I wrote this awhile back, and found it BETAED in my shared Google Docs. How industrious of my beta!

Still working on PD20; Don't worry this has several chapters written already, so won't be interfering with my WIP.

Please let me know what you think, since this is one of my early SG-1 fics. I wrote this after originally abandoning PD - It was when Season 8 first aired and I was so disgusted by Sam's acceptance of Pete's ring, that this came about.

Prologue

She'd been distraught when he'd knocked at her door looking so much like the man she was mourning that it didn't matter in her mind that he wasn't.

It was easy to take advantage of the situation, his pity for her made him less resistant to her advances. She'd known what she was doing was wrong, that it would make it difficult for him to work with Captain Carter, but she couldn't summon the energy to care at the time. Her heart had been breaking every night that she'd spent going to bed without her husband and she hoped for just one night to feel whole again.

He hadn't stayed the night of course. He'd left her afterwards, looking guilty and confused. She knew he was thinking of Captain Carter and what it all meant for all of them.

She too felt guilty, but the feeling of being with him had over ridden everything else. Then things started to happen quickly and before she knew it she was back home and losing him once again, or as he had gently reminded her, the first time.

Once things had settled down a bit, her determination to fix things and put everything back into place had dulled the ever present pain she felt. He was gone and was never coming back. They, she, had a lot to do and it would take literally years to accomplish all they had planned. She was needed and she had to step up. Her husband would've wanted it that way. He had been a survivor and she was going to survive for him. She smiled. For them.

Chapter 1

Orilla, New Asgard Homeworld

The recently defrosted Colonel Jack O'Neill opened his eyes and found himself waking up for the second time in unfamiliar surroundings. I really shouldn't make a habit of this, he thought to himself.

"Jack, you okay?"

"Daniel."

"Um, yeah. How do you feel?" Daniel squinted at him.

He frowned up at his friend and thought of a suitable answer. He figured straightforward honesty was best. "Well, actually, I feel pretty good. Better, even. I haven't felt this good in... Ever."

Daniel cleared his throat. "Hmm. That's good, Jack, that's very good."

His eyes narrowed at Daniel's rather shifty attitude. "Is there something you'd like to tell me, Daniel? Like maybe what happened this time and why for the second time I've found myself waking up to you?"

Daniel frowned. "You don't remember? Thor said you'd remember everything."

He'd had enough. This was getting ridiculous, he needed answers and he needed them now.

"Help me up," he said extending his hand. Daniel grasped his forearm in assistance.

He felt slightly disorientated, blood rapidly rushing to his head, black spots circling in his vision. He closed his eyes to dispel the image. Opening his eyes once again, he was able to finally take in the room he was in.

"What the hell are we still doing in Orilla?"

Daniel cleared his throat before answering. "You collapsed."

He shook his head as if trying to shake the memory back into place.

"Well, to be more precise, you died."

He paused, his hand in mid-scratch at the back of his head. "Come again?"

"You died, Jack. Thor beamed us back to his ship and then you collapsed."

"Oy!"

"Yeah, another one of those days."

"So," he said jumping off the surface that the Asgard used as a bed and took a better look around the room. One side of the room was covered in glass that he guessed was of the same construction as that used in Asgard ships. Beyond and far below them lay a carpet of trees. A forest, really. It seemed that the grey aliens, like the other members of the four advanced races, had a thing for the green stuff. "More trees, huh. Same old, same old."

Daniel smirked at him. Smirked. "Not quite, Jack. Not quite." The younger man gestured at something beyond the room and he followed with his eyes.

A bathroom.

"That bad?" He asked, remembering a similar incident after, ironically, the Asgard had dropped them off on a planet after saving the aliens' collective asses from the Replicators the first time. He gave himself a little sniff.

Daniel gave an exasperated sigh. "Just go in the bathroom."

"Alright," he shrugged and sauntered into the lavatory. The lights came on immediately once he crossed the threshold and revealed utilitarian looking facilities. Sink, toilet, shower. All brand new and unused, he figured. The Asgard were actually thinking of human creature comforts. He turned back to Daniel. "Yeah, so what?"

Daniel pointed behind him. He muttered something under his breath, getting tired of this cryptic crap. "Why don't you just-" he suddenly stopped mid-sentence and stared at his reflection in the mirror. Holy Buckets! "Oh, for crying out loud! What the hell did they do to me?"

"Jack-"

"No!" he stopped Daniel with a pointed finger. "When a person dies, you resuscitate them; you do not perform plastic surgery and pump them with that Bollox -

"Botox!"

"-stuff." He finished. He turned around again and looked himself over in the mirror. He looked... strange. Almost shiny from being 'new'.

Daniel interrupted Jack's self assessment. "They didn't pump you with any toxin or perform surgery on you. What would be the point? Anyway, the - the Asgard had more pressing concerns than making cosmetic changes, they were too busy trying to save your life."

"Then explain this!" He pointed at his face angrily.

"They cloned you!"

He gaped at Daniel, flabbergasted at his explanation. "Run that by me again?"

"Well-"

"The abbreviated version," he warned.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "You collapsed. Thor transported you to his ship. Seems your brain had suffered irreparable damage from the Ancient download. He froze you again, created a clone, and transferred your consciousness to your new body."

"Then why the hell don't I look myself?"

"Well you do. Just... younger."

"Yeah, what's with that?"

"Look, Jack, the Asgard have perfected - well, mostly perfected - the transfer of consciousness from one body to another. They've been doing it for millennia. Thor assures us that the Asgard cloning problem didn't affect them until many, many clones later. Your new body is essentially perfect. Thor aged you to the point at which he figured you'd feel comfortable."

Jack turned back to the mirror and studied the much younger face looking back at him. "How old do you think I am?"

Daniel frowned behind his glasses and looked at his reflection. "Umm, I'd say thirty something, maybe? Younger than when we first met."

"Thor does a good job."

"Hmm?"

"A little too good, Daniel. I look brand spanking new!" Where the hell where his laugh lines? He'd had them at thirty. Harlan had done a better job at reproducing him, scars and all. This new body looked a bit too artificial, too perfect without the reminders of his past pains.

Daniel snorted behind him. "Only you would complain at getting a new, younger version of yourself."

"Ah, been there, done that!" He already had a clone back on earth. Wasn't there enough of him going around? Was he even the original anymore? Technically, he wasn't by all accounts.

"This is different, Jack. We had no choice. We couldn't just let you die."

"You know, I specifically had a living will to prevent this exact sort of thing. No extraordinary means, doesn't that mean anything to anyone?"

"Like I said, this is different. The Asgard had the technology to keep you alive. You're too important to everyone."

He snorted at that. He was a pain in the ass Colonel who'd broken to many rules, made too many enemies, and they thought he was too important? Sometimes he wondered at the collective intelligence of the Asgard at choosing him to be their favorite Tau'ri. He was just the unlucky idiot who didn't learn his lessons very well and kept literally sticking his head where it didn't belong.

"Jack, can't you just be happy to be alive? Think of this as a blessing. This gives you a couple of more decades on the field."

"Oh yeah. Another twenty years of being shot at, sarcophagused, implanted..." he grumbled.

"Look, the deed is done. We can't undo what's happened. Just accept it, okay?"

Daniel left the bathroom, leaving him alone to continue staring at himself. This was going to take some explaining once they got back to the SGC. He didn't relish the briefing with Dr. Weir. He really missed Hammond.

Speaking of the SGC, where the hell was the rest of his team? Wasn't Carter the one who was usually roped in to explain all this science fiction stuff to him rather than Daniel? He got a sudden sinking feeling. Why wasn't she here? Did something happen after they beamed on board Thor's ship? Did Fifth do more than she'd let on?

Forgetting his own troubles momentarily, he went after Daniel determined to find out where Carter was.

Jack eventually found his way to his quarters after wandering the Asgard facility for what seemed like hours. Daniel had done a disappearing act and he found no one in the corridors to ask for directions. He'd looked around until he got tired of looking and walking in bare feet - where the hell were his shoes, anyway? - and traced his way back to the room in which he'd woken up.

Someone had been in during his walkabout and left some Asgard food blocks and, he was happy to find, his combat boots and BDUs. Now, if he could only find his team and Thor and book it back to Earth, he'd be a happy man.

He picked up one of the blocks on the plate and gave it an experimental sniff.

"Thor likes the yellow ones."

"Hmm." He stuffed one in his mouth and chewed slowly. "Tastes like Swarfega."

Sam Carter approached him hesitantly, unsure how to act around him for some reason. He looked so... Hot.

"How you doin' sir?"

Jack sighed and put the remaining yellow block of food back on the plate. "Just peachy." He said nonchalantly. "Been cloned again, you know?"

"Yes, sir. You seem to have a penchant for it."

"Yes, well, not exactly something I'd like to be known for."

Sam cleared her throat, her mouth suddenly feeling dry just by looking at him. "Teal'c and Daniel are waiting for us back on Thor's ship. We're ready when you are."

Jack grunted something and pulled off the drab grey shirt they'd put him in. He didn't bother asking Carter to turn around, she knew the drill. He untied the drawstring of his pants and stepped out of them, glad that who ever undressed him had bothered with underwear, no matter how 'brief'.

Sam just stared at her commanding officer, forgetting she was supposed to turn around for the sake of his modesty, forgetting that she wasn't supposed to look at him with naked lust in her eyes, or that she was supposed to be in love with someone else.

He was down to his underwear and she couldn't help but note that he more than filled it, and that the rest of his body was just as tight. His body looked ripped, toned, perfect. The Asgard had created the ideal body for the Colonel, although she suspected that he'd looked something like this at a similar age. Jack O'Neill had been a soldier all his life, a trained killer, and a master strategist. He would've trained his body to peak performance and that meant something like this body she couldn't help but ogle.

She noted that he'd done up his belt and was about to look up and she quickly turned away, her face burning at the thought of being caught staring at him. "You done sir?"

"Let's, Carter. Don't want to outstay our welcome!" Jack said cheerily, pushing her forward towards the doorway.

Sam looked over at her right shoulder where he'd touched her briefly and felt a tingle. Oh, Boy!

Daniel half jogged to catch up to Jack as his friend exited the elevator on sub-level 22 on his way to the commissary. He'd been looking for the man for the past half hour, but the newly minted General had proven elusive.

"So, rumor has it you've accepted the big chair."

"And the rumors would be right," Jack replied not pausing in his stride.

"Have you thought of what this would mean for SG-1?"

"Oh yeah," Jack once again replied not once glancing at Daniel.

"O-kay. Let me rephrase that: I thought having this new body thing was a way of keeping you in the field longer? Now, you're- you're just gonna be in the sidelines watching Walter dial up the chevrons!"

Jack pushed the commissary doors open with both arms forcing Daniel to step behind him. "I didn't have a choice in this whole 'body thing' remember? This wasn't in the plan. Besides, Carter's ready. She'll make a wonderful leader for SG-1."

"That's not the point Jack..."

"Then what is your point, Daniel?" Jack grabbed a tray from a stack and brought it over to the dessert counter and loaded it with two plates of cake. He brought the tray over to an empty table, pulled up a chair and sat down. Jack placed a plate in front of him moved the other across the table where Daniel also pulled up a chair.

"I guess I don't really have one. We just don't want to lose you on the team, Jack. It's not gonna be the same without you. Don't get me wrong, Sam's gonna be great, but I just don't understand why you decided to accept the promotion now."

"To be fair, Daniel, they've never offered before." Jack said quietly.

Daniel raised his eyebrows. " Oh."

"Yeah" Jack smiled now playing with his cake. "If I turn this down, they might not offer again." He cleared his throat. "Besides I didn't want to deal with another idiot like Bauer from the Pentagon who knows zilch about running the SGC. It's not like Hammond's gonna be allowed to come back, it'd be like a demotion for him from being head of Homeworld Security."

Daniel nodded his head in understanding. He dug into his cake and smiled up at their fearless leader. "I think the Pentagon has finally done something right."

Jack laughed. "Yep. Me as the big cheese, el jefe, the big kahuna..."

"THE Man," Daniel added laughing with him.

"I spent most of my life stickin' it to The Man."

"And now you're it."

"Maybe I could tell them I changed my mind..."

Let me know if you guys think Chapter 2 is worth posting. If not, I'll just stick to PD for now until that's done and dusted, and will start on a different story I'm currently outlining. xx