A/N: Multiple fictional crossovers begin this chapter, along with a new beginning of another kind.

Chapter 5

Slowly opening his eyes, Poe brought a hand up to rub the drowsiness from his eyes before putting it back to keep Nat close. Feeling her fingers play with the hairs at the back of his neck, he hummed, looking down at where she lay awake on his chest. "That tickles." He murmured, sleep still lacing his voice.

"Really?" She asked, her fingers stilling.

"No, it actually feels really nice." He chuckled, receiving a hum of her own in response as she continued her ministrations. "How did you sleep after your nightmare last night? When you finally got there, I mean."

"Restless." She said distantly. "Couldn't stop thinking."

At this he frowned. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I thought we did last night." She looked away as she tightened her arm around him.

With a sigh, he grazed his nose against her forehead. "I'm just worried about you."

"You shouldn't have to." She pressed her cheek against his chest in a weak attempt to hide.

"Why can you worry about me, but I can't worry about you?"

"Okay, fair enough."

Noticing how her arm flexed around him once again, he returned the gesture. "Are you okay?"

Looking up at him, she opened her mouth as though to say something before something in her eyes clicked and she looked at the clock on the wall panel. "Kriff, I'm late." Was all she managed before tearing herself out of his arms and hurrying out of bed.

"Whoah wait, hold on! Late for what?" Poe protested, sitting up.

"A meeting." Was what she replied with.

"What meeting?" He frowned. "I thought we were having a moment!"

Freezing whilst putting on one of her boots, she finally broke out laughing. Straightening up, she put her hand on the back of his neck and kissed his forehead, earning a grin from the bedheaded pilot. "You're funny, pilot." She told him. "I'll see you later tonight and you can woo me with another moment then. This is important."

"Okay…" He sighed dramatically, though still smiling.

Rolling her eyes, she kissed his head one more time before putting on her other boot and moving to the door. "See you later, you dork." With that, she left the room.

Having a moment? BB-8 questioned from the corner of the room where he had been silently observing.

This made Poe chuckle as he swung his legs out of bed. "I dunno." He admitted. "It made her smile either way."

"So, you told him you had a meeting to go to?" Bucky asked as they walked up the road to the house.

"Yup." Nat nodded, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"But instead, you teleported to the house and told me we're going on an adventure." He continued.

"An adventure to a meeting." She rebutted.

"That you suddenly decided to make."

"That's not the point."

"Is this guy even going to be here?" He sighed, looking at the empty driveway as they walked up to the porch.

"He better. He's retired now. Again." She said, humour lacing her tone as she rang the doorbell.

From within, a voice called I'm coming, I'm coming, accompanied by shuffling towards the door. Before their potential host arrived, Bucky looked at her in panic under his cap. "We can trust this guy, Clara? We're safe here?"

"Well unless HYDRA can cross realities, we're safe." She grinned. "Besides, there's far too many for them to go through to get to the right one even if they somehow could."

His eyes widening, Bucky opened his mouth but snapped it shut as the front door opened. Inside the doorway, an older man with short silver hair and about Bucky's own height stood studying him cautiously before looking to Nat. The confusion disappeared however as familiarity clicked in his eyes once he recognized the young woman. "Whoah!" The man shouted in surprise, taking a step back. At this, Nat smiled in amusement. "Hey there!"

"Hi Jack." She replied quietly.

Recovering from his shock, Jack O'Neill stepped over the threshold to pull her into a tight hug. "You've been gone too long, kid." He mumbled into her shoulder.

"I know, I'm sorry." Her voice hitched as she tried her best not to cry.

As the two stood clinging to each other, Bucky shuffled next to them, unsure of what to do. At his movement however, Jack opened his eyes to study him before pulling away from the hug. Looking him up and down, he finally pointed a finger at him. "Not Anakin." He finally stated, though he sounded puzzled, he phrased his words as a statement.

"Not Anakin." Nat confirmed with a laugh. "Jack, this is Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, or Bucky as he prefers." She introduced her friends. "And Bucky, this is Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill."

"Retired." Jack stressed as he and Bucky shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Bucky gave him a shy smile.

While their hands came to a slow stop, Jack retained his hold as he looked between Nat and Bucky. "Have we met before?"

"Uhh… no?" Bucky replied, making both men turn to Nat who simply shrugged.

"Did Teal'c make you guys watch all the Marvel movies these last couple of years. I remember he seemed to like all the tech in Iron Man when it came out." When she saw Jack just staring at her, she shrugged again. "Bucky's from Marvel; I'm helping him hide."

"By taking him to, what did you call it, another dimension?" Jack asked.

"Yup."

Looking between the two blankly, Jack finally just gave a quick nod. "Okay." He said, turning back into the house. "Come in here, we've got a lot to catch up on. "Nice red hair by the way." Looking back up to Bucky as she thanked the older man, she gave him an encouraging nod before leading him into the house, pulling the door shut behind them. "Your birthday is in a couple of months, how old will you be now?" Jack called from the kitchen.

"Twenty." She replied, slowly shuffling into the living room. Looking around, she saw it hadn't changed much from when she was a child, asides from a newer television set and recent photos in frames around the room. Many of the photos contained Jack with a familiar long haired blonde woman, making her smile widely.

"Geez," He sighed. "Could you stop getting older? You're making me feel old." He called, making her laugh.

"He has no idea what it's like to feel old." Bucky muttered from the corner of his mouth.

"Well, you're legal drinking age in Canada, right?" Jack continued.

"Yep!" She confirmed before looking to her companion. "He's known me since I was six." She told him quickly.

"Fair enough." Bucky conceded.

"Okay, want a beer?" Jack asked as he opened the fridge.

"No thanks."

"Anything else?"

"I'm good, thank you."

There was a pause before he spoke again. "Want a beer, Sergeant?"

His eyes widening, Bucky glanced at Nat who nodded before he replied. "Uhh, sure." The bottles clinking as they were taken out of the fridge and as Jack shuffled into the room, when Jack held one out to him, Bucky smiled slightly as he took it. "Thank you, sir." He nodded. "And Bucky is fine."

"Alright, Bucky." Jack agreed. "But only if you drop the whole sir thing, I'm retired."

"Yes, how is retirement anyways?" Nat asked, side stepping them to plop down onto the worn sofa.

"Oh well... I'm not being shot at, told what to do, or have to give any orders." Jack listed off, sitting next to her. "So… pretty good I'd say."

"That's good." Nat smiled.

"Yeah. So, you don't drink?" he asked, taking a sip of his beer.

"I do occasionally. Just not beer." She grinned.

Upon hearing this, he squinted at her. "You don't drink beer." He repeated, earning a cheeky nod and grin. "Okay, what do you drink then?"

"Rum, whiskey, smirnoff. The first two preferably straight, no ice or anything." She listed off, smirking again when he choked midsip.

"What did we do to screw you up?" He asked once he recovered.

"Absolutely nothing."

Seeing that Bucky was still awkwardly standing near the stairs, unsure of what to do, Jack gestured for him to sit down. Once he was satisfied the super soldier was seated, he looked back to the young woman next to him. "You still hanging around Anakin these days?" He asked. "We don't see you two much anymore, but you two were always around each other… a lot."

"No, that chapter's over." She said curling up on the couch. "Been through the Empire. Forced to relive a bunch of stuff, the usual; just in a new era."

"Oh…" He nodded, his face falling slightly as he watched her reaction. "This… chapter, is it over too? Are leaving us behind too?"

"Going through the Stargate? Yeah, that's done." She said. "Seeing the team? Never."

"Ah, but there is no team anymore, kid." He corrected her.

"We might not be the SG1 to go through the Gate anymore, but you, Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c? You'll always be SG1; to me and a lot of people." She said with the utmost sincerity. "Besides, I'm still playing in that Star Wars… sand box, whatever you want to call it."

"The Empire had to have been dangerous for you." He noted.

"And long. But I had a good teacher to teach me what I needed to know ahead of time."

Shrugging, he leaned back. "Yeah, that Obi-Wan was good to you." He said.

Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "I was talking about you, Jack." She laughed.

He surprised her by not laughing. Instead, he took a long swig from his bottle before sitting up with a heavy sigh. "Natasha… they brought you to the SGC when you were six years old. Yeah, you could play tricks with the power, but either way it was like bringing a pig in to be slaughtered. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing." He told her.

"And I appreciate that. I really do and always will." She stressed. "I hope you know that." There was silence in the room before she spoke again. "You see the new Star Wars movie?"

"Teal'c was excited. Took the whole team." He chuckled.

"I bet." Nat laughed slightly, memories of Teal'c's love for Star Wars running through her mind. "Anyways, new movie is where I'm abouts these days."

"How do you like it?"

"Well… because I don't know what happened after the fall of the Empire, I had to skip…" She trailed off as she did the math. "Thirty years ahead? So yeah, it's different."

"It would be." He agreed. "Look what over twenty years did here."

"Yeah, you got hotter." She teased.

"What can I say, the ladies always loved me." He replied.

"I know." She deadpanned. "Even at six years old I noticed."

Laughing again, Jack looked across the room to eye over Bucky. "And how old are you, Bucky?"

"Uhhh…" Bucky stuttered again, unsure of how to reply. A quick glance at his friend told him she would be of no help to him. Taking a large gulp of his own beer, he looked at the coffee table as he spoke. "I was born in 1917. During the second world war I was captured and brainwashed. Enemy turned me into an assassin and put me on ice when they didn't need me. I was only freed recently…"

Seeing Bucky couldn't bring himself to say anything else, Jack huffed gently. "Guess I shouldn't complain too much about the things I've been through then." He noted.

"I don't know, Jack. I think you've got plenty of stuff to complain about. Nanites, Ancient databases, Goa'ulds…" Nat made a face as she listed off some of the troubles he had previously encountered. "Neither one of you experienced or served what anyone would exactly call a standard military… career..." She continued, unsure of how to summarize any of their own experiences in the field.

Seeing how nervous and unsure she seemed to be, Jack looked at the front door and then back to her. "You actually just missed Sam, but I can give her a call and-"

"No, it's okay." She refused quietly, waving him off.

Looking between the two old friends, Bucky thought carefully before setting his beer down on the table and standing up. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" He asked.

"Down the hall to the right." Jack nodded towards the hall. Once Bucky had scurried away and the bathroom door had closed down the hall, he nodded. "What's wrong, kid?"

Curling in on herself, she glanced up at him. "Can I ask you something personal?" Seeing he was watching her levelly in silence, she knew it was okay to press on. "Remember the conversation we had… after the whole Za'tarc problem?"

"I believe I do." He said carefully, taking a sip from his bottle.

"Well, I have a problem." She said shortly.

"Which is?"

"I care about someone, a lot more than I probably should." She whispered, her words shaky as she looked at him in fear.

"Ah." He acknowledged after a pause. "Are you sure you don't want to talk to Sam about-"

"Jack." She whined.

"Alright." He conceded after a moment. "Okay, so, who's the lucky guy?"

"Someone in Star Wars." She mumbled.

At this he had to take another drink before he stared at her wide eyed. "Okay. Fictional in your world, real in another. I still got that right, right?"

"Yes; give yourself some credit." She rolled her eyes.

Thinking things over, he sighed and sat back. "Well, that certainly is a problem." He agreed. "What do you want my help for."

"I was a General in the Clone War, remember?"

"Why?"

"Stupid space politics." She threw back. "I got to retain that rank when I joined the Rebellion, and again in the Resistance."

"So this guy…" Jack began to clue in.

"Is ranked below me." She finished. "I'm one of his commanding officers."

"Who's the guy?" He asked.

"Poe Dameron." She mumbled, turning a shade of pink.

His brow furrowed as he looked at the ground in thought. "He's the pilot that almost died?"

"The very one." She confirmed.

"What's he like?" He asked curiously. To hear the woman before him that he had known since she was a small child speaking about someone she appeared to care deeply about someone, he wasn't able to suppress the old urge to protect her from others. "Why do you like him so much?"

Her face further reddening in embarrassment, she tugged on the leather cord around her neck. "Umm… Well, he's funny and flirt. But he's kind, a good friend, a strong soldier, but a bit of a Rebel. Obviously." She shook her head with a small smile. "He's always willing to put himself at risk if it means saving others. Kind of reminds me of someone I know, actually." She gave him a coy look.

"Okay. What made you… like him?" He ignored the jab. "Does he like you?"

"These last several months we've supported each other when dealing with our own demons." Her voice got quiet. "Saw inside each other, as it were. So, we grew close, I guess."

"That still doesn't answer my question though, does it. Does he feel the same way?" He reiterated.

"He has less worry about it than I do, but yes." She replied, beginning to fidget now with the silver band on her right hand.

"Have you talked to Princess-"

"General."

"Leia about this?" He continued despite the interruption.

"She said as long as we don't let it affect our work, then it would be fine, and that she couldn't be one to talk about involvement with other officers."

"Oh for crying out loud, then why are you so worried?" He exclaimed. "You're so worried about what you saw from me and Sam when you were a kid, and I know that's what you're so hung up on, but you've got a chance to go after that relationship that we never had! If you want it, take it! You have to stop over thinking it!"

Lifting her gaze to meet his, he could see the clear terror on her face as she said "But I've never been in a relationship before. I don't know what to do."

This made him stop. "I blame the Jedi for that; you know, I never did like how they did a lot of things. Look, Natasha. There's obviously going to be some problems ahead at some point, but you're tough. If you two really do like each other that much, then you'll make it work. If there's at least one thing I taught you in your life-"

"Like throwing a knife?" She grinned.

"Other than that." He pointed his finger at her. "If there's at least one thing I taught you in your life, don't make some of the same mistakes I did."

"I know you're not saying Sam is a mistake-" She began to say cheekily.

"Take opportunities where you can. Don't be stupid." He waved her off, making her laugh. "You know what I meant."

"Yeah," She agreed, leaning forwards to give him a hug. "I usually did eventually."

Later that evening when the buzzer went, Poe sat up quickly, waiting hopefully with bated breath before there was a quiet knock at the door, accompanied with a gentle call of his name. With that, he threw back his blankets and hurried to open the door. Outside, Nat stood in her pjs, wrapped tightly in a fluffy purple blanket. Looking up from the ground, she gave him a shy smile. "Hi." She whispered.

"Hi." He automatically grinned back.

Seeing there was no anger and only happiness and relief in his face, she relaxed. "Uhh, sorry about this morning."

Shaking his head, he stepped back to allow her into the room. "General Organa said you had to go off-world for business. I understand, you don't have to apologize for doing your job."

"Yeeeeaaaah… about that…" She said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he looked up at her in confusion. "What?"

"I didn't exactly go off world for business. I mean, I did go off world, but it was for personal matters." She twisted the corners of the blanket balled in her hands, avoiding meeting his eyes. "I went to go see my old team leader."

"About what?"

After thinking carefully, she said "Us…" before shrinking into her blanket.

At this he rose his brow in surprise. "Isn't that for something for us to discuss ourselves?" He asked.

Taking a couple of steadying breaths, she carefully kneeled in front of him. "Remember what I said about my dream last night? About how it was stressful on a number of levels?"

"Yeah."

"Well, one of the levels was… emotionally. At the time, my superior officer and his second in command had feelings for each other. The problem was though that the command we were under wouldn't allow it."

"Okay." He nodded. "A lot of companies are like that-"

"And I mean Leia said it was fine, us acting on our feelings I mean, so that's why I wanted to go talk to my leader to get his advice but… but after seeing something like that at such a young age-" She continued to ramble.

Taking her face between his hands, he smiled gently as his thumb stroke her cheek. "It stuck." He finished for her.

Sighing, she leaned into his hand, happiness rising in his chest at her movement. "Yeah."

"So what did he say?" He asked.

Unable to duck her head due to the gentle but firm hold on her head, she smiled shyly as she glanced at him. "He said go for it." She bit her lip before laughing slightly.

Laughing slightly, he continued to stroke her cheek. "And what do you want to do?" He asked hopefully.

Taking his hands from her face, Nat stood with a bit of help from Poe before she tackled him to the mattress, making him laugh as she mumbled "I wanna go for it." into his neck.

"Huh?" He called loudly between his laughter.

Sitting up together, she rested a hand against his own cheek as she pressed her forehead against his. "I wanna go for it."

"So do I." He agreed, nuzzling his nose against hers.

"Good." She said, straightening up to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Good." He repeated, pulling her close again into a tight hug as she began to giggle once again, any stress or worry he had felt about them earlier disappearing completely.