Hey! I'm back! Thank you all for the reviews, you are fantastic for staying with me :D

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter XIII

March 20th, 2004

Underground Sanctuary.

Inside the room were now Teal'c lies unmoving, the heart monitor is still beeping comfortably as a background sound SG-1 didn't think they will find comforting until now. But that along with the sight of his chest rising and falling for the past hour; they find reassurance. Helen watched them intensely for a while, assessing her next move. And then, she decided they already disliked her enough, so it didn't matter.

"Well," she started, clapping her hands together. They all had searched for the fountain of the sound before their gazes fell over the old Doctor. Not unfazed, she smiled softly.

"I'm in deep need of examining your friend, and I can use the space," she explains, waving her hands towards the sides of the bed where they are keeping their guards. They moved slowly, and she tries not to usher them out as she would with her team. But she fails to avoid closing the door a little too close to their noses for their taste. They glare at her again, making her turn around barely avoiding shrugging as an explanation.

They are ready to charge at the door, but it's not like they can't see what she is doing. Similar to the ISO rooms back at the SGC, the whole wall between them and her is a glass one, and there's no point on being on the aggressive side when she is under their watch.

Everything goes silent for a while; everyone holds their breath for what it seems forever. While unfazed by the glances Magnus is sure is receiving, Helen continues her study of Teal'c's condition. The end of her lip curves upwards when the blood test results appear on the monitor, then she turns around to her expecting guests. She walks out closing the door behind her back.

"Well?" Sam asks curiously.

"Everything points to a full recovery." Helen smiles, "and before you ask, Colonel O'Neill. No, I can't be certain of this until more time passes."

"Why is he not awakening?" Daniel asks softly.

"The activation of part of the DNA can be quite painful; I've placed him under enough sedatives to sleep until tomorrow morning." She answered, then turned towards Janet. "Doctor Frasier, once you are back to your regular lives, he will need to have medical exams periodically for a while, to ensure the change remains and it's not just a temporary solution. I'll go with a weekly review for the first couple of months, and increase the space in between until it is reduced to once by year, to avoid having him attached to a facility for long."

"He has medical exams every time before and after a mission," Janet announces.

"Then, I would add the ones needed along with the ones you normally do. That way, you will always be on top of the situation. I will show you how to perform them and what you need to verify. Nikola or Henry will provide you with the software required to obtain the results quickly. Apart from the software, you should have access to all the chemicals needed. If not, we will seek a way to provide you with ours." Jack frowned at that last part.

"Anything else? Can we get back in there?" Daniel eagerly asked.

"Well, the Tretonin arrived before I joined you in the room. It's the box I left inside; I trust you'll know the right way to handle it. If it needs to be refrigerated, there's a freezer in there, fourth door to the right," She pointed to the back of the room. "And yes, you can enter now."

"What about the sanctuary?" Daniel inquired, remembering what they were doing before Teal'c passed out.

"I'll take we won't need to resume our presentation until your friend fully recovers."

"That will be nice, yes."

"There's not much left to know, just a lot to show. And I'm assuming, at least one of you will be by his side until he wakes up. Am I correct?" They all nod at once, making Helen smile. "Good. There's always someone from my team awake or easily woken, radio if there's a change in his condition. Do you all know how to do a basic examination, pulse, skin, etcetera?" They all nodded, "It's all set then. If any of you spots rashes, skin changes, and even, eye color changes, please do call." Doctor Magnus finished and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked before she can help herself.

"You have the situation under control in here, and I'll gladly return to my other responsibilities. Including explaining why I called for a massive movement for a medication that's not needed any longer."

"Are leaving us here? Without supervision?" Daniel asks a bit incredulously.

"That's what I'm planning, yes. Should I keep you supervised?" She asked, raising her eyebrow. "The lockdown is still off. However, if it makes you feel better, I can bring it back to level two, or even level one for this floor only. However, I do consider you are all adults capable of behaving."

"You mean, we are free to roam?"

"You are free for everything, Doctor Jackson, except to get rid of my protégés. Or touch things you aren't supposed to."

"Are you sure?" Sam asks in concern.

"Don't worry, Major, half of the beings who are in here, are quite capable of defending themselves. What would worry me the most, is them hurting you if you make them feel threatened. Also, the most dangerous things are protected by biometrics or voice-activated. Or both. So, yes. I'm sure."

"Is that a threat?"

"Far from it. I'm just pointing you a reality: your weapons are stored, and in time we will return them to you. Ours are secured. On the other hand, I'm confident you don't want to try and fight Afra in hand to hand spar. Fire elementals are quite difficult to contain."

"How do we get out of here?"

"You are two rooms away from the one you woke up to, and the infirmary lab Doctor Frasier used to check you all. Therefore, you should know how to return to your designated rooms. If not, as I've said before, there's always someone awake around here."

"What about Teal'c?"

"Well, your friend is stable and on a good track."

"But shouldn't you give him, I don't know, more tests?"

"The only test I need to run is to verify his biometrics are stable and his DNA not mutating again. That's all set. There is an alarm configured in case there's a change in his condition. If that happens, I'll be the first to know."

"Then we are good, thanks!" Daniel nods.

"Alright, I should go now. The sun will be off in a couple of hours, and there's much to do around here. If you find yourself interested; there's a magnificent light spectacle at nights." She added cryptically. "Good evening," they watched her disappear in the opposite way she had pointed them.

"The sun will be off in a couple of hours?" Jack questioned in a mock British accent. "Shouldn't be the sun will be down, or the sunset will start?"

"Well, she did mention us being below the building," Daniel pointed, walking towards the room.

"But there's the sun out there! I think she might be a few fries short of a happy meal," Jack commented.

"I don't know, sir. She looks quite normal to me"

"Haven't you heard, Carter? She's not; she's not human."

"Yeah, I got that, sir. Teal'c is not human either." She gulped after the glare she received, "How are we going to proceed?"

"We can take shifts. A shift of two sounds like a good plan for my ears."

"Two shifts of two, one's awake the other one can sleep."

"Do we all agree?" Jack asks, and we all nod once. "Cool."

"I can stay with Janet now, sir. You guys should get some food, get some shut-eye and return later."

"Sure, Carter. We will be back in 8 hours?" She nodded. Jack explained to Daniel how they were going to proceed while dragging the archeologist out of the room. Janet and Sam walked towards Teal'c room and pulled the couple chairs closer to the bed. The Doctor kept a close eye on both the patient and her friend.

"What aren't you telling me, Sam?" Janet asked after a while.

"Nothing," the major muttered.

"She found out about your DNA, didn't she?" Janet risked. "If they can do such things with theirs," she said, waving towards Teal'c. "God only knows what tests they did to you when you were unconscious," Sam shook her head.

"They didn't do any DNA testing while we were asleep. "

"But she did test yours when you were awake?"

"I…" Sam tried, but just shook her head and raised her eyes to the ceiling.

"You know, I would love to get my hands on their DNA to check out what's different in them," Janet sighed, Sam looked at her as if she had grown another head. "It's just a dream, Sam. I won't ask, nor I will try to force a needle down her arm," Sam smiled remembering how she couldn't break Helen's skin with the needle until she told her to do it. "What?"

"Nothing," Sam shook her head, "just something funny I remembered." Janet's eyes remained in her.

"She wants you to stay, huh? Is that to study you?"

"No, she doesn't. "

"Are you sure, because she seemed rather interested in you."

"Yes, I'm sure, Janet. She doesn't want to study me."

"But she wants you to stay?"

"I…" she tried, but then she just closed her mouth again with a sigh. Janet understood what she wasn't saying.

"You want to stay," she whispered in realization. "You want to know if you are something to be studied."

"No, Janet, it is nothing of the sort. I don't want to be a study case. And no she didn't even mention it studying me!" She shouted, and walked away, "I'm sorry, Janet. I shouldn't scream to you."

"Sam," she started, reaching for her friend's shoulder with a hand, "I'm here, whenever you want to talk. And I'm here if you don't want to do it either."

"Thanks, Janet. I appreciate it."

They changed subjects, and then, at some point, Kate brought them something to eat. Not too long after, Henry went down and gave them books and computers. And Will came to check if they needed something else and pointed them to the bed in the other room in case one of them wanted to sleep. Before they noticed, their time came to an end.

They heard the sounds of boots walking closer, and half expected them to be from another member of the Sanctuary team. Janet jumped out of bed, and half asleep joined Sam, who had placed the notebook down on the chair beside her. They watched as Daniel and Jack strode down the corridor and towards them, and they walked out of the room to join them. After a quick greeting, Daniel went straight into the room in which Teal'c was. To Sam's eyes, Jack looked a bit more tired and disheveled than he did before.

"Carter? A word?" Jack asked, she nodded.

"I'm going to explain to Daniel what he has to do in a few hours; I'll take you will be comfortable getting that information out of him, Colonel?" Janet inquired, and the Colonel nodded in confirmation. The officers waited for Janet to close the door behind her before they turned to each other.

"Carter." Jack started, making her flinch, he took a deep breath, and she could see how his eyes softened a little, "Sam, I need to know we are okay."

"What do you mean?" she asked, biting herself to avoid adding the sir at the end.

"I saw how you looked at me when I said they should kill them all, and you did remind me Teal'c is not human either."

"Oh! That," She trailed nervously.

"I get it; I might have gone overboard with my comments. But think about it, Carter. Some of them are too much of a risk. What would happen if the fall in the wrong hands?" Jack asked, passing a hand through his hair. "We already have a bunch of snakes we can't control running havoc outside," Sam raised her eyebrow and embraced herself by the middle.

"You don't trust Doctor Magnus to care for the ones in here; you don't think she can keep them in control."

"I don't trust her, no. She seems a bit too young to be dealing with this kind of responsibility." He pointed, and she frowned. "What?"

"I was young when they placed the development of the gate code in my hands. And I was still 'young' when everyone trusted the safety of the universe in our hands. Jack, I wasn't even thirty when we jumped into that ship and avoided the colonization of Earth." She told him, making him sigh. "So, excuse me if I don't see the reason why seeming young or being young means you are not capable? Since when age and capability go hand in hand? And don't you dare to say since birth, because that's not true. The ability of one person has nothing to do with age and everything to do with the being. What if her seemingly 'bit too young' face keeps hidden a remarkable brain and an extra ability to control things we didn't know existed before? I mean, yes, she looks like someone in her thirties, but do we know how long has she been in this? What if she started taking care since she was 20, that gives her at least ten years of experience, ten years of which we never knew anything about this and to me that points to an outstanding capability to keep things under control." He grimaced.

"I get it!" He said mostly to stop her, "You like her. Crap, you actually like being here." He affirmed.

"I do," she accepted quickly. "I love the SGC and my job."

"Did she? They offered you one?"

"Sort of," she sighed, Helen hadn't, she told her the doors was open for whatever she chose to do. Ashley, in uncertain words, told her to stay around. "There were some comments about how useful it would be to have someone with my skills around, yes. No formal offer whatsoever, not that I'm planning on accepting or volunteer for it either."

"Good," he sighed in relief, "and we? Are we okay?" He asked in worry; he did care about her. Hell! He loved her, but sometimes the differences between them were just too many, and he often wondered if that breach wouldn't be impossible to close.

"I can't change the way you feel about them, Jack. If someone can, is them. They can show you they are not half as bad as you believe. And, well, knowing you I know it will take time. I understand you worry about 'what if's' that won't be in our hands if they come to happen." she smiled and looked around. "Hell, I've confessed that I care for you more than I should, and when I did, I already knew that part of you is overprotective with who you care and with this world and it didn't change my feelings," she noticed the confused expression he had. "What I'm saying is: don't worry, this can't change how I feel."

"So, we are okay?" He asked in doubt

"Yes. We are okay," Sam smiled, and Jack knew they were because it was the one reserved for him.

"Will you tell me what's been bothering you?" He risked, she smiled at him then sighed. He had known the answer before she uttered the words.

"No, not yet at least, I'm sorry. There's a lot on my mind right now. Nothing to worry, just a lot," he raised his eyebrow but didn't push further.

"There's always a lot on your mind, Carter. And you pulled through every time." He added, giving her a comforting smile. "Now, go! Shush! Sleep, Major! Don't make me do it an order!" He joked, making her giggle.

"Night, sir!" She called and went to find Janet before disappearing towards their rooms.

SAM's POV.

March 21st, 2004

I wake up for what it feels like the millionth time. I tried to sleep; I did. And I just woke up wondering what would have been the outcome of my attempts had Jack order it. My thoughts sometimes make me laugh.

I consider my options, I can try to sleep again, but I'm quite conscious that tossing and turning was useless until now. So, option one is, repeating the cycle of trying to fall asleep only to wake up again after not more than 40 minutes. Speaking of it, I check my watch and sigh, around 35 minutes passed since the last time I did the same. That gives me another twenty minutes of sleep and adds to the little less than four hours of pseudo decent sleep. More than enough if I can find some coffee in the next six hours.

In nights like this, I hate my brain.

It just won't shut up.

The thirty minutes' break only happens if I'm exhausted. It feels more like a blackout than real sleep. Is almost like my body shuts down the energy flow to the brain, and as it gets relaxed, the brain gets back the control slowly, and images start to appear. Then, dreams start. And finally, it's like it realizes that the thoughts are related to the question that keeps popping in my mind, and then, I wake up.

Once I'm awake, and in the dark, the fight initiates again. Until I finally give up and start the day. The disturbing thing is, I will remain like this until I manage to answer the questions that are annoying me.

I push the sheets away and walk to the wardrobe that exist in the room, and in which I've found the clothes I'm currently wearing. But as I can't roam the Sanctuary in shorts and a tank top, I find myself something else to wear. And I remember how Daniel, Jack, and Teal'c had looked in clothes which weren't theirs. How had they known they would fit them, us, so well? I shiver as I remember how well Jack looked in them. Then I shook my head. There are more things to him that how he looks.

I walk out of the room and into the darkened corridor, they haven't exactly given me the grand tour, and yes they have mentioned we are underground. Which with a sun shining out there as it did earlier, I find it quite challenging to believe. I should ask for the tour, and they can explain some more about how the undergrown thing works. I mean, I work 26 floors under the base of a mountain, and it isn't this pretty.

Before I notice, my feet have dragged me in front of the doors that know I can easily recognize as Helen's office. And there's light at the door, so I knock. This time there's no 'come in,' but she did mention I could come around whenever I wanted. So, I open the door and enter, looking around cautiously, an excuse and apology ready to go out if needed.

It is empty, though. The light comes from a lamp at the desk. I guess it is one of those you leave on to find your way out of the room.

"She went to bed a while ago," someone says, and I jump a little out of fright. "My apologies, I didn't want to scare you." I turn around to find my biological father staring at me with a mischievous smile on his face.

"What makes you think I was looking for her?" I ask, and I don't know how I manage not to facepalm myself when he chuckles.

"You are at her office," he points, and I feel the blush burning my cheeks, "She's a light sleeper, a knock on her door and she will be up for you. Want me to show you where it is?"

I nod yes before I fully understand what've agreed, and he is at my side faster than I'm capable of processing. The wink and the smile he gives to me point to him showing off his skills. Then he walks to the door and opens it, waving for me to go out first. He goes back to the desk and turns the lamp off, before walking out and closing the door behind our backs. I take a couple of steps in the general direction I remember making when I went in search of my mother's room earlier.

"I know you went to visit her earlier. If you know where her room is, why did you accept my offer?" He asks in what I will define as his curious glance.

"I don't know for sure," I admit, and he grins, "but if you knew I know, then why did you offer?"

"Ah… truth to be told, I don't know. I guess it is my subconscious way to say I do want to spend some time with you and getting to know you."

"I'll guess my subconscious agrees with your subconscious," I smile, and he nods, and we both stop talking. It's not uncomfortable, which is good for me.

"How did they take it?" He asks carefully, stealing a side glance. I sigh.

"I don't know. I'm not sure. I think Daniel took it well enough; Janet, she liked what you did and want to know how it works, you know, want to know the details, she won't ask though."

"Good. The Doctor looks like a curious one," he grinned. "And your Colonel?"

"Jack doesn't trust easily; I don't know how this will result once we go back." I finish worrying my lower lip.

"Don't worry," he grins, "we survived worse than three military people, one archeologist and an alien who had all willingly signed NDA's."I chuckle at his joke.

"Is there anything worse?" I guess now I know from where the twisted humor comes.

"Well, there was our last experience on that sewer, being half electrocuted by Helen's father to get a key, the whole abnormal debacle, a sickness designed exclusively for abnormals, Edison, WWII, WWI, Victorian Era, no internet or electricity." He counts with his fingers until he reaches nine and then stops, "I can dare you to name anything in between our birth and now, that we hadn't survived." He grins smugly. I try to think of something he hadn't mentioned in his shortlist, and the silly movie comes to my mind.

"The Titanic," I frown. His whole demeanor changes before he adds quietly.

"Touche!"

"I never thought it would be that easy."

"Well, I did say 'we.' And I wasn't in it. Your mother, though," he shook his head.

"She was on it?" I ask in surprise.

"Worse, she almost didn't survive that one."

"How?" I roll my eyes, and he chuckles. "I mean, I know how it happened."

"Helen was coming to visit; she announced it by telling me she had an important thing to do that she couldn't possibly postpone. The Titanic was the one ship that could bring her on time, she said. I asked her not to come in it. But her stubborn self embarked in it, and she was too close never to make it."

"But?"

"Sally," he provides as if that explains it all. "Back then, Sally was at the London Sanctuary; she asks to be where Helen is. Anyhow, she told Sally about the trip. As it was a cold water trip, the mermaid couldn't follow Helen. Thus, she announced it to her family."

"I thought Sally was the only mermaid," I frown.

"She is not the last one; we are not sure how many for them are left. But she is one of the few. Alas, the crash happened, and Helen being her, tried to save everyone, she pushed woman and children and even some man inside the boats giving her seat away every time until there was no more space left. There was nowhere to go, but the water." He grimaced, "When the mere folks saw that many people in the water, they divided themselves, some when trying to find out if she managed to get in a boat, while most of them stood behind attempting to find her in the water."

"And they found her."

"Yeah, Sally shared that image with me, I shall confess still terrifies me. She was barely alive, still trying to keep herself afloat tiredly," he added sadly. "They grabbed her and kept her afloat. One found something to make noise with; they tried to warm her up until the boat came too close. Aided by night, one positioned beneath her and waved her hands, and they rescued her. The conclusion going around was that she managed to remain conscious long enough to be rescued. She was unconscious until they arrived at the port, and was the last person taken out of the water alive."

"That's," I can't come up with words to explain it.

"Yes, I know. We had an awful discussion after. Helen took all my warnings and complaints before she grabbed another boat and returned to Europe," he rolled his eyes. "But that's how she is."

"You love her; don't you?" I dare to ask.

"Let me tell you a secret," he bites his lower lip, "every single man in her life is a bit in love with her," he whispers.

"Really?" I ask incredulously.

"Yes. Trust me; I've met a long list of them. Ladies and gentlemen alike," he grins mischievously. "I'm not the first, and I won't be the last," he says and goes silent. "I do have a request for you."

"Tell me."

"Well, I know you might have plenty of questions to ask. I'll ask you to tread carefully, as I've mentioned, there are plenty of things we've survived. And most of them, well, nobody knows about them anymore, they belong to a past that hasn't belonged to them."

"But it did belong to you," I affirm.

"Yes."

"Will you answer if I ask you?"

"I might. I can't share Helen's secrets with you; those are hers to share. I can share the histories and moments we lived through"

"Thanks for offering, Tesla."

"No problem, Major," He winks at me, and I'm glad I've accepted his offer. I was afraid he would try to replace my dad, but he didn't even try. Maybe they do have more insight than humans in this kind of situations. Or perhaps, they are just old enough to understand people better.

"Here we are," he clapped. "Knock and go in. Henry built an alarm that goes off when someone opens this door. That should be enough to wake her; you can wait for her in the seating area. But if you don't see any lights turning on, then knock the inner door twice and count to ten. If the lights aren't turned on by then, open the door and walk to her bed and place a hand on her arm, and she will jump," I frown.

"How do you know that?" He gives me that mischievous smile again.

"I've known her for a long time."

"I should probably just wait until the morning,"

"Magnus women and timing," he chuckles. "Darling, it is morning!" and then, he knocks, opens the door and shoves me inside. "See you around!" I hear him say while I try not to trip over my own two feet. The door closes behind me, and I only have to choose between following his instructions or return to my room.

"I'm already here," I mutter.

I look around, trying to find the inner door he mentioned. I count to ten, but I can't see the light under the door. So I knock it, twice and wait again. Nothing happens. I doubt a little before I dare to open the door.

I sigh, the tiny slit shows darkness. I open it enough to enter my head. And yeah, there she is, lying in her bed.

I can't help myself from walking forward to wake her, and then I remember there's Will in her life. Crap. With that realization, I take a couple of steps back, and my leg finds a chest that appears out of nowhere, and I swear out of pain. There's a quick shuffling on the bed.

"Talk about being a light sleeper," I whisper, rubbing my leg.

"Helen?" I turn my head to find a sleepy, bare-chested Will sitting in bed.

"No," I mumble still trying to find my stance. "It's Sam,"

The way he moved to cover himself would be hilarious if this weren't the most awkward situation in a daughter's life. Yeah, and of course my brain chooses now to remind me Helen is my mother and Will is her partner. Yup, that's precisely what you don't want to remember when you are in their room, and the man is covering himself as if I hadn't seen a male chest in my life.

"I, sorry, I was looking for her, Nikola told me she came to bed," I ramble.

"Ah, yes. She did," Will moves to check the bedside clock, "four hours ago." He rubs his face with one hand, keeping the sheet high over his chest with the other one. "So, you are a definitively a Magnus," he says as if that makes sense at all, I raise my eyebrow and he waves his hand at me, "that would be another sign of it. I'm talking about the eyebrow and the fact you are awake."

"I couldn't sleep," I justify.

"Alas, you don't need that much sleep, do you?"

"Not really…" I shake my head.

"I'll take you found Nikola at her office, and since there's no music, she's probably at the pond," he offers with a lousy accent. "If you give me a few, I can take you to her."

I take that as my cue to leave the room unscathed. Or almost.

"Ah, if you want to see something while you wait, there's a couple of albums in the library. They are intriguing."

I smile gratefully at him, before turning around and almost running out of the room.