TITLE: Defining Family

AUTHOR: DramaLexy

SUMMARY: Set after "Ripple Effect". What happens to Janet and the rest of the alternate SG-1 team after the episode? How does it affect our reality?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own, you don't sue.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I first came up with a little kernel of an idea for this during the final season of SG1. I kept kicking it around, letting it grow a bit at a time, and finally a few weeks ago I was inspired to really start writing. I've been a Sam/Jack shipper for a long time, but this is my first story for them. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

After days of chaos, there was now only one dialing sequence left before relative normalcy would be restored at the SGC. The parallel universe versions of Janet, Mitchell, Martouf, and Jackson joined Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, and General Landry in the Gateroom.

"Have all the other teams left, sir?" Janet asked.

He nodded. "You're the last ones to go."

"It was nice working with you again, Sam," Martouf told her before kissing her on the cheek. "Your presence has been sorely missed on our team."

She returned his smile. "Just out of curiosity, where did I go?"

Martouf looked away, but Janet smiled "Maternity leave," she told the duplicate of her friend before giving her a hug.

"We have something for you," Landry told the team before Daniel stepped forward with a large yellow case. He opened it to show them the contents. "The cure to the Prior's plague," the General explained. There were a lot of raised eyebrows.

"Thank you, General," Janet told him. Daniel handed the case to Mitchell before giving her a hug.

"It's good to see you again," he softly told her.

"You, too."

Teal'c also came forward and gave her a hug. "May it not be the last time." She nodded.

"Well," she said after rejoining her teammates, "We'd love to stay, but we have a planet to save." The idea of what was in Mitchell's hands had her almost giddy. They'd been working so hard and now to finally have the reward…

It wasn't an instant fix, of course. It took two days of round-the-clock work to get the cure out to the planet's population. They'd already lost a few thousand, and it would take time before a final death toll would be known, but it appeared as though they had won this battle.

Janet was totally fatigued, but there was one more thing she needed to do before finally going home. She headed upstairs to the general's office and knocked on the open doorframe to get his attention. Jack looked up from the papers in front of him. "What is it, Doc?" he asked.

"Go home, sir."

He shook his head. "There's still too much – "

"You're not much use to anyone at the moment. Everyone in this base is completely wiped. Besides, I figure you're better off going on my order than waiting until your wife starts looking for you."

Jack smiled a little, looking over at the picture that was on his desk. It had been taken two weeks earlier; Sam was seated on a bed in the infirmary with their newborn daughter in her arms. Their four-year-old son was sitting beside her, beaming for the camera as he held his baby sister's tiny hand in the palm of his own. Sam had been exhausted, but she'd never looked more beautiful to him than on that day. Thinking of the three of them had kept him going during their latest crisis, and he knew that Janet was right. He needed to go home. Sam probably wouldn't be very happy with him if he left her alone with the kids for one more night.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," he told Janet. She nodded, satisfied that she'd won that battle. As she turned to head back out the door, Jack spoke up again. "You know, Doc, somehow I never thought it would be this hard."

"What?"

"Balancing them and this job. I mean, I took a desk job so that I'd be around more, and now…"

Janet offered him a sad smile. "I don't think any of us saw this coming. Have a good night, sir."

"You, too." Jack looked down at the picture one more time before grabbing a coat and leaving. After so many years of solitude, he very much liked the idea that someone was waiting on him.

TBC...