A/N: I'm sorry that this took so ling for me to write. Real Life handed me the death of a friend who has been fighting cancer for twelve years, and it made it very hard for me to write this. I'm really sorry.
SG1SG1SG1
When Sam had flat-lined it had set off alarms in Frasier's office. She and Jack had quickly made their way to the isolation room, but neither was prepared for what they saw. Sam's monitor had miraculously started again, but Jacob was on the floor; both father and daughter had a tiny amount of blood around their mouths. "What the hell…?" Jack asked, moving towards Jacob.
Jacob's eye fluttered open as Jack rolled him onto his back. "Martouf… get Martouf…" he mumbled before closing his eyes again.
Jack looked over at Janet, who was currently checking on Sam. She shrugged and gestured for one of the nurses to go, presumably to grant Jacob's request. "Sam's fine, sir. Her pupils are better than they were, her breathing is steady, her blood pressure is close to normal… it's a miracle," she told him. "I can't find a source for the blood, though," she added, kneeling down next to Jacob and beginning to check his vitals. "I won't risk moving him until I know what has happened," Janet told Jack
'Sam's better, Jacob's on the floor, and they have blood on their mouths… what's going on here?' Jack wondered to himself. He thought hard for a moment, eyes widening as he came up with the only explanation that fit. He shook Jacob gently, eyes narrowing at the older man as he woke. "Where's Selmak?" he asked in a low tone.
"Saved Sam," Jacob groaned, not fully aware yet. It had been a shock to his system when Selmak had left him, and for the moment he just wanted to rest. Janet looked over at Jack, something close to fear in her eyes. "Get Martouf," Jacob repeated, closing his eyes once more.
Jack sighed heavily. "She is going to be pissed when she wakes up," he commented to Janet, his casual tone conflicting with the worried expression on his face. They stood in silence for several minutes
"Where is Selmak?" Lantash asked, walking briskly into the room, followed by two nurses with a gurney. Looking around the room, he grimaced. "She didn't… did she?" he asked, concern showing on his face as his eyes moved from Jacob to Sam worriedly.
Janet nodded. "Jacob was awake briefly and told us that Selmak saved Sam. We can only assume that Selmak switched hosts. Is it safe to move Jacob onto a gurney?" she asked.
Lantash nodded, his shock at the situation and Martouf's joy for Sam being saved creating mental turbulence and leaving them wordless for a moment. "Yes, but you must not move Samantha. Until Selmak is finished completing her repairs they must remain undisturbed, or both of them may die," Lantash explained. Kneeling down, he lifted Jacob's head as Jack lifted his feet and they moved him onto the gurney.
"Whose decision do you think it was?" Janet asked, curiosity driving her.
The Tok'ra's head dipped, and Martouf spoke. "It was most likely Jacob's idea. Selmak prefers to interview her hosts before joining. It may be awkward for Samantha as well," he added.
"Ya think?" Jack asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Martouf nodded. "Would you like your father's memories in your head? It is uncommon among the Tok'ra to take hosts from the same family, especially when the previous host is still alive," he explained.
Jacob stirred on the bed. "Holy Hannah," he groaned hoarsely, clutching his head. "It's so quiet!" For the first time in a while it was only him inside his head; the silence was nearly deafening.
Janet moved to his side. "Is there anything you need?" she asked, immediately taking his pulse.
He cleared his throat slightly. "Maybe a lozenge; my throat's a little sore," he told her.
"That is likely caused by Selmak's departure from your body," Martouf explained to Jacob.
"So he just horked up a snake-shaped loogie? Gross!" Jack exclaimed, unable to resist making a joke. It was just begging to be laughed at.
Jacob grimaced. "When you put it that way it's just plain disgusting, Jack. And show some respect for Selmak, would you? She is not a 'snake-shaped loogie', she's a person," he ordered, indignant. He had grown close to Selmak during the time that they were blended. "How are they?" he asked, looking down at his daughter.
"Sam seems to be doing just fine, but without running tests I can't be completely sure," Janet informed him.
"If Samantha is well it is reasonable to assume that Selmak is also well," Martouf reminded them. "If the blending did not work Selmak would have either left her, or they would have both died."
"Martouf." The sound of a dual-toned voice from Sam's bed startled the four people.
Martouf moved to Sam's bedside. "Selmak. Are you both well?" he asked, concern for both host and symbiote written plainly on his face.
"We are, but she is fighting me. We must rest for a while and… sort out some differences, I believe is the phrase," she responded.
"Can I talk to Sam?" Jacob asked. He found it weird to be using his voice instead of his mind to talk to Selmak.
Selmak closed her eyes and sighed. "That may not be the wisest idea right now, Jacob. She is very angry; I doubt that anything beneficial would come out of a conversation. Let us rest. We will seek you out when she is ready to speak with you," she replied. "Please, allow us to be alone for a while," she requested quietly.
Jacob, Martouf, Janet, and General Hammond nodded and headed out of the room. Jack stayed behind for a minute. "Carter I know you can hear me, even if Selmak's in charge. I had no idea what your dad was planning… I'm sorry," he said, looking into her eyes.
Selmak smiled. "She knows, and she does not hold it against you. I doubt that she could, even if she wished to," she added.
Jack shook his head in confusion, wondering what Selmak was trying to say. "I guess I'll let you two rest. Carter, call me if you need anything, okay?" he told her, then left the room.
Inside her head Sam was fuming. 'You Tok'ra are no different than the Goa'uld!' she fumed. ''We don't take unwilling hosts,' my ass!'
The comment frustrated Selmak. 'I am not Goa'uld!' she retorted. 'The circumstances were different. I have never taken a host in such a way before, and the Tok'ra do not make a habit of doing this,' she explained.
If Sam had control of her body she would have laughed. 'Really? Then would you care to explain to me how, in less than three years, I have been a host to not one, but two Tok'ra without my permission?' There was venom in her tone, mixed with hurt and angry feelings.
Selmak immediately felt sorry for the woman whose body she inhabited. 'I apologize for that. I did not mean to upset you like this, Samantha. Your father…'
Sam cut her off. 'My father couldn't live with his own guilt, so he went against what I wanted. If I had wanted you in my head I would have made that decision when I first met the Tok'ra. Did you honestly think my thoughts on the matter would have changed so drastically?' she asked.
Selmak sighed inwardly. 'No, I did not think so. Your father insisted that I do this, and I honoured his request,' Selmak conceded. 'Against my better judgment, I should add.'
'For the oldest and wisest of the Tok'ra, you really should listen to that better judgement of yours. It would piss off less people,' Sam told the symbiote pointedly. After a short pause, Sam addressed Selmak again. 'I want my body back.'
Selmak was concerned. 'Your body has not fully regained its strength yet. The effects of your concussion may make things difficult for you,' Selmak pointed out cautiously.
'I don't really care. If I lived with a tumour pushing on my brain, a concussion is like a walk in the park,' she pointed out. Selmak relented and released the body to Sam, who immediately got up and walked out of the infirmary.
'We should really be resting,' Selmak pointed out. 'The process will go much faster if you are sleeping.'
Sam ignored her and walked towards the commissary. 'I'm hungry. We both need food, and I'm not going to be able to sleep if my stomach is growling,' Sam replied as they entered the room. Silence fell as she made her way towards the food line. 'What are they staring at?' she wondered to herself as she got a tray of food. Spying the blue jell-o, she added it to her tray. Finally in front of the coffee machine, she felt Selmak groan. 'What?' she asked.
'Must you drink that? It is a vile beverage!' Selmak told her as Sam poured a cup of coffee.
"Oh, I am so not giving up coffee for you!" she muttered, not realizing that she was speaking out loud. The silence broke and the various personnel in the room began whispering to one another. Shrugging her shoulders, Sam sat down at the nearest empty table and began eating.
Jack walked into the commissary, intent on getting something to eat, and noticed the hushed whispers and pointed looks towards one table. Looking over, he saw a familiar blonde wearing all-too-familiar infirmary clothes. He quickly went over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "I thought you were supposed to be resting," he commented, sliding into the seat across from her.
She sighed. "I didn't feel like lying around with a growling stomach, sir. And spare me the lecture, I've gotten it already from Selmak," she noted with a grimace.
Jack nodded. "So… how are you feeling? Better?" he asked. She glared at him, and he sighed. "Yeah, stupid question. Just worried about you, that's all," he told her. He was exuberant that she was up and moving, but had to withhold from acting on the urge to wring Jacob's neck. Of all people, Jacob should have known that his daughter wouldn't want another Tok'ra in her head. But then again, Jacob hadn't been there to see the aftermath of the incident with Jolinar. As his thoughts wandered to Jolinar, he realized something. "Has someone ever hosted two different Tok'ra?" he asked, worried about the implications.
'May I speak?' Selmak asked, not wanting to intrude if she was unwelcome. Sam allowed Selmak to have control, and their head dipped. "Seldom, and never for this purpose," she informed Jack in a dual-tone voice. "It has only ever occurred when a symbiote with vital information perishes, and the host is too badly injured to tell the council. In my lifetime, this has only occurred three times," Selmak informed him.
It always creeped him out when the Tok'ra spoke like that. He noted, however, that there was a difference in the way that Selmak sounded, compared to Jolinar. "And the symbiote goes back to the former host?" he asked quietly.
Selmak paused. "I have not heard of such a circumstance. When such situations arise, it is typically a Tok'ra whose host has little time left that is selected to blend with the former host," she explained.
'Did my dad know this?' Sam asked worriedly.
'He did not ask,' Selmak responded. 'He was more concerned with saving your life than the historical details. I believe I have answered O'Neill's question as fully as I am able. I will give you control.'
Sam's head dropped then rose again. "That's all she knows, sir. I don't…" She cut off her words abruptly and clutched her head, grimacing in pain. Memories, clearly not hers, flashed rapidly through her mind. 'Was that you?' she asked Selmak.
"Sam?" Jack called worriedly, holding her arm. "You okay?"
Sam blinked. "Uh, I think so. Just dealing with someone else's memories, that's all," she explained, rubbing her eyes.
'They were not mine, nor were they the memories of any previous hosts,' Selmak informed her.
Sam paused a moment, sipping her coffee as she tried to sort the images out. "Jolinar… she saw it happen once, when she was in her first host. It wasn't in a Tok'ra base, though. It was on a ship of some kind, and the symbiote tried to go back to its original host. It… it wasn't pretty, sir," she grimaced as she continued to piece things together.
Selmak was also reviewing the images. 'I heard rumours of this, but it was never confirmed. The symbiote in question is one of the few of us whose hosts had hosted more than one of us. The rumours stated that the host could not contain all of the information and…'
'It basically fried her brain,' Sam finished. 'Jolinar thought that it was the triple set of symbiote memories that did it, but she was told not to speculate. Why am I remembering all of this?' she asked suddenly.
Selmak felt chagrined. 'You must accept my apology. You have Jolinar's memories within you, and the opportunity to learn more of what had happened to her cannot be wasted. My probing those memories will make recollections more frequent,' Selmak explained. There was no duplicity that Sam could feel, more a firm tactical stance on the matter.
"Not pretty? That's very descriptive," he noted sarcastically. "So, is there any chance that Selmak's going to be a permanent resident?" he asked in a serious tone.
Sam was silent for a moment, presumably to confer with Selmak. "We don't think so, but she still needs time to gather up her strength. If she doesn't wait, leaving me could kill us both," she replied.
"How long are we talking about?" he asked. He was uncomfortable with the idea of having a constant presence while they were together, especially because everything that was said would (hopefully) end up being known by Jacob.
"No sooner than a week, perhaps longer. It depends on the physical demands placed upon us," Selmak's dual-toned voice replied. Jack's eyes widened, and Selmak sighed. "I apologize, that was rude of me to interrupt without permission. I believed that you were addressing me; among other Tok'ra we do not concern ourselves with being addressed directly, we simply allow whoever has a deeper understanding of the information to answer."
Sam's head nodded. "This is kind of awkward, isn't it?" she asked, yawning. Suddenly she felt very drained and needed to sleep. "Could you take me back to the infirmary? I really think I need some sleep," she told Jack quietly.
"Sure! The more rest, the sooner you're back to your old self again, right?" he said cheerfully, standing up. He really needed to talk to her but he didn't want someone, namely Selmak, overhearing the conversation. Sam stood up as well, and they headed back to the infirmary together.
When they entered the infirmary Sam noticed Janet pacing with agitation. "Where have you been?" the petite doctor asked angrily. "You should know better than to just walk out of the infirmary! What if something had gone wrong?"
Sam shrugged. "I was hungry, and I felt fine. Look, I came back as soon as I felt tired. Do you mind if I go lay down?" she asked.
Janet blinked, not used to Sam agreeing to be in the infirmary for any reason. "Of course, let me get you into bed," she offered, leading Sam back into the isolation room that she had been in. "But next time you want to leave the infirmary talk to me first, alright?"
Sam nodded. "Okay, I will," she replied, then drifted off to sleep.
