Author Notes: Thanks for the kind reviews:)

Chapter 10: The Loss of and Gain of Hope

"Could someone get that!" Susan Carter screeched at the remainder of her family, her arms full of shopping.

Jessica bounced into the hall and picked up the receiver, "Hello?"

"Hello. I would like to speak to your father please."

"Who're you?"

"Jessica!," Susan hissed, "Be polite! What do they want?"

"Dad."

The bottom of one of the bags burst, spilling various food stuffs, including eggs, "Take it to him then!"

Jessica shrugged and yelled up the stairs, "DAD! Someone wants you on the phone!" Jess did not notice her mother's defeated expression at her phone manner.

Mark jogged down the stairs and took the cordless phone from his daughter, "Thanks honey. Hello? Mark Crater speaking."

"Lovely daughter Mark, pity."

Mark frowned and walked into his office closing the door behind him, "Who is this?"

"I'm offended Mark, don't you remember your Uncle David?" The voice was taunting and sing-song.

Mark froze, then hissed, "Listen to me you bastard, stay away from us!"

"Oh, I have no intention of going after you, your wife or your children; you are useless to me. I have what I need – spoken to your sister lately?" Mark didn't answer, he was in shock, how could they have got her? The man continued, "I just thought you'd want to know that your mother's work wasn't wasted after all."

Mark found his tongue, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, little Markey, you can't keep her safe, you can't help her and you definitely can't find her. You may be no use to me, but I can still make you suffer for closing my project down all those years ago." The phone went dead.

Mark slid down the wall in shock, it was all being unburied. The phone dropped from his limp hand. He didn't know how long he sat there for, but he didn't move until he heard Jess screeching from the kitchen that Mum had made dinner. Mark shook his head to clear the fog that had collected in his brain. Making his mind up, he hurried to the kitchen.

"Who was it? You were on the phone for a long time." Susan commented from her seat at the table.

"It was work. I'm so sorry, but I'm needed to go to New York for a couple of days – I leave tonight."

"What? Why can't they sort it out themselves? It's your summer vacation! You've only been home a day!"

"I know, but the new guy Johnson's been flapping his mouth again and we could have lost one of our biggest clients – I'm the only one that can get them back." Mark was surprised at how easily the lies rolled off his tongue.

"Alright, you should go pack then I suppose." Susan did not look best pleased.

"Aww, Dad, do you gotta?" Tom whined.

"Sorry guys, I'll be back in a few days."

Mark went upstairs and immediately booked a flight to Colorado Springs – he needed help.

Jonas, Teal'c, Daniel and various other members of the SGC were watching a sparring match between Major Griff and Colonel O'Neill when the General came in.

Muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'give me strength', General Hammond called a halt to the proceedings, "SG-1, I want to see you in the briefing room in five minutes." He then strode out again.

Daniel commented, "He looked pissed, what'd we do this time?"

Jonas shrugged, Teal'c raised an eyebrow and Jack groaned, "We're on leave!"

"Jack, we're still on base," Daniel pointed out.

"But it's the principle."

Eight minutes later, and Jack sauntered into the briefing room, to be met by the eyes of his team, General Hammond and a man he vaguely recognised, but couldn't quite place. "Nice of you to join us Colonel. Now we can finally begin."

Jack closed the door and took a seat next to Teal'c, "I thought unauthorised civilians weren't allowed on base." He said pointedly.

"Oh yeah, ignore me, I'll just go temporarily deaf," said the unknown man sarcastically – it seemed he had a short toleration.

"In normal circumstances, Colonel, yes, but I have good reason. Don't worry, he has been briefed on what we do here, to an extent. Let me introduce Major Carter's brother, Mr Mark Carter. Perhaps you would like to explain to SG-1 what you have told me?"

"Yesterday evening, I got a phone call from a man named David Saunders. He told me that he has Sam, and I believe him, he would gain nothing in lying. He is also NID, the former head of a secret project, called Project Phoenix. I need your help, and from what General Hammond has told me, I think you can."

Jack was the first to speak, "This Saunders guy, you sure he has Carter? It could be a trap."

Mark shook his head, "He poured his whole life into that project, and now Sam is his only link; Mum's dead and I'm no good anymore."

"Why?"

Mark shifted awkwardly in his seat, "The project altered its subjects. However, the alterations in me are no longer needed. I've got two kids, as soon as the first was born, my, erm, alterations, became extinct."

"Why would having kids help?"

"It renders the aim of the alterations complete."

Jack sighed, "You're good at avoiding details aren't you?"

Mark smiled bitterly, "I want my sister back, I'm guessing you want you team member and friend back. I've told you what you military guys call 'need to know'."

Jack slumped in his chair, sulking. Daniel shook his head at his team leader's maturity, "So what can we do?"

The General gestured to those in front of him, "We need to find Major Carter, but unfortunately, Mr Carter doesn't know the location of where they were held the first time."

Mark sighed, "We were in the back of a truck when we escaped; by the time we found a road sign, it'd been at least two days of constant driving."

"Where? It could narrow down the search."

"We were two hundred miles from Washington."

"So where do you suggest should we start Mr Carter?" Teal'c spoke up.

"Maybourne." Everyone on the table turned towards Jonas in shock.

Jack raised his eyebrows, "Your timing is excellent."

Jonas smiled, "Thanks, I surprised myself."

General Hammond smiled, "Very well, I will arrange it. An NID operative could prove useful"

"I want to come." Mark spoke up.

Jack looked uncomfortable, "That won't be possible. He's erm, not nice."

"I never figured, him being NID," said Mark sarcastically, "Besides, I know what questions to ask."

General Hammond thought about it, "Very well, but you will not talk to him, leave that to Colonel O'Neill. Dismissed."

Sam groaned. Every muscle in her body ached as she rose groggily from her very uncomfortable position on the floor. Sitting up, she assessed her surroundings, which only caused her to groan again, "Oh joy. Well, at least it isn't white."

She was sitting in a cell with clear walls, near identical to the one the NID had kept the girl Anna, the human-goa'uld hybrid.

"I am glad you approve Sammy." The voice came from behind her, causing her to whip around, much to the protest of her muscles. The man who had spoken was the man that haunted her dreams; the one with the black eyes. He had grown a lot older since she had last seen him, but it was definitely him, and now she remembered his name.

"Saunders."

A cold smile cracked open on his face, "You remember me Sammy, I am so touched."

"Don't call me that." Sam growled.

"Ah, yes, I forgot. You were always so uncooperative. It made me wonder why your mother did not erase your brother's memory and keep yours, but I suppose you both got out in the end. Unfortunately."

"Why come after me after all these years? Do you have a life? Or are you just obsessed?"

Saunders sighed, "If there is one thing I dislike Sammy, it is leaving an experiment unfinished. It means you have not touched all the angles. Imagine my delight when I found out that you were, shall we say, available to carry on your work here?"

"Look, I'll probably just be a failure like everyone else. How do you know I'm your answer?"

"Because your mother died to protect the secret that lies in your blood. That is proof enough."

"Maybe she just didn't want me and Mark to become vegetables like all the others."

"If so, why burn the notes? Because she didn't want any more subjects to have her strand of the serum implanted," he smiled, "Congratulations Samantha, you are about to take us into a new era. A few more simulations and we'll be ready by tomorrow." He turned and walked away.

A sick feeling rose in Sam's stomach; she was going to get the same end as the rest of them. Scrambling to her feet, she began banging on the walls, screaming 'no!' in a primal fear. But before she knew it, a hissing filled the chamber, and she slumped to the floor, in another gas-induced sleep.

"You didn't tell me that the guy was on death row."

Jonas leant against the wall next to Mark, watching the exchange on the other side of the window, "Well, when Jack said he wasn't nice, he may have been icing over the truth a bit."

They both turned as Daniel came through the door from the room that Maybourne was being held in, he sighed, "He's still claiming ignorance, and there's only so long that even Jack can threaten him for."

"It could easily have been before his time." Jonas commented, "I mean, he had to be on our side once, right?"

Daniel looked at him with a look that clearly stated, 'you have got to be kidding'.

"Let me try." Mark asked.

"The General clearly said that it was not to be allowed," Jonas pointed out.

However, as he said this, he noticed a small malicious smile grow on Daniel's lips, "Perhaps, but Mark can go beyond threatening, because not only is he civilian, but he has no connection to the SGC. So if I was to go and get some coffee with Jonas, and carelessly mention that the door code is 785341…" Both men left the observation room and went into the hallway.

Mark quickly punched in the code before he could forget it, a burst into the room. He shocked the three men so much that Jack and Teal'c just stood there as Mark slammed Maybourne into a wall. Maybourne spoke first, "I don't believe we've met."

"What do you know about Project Phoenix? Where was it?"

"As I have already told Jack, I don't know."

"Yeah? Well Jack didn't have a hand around your neck."

"I'm on death row; do you really think it matters?"

Mark increased his grip, "Tell me what you know about Saunders."

"You really- d-don't give up…argh."

"Mark!" Jack called out, "We don't want him dead. Or a security detail."

Mark reluctantly let him, "If he was ever involved, he deserves it."

Maybourne was silent for sometime, then he spoke, "Why do you say that? I was under the impression that you wanted to know what the project was."

"No, I want to know where it was."

Maybourne's eyes widened, "My God. You're one of them aren't you? I thought none survived."

"I thought you didn't know anything."

Maybourne looked thoughtful for a moment, "Alright, I'll tell you what I know – it's only rumours mind you, I only know what I heard from various departments. To be honest, I never really believed them."

"Never took you for the cooperative type Harry." Jack commented.

"Maybe you never believed in our efforts, Jack, but what we did was for the good of Earth. What they did back then," he shuddered, "wasn't right. Are you still…"

Mark shook his head, "No. I have two children."

Maybourne nodded and returned to his seat. "As far as I know, the project was shut down after it was unsuccessful, all test subjects didn't produce the required results. In most, the alterations never worked. Some, I think were successful, but didn't complete the goal before the serum ran out. In those few, when they woke up, they had no personality; they were just empty shells, vegetables, only able to complete the simplest command. That wasn't good either, because they'd have a helluva lot of explaining to do."

"There were two successes,"

"Yeah. And I'm guessing you were one of them."

"We escaped before they could test their theories. You still haven't told us where it was."

"Jack said that it was near the Washington state, maybe in it?" Mark nodded; Maybourne picked up the pen on the table and wrote down an address, "This is the only NID facility that I know of near that area. And it hasn't been active for a long time."

Mark grabbed the piece of paper and went outside, Teal'c following. Jack begrudgingly gave thanks. Maybourne nodded, "I meant what I said Jack, that project was the lowest point of the NID's history, and it was controlled by a madman."

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: I know that Maybourne isn't on death row, that after Paradise Lost he went to live on some planet, but let's presume he went to live in a prison instead.

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