A/N: The term 'the Remnant' refers to the dozen Innocent children rescued by Oma and Orlin, those who did not go with the Ori.

CHAPTER 35: WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO OUR CHILDREN?

Shortly after Oma and Elizabeth had left Haven….

The representatives of the Alliance – Thor, Lya and Llazoor had returned to their peoples to prepare strategy. The Remnant had been relocated, held as pure energy in the hands of the Supreme. Haven had been abandoned. The Ori were preparing to move towards the Milky Way Galaxy, even now conquering outlying areas. It wouldn't be long before the final battle would be engaged.

Somewhere in the Xeberon Galaxy, the leaders of the Ascended Ancients were slowly coming to know the limits of their power.

It had been millennia since the Ancients had done battle with anyone, much less their sworn philosophical enemy. They had perfected a strategy of isolation they believed would insulate them from ever waging war again. Yet here they were, drawn into the ultimate conflict in hope of defending their original home world.

The Supreme remained concerned about the defection of the most influential and powerful among them, their children. They needed the advantage that the Innocent gave them both in actual energy and in strength of will. Without them, the coming confrontation might bring results as devastating as the final battle with the Wraith or the plague itself.

With these concerns uppermost in his mind, Silas, the current leader of the Supreme Council, addressed Oma who had recently returned to advise the leadership.

"Are we to assume that the human female has returned to Earth?"

"Yes, Samantha has returned to her home. Even now she is with her family. Elizabeth has accompanied her to ease the transition," she replied.

"What have we learned from the humans, Oma? Is there anything that might help us in our efforts to rescue the Innocent?"

"I believe there may be. But I am still struggling to understand Samantha's choice to return to Earth after her ascension."

"Yes, that was a surprise for us as well. From what we had observed of her on Earth and during her recent time on Elberon, we believed that she would appreciate her ascended status."

"Perhaps she does appreciate it. She led me to believe that even now she is doing what she wants most, keeping watch over her family during a difficult time. In an attempt to help me understand, Samantha reminded me of Adama."

"King Adama, how would he be involved in this?"

"Samantha suggested that many years ago I would have given up the wonders of the universe for Adama. She was right. I hadn't thought of Adama for a long time. In fact, until recently, it had been an eternity since I thought of Elizabeth as the child she still is. My child. I had forgotten how she needed me. Forgetting freed me to leave her behind for a long while. That kind of freedom was never what we had been seeking, was it Silas?"

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On Zavona, Alana reached out to the other Innocent children with her mind. She shared with each of them what she had learned about the Ori deception. Little by little, the Innocent realized they had been duped. All of them had been fooled, made vulnerable by their childlike need for their parents.

Until recently, the Innocent had no need to use their abilities against others or even in their own defense. Theirs had been a protected existence, for although their parents were elsewhere, they were indeed revered among the Ancients. Revered and protected from some of the more threatening creatures in the universe.

Now, Alana, thrust unexpectedly into a leadership role, understood that everything needed to change. There were no fully grown Ancients to protect or defend them. She was learning that the Ori with whom they had cast their fate, were indeed the dictatorial tyrants their elders had portrayed them to be. To make matters worse, the Innocent, the underlying strength of the Ancients, were unknowingly helping to further the Ori cause. That had to stop. And stop it she would.

Though protected, the Innocent had grown in wisdom and insight over the millennia by means of their ability to absorb knowledge from others and telepathically link with each other to share that information. Alana reinitiated that dormant link; the children instinctively trusted her as a member of the royal court. As they shared their individual, isolated experiences, they began to realize the sobering truth of their captivity.

Daily the Innocent gained in strength and plotted their escape.

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"Do you have children, Silas?" Oma asked the leader of the Council.

"I do. Only one survived both the plague and ascension. Alyssa. She is now a prisoner of the Ori, along with many other of the Innocent.

"Do you believe she is a prisoner?"

"Why else would she be there?"

"From what our agents have learned, and from what the Remnant has told us, it appears they went willingly."

"That is impossible."

"When did you last see Alyssa?"

Though totally invisible at this time, speaking only in the recesses of their minds as pure energy, Oma could feel the energy that was Silas soften as he spoke.

"It has been a very long time."

"I believe that is why the Innocent, our children, left Haven with the Ori Priors. The book of Origin, so strongly promoted by the Ori, tells its believers that children and parents must remain together. It heralds the primacy of the family unit. That is what the Innocent want. And that is what they were promised by our enemy."

"But that is impossible. The Ori have no idea where the parents of the Innocent have gone."

"Of course they don't. They had no intention of reuniting parents and children. They simply wanted the pure, unfettered energy of our children. And our children, they only wanted us."

TBC

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A/N: Many thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter; its great to know you're still with the story.