Becoming the Fifth Race by dinkydow

Part Six: Decidedly Jack

"Dormada, I need the dormada."

I was dying and I knew it. Barring some unforeseen, miraculous, last-minute rescue, Colonel Jack O'Neill, leader of SG-1, second in command at SGC, would be toast. With no sarcophagus waiting handily in the background, and Thor not returning our calls, I didn't have much hope of that happening. As I sat slumped in the Ancients control chair deep under the ice of the Antarctic, my eyes slid closed and my head lolled to the side.

You know, it really wasn't surprising that it had come to this. Sooner or later, this was bound to happen. We had been using up our share of the vaunted SG-1 luck for years now. Finally, at long last, mine had run out. At least I wouldn't be dying for nothing. I couldn't have stood that. Throwing my life away on some useless enterprise would've seemed so meaningless. But I had fought the good fight against the super-soldiers from Anubis and won. I came, I saw, and I kicked that snake's ass. Not a bad epitaph for an old guy, huh?

***

The day had started out so quietly. The most pressing thing on my mind being how to kick Carter's ass in the crossword puzzle contest. Yeah, maybe betting double or nothing that I could complete it hadn't been the brightest thing to do. But, I did so want to be able to shove the finished product in her face. It would have worked too, if she hadn't taken the time to read my answers. So what if they weren't exactly correct? Details, details. She can be so picky sometimes.

Damn, I couldn't even shave in peace. Daniel was so worked up about finding another Ancient head-grabbing device that he couldn't even wait half an hour to break the news to me. If he had just been able to hold off for those thirty minutes, I could have at least finished the puzzle and psyched myself up for the rest of the workday. But, NOOO! He just had to phone me in the john and ruin my whole fricking day. Crap.

He had seemed disappointed when I didn't get excited about it. When I suggested it might be a good idea to stay away from it, his voice had sounded shocked. What the hell did he expect me to do? It just so happens that I have an excellent memory and I so did not want to visit that particular hell again.

The first time I'd gotten downloaded, I swear I could feel my brain melting and all but dribbling out both ears. That's how much that head-grabbing thing hurt. And that had just been just the beginning of my troubles. The pain and pressure inside my head had only gotten worse as time went on. It's absolutely no fun at all to realize that everything that made you a unique person was slowly being swallowed and destroyed by an invader. So what if all that stuff put you light-years ahead in the IQ department? I'd trade all that knowledge in a minute for the chance to remain me. Just Jack O'Neill, smart ass and friend to little gray aliens.

What Danny-Boy didn't realize was that I already knew how this little scene was going to play out even before we set foot on that planet. I had it on good authority that no one else on my team could operate one of those devices. Safely, that is. If feeling like your brain is going to explode can be called safe. My good buddies from the Asgard, Thor and Ernie, had already given me the skinny on that the last time I'd visited them.

While I was at Othalla getting my teenaged clone fixed up, they had explained in detail about how the Ancients had designed their devices to be operated only by people with a certain genetic sequence. Ernie, bless his little pea-picking heart, had been so enthused about showing me the holographic representation of my genes. According to him, I was one of the few who could activate and use their devices and weapons. Unfortunately for me, that put finding something to defeat Anubis squarely on the shoulders of yours truly. My mini-me, John, had the gene too, but for crying out loud, he wasn't old enough to shave yet.

Daniel did try to take my place at the head-grabber thing, I'll give him credit for that. He almost got the deed done too, but I jerked him away from it at the last minute. I told him that he was the one person that couldn't do it because he was the only one who could be the translator for the poor slob who ended up with all that data stuffed into his head. I hope he bought that excuse. Sounded good to me.

Evidently, this device was a little different than the first one we ran into. The first one had been activated when I stepped through their sensor circle on the floor. Apparently, this one was triggered when a certain sequence of letters was pressed on a tablet on the wall. Depending on how you wanted to look at it, Daniel lucked out and pressed the right, or wrong ones. Hell, since he could read that stuff, he probably knew which ones to press. Regardless of whether it was an accident or on purpose, the damn thing had appeared on the wall and I made the only choice I could. I took the fall and let it download itself into my brain.

What with Anubis and his band of super-soldier goons of doom showing up and threatening to blow us all to hell and back at any minute, it wasn't as if we had a whole lot of time to do anything else. So I planted the C-4 charges on the wall, stared into the thing, and got my head grabbed again. At least I took the time to give Daniel my cap first. It was my favorite cap, you know, and it takes time to break in a new one.

Carter says I was pretty out of it after it finally let go of my head. Go figure. To tell you the truth, I don't remember much about the trip back to the Stargate. Thank God the rest of my team were there to drag my sorry ass back home. I know I wouldn't have made it to the Gate without them and the other teams providing backup because the enemy fire was coming at a fast and furious rate. Hammond looked shocked to see me coming back through the Gate, guess he noticed I was missing my hat. It couldn't have had anything to do with me getting downloaded. Again. Could it? Nah!

I could tell they were discussing my current dilemma when I finally climbed those stairs to the Briefing Room. Note to self: requisition a damn elevator to get to the Briefing Room. Climbing those stairs are hell on my knees. God knows, we all get enough exercise as it is from hiking around on all those different planets, and I, for one don't really need or want any more.

When he saw me, Hammond just looked at me with that look of his. The one the says: "Just what the hell were you thinking, Jack?" Yeah, well, what can I say? It takes talent to get into this much trouble on a consistent basis. Either that or no brains. At least he let me go home for the rest of the day. "The Simpson's" was on.

As for my staying in the Infirmary, well I couldn't stay there for several reasons. One of them was because there was no need for me to. It wasn't as if we didn't know what was going to happen, because I'd danced to this music before. The other reason was because Janet wasn't there anymore and being there just reminded me of that sad and awful fact. I know, I always gave her a hard time, but behind all the crap I gave her was a whole hell of a lot of respect. She put me and way too many people back together, just so we could go back through that Gate and get hurt again. That was one gutsy lady and I miss her so much.

When I walked into the Infirmary after returning from my latest fiasco, I half expected her to be there, reaming me out for getting downloaded again. When I realized she wasn't there to do that, I felt so disheartened. As a career soldier, I know that ours is a dangerous business and people get killed. It just shouldn't have happened to her, not that way. She was the one who was supposed to patch us up. I know that even she wouldn't have been able to fix me up this time, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't have sat up all night with me trying. God, I miss her. Did I mention that?

Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, the General stopped by my house over the weekend, and dropped his bombshell. He said he was being replaced by some civilian broad who knew squat about our program and probably voted for Kinsey.

Speaking of Kinsey, that slime ball had the nerve to show up at the SGC and try to take over. He even went so far as to accuse us of lying about the up-coming threat from Anubis. You know, last year I was accused of being the trigger man who tried to knock him off. Too bad the real one was sloppy and didn't get the job done.

On the plus side, Kinsey managed to insult Bratac. Now that is one tough old bird, and it just isn't healthy to piss off that Jaffa Master. It took years to convince him that he should call me by any other name but "Human", so I should know. I could only hope that Bratac had been insulted badly enough to try to take Kinsey out, but Earth could never be that lucky.

Then it happened. I didn't catch my slip, but, from the expressions on everyone else's faces, they did. Right in the middle of one of my usual flippant comebacks, I used a word that made no sense. A word understood only by the Ancients...and Daniel. He was the only one who had the balls to call me on it, just like the first time it had happened. In fact, the circumstances were so similar to what had happened when I took the first download, that it was eerie. Yeah, I argued with him, insisting that it hadn't happened, but we all knew it had. Probably the one person I was trying the hardest to convince was myself. But, I knew Danny-Boy was right. It had begun to show itself. The Ancients were taking over my brain and Jack was not a happy camper.

It had taken longer to show itself this time. Maybe all those adjustment sessions with Thor's glowy palm thing had helped me build up some kind of immunity to it. Whether it had helped or not, the effects of the download were growing. It started with a strange word coming out of my mouth, here and there. As time passed, the mistakes would grow along with the size of my headaches and the feeling of pressure inside my head.

The next step would involve losing control over my body's actions. When it happened the first time, I had typed a whole bunch of new Stargate addresses into the base computer. After I started talking weird, Carter wouldn't let me get near any of our computers, if she followed base security protocol. She'd better not anyway because I wrote those protocols myself after returning from my first visit to Othalla. With my brain turning all wonky on me, the last thing the SGC needed was me messing up the computers and taking them off-line.

***

Going through this brain-drain thing is really weird. Although the part of my brain that belongs to Jack O'Neill knows what's happening, it just seems to get weaker and more insignificant as time goes by. The part of my brain that's full of the stuff from the Ancients was growing larger as it went about referencing information and making decisions. At first, the Jack part could veto those decisions so that I was still in control. But after awhile, the alien part got louder and stronger. The end result was that Jack, as in me, slowly lost the power to have any voice at all and gradually became weaker.

The first time this happened, I managed to make it through the Gate to Othalla before the Jack part of me disappeared altogether. Now, I'm not so sure that Jack O'Neill will survive intact. I'm still hoping that Thor will arrive like the Cavalry to pull my butt out of the fire.

`Where is he, anyway? What's taking him so long? He promised me he would look out for me. He promised.' These are some of the thoughts that form and skitter haphazardly through my thoughts. It's cold here, in this Ancients stasis chamber thingy. Ernie's medical pod was all nice and warm, but this reminds me all too much of the time I almost froze to death in Antarctica. It's hard to move around inside this thing, almost like I'm frozen in place. But, my eyes are open, so I figure I must be incased in some kind of gel stuff. Otherwise, my eyes would have dried out by now because they're still open. Right? It's boring just waiting here, though. My brain isn't quiet. I wish it was. It's still humming right along, processing all kinds of unintelligible data as the voice of Jack disappears.

My team mates haven't left yet and I turn my head laboriously to the side so I can see them better. Since my eyes are still open, I can see Carter looking at me and her lips are moving. Can't hear what she's saying, though. She looks like she's crying. Teal'c looks like, well, Teal'c. Quiet, stoic, sad. I can tell that Daniel is upset because he's hugging himself. Hope it's not about me, because I knew what I was getting into.

***

The first time I sat in the Ancients' Lazyboy recliner wannabe on the lava planet, I knew it would be my undoing. Before I sat in that thing, I could at least hold my own against the rising tide of the Ancients data. Once I sat in that chair though, my battle to save some semblance of Jack O'Neill was lost. The data burst the floodgates I had erected and took over so thoroughly that I could no longer communicate or even understand the people around me except though gestures. My body was no longer my own, it was controlled by long-dead voices from the past. The small part of me that still remained watched the events unfold around me and I felt like I was in a daze.

When the liquid fire was sent gushing forth to consume everything of the Goa'uld, I felt it. I knew when it destroyed the first super-soldier and reveled in the knowledge of the destruction I was causing. With a move of my fingertips, I sent it soaring skyward, seeking out and wiping out those things that had sought to annihilate my home world. When the Mothership exploded, I heard his scream of rage and rejoiced that Anubis had been defeated. Another snake killed, another galaxy saved. All in a day's work for Jack O'Neill. `God, I'm so tired.'

"Aveo amacuse," I whispered. `Good bye. Oh God...Sam!'

Maintaining control of those living droplets of fire was too hard. It drained me of all my strength and I'm exhausted. `So tired...it was too much for me to do. Sleep, I must sleep, even if I never awaken. Cold...so cold in this chamber...it's getting...harder...to...think. Cold...Sleep...Thor? Dying? No...Darkness.'

***

Light. Nothing but white light around me. `What? This isn't right. Is it? No. Remember, Jack. Jack? I'm...Jack. Right? That sounds right, but... What happened?' There's nothing but light here, no sign of walls, corners, or doors, just endless, white light. But, somehow, it's comforting.

I look down at myself, trying to remember. My arms are tan where they stick out of the sleeves of a black t-shirt. My pants are green and I'm wearing black boots. That also seems right, although I'm not sure why. Curiously, I run my hands over my chest and feel a rough outline of...what. It's attached to a metal chain around my neck. Hoping that this will provide more clues, I pull it out and discover two rectangular metal tags. They seem familiar to me, so I pull the chain off to get a better look at them.

`O'Neill, Jonathon, Colonel,' reads the first line. Jonathan? `No...Jack. I'm Jack.' The second line is numbers that somehow seems significant. `AB Pos. What?' I don't know what that means, but know I did before. `Before? What? Before...here.'

Puzzled, I slip the chain back around my neck and tuck the tags securely back inside my shirt. `Dog tags? Yes, those are my Dog tags.' A picture of a furry, four-legged animal that barks springs to my mind. `Dog? Yeah...and Cassie.' Pictures keep popping crazily into my head, but they don't make any sense. At least, not yet. A sound breaks into my solitude. The first one I've heard since...before.

"Dad?" I spin around to locate the owner of the voice and see a blonde-haired boy dressed in a stripped t-shirt and jeans smiling up at me.

"Charlie?" You're my son...Charlie. Yes! Charlie! I swoop over to him, wrapping him in my arms and lifting him off the ground in an all-engulfing hug.

"Oh, God, Charlie. It's really you." Smiling, I set him down and mess with his hair. It pissed him off, just like it always had.

"Ya think? Of course it's me, Dad." he answered smugly, with a grin as he pushes my hand away.

"It's so good to see you again, son. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Dad. Don't you remember what I told you? Remember? I promised you that I would always watch over you and Mom. Don't you remember that, Dad?" he asked accusingly. I sank down on my haunches so I could better look at his face. God, he was beautiful! Looked so much like his Mother...Sarah? He tugged on my arm, demanding my attention again.

"Listen to me, Dad. You've got to remember." Stunned, I sat back down on the floor and tried to think. Charlie, that was as good a place to start as any. When was the last time I saw him like this? Fragmented pictures appeared of me wearing a ragged brown shirt and holding Charlie. Yes! I could remember that. I had escaped from.... Who? Ba'al? Yes, that no-good, scum-sucking, god wannabe snakehead named Ba'al. I'd been his prisoner and Thor had beamed me up to his ship. Charlie had visited me while I was recovering in that pod thingy. And Daniel. Daniel Jackson had come too. In my cell and later, with Charlie.

Yes, son. I remember now. You and Daniel came to see me while I was in Thor's medical pod. You told me that I couldn't die yet because I had something important to do. And you promised that you would always watch over me. Yes, Charlie, I remember that now." I looked back up into his face. He was smiling that wonderful smile of his.

"Good, Dad. You're remembering stuff again."

"Am I dead, Charlie? Is that why we're here?" I asked. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what I wanted his answer to be, because now I remembered how I had gotten here. I knew I was still in that Ancients stasis chamber thing, deep under the ice of the Antarctic. And I also knew that my body and mind were not really sleeping, but were being held in a sort of hibernation. However, my brain and my body were not my own anymore. They were ruled by the whims and knowledge of a people long gone.

On one hand, I was so tired that death almost seemed welcome at this point. Especially if the part of me that made me Jack was gone. On the other hand, I wanted to live. There were so many things that I needed to do yet. Matters that I had left undone. My relationship, or lack of one, with Carter...Sam, for one. The two of us needed to talk about that, and straighten it out, once and for all.

"No, you're not dead, Dad," my son assured me. "At least, not yet," he continued. My heart sank.

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"It's your decision, Dad. You have to choose which road you want to travel. You can choose life, or death. It's up to you," he stated solemnly. I sighed, and said nothing, needing time to think.

"But first, there's someone who wants to see you." Startled, I glanced up toward his face again. Then, my mouth fell open.

"Doc? I mean, Janet?" I stuttered. My friend and colleague, Dr. Janet Fraiser had appeared beside my son. She was dressed in her usual Class B uniform and a white lab coat. Fleetingly, I wondered if she had her penlight in her pocket. Yep, it was there, as usual. So far, she hadn't reached for it. Whew, I don't think my eyes could handle that thing right now.

"Hello, Jack. It's good to see you again," she replied with a smile. My first name coming from her lips sounded strange, but what the hell, rank didn't mean anything here. Did it? I mean, what was I going to do? Bend her dog tags? Write her up? Nope, I don't think so.

Rising to my feet, I stepped forward to wrap her in a hug. She felt so real, so alive to me, but, she wasn't. I knew that. After all, that was why she could be here with me now. At first, we just stood there, drawing comfort in the moment of closeness. Finally, I released her enough so that I could drink in her appearance.

"God, I've missed you, Janet. We've all missed you so much. The SGC just isn't the same without you there, threatening us all with those huge honkin' needles of yours."

"I know, Jack. I've seen the pain all of you have been in though, and I need you all to know that I never really left you. Because, ever since the day I died off-world, I've been watching over all of you, just like Charlie. It's just so hard seeing all of you, and not being able to tell you that I'm still there."

"You've been there all the time, Janet?"

"Yes, Jack. Where else do you think I would be? We got to know each other pretty well in the past seven years. Can you honestly believe that I would ever abandon my friends and family? And Cassie? I may not have been her birth mother, but I was her Mom in every other sense of the word. Where else could I go, Jack, except back to help the people I loved the most?" She was right. Janet wasn't just a doctor in name. She was someone who had more caring and compassion for others than anyone I had ever seen, who just happened to use her profession to allow her to help others. Knowing her, that was why she was here with me now, to help me deal with losing her.

"I didn't get to tell you good bye, Janet. None of us did. That was what hurt the most. Hell, they kept me so doped up on your happy juice that I didn't even know you were gone until just before the memorial service. Dammit all to hell! Janet, it shouldn't have been you. It should have been me, instead. We both know that. So, why was it you? Why did you have to die on us, Janet? It just wasn't fair! Can you please just tell me why, Doc?"

All of the pent-up rage and disbelieving anger spilled out of my lips. Oops, didn't know I still had so much of that still inside me. Janet probably did though. She'd been my "father confessor" on more than one occasion in the past. Looking down in embarrassment, I noticed that Charlie wasn't there. I was oddly relieve to realize that, even though I hoped that he would be back. After all, this was between me and Doc, no, Janet. A feather-light touch on my cheek brought my head back up to face my friend.

"I don't know why it was me, Jack. It just was, that's all. It wasn't something I ever thought would happen, but it did. The one thing I truly regret was that I never got a chance to say goodbye to anyone, because it happened so quickly. If you can take any comfort at all from it, I promise you that I was in no pain. Daniel was right there, and even he didn't get to say goodbye, Jack. I was dead before I hit the ground." Crap, it looked like she was crying.

"Oh for crying out loud, Doc, I didn't mean to make you cry," I offered clumsily.

"Ya think?" she retorted with a smile. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to put that one back on you, Jack?" Oops, she had got me, all right.

"Jack, would you be willing to do one last thing for me? It would mean a lot to me if you did. Now, I know you still aren't sure if you want to keep on living, and, believe me, I can understand your reasons, but you are my chance to set things right. If you decide on life, Jack, could you tell my friends and family goodbye for me and that I'm watching over them? Would you do that for me?" Damn, what a request, and she knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't be able to refuse her.

"Sure, Doc," I mumbled. "Just haven't been able to think long enough about the life or death thing to make a decision, that's all," I admitted. The realization that I didn't have to go into a long, drawn-out explanation helped. After all, she had just assured me that she had been watching it all happen. Who knows? Maybe it was because of her extra help that we were able to kick some serious snake butt.

"I do have another question for you, Jack. Just what the hell were you thinking when you took that second download? Didn't you realize that it would probably kill you this time around? Or were you even thinking?" Yep, this was what I had missed. She was chewing my ass but good. It was music to my ears.

"But, Doc..." I whined, joining in the game with glee.

"Don't you dare `Doc' me, Airman! Or do I have to get out my extra-large needles?" Ooh, this was getting into the spirit of things, no pun intended.

"Janet, I honestly thought I could do it safely. Thor and Ernie told me I could and that I was one of the few humans that COULD do it. They also assured me that no one else on my team could do it safely. If all else failed, I figured that Thor could save my ass like he did before. But, this device was stronger and more potent than the first one. The first one just made me talk weird and build strange doohickeys. This one gave me the power to heal, just like that Ice Girl we ran into over a year ago. And then there were those strange chairs I sat in. Those recliners definitely made all the effects worse. I really didn't think I had much of a choice in what I did, Janet. If I hadn't acted when I did, Anubis would have gotten all that Intel. Where would that have put us then, huh? Well, I'll tell you, Doc. We would have ended up very dead. And not just me and my team. We're talking about Earth here, Janet. Our planet would have been blasted to smithereens by his fleet. I didn't know what else to do, so I took the download." I shrugged helplessly. I knew she had known just what was at stake, but still felt on the defensive, like I had to defend my actions.

"I know you did what you had to do, Jack. As usual, though, it ended up with you getting hurt and taking on the burden of having to save the planet, again. I just hate seeing you get hurt and shouldering so much responsibility all the time. Don't you ever get sick and tired of doing that, Colonel?" I shrugged my shoulders and gave her a wan half-smile. God, if she only knew just how just how sick and tired I was of the whole three-ring circus I seemed to be trapped in.

"Yeah, Doc, sometimes it does get to be a little bit much even for an alpha-male type like me. You know, some days I just wish I could walk away from it all and call it quits. Just close the door on it and never look back. Then I can't help but ask myself the question. If not me, then, who? Who else is better qualified and able to take care of all this crap? Who, Doc? Can you honestly tell me the name of someone else who could do it? Because, if you can, then please tell me so I can get off this crazy merry-go-round, once and for all." She turned her eyes away from mine and didn't give me an answer. Yep, just what I thought, she couldn't give me one. Not one single person could do it. Crap.

"No, Jack, I can't and I really wish that I could. It just hurts to see you make so many sacrifices over and over again. Too bad it couldn't be different, huh." Yeah, and if wishes were fishes, beggars would ride. Or something like that. Whatever.

"So Janet, you mentioned something about the choice I have to make. Care to add your input? It's not as if you could ever be accused of being shy when it came to expressing your opinion about anything," I teased. In case she couldn't tell, I really did want to hear what she had to say as I hadn't been able to come to any kind of decision yet. Who knows? She might be able to give me more information than I already had.

"You know I can't tell you which choice you should make, Colonel. What I can tell you is that Thor hasn't forgotten about you. In fact, he's on his way to pick you up now. He did have a good reason for not coming sooner, you know," she replied enigmatically. I asked her a silent question by raising one eyebrow.

"And?"

"Sorry, Jack, I can't tell you anything more than what I've already said," she added stubbornly. Well, I had to try. Didn't I?

"So, Thor is on his way. Well, I wouldn't want to have him come all this way for nothing. Would I? And then, there's Ernie to think about too. If I wasn't there to see him, it would break his little heart." Yeah, I had made my decision. I chose life. Just hope it didn't turn around and bite me on the ass. Charlie was suddenly there, standing beside Janet. He had a big grin on his face as usual.

"Good to see you back, son Does this mean you both will have to be going?"

Yeah, Dad. You just have to make a promise first. OK?"

"Sure, Charlie. What is it?"

"You have to promise me that you will remember that I'm watching over you. Do you promise, Dad? Because, I don't want you to forget that this time."

"Sure, Charlie, I'll remember that. Is it OK if I tell your Mom about it?"

"Could you do that for me, Dad? That would be too cool!"

"No, problem, son. I think it would really make her day if she knew that. Don't you?"

Yeah Dad, I do. Maybe she wouldn't be so sad then," he added hopefully.

"Before you guys take off to where ever it is you hang out at, could you answer me a question first?"

"It depends on the question, Dad."

"Did you and Janet go all glowy on me? By that I mean, are you ascended like Daniel was?" Charlie and Janet exchanged glances, but she answered my question.

"No, Jack, we aren't in the glowy club. We did go to the good place, but everyone who goes there is given a choice. Basically, neither one of us wanted to spend eternity polishing our haloes, so we volunteered to join the guardian angel corps. Does that answer your question, Jack?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, it does, Janet. Thanks for volunteering for what must amount to hazardous duty in your line of work," I added drolly.

"Oh, and Janet, I will pass along your message for you. I promise. Good bye son, I love you."

"Love you too, Dad."

Then they both faded away, leaving me alone once again. Gradually, the warm whiteness faded to be replaced by the cold reality of the stasis chamber. Opening my eyes and moving my head slightly to the side, I could see that my friends from SG-1 were still there. `They hadn't left. Why? How much time had passed while I was in that white place?'

There was really no way for me to tell as the passage of time in the stasis chamber was immeasurable. If necessary, my period of hibernation could be measured in years. `God, I hope I don't have to be in here that long. Is this how the Ice Girl felt?'

A faint buzzing sound reached my ears and movement attracted my eyes. A short, gray alien appeared in my line of sight. `Thor! He had had kept his promise and come for me. Oh, thank God!'

The buzzing sound gradually increased in volume and intensity, and the gel-like substance encasing me began to liquefy, until it was gone. With nothing to support my weakened body, I felt myself on the verge of collapsing in a heap on the floor. My friend, Teal'c, saved me from that indignity by stepping forward just as my knees folded. His arms encircled my waist and I let my head fall upon his chest. With a shuddering gasp, I forced myself to breathe air into oxygen-starved lungs. Since my knees could no longer hold me up, I let my friend shift my body around so that he could carry me out away from the chamber. My arms couldn't even hold onto him and dangled loosely by my side.

My eyes opened wide as the tumult in my brain once more reached a crescendo. Without the dampening field provided by stasis, the data from the Ancients was rapidly eating away at the last vestiges of my soul once again. Jack O'Neill was almost gone.

With my eyes fixed on Teal'c's face, I didn't see where he was laying me at first. As he slowly withdrew his support from my body, I could see that he had laid me down on the Ancients' chair. `NOOOO!' Frantically, I searched for someone to remove me from the chair. Due to my weakened state, I was unable to shout out my thoughts. Only a whisper left my lips.

"No. Please, no!"

Then Thor came into my line of sight and I could see that his hand was glowing. From previous experience, I knew what would happen next. I watched as he raised his glowing palm level with my face. As before, my eyes were immediately and irrevocably mesmerized by the glowing object in his palm. The lassitude and numbness of my body was replaced by a growing pressure and pain inside my head that spiked sharply upward. I screamed and my back arched off the chair when it reached the point where I thought my head would explode. A glowing sheet of bright light formed in front of my eyes and traveled toward Thor's upraised palm. There, it disappeared and everything faded to darkness.

***

Blackness and quiet solitude surrounded me, cocooning my body in its warmth. There were no sounds to distract me and I was filled with a sense of serenity that had eluded me for most of my life. Nothing could intrude on my tranquility and I knew, without knowing why or how, that I was safe. Thinking was too hard, so I gave it up and returned to marinating in the peaceful glow of my surroundings. Somehow, I also knew that I would be forced to leave this wonderful place, so resolved to luxuriate in its goodness while I could. Time had no meaning here, so I simply existed and waited. Lingering here was permitted, so I breathed deeply and sank back into the blackness.

***

Progressively, the silence was replaced with murmuring sounds. Hissing noises that were barely perceptible to my senses intruded on my solitude. Curious, I concentrated on discerning the origin of the whispering sounds and they became louder and more insistent. The hissing was joined by whispering voices, just beyond my ability to distinguish their meaning.

Discovering that the pain in my skull was gone, I gave an inner sigh of relief. I also realized the disconcerting chatter and uproar of the Ancients download had vanished, leaving a numbness inside my head. However, the part of my mind that was Jack O'Neill was still there, complete with memories and knowledge. The incessant, incomprehensible babble of the Ancients had been relegated to a remote corner of my brain, and no longer dominated my thoughts. I directed my attention to my eyes, and could make out a bright light through the tracery of the blood vessels in closed eyelids. `Thor had done it again, he had saved me from death.' The whispering sounds resolved themselves into two distinct voices and I realized that Thor and Ernie were beside me, discussing my condition.

A sigh of relief escaped my lips, and I cautiously opened my eyes. Blinking rapidly to dispel the brightness that brought tears to my eyes, I tried moving my head to get a better look at them. It worked, and I could see that Thor and Ernie were indeed, looking down upon me as I lay in the medical pod. I tried giving them a wan smile and gloried in the realization that I had regained control of my body once again. Experimentally, I tried clearing my throat of the gummy substance coating my mouth and throat.

"Hi," I whispered hoarsely. Thor and Ernie exchanged significant, knowing glances before turning their gaze back to me. Ernie started bouncing in place. The little guy seemed excited.

"It is good to see that you have awakened, O'Neill," stated Thor in his usual solemn manner. I broadened my smile in acknowledgement of his words.

"Ya think?" retorted Ernie. I couldn't help my chuckle, especially since Thor was giving him the evil eye. Ooh, Ernie had definitely been studying up on his human mannerisms. I loved corrupting the little guy!

"Where am I?" I whispered. Trying to lift my head and arms proved just how weak I still was, because I just couldn't do it. Guess I was in for more treatment in their medical pod thing. And as for roaming around, that was definitely so not on my agenda right now. Actually, I didn't mind just laying here for now. The pace of the past week or so had been so hectic that I hadn't been able to relax at all.

After the download, I admit I had been less than cordial to everyone. Just the thought that my time was running out had caused an almost frantic reaction in me. Little things had suddenly become more important. I guess that's why I had tried so hard to finish that damn crossword puzzle and kept snarling at Daniel when he interrupted me.

As for my condescending response to Dr. Weir in the Gateroom, well, she just didn't seem to understand the frenzied feeling of trying to hold onto something that was fast disappearing and the difficulty I was having interpreting the instructions I was receiving from the Ancients. I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt, that if I forgot something, we would all be in deep doodoo. I knew we were running out of time to find whatever it was that would defeat Anubis and save Earth. No pressure there. Right? Crap.

Of course, I knew that if I failed, the consequences would be a bit more serious than a letter of reprimand in my personnel file and a slap on the wrist. Failure in this case meant that many people would die. And whether or not I liked the fact that all this shit was on my shoulders, again, it was there. It was my responsibility to take care of it the best I knew how. In my book, failure just wasn't an option. As in nope, better not happen.

So, almost dying gave me the excuse I needed to lay around and enjoy the fact that I was Jack O'Neill again and was alive. Wow. Thor interrupted my introspection with more information.

"We are aboard the O'Neill II in orbit around the planet Earth. We transported you here soon after you lost consciousness. It was deemed prudent by myself and Eir that you received proper medical treatment in our medical facility as you were close to death."

"So, we're back to the same old, same old. Huh, Thor?" I replied with a sigh. Yep, back to the old let's rescue O'Neill and bring him back from the brink of death' routine. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and tried to give it away, but no one else wanted it. Thor must not have understood my reference, so Ernie took over.

"You are correct, Jack O'Neill. We have once again arrived in time to save your sorry ass." Thor was giving him a dirty look again, so I decided to rescue the poor kid.

"Thanks a bunch, guys. I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up. What took you so long, anyway?"

"I must apologize for our tardiness in responding to your request for aid, O'Neill. Because the forces of Anubis were attacking several of the planets which are protected by us, I was delayed. We believe this was an attempt on his part to keep us from giving you needed assistance," Thor replied gravely.

"You're probably right about that, Thor. It almost worked too" I added with a grimace.

"When I was able to ascertain the motives behind Anubis' attacks, I dispatched our ship to your planet as quickly as possible."

"Well, I appreciate all the help, guys. So, what did you do with the latest download stuff? Is it still there in my head, or is it gone completely?" Ernie spoke up this time.

"Much of the information from the Ancients device still resides in your brain. However, this latest experience seemed much more virulent than your previous one. We believe this is because of your personal interface with the control centers from the Ancients. Evidently your prolonged contact with these devices acted as a catalyst to overwhelm your brain's natural defenses. We have been informed that you developed several unusual abilities after your first contact with a command chair. Is this true?"

"If you call being able to heal a fatal knife wound an unusual ability, then I guess the answer would be yes, Ernie. By the way, will I still be able to do that? It was pretty cool to just lay my hands on Bratac's stomach and, voila, no more boo-boo for the Jaffa Master. He seemed as surprised about it as I was. I didn't even know I could do stuff like that until I did it. That was the way I discovered most of that stuff. I would see a need, and the solution would just pop into my frond. What the...?" `Oops, was I back to normal or not?' They must have noticed my panicked look, because Ernie hastened to reassure me.

"Although the majority of the damage to your brain has been repaired, you are still in dire need of additional medical treatment in our medical facility. Until your treatment is complete, you will experience sporadic lapses in which you utilize the knowledge you gained from the Ancients. Do not be discouraged when this occurs, Jack O'Neill. You will soon be operating within normal parameters."

"So, what you're trying to say is that I'll still be talking weird for awhile until you finish up with me. Right?"

"That's it in a nutshell, Jack O'Neill."

"Well, that's just peachy, guys. Just peachy. And how long will this take? Days? Weeks? What?"

"Your treatment will be complete in six to twelve hours, providing that there are no unforeseen difficulties. However, you have been responding to treatment quite well, thus far."

"Well, all right, just as long as it doesn't take forever and I don't go running off to build a naqueda reactor using duct tape and chewing gum. By the way, are the members of my team OK? Do they know where I am?"

"They were present in the underground chamber when you were transported to our ship, O'Neill, and appeared to be in good health. They were most concerned for your welfare and requested that they be transported aboard the Prometheus for their formal mission debriefing with your General Hammond. Major Carter wished for me to convey her distress over your unresponsiveness and seemed reluctant to leave your side. We have since communicated with your superiors and informed them that you are recovering while in our care. They have indicated a wish to exchange personal communication with you when you are able to manage this feat. As you are not yet ready to do this, I will convey your concerns to them and reassure Major Carter that you are no longer in danger of losing your life. Is this your wish, O'Neill?" asked Thor.

"Yeah, Thor, that would be nice. And tell Carter that I understand what she was trying to tell me. Tell her...backatcha. She'll know what I mean." `Yep, you're real great with words, aren't you, Jack. A real virtuoso of the English tongue. Either you're so tongue-tied that you can't get a single word out, or you're spouting alien gibberish that no one but Daniel can even begin to understand. And it isn't Daniel that you're in love with. Is it, Jack? Nope, it's Carter that you want, but she's still out of reach for you. Isn't she, Jack? So how long do you plan on playing this game of don't touch, huh? Or should it be, how long CAN you keep playing it before you either go bonkers or just give in to your feelings and make an absolute fool of yourself?' Crap, the situations I get myself into.

"I shall convey your sentiments to your team mates on board the Prometheus as soon as you are made more comfortable, O'Neill." assured Thor.

"Are you trying to tell me that it's about time for me to go back to sleep, Thor?"

"You got it, Jack O'Neill. I fear this conversation has taxed your system. In order to prevent any ill effects, you require additional time in the medical pod. Do you have any other questions before we proceed, Jack O'Neill?" Ernie asked. To tell you the truth, I was feeling a little woozy.

"Nope, guess we might as well get on with it. The sooner you're finished, the sooner I can get out of this thing. So what happens next, do you stick a needle in my butt, or what?"

"Is this what you wish?"

"Uh, no. That's just the way our Doc always did it."

"No, our methods of sedation are much more advanced, Jack O'Neill. Sleep will be induced by way of a painless infusion into the tubes which are attached to your chest. These same tubes are monitoring fluid levels and supplying necessary nutrients."

Damn, I hadn't even noticed those things. So much for my attention to detail. Course, I did have the excuse of being brought back from the brink of death. They were probably using some sort of anesthetic to deaden the area where those tubes were sticking into me. Ernie must have already started it, because I could hardly keep my eyes open any more and my head was feeling kind of fuzzy. One last time, I forced them open to look at my Asgard friends.

"S' OK, guys...be seeing you later," I whispered as I lost my battle with my eyelids and they fell shut.

***

The darkness was complete and all encompassing. I felt nothing except warmth and peace. Wow, what a concept. No worries, no worlds to save, just silence. Nothing intruded on my solitude for what seemed like an eternity. It was so comforting that I never wanted it to end. Eventually, I knew it would have to, but for now, it was nice.

As if those very thoughts were a bad omen, sounds began to intrude in my safe world of darkness and oblivion. They were just annoying enough to get my attention. At first, they were meaningless sounds, noises just beyond my ability to decipher and understand. However, that inability to understand was my undoing. It piqued my interest enough so that my safe haven of darkness was obliterated and shattered as the sounds resolved themselves into the beeps and swishing noises of medical equipment.

A search of recent memories told me I was inside a medical pod onboard the Asgard spaceship, O'Neill II. Sweet. I realized the sedation must have been decreased in order to allow me to surface, so to speak. Maybe that meant I was almost cured. One could only hope. By concentrating really hard, I was able to force one eye open. All I could see was brightness and the translucent covering of the medical pod. I guess that meant they hadn't opened it up yet.

As if that were a signal, a whoosh sounded as the lid was retracted into the pod itself. The first thing I saw was Ernie's bald head. He blinked at me a couple of times before saying anything and seemed surprised to see that I was awake. Well, Doc Fraiser had always told me I was a fast healer.

"Hey," I grunted.

"Hey yourself, Jack O'Neill. This is indeed a unexpected surprise. I had thought you would continue to sleep for another two hours, at least."

Since my mouth was dry and gummy again, I just grunted by way of acknowledgement. As if he could read my mind, a glass of water appeared in his hand. Carefully, he raised my head so that I could take a suck on the straw. The moisture felt wonderful as it soaked into the tissues surrounding my mouth and throat. Only when they had been saturated, did any moisture find its way down my throat to my stomach. `God, it tasted so good!' I smacked my lips to show my appreciation of his kindness and gave him a grin. Experimentally I tried clearing my throat in preparation to trying speech.

"So, Ernie, what's next on the agenda? Jumping jacks followed by a ten-mile hike in full gear? Or should I just take it easy and only run five miles?" I asked teasingly, hoping he would take the bait. I wasn't disappointed by his reaction.

"Nope, Jack O'Neill. You are still in no condition to attempt such an arduous task. I would be surprised if you were able to sit up in bed yet. Your Dr. Fraiser was indeed a strong-willed women to be able to put up with your shenanigans. I am looking forward to sharing our experiences with her again." Damn, they didn't know. Crap.

"Umm, Ernie, I'm afraid you won't be able to do that. Dr. Fraiser was killed off-world in a firefight about a month ago." God, it still hurt to talk about it, even though I had discussed her death with her while I was still in that stasis chamber. Ernie just looked at me, his big eyes so solemn and wide.

"I am sorry to hear of your loss, Jack O'Neill. Please believe me when I tell you that I was not aware of her death. She was a physician of great worth and I will miss her."

"Yeah, I miss her too, Ernie. She was off-world tending to one of our wounded when she was killed. At least she died doing what she loved best, being a Doctor and saving other people's lives. The Infirmary at the SGC just isn't the same without her there. The whole base misses her and it`s been rough dealing with her loss. I was almost killed in the same engagement so didn't even know she was gone until days later when I regained consciousness. But I have the feeling that she's still watching over us and protecting all of us the best she can."

"I too share your sentiments. Although we of the Asgard do not worship any official God, we also believe that those who live a good life go on to provide shelter and hope for those left behind after death. Does this surprise you, Jack O'Neill?"

"I'll have to admit I never thought of you guys as having a belief system that would include something like that. I guess that proves that some ideas, like the belief in some sort of existence after death, are truly universal."

"The news of Dr. Fraiser's death is very disturbing to me, Jack O'Neill. I shall require time to inform Thor of this new development. He too had much admiration for her skills as a physician." Seeing that my friend was so upset, I rapidly changed the subject. Evidently, the news about Janet's death had been quite a shock to him.

"So, what kind of activities are in store for us today, Ernie?"

"I believe that you may be able to remain conscious for several hours today. Your General Hammond and the members of your team have expressed an interest in discussing recent events with you. I think this discussion is called a debriefing. Are you ready to see them?"

"Sure, bring them on." I tried moving my arms beneath me to push my body into a sitting position. It took a little time to do it, but I finally found myself looking at my surroundings. I took note that no tubes were attached to my body, but I still wasn't wearing my usual uniform. Some type of temporary covering was draped across my body to provide a semblance of dignity. It kind of reminded me of those damn backless gowns that Janet used to inflict on us during our more lengthy stays in her domain.

"However, I would like to get some decent clothes on before I see anybody. Could you get me the clothes I had when I got here? Then I could get dressed before the debriefing."

"Sure enough, Jack O'Neill. I can have your clothes here in a jiffy." Then he headed over to a console and moved some shells around. My clothes suddenly appeared on the floor nearby. That transporter thingy was a cool thing to have.

"Thanks a bunch, Ernie. Now, if you could just hand me that black t-shirt, my boxers and my pants, I can get myself decent. OK?"

"Okey, dokey, I'll bring them right over for you." I watched amused, as Ernie picked over my clothes to find the correct items. He did a double take when he saw my boxers. They were my favorite ones with the cartoon character of Marvin the Martian all over them

"May I inquire as to the significance of the character on your undergarment?"

"Sure Ernie, those are my lucky boxer shorts and that picture is a cartoon character named Marvin the Martian. He was a great guy but kept trying to use his disintegrator ray on Bugs Bunny." At his look of puzzlement, I attempted to clarify. "I'll have to get you a recording of some of our great cartoon characters. That's the only way you would be able to understand what I'm talking about."

"That would be just peachy, Jack O'Neill. Having the opportunity to add to my collection of human methods of communication is always welcome. This will certainly add to my understanding of your colorful metaphors." I smiled at my friend, wondering how the members of the Asgard High Council would react to seeing the antics of the cartoon characters of Bugs Bunny, Marvin the Martian, and Daffy Duck. Hopefully, it wouldn't cause a diplomatic incident. It could be fun though.

"I'll make sure you get some tapes, Ernie. In the meantime, why don't you let me get some clothes on so I can see my friends? You can come back in about fifteen minutes. OK?"

"Sure thing, See you later," he replied. I watched as he did his little bouncy-float thing out the door. Then I concentrated on putting my clothes on. It wasn't as hard to do as I had feared. Evidently, I was mostly recovered now. Maybe I could go back home soon. That would be great.

True to his word, Ernie reappeared about fifteen minutes later with General Hammond in tow. He was wearing a flight suit and looked like he had been through the wringer. Seeing him dressed like that reminded me of how isolated I had been while under the influence of the Ancients download. His story was probably a doozy too and I couldn't wait to hear it. I flashed him my trademark grin to let him know I was me and doing alright.

"Hello, Sir, It's good to see you again,"

"It's good to see you again too, Jack. Looks like the Asgard have been taking pretty good care of you. From what your team had told me, I was afraid we had lost you for good this time."

"Well, Thor and Ernie managed to pull my ass out of the fire once again, Sir. I don't know what I would do without them. I'd probably be dead," I admitted ruefully.

"Jack, I wanted to fill you in on a few things before you go back to the SGC. Since you were kind of out of the loop for awhile, I reckon you're missing quite a few pieces of the puzzle."

"Yes, Sir. Why are you wearing that flight suit? Thor said something about you and my team being on the Prometheus."

"The President gave me the assignment of commanding the Prometheus during the battle against Anubis. Several other member's of the crew were from the SGC and the pilots of the 302's helped fight off the death gliders while you were doing your thing at the Antarctic. In fact, I positioned my ship over yours to protect it while you were still burning that hole through the ice. When that super weapon of yours discharged into space, I was preparing to ram Anubis in his Mothership, but veered off at the last minute when you destroyed it, What the hell was that stuff? It was like nothing I had ever seen before!"

"I'm not sure if I can tell you, Sir. What I can say is that I was able to direct its path while I was in that command chair thing. It's almost as if I could see just what it was doing and what it was destroying. I knew the exact moment when the Mothership was destroyed, so I shut it down. Don't remember much after that. I think I kind of passed out for a bit."

"Well, whatever it was, it was very impressive. The President and the Joint Chiefs agree. Jack, what you did was really something. You knew the risks you were taking, but like the true soldier that you are, you just sucked it up and did what you had to do. It's been an honor serving with you, Colonel. I just wish I was still your CO."

"Thanks for the complement, Sir, but you know how I am." I looked down at my hands, suddenly embarrassed. The SGC just wouldn't be the same without him.

"President Hayes is planning a little ceremony to honor those of us who fought in this latest battle. He has ordered that you be present for this one, Jack. We're just waiting for the Asgard to let us know when you're fit enough to attend. Oh, and the President has invited the Asgard to attend too. It should be an interesting party with such an unusual guest list." The General was grinning now. Just what did those guys have up their sleeves now?

"Well, you'll have to talk to Thor and Ernie about that, Sir. They haven't told me when they're cutting me loose yet." I turned to my Asgard friend who was hovering in the background.

"Hey, Ernie, how much longer are you keeping me here?"

"Just hold your horses, Jack O'Neill. Your medical treatment is almost complete, and I estimate that you will be able to return to your facility in about three more of your hours. Is that good enough for you?"

"Sure thing, Ernie. Well, Sir you've got your answer. So, who else will be attending this dog and pony show, Sir?"

"I'll be there, along with President Hayes, General Jumper, the Joint Chief's, and all the personnel at SGC. Thor and Eir have also been invited and have said they will attend. Let me tell you, when President Hayes found out that the Asgard were planning to attend, he got really excited. You probably haven't heard about it, but a hologram of Anubis appeared right in the Oval Office just before the battle started. You should've seen it. The Secret Service guys tried to take him out right away, but the bullets weren't having any effect. That's when I realized it was just a hologram. Kinsey about wet himself when he saw that Goa'uld. You would've loved to see the expression on his face. And as for the President, he made us all proud when he stood up to that bastard and told him off. I always knew that guy had balls, but he really outdid himself then. Oh, by the way, Kinsey managed to get himself on the President's shit list when he turned tail and tried to skedaddle off to the Alpha site. From what I heard, his boss told him to shut the hell up."

"Ooh, I'm sorry that I missed that one. You already know my opinion on Kinsey, and I'm not really surprised that he turned out to be such a fricking coward. It sounds like we have a Commander in Chief to be proud of, Sir. I'm looking forward to meeting him."

"They're all looking forward to meeting you too, Jack. You've made us proud, son. I mean that," he added solemnly. Crap, put on the spot, again. Time to change the subject.

"Sir, is Dr. Weir still going to be head of the SGC? It's just kind of weird having a civilian running things back at the mountain."

"From what I've heard, she stood up to Kinsey pretty well and kept her head in some pretty dicey situations. Seems that Anubis tried to send a nuke through the Stargate and she had the sense to keep the iris closed, despite Kinsey being an asshole and ordering her to open it. That's when he got told to shut the hell up by our Commander In Chief, or so I've been told."

That's cool, at least she had the sense to listen to what all of us were saying. She must be a pretty gutsy lady to stand up to the Vice President like that."

"According to the rumors I've heard, Kinsey may be replaced soon. Seems President Hayes was pretty pissed off at Kinsey, especially when he showed his true colors and ran like a scalded hound when the chips were down."

"General, you still haven't answered my question. Is Dr. Weir going to keep heading up the SGC?"

"I think the President has other plans for her. From what I've heard, the SGC is getting a new boss."

"Who is it, Sir? Anyone I know?"

"All I can say right now is that it looks like another Air Force General will be taking command. The change of command will take place during the ceremony. You'll get to meet your new CO then, Jack. Don't worry, I know this guy and he's a good man."

"Oh, for crying out loud, Sir. Don't keep me in suspense. Tell me who it is."

"Sorry son, I have orders from the top not to reveal it to a soul. You'll just have to wait like everyone else."

But, Sir, you know I don't do waiting very well, Please, you can tell me. I won't tell a soul. I promise," I said in my best wheedling voice. It didn't appear to be working. Crap. I was getting a new CO and didn't have a clue as to who he might be. I was not a happy camper. No siree, bub.

"I know you won't tell a soul, Jack, because I won't tell you who it is. And that's final, son." From his tone of voice, I knew he wasn't about to cave in.

"I guess that means I'll just have to suck it up and wait, but that doesn`t mean I have to like it, Sir. By the way, how are all of you planning to get down to the SGC? It sounds like most of our personnel are up on the Prometheus."

"The plan is for our ship to fly back to it's underground hanger. From there, the crew will be flown back to the SGC. I think Thor plans to beam you straight back to the base when you're fit to travel. We'll let all of you know when the ceremony will take place. I have a feeling you won't be kept waiting long. Since our last battle, quite a few eyes were opened, and it's going to be real hard to keep the public from finding out about this one. You know, Anubis managed to blow the Nimitz and it's carrier group out of the water within five minutes of attacking Earth. That's going to be pretty hard to cover up."

"Wow, sounds like I missed out on a lot. You're right, news of the stuff we do will probably be getting out to the public soon. So, what kind of cover story are they using now? It'd better be a good one."

"So far, they're blaming all the destruction and light-show on a meteor shower, but I don't think it will hold water for too long. I have the feeling that the SGC will be going public before too long." I looked up and caught my former CO giving me a funny look. `Wonder what that's about?'

"Jack, in Daniel's report he said you talked about the Lost City and Atlantis. Do you remember anything about that?" Until he mentioned it, I didn`t have a clue, but as soon as I heard him say those words, pictures popped into my head.

"Give me a minute, Sir. Umm, yeah, now that you mention it, I do remember something about that. When we were on the lava planet, I brought up a cosmic map of sorts. It was kind of dated because it was pretty old, but I do remember talking about Atlantis. Only, the Ancients didn't call it that. They called it Atlantous, or something like that. According to the holographic 3-D map they had of Earth, it was located near the area where Florida is now. Only, on their map, it wasn't underwater and they had a Stargate there. Does that make any sense, Sir?"

"Are you kidding, Jack? You may have just told us where to find the Lost City and confirmed all those myths about Atlantis. I know the President will want to know about this as soon as possible and I`ll be briefing him about it in person when I get back to D.C. As for Daniel, we'll have to work hard to keep him from running off to find it himself. You know how he is."

"Yes, Sir, I do know how he is." I was still trying to figure out how that information just popped into my head like that. Was this what Ernie meant when he told me that I could still access all that information? Since he was standing right there, I saw no harm in asking.

"Ernie, will I still be able to remember all that stuff from the Ancients?"

"It appears that you will, Jack O'Neill. You probably will not be aware of this knowledge until it is needed. I believe it will operate in much the same way as your previous experience. However, I do not believe that you have retained your ability to heal others."

"So, what you're telling me is that all this Intel is here to stay. Is that it?"

"Yes, that is exactly that I have been telling you. Does this distress you?"

"No, I just didn't expect it to stick around, that's all." I shrugged, trying to mask the discomfort this new information was giving me.

"Is there a problem, Colonel?" asked my former CO in a concerned manner.

"No, I guess not, unless you like the idea of being the night security guard for a library of dead people, that is. Won't this crap ever go away, Ernie?" I asked plaintively.

"I'm afraid not, Jack O'Neill. If it has not disappeared by now, then it will remain with you. In addition, it will be easier for you to access this information now. Once the question is posed to you, the answer will appear. Do you not see this as an advantage?"

"Nope, I don't Ernie. I'm a soldier and have no wish to be an walking-talking human encyclopedia. No, this is definitely so not a good thing, Ernie. I just wish it would go away and leave me in peace. Haven't I earned that? Huh? Well, haven't I?"

Yeah, so I was feeling sorry for myself. `Welcome to the Jack O'Neill pity party. Come one, come all to view the human freak encyclopedia. The great Jack O'Neill. He sees all and knows all. Crap!' Oh well, I suppose it could be worse, I could still be back in that stasis chamber wondering whether I would ever get out of it or not. It's just that I wanted things to go back to the way they were. Yeah, before all this crap hit the fan. Face it, O'Neill, that just ain't gonna happen. Not now. Not ever. No way, no how.

I had buried my face in my hands, not wishing to see Ernie or the General for now. Wearily, I laid back down on the table and laid my arm over my eyes. Maybe I wasn't as ready to go back home as I had thought. Given enough time, I might get used to all these changes in me, but for right now, I hated it.

"I'm sorry you feel that way about it, son. Believe me, if I could change it, I would. However, we both know that's an impossibility and I'm not in the habit of making promises I can't keep. I just want you to know that I'll be there to help you out in any way I can. All you have to do is ask, Jack." His words touched something deep inside me, and I dropped my arm away from my face so I could look him in the eye. The only thing I saw there was concern for me. No derision, no pity, just caring concern.

"Thanks, Sir. That means a lot coming from you," I replied, knowing that I could take him at his word. Hell, he had helped me out of more tough spots in the past seven years than either of us could count. And he was one of the first people I went to with the knowledge that I had retained so much from that first download. I knew in my heart that this was a man that I could depend on. When things got rough, and they would, he would be in my corner.

In the meantime, Ernie had started bouncing and acting official. I had the feeling that he was about to throw my former boss out on his ear. That little guy was pretty protective of me and reminded me of a certain Napoleonic power-monger that I missed like hell.

"General Hammond. I must ask that you leave as Jack O'Neill is still in need of our medical facility. His recovery is not yet complete. You may inform your superiors that we will accompany him back to the SGC tomorrow." Yep, the General had just gotten thrown out, I grinned and waved sheepishly to him as Ernie ushered him out the door.

"See you tomorrow, Sir." Then it was lights out for Jack O'Neill. Damn that Ernie and his Asgard mickey's.

***

By the next day, I was feeling calmer and more in control of my feelings. I still didn't like carrying around all that extra stuff in my head. However, I had become resigned to it since I couldn't change what had happened. Anyway, I had known I was taking a hell of a big risk when I took that second download. Since this wasn't the first time I had done this particular dance, I knew just how dangerous it could be for me, as well as everyone else. There just hadn't seemed to be any other choice that I could see at the time.

Daniel couldn't take the download because he had to be the interpreter, Carter's brain was too valuable to risk. I hadn't been kidding when I told her I saw her abilities as one of our nation's great natural resources. Teal'c certainly couldn't do it because the device wouldn't let him. That just left me to take the fall. So what if my head was jam-packed with all kinds of info? At least maybe now I could beat Carter when it came to the crossword puzzles. That alone would make some of this crap worth it. Revenge can be sweet.

Thor and Ernie had beamed me back to my quarters on base, and I spent the morning catching up on paperwork that had piled up in my absence. It was nice having breakfast and lunch in the commissary with my team. The mood at the base did seem more somber than before. Well, gee, I wonder why? After all, we'd only prevented the destruction of our entire planet by the skin of our teeth several days ago. All of us were still jittery and a bundle of nerves, me included.

I did have a nice chat with Elizabeth Weir, and despite my initial misgivings about having an anti-military civilian running the place, she did seem to want to be fair about stuff. And any broad who can tell Kinsey where to get off is OK in my book. Later that morning, we received word that the President would be showing up the next day for the big shindig. I still hadn't been able to discover who the next boss of the SGC was going to be, though. Tomorrow would be a day for Class A's, tight shirt collars, and uncomfortable low quarters. I could hardly wait. NOT!

The only redeeming factor in the whole mess was that everybody, right down to the dishwashers in the commissary, had to dress-up and attend. They do say that misery loves company and this was a prime example of it. I'll have to admit that I was looking forward to meeting our new Commander in Chief. From the description I got from Hammond of his confrontation with Anubis, he must have balls of steel. In my opinion, that wasn't a bad thing to have in his line of work.

Thankfully, Carter took over the preparations of getting everything ready for the ceremony. I'll admit I still was feeling a little off my feed and those kind of details were best left to someone who actually gave a damn about what color the bunting over the Stargate was. Nope, I'm not kidding. They were dressing up the Stargate in red, white, and blue bunting. Part of me was actually hoping that we would have an incoming wormhole that just happened to kawhoosh all that stuff to kingdom come. Now, that would be a sight. I could see it now. Carter explaining to General Jumper and the President why the bunting looked a little singed around the edges. Naw, I wouldn't be that mean to her. She was taking her job way to seriously and I just couldn't stand to see her hurt in anyway.

I did give Teal'c a hand with base security. Between his knowledge, the expertise of Special Forces, and my paranoia, we could pick up a rat fart at sixty paces. Not that we had rats at the SGC, we just had to contend with the human version of that animal. And, oh joy, Kinsey had not been invited to this jamboree. From what I could pick up from the grapevine, that guy was definitely persona non grata. Didn't it just break your heart? Not mine. Nope, not a bit. As in no sir, he's not my baby, and I don't mean maybe. The best part was that I didn't have to kill him off after all. He had succeeded in cutting his own throat quite nicely, and I was loving it. I tell ya, there's nothing quite like seeing a son of a bitch like him get his just desserts to bring up my opinion of the human race. Maybe there was hope for us after all.

Everyone on my team was being kept busy getting ready for this bash, Carter had her ceremonial trappings and rituals to attend to, Daniel had a speech to write for Dr. Weir, and Teal'c was handling security. Me, well, I just kind of hung around bugging people and feeling useless and...different. It was good to get back home though. Bugging people here was part of my job as 2IC. My excuse was that it was one way to keep staff on their toes. Well, it seemed to be working.

Carter even made sure a set of Class A's was waiting for me in my quarters, complete with fruit salad on the chest and starch in my shirt collar. Did I mention how much I hated those damn tight collars? So, about an hour before show time, I found myself getting all dressed up in my monkey suit for the dog and pony show. Despite the laid-back image that I portray when I'm in my BDU's, I'm every inch the professional soldier when I put on my dress blues.

Besides, I happened to know that Carter had a thing for how I looked in mine. She had let it slip by accident one time, and I never forgot it. Not to say that she didn't look damn good in her Class A's. I can still remember the first time I saw her swishing into the Briefing Room. If anything, she looked even better seven years later than she did then. And that's saying a lot. As for that little chat I had promised myself we would have, it hadn't happened yet. Maybe after all the hoopla died down, would be a better time. Maybe.

I positioned myself at the window up in the Briefing Room so I could have a bird's eye view of the gathering. I was alone, but really didn't want any company right now. To be honest, I still was feeling different, like the odd man out, the freak at the county fair. Odd...I reckon that would be as good a term to describe my condition as any. I, myself, had used that word in the form of a question right after my first download. "Does anyone else think this is odd?" Ya think? Damn straight Skippy, I sure as hell did think it was odd.

I'd been doing a lot of thinking about my unique position. Thanks to that last download I took, I had more stuff stored in that noggin of mine than Carter, which is saying a lot. By using this Intel from the Ancients, I was able to knock out a whole fleet of Motherships and take out Anubis. I was one hundred percent sure, no....ninety percent sure that the slimy snaky-assed bastard was dead for good. That is, provided that he hadn't found a way to escape at the last minute. When the liquid fire engulfed him and his ship, I had heard his scream of rage in my mind, but had felt no trace of him afterwards.

If past experience was anything to go by, I figured that another Snakehead was just waiting in the wings for an excuse to take his place and I was putting my money on it being Ba'al. Chances were real good that he knew who he had to thank for his promotion to Grand Poobah of the Snake Social Club too. As in yours truly, Jack O'Neill, Me. Of course, if he knew that much, then he would also know how Anubis had been defeated.

That made me a huge honkin' target every time I stepped through the Gate. It had been pure dumb luck that he hadn't known enough to dig around in my head for the valuable Intel I had the first time he had me pinned on that web thing of his. I couldn't count on being that lucky again. Maybe, it was time I hung up my P-90 and traded it in for something else, because the idea of endangering whoever went through that Gate with me just didn't sit well.

As for any threat I might feel from Earth-based bad-guys, like the NID, I was hoping that the current President could take care of that. According to Hammond, he had put the word out that I was not to be touched by anyone. That and the fact that Kinsey was in the dog-house helped me feel a little bit safer. Not that I was planning to let my guard down any time soon. Nope, that was so not going to happen. This old dog had lived too long to suddenly trust in the idea of `good will and peace to all' bit.

For one thing, Kinsey doesn't know how to play nice. That's something that just isn't part of his make-up. And just because the President had ordered everyone to keep their sticky paws off me didn't mean that anyone wouldn't get funny ideas. If I had anything to say about it, my future would not include time spent on a slice and dice table. Jack O'Neill was not planning to become a science project for some junior brain surgeon wannabe. As in nope, no way Jose, don't hold your breath because it ain't gonna happen.

From my bird's eye view, I could see that Carter had managed to keep the festive bunting from getting disintegrated by the wormhole and a podium had been set up on the ramp in front of the Stargate. According to protocol, the first row of seats were for the President, the Joint Chiefs and any other Generals that showed up. I was supposed to sit on the other side with my team, SG-1. Thor and Ernie had beamed their own special Asgard-type seats down with them and were up front with the President and the other Generals which was probably a very good diplomatic move on our part. Other aliens that were attending were Bratac and General Jacob Carter with his tame Tok'ra snake, Sel'mac. They would be sitting with me and the rest of SG-1.

For all our sakes, I really hoped that nothing went wrong with this thing. Right now the President and the Powers That Be were rooting for us, but I knew that could change in the space of a heart beat. Our program really needed all the support from the top echelons that we could get.

Before long, Dr. Weir and General Hammond had joined me in the eagle's nest. I guess I wasn't the only one who was nervous. About fifteen minutes before it was slated to begin, the control room flashed us the news that Air Force One had touched down at Peterson Air Force Base. It looked like this was actually going to happen.

General Hammond kept giving me these strange looks, so I knew that something was up, I just hadn't figured out what it was yet, and he wasn't telling. In fact, all my usually reliable sources had dried up when it came to getting the scoop on this story, so with great reluctance, I had decided that I would just have to suck it up and wait like everybody else. But, I had this feeling that I wasn't going to like it at all. Not one bit. Crap.

When Teal'c Daniel, and Sam...no, Carter, showed up at my side, I knew it was time for me to face the music and find my seat. General Hammond surprised me though, and asked all of us to stay put. No, he ordered us to stay, but in a nice voice. Crap, this was so not looking good. Didn't I have some leave coming to me? A trip up to my cabin was sounding real good right about now. At least he let my team members stay with me. I had the feeling I was going to need their support.

"Jack, the President said he wanted the chance to meet you and your team before the ceremony. He's on his way down now," explained the General. Luckily the head honcho an his entourage showed up at the door before I had the chance to do anything stupid. I'll give the guy credit, he just walked into the room and started talking. No big fanfare, no twenty-one gun salute, just a guy who happened to be the Big Kahuna of the most powerful nation on our planet. I could see why Hammond liked him. I threw my Commander in Chief a crisp salute.

"Attention in the room, the President of the United States," intoned General Hammond formally.

"Good afternoon, Mr. President," I said by way of greeting. It was echoed by my fellow team members. In fact, we all said it about the same time. Talk about a team being able to think alike. Yep, that was us, alright.

"At ease, gentlemen, ladies. I've been looking forward to meeting all of you. When they first told me about your program, I accused them of making it all up. My visit today is just another step in my realization that it's all frighteningly true. I suppose my first big clue was when Anubis showed up in the Oval Office. When I got the news that you'd kicked his ass, I made up my mind that I just had to meet all the people that made that possible. You know that there is just no damn way that we will be able to ever repay what all of you did the other day. And until the Stargate goes public, most of the people in this country won't have a clue about the heroes that work at this base. I did ask George for a chance to meet the SG-1 team members before the ceremony so that I could thank each one of you face to face." With that mouthful, the President reached forward to shake my hand.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, I've heard a lot of good things about you and I'm glad to finally have the chance to meet you," he smiled as we shook hands. His handshake was firm without making it into a who's stronger, he-man contest. You can tell a lot from a man's handshake and his told me that he was a good man to have on your six.

"Thank you, Mr. President. But I wouldn't believe everything you hear, Sir." Yep, I had done it, I had managed to wedge my foot firmly in my mouth within the first five minutes of meeting the Head Honcho. The room had a flock of Generals who were all giving me the evil eye, all except Hammond. He had a knowing grin on his face. I sneaked a look at my team members. Carter was smiling and looking at the floor, Teal'c's eyebrows looked like they were trying for an altitude record on his forehead and Daniel looked like he had swallowed a toad. Crap. `O'Neill, you are toast. Maybe the announcement of your immediate retirement might be in order right about now.'

"Oh, I don't know, Jack, I have the feeling that I haven't heard half of what you've done. George seems to think you're a good man to have around. What do you have to say about that?" Damn, I was speechless `Do I continue my role as a smart ass and insult my former boss, or be the good soldier?'

"I have a whole big honkin' bunch of respect for General Hammond, Mr. President. The SGC just isn't the same without him." Diplomatic, yeah, I could do that.

"Jack, I have other plans for George. So, in answer to your question, no, he's not coming back to command the SGC. I have someone else in mind for that. How would you like the job?" he asked with a smile.

Damn, I was speechless again, and would probably need to have my jaw wired shut from it hitting the floor so many times. Hammond looked as happy as a gopher in soft dirt. That sneaky son of a bitch knew about this all the time. Daniel had lost the toad and just looked very pleased. Teal'c actually had a grin on his face and looked like he wanted to say, `Indeed.' Carter's smile was the incandescent kind that sent my stomach into nose dives and turned my knees into mush. Crap.

"Of course, that would mean that I would have to pin a star on your shoulder. You have a lot of people in your corner on this and I think you would do a great job. What about it Jack? Do you want the job?" `Did I want it? Damn right I did. Better me than some other dickhead. Right?'

"Yes, Mr. President, I sure would!" I replied with a big grin. Before I knew it, he was shaking my hand again and General Hammond was patting me on the back.

"Congratulations, Jack. I couldn't think of a better man for the job," Hammond added. Then it was Carter's turn to salute me.

"Congratulations, Sir," she said proudly as she gave me another one of those big smiles of hers. Then Danny was patting me on the back and looked like he wanted to give me a hug. Crap.

"Come here, Daniel, let's get it over with," I urged as I gave him a big, manly, bear-hug.

"I am most pleased for you General O'Neill," added my Jaffa friend, Teal'c, as we clasped forearms. `Damn, he'd called me a General. Holy shit! I'd been promoted. So that's who Hammond had been talking about when he told me a General was taking over as the new CO. Did I mention that he was a sneaky son of a bitch?' As for me, my smile was so wide that the muscles in my face were beginning to hurt because I knew I could do this. Life was good.

"I thought it would be a good idea to pop the question in private just in case you decided to tell us to go to hell, Jack," explained General Hammond.

"Thank you, Sir, but did you really think I could turn a sweet offer like this down? If I didn't take it, I would just have to break in a new CO and I couldn't take the chance of some dickhead taking your place. Could I?" I asked innocently.

"Gentlemen, I think we have a ceremony that's due to start. Shall we adjourn to the Gateroom?" interposed President Hayes smoothly. I sneaked a glance out the window and I could see that the natives were getting restless. In the Gateroom below, several heads could be seen watching all the excitement obviously emanating from the room. So, we all trooped down the stairs to take out seats with Hammond and the President holding back behind the open blast doors. After we were all in place, General Hammond's command-voice sounded out.

"Attention in the room. The President of the United States." No music was playing, but I could hear the sound of "Hail to the Chief" in my head. They probably hadn't been able to find musicians with a high enough security clearance to play it. And the "SGC All-Kazoo Band" just wouldn't have cut it. Not this time. The entire room snapped to attention as the President of the United States walked in and took his place behind the podium. Silence fell upon the room as we all waited to hear what he was going to say.

I'll have to admit that my mind wasn't entirely on what he was saying as I was trying to get my mind wrapped around the idea that I was going to be the new CO of the SGC. General Jack O'Neill. Damn, who would've thunk it? Not me, that's for damn sure. All the enemies in high places that I had made seemed to automatically preclude that. Despite all that, here I was. Right in the center of attention. They'd probably insist on a speech. Gulp. Crap. `Oops, better pay attention, Jack, your big boss is speaking.'

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, members of the Joint Chief's, and personnel of Stargate Command. My visit here today has several purposes. Firstly, I am here today to offer my congratulations to all of you for a job well done. The battle for the safety of our planet was fought recently and I know that some of your friends and colleagues did not come back home afterwards. Unfortunately, until this program is made public, the families and loved ones of those who fell will not know of the heroism displayed by those who were killed in the line of duty. It is left to those of you who have been left behind to carry on to ensure that their sacrifice was not made in vain. Let us offer a moment of silence for those who fell in that battle." The moment seemed to stretch on into eternity. As for myself, I was remembering old friends who were longer with us. Friends like Kawalski, and Fraiser, to name just a few.

"However, this is not the only reason I came here today. Some of you may have heard that I have offered a new assignment to Dr. Elizabeth Weir. This leaves Stargate Command without a Commander. George, would you like to do the honors?"

"I reckon I would, Mr. President," he answered as he stood and strode up to take his place behind the podium. Crap, this was it. Murmurs of speculation were rising above the crowd. I sneaked a peak at Thor. He looked inscrutable, as usual, but Ernie was bouncing in his seat. `Those short, flat-assed skinny, gray aliens were in on it too! Damn. Was there anyone here that didn't already know? From the shit-eating grin on Jacob's face, he knew about it too. Crap.'

"Colonel Jonathon O'Neill, would you step forward?" As if in a dream, I felt my body moving until I stood at attention next to General Hammond.

"Attention to orders. The President of the United States, the Congress of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chief's of Staff, have reposed special trust and confidence in the valor, fidelity, and professional excellence displayed by Jonathon O'Neill. In view of his meritorious service record and his demonstrated qualities of leadership, the promotion of Jonathan O'Neill to the rank of Brigadier General has been approved and ratified. Stargate Command, I give you your new commander, General Jack O'Neill. Congratulations, Jack," he added. Then he was at my side pinning on one of my stars while Hammond was pinning on the other one. Thankfully, I was able to keep the grin off my face until after my handshake with the President. I took a deep breath. `Whew, I'd made it.' I turned to leave, but was stopped before I made the first step.

"Wait a minute, Jack, we aren't finished with you yet," commanded President Hayes. This wasn't looking good, I was so not a happy camper. Oh well, might as well get this crap over with so I could get on to more important things like taking over as the new CO. Those poor slobs sitting down there would never know what hit `em. The President had the podium again.

"Attention to orders. This is to certify that the Congress of the United States, by a unanimous vote, has awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to General Jonathon O'Neill for outstanding meritorious service far beyond the call of duty during the battle to defend Earth. While serving as commander of SG-1 at Stargate Command, he repeatedly placed his own life above that of his fellows in order to gain the information needed to defeat the threat against Earth. Because of his willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice and his outstanding acts of valor and courage, this enemy was defeated and numerous lives saved. This medal is given on the behalf of a grateful nation by my hand, President Henry Hayes."

Then the President was standing in front of me and placing that sky-blue ribbon with its sprinkling of white stars around my neck. `Oh. My. God.' I think I had tears in my eyes. Blinking them rapidly away, I watched the President's arm go up in a salute to me, so I returned it. The entire room erupted with cheers, clapping, and calls for a speech. Without really knowing how I had gotten there, I found myself behind the podium, facing the members of the SGC and my alien friends from other worlds. `Crap. Just what the hell was I supposed to say now?' I waited until all the cheering and clapping died down a little before nervously clearing my throat.

"Mr. President, distinguished guests, Joint Chief's of Staff and personnel of Stargate Command. You know, when I tried to make a speech for Major Carter's promotion, I never got to finish it. Since Thor is sitting right here in front of me, maybe I'll manage to finish this time. How about it, Thor? Will you let me finish this time, for crying out loud?" Knowing chuckles from those of us that had been there so many years ago were heard throughout the crowd. Thor just nodded his head and looked dignified.

"Of course, General O'Neill, you may proceed."

"Thanks, Thor. Mr. President, I would like to thank you for this award, but I'm afraid I can't accept it." Several gasps of surprise and disagreement sounded from the crowd at this announcement, but I just held up my hands. I still wasn't finished.

"I can't accept this award for what I did, because I was just doing my job. And I know for a fact that anyone else serving in Stargate Command would've done the same thing if it had have been asked of them. So, I won't accept it for the things I did, but I will accept it on behalf of all of the people who didn't come back home to us and for all of you here today. I have the feeling that some of our dear friends and colleagues who died in the defense of our planet, like Janet Fraiser, are still with us and are watching over us right now. Somehow, I know that Janet wishes she could have said good bye to us all before her death, but was gone too quickly to do that. Such a good person had to end up in the good place and I'll bet she still loves us as much now as she ever did in life." I had to wait a moment before continuing as the emotions of the moment clogged my throat.

"People, words can never express the admiration and respect I have felt for all of you that have served alongside me these past eight years. Ever since we first walked through that Gate on our first mission to Abydos, I've been treated to one hell of a ride. This medal's for you, kids."

`Wow! Will wonders never cease? I'd actually made it through that one and they all seemed to like what I'd said.' Everyone was on their feet clapping and cheering. All I could do was grin back at them. As I watched all those people celebrating our narrow escape from yet another crisis, I couldn't help but remember back to the past eight years. Images of friends who'd paid the ultimate price of death flashed though my mind. Good and noble people like Fraiser, Kawalski, Boyd, Cromwell, and Rothman had all done their part to make this day and this victory possible. I knew that they were present with us in this room and that they approved of the words I had just spoken. Yeah, maybe I was a walking Encyclopedia of the Ancients, but I was still Jack O'Neill. No one could take that away from me. I just knew that we were ALL going to be all right. Janet and Charlie had told me so.

The End

Original Header/Footer Information:

Title: "Decidedly Jack" Part 6 of the "Becoming The Fifth Race" Series
Author: dinkydow
Email: jd3031@socket.net
Category: Missing scene for "The Lost City Parts 1 and 2" from Jack's point of view, Drama, action-adventure, angst, humor, sequel to "Descending Jack".
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Mainly from "The Lost City Parts 1 and 2".
Warnings: Some language because Jack gets mad and swears.
Summary: Jack is rescued from the stasis chamber but has some surprises waiting for him.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own any of them. Couldn't afford to if I did and don't have a mountain to hide them in. (The Ozarks don't count.) Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions do own them. I also don't own the cartoon characters of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Marvin the Martian. Ditto with The Simpson's. I wrote this for entertainment and still won't be making any money for it. (Dammit!). ; )
Author's Notes: Thanks to Liz for all her support and her idea for Hammond. It works! A big thank you and hugs to Alice for her wonderful beta and all her encouragement. I would also like to thank all the fans who have given me feedback. Your words of encouragement keep me writing this stuff. Really, really couldn't keep doing it without y'all.

Index