Yay, it didn't take me another half a year to post this. Go me! Actually, its 0230 and I just randomly got hit by the urge to fic. Which is a good thing, mind you.

Gah, feel like rambling on into eternity! And I miss those GW references, but I might bring in FMA references now. FMA is awesome, btw. Perfect for a yaoi fangirl like me. Course, not much into the Al x Ed pairing... incest isn't that good with a suit of armor.

Er... sorry. Like I said XD Feel like rambling.

ANYways, I've started a forum for this fic (you can find the link to it in my profile) and it's feeling lonely. Besides, you can chat away and all that. And, since I'm getting a headache from lack of sleep (or is it too much sleep?) I'll stop here. Enjoy!

I own NOTHING, people! Well, except Ame. And there's some fluffiness in here... I, er, think. Need to reread my chapter XD

Chapter Twenty: In which the plot progresses

Ame walked out of Jacob's quarters on the Tok'ra base. He whistled a tune as he ambled down the corridor, pausing to scrutinize a few interesting faces as he went. He got odd looks for his trouble, but as that was the norm for him he didn't notice them.

/I really missed this place/ he thought idly. /Blue's such a comforting color./ He sighed wistfully, then perked up. /Yugi, mind if I put up new wallpaper in your Soul Room/

/What for/ Yugi asked, bemused.

/Because my walls are stone, and so's Yami's . Yours aren't, so the wallpaper would stick. Please/ Ame begged.

/All right/ Yugi sighed, though there was a hint of amusement from his end.

"Thanks!" Ame chirped aloud, garnering still more strange looks, but these went mostly unnoticed as he turned down another unearthly blue tunnel and into a large cavern that served as a crossroads of sorts. There were more Tok'ra than one usually saw gathered here, clipboards in the hands of some as they conversed.

Ame navigated through the crowd with ease born in part from training and in part from being just plain short. He went unnoticed for the most part, though a few people shot him questioning looks as he passed. He caught snatches of conversation and filed them away for later use. He was inches from the exit when a person nearby started talking.

"Have you heard anything about those Eyes that Anubis was after?"

Ame froze, his breath catching in his chest. He turned to look at the speaker, praying that he was misunderstanding the statement .

"You mean there's more than one?" a man with a distinct Asian look asked, eyebrow raised.

"Aside from the Eye of Ra, yeah. So I take it you haven't heard anything?" the first man, an average Caucasian with short red hair and blue eyes asked.

"No, not recently. Maybe Amemait would know? I heard he's been reawakened," the Asian man suggested, his voice deepening.

"I would, but I can't find him. No one will tell me what his new host looks like," the redhead said, slightly miffed.

"What about Amemait?" a third voice asked. Ame and the other two Tok'ra turned to look at a woman with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and curious brown eyes.

"He might know something about those Eyes that Anubis is after," the Asian answered in his normal voice.

"Well, he's right over there," the woman said, pointing. Both Tok'ra looked to where she was indicating, only to find an empty spot, though the sound of running footsteps could be heard over the general conversation of the room. "Strange," the woman said, puzzled. "He was just right there."

Ame skidded to a stop outside the room Sam was in, and took a moment to compose himself. After all, it wouldn't do for the Tok'ra that Ame knew were in the room with her to think that something was up. He'd managed to avoid been seen too much since he'd run out of that room, but there was no sense in taking too many chances.

He glanced around, then poked his head into the room.

Major Samantha Carter, USAF, daughter of the Tok'ra Ambassador to Earth (or was that the other way around?) General Jacob Carter USAF (Rtd), was staring at the scientist in front of her with a sort of detached amazement.

The theory was simple, which was probably why nobody had ever thought of it before.

Well, no one among the Taur'i, that was.

She was about to start on a tirade of questions, when a hesitant voice spoke up behind her.

"Ano… Samantha-san? I'm sorry to disturb you, but might I please have a word?"

Yugi's voice, but Yami's formality of speech. Interesting.

"Sure, come on in," she said, not looking around.

"In private, if you would be so kind, Samantha-san."

Sam blinked, turning around to look at the one addressing her. Silver eyes stared back with an almost scary intensity.

'Something must be up, if Ame's acting serious.'

Glancing at the other scientist, who nodded that he didn't mind, Sam followed the short Tok'ra back out of the room.

"What's wrong, Ame?"

Ame bit his lip, unsure of just how much to say. It wasn't that he felt any compulsion to not give out information, it was that he was more than aware of any ears that might happen to hear him give away that information. He settled on starting off with a question, then winging it.

"Anubis has one of the Eyes. Why didn't anybody mention this to me?" he hissed. Sam blinked.

"There's more than one? But I thought-"

"If you thought there was just the one, then I'm afraid that the council hasn't told you all that you need to know."

Sam wasn't too surprised by this, but she was by Ame's next statement.

"In this case, however, you're no worse off than the majority of my people. Some of them think there's only one. Most of them, really. The council knows otherwise, and so do a few of those who were on the right missions, but… It never became public knowledge. Too much of a risk, apparently."

Sam blinked again, almost pinching herself to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

'So the council doesn't just hide information from its allies, but also from its own people, huh? That's interesting.'

"Why're you telling me this?"

"Because Anubis has one, and I'm not so much of an idiot as to let anyone go after him without knowing all of what those blasted things can do. Council secret or no, this goes beyond that."

Ame took a deep breath, steeling himself.

"And because Jolinar knew. She was on that mission with me, and she was just as outraged as I that those blockheads didn't warn the rest of our people. Even after all these millennia, they still haven't. And that scares me."

Ame hesitated, rubbed his wrists carefully, and Sam 'remembered' a memory that had never been hers in the first place.

Hands rubbed wrists where chains had been. Crude, but effective restraints, showing that their captors had known about the strength possessed by both Goa'uld and Tok'ra. The host's brown eyes looked into her own, almost nervously. It was an act for their jailers, of course. The host had been a brilliant actress, but was more than content to keep a parasite in her body in exchange for broader horizons.

"What're you going to do us?" the actress quavered, eyes wide. Ra turned to face the pair as they were pushed to their knees. The boy host's eyes showed no mercy. It was said that this host had been chosen because he had not run away from the bright lights with the rest of his people, a move that Jolinar never doubted to be his greatest regret.

"For choosing to fight against your Lord Ra, I will show you the greatest weapon of all time, as it is put to use in destroying your people."

Faizah, definitely, from they way that the host's eyes widened in pure fear, then hardened with a blink. Amemait now, protecting the young host from the sight, from feeling the pain…

Yet Amemait closed brown eyes in sadness, the only sign of his own pain.

Those people had taken his – her now, but the last one had been male – host in, looked after him, tended wounds that they'd seen heal to fast to be normal. They'd vowed to keep the old man's existence secret, they'd buried his body when Amemait had taken a new host. It had to be as bad for him, but Amemait would not want his host to see what would happen.

Ra smirked, and Jolinar could feel the eyes of the various children scattered about the room boring into her. How would she react, they wondered. What would they do?

Fingernails, grown slightly too long, showing that the ruler of all Goa'uld did not require to do much for himself, scratched across Faizah's face, leaving angry red welts in their wake. Amemait turned with the blow, and was rewarded for this movement with a simple slap to the other side of his host's face.

"You shall watch, and you shall see what happens when one defies a god!"

Jolinar turned back, staring out the shielded window as Ra retreated from the other Tok'ra, placed his hand over the control, and an entire world disintegrated before her eyes.

Sam stared at Ame.

"They're not usually that intense," she commented, as that was all she could think of to say.

"They're not usually aided by magic," Ame countered. "Samantha, you know what just one is capable of. Try several. I don't even know how many there are, but if Anubis gets them all then you can kiss Earth goodbye, along with any hope this galaxy has of ever living in peace again." He paused. "Wow, overdramatism rocks. But still, you get my point."

Sam just looked at him for a moment.

"I'm going to go talk to Yugi and Yami," Ame said finally. "Just think about what I said, okay?"

"I'll tell the Colonel," Sam said, all thoughts of what she'd been wanting to do forgotten as she fumbled for her radio. Ame vanished with a wave.

Yugi blinked as he felt Ame return to his soul room. /Welcome back./

/Wish it were under better circumstances/ Ame said grimly.

Yami looked at Yugi curiously. The two of them had found a quiet corner of the Tok'ra base to sit together and talk about various things. The few Tok'ra that passed by had to stop and look again, convinced that one of them was an illusion. Occasionally Yami's hand would find Yugi's and the two would stop talking altogether, just enjoying the other's presence. Now, though, Yami eyed Yugi intently.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked. He blinked, and it was Ame he was sitting next to now.

"Not here," the Tok'ra said sharply. He watched the passers-by in the corridor. "Wait until we're back on Earth, and I'll tell you everything. Promise. Only I don't want to repeat myself."

His radio chirped. "Yugi?"

Ame grabbed for it. "Ame here. What's up?"

"Freya just came and found us," Jack said. "And the weather DID change. Sandstorm. We're here for the night. Anyway, meet back up at the council chamber."

"Understood. See you then." Ame stood and offered a hand to Yami. "Shall we?"

Yami took the proffered hand. "We shall."

Jack was trying to hold some sort of conversation with Teal'c when the council walked back in, Garshaw leading them. She looked around. "Where is Amemait?"

Sam was standing a few feet from Jack, and Daniel was on the other side of the room with Jacob. They all looked around.

"Here," Ame said, appearing out of thin air in the middle of the room. Everyone jumped. "Sorry, Yugi and Yami got occupied somewhere else. So, what's your decision?" He looked pointedly at Garshaw, his copy of the Millennium Puzzle glinting in the light.

Garshaw pursed her lips. "I'm afraid that you have given us little choice. We have decided that having a Tok'ra on Earth may be beneficial to both us and the people of the Taur'i. And... I would like to apologize. You were right in that, in our struggle to survive, we were becoming what we were fighting against. Therefore, we have decided to allow you to remain on Earth for the time being." Garshaw offered a small smile. "You may leave after the sandstorm passes." She turned to leave.

"Oh, I'm not finished with you guys," Ame said darkly. "Not until you tell everyone the truth about the Eyes of the Gods."

Garshaw's eyes narrowed. "So you have not forgotten."

Ame snorted. "Who could?"

"Those are not your concern, Amemait," Garshaw said, her voice warning against continuing. "They have been taken care of."

"Not as well as you might think, if Anubis has one of them." Ame glared at her. "At least tell us how many there are! Even that could help us keep them from Anubis."

Garshaw gave him a measured look. "The tablets that led to you also lead to them. That is all I can or will tell you. We will expect you to leave as soon as the storm passes." She turned and strode out of the room, the rest of the council close behind her. Ame stared after her with a strange look on his face, then turned to an empty part of the floor.

"Well, Yami?"

The spirit appeared in the previously empty part of the room. "She tells the truth. When Yugi and I were looking over the tablets, before we found you, they made mention of Eyes. We didn't think anything of it, however, because we didn't understand the context."

"Where's Yugi?" Jacob asked, looking around.

"He is in your room, under the guard of the Dark Magician. We felt that it was best in case the Tok'ra weren't inclined to letting us leave," Yami replied. "He knows what went on here, though."

"Well, we're stuck here for at least tonight," Ame said brightly. "I have a few things in mind that I should do, and it would be best if none of you knew about them." He whistled idly and vanished.

"Welcome back, SG-1," Hammond's voice greeted the group. Ame was the first back through the Gate, his sand-colored cloak flying behind him as he made a dash for the doors. He was gone before Jack had even stepped onto the ramp. Next was Sam, with Daniel a step behind her, and Teal'c brought up the rear. The gate shut off behind them.

"Heya, General," Jack called cheerfully, pocketing his sunglasses. "Don't let Ame near the kitchens," he said offhandedly. "The entire Tok'ra base was treated to some of his food, and they're all laid over with bad cases of indigestion. Very bad cases. And a few of them had... interesting wardrobes this morning." Jack looked quite happy with that. The sight of the plain brown Tok'ra outfits covered in glitter, ribbons, and a few other things from the accessory stores in the malls was quite worth anything the Tok'ra could have done.

"Don't forget the Kuribohs, sir," Sam said. They had migrated down the ramp during this talk, and were now near the doors.

"I expect a full briefing later," Hammond said. "Dismissed."

They filed out, parting ways at the first intersection. Sam went to the elevator, pausing only long enough to hand her gear to Jack, while Daniel went to the briefing room to have a word with Hammond. Jack went to the locker room, both to drop off Sam's gear and to change into street clothes for a few hours away from the base. Teal'c vanished somewhere, and no one wanted to ask where.

Ame, meanwhile, had run for the elevator, in part to avoid whatever Hammond may have had to say, and also because he was eager to get to where Seto was. Yugi and Yami knew what he wanted to do and had gone deep into Yami's Soul Room, enough so that, while they weren't actually out of the body, Ame was as alone as he could manage to get.

Ame looked everywhere and eventually found Seto in the storage room, typing away happily on a different laptop. Noah was in the hands of a few techs and was happily ordering them around as they worked to fix the holes Seto had found in the security system, aside from one important hole that it was also okay to leave alone.

Seto looked up as Ame burst into the room without warning. Ame took one look around and flung himself at Seto. The CEO only had time to set his laptop aside before he had his arms full of a hyper Tok'ra.

"I'm back," Ame said, nuzzling into Seto's jacket contentedly. Seto put his arms around Ame and rested his chin on Ame's head.

"Welcome back," Seto replied. "So you're here for good?"

"After what I pulled, I doubt they'd want me back," Ame said with a grin. "The official word is, though, that the Tok'ra have me here to keep an eye on the Taur'i, so if anyone asks..."

"Understood."

While Ame was running around the SGC, Yugi was happily walking around Yami's soul room, the spirit in tow. He found what he wanted to easily, as he'd been there many times before, and Yami was following bemusedly.

"Where are we going?" Yami asked after a while, impressed with how Yugi was navigating the labryinth confidently, not even hesitating at intersections.

"Someplace special to me," Yugi said, throwing a smile back over his shoulder. "It's where I'd go if I needed some time alone in my head. Don't worry, it's not much farther."

True to his word, Yugi stopped only a minute later at a door. Yami studied it, finding nothing out of the ordinary, but Yugi turned the knob reverently. He looked back at Yami for a moment, then opened the door.

Yami blinked.

The room was amazing, yet he could not remember a thing about it. It was like nothing in his memory at all, which was odd, because the labyrinth that was his soul room only held things that he knew.

Still, it did seem familiar, if only in that it was comforting. The only thing that looked out of place was the western-style bed.

"Yugi… what is this place?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Yugi answered, leading his yami into the room.

"I have never seen such a place – or, if I ever have, I do not recall it." Yami explained, staring at the walls.

Yugi blinked, glancing around.

"That's odd. Why do you think it's here then? I mean, there's got to be some reason for it to be here, right?"

"I can honestly say that I have no idea. How did you find this place?"

Yugi paused.

"It was just after Duelist Kingdom. I was looking around this place, and I just… found this room." Yugi laughed. "Or maybe it found me. I'm still not sure how, but not matter which path I take, I can always find this place if I'm looking for it."

Yami stared.

"Your missing piece…" he whispered.

"Eh? Yami, you okay?" Yugi asked, waving a hand in front of the darker half's face. Yami caught it automatically, still staring.

"I've always thought your room was too small," Yami continued. "I suspect this is the Puzzle's way of compensating for the fact."

The grip on Yugi's wrist changed as Yami twined their fingers together.

"A piece of you, within my very soul…"

Yugi's eyes widened, as Yami kissed Yugi's trapped hand tenderly before drawing him into an embrace.

"Thank you for showing me," Yami whispered into Yugi's hair.

Daniel ran a hand through his already messy hair, scrutinizing the stone tablets that had started this whole adventure. Next to them was the laptop Yugi'd adopted, the translation the younger had started scrolling by itself searching for one key word.

Eye.

Of course, the word popped up in various places, but not in the context that Daniel wanted and so he sent the search program off again and again, narrowing the parameters each time.

Of the eight tablets, only four had been translated. Yugi'd read them all, but he hadn't written down the translation and now Daniel was stuck with that work while the search program continued on.

The computer beeped again. Daniel sighed and turned to the screen, not even getting his hopes up. In fact, the mouse was already over the "search" button as he skimmed throught the translation.

The pharaoh watches over the darkness, his Eyes the only ones to know the inner workings of the shadows. The darkness claim the souls of many, punishment for crimes untold and sacrifices to the Three who watch over the land and its faithful.

The sun rising in the desert, casting its harsh eye on its people, judges the people and rewards the faithful with prosperity, while the wicked fall under its weight.

The river winding its lonely course, feeding the earth and rewarding the faithful while the wicked fall to the weaknesses inherent to them.

The earth, drinking from the river and providing shelter for the faithful even as it destroys the wicked with its ferocity.

The pharaoh connects the three, protecting them within the Shadow Realm and standing watch against the False Ones who would enslave both the faithful and wicked with their evil.

So they shall Watch, four united to protect the faithful while the wicked give way before them.

Daniel blinked. Reread the passage. Blinked again. Reached for the phone on his desk and punched in a number.

"Hammond."

"General, I think Yugi found the Eyes."

Next time: Bakura and Malik make another appearance! Gasp, so they AREN'T a plothole! And other plottish stuff happens, yay.