Chapter 1

One Week Earlier

General Hammond addressed SG-1, SG-10, and SG-17 as they joined him at the table in the conference room. This was the new 3-man SG-1. O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c were still trying to find their stride after losing Daniel several weeks earlier. They had taken quite a lot of down time to go through Daniel's personal effects and mourn the loss of their brother, their conscience, their interpreter, their fourth. A replacement had not yet been chosen, though the team had been on a couple of missions as a threesome. General Hammond had tried to keep the missions light for SG-1 as they recovered from their loss, but fate had a way of stepping in and making decisions for him.

This time fate had brought the Tok'ra bearing news that Jacob had disappeared again. His mission had been to infiltrate the meager legion Nirrti had amassed since escaping from Chronos and later being released by the SGC. Jacob had been able to send several communications giving the Tok'ra good estimates of Nirrti's present strength and numbers. He had given detailed plans of the ship her minions were building and was nearing completion. His reports indicated that her forces were minimal but that she was gearing up for an attack on Earth. Then his communications had stopped suddenly and it had been several days since they had heard from him. The Tok'ra were willing to send two of their operatives along on the mission, but they could spare no one else as recent attacks by other Goa'uld on other bases had weakened the Tok'ra considerably.

Hammond knew there was little he could do to keep SG-1 from going to try and find Jacob and he was not inclined to try. He did insist that they not go alone, however. He was sending two other SG teams along. Jack was the highest ranking officer in the group and would command all three teams.

Hammond gave them all a go and they disappeared through the 'gate. The two Tok'ra operatives went through first with Teal'c in tow. They claimed to be former Jaffa of Chronos who had captured Teal'c when he visited Juna to check on the progress of those Jaffa who had chosen to remain on Juna as free men. They claimed to be offering the Shol'va to Nirrti as a gift with hopes they would be accepted into her good graces as they had tired of the primitive lifestyle they been forced to endure since losing their former Lord. The six Jaffa guarding the gate suffered from a moment of indecision, which gave the 11 members of the SGC time to follow the Tok'ra and Teal'c through and attack Nirrti's Jaffa before they had a chance to react.

Jack ordered SG-17 to stay and guard the gate while the others set out to find Nirrti's compound. They walked in silence and on high alert as they trudged through a rather warm and dense forest, walking up-hill. The stargate had been in a small clearing in a valley and had been surrounded by forest and small mountains. A few miles later they had reached the top of the rise and Jack ordered them to stop while they took a breather and surveyed the larger valley that lay before them.

They could see the giant pyramid ship rising up from a large clearing in the forest. Not far from the forest, a large building could be seen less than a mile away from the ship. Jack took mental note of the ordinance they had brought, the C-4, claymores, P-90s and Zats that were standard issue, and they had just gained five staff weapons from the guards they had eliminated at the 'gate. They left one staff weapon and the cannon Teal'c had recovered from the glider Jack shot down on P7S-441 with SG-17. Teal'c, of course had his staff weapon and the Tok'ra each had a staff weapon. O'Neill laid out the plan one last time as they now could see the area and had that visual representation to add to the maps the Tok'ra had provided.

They believed Jacob was being held in the building along with many other slave laborers who had been used to do the heavy construction of the ship. The Colonel sent SG-10 into the ship with C-4 and delay detonators. Their sole mission was to set charges on the reactors that powered the ship. They wanted to take out this ship as well as rescue their captured colleague. SG-1 and the Tok'ra would infiltrate the building, locate Jacob and bring him out. They were to meet at a rock outcropping they could see located about halfway up the hill they would soon be descending.

Things went relatively smoothly for SG-10. They were able to get in, set charges and get out of the incomplete pyramid ship without being detected. The detonators could be triggered by remote, or would automatically be triggered in 12 hours, whichever came first. SG-1 was also having luck with their mission. They had infiltrated the building and had located those being held, including Jacob, who looked a little worse for wear. Sam addressed her father as Jack and Teal'c quietly worked to unlock the door to the cells which were holding the captives, about a dozen in all. She was, however, greeted by Selmak, who, with difficulty, explained that she was allowing Jacob to rest and recuperate. She claimed he was very close to his breaking point, but would recover with time. Sam was immediately concerned but nodded her understanding to Selmak and joined the Colonel in his efforts to release the prisoners. Several minutes later, both doors were open and tired, injured laborers were being led quietly out of the building.

Sam was leading the group with Teal'c a short distance behind, helping Jacob, who was extremely weak. The Tok'ra were also helping a couple of others and Jack was bringing up the rear. Sam was marveling at how easy they had accomplished their task and was feeling a little uneasy that they had not met any resistance. They reached the building entrance and she checked all around for any sign of Nirrti's forces before signaling all to begin the journey to the meeting place.

Jack could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He slowed his progress and stopped as he noticed a slight shadow move in the junction between the corridor they were negotiating and a corridor which bisected it laterally. He waited for someone to stop those who were fleeing in front of him, but nothing happened. He began to move forward again, slowly, staying alert for any possibility. He kept his ears open and his eyes peeled, but as he approached the junction, he heard nothing and saw nothing. Just as he was at the corner of the two corridors, he heard a slight sound and turned his head toward the sound just in time to catch a staff weapon to the jaw. He was knocked off his feet backward and felt his head slam into the floor. He winced and blinked his eyes, fighting to maintain consciousness. He was surrounded immediately by two Jaffa, and moments later greeted by Nirrti, who smiled arrogantly at the prize she had just obtained.

Sam stayed alert at point leading her rag-tag group toward the outcropping. As they neared their destination, Teal'c called to her as quietly as he could to get her attention. She pointed to the planned destination which was visible a few hundred yards ahead and motioned for one of SG-10 to take the lead as she started back toward Teal'c and her father.

"General Carter wishes to speak with you," said Teal'c as he squatted next to Jacob who was sitting on the ground, looking exhausted.

"Dad?" Sam asked as she approached them, joining Teal'c in crouching next to her father and reaching out to feel his forehead.

"Where...where's Jack?" Jacob asked, his voice barely more audible than a whisper.

"He's bringing up the rear, Dad," Sam said as she and Teal'c both turned toward the trailing end of their group, expecting to see Jack approaching. A frown formed on Sam's face as an ugly feeling began to build in the pit of her stomach. She could not see Jack anywhere and panic began to take a firm hold over her. She turned back to her father to ask a question, but saw the familiar eye flash of Selmak taking control again.

"Samantha, you're father is concerned that Nirrti will have let all of us go if she thought she could get her hands on at least one of you, preferably Colonel O'Neill." Selmak said, though laboring to get the entire statement out.

"What?!" Sam asked. "Why? Why Jack?"

Jacob's eyes closed briefly as Selmak struggled to continue. "She is angry about being bested in the treaty negotiations and that Jack and SG-1 exposed her deception and stealth technology to the rest of the Goa'uld. She is angry about having to start over with the research she was doing on Cassandra. She did not enjoy her captivity under Chronos, and though SG-1 was also responsible for his demise, she wants nothing more than to take revenge on the Tau'ri and especially on SG-1. Jacob thinks she intends to make Jack a host."

Sam felt her throat constrict and she was suddenly glad she had been squatting because she didn't have far to fall as she rocked backward onto her seat, struggling to regain her composure. She sat in shocked silence for a moment, trying to absorb what she had just been told.

Teal'c reached out his hand and touched her shoulder, "Major Carter, perhaps we should send the others on while we return to retrieve Colonel O'Neill."

Sam shook herself back into soldier mode and responded with a nod to Teal'c as she forced herself to stand and radioed ahead to have SG-10 continue with the refugees toward the 'gate. She flagged down the two Tok'ra and told them to take Jacob to the gate. She told them to activate it as soon as they arrived and to get Jacob back to their base. She was concerned for her father as she had never seen him as weak as he now appeared, not even after his stay on Netu.

She then turned her attention back to Nirrti's base.

Jack held up his hands as he struggled back to his feet. Nirrti continued to smile as she walked around Jack, her eyes scanning up and down his body.

"So, Colonel O'Neill, you have come to me at last," Nirrti said and smiled smugly. "I have been waiting for this. You and I will begin a great conquest today."

"You and I will not begin anything today," Jack replied, calmly.

"Oh, but we will, Colonel. You will be gifted with my new partner this very day. Together we will launch an assault on your former home and bring it to its knees," she said and then leaned in closer to whisper in Jack's ear, "You have no idea how much pleasure you will experience before this day is done."

Jack fought an involuntary shudder as he continued to stare at Nirrti in a calm, dispassionate manner. He refused to show her anything, no fear, no disgust, no reaction of any kind. His mind was, however reeling as he ran scenarios and outcomes through it. Just then, a third Jaffa arrived, somewhat out of breath.

"My lady," he said before Nirrti halted him with a look that could kill.

"What is it?" she hissed, clearly upset at being disturbed while trying to enjoy the culmination of her plan.

"We have discovered devices attached to the reactor of the Ha'tak. They appear to be explosives and there are symbols flashing on them but we cannot recognize the symbols being displayed."

"Can you not remove them?" Nirrti asked, panic raising the pitch in her voice slightly.

"We did not try to remove them as we felt there was a danger of detonating them prematurely," the Jaffa said slowly.

Nirrti spun around to face Jack, who was still standing with his arms raised, but with a decidedly larger grin on his face.

"What are these devices?" she asked him sharply.

"Oh, they're explosives," Jack said, still calmly smiling.

"How can we remove them?" she asked, calming herself slightly.

"You can't," he said and then shrugged.

"Are they on a timer?" she asked, becoming slightly more agitated again.

"Yes, they are," he continued to answer with the same calm smile, refusing to look away from her scrutinizing gaze.

"How long before they detonate?" she asked, weighing whether or not to believe him.

Jack lowered his left arm slightly to glance at his watch. "Oh..." he said and then hesitated, pretending to be calculating the time remaining, "not long now."

"But you will die if these devices explode," Nirrti said, her voice rising again as she decided he was telling the truth.

"Yeah." He shrugged and continued calmly, "Small price to pay to take you out." Jack smiled as he saw fierce anger flash through her eyes.

"You will not succeed," she said and turned to her Jaffa before issuing orders in Goa'uld. The last Jaffa to enter the building turned and quickly exited the building while the other two Jaffa came around behind Jack and nudged him forward toward the opening of the building. Nirrti followed.

Sam and Teal'c took position on the rock outcropping and pulled out their binoculars to see if they could get a glimpse of what might be happening back at the ship and building. Sam was just about to start back for the building when she noticed a Jaffa exiting the building in a rather quick hurry. They watched as the Jaffa ran into a long-range shuttle and a few minutes later Jack was brought out by two Jaffa and followed by Nirrti. Sam involuntarily gasped as she saw her husband being led away and time seemed to slow as she watched the sequence of events that followed.

Jack suddenly made a move to trip one Jaffa as he punched another. Sam felt fear grip her heart as she watched Jack begin running toward them. She and Teal'c could only watch helplessly as they were too far away to do anything to help. Nirrti was determined to take her revenge, even if it was in a different form than she planned. In one motion she pulled a Zat from one of the Jaffa and shot Jack in the back. Seconds later she shot him again and before Sam could even register the second blast, Nirrti shot a third time and in a flash, Jack was gone.

Sam stood in stunned, appalled, shocked silence but had no time to react before Teal'c grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him up the hill. Several gliders began to rise from behind the ship and began to fly in the direction of the stargate. Sam's mind denied what she had seen and the soldier in her took over as she continued to run behind Teal'c at full speed. She radioed ahead to warn the other SG teams of the coming glider attack. She told the SG teams to take up defensive positions around the gate and to dial Earth as soon as they could.

The Tok'ra and Jacob had gone through the gate just minutes before Sam radioed her warning. Seconds later gliders began strafing the gate area, pinning the SG teams where they stood. One member of SG-17 was injured as he attempted to reach the DHD. Another member of SG-17 used Teal'c's cannon to take out one of the gliders. SG-10's leader radioed Sam as she and Teal'c continued to run through the forest toward the gate. She ordered them to return immediately and not wait for Teal'c and her if they could establish a wormhole.

Two of the gliders had landed in a clearing on the opposite side of the gate from Teal'c and Sam who were just starting over the top of the hill. Two of the gliders continued to fire on the 'gate area while several members of the SG teams returned fire with their staff weapons and Teal'c's cannon and another attempted to reach the DHD to dial out. Suddenly, there were screams and the man at the DHD was shot with a staff weapon as the refugees tried to find cover from the Jaffa that were approaching through the forest from the gliders that landed. With two SG members injured or dead and refugees running in a panic, the remaining SG members were hard pressed to fend off the advancing Jaffa and the remaining gliders.

The standoff continued as Sam and Teal'c continued to run toward the gate. Radio messages from SG-10 informed the approaching pair that they were pinned down and unable to get to the DHD. Teal'c began to slow as he approached the 'gate clearing, but Sam did not. She continued on at full speed, taking Teal'c by surprise as she ran straight for the DHD. He followed, firing his staff weapon to cover her as he shouted at her to take cover. She ignored him and began pressing the symbol sequence for Earth. Another glider was hit by the cannon and it crashed into the hillside that Sam and Teal'c had just descended. Minutes later, having ducked several blasts which whizzed very near by her, she was sending SG-1's code through the now established wormhole. Once the signal had been sent, she began laying down cover fire in the direction of the Jaffa and started shouting for the others to run through the gate. Teal'c joined her and began firing his staff weapon at the Jaffa also as the last glider retreated toward Nirrti's ship.

Several Jaffa fell as the other SG members began to concentrate their fire on the Jaffa while providing cover for the retreating refugees, who were proceeded by members of SG-17 carrying through the wounded SGC members. Sam grabbed the detonator from the SG-10 leader before sending him through the gate. She looked around one more time to be sure there was no one still waiting to go through the gate and then told Teal'c to go through. He ignored her and both looked toward the sky as they heard the long-range shuttle ascend to the sky. Sam pressed the button on the remote detonator hoping the charges SG-10 had set would take out the shuttle as the Ha'tak exploded. She did not find out as Teal'c grabbed her arm and pulled her through the gate.

"Close the Iris!" Sam shouted, as she was drug into the SGC by Teal'c. She nearly dropped right there, but somehow, with Teal'c there to support her, she managed to stay on her feet. Sam looked around at the general chaos which was occurring in the 'gate room as the medical staff did triage on the wounded and began herding the refugees to a holding area. General Hammond approached the ramp with a concerned look on his face, looking first at Sam and then at Teal'c before asking the question, the answer to which he was sure he did not want to hear.

"Where is Colonel O'Neill?" he asked at last, directed more at Teal'c as the general surmised Sam was not going to be responding to anything judging by her appearance.

"Colonel O'Neill is dead," Teal'c said in the matter-of-fact way he answered every question put before him. Sam had heard the entire exchange, but when she heard Teal'c's reply, something changed in her, like a light switch being turned off. She looked straight ahead, though she saw nothing. Her energy drained away and she felt nothing, heard nothing. She began to walk down the ramp, past General Hammond who reached out to touch her arm, stopping her momentarily. She stopped and glanced up at him with a glazed look on her face.

"Permission to be excused, sir?" said Sam, struggling greatly to maintain her composure.

General Hammond searched her face for a moment before nodding his consent and he let her continue down the ramp and toward the exit. She continued on increasingly wobbly legs determined to make it to her quarters before she lost it completely. Hammond, through eye contact alone, signaled Teal'c to follow her and make sure she made it to her destination. Teal'c nodded silently and began following Sam at a discreet distance. The 'gate room had become still and silent since Teal'c had pronounced Jack dead and all moved out of Sam's path, none wanting to impede her progress.

Janet fought the urge to rush to her friend, needing instead to finish her assessment of the injured so she could get their treatment started as quickly as possible. She, too, fought to maintain her composure and threw herself into the task at hand as she continued to examine her charges and issue instructions for their care.

General Hammond slowly turned to find the eyes of many looking to him for direction, which he gave, ordering all to continue what they had been doing and announcing that a debriefing would be held in an hour.

Teal'c kept a discreet but watchful eye on Sam as she continued her dogged march toward her quarters. In her blind determination, she bumped into a colleague who came down the corridor in the opposite direction carrying papers which he was reading while not looking where he was going. She mumbled an apology and continued on her way more quickly, very nearly breaking into a run. The soldier fought to keep from dropping the papers he was carrying and looked back in Sam's direction as she continued on. He was surprised to see it was Major Carter, still in full combat gear, that he had bumped, and even more surprised to see Teal'c approaching, also still in full combat gear, carrying a staff weapon, and ignoring him as Teal'c continued his mission to ensure Sam made it to her quarters unimpeded. The soldier shrugged his shoulders and made a mental note to ask about SG-1's mission for today, knowing that what he had just seen was unusual, but having no idea what had happened.

Teal'c slowed as he approached the corner to the corridor on which Sam's quarters were located. He remained in full stealth mode as he watched her open the door, slip in and close the door behind her without ever turning on the light. He need not have been so careful as Sam would not have noticed him even if he would have tripped and accidentally fired his staff weapon. She had become oblivious to everything around her.

The second she was inside her room with the door closed, she sank to her knees, her face contorted into an agonizing cry, though no sound escaped from her. The full force of her loss hit her like a ton of bricks and she curled up into a fetal position, lying on her side on the floor in the dark, struggling to take in breath and wanting to scream at the same time. Images began to rush through her mind and she fought to block them out. She could not bear to see him die again, it was too much to witness the first time.

She had no idea how long she had been in the dark, still struggling to make her lungs fill with air, when sound actually began to accompany her silent sobs and gasps. She felt a low agonizing moan begin down deep and continue to grow as it made its way out. It became a loud wailing "no!" which continued to rise in volume and intensity as it escaped from her. Teal'c fought the urge to enter when he heard the agonizing cry erupt from her room, but he held his ground, listening intently as silence descended once again.

Sam continued to sob, silently, her body racked with spasms as the magnitude of her grief grew. She had nearly dozed off, exhausted and spent when Janet approached her door. She nodded silently at Teal'c, who returned her nod, before she rapped gently on Sam's door with her knuckles. Hearing no answer, she carefully and tentatively opened the door. Janet reached her hand in to find the light switch on the wall when she felt resistance against her opening the door.

"Sam," she called lightly, swallowing a huge lump in her throat, before she continued. "Sam, honey, can I come in?"

Sam struggled to move out of the way of the door, crawling, toward the cot which was a few feet away from the door. As she approached the bed, using the frame to pull herself up off the floor, Janet tried the door again. The doctor opened the door and involuntarily sucked in a breath as she beheld her friend. Sam's eyes were red and swollen nearly shut. Her skin was pale and her hair was a mess. She was still in her combat fatigues and vest and carrying the P-90 she had been firing before she stepped through the gate. Janet snuck a concerned look back at Teal'c as they both realized she had been holding the firearm since returning.

Janet reached out to gently brush some hair from Sam's forehead as Sam sat on the bed, staring straight ahead into nothingness.

"Sam, I need you to let go of the weapon now," Janet said in as quiet and soothing a voice as she could muster, needing to continually swallow the lump which insisted on forming in her throat. Sam complied, though she showed no indication that she was even aware that Janet was in the room. "Let's get this nasty old vest off too, shall we?" Janet said as she slowly and carefully reached in to undo the closure of the utility vest and then slid it off Sam's arms. Sam continued to stare into space in a seemingly catatonic state as Janet then suggested that she come to the infirmary for her post mission examination. Sam offered no resistance as Janet motioned for Teal'c to help her and they approached Sam from either side, preparing to lift her arms onto their shoulders. Both stopped short as Sam suddenly seemed to snap out of her 'coma' and spoke.

"I can walk," she stated quietly. They stopped and both stepped back.

"Alright," said Janet, "will you please come with me to the infirmary?"

"Yes," was her only reply, and Teal'c stayed to follow Sam as Janet led the way.

They walked in silence to the infirmary where Sam quietly complied with all of Janet's directions, submitting to all tests without resistance or sound. When all the vital signs had been taken and all the blood had been drawn and sent to the lab for its various tests, Janet approached Sam to talk.

"Can you tell me what happened, Sam?" Janet asked quietly.

"Nirrti shot and killed Jack," Sam said, her voice barely above a whisper, her eyes closing tightly against the image of Jack running and being shot in the back over and over again while she sat by helplessly and watched it happen. She shook her head to try and clear the image from her mind.

Teal'c had left Sam in Janet's capable hands and had gone to the conference room to join the nearly completed debriefing which General Hammond had called with the uninjured members of SG-10 and SG-17. He knew they would have little information for the General regarding O'Neill's fate. He and Major Carter had been the only witnesses to the event and he had turned to look at the Major after he had seen the second shot hit O'Neill and had not even seen the third shot happen. He had glanced back as he had started dragging Major Carter away and had taken note that Colonel O'Neill was no longer there. His brain had filled in the missing piece that Nirrti had shot him a third time, but he did not actually see the third shot happen. The General thanked them all for their reports and informed them they would need to prepare formal statements to be included in the record the next day and then dismissed them all. The General sat at the conference table for a long time, unwilling to move, unwilling to move on, if only for a little while.

Teal'c stopped by the infirmary to inquire about Major Carter before heading to his own quarters. He needed to be alone for a while, to attain Kel No Reem and to mourn the loss of the warrior to whom he had sworn his allegiance, the man who had convinced him to leave his entire life behind for the promise of hope for a better future for his people, the man beside whom he had fought and defeated many of his former false gods. His allegiance now lay entirely with the surviving member of the premiere team of the Stargate Command, the widow of his brother in arms, the soldier who gained more victories using intelligence than using brawn. He would look after her as he knew O'Neill would want him to do.

Janet looked up from her observation of Sam as Teal'c approached her bed. "I've given her something to help her sleep," Janet offered to the silent question she saw on Teal'c's face. He nodded slowly to indicate his comprehension of the situation. The petite doctor then turned her full attention to the strong Jaffa warrior who was standing before her still wearing the clothes he had worn on their fateful mission. "I think it's time we checked you out, Teal'c," she said as she absentmindedly rubbed a hand across her forehead and wiping a few stray hairs out of her eyes.

Teal'c followed her in silence as she led him to another bed behind a curtain separating his bed from the one on which Sam was currently shifting restlessly.

"Major Carter does not appear to be resting quietly," Teal'c said as Janet approached him with a sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope.

"I have given her the maximum dose of sedative which I consider to be safe and yet she continues to toss and turn. I hope the medication has not had a chance to reach its maximum effect and that when it does, she will be able to rest peacefully at least for a while," Janet said as she glanced back toward Sam's bed.

Janet finished up with Teal'c's vitals and walked toward the other end of the infirmary to get a standard blood draw kit. As she was returning to Teal'c, Sam's restlessness increased. Janet approached her bed and was joined by Teal'c as Sam suddenly sat bolt upright and yelled "Jack! NO!" Janet and Teal'c both reached out to support Sam from behind as she had never really regained consciousness and began to sink back to the bed. They eased her back to lie on the bed again. Her restless movements ceased and she appeared to be slipping into a peaceful slumber.

"It appears the medication has reached its maximum effect, Doctor Fraiser," said Teal'c after observing the Major for a few minutes.

"Let's hope so, Teal'c," Janet replied and gestured back toward the bed he had been occupying. "Let's get you finished up so you can get some rest too."

Teal'c nodded and returned to the examination bed. Janet quickly took what she needed from Teal'c.

"How are you doing?" she asked as she finished drawing her blood samples.

"I am well, Doctor Fraiser," he replied with his standard response.

"You will get some rest if I let you out of here, won't you?" she asked, cocking her head slightly to the side and raising one eyebrow as she scrutinized his stoic visage.

"I will," he assured her as he always did when she asked that question. She assured him she would inform him of any changes in Sam's condition and he left the infirmary to go to his quarters.

Janet slowly walked back toward her office, rubbing the back of her neck and stretching her neck by moving her head slowly from side to side. She had placed Sam in a bed she could see from her office window and so she gave into the overwhelming urge she had to go and sit down for a few minutes as Sam was still resting quietly.

She plopped herself in her not so comfy desk chair, and leaning back, propped her feet up on her desk. She tried to get her body to relax a bit, contracting and releasing various muscles in her body in sequence. This day had been one she had always known could come, but which she'd prayed never would. SG-1 was the team she had grown closest to over the years. They had become more like family than anything else and she had spent many a night worrying over their welfare as they had traveled all over the cosmos.

They had suffered a devastating blow when Daniel was taken from them, but they had also been given a sense of peace over his loss because they knew he was not truly gone, but rather transformed, ascended to another plane of existence they did not yet understand. His loss was still felt deeply by all, including her. She missed him terribly every day.

She missed the enthusiasm he exuded when he worked on a new translation or studied a new artifact. She missed the way he teased Jack and the way Jack teased him back. She missed the way his blues eyes sparkled when he laughed, the caring intelligence he brought to every discussion in which he engaged...she could go on for hours listing the qualities that had drawn her to accept his offers for dates. They had begun to grow very close just before the accident that radiated his body beyond its tolerance. She remembered how devastated she had been when she realized nothing could be done to restore his body…that he would die; how helpless she had felt when she realized she could do nothing to help, except to make his last moments comfortable.

She had taken some comfort in the knowledge that he had not 'died'. She had wept openly when Oma Desala had arrived to help Daniel ascend and join Shifu, her and countless 'others' just as his body was losing its struggle to continue. These memories were still raw and vivid for her, so she could only imagine what Sam was feeling even as she rested in a drug-induced slumber. Sam and Jack leaned on each other when Daniel had gone. Teal'c still had Sam and Jack when Daniel had gone...she and Cassie had them all to support them when Daniel had gone. Janet knew Sam was going to need all of them to help her get through this just as they would all need her to help them through it.