Epilogue

Gash'rak had watched furtively as Samantha Carter, host of Jolinar of Malk-shur, disappeared through the Stargate. A menacing smile graced his lips as he ran a hand over the tablet that she had left with him. If she were truly an archaeologist, she would have known that the stone pre-dated the Tok-ra, but she had been preoccupied with the idea of being stranded on Isadora and being unable to go home. He turned his back to the Stargate, and his eyes alighted upon another of his kind.

"Now it is time," he said. He held up the tablet and began to push the corresponding symbols on the DHD. The wormhole splashed outward and then settled back, rippling slightly. He turned back to find that many more had come to watch and participate. Without a word, he vanished into the Stargate, his eyes flashing.

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"Sooo, Carter, how've you been?" O'Neill's carefully casual voice brought Carter out of her musings.

"Okay, considering that I was coming home to a court-martial." Her eyes rested briefly on O'Neill's eyes, but then flickered back to her hands which she kept firmly upon a mug of tea. They had been sitting there long enough for the tea to be lukewarm when she took an idle sip. Footsteps behind her made Sam look up. A smile formed on her lips. "I was wondering how long it would take you two to show up. Grab a seat."

Sam and Jack slid over in their booth to make room for Daniel and Teal'c – now called Murray since they were out in public. He wore a Cubs baseball cap – an odd accessory on a large, ex Prime of Apophis.

"It is good to have you back, Captain Carter." Sam smiled at the Jaffa's formality, and the nods of Daniel and Jack told her more than words ever could just how much they had missed her.

"You guys didn't miss me that much, did you?" Sam caught the sudden flicker of both Teal'c and Daniel's eyes darting to Jack, but rather than being embarrassed, Sam felt comforted. "Well, I missed you – all of you." Silence once more reigned over the table, broken only when the waitress came to get the orders of the new arrivals.

"Sooo, Carter, how've you been?" Jack's casual voice was too casual, forcing Sam to look up at him.

"Okay, sir. How've you been?" Her eyes darted to Daniel and Teal'c when a sudden beeping went off. She turned the alarm on her watch off before glancing at the time. "Well, I should be going, it's late and we all have to report early tomorrow morning." Sam excused herself from the silent gazes that Jack, Daniel and Teal'c gave her. She couldn't explain it, but something didn't seem right – not that there was anything wrong, just that something was a little…off.

"They've just missed me, is all," muttered Sam to herself, as she got into her car and drove home.

She was tired when she arrived, and she looked forward to sleeping in her bed, one that didn't involve sleeping under a mound of dirt and grass. She chuckled remembering that the Cheyenne Mountain Complex was composed of dirt and grass and rock. Taking a shower would be good, though, help her to relax and calm her muscles. Climbing into bed, however, was a different story. The moment she laid her head on her pillow and closed her eyes, she found herself wide awake. She tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, but when she glanced at her clock, it had only been thirty minutes.

"Forget this," she muttered to herself, deciding that if she couldn't sleep she may as well stay up all night. She had done it before with help from coffee and interest in some scientific experiment or such. She sat on her couch and flipped on the television, surfing through the channels and coming to the same conclusion that she always did: garbage. That was before the electricity went out.

"Just my luck," she muttered, glancing at the alarm clock as it reset itself to 12:00. Just then, a knock came from her back door. Confused, she stood up and made her way carefully to the back door, and cautiously peeked out the window. She wasn't expecting the window to shatter, or the block of wood to hit her square in the forehead. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness, were three men entering her house, each armed with zats.

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Okay, okay, I know you all hate cliffies, but I'm sorry…I just had to. I'm not very good at epilogues – I've never written one before so I guess I'm just going to continue with another story. This is the end of this story, but I'll be starting another one…I'll be interested in knowing what title youwould all like me to title it :D So leave a review after the beep:..beep..:

Post Script: For those of you who like hanging onto cliffs, I'm sure you'll be interested to know that this isn't the last we see of Gash'rak…Mwahahaha!