Thanks for all the lovely reviews! They gave me the final push to continue this story. ;)

I'm still very new to FF's features, so let me just express my appreciation in general.

The characters still aren't mine, except for one and I have developed quite the love/hate relationship with her.

This chapter will break away from Sam's point of view and show you how I envisioned Jack's response to her showing up. It's only fair to let him have a say too.

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The life I wanted, chapter 2: The life I never had

There she went. Samantha/Sally Carter/Johnson. Jack watched her as she walked away, wondering if he should follow her, do something to stop her from leaving. There was so much he wanted to know about the life he had led in Carter's timeline. He wanted to know how he could have lived with Charlie's death. How it had led to him divorcing Sara. How in earth he ended up married to Sam Carter, a scientist/soldier. A gorgeous one at that… He didn't stop her, though. It would have been wrong to ask. It wasn't really his problem anyway. Of course his job led him to wanting to stop those funny named aliens from attacking earth, but like the lady had said: If they needed him, they'd call him. Jack briefly wondered how he had come to believe her story. The one he had thought to be insane. She and her two friends had ended up in an altered timeline, where practically nothing was as it was supposed to be. According to them, anyway. All this happened due to some alien parasite thing that managed to kill him, or rather the original Jack O'Neill, first. He had heard a lot of strange stories in his professional life, but this one beat them all. And he actually bought it, word for word. Maybe he was slowly loosing it. Going nuts. Going…

''Dad?''

He spun around to find his son looking at him, with an expression he knew matched his own.

''Charlie?''

He mimicked his son's tone, urging him to say whatever it was that was on his mind. The kid's mind seemed to work a lot like Jack's. There were so many thoughts going through his head that he needed some time to bind them all together in one simple, but probably loaded question.

''…Who was that?''

Yes, he knew his kid.

''Who? Her?'' He casually pointed at the disappearing dot that was Samantha Carter. ''Just an old friend. Sally Johnson. We go way back. Waaaay… back.''

Charlie nodded and grinned at him. Yet another feature he and Jack had in common. He didn't ask, but it was clear that he was thinking that Sally Johnson had been more than a friend. Which was good. It was better for him to believe that the woman he had been talking to was an old flame than to know the truth. Charlie frowned.

''You know, from where I was standing, she seriously looked like that astronaut. You know, the one who…'' He made a gesture and sound that indicated an explosion.

''Yeah'' Jack cut in. ''I bet she gets that a lot.''

He and Charlie started to walk back towards the field, where four children were awaiting their return. Four children and one very annoyed looking brunette. Charlie noticed and started to chuckle.

''Margie looks pretty mad.''

Jack nodded. The relationship he had established with Margaret was nice. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less. She was caring and provided him with a kind of warmth he found very comforting. She liked Charlie, Jack liked her kids and they had fun together. She could be the woman he could grow to love. Someday. After Sara's death, now six years ago, he had believed that he could never love another woman enough to ever settle down again. Not because he thought in terms of there being One True Love, or because the love he had felt for his wife was one of a kind, but because Jack wasn't the man to fall for a woman head over heels. It took time. Lots of it. However, he now felt his believe shatter and unfortunately, Margaret wasn't the woman who had caused it. It was Sam 'not the astronaut' Carter. The woman who somehow managed to make Jack fall in love with her. The woman who managed to love him enough to want to marry him. And that in a timeline in which Jack had lost the most important person in his life. His son. Wasn't that enough to leave him bitter for life?

''…warn you that Margie is growing an extra head and tail?''

Jack shook his head. ''Sorry?''

Charlie sighed and rolled his eyes. ''You're not listening are you?''

''Sure I am.''

Ok, he hadn't been listening. He had been thinking about Sam Carter, which was pretty disturbing. After all, she was an intergalactic time travelling super soldier/scientist with a history of sci-fi clichés who had shared bed and morning paper with him.

''She's kind of attractive. Your friend, I mean.''

Could the kid read his mind? He glared at his son, while thinking that mind reading would probably be one of the minor events Carter had gone through as well.

''Yeah… for a soldier.'' Jack tried to sound as casual as possible and only noticed the use of her profession when it was too late. Not that it really mattered. Charlie would never see Jack's 'friend' again anyway.

Charlie looked at his father with renewed interest. Jack could see that his answer had spiked a new load of questions.

''So you worked together? What does she do? She didn't come to…''

''Charlie.'' Jack cut of his son again, ''That's …classified.''

Oh yes. Pulling out the classified card. Effective, yet a major cop-out. He noticed that Charlie fought back a grin and knew that the message was taken. Stop asking. In fact, Jack should have stopped asking himself questions that did not matter. This was his life. He was here, now. They were strolling and slowly approaching the picnic table that was now covered with sandwiches and drinks. Margie's kids were already seated and were playfully hitting each other. The four of them were all blond and blue-eyed and somehow diverted his thoughts back to the blonde Air Force officer. 'Sally Johnson' just didn't fit her. She was way to… kick-ass. Next to him, Charlie shot a questioning look at him.

''…Why did you call her 'Carter'?''

That was it. His son could read minds. Jack silently cursed the young man's sharp mind. And hearing. When Jack had seen Carter standing on the path, he had recognised her immediately. He wanted to speak to her. Make sure she knew he wasn't as edgy as he had been when they had first met in the Arctic. He did try to approach her casually, but she had turned to walk away. Jack had to make a choice between taking a sprint to catch up, or yell the only name he knew she'd listen to. Carter. Her maiden name. Thank god, for he was sure he couldn't explain yelling 'O'Neill' to her when Margaret and Charlie were there.

''It's just a nickname. You know, after… Jimmy.''

Charlie frowned and Jack would have been happy if his son wouldn't have been a curious college student who questioned every explanation given to him.

''So, she's nicknamed after a president and she just happens to be the spitting image of a dead astronaut with the same last name? …What a coincidence dad. And what was her name? Sally? I once read that when someone needs a new identity, they're advised to choose a name similar to their old one to avoid situations in which…''

Either his son had seen one too many witness protection movie, or he was slowly becoming a conspiracy theorist. Sad truth was that no matter how Jack looked at it, the kid had a point.

''I said it was classified, ok?'' Jack felt guilty about barking at Charlie, but it had to be done. He noticed that Margaret looked at them with a worried expression, but chose to ignore it. Charlie sighed and knew that he wouldn't get another word out of him about Carter, but felt the need to weigh in one more time. He whispered.

''They never recovered her body… She didn't really die, did she?''

Jack sighed. ''Let's eat, son. Let's just eat .''

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Margaret had been giving him the silent treatment ever since he and Charlie had returned to the table. For the sake of her kids, she had pretended to be cheerful, but Jack couldn't help but notice that she was one unhappy camper. Charlie had agreed to take the kids home and watch them for a while and Jack wasn't sure he should be happy about it. Now he was sitting in a diner with plastic furniture that was probably meant to imitate the style from the '50's. Behind the counter he spotted a waitress who definitely was vintage. The whole scene just seemed too darn happy.

,,So. Who was she and why did you feel the need to run after her?''

Margaret looked past him, at the table and at her hands, but couldn't look him in the eye. She fumbled with the napkin holder and diverted her attention to the very 1950's pepper and salt shakers. She felt insecure and she showed it. Jack decided to give her the same answer he gave his son earlier.

''She's a friend from the past.''

Or actually, from the present, the present he should have had. Or the past he never had. Timelines confused him. Muchly. Margaret picked up the bottle of ketchup and started screw the lit tighter. Jack waited.

''A friend huh? She's pretty.'' She picked up the bottle again, this time to unscrew the lit. When she noticed Jack didn't respond to her statement, she continued. ''She did look a bit young, though. For you, I mean. She's what… about five years younger than I am?''

Jack found the situation amusing, but knew it was better not to show it. If only she knew both how wrong and how right she was. His mind briefly wondered off. Carter hadn't even asked him about Margaret or Charlie. She had noticed, he was sure, but she had kept her thoughts to herself.

''Yeah, give or take.''

Jack grabbed the bottle of ketchup from her and put it back on the table.

''Listen, first of all, I wouldn't call her 'pretty', she's more…'' Bad idea to finish that thought, O'Neill. ''…and second, nothing ever happened between her and me. We never exchanged bodily fluids, nor did we see each other naked. I swear.''

Margaret smiled and finally managed to look at him. She trusted him and he appreciated that. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. His life was with her now. In this timeline, Sam Carter was dead, even though his son didn't seem to agree. He hadn't met her prior to their encounter on the Arctic ice. All he knew came from the file he shouldn't have read about the interviews held with her and her two friends. Colonel Samantha Carter, United States Air Force. Theoretical… something something. Fought evil aliens and once served under his command. It wouldn't have spiked his interest if he hadn't known that said colonel was married to him. Unlike what he had told Carter, that piece of information he didn't learn from the report.

On the submarine he had felt guilty about the way he had treated the three strangers and returned to their quarters to apologize when he had overheard a conversation. It was Carter talking to Jackson. Or Mitchell, he couldn't tell who was who. She had sounded upset, but steady. Jack didn't know why, but he could still replay every word he had heard her say, months after the fact.

''He died. He just…'' her voice broke. ''Leave it up to Jack O'Neill to die when we finally have the chance to…'' She had chuckled. ''You know what he said before we left for the base? This is the first mission we go on as husband and wife, Carter. Let's pray it'll be the last. This one will be a walk in the park, but the one after will probably go wrong, SG-1 style. I couldn't bare to loose you. To see you get hurt.'' Some muffled, soothing words from the other speaker. ''Well. I guess he had his wish fulfilled…''

That was the moment Jack found out. It had hit him hard and all the looks and glances he had seen from her had been explained. The hurt she had shown when he was told that Charlie was dead and the smile of relief when Carter had recognised him on the ice. It had all been for him. Him as in the person Jack O'Neill, not just the name.

Jack glanced at Margaret, who was now at ease and looking at the endless list of hamburgers she could choose from. He had to forget about Carter and concentrate on what he had. His son, and a nice and caring woman by his side, who couldn't be killed by aliens with a grudge every time she went to work. He was pretty sure Carter and her friends would manage to fix whatever they thought was broken, judging by what he had read. A minor event for SG-1. He would never be the wiser, anyway. If they were to succeed, he would loose everything he had grown to love in this life and he would never know. As disturbing as that thought was, he knew that whatever life he would get back, if he would get his life back and not stay dead, would be one filled with happiness. He knew that Carter cared about him. He was sure that the only reason she broke protocol by coming to see him, and therefore maybe blew her chances to fix things, was that she loved him more than the life she had left behind. More than the life he had never had. And that alone made him feel like an honoured man.

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Aww! So they still aren't together. Just more sadness and …musing.

This story is still marked 'complete' and might just stay that way. I mean… angst is good, right? However, as I stated in the previous chapter, I might dream of fluffy bunnies and decide to add yet another chapter filled with happiness. Or more S/J angst. ;) But consider it done. Tragic endings can be beautiful.

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed reading this story and thanks for your time!