I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! It's really hard for me to find time to post on the weekends, so forgive my lack of a new chapter until now. Hopefully this'll help with any Monday blues!

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"Hello friends," Lya welcomed SG-1 with literal open arms. She gently embraced each team member in turn before shifting her focus to the three unknown people.

"You are Tok'ra," she bowed her head slightly to Jacob. "Welcome to our world."

"Lya," Sam smiled at the woman, "this is my dad, Jacob and his symbiote is Selmac."

"I know," Lya smiled her knowing smile as if Sam had said something funny. "And you are Carter's brother," she gave Mark a featherlight hug. "You are welcome, too."

"Thank you," Mark replied with a note of uncertainty.

"This one," Lya cocker her head thoughtfully at the unconscious Pete, "I sense a great hostility within him."

"That's one way to put it," Jack mumbled, earning him an elbow to the ribs from Daniel.

"Lya, we come seeking sanctuary," Daniel spoke carefully. "Will you help us?"

"Daniel," she spoke softly, "you know our stance on violence."

"We do," he hurriedly reassured her, "and we have the upmost respect for your beliefs. We only ask that you help us evade those who would seek to cause harm."

"Of course," she bowed her head. "Come with me, Nafrayu will be happy to see you again."

OoooOoooOoooO

"These are the people who are more powerful than the Goa'uld?" Mark whispered to Sam as they followed the funky-looking forest lady. "Do they even have electricity?"

"Looks can be deceiving," Sam chuckled. "The Nox may choose to live as one with nature, but don't let that fool you. Their technology is some of the most advanced I've ever seen.

"I'll just have to take your word for it," Mark said, unable to believe what his sister was saying. These people looked helpless.

"Hello!" A small child said, darting out from behind a tree. "It is good to see you again, Carter!" He danced around them excitedly.

"Hi Nafrayu," Sam squatted down and opened her arms for the boy to give her a hug. "You haven't changed much since in the last five or six years."

"Five or six years?" Mark shook his head. "He's what? Ten at the most. I know you don't have kids Sammy, but there's a big difference between a five or six-year-old and ten years old."

Sam stood up, keeping an arm around her little friend. "Nafrayu is about," she paused to look at him. "How old are you in our years?"

"I am thirty of your years," he grinned up at Mark.

"His grandfather was over 430-years-old the last time we visited," Sam laughed at Mark's expression.

"The very young do not always believe what they are told," Jack said with a grin as he jogged by to catch up with Teal'c who was carrying a still unconscious Pete.

"That's not the—" Sam stopped talking and shook her head. "It's the very young do not always do as they are told," she explained.

"True, Carter," Nafrayu nodded thoughtfully, "but the lesson is still the same. Is it not?" He bounded off to toward Daniel.

"He's right," she shrugged. "Guess I'm still one of the young."

OoooOoooOoooO

Jack sat on a surprisingly comfortable log as Nafrayu stoked the campfire. It was nice to relax and let his guard down a little bit, trusting the Nox to shield them from any unwanted guests.

The first time he was on Gaia, he'd been too consumed with the directive to find technology to defend Earth to really stop and appreciate the surroundings. The Nox had buried their gate for many years after that visit, and until this impromptu trip, Jack hadn't set foot back on their planet.

"Pete's awake," Sam said, sitting down next to him on the log. "He's in one of the huts and, so far, has no idea where he is or that we're the ones who 'kidnapped' him," she used air quotes. "He keeps asking for someone named Dolos."

"Any idea who that could be?" He picked up a stick and rolled it between his hands.

"Daniel says Dolos is the Greek god of trickery and deceit," Sam explained. "We're guessing that's the name of the Goa'uld he's working with."

"Good work," he tossed the stick into the fire. "With any luck he'll keep talking and we won't have to force any information out of him."

"Yeah," she replied, sounding unsure.

"Carter, you okay?" Jack turned so he was sitting facing her. "This has got to be difficult for you. I mean," he shifted uneasily, "you were in love with the guy."

"It's not that," she hesitated.

"Then what, because I need to know your head is in the right place."

"I'm the one that brought Pete into all this," she huffed out a deep breath. "If it wasn't for me, if I had been honest with myself sooner, we wouldn't even be here."

Jack waved off her concern. "Daniel said the same thing quite a few times," he reminded her. "In fact, I believe I may have even had my fair share of trusting people I shouldn't."

"I know, it's just," she trailed off.

"Just what? That you're a genius?" He chuckled, reading her expression. "I hate to break it to you Carter, but you're a genius in astrophysics and Stargate doohickeys." He draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the warmth of his body. "You're as incompetent as the rest of us in matters of the heart."

"Thank you, sir," she laughed, resting her head on his shoulder.