Chapter 2: Love Endures All Things

"Jack!" I screamed. Charlie pulled his gun, but I grabbed his arm. "No, wait!"

Charlie kept his gun on Jack while using the walkie-talkie. "Hammond! Intruder in the infirmary."

Jack closed his eyes again, and when he spoke, it was him. "Kawalski, don't worry. He's an ally."

"Jack, we don't know that you're . . . you." Charlie looked between Jack and me as he spoke.

Hammond came in moments later, demanding an explanation.

"Sir," Jack still sounded weak, but he was resolved. "He healed me. I was dying."

"Colonel, how can we know you're telling the truth. That's a Goa'uld!"

"Look, General. I'm not going to try to fight you on this. He is part of a resistance group within the Goa'uld. He can explain it later. Can I sleep now?"

"Major Kawalski, stand guard. When Jack O'Neill wants to stay in the infirmary, you know something's wrong."

I was stunned. I looked at the silent form of my husband -- my husband, who the day before I had thought was dead. Now. . . now he might be lost to me anyway. Any resolve I might have had to be strong was melting away as tears welled up in my eyes. Devastated, I turned to leave, and General Hammond took my arm.

"Doctor, would you come-"

"We are not Goa'uld. I am Lantash of the Tok'ra." I heard the Goa'uld speaking again and refused to face him. "My former host was dying, and I chose to enter O'Neill in an attempt to save both of our lives."

Hammond remained doubtful. "Would you mind telling us how you avoided being taken by Thor in the first place?"

Jack took a difficult breath. "In all honesty, I cannot. Perhaps our life signs were too weak. I dared not leave my host while the enemy was present, but my host, Martouf, recognized that the damage he had sustained from your projectile weapons would be impossible to heal, while staff blasts are sometimes less difficult. We admired O'Neill's bravery, and recognized his leadership. Together, we may better fight against our common enemy, the Goa'uld."

Jack looked worn out by the exertion required to speak for so long. He closed his eyes again and murmured, "Weird."

"Do you think we have a common ally that could verify your claim?" Hammond asked.

Jack looked like he was deep in thought a moment. "The Tollans, the Nox, the Asgard?"

Again, hope! "General, the Asgard left us a communication device. If he's telling the truth, we can just ask them if they have ever heard of the Tok'ra."

"The sn- the symbiote says that his fellow Tok'ra could identify him."

"And who'll identify them?" Charlie demanded.

"You can ask the Asgard to give them some kind of password, and they can say it on a certain frequency before they enter the Chapa'ai."

I felt myself sigh a little. It sounded reasonable. Even Charlie looked ready to accept the idea.

The General led me out of the infirmary, nodding to Kawalski to stay there. "Sam, I didn't want to say this in front of . . . but, Jack has been compromised. Hopefully, the Asgard will be able to corroborate his story, and maybe they can help us get our people back from the Beta Site while they're at it."

"Yes, sir."

"The SGA will no longer be a secret to the rest of the world. A lot of changes will need to be made. I'm afraid I'm going to be relying heavily on you until we get our people back."

I nodded, my eyes glued to the infirmary door, and his voice drifted into my consciousness. "You probably shouldn't talk to him until we know. . . it'll be better this way."

"I know." I answered, but I doubt I sounded convincing.

"Let's go see if we can get a hold of those little gray men again."

"Yes, General Hammond. The Tok'ra are a resistance group who oppose the System Lords. I can help you to contact them so they can verify the identity of the one called 'Lantash.' In the mean time, I will see if the Nox will help you to communicate with the rest of your people."

The General and I were standing in the Control Room, conversing with a hologram of Thor.

"Thank you, Thor." He answered. "Our whole planet owes you thanks."

Thor nodded his head, then the hologram blinked out.

Above us, NORAD personnel and a contingent from the Academy helped to clear out the human and alien remains. If there were surviving relatives, they deserved a body to bury. So many families were denied even that in the large cities destroyed from orbit.

I did my best to help out, but I couldn't hide from my own pain. In the two days since we had found him, Jack was making a lot of progress. Charlie said that he was walking around, devouring any food he could, and asking about me . . . a lot. He certainly wasn't acting like a typical Goa'uld.

I worked on the dialing computer, adding the addresses that Captain Carter had stored on the removable hard drive. They had gotten those addresses when Jack -- the other Jack -- had found some technology left by the Ancients.

That other Jack . . . so sweet and kind, so vulnerable, and yet, he demanded so much of his "Carter." I had asked him if he saw her as anything but a subordinate. He had let his military training answer for him, but when he let me cry onto his shoulder, I knew it wasn't his first time. He held me closer than he would a stranger, and I sensed that he was thinking of his Captain, even as I remembered my husband.

A light flashed behind me, and I spun in my seat to see the newly-familiar form of Thor's hologram. "Dr. Carter." He said with a nod. General Hammond appeared just as I was about to call for him.

"What the -- Thor?"

"Yes, General Hammond. I have spoken with the Tok'ra, and they will be initiating contact momentarily."

"How will we . . ." I was cut off by the sound of the Stargate being activated.

"Thor," the General looked doubtful, "can you know for certain that those are the Tok'ra?"

"They will broadcast a message through the Stargate before they attempt to enter."

"Doctor, go ahead and close the iris."

I complied and found the pre-arranged frequency.

"Receiving, Sir." I heard the beginning of the message in my earpiece before transferring the signal to the speakers.

"... Council, please respond. This is Midron of the Tok'ra, please respond."

Hammond took the microphone. "This is General Hammond of the United States Air Force. Do you have the password?"

The voice answered with the correct phrase, and Thor nodded. Hammond replied, "We will open our iris for you now."

He nodded to me, and I opened the iris. A few moments later, two dusty figures emerged from the event horizon.

I hurried down the stairs to the 'gateroom, the general following closely. The pair standing on the ramp didn't show much emotion. I glanced at Hammond, and he was analyzing them, too. "Welcome to the SGA. The Asgard tell us that you fight against the System Lords?"

"That is correct."

I cringed at the answer in that alien voice, but the man's smile held no menace. He regarded me briefly before turning again to Hammond.

"You say that one of our operatives has taken one of you as a host?"

"It looks that way." I answered, remembering the voice from my husband telling me his name was Lantash.

"We will see him."

Hammond gestured to the door, and said, "I'll lead the way."

I took up the rear of our entourage, and the four of us were silent until we reached the elevator.

Hammond broke the silence by introducing me.

"I am Midron," said the one who had been doing all the talking so far, "and this is Aldwin."

Finally, we reached the infirmary. Jack appeared to be sleeping, and my breath caught because he looked so much like his old self just then. I nervously walked to his side, but still not too close. I looked back to Hammond, who was keeping our guests just outside; then, I leaned down. "Jack?" I softly called, trying to wake him gently.

"Sammie?" he whispered, "I've missed you, baby."

He reached for my hand, and I let him take it, so angry with myself for letting him down, no matter what had been done to him. "I'm sorry. I've missed you, too."

I was leaning even closer to kiss him, until I remembered why I hadn't before. I froze, then took a step back. "Um, Jack, you have company."

General Hammond met my eyes, and nodded, letting the Tok'ra enter. I eyed Jack warily. He bowed his head, and I caught a glimpse of the glow in his eyes.

"Greetings, brethren."

The strangers replied in the Goa'uld language, and it was frightening to hear them speak in that language with those inhuman voices. Lantash, however, always replied in English, meeting my gaze frequently. Maybe he was a good Goa'uld, like Thor had said. Last week, I had never considered that there could be a friendly Jaffa, but I had met one, and now good Goa'ulds. It seemed impossible, but I wanted to believe.

Lantash must have convinced the others to let their hosts speak, too, because the next time one of them spoke, it was with the comforting, human voice.

"General Hammond, we need to interrogate the symbiote to be sure he is who he says he is. The mate of the host may remain here if she wishes."

The General looked at me. I looked at Jack. He spoke to me in his own voice, holding his right arm out to me. "C'mere, honey. It's okay."

"Are you sure?" I asked, stepping toward him again.

He reached his arm around my waist. "Remember when I told you about some of the things I had to do in special ops?"

I nodded.

"Some of the things Lantash says may be unpleasant, but they're part of who he is, just like those missions are part of who I am." He squeezed me a little closer to himself. "Okay?"

I took a breath, and answered, "Yeah."

After the interrogation, the Tok'ra were satisfied that the symbiote really was Lantash, but the ordeal had taken a lot out of Jack emotionally. He had spoken in English the entire time, except for once when he reverted to the Goa'uld language. I figured if it was that bad, I didn't want to know.

As they left him to rest, he gently squeezed my hand. "Sammie, take me back to our quarters."

"Jack, are you sure? The doctor --"

"Tell the doctor that the symbiote has healed me. I just want to sleep in private."

I ran my fingers over his hair before I left. The substitute doctor tried to argue, but he had seen that Jack wasn't really sleeping well. Within the hour, I had led my husband back to the quarters that had been our only home since our anniversary.

Janet had taken our things with her to the Beta Site, expecting us to join her. The room was very bare, but that was good -- there had been nothing for the invading Jaffa to ransack.

There still was a bed with warm blankets, and we settled in alone together for the first time since the day I'd thought I'd lost him. He gently held me, and it seemed like it had been forever since we had simply kissed. I lay my head on his chest, and he put an arm around me. I couldn't remember the last time that I had felt so safe.

"So," he began softly as he rubbed his thumb over my shoulder, "we learned a lot about Lantash today."

"Yep. We did. He was brave to infiltrate Apophis' ship."

"Is there anything else you'd like to know more about? As long as it isn't classified, of course."

"There is one thing. Who is Jolinar?"

The next day, I sat in the control room, monitoring systems and keeping an eye out for IDCs.

The first batch of leaders and scientists had returned from the Alpha Site that morning, followed by some SGA personnel. I sniffed the flower that Cassie had brought back for me, and smiled when I recalled the warm welcome that she and Janet had received from Charlie. It was a few-minute lull between incoming groups; there was relative quiet, and Jack was looking up at me with a broad grin.

Greeting returning people was not the most exciting thing he had ever done, but that morning, before he had even gotten out of bed, he had made it clear that he had to do something after being in the infirmary for all those days.

As the Stargate began to activate, he winked at me. I turned my attention to the monitors, watching for the IDC. When one hadn't appeared within a few seconds of activation, I closed the iris.

Jack looked up at me with concern, but didn't attempt a verbal answer. He understood the precaution. There was no way I was going to let him stand there, vulnerable but for his Beretta and a zat'n'ktel that we had recovered during clean-up. I'd feel much better once we had a full complement of SF's again.

What I finally heard was coming in on the frequency the Tok'ra had used. I had missed the beginning of the message, but I caught that it was urgent and for Lantash. I opened the iris and replied that they could come through. Over the P.A. to the gateroom, I said, "It's the Tok'ra."

My heart didn't quite skip a beat this time when he lowered his head and acquiesced control to his symbiote. I was troubled by disturbing thoughts about the Tok'ra, especially Jolinar, but now wasn't the time for that.

I paged our guests to the gateroom, and also requested Hammond and a replacement for me to the control room. A moment later, the operative appeared through the gate. He looked very concerned, and that was saying a lot for these people. As soon as Hammond arrived, I excused myself to get down to Jack. If there was an urgent message for him, then I wanted to be there. I arrived in the gateroom just behind the others. Jack put an arm around me as I approached his side.

The newcomer had greeted the Tok'ra, but merely inclined his head to me before speaking. "Jolinar has gone down on Netu."

I felt Jack flinch, and although I didn't comprehend the significance of the place, I knew that being shot down is never a good thing.

"Is she alright?" Lantash asked, Jack's face contorted with pain.

"She sent a brief distress signal before she entered the atmosphere, but she didn't want to broadcast a longer message that would be more easily traced."

"So, what do we know?"

"Only that she was going down."

"Not if she landed?" He was squeezing my arm, now.

"I'm sorry. We don't know."

Jack put his head down and pulled lightly away from me. Lantash spoke with barely controlled emotion. "I can be ready to go in thirty minutes."

Leaving me trailing behind him, he swept up to the control room, and was already leaving as I hit the top step. His strength and speed were clearly more than human. I had barely stopped, myself, before blurting, "General, I need to go with him!"

"Sam?"

"Sir, I'm going to have a hard enough time convincing Jack. I can't let him leave without me."

"Permission granted, but . . . be careful."

"Thank you," I answered, hoping that I hadn't already missed Jack in our quarters.

The elevator was there when I arrived. During the brief ride up, I considered that Jack had probably pushed the call button, then had gotten impatient and run to the nearest stairwell.

In our quarters, Jack was packing a duffle bag.

"What do I need to bring?" I asked, going to the overnight bag that Janet had just brought back with her.

"Sam!" He stopped, staring at me with pain and something like anger.

"Jack?" My resolve weakened just a degree.

"No, Sam, it's too dangerous."

"You're going."

"I have to go. I love her."

"And I love you!" I answered, steeling myself against the pain his statement had caused.

He must have seen the pain in my eyes, because he dropped the bag, and pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Oh, Sam. Oh, my sweet Samantha, I'm sorry."

The tears that I'd been holding back, burst forth at his words. He stroked my back, saying my name over and over.

After a few moments, he held me just a bit away from him, and dropped a light kiss onto my lips. "Sam, I love you, and I should know better than to underestimate you. Part of me is afraid of loosing the two people most important to me at the same time, but you deserve the chance to come be a part of my new life."

Kawalski must have also gotten wind of our impromptu trip, because he and Janet met us in the gateroom as the gate was dialing.

"No, Charlie," Jack was firm this time. "You're place is here. You might have never seen Janet and Cassie again when you stayed to take care of Sam when you thought I was dead. I'll never forget that, but you don't know how dangerous this is. Now that she's here, you should be with your fiancé."

Charlie's gaze softened as it fell on Janet. He could be as closed as Jack when he wanted to be, but Janet had opened something in his heart, and it showed.

"Of course I want to be here with them, but . . . are you sure?" The gate activated. Neither man seemed to notice.

"Yes." Jack gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "I'd never forgive myself if I let you get killed before your wedding."

The hint of a grin lit Charlie's features. "You'd better not leave me without a best man."

I hugged Janet, who then shoved two canteens of water in my hands. "Take care of each other."

Nodding, I answered, "You too."

We turned to join the Tok'ra at the foot of the ramp. Moments later, we were stepping out onto a sandy landscape.

"This is the ship we will take to the planet." Aldwin said, indicating a Tel'tac a short distance away.

"How exactly are we going to accomplish this rescue?" asked Jack, as we neared the ship.

"We are not sure yet." Aldwin answered.

"Not what I wanted to hear."