The line of poetry that Cam thinks of is from T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men (1925).

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Back in the present, reunited with their former team lead, SG-1 stood in a chamber on the Tok'ra home world. They stood in the order which Cam had suggested, and the six of them periodically yawned and discreetly stretched as they fought to stay awake and/or alert during the proceedings. A group of Tok'ra officials wearing hooded robes were singing – they had been for so long that the hours seemed to merge into one another and seem like an endless blur of boredom for the team.

Around the room were Tok'ra, and in the space above the planet were many Jaffa and Tok'ra vessels who were standing guard over the planet. Even the Tok'ra in the chamber were armed, and SG-1 suspected that the choir of officials were heavily armed too. At the other end of the chamber was Ba'al in a stasis chamber. The former System Lord had been officially handed over to the Tok'ra by Jack earlier, who had brought Ba'al, under heavy guard, from the Alpha site.

Despite the significance of the ceremony, the team were beginning to regret coming. When Jack had exclaimed his displeasure for the countless time within just as many hours, Daniel was finally able to say something helpful. He said,

"It's almost over."

When they all looked at him questioningly, Daniel wondered quietly how no-one had learned more than rudimentary Goa'uld during their time on SG-1. He had been fully aware of what was happening in the ceremony, which was almost as painful as not knowing. Someone as old as Ba'al, who had done the things he had done, had crimes going back millennia, and of course, he thought, the Tok'ra felt the need to recite each and every one.

Ba'al was in stasis – it wasn't as though he was going to hear them. Even if he could, it wasn't likely that he'd feel any remorse. He, or rather it was a Goa'uld after all.

Daniel looked at the friends of his that stood to his right. He was tired and wanted nothing more than to go home with his fiancée. He said, "The crimes they're listing are starting to sound familiar."

Jack exclaimed wearily, "Crimes? That's what they've been crooning about for the last three hours? God, you know... if you have these guys for your wedding, I'm not going."

Daniel regarded him blankly as Sam hid a smile. Vala remarked aloud, "Wouldn't that mean you not turning up to your own wedding?"

Jack shot her a look as Teal'c smirked for the briefest of moments. Cam cleared his throat, and said, "Quite the ditty, ain't it?"

Vala sighed as her gaze moved back to where Ba'al was being held in stasis at the other end of the chamber from them. Once again, she felt a pang of guilt. She knew more than most that it was the creature inside him that was to blame for everything that he had done. He, like she had been while host to Qetesh, had been forced to watch helplessly as Ba'al committed the long list of crimes that the Tok'ra were singing about, and those that they didn't know about. Now the host was forced to listen to all the accusations and he wasn't able to vindicate himself. What would happen to the man when they removed the symbiote? Perhaps Cameron would let her stay behind to help him.

A troubled Vala said, "It's not at all fair to the host, anyway."

Daniel frowned a little as he remembered Apophis. He turned to her and replied, "Vala, you don't really think there's any hope for the…" He paused, realising just why she was feeling sorry for Ba'al's host. "I mean, you were host to Qetesh for a relatively short period of time. Ba'al's been inhabiting this guy for over two thousand years!"

Vala didn't answer. Instead, she watched Ba'al's host, knowing just how he was going to feel when he was freed. Hopefully this time, the Tok'ra would take him in and support him, and not leave him to be on the run like she had been.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Cam felt as though nothing much had happened. Sure, Ba'al was dead; the last Ba'al clone or otherwise, thus symbolising the end of his reign of terror. But it just reminded him of something Jackson had once had as his email signature: 'This is the way the world ends; Not with a bang but a whimper.'

Everyone – or at least he – had expected big, it had turned out anticlimactic. He felt bemused when his friends shot him odd looks for expressing his thoughts on the matter. Nothing had happened. The Tok'ra had just extracted Ba'al's symbiote and thrown it on the floor where it had died. The way Jackson and O'Neill had gone on, he had partially expected fireworks and a spinning wheel with knives.

He wondered whether the Tok'ra ever had firework displays. He quietly imagined that, not wanting to ask Jackson to confirm some tedious truth; that the Tok'ra were far too responsible and serious to waste their valuable resources on such frivolity.

Well, it had been quite a day. Immense boredom aside, Ba'al was dead, and well, they were all safe. He tried not to worry about Vala more than the others, but he couldn't help it; she was carrying his child.

What a day indeed. O'Neill was offering to buy lunch for all of them. Cam wondered whether the standing up for seemingly aeons had got to the man. As far as he could recall, the General always got Jackson to pay. Cam chuckled to himself; maybe Sara was changing him... or the guy had something up his sleeve.

Still, a free lunch is a free lunch. His optimism faded when he discovered as they were leaving that Vala had chosen to stay. It had wrong-footed him. He didn't know what to do. At best, his knowledge of her life as Qetesh was hazy; both she and Jackson could be emotionally reclusive for Team USA. He glanced at Jackson – he seemed to understand her more than he did half the time. Cam couldn't help but feel a touch grumpy that Vala had asked Jackson instead of him.

One look from Jackson, however, suggested to him that perhaps she didn't want to worry him any more than he already had been. Cam didn't want to leave her but he reasoned with himself that this was one of those things where he had to trust her. Before she could make her way to Ba'al's former host, he jogged after her and called her name.

Vala stopped and turned back to him, expecting an argument. She was surprised, however, when Cam gently kissed her lips. He caressed her jaw as he gazed down at her, and he said, "I'll go on ahead; don't be home too late."

She smiled at him, appreciating that for once he was letting her take the lead. She nodded and said, "Thanks."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So... I'm MacGyver's grandson."

Cam had long left the table to talk with Vala at another booth at the restaurant. This left Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c looking at Jack oddly. The General looked around at his old friends, and he wondered just how many times he had pulled their legs in the past for them to instantly dismiss whatever he said as a joke.

Jack said with a sigh, "For once, kids, I'm not making this up."

Cam and Vala eventually left their booth and joined the rest of the team. As SG-1 made room for them, Cam looked around at his friends, noticing the scepticism on most of their faces. He said, "What's up?" He looked at Jack. "General talking crap again?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows slowly and took a sip of his water. He said, "Always."

Jack shot Daniel a look. He then said to Cam, "I was just telling them that I'm MacGyver's grandson." When Cam and then Vala proceeded to look at him oddly, he sighed and glared at team. He said, "I always thought my grandfather was from northern Minnesota... but it turns out he ain't my daddy's daddy. Grandma met some guy in Egypt."

Daniel said sceptically, "Egyptian MacGyver?"

Jack shook his head, and said, "Nuh-uh. Angus MacGyver. Apparently he was from North Carolina, and he worked as security guard in Giza; something about guarding shovel bum sites."

Daniel almost choked on his water at his profession being described in such a way. He almost choked again when he realised what Jack had said. He said, "What year was this?"

Jack shrugged and said, "You're the one marrying a scientist; you tell me. He screwed my granny and then she went back to the States with her husband. Funny lady never took her husband's last name either."

Sam looked at Daniel incredulously as though she had just realised something. However, Teal'c beat her to it. Teal'c said with interest, "Then your grandfather may have worked for Catherine Langford's father."

Sam nodded in agreement and then looked at Jack, amazed. "Do you think he ever saw the Stargate?"

Daniel shook his head and said, "It's not likely if he was just security." He looked at Jack. "Are you sure his name's Angus MacGyver?"

Jack nodded. "I'll admit I double-took when I saw it. Some distant cousin or something of mine kept a lot of granny's stuff and sent me some letters she wrote." He nodded at Daniel who suddenly looked highly interested. "You can drop by mine later and drool over them."

Cam suddenly frowned. He said, "Angus MacGyver?"

Everyone looked at him curiously, and he said, "That sounds familiar."

Jack retorted, "That'll be 'cos of the TV guy you all keep comparing me too."

Cam shook his head, ignoring Jack's sarcasm. He said, "No, that's not it. I've heard it before." He looked at Vala and said, "Ring a bell?"

Vala rolled her eyes and said, "For the last time, I'm not your memo pad."

Cam bit back a retort and was then faced with the rest of his team looking at him smirkingly. Cam sighed and said, "Hormones."

They all ended up grinning when he grimaced at a sudden pain in his foot and he glared at Vala sharply; his wife choosing to look innocent for the moment. He turned back to his friends. "As I said..." He paused, glancing at his wife to make sure she wasn't going to do anything to him. "... hormones."

He appeared annoyed when she suddenly had possession of his wallet and proceeded to go through it, giving his money and various cards out to their friends. Jack looked at her admiringly, and then said, "Well, that's lunch settled. Thanks, Mitchell."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sam stifled a yawn as she tidied up the kitchen at home. After washing items of crockery and cutlery that had been left out, she proceeded to wipe down the surfaces. Making sure that the back door and the windows were locked, she switched the light off and left. She checked the downstairs before ascending the stairs.

She found Daniel standing in the dark at their bedroom window. The window was open, and he was only wearing his boxers. He seemed contemplative, and she didn't want to disturb him. It had been a long day, and he needed some space to breathe after Ba'al's extraction had given them all some much needed closure with regard to the Goa'uld. She knew that Daniel at least hadn't expected the closure, or felt that he needed it, but it was something he had to deal with by himself.

She stood in the doorway, watching him. She wondered, like she had so many times previously, why she and Daniel had not got together sooner than they had. His voice broke her train of thought.

"You're watching me again."

She appeared embarrassed, as though she had stumbled across something she wasn't supposed to be seeing. She was about to turn away when Daniel turned towards her. He appeared mildly amused, and he said, "So you're going to sleep downstairs now, are you?"

Sam rolled her eyes. He could be incorrigible when he wanted to be. She entered the room and hugged him. With his arms still around her, he went back to look out of the window. She said quietly, "You looked like you were thinking."

"Well, believe it or not, I can think and do other things at the same time."

She shook her head slightly and said, "Daniel, come on, you know that I'm about the only person on whom the sarcasm doesn't actually work." She looked at him, worried. "I know you're hurting. It's only human."

He shook his head as he looked down at her with a peaceful smile. He said softly, "I'm not hurting, Sam. For once, I'm not. I was just thinking of all the things we can do now without the spectre of the Goa'uld hanging over us." His smile widened as he looked down at her. "I don't say this to you as often as you deserve... but, I love you."

She grinned up at him and then kissed him. She said, "I love you too."

He continued to hold her in his arms as he looked out of the window again. He said, "Good. It'll probably make this whole getting married thing easier."

She suddenly appeared concerned as she looked up at him. She said, "You're getting cold feet?"

He shook his head distractedly. He then snapped himself out of whatever daydream he had lost himself in. He looked down at her and said, "I'm just worried that I'm sealing the deal for you. I mean, you probably don't want to spend the rest of your life with just me."

She felt somewhat hurt by his worry. She said, trying not to cry, "Of course I do. What about you?"

He nodded, still looking worried. "Same here." He suddenly appeared happy again and he kissed her. He said, "You're too sane to be lumbered with me for the next however-many years."

She laughed. "That's where your wrong, Danny."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack lie in his bed with Sara in his arms. They were both naked, the sheets just about keeping their modesty. He stroked her stomach, the General drowsily nuzzling her neck. Despite being behind her and not being able to see her face, he knew that she was worried about something. He wanted nothing better to sleep but his instinct was flaring up and he knew something had to dealt with there and then.

He let her go and sat up. He switched the bedside light on and waited, his back resting against the headboard. Why she had to screw with his head now was anyone's guess, he thought. He watched as she turned to lie on her back, and she looked up at him. They had come to this arrangement some time ago in an attempt to cut down on their shouting matches. If either of them sensed that the other was worried about something, they would wait for the other to talk.

Sometimes it got quite infuriating for Jack to wait for Sara when she decided to take her sweet old time.

Sara seemed tense, and he wondered why he hadn't spotted it earlier. She said, "You promised you'd tell me what you do."

He instantly froze, his mind hastily thinking back to before he went to the Tok'ra planet. Had he said something to her to get her off his tail? He paused and suddenly remembered something he had said and silently cursed himself. What a time for it to crop up when he needed some shut-eye. He was an old man after all, he thought; it was much harder for him to stay awake.

He sighed softly. She needed to know the truth before they could become Mr and Mrs again - she deserved that much at least. He reached over to stroke her hair, and he said, "Well... there's this thing called a Stargate and..."