Three days later, Sam was finding it difficult to comprehend that this wasn't just a short mission with the Tok'ra. That it wouldn't just be over, and she would step back through the gate, take a shower, debrief with General Hammond and leave to go home. Maybe stop at a Starbuck's along the way for a chai tea latte and over to the grocery store for a Lemonzest Luna bar.

Suddenly she felt guilty about missing the little things.

They had found SG's Two and Nine exactly where they should have been, but so far all their attempts to locate Daniel and SG-Thirteen had resulted in failure. They had picked up several leads, and small teams consisting of both humans and Tok'ra were following them up.

The colonel insisted it was only be a matter of time until they found Daniel. He was downright difficult to kill, and even harder to make stay dead, Jack had told her. Sam hoped he was right. She couldn't bear the thought of losing another close friend so soon after everything else.

Sam had headed the unit that found SG-Nine, and was burdened with explaining their plight to the four officers on the team. Three of them had been married, two with young children and telling them what had happened to Earth and their families was almost like reliving the entire experience all over again.

After returning from the mission, she had found a deserted bathroom facility, promptly vomited the entire contents of her stomach and returned to her quarters where she had cried herself to sleep. When she woke up, she decided she wasn't going to spend the next night alone.

There were forty-three of them now, all in varying states of acceptance of their situation. One recently transferred officer was experiencing severe claustrophobia from being underground in the crystal tunnels. Some were still putting up a brave front. Some were falling apart, and some, like her, sought solace in another's arms.

She just never imagined whose arms they would be.


Stay tuned for the second story in this series entitled, "Solace"