I'm so sorry. I misplaced the beta-ed version of this chapter and had to ask my beta to recheck it. Thank you for that Loverustal! You are the best!

Hope y'all enjoy this!

M.

Chapter 23 - And you already know Loki.

Sam's hit the third trimester and there's still no news from the Asgard. The thing is, she needs to come clean. She's pretty sure everyone knows she's pregnant. They're just giving her the time to announce it on her own terms.

"What's eating you, Carter?" Jack asks. He finds her with a doohickey in her hands but a lost gaze on her face.

"Sir?" She says, turning around noticing him.

"I haven't seen you this worried since before the weekend at Mark's."

"God, can you believe that's been already six weeks ago?"

"Time flies when you are having fun." He grins. "Seriously, what's in your mind?" She sighs, rubbing her belly. He just knows exactly what it is. "We should just announce it, Sam."

"I…" she sighs. "I think I'm afraid of what they will say."

"Why?"

"Because…" she answers as if that's all the explanation she needs to give. He chuckles. "I guess it will be easier if we've got some answers…. You know, at least to be assured we won't end up in a nice court-martial for it," Sam sighs.

"I guess that would be…"

"Colonel O'Neill to the briefing room. Major Carter to the briefing room." Walter announces before Jack can finish his sentence.

"You think?" They both ask at once and then they rush to the briefing room. In there Hammond is looking not quite pleased. There's not only Thor, but there's another two Asgard in the room. Except for Thor, the other two are just holograms, Sam reckons.

"Sir? You called?" Jack says feeling a bit weary.

"Yes. While we waited for you, Thor has explained that you already know who the father is, Major." Sam blanches. "And so do you, Colonel."

"Sir… I…" Sam starts.

"I've mentioned to General Hammond that we agreed the Asgard would explain the development. Once we finally understood how it happened." Thor blinks. "It was also mentioned that I would need to explain the same to Jacob Carter."

"Take a seat," Hammond says to the two officers that look about to pass out. "For what I understand, it's an O'Neill in the way."

"Yes, sir." Sam blushes.

"Then, congratulations to you, Jack. Now, can you finally explain how this happened?"

"Yes," Thor says. "This is Freyja and you already know Loki."

"I knew it!" Jack hisses. Loki looks at him. For a second, Jack thinks the little alien looks amused.

"They are responsible for this situation. Loki convinced Freyja of acting on our behalf to complete a process we had asked about before. One that was refused. Loki's theory about your offspring is correct. According to the new models, our scientists have developed based on the strand of DNA we have from your son, he will be able to save our race."

"So, you used us to save yourselves?" Jack points out looking at Loki.

"Theoretically, we never used you, Colonel. Parts of the process had to be done willingly. There was no other way for it to happen." Loki points out. Hammond turns towards the couple with widened eyes.

"So, you broke the rules," Hammond states.

"It seems so, sir." They nod, feeling a bit ashamed.

"But you don't remember how it happened?"

"We do… now. Well, after Thor helped us remember it. You know, the last time he was around." Jack adds.

"Sir…. We didn't know how to explain it. What we remembered…. It doesn't look like it was forced."

"Yet, it was," Thor says. This seems to lift the heaviness out of the room. "Freyja."

"Months ago, you were on one planet under my protection."

"A9P-63M," Sam states. "The last mission I went on, sir."

"That's the name Thor gave when I was being questioned," Freyja agrees. "Before, let me confide that all the experiments applied to you have been all used before in humans for their own happiness."

"Under their own free will," Thor adds.

"Precisely," Freyja said. "I was studying the effects of certain elements on the human psyche, and how they affected reproduction. I was also studying that thing you call love. I also studied the way reproduction happened and how to shorter the term. Human reproduction is highly interesting. However, we are also aware that several females can't reach to the end of the pregnancy. In other cases, the primary cells can't attach to the female reproductive organs for growth."

"Freyja has never before done anything out of the Asgard rules. I convinced her that the safety of our own species was worth the risk. Especially when what we needed was a combination of all the experiments she had done before. None of them were against the rules."

"What about the lack of consent in our parts?" Sam frowns.

"Well, if either of you were against it, you wouldn't be in this situation, to begin with," Loki points out.

"What do you mean?" They both frown.

"Let me start from the beginning," Freyja says. "Loki had explained to me about his plans. I had my doubts until I received an alert that both DNAs we needed had entered one temple they had created for me. I traveled to Nashwa to find them. The first thing I did was scan their bodies for any issues they could have."

A9P-63M / Nashwa

24 weeks ago

"You think you'll be done with those rocks any time soon, Danny boy?"

"Jack! This is fascinating!"

"Ack. Yes or no, Daniel…."

"I think we'll need another day."

"I was afraid you would say that." Jack sighed. "Carter, T, report back to the SGC and let them know we are remaining here for another twenty-four hours. You hear me, Daniel, that's all you got."

"Party pooper."

"Geez, at least tell me this thing that's so fascinating will give us a nice honkin' gun to kill the Goa'uld."

"Actually…. I don't know what they say. I'm just copying the text and by the extension of it, it will take a while to finish."

"Are you really telling me we are stuck here for another 24 hours because you want to carbon copy some more scribblings for your collection?"

"I've seen these before, Jack. I just need my diaries and books to translate it. Besides, I could've asked for those and we would be here for weeks."

"Well, thank you."

"Do we at least know whose ruined temple is this?"

"Nope."

Jack walks around as he tries not to touch anything, but without doing anything by himself he sees a light scanning his body.

"Daniel?" he calls, and Daniel turns away to see him standing unmovable surrounding by a greenish light. "Is this thing supposed to happen?"

"I haven't seen it before. What did you do?"

"I? I was walking, Daniel!"

"What's going on?" Sam asks as she enters the temple ruins followed by Teal'c. She takes a couple of steps near Jack and a second light stops her. "Whoa! Any idea if this is good or bad?"

"Nope. Not a clue." They remain still until the light goes off on Jack and he breathes out. "I'm still alive. If that helps."

"I guess we'll get the long checkup when we get back," Sam sighs. Teal'c walks towards Jack and nothing happens. "Perhaps it only works for humans?" To test Sam's theory, Daniel also walks towards them. Besides her being released, nothing else happens.

"Maybe there's something about it in the writings, which I can't translate until we get back."

"Okay. Carter, get any reading about this thing?"

"No, sir. Everything seems normal." They both frown. "Sir, we might be better off outside the ruins? At least the two of us, since they didn't seem affected by that light."

"I'll keep Daniel Jackson under my watch. I will bring him in a timely manner so he too can get some sleep." Teal'c says.

Since it's early, they walk around and find nothing but blue skies, a nice lake, and more trees. After a while, they head back to the outside of the temple where Teal'c has now settled the two tents. They smile at it.

"I'll get a fire ready," Jack announces.

"If you don't mind, sir… I need too…" she blushes. Grinning, he nods.

"Watch your six, Major." He says out of tradition. The only time he hadn't said that to one of them, Daniel ended up with a major rash in his ass when he touched an irritating leave. Sam chuckles before she disappears.

She finds an enclosed space that will do for now, and she squats. The next thing she knows is that she's strapped into a bed and there is some weird-looking machinery on top of her.

"Don't worry, dear. I'll heal you." A soft voice says, and that's the last thing she remembers. She blinks again, and she is squatting in the same place she was before; she makes herself presentable again and returns to the ruins.

"That took you long enough," Jack grins. "Couldn't concentrate?"

"Huh? I wasn't gone long."

"It's been an hour, Carter." He points out, and she checks her watch.

"I guess I lost track of time. Sorry, sir."

"No issues, I was just waiting for you so I could go." He grins. He comes back not even ten minutes later, and she already has some coffee brewing. Teal'c is finally dragging Daniel out as the night starts to settle.

"I could just go back inside and continue."

"Daniel… one night away from there won't do you wrong. If those light thingies let us, we can all help you carbon copy whatever wall you are still missing."

They remain out there enjoying the mix of the coolish weather with the warmth of the fire and the absolute silence surrounding them. Sam yawns after a while.

"You should go to sleep."

"I can take first watch," she says.

"I believe we are past the first watch already," Teal'c points out. "You look tired Major Carter; I can take two watches."

"Teal'c is right, go sleep, Carter. I'll take an extra hour and Teal'c can take an extra hour." She squints at them.

"I can take fourth."

"Nonsense, by then the sun will be out, anyway."

Sam doubts for a second, she doesn't want to seem weak. But she's been working with those guys for years and she's sure they won't think less of her because now that she's away from all kinds of doohickeys she can finally relax enough to sleep.

She crawls into the sleeping bag and the next thing she knows is that she is in a warm and pleasurable environment. The sounds and lights make her feel every inch of her body as is it was on fire.

"Welcome, this is a trial of love. Please get changed and wait for your soul mate." Sam blinks and notices that changed implies nothing more than a half-transparent black robe. She can't help to think 'thank god I waxed!" before she simply feels aroused by being there.

The lights change again. "Follow the path," the same voice says, and she follows the richly enlighten passageway into a room with metallic walls and floors. She sees a bed in there, and there's a window. If she wasn't drugged in arousal, she would've noticed she was in an Asgard ship, most likely orbiting the planet she was in before.

Back on the planet, Jack's first watch finally ended, and he gets inside their shared tent as quietly as he can, so he won't wake her up. He notices she is not in a second before he blinks and he finds himself in a warm, pleasurable room. He feels his nerve endings on fire and for some reason the only thing he can think about is Sam.

"Welcome, this is a trial of love. Please get changed and wait for your soul mate." A voice says, and he finds there are only some linen pants nearby. Without fighting the environment, he gets rid of his clothes. He doesn't know for sure why he takes his underwear off too, but he does before he dons the pants. He groans as the soft fabric caress his aroused skin.

"Follow the path," the voice says, and he follows the passageway as a drug addict would follow their fantasy. He enters a darkened room; he can smell her. He knows she is there. He grows impossibly harder and then he sees her.

She takes his breath away, and then she's standing in his personal space. So close that he knows she had felt his arousal. Her eyes are dilated, her lips parted, and he can't help himself and brings her impossibly close before in a swift movement they kiss.

In the control room of her ship, Freyja feels giddy. She agreed with Loki that she wouldn't impregnate the woman if she wasn't fond of the male. It's almost five hours of several ways of lovemaking that Freyja wasn't aware could be done later, when his seed is in the proper place and they are finally asleep.

With the help of the beam, she moves male and woman to procedure tables. She keeps the male sedated and starts the process that will make him believe what they've done was nothing more than a dream.

Then she concentrates on the female. Carefully, Freyja checks that the egg she had helped evolve earlier that day when she healed the woman's womb, is in fact impregnated. She sees the cell division happening, then she develops it further.

When it's of the appropriated size, she fixes it on a safe spot on the womb before helping it to develop a bit more. Once she is sure the embryo has attached safely. She starts the process of erasing her memories. Then she dressed them both and send them back to their tent. If everything went according to the plan, in around thirty-six weeks the savior of the Asgard will be born on Earth.

Sam wakes up the following day, feeling utterly relaxed. She looks to the side where Jack sleeps and blushes, thinking she had the hottest dream about him even if she can't exactly remember it. She shrugs, it's better if she doesn't. Otherwise, she would have issues looking at him in the eye without her blush betraying her dreams.