SGA
He's not her Jack.
She's not his Sam.
Though she had known that he wasn't her husband when she had invited him to return to her reality with her, it had still been difficult for her to adjust to having so similar to the man she had loved around. He had the same face, the same eyes, the same voice, the same hands as her Jack and there were times when a look, a gesture or a turn of phrase would catch her off guard and she would look at him and see her husband.
He never spoke of it, but she knew that it was the same for him.
He had offered to leave, to transfer out of the SGA or to use the mirror to find another reality, not wanting his presence to make her uncomfortable but she refused to hear of it, insisting that it was okay.
And after a while it was.
Though the similarities between the husband she had lost and the man who had become a part of her life were obvious, there were differences too.
Her Jack's abhorrence of paperwork and the numerous excuses he would come up with to escape it had been all but legendary whereas his counterpart dealt with it efficiently and without complaint.
Her Jack found fishing too inactive; he liked to be on the move, hiking or horse riding during the weekends they spent at the cabin his uncle had bequeathed him, but General O'Neill found fishing relaxing, even when there were no fish to be caught.
Her Jack could be a joker, while the general was more serious.
She couldn't pinpoint when she began calling him `Jon' and he began to address her as `Samantha' but using different names helped her to accept that Jon was not her late husband, that they were two different people, despite outward appearances.
It was only when she was confident that she could think of Jon as an individual in his own right, rather than as a substitute for Jack and that it was the same for him as far as he and his Sam were concerned that she accepted his first, tentative invitation to dinner.
P2G-713
General Hammond had not been able to hide his amusement when the other general had politely but determinedly declined his offer to share the command responsibilities of the SGA, asking for a place on an offworld team instead.
He felt far more at home in the field than he did sitting at a desk.
Major Kawalsky had been the first to welcome him to SG-1, stating that if he was anything like the late Jack O'Neill, he would be the best commanding officer they could ever have hoped for and Airman Wells and Dr Rothman had taken their cues from him.
They worked well together as a team, something that Samantha had remarked on the first time she had joined them for a scientific mission.
Knowing that Kawalsky had been his counterpart's closest friend, General O'Neill hadn't wanted to push a friendship with the other man, who resembled the Kawalsky from his own reality so much, in character as well as in appearance, but Kawalsky had had no problems welcoming a new friend.
It was strange that he didn't miss his former reality; he thought of it at times, wondering how the SGC there was faring, whether, in his absence, Daniel Jackson had been allowed to rejoin the SGC and continue his search for Sha're.
He hoped so.
He hoped that the Earth in his former reality was safe but this reality had quickly become home, a home in which, if the calculations of the Asgard scientists were accurate, he could live for at least another sixty-eight point two years before entropic cascade failure became a problem.
He glanced impatiently at his watch, resisting the urge to order Rothman to hurry, knowing that if he did the archaeologist was bound to get distracted and find something vital to study if he did.
"Date tonight, General?" Kawalsky, asked, though he already knew the answer perfectly well.
"Yes."
"Me and Wells'll drag him back if he doesn't finish up on time." He promised.
General O'Neill grinned. "Thanks."
Kawalsky was silent for a few moments, inwardly debating whether or not he should say more. "Jack... Colonel O'Neill was my best friend. Dr C's very important to all of us. I know you're a good guy, but I think that it's only fair to warn you that if you ever hurt her, I'll be first in line to kick your ass, general or not."
"Understood."
"Good." He looked across at Rothman. "You about ready to leave?"
When Rothman nodded his assent, he found himself hustled towards the `gate by Airman Wells, who was eager to return to Earth and his fiance, while General O'Neill punched in Earth's address, waiting until the wormhole had been established before sending their iris code through.
SGA
Nobody in the control room questioned Samantha's appearance a few minutes before SG-1 was due to return.
General Hammond gave her a welcoming smile before returning his attention to the `gate below. The chevrons locked and glowed as the `gate came to life.
"Offworld activation." Sergeant Harriman reported, his eyes glued to the monitor. "It's SG-1's IDC."
"Open the iris." Hammond ordered unnecessarily. The iris was open before he finished speaking. He smiled at Samantha when four men exited the wormhole seconds later, nodding assent to her unspoken request to meet the team in the `gate room.
"Doctor." Airman Wells' polite greeting was echoed by Rothman.
"Hey, Sam." Kawalsky grinned at her. "Come to make sure that we brought him back in one piece?
Ignoring him, she slipped her hand into Jon's, waiting until he had leaned forward and kissed her cheek before speaking.
"Welcome home."
THE END