Previously:

Staring down at her enemy, she could finally see her friend again. She just hoped it wasn't too late to save him.

A hand rested on her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw the Colonel's brown eyes. "Let's go home, okay?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," she responded.

Sam sat on a chair between the two sleeping men. At this moment, she could think of no more important place to be. The SGC's infirmary was bathed in the late-night glow of medical monitors. Col. O'Neill slept on her left. When they arrived on Earth, he had barely been able to walk through the gate before collapsing. The lack of food and water and the abundance of psychological trauma had taken Jack O'Neill down, hard. He had woken up earlier, eaten some, checked on Daniel. And had quickly fallen back to sleep. A saline IV had rehydrated him. Janet said he would be fine.

Daniel was in the bed on Sam's right. She looked over at him. His face was still bruised. The trip to the Tok'ra planet had been hellish. Apophis had known what was in store for him and he wanted to hurt them all one last time. When they had ringed up to the ship, Apophis was still unconscious. They tied his hands behind his back and stored him the cargo hold. Sam was guarding him, but by that point she was running on fumes. She did not realize that Apophis was awake until he was on his feet. Yelling threats and insults, Apophis climbed up to the platform. When he finally realized no one was going to release him, he threw himself to the floor. Sam was unable to catch him. The face-first landing was enough to bust Daniel's nose, lacerate his forehead, and bust a tooth. When Sam rolled him over, Apophis snapped at her like an animal. Then he started to pound his head on the floor. Only a blast from the Colonel's Zat stopped him from causing further damage. They tied the unconscious System Lord to a pipe. When he woke, he started to scream. No words, just a scream designed to rip Daniel's throat to pieces. The Colonel was hesitant to Zat him again, so he gagged Apophis instead. The Goa'uld continued to make a horrible, ragged sound. Only when damage was done did he silence.

But the physical wounds would heal. After a prolonged fight with Martouf, Col. O'Neill persuaded the Tok'ra healers to come to Earth. Daniel would be saved or lost at home. The symbiote was removed, very carefully, so that both host and parasite survived. Sam did not understand why the healers were so focused on the survival of the symbiote until they announced their intention to take it back to their home. General Hammond refused to let them leave with it. The debate was settled when Janet Fraiser accidentally dropped the symbiote's carrying case. The glass shattered, but the stunned symbiote was unable to skitter away before it was impaled on the bottom of Janet's high heel. "Oops," was all she said to the dismayed and furious Tok'ra that surrounded her.

Later, Sam and Janet stood by Daniel's bedside. "It wasn't revenge," Janet said suddenly. Sam had not asked Janet to explain herself. Janet looked up at Sam, "It's important for me that you know that." She took Daniel's hand and stroked his hair. "It was triage. I had a patient, the Apophis symbiote, in my hand. The patient was a living, sentient creature, but it was also a parasite. The Tok'ra might have implanted it in someone else. With the best of intentions, of course, to get information, but it would have escaped. You and I both know that. I had to choose between the life of the patient I had right now, or the millions he could create." So often Janet was the compassionate healer that it was easy to forget how ruthless she could be. She bent down and kissed Daniel on the forehead. "I can live with this on my conscious." She released Daniel's hand and walked to her office, closing the door behind her. Like so much else in this horrible mission, Janet's role would be swept under the rug, never spoken about.

Sam thought back to her meeting with the General Hammond. He had said that they were going to be breaking a lot of rules. At the time, Sam had no idea how right he would be. The official report would only read that Apophis had held Jack and Daniel hostage. Teal'c had died trying to rescue them. Apophis had been killed during the action. All technically true. It just left out the part where all of SG1 violated direct orders. Sam's name and reputation would be attached to a cover-up. Looking at Daniel's battered face she decided that she could live with that on her conscious, too. When everyone was further on the road to recovery, Sam intended to find out more about the "Scorpion Situation." She could just smell Kinsey all over it.

Daniel made a small noise. He had spent the whole time since his surgery two days ago in a coma-like sleep. The Tok'ra insisted that this was typical of a host's recovery, especially one who had been treated as Daniel seemed to have been. Daniel had made the occasional noise, soft moans and whimpers. At one point, he had cried for an hour. Sam and the Colonel had done their best for him, holding his hands, wiping his tears. At no point did Daniel make any sign of waking up. What is going on in that head of his? Sam wondered. She worried that his subconscious was deciding between sanity and madness. Even if he woke up, would he ever be the same?

"Sam?" It took Sam a moment to realize that it was the Colonel talking to her. She went to his side.

"Yes, sir."

"How's our boy?"

"The same, sir. I don't – I don't know what to do. The Tok'ra said that this recovery time is necessary, but what if he never wakes up? What if he never recovers? I think Apophis might have lost his mind in the cargo hold. What if that affected Daniel in some way?" All of Sam's fear came boiling to the surface.

"Okay, Sam," Jack reached for her hand. "It's going to be okay. We didn't get him this far to loose him now."

There was silence for a while. Sam thought that the Colonel had fallen asleep but then he spoke. "I've been thinking…after Daniel is better… we need to go back to that planet and get Teal'c. It's wrong to leave him there, alone. He deserves better. And we have to tell Bra'tac."

Sam was too choked up to speak. Instead she squeezed his hand tighter. The silence that fell felt a little lighter this time.

She was not sure when she drifted off or how long she slept, her head resting on the Colonel's bed, their hands still clasped. It was Daniel's anguished moan that woke them. At once, Sam and Jack were awake, looking over at their teammate. Daniel was awake but from the look in his eyes it was obvious that he thought he was still trapped in a nightmare. He stared at them.

"Stop this." Daniel's voice was a raspy croak, thanks to Apophis's treatment. "Stop this. Stop this now!"

Sam went to Daniel's bed while the Colonel climbed to his feet. "Stop what Daniel? Daniel, you're home. You're free. Apophis is dead."

Janet came out of her office and joined Sam and the Colonel at Daniel's bedside. When she reached forward to check Daniel's monitor, he threw his arms over his head, as if to ward off a blow. "NO!" he tried to cry out. Blood leaked from his IV insertion. "If I believe you, you die. I believe you and then – I kill you… I can't…not again…" He covered his face with his hands.

General Hammond entered the room. "How is he Doctor?"

Daniel looked at the General as if his worst fears had just been confirmed. "No, no. I can't keep doing this," his mutterings trailed off as he struggled to suppress his sobs. "I can't…" He gave a shuddering sigh and then clenched his teeth and began to sing. "This is the song that doesn't end, it just goes on and on my friend, some people started singing it, not knowing what it was…" He continued to sing, clutching at his hair and keeping his eyes tightly shut.

Terrified, Samantha stepped away. It seemed that Daniel was loosing his mind right in front of her.

Colonel O'Neil reached past her and took Daniel's face in his hands. "Daniel," he said. "You don't have to do this anymore. You are free. Apophis is dead. Do you remember the promise I made to you?"

Daniel stopped singing but kept his eyes closed. He put his hands on top of the Colonel's, as if hoping the combined strength would hold his mind together. "You said that you wouldn't leave me like that."

"We didn't leave you, Daniel. Sam and I, we got you out. You are free," Jack would say this as many times as it took to make Daniel believe it.

Daniel opened his eyes and looked at Jack for a long time. Occasionally his eyes would fly over to the doorway as if he was expecting an intruder. After a few times, he started to take in the others standing around his bed. She realized that he was focusing on them for the first time since he woken up. "Where's Teal'c?" Daniel asked.

Sam looked to her superiors. She did not know what to say.

Colonel O'Neill told Daniel the truth. "He's dead, Daniel. He was trying to save you and Apophis's First Prime killed him."

"Teal'c is dead. Teal'c died trying to save me?" Daniel rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Teal'c died…it's over…it's really over, isn't it?"

Samantha took Daniel's hand, "Yes Daniel, it's over."

He squeezed her hand, but looked away. "Thank you," he whispered to no one. Then he turned and looked at everyone in the room. "Thank you."

TBC