Good, this is good. Your child will be the carrier of my plague. Sam felt sick at the thought of this thing using her baby as a tool to spread a disease, but she was even more sickened by the fact that the thing knew she was pregnant before she did.
'Whatever it is you think you'll gain by this – you're wrong. They'll give you nothing!'
Sam felt a mental chuckle from the thing, My dear, who said anything about wanting something from your people? All I want is to kill you all. You do know how to die – don't you? I met a race once that didn't. That didn't end well for my sisters or me.
At this point Sam completely shut down her mental connection with the thing controlling her. If it wanted them to die she'd have to do everything in her power to live.
As she burrowed further into her mind, trying to escape the thing in control of her, she could feel it laughing at her desperate antics. You cannot hide from me! Now you are me. I hope you've said goodbye to all your friends, you won't be talking to them again.
Fear coursed throughout Sam's veins, a fear she hadn't felt since she was under the control of the Entity so many years before. 'Help', she yelled out desperately in her mind. 'Help me, please!'
Her mind was encompassed with the darkness of unconsciousness, and as she felt herself slip away into oblivion, all she could hear was the heartless, joyless chuckle of the thing that was inside of her.
Hope took control of her host slowly; reassuring Holly every step of the way that she could be put back into the jar after Malady was contained. Holly's eyes took on a silver sheen to their depths as she sat up on her bed, causing Teal'c to look over at her from his vantage point next to Sam's bed.
"Who are you?" Hope asked him plainly. 'Teal'c!' Holly said from her mind, 'That's Teal'c!'
Teal'c looked at her strangely, with one of his eyebrows cocked up, "I am Teal'c. Are you well Holly Newman?"
"This is not Holly, Teal'c. My name is Hope. You are Jaffa, correct? Who was your master before you came here?"
Warning bells went off in Teal'c head but he answered nonetheless, "I was first prime of the false god Apophis."
"I am one of four sisters. Four sisters; two for good, two for evil. Many years ago there was a Goa'uld named Pandora who created us. Have you heard the story?"
Teal'c nodded, "Indeed I have. It is forbidden to speak of among the Jaffa, but there are those who remember it still and tell of the four sisters locked away in Pandora's box."
"Teal'c, the sister inside of your friend is Malady. Hers is the most devastating of sicknesses. Even Destruction, at her worst, can only affect the outside world." Having just thought of another factor that would play heavily into the outcome of Malady's embodiment, Hope added, "Is Major Carter with child?"
"Indeed."
Hope swore underneath her breath before collapsing on the bed. Teal'c rushed forward to check her pulse and breathing, before rushing out of the room to call Dr. Brightman.
"So, you're telling me that whatever is inside of Carter is named Malady and there's another thing inside of Holly named Hope. Hope is Malady's sister but she's also willing to help us kill Malady or put her back in her jar. Is that right?" Jack asked with a scowl firmly implanted on his face. It just got more confusing by the minute!
"Yes, Colonel, that's exactly what I'm telling you," Dr. Brightman said in her ever patient way. "If Hope can actually provide us with a means of getting Malady out of Major Carter… it's our only chance right now, sirs."
Hammond looked at Jack, watching the younger man's face as he went through the options and consequences in his head. "It's your call, Jack," Hammond whispered. "If you don't want to do it then I'll pull the plug right now."
Jack was silent for a few minutes and after a while Dr. Brightman wondered if he'd even heard the question. His face remained like stone to the doctor that didn't know him as well as the late Janet Fraiser. But to Teal'c, Daniel, and Hammond, who were in the room for the briefing, anguish and torment swept through his eyes.
"There's no choice," Jack said finally, startling the poor doctor. "If we don't trust Hope then Carter will die."
"Malady," Hope looked down at the sleeping form of her sister. The body she wore as her own was beautiful, and briefly Hope wondered if Malady had entered the female because of this trait.
"Go away, Hope," Malady said as she opened the eyes of her host. "Why are you awake? The others are not – I cannot feel the presence of Joy or Destruction."
"I could ask you the same thing, sister of mine. But then I know the answer." Hope sat down and looked at her sister's host again; her eyes dwelling on the still flat stomach that contained their only hope for survival and the very thing that might doom them all to death at the hands of Malady's sickness.
Malady's smile was sinister and revealed so much of her character, "Then you must also be aware of the child inside this body, which will act as Carrier for my disease. There is nothing any of them – or you – can do to stop it."
Hope rose gracefully, turning to exit the containment cell Malady was in. She was at the door before she turned around to look again at her sister, "Perhaps, Malady. Perhaps there is nothing any of us can do about your disease. Perhaps there is."
After leaving the containment cell, Hope turned and traveled to General Hammond's office, two SFs in tow. She knocked on the open door and waited for Hammond and O'Neill to stop talking before she came in.
"I need to know who the father of Major Carter's child is." The statement was blatant and caused both men to look up. Jack knew the answer to that question; General Hammond suspected; Hope didn't know at all.
"Why?" Jack asked, inquisitive as ever.
"Major Carter was the host of a Tok'ra named Jolinar, correct? Well, the only reason we were able to be placed inside Pandora's box was because Pandora's host had a specific gene that marked her as one of the descendants of the Ancient beings that built the Stargates. If the father of Major Carter's child has this gene then the child is the key to putting Malady back in her box."
"I thought it was a jar," Jack said.
Hope just gave him a look that said, "Don't argue fine points with me right now, this is far too important."
"Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond asked, bringing both of their attentions to him. "Do you know who the father of her child is?"
"Yes."
"Care to share that information with us?"
"Not really."
"If you do not, then you condemn Major Carter, and this world, to death. The child's life will be worse: as Carrier of the plague, it will have no effect on them – but they will live to see everyone they love and care for die. Please, Colonel."
Jack shut his eyes, unable to bear what he was about to say while looking into Hammond's face. "Me… I'm the father."
A/N: So? What do you all think? I'd really appreciate some feedback.