I feel I should point to you (again) that I'm using writer's license on all biological aspects. I did research and all; I don't know if I got it right xD

Anyhow! You should be used to me by now.

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter XVII

March 21st, 2004

Underground Sanctuary.

"Show me," Janet ordered loud enough to make Helen stop dead on her tracks. She turned around and assessed the petite Doctor and nodded.

"Come this way, then," she said, Will searched her eyes for a quick second before nodding in understanding, "I'll be in the library with Doctor Frasier if someone needs me. Ah, please tell Henry to report back with the results from Pili's requirement."

"Will do," William nodded.

They walked the corridors briskly, Helen's long strides making Janet put a double effort on walking as fast as the other woman. Janet was quite used to it; SG-1 tended to slow down a bit when she was with them. What Janet didn't know was how much Helen was restraining her steps waiting for her.

"Finally," Helen muttered under her breath when she stopped in front of the library. The room was an enormous collection of books from every single genre that could come to one's mind. Janet looked up and around in awe; it looked quite like the library from her alma mater in the number of volumes that she could see. But they didn't stop there.

Helen walked towards one of the bookcases, Janet frowned until she saw the furniture becoming transparent. As if it was a hologram and not a real one, then she saw Helen's hand descending from a place in which some sort of palm reader laid attached to the wall.

"I did mention we have all kinds of biometric safety points," Helen smiled at her, "there are many books about abnormals sitting on those shelves, as there are videos and recordings. In there, you can find answers to several questions you didn't know you had. However, these," she said, pointing to the shelves around her, "aren't quite as nice, and they can be quite dangerous in the wrong hands."

"So you are meant to tell me you have access to all these terrible things? Is that a threat?"

"Far from it, it is a reality. In here we have information about the most dangerous abnormals in existence, along with some who don't exist any longer. All of them are here to be protected and to protect others from them. Information on the paloraevious venom lies here, even if they are harmless creatures most of the time."

"Then why are they here?"

"They were genetically designed, a long time ago, before the dark ages. They wanted to create a creature who could be both docile and hostile, a pet of sorts. And they were born, they are very docile in their habitat," Helen explained, looking from the recordings she had, "if they recognize you as the Alpha, you can play with them as you will with dogs. However, they also gave them an improved version of the box jellyfish toxin."

"Wait, box jellyfish venom, as in…"

"The most dangerous poison known to the man, yes."

"And it is an improved one, you said?"

"Sadly, yes. " Janet blinked a couple of times.

"I thought it wasn't a neurotoxin," Janet frowned.

"There's no version of the box jellyfish venom classified as a neurotoxin. The most dangerous one produces hyperkalemia. But as I've said, it is an improved version, not the same one. The paloraeviouses have nematocysts, which adhere to the cuts produced by their claws. Once they reach the bloodstream…"

"The toxins are released, yes, I know that"

"What you don't know, is that the venom and neurotoxin inside these nematocysts are in fact inside a virus. The virus multiplies, and once they are enough to cover the length of the body, they release the toxin."

"And what does the treatment?"

"It helps to kill the virus, sort to speak. It prevents the virus from reaching to the number in which it can release the neurotoxin. But under an inadequate treatment," Helen trailed.

"The virus still multiplies."

"Yes. When it does, the results are catastrophic and extremely painful. Here, these are some recordings of the last time we didn't get there in time," Helen pressed play and clenched her jaw. The video started; it showed a group of at least 15 people; it looked like an old recording; it still was black and white. Helen hoped Janet's mind to focus on the results and not on the details of the video; it was from 1967. But she hadn't forgotten.

1967

Busanga Swamp, Zambia.

She was barely alive herself; her body was fighting whatever was inside her with all its might. The lack of food and pure water, making it a lot more complicated. All fifteen members assembled for capturing and moving the paloraevious out of the national park and into the Lusaka Sanctuary were injured. And despite Helen's efforts on saving all of them, including the poachers, they were all worsening.

They were prepared to deal with the creatures in the best possible way but hadn't counted with the poachers. They got out nowhere and created the chaos that followed. She passed her hand out to clear the sweat out of her forehead and fought with her own eyes to keep them open, while she tried to figure out what was wrong with all those who had gotten stricken by the claws of the reptiles, including herself.

She had managed to keep them all alive, despite her worsening condition. She had called Lusaka and asked for reinforcements and help, but she had also raised a quarantine procedure, and that needed to go back to London.

She saw a shadow out of the corner of her beyond exhausted eyes.

"Dear God, Helen," she smiled tiredly, she was pretty sure it was James, although she couldn't be 100% sure due to the mask and the safety gear in which he was. But his voice was unmistakable, and even at her worst, he deserved the best smile she could give him. "Don't utter a word. What are you doing here, anyway? You should be resting!"

"You told me … not to talk…"

"Yes, of course, you need rest and food. Why aren't you on an IV?"

"Couldn't suture … If I had one…" she explained, and he made an 'oh' with his mouth.

It was so much her, to be awfully sick and still be helping others. It had been barely forty-three hours, since the incident, but no one was in a movable condition, the newcomers were all in safety gear. He knew it could take a good chunk of time to get to the bottom of it, finding the origin and a cure as soon as possible could take longer than most of the people had. He walked her to the bed in her tent and made a quick decision. "Sleep Helen, I will find a way," he told her, placing a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes closed the second she touched the bed, "or I will find someone who knows about this…"

He walked out and organized the groups. One group was issuing the safety precautions around the tent in which both teams and the poachers were agonizing from several scratches. Those who didn't lose parts of their bodies were running fevers so high that touching them was painful. Some started to develop blisters, and all of them were muttering words or leaving out unpleasant sounds. It was madness.

The teams raised the medical research tent; they had brought several things from London and Lusaka, including Specialists in virus and bacterium. But they were no Helen; they weren't even close to the experience or knowledge she had. In most situations, her education was the only thing which had saved thousands of lives. He chewed his lower lip, everyone who was there to investigate a cure knew about Helen's remarkable ability to heal herself, and under his mask, he smirked.

"No one goes in here, except I." he announced, pointing to Helen's research facility. Then, he did the only thing he knew could save her. "I'll be right back, keep your gear on, and verify all the injuries are healing or at least, are sutured."

He jumped on a vehicle towards Mumbwa; he knew it was a fat chance. Alas, he also knew her, and if she was alive, it meant she knew about the current situation. He found his way to the Ila people, and when he went down and found himself surrounded by spears pointing around his neck, he only uttered two words.

"Helen Bancroft."

The spears came down, and he felt his weight collapse on the floor before he knew what happened. The side of his head throbbed painfully, and it spoke of a blow that resulted in him losing conscience. He didn't know how long he was out, but he could recognize that smell with his eyes covered and with his nostrils blocked. He tried to sit quickly. However, a mix of nausea, dizziness, and two hands pushing him softly back to his bed told him to do the opposite.

"You called?" Helen asked, and he smiled.

"You are dying."

"I know. We are late to save some people. You have been out for sixteen hours; I couldn't risk moving you like that."

"I understand," he mumbled with his eyes closed.

"I do hope you remembered to bring two safety suits?" She inquired, and he nodded. "Well, if you finished being unconscious, shall we go save me?" She smiled

"Oh! Dear Lord, that glint in your eyes! I swear one day it will kill me!" She gulped but didn't say a thing.

They reached back to camp in the wee hours of the morning, they stopped in the outside to gear up, mostly to be sure people didn't see her enter her tent, in where she was convalescing. The moment they went in, she knelt beside herself, touching her forehead to check for the fever. She remembered it, this situation as being so consumed by the heat that she thought she was hallucinating of herself taking charge of her health. But she knew better now.

With the knowledge she had, she isolated the virus quickly and efficiently and started a quick treatment on herself. Once she began to react positively, she risked getting out of the tent. The quarantine was brought down, but it was too late for at least six members and two of the poachers. She sighed, watching desolated how bad it was, she knew she couldn't avoid it. Not more than she could prevent any of the tragedies around her life.

They told the others she had finally healed herself, enough to help them. The black circles under her eyes, a product of restless nights of fear of screwing this one up enough to change the timeline were sufficient to erase any doubts on the others. Not that they would question either Helen or James decisions at all. And then, she started to improve until she remembered something else.

"We need a surgery," she told James as she entered the tent in which he was carefully taking care of her young self.

"What are you talking about, Helen?"

"Huh," she said, remembering she had been somewhat conscious during this particular conversation, "I'm capsulizing the venom, while it is in me, I won't be able to heal myself properly, not in this condition…"

"And we can't move this camp, without raising sanitary concerns in the network."

"Exactly, we need to operate me," she gulped, "it's far from ideal, but it will shorten my convalescing time. You will have me," she said, nodding to her feverish self, "up and about in 48 hours."

"And then you leave."

"And then I leave," she nodded in agreement. "You know this is risky, James. You know as well as I do, we are taking a huge leap of faith on this one." He nodded.

"Let's do it."

Less than forty-eight hours later, she was waking up, feeling tired but refreshed. She opened her eyes, and she thought she saw herself watching over her. She smiled at whoever was and then fell asleep again. Once her eyes closed, Helen turned around and left the tent in search of James.

"I'm improving, James… I shall go now."

"I understand… it was pleasant seeing you."

"Yes, indeed it was. Come visit sometime; you know how to find me."

"Always."

She embraced him tightly and then; she turned around waving at him. She took the vehicle he had used before to bring her and disappeared into the night. He saw her leave with a sigh. And then, when she was nothing more and dust in the air, he turned around towards her again.

"Here you are. Feeling better now?"

"Yes, what happened?"

"Well, you worked yourself too hard, as usual, but you managed to save nine of your workers, and four of the poachers are going to rot in jail."

"I don't remember," she frowned.

"Well, you got it well documented anyways, so can read what you did later."

"Huh, funny, you know? I remember me taking care of me," she frowned.

"It was the fever," James smiled knowingly.

"It must have been…"

Present time

"It starts with a mild fever; then it becomes worse. The temperature keeps rising until your body heat burns you. Your blood travels slowly, and you feel numb. However, even the slightest touch feels like a thousand needles going through your skin. Then, the dehydration starts, and your kidneys begin to fail."

"Holy Hannah," Sam's voice came from beside them. "It's that…"

"The results of the toxin you were infected with, yes," Helen told her gulping. "When you are poorly treated."

"But we are safe, right?" She asked, looking from Janet to Helen. Her low casted eyes were the answer she didn't want to see. "What? Tell me."

"Colonel O'Neill, he," Helen started, looking at the pained expression of her daughter, "He's not taking his treatment, Samantha. If he doesn't, he can go through what you are seeing."

"Can you force the treatment?"

"I will force it if there's no other chance. However, he is still the owner of his mind, and I can't and won't proceed against his will."

"What if when you do, it's too late?"

"Then I will do my best to make it the least painful as I can."

"It's not enough," she growled.

"I know," she accepted quickly, "that's why I need you, both of you or either of you, to convince him to take the treatment."

"Where is he?" Sam asked, raising her chin defiantly.

"Find Colonel O'Neill," Helen said loud enough, and then the projected video changed to show a view of the garden. "Front garden, main floor, go to the front door and then, turn left. When you see the pine trees, walk diagonally towards the river."

"You should have told me first," Sam hissed, and Helen nodded, chewing her inner cheeks.

"You should go, the sooner he retakes the treatment, the faster he will heal," Sam nodded and started to run out of the building.

"She hates when people hide things from her," Janet chimed in.

"We all do," she muttered to herself.

"Well, she might not like you now, which is good for me," Janet commented with a self-satisfied smile, then she turned around and started to walk.

"Doctor Frasier," Helen called her, closing the room behind her, "For someone who calls herself her friend, you should be more worried about how she is feeling after what she just found out, and not happier over how she must be feeling towards me. Good day," she said, leaving a silent Janet alone with her thoughts.

Unaware of anything but the need to find him, she ran outside and turned left and saw him, sitting on one of the many benches on that particular side of the garden. His eyes fixated on nothing at all, but he was not unaware. She knew that by the way, his muscles tensed when she came closer.

She looked up to gather some strength and noticed how the clouds covered the area and wondered if they were capable of directing them to keep their secret safe. Then, she shook her head and added it to the list of questions she had for Tesla. And then, she rounded the bench and stood in front of him.

"Hey," she told him, making him look up to her. His lips twitched.

"Hey, yourself."

"May I?" she asked, moving a strand of hair that had fallen on her face with the light breeze.

"Sure, Carter. What brings you here?" he asked, looking around, "and without any of your new friends," Jack trailed, she frowned while sitting beside him, "When the Doctor was checking you, Janet mentioned she found you and Doctor Zimmerman talking cozily earlier, and you seem to be very fond of Doctor Magnus," he explained.

"Didn't she tell you? They are together."

"Yeah, she mentioned that," he shrugged, "but who knows, maybe you look like her enough for him to look at you with other eyes."

"That's why you don't like her? Because she makes you feel things?" She asked, and he could feel the fear in her voice.

"Oh, God, no! How did you come with something like that?"

"Really?" She raised her eyebrow, "you just said that from Will." He huffed.

"Of course, you would find a way to laugh at my … you know…"

"I'm not laughing, Jack! I was," she sighed. "You just scared me. The chance that you could think of her in that way," she told him, grabbing his hand and giving it a small press. He nodded, understanding her fears. He didn't have an idea of how messed up it would be for her if he were to feel something for her biological mother. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern, and she nodded once.

"Just a bad mental image," she huffed and smiled, "anyhow, did Doctor Magnus said anything about your treatment?" He sighed, he knew what the Doctor wasn't telling him and he found pretty smart on her part to send Sam out to search for him.

In the current light, it was pretty obvious, at least for her that he wasn't in his prime. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked greenish. His eyes were red, and she could feel the warmer air around him. His hand was sweaty and overly hot, too hot to be just stress or the heat of the underworld.

"Are you going to take it seriously?" She asked pleadingly

"I don't trust her, Sam. How can I be sure I'm not getting drugged for something I don't have?"

"Right… The thing is, you do. You know you aren't okay. Your hands are warm; you look a bit green, and you are the only one of us who isn't taking the meds. And you know that if they wanted to do something with us, all they had to do was keeping us strapped to the bed since day one, and that's not happening."

"Okay, let's say you are right. Why should I take their meds? Why shouldn't I wait until we are outta here and getting treated by Janet?"

"Because there's no other solution? Janet was trying to identify what the hell bit us, but she couldn't. There's nothing she knows about that thing. And they do, they knew the name right from the start, while we were calling it Godzilla!" she huffed exasperatedly, "Come on, Jack, how is this any different than when we get treated by one of the many aliens we've found?"

"Hmm, this is Earth, Sam… the same rock we know, and we try to protect. How is it possible for us not to know what the thing was?"

"I don't know! With a lot of planning on their part?" she passed a hand through her hair. "Look, if you don't do it for yourself, do it for me, will you?"

"Sam…"

"Jack…" she sighed, remembering the last time she had asked for something like this. "Listen, I know what I'm asking for you is almost as bad on your list as the time when I plead you to become a host, and yes," she raised her hand to stop him from adding anything, "that turned out wrong. But now, if you don't do it it can be much worse, I've seen the results, and they are not nice, so take the darn meds, and then we can go back, and you can forget all about this place."

"We."

"Huh?"

"We can forget," he affirmed.

"Yeah, that," she added, mostly not to argue with him, "will you do it?"

"Will you forget about this place?" he asked, crooking his head. She sighed.

"No, but it doesn't mean I plan on leaving you. Even if, leaving the SGC could be the solution we need," she smiled sadly. He raised his hand and caressed a side of her face, the way she leaned into his hand broke the last of his resolve.

"I will take them… For you. But that's as much as I'm willing to do around here."

"I'm okay with that, Jack. Just heal, and then we go home," she smiled and winked at him. "I should go and let them know you will be taking them." She pressed his hand and stood up. He pulled her hand a little.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure nothing is going on with you and anyone else?" She looked at him in the eye, and she found that Will was right when he told her that, no matter how good the replacement felt, it would never be the one she loved.

"No one else can be you, Jack," she told him, and he knew she was telling the truth.

She walked away; she needed to find Helen. She needed to know why she didn't come to her first. She wanted to understand, she changed her radio to the channel marked as emerg and pressed it.

"Where do I find you?" The radio on Helen's hip crackled, and she looked up and sighed. Nikola twisted his head and squinted at her.

"What did you do?"

"I'll be in my office in 5," she answered to the radio and chewed her lower lip. "I might have withheld information on the actual health situation of the man she loves."

"You screwed it badly," Nikola pointed directly

"I know," Helen nodded, pursing her lips and closing her eyes.

"Medical patient confidentiality, perhaps?" He offered

"It's more of maternal concern." She huffed, the corner of her lips twitching upwards.

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

"Not really. If Samantha can hate only one of us, this time should be me. I was the one who didn't disclose information," she smiled sadly.

"Good luck then."

"I'll guess I'll need it," she said, jumping out of the work table and walking out of his lab.

Helen walked towards her office with her thoughts focused on how to explain it to Samantha. Magnus would even settle with an idea of what to tell her daughter. She reached her door in no time and opened slowly. As she had calculated, Sam was already in there. Helen closed the door behind her, also closing her eyes while breathing deeply.

"You should have told me," Sam added on a dark tone.

"You want any excuses?" Helen offered. "Or just the truth?"

"Do you need to ask?"

"Not really, although, I know many who would have chosen the excuses." She shrugged and pointed to a sofa; they both took a seat. "I know better than anyone, what it's like to lose the person you love, I know what it's like to see them wither away and I know what it is like to do so when there's nothing you can do to stop it. I didn't want you to go through that if I could avoid it."

"And then what? Hide him when he was so sick that there was nothing you could do?"

"No, I wanted to spare you those details, if it was possible while hoping your Doctor would make him see the light." She smiled sadly, "yes, I spoke with Doctor Frasier first, as her Doctor, she should be capable of making him see the treatment wasn't as bad. I told her, I was going to keep a close eye on your Colonel. And if noticed he kept skipping his meds, I would come to you," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I certainly, didn't want to share those videos with her, or remember them myself."

"You were there."

"Yes, young me was sick, I was helping save her… me. It was a rather complicated situation. It could have changed everything."

"What about me? You also mentioned my treatment needed change."

"When I got it, I had to do a procedure on myself to extract the capsule. I healed fully in less than 48 hours after that. Your case should be the same."

"Because of my DNA."

"Yes."

"We should do it now."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but I'm sure I don't want that end for me. I did manage to convince Jack to take the treatment; you should probably fix his dosage first."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. You shouldn't be forced to be in this position, ever."

"Yeah, well, your other daughter has to jump around and fight people to be herself. You are stuck watching people die around you and me, well, I suck at relationships. I guess mine is the best straw; let's not dwell."

"Okay, let's go to Nikola's lab. There we can find out your status and do the procedure. And at the same time, we can recalculate the dosage for Colonel O'Neill."

They started to walk; she was surprised to find out that Nikola's lab was in fact, in the other building she saw when searching for Jack.

"I meant to ask, the clouds, can you control them?"

"Yes, we can. We can produce clouds too, but originally, clouds existed without our interference. " Helen added, pressing her palm on the reader next to the door. The light changed, and the door slid open. "The sun was a lot of work; it took me years to get it right. We also have fake stars, for when we are feeling a little trapped. And the breeze is also fake."

"The thunderstorms, are all my doing," Nikola grinned smugly. "To what do I owe the pleasure of having two of the most beautiful women in the known world, knocking at my door?"

"Technically, we didn't knock," Sam told him.

"Knock, slide, same thing and you haven't answered."

"She's solving her encounter with the paloraevious in the same way we would."

"Aw, don't you love a good healthy capsulation of viruses," he grinned. "Do we know where?"

"No, we need a scan."

"One scan is running, then," he grinned pushing Sam to stand away from them. "Just stay still, dear."

"What?"

"Oh, I just finished this one, it's marvelous if you ask me. Well, dear Helen, my medical knowledge is not as remarkable as yours. However, I believe this thing is the one you are searching for."

"Hum, it's bigger than I expected. Can you check if there's still anything in Samantha's bloodstream?"

"Nothing else, you got it all in there," he said, tapping the screen. "For what I've read on when you got it, you probably were on your way to do the same thing, however…"

"Bad nourishment and lack of water, I know. She still has a fever," Helen added clinically.

"She's still in the room," Sam chimed in

"Right! Well, as you've heard, you have nothing left in your bloodstream, which makes me worry about the fever."

"It might be due to this; you know her body won't stop healing until this is gone."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Oh! That's easy. Let me show you," he said and found a screwdriver he was using before. He shook his arm, and then, he transposed his arm with the tool, hissing in pain, his teeth changing a little, "I'm sorry, I didn't attempt to make you feel queasy, but case point: The thing is still inside. Therefore, I'm in pain, and I can't heal." He stretched his arm towards Helen, and she sighed. Clenching her jaw, she took the tool out in one powerful movement, making him groan and lose his balance. She quickly surrounded him with an arm as he stretched his arm to show Sam, how the healing occurred almost instantaneously after Helen removed it.

"I wish you stopped doing this kind of examples," Helen sighed.

"Why? It's the best way to make them understand, and to have you holding me close," he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows

"You are impossible," she huffed and let him go. "Samantha, I can take the capsule out of you, right next door. Just let me sterilize it and start the calculations for Colonel O'Neill. "

Not even ten minutes later, Sam was lying on a metal table, with nothing on her torso but the sports bra she was wearing. Helen smiled at her, and then she covered her face with a mouse cap, giving her the final look of a surgeon. She still winked at Sam, before she injected her something below her rib cage.

"It's a partial anesthetic; I will be out of your body in forty-five minutes tops. It will only numb the area, allowing your body to heal itself." She grabbed a scalpel and started an incision; Sam hissed, "did it hurt?"

"No, it was just uncomfortable, I guess," she saw Helen's gloved hands going inside the cut with some tools she never asked the name of, and soon she was taking what looked like a skin made ping pong ball out of her. "Yuck."

"It's quite nice!" Helen said, and Sam was sure she was smiling under her mask. "Contrary to what one can find in tumors, this is quite symmetrical, which shows your body was doing good work on attracting the virus to it in a healthy manner," she added a stitch or two inside. "Those will dissolve alone," she explained and then she turned around and found a small bottle of super glue.

"What the hell?"

"Why everyone reacts like this? Superglue was created to close injuries during the war; it helped keep them clean. And, in your case, it will stick the skin together quickly enough for your body to replace it in seconds."

"What?"

"Exactly what you heard. Nikola can you enhance the zoom to the cut, please?" The screen which was in the room zoomed in and was showing the incision she had, "look at it" she pointed then, Helen uncapped the glue and proceeded to stick her injury together. As soon as the glue joined both sides, new skin replaced it.

"That's so cool! How does it happen?"

"Your body finds a different structure which doesn't correspond to your cells, so it replaces it as soon as it can with what it should be. There's a much more complicated and chemically based explanation if you wish. There's a whole book on it."

"Nah, I'm good. Am I free to go?"

"I would be more comfortable if you stay around here until the sedative wears off completely. That will be ten or fifteen minutes from now."

"Sure. I can stay still," Sam didn't expect the laugh from both of her parents "What?"

"Dear, if with your DNA you can stay still, you are indeed a miracle." She frowned, and they both started to laugh again.