Jack watched through the glass as Daniel interviewed the Trust operative. Teal'c stood back, letting Daniel do his thing. Landry was being kind enough to let him in on this investigation, but Jack hadn't spoken to the Trust operative personally. It would have involved yelling and bloodshed, and Landry didn't prefer that. He tried to smile as Vala found a seat next to him.

"Ah…General," she began uneasily.

"It's Jack. Call me Jack."

"Jack. I just wanted to offer my condolences on this whole situation. Colonel Carter-Sam- and I, we don't always see eye to eye, but she's never made me feel inferior. She seems like a truly wonderful person."

"She is," Jack answered simply.

"She is…" Vala repeated, studying the gray haired man closely. He finally turned to her.

"Have you and Sam ever talked about the whole…host thing? She never told me much about it, not even after we were married. I just know it was one of the worst experiences she's ever had."

"No, we never have. I remember meeting her and being able to sense her. She could sense me too. It was quite uncomfortable, to say the least. Daniel explained everything, but we've never discussed it. A Tok'ra, right?"

Jack nodded. "She had one of those things in her for a couple of days. It's nothing like what you went through-"

"Any time spent being an unwilling host is too much time. Much too much time," Vala said firmly.

"Yeah… I was a host before," Jack volunteered the information.

"Really, but I don't-"

"No. It's a long and complicated story. It's something Sam blames herself for, even though I've made it clear it wasn't her fault. I think that's why she never brings it up-with me anyway. She always kept it private, even during my experience. I thought that after we got together, maybe we would, I don't know, discuss it. I don't even like talking about it, but I would for her…"

Vala bit her lip. "You've been trough a lot together, haven't you?"

Jack nodded and turned back to the interview, surprised to see Teal'c whispering into Weaver's ear. Jack actually grinned. "Well," he said, standing up, "We should be getting the information we need, and soon. Teal'c has his ways."

Vala smiled up at him. Indeed.

Sam walked slowly down the sidewalk. Her heeled shoes hung loosely in her hands; her feet already had blisters. Her skirt swooshed lightly around her calves. A mouth-watering aroma wafted past her nose and she searched for its source. Sol's Diner. She was hungry, starving really, but she had no money. She sat in a chair in front of the diner, taking a moment to rest.

Sam hadn't stopped running from the warehouse until she'd literally collapsed. Even then, she'd dragged herself up and continued on. She'd caught a ride to the next town, knowing full well hitchhiking wasn't the brightest thing to do. But she'd had to get away-far away.

"Hello? You in there?" Fingers snapping in her face brought Sam out of her reverie. She looked up at a nice looking middle-aged man.

"Are you alright, hon?"

Sam's brow creased. "Uh…"

"Oh my…what happened to you?" he wondered, taking in the scratches on her arms, the abrasions on her wrists.

"I'm fine…"

The man was unconvinced. "My name is Sal," he said gently. "And you are?"

"I'm…I'm…" She couldn't remember anything before the explosion. She certainly should have been more concerned about it than she was. Sam recalled the name of the kind lady who had driven her to town. "I'm Anna," she responded.

"Anna. Well, I own Sol's here. Why don't you come inside? We'll get you cleaned up and a hot meal into you. Sound like a plan?"

"Alright," Sam agreed. Sal offered his hand, and she took it. They both paused as they saw the glint of a diamond on her ring finger.

Sal finished doctoring her wrists and wrapped them gently. "Look, Anna. I don't know what you've been through, but you need help. Someone did this to you, and someone is definitely looking for you," he said, referring to her wedding ring. An expression of horror suddenly crossed his face. "Your husband. Did he do this?"

Sam opened her mouth to respond, but stopped. She couldn't tell this man she didn't know anything, including her own name. She needed to lay low, figure things out. Maybe this was a solution, a way to get him off her back. So she nodded.

"Oh, hon. I'm so sorry. Do you need to go to the police? Press charges?"

"No!" Sam cried out, shaking her head furiously.

"Hey! Calm down. You can stay here as long as you need. I'm going to grab you something to eat from downstairs, okay? I'm going to call my wife and see if she can find you something more comfortable to wear."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're quite welcome. And please, it's Sal."

"Sal," Sam nodded. As she heard his footsteps fade down the stairs, she studied her ring. It was beautiful, perfect actually. Whoever had given it to her had picked well. Even in her amnesic state, Sam loved it. It was absolutely perfect. She slipped it off to get a better look, and an inscription caught her eye. She turned the ring so she could read the writing. It was a single word.

Always.

"General O'Neill, Jackson," Mitchell greeted upon finding the two in Daniel's lab. "What have you got?"

"I've been in contact with the Tok'ra, seeing as how Jolinar is more than likely the reason Sam was kidnapped. So from what I've learned from them and the Trust operative, this is what I've come up with." Daniel moved some large books around on his desk. "Athena, AKA Charlotte Mayfield, is the Goa'uld responsible for Sam's disappearance. She was known for pursuing alliances with rivals-she was never very powerful on her own."

"So, what? This alliance with Ba'al on Earth is just a power play?" Mitchell asked.

"No. She's got a past with Jolinar. Apparently they had allied in search of a powerful device. There are many rumors as to what this device was, but they all agree that the owner would possess great power. Jolinar found it first. She hoped to keep it out of reach of the Goa'uld and perhaps find a way to stop them all together. But they couldn't find a solution and put it away. It was recently rediscovered and apparently Jolinar is the only one with the code needed to operate it."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Um, I've got to contact Major Harper and see if Sam showed up at any of the local hospitals. She could have been injured," Daniel said, grabbing the phone.

"Well, I spoke with the medical examiner and they are doing DNA tests on the remains found at the site. It's going to take a while, but-"

"She's not dead." Mitchell faced Jack, who had been silent up to that point. Daniel slowly set the phone back on the cradle.

"About four or five years ago, Sam was taken. She had tests run on her-they almost killed her. But she made it, you know? She's strong. We didn't give up on her then, and we won't now. Never doubt Sam Carter," Jack told him, quietly, but resolutely.

"Yes, sir. I just thought you should know," Mitchell replied, feeling a little out of place.

"Thank you. Daniel?"

Daniel nodded and picked the phone up. "Major Harper, please."