A/N: Well this is it. The end. Big thanks to everyone who reviewed any of the chapters. Here's the last part. All I ask for is one review to let me know what you think of it. Thanks again. Enjoy!

"Colonel? Can you hear me?" the voice sounded far away, getting closer as the seconds passed. "Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack's eyes snapped open suddenly and he focused on the face over him, but he didn't speak. He didn't need to.

"He's awake," the voice said as Janet's face appeared over Jack. "Colonel, can you hear me?" Jack opened his mouth to speak but could only cough. He looked around and saw Daniel smiling at him. Something didn't seem quite right there. He furrowed his brow at the younger man, who suddenly disappeared from view. Jack shook his head and tried to sit up, helped by Janet. "Easy… easy…" she said as he lost his balance and sat back up. "How do you feel?" she asked when he was fully awake.

Jack cleared his throat, "Hungry. Very, very hungry and very, very thirsty"

"Well I'm sure we can do something about that when you're fully back with us."

"Daniel…" he muttered.

"I'm here, Jack," Daniel said from out of the infirmary. He walked in, a sheepish look on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked, smirking slightly, "you look like you've seen a ghost!"

Jack stared at Daniel in disbelief. "I saw you get shot!"

Daniel nodded. "Apparently, Teal'c told me, but I woke up in a sarcophagus."

"You're a stubborn little man aren't you?"

They laughed as Jack began to feel better at a lighter moment, before remembering Sam. "Carter… Where's Carter?" he looked at the faces around him. "Where is she?" he was getting agitated.

"It's okay, Colonel. When you came back, she was sedated. Teal'c had managed to shoot her a couple of times with the tranquilizer. General Hammond contacted the Tok'ra and they took her to remove the Goa'uld. That was six hours ago."

Jack looked up at Janet. "How long were we gone?"

She sighed. "Almost six days, we were almost starting to worry," she joked, "Sam will be fine, Colonel. We just have to wait."

***

The waiting lasted almost another two hours. It was a long two hours that gave Jack time to eat something, but he had suddenly lost his appetite. He couldn't shake the visions of Sam, fighting for control from a damn snake, out of his head. He found himself sitting in the commissary, staring down at a slice of pie that he didn't want to eat, and had no intentions of eating until he could be sure that Sam was safe.

"Sam's gonna be fine, Jack." Daniel assured him from across the table.

"You don't know that, Daniel," Jack said, poking at his pie with a fork, "Remember what happened the last time?"

"Jolinar was a Tok'ra."

"Exactly! Supposedly the good guys. And if that experience was anything to go by then it's gonna be one hell of a lot worse a second time round." He paused, stabbing the pie, " I should never have brought L'Anya back with us."

Daniel shook his head. "There's no way you could have known it would lead to this."

Jack banged his fist on the table, attracting a few looks from others in the commissary, but he didn't care. "Damn it, Daniel. I am the commander of this team and as the commander I have the responsibility to make a risk assessment on every mission. This time I failed, almost got the entire unit killed and now --"

He was interrupted by the 'gate activation sirens blaring around him. Both men jumped up and ran through the corridor and up to the control room. Jack stared through at the 'gate, silently hoping. He was disappointed to see SG-9 emerge through the event horizon and the wormhole disengaged. The seconds passed and Jack stayed, still feeling unable to forgive himself. He was about to walk away when the sirens blared again. He turned back, none of the hope remaining that had been there the previous time, but something was there, a feeling inside him. He ran down the stairs, entered the 'gate room and waited.

It seemed like forever had passed before he finally saw Sam appear through the wormhole along with her father and two other Tok'ra. The expression on Sam's face was unreadable and Jack felt more guilt creep through him. Sam said nothing but walked through to the infirmary in silence. Daniel followed, but Jack waited for a few minutes before finally finding the courage to face his second in command.

The infirmary was dark; the only light emanated from a single candle in the corner. Sam lay on her side, facing the candle. Jack entered the infirmary behind her and watched for a moment. Daniel was stood by the door as Jack walked in. "She hasn't said anything," he informed Jack, "Teal'c gave her the candle to help her relax… god, this must be awful." His voice faded off as Jack walked slowly across the room and sat on the edge of Sam's bed. He stared at the candle for a while, watching the shadows dance across the wall. He passed a finger through the flame.

"Teal'c?" he asked her softly, referring to the candle. Sam nodded, a single tear falling down her cheek as she focused on the flame. Jack reached out and wiped it away. "Hey," he said gently as she lifted her head slightly and made eye contact with him. He looked into her eyes, the sadness evident in the yet unfallen tears. As he watched, his guilt became almost unbearable. He looked down at the floor, searching for the right words. "I am so sorry this happened," he told her quietly, keeping his eyes down. He felt contact on his arm and looked back up at Sam. Still she didn't speak, but shook her head at him. "If I hadn't brought L'Anya back…" his words died off as Sam opened her mouth to speak.

"Couldn't… have… known." The words were almost inaudible, and said with effort. The tears in Sam's eyes began to roll down her face and she blinked hard, the candle flame decaying into a blur of yellows and oranges. She cleared her throat and tried to speak more clearly. "I could see… everything. The pain… the death. She was awful… killed so many… I watched while she almost killed you, Daniel… Teal'c… and I wasn't strong enough to fight it!"

"Hey. You couldn't have been expected to fight it. She fooled all of us."

"I should… have been able to." Sam was getting agitated. Jack held out his hand to touch her arm.

"You can't blame yourself for this. It was my responsibility to assess the risks on that planet and I failed, and as a result this happened. There are some things in this world and in others we're just not powerful enough to fight. We have to accept that and move on. It's just the way things are. You understand?" Sam nodded and wiped away the last tears. Jack looked up to the door, where Teal'c now stood solemnly with Daniel. He nodded at them and Daniel led the way to stand by Jack. "We're all here, and we're all alive," Jack continued, "that's all that matters. No matter what those greasy-ass Goa'uld throw at us we just gotta grin and bear it, 'cause we know we're gonna make it through, just like always." For the first time since arriving back, Sam smiled slightly, thankful for all the things that Jack had just said. She sighed, yawned and closed her eyes, and Jack took that as his cue to leave. He ushered Daniel to the door, along with Teal'c.

When the two had left, Jack turned and looked at Sam's sleeping form. He still felt guilty, but he had a feeling that the guilt would fade, along with the entire race of Goa'uld.

One day…