Chapter 3

"Daniel," Lam said. But her voice was so different. It was relaxed in a way he had never heard. "Wake up."

Daniel opened his eyes, staring into her shining black eyes. They lay face to face in his bed with morning sunlight filling the room. She smiled, running her hand down his face.

"Was it a good evening?"

"Y-Yes." He smiled. "The play wasn't bad."

She laughed softly. The play hadn't been that good. At supper he'd managed to knock a tray out of a waiter's hand in his nervousness. Frank had tried once to take over because Daniel was making a complete fool of himself in front of Lam. They both thought the night was going to end with him taking her home and any prospects of a relationship would be over in two dates.

But she surprised them both on the ride home. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, and asked to see his place. He took her to his house and he began talking about research projects he was doing, things Frank were interested in, languages the two of them had decoded.

Without warning or forewarning she walked up to Daniel, grabbed his face and kissed him, and silencing both him and Frank.

She looked into his eyes, their eyes, and softly told him, "I didn't want to see your house to talk, guys."

For once Frank didn't have a snide or sarcastic comeback. Daniel could only stare at her. They both stared in shock as she walked away slipping out of her dress, and muttering over her shoulder something about finding out what it was like to have two men in bed with her and laughed softly. Daniel didn't need Frank to prompt him to follow her to their bed.

"I enjoyed you showing me your house, myself," she admitted.

She slid a little closer to him, kissing him. Daniel pulled her to him, enjoying the feeling of her silky skin pressed against his.

'I love women,' Frank sighed.

Daniel chuckled.

"What?" she asked.

"Frank loves women."

She kissed him harder, slipping her tongue around his. Daniel rolled onto his back, pulling her with him. She leaned on his chest, looking into his eyes.

"I thought this was going to very weird. That I wouldn't be able to sleep with you... You two, rather. But... It's not that hard. I was surprised how much you two like the same things."

Daniel forced a smile. He didn't remember Frank being in control last night.

"We do?"

"Yes."

Daniel shrugged it off. He didn't care if Frank had enjoyed the night too. He had been fully aware that this relationship meant he'd be sharing her with Frank and he'd come to terms with that after Frank, not he, had asked her out.

"Although, the two of you talking at the same time is a little... Freaky."

Daniel went cold.

'We didn't! Ah shit, we did, didn't we, Danny?'

"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked.

"There were a few times you two said the same thing at the same time. It was strange, but I got over it after..." She blushed, nervously laughing her comment off. "Anyway."

Daniel didn't comment. Her smile slipped away.

"You do know that happened, don't you two?"

Daniel smiled and nodded. She didn't look convinced.

"Did both of you not know that happened?"

Daniel didn't answer.

"Which of you didn't?"

Daniel looked away. "It's... More complicated than that, Carolyn."

"Complicated how?"

At the same time Frank and Daniel told her, "Because this has been happening for about a month," Daniel looked back at her, the two continuing, "And we don't know why it's happening."

She sat up next to him, staring at him. "Why haven't you told me about this?"

"At first we thought it was just something that happened between a symbiont and a host. Frank told me it had never happened to him with any other host before, but I just figured..."

'Maybe shutting up would be a good idea right now, Danny,' Frank suggested.

"When did you realize it wasn't happening every so often?" Lam demanded/

Daniel looked at her. "After we went to the Jakisau planet." Daniel added. "We thought we could figure this out on our own."

'And have failed miserably.'

"I'm the doctor, Daniel Jackson. You're supposed to come to me with these things. For all we know this could be the virus causing it."

Together they told her, "It's not the virus, Carolyn."

"How do you know that for sure?"

"I'd have been dead weeks ago if were the virus?"

She sighed, looking out the window. "Okay. Okay. But this great plan the two of you have isn't working so well, is it, men?"

Together they answered, "No."

"So now you're going to let the doctor in on the big secret and start running tests and try to figure out what's going on. Aren't you?"

'God, she's gorgeous when she gets serious like that, isn't she?'

Daniel smiled at the comment. "Yes."

"Do both of you agree?"

"Yes," they answered together.

She laid back down on top of him and held her lips above his, taunting him with the promise of a kiss.

"And if you two don't keep your word, it's back to cold, lonely nights in this bed."

'Oh! That's so cruel! We promise. We promise!'

Daniel laughed at Frank. "We promise. Both of us."

She brushed her lips against his, asking, "Both of you?"

Together they answered, "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes," they answered.

She kissed him. "Now, what else do you two want to promise me?"

Daniel wrapped his arms around her, kissing her. He wasn't about to ignore Frank's lust for her, not when he felt the same way.


Lam stared at the information on the screen. She slowly looked at Doctor Wyr'tung.

"We were stunned by the discovery too," he told her.

"How many?"

"Six that have come forward."

Lam stood up, taking two steps away from the table. She noticed a tray of food and drink was sitting on a table and didn't remember anyone bringing it in, but then, she'd been engrossed for hours in the information he was giving her and hadn't noticed much. She turned back to him.

"Does this happen to every one of them?" she asked.

"It appears to. Like I said, only six have come to me about this. Remember, Doctor Lam, Tok'ra are hidden in all corners of the galaxy. This could be happening to others and we don't know about it because, as you've seen with Daniel and the Thu'lo, they aren't very comfortable telling anyone about it."

She sat down on the stool, looking at the floor. "Have you found any way to stop it?"

"No. As I told you before, the only way we've prevented the host and symbiont from becoming fully integrated, was to have the symbiont--"

"Excuse me," a Tok'ra said as he ran into the area. "Doctor Lam?"

"Yes?"

"There's been an accident. General Landry is asking you to return to base immediately."

She stood, looking at Doctor Wyr'tung. "May I have copies of the data?"

He nodded. "Maybe the Th..." He glanced at the Tok'ra, and then finished saying, "Maybe there will be others that could benefit from it, and perhaps help all of us come up with a way to prevent it."

She smiled. "Thank you. I'll keep you informed."

He stood, staring into her eyes. His eyes flashed with light and he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"And you, Doctor Lam, I believe would. Take care of Daniel Jackson and his friend."

She smiled, grateful that the two were so willing to help. She followed the Tok'ra out.


The voice in him asked. "Where are we, Carson?'

He opened his eyes, focusing on his surroundings. He heard a steady clank-clank and felt himself swaying in the same rhythm of the noise. It was familiar but he was having a hard time identifying with his foggy head. He could barely make out the faces around him. Now that he was awake, he felt the sweltering heat. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking at the faces again. They were men, women and children, and those who weren't staring at him, were staring blankly at nothing with terrified expressions.

Carson turned, looking at the wall behind him. He slowly climbed to his feet and stumbled over legs and around people to it. He leaned on the wall, looking through the small crack in the boards. Outside the land was speeding past – he realized he was on a train. A train... Carson's stomach turned. He looked back at the people and now he saw something that terrified him.

The Star of David was pinned to their clothes. He put his hand over his shoulder, as if he could hide the pin on his shoulder and realized that the Germans hadn't been interested in his rank when they captured him. He looked down, dropping his hand away from the Star of David. It was a gift his mother had given him before he'd left for the war. She had pinned it on his uniform and cried on his other shoulder. She begged him to come home. It was a pin that had sentenced him to... Carson turned back to the crack. It was his faith that sentenced him to death.

'No. No, Carson. It isn't your faith. It isn't the pin. It's the man that told those soldiers your faith and that pin is wrong. A wicked, evil man. Not your faith. Never that, Carson.'

Carson closed his eyes to the voice in his head. He had lived with Frank for six month. The two had fought battle after battle together, keeping each other alive to fight another day. Now they'd have to keep each other alive for a different reason. This time they'd have to survive one of the prison camps he'd heard rumors about. Carson looked out at the land.

'We'll survive this too, Carson,' Frank agreed with the thought that hadn't formed fully.

Carson turned and sat down, taking solace in the entity inside him that was stronger than he was. Its wisdom was all that he had to keep him alive right now.

The train began slowing down. He lifted his head, his stomach tensed. This was it. This was where he'd meet death, wasn't it?

'No. Not like that, Carson. We'll pull through. I make you stronger than everyone else, remember? We'll make it through this,' Frank assured him.

But Carson wasn't feeling his confidence.