...If I say "I'm sorry" will you forgive me? There will be another chapter up by the end of the weekend. I totally promise.

OC List

Amaris Gotin: Aged mid-thirties, female, Scientist (think Carter) and team leader, younger sister to Keane and Harvey.

Keane Gotin: Aged late-thirties, Male, in the Aldercian army, older brother to Amaris and twin brother to Harvey.

Harvey Gotin: Deceased, Male, was in Aldercian army, twin to Keane and older brother to Amaris.

Lowell Safran: Same age as Keane, Male, small but agile and in Aldercian army, has known the Gotin's all his life.

Devon Gibson: Early thirties, female (don't let the name fool you), archeologist.

Commander Allard: Total jerk , Male, late forties.

Fa'mar: Jaffa in the service of Ba'al (First Prime), however, as you may have guessed, he has a hidden agenda!

Keane scanned the commissary for a familiar face. The chances of finding one were slim, but he did not want to eat completely alone.

There.

He saw a dark-haired man at a table alone reading. He was inconspicuous, as Keane's eyes had passed over him numerous times before stopping at him. It was the glasses sitting on the edge of the table that finally caught Keane's eyes. This man had been on the planet with them.

"Excuse me," Keane said nervously as he walked up to the table. The man sitting at it whipped his head up and quickly snatched up his glasses.

"Sorry," the man said as if it was a reflex and he cleared his books from the table with clumsy, jerky movements. He recovered quickly, and smiled a broad smile. Keane automatically decided he liked this man.

"No, my fault. I shouldn't sneak up on people." Keane placed his tray down in the place across from the other man and sat.

"You're Keane." He pushed his glasses further up the ridge of his nose and looked directly into his companion's eyes.

"Yeah." Shifting uncomfortably under the man's gaze, Keane added, "You are one of the men who was there, right? Dr…"

"Dr. Jackson, but call me Daniel." He surveyed Keane a little longer with his scholarly eye. "Finally getting something to eat?"

"Yeah," Keane said with a smile. "Amaris ordered me to. It's good to know she's coming back strong. It's just like back home, when I was working to hard." Keane'e expression softened and his eyes had a faraway gleam in them. "She always overworked herself too, but apparently it was acceptable for her. Nothing I could do or say would ever get her out of that damn lab."

Daniel squirmed a little uncomfortably at the mention of Amaris's name. But he couldn't help but smile, as the situation reminded him of a scenario often played through at the SGC.

"Sounds a little like me," he added, trying to make conversation with this newcomer, even if he did not see eye to eye with said newcomer's sister.

Keane smirked, and managed to do so kindly. "My first impression of you, to be honest, was that you're just like my sister. Like, when you were talking to Devon in the elevator…I was secretly smiling. Amaris would've been just like that; excited and focused."

"Well, that's me. Excitable and focusable." He wanted to stop this topic before it began. "So, what are you guys going to do now?"

Keane furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You can't go home." He felt badly putting it so flippantly, but the topic had to be addressed eventually.

Keane paled, finally remembering. "I had forgotten about that…" He trailed off, voice low.

Daniel shifted. "I'm sure I could talk to the General. Maybe you could all stay here."

"That'd be ok, but there's no place like home. Especially mine."

The pair fell into silence. Keane stared at the foreign sustenance he had filled his tray with. None of it looked very appetizing. Sighing, he picked up the most innocent looking piece and bit in. It was surprisingly good, and he quickly continued with a ravenous look on his face.

Daniel simply smiled and picked his book up again, burying his nose in information about the ancient Anglo- Saxons, hopefully to uncover more about the visitors past.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

She was running through the woods, laughing along the way. Occasionally stealing glances behind her, she was carefree and innocent. The trees whipped by her, the gusts of wind stung her cheeks, but she was not deterred. Fall was sneaking up on Aldercy, but Amaris welcomed it.

She reached the river's side first. There was no doubt she would. After all, Harvey and Keane had not been to this spot since before they had left for the academy. Waiting there impatiently, she splashed water on her face and thought of how glad she was to have her brothers back.

"Finally," she said with a grin when her brothers emerged from the wood. They were the mirror image of each other, but Harvey wore a softer expression.

"Yes, finally," Harvey responded wryly. "We haven't had all the practice you have had, baby sister."

She frowned at being called 'baby sister' but was too pleased to stay sad for long. "You know the paths as well as I do," she shot back. "This has been our place since I was three."

"It hasn't changed since then," Keane added, not the least bit surprised.

"Part of its charm," Harvey remarked.

"Too true."

Amaris was overwhelmed with pleasure and suddenly started twirling. Her brothers smirked with amusement.

"I don't know how to tell you this, Keane," Harvey said sarcastically. "But…our sister…" He trailed off dramatically.

"..Yes?" Keane asked with mock concern.

"I'm afraid that…in the time we've been gone, she's become…a flake." He dropped his head in defeat.

Amaris stopped twirling and rolled her eyes. The pair stuck out their tounges.

"Oh, that's real mature," she said of her twenty-year-old brothers. But she forgave them, and moved towards them to envelop both of them in a group hug.

But the peaceful woodlands dissolved. Harvey's cheerful demeanor dissolved into fear and he was starting to turn into the darkness that now surrounded them. "Save me," he screamed in a manner that was quite unlike the one from this memory. Her mind had taken it somewhere new.

Amaris leapt forward to save him, but was pushed out of the way suddenly by Keane. "He's already gone." The words lingered on his lips for a while and finally made it to Amaris's ears.

"No! We cannot let him go, Keane! He's a part of us!" She sobbed to him, struggling against his grasp. She made it out of his arms and fell into a new scene.

She was an observer this time. She could see herself in Keane's arms in the center of a huge chamber.

The Amaris in the center of the room addressed Keane. "Harvey? I knew he would kill me one last time so we could be together, my brother."

A single tear rolled down Amaris's face when she saw Keane's reaction.

"No." Keane shook his head, heart heavy. "No, Amaris. You're not dead. It's Keane."

"Keane?" she shook her head. "You look just like Harvey. I miss Harvey. I want to visit him. You can come with us later, Keane." She smiled now. "The three of us can be together, us siblings. But you have to finish your life first."

Keane cried silently now. "You have your life too, Amaris. I'm not ready for you to be gone yet."

Amaris could feel her heart breaking. Devon stepped towards the pain in the center. "I'm not ready for you to go either."

"Oh, Devon!" She smiled up at her. "You're so cute…and you were very brave just now. You don't need me anymore."

She started crying. "But I want you here with me!"

Amaris made a move towards herself, Keane, and Devon. She was going to let them know that they all made it out of here. That they were going to stay together.

The memory distorted, just like the other one. Ba'al stepped between Amaris and the trio. He turned towards Amaris. "They're going to die," he taunted. Amaris charged towards him, outraged. He stopped her with a simple snap.

"You can't stop it." His grin was too sinister to bear, and Amaris directed her attention to Devon and Keane, who were still trying to comfort the other Amaris. Her redirection of attention didn't stop him from continuing. "I'll kill them. And then, it'll just be me and you. We'll have fun."

Something in his voice made her shudder. "No," she managed, holding onto her self-control.

He leaned into her ear and whispered, "You are nothing. Nothing you will ever do can make you worth anything. I will destroy everything you care about."

An image of her planet appeared before them, replacing her brother, Devon, and herself. "You won't. You don't know where it is."

He laughed. "Says who?" She finally worked up the courage to look in his eyes. Her own were wide with horror. The expression only made him intensify his laugh. He roughly grabbed her hair and used it to fling her onto the ground. She knew what was coming next…

Amaris sat up in bed, her breath unsteady. Calm down, she thought. It was just a dream.

Still, she was not comforted. Could Ba'al have discovered the location of her homeworld? The thought was horrific. She had suffered so much to keep it safe. How could he have found out? Maybe…

No. Any of the three of them would not give it away. Like her, Keane, Devon, and Lowell all loved Aldercy too much to be flippant with its stargate address.

Wait…what happened to Allard?

Amaris clutched her stomach, and leaned towards the pan left next to her bed. She gasped, trying to overcome the overwhelming feeling of doom that had settled in the pit of her stomach.

No…he didn't. He didn't. He didn't!

She screamed out in her mind, but it could not hinder the feeling in her gut.

He did.

Amaris threw up.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Roland!"

The grey-haired man looked up from his feet when he heard his name called. Turning towards the source of the noise, he folded his arms and waited for the other man to catch up.

He ultimately did, and immediately Roland started walking again. "Commander Allard, what can I do for you on this fine morning?"

Allard walked with Roland, struggling a bit. "I want to know if I have your support."

It took all of Roland's self-control not to slap that rat. "My support?"

Allard let out a long sigh of exasperation. "I want to know where you stand on the matter of Amaris Gotin's team."

"I think you know where I stand," Roland replied, more quiet than usual. How dare he even think that his loyalty to Amaris and her team would so easily be dissolved?

"Well," Allard started, "I would think that after the story of their insubordination you would side with me."

Roland stopped. "You were sorely mistaken." He turned unexpectedly and started walking again; hoping Allard would take the hint and walk away.

No such luck.

"Why," he persisted.

Roland sighed. "I would have thought you'd know this by now, but I don't like you. I respect you as a worthy leader. You are brave and we owe you much. Nevertheless, I don't like you." He paused to catch his breath, and then continued in his tirade. "I recruited each of them. I gave Amaris her command. The only thing I care about is that you left all four of them behind-and I honestly don't give a damn as to what they did to you."

With that off his chest, he quickened his pace. Allard did not even bother to try keeping up to him.

"You've become too soft in your old age! I'll be damned if you keep your seat on the quorum."

Roland laughed to himself and continued on his way.

He did not originally have a destination, but ultimately he ended up at Amaris and Keane's house. He let himself in with the key they had given him.

They hadn't been gone that long. Only a week had passed since Allard had come thorough the stargate with his story. Nevertheless, Roland had already noticed the hole that had been left at the command center.

Everyone was too…stuffy. Amaris and her team had managed to be fun loving and caring of each other, and had managed to maintain professionalism about them.

To hold on to that shred of humanity, Roland came here, to their house. It smelled like them, and looking around at the pictures of the team made it seem like they were home.

However, if they were smart, they would never come home again. After all, Allard usually got his way. And he wanted them punished.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Lowell entered the infirmary after being kicked out of the lab by Major Carter and Devon. Apparently, they were in the middle of an interesting simulation, and he was disturbing them.

Personally, Lowell wouldn't use the words "interesting" and "simulation" in the same sentence, but to each his own. Or her own.

Anyways, the exasperated Devon sent him to see Amaris. Maybe even take her for a walk. She was not walking yet, but Dr. Frasier had told them that they could take her on walks with the supplied wheelchair if Amaris wanted to.

As Lowell came across the threshold, the first thought that occurred to him was she looks like hell.

It wasn't the best thing to think about someone, but there was no other thought to think. The dark bags under her eyes were even darker than they had been before. Her face was gaunt and pale, from an obvious lack of sleep. And she still insisted on reading that book Major Carter had given her.

"What's wrong," he asked in greeting. There was no beating around the bush in this crowd.

"Nothing," she denied, but the guilty look on her face did nothing to convince him she was telling the truth.

He sat in the chair next to her and sighed. "I've known you practically all your life. I know when you're lying to me."

"True," she said with a grimace.

"Go ahead, Amaris. Tell me. You'll feel better." At the skeptical look in her eyes, he added, "I promise not to tell anyone. Unless it's for your own good."

"As tempting as that sounds…"

"Amaris." He said it firmly, making his resolve clear. "Please tell me what's going on."

She shut the book, knowing he would never let her be if she didn't fill him in. "Fine. But I'm telling you this in confidence."

Lowell grinned. "Of course."

"Ok." She took a deep breath and started. "I had a dream. And now I can't sleep again."

Lowell grimaced, picturing the many gruesome possibilities she could have dreamt. "It was just a dream."

"No, its not that I'm too scared to sleep again, but rather it evoked some thought, and now I can't stop thinking about it," she emphasized.

"Well, what's on your mind? I'll share the burden."

"Lowell…what happened to Allard?"

He froze. This wasn't what he expected. He thought that maybe it had to do with some physics principal. Then, he could have made her laugh while feigning ignorance. It always cheered her.

But on this topic, he had nothing comical to say.

"He didn't want us to try and save you, Amaris," he said softly. "And you know to the three of us that that's unacceptable."

Her eyes widened at his tone. "What did you do?"

"We did what had to be done, Amaris."

"You killed him," she asked indignantly, and her mouth couldn't close all the way.

"No! What kind of people do you think we are?" He wished he had killed him, but that's not what she had asked. Killing him would have avoided many issues…

"Sorry, I didn't mean…" she trailed off. "So how am I here?"

"We restrained him. And rescued you."

"You guys will be in so much trouble when we go home," she chuckled slightly.

Lowell tried to laugh, but it came out strangled. She noticed.

"What?"

"Amaris…" he tried to find a way to put it. "We…at least Devon, Keane and I, are not going home after you get better. We can't. Allard escaped and went home…if we go back to Aldercy we'll be arrested on sight. And with his power, they won't even question his story."

"So…I can't go home?" Her mind was spinning. After all I did for my home…my reward is never going back.

Lowell grabbed her hand quickly. "Oh, no. Not at all. We aren't going to stop you from going home."

"I don't want to go without you!" she had started crying.

Dr. Frasier came in, looking at a clipboard. Without looking up, she started, "Amaris, you're doing well. You can go home…" she stopped here, after hearing a strangeled cry.

"Lowell, I can't believe you told her!" She hissed and jumped to Amaris's side. "The Tok'ra are doing whatever they can to stop Ba'al before he gets to the planet…"

"What," she cried out, even louder than her tears before.

Lowell caught Janet's eyes. "I only told her that we weren't going home, even if she was," he told her as quietly as possible.

Shit. Janet was furious with herself. "Oh."

"What are you talking about?" Amaris was demanding them for more information.

"Amaris…when Allard dialed Aldercy, a Jaffa saw him dial it."

Amaris's tears slowed, and her look of horror became one of nausea. She had hoped that she was wrong. "He does know...I knew it…He'll kill them all…and I'll be alone…"

She promptly fainted.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

New Character: Roland: A kind and gentle man in his late fifties. He's friends with or favorite alien team. In fact, he recruted them.

Little A/N: Amaris is not a damsel in distress type, she's just having a pretty bad week. Just to make sure you understand that.