Title: As the 'Gate Turns: Recovery
Author: Annerb
Rating: minor language
Summary: How will everyone reconcile recent events?
Classifications: Series, S/J Angst, Drama, Action
Season: Mid-season 8, up through End Game (AU from there)
DisclaimerThe characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Author's Note: Yet another calm before the storm! Batten the hatches for the next major story arc. Gotta wrap a few things up first...;) Hope everyone who was mad at me for "Sacrifices" now forgives me! Thanks be to Montage and Triptnx!

Feedback: Always appreciated!

/Part 12: Recovery/

Jacob rushed through the crystalline halls that had once seemed so strange to him, but now were comfortably familiar. Having just returned from a mission, he had been informed that his daughter and granddaughter were in the base. Without waiting for an explanation he had set off at a near run. He rounded a corner to find Sam, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c sitting around a table.

"Sammie," Jacob said.

Sam looked up in surprise before jumping up into her father's arms. "Dad, I'm so glad you're here."

"What's going on? They said something about Haley?"

Sam nodded. "She was with Baal. All this time…"

"No! But we saw…" Jacob started to say, looking over at Daniel who just shook his head and went back to staring at the table broodingly. "Is she okay?"

"Baal put a snake in her head, how do you think she is?" Jack asked caustically from across the room.

"He made her a host?"

"Yeah, to Anat. They're trying to remove the symbiote now."

"I can't believe it," Jacob said, shaking his head. "Did Baal learn anything from her?"

"We don't know," Sam said.

"And it's not exactly like we can ask him anymore, either," Jack noted.

At the look of confusion on Jacob's face, Sam clarified, "Baal's dead, Dad."

He stared at Sam in amazement for a moment. "Really? Man, chalk another one up for you guys."

"Can't take credit this time, Jake," Jack said.

"What? Then who?"

"Anat killed him," Sam said.

Jacob once again looked surprised, before he lowered his head and Selmak spoke. "You are certain that Anat killed him?"

"Yeah," Jack said, slightly taken aback to hear from Selmak. "And it wasn't pretty, either."

"Meaning what exactly?" Selmak pushed.

"Meaning that she seemed to take a great deal of joy in it. Took her time, too. Even though she did try to blame it on us later."

Selmak looked very pale. "What is it, Selmak?" Sam queried.

"Nothing, I am just surprised. Jacob and I will go see if we can offer any assistance with the procedure," Selmak said.

Sam smiled wanly. "Thank you."

A few hours later, they were all clustered around Haley's bed. Jacob had said that everything went well and that she would be fine, but no one could really believe it until she woke up and told them that herself. She already looked better now that she was out of the gaudy Goa'uld clothing and heavy make-up.

Sam, who had pulled a chair up right next to her daughter's bed, ran one finger over the rough scaring on her face.

"We can only guess that she suffered point-blank trauma," a nearby Tok'ra offered. "It must have been incredibly extensive if the sarcophagus couldn't entirely heal it."

"The Reynaul weapon," Jacob said softly.

"Dad?"

"I had been having problems with the energy source overloading. I was impressed that she got it to work the first time, but it seems that maybe it didn't work as well the second time."

Movement from Haley abruptly ended any further conversation. Her eyes slowly opened and she pressed one hand to her head with a soft groan.

"Are you in pain?" asked a nearby Tok'ra in a soft voice.

Haley stared at the woman, confusion clear on her face. Then she began to look at the other faces in the room, without a flicker of recognition.

Sam gently reached out and touched her hand. "Haley?"

Haley stared at Sam. "What…what's going on?"

Sam shared a look of alarm with Daniel. Didn't she recognize any of them? "What's the last thing you remember?" Daniel asked kindly, trying not to overwhelm her.

"I'm not sure…" she said shakily before pressing both of her hands against her face. "Everything is so foggy."

"Jacob, what's going on?" Jack asked in a sharp voice.

Jacob didn't get a chance to answer because Haley was staring hard at Jack with a frown on her face. "Jack?" she finally asked uncertainly.

Jack let out a breath with a whoosh and nodded, slowly moving closer to the bed. "Yeah, Haley. It's me."

Haley slowly smiled and then looked around the room again. "Hey guys," she said, squeezing her mother's hand. "What's-"

She was cut off by Jack abruptly pulling her into a hug. "I swear to god, Haley, if you ever do anything like that again…" Jack whispered roughly, squeezing her tight.

"Jack," Haley gasped, "breathing is becoming an issue here."

Jack loosened his hold and then Sam was hugging her. Daniel moved forward and contented himself with just touching her foot. Teal'c nodded solemnly at her from the foot of her bed.

"Not that this isn't really nice, guys, but what's going on?" Haley asked with wide eyes as her parents continued to hover near the head of her bed.

"You don't remember?" asked Daniel, looking at Jacob in confusion.

"Memory loss isn't a common side effect of the procedure," Jacob said with a shrug.

"Memory loss?" Haley asked. "I think someone needs to tell me what's going on."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Sam asked again.

"Uh…we were on PX2-204."

"She can't remember why she is here, but she can remember planet designations," Jack groaned in disbelief.

Suddenly all color drained from Haley's face and she sat up suddenly. "Oh god, Baal was there!"

Sam quickly placed a hand on her arm. "Everything's okay, Haley. We're safe."

"He came for me," she said softly. "I couldn't let all those people die for me."

"No one died, Haley. You saved everyone," Daniel reassured her.

"Yes, I remember. But…shouldn't I be dead? I remember doing it, I remember dying."

"You remember nothing after that?" Selmak asked.

Haley looked up in surprise, having never spoken to Selmak before. "No. It's just a big blank." Looking around at the solemn faces, Haley asked, "So what am I missing?"

"That was three months ago," Sam finally said softly.

"And I didn't die."

Sam shook her head in confirmation.

Haley looked around her surroundings for the first time as she tried to puzzle everything out. Somehow she just knew they were Tok'ra tunnels from their familiarity. Why was she with the Tok'ra and what had she been doing for three months? Had she been with Baal?

With dawning realization, Haley slowly lifted one hand to the back of her neck where her fingers came in contact with a long thin scar. Then everything began to spin.

Noticing the increasingly green tinge to Haley's face, one of the Tok'ra managed to slip a basin onto her lap before she lost the contents of her stomach.

"Oh god…" she moaned piteously. "I was one of them…they made me one of them…"

"It's gone, Haley. It's gone," Sam said softly as she gently wiped Haley's face.

But Haley just curled up on her side and clenched her eyes tightly closed, unable to shake the feeling of violation.

Jack sat by his daughter's bed, watching her sleep. Jacob had finally managed to drag Sam off to get some food, and Daniel and Teal'c had circumspectly left to give Jack some time.

Jack tried to wrestle with his feelings. Joy, that she was back. Grief, that she had suffered this ultimate violation. Guilt, that he had left her behind.

"Hey," Haley said softly from the bed.

Jack forced a smile. "Hey, sleepyhead."

She considered him a moment before saying, "Stop it, Jack."

"Stop what?"

"You couldn't have known," she said softly.

Jack sighed, thinking that it really sucked that she could read him so well.

When Jack seemed unwilling to capitulate the point, Haley reached a hand up to touch the back of her neck. "I'm trying to decide if it's better that I can't remember, or if I will just drive myself nuts imagining all the horrible things I may have done."

"Haley," Jack started, "you know that you aren't responsible-"

Haley shook her head, not wanting to hear it. "When can we go home?" she asked instead.

Jack stared at her for a moment and then decided not to push. "They just want to keep an eye on your for a while. Probably tomorrow morning."

Haley nodded. "Good. This place kinda creeps me out."

"I know the feeling," Jack said with a smile. "Tell you what, when we get back, do you want to come up to my cabin? It might be nice to get away from everything for a while."

Haley broke into a smile, the first Jack had seen since they got her back. "That sounds great. Thanks, Jack."

She sounded so grateful that Jack couldn't help but laugh. "I'm always trying to shanghai people into coming up there with me. Just to warn you, it's rustic. Nothing but trees and a pond with no fish."

Haley closed her eyes briefly and sighed. "It sounds like heaven to me."

Jack had never known anyone to love open air and trees like Haley. His guilt was suddenly overwhelmed by his complete gratefulness that he was being given a second chance. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead, just like the ones he used to give Charlie before bed. "Thank you," he said softly.

Haley didn't need to ask what he was thankful for.

They chatted absently about things for a while, Haley asking what had happened on the Simpsons while she was gone. After a while, Haley looked past Jack's shoulder and smiled. "Sam."

Haley saw Jack stiffen and get up from the edge of the bed. "I'll give you two some time," he said gruffly, squeezing Haley's hand and giving her a smile. Jack moved stiffly past Sam to the exit, neither of them looking at each other. Sam turned and watched his retreating back for a moment before turning and forcing a smile.

Haley wasn't fooled.

Daniel wandered into Haley's room the next morning to find her looking in a small mirror, one hand absently tracing over the rough scar on her face.

"I guess my plan quite literally back-fired," Haley quipped half-heartedly.

Daniel could tell that she was trying to cover with humor. "It's not that bad," Daniel quietly observed.

Haley laughed somewhat harshly. "I know I should just be glad to be alive and everything, but this is grotesque."

Daniel reached over and took the mirror from her. "You're still beautiful."

Their eyes met and Haley's cheeks flushed slightly before she shook her head and said, "I thought I told you not to lie to me, Daniel."

Daniel felt his smile melt from his face as he thought of their last conversation at the Delta-site. He had tried to promise her that everything would be okay. How wrong he had been. "I'm sorry, Haley. We should have been able to keep you from this."

"It's okay, Daniel. I knew what I was risking. And I also know that I would do it again, if it came down to it."

Daniel didn't like to think of that possibility. "As if Jack and Sam will ever let you set foot off-world again," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

He was rewarded with a slight smile from Haley. "Where are they, anyway?"

"I'm sure they're around somewhere." Daniel kept his tone light, not wanting her to know that he was surprised himself that they weren't here.

"They're angry."

"No. Losing you was just really hard on both of them. They love you, Haley."

"What about you?"

"What?" Daniel said, slightly startled by the question.

"Are you angry with me?"

Daniel let out a breath and grabbed her hand. "No, Haley. I'm just really glad that you're back."

Haley smiled, but he could tell she was still bothered about something. "Daniel…if I ask you something, do you promise to answer it honestly?"

Daniel didn't really know what she might ask, but felt she deserved straight answers if he could give them. He nodded once. "I promise."

"Did I…when I was her…did I hurt you?"

"Haley…you are not responsible for what Anat did or did not do. You were just as much a victim as anyone else."

"That wasn't an answer."

"No, Haley. You didn't hurt me. In fact, you saved me. Again." He wasn't sure she believed him, but he liked to think that she relaxed, just a little.

"I'll have to take your word for that," she said rubbing at her head. "Please tell me that you are here to spring me from this place."

Daniel held up the bag in his hand. "Thought you might need these," he said, pulling out some clothes and placing them on the bed.

Haley's face lit up. "Daniel, you are the best," she said emphatically. "Tok'ra couture doesn't quite do it for me."

Daniel smiled and headed for the exit. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

"I only need five!" she called after him, clearly eager to get home.

Daniel chuckled softly and went to look for Jack and Sam.

Jacob and Selmak walked them all to the Stargate. They waved goodbye to Haley as she stepped through the event horizon with Jack close at her side. Daniel and Teal'c followed, but before Sam could step through, they reached out a hand to stop her.

"Samantha," Selmak asked, "would you promise me that you will contact me if Haley begins to remember her time as a Goa'uld?"

When Sam gave them a strange look, Selmak rushed to say, "I think we might be able to help her deal with her experiences. We would just like to be there for her, if we can."

Sam's face softened and she smiled. "Sure. I'll let you know. Thanks, Selmak."

With a last wave, Sam disappeared. Selmak watched the silent gate for a long time, trying to ignore the growing unease that she couldn't explain to Jacob.