DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Anniversary

Part five

Sam reached for the bottle of aspirin and absently dry-swallowed a couple as she remained focussed on the artefact they had retrieved two days ago. She had been working on it almost without a break, in fact if the Colonel hadn't stopped by a couple of times a day to drag her off to the mess hall she would probably have forgotten to eat completely. She had scanned and x-rayed the object in every way possible and still had come up with nothing.

The artefact was emitting some kind of low-level energy waves but she could not identify them, nor could she confirm that they were the cause of Teal'c's illness. Teal'c had not improved at all, still comatose and unresponsive to external stimuli. Dr Fraiser had said he was in a very deep state of kel'noreem which was helping his body protect itself, but the longer he remained in that state, the less chance there was that he would ever recover.

Frustrated, Sam slammed the box down on her work bench with more force than was wise considering she did not know what they were dealing with, and buried her face in her arms which were folded on the bench. She remained like that for some time until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

'Sam?' Daniel's voice reached her and she raised her head to look into his concerned face. 'Not going well?'

'No, I just can't seem to make any sense of it,' Sam voiced her frustration. 'I have no idea what it is or what it's supposed to do. I don't even know what I can try next.' Sam picked the box up and threw it across the room, earning a raised eyebrow from Daniel. 'What?' Sam snapped at him.

'Are you alright?' Daniel asked, taken completely by surprise at the response he received.

'Of course I'm not alright, Daniel,' Sam yelled at him, 'I've spent two days on this goddamned box and got absolutely nowhere. Teal'c is in a coma in the infirmary and could die unless I find the answer to this riddle. I don't know what the box is or what it does, I have no idea if the energy readings are anything to worry about, I don't even know for sure if this is the cause of Teal'c's illness, and on top of all that…' Sam's voice which had been getting louder and louder throughout this speech suddenly trailed off and she lost all colour in her face. Standing up abruptly she ran out of the room almost knocking over Jack who had just entered and heard the last of Sam's tirade.

'Daniel?' Jack asked Daniel to supply an explanation as they followed Sam to the bathroom where she had bolted.

'I just came in to find out how it was going and she got kind of upset,' Daniel related what had happened. 'She wasn't looking too well anyway, then she threw the artefact across the room and started yelling. I have no idea what is going on.'

They could hear the sound of someone throwing up violently behind the door. Jack sighed and pushed the door open, ignoring the enquiring stares from passing personnel as he entered the ladies bathroom. Sam hadn't had time to shut the door of the cubicle and was kneeling in front of the toilet bowl heaving the contents of her stomach. Jack crouched down behind her, rubbing her back and handing her a paper towel when she was done at last. She remained stationary for a few more minutes to get her rebelling stomach under control then allowed Jack to help her up, her legs had turned to jelly and she wasn't sure she could make it anywhere without support.

'It's alright, Captain,' Jack spoke soothingly as he helped her to the wash basins to allow her to rinse her mouth and splash water on her face before leaving the bathroom to join a concerned Daniel. 'We're going to get you to the infirmary. Can you walk?' Sam nodded, feeling too weak to protest, and leaned heavily against Jack.

It seemed to take forever to reach the infirmary but at last Sam was handed over to Dr Fraiser and settled into one of the beds, Jack and Daniel waiting impatiently until the examination was finished.

'Well?' Jack demanded the moment Dr Fraiser appeared.

'Sam's asleep now,' Janet began as she led the way to her office. 'She barely stayed awake long enough to answer my questions.' As they all settled themselves down in their seats, Janet continued her report. 'She says she's had a headache for the last two days, basically since she first started working on that artefact, and I'm convinced that it can't be a coincidence that the two people who appear to have been affected by it have both got a connection to the goa'uld. We've just got to figure out what it is in order to help them recover.'

'How come it took so long for Sam to be affected?' Daniel asked. 'Teal'c became ill almost immediately, yet Sam had some contact with the artefact before it disappeared and she's been working with it for two days before this happened.'

'I don't really know, I can only guess that it's because Sam no longer has a goa'uld in her and it took longer to affect the remnants left in her system.'

'But it hasn't affected anyone else, right?' Daniel's eyes were narrowed in concentration.

'Not that I'm aware of,' Janet replied.

'We were told it was a weapon against the goa'uld,' Daniel continued. 'We weren't told how it would work. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that it was hidden in that particular place. It wasn't just hidden from unwanted attention, that tunnel was also blocking the energy waves it was emitting. Could that be the cause of this?'

'I don't know,' Janet had been listening carefully to Daniel. 'Sam couldn't identify them and didn't think they were harmful, but I guess over a period of time they could have a cumulative affect.'

'Teal'c was in that tunnel for well over an hour,' Daniel continued, half to himself as he expressed his thoughts out loud. 'That could have been enough to affect him, then Sam was working with it for two days before it affected her. Maybe that's how it works…' Daniel's voice trailed off as he gazed into space, continuing his line of thought. Dr Fraiser and Jack watched this process taking place, both startled when he leapt to his feet and started stumbling over his words.

'We have to take it back there, put it back where we found it. We have to get it away from Teal'c and Sam!'

'Whoa, there, slow down Danny boy,' Jack held up his hand to stop Daniel in mid-flow. 'Care to start from the beginning? Or better still, let's go find General Hammond and tell it all to him.'

Ten minutes later, Daniel, Jack and Dr Fraiser were in the briefing room with General Hammond.

'I'm convinced that the artefact is working exactly as it should,' Daniel was explaining, 'It was kept in that tunnel where Teal'c found it in order to protect Hathor from its effects. As soon as Teal'c came in contact with it, it started to affect him and when Sam had enough contact, it affected her as well. Teal'c felt it sooner because he's still carrying a goa'uld whereas Sam only has the protein markers in her blood.'

'I think Daniel could be right,' Dr Fraiser supported Daniel's theory. 'The energy field the device is emitting could have a cumulative effect and the longer Teal'c and Sam are in proximity to it, the worse they will get. Teal'c's condition has been deteriorating steadily, and I'm guessing he must have known the artefact was the cause because of his actions in trying to get rid of it. It can't hurt to take it back, and it could well save both their lives.'

'I don't think we should take it back there,' Jack said, an evil gleam in his eyes.

'Jack? If we don't get rid of it Teal'c and Sam could die,' Daniel said in confusion.

'I didn't mean we should leave it here,' Jack hastened to explain. 'I meant maybe we should find a nice goa'uld stronghold to take it to,' the glint in his eyes was now reflected in his smile.

'Which one?' Daniel asked eagerly, now that he understood he was all too willing to help out.

'Hold that thought gentlemen,' General Hammond over-rode their enthusiasm. 'What if getting rid of it doesn't work? We could well need that artefact for further study.'

'Are you sure sir?' Jack looked quite crestfallen. 'I mean, this could make quite an impact on the goa'uld population.'

'I'm sure it would, Colonel, but I wouldn't want to have to send a team through to retrieve it if we found out we still needed it,' Hammond smiled at Jack's disappointment. 'Colonel, I want you to take SG3 and return that artefact to where it was found. You leave in two hours.'