A/N: I couldn't leave you all hanging, so here's this chapter, posted just MINUTES after the last one! After this Herculean effort, I hope you can find the time to review!

Warning for some language in this one.

Chapter XXI – Pure white

Fodor looked on in a mix of intrigue and horror as Sam's body reappeared before them, bloodied and battered. She was unconscious, and there was a worrying amount of blood oozing from a deep gash on her back. It looked as Turramulli had literally hooked onto her through her clothes.

Jack still hadn't had any reaction to Sam's arrival in the cavern, he was intensely concentrated, the images flying above their heads a witness to what he was doing. He could see Turramulli in his cave suddenly lift himself up from the ground in indignation as he realised that Sam was no longer within his clutches.

"You're trapped, you sonofabitch!" Jack spat out as imbued the orb with renewed power to reconstitute the shield that had held Turramulli within his prison for so many thousands of years. A low rumbling filled the cavern and an almighty roar sounded from Turramulli's cave as the monster realised he had been tricked.

There was only one thought on Jack's mind as he finished the task at hand – helping Sam. He had discovered the true potential of the orb – it was limited only by his mental will. His focus on Sam was overriding all his actions, and made the effectiveness of his manipulations of the technology all the more forceful. He knew the extent of her injuries, and they filled him with fear. He hated what they'd had to do, but now he had only one thing on his mind: to fix it.

Ignoring the straining pain that was slowly encompassing his entire body through effort, he put his full force into helping Sam. Heal her. He ordered the orb. Keeping his eyes open but losing none of his concentration, he saw the fruit of his labour and opened his mouth wide as what appeared to be a cushion of white light appeared underneath Sam's lifeless body and lifted her off the ground. She was now floating mid-air, in front of him. He could see the cuts and bruising on her shoulder, but the real concern was the deep gash across her back, which was oozing with red blood. The shock of seeing her like that didn't compromise his resolve, however, as he re-issued his mental order to the orb: heal her.

Sam's body started rotating slowly on the cushion of bright white light and Fodor watched in awe as the wounds that had seemed so fatal only seconds before started to heal at an accelerated rate. The scratches on her shoulder disappeared and the bruising faded to leave her skin the same porcelain colour it had originally been. The most astonishing effect was on the gash in her back. As if being closed by a zipper, he saw first the muscle, which had been visible, reintegrate to a whole, before her skin was rejoined, layer by layer, until all that was left was the blood on her skin – a mere reminder of the near-fatal injury that had befallen the brave human warrior.

Sam's body stopped rotating and the cloud of white light slowly descended back towards the floor of the cavern, placing her gently on the ground. Jack was still focussed on the orb as she sat up slowly, looking around wide-eyed. She seemed completely disoriented.

Turramulli still had not stopped roaring, and the sound of his fury resounded in all their ears, causing the cavern to shake. It seemed as if every molecule, atom, and particle was reverberating with the sound of the monster's wrath.

Sandra Sully was shocked out of her light slumber by the low rumbling of the earth. She raced out of the trailer to see the other journalists of various media outlets standing in the no-man's land between the military barrier and the road leading to Uluru. The earth had started shaking, more violently than the day before, and the intense earthquake was accompanied by an awe-inspiring light show. Uluru itself seemed to be glowing various colours, the trademark ochre-red to a strange purple, and finally a bright white light, reminiscent of depictions of heaven. She glanced at her watch, it was 2am.

She was shaken out of her paralysis in front of the phenomenon by the frenzied activity that was occurring in the other camps. She ran backwards, not daring to take her eyes of Uluru, and grabbed the phone.

"Steve! You've gotta get me on air – NOW" She shot a look at Gavin who, to his credit, had reached for the camera and was already filming the phenomenon. "Jeez I dunno!" She roared into the phone with exasperation. "Suffice to say it looks like a 70s disco out here, and we've got another massive earthquake!" She could barely hear the sound of Steve's sleepy voice over the din. The rumblings of the Earth now seemed to be drowned out by an almighty roar, like the sound of rumbling thunder, but a thousand times stronger. Finally receiving the go-ahead from a lethargic Steve, she faced the camera and nodded to Gavin.

"I'm standing in front of Uluru," she shouted into the microphone, hoping that she would be audible to the sound-guys receiving the signal back in Sydney. "Where yet again there is a worrying earthquake underway, accompanied by what seems to be the sound of intense thunder, although there are no clouds present."

She ducked instinctively as the white light that had been localised on top of Uluru now stretched out from the rock in a great flash before receding into itself, leaving them in darkness once more. The roaring sound of thunder had not disappeared, although the shaking of the Earth was no longer.

"What you are now seeing on your screen," she screamed into the microphone, "occurred just minutes ago here, where we were woken up by a low rumbling." She looked at the image on Gavin's side screen, once again gobsmacked by the spectacle. "It appears that Uluru was illuminated from within with a kaleidoscope of colours, ending in the fantastic flash of light that you just witnessed live." She paused, wondering what on Earth she could say about the situation. "We do not know if there is any danger here, although the heavy military presence – both US and Australian – would indicate that the situation is very serious indeed." Gavin indicated that she was back on screen and she addressed the camera, trying not to look to scared. "We will be searching for answers as best as we can in the hours to come. It appears as if the initially curious closure of Uluru to the public had a very specific reason – one that had nothing whatsoever to do with a simple tourist accident."

She made the cut signal by waving her fingers under her chin and turned once more to look at Uluru, which appeared only as a shadowy outline against the pitch-black sky. She could see lights towards the top, where it was known the military had set up whatever they were doing, and through binoculars could see frenzied action amongst the men and women up there.

"What the fuck was all that about?" Gavin had moved next to her and made her jump with his comment. The thunder had not stopped, but was now reminiscent of a low wailing.

"I have absolutely no idea." Her voice was breathless as possibilities raced through her mind, "But I think we have to actually entertain the conspiracy theories now – nothing the government's spitting out can explain what just happened."

"Colonel O'Neill!" Teal'c barked into the tok'ra communicator, trying in vain to raise his voice enough to be heard over the din. "Major Carter! Do you read?" The intense earthquake had knocked everyone to the ground, and those most concerned with Sam and Jack's fate were now kneeling around the Tok'ra device in a huddle, holding onto each other for support.

"This is Fodor," the calm voice came strangely clearly over the receiver. "Turramulli is again contained, but Major Carter sustained some injuries. Colonel O'Neill has taken care of them and is now occupying himself with her wellbeing."

"But they're ok?" Jonas' worried voice strained as he yelled into the receiver.

"Yes I believe that to be the case," Fodor said, "we will be in contact when they have both recovered."

No-one thought to protest as the communication device again went silent, for at that moment Thor again appeared in the middle of the pack, accompanied by the now familiar flash of bright light.

"Oh great, as if we haven't already given the media enough of a light show tonight." General Marty grumbled under his breath. He had been keeping a careful eye on the activity down at ground level and the lights blinking in the distance had grown all the more intense once the activity had begun. By now the entire world would have witnessed the light show that accompanied Jack and Sam's escapade underground. "Couldn't they have been more subtle?" he added to himself, raising his eyes to the sky as he asked the question.

"I take it by the activity visible even from my vantage point in orbit, that Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter were successful?" Thor hadn't taken any notice of General Marty's demonstrable annoyance with the situation. He directed his attention to Jonas, Teal'c and Stacey instead.

"You are correct, Thor." Teal'c bowed slightly in welcome to the Asgard. "Turramulli is contained, however it appears Major Carter was perhaps injured in the process. Fodor assures us that she is being treated."

Thor nodded knowingly. "Yes, if O'Neill has truly gauged the power of the cavern he will have been able to treat almost any injury that could have befallen Major Carter."

Stacey's eyes seemed to pop out of her head at these words. "Are you kidding?" Her screechy voice was easily audible over the low roar of thunder that still filled their ears. "Technology like that – this could be the discovery of all time, imagine no more disease!" She turned to Jonas, her eyes showing the excitement she felt.

General Marty clicked his tongue impatiently, looking from one person to the other. "That's all well and good," he growled aggressively, "but when are we going to be able to finish with all this insanity?" He glared at Teal'c, challenging the Jaffa to come up with some answers. "When can we get the bodies of those officers up here? What about this so-called naquada stuff? Has everyone forgotten why we're actually here?"

Teal'c bristled at the tone of voice the General used. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Thor was slightly taken aback, his eyes widening slightly as he waited to see what the Jaffa's response would be. "Indeed no-one has forgotten any of those factors, General Marty." Teal'c moved menacingly closer to the Aussie, his nostrils flaring as he glared into the man's eyes. "However I believe it prudent to await O'Neill's instructions on all these matters."

"Sir, I believe it would be useful to deal with the media down at the base of the rock for the moment." Stacey added hastily, sensing the danger of the situation brewing between the two. "At the very least we should get in contact with Stargate Command, and I believe you would be best placed to do that." She waited with bated breath as General Marty considered what she had just said. Thankfully, she saw he agreed with her. He strode off towards the communications tent that had been erected further down Uluru, and the remaining people around the transportation site breathed a sigh of relief.

"I take it there is no reason for Baal to remain present in Earth's orbit?" Thor looked to Jonas and Teal'c.

"I believe not." Teal'c replied sagely. "However we cannot be sure he will refrain from mounting a large-scale attack for the naquada present."

"I will escort him out of the solar system and then return to monitor Earth for the time being." Thor nodded in recognition of the possibility. "However I do not think he has at this time the capability to mount an attack against Earth – otherwise he would have come in a much larger vessel."

"Let's hope he's right." Jonas said to no-one in particular as Thor once again disappeared from Uluru. "Baal did hold up his end of the bargain."

"You are mistaken, Jonas Quinn." Teal'c commented gravely. "For Baal there was never any bargain. His one aim was to gain access to the store of naquada rumoured to be within the cave-network of Uluru. Given the chance, he would have attacked to attain his goal. We must be sure he does not."

Sam sat up slowly, trying to understand where she was and what exactly had happened. Something felt wrong. There was no longer a searing pain in her back and neck. Her shoulder no longer felt as if had been hit by a blunt weapon. Looking down she saw to her shock that apart from the blood stains on her BDUs, there was no sign of injury at all. Reaching around the brush her hand against her back, she felt there too, was no sign of injury except the slightly sticky remnants of the blood that now cakes her clothes.

She thought initially that the roar in her ears must have been an after-effect of the injuries, but noticed quickly enough that she felt no nausea, ho headache, nor indeed any grievance at all. The roar that seemed to permeate through every inch in her being was that of Turramulli. Looking up to see Jack still focussed on the orb she realised what had happened – they'd done it.

She looked over to Fodor who had just finished speaking into the Tok'ra communicator. He deactivated the device and started walking slowly towards her. As he did so, the curtain of aqua light that had covered the walls of the cavern seemed to flow down to the ground before disappearing altogether, leaving the original bluish light that had greeted her when she first arrived all those hours ago.

"I am going to verify the status of the materials in my cave before checking on the naquada store." Fodor said calmly as he approached her. "We cannot be sure of where Turramulli ventured before discovering your presence here in the cavern."

Sam nodded mechanically, her mouth still wide open as she took in the situation. "Jack?" She managed to ask, her eyes flitting between Fodor and her CO, who was still grasping the orb.

"He has invested his entire psyche in the Ancient technology." Fodor sighed as he looked to the Colonel. "He has seen the very core of the Ancient's knowledge and may be somewhat disoriented when he distances himself from the orb. But I am certain he will recover." Fodor added the last sentence hastily, seeing the look of alarm on Sam's face.

At that moment, Jack slowly pulled his arms away from the orb before sinking to the ground, a look of pure bewilderment on his face. Sam quickly scrambled to her knees and closed the couple of metres that had been separating them to be at his side. She didn't even notice as Fodor exited the now unshielded cavern to explore the cave-network for any signs of damage or compromise.

Jack's mind was running at such speed that he couldn't focus on any one thing. The power that he had just harnessed and in essence encompassed was still evident in a strange residual effect which caused his entire body to buzz, as if wired. His vision was blurred and all he could really make out was the persistent twinkles of iridescent blue. There was a silhouette directly in front of him but for the moment he couldn't make out anything other than that.

As he regained his forces, the memories of what had just happened came flooding back to his conscious mind. Sam running from Turramulli, Sam caught by Turramulli. He couldn't help himself from gulping at the memory of this before he remembered that he had healed her – miraculously – and secured Turramulli in his cave. They had done it. The real world came crashing down around him at this realisation and his senses all at once returned to normal. The silhouette in front of him was abruptly crystallised and he realised with joy that Sam – alive and well, albeit with some blood stains on her clothes – was sitting in front of him.

Without waiting for her to speak, indeed without speaking to her, he lunged forward and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into him, kissing her with such fierceness that he heard a surprised noise squeak from her lips. The surprise didn't last long though, as she returned the sentiment with force, both of them now revelling in the touch of the other, realising that it was over – they'd managed to re-contain Turramulli without anyone else being killed.

"Oh god I thought… when I saw… then I heard… I wasn't sure…" Jack was gasping the words in between frantic kisses.

"I know… then I saw you… you were so far away… but you're back…" Sam was speaking in the same haphazard way, at the same time as Jack.

Suddenly they both stopped, realising that neither had been able to understand what the other had said. They sat back momentarily on their heels and just looked at each other, before both bursting into a fit of giggles at the same time. Neither knew why, but the intense feeling of relief just overcame them and they succumbed to its power, riding the wave of laughter.

As Sam finally managed to stop laughing, she looked at Jack again through watery eyes. Reaching her hand up she brushed it against his arm, marvelling at the fact that they were there, together, and that everything looked like it was going to be ok. He clasped her hand where it was with his, and they looked at each other intently for some time, not saying a word – there was no need.

Finally, Jack broke their contact and looked around the cave, relieved to see that the walls had returned to their original bluish colour. "So we did it." He said with wonder, casting his eye all around before looking at Sam again.

"Yes sir." She grinned back at him.

TBC

A/N: Ok. So there you have it! But there are still lingering questions, are there not? What about the naquada? Is Baal really gone? Will Anubis rock up? This story's not quite over yet…(oh and I'm going to have to deal with the Sam/Jack thing as well... they have to go back into the real world... hmmm)

Please review! I've made a massive effort with these two chapters so I hope it shows through!