I would like to take the opportunity to say, that this is NOT how the story was going to play out. Originally, Sam was going to be forced to kill Dante who would then Ascend to be with Janet; a semi-happy ending. But Elphie Muse finally returned from...well...wherever muses go for vacation and I liked her idea better than Muse/ViH's. So I don't know how many more chapters are left in this fic. Elphie Muse isn't telling me.

Elphie Muse: Damn skippy. And you need to stop threatening people with brownies.

Okie dokie.

Muse/ViH: How come you never listen to me?

Elphie Muse helped me write a fic that got over 100 reviews alone.

Muse/ViH: Oh...

Hopefully with two muses now, I will be able to write chapters more quickly. So, now we go onto the story chapter!

Not mine, never will be unless there's a strange 'twister of fate'.

Elphie Muse: Nice reference.

Thanks. Now go read while we play cards.


"How did he change back?" Teyla asked a half hour later. They had brought Dante down to a secured room so Beckett could run tests on him.

"I don't know. There doesn't seem to be any reason for it," Beckett said, clearly puzzled over Dante reverting back to his normal form. "He still has the mutated genes within him, but it seems that he suppressed them."

"What happened up there on the tower Carter?" Elizabeth asked.

Sam shrugged, faint bruises on her neck from Dante. "I don't know for sure. I tracked him down to that tower and we started fighting. He managed to knock my guns away and grabbed me by the throat before I was able to draw my sword. I blacked out and the next thing I know he's back to normal."

"Is it not possible that his heart overcame the beast within him?" Teal'c asked. Everyone in the room stared at him in surprise that he would suggest something like that.

"I don't know," Beckett said finally.

"I didn't want to hurt Sam," Dante said in a low voice. Rodney jumped and backed away from the door to the cell.

"You recognized her?" John asked.

Dante nodded, his arms over his bare chest. "I could see and feel what I was doing, but I couldn't stop myself."

"Like being a host to a Goa'uld," Caldwell stated.

"Doctor Beckett?" a nurse said, handing a file folder to him. Beckett took it and began paging through it. His eyes widened.

"I don't believe it…" he whispered.

"Believe what?" Vala asked.

"The Wraith genetic code has been completely wiped out within him," Beckett said, handing the file to Sam.

The blonde took it and flipped through the pages. "So what? Now he's a vampire-lycan hybrid? That doesn't make sense either."

"To conquer others is to have power. To conquer yourself is to know the Way," Dante murmured to himself.

"What?" Ronon asked.

"It's a line from the Tao Te Ching; a philosophy book written centuries ago by a sage named Lao Tzu," Daniel said.

"Oma Desala said that to me before I changed," Dante said. "She said I was ready to Ascend."

"Maybe you Ascended just enough to suppress the Wraith genetic code," Daniel suggested with a shrug.

Dante opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly grunted in pain and doubled over. He wrapped his arms around his abdomen and crashed to the floor, the tattoos on his shoulders and upper back glowing a faint blue.

"What's happening to him?" Ronon demanded.

Sam shook her head. "I have no idea," she admitted. "I don't remember anything like this happening to any vampire or lycan back on Earth."

"Why is his tattoo glowing though?" Rodney asked. "It shouldn't be doing that." He looked around at the people gathered in the room. "Should it?"

What the hell is happening with you Dante? Sam thought to herself. The bracer beeped ever so softly and Sam glanced down at it. She frowned at the message on it, but quietly slipped out of the room and ran back to the Ragnarok. She walked into the cargo bay area and spun around.

"Okay. I'm here. Show yourself!" she commanded.

"Hey Sam," Janet said.

"Okay. What the hell is going on? What's wrong with Dante? Why are his tattoos glowing. How are they glowing?" Sam demanded.

"Sam, there are some things in this world that can't be explained by science," Janet said. "If you hadn't given Cassie your blood to drink, Lilith would have arisen on Earth. Technology would have had nothing to do with that."

"So what? Magic is real?"

Janet shrugged her shoulders. "How else can you explain a person Ascending like Daniel and I have done?"

Sam didn't have anything to say to that. "Assuming you're right, what's happening to my brother?"

Janet shook her head. "Not even we know. Nothing like this has ever happened before Sam. There's never been a hybrid since history has been recorded."

"Okay. Then how was Dante able to change back into himself…relatively speaking," Sam inquired.

"Daniel was right. His mind was enlightened enough to allow him to change one thing about him. Had he Ascended at that point he probably would've been Descended." Janet shrugged. "Some of the politics among the Ascended are worse than they are on Earth," she said.

"Why are you here though?" Sam asked her friend with a frown.

"I was sent here. I'm going to be Descended in a few minutes," Janet said.

"What? Why? You didn't break any rules…did you?"

Janet shook her head. "I didn't. But we all agree that Dante needs to be around people he cares about. When he was that creature, he recognized you Sam. He stopped himself from killing you. Maybe the heart and the mind won out over the beast inside of him," she said.

"And one way to keep him from changing back into a rampaging is to keep him surrounded by people he cares for," Sam figured. "But what if he dies?"

Janet shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she said. She lifted her head and stared at the ceiling. "It's about to happen."

Sam shut her eyes and turned her head away as bright white light filled the room. After several moments the light faded away and Sam blinked to clear her vision. Janet was still standing in the cargo bay. She wore a pair of combat boots, green uniform pants, and a black shirt. Sam could see Janet's dog tags' chain glinting in the faint light.

Janet looked around in confusion. "Where am I?" she asked.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Sam asked.

"Getting my throat ripped out by Lilith…"

"Well, after you died you Ascended. It's been around a year since your 'death'. And you're in Atlantis by the way," Sam said.

"I have a lot to be filled in on, don't I?" Janet asked.

Sam smiled. "It's just good to have you back. But you do need to be filled in on a lot of stuff. And most of it in the last few days concerns Dante."

Janet looked at her, worry flooding her body. "What's happened to him?" she demanded, looking pleadingly at Sam.

Vampire Chronicles Vampire Chronicles Vampire Chronicles Vampire Chronicles Vampire Chronicles Vampire Chronicles Vampire Chronicles

Cameron looked around, finally noticing that someone was missing. "Where'd Sam go?" he asked.

"She left the room nearly an hour ago," Teal'c said.

"And you didn't stop her?" John asked.

"I did not see the need to," the Jaffa answered.

"It's all right guys," Sam said. "I just needed some time to think."

"Dante still isn't looking so great," Cameron said.

Sam nodded. "I know. But this is outside of everyone's expertise." She nodded towards her brother. "This is magic at work."

"Magic isn't real," Rodney said.

"Then how do you explain the glowing tattoos?" Ronon asked. Rodney opened and closed his mouth before crossing his arms in defeat.

"Look, whatever's happening to Dante, he needs people with him who care about him," Sam said.

"You want to go in that cell with him?" Rodney asked.

"He's my brother. He won't hurt me."

"He tried to throw you off of a building," Elizabeth said.

"But he didn't. His heart and mind recognized me and he saved me," she said. "So we're going into that cell to try and help him."

"We?" Daniel asked.

Sam stepped aside and Janet came into the room. "Hey guys. Long time no see," she said to their stunned stares.


She's ba-ack! But will Dante overcome whatever the heck is happening to him? Don't ask me, only the muses know. So until tomorrow, review! I'll give the first reviewer an invisible Stargate...if only I could find the damn thing...