Maori -

E kore te aroha

e maroke i te ra,

Makuku tonu i

aku roimata

English - (My) love will never

be dried by the sun,

It will be forever moistened

by my tears. Pokarekare ana - Traditional

=========

Jack spun the truck to a stop outside what was left of his cabin, his eyes directed to the two lone figures silhouetted against the havoc. As they exited the vehicle, Jack motioned for Teal'c to check the remains of his lodge, which was resting, beaten and bruised, against the lead of the sky.

An old woman knelt by the steps cradling Jonas in her arms, stoking his hair while rocking him to the storm's electrified bass that harassed those who would listen. Her body discharged variable bursts of energy that curved around them both, encouraging the fire splintering the heavens.

Jack looked towards Sam with confused and worried eyes, "Cassie?" Janet asked moving as close as she dare.

The old woman looked slowly up with disinterest, her hands still continuing their administrations, her eyes vacant and black, "stay back," she whispered with remoteness, her voice harsh and cracked, "I can't, I can't control it any more."

Another broad bolt of light erupted from her body, snaking, quickly, towards them before exploding into the soft earth in a shower of dirt. Daniel and Janet were knocked to the ground with the power of the discharge as it burrowed near to where they stood.

Teal'c came out of the cabin and shook his head at Jack, "the NID are all dead O'Neill," he stated looking towards Cassandra with unease.

Sam edged forward, staring at Jonas's still form. Cassie followed her wide gaze, "I killed him, too" she said quietly, her voice splitting with the fevered tears that fell from her ebony eyes and hissed as they spilled onto the ground.

"He, he tried to stop me, as the anger possessed my soul, as I slaughtered without remorse, letting my shadows dictate the madness of my actions, I was lost and out of control. I still am," she cried looking down at her withered fingers, which flashed with electricity, and then back to the softness of her mother, "I'm so sorry for running away, for the worry I put you through" she began sadly, "but I couldn't stay, I'm, I'm dying."

She closed her eyes against their faces the clouds above revolving round her like a soul shadow. She touched the folds that mapped her skin and let her head droop, "this, this is my legacy from Nirriti. I saw others afflicted with this syndrome, on my own planet, as she experimented on countless generations, toying with the aging process, I thought I had been spared, that I was one of the lucky ones."

"Oh God Cassie," Janet said in horror, "why didn't you tell me? We could have treated you, found a cure?"

Janet took several paces towards the frail creature but Jack placed a restraining hand on her arm, mindful of the limp figure of the Kelownan.

Cassie shook her head, "there's nothing you could of done, any of you, there is no cure. This transformation is a part of who I am, it's written into my genes, spliced onto my DNA, it's the next step on my journey," her dark eyes turned to Daniel for understanding.

He returned her gaze, knowing somewhere in the mist of his mind he had felt the same.

"And this is why you ran away, because you're dying?" Sam asked.

"No Sam, because I wanted to live, if only just for a week, I wanted to live. I didn't want to spend my last days tied to a hospital bed, watching everyone try to save me and fail, seeing it eat away at you all, I just couldn't bear it. I know it was selfish but it was my choice something Nirrti never gave me."

"How long have you known?" Janet questioned, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Cassie's hollow eyes sort her mother's, "after I flat-lined, when the demon child attacked me, the symptoms started just after."

"And Jonas?" She whispered, the words burning her throat with hurt.

Cassie began to tremble, pulling the Kelownan tight to her chest as lightening streaked the misery that was the sky, "not long, I hid it from him, until I was too weak to do so."

"Cass," Sam asked, "there must be something we can do?"

Her breathing became irregular, "no, this part of my destiny, I knew, I knew you wouldn't understand. There are just some things you cannot save, some things you have to let go of."

She looked down at Jonas, once more, letting her fingertips memorise his face as heavy rain began to puncture the ground and the clouds stirred with an overwhelming rumble. "You must leave, a darkness has crept into my soul, I cannot contain it," she kissed the Kelownan forehead, lightly, "I'm so tired, so very, very tired. I must."

She let Jonas drop from her grasp as a grey light speared her body, impaling her from the ground. Vines of dark energy burst from her convulsing form, beckoning to the swell above to link with her. The ground began to fight containment in a dusty mêlée, shaking with the tremor of internal bombardment then retreating through, large, running clefts.

"Carter what the hell!" Jack barked, watching the ground split between his legs.

"Sir, I think," Sam yelled back to be heard, "she's too weak to be in command of her power, I believe it's breaking free from her."

The sky became one with Cassandra, its elements energizing around her in wraithlike, pallid, vapours. A fireball erupted from the eddying mass, fizzing through the clouds and stomping on earth the not far from the abandon truck.

"Hell," Jack repeated, "let's move people," he commanded, wiping the plump droplets of rain from his brow and motioning towards the cabin.

Teal'c grabbed Jonas and hoisted him over his shoulder, following the others.

When they were safely inside Janet knelt beside the Kelwonan and began to examine him.

"Doc?" Jack enquired waiting for her to confirm what he already knew.

"There's no pulse," she said clinically, her hand moving across to the bullet wound.

"Is that what killed him?" Jack asked.

Janet shook her head as her hand rested on the dull charcoal blaze on his shirt, "it looks like a staff weapon burn," Daniel commented.

"It does," Janet replied, "but the dispersion area is different, it's more like he was electrocuted and at close range."

"With one of these?" O'Neill posed, activating one of the pain sticks the NID had brought with them.

"Sir, the object of those devices is to cause pain not death," Sam countered, taking it from him.

"The NID officers all bear similar burns to that on Jonas Quinn," Teal'c stated his eyes fixed on the Kelownan's injury.

Daniel chewed his lip, "so it could have been Cassie," he said quietly.

Jack sighed and rubbed his temple as Janet shot the younger man a devil of a stare, "Daniel, see if you can find something to cover him with," he said, gesturing upstairs; Daniel nodded.

Jack swallowed hard, and Sam noticed a quick flick of emotion shadow his face, "okay, how do we stop this before she destroys the whole planet?" He asked the assembled minds, watching Cassie trash the heavens with another wave of energy, through a window hanging with glass.

Sam looked to the floor as another wave shook the cabin to the rafters, wrestling with a solution that didn't involve harming the girl she had come to care so much about.

"I believe the only way to end this, O'Neill, is to stop Cassandra Fraiser," Teal'c replied plainly.

Jack looked at Sam who was busy trying to calculate different scenarios with the raw emotion that was pumping through her body; she returned her CO's gaze, her face full of apprehension.

Jack said nothing, his feelings switching off as the soldier in him took control. He picked up his P90 which he had leant against one of the walls, "oh God, no," Janet cried, "sir, please, there has to be another away. Perhaps if I could talk to her, Sam?" She pleaded to her friend.

"Sir, it has to be worth a try, Cassie might listen to Janet," Sam offered clutching at a straw.

Jack looked down at Jonas and shook his head, "she wouldn't listen to Jonas," he stated bluntly, "she killed him."

Everyone took a mental step back, the room closing in on them as they all struggled with the dilemma that had etched on their hearts. Daniel came back in carrying a cream sheet, "I found this," he said, slicing through the silence.

Jack nodded not meeting his friend's gaze and Daniel went to place it over the body, "um, Jonas is, is bleeding."

"Yes Daniel he's been shot," Jack retorted not, really, paying attention.

"I know that Jack and now he's bleeding from the wound," he stooped down and touched the freshness of the scarlet liquid.

Janet moved more on instinct than propose and knelt down by the Kelownan feeling for a pulse and was rewarded with a slight tremor, "he's, he's alive."

Jack looked down at Janet, "Doc?"

"He's breathing," she said in amazement.

Jack looked round, exasperated, "you know he's, really, gotta stop doing this," he grumbled, "either a person's dead or they're not! It's unnerving, you sure he's not cloned from a cat?"

"Yes sir," Carter replied with a slight smile as she noticed the flicker of a grin cross the Colonel's face.

"Cass," Jonas opened his eyes, sensing something the air, "Doctor Jackson," he said, blinking in the other man's face with surprise.

"Hey," Daniel replied.

He tried to stand and was aided by Teal'c who helped him up with ease, giving him a friendly pat on the back. Jonas looked around the room, "Colonel O'Neill"; he acknowledged his voice slightly unsettled.

"Jonas," the Colonel replied, "glad to see you're still with us, you know, after the whole being dead thing."

"Where's Cass?" The young man asked still dazed as the Jaffa steadied him on his feet.

"Oh destroying the world," Jack retorted motioning outside.

Jonas crossed to the window, "it's the darkness inside of her, it's grown and it doesn't want to die" he said in defence of her actions, "it's feeding off the atmosphere, keeping Cassie alive."

Sam rested her hand lightly on the Kelownan's back as she stood behind him, "can you stop her?" She asked quietly.

"I-I can try and kill the darkness," he said without looking back into the room.

"But you just said that was keeping her alive," Janet stated.

Jonas turned to look at her, his eyes crushed in understanding; he swallowed, "yes".

Janet closed her eyes as tears swam down her cheeks, "you, you can't save her?" She stated more than asked.

"No," he said turning back to the window, hunching his shoulders slightly as he did.

Sam closed her eyes, helpless; she blinked back the tears and looked towards Daniel who was as inactive as she was, staring into the floor.

Jonas turned back to the room his eyes had become pale. He flexed his hand and the eye began to radiate a blue, white light. He balled it into a fist and pressed it against his lips in deliberation, trying to draw strength from somewhere.

He inhaled deeply his eyes fixed on the open door and limped, clumsily, into the fray.

"Hey, Junior, wait up," O'Neill called after him.

Jonas stopped but did not look back, "Sir?"

"You'll need someone to watch your back," Jack said, standing beside him but looking into the distance.

"Sir, Cassie, she."

"You don't do this alone," O'Neill replied softly.

"Sir," Jack looked behind him and saw the rest of the team following.

"Carter", he acknowledged, "I thought I told you all to stay back indoors."

"Thought you'd need someone to watch your back, sir," she said smiling sadly.

O'Neill nodded as Janet moved to the other side of Jonas and took his hand. The Kelownan looked down at her grasp as she gave it a small squeeze but her eyes were set on her daughter, "when you're done," she said quietly, "I'll need to look at that shoulder."

It was all she could manage and Jonas accepted it gratefully, holding on to her hand tightly before releasing it.

============

He stood in front of her, small, against her towering presence.

Cassie snapped her head in his direction but there was nothing human in her stare as she spread her hand and a snake of dark light blazed from it in his direction.

He closed his eyes, whispering into the fierceness of the storm, "I love you", as if his words could heal that which time had taken away.

He pressed his palms together as the dark matter whipped about his body, passing through him rather than connecting with his skin.

Cassie narrowed her eyes realizing the blast had not succeeded in disabling her target, noticing the Kelownan had become transparent in an aura of radiance.

She emitted another shot, full of fire and rage. The slug of energy shrouded Jonas, gliding him in twists of dark matter that tried to bite through his protective light. Jack readied his weapon noticing the strain on the young alien's face as his body began to waver from translucent to solid and back again. Jonas turned to his CO and shook his head in caution. He then held out both his palms and a sweep of blue light went from left to right expanding rapidly into a bubble that folded over Cassandra, severing her link with the atmosphere. The Kelownan was thrown backwards as light enclosed the darkness, combining on the outer shell with an escalating force.

Cassie fought against the boundaries of the sphere like an angry wasp trapped in a glass, hurling every last ounce of power she possessed against its hulk. Jack helped Jonas to his feet watching the young woman's energy slowly dissolve with every outburst, each becoming weaker than the last, "what do we do now?" He asked.

Jonas rested his hands on his knees, winded by his fall, "nothing," he said gently, "just wait for the darkness to go."

"You mean watch her die," Janet stated, walking towards the orb.

"Yes," came the reply like a feather dropping from the sky.

=============

It was all over in a matter of minutes, the shadows controlling Cassie ended their struggle as their power diminished and went hungry, shrinking from the light.

The tempest abated, its anger dispersed amongst the infinity of the heavens and the sun pushed it way though the heaviness of the cloud; it's eminence burnishing the cocoon until it became masked in its richness.

Jonas turned his back and hung his head, looking down at his palm that fizzed with significance. Daniel walked over to him, feeling the moment spinning around him, sensing something in the air.

Jonas looked over his shoulder, "it's happening," he said with a sad sigh, not meeting Daniel's eyes.

The Egyptologist turned, just as the sphere broke into a thousand particles of gold dust, which swirled like a funnel on the shimmer of the breeze. The fragments of light expanded as they began to fade and in their core a radiant figure became visible. A glistening orb emerged from its outstretch arms and flew inside the cabin, bathing it in an eerie glow.

The form turned to the Jaffa and said in a voice full of clarity, "they will be awake soon, it may be wise to disarm them."

Teal'c bowed his head and looked to O'Neill who nodded, "Cassie," Janet cried, watching the apparition flow as if caught on a body of water.

She smiled back, her face glowing with the purity of her transformation, "mom," she said, "thank you for helping me come this far, for your love and guidance."

She held out a sheer hand towards Janet and touched her chest with its glimmer, watching it melt through her mother's skin and bone. Janet felt her heart swell with warmth, love and understanding as she closed her eyes, breathing in the sensation her daughter offered.

"I have to say good-bye, I have little time left here, in this form, my journey takes me to places far and new and yet I will always be near," she brushed Janet's face with a last kiss.

She turned towards Jonas, tears glistening like frost against her cheeks, "thank you for believing in me, for loving me, for giving me life."

Jonas turned and spread his hand into her aura, linking with her soul in a galvanized promise of sunbeams and rainbows and they embraced one last time. His lips met hers and they kissed somewhere in between life and death.

She looked into the empathy in his eyes, then let her head rest on his chest so she could listen to the thump of his heart and let her mind soar, oh, once in your life you find someone, who will turn your world around, bring you up when you're feeling down. Nothing could change what you mean to me, oh, there's lots that I could say, but just hold me now, 'cause our love will light the way.

She laid a transparent hand on his wound and the bullet fell to the floor. She then went back to the cavity it had left but Jonas put his hand over the gash, "some wounds are meant to healed with time," he said softly.

She nodded and released him before vanishing into the scatter of a sunbeam.

=========

:o(