Title: End of the line (part seven) Masquerade

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: The Devil you Know, Meridian

Summary: Following on from part six, things start to look up, then drastically go down again. (NB: 'Divide and Conquer' never happened, Martouf is still alive!)

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognised characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

~ End of the line part seven: Masquerade ~

Copyright © 2003, Ruth

**********

"I choose you!" said Sam, her long, thin arm pointing at Jack.

Jack swallowed.

"Samantha! This is not you! Fight her!" yelled Martouf, only to be silenced when a Jaffa whacked him with his staff weapon.

Apophis grinned. "Do what you wish with him, my queen."

Sam's expression suddenly changed. She no longer had the evil glow in her eyes and she looked shocked at her appearance and the scene around her.

Jack caught her eye and she looked at him. He understood the look – pleading him to help her.

"My queen, what takes you so long?" Apophis asked.

"I…I am deciding what to do with him, my lord."

"Well make it slow and painful, my love. I must leave, but I will return and watch you kill him. Jaffa! Kree!"

"Yes my lord," she said, barely louder than a whisper, unable to believe that he would just walk out of the room and leave her.

The minute the doors slid shut, Teal'c aimed his staff weapon at her and turned it on.

"Whoa! Teal'c, it's me! Sam!"

He looked at her for a moment before disabling the weapon.

"You have to get my dad out of here!" said Sam.

"What about you?" asked Jonas.

Sam swallowed. "I'm not me any more, am I?"

"You are at the moment," said Jonas.

"Jonas, she's strong. I can only keep control of my own body for a short time. You must take that opportunity and run!"

"You're coming with us," said Martouf. "We can take you to the Tok'ra and have the symbiote removed!"

Sam was incredibly distressed. "But…but what if I hurt anyone?"

"We will take that chance," said Lantash.

Jack held out some cuffs.

"Wait, let me take this off," said Sam, removing her ribon device and throwing it to the floor, putting her foot on it and crushing the delicate metal.

Jack cuffed her hands securely behind her back, but Sam could feel a change coming.

"Oh, God!"

"Samantha?" asked Lantash.

"My lord! Unhand me! You shall pay for this insolence, Tau'ri!"

Jack put his hand over her mouth to stop her shouting.

"Now what do we do?" he asked.

"We escape," said Teal'c, holding open the door and checking the perimeter.

**********

"General, we're going in. O'Neill out."

General Hammond replayed the message and looked out of his office window at the Stargate. He hoped to God that his flagship team were okay.

**********

From afar, someone else was also watching events unfolding, trying not to become emotionally involved but failing. This person knew that their help was probably required right now, but they were unable to lend it. All they could do was wait.

**********

The rings activated just as several heavily armed Jaffa entered the room and began firing.

"We gotta go!" said O'Neill, keeping a tight hold of the highly irritated Goa'uld in his arms. Teal'c took over from him as Martouf jumped into the pilot seat and engaged the engine, flying expertly away from the attacking ships. Jonas was tending to Jacob, who was yet to awaken from his collapse.

"Release me, Shol'va!" Sam spat, struggling in his arms.

"You will soon be removed from your host and left to die!" said Teal'c, with great amusement.

"You will not!" she spat, "I am too valuable!"

"The life of Major Carter is more valuable than any information you could give us!" said Teal'c.

"You are making a grave mistake!" she said, trying once more to free herself from Teal'c's iron grip.

"General Hammond, come in!" said Jack into the radio.

"I'm receiving, Jack. What the hell is going on?"

"Well, sir, we've got Carter. She's not quite herself, but we've got her. Oh, Jacob's here too."

"You mean she's been possessed by a Goa'uld?" asked Hammond.

In the General's office, Janet's hand flew to her mouth.

"Yes, sir, but we're taking her to the Tok'ra. Martouf thinks they should be able to remove it."

"Roger that, Colonel. Report back ASAP. General Hammond out."

**********

"We are nearing the location of the Tok'ra homeworld," said Martouf.

"Where?" asked Jonas.

"I cannot say, in case our friend hears us," said Martouf, indicating to the now silent Sam, who had been gagged to stop her from shouting.

Jacob was now conscious, and looked over at his daughter's body in disgust.

"You're gonna regret taking my daughter!" he said.

Sam merely looked at him, then closed her eyes. When they opened again, however, they were tired and afraid. Sam was back.

Jacob crawled across the floor to her. "Sam?" he asked.

She nodded weakly, her head lolling back onto the wall in exhaustion.

Jacob untied her hands and took the gag out of her mouth. Her breaths were rapid and ragged, and her eyes could not focus.

"….Dad?" she asked.

"I'm here, kid. It's okay, we're gonna get that damned thing outta you!"

"But…" Sam began, but Jacob silenced her. "Rest. Save your energy!"

She obediently closed her eyes.

"Sorry, Sam, I'm gonna have to put these back on," said Jacob, putting the gag on over her mouth and re-tying her wrists.

Sam's eyes opened and glared at Jacob, mouthing something beneath the material of the gag.

"We are descending," Martouf announced. "I suggest you secure yourselves."

This time, there was no argument from Jack.

*********

Teal'c and Jack held the intensely annoyed Sam between them as they walked through the Tok'ra tunnels. They had blindfolded her so that she could not give away any information if she somehow managed to escape.

"We are looking for…." Martouf began.

"Goa'uld removal?" asked the Tok'ra.

"Yes," said Martouf, uneasy at the prospect.

"Follow me," he said.

**********

The room was the same as any other Tok'ra room, apart from the flat bed and series of jars used to house the extracted Goa'ulds.

"You may wish to leave the room whilst the procedure is being performed. It is extremely distressing for both symbiote and host."

Jonas left without comment, his stomach rumbling. Jack reluctantly followed him. Teal'c, however, remained behind.

"Teal'c, you may stay if you wish, but if it is only to torture the symbiote, I would advise you against it," said Martouf, "We do not wish Samantha to be harmed any more than is necessary."

"I understand," said Teal'c. "I will restrain the prisoner whilst you perfrom the extraction."

**********

An hour later, the Tok'ra left the small room carrying a jar in his hands. It contained a very dead-looking symbiote. Jack took the jar out of his hands and looked at it. He soon realised that the symbiote wasn't dead, but was in fact trying to preserve itself.

"It will be able to sustain itself for no longer than two days, O'Neill. Then it will die," said Teal'c.

"How's Sam?" asked Jonas.

The Tok'ra hesitated. "Her injuries were more severe than we had thought." At Jacob's distressed look, he added, "Samantha is strong. Her injuries will take a little time, that's all."

**********

In the room, Martouf was trying to make Sam more comfortable.

He gently placed some pillows under her head and upper body, surveying her bruised body with great distress. He pulled a sheet over her body, trying to keep her warm, and sat down on the bed beside her. It was Lantash's soothing voice that spoke.

"Samantha, the symbiote is gone. You have returned to us."

He stroked a hand gently through her soft hair and wished that her beautiful blue eyes would open and look upon him once again.

"Samantha, I love you," Lantash whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and gazing down at her.

He sat up abruptly as Jacob entered. He realised that Sam's hand was still being held tightly in his, and carefully laid it down on the bed, covered with the sheet.

However, both Jacob and Jack had noticed this. Jacob took a seat next to Sam and looked down at her. "Sooo…" said Jack awkwardly from the doorway. "What's, I mean, what…"

"She was put through extensive torture at the hands of Apophis prior to the blending," said Lantash, "Which would have been equally, if not significantly more distressing for her. The bruises on her body indicate the use of both ribbon device and hands, and…" Lantash's voice trailed off.

"He killed her, Jack," said Jacob. "Son of a bitch must've taken her to a sarcophagus and revived her."

Jack swallowed.

"As far as I know, it was just the once," said Jacob, "But I could be wrong about that."

"Is she gonna be okay?" asked Jonas, edging out from behind Jack and looking at Sam.

"She is weak," said Selmak, looking down at the daughter of her host, "But she has her father's strength."

"I've gotta talk to General Hammond," said Jack, leaving the room quickly.

**********

"General, the Goa'uld is gone."

"That's good news. How's Major Carter doing?"

"Uh…she's not so good, sir. The Tok'ra say it could take a while."

"I see. Tell me if anything important happens, Colonel."

"Yes, sir."

**********

Three days later, Sam had still not woken up. They were beginning to get desperate.

"How much longer is this gonna take?" asked Jack.

"Don't be a heartless bastard"

Jack stopped, looking around him. "Did you just hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Jacob.

"No, they can't hear me Jack. You're not imagining this, I just can't show myself to you"

Jack nodded, wondering if the two nights he had spent in the Tok'ra tunnels had affected his mind.

"Jack, it's me, Daniel."

"Excuse me a minute," said Jack, leaving the room.

"You need to swallow your pride, Jack."

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Jack.

"I'm talking about your argument with Sam."

"How the hell do you know about that?" asked Jack.

"I've ascended, Jack. Doesn't mean I'm dead."

"Why are you here, anyway?" asked Jack, beginning to get strange looks from several Tok'ra.

"You should apologise to her, Jack. You know you want to, you're just letting your mannish pride get in your way."

"Shut up!" said Jack. This time there was more than a few Tok'ra giving him looks.

"She's weak, Jack. She doesn't have much time left. You need to tell her."

"Are…are you saying she's gonna die?"

"Tell her, Jack."

"Daniel! Daniel?"

There was no reply.

"You get your glowy ass back here, Daniel!" he said.

**********

Martouf looked down at her sadly. Her condition had not improved in three days. This was not a good sign, and they all knew it.

Suddenly, without warning, Sam opened her eyes.

"Sam?" Martouf asked, a broad smile crossing his face.

She managed a weak smile, but it exhausted her and she had to close her eyes momentarily again.

"Hurts…" she murmured.

"I know," Martouf whispered, "But you're going to be okay, Samantha."

"I…I'm dying, Martouf."

"No, you're not," said Martouf, choked. "Don't say things like that!"

"I am……you know I am."

"You're strong! Sam, you fought it!"

"Apophis…………torture. Badly." She managed to get out.

"I know," Martouf replied.

"I……don't want……to die here. Want…..to go home."

"Sam!" said Martouf, tears running down his face.

"Please!" she begged.

He looked at her in agony, turning to Jacob, who nodded.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

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