1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It's the rain that wakes him. Pelting rain. Hitting his face. Soaking his clothes. He's lying in water. He opens his eyes. Gray everywhere. Fog. Thick, heavy fog, along with the rain.

He tries to move and his back and hip hurt enough to stop him. _Oh, crap... what's happened this time... _For several moments he lies still, waiting for the aches to subside.

More carefully, he tries again, turning in the opposite direction this time, away from the painful hip. Slower. Not so much hurt, but just as much wet. The side of his face is in water now. He reaches out for leverage to raise himself out of it...

There's a yelp and then a groan... Not him! Somebody lying nearby. He put his hand down on the person when he was trying to get up. _Damn. _He turns his head to see...

Dark hair, long and curly. Mal-Doran?

He frowns, trying to remember. He and Mal-Doran... and... Daniel and Sam. Right! They were headed home from... oh who remembers all those planet designations, anyway! Headed home from the planet with the really hairy people. Literally, hairy—as in covered with the stuff. But they're really nice people, too, he has to admit. Not at all disagreeable once you get past the hair...

Anyway, headed home—back to the SGC. Which _this place _most certainly is _not._ Unless the gateroom's become foggy and flooded. And rocky—those are definitely rocks underneath his butt. He shifts, adjusts, and finally manages to rise somewhat out of the water, supporting himself on one arm.

Beside him Mal-Doran groans again. He hears the water slosh as she moves, and then a small tidal wave hits him when she rolls onto her back. The movement brings another yip of pain from her throat.

"Easy does it," he says, finding his voice is hoarse. "Take it slow."

Her deep violet eyes open and stare blankly upward for a few moments, until she finally registers his presence and turns toward him. "General...?" It's barely a murmur. "What... happened?"

"I don't know," he admits. "How bad are you hurt?"

She thinks about it a few seconds. "Headache... Where are we?"

"In the mud..." he mutters.

He's moving his body slowly, testing, trying to determine where the pain is coming from. Definitely his left hip and lower back, but he can move through the pain. So, nothing broken, he thinks. He straightens to a sitting position. _His butt's still in the water—but that's better than his face!_

His head aches, too, but his memory's coming back. They'd been preparing to depart through the Stargate. The hairy folks—Pegelans? Peglegs?—had sent along a delegation to see them off. Carter was dialing home when a monster storm came out of nowhere!

_There was lightning like he'd never seen before—incredibly violent, unrelenting. The delegation members ran in terror, shouting for their guests to take cover. One of them grabbed Vala's arm and urged her along with them. _

_The gate connected. Sam and Daniel were beside the gate and Jack shouted for them to go ahead. He went after Vala, heading into the trees. Just as he reached her, she broke away from her well-meaning captor and ran in his direction. He saw Daniel and Sam disappear into the wormhole as he and Vala turned toward the gate. Fifteen seconds later they broke through the event horizon together, and at that instant he heard the huge crack of a lightning strike..._

"The gate was hit by lightning," he says, more to himself than to her. He looks around. Through the fog to his right he can see the outline of the silent gate; on his left, further away, there's a shadow that's probably the DHD. Nothing else is visible in the grayness.

Vala is struggling to a sitting position. "Are you all right, General?"

"I'm fine. We were entering the event horizon when the lightning struck."

"So... where are we?" she asks. "This isn't Earth."

"No," he agrees. "The gate's over there." He hauls himself to his feet, wincing at the pain in his hip, but finding with considerable relief that he can stand. He limps toward the gate. After a moment, Vala rises and follows him.

They recognize the pedestal around the gate. It's the one on the 'hairy folks' planet. (Jack has determinedly resisted the temptation to call it the Planet of the Apes – knowing that once he gets that image in his head, he'll never get rid of it.)

"We're still on Peglea Two," Vala say.

_Right. That's what it's called. And the people are Pegleans._ Jack nods with some relief. "Then let's dial ourselves home." They make their way carefully through the fog in the direction of the DHD. It isn't raining as hard, but visibility has not improved.

"This way," Jack says, catching Vala's arm and pulling her off to the left where he sees the low shadow. "Go ahead, dial it," he says, as they reach the structure. "I'll get ready to send the IDC."

She nods and begins pressing the symbols of Earth's address. But when she's finished and places her hand on the central crystal, it only lights briefly and then fades out.

"It didn't connect," she says, pushing down the edge of panic in her chest.

"Yeah. I got that," he growls. "Try again."

Three more tries only yield the same result.

"Maybe the lightning shorted out something," Jack suggests. He glances over at Vala. She has her arms wrapped around herself, and a look of distress on her face. "We need to find shelter, and wait until the storm is over," Jack decides. The rain is warm, but being wet to the skin is uncomfortably chilly nonetheless. She's wearing a tank top, having discarded her BDU shirt earlier, in the heat of the day. Jack looks around for their packs and weapons. His pack's lying near the puddle where he awakened. Hers is off to the side. Their P90s are on the ground nearby. "Come on. Let's find a drier spot."

He goes over and picks up his pack, and then reaches for hers. She takes it from him. He picks up his weapon and after a moment's thought, heads in the direction that he hopes will take them to the edge of the gate clearing. Within a few meters, they reach the trees. The canopy is thicker than he realized before, and much of the rainfall is being deflected.

Jack pulls a lightweight waterproof tarp from his pack and sets about creating a rain shield, then spreads a plastic ground sheet underneath. Next he takes the tent from Vala's pack and sets it up on the ground sheet. They always travel with full camping gear, but the second tent was in Daniel's pack, so they only have the one. He pushes Vala down into the tent, and climbs in behind her, taking her sleeping bag out of her pack, spreading it out. It's very dim inside the tent.

"Take your clothes off," he orders.

"What?"

"Take your clothes off, and get in the sleeping bag. You'll freeze otherwise." He rolls his eyes when she hesitates. "Don't worry, I'll turn my back. I plan to do the same thing. Get in the bag to put your dry clothes on."

He spreads his own sleeping bag out, then sits with his back to her and starts to disrobe. She doesn't move for a few moments. When he goes to strip his t-shirt over his head, she turns her back and begins to undress. It's awkward, but she manages to do as he instructed. Before she's done he's finished and redressed in dry things. His wet clothes are more or less spread out on his other side. She crawls into the bag and reaches out to spread her own wet things.

"These will never dry."

"We'll hang them on tree branches or bushes when the rain stops," he says. He looks over at her. "I have the first aid kit if you need it."

"I've just the headache, and that's better. Couple of scratches and scrapes. What about you?"

"Bruises," he says. "Banged my hip pretty good. I'll limp for a while."

He doles out pain killers for both of them, sharing his water. Then he digs energy bars from his pack and hands one to her.

"It's getting darker—must be evening," he said as he chews, frowning. "It was morning when we were leaving. We must have been out for a long time."

"Hmmm..." she replies absently.

They're quiet for a while. Jack takes a cloth out of his pack and starts to break down his P90, wiping it carefully to dry it as much as possible. When he's finished with his, he picks up hers and does the same.

"They haven't tried to dial back to find us," she says finally.

"Maybe whatever's stopping us from dialing out is also stopping them," he says. "Carter will figure it out."

"What will we do now?" she asks.

"Right now we sleep," Jack says. "When it gets light we'll try the gate again. If that doesn't work, we'll go back to the town. I'm sure they'll put us up until this gets ironed out." He sounds very positive. "Go to sleep."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

They crawl out of their shelter a few hours later to a clear and sunny morning. The air is warm. A good deal warmer, in fact, than it has been during the three days of their visit so far. Everything seems greener, too. More lush. The vegetation is heavier.

"Wow," Vala comments. "That storm made a big difference. It's almost like the season changed overnight."

Jack is frowning, studying the open space around the Stargate. It doesn't seem as large as it was the day before. And the area is overgrown, rather than beaten down into paths by the comings and goings through the gate. Can the grass have grown up that quickly? With all the wind and lightning he'd expected broken branches, maybe even trees down, leaves and small objects strewn about, but that's not the case this morning. The forest appears thicker, darker, the trees taller...

Two more attempts to dial Earth meet with the same failure as the evening before. They also try the Alpha site with equal lack of success.

"The problem must be with this gate. Let's head over to the town," Jack suggests after they have draped their clothes and tarps to dry over nearby bushes, and packed the rest of their things into their backpacks. He slings his pack onto his shoulders and picks up the P90, checking its load. Vala also dons her pack and heads out without waiting for further instructions.

The path to the town seems to have vanished in the vegetation. Yesterday it appeared well-trod, the opening obvious among the trees. The path winds along for about two kilometers down a narrow valley, and out onto the side of a hill overlooking the town. After some searching, they locate the valley, though following it is difficult because of the undergrowth which has taken over. Jack's frown deepens as they walk. Something is definitely off here.

The valley leads them out onto the side of the hill, just as it should have, but when they arrive there, in an opening in the trees, they stop and stare in shock.

The hollow in the hills where the town should be is a great shallow meadow, with a medium-sized river running through it. There is no town. There is absolutely no sign of civilization of any kind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for your interest in this story! I hope you continue to enjoy.**

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The Stargate shuddered and bolts of electricity shot out from the ring, making the guards in the gateroom dive for cover.

General Hank Landry hurried into the control room. "What's happening?"

"We just received SG-1's IDC, sir," Sergeant Harriman said, ducking reflexively as another charge hit the wall above the blast-resistant window. "Then the gate went haywire."

"Open the iris," Landry ordered. "Looks like they need to get home quickly."

"Yes, sir." Harriman pressed his palm to the reader.

The iris stuttered as streams of electricity shimmered on its surface, then finally retracted slowly. Moments later Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter were ejected forcefully from the wormhole. Daniel landed awkwardly on his side and rolled on the ramp with a cry of pain. Sam managed to keep her feet, but momentum sent her running all the way down the ramp. They were followed through by another bolt of electricity which narrowly missed Daniel and impacted the concrete floor. The wormhole shut down with a crack.

Harriman reached for the all-call mike. "Medical assistance to the gateroom!"

Landry hurried down the stairs, and joined Carter where she had returned to kneel beside Daniel, who had rolled over with a groan, holding onto his shoulder. Medics were only a few steps behind, led by Dr. Lam.

"Colonel, where are General O'Neill and Ms. Mal Doran?" Landry asked as they moved aside to make room for the medical personnel.

Carter glanced toward the stargate. "They were behind us, sir. A big storm hit just as we were dialing home. They were further away from the gate. The general ordered us to go ahead. The wormhole must have closed before they could get there."

Dr. Lam was having Daniel put on a gurney, despite his protests. "Your shoulder is dislocated," the doctor said.

"Yeah—I noticed..." Daniel grated. "Sam!" he called. "What happened? Where are Vala and Jack?"

She hurried to his side. "I don't know, Daniel. I'm guessing lightning struck the gate and shut it down before they came through."

"So they're still on P8K-224?" He frowned. "They'll redial..."

"It depends on the storm. It might be too dangerous there to try again right away. And we need to run a diagnostic on the gate before we dial out again to make sure the lightning didn't do any damage here."

They were interrupted when Dr. Lam took over, ordering that Daniel be taken to the infirmary.

"I'll come and tell you when we know something," Sam promised. She watched him being wheeled out, and then she headed for the control room.

An hour later Carter had examined the gate's computer record and determined that the wormhole had been terminated at the other end. The gate diagnostic showed no damage, and in that hour there had been no attempt to dial in from the planet. She ordered a MALP readied, and requested permission to dial 224.

"Hopefully the storm is over by now," she said to Landry.

"Go ahead," he agreed. "But we're not sending anyone through until we get some information from the MALP."

"Yes, sir."

Ten minutes later the MALP was rolling up the ramp and into the event horizon. They waited for the images to be transmitted. Soon the pictures began to resolve themselves.

The clearing was quiet now, the storm obviously having ended. However, as the MALP scanned the space, the aftermath was clear. Broken tree branches and debris were strewn throughout the area. Leaves had been stripped from trees and littered the ground thickly. Several entire trees were broken off or uprooted; a large tree trunk had fallen across the DHD. There was no sign of people.

"That could be a problem," Carter commented indicating the tree lying on the DHD. "If the DHD is damaged, it might be impossible to dial out." She glanced over at Landry. "We should take a naquadah generator in case we have to power the gate and dial manually."

He nodded. "All right. When are Mitchell and Teal'c due back from Chulak?"

"In a little over five hours, sir," Harriman answered the question.

"I'd rather not wait that long, sir," Sam protested. "If the General and Vala are injured, we shouldn't waste time."

Landry reluctantly agreed. "I'll send SG5 with you. If we don't hear from you shortly, we'll dial the planet in half an hour."

"Thank you, sir. I'd like to leave right away."

He nodded.

Fifteen minutes later Carter and SG5 were in the gateroom, kitted out. A remote controlled transport vehicle, with the generator and an assortment of other supplies and tools that might be needed, was ready to accompany them. Sam had left it up to General Landry to explain to Daniel what they were doing.

Colonel Victor Sharp, leader of SG5, and the other members of his team, Capt. Jennifer Hailey, Lt. Douglas, and Senior Airman Eaton, were standing with Carter as the wormhole engaged. In the control room, Harriman checked the transmission from the MALP, and nodded to Landry.

"All clear, Colonel Carter and SG5," the General said into the mike. "You have a go."

They followed the transport vehicle through the event horizon.

The damage from the storm was extensive. Standing in the center of the clearing Sam could see that it was much more dramatic than it appeared over the MALP transmission. The ground was carpeted with broken branches and downed trees. Beyond the treeline, the degree of destruction was even greater. The group had to pick their way through it all.

"Let's spread out and search for any sign of General O'Neill and Vala," Sam said. "I'm going to see if the DHD works." She was able to dial successfully, and reported their status to General Hammond and was instructed to check in again in two hours.

Forty minutes of searching, which took them well into the forest, turned up nothing.

"They aren't here, Sam," Vic Sharp said as they gathered back at the gate. "What do you want to do now?"

"Let's head over to the town. Maybe they went there, or somewhere along the way."

"All right," Vic agreed. "Douglas, Eaton. Cover the gate. Check in every half hour. Hailey, you're with us."

They started out toward the town. It was slow going, since the path was blocked in many places by debris. About a kilometer along they met a group from the town who were clearing away the mess. One of them, a man named Raanon, came forward to greet them.

"Colonel Carter," he said, smiling. "It's good to see you. I'm glad you weren't injured in the storm."

"Thank you. It looks as if there's quite a bit of damage. Is your town all right?"

"We were fortunate. Only the periphery of the town was hit. The vortex of the storm passed just to the west of it. There were a few injuries, but we are doing well."

"That's good news," Sam said.

Raanon was joined by two women whose faces were also familiar. "This is Marlan and Kreyna."

Carter nodded a greeting and introduced Sharp and Hailey. "Can you tell me if General O'Neill and Vala Mal Doran from our original group are in your town?"

"No, Colonel. I'm sorry, they are not. They left with you."

"No, they didn't come home with us. We think the gate closed before they could make it through."

Kreyna spoke. "I saw them step through the Great Ring myself, Colonel Carter. They were some distance behind you. Immediately after that the Ring was struck by lightning, and the blue water vanished. We assumed they went home with you."

Carter frowned. "No they didn't..." Her voice trailed off. For the first time, she considered the possibility that Jack and Vala were in the wormhole when it closed down. She felt sick at the thought.

"Then where could they have gone?" Raanon asked in a puzzled voice.

Captain Hailey moved forward. "Colonel Carter."

"Yes, Jennifer?" Sam turned to the younger woman.

"Could the lightning strike have caused the wormhole to jump to another gate? The way it did when you and the General were sent to Antarctica," Hailey suggested.

"Would the storm have been powerful enough to do that?" Colonel Sharp asked.

"Judging by the lightning that came through our gate, I think it might, sir. Especially if there was a direct strike." Hailey replied, then glanced at Carter for confirmation.

"It's possible," Sam said thoughtfully. "We'll have to examine the computer record again. See if we can tell just how much power was expended." She glanced at Sharp. "We need to get back to the SGC."

Sharp nodded, then turned to Raanon. "We can send a couple of teams to help you clean up this mess, if you need them."

"Thank you, Colonel Sharp, but we will be fine," the Peglean replied. "These storms strike every year in this season. We are experienced in dealing with the aftermath."

"We will check in with you in a few days then, just to make sure everything is all right," Sharp promised.

"We appreciate that. And I hope you locate your missing people."

Carter and SG5 returned to the Stargate quickly and gated home.

Sam and Hailey went directly to the control room to start analyzing the information from the lightning strikes to the gate. They had been immersed in the problem for two hours, when Daniel arrived, his left arm in a sling and strapped immobile against his body.

"Hey," he said, taking a chair beside Sam.

"Hey, yourself." She raised her eyes from the computer and stretched. "How're you doing?"

"Sore. But I'll be fine. Any progress?"

"Well, it looks like there probably was enough of a power surge to make the wormhole jump somewhere," she said.

"Like the time you and Jack were sent to the second gate."

She frowned. "Sort of like that—but not exactly."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, Jennifer suggested a different possibility," Sam turned to look at the captain.

Hailey swiveled her chair around to face them. "Dr. Jackson," she acknowledged. "In the Antarctica incident, the power surge affected our gate, and made _this_ end of the wormhole disengage and redirect to the second gate. This time the lightning that struck the gate on P8K-224 disconnected it at that end."

"So, you think the 224 end jumped to a nearby gate."

"Judging by the gate diagnostics that seems the logical conclusion," Hailey agreed. "However there are no gates near 224. The closest one is over five thousand light years away. It's highly unlikely to have traveled that far in search of another gate."

"What does that mean? Could all of that energy simply dissipate into space?" Daniel asked, horrified.

"No, we don't think so," Sam said.

"It had to have a terminus," Hailey explained.

"Where?" Daniel demanded.

"We don't know yet," Sam admitted.

"Actually..." Hailey said, "I may have a theory about that, too."

Just then the gate started to engage.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Harriman announced.

They all turned and watched as the ring cycled through the symbols. General Landry descended the stairs from his office. As the kawhoosh burgeoned into the gate room, Sam's eyes were fixed on the computer, waiting for the IDC.

"It's Teal'c and Cam," she said a few moments later.

"Open the iris," Landry instructed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to all of you who are reading this story! **

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"So we're positive this is the same planet?" Jack asks, rubbing his hip and lower back. His head is also aching, but that's mostly from the nagging idea in the back of his mind that he's trying very hard to ignore. They've spent several hours exploring the nearby landscape, and are now seated on a rocky protrusion above the frustratingly empty valley where the Peglean town ought to be.

"Everything checks," Vala points out, mildly irritated—he's asked the same question three times in the last quarter hour. "The point of origin symbol on the gate is the same. The natural landmarks are the same, except for the extra vegetation." She waved a hand toward the land below them. "And just look at the valley—it's the same. That mountain peak in the distance is impossible to mistake. The town's just not there." Her tone turns sarcastic. "It'd be an awfully big coincidence if we landed on a twin planet. Or maybe you believe in small primates with typewriters."

"What?!" he barks, jerking his head up to stare at her in confusion. The movement increases the pounding at his temples.

"Daniel told me about it once," Vala continues airily. "He says there's a theory that if you have enough monkeys with typewriters—I understand that's some kind of primitive computer—eventually they'll become that playwright, Shake-it-something-or-other."

Jack's mouth drops opened in disbelief. Good _God! How does Daniel stand this woman? _ He's so accustomed to having Carter around to give him sensible and intelligent answers to his questions—even if he can't usually understand them! This is nuts! He gets to his feet and hefts his backpack onto his shoulders. The pain in his hip stabs sharply. He pauses to grab a couple of pain pills from his pack and swallows them quickly. Let's go," he growls.

"Where?"

"Back to the gate. That's where they'll look for us." He heads off the way they came.

She watches him disappear into the thicket, then rises, picks up her pack and follows him at a leisurely pace. Around the next turn she finds him waiting for her.

"Keep up, will you!" he snaps.

"Why? I know the way."

He stares at her. "We need to stay together," he says in a calmer voice. "There might be other, _unfriendly_ people here, or large dangerous animals."

"Nothing like that was found on any of our visits."

"And who's to say that didn't change? The town's not there, for cryin' out loud! Who knows what else changed!" He turns and continues down the path.

She glares at his back for a moment. However the truth of what he just said can't be ignored. She starts off after him, but stays several paces behind. _The man is totally annoying! Such a military martinet—always giving orders as if he were in charge of everything! _ She simply does not understand what Samantha sees in O'Neill. Oh, granted, he's quite good-looking—on the rare occasions when he smiles he's _almost_ as handsome as Daniel. But looks aren't everything, and as far as she's concerned, the General has very little else going for him.

"Try to walk quietly," he orders, throwing a look back at her over his shoulder.

She realizes that her annoyance is showing in her stride, she's been stomping through the brush. _Well, so what! There's nobody here. Just General Grinch up there!_ She drops back a couple of paces, but refuses to alter her gait. He can just get used to it!

He doesn't speak to her again before they arrive back at the Stargate. In the trees at the edge of the clearing, he pauses to look around and she continues past him, and out into the open. She hears him give an exasperated, wordless grunt.

She turns around and faces him with her hands on her hips. "What?!" she demands. "Am I supposed to stay behind you like an obedient wife or something?"

His eyes are hard as he glares at her. "Suppose there had been a platoon of Jaffa there when we walked out of the woods," he says softly. "It _is_ a Stargate, after all. How dead do you think we would be now?"

Her gaze falters for just a second, then she stiffens. "Well, as you can see, there's no one here but us ducks!"

Something flashes in his eyes, too quickly to identify. "That's 'us chickens'," he growls, and walks out into the clearing, heading toward the Stargate. "Try to dial the Alpha site," he orders.

"Do you ever say please?!" she snaps. "And we've tried the Alpha site. You said the problem is in this gate anyway."

He pauses. "It _may_ be this gate," he says carefully. "But we don't know that for sure. In the meantime, we keep trying. Understood?" He turns away from her. "I'll scout the edge of the clearing for a good place to set up a camp."

She sticks out her tongue at his back. "Do this. Do that," she mutters to herself. "Next he'll want me to chop the wood, and cook the meals."

"Don't worry—if we have to stay here very long you'll get to do your share of all that," he calls from several yards away, startling her. She hadn't realized how sharp his hearing is.

Vala watches him walk away. She heads to the DHD and inputs the symbols for the Alpha site, crossing her fingers as she presses the center crystal. With disappointment, she watches the gate fail to connect once again. Hopelessly, she tries Earth. Again the chevrons fade uselessly. She stares at the gate for a long time, then shifts her attention to the DHD, wondering if there is something wrong with the power supply, or if it's lightning damage, as O'Neill speculated. The dialing sequence is normal, it's only when she tries to engage power that it had fails. Samantha would have the thing torn apart by now, checking crystals and connections, trying options... She squats down beside the DHD, and opens the access panel, sliding the tray of crystals out so she can see them. She may not be on Sam's level with technology—but she can certainly tell whether crystals are burnt out or wires are disconnected. She sits on the ground for a better look.

"What are you doing?"

She's been examining the inside of the DHD for several minutes when Jack's voice startles her. He is standing over her.

"Looking to see if there's a burnt crystal or loose connection."

"See anything?"

"Everything looks all right as far as I can tell," she says. "The crystals are okay. I don't know if the connections are correct, but there aren't any loose wires." She pushes the crystal caddy back into the base, and closes the panel. He surprises her by reaching for her hand and pulling her to her feet.

"How much do you know about that stuff?" Jack asks.

"Not enough to fix anything complicated. I can reattach wires. Replace crystals if we had any spares. But I don't see any damage. There's no scorch marks—no sign the lightning hit the DHD. Of course, there could be something I wouldn't recognize," she admits.

He nods. "Okay. Well. At least you tried. I found a place for a camp," he says, changing the subject. "It's out of sight of anyone coming through the gate, but close by and sheltered."

She nods and glances at the gate again, then back to Jack, and finds him regarding her seriously, but without the anger she saw earlier.

"We'll figure this out," he says. "They'll find us, or we'll find a way home. We just have to work together. Come see the campsite."

The spot he's found is off at right angles to the gate. Forty or fifty feet away from the gate a rocky cliff rises sharply for 75 feet or more. An overhang in the face juts out several feet and beneath it is a shallow cave, large enough to set up the tent and still have room to move around. The overhang is enough to protect a campfire from rain. The entrance is largely screened by bushes, and is invisible from the Stargate clearing. The ground is littered with leaves and branches.

"Ugh!" Vala exclaimed. "You want us to live in a cave?"

"You have a better idea?" he asks, mildly sarcastic. "It's sheltered from the weather, it's out of sight of the gate. You're welcome to look around later for better accommodations, but right now we need a safe place. The days here are shorter than Earth days; about twenty hours instead of twenty-four—there's only about eleven hours of daylight this time of year, Carter said. That means it'll be getting dark again in about three hours. We need to set up camp, and take inventory of the supplies we have. We'll start by cleaning some of the rubble out of here."

"Suppose there's some animal that calls this place home?" she asks.

"I thought you said there weren't any animals," he jibes. When she only glares, he grins. "Maybe you'd better keep an eye out. You can chase them away if they come back." Her eyes narrow, and he relents with a chuckle. "I didn't see any sign that anything had bedded down here. I think we're fine." He drops his pack, extracts a pair of work gloves and starts dragging the largest branches out of the cave.

After watching for a minute, Vala begins to help.

With the two of them working together in only takes a quarter of an hour to clear the worst of the mess out the space. They rake out the old rotting vegetation, and then replace a few layers of fresh leaves as a cushion, and Jack spreads out the ground tarp, then pitches the tent as far back in the cave as possible. Next they go out to gather firewood, while there's plenty of daylight, and stack it on both sides of the tent. Jack builds a fireplace of rocks at the outer edge of the overhang, while Vala cuts fresh brush to augment the bushes that form a screen in front of the cave.

By then twilight is approaching. Vala wants to head back to the gate to try dialing once more. Jack is pretty sure it's fruitless, but he doesn't say anything and follows her to the clearing. The Stargate symbols fizzle and die, just as before.

"Okay," Jack says, not giving her time to be disappointed. "Let's get back and build a fire so we have light to check our packs. Tomorrow we have to see what we can do about food. There's a stream about thirty yards away which should do for water." He detours in that direction and fills the canteens, dropping a purifier tablet in each one.

They eat MREs, and spread out the contents of both packs on the tarp. There's enough food for about a week, if they're careful. Each of them has a change of clothes and extra socks. They have a well-stocked first aid kit. Carefully they lay out everything; Jack's Beretta, combat knife and Swiss army knife, Vala's three knives and zat, the P90s, all the extra ammunition, three high power LED lights with solar batteries, a small solar charger, canteens, camp dishes and cooking kit, water purifier tabs, a small hatchet, Firesteel fire striker, fish hooks and line, compass, small camp stove, string, a wire saw, sewing kit, duct tape...

Vala's eyes widen as Jack continues adding to the collection of items. "Now I see why my pack is so heavy!"

Jack glances at her. "Don't you pay attention to what goes in it?"

"I don't often see it all at once."

His eyes narrow. "Didn't Mitchell tell you to check and repack after every mission?"

"Did he say something like that?"

Jack's eyes are cataloging the supplies. "Where's your second light?" he asks.

"I lost one two missions ago."

"And you didn't bother to replace it?" he asks pointedly.

"I didn't think I'd need but one..." she says softly.

He just eyes her sternly for a moment, then goes back to assessing their stockpile. Recrimination is useless, and will only increase the unease between them. Fortunately for his blood pressure, nothing else seems to be missing. When both packs are empty and the items checked, they repack, leaving out food, first aid supplies and tools.

It's dark now and Jack builds up the fire. Vala starts to get to her feet and Jack sends her a questioning look.

"Got to visit the ponies," she says.

His brows go up. "What?"

"That's what Daniel says. He has to go see the ponies—or is it horses?"

Jack laughs. "Do you mean 'go see a man about a horse'?"

"Yes! That's it!"

"Don't go far." He's chuckling as she leaves. When she returns he says, "Tomorrow we'll scout out a latrine. Do you want first watch or second tonight?"

"I'll take first," she says. "I'm not sleepy."

"Okay. Wake me in four hours." He heads for the tent.

~x~

After he settles into his sleeping bag, Jack lies quietly awake. That idea in the back of his mind is still nagging him. And it's annoying, because he has no way to prove or disprove it. Carter would make astronomical observations and draw conclusions based on what she saw. Unfortunately, he hasn't got the equipment necessary for that. Maybe he's wrong, but he can't think of any other reason for the changes in the planet—the disappearance of the town and people, the abrupt change of season, the drastic differences in the vegetation. And then of course, there's a precedent...

He should have said something to Mal-Doran about it already. He actually hates to dash her hopes entirely. But they'll need a different plan if they're going to be here for as long as he suspects. He closes his eyes; he'll talk to her tomorrow.

~x~

Vala hears him moving around in the tent for a few minutes after he leaves, then it gets quiet. She takes her P90, crawls out to the entrance, and sits with her back against the rock wall. From here she can see the gate clearing—or could if it were daylight—and will know if the Stargate activates. There is also an opening in the trees above which allows her to look up at the night sky. She checks her watch and sets the vibrating alarm for four hours. The air is warm, and except for an occasional breeze, there's no movement in the darkness. Occasionally she glances around her, but mostly she looks up at the stars. They are very bright, and there are a lot of them, she realizes. This planet must be closer to the Milky Way's center, where star concentration is greater. She wishes the area was more open so she could get a better view.

At first it seems very still, but gradually she becomes aware of night sounds. Insects make a constant hum; now and then something that sounds like a cricket rises above the rest. She hears the call of several different night birds. One makes a hooting sound similar to Earth's owls. Another, a low, mournful call, not unlike the mak'ka of her home planet. She had once heard a call like it on Earth, when Daniel took her to visit friends of his who lived on a lake in Canada. He told her it was a loon.

'_I thought loonies were crazy people,' she'd said._

'_Loon,' he corrected. 'Actually the bird has no connection with that word. It comes from luna, which means moon. Because people used to believe the moon drove people crazy."_

Vala yawns and rubs her eyes. A glance at her watch tells her only a little over an hour has passed. She tries to find a more comfortable position.

She misses Daniel. He always stays up through part of her watch with her when SG-1 is off-world. She isn't entirely sure if it's because he wants her company, or he doesn't quite trust her not to fall asleep. _She's only done that a few times! _ It's just so boring sitting here, listening and looking!

A rustling in the undergrowth catches Vala's attention, and she sits up and swings her weapon in that direction. She switches on the light, and small pale eyes stare into it, frozen for a second, then vanish with the faintest of sounds. So there are small animals here, she thinks, turning off the light, and thinking of the timra from Qenjor 2 or bunnies from Earth.

She gets up from the ground and paces for a few minutes in front of the entrance, stretching her legs. At her movement the insects and birds nearby fall silent. After she's worked the kinks out of her legs, she sits down again on the opposite side of the cave entrance. There's a fallen tree trunk there, and she puts her back against it and stretches out her legs. When she rests her head back on the trunk, she had a fabulous view of the stars.

Gradually the sounds come back. The loon cries, the crickets and quieter insects resume their concert. Something flies overhead—for a few seconds wings are outlined against the starry background. A moment later a small, shrill shriek comes from a short distance to her right, and then the sound of a tussle, and the shriek is cut off short.

Once more the forest is silent for a while, but the noises return more quickly this time. She must have dozed, soothed by sounds that had become familiar...

Suddenly she is alert, startled by a new, and louder sound—the yowl of a much larger animal!

Vala is on her feet instantly. Weapon trained into the darkness, she scans the 180 degrees of forest around her. Even before she has completed the sweep, she is aware of another figure in the cave entrance. O'Neill crouches there, with his P90 also aimed into the forest.

The cry comes again, and this time there is an answering yelp, from a slightly different direction. After a few moments the pair speaks again, closer this time.

"Build up the fire," Jack orders. "They're coming this way."

Vala moves quickly into the cave and adds fuel carefully to the glowing coals. Dry leaves first and then some small sticks. Jack backs under the overhang, until he is even with the fireplace. As soon as the fire blazes up, she adds larger pieces.

The animals scream again, this time sounding as if they are just outside! Vala springs to her feet and swings the P90 into firing position. A low growl comes from the darkness, and Jack spins to the left, firing a short burst from his weapon. The animal howls—this time in pain! The cry is answered by a bellow of rage from the right, and a second later a large shape comes crashing through the brush barrier, over the fire and straight toward Vala!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter4**

**Again THANK YOU to everyone reading and reviewing this story. This is a short chapter, for the purpose of filling in some background. Hope it's not too boring!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Daniel left the control room after Teal'c and Mitchell returned, and headed back to his lab. On one section of shelves were the books and artifacts he had brought back from Peglea over the course of several visits to the planet. To distract himself Daniel took down and opened one of the Peglean books. He was translating it. The spoken Peglean language had not proved too difficult, and he was making progress on the writing. Vala had helped with the language. She had an ear for languages, and was able to converse with the Pegleans almost as quickly as he was. Daniel had spent more time on 224 than anyone else on SG1, and Vala was with him on nearly all of the trips.

Focusing on the book wasn't working. He was worried about Vala. Okay, so there—he'd admitted it! As much as she was a pain most of the time, she had grown on him. He was used to her being around. They had a kind of rapport that he enjoyed. Sure she was a little over the top with the flirting sometimes—but then, that was just her personality. She was over the top about everything! He wasn't sure how to handle that kind of thing. He'd never been good at dealing with boldness in people. Like Jack, for example—though in Jack's case, his apparent boldness was not always what it seemed, and hid a lot of other issues...

After some initial caution when the first SG team appeared through the gate, the Pegleans had proved to be friendly and welcoming. Amiable relations were quickly established.

Peglea II had a very interesting history; the inhabitants had not originated on this planet, but on another—the first Peglea. Many centuries ago, they told Daniel, an evil creature claiming to be a god had come through the stargate and conquered that planet. This evil 'god' called himself Shur-amiek. He possessed great powers and he brought with him a large army of soldiers. The natives were enslaved and treated brutally. The conquerors were smooth-skinned, and tall, like the Tau'ri, and they perceived the Pegleans as animals because of their slighter stature and abundant body and facial hair. They were worked to death in mines up in the mountains. The people died by the thousands.

The Pegleans rebelled, and although the rebellion was put down, a little more than two thousand of them managed to escape through the stargate. They moved from planet to planet for a long time, but finally ended up here, where they decided to stop running and make a new life. They named their new home Peglea II. For many years after they arrived, they guarded the gate carefully, but no one else ever came through.

The descriptions and drawings of the conquerors which had come down over the centuries convinced Daniel that Shur-amiek was a Goa'uld system lord. The Pegleans would not have been considered attractive enough to be used as hosts, and so they became laborers. Because of the extensive mining that Shur-amiek established, Daniel guessed that the original planet must have been rich in naquadah.

The refugees had first arrived on Peglea II two thousand one hundred forty-eight of the planet's years earlier. Sam calculated that that equaled slightly more than fourteen hundred Earth years. In the time since then, the people had spread out and populated the entire continent upon which the stargate was located. They called the land Alonn, and it appeared to be about three million square miles—a little larger than Australia. It was entirely surrounded by ocean, and no seagoing ship sent outward had discovered any land larger than small islands, nor had they found any other people.

Their science and technological advancement equaled approximately that of Earth's early twentieth century. There were basic motorized means of land transportation, and even the equivalent of a transcontinental railroad, but the settlements were small and rural. Long-range communication was possible through a system similar to earth's telegraph. The town near the Stargate, called Maylore was one of the largest, Daniel was told, with approximately ten thousand people. For the most part, the Pegleans led simple lives; most were farmers, merchants or craftsmen. Large-scale manufacturing was unknown, coinage was rare and barter the most common form of trade. Technology was a tool of need, rather than an end in itself.

It delighted Daniel to learn that the Pegleans led a rich artistic and cultural life. There were several libraries in the town, and literacy was almost one hundred percent. The early refugees had written and illustrated the history of their home planet. The people were talented artists and artisans, working in metal and stone, wood and fabric and clay. Everyday items were decorated with carvings and paintings. Negotiations had been opened to discuss trade.

The book in front of Daniel had been given to him by Soraan, one of the officials of Maylore. It was a history book, Soraan said, a copy of one of the earliest books written by the refugees. It was full of drawings as well as stories. Daniel thumbed through the first few pages, looking at the pictures. He was surprised to see a few drawings of hairless, smooth-skinned people, but assumed they were pictures of Shur-amiek and members of the Goa'uld entourage. There would undoubtedly be more information when he was able to translate the writing. He was about to try once more to concentrate, when SG1 was called to the briefing room. Hopefully Sam and Hailey had some good news. He put away the book and headed for the lift.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you again to everyone reading and reviewing this story!**

Previously, in Chapter 3;

The animals scream again, this time sounding as if they are just outside! Vala springs to her feet and swings the P90 into firing position. A low growl comes from the darkness, and Jack spins to the left, firing a short burst from his weapon. The animal howls—this time in pain! The cry is answered by a bellow of rage from the right, and a second later a large shape comes crashing through the brush barrier, over the fire and straight toward Vala!

**XXXX**

Fire erupts from both P90s in the same instant! The creature stiffens in mid-flight, its body convulsing, momentum still carrying it toward the spot where Vala is standing. In that split-second Jack slams into her, knocking her out of the path of the animal. Then they're down in a tangle of legs and arms, barely avoiding being struck by the large furred beast. Outside, the wail of the second animal rises again.

Shocked, Vala lies frozen for a few seconds—but Jack is up to one knee immediately, his weapon trained on the creature that now stretches its full length across the floor of the cave. When the thing does not move, he edges closer, then relaxes as he sees blood running from the bullet hole in its head.

"Are you all right?" he says to Vala, still watching the animal.

"Yeah," she responds after a moment.

"You're sure? I hit you pretty hard."

She's sitting up now. "Better than having that...ugh... that _thing_ hit me. Thank you."

The animal outside shrieks again, and Jack turns toward the entrance, firing once in the direction of the sound. There is a short yelp, and then a descending yowl. After a few seconds there's only quiet.

"I think you got its mate," Vala ventures softly.

"Hope so." He grabs his boots from the tent, and shoves his feet into them. "Stay here. I'll go out and check."

Her eyes widen. "You want me to stay in here with that!"

"It's dead. I want to make sure the other one is. I'll get this one out of here when I get back."

Vala nods, and moves as far from the carcass as possible, standing with her back to the cave wall aiming her P90 shakily at the animal.

Jack starts out into the dark, then pauses, looking at Vala. "Don't shoot me when I come back."

"Let me know it's you," she says.

"Yeh." He goes out, switching on the P90's light.

Vala's eyes stay glued to the body, her finger on the trigger of her weapon. The creature is cat-like, six feet long stretched out across the floor. Its fur is mottled in shades of gray. It has a short mane—more of a ruff—that stands up across its shoulders and continues partway down the center of its back. The snout is longer and narrower than cats on Earth, and six inch fangs protrude from its upper jaw. Two claws on each front paw are unusually long, about three inches. A liquid substance seems to be oozing from the base of each claw, coating the length. The smell coming from the beast is disgusting—putrid and evil. Vala tries to back further against the wall.

It seems to her that a long while passes before she hears Jack's voice from the darkness. "I'm coming in."

"Good!"

He steps into the firelight, and immediately wrinkles his nose. "Well, that's unpleasant."

"Did you find the other one?"

"Yes. It's about forty feet into the woods, dead. Female. Smaller than this one, but still pretty nasty." He peers at the one on the ground. "This one's male. A hunting pair I assume. Saber cats. You stand guard. I'll drag this one out." He sets his weapon against the wall, and dons his gloves.

Vala steps out under the edge of the overhang. "Be careful. I think those long front claws may be poisonous. There's something on them."

He looks closer. "I see what you mean." He grabs the back feet, and maneuvers the big cat's body around the fire and out into the darkness, continuing until he has taken it ten yards away. He returns to the cave, dropping his gloves by the entrance. "I don't think anything else will bother us with that smell around. I'll take watch now. Just let me get some clothes on." He has stripped to t-shirt and trousers for sleeping, and now he heads toward the tent.

She glances at his back as he passes her. "Your shirt is ripped."

"What?"

"On your back. I think there's blood." She steps closer. "Pull it up and I'll take a look." He raises the shirt to his armpits and she looks closer. "There's a cut." It's not very deep, about two inches long, between his spine and right shoulder blade, a third of the way down his back.

"I don't feel anything," he says.

"That's not good." She frowns. "There's an animal similar to this on Khen'ai. Its claws are poisoned. They also have an anesthetic, so their prey can't tell they've been clawed, and don't clean it until it's too late." She presses a nail lightly into his skin about an inch from the cut. "Can you feel that?"

He shakes his head. "Nope."

"There's antiseptic and antibiotic cream in the first aid kit. I'll take care of it for you."

He stands still while she cleans the scratch, applies the cream and put on an adhesive gauze pad. "Done," she says.

"Thanks." He pulls down the shirt, and turns around. "Glad you were paying attention. I'll grab my clothes and then you get in there and get some sleep."

In her sleeping bag, Vala closes her eyes thinking she will never be able to fall asleep, but when she opens them, daylight is brightening the interior of the tent. She pulls her clothes on quickly and crawls out. Jack's making coffee on the little camp stove.

"Good morning," he says. He pours a cup of coffee for her and starts to hand it to her, but with a wince switches the cup from his right to his left hand for the stretch.

"What's wrong?" she asks as she takes it.

"Nothing."

"General!"

"My shoulder and back are stiff," he admits.

"Let me see." She puts her cup down and moves over behind him. "I'm going to lift your shirt." She does so, and then carefully removes the bandage. The cut is puffy and oozing, and the skin around it is red. "It looks like you got some of the poison. I'll put some more cream on it and I think you should take a couple of the antibiotic tablets."

"It's just a little stiff," he objects. "We should save those for something serious."

"_This_ could be serious! The cut is swollen and it's red all around it." She presses her nail into his skin as she did the night before, and this time he stifles a yelp. "See," she says. She gets the first aid kit and finds the bottle of antibiotic tablets, holds out two of them. "Take them," she orders.

"Does it say_ General_ anywhere on my uniform?" he growls. Nevertheless he swallows the pills with a gulp of coffee.

She reapplies cream and bandage to the cut, and afterward they eat MREs for breakfast.

"Obviously there are large, dangerous animals about," Jack says as they're eating. "That means we have to be much more cautious. We'll have to stay together. Even when we visit the 'ponies'."

"What?"

He smirks. "Don't worry, we can turn our backs."

"Well, that's just lovely," she grumbles.

"Would you rather be catfood?"

She doesn't reply.

After they eat, they drag the cat's carcass far from their shelter, in the opposite direction of the stream, and then go back and get the body of its mate and leave it with the first one. Next they find a spot about ten yards from the cave, again opposite the stream, and dig a latrine. After that they set about making the shelter safer. Jack cuts large solid branches from fallen trees, and they drag them back to the cave, where they use them to form a barricade across the opening. By the time he is satisfied with the result the sun has progressed well past the middle of the day.

"This is only temporary," Jack says, straightening and stretching. The action is quite painful to his back and he suppresses a groan. "Tomorrow we'll start finding straight logs to build a stockade. We can make a bigger space by building out from the overhang, and eventually putting a roof over the extension. But for now we need something that will keep those saber cats from getting in. Hopefully more of them won't be coming around right away. If this is the territory of the two we killed it may take a few days for others to move in.

"Before it gets dark we need to set some snares," he goes on. "There are small animals around that we should be able to catch. Our food supplies are going to run out quickly, and we have to replace them."

He leads the way into the woods, moving carefully and studying the ground for any evidence of paths that small creatures travel. "Near water is the best place to look," he says. They find what they hope is an animal trail leading to the stream, and Jack shows Vala how to make snares with their string. They set a dozen in the area.

"We could shoot game when we find it," he said. "But that would use up our ammunition pretty quickly. I'll make a spear with a straight piece of wood and one of our knives. And if I can find the right kind of wood, I can make a bow and arrows." He rises from setting the last snare and stifles another groan at the ache in his back. "It's late. Let's get back to the cave."

"What about trying the gate?"

He remembers then that he'd intended to speak to her about his troublesome idea, but he's too tired now to try and explain. The infection from the cat's poison has taken more out of him than he cares to admit. "It's too dark to be out. It'll wait until tomorrow."

Vala starts to object, but decides not to push it when she sees the exhaustion in his face.

Back at the shelter she builds a fire and puts water on to boil for tea, insisting that he sit. She gets out energy bars, and also two more antibiotic tablets, which he takes without objection. When he lets her change the bandage on his back, she's relieved to see that it does not look any worse. His skin is flushed and hot to the touch, and she silently hands him the thermometer strip. He rolls his eyes and lays it against his forehead. Sure enough, he has a fever, though not a dangerously high one. She drops a couple of aspirin into his hand.

"I'll take first watch again, if that's okay," she says as it grows dark.

Jack nods. "Wake me in four hours."

Instead of getting into the tent, he drags his sleeping bag out and beds down beside the fire, turning his back to the flames. His P90 is in easy reach.

Vala is not nearly so casual about her watch tonight as she was the night before. She puts on her BDU shirt and flak vest, makes sure she has her zat strapped to her hip, and her P90 with a full clip. She sits in the small opening they've left when strengthening the barricade, with her back to the fire and her eyes peeled into the darkness. Periodically she switches on her handlight and scans the forest. The small animals, insects and birds rustle, hum, chirp and hoot. The sounds are reassuring. A few times they quiet down momentarily and she is instantly alert.

Behind her Jack sleeps restlessly, his breathing shallow, occasionally giving out small sounds of discomfort. It is over an hour before he settles into a deeper, quieter slumber. She lets him sleep past his watch. He is breathing steadily and evenly at that point and needs the rest. She's not sleepy anyway. It's an hour and a half later when he grows restless again, and she calls his name.

He sits up and after a few minutes adds wood to the fire and then comes over to sit beside her. "You didn't wake me," he accuses.

"It was only an hour or so," she says. "I was wide awake." In the firelight, she can see that the fever flush had faded. "How do you feel?"

"Better," he says. "Thanks. But don't do that again."

She doesn't answer, just leaves him at the shelter entrance, crawls into her sleeping bag and falls asleep instantly.

The smell of coffee wakes her again the following morning. She emerges from the tent to find Jack sitting on a small log, writing in a notebook which is balanced on his knees.

"What are you writing?" she asks, pouring herself some coffee.

"Starting a journal. To keep track of the days, and record what we're doing—what we find. Things like that."

"Good idea," she says.

"Daniel or Carter always do it when we're on a planet for more than a day." He finishes his entry and closes the book. Both pen and book go back into the pocket of his pack. "Daniel's notebooks are always tomes." He grins at the thought. "I think he's described every stone we've ever come across. And I can't even read Carter's, the words are so long! Can you draw?"

"Somewhat," she admits. "Why?"

"We might need to add sketches of things at times. And I'm not very artistic. Daniel's the artist. Carter's not bad, but he's really good." He reaches over to refill his coffee cup.

He feels distinctly better today than he did the night before. The fever has gone and Vala says the redness has faded from around the cut and it has started to scab over. However, she insists that he take the antibiotics for at least one more day.

There are two small tan-colored animals in their snares this morning. They are furry things that look sort of like earth rabbits with shorter ears. After resetting the snares, Jack takes them down to the stream and cleans and skins them quickly, then rigs up a spit over the fire to roast them on. The flavor is odd but not disagreeable. He notices that Vala does not hesitate to bite into the meat.

He finishes his portion and waits for her to be done. She swallows the last of the meat and gathers the bones into a small pile with his.

"Let's go try the gate," she says.

"There's no point. It won't work."

She looks at him, a little surprised at the blunt statement. "What does that mean?"

"It mean we aren't going to be able to connect with the SGC—because the SGC isn't there."

"What?" She frowns. "What's happened to it?"

"Nothing. Something's happened to us."

"Yeah. We're stranded here! We need to get back."

"It's more than that." He tries to explain. "You know that storm, and the lightening strike. I think it messed with the wormhole... caused it to... I think somehow the stargate has thrown us back into the past!" He waits, but she says nothing, merely stares at him without comprehension. "It's the only thing that explains it all," he continues. "You know—the changes. The town and people disappearing. The season's are different. I didn't notice at first, but there's more daylight than before—at least an hour. The overgrown vegetation. And the trees. There are different kinds of trees... I think we're somewhere in the past."

She is staring at him doubtfully. Then she laughs. "That's crazy! The gate can't do that! Where did you get that idea?"

"It's happened before."

"Impossible!" she exclaims.

"You haven't read all the mission reports, have you? And Daniel hasn't told you about that one."

"What?" She takes in his expression. "You're serious, aren't you?"

He nods. "Afraid so. On a mission in 1999 we went through the gate and ended up thirty years in the past." He quickly outlines the things that happened to the team in 1969. "We managed to get back," he concludes, "but only because General Hammond had given Carter a note before we left with the times of the solar flares."

"You met General Hammond in the past?"

"Yep."

"So he knew this was going to happen?"

"Yep."

"Wow. That was lucky! What were the chances of actually meeting someone you knew?!"

He laughs. "Luck had nothing to do with it." At her puzzled expression, he goes on. "Well, think about it! What would you do if you met somebody from the future who said they know you thirty years from now?"

It only takes her a second to get it. "Oh. Of course. I'd do everything I could to make it happen! So he must've made sure he would be in command of the SGC." She grins almost gleefully. "Did you tell him about the gate?"

"Yeah. Well... not exactly. I told him not to turn down an assignment to Cheyenne Mountain in 1997." Jack appears faintly abashed. "Carter warned me not to say anything... but I did it anyway. Like you said—I had to make sure things worked out. Don't tell Carter."

She looks around the cave, and her expression grows serious again. "I don't think there's any danger of that right now."

He sighs and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "We _will_ get home," he says quietly, confidently.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thanks for reading! **

**I'm going to be taking a break from writing for 2 or 3 weeks. My daughter and grandson are coming for a visit, and we don't get to see them very often! So I'll be concentrating on them while they're here.**

**I'll be back.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who's reading this story! Also thanks to those who wished me a happy visit with my family! We had a great time—it just should have been longer!**

**ALSO – Please don't let my muddled explanation of wormhole physics/time travel distract from the story! I'm not well enough versed in science to come up with a logical explanation. And of course this is sci-fi, so it really doesn't have to be logical, hmmm?**

**XXXXXXXXX**

Mitchell and Teal'c had finished with their post-mission medical, and now were seated at the briefing room table with Daniel, and General Landry. The two of them had been brought up to speed on the current predicament. In the meantime Sam and Hailey had continued to investigate the idea that Hailey had mentioned earlier. Now the two women entered the briefing room, and joined the others around the table.

Hailey outlined her theory. "On previous visits to Peglea II, SG teams made a number of astronomical observations, and noted that the sun is in a period of very high solar activity," she began. "That means there are frequent and powerful solar flares produced. The path of the wormhole between Earth and Peglea passes very near that system's sun." Hailey paused and glanced around the table. "We all know what happened when Earth's sun flared at the same time a wormhole was passing near it. The wormhole was turned back on itself, and SG-1 was sent thirty years into the past. If 224's sun happened to flare at the right moment, something similar could have happened to General O'Neill and Ms. Mal Doran."

Staring at her in shock, Daniel was the first to speak. "You think they may have ended up back on 224, _sometime in the past?_"

"That's right," Sam replied to Daniel's question.

"If that's so, why weren't all of you sent back?" Mitchell asked.

"It was probably a matter of timing," Sam said. "When the wormhole opened, Daniel and I were near the gate and Vala and the General were all the way across the clearing. General O'Neill signaled for us to go ahead and we entered the gate immediately, while it could have taken them as much as half a minute to get there. By then, Daniel and I were already in the gateroom."

"So it would have happened after we exited," Daniel concluded.

"Correct," Sam said.

"Why were they not with you?" Teal'c asked.

"Something was going on between Vala and one of the Pegleans," Sam said. "She was being pulled away toward the woods. General O'Neill had gone to help her. It delayed them. When we went back to 224, one of the women told us she saw Vala and the General enter the event horizon several moments behind Daniel and me. She also said the gate was struck by lightning immediately after that."

"The lightning caused the gate to disconnect," Hailey picked up the explanation. "The free end of the wormhole would have been searching for somewhere to discharge its energy. In addition to that, the flare would have caused it to turn backwards in time. And since there aren't any Stargates nearby, it could have reconnected with the 224 gate sometime in the past."

"Wow! So both of those things were going on," Mitchell exclaimed. "How far into the past?"

"We don't know." Sam shook her head. "The lightning discharged a huge amount of energy into the gate. It could be a very long time."

"Is there any way to determine if there was, in fact, a solar flare at that time?" Teal'c asked.

"Atmospheric sensors were placed on the planet during one of the early visits," Hailey said. "Those might have picked up something that would help. Solar flares send out waves of heavily charged electromagnetic radiation. That could pinpoint the time of any recent flares."

"Oh, goody. Magnets," Daniel muttered. "Jack'll be tickled." He grimaced. He'd been around Jack too long!

Sam sent Daniel a sympathetic look before she turned to Landry. "Sir, permission for SG-1 to return to 224 and retrieve the data from those sensors."

"Granted, Colonel."

"I'd like to take SG-5 and -7 along, sir. The sensors are spread out over a large area. Retrieving them will go faster with help."

Landry nodded his agreement.

**~x~**

Thirty minutes later Daniel watched from the control room as the teams stepped through the wormhole. After they were gone, he wandered out in the corridor, and up to his office. Sam said it would take most of a day to retrieve the data chips from the sensors, as they were scattered over a widespread area, some of them several miles from the Stargate. Daniel sighed. He wished he could have gone with his team.

He picked up the book he'd been working on earlier and continued with the translation. The beautiful b illustrations in the book were engrossing; he found himself ignoring the writing and studying the numerous pictures. Every third or fourth page held an illustration. They showed scenes of life for the Pegleans in the early years of their settlement on the planet. There were depictions of various buildings in the town. One close-up drawing was of a water-wheel, evidently made to power some type of machinery; Daniel tried to make out what the machine was, but the picture wasn't detailed enough.

By the time the SG teams had visited, the planet had progressed well beyond the stage of using water-wheels for that kind of power. There was now an electric power plant down-river from the town; it was situated in a narrow canyon where the water was swift enough to turn turbines with sufficient force to generate electricity for the area. The system produced enough power to run basic lighting, heat and cooking in most buildings.

Daniel's attention returned to the illustrations. On the page before him was a colored picture of a garden. It was a large garden, a field, actually. In the front was something low-growing that might have been beans or a similar vegetable; and behind that were rows of tall, long-leafed stalks. Almost like corn. He remembered eating something there that reminded him a lot of cornbread. He supposed it wasn't too surprising to think that planets with similar climates would evolve similar plant life.

There were scenes showing what he assumed to be historical events; the signing of what may have been some sort of treaty—perhaps it was something like the Mayflower Compact—the agreement among the early settlers of Massachusetts to obey the laws and support one another in the New World. The Peglean refugees may have made a similar agreement.

Shaking his head he stopped thumbing through in search of pictures, and turned to the beginning of the book once again. He really should get back to the translation instead of making guesses based on the pictures!

**~x~**

It was thirty-six hours before the SG teams returned. Colonel Mitchell and Airman Wilson from SG-7 were injured. There had been another violent storm and both men were struck by flying debris. Mitchell had a slight concussion and Wilson a broken wrist. Apparently this was a very stormy season on Peglea. The teams had waited for the storm to subside, not wanting to chance another lightning strike on the gate.

Carter and Hailey vanished into the science labs with the data chips, and, along with several other scientists, began analyzing the information stored on them. It didn't take long before they found what they were looking for.

General Landry, Colonel Sharp, and Teal'c arrived in the briefing room to hear Sam and Hailey's report. Cam was still in the infirmary, and although Daniel had been paged, he had not yet appeared.

Sam didn't waste any time imparting their information. "It looks as if the atmospheric record supports Captain Hailey's theory," she began. "The timing of one particularly strong EM burst hitting the planet suggests that the Peglean sun flared at just about the time General O'Neill and Vala entered the gate."

Daniel arrived as she was speaking, and took a seat at the table.

"How certain are you about the timing, Colonel?" Landry asked.

"We believe it's better than a ninety-six percent probability, sir," Sam replied. "It takes solar radiation 12.564 minutes to reach Peglea. With that we can extrapolate that a flare occurred on the sun within 2 seconds of the moment we think they entered the wormhole."

There was silence around the table. "Okay," Col. Sharp said finally. "So how do we figure out where—or rather when they are? Are they in the past or the future? And how far?"

"There's no science that supports the possibility of the wormhole being able to travel into the future," Sam said. "I think we can assume they're in the past. At this point, I don't even have a guess how far."

"I'm pretty sure we can eliminate the last 78 years," Daniel said. When several curious gazes turned his way, he continued. "The first thing they'd have tried to do would be dial home. The Stargate was uncovered at Giza in 1928. Since then it's been in labs and storage facilities—and of course here since 1996. None of those places would have prevented it from activating. If that had happened—well, we'd have heard about it. It would have been in the records somewhere. If Jack and Vala came through during those 78 years they'd have found a way to leave us a message."

"Yes, I'm sure they would," Sam agreed.

"How do we determine where in the past they are, then?" General Landry asked.

Hailey and Carter glanced at one another. "We don't know the answer to that yet," Sam admitted.

"Even if we locate them, can we get them back?" Sharp wanted to know.

"That's actually easier than finding them," Sam said. "We can get the jumper with the time travel device from Atlantis, and someone to pilot it—probably Colonel Sheppard. But we have to find them first." She glanced around the table. "Anybody with any ideas—no matter how far-fetched—please don't hesitate to say something."

The room was quiet, as they all simply gazed at one another without a clue.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**I made a mistake in the previous chapter. I had Carter say the Stargate can't be used to travel to the future. Obviously, SG1 did exactly that when they returned from 1969! Thank you to DeniseM for catching me. I goofed and I can't really fix it, so I'm just going to ask your indulgence, and move on. That method wouldn't help Jack and Vala because they can't predict solar flares.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not a botanist. I do have a garden and the info about vegetables and plants in general in this and later chapters comes from that experience. **

**I hope your enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

**~Exile, day 3~**

"You do realize that we're a very long way back in time, don't you?" Vala asks as they put out the fire and get ready to go to work.

"Yep." He checks the P90s for ammunition, and pulls on his flak vest. It's the closest thing they have to protective clothing, in case something happens—such as being attacked by another of those saber cats!

"The Pegleans came to this planet fourteen hundred earth years ago, and they're not here yet," she continues.

"Yes, I know. And the Stargate on Earth was buried when Ra left five thousand years ago. We have to assume that's why it won't connect. We've landed sometime in the 3600 years between the time the gate was buried and the arrival of the Pegleans."

They meet each other's eyes for a moment before Jack gives a little smile and tilts his head toward the woods. "Let's get started."

Vala is mostly quiet for some time after that.

They spend the day cutting logs to build the stockade. By nightfall they have felled two trees and cut them into five logs. Jack figures it will take eighteen to twenty logs to complete the barrier—that means at least three more days of cutting.

They retrieve two 'rabbits' and one squirrel-like animal from the snares and cook the evening meal after dark. Jack offers to take first watch. Exhausted, Vala simply thanks him and crawls into her sleeping bag.

**~Exile, day 8~**

It is the eighth day before they finish the stockade wall. It consists of twenty-two logs, eight or nine feet long, with one end buried in the ground so that they stand vertical, side by side. They have chopped the upper ends into rough points. It reminds Jack of forts in old Western movies. On the outside, two thirds of the way up they have angled sharpened branches downward to try and discourage the animals from climbing the walls. They use vines they've pulled from trees to tie the logs together and stabilize them. The shape of the wall bows out in an arc from one side of the cave opening almost to the other. Out of smaller logs, they have fashioned a door, which can be lashed in place over the opening.

That building the wall requires longer than Jack's estimate is really no surprise. The business of survival keeps interrupting. Finding food is the major problem. Their snares yield a steady, if meager, supply of small game. Their survival kits include packets of seed—squash, beets, carrots, turnips, beans, peas, corn, a few seed potatoes—but preparing a garden takes time, and growing it even more time. Still the idea is on Jack's mind since he does not know how soon the season will change again, and warm weather is obviously the best growing time.

Once the wall is done, Jack makes the garden their next priority. He picks the sunniest spot in the Stargate clearing and sets about getting rid of the grass and brush is that area. The small shovels they carry in their packs don't make the job easy. He starts by cutting the brush down to ground level. Then they dig out roots and sod, shaking the dirt back onto the ground. After two full days' work, they have cleaned out a plot less than ten feet square.

**~Exile, day 10~**

After carefully counting out the seeds, Jack plants about one quarter of their supply. He does not want to take the chance of losing most of their stock if a disaster strikes—a flooding rain or the onset of cold weather. Around the plot they build a fence of sticks and closely woven vines. It would not deter a large animal, but it should keep out the small ones most likely to eat the young shoots. It becomes part of their routine to check the garden every morning and evening.

**~Exile, day 14~**

Vala thinks of Daniel as she falls asleep each night, remembering the exasperation and confusion he often displays when she is near him. He truly does not know how to react to her, and she finds this endearing. He tries to avoid her and keep her away, but under it all is his innate kindness—the thing she loves most about him (well, maybe there are other things)—which makes him incapable of inflicting hurt by rejecting her outright.

**~Exile, day 24~**

Their days fall into a pattern. After taking care of personal needs, they check the perimeter around the shelter. They've cleared a space around the opening of the cave for about twenty yards, taking down brush and tall grass, creating a kind of safety zone where they can see anything approaching. Next they walk their snare lines. Anything that has been caught is cleaned and placed in a cache that Jack has built into the back wall of the cave, where it is cool, and blocked off with rocks. Snares are reset as they go. After that they go to the gate clearing to inspect the garden, spending a few minutes pulling out weeds and checking carefully for animal tracks or breaks in the fence. Two weeks after sowing, there are a few small plants up—beans, peas, carrots. They are watching closely for the others.

The days have been getting steadily warmer, which is very encouraging. It means they are heading into Summer, not out of it. The temperatures rise into the low 80s during the day, and there are nearly fourteen hours of daylight now.

By the time they are finished in the garden, it is always near mid-morning, and they return to the cave for the first meal of the day. With careful rationing they were able to stretch their supplies until the sixteenth day of their exile. But that is all gone now, so for the first meal they take half of the meat store from their cache to cook over the fire. The rest will be saved for the evening meal. They have cut back to two meals a day.

Every few days they wash clothes in the stream, weighing them down with rocks and letting the current agitate away the dirt. They bathe in the middle of the day, when it is warmest because there is less chance that predators are out hunting. They stand guard for each other.

Jack has started making weapons in order to conserve their supply of ammunition for the P90s and the Beretta. The power source for the zat will last for years if they are careful. He's made them each a bow, and he is showing Vala how to make arrows. They've found enough flint in the rocks at the base of the cliff to make a few arrowheads. It's been quite a few years since Jack learned to work flint, and he's out of practice, but the last couple of arrowheads came out very well. They've also fashioned spears from straight pieces of strong ash-like wood. Jack's combat knife and Vala's dagger are the points for now, until they can make flint ones.

Jack intends to build a cabin, and he works on this sometimes in the late afternoons. It will take a long time; so far he has only leveled the ground for the foundation logs—not an easy task without a transit or other tools. The wire saw they have is not going to last forever, and he has been searching for a large enough piece of flint which can be sharpened into an axe head. Whenever possible he uses the small hatchet from his kit, but while it works for firewood, it lacks the weight needed for heavier jobs.

**~Exile, day 30~**

The work is endless—run snare lines, dig, chop, build, carry water, carry firewood, make weapons and tools, tend the garden—weed, water and plan for the harvest and how to preserve their food. All the while keeping careful vigilance for any danger that may approach.

Every night they crawl into their sleeping bags exhausted. Thankfully the stockade and the system of alarms they have set mean it is no longer necessary to stand night watch. Vala can sleep for six or seven hours straight, otherwise she thinks she would collapse into a useless heap.

Jack pushes and pushes and pushes some more, and every day his expectations for what they should accomplish seem to grow greater. When they fail to meet those expectations—and inevitably they do—he is furious and disappointed. She responds in kind and they snarl and snap at each other. They are both angry and frustrated and there is no one else to blame so they take it out on each other. He finds fault with everything she does. She retaliates with a caustic wit which cuts him down at every turn.

Despite their mutual antagonism, they somehow manage to work together, and slowly they grow accustomed to each other.

She is shocked the first time she realizes she has actually laughed at one of his bad, sarcastic jokes. She stops what she is doing and looks at the man for perhaps the very first time. She sees the lines in his face, the determined set of his jaw, the real humanity in his eyes.

He catches her look and frowns. "What?" he demands.

"Nothing," she says after a moment.

"You gonna stand there all day for nothing?"

"No," she replies. She turns back to her task, but her thoughts are preoccupied now as she considers just who and what Jack O'Neill really is. He is a man who takes his responsibilities seriously, and who believes he is responsible for the welfare of everyone around him. In this case, that is her, and he is doing his best to take care of her. Suddenly she sees his demands and impatience in a different light. The high expectations he has are of himself. He is afraid he will fail.

When they argue again a few days later, he breaks it off abruptly. He puts down the tool he is using and sits on a fallen log. "We can't keep doing this," he says.

She looks at him and waits.

He presses his palms into his closed eyes, and then slowly drags his hands down his cheeks, tangling his fingers in his beard. He has given up shaving and there is even more grey in the whiskers than in his hair. He turns and looks at her. "We may be here a long time. Alone. We can't keep beating each other up."

The corner of her mouth twitches. "Oh, I don't know," she says. "Don't you think it's kind of 'us'?" Her fingers add quotes around the last word.

He stares at her in shock.

Her smile is small, but it's genuine, and amused. After a few moments he gives her a tiny answering smirk.

Things are a little easier between them after that. He keeps his temper in check most of the time. She gives the work her best effort, and does not try to antagonize him—well, only just a little! They don't talk much, but when they do, both make the effort to be civil.

**~Exile, day 58~**

They rise and eat their morning meal early today. One of the packs is already stocked with the first aid kit and some tools and extra ammunition; they add a food package. They're going to explore some of the landscape. So far, they've only been as far as the site where the Peglean town will someday be located. Today, they're heading beyond that, up the river which runs through the wide valley. It means climbing into the hills, but there is a ridgeline visible from the trail above the valley which Jack thinks may give them a view of more of the surrounding geography. In the second pack they put the ground cover and tarp—in case they have to spend the night, they will have shelter.

The track to the town site is familiar, but beyond that, they are breaking trail and it is slow going. By midday they have only reached the base of the climb that will take them to the ridge.

"Do we keep going?" Vala asks as they pause for a short rest and a drink.

"Two hours," he says.

"What?"

"We'll keep going two more hours. It won't get us to the top, but we should be able to see more of the surrounding country."

She nodded. "Okay." In the past weeks she's reluctantly learned to trust Jack's instincts, his aptitude for tactics and his survival skills. His plans of action are almost never wrong.

Two hours later they find a clearing on the side of the mountain which gives them a long view back where they have come from. The valley where the town will be is at the base of the lower hills they've already traversed. With their eyes they follow the course of the river, rushing down past the place where they stand, winding through the hills, flowing broader and straighter across the valley, and then into the forest.

"Oh, look! There's the Stargate!" She's somewhat surprised that they can see it, the forest around that area is so thick. The river runs about a kilometer to the left of the gate—southeast—and continues toward the south, where the forest ends a half dozen kilometers past the gate, and an expanse of open grassland begins.

Jack sits down on a rock and takes out their journal and a pen. He opens a blank double-wide page and starts sketching a map, charting the landscape from the ridge behind them as far as the edge of the grassland. Looking to their left and right, he adds in the details that they can see; to the east, beyond some low hills is a large irregular-shaped lake, with more hills beyond that; to the west, there is more forest and fewer hills until sight fades out in the distance.

While he is mapping, Vala checks around the area, looking for anything interesting, especially plants that they may be able to use for food. She gathers a few samples and stores them away in the pack.

Vala peeks over Jack's shoulder as he finishes the map. Proportions, locations and details are all perfect. She holds back a snarky comment about his crude drawing! He closes the book and slips it back into the pack, catching a glimpse of the grin on her face.

"What?" he demands.

"Nothing," she says. "Nice map." She looks around at the view. "It's beautiful up here. Next trip out, we could try and find that lake."

"Good idea." He glances at the sun, which is at about three o'clock. "We'll be home before dark." He takes the package of food from his pack and offers it to her.

They eat in silence, letting their eyes wander around the landscape. There's still almost no small talk between them, only what needs to be communicated. But at least they don't snipe at each other as they did in the beginning.

"Ponies," Vala says—it has become their code for a relief break—and indicates the nearby trees.

Jack scans the area carefully and then nods. "Go ahead."

She's back in three minutes and he takes a turn.

"Okay," he says. "Let's head down."

It was quite warm in the clearing, but is much cooler as they re-enter the forest, and start downhill beside the river. Jack follows the trail they made coming up, and Vala walks behind him. Her ears are tuned to catch any unusual sound, and every few minutes she glances behind to make sure there's nothing there. She can see Jack's head moving as he scans the forest ahead of them. They didn't see anything dangerous on the way up, but the shadows are starting to lengthen by the time they reach the last of the foothills, and night prowlers will be emerging. A couple of times she spots interesting plants along the river's edge and they stop to get a sample. They make very good time, and Jack picks up the pace even more on the last slope down into the valley.

Everything in the gate clearing is just the way they left it. They stop a moment, out of habit, to check the garden before heading for their camp. As they approach the stockade, he waves her off to his left and they approach from different angles—another cautious habit they have developed. Again, all is in order.

Vala sets about building a fire, and Jack sits down to make the day's journal entry before the light is gone. When the fire is going, she takes out the plant samples she gathered and spreads them on the tarp. From their supplies she takes a plant identification book. The SG teams have found the book to be useful, even off-world. Given similar climates, an oxygen-carbon dioxide atmosphere, and green plants which mean chlorophyll, some similar vegetation to Earth's is almost inevitable.

Vala pages through the book. One plant has a yellow flower which strongly resembles goldenrod. Another has an 'ear' much like rye.

"Goody," Jack jokes when she tells him. "We can sneeze and make whiskey."

She rolls her eyes at him.

**~Exile, day 87~**

Vala wakes up sweltering in the middle of the night. She crawls out of the sleeping bag, and lays down on top of it. She chose to bed down out in the uncovered portion of their shelter tonight, near the stockade wall, hoping there might be a breeze stirring. No such luck. She tries lying on her back, then on her stomach.

Her back aches. God! She misses Daniel! He would rub her back, and after a while, he'd give in and kiss her shoulders...

With a sigh she gets up quietly and gets a drink from her canteen. She pours the water in a thin stream over the back of her neck and down her back, wetting her tee shirt. She pours some on her head, into her hair and also down the front of her shirt.

"What's the matter?" Jack's voice comes out of the darkness.

"Too hot," she says. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

In the far distance there is the yowl of a saber cat. A second cry answers the first.

"You didn't wake me," he says. "That did. They've been calling for the past hour."

"How far away?"

"Four or five klicks, I think. They haven't come any closer. Yet." There is a rustling of covers as he gets up. He goes for water, and then comes and sits near her.

"Do you think they'll come closer?"

"It depends on whether they find enough prey where they're hunting now," he says. "They're south of us, in the direction of the grassland. There should be plenty of food there. If they do come this way, I'll go out hunting _them_. A pre-emptive strike."

Fortunately, in the next few days the cats come no nearer, and finally cease to be heard altogether.


	8. Chapter 8

**~7 Days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~**

Daniel walked into Sam's lab, and stopped, looking down at her blond head resting on the desktop. He wondered if she had even been home since Jack and Vala were lost. Probably not. Not that he could say anything. He hadn't left the Mountain either; but at least he'd spent some time in his on-base quarters, resting. He had a feeling she was spending twenty-four hours a day in her lab.

He sighed and sat down on the stool across from Sam. Until this happened, things had been quiet for the two months since Adria had ascended. The Ori seemed to have backed off from the Milky Way. No one was sure if that was a permanent situation, but as Jack had said, "We'll take what we can get."

Daniel knew that Sam and Jack had been seeing each other for the past few months. He'd overheard a couple of phone conversations on Sam's end. Jack seemed to be visiting Colorado more often than when he first went to DC, and Sam had been absent several times on weekends. He wished they'd confide in him—but he wasn't really upset, he was just happy to see his friends happy.

He thought of all the times in the past when one of them, Jack or Sam, had been lost, trapped, MIA. He remembered Sam's frantic efforts to bring Jack home when he was trapped on Edora. And Jack's perpetual state of near-panic when Sam and the Prometheus had disappeared. Those were the worst—but they hadn't been the only times. There had been so many close calls over the years...

And now, just when things seemed to be settling down, this had to happen.

Jack had only gone along on this jaunt for the fun of it. There was no special reason that his presence was required. Teal'c and Cam's business on Chulak had left the team short, and Jack decided to fill in. He'd been visiting the Mountain—visiting Sam, no doubt—checking in with Landry to see how things were going. Bored, probably, by the lack of excitement around the SGC. Well, he'd sure gotten his excitement! And created some for the rest of them, too.

He felt for Sam. Maybe more than he was willing to admit—because he refused to acknowledge, even to himself, how much Vala's disappearance was affecting him...

Forcing his thoughts away from his own feelings, he reached over and shook Sam's shoulder gently. "Sam," he said quietly.

She came awake instantly, drawing in a sharp breath and raising her head... "Ow... ouch..." She grabbed at the back of her neck. "Crap. Oh." She blinked and rubbed hard at the stiff muscles. "Daniel."

"Hi." He raised a hand in a small wave. "Sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to scare you. Figured that wasn't the best position to be sleeping in."

"Obviously not, judging by the way my neck feels," she grunted. "What time is it?"

He got up and circled her work table, until he was standing behind her, and began to massage her shoulders and neck. "Nine o'clock. Er... zero nine hundred, that is. Have you had breakfast?"

"Oh, that feels good! Thank you!" She frowned then, thinking of his question. "Don't think so. What day is it?"

"Thursday."

"Oh." She looked crestfallen. "Don't think I had dinner last night, either..."

"Were you here all night?"

She nodded. "Actually the last I remember, it was about twenty-two hundred hours... Guess I must've slept on my desk all night. No wonder I feel awful..."

He changed his grip and began to work on a different spot. "You can't do this to yourself, Sam. I'll tell you what—why don't you go to your quarters and get a shower, and I'll meet you in a hour for breakfast? Okay?"

"I really should get back to work..."

"Sam." He cut her off. "No dinner. No breakfast. Sleeping on a table. How effective can you be?"

"Right." She straightened a bit and he let his hands fall away from her back. "You're right, Daniel. I'll meet you in an hour. Thanks for the massage." She turned to look at him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," he said. "And I _have_ rested. So I'll see you in the cafeteria." He kissed her cheek and moved away. At the door, he paused and looked back. She was still sitting at her table, staring at the computer. "Sam!" he said, putting a little oomph into his tone. "Get moving. Now!"

She dragged her eyes away from the screen. "I was just thinking..."

"No!" he interrupted. "On your feet. Shower. Breakfast. I'll drag you if I have to!"

"Okay... okay." She smiled and stood up, stretching. "Ow... stiff." After a moment she joined him at the door. At the lift they parted, as she got on to go up to her quarters. "I'll see you in the cafeteria," she promised.

**~x~**

Daniel watched the lift doors close and then turned down the corridor toward his office. He'd use the hour to continue working on his translation of the Peglean history. It was turning out to be more difficult than he thought. Although the book was several hundred pages long he suspected that the text was a 'condensed book' version of the original, designed to convey the basics without wasting space on details. The result was that many words or terms which would have been self-evident to a native speaker were abbreviated or eliminated altogether. References were made to events and people, but no explanation was given. It was as if someone had written a United States history stating, "After the Civil War, General Grant became President," but included no explanation of either the war or Grant. In addition, a text like this reduced Daniel's ability to extrapolate the meanings of words from the context. To say that he was frustrated with the task was an understatement.

He almost always found himself studying the pictures more than the text. They were fascinating in the amount of detail many of them had. He wondered if the pictures in the original book were the same. He's was going to speak to General Landry about visiting the planet again, to see if he could compare them.

In his office he crossed to his work table and sat down, pulling the book toward him. As he did so, his eyes fell on an object which had been hidden behind the thick tome. He reached over and picked it up. It was one of Vala's silver hair clips. He rubbed his thumb across the smooth surface of the clip, and suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. _Damn! It was getting harder and harder to ignore how much he missed her!_

**~x~**

The smile faded from Sam's face as soon as the lift doors slid shut. She was nowhere near holding up as well as she hoped it seemed to Daniel. There were simply no clues as to where they should look for Jack and Vala. The entire idea that the gate had transported them into the past was conjecture! There was no real proof! Sure, the solar flares were present, and the timing might work—but she was far from certain that that's what had happened. The wormhole may have collapsed while they were in transit... If that were the case, then Jack and Vala were gone.

Tears stung her eyes at that thought. She got off the lift at her floor and hurried toward her quarters before she met anyone in the corridor. She and Jack had only recently begun seeing each other, and now to have this happen!

She slipped into the door of her room, and closed it behind her. Dropping down on the foot of the bed, she let the tears fall.


	9. Chapter 9

**~Exile, day 90~**

The storm strikes suddenly, violently, during one of those hot, sweltering nights that have robbed them of sleep for the past few weeks. Lightning slashes across the sky, and rain pours relentlessly into the stockade.

Jack and Vala grab their bedding and retreat quickly to the back of the cave, finding a seat on the rocks that is slightly higher than the floor level. The wind shrieks and rocks the log wall. Outside, trees splinter and crash; one of them falls on the wall, and branches and debris shower down inside the shelter. Jack shoves Vala closer to the back of the cave, turning both their backs to the fury outside. He pulls her in front of him protectively, and yanks the tarp around them. There's nothing they can do except cower and wait.

Rain comes down in torrents, and soon the floor of the shelter is a muddy quagmire.

**~Exile, day 100~**

Jack stands watch as Vala bathes in the stream. Behind him, he can hear her splashing. It's midday, and the sun is warm, but the air is cool, and he knows she won't take very long. That last storm, ten days ago, seems to have broken the summer heat, and it's been distinctly cooler. He wonders if this is the start of the change of season.

They've been here one hundred local days. That's about fourteen earth weeks. He doesn't bother to split hairs and figure it down to the day—he could if he wanted, but it's not worth it—he just likes having an approximation.

He and Vala must have been listed as MIA by now. Gone, but not forgotten—he hopes. He shakes the thought out of his head. Of course, they're not forgotten! SG1 is doing everything they can to solve the problem. More important, Carter is doing everything she can! He hopes she isn't making herself sick in the process. He knows how she operates—full steam ahead and damn the torpedoes! No sleep, no food. Daniel and Teal'c better be watching out for her! He'll be on their case when he gets home if they're not!

It lifts his spirits a bit to think of home. Hot running water! Steak that he hasn't had to shoot himself with a homemade bow and arrow! Clothes that actually have some shape and color left! The two sets of BDUs they each brought along are looking pretty ragtag by now.

Let's see, what else does he miss most about home? _Now isn't that a no-brainer! _ Sam, of course...

And there goes his quasi-good mood. _Thinking of her as Sam is a mistake._ Missing her catches him off guard—the feeling hits him like a sledgehammer. He actually sags a little, as if punched in the gut. He doesn't let that happen very often—he can't afford to. He has to keep going. Stay strong. He has to make sure he and Vala are still alive when Sa—when _Carter_ figures it out and they come to get them!

_Yeah, just think of her as Carter_. Not that it's any less personal—any less _her—_than... her first name. Just that it's got the whole military thing attached to it. He thinks of Carter in BDUs, with a P90, going through the gate, or working on a doohickey in her lab, not... _otherwise. (in that blue dress, with the plunging back she wore to dinner...)_

He straightens and clears his throat, clearing his mind of the image... Deliberately doing a 180 sweep of the forest in front of him, concentrating hard on every tree and possible enemy hiding place—

"I'm done, General."

He jumps a foot, and turns around to find Vala approaching, wearing her BDUs with a solar blanket wrapped around her, her wet hair hanging to her shoulders.

She frowns. "Are you okay?"

He stiffens, gives her a lopsided grin. "Yep. Just fine. That didn't take long."

"Too cold," she says. "At least the sun's warm. Do you need me to watch for you, General?"

"No," he answers. "I'll wait til tomorrow." They start back toward the shelter. "And I think it's time you start calling me Jack, don't you?" he adds.

Her eyebrows go up and she smiles. "Okay. Jack. I can do that. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For letting me call you by your name—I guess. That's sort of a friendly gesture among the Tau'ri—is it not?"

"Yeah... well, Jack's easier to say than General. One syllable. I like short and simple." He feels a little silly, but it's the truth. Hearing 'General' always makes him want to jump to attention.

"One syllable. I see," she says, nodding. She grins. "Just don't _ever_ think about calling me _Val_."

He swivels his head to look at her, and then bursts out laughing. "Never in a million years," he promises. "You are definitely not 'Val'."

**~Exile, day 121~**

Summer is drawing to an end. The nights are cooler and the days shorter. Jack surveys their garden. Root vegetables have done quite well—carrots, beets, potatoes—and that's good because they will be easiest to keep through the Winter. Beans are still coming in from his second planting. Peas have gone by, but he's saving some for seed for next year. Winter varieties of squash are ready to harvest. The corn—an early maturing variety—has been harvested, and is drying. From the dried kernels they are grinding cornmeal and making a coarse kind of cornbread. Vala found a bowl-shaped stone in the stream, and with another smaller smooth stone they have a grinding mill.

They found more of the rye-like grain growing beyond the edge of the forest, and he has cleared another garden patch and seeded it, hoping it will be something like winter rye. Seeds have also been saved for Spring sowing.

On an excursion south into the grassland, they discovered there are antelope-like animals, the size of a very large dog, which are plentiful in the area. A hunting trip in that direction about every ten days has contributed greatly to their protein supply. They've found salt deposits by following the deer paths, so they can salt some of the meat to preserve it longer. Skinning the animals carefully, they are curing the skins with the salt. Jack plans on tanning them. _Buckskins!_ Jack thinks. Not actually a bad idea. And moccasins.

They have no idea how long Winter will last, or how severe it will be, so Jack has been digging a root cellar. He plans to make it bigger than needed for simply storing vegetables, so that they can use it for shelter if Winter is too cold. Vala cringes at the thought of living in even more of a cave, but they don't really have a choice. The cabin he is building is several months from completion and their stockade is not weatherproof, as the rains have proved to them more than once.

**~Exile, day 128~**

He's showing her how to knap flint to make arrowheads and knives. They've recently found a place where there's obsidian, which can also be used to make cutting tools. She's frustrated because the pieces aren't coming out the way she wants. He chuckles and assures her that she's doing fine—it took him a long time to get the knack, too.

**~Exile, day 141~**

The nights have cooled down enough that they have retreated to the tent for sleeping. The days have shortened to approximately ten hours of daylight, so they are forced inside the stockade earlier.

Jack has made a lot of progress on the root cellar. It should be finished in another few days. One section is for their food storage, the other for shelter. He is lining the walls of the living section with rock, and has built a fireplace and chimney in the end farthest from the food storage area. They should be able to move into it any time if the weather gets colder.

They build a fire and prepare their evening meal. Tonight there is fresh venison, as they returned from a hunting trip just the day before. There is also fried cornbread, and beans.

After they have eaten Jack takes out the journal and makes the daily entry by firelight. "One hundred and forty-one days," he says. "Nearly four Earth months."

Vala doesn't answer, but just sits staring into the fire.

When he's done with the journal, Jack is ready to sleep.

"I'm going to sit up for a little while and watch the fire," Vala tells him.

"Don't stay up too late."

"Yes, Dad," she quips.

Jack chuckles as he crawls inside the tent and into his sleeping bag. He falls asleep almost immediately.

He doesn't know how much later it is when he wakes. He's alone in the tent. The fire is still burning—he can see the light flickering on the tent wall. He pulls back the tent flap and can see that Vala is still sitting by the fire, her back toward him. She doesn't move as he pushes aside his sleeping bag and comes to the fire. He sits down beside her, with his back to the dying flames, so they are face to face.

"You all right?" he asks quietly.

It's a while before she speaks. She's sitting with her knees drawn up and elbows resting on them. Her hands are clasped together in front of her face. "Four months, Jack," she says softly. "It's been four months, and they haven't come for us."

"They'll come. Carter's pretty smart, y'know. She won't give up, and she'll figure it out."

"How are they going to get to us?"

"I've been thinking about that," he says. "The most likely way would be a jumper ship with a time-travel thingy installed."

"Those are the ships from Atlantis, right?"

"Right."

"But why haven't they come already? I mean—no matter how long it takes them to figure it out, couldn't they set the device to get here when we first arrived?"

"Uh..." Jack frowns, not sure how to answer that. "They don't know where in the past to aim for, Vala. _We_ don't even know when we are."

"Then there's no way they can find us!" She is beginning to sound desperate. "We could be anywhere—anytime... They're never going to find us!" She turns to him. "You knew this! That's why you've made us work so hard! We're stuck here, for the rest of our lives..."

"No! We _don't_ know that! _I_ don't know that..."

"Yes, you do!" There are tears in her huge violet eyes. Nevertheless, she glares at him accusingly. "You've known it all along! We're lost! We're hopelessly lost..." Her voice trails off and she starts to cry.

He moves closer and wraps his arms around her. "We'll be all right," he says softly. "Whatever happens—we can do this. Look what we've managed to do already..."

She cries hard for a few minutes, but his embrace is soothing and gradually she accepts the comfort. Her head is on his shoulder and his voice is a deep rumble against her skin. His beard tickles her. She closes her eyes and absorbs his nearness. Wow! He is an incredible hugger! His arms seem to envelope her completely and his hands stroke easy circles on her back. God! She has missed being held! And holding someone... She lets her arms slide around him, pulling him closer and turning her face into his neck; the skin of his neck is warm—and prickly where the whiskers grow. He smells like woodsmoke and evergreen and faint male sweat. She slowly relaxes and her tears dry.

He feels the tension in her body lessen as she leans into him, and her arms feel good around his waist... comforting. He allows his head to snuggle lightly into the curve of her neck.

For a long time they simply sit like that, drawing strength from one another's presence. At last she straightens a bit and he lets his arms loosen so that he is holding her lightly. She pulls away enough to look into his face.

He smiles. "Better?"

She stretches up and kisses him on the lips. The kiss is warm and too long for just a peck, but too brief for him to work out its meaning. When she leans back their eyes meet for a moment before she smiles. "Thank you," she says quietly.

"Anytime." He glances aside for a moment. "Think you can sleep, now? There's work to be done tomorrow."

"Isn't there always." The comment could have been sarcastic, but there's no edge in her voice, merely acceptance. "Yes. I can sleep now."

"Good." He drops his arms from around her, suddenly self-conscious that he hasn't already done so. "Let's get to bed, then."

They have been lying in their sleeping bags for about ten minutes, and he is almost asleep when there is a rustling sound from her side of the tent, and she speaks.

"Jack, we have to leave some kind of clues to help them find us."

Jack turns his head toward her. He can see her silhouette, she is propped up on one elbow.

"What do you suggest?" he asks. "We're talking about something that has to last for at least fourteen centuries. Not many things qualify. A pyramid maybe... that would certainly get Daniel's attention. But I don't think you and I can manage that alone."

"There has to be something we can do. That's why they haven't come yet—we have to stay long enough to leave something for them to find."

"What? Huh!" He blinks at that, not sure what she means, too sleepy to get into it now. "Okaaay. Let's think about it... tomorrow." He closes his eyes again.

"We know where the Peglean town is going to be. That should be the place where we put the message."

"Mmm..."

"It's got to be something the Pegleans won't destroy, or cover up. Something they'll want to preserve. Something in stone. That's it, Jack!" she says excitedly. "A message written in stone! Jack? Jack, are you awake?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	10. Chapter 10

**~10 days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~**

Daniel knocked on General Landry's office door. After a moment he heard Landry call, "Come on in."

Pushing the door open, Daniel stepped into the room.

"Hey, Dr. Jackson. What can I do for you?" Landry sat back in his chair and regarded his visitor kindly. He'd tried to be understanding with the members of SG1. They'd clearly been distressed since Jack and Vala had been lost—he was not immune to the feeling himself.

Daniel walked into the office, and paused, obviously nervous.

"Sit down, Daniel. And tell me what's bothering you." Landry waved toward the visitor's chair which sat in front of his desk.

Daniel took the seat, but sat forward, just on the edge, not at all relaxed. "General. I'd like to request permission to return to the Peglean planet."

"May I ask why?"

"I've been studying a history of the Peglean people since they came to the planet. Uh... You do know that their ancestors were refugees from their home planet, which the Goa'uld had taken over?"

"Yes, I know that."

"Okay. Well. So the Pegleans are very culture conscious—I guess you could call it that. They've written a lot of history books. They're talented artists. Their books are beautifully illustrated with pictures showing their day to day lives and the changes through the years. You know the kind of thing I mean?"

"I think so."

"They gave me a book—a history of their people. Actually it tells the story of how and why they came to the planet. And how they settled their new home and prospered—it's very interesting, actually. There are lots of pictures. But what they gave me was a copy of the original book. I'd like to go back and see if they'll let me look at the original."

"Why?" Landry asked. "Don't you think this one is accurate?"

"I do. Yes. But it's... I guess the word is abridged. Lots of stuff is left out. The artwork is outstanding. But the text has a lot of omissions. Many of the illustrations are very intriguing, but they're not all explained. I'd really like to see the original."

"I see. What do you think is the significance of the original versus the copy?"

"Honestly, General, I don't know. I've been looking through the book, hoping to find some clue that will help us locate Jack and Vala. I know it's a long shot—but if they landed some time after the Pegleans settled there, they would have found a way to leave us a message. Maybe I'm grasping at straws..."

"Okay, Dr. Jackson."

"i'm not sure it'll help..."

"You can go, Daniel."

"I'm just hoping we'll find... Uh, what did you say?"

"I said you can go. Take SG1, and SG5 if you think you'll need them."

"Thank you, General!" Daniel was on his feet. "Thank you very much! I'm not certain—but maybe this can help..."

"Just go and find out whatever you can." Landry smiled at Daniel's enthusiasm. "Tell your teams to get ready."

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate this."

Daniel rushed out of the room, and Landry smiled a little. Maybe there would be a clue in the Pegleans' history. At any rate, SG1 needed a reason to be hopeful—hell, they all did!

**~x~**

Later that day, SG1 and SG5 were kitted up and waiting in the gateroom as Walter dialed Peglea II. Daniel led the way through the Gate. Behind him were Mitchell and Teal'c, and then three of the members of SG5. Hailey hung back with Sam, who had stood off to the side, watching the others go through.

"Colonel?" Jennifer Hailey asked. She sensed that Sam did not think this trip was worthwhile. "Are you ready?"

Sam glanced at the younger woman, and then started up the ramp. "I'm ready."

The two women entered the wormhole together.

They exited into a bright, sunny day on Peglea II. To their surprise, there was a very large crowd of people in the Stargate clearing, many of whom smiled and waved as the visitors arrived. All of the debris from the storm had been cleared away. Instead of cluttered with broken branches and trees, the entire area was now neatly mown and trimmed. The noise of happy voices filled the air, and there were smells of food cooking.

_It was a fair! _ Jen was entranced. Like one of those Renaissance Fairs that she'd heard about... The clothing was different of course, but the atmosphere, the colorful decorations, the music...

Still captivated, she stood looking around, a slow smile breaking across her features. Meeting Carter's eyes, she could see the same pleasurable surprise dawning there.

Glancing around, Sam saw the members of SG1 and SG5 nearby, watching the excitement. Cam was grinning. And Teal'c was speaking to some children who had approached him curiously.

Daniel and Colonel Sharp were talking with one of the town leaders, and Daniel turned to wave Sam over.

"This is a celebration of the day they arrived through the gate," he explained excitedly. "It's called _Camu-ara xol._ Which means something like 'safely at home.' It's the major holiday of their year. There are musicians, and there's a carnival, even!" He pointed to the far side of the gate, where colorful tents were set up. "They have performances representing the important events in their history." He indicated the man he'd been talking to. "This is Shavnon. He's one of the town officials. Kind of like a selectman. He's actually the organizer."

The man bowed to Carter and Hailey. "You are most welcome to observe." He spoke slowly, allowing Daniel to interpret. "I recognize you from your previous visit, Colonel Carter, Captain Hailey, although we did not meet. Please make yourselves at home."

It was evident that Shavnon had made the effort to some English words, as they were peppered through his greeting, though Daniel had to translate most of their conversation.

"Thank you," Sam replied. "That's very kind."

"Dr. Jackson was just telling me that you are still searching for your missing companions. Please let me know if I can help."

"Actually," Daniel said. "Maybe you could tell me who to see about access to some of your historical writings."

"Yes. That would be Dennon. He is another organizer of this event. He's the archivist for the historical library. He's probably here somewhere. I will inquire." He looked around at the crowd, as if searching for someone. "I will inform you when I locate him."

"Thank you. We appreciate that very much."

"You are welcome," Shavnon assured them. "Please walk around. See our exhibits. There are many stories that originated when our people first came to Peglea II. There are actors and artists here to demonstrate the stories." He waved toward the colorful tents scattered about the large clearing. "Each circus represents a different story or legend. There are..." He paused because the visitors from Earth were giving him a startled look. "What is wrong?"

"Did you just say 'circus'?" Daniel asked.

"Yes. It is our word for the structures of cloth that you see there." He gestured toward the group of brightly colored tents on the far side of the clearing. The visitors realized there were dozens of them.

"'Circus' is a word in your language?" Hailey clarified.

"Yes, it is," Shavnon gave a small, slightly uncomfortable, laugh. "Why?'

"I'm sorry," Daniel hurried to explain. "Circus is a word in our language, also. It means a special kind of pageant, or show, which usually happens inside these kinds of structures. There are animals, clowns, acrobats..."

"Clown! Yes," Shavnon exclaimed. "We also have that word. It is a funny drawing or a puppet that represents a person." He pointed to a large yellow 'circus' on the far side of the clearing. "I believe that is where you will find the clowns. There are several different characters, and they tell a story."

"In our language a clown is usually a real person, dressed in strange or funny clothes, with a painted face," Vic Sharp put in.

"These characters wear strange clothing also, and their faces are odd—without fur, like yours, but they do not look real. Please. Go and see for yourselves."

"We'll do that," said Daniel.

"Good!" Shavnon bowed slightly and smiled. "I have duties to attend to. And I will send Dennon to you as soon as I find him." He bowed again and left them, vanishing quickly into the crowd of people.

It was Hailey who spoke up. "Isn't it a little too much of a coincidence, that they have words in common with English, that even have similar meanings?"

"Daniel?" Sam asked.

"There are often words in different languages that sound alike..." he said. "But if Jack and Vala were here sometime in the Pegleans' past, it would make sense that some English words might get absorbed into the language."

"Maybe we're onto something," Sam said.

They looked at one another hopefully.

"Well, I'm going over and see those clowns he mentioned," Hailey said.

"Me, too," Sam agreed.

They crossed the clearing toward the yellow tent that Shavnon had pointed out, pausing here and there along the way to watch an acrobat or listen to the sing-song chatter of a food vendor. They passed a group of children laughing and pointing upward. When they looked up they saw that several cables were strung across the clearing, from tree to tree, about twenty feet above the ground. Small primate-type animals—similar to monkeys—were happily swinging between the cables, showing off for the audience below.

After a few moments they moved on toward their objective. There were greeters at the entrance to the yellow tent—a man and a woman, dressed in surprisingly earth-like clothing. The man wore blue trousers and a white, short-sleeved shirt; the woman had on a plain greenish dress and a necklace of large red beads. They both smiled and waved, inviting the visitors into the tent.

Daniel led the way, smiling at the man and woman as he entered, followed by the other three.

The interior walls of the tent were decorated with very colorful cartoon drawings of people and animal. It was dimmer inside, and they looked around, giving their eye a moment to adjust to the yellowish light. And then Sam and Daniel stopped and stared in shock.

Directly in front of them was a stage; the audience was seated on the ground facing it—a few adults and about two dozen Peglean children laughing and pointing and clapping.

Across the stage danced four large puppets, representing a man, a woman, a boy and a girl—evidently a family. But the puppets were not Pegleans— the faces, arms and legs of the whole group were entirely free of fur, and the father puppet was bald. They might have even looked somewhat human, if it were not for the bright blue hair on the mother puppet, and the fact that every one of them sported neon yellow skin!

**xxxxxxxxx**

**I decided the story needed a little comic relief. Hope the idea is as amusing to you as it was to me.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for reading, and for all the great reviews you have left for this story! I'm so glad you've found it enjoyable. My apologies, but I've lost track of which reviews I have or have not responded to. If any of you did not receive a thank you please be assured that I read every one and am grateful to all of you. **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**~Exile, day 621~**

They have been here alone for more than two planetary years.

Jack calculates that two years here is the equivalent of about sixteen Earth months. They've experienced the planet's seasonal cycle. A year is about 290 of the twenty-hour days. Winters are chill and wet, and last about ninety days. Summer is very warm and longer—140 days. Other than the storms, rain is infrequent in Summer, however water is not a problem. The level in nearby streams and rivers remains consistent through most of the year. They think the waterways must be fed by underground springs. The transition days of Spring and Fall are usually pleasant and sunny. They've kept up their journal/calendar scrupulously, and so far have found the weather patterns to be very consistent. Storms come in late Spring and early Summer, and again in the hottest days. Winter storms are rare, and it is not cold enough for snow—thank goodness!—but it is often wet and uncomfortable.

Lately when Jack takes out the journal to make an entry, he is aware that he will soon run out of pages. He started writing smaller a long time ago, and in a more abbreviated style, and he does not include as much detail. Each day is faithfully noted down, however, with a word or two about the weather, the gardens, and their health.

They've been incredibly lucky health-wise. A cold now and then. One sprained ankle—Vala slipped in the mud after one of the rainstorms, and twisted it on a stone. Some strained and pulled muscles. A few cuts and bruises—he sliced his thigh on a piece of obsidian he was working into a tool, and Vala had to sew it. She nearly fainted at having to push a needle through his flesh, but he barely has a scar. No broken bones. No serious illness. Yes... incredibly lucky.

They have a house now—Jack finished it, and they moved in at the end of the first winter. Four log walls, a rough wood floor, a shake roof over log rafters, and a stone chimney. Vala's gotten beyond her initial surprise at his skill with wood. Inside is the furniture he has made—table, bench, bed, shelves—even a rocking chair, though he's not happy with it and plans to make a better one! Right now he's working on a storage chest.

They've explored for about fifty kilometers in every direction. They've found many edible plants, and a large variety of animals—the most dangerous of which are the saber cats. Over the course of the two years, they've killed six of the cats—three hunting pairs—and it has been a while since they've seen signs of more moving in.

On the other hand, there are many benign species. There are the deer-like creatures that live in the open grassy plains to the south. There are cows—or something very similar, which are placid and calm. They have been able to tame a couple of them and milk them. And there are many small rabbit- and squirrel-like animals.

They work all the time. In Winter Jack makes wooden implements and other items they need, as well as the furniture. Vala has become very good at creating palatable meals from the supplies they have available.

Together they've mastered the craft of making cloth, and they both have learned to sew. She's getting better at it each day. They've found a plant similar to flax that they can spin thread from. The loom Jack built is simple, primitive... but it works. They've been able to sew shirts and trousers for themselves—very rough garments, but durable and reasonably comfortable. Jack has perfected the tanning of deer hides, and from the resulting leather has made moccasins, and trousers and jackets for both of them. In her deerskin moccasins, she walks silently through the forest. The leather trousers are good protection from the brush that they walk through every day. Jack calls the deerskin clothing buckskins, and explains that early Native American people and frontiersmen wore clothing like this. He tells her about a man named Daniel Boone.

On this morning, in late Spring of their second year, Vala is taking the time to critically survey their present food supply. Beans... maybe 8 pounds . The grain they gather from the wheat-like stalk that they grow in the open areas nearby. Carrots, beets and potatoes, still keeping well in the root cellar. Dried corn and cornmeal in the bins Jack built. They have a more efficient grinding mill now, powered by a waterwheel that she and Jack built.

Right now there is about 20 pounds of meat and fish either dried or salted in the stone storage box which Jack built into the north side of the cellar. They hunt once a week and they fish and keep the snare lines going. Most of the meat they have right now is from the small animals—however the deer will be returning soon. Migration patterns take them out of walking distance during the Winter.

The gardens have been planted, and that is where Vala will spend most of her time today. The small plants are coming up, and need to be weeded and thinned. She hates thinning because she feels she is wasting the little plants she throws away, but those that are left will be healthier. The vegetable garden seems to get bigger every year. Their early experiment the first year with the rye-like plant was a failure, so they have since devoted that space to corn, which thrives here.

She carries water back to the cabin to fill the cistern they built on stilts at the back of the house. It takes several trips to fill it completely, but she makes a few each day, so it never runs dry. It is well worth the effort to have the water gravity-fed into the cabin. In warm weather, it also provides an outdoor shower. She climbs the ladder to the cistern, and pours in the last jug of water, then lowers the cover by means of the pulley system Jack set up.

For a moment she pauses to look around at the house, the cistern, the gardens. She is proud of what they have accomplished here, proud of herself for the ways that she has changed, the skills that she's learned, the strength she feels she's gained.

Vala finishes her indoor chores for the morning, cleaning the dishes and pots, straightening the bed, setting jugs of water on the hearth to warm by the fire.

Afterward she takes the milking jar and goes to find the cow that Jack has named Bossy. Bossy doesn't go far. Vala finds her in the field beyond the gate. The animal turns and makes the squeal of welcome that is her way of greeting the human. Her calf is grazing not far away, and she comes running. Vala feeds each of them a handful of dried corn and a carrot from their stores, then leads Bossy over to a stump and sits down to milk her. They don't take a lot of milk, maybe a liter each day, because she still leaves some for the calf. The milk is very rich, and she can skim the cream and make a little butter.

She puts the cover on the milk jar and carries it to the stream, setting it to cool in the box anchored in the water for that purpose. After washing her face and hands in the stream, she goes to find Jack.

She finds him in their old cave shelter, which has become a workshop since the cabin was finished. She knew he was there, of course. They no longer do everything together as they did for safetly in the beginning, but they never fail to let each other know where they are.

Standing outside the wall, she watches him for a few moments before he acknowledges her presence. He is working without a shirt, and she can see the hard, smooth muscles of his back and arms. He is thinner than when they came here, and stronger. He says himself it is the best shape he's been in since he was thirty.

She steps in through the doorway and he looks up and smiles at her. She's grown to love his smiles. He is so much more open and at ease with himself than he seemed to be on Earth. He's not a General there. There are no massive responsibilities wearing him down, no political parasites waiting to ambush him at every corner, no clingy underlings angling for his approval. There's just the two of them and the hard work of survival. And he thrives on it.

She smiles back at him and comes over to stand beside him, watching as he uses the bladed tool he made—he calls it a draw shave—to smooth the piece of wood that will be the top of the chest he is building.

"What I really need is a power plane," he told her with a grin when he was making the draw shave. "That's impossible, of course. Doing the job with the draw shave will take longer, but it'll do."

She's still a little in awe of the range of his talents—but she'll never admit it. "Who taught you woodworking?" she asked him once during the first summer.

"My grandfather and my uncle. We built a cabin together, the three of us, the summer I was fifteen. I doubt if I was much help, at least in the beginning, since I didn't want to be there. But they didn't give me a choice. I'd have probably ended up in jail if they hadn't hauled me off with them that year. Woodworking was certainly not the most important lesson I learned that summer, but by the end of it I was so in love with the idea of creating things out of wood that I knew I wanted to keep doing it. They were both incredible craftsmen—they'd done it all their lives, made their living at it. I'm nowhere as good as they were, but I keep trying."

"That looks beautiful," she tells him now as she passes her hand across the surface of the wood, which feels as smooth as silk under her palm. She turns to him and runs the same palm up his bare chest to his shoulder, rises onto her toes to press a kiss under his jaw.

"Easy..." he says, laughing. "Got a sharp tool here..."

"We'll put it to good use—later," she promises in a sultry voice, and nips with her teeth at the skin of his neck.

He takes a quick, uncontrolled breath, and sets the drawshave down, then puts his arms around her and pulls her close. His mouth covers hers in a leisurely kiss, which they both enjoy to its fullest, meshing lips and tongues and bodies together softly until the need to touch each other is momentarily satisfied, and they draw apart with a few final caresses.

Their relationship changed during the first winter they spent here, but it did not become intimate until nearly a year ago. Both of them held back from making that step. But they'd been here for over a year with no real hope they would be found. The fact that no one has come for them tells Jack that even Carter has not been able to figure out where/when they are. Vala was right when she pointed out that no matter how long it took them to work things out, SG1 could have come for them early in their exile.

He recalls how he felt a year ago...

_Jack hates the thought of giving up, of admitting that they will probably never be found. But he is lonely, and so is Vala. They have no one else to turn to. The attraction between them builds slowly... inevitably. They are both healthy adults, after all. The touch of another person is so important for survival—at least as important as food or shelter. The first time they are together, she cries bitterly afterward, and he cannot bring himself to look at her. With his eyes closed, he gathers her into his arms and whispers words of comfort meant for both of them. 'We aren't giving up. That's not what this means. We're fighting even harder to live.' As he feels her tears on his skin it is as if his heart is being broken and mended at the same time. _

_Eventually they talk of Daniel and Sam, and they both weep for their loss. But there is new strength and meaning in their union. Together they are not simply he and she. The whole is truly more than the sum of its parts._

So now she leans up with a smile to capture his lips once more. "I need to go work in the garden."

"Okay. As soon as I'm done with this I'll come and help you."

"Good. I'll see you later."

He squeezes her hand and lets her go, and she picks up the bow and arrows she put down when she came in, and walks to the door, turning to smile again at him before stepping through.

Outside she detours to the stream to fill her canteen before turning toward the Stargate clearing. The sun is getting higher in the cloudless sky, and it will probably be hot in an hour or so.

She works carefully at the thinning, kneeling in the dirt and humming to herself. Her long braid falls over her shoulder and she loops it up out of the way, not wanting it to fall in the dirt. She hears the usual sounds around her without really registering them—rustling of leaves in a slight breeze, small chattering noises of little animals, occasional call of a bird.

Suddenly there is a new sound—or rather an old one that she has not heard for a very long time! She sits up in shock, as the grating of metal sliding against metal reaches her ears, then jumps to her feet wide-eyed as the Stargate comes to life. She stares as the inner ring spins smoothly clockwise toward the first symbol of connection.

The initial chevron locks in with a clank, and Vala comes to herself with a jolt, grabbing her bow and spinning to race across the clearing in the direction of the shelter, calling Jack's name. Within moments, she sees him running toward her. The sound of the activating gate has reached his ears. They meet at the edge of the trees.

In the beginning they talked about what they will do if the gate activates. It is essential that they stay out of sight until they determine what is coming through. Jack thrusts one of the P90s into her hands, and they skirt the edge of the clearing until they reach an area of thick brush which offers good cover, and also a clear view of whoever emerges from the gate. They hide themselves to wait.

The third chevron engages, and the ring reverses direction toward the next symbol. "What do we do?" she asks.

"If it's Jaffa, we shoot them as they come out of the gate," Jack says in a hard voice. "Don't wait for them to see us. Aim for the vulnerable parts of their armor—you know where."

"Yes." She nods.

The fourth chevron locks in.

"If it's a Goa'uld, aim for the head. Before they can raise a shield."

"What if it's a species we don't recognize?"

"Then we'll have to play it by ear. If there are only a few, we can get the drop on them, and question them. If we can manage to talk to them."

Chevron five engages.

They wait in silence as the gate cycles through the sixth, and finally the seventh symbol. Both of them step back a little, and take a firmer grip on their weapons, as the wormhole fountains out from the ring.

Seconds later two figures walk out of the event horizon. Both are dressed in rough, heavy clothing, with hoods over their heads, and it is obvious at once they are not Jaffa—they are much too small, both are only a little more than five feet tall. They have what appears to be some sort of weapon strapped to their hips, but neither has the weapon in hand. Both figures proceed down the steps of the gate platform, as the event horizon ripples, and three more figures emerge. A few moments later, the wormhole disengages.

The five interlopers gather at the bottom of the gate platform, talking. After a few minutes one of them, perhaps the leader, steps away from the group and turns, surveying the clearing. At one point in his sweep, he pauses, and Jack and Vala see that he is looking toward their garden plot. He says something sharply to his companions, then shoves the hood away from his head and scans the perimeter of the clearing, at the same time drawing his sidearm from its place on his hip.

By this time he is facing the direction where Jack and Vala are hiding, and they both draw a breath of surprise when they see his face. His countenance is covered with dark brown fur.

"They're Peglean!" Vala gasps. "They've come!"


	12. Chapter 12

**This chapter is another short one. Thank you as always for reading.**

**~Peglea, 10 days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~**

Sam and Daniel wandered around the rest of the Peglean carnival feeling faintly shell-shocked. Of all the ways that Jack might have chosen to send a message... the Simpsons!? But it was so unique that there was no doubt who it had to have been that introduced those particular characters to the planet!

The group from earth had all seen the contents of the yellow tent. And even now, several hours later, Mitchell and Sharp were likely to break out into laughter with no warning. Even Teal'c's lips had been observed to have an upward tilt.

They'd learned that the Peglean word clown meant cartoon. And on Peglea the Simpsons had become entirely children's entertainment, with none of the satirical overtones or adult themes of the original show—in other words, just good fun!

"This still doesn't help us figure out when General O'Neill and Ms. Mal-Doran arrived in Peglea's past," Major Liam Douglas, SG5's 2IC commented, as they gathered to discuss the development.

"I'd guess it was pretty early," Jen Hailey said. "This carnival is all about their arrival and early days here on the planet, and the Simpsons are part of the celebration." She couldn't suppress a slight giggle at the idea.

"I agree," Sam said. "Daniel, is there any way we can pinpoint the first time the Simpsons appeared in their history?"

"I can ask the archivist, Dennon, when we find him."

After a while they encountered Shavnon again, and he led Daniel off to find Dennon. Dennon turned out to be the Peglean version of Daniel, and the two were soon deep in a discussion of cultural influences and language evolution.

It was a while before Daniel got around to asking the question he'd intended to ask. "When did the cartoon characters with the yellow skin first appear?"

Dennon gave him an odd look. "I do not really know," he replied. "They have been part of our culture for many hundreds of years."

"But someone must know," Daniel insisted. "They're included in your Safe Home celebration. So they must have been with you early."

Dennon looked puzzled and shook his head. "I am sorry, Daniel. They are always included in any celebration, for the amusement of the children. The children love them so much, you see."

Daniel felt his hopes sag a little. "You have such thorough records. Everything in your history and culture is documented. Surely someone must have written down their origin."

"Indeed. You are probably correct. I will help you search the archives if you wish. After the celebration is finished."

"Of course," Daniel agreed, anxious not to offend. "How long does the celebration last?"

"Twenty-nine days. That is the amount of time it took for all of our ancestors to come through the Great Ring."

"Twenty-nine days? I don't understand."

"For a long time our ancestors moved from planet to planet, searching for a home. They passed through many worlds, some friendly, some not. On each world they asked if the people there knew of an uninhabited planet where they might settle. When suggestions were made they sent scouting groups ahead to find out if the world would be a good place for our people. The scouts who came here spent a number of days exploring the area around the Great Ring to make sure there were no antagonistic native inhabitants, and that the land was good for crops, and safe. The entire process, from the time the scouts arrived until the last of our ancestors were finally here took twenty-nine days. Thus we celebrate for twenty-nine days."

"I see," Daniel said. "How many days have you celebrated so far?"

"This is the fifth day."

"So... twenty-four days to go..."

Dennon nodded. "Yes."

"I see." Daniel could not keep the disappointment out of his voice.

Dennon looked at him closely. "This is important to you."

"Yes, very important. It may help us find our missing people."

"You are welcome to visit the libraries at any time, Daniel."

"But you said, after the celebration..."

Dennon smiled. "I only meant that I am not free to help you search. But the libraries are open and there are archivists there. You may certainly ask them for help."

"Thank you! May the other members of my team come with me?"

"Of course. Knowledge is free, Daniel. And it is the responsibility of the archivists to make sure it is available to those who want it. At the main library, ask for Elleree. She is the best person to help you. Tell her I sent you."

Daniel extended his hand, and the Peglean took it. "Thank you, Dennon. We are most grateful."

"Good luck in your quest, Daniel."

Daniel rounded up SG1 and SG5 and explained to them what he wanted to do. "In the town, we can visit the main library. Dennon told me to ask for a woman named Elleree. Hopefully she can give us some ideas about where to look."

"Daniel," Mitchell pointed out, "You're the only one here who can read their language."

"Well, Jennifer reads a little," Daniel glanced at Hailey. "But we may be able to find something in the pictures. The Peglean books are richly illustrated. If they wrote about the Simpsons, they must have included pictures of the characters."

"So we're going to search the archives for cartoons?" Sharp asked, not bothering to suppress his grin.

Daniel shrugged good-naturedly. "Yes. I think that's exactly what we're going to do."

Mitchell laughed, and several of the others chuckled. Even Sam smiled, although she saw less humor in the situation than her teammates. For once, she was simply grateful for Jack's devotions to the television series!

The group set out for the town. Once there, it was a simple matter to find the main library—it was on the central square along with the government buildings.

Elleree was a tiny woman with blonde fur and bright green eyes that lit up with excitement when she understood what it was the visitors were looking for. "Oh, such fun will be the search!" she exclaimed to Daniel. "So you wish to know when the clowns first appeared?"

"Yes," Daniel agreed. "That's the question we'd like answered."

Elleree turned to her associate archivist, who had been standing nearby. The two of them spoke together rapidly—the words so quick that Daniel had a difficult time following the exchange. He broke in, trying politely to get them to slow down—and eventually he began to nod.

"Thank you," he told the archivist. Then he turned to the others. "There are two more researchers they believe will be able to help us. They will find out if they are available to come here. In the meantime, I asked them if we could start looking through some of the earliest history volumes. We may find something in the pictures."

The others nodded agreement. Shortly afterward, two library assistants arrived with several volumes, and the teams were shown to a quiet room with two long tables.

On the wall was a large mural, which caught everyone's attention. It showed a huge stormy sky, with lightning and rain, looming above the town—they recognized some of the building in the central square. One building was in the process of being constructed, and only the walls were up. There was scaffolding around the structure. The moment captured in the painting depicted a massive lightning strike, directly on the wall of the building. People who had been on the scaffolding were being hurled from their places by the resulting impact. The effect was incredibly intense and real, and they half expected to hear the crash of the thunder.

Daniel stared at the painting. "That's this building," he said. Then turned to their guides and repeated himself.

"Yes," one of them told him. "That happened when the library was still under construction. The storm came out of nowhere, as they do. A dozen people were killed, and many more injured. This was painted to honor them. The library had to be rebuilt."

"That's a very impressive mural," Daniel said to the assistant, after he had told the others what was said.

The books were distributed on the table, and the teams settled down to examine the early history of Peglea II. Each one opened a book and began turning pages from the beginning. Soon they were all absorbed in the beautiful illustrations.

**xxxxx**


	13. Chapter 13

**~Arrival of the Pegleans, day 1~**

The first few minutes are tense, as Jack and Vala emerge to face the newcomers. Vala pulls from her memory the words of the Peglean language that she learned while helping Daniel get to know the people during their visits with the SG teams.

"We are friends. We aren't going to hurt you," she says over and over—at least she _hopes_ that's what she's saying!

It must have been close enough, because, although they are cautious, the five visitors are more curious than anything else. And as they talk, more and more of the words come back to Vala. Soon they all begin to relax as the Pegleans understand that Jack and Vala have been stranded here for a long time.

"How do you know who we are?" the leader, who identifies himself as Baylen, asks.

"That's a long story," Vala tells him, pausing to translate for Jack. "I don't yet have the words to explain it all. But we're not a threat to you. We welcome you. We know you are looking for a home."

They invite Baylen and his friends to their cabin, to sit and tell about themselves. It takes a long while, with many mistakes, but gradually the story emerges.

Baylen and his companions—two women and two men—are scouts for their people. Since escaping from the Goa'uld who took over their planet, the refugees have been traveling from world to world, looking for a place to settle. They have visited many planets; they have made some friends on their journey. In each place they have asked for news of uninhabited worlds where they might settle. On the last planet they visited, they were told that this world was one of those.

"It is," Vala assures them. "We're the only people here, and we're more than happy to share it with you."

Baylen and the others have been sent ahead to investigate and report back to the rest of the refugees. They ask Jack and Vala many questions about the planet; about the land and rivers, crops and weather, animals and wildlife, and much more. They spend many hours in discussion. Vala and Jack show them the area nearby, including the valley where the town will be located in the future.

They don't yet attempt to explain how they came to the planet—Vala says she's not ready for a discussion of time-travel!—although with use the language is coming back to her quickly. Jack is picking up words rapidly, also. One of the women, Kara'a, Baylen's mate, volunteers to spend some time teaching them the language. They are happy to accept her instruction.

During the next few days, Jack and Vala accompany the scout group over the entire area that they themselves have explored. Word is sent back through the stargate, and a larger group of Pegleans, about thirty in all, join them to investigate and determine if the planet is good for settlement.

**~Arrival of the Pegleans, day 10~**

A meeting is being held on the planet where the majority of the Pegleans are waiting. After hearing the reports and seeing the evidence that the scouts have brought back to show them, the people have made a decision. This world will be their new home. The process of moving more than three thousand people through the stargate—along with their possessions—has begun. It requires many days, and is finally complete on the twenty-ninth day.

The people hold a ceremony, a celebration. It is their new planets Name Day. From now on, the world is known as Peglea II.

**~Peglea II, Day 58~**

A tent-city has been set up along the banks of the river, in the location where the town will be built. The people are accustomed to living in temporary quarters, and have long ago established a governing body, the members of which are elected at regular intervals. Jack and Vala are very impressed at how orderly and civil the people are. Duties and responsibilities rotate through the population smoothly and peacefully. Everyone does his or her part without complaint, and anyone in need or distress is quickly attended to by the group.

There are people trained for nearly every job. There are doctors and nurses, teachers who hold classes for the children, merchants and tradesmen. There are people in charge of obtaining food, clothing and other necessities for the entire group. Every required job is assigned to someone.

Since the Pegleans have arrived in early summer, Jack and Vala are sharing some of their store of seeds with them. A large number of people are put to work immediately, preparing fields and gardens, and planting those seeds as well as seeds they brought with them.

Baylen explains to Jack that his people have been moving from place to place for a very long time. "I was just a boy when we escaped from the false god," Baylen tells him. After some calculation, and adjustment for the local length of day, and planetary cycle, they have worked out that the journey for them has lasted the equivalent of approximately twenty-six of Peglea II's years. In that time they have evolved many social and administrative strategies for keeping their people unified and organized.

"There were 2,184 of us who escaped through the ring you call the stargate," Baylen continues to explain as the two men walk through the camp. "Today there are 3,309 of us. Our numbers have increased by more than one half." This means that children and young adults make up a large proportion of their population.

Jack and Baylen are on the way to join a planning session of the town leaders, working on the schedule and layout for the new town. They pass a pair of the town's Peace Keepers—their police force—who greet them in a friendly manner. Cops on the beat, Jack thinks, just like in his old Chicago neighborhood, and with no weapons other than the Peglean equivalent of a nightstick. There's a court system for the few cases that need attention, but for the most part, things are peaceful, Baylen explains. They would not have been able to survive the journey, passing through so many worlds, without strong rules and discipline.

The town planning meeting is being held in a large tent set up near the center of the town. There are tables and chairs set out for the attendees. Anyone is welcome to come and listen to the meeting, and to offer suggestions and ideas. Today they are discussing the placement of the public buildings for the new town—government offices, libraries, schools, police and fire department headquarters.

Nothing has been decided as yet, the Chief Magistrate reminds everyone. There is plenty of time. The planning should go slowly, so that everything is taken into consideration and everyone who wants to speak gets a chance to do so. The people will be living with the results of what they decide for a very long time. Once the stones are laid and the walls are raised, it will be too late to change things.

Jack sees Vala standing with a group of the younger people, on the far side of the gathering. It's easy to keep track of one another in these gatherings, as Jack stands head and shoulders above everyone else, and Vala is several inches taller than the tallest Peglean. They smile at one another across the space. She left home this morning with the intention of joining some of the teachers who have invited her to share her own experiences and ideas about schools.

_**~x~**_

_She sounds doubtful as she tells him about the invitation. "If they only knew," she says. "The world where I lived as a child was much more primitive than they are. I was only fifteen when K'Tesh took me as a host. That was pretty much the end of my education." She wrinkles her nose wryly. "Or the beginning, depending on your point of view."_

_Jack grins; he loves that little nose wrinkle she does. "You might not want to mention that part. K'Tesh, that is."_

"_Oh, I won't," she assures him. "No worry there. And I'm sure they won't want to hear about the way I made my living after the extraction. I learned a lot of things—but nothing they'll want to pass on to their kids! I don't know anything about what schools should be like and I'm probably the worst example of a student or a scholar that they could find. My only school was—what is it you Tau'ri call it—the school of hard rock?"_

_Jack laughs. He also loves the way she scrambles English idioms. He suspects she does it deliberately. "Hard knocks. School of hard knocks." He sobers and puts his arms around her. "I think you graduated summa cum laude. With highest honors, in the school of life." He leans down and kisses her. When they draw apart, he brushes her bangs away from her face gently. "You're very intelligent, Vala. And you'd have made an excellent student at any school. Don't ever think otherwise."_

_She is touched and gives him a genuine smile. "Thank you, darling."_

"_You bet." He turns aside to get his shirt. "Oh, and 'hard rock' is a music style—one that I don't miss at all!" _

_**~x~**_

The meeting proceeds in an orderly fashion, with many of the people offering their opinion. There seems to be a general consensus that the important buildings should be placed around a central town square. Several people present plans they have drawn, and proposals for the layout of the town. There is much serious discussion regarding the plans. Eventually, three of the artists are chosen as a committee to revise the plans and take into consideration the suggestions made during the meeting.

**~Peglea II, day 71~**

"We've been neglecting the gardens," Jack says as he and Vala are getting ready for bed this night. They have spent a great deal of their days in the town, often only returning home when it is nearly dark. "The summer's half gone, and I know we have vegetables ready. Not to mention weeds taking over! I think I'll stay here tomorrow and try to catch up."

"That's a good idea," she agreed. "I promised to attend the school committee meeting in the morning, but I'll come help you in the afternoon."

Jack pulls the covers back and sits on the side of the bed, swinging his legs up after a moment and adjusting his pillow so he can lean against the head of the bed. He watches Vala brushing her hair.

"The Pegleans have really taken us in and welcomed us," he comments thoughtfully after a few minutes.

"And they keep thanking _us_ for letting them settle on _our_ planet," Vala adds with a smile. "They're really great people. They've invited us to move into the town, you know."

"I know. What do you think about that?"

She stops brushing and begins to braid her hair. It's very long now, only a few inches short of her waist. "I like our cabin that you built," she says at last. "But if you want to move..."

"No. I'm happy here. And sometimes it's kind of overwhelming to have so many people around," he admits. "It was just us for so long."

"I know. It's a little strange having neighbors." She finishes with the braid and then gets up and blows out the lantern on the trestle table. The only light in the cabin now is the candle on the shelf beside the bed. Vala moves over to the bed, and climbs over Jack's legs to her own side, pausing to plant a kiss on his lips as she passes. She slips under the covers, as he reaches over and snuffs the candle between his fingers. When he stretches out beside her, she rolls over and rests her head on his shoulder. He turns his head toward her, and she feels the soft scratch of his beard against her brow and cheek as he kisses her temple and then moves down to claim her mouth.

He feels her arms slide along his body, warm and strong. One hand glides under his shirt, and caresses the long muscles of his back, while the other slips into the waist of his shorts. He loves the way she responds to him—bold and open and unhesitating. They don't play games. They want each other, need each other. They depend on each other and keep each other alive.

**~Peglea II, day 126~**

The town plan has been chosen, and detailed drawings voted on and approved. Streets are now being laid out by survey teams. The central square has already been marked, and the area cleared so that the locations of the buildings can be plotted. A library, a government office building, a school, and a hospital will be the first structures situated around the square. The square itself will be open, grassy, with a few trees. A public gathering place.

The buildings are to be set around three sides, facing the square; the fourth side will be open toward the river, where there will be a large park along the bank, a place for families and picnics. Beyond the river is a view of the mountains. The Pegleans have given the river the name Kurrh, after one of the large rivers on their home planet.

It is late summer, and storm season is nearing. The heat is oppressive. Jack warns the townspeople that the storms will come soon, and without warning, and crops such as corn should be harvested as soon as possible. The fields are busy with workers bringing in the harvest. The food will be stored in warehouses built for that purpose. Fortunately most of the harvest is in when the first storm strikes.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**It's been very distracting here, first celebrating our American Thanksgiving Day, and now getting ready for the Holidays, and I'm not finding time for writing at the moment. I probably won't get much more posted until after New Years. **

**I wish every one of you a joyful time during your Holidays.**


	14. Chapter 14

**~Peglea II, 10 days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~ **

"I've found something!"

The SG teams had been buried in Peglean history books for nearly two hours when Mitchell's exclamation drew everyone's attention.

"What've you got, Cam?" Sam asked.

He lifted the book he was looking through, and turned it so that the others could see the page he'd found. And there they were—the yellow-skinned family they had been searching for. The illustration was simple, the father and mother seated on a couch, the little girl between them, with the boy and a dog on the floor in front of them. The picture took up an entire page, with a caption below.

"Daniel?" Sam asked. "What does it say?"

Mitchell handed over the book to Daniel, who scanned the words and then read them out loud. "'An early example of the Simpson family cartoons. Children's literature from the first decade'—I think that's what that means. 'Popular and beloved stories.'" He scanned the text of the facing page, while the others waited impatiently. "It doesn't say much," Daniel said at last. "Apparently there was a series of children's books by a writer named Thallin, about the Simpson family. They were among the first new books printed on Peglea II."

"Does it say when exactly?" Hailey asked.

Daniel shook his head. "There's no date mentioned..."

He was interrupted when the door opened and Elleree entered, followed by two people they had not seen before. Elleree's eyes went immediately to the book Daniel was holding. "Ah!" She smiled. "I see you have found something."

"Yes," Daniel replied. "This is what we're looking for. But I've only translated a small part of the text."

"This is Marliet," Elleree said, pointing to one of the persons beside her. "She has expertise in the evolution of children's literature. Perhaps she can help."

The woman indicated stepped forward shyly. She was an older woman, as evidenced by the fact that her dark brown fur was liberally touched with gray.

Daniel put out his hands in the open-handed greeting that the Pegleans used. "I'm Daniel Jackson," he introduced himself. "These are my friends. Thank you for coming!"

Marliet dipped her head politely. "What is it you wish?"

Daniel held out the book. "We'd like to know when pictures of these characters first appeared in children's books. It says here the books are by a writer named Thallin."

"Oh, yes." Marliet nodded. "Thallin was a young woman when our ancestors settled on this world. She was at first interested in history and had already started contributing to our historical archives. At some point—we are not certain when—she turned her talent to writing for children. The first of her books was published just a few years after we arrived here on Peglea II. She wrote many, many children's stories."

"You said her first book was just a few years after the arrival? How many years? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?"

"Printing was first begun here about ten years after the people came. But books and stories were written and copied by hand before that. From the very beginning, in fact. Unfortunately, when our ancestors left their first home, they had very little with them. And it was many years before they found this world. It took a few years before manufacturing was established. It was ten years before printing presses could be made. Until then everything was written by hand."

"Your people actually had printing presses that long ago? That's amazing!" Daniel exclaimed. "My home planet has only had printing for about half that long. The very earliest presses were set by hand and..."

"Jackson!" Mitchell interrupted. "What's going on?"

Daniel had gotten absorbed in the sidebar to the conversation, and forgot to translate for the others. "Sorry... I'm sorry, guys." He excused himself to Marliet and explained quickly to his friends.

"So these books were printed about ten years after the Pegleans arrived here," Mitchell summed up.

"That's what it sounds like," Daniel said. "But it could have been a few years earlier. These people wrote a lot! Books were handwritten before the presses were built."

"Okay. See what else you can find out. We need to pin the date down as close as we can."

Daniel nodded and turned back to Marliet.

The others watched as Daniel conversed animatedly with the Peglean scholar. After a short time Elleree and the second newcomer were also drawn into the conversation. There appeared to be some amiable disagreement between the Pegleans, and Daniel asked a number of other questions. At last he appeared to be thanking them profusely, and a few minutes later, they left with Elleree. Daniel came back to the table.

"Well?" Colonel Sharp demanded. "What do we know?"

"Okay," Daniel began. "Marliet and the other scholar—whose name is Tonar—but I don't guess you really care what either one of them was named, do you..."

"Daniel!" Sam exclaimed at the same time Mitchell snapped, "Jackson!"

"Sorry, sorry..." Daniel put up defensive hands. "All right. The best I understand it, the books Thallin wrote were among the first ones published here after the printing machinery was built, which was about ten years after the people arrived."

Sam blinked. That was probably the most concise statement she had ever heard Daniel make. "So we need to aim for ten years after the people came to this planet."

Daniel opened his mouth, and Sam could almost see the words piling up and yearning to pour from his throat. She cocked her head slightly and beside her Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Daniel closed his mouth and nodded. After a moment he merely said, "Yes."

The group exchanged glances. "Then it would seem our course of action is clear," Teal'c commented. "We must return to Earth and make arrangements for a rescue mission."

**~x~**

Within a short time the group had taken their leave of the planet, after thanking Elleree, and Dennon and all of the others who had helped them with their search.

They arrived at the SGC in a state of anticipation, and assembled in the briefing room with General Landry. He listened as they explained what they had discovered. When they were done, Landry regarded them thoughtfully, focusing on Sam and Daniel. "So what do you propose to do?" he asked.

"I think we should send a message to Atlantis, and ask for the use of the jumper ship with the time travel device," Sam said. "Also we'll need someone with the Ancient gene to operate it. Colonel Sheppard if he is available."

Landry was thoughtful. "I hate to say it, but you realize this will have to be approved by my superiors. Establishing a wormhole to Atlantis will use an enormous amount of energy—which of course will cost a huge amount of money." He raised a hand to stop the arguments he could see coming. "I have to point out these things, folks. That's my job..."

"Jack is head of Homeworld Security!" Daniel exclaimed, half rising and almost interrupting the General. Some of the others around the table seemed ready to jump in also. "Surely a mission to rescue him would be more important than the cost! The... well, you can't possibly put money above his life..."

"Dr. Jackson, please," Landry cut in, raising a hand. "I'm not the bad guy here. I agree with you! But it's not up to me. We have to be careful who we approach about this—and how. Now, everybody just calm down."

Daniel settled slowly back into his seat, and dropped his head. The others also settled down.

"I'm sorry, General," Daniel said, after a moment.

"That's fine, Doctor. I understand that you're all very emotional about this."

"Jack is the one who taught us," Daniel said. "We don't leave people behind!"

Hank Landry nodded. He'd served with O'Neill and had learned the same lesson. "I think we should call General Hammond," he suggested. "Even though he's retired now, he still has influence, and connections. Maybe he can help us."


	15. Chapter 15

**~Peglea II, 1 year 15 days~**

It has been over a year since the Pegleans arrived on the planet, and a great deal had been accomplished. Houses have replaced most of the tents which served as shelter. There are now businesses, shops and storage warehouses. There's even a small manufacturing plant or two, for necessities—clothing, furniture and the like. A water powered turbine has been put into operation at the river to supply basic electricity needs to the town.

The Pegleans brought many of the elements of civilization with them through the gate—vehicles, machinery, tools. Over their years of traveling they have maintained contacts with a number of planets, and some of those worlds have scientific knowledge and industrial wares they are willing to sell or trade. Treaties and trade agreements are under consideration. Cautious by nature, the Pegleans are moving slowly in their relations with other worlds. Many of the citizens are in favor of keeping to themselves, but until their society is firmly established there is a need for outside sources of technology.

On the Central Square, progress is being made on the public buildings; a hospital is already functioning, and a school is well underway. The stone walls of the library are rising rapidly.

A refinery is being set up farther downriver, for extracting metal from ore mined in the nearby hills. The metal will be used in construction, and for making additional machine parts and tools.

Last Fall's harvest was very good, providing ample food for everyone. The winter was mild, and spring has come again. New fields are being planted, and most of the people have their own private gardens underway.

Over the course of the year Vala has perfected her command of the Peglean language, and Jack has become nearly fluent. The two of them have helped whenever and however they could. Vala has become more and more involved with the schools, rather to her own surprise! Jack has led expeditions exploring the surrounding country, and has assisted with the planning and construction of the town's infrastructure.

They have become a part of the community, and there are many people whom they now consider friends. They still choose to live in the log house that Jack built near the stargate, however, and keep their own gardens and lifestyle. Although it has been made clear that the couple is welcome to move into the town, none of the people question their decision to keep to themselves. Over so many years of nomadic existence, privacy has become a precious commodity for the Pegleans.

**~Peglea II, 1 year 41 days~**

Work on the library is proceeding even faster than expected, and on this day in early summer, the exterior of the building is nearing completion.

Across the square from the library building, Vala is on a ladder, helping with the finishing touches of paint on the school.

"Hey."

She turns at the sound of Jack's voice and smiles down at him. "Hi."

"I finished fixing the cistern," he says.

"Oh, good." The smile widens. "Running water again—yay! What are you doing now?"

"I'm going over and help with the stonework on the library. It's a little over an hour til noon. You wanna meet for lunch? We can get something from the vendors in the square."

"Sure, come and get me when you're ready."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"Later."

Jack heads across the square toward the façade of the library, where a complicated arrangement of scaffolding supports a large number of workers that are scattered across the face of the wall. On the ground, a group of men are operating a pulley system which is in the process of lifting a polished facing stone into place on the third level, where several men are waiting to secure it. Jack hurries to the nearest ladder, and starts climbing the front of the staging.

He is nearly to the third level when a black shadow falls over the square, and he glances up to see a dark storm cloud rolling swiftly across a sky which was blue and serene only a few moments ago. There is a deep, ominous rumbling which grows swiftly louder. From this height, Jack sees lightning slashing viciously out of the clouds, striking a tall tree across the river.

The sky opens up in a deluge, and an instant later there is a huge explosion which rocks the building, as a lightning bolt strikes the wall ten meters away, near the wide front entrance. Jack grabs desperately for the staging supports, as the entire wall seems to heave outward, flinging stone and debris and bodies into the air. The network of scaffolding crumbles beneath their feet, and men scramble frantically for hand- and foot-holds that vanish into the chaos.

Jack loses his grip on anything stable, and tries vainly to protect himself as he falls and is battered painfully by flying debris. He is struck in the back of the head and darkness descends on him as he plunges toward the ground. The structure crashes down into the street, carrying Jack and a dozen others with it, and a large section of the wall collapses on top of them.

As the first aftershocks fade, rescuers converge rapidly on the scene, despite the danger to themselves as the storm continues to hurl lightning and rain down on them.

Across the square, Vala turns as the sound of the explosion reverberates through the air. She watches in horror as the disaster seems to unfold in slow motion—the lightning bolt strikes directly above the library's wide main entrance, flinging stone and wood outward from the building, toppling the two tall stone pillars flanking the entrance, sending them crashing to the ground. She glimpses people falling along with the rubble, hears the violent boom of thunder and the rumble of the wreckage collapsing onto the ground. She breathes Jack's name once, and then leaps to the ground and runs with the others to try and help...

The storm ends as abruptly as it began, and in the ensuing eerie silence, the entire town rushes to assist with the rescue. The Pegleans have learned never to hesitate when action is required. Their experience with the Goa'uld, the eventual escape and subsequent long journey through the gates, has tempered them, impressed upon them the need to respond instantly in a crisis.

Within minutes the square is flooded with volunteers ready to help.

One of the foremen, a man named Calor, organizes the rescuers quickly, giving rapid, clear instructions for how to proceed. He organizes the people into squads, assigning each squad a section of the wreckage. He sends men to gather digging and hoisting tools, and for wooden beams to use as stabilizers, so that the wall does not collapse any further, crushing anyone still alive under the wreckage.

The first two workers they pull from the rubble are already dead. It is not a good sign, as the rest are buried deeper beneath the fallen wall.

Vala frantically scans the piles of stone, but sees no sign of Jack. She joins a group of people struggling to brace a section of rubble so that it is safer for the searchers to climb upon it. The Pegleans work silently and steadily, and although she would like to scream, Vala conserves her energy to focus on the task.

Someone is found a few meters away, but she can see it isn't Jack. Along with the others, she continues to work steadily.

**~x~**

Jack opens his eyes to confusion and terrible pain. His head throbs, and there is so much pain in his body he cannot even begin to sort it out. It is dark—he can see nothing around him, only sense that he is in a small, tight space. When he tries to move it only makes the pain worse, and he realizes groggily that he is trapped, held down by a weight across his hips and legs. He must try to free himself... but there is too much pain, and he is too bewildered and groggy. _Rest, _he thinks as awareness fades...

**~x~**

Three workers are taken out alive, and relatively unharmed, from a semi-sheltered pocket between the remains of the library's wall and the piles of rubble. Meanwhile the squads of rescuers continue to work throughout the wreckage. The number of injured in the hospital grows steadily.

**~x~**

When he wakes again Jack can see light above him. He thinks he can hear sounds—metal scraping against stone... voices. He tries to call out, but can only manage a few weak croaking noises. The overriding pain has been replaced with a heavy numbness, which is even more frightening. It is difficult to draw a deep breath, and he begins to panic, feeling suddenly as if he is smothering under the weight pinning him down. As terror overwhelms him, his consciousness vanishes into darkness.

**~x~**

Once their section is fully excavated, Vala's group is moved to another area of the wreckage to continue working. It has been hours since they began. The shadows are lengthening as late afternoon nears.

Word is passed that there are now twenty-seven injured that have been taken to the hospital. Eight bodies lie covered and watched over on the street across the square.

A dozen people are still unaccounted for, including Jack. Vala cannot hold back a sob, and she covers her face with one filthy hand. Someone gives her a water bottle, and she looks into the sympathetic gray eyes of another woman. She takes the water with a nod of thanks. After drinking deeply, she returns to her task.

**~x~**

The next time he comes to himself, Jack realizes that they are trying to get to him. There are noises nearby. _His team..._ _They're searching—if he can only give them a sign... _ Moving is nearly impossible, but with concentration, he finds he can lift his left hand, he can wiggle the fingers. He feels about for something to grasp, a rock perhaps... It seems to be hours before his fingers land on something familiar. He explores it, moving his fingers excruciatingly slowly down the smooth length of a handle. A hammer, his dull brain finally identifies—attached to the belt around his hips. It is another eternity before he manages to free it from its loop. He grasps the handle, again exhausted by the effort, forces his muscles to lift—lets the hand drop and hears the metallic tap against stone. Lifts and taps again... and again...

**~x~**

"Wait!" One of the rescuers, the second foreman on the job, named Janzek, raises a hand for silence. "Stop! I hear something!"

Vala looks up, freezes with the rest of them. It is nearly dark. All of the missing have been found except for Jack; a dozen lives have been lost, but miraculously over three times as many are still alive. The rescuers are strung out over the debris across the area where the staging fell. Huge amounts of the fallen stone and wooden framework have been excavated, moved aside. They are all exhausted, but no one has abandoned the search except for those taking care of the injured. Lights have been brought and set up around the wreckage to enable them to continue as the daylight fades.

The foreman's hand is still raised. Vala wipes sweat from her face and waits, listening.

_Tap._

A pause—the count of ten.

_Tap._

Another pause. The foreman searches, moving carefully toward the place where the sound seems to come from.

'_Again, Jack!' _ Vala prays silently.

_TAP!_

Louder this time.

"Here!" Janzek steps quickly forward. "There's a crack here!" He points. "I need a light!" One is handed to him and the man lies down carefully so as not to cause any debris to fall. One of the large pillars beside the main entrance has crashed on its side here, broken in half. The foreman shines the light down into the opening beside it.

"I see him! He's down there! Jack! Can you hear me?"

There is no answer, but after a few moments, there is another tap from the depths.

They work carefully—as quickly as possible—clearing away the rubble from around where he is lying. He is trapped by a large section of wall, which in turn is held down by a portion of the broken pillar.

Calor and Janzek confer with other members of the rescue party. They decide that the best way to get to Jack is to remove the wreckage around him, excavating cautiously, until they are near enough to deal with the wall that is holding him prisoner. The crew gets to work and an hour later there is a narrow passage opened through to his side.

Varen, one of the doctors, is there with his medical pack; as the workers continues to remove the debris, Varen squirms his way down toward Jack. There he struggles to stabilize the injured man, administering pain killers, and attempting to stop the bleeding from several wounds.

Meanwhile, the rescuers work to lever away the stone pinning Jack down. Finally the task is accomplished, and he is moved carefully from beneath the trap.

More medical equipment is brought, and a backboard is lowered. A second medic joins the doctor, and they strap Jack to the board carefully, before helping to raise him out of the rubble.

Vala hurries along by his side as he is carried quickly to the hospital building. His face is white, and there is blood everywhere. He is so still, and she can't tell that he is breathing. The certainty that he is dead, or dying, overwhelms her, and tears slip down her cheeks.

She stops in the corridor and watches as he vanishes into one of the emergency care rooms with the doctors and nurses.

Polla, one of the teachers, and a friend of Vala's, leads her gently to a seat nearby. The two women sit, waiting silently. Long minutes pass, minutes that turn slowly into hours. Medical personnel move quietly and with urgent purpose along the hallways, through the doors of the various emergency cubicles, caring for the injured.

Other people, families and friends of the injured, are gathered nearby, waiting in small, anxious clusters. There is very little talk. Men and women move among them, offering food and drink. Polla accepts some food with thanks and urges Vala to eat.

The light of early morning can be seen shining through the windows when Vala finally looks up to see Dr. Varen coming toward her.


	16. Chapter 16

**~11 days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~**

In the SGC briefing room General Landry, SG1 and SG5 were on a video conference call with General Hammond.

"The IOA is 'considering' your request," Hammond said, his voice tinged with bitterness. "They won't give me any idea how long they expect to take. I've got a call in to the President, but Hayes is at the Middle East Summit, and right now he's unreachable, as he's 'refereeing' a meeting between two of the more antagonistic heads of state. I've spoken to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and they're willing to lend what influence they can—but they don't have the authority to override the IOA and approve the use of the gate or the jumper. Have you apprised Atlantis of the situation?"

"Yes, sir," Landry answered. "Colonel Carter recorded a briefing and sent it by sub-space squirt last night." The "squirt" transmission was a compressed—or zipped—file sent by Asgaard long-range communicator technology, and used a minimum amount of energy. The message required only about ten hours to traverse the distance to the Pegasus Galaxy. "We asked them to stand by with the time-device jumper until we can obtain permission to use the Stargate. We should receive a reply within 12 hours."

Hammond nodded. "Inform me when you hear from them. I'll keep inquiring," he promised. "I may come up with something. But right now our best shot seems to be to wait for the President to get back to me."

For a long moment everyone at the conference table was stunned with disappointment.

"General..." Daniel said at last.

"Yes, Dr. Jackson?" Hammond replied gently.

"What about Homeworld Security?"

Hammond actually rolled his eyes. "General William Colton has been appointed temporarily to replace Jack. Frankly, people, he's afraid to sneeze without asking the IOA's permission! Paul Davis tells me..." He stopped. "Well, never mind that. Colton won't be any help."

"In other words, he won't stand up to them like Jack did," Landry commented.

"Right."

The members of SG1 exchanged frustrated looks.

"Thank you for trying, sir," Sam said at last.

"I will keep trying, Sam. We'll work this out somehow," he told her.

"Yes, sir."

"I'll let you know when I find out something," Hammond promised. He reached out to end the call.

There was silence in the conference room as the screen went blank. Disappointment was reflected in every face. Now that they had an idea where/when to go, they all wanted to get started.

**~X~X~X~X~**

**Way too short, I know. The next chapter will soon be ready to go and will be a lot longer.**

**And, yes, if anybody noticed, I borrowed the 'sub-space squirt' communication from Star Trek—specifically from one of Diane Duane's books (SPOCK'S WORLD)— **_**Any other Trekkies out there? **_**I figured the Asgaard must have come up with something like that somewhere along the line.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Here is the longer chapter I promised you. Thanks for your patience!**

**From chapter 15;**

Vala hurries along by Jack's side as he is carried quickly to the hospital building. His face is white, and there is blood everywhere. He is so still, and she can't tell that he is breathing. The certainty that he is dead, or dying, overwhelms her, and tears slip down her cheeks.

She stops in the corridor and watches as he vanishes into one of the emergency care rooms with the doctors and nurses.

Polla, one of the teachers, and a friend of Vala's, leads her gently to a seat nearby. The two women sit, waiting silently. Long minutes pass, minutes that turn slowly into hours. Medical personnel move quietly and with urgent purpose along the hallways, through the doors of the various emergency cubicles, caring for the injured.

Other people, families and friends of the injured, are gathered nearby, waiting in small, anxious clusters. There is very little talk. Men and women move among them, offering food and drink. Polla accepts some food with thanks and urges Vala to eat.

The light of early morning can be seen shining through the windows when Vala finally looks up to see Dr. Varen coming toward her.

**~Peglea II, the days following the accident~ **

She wants to stand, but her muscles will not obey her command. She waits, her eyes on Varen's face, her hands gripping the bench on either side of her.

He stops before her. "He's alive," he says. Carefully, he begins to explain...

**~x~**

Jack's back is broken, his spinal cord severely damaged. His pelvis is also fractured as is his right femur. Ribs are broken, as well as his right arm and shoulder. Several bones in his right hand are broken. But even worse are the internal injuries. Jack's spleen and one kidney are ruptured, and the second kidney badly bruised.

Peglean medicine is very good. They can set the bones, perform the surgery necessary to remove the ruptured spleen and kidney, and repair internal bleeding. But there is nothing they can do for the spinal injury. Nor can they do much to improve the function of his remaining kidney.

The doctors are painfully honest with Vala—Jack will not walk again. He will require continuous care. It is likely that he will be in constant pain. He will need extensive therapy to regain useful control of his upper body, as well as his right hand and arm. And that is the most positive picture. He has suffered a skull fracture and a severe concussion. Except for the brief period of semi-consciousness when they found him, he has been in a coma since the accident. The doctors are not hopeful that he will even wake up.

For many days Vala sits at his bedside, refusing to leave except for the briefest moments of necessity. She sleeps on a cot beside his bed—when she sleeps at all. She helps the nurses take care of him, learning from them how to do the caregiving chores that must be done. She keeps him clean, changes his bed linen, checks his casts and surgical incisions, changes dressings and bandages. She talks to him, reads to him, sings to him as the time goes by.

**~Peglea II, 1 year, 74 days (33 days since the accident)~**

Jack's broken bones are knitting. His wounds and surgical incisions have healed. His remaining kidney is functioning at about seventy percent of normal—the doctors say that is the best they can hope for.

But he has not awakened.

Vala has found a place to live in the town; two small rooms in a building just a short walk from the hospital. Her rooms are only a half block from the home of hers and Jack's friends, Baylen and Kara'a, who have been incredibly supportive to her since Jack was hurt. They offered to let her stay with them, but she refused. The couple has three children, and only enough room for their own family.

To pay her rent Vala works for the owner of her building, Tajan, who has a shop nearby. She works five or six hours a day and spends the rest of the time with Jack. While she's there she takes care of all his needs, with the nurses checking in periodically. Vala leaves late in the evening to go to her rooms and sleep for a few hours.

Once Jack's broken bones and wounds are healed, she talks to the doctors about moving him to her rooms. They advise against it as long as he remains in the coma. The hospital is happy to keep him there. When she mentions payment, they refuse. Jack and Vala have done more than their share to help the people settle in their new world, caring for Jack is the least they can do in return.

**~Peglea II, 1 year 91 days~**

She enjoys working in the shop. Tajan and his wife are bakers, and the shop is always filled with wonderful aromas coming from the ovens. Many people come here for their supply of bread, as well as pastries and dozens of other treats. In the mornings, Tajan also provides a free cup of _kenlaj_—the Peglean equivalent of coffee—to anyone who asks. That small lagniappe brings in many customers, and Vala enjoys interacting with the constant flow of people.

Mornings are very busy. Vala comes in before daylight to accommodate early customers. Even then, most days she has already spent an hour or more at Jack's bedside. Things calms down in late morning, and by noon she usually can leave to return to the hospital.

Today there is a break about mid-morning, and Vala grabs herself a cup of the bitter hot drink that the Pegleans love. It doesn't compare to coffee, she thinks, but she'll never complain.

She takes a fruit pastry, and sits down at one of the small tables by the window; from here she can see if a customer is coming in this direction. She leans back in the chair with a sigh and stretches out her legs. The shop is on a side street, directly off of the central square, and from here she can see the open plaza, and the library building on the far side. Repairs have been moving along rapidly, and the damaged wall has now risen again nearly to its previous level. There is hardly any sign of the lightning strike remaining.

**~Peglea II, 1 year 106 days~**

It has been sixty-five days since the accident. Today when Vala arrives at the hospital after work, she finds that there has been a change in Jack's condition.

One of the nurses, who has been assigned to Jack's case since the beginning, rushes to meet Vala, full of excitement. "He moved his hand!" She catches Vala's hand and squeezes it. "He opened his eyes for a few moments before falling back asleep!"

When Vala reaches Jack's side, Dr. Varen is there examining him. But Jack appears the same as when she was there early that morning, still unconscious.

"His coma has lightened somewhat," Varen tells her. "He reacted to direct stimulation. During my exam earlier he clenched his fist and drew away slightly when I ran the stylus across his palm."

"That's good—isn't it?" she asks.

"It's a start."

"Chasa said he opened his eyes."

"Yes." Varen nods, and admits cautiously, "He opened his eyes very briefly, without focus. These are positive signs, Vala. However..." He hesitates.

"I know," she says. "Don't get my hopes up."

"Yes. There may be no other signs for some time." The doctor gives her a sympathetic smile, but she can see in his eyes that he is not optimistic.

After Varen has gone, Vala pulls up a chair to sit beside Jack's bed. With one hand she gently strokes his face, smoothing the hair back from his forehead, while her other hand squeezes the fingers of his left hand softly. "You're going to fool them all, Jack," she whispers to him in English. "They don't know you like I know you. You're going to wake up soon. Very soon..."

Beneath her fingers she feels his hand twitch against hers.

Several times over the next few days, Jack is observed to move slightly, usually in response to stimulation, but once or twice spontaneously.

**~Peglea II, 1 year 112 days~**

_Someone is singing. He can't make out the words, but the tune is familiar..._

Vala sings as she finishes changing Jack's bed. As she pauses and crosses the room to a shelf to reach for a clean pillowcase, she thinks she hears a tiny sound... a groan. The pillowcase falls to the floor as she turns quickly and hurries back to Jack's side.

His eyes are open, glassy, but moving about as if he is searching...

Vala leans over toward him, saying his name anxiously. "Jack."

After a moment, his gaze stops on her face, and clears somewhat. His lips move slightly and he struggles to make a sound... "Vvuhh..."

His left hand rises an inch or so off the bed, and she catches it with her own. "Yes, Jack. It's me—Vala." Tears well in her eyes and slip down her cheeks. She sits on the side of the bed, where he can see her. "It's me. I'm here. I'm with you... No.. no! Don't close your eyes! Look! Look at me."

_The face above him blurs as darkness looms, but the urgency in her voice causes him to renew his effort to focus... _

"That's better! Hold on—keep your eyes on me." Still holding on to his hand, she reaches with her other one to press the bell which will summon help. "Stay awake now—just like that. That's good Jack, that's very good..." Her voice hitches and she stifles a sob.

_...she's crying... why's she crying? What's wrong? _

His lips move again, and sounds come from his throat. "...why...teears...?" It is all she can understand.

Vala wipes her cheeks quickly, and smiles the widest smile she can manage. "I'm just so happy to see you awake. Hold on. It'll be okay, Jack."

"Tired..." he mumbles, feeling his lids grow heavy again.

"I know. But please stay with me just a few more minutes. Come on, Jack. I haven't seen your eyes in so long."

His expression grows slightly puzzled at that. "Why...?"

"You were hurt, Jack. You've slept for a while. I've been waiting for you to wake up..."

She is interrupted when Varen enters the room, followed closely by one of the nurses.

Varen comes quickly to the side of the bed and Vala moves aside, trying to stay in Jack's line of sight, and yet out of the way.

The doctor touches Jack's arm, gently finding the pulse. "Hello, Jack. I am Varen. I'm a doctor. Can you speak?"

Jack's eyes grow even more puzzled as he hears the Peglean words spoken by the doctor. At first they don't make any sense, however after a few moments the meaning comes to him. "A little..." he rasps. "Hurts..."

"Let me get you some water." Varen takes the cup the nurse is offering him, and holds the straw to Jack's lips. "Drink slowly."

Jack does as he's told, feeling the relief of the cool water in his mouth and throat.

"How do you feel?" the doctor asks after Jack is done and the cup has been removed. "Do you have pain?"

It is a moment before Jack answers. "Mmm... headache. Can't feel... much else." He tries to lift his arms; his left one rises several inches but the right one barely moves.

The doctor places a hand gently on Jack's left arm. "Please don't try to move yet, Jack," Varen says.

But a look of concentration has already come over Jack's features, which morphs into surprise after a few moments. "Can't... my legs..." He looks about in alarm. "What happened... to me?"

"Jack..." Vala moves quickly around to the other side of the bed, and leans down where he can see her.

Jack's gaze turns from Varen to Vala, as he becomes more and more agitated. "Why can't... feel my legs...?" His eyes dart about in distress and his breathing quickens.

"Just relax, Jack. This will help." Varen takes an injector from one of the nurses and holds it against Jack's neck. The medication hisses onto the skin and is absorbed quickly.

The effect of the drug is almost instantaneous; Jack's anxiety eases and he begins to relax somewhat.

"Jack..." Vala lays one hand gently on his arm, the other against his cheek, causing his attention to turn in her direction. "There was an accident, Jack. You had a bad fall. Please, just lie still. You shouldn't try to move too much." She switches to English and continues talking to him softly.

Her voice soothes him. "Accident..." he mutters. "...lightning... 'member lightning..." He is fading quickly. A moment later his eyes close.

"Do you have to sedate him?" Vala asks, looking at Varen. "He's just woken up. Is that a good idea?"

"The sedative effect of this drug is temporary, Vala," he explains. "He will wake again soon. But the anxiety will be less. I'm going to add a very low dose to his intravenous medication. It will help him stay calm, and control his agitation when he begins to understand what has happened to him."

After Varen leaves the room, Vala pulls the chair close again and reaches for Jack's hand.

**~Peglea II, 1 year 126 days~**

"What is that?" Jack growls at the nurse who is injecting something into his IV line.

"It's your pain medicine, Jack," Chasa replies quietly. "Try to relax and let it help you."

"Can it fix my legs?" he snarls. "Oh, I know—why don't you just give me enough to put me out of my misery permanently?!"

She is accustomed to the foul moods he frequently falls into, and does not respond.

Vala walks in just then, carrying a small bag and a mug of _kenlaj._ "Stop it, Jack," she scolds gently. She has heard the exchange from the corridor. "Chasa is only doing her job. Don't take it out on her." She sets the things down on the table and comes to the bedside. "Would you like me to raise the bed? Then you can see what's going on?" The window of his room looks out on the central square, and gives a good view of the activity in the square.

Jack does not answer her, but she reaches over anyway and presses the control. The head of the bed rises slowly, and she stops it at about a forty five degree angle. This appears to be the ideal height for his comfort most of the time. Any higher and it begins to cause pain in his upper back and neck.

"Another pillow?" she asks cheerfully.

He nods briefly, and when she produces the pillow and helps adjust it comfortably, he gives a muttered, "Thanks."

"You're welcome, darling." She pats his good shoulder briefly and then moves away. Since he awakened he has shied away from more overt displays of affection from her, and she does not push him, and is also careful not to show that his rejection hurts her.

Chasa has finished with her check-up and turns toward the door. "I'll be back in two hours."

"Bye, Chasa," Vala says with a smile. "Thanks!"

She glances over at Jack; he is lying with his face turned away from her, seemingly staring at the far wall. Despite the anti-depressant that Varen is giving him with his other meds, Jack spends most of his waking hours silent and withdrawn, or angry. Vala prefers the anger, at least then he is responding to the people around him.

"I brought you one of Tajan's pastries," she says cheerfully. "The fruit one that you like, that you said tastes like apricots. Would you like to try a little of it?"

"No." He doesn't look at her when he speaks.

She can see only the back of his head and the curve of his cheek. His hair needs cutting, as does his beard. The hair falls down over his forehead, into his eyes, something that would have driven him crazy before—but now he does not seem to notice. She kept both hair and beard trimmed somewhat while he was in the coma, although doing so with any style was impossible, but since he's been awake, he has not allowed anyone to cut either one.

"I can read to you, if you'd like," she offers.

"Not now," he says shortly. Still he does not turn.

_So it's going to be one of those days,_ she thinks to herself, with a sigh. She sits down in the visitor's chair and sips her hot drink. Jack does not move.

A little while later Jack's physical therapist, whose name is Calem, arrives, and Vala gets up and excuses herself. The session will last for an hour, and she would rather not be there. She goes out for a walk and returns as Calem is leaving. He shakes his head at Vala as they meet in the corridor.

"He's not cooperating," she says.

"Not at all," he tells her. "He resists everything I ask him to do. And I know he's not following any of the suggestions I've given him—like stretching his right hand several times during the day." He demonstrates the stretch he means. "It's going to take a lot of work to restore the function of his right hand and arm."

"I know. Maybe he just needs more time..."

"The problem won't get any better by itself," Calem says, not unkindly, but with that Peglean bluntness that Vala finds both admirable and curse-worthy. "Delaying will only make it harder."

"I'll talk to him," she promises.

**~Peglea II, 1 year 143 days~**

Vala's temper finally snaps. "Fine!" she grates between gritted teeth. "If you want to lie there and turn into a hunk of... of helpless protoplasm, be my guest! But I'm not going to sit here and watch!" She turns on her heel and storms out the door.

He doesn't even turn his head to watch her go.

**~Peglea II, 1 year 145 days~**

He hasn't seen Vala since the day before yesterday. The nurses have been in and out on their regular schedule, and he could have asked them about her, but he hasn't. He knows she is upset with him, and he can't blame her—he hasn't been pleasant to her at all in the days since he awakened. Thirty-three days. A month now in his thinking. A month of lying here helpless and angry. But it isn't her fault, and he knows it. He has no right to treat her the way he has. And as miserable as he is, he's even more miserable without her...

**~x~**

The cup of water on the table is just out of reach. He grips the side rail of the bed with his—relatively—good left hand, and tries to move himself further toward the edge. His fingers slip off on his first attempt, and with a muttered curse, he locks his fist as best he can on the rail and tries again. But he is not strong enough, and after several moments of futile frustration, he collapses back against the pillow, exhausted. He lies there with his eyes closed, panting.

"If you were doing your exercises, you would soon be able to do that."

Jack's eyes snap open at the voice, and he turns his head to see the calm face of Calem. In one hand the Peglean holds out the cup that Jack is trying to reach.

A wash of embarrassed anger pours through him, and his jaw trembles with the effort not to shout at the man. After several moments, he takes a deep breath, and reaches out for the cup. "Thank you," he manages.

Calem watches as he drains the cup and hands it back. "I'll refill it and move the table closer."

Jack closes his eyes and nods. A few moments later, Calem is back with the fresh water, and places it within reach. "Thanks," Jack mutters.

"Can we work on your exercises now, Jack?" Calem asks.

Jack nods without enthusiasm, and Calem commences with the stretches he wishes Jack to practice for his right hand.

**~x~**

She comes to his room late in the evening, after he has had his nightly meds and she's sure he is asleep. Calem spoke with her earlier and told her that Jack was slightly more cooperative today than he has been. That makes her happy, and she would've loved to hurry in and tell him how pleased she is. But he has not been happy to see her lately—in fact she feels he barely tolerates her presence, and she doesn't want to make things harder for him than they already are. So she has stayed away for a few days. She needed the break herself, she admits. It is so hard to see him lying there—she finds it is impossible to remain positive all the time. She can hardly imagine how awful it must be for him.

So she stands in the door and watches him sleep in the dimness of the room, and after a while, she leaves and goes home for the night.

**~X~X~X~X~**


	18. Chapter 18

**~15 days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~**

"Offworld activation! Offworld activation!"

Carter stepped off the stairs into the control room at the same moment General Landry entered from the opposite side. "Who is it, Walter?"

"It's Midway Station, General. They're asking that the gateroom be cleared for an incoming ship."

"Codes?"

"Codes all clear, sir."

"Send the OK. And open the iris."

"Yes, sir." He entered the necessary codes. "Traveler en route, sir. Arrival in fourteen minutes." The transit from Midway Station required passage through sixteen consecutive stargates forming the Intergalactic Bridge.

"I'll alert SG1 and 5," Carter said. "We'll meet him in the Level 16 hangar."

Landry nodded. "I'll be in my office. Bring Sheppard down when he arrives. Walter, call me at the two minute mark, and clear the gateroom at that time."

"Yes, sir."

"And open the roof so the Jumper has access to the hangar."

"Yes, sir."

SG1 and SG5 were waiting on Level 16 as the Jumper settled gently to the floor. John Sheppard emerged from the ship. "Wow. Quite a welcoming committee."

"We're very glad to see you, Sheppard," Mitchell greeted him. The four days it had taken to finally receive word that their request was approved had seemed like forever to the team members. In the end General Hammond had been able to speak with President Hayes, who was highly irritated at the IOA's foot-dragging, and had added his clout to getting the needed cooperation.

Cam introduced the SG5 team members, and then steered them all toward the elevator. "General Landry is waiting for us downstairs."

"Are you all going on this mission?" Sheppard asked, glancing around at the two teams.

"No," Mitchell said. "Just SG1 . Carter, Teal'c, Jackson and myself." He gave SG5 an apologetic look. "Sorry, guys. Landry says he can't spare all of us."

"Not a problem," Sharp assured him. He and the other two men were fine with that. Only Hailey had an envious expression on her face.

In the briefing room, Sheppard was quickly brought up to date with the situation.

"Can you control the jumper for a trip into the past?" General Landry asked bluntly.

"Yes, sir. I can," John assured them. "All I need is the date we are aiming for."

Landry turned to Carter. "Colonel?"

"Yes, sir. John, the date we need is 579 A.D. in our reckoning. That will put us about ten Peglean years after the refugees arrived on the planet."

"Any particular time during that year?" Sheppard asked.

"No. I think any time will do."

"All right. I need a specific date, so I'll aim for June 1, 579."

"Very well," Landry said. "SG1, get ready. You'll leave at 1400 hours." He glanced at his watch. "That gives you two hours to prepare."

"Okay," Mitchell said. "Let's head to the armory and get outfitted." Mitchell led the way out of the briefing room.

**~X~X~X~**

**Yes, I know! Another really short one. But the next chapter is almost ready. Two days or less, I promise. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Warning – A tragic and disturbing event is described in this chapter. **

**~Peglea II, 10 years 219 days~**

She sees them crossing the town's crowded central square and cannot believe her eyes. She's given up so long ago! Living here, helping to teach the children—that's become her life. She never expected it to change. And she wonders how they found her. She and Jack never did get around to leaving a message. She remembers the many conversations on the subject—they all ran along the same lines as the first one...

"_We have to leave some kind of clues to help them find us," she says when they discuss a message._

"_What do you suggest?" he asks. "We'd need something that would last for at least fourteen centuries. A pyramid maybe... that would certainly get Daniel's attention. But I don't think you and I can manage that alone."_

"_It's got to be something the Pegleans won't destroy, or cover up. Something they'll want to preserve. Something in stone. That's it, Jack!" she says excitedly. "A message written in stone!" _

Vala is still standing there, almost in shock, when she perceives the moment they spot her. _And how could they miss her?_ Even with the crowd in the square, she stands above everyone else. Daniel points, and he and Cam begin to run in her direction. They have to dodge through the market day crush, and Daniel is suddenly held up by a school class, a row of kids all holding hands, so it's Cam who gets to her first and grabs her around the waist and swings her in a circle.

"Princess!" he cries excitedly. "Oh my God... We found you! Are you all right?"

He sets her on her feet and then grabs her again when she staggers. "Easy! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to knock you over."

"It's okay," she says, but she's looking over his shoulder, as Daniel races up, finally having untangled himself from the troop of children. The two of them stare at each other, and he reaches for her just as she bursts into tears and lunges toward him. He catches her to him, pulling her as close as he can, trying to meld his body with hers, and he buries his face in her shoulder as she sobs on his.

Then suddenly she is surrounded by all of them—people she believed she'd never see again—Teal'c and Cam and Daniel and another man she knows must be John Sheppard... and Sam. _Oh gods, Sam, oh no, what's she going to say to her? How can she tell her...?_

Everyone is talking at once, smiling and excited; someone asks about Jack, but she pretends not to hear... She hugs them all, even Sheppard, who she's never met before.

"Come," she says, wiping away her tears. "Come to the house. We can talk better there." And she turns and starts off across the square and down the street toward her little house, giving them no choice except to follow.

She opens the door and ushers them all inside, and suddenly the main room—a combination sitting room and kitchen, which has always seemed perfectly adequate—suddenly it's full to bursting with people. She rushes to the stove to fill the kettle.

"Sit down," she invites them, before it dawns on her that she hasn't enough chairs. "I'm sorry. I don't have guests very often. Except the children, and they always sit on the floor."

"I can handle the floor," Cam says, and drops down cross-legged near the hearth. Sheppard joins him a moment later.

"Here, Sam." Vala pulls the rocking chair (the one Jack made for her the second year they were here...) nearer the fire. "It's warmest over here. It gets so chilly and damp this time of year."

Startled, Sam finds herself urged into the chair, and to please Vala, she sits, smiling.

Daniel is at Vala's elbow and puts an arm around her shoulders. She leans into him briefly. "How did you ever find me?" she asks.

"We found your message, of course," Daniel says. "Very clever, by the way! I'm sure it must've been Jack's idea... Where is Jack, anyway? Does he live nearby?"

Vala stares at Daniel. "What message? We didn't leave a message. At first, we couldn't think of any way to do it, and then later..." She lets her voice trail off as she sees the way they are looking at her. "What? What is it?"

There is silence for several moments, until Mitchell finds his voice. "The Simpsons."

"The what?" Vala asks.

"The cartoon characters that Jack loves so much," Daniel says. This gets only a blank look from Vala.

"You know," Cam adds. "The dudes with the yellow skin."

"Yeah." Sam grins. "Homer and Bart and Lisa... I don't remember the mom's name."

Vala finally begins to realize... the funny looking pictures that Jack used to draw! To make the children laugh. She claps a hand to her mouth. "Gods! You... you're here because of those pictures?"

"Are you saying the cartoons were not meant as a clue to help us find you, ValaMalDoran?" Teal'c asks.

Her jaw drops. "Are you serious? No! Jack drew those for the kids. He'd tell them stories to go with the pictures. It was just to entertain them."

The group exchanges surprised glances, rendered speechless by this revelation.

It is Teal'c who explains to Vala. "The cartoons became part of the Peglean culture. We recognized them as O'Neill's favorite characters. We looked through the library to find out when they first appeared in the history books. That is now."

"Incredible," Vala says. "I wondered why you came now. We thought if you had figured it all out you would have come a long time ago."

"A long time..." Daniel stares at her. "How long have you been here?"

"Nearly twelve years. Well-that's about eight Earth years."

They stare at her in shock.

She continues. "We had been here for two years when the Pegleans arrived, ten years ago."

"It's been twelve years for you?" Daniel says. "My God!"

She nods. "Yes." Then she frowns. "How long for you?"

"A little more than two weeks," he says softly.

"Only two weeks?" she echoes, with wonder.

There is silence as they absorb the information.

"We were sure you would have come earlier, no matter how long it took you to work it out," Vala says finally. "I gave up a long time ago. And then it really didn't matter after..." She stops, glancing at Sam.

Somehow that brief glance sends a chill through Sam. She is suddenly frightened. "Vala..." she says, "where is Jack?"

Vala cannot stop the tears that well in her eyes. "Oh, Sam... I'm... so sorry..."

"No," Sam whispers in dread.

"Vala," Daniel asks, seeing the tears begin to slip down her cheeks. "Is Jack..." He can't finish the question.

Vala steps closer to Sam, and kneels down before her, as Sam pales. Vala puts her arms around Sam and forces out the words. "He... Jack died nearly five years ago, Sam."

It is painful to watch as Sam and the others struggle to absorb the shocking news. Vala has had five years to adjust to his absence, and prior to that she had watched his slow decline for the last year of his life, and had known that the end was inevitable. But for his friends, this comes out of the blue. She sees the expression of disbelief on Sam's face, and then the gradual realization that Jack is truly gone. Vala tightens her arms around her as Sam's features slowly crumple under the weight of the knowledge.

A single sob is torn from Sam's throat as she grasps the terrible truth, and then silent tears slide down her cheeks as she sags into Vala's strong arms.

Daniel's face is almost as devastated as Sam's as he moves to place an arm around her, and from above Teal'c rests a hand on Sam's head and one on Daniel's shoulder.

Cam takes a step forward, and pauses, having no idea how to offer any kind of comfort to his team mates. And Sheppard stands to the side, solemn-faced, recalling the few times he met the irreverent and unconventional General O'Neill.

For a long time no one says anything, and the only sound is the breathing of souls in pain.

**~x~**

"Tell us how he died, Vala," Sam says, her voice rough. Her eyes are swollen and her cheeks streaked with tears. It has been a while since Vala told them of Jack's death. The first wave of shock and disbelief is passing and the questions have begun.

"It was when the people were building the town. We'd been helping any way we could. He was working with the construction crew building the main library."

Daniel's head comes up. "He was working on the library when it was struck by lightning?"

"Yes," Vala says, surprised. "How did you know?"

"In our time, there's a mural of the incident in the main library..."

"He was one of the workers who was killed?" Sam asks, her voice faltering.

Vala almost lets it go at that, but she knows they deserve the truth. "He was on the scaffolding when the lightning struck. He was buried in the rubble, beneath a fallen column, but he was still alive... We dug him out. One of the Pegean doctors—Varen—actually crawled down in there with him, to try and help..." She pauses. The words come hard, the memory so painful. "Varen stabilized him until we could move the column..." The memory floods back, of her first glimpse of Jack as he is lifted gently from the wreckage...

_He is broken. It is the only word she can think of. She has never seen anyone more severely injured. The doctor has strapped Jack carefully to the stretcher which was lowered into the hole._

"_Varen?" she asks in a whisper._

_The doctor's eyes are bleak. "I believe his back is broken," he tells her. "I know his shoulder and right leg are severely injured. He has head injuries and is bleeding internally. I don't know how he is still alive."_

_She closes her eyes and forces back the tears._

Vala turns to face Sam. "His spinal cord was severely damaged. There was nothing the doctors could do about that. They told me there was no chance he would walk again... even if he woke up," she says softly.

"Oh, God..." Sam sobs, and Daniel tightens his arm around her shoulders.

"He was in a coma for seventy-one days after the accident," Vala continues after giving Sam a few moments to compose herself. "The doctors were surprised that he came out of it... but I wasn't." She draws a ragged breath. She doesn't want to subject them to the agonizing details of Jack's life after the accident—the constant pain, the depression...

_The first half-year is devastating. Sometimes he begs her to help him kill himself; at other times he shouts at her and tries to drive her away. She screams back at him—not daring to give in to the despair she is feeling. Better to have him angry with her. If he is angry, at least he is living for something..._

Clenching her teeth, she goes on, "Jack lived for three years after the accident. His legs... were paralyzed. It was months before he regained the full use of his arms and hands, and could sit up. He worked so hard..." She pauses to steady herself. "He'd lost a kidney and there was other internal damage. After a time his general health began to gradually deteriorate." She stops again, unwilling to go into detail about the end. "It took nearly a year of physical exercise and hard work before he was able to use his right arm and hand effectively. At some point he started making the drawings as therapy."

"Drawings?" Daniel asks. "You mean the cartoons?"

"Yes. For his fine-motor skills. That kind of thing. He hoped he'd improve enough to be able to do woodworking again. But it didn't happen..." She stops once more. They can tell she is skipping over the worst parts of the story. "The children used to come to visit. They... they all flocked to him, and you know how much he loved kids. They liked his pictures. He'd draw the cartoons and tell stories to go with them. One day a local writer came to visit. She'd heard of the stories and pictures. She wrote down his stories and used his pictures and made books for the children. Jack was delighted about that. He made up more and more of them... He and Thallin—that's her name—created a whole series of children's books." Vala pauses and looks around at her guests. "That's _really_ what brought you here?" she says, her tone disbelieving. "The stories lasted all those years? Jack would be so pleased." Tears fall down her cheeks and she wipes them away quickly.

Daniel shakes his head. "And we were so sure he did it deliberately."

"No. We couldn't think of any way to leave a message," Vala says. "For the two years before the people arrived we had no idea how far into the past we were. Just that it was more than two thousand years. What can you leave for a clue that would last that long?"

Sam has become more and more upset as she listens to Vala's narrative, and the full reality of Jack's death descends upon her. The tears won't stop and she clings to Daniel. Vala makes her some calming tea, and eventually persuades her to lie down in the bedroom. Daniel and Teal'c go in to sit with her, as the three mourn the loss of their friend.

Vala, Mitchell and Sheppard remain in the kitchen, drinking tea in silence. Suddenly Vala comes to a decision, and stands up.

"Come with me," she orders urgently, grabbing Mitchell's arm and pulling him toward the front door. "You, too," she adds, beckoning to Sheppard.

Puzzled, the two men follow her out of the house, and around into the small side yard, where they will not be overheard.

"Vala, what is it..." Cam begins, turning to look at her determined face.

She interrupts him, speaking in a low, intense voice. "You can fix this!" she says to them bluntly. "None of it has to have happened!"

**~X~X~X~X~**


	20. Chapter 20

**My apologies for the delay between chapters. Winter weather simply has not inspired me to write! Thankfully we've had a bit of sunshine and warmer temperatures lately. It probably won't last, but it feels really good. **

**Many thanks to all of you who are still reading!**

**XXXXX**

**~Peglea II, 10 years, 219 days~**

"You can fix this!" Vala says, her gaze intent on Mitchell and Sheppard. "None of it has to have happened!"

Sheppard frowns in confusion, but Mitchell gives her a long, considering look. "You think that would work?"

"Why not? We were here for three years before Jack got hurt. If you had come back then, it would never have happened."

"Wait a minute," Sheppard cuts in. "Are you saying we should..."

"Try again!" she insists. "Go back ten more years!"

"What about you?" Mitchell asks.

She brushes that away with an impatient gesture. "Forget about this 'me.' I shouldn't even exist! If you find us ten years ago, then this will never have happened. Or even eight years ago. Any time before the accident!"

"I don't know..." Mitchell begins hesitantly. "Sam always said we shouldn't interfere with the timeline..."

Vala is ready for this argument. "We've already interfered, Cam," she points out quickly. "The storm did that for us! When Jack and I were sent back here, it changed things. _We_ changed things. Finding us sooner will be setting things right!"

"Actually it was a solar flare that sent you back," Cam says, stalling.

"Really? Like that first time travel mission?" Vala says. "But why it happened doesn't matter. It happened, and you can undo it. Please!" She looks from one man to the other. "Don't let Jack die!"

Mitchell stares at her for a long moment, then turns to Sheppard. "What do you think? Can you do it?"

John nods. "Sure. I can do it. It'll take a little calculation, because the ship can't make jumps less than 200 years. We'd have to go forward or back farther than that, and then jump again. But it can be done."

"We'll have to talk to the others," Mitchell says.

"Then let's do that!" Vala urges. "I should have thought of this before I told you about Jack," she adds regretfully. "I hate that I put Sam through this!"

Mitchell agrees, although he doesn't say so. Vala has touched a soft spot in him. "All right. We'll go talk to them."

They find Daniel and Teal'c back in the main room of the house, talking quietly. The door to the bedroom is closed.

"She fell asleep," Daniel says. "We thought we'd leave her to rest."

"Good," Cam says. "She needs it. Vala has something she wants to talk to us about."

Daniel and Teal'c turn curious eyes toward Vala.

**~x~**

Upon awakening, it takes a few moments for Sam to realize where she is. At first she looks around the strange bedroom in confusion. Then her gaze falls on a shelf, which holds a familiar object, and she gasps as she remembers. Tears threaten, but she controls herself. Sitting up, she draws a deep breath and glances at her watch, relieved when she sees she's only slept for a little less than an hour. She rises and takes the object down from the shelf, turning it over in her hand. It is much older appearing than it was when she remembers him wearing it.

She brushes her fingers across the bill of the cap as regret washes over her...

_They never did manage to work things out. For a few months, while she was at Area 51, and Jack was in D.C., they had tried. But there was so little opportunity for them to be together. She was adjusting to her new role in Research and Development. And he was swamped with his responsibilities as head of Homeworld Security. During that time she had seen him lose the healthy tan that field work gave him, and acquire lines and a sternness of features that he hadn't had before. _

_ In the seven months she was at Groom Lake, they had managed to spend time together on only five occasions. Each time it felt as if they had to start from scratch, because several weeks would pass between each meeting. In the end, things were little different than when they were 'Colonel' and 'Carter.'_

_Then abruptly she was transferred back to Cheyenne Mountain. Back into his chain of command._

And now he is gone—and so are her hopes for the future. She hugs the cap close to her chest and fights down the tears once again. For a long time she stands there in the center of the room, remembering...

"_Can you meet me at my cabin, Sam?" he asked over the phone. "For the long weekend? I thought... since it's about halfway..."_

"_Oh... gosh. I don't know, sir. We're working on this project..."_

"_Ack! It's Jack, remember. So it's a pretty important project, huh?" Trying to mask his disappointment._

"_Uh... yeah. I'm afraid so. I don't... Listen, I'll check with the head of the team. Maybe I can get a day or two..." As it turned out, of course, she couldn't._

_Or another time..._

"_Hi, sir... er, Jack. I...um... I've got a couple days off, because of the delay transferring...uh...materials." Phone-speak for new technology being transferred from the SGC. "I thought maybe if you were free... Well, anyway. Sorry I missed you there. If you don't call back, I'll know it's because you can't get away... Sorry. Bye."_

_He called back a few hours later, but it was hopeless. "I'm so sorry, Sam. I have meetings scheduled with the President and the IOA for the next three days. And then some kind of event on Saturday night. Maybe you could fly out here, Saturday? Go to the event with me? It's at the White House." _

"_Damn! By Saturday the...stuff...we're expecting should be arriving. I can't leave..."_

_And so it went, week after week, month after month; _

'_Briefing the President and his advisors.' _

'_Accident in the lab.' _

'_Flying to Antarctica Station for inspection.' _

'_New tech arriving.' _

'_Meetings...' _

'_Projects...'_

Sighing, Sam places the cap back on the shelf. Then she turns and heads for the door.

They are all at the table, talking, and they fall silent at the bedroom door opens. Vala jumps up immediately, and comes to put an arm around Sam. "Can I get you anything?" she asks. "I can make some more tea?"

"No. That's fine." Sam glances around, catching the sense that she interrupted something. "What were you guys talking about?"

They exchange glances. "Vala has an idea," Daniel says finally.

When they explain to her what they have been discussing, Sam is speechless. She's been so devastated by the news of Jack's death that this had not occurred to her at all!

"You're suggesting that we go..." Her voice trails off. "...the timeline..." she protests weakly. But at the same time, hope comes alive in her heart. As Vala elaborates on her idea, Sam quashes the scientist in her brain, and allows her heart to be convinced.

Soon they are all in agreement.

"What date should I aim for?" John asks.

"The accident happened one year and forty-one days after the Pegleans came," Vala tells them. "Pick a day any time before that."

"We should choose a date after the Pegleans arrived," Daniel interjects.

They look to him, surprised.

"Why's that?" Mitchell asks.

Daniel turns to Vala. "You and Jack built that house we saw near the Stargate clearing, didn't you?"

"Yes. Jack started it a few weeks after we arrived."

"It's still standing," Daniel points out. "It would have been there when the refugees came through the gate. And even from the beginning there were probably other signs that you had been here. If you weren't there to explain it they would have thought the planet was occupied. They might not have explored enough to find out otherwise."

Vala frowns. "They were looking for an uninhabited world. They may have never settled here."

"And this has been a perfect place for them," Daniel goes on. "We could ruin that if we take you and Jack away before they arrive."

"You're right," Vala says.

Ultimately they aim for a date about halfway between the refugees' arrival on the planet and the day of the accident, which gives them a cushion to allow for errors, and Sam uses her laptop to calculate the Earth equivalent.

**~x~**

Vala walks with them to the Stargate clearing, where they have left the jumper, and hugs each of them good-bye. Daniel holds on to her for a long time. "I love you," he whispers.

She kisses him softly and steps back. "Tell _her_ how you feel," she advises. Despite everything, she discovers she has never stopped loving him.

"I will," he says.

She embraces Sam last.

"This will work," she says to Sam as they have their arms around each other. "Jack will be all right. And you'll see me in just a little while."

"But _you're_ giving up so much..."

"I'm not giving up anything. I'll be getting my real life back." She smiles a very Vala-like smile. "Be happy, Samantha."

She watches as they board the jumper.

Inside, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, Cam looks out at Vala as they prepare to depart. She waves and he returns it.

"Ready?" Sheppard asks. "We'll be jumping into the past 250 years, and then forward to the date we picked."

Cam looks up and nods.

"We're ready," Daniel says from the passenger compartment. He reaches over and grasps Sam's hand.

John places his hands on the control panel, and the ship comes alive. A few moments later, it begins to rise slowly toward the sky.

When Mitchell looks back out the front window, the clearing below them is deserted.

**~X~X~X~X~**

**~Peglea II, day 126~**

The town plan has been chosen, and detailed drawings voted on and approved. Streets are now being laid out by survey teams. The central square has already been marked, and the area cleared so that the locations of the buildings can be plotted. The buildings are to be set around three sides, facing the square; the fourth side will be open toward the river, where there will be a large park along the bank, a place for families and picnics. Beyond the river is a view of the mountains. The Pegleans have given the river the name Kurrh, after one of the large rivers on their home planet.

It is late summer, and storm season is nearing. The heat is oppressive. Jack warns the townspeople that the storms will come soon and without warning, and crops such as corn should be harvested as quickly as possible. The fields are busy with workers bringing in the harvest. The food will be stored in the warehouses they have already built for that purpose.

**~X~**

It is ten days later when the first late summer storm strikes without warning. Fortunately nearly all of the harvest has been brought in and stored in the warehouses. The storm comes in the evening and Vala and Jack are at home in their cabin when the sound of rain hammers on the roof.

"The roof's leaking!" Vala cries as several drops strike her face and shoulders.

Luckily there are only three or four places where the water is coming in. They rush to place jars under the leaks.

"I guess we know what we'll be doing tomorrow," Jack says, laughing as Vala squeals at the cold water running down her neck.

And so, when the Puddle Jumper appears the following morning, they are both on the cabin roof making repairs.

**~X~X~X~X~**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks very much to everyone who is reading this story, and for all the encouraging reviews and comments! **

**~Peglea II, day 136~**

"_The roof's leaking!" Vala cries as several drops strike her face and shoulders._

_Luckily there are only three or four places where the water is coming in. They rush to place jars under the drips._

"_I guess we know what we'll be doing tomorrow," Jack says, smirking as Vala squeals at the cold water running down her neck. He grabs her around the waist and they tumble onto the bed, laughing. _

_**~x~**_

_When the Puddle Jumper appears above the clearing the following morning, they are both on the cabin roof making repairs._

**~X~ **

Vala, who is facing toward the Stargate, sees it first, and shrieks with excitement, dropping her hammer and pointing. "Jack! Look!"

He turns, and for a moment they simply stare in disbelief, watching as the Jumper descends. "Come on!" Jack grabs her hand and scrambles toward the ladder.

By the time the ship settles to the grass, they have hit the ground, and are running toward it. When the door opens, Jack and Vala are there waiting, holding tight to one another with excitement.

Daniel is the first out, and his feet barely touch the earth when Vala flings herself into his arms. She is crying joyfully, and Daniel clasps her tightly against him. And over her shoulder his eyes are on Jack, his best friend, who is standing there—alive and whole and healthy, with a huge grin on his face...

Still holding Vala close, Daniel reaches out toward Jack, who steps forward quickly and envelops both of them in his arms. Then Teal'c is there, with one large hand grasping Jack's shoulder warmly, and behind him is Mitchell, pounding on his back. He sees John Sheppard standing nearby.

"What the hell took you guys so long?!" Jack demands.

The rescuers exchange glances. "It is a long story, O'Neill," Teal'c replies. "We will tell you all about it in time."

"Damn right you will!" Jack exclaims as he releases Daniel and turns to shake Mitchell's hand, and then clasp forearms with Teal'c's in a brotherly embrace. "Is Carter with you?" he asks, as the two warriors separate.

"Indeed," Teal'c replies, and indicates the jumper, where Sam is standing, one hand grasping the edge of the door, and the other clasped to her mouth.

Jack grins widely, and starts toward her, but after only a few steps he can see there are tears on her face, and a moment later she turns away, retreating back into the shelter of the ship.

Surprised, Jack pauses, and glances first toward Teal'c, and then Daniel. "What was that about?" he asks.

Daniel turns to Jack, with one arm still around Vala. "It was very hard for her, Jack. Go and see her."

Jack frowns and looks at Vala. For a moment their eyes lock, and then she smiles. "Go," she mouths to him, waving her hands in a shooing motion.

Jack walks toward the jumper, pausing to shake Sheppard's hand on the way. "Thank you, Colonel."

"My pleasure, sir," John replies. "It was a trip, believe me."

Sam is sitting in the pilot's seat, struggling to control her emotions, when she hears his step on the entrance ramp. She quickly wipes the tears from her face with her palms, and draws a deep breath.

Her intense reaction has taken her completely by surprise. She did not expect this total breakdown...

_The ship comes in above the clearing, and she sees Jack and Vala on the roof of the cabin, and the relief that floods her senses is overwhelming. Only then does she realize that she has feared that it was all in vain—that their efforts will have failed. That he will be dead despite their attempt to circumvent fate—whether because they miscalculate and arrive too late after all, or, perhaps because destiny will have stepped in to make his death a reality..._

_But when the ship's door opens he is standing there, tall, grinning and sunburned—and alive!—and it is the most beautiful sight she has ever seen. He looks healthy and strong, and more fit than she has seen him since those early years with SG1. He's wearing trousers that look like they're made of tanned leather, and a sleeveless vest that leaves his arms bare and fits the planes of his chest closely. His hair is long, tied back at his nape, and the lower half of his face is hidden by thick whiskers. _

_She's overwhelmed by the sight of him, and watches, eyes glued to his figure as he embraces Daniel and then Teal'c. She's frozen there in the door, all of her emotions crashing down upon her at once, and the only thing she can do is stare at him and weep. _

_Then he looks up and sees her, and suddenly it is too much, and she turns back into the dimness of the ship..._

Now she knows he is standing there behind her, and she takes one last deep breath and prepares to face him.

At first Jack thinks that she's not going to look at him, and he hesitates, uncertain what to say or do. Her face is turned away, and she is sitting very still and stiff.

He takes a step forward and slips into the co-pilot's seat. "Carter," he says softly. At last she looks at him, and he starts to smile, but her face is so full of distress that his expression changes to concern, and he reaches out and takes her hand. "Sam? What's wrong?"

It is a moment before she can speak. "We lost you," she manages at last.

"Not a chance," he says. "Not with you working to save us."

Tears well in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. "I'm so glad to see you," she whispers.

"Yeah, me too," he answers.

And then she reaches over and puts her arms around him and buries her face in his shoulder. She's still crying, and all Jack can think to do is just hold her. It's awkward, though, with the space between the two seats, until, to his surprise, she moves again and climbs into his lap, burying her face against his chest. His grip on her tightens, and he turns his head into the crook of her neck and shoulder.

"It's okay, Sam," he says softly. "You found us. Thank you."

She struggles to regain control of herself, and after a while is able to release him and move back to her seat. He feels the absence of her body's warmth, and keeps hold of her hand.

"Look at you." She smoothes her free hand over his beard, also taking in the length of his pony tail. "I've never seen you with a beard before, and so much hair."

"Too much trouble to shave," he says. "Besides, this way the Pegleans don't think I'm so odd looking."

She smiles. "Yeah, I'll bet you fit right in. A bit tall maybe..."

"There is that," he admits, grinning. "But they don't seem to mind."

"No. I don't suppose they do." She touches his cheek above the beard. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. What about you?"

"I'm fine—now that we've found you. How long have you been here?"

"About two and a half planetary years. Nearly two earth years?"

"Okay," she says. "We got it just about right." She smiles. "You look great."

"So do you. But I don't understand..."

"It's a long story. We'll explain."

"That's kind of what Teal'c said. How long did it take you to find us?"

"A little over two weeks."

His brows go up. "That's all? So why didn't you come sooner... er, I mean sooner for us?"

"Well, that's a little complicated. Part of it has to do with getting the conversions from Earth-time correct..." She pauses. "And then we made a mistake..."

"Sam! Jack!" Daniel's voice reaches them from the rear of the ship. "Are you guys okay in there?"

"We're fine, Daniel," Jack replies. "We'll be out in just a minute." He turns to Sam. "Are you okay now? Ready to go outside?"

She nods, rising. "Yes. Let's go."

They emerge into the sunshine, and Sam is instantly enveloped in a hug by Vala—which leads to more hugging and backslapping and general merriment. Daniel is especially excited and keeps touching both Vala and Jack, seemingly to make sure they are real.

Eventually they become calmer, and settle down in front of the cabin, on an outdoor bench and on the ground, to talk.

"So fill us in," Jack demands. "How'd you find us?"

"This is our second try," Daniel says.

"You didn't find us the first time?" Vala asks.

"Oh, we found you," Cam says. "At least—we found Vala."

"Cam..." Sam begins.

"You found _me?_" Vala says. "Where was Jack?"

"Yeah," Jack adds. "Where was I?"

Sam glares at Mitchell who spreads his hands in confusion, asking, "Well, weren't you going to tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Jack insists.

There is a short silence, broken at last by Teal'c. "You had died, O'Neill."

Jack's eyebrows rise. "Oh," he says.

"He died?" Vala exclaims, horrified. "How? And when did this happen? I mean..."

"You mean... when _will _it happen," Daniel corrects. "Er..." He glances around at Sam and Teal'c. "We came... that is, the first time we came was almost ten years from now."

Jack frowns. "Ten years later... than now?"

"Yeah," says Daniel. "We thought we'd found a message... a clue that you'd left for us to find..."

"We haven't left a message," Vala interrupts. "We talked about it..."

"You never did. We know that now, but we didn't know it then..."

"We misinterpreted something," Sam adds. "We thought it was from you."

"Well, it was," Mitchell puts in. "It couldn't have been from anybody else, after all! It just wasn't meant the way we thought it was meant..."

Daniel and Sam both start to break in.

"Ackk!" Jack's exclamation silences them all. "Okay. I haven't got a clue what you're talking about!"

Sam and Daniel and Cam exchange glances.

"O'Neill." Teal'c breaks the ensuing puzzled silence. "I shall explain."

Jack turns to his warrior friend with relief. "Please do. Everybody else, zip it!"

Teal'c bows his head briefly. "We discovered that there was children's literature on Peglea with characters which greatly resembled those from The Simpsons television show."

"Really!" Jack exclaims.

"Indeed. In our time, there were books, puppets and other forms of entertainment which were obviously based upon your favorite cartoon show. It seemed clear that you must have been the one who introduced said cartoons, and we thought that you must have left them as a clue for us to find you. We searched in the library for an indication of when these characters first appeared. As DanielJackson has observed, the Pegleans keep extensive and detailed records of everything in their culture and history."

Jack is nodding. "That they do."

Teal'c continues. "We determined that the early examples of the Simpsons were published approximately ten years from now, so we used the time device to travel to that year. There we found ValaMalDoran." He bows in her direction. "She was well. However, she informed us that you had died five years previously, as a result of injuries sustained when lightning struck the main library, which you were assisting the Pegleans to construct. You had survived the accident, although your injuries were grave. Over a period of time, however, your condition deteriorated, until you passed away."

Jack and Vala are listening with rapt attention. Vala covers her mouth as the story proceeds, and she reaches out, closing her hand on Jack's wrist. He turns his hand and grasps hers.

Teal'c goes on then to give a succinct yet complete recital of the situation as they found it on their first trip into the past with the time device, as well as an explanation of how Jack had come to leave behind drawings of the Simpsons' characters.

When Teal'c is done there is a long silence. Sam's eyes are lowered and her lower lip is caught between her teeth. Daniel and Cam both look subdued. Sheppard stands quietly to one side. Jack and Vala's hands are still clasped tightly.

Cam finally speaks up. "It was Vala's idea that we make another time-jump. She gave us the date of the accident, so we could arrive before it happens."

"The accident will occur one year and forty-one days after the arrival of the Pegleans on the planet," Teal'c says.

"That's about a year from now," Jack observes quietly.

Vala turns to look at him. "We have to warn them!" She turns back to Teal'c. "Are there many casualties?"

"Indeed. A dozen or more."

"Then we have to let them know it's going to happen." Vala glances around at the others. "What? Why are you looking like that? They're our friends! You can't think..."

The rescue team are exchanging dismayed looks.

It's Daniel who speaks. "Vala, the accident happened in the original timeline. I saw the mural in the library on our first trip to Peglea, though I didn't ask for details at the time. That was before you guys got trapped in the past."

"You're saying it was meant to happen?" she demands. "Then why did you bother coming back to save Jack? Maybe that was meant to happen, too!"

"But you guys are an anomaly in the timeline..."

"We've been here since before the people arrived. We've probably already changed their history in ways none of us can even imagine! No, Daniel! We're not leaving here without warning them!" She turns to Jack again. "Tell them, Jack! We can't just let this happen!"

"I agree with her on this," Jack says. "As much as we've messed with the timeline by now, one more thing won't make much difference."

"Sir, whether you're here or not wouldn't have any influence on the weather," Sam points out.

"That's true," he agrees. "But it might influence who is actually working on the building that day. I don't know, Carter! I just know we have friends here. We owe that much to them."

"But then we'll have to explain about the time travel..."

"They already know that. They also know we've been waiting to be rescued."

"They'll be happy for us," Vala says. She looks at Jack. "We should go into town and say good-bye."

Sam is watching Jack's face, and she sees the look of sadness that comes to his eyes. Then he blinks and the look is gone.

"Yes," he agrees. "You guys aren't in a hurry to leave are you? This may take a little while."

In fact, their good-byes take the rest of the day, and well into the evening. As word spreads that Jack and Vala are going home, a large portion of the town's population turns out to wish them well. Jack pulls Baylen and several of the town officials aside and explains to them about the accident and when and how it will take place.

Late that night, Vala and Jack stand looking around inside the cabin that has been their home for nearly two years.

"Is there anything you want to take back with us?" Jack asks softly.

"Everything!" she answers. "I want to keep it all."

**~x~**

Daniel hears voices as he nears the cabin door, and pauses. He can see their shadows in the lamplight that spills out of the doorway.

"We can't take everything," Jack is saying. "Won't fit in the Jumper."

"I know," Vala answers. "I just hate to leave it behind."

"We should take the journal. It'll make it easier to debrief."

"Yes."

"And you can take any of the smaller things you want," he said gently.

There is a short silence.

"What did you do about the cabin?" she asks.

"I told Baylen that he can have it."

"Good. He'll know what to do with it," she says. "And he'll appreciate it because you built it." There is another short pause. Vala's shadow moves over out of Daniel's sight, and he hears sounds of things being moved around. Vala speaks again. "I was so proud of you—and so amazed that you can make all of this for us. That you could build a life for us here." Her voice is tight and thick.

"We," he corrects. "We built a life."

"I only did what you told me to do." There is yet another moment of quiet. She sniffles. "Am I crazy to be sorry to leave here?"

"Well, if you are, then so am I," he says, and Daniel can hear the regret in his tone. Jack clears his throat. "We should go."

She steps back toward Jack. "I know, darling."

The shadows move together in an embrace, and Daniel turns away, and heads back toward the ship.

A little while later they all board the Jumper and prepare to return to their own time.

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you very much to everyone who is reading and commenting on this story. Especially many thanks to those who review as guests. I would acknowledge each you personally if I could! **

**Several reviews expressed concern for Sam and Daniel because of the relationship which has developed between Jack and Vala. One even called it a mess. Certainly there is potential for heartbreak. We shall see how they all will handle the situation. **

**~X~X~X~X~**

**~Leaving the past~**

Vala takes a seat on the Jumper's rear bench, beside Daniel, who is a little surprised when she takes his hand and squeezes it before settling close to his side. Even as he squeezes back, he thinks about the short conversation that he overheard earlier, and decides that perhaps it did not mean what he thought at first. Perhaps they were merely saying goodbye to the life they have shared for these past two years. More than two years, he thinks. While for him it has only been two weeks. He frowns, trying to wrap his thoughts around the huge impact this difference could make.

Daniel glances around the jumper. Mitchell is in the co-pilot's place. Teal'c is on the bench facing Daniel and Vala. Jack is in the seat directly behind Sheppard, and across from Sam. Sam's eyes are on Jack, while he is looking out the front window in his last glimpse of the planet below.

Sheppard places his hands on the control panel, and the ship's lights come on. Slowly, they rise out of the clearing until they are above the treetops. The jumper moves forward. They circle the area once.

Jack straightens in his chair. He glances back toward where Vala is sitting, then turns to the front again. "Let's go home," he says.

"Yes, sir," John replies. He shifts slightly. In the rear section, the time device pulses, and there is a moment of disorientation—feelings of movement, a momentary _not-there_ sensation.

Vala's hand tightens on Daniel's, and he looks down to see that she has closed her eyes.

**~Peglea II, Back to the present~**

The jumper appeared in the sky above the Peglean gate exactly one hour after they had departed for the past. In the clearing below, the celebration was in full swing. John guided the ship to an open area, beyond the tents and set it down gently.

"What's happening?" Jack asked, waving a hand at the carnival which they could see through the front window.

"It's the anniversary of their arrival on the planet," Daniel explained. "They have a big celebration every year. They told me it lasts for 27 days."

Jack raised a brow. "Twenty-seven?"

"According to the town council, that's how long it took to establish a camp here and move all the refugees through the gate.

"Close," Jack said. "It was actually twenty-nine. Guess it lost a little over the centuries."

The rear hatch of the ship opened and Daniel got to his feet. "I'll go and speak to Shavnon, the town official we met earlier."

"Don't be long, Jackson," Mitchell warned. "We want to get back to the SGC."

Daniel nodded, and walked down the ramp.

Jack got up and moved to the back to sit beside Vala. "You want to take a last look?"

She shook her head.

"Me neither." He stretched his shoulders and leaned back on the bench, one arm behind her, across the top of the seat.

No one talked as they waited for Daniel. Just as Cam was starting to get antsy, the linguist reappeared.

"They were happy to hear that we found our people and brought them back," Daniel said, moving forward to take the seat that Jack had vacated. "I warned them that we're about to dial the gate to return to Earth." He hesitated a moment before adding, "The yellow tent isn't there."

There was a brief silence as Daniel, Sam and Mitchell exchanged glances.

"Okay," Mitchell said finally. "Let's do it."

**~Stargate Command~**

"Unscheduled offworld activation!"

Hank Landry left his office and headed down to the control room, coming to a stop behind Harriman as they watched the chevrons snap into place.

"It's SG1's IDC, sir," the Chief announced.

"Open the iris, and clear the gateroom," Landry ordered.

A few moments later the jumper emerged from the Stargate, and settled to the floor. The General headed down the stairs. When he entered the gateroom, the door of the jumper was being lowered.

Landry had to look twice before he recognized the man walking down the ramp as Jack O'Neill. The face was partially obscured by a full beard and his shoulder length hair was pulled back and tied at his nape. Judging by his dress, he might have just stepped out of a Davy Crockett movie set; he wore tanned leather trousers, and a jacket of the same material, complete with fringe along the sleeves. The man himself was a thinner, fitter, more healthy-looking version of the Jack that Landry had last seen two weeks ago. His skin was tan from sun, and his eyes were sharp and clear.

Hank had barely gotten over the shock of Jack's appearance, when Vala came down the ramp behind him. She was wearing the same kind of leather trousers as O'Neill, but instead of a jacket, she had on a loose fitting shirt of some soft, deep-blue material, and over that a beaded leather vest. Her hair hung in a long braid over one shoulder and her skin was as tanned as Jack's.

"Hank. It's good to see you," Jack said, stopping in front of the other General.

"Jack. Ms. MalDoran," Landry got out. "What happened to you two?"

"Lots of hard work and outdoor living," Jack said, unhelpfully.

Daniel appeared at Vala's side. "It's been a lot longer for them than for us, General," he explained. "They were there for two years."

"Really?" Hank said, looking from Jack to Vala. "It sounds as if you have quite a story to tell." He glanced around at the other members of the rescue team, who had gathered on the ramp. "It's good to have both of you back!" He shook Jack's hand, and accepted Vala's brief hug. "Let's get you checked out by Caroline, and then we'll talk."

"We brought some things back with us, General," Vala said. "Maybe someone could..."

"I shall see to unloading your possessions immediately," Teal'c assured her. "Where would you like them placed?"

"My quarters, I guess—do I still have quarters?" Vala asked.

"Of course you do, Princess," Cam said. "I'll give Teal'c a hand."

"What kind of things did you bring back?" Landry asked. "Nothing dangerous, I hope."

"Our weapons. Teal'c, do you mind turning them in for us?" Jack asked, and received a small nod in return. "I packed some clothes. We kept a journal." He shrugged.

"There are a few other things," Vala added.

~x~

Jack and Vala spent half an hour in the infirmary, being checked over by Dr. Lam. "Everything looks great," she said, as she released them. "You'll both need to stay on base until I get the results from the blood tests, but I don't anticipate any problem. I just want to be sure."

"How long?" Jack asked.

"There are a couple of tests that can take up to three days to complete."

Jack didn't look happy. Vala touched his arm lightly. "Let's go. General Landry is expecting us. Thanks, Caroline," she added.

"Welcome back," Lam said.

In the corridor Vala hooked her arm through Jack's as they waited for the elevator. "I'd forgotten how gloomy this place is," she commented, rolling her eyes at the gray walls.

"Yeah," he said, looking around. "Could really use some color." It had never bothered him before, but now he noticed.

"The Pegleans have color everywhere," Vala said. She fingered the iridescent beads decorating her vest. She had made the vest from deerskin that Jack had cured and her friend Kara'a had decorated it for her. She had also given Vala the richly colored material for the shirt she was wearing.

"We need to get the journal before we debrief," Jack reminded her.

They went to Vala's quarters and retrieved the book from the packs. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and rubbed at the beard. "I'll have to shave this off later," he said.

She smiled. "I'll miss it."

He turned to her, and for a long moment their eyes locked. She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. His arms circled her shoulders and held her tight. They stood like that for several minutes.

"We should go," he said finally.

"Yes, darling. I know." She let him go.

Jack picked up the journal in one hand, and, with the other hand still resting on her back, he turned them both toward the door.

SG1 was already in the briefing room when they arrived. Daniel, Teal'c and Sam were standing over by the observation window, talking quietly. Through the window into Landry's office, Jack could see Mitchell and Sheppard talking with the General.

Jack took his old chair—from his days on SG1, the one to the right of the CO's. Vala sat down beside him. A few moments later, Daniel came over and sat on Vala's other side. Sam and Teal'c circled the table to the seats opposite them.

"What did Dr. Lam say?" Daniel asked.

"We're fine," Jack said shortly.

"We have to wait for some test results, but she said she didn't see anything to worry about," Vala elaborated. She noticed that Jack's comments were becoming more and more terse.

"Indeed, you both look very healthy," Teal'c noted. "O'Neill, you look better than I have seen you since your promotion to general."

"Thanks, T," Jack said.

"What's the book?" Sam asked, indicating the journal he had placed on the table.

"Our journal," Jack told her.

"Jack's the one who kept it up," Vala explained. "I just drew a picture now and then." She grinned, turning to Daniel. "He says you're usually the artist, but I did my best. We thought it would be a help answering some of the questions that General Landry might have."

Jack was quiet, running his hand across the cover of the book, as Vala chattered on, to Daniel, and then to the others. She sounded like the Vala who was first stranded with him on Peglea—not the one he had gotten to know so well, the one she had become. Was it that easy to slip back into her past persona? Silence fell for several moments, catching his attention. When he glanced up, Sam was looking at him intently. After a moment he looked down again.

_She couldn't help but stare at him. It was so good to have him back! There hadn't been an opportunity for them to talk since the first meeting in the jumper. He looked wonderful! Obviously, both he and Vala had thrived on Peglea. He was different, though. Quieter, more serious. She had so much she wanted to say, but she didn't know if she could actually say any of it... He raised his head just then and met her eyes for a long moment before dropping his gaze again. She looked away also, and could not help but remember all the missed chances... _

The door to Landry's office opened and the three men emerged. The General sat down at the head of the table, and Mitchell at the foot, while John Sheppard took the empty seat beside Teal'c.

"How did your check-up with Caroline go?" Landry directed the question to Jack.

"She said we're good," Jack replied.

"No restrictions?"

"We're confined to base until our blood tests come back," Vala supplied.

Landry nodded. "Okay," he said. "Start at the beginning. What happened to the two of you?"

Jack and Vala exchanged glances. She nodded to him. He looked at Landry and cleared his throat.

"I woke up lying in a puddle of water, in the rain..."

The debriefing lasted more than two hours. Landry listened as Jack and Vala gave an overview of their two years on Peglea, with Vala doing most of the talking. After that he heard SG1's report on both of their attempts to retrieve them, expressing some dismay when he learned of Jack's death, and the steps the team had taken to circumvent it. Finally, he dismissed them, saying he expected full reports from everyone.

John Sheppard was scheduled to return to Atlantis after the briefing. Jack and Vala went to the gateroom to thank him again for his help and say good-bye. They watched from beside the doors as the wormhole opened and the ship slid easily and silently through the gate.

After John was gone they both went to their quarters and changed into BDUs. By then, it was dinnertime. They had arrived back at the SGC at 1530 hours, just an hour and a half after SG1 had departed for the trip into the past. They all headed for the cafeteria for something to eat.

As she headed for the cafeteria, Sam could not help but hope this would be an opportunity to talk with the General—not privately, of course, but at least to interact a little and maybe have a chance to learn some more about his two years in exile.

It was not to be, however. When she arrived there were more than a dozen people crowded around three tables that had been pulled together. It turned into a long meal, because people kept dropping by their table to welcome Jack and Vala home, and hear at least some of their story. It was more than three hours later when the party finally broke up and everyone headed for their on-base quarters.

**~x~**

Late that night, when he was alone in his room, Cam Mitchell took out a package that he had stowed in his backpack. It was thick and fairly heavy. He thought back to when Vala—the Vala of their first jump into the past—gave it to him...

_Vala brings a bundle to Mitchell quietly as they are getting ready to leave._

"_Give this to me—the other me—once you're all back home," she says._

"_What is it?" he asks._

"_It's the journal we kept. Jack started it the day we were stranded. I kept it up after he was injured... and... after he died. I—__she__ should have it. There's also a letter in there to myself. After she's read it she can decide what to do with the journal. Don't give it to Jack, give it to me...her. Privately. Tell her to use her own judgment whether to show it to him."_

_He hesitates. "I'm not sure... Sam warned us about messing around with the timeline."_

"_That's why I'm giving it to you," Vala explains. "Sam would refuse. Daniel wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to read it. Teal'c... well, he might do as I asked, but he'd have his doubts. But you're like me—if you were in my place, you'd want to know."_

_He studies her face. "Princess, you know me too well."_

"_Yes. We're a lot alike. And I trust you. Tell her to read the letter first. After that, if she doesn't want to read the journal she can destroy it. I think she'll read it. Either way, she should have the choice to know."_

As he stared at the journal, Mitchell wondered now about her concluding statement. Should Vala really have the choice to know about her other self's life? He wasn't sure whether or not that was sound reasoning. Sam would say no, he was pretty certain of that.

He sat on the bed with the book on his knees. Maybe she'd simply wanted to leave something behind, wanted someone to know what she'd been through.

Cam sighed. He didn't consider himself much of a thinker—especially when it came to stuff like this! But he did try to do the right thing. Trouble is, in this case he didn't know what that was!

**~X~X~X~ **

**Hope you're not too confused by the tense changes. It made a weird kind of sense to me when I started it—using present tense for the past, past tense for the present. I decided to follow through with the pattern. So current action will be in past tense, and flashbacks will likely be in present. Sufficiently muddy? :-\ **

**Once more, thank you very much for reading!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Surprise! A quicker than usual update for me. It just seemed to flow the last couple of days. Apologies to anyone waiting for the next chapter of "There'll Be Time Enough for Sadness When You Leave Me." I will concentrate on that one next.**

**Thank you for all of the great reviews! Special thanks to the guest reviewers!**

**TamaraJ, thank you so much for the help on this chapter!**

**~X~X~X~X~X~**

None of them slept well that night.

Jack retired immediately to the VIP suite he'd been assigned, and went to bed right away—by his internal clock, he'd been up for over twenty-six hours, and he was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He'd adjusted to the shorter days on Peglea, and that made it harder. It wasn't simply the waking hours—it was the stress of returning home, the knowledge that he must now be General O'Neill again. Saying good-bye to Peglea had been harder than he expected. He lay awake most of the night, feeling hemmed in and edgy. The room felt wrong and smelled wrong. He wanted to go home. He really wanted to be back in the cabin—with Vala...

Mitchell's mind was occupied with trying to decide what to do about the journal he'd been entrusted with. He couldn't recall the exact words, but he was pretty sure he'd promised the other Vala that he would give the book to 'herself.' He closed his eyes, trying to stave off the headache that the entire concept was giving him.

Sam could not sort out exactly what she was feeling. Ever since that moment when Vala had told her Jack was dead, she had been riding an uncontrollable wave of emotion. She couldn't keep her mind from focusing on him and the fact that he was really alive. Her usual ability to think through and analyze things seemed to have deserted her. When she finally fell asleep, she dreamed that he had indeed died. She awoke in tears.

Vala was cold, despite turning up the temperature control and adding extra blankets on her bed. She missed Jack beside her, his warmth and the comfort of his presence. More than once, she sat up in bed, thinking of going to find him, but stopped herself. They just needed time to accustom themselves to being back. She thought getting home should have made her happy...

Daniel was sad and a little dismayed. He was dismayed by the changes he sensed in Vala now that she was here again. At last he had begun to acknowledge his own feelings, and now she did not seem like the same person for whom he had those feelings. The things he had overheard, and subsequently, the small glances he had noticed between Jack and Vala kept coming to the forefront in his mind. He considered getting up and going to knock on her door, asking her if they could talk.

Teal'c managed a few hours of Kel-no-reem. For once he had found it difficult to put aside the concerns he felt. He too had noticed changes and discomfort in both O'Neill and Vala. He sensed that they both felt displaced even though they were home, and was determined to support both of his friends in any way they needed him.

**~X~X~**

Hank Landry and his daughter had formed the habit of having breakfast together on mornings when there was no crisis to attend to. This morning they were seated in the cafeteria by 06:30, with their trays in front of them. Typically, Landry broke his fast with eggs, sausage, pancakes, home fries and coffee, while Lam had before her a slice of melon, a bowl of musli cereal, and a cup of ginger tea.

"You're going to starve, eating like that." It was Landry's usual comment on their divergent choices.

"And you are just asking for a coronary." Caroline's smile belied the serious nature of her words. She kept careful track of her father/CO's health, and knew that he was quite healthy, considering his age and sedentary occupation.

He grinned and forked up a mouthful of syrup-soaked pancake, chewed appreciatively, and swallowed. "Anything to report regarding the returning exiles?" he asked.

"I'm still waiting for the test results. But there was also something else..." Her voice trailed off, as if she didn't fully trust her impression.

"General O'Neill," she said. "He was... reluctant."

"Reluctant. How?" He put down his fork and focused on her.

"Reluctant to be here, reluctant to talk... I don't know."

"Jack never did like the infirmary."

"I know. It wasn't that. He acted as if he were in an alien environment. Wary. On edge."

"Maybe he felt that way. Did they tell you that for them, about two years had passed?"

"No!" She leaned forward. "They never said a word about that."

Hank filled her in and she sat back as the facts sunk in: General O'Neill and Vala had been alone for a very long time. In the first timeline the general had died on that planet—and he knew about it.

Caroline looked thoughtful, her attention turned inward, as she considered the information. Landry gave her several minutes to consider. "What are you thinking?" he asked eventually.

"This could be more complicated than I thought. That much isolation can have considerable effect on a person. In addition, the knowledge of his own death—even in a changed future—must have been upsetting. I think it's advisable to have them see a psychologist."

"Oh... Jack won't like that." Landry could sympathize with O'Neill's reluctance—he would resist it himself.

"I don't see how I can release them until they've been evaluated."

Hank rubbed his forehead. "Uh... do I have to be the one to tell him?"

She laughed. "Coward."

"Yup," he agreed. "Abject and terrified."

"It can't be that bad."

"I served with Jack O'Neill," he told her. "I want to be off the base when you tell him."

"Oh, so it's my job."

"You're the one who thinks it's important." His beeper went off just then and he looked at the readout. "Okay. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

**~x~**

The phone in Jack's quarters rang just as he was coming out of the shower. He picked up the receiver. "O'Neill."

"It's Hank, Jack. Sorry to call so early."

"I've been awake for a while. What's going on?"

Right to the point, Landry thought. Okay, I can do that. "I had a call from the President's office just now, Jack."

"Oh?"

"Hayes wants to talk to you, and he'll be calling at 08:00. That's half an hour from now. You can take it on the secure line in my office."

"Thanks, Hank. I'll be there in twenty." Jack hung up the phone, and stood for a moment. "Shit," he said softly_. Soo not ready to get back to business as usual..._

He dropped the towel from around his waist and reached for his clothes. Just then his phone rang again.

"O'Neill."

"General, this is Dr. Lam."

Instinctively, Jack covered himself with the shirt he was holding, then, feeling silly, he tossed it back on the bed. "What can I do for you, doc?"

"Can you make time to see me for a few minutes, sometime this morning?"

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'd rather explain in person," she said. "I'll be in the infirmary all morning. You can just drop by when you're free."

"So... not an emergency?"

"No, sir. Not an emergency."

"All right," he agreed. "I'll be there when I can."

"Thank you, General."

Jack hung up frowning. What could be wrong? Had something showed up in the tests? He tried to recall anything that might possibly cause a problem. Abruptly, he realized he was standing there wasting time, and he needed to be in Hank's office in...—he looked at the clock—fifteen minutes. He quickly pulled on his clothes, and glanced in the mirror. He'd intended to shave off the beard this morning, but now there wasn't time. He'd have to make time later. He combed his hair and tied it. Yep, finding a barber was another priority.

His plan was to stop in the cafeteria for coffee before going to receive the President's call, but as he went out the door he knew he didn't have time for that. _Damn. Back to being tied to the clock already_. He headed for the elevator.

Daniel got into the elevator on level 18, and smiled when he saw Jack there.

"Good morning, Jack. How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine, Daniel. A little rushed."

"Oh? What's going on?"

"The President is calling to talk to me in about ten minutes."

"I'll bet he wants to welcome you home."

"Hmm. Yeah. Probably." Somehow Jack doubted it.

Daniel looked closely at his friend. "Is something wrong, Jack?"

"No, Daniel. Nothing's wrong. I just need to get to Hank's office before the call comes in."

"Oh. Okay. Well, why don't I wait for you? We haven't had a chance to talk since you got back."

Jack closed his eyes, trying to think of an excuse. "I need to go see Dr. Lam afterward."

Daniel was immediately concerned. "You do? What's the matter"

"I told you before, Daniel. I'm fine. She asked me to drop by, but she didn't say why?"

By now the elevator had reached level 27, where it stopped and the doors slid open. Jack got out and headed for Landry's office. It was 07:56.

"I'll wait in the briefing room," Daniel called after him.

"Suit yourself, Daniel." The door to Hank's office was open, so he rapped on the jamb as he stepped inside.

Landry stood up from his chair. "Come in, Jack. You're just in time. The call should be coming through any minute now." He waved toward a chair. "Have a seat."

"Thanks."

"How did you sleep?" Hank asked.

"I was fine," Jack assured him. "You?"

"Very good."

There was a short pause.

"I see you haven't taken care of the... uh... hair." Hank made a vague gesture toward Jack's face.

"Didn't have a chance yet to shave this morning. Figured I'd hit the barber's on the way home later."

"Caroline's not letting you off the base, yet, remember."

"Oh, crap. That's right. Well I'll shave at least."

At that moment the red phone on Landry's desk rang. Hank picked up the receiver. "Landry... Good morning, Mr. President... Just fine, sir... Yes, sir. He's right here."

He extended the phone toward Jack, who sighed and took it. "Good morning, Mr. President."

"Jack!" Henry Hayes' voice was jovial. "It's good to hear your voice. Welcome home!"

"Thank you, Mr. President."

"How are you? Are you and Ms. Mal Doran all right?"

"Yes, sir. We're quite well."

"No injuries or anything like that?"

"No, sir."

"So tell me what happened, Jack. How did you end up getting sent into the past?"

"The gate was struck by lightning, sir. You'd have to have somebody like Colonel Carter explain the physics, but a big charge of energy like that can cause the wormhole to do weird things. In this case it sent us fourteen hundred years into the past."

"Wow. I'll bet that threw you for a loop!"

"Literally, sir."

"Well, I'm glad you're back." Hayes seemed to be brushing away that subject, and getting down to business. "We missed you around here. Colonel Davis did an excellent job picking up the reins in those negotiations with the Chinese, but after a week the IOA sent in one of their reps and things got a little squirrely."

Jack closed his eyes and pressed a thumb and finger to the bridge of his nose, as he tried to remember just what negotiations Hayes was talking about. "That's too bad, sir. I'm sure it got resolved satisfactorily."

"Well, at least they didn't kill each other. But we need you back here to iron out some problems. How soon will you be able to manage that?"

"Uh... well, sir. The CMO has us restricted to base until all the medical tests are done. That's protocol after any extended off-world stay. It'll probably be three days or so."

"Three days!" Hayes' tone clearly said he didn't like that.

"I'll give Colonel Davis a call, and we should be able to work out something that will help."

"All right, Jack," Hayes agreed reluctantly. "But I expect you back here as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

"And I'm glad to hear that you're okay."

"Thank you, sir."

Jack hung up the phone, and looked over at Hank.

"He wants you back there," Hank said.

Jack nodded. "Yep. Right away. I need to call Paul Davis, and catch up on what's been happening."

"Do you want to use my office? I have plenty of things I can do elsewhere."

"Thanks, Hank. First I need to get some coffee. And breakfast."

"Ah. Is that why Dr. Jackson has been sitting out in the briefing room, watching you like a hawk?"

"Aw, crap." Jack resisted the urge to look up. "I forgot about Danny. Yeah. He said he'd wait for me. I guess I'm going up to the cafeteria." He got to his feet. "I'll make the call a little later. And I'm sure there's an empty office around here I can use. I don't want to put you out."

"I'll arrange a room for you to use."

"Thanks, Hank. I'll see you later."

Daniel was on his feet when Jack walked out into the briefing room. The younger man started to speak, and Jack stopped him with a raised hand. "Coffee first."

Daniel nodded, and followed Jack as he headed out to the elevator.

The cafeteria was more crowded than Jack would have liked, but it was the busiest hour for breakfast. He and Daniel stood in line and filled their trays with food and coffee. Several people spoke to Jack, but no one lingered, as they all had duties to get to. He was grateful for that.

They found an empty table in a corner. Jack drank half his coffee then started on his eggs and sausage. Neither his posture nor his expression invited conversation.

However, it took more than that to stop Daniel. He focused on his friend, and even though Jack was still keeping his eyes on his plate he could _feel_ Daniel's look. He dropped his fork. "What!"

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "I didn't say anything!"

"And you're nearly choking on whatever it is that you're not saying."

Daniel sighed.

"OK. You said you were fine, but I don't buy it. It must be weird for you to be back after all that time. Difficult to adjust, maybe you're unsure how to feel about -"

"Look, Daniel! This is only the second meal I've had in the last two years that I didn't have to hunt, gather, or plant and harvest! Can you please just let me enjoy it?"

"OK!"

Daniel managed to let Jack eat in peace for a few minutes, but then his curiosity got the better of him.

"So, Jack, what did the President have to say?"

"Wants me back at work," Jack mumbled around his mouthful of eggs. He didn't look up from his plate.

"That's all?" Daniel questioned.

"Pretty much." He went after the sausage next.

"He didn't ask how you are or anything? Or comment on the fact that you've been trapped in the past for two years?"

"Mmmm," was all Jack offered this time. He nodded—and then shook his head.

"What? What does that mean?"

Jack finished swallowing his food. "It means, yes, he asked about my health, and no, he didn't mention the length of time we were gone. No, Daniel," he continued, cutting Daniel off as he opened his mouth again to speak. "I need to finish breakfast and go make a phone call. So let's drop the conversation and eat. Please."

"Um...okay..." Daniel couldn't keep the tinge of hurt from his voice.

Hearing it, Jack closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry, Daniel." He looked up at his friend. "I didn't mean to... Look, Hayes started talking about things that were happening when I left D.C. Apparently, it's still going on and it's not going well. He wants me back to help straighten it out. And I don't remember what it was! I need to talk to Paul Davis and catch up. So please..."

"I'm sorry, too, Jack. I don't mean to harass you. I just care about you—I want to know you're okay. I'll do anything I can to help."

"I know." Jack rubbed a spot between his eyebrows that was beginning to ache. He felt about two feet tall. "Thanks, Daniel. And I am okay. After I talk to Paul and figure out where I'm at, we'll talk. I promise. Just let me get this under control."

"Yeah, of course, Jack." Daniel grinned. "This is me shutting up." He made a show of spooning cereal into his mouth and holding his lips shut over it.

"Thanks, Space Monkey."

They finished their breakfast in silence and got up to dump their trays. Out in the corridor, they parted, Daniel toward his lab and Jack back toward Landry's office.

**~x~**

Landry had arranged for a small office down the hall from his to be at Jack's disposal, and made Chief Harriman responsible for seeing that he had anything he needed. Harriman placed the call to the Pentagon, and soon had Jack connected with Col. Paul Davis.

Davis expressed delight at hearing from his boss. He was shocked to learn that Jack's stay in the past had been two years, not the two weeks that had passed on Earth. It took over an hour on the phone to bring Jack up to speed on the situation in Washington. As Paul talked, Jack recalled most of the way things stood when he left. The two of them discussed various strategies that Davis could use to try and work through the problem. He promised to stay in touch with Jack on a regular basis as things progressed.

After Jack hung up the phone, he sat back and considered what to do next. It was quiet in the office and he had no desire to talk to anyone else at the moment.

The uncomfortable breakfast with Daniel came to his mind. He knew he would have to apologize again and make good on his promise to talk. But he had things to work out in his head first, and there were people he had a much more pressing need to talk to.

**~x~**

It was 10:35, Jack walked into the infirmary. One of the nurses smiled and came over to him. "Can I help you, General?"

"Dr. Lam wanted to see me. Is she available?"

"Wait right here and I'll check."

In less than five minutes Lam appeared. "Thank you for coming, General."

"Ehh... What's up, Doc?" he asked, in a terrible imitation of Bugs Bunny.

Caroline grinned briefly. "Please come into my office, sir." She led the way, and closed the door after them. "Please have a seat, sir." She sat at her desk.

"You're making me nervous, Doc. Did you find something wrong?"

"No," she said. "The results aren't back yet."

"Then, what?"

"I found out that you were actually on Peglea for over two years."

"Yes. So?"

"I didn't know that when I examined you and Ms. Mal Doran. You didn't mention it."

"I guess not. Does it matter?"

"It might," she said. "General, I'm going to set you up to see a counselor. I think..."

"You mean a shrink?" he interrupted.

"A psychologist. Yes, sir."

"Why?"

"A lot of time passed, for you, while you were stranded. And most of that time you and Vala were alone. Isolation can have a powerful negative influence on a person, General. I want to make sure you deal with that."

"We weren't isolated, doc!" he pointed out acidly. "We had each other."

"I know. But we need to make sure that you will be able to adjust well now that you're back home."

"Doc, we kept a journal. You can read it. That should convince you that we were handling the situation!"

She sighed, but when she spoke, her voice was firm. "I'm not a psychologist, General. I need to have you both evaluated before I can release you to resume your duties."

"Crap," Jack muttered. "Who do we have to see?"

"Her name is Dr. Patricia Danson. She works out of the Academy Hospital. She has full clearance for the Stargate Program." She leaned forward earnestly. "Believe me, sir. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think it was necessary."

He sighed. "Have you told Vala?"

"Not yet. I'll see her later today," she said. "Then I'll arrange appointments for both of you. Hopefully in the next day or two. Dr. Danson will come here to speak with you."

"Okay, Doc."

"I'll let you know as soon as I set something up."

Jack nodded and got up to leave. Walking down the corridor, he grumbled to himself, "At least its isn't Mackenzie!"

**~X~X~X~X~**


	24. Chapter 24

**I have to apologize for my poor editing in the previous chapter. I reread it after it was posted, and noticed that I overlooked several places where it should have been better polished. I'm sorry about that and will try to do better with this one.**

**~X~X~X~X~X~**

**~Home, the same morning~**

After lying awake much of the night, Mitchell finally fell asleep around 04:00. Consequently, he didn't drag himself out of bed until after eight. He finally sat up and ran a hand through his hair. He switched on the light and looked around. Immediately his eyes fell on Vala's package which was lying on the table beside his bed. He thought about the decision he had made during his sleepless hours. Did he have the courage to carry it out?

He got up and headed for the shower. When he came out with a towel wrapped around his hips, he picked up the phone and dialed the number for Vala's quarters. She answered immediately, sounding wide awake and alert.

"Morning, Princess. It's me. Sorry to call you so early."

"It's not early, Cameron darling. How are you this morning?"

"I'm good. I wondered if I could come by your quarters and talk to you?"

"Now?"

"Well. Say in half an hour. Or anytime it suits you, really."

"Actually, I was just thinking about going for breakfast. Would you want to talk in the cafeteria?"

"I'd rather it was private," he admitted.

"Oh. Okay. Certainly. Come ahead. I can wait."

"I'll bring coffee."

"That sound wonderful! I'll see you in a bit."

~x~

"What is this?" Vala asked, looking at the package Mitchell had set on the table as she sipped her coffee.

"It's for you," he replied. "_From_ you."

"What?"

"This was given to me by the first Vala we met—ten years later than when we found you."

Curious, Vala untied the strings around the package, and removed the cloth wrapping. Inside were three notebooks, and a number of sheaves of paper, attached together with something like paper clips.

She tapped the top notebook. "This one looks like our journal. What are you doing with it?"

"This is not the journal you brought back with you. The other Vala gave this to me. She said Jack kept it up until his accident... and she continued after he was injured."

She looked up at him, startled.

"There's a letter there for you, too," he continued. "She thought you had the right to know everything that had happened to her and General O'Neill. Well—I guess what she really said was that you would _want to_ know. She said you should read the letter and then decide whether or not to look at the journal. She thought you should have that choice."

Vala looked at the journal. It was much more worn and battered than the one they'd brought to the briefing yesterday. Obviously Jack and she had added more notebooks to the original. She opened the front cover of the top one. A folded paper lay there with her name on it. She picked it up and unfolded it.

_Dear Vala,_

_Is that how I should address a letter to myself? Well, I guess the salutation isn't all that important. _

_By now I suppose Daniel and the others will have told you about their first jump into the past, and finding me. They are leaving soon to try again to find you and Jack, and I have no reason to think they'll fail. That means this little stretch of timeline will disappear—and me along with it. I'm fine with that, because it will save Jack's life, and that's the most important thing in the world—any world, any timeline—to me. _

Vala stopped reading and looked up at Mitchell. "Did you read this?"

He shook his head. "No! Absolutely not!" He frowned. "I wasn't sure if I should actually give it to you, but she trusted me. I hope this is the right thing to do."

She stared down at the book silently, tapping her fingers lightly on the cover.

"Okay." He glanced around nervously. "Then I guess I'll go, and let you do... whatever it is you want to do with it..." He turned toward the door.

"Cameron." She walked over and hugged him. "Thank you," she said, kissing his cheek and then releasing him.

"You're welcome."

Alone, Vala picked up the letter once more and continued to read.

_Maybe I'm simply being selfish by writing this. No one wants to be forgotten, and I'm no different. If that's what you think I'm doing, then you should stop right now and destroy this letter and the journal. And I wouldn't blame you if you did. _

Vala flipped the paper over to where the letter continued on the back.

_I thought you'd still be reading. I know my curiosity would not have let me throw the letter away..._

Vala gave a small, wry smile at that.

_I don't know at what point in our stay on Peglea Cam and the others are going to find you. Only that they are aiming for a time before the accident that injured Jack so badly. That was such a dreadful day! But I won't go into the details. You can read it all in the journal if you want to. If they find you earlier, then he won't be there when the accident occurs and he will live. _

_We were there together for seven years, and Jack came to mean more to me than anyone else ever has. Even Daniel, as much as I loved him. I hope you have learned what a wonderful man Jack is. I would hate to think you've missed out on everything we had together. It was because of him that we survived after the Gate trapped us in the past. We not only survived, we built a life for ourselves which had richness and purpose. And love._

_I simply do not want all the love that Jack and I shared to vanish with my timeline. _

_Decide for yourself whether to read the journal, and whether to show it to Jack. I just want to give you that choice._

_Vala_

She folded the letter carefully and put it back inside the journal. Slowly, she ran her fingers over the cover of the old notebook. Strange to think there were now two of this book here. Shouldn't that cause some kind of temporal upheaval? Maybe one of them was going to self-destruct!

Silly thoughts...

She was avoiding the question; did she want to read the journal, or not? Vala wasn't sure she wanted to know any more of the details of Jack's last years in the vanished timeline. She'd already learned the basics from Daniel and Cam and the others. The thought of Jack dying like that caused her stomach to clench—she didn't need a more vivid description. But the journal would cover more than just the period of time around Jack's accident...

Abruptly, she got to her feet. She certainly wasn't going to read any more right now, before breakfast! Wrapping the cloth around the books once again, she slid the package into the bottom drawer of the built-in dresser. Then she left the room and headed for the cafeteria.

Getting off the elevator, she caught a glimpse of Jack and Daniel disappearing around a corner down the corridor. For a second she was tempted to go after them, but stopped herself. Seeing them together could be very awkward. She turned into the cafeteria and joined the food line.

**~x~**

After a restless night, Sam woke early feeling very anxious. The dream of Jack's death—in which she actually saw him die—was still fresh in her mind. Vala's description of the collapse of the library had merged with her memory of missions in which one or another of the team had been injured, but in the dream it was always Jack. Jack who was exposed to the radiation on Kelowna. Jack mortally wounded in an ambush of the rebel Jaffa...

Sam tried to ignore the dreams, but found that they haunted her as she prepared for work, and headed for the Mountain. In the cafeteria, she noticed General Landry and Caroline Lam eating at a table, but she only waved at them and headed for the line. Grabbing some coffee and a bagel, she went directly to her lab.

There was a lot to catch up on. The past two weeks had been spent trying to solve the problem of how to get Vala and General O'Neill back, and she had neglected the day to day tasks. A number of items sat on her shelves unexamined—all of them having been brought back through the gate by the various teams.

She began by looking over the daily reports that Dr. Lee, Dr. Felger and the other department heads had left on her desk. The pile was intimidating. As heads of Biology, and Engineering/Technology, separately, Lee and Felger knew enough to flag the most important items in their reports. However, some of the other heads, Dr. Howell in Chemistry, for instance, usually failed to prioritize. Sam sighed as she stared at the stack of papers.

For the next few hours she concentrated on the paperwork she needed to complete. Nevertheless, she knew she was giving only a portion of the attention that was needed. Her thoughts kept wandering back to Jack—General O'Neill, she really should think of him that way—trying to erase the images from her dreams, and replace them with the new knowledge that he was alive and well—

And he was somewhere on the base.

The urge to go and find him was nearly overpowering. She forced herself to focus on the reports in front of her.

Daniel dropped by her lab around 11:00.

"Morning, Sam." He came over to lean on the table in front of her.

She smiled at him. "Hi, Daniel. How're you this morning?"

"Fine. Whatcha doing?"

"Trying to catch up on the stuff I neglected the last couple of weeks." She grimaced. "Reports."

"Fun," Daniel said. "I had breakfast with Jack."

"Oh?"

"I ran into him on his way to Landry's office. President Hayes called to talk to him."

"Oh!"

"Afterward, he looked like someone who'd just been condemned."

"Why?" Sam asked, frowning.

Daniel nodded. "Apparently Hayes doesn't understand why Jack isn't back at his desk at the Pentagon."

"Wasn't he briefed about what happened?"

"One would think so. But maybe he didn't get the details of the time difference."

"That must have upset J... the General."

"Yep. He said the President expects him to pick up where he left off, and Jack doesn't know where that is."

"Well, it's been two years, and he's been focusing on more important things—like survival!" Sam snapped defensively.

Daniel looked a little startled at her tone. "I know that, Sam."

She rolled her eyes at herself. "Sorry, Daniel. I'm a little on edge, I guess. Didn't sleep very well."

"I can understand that," he sympathized, having experienced a sleepless night himself.

After Daniel left, Sam tried to get back to the reports, but finally gave up when she realized she'd read the same page three times, and still did not recall what it contained. Tossing the report aside, she sat for a while staring at her desktop.

"Oh, for crying out loud," she finally murmured to herself. "Just go find him."

She went up to Daniel's lab first, but Jack wasn't there; in fact, neither was Daniel. From there, she worked her way down. He wasn't in the gym, and Teal'c, who she did find there, said he had not seen O'Neill this morning. He wasn't in the cafeteria. Nor in the officers' lounge. No sign of him in the locker rooms. On level 27, she checked the briefing room and glanced into General Landry's office without any success. In the control room, she found Chief Harriman at his station.

"Morning, Chief," she said. "Have you seen General O'Neill?"

"Not since early this morning, Colonel," Harriman told her. "But General Landry had me clear out room 2714, for General O'Neill to use. You might check there."

"Thanks, Chief!" Sam headed back up the stairs.

Room 2714 was a small office down the corridor from Landry's office. When she reached it, the door was closed. She hesitated a moment, then finally raised her hand and knocked lightly. At first there was no answer, and she considered whether to try again. Maybe he hadn't heard her. Just as she was about to knock again, she heard his voice.

"Who is it?"

"It's Sam."

There was silence again for several seconds, then she heard a step and the door opened and he stood there, looking down at her. Since she'd last seen him, he'd found time to shave off the beard, and his face was now two-toned, the lower part pale where sun had not touched for some time. No one had cut his hair, though, and it was still tied back in the ponytail. His eyes looked tired and distant, but lighted briefly when he saw her.

After a moment he glanced behind her, as if he expected someone else to be there, then returned his gaze to her face. "Sam," he said.

"Hi." Neither of them moved. "Can I come in?" she asked.

He blinked, and retreated a step. "Sorry. Come on in."

She did, and he closed the door behind her. She looked around. The phone was pulled into the center of the desk, as if he'd been using it, and there were a number of papers scattered across the surface.

"I had some phone calls to make," he said. "Needed to talk to Paul Davis."

"I heard that the President called you."

He nodded. "Yep. _'Good to hear your voice, Jack. And how soon can you get back to work?'_" His mimicking of Hayes' voice brought a wry smile to her face, but he did not look amused. "Wanna sit down?"

"I don't want to bother you if you're busy..."

"I'm waiting for Davis to call me back but there's really nothing else I can do right now. I'm just hangin' out in here to..." He stopped.

"To avoid having to talk to people," she finished for him. "And here I am butting in on your privacy. I'm sorry." She turned back to the door.

"No," he said, reaching out and catching her arm. "I didn't mean it that way." His voice dropped and he raised his free hand, fingers hovering for a moment near her cheek. "You're never butting in, Sam."

"Jack..." she choked on his name, then couldn't say any more. Instead she took the step needed to bring her body flush against his, and slid her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. Ignoring the scratchiness of the freshly laundered BDUs he was wearing, she rubbed her cheek on the fabric and the hard muscle she could feel beneath it. After a second, she felt his arms fall to her back and shoulders, one hand coming to rest on the back of her head.

She trembled under his hands, and he knew she was trying unsuccessfully to hold back tears. He held her closer, and lowered his head to her shoulder. "Awww... Sam," he whispered. "Come on. Everything's okay. You rescued us. Please don't cry..."

She sniffled and pulled herself together. Drawing back a little so she could look up into his face, she still kept hold of him. She didn't want to let go yet, it was too comforting to have his arms around her. "Ever since we found Vala—the first time—and she told us you had died, I haven't known what to think or how to feel," she admitted softly. "I was sure I'd lost you. I know it's not true, but I can't seem to get over those feelings."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I'm right here. I'm alive, I'm fine, and none of that happened." He stroked her back gently, and looked into her eyes. For a long time they gazed at each other.

The spell was broken when the phone rang. Jack glanced over at the desk. "That's probably Davis..."

"I'm going to go," Sam said.

"I do want to talk to you, Sam," he said. The phone rang again. "Just... later?"

"Sure. When you're ready. You know where to find me." And then she was gone.

With his eyes on the spot where she'd disappeared, Jack reached for the phone. "O'Neill."

**~x~**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you very much to those of you who are patiently sticking with this story. I appreciate your messages asking whether I'm going to continue — I appreciate them both as encouragement, and as a bit of a kick in the pants! I really like writing this story and I'll keep on writing it, but I can't give you a timetable. Life has too many responsibilities and surprises, things that can't be ignored. So thanks again for reading and for any feedback you want to send.**

**This chapter is kind of melancholy. It took a while to get it right... and I hope I succeeded. **

**XXXXXXXXX**

**From the previous chapter...**

Sam pulled back a little so she could look up into Jack's face. She didn't want to let go yet, it was too comforting to have his arms around her. "Ever since we found Vala—the first time—and she told us you had died, I haven't known what to think or how to feel," she admitted softly. "I was sure I'd lost you. I know it's not true, but I can't seem to get over those feelings."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I'm right here. I'm alive, I'm fine, and none of that happened." He stroked her back gently, and looked into her eyes. For a long time they gazed at each other.

The spell was broken when the phone rang. Jack glanced over at the desk. "That's probably Davis..."

"I'm going to go," Sam said.

"I do want to talk to you, Sam," he said. The phone rang again. "Just... later?"

"Sure. When you're ready. You know where to find me." And then she was gone.

With his eyes on the spot where she'd disappeared, Jack reached for the phone.

**Chapter 25**

**~Home, day 2, the day after returning to the present~**

Sam hurried back to her lab after leaving Jack in his temporary office. Knowing she was going to break down, she closed and locked the door behind her, and then stood with her back against it, lacking the energy to move farther into the room. Tears ran down her cheeks as she let herself slip down slowly until she was sitting on the floor. She wrapped her arms around herself and let the tears come. She didn't know how much time passed: at some point, there was a knock on the door, but she ignored it, and after a few moments she heard footsteps moving away. It wasn't Jack, she knew—the steps were too quick for his long stride.

_This was so wrong! She never cried—she never let herself lose control like this! She certainly should not allow herself to be crying over the General! He was not hers to cry over, after all. They had never managed to take those last steps toward the relationship that she firmly believed they both had wanted. So now they were back in the same situation where they'd been stuck for years. She blamed herself for that. She should have been braver, should have taken a chance—should have ditched some of her precious projects or artifacts and just gotten on a flight to DC, and to hell with the consequences! Now... now she feared it was too late._

**~x~**

After he hung up with Paul Davis, Jack remained at the desk, lost in thought. He felt awful for having dismissed Sam the way he had. He needed to talk to her, he knew that—and not just about this incident—there was more, a lot more. But he didn't know how... how to approach her, what to say.

She was right—he had no desire to go out into the base. He was avoiding people. They meant well, they were glad to see him back—but the constant cheerful greetings were grating on his nerves. Some of them had not heard that the exile in the past had been two years for him and Vala—so their comments and conversation were carried on as if he'd only been gone for a few weeks. Even the people who knew the situation were driving him nuts. Daniel at breakfast for example, typically wanting to get Jack to talk about his _feelings. _Even Landry was walking on eggshells!It was just too much for him to handle right now!

_There was really only one person who could understand, and that was Vala_. He closed his eyes, resisting the urge to go and find her. For several long moments he sat still as thoughts that he had kept under tight rein began to fill his mind...

**~x~**

Several people came to speak to Vala as she sat in the cafeteria, picking at a late breakfast that she barely tasted. Each of them welcomed her home and asked questions about her trip into the past. She kept her responses brief and general; she really had no desire to get into much detail. After a while, she left and headed back to her quarters.

In her room she took the journal from the drawer and opened the first notebook. Jack's initial entry of their stay in the past greeted her on the first page:

_General Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. If anyone finds this journal, please return it to General George Hammond at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C._

_Today is the third day that Vala MalDoran and I have been stranded by a Stargate malfunction which I believe was caused by lightning striking directly on the gate. We're on Peglea II, however a visit yesterday to the location of the nearby town showed nothing except an empty valley. There's no sign of people or civilization. I can't speculate as yet how that may have come to be._

_Last night we were attacked by a large 'saber-cat' creature. We managed to kill it and its mate. Obviously, there are dangers here. This means we have to be more careful. We will have to make our camp more secure._

Vala skipped several pages ahead, pausing in places and reading briefly how they'd completed the barricade in front of the cave, planted the gardens, explored the area around the Stargate. When she read where Jack was beginning to build the cabin, she remembered her surprise at learning that he knew so much about working with wood.

She browsed through the journal, reading bits and pieces about the two years they had spent on the planet alone. Moving into the finished cabin was a milestone which occurred about three quarters of the way through the first year. It was soon after that when they began to draw closer to one another, and eventually became lovers, although Jack's journal entries did not give details of their personal life.

Again she skipped ahead, read where the Pegleans arrived on the planet, and of their rapid progress in making the world their home. When she read about their friendships with the Pegleans, Vala felt a pang of regret; she would miss Baylen and Kara'a, and all the other friends they had left behind. It was sad to think that all of those people had now been gone for many centuries.

For a long time she sat and read. At last she reached what was for her the last journal entry. Cautiously she turned the page into unknown territory.

_Day 790 on the planet—169 days since the Pegleans arrived _

_Heavy rains finally ended. We spent most of the day repairing leaks in the cabin roof. Will have to wait for next rain to see if we missed anything. I'll soon be starting a new notebook (provided by the Peglean print shop!) for this journal. Vala slipped on the roof and twisted her ankle..._

She shut the book abruptly. That had not happened! Taking a deep breath, she tried to think whether she wanted to continue. The lightning strike which ultimately killed Jack had occurred one year and forty-one days after the arrival of the Pegleans. That was more than half a year from this point in the journal. Perhaps it would not do any harm to continue for a while longer... but she was not ready to do that now.

It was a surprise when she looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 1400 hours. Sighing, she wrapped the notebooks, and returned them to the drawer.

As she straightened there was a soft knock on her door.

**~x~**

Jack was torn.

For nearly eight years he had loved Samantha Carter from afar. For nearly all of that time she was out of his reach—and because of that, he had come to think of her as perfect, an ideal. He believed she had much the same feelings about him _(well, maybe not the perfect part!)_. But they'd never allowed themselves to bring those abstract feelings down to earth, to truly experience them with one another.

_It's nearly impossible to live with an ideal._

He admitted that there had been a few short-term substitutes along the way—Kerry, for example. But none of them had inspired any true effort from him. (Yeah... they were 'good together.' Hell, ice cream and cake were good together! Did that constitute a serious commitment?) He had invested almost nothing in those relationships—and consequently, had received nothing. There was always 'Ideal-Sam' on his horizon, preventing him from really seeing the person in front of him.

Sam was an unattainable dream—a goddess... _(Okay, he thought wryly, 'goddess' might be just a tad over-dramatic...and probably not something she'd appreciate being compared to, all things considered!)_ When they finally had the chance to be together, he had been unable to allow her to come down from the pedestal where she'd resided in his heart for so many years. And from her perspective, he was still her CO, her mentor, someone to look up to. Neither of them had known how to behave as equals... _partners? potential lovers?_

So their attempts at a relationship had floundered, and been postponed, and waxed and waned, until circumstances—namely Sam's recall to the SGC—had robbed them of the opportunity.

With Vala it was different. Earthy, bold, sensual, the ultimate female—Vala's emotions and appetites were anything but abstract. There was no pedestal there to act as a barrier between them. Jack had loved her easily and naturally for more than a year.

Circumstances had trapped them together, alone on Peglea. After a while, even their mutual animosity had to give way to the facts of the situation. They needed to depend on each other in order to survive.

There was no reticence or shyness in Vala. She demanded everything he was capable of giving—even that which he didn't know he had. And she gave everything of herself.

He had changed in the time that they were gone. He had re-learned many lessons of survival. Lessons that involved basic skills—hunting, tool-making, gardening, woodworking. It was hard work, but that had never bothered him. He threw himself into it unstintingly. As a result, he had regained the physical strength and conditioning he'd known when he was active in the field. He had acquired confidence in himself and his abilities—confidence that he lacked during the time he spent behind a desk in Washington, fighting a bizarrely different kind of battle, away from the active life that he preferred and understood.

Jack had also seen Vala change, become more mature, more responsible. Surviving meant depending on each other, trusting each other, and together they had learned those lessons well. Both of them were active, physical beings, well suited to the life they had to live there. Peglea had felt right to Jack, especially with Vala by his side.

The relief he experienced at being free of his responsibilities as head of Home World Security was immense. It lightened his spirit to know that he could spend his days building what was needed, protecting what was important, working with his hands and his skills. Not fighting with D.C. politics—deceit, lies, the endless, stifling, layers of confusion. No longer drowning in paperwork.

Vala was a large part of those emotions. Whenever he looked at her, or even thought of her, he remembered how it felt to be free...

For seven years Jack had believed he'd go to his grave loving only Samantha Carter. Now he knew better.

Sighing, Jack deliberately forced his thoughts back to the problems he was facing at the moment. He pushed himself to his feet. If he was going to go over the information Paul Davis was sending him, he'd need to have secure access to his Pentagon files. He had to find Chief Harriman and make those arrangements.

**~x~**

"You've changed," Daniel said. His voice was quiet, and he was looking at Vala with an expression that she could not quite read.

He'd come to her quarters, knocking softly, not sure how he would be greeted. She let him in with a smile and a hug, and they'd been talking for nearly an hour.

Now she nodded. "Yes, I've changed." There was no point pretending not to understand, or making excuses.

"You're quieter. More serious. More self-assured."

She tilted her head and smiled a little. "I wasn't self-assured before?"

He considered that. "No," he said at last. "You were... cocky. Defiant. Daring."

"Oooh... You make me sound so interesting," she quipped. After a moment, though, her grin faded as she looked into his serious blue eyes. "But..." she prompted.

He hesitated a beat. "You were needy." He hoped she would not be angry at his description. "Now you're not. I can feel the difference in you."

Far from being offended, she seemed pleased. "Thank you, Daniel. Thanks for seeing that." She glanced down and went on quietly. "I was only fourteen when K'Tesh took me as her host. For two centuries I had no say in what I was or what I did. When the Tok'ra freed me, I didn't know what to do or how to get what I needed. I still felt like a fourteen-year-old... and acted like one."

Daniel stared at her. In the months he'd known her, he'd never considered this possibility. That he'd been dealing with a young teen... a child.

"On Peglea II I grew up," she continued. "Finally, I learned how to be an adult. Jack taught me. He showed me how a responsible person behaved."

Daniel was bemused. "Jack taught you? The prince of nonsense and childish behavior?"

She smiled. "Don't confuse nonsense with irresponsibility, Daniel. Do you know another person you would trust as completely as Jack? With your life?"

He shook his head slowly. "No. Well, maybe Teal'c..." He paused. "I see your point," he said at last.

"I thought you would." She made to get up from the edge of the bed, but his next words made her stop and look at him seriously.

"You love him, don't you?" he asked softly.

She drew a breath. "Yes. Yes, I do."

He nodded, turning a little away so she wouldn't see his pain. "I guess that was inevitable. You depended on each other completely for a long time. You thought you might be there the rest of your lives. Even after the Pegleans arrived, you really only had each other. I guess it was as simple as that."

"You're right," she agreed. "But it wasn't _just_ that... it _isn't _just that. Jack is more than worthy of being loved, Daniel."

"I didn't mean to trivialize..." he hurried to say.

"I know. It's not trivial. And it's _not_ simple."

He frowned. "I don't understand..."

"I love Jack. But I love _you,_ too, Daniel. That's why it's not simple." She sighed. "It's not simple for him, either."

Sadness washed over Daniel—for all of them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**


	26. Chapter 26

**As always, thank you so much for reading, and for any comments that you care to leave. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**~Home, day 2~**

Sam had no idea that she was searching for Teal'c until she found him. In what was, for her, very uncharacteristic behavior, she had been wandering the common areas of the SGC for a while, until she finally arrived in the gym. Teal'c was there, conducting martial arts practice with a dozen or so SG team members. Sam watched for a few moments, then walked over to one of the benches against the wall where she sat down to wait.

Suddenly it seemed very important to talk with Teal'c, and so she felt impatient as she waited. _After all, he was her best friend..._

She frowned. Where did that thought come from? If she'd been asked to name her best friend she would have said Daniel. At one time it would have been Janet, of course. She felt the faint tightness in her throat that each and every reminder of Janet's loss still caused, and closed her eyes for a moment to allow it to recede.

She watched Teal'c, observing the smooth confident way that he moved and led his students. His focus did not waver from what he was doing. His expression was peaceful and composed. Still, she knew he was aware of everything in his vicinity, including her presence.

His serenity was contagious. Slowly she relaxed, leaning back against the wall, her earlier impatience fading. She became absorbed in the movement before her, almost mesmerized by the strong, smooth action of muscles and limbs. All of it took place in silence, with only the occasional slap of a misplaced foot or grunt of effort from one of the participants. There were no words of direction—this was obviously an exercise that they had practiced frequently.

She became so engrossed, that she was surprised when the session ended, and she saw Teal'c crossing the room toward her.

He stopped a few feet away and smiled gently down at her.

"That was beautiful, Teal'c," she said sincerely.

He gave her his characteristic understated bow. "Thank you, Samantha."

"Your class seems to be doing very well," she ventured.

"Most of them are adequate."

She found herself almost smiling. "So... not up to your standards, yet."

His eyes twinkled. "I am certain they will continue to improve."

"Yes, I'm sure you're right."

There was a minute's silence.

"Is there something I can do for you, Samantha?" Teal'c asked.

"Umm... I just wondered—you know—if you had a little time to... er... sorta hang out?"

An eyebrow went up. "'Hang out'?"

"Uh... you know, just sit around... maybe get something to eat—talk a little..."

He bowed again. "I should be delighted to 'hang out' with you, Samantha. Perhaps I could have a short time to clean up and change my clothes first?"

She stood up. "I'm sorry—of course! Sure. How much time do you need?"

"Twenty minutes should suffice. Shall I come to your laboratory?"

"Yes. That would be great."

"Very well. I shall bring sustenance?"

She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Great. Thank you, Teal'c."

"You are welcome. I look forward to it."

**~X~X~**

It was well into the afternoon when Jack logged out of his Pentagon files and shut down the computer. Hopefully the suggestions and amendments he'd made in the plans Davis had sent would satisfy the situation for the time being. He'd sent a report to the President detailing the tack that Davis would be taking in any upcoming meetings with the Chinese. Satisfied that he'd done what he could for now, he got to his feet and headed for the door.

Ten minutes later, Jack put his tray on the cafeteria table and sat down in the seat opposite Vala, who was picking at the food on her plate. She looked up and smiled at him.

"How y'doing?" he asked, studying her face.

"It's strange," she answered. She glanced away—seeing his clean-shaven face was just too weird. "As far as everyone here is concerned we were only gone a little while. They don't expect us to have changed."

"I know," he replied softly. Jack was not making even a pretense of eating; his fork and knife were lying undisturbed beside his plate. After choosing his lunch, he found that the food had absolutely no appeal. Instead there was an uncomfortable knot in his stomach. "The President called me."

"I heard. Word gets around."

"Yeah—good old grapevine. Hayes expects me back in Washington in a couple of days, to pick up where I left off. I had to call Paul Davis to find out what's happening back there—I don't remember." He rolled his eyes. "Actually, I don't want to remember," he admitted bitterly. "None of it seems at all important."

"What are you going to do?"

"Davis and I worked out some strategies he can use. I'll have to go back to DC once Lam releases us." He sighed. "Speaking of the good Doc, did she talk to you?"

Vala nodded. "Yes. She called earlier. Someone named Dr. Danson is coming to evaluate us."

"Did she say when?"

"Tomorrow, maybe. She said she'll let us know."

His reply was an inarticulate grunt.

They sat in silence for a time. Vala pushed food around. Jack picked up his fork and studied his plate for a few minutes, then set the fork down again.

Vala frowned in frustration. "I don't see how talking to this doctor is going to do any good. I feel as if you're the only _real_ person around me right now. Certainly you're the only one who knows me at all!"

"I wanted to come and talk to you last night," he ventured after a pause.

"Why didn't you?"

"It was too late. I didn't want to disturb you."

"I was awake. I missed you, darling." Her voice was soft. "You should have come." She studied his face for a minute. "You didn't want to be seen, did you?"

"No. I suppose not. I thought..." he stopped.

"What did you think?" she prompted.

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Jack?" She reached for his hand.

"I thought maybe Daniel might be with you."

They both looked down at their clasped hands.

"He wasn't," she said. She squeezed his hand and released it. "But he came to visit me today and we talked for a while. He missed me. He says he realizes just how much I mean to him. It's sweet." She didn't want to get into the details of the conversation here in the cafeteria.

"That's good."

"Yeah...I suppose." Her gaze refocused on his face. "What about you and Sam?"

He looked away and sighed.

Vala's eyebrows rose. "Oh. That doesn't sound good."

"I haven't talked to her yet. Well, I mean... not about anything... important. We're where we always were, I guess," he said. "Up to our necks in regulations—and work."

"I thought... Since you moved to Washington, isn't she out of your chain of command?"

"She was for a while—when she was at Area 51. But then she was brought back to the SGC. Homeworld Security oversees everything related to the Stargate." He moved restlessly in his chair, glanced around the room, then brought his gaze back to Vala. Her violet eyes were regarding him with sympathy. "I'm her direct superior again."

"But the two of you got together while she was in Nevada... didn't you?"

"Yeah, we saw each other now and then. We dated—a little. But we were both so busy and it was so far... Things never got—resolved. It was too complicated. Then suddenly she was back at the Mountain..." He raised his hand in a hopeless gesture, feeling uncomfortable and edgy. "We didn't take advantage of the opportunity when we had it."

"You never told me this," Vala said with a frown. She had completely abandoned her lunch by this time.

"I guess I didn't see the point."

"But we talked about Sam and Daniel—about how we both felt!"

Jack just shook his head and rubbed a hand restlessly over his face. "Sorry."

She looked faintly abashed. "No, darling. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry." When he simply shook his head again and glanced around almost warily, she leaned forward and looked at him more closely. "Jack? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." But when she narrowed her eyes at him, he huffed. "Just antsy, I guess," he admitted after a moment. "This is only our second day back, and I already feel claustrophobic down here. I don't remember the walls ever closing in like this before."

"Why can't we go outside?" she asked. "I mean you're the ranking General, right?"

"Lam's orders, remember. We're confined to the base."

"But part of the outdoors is still on base, isn't it?" she asked.

He raised his eyebrows. "Now that you mention it... so it is!"

As one they got up and grabbed their trays, dumping them in the compost on the way out, and heading for the exit.

They took the elevator to the upper levels.

At the first check point the guard questioned them—rather tactfully, Jack thought. "Sir, I was told you would be remaining on base for a few days."

"We're not leaving the base, Sergeant," Jack assured him. "Just taking a walk up the mountain. Getting some fresh air."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Not a problem. We'll be back in an hour or two."

It was pleasantly cool outside. The sun was shining. They'd gone through the gate on the mission to Peglea II in mid-August, so by now it was September.

Turning left, they took a path that led up the mountain, and climbed without talking. Near the top was an overlook, where a bench had been set up as a resting place.

"This is better," Jack said, sitting down and gazing out over the city, with the plains falling away in the distance. He reached for Vala's hand and pulled her down beside him.

"It's nice up here," she said after a while.

"Yes. It is."

"Do you feel better now?"

He drew her hand into his lap and held it in both of his. "Yeah. I do."

"Good." They were shoulder to shoulder and she was very comfortable with his familiar warmth so close by. His fingers stroked the back of her hand lightly. After a while she asked; "What are we doing, darling?"

"Just sitting here. Breathing."

She nodded.

They sat for a while longer.

He broke the silence. "I'm thinking about retiring."

"Oh? Want to tell me why?"

He turned to her. "I have a birthday coming up next month. By the calendar, it's number 54. But we were gone for two years, so I'm actually 56. Or close enough that it doesn't matter. Either way, that's past retirement age."

"And then what?" she asked. "What will you do?"

"Move to my cabin in Minnesota. I can't be _General_ O'Neill much longer. It'll kill me. To be honest, I want the life we had on Peglea. And probably the closest I can get is Minnesota."

She sighed. "I know. It's amazing how exile turned into freedom." After a while, she spoke again, smiling slightly. "You know, darling, I'm way older than you."

"Oh?"

"Yes. You know that K'Tesh took me as her host when I was fourteen."

Jack nodded. He had been surprised when he learned she was that young. She never spoke much about her time as host to the Goa'uld. He recalled the only lengthy conversation they had had on the subject...

**~X~X~**

The first half hour Sam spent with Teal'c was incredibly soothing and restful. She had hardly relaxed at all during the two weeks Jack had been missing, or in the days since they had found him. But there was something about Teal'c's presence which was very reassuring and allowed her to release much of that stress.

She had drunk the juice he'd brought for her and nibbled on her chicken sandwich, while she watched him eat his own three sandwiches and large salad. Their conversation was casual and aimless.

When Teal'c finished his lunch, he eased back in his chair to look at her. "You have something on your mind, Samantha. Do you wish to speak of it?"

**XXXXXX**


	27. Chapter 27

**Thanks to everyone for reading and for your great comments! It has been pointed out that I spelled K'Tesh wrong, and I apologize. But I think it's too late to change it now.**

**Despite the length of time it's taken (and will likely still take) to write and post these last few chapters, please remember that Jack and Vala have only been back home for about a day. Things are not going to be resolved right away.**

**I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

**~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~**

**Previously...**

When Teal'c had finished his lunch, he eased back in his chair to look at her. "You have something on your mind, Samantha. Do you wish to speak of it?"

**Chapter 27**

**~Home, day 2~**

Embarrassed, Sam could only draw a breath and look away.

"It is about O'Neill, is it not?" Teal'c asked gently.

Sam nodded. "Yes. Of course it is," she said wryly. "It's always been about Jack. Almost since the beginning."

"That was before I joined you," he noted.

"Right. You missed that first lovely briefing." She winced. "I was determined to prove I was as good as any man in that room—and I just couldn't keep my mouth shut!"

"According to O'Neill, you acquitted yourself excellently."

"Really?" She stared at him. "He told you that? What did he say?"

"That you did not allow any of them—Kawalsky, Feretti or himself, to better you. And you had an answer for everything. He was most impressed. He has not told you this?"

"Well, he's teased me about challenging him to arm wrestle. Otherwise, we haven't talked about it."

Teal'c put up an eyebrow. "How odd. He has spoken of it to me a number of times. He says he knew on that first day that you would be—to use his word—amazing."

Teal'c took note of the smile on Sam's face at his mention of O'Neill's admiration for her. It was the closest to a real smile he'd seen her give in some time. For the fifteen days that O'Neill was missing, her demeanor had been one of concentration and concern. For a brief time when they located the first Vala, he saw an easing of that concern, and then the blow had fallen about O'Neill's death. Teal'c had seldom witnessed anyone shaken as badly as Samantha was by that news, and certainly had never seen _her_ in such a state. Even when O'Neill had vanished with Colonel Maybourne—despite her momentary lapse into tears—she had not despaired, had not completely given up hope. The news of O'Neill's death had shaken her very foundations, robbed her of all strength and purpose. When Vala Mal Doran had put forth the idea of another time jump to alter events and prevent his death, the very fact that Samantha had voiced no objection was proof of her state of mind—that she would do anything possible to get O'Neill back.

Now, despite the ultimate success of their mission, she was still obviously distressed. The sense of deep despair had faded, but there was still a great sadness about her, and an air of preoccupation that was abnormal for the woman Teal'c had come to know. She seemed uncertain, out of touch.

Teal'c wondered if something had occurred between the two of them. "Have you spoken with O'Neill since our return to the SGC?" he asked.

She nodded, the smile fading. "Yes. We talked for a little while earlier today. He was busy. The President called him this morning and wanted him back in Washington ASAP. He was trying to catch up on things."

"I see. So he will likely be leaving within a day or two."

"I think so. It's not like he can say no to the President."

"You must find an opportunity to talk with him before he goes," Teal'c told her in his usual direct manner.

"I know. He said we would talk..." She faltered, her voice dropping almost to a whisper. "I'm not sure it will do any good, though. It may be too late."

He did not have to ask what she thought it was too late for. "I find that difficult to believe," he said calmly.

She gave him a sad little smile. "We missed our chance, Teal'c. We're back in the same chain of command. It was my fault. I wasn't brave enough to take the opportunity when we had it." She hesitated for a moment and then went on, voicing what she had not put into words, even to herself. "Besides, I think that a...um...a _thing_ developed between Jack and Vala while they were gone."

"What makes you think this?" The closeness between the two had not escaped his notice, but he was not certain what name to give it.

"They were alone for a long time, and had to depend on each other. That kind of thing brings people together," she explained softly. "They're obviously very close. She touches him, they hold hands." She shrugged. "Jack and I have never been that... casual, that close. Not even after he went to the Pentagon—during that little time that we... um... dated." She flushed, but went on. "There was always that distance between us. We were so many years with the regulations holding us back, that I think the barrier has become permanent." She bit her lip, and blinked quickly.

Teal'c was disturbed that she would speak so openly to him about her relationship with O'Neill. Never before had the subject been so frankly discussed—either by her or O'Neill. And now her voice held the timbre of defeat. It was as if she spoke of that which was irrevocably lost, and it greatly concerned him. He had to speak his mind.

"The time that the two of you have spent on SG1 has created a strong bond between you and O'Neill," Teal'c began. "That bond is deeper than any casual touch. It links your souls." He paused for a moment to let that sink in, then went on. "Yes—O'Neill and Vala MalDoran were alone on Peglea for a long while. They undoubtedly forged a genuine attachment. But you must not _assume_ anything, Samantha!" he declared strongly. "The only way you can know for certain what O'Neill thinks and feels is through an open and honest dialogue. Do not give up simply because of what you believe _may_ be true. If you walk away without being certain, you will always wonder about what might have been."

**~X~X~X~X~**

"I'm thinking about retiring," Jack said.

"And then what?" Vala asked. "What will you do?"

"Move to my cabin in Minnesota. I can't be _General O'Neill_ much longer. It'll kill me. To be honest, I want the life we had on Peglea. And probably the closest I can get is Minnesota."

She sighed. "I know. It's amazing the way our exile turned into freedom." After a while, she spoke again, smiling slightly. "You know, darling, I'm way older than you."

"Oh?"

"Yes. You know that K'Tesh took me as her host when I was fourteen."

Jack nodded. He had been surprised when he learned she was that young. She never spoke much about her time as host to the Goa'uld. He recalled their one lengthy conversation on the subject...

_**x*x**_

_They are talking in bed one night when she tells him about K'Tesh..._

"_She was the worst of the worst, Jack." Her voice is low and haunted. "For nearly two hundred years I watched her do the most horrible things... gods, it makes me sick to think about it..."_

"_You remember?" He is surprised. "I thought the Goa'uld all suppressed their hosts."_

"_Most of them do. But K'Tesh was more malicious than that—she understood true torture. She kept her hosts aware. She wanted us to know what she was doing. I could see the evil she was using my body for, but I couldn't do anything about it." She draws a ragged breath, and tears slip down her cheek. "She taunted me and laughed at me-it added to her enjoyment. It was vile. She liked knowing that I hated what she was doing—and I felt so guilty..."_

"_It wasn't your fault," he interrupts, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms. She buries her face in his shoulder, and he holds her close, but he cannot protect her from her own memory. "You tried to stop her," he whispers. "I know you did."_

"_At first I did," she says. "I really did. But it didn't make any difference, and she punished me for trying. She sent my mind down to a dark place where there was nothing but pain and confusion. Sometimes she'd let me surface just enough to see what she was doing. She'd make me watch as she tortured innocent people—people I had known, people from my home! Then she'd send me away again..." She chokes and he rubs her back. He is struggling to contain his horror at what she is telling him. "I gave up after a while," she admits. "I stopped fighting her, Jack. I was a coward."_

"_No," he tells her softly. "You tried. When you couldn't, you did the best you could to protect yourself—it was the right thing to do."_

_She buries her face against his chest and sobs._

_Later when she recovers, she kisses him and strokes his face lovingly. "Thank you."_

"_I didn't do anything."_

"_Yes you did. You were here."_

"_Well that's a given. Where would I go?"_

_She smiles at his attempt to make light of it. "You have the most wonderful body, Jack—and no, I don't mean it __that__ way!" She swats his arm when he leers at her comically. "Get your mind out of the drain!"_

"_The gutter!" he corrects, grinning. "That's 'get your mind out of the gutter'!"_

"_Whatever!" she says, rolling her eyes. "Stop it! I'm trying to give you a compliment!"_

_He raises a hand in surrender. "Okay, okay."_

_She grows serious. "You use your marvelous body to comfort me. When you hold me I feel safe. Protected. You're like a... a shield—except you're warm and soft, like an old blanket, or a—what do you call it?—beddy bear?"_

_He chuckles. "That's 'teddy' bear."_

"_Right. Whatever." Her voice softens. "You're the only person who's ever made me feel completely safe."_

_**x*x**_

He smiled to himself now at the memory of being compared to a teddy bear, but the smile faded as her words echoed in his mind; '_You're the only person who's ever made me feel completely safe.' _ And it came to him that Vala's entire life had been fraught with danger, fear and horror—for two centuries she'd known nothing else. His hand tightened on hers, and his arm went around her shoulders.

"What is it?" she asked, surprised.

"Nothing..."

"Jack..." she urged.

"I just hate the thought of you being hurt," he admitted.

She didn't ask what had brought on his sudden concern, but merely said, "Thank you," and settled into the shelter of his shoulder. "I had K'Tesh for one hundred and ninety-two years," she said after a bit. "And it was fifty-one years ago when the Tok'ra released me. So even if you only count the years I've been free, I'm sixty-five. K'Tesh left me with a perfect fourteen-year-old body. That's the only good thing she ever did for me."

"You look damn good for sixty-five," he said, managing a smirk as he studied her features. "I'd have said thirty-five... maybe."

"I've aged slowly—I suppose I can thank her for that, too," she said wryly.

"That means you're robbing the cradle with Daniel—he's not even forty! You're much closer to my age."

She smiled.

There was another long silence.

"About this morning, when I talked to Daniel..." Vala began at last, her expression very serious.

"Yes?" Jack asked when she paused.

"He guessed about our relationship—yours and mine."

Jack winced, but was not surprised. "That must have been rough—for both of you."

"He was... understanding," she said, looking at him sadly. "But I don't know how he'll feel after he's thought about it for a while. He may hate me."

"Oh, Vala," he whispered. He pulled her closer. _Had she decided it was Daniel she wanted?_ "What can I do? Do you want me to talk to him? Or, I can go... get out of the picture—as soon as they let us leave, of course. I'll have to be going to Washington soon, anyway."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, pulling away and frowning at him. "Why would you think I want you to leave?"

"So you can be with Daniel, I guess—I don't know!" He sounded frustrated. "Tell me! I'll do whatever you need me to."

"You'd just want me to go back to him?" she challenged. "That easily?"

"It wouldn't be _easy_, Vala!" he exclaimed, voice laced with pain. "None of this is going to be _easy_—damn it!" He clamped down on the curses he wanted to utter. After a few moments he took a deep breath and spoke more gently. "You know how I feel about you."

"Yes, I do. And you know I love you. But I know that you also love Sam. We've been very honest about all of it. There's no reason to... to ignore it any longer—now that we're home." She raised a hand to cup his cheek. "I'm sorry for that remark about me going back to Daniel. I didn't mean it. I'm not trying to trap you or make you feel guilty, Jack. I just don't know how to handle all of this."

"Yeah. Me, too." Jack kissed the side of her head, and they sat quietly again as the sun sank toward the mountains behind them and the air grew chilly, then they got up and started back down the mountain.

"You have to talk to Sam," Vala said as they made their way toward the gate.

He sighed. "I know... But I don't know how to start."

"According to Daniel, she was devastated when they first went back and found out you were dead. They all thought they'd solved the problem, and then when they arrived I—the other me—told them about the accident."

Jack frowned, remembering how distressed Sam had been when the team had found them on Peglea. And today, when she came to his office, she was more emotional than he ever expected of her. It made him feel even worse about sending her away so he could talk to Davis.

"What is it?" Vala asked, glancing over and seeing the troubled look on his face.

"She came to see me earlier today," he said. "She was... upset. Crying, even. That's not like Carter at all... I put her off," he admitted.

"Jack..."

"Davis called from DC before we could even start to talk. My mind was still on the conversation with the President. I promised we'd talk later."

Vala averted her eyes. _Yet, you came to find me instead._ She sighed, wondering if that had even been a conscious decision on Jack's part, or simply the behavior that had become natural between them these past two years—the need to know the other was safe.

"I had to make sure you were all right."

She was not at all surprised that he had read her mind.

He caught her hand, bringing them both to a halt. One more turn in the trail and they would be within sight of the first checkpoint. He stepped into the deeper shadows alongside the path and drew her into his arms. "Just let me hold you for a minute." His voice was rough. "This is so hard! I didn't think..."

"What...?" she asked softly.

He didn't know what to say. He was conscience-stricken. Somehow he'd allowed himself believe that coming home would be easy... that everything would fall into place. Now he could barely see the outline of that imagined reality. Instead, everyone was hurting—especially Daniel and Sam.

"I missed you last night..." was all he managed in the end.

"I know. I missed you, too." She put her arms around him and held on tight.

**~X~X~X~X~X~**

**A/N – I haven't forgotten Daniel in all this **_**Sturm und Drang. **_** His feelings and reactions will be coming up soon.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Thank you all for reading this story, and also for your comments and encouragement.**

**~X~X~X~X~X~**

**Previously...**

One more turn in the trail down the mountain and they would be within sight of the first checkpoint. Jack caught Vala's hand, bringing them both to a halt. He stepped into the deeper shadows alongside the path and drew her into his arms. "Just let me hold you for a minute." His voice was rough. "This is so hard! I didn't think..."

"What...?" she asked softly.

He didn't know what to say. He was conscience-stricken. Somehow he'd allowed himself believe that coming home would be easy... that everything would fall into place. Now he could barely see the outline of that imagined reality. Instead, everyone was hurting—especially Daniel and Sam.

"I missed you last night..." was all he managed in the end.

"I know. I missed you, too." She put her arms around him and held on tight.

**XXXXXXX**

**Chapter 28**

**~Home, day 2~**

After Teal'c had left her lab, Sam thought long and hard about his advice, and admitted that although she knew he was right, she was also afraid. Afraid to face Jack, and find out what his feelings were. She was certain that Jack loved Vala, and there was no longer any hope for her.

She told herself it would be better to know the truth, so she could deal with it. But that argument didn't sound convincing at all! When had she become a coward? she wondered, as she tried futilely to concentrate on her work. Finally she gave up, locked her lab and left the base.

**~X~X~**

There was a message from Dr. Lam waiting for Vala when she got back to her quarters. Dr. Danson would be at the SGC at 0900 the following morning to speak with her and Jack.

Vala lay on her bed for a while, staring at the ceiling. At last she got up and opened the drawer where she had put the journal. Taking out the package, she laid it on the bed, and then sat cross-legged before it for a long time, before reaching out and opening the book to the place where she had stopped earlier in the day.

She began to read about events that had never happened.

**~X~X~**

Jack went to Sam's lab, but found the door closed and locked. A call to the security station yielded the information that Colonel Carter had signed out of the base thirty minutes earlier. He considered trying to call her cell, but didn't want to ask her to return to the mountain, and talking on the phone did not feel right—they needed to speak face to face.

It was too early for bed so he changed into workout clothes and headed for the gym. Several people were working out, and after greeting those he knew and waving off the salutes of subordinates, he stepped onto one of the treadmills, gradually increasing the pace until he was running hard.

It was very late before he left the gym and returned to his room, where he found the message from Dr. Lam.

**~X~X~**

Vala could not bring herself to continue reading. In the past few hours she had read of the entire half year between the day she and Jack were rescued and the day of the accident. Her own account of that day and its aftermath was so horrific that she was in tears by the time she closed the book.

Some of the things she had written kept circling in her mind: _I watched the building collapse. Bodies were thrown from the scaffolding... the noise was deafening. _

_We dug for hours, moving stone and metal, bringing out those who survived, and the ones that didn't. _

_Jack was the last one found. He was buried so deep under the rubble... it took a very long time to get him out. He was so still, so broken... _

The pages were spotted with tears she had obviously shed as she wrote.

_He is in a coma. The doctors say there is no telling when he will wake up. Or if..._

_Dr. Varen says Jack's back is broken and even if he lives he will never walk again... But Jack is so strong. He'll be okay. I have to believe that. _

_He has been unconscious for weeks—I've lost track how many..._

_Jack finally woke up today... He is paralyzed, just a Varen said he would be. Why did I stupidly allow myself to hope it wouldn't be so..._

_Angry... he's so angry and withdrawn. Nearly six weeks since he woke. He won't let me help him! How can I help him..._

She pulled her thoughts back to the present. Thank the gods none of it had happened! Briefly, as they sat together on the mountain, she had considered telling Jack about the journal. Now she was very glad she had not done so.

She didn't notice how late it was when she took the notebooks, wrapped them up tightly, and hurried with them to knock on Mitchell's door. When he answered, disheveled and bleary-eyed, she tried to apologize. With one look at the familiar package and her tear streaked face, he pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind her. He took the journals from her shaking hands.

"You read it?" he asked.

"Not all. I read about the accident and what happened to Jack... I shouldn't have. It was horrible, Cameron. I can't read any more of it. I don't even want anyone else to know it exists."

"Okay," he agreed. "What would you like to do with it?"

"Maybe we can destroy it and nobody will know?"

"We can't take it off base—they check for off-world stuff, and the package is too big to hide," he said. "But I'll figure something out. Leave it to me."

"I'm sorry to put all the responsibility on you..."

"I'm the one that brought it to you, Princess. It is my responsibility. I'll find a way."

"Thank you, Cameron." She glanced around the dim room. "I'm sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night."

"Forget it." He slid the package under his bed, out of sight. "I... uh, I take it you didn't tell General O'Neill."

"I couldn't do that to him. He might be angry if he ever finds out, but you and I are the only ones who know."

"I'll never say a word to anybody, Vala. I promise!" Unconsciously, he crossed his heart and raised his right hand.

"What was that?" she asked, pointing at his chest.

He flushed. "A kid's promise. Sorry. It was kinda automatic..."

She smiled a little. "Okay. Can you let me know when it's done?"

"Yeah, you bet. It may take a little while, though."

She reached up and hugged him, placing a kiss on his cheek. "You're a good friend, Cameron."

**~ Day 3, The Air Force Academy Hospital~**

At 08:00, Dr. Patricia Danson was just getting ready to leave her Academy Hospital office for Cheyenne Mountain when her receptionist buzzed her.

"Yes, Barbara?" she answered.

Barbara's voice sounded faintly bemused when she spoke. "Dr. Danson, there's a call for you from Washington on line 1. They said it's the White House."

Danson's eyebrows rose. "Thank you." She pressed line 1. "This is Dr. Danson."

A woman's calm, well-modulated voice answered. "Dr. Danson, this is Tess Atkinson, White House Secretary. Please hold for the President."

"Of course." She was shocked at how normal her voice sounded. This was the last thing she would have expected this morning! Of course she _was_ about to visit the most secure military base in the U.S., so perhaps she shouldn't have been quite so surprised. This was not her first acquaintance with Stargate Command. She had been briefed on what happened under the mountain. She'd had clearance for the past two years to treat various members of the SGC, although this would be her first actual visit to the facility. Apparently the two people she was to see today were confined to the base.

There was silence on the phone line for about thirty seconds, and in that time a hundred thoughts went through Danson's mind. The call must be about today's visit—why else would the President want to speak to her.

Mentally she reviewed the files on the two people she was to see. One was an alien—_an actual extraterrestrial!_—though she looked human enough in the photo, if perhaps a bit exotic. Vala MalDoran. Born on a planet identified only by a numerical ID. Space pirate. Thief. Con-woman. Arrived on Earth a little over two years ago. Age unknown. She was now a member of a team that traveled off-world on a regular basis.

The second person was General Jack O'Neill. Career Air Force. History of special operations. Reputation for maverick behavior and known for breaking the rules. Numerous citations for bravery. A man in his late fifties. Ten years with the SGC and Homeworld Security.

Apparently these two had been stranded alone on another planet—_another planet!_—for over two years and TPTB wanted her to determine whether they were psychologically fit for duty.

Patricia Danson had been a practicing psychotherapist for nearly 25 years—had worked for the Air Force for 15 of those years. She'd worked on all manner of classified cases and heard many bizarre stories—but nothing like the things she'd encountered since being cleared for the SGC.

She was an intelligent woman, with a logical, analytical mind, a calm manner, and tremendous self-confidence. There were those of her colleagues who would claim she had a tendency toward arrogance when it came to her work; she agreed with them, though she preferred to call it self-assurance.

The phone clicked in her ear and the very recognizable voice of President Henry Hayes came on the line. "Dr. Danson. Thank you for waiting."

"Not at all, sir." _As if she'd had a choice._

"I'll get right to the point, Doctor. You're scheduled to interview one of my top generals this morning. His name is Jack O'Neill. General O'Neill is very important to some critical negotiations that are currently going on here in Washington. I need him back here as soon as humanly possible, Doctor. Today, preferably." There was a note of urgency in his voice that bordered on command.

Danson was taken aback but forced her voice not to show it. "Mr. President, I haven't yet spoken with General O'Neill. I am just leaving my office to meet with him. I have no idea of his condition. I've been asked to judge the effect of his experience on his ability to perform his duties. There's no way I can make any promises as to how soon I will be able to clear him."

"General O'Neill's presence in Washington is essential, Dr. Danson. It is very important to me, and to the country that he be in attendance." Hayes' tone hardened. "You have his file, do you not? Surely you've read it."

Actually she had read only the outline of background information about both O'Neill and Mal Doran. She always preferred to hear of their experiences first from her patients themselves.

"Sir, I can't possibly make a determination until I've actually spoken with the general."

Now Hayes sounded decidedly unhappy, but no less insistent. "I assure you, doctor, General O'Neill will have the services of the best professionals in your field here in Washington, should he require them. If those circumstances develop, I'll even insist that you be brought in as a consulting expert. Perhaps you can even recommend a therapist here in Washington."

She had no trouble reading between the lines of that statement. _He was saying he would take the case out of her hands. _ That was wrong on so many levels! Danson pressed her lips together in a thin line, and took a deep breath before she answered. "Mr. President, with all due respect, this case is already my responsibility, and there is no legitimate reason that I am aware of for turning it over to another practitioner. Especially since I haven't even spoken to my patients as yet. I feel it would be unethical for me to approve a transfer to a different therapist under the circumstances." _If he was going to take her off the case it would have to be by force._

There was a brief silence as Hayes absorbed her reply. He was also very good at reading between the lines. "I was told that you're a stickler when it comes to you responsibility for your patients, Doctor. I admire that. However, let me urge you to keep in mind the importance of O'Neill's presence in Washington as soon as possible."

"I assure you, I will do that, sir," she said. _But she would not be bullied, not even by the President of the United States._

"And anything you can do to hurry this process along would be much appreciated. Good-bye, Doctor."

Hayes ended the call before she had a chance to respond.

Danson sat at her desk for several minutes thinking over the phone call. He obviously wanted O'Neill in D.C. very badly, and he'd expected her to accede to his request—actually it had sounded more like a demand. He was the President, after all, and she doubted that he was accustomed to being denied. But Patricia expected to be in charge of _all_ decision-making for the patients under her care. To her, a patient's welfare came first and foremost. And it was time to go and meet this patient.

She got to her feet and was reaching for her briefcase when another thought occurred to her—how could the General be so critical to a current negotiation if he'd been gone for two years?

**~X~X~**

Dr. Danson arrived at Cheyenne Mountain at 0830, and was met at the security desk by Dr. Lam. The two women were slightly acquainted, having met on occasion at medical conventions.

On the elevator ride down to the infirmary, Caroline explained how O'Neill and Vala came to be trapped in the past.

Patricia admitted to being astonished when she was done. "Time travel? They spent more than two years in the past?"

"1400 years into the past. Sounds incredible, I know. But this kind of thing happens around here a lot."

"And they were actually only gone from here for only two weeks?"

Caroline nodded. "That's right."

That might explain the President's attitude, Patricia thought. Apparently he didn't know about the time difference. From his perspective, General O'Neill had been gone only two weeks.

On the infirmary level, Caroline led the way to her office. It was 08:48. Jack and Vala should be arriving in about ten minutes.

**~X~X~X~X~**


End file.
