A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! I am having a hard time getting updates out(real life) but I'll keep trying to make time to get this one finished. Thanks for reading and for being patient between chapters!

Jack half-walked, half-jogged to Hammond's office and burst through the door, interrupting a conversation between the General and Walter Harriman, his aide. Sam was only a few paces behind. She had been hard pressed to keep up with her worried teammate, but curiosity made her follow after him.

"General," Jack panted, "we need to dial up Orban right now. Carter remembers... the Goa'uld said the name, 'Orban'... if the Goa'uld have invaded Orban, they would have met no resistance..."

"Colonel, slow down. Orban. Is that the planet where the children were used to store the collective knowledge of the culture or something? You took that little girl, what was her name?"

"Merrin." Jack looked away, not wanting to remind the General of his insubordination surrounding that event.

"Merrin, yes. The children had nanobytes in their blood..."

"Nanites, in their brains," Carter corrected. Jack shot her a surprised glance. That was the first real appearance of the 'old' Carter since her return. Little did he know it would be one of the only ones.

"Briefing Room, now," General Hammond directed. "Get the rest of SG1 and get Dr. Frasier up here on the double," he added, speaking to Walter.

"Yes, sir," Walter replied briskly.

Soon the briefing room was full and General Hammond turned to Colonel O'Neill.

"Now, tell me exactly what you suspect, Colonel," he ordered.

Jack cleared his throat and collected his thoughts. "Carter remembers the Goa'uld working on her, on a table. She remembers hearing the name, 'Orban.'"

"Orban- that's the planet with an advanced culture descended from a vanished and very mysterious civilization of South America, the Teotihuacan. That was a fascinating planet," Daniel gushed enthusiastically.

"Yes, Daniel. Well, this is the culture that gained knowledge by implanting nanites-" Jack looked to Carter for approval, "- into certain chosen children at birth. This allowed the children to learn at an accelerated rate. But it wasn't really the children learning- it was the nanites. The nanites were then extracted from these children and given out to the general population, leaving the children mentally like infants again. We changed this by introducing them to learning the traditional way. But the nanite technology must still be there, somewhere on that planet."

"I see where you're going," General Hammond agreed. "You think the Goa'uld, if they have discovered Orban and taken over this culture, are using the nanite technology in the development of this new symbiote?"

"There's one way to find out," Daniel chimed in. "Dial Orban."

"SG1, after we send a probe through to determine the safety of a mission to Orban, I want you to go to the planet and see what they can tell us about these new symbiotes, if anything."

"Does that include me?" Sam asked.

There was a strained silence in the room. In spite of the joy Sam's rescue had brought to everyone present, she had been off the team for a long time. She had been possessed by a Goa'uld symbiote. And she still remembered very little about her former life as a soldier with the SGC.

"Colonel O'Neill, I'll leave that up to you," General Hammond finally said. Jack immediately looked at Sam with the question in his eyes. Was she ready?

"I'd like to go. I'd like to go and try to find out what happened to me, and if it can be reversed."

"Then you'd better go find some gear. You're coming with SG1." Jack's face shone with nothing but pride and confidence, causing Sam's eyes to fill with grateful tears. He still believed in her, and it meant a lot. It meant everything.

The MALP pictures confirmed their worst fears. Orban had been attacked and appeared to be a burned out shell of a city from the images sent back through the probe. There was silence in the Gateroom as the devastated images became apparent to those watching. Jack turned away, remembering Merrin, the girl he had befriended. For a few days, he'd been a Dad again. Now, she was very likely dead. He swallowed hard and looked at Teal'C, whose brown eyes were swimming with tears. The big man was no doubt remembering the little boy he had become close to on Orban.

"You have a go," General Hammond announced solemnly. "Watch your backs, and godspeed, SG1."

The four reunited team members silently filed through the Gate and disappeared, one by one. The instantaneous change to the now ashen world of Orban took a moment to adjust to, but they were quickly on their way to the central part of the city, where they hoped to find evidence of what had happened.

"Do you remember any of this?" Jack asked Sam as they picked their way carefully along the rubble-filled streets.

"No, I don't," Sam admitted anxiously. "Tell me about it."

"This was one of my favorite worlds. There was a culture here that, at first, seemed upside down, I guess you'd call it. The kids were way smarter than the adults. Turned out they were using those nanothings to collect knowledge. The children's brains were 'harvested' leaving them without any memories."

"I thought you said it was one of your favorite worlds. That all sounds pretty grim."

"Well, we helped them change how they did things. They ended up being great folks. There ws a little girl..."

"Merrin? You mentioned her in the briefing."

"Yeah. Merrin." Jack fell silent, remembering the girl he had befriended in happier times.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Jack," Sam offered sympathetically. After some hesitation, Sam moved up behind him where he stood on the stone bridge overlooking the ruined city. She tentatively reached out a hand, placing it gently on his shoulder. She moved a step closer.

"I'm sorry too," Jack murmured. Sam seemed so different now that she retained only fleeting images of memories of how they had been before. She seemed softer, less of a soldier and more of a woman. It was harder than ever for him to resist opening up to this new Sam. He turned and put his arms around her, accepting her simple offer of comfort. She felt a shudder go through his body and he gripped her to him more tightly.

"What is it?"

"I just realized...here I am standing here with you. You, Sam. I thought I'd lost you, but here you are." Sam heard tears thickening his voice.

"Jack, tell me about..." Sam trailed off and looked away bashfully.

"What?" Jack held her so that she had to face him.

"I know we worked together. But I worked just as much with Daniel and Teal'C, too, didn't I? But with you...there's a closeness...you and I seem different..."

"Jack, Sam, come in," Daniel's voice interrupted them.

"Yes, Daniel," Jack responded, stepping back from Sam. She watched in dismay as the professional mask fell back into place over the vulnerable man she'd seen only a moment earlier.

"Teal'C and I are in the central Averium. It looks like you were right, Jack. The Goa'uld were after the Orbanian's nanite technology. We've found a plundered laboratory. And we've found some survivors."

Jack's eyes lit up. "Survivors! Great, that's great. We'll be right there, Daniel."

"Survivors, Sam. The Goa'uld didn't wipe them all out, after all. Maybe they'll have some answers for us. For you."

"Jack," Sam burst out, unable to help herself. Her eyes reflected a sad desperation.

"I promise," Jack turned and said to her in an intense tone, "I promise I'll answer your questions. We'll talk. Okay?"

She nodded.

"Now let's go meet those survivors."

They found the Orban laboratory in the center of town with Teal'C outside the building waiting for them to arrive. They followed him through a maze of hallways to a laboratory where Daniel was gathering data. Two young Orbanians were helping him read and interpret the notes and sketches he had found.

"Jack! Let me introduce you to Yuger and Ribol. They hid in the forests and survived the attack."

"How long ago was this attack?" Jack asked them.

"Over a revolution ago," one of them answered, referring to the amount of time it took for Orban to revolve around its star.

"About ten months," Daniel explained. "And there are other survivors, in the wilderness surrounding this city. These two are scouts, in the city to see if it is safe for their people to return yet."

"Carter, Daniel, find out what they know. T, let's go make a full report through the Stargate to Hammond."

Sam watched Jack and Teal'C head out of the door. Just as he stepped out, Jack turned and winked at her, so quickly she almost didn't see it. Cheered, she giggled under her breath and turned back to help Daniel. Daniel smiled too, but turned his head so neither Jack or Sam knew they had been observed.

SG1's report to the SGC set into motion a response so large and complex that it took weeks to get it operational. The plan was two-fold. First, they determined to locate and stop the Goa'uld who had stolen the Orbanian technology and thus prevent the development of the super-symbiotes. Then, along with their allies, Earth established a refugee assistance camp on Orban to help the survivors rebuild their lives.

The Tok'Ra took command of the search and destroy mission against the Goa'uld. They already had more intel than the SGC and had operatives in place. Hammond worked with them side by side.

The survivors of Orban were soon back in their city thanks to the efforts of SGC personnel in providing food, supplies and willing hands.

Meanwhile, Janet conducted her own investigation back in the SGC infirmary with the information Daniel gleaned from the Orbanian scientists. Unfortunately, the news she discovered confirmed her fears.

Memory loss due to the activity and subsequent removal of nanites (or, in Sam's case, destruction of nanites when the symbiote died) was irrepairable. The few memories Sam had managed to retain were those few that had escaped the harvesting nanites of the super-symbiote. She would not remember much else than what she had already recalled.

Janet dreaded having to tell Sam. She'd been so happy with each memory that she had been able to recall since her rescue. Janet decided to talk to Daniel about it first.

Arriving at Daniel's office, Janet watched him from the door for a few seconds, smiling indulgently at the ardent look on his face. Whatever he was studying, he was so intent upon it that he was oblivious to all else. She loved his passion for his work.

"Ahem," she cleared her throat delicately. Daniel's eyes shot to her face.

"Janet! I didn't hear you come in."

"Yes, I know." She came further into his office and settled herself across from him at the cluttered desk.

"What's the matter?"

"I just wanted to talk. About Sam," she added carefully. Daniel's eyes filled with compassion.

"What have you found out?" He asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"Her memories are gone. The nanites haven't just repressed them; they've removed them. Oh, Daniel, I dread telling her. She's so hopeful that she'll eventually get back to normal."

"Poor Sam," Daniel whispered, his face pale. "She's been through enough."

"What?"

Both Janet and Daniel whipped around to face Jack, who was standing casually in the doorway. He had evidently heard the tail end of their conversation, and Sam's name, and now wanted to know what was going on.

"Colonel, I was just telling Daniel I have information regarding Sam's remaining memory gaps, and it isn't good. I'm trying to figure out how to break it to her."

"She's not going to remember anything more?" Jack extrapolated.

"No. You know, maybe you should be the one to tell her. I'm not trying to get out of it, I promise, Colonel. I just think she'd receive it better if it came from you."

"I don't know what to say to her, Janet. This will end her career, both in the Air Force and in Astrophysics. At least for now. She'd have to relearn it all. She's not going to receive that well from anyone."

"Then I guess I'd better go get this over with," Janet said morosely.

"No. I'll tell her. I promised her we'd have a talk, anyway. This will just make it a...bigger...talk."

"Talk?" Daniel ears perked up. "About what?"

"None of your business," Jack retorted quickly, the tips of his ears coloring just a slight bit, not much, but enough to alert Daniel to the fact that he was sniffing down the right trail.

"Jack? About what?"

"About...she's noticed that she and I...are different than... like... you and her."

"You know, Colonel, as awful as all this is for Sam, this situation has one bright spot," Janet mused.

"I've thought about that," Jack cut her off. "Don't worry. I can handle this."

He left abruptly.

Daniel and Janet smiled widely at each other.

"Right," Daniel joked.