Time

by Annie

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asa/annie/time.php
Summary: George and Catherine wait for SG-1 to take a certain trip

1970

Catherine sat reading one of her father's journals about the great ring and its cover stones. Although she knew every word by heart, from the discovery at Giza back in 1928 to the day the Air Force stopped the research following Ernest's death in 1945, she was still no wiser as to what the artefact did. Her interest had re-surfaced after the visit from the son of one of her father's colleagues last August. Sighing, Catherine made up her mind and picked up the phone, knowing she had to least try to find out the truth - she owed Ernest, her father and herself that much at least.

~~~~

Almost eight years later, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Thornton walked out of the movie theatre in the Washington suburbs with his daughter Susan, who was talking about the film they had just seen, Star Wars. There was something about it that was tugging at his memory but he couldn't quite remember what it was.

"I liked Han Solo, he's much better than Luke Skywalker," Susan said as they walked to the car to go home.

That was when Robert remembered what had been bugging him about the film - Luke Skywalker was the name of one of the Soviet spies who had broken into Cheyenne Mountain when he was stationed there as a Major back in '69. They had escaped after disabling a Lieutenant and four airmen. Due to his new job Robert knew that about a week after the escape three men and a woman whose descriptions matched the spies, had - according to the reports of the two airmen present - disappeared through a giant stone ring with water in the center. Although the incident had been covered up, with the airmen sent to posts as far away as their CO could get them, the rumor had made it back to the Mountain.

"Let's get you home sweetie, I need to make a phone call," Robert said as they got into the car.

When they got home Robert left Susan to watch the television as he went through to his den to call his superior in the Pentagon. He explained his suspicion that someone involved with the Star Wars film could be one of the missing Soviet spies. When questioned how he thought they had managed to disappear through the ring Robert had said he didn't know but wondered if it could be worthwhile looking into both the incident and the ring itself again.

He later heard that because of his phone call his superior, General West, had decided more research into the ring was required and had contacted the daughter of its discoverer to research it.

~~~~

Sitting in the car with Doctor Jackson's file open on her knees, Catherine looked up as the door was opened and the young man got in. Gazing into his blue eyes, Catherine was shocked to realise why he had seemed so familiar after she had read his file. He was one of the people who had re-sparked her interest in the artifact 26 years previously, back in 1969.

~~~~

Three weeks later General West was sitting at his desk in Cheyenne Mountain opposite Catherine and another man wondering if Doctor Jackson would be the one to unravel the mysteries.

"He's only been here two weeks General, I think that Daniel deserves more time to translate than this. It would probably help him if he knew about the Stargate."

General West turned to the man sitting next to Catherine and asked, "What do you think Colonel?"

"I don't know about the translation sir. Maybe. Jackson's a geek but he seems to know what he's doing. And as I said when I arrived Doctor Langford, the gate is on a Need to Know basis," Jack O'Neill replied.

Before Catherine could argue the point any further the phone rang. General West picked it up, said, "West," and after a few moments put it back down.

"It seems Jackson's figured out the symbols."

As Catherine followed the two USAF officers from the room she hoped that maybe now they would let Daniel finally see the Stargate.

~~~~

As Jack drove along the street he thought back over the fourteen weeks since his return from Abydos.

Kawalsky, Ferretti and he had spent eleven of those weeks debriefing with General West on the mission, telling him Daniel had died and the bomb had exploded destroying the gate. In a weird sort of way it had helped since it meant that he hadn't had much opportunity to think about either Charlie or Sara. Jack had returned to an empty house, Sara having left the divorce papers sitting on the table in the kitchen. Not that he was going to miss her that much; going their separate ways had been a long time coming after Charlie's death. Realising he felt more for the young man whom he had left on another planet than his soon-to-be ex-wife Jack had packed up his belongings, signed the papers and left. He had spent the last three weeks finding and moving into somewhere new to live. When he had unpacked he found the item that caused this trip.

Pulling up outside a large house Jack stopped the engine and climbed out. Extracting the item from his pocket he once again considered keeping it as a memento of Daniel but instead walked up to the front door.

Even though more than three months had passed, Catherine was still angry at the way the civilian scientists had been escorted from the base before having a chance to see their work come to fruition. She had tried to find out what had happened to the team that went through the Stargate and was currently in the middle of writing another letter to General West asking for information. She wanted to know if Daniel had succeeded in getting them back, if they found friend or foe? The sound of the doorbell interrupted her writing and sighing, Catherine put down her pen. Getting up, she walked to the front door and opening it saw Jack standing on her porch holding the Eye of Ra locket she had given Daniel for luck before he had left.

The Pentagon, January 1997

When the meeting broke for lunch Captain Samantha Carter turned to the woman next to her and asked, "Would you care to join me for lunch Doctor Langford?"

Catherine smiled and replied, "Thank you, I'd like that Doctor. Carter. And please call me Catherine."

"Only if you call me Sam," she responded as they walked into the corridor.

Getting their lunch from the canteen, Sam suggested that they went to her lab to eat so they would have the privacy they needed to talk. Catherine agreed it would be a good idea and followed her away from the crowded room.

Once settled in Sam's lab Catherine talked about her time at Cheyenne Mountain as they ate. She told Sam about how the team had struggled to decipher the cover stones and how Daniel, within a few minutes of getting on base, had managed not only to correct their mistakes but also to complete the translation.

"He was even the first to call it the Stargate: up till that point we'd been calling it 'the Gateway to the Gods'."

"That must have been an eye opener."

"He was a breath of fresh air. When he found out Budge was used in the translation he shook his head in a.... I don't know. It was as if he was disappointed in us for using it."

"What's Budge?"

"It's one of the most widely used reference books in Egyptology, Daniel disliked it. Things were almost instinctual for him, he'd look at something and you could see him running through all the possibilities in his head."

"Sounds like Nate."

On seeing Catherine's questioning look Sam explained, "Doctor Nathaniel Rogers, better known as Nate. He works on the team I'm leading, trying to find new applications for the Stargate. He has this knack of seeing what's needed to sort a problem out. We bounce off each other all the time, the rest of the team call us the terrible twins. You know, I wish I'd had the chance to meet Doctor Jackson. He sounds fascinating."

Taking a sip of her coffee, Catherine had a quick thought about Daniel and what had happened to him. What had been a pleasant shock seeing Jack on her doorstep holding her locket had turned to amazement after hearing his story. She'd laughed when hearing about Daniel's trip across the desert being towed by a mastadge, marveled at the imagery Jack conjured up of Ra's pyramid, smiled at the thought of Daniel getting married without knowing it and during the tale listened to Jack's unsaid more-than-friendship feelings for Daniel. When Jack explained the military was under the impression Daniel had died, the civilization on the other side of the gate destroyed, Catherine had been more than happy to agree to keep quiet. After the way she and the other scientists had been excluded she decided a little payback would be a good thing. What was difficult though was remembering to speak of Daniel in the past tense.

"His papers were what drew me to him," she started to explain to Sam, "the passion in them. He spent just two weeks working on the cover stones before he figured them out. Just two weeks! The team had worked on them and the Stargate for two years, and he figured the stones out in two weeks. He didn't even know the Stargate existed until afterwards. Jack had said it was a need to know basis before I had the chance to tell him about it."

This time it was Sam's turn to give the questioning look, so Catherine clarified, "Colonel Jack O'Neill. General West bought him in just in case Daniel succeeded."

"I've read Colonel O'Neill's report. It sounds.... Going to another planet, it sounds almost addictive."

"Once Daniel had deciphered the cover stones, Jack and General West let him see the Stargate. Even then he was way ahead of us."

"How so?"

"Well, because he hadn't seen the Stargate he didn't know about the fact that there were thirty-nine symbols. We knew we needed seven to make the Stargate work but we only had the six that were enclosed in what we all thought was a cartouche. Daniel explained that the cartouche itself was the seventh symbol, and when he was told it wasn't on the object he wanted to know what object. Sam, you should have seen his face when he saw it - the wonder and excitement; it was just like seeing a child in a candy store. He asked me what it was and I told him it was his Stargate. We went to the control room and Daniel took one look and saw the seventh symbol straight away. As I said, things were instinctual for him."

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Sam called out, "Come in."

A young man with dark blonde hair and glasses entered the room. Seeing Catherine there as well he said, "Sorry Sam, didn't know you're busy."

"Come on in. Catherine, this is Nate. Nate, I'd like you to meet Doctor Catherine Langford."

Nate walked over and sat down next to Sam. Facing Catherine across the desk he said, "Doctor Langford. The same Doctor Langford who worked on the gate project in Colorado?" At Catherine's nod he asked, "How long are you here for?"

Catherine replied, "Just today and tomorrow, although I'm not really sure what the Military needs me for."

Nate laughed. "Are you kidding? The whole team knows who you are, Doctor Langford, we could always use your expertise regarding this. I mean take what we're working on now. No matter what combination of symbols we try the gate doesn't seem to go anywhere else. Sam feels it should but we've had no luck so far."

As the three of them sat talking, a strange feeling of recognition started to build inside Catherine. Leaning back, she watched Sam and Nate sitting next to each other talking about the physics of the Stargate and suddenly it was as if she were back in her living room in New York. Back in 1969 being visited by a young couple who were asking about the Stargate.

Catherine was glad that she was already sitting down otherwise she may have collapsed. As soon as she had looked into his blue eyes in LA back in '95, she had known that Daniel was the man who visited her that summer. And now she knew who the woman with him was. Captain Samantha Carter.

Thoughts were rushing through Catherine's head. How had Daniel and Sam managed to visit her in 1969 when by all accounts they should have both been toddlers?

That was when Catherine realised there was only one answer that could fit - Daniel and Sam had traveled back to 1969 from some point in the future.

But what had given them the ability to time travel?

And what significance would the answers have on the future of the Stargate?

~~~~

A few hours later, as the meeting drew to a close Sam took another quick glance in Catherine's direction. She had noticed her go quiet back in the lab and was starting to worry.

She waited till everyone started to exit the room before she turned and quietly asked, "Catherine, are you all right?"

Catherine looked at Sam and replied, "Yes thank you Sam. I was wondering if you want to get a coffee though? I have a few questions I want to ask you."

Sam smiled and said, "Of course I do. Is it a case of back to the lab?"

Catherine nodded and five minutes later they were once again sitting in the lab. Sam poured two cups of coffee from the machine in the corner and handed one to Catherine. After taking a sip, Catherine asked, "Do you think the Stargate could be used for things other than traveling to another planet?"

"Like what?"

"Like time travel for instance," Catherine replied.

Sam paused in the middle of putting her cup down. After a few moments she let out the breath she had been holding and placed the cup carefully on the desk. Chewing on her lip, she answered, "I'm not sure, it's not something I've even thought of before."

Catherine saw Sam start to think it through and so prompted, "What would be needed to travel through time using the Stargate? Could one of the extra chevrons be used and if so, how could it be accessed? Could it be something else? Could something affect the wormhole and if so, what?"

Sam laughed, "Not that you've given it much thought or anything."

"Actually, I only started to think about it this afternoon."

"What made you think of it? I mean it's not something obvious, we've been working on the gate for the last three years and time travel never came up as a possibility."

"It wasn't anything important really, I was watching Nate and yourself talk and you reminded me of some people I met back in the late 60s. That led me to think of time travel."

Without even realising it Sam had picked up a pen and was doodling on a pad. "Well, let's start with the chevrons. In our simulations we couldn't get either of the spare ones to engage, Nate thinks it's something to do with the power output. After Colonel O'Neill and the others came back from Abydos the Joint Chiefs let us have access to the gate for a week before they started to close the project down. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go but the team tried providing more power to the gate and nothing happened."

"So let's hope the other chevrons aren't the key then."

"Let's." Realising she was doodling, Sam looked down and saw a picture of two planets near a sun joined by a wormhole. She studied it for a few moments, her face serious.

"What is it?" Catherine asked.

"You asked what affects wormholes. Well if one formed close enough to a large body like a sun, say within seventy five thousand miles, there could be some gravitational space time warping."

"Enough of an effect for time travel?"

"I'm not sure. How about if we add in another factor to the equation, say if the sun was particularly active. If solar flares were involved they would have a strong magnetic field, maybe strong enough to increase gravity and make the wormhole slingshot back on itself back to the point of origin. Which could lead to time travel."

Catherine shook her head and said, "I don't know Sam and it's not really my field. Ask me about Egypt and I can help, ask about physics and I'll take a seat."

Sam laughed and replied, "Sorry about that. Okay, we have a wormhole formed within seventy five thousand miles of a sun and we add in solar flares to the equation. Theoretically we would be capable of time travel."

Catherine and Sam continued talking well into the night.

~~~~

The next afternoon found Catherine being shown into an office in a different part of the Pentagon.

"Doctor Langford, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please, have a seat. Would you like a drink?"

Catherine sat down, said, "A coffee would be nice," and the airman who had shown her into the office disappeared to get the drinks as she continued, "Thank you for seeing me at such short notice, General Hammond."

The airman reappeared with two cups, placed them in front of the occupants of the office and quickly left. George let Catherine take a sip of her drink before he said, "Captain Carter mentioned she spoke to you and that you'd come up with the interesting idea of using the gate for time travel."

"Actually, that's the reason I felt I needed to speak to you," Catherine replied, "Back in 1969 my interest in the Stargate was renewed after I had a visit from a couple. The young man said he was the son of one of my father's colleagues and asked what had happened to the 'Gateway to the Gods'. I said that as far as I knew it was being held in a lock up in Washington and they left. For some reason I could always remember what they looked like even though I never gave the visit much more thought."

George frowned and asked, "What does that have to do with time travel?"

Catherine looked at the man opposite her and said, "When I wanted Doctor Jackson to work on the project, I went to visit him in LA. I felt he was familiar to me for some reason when I looked through his file but it wasn't until I actually met him that I realised why. He was the young man who had come to visit me back in 1969."

"Excuse me?" George said in surprise.

"As soon as I met Daniel in LA I knew that he was the young man who had come to visit me twenty-five years earlier," Catherine repeated, "and when I met Captain Carter yesterday I realised that she was the woman with him."

George was about to say something along the lines of 'damn fool notions' when he remembered four people who had mysteriously appeared in the middle of Cheyenne Mountain - one of them with a note written by himself. He had watched Jacob's daughter grow up, join the Air Force and become a fine officer. She had always reminded him of someone and he'd always assumed it was her mother. Now it appeared she had been reminding him of herself.

He'd been there when she was promoted and had been the first to congratulate her on becoming a captain.

Wondering how he had never managed to tie the names and faces together, George asked, "So you're saying that Captain Carter and Doctor Jackson traveled back in time and visited you in 1969? Even though Doctor Jackson died on Abydos over a year ago?" Picking up a phone he said, "I want to see the files of Colonel O'Neill, Captain Carter, and Doctor Jackson."

Taking a deep breath to prepare for betraying a confidence, Catherine stated, "Daniel is still alive."

"And how exactly would you know that Doctor Langford?"

"Because that's what Jack told me when he returned from his trip."

There was a knock on the door and George called out, "Come." An airman entered, placed three files on the desk, then left.

Picking up one of the files, George opened it and stated, "According to Colonel O'Neill's report during his debrief, he completed his mission which resulted in the destruction of the gate on Abydos after the death of Doctor Jackson. Are you telling me this is a lie?"

"When Jack came to see me he said that Daniel was living on Abydos with his wife. He told me what he had said in his report and explained the reasons behind it."

"Which were?" George wanted to know.

"That the Air Force would send another warhead through even though there was no longer a threat to Earth. That the inhabitants of Abydos were peaceful and that they deserved some happiness after thousands of years of slavery."

"He was right, General West would have." Picking up his coffee with his spare hand George continued, "I'm about to tell you something now that I've never told anyone, something I probably shouldn't even be telling you even now. Funnily enough back in August '69 when I was a Lieutenant I was stationed at Cheyenne Mountain. We had a security breach, a team of four Russian spies managed to make it into the silo where we were performing some tests. They were held under guard, questioned and were to be transferred to another facility. As I checked their belongings I found a note addressed to me, written by me. It said to help them and gave some dates. I was given the task of transporting them and arranged for a tire to blow out on the way. It gave me a chance to speak to them for myself. I said before I could do what was asked of me in the note I needed to know who had given it to them."

George took a sip of his coffee then continued, "The woman saw my name tag, said her name was Samantha Carter and that I had given her the note. She turned to the smart alec of the group, called him sir, and said that General Hammond had given her the note. Apparently she was told to keep it in her vest pocket until she got to the other side. This is the smart alec."

George handed the open file to Catherine and she saw a picture of Jack in uniform. Picking up another file so he could look at the contents, George shook his head as he looked at a picture of Daniel and now recognized him as also being in the truck.

"Anyway, I wanted more information. Carter told me that it was my idea to help them and O'Neill said it was one I wouldn't have for thirty years. You can imagine my reaction to that bit of news. Anyway, she said that was about how far they had traveled back and when I went to leave Doctor Jackson said they could prove it."

"How was he planning on doing that?" Catherine asked.

"O'Neill asked for the date and I told them it was August 4th, 1969. He asked Doctor Jackson what happened in '69 and he came up with the moon landing."

"Everyone knew that had happened."

"That's what I said. O'Neill replied saying not everyone knew I'd watched the landing from my father's hospital bedside, just two days after his first heart attack. He said they knew me, that they would know me. I undid his cuffs and when I went to undo Carter's I noticed she had a rather nasty cut on her hand. She said she was a Captain and asked to see the note which I gave to her."

George took another sip of his drink and continued, "O'Neill said they didn't want to hurt anyone but needed to knock the guards out. I pulled out one of the ray guns they had been carrying and he used it on the guards. The rest of their gear was on the second truck that came along a few moments later. O'Neill knocked out the airmen of the truck when it stopped, got something out of the boxes then used the ray gun to disintegrate them. He took all the money I had on me, said he would pay it back with interest."

"So how much does he owe you so far?" Catherine asked with a smile.

"Roughly $500. Carter told me I couldn't tell anyone about what I had seen or been told for the rest of my life. O'Neill knocked me out with the ray gun rightly saying it would save me from a court martial. They disappeared but a couple of weeks later I heard a rumor that a group of four had broken into a holding facility in Washington a week after the escape."

"After I had told Daniel and Sam that was where the Stargate was being held."

"Exactly. I don't know what happened exactly but I can only assume it was them using the gate to go back to whenever they came from."

"You said there were four members of the team. Any idea who the fourth was?"

"No, but I'll know him when I see him as he's not exactly someone you can miss. When they arrived at the Mountain they had two patches on the sleeves of their jackets. One said SG1, the other had a symbol."

"What sort of symbol?"

"An up-turned V with a circle above it."

Catherine's eyes widened. "The seventh symbol?"

George nodded and said, "The seventh symbol. So now we have a team of four people, one of whom is officially reported as being dead, one retired, one working here at the Pentagon and one I have yet to meet. They have a weapon of a type I've never seen; two of them want to know where the gate is and shortly afterwards four people break into the place where it's being held. Their jackets have the symbol Jackson figured out to make the gate work on them."

"What's happening to the Stargate? Is it still operational?"

George closed the files and said, "It's currently in the middle of being shut down. In fact I fly to Colorado next week to oversee the end of it."

~~~~

Two days later, George was finishing writing a letter when there was a knock at the door. He called out, "Come," and Sam entered.

"I know your team has been working hard on trying to get the gate to go to other places Captain, but I have something else I want you to look into." Handing Sam a file he continued, "I need the following information as soon as. If possible I'd like it before the end of the week."

When Sam opened the file she saw that General Hammond was asking for information on solar flares. Specifically he was asking about solar flares that happened during August 1969.

Cheyenne Mountain, 10th February 1997

George sat in his office thinking over the events since alien soldiers had attacked the base killing four airmen and kidnapping another. He had sent Samuels to bring Colonel O'Neill (retired) in and listened as the man stood in front of him and blatantly lied about Jackson being dead. Deciding to call his bluff, George had taken Jack to the Stargate where a bomb was being made ready for deployment. After his conversation with Catherine he was sure this would gain a reaction from the younger man.

After O'Neill had told the truth George had had him escorted away to the holding cell where Kawalsky was being held. A short while later George went to the two men and then watched O'Neill send a rather unusual message through the gate. After the tissue box had returned George had pulled the colonel out of retirement and had gone to call the President. He had called a briefing for the next morning as soon as he had received the go-ahead to send a team through the gate. Captain Carter had arrived and left with the team through the gate to retrieve Doctor Jackson and if possible, the kidnapped sergeant.

'Of course, I'd have believed O'Neill if I hadn't known that Jackson was still alive,' George thought as he watched the team leave. Taking a sip of his coffee, he waited for the return of Doctor Jackson.

Whilst George was sitting in his office, Jack was on Abydos feeling like he was returning home. Well, returning to someone he'd missed. A lot. It was amazing, he had known Daniel for less than a month but the man had worked his way through Jack's defenses into his heart. He'd helped with the loss of Charlie and had inspired Jack to care again.

He'd become a friend and not just the geek Jack originally thought he was.

Later, as the group walked along the dunes towards what Daniel wanted to show Captain Carter, Jack took the opportunity to stretch their lead on the main group and speak to Daniel privately.

"How's it been?" he asked.

"I've already told you. After..."

"Daniel," Jack interrupted, "you talked about everyone else but yourself. How are you?"

Daniel took a deep breath but stayed silent. Jack was about to speak again when Daniel said, "It's not been what I expected."

"Say again."

"I was married to someone I didn't know, in a culture... Uh, it's just... Well, about a week after you went I realised I should have left with you."

"But I thought you wanted to stay behind. To be with Sha're. Dammit Daniel, for the past year and a half I've thought that you were happy here."

"I have been. Don't get me wrong Jack I've loved being here, learning the language and culture, discovering the map room. It's just I wish I had returned with you. Sha're and I, well I love her like a sister."

"That was no sisterly kiss earlier Danny boy."

"Jack, she did that because we were in front of everyone. No-one knows we don't live together as man and wife, not even Kasuf and Skaa'ra."

"I honestly thought the two of you were in love."

"We are, just not in the same way. She loves me as a husband and I love her as a sister. It was the only way I could seeing I was already in love with someone else."

"Ya were? Who?"

"Doesn't matter, they didn't feel the same so I decided to stay here."

"So whatcha gonna do now Daniel? You know I've been ordered to bring you back this time?"

"I talked to Sha're when the Kleenex box came through, I'm going back with you."

"So what's changed? Why come back this time?"

"I just need to. Can't explain it more than that really. Besides, you have your orders Jack. Wouldn't want you to disobey them," Daniel replied with a smile.

"Like the ones I had before, the ones you got me to ignore?" Jack said grinning, "You know, that probably explains the lip lock Daniel."

"Uh? Why?"

"Cause Sha're knows you're leaving and she's not going to be able to do it for much longer. What are you going to say to everyone now it's all change in the Jackson household?"

Daniel didn't answer, just turned to the main group and called out, "We're here."

~~~~

When they re-entered the temple after the attack, Jack watched with a heavy heart as the people of Abydos gathered round Daniel to say goodbye and knew that things were going to change but not in the way the young scholar had been hoping for.

Back on Earth, George watched as Jack and his team returned back through the gate. The injured, including Ferretti, were whisked away to the infirmary as he walked towards the Colonel and found out what had happened. Turning to Daniel, George's first thought was what a difference there was between the young man he remembered from 1969 and the man clad in foul smelling robes standing before him. Unable to contain his ire over the lies, he snapped at Daniel when he had introduced himself.

With the information Sam had brought back from the Abydonian Map Room his superiors at the Pentagon had directed George to set up nine teams to explore the new worlds available to them. When, during the debrief, George heard what had happened he knew there was no way he could stop the archaeologist from going through the gate on the rescue mission. That was when he realised the significance of the patches he had seen back in 1969 and decided that Colonel O'Neill would lead Captain Carter and Doctor Jackson in, what he had decided with a smile, was the team called SG-1.

~~~~

Jack sat next to Teal'c watching the general sleep on the other side of the room. Neither said anything, Teal'c was quiet at the best of times and he wasn't in the right frame of mind to talk. The only thing Jack was certain about was that he had forgotten something and there was something important he should be doing.

Which was a joke really. What could he really do now except scream and fight given his current situation? Every now and then the rage would clear and he would be able to think a bit clearer, thanks to the injections the doc was giving him, but he wasn't sure how much longer that was going to continue. Brain damage had already been mentioned if he recalled her last visit correctly.

Then the doc was back and she started babbling on about something or other, it was all too confusing. He could feel the rage again, coiling around in his stomach trying to find a way out, but two words broke through the mist and stopped it. Doctor Jackson. That was the important thing he should have remembered, the thing he should be dealing with. Daniel had been captured by the cave men back on the Bull planet. Dragging what was left of his attention back to Teal'c and Doctor Fraiser he heard her say something about trying it on someone.

"Me."

Telling him the dose could be harmful to his body Janet asked if he was sure he wanted to volunteer. Jack nodded, knowing Daniel was out there in a hostile situation alone. He felt the sting of the needle going into his skin then everything went black.

Later, standing in the gate room impatiently waiting for the dialing process to be finished, Jack listened as Janet explained what they would need to do to rid the touched of the virus.

"Are we going to try to tranq all of the Touched?" Carter asked when she had finished.

"Just the ones getting in the way of us finding Daniel. We'll leave the rest for the Untouched." Jack answered.

Daniel was the important one.

~~~~

Several months later SG-1 was in full swing and showing why they were classed as the premier team. Sam was working in her lab on her latest experiment when an airman stopped by to say the General had summoned her. Walking into the observation room she saw Catherine sitting at the table.

Later, whilst they were getting ready to go to P3X-972, Sam and Catherine caught up.

"So how have things been for you Sam?"

"Brilliant thanks, I can't believe I'm actually here. Going through the gate and seeing other worlds, it's even better than I thought it would be. The Colonel and Daniel are chalk and cheese but manage to get things done without a problem. I'm not sure Teal'c knows what he's gotten himself into but seems to be coping quite well. It's amazing how quickly we've become a team, how easy it is to trust them with my life."

"I thought you'd worked in teams before."

"I have. It's just I've never known a team get established so quickly, especially a new one like SG-1. How have things been for you Catherine? I haven't had a chance to speak to you for a while?"

"Quiet. I haven't done much since we last spoke, spent some time in Egypt but that's about it. Opening the door and seeing Daniel there was..."

"A shock?" Sam prompted when Catherine fell silent.

"I suppose that is one way you could put it," Catherine replied, thinking that she had known Daniel was alive, "The real shock came when he showed me the video of Ernest going through the Stargate."

They continued to talk for a while before leaving for the mission, Catherine anxious to see if her fiancé was still alive. She watched the interaction between the team and decided Sam was right, Jack and Daniel were like chalk and cheese but made a good partnership. This was confirmed when Jack managed to persuade the younger man to leave Heliopolis.

On their return, SG-1 was given some down time. Daniel was in the kitchen of his new apartment making a fresh pot of coffee when the banging started on his door. Knowing it would be Jack, he walked towards the entrance just as the shouting started.

"Come on Jackson, I know you're in there."

Sighing, Daniel opened the door and said, "Come..."

Jack walked into the apartment before Daniel had a chance to finish and straight away started to fire questions at him. "What were you thinking? Have you lost your mind? When I say now I mean now, I don't expect arguments when the place is collapsing... Where do you think you're going now?"

Daniel headed back into the kitchen to finish making his drink. Silently he made another, and handed it to Jack as he walked towards the living room. Sitting down he asked, "What do you want, Jack?"

Jack sat down on the sofa facing Daniel and asked, "Why? Just tell me why."

"Ernest had been there for over fifty years and there was still so much left to learn. I could have..."

"Been killed. That's what you could have been. What about Sha're and Skaa'ra Daniel? If you'd stayed, what would have happened to them? I thought you wanted to find..."

"I do!" Daniel said, his voicing rising.

"Then why?" Jack's voice rising as well, the conversation quickly turning into an argument, "Why would you want to stay? It makes no sense."

"Why do you need to know everything? Why can't you just accept I wanted to stay and learn?"

"Because I don't believe you Daniel. Something else made you want to stay on that planet and I want to know what."

"Why do you care? Aren't I just the geek you have to put up with on your team?" Daniel got up to pace the room.

"For a double PHD, you can be damn dense sometimes Daniel."

"Right, so we're onto the insults now. Just..."

"You really want to know why I care Daniel?"

"YES."

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, YOU IDIOT. THAT'S WHY."

Suddenly, everything went quiet and Daniel stopped pacing. When he didn't say anything, Jack decided to leave and started towards the front door of the apartment. Heading after him, Daniel pushed him against the wall and said, "Don't you dare walk out on me after a confession like that you bastard."

Then he kissed Jack, his hands finding their way inside Jack's leather jacket. Jack responded to the kiss, the most passionate he had ever received, and felt Daniel trying to pull his shirt out of his jeans. He felt Daniel's tongue against his lips and when he opened them, it slid into his mouth.

Daniel was finding it difficult to believe that he was in his hall kissing Jack. More than kissing in fact, he was practically groping him. He shivered as he felt Jack's hands run lightly up his back, stopping on his shoulders. Breaking away from the kiss Daniel looked at the man in his arms.

"Jack?"

"God help me I'm in love with you. Leaving you on Abydos was the hardest thing I've done after burying Charlie," Jack whispered as he pulled Daniel closer to capture his mouth.

Somehow they made it to Daniel's bedroom without losing their grip on each other. Daniel's legs came into contact with the bed and he fell backwards pulling Jack down alongside him. In what seemed like a second to Jack, both men removed their clothes and were exploring each other's bodies. Jack let out a "Jesus!" as Daniel found a particularly sensitive spot.

"Like that babe?" Daniel asked.

"Oh yeah, don't stop," Jack ground out.

Daniel made his way back up Jack's body and leaning on Jack's chest asked, "Why, what will happen if I do?"

Jack flipped Daniel over so he was now on top of the archaeologist and replied, "You really wanna find out? And what's with calling me babe?"

"For a colonel you can be damn dense sometimes Jack," Daniel said mirroring Jack's own words, "I'm in love with you as well. That's the reason Sha're knew I'd leave when you came back, she knew I wouldn't be able to stay behind again."

Stunned, Jack lay looking into Daniel's eyes when something the young man had said when they were on Abydos suddenly made sense.

"I did feel the same way Daniel, I knew I loved you before I left Abydos. When I got home and found Sara had gone..."

"What?" Daniel asked after Jack fell silent.

"I knew I was gonna miss you more than I would my wife of fifteen years."

"You were?" Daniel asked astonished.

"Yep. I spent every night looking through my telescope at the stars thinking of you."

"If only the guys on base realised what a big sap you really are - not that I'm going to tell them mind you."

"Glad to hear that."

Jack growled as Daniel started another attack, this time on the skin behind his ear. "Jeez!" he exclaimed, quickly becoming incapable of thought as Daniel headed down his body.

~~~~

Twelve weeks and six missions through later, George found himself sitting in Catherine's kitchen.

"How's he working out?"

"Teal'c? He's working out better than I could have hoped for. It didn't register straight away but I soon realised he was with the rest of SG-1 back in 1969, the hard part was persuading my superiors to let him be a part of the SGC. Luckily I managed it." After taking a sip of his drink, George continued, "I don't know what to do Catherine, what to say to them. Jack's thinking of retiring again, I had to give him the job of clearing out Daniel's apartment just to make him stay a bit longer."

"Why clear Daniel's place at all, I mean it's not like he's dead?" Catherine asked.

"To tell the truth, I don't know anymore. They're pretty sure he is seeing they're constantly reliving the memory of his death. I can't say he's due to do a time travel jaunt with them sometime in the next few years so he must be alive," George replied, the ice rattling in the whiskey glass.

"Do you ever watch Star Trek?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I've seen it once or twice. Why?"

"Because my grand-daughters are always watching Voyager, Tessa loves Tom Paris. One of them, I think it's Captain Janeway, says they hate temporal mechanics as it gives them a headache. I never realised I'd have the same problem. Are we guaranteed Daniel is alive because we remember him from 1969, or could he be dead and the events never happen? In which case, would we still remember them? And if not, would you and I have met and known what was going to happen?"

"I see what you mean. I say we just go on trust for the time being George."

"Trust?"

"Yes. We trust that Daniel is still alive, no matter what SG-1 think."

In the end, after leaving Catherine's house George decided to have a quiet talk to his 2IC. As they sat on the top of the mountain he said, "You know sometimes things aren't as dark as they appear, Jack?"

"And how do you figure that out, George?"

"Back in 1969 my father suffered the first of his heart attacks. I'd been sitting at his bedside for two days as it looked like we were going to lose him. I wasn't coping with it very well when the news came on that mankind had finally managed to walk on the moon. There I was thinking nothing could ever be right again while the whole world was celebrating this achievement. Turning to look at my dad I was astounded to see him looking back at me. In the middle of all of that the only thing I was grateful for was the fact my dad looked at me and smiled."

"You said the first?"

"He had another two, the third one was the one that finally killed him. But that was another twelve years down the line and I was thankful for every one of those days. No matter what happens Jack, no matter how dark it looks don't give up. When you least expect it something will happen to bring some light back into your world."

~~~~

Daniel moved back up the bed, a big grin on his face, and held onto a thoroughly satisfied Jack. It was several minutes before either man had the energy to talk.

"You really smashed the window?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Whatcha think for, Daniel? I thought I'd lost you."

Daniel, his arms round Jack's waist, said, "Ferretti told me what you said in your speech; that I'm your voice and conscience, that I'm courageous and good. That I'm your friend."

"You're more than a friend, Daniel, you know that. I couldn't exactly say that I loved you right there on the ramp in front of everyone. Though it would have been fun seeing the reactions."

"I suppose the rumor I've heard is true as well, you told the General you were going to retire again?"

"Yep, right after I smashed the window. Don't know how serious I was though, it felt like I'd be failing you."

"How?"

"For not getting Sha're and Skaa'ra back, I promised you we'd find them."

Daniel gave Jack a kiss. "Thank you." Snuggling closer, he continued, "I can't believe you cleaned out my apartment."

"What did you expect? You were dead. We couldn't exactly leave it there. How on Earth did you manage to collect so much junk in such a short space of time anyway?"

"It's not junk and I knew it wouldn't be left there. What I meant was, it was the three of you who did it."

"Well apparently the National Security guys told Hammond that it needed clearing out. He asked us to do it, said we were the closest thing you had to family. Don't know what gave him that idea."

"Neither do I, Jack, neither do I," Daniel replied laughing.

"There we were packing up your things, and it felt wrong. I kept expecting you to come walking through the door even though we believed you were dead. In the end we headed back to base to talk to Hammond, Sam did that whole hypno thinga-me-jig and we went back for you."

"And threatened Nem as soon as you got there."

"Hey blame Fish Sticks, he's the one who made us think you were dead."

"It wasn't exactly a stroll in the park for me. You weren't coming back and I couldn't leave till I remembered what happened to his mate. Then you have the matter of how was I meant to get home without a GDO?"

"I know. It's just that..." Jack's voice trailed off.

"At least I knew the three of you were alive, a luxury you didn't have," Daniel finished for him.

"George had a chat with me, told me not to give up. Said something would happen to keep the darkness at bay but all I could do was keep seeing you calling to me for help. I couldn't get rid of the damn sight of you burning. Carter was seeing you die as well and Teal'c... Well he just raised both eyebrows. We knew you were dead but somehow we knew you were alive."

"Both eyebrows? Wow! I'll find the others later and see if they want to talk about it."

"Teal'c was sitting in the middle of his room surrounded by candles when I left last night which has got to be a fire hazard. I managed to talk to Sam though; it might be a good idea for the two of you to get together soon for a chat."

"That's why you were late home last night, you were looking after the team."

"Yeah. I didn't think you'd fall asleep before I got in though."

"Not totally asleep, I heard you come in. Even managed to tell you I love you if I remember correctly."

"I know you did."

"Do you want to talk about it now?"

"Holding you last night was enough. That and the way you just woke me up."

The two men lay in comfortable silence before Jack asked, "I was wondering. How long will it take you to get another apartment?"

"Not sure. Why?"

"'Cause I kinda like the idea of you being here every morning. Think you could stretch it out for the rest of our lives?"

Daniel laughed and said, "Sorry but don't think so, it might be noticed if I suddenly took up residency here and..."

"We have to keep it quiet. In that case, we should make the most of you being here." Jack said, a big grin on his face.

January 1998

Daniel sat on the bench in the locker room thinking about Jack. Not being with him, not being together still hurt even six months after the break up. What made it worse was the fact that it was his fault. Well not his exactly but he had let it happen, had let himself get pushed into the situation. It started after she had been here, after she had hurt Jack by making him her first Jaffa. Two airmen had gone to his office and had a quiet word with him. A quiet word that included Daniel receiving a few punches.

"You're a pansy and don't deserve to be here." Punch.

"We're watching you fairy, watching you closely." Kick.

"Don't even think of going running off to anyone about this." Stomp.

"You don't deserve to be on SG-1 fag." Punch.

The whole thing hadn't lasted long but it had been long enough for Daniel. All he could think about was if the airmen saw him with Jack they would put two and two together and then Jack could be in danger. So he had broken it off the following day. Daniel had been thankful when Jack hadn't argued with his decision, when he had just asked if Daniel was sure it was what he wanted. Daniel had said yes and watched as Jack unhappily walked away. Daniel had moved into a new apartment and tried to pick up the pieces of his broken heart. Sam had been to see him several times, wanting to know why he was pulling away and every time Daniel had pleaded being busy as the excuse. He hadn't let anyone in, spending practically all his time in the office, hardly ever going home or socializing with the rest of SG-1.

It had been hell going through the gate with Jack at his side, yet not there. Working together to save Teal'c during Cor-ai. Jack going missing with Sam when Daniel hadn't wanted to sleep, to dream of yet another person he loved being torn from his life. Watching as his robot copy realised he could be with his robot Jack. Watching Jack and Sam together and hearing Catherine's comment of, "I take it they're not engaged in your reality." Even after everything that had happened between them, including the shock on Jack's face when told he was planning on marrying Sam in the alternative universe, Jack had believed in Daniel enough to agree to gate to who knew where after Kinsey shut down the SGC.

"Jack!"

The third serpent guard had shot Daniel with his staff before he had managed to kill the Jaffa. When Jack stepped into the corridor and seen Daniel wounded he knelt by his side saying, "Daniel. Dammit."

"I'm dead anyway. Just get outta here."

"I am not leaving you here Daniel."

That was the point when he knew, no matter what happened, he would always love Jack O'Neill.

"Get outta here, you're just gonna blow up with the other ship anyway. What difference does it make? Go! Just go. I'll stay and watch your back."

The way Jack had put his hand on Daniel's cheek, saying a silent goodbye, unable to deny Daniel what he wanted even then. Watching Jack's back as he went to the Pel'tak on Klorel's ship. That feeling when he returned to the SGC, the one of complete desolation, when General Hammond said, "Where's the rest of SG-1?" The utter joy when Sergeant Dana Heller on Endeavor confirmed they had Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Brat'ac on board. Of seeing them all, of seeing Jack, in the gate room. Of a hug and, "Space monkey, yeah."

Which left him where exactly? Sitting on the bench missing Jack. Standing up, Daniel slammed his locker door shut and cursed, "Damn them and damn me to hell for letting them do this."

"Well looksie here, a flower's missing from the garden."

Daniel turned to see the same airmen who had visited him before standing in front of him. When he didn't respond one of the airmen started to push him saying, "Well fag, aren't you going to say anything? Or are you just gonna slink off like the coward you are? How Colonel O'Neill puts up with you on his team is beyond me."

Deciding enough was enough Daniel pushed back. "I've had enough of small minded bigots like the two of you. Where do you get off giving me trouble over my private life? Well no more, it ends now."

"So the pansy can speak. Don't you get it? It'll never be over, we'll keep watching you till we see something. Then we'll find out who your boyfriend is and you'll both be history."

Unknown to the three men Jack stood listening to the conversation. He hadn't realised anyone else was around until he had turned off his shower and headed towards his locker. Stopping when he heard the slammed locker and Daniel's voice, Jack wondered what the younger man was talking about. Letting who do what to him? Jack had been about to walk round the corner when he heard more voices.

As Jack listened things fell into place for him. Daniel's sudden change of heart about their relationship and the sorrow he had seen in the younger man's eyes when he thought no one was looking. The anger started to burn in Jack's gut and when he heard a fist connecting with flesh along with a small "ooff" from Daniel, Jack took a step forward. Hearing fists connecting with flesh twice more, Jack opened his mouth to shout out when he heard something that made him smile.

"I told you, no more. I don't know where you get the impression I'm some weakling who can't stand up for himself, is it because you think I'm a geek? Because you seem to have it in your tiny brain cell that I'm gay? Well let me tell you both something. I am neither weak nor unable to stand up for myself. I've been beating bullies like you off since I was eight and I will go to General Hammond if either of you threaten me again."

Then a door opened and shut and Jack listened as the first voice said, "Where the hell did that come from?"

When the second replied, "I don't know but he's going to pay," Jack wiped the smile off his face and walked to his locker, after having to step over the airmen that were still lying on the floor. They scrambled to their feet and one of them said rather nervously, "Colonel. We didn't hear you." Jack started to get dressed ignoring them and when he was ready to leave, gave them a look that left the two bullies trembling, commenting quietly, "Airmen. I hear Alaska's a nice place to be posted."

~~~~

Several days later Daniel walked into the canteen quietly humming, he was feeling a lot better since standing up for himself and had decided it was time to talk to Jack. Waiting to be served, he started when he heard two names.

"Did you hear about Moir and Watkins?"

Moir and Watkins were the airmen who had assaulted and threatened him.

"I heard they asked to be reassigned. Moir said something about McMurdo being far enough away."

They'd left? Far enough away? Away from whom? Away from what?

"Hi Daniel."

Daniel jumped when he heard Sam's voice close to his ear. Turning round he saw Jack, Sam and Teal'c standing behind him.

"Hi guys."

"Soooo," Jack said, a grin on his face.

"So, what?" Daniel asked.

"So, I was wondering if you all wanted to come round my place tonight. Been a while since we got together as a team."

"Sorry Sir, I can't tonight," Sam replied.

"Neither can I O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Okay. How about you Danny, you up for it?" Jack asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Ummm, sure Jack. I'm in," Daniel replied with a small grin.

Jack grinned as well. He had known both Sam and Teal'c already had plans.

~~~~

It was several weeks later when Daniel wearily made his way through his apartment into the bedroom. He collapsed on the bed and fell asleep without even bothering to take his clothes off, which is how Jack found him several hours later.

Standing in the doorway to the dark room, Jack watched for a few minutes as Daniel slept before heading over to the bed. Taking off his shoes, he climbed onto it and lay next to the unmoving body. Even fast asleep Daniel seemed to know Jack was beside him and unconsciously moved so he was lying across his lover's body. Jack closed his eyes, held Daniel and a short time later joined him in the land of dreams.

"No. No!"

Jack woke with a start as Daniel started to move against him muttering, "Leave me alone... Don't hurt them... No I won't, you can't make me... Let them go... Please not again... No..."

"Daniel, wake up. Come on wake up," Jack soothed as he gently shook the other man.

"Help me... Oh god Sam I'm sorry... Please, help me Jack..."

By this time Daniel was moving his arms, one of them coming close to hitting Jack in the face.

"Wake up Daniel," Jack repeated as he shook Daniel harder this time.

When the only response he got was, "Anything, just don't kill them..." Jack shouted, "WAKE UP JACKSON!"

"Jaaaaaaaaack!" Daniel screamed as he sat up, eyes wide open. Before Jack even had a chance to say anything Daniel was off the bed and running to the bathroom. Heading after him Jack heard the distinctive sounds of retching and went to offer comfort.

When he had finished Daniel rinsed his mouth out then slid down the wall. Wrapping his arms around himself, he looked up into the concerned eyes of his lover.

"What are you doing here Jack?"

"Like I was going to stay away."

"I didn't think you'd want to be round me. Not after what I did and said to you."

"You didn't do anything wrong..."

"Yes I did," Daniel interrupted, "Everything I did from the moment she walked away from those Jaffa was wrong."

"No it wasn't. You saved a life and got us home when we were being held captive. It would have been wrong if you hadn't tried to save her Daniel. It's not who you are."

"But I left you there. I left you all there. I was living it up and you were all slowly dying."

"Riiiiight, you were living it up. I don't call being forced back into the sarc time and time again living it up. She used us against you and you're blaming yourself?"

"How... how..."

"How do I know that? I just heard your nightmare, I heard you say you'd do anything as long as she didn't kill us. Jeeze, were you going to tell us? Ever going to tell me? What else did she force you to do?"

"Nothing," Daniel replied as he rested his head against his knees. Knowing what Jack was really meaning he continued, "She's the Princess of her people. There are ceremonies and traditions that have to be adhered to. She has to prove she is still an innocent the morning of her wedding."

"So she didn't get to..."

"No."

Jack let out a small sigh of relief. He had been worried that Shyla had forced Daniel into more than just her sarcophagus. Moving so he could hold the shaking man, Jack whispered, "I'm here, I'm here."

Daniel, glad to be in the one place he considered heaven, started to cry and let the hurt go.

~~~~

After being cleared by Janet, Jack asked General Hammond if the technicians who worked on the problems over the last couple of days could sit in on his debrief. Curious as to why Jack would make such a request he had agreed but the debrief was almost over before he found out why.

"...studying us for a while. Well, studying our brains more like cause they didn't think we'd advanced even this far. Said we had much to prove but we'd taken the first step of becoming the fifth race of the alliance. And I just want to point out that Daniel was right."

"We know that Colonel," Hammond responded.

"I didn't mean about the whole 'letting me go' thing Sir, I meant Daniel was right about the Stargate," Jack replied looking at the technicians. He knew they were under the impression the only things Daniel knew about were old rocks and languages.

"And how is that Colonel O'Neill?" the lead technician wanted to know, still angry over the embarrassment he felt Daniel had caused him in front of the General regarding the problem with the DHD.

"When he said the Ancients built the Stargate."

"How do you come to that conclusion Colonel? There's no evidence to support Doctor Jackson in his supposition on this matter."

"It's not my conclusion, it's what I was told. That alliance the Asgard mentioned. One of them said and I quote here, 'There was once an alliance of four great races in the galaxy, the Asgard, the Nox, the Furlings and the Ancients, the builders of the Stargates.' That proves Daniel was right in my book."

After the meeting had finished, SG-1 was walking down the corridor when Sam asked, "So what made you bring up that bit about the Ancients Sir?"

"Daniel was practically thrown out of the lab when he went to the techs, none of whom could score a goal on an empty ice-rink by the way, whilst you and Teal'c were trapped on P9Q-281."

"Why didn't you tell me, Daniel?" Sam queried.

"It really wasn't that bad Sam: they were busy and didn't need me there."

"They sent you away saying Carter's the resident gate expert and that they didn't need the help of an archaeologist who thought Roman gods had invented the Stargate system, Daniel."

"Looks like they learnt the hard way to listen to Daniel when he comes up with what seems like a crazy idea," Sam said, smiling.

"I have found it is a lesson people usually only need to be shown once," Teal'c observed.

"That they do Teal'c, that they do," Jack replied as they walked into the commissary, each of them glad things were back to normal again. Well, for the time being at least.

"You know something, I can't wait till we meet the Furlings," Daniel said as he got a cup of coffee. Sam agreed, Teal'c raised an eyebrow and Jack just groaned at the thought.

~~~~

Somehow Jack had known things were going to go wrong that morning, the hairs on the back of his neck telling him 'wicked things his way came'. Deciding it was a mistake to watch Shakespeare's Macbeth by himself the night before, Jack had gone through the gate with the rest of the team determined to be that little bit more alert. After returning, he had thought Daniel seemed slightly 'off' during the debriefing and made an effort to find him before he left the base.

"Are you okay?"

"I am fine thank you. Just a little tired. As I said earlier, Doctor Fraiser said the effects should wear off in a couple of days."

"Do you want to come round tonight? I'll cook."

"No thank you. I will see you tomorrow. Goodbye."

As Daniel walked away Jack knew for sure something wasn't right with his world. Deciding to get some paperwork out of the way before he made the trip to Daniel's apartment, Jack made his way to his office. He was still going through his reports when he got the call saying SG-1 was needed.

"P8X..." Standing in the infirmary with the rest of his team Jack looked at their guest who was claiming to be a certain blue-eyed archaeologist.

"987, yeah," Sam finished for him.

"All right, lucky guess," Jack replied, the hairs on the back of his neck this time telling him that the bad things were here already.

Listening as the old man told them the gate had been found in Giza, Jack looked into the blue eyes and asked the one question he knew that only Daniel would be able to answer correctly.

"All right. Describe for me the dress your sister wore last week when I took her out."

"I don't have a sister Jack and if I did I wouldn't let you near her," came the reply and Jack could mentally hear the rest of the sentence, "You'd be too busy in our bed."

Jack knew that he should have been more alert.

Later, after performing kel'no'reem and telling Teal'c not to shave his head, Jack headed towards General Hammond's office to be told that Daniel's credit card had been used in a local diner. When he wasn't allowed to get Machello he went to the infirmary only to find out that Daniel was in a coma. Not wanting to see his lover slowly slip away, Jack made his way to the gym to release some anger on the punching bag. He had just finished his shower when he was once again summoned to the infirmary.

"What's going on, Captain?"

"I think I may have come up with a solution to this whole mess."

"Finally," Jack said.

Musical bodies ensued and pretty soon Jack was standing in Daniel's body watching Daniel transfer into his. Calling out "Danny boy", Jack watched as Daniel realised whose body he was now in and said, "Jack?" When they were standing side-by-side, Jack whispered he was wondering how strange it would be if they were to make love to their own bodies. It was weird hearing the snigger he associated with his lover coming from his own body.

"Well it doesn't look like you'll get to live out that one," Daniel whispered back as Sam indicated it was their turn to change into their own bodies.

Later, when holding Daniel in his arms, Jack talked about how useless he had felt during the incident.

"Don't be, we were all doing what we needed to do to get through it. I'm just thankful Sam was able to figure out how to change us back."

Jack laughed and said, "You should have seen her face when she found out Teal'c and I had swapped. Stunned mullet is a term that about sums it up."

Daniel joined in the laughter before saying, "You should have seen your faces when you all realised that it was me in the infirmary."

"Uh. Yeah. Well. So, you up for round two?" Jack asked as his hand started to head in the direction of Daniel's groin.

Cheyenne Mountain, August 1998

George sat at his desk knowing that whatever he and Catherine had helped put into place over the last two years was now happening. He had had the note ready ever since the formation of SG-1 and when he saw the cut on Sam's hand earlier in the Control Room he knew that it was time to give it to her. Remembering what she had said in the back of the truck like it was yesterday, he had told her to keep the note in her vest pocket till she got to the other side. When she had stopped and looked back at him from the gate room, keeping quiet had been the most difficult thing he had ever done. He had been tempted to call the mission off, to postpone it, but had held back. During his talks with Catherine over the last two years, he knew that this was something that had to happen. If he stopped SG-1 from leaving things could change and not for the better. When the technician told him that they hadn't arrived on P2X 555 he had known that there was nothing he could do except wait. Saying that SG-5 would complete the mission, he headed back to where he now sat.

Picking up the telephone, he waited till it was answered before saying, "It's happened, Catherine."

Jack's home, late August 1998

Jack was standing by the grill drinking a beer listening to Teal'c and Doctor Janet Fraiser talk.

"When are Carter and Daniel getting here?" Jack asked for the second time in five minutes.

Janet sighed and answered "I told you they'll be here shortly, Sam said something about getting Daniel some new clothes."

"I know he's getting new clothes Doc, just can't see why Sam needs to help him," Jack grumbled, "And why did George say Cassie and Ernest shouldn't be here?"

"I believe that General Hammond has 'something on his sleeve' O'Neill."

"'Something up his sleeve' Teal'c. And I agree, he and Catherine are up to something."

George and Catherine, sitting in the shade, were talking quietly whilst watching the group.

"I can't believe it's finally happened."

"I was beginning to think it never would."

"Have you told them yet?"

"No I was waiting for when we could do the deed together. They know bits of it obviously but not all the plotting we did," George replied with a smile.

Catherine laughed. "You make it sound like we tried to engineer it all. It was destined to happen George, we only made sure all the pieces were there."

Just then they heard a car pull up and people get out. Two voices could be heard, one happy and the other not so happy.

As they got closer Jack called out, "Well it's about time kids. I'm sure I said 17:00 and not 18:30."

Sam walked round the side of the building before realising she was by herself. Turning round she called, "Come on Daniel, its not that bad."

"Yes it is. I knew I shouldn't have trusted you when it came to this."

Sam smiled and said, "It looks fine Daniel, believe me. Much more sexy."

"Who said I wanted sexy? I was happy with what I had," came Daniel's indignant voice from round the corner.

George and Catherine walked over to join the rest of the group to see what Daniel was so unhappy about. Janet whispered, "If he's not happy with the clothes why buy them?"

Jack looked at the SGC CMO and whispered back, "Have you tried to say no to Sam when shopping? I made the mistake when we went to get Daniel's birthday present. Not one I'm keen to repeat."

"She's not that bad when I've been out with her."

"Remind me not to go shopping with you either."

Turning to face the group Sam said, "Sorry we're a bit late guys."

Janet asked, "What's wrong with Daniel?"

Walking to the cooler, Sam got a beer out and said, "Nothing's wrong. Have a look for yourself."

When Janet did her eyes opened wide. "Oh wow!" she exclaimed, "Daniel that's... To quote Cassie, you look cool Daniel."

"Ha!" was the only reply. The archaeologist had yet to make his appearance.

"Come on Space monkey, let's see what's so sexy and cool," Jack called out, intrigued.

From around the corner of the building Daniel muttered, "Me, the geek looking sexy and cool. Yeah right."

He walked forward and, as he came round the building said, "If I hear laughter, just one giggle, I'm gone."

Three jaws dropped. Jack managed, "Well that's a bit drastic don'tcha think?"

"See! See! I told you it was a bad idea right from the start Sam," Daniel protested.

Janet, who was standing at his side, put her arm round his waist and pulled him towards everyone else. "It looks good Daniel."

"Yeah Danny boy, more military," Jack said.

"Military! I wasn't aiming for military."

"Then why have it done?" Jack asked taking a sip from his beer, not taking his eyes off Daniel.

"I didn't. I just asked for a trim, Sam told them to cut it. Next thing I know I've been scalped," Daniel replied running a hand through his newly cut hair.

When Teal'c's eyebrow went up Daniel said, "Not literally Teal'c. It just feels like it."

As he checked the contents on the grill Jack quietly mourned the loss of the hair he loved to run his hands through. Daniel sat next to him as he said, "Think how much easier it's going to be off world though."

Sam nodded, "That's what I was thinking Sir, thirty seconds and it's done. No more blow drying..."

"No more grumbling because his head feels itchy. No more flopping in his eyes anymore. No more having to tie it back with a bandana..."

"Though that look was kinda sexy."

"Carter does anything about Daniel not look sexy to you?"

Sam blushed and said, "Well... I..."

Janet interrupted, "All of Cassie's school friends think Daniel looks sexy, as well as the majority of my nurses."

"I have noticed the majority of the female population, not only on Earth but on other planets as well, find Daniel Jackson 'sexy'," Teal'c said.

"Wha... Pardon? I... Ah... What?"

Jack finished his beer, lent over to get himself another from the cooler to hide his smirk and muttered, "Quite a lot of the male population think so as well." Sitting up, he passed a bottle to Daniel and said, "Face it space monkey, you're not only a trouble magnet you're also a babe magnet."

"Jaaack! Am not."

"Daniel. Are too."

"R2 who? D2?" asked Janet laughing.

Jack replied, "Actually I've always thought of Daniel more along the lines of C3PO."

Daniel's eyes narrowed. He bent over the cooler and, taking out some ice, said, "You're asking for it Jack."

"What? I just meant because you speak so many languages, not because you're an uptight..."

Daniel pulled at the neck of Jack's t-shirt and put the ice down his back.

"FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD DANIEL, THAT'S COLD!"

Jack pulled his t-shirt out from his jeans, giving Daniel a nice view of a flat stomach, and managed to get rid of the rapidly melting cubes.

"I'll remember this. Just be careful next time we're round something cold as it'll be your turn to be put on ice."

Daniel joined in with the laughter and leaning over to Jack whispered, "I'll warm you up later if you want."

"So, when will the food be ready Jack?" Catherine asked before Jack had a chance to reply.

"About five minutes. Okay, if Carter and Daniel sort out the salad and drinks that will leave Janet and Teal'c to get the plates and cutlery," Jack said.

Ten minutes later and everyone was sat in the sunshine with their food and drink.

Catherine turned to SG-1 and asked, "So, how did you enjoy your time in 1969?"

"Fine thanks," replied Jack. Then he realized what Catherine had asked and said, "Excuse me?"

George said, "Don't worry Jack, Catherine knows all about it. Who do you think figured it all out?"

"Figured what out?" Sam asked somewhat confused.

"What was going to happen. Catherine and I have been talking about this event for over two years."

"Two years? As long as the SGC has been around?" Daniel asked.

George continued, "Longer actually. Now, if everyone's sitting comfortably I'll begin."

"Peachy, it's story time," Jack muttered.

"Yes it is. And if the Colonel is a good little boy he may be allowed to stay up for it," George replied.

"Does it start 'A long, long time ago'?" Jack asked.

"In a Galaxy far, far away," Daniel continued with a snigger.

Sam, Daniel and Jack looked at each other then burst out laughing.

Jack calmed down enough to take a sip of his drink, but just when Sam and Daniel stopped she would catch his gaze and they would start up again. After about five minutes they calmed down enough to take a sip of their drinks and look at the rest of the group.

"Sorry," they said together.

Catherine smiled and muttered 'terrible twins indeed' under her breath.

"What's so funny about Star Wars?" Janet asked.

"Nothing. It's just something that happened on our last trip," Daniel replied.

"You can't leave it at that. You never know when you'll next need a bed in my infirmary and I do have a couple of large needles you haven't seen yet," Janet said, straight-faced.

"Hey, no threatening members of my team Doc," Jack warned.

"Yeah, why pick me? The others know what happened as well. Anyway, I thought General Hammond was about to tell a story."

"I was, but I think Janet should hear yours first," George responded.

Daniel looked at the group and explained, "Basically, on our last mission we came into contact with a couple called Michael and Jennie. They were taking us to Newark so we could see someone who had the information we needed to get home, and heard us talking about the gate. Jack told them we came to Earth to hide among their people a long, long time ago. I said we were from a galaxy far, far away."

"So that explains the convulsive laughter we just experienced," Janet said with a grin.

"Yeah it does," Jack said, "So, can the General and Catherine tell their story now?"

"Sure."

"Why thank you. Now, where was I?" George asked.

"In a galaxy far, far away I believe, General Hammond," Teal'c replied.

Catherine laughed and soon the rest of the group joined in. When the laughter died away George said, "Thank you Teal'c. Right, two years ago Catherine was called to the Pentagon to talk about the Stargate."

"I remember that. That's when I first met you Catherine," Sam said.

"After meeting and talking to you I went to see George," Catherine responded, "I had something to tell him and I thought he was going to throw me out on my ear as a crazy old broad. Luckily he believed me, which made things easier."

"You said you've been talking about this for over two years. What... I mean how?" Daniel said rather confused.

"Do you remember when we first met?" Catherine asked.

"Of course I do, it's pretty hard to forget meeting someone who changed your life. It was just after my disastrous talk in LA about the origins of the pyramids. I walked out into the rain, my whole life in the suitcases under my arms, and there was Kawalsky wanting me to get into a car. I got in and met you," Daniel replied.

"And I would have agreed, except I later realised the first time I met the two of you was in my living room in New York."

"You remembered us? You knew who we were even after 25 years?" Sam asked amazed.

"As I read Daniel's file I thought he was familiar somehow and when he got into the car I knew why, even though you were wearing those ghastly yellow glasses in my house. And when we were talking in the lab, Sam, I got to feeling that you were familiar as well. That was when I figured out we'd met back in 1969, when the two of you came to me looking for answers about the Stargate. I went to George with what I knew and the rest, as they say, is history."

"I almost didn't believe Catherine at first," George told the group, "but then I remembered a team of four people who appeared in the Mountain one day. The smart alec of the group knew things about my life I hadn't told anyone else..."

"Hey!" Jack interrupted as he realised George was talking about him, "Smart alec?"

"And the one who called herself Samantha Carter said they'd come back thirty years from the future," George continued as if Jack hadn't said anything. "Catherine came up with a pretty convincing argument and that's why I requested Sam to look for some information for me."

"Oh my god we were right! That was why you got me to look into time travel and solar flares. You knew something was going to happen and that we'd need the information to get back."

George nodded as Catherine said, "Once I had figured out the real identities of the couple who had visited me, I realised George would need to know what I knew."

"And to say I was slightly upset over the fact you lied to me is an understatement Jack. The funny thing is, you were convincing. If I hadn't known what was to happen I would have believed you. I had to sit there, not call you a liar and throw you in the brig for falsifying your report after your return."

"Pardon?" Jack spluttered.

"I knew you were lying to me Jack. You stood in my office, looked me in the eyes and told me Daniel and everyone else on Abydos was dead."

"But... I... I had to. After what I'd written in my report I could hardly say 'Oh yeah General, Daniel decided to stay on another planet with the wife he was given.' I retired and thought that things had ended, I didn't know the gate was going to be reopened. That it had been reopened."

"I never knew you had to lie to so many people Jack," Daniel said quietly.

"Well duh, what did you expect?" Jack saw the hurt in the younger man's eyes and said, "I knew what I was getting into when I came back, Daniel. Knowing the military, I knew if I told them there were people alive on the other side they would have sent another bomb. Lying meant you got to be safe with Sha're and Ska'ra. I knew that and accepted it. After what you had given me I would have done just about anything for you."

"I didn't do anything..." Daniel started to say before Jack interrupted, "How about dying for me after stepping in front of that staff blast?"

"But."

The others, who hadn't heard much more than the basic details about the first mission to Abydos, listened intently as Jack said, "No buts Daniel. You took a staff blast before we knew about the sarcophagus. You gave me a reason to live again after Charlie's death. And what about what you did for the people of Nagada?"

"I didn't do much Jack. You, Ferretti and Kowalski were the ones they followed."

"Only after you had opened the door. Literally. You found the mine..."

"After being dragged by a mastadge over the dunes."

"You showed them their history after Ra tried to hide it, learnt to speak their language in about two minutes flat and showed them freedom. You did something Daniel, not just for me but also for them. Accept it."

Daniel blushed, "Thanks Jack."

"Anyway," George continued, "Regardless of Jack's misleading information, Catherine and I did a little plotting over time to make sure that you were still together as a team. Even after you went off and disobeyed orders from the President."

"You went to bat for us after that whole Pops gig," Jack said.

"During the whole Apophis incident actually. Was on and off the red phone the whole time. Things were made easier when it became clear that the four of you had saved the world, the President was more than happy not to pursue the charges Senator Kinsey wanted to bring."

"I knew after meeting him that rat would try to hang us out to dry," Daniel muttered.

"He wanted to put the four of you in the oven and padlock the door," George corrected, "It was hard to keep quiet sometimes. Especially when Jack and Sam went missing and you, Daniel, were ignoring Janet's medical advice so you could search for them. Or when the rest of you believed Daniel had died in a volcanic eruption."

"Wish you had said something then, might have saved me paying out for a new window," Jack muttered.

Daniel gently elbowed Jack in the ribs and said, "To think Cassie is the one who finally gets us home."

"How she did so that?" Janet asked. She hadn't been present during their debrief and didn't know of SG-1's visit to the future.

"We entered the wormhole too early when attempting to return and ended up a couple of years in the future..." Sam started to explain.

"A couple! Cassie was an old woman, I hardly recognised her," Jack interrupted.

"You did not recognise Cassandra, O'Neill. Captain Carter was the person who recognised her," Teal'c corrected.

"We arrived in the future and Cassie was there to meet us. She said she'd been waiting her whole life for the moment when we would arrive, and that I'll explain what happened to her when she's old enough to understand," Sam clarified for Janet.

"So Cassie will be the one to help you. It's good to know she'll be around in the years to come. It also explains why she couldn't be here today, she doesn't need this knowledge yet."

"That's what Catherine and I thought when we didn't ask for her to be here," George said, "It'll be strange not having the security of the knowledge that SG-1 have a more than fair chance of returning though."

"We never had it George. Every time we went through the gate it could have been the last. Sometimes we thought it was," Jack replied.

"That's true of course, though we do know Daniel will probably be around as well for a few years yet," Sam said.

"Uh, how Carter?" Jack asked.

"When Cassie first entered the gate room she said she hardly recognised Daniel with hair. That implies she's going to see him lose it at some stage," Sam answered.

"Or she could just be talking about the haircut you got him today," Jack said with a grin.

"And we have a fair idea Sam will be around for a few more years yet because she has to tell Cassie the information we need to get back," Daniel said.

After taking a sip of his beer Jack summed up, "So we have a fair idea that Cassie, Carter and space monkey here will be around for a few years yet. The only members of SG-1 we don't know about are Teal'c and myself. Sweet."

Silence descended on the group, each person contemplating what they had learnt that night.

After a while, George checked his watch and said, "Well I think it's time I took Catherine home."

"And I think its time for me to go relieve the sitter. Do you want a lift, Teal'c?" Janet asked as she stood up.

"That would be most kind Doctor Fraiser," Teal'c replied as he too stood, "Would you like for me to drive?"

George and Catherine looked at Teal'c in shock as Janet said, "I didn't know you could drive."

"Daniel Jackson taught me on our trip to New York."

"That's nice Teal'c, but I think I'll drive tonight. Probably best to wait till you get your licence," Janet said with a grin.

Teal'c nodded his head and followed Janet to her car, Catherine and George walking with him asking questions about his driving experiences.

"Are you wanting a lift home, Daniel, or are you staying to help clear up?" Sam asked.

"I'll stay. See you tomorrow at work."

"Yeahsureyoubetcha."

"Hey, that's my line!" Jack exclaimed as he followed her so he could be sure that everyone had left.

Two minutes later he walked back to the deck to see Daniel sitting back in his chair with his eyes closed and said, "Come on love, let's turn in."

"What about the clearing up?" Daniel asked without opening his eyes.

"That can keep. A sexy and cool person turned up earlier and I can't wait any longer to take him to my bed," Jack growled as he pulled Daniel up from the chair.

"Well hadn't you best go find him then?" Daniel queried as he opened his eyes and wrapped his arms round Jack's waist.

"I already did, plant boy. Come on, you promised me to warm me up earlier."

Jack laughed as Daniel started to tickle him, heading for his weak spot.

"Danny, no I didn't mean it. No, stop, no!"

"Submit."

"Neveahhhhhh. I submit I submit!"

Daniel stopped his onslaught and let Jack recover some semblance of order. Once he had his breath back Jack asked, "You ready then?"

"Yeahsureyoubetcha," Daniel replied with a grin, mirroring Sam.

"Hey! What is it with you and Carter, can't you come up with your own lines?"

"Indeed."

Jack rolled his eyes as Daniel used a favourite of Teal'c's before grabbing his hand and pulling him in the direction of the bedroom for the night.

The End