SG13 The Suicide Squad

by Cesar A

First in series. Prisoners form SG-13, the lives of the members of SG-1 and the SGC will never be the same again. Characters from JAG and West Wing appear.

6. Part 6

Chapter 11: And the beat goes on

Janet and Daisy both went over Gabriel's physical with a fine tooth comb, making sure that the man was indeed ready to return to active duty. The moment Gabriel entered the infirmary with a huge smile on his face Daisy knew that he'd won finally. Daisy had watched one of the training sessions and had never returned. Later that night she met Gabriel secretly as they had been doing since he'd been released from the casts. The moment she saw him bruised and battered, the tears began to fall. Gabriel understood how hard it must have been to watch what uncle Chun-li had done to him.

"I don't care." She said vehemently "I hate him."

"He is only trying to help me." Gabriel protested rubbing his sore muscles

Seeing this Daisy reached over and took over "How can you say that, how can you defend that old devil."

Gabriel smiled his eyes closed feeling her hands on his body, even if it was just his arm felt like heaven to him.

"It was worse when I was young." He told her, shocking her "Although he didn't hit me so hard back then, usually just a gentle slap to the back of the head to tell me to concentrate. By then I was doing the dangerous part of the training, if I didn't concentrate I could've gotten really hurt."

"Why?" she asked and immediately Gabriel understood

"Because he loves me."

"Tough love?"

"In a way." Gabriel told her and tried to make her understand "He wants the best for me, if it were up to me and any other trainer. I would push myself to a certain point, the moment I felt pain I would stop, or the trainer would stop me not wanting me to hurt myself further. Uncle is forcing me to work harder, and sometimes that takes a swift kick in the butt. He won't let me pity myself or get depressed; he will force me to work harder. It's what I need to do, otherwise Daisy they're sending me back for immediate execution of my sentence. You know what that means."

Daisy shivered, she did know what that meant, "You're right, I just don't like it." She told him "And I refuse to watch it, it hurts too much. But I will be here at the end of everyday to help you through it." She promised him staring into his dark eyes

"That's all I want." He cupped her cheek kissing her tenderly

Now weeks later from when he first began, Gabriel was smiling and Daisy could relax. It was over, the training was over and Gabriel beat the odds. She felt like running to him and jumping into his arms and kissing him senseless, but she couldn't do that yet. Fourteen missions to go, she thought, that's it; soon they would be free to do whatever they wanted. Janet followed a few minutes later and they began to test him for everything that they could think of, and treating his new burn mark on his chest. Halfway through the rest of SG 13 came in congratulating Gabriel, they had wished that they could be there for him but they weren't allowed up top. Soon Kennedy showed up and waited with the rest of his team for the final word.

"You're free to return to active duty." Janet sighed putting away her stethoscope "You're as healthy as a horse." She was amazed at his resiliency; most people would still be on crutches. Others even after they went through the rehab would have a severe limp and some pain. Gabriel had neither.

Gabriel sighed relieved that he wouldn't be going back to prison.

Kennedy nodded; this is what he'd been waiting for "SG 13, briefing for your next mission begins in two hours." He said walking out.

"He's all heart." Link announced when Kennedy was gone.

"Hey, the man took a chance with me." Gabriel told them "And as much as I really hate it, I owe him."

"We are calling this 'Operation Baby Boom." Kennedy told the assembled group, consisting of SG 13 and Jacob/Selmak who had just come back from the Tok'ra home world

Looking at Gabriel across the table, Jacob could see that the man was trying at all costs to keep from looking at him. Jacob could see the muscles tensing in the other man and he knew that Gabriel would love nothing more than to jump across the table and throttle him to death. The trouble was that Jacob was beginning to think that he deserved it.

He remembered being in such a good mood that Monday morning too. The dinner on Saturday night with his daughter and her new boyfriend just confirmed what he suspected. They were in love; in fact, Jacob could not remember his daughter looking so radiant and happy. They had avoided talking about SG 13 or anything to do with Gabriel Fuentes or the SGC and Tok'ra that night. Instead, they had talked and laughed in a way that Jacob could not remember ever doing with Sam, and he realized that it was because of the man sitting beside her. That had pleased Jacob tremendously, this is what he wanted for his little girl, and at long last, she finally found it. At first, he had thought that she had found it with Jonas Hanson, only to find out later that he'd been so wrong about the man. He remembered finding his daughter crying her heart out the night she had broken it off with Hanson. At first, Jacob thought that she was sorry because he'd left, and a part of it was, but mostly it was tears of relief that the man was gone out of her life. For a long time afterward his daughter had refused to date again, afraid of what might happen. Afraid that she would pick another man like Hanson, Jacob hated to admit it, but his daughters taste in men seemed to run in that general direction. Later when Jacob found out about the Stargate and the SGC and met her teammates, Jacob had feared that she was going to fall for Jack O'Neill. Jacob had nothing against the man, he knew that Jack was a good officer and soldier, but by this time, Jacob also knew that he wasn't what his daughter needed. Sam needed someone more like herself, a scientist, a man who could understand her and her thirst for knowledge the desire to discover and understand the secrets of the universe. Jacob also knew that that someone would have to be very understanding and patient to help her get past her fears of loving someone again. When he first met Daniel Jackson, Jacob knew that this was the type of man he wanted for his daughter. A little geeky perhaps, but he was somebody who would never hurt his daughter, and the man had a great deal of courage as well which had surprised Jacob. But if he were honest with himself, he never thought that it would be Daniel. The man was too pre-occupied with getting his wife back then with the Harecesis child, he did know that they were good friends and perhaps that was all she needed for now. So it came as quite a shock to him when he had walked in and caught them kissing, and was surprised even more when he saw the look on Sam's face when she looked at Daniel. Jacob knew that look it was a very special look, he himself had only used it with Sam's mother.

So Saturday night had gone better than he'd hoped for, his daughter was in love with a good man. A man who Jacob could envision being his son in law, his daughter was happier than she'd ever been. The only drawback was that they were on the same team; Jacob knew that could be trouble in the future. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut, he knew that these two were smart enough to figure that out on their own. Sunday came and went with him relaxing having been away from earth a long time. It was nice to just lay around for one day with the New York Sunday Times and read it from cover to cover catching up with what was going on, on his home planet. No worries about the Goa'uld, no worries about the Tok'ra and their future, no today he could relax and just be human again. Even Selmak had enjoyed her day off, something that had surprised the both of them. Then came Monday, he dressed in one of his old uniforms and had arranged to meet with the people from JAG. Commander Rabb and Lt Colonel Mackenzie had shown up with a young Lt carrying a steno machine to act as court reporter arrived right on time at his hotel and they had begun the interview.

Rabb looked at the general taking a seat "So General we are here to discuss the Lt Fuentes case."

Jacob nodded taking his seat, "So my daughter informed me, have you seen Lt Fuentes lately?" he asked them.

"Not in several days." Rabb answered wondering why the general asked

Jacob/Selmak nodded "I was wondering if there was anymore news as to his condition."

"Condition?" Sarah had looked up from her pad remembering that when they had left, Fuentes and his team were about to embark on another mission.

"Yes, he had an accident." Jacob told them

"Serious?" Rabb asked suspiciously

Jacob/Selmak shrugged "You'd have to ask a doctor about that. I do know that he broke several bones."

"We will." Mac promised making at note to call the base later and find out the mans condition "Now this is going back several years, we hope that you remember the case well."

"I remember everything about that case." Jacob told them

"Very good sir." Rabb nodded "That will make this go all that much quicker, I'm sure that you have important things to do."

Jacob nodded if they only knew the truth of that statement "That's for sure, shall we start?"

Mac opened up her pad and took out her pen "Sir you do realize that if you want you can have counsel here to represent you." She warned

"I have nothing to hide." He told them "I will answer all your questions to the best of my ability."

Rabb nodded and jumped in feet first "General Carter, did you at anytime have sexual relations with one Amanda Fuentes nee Cunningham?"

"Yes" Jacob answered honestly and quickly startling both officers, "We had an affair that lasted about three months."

Mac asked the next question "General could you tell us what ended the affair."

General Carter smiled ruefully "I'm sure that you already know the answer to that question."

"Just for the record, we'd like to hear your version of the events." Rabb told him

Jacob nodded and proceeded to tell them what happened that night and what had happened as a result. He left out nothing, looking at his notes Harm had to admit that the story jived perfectly with Fuentes's story.

Mac scribbled some notes "So that was the last time that you saw her?"

"No" the general admitted, "I saw her the very next night. I asked Amanda to leave her husband and to come away with me. I told her that I was afraid for her, after seeing Gabriel's temper first hand."

"Her response?" Rabb asked worriedly, this wasn't in any report, which could prove dangerous later in court.

"She laughed at me." The General shifted uncomfortably in his chair "She said that I should be worried about her husband. About what he might do to me, she said that she herself was in no danger whatsoever from him. That he was just an overgrown pussycat with her. Those were her exact words, 'overgrown pussycat'. I guess she was wrong."

"That remains to be seen, general." Rabb informed him "What did she say to your offer to take her away." He asked him

"She refused, she said that she liked to sleep around for variety. But that she loved her husband and would never leave him."

"So did you see her again?" Mac asked

The general nodded leaning back in his chair "Yes on several occasions, but never again intimately. I saw her at a couple of parties, sometimes with Gabriel mostly with other men. By that time Gabriel had filed for divorce."

Rabb nodded scribbling "Did you ever get a sense on how she reacted to losing her husband and child."

General Carter sighed and nodded "I'm going to say this because it is true, but if you try and get me to repeat this in a court of law, I will categorically deny saying it."

"Sir we could compel you to answer." Mac warned him

Jacob shook his head "No you couldn't, I would never intentionally hurt a child that way." He told them

"Child?" Mac asked flipping through the pages "Josie Mariko Fuentes?"

"Yes" Jacob explained, "The last conversation that I had with Amanda was the day after the divorce was finalized and Gabriel got custody of Josie. It was the moment that I saw Amanda for the manipulative person that she was, it made me happy that she had not taken me up on my offer to leave her husband. Amanda was livid, she was ranting and raving in front of their house. MP's had to be called in to escort her away. That is when I spoke to her. I told her how sorry I was to hear that she'd lost custody of her daughter." Jacob took a deep breath and continued "She said that she didn't give a damn about the girl, that she had just been a way to keep Gabriel where he was. That he doted on the girl giving her whatever she wanted. Amanda thought that if she regained custody of Josie, Gabriel would have no choice but to go back to her." The general shook his head "At that moment I was glad that he had custody, because if Amanda had gotten custody, Gabriel would probably have gone back to protect her."

Rabb looked at Mac, this confirmed the story that Gabriel had told them "Why didn't you ever report this to anyone, General?"

"I did." He told them "I told Major Fred Powers the whole story."

"Major Powers was the prosecutor in the case." Harm told Mac "When did you tell him?"

"A few weeks after Gabriel was arrested, Major Powers interviewed me and took my statement. You must have a record of it." Jacob insisted

Rabb shook his head "No sir we don't, I defended that case sir, if I had any clue that you had such information, I would have called you as a witness for the defense."

"What happened after that?" Mac asked getting them back on track

"There were several instances where MP's were called to Lt. Fuentes home. Reports of harassment were made by Daisy Hammond, reports of threats made to her by Amanda. To stay away from her husband, that type of thing."

"And nothing ever came of this?" Harm asked incredulously

Jacob shrugged "Nothing was ever proven, besides I always heard about it long after the situation had occurred. Daisy Hammond is very dear to me, her father and I have served together for more years than I care to admit, and Daisy Hammond is like another daughter to me. I was about to do something about it when Amanda disappeared."

"Why are there no records of any of this happening?" Mac asked the General

Jacob sat up confused "There must be, I was with Daisy when she filed one of the complaints."

Harm saw genuine surprise in the general's face "Who took the reports?"

Jacob opened his mouth and stopped, slowly he said "Major Fred Powers."

"Why did you order the arrest of Lt. Fuentes?" Harm asked writing on a page he circled it many times and showed it to Mac 'We have to find this Major!'

Jacob leaned on the table looking ten years older "Major Powers was in charge of NIS and the legal departments on base, he told me that working on information received he searched and found evidence of foul play at the Fuentes residence."

"Why was an Air force officer in charge of the Navy investigation service?" Harm asked surprised

Jacob shrugged and told them "The man we had in charge was transferred, Major Powers took over until the navy assigned someone to replace him, it lasted about six months."

"I don't understand something" Mac told him pointing to one of the files "Major Powers in a report says that you ordered him to search the Fuentes home." Mac looked confused, someone was definitely lying here, but whom?

"Where!" The general demanded, "I never ordered that."

Rabb reached for one of the folders and handed it to the General who literally was turning redder and redder with each sentence he read. At one point Harm thought that the man's eyes lit up gold, of course that was ridiculous.

Slamming the report down on the table with such force that some of the water glasses fell over, both JAG officers jumped, the general was pissed "I never said any of this." He told them "I never thought that Gabriel killed her out of jealousy."

Rabb stared at the man intently gauging him "What was your theory?"

"Truthfully, I thought that he did it to protect Josie." He told them frankly "Gabriel was and is a lot of things, he can be extremely violent, maybe even a murderer, but one thing I could never accuse him of is being a bad parent. The day for him rose and set on that little girl. He would die for that girl, and I know that he would kill anyone without hesitation who ever threatened her. I also know that the last straw for Gabriel was when Amanda showed up at the base pre-school and took Josie away."

"Whoa!" Harm looked up shocked, Fuentes had never mentioned this "When did this happen?"

"About three weeks before Amanda died." He told them "Amanda went to the pre-school on base, the teacher was unaware of problems or of the divorce. She turned Josie over to her mother and Amanda disappeared with the girl for three days. Gabriel was going insane not knowing where Josie was; he didn't eat or sleep for the whole time. He practically camped out in the security office waiting for any word. Finally three days later Amanda returned and gave the girl back to her father, she was sending Gabriel a message."

"Don't mess with me because I can take your daughter whenever I want." Mac supplied the answer

Jacob nodded "That's what I took it to mean." He agreed, "That's why I thought that Gabriel killed her, not out of jealousy, but to protect Josie. Amanda was definitely by this time loosing it. When the girl was returned, she was terrified of her mother."

"Why didn't you attend the trial?" Mac asked him

"Major Powers and the judge Colonel Bixby, now General Bixby, thought that it would be better if I distanced myself from the proceedings. Seeing how I was personally involved with the woman before her death."

"Besides" Harm added turning to Mac "If you were there and Major Powers told his story about you ordering the search on the Fuentes home. You would have been on hand to refute the story."

"How well do you know this General Bixby?" Harm asked coming up with an idea

Jacob nodded "Very well, the man was a bit of a brown nose." He admitted to them "But he is the best detail man that I know, he wouldn't let a piece of paper off his desk if it was missing a period."

"General would you be willing to put a theory into action?" Harm asked, "Even if it helps to clear Lt. Fuentes?"

"I don't care about blame." Jacob Carter told them clearly, "I want the guilty to be punished, whom ever it might be."

Mac looked at Harm suspiciously, she knew that look on his face. Harm was up to something and it probably wasn't going to be pleasant.

"What are you planning to do Harm?"

"What I am proposing is this General. We wire you up for sound; now General Bixby is CO of the base in Crystal Lake. We can be there in a couple of hours."

"So what do I do?" asked Jacob confused

But Mac saw the plan "Powers couldn't have done this alone, he still needed the judge to exclude all of your evidence."

Harm nodded "Precisely, now everyone thinks that Gabriel Fuentes was executed on schedule. You General can ask him about it and see if he will confess to you."

Jacob looked uncomfortable with the plan "If your plan fails or if General Bixby is innocent?"

Harm looked the General in the eye "In that case sir I will personally destroy the tape, and pretend that it never happened. The General's reputation will remain intact." He promised the general.

Jacob closed his eyes for a moment and spoke to Selmak

"What do you think?"

"We must do this Jacob, a man's life hangs in the balance."

"But what if this man is wrong?"

"Then he will destroy the tape. Jacob we have robbed a man of many years of his life, if there is a chance that he is innocent we must find out."

"Then what if he's guilty?"

"Then we can let the matter go, knowing we were right."

"And if he is innocent?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it."

Opening his eyes, he saw that both officers were waiting for his answer

Standing up Jacob went to the phone and dialed a number "Hello George, Jacob, yes I'm meeting with them right now. Listen I need a favor.... I need passage for." Looking at Rabb

"Four plus you makes five sir."

"Five people to go up to Crystal Lake and transportation back." Jacob waited for a full minute "Thank you George, I'll call you later and let you know."

Turning back to the two JAG officers, he nodded to them "Our plane leaves in two hours." He informed them.

"Hello Jarod, how have you been?" Jacob said heartily hugging the man

"Jacob, you old dog, I've been fine, how about you." General Bixby asked, "You look great, I heard you had a health scare a couple of years ago." He asked worried for his old friend.

Jacob waved it off "It was nothing." He said looking at the portly one star general, who he once called a friend.

"What brings you all the way out here?" Jarod Bixby asked surprised to see his friend after so many years.

Jacob smiled leaning back in his chair "I was on my way to Vegas, I hitched a ride on a transport. I have a few hours to kill before it takes off, I heard that you were running this chicken shit outfit so I decided to say hi."

Jarod laughed heartily at the joke "So come on how have you been? How are the kids?"

"Oh that's right you left before all the fun started."

"Oh-oh" Jarod paused "What happened?"

Jacob smiled at the man, still brown nosing me after all these years "Nothing bad." He told him "Mark got a job teaching in a university in Boston is married to a good woman and I have a couple of grand kids, and Sam joined the Air force she's a Major now. She's involved with a man and I hope to be hearing wedding bells in the near future."

"Little Sammy." Jarod laughed, "Little Miss 'I never want to have anything to do with the military.' Is now a Major? I don't believe it." Shaking his head "Wow, it's been almost ten years. What about Jake?"

Jacob Carter frowned "I don't know and frankly I don't care."

Jarod shook his head, Jacob was still holding grudges, 'Come on man, he is still your son. It's been what almost seventeen years.' Wisely Jarod kept his mouth shut and continued the conversation without losing a beat.

"Yeah, I think the last time I saw you was just after that young Lt was convicted and sentenced."

Jarod nodded "Yeah, wise ass little punk. We got him good." Jarod winked

"Something in your eye?" Jacob asked, "If you keep winking at me like that I'm going to think that you like me or something."

Jarod laughed again "Oh those were the good old days." Pausing Jarod pulled out a cigar and lit it "Hey you know they finally executed that guy.... what was his name?"

"Gabriel Fuentes." He said lightly, inwardly he was disgusted. If you sentence a man to death, you should at least have the decency to remember the man's name.

"That's right, you know Jake we did the right thing in that case." Jarod saw that Jacob was bothered by something.

Looking up Jacob stared at the man "What do you mean?"

Jarod put down the cigar "I mean finding him guilty. That smart-ass lawyer was going to get him off. We had to do something."

"What are you talking about?" Jacob asked already dreading the answer a knot forming in his stomach.

Jarod puffed on his giant cigar smiling "Come on Jake, Powers told me how afraid you were that we were going to lose the case because of manufactured evidence. Good thing that Powers found out about that so I could exclude it from the trial."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jacob asked feeling the knot settle in the pit of his stomach and an iron hand gripping his heart.

Jarod shrugged "Powers and I figured that you had enough to do. We could take care of that little piss-ant for you. After all I knew that it was what you wanted."

Jacob stood up angrily "I wanted justice."

Jarod stood up as well "That is what we all wanted Jake, that's why when I heard that the insurance guy was paid off to lie about his testimony I excluded his evidence."

Calming down Jacob re-took his seat "Who did that, not Fuentes he was locked up."

Jarod sat down again "Naw it was the lawyer who cooked that one up. What was his name, Robb, Ribb, Rabb, that's it Rabb. Lt Rabb, Powers told me not to say anything at the trial, I wanted to, man had no business in a court room, but Powers said that Rabb was under investigation for witness tampering. Saying anything at the trial would have ruined the case. Last I heard Rabb is making big rocks into little rocks himself." Jarod Bixby laughed heartily

"You poor fool." Jacob sighed "Both of us, just a couple of old fools."

Jarod frowned and put down his cigar "You okay Jake, what's wrong?"

"We were fools!" Jacob Carter yelled startling the other man, "Powers played us like a fucking piano."

"What are you talking about?" Jarod asked confused

Jacob stared at the general and told him "Rabb was never under investigation, no witnesses were ever tampered with.", 'I sent an innocent man to prison.' He thought to himself miserably, 'oh Sam you were right, what am I going to do now.'

"You're wrong Jake." Jarod said angrily "I saw the NIS reports on Rabb."

"Yeah and who was in charge of NIS on base. Powers. Lt Rabb or I should use his proper rank Commander Rabb is still practicing law in the Judge Advocate General's office."

"That can't be right." Jarod sat back in shock

"I'm afraid that it is."

Jarod looked decidedly green "If you're not lying to me, and Rabb is still a lawyer, that means he was never under investigation."

"That's right."

Jarod turned even greener "That means that the insurance man's testimony wasn't a lie."

Jacob nodded and continued, "I also never ordered Powers to search the Fuentes home. He told me that he'd received information from a source and ordered the search himself."

"He lied about that?" Jarod Bixby leaned back into his chair "Oh my God, I convicted and sentenced to death an innocent man. I killed him." He said miserably

There was a knock on the door

"What is it!" General Bixby yelled

Harm and Mac entered the office, Jarod Bixby's eyes bugged out

"Did you hear?" Jacob asked tiredly and ashamedly

"Yes sir." Mac felt sorry for the man, both men whose consciences would be bothering them for a long time to come.

"Rabb?" Bixby asked recognizing the man

Harm snapped to attention "Commander Harmon Rabb sir."

"Oh God." Bixby leaned his head on the table "I killed an innocent man."

"No sir." Rabb told him letting the general off the hook "There was another postponement of the execution."

Bixby looked up; hope in his eyes "So we can still get him out?"

"Yes sir." Mac told him "But sir we will need a full statement from you."

"Of course." Bixby told them "Anything, that bastard Powers. I'll get him if it's the last thing that I do." He swore

Harriet entered setting up her steno machine and they began to take the statement.

A short time later they were flying back to Colorado Springs, Jacob hadn't said a word in three hours. It was beginning to worry the two JAG lawyers.

"Sir" Mac began gently "You couldn't have known."

Jacob shook his head staring out the window "I was his commanding officer, I should have known. I should have suspected something. But because I didn't an innocent man spent nearly ten years in prison. He was almost executed because I failed in my duty as his commanding officer. My daughter was right, I was stupid for ever getting involved with that woman. How much more have I been wrong about?", he asked them, "Jarod bought up Jake jr., I haven't thought of my son, not once, in nearly seven years, was I wrong there as well?" he asked Sarah, "Was it so wrong that the boy had wanted to follow his own dreams? How much of a goddamn fool have I been?" he asked miserably

Sarah stared at the General, what could she say? The General was obviously now questioning everything that he thought that he'd done right.

"I don't know sir." Sarah told him truthfully "Unfortuately I don't know your son, maybe you should find out what happened to him." Sarah looked to Harm to help her out.

Jacob nodded patting the colonel on the hand "You're right, thank you colonel."

Harm nodded, knowing that he didn't know what to say either, "Sir just like we told General Bixby we don't want this information to get out. Not until we find Major Powers." Harm told him "We are going to gather some more evidence and then we are going to nail him to a cross."

Jacob nodded, that was something that he was going to enjoy "Agreed Commander. Mean while I have to figure out what I'm going to say to Lt. Fuentes, so that he doesn't kill me. It would be a damn shame to get him released just to have to put him back for killing me." He joked bitterly, knowing that he was more than just half right on that assumption.

Jacob's mind snapped back into the present and listened to the briefing, it was important.

"You are going to planet 8PZ-109, your mission is to blow up a nursery." Kennedy informed his team.

"What?" Asked Link confused

Jacob spoke "There are a lot of Gao'uld larvae on this planet. If they reach maturity thousands more will be taken as hosts." He told them, shocking them all "Our objective here is two fold, first to kill the queen who is breeding these larvae and second to destroy the 'tank' for lack of a better word, the tank where the larvae are kept."

"Yes" Kennedy told them "We have reconnaissance of the planet, you will study it and make your plans accordingly. You will present it to me for approval. Questions?"

"How heavily guarded are these larvae?" Link asked

"Not very." Jacob/Selmak told him "But there are always Jaffa nearby, their exact numbers we don't know."

Gabriel shook his head, "How heavily guarded is this queen?" asked Gabriel deciding to just concentrate on the mission at hand. Besides, he had already promised Sam that he would try to forgive her father. Whether he could or not still remained to be seen, not reaching over the table to strangle the life out of him was, Gabriel thought, a good beginning.

"Heavily." Jacob admitted, "We have a picture." He said passing 8 by 10 photos to them "Her name is Eondra, she is new and she is breeding larvae like it's going out of style. She has to be stopped." Jacob told the group

Dropping the picture on the table Gabriel got to business "What are her habits, is she a morning person or a night person. Does she take walks or is she always indoors. In other words Jacob, when is she most vulnerable."

"She's never alone." Looking directly at him, Jacob began "She always has at least a half dozen Jaffa with her, she is very valuable to the system lords. She almost never comes outside preferring to stay in her pyramid and all it's creature comforts. However every few days she does go to the 'tanks' to check on her offspring, to make sure that they are being well cared for. The 'tank' is located out in the open."

"What is the surrounding area like?" Samuel asked, "Is it an open field?"

Jacob pulled out a map of the area and began to point it out to the team, "Yes, there is nothing around in any direction for at least a hundred yards. It seems that the Jaffa like to keep the area clear of trees or shrubbery to be able to completely cover the area."

"Are there any high areas around, really tall trees, perhaps a hill top that overlooks this place?" Asked Sam standing to look at the map spread on the table.

"Yes about a mile to the west there are some rather large hills that overlook the whole valley." Jacob pointed out the area on the map

"Good" Samuel looked at Gabriel "If this hill is as high as the General says I can take her no problem with a high-powered rifle."

Gabriel nodded in agreement "Yeah, but still we'd have to be near enough to make sure that she's dead." Thinking he sat back "If we were able to camo ourselves to look like the surrounding area where we could take everyone from any direction they come. We could be on hand to make sure."

"So Sammy takes the shot and knocks her down, we rush in and zat her three times and get out." Annie nodded it was dangerous and bold. What else is new?

Gabriel nodded biting on his lower lip "Yeah, but Sammy you'd have to continue to take out as many of the Jaffa as you can." He pointed out "We can't risk them being able to carry her off to a sarcophagus and revive her. So, you have to concentrate on the guards that are nearest to her. Annie you will be cammoed by the tank, hopefully right by the queen or not to far from her. Sam drops her then takes out the nearest guards. Link and I pop up from our positions and start taking down the others. Annie moves by the queen and zats her three times and books while we cover. We blow the tank, a big enough bang to take out any remaining guards. Sammy covers while we fall back. Then we all haul ass to the Stargate and head home."

Sammy sighed, "Well it sounds like a plan to me, I suppose."

Link didn't look pleased "Why Annie, I could do it. Besides she's a better shot than me, she'd be better at taking down the loose Jaffa."

"Don't think I'm up to it." Asked Annie angrily

"I know you can do it Annie." Link held up a hand "It's just it seems that it's either you or Gabe that's always taking the risks."

Gabriel shook his head "We all take the risks, I want Annie to take the queen because we don't know what this queen is capable of. If she has powers like that of Hathor, all she'd have to do is breathe on you and you'd be done for. Annie won't be susceptible to that kind of attack." He pointed out reasonably. Link still didn't like it but he shut up and sat back.

Kennedy looks at the general "Will that be satisfactory General?"

Jacob stared at Gabriel; his plan was simple in design yet almost foolproof, if they could get through the gate. "How do you get past the guards at the gate. You won't be able to rush through the gate and shoot anymore. They are on to that now, they have orders that if the gate activates, then weapons go up and anyone who doesn't look like a Jaffa or a Goa'uld gets shot."

Gabriel smiled evilly "Then I guess that it's time for them to meet Porky."

The rest of SG 13 smiled as well.

Daniel and Jack were waiting by the armory when SG 13 finally showed up to check out their weapons. They'd heard that SG 13 had just gotten a new mission, and the odds of survival were not that optimistic, to say the least. Siler had run a simulation using all the known facts, the chances of success were 15 percent, the chances of survival was perhaps half that, and half of that number again just to get through the gate. Janet had already been called back and ordered to remain on standby, and that was just to go through the gate. That meant that SG 13 could be coming back at anytime if they made it through the gate at all. Sam was already hard at work trying to get the dialing sequence to move a little faster so that it would give the team that much more time to get through. Jack had also volunteered SG 1 to go in with SG 13; General Hammond turned them down immediately. It was just too dangerous, and in his opinion not worth taking the chance.

Gabriel smiled at his friends as they approached the armory "Hey guys what are you doing up so late?"

"Our dinner was interrupted when we got the call that you were going out already." Jack told the group

"Yeah, gotta get back on that saddle." Gabriel quipped, "Hey Lt Drake got the stuff we asked for?"

"Yeah" the armorer said glumly also aware of the odds of SG 13 coming back in one piece "Everything is ready. I got that rifle that you wanted Sam."

"Aw" Sam smiled "What did you get me for my birthday?" he asked him.

The armorer cracked a smile and pulled out the largest rifle that Daniel had ever seen.

"This is the top of the line, she's a fifty caliber and will slice through Goa'uld armor like a hot knife through butter. Or I should say that it will go through the armor through the man out the other side of the armor, through a tree and half way through a mountain. That thing is like a howitzer"

"Oh, now that is what I call a thing of beauty." Sam said taking the rifle caressing it as if it was a favorite child

"How's the weight?" Gabriel asked looking at the huge rifle

Sam shrugged "Not too bad, it is a little on the heavy side. But I want to make sure that anything I hit is never going to get up again." He told the group seriously

"The scope is also infra red, night vision and polarized so even if the lense is hit directly with sunlight she won't reflect the light. She is also fitted with a suppression silencer so you won't send up any flashes when you pull the trigger. She will also hit dead on up to three miles."

Sammy was in love "Now that is what I call a gun."

"That's what I call a tank." Jack was awed at the sight of the weapon

"What's the recoil like?" Gabriel asked

The amorer shrugged his shoulders, "Surprisingly not to bad, just make sure that you keep her nice and snug in your shoulder or she'll break your collarbone." The armorer warned

As the group finished collecting all their equipment and packed it away, Gabriel asked

"You got Porky ready?'

The armorer handed over a large paper bag and remote to Gabriel "She's just like you asked for."

"Good." Turning to the others, he nodded "Let's get it done." He announced and made his way to the gate room.

Jack and Daniel went into the control room and went to the other half of SG 1.

"Carter how did it go?" Jack asked sure that it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference, but he could not deny her the chance to at least try.

Sam sighed and shook her head "I got it down by five point three seconds, it won't make that much of a difference." She admitted sadly

"Do we still have telemetry on the MALP?" General Hammond asked still extremely nervous for his people.

"Yes sir." Sgt Siler shrugged "I don't know why they just didn't destroy it when it first came through."

Stupid oversight of an over confident enemy George knew "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth son."

SG 13 entered the gate room, immediately they saw that on one wall a giant monitor had been set up.

"What's with the new T.V. General?" Gabriel asked staring at the large screen.

"Show them Sgt."

The giant monitor lit up and Gabriel saw a bunch of Jaffa standing guarding the gate on the other side.

"How many Sgt.?" Hammond asked immediately not liking what he saw one bit

Siler looked at the general "Ten sir, all facing the gate." He said nervously, Siler shook his head. No one, not even SG 13 deserved this, this was suicide.

Link chuckled "I dream of Goa'uld." He joked to the others

"Yeah and it looks like a re-run. Let's shake things up a bit." Annie smiled

"Dial it up Sgt." Gabriel asked

The gate began to spin locking chevrons, the blue stream of energy shot past them. On the screen, they could see that the Jaffa had all activated their weapons and were just waiting for someone to step out. Sam turned to her father "Dad you have to call this mission off, look at them they are waiting for them." She whispered afraid of what she saw.

Jacob Carter shook his head "This is too important Sam for more than one reason. They have to get through, they have to succeed."

Gabriel held the bag open "Annie would you do the honors please."

Annie reached into the bag and to everyone's surprise pulled out a stuffed toy and made her way to the gate.

"That's Porky?" Jack asked looking at the stuffed Porky Pig doll.

Annie tossed the toy through the stream and turned to watch the screen. A few moments later, the toy appeared on the other side startling the assembled Jaffa.

"Whatever that was supposed to do, it didn't work." General Hammond announced

One of the Jaffa approached the stuffed toy and poked at it. The leader of the group demanded it bought to him. Taking it, he looked it over and shrugged to the other men while turning it each way. The Jaffa gathered closer to all better a good look.

"Ah General" Gabriel chided pulling out the remote and pressing a button "Never criticize the cook until you've tasted the cuisine."

Suddenly the sensitive mikes on the MALP picked up a voice.

"Tha th.. th...that's all folks."

The screen went completely white and the sound of the explosion was loud through the speakers. Debris began to fall and smoke began to pour out of the doll.

"GO!" Gabriel yelled as he ran up the ramp the others hot on his heels.

SG 13 poured out the other side of the gate and immediately took up defensive postures.

"Clear." Annie called out

"Clear" Linked also called out from his position

"Clear" Sammy made it unanimous

"Okay" Gabriel announced as he zatted the down guards then headed to the MALP calling over his shoulder

"Link set up the mines, Annie you and Sam cover."

"Right" Annie took up a new position while Link set to work digging holes and burying mines

Gabriel turned to the MALP and put in his ear piece

"Mother Goose come in, this is Papa Bear."

"We read you Papa Bear, nice surprise you gave the big bad Wolf." Hammond smiled, admiring SG 13's resourcefulness.

Gabriel smiled on the screen "I thought so, just wait until they meet Barney." He joked turning his head, he called to Link "How long?"

"Give me ten."

Gabriel nodded "We move out in ten minutes Mother Goose, shut down the gate and we'll send MALP back through."

"How long to accomplish your mission?"

"No idea sir." Gabriel admitted, "That sort of depends on how cooperative Goldilocks is." Checking his explosive pack, he saw the timer ticking away "In any event we will be back in two weeks latest, before our packs go off."

"All set." Link announced to the others gathering his equipment

Gabriel nodded "Mother Goose we are all set, do we have a go?"

Hammond looked at Kennedy who picked up the mike "You have a go Papa Bear, good hunting."

Gabriel bent his head and mumbled something in a foreign language, not Japanese.

"Okay kill the gate and we will send back the MALP and were outta here." He announced

The MALP screen went dead two minutes later, the gate opened up and the MALP came back through. Jack turned to Daniel their linguist and asked what Gabriel had said.

Daniel was still staring at the blank screen "Ah... It's an ancient Egyptian proverb it means, 'May God stand between us and harm in the dark places we must walk alone.'"

General Hammond turned to Janet Fraiser "Doctor you can stand down now, the first part at least is over for now." He said walking away heading back towards his office, he needed a stiff drink.

Jacob turned to Sam while everyone else was distracted "Sam, I need to talk to you. I need to talk to someone or I'll burst."

Surprised Sam turned to her father "Why don't we go to my office and have some coffee?"

"Sounds good."

Sam stared at her father; she'd never seen him this nervous before "Just give me a second to tell Daniel."

Sam went over to where Daniel was talking to one of the civilian techs who was showing him some broken pottery shards.

"Daniel" Sam got his attention and moved to one side with him "My father needs to talk with me about something important."

"You want me to come?" he asked immediately seeing the worry in her face

"No" She shook her head "We're just going to go to my office and have some coffee. You go on home, I'll meet you there."

Daniel shook his head "Naw that's okay, SG 11 just came back with some really interesting pottery from T2K 132. I'll work on that, I'll be in the commissary, you just come on by when you're ready, I'll be ready to listen if you need to talk." He promised her

Sam smiled gratefully "Okay, thank you Daniel." Moving away, she motioned to her father and they left the room

Chapter 12: Interludes III

Sam sat shifting while she waited for the coffee to brew; looking at her father; she saw that he looked worried. Immediately Sam began to worry, she thought that the dinner they had months ago had gone well. But what if her father after thinking about it didn't like the idea of her seeing Daniel. Sam knew that her father liked him, liked him a lot, but there was still that danger that they were on the same team. Or the consequences of what might happen if anyone were to discover their relationship. Although Daniel was a civilian, they were breaking regulations about team members becoming involved. Daniel could lose his position in SG 1 even the SGC as a whole. She could be bought up on charges, since she was military and a Major, that meant that she should know better. Another thing that could have her father thinking was perhaps what might happen out there, to one or both of them. Well Daniel and she had discussed it several times in depth. If anyone found out about their relationship, then they'd face the consequences together. If Sam was drummed out of the military, then so be it, too many times in the past Sam had put her personal life on hold for her career. Well not anymore, not with Daniel, hell, she was smart; she could always get a job with a university and teach like her brother. Sure, she wouldn't be as happy with her career, but she would have Daniel. Same thing if it went in the other direction, enough time had passed since Daniel had made his theories public, he could easily get a job now. The most important thing was that they would face it together.

Sam poured out two cups of coffee and handed one to her father.

"I spoke to JAG." He began

Sam instantly sighed with relief, it wasn't about her and Daniel

"What?" her father looked worried

Sam shook her head relieved "When you first asked to speak to me, I thought that maybe you were having second thoughts about me and Daniel." She admitted to him "You know the whole we are on the same team thing."

Jacob waved that concern aside "I know that the two of you are smart enough to know the consequences of your actions. Hell knowing you two, you probably made a list of pros and cons."

Sam sputtered her coffee

Jacob looked amused "You didn't?"

"Twice" Sam admitted wiping her mouth blushing that her father knew her so well

"And?"

"We opted for love." She shrugged "Whatever happens we face it together."

"Good" Jacob smiled finally and patted her knee "No, what I wanted to tell you was that I spoke to Commander Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie."

"And?" Sam asked nervously

Jacob bent his head ashamedly "You were right, it seems that his trial was tampered with."

"General Bixby?" Sam sat down hard on her bench, she never liked Bixby. But Sam knew that her father had.

Jacob nodded "Yes, although it seems that he was tricked into helping. He was shown evidence that Commander then Lt Rabb was paying off witnesses to try and influence the case. All of my statements about what I thought were missing, instead there was a report saying that I thought Gabriel killed her out of jealousy and that I had ordered the search of his home."

"And you didn't." Sam asked surprised, it was what Gabriel believed, it was one of the reasons he hated Jacob so much.

"No" Standing up Jacob grabbed some creamers off the counter sitting down he explained to her "There was a Major Powers on the base, he was in charge of NIS and the legal department. The former head of the NIS was transferred and Powers took over until a replacement from the Navy arrived. He ordered the search, he told Bixby that I ordered it; he told me that he had information and had already searched. He told Bixby about Rabb being under suspicion of witness tampering. Being in charge of NIS gave him the opportunity to fake those reports. Powers was the one who recommended that I should distance myself from the trial, he convinced Bixby to back him up on that, and I agreed."

"Which kept you from hearing the tainted testimony." Sam saw where this was heading

Jacob nodded sipping his coffee "Yes, some other reports about Amanda's erratic behavior disappeared as well. Like threats made against Daisy's life."

"So Gabriel is innocent." Sam smiled happy, then immediately frowned "But why did you send him on this suicide mission." She asked angrily "You don't send an innocent man on a suicide mission. Dad..."

"Sam" Jacob held up a hand to explain, "It's going to take a lot more evidence to go get him off. Commander Rabb says that he needs more evidence for a re-trial; he's only going to get one shot at it. He wants to make sure that he's fully loaded with all the facts and have the evidence to back it up. Then Gabriel can be cleared."

"He doesn't have enough already?" Sam asked incredulously

"He has my statement, and Bixby's statement that is enough to get Gabriel a retrial. However, not enough to get him off unless he's lucky, if he gets lucky then he will still have this hanging over his head forever. Rabb wants to make sure that there is no question that Gabriel is innocent, get him an honorable discharge and the entire incident removed from his service record. For that he needs more evidence, and he needs Powers."

"So what's the problem?"

"It seems that Powers resigned his commission about a year after the trial and fell off the face of the planet." Jacob explained "Rabb has people looking for him now. It's just a matter of time now, until then Gabriel has to go along on the missions."

Sam didn't like it, in fact, she hated the very idea, but they had to put their trust in Commander Rabb. She only hoped that the man came through for them and soon. Looking at her father, she saw that he was still miserable.

Sam put a hand on her father's shoulder "What's wrong dad, this is good news."

"Oh yeah." Jacob laughed putting down his coffee and looked at his daughter. Shame and fear written in his eyes. "What is Gabriel going to do when he finds out that the man who helped put him in prison for almost ten years made a mistake." He asked "You've never seen Gabriel Fuentes when he is enraged." The general shivered "That time with me it took 10 MP's to take him down half of them wound up in the infirmary. We had to lock him in a cell for a week until he calmed down. Now what am I supposed to do Sam, just go up to him and say, 'Gee Gabriel, I guess I made a mistake, sorry for stealing ten years of your life from you.' What am I going to tell Daisy, Jesus Christ what am I going to tell Josie? I helped take her father away, made her believe that her father murdered her mother." Jacob put his head into his hands miserably "It might be less painful to put a bullet in my own head." He laughed at the absurdity of it all.

Sam came to her father and put her arms around him putting her head on his shoulder.

"Sorry is a good beginning." She told him "I'll be here to help you dad, I'll talk to Gabriel." She promised hoping that Gabriel would listen. Sam had seen with her own eyes Gabriel take out five martial arts experts, while still recovering from an injury that would have left other men crippled for life. An enraged Gabriel was something that she never wanted to see.

"He can't know about any of this." He warned her "If he finds out, then this is going to be all that he thinks about. Wondering what Rabb is doing, how his case is coming. This could get him killed out in the field, and I can't have that on my conscience."

Sam agreed with that "Okay dad, we'll wait, I'll talk it over with Daniel."

Confused Jacob stared at her "Daniel, how can he help?" he asked skeptically

"Awhile back, Daniel and Gabriel went through this blood ceremony." She explained "According to Gabriel's beliefs that makes Daniel his blood brother and clansman. Besides they are good friends, Daniel and I can break it to him when the time comes. He will listen to Daniel." She certainly hoped, or they would have to forever make sure that Gabriel never came near Jacob Carter ever again. Sam stared at her father, they would get through this.

"Don't worry dad, everything is going to work out just fine." Sam told him positively

Jacob shook his head "There is another thing." He began

Sam sat down wondering what else was bothering him

"I spoke to Jarod Bixby about some other things."

"Really?" Sam wondered what else they had talked about

Jacob nodded "Yeah, it's just while we were talking he asked me about my children."

Sam was confused, "So?"

Miserably Jacob continued "I told him about Mark, and then I told him about you. How everything was wonderful, he then asked me about Jake."

Sam stiffened "What about him?" she asked angrily

Jacob stared at his daughter; obviously, she was still holding grudges as well.

"It made me realize that I haven't thought about him once, not once in almost ten years."

"Good" Sam said bitterly "There's no reason to think about him."

"He's your brother, Sam." Jacob reminded her

Sam shook her head violently, "He was a drug-using, gang banger. How many times did you have to go down to the police station to bail him out of his troubles." She demanded of him "He's probably in prison now himself."

Jacob nodded sadly knowing that it was probably the case, "I just can't help remembering the sweet boy he was. You don't know the whole story Sam; you don't know some of the things that I did to him. I took his dreams and I flushed them down a toilet. The things that I called him." Jacob shook his head ashamed "After your mother died, I really went after him, then I threw him out. Threw out my own son." He said bitterly ashamed for his actions.

Sam shook her head, she hadn't thought of her older brother in years either. She had hated him so much for what he put her parents through.

"What are you talking about dad? Jake left, on his own right after he graduated high school, well barely."

Jacob shook his head "You were away a lot those last few months, going out and looking over colleges. Jake got into another fight with some guys; the police took him again and locked him up. I went down to the station to get him out, I was so mad, so crazy. Your mother was dead less than a year, you and I were fighting, and Mark was in college and pissed at me as well. It turned out that Jake had been attacked by those other boys and had only defended himself, but that didn't matter to me. When we got home, I had him pack his things and get out of the house. I didn't want to deal with him anymore. When you came back you just assumed that he'd left, and I let you believe that."

Sam shook her head in disgust "Dad, you did what you had to do. I remember what it was like for you back then, dealing with Mark and me was bad enough. What Jake was doing was killing you, it definitely killed mom." She said angrily

Jacob looked at his daughter "NO! What happened to your mother was an accident, a drunk driver killed your mother, not Jake."

Angrily Sam slammed her fist on the table "She wouldn't have been out there if she hadn't gone to bail him out of his latest jam. I don't want to talk about this anymore dad. Jake is a dead issue with me." She told him eyes blazing in anger

"Okay" Jacob relented, but in his heart he knew that he had to find out what happened to his son.

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington D.C.

"Please be reasonable Mr. President!" Leo pleaded with Bartlett

Leo had hoped that with time the president would forget his wish to go through the Stargate and go to Abydos. In fact, he was so sure of it that he never bought up the subject of it again to the president. Leo was happy as well that since that first conversation Bartlett had never bought it up again. That is until this week, when the president had asked how the arrangements were proceeding then handed him a list of names.

"What's this Mr. President?"

Bartlett smiled with unconcealed glee "This is a list of people that I want to come with me through the Gate."

This had started the argument again, Leo trying to explain the facts to the president. About national security worries, about the possible dangers of disease, not to mention the worries of trying to protect him off world. All of which Bartlett had laid to rest with the statement

"That's why I gave you eight months to plan it."

Which led to Leo's plea of "Please be reasonable Mr. President."

"Be reasonable with what." Bartlett demanded "Come to me with some real problems and we'll discuss it. Don't come at me with vague worries."

Leo took the challenge "Okay Mr. President, just give me five minutes to get the others in here."

"Go ahead." Bartlett challenged him, as the door closed; he knew that he had Leo beat on this one. Bartlett had already gone through each possible scenario and had concluded its answer.

Leo McGarry rushed into the administration area "Toby, Josh, Sam, C.J., I need you all right now." He announced, "Drop whatever you are doing and get here now."

The top staff gathered around Leo suddenly worried about what was happening.

"He's talking about it again." Leo told them

"That Egypt thing again." Josh said in code

"Yeah, now we are going into the Oval office and we are going to talk him out of this right now."

The group nodded and headed off to do battle with their boss; there was no way that he was going to another planet.

"Enter" Bartlett announced at their knock, he watched as the group entered. Getting up Bartlett went to the sitting area of the office where the entire group could sit and face each other.

"Okay let's begin." He told them

C.J. jumped in first "The media would have a field day if the President of the United States just disappeared for two weeks." The others nodded, good one C.J.

Bartlett nodded and simply pointed out, "First of all it wouldn't be for two whole weeks, I could simply step back through the gate and hold a press conference saying that I am visiting some bases in the area and that Cheyenne Mountain caught my interest. Next."

"National emergency." Josh threw in "What if something went wrong, Iraq started bombing Israel or something."

"That is not likely to happen." Bartlett told him "But if it did, Leo do you remember my fishing trip last year?"

"Yes Mr. President."

"How long did it take me to get to a military base, in case of emergency back then?"

"Six hours." Leo said begrudgingly

"Six hours." The president agreed, "I would be seconds away from a fully functional military base on Abydos. Next."

Leo smiled at the president, he had him on this one "Your personal security. You could not travel there without the secret service, and how do we control them?"

Bartlett nodded, that had been worry number 47 on his list "We leave them behind obviously. We will take SG 1, 2, 3, and 8 and 9. They will provide more than adequate security for me. Moreover, they will be better armed than the secret service anyway.

"Why those teams sir." Josh asked

"They are the ones most experienced with combat off world. Anything else?" he asked settling in his chair just getting started

"You already thought this through, didn't you Mr. President." Toby Ziegler put in

President Bartlett leaned back in his chair and smiled at the group "I have indeed Toby, in fact I came up with three hundred and seventy two reasons not to go. I answered each and every one of them."

The group sighed dejectedly; they knew that the president wasn't joking. This is the type of thing that he would do to kill an afternoon.

Leo pulled out the list that the president gave to him earlier "No way sir, I am not going." He protested

"Yes you are Leo, I'll need you there. All of you, this is not only a vacation, but also opening new relations with a foreign government. I'll need you and Josh there, Sam and Toby to write some speeches that I intend to give. C.J. I want some sort of gift to present to the Abydonian people; you will get together with Doctor Jackson at the SGC and find out what they need. Leo I need you and Josh to find out if we can aid these people in anyway, like books, educational materials that sort of thing. Since we can't exactly supply them with workers, they can educate themselves and improve their lives. After all, they are humans their ancestors came from this planet. Finally some medal presentations to give to deserving personnel, like Daniel Jackson for one."

"What medal do you want to give him?" Asked Josh making notes of the things he would need

"The Presidential medal of freedom." Bartlett said evenly

"Sir! That is the highest award that we can possibly give a civilian, only a handful have ever been given out." Sam protested, "What has he done to merit it?"

Josiah Bartlett shook his head "What hasn't he done is the better question Sam." Reaching for a folder that he'd compiled earlier, he put on his reading glasses and began.

"To just name a few, Dr. Jackson is the man who opened the gate in the first place and opened our world to the stars. A few years ago when Senator Kinsey tried to shut down the project, Dr. Jackson warned him that there was an invasion fleet of Goa'uld ships heading to earth under the command of the false god Apophis. He was ignored; he and the rest of SG 1 disobeyed orders and went to the coordinates that Dr. Jackson had discovered. Found that he was indeed correct, he and SG 1 saved this planet from invasion. He very nearly died doing it as well. Now SG 1 was decorated for it, with the exceptions of Dr. Jackson and Teal'c because they were not military."

"But sir..." Josh began

Bartlett cut him off staring at the group amazed "Have any of you read any of the reports at all?" he asked seriously, weren't any of them worried at all about the threat that was out there.

They shook their heads; they had enough to worry about what was happening on earth to worry about space.

"Then let me give you a little history lesson about this man." Bartlett told them "If you still agree, I will not give him that medal. First, when he was seven years old, he watched his parents die when a cover stone fell on them when they were preparing an exhibition in New York they were archeologists as well. His own grandfather another archeologist didn't want to raise the boy so he was put into foster care. Some of those families did the most horrible things imaginable to him. At sixteen he entered college had his masters by nineteen, PhD or his first one of three at any rate by twenty-one. By twenty-eight he was rejected by the scientific community for his beliefs in aliens coming to earth. At twenty-eight he solved the puzzle of the Stargate which had puzzled our best scientists since 1930; he did it in two weeks. He went on the original Abydos mission and was killed saving Colonel Jack O'Neill's life." The group looked up startled at that Bartlett nodded and continued "Yes I said killed. He died, if it hadn't been for Ra's sarcophagus he would still be dead. He helped free an entire planet from slavery, who by the way were all humans that were taken from this planet thousands of years ago. He helped to kill Ra before he could send through a bomb to earth that would have destroyed all of Colorado. While doing, all of this he fell in love with a local woman named Sha're and at the end of the mission decided to marry her and stay on Abydos forever. He lived on their planet for over a year, he was accepted there and loved, as he never was on his home planet by his own country. Colonel O'Neill described the scene when Daniel Jackson left Abydos to come back to earth." Opening the file he continued "And I quote 'I don't know exactly all that Dr. Jackson has done for these people in the year he's been there. But when he left it seemed that the people there wanted him to stay with them, they surrounded him and hugged him, most of the women crying as if they were losing their favorite son, the older men as well and the young ones felt like they were losing a brother. Those who couldn't get near enough just reached out and touched him to show their love for him. I have never seen such a display of love for one man in my entire life. I almost decided to leave him there when Jackson ordered HIS people to close and seal the Stargate after him, that nothing good could ever come through it. One of the boys there shook his head crying and said 'but you came through Daniel.'" Closing the file he looked at them, "Daniel Jackson would still in all likelihood be there with his wife and his people raising his own children except for a mistake WE made. We here on earth opened the stargate back to Abydos because of an attack by Apophis, when WE returned to Abydos, our enemy was alerted to this and went there as well. Daniel Jackson showed us that the Stargate went to other destinations, but because we opened the gate Apophis knew where we were, they took Dr. Jackson's wife and brother in-law, killed many of his friends, WE then had the audacity of instead of letting him grieve for his loss, we ordered him back to earth so that he could help US, he came even though he is a civilian and technically we didn't have the right to order him to do it, Colonel O'Neill was ordered to use force if necessary to bring him back. We promised to do what we could do to recover his wife AS MISSIONS ALLOWED, and he could have accepted that, allowed the military to go after them. Most scientists probably would have, instead he went with them. He arrived just in time to find out that they were both possessed by a Goa'uld. That in fact his wife was chosen to be the wife of Apophis himself. Do you know what happens to a person who is taken as a host?" Again they shook their heads, but at least had the decency to look sadden for what they put a man through, even if they hadn't personally given the orders. Picking up another file Bartlett read "This is a report from Major Doctor Janet Fraiser CMO of the SGC, 'Once an individual is taken as a host for a Goa'uld, that person for all intents and purposes ceases to exist. The Goa'uld takes over the body completely; the true horror of this is that the host is forced to watch the atrocities that the Goa'uld inflicts on others while unable to stop it. It can force that person to kill his entire family and the host can do nothing because that person is a prisoner in their own mind, helpless and alone. In the case of Doctor Jackson's wife Sha're, while the Goa'uld Ammounet willing has intercourse with her mate Apophis, the host Sha're is in fact being raped every single time." Closing that file he threw it on the desk "There you have it", he told them "Imagine the person you love being raped over and over again helpless to stop it. What did we do?" Shaking his head at his people, he told them "Did you know that when he first returned that it was taken under serious consideration to have him jailed for staying behind on Abydos? We didn't instead, we offered him a job translating artifacts, we basically told him 'translate these objects and forget about your wife, we will get her back if we can'. Instead he joined SG 1 to try and get her back, a civilian professor joining a Special Forces team, never having fired a gun or in fact probably ever having handled one." Picking up another file he read "From Major Samantha Carter 2IC of SG1 she wrote this after a Colonel Maybourne tried to have Daniel Jackson kicked off SG1 and out of the SGC and I quote 'When Dr. Jackson first joined SG1 I took it for granted that we as a team would have to protect him, I accepted this responsibility reluctantly. However he never makes it easy for us, he still insists on approaching every alien we meet open handed and with kind words and has a sense of trust of people that I have never encountered before. At first this infuriated the Colonel and myself, it seemed that the man had no sense of self preservation, but now we understand that Daniel Jackson even after all he's been through still believes in kindness and mercy, that people are deep down decent just because he is, even though he has been slapped in the face several times by reality. After I learned this I sought to protect that precious quality, we all did, he is the glue, which holds SG1 together. He reminds us about what it is to be human, he is our conscience he keeps us sane in this madness, and Daniel Jackson ensures that we in fighting this war do not ultimately lose our humanity. When I first met Daniel Jackson he refused to carry a gun and had never contemplated using one especially on another living being. Now three years later he still has that innocence, but he handles firearms better and is probably a better shot than many of the military personnel on this base. I've watched him take lives to save ours, I've watched him being beaten and tortured to within an inch of his life. I've stayed awake at nights in the infirmary watching over him, wondering if he was going to live through the night, and little by little, I see that innocence leave his eyes. I wonder how much longer it will be before he loses it completely, I wonder how much pain both physical and mental one man can stand before he gives in to reality. So far he hasn't, he still approaches those we meet with open arms, any lesser man would have caved in long ago. I remember yelling at him once after his third or fourth brush with death that he can't change the world with his force of will alone. He looked at me and said that he wasn't trying to change the world, but that he would not let the world change him either, his strength and will, continue to leave me in awe of this gentle scientist. Still it sickens me to know that I have helped in the process of changing him into more of a soldier, because we still need that innocence. I will tell the board this, if Daniel Jackson is removed from SG 1 and the SGC, it will have lost one of its greatest assets. The SGC cannot be just about defeating the enemy; it has to also be about making alliances, forging new friendships with the peoples we meet out there. This is Doctor Jackson's greatest contribution, his bravery when facing the unknown empty handed when everyone else automatically reaches for a weapon. He has saved our lives with words more times than I can remember." Closing the file Bartlett continues "For the next three years he spent working at the SGC, not only as archeologist/anthropologist/linguist for SG 1 but head archeologist for the entire base. Every team brings him their findings and he must work to uncover their meanings, while still doing his own missions and his own work while searching for his wife." Picking up another file he again read "Doctor Janet Fraiser and I quote 'Doctor Daniel Jackson is the most infuriating man that I have ever met. The man is undoubtedly a genius he has three PhD's and he speaks 23 languages and God only knows how many dialects, the man also has the ability to begin to understand a language that he's never heard within hours, but apparently in none of those languages or dialects does he understand the meaning of words like, stop, rest, or eat. It doesn't help that every SG team here brings him whatever they can't understand, because they know that Daniel Jackson does know or if he doesn't will not stop until he does. The man lives on a diet of coffee; candy bars and about eight hours sleep a week. Daniel Jackson is obsessed with finding all that he can about the Goa'uld; he is single-handedly creating the world's first English to goa'uld dictionary. He has a thirst of knowledge that is unparalleled in my experience. Still he is in my infirmary much too often, in the three years that I have known him he has managed to get himself tortured on several occasions, raped by a female Goa'uld, put into an institution by us, his so called family, when he was infected by a device which caused symptoms that resembled schizophrenia, was killed or near death several more times. Still the man doesn't stop, he will not give up his search for his wife, I know now that he will never stop unless some one stops him. I've finally had to get the general to order him off the base and on vacation; the general actually put a padlock on his office door so he couldn't get back in. The general also gave standing orders to all personnel that for the next three weeks no one on base is to give anything to Dr. Jackson to translate. I have gotten Colonel O'Neill and the rest of SG 1 to baby-sit him and make sure that he gets some proper nourishment and get some rest, now if I could only order his mind to stop giving him those god awful nightmares when he wakes up screaming after about an hours sleep, I could get some sleep myself." Putting the file down he looked at the others "Nightmares people, nightmares that we helped give him, and yet this man has managed to save this planet on no less than three occasions. Helped to broker a treaty with the Tok'ra in our fight against the Goa'uld, he helped with our treaty with the system lords. He found his wife only to have her killed by another member of SG 1. What would you do to the man that killed your spouse?" He asked the others looking at them, picking up another file "This is the report filed by Teal'c who was first prime to the god Apophis and betrayed him and joined SG1 "I Teal'c am responsible for taking the wife and brother of Daniel Jackson. I am responsible for choosing the wife of Daniel Jackson for Apophis, yet Daniel Jackson has forgiven me. When we found a world with a device that was capable of removing and destroying a Goa'uld from the host, I was trapped inside with no way to leave unless the device was destroyed. I volunteered to wait until he found his wife and to bring her back to remove the Goa'uld from her. I felt this was to be my penance, that this would be my punishment for taking her from Daniel Jackson. I would have waited there the rest of my life if need be, to atone for the crime that I committed against a man who despite everything calls me his friend. Instead, Daniel Jackson himself destroyed the device to allow me to leave and rejoin SG1, even though he knew that it meant destroying the very means of saving the life of his wife. Now it is I Teal'c who has killed his wife. I did this only to save Daniel Jackson's life, the Goa'uld Ammounet would have killed him. This I could not allow to happen, so I killed the wife of my friend. By all rights and by the laws that I was raised with, I have forfeited my life to this man, I would allow him to kill me so that he could obtain his revenge. Instead, Daniel Jackson has again forgiven me; in fact, Daniel Jackson has thanked me for releasing his wife from pain. I do not understand this man, on Chulak, Daniel Jackson would be considered a priest and man of learning, a great teacher. It is not expected of them to be courageous in the face of the enemy that is a job left to warriors. Yet I do not understand how one man can endure what he has and still be so full of honor, courage and forgiveness, I have seen mighty warriors crumple to dust in lesser circumstances. The Goa'uld believe that the Tauri are weak and that they are insignificant and to look at Daniel Jackson, one would think that they would be right. Alas, I know different, I have seen with my own eyes the courage of this one Tauri man, who lives honorably. If there are more men like this then I know that the Goa'uld shall be defeated.'" Bartlett stared at his people picking up another file "Daniel Jackson's report 'My wife Sha're is dead, my friend Teal'c has killed her. My search is over and now Sha're can rest in peace. Now I have to keep an eye on my friend to make sure that he understands that I forgive him.' He forgave the man that killed his wife, could you?" He asked them all dropping the file on the table with the rest "All of this he did in service to his country." Looking at the faces around him, he nodded "Would you like me to continue that was just the first three years?" He asked reaching for another file.

Josh swallowed hard not wanting to hear anymore "No sir, I think that pretty much covers it."

"Good, now I also want some sort of award for Teal'c the Jaffa." He saw Sam about to protest and held up a hand "Would you like me to go through his story as well, or will you just take my word for it."

Sam shut up immediately. He never realized what it was these people were actually doing, how much they were giving to their country's and their world's survival. Sam promised himself that after this meeting was over he was going to look over some of those stargate reports himself.

Leo looked at the paper "You want Charlie and Donna to go as well? They aren't cleared for this Mr. President."

"Well get them cleared." Josiah Bartlett ordered "You will need Donna to keep everything shipshape, and I will need Charlie to keep me shipshape."

"Will they want to go?" Asked Josh, knowing that he wasn't exactly thrilled that he had to go.

Pressing a button a door opened almost immediately, a young handsome black man entered.

"You need something Mr. President?" he asked brightly

"Yes Charlie, get Donna Moss and bring her here. I'll need to see the both of you."

"Yes sir." He said and left.

They waited a few minutes when the door opened again; a young blonde woman entered nervously wondering what was going on. The president had never summoned her; she relaxed slightly when she saw Josh in the room. It couldn't be that bad.

"Donna, Charlie come in and sit down I want to pose a hypothetical question to you."

When they took seats Bartlett leaned forward his eyes gleaming like a child's

"If there was a way for you both to go to another planet, outside this solar system to meet a group of people from that other world, would you go?"

Charlie Young thought for a moment, having been asked hypothetical questions by the president before.

"That would depend sir, I mean would it be safe?"

Bartlett waved it away "Completely, say that you knew for a fact that the aliens were friendly, in fact they looked just like you in everyway. Would you go?"

Donna smiled at the very idea "In a heartbeat Mr. President. Just to see another planet, I'd take the chance not even knowing if it was safe or not."

"Charlie?" the president asked

"Sure sir, that's something that every kid dreams about."

"That will be all." He told them and watched them leave, when the door closed "Get them cleared." He ordered "And get the ball rolling on this right away. My vacation is in less than three months, I don't want General Hammond to be caught with his guard down."

The others sighed as they stood up, Sam Seaborn actually looked happy at the prospect of going.

"Don't you even smile." Josh told him

"Why not, we are going to be ambassadors to another world." He said excitedly

Josh shook his head at his friend "Just make sure you bring enough suntan lotion." Josh warned, "I read that it's pretty bright out there."

General Hammond hung up the special red phone that connected to the white house. His face completely stunned at the very thought of the orders he was just given, and at the possibilities that it presented to the SGC. Reaching for another phone he waited.

"Get in touch with SG 1, and Doctor Frasier and have them in my office ASAP."

Ten minutes later, there was a knock on his door "Come"

SG 1 and Janet Fraiser marched into his office and came to attention

SG 1 and Dr. Fraiser reporting as ordered sir." Jack saluted the general

"At ease" he told them returning the salute. "Sit down everyone."

Taking a deep breath, he began "I just got a phone call from Leo McGarry, the president's chief of staff. It seems that the president is a big fan of yours SG 1." He told them

Jack smiled at the very thought "Really sir? Famous at last."

Hammond smiled getting more and more excited about the possibilities this presented "Yes, I was just told that for the past two years he's read just about all your reports, and he is impressed with your work."

"Wow" Daniel shifted in his chair "That's ah...something."

"Yes Dr. Jackson." Hammond said dryly staring at the archeologist "Just in case you didn't know this the president is something of a history buff."

"So he wants to talk about history with us?" Jack asked, smiling he jerked a thumb at Daniel "No offense sir but we can send Danny to him no problem."

"Don't laugh Colonel that is exactly what the president wants." He told the group silencing them "Except that he doesn't want Doctor Jackson to come to him. Instead he is coming to Doctor Jackson and to the rest of you."

Daniel began to get nervous, eyeing the general warily "He wants to meet me?" he asked just to be sure that he had heard correctly

"Not only that Doctor Jackson, he was so impressed with your description about Abydos, about the people and the culture that he wants to see it for himself."

Sam was stunned "The President of the United States, wants to go to Abydos."

"Yes Major he does." The general told them "In fact he wants to spend his two week vacation there, with SG 1."

"With us?" Jack looked at the stunned faces of the others knowing that he was probably wearing a similar expression on his own face.

"Yes Colonel, he wants to talk about the Gate with Major Carter, he wants to talk to you and Teal'c about the Goa'uld. He especially wants to talk to Dr. Jackson about history and learn what really happened. Now this is slated to be in three months, Dr. Frasier you are going as well it is going to be your job to look after the president's and the first lady's and their daughter's health and that of his executive staff. Now people I don't have to tell you what this could mean when appropriations time about being responsible for the life of the president and his staff for two whole weeks was a daunting prospect.

"His secret service agents will remain topside. The president requested five SG teams to accompany him. Instead, I am pulling all of our teams to go to Abydos and ensure his safety. Colonel you and SG 1 are now on stand down until this is over. You have a lot of preparations to make, Dr. Jackson I suggest that you make an appearance on Abydos and prepare them for the president's visit. Anything you need, just ask for it and we will see what we can come up with. Dismissed."

It was a stunned group that left the general's office, no one said a word. They just continued to be stunned and went down to Daniel's and Sam's large office, closing the door behind them all of them took seats.

"The president wants to go to Abydos." Jack mumbled then looked at Daniel "Daniel what the hell did you write in your reports about that oversized sandbox." Jack demanded

Daniel flinched "You read it." He said "And my reports aren't the only ones he read, you heard the General he read all of our reports." He defended himself

"I am going to be responsible for the health of the president of the United States." Janet mumbled "Holy shit, I'm going to have pack the entire infirmary just in case." Her eyes bugged out.

"O'Neill, why is it that you do not want the President to go to Abydos. This could be a good thing for the SGC when he sees the work that we do." Teal'c asked staring around at the group confused by their hesitant reaction. On Chulak, it was a great honor to be visited by Apophis himself.

Jack put a hand on Teal'c's massive shoulder "Teal'c old friend, there is an old saying among the Tauri. Never let the bosses see what you are actually doing."

Teal'c looked confused, but then again that was nothing new.

"Okay people we have to get our butts in gear." Jack clapped his hands together "Janet you're going to get what ever you need ready, anything out of the ordinary just let me know and we'll get it. Danny you and Sam go to Abydos and prepare the natives for the president's arrival. You two are also going to get reports ready for the president about the gate and history angle of this. Teal'c and I will get with the other teams and prepare them. Anything else?" he asked his friends to help fill in the gaps.

"Well there is the matter of food." Janet told them "We have to find out everything about their health to plan the right menu's. That means that we are going to have to bring supplies with us, I can't imagine the president sitting around a campfire eating MRE's." she said chuckling at the prospect

Jack also laughed, "Maybe we should." He told them "Maybe we could get some edible food for a change, or at least something that doesn't taste like chicken."

Jack began to make a list of everything that they would need, and every thing that they had to get for this trip.

"Okay people let's get to work. Danny you and Sam get going to Abydos, we'll get started on the rest."

Daniel and Sam were dressed in desert gear waiting in the gate room while the stargate dialed the address. Sam looked at Daniel and suddenly saw that her lover was looking decidedly nervous.

"Hey Daniel, we're going to be just fine" she tried to reassure him "The president is going to love us. Well maybe not Jack but..."

Daniel smiled as she hoped he would "It's not that Sam, It's just been a long time since I've been back to Abydos and so much has happened since then."

"You mean us." Sam suddenly stared at the floor; he's embarrassed of me. She thought

"Stop that." Daniel told her seeing the look in her eyes "I'm not embarrassed or ashamed of us." He told her

"Damn the man for being able to read me like a book." Sam thought to herself

Daniel looked at the spinning gate and sighed, "It's just, that I don't know how they are going to react to us. Kasuf, Skaara, and the others."

"Because of Sha're." Sam could have kicked herself; she should have known this would be hard for him. The only family that he had to introduce her to was his ex-in-laws. "It'll be okay Daniel." Looking around she wished that they were alone so she could give him a reassuring hug.

"Gate activated." The blue wave settled down and shimmered "Let's get going." She gave him a brave smile.

Falls Church, Virginia

Admiral Chedwiggen sat still listening to the reports from his officers. Shaking his head the admiral could feel the onset of a migraine starting to settle in. This is worse than he ever thought possible, three cases all of which ended with either the death penalty or twenty-five years to life. All of them rife with injustice, lies, tainted or missing evidence which could topple some important people in the military.

The admiral rubbed his temples "Okay so let's go through this again." He announced "One by one, first let's start with Chief petty officer Washington."

Rabb opened his folder "I infiltrated the base where the incident took place, my contact a Captain Michael Johnson, since he is a colored officer I approached him and laid out my plans. Carefully I began to voice my concerns about having a black man running the base. Most of the people ignored me or told me to keep my mouth shut. All except for a Commander Fitzgerald, who agreed with me and said I quote "The Jig should be mopping the floors, not ordering good white men around."

"OHHH God." The admiral began to rub more vigorously

Rabb nodded in complete agreement with the admiral "Yes sir, my sentiments exactly. Anyway, two days later I was introduced to another officer by Commander Fitzgerald a Captain Twilliger who sounded me out about joining a group of similar like-minded men. I said that I would like that very much and they introduced me to the group, it consists of an admiral, two captains, a commander, five Lt commanders and three Lts that I know of, there are probably more. I smuggled a recorder into the meeting and they began to voice anti Semitic and racial slurs against Jews, blacks and Hispanics and how they were destroying the Navy. They then began to brag about how they'd managed to lock up a black man who killed one of their members. I asked what had happened and they laughed and said that they were trying to lynch the black man; they said it was as an example to others. But that the man had fought harder than they expected and that one of their members had been killed. They were able to get rid of any incriminating evidence because one of the Lt Commanders a man by the name of Haley is in charge of security."

"What are the chances that we can get one of them to break?" The admiral asked

Rabb shrugged considering the question, "I think that we can get Lt. Commander Bell to break sir, he seems to be the very nervous type."

"Contact NIS and tell them to pick him up quietly. I don't want to spook the rest of those Ass-" the admiral stopped himself immediately "Pardon my language Colonel, I don't want any of those gentlemen getting away. I want that Lt. Commander broken six ways to Sunday, I won't have this racism crap on my watch." He ordered

"Yes sir." Rabb made his notes to contact NIS

"Captain Yates." The admiral barked

Mac opened her file "I went in undercover as a new captain and posed as the general's new executive assistant. Immediately I noticed that almost all of the female staff that are under thirty-five and are attractive, stayed as far away from the general as humanly possible. I questioned some of them, but they were too afraid to speak sir, they did however warn me that I should request a transfer as soon as possible. When I asked why, they would just say to wait and see. I wasn't at the base for thirty-six hours before General McAllister was chasing me around his desk." She said a bit embarrassed and just more than a little angry.

Admiral Chedwiggens face was becoming redder and redder by the moment "And?" he asked as calmly as he could

"When I said that I would file a sexual harassment charge against him. He said I should speak to some of the other females on base and ask about what he did to Captain Yates and to another Lieutenant that he has locked up right now on charges of theft of classified materials." Mac looked at the admiral "Sir he has those women terrified."

"What about the explosion?" the admiral asked, this was all for nothing if they couldn't get the original case thrown out.

"I spoke with a Major Bill Billingsly, he was a captain at the time and worked with Captain Yates. He says that the original man in charge a Major Steven Hanson was as incompetent as they come. He wasn't even an engineer, from what I can gather he was a pentagon bean counter that had been sent in to ascertain why the project was over budget. Hanson showed up and took over to try to bring the project in on time and under cost. Along the way, he started to make certain demands about using cheaper equipment to save on costs. Apparently, Captain Yates told him to count his beans and leave her to work on the reactor. Apparently, the Major didn't like that he was told off in such a mAnnier. I asked CID to poke around; in the general's personal files, they discovered the facility's daily order logbook. I went over this book with Major Billingsly and we found that unbeknownst to Captain Yates or himself, some of the parts used in the reactor were cheaper knock-offs. It is his expert opinion, which he is willing to testify to in court. Those inferior parts caused the explosion, that in fact it was not murder but a tragic accident. Since then I have spoken to several physicists and described the events, they all agree that using the knock off parts, were in all likelihood the cause of the explosion, they are also willing to testify. I believe that General McAllister having been turned down several times by Captain Yates used the explosion as a way to get rid of the captain, before she took her complaints up the chain of command."

"Lt. Fuentes."

Rabb opened another file "Clear case of tampering with witnesses, and evidence."

"General Carter?" Chedwiggen asked surprised

"No sir" Mac told him "We interviewed the general and he was straight forward in his answers. He admitted to having an illicit affair with the Lts wife and the consequences of that affair. It jives exactly with what we already knew of Lt. Fuentes story. What came, as a surprise to the general was the fact that his statement, which he made at the time, was altered from the original. According to the general he never ordered NIS to search the Fuentes home, he never thought that it was jealousy that sparked the disappearance and murder of Lt. Fuentes wife."

"What was his version?"

Rabb continued, "He thought that Lt. Fuentes had killed her because she was becoming unstable and was threatening his daughter and his fiancée. The general says that several reports of threats made against Daisy Hammond's life were made, those reports have disappeared. Apparently, there was also an instance where Amanda Fuentes kidnapped her daughter from her fathers care and disappeared for three days. When the girl was returned, again according to the General, the girl was terrified of her mother, of what she might do. If I had known this to be the case, I could have put in defense of justifiable homicide for protecting his child from her mentally unstable mother. At the very worst I could have gotten him involuntary manslaughter, and he would have been out by now."

The admiral leaned back in his chair thinking "Instead by using jealousy especially over a period of time gives the impression of planning, malice and aforethought." The admiral understood "That means that this was done intentionally. Who is your candidate?"

"Right now a Major Powers, he is the one who altered the statements. He even told the judge, a general Bixby that I was under investigation with NIS for witness tampering showed him several doctored reports to support this. He told the general that I had paid the insurance agent to falsify his testimony, so that the judge would disallow the testimony. The judge was told that the NIS requested that he say nothing about it at the trial, or it might damage the case against me."

"Where is Major Powers?"

Mac shrugged "That's the problem sir, he resigned his commission a year after the trial and fell off the face of the earth. We aren't even sure why he did it, we're thinking that perhaps he was one of the men that Amanda Fuentes was involved with and it went wrong."

"Follow the money." Chedwiggen told them

"Excuse me sir?" Rabb asked

"There was a rather large insurance policy wasn't there?"

"Yes sir, but Lt. Fuentes couldn't collect."

"Yes but some of those policies have secondary beneficiaries find out who it was and track it that way. If I remember correctly it was a rather large policy."

"Yes sir with double indemnity, we're talking about a million dollars." Mac looked surprised that she hadn't thought of that herself

"People have killed for a lot less." He told them

"Yes sir we will get right on that angle. Thank you sir."

Chedwiggen smiled "That's why I get the big bucks Commander, get to work. Oh and good work."

"Thank you sir. Sir we are considering going back to Cheyenne Mountain and talk to Lt. Fuentes about Powers, perhaps the lieutenant can add something to the case."

"Good, keep me informed." The admiral ordered

Both officers stood at attention and left.

Daisy and Josie were laughing as they sat eating their ice cream sundaes, talking about the movie they'd just left. Daisy was happy, happier than she'd been for a long time since Gabriel had been taken away. She'd kept in touch with Josie they had either spoken on the phone or traded e-mails through out the time that they'd been separated, but it just didn't compare with actually sitting by the girl and being able to reach out and touch her. Ten years before, Daisy had come to regard the girl sitting across from her as her own daughter. It had been easy, Josie had been such a loving girl, so full of life as all children are, so it came as no real surprise to her that she could love Gabriel's daughter as her own. Josie had in fact taken it all in stride when Gabriel had first bought her home to meet Josie. Daisy could still remember the tiny girl with a long pigtail hanging half way down her back. Green eyes glittering with mirth and love that she shared with anyone and everyone trustingly. Then her world was shattered when they took her beloved father away, then it broke Daisy's heart when they took Josie away to her grand parents. Daisy had promised to write and call all the time if Josie would do the same, and although they hadn't seen each other in ten years, Daisy knew all about the girl.

Josie smiled over her hot fudge sundae "Are you going to marry my father when he gets out?" she asked

Daisy flopped onto the table "God I hope so, I've waited long enough don't you think?"

Josie laughed, "Yes you have." Turning serious she said "I've always wondered why you never dated again you are beautiful and yet you never dated, why?"

Daisy reached over and wiped the teens face causing the girl to grimace and look around to make sure no one had seen, Daisy laughed, "I guess it's because in my heart I was already married to your father. I tried to date, I really did, but every time the guy would say something, I would think to myself. 'Gabriel would never say that' or I'd think 'What is Gabriel doing at this very moment' and that would always stop me cold. Since your father's been gone, I've had probably twenty, first dates but no second ones. Your father is the only man that I've ever loved, I could never be unfaithful to him."

"My mother loved him, and she was unfaithful." Josie said matter of factly

Daisy smiled "She loved you too."

"No she didn't." Josie said looking at her sundae "She didn't want me."

"How can you say that? Of course she loved you." What Daisy was really thinking was 'that bitch hurt you too and if she were here I'd kill her myself.'

"She didn't Daisy." The girl said vehemently "She loved my father, she had me as a way to control him. I've been thinking about this for a long time now. I've looked back so many times when they'd be fighting and there were some really bad fights back then. All my mother would have to say to stop it is 'Okay if that's how you feel then I'll take Josie and go to my parents'. Dad would always stop there and give her whatever she wanted."

"Your father loves you." Daisy told the young girl truthfully, "He loves you more than life itself."

"Us" the girl corrected her with a smile "He loves us, and I love you..." Josie paused suddenly looking at Daisy with fear in her eyes and a tears falling from her face "Mom."

Daisy's breath caught in her chest and her tears began to fall "Oh Josie, and I love you, I always have, I've always thought of you as my daughter." Going around the table, Daisy took the girl into a massive hug.

Daniel sat at the edge of Sha're's grave, he sat there just talking to her in Abydonian.

"I found your son." He told her "He's safe, just like I promised you. But you knew that I would never stop looking for him, that I would keep my word to you." Daniel looked up at the stars and sighed "Oh Sha're it's been so hard, I've missed you so much. My love for you has not gone away; so many times, I wished that you were here with me. I used to dream that you and I were together and that we are sitting here watching our children play, carefree and loved by us. But that is now past as well, I'm sorry Sha're, I came tonight to tell you that I have found love again. When you first died, I thought that I had died as well, that my heart would never beat again. For a long time it didn't, but then I met someone. Or I should say that I woke up and found that someone was already there with me. You remember Samantha, the woman with the yellow hair and eyes like mine. She showed me that my heart was still alive and that it could still love, even if that love was for someone else. I never meant to love another I thought it a crime, now I realize that the bigger crime would be not to love her." Daniel picked up a pebble and tossed it away "I'm sorry Sha're, I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

A man's voice broke in "There is nothing to forgive DanYel."

Daniel spun around "Kasuf, I'm sorry, I...."

Kasuf held up a hand "DanYel, there is no need to be sorry." The older man told him "You loved my Sha're, I know this." Motioning to the grave, he smiled "My daughter also knew this, she never doubted your love. I never doubted that you would find her alas she is dead. However, you are not DanYel, you are still young with many years ahead of you. Sha're would want you to go on, to love again and to be happy."

"It's been so hard Kasuf, so long." Tears began to fall down his cheeks

Kasuf put his arm around Daniel and led him away from the grave "I know DanYel, but it is time. We must live for tomorrow, not yesterday. This is what Sha're would want for us."

"You're right as always." Daniel smiled wiping at his tears

Sam slept on the comfortable bed that had been provided for her and Daniel. It seemed to her that everyone even Kasuf and Skaara were happy that Daniel was happy again and in love with another woman. That had made the whole trip easier especially on Daniel.

The Abydonians were thrilled when they learned that the great leader of DanYel's world was coming to visit them, to see if they need anything. Kasuf had even ordered that preparations to begin immediately for his arrival, to plan for a great celebration. They had even insisted that they spend the night and talk about what had been happening both on Abydos and in the rest of the universe. The people had even cheered when DanYel told them that the evil vile Apophis was dead, they rejoiced in his death almost as much as when Ra died, happy at last that Sha're's death was avenged. The party had gone well into the night and when Daniel and Sam had finally called it a night they headed towards their room. At the last moment, Daniel excused himself and said there was one other person he had to talk to before retiring for the night. Sam knew who that someone was and she let him go. Sam went inside and had fallen asleep almost immediately. Soon Sam began to toss and turn a dream coming to her.

Sam was in a brightly lit garden, flowers of all kinds around her. Some she easily recognized others she could not even begin to identify, the scent that the garden gave off was something exotic and intoxicating. Suddenly Sam stopped realizing that she was not alone. Turning she saw a very shapely woman dressed in a simple white dress, long luxurious black curls fell down the woman's back. Sam caught her breath, she knew who this was and what she meant to Daniel.

Sha're turned around and saw Sam standing there staring at her. Smiling Sha're beckoned to her as she made her way through the garden. Sam followed and soon found the other woman standing at the edge of the garden. From here it all turned to sand, Sam looked confused but Sha're pointed. Sam looked and she saw Daniel sitting by a grave, Sha're's grave speaking softly in Abydonian. Sam tried to listen but she couldn't understand a word, Sha're put a hand on her shoulder.

"Do not listen with your ears, listen with your heart." The woman told her

Doing as she was told, the words came into focus and she could hear and Under stand.

"Not to love her would be the bigger crime." Daniel whispered

"My DanYel loves you now." Sha're smiled

"He still loves you too Sha're." Sam protested

Sha're's smile never wavered in it's intensity "It is okay, I am dead, you are alive, he is alive. It is good that you love him." She said "I have been watching over him for a long time now, hoping that he would love again, there are children waiting to be born. He has so much to give to share with his children and with you. I ask only that you love him and honor him as I did."

"I will Sha're I promise." Sam told her with all her heart

Sha're caressed Sam's cheek "Be happy together, and love one another." She said and began to disappear

Sam jumped up in bed "Sha're!" looking around the simple room

Daniel jumped up as well "Sam, are you okay?" he asked sleepily

"Yes" Sam smiled caressing his cheek, Daniel lay back down and immediately Sam lay her head on his chest "I'm better than alright." She whispered promising to tell Daniel about her dream in the morning.