"Something's changed between you two, hasn't it?" Daniel's head was whipping back and forth between the two passages, watching for movement.
"I don't think now is the time to discuss this." Jack growled his response as he stood and joined Daniel between the passages.
"As far as you're concerned there never would be a time." Jack didn't respond. He looked back at Sam and then checked his watch. He wanted Teal'c and Mitchell to hurry. "So?"
"Daniel." There was that growl again.
"I won't drop it just because you want me to." Daniel smirked but turned his head away from Jack so he wouldn't be caught. "You're not her CO anymore." Jack sighed.
"If and let me repeat if Carter and I had any interest in even thinking of being anything other then co-workers or friends we would need to have a lot more time between when I left the SGC and now." Jack stepped back over to Sam and knelt down so he could see her face. He checked her pulse, shallow but steady.
"Why? You've been gone for months."
"If anything happened people would still believe it had been going on before I left. Even the hint of that could taint her career." Daniel checked both passages.
"It doesn't matter how long you wait. People have believed you were together for a long time. Waiting isn't going to change that." Jack scowled but Daniel wasn't looking in his direction. "I also doubt there is anything you can do to damage Sam's career. She's made a hell of a name for herself and if she even hinted about leaving the SGC there would be dozens of commanders and civilians clamoring for her. Here they come." Part of Jack wanted to respond and clue Daniel into the military world but most of him was just glad they'd be leaving soon. Sam's eyes fluttered open as Teal'c entered the chamber, dropping a large trunk on the floor. Colonel Mitchell stumbled in behind him, barely remaining upright under the weight of the crate he carried.
"Sir?"
"Hey, sleepy head. How'r'ya feeling?"
"The goa'uld's been hit. I think she's dying. If she hadn't already been sick she might have been able to repair herself but..." Sam's eyes locked with Jack's. The fear and sadness he saw scared him.
"You gotta be kidding me! We just carried all this junk up here and now it turns out the darn thing's dying anyway. At least that means you'll be free and I won't have to pick this box back up." Colonel Mitchell smiled and then glared at the offensive box. Daniel winced as Teal'c and Jack both fixed cold stares on Colonel Mitchell. "What? What?"
"When a goa'uld dies it releases a toxin that kills the host." Daniel rolled his eyes as he spoke. Colonel Mitchell looked sorry as he realized his mistake.
"Oh, right. I think I did read that...somewhere." Mitchell scratched his neck, anxious for the others to quite watching him squirm. Jack helped Sam stand. Daniel raced over to her other side.
"Dial us home, Teal'c. We'll take this stuff back to the infirmary and see if they can make sense of it."
Sam was settled on a gurney, wearing a hospital gown that was too revealing in the back and made her uncomfortable. Doctors and scientists filed in and out of the isolation room, examining her and asking too many questions. Jack and Teal'c watched from the observation room. The doctor had excluded all visitors, except those working to remove the Goa'uld. She feared the dying Goa'uld might try to find another host. Jack knew she was way off base but General Landry had gone with her recommendation and he didn't want to undermine the man's position by disagreeing with him on his own base.
Daniel was in a lab surrounded by doctors and scientists, the same doctors and scientists who kept disturbing Sam, watching a video of the Tok'ra removing Osiris from Sarah. He managed to keep his eyes on the film as they rewound and played her tormented screams over and over. They repeated everything they saw on the video but nothing worked. They had the machine. They knew the technique. They weren't getting anywhere!
"What are we not doing or what do we not have that they had?" Daniel posed his question to the whole room. Hailey was the lone voice willing to answer.
"They had a symbiote." Daniel spun on his stool and looked at her. "That's why you and I can't make a ribbon device work."
"You really think it's that simple."
"We've tried everything. That's all that's left." She straightened her back and stood as tall as possible.
"But Sam's the only person at the SGC who can use Goa'uld technology." Daniel lamented as Hailey looked up at the repeating image of Sarah screaming as Osiris was pulled from her body.
"But she's not the only person on Earth." Daniel turned back to the video and winced. They needed Sarah and he knew she wasn't going to want to return to this mountain. He was going to have his work cut out for him getting her to agree to try this.
He called Sarah and, with much work, convinced her to fly out and meet him in a coffee shop not too far from the mountain. She was reluctant but he was persuasive. It had only been eight hours since Hailey had proposed getting Sarah to help and now she was standing in Sam's lab testing her ability to control Goa'uld technology by practicing with the healing device. When it glowed Jack hissed yes and punched the air. Daniel saw Sarah's face pale. He reached out and placed his palm under her elbow. The sadness and pain in her eyes was reflected in his. Jack picked up on her feelings and shut up.
Sarah asked to watch the video of Osiris being removed from her. Daniel tried to talk her out of it. He insisted the scientists could describe what happened so she wouldn't have to see it. She refused. She needed to see the removal device in action. She wanted to see the moment of her freedom. She watched it twice, getting shaky and green the first time and resolved the second.
"I can do it." Her voice was quiet but strong. Daniel wanted to reach out to her but he didn't. He was afraid he would break her if he touched her. He watched as she entered the infirmary. Sam glanced over. She didn't attempt to mask her shock. She pushed herself up a little higher on the bed as Sarah slowly walked towards her.
"I can feel you. Can you sense me also?" Sarah tilted her head and winced as she spoke.
"Yeah, it's a little weird. Are you sure you're ok with this?" Sam reached out to Sarah.
"No, but I need to do it." Sarah attached the metal probe to Sam's neck. She tensed her face as Sam grabbed the side rails of the bed. Jack moved to Sam's other side. He pressed his hip against her shoulder and placed his hands on her head, to steady her. Sarah glanced back at Daniel before placing her hand on the probe and pushed it deep into Sam's neck. Sam screamed but Jack held her still. The probe hummed. Sarah closed her eyes. Wrinkles appeared beside Sarah's mouth as she concentrated. She twisted the probe, ripping a hole in Sam's neck. She pulled the barely wiggling Goa'uld from the hole, relieving Sam of her burden. A doctor took the probe, with the Goa'uld speared on the end and threw the whole contraption into a sealed container.
Blood was flowing down Sam's back and she was whimpering in pain. Her hands were gripping the rails so tight her knuckles were white. The sound of the rails rattling as she clung to them made Jack's skin crawl. Sarah grabbed the healing device she'd laid on the gurney beside Sam. She slipped in on her hand and aimed it's glow at the large gaping wound.
Tears streamed down Sam's face but she never made a sound louder then a whimper. The healing device glowed brightly and her hands began to relax. Jack wiped tears off her cheek. Sarah slumped against the bed as soon as she finished closing the wound. Daniel stepped up beside her and helped her to a chair.
Jack lifted Sam's face and pulled her against his chest, enveloping her in a soft embrace. Her face was red and swollen from her tears but she was still beautiful. She was alive and healed. Jack felt the happiness well inside him and he broke out into a huge grin. A nurse shooed Jack away and pulled the curtain. Jack went over to Sarah.
"I don't know how to thank-you. I know this took a lot from you, physically and mentally but it gave me more then I can tell you. Thanks." Sarah smiled and nodded at his kind words. Daniel's eyes sparkled.
"It was as important to me as it was to you and Colonel Carter. Doing this has let me put my awful experience to a good use. Maybe there's something I can learn from this." She reached up and squeezed the hand Daniel had on her shoulder.
When the curtain opened Sam was in a fresh gown, leaning back on a clean mattress, with her eyes half lidded in exhaustion. Jack sat with her as she fell asleep.