Hello, can you believe this is still going?

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter XXXIX

October 15th, 2004

Sam's Home

Sam stretched in bed and frowned, the last thing she remembered from earlier was curling up in the sofa in her mother's lap after having had a cup of tea. She touched her eyelids and noticed that the whatever amount of time she had slept had fixed the puffiness of her crying. She rubbed her face and scratched her head, trying to figure out how she had gotten to her bed before she decided to start her day and figure that one later.

After showering and following mostly her stomach sounds, Sam dragged herself to the kitchen only to find out that Helen had kept her word and remained with her. Her mother seemed to be fully awake and was cooking something that smelled wonderful.

In the previous months, she had visited the Sanctuary in between missions and got better at her skills. By now, she was at a point where seeing Ashley pop out of thin air was something usual and not something out of a sci-fi movie. They also had reached a level of familiarity that allowed her to call Ashley 'sis' without even flinching.

Tesla was still Nikola, but he appreciated the fact that she didn't shy away from him and took the time to meet him and ask questions about him rather than about Helen. And well, she and her mother were getting along nicely. As Helen had pointed, Sam found herself calling her mom straight away whenever things hit a new low. And this one seemed to be the lowest point she could reach.

"How are you feeling?" were Helen's first words even before she turned to observe the dejected expression on her daughter. Sam plopped herself on a chair and grunted. "I take that means not too well. Eat, Samantha." She said, lowering a tray filled with pancakes before she surprised Sam presenting her with a mug of coffee.

"Is that?" Sam frowned, smelling the beverage and smiling a little at the slight disgust of her mother's expression.

"Yes," Helen scrunched up her nose. "Don't worry; I had Ashley bring William to make it," Magnus explained quickly, noticing as Sam's eyes filled with tears.

"Why would you do something like that? Why would he do it?" Her daughter whispered in confusion.

"Because you love coffee, and he knows how to make it?" Magnus grinned as if it was the most logical thing in the world. "They worry about you too, Samantha. You are family to them as much as your team is family to you."

"You know? I had this strange dream where I was trying to keep awake in the living room, and somehow, I was in my bed this morning." Sam said, smiling awkwardly.

"Ah, you fell asleep in the couch. I figured you would be more comfortable in your bed than half sprawled over my lap," Helen commented.

"And you moved me?" Her daughter frowned.

"I am deceitfully strong," Helen giggled. "Eat, it's getting cold," she said, sitting in front of Sam and picking one pancake for herself.

"Where did you sleep?"

"I didn't. I don't need the sleep as much as other people as you already know," the Doctor grinned. "Don't worry; I'll get to recover my lost time at some point."

"Hmm," Sam huffed as an answer and grabbed one pancake of the pile. "It's been ages since I had one of these."

"All more reasons to enjoy them." Helen pointed.

"What time is it?" Sam asked after swallowing a bite.

"Almost midday," Helen answered, and Sam groaned.

"I need to get dressed," Sam huffed.

"I thought you were already dressed," Helen grinned, before she crooked her head and stared at Sam. "I suppose you have reached a decision."

"I have," the major frowned. "Kind of."

"Well, I hope whatever you have chosen is for the best," Magnus said, finding Sam's hand and giving it a light squeeze. "I need to return to the Sanctuary for a while; I have a scheduled operation I can't postpone. I will be available in four hours again if you need me. Will you be okay?"

"Yes? No? I'm not sure, to be honest," Sam rubbed her face. "I guess I do need to face this sooner rather than later, right?"

"Indeed. What have you decided?"

"I'm going to talk to the Colonel. If the big guns come out, then so be it. If they don't; well, at least, I'll know I've tried."

"Will you let me know what happens?" Sam considered it for a while before nodding once.

"Okay," she let out before she took a sip of the coffee. "Oh, this coffee is excellent."

"Well, William does have plenty of experience on how to make it. He won't tell you this, but he was a barista while in college."

"Really?"

"Yes," Helen said. Sam observed her as she squinted and then blushed a bit as if she remembered something embarrassing.

"What?" Sam frowned.

"Ah, there was a man here earlier," Magnus started. "He thought you had somehow gotten your hair longer and dyed it since the last time you had seen him a couple of weeks ago. Until, I told him I was not you, of course." Sam gulped her coffee and grimaced as it burned down her throat. "Pete Shanahan, he said." Helen crooked her head. "I thought you had ended things with him a long while ago."

"I did, then I, he," Sam blushed, and Helen nodded in understanding. "We go out from time to time when he happens to be in town."

"Oh"

"We are just friends," Sam stated.

"I'm quite certain, given the way he leered at me while thinking I was you, that he isn't aware of the 'just friends' part." Helen pointed. "Don't mind me, Samantha. You are an adult, you can choose whatever you want to choose, and considering the complexity of your situation, it isn't far-fetched to believe that you need to find a way to relax. As they say, letting your hair down at some point isn't a bad habit."

"Still, I," Sam rubbed her face. Helen grabbed her hands and gave them a light, reassuring press.

"Honey, listen to me. It is okay that you want to have a life that is not the one you currently consider impossible. I understand perfectly that you want to shake things up with the Colonel, and since you cannot, you are trying the next best thing. I know by first hand that feelings sometimes are hard to manage, and sometimes we do want someone who can hold us at night no questions asked. You have, after all, human feelings." A lone tear left Sam's eye. "Don't cry, be aware that there's a man who loves you and who you love, and together you could have the life you've dreamt. Or, there's a man who loves you and could give you a good life. Yet, I'm not sure if you would be willing to settle."

"What would you do?" Sam scrunched up her nose.

"I would love to say: I'd love the first in any capacity, and I'd clear things with the second one. However, I'm not sure what I'd do in your situation. Every relationship is different, and I have never been in a situation where respecting the rules could result in a life or death situation. I do recommend you to be honest with yourself first and foremost. And then, I'd say you need to have a serious conversation about this with this Pete. He is inadvertently hanging on you the weight of the relationship or lack of thereof. He is also an adult; he too needs to be able to make his own decision about this no-relationship you have. Especially if you are going to go and talk about your feelings with the man you love," Helen pointed knowingly, Sam sighed.

"Why does it have to be so complicated?" the major rubbed her face tiredly.

"It is not. It is quite simple. You have to men who love you, the question you need to answer is: where do they stand with your feelings?"

"When you put it like that it sounds simple enough."

"And then, feelings never are, Samantha. However, I trust you will do what you believe is best for you."

"How could I possibly know that?" Sam asked, and Helen considered it for a bit.

"This is what works for me, Samantha. When I must reach a decision, I consider both options with all the good, the bad, and the ugly before I decide. Every choice I've taken so far has had two possible outcomes: if the outcome is an overflowing sense of peace, then no matter how complex the situation can become when going from the decision to the action, the choice is the right one. However, if after reaching a decision I feel anxious or as if the weight of the world is on my shoulders, then, the choice is often the wrong one, and I can only blame myself for the consequences."

"I don't get it, mom." Sam frowned.

"You will, at some point," Helen smiled. "Now, eat some more."

"Why are you always feeding me?" her daughter chuckled.

"Because it seems to me you manage everything else quite well by yourself," Magnus smiled and checked her watch. "Ashley will be picking me up in fifteen minutes, are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Once Ashley had teleported herself to pick up Helen, and they both had poofed out of her house, Sam went for a long shower. Her mother's words about choice and peace floating in her mind, along with her options. And then while trying to figure out what to wear for longer than she ever had, Sam understood what Helen meant.

Sam wasn't afraid of telling Jack how she felt; that would only lift the weight of keeping it quiet off her shoulders. Once she came to accept that, peace overflowed her body. And it only got better when Carter realized the Colonel knew about her feelings. With that in mind, she shook herself out of it and grabbed some clothes and threw them on.

Of course, then she also figured out what Magnus meant by the complexity of making it happen. Out of nervousness, she walked around her home, searching for her wallet and car keys even if she knew exactly where those were. And then, still doubting herself, she left her home towards Jack's with her mind settled on talking to him.

Until she reached his block, that was, since the moment Carter had spotted his house, she drove past it and repeated the process five times before she scolded herself, and finally decided to park. After that, it took her a whole ten minutes to walk to his front porch and knock. Then, she was almost out of breath by looking at him. His silver hair tousled and his clothes a bit wrinkled. Her eyes widened when she realized that he was looking at her with a confused expression on his face, and she felt completely out of place.

"Hey, hmm, sir?" Sam wanted to facepalm herself or run away; at the same time, she wished Ashley could read minds and appear to teleport her out of there. Heck, she would even take an Asgard beaming her out for an emergency at that point.

"Carter?" he asked, surprised to see her there. He wondered if Hammond had sent her to check on him or if she lost a bet or something. Because, he could count with the fingers of one hand the times she had gone to his house, alone, by her own volition.

"Did I wake you?" She managed to let out, and he tried not to chuckle.

It was past mid-day and granted he hadn't gotten all that much of sleep the previous night, tossing and turning imagining all the things he wouldn't get to do thanks to his decision of getting his brain sucked once more.

"Sorta," he forced himself to say still wondering what she was doing at his front door awkwardly staring at him.

"I couldn't sleep at all last night," she said.

She didn't need much sleep, and she knew it, but the truth was that at 5 am she was still crying her eyes out on her mother's lap. She didn't quite remember the moment she fell asleep, and for some reason, she knew it had something to do with the tea Helen had almost forced her to drink around that time.

"You should've called," he smiled softly, knowing that hearing her voice would have at least calmed his nerves a bit.

"I didn't want to bother you," she sighed, and he allowed her to enter his home.

"I was just looking at the sky," He explained to her. "Trying to figure out how many stars we'd actually been to."

"Actually," Sam started making Jack's lips curl slightly upwards. "only a few of the stars visible from Earth have Stargates on them, so," she trailed correcting him unable to stop herself from doing so. Jack's smiled; he didn't expect any different from here at this point.

"I knew that. Hammond sent you by to check up on me?" he wondered out loud, but he was genuinely curious about her answer.

"No," she shook her head. "It's funny really, I was, I was out driving, in my car, and I, I drove here. Huh," she chuckled. And berated herself, the excuse had sounded silly to her ears. The previous ideas of facepalming and disappearing reappeared in her mind.

'Allow her to be free,' he reminded himself. That phrase had become a mantra since the day they had left the Sanctuary. So, noticing she was weirdly insecure about the situation, he gave her space to find her ground. He saw her walking towards the living room and check the pictures that he kept there while he searched for something to drink.

"Thank you, sir." She let out as she grabbed the beer he offered. And he tried not to be bothered by the fact that, even with his brain about to become mush and being once again both alone, she was still calling him 'sir.' She tried to start a deep conversation, but she couldn't find the right questions to ask.

"This was a bad," she attempted and told herself that she was going to kill her mother for somehow planting this idea on her brain. "I should go."

"Finish your beer," he wanted to add 'Sam' to make their conversation the epitome of personal. But he didn't. He did avoid adding Carter, giving her a chance to make it as meaningful as she wanted. Then he noticed there wouldn't be a conversation at all if she didn't remain. "And then you'll have to wait at least an hour before you drive." She was blushing as she sat next to him and for a quiet moment, there were no words, only birds chirping and his eyes on her.

"What?" he asked, noticing her conflicted gaze.

"I should've done it."

"What? Stick your head in that thing?" He said in a soft tone she had heard him rarely use. "Are you nuts?" He looked at her, but the Colonel couldn't keep his eyes on hers when seeing so many feelings overtaking them. "Carter," he started, attempting to put some distance between himself and his next words. "You are one of this country's natural resources if not national treasures," she blushed under the weight of his gaze. "It couldn't go down in any other way. I just hope it is worth it," he finished taking a swig of his beer still not able to hold her troubled gaze.

"Even if we do find the lost city, even if we get there and find exactly what we look for to defend the planet," she started.

"That would be worth it," he interrupted her. She shook her head, looking at him.

'No, it wouldn't, losing you would never be worth it to me, Jack. Because I love you.' She thought and opened her mouth to say something, anything at all. But the knocking on his door stopped her.

He looked at her, and he knew. He knew that whatever she was going to say, whatever the reason was that had placed her on his couch with those bright blue eyes filled with so many things he wasn't able to grasp, was lost. They would have to wait. And he sighed, he didn't know if they would get that chance.

When Hammond arrived later that afternoon, Helen's words were confirmed. Hammond was going to DC to learn more about the situation, and they were supposed to report as scheduled on Monday. The news was devastating as it was and had added an extra layer of weight over the whole situation.

It was not too long after Hammond had left that Sam excused herself and returned home. Sam had contacted Ashley, and after asking Henry to lower the barrier, the young Magnus had rushed into Helen's office and grabbed her mother's shoulder before she brought them to her sister's house.

"What happened?" Helen asked as she appeared in Sam's living room.

"You were informed correctly, Hammond has been replaced by a Doctor Elizabeth Weir. The SGC will be closed for a three months revision," Sam explained in a clipped tone. Hearing it, Ashley opted for leaving her mother and sister alone and disappeared quickly. Sam shifted her weight from one leg to the other, and then, she lost it. "Mom, we don't have that time."

"Do you think the Colonel would accept my help?" Helen asked. Sam stopped pacing and looked at her. "I don't know if I will be able to help him, Samantha. But the least I can do is try. It won't be as easy as mixing my blood with something else to solve this. And even if there are Praxian writings of machines able to extract memories, it is far from achievable in the short term."

"Do you know this woman?" Sam embraced herself.

"Elizabeth Weir?" Helen asked. "It's not my recommendation. I know she was a good negotiator for the UN. However, I have never had the chance of meeting her."

"That's new," Sam raised her eyebrow.

"Contrary to popular beliefs, I don't know the whole world, Samantha. I do have to move my pieces carefully in order to keep the secret of my own existence safe from some eyes."

"I'm sorry," she huffed.

"Don't worry, I understand. Do you want me to ask the Colonel if he would take my help?" Helen offered.

"He might be a bit … anxious," Sam grimaced.

"I'm also aware of that, Samantha. It is not nice knowing you might have just a few days for doing all you wanted to do," Helen explained, remembering her own near-death experience.

"Let me call him." Helen nodded, and Sam picked her phone. "Sir?" Did I wake you? I might have an offer for you."

Helen had used the excuse of the call to get back to the Sanctuary, inform Nikola and try and find something to do with the situation. After dropping Helen, Ashley had paced waiting for Sam to finally convince the very stubborn Colonel until she finally grasped Sam and asked her for a picture of Jack's garden or something she could use as teleporting reference.

Jack blinked when he saw a blue light in his backyard, right next to his grill and pinched the bridge of his nose thinking he had a Guinness too many when he saw two blondes moving in his yard.

"Sir?" Sam called, and then he understood what was happening.

"Carter?"

"Sir, they are willing to try and help. At least we should have a different opinion since we both know they are far more advanced than us, and our medicine can't do anything for your condition."

"Carter, I need to find that address first," he huffed.

"Yes, and they need to find a way to get the repository out of your head. It won't happen now, sir." Sam said, and before Jack could discuss any further, he felt Ashley's hand on his shoulder, and he was standing on Nikola's torture place under both of Sam's parents' heavy gaze.

"Colonel," Magnus welcomed. "We are aware of the situation at hand, SGC revision and all. However, we also understand we currently don't have the means to extract the repository out of your brain."

"Ha!" Jac said and grinned when he noticed he had managed to make the Doctor roll her eyes at him.

"Yes, I know, we are not in a position of knowing it all, Colonel. However, we have some clues on how to reach a way to extract it. You are here because we need a scan with these new patterns in your brain before we can try and make some progress on the way to get it out."

"Don't worry, Colonel. We will do our best to help you; we only hope we get the time to complete it," Nikola added and for some unknown reason, Jack felt he was in good hands.

October 29th, 2004

Underground Sanctuary

"Mom?" Sam's voice made Helen jump to answer her radio.

"Samantha! Thank God! You are alive," Helen breathed for the first time since Sam had called to let them know she was going on a mission and she didn't know if they were going to return.

"I," Sam whispered.

"Don't say a word; I'll be there shortly." It seemed this situation was past the definition of deja-vu for Helen, as once again in a short time; she was opening her arms to embrace a crying Sam.

"Let me guess; it has to do with Colonel O'Neill." Helen let out softly as she embraced her daughter tightly. Sam only nodded against her shoulder. "Is he …" the doctor trailed not wanting to utter the word.

"Oh, God! No." Sam sighed, making Magnus frown not entirely understand what was going on.

"Let me get things straight," Helen said, pointing towards Sam's couch. "Last time we talked, Colonel O'Neill had managed to get the address you needed, and Anubis was on his way here," she trailed as they reached the couch.

"I asked Nikola and Henry to keep an eye out on the sky; we saw his fleet arrive. We also saw a strange light show; I can't explain what I observed. I suppose you know what I'm talking about." Helen said, and Sam nodded. "Then, the imminent invasion wasn't a threat anymore. Thus, we concluded the Colonel did manage to find the location of that weapon you were looking for, and we breathed a bit more calmly knowing we wouldn't be rising to help on a battle for the world. Leaving only the weight of the doubt of you and your friends being alive. Thankfully, you are here. Now, I'm yet to understand what happened to your friends," Helen finished. Sam inhaled profoundly and chewed her cheeks before she managed to pick the words she was going to use.

"Daniel and Teal'c are fine. We did manage to find the weapon; we traveled all the way there to figure out it was here all along."

"Here?" Helen asked, surprised.

"Yes, there's an ancient outpost in Antarctica," Sam waved.

"Huh," Helen frowned

"Huh, what?"

"There's a chair in the middle of a room? Somewhere deep under the polar ice?" Helen asked, and Sam frowned. "I believe I was there at some point; I couldn't make anything work. It never occurred to me to take a Praxian there."

"You've been there?"

"I suppose I'm not certain of it. And as if said, even if I were, it wouldn't have made any difference," Magnus shrugged dismissively. "So, Colonel O'Neill?"

"Well, he lost his conscience to the Ancient repository. But he managed to activate the weapon. And then, he pointed us to some hole in the wall that became a stasis pod where he is currently frozen."

"But alive."

"He is frozen, mom. Do you know what it feels like to watch someone you love just frozen, and you can't do anything about it?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I do. When I created Ashley's body and downloaded her conscience to it, I had to keep her in stasis for two years before Nikola and I came up with her treatment."

"So, you could have some way to help him?"

"I'm not sure, Samantha. The stasis chamber we developed for Ashley was based on Praxian technology. I didn't delve on the intricacies of the origin of it, it could've been of complete Praxian doing, or it could've been straight from the Ancients," the major opened her mouth, but Helen raised a hand stopping her. "Don't get me wrong, Samantha. I won't have any qualms on helping you to free him. However, I believe we first need to find a way to clear the repository out of his brain before we can even start to consider the stasis pod situation."

"You will help me, then?" Sam asked with eyes filled with hope.

"Yes, with anything I can."

October 30th, 2004

Antarctica.

"Why are we here again?" William asked as they moved as quickly as they could in the frozen corridor. He had learned of their plan of going to the pole as they were getting ready to depart and decided to join them without knowing the extent of the situation.

"We need to verify the situation here. Hopefully, we aren't too late," Helen said, being glad they had listened to Henry and brought unique earpieces and mics that now allowed them to chat even with all they had on to keep their warmth.

"What do you mean with too late?" Will asked as they reached the Antarctic exit of the Hollow Earth. Nikola checked the GPS position of the place and pointed them to the left.

"It's a little under a mile that way," Nikola affirmed. "And William, our little trip can have three possible outcomes: A; We reach the place, it's empty, and we can check the Colonel's situation without much fuzz. B; We find it guarded by the USAF, and we might need to either struggle a bit, scurry around or maybe have Helen placing a call to our lovely friend the President to try and see the Colonel's situation. Or C," he trailed, looking at Helen.

"C is we find it is impossible for us to enter it without creating a conflict. If C happens, we are too late," Helen affirmed.

"Well, we are nearing the place," Nikola said, checking the GPS once more. "I'll bet it is heavily guarded by military personnel."

"And what happens if it is?" Will frowned.

"We might need you to wait here as we go in," Helen answered. "There's also a chance that they are fighting over the who gets to study this place, based on the international treaty that affects Antarctica." She checked their location. "This place is by all means inside of the protected territory."

"Which treaty?"

"The Antarctic System treaty, William. It allows only scientific research for every country and bans all forms of military access."

"So, basically, they have violated the" Will's affirmation was stopped by Nikola, who had placed a hand on Will's chest, and raised a finger to tell him to shut up. Will frowned as Helen and Tesla took a couple of careful steps closer to the ice walls.

"That's a lot of military activity," Nikola pointed as quietly as he could.

"Indeed, it is," Helen frowned.

"What?"

"The place is on the other side of this wall, William. For what we can hear," Nikola said, straining his ears. "There are at least fifteen people in there."

"But you can overpower fifteen people easily," Will pointed.

"And then what? All the involved nations might start a war among themselves because no one would take responsibility for the attack?" Helen tried to pinch the bridge of her nose but between her gloves, winter gear, and face protection she couldn't. So, she opted for somehow rub her gloved hands on top of her covered face.

"Or they could not say anything at all?" Nikola tried.

"No, we attack them out of the blue, and the last thing any of them will do is keep it quiet. Not when most of them know to some extent, the power of that weapon. Now, even if the United States Air Force is breaching the treaty, they could claim that this place needed protection while under attack and that all movement in here is done to keep the weapon away from enemy hands. If we fight our way in, there's no telling on how this could develop."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say they will need to negotiate a new deal," Nikola pointed. "This place is not of their creation, but given that no local people will rise to claim it all of them will want a piece of this technology for leverage, even if they have no idea how it works. All the involved countries in the treaty will need to discuss it." Helen hissed as an answer.

"What's wrong? What did he do now?" Will asked.

"It's not him; it's the situation. The United States government does have some leverage with their Stargate program. And the fact they do have an officer in stasis here. However, negotiations between so many countries can take forever, Nikola and I have experienced that before."

"So what we do now?" Will said.

"Easy! We need to find a way to get in there without force," Nikola added cheerfully.

"Let's get out of here and back to warmer weather, and then I'll consider my options."

October 30th, 2004

SGC.

"Carter," Sam answered the phone in her lab.

"Samantha."

"Mom?" the major said mostly out of surprise. "Why are you calling me here? You know this will get recorded and logged and," she frantically babbled while closing the door of her lab.

"It will not," Helen said, stopping Sam's tirade. "Didn't we ever explain to you how we manage to call to the top?"

"Not really? I figured it was some variation of something created for that purpose alone," Sam shrugged.

"Well, like the ones we placed to your home; this is a secure call that isn't coming from your regular phone operator. Basically, we tapped into the line but not into the network, and thus, it didn't trigger the recording process or your log. You can verify what I'm saying is true."

"Nikola's doing, I'll presume?" Sam said, typing around to check it.

"Henry's actually. He's better with this kind of technology than your father," Helen said, and let out a little gasp, which told Sam she wasn't supposed to say that one out loud. "Please don't tell him I've said that," Helen sighed, confirming Sam's original thoughts.

"I won't." She chuckled. "But I believe you didn't go through all the trouble of getting this call set to tell me that."

"No, and I'm afraid I'm not the bearer of good news," Sam leaned back on her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What happened?"

"We've reached the Antarctica exit. Due to its position, I believe it was part of the underground city of the Ancients before the Goa'uld appearance. The exit is a little under a mile away from the coordinates you provided us."

"Go on," Sam said.

"We stopped before we could go inside the place, we heard a lot of activity going on there. As you might be aware, there's a treaty that prevents any country from taking military ownership of the continent. I can only assume, by the level of information we gathered so far that your stint protecting the planet didn't go unnoticed. Especially for those countries which have scientific research being done there or the few with eyes in the sky."

"Mom, I'm," she sighed, "what are you not saying?"

"We couldn't reach the post because there were too many people for us to go unnoticed and despite we could bring them all down very fast as you might suppose, we didn't do it to avoid them starting yet another nonsensical war because no one would take responsibility for the attack."

"Okay, I think," Sam frowned. "I still don't get why you are calling."

"Oh, quite simple really, I called to check on you, pass this information and inquire if you happen to know which of the countries fighting over scientific jurisdiction have people there. If we can find out that last part, I can send someone disguised as a member of a specific crew."

"Send someone?" She frowned.

"Yes. I can't go, Samantha. Sadly, for this situation, we look too much alike, the moment I stroll there, they will believe I am you."

"Or you risk being recognized and deemed alive." Sam pointed.

"It is far more feasible they believe I am you; simply because you are alive and have a relationship with the Air Force, and the ones who might know me believe I am dead. As you already know, Catherine, who knew me well back then, along with other people, had issues with setting us apart at a simple glance before. We cannot risk another military personnel arriving there out of the blue, and imagine how it would look like when your current CO gets informed that you went there unauthorized."

"And Nikola?"

"Well, he said he recognized some of the voices, although he isn't sure for which country they are working at the moment. You know some people will trade nationalities to work in what they want to learn."

"So, they might know him."

"They might be able to identify him or one of his aliases. There are people in the scientific community who knows Nikola is still very much alive, regardless of what the history tells. And some that believe the books and know him under another name. Whichever it is, you know he is too annoyingly smart, and his arrival might cause some discomfort and ultimately, alert SCIU once more."

"And that's way too many alerts in such a short period, which can reactivate SCIU," Sam huffed.

"Yes. I can send William, Henry, Ashley, along with a fair amount of people who won't have issues passing as scientific since they effectively are. However, I do need to dress them properly for them to pass as someone who is already there and avoid any kind of awkward situations."

"Hum, I am not informed about the situation down there, I'm banished from going there. My current orders are: stay here, and out of the situation. SG-1 is on hold until the whole Stargate audit is done. I can ask Daniel; he was trying to get permission to go to the outpost as a civilian, you know to help with the language and all. He might have more information than I do about it."

"That would be helpful, we only need an indication of one country, and I can figure out the garments for whoever will go will to look the part. It simply can't be the United States because I'm quite sure they will have all eyes on them."

"Yeah, I get it." Sam sighed.

"Samantha," Helen trailed.

"I'm okay; he is alive, right?"

"I suppose he is. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Find a way to get him back to me?" Sam asked hopefully.

"I mean in the short time," Helen sighed.

"Can you ask Ashley to pick me up later tonight?"

"Call me when you get home, and I'll get her going. Have you let your friend Pete know you are back?"

"What does he have to do with this?"

"I'm just asking, Samantha. I thought I heard him leaving a message asking if you were back from your mission the last time I was around your house."

"If I tell you that I did call him, will you drop the subject?"

"Yes. I'll see you later, Samantha."

"See you later, mom."

Sam sighed, lowering the phone and pinched the bridge of her nose before she shook herself out of it and walked to Daniel's lab, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders.

A\N: I borrowed some lines from Episode 21 Season 7 aka Lost City Part 1. If you are curious like my new reviewer is; the Antartic Treaty is a real thing. It was signed in 1959 by the twelve countries that had been. Since Antartica has no locals, some countries placed territorial claims over the continent (Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom) and off course, Russia and the United States also made their claims. Thus, all the governments agreed (yes, unbelievable) that it should be a 'peaceful continent' therefore, only scientific research can be conducted in there. And guarantees freedom of scientific investigations, and obligates all the involved in making their results and findings available to everyone. So you might have heard about McMurdo, that's the USA scientific post. There are several places down there (or up there since there's no real up or down in the universe) and yes, this might become clearer in further chapters. Or it might become just some more random information you now know. :P

If you do find there are some improvements in my text, please shout out to Sunstar04 ... you have no idea the kinds of painfully bad grammar I make her read. Or maybe you do, if you have read my things before. (Yes, Sunstar04 I couldn't figure out history and story again. Ergo, 'things')