Being 'The Clone'

By Sam I Am – PG-13 (can't honestly be any more than that)

Warnings: Sam/Jack (that's a warning for anyone who don't like that)

Category: Sam/Jack Romance, Angst, friendship and a little bit of SG-1 Humour thrown in for good measure. (If there's anything I missed out someone tell me!)

Spoilers: Bits and Bobs from Seasons 1-8!

Time frame: Beginning of Season 8.

Archive: SJD, Yes!

Summary: Through the eyes of Colonel O'Neill, life from a complicated perspective...

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime / Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. No copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission. All snippets of lyrics have the singer and the song title! None of it is mine, but I'm just a very musical person and the lyrics always fit! No copyright intended! If you want to archive my story TELL ME, or, to borrow a phrase from our beloved Colonel, I am SO gonna kick your ass!

Author's Notes: This is going to be a novel, but I'll put it on piece by piece, while I finish off the gaps. Thanks for all your support, as per usual!

Dedications: To Hannah, my Best Pal/Editor, suffering the joys of High School with me. Year 11 ARGH! Love ya, Honey! And to all Sam/Jack shippers out there and those of you who hate Season 9!

What it's like... Being 'The Clone'!

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Part Three

There she goes, there she goes again. Chasing down my lane,

And I just can't contain this feeling that remains.

There she goes Sixpence None the Richer

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It was the sight of the black car pulling up at the shadowy side of the school that caught Julian's attention as he slowly chained up his bike. Jack had called him and said how he wouldn't be coming into school today and Julian had expected as much.

His weekend had been unusually quiet and mournful. The whole world now knew about the SGC and everyone was excited and amazed and confused. The planet had gone crazy! But Julian had spent his weekend sat at home thinking about Jack, the hero who'd been cloned into a 16 year old and left to his own devices while the real him sacrificed himself for the world and one of his dearest friends died in combat. For Julian, it had been a time of reflection and sadness; most of his time spent putting himself in Jack's place and wondering how one man could go through so much heartache in a lifetime, let alone two.

He still couldn't get it into his head. No one had ever been a better friend to him than Jack. And he wasn't 16! He was approaching four decades older than that! All along Julian had never even twigged, well not a lot! In hindsight, it all made so much sense. But the worst part of this realisation was that soon Jack would be tracked down and made to leave. Whether taken by the air force or relinquished by his 'foster parents', Jack would be leaving. And Julian would be alone again...

Julian watched intrigued as the car pulled up and three people climbed from the back seat... Julian dropped his bike with a clatter, his jaw plummeting unceremoniously and he saw their faces.

Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and Samantha Carter stepped from the car one by one. They were having a conversation and Julian hid slightly in the bike shed as he listened...

"I had no idea it was over... How long since you split up?"

It was Daniel speaking and as Julian looked at the man he could see why Jack had thought the archaeologist and himself always looked so similar. He was cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief as he fixed his eyes on the woman stood by his side.

If it was possible, she looked even more beautiful in real life. Jack's photographs really didn't do her justice! Her skin was pale and flawless, her eyes a vivid blue colour and her hair shiny and golden like the many an artefact his father had discovered in Egypt. She was dressed in air force uniform and looked every inch the respectable officer.

It was as she stepped further into the dappled light, filtering through the foliage of the large trees that canopied this area that Julian noticed how weary she looked. If anything about Jack's pictures seemed more true than the real human being that shivered slightly in the breeze, it was that there was no smile on Samantha Carter's face, where, Julian got the feeling, it was usually rarely absent.

"5 days now." She spoke in a soft tone, her voice wavering with obvious heartache, "I always thought Pete would make the pain less, but now..." She looked away and gulped slightly, "Every second I spend with him, the pain gets worse. I couldn't... It wouldn't be fair on him to have accepted, Daniel. So he left."

The alien, Teal'c, spoke in a low comforting rumble, "Major Carter, you must try to continue with your life. I understand your heartache as does Daniel Jackson for we have both lost many we love and care for..."

"I hear a 'but' coming," she said with a minute smile, trying to lighten the morose mood as the black car drove off silently.

The Jaffa raised and eyebrow and said with emphasise, "... however, before O'Neill was lost to us you were quite content to marry Pete Shanahan." At the mention of Jack, Julian noticed how the woman's body tensed, her eyes squinting slightly and her jaw gritting before she flinched at the mention of this Pete guy. Teal'c continued, his hand moving to place on her shoulders, "From our brief meeting, I determined that Pete Shanahan feels very deeply for you, Major Carter."

Daniel spoke to Teal'c glancing at the expression of guilt on Samantha's face, "I think we should... uh..." He cleared his throat and then spoke to her in a gentle diplomatic tone, "Do you regret leaving him?"

"No," she whispered, "But I regret hurting him."

Daniel nodded and then whispered gingerly, "Do you regret the relationship you had with Pete because... because of what Jack thought of it?"

The Doctor had definitely hit a nerve. The woman looked up at her friend with wide eyes as she mumbled, "What?"

Daniel gulped and then looked at his watch, "We've gotta get in there so we can be introduced to the Princip..."

She spoke shaking slightly, "Daniel? There's something I don't know, isn't there?" She looked between the alien stood tall and unyielding and the anthropologist who was looking incredibly awkward and was pushing his glasses up his nose. She looked almost close to tears as she whispered coldly, "Tell me. What did the Colonel think?"

Julian was surprised when it was Teal'c that spoke, "O'Neill spoke with me and Daniel Jackson that evening at his abode after General Hammond announced his retirement and you had left to go home..." The Jaffa hesitated slightly as if considering how to put something delicately, "He said that if you had, for any split second since the mission to Abydos, prized O'Neill as more than you were both allowed to, then that moment had long gone and passed..."

"What?" She whispered almost disbelieving.

Daniel cleared his throat again, his arms arranging themselves so they were crossed over his chest and he was frowning slightly, "He said that he'd always thought, no, hoped that you felt the same way about him as he did about you." Julian watched as the woman's blue eyes closed slowly with pain and realisation as the man continued reluctantly, "He was adamant that Pete was the real deal. He said that as long as you were loved like you deserved to be, he could die in peace..." His voice faltered as he said unsteadily, "He knew that this time he'd die from the Ancient knowledge, but he didn't care... He said he didn't have much to live for anyway..."

The woman's eyes shot open and if it was possible to see the expression on someone's face when their heart turned to ice, it was on her face.

Julian didn't dare breathe or move and stood completely still as she whispered, her voice quivering, "That's why he took the Ancient knowledge...? Suicide...?" Both questions needed no answers and a horrific truth dawned on both Julian and Samantha Carter.

The sound of the creaky back door to the school being opened caused them all to jump. Mrs. Maple, the Principal's assistant came bustling out of the door, her chubby face full of awe, "SG-1! It's such an honour to have you at our school!"

Teal'c spoke glancing at the almost statue like figure of Major Carter, frozen in time with a horrified expression on her beautiful face, "No, it's our honour. We are extremely glad to be welcomed to this facility for education. Please, take us to Principal Pollard."

The middle-aged woman nodded frantically, looking as though she were about to faint as she began to lead them through the door. It shut behind them leaving Julian staring at it and grasping thin air trying to find the handlebars to his bike urgently.

The school bell trilled, its sound echoing around the entire complex as Julian's fingers finally brushed against the rubber gripping, his eyes finally looking at the object and his hands pulling it back from the bike rack. His glasses almost fell down his nose as he hurried hopped onto the seat. He shoved them back on and began to speed out of the schoolyard towards Jack's house.

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I don't wanna close my eyes; I don't wanna fall asleep,

Cos I miss you, Babe, and I don't wanna miss a thing.

Cos even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream will never do,

I still miss you and I don't wanna miss a thing.

I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing Aerosmith

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Percy's head nestled in Jack's lap as he sat on the grass of the park staring out across the play area and grassy field. He absentmindedly smoothed down the strands of white and grey hair on the dog's head as he contentedly huffed, blowing some of his excessively long locks from his eyes.

Jack had become really fond of Percy and he'd really miss him. He guessed that soon Helen and Eddy would have to send him away, probably right back to where he'd started in the inept and uncaring hands of the air force who'd then probably load him off onto some other unsuspecting couple/family.

Jack sighed and watched the swings move ever so slightly in the breeze, a whiny creak issuing from the old metal frame. The blades of grass shimmered in the light coming from the sun being blocked behind a thick white blanket of cloud. It was that kind of light that usual gave Jack a migraine and he could already feel the niggling ache behind his eyes and gnawing out from his forehead.

Percy rolled onto his back, his head still nestled in Jack's crossed legs as his ears flapped down. The fact Jack was sitting with his legs crossed said a lot seen as before he would never in a million years been able to sit in this position without causing quite a lot of discomfort in his bad knees.

Percy gave a small yip begging for his belly to be scratched and a small smile came to Jack's face. His hand moved to the dog's furry chest and began to tickle, the dog squirming and wriggling on his back.

Jack let out a small snort as the dog bounded up and pushed him onto his back, licking his face affectionately. Jack lay on his back with Percy lying on his stomach and realised that dogs always seemed to know when their companion is sad and always know how to cheer them up. It seemed instinctive to them and Jack always knew why they were referred to as man's best friend. He loved Percy to pieces.

He glanced at his wrist watch with a soft sigh. It would be lunch at school in an hour. It was strange how Jack wanted to go to school this afternoon. He needed something to take his mind of his depressive thoughts and if that something was to be the trivial trials and tribulations of teenagers then so be it!

Percy's laid his hairy head on his paws and let out a soft whimper, licking Jack's nose comfortingly. Percy knew him a lot better than most people right now. He knew the question that was churning through Jack's mind... 'Should I or shouldn't I?'

He looked around him. The swings looked tall enough, but he didn't want to scar some poor child's life forever by using that. There were lots of trees around here that would suffice, but then some kid would probably find him again.

Maybe if he sent a call straight to the police and then did it when they were on their way so only the professionals would have to see him hanging from a tree branch...

Percy whimpered again, his wet nose nuzzling away the tears Jack hadn't realised were on his cheeks. In Jack's mind his situation had come down to two options. The first, live out the rest of his life in misery, alone, without any of his friends and family, without Carter... The second, end it now. No one would care. After all to most people he was already dead...

His mind immediately flicked to Julian. He sighed. As of yet, there was only one person Jack could think of living for and that was the geeky fifteen year old. He'd told Julian he would watch his back and he didn't think Julian could cope if Jack committed suicide.

The Old English sheepdog's face lifted as he looked over Jack's head and barked. Jack turned and saw Julian on his bike, his legs fighting against his obvious fatigue and trying to continue pedalling. The first thought that came to Jack's head was to reprimand him for not being at school before it dawned on him that Julian would never skive unless something was wrong.

When the boy's blue eyes fell on Jack and Percy, he gasped breathlessly, "Jack! Thank God I found you!"

It was the tone of voice Julian spoke in that caused Jack to scramble to his feet. He spoke anxiously, "What? What is it? What's wrong?"

Julian came to a stop, his bike crashing to the turf as he puffed and wheezed. Jack glanced at the awkward position of the bike, noticing for the first time the flat tire. Julian's arms fell on Jack's shoulders as he tried to breathe, "I've been cycling since the beginning of school to try and find you! Then I got the flat tyre, but I had to find you!"

"Julian! What's going on?"

The boy looked up at him, his multicoloured braces on show as he said with a small smile, "They're here, Jack! They're at the school!"

Hope filled Jack's heart as Julian spoke. It couldn't be...?

"Your friends are here! At the school!"

As soon as he'd spoken Jack pushed passed him went for the bike and realised he'd be quicker running than trying to cycle with the broken tyre. He turned to Julian, "Look after Percy."

He began to sprint across the grass at the velocity only youth and desperation could give him as Julian yelled, "Hurry Jack! They leave in 10 minutes!"

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And maybe, I'll find out the way to make it back someday,
To watch you, to guide you through the darkest of your days.
If a great wave should fall, It would fall upon us all,
Well I hope there's someone out there,
Who can bring me back to you!

Wherever You Will Go The Calling

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They'd been stood on the school stage for 3 hours answering questions and giving the hurriedly put together presentation on the Stargate project.

It had been long and tiresome and Sam just wanted to get to the airbase, get on the awaiting plane, go home, have a bath, make herself a cup of coffee and collapse on the sofa. Inevitably, she'd end up in tears and wouldn't be able to sleep, her thoughts filled with the memory of Jack O'Neill's death.

He'd been frozen because the knowledge that'd been downloaded into his mind from the Ancient Repository had been rewriting his brain. When the Asguard had finally been reached they'd attempted to remove the Ancient's knowledge from the Colonel's mind. They'd unfrozen him and completed the progress, but when they'd finished they soon discovered that his brain was damaged irreparably and that he had days at the most before the part of his mind that controlled his autonomic functions would cease to operate and he'd die.

The information they'd extracted contained the means to create both a weapon with which to destroy replicators, even human form replicators, but most importantly, it held information on a toxin that could destroy the Goa'uld and yet was harmless to Jaffa, the poison only reacting with a mature Goa'uld attached to the brain stem. Most of the Goa'uld had been destroyed now, only a few more they were wheedling out as the days passed. All because Jack sacrificed his life to stop that information falling into the Goa'ulds' slimy hands.

He'd lasted 5 days on a respirator, never waking before his brain completely shut down. Sam did not leave his side since he'd been unfrozen. She'd not slept, ate, or done anything to suggest she was living creature, but instead had spent her hours watching him and speaking to him in the hope he'd hear her, but there was no evidence he had. Just a hope and a prayer.

She'd told him many things whilst sat in the uncomfortable Infirmary chair in the special room Dr. Brightman had placed Jack in when he'd arrived back in the SGC. She'd told him about Pete and how she couldn't believe she'd ever thought Pete could dampen her feelings for him, about how much she realised she loved him and about her latest insights into what she'd be like without him. These revelations had all come true after his death as she'd known they would and it was now that they ran through her mind again...

How could she be a mere shadow of the person she once was at yet only her closest friends notice the difference? How can the brilliance she once possessed become so hidden to herself and still seem to shine to the rest of the world? Why was she so lost in the SGC, a place that had once been her home, now becoming nothing more than a mundane familiarity?

She was lost. As far as she was concerned, the SGC was lifeless, her brilliance long extinguished and she was nothing more than a faint imprint, slowly being erased as each aching second passed, dragging behind it the inevitability that at some point she'd just give up.

As far as Sam was concerned, everything had died with him. Especially things that related to her. Her laughter, her smile, her humour, her intelligence, her discipline, her ability to love...

She'd tried with Pete, she really had, but when the man had asked her to marry him, less than a week after Jack had died, she had to leave him. She couldn't take the feeling of deep self-hatred and guilt that she felt at the idea of betraying Jack's unconditional love any longer. She'd done it for too long and he'd died with her still pretending her life with Pete was perfect and that she loved him. She cared about him, yes, but it wasn't love. It wasn't love.

They stepped from the school being watched by teenagers, their curious faces pressed against their classroom windows as the teachers tried to get them back to concentrating on lessons.

Sam climbed into the car as Daniel slid in beside her and Teal'c climbed into the passenger seat. They all belted up as the airman at the wheel began to drive off towards the air base where they'd catch a plane back to Colorado. They sat in a silence, both awkward and horrified, as Sam's thoughts returned to what her friends had told her earlier. Jack had committed suicide, had thought that she didn't love him and had willingly sacrificed himself in the knowledge she was happy with Pete, which had all been pretence.

She wanted to cry. To break down and cry and cry. She now wished with every atom that made her up that Jack had heard her when he was lying in the Infirmary. She wanted his last thought of her to have been that she loved him, not that she loved someone else.

Sam realised something and spoke suddenly, "I'm sorry, Captain Marshall. We have to go back. I left my laptop in the hall."

The airmen looked in the mirror with a small smile, "No problem, Ma'am." Marshall turned the car around and went back to the school. They pulled up outside as Sam climbed out of the car again and went back into the school, through the main entrance. She walked along the corridors looking at the classroom doors and the lockers, remembering her own childhood...

She stopped for a moment and walked back as her eyes fell on the name on the locker that had caught her attention...

"J. O'Neill..." She whispered, staring at the locker, suddenly looking strangely like his locker at the SGC...

She took a step away feeling tears tickling the corner of her eyes as she muttered angrily with herself, "Don't be stupid, Sam!"

She hurried back along the corridor towards the hall. The sooner she got on that plane back to Colorado the better. She opened the back stage door and walked up the stairs to the stage, spotting her laptop still lying on the table where she'd left it.

She picked it up and went back offstage, when there was a loud bang of doors being flung open and heavy footsteps. There was then a familiar cry of frustration and Sam felt her heart thudding against her ribs as she stepped back onto the stage.

Her eyes fixed on the 16 year old boy stood in the middle of the empty hall. He was breathing heavily and was bent over double, hands on his knees. He muttered to himself angrily, "I missed them. I can't believe I missed them. I should've come into school in the first place! Goddamn stupid, O'Neill!"

Sam felt a tearful gasp leave her as she almost dropped her laptop, shakily placing it back on the table. At the sound, his eyes suddenly rose and he stood up straight in shock. He was not a lot shorter than his older self had been from her memory, but at 16 he hadn't yet become as muscular. His face looked almost identical to her Colonel only a lot more youthful and without the scars and signs of age. His chest was heaving and it was obvious he'd sprinted a long way and at a considerable speed. His dark eyes were the same and it was the look of amazement in their depths as he looked at her that forced her into crying.

She walked down the steps to the hall floor, stumbling forwards her eyes full of tears. She stopped dead and fell to her knees, her head swimming in images of Jack, pale and lifeless in the Infirmary, the respiration tube being pulled from his mouth as Dr. Brightman tried to console her. Sam hadn't cried then, but she sobbed now, the pain of losing the man she loved hitting her like a battering ram.

After a few moments of disbelieving silence only broken by her faint sobs, she heard his soft tread and felt him crouch down beside her. Slowly an arm encircled her shoulders as she began to shake harder. After a few seconds, he murmured into her ear in a hoarse, breathless whisper, "I'm here, Carter. I'm here."

She let out a sob as she wrapped her arms around his neck, weeping from the despair of hearing his voice, so like she remembered. His hand gently rubbed her back as he hugged her just as tight and she felt his back shudder as he himself was reduced to tears.

He spoke, obviously as emotionally heart-broken as her, "I thought I'd never see you again. God, I missed you so much." He let out a tearful sigh as he whispered in her ear, "But it's alright now. Everything's going to be alright now."

"Sam, are you... HOLY SHIT?"

Daniel ran to them across the room as Jack released his 2IC, until his eyes fell on Daniel and he stood, throwing his arms around the shocked archaeologist as he cried, tears still falling from his eyes, "Daniel!"

The man gently placed a hand on Jack's back as he was, for one of the brief moments in history, utterly speechless. Jack pulled away feeling a smile on his face as he choked on his sobs, "I can't believe you're here! I can't believe it!" He hugged Daniel again before turning back to Sam who was now stood beside the Doctor...

But neither of them were smiling and Jack realised the other shoe had just dropped...

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Turning to face what you've become, Bury the ashes of someone,

Broken by the strain, Trying to fill that space inside,
Am I just like you? All the things you do - Can't help myself!

How do you feel when there's no sun?
And how will you be when rain clouds come and pull you down again?
How do you feel when there's no one?
Am I just like you? All the things you do.

Feeling a Moment Feeder

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Jack sat in the plane as it sped through the sky... taking him home...

Jack had always found a pleasure in flying. It always relieved all stress and invigorated him, always putting him in the best of moods. But this flight was silent and tense and Jack was hating every minute of it.

He was sat alone, his bags and boxes packed into the seat next to him. They'd driven round to his home and picked up his stuff, Percy seeming so confused as Jack left. Although his foster parents were taking all of this well and with some strange hatred and indifference they'd found for him, the poor dog couldn't understand.

Julian had made it to Jack's house by the time they were about to drive off. Jack had run to his friend and said a hurried goodbye, Julian not seeming his usual bright self. Jack found himself promising he'd visit, but Julian being as smart as he was, knew that it was probably an empty promise.

Suddenly, Jack had found himself on this plane, no one speaking to him, everyone ignoring him as though he didn't exist. His seats were slightly separate from that of Teal'c, Daniel and Carter all of them determined to stare out the window or at the floor so as they didn't have to look at him...

Jack couldn't believe how they were treating him! He understood that they missed their Jack, but surely they wouldn't hate him for being alive instead! Would they?

Jack felt like the bitter 50 year old man he really was again and stared at his faint reflection in the plane window. He hated the reflection that stared back because it wasn't him and it wasn't his fault.

He looked over at his best friends again, all of them still giving him the silent treatment. Daniel immediately pretended to be asleep, which Jack knew he wasn't, unless while he'd been away Daniel had been to see a therapist to stop his snoring. Teal'c stared out of the windows at the white clouds they were zooming through. Carter was staring at her fingers...

Her eyes were still red and puffy from when she had burst into tears in the hall. Her jaw was gritted in determination not to start again, although Jack could see the tears glistening in her eyes.

He couldn't bare this silence. It was driving him mad! After a moment, he spoke quietly, "So how did you like Grant High School?"

They all looked up at him in shock that he'd spoken, as if they really had all forgotten he was there. Carter's eyes only gazed into his for a split second before she looked away. The look in her eyes broke his heart as he looked at Teal'c and Daniel, hoping to find some kind of comfort.

He got none. Daniel looked away and muttered, "It was OK."

Teal'c obviously pitied him for the Jaffa spoke a few words holding eye contact, "We spent little time there."

Jack tried to smile at the Jaffa, but he'd already turned back to the window. Jack sighed and looked out of his own before rummaging in his backpack for his yo-yo... the only thing on this plane journey he was even slightly going to enjoy...

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I'll be there for you, When the rain starts to pour,
I'll be there for you, Like I've been there before,
I'll be there for you, 'Cause you're there for me too.

I'll be there for you The Remembrants

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"Are you sure you don't want me to stay? We've had... well a traumatic day..."

Sam stood in the doorway of her bungalow as Daniel stood on the doorstep, hands in his pockets, giving her a sympathetic smile and fixing her with his blue eyes, telling her how much he loved her and how worried he was about her. It was dark, after 10pm, and the day was over, a day which had brought with it so many mixed emotions Sam felt drained.

She smiled at him slightly as she whispered, "Thanks Daniel. But I need time to think about all this... I can't..." She felt tears welling again as she let out an almost frustrated sigh.

Daniel interrupted before she could continue, "I understand. I completely forgot about... the clone..." He observed her as she shivered when he mentioned Mini-Jack. He cleared his throat and pulled his hands out of his pockets, placing them on either side of the doorframe as he said, "Well I'll leave you to get some rest."

Sam smiled softly, although the pain and misery in her eyes was more than obvious, "Thanks. You should get back home anyway. Cassie's probably waiting for you."

Daniel's face was sad for a moment obviously thinking of Janet before he hid his discomfort by snorting, "More likely watching a film with her friends, who all call me her 'hot' dad!" Sam let out a soft chuckle at that, but it was short-lived.

Daniel sighed annoyed with himself as he murmured, "I feel like you're miserable because of me. I'm so sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty about Jack's death... And I didn't really tell you... It wasn't suicide... Jack was way beyond that time in his life. It was more a choice between who lived and who died, and we all know he'd always have chosen himself..."

"You didn't make me feel guilty, Daniel, and I know that it was just a choice, but..." Sam whispered gently as she stared at her boots, "I just... I wish I could... turn back time or something..."

Daniel stared at her, trying to analyse what to say or do. After a second, he whispered, "No you don't. The whole Grandfather paradox..."

Sam nodded and let out an ironic laugh, "You don't think I didn't consider that half way through planning to hijack the gate and just make it happen."

Daniel snorted slightly at the humour, one scarce piece of Sam which had survived the tragedies that had struck them, "Yeah, I guess you did."

He thumped a hand against the wooden door frame gently as he stood straight, "Night. I'll keep you posted on his progress..." His voice trailed away as Sam just looked at him and shook her head and he took a small breath, "OK. I guess that's why you're taking leave, huh? I'll call you if there's anything you need to know then. See you back at work in three weeks."

"Thanks again."

Daniel leant in and gave her a soft peck on the cheek as he whispered, "Don't mention it. I'll bring Cassie to come visit. She's still fuming about the fact she can never beat you at chess..." Sam smiled quietly as Daniel murmured, his voice full of concern, "Take care of yourself."

Sam smiled as he began walking back to his car, "You too."

Reaching the car door, Daniel turned suddenly, "Oh, I almost forgot." He leant in through the driver's side and pulled something black from the glove compartment. He walked back to the front step and held out the objects. Two video cassettes.

Sam frowned and looked at him and then down at the tapes, "Daniel?"

Daniel's eyebrows rose slightly as he pulled a strange smile, "Bregmann, you know, the reporter guy. He visited me at home yesterday." Daniel licked his lips nervously as he said quietly, "He gave me these. I... I watched them and..." He met her eyes as he continued quietly, "The first one is an exact copy of the one that'll be going on sale to the public... Not really that interesting... I mean we work there for crying out loud!..."

Even his attempt at a 'for crying out loud' didn't stop Sam from anticipating his next comment almost anxiously, "And the second...?"

He held them out towards her as he said quietly, "The second one is pretty much uncut. There are some things on there... well that... that I think you should see..."

Sam frowned slightly, but took the tapes in her hands, looking at Daniel as he gave her a smile, pushing his glasses up his nose slightly, "Well, see ya."

"Yeah, you too, Daniel," he began to walk away as Sam felt herself speak up, "Daniel?"

"Yeah?" He said, about to slid in behind the steering wheel.

"What... What should I see?"

Daniel looked at her sadly, "Hopefully what I saw." He looked away for a second before he looked up again and said, "Bregmann got some very interesting answers from some of his very interesting questions. Interesting enough that he gave me the tape and said I should show it to all those who might... might find some... comfort or closure or... well something from it I guess..."

Daniel then closed the door and drove off leaving Sam stood, video cassettes in her hands, unsure what he had meant, but knowing that she had to see that second tape.

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Yet more Author's note: Hope you're all enjoying this! Part 4 will be on its way ASAP. I'm busy at school and I'm planning my sweet sixteenth which is only a month away so I'm busy busy busy! But its on its way! Watch this space! Please send me some feedback, its great to hear from you guys!

Sam xx

Copyright (C) Sam I Am 2005