"Oh, God."
Daniel didn't know what was worse, thinking Janet had died suddenly on that planet, or knowing that she would die slowly and painfully. He had died that way once himself, and he wouldn't wish it on anyone, least of all Janet.
"Will her condition infect the others once again?" Teal'c asked.
Daniel's eyes grew wide at that thought; he'd never even considered that possibility.
"Fortunately, no. Croa'tan is highly contagious, but only in its beginning stages."
"Isn't there anything that can be done for her?" Daniel pleaded, aware of the desperation creeping into his voice.
Elizabeth took a deep breath and glanced down before meeting Daniel's eyes again. "There might be a way to save her." As she spoke, Daniel noticed that Elizabeth had begun twisting the silver ring on her hand.
"Your ring." Daniel noted.
Elizabeth nodded. "It is possible."
Daniel's eyes widened. He turned quickly to Azriel. "Get us to the nearest Stargate." The Tok'ra nodded and quickly made her way over to the Pel'tak's control consol.
"It is what has protected me from the Goa'uld for so long." She continued.
"What exactly happened to you?" Daniel asked. "Your brother wrote an entry in your journal that said they never saw you again."
Elizabeth blinked rapidly as she started to explain, the memories from all those years ago still fresh in her mind. "Six years after giving myself to Morrigan's service, I was given the rank of lo'taur, I was her personal attendant. At the time I was working with Azriel, and I passed on any information I overheard while performing my duties."
"But something went wrong, and you were taken as host?"
"Yes. The System Lord Nirrti had contacted Morrigan under the ruse of forming an alliance. I accompanied Morrigan to the designated meeting location, but as soon as we arrived our ship was fired upon. Morrigan's host…was wounded during our escape…and she…" Elizabeth took a deep breath before continuing. "I barely had time to react before she'd left her host and…"
Blinking back tears, she continued with her story. "The ring did protect me though. It could not free me of her, but it would not allow her to enter my mind. She could only hear my thoughts if I allowed her to. And I used this to my advantage, feeding her lies about the Tok'ra and other things. I did what little I could, but I still couldn't stop her from…"
"It's okay." Daniel said, sensing the grief in her voice. It was obvious she was feeling guilty for not being able to stop Morrigan from terrorizing the people of her planet. "There was nothing more you could have done."
Elizabeth nodded, though the strain in her face was still evident.
"Listen, you've been through a lot," Daniel said softly. "Some rest would probably do you some good."
She nodded in agreement.
Daniel turned to Teal'c. "Would you mind…?"
"Certainly, Daniel Jackson." The Jaffa nodded. "Please come with me, Elizabeth Viccars."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said quietly as she allowed Teal'c to escort her from the Pel'tak.
Daniel sighed as he watched them leave. Elizabeth had been saved. Now all he could do was hope that Janet could be saved too.
The Stargate shut off with a snap as Daniel, Teal'c, and Elizabeth came down the ramp in the SGC. General Hammond was standing at the base of the ramp waiting to greet them.
"Welcome back." The General said to Daniel. "But I'm afraid I have bad news. The other women are recuperating in the infirmary, however, Doctor Fraiser is still inflicted with the disease…I'm sorry, son, but it doesn't look good."
Daniel nodded before gesturing towards Elizabeth who was standing behind him.
"Doctor Jackson!" The General reprimanded. "You did not receive permission to bring a guest."
"I know, General, and I'm sorry. But this is Elizabeth Viccars, former host of the Goa'uld Morrigan – and Janet's only hope of being cured."
The General absorbed those words quickly and gave a sharp nod of approval; he'd learned early on that Daniel Jackson was man whose judgment could be trusted. "Go!"
Daniel nodded his appreciation and quickly led Elizabeth down the corridor towards the base elevators. Given the condition Janet was in the last time he saw her, there was no time to lose.
As they waited for the elevator to arrive, Daniel couldn't help but notice a mix of wonder and bewilderment in Elizabeth's eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I haven't been on Earth in many, many years. Much has changed."
Daniel couldn't help a small smile. "Well, trust me," he said as they stepped through the elevator doors, "there are much nicer places to see than this."
"The beach?" Elizabeth said with a hopeful look.
"Well, actually the ocean is pretty far away."
"Oh." She said, sounding disappointed.
"But who knows? Maybe we can work something out." As Daniel was speaking the elevator doors opened up on Level 21. "Follow me." He said, walking quickly towards the infirmary.
Peeking his head through the infirmary door, he saw Andrew Carmichael across the room looking over a medical chart. "Dr. Carmichael." Daniel said, grabbing the man's attention. "Where's Janet?"
When Dr. Carmichael saw Daniel standing there, he immediately dropped the file he was holding on the counter and walked towards him. The doctor stopped short when he saw the person Daniel was with. "Morrigan?"
"No, this is Elizabeth Viccars. Morrigan's former host." Daniel quickly explained. "We need to see Janet."
"I'll take you to her." The doctor said with a nod. With that he turned and led them towards the isolation labs.
A few minutes later, Dr. Carmichael stopped in front of Janet's room. "She's in there, and she's still sedated. We couldn't bandage her lesions because it only made them worse. As far as the disease goes…I think I should tell you, it doesn't look good."
Daniel nodded, but he wasn't ready to give up on her. Not yet. Not when the answer could be right there with him. Taking a breath, Daniel mentally prepared himself for what he was about to see before opening up the door to Janet's room.
The familiarly incessant beeping of the monitors was somewhat comforting to Daniel as looked over at Janet's bed. His heart lurched when he saw her condition. The lesions and boils from the disease covered every inch of her body. Fleetingly Daniel thought she looked much like he did when he was going through radiation poisoning.
Only to Daniel, seeing her like this felt worse than when he was dying himself.
She looked so small and vulnerable. Not like the Janet who could make officers twice her size quake in fear. Not like the Janet who often braved war zones to help the wounded. She looked frail, broken.
And without her, he would be broken too.
Tearing his eyes off of Janet, he tried to gauge Elizabeth's response to Janet's condition. Sadness dominated her green eyes. "I did this." She whispered, almost inaudibly.
"No. Morrigan did this. You are as much a victim as Janet is. Do you think you can help her?"
"You and your friends have saved my people. This is the very least that I can do in return." Elizabeth said, stepping beside Janet's bed. Elizabeth removed the claddagh ring from her hand, and gently slipped it onto one of Janet's fingers.
Daniel licked his lips nervously as he watched. This just had to work.
Taking Janet's hand in her own, Elizabeth took a deep breath and said the words, "Let Love and Friendship Reign Forever."
Daniel watched in amazement as a warm golden glow seemed to flow out from the ring on Janet's hand until it had encompassed both her body, and that of Elizabeth. The glow continued to get brighter until Daniel had to look away from the painful brightness of the light. After a few long minutes the light gradually began to subside from them, retreating back into the ring from where it had come.
When Daniel's eyes had readjusted, he looked over at Janet and was surprised to find that the lesions and boils that had marred her skin beyond recognition had been completely erased. Reaching out, he gently slipped one of his hands into hers, while his other hand caressed her cheek. Janet sighed softly and leaned into his touch, as though she was merely in a peaceful sleep. Tears leapt into Daniel's eyes at this, and he vowed never to take a single moment with her for granted.
Daniel over at Elizabeth, who was still perched on the other side of Janet's bed. He opened his mouth to thank her, but as he did he suddenly noticed how pale the woman's complexion had become. "Elizabeth, are you all right?"
"Daniel, I…"
But the rest of her words were lost as Elizabeth Viccars collapsed onto the floor.