(Untitled)

[gate_expert]

Ever since Jack and Sam found William wandering around New Atlantis with no sign of Vala or Daniel, things had been just one long blur. As far as Sam could tell, they'd just disappeared, the way people did here. Sam had seen so many people come and go that were part of the Stargate program, and knew there were others before she got here, but she

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[has_2ls]

Jack had been a dad before and he'd spent plenty of time with kids on the island but this was different. Losing Vala and Daniel was hard, harder than he'd ever anticipated, and he'd been trying to hold it together for William's sake.

When he couldn't find Sam or William back at the hut, he tried the beach, grinning when he saw them kneeling in the sand.

"That's a cool little shell, buddy."

[gate_expert]

"Mama shell," William said, solemnly holding out the shell for Jack to see.

Sam looked away for a second to compose herself, and then turned to William and Jack again. "I think he wants to save it for her," she said quietly to Jack.

[has_2ls]

"You can save it for her," Jack promised quietly, his heart breaking at the sound of William's voice. "She'll love it. Do you wanna pick a shell out for Aunt Sam? She likes pretty things too, you know."

Maybe he could distract him away from thinking about Vala, at least for a little bit.

[gate_expert]

"O-kay." William thrust the shell at Sam to put in the bucket, and when she did that, he took Jack's hand. Sam was really thankful that most of the time, it was easy to redirect William into something else and he didn't often seem to get upset.

Before they could start walking though, William let go of their hands and grabbed his hat, holding it up to Jack. "Unca Jack hat," he said. "Fish!"

[thedevamper]

"Helen what on Earth are you doing with a child?" Nikola said slightly distracted. He hadn't noticed the hair yet or the voice yet, just the mouth and the brat. "Wait, please tell me that's William. Because then we're taking pictures. The Great Will Zimmerman as a toddler."

[gate_expert]

Sam just looked at the guy for a minute, processing that ridiculous statement, and then shook her head. She'd met Helen Magnus and talked to her several times, but no one had actually confused Sam with Helen yet, at least not to Sam's face. "I'm not Helen, sorry," Sam said. "We just look alike."

Less alike than the various copies of Sam she'd encountered over the years--they didn't even have the same hair color--but, anyway. "I'm Sam. Samantha Carter."

William looked up at the man and didn't say anything. He kept one hand tightly in Sam's, clutching the purple shell in the other.

[thedevamper]

Nikola stopped staring at the child to snap his full attention on Helen, ah not Helen. Nikola looked Helen's doppleganger up and down, smirking at her fully as his gaze rested on her lips. Still Helen's lips despite what she might say.

"Of course you're not Helen. You just look very similar, it's fascinating really. Two Helen's, except not Helen's of course, on the island." Nikola said smiking at all the possibilities. "Nikola Tesla. I'm an old friend of Helen's. And this isn't Will Zimmerman then?"

[gate_expert]

Oh, brother, Sam thought, when he gave her the once-over. That kind of guy, who apparently couldn't come up with an original way to hit on her since he was claiming to have the same name as a famous scientist and then leering at her. "Oh yeah, it's really fascinating," she said with a little sigh. The whole look alike thing had lost any novelty back when Fifth made a Replicator copy of her.

"So, Tesla, huh?" she said skeptically. "Like the scientist?" She glanced down at William and then back at this Nikola guy. "Not Will Zimmerman, no." She'd met him once or twice too. "But his name is William."

[scoobys_heart]

It was really weird, not going to Vala's to see William. In fact, Xander often had to stop himself from going to the wrong hut in New Atlantis. Really, he was just thankful Sam and Jack didn't mind him hanging around.

And today, he hadn't even meant to go find them, since he'd been by the other day for William's birthday. But that didn't stop the grin that formed on his features when he saw William and Sam playing on the beach, where he'd taken a break today to come out to the beach to plan out some carpentry projects in his sketchbook. It was nice to see William smiling and having fun, since he knew those moments had been few and far between lately. "Find anything good?" He asked, when they were close enough.

[gate_expert]

"Shell," said William, and while he held tightly to Sam's hand, he held out the shell in his other hand for Xander to see. "Mama shell. Pretty." Sam smiled a little and looked at Xander, shrugging slightly, because she hadn't yet figured out a way to explain to William what was going on.

[scoobys_heart]

Xander made a show of inspecting the shell. "I think Mama would love it, Will. You better keep it safe for her okay?" He looked up and met Sam's eyes, giving her a sympathetic smile. He didn't envy her the task of explaining to William what was going on. He wished he could help but he had no idea either. "How do you like living with Sam and Jack?"

[bennet_beauty]

Jane had been watching for some time, worried that she would be intruding. She hesitated, approaching only when William began to ask for his Mama. "Sam?" Jane gently commented, to get her attention. She wanted to help, but was unsure how (or even if) she could.

[gate_expert]

"Hey, Jane," Sam said. "William, can you say hello? Do you want to show Mrs. Lipton the pretty shell you found?" William didn't say anything, but he did shyly hold out the shell so Jane could see it. His other hand gripped Sam's fingers tightly.

[bennet_beauty]

Jane smiled softly at the sight of the shell, wondering how the young boy was coping with the amount of change in his young life. "Hello William," Jane greeted, as gently as she could so as not to scare him. "That's a lovely little thing you've found. Can you tell me about it?"