Chapter Thirty-seven

"Sir..."

"Not a word."

"But, Sir..."

"Carter!" Jack snapped. "Not a word!"

Sam made a noise of frustration and followed Jack as he stalked towards his office. Picking up the red phone on his desk he barked some orders about getting the Prometheus in battle condition. Sam waited patiently for him to make a few other phone calls before speaking up again.

"Sir, the Prometheus isn't really equip to defend us against a Goa'uld fleet."

"Really?" Jack asked in mock surprise. "I did not know that."

"I'm just suggesting that we may need to start thinking about evacuating some people to the Beta Site."

"Carter, the Beta Site is little more than a glorified campground."

"It's better than nothing."

"What I need you to do is find another one of those Ancient head grabber thing-a-ma-bobs."

"I don't think there are anymore." Sam replied.

"In that case, I'm going to see what favours I can call in. You...I don't know...do whatever you feel is best."

"Sir?"

"You're a Colonel now, Carter, you can make decision on your own. You always come up with the best plans anyway."

Sam smiled and Jack mimicked the expression wanly. Realizing that Jack was just trying to get her out of his office so that he could call the President Sam ducked out. Making her own decision she headed back down to the lab, hoping that if she could get something off the Crystal that it might be useful in at least stalling Ba'al's attack.

Gabriel was still sulking at the bottom of the aquarium on her counter. Sam almost smacked herself in the forehead for not thinking of him first. Stepping up to the tank she lifted the glass top and reached into the heated water.

Rearing back like a frightened cobra Gabriel struck a posture that made it look like he might actually bite her. Sam fearless took a gentle hold of him anyway, unlike the Vel'na she knew for a fact that Gabriel would not strike at her.

Once he saw that his aggressive bluff had don't nothing to deter her he simply turned to struggling. Sam paid him no heed and lifted him up out of the water. He coiled his body around her wrist to keep from falling to the floor, but made no move to take her as a host.

"Gabriel, please, I need to talk to you."

If she hadn't seen it for herself she would have never believed it, but Gabriel actually managed to look defeated. He twisted around her wrist in indecision a few times before begrudgingly making his way up towards her neck. Sam did her best to remain calm as he burrowed into her neck, but couldn't help a slight trembling.

"Sam, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Gabriel, I need to talk to you."

"What do you want?"

"You're in my head, don't you already know what's going on?"

"I am respecting your privacy."

"Oh...um...thanks." Sam replied awkwardly.

"I am sorry if Daniel's body is failing him, but I have made it quite clear that I am not going to keep him from death if that is path he's chosen." Gabriel grumbled.

"This isn't about Daniel, it's about Ba'al. He's sending his fleet here."

"I knew this would happen." Gabriel sighed. "I just didn't think it would be so soon. I suppose being back in stasis is no worse than living in your aquarium. Just hand me over to him, he won't risk coming here if he has what he wants."

"Gabriel, we don't negotiate with terrorists...not even extraterrestrial ones." Sam said firmly. "And even if we did, we wouldn't give Ba'al the time of day let along one of our own."

"You have no idea what your words mean to me, but I can not accept your loyalty at the expense of your world."

"You know Gabriel, you are quick to accuse Daniel of giving in, but you are just as guilty."

Sam waited for Gabriel's response, but the only voice in her mind was suddenly her own. After a moment she could actually feel him squirming slightly under her skin. She feared that Gabriel was about to leave her completely. However he did not, he simply sighed in her thoughts.

"I don't want to give in, Sam, I just don't know what to do."

"I'm betting Daniel feels the same way." Sam smiled sadly. "However, there is something you can do."

"Name it."

"Help us use the Ancient weapon against Ba'al."

"I can't. "

"Why not?"

"I don't know how it works." Gabriel admitted. "That weapon was built long after Gabriel freed himself."

"Daniel should know how to use it, it has to be somewhere in the Ancient Knowledge he carries."

"Yes, but he's not of Ancient blood," Gabriel pointed out stubbornly "I could not activate it using his flesh."

"Could you take him as a host long enough to learn and then switch to General O'Neill's body?"

"Possibly." Gabriel mused. "It would be a lot to learn, but I may be able to do it. If Daniel doesn't try to stop me."

"Stop you? Gabriel, he would never keep you from helping us."

"You are assuming he's still sane."

"And you're assuming he isn't."

"He has locked himself in a place where Time does not exist with a wound that can only be healed by it."

"Gabriel, I'm sure Daniel's fine, it's only been a few days."

"Samantha," Gabriel admonished "what part of 'Time does not exist' did you not get?"

"Don't get me started about 'Time'." Sam muttered. "You're talking to someone who's been back and forth and seen it stretched and broken."

"You still think he's going to come back, don't you?"

"I really don't know, but I'm not ready to give up on him just yet."

"Sam, I've seen this befor..."

"History may sometimes start to repeat itself, Gabriel, but the outcome isn't necessarily the same."

"If you shoot someone through the heart, and I can easily predict the outcome."

"I didn't mean it in such a literal sense, Gabriel." Sam retorted irritably. "I'm just saying that you can't actually know the future no matter how much experience you have in the past."

Gabriel did not appear to have an argument for Sam's point. Once again he had fallen silent. Sam was starting to get a headache from having to verbally battle him like this. She was just about to ask him why he was so reluctant to even try taking Daniel as a host again when suddenly she could hear his gentle chuckle echoing in her mind.

"What's so funny?" Sam asked crossly.

"We would not make a good symbiotic pair." Gabriel replied.

"No?"

"No. We're both too bent on debating..."

"Keeping us from actually getting anything done." Sam smiled.

"Exactly."

"Alright then, let's do something." Sam said firmly. "Will you at least try to learn something from Daniel?"

"You do realize that in a not-so-round about way Daniel already taught me everything I know."

"Which would explain your complete inability to give a straight answer to any question."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Gabriel heaved a mental sigh. "Alright, take me to Daniel."

"You say that as though I'm taking you to your death."

"You might be."