"We're all done, Sir," Janet smiled as she stepped back.

Jack huffed and jumped up from the bed. "Took you long enough, Doc," he replied, narrowing his eyes at her patronizing smile. "Honestly, I don't see why we have to come here for a post-mission checkup before we join Thor on his ship. I mean, c'mon Janet, his ship can scan us within seconds and if there was something wrong – which wouldn't be the case since nothing happened on this boring mission – he could fix it with a snap of his fingers."

"I doubt Asgard can snap their fingers, Sir," she grinned. "But you're right; we're only doing this to harass you."

"I knew it," he groaned, dragging a hand through his hair.

"It has absolutely nothing to do with protocol," Janet continued as she placed her stethoscope back around her neck, "or the rules enforced upon the SGC – the infirmary – by Homeworld Security, Sir."

Jack grinned and re-buttoned his shirt. "So, I'm fine, right?"

"I thought you said nothing happened on your mission," she crossed her arms and glared at him. "Then why wouldn't you be fine, Sir?"

"Of for crying out loud," he whined, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Janet rolled her eyes as she stepped aside to open the curtain. "Sorry Sir, you're good to go."

"Thank you! By the way, Doc, have you heard that Thor beamed up Carter?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes Sir, I was there in the briefing room when he beamed down to ask about the problem… I explained everything about Sam's condition as well as I could and then they went to his ship for further scans."

"Excellent," Jack rubbed his hands together, hopeful that Thor could help in some way. "Did you tell him about the baby?"

"Yes General," Janet said soberly, her enthusiasm dissipating. "He was rather shocked and I'm not sure how much of it he understood… since, well they don't have babies."

He understood and gently squeezed the minute doctor's shoulder. "Well, I still have about fifteen minutes before he contacts us again and I would like to ask you something, Janet."

"Of course, Sir," Janet replied immediately, her eyebrows shooting up.

"Jaffa!" Ba'al barked, annoyed with their lack of initiative. "I am still waiting. What does a god have to do around here for someone to follow his orders?"

"I apologize, Lord Ba'al," Til'vak said quickly, kneeling in front of his master. "I shall activate the device immediately."

"Impudence," he muttered under his breath as he straightened his collar. "Is there any news about the summit?"

"Not yet, my Lord," he replied, inclining his head respectfully, not wanting to provoke a reprimand because his men had failed their god.

"Leave," Ba'al ordered, motioning with his hand before turning towards the visual communications device. "Ah, my dear Ba'alat," he smiled once the room was empty.

"My Lord Ba'al," Ba'alat greeted. "I had been awaiting your call."

He nodded in understanding, not about to disclose the shortcomings of his Jaffa. It really was a pity he had to kill so many of them on the planet. However, he did not have choice; the clones would have been suspicious if they had been told to leave their Jaffa behind. Perhaps he should have used Anubis' old beaming technology to get them aboard his ship while beaming in the canisters of symbiote poison. That would have alarmed the clones as they were essentially him. "How are things progressing?"

"Very well, my love."

"Excellent," he complimented her benevolently. "And the infant's results?"

Ba'alat smiled widely. "They appear very promising."

"Even better," Ba'al smirked, glancing over his shoulder to ensure no one was eavesdropping. These days he couldn't be careful enough with those untrustworthy Jaffa, the Tau'ri pursuing him and those dreadful Tok'ra and Free Jaffa infiltrating his ranks.

"How did the summit proceed?"

"Very well," he told her smugly, "it was over in… a flash."

"That is music to my ears," Ba'alat purred seductively. "Have we heard from Vi'tak? The Jaffa commander," she added as he appeared confused.

"Ah," Ba'al understood now. Did the woman not know how many Jaffa served him? He could not remember all their names and that was by choice; as long as they remembered he was their 'god.' "Nothing yet, my dear."

"That is most unfortunate, my love."

Watching his lovely Queen with her bright eyes, pouty lips and dark hair, he felt a flash of irritation well up. "Did my gift please you?"

"Indeed it did," Ba'alat inclined her head gratefully. "Yet it is no permanent solution."

"I am aware," he said slowly, agitated by the latest turn of events. "I had hoped my other present would suffice."

Ba'alat nodded grimly, her anger barely concealed. "As had I. There still is time."

"Yes there is," he confirmed, slowly pacing his chambers. "It would have been such sweet revenge…"

"As always, you are correct my Lord."

Ba'al could almost imagine it; the same brightness in much lighter eyes, almost alabaster skin and gold hair. A shame really. "Of course," he affirmed. "Ah, I am receiving a transmission from Vi'tak."

"Lord Ba'al," Vi'tak bowed on the screen.

"My beloved Ba'alat is joining us," Ba'al informed the anguished looking man, motioning towards the communication device behind him.

"Queen Ba'alat, it is an honor to see you again. We do not-"

"Kree Jaffa! Do not bother us with your trivial conversation and tell us the results."

Ba'al smirked at his passionate Queen. Still, there was a hint of disappointment that his earlier plans had… not been completed as he had hoped. A god does not fail. "Yes, Vi'tak, what has happened on the planet?"

"We have found a Tok'ra on the planet amongst the casualties before the Tau'ri and Free Jaffa used the chaapa'ai."

"Did they see you?"

"Of course not, my Lord!"

"What happened with those Fifth Column operatives?" Ba'alat inquired, disdain gracing her features.

Vi'tak swallowed visibly and glanced to his side – off screen – before turning back. "Two have been killed…"

"And…?" Ba'al prompted, again irritated with the Jaffa's behavior. Perhaps it would be a better idea to use more Kull Warriors, at least they didn't think for themselves and just did what was expected from them.

"One survived, apparently he was using the drug of the Free Jaffa instead of a symbiote… the Free Jaffa have taken him and the other casualties with them."

"The Free Jaffa took them? What about the Tau'ri?" Ba'alat questioned, having expected the Tau'ri to take the casualties with them as they usually did.

"Jaffa?"

"They took the other… yous, Sir."

Ba'al smirked, exchanging a meaningful glance with his Queen. "Excellent, perhaps this is even better."

"But my Lord… the Jaffa who survived could have given them the location of your ship!"

"Indeed," he replied, nodding to the screen before turning it off. There was nothing else the man could tell him. "I will inform the others."

"Very well, my love," Ba'alat retorted, smiling gently. "When will I see you again?"

"Soon, very soon…" Ba'al said, before disconnecting. "Such a shame," he sighed, shaking his head slightly. Walking towards is bed, he raised a brow. "Don't you think, my sweet?"

Instead of an answer, though, Ataratah simply blinked blue eyes at him.

Jack whipped his head around when he found himself aboard the Asgard ship. "Thor, buddy? Carter?"

"O'Neill, we are in the medical bay," Thor's voice sounded through the ship's intercom.

"Okay," he mumbled, quickly padding over to where he thought the medical bay was. "Daniel, Doc, are you coming?"

Daniel rolled his eyes at his impatience, knowing that Thor would have beamed them over earlier if he'd discovered something serious with Sam – or Sam would have insisted on doing that – and let out an exasperated sigh as he followed the older man in a more sedate pace.

"Yes Sir," Janet mumbled, falling in step with Daniel. She still wasn't sure if she was needed here, after all the Asgard had very advanced technology! But the general had asked her to accompany them in case they found the baby or if Sam would need her help with anything. She assumed she was here more for moral and emotional support than her medical expertise, but that was fine with her – she wanted to be here for her friends.

"Thor, there you are," Jack greeted the small alien when he rounded the corner and almost bumped into him as he was waiting for them at the entrance of the medical bay. "How's Carter doing?"

"Her situation remains the same – I have not yet attempted a course of action, O'Neill."

"Hi Thor," Daniel greeted as he passed the alien in search of his friend. "Sam! Look who we've brought with us!"

Janet nodded a greeting towards Thor, already having seen him less than an hour ago. "Hello Sam, I hope you don't me accompanying you guys?"

"Of course not," Sam smiled at her. If she were honest, she was slightly relieved; the SGC had contacted Thor to let them know about the coordinates they had learned and ever since she'd been nervous and jittery. "Jack!" She wasn't sure if she could expect her husband to join them, although she suspected he would insist – but General Landry had been pretty mad when he came in this morning and learned that the director of HWS had gone through the gate! It wouldn't have surprised her if the President had ordered Jack to stay behind, if necessary to restrain him. Not affter the man had been so insistent that Jack had to go back to work in DC and had actually ordered the two of them to attend the presidential event he had planned. Even though she was still recovering and hadn't been looking forward to such a social gathering with strangers or worse, people who knew her but she couldn't remember them!

"Hey Sam," he said softly, pressing a kiss on her crown when he reached the pod she was sitting in. "I figured you could use the Doc's company when we," he gestured between himself and Daniel, "are going to enter Ba'al's ship."

Sam simply nodded, still not resigned with the fact that she had to stay on the Asgard vessel instead of joining them. They'd argue about that later. According to Thor they would arrive at the coordinates on the outskirts of the galaxy in about thirty hours. "I appreciate that."

"As do I," Janet chimed in, smiling widely. Ever since P3X-666 she'd been hesitant to go off world, knowing what a close call that had been for her and she didn't want to die and leave Cassandra behind! Not after everything the young alien had already gone through on her home world. She did, however, go off world occasionally to offer medical assistance but she'd never been on an Asgard mothership before and she certinaly hadn't flown – is it still flying in space? – to the other side of the galaxy before! "Did your scans reveal anything of importance, Thor?"

Daniel snickered at her let's-get-down-to-business attitude but was just as interested in the Asgard's response. "Something that can help Sam?"

"I have confirmed your diagnosis, Doctor Fraiser," Thor replied. "However, I am unsure if I will be able to help Colonel Carter to retrieve her memories."

Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets, repressing the urge to wrap his wife in his arms – they'd agreed that during official business they would act as a general and a colonel, not husband and wife. No matter how hard this was for him… his eyes still found her, though and he could tell by her response – or lack thereof – that she and Thor had already discussed this. "You don't know what to do or don't know if you can do anything?"

Thor blinked at him, moving his head slightly to glance at Colonel Carter before he cocked his head. "Both O'Neill."

"Oh," Janet said, slightly surprised although she knew she shouldn't have expected the highly advanced alien ally to be able to fix everything!

"But that doesn't mean you can't help at all, right?" Daniel asked, slightly worried. "I mean, if you don't know whether you can do something or aren't sure how to do something…"

Thor nodded again. "Indeed, Colonel Carter has been scanned by my medical equipment and she and Doctor Fraiser have explained to me her symptoms. Her scans show that indeed something has been altered in her brain," he explained as he moved over to his console and conjured up the data.

Janet walked up to the holographic projection and pointed at the brain scan. "Right there."

"It's the hippocampus, isn't it?" Sam asked, walking up to her friend. She wasn't an MD and didn't have a PhD in biology, but she knew some basic structures and had done a bit of research lately – not that google could find anything resembling her case.

"Yes, as a matter of fact it's the entire medial temporal lobe," Janet replied, sticking her finger in the projection to circle the area she meant. "It includes the hippocampus and case studies have shown that one is able to form new procedural memories – like learning to play the cello – without it but they won't be able to remember the events during which it happened."

"But I can still learn new things," she objected. "I mean, I only knew these Goa'uld terms instead of the ones I've been using for years and I can still remember every awkward moment about that. And you said yourself that I seem to remember everything that has happened since I got back."

Thor padded over to them and gently padded Colonel Carter's hand. "This is what is puzzling me."

Janet nodded when she noticed something else as the brain was slowly turning around. "Yes, it is all very confusing as your prefrontal cortex seems perfectly normal. Ah, that's also involved in this," she added when Daniel and the general were giving her blank faces.

"Indeed Doctor Fraiser, but if you enhance this particular area of the brain," Thor did as he said, "there appears to be a slight abnormality."

Jack watched as the Asgard and Napoleon were mumbling to each other, pointing at and playing with the holographic projection. "So Thor, we're supposed to pick up some Free Jaffa on the way. Think you have some room to spare for a ship or two in the basement?"

Thor's head snapped up, his eyes momentarily blinking in confusion. "I have already set course for Dakara when you came aboard. We will arrive in less than two hours."

"Okay," he drawled. "Then how long will it take for us to get to Ba'al's ship?"

"The computer has estimated it will be 31 hours from now."

Daniel frowned, confused. "I thought the Asgard motherships could cross a galaxy within hours?"

"You are correct, Daniel Jackson. However, our speed will be inhibited by the Jaffa ha'taks and obstacles along the way."

"Obstacles? Like what, mine fields?"

"For example," he confirmed slowly. "Ba'al has chosen his location well; our long range scanners have indicated that there are Tobin space mines surrounding his location."

"Of course he did," Jack muttered a bit disgruntled.

"Ah well, at least we know where he is," Daniel said cheerfully.

Jack glared at him, wondering if he'd learned anything in the last decade. "Yeah, for now. He could be long gone by then. What if we go ahead without the Jaffa, we can rendezvous on location."

"No Jack, we can't," Daniel argued. "We don't know what other kind of defenses Ba'al has, after all he has succeeded Anubis who was a half-ascended being! Besides, we have an agreement with the Free Jaffa. If we back out on this now and leave them behind and Ba'al isn't there anymore… do you really think they'll help us next time?"

"Fine," he relented, dragging a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner.

Sam stood and grabbed his hand, not caring whether they were supposed to be working officially. They were all friends, right? "It's okay, Jack. We'll get there and if he and the baby are gone, we'll just find them again."

"I have conferred with the Asgard High Council and Freyr and Penegal have granted us permission to rendezvous with Commander Aegir of the Valhalla," Thor informed the humans and Jaffa aboard.

"Uhm, why?" Daniel asked, frowning before pushing up his glasses once again.

"Heimdall is aboard the Valhalla at this moment conducting research into cloning and our ancestry… he is one of our most knowledgeable scientists in this area and will try to help us understand what the last of the System Lords Ba'al has done to Colonel Carter."

"Okay, we can use all the help we can get," Janet confessed tiredly. She and Thor had been going over the much more precise scans of Sam's brain trying to come up with an answer since they'd left Earth and now they had picked up the Jaffa, had lunch and it was already mid-afternoon. "Does this mean a delay in our ETA?"

"Indeed," Thor admitted cautiously, "however, I am certain O'Neill and Colonel Carter will agree the benefits outweigh the five-hour delay."

"Indeed they will," Teal'c contributed. "O'Neill has taken Colonel Carter to their assigned quarters to sleep for a brief period of time."

Daniel stretched his long frame, trying to get the kinks out of his back. "Yeah," he sighed, "the past few days have been hard on her and she must be really nervous now."

"I'm nervous," Janet said, suppressing a yawn.

"Indeed," Teal'c intoned. "Daniel Jackson An'eke has informed me that he is aware of two planets that had once been kept secret by Ba'al."

"An'eke?" He questioned, racking his brain to try and remember who that was again. "He's one of Ba'al's Jaffa, right?"

Teal'c bowed his head respectfully. "Indeed, he has been captured during the Battle of Dakara after the Replicators had been defeated."

"But he's willingly giving you this information?" Janet questioned, frowning. "It could be a trap."

Rak'nor stepped forward, shaking his head. "It is not. He has joined our cause after we brought him to Dakara."

"He is unaware of the planets' designations or if there is a stargate present," Teal'c continued evenly, "he only knows the names."

Daniel nodded his head in understanding, wishing he had a cup of coffee to keep his mind sharp – maybe he should take a nap too. "So, what are the names?"

"I do not know."

"An'eke is aboard Aron's ha'tak," Rak'nor explained.

Thor moved from his console. "You may contact him as I will take my midday nourishment."

Teal'c stepped forward and moved the Asgard stones around with ease. "Tek'ma'te Aron," he intoned when the screen showed his friend.

"Chel hol, Teal'c," Aron greeted, inclining his head respectfully. "Please do not inform me complications have arisen?"

"They have not, my brother. However, I have told Daniel Jackson of An'eke."

Aron dipped his head in understanding. "Very well, I shall call upon him."

Teal'c expressed his gratitude and a moment later he was laying eyes upon An'eke. "My brother, please tell Daniel Jackson of the Tau'ri what you have told us about Ba'al's worlds."

"Of course! One of the planets is known as Tartarus and-"

"Oh, we've been there already," Daniel said disappointedly. "What about the other one?"

"I have only heard Ba'al speak of it twice and when his lo'taur mentioned it again he was severely punished."

Janet rolled her eyes. "So, what's the name of the planet?"

"Kadesh," he almost whispered, as if afraid Ba'al would strike him down for speaking the name aloud.

"Very well, you have done good," Teal'c said, indicating the conversation was over. He waited until Aron was back on the screen. "Thor has to meet with another Asgard ship in order to help Colonel Carter. I am sending you the changed route now."

Aron nodded as he received the information. "Tal'ma'te."

"So," Daniel drawled once the screen was turned off. "Now all we have to do is learn the coordinates of Kadesh if we don't find Ba'al and the baby."

Janet shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe the Asgard have heard of it."

"Jack, I thought you said we were going for a nap?" Sam asked as she sat down on the Asgard version of a bed.

"We are," came his response from the adjoining bathroom. "I'm just going to take a shower first. I'm not that tired yet, you get in bed already."

She rolled her eyes but had to admit that she was indeed feeling rather tired. "Fine," she relented, taking off her boots first and throwing them into a corner. She couldn't worry about tidying up now, not when a superior alien race didn't know what was wrong with her brain and was trying to figure it out right now. Hmm, this bed is rather comfy, Sam thought to herself as she leaned back. Very comfy.

Tiredly, she started unbuttoning her shirt and threw it in the same corner. Her BDU pants were easy now that she was lying down and she shimmied out of them without any trouble. Knowing she didn't want to sleep in her clothes and have to wear them the next day, she took off her black tank top too. She'd already crawled under the covers when she decided to take off her uncomfortable bra too; she couldn't sleep with the thing on and Jack probably wouldn't even join her. He'd done that a lot lately, saying they needed a nap and eventually she was the only one in bed. Normally, she'd protest but she really was tired. Probably because her brain was going a mile a minute and she was worried and stressed.

The door opened and Jack walked inside, wearing his boxers and rubbing his hair dry with a towel. "Not asleep yet?"

"Almost," she mumbled, rolling onto her side facing the wall. It wasn't until she felt the mattress dip that she realized he was joining her for their… nap!

A/N: I wasn't entirely satisfied with the Ba'al scene, but I couldn't pinpoint the problem… It was however, requested by 'i.m. nell' so here it is.