Title: Out of Control

Chapter: 6

When Jack and Sam awoke hours later in the forest, it was morning. They had been moved, which was made obvious by the lack of scorch marks on the trees. The only sign that anyone had been here besides them was the set of rocks that had been formed into an arrow, no doubt signaling the direction of the village or the gate. They stared at the rock formation on the ground then looked at each other. Jack made a gesture to move out, and so they did.

Upon arrival in the village, they were greeted by the villagers, Daniel, and even Teal'c. Though the two villagers who were attacked remained dead, Daniel and Teal'c had been miraculously healed. Neither showed any signs of ever being shot. And both were just as confused as Jack and Sam. The villagers were also unaware of what had happened to SG-1, though Jack suspected that the village leader knew more than he was willing to let on. Despite his efforts to press information out of him, he got nothing.

They went home with no more useful intel other than that their attacker was very dead. General Hammond frowned at the report, especially at the deaths of the two villagers. But his team was in tact and a murderer had been killed. This was more likely to be one of the good days compared to what they'd been through.

Descriptions of the strange group of people SG-1 encountered were distributed among the Tok'ra and some of the free Jaffa that Teal'c knew. The only description that sent back a hit was that of the woman. And the reputation she possessed was not flattering. The men in her party, however, were a mystery. The fact that one of them sounded like and even acted like he was from a specific region of the United States bothered Sam to no end. Everything about him screamed American boy. Yet, she never caught his name or that of the others. They were very careful not to reveal much information about themselves.

It would be several months, even years, before any of the members of SG-1 realized who those people were.

Present day…

"Incoming wormhole activation," Walter's voice intoned over the intercom. General Landry groaned as he stood up from his office chair. He wondered what traveler had decided to knock on his door at this ungodly hour. He peered at his watch. One o'clock in the morning. And a Saturday, to boot. Wonderful.

When he arrived downstairs in the control room, Walter informed him, "It's the special team's IDC, sir."

"Open the iris," he said plainly. Walter did as he was told and allowed Colonel Mitchell, Vala, and the four marines to pass through the gate. Landry leaned down into the mic, "Welcome home, everyone. Give me the cliff notes."

"Mission complete, sir," Cameron called up with a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Landry didn't seem to notice. "Good to hear. Report to the infirmary. We'll debrief in one hour." The team nodded to him through the glass and tiredly made their way to the care of his daughter.

Once they were settled into the infirmary, Vala whispered to Cameron from her bed, "Everything looks pretty normal to me." Mitchell still looked slightly unsure. "Come on, Dr. Lam's the same. Landry seems fine. Walter is… well, Walter."

"Vala, not now," he whispered through gritted teeth as Dr. Lam approached. He smiled at her, hoping she hadn't heard their conversation. She smiled back, warmly in fact. Well, that was different. Dr. Lam didn't usually look so chipper at one in the morning.

Looking down at her chart, Carolyn addressed Vala. "Looks like you're good. You can go ahead and hit the showers before your briefing." Vala smiled and thanked the doctor. She winked at Cameron as she left, probably trying to reassure him that everything was fine.

"Doc, I hate to be a nag over here, but what about me? Am I done or what?" Cam complained. All of the marines had been released before him as well.

She walked over to him. "Tell me how you're feeling right now."

"Uhh, tired, frustrated, glad to be home?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Then yes, you can go." She grabbed his wrist as he got up to leave.

He looked back at her, and asked, "Yeah, Doc?"

She cocked her head slightly at his use of her title. "What happened out there, Cam?"

"Uhh," he placed a hand behind his neck, "a lot. Not sure how much I'm allowed to say at the moment."

She seemed to understand. "Is everything… okay?"

"I sure as hell hope so," he replied before turning and leaving.

After the briefing, Vala was happy to slip out of her BDU's and into some comfortable pajamas. She was just drifting off to sleep when she heard a knock on her door. Grumbling, she got up to open it slightly. Her eyes squinted shut at the harsh light invading from the hallway.

"Hey," a soft male voice greeted. It was Daniel.

"Hello, Darling. Nice to see you. Good night, Darling." She nearly closed the door on his face before he pushed it open. Yawning, she simply turned around and crawled back into bed, despite the fact that he had also walked in and closed the door behind him. She didn't have the will to fight with him about this sudden interruption of her beauty sleep. "Can I help you?" she said in a monotone voice, with her arm over her eyes.

He sat down on the bed near her feet as if he'd done it hundreds of times before. This sense of familiarity he had with her was, well, unfamiliar. Suddenly, Cameron's fears that they had somehow changed the future occupied her mind. Her eyes shot open, but Daniel could barely see her in this dark.

"I heard you got back from Walter."

"And you couldn't wait until after I recovered from the mission to say hello?" she seemed to complain. Somehow she could tell he was grinning.

"Well, I've been waiting quite some time for you to get back. I knew I wouldn't catch you for hours once you finished up in the briefing room, so I…"

"Decided to prolong my sleep deprivation?" She looked at him now. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. What little light streaming through the underside of her doorway allowed her to see his smile. It was suspicious. He never smiled like that. Cameron's fears about the future were starting to become her own.

He chuckled softly. He never did that either. "Sorry, it's just that I need to talk to you. Now."

"Now?" she groaned.

"Yes." He took it as a signal to go on when her arms flopped down to her sides in annoyance. "Had we met before?" he hesitated.

"Beforrrr…"

"Before the Prometheus? That ship you tried to steal from us."

"Huh? Of course not." Vala turned onto her side, with her back to the door. "Are you done now?" she asked, already tired of his questioning.

"I have this distinct feeling that I met you before the Prometheus."

"Darling, what are you talking about."

"There! That's it."

"What."

"Darling."

"I repeat: what are you talking about?"

"You called me 'Darling' when we first met."

"I'm sure I did."

"Vala."

"Daniel, let me sleep. Please," she pleaded with him.

"No, wait. I think I'm right. I really think I'm right. That was you!"

She simply mumbled instead of asking what he meant.

"On your last mission, you met me right? A younger version of me?"

Her eyes reopened and she sat up. "What?"

"You did, didn't you?"

"How did you… you're not supposed to know details about that mission. As your superiors say, it's one of those need-to-know thingies."

"Well I know because I was there. I got shot, remember?"

"Daniel," Vala started, suddenly unsure of where this was going.

"Sorry sorry. I'll start with what I remember. Then you can tell me if I'm wrong." He took a breath. "There was a cave-in. You were there with some people when we got out. And later, you took us all hostage, but then you apologized to me and called me 'Darling'." He smiled. "There, did I get that right?"

She stared at him, dumbfounded. They did change the future. This, she just could not handle right now.

He pouted a little when she didn't respond. Daniel suddenly felt guilty for letting his own excitement about past events get in the way of her rest. He really should have waited till tomorrow. But it certainly explained a lot, seeing her now. Her hair was different when he met her on the Prometheus, but he wouldn't forget the way her hair glowed in the sunlight the first day they met outside that cave. Just like how it shined these days when they were off base. It was what mesmerized him about her in the first place. He wondered what kept him from making this connection before.

Daniel scooted closer on the edge of the bed. He brushed her hair to the side with a gentle hand. She looked perplexed by his touch, but didn't deny it. He stared more at her hair than her eyes. "I would never want to hurt you, either," he said, remembering her words. When he locked eyes with her, she seemed startled. The memory was fresh in her mind – bogged down by more stressful events to be sure, but still fresh. He smiled softly. Ever since she disappeared to that top secret mission to nowhere, he had suspected this. Now her apparent surprise confirmed everything. He'd known her far longer than he remembered.

Finally, she smiled sleepily at him. There wasn't much she could do about the past anymore. Might as well accept this strange surge of memories on Daniel's part. She patted his cheek. "Good night, Darling," she said simply.

Daniel took that at his cue to leave. "Good night," he replied.

Several months after the Kaldian incident…

"What's this guy's name?" O'Neill asked. He sat in his cozy office chair in Washington, D.C.

"Mitchell. Cameron Mitchell."

He stared at the picture in the file a little more closely. This daring pilot, who had helped save their butts in Antarctica, looked a lot like a suspicious character he had met some time ago. The same character that had given strange medical attention to Teal'c on that weird night on Kaldia. A quick glance at his work history indicated that he'd been with his current unit for over a year now. He'd never had clearance to go off-world.

"What the…"

"Sir?" his assistant jumped to attention.

"Nothing." He rubbed his chin, puzzling pieces of history and future possibilities together in his mind. "Jones."

"Yessir."

"Get this guy a medal."

"Sir?"

"He saved our assess out there, Jones," O'Neill said with conviction. "In more ways than one," he mumbled quietly to himself. O'Neill smiled slightly.

END

A/N: Thank you to those of you have read this far and especially to those of you who reviewed. I appreciate your feedback!