In the darkness, Daniel stood alone. Panicking on realising this, he looked around, calling, "Sam!" but to no avail. Finding nothing or no-one, he closed his eyes, searching for his wife with his mind. He felt her very faintly, which he found odd considering that they were supposed to have been in her mind. When he tried to home in on her, he felt his mind being pushed back, stopping him.

Forcing himself to be calm, he sighed and opened his eyes again. He frowned on hearing the sound of heavy breathing and he called, looking around once again and wishing fleetingly that he had a 9mm and the rest of SG-1 with him,

"Hello?"

He heard gasps between each breath and cautiously followed the sounds, wondering how he was going to get his wife back, and where he had ended up. Unsure of whether Sam could feel him even if he couldn't her, he said silently,

'It's ok, honey… we'll get out of this. I'm not leaving without you.'

The sounds became considerably louder and he raised a hand, an orb of white light slowly rising above him to illuminate his surroundings, and he gaped on seeing a dark-haired bedraggled woman in rags slumped on the ground against a dank wall, her arms chained above her in shackles, her legs shackled together on the floor in front of her.

Horrified, he immediately kneeled in front of the woman, and reached out to feel her pulse. He felt what seemed to him like a short zat bolt to his fingers and he recoiled, grimacing at the short albeit intense stab of pain. The woman raised her head slowly and opened her eyes, revealing one to be of a striking green, the other of an equally striking blue. He asked, concerned,

"What happened here? Why are you shackled? Where am I?"

She slowly smiled as she gazed at him and then closed her eyes, feeling weak. She said in an evenly modulated voice, her head bowed, her breaths coming in short, ragged bursts,

"You're much better looking than I thought you would be."

She raised her head again and looked at him. "Galahad, the Guardian… 'The one who cannot be judged.'"

She began to cough violently and he, tentatively at first, smoothed her upper back, whispering, "Easy."

She nodded, closing her eyes as she rested her head back against the wall as he experienced another zat bolt-like sensation on touching her shackles. She whispered as he moved his hand away, her eyes half-open,

"You want to know who I am. You're curious as to why I am imprisoned within your bride."

He stared at her in surprise, and asked, "Who are you?"

She smiled weakly and replied, "The first."

"The first what?"

"The first, Galahad. I am the one whom you seek. I am the first to ascend." She spluttered, and her voice hoarse, she continued, smiling slightly as she gazed at him, "The one whom reveals Perfect Mysteries; the Mother, the Left Hand, the one who wanders, Elena the moon. Some refer to me as Chokma, others, Sophia."

His eyes widened in surprise and he exclaimed at almost mach speeds, unable to believe his ears and wishing that Sam was there so he could share his discovery with her, "One of the four cardinal virtues of Plato… the Greek concept of wisdom, the female aspect of the Judaic god. The bride of Christ in Gnosticism… Uh, you represent the Virgin Mary in Eastern Orthodox traditions… one half of the last and lowest incarnation of the Gnostic concept of god."

She watched him with a little smile and she replied, her voice a little stronger, "I see what draws Samantha's affections." Her smile faded for a moment. "I wish I could touch you." She sighed, her head leaning forward ever so slightly. "Those descriptions of me are merely roles attributed to myself in Earth mythology. I represent prudence and justice."

Completely agape now, he said, "They're two of Plato's cardinal virtues."

"I am but one half."

He looked around the otherwise empty cell and asked when he looked back at her, "Where's the… other half?"

"He is kneeling before me."

Stunned, he stared at her, the pieces slowly slotting into place in his mind, and he asked, "I… I'm temperance and fortitude?"

She smiled briefly. "I have been waiting for you, Daniel Jackson, for so long." She coughed. "I tried to emerge by myself but was incarcerated. You see…" She gazed at him fully, squinting in the light of the orb that still hovered high above them, "I am your left hand and you are my right hand."

He shook himself out of his daze and said, shaking his head as he sensed a pick-up line, "No… I'm married, very happily married. I'm sorry."

She smiled at him again. "My faithful Galahad. You do not understand yet. I am within Samantha. I am a part of her. I have been imprisoned for so long – that is why she has not been able to reach her full potential yet. I am the source of her power."

"You co-exist with her?"

"Oh, it is so much more than that. Fear not, it is not the same as the Goa'uld."

He frowned slightly, and she continued with a little smile, "You are within Samantha's mind – do you believe that I cannot feel you or hear your thoughts? I hear them now. You seek your bride and yearn for knowledge… yet you fear. There is nothing to fear, Daniel. Samantha is here, she is all around you. To free her, you must free her heart."

He asked sceptically, "You're her heart?"

"I am her core. Do you not wonder why she cannot misrepresent the truth except with great difficulty or training?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. He said, his eyes open, his voice wobbling slightly, "Where's my wife? Where's Sam?"

She remarked, amused despite her weak state, "Oh… sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees because you're so worried about the one you love."

He frowned at her use of contractions once again, and she said quietly, looking at him, her smile gone, "Daniel, just one thing… just one little thing. Undo my shackles."

He shook his head, looking at her cautiously as he said, getting up, "This could all be a trap. I'm not going to risk Sam's life or wellbeing."

"Yet by leaving me, you will do the latter." She shrugged, instantly regretting the action due to her stiff shoulders. "You wanted the Ancient at the heart of the Star of Ma'at… you've got her. From the dawn of creation, I became imprisoned within the Star because I was incomplete. You are the Guardian, the father of the Duality – there is no ascended being more powerful or higher than you. Samantha is safe. I pose no threat to either of you."

He kneeled before her once again, and she said, looking straight into his eyes, "Only you can free me. And if I happened to be malevolent, by the ancient customs of Earth, I would owe you a debt for freeing me and I would be bound to not harm you or your kin."

He rolled his eyes, remarking in indignance, "Great… you'll just destroy Earth and half the Milky Way."

"Daniel, did anyone tell you that you're surprisingly cute when you're grumpy?"

He frowned once again and opened his mouth to speak when she cut him off, saying by way of explanation of her sporadic use of contractions, "Thus proof that I am part of Samantha. I know her, her life… you. Samantha has greater knowledge of you than you yourself have. You are only here because Samantha is truly happy and is knowledgeable of her happiness. Recently, my strength has grown because of that."

He sighed and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Clear your mind and the answer will come, just like it always has. Like Atlantis."

He stood and raised his hands over her shackles, his hands glowing, and she remarked, looking up at him, wincing because of the action, "My, you're more powerful than I thought too… but you would do anything for Samantha She is an incredibly lucky woman."

As he focussed on his task, he said softly, "Sophia. When I was a young man studying different mythologies, I always wondered whether you really existed at some point in time. You're pervasive in so many cultures and traditions, in so many stories…"

He smiled slightly. "Heracles and Deianeira, Theseus and Ariadne, Andromeda and Perseus, Persephone and Hades, St George, the Crétien de Troyes versions of the Knights of the Round Table stories. Through tens of thousands of years of civilisation, you've been denigrated to a damsel in distress… a pretty albeit weak and defenceless girl that gets imprisoned and needs a knight in shining armour to release her from the jaws of death.

"You are so much more than that. It's sad that to enforce paternalism, men throughout history have felt compelled to belittle women in order to make themselves look better. Despite this, the suppression wasn't all-pervasive… some stories have survived, and cultures exist now where women are the dominant sex although it's just the other extreme from paternalism."

She smiled up at him, remarking, her voice not as hoarse previously, "It amuses Samantha when you talk at high speeds about something you are passionate about. She finds it endearing too."

With a huge clattering, both sets of shackles opened, bursting into white flame. As he watched, she rose, dressed in glowing white, her appearance markedly different, chiefly cleaner and healthier looking, and she smiled at him as he stared at her, agape once again. She touched his cheek and then gently kissed him, whispering with a smile,

"Thank you, Galahad mine. Thank you."