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"I think we should have brought a wheelchair. You will be exhausted after such a long walk." Teal'c remarked as he watched over Carter slowly walking beside him.

"I am fine, but thank you, Teal'c." She said, stopping for a moment and giving him a smile. She took a few breaths and then continued on.

"Okay, but maybe we should rest." Teal'c offered.

"Still fine, Teal'c." She giggled, but then quickly turned serious. "Teal'c, does the implantation of a symbiote hurt?"

"Extremely. Both the implantation and the removal of a symbiote are most excruciating. That is why the removal is used as a punishment for those Jaffa who greatly disappoint their false gods. Why do you ask this, Colonel Carter?"

They were still moving at a steady pace towards the observation room.

"When Hathor took over the Cheyenne Mountain and cut O'Neill to be ready for a symbiote, he didn't seem to react. I just wonder if he was suffering and whether he was aware we were trying to save him."

"That I cannot answer, I received the symbiote at such a young age when I was with fever, so my memories are not reliable. But I am sure in his heart he's known we'd been fighting for him."

"Thank you." She smiled, but there wasn't a hint of happiness in her eyes.

He bowed to her, showing his respect and comradeship. "I think we are here." He opened the door, which revealed an empty room without any windows or monitors.

They looked at each other in confusion for a while, before Carter spoke. "Are we at the right place?"

"Yes, Laura said this is the room. We'll wait for them, they can locate us using Asgard technology." Teal'c suggested.

"Good." Carter said. Sitting down on the floor, she leaned against the silver wall.

"Are you feeling alright?" Teal'c asked before he sat down close to her.

"Yes, just don't see a point in standing the whole time since we don't know when they'll get there." She smiled, by now a little more relaxed. Sighing, she slumped more against the wall. "I remembered this planet we visited…" She started carefully, testing if he'd listen. When he didn't move or said anything, she continued. "Without people, there were just these big horrible bugs and one of them stank you in the back."

"I do know which mission you are talking about. It began transforming my DNA and I was handed off to NID."

"So those were the bad guys I remember that took you away…" She slid closer to him and took his hand lightly. "Just wanted to tell you I'm glad you are okay."

The Jaffa gave her one of his rare smiles and then she dropped her head on his shoulder in exhaustion. She was pretty tired from that walk, but she'd have a lot of time to rest before they'd have to walk back.

"Wait, so the bugs on the planet, they were all that was left from the indigenous civilization?"

"You speculated at the time that it was possible."

"God. That's horrendous." She made a disgusted face and felt her stomach churn.

"Indeed."

Strangely content silence washed over her as she sat there with Teal'c by her side. They must have been a great team, the four of them. She smiled to herself, thinking about the general. There was something in his eyes when he looked into hers that just felt different, but she couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Hi, kids. Where is that cute nebula?" O'Neil asked, quickly rushing into the room.

Carter jumped up when she noticed him, infinitely glad she didn't ask Teal'c she wanted to, because the general might have overheard something if she had. "Oh, sir."

"We are waiting for Laura's advice on how to facilitate the sight of said nebula, O'Neill."

"Right." The general said, staring at Carter for a little longer and then grabbing the communication device, pressing a button. "Laura? We are where you told us to be and there is not a half of a nebula in sight."

"Wait a moment, please." Laura's voice sounded and was abruptly cut off by static.

"Hope everything is alright." O'Neill said, shrugging as he walked around the two people sitting on the floor. "These radios are horrible." He complained, slowly getting down on the ground next to carter, hissing at the ache in his knees.

"What did I tell you… Your knees are in bad shape." Laura said, suddenly appearing in the doorframe. "And don't trash the radios, they are very old. You could use the bracelet I gave you and it would also keep tabs on your health, but noooooo, you don't want to be monitored at all times. Well, you'll have to use the crappy radio then."

Teal'c and Carter shared a concerned look, but didn't say anything. O'Neill just stood there, waiting until Laura finished her monologue.

"So, here, let me open the viewing window." She walked towards the panel that opened the door and pressed a little button at the edge of it. Then she walked in the center of the room where a small podium automatically appeared. After a few slides of the usual Asgard stones and pressing of another two buttons, the three silver walls of the room began sliding upwards. "I kept it locked because I didn't like coming here. It's no fun to watch these things alone." Laura bit her lower lip and sighed. The only opaque wall now was the one with the entrance, all the others were gone and instead, there was see-through material.

"Wow." Carter breathed out, watching the stars flicker so near. She didn't see the nebula yet, she suspected it was still some distance away. Until this moment it didn't properly sink in that they were flying through space. She knew that she was on a spaceship and how advanced Asgard technology was, but this was the moment she was able to see outside the space vessel.

Her father always wanted her to be an astronaut. He always pushed her to apply to NASA, trying to get her to accept his help, to take advantage of his contacts. If only he ever …

"What is it, Carter?" O'Neill asked, worried about the look of agony on Carter's face. "Are you okay, do you need to go back to the infirmary?" He gently touched her arm, but she stayed still. Just her frown got bigger. "Sam?" He said, louder. "SAM!"

"Yes?" She finally answered.

It was like she got out of some trance-like state. She was shaking and was visibly confused. He never saw her like that, even when he was waking her up from those horrible nightmares.

"Sam, what is it?"

"My dad. He… He had cancer." She averted her gaze before collecting herself enough to face them. Her eyes were glassy then. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"It's complicated…" O'Neill started, but stopped. That was admittedly a stupid thing to say.

"What?"

"What O'Neill means is that he lived for a long time after your D.C. trip. Selmak made sure of that." Teal'c added, not making it much clearer for Carter.

There was a look of utter confusion on her face.

"Your father blended with a symbiote, a Tok'ra. In contrast to the Goa'uld, the Tok'ra share the body. The symbiote healed him and you collaborated on many SGC projects with them both." Laura finally explained to Sam, calmly and clearly.

"But he is dead, now?" Carter asked again, looking at Laura, then at Teal'c and finally her eyes landed at the general.

"Yes." O'Neill said. "I'm sorry, Sam."

She nodded, hugging her shoulders as she sat on the ground. When Laura unveiled see-through walls she wanted to jump up and come closer, but now she was glad she was sitting. Her interest in the nebula faded greatly.

"You got to tell him what your job really was. He was proud of you." O'Neill whispered into Carter's ear, which caused her to turn in his direction and look at him, even though there were tears in her eyes.

She did not want him to see her cry. She didn't want to cry right now or even think about her dad, but she couldn't pick when her memories came back or what they were. She just had to take them as they became available, trying hard to stay sane.

"We're here. I'll go and beam down the supplies. The nebula is on our three o'clock." Laura said, looking at O'Neill with an angry, but meaningful look. Then she left.

He knew she'd push him to continue their conversation and he wasn't particularly keen on that. But Carter needed support right now and that was the main thing. He moved a little closer and embraced her in a light, but comforting hug. He could hear her sob quietly and it was breaking his heart.