Evil Author Day: First Times and Second Chances (Stargate: SG-1)
I started this ages ago, and then got distracted by lots of other shinies. I do plan to go back and finish it one day, just because I love the idea. But you can have a sneak peek. ;)
~o~
The alarm blared into the quiet of a Monday morning, causing General Jack O'Neill's head to pop up from the report he was reading. His mental rolodex flipped through the status of the base and his teams on automatic. SG-1 was not currently deployed, but SG-3 and Dave Baldwin's team-SG-13-were both on the same planet, doing a survey. There were a couple of other teams offworld, but none on potentially dangerous missions. And no one was scheduled for a check-in for at least two more hours.
He could hear Sergeant Walter Harriman's voice through the PA system, urgent but not panicked. "Unscheduled offworld activation!"
Jack sighed and stood up. It was never a good sign when the week began with an unscheduled visit. It could very well be one of their allies, making contact for entirely benign reasons, but in Jack's experience, it was more likely to be a team coming in hot due to an unscheduled run-in with the Goa'uld.
He made his way across the briefing room and down the stairs, settling into his usual place behind Harriman to await information on just who or what they were facing.
"Incoming wormhole from P2X-388, sir," Harriman reported without prompting.
Jack raised an eyebrow. He was constantly amazed by exactly how much his people thought he'd actually retained from his experiences with the Ancient database, especially the addresses he'd entered. He didn't remember a whole lot from those experiences, and what he did retain was seared into his brain in bright Technicolor.
The 'gate addresses hadn't been one of those things.
"We don't currently have any teams deployed to that planet," Harriman supplied.
Jack nodded. He didn't think so, but somehow that didn't make him feel any better.
"Jack."
He turned and found Daniel Jackson striding up, Sam Carter hot on his heels.
"Daniel, Carter." He looked behind them, noticing immediately they were one short. "Where's Teal'c?"
Daniel bobbed his chin in the direction of the 'gate room, and Jack caught sight of him entering with the MPs, surrounding the 'gate with weapons drawn. Just as the last of the security team entered the room, the 'gate began to spark, as if it were being overloaded. The men pulled back, flattening their backs against the wall as they tried to get as far from the sparking as possible.
"He was at the range when the alarm went off," Daniel said as Sam stepped up to the console to try to identify the problem. "He said something at breakfast about target practice with some of the Marines."
"Any idea why the 'gate's sparking like a live wire?" Jack asked.
"Looks like a power surge," Sam said, shaking her head as she turned to address the General. "We haven't seen that since the early days of the program. Technically, it's not supposed to do that."
"That's not reassuring at all, Carter," Jack said.
"Sir, I'm getting an IDC," Harriman said, interrupting Sam's explanation.
Jack frowned. "I thought you said we didn't have any teams on -388?"
"We don't," Sam said. She moved to stand beside Harriman, leaning over to read the display, her eyes flicking through the information and absorbing it quickly. "It's an older code-" She stood up abruptly, looking at him with round eyes.
"What?"
"Sir, it's Kowalski's code."
"How's that possible?" Daniel asked. "I thought we'd locked all those old codes out of the system."
"We did," Jack said. He could feel the uneasiness roll through him. This could easily be a trick, an attempt to gain a foothold at the SGC. It'd been tried before, with limited success. Somehow, though, he didn't think that was the case. If whoever it was wanted them to open the front door, why use an out-of-date code from a man who'd been dead for nearly eight years? "Open the iris."
"Sir!"
"Jack, do you really think that's wise?" Daniel asked, cutting across Sam's exclamation.
"If someone wanted to invade us, why use a code we're guaranteed to be suspicious of?"
Sam frowned, but Daniel looked more sanguine. "Right," he said.
"Besides," Jack went on, "this is what those Marines train for." He looked to the Sergeant, nodding his head once. "Send the 'all clear', Walter."
"Yes, sir," Harriman said.
He placed his hand on the scanner and waited for it to recognize his authorization. The iris shifted, pulling back to reveal the familiar shimmering pool of blue at the event horizon. Below them, Teal'c looked up, eyebrow raised. Jack gave the faintest shrug of his shoulders. He was playing a hunch, hoping like hell he wasn't being played in return.
No one moved for several long seconds as they waited for something to happen. Finally, the event horizon rippled, and two people came backing down the ramp, guns drawn, watching the wormhole in front of them as if they expected someone to be following.
"Shut it down!" one of the men who'd just come through barked, just as a staff blast slapped the wall, sending the security detail diving for cover.
Harriman spared a short glance at Jack, who nodded quickly. The sergeant's hand shot out, slapping the iris control with more force than strictly necessary. The iris rotated into place, and behind that they could all hear the telltale thud of something hitting the metal without fully reintegrating.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief. How bad could it be if their unscheduled offworld activation had only turned up two men, even if they were being shot at?
They were both dressed in the familiar olive green SGC utilities under standard-issue tac vests. Both men were carrying what appeared to be P90s, and the patches on their jackets suggested they were both part of SG-1, though from the back even Jack could tell they weren't any of the guys currently assigned to the Stargate Program, much less anyone on SG-1.
And then the two men turned around and chaos erupted.
~o~
Charles Kowalski had been in plenty of fucked-up situations in his time. Fucked-up had become a sort of standard operating procedure at the SGC in the years since he'd joined the program. He'd been snaked once, seen others snaked, watched a sun go nova, blown up multiple mother ships, and had even watched as his best friend had been slowly killed by an alien database downloaded into his brain.
None of that had in any way prepared him for what he saw when he turned around.
Arrayed around them were no less than a dozen Marines, their weapons pointed directly at him and his second in command. That, in and of itself, wasn't a surprise. They'd 'gated in hot and unscheduled; standard operating procedure dictated that the SGC scramble a security detail to the 'gate room, just in case.
No, what really took the cake today was the fact that he was staring at the First Prime of Apophis, wearing the standard issue SGC utilities and pointing a P90 at them.
On instinct, he raised his gun, pointing at the most apparent threat in the room. To his great satisfaction, the kid beside him did the same. There was a lot of shouting at that point, and to be fair, he thought maybe he'd done his fair share, but when the dust settled, they were still in a Mexican standoff, everyone still pointing their guns at everyone else, and no one showing any signs of giving up.
To his left, the blast door slid open, and Kowalski breathed a sigh of relief. He'd always trusted General Hammond; hopefully, the man could explain why he was facing down a First Prime and his own men.
Except that the man who strode through the door wasn't General Hammond. It was a ghost. Kowalski shook his head, trying to make that make sense.
"Jack?" The General winced, and Kowalski frowned. "Jack, what's going on here?"
Why aren't you dead? he wanted to ask, but thought that might be pushing it. Beside him, he could hear the Lieutenant's quietly muttered what the fuck? He couldn't agree more.
"You tell me," Jack said.
"Look, I don't know what kind of game this is, but it's not funny," Kowalski said, angry now. "We just barely escaped a bunch of angry Jaffa, and when we get back, we're being threatened by-him! And you-I can't even explain you!"
He couldn't help a threatening glare at the First Prime, but if the Jaffa was bothered by it, he didn't show it. And no one else seemed bothered by the fact that he was there. It was all giving him a headache. All he really wanted to do was get a shower and climb into a bottle of whiskey. And not necessarily in that order.
"Kowalski."
The familiar voice drew his attention away from the Jaffa and back to Jack, but it wasn't his old friend who'd spoken. Standing beside Jack, and looking like he belonged in green utilities and new glasses, was a man he hadn't seen in years.
"Doctor Jackson?"
Daniel smiled. "Major. It's good to see you again."
"You too," Kowalski said, unable to resist returning the smile with one of his own. "And it's Lieutenant Colonel, now. I haven't seen you in a couple of years. What happened? You get tired of going native?"
"Um," Daniel said, his expression going sheepish. "Maybe we could take this someplace else?"
"Sure," Kowalski said, shrugging. He shifted his gun slightly, causing the security detail to refocus their aim on him. "Hey! Call off the dogs, okay? It's me."
"You'll have to forgive them, Colonel," Daniel said, stepping forward. Jack's hand shot out, grabbing for Daniel's arm. The two men shared a silent conversation, a long look passing between them before Jack let go and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. Daniel refocused on Kowalski, raising his hands in reassurance. "You'll have to forgive them. You see, you've been dead for nearly seven years. It's like looking at a ghost."
"I-what?"
A cold shiver slid down his spine. If Daniel was right-and he had no reason to suspect the man might not be-he'd died right around the founding of the Stargate Program. Which was obviously impossible, but it gave him a better idea of what he was facing.
Beside him, the Lieutenant shifted, leaning closer even as the MPs followed with their guns. "What's going on, sir?"
Kowalski heaved a sigh. "Kid, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
~o~
Sam Carter had watched the whole scene unfold from the Control Room as she tried to figure out why the 'gate had sparked so badly. She hadn't been wrong; they'd added additional dampers and transistors to buffer the power the departure 'gate sent through, precisely to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
Of course, there were other explanations for what had happened, and as the two men who'd come through the 'gate had turned around, she'd known at once what the most likely answer would be.
"Solar flare?"
"Maybe, but I'll have to look at the 'gate logs to be sure," Sam said as she watched security taking the two men away. The General had asked for an explanation, and while she didn't have a complete one, she was fairly certain she was right.
"But wouldn't that send them back to their point of origin?" Daniel asked.
Sam shook her head. "Theoretically. But we're talking about a phenomenon that we don't really understand, so anything's possible."
"The last time this happened we went back in time, and we ended up back where we started," Daniel said. "Clearly, that's not what happened here."
"No, it's not." Sam's eyes drifted to the 'gate room, and the memory of Charles Kowalski standing there, alive and whole. There'd been many nights, after that first mission, when she'd wished things had gone differently, wished that she'd have done things differently so they could have spared Kowalski his fate. It was futile, but she couldn't help it. He'd been a good man, and didn't deserve what happened to him. And then there was the young Lieutenant. He was familiar to her, like maybe she'd passed him the last time she'd visited the Academy. It was disconcerting, like a word on the tip of her tongue that she couldn't remember.
"This is not the first time we have encountered an alternate Major Kowalski."
All eyes swung to Teal'c as he joined them in the Control Room.
"But that Kowalski came through the Quantum Mirror," Daniel pointed out. "This one came through the front door, so to speak."
"Is it not the same Major Kowalski?" Teal'c asked.
Daniel shrugged. "He reacted about like you'd expect if he were seeing a ghost, although he didn't seem to have any idea who Teal'c was."
Sam swung her gaze back to the General. "Are you sure it's him?"
Jack winced. "It's him. At least, some version of him." He rubbed a hand over his face. "Oy. I hate this shit, Carter."
"Yes, sir," she said. She could sympathize. "Where are we going to put them?"
"Medical, to start with," Jack said. "I want the Doc to scan them both, make sure they haven't been snaked. If they're clear, we'll put them in separate interview rooms." He took a deep breath. "I'll talk to Kowalski. Daniel, I want you to talk to the kid. Carter, I need you to get to work on this. If they did come through from an alternate universe, we need to know if we can send them back."
"Yes, sir."
"Daniel, care to join me?" Jack asked. He headed for the door, not waiting for a reply
Daniel nodded; he laid a hand on Sam's arm as he passed, squeezing gently in sympathy before he followed the General out of the Control Room, Teal'c trailing faithfully behind.
~o~
The door to the interview room opened, and the young Lieutenant stood up, hoping that it'd be the man he hadn't seen in two long years. It wasn't him, but maybe that was for the best; he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't make a fool of himself. It had been two years, after all.
"Doctor Jackson, right?" the young man asked as he sat down.
The other man smiled as he pulled out the chair across from his and settled in. "Call me Daniel."
"Okay, Daniel."
"Well, your scan was clear, so you're not a Goa'uld," Daniel said.
"Didn't think I was," the Lieutenant said, smiling. "What happens now?"
"Now, we talk," Daniel said. "You obviously know who I am. What's your name?"
"Lieutenant Charles Jonathan O'Neill."
Daniel sat staring at him for a couple of long minutes. Charlie fidgeted under the intensity of the stare, but he tried not to look away. Judging by the looks passing between the two men, it was obvious that Daniel was a good friend of his Dad's. This might be his only chance to find out about the man who wore his father's face in this universe.
Daniel shook his head, finally coming out of his fugue state. "I'm sorry. That was just… a bit shocking."
"I take it we've never met," Charlie said.
"No," Daniel said. There was a sad smile on his face as he spoke that made Charlie think he was probably reliving old memories. "We've never met. You-uh, the Charlie from this universe-he died. When he was eleven."
"How-what happened?"
He knew it wasn't from something like cancer, if the way Daniel's face was pinching was any indication. Still, he wasn't prepared for the shock of Daniel's words.
"He shot himself," Daniel said quietly. "With his father's gun."
"Oh my god," Charlie whispered. He rubbed a hand over his face, leaning back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. When he went on, his voice was subdued. "When I was eleven, my folks left me at home while they went to the mall. Dad and I had been talking about going out to the gun range so I could learn to shoot, but Mom hadn't said yes yet." Charlie dropped his head, smiling wistfully at Daniel. "I knew she would, eventually. We just hadn't talked her around yet. So, that day, they went to the mall and left me at home. I snuck into my parents' bedroom and pulled out the gun."
"You knew where Jack kept it?" Daniel asked.
"'Course I did," Charlie said. "He'd put it in the same spot in his closet every time he came home from a deployment." He shrugged, giving an unapologetic smile. "Anyway, I pulled it out, just to touch it, get a feel for how heavy it was. I was pointing it at the picture above my parents' bed when I squeezed too hard on the trigger."
Daniel winced. "Bet that was a bit of a shock."
"You're telling me," Charlie said. "My aim wasn't all that great, either, because instead of putting a hole in the picture, I put a hole in the window. Scared the shit out of myself, too. So, I packed up the gun and put it back. Never said a word to my Dad."
"Didn't he notice the hole in the window?"
"Yeah." Charlie smiled. "He had a new one installed, and a week later, we went down to the range for my first lesson. He never said anything, but I think he knew."
"I'm glad there's a universe out there where you didn't die," Daniel said quietly. "It… broke your Dad, a lot, losing you. When I met him, he was a shell of a man. I'm not sure how he's going to react, knowing that you're the son he lost all those years ago."
"If it makes you feel any better, looking at him is like looking at a ghost for me," Charlie said.
Daniel frowned. "Why?"
"My Dad died two years ago," Charlie said, shrugging. "He had an Ancient database downloaded into his brain. Turns out he's good, but not that good."
"Two years ago?" Daniel asked. "What planet was this?"
"P3X-439, I think," Charlie said. "I wasn't in the program yet, but I looked it up after I joined. They were supposed to retrieve it, but something went wrong and it grabbed Dad's head instead. Thor was out of touch, and the Tok'ra couldn't help, so he died."
"J-Your Dad went through something similar here, too," Daniel said. "But it was more like six months ago, and we were able to put him in stasis until Thor arrived."
"Wow," Charlie said. "So it's true, this whole thing with alternate universes."
"Sam would know better than I do, but essentially, yeah."
Charlie perked up. "Sam Carter?"
"Yes," Daniel said slowly. "Why?"
"Are she and my Dad still married?"
Daniel just sat there, blinking at him. "Um, no. They're not married. Sam's been Jack's second in command since the beginning of the program. It's against regulations for them to-"
"Bullshit," Charlie said, not at all sorry when Daniel threw him a quelling look. "Doesn't General Hammond have any pull? Or is he gone, too?"
"General Hammond's still with the program," Daniel said. "He's Jack's boss, head of Homeworld Security now."
"Well, I don't know about your Hammond, but my Uncle George pushed through a change to the frat regs back at the beginning. Dad said he knew right away the situation would become, and I quote, 'worse than a high school prom' if they didn’t amend the regs right away, but he didn't want any special favors."
Daniel chuckled. "That sounds like your Dad. Except in this universe, General Hammond took Jack and Sam at their word and didn't push for a change to the regulations."
"Maybe you could ask Uncle George for him," Charlie said.
"And why would I do that?" Daniel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Charlie sighed. "Because my Dad deserves a little bit of happiness, and I know Sam was able to give that to him." He paused as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Unless my Mom's still alive in this universe?"
"Alive?"
"She was killed in a car crash, when I was twelve," Charlie said. He dipped his head, squeezing his eyes shut. It was still hard to talk about sometimes, even all these years later. "I guess that's why Sam and I bonded so well. She knew exactly what it felt like to lose your mother."
"Yes, she does," Daniel agreed quietly. "But to answer your question, Sarah is still alive. She and your Dad divorced not long after-do you know about the first mission to Abydos?"
"As much as the report says," Charlie said. "I know you were on it, and Colonel Kowalski and Dad. They never talked about it, and you didn't come back with them, so I only know that they blew up Ra's mothership before they gated back home."
"Ah," Daniel said. "Well, that's pretty much what happened. Except that, when Jack got home, it was to find divorce papers waiting for him. After you-after what happened, they drifted apart, I guess you could say."
"So, my Mom's alive?" Charlie asked. "Can I see her?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Charlie," Daniel said, not unkindly. "Providing we can recreate the conditions that landed you here, we'll be sending you back to your universe. It might do more harm than good for her to meet you. Plus, she's not really cleared to know anything about the program."
"Yeah," Charlie said, sighing resignedly. He'd known it was a longshot, but he had to ask. "Could I see my Dad?"
Daniel smiled. "Now that I might be able to arrange."
~o~
Jack took a deep breath as he reached for the knob to open the door. He wasn't exactly eager to go inside, considering what was waiting for him. Or rather, who was waiting for him.
If he'd thought it was bad the last time a Charlie Kowalski had come through from an alternate universe, this was somehow worse. At least last time, he'd been able to send that one home, albeit to his death. And what was it about his life that he could say this: each time he'd met a Charlie Kowalski, the man had died?
Jack bit back a sigh. The airman standing guard outside Kowalski's room had started shifting on his feet, a clear sign that he was concerned with why the General would be standing outside the room, basically stalling. Well, the interview wasn't going to happen with him standing on this side of the door. He turned his head and gave Teal'c-who'd followed him and stationed himself across from the interview room-a brief nod, receiving one in return. Then, he flashed a smile at the airman before turning the knob and pushing through the open door.
Kowalski stood up, cocky smile still in place.
"Somebody made you a General, huh?"
Jack winced. "Wasn't my idea. You know me: resist responsibility until the bitter end."
He took a seat across the table from Kowalski, leaning forward on his arms. Kowalski settled in opposite him with a grin. "I call bullshit on that. You're a better leader than you've ever given yourself credit for being. Remember that thing in Afghanistan?"
They stared at each other for the space of a few heartbeats. Jack did remember Afghanistan, only too well. Still, it was strange, sharing that memory with a man who, despite appearances, was a stranger to him.
"Right," Kowalski said, shaking his head. "So, what's the deal? Are we gonna get shipped off to Area 51 for further 'examination'? Or are you gonna try to send us home? 'Cuz I gotta tell ya, the hospitality around here sucks."
Oh yeah, that was the Charlie Kowalski he knew, no doubt about it. Jack couldn't hide the smile, or the relief he felt at knowing that.
"Carter's working on it," he said, waving his hand. "If anyone can figure it out, she can."
"Carter, huh?" Kowalski said. His smile slid into a smirk as he leaned back in his chair. "You're calling your wife 'Carter' these days?"
"Wife?" Jack asks, eyebrow raised. What he really wanted to do was either yell at the top of his lungs or do a happy dance, but he settled for the eyebrow. "What is it with all these alternate realities where we're always married to each other?"
Kowalski frowned. "You're not married?"
"Nope," Jack said, popping the 'p' just for effect.
"Huh."
Jack shifted uncomfortably. "I hope you don't mind me saying so, but you still look a little like you've seen a ghost."
"You're not wrong," Kowalski said. "Where I come from, you're dead."
"Baal's Pleasure Palace?" Jack asked, thinking that was the logical point of divergence.
"That was you?"
"You mean, that was you?"
"Yeah." Kowalski's voice was tight, his eyes pinched. "I got sick-"
"With an Ancient flu bug, so I had to get-"
"Snaked to save my life." Kowalski blinked. "Damn. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, much less my best friend. Yu rescued you?"
"Sort of," Jack said. "Daniel kinda broke the glowy-people rules and pointed Teal'c in the right direction. He called Yu."
"Yeah, about that," Kowalski said, leaning forward. "What's with the First Prime wandering around the base? Shouldn't he be somewhere being dissected?"
"Teal'c's been a valuable ally," Jack said. "He helped us escape from Apophis' palace on that first mission to Chulak."
"Wait, you mean Apophis captured you?" Kowalski leaned back, shaking his head. "You must be slipping."
"You didn't get captured?"
Kowalski shook his head. "General Hammond delayed the mission a day, just to make sure we had all the intel we were gonna need-a strategy you agreed with, I might add-then sent us to scope out the planet. By the time we got there, everyone was gone."
Jack winced. "What about Sha're?"
"The Tok'ra captured and de-snaked her, then sent her back to Abydos. That's how we made contact with them."
"Huh."
Jack was actually surprised at how different things were. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know how he-the other him-had died. It might be too weird. Or turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that was the last thing he needed.
"So, you're here."
"Hey, wasn't my idea, buddy." Kowalski shook his head, accepting the change in topic with the ease born of familiarity.
"Well, Carter's gonna ask, so care to tell me how exactly it happened?"
Kowalski sighed. "We were supposed to be doing recon on P2X-388. The MALP had detected a possible source of naquadah, so we gated in, but apparently we weren't the only ones interested."
"Jaffa," Jack said, nodding. "They didn't show up on the MALP?"
"No," Kowalski said. "We figured they'd been there for a while. I left Delmas and Smith at the 'gate, so when we ran across the Jaffa, I radioed them to dial home and not leave the door open. When the kid and I got to the 'gate, we dialed home like normal, and wound up here."
"You didn't notice anything strange?" Not that Jack would know what strange would be, but he figured he should ask.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," Kowalski said. "Look, I know this is weird, and if I could have avoided it, I would have. But you have to admit, it was nice to see me again, right?"
Jack smiled. "Yeah, it's good to see you again."
"Well, there you go."
Jack only hoped it was that simple.
~o~
Daniel slipped out of the interview room into the corridor, taking his first deep breath in what felt like too long. He saw Teal'c standing across the hall, hands clasped behind his back in a sort-of parade rest. The former First Prime regarded him with interest, but Daniel made no move to join him, his thoughts too restless for him to put them in any kind of order.
He had no idea how he was going to break the news to Jack, but he knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Either Jack would avoid the kid, or… actually, that was probably about the reaction they'd get. Jack was notorious for simply ignoring emotional issues when he couldn't deal with them. And this was going to be about as emotional as it got.
"Is O'Neill's son well?"
Daniel's head popped up. "How did you know?"
"Young O'Neill bears a striking resemblance to his father," Teal'c said.
"Yeah," Daniel sighed out. He crossed over and slumped against the wall, glancing at his friend. "He's not going to take this well."
It wasn't a question, but Teal'c answered anyway. "The subject of his son's death has been particularly difficult for O'Neill to discuss, but I believe he will approach it with some equanimity."
"You think?"
"This is not, in fact, his son."
Daniel tilted his head in silent acknowledgement. "Might not be the same kid who-in some alternate universe, this is still Jack O'Neill's son. I don't think he's going to make the distinction."
"O'Neill is many things, but a coward he is not," Teal'c said, as if it were an affront to him to even consider that. "He will accept what is. He has no other choice."
"Maybe," Daniel said. "But what if Sam finds a way to send them back?"
"What is, is," Teal'c said.
Daniel chuckled. He'd watched enough hockey with Jack to recognize the saying, even if the phrasing was all Teal'c. It is what it is was a favorite of athletes the world over, but he couldn't fault their logic in this case.
"I guess I'm just hoping that Jack sees this as a second chance, even if it doesn't last long."
"As do I," Teal'c said, nodding solemnly.
The door across from them swung open, and the object of their conversation stepped out. Daniel straightened up and took in the easy cant of his shoulders and the almost smile on his face. "So, it's Kowalski, right?"
"Yeah, it's Kowalski," Jack said, nodding. "At least, some alternate universe version of him."
"Did he say how he managed to survive when ours didn't?"
Jack winced. "I didn't ask. Not sure I want to know."
Daniel could understand that. Knowing how some other version of the SGC had been able to save one of their own would only bring back the sense of failure and loss they'd experienced the first time they lost Kowalski.
"So, what about the kid?" Jack asked into the silence.
"Um, he's-"
"Your son is a fine officer," Teal'c said.
"Chip off the old block, eh?"
Daniel and Teal'c shared a raised-eyebrow look, but it was Daniel who spoke. "You knew?"
"Of course I knew, Daniel," Jack said. His reply was flip, but he could see the pinch in Jack's expression that told him he was trying very hard not to think about what was going on. "You think I wouldn't recognize my own son?"
Daniel winced. "He asked to see you."
Jack's lips thinned into a straight line. He stood for a moment, hands in his pockets, eyes darting around the corridor as if there was something to see besides the three of them and the airman guarding the rooms. Then, abruptly, he turned and opened the door to the room holding his son and stepped inside.
Daniel looked at Teal'c, whose surprise matched his own. "Well, I didn't see that coming."
Teal'c raised his eyebrow once more. "Indeed."
~o~
Jack let the door fall quietly shut behind him and just stood for a moment, watching the young man across from him.
Charlie.
His son.
Alive and well, and apparently following in his father's footsteps. He felt an overflow of pride in his chest, for all that this kid had been able to do that his son hadn't, even as the pain of loss surged forward again.
Charlie was sitting with his head pillowed on his arms, obviously oblivious to the world around him. Jack felt another pang of sorrow, at how much it must be hurting the kid, knowing that there was a man within reach who both was and wasn't his father. And that thought brought a stabbing pain in his head as he tried to sort out the whole alternate universe thing.
Tucking his hands into his pockets, he pushed that aside as he cleared his throat. An amused smile teased at his lips as he watched Charlie jump up from the table, his chair clattering behind him.
"Dad!" he practically shouted as he scrambled to attention, then, "Sir!"
"Charlie," Jack said. He wanted to go over and fold the kid into the biggest hug he could, but he held back. He wasn’t really the father Charlie had lost, and Charlie wasn't really his son, and he had to remember that.
"It's good to see you," Jack said. He took in the stiff posture and the way Charlie was carefully not looking at him, but rather at a point somewhere over his left shoulder, and winced. "At ease, kid. For cryin' out loud."
Those words seemed to melt the kid, because he relaxed back into something a little more slouchy than parade rest as a smile lit his face. Standing like this, with his boyish good looks and the charm of his smile, Jack felt the guilt wash through him once more. But it was dulled by time and distance, so he set it aside. No sense torturing himself over things he couldn't change.
"It's good to see you, too, Sir," Charlie said. "It's… been a while."
"So I heard," Jack said. He made no move to sit down, and neither did Charlie. Neither of them looked especially comfortable, which didn’t surprise Jack. What did one say to the dead son who was standing in front of you, clearly not dead?
The silence stretched as the two men looked at each other. Up close, Jack could now see that Charlie had a lot of his mother in him. His smile, his hair, which had lightened to a sandy blonde more like his ex-wife's than his. He was tall like Jack-like they'd always imagined he would be-and had the brown eyes typical of an O'Neill. It was like looking at a younger version of himself.
Jack shook off those thoughts. He so didn't want to remember that there was a mini-me running around the planet. He'd given permission to save the kid, but he really didn't want to contemplate the consequences.
"So, Air Force, huh?"
"Yeah," Charlie said, his smile growing. "Graduated top ten; managed to beat my Old Man at something."
Jack chuckled. "And how would you know that?"
"I checked," Charlie said. "You graduated 25th in your class. All that bullshit about not having any idea what Sam's talking about is just that: bullshit."
"Carter likes to feel useful," Jack said, shrugging. "Besides, if I let on that I have any idea at all what she's talking about, she'd still be talking a week later. Not something we usually have time for."
"Sure," Charlie said, smile still in place. "Whatever you say, Dad."
Both men froze. Jack winced as he saw the pained look crossing his son's face. And it was his son in the room with him, despite the fact that they were from two different universes. The son he'd believed he would never see again. And if it weren't for the Stargate and alternate universes and science he wished he didn't understand, he probably wouldn't see the kid again after today.
He was crossing the room before he'd even made the decision, drawing the young man who was and wasn't his son into his arms. Charlie stood stock still for a moment before he melted into the embrace. Charlie laid his head on Jack's shoulder, his hands gripping the back of Jack's shirt like he was afraid his father was going to disappear any second.
Jack could feel the kid's breath on his neck, the steady beat of his heart in his chest. Tears burned at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Charlie took a few hitching breaths, swallowing hard a time or two as if to control his own emotions.
"I've missed you, you know?" Charlie mumbled into his neck.
Jack sighed, shifting his head to drop a kiss into Charlie's hair. "I know, kid. I've missed you, too."
They stood like that for a few moments, nothing but the two of them and a moment that shouldn't have been possible, but one that Jack wouldn't trade for anything. Finally, Charlie pushed back, taking a step away, but still firmly within arm's reach.
"So, what do we do now?" he asked as he brushed away the few tears that had escaped his control.
"Now, we wait for Carter to do her thing," Jack said, smiling softly. "In the meantime, you want a tour?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Dad, I work here, remember?"
"And do you have an Xbox hooked up to the screen in the briefing room?"
"Does Sam know about this?" Charlie asked.
Jack winced. "What Carter doesn't know won't hurt her."
"Yeah, but it might hurt you," Charlie said.
His laughter at the panicked look Jack gave carried out into the corridor.
~o~
"Okay, Carter," Jack said as he settled at the head of the briefing table, "wow us with your dizzying intellect."
Sam narrowed her eyes at her commanding officer. There was a pop culture reference in there, she was almost sure of it. His grin was practically daring her to ask, but she knew they'd never get the briefing finished-much less started-if she let the conversation get hijacked by a discussion on the relative merits of-whatever.
Instead, she took a deep breath and turned to the screen behind her. "We've analyzed the telemetry data from the dialing computer. This is a model of what we think happened to Kowalski and-"
"Charlie," Daniel said when Sam broke off.
She smiled at him, but it was slightly pinched. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to that, but that was a problem for another time.
"Sorry, Carter, but what exactly are we looking at here?" Jack asked. He was tipping his head back and forth, as if trying to find a better angle to view the model on the screen.
"This," Sam said, defaulting into teaching mode, "is a Pulsar, specifically Regulus 45c-1. Basically, it's a star that's jetting out massive amounts of radiation along a particular axis. When viewed from a telescope here on Earth, it looks like it's pulsing, because the radiation only emits in two directions, directly opposite one another."
"And that's what you think their wormhole passed through on the way to Earth?" Daniel asked.
"Yes."
"It's a wonder they weren't cooked by all that radiation," Daniel said.
Sam flipped the slide, so that the model showed the wormhole passing through the jet of radiation. "They probably should have been. Instead, we think the radiation from the Pulsar had a kind of prismatic effect, like when light catches a crystal. The crystal splits the light into its constituent bandwidths, which the human eye interprets as a rainbow."
"I have seen this phenomenon on many worlds," Teal'c said.
Sam glanced over to him, seated as usual at the General's right. She often forgot that he understood so much, because he rarely ever spoke, but he hadn't become a First Prime based on bravery alone.
"This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Charlie and Kowalski?" Jack asked.
"Everything."
All eyes turned to the woman sitting next to Teal'c. Doctor Carolyn Lam had only joined the SGC a week ago, and already she'd been thrown into the deep end. It was a wonder she hadn't run for the hills yet.
Sam took her seat next to Daniel, on Jack's other side, and listened as the Doctor explained what they believed to have happened.
"When I did the preliminary DNA tests on Colonel Kowalski and Lieutenant O'Neill, I was able to determine that they were a match for the samples we have on file for both men."
"Wait, you have Jack's son's DNA on file?" Daniel asked.
"In the Lieutenant's case," Carolyn said, "we compared his DNA to the General's, as well as a sample from his ex-wife. He showed a strong familial match to both. If this were a court of law, I'd be confident in testifying that Charlie O'Neill is the General's son."
All eyes swung to the General, but he didn't react, as if that were the exact outcome he'd been expecting. Which was probably true, even if it was still something of a shock. Daniel had explained it to her when he'd stopped by her lab to check in, but she was still having trouble coming to grips with the situation. Not just that in some alternate universe, Jack O'Neill's son had survived, but that she was that kid's stepmother. Even for as comfortable as she was with all this science, Sam was still getting a headache trying to come to terms with the whole mess.
"Okay, so we know they are who they say they are," Jack said, breaking into Sam's thoughts. "The question is, how do we send them back?"
"Um, that's just it, Sir," Sam said. "We don't."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "We don't?"
"There's nowhere to send them back to," Sam said.
"Carter," Jack said. He rubbed a hand over his face. "They had to come from somewhere, so why can't we send them back where they came from?"
"We can't send them back because, according to the DNA tests, they're actually from this universe."
Now it was Carolyn's turn to be the center of attention, as everyone swung their gaze to her. She sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Look, I don't pretend to understand what all the science means, but Colonel Carter and I tested the isotopes in both men's DNA, and that matches this universe." She paused. "They're ours."
There was silence around the room as they all absorbed that information. Even though Sam had been in the room and assisting Carolyn with the test, she was still reeling from the reality.
"So, wait," Daniel said, when the silence had stretched on for several moments. "They're actually from this universe, despite the fact that both of them are supposedly dead."
Jack winced, and Sam's heart went out to him. It had to have been hard meeting his son, knowing that he couldn't stay because the consequences of staying-even if they were the only copies of each man on Earth-were too painful to consider. Only now they knew they couldn't send them back. Hope, such a fragile thing under normal circumstances, had to be near the breaking point from being yanked around so much.
"How is that possible?" Teal'c asked. "I personally witnessed the death of Charles Kowalski. While I acknowledge that the man we have in custody is a Charles Kowalski, he is not our Charles Kowalski."
"Well, it goes back to the prismatic effect," Sam said, waving at the screen, still displaying the graphic she'd started with. "When the wormhole passed through the Pulsar's jet, it fractured, for lack of a better term, creating slightly different copies of itself, which then continued on their original path."
"So, you mean there could be other copies of Charlie and Kowalski in other alternate universes?" Daniel asked.
Sam sighed. "We don’t know, but it seems likely."
"So, the bottom line is, whether or not this is the universe they started out in, it's their universe now."
Everyone looked at Jack, who had so neatly summed up the situation in a single sentence. Sam was forced to accept, yet again, that her commanding officer wasn't the idiot he wanted others to believe. He was actually quite shrewd, when she thought about it. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, and he winced slightly, probably realizing too late that he'd showed off his intellect yet again.
"Yes, Sir, that about sums it up," Sam said, smirking at him. It was rare for her to catch him out, and she was going to enjoy this for as long as she could.
"So, who gets to tell them that they can't go home because they're already home?" Daniel asked.
~o~
~o~
The alarm blared into the quiet of a Monday morning, causing General Jack O'Neill's head to pop up from the report he was reading. His mental rolodex flipped through the status of the base and his teams on automatic. SG-1 was not currently deployed, but SG-3 and Dave Baldwin's team-SG-13-were both on the same planet, doing a survey. There were a couple of other teams offworld, but none on potentially dangerous missions. And no one was scheduled for a check-in for at least two more hours.
He could hear Sergeant Walter Harriman's voice through the PA system, urgent but not panicked. "Unscheduled offworld activation!"
Jack sighed and stood up. It was never a good sign when the week began with an unscheduled visit. It could very well be one of their allies, making contact for entirely benign reasons, but in Jack's experience, it was more likely to be a team coming in hot due to an unscheduled run-in with the Goa'uld.
He made his way across the briefing room and down the stairs, settling into his usual place behind Harriman to await information on just who or what they were facing.
"Incoming wormhole from P2X-388, sir," Harriman reported without prompting.
Jack raised an eyebrow. He was constantly amazed by exactly how much his people thought he'd actually retained from his experiences with the Ancient database, especially the addresses he'd entered. He didn't remember a whole lot from those experiences, and what he did retain was seared into his brain in bright Technicolor.
The 'gate addresses hadn't been one of those things.
"We don't currently have any teams deployed to that planet," Harriman supplied.
Jack nodded. He didn't think so, but somehow that didn't make him feel any better.
"Jack."
He turned and found Daniel Jackson striding up, Sam Carter hot on his heels.
"Daniel, Carter." He looked behind them, noticing immediately they were one short. "Where's Teal'c?"
Daniel bobbed his chin in the direction of the 'gate room, and Jack caught sight of him entering with the MPs, surrounding the 'gate with weapons drawn. Just as the last of the security team entered the room, the 'gate began to spark, as if it were being overloaded. The men pulled back, flattening their backs against the wall as they tried to get as far from the sparking as possible.
"He was at the range when the alarm went off," Daniel said as Sam stepped up to the console to try to identify the problem. "He said something at breakfast about target practice with some of the Marines."
"Any idea why the 'gate's sparking like a live wire?" Jack asked.
"Looks like a power surge," Sam said, shaking her head as she turned to address the General. "We haven't seen that since the early days of the program. Technically, it's not supposed to do that."
"That's not reassuring at all, Carter," Jack said.
"Sir, I'm getting an IDC," Harriman said, interrupting Sam's explanation.
Jack frowned. "I thought you said we didn't have any teams on -388?"
"We don't," Sam said. She moved to stand beside Harriman, leaning over to read the display, her eyes flicking through the information and absorbing it quickly. "It's an older code-" She stood up abruptly, looking at him with round eyes.
"What?"
"Sir, it's Kowalski's code."
"How's that possible?" Daniel asked. "I thought we'd locked all those old codes out of the system."
"We did," Jack said. He could feel the uneasiness roll through him. This could easily be a trick, an attempt to gain a foothold at the SGC. It'd been tried before, with limited success. Somehow, though, he didn't think that was the case. If whoever it was wanted them to open the front door, why use an out-of-date code from a man who'd been dead for nearly eight years? "Open the iris."
"Sir!"
"Jack, do you really think that's wise?" Daniel asked, cutting across Sam's exclamation.
"If someone wanted to invade us, why use a code we're guaranteed to be suspicious of?"
Sam frowned, but Daniel looked more sanguine. "Right," he said.
"Besides," Jack went on, "this is what those Marines train for." He looked to the Sergeant, nodding his head once. "Send the 'all clear', Walter."
"Yes, sir," Harriman said.
He placed his hand on the scanner and waited for it to recognize his authorization. The iris shifted, pulling back to reveal the familiar shimmering pool of blue at the event horizon. Below them, Teal'c looked up, eyebrow raised. Jack gave the faintest shrug of his shoulders. He was playing a hunch, hoping like hell he wasn't being played in return.
No one moved for several long seconds as they waited for something to happen. Finally, the event horizon rippled, and two people came backing down the ramp, guns drawn, watching the wormhole in front of them as if they expected someone to be following.
"Shut it down!" one of the men who'd just come through barked, just as a staff blast slapped the wall, sending the security detail diving for cover.
Harriman spared a short glance at Jack, who nodded quickly. The sergeant's hand shot out, slapping the iris control with more force than strictly necessary. The iris rotated into place, and behind that they could all hear the telltale thud of something hitting the metal without fully reintegrating.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief. How bad could it be if their unscheduled offworld activation had only turned up two men, even if they were being shot at?
They were both dressed in the familiar olive green SGC utilities under standard-issue tac vests. Both men were carrying what appeared to be P90s, and the patches on their jackets suggested they were both part of SG-1, though from the back even Jack could tell they weren't any of the guys currently assigned to the Stargate Program, much less anyone on SG-1.
And then the two men turned around and chaos erupted.
~o~
Charles Kowalski had been in plenty of fucked-up situations in his time. Fucked-up had become a sort of standard operating procedure at the SGC in the years since he'd joined the program. He'd been snaked once, seen others snaked, watched a sun go nova, blown up multiple mother ships, and had even watched as his best friend had been slowly killed by an alien database downloaded into his brain.
None of that had in any way prepared him for what he saw when he turned around.
Arrayed around them were no less than a dozen Marines, their weapons pointed directly at him and his second in command. That, in and of itself, wasn't a surprise. They'd 'gated in hot and unscheduled; standard operating procedure dictated that the SGC scramble a security detail to the 'gate room, just in case.
No, what really took the cake today was the fact that he was staring at the First Prime of Apophis, wearing the standard issue SGC utilities and pointing a P90 at them.
On instinct, he raised his gun, pointing at the most apparent threat in the room. To his great satisfaction, the kid beside him did the same. There was a lot of shouting at that point, and to be fair, he thought maybe he'd done his fair share, but when the dust settled, they were still in a Mexican standoff, everyone still pointing their guns at everyone else, and no one showing any signs of giving up.
To his left, the blast door slid open, and Kowalski breathed a sigh of relief. He'd always trusted General Hammond; hopefully, the man could explain why he was facing down a First Prime and his own men.
Except that the man who strode through the door wasn't General Hammond. It was a ghost. Kowalski shook his head, trying to make that make sense.
"Jack?" The General winced, and Kowalski frowned. "Jack, what's going on here?"
Why aren't you dead? he wanted to ask, but thought that might be pushing it. Beside him, he could hear the Lieutenant's quietly muttered what the fuck? He couldn't agree more.
"You tell me," Jack said.
"Look, I don't know what kind of game this is, but it's not funny," Kowalski said, angry now. "We just barely escaped a bunch of angry Jaffa, and when we get back, we're being threatened by-him! And you-I can't even explain you!"
He couldn't help a threatening glare at the First Prime, but if the Jaffa was bothered by it, he didn't show it. And no one else seemed bothered by the fact that he was there. It was all giving him a headache. All he really wanted to do was get a shower and climb into a bottle of whiskey. And not necessarily in that order.
"Kowalski."
The familiar voice drew his attention away from the Jaffa and back to Jack, but it wasn't his old friend who'd spoken. Standing beside Jack, and looking like he belonged in green utilities and new glasses, was a man he hadn't seen in years.
"Doctor Jackson?"
Daniel smiled. "Major. It's good to see you again."
"You too," Kowalski said, unable to resist returning the smile with one of his own. "And it's Lieutenant Colonel, now. I haven't seen you in a couple of years. What happened? You get tired of going native?"
"Um," Daniel said, his expression going sheepish. "Maybe we could take this someplace else?"
"Sure," Kowalski said, shrugging. He shifted his gun slightly, causing the security detail to refocus their aim on him. "Hey! Call off the dogs, okay? It's me."
"You'll have to forgive them, Colonel," Daniel said, stepping forward. Jack's hand shot out, grabbing for Daniel's arm. The two men shared a silent conversation, a long look passing between them before Jack let go and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. Daniel refocused on Kowalski, raising his hands in reassurance. "You'll have to forgive them. You see, you've been dead for nearly seven years. It's like looking at a ghost."
"I-what?"
A cold shiver slid down his spine. If Daniel was right-and he had no reason to suspect the man might not be-he'd died right around the founding of the Stargate Program. Which was obviously impossible, but it gave him a better idea of what he was facing.
Beside him, the Lieutenant shifted, leaning closer even as the MPs followed with their guns. "What's going on, sir?"
Kowalski heaved a sigh. "Kid, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
~o~
Sam Carter had watched the whole scene unfold from the Control Room as she tried to figure out why the 'gate had sparked so badly. She hadn't been wrong; they'd added additional dampers and transistors to buffer the power the departure 'gate sent through, precisely to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
Of course, there were other explanations for what had happened, and as the two men who'd come through the 'gate had turned around, she'd known at once what the most likely answer would be.
"Solar flare?"
"Maybe, but I'll have to look at the 'gate logs to be sure," Sam said as she watched security taking the two men away. The General had asked for an explanation, and while she didn't have a complete one, she was fairly certain she was right.
"But wouldn't that send them back to their point of origin?" Daniel asked.
Sam shook her head. "Theoretically. But we're talking about a phenomenon that we don't really understand, so anything's possible."
"The last time this happened we went back in time, and we ended up back where we started," Daniel said. "Clearly, that's not what happened here."
"No, it's not." Sam's eyes drifted to the 'gate room, and the memory of Charles Kowalski standing there, alive and whole. There'd been many nights, after that first mission, when she'd wished things had gone differently, wished that she'd have done things differently so they could have spared Kowalski his fate. It was futile, but she couldn't help it. He'd been a good man, and didn't deserve what happened to him. And then there was the young Lieutenant. He was familiar to her, like maybe she'd passed him the last time she'd visited the Academy. It was disconcerting, like a word on the tip of her tongue that she couldn't remember.
"This is not the first time we have encountered an alternate Major Kowalski."
All eyes swung to Teal'c as he joined them in the Control Room.
"But that Kowalski came through the Quantum Mirror," Daniel pointed out. "This one came through the front door, so to speak."
"Is it not the same Major Kowalski?" Teal'c asked.
Daniel shrugged. "He reacted about like you'd expect if he were seeing a ghost, although he didn't seem to have any idea who Teal'c was."
Sam swung her gaze back to the General. "Are you sure it's him?"
Jack winced. "It's him. At least, some version of him." He rubbed a hand over his face. "Oy. I hate this shit, Carter."
"Yes, sir," she said. She could sympathize. "Where are we going to put them?"
"Medical, to start with," Jack said. "I want the Doc to scan them both, make sure they haven't been snaked. If they're clear, we'll put them in separate interview rooms." He took a deep breath. "I'll talk to Kowalski. Daniel, I want you to talk to the kid. Carter, I need you to get to work on this. If they did come through from an alternate universe, we need to know if we can send them back."
"Yes, sir."
"Daniel, care to join me?" Jack asked. He headed for the door, not waiting for a reply
Daniel nodded; he laid a hand on Sam's arm as he passed, squeezing gently in sympathy before he followed the General out of the Control Room, Teal'c trailing faithfully behind.
~o~
The door to the interview room opened, and the young Lieutenant stood up, hoping that it'd be the man he hadn't seen in two long years. It wasn't him, but maybe that was for the best; he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't make a fool of himself. It had been two years, after all.
"Doctor Jackson, right?" the young man asked as he sat down.
The other man smiled as he pulled out the chair across from his and settled in. "Call me Daniel."
"Okay, Daniel."
"Well, your scan was clear, so you're not a Goa'uld," Daniel said.
"Didn't think I was," the Lieutenant said, smiling. "What happens now?"
"Now, we talk," Daniel said. "You obviously know who I am. What's your name?"
"Lieutenant Charles Jonathan O'Neill."
Daniel sat staring at him for a couple of long minutes. Charlie fidgeted under the intensity of the stare, but he tried not to look away. Judging by the looks passing between the two men, it was obvious that Daniel was a good friend of his Dad's. This might be his only chance to find out about the man who wore his father's face in this universe.
Daniel shook his head, finally coming out of his fugue state. "I'm sorry. That was just… a bit shocking."
"I take it we've never met," Charlie said.
"No," Daniel said. There was a sad smile on his face as he spoke that made Charlie think he was probably reliving old memories. "We've never met. You-uh, the Charlie from this universe-he died. When he was eleven."
"How-what happened?"
He knew it wasn't from something like cancer, if the way Daniel's face was pinching was any indication. Still, he wasn't prepared for the shock of Daniel's words.
"He shot himself," Daniel said quietly. "With his father's gun."
"Oh my god," Charlie whispered. He rubbed a hand over his face, leaning back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. When he went on, his voice was subdued. "When I was eleven, my folks left me at home while they went to the mall. Dad and I had been talking about going out to the gun range so I could learn to shoot, but Mom hadn't said yes yet." Charlie dropped his head, smiling wistfully at Daniel. "I knew she would, eventually. We just hadn't talked her around yet. So, that day, they went to the mall and left me at home. I snuck into my parents' bedroom and pulled out the gun."
"You knew where Jack kept it?" Daniel asked.
"'Course I did," Charlie said. "He'd put it in the same spot in his closet every time he came home from a deployment." He shrugged, giving an unapologetic smile. "Anyway, I pulled it out, just to touch it, get a feel for how heavy it was. I was pointing it at the picture above my parents' bed when I squeezed too hard on the trigger."
Daniel winced. "Bet that was a bit of a shock."
"You're telling me," Charlie said. "My aim wasn't all that great, either, because instead of putting a hole in the picture, I put a hole in the window. Scared the shit out of myself, too. So, I packed up the gun and put it back. Never said a word to my Dad."
"Didn't he notice the hole in the window?"
"Yeah." Charlie smiled. "He had a new one installed, and a week later, we went down to the range for my first lesson. He never said anything, but I think he knew."
"I'm glad there's a universe out there where you didn't die," Daniel said quietly. "It… broke your Dad, a lot, losing you. When I met him, he was a shell of a man. I'm not sure how he's going to react, knowing that you're the son he lost all those years ago."
"If it makes you feel any better, looking at him is like looking at a ghost for me," Charlie said.
Daniel frowned. "Why?"
"My Dad died two years ago," Charlie said, shrugging. "He had an Ancient database downloaded into his brain. Turns out he's good, but not that good."
"Two years ago?" Daniel asked. "What planet was this?"
"P3X-439, I think," Charlie said. "I wasn't in the program yet, but I looked it up after I joined. They were supposed to retrieve it, but something went wrong and it grabbed Dad's head instead. Thor was out of touch, and the Tok'ra couldn't help, so he died."
"J-Your Dad went through something similar here, too," Daniel said. "But it was more like six months ago, and we were able to put him in stasis until Thor arrived."
"Wow," Charlie said. "So it's true, this whole thing with alternate universes."
"Sam would know better than I do, but essentially, yeah."
Charlie perked up. "Sam Carter?"
"Yes," Daniel said slowly. "Why?"
"Are she and my Dad still married?"
Daniel just sat there, blinking at him. "Um, no. They're not married. Sam's been Jack's second in command since the beginning of the program. It's against regulations for them to-"
"Bullshit," Charlie said, not at all sorry when Daniel threw him a quelling look. "Doesn't General Hammond have any pull? Or is he gone, too?"
"General Hammond's still with the program," Daniel said. "He's Jack's boss, head of Homeworld Security now."
"Well, I don't know about your Hammond, but my Uncle George pushed through a change to the frat regs back at the beginning. Dad said he knew right away the situation would become, and I quote, 'worse than a high school prom' if they didn’t amend the regs right away, but he didn't want any special favors."
Daniel chuckled. "That sounds like your Dad. Except in this universe, General Hammond took Jack and Sam at their word and didn't push for a change to the regulations."
"Maybe you could ask Uncle George for him," Charlie said.
"And why would I do that?" Daniel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Charlie sighed. "Because my Dad deserves a little bit of happiness, and I know Sam was able to give that to him." He paused as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Unless my Mom's still alive in this universe?"
"Alive?"
"She was killed in a car crash, when I was twelve," Charlie said. He dipped his head, squeezing his eyes shut. It was still hard to talk about sometimes, even all these years later. "I guess that's why Sam and I bonded so well. She knew exactly what it felt like to lose your mother."
"Yes, she does," Daniel agreed quietly. "But to answer your question, Sarah is still alive. She and your Dad divorced not long after-do you know about the first mission to Abydos?"
"As much as the report says," Charlie said. "I know you were on it, and Colonel Kowalski and Dad. They never talked about it, and you didn't come back with them, so I only know that they blew up Ra's mothership before they gated back home."
"Ah," Daniel said. "Well, that's pretty much what happened. Except that, when Jack got home, it was to find divorce papers waiting for him. After you-after what happened, they drifted apart, I guess you could say."
"So, my Mom's alive?" Charlie asked. "Can I see her?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Charlie," Daniel said, not unkindly. "Providing we can recreate the conditions that landed you here, we'll be sending you back to your universe. It might do more harm than good for her to meet you. Plus, she's not really cleared to know anything about the program."
"Yeah," Charlie said, sighing resignedly. He'd known it was a longshot, but he had to ask. "Could I see my Dad?"
Daniel smiled. "Now that I might be able to arrange."
~o~
Jack took a deep breath as he reached for the knob to open the door. He wasn't exactly eager to go inside, considering what was waiting for him. Or rather, who was waiting for him.
If he'd thought it was bad the last time a Charlie Kowalski had come through from an alternate universe, this was somehow worse. At least last time, he'd been able to send that one home, albeit to his death. And what was it about his life that he could say this: each time he'd met a Charlie Kowalski, the man had died?
Jack bit back a sigh. The airman standing guard outside Kowalski's room had started shifting on his feet, a clear sign that he was concerned with why the General would be standing outside the room, basically stalling. Well, the interview wasn't going to happen with him standing on this side of the door. He turned his head and gave Teal'c-who'd followed him and stationed himself across from the interview room-a brief nod, receiving one in return. Then, he flashed a smile at the airman before turning the knob and pushing through the open door.
Kowalski stood up, cocky smile still in place.
"Somebody made you a General, huh?"
Jack winced. "Wasn't my idea. You know me: resist responsibility until the bitter end."
He took a seat across the table from Kowalski, leaning forward on his arms. Kowalski settled in opposite him with a grin. "I call bullshit on that. You're a better leader than you've ever given yourself credit for being. Remember that thing in Afghanistan?"
They stared at each other for the space of a few heartbeats. Jack did remember Afghanistan, only too well. Still, it was strange, sharing that memory with a man who, despite appearances, was a stranger to him.
"Right," Kowalski said, shaking his head. "So, what's the deal? Are we gonna get shipped off to Area 51 for further 'examination'? Or are you gonna try to send us home? 'Cuz I gotta tell ya, the hospitality around here sucks."
Oh yeah, that was the Charlie Kowalski he knew, no doubt about it. Jack couldn't hide the smile, or the relief he felt at knowing that.
"Carter's working on it," he said, waving his hand. "If anyone can figure it out, she can."
"Carter, huh?" Kowalski said. His smile slid into a smirk as he leaned back in his chair. "You're calling your wife 'Carter' these days?"
"Wife?" Jack asks, eyebrow raised. What he really wanted to do was either yell at the top of his lungs or do a happy dance, but he settled for the eyebrow. "What is it with all these alternate realities where we're always married to each other?"
Kowalski frowned. "You're not married?"
"Nope," Jack said, popping the 'p' just for effect.
"Huh."
Jack shifted uncomfortably. "I hope you don't mind me saying so, but you still look a little like you've seen a ghost."
"You're not wrong," Kowalski said. "Where I come from, you're dead."
"Baal's Pleasure Palace?" Jack asked, thinking that was the logical point of divergence.
"That was you?"
"You mean, that was you?"
"Yeah." Kowalski's voice was tight, his eyes pinched. "I got sick-"
"With an Ancient flu bug, so I had to get-"
"Snaked to save my life." Kowalski blinked. "Damn. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, much less my best friend. Yu rescued you?"
"Sort of," Jack said. "Daniel kinda broke the glowy-people rules and pointed Teal'c in the right direction. He called Yu."
"Yeah, about that," Kowalski said, leaning forward. "What's with the First Prime wandering around the base? Shouldn't he be somewhere being dissected?"
"Teal'c's been a valuable ally," Jack said. "He helped us escape from Apophis' palace on that first mission to Chulak."
"Wait, you mean Apophis captured you?" Kowalski leaned back, shaking his head. "You must be slipping."
"You didn't get captured?"
Kowalski shook his head. "General Hammond delayed the mission a day, just to make sure we had all the intel we were gonna need-a strategy you agreed with, I might add-then sent us to scope out the planet. By the time we got there, everyone was gone."
Jack winced. "What about Sha're?"
"The Tok'ra captured and de-snaked her, then sent her back to Abydos. That's how we made contact with them."
"Huh."
Jack was actually surprised at how different things were. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know how he-the other him-had died. It might be too weird. Or turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that was the last thing he needed.
"So, you're here."
"Hey, wasn't my idea, buddy." Kowalski shook his head, accepting the change in topic with the ease born of familiarity.
"Well, Carter's gonna ask, so care to tell me how exactly it happened?"
Kowalski sighed. "We were supposed to be doing recon on P2X-388. The MALP had detected a possible source of naquadah, so we gated in, but apparently we weren't the only ones interested."
"Jaffa," Jack said, nodding. "They didn't show up on the MALP?"
"No," Kowalski said. "We figured they'd been there for a while. I left Delmas and Smith at the 'gate, so when we ran across the Jaffa, I radioed them to dial home and not leave the door open. When the kid and I got to the 'gate, we dialed home like normal, and wound up here."
"You didn't notice anything strange?" Not that Jack would know what strange would be, but he figured he should ask.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," Kowalski said. "Look, I know this is weird, and if I could have avoided it, I would have. But you have to admit, it was nice to see me again, right?"
Jack smiled. "Yeah, it's good to see you again."
"Well, there you go."
Jack only hoped it was that simple.
~o~
Daniel slipped out of the interview room into the corridor, taking his first deep breath in what felt like too long. He saw Teal'c standing across the hall, hands clasped behind his back in a sort-of parade rest. The former First Prime regarded him with interest, but Daniel made no move to join him, his thoughts too restless for him to put them in any kind of order.
He had no idea how he was going to break the news to Jack, but he knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Either Jack would avoid the kid, or… actually, that was probably about the reaction they'd get. Jack was notorious for simply ignoring emotional issues when he couldn't deal with them. And this was going to be about as emotional as it got.
"Is O'Neill's son well?"
Daniel's head popped up. "How did you know?"
"Young O'Neill bears a striking resemblance to his father," Teal'c said.
"Yeah," Daniel sighed out. He crossed over and slumped against the wall, glancing at his friend. "He's not going to take this well."
It wasn't a question, but Teal'c answered anyway. "The subject of his son's death has been particularly difficult for O'Neill to discuss, but I believe he will approach it with some equanimity."
"You think?"
"This is not, in fact, his son."
Daniel tilted his head in silent acknowledgement. "Might not be the same kid who-in some alternate universe, this is still Jack O'Neill's son. I don't think he's going to make the distinction."
"O'Neill is many things, but a coward he is not," Teal'c said, as if it were an affront to him to even consider that. "He will accept what is. He has no other choice."
"Maybe," Daniel said. "But what if Sam finds a way to send them back?"
"What is, is," Teal'c said.
Daniel chuckled. He'd watched enough hockey with Jack to recognize the saying, even if the phrasing was all Teal'c. It is what it is was a favorite of athletes the world over, but he couldn't fault their logic in this case.
"I guess I'm just hoping that Jack sees this as a second chance, even if it doesn't last long."
"As do I," Teal'c said, nodding solemnly.
The door across from them swung open, and the object of their conversation stepped out. Daniel straightened up and took in the easy cant of his shoulders and the almost smile on his face. "So, it's Kowalski, right?"
"Yeah, it's Kowalski," Jack said, nodding. "At least, some alternate universe version of him."
"Did he say how he managed to survive when ours didn't?"
Jack winced. "I didn't ask. Not sure I want to know."
Daniel could understand that. Knowing how some other version of the SGC had been able to save one of their own would only bring back the sense of failure and loss they'd experienced the first time they lost Kowalski.
"So, what about the kid?" Jack asked into the silence.
"Um, he's-"
"Your son is a fine officer," Teal'c said.
"Chip off the old block, eh?"
Daniel and Teal'c shared a raised-eyebrow look, but it was Daniel who spoke. "You knew?"
"Of course I knew, Daniel," Jack said. His reply was flip, but he could see the pinch in Jack's expression that told him he was trying very hard not to think about what was going on. "You think I wouldn't recognize my own son?"
Daniel winced. "He asked to see you."
Jack's lips thinned into a straight line. He stood for a moment, hands in his pockets, eyes darting around the corridor as if there was something to see besides the three of them and the airman guarding the rooms. Then, abruptly, he turned and opened the door to the room holding his son and stepped inside.
Daniel looked at Teal'c, whose surprise matched his own. "Well, I didn't see that coming."
Teal'c raised his eyebrow once more. "Indeed."
~o~
Jack let the door fall quietly shut behind him and just stood for a moment, watching the young man across from him.
Charlie.
His son.
Alive and well, and apparently following in his father's footsteps. He felt an overflow of pride in his chest, for all that this kid had been able to do that his son hadn't, even as the pain of loss surged forward again.
Charlie was sitting with his head pillowed on his arms, obviously oblivious to the world around him. Jack felt another pang of sorrow, at how much it must be hurting the kid, knowing that there was a man within reach who both was and wasn't his father. And that thought brought a stabbing pain in his head as he tried to sort out the whole alternate universe thing.
Tucking his hands into his pockets, he pushed that aside as he cleared his throat. An amused smile teased at his lips as he watched Charlie jump up from the table, his chair clattering behind him.
"Dad!" he practically shouted as he scrambled to attention, then, "Sir!"
"Charlie," Jack said. He wanted to go over and fold the kid into the biggest hug he could, but he held back. He wasn’t really the father Charlie had lost, and Charlie wasn't really his son, and he had to remember that.
"It's good to see you," Jack said. He took in the stiff posture and the way Charlie was carefully not looking at him, but rather at a point somewhere over his left shoulder, and winced. "At ease, kid. For cryin' out loud."
Those words seemed to melt the kid, because he relaxed back into something a little more slouchy than parade rest as a smile lit his face. Standing like this, with his boyish good looks and the charm of his smile, Jack felt the guilt wash through him once more. But it was dulled by time and distance, so he set it aside. No sense torturing himself over things he couldn't change.
"It's good to see you, too, Sir," Charlie said. "It's… been a while."
"So I heard," Jack said. He made no move to sit down, and neither did Charlie. Neither of them looked especially comfortable, which didn’t surprise Jack. What did one say to the dead son who was standing in front of you, clearly not dead?
The silence stretched as the two men looked at each other. Up close, Jack could now see that Charlie had a lot of his mother in him. His smile, his hair, which had lightened to a sandy blonde more like his ex-wife's than his. He was tall like Jack-like they'd always imagined he would be-and had the brown eyes typical of an O'Neill. It was like looking at a younger version of himself.
Jack shook off those thoughts. He so didn't want to remember that there was a mini-me running around the planet. He'd given permission to save the kid, but he really didn't want to contemplate the consequences.
"So, Air Force, huh?"
"Yeah," Charlie said, his smile growing. "Graduated top ten; managed to beat my Old Man at something."
Jack chuckled. "And how would you know that?"
"I checked," Charlie said. "You graduated 25th in your class. All that bullshit about not having any idea what Sam's talking about is just that: bullshit."
"Carter likes to feel useful," Jack said, shrugging. "Besides, if I let on that I have any idea at all what she's talking about, she'd still be talking a week later. Not something we usually have time for."
"Sure," Charlie said, smile still in place. "Whatever you say, Dad."
Both men froze. Jack winced as he saw the pained look crossing his son's face. And it was his son in the room with him, despite the fact that they were from two different universes. The son he'd believed he would never see again. And if it weren't for the Stargate and alternate universes and science he wished he didn't understand, he probably wouldn't see the kid again after today.
He was crossing the room before he'd even made the decision, drawing the young man who was and wasn't his son into his arms. Charlie stood stock still for a moment before he melted into the embrace. Charlie laid his head on Jack's shoulder, his hands gripping the back of Jack's shirt like he was afraid his father was going to disappear any second.
Jack could feel the kid's breath on his neck, the steady beat of his heart in his chest. Tears burned at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Charlie took a few hitching breaths, swallowing hard a time or two as if to control his own emotions.
"I've missed you, you know?" Charlie mumbled into his neck.
Jack sighed, shifting his head to drop a kiss into Charlie's hair. "I know, kid. I've missed you, too."
They stood like that for a few moments, nothing but the two of them and a moment that shouldn't have been possible, but one that Jack wouldn't trade for anything. Finally, Charlie pushed back, taking a step away, but still firmly within arm's reach.
"So, what do we do now?" he asked as he brushed away the few tears that had escaped his control.
"Now, we wait for Carter to do her thing," Jack said, smiling softly. "In the meantime, you want a tour?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Dad, I work here, remember?"
"And do you have an Xbox hooked up to the screen in the briefing room?"
"Does Sam know about this?" Charlie asked.
Jack winced. "What Carter doesn't know won't hurt her."
"Yeah, but it might hurt you," Charlie said.
His laughter at the panicked look Jack gave carried out into the corridor.
~o~
"Okay, Carter," Jack said as he settled at the head of the briefing table, "wow us with your dizzying intellect."
Sam narrowed her eyes at her commanding officer. There was a pop culture reference in there, she was almost sure of it. His grin was practically daring her to ask, but she knew they'd never get the briefing finished-much less started-if she let the conversation get hijacked by a discussion on the relative merits of-whatever.
Instead, she took a deep breath and turned to the screen behind her. "We've analyzed the telemetry data from the dialing computer. This is a model of what we think happened to Kowalski and-"
"Charlie," Daniel said when Sam broke off.
She smiled at him, but it was slightly pinched. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to that, but that was a problem for another time.
"Sorry, Carter, but what exactly are we looking at here?" Jack asked. He was tipping his head back and forth, as if trying to find a better angle to view the model on the screen.
"This," Sam said, defaulting into teaching mode, "is a Pulsar, specifically Regulus 45c-1. Basically, it's a star that's jetting out massive amounts of radiation along a particular axis. When viewed from a telescope here on Earth, it looks like it's pulsing, because the radiation only emits in two directions, directly opposite one another."
"And that's what you think their wormhole passed through on the way to Earth?" Daniel asked.
"Yes."
"It's a wonder they weren't cooked by all that radiation," Daniel said.
Sam flipped the slide, so that the model showed the wormhole passing through the jet of radiation. "They probably should have been. Instead, we think the radiation from the Pulsar had a kind of prismatic effect, like when light catches a crystal. The crystal splits the light into its constituent bandwidths, which the human eye interprets as a rainbow."
"I have seen this phenomenon on many worlds," Teal'c said.
Sam glanced over to him, seated as usual at the General's right. She often forgot that he understood so much, because he rarely ever spoke, but he hadn't become a First Prime based on bravery alone.
"This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Charlie and Kowalski?" Jack asked.
"Everything."
All eyes turned to the woman sitting next to Teal'c. Doctor Carolyn Lam had only joined the SGC a week ago, and already she'd been thrown into the deep end. It was a wonder she hadn't run for the hills yet.
Sam took her seat next to Daniel, on Jack's other side, and listened as the Doctor explained what they believed to have happened.
"When I did the preliminary DNA tests on Colonel Kowalski and Lieutenant O'Neill, I was able to determine that they were a match for the samples we have on file for both men."
"Wait, you have Jack's son's DNA on file?" Daniel asked.
"In the Lieutenant's case," Carolyn said, "we compared his DNA to the General's, as well as a sample from his ex-wife. He showed a strong familial match to both. If this were a court of law, I'd be confident in testifying that Charlie O'Neill is the General's son."
All eyes swung to the General, but he didn't react, as if that were the exact outcome he'd been expecting. Which was probably true, even if it was still something of a shock. Daniel had explained it to her when he'd stopped by her lab to check in, but she was still having trouble coming to grips with the situation. Not just that in some alternate universe, Jack O'Neill's son had survived, but that she was that kid's stepmother. Even for as comfortable as she was with all this science, Sam was still getting a headache trying to come to terms with the whole mess.
"Okay, so we know they are who they say they are," Jack said, breaking into Sam's thoughts. "The question is, how do we send them back?"
"Um, that's just it, Sir," Sam said. "We don't."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "We don't?"
"There's nowhere to send them back to," Sam said.
"Carter," Jack said. He rubbed a hand over his face. "They had to come from somewhere, so why can't we send them back where they came from?"
"We can't send them back because, according to the DNA tests, they're actually from this universe."
Now it was Carolyn's turn to be the center of attention, as everyone swung their gaze to her. She sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Look, I don't pretend to understand what all the science means, but Colonel Carter and I tested the isotopes in both men's DNA, and that matches this universe." She paused. "They're ours."
There was silence around the room as they all absorbed that information. Even though Sam had been in the room and assisting Carolyn with the test, she was still reeling from the reality.
"So, wait," Daniel said, when the silence had stretched on for several moments. "They're actually from this universe, despite the fact that both of them are supposedly dead."
Jack winced, and Sam's heart went out to him. It had to have been hard meeting his son, knowing that he couldn't stay because the consequences of staying-even if they were the only copies of each man on Earth-were too painful to consider. Only now they knew they couldn't send them back. Hope, such a fragile thing under normal circumstances, had to be near the breaking point from being yanked around so much.
"How is that possible?" Teal'c asked. "I personally witnessed the death of Charles Kowalski. While I acknowledge that the man we have in custody is a Charles Kowalski, he is not our Charles Kowalski."
"Well, it goes back to the prismatic effect," Sam said, waving at the screen, still displaying the graphic she'd started with. "When the wormhole passed through the Pulsar's jet, it fractured, for lack of a better term, creating slightly different copies of itself, which then continued on their original path."
"So, you mean there could be other copies of Charlie and Kowalski in other alternate universes?" Daniel asked.
Sam sighed. "We don’t know, but it seems likely."
"So, the bottom line is, whether or not this is the universe they started out in, it's their universe now."
Everyone looked at Jack, who had so neatly summed up the situation in a single sentence. Sam was forced to accept, yet again, that her commanding officer wasn't the idiot he wanted others to believe. He was actually quite shrewd, when she thought about it. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, and he winced slightly, probably realizing too late that he'd showed off his intellect yet again.
"Yes, Sir, that about sums it up," Sam said, smirking at him. It was rare for her to catch him out, and she was going to enjoy this for as long as she could.
"So, who gets to tell them that they can't go home because they're already home?" Daniel asked.
~o~