Disclaimer: Please see first chapter.
A/N: Thank you SO much for being patient with me! I'll try stop the cliff hangers.
Three.
Sam felt the light consume her. She didn't feel the same pain. Instead, she felt like she was being gently hugged, held. Her eyes shut as she let out a small breath. The tension that had built up in her over the past few weeks seemed to evaporate. When she opened them again, she was in her home. She was snuggled deeply beneath her comforter. Sunlight washed in onto her face.
Her head throbbed. Had it all been a dream? Had all of this been one long nightmare? It had to be. She groaned and swung her feet onto the floor. The clock read 6:00. She had to be to SGC in an hour.
When she looked down at herself, she found that she was wearing a long black dress. Why? Her mind pondered. Her head swung to the mirror. She saw her mother's pearls around her neck. She saw black stains down her cheeks left there from tear-taken mascara. Peaking at her bedroom doorway, she heard music drifting, people chattering.
Blinking several times, she opened the door and walked down her hallway. In her living room many people congregated. They as well were all in formal black. Why were there so many long faces? She searched all their eyes as they turned to her, but found no answers. That is, until she looked on her coffee table.
There, several pictures of her CO were arranged. Candles surrounded the photos. Confusion flooded over her. This only seemed like one thing. She didn't want to believe it.
"Sam!" She turned around to see Daniel. He frowned, pulling her into a hug. " We had thought you had left... I..." He sighed. "Thank You. I know how hard this is for you..." He seemed to be half choking on his own words.
"...Daniel. Where is he?" She asked. He looked at her with pity, thinking her only in denial.
" Sam... You were there when he flat lined..." He withdrew and placed a weighty hand on her shoulder.
Flat-lined? Oh god. She clenched her stomach, memories flooding past her. The ice he was embedded slowly melted away. Tubes and lines pasted all over his body made moving nearly impossible to reach him. She looked down at him, a tear falling onto his cheek. His eyes opened from their sleeping state to look at her. She felt a gentle squeeze to her hand. The alerts blared. She was shoved back. The paddles didn't work.
Her face drained of the little color it held. She felt as if she was going to throw up anything that she had managed to hold down. She felt herself reaching for something to support herself on.
Samantha Carter, Major of the USAF, couldn't handle this pain. It wasn't anything physical. Though, a heart attack might resemble how she was feeling at the moment. After all she had faced, all that had been done to her, this was the one thing she could not handle. A man that was closer than a brother, lover, father, or even twin could ever be to her was gone for good.
Her legs gave way, sending her falling back onto the couch behind her. She heard Daniel muttering to her. She felt General Hammond's hand come down to her back. She heard Teal'c telling her that it was not a sign of weakness to cry. But she didn't see any of them. She just felt.
She felt numb, like she had gone off into her own world. For a moment the world stopped. She heard the lines of a song "I find comfort here, 'cuz I know what is lost. Hope is always fear, for the pain it may cost." echoing in her head. There was no one to fool in that world.
The house faded away in front of her eyes. She no longer sat in her living room. She was in the halls of SGC. "What the hell?" She whispered to herself. This couldn't be real. It was another dream. She was getting confused, not knowing now what was reality and what wasn't.
"Sammie?" She heard a familiar voice came from behind her. She turned to see the face of father.
Daniel rubbed his forehead, slipping off his glasses. His head throbbed. When the three males had looked at the room when the light calmed down, Sam was no longer kneeling at the Chamber. And what was more unnerving, Jack's face had changed. His eyes were now shut, his mouth drawn back in a mix of horror and pain.
Dr. Prist had been quite shaken; his fur was quite noticeably sticking up on the back of his neck, his tail stiffly pointing out. Teal'c had almost made a recognizable facial expression of a sad confusion. Things weren't clearing up at all! They were, if possible, getting worse by the minute.
Now, back in his lab, Daniel could make nothing of the images he had kept going over and over. The only thing that might have been useful was the stars. And they were being run through SGC's records as he spoke. He sighed in aggravation as he played the recording over one last time.
"Have you discovered anything, DoctorJackson?" Teal'c inquired, looking up at his friend.
"Well... I'm pretty sure what Ayianna was mouthing was the words 'She hides in chaos.' But... I have no idea what that means! If we just had something else to go on" He threw his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. "What about you?
"There is no legend which matches MajorCarter's description. It is possible that what she envisioned is before Apophis, or even Ra himself. He forbade any to talk of the Gods of past before his time.
Daniel tapped his pen lightly against his teeth as he thought about that. His eyes wandered over several print outs, his eyes resting back on the glossy print of the stars. He picked it up, his jaw dropping.
"THAT'S IT!" He jumped up and ran over to where Doctor Prist was taking a cat nap.' "Excuse me, Doctor?" He shook him gently awake. "I'm sorry about this, but.. Does this look familiar, at all?
The Felinoid blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes. With that taken care of, he glanced at the paper. His irises widened. "Why... This looks like it's over the hills, by the river. That can't be! Well, even if it is.. there's nothing there.. Except a few stepping stones.
Daniel nodded. "Well, that's the biggest lead we have right now. We're going to have to take it.
Two.
"Dad!" She exclaimed, a smile growing on her face. Even though this reality she seemed to be in "I thought you said you wouldn't be able to come around for... well, for a really long time!"
Jacob Carter nodded slowly, stepping closer to his daughter. Pulling her into a tight hug. Sam was once again confused, but returned the gesture. When her hands rested on her father's back, however, it seemed to be shifting with a jerk.
"Dad?" She pulled back, looking to see tears in his eyes. "Dad. What's wrong?" There had been only a few occasions when she had even seen her father anywhere close to tears.
"Sammie... I only have a little while here. They're...they're letting me say good-bye. I... I can't come back this time, Sam. I'm sorry
"...Why?" Her voice and eyes turned into ice. Her heart throbbed with this new pinch. It wasn't enough that Jack had just died. Now the one damn person that kept her on her feet was being locked as a prisoner on another world.
"They feel that with Anubis gone, we are finally are winning the war. They don't find an alliance to be necessary, nor at any time in the future. I'm sorry; I tried to convince them different. But, they will not listen to me... I was almost exiled, Sel'mek taken from me.
Images ran through Sam's head. He wouldn't ever be there again. He wouldn't be there to see her next promotion, to walk her down the aisle, to see his next grandchild be born. Though, none of those were likely in the first place. Him being banned from her forever was unspeakable. Her throat felt parched.
"Then stay! If they're going to treat you like that, stay here with us!" Sam protested, finding her voice at last.
Jacob shook his head. "No, Sam. That wouldn't be fair to Sel'mek. Those are his people. Even as close as we are, I can not take him from his people.
"But he can take you away from me!"
"Sam, baby... I know you've had a lot thrown at you... I know how close you and Jack were. For God's sake, you worked as his second for seven years! But you'll understand one day. You'll understand why I had to do this." He tried to calm her down, but it wasn't working.
"NO! No, Dad, You don't know! You'll NEVER know! I will never accept this! Those little bastards have taken and taken from us! Now they want to rip away from me my FATHER! NO. I will NOT just sit here, put on a Oh-gosh-gee-see-ya-later-Pap look and send you off!"
Taking her shoulders and cupping her face, General Carter looked empathetically at her. "Sammie..."
"STOP giving me that look! Everyone is treating me like I'm some lost puppy! You want me to be alright, then act like normal!" She hissed, pulling away. She wouldn't let the near-by airmen see tears in her eyes.
Jacob sighed, his normally alert shoulder slouching down in defeat. He nodded slowly, letting out a small cough. "Alright, Samantha. Stay mad at me, I can't change your mind. Your too much like your mother that way..." He chuckled deeply in memory. "But, if you come around a little but, I'll be heading out in an hour..."
When he received no response from her, he walked behind her and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Sam. I always will... Good-bye, sweety."
The twin suns burned above them. The reflection from the glassy-white foliage and the gleam from the purple-blue waters made looking around without sunglasses nearly impossible. Well, unless you were a Kichee, in which case fur and "eye whiskers naturally reduced the gleam. Either way midday was not a pleasant time.
Dr. Prist hobbled up the hill he had mentioned earlier, leading them along the river side. "There." Squinting, he looked up towards the sky, making a small circle with his bent finger. "That's about where they would be seen if the suns were to sink. And there," His finger lowered to make another invisible circle towards the ground. "Are the stones I spoke of."
Daniel nodded at the old felinoid, walking over to the stones indicated. Dropping to his knees, he moved his fingers over the inscriptions on the stone. The writing was that of an ancient form of Latin, looking almost like that of the ancients. He glanced up at the doctor as if to ask if he knew what it said, but received only a curious look in return.
Taking a deep breath, Daniel tuned back. It spoke of a feud, of sickness. But it did not say by whom or what. He blinked as slowly remembered the time when they ventured to the planet that ended up carrying the aging mechanisms. There Teal'c had pointed out that the sacred symbols had to be activated in a certain sequence.The only problem was that he didn't know the code.
His nose shifted a few times, forcing his glasses to slip back up the bridge to where they should be sitting. It was a nervous habit, and probably the reason he had not yet opted for contacts. His brain had fallen into 'work mode' instantly on command, setting him to start playing around with what looked like finger-tip sized holes in each of the stones as every piece he read clarified just a small piece more of the puzzle.
After a half hour in the ghastly sun, Daniel grinned. "I think I have it!" He exclaimed,crawling along the stones, placing in certain fingers in each holes in different stones. The moment he finished, the disks started to rotate.
As he backed away from them, they shot up into the sky with a white beam. Before them a temple erected itself almost instantaneously. Columns now stood where each stone was. A white shimmer surrounded the pillars causing even more pain to the two human-based forms, and discomfort to Prist.
"I believe you were correct, DanielJackson." Teal'c spoke up, his eye twitching at the sight.
The Kichee's eyes grinned. "Never in all my years have I seen something quite so beautiful! Shall we not venture inside?" He asked with a giddy expression covering his furred face.
One.
Sam was about to loose what little part of sanity she had left. Her father had departed about an hour ago. And now Dr. Wier's permanent replacement, some newly-turned General she had never heard of until he took over SGC and had no idea who she was, wanted to see her. The message was delivered in a grim manner, and she expected no more of a cheery reason.
She knocked on the hard wood door of the head office. A rather booming voice bid her enter, to which she responded in action. The moment the door's soft 'click' of closure pinged, she had regreeted even stepping in.
"Major Carter." The new General had a rough looking face. He was hard-shouldered, and had piercing blue eyes. He reminded her oddly of her drill sergeant when she had gone through boot camp. Oh! The memories!
"Yes, sir. I was told you wished to see me." She replied with a cold voice, though nothing that would be heard as offensive and worth remarking on.
"Sit down, Major." The General half barked. The thought 'drill sergeant ran through her head for the secound time in three minutes.
She did as ordered, and watched him pace around the desk. He stopped on the opposite side of her, flipping open her folder. She blinked. What had happened? Had she given him the wrong impression of something?
"In the now going on eight years you've been employed here, Major Cater, I've seen nothing but good reports about you... Which made me to overlook your recent behavior." He started, lifting his chin a bit. Oh yea, definitely pulling the intimidation card.
"My recent behavior, sir?"
"Refusal of leave, assistance, locking yourself in your lab or on-base quarters for hours on end...on that one account two days... The list continues, Major. That I shrugged off. But your performance today in the hallway was overheard and seen by many. I can not shake off all of the concerns and complaint reports handed to my desk. I need you to report to Dr. MacKenzie for an evaluation"
Sam closed her eyes. "Sir, please. I'm not in need of a psychiatrist. I know you haven't been here long and we don't really know each other, so please let me point out something to you. I've had a hell of a year. I don't cope with things like normal people. I focus on something, and through that take out my frustration now-"
"Are you displeased with me, Major? That comment was a little out of line." He spoke over her, obviously not hearing past the 'let me point out' line.
"Permission to speak freely?" She said, biting her lip.
"Granted."
"If your asking if I'm a little upset they gave us someone with no prior experience in this field your position, quite frankly sir, I'm pissed. I'm not saying your not capable, but it would help matters if you tried to understand the members that your commanding. I meant no offence by that Sir. I'm just trying to get you to understand."
The General leaned over his table. "Carter, that was a thin line you walked. And while I appreciate your suggestion, I still order that you visit Dr. MacKenzie. If you will not, then I have no choice but to relieve you of your command of SG-1 until it is seen fit. You will also be escorted from this building until further notice."
"Sir. Please." Her jaw tightened. "What is he going to tell you? That I'm going through post-traumatic stress? Loosing your best friend, your.. your commanding officer, and your father in a matter of MONTHS will make anyone go a little off." She stood up, trying not to scream. That would only get her in deeper.
"Exactly." The General responded. "With further denial, Major, you have given me no choice." He went to the door, becoming an airman. "Escort Major Carter to her quarters and to the locker room before up to the first level. I'll have someone up there to make sure she gets home safely."
Sam's jaw dropped. "...Sir?"
"Consider yourself removed from this program until further notice, Major."
Hatred filled her eyes when she responded with a harsh 'yes sir'. But, instead of making it to the door, she burst out into tears completely involuntarily. The General only barked at her.
"I. AM.SORRY!" She blew it, screaming. " I am SORRY. But right now, EVERYTHING I have in this DAMN world is GONE. CAN you COMPREHEND that!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Hell, I don't know if I'm even here right now! For all I know, this could be some other damn trick!"
" Maybe I do need a shrink.. Maybe I'm going crazy, maybe you should lock me up! But at least in that little white cell will keep me all of THIS! All of this damn pain. I can't fucking breath!" She clutched the area around her left collarbone, leaning over as she was almost hyperventalating. Years of anguish came through in that one moment.
Before the drill-sergeant-General could say anything else, Sam was gone once again.
The suns were setting fast, and the temperature dropping rapidly. The what seemed to be an energy field that rested along the walls sparked small balls of light as it became more dim in the sky. Daniel rushing around mumbling to himself, as he had been for hours now.
"I.. I.. I think I got it!.. This.. wow. This, This is amazing!" His mouth curled into a grin. "The Ancients! They're.. They've.. I think they might ACTUALLY be gods! Well, sure, most were ascended, therefore gods in that sense, but..."
"What do you mean?" Prist came over to where he had been standing.
"Teal'c has said a few times that the Gao'uld are scavengers by nature. So who's to say they didn't take the adaptation of human mythology as well? There was one early Gao'uld...well, I'm not even sure if he was a Gao'uld... he might be an ancestor of some kind... But, that's not as important right now."
"What is important is what he did. Upuaut that's what he called himself. He's a very...very.. minor Egyptian god. In fact, most of the time people just crossed him over with Anubis. He's your typical war god, said to be the leader of the king's advancement when it came to war."
"At the same time there was an Ancient much older then him, Mayet. She was a goddess in many ways. In mythology, she was a goddess of balance. She kept things from going one way or another." Daniel walked around as he talked, showing them where he was reading all of this from.
She was mostly known in times of peace, of choosing fertile and barren lands. The Ancient seemed to work in the same way. She was a council member, and ambassador to the races known..."
Adjusting his glasses once, he continued. "Upuaut didn't like this. He feared her. And so, he engineered this ...virus, for the lack of a better word. He developed a micro-civilization of these things that consumed or defeated whatever they were told to. That's exactly what they did."
Teal'c raised a brow. "You are suggesting that it is this civilization that killed the Ancients, DoctorJackson?"
Daniel nodded slowly. "Yes. Exactly. They killed off all of those who couldn't ascend. Of corse, this would have tilted the scales of power. So Mayet created a haven, a realm of her own. It would be accessible to those who knew the way, who were worthy of being saved."
" After completing this place, she attacked Upuaut directly by gaining the power to destroy his army. I think this is how a few of them survived.. and.. I'm almost positive that's how Ayianna made it."
Doctor Prist jumped in. "Just like Major Carter reported. She told of the odd story between this Ayianna and the two servants."
"Yes, but, I think Ayianna failed." He walked over to the electric wall, his finger making a small circle. In the circle more symbols appeared. "This speaks of a trial. It's like a high-school grade system. If you fail one quarter, you can still pass if you score high enough to pass for the semester. If you get valedictorian, you get a nice chunk of cash."
Prist wrinkled his nose. " I do not understand this."
"I think that Ayianna received the right to survive, but she didn't complete the whole task. After creating this realm, Mayet was drained enough to have to rest almost permanently." He tried to explain. " If she completed the whole task, I think Ayianna would have awoken Mayet from this sleep."
Teal'c made his way over to his friend. Information buzzed in his head. "Does this lead you to any closure on how to find MajorCarter?"
"Yes. Actually. I think that she went into Mayet's test. If she completes it... I don't know. Mayet might awaken. She might find out how to free Jack, she might stay there... I ... I'm not sure."
Doctor Prist turned to look at the last light slip over the horizon. "All hope lies on Major Carter herself now. I hope that she is well...
For yet another time today, Carter found herself in a place mysteriously. It was white as the room in her dream had been. But there were shapes in this room. And at the end of a long corridor, a women of pure energy slowly took form.
Sam stood up and made her way to the women. She was undeniably beautiful. Her appearance was almost like a Fae's. The Major slipped her hand onto the women's. The moment she did, the most shocking green irises she had ever seen locked with hers.