Colorado Springs, Three Days Later

No one paid any attention to the teen aged girl that was speaking softly into the receiver of the graffiti covered public telephone. Her ratty jeans, dirty hoodie, and lank hair marked her as one of the throwaways of her generation. A lone tear slip down her face as she hung up the phone, slung a small knapsack over her shoulder and headed down the street.

It was a pleasant, if nondescript house on a street with dozens of similar homes. Samantha Carter, Air Force officer and theoretical astrophysicist, purchased the home only weeks before trusting that her assignment to the SGC was going to be long-term. Her father would not have approved but she needed a place to call home, a place that was really hers. It even a had a yard, not a large one, but it did provide a buffer between her home and those of her neighbors. It was her safe haven, or at least it had been until the mission to Nassya.

She alternated between rage and bone chilling fear, a prisoner in her own body. How the hell could this have happened? After discovering that Kowalski had been infested by a Goa'uld while on Chulak, the SGC began screening all team members after every off-world mission for the tell-tale scar left on the back of a host's neck. Somehow, no one had taken into consideration the possibility that if the symbiote could enter through that back of a human neck, it could just as easily enter through go in through the mouth and into soft inner tissue of the throat. By attempting to perform CPR on one of the Nassyans during the Goa'uld attack, she had become a host. Her Goa'uld had passed off the damage left in its wake as a mere sore throat. And how the hell had no one noticed that she wasn't herself. Even Janet had ignored the evidence.

/Samantha, calm yourself. This will all be over soon,/ Jolinar tried to soothe her unhappy host. /On the next trip through your Stargate I will find my people and attempt to locate a new, willing host. You will be free to return to your life./

/They will figure it out,/ Samantha silently screamed. /They'll stop you./

/For both our sakes, I hope that you are wrong,/ Jolinar warned. /I have seen enough of your mind to know that at best we would be imprisoned and studied./

It was one of the great mysteries among the Tok'ra. Why would the Goa'uld want an unwilling host? Even though a mature symbiote could easily take control the host's body, the host's consciousness was another matter. Given time, a Goa'uld would force its host's mind into a small box from which it would rarely venture but it was a long process. The effort to calm Samantha was rapidly expending Jolinar's dwindling reserves.

The door bell rang. Jolinar was inclined to ignore it but it kept ringing. Firmly pushing Samantha into the background she went to answer the door. She really didn't need this.

There had better be someone in the house Buffy thought as she pressed the bell for the tenth time. She hadn't come all this way to find out that she was too late. Finally, she thought. Moments later the door opened.

Jolinar paused for a moment, quickly searching her host's memories for a clue to the identity of the girl standing in front of her. "Hello," she said in greeting.

The girl stared at her with eyes that seemed to see far beneath the surface.

Jolinar shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Can I help you?"

"I think we might be might be able each other. That is assuming that you are Jolinar." Buffy nodded as the older woman's posture stiffened. "Guessing I'm right then. Can I come in so we can talk?"

The silence in the living room was deafening as both Slayer and Tok'ra tried to stare the other down.

"You are not a host," Jolinar said finally.

"No. That would kinda of defeat the purpose of my visit."

"Which is?"

"I'm volunteering to be your new host."

/NO!/ Sam screamed. /She's a child./

"Who are you?" Jolinar demanded as she pushed Samantha back down. "And what do you know of hosts?"

"My name's Anne," the Slayer lied. "An old friend of mine said that you that you could use a new ride 'cause the one you got now, not gonna work out well for you."

Jolinar blinked in confusion.

"There's an ass-rack that came through the ring thingee. He's going to find you and you will both end up dead."

"What is to stop the Ashrak from killing us if you become my host?" Jolinar was almost amused by the girl.

"Me. I'm tougher than I look. A lot tougher," Buffy shrugged. "And your current host is too important to Earth. She has to survive and stay on her team."

"And you do not need to survive?"

"For the big picture, nope."

/No, Jolinar. You can not be considering this. She's just a little girl. You can keep me./

"My current host is unhappy with your offer," Jolinar offered. "I am also disinclined to accept."

"Mind if I sit down, it's been a long couple of days." Buffy plopped down on the couch without waiting for permission. "Whistler, that's the guy that gave me the heads up about you, was really clear about what would happen if you stay where you are. You and your host will die and Earth won't make contact with the Tok'ra. That will be enough to tip the balance to the System Lords and Earth will fall."

"Are you suggesting an alliance between the Tok'ra and this world?"

"I don't know, maybe. You're both fighting against the same guys."

Jolinar looked thoughtful. The girl's offer could open the way for an alliance.

/They never let you back into the SGC in her body./

/I agree./ Jolinar put the question to Buffy. "How do you plan on getting us back to Chappa'ai? I believe that Samantha is correct in her assessment that we would not be allowed access. And tell me of the one you call Whistler."

"I might have an idea," the Slayer said. "And Whistler, for now, let's just say that he's in the information delivery business."

Jolinar opened the front door.

"Sam?"

"Come in, Janet. There's someone I'd like you to meet." She stepped aside to allow the SGC's Chief Medical Officer entry.

Janet saw a young woman with damp hair enter the living room.

"That shower felt so good. Is this the doc?"

"Janet, meet Anne."

"Hi." Buffy walked up to Jolinar. "You ready?"

"Yes. And you?"

"Sam, what's going on?"

Jolinar bent her neck as she placed her open mouth over Buffy's. Sam and Slayer both shuddered before stepping apart. Buffy moved to catch Sam as she collapsed.

"Janet, Samantha needs your assistance," the girl said in the reverberating voice of the Goa'uld, her eyes flashing gold.