Author's note: One review? Just one? Was it that bad? Well, here is the last chapter of my little weirdness, and then back to the action. Let me know what you think.

Warnings: Just a little language and some artistic pretentions. : )

Previously:

She waited for a response. At long last, she felt Ella's hand slip into her own. Ella squeezed Sam's fingers in the darkness.

"Okay," Ella said softly. "Okay."

Interlude II

Far away from Sam and Ella, an Asgard ship slipped through hyperspace.

See what happens when I look away, Samantha? You disappear.

Jack O'Neill could only assume that he was heading towards Sam and Ella. Thor was being unusually taciturn; he would only say that he knew where Loki would head, given a chance, and it was not Earth. And the Asgard stressed that it was imperative that the Goa'uld be stopped.

Sam, we are coming. Thor thinks he's got a bead on you. And when we do find you…it's gonna be hard to let you go again.

It seemed likely that the Goa'uld had taken a new host.Jack willed away the mental image of Samantha glaring at him with glowing eyes. He'd seen it before, once in reality and countless times in nightmares. It was not a possibility that he would contemplate. It was also painful to contemplate Ella McPherson as a possible host. He never wanted to see her lively features twisted by the arrogant cruelty of a Goa'uld symbiote. And it would destroy Daniel.

It seemed most likely that the Goa'uld host had stolen Alex Portmanoy's body. The handwriting on the letter was a strong clue. Well, wherever you are hiding, you little bastard, we will get you out.

Jack sighed out his frustration and rested his head against the porthole he was standing by. No one was near him, so he could let his "game face" slip. He was worried. Jack was not a man who waited patiently. He preferred being on the front line of a fight. But right now he was blind and helpless.

Jack had been in love before. He and Sara had been very happy together. Losing that had put a hole in Jack's heart that only Sam had ever filled. He'd pushed her away, hiding behind regulations and Sam's comparative youth. Sam had fled as well. For two brave people, they both slunk around like cowards for years. It was only after Jacob Carter's death that anything changed. On their trip to Jack's cabin, Sam found Jack alone in the woods. With no hint of shame, she told Jack that she loved him and did not want to go another day with him not knowing it. He had been speechless. So he did what felt natural. He pulled her to him and kissed her long and hard. As soon as they could breathe again, he told her that he loved her as well. Her beautiful, blue eyes lit up and they kissed deeper.

With Daniel and Teal'c along for the vacation, there was limit to how far things could go, but once they were back in Colorado, Jack and Sam spent a long time satisfying years of curiosity.

Sam was a wonder to Jack. They could talk for hours without pause. Truly, he did not understand everything she had done at Area 51, but it was fascinating, nonetheless. Once Sam transferred back to the SG1 to help fight the Orii, their time was more limited and therefore more intense. Jack loved Sam and Sam loved Jack. It was as simple and as complicated as that.

And leave it to a Goa'uld to fuck it all up, he thought to himself, angrily. Sam, if I get there and find you – hurt – or worse – it will be very hard to remember that the host is an innocent in all this. So don't be…dead that is…or even hurt…

Lightly thumping his fist against the frame, Jack leaned his head against the porthole. He barely registered the star tracks that streaked by. All he could see was Sam. Sam with her enormous blue eyes and her porcelain skin. Sam with smudges on her face and dirt caked under her nails as she tried to make something of his garden. Sam in a low-cut clingy dress that made him almost forget they had dinner plans. Sam. All he could see was her.

"General O'Neill, please respond," Col. Mitchell's voice crackled through the radio.

"O'Neill here." He worked to reassume his "game face."

"Thor would like you to come to the bridge, sir. He has something he would like you to see."

"I'm on my way." Jack spared one more glance out the window before turning towards the bridge. Hang in there, Sam. I'm coming.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Daniel was trying to record the recent events in his personal mission log. They had learned a great deal in the past few days about Asgard and Goa'ulds and the true legend of Loki. It needed to be documented. And on a personal level, everything had gone so wrong so fast that Daniel needed some perspective. He had learned a long time ago that writing gave him that.

Seated on the floor, just around the corner from the bridge, he struggled to find a coherent thought. He closed his eyes and tried to tune out the background noise. It was surprise when Nicolas Ballard's face rose up in his mind. Daniel had neither seen nor heard from his grandfather since they had left him on P7X-377 but right now he was on Daniel's mind.

Daniel started to write.

It was you who first inspired me to look further for answers to the questions I had. Without your example, would I have come as far as I have?

It's weird to think of it that way, and god knows I never said it to you, but it's true. There is a lot of you in me. I always tried to deny it and keep separate from your legac. I know how close I was to my own nervous breakdown when Catherine found me. Sleepless nights, obsessive thought patterns. Isolating myself from everyone who cared about me. I didn't see the warning signs until it was almost too late. The Stargate saved me. I thought it would save you.

It's hard to miss someone I barely knew. When I told you that you had to tell me everything, I thought we would get that chance. Yet, the very first time we tried to contact you, you were gone. The Crystal Skull sat there, dead and depleted of energy. The radiation in the pyramid was gone, as well. I had lost you.

At first, I lay awake nights, worried that you had tried to get back, but had been prevented. But I finally accepted the truth. You wanted to be there more than you wanted to be here. It was as if the Skull's purpose was waiting for you. I don't hate you for it. It would be like hating the sky for being blue. Once you knew what was out there, you would never be content with life on Earth. I just wish you had said goodbye.

I'm sorry, Nick. I've never said that, but I am. After I was brought back from my year on Abydos, it should have been my priority to get you out of the hospital. After all, but then I knew you were telling the truth. I did not understand how, but somehow you had seen aliens. You would have been an asset to the Stargate program.

Except…well, you were still you, Nick. You were this crazy, cantankerous old man who mocked me. I couldn't bring you to the SGC. For one thing, you threw me out of your life. You were the only thing I had and when I lost you, I lost my last connection to my parents. And, even if we had patched things up sooner, I didn't want you there. I had finally found people willing to listen to me. I had found respect. I was too ashamed to be connected to you so I buried you deep. It was just easier that way. Sometimes I really forgot that I even had a blood relative that was still alive.

You know who never forgot you? Ella. Ella, a true orphan who had no one. After our museum excursion, she latched on to the idea of you and that damn Skull like it was a fantastical fairy tale. Even as an adult she wanted to meet you. She told me that she had a recurring nightmare of me being sucked into the eyes of the Skull. I felt like such a bastard when I had to laugh at her dream and remind her that the Skull was not dangerous. Honestly, I am not sure that she believed me about that. She has often been too perceptive for my own good.

And now look what's happened. Ella never had to look into the Skull's eyes to disappear. After all my attempts at keeping her safe and clueless, I was looking in the wrong direction when the danger came. SGC did a background check on Alex, I did my own, but Jack was right; when the NID does not want you to know something, you don't know it.

I have helped save the world a few times, Nick. I have helped saved countless other planets. But when it comes to my family, the track record is not as good. I couldn't save my parents or Sha're. I feel like I handed you over to your death. I will save Ella. Without her, I will truly be an orphan.

"Daniel!" Daniel heard Jack's voice bellow down the hall and it snapped him back to awareness.

"Yeah, Jack?" He called back as he walked to the bridge.

Jack, Cameron and Teal'c were all staring at the Asgard screen in the front of the spacious room.

Jack turned to his old friend. "Thor's got something on his sensors. A Goa'uld Al-Kesh, about a day and a half away. It's them."

TBC