reaching for my contacts. I stole a glance at my hair, the jet black mane completely out of control and decided to just put it in a ponytail instead of wasting time brushing it. My nightshirt landed somewhere near my toilet as I quickly slipped into my black leather pants and my broken-in black tank top. My Docs were next and I didn't even lace them up all the way, I just tried to get to my window as fast as I could as I heard the sound of a body slamming into the kitchen wall downstairs.

With the ease of years of practice, I slid down my slanted roof, gracefully and effortlessly landing on my front lawn. I didn't start running away when I was twelve without learning a thing or two.

I glanced around the street, which looked calm and empty as I pulled my wrist up to eye level, slowly tracing the alien script on the bracelet that's like my second skin. The black and gold artifact glowed for a second or two as it tried to establish a link, then the small holographic screen appeared and I waited for the well known tanned face and blond hair to appear.

* * * *

*Jacob's POV*

The garage was dark, the only light source being the flashlight I was holding, so when my bracelet glowed from the stool I left it on, I quickly reached for it. The sight that greeted me via hologram was the very familiar face of my best friend, hair pulled back in a ponytail and brown eyes looking frustrated and bored.

“Let me guess, you escaped the confines of your loathsome, oh-so comfortable bed again and now you’re bored.”

“Worse. Parents were getting loud again,” she explained with a pout.

I rolled my blue eyes at her, “Oh poor Alex, her parents can’t keep their hands off each other. At least your parents aren’t eligible for senior discount yet.”

Alex laughed but she knew I didn’t really mean it; I worship the air that my parents breathe, I am incredibly proud of both of them. Of course, that's not to say I share everything with them - my current project was definitely not on a need-to-know basis for them as far as I was concerned.

“Did you finish working on the bike?” Alex finally asked me, her partner-in-crime. The movement on the screen suggested that she was walking, most likely on her way here, her seemingly permanent haven whenever she ran away.

“Trying. If you’re intent on coming here, I should be done soon then we can go for a ride.”

“Jacob Benjamin Carter! Are you actually talking about stealing your mother’s bike and taking it for a joyride after some less-than-Earthly modifications? Since when did you become the rebel in our duo?”

I laughed because I knew she was having a field day with my little disobedience. “Well, it so happens that my mom is in Washington and my dad did promise to give me a vehicle for my 18th birthday…this poor bike has been sitting here for ten years; I figure I’d take it after a few modifications of course.”

“Your birthday is not for another nine months! And you just decided to use Ancient technology on a whim? Tell me, what did you do to that motorcycle anyway?”

I sighed. You see, what she was trying to do here is something I'm quite familiar with. She'll ask questions about how something works or what I'm doing, then I'll start to explain and she'll roll her eyes at my techno-babble. So I tried to make it as simple as possible, “I wanted it to go faster, ok? I helped Mom fix the power core on that Asgard ship that crashed in P6A-804, so I just recreated that to a smaller scale.”

“It’s not gooonnnaaa woooork.” The holographic image sing-songed to me. “Plus Thor will be pissed when he finds out you’re using Ancient technology from an Asgard ship without authorization.”

“First of all, Thor likes me better than you plus he won’t find out. Second, I’m the one with the Ancient gene to work those devices. And you’re the one who stole these bracelets from the lunar cave in M21-473, so don’t talk to me about breaking the rules, Miss Rebel.”

“I didn’t ‘steal’ them. They’re artifacts.” She smirked. “We’re studying their purpose.”

“If your parents knew—actually your mom would probably be proud. Or maybe she’d be disappointed you haven’t tried selling these yet.”

“They’re much more valuable this way. I can bug you night and day.”

“You don’t need the bracelets for that, Alex. You’re already a pain in my ass.” I saw her eyes glowing with laughter but she still attempted to frown on the screen.

“Well let’s see who’s gonna comfort you when your bike sends you to Andromeda Galaxy and back, Flyboy.”

“Don't be silly, I can't go to another galaxy. I didn't install a ZPM, smart-ass. And it’s not going to send me anywhere, it’s just going to go really fast….” I trailed off on purpose, looking away from the holographic screen.

“And…?” Alex inquired knowing there was something that I was hiding.

“…and I might have included some cloaking technology…”

“Jacob! You’re soooo dead.”

“Shut up and get your ass here,” then I shut off the communication device.

Three minutes later I heard a knock on the garage door. The side door to the garage opened as Alex let herself in. I looked down at myself; my blue jeans and white t-shirt were a nice contrast to her outfit. Sometimes I wondered how the hell we'd ended up best friends.

Wiping my greasy hands on a rag, I took her to my new ride.

“Isn’t it sweet?” I knew I was beaming and my dimples were probably visible but I couldn't bring myself to care.

“Your Mom is really going to kill you,” she teased, “but you’re right, it looks awesome.”

We sat in a comfortable silence as I finished the last adjustments.

We'd been best friends from the moment we'd met. I was two and I remember my parents taking me to the SGC infirmary, telling me we were going to meet Uncle Daniel's new baby. I don't remember the actual first encounter but my parents said I asked to be next to the baby and I just gazed at her for hours, refusing to leave the infirmary.

Our differences went way beyond fashion choices; we couldn’t be more different. Alex is extremely fond of getting herself into trouble at all times, rarely following the rules; I am a military brat - I followed the rules, I got up early in the morning, I made my bed and did my chores and I grew up constantly being juggled between cities, except in my case, instead of moving to different bases all over the world lie most kids in the military, I shared my time between Washington D.C. and Colorado Springs. Of course, all military upbringing aside, I still have some of the O’Neill rebellious streak, which combined with my mother’s intelligence and my best friend’s “support” meant final results such as the bike I find myself fixing.

Our families' lives could not have been any more different either. I was carefully planned, born when my parents thought it was their last chance to have a family together. My father was no longer in command of SG-1 or the SGC, my mother was co-commander of SG-1 and everything was carefully timed. I was born via c-section, between my mother’s mission to P7E-495 and one of my father’s addresses to the Appropriations Committee on the importance of the Stargate project. Although my parents decided that they were happy with one child, when I was ten, SG-1 found two orphan toddlers in a village that had been destroyed and after the two had been cleared by the doctors on base, Mom offered to foster them until adoptive parents could be found. Like Cassandra, Olin and Jaen - my brother and sister, respectively, ended up never leaving their temporary home. Ultimately, my dad retired as a Major General, deciding to stay home with his three kids, stating he was too old for Washington politics but he was never too old to drive children to hockey or band practice.

Alexandria, however, was not planned or discussed. The timing could not have been worse and her mother had refused to give up active duty until, according to her own words “she felt a head coming out.” The end result was that SG-1’s GDO had been damaged in battle, her mother had gone into labor and her father had to put his midwifery knowledge to test for the third time, earning Alex the nickname Alien Girl. The family had to go gate-hoping three times until they were able to find the Tok’ra to borrow their GDO for a minute or two; that meant that Alex had been disintegrated and reintegrated about four times during the first 24 hours of her life. Her parents seemed to have avoided other “accidents” because she remained an only child. Unlike my parents, who seemed to only argue when discussing different perspectives on alien threats and how to deal with them, her parents argued 24/7, from what to serve for dinner to where their next mission should be. The final outcome, unfortunately, seemed to be a lot of face-sucking and behavior that should be discouraged in anyone over 25, to everyone's dismay.

Of course, she and I have several things in common: a silent understanding and bond between us that we can’t share with anyone else our age. Both of us practically grew up on the most secretive base on Earth; we also shared a common trait: I'm able to operate Ancient technology and both of us also have naquadah quantities in our blood due to our mothers’ pasts as hosts.

I grew up in my mother’s lab, the Prometheus III, the Odyssey I and II, the Carpathia, the Achilles and lately the X-305s and 307s, grasping concepts early on and reproducing them in my own work. I built my first naquadah reactor when I was 12. My first science fair project had to be classified and I got my one and only B in a class because I was unable to present it to my classmates, but at least it was patented and I still get fat checks for it from the DoD. Alex, in turn, spent a lot of time in digs and in dirty cargo ships. She speaks over twenty languages, eight of them fluently and she can read and write Ancient better than her own father. We spent our summer vacation on Atlantis the year before I started high school and we both go on reconnaissance missions with SG-6 or SG-22 whenever our parents let us.

More sadly, we also had in common that we both had parents that experienced the loss of a child before having us; our knowledge of Charlie and Adria only served to solidify our friendship even more. And the lack of grandparents or uncles and aunts (no my Uncle Mark doesn't count because I never see the guy) meant that the SGC and several aliens made up our surrogate family.

I realized with some sadness that this would probably be our last summer together at least for a couple of years. Soon I'd be leaving the SGC and Alex behind.

“When do you leave for the Academy?” She asked me when I finally put down my tools.

Sometimes I seriously wondered if she had mind-reading abilities and never told me. “First week of August. Six weeks of Basic Cadet training before classes start in September.”

I could see her doing some math on her head, finally realizing that we only had a little over three weeks left. She softly sighed. “Why did you have to be Mr. Smart and graduate high school one year early?”

I smirked because that was so Alex, laying blame on the most inconsequential things ever. “Well you could probably graduate early too if you stopped cutting class.”

Alex shrugged. “Even if I did, I still wouldn’t graduate for another 2 years. Perhaps you should rethink this whole Air Force Academy thing...”

“Come on, Alex, you know as well as I do that if I want to pilot the Achilles someday, I need to become an Air Force Pilot first. They would never allow a civilian to command an Earth spaceship.” It's not entirely true. Throughout the history of interstellar ship travel, one or two civilians have been appointed to command spaceships but being an Air Force officer would greatly improve my chances. Not only that, joining the military is my way of honoring my parents and their love for the Air Force.

“Does it have to be an Earth spaceship?” Alex said from where she sat on the cold garage ground, mischief written all over her face. “Because my mom knows a guy in that could get you an al’kesh for just a tiny tiny tiny amount of naquadria… Ok and maybe a reactor or two. But that’d be a piece of cake for you.”

“You know, as much of an appeal that commanding a stolen ship may hold, I think I’ll pass.”

“Hey who says it’s stolen?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I know you and I know your mom, ok?”

Alex sighed. “Well you have no problem with riding a stolen motorcycle, buddy.”

“I like to think of this motorcycle more like an inheritance, part of the Carter legacy if I may.”

Alex chuckled. “Whatever, Rulebook Boy. Isn’t your mom due back from Washington any minute?”

I shook my head. “No she’ll be back next weekend for my parents’ anniversary… Cassie is flying in too. She’s staying until the end of the month then she’s going back to the Academy with me; she’s accepted to teach that biochem class and she has the unfortunate task of recruiting ten new students for the SGC next year. She keeps saying she didn’t go to med school to babysit kids but my Mom convinced her that the program needs new blood so she’s helping out.”

“At least you’ll have your big sis there with you.” Alex said with a grin. “I won’t be there to keep you out of trouble, you know…”

“More like get me in trouble, Miss Jackson.”

She laughed. “That too.”

“How about you shut up and help me get this baby on the road quietly before my dad wakes up?”

I ran into the house, quickly ran into the kids' bedroom and made sure they were sleeping and then past my sleeping father on the couch (he would always fall asleep on the couch when Mom was out of town). Undetected, I reached into the living room closet, grabbing my mother’s black leather jacket for Alex and my Dad’s brown one for myself since I know that the wind would be chilly even for a Colorado summer once we started going fast. And trust me, I intended to go really fast.

Clad in the leather jackets, we quietly moved the bike onto the street in front of the O’Neill household (or Carter-O’Neill for those anally retentive about those things) and took the motorcycle until the end of the street where I mounted it and got it started, Alex soon joining me, arms tightly holding my waist.

“I think I have an idea of where we should test the little mods I put in her.” I said with a grin.

Cheyenne Mountain was only a few minutes away.

* * * *

CHAPTER 1

*Alex's POV*

When I woke up, there was a sharp pain in my head and it seemed to be replicating itself and attacking a different part of my brain time and time again. I hadn’t felt this shitty since dad let Uncle Jack in charge of the barbeque grill; I swear, the man used up like 10 beers in his cooking. And at least that time I had a good buzz for about three hours before the headache started.

I tried to open my eyes but the pain got much much worse and I groaned. The overwhelming burning feeling in my eyes told me I’d fallen asleep with my contacts in. I moved my hands to cover my eyes but my arm stopped midway, my mind slowly registering the leather straps attached to my wrists.

Panic started to overwhelm me, everything in my body screamed wrong and I forced my eyes to open, trying to ignore the pain. I couldn’t regain focus as quickly as I would’ve liked but I saw enough to recognize the SGC infirmary. I sighed with relief; this was like home to me – except I had never been strapped to a hospital bed here before.

I heard a groan of pain coming from my left and looked to find a Jacob-shaped blur waking up as well. He also seemed to be restrained to his bed and my eyes finally noticed the three SFs that were standing by our beds.

Jacob’s eyes followed mine, his vision not impaired by crappy contact lenses and burning dry eyes. “Uh excuse me but can someone explain to me why the hell you have these things on my wrists?” My best friend demanded answers and from his voice I could tell he didn’t recognize these SFs. The SGC was an enormous operation, but anyone who spent as much time as we did on base would at least be able to recognize most people.

None of the SFs said anything, holding their guns steady and ready to point at us. They conspiratorially spoke in hushed tones, until finally one of them left the infirmary. My mind was working overtime with all the possibilities… I remembered my father once telling me that Hathor put together a mock SGC to trick him and SG-1 into believing they were in the future, but Hathor had been MIA for over a decade. Plus she’d more likely go after Dad and the rest of SG-1 than Jacob and me.

Soon a female entered the room that threw that possibility out in the wind. “Dr. Lam?” I asked the blurry figure in front of me.

The good doctor seemed taken aback. “How do you know my name?” she asked as she came to my bedside and flashed one of those doctor flashlights into my eyes. Frowning at the undoubtedly redness of my eyes, she helped me remove my contacts and wash my eyes. When she was done, Jacob finally spoke up.

Jacob frowned. “You’re kidding, right? You’re Doctor Carolyn Lam. Your father is Hank Landry, he’s a retired Air Force General. I’ve known you for seventeen years. This is the Stargate Command and can someone please take these restraints off?”

“I am not sure where you get your intelligence, young man but General Landry is not retired and he has some questions for both of you. Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you’re in?” Dr. Lam asked as she moved from me to Jacob, doing the same thing with the flashlight on his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. Puh-lease. ‘Trouble’ carries no connotation except when associated with ‘fun’ and this definitely didn’t sound like fun. “When can we see the General then?” I asked, voice full of exasperation.

“Gen. Landry is a very busy man, kids. You two were found passed out above the surface inside a military complex. You have pretty bad concussions. I need to run a few more tests and then you two will be asked some questions. In the meantime, let the nice men at the door know if you need anything.” Motioning to the SFs posed at the door to the infirmary, Dr. Lam flipped through our charts. She made a few notes then turned and left the room.

I turned to Jacob with worried eyes. “What do you think happened?”

Jacob shrugged then his eyes went wide with realization. “The motorcycle! I remember we were riding it on the surface and then – nothing. I don’t remember anything after that.” He motioned to the clock on the wall, “It’s 1400. We must’ve been out for at least thirteen hours.”

I frowned. Definitely not fun. “Why do you think Dr. Lam doesn’t recognize us?”

“Alternate reality, maybe?” He asked with an eyebrow raised.

I nodded before realizing something else. “She doesn’t look just different… she looks—“ I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Younger, yeah.”

Jacob didn’t say anything else for a while as we let the idea sink in. Time travel…damn.

* * * *

*Jacob's POV*

Going back in time was a possibility infinitely worse than an alternate reality. An alternate reality where Alex and I didn’t exist - that I could deal with. No way to mess up the timeline, no ripple effect, no stepping on a bug and messing up the future.

Going back in time was definitely NOT GOOD.

I tried to sit still in the interrogation room. It was one of the rooms just above the control room, adjacent to the debriefing room. Cameras were on and pointing at me and Alex and I were separated and I felt something akin to a panic attack bubbling somewhere in my stomach. She was still in the Infirmary because her eyes were bothering her and her concussion was worse than mine. I kicked myself again for not giving her a helmet…how could I be so stupid?

I didn’t think things could get worse and then I saw a very familiar face walk into the room. Oh god, no.

“Hello, I am Lieutenant Colonel Sam Carter. Ineed to ask you some questions.” A seemingly younger version of my mother said Lieutenant Colonel, my mind considered that… Not the Lieutenant General I knew back home but still I stood up in respect as she walked in, a gesture that was second instinct to me when I was at the SGC even if this was not the SGC I was accustomed to. She’d been promoted to Brigadier General when I was eleven, when she took command of the SGC. Before that she’d been a Colonel, so if she was a Lieutenant Colonel now, then I knew we’d probably gone back almost twenty years. Either that or we were sent back in time AND sent to an alternate universe.

“At ease, young man,” she said and I sat down. “Dr. Lam said you and your… *friend* know some things about this complex, about the Stargate. We need to know exactly how much you know and how. How about we start with your name?”

Trying to think of something fast, I almost told me her real name… I finally came up with my middle name, “Ben…Benjamin.”

My mother nodded as she wrote the name down on paper. “And your last name?” She asked staring at me. Luckily for me she still didn’t seem to have developed her maternal stare here because I was not exactly afraid to be lying to her. It was a necessary measure after all.

“I’m afraid I can’t disclose that, ma’am.”

“We need some more information from you if we are to trust you, young man.”

“You must trust me to some point considering you have pretty much acknowledged to a complete stranger that the Stargate program exists.” I informed her, wanting her to know she was dealing with someone who knew the protocols of this facility inside and out. “I am sure General Landry authorized you to confirm the Program after Dr. Lam informed you what we know. Also, our bloodwork probably revealed some peculiarities and therefore you know you’re not dealing with regular civilians. You might’ve theorized alternate realities but you would’ve realized that the quantum mirror is gone and we did not arrive via Stargate, therefore it’s unlikely that we could’ve somehow caused a wormhole to establish between our reality and this one. You must’ve also thought it could be due to the use of those Goa’uld communication stones, like the bond between the bowling league guy and D—erh, General O’Neill?” Or maybe it was Colonel, I could not remember when my father had been promoted to Brigadier General and he hadn’t been promoted to Major General until just a few months before his retirement. “Hell you might’ve even considered Asgard cloning gone bad again but you know Thor better than that.”

My mother nodded, slightly amused. “So which is it?”

I shrugged. “You already know the answer. It’s the one you really wish weren’t true.”

Both her eyebrows raised in disbelief and surprise. “You expect me to believe you’re from the future?”

“Ya betcha," I said sheepishly. "Are you asking for proof?” My mother of all people should know that during this stay on Earth, Alex and I should disclose as little as possible. The younger version of my mother though, seemed incredibly curious by this turn of events.

“Nothing that could change the future, I just need to know that you actually know this base like you claim to and that you’re not just faking it.”

Not sure what I could or could not disclose, I realized I needed more information. “What day is it?”

“August 21st, 2006.”

That put us back in time 17 years and about eleven months. Which also meant I wouldn’t be born for another nine months and Alex wouldn’t be born for another three years. Chances were my mother wasn’t pregnant yet and we would need to be extremely careful with what we said or we could affect our own births and that would not be good. It’s not like we could just bury a videotape asking our future selves to ensure that things would end up the same way. Realizing Mom- well, not my mother yet - Colonel Carter was still waiting for some information. “Let me see. You’re Colonel Samantha Carter. You’re part of SG-1. You must’ve recently left your short work at Area 51 because it bored you, even though you would never admit it to anyone. You missed being in the field and you’re co-commander with Colonel Cameron Mitchell.” She didn’t seem too impressed and she was right. I could’ve gotten this info from NID or through several other methods. Realizing I would need to get a little bit more personal, I motioned for her to come closer and she must’ve thought me not dangerous because she acquiesced. Hoping my voice was low enough not to be picked up by the instruments in the room, I whispered, “Oh and your wedding anniversary is July 20th which means you just celebrated your first anniversary a few weeks ago. Congratulations. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone because I know you kept it a secret for a while.”

That seemed to do the trick because her eyes widened and she pulled back, surprised. “How—?” Realizing how dumb her question would’ve sounded, my mother decided to just shrug it off. “Ok, so you’re from the future. How did you get here or more correctly, now?”

“Beats me.”

She looked through a file. “It seems the two of you were found on the surface, completely passed out, where you were taken in custody.”

“It’s remotely possible that my motorcycle had something to do with it.” I admitted.

She frowned. “What motorcycle?”

I sighed. "Wasn't a motorcycle recovered with us? It's that last thing I remember, riding my motorcycle outside Cheyenne Mountain." I looked at my wrist and the bracelet was gone, I'd assumed it had been taken to be studied when we were found, but now I was having second thoughts.

My mother shook her head in reply, arching her eyebrows and waiting for more explanations.

“It wasn’t supposed to… I had just gotten done making some modifications to the bike and I was testing it outside the SGC on the surface and then next thing I know, I have a headache and I’m strapped to this bed. Please M—“ oops almost slipped there. I’m going to have to watch out for that. I continued in what I hoped was an inconspicuous manner, “--ma’am, you have to help me figure out what happened and so we can get back to our time before I do or say something that could cause the end of democracy or a new inter-stellar war.”

She tilted her head and examined me. Her scrutiny kind of freaked me out because for one second I thought she’d found out the truth but then she straightened out and stood up. “You will be taken to your quarters where you are to remain during your stay here. You’ll be escorted by SFs at all times during your stay. If you’re well enough, I would like to have you present when I brief General Landry on our discussion.”

I nodded and stood up as she left.

* * * *

CHAPHTER 2

*Alex's POV*

I missed my old SGC quarters. It was just a few doors down from my father’s quarters and it had all my stuff in it plus an extra pair of glasses and a few pairs of contacts. My eyes had gone back to normal but unfortunately that also meant I was as farsighted as usual. My focus was back so I could actually see everything as long as it was at least 3 feet away.

The bed was almost the same one I was used to, the military issue blankets and 0-count threat sheets but the room was bare and I didn’t have the usual free reign of the SGC I was accustomed to. At least they’d allowed me to change into some BDUs instead of those infirmary gowns I had to wear for the past 3 days.

Suddenly the door opened and the SF admitted Jacob before closing the door again.

I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing him.

“My quarters are across from yours… we can visit each other but nowhere else.” He explained to me then moved so that we were very close. He put his arms around me in a hug but I knew it was just so we could have a hopefully private conversation. “Listen, we can’t say anything about who we are or what year we came from. If we say the wrong thing, we can change the future.”

“I told them my name.” I admitted to him in a whisper.

“Your last name too?”

I shook my head. “No, I just said Alex.”

“Good… I told them my name was Ben. We need to stay low and try to find a way back to our time as quickly as possible.”

“Should I point out that this is entirely your fault?” I teased him.

He pulled back from the hug and held my chin in his hand. His face was too close and therefore blurry to my bad eyes but I had an idea of what expression he was wearing. “Don’t worry, ok? I got us into this mess; I’ll get us out. In the meantime, try not to mess anything up.” He said with just a little hint of humor in his voice.

“So you’re saying I can’t hint at some nice stocks to my mom?” I whispered. “Because I have to tell you, if we’re gonna mess up the future, I’d like to make it so I’m rich.”

Jacob ignored me and we heard a knock on the door. The door opened to admit no one other than Uncle Cam and I felt my stomach tighten because I realized this wasn’t the Cameron Mitchell I knew, the man that would use his last breath to tease me. This was some younger version of him and I hated everything about it.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything…” he said with a teasing tone in his voice, looking at the proximity between Jacob and I and making the two of us jump apart… well maybe this was the Cameron Mitchell I knew, I realized with a smile. “General Landry has requested your presence.”

Jacob’s eyes met mine. Oh this was going to be interesting.

* * * *

*Jacob's POV*

The briefing room was in the same place as usual just decorated slightly different. The technology wasn't as advanced but it was still the same room. My eyes fixed themselves to the Stargate, visible through the huge panel windows as it stood in its full glory. That, of course, meant that the younger version of my family and friends trusted Alex and me to a certain extent, otherwise they would've lowered the blast doors and shielded the gate from our eyes.

I saw Alex as she surveyed the room. The young version of SG-1 sat in green BDUs: my mom, Cam, Alex's parents and Teal'c. General Landry sat at the head of the table and he looked pretty pissed off, Dr. Lam seemed pretty interested in examining Alex and me from a distance. Mom and Cam stood up as another familiar figure appeared. With a slight delay I stood up as well as my father appeared dressed in full uniform, one star proudly displayed on his shoulder. When I finally looked at Alex, her eyes met mine in surprise - I hadn't seen my father in dress uniform in six years.

“At ease," he said directed at the two colonels in the room and then finally at me. He stared me down for a second before turning to General Landry: "Permission to join this briefing, General?” The one star general addressed the head of the SGC. After a nod from General Landry, I saw my father take a seat directly across from my mother at the table, after stealing just a quick glance at her which would've been lost to anyone else but I knew it very well. It was the same glance they shared after she came home after a trip or a mission and their eyes would lock over the heads of their three children, just grateful to be around each other again.

“Very well, you may start, Colonel Carter.” General Landry requested.

“As far as I know, General, their story checks out. For all intents and purposes, they seem to be from the future. The subjects Ben and Alex here were found three days ago passed out just outside the entrance to this complex.” Mom continued with her exposition: “Both suffered concussions and they state they do not remember what caused them to end up here or how. Ben has volunteered that he made some modifications to a motorcycle he was riding but he had no intentions of traveling through time. I ask that we limit the scope of our questions; sirs, we’re well aware of the consequences that time travel can have on disrupting history.”

The General nodded and all eyes turned to look at Alex and me. “Uh…hi?” Alex waved a little and gave them her best smile, which was very similar to her mother’s. Alex must've realized that too because the smile quickly turned into a frown. It was getting tiring to imagine whether anyone would realize the connection that we had with the people in this room.

“So, the future, huh?” Vala asked Alex, more than a little skepticism in her voice.

“What, you don’t believe in time travel?” Alex retorted.

Vala shrugged. “Never happened to me. Not sure what to believe. Now if you were to give me some information on where I should invest some of my hard-earned money that will be profitable in, shall we say, five years, I might be inclined to believe you.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “That is so you.” She decided not to mention the fact that she had already thought of the same thing.

Defeated, Vala slumped back in her chair.

“Ben?” General O’Neill asked. "You military?"

With a look that must've resembled a deer in the headlights, I shook my head. "Not yet, sir."

Satisfied, Gen. O’Neill nodded his approval. “So, Carter, what do you think caused this—time travel?”

“Honestly, sir, I’m not sure yet. Ancient technology seems like a fair guess, since solar flares wouldn't affect the time-space continuum without the presence of a wormhole… Ben has provided me with some blueprints of the engine modifications he completed, but there's some technology there that even I don’t recognize. It seems to be a mix Ancient and Asgard technology but nothing we’ve seen before.”

“Ah, a motorcycle that goes back in time… I think I’ve seen this movie, except it was a tin car and it had Christopher Lloyd in it.” Dad turned his attention back to me. “I think I liked that movie better than this one… So, Ben, is it? How do you know so much about the Stargate and about us? Aren’t you a little young to be part of the SGC?”

I shared a quick look with Alex. “We uh, we were recruited very early on. As sort of an experiment.” Technically, I wasn’t lying. We were unofficially recruited from birth and had gone on missions as soon as we could walk.

“What kind of ‘expertise’ do you offer on interstellar matters?”

I recognized his tone as the one he had when he was trying to find the truth about something yet amuse himself at the same time. Deciding that I knew exactly how to curb my father’s curiosity, I decided to put his mind to work. “Well, there are many things. For example, the motorcycle engine and subengine were designed by me. The bike also had a reverse engineered Asgard dampening shield, which doesn’t seem to work very well considering my concussion this morning but the best part is the neutrino-naquadah reactor that serves as a second engine. That part is Ancient…basically it uses standard unleaded fuel to power up the second engine which then uses naquadah to accelerate the neutrinos which in turn can create sub-light speeds greater than any vehicle made on Earth.”

Dad looked almost disgusted. “Scientist?”

I laughed. “Not officially, sir. I just like to play around.”

“With naquadah reactors?” He asked with raised eyebrows. “Don’t you kids in the future ever hear of hockey? Baseball? Football? Basketball? Hell even soccer sounds like more fun that naquadah reactors and neutral-ninos things.”

“Don’t worry, General, I own a baseball glove.” And you taught me how to play all those sports and we have loads of fun but you also know I love science - at least the future Jack O'Neill knows. Of course, I knew something no one else at the table did - Jack O'Neill knows a whole lot more about science than he lets on. When I was 13, I was reading through some of mom's books (as in the ones she wrote) and I kept seeing several lines highlighted, page after page... finally my dad admitted that he'd tried to read them but he wasn't sure of what he was reading so he was going to highlight the parts he didn't understand so mom would explain it to him later... except he realized it'd be too much work so he just highlighted the parts he did understand. I laughed but as I flipped through the pages, there was a lot highlighted - somehow over the years, the good general had learnt almost everything there was to know about black holes, wormholes and Einstein's relativity.

Seemingly satisfied for the moment, it was time for Uncle Daniel to take a turn asking questions. “How about you, Miss—“ he looked as his notes again, his glasses slipping a little down his nose in a way that comforted Alex. “-- Miss Alex... What do you do in the SGC, or more precisely, what will you do?”

“Mostly I hang around your lab and I back-up several SG teams on recon missions where they desire my assistance.”

“My lab?” Daniel replied, surprised. “So you’re an archeologist? Or a linguist?”

“A little bit of both actually.” Deciding to tell the truth without actually saying too much, Alex continued. “My father is an archeologist. I followed him around on several digs. I have also been very proficient in learning new languages.”

I almost applauded her ability to hide the truth without lying.

"If you did travel in time with the aid of a modified Earth transport like you suggest, should that transport not have been recovered as well?" Teal'c asked.

"Theoretically?" I asked him rhetorically but he bowed in concession. "Yes. But for some reason the motorcycle, as well as another piece of technology we had in our possession, were missing when we were found." I explained, remembering that SGC swore they did not find our bracelets either.

Teal'c's instincts must've recognized I was telling the truth because he didn't protest any further.

General Landry stood up and so did his direct reports and I but he motioned for us to sit down. “Colonel Carter, you will continue to work on the technology described by the teenagers." Then he turned to Alex and me. "You two may assist her in finding out exactly how we’re going to get you back home.”

I knew that it was unlikely my mother would even leave base if she had new technology to explore. She would probably just spend the night at her lab like she always does when she finds something to work on. My father would probably not leave the base either considering this was his home away from home - actually considering he was currently stationed in D.C., this was more home to him than Washington. If my mother was going to spend the night on base, dad would probably find something to occupy his time in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex as well.

Before leaving, Alex quickly examined her own parents. The interaction between the archaeologist and the space smuggler was very similar to what we were accustomed back home. Alex's father was sitting back in his chair, arms propped on the armrests and hands clasped together under his chin in thought. Her mother was eyeing her father and tugging on the sleeves on his uniform as she whispered question after question. But Alex and I knew her mother better than that, she knew she wasn’t just relying on Doctor Daniel Jackson for information, she was also reaching her own conclusions in her mind.

We said our goodbyes and followed the SFs to our quarters on level 17.

* * * *
CHAPHTER 3

*Alex's POV*

Jacob woke me up this morning at 6 am, eager to go down to his mother's lab. Honestly, I would've preferred to sleep in. I separated my hair into two ponytails and followed the eager teenager and our four escort airmen down to the Carter lab. The sight that greeted us after the SFs left was a familiar one: my godmother stood in the middle of the lab, wearing safety goggles, carefully examining some alien device. Jacob and I stared at each other in surprise as a manly snore resounded through the lab. After a quick look around, we finally recognized the form of one Jack O'Neill sleeping on the bench in her lab.

“Oh, good, you guys are here.” Aunt Sam excitedly noticed. “I have so many questions about this.” She found her notes and Jacob's rough blueprints that he'd drawn of the components he'd installed. "How did you come up with these?" She asked in awe.

The look from Jacob’s bright blue eyes let her know this was one of the many questions she’d get no answer to. This whole thing would drive her insane, I'm sure. Only person I know who's more curious than Sam Carter is my mom.

The conversation seemed to finally awake the sleeping General who sat up suddenly, looking around in surprise. “Uh, hi…why was I asleep, Colonel?”

Carter smiled. “Fell asleep sometime around oh-three-hundred General.”

O’Neill frowned. “How come I don’t remember that? I remember you were talking something about the time-space continuum and then—whoosh, nothing.” The look from his wife told him all he needed to know. “Oooh. I guess I must’ve fallen asleep during that explanation, eh? Sorry about that.” He said non-apologetically. Turning to the other occupants of the room, he decided to address us. “Good morning, kids.” He seemed almost embarrassed at having been caught, but to his luck, Jacob and I were more than used to these two's relationship.

“Good morning, sir,” we replied in unison.

Aunt Sam went back to the blueprints and soon, she and Jacob were engrossed taking every non-existent part apart and putting it back together, everything else lost to them as they focused on problem-solving. I'd seen that look on his face many times and I knew this was going to take awhile.

My godfather looked at me with a smile, as he seemed to reach full consciousness. He stared at the duo that was concentrated in their task and then back at me, probably realizing I knew as much about Ancient or Asgard technology as he did. “So, kid, what do you say we go down to the mess and grab a bite?”

I smiled and nodded. Suddenly the idea of Mess food sounded pretty good, plus it gave me the opportunity to roam around the base without an SF escort.

From the looks of it, the cafeteria-like food was the same I was accustomed to which meant below standards levels. The desserts, however, were always delicious even the jell-o was to die for so we just helped ourselves to an unhealthy number or desserts.

"So what else do you do when you're not hanging around archeological digs and spending time at Daniel's lab?" Uncle Jack asked. "I mean, do you go to school?"

The look on my face probably told him no and I wasn't about to lie so I just shrugged. I had to convince my parents to let me be homeschooled, especially since with Jacob gone at the Academy, I wouldn't have anyone to hang out with. Jaen and Olin were roughly the same age but she was six years behind me in school and Olin was four years behind, so the three of us didn't even go to the same school. I had no other friends because all the other kids were so fucking clueless - wasting time arguing about movies and fashion and music, completely unaware that there was a whole other universe out there, galaxies abandoned just waiting to be explored, planets on the verge of collapsing.

"Well since you don't want to talk about school," my godfather continued, "maybe you can tell me when do I retire from the Air Force because I gotta tell you, every time I try, it doesn't work out."

I couldn't tell him the truth... I couldn't tell him how he was the one who drove us to school and cooked me dinner when my parents were out on missions. I couldn't tell him that his uniform with his two stars was retired and how he very seldom missed going on missions and how he definitely didn't miss Washington.

"Can't tell me that either, huh? So tell me, do the Cubs win the 2007 World Series?" He kept asking and I just glared at him. "2008?" Another glare. "2009?" I gave up and sighed, wanting to laugh at him. "2010 for sure, right? Minnesota twins?"

I continued to hold my laughter in. Of my extended family, I loved my godfather's sense of humor the most. This was the man who'd told me when I was ten that Jacob and I had been betrothed to each other at birth during an alien ritual in Calt. I was skeptical, of course, but Uncle Cam corroborated the story so I figured it was true. I turned down several boys' requests to go to my first dance because I didn't want to offend anyone in Celt by disrespecting their betrothing ceremony and I didn't want to be unfaithful to Jacob. It wasn't until my first year in high school that my mother had finally told me the truth. Dad looked like he could've lived with the lie for another few years.

"You and Ben good friends?" Uncle Jack asked me.

Ah, finally a question I could answer to some extent. I nodded. "Best friends for as long as I can remember."

"Ah, she speaks!" O'Neill bit out. I saw him search around his brain for another neutral subject that didn't involve affecting the timeline, "Tell me, do you like fishing?"

I couldn't hold back my laughter this time. "Actually, sir, I do." It wasn't a lie. I didn't care for spending all that time still and waiting for a poor creature to take the bait just so we'd return it to the lake minutes later like a human subject to Asgard testing, but I enjoyed spending time with my friends and family in the small cabin in Minnesota, telling alien ghost stories around the fire, trying to sneak a few sips of beer here and there when the adults weren't looking. For the first time I felt a really strong pang in my chest as I realized I might never get to experience that again; then I remembered Jacob and Aunt Sam were the smartest people on this planet as far as I was concerned and they'd find a way to get us back.

"Have you ever tried ice fishing?" My godfather continued to ask and I shook my head. "I used to be a big fan but it seems every time I'm around ice, something bad happens."

I smiled. "I'm not a big fan of ice either, sir. Much more comfortable in sand and dirt."

"Ah, archaeologist, right."

"Not that there aren't ice-covered ruins worthy of exploring, but I miss the feel of sand filling my shoes slowly and I walk for miles and miles trying to find some buried treasure..." I trailed off as I realized a couple - or at least I assumed they were a couple at this point, walked towards us.

"Jack, General Landry is looking for you." My father's voice was so comforting to me even if it missed some of the quality that aging brought to it.

"Excuse me," Jack said, standing up and nodding at me. "Daniel you wouldn't mind spending some time with Alex here while I talk to the General, would you?"

Dad shook his head and took Jack's vacant seat, mom sitting next to him. "So... Alex? Is that short for anything?"

I nodded, unsure if I should be revealing this but this was my dad... I could always lie to my mom but it was always trickier to lie to my dad. "Alexandria," I finally told him.

He raised his eyebrows. "Like the city in Egypt?"

I nodded yes. My mother finally decided to take some part in the conversation, "Alexandria, that's pretty."

I should hope she liked it since she agreed to it. I guess she still wasn't privy to my father's suggestion for a boy name: Atlantis. She should be damn glad I was a girl.

Dad turned to look at her, "Alexandria, it's a city here on Earth. Once named Rhakotis, possibly after Ra himself. It once held a gigantic Lighthouse, the beacon was rumored to light ships on from hundreds of miles away... archaeologists have been trying for years to understand just how it worked but all they can agree on is that the Egyptians used some kind of mirrors." As he explained the story, I could see the wheels turning in his head and I started feeling a little short of breath.

"Sounds like alien technology to me, possibly Asgard. Those short hairless bastards know how to ruin a party." Mom said, grabbing a fork and reaching for a piece of pie on my plate. I slapped her hand away, an act so familiar to me that I didn't realize it until the other woman glared. I tried to fake an apologetic look but I doubt it worked.

Dad nodded, a little distant. "Yes it does sound like an Asgard beam like Thor's hammer, but Earth wasn't a protected planet then, so I don't understand why they would've left such technology here."

Uh-oh. I should've kept my mouth shut.

With one quick glance at me, dad continued his explanation. "Alexandria was also home to the Library of Alexandria, which was once the largest library in the world. Now if the Lighthouse was alien in technology..." he trailed off.

"Then it is possible that the Library was also alien, a knowledge compendium of sorts." Mom finished for him.

The look on his face was priceless. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning; actually, scratch that, I knew how he looked on Christmas morning, and he wasn't big on the holiday which was the reason I always slept over at the O'Neills every Christmas Eve. His look right now was the most excited I'd seen.

"I nee-- I need my books, I need my computer. God, I need to find my journals of when I was in the Kom al Dikka excavating the ruins of the city."

Oh shit, I thought. Yeah I should've definitely kept my mouth shut.

"Come on, I need your help," my dad said to my mom before turning to me. "And Alex, if you'd like to help, I could definitely use the extra hands and eyes."

Groaning inwardly, I tried to smile. "Erh, yeah I would love to... but I should find J-- I should find Ben first if you don't mind."

He shook his head. "No that's fine, we'll take you to Sam's lab."

With that, I stood up to follow the younger version of my dysfunctional family and leaving half a pie and an entire slice of cake uneaten.

* * * *

*Jacob's POV*

We hadn't been making much progress with the blueprints and my mother and I had gotten sidetracked by a power device that SG-12 had brought back from their latest mission. The power device, which had a 2-inch radius, could power a city the size of New York for up to ten years. We had been so engrossed we didn't hear the approaching footsteps until Alex knocked on the metal door.

"Uh, excuse me but I need to talk to Ben... now." I looked at her then back at my mom, put my goggles down and walked towards the door.

Alex walked out of the room so that we could have a private conversation but knowing that my mom could still see us and therefore no SFs or added security would be necessary.

"What's up?" I asked when I saw the worried look on her face, getting more and more concerned by the milisecond.

"I think I might've, possibly, completely screwed things up."

I groaned. "Holly Hannah... what happened?"

"Remember the Ancient knowledge base in Alexandria, the one where SG-1 found the repository?"

I nodded. "Yeah, they blacked out and woke up on the surface and they couldn't access it again, right?"

"Exactly! Well, remember how my Dad figured out where it was all those years ago?"

I nodded again.

"I think I just made him realize that it's there."

I let my head drop back until it hit the stone wall, then I did it again for emphasis. This could not be happening. This should definitely not be happening. "Hey, wait a second..." I said excitedly, realization finally downing. "When did your Dad discover the Ancient Library?"

Alex shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure, I suppose it was 2005 or 2006--" she trailed off as she realized the same thing I did.

"Did he ever say how he came up with the idea of where to look for it?"

Alex shook her head. "No, he just said he was telling my mom about the city and then he realized something... wait a second, that's pretty much what happened today at the Mess. I told him my full name, then next thing he was desperate for his books and his excavation journals."

I smiled. "Do you see what's happening here?"

She frowned. "What?"

"My mom once said that she named me Jacob after my grandfather and Benjamin after a special young kid she once met. And your Dad apparently realized about Alexandria after talking to you... I think we're meant to be here. I don't think you screwed up the future, I think you just did what was meant to be done." I felt very relieved all of a sudden.

"You mean kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy? We go back in time and make sure that everything that was meant to happen actually happened?"

"Exactly."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok, so how do we know what we are supposed to say and do and what we aren't?"

"Well, that might be a little more complicated to figure out."

"I am so not liking this walking on eggshells thing, I suggest you find a way to get us back soon."

I laughed. "Wow, no pressure or anything, right?" I was flattered as usual that she trusted me so much but still, the expectations of getting us back home hopefully before my classes started and before our parents went nuts looking for us was getting a little crazy.

"Come on genius, you know you can do it."

I pulled her to him me in a hug. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Alien Girl."

She pulled away after a few seconds, "You're welcome. Now get to work, I have to go help my D--" She looked around hoping no one had notice the little slip. "Daniel to find something I know about but I'm not sure if I can share the info and I'm not sure if I shouldn't either." She smiled for a second before allowing me to go back to the lab. I saw her walking up to an SF standing at the end of the corridor, flashing him the Mal Doran smile, "Hi there. Care to escort me up to Dr. Jackson's lab?" Yeah, that smile worked every time, I noticed as the airman quickly nodded.

* * * *

CHAPTER 4

We were in a briefing room for the second time since our 'arrival' eight days ago. Jacob and I sat next to each other at the end of the table, opposite to General Landry's seat and Teal'c had taken a leave of absence to go witness the birth of his first grandchild. I was wearing my father's extra pair of glasses since the contacts I arrived with were quickly disposed of and were unusable and I told them that if I was to help with research, I'd need a pair of glasses. I was lucky my father's current prescription was the same as mine. I also noticed my godfather was also seated at the table next to my godmother.

The lights had been dimmed as my father started a small slideshow on the back wall of the room. "Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great. Although the city today lies within the borders of Egypt, the city used to be part of the Greek Hellenistic empire, a Greek Center with Egyptian roots. The myths start as early as when the city was being founded. Legend says that the city's foundation was threatened by sea-monsters," an alien-esque picture of sea-monsters flashed against the wall, "but their attack was stopped by Alexander himself who, descended in a glass box and proceeded to raise monuments to keep the monsters away. It is said that the philosophers of that age realized the need to preserve all the knowledge that the human race had at the time and decided to build an archive, a library to store it all. Next to the library a colossal lighthouse was built," several pictorial representations of the lighthouse were shown, "and the beacon could be seen for miles and miles...it is also said that the beam of light projected from that lighthouse kept enemies at bay, lighting up ships hundreds of miles away."

"So what you're saying is that the lighthouse was some sort of alien device?" General Landry spoke up.

Dad turned the slideshow off and turned the lights back on. "I believe so, sir. And the Library of Alexandria is always described as holding so much knowledge that no human mind could ever read it all even if they spent a lifetime there. Some accounts even said that the library was powered by electricity, millennia be-- before Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison. If the library hadn't been destroyed by earthquakes and fires in the 14th century, there's no telling how far mankind would've advanced today, sir."

"But you don't think a light bulb is all we're going to find there, do you Daniel?" Uncle Jack asked sitting back in his seat.

My progenitor shook his head. "I think the Ancients or maybe even the Four built a knowledge repository in Alexandria, similar to the one in Antarctica."

"Just for the record, I am not sticking my head in anything this time." my godfather said.

"Aren't you due back in Washington in four days..." asked Aunt Sam sharing a look with her husband before she quickly added "…sir?"

"Well, contingent on General Landry's approval of this mission," Jack said, knowing full well that Landry was going to approve this little excursion, "I think I will tag along for the ride. But don't worry, Carter, you and Mitchell will still be commanders of the mission." He teased her with a smile.

"Why would the Ancients build a second repository in Egypt when they had Antarctica outpost already?" Uncle Cam asked, even more handsome than the Cameron Mitchell I grew up with.

"We are not sure... I mean, maybe they built the one in Antarctica and it became hidden so they built the one in Alexandria...or they built one in Egypt and when it was destroyed they built the Antarctica one. Or maybe they served different purposes." Dad elaborated.

"Well, from what we know about the one in Antarctica, it is located where the Magnetic South Pole once was." Aunt Sam offered.

"Was?" Jack asked with a frown. "I mean, last I checked, the South Pole was still the South Pole, right?"

"Not always, sir." the scientist explained. "Currently the North and South Poles are migrating at an accelerating rate. At some point, according to my calculations, the Magnetic South Pole was located exactly where we found the Ancient ruins. Some experts also believe that Africa, at one point or another in the evolution of the planet, was a magnetic pole. There is sand found in the Sahara desert that offers evidence to that theory. And if that's true..."

"You think the Ancients used the Earth's magnetic field as energy to power their facilities." Dad finished his best friend's sentence and she nodded.

"It would explain how the facilities remain active even after so many years."

Jacob stood up from his seat, hands clasped together behind his back. "Permission to join this mission, sir."

My eyes widened at his boldness, he was usually not so bold directing even his mother when we were in the SGC but I also knew that he could be very direct and persuasive when he's right, which is often.

Landry looked at Uncle Jack and then back at the Jacob. "Unfortunately I cannot authorize that, son."

I decided to help Jacob somewhat, suddenly realizing that this was my chance to finally see Alexandria's Ancient repository, before it was discovered. "With all due respect, sir, Ben and I can provide an immense help on this mission. I have been helping Doctor Jackson for the past three days and if we find the Library, we might need help with Ancient technology. Ben has studied that technology for years."

"So has Doctor Carter. I can assure you she's the topmost scientist in this field." Landry defended his initial decision.

"So they work together and you have your answers in half the time. I really think it's important for us to go on this mission, sir." I continued her protest.

"She has provided me with great help, General." Dad softly added from his seat making me beam.

Aunt Sam pitched in as well, "Actually, sir, we still have no idea how to get them back home. If there's anything in that database that could help them, I don't see how it could be detrimental to the mission."

Landry sighed loudly. "Very well." He conceded. "If you will excuse me, I have a call to make to the President, I'm sure we're going to have to pull some strings to get the Egyptian government to authorize entry of military personnel into their territory, especially considering we cannot tell them the truth about this mission." He stood up and three people in the room did the same. "Jack, I trust you to set this mission up and see it through. I'll be in my office if anyone needs me," Landry said frowning, most likely at the thought of the mountain of paperwork he'd be required to file in order to make this mission happen. Being very good at diplomacy when I want to be, I could imagine what that'd take.

Uncle Jack looked around the table. "Daniel, get your things ready. Carter, prepare your toys and whatever else you think we might need to get into an Ancient base. Vala--" He turned to face my other progenitor, "I'm not sure what it is you do exactly but go do it. Mitchell, you're in charge of the kids. We're leaving as soon as we get official authorization from the Egyptian government."

Jacob and I exchanged excited looks as the room emptied around us.

* * * *

*Jacob's POV*

Colonel Cameron Mitchell led us towards the armory. He typed his code in the keypad and the blast doors opened slowly to allow the three of us in.

"Grab 7 packs from over there," he instructed me then turned to Alex, "and you start grabbing some sleeping bags and flashlights."

We worked together in silence, getting the necessary equipment for our little trip.

"Do you know how to use one of these?" Mitchell asked as he checked a few P-90s.

I nodded. "My Dad taught me how to use them last year; I wasn't allowed to touch them before..." I let my sentence end there; I couldn't tell him that because of Charlie my dad kept no guns in the house.

Uncle Cam turned to Alex with the same question in his expression but she shook her head. "No P-90s. Zat guns only and I had to once use a Goa' uld hand device."

“Oh yeah, the doctor did say you guys had some abnormalities on your bloodwork. Former host?” The Air Force Colonel asked with a frown and Alex shook her head.

“No, I just inherited the naquadah in my blood.”

Cam smirked like he knew something we didn’t and I bit my lip. I was probably just being paranoid. He continued checking the weapons. Five P-90s, 7 Zat guns, radios and enough explosives to shake up the Nile. He turned back to us.

"So, I guess we're not telling your parents the truth, right?" Cameron finally asked us as we finished stuffing the backpacks.

Alex and I stared at each other with some fear. Finally I cleared my throat. "I'm not sure what you mean, sir." I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

Cameron laughed. "Oh come on, I have no idea how no one else noticed. You," he pointed at me, "have your mother's eyes and her smarts and somehow underneath that well-behaved exterior I think you have your father's temper and attitude." His tone was far from disapproving and I knew he worshipped Jack O'Neill. "And you," he turned to Alex, "have your mother's looks AND attitude, plus you did say your father was an archaeologist. And you both seem to be able to operate Goa’uld technology yet you weren’t hosts to a symbiote."

We said nothing as we tried to think of something to say that wouldn't mess things up more. Finally Alex broke the silence. "You can't say anything."

"Anything at all," I continued.

"Butterfly effect and all, right?" Uncle Cam asked.

Alex nodded. "You say something, as small as can be, and three years from now, my parents remember to use birth control and I won't be born. So you have to keep it a secret."

"Don't worry, I won't say a word." He reassured us.

Alex and I released the breath we'd been holding, just to be startled as someone cleared his throat behind our group. We turned to see General Landry standing there.

“You can put those P-90s away, colonel. We could not authorize a military excursion into Egypt, but the President got approval for a civilian archaeological expedition. That means no weapons, no uniforms.” General Landry pointed to the equipment already set up. “This is a listing of equipment that cannot be brought on this mission, provided to us by the Egyptian government.”

Mitchell took the offered paper and quickly read through it. “Uh, sir, Zats aren’t listed here…”

“Son, for the purposes of this trip, Zats are simply archaeological artifacts…ensure that no one gets any different idea as to their purpose, will you?” Landry said with a pointed look.

“Certainly, sir.”

“Good. Your team will leave at 1400 tomorrow. You will ride in a military aircraft to Greece, where a rental van will be waiting for you. From there you will take a ferry to Alexandria.”

Cam nodded. “Anything else, sir?”

Landry shook his head and left.

Alex turned to look at me and the same feeling inside me was reflected in her face… It was going to be a long trip.

* * * *

*Alex's POV*

An airman walked me to my mother's quarters after I was done dressing for the mission. I finally settled on wearing my leather pants and a BDU undershirt which looked like a tank top as it stretched around my growing chest section. I was still developing but if everything worked according to plan, I'd soon be very similar to my mother in build. Hopefully I'd still be able to borrow some of her clothes now which was why I decided to bother her before the mission.

After two knocks, she opened the door and seemed surprised to see me. I looked down at my boots, suddenly unsure of how to proceed. My mother and I have a lot of problems, our relationship is definitely far from perfect. My father and I definitely get along a lot better.

Of course, I realized that this woman in front of me still hadn't said all the awful things my mother back home had said to me... and she hadn't heard all the worse things I'd said either. So in a way, this was a chance to spend some time with her without the past (or the future) hanging between us.

"Uh hi," I said sheepishly with a full-on Jacksonian expression.

"May I help you?" My mother asked as she broke into a small smile.

"Actually you might be able to..." I motioned towards my clothes. "This is all I have to wear and I just wanted to know if you had some clothes I could borrow for the duration of this trip. Not much, just maybe a shirt and some pants. As much as I love these leather pants, I don't think they'll last the whole trip in that desert climate." I started feeling more nervous so I continued to babble, "I would ask Colonel Carter but I think you're closer to my size than she is, and I don't know anyone else on base..."

She looked at me like I had grown a second head then she had one of those rare moments where she makes the conscious decision not to be rude and allowed me into her room. "I apologize, I don't have much. I've only been on Earth for a few months and work keeps me busy so a girl doesn't get a lot of time to shop."

I just gave a small smile in her direction. She opened some drawers in the military-issue dresser and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the skimpy underwear and moved to the tank tops next to them, grabbing a dark green one. Next I grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans that looked like they'd never been worn and closed the drawers.

She looked at my selection. "Colonel Carter seems to be pretty comfortable wearing those jeans but I never quite got them. These Tau'ri fabrics can be quite uncomfortable, although everyone tells me I just haven't broken them in. Well, you’re probably familiar with them," she said realizing I was from the future not from a different planet. “You can try those on, if they fit you, you can keep them."

"Thanks," I said, knowing they'd fit me. The current leather pants I wore had been hers at one time and I knew we wore the same size.

"Those leather pants you're wearing look very familiar, I believe I own a pair just like it."

I tried to give her a smile, "Gee, small galaxy, isn't it?"

My mother nodded then continued to stare at me and I had no idea what was going through her mind.

"So, you and Doctor Jackson seem to work together a lot wherever you came from..." She said after sometime, her eyes trying to read me.

Oh, ew. My mom was jealous of me. Just great. "Yeah, I really look up to him." I said, opening my military-issue backpack and putting the borrowed clothes in it.

"Are you two close?"

I looked away so I could roll my eyes. "Yes, you could say that."

"How close?" She said, moving one step closer to me, trying to intimidate me. Luckily, I'm impervious to her antics.

"Very close." I replied, refusing to back down or tell her the truth. Well, I couldn't and shouldn't tell her the truth, but technically I wasn't lying either. A flash of hurt crossed her face.

"I guess I'm not around in the future then, right? Must've gotten myself killed in action or I'm being held prisoner somewhere... or maybe I'm the queen at some small village," she said in an attempt to cheer herself up and I felt bad for her.

"Actually, you're still around. And don't worry, my relationship with Daniel is not what you think, I'm sorry for making you believe otherwise."

She looked at me as she tried to figure out whether I was telling the truth or not, then tilted her head. "You are far too young for him but there's just this familiarity between the two of you that..." she trailed off.

"Made you jealous?" I asked.

"Pfft...me, jealous? Please. It just made me concerned for the mission. Plus I noticed he's grown quite fond of you and I don't to want to see him hurt when you go back to whenever you came from."

"Uh-huh," I said in disbelief.

She decided to change the subject "So, if you and your friend are from the future, how do you know you're from my future? Or that I'm from your past?"

"Well, we don't know for sure...but if you aren't our past and we're not from your future, that means we'd have to be from an alternate future or you're an alternate past and that thought alone is giving me a migraine. So I'll just say that there are too many similarities between the events that took place in my past and your present and therefore, I assume we're from the same reality."

"Do you know me, in your time?" My always-curious mother inquired.

"You know, we really shouldn't be discussing the future."

She responded with a pout. "Where's the fun in that?" she whined.

A familiar male voice suddenly interrupted, "Are you ready yet?" My father asked my mother without even looking up from his book. Hellenistic Alexandria and Subsequent Periods, the title read.

"Not yet, I was helping your friend here." My mother said with a teasing tone in her voice, making my father look up and finally see me.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't even see you there Alex." He apologized, pushing his glasses up his nose from where they'd slid during his walk. Behind us my mother finished her packing.

I smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure your mind is pre-occupied."

He returned the smile until my mother dropped her pack onto his shoulder, making him nearly fall on his side. "What the hell are you bringing with you? A whole ship?"

"Come on, Daniel, I don't get the chance to explore Earth very often, I need to be prepared for anything." She argued as she started walking out the door, leaving the two of us to follow.

"Seriously, what is in these bags? Mining equipment? Is that what you think we're going to find down there? And why the hell am I stuck carrying your bags?"

My mother stopped walking and turned around, moving well into my father's personal space and reaching up to pinch his chin. "Come on, come on, Daniel...is that the gentlemanly way to behave? I've been reading up on the Tau'ri culture and I read that polite men offer to carry women's bags as a courtesy."

"The keyword being offer," my father replied. "and if you already read a book on our culture, I don't see you behaving in a very lady-like manner." He argued.

"Stop your whining, Cam and Colonel O'Neill will be upset if we're late." She admonished and turned around to continue walking. "Oh and you should offer to take Alex's pack too." She offered a second later.

He looked at me and I shook my head, indicating there was no need. For a second it was just like being back home.

* * * *

CHAPTER 5

*Jacob's POV*

The military cargo plane could definitely use some alien technology because it started shaking the moment we left Lowry AF Base and it hadn't stopped yet. My eyes were tightly closed, waiting for sleep that wouldn't come. Alex's head was lying on my shoulder as she slept like the rest of the cargo area occupants, her unruly mane brushing against my cheek in a comforting way as my head was lying against the metal insulation of the plane.

"We could've waited, you know...delayed the mission or waited until next month." I heard my mother whispering a few feet away but I didn't dare open my eyes. Apparently I wasn't the only one awake.

"Nah," my father said dismissively. "I thought the doctor said this week was the week. We shouldn't waste the opportunity and we shouldn't delay this mission, it sounds pretty important, Daniel can hardly sit still." He said with some humor.

"What if we can't finish this mission in time for, you know..."

"Then we sneak away and, you know, complete our mission."

I heard my mother's gasp and stifled laughter and I realized what they were talking about, fighting back an inward groan. I tried to shield the rest of the conversation but I wasn't too successful.

"Unless you're having second thoughts about our...mission plans, Carter."

"We're both aware of the consequences. We've discussed them all."

"Yes we have. And we agreed it was what we both wanted, even if it leads to a court martial, didn't we?"

My father's words brought some fear. Court martial? We never really discussed how they seemingly broke fraternization rules, but I always thought things had simply worked out for them. They never told me that because of me, because of our family, they faced the threat of a court martial. The sudden realization that I had traveled back in time some eighteen years and witnessed a conversation between my parents deciding whether or not I was worth the threat of a trial and possible imprisonment made me respect these two more than I did already.

"Yeah...it is what I want." My mother reassured my father. "You miss being in the field, don't you?"

I heard his soft laugh. "Yeah. I miss being out with you guys but I also miss just being on the field. I don't regret the possibilities that leaving the SGC opened for me or for us, but I definitely miss it. Plus you know how much I hate paperwork..."

"And Washington D.C.," she teased, then added,"...sir. I remember you weren't too fond of D.C. when we first traveled there together."

"Ah, Carter, you get used to it. Washington I adore, it's my wife's old stomping grounds, you see...it's those pesky politicians I can't stand. There are Appropriations Committee sessions, debriefings with the President, Pentagon lectures, it's all soooo boring. I swear I spend days waiting for your mission reports..."

"Now I know you're lying. You didn't read my mission reports when I was your second in command and it was your job to read and sign off on them - I really doubt you'd read them now."

"Ok I confess I pay more attention to Mitchell's reports," he admitted. "Daniel's and yours are great to put me to sleep. It's all artifact this, propulsion reactor that."

My mother laughed softly. "I'm sorry, sir."

"No need to apologize, in my old age, I can always use a sleep aid." He whispered.

Their conversation was interrupted by Cam's loud snore and the two apparently decided to end the discussion. Not long after that, lulled by the shaking of the plane and Alex's steady breathing, I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * * *

*Alex's POV*

My face was still adorned by my father's glasses, which offered me no protection from the blazing desert sun as I walked around the open market area outside the military fort that had been built upon the ruins of the Alexandria Lighthouse. I couldn't care less about the scorching heat though; I was in Alexandria, trying to locate one of the most important archaeological finds on this planet. For the first time since I mounted Jacob's new bike, I was truly happy that we were sent back almost 20 years.

Dad was talking to people who'd been working on the Kom al Dikka trying to find more information, so we could figure out where we would start looking. My mother was apparently window-shopping the many silks, fabrics, tapestry and grains displayed in the area while Jacob and his mom sat around and from the looks of it, talked techno-babble - I speak many languages but techno-babble is definitely not one of them.

Cam and Uncle Jack stood to the side, talking and from the looks of it, trying to look non-military. Uncle Jack wore just a short-sleeve button up shirt and some jeans and Cam looked as gorgeous as ever in green cargo pants that resembled BDUs and a t-shirt. My crush on him was purely platonic, of course; the man was almost forty years older than me and he was one of my parent's best friends. My appreciation of his young looks were interrupted though as my father walked towards me and the rest of the group followed.

"The best place to start looking seems to be the fort over there," he motioned to the square building behind him. "It's a military fort but they allow archaeologists to work there. We won't be able to move a lot of stuff around, but..." he trailed off, suggesting that this was the best he could do at the moment.

"This should at least give me the opportunity to check the place out. I can scan for transport rings frequency or naquadah presence in the building once we're inside." My godmother offered.

"I spoke to an old acquaintance who is part of Kom al Dikka, the current archaeological project and he's agreed to let us tag along tomorrow when he goes in."

"What do we do ‘til then?" Uncle Jack asked.

"Sightseeing?" Cam offered with a sheepish smile.

"Oooh, yes, please, can we?" My mother asked excitedly.

Dad ignored her as he looked at his watch. "It's 3:25 pm local time. There's a nice hotel a few blocks away; I stayed there several years ago when I was working here. We should check it out and get ourselves rooms. This could take a few days."

* * * *

*Jacob's POV*

Dinner was delicious. The whole group had finally agreed on a restaurant by the ocean and the food was to die for.

As usual, I sat by Alex so we could have a private conversation if we wanted to. The rest of the group was sharing stories, Uncle Cam seeming so excited to have 3/4 of the original SG-1 around.

"So, we go into this tent and Sam is wearing the most awesome blue dress ever and she is so pissed off she looks like she's going to punch something." Uncle Daniel continued to tell his story.

"Oh, come on, why is it every time we're sharing stories, that's the one you guys always remember?" My mother complained.

"Because we got to see Jack trying to buy you back for 500 weights of gold after you were sold to Turghan. Apparently, that was enough to buy any fifteen women of his tribe, you should feel quite flattered," Uncle Daniel answered and teased.

"Yes, it's always flattering to be traded for gold and firearms." Mom laughed and rolled her eyes. "And don't make me share stories about you and Hathor."

Vala gasped from her seat. "Hathor, Daniel? And I thought you had better taste than that!" She teased.

"I was under the influence!" He said in his defense. "And that was like 10 years ago."

"So was the blue dress story," Mom argued.

"Hathor was so despicable, taking all the fame for the whole sex thing. She was seriously cutting into Quetesh's action and therefore mine too...just because we didn't have a little special mist that made men quiver." Vala whined from her seat, making all occupants turn towards her. "What? Just because I was possessed doesn't mean I wasn't still competitive."

Everyone decided to ignore the former host as Uncle Danny turned towards my father with an evil glare. "So, this one time we met these people who were gorgeous, right? I mean, everyone was just beautiful and Jack gets offered this local cake..."

Dad interrupted him. "Hey, I like cake...and don't bring up what happened after the cake or I'll bring up how you befriended the Destroyer of Worlds, Danny-boy."

After a quick staring match with my father and a glance at Vala, the good archaeologist backed down.

"Man, this is great," Uncle Cam finally spoke up. "I just wish T was here... sharing stories about the good old times. I swear those mission reports don't do these stories justice."

"That's 'cause a lot of stuff couldn't make it onto those reports, Mitchell," my dad said with a smile. "Like the time Carter drank that stuff on P3X-595..."

"Sir, stop right there or..." my mother threatened.

"Or what, Colonel?" My father retorted with a smirk.

"Two words: Simpsons Collection." She answered.

"Some things never change," Alex whispered to me. The rest of the group continued to share anecdotes but I tuned them out as I thought some more about the possibilities of the ruins lying underneath the thriving metropolis we found ourselves in.

"What do you think we're going to find here?" I whispered to Alex.

She shrugged. "Other than an Ancient knowledge base?"

I nodded. "I wonder if there's anything there that could send us back home." I explained.

"Never heard of any such devices being found in Alexandria," she replied.

I sighed. Of course, it didn't mean we wouldn't find anything, it just meant that SG-1 didn't, I realized more optimistically. It was a small chance but it was a chance. I knew I'd have to talk to the one person who knew the truth about Alex and me.

* * * *

INTERLUDES

Chapter Summary: During their first night in Alexandria, our two couples share a few moments.

Pairing(s): Sam/Jack, Daniel/Vala

Chapter Rating: Hard R/NC-17 – Yes, this is finally it. Where we deviate from the original characters’ POVs to understand what’s going on with our two favorite couples. These are therefore interludes set between Chapters 5 and 6 and you should be able to understand the story without them.

* * * *

Interlude 1 – Jack

*Jack's POV*

These sheets were damn uncomfortable. Apparently they didn't use Egyptian cotton sheets in Egyptian hotels because these were scratchy and they wouldn't let me sleep. Of course the fact that my wife was in a bed just two doors down from me and I hadn't had sex in three weeks might have also contributed to my insomnia.

I could hear Daniel tossing and turning across from me but he was sound asleep. I swear, the man is the loudest sleeper ever. Kicking off my covers, I got up from bed and decided to go for a walk...maybe I'd knock on her hotel room door - hell I was so desperate I'd have thrown rocks at her bedroom window but we were on the 30th floor.

I threw on some pants and a t-shirt but didn't bother with shoes or socks as I tiptoed to the door. I managed to open it without making any noise…

…and the only thing that kept me from screaming in surprise was the thirty-plus years of black ops training.

"Scared you, did I?" Vala said amused, also surprised to see me but not as much as I was, even though she was only wearing the smallest pair of black shorts I'd ever seen and a white tank top. I should definitely not be the one embarrassed here but she was just smiling like this happened every day.

"I was just going out for..." I tried to come up with some valid excuse and reached for the ice bucket. "...ice. I needed some ice."

"Oh," she said raising her eyebrows. "Ice is good."

"Ya betcha...uh, so how can I help you, Vala?"

"Well, I was just walking around," she started, while wildly gesturing around, "and, you know..." she suddenly just threw her arms down. "Oh hell, I'm here for sex."

My first response was something between a gasp and a girly scream and for one second I looked her up and down, the long legs that go on forever and ever and the good-sized breasts barely contained by the white tank top. My neglected body was about to hum when I looked up to see the silky jet-black hair and disappointment registered. Yes, Vala was one very attractive woman, but in my sappy old age my body prefers to reserve its energy for one very smart blonde Colonel. I stumbled for a reply and came up with, "That's very flattering and all but--," before I was cut off.

"Not you! Daniel!" She said with exasperation, eyes pointing to the archaeologist who was tossing and turning in bed.

"Daniel! Yes, of course," Relief washed over me before realization dawned. Apparently these two were doing it, probably during missions. Both were civilians so it wasn't against regulations, but doing it on duty was definitely frowned upon...then I realized that if Vala spent the night with Daniel, it would give me the opportunity to do the same with my wife. My mouth agape was quickly closed as I looked away. Commander instincts telling me to reprimand Vala and Daniel be damned, I needed to see a scientist about a biological clock.

"Oh and Jack? Here you go," she said, handing me her key card with a mischievous smile. I reached for it and she quickly pushed me out of the way, door closing tightly behind me.

When I finally saw Sam, sleeping on her side of the bed as if waiting for me to fill up the empty spot, my heart tightened. I sat next to her and reached to move a strand of her short hair out of her face, knowing the action was bound to wake her up. As expected, my good little soldier's eyes snapped open and it took a second or two before her eyes finally registered my presence.

"Jack?" she asked sleepily and I had to fight the urge to rip her clothes right then. "Wh-- what are you doing here? Where's Vala?"

"She decided she wanted some Linguist-loving," I explained and Sam laughed. "and she kicked me out of my room, then gave me this," I showed her the key card.

"Oh my god, do you think she knows?" Sam asked, voice full of concern.

"Ya think?" I offered with a smirk. "Daniel is a smart guy and he knows us...and the two of them are like two peas in a pod, so I would say she probably knows."

She groaned and kicked off her blankets, arm moving to cover her eyes and I knew she was freaking out. I couldn't help but notice that her arm movement and position pushed her breasts together in her top, the two mounds practically begging me to free them. I reached a hand and softly kneaded one of them, feeling and testing her. Her exasperated groan turned into a moan of pleasure as she arched her back off the bed and pushed the breast into my hand.

I bent down slightly until I could reach her lips. She tasted of sleep and chocolate – I knew that she always ate chocolate to take away the bitter taste that the fertility pills and vitamins left in her mouth. My tongue caressed hers as we moaned into each other's mouth. We’d been on base since I arrived in Colorado Springs trying to find a way home for those kids and other than some clandestine touches, we had no contact and I had definitely missed this. As expected, she was the one who broke the kiss, a firm hand on my chest pushing me away. "God, Jack, we can't...we're on a mission..."

I bent down again and silenced her with a second kiss and she responded but for a shorter time, pushing me away too soon and we were both gasping for air from the smallest contact.

"Seriously Jack, we can't...this is a mission and..."

"It's not an official mission, Carter... we don't even have to write reports, so it doesn’t count..." I said weakly in a desperate attempt to get her to give in. I was not sure if the use of her last name was deliberate or not; you spend nine years calling someone by their last name, you don't switch overnight, not even because of a marriage license. I quickly reached and pulled her top up, baring her breasts to me as my hands slowly started exploring the two perfect mounds again. I knew that would quiet her protests for maybe a few seconds more, so before her brain started overworking again, I continued to speak. "...and I have plenty of experience with unofficial missions, unsanctioned by the United States military. Trust me, there's a lot of unofficial stuff that can happen."

"Including sex with a superior officer, sir?" The use of the word sir should have probably turned me off, should have reminded me of all the obstacles in this relationship: the military, the SGC, our age difference - except I was too far gone for it to have any negative effect and the fact that she had practically moaned that three letter word didn't help matters any. Hearing her as she lay in bed with my hands covering her perfect breasts, looking as her perfect mouth forming an 'oh' as I pinched the nipples... the word 'sir' only served to fuel my fire even more, my dick painfully hardening under my pants.

"Well, Colonel, right now I would even call General Ryan himself to get approval for this if I thought for one second you were really against this..." I teased her with my words as one of my hands moved underneath the boxer shorts she wore and under the waistband of her panties, finding her positively soaked. "...but I don't think that involving the good General Ryan will be necessary, do you Carter? You want to know what I think?"

She let out a long moan as I slipped a finger inside her folds. "What-- what do you think...?"

"Sir...you forgot the sir, Colonel." I disciplined her by removing my fingers, keeping them in her panties but not touching her. She tried to move and reestablish the contact but I moved my hand away again.

"What do you think, sir?" She reiterated and I rewarded her by swiftly thrusting two fingers inside her. Her body arched off the bed and I could see she was biting back a scream.

"I think that having sex on a mission turns you on, Carter... I think you spent countless nights dreaming of what we're doing right now... In other words, I think this is a fantasy come true for you..." I bent my head down and captured an erect nipple between my lips, flicking it with my tongue as she pressed herself against my hand with some urgency. "...this is a fantasy come true for me too, Sam." I confessed as I applied pressure against her clit with the heel of my hand as I continued my assault on her G-spot, alternating between lightly tapping it and strongly stroking it. It didn't take more than one minute before I felt her inner muscles grip my fingers, her own hand reaching up to grasp my arms as she thrashed in bed, trying to be keep from vocalizing her orgasm.

When she finally came down from her high, I withdrew my fingers then finished undressing her. My hands ran all over her body, appreciating the freckles, the long legs and the military body which, if my mission tonight succeeded, hard muscles and taut skin would be replaced by soft roundness in a matter of months.

She gasped when I reached her clit again, the over-sensitized organ protesting my touch so soon, so I moved past it and towards her breasts again. I used my hands to push them together, then brought my lips to each one, lazily tasting the skin and cataloguing their shape and weight in my mind. I was flying to Colorado every three weeks, every month finding an excuse to spend a week at SGC that happened to coincide with her fertile period. We'd spent a total of two weeks at my cabin and she'd come to D.C. four times, sometimes just for a day of two. That meant that in 13 months of marriage, we'd spent about fifteen weeks together. Of course, we both knew what we were getting into and we knew we would just have to make the best of our time together and that was also why I would always try to devote some of our time together to analyze her and commit a little bit more of her to my memory, something that could keep my sex-deprived brain going when I was lying in bed alone in D.C.

I kissed down her taut stomach and reached her curls; I brushed my lips against the spot where her thighs met her pelvis, first the right side then the left before I used my hands to spread her legs wide, I moved down the bed so I could comfortably do this even if it took hours to bring her to orgasm again. I looked down at her exposed sex - she was absolutely drenched; the outer lips were engorged with blood from her earlier orgasm and from continued arousal and at the top of them, the little bundle of nerves was still red and swollen and I decided to continue to avoid it for awhile, until she forgot about the over-sensitivity and begged me to touch her there again.

My tongue lazily traced her opening, gathering up some of the moisture in my mouth and feeling the rest of it run down my chin and down her own body, her thighs and ass cheeks were glistening too. I kept the pressure just around the outside of her channel, moving around in circles and soon her hips were rotating to the same tempo, trying to chase the contact around, making sure I wouldn't stop. I couldn't stop now if I wanted to, so I tried to push my tongue inside just a little and I was rewarded with a gasp from above.

Her hands moved to grab my hair but the short strands kept her from being able to clutch me to her and she ended up just running her hands back and forth, massaging my scalp and trying to return at least some of the comfort and pleasure I was giving her. I hummed against her core and she trembled.

"Jack, it's ok, I don't need that, I just want you inside me... come up here." She said as her hands moved to tug at the collar of my t-shirt. I allowed her to pull the t-shirt off but I stayed put as she tried to pull my upper body to cover hers.

"No, I want this..." I tried to tell her but she clasped her legs around my ribs and tried to pull me towards her again. "I need to do this, Sam...I rea--" I started to try to explain and I felt myself blushing slightly. "I read some books and they said that conception rate is several times higher if the female achieves orgasm."

A look of understanding and something akin to guilt crossed her face. "I already came once, Jack...and chances are, I'll come at least once again when you're inside me..."

"Please, let me finish this, Sam... It’s not just about the books...” I admitted, “I can't tell you how many nights I lie in bed thinking about doing this to you. I could never get tired from the way you taste."

Her body trembled around me and I felt her legs releasing me and dropping back to the bed and I moved my hands to push them apart again as I retook my position in my favorite place in the whole universe.

My tongue went back to lightly pressing against her and I moved my fingers to trace the opening and then slowly slipped them down to her other hole, pressing just slight without penetrating. I moved my fingers back and forth and my tongue found her and pressed deep inside. I knew she was going to be tight around me when I entered her tonight; it was like a reward for our common three weeks of forced celibacy.

I pushed my tongue in again and pulled it back then repeated the action several times, speeding up my rhythm as I went. She was soon writhing above me, her legs tightening a little around my head but not uncomfortably. Her body was rising off the bed every time I thrust my tongue in her tight channel and her moans were growing louder by the second. I glanced up at her and saw her face contorted in ecstasy and I felt my dick swell even more, the amount of blood in that area was making the erection downright painful. Almost as if reading my mind, Sam’s muscles spasmed around my tongue announcing her second orgasm of the night.

I barely waited until she was done gasping before moving to cover her body with mine. The head of my dick was pressed against her entrance, the quivering muscles temporarily resisting the invasion. I thrust forward just a little and Sam groaned and her legs moved to wrap around my hips. Pulling back then thrusting a second time made the head breach her slightly. The stronghold grip around my hips tried to pull me deeper inside but this time I was the one who resisted and pulled back.

Big blue eyes looked up at me in question and I just grinned down, then I finally thrust all the way in and Sam couldn’t hold back a scream. God, she was as tight as I predicted and the muscles became tighter and tighter around me, the pleasure was bordering on pain when I realized she was coming and I had to bite my lip to keep from shooting my load right then; I wasn’t sure if it was just another peak from her recent orgasm or an altogether new one but the look of pleasure on her face told me she didn’t quite care about the difference.

I remained still while she finished riding the waves and after a couple of minutes her body stopped trembling and her arms moved to envelop me and I felt her lips pressing against my neck, first just a soft touch and then she applied some pressure. Hands caressed the back of my neck and my whole body shivered. “Uh, I need a second or this will be over real soon,” I finally admitted to her and she gave a wholehearted laugh.

I pulled back to look at her and smiled. “How ya doing?” she said to me in a bad Minnesota accent and I laughed.

My hips pulled back all the way until only the head was still in and I pushed forward again. Holy Hannah, I had missed her, I thought as I continued my slow and sure thrusts. I felt her walls expand and contract around me as I pushed further and further into her. “God, you feel so great…”

“You feel great too,” she comforted me.

“Talk to me, Carter,” I asked and I didn’t even have to look at her to know she was smiling. I love hearing her voice while we’re having sex; she’s got the sexiest voice ever and honestly she can be reading off one of her Theoretical Physics textbooks and it’ll still make me hot. This is a definite problem when she’s giving a debriefing on an alien device and I have to pay attention to what she’s saying… I have to say, what she’s saying is definitely not as interesting especially when it involves the words ‘in theory’ and ‘experiment.’

“Well, according to my calculations,” she started and I laughed because of all the times I’ve heard those words out of her mouth, this is definitely my favorite. She continued, “it's been far too long since I felt you inside me…right now I can feel every inch of you and your breath against my neck, the pressure of your hipbones against mine every time you slam into me...my body is humming with pleasure waiting for you...” she trailed off, laughing. “Waiting for you to come inside me.”

I groaned at her words. “I think I’m on top of that, no pun intended.” I got a giggle for my comedic efforts. I increased my thrusts and she stopped talking, just reveling in the feeling. I moved my hand underneath her ass, pulling her closer to me and opening her more so I could thrust as deep as possible. She enjoyed the change in the angle if her gasping was any indication.

Soon I was lost in the feeling of her around me and I came, as hard as I ever imagined possible. Her screams of pleasure barely registered in my mind as she was lost in another climax and by the time I came back down to Earth, I felt like a smug bastard.

I stayed inside her for a while, my weight pressing down on her and her arms and legs around me. When I finally pulled out from inside her and rolled onto my back next to her, she was already distant from me. I reached for her, rolling her on her side and spooning up against her.

“Don’t worry, it’s bound to happen sooner or later,” I told her.

“At least trying is fun,” she said with some humor but we both knew we were past that stage. The first three months trying to conceive are fun; you’re stressed but you figure it’s still early and you're enjoying yourself…after eleven months you know there’s a chance something is very wrong.

“I missed you, Sam…” I nuzzled her hair and kissed the shell of her ear. “You need to come to D.C. more often.”

Her head moved on the pillow next to me in a nod. “I’ve been invited to do a briefing on hyperdrive technology at the Pentagon in two months… I forgot to tell you.”

“Two months?” I asked in a tone that probably sounded a lot like a whine.

“This long distance marriage thing kind of sucks, doesn’t it?” she asked with a laugh. “How are we going to do this if I get pregnant?” There was a slight ounce of panic in her voice, one that I’d grown accustomed to when we discussed this topic.

I pulled her even closer to me and placed my hand on her stomach. “Not if, when. When you get pregnant.”

“Jack, I’m 41. I lead a stressful life and there's still the issue of not knowing the consequences from carrying Jolinar. We need to face the possibility that I might be unable to get pregnant naturally.”

“So we’ll get pregnant using other ways. We’ll talk to the Asgard or the Nox… hell, I’ll even talk to the Tollan.”

She laughed. “I was thinking more along the lines of artificial insemination or in vitro. I’ve been on clomid for the past three months and so far nothing.”

“Hey, this is the third month so let’s give it another chance…kind of like third time is the charm thing.” I just hoped we wouldn’t end up with octuplets like Apu on that Simpsons’ episode where everyone feeds Apu’s wife fertility drugs.

“And if—when I get pregnant?”

“We’ll finally sit down and tell Landry I made an honest woman out of you eleven months ago.”

“Great, so we can be court-martialed,” she said with a groan.

“We got married while you were working at Area 51 and therefore not under Homeworld Security jurisdiction. If you weren’t under my chain of command, even if they court martial us, they wouldn’t get a conviction…” I said with more certainty than I felt…military tribunals weren’t exactly unbiased and fair. I tried to reassure her, “We’ve saved the world, oh nine or ten times – they’ve let me get away with kidnapping, insubordination, lying on my reports about leaving Daniel in Abydos - I’m pretty sure they’d let us get away with a silly thing like marriage.” I tried to comfort her.

She sighed and we knew we’d had this conversation several times, and we both had been at opposite sides of the spectrum - both afraid for our careers but more importantly for the other’s image. We’d decided to get married on a whim; late-night calls between Lake Groom and D.C. had been too frequent after our respective transfers and after awhile we realized all the reasons that kept us apart were gone, and the only ones left were created by ourselves. She’d been in Washington for three days and we got married. It was the farthest thing from a dream wedding; no Daniel, no Teal’c, no Hammond. But then again we knew we were gambling with fate so we didn’t quite care about a perfect wedding. Cassie was the only person who knew about it. She was Sam’s legal ward as long as she was in school and therefore she became my dependant as well after we got married. There had been tears in her voice as she'd congratulated us.

Sam and I both knew that retirement from SG-1 was the safest way to be together without breaking regulations, but I also knew that as soon as we announced our marriage, the rumor mill would be doing some overtime. I’d seen these things go down and it’s never pretty; more likely than not, Carter’s ability as a scientist and a field operative would take backseat to the fact that she was screwing her former CO. People would make incorrect assumptions as to when the affair began and few people would actually care about the truth. We decided to wait a while longer before sharing the news, hoping that would keep the speculation to a minimum - except that fate put Sam back in SG-1 and under my chain of command and our fears of a court martial returned. For the past thirteen months I'd made more friends at JAG Corps than in my entire career. If our case was investigated, I wanted to make sure I had friends in debt willing to help us.

I tried to break away from the dark place my mind was taking me. I didn’t want any more lost sleep over rules and regulations…eight, nine years were more than enough. I pointed at the dark sky out there and the whiteness of the waves crashing into the port. “Hey, at least even if we don’t find the Ancient Library, you and I completed our mission.”

“Our mission doesn’t count,” she teased. “I didn’t get any – what do you call them? Doohickeys…? I didn’t get any of them to study, sir.”

“Well, Carter, I’m sure I can find you some piece of equipment to study. But you have to give me until morning, the batteries don’t recharge as quickly as they used to.” I said as I stifled a yawn.

She laughed. “Maybe it’s a defective power core, General. I should definitely check it out.”

“In the morning, Colonel. In the morning.” I conceded as I kissed her one last time before drifting off to sleep.

* * * *

Interlude II - Daniel

*Daniel's POV*

To say I was excited doesn't even begin to describe it. I was expecting a sleepless night after tossing and turning for hours but I passed out as soon as I hit the mattress. I felt kind of bad about it because Jack and I hadn't spent time together in months and I missed our dynamics, but I was too busy snoring to do anything about it.

What surprised me was that instead of being awakened by the wake-up call, what brought me back to consciousness was a firm body curling against my back.

"Jack?!" I exclaimed in surprise as I jumped as far away as I could in the queen-sized bed. I’d missed the guy but this was definitely not what I’d had in mind.

A soft chuckle echoed behind me. "You know Daniel, you never cease to surprise me. Honestly, Jack? I mean he's good looking and all but he's not as good-looking as me. Of course, no one could blame the guy, one could go a whole quadrant without seeing someone quite like me."

The shorts she was wearing were probably a crime punishable by death in over a hundred cultures and her tight tank top showed me her best-- uh, features quite nicely. That meant of course that it took me a minute or two to concentrate on the problem at hand. "Vala? What the hell are you doing here?" I finally managed to ask as I stood up on the floor next to the bed and tried to ignore the response my body was giving her.

Her only reply was a seductive smile. She was so infuriating!

My eyes darted over to the queen bed behind her where there was no sign of its former occupant. "Where's Jack?"

"I kicked him out." She stated simply. Then she was on her knees and moving towards me on the bed and there was nothing but wall behind me so I was cornered. "I was lonely and bored, Daniel. Plus I think I have what you people call jet lag so I couldn't sleep."

"You kicked Brigadier General Jack O'Neill out of his hotel room so we could--" I trailed off as I moved my hands between our bodies. The distance was pretty small so I'm not sure she got the idea; her response was to put her hands on my chest and close the distance between us even more. "Are you out of your mind?!?" I asked her as harshly as I could.

"Oh, come on, Daniel, don't be a prude." Her accent was doing delightful things to my aroused state but I wasn't about to let her know that. "I didn't exactly kick him out; he wasn't unwilling to switch rooms." She explained after a brief look of hurt crossed her features.

"Switch rooms?!" I thought out loud. "You mean you actually got him to switch rooms with you? You're making the guy share a room with Sam?"

"As I said, he wasn't unwilling." Her mischievous look told me she knew something I didn't and that always bothers me.

"Do you even know what you're putting him through?" I wished I were wearing glasses so I could pull them off now and clean them. As it was, I was just stuck looking at a semi-blurry Vala with remarkably un-blurry cleavage. "I am sorry I didn't explain this to you earlier, but Jack and Sam, they're both Air Force officers in the same chain of command...they have--" I tried to come up with a good word to describe it, "--unresolved feelings towards each other. Feelings they can't act upon because of the Air Force and their rules and regulations, so you basically put the guy in a no-win situation that's borderline torture."

She laughed a deep-hearted laugh. "You're kidding, right? Are you people blind? I mean I can understand Cam turning a blind eye, especially with the whole Air Force nonsense, but do you mean to actually tell me you haven't seen the signs?"

I frowned. "Signs?"

"They're together, Danny,” she stated matter-of-factly. “No unresolved feelings there. They're hitting the sack, doing the two-backed beast, playing hide the salami," she elaborated. Man, I needed to kill Teal'c for giving her that book on Tau'ri slang, "doing the horizontal mambo, a bit of the old in & out, having a roll in the hay, burping the worm in the mole hole--"

"Okay, I get the idea!" I interrupted her. Yeah, Teal'c was definitely a dead Jaffa when I saw him next. I hope he enjoyed his time with his grandson because he wouldn't live to see any more offspring. "So you're telling me that Jack and Sam are having an affair and keeping it a secret?" I asked her, still in disbelief.

"They're not the only ones, are they?" She asked with a pout and a tilt of her head.

Oh great, I was so not up for this conversation. I liked to think of this non-relationship between us as...well, as Vala using me for her personal satisfaction. Not that I complained, in fact quite the contrary. There are not enough words in any language to describe Vala, but if I were forced to use some they would probably be bold, insufferable, insane, troublesome, tiresome, bothersome and several other adjectives ending in -some. But yet underneath it all, I seemed to be drawn to her like a moth to fire, waiting for my slow painful death. Maybe it had something to do with those communication stones or those Goa’uld bracelets from hell, but she's like a car accident on the side of the road and I just can't keep myself away. "Listen, we should probably not do this on missions..."

She rolled her eyes. "You weren't opposed to it on P5X-793..." she argued, "...or on P9-- whatever, that other planet with the nice music and the pretty artifacts."

Ok, point taken. "Yeah, but that still doesn't mean that it's a good idea."

"It's all in the eye of the beholder my darling. A bad idea for you sounds like a remarkable idea to me." Then she flashed me her smile and I saw my resolution wither. "Come on, Daniel, this is not even an official mission."

Well, she was right. But I wasn't about to give in so easily.

She continued her argument, "Plus it's not like I can just go back to my room... I wouldn't want to interrupt anything between your friends."

Yeah, that would definitely make things worse.

"So we might as well seize the opportunity."

I gave up on the argument as her mouth met mine in an enticing and inviting manner.

Oh right, this was why I couldn't stay away, why she burrowed herself in my mind after the Prometheus incident.

She tasted like sin and salvation all mixed into one and for some reason this woman who turned heads all over the galaxy was taken with me. Sha're had been gorgeous and perfect, so intelligent and innocent, her beauty hidden and enhanced by her demeanor and the exact type to fall for a guy like me. Hathor would hardly count, since I didn't have much say in the matter, but she was just using me to produce her offspring, so it's not like she'd shown feelings for me. Then Sarah and Linea/Ke'ra and the subsequent women...they'd all been dangerous in their own way and beautiful, but Vala redefines danger and beauty. Of course, counting my Goa'uld track record, it's nice that for once I developed feelings for one who already had the snake removed, saving me a whole lot of heartache.

Did I say feelings? It must’ve been the Alexandria heat, I reasoned as a warm tongue found its way around my mouth with its usual ease and mastery. It should be illegal how good she is at this.

A weak sound made its way to my ears and I realized with some fear that it was my own moan. She had barely touched me and I was already moaning like-- I don't even know what. That's another thing that drives me insane about her, she can make me speechless with the blink of an eye.

* * * *

Interlude - Vala

*Vala's POV*

Oh my Daniel...so much passion, one wouldn't even give the four-eyed Archaeolinguist Tau'ri a second look, but once you scratched the surface (and I do mean it literally sometimes), there was one of the most passionate men I'd ever been with.

The list was quite long but most of those were from my time as Quetesh and therefore they should not count, seeing as I had very little to do with her choices. Before I was taken as a host I had not had anyone, saving myself for my beloved fiancé and that was a waste of time considering that marriage never happened. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that after Quetesh was removed, I did what a girl had to do to survive and I was not ashamed of it. Some of it was quite fun even, but Daniel had just gotten me in a grip like no one before.

He pulled me from the bed and pushed me against the hotel dresser where the TV sat. He must’ve worked out the schematics in his brain and realized that the specific piece of furniture was too low for anything fun, so he moved back and pressed me against the wall of the hotel room. He was definitely awake as he unceremoniously pushed me to my knees. His shirt was thrown across the room and his boxers were quickly removed and I licked my lips in anticipation, feeling my mouth water at the simple thought of his taste. See, I’m not one to claim I enjoy this act a lot, but there was something about getting the good doctor so hot for me and making him lose all his inhibitions and push me to my knees that’s quite endearing and flattering.

He was already as hard as a rock and I let my lips open wide to accommodate him. At first I only allowed the head in and wrapped my tongue around it. I licked it softly in a teasing way then I tapped the swollen tissue with my flattened tongue, drawing a long moan from him. Next I slowly let my lips drag down half his length, reveling in the way that the hard shaft felt as it filled me up. I let most of it slide out of my mouth and then back in, repeating the motion over and over again in the slowest pace possible. When he least expected it, I surprised him by allowing more of him in, everything I could take without causing an embarrassing situation. This time he growled and his hand shot out to grab my hair; he didn't change the pace or push himself inside my mouth though, he just moved my hair out of my face so he had a better view.

I continued what I was doing, which was trying to drive him absolutely insane with lust hoping he would understand what he did to me. Soon he pulled me back up and pushed me face first onto the bed, my shorts haphazardly moved down my thighs just a few inches enough for him to get where he needed to be. There was no need to check and make sure I was prepared, he knew fully well that I'd gotten wet just from going down on him. When he finally thrust into me, I had to bite my lips to keep from waking up the entire hotel.

His thrusts were hard and powerful, nothing sweet or soft in the way he was taking me and it only made me moan louder. He could read me like a book and I was quite aware of how he treated his books, a shudder running through me as I felt the powerful waves of a climax approaching me. His wonderful assault of my body continued until he felt me coming around him, my muscles gripping him so hard I was afraid I'd do permanent damage.

As I recovered from my orgasm, I realized he'd stopped thrusting. I knew he hadn't come because he was still inside me and he wouldn't have risked finishing in there, especially since we had no idea if those Earth birth control pills were working on my physiology of not and we’d never quite gotten around to those prophylactics I kept hearing about.

It was his turn to surprise me as he pulled out his still throbbing member. He pulled me up from where I lay on my stomach and turned me over so he could see me. He removed my shorts completely and helped me get out of my top. When he entered me again, there was none of the hard, powerful thrusts of before. His hand touched the side of my face and I pulled him down for a kiss, hoping he hadn't seen the tears forming in my eyes.

We continued to rock together, slowly and steadily. He would stop every time our pace seemed to pick up, waiting until our breathing slowed down again and then he would restart. This was how I'd become lost to him; his ability to put everything aside to achieve pleasure and at the same time he could just make my world stop with one touch or one kiss. He could be passionate and sweet and he was honest and faithful to his friends.

I was still myself but when he was around, it seemed like that wasn't enough, I had to work harder to make things right. Part of me still hated him for it, for making me feel like some redemption cause he'd picked up along the way but I couldn't stay mad long enough when he was thrusting into me so perfectly as he trailed big wet open kisses down my neck.

I orgasmed once again before he finally allowed himself to seek his own release. Pulling out, he finished on my stomach, the warmth of it worth the mess. Always the gentleman, he got up and brought the box of tissues from the bathroom and cleaned me up and he surprised me the second time that night when he slipped back in bed with me and spooned up against my back, drifting off the sleep of libraries and alien cultures undoubtedly.

After a few minutes, I felt unconsciousness pulling at me and I realized that the nights we spent together were the only ones I had no nightmares of Adria.

* * * *

Interlude - Sam

*Sam's POV*

I woke up as a very hard erection pushed into me from behind. Apparently my body had unconsciously prepared for the invasion because I was wet and it slid easily into me. I moaned loud and blissfully, "Jack, oh...yes."

Morning sex was definitely one of my favorite things and one we hadn't been able to indulge in very often. We were in the same position we were in when we fell asleep, him spooned up against my back and he seemed to have taken advantage of the situation and I was infinitely grateful.

"Sorry," he apologized unnecessarily and without an ounce of honesty. "It was up when I opened my eyes, I figured we might give it a second try."

I smiled even though he couldn't see my face. His forehead pressed against my shoulder and I reached a hand up to feel his soft gray hair. I didn't spend any time reminding him that his sperm count would probably be too low so soon after last night because honestly it didn't matter - he was inside me, and the world felt right again.

Our pace was slow for several minutes, as the sun hadn't risen yet. We took our time letting our climaxes build and they finally hit once the first rays of daylight started filtering in. He didn't release me for several minutes as we lay together in bed and I couldn't help but realize that other couples get to do this all the time and they take it for granted.

"Thank you," I told him simply and he kissed my shoulderblade.

"You're welcome." I could feel his grin against my skin.

I could hear the carts being pushed outside as the hotel staff started their breakfast service. "We should get up soon. Switch rooms before Cam wakes up."

"You call him Cam," Jack complained behind me. "and he calls you Sam."

I turned in his arms so I could see his eyes and finally saw the jealousy I'd picked up from his voice. But he wasn't jealous of his wife; he knew exactly how I felt about him and he was secure in our relationship. Brigadier General Jack O'Neill was jealous of his second-in-command. I smiled and shook my head. "You're insufferable, you know that?"

"I've been told that once or-- ten times." He replied.

"Did you ever wonder why I continued to call you sir even after we became friends?"

"Because it helped you distance yourself from our feelings?" He answered and I shook my head again.

"Maybe it helped with that, but mostly it's because I respected you more than life itself. The moment I walked into that briefing room and I saw you for the first time, I saw a true leader." I also thought he was a pompous bastard who had a problem with authority, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "Cam and I are equal ranks, so we can get away with calling each other by our first names...and I respect him as an officer and he's a good commander, but I have never met anyone as worthy of being called sir as you." I explained and he looked downright surprised.

I don't think he would ever truly understand... due to our relationship and the Air Force, it would be so much easier for me to be the one to give up my career. It had nothing to do with being punished for being a woman; he was already a General and held a much higher position than me but he would never allow me to quit. He said once he wouldn't die happy until I outranked him and I knew he was telling the truth. I loved this man more than life itself. I'd been engaged twice before him - once to a man I respected and once to a man I loved, but it wasn't until Jack that both things were one and the same.

Leaving him still speechless in bed, I headed for the shower.

* * * *

CHAPTER 6

*Jacob's POV*

A strong kick to my shin woke me up. Alex was a restless sleeper and I regretted once again volunteering to share the bed with her. Well, I wasn't about to subject the fidgety sleeper on Cam, so my options were between sharing a bed with a snoring Air Force Colonel who weighed about 195lbs or my best friend who weighed 115lbs soaking wet. I thought I'd made the right decision but the bruises on my legs told me otherwise.

It wasn't the first time we shared a room or a bed but it seemed like every time I ended up with marks to show for it. At least back home she would usually sleep on the futon in my room.

I sat up in bed as I realized that the sun was up already and to my surprise, Uncle Cam was already awake and dressed. I excused myself to pee and brush my teeth and when I returned, Alex was still asleep and Uncle Cam was watching the news on the muted TV.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something..." I said nervously.

"Yeah? Whattup?" He said after he turned off the TV.

"Well, you're the one who knows about who we really are and all, so I wanted to let you know that if anything happens to Alex and I during this mission, you have to promise you won't tell our parents the truth... and also, that you will destroy all evidence that we were here..."

He stared at me for a minute then finally nodded. "No problem, kid. Consider it done."

"Thanks," I said just as the fitful one woke up. Her hair was all over the place and I reached over to make it even messier, which I know she hated. "Good morning."

"By Jupiter and Zeus, what time is it?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes.

Cam looked at his watch. "Just past 0600."

"And why the hell are you guys up already?" She complained as she got out of bed.

"Habit." The colonel said with a smile and I just shrugged.

"Go get ready and we'll go get breakfast downstairs." I urged her. "Plus the sooner we're ready, the sooner you get to do your digging."

The thought of food and digging finally did the trick as I heard the bathroom door slam shut.

* * * *

*Alex's POV*

The heat was scorching but I felt at home in the middle of the gigantic fort. We'd been doing recon for hours now, taking turns and trying to be inconspicuous. Jacob and Aunt Sam decide to break the group into three teams. Jacob and Cam took the right side of the building and my godparents took the left side, both groups searching for signature readings of anything alien. That left my parents and I to wander around the building trying to find clues as to the possible location of the Library.

It was my mother who first found a clue. "Daniel? Come look at this."

We both moved towards the drawing she was pointing at. There was a picture on the wall of a town map etched in stone that had been taken to Oxford to be studied. After a cursory glance at the tourists and archaeologists surrounding us, Dad pulled out a magnifying glass. As he studied the map, I glanced at the square legend sign next to it; it stated that the map was believed to have been drawn in 143B.C. and it had Greek symbols, hieroglyphs as well as another kind of writing that resembled cuneiform. I tugged at my father’s shirt and showed him my finding. He nodded at me, "It's not cuneiform, it's Ancient." Then he handed me the magnifying glass and I bent down to look at the map.

On the northeast sector of the map, titled Brucchion, there was a representation of the Temple of Serapis and underneath it, the Ancient symbol for 'knowledge.'

"Do you think it's inside the Temple?" I asked him.

His eyebrows raised in doubt. "A couple of years ago, an excavation team found what could possibly be the ruins of the Library. But it's been dismissed as the site of the main library and was supposedly the site of a smaller library and an academy. Now look at this," he said pointing to the opposite corner of the map.

In the opposite direction the coastline curved around the peninsula and in the water was an Ancient symbol for truth. "Truth?" I asked him. "You think this is where the main library was? Under the sea?"

He nodded. "It makes sense. There are statues and tablets being found on the ocean bed; they always believed they were there because earthquakes knocked them into the sea, but what it they were there to begin with?"

"So we go looking for it under the water?" I asked, not excited at the prospect.

He shook his head. "No, I think that the Ancients left this map as some kind of clue. If they went through all the trouble of building this repository underwater, I don't think they just built a regular door we can use. Look, this is where we are, the old location of the lighthouse." He said pointing to the map again, this time to the exact midpoint between the two previous points we'd observed. In the center under the lighthouse, was the symbol for light.

"Knowledge? Truth? Light?" I asked him, trying to make sense of this enigma. "Isn't that all the same?"

He shrugged. "One could argue that all three words can have the same connotation."

"I got it!" My mother exclaimed loudly. After drawing people's attentions around us, she lowered her voice. "Knowledge and enlightenment lead to the truth. I think there's something here and something there," she said pointing to the Brucchion, "that leads us to the real library."

Dad looked at me with his 'it's worth a try' look. Mom looked at him proudly and he rewarded her with a quick smile.

Just then the two other groups found us. "We've got nothing," Jacob said with a sad tone.

"Same here," Uncle Jack said in the same tone. "I'd suggest following the yellow brick road, but--" he looked around us, "everything is made of yellow bricks."

Just then one of the equipments in my godmother's hand beeped. "Uh, sir?" Everyone turned to look at her. "I'm picking up on a faint signal." She walked a few more steps and the signal beeped louder. "I think there's something here, my EMF detector is going crazy. The source seems to be behind this wall, maybe upstairs or downstairs," she pointed to the wall where the map had once hung.

Dad quickly filled the rest of the group in on the three locations on the map and the ancient symbols.

"What do we do now?" Cam asked.

My godfather scratched his five o'clock shadow. "We break into groups again and we try to find some trapdoor or secret hallways, anything that will get us back there. If anyone finds anything, stop where you are and radio in and whatever you do, do NOT stick your head in any weird looking walls, trust me."

And with that the team separated again.

* * * *

CHAPTER 7

My feet hurt and I was not one to easily complain about physical discomfort during any mission. Hell, once at the Academy, I knew my physical, emotional and mental abilities would be pushed to the max and I was actually looking forward to it. But as it were, Uncle Cam and I had been walking around this complex for over six hours, the last three searching for something and we didn't know what it looked like.

We were on the second floor underground after finding an old staircase that was closed off to the public. The dark and danky area seemed to have been untouched by the renovations that turned the base of the old lighthouse into the fort and I picked up some readings on my equipment, stronger than the ones we’d gotten upstairs. I extended my arms to keep Cam from walking any further. "I've got something," I said and looked at the wall in front of us. We began to pat around the wall looking for anything that might help us when Cam noticed a hole in the wall a few feet down from our current position.

It was a perfectly cylindrical abscess, about 1 inch radius and 7 or 8 inches deep from what I could tell by shining my flashlight in it. I brushed the area around it and found some writings I couldn't understand.

"Daniel? We need you down here." Cam radioed in.

The distorted response came after a few seconds. "Where are you guys?"

"Two levels directly under the area where we found the map."

"Understood, we'll meet you there, over."

Three minutes later, the three-person group found us. I called Alex and Daniel over and pointed to the writings on the wall.

"It's definitely Ancient," Uncle Daniel verified.

I continued to flash my light at it and Daniel pulled out a digital camera and took pictures of it.

"Cam?" My mother's voice filtered through the radio.

"Go ahead," one colonel replied to the other.

"We found something," the disembodied voice revealed.

"Can you meet us? We're two levels below."

"Yeah, we're on our way, over."

Alex and her father were discussing the script excitedly as the rest of us waited for my parents to show up. They didn't disappoint us and soon the whole team was reunited. I noticed my mother carried something wrapped in black cloth.

As she approached us, she opened the carefully bundled package, revealing two long crystals, one clear and one black. Dad pointed to the crystals and explained, "We found these in a statue for a guy named Sudoku on the third floor."

That seemed to snap uncle Daniel from his exploration. "Serapis," he corrected him. "You took these from the statue of Serapis upstairs? That statue is over twenty-five hundred years old!" He exclaimed in indignation.

"And they look like Goa'uld crystals!" Dad argued. "Plus they were giving off some reading in the spock-meter thingy."

"Spectrometer," Mom corrected him.

"Well it looks like something Spock would've used," Dad defended himself.

Mom offered him a smile and then turned to Daniel. "What do you guys have?"

He turned to point at the wall.

Uncle Cam picked up one of the crystals and examined it. "Call me one-track minded, but it looks like this tab A might fit in that slot B," he said motioning to the cylindrical hole in the wall.

"It's worth a try." the archaeologist said as he picked up the crystal Cam had been holding and moved towards the wall.

"Why are there two?" Vala asked.

Dad interrupted before anyone could answer. "Hey Danny, I don't think that's such a good idea."

But Uncle Daniel ignored him as he slid the crystal in. Everyone in the room held their breath as the flashlights flickered and the radios picked up static for a second but then it was gone.

"Oh for crying out loud! Perhaps you should translate that stuff on the wall before sticking things where they might not belong," Dad continued to argue after five minutes of nothing else happening.

Daniel just glared at him and withdrew the crystal, handing it back to my mother.

"Why are there two crystals?" Vala asked again.

Alex shrugged. "Maybe they're two keys to two different doors," she offered.

A siren sounded above us, startling the whole group.

"I think that's the closing siren, we should leave and I'll study these symbols at the hotel." The linguist said. The team nodded in approval as we trailed out of the dark chamber.

* * * *

*Alex's POV*

Because of the research going around, the sleeping arrangements were reviewed for the night. Jacob and his mother were sharing a room so they could work on the crystals. My father and I shared a room so we could work on the translation and my mother had volunteered to share the room with us claiming she refused to share a room with Cam and Jack because they both snored. I had to bite back the urge to remind her that she snored more than all of them combined because she'd want to know how I was privy to that information.

The translation itself was slow, each symbol having two or three meanings, which made figuring out those sentences near impossible. Grammatical construction in Ancient was a pain in the ass sometimes. We were done with the first half and it simply told us where to find the crystals, so that wasn't big news and we were currently working on the second half, enjoying the silence as my mother took a shower.

"This means time and this means first light or first sun then we have key and key and exact. Next we have time and light again and there's this symbol in the middle." My father thought out loud. "Then there's key and light again and then there's key and wisdom. Then there's time and equal again. It's like it's going in circles. "

"We're assuming these are instructions, correct?" I asked him and he nodded. "So they're instructing us to do something. Key should be the crystals. Time of first light or first sun... So in the morning?" I reasoned out loud. "In the morning the keys show the exact? There are two keys and we're assuming two holes, one in the Brucchion ruins and the one we found. Maybe we can only find out which one goes where in the morning."

Dad shrugged and sighed. "Maybe. Then to use the keys, we have time light something dark... Maybe an eclipse?" He offered weakly.

Another idea popped into my head. "What if this symbol in the middle means 'meet' or 'turns'? Time light turns dark?"

"Sunset?" He asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"So when light turns dark, or at sunset... we need to do something with the crystals."

"We use the correct crystal... I think light in this sentence refers to the lighthouse and wisdom refers to the academy ruins... and then final and equal..."

"Same time?" I offered reaching the same conclusion he did. "You think the crystal today didn't work because both have to be inserted at the same time?"

He nodded.

We both sat back and sighed. Two-man translating teams were definitely easier than translating by oneself.

The phone broke the silence.

"Hello? Oh, hey, Sam," my father answered as I listened to the one side conversation. "Yeah, I think we're done with the translation. You found something with the crystals? Yeah, we'll be right there." He finally hung up the phone as we gathered up our notes and made out way to the room across the hall.

My godfather opened the door, him and Cam already present in the room. "It's a party! Where's the cake?" He quipped as he let us in. "So Carter, what is it that you found out?"

She looked up at him with a smile that said she knew something he didn't. "We were trying to figure out exactly what's going on with these crystals and they seem to be made of a slightly different constitution from the ones that the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra use. So I used an ultrasound and I couldn't detect anything different."

Uncle Jack interrupted her. "For crying out loud, is there any equipment you didn't bring with you, Carter?"

She ignored him as she continued. "Then I used the spectrometer and the same anomalies I noticed back on the fort were still present. So I had an idea... Turn the lights off, guys."

Cam did as asked, covering the room in darkness. The next sound was Jacob flicking an UV light on.

My godmother raised one of the crystals, the clear one by the looks of it, and placed it directly in front of the light. The crystals served as some kind of magnifier and transforming the light into a map. My father's eyes met mine as we both realized that the UV light must be doing what the text predicted that first light would do, which is to discern which crystal belonged where.

"It looks like the lighthouse and the map points to the area where we found the writing," my father noticed.

Jacob placed the other crystal next to it and what appeared to be a second map formed in front of us, this one completely unfamiliar.

"Should we assume that's the map of the Brachiosaurus place?" Uncle Jack asked and I had to stifle a laugh.

"Bruchhion and I think so," Dad said. "If I'm right, then there's a second point of entry in the ruins by the Temple of Serapis next to where the Modern Library is. And according to this map," he concluded, "it's right there."

Everyone stared at the dark spot on the map.

"From what we translated, we have to activate both points of entry at once with the crystals. This crystal," he pointed to the one Jacob held, "should go in the old ruins and this one," he pointed to the other, "should go to the lighthouse. And it looks like we need to activate both of them at sunset tomorrow."

"That means we need to split up," Aunt Sam reasoned.

"Ok, I'll lead one group, Carter you and Mitchell lead the other. Daniel, you and Vala are with me at the Bratwurst place and the kids go with you two back to the lighthouse." He said to the two colonels. I almost raised my voice to protest being called a kid but decided that it might sound too childish.

Our mission plan settled, the lights came back on and everyone returned to their rooms to sleep.

CHAPTER 8

*Jacob's POV*

We were back to the dark and danky subterranean area of the lighthouse, waiting for the second team to radio in. The first team left early to try and locate the second target, once they radioed that they'd found it, our team left for the lighthouse, everyone waiting for the sunset, which should be at 6:41 p.m. on this sweltering summer day. My watch read 6:39 when we heard my father's disembodied voice echoed.

"Team 2, this is team 1, Daniel has the crystal and we are in position, over."

"Copy that team 1, we are in position as well." My mother replied as we all looked at our watches.

Cam was the first to speak up, "I've got 1841, guys."

My mother shook her head, "I've got 1839 still."

I looked down and my watch read 6:40. "1840, guys."

Cam shrugged. "Let's go with the young man's watch then."

My mother nodded and I gave her a signal when the digits changed. "Team 1, this is team 2, do you copy?"

"Team 1, go ahead." My father's voice returned.

"On the count of three," she said with the clear crystal in hand.

"Wait wait wait!" My father screamed back. "We put it in on three or we put it in after the three?"

Waiting for his transmission to be over, my mother rolled her eyes. "We put it in on three, sir. Over."

"Copy that. On your count, Colonel." My father replied.

"One... two... three..." And my mother inserted the crystal.

The flashlights flickered again and this time a whooshing sound accompanied it but nothing else happened.

"Team 1, this is team 2, nothing happened."

"Nothing happened here either, Colonel."

"The Ancient gene!" Alex volunteered from our side.

"What?" My mother inquired.

"It's an Ancient base. Maybe someone with the Ancient gene has to activate it." She explained.

"That wasn't the case with any of the previous ancient repositories," my mother replied, unsure of what to make of Alex's suggestion.

"It's worth a try, right? What do we have to lose?" Alex bit back.

"I think she's right, Sam... I think it's worth a try." Cam pitched in.

"Even if it is, we have two crystals and only one General O'Neill."

"Well, actually--" Alex and Cam said in unison looking at me.

"--actually I have the gene too!" I interrupted them before they could say too much. My mother stared at me in surprised, "It's how I got the Ancient technology to work on the motorcycle."

My mother raised both eyebrows in surprise then pressed the talk button on the radio. "Sir, the kids just had an idea and hopefully we still have enough time. Maybe you should be the one to insert the crystal this time." She handed me the clear crystal and I took a step forward.

"Copy that, Colonel. Again, on your mark."

"One.. two... three!"

On three I inserted the crystal and the whole ground shook. I didn't realize what was going on until something hit me on the head and darkness enveloped me.

* * * *

*Alex's POV*

I'd closed my eyes when the ground started shaking and by the time I opened them, the room around me had completely changed. There were blocks and blocks of stone piling up around the chamber, the rubble telling us a story of destruction. But despite the bleakness of the scenery, the light from my flahlight revealed gold columns and marble floors.

"Alex, are you okay?" I heard my father's voice and I nodded before realizing he wasn't with me just five seconds ago when the ground shook. I looked around and saw both groups reunited and I freaked out when all flashlights pointed to the same position, revealing Jacob on the ground with some blood on his head.

His mother got to his side before I did and she pulled out a cloth and started applying pressure to the wound. My heart was pounding in my ears and I reached for his hand, holding it in a powerful grip without jostling him.

The rest of the group had gathered around us with looks of concern on their faces.

Aunt Sam pulled the cloth away and the cut seemed small enough not to be a threat in itself but this would probably be a concussion and his second one in a week at that. Cam handed his co-commander some water to clean the wound which she wordlessly took as she continued to care for him like the dedicated mother that I know.

I continued to hold Jacob's hand in a tight grip and suddenly I felt his fingers wriggle and try to move. I looked up and saw him trying to open his eyes. "Ow," was the only thing he said.

"Are you okay?" His mother asked and he nodded then winced again at the pain. "You shouldn't try to move."

"No, I'm fine," he protested. "Except for my hand that is," he added and I looked down at the hand I was probably bruising by now.

"Don't ever do that again!" I yelled at him, relief sinking in and replacing fear.

Uncle Cam extended his arm and Jacob took his hand, standing up slowly. I saw his eyes widen in surprise as he saw his father and my parents then his eyes got even bigger as he took in our current location. "It worked!"

Gasps echoed in the room as we took in the richness around us. The ceiling looked like it was hundreds and hundreds of feet above our heads and it was adorned with paintings but our flashlights weren't strong enough for me to distinguish their true origin. The architecture seemed to be drawn from Ancient Greece, Babylon, Macedonia and Egypt, with statues and paintings all around us. It was like an archaeologist's dream come true, a true Cosmopolitan culmination of the greatest ancient civilizations on Earth. And apparently we hadn't even seen the beginning of it.

"We--we found it!" My father stuttered right before he picked my mother up and twirled her around. We thought he was done but he moved for me next, easily picking me up and spinning me on the marble floor. I think he would've continued but Aunt Sam's 'don't you dare' look stopped him.

"These must be worth a fortune!" Mom contributed as she examined one of the statues. "Do you have any idea how much one of these would go for in the black market?"

"Where are we?" My godfather inquired from the same spot he'd been standing in since we'd been-- transported? teleported? beamed? I don't know. I don't remember transport rings, that's for sure.

"This is it! It's the Library," my father replied with certainty.

"Doh. I figured that," Uncle Jack replied. "I meant, where on Earth or space or whatever?"

"If the map was correct, we should be a couple of miles off the peninsula, under the Mediterranean Sea." My father offered.

"Oh."

I started walking, letting my hands trail along the statues lined up in this chamber, the group following close together. "This seems like a Great Hall of sorts," I said as I noticed the rooms that surrounded the square area we were in.

The first room revealed materials to make papyrus as well as rolls and rolls of ready papyrus, ink for paintings and writing and air-tight capsules.

"This is amazing," my father said. "Do you have any idea how much paper and ink cost back then? There were always shortages--" He unrolled one of the rolls and saw it was blank. A second roll revealed the same thing. "They're all blank."

"Maybe we should check out the other rooms, Danny," Uncle Jack offered since he didn't quite care about ancient paper.

We walked into the second room and there were walls and desks. The papyrus found here were definitely not blank but half filled with writings and drawings.

Aunt Sam was particularly drawn to one of them as she gasped, "Sir, this is amazing!" She exclaimed. "Thi-- this can't be correct," she pointed to a papyrus filled with pictures of animals and followed by numbers. Her finger pointed to a man-shaped figure, "Homo Sapiens then 23 dash 23," next she moved to a picture of a horse "Equus caballus, 32 dash 32," then a mouse "Mus musculusm, 20 dash 20."

"So?" Uncle Jack asked with a frown. "I thought the Greeks started this whole greek naming thing with living organisms."

"Not just their name, sir. I think this is a chromosome count for every species of the animal kingdom at the time - at least two millennia before we discovered the chromosome. This is like a genome project of the ancient Earth."

"Oh." Uncle Jack said simply. "Big stuff."

Dad cleared his throat a few feet behind us. "Not just big, Jack. Huge... Sam you might want to see this," he said as he picked up another piece of drawing. We looked at a sequence of drawings of our solar system, the first one sans Pluto and with a planet orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Mars and the last of the drawings showing our current solar system.

"Oh my god," Aunt Sam gasped as she examined the long sequence of drawings. "If these drawings are correct, it's saying that the planet that we always suspected that had orbited between Mars and Jupiter did in fact exist... and somehow that planet broke down into two major pieces and several smaller pieces. The major pieces, driven by the gravitational forces of Jupiter and the Sun created an eccentric orbit that continued to increase in radius until it became what we now know as Pluto and Charon."

Cameron shook his head a little, trying to take in all the information thrown at him. "So, if we knew all this back when this place was open for business, how come we had to discover all that stuff again later?"

"This never made it to the surface," Dad reasoned. "I think that the people were getting this information from down here, transcribing it to paper and taking it to the surface. These are unfinished which tells us that whoever vacated this place, did so in a hurry."

The group exchanged worried glances.

The ground shook around us again but the ceiling above us held steady. "Then let's finish taking a look at the place and let's get out of here as soon as possible, shall we?" Uncle Jack proposed.

CHAPTER 9

*Jacob's POV*

"This place doesn't seem very stable," Colonel Mitchell noticed as our group continued to clear some of the rubble to access the seventh room in the chamber. The other rooms had revealed an assortment of scientific, philosophical and historical material, from microscopes to detailed floorplans of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

"This area is known for its instability," Alex's father explained as he helped the group roll another stone.

"You'd think the Ancients would've thought about that before building things here," Dad reasoned. "First that place that Ernest got stuck in, then Antarctica and now this?"

"Actually, Jack, there's nothing wrong with the area where they built the outpost in Antarctica," Uncle Danny pointed out.

"Well, it's cold!" Dad argued. "There are hundreds of places on Earth I can think of with no Earthquakes and with nice weather that does not include building something on a cliff or under the freaking ocean."

“You’re lucky you weren’t in the one in England,” Cam added and Vala’s head bobbled in agreement.

“We almost got flattened by collapsing ceilings… It seemed like those Tau’ri movies Teal’c has made me watch, the ones with the handsome man who played the cunning space smuggler and the adventurous archaeologist.” She then smirked at the men in the group, thankfully excluding me. “Pity that space dwellers and Tau’ri archaeologists are not always so… attractive.”

The group wisely decided to ignore her as we continued to dig in the rubble. The ground shook beneath us again and there was a deafening noise as the ceiling crumbled above us again but still holding in place.

"Uh, guys? I think we better get out of here," Cam suggested.

The group glanced at each other before Vala spoke up, raising her index finger, "There's only one problem with that..."

".. there's no way out," Uncle Daniel finished the thought.

"How come we didn't realize it sooner?" Mom asked no one in special.

Alex sighed. "We were too busy being perplexed over the place."

The original members of SG-1 were exchanging knowing glances and Cam looked around, confusion and concern showing on his face. "So what? We're stuck here?"

Uncle Daniel shook his head. "Not necessarily... there's still one more room. Maybe there's a way out behind this rubble and these doors, maybe even a Stargate or transport rings."

No one said anything else as the group worked as one removing the obstacle ahead. Stone upon stone was removed, the silent ground beneath us feeling like a ticking bomb just waiting to go off. When the path was finally clear and the doors were opened, the new room revealed a golden carved 4 foot octagonal shaped pedestal that sat on a circular landing and was surrounded by rubble. Water seemed to trickle down from the ceiling, drip by drip and it was starting to pool around our feet.

We approached the pedestal and the doors closed behind our team. My father and I had been the last ones in so we tried the doors again but they wouldn't give. Uncle Daniel continued to move forward and he reached the pedestal, his hands carefully tracing the delicate patterns and reaching for the brightly colored spheres that encompassed the top. Alex and Mom followed him, and as the first sphere was touched, a hologram appeared above us with what seemed like endless lines of text in a language that was unfamiliar to me. Our flashlights became unnecessary as the hologram lit up the entire chamber.

"Oh my god," Alex said as her eyes quickly followed line after line of text.

"What is it?" Dad asked impatiently.

Uncle Daniel had to blink a few times before he could answer his friend. "It's the Old Testament."

My father's eyes tried to focus on the text but gave up quickly. "It looks like Greek to me."

"It is Greek, Jack."

"Oh." He then looked at my mom who shrugged and smiled. "That works out great then."

Uncle Daniel ran his hand over another sphere and the hologram became just a speck of light then it transformed before our eyes into a group of specks, then it evolved into a worm-like shape. We watched, transfixed as a visual presentation of Evolution presented itself to us.

"We have to take this information back with us, sir." My mother practically begged.

"We won't be able to bring anything with us until we find a way out of here, Colonel." Dad said as he glanced around the group then pointed to the pedestal. "Check that thing for an emergency exit, will ya?"

"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Uncle Daniel screamed from the spot he'd been standing in since the hologram came on. "It says user interface, I think it's meant to be used as an index or a search engine like the one in Atlantis."

Vala snorted. "You mean the fake one in Atlantis with the Ascended being that's possibly being punished right now for helping us?" Uncle Daniel turned to look at her and she softened.

"The holographic interface was not fake, it was just not on when we were there." He explained.

Slowly but surely, he moved to activate the feature and a fair-skinned female figure appeared, a Greek woman judging by her clothes, hair and features. "Hello, I am Hypathia of Alexandria, how may I assist you?"

"Hy-what?" Dad asked from his spot, making Uncle Daniel turn to glare at him.

The archaeologist/linguist assumed full diplomatic behavior as usual. "Hypathia of Alexandria, daughter of Theon who was the last curator at the Library's Museum. Legend states she was caught in Theophilus' quest to destroy paganism and she was murdered to set an example to all."

To my astonishment and to that of everyone in the room, the figure smiled behind him. "That's one way to put it, my child," her voice rang of serenity and acceptance and Daniel's eyebrows shot up.

"What would you know, this one's not a computer either," Vala stage-whispered behind the archaeologist.

"You're real!" Uncle Daniel denounced.

Hypathia slowly nodded and the earth shook beneath us again, the water that was trickling down started coming down faster, pooling around our shoes. "We don't have much time left," Hypathia observed.

"But we have so many questions," Daniel offered in protest. "There are answers here that we need, answers that could save the human race-- forget that, answers that could save all life in the galaxy."

The Greek legend did not reply, she simply reached out her hands to touch Uncle Danny and Vala. A white light enveloped them both, first just around their heads and then expanding to encapsulate their bodies. When it faded, the two were gone.

Cam pulled out a Zat gun and pointed at the woman we'd previously believed to be a hologram and shot once but Hypathia didn't even flinch. She reached for him next and the white light returned and soon he was gone as well.

Alex ran to my side, neither hiding behind me nor standing in front of me; her small delicate hand simply curled around mine in fear, seeking out reassurance that we would be ok. I couldn't give her much but I tightened my hand around hers, hoping that would be enough.

We moved away together when Hypathia turned to us but she moved towards my parents next who seemed frozen in place. She touched my father first and my mother moved slightly to touch his arm and the light took her in. Another tremor hit as soon as my parents disappeared and the sound of the ceiling breaking above us was deafening.

Without thinking, I pulled Alex in my arms and hoped I could protect her from whatever would happen once Hypathia touched us.

* * * *

*Alex's POV*

Fucking hell, I was beginning to really hate earthquakes, not that anyone ever liked them, but I’d experienced more in six hours than anyone should experience in a lifetime. The last one subsided and the water was up to my calves now but my face was pressed against Jacob's chest so I couldn't see anything around us.

"Like I said, we don't have much time," Hypathia's voice reached my ears.

"What did you do to them?" Jacob demanded, his arms loosening slightly around me and allowing me to turn so I could see the possibly-Ascended being who'd made our parents disappear in a white light.

The answer was simply "They are well."

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

"They've been sent back to location where they found the crystals and no harm was done to them. This was not their journey."

Jacob frowned as his arms finally released me completely. "Whose journey was it, then?"

"Yours."

"Oh," was Jacob's only reply.

"This place was built to pass our knowledge on to your race. We saw so much potential, so this repository and others were created. Some of your best men and women were allowed to come to this base and be enlightened. Later, they would transcribe their findings and take them to the surface to be stored and studied. What my people-- what I -- failed to realize is that you would eventually try to gain more knowledge than you could handle. Wars were waged and much blood was shed in the name of the findings here." Hypathia offered in exposition. "The Libraries and Museum above-ground were burnt and this place has remained this way for the past sixteen centuries."

"Why reopen for business now?" I asked her.

"Unlike my brethren, I still believe your race has potential. Even after the Fires, those who were enlightened down here sired many others and somewhere down their genetic line, those children remembered what their ancestors saw here."

"You're talking about genetic memory in humans?" Jacob asked in confusion.

Hypathia nodded. "All the great ones remembered."

"You still haven't explained why we're here." I pointed out as I tried to speed the exposition along, the water now up to my knees creating a sense of urgency like nothing I'd felt before. "Why's this our journey but not the others'?"

"There is still knowledge here that was never received by anyone. All will be lost before the next sunrise, that's why I needed you. The others came here because you needed their help, but their memory of this event will soon fade. They will remember all that they saw--" Hypathia trailed off staring at us.

"But they won't remember us," I concluded.

Hypathia continued, "They'll forget your faces within a few days; the conversations your shared within a week and before long the only thing they may remember are your names and the fact that you didn't make it out with them."

The water started rising faster, now reaching my mid thigh. "I understand why you need us here now, but why us?"

"You two possess the knowledge and the genetic construction to absorb all the information within this database."

Jacob raised his hand. "Hold your horses... last two times my father had a repository downloaded onto his brain, he almost died, so I'm sorry if I'm not too happy about you volunteering us for the job."

"The information was downloaded onto the active parts of your father's brain and it soon overloaded his neurons and pathways which caused his condition to deteriorate. Unlike your father, this information will be transferred to the dormant parts of your brains."

Unsure of what to make of this development, I voiced my concerns. "So we'll have access to all the knowledge of the Ancients? Without going crazy?"

Hypathia shook her head. "Your successors will have access to this information as your race evolves and your brain capacity increases."

"And if we don't agree to this--" Jacob paused trying to find the right word, "procedure, then what?"

For the first time since she appeared, Hypathia seemed surprised. "I have not prepared for such event."

Anger quickly filled me and I knew Jacob was feeling a bit annoyed himself because he said, "So you somehow altered time to send us back to before our birth so our parents could help us find this place and you thought we would blindly agree to having the knowledge of your entire race downloaded onto our brains?"

The woman simply replied, "Yes. If you do not, this information will be lost to your race forever."

Jacob's eyes met mine as the water hit my hips and we knew we'd have to make a quick decision or we would drown soon. Wordlessly we discussed the pros and cons. If we'd understood her correctly, all the major scientists, writers and artists of the past sixteen centuries came to discover what their predecessors saw here. That also meant that much of the evils of the world spawned from this room - gunpowder, the atomic bomb, napalm, biologic weapons, revolutions and wars.

But there was also the potential of good – there was no guarantee this information could lead to a cure for cancer or AIDS or the prevention of mankind’s extinction, but we knew the possibilities. We wouldn’t have been able to live with ourselves if we’d turned this down.

I knew Jacob had reached the same conclusion I did as he nodded. We turned to Hypathia who seemed unaffected by the rising waters and she reached to us but instead of touching our heads like she'd done with the rest of the team, she pulled our hands towards the pedestal and pressed my hand and Jacob's to the center sphere.

As the ground shook one last time, it moved the water we stood in and the ceiling above us gave completely under the pressure. A bright blue light flashed before our eyes as darkness took over.

CHAPTER 10

*Jacob's POV*

Consciousness arrived but brought a massive headache with it. I tentatively opened my eyes before giving up and shutting them again. Deciding that just one eye might be easier, I tried again and this time I recognized the SGC infirmary.

Oh god, not again. Slowly, I realized that my wrists weren't bound this time and someone's hand was lightly gripping mine. I turned to see my mother dressed in full uniform as she dozed off next to my bed. Three stars sat on her shoulder announcing her position as Lieutenant General and I breathed a sigh of relief, waking her up.

"Jacob? Oh thank god!" She was on her feet and holding me before I could even try to sit up in bed. "I was so worried!"

"I missed you too... Mom." I never thought I'd be so happy to call my own mother 'mom' again. "Alex?" I asked as fear burrowed itself in my stomach.

"She's right here," my mom said as she moved to the side and opened the curtain that separated the two beds in the infirmary. Alex seemed to be unconscious still and her own parents were by her side. Vala had tears in her eyes and I realized I'd never seen her cry before. Uncle Danny - my Uncle Danny, realized I was awake and hurried to my side as well.

"Hey, you're up... that's great. How do you feel?" He asked concerned.

"Head hurts," I admitted.

"Dr. Lam said you had a concussion." He explained.

"Does Alex have one too?" I asked, not remembering any rocks falling on her head although anything was possible.

Daniel shook his head, concern written all over his features. "No. They're not sure why she's out."

"How long have we been out?" I asked.

Mom glanced at the clock, "About twenty hours. What happened? Where were you guys?"

"I can't explain now, Mom. " Realizing something else might be amiss, I followed up with, "What day is it?"

"July 15th." My mom stated.

"2024?" I asked and she nodded with a frown, unsure of why I'd be asking.

She must've decided not to dwell on it because she followed up with, "You two were missing for eight days. We even had Thor try to locate you but he couldn't, we were so scared."

Her blue eyes had tears in them and I felt like a shithead for putting her and Dad through this... speaking of which, "Where's Dad?"

"At the Mess, the kids were hungry and you know how he gets when he can't do anything to help, so he took them up there for a bite." She wiped discreetly at her face, trying to re-assume her role as SGC commander because she felt much safer like that and my respect for her grew even more. I'd seen what she and my father had to go through to get to where they were and these people put everything they ever loved in jeopardy for me, for this family. I would never be able to repay them.

"Daniel, she's waking up!" Vala shouted from across the infirmary and Daniel left my side in a hurry. I looked over and saw Alex thrashing on the bed. She sat straight up in a hurry and I could see she regretted it right away as her hand shot up to her head.

"Ow." She complained. "What the fuck happened?" She then realized where she was and saw my mother and instantly looked apologetic for her language. "I'm sorry, Ma'am."

My mother smiled because she knew she was probably the only person that the rebellious girl addressed formally in the entire SGC, everyone else she called by their first names or 'you' if she didn't know them. She still called her Aunt Sam off-base but it still meant a lot to Mom that Alex would even apologize. "No problem, Alex. How are you feeling?"

"Like a truck ran me over... anyone happen to get its license plate?" She joked as Vala moved to hug her so hard I could hear Alex grasping for breath.

"Vala... I think you're suffocating her," Daniel said with a smile.

Vala broke up the hug but kept her hands firmly in Alex's arms. "You are so grounded, young lady!"

Alex rolled her eyes but nodded.

Dad entered the infirmary next followed by Olin and Jaen, the two dark-haired eight-year olds breaking into an excited smile as they saw Alex and I awake. Dad shared a glance with Mom, the two wordlessly communicating like I'd seen so many times before but never truly appreciated until now, and then he was at my side, ruffling my hair and pulling me into a quick hug.

Jaen quickly climbed onto the bed and sat down on my legs, holding a brown teddy bear. "I thought you were too old for teddy bears," I teased her, remembering how she'd asked me to put all her toys in the attic last month stating she was too old for them and she was finally a big girl.

"It's not for me, you doofus. It's for you." She said as she handed me the teddy bear with big sad eyes and a misplaced smile. "Dad let me get it for you because you were leaving for the 'demy, but he said I could give it to you when you woke up instead."

"Oh thank you, then. I'll take it with me to the Academy and I will name it Jaen and I'll talk to it whenever I miss you." I told her and she seemed satisfied.

Olin was sitting on Mom's lap, his big brown eyes showing as usual that he knew more about what was going around him than he ever let on.

Klaxons sounded, startling all present in the infirmary. Mom looked at the door and then back at me and I grinned as I saw the mother and the general battle it out inside her. "It's okay, mom. I'm awake and well, go see what's going on."

She smiled back at me and handed Olin to Dad then left in a hurry to find out what the fuss was all about.

Dr. Lam came to us soon, which meant that there were no medical emergencies related to the earlier alarm and we all visibly relaxed. She examined me first because of the concussion then Alex and seemed satisfied with our progress.

I remembered what Hypathia said about how everyone would eventually forget about Alex and mine's little 'trip' and I wondered how much of it was true. At this point, except for the concussion, I was starting to even doubt everything had actually happened.

Then again, it wasn't any crazier than everything else we'd seen before.

* * * *

*Alex's POV*

Once Dr. Lam gave us the ok to get up and walk around, Jacob requested a debriefing with everyone present. Even the wonder twins were sitting there and behaving their eight-year old butts; well, they weren't really twins but they were so close in age that Uncle Jack and Aunt Sam had decided to celebrate their birthdays together every year.

Cam, Teal'c and Dr. Lam were also present which meant the Briefing Room table was filled to its capacity. Jacob, always ready for anything that came his way or so it seemed, stood up to begin. "Thank you all for being here today... I know everyone here is wondering what happened regarding our-- disappearance, so I figured it was better to just tell everyone at once." Everyone seemed interested and concerned, so he continued, "Do you remember when SG-1 went to Alexandria all those years ago?"

Dad nodded, followed by all the adult heads on the table. "Yes, of course, we've been trying to find a way back in there ever since."

"It's not there anymore, Dad." I said.

"What do you mean? Is that where you were?" He asked worried. "Because I told you, it's dangerous in there! We were almost trapped!"

I decided to ignore the fact that he just admitted he'd been trying to think up ways to get back there even though he knew it was dangerous.

"What Alex meant," Jacob explained, "is that the Repository was destroyed soon after SG-1 was--" he paused as he searched for the right word, "transferred out of there and back to the surface."

"How do you know that?" His mother asked him.

"We were there, but it's not what you think." Everyone seemed downright confused and looked like they were about to start asking questions, but Jacob raised his hand to halt them. "Alex and I went out for a ride, on your old bike," he admitted to his mother and she gave him a look that said that even though she was simply relieved we were fine, he would still have to deal with her later. Giving her an apologetic look, Jacob continued, "I'd fixed the bike and I added some modifications that apparently caused the two of us to be sent back in time, or at least I think it was the bike, even though later we learned there might've been other reasons why we went back in time."

"We went back to 2006," I started to talk, giving Jacob time to rest. "We were with you when you discovered the Library and we stayed behind when you guys left."

"I think we would remember if you guys had accompanied us," my mother skeptically added.

"Apparently, you guys were made to forget we were ever there... she said--"

It was my Dad's turn to interrupt, "Wait, she?"

"Hypathia," I explained. "She said that you guys would eventually forget us, everything except maybe our names and the fact that we stayed behind."

The group looked like they were trying to remember and even Teal'c looked displeased that his memory might've been somehow altered.

Cam raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't you guys be in our mission report if you'd been present?"

Dad pursed his lips and shook his head, "It was an unofficial mission, remember? We weren't supposed to write reports."

"You said there might've been other reasons why...?" Uncle Jack asked in confusion.

"We thought that our going back in time was happenstance. We had the chance of accompanying you guys on the mission so we took it and once we were there, we found Hypathia and she explained that Alex and I were there because the database was about to be destroyed and they wanted to download that information into our brains."

Uncle Jack looked even more concerned, "Please tell me you guys didn't agree with it!" Then he saw our faces and he banged his fist against the table. "Jacob! That was irresponsible, you know what it did to me!"

"No, wait! Dad, let me finish!"

Aunt Sam slipped out of her General role for a second as she reached out a hand to comfort and quiet her husband. Then she was back to SGC commander, even though her eyes showed motherly concern for Jacob and me. She motioned to Jacob so he could continue the story.

"She explained that we wouldn't get sick like you did. The information won't overload our brains; it won't even be part of our conscious minds. It will, however, pass on to any offspring and so forth, little pieces of information that will slowly begin to surface. She promised that it would all happen very slowly, presenting no health risks to us or to any future-- offspring." He said uncomfortably.

I shifted, suddenly rethinking this whole offspring deal. I mean, Hypathia wasn't very specific about that...could I procreate with anyone or would I have to find someone with the right protein markers? Jupiter and Zeus, what if she meant that Jacob and I would have to-- no, I couldn't even go there. Plus, I had never made plans to have kids - I was only 15. Did this mean I'd have to have as many kids as humanly possible so as to ensure that they would also have kids and somewhere down the line one of them would access this information? Or could I just have one or two kids and let nature follow its course? I was definitely getting a headache.

"You mean unlocking genetic memory in humans? That's remarkable!" Jacob's mother's concern was quickly giving way to fascination as our explanation continued.

"Hypathia said that it's been happening already for over sixteen centuries." Jacob offered.

"So, let me get this straight," Mom spoke up, "you two went back in time, found us, went with us to the Ancient base, entered it with us the only time we were able to get in, had the entire knowledge of the Ancient stored in your brains then returned home and we don't remember any of it?"

Jacob and I nodded. "Pretty much," I replied.

"Wonderful," she said. "You're still grounded though."

I shrugged. She knew as well as I did that I could always escape.

Uncle Jack looked at Aunt Sam waiting for her view of our story. She didn’t disappoint him, “Well, we know the Ancients have come a long way since their failed attempts at time manipulation that were abandoned on P4X-639. Whether this Hypathia figure was ascended or not, I believe she could definitely be able to take the kids back to a place and time that would enable them to find the repository. Plus it’s very possible that they took extra measures to prevent us from remembering it; any race that masters time travel would probably also try to find ways to prevent negative consequences to their experiments. It makes sense,” she concluded, announcing that the debriefing was concluded.

"I don't know about you guys, but time travel always gives me a headache and I think a steak at O'Malley's might just be the cure... who's up for it?" Uncle Jack asked around as he helped Jaen get up from her chair.

"I could definitely go for it," Uncle Cam said.

Mom and Dad quickly nodded as well and Teal'c bowed his head in silent agreement while Olin reached up to grab his hand, the two had instantly bonded over their reserved demeanors years ago.

Dr. Lam said she couldn't make it and Uncle Jack turned to his wife with a gleam in his eyes. "How about you, Ma'am? Care to join us?"

Aunt Sam stood up with an apologetic look on her face. "I need to finish up some work if I am to spend the weekend at home when Cassie gets in, so you guys go on ahead."

Uncle Jack didn’t kiss her goodbye; these two were definitely not big on Public Displays of Affection. Maybe they should’ve taught a class at the SGC, my parents definitely should’ve learned from the best. But my godfather did share a look with his wife that showed just how much he appreciated seeing her in that uniform, handling the Briefing Room like the great commander that she was.

Jaen stole a quick hug from her mother before running for the halls. Jacob and I followed the group out, "There's no place like home, Dorothy," he teased and I laughed.

"There sure isn't, Cowardly Lion."

Epilogue

*Jacob's POV*

Our house was packed and the dinner party was in full force. Cassie had got in Friday night and helped Dad and I prepare everything. The food was delicious as everyone helped Mom and Dad celebrate 19 years of marriage. It seemed like every year something always happened that kept them from being able to celebrate this occasion with all their friends and family, so just being able to get everyone together was a major deal. We, the O'Neill kids, had decided to each give a speech to honor them and once we were all done with the main course, Cassie stood up, raising her champagne glass and the chatter around the table slowly died down.

She cleared her throat before starting. "Since everyone at this table has full security clearance, I can speak freely," she started, getting some laughs and smiles. "27 years ago, SG-1 rescued me and gave me a new life. Janet Frasier took me in and I had the honor to call her mother for six years before she was taken from me. I considered myself lucky enough to have had two mothers who loved me and cared for me and I never believed I could be as lucky a third time... but Sam took me in again and continued to love me and raise me even though I believed I was old enough to take care of myself. You and Jack saved me time and time again and I'm proud to be part of this family and I know Mom would be proud too if she were here today. Congratulations!"

When she was finished, there was not a dry eye in sight. Cassie hugged Mom and then Dad as we clapped.

I was up next so when everyone was seated again, I stood up. "Mom and Dad, you guys are an inspiration to me. Your discipline and love for your careers are the driving forces behind my joining the Academy, so I can try to be the best I can be for this country and Earth. I know just how much you two risked so much to be here today and it only makes me respect you even more. So I thank you and I congratulate you on making this far."

I hurriedly sat down after hugging the two of them and Alex's hand covered mine in support before she leaned in and whispered, "Good job."

The twins were up next and they stood up together on their chairs. Jaen, always the extroverted one, started: "Jakey and Cass said we had to tell you Happy Anniversary."

"Happy Anniversary,” Olin added.

"Oh and we made you a drawing,” Jaen said, producing a piece of paper from under her napkin and handing it to Dad. He looked at it with the excitement that only parents can feign over pink crayon trees and stick figure people with big hair.

“What is this, sweetie?” He asked pointing to two crayon blurs on the paper, I couldn’t see very well from my seat. I could see a ring-shaped drawing on the paper, which meant we’d probably have to have the ‘Stargate is a secret and should not be included in drawings’ conversation with the kids again.

“Dogs!” Olin said excitedly, which was very unusual for him so we knew this was something important. “Cassie also said that we can go to the pound tomorrow and pick up two puppies, ‘cause it’s a rule."

“Oh, did she?” Mom asked Cassie with a glare and the 38-year-old had the decency to look as innocent as possible.

“Hey, blame it on Jack! I’m only teaching them what I was told.”

Mom gave Dad a look that suggested he would probably pay for whatever they were referring to and chuckles were heard around the table.

Everyone thought it was time for dessert but then Uncle Daniel stood up, "I'm not very good at these things and I'm very glad you guys had a secret wedding ceremony and spared me from having to do this 19 years ago." He turned to the rest of us, "I was in Abydos when these two met, so I don't recall their first encounter, but it became quite a legend around the SGC. I don't think I realized how perfect for each other you guys were until a year later when I saw you two engaged in an alternate reality... maybe it was meant to be from the beginning, but after seeing that alternate universe, I started to see you two with different eyes and I spent the next seven years watching you two deny what was there and I for one am incredibly grateful that those times are over. So I propose a toast to the best two people I've ever had the chance to work with."

Everyone raised their glass and toasted. Mom and Dad looked like they couldn't take much more when Teal'c stood up. This should be interesting, everyone thought, "I agree with everything that was said by DanielJackson. Your union has been fruitful and a cause for great happiness." Then he respectfully bowed to the couple.

Vala stood up next, “Well, I’m not very good at these things either but I find it remarkable that your marriage has withstood such a long time. Too bad Daniel won’t agree to marry me as well,” she finished and people around the table looked at Daniel for confirmation that this was indeed a joke and that they could laugh.

Uncle Cam was next and the toasts continued until everyone in the room had the chance to congratulate them. Finally the cake was brought out to Dad's delight and everyone returned to the story-telling that always took place when the group spent time together off-base.

* * * *

*Alex's POV*

The party had died down and the kids had gone to bed, so Jacob and I had climbed onto the roof. I was lying down perpendicular to him with my head on his stomach as we stared up to the stars. I kept asking him the names of the constellations and I think he made a few of them up to see if I would pick up on it.

The 'backyard' of his house was a three acre wooded area with a natural pond that was smaller than the one up at the cabin but still provided enough ambience to be relaxing.

"I think I see your parents making out," he said after a while and I moved my hand to cover my eyes. I groaned and he laughed, "just kidding but they seem to be hugging as they talk to my parents."

Hugging I could deal with so I uncovered my eyes.

"You really shouldn't be so embarrassed about your parents," he added with a grin.

"Oh come on! You've seen them when they start arguing. It's like the whole world disappears and then there's the face-sucking and the noises," I shuddered. "Why can't they be well-behaved like your parents?"

"I don't know, maybe because they never had to hide their relationship." Jacob offered and I felt slightly guilty.

My parents probably did have it much easier than his parents ever did plus I always knew that between the fighting and the inability to keep their hands off each other, my parents did love each other and they loved me. Planned or unplanned, they've always been honest and caring towards me... I wasn't about to let them know I knew that though, I thought with a smile.

“For crying out loud, I think your Mom just asked my parents how their sex life is,” Jacob groaned. From his position on the slanted roof, he seemed to be testing his developing ability to read lips which his Dad kept insisting would make a big difference in combat. “I see your Dad apologizing,” he added with a chuckle. “Maybe there is a reason to be embarrassed about them.”

I laughed. “I’ve been telling you that for years, Flyboy. Hey at least she didn’t ask about it at the dinner table. Trust me, she’s fully capable of it.”

He smiled at that and his hand moved to entangle itself in my hair and I continued to stare up at the stars. With any luck, my parents would be convinced to let me be home schooled and I would be able to go on more missions to keep my mind busy. "What am I going to do when you leave?" I asked as I counted the days in my head. Twelve days and then we'd be apart for months until he came home for Thanksgiving.

"Maybe without me around you'll actually get a life." He joked.

"Come on, I have a life. One that includes my best friend and wormholes and top-secret projects. I can't just go to the mall and find me a new friend - what am I going to tell them? What would I talk about? I don't know anything about the latest fashion or the movies that are out or what is on TV."

"It's only for 4 years, and I'll probably graduate in 3. Next summer I'll have to do on-campus training but after that my summers will be spent at SGC. Plus it's only 30 minutes away..." He tried to appease me.

"Might as well be a light-year. It's not like you would disrespect curfew and sneak out to hang out with me if I went to visit you."

"How do you know? Maybe I would," he argued and I laughed.

"Yeah right. What am I going to do if I get stranded somewhere off-world? Who's going to figure out how to get me back?" I was being childish and I knew it, but I didn't want to give up my best friend. I figured maybe if I spent enough time asking these questions, he would finally realize it was a bad idea to join the military.

"You know the SGC has plenty of capable people... they would figure it out... and if they didn't, I promise I'll come back long enough to figure out how to find you."

I sighed and continued to stare at the stars. "At least we'll have the bracelets," I said glancing at the device on my wrist. "Do you think they'd work across the galaxy?" I asked concerned.

"Not sure... but if they don't, you can always dial the gate home... I'm sure the SGC wouldn't object to keeping a wormhole open for a few minutes because you need to tell me about a new artifact you found," he joked and I pinched his arm.

We had just returned from the adventure of our lives, and he was leaving before we had even come to full terms with it. I felt anger but I knew it wasn't really his fault. He sat up and pulled me onto his lap, keeping his arms tight around me.

"I'm not abandoning you, Alex... I'll be back before you know it." He promised.

I knew it was right for him to leave. A brief glance of him in full uniform, blonde hair adorned by those silly little hats and shoulders decorated by a silver eagle or a star, and I realized how proud that would make him, and how proud I would feel by default. I didn't respect the military institution like he did, but I respected Uncle Jack, Aunt Sam and Cam after so many years in service and I had to respect Jacob's decision too, even if it would take him away from me for a while. "I'm gonna miss you," I told him trying to keep the sniffles away.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Alien Girl."

Suddenly a rock landed near us, followed by another and we looked down to see Uncle Jack throwing them. "We're thinking of going up to the cabin next weekend, what do you guys think?" He asked and Jacob and I looked at each other.

Cassie, my parents, his, the kids and maybe even Uncle Cam; it’d be a full house – or cabin, in this case. At the same time, we’d get to spend time together and I could imagine a lot of fun things to do that the adults wouldn’t approve of. "It sounds great!" We replied together, my grin seemingly reflected in his face.

Oh, yeah… Summer wasn't over just yet.

** The End **

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