Title: Lilith

~0i0~

The graveyard shift technician running simulations and checking off her list saw the light from the corner of her eye. Curious, her head lifted, bringing her eyes up just barely over the top of the Stargate computer. The Gateroom glowed. She stood as an awed expression washed over her face.

It took her only a second to activate the alarm and as lights flashed and sirens screamed the technician studied the shimmering, multi-armed apparition. Waving in a dance of brightness, it seemed to solidify slowly.

The Officer on Duty came into the control room at a full run as the Gateroom below filled with marines, weapons raised and pointed at the shimmering figure.

General Landry entered the control room. "Report!" He ordered, looking from the technician to the OOD, before looking into the Gateroom.

The technician began speaking while simultaneously checking the Gate computer. "It just appeared, sir. There's no Gate activity. The iris is locked. I was running simulations as ordered when I noticed the light. I looked up and it was there."

"Get Dr. Jackson down here! And the rest of SG-1!" General Landry ordered as he exited the control room bounding down the stairs towards the Gateroom. He should be used to odd situations like this, but no one could truly ever get used to this. And he was eternally grateful that SG-1 was on base.

"Yes sir," the OOD answered already activating the intercom.

~0i0~

Vala dashed into the Gateroom, still straightening her hastily donned uniform jacket over her short, satin and gaily colored pajama top. "General Lan….. Oh my, what have we got here? An Ascended Being? Won't Daniel be jealous! I got here first!"

The lightbody had taken the vague shape of a woman, still more glowing then solid.

"Stand down." Landry told the defense team still in position around the figure. After all, they couldn't do much harm shooting at a wavering light, so what was the point? This was obviously an Ancient.

The apparition spoke in a strange language and Landry looked at Vala, who could only shrug her shoulders in response.

"Could you repeat that?" Vala asked the woman. "I'm not the best with Ancient, however, Goa'uld, now that's..."

In a soft lyrical voice the woman spoke. "Dr. Daniel Jackson."

"Ah," Vala turned to the general, "She said Dr. Daniel Jackson."

Landry frowned.

Vala pulled her head back, looking offended. "Well, she did. He is the world's foremost expert after all."

"I understood what she said," Landry growled and took a step closer to the specter. "I'm General Landry, the commander of this base; this is Vala Mal Doran, of SG-1. Dr. Jackson and the rest of SG-1 should be here any moment."

The woman looked long at Vala, and Vala squirmed under her scrutiny. Blinking her eyes and forcing a false smile on her face, Vala curtsied.

Landry only shook his head. To the woman he said, "You know Dr. Jackson?"

The only response he got was a vague smile as their guest once again turned her attention to Vala.

Concerned, Vala looked down at herself and found nothing of interest. Oh, well, maybe the sleep mask perched on top of my incredibly sleep mussed hair might seem a bit odd to someone from the spooky world of energy beings. Certainly not my clothes, except maybe that...

"Holy... buckets," Daniel stopped in his tracks at the doorway.

"Holy glowy Ancient Ascended Being buckets, Daniel. Thank gods and goblins you're here." Vala immediately went to whisper in his ear. "What took you so long?" When he glared at her she grinned. "She's very strange, darling. Do you know her?"

He gave Vala one of his 'don't be ridiculous' looks, his eyes cutting upwards to the green gelled mask on her head, before he walked around her towards their visitor.

"I'm Daniel Jackson, ah, can we help you?"

"I am Lilith."

"Okay, good, that's a start. Lilith." His mind raced over all the information he knew about Lilith. Not the same he presumed.

The woman completely took solid form right before their eyes. A soft blue robe partially covered an immaculate white garment fitted to her figure, ending at the top of her sandals. A mass of reddish dark hair, mixed with gray, fell in waves well below her waist; her eyes were as gray as a rainy day. In age, she appeared to be in her late sixties, possibly older.

Silence prevailed as the SGC personnel stared at the woman, waiting expectantly.

In turn, Lilith scrutinized every person in the room, eventually returning her gaze to Daniel.

He felt somewhat unsure of what to do next. "Lilith. Er. Welcome to Stargate Command. You… you're here…for …?

"Agh," Vala came to stand beside Daniel amazed at his lack of words. "That's all you have to say? And you make a living with words?" She moved up to the edge of the ramp. "Well, Lilith, I'm Vala... Vala Mal Doran, which the General already told you and I work here." She turned her shoulder forward and pointed to the patch on jacket. "You're an Ancient, right?"

Lilith tilted her head and looked thoughtful.

"Ascended?" Vala offered.

"Yes. Ascended. Alteran. I have come to see for myself." Taking a few steps forward and with sharp focus, Lilith's eyes seemed to narrow suspiciously, as they honed in on Vala. "You are the mother of the Orici?"

"See what? ME?!" Vala took a step back. "Oh. Well. Yes, I was Adria's…I am, er, was, the mother of the Orici. Is that a problem? I was chosen, so it's not my fault. I mean, well, anyway, she's gone now, out there somewhere tussling with Morgan Le Fay. "

Daniel laid a hand on Vala's shoulder and moved in front of her, protectively. "What is it you've come to see, Lilith?"

"You humans of Earth. I have come to study you. To see for myself and the others why you have persisted in this madness." She moved then, walking between Daniel and Vala, past Landry, wandering through the SGC personnel, tilting her head back and forth, studying each individual, scoffing at their weapons.

Brows diving into a confused scrunch, Daniel asked, "What madness?"

Landry, Vala and Daniel turned to watch Lilith, and when the woman stopped suddenly she looked back at Daniel. "I know you."

"You do? You do, of course you do. From before, when I was ascended. I'm sorry. I don't remember anyone. Except for Oma."

A patronizing smile crossed Lilith's face. "Oma Desala. I mentored her. She is lost to us. Because of you. As is Ganos Lal and Orlin."

Daniel's shocked and saddened expression brought her to him. "Not necessarily you individually, you humans of Earth. We have decided, those of us who were the original Ascended, to explore you and your world; to see these humans who seem to be so much of a nuisance around the universe; to find a way to stop your constant interference."

In an instant Daniel's expression went hard. "If not for our 'human' interference, you would all be dead."

Lilith waved a hand dismissively. "You humans of this planet, this Earth, keep interfering. There is some concern as to why Oma, Ganos Lal and Orlin, choose to sacrifice everything to help you. It does not make sense; it is not our way. It goes against everything we believe – non-interference with lower beings! We are going to watch you, learn what fascinates some...stop others from following in the footsteps of our lost souls. We do not intend to lose another to your lunacy."

~0i0~

The briefing room lights blared intensely for three in the morning. Mitchell blinked sand paper eyes, drinking coffee, trying to keep up, stay awake.

Sam on the other hand was wide awake, totally absorbed in the information being presented.

Teal'c sat stone faced, quiet and observant, while Vala fidgeted nervously.

With clicker in hand Daniel droned on repeating Lilith's explanation of why she had come, uninvited, and seemingly, unconcerned about just popping in for a visit. He ran through slides, re-iterating what they knew of the Alterans and the fact that they seemed to think the SGC and SG-1 in particular were a nuisance. "Obviously, she's intending to stay for a while and apparently plans to look around for herself." Looking at Landry, Daniel sighed, "I don't think there's really anything we can do to stop her. And it might be a good idea to keep her on a tight rope by encouraging her to remain on base. Let her roam around freely, let the personnel know to give her information, but kind of set up some 'off topic'...topics."

When Daniel stopped his long winded monologue, Landry dismissed everyone and left the briefing room with a short, curt, and worried, "handle it."

Vala, looking quite serious, asked. "So, you don't think she's come to punish me?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Vala!"

"You didn't see how she was staring at me. And," she added looking worriedly at Sam, "She asked me if I was the mother of the Orici!" Gaze drifting back to Daniel, Vala bit her lip. "What if she's really come to whisk me off to her glowie world?"

Frustrated, Daniel sighed. "And why would she do that?"

"Well I don't know! Maybe to experiment on me!"

Gathering his papers, Daniel tapped them on the table bringing them to perfect alignment. "This is not about you."

"You're sure?" Vala leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially.

"Yes!" Pursing his lips he glared.

Glowering right back at him she snapped out, "Then what does she want?"

"I just explained that!" He snapped back. Daniel stood, looked down at Vala who sat there with a distressed expression. Realizing she really was worried, he calmed down. "I promise you, you have nothing to worry about... or nothing more then the rest of us do. So, as I said, she's here to study humans and more specifically, SG-1." He turned from her and followed Sam and Mitchell out.

In the doorway Teal'c stopped to wait for Vala, brow raised.

"Oh, that's what all his yammering was about. I got bored after the first five minutes. So she's come to live amongst us. Do you think that's a good idea, Muscles?"

"I do not." Teal'c waited until Vala passed him in the doorway before following.

~0i0~

The Alteran seemed to have made herself quite comfortable within the confines of Cheyenne Mountain. Landry, along with SG-1 relaxed somewhat, since apparently she was happy to be able to roam the corridors and speak freely with the personnel.

Mitchell still was uneasy, and frustrated that there wasn't a damned thing they could do to pack her up and send her on her way. Going over the files in front of him in the mess hall, Cam took a bite of the sandwich in one hand while making notes with the other.

Feeling a presence behind him, he craned his head around to find Lilith standing over him with a decidedly vulturous look. The hair on the back of his neck prickled and Cam lifted the pen in his hand and scratched at the spot.

"Look, ah, Miss Lilith, I'm sorry, but I got a ton of work to do." Cam wasn't sure why she sorta creeped him out with the way she kept eyeing him.

"You are not married or otherwise involved?"

Surprised by the curious question, he didn't know what to say. The woman continued to stare unflinchingly, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Ah... no ma'am. My job isn't exactly conducive to long term commitment. Not that its any of your business, ma'am... no disrespect intended." He realized he just might have overstepped some 'higher being' guidelines and waited for the lightning to strike.

"Posh!" Lilith waved a hand through the air.

Shocked again he could only utter, "Huh?"

"Vala Mal Doran says 'posh' frequently. Is it not the proper reply? Does it not indicate disagreement? Disbelief?"

"Sure. Okay. But what I told you's the truth." Cam took his gaze off the overwhelming grayness of her eyes. There was something new about her today, she seemed, well... younger.

"I see. You, as are most of the males I have encountered today, are quite pleasing in your appearance. I believe Vala calls it Hot. Is your preference male or female?"

Cam had set pen to paper again and her words sent the pen awry. "Aw, damn. That's just plain wrong."

"Why?" Lilith came around and sat across from him.

Immediately Cam dropped his eyes to the folder in front of him, whispering, "Why do you wanna know?"

"I am curious, Colonel Mitchell, if indeed you had the inclination to find a mate, would you choose a female?"

"A mate! Crap! Damn... ah, right!" Cam shoved the papers into the folder and stood abruptly, leaving as fast as he thought prudent, seeing as he didn't really want to be toasted by whatever tricks she might employ.

She propped an elbow on the table and rested her chin on the top of her hand as she'd seen Vala do. "Interesting." Lilith whispered staring at the colonel's backside as he exited.

~0i0~

"Daniel! Listen to this." Vala read from the computer screen. "He forms Lilith out of the clay from which he made Adam, but the two bicker. Hmph, sounds familiar, Lilith claimed that since she and Adam were created in the same way, they were equal, and she refused to lie below him. Does that mean they didn't have sex or she wanted to be on top?"

For a moment Daniel could only stare at the back of Vala's head. "What are you reading?"

"Wiki."

"Stop."

"Why?"

"Because THAT Lilith isn't the same one."

"Oh. You're sure? Well, I should have known!" Vala shut the computer down. "I'm starving."

"Go eat."

"I've done my duty and not told her one thing on your list of 'off topic'. I'm not going anywhere on this base by myself. She always stares at me. I'm afraid to chance running into her."

"You can't be serious!" He watched as she turned towards him and found that she did look completely serious.

"Darling, she gives me the creeps."

"Me too." Cam commented from the door.

Daniel stopped working and studied his teammates.

"See. Even Cameron's afraid of her. Though, she doesn't stare at him quite the same way. It's more of a predatory leer for our CO." Vala grinned sheepishly.

Pushing away from the door frame Cam frowned. "She's old enough to be my mother!"

"That was two weeks ago. Not now."

"What!?" Both Cam and Daniel replied at the same time.

"You haven't noticed? All those little lines around her eyes are gone. And her hair is darker, without any grey. And as far as I know – and I would know - there aren't any salon-spas on base and I doubt Carolyn has branched out into facelifts."

"Really?" Daniel mused.

"Yes. And she looks quiet fetching in Samantha's sweater and my favorite skinny leg jeans."

Cam took a seat. "Jackson? When's the last time you spent some time with our ascended guest?"

"I don't know, a couple of days? Maybe a week. She asked to spend time with the female population of our base. Sam's spent a lot of time with her talking about Orlin, and Merlin's weapon. Vala's spent a lot of time with her talking about the Goa'uld." Daniel looked at Vala with a grin. "…and fashion."

"Yes, darling, she has all my magazines! And she insists I take her to a very nice department store, to the coffee shop, and the movies." Vala shivered in dread. "I've got her hooked on American Idol and Housewives of wherever on the television, and some sites on the internet, and eBay so I don't have to be around her."

Cam rubbed his temples. "Great. That's just great. She spends time with Carter gabbing about Orlin and technology and then with Vala on the finer points of shoes, TV, and Goa'uld masterminds. Jackson, what were you thinkin'? She's gonna go back with a less than stellar report and then in a blink of one Ancient eye, we're a pile of ash on a barren planet!"

"Yeah. Right. I better go find her."

~0i0~

"I am not thoroughly adapted to time." Were the first words Lilith said as Daniel entered Sam's lab. "I believe, however, that at this moment, we are ready to proceed with the truth that exists outside of this complex."

Though he knew this was coming, and he should be upset, Daniel just stared openly, amazed by her transformation. "Okay, sure, outside. What's going on with…" he waved a hand, "…you?"

"You speak of my appearance?"

"I do." Removing his glasses, he pinched the bridge of his nose and replaced them.

"It was predestined in order to achieve exactitude."

"So you think we're that superficial?"

"Absolutely."

~0i0~

Lilith licked at the ice cream cone, fully absorbed in the feel of the cold creamy substance on her tongue, as well as the taste. Her gaze, however, scanned the crowds with intense interest, noting colors, and styles of clothing as well as the people themselves, all the while breathing in the strange scent of the zoo.

Multi-levels of her brain were casually filing away each observance. "Am I witnessing a coming together of peoples from various continents as I have studied on your internet?"

Daniel sat beside her on the bench in front of the rhinoceros exhibit answering her intermittent questions. "Not likely. Certain races came here a long time ago, and some recently, but probably most of these people are Americans."

"Those?" Lilith pointed with the remainder of her ice cream cone to a group of women in traditional Indian saris, and men in kurtas and turbans.

"More than likely, they live right here in Colorado. They keep their heritage, while still a part of the mainstream. It's common practice."

Lilith took the last bite of her cone, wiping her hands on the napkin Daniel had provided. Her eyes swung left to a young girl wearing a purple turban and sitting in a wheelchair. The child's expression seemed troubled and there were dark circles under her dull eyes. Her face was thin with sunken pale cheeks. "And this child…she is not darker skinned but wears the headpiece of those men…are they of the same tribe?"

Head pivoting around, Daniel spotted the child. He sighed, "No. Possibly she has some form of Cancer…a disease for which the treatment causes hair loss…among other things."

Studying the young girl carefully, Lilith saw the parent's loving care and the girls attempt to appear happy for her parents. "Daniel?"

He'd turned away, saddened, and watched the baby rhinoceros. "Hmm?"

"Will you purchase another of those ice cream cones for me, chocolate this time?"

Grinning, he nodded and took off for the vendor stand.

Lilith rose, and slowly approached the family. "Good day." She smiled down at the child. "Your child, she is ill?"

The parents looked guardedly at the woman before them. The mother's hand came to rest on her child's shoulder. "Yes, but she will get through this."

Without looking up at the parents, Lilith touched the child's other shoulder. "Yes. She will."

Walking away, Lilith spotted Daniel, ice cream cone in hand watching her suspiciously. Grinning, the Alteran came up and took the treat from him. "Let us go and see these so called ancestors of yours…the great apes."

As she walked away, Daniel rolled his eyes before turning back to watch the girl and her family. The child was smiling brightly, blinking clear blue eyes, cheeks suddenly flushed. The mother leaned down, "what is it dear?"

The girl shrugged, letting out a giggle. "I donno, I just feel…sorta…good."

Spinning quickly, Daniel took out after Lilith. Non-interference my ass!

~0i0~

Lilith had disappeared like the apparition she'd arrived as. Frantic, Daniel headed for the Ape house, running through the crowd. "Whoops, sorry!" He bumped shoulders with a woman and nearly toppled her. Grabbing her elbow, he righted her again and took off at a run.

Luckily there wasn't a line as he entered the large building that housed the apes and once inside he slowed down to take a look through the throng of people. She shouldn't be hard to spot. She'd worn one of Vala's tight black leather skirts, topped off with one of Sam's tops, a white one with some sort of lace…he couldn't quite remember. Vala had instructed her on the use of glitzy bands for her pony tail.

A mob had gathered in front of the gorilla cage, and Daniel knew…he just knew she was there causing some kind of mayhem. Lilith made Vala look like an angel. That thought brought a smile to his lips. Vala as an angel. Shaking his head to clear the nonsense, he wiggled halfway through the crowd and stopped.

Lilith, forehead pressed to the glass, had one hand up engaged in 'signing'. It took him a long awed moment to decipher the movements. It was Ancient and the Silver Back gorilla, forehead on the opposite side of the glass from hers, was responding.

He stayed back, his height giving him the advantage of seeing the exchange clearly. Daniel whipped out a note pad and pencil and began to try to catch a few words. It was daunting, seeing as they were moving so rapidly...and in Ancient.

Not taking his gaze from the Silver Back, Daniel scribbled a few words. 'born here' 'feel missing something' 'not happy' 'unknown'.

The communication stopped suddenly and the gorilla lifted his eyes and stared at Daniel. Unsure of what to do, Daniel smiled and nodded, feeling a bit foolish. Then the great ape pressed his lips to the glass, turned and ambled back toward the passage-way to the outdoors.

Lilith pushed through the crowd, grabbing Daniel's sleeve and tugging him along. "I do not like this place. Let us leave. Now!"

Without responding, he let her drag him out as she rushed towards the Zoo exit. Before they were completely through the outlet turnstiles an alarm went off, and Daniel turned back to see several animals running freely through the screaming crowd.

Snatching his arm from her grasp, he glared at the scene. "That was not the right thing to do. People could be hurt...or killed. How do you think that young girl is going to do, sitting in that wheelchair when some predictor comes after her!? Kind of a waste of your non-interference little trick earlier, isn't it?"

Lilith waved a hand behind her and continued on.

Daniel waited, watching as the animals calmed, lying down where they stood. "Son of a bitch!"

~TBC