Description sucks in this chapter. Forgive me.

And I don't write action scenes well when I'm pressed for time, so I left that out. Hopefully in the future I will be able to throw in the kind of action you expect from the SG-1 adventures.

Eight: Entanglements
Continued…

It was getting late and Gregory had went home. Elizabeth's mother had phoned and informed her that she would be leaving on a business trip. Liz was happy about that tidbit. She didn't want to have to explain why three strangers were bunking in the guest rooms. Liz had just finished a line of code when Lynn's terrified voice rang through the corridor.

"Liz! Liz, get in here!"

Liz immediately stopped her work and hopped up from her desk. She ran down the hallway and shoved open Daniel's door. Lynn was standing over the archaeologist with a worried expression on her face. "We were talking and he just fell over in pain."

"Get out of here!" Daniel ordered. "I'm infected, get out!"

"Lynn, go get O'Neill!" Liz ordered sharply and made her way to Daniel's side. "Calm down." She said, as Lynn disappeared out the door. "You're going to be fine."

"No." He shoved her away, "you haven't seen what happens. I'll become a danger to all of you."

"Daniel, you're not dangerous, and I don't think that you would ever hurt any of us, even if you were under the control of something like that."

"Elizabeth, you don't understand."

"No, Daniel, you don't understand." She pushed him down. "Lay back down, you have a fever."

"Dominic, what's going on?" Both O'Neill and Carter had appeared in the door. It was Jack that had spoke.

"Daniel's sick, sir." She turned around. It looked like bricks had fallen on the two air force officers. We're running out of time.

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

Lynn was helping to take care of Dr. Jackson in the other room with O'Neill while Carter had begun to help Liz with her project. It was a long process. One that might have taken days if they weren't on a time lock. However, Elizabeth felt the urgency of the situation and before she knew it she had a structure spinning in her mind as her fingers traveled over the keys. She went from each portion to the next with blinding accuracy and cleverness. There was no world, only this.

Suddenly…

"Dominic?" She leaned forward staring at the words on the screen. "Dominic, Benjamin. Temporarily advising SG-5 on their mission to PX4-983." He was one of the infected. He was one of the first. Benji. Oh God.

She leapt from her seat, ignoring the worried words of Sam. She ran across the hall to where O'Neill was perched in a chair. "How could you not tell me!" She screamed. "You knew didn't you!"

"Knew what?"

"DON'T LIE TO ME! ABOUT MY BROTHER!"

He turned away from her. "I didn't think it would help the situation. There's nothing we can do for him now."

"Why didn't you tell me before? I have a right to know."

"I didn't know he was part of the program until a short while ago."

"And you couldn't tell me?"

"That's not the way it is."

"No," she growled, "I think I know the way it is."

"Dominic, wait!" O'Neill cried. He didn't blame her for being angry. He remembered her talking about her brother before and how much she cared about him. He should have expected her to get defensive when she found out the truth. In fact, he should have just come out with it.

Liz was gone. "Dammit."

Lynn sighed. "She's not really mad, you know. She's just hurt. She hates it when people lie to her, especially if they're trying to protect her. You should go talk to her."

"About?"

"Anything. If you don't then she'll think you don't care. I know, I know, she has really stupid logic, but that's Liz for you. She forgives easy though."

Jack nodded. He owed Elizabeth an explanation. After what she had agreed to do for them the least he could do was go have a conversation with her.

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

Elizabeth couldn't believe it. Of all people O'Neill had lied to her. He hadn't seemed like the type. She fell against the wall and buried her head in her arms. Benji was in danger. He was hurt, and probably scared. Perhaps worse. And she couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"Liz."

She looked up. "Colonel." She said stiffly.

"I know you're upset, and I'm sorry."

She didn't say a word.

"I should have told you about your brother, but as I said I didn't think it would help. What's done is done and we can't change that."

"When were you going to tell me? When I had to identify the body?"

"No. I was going to let you know after all this was over. When everyone was cured. In fact I would have even advised he tell you himself."

"Heh, you have that much faith in my ability to help fix this mess?" She shook her head.

"You know, Dominic, you act all tough one minute, then the next you say you can't handle the pressure. Its my observation that you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for."

She sighed. "You barely know me."

"It doesn't take that much to know anyone, and trust me, what I saw of you on Tollana, I'm proud to know you. I think you can do this, no, I know you can do this. We're going to save the SGC, and we're going to save your brother. But we won't be able to do anything if you're sitting out her self-pitying and acting like the victim."

She was shocked, but he was right. She was acting like a brat. This was a serious situation and they had only a small amount of time left. "You're right. I'm sorry for getting mad at you."

He waved his hand. "Nah, as I said, I should have told you. Look at this time we wasted. Get back to work Dominic."

"Yes, sir!"

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

"OHMIGOD! I did it!" It was early the next morning when the visiting resident's of the Dominic house woke to the excited sound of Liz's voice. "I did it!"

"What's the ruckus?" O'Neill demanded, poking his head in. His short graying hair was sticking this way and that. (Author note: AWWWW). Sam has crashed on Elizabeth's bed. She raised her head groggily and blinked. Lynn came last.

"We're in control now. I don't know for how long, but we got all the working codes." Liz waved a couple disks. "They might be able to corrupt my system, but it will take a bit. We should go while its holding up."

"Okay. Carter, get ready. We should try to take Daniel with us. Lynn, can he walk?"

Lynn paused. "I don't think that's a good idea. Could you just bring the cure back here. He looks really bad."

O'Neill thought a moment, "fine, but be careful. If he shows any signs of odd behavior, I mean odd for Daniel, get away. We'll be back when we can."

"Good luck, Liz." Lynn hurriedly hugged her friend as Liz was busy stuffing her equipment in a portable bag.

"Oh, you know me. Luck out the wazoo."

"Yeah, bad luck." Lynn joked, then turned to O'Neill and Carter. "Take care of my friend."

"Definitely. Who would annoy me on this mission, Daniel's out of commission." O'Neill cracked and despite his words Liz could tell he was really worried about the archaeologist. She was, too.

They had to hurry.

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

Getting in wasn't much of a problem. It was just tedious. They had to slip passed a few guards posted here and there. More than a few were left unconscious and bound in various closets. Every time there was a pause Elizabeth hurried up to the front and stated her work on the control panels. Jack O'Neill watched her in amazement. She worked so quickly and professionally it was hard to believe that she was just a teenage self-taught hacker.

"I disabled all the camera's on the lower levels." She informed, turning to the Officers. "Where was it you said you needed to go?"

"First, we should take the infirmary. I'm sure that its not as guarded as the rest of the facility. Second, we should get Janet."

"Dr. Fraiser's not infected?" Liz asked.

"She's immune." Sam said. "Once we get her, the two of you should be able to work together to make a cure." The nineteen year old nodded.

"Let's get going then."

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

They raided the armory. Jack handed Liz a zat. "Can you use one of these?"

"Err… how?" She turned it around in her hands. "What is it?"

"One shot stuns your target. Two shots kills. And three shots makes them disappear." He demonstrated.

"Neat toy."

"We think so."

They exchanged smiles. Sam shook her head with a smirk. Jack might complain about Elizabeth all the time, but he had a soft spot for the girl. She had noticed he had a habit of attracting kids like flies to honey. They liked him, and despite his cynical attitude he liked them. She hadn't seen it before now, but O'Neill was always, first and foremost, a father. He took care of SG-1 like a patriarch, and he took great care of any youngsters they ever met on other worlds.

They carefully made their way through the corridors, dodging the infected and sliding past still functioning cameras. Elizabeth had to center herself and let go of reality, if only temporarily. Despite the things that she had been through this was over her head. She thought what had happened on Tollana was bad, but this, well, this was far worse. Blasts weren't rocking the base, but this problem wouldn't be kicked by a secret hidden weapon.

"I hope our plan is going to work." Liz said, then murmured, "It would suck if I died before losing my virginity…"

Jack stopped. "Uh, Dominic?"

"What?"

"Next time you wish to share your personal feelings, please refrain."

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

THUNK. The last of the guards stationed outside the infirmary and its labs went down with a dull thud. Liz grinned. "This thing works." She indicated the zat'n'kitel in her hands.

O'Neill grimaced. "Oh, yeah. We know. Been hit by one."

"Ouch."

"You have no idea."

The infirmary was quiet except for the slow beeping on the monitors. It was eerie, and the silence made Liz nervous. "It's so surreal." She said, poking around with some of the charts. The notes were all taken right after SG-5 had returned, and were in Dr. Fraiser's handwriting. Liz scanned the records, trying to understand the medical terminology. It was Greek to her, but the overall understanding was that the cells were acting as a system, as Sam had said, a cancerous system. It replicated, then manifested. Almost like an intelligent being.

Wait… "Oh, my god. It is."

"Is what?" Jack turned.

"This thing. These cells. They are life forms. I mean, it doesn't say that for sure, but from what I gather they each work as their own separate entity inside its… errr host."

O'Neill flinched. "Like Goa'uld?"

"Um… no. Not entirely. They control certain centers of the brain. The person isn't aware of anything while being controlled. It's like they're asleep. Unlike the Goa'uld they really do disappear."

"Can it be undone?" Sam asked.

"I think it can. You see, its only the life form's presence that keeps the person's conscious at bay, but once the infection is gone, they should be able to return completely fine. It's like recovering from a disease. Or it should be." She said hopefully. Her brother was one of them, she couldn't fail

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

"Do you think they really made it out, sir?" Janet Fraiser asked, meaning Colonel O'Neill and the remaining members of SG-1. It had been nearly a day since those immune had been taken as prisoners. Their number was beginning to dwindle as the life forms had begun to adapt to the different physiologies.

General Hammond sighed, "we can only hope they did." He glanced out at the guards passing by the room the last of the immune had been placed in.

Suddenly metallic twang made alerted his attention to the ceiling above them. (Author's Note: Air Ducts.) Without warning a panel was pushed aside. What came next was a surprise.

"Hey!" A girl poked her head through the hole. "Rescue! Dr. Fraiser, party of one!"

"Elizabeth!" Janet cried. She remembered meeting the girl before she went off-world. "That's me!" Liz said, dropping into the room.

"Miss Dominic, how did you get here?" Hammond asked.

"Some mutual friends of ours dropped by my house last night. We've retaken part of the security systems and sneaked back in. We have the infirmary as a safe area, and are planning to work on a cure as soon as I get you there." She pointed at Fraiser. "But we have to hurry."

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

"Ants."

"What, Dominic?" O'Neill asked, wearily, looking out from under his cap.

Elizabeth raised her eyes from the microscope. "They're like ants."

"She's right." Janet agreed, seeing where the girl was going. "Each organism, or group of organisms in the form of a person, take orders from one central entity."

"Ants! They're all controlled by a Queen. All orders, all duties come from her."

"So we find this 'Queen' and kill it?"

"No, no. It will be a person, but most likely the first person to be infected. From there it was passed from host to host in the form of a disease. A disease to us because our cells fight against it!"

"Correct." Fraiser said. "So it has to be a member of SG-5."

"My brother." Liz said quietly.

"What?" Sam asked.

Liz held up a chart. "We have to find Benji. He was the first to contract the final stages. He was taken first. He's the one we have to cure. Cure him and we cure everyone. It might take a while for it kick in, but it should work."

"Well, let's get huntin'…"

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

"There he is." Liz said, pointing to the screen. She had brought up camera surveillance. "Benji" was in the briefing room with a few of the lackeys. "It seems they know we're here."

"Then why aren't they storming the infirmary?" Jack asked. "If they know we're here, then why don't they just take us out. There's enough of them."

"Because he wants to meet with us." Liz said flatly. "Come on. We should be able to just walk up there."

"Wait.. We can't just waltz up there."

"We can. He doesn't know we have a cure. He thinks we're just wandering around aimlessly, trying to save what's left of the base. We have to go. The sooner this is over with the sooner everyone is safe."

"Fine. Carter, you and Fraiser stay here. Dominic, you come with me. I have a feeling he will want to see you. And he won't expect you to do anything to him. You can- -"

Liz sighed. "He's not my brother, Colonel. Not anymore. But we're gonna get him back." Jack nodded.

"Told you. Didn't I." He said, glad that she was beginning to take this situation in strides.

"Yes, sir. You did."

And they were off.

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

The creature, or creatures, that had stolen Benji's form was waiting when they arrived in the briefing room. "Hello, Colonel O'Neill. Nice to see you back." It turned around. Elizabeth couldn't help but flinch at his appearance. The strange substance ran down portions of his face and she could see it almost entirely covering his hands.

"Can't say I return the sentiment." Jack answered.

"Ah…. Liz." The creature said. "You're this beings sibling, am I correct."

"You are correct. That being has a name. It's Benji. Give him back."

"Sorry, but I have to say no. You see, our planet is becoming barren. This world seems ripe with life. Our numbers can grow unchecked here. We can become powerful again."

"Is that right? You're a germ."

"Now, now. Let's not get mean."

"Me Mean? You've harmed our people. You better watch who you're calling mean."

"Perhaps we could find you another planet, instead of this one." Liz stepped forward. "It's not right to come here like this, but if you need help then perhaps - -"

"Not possible. We've already started the moving process here. Besides. We like this planet. Very diverse."

"Please, if you could only - -"

Jack reached out a hand and brought Liz back beside him. "Leave it, Dominic. That thing isn't going to listen to you."

"It better."

"Or you'll do what?" The creature stepped forward, grabbing her neck and yanking her away from the Colonel. When he tried to reach for her it warned, "move any closer and I will snap her spine like toothpick."

Elizabeth whimpered, her hands grasping at the fingers on her throat. The situation was ironic, not only ironic but it sucked. Not only was her brother stuck behind that thing's conscious, but now it was going to kill her. Damn. And she was planning on kissing Skaara the next time she saw him, too. My life - -

"Sucks!" She rammed her knee into it's stomach, sending it doubling over. It released her and she fell back. They both landed on the floor feet away from each other. O'Neill was quickly at her side.

"You all right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Whoever thinks you can't take care of yourself is drastically mistaken."

"Heh." She laughed nervously.

"Lizzie?" Her brother sat up and looked around, confused.

"Benji?"

"Dominic, be careful." O'Neill said cautiously.

She waved him off, and moved to her brother. "Benji?"

"What are you doing here? Colonel?" He asked.

"Long story." Liz said, happily. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah."

She embraced him tightly.

"Get away from him." Jack warned.

"Too late." 'Benji' hissed, an arm locking around her. "I can't believe you really fell for that. You're race is so predictable."

Liz laughed, her blue-green eyes darkening. "I think you misunderstand."

"What?" Now it was the creature's turn to be puzzled.

She leaned forward and whispered, "if you were really my brother, you would have known I would have never went for that pathetic display…" She raised her hand, and there was a momentary glint of light of the surface of the needle in her fingers before she plunged it into his neck. "Welcome to Earth, you bastard."

He shoved her away and screamed. With him came the shrieks of hundreds of other infected. The alien substance seemed to corrode and melt away.

"I think it's working!"

Jack stared at her.

"What?"

"You knew he was bluffing the entire time?"

"Yeah."

"You should have been an actor instead of a hacker, cos you fooled me."

"Actor, hacker. They both end in 'er'."

He shrugged. "True."

)-()-()-()-()-()-()-(

"I don't know how to thank you for your assistance in this matter, Miss Dominic." Hammond said. It was a few days later. Those who had been infected were quickly recovering. Teal'c had come out of his comatose state. Daniel no longer had any signs of disease. Benji, the real Benji was back and confused. He was still under Dr. Fraiser's care, but looked a lot better.

"Oh. Don't thank me. I really didn't do anything."

"On the contrary, Elizabeth. Not only did you get our best team back inside safely, but you dealt the final blow against the creature holding the base hostage."

"Luck, sir."

"I don't think so."

"He doesn't think so." Jack repeated, poking Liz in the ribs. Hammond gave him a look. --.-- "Fine, being quiet. Just ask her."

"Ask me what?"

"After what I have seen I am convinced that you are a very talented young lady. I heard you are in need of employment."

"Yes, sir."

"When could you start?"

"Start? You mean, work here?" She cried. No way! Ohmigosh.

"We need someone who understands the new system you put in place. You said it can be made permanent, and we think that you're the right person for the job. With the help of Major Carter and a small team, of course."

"Oh, I'd be honored sir! I can start whenever you'd like!"

"Well, then. If you would follow Colonel O'Neill to prepare your credentials. Remember, Miss Dominic, you have just been granted highest clearance to one of the most important programs our world has ever seen."

"How could I forget. Thank you, General. I hope that I'll live up to your expectations."

"I'm sure you will."

Well, what do you think? Liz is working for the SGC now. Can we say chaos and oddness? Yes, we can. Sorry for the longness. Combined with the first part this chapter was 18 pages long. 18! Wow. (My mom rolled her eyes when I told her. LOL)

My next installment might be a journal entry, but I'm not sure yet. If I can't think of enough to throw in there, then this will be next:

Chapter Nine: Lynn's bad day. (WRITTEN BY TSUGI) About time, buddy.

Lynn has a very, very, unhappy time. Luckily for her she runs into a familiar face. Daniel Jackson. They proceed to have a conversation. Kinda fluffy, but then again I'm not an expert on fluff.

Read and Review, and all that good stuffles.

Lova yas, Muse.