Note: Thanks for the reviews. I really mean it! I write these stories because, if the world was a perfect place and I was in charge of the Stargate, this is what would really have happened. It just makes it better when I know that there are a few people out there that want to take those journeys with me. I don't have a lot of free time in my day, but the reviews, and knowing that there are people out there that want to know what happening next, have spurred me to write more. Thanks for the forum and the advice, and the time that you all have given. It's been fun!

Chapter 14

Doc Frasier had, in all her Napoleanic bossiness, given him some meditation exercises once—when his blood pressure had risen above where she deemed it appropriate to be. He was trying one now.

He was supposed to be imagining himself in a safe place—somewhere where he felt completely at ease. This, presumably, was going to make him more able to deal with the facts of his current predicament. Sitting on the floor with his back to the dais where Carter still lay silent, surrounded by strangely quiet Jaffa and two Gorgons inhabiting one body. He didn't know where Carter had gone, he thought that he was going to eventually be combined into one being with Teal'c and Daniel, and he was hungry. His weapon warmed his lap, but Daniel had forbidden him to use it.

Since when Daniel had led the mission, Jack had no idea, but sometimes the archaeologist was a little scary. So Jack sat, not using his P-90.

He hadn't shot anybody lately, and his trigger finger was starting to twitch. Seriously. It was twitching. He'd shown it to Daniel earlier, but he'd just given Jack that look—the one that said "Jack, don't be an ass."

Daniel gave him that look a lot.

So, he sat there at Carter's side, and tried to decide where he would go if he had a safe place.

His cabin, probably. To that little lake where the bass grow THAT big. He smiled, imagining those bass. Because although he'd never told anyone out loud, that's all that the bass were—imaginary. But it was still fun to sit on the little pier on his folding camping chair and pretend to fish. He liked it sometimes when he wasn't actually supposed to be successful. He could do that.

Although he'd never say that out loud, either.

Jack looked around the room again, assessing, as he did constantly, their situation. Daniel had never met a snafu that he hadn't liked, and he seemed to be getting lots of mileage out of this one. Even now he was head to head with the Goa'uld of the day, trying to 'understand' her. Daniel called it research, Jack called it a waste of time. The only good Goa'uld was a dead Goa'uld. Except for a few of the Tok'ra.

Like Jacob. And that other one—the one that always wore brown.

Teal'c had the right idea—he stood by himself in the corner, his staff weapon ready in his hands. He'd tried briefly to gain the trust of the Jaffa accompanying Medusa—done his missionary "join us in freedom!" song and dance, but these guys weren't buying. There had been the normal Shol'vah stuff from them, and Teal'c had stopped trying. Teal'c was better able to compartmentalize things in that regard. If at first you don't succeed—blast them with your stick.

O'Neill sometimes admired that. But then again, sometimes he thought that he, himself, might be next. He knew that Teal'c neither understood nor approved of some of the things O'Neill was asked to do. He wondered if behind those unreadable eyes and stoic expressions, Teal'c was wanting to pound some sense into the Taur'i.

But that thought didn't belong in his safe place.

Okay. Safe place. Cabin. He breathed in and out deeply—Ol' Doc Frasier would be proud of the controlled breathing. Breathing—air. Air—wind. Cold wind. Windows. He needed to reseal the windows in the cabin. The cold winter weather had damaged the stripping, and it all needed to be replaced. He had noticed the last time that he was there—WAY too long ago, by the way—that the outside air was kind of seeping inside. That needed to be repaired before summer, when bugs would crawl through the same holes.

Sam, for all her scientific brilliance, didn't like bugs. Spiders totally wigged her out. If he ever did get her up to his cabin—completely platonically, mind you, he didn't want the bugs to ruin her experience.

Like the replicators. Those bugs ruined everything. Like the Asgard ship that was going to be named after him. And because of those things he hadn't been able to go to his cabin not once—but TWICE.

But he had been stranded on that planet with Carter—now there was a safe place. Just a pond and a campsite and the requisite woods and trees, and no nasty bad guys—or bugs, that he'd been able to tell—to ruin the experience. Of course, Teal'c had absconded at the first opportunity to "commune" with Drey-auc, leaving him alone with Carter. Depending on his mood, Jack looked back on that nine days as either the best time of his life, or as nine days of hell.

He'd had Carter to himself—almost completely.

There hadn't been anyone else to draw his attention away from Carter.

See? The best time of his life, or nine days in hell. Take your pick.

Speaking of Carter, he looked over his shoulder at her—but she still wasn't moving. He did a cursory scan of the room, but Daniel was still talking with his Goa'uld, and the Jaffa were still looking menacing, and the Ancient device still sat silent.

What could possibly be taking so long? Consult an oracle—what should that take—like—eight minutes? Maybe ten if you really go deep. Carter had been "gone" for—he flipped up the cover on his watch and grimaced—over an hour. He stood, slowly, making no movements that would alert the Jaffa. He knew they were watching him closely as he crossed over to where Daniel was still speaking with Medusa, who had found herself a chair somewhere and was seated upon it as if she were the Queen of the May.

"Daniel."

Daniel glanced over at him. "Yeah, Jack?"

"What are we doing?"

Daniel made a little bowing gesture to Medusa and then walked toward Jack. Together, they retreated closer to Teal'c. Daniel leaned in so that he could speak softly and not be overheard.

"What do you mean?" Daniel had his quizzical look on.

"Usually, when we're being held prisoner by the Goa'uld, we are either trying to escape, or trying to defeat them. Since you won't let me shoot them, shouldn't we be trying to figure out how to escape?"

"Jack, what about Sam?"

"We could take her with us."

"She needs to be here." Daniel motioned with his head towards the Ancient device. "She needs to be near that thing."

"I just don't get why we're still standing around. It feels like we're waiting for a bus or something."

"Whatever needs to be done, Sam needs to be the one that does it."

Jack fingered his weapon again. "We could take them, Daniel, I don't understand why this is so different from other times. I mean, this woman has let us keep our weapons—this could be over, we could wait for Sam to get back here and then jet on home."

Daniel shrugged. "That's exactly why we need to stay. Think of what we could learn—this woman is a Goa'uld—yet she's not the egomaniacal Goa'uld that we're used to. What makes her different? This could help us to learn—"

"Daniel—she wants to combine us all into one person. She wants Sam to become one with her. Once she realizes that she's not going to get her way, how benevolent do you think she's going to be?"

"I agree with O'Neill, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c sounded annoyed, "We cannot merely wait patiently as this Goa'uld decides upon a course of action. We should plan on a decisive maneuver. This Goa'uld must not be allowed to attain her goals."

"Jack," Daniel began—

But just when he started his argument, a brilliant flash lit up the room. They whirled to see Carter stir on the platform. Her eyes opened, and she took a deep breath.

When the Jaffa moved as if to take control of her, Jack put a hand on his weapon and shook his head. "No, sorry, fellas." He got to her side and helped her sit up. She swung her legs around so that her calves dangled off the side, and then used her hands to help balance herself.

"You okay, Carter?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, sir. That beaming in and out packs a bit of a wallop."

"Headache?" He said when she put a hand to her forehead.

"A bit, sir, but I'll be fine."

She closed and opened her eyes and few times, and then rotated her head back and forth—which obviously was uncomfortable. When Jack made a move as if to check for injury, she waved him off and said, "Just a little stiff, sir."

Jack looked behind him to where Medusa had stood and was nearing them. He moved his body to shield Carter from the Goa'uld's gaze. Quietly, he asked. "The Wand, Carter—did you happen to get the Wand?"

Carter shook her head. "The Oracle said that it would find me when it was necessary. She assured me that all would be well."

O'Neill grimaced again. "Nothing like a little ambiguity to thrill me to the toes."

"Sir," Carter was still trying to work the stiffness out of her limbs. "This person is inherently unstable. She tried to meld with a sister, but got both the sister and her own symbiote. That's why she can morph—physiologically she's both human and Goa'uld. We can't let her get the scepter and the shoes—the Oracle was very clear about that."

"But she doesn't behave like other Goa'ulds." Daniel had joined them.

"No, because only a third of her is Goa'uld. The rest of her is her host and a sister."

"So two-thirds of her is salvageable." Daniel theorized.

"When you're making brownies, if you use two thirds chocolate and one third dog poo, the poo is not mitigated." O'Neill glanced back over his shoulder at the Goa'uld. "And that Gorgon back there is not chocolate."

"Gorgon?" Sam smiled at O'Neill's analogy, but asked the question of Daniel.

"Apparently this Goa'uld has taken on the persona of the Greek demi-god Medusa. She has two sisters—Sthenno and Euryale. The sister who is in there with her is Sthenno, and Euryale is the one that you ka-whooshed. She thinks, then, that you will combine with her and Sthenno to lend stability to her melding. And," here Daniel paused, relishing this last tidbit. "Also apparently, she sees you as Athena the goddess of war and wisdom and beauty. Athena ordered Perseus to kill Medusa, and then protected him as he did so. She's determined to meld with you so that she can finally have control over you. Just thought you'd want a bit of history."

Sam's eyes widened as Daniel spoke. She shook her head and then turned to O'Neill.

"I know, Carter, it's all Greek to me, too."

At that, Sam smiled again, and O'Neill knew that the next time he was in a perilous situation, the next time he needed to meditate, he had found his safe place.

Someday, that smile, and the woman behind it, would save the universe.