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Previously:

He did not know what to do. Either he betrayed the people who depended on him , or he betrayed the oaths he had long ago taken to obey the leaders of his country. But what if the leaders were wrong? Hammond stared at the words in front of him. After a long time, he reached for the phone.

Sam walked down the quiet SGC halls. As expected at 2 in the morning, there was no one around. And yet, this was when Janet told her she was expected in General Hammond's office.

Samantha Carter had spent the last 36 hours laid up in the infirmary. Mild concussion, a few small Zat burns, various scratches and bruises, and general trauma and exhaustion had made sleep 16 straight hours. Her body still ached. However, Sam's discomfort was being burned away by the fury and rage that filled her. It was almost overwhelming. The team that had cared for her and protected her was dead. And all she had done was run away. I should have died with them. I should have tried – something – But Sam knew in her heart that things might have been much worse if SGC had never known about Daniel…and the Colonel and Teal'c. Someone had to carry the story home. It was just killing Sam that she had to be the storyteller.

The fury was the only thing that felt real to Sam. It was sharp and clear. Everything else seemed strange, false and insubstantial. Muted sympathy on the faces of the medical team, the distant noise of the Gate room, even the walls she walked past. They seemed frail. The walls were not strong enough to keep Stargate Command safe. Sam knew that now. Sam would never see Daniel come running after her, excited about some new theory; Teal'c would never stride beside her radiating his quiet dignity; Col. O'Neil would never…she ended the thought.

The door to General Hammond's office was closed and the blinds were tightly shut. She knocked, announced herself and waited for it to be unlocked and opened. Inside the office were the General, her father and Martouf.

"Dad," Sam's surprise cut through the haze of her rage. "What are you doing here?"

Jacob smiled at his daughter, "Hey kid." He walked over and gave her a big hug.

For a moment, Sam almost crumbled. It felt so good to be held by her father. It felt safe and nothing had felt safe to her for days. But then she stiffened and pulled away. Sam's grief seemed bottomless. If she gave into it now, how would she ever stop crying? She looked to the Tok'ra standing next to her father. "Martouf, I'm surprised to see you here."

"It is good to see you, Samantha Carter. I only wish it were under better circumstances." Martouf's eyes reflected his empathy. He had lost much in the battle with the Goa'uld. He knew what Samantha was going through today.

In a moment of insight, Sam realized that these men surrounded her, supporting her, soldiers like herself. All had lost friends and loved ones in battles. Maybe she was not as alone as her grief was making her feel. She cleared her throat, "Sir, you asked to see me?"

"Yes, Maj. Carter. There has been no official recording of the incident on P3X-1510," the General glanced at the folder on his desk.

"'Incident', sir?" Sam interrupted. "Almost an entire team has died. Please don't call it an 'incident.'"

Gen. Hammond looked at her sternly, "The fact is Major, we don't know for sure who all is dead. I've given Martouf the description of Col. O'Neill's attack on Apophis that you gave me. It seems that unless the knife went deep and wide enough to fully sever the symbiote, it is possible that the sarcophagus may have revived him."

"Then Daniel would still be…" Sam's voice trailed off as she sat down.

"Trapped," Martouf finished. "Dr. Jackson's body might be still alive, but he would still be trapped as Apophis's host." The room was quiet as everyone considered the implications of his words.

"Maj. Carter, I need you to read this file," Hammond handed her a manila folder

Sam looked at the clearance code on the front. "Sir, I don't have high enough clearance for this."

He smiled, "I know, Major. I think we are about to break a lot of rules tonight."

Sam read. And she learned what a "Scorpion Situation" was. "If ever a Stargate Command officer or employee…is implanted by a Goa'uld symbiote who has the ranking of 'System Lord'…returned to Earth for further study and interrogation."

"Who wrote this?" Sam's hushed voice was shaking with anger. "Does this mean that if, by some chance, Col. O'Neill didn't kill Daniel enough, we can't even help him? We had to turn him over to the NID for experiments!" By now, Sam was on her feet and shouting.

General Hammond was on his feet as well. "Maj. Carter," he thundered. "I know how this sounds to you. However, I did not bring you down here at two in the morning so that you could alert the entire base to our conversation. Please keep your voice down."

Sam glared at him, breathing hard. After a moment, her training took over. "Yes sir. I'm sorry, sir," she sat back in her chair. "Can you please tell me how…when…this policy…came about?"

"It was after your experience with Jolinar. It seems that after she died, there was some discussion that we should have learned more from her. Those in charge were very upset that I had not told them of your implantation. And then, of course, we gave Jacob to the Tok'ra," the two men exchanged wry grins. "Now he is out of their reach. If anyone finds out what happened to Dr. Jackson then there will be nothing that we can do. I will be ordered to send a team to capture Apophis alive and well and he will be taken away from us. We will not be able to prevent it."

Sam just could not see how this situation could get any worse. Either her friend was dead or he was dammed to spend the rest of his life hostage to both Apophis and his country. She walked over the door and leaned her head against it. She felt so hopeless. Except – she turned back to the room; "What do you mean if anyone finds out?"

OoOoOoOoOo

Ninety minutes later, Sam was standing at the ramp in the Gate room. It was empty except for herself, her father, Martouf and the General. She was not surprised to see Sgt. Harriman manning the control panel. This mission was unofficial. Gen. Hammond was very clear that he could not order her to do this. If the events came to light, Samantha and the General could both face disciplinary action and discharge from the military. Both had decided that they really did not care. With the assistance of Martouf and her father, Samantha was going to go back to the planet where she had lost so much. The three of them were to learn whether Apophis was alive or dead. If he was still alive, they were going to capture him and take the system lord back to the Tok'ra for removal of the symbiote. Martouf was not sure that it could be done without killing the host, but Sam was willing risk anything at this point. Col. O'Neill's words were echoing through her head; "The Goa'uld killed Daniel, Carter. I am just going to make sure they can't keep killing him. They will destroy him but they won't let him die! Daniel deserves better. The Goa'uld have taken so much from him. I won't let them take his soul as well." She knew that the Colonel had been right; there were worse things than for Daniel to be dead.

Gen. Hammond walked up to the group. "I just want to thank all of you for taking this risk. I wish…well I guess that's not important right now." The gate activated behind them. "Come home safely, Samantha. Godspeed."

TBC