1590 A.D.

Ambrose, Elizabeth, Abe, and the rest of the colonist had been instructed to pack up their possessions. As her new servants, Morrigan was taking them away to serve her on another world. With all of her things in order, Elizabeth snuck away from the colony for one last visit to her beach.

Elizabeth sighed, feeling more than a little helpless at the situation. Her family had come here wanting a new life and a new beginning…but this wasn't exactly the life they had in mind. And yet, nothing could be done about it. Escape was clearly not an option – even if they could get away, they had nowhere to escape to.

Intently focusing her thoughts on the sea, she allowed the rhythmic rise and fall of the water to soothe her troubled mind. But all too soon, she could hear her father's voice calling for her. It was time. Time to leave her life and her home behind. Again.

Slowly she rose from her place on the sand dune and brushed any remaining particles of sand from her dress. Casting one last look out to the ocean, she froze when a dark shape on the horizon caught her eye. She blinked once, then twice. It was the ship. The ship she had waited so long to see. Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at the cruel irony. It was strange that she had been looking forward to this day for so long…and yet instead of happiness and hope, this day had brought forth nothing but imprisonment and slavery to a false god.

Holding up her long skirt a bit so she could run, Elizabeth hurried back to the colony. She spoke to no one of seeing Governor White's ship in the distance. With any luck at all, they would d be long gone before the ship reached shore, and Morrigan would never even notice them.

Then at least those ones would remain free.

Teal'c,SG-3, and the two medics exited yet another home in the village of Hereford. Two more females were to be added to the growing list of afflicted. So far, each home they had visited had been affected by the disease. It was not hard to see that such an illness could spell nothing short of disaster for these people.

As they made there way towards the next house, Teal'c's thoughts turned towards his friend Daniel Jackson. He saw how difficult it was for Daniel Jackson to deal with the pain of losing his beloved wife. Later Teal'c himself had come to know such a feeling. The memory of seeing the body of Drey'auc spread before him still rought pain into his heart.

Pain that Daniel Jackson would be forced to endure once again unless something could be done to cure Dr. Fraiser of this disease.

After playing a hand in the fate of Sha're, Teal'c had always felt compelled to try to make it up to Daniel Jackson in any way possible. Pressing ahead, Teal'c vowed to do everything in his power to prevent Daniel Jackson from experiencing that kind of pain ever again.

The words were starting to blur together. Daniel leaned back his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was starting to hit him. He had put it off as long as possible, but it was sinking in. From what he had read so far, the Croa'tan disease was a terrible one. It inflicted much pain on both the afflicted, and their loved ones who could do nothing but sit by and watch.

Unable to bear sitting at Robert's kitchen table any longer, Daniel picked the book up and walked back to Sam and Janet's room. He quietly pulled a chair up between the two beds in the room and settled in. This way he could keep an eye on both women as they slept through their fever.

Daniel could feel a slight tremor in his hands as he looked over at Janet's small body and thought about the last words he had spoken to her before she got sick. The angry things he said rang in his ears, the very thought making him sick to his stomach.

He never should have put off talking to Janet, and now it was too late to apologize. She had been afflicted with a terrible disease, and the only known cure was literally in the hands of a Goa'uld System Lord. Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of them failing…of watching helplessly as Janet's life slowly faded away…and of her never knowing just how much she meant to him.

He took a deep breath and attempted to shake the disturbing thoughts away. Guilt and regrets weren't going to do her any good now. Determination filled Daniel's eyes as his gaze shifted from Janet's figure to the journal lying open on his lap.

Failure was not an option.

Startled, Daniel jerked his attention from his book when he heard a moan of pain. Rushing over to her side, he grabbed her hand, hoping to give her some comfort.

"Sam?" he asked quietly. "Sam it's okay, you're just a little sick right now."

Sam's forehand wrinkled with pain. "Daniel?" she barely whispered.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"What's…" Sam tried to say, but her voice trailed off. She scrunched her face, as if trying hard to concentrate. "…happen?"

"You and Janet got sick on P3X-290. We're trying to figure out the cure."

Sam seemed to understand, as she closed her eyes and slightly nodded her head.

A noise from the other side of the room grabbed Daniel attention.

"Be right back, okay?" Daniel said, jumping up from Sam's bed, he rushed to Janet's side. She was thrashing around angrily in her bed, trying to untangle herself from the light blanket covering her.

"No! No no no!" she was shouting.

Grabbing her wrists carefully, Daniel tried to calm her down and stop her body from flailing around.

"Janet…shhh, it's ok…Janet." Daniel soothed, hoping his voice would help calm her down. But no such luck. She fought hard; struggling against the hold he had on her.

"Don't touch me!" She cried out. "I hate you!"

Stung by her words, Daniel let go of his grip on her. 'She doesn't know what she's saying…she's just sick…she doesn't know what she's saying…' But, no matter how he tried to rationalize it, her words had cut him deeply; compounding the guilt he had already been feeling for letting her down in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Janet." Daniel whispered, his voice catching in his throat. "I'm so sorry."

Daniel could do nothing but watch as Janet continued to thrash about. Every time he went to try to help her, she got worse. By some miracle she didn't fall out of the small bed she was in. And finally, when her energy was spent, she collapsed back into the world of unconsciousness. Hearing the commotion, SG-8 rushed into the room, but Daniel signaled to them that everything was all right.

Exhausted, Daniel glanced over at Sam. She too had drifted back off to sleep.

Daniel bit his bottom lip and took a deep breath. He turned his attention back to the journal lying on the floor. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. No one should have to endure such a thing as this, least of all Sam and Janet.

The Goa'uld had taken so many loved ones from him over the years. Sha're, Skaara, Kasuf, hell – everyone he'd ever known on Abydos. And he would be damned if they took anyone else away from him.

With renewed resolve, Daniel flipped the journal open.

Daniel lowered the journal as he finished reading the last entry that had been penned. He hadn't had much time to digest everything he had read before he heard Robert Viccar's front door being opened.

Getting to his feet, Daniel went to see what was going on. In the small space stood a room full of people – Jack, SG-3, and Dr. Carmichael.

"Where's the med team?" Jack asked.

"Uh, I think they're in Elyn's room."

"Where are Major Carter and Dr. Fraiser?" Andrew Carmichael asked.

"In there." Daniel replied, pointing to the back bedroom door.

"All right. Well, I'll need a place to set up my equipment."

"You're not going to set something up outside?" Daniel asked, his eyebrows rising in curiosity. "This place is pretty small as it is."

"We thought it'd be best not to alert Morrigan of our presence any more than possible." Colonel Reynolds of SG-3 answered.

"Right. Well, you'll have to talk to Robert about that."

"Meanwhile, the rest of us are going over to Thomas Brooke's place to get some rest." Jack said.

"You go on ahead. I'll be fine, J…"

Jack held up his hand to silence Daniel. "Ah! I don't want to hear it. You've been awake for…" Jack glanced at his watch, "…a long time now. You need sleep."

"I can't just leave them like this."

"You can. You will. We are. Let's go."

"But…"

"Listen Daniel, in case you haven't noticed, this house is way too small to hold all of us. Dr. Carmichael and SG-8 need to be here to figure out this disease. That means the rest of us are going. End of story. We'll be back here first thing in the morning, and SG-8 has promised to let us know if anything happens. So, go grab your gear."

Daniel clenched his fists in frustration, but finally he conceded and began to gather his things together in his pack. Once he was finished, he gestured towards the back of the house.

"Give me a second, will you?" Daniel asked.

Jack nodded as Daniel made his way into Sam and Janet's room. The sunlight was fading, but Daniel could still make out Janet's small figure lying in bed. Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, he knelt next to her and took her hand into his own.

"Don't you worry, honey. We're going to find a cure for this. Dr. Carmichael just got here, and we found a journal that I think will give us some answers." Daniel leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. "I have to go now, but just hang in there a little while longer."

With a sigh, Daniel gave her hand one last squeeze, and he headed out of the room. After grabbing his gear from the sitting room, Daniel gave a quick nod to Jack and followed him through the front door.

As they walked down the small road towards the Brooke home, Daniel could only hope that tomorrow would bring about a change for the better.