The procedure had gone smoothly, and Sam sat next to her daughter's bed, awaiting her arousal from the sedatives given to her to ensure her cooperation.

"She looks like you."

Sam didn't look up, but could sense Jack's presence. "Actually, she looks like you."

"Me?"

She nodded. "She has your hair…your smile. And at times, she can have your sense of humor."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

She blinked away tears. "Don't be. I should be sorry I took those years away from you."

He brought a chair over. "So, what now?"

"I don't know."

"The great Samantha Carter doesn't know?" He teased gently.

"No, Jack, I don't." She said, looking over at him. She returned back to gaze at her unconscious daughter. "I proved that already, though."

"Hey, you did what you thought was best."

"No, I didn't. I was too afraid to do that." She said, in a hushed whisper.

Jack didn't say anything…just turned his head to see tears slipping past her defenses and down her cheeks.

"I wanted…She…she needed both of…" She began. She choked up, and stopped, though she still managed to communicate all that she needed to in her sorrow.

"C'mere." He said, inviting her to put her head on his shoulder and be comforted by him.

"I'm sorry." She managed.

And then, for the first time in eighteen years, Samantha Carter sobbed unashamedly in the arms of the man she loved.

--

Grace's eyes opened slowly, the bright lights of the infirmary blinding her momentarily as her retinas adjusted to the light.

"Grace." The blond woman said, pulling out of the embrace of the gray-haired man beside her. "You're awake!"

"Grace?" She asked, confused. It sounded like Grace was her name, but…was it?

"Yes. That's your name." The older man replied, gently.

"Who are you?" She managed, still confused about her identity…who was she? Who were they? What were they doing there? And why couldn't she remember who she was?

"We're your parents." The blond woman said as the gray-haired man in the dark blue suit with silver stars pinned on the shoulders took her hand and looked into her eyes lovingly.

"My parents?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"You were exposed to a chemical that suspended communication between the syntaxes in your brain." Her…mother…explained.

Her father chuckled, then turned a glance toward her. "Grace, what your mother is trying to say is that there was an accident. You were exposed to something that made you forget who you are."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Is anyone else hurt?"

"No. It only affected you." Sam said, trying to give a brave smile.

"Why?"

They looked at one another before her father answered. "You were working on something after the other scientists had gone home."

"I'm a scientist?"

"Yes, you are. And a brilliant one at that." Her mother added.

"But I don't…remember…"

"That's okay…we knew that might be a possibility. I'm going to help you go through some of your research and see if something doesn't trigger a memory."

A balding man clad in tan leather clothes hurried into the room. "Sam!" He exclaimed, as he pulled the woman into an embrace. It was a long one, and Grace sensed that they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"Dad." Sam said, after releasing her father from the embrace. She turned to the bed. "Grace, this is my father, Jacob Carter. Your grandfather."

"Grandfather?" She asked, curiously. Somehow, she knew that there was a more familiar way of addressing him, but she wasn't accustomed to using it like many of the other words spilling from her lips.

Jacob looked at Sam, then at Jack, and then at Grace. "What the hell is going on here?"

Sam tensed and pulled her father toward the door. "Let's talk, okay?"

She glanced behind her and Jack nodded, indicating that he would stay with Grace while Sam and Jacob talked and got reacquainted. Undoubtedly, Jacob would come looking for him later, but until then, he would spend some time getting acquainted with his own daughter.

But just as quickly as that realization had come, he admitted that this was going to be harder than he thought because of her amnesia. Grace, herself, didn't know who she was, and now it was his job to help her figure it out.

--

"So, what was that?"

"Grace has amnesia."

"Amnesia?"

"She was exposed to the chemical dargall. It blocks the synapses of the brain, effectively eliminating the pathways that her brain waves would have to travel through to retrieve her memories of her past eighteen years."

"I thought you had a cure for that."

"The process to get that cure was incredibly arduous, and due to one of the errors we encountered when the alien entity took over our computers, we lost some valuable information. The antidote was one of the things we've lost, and have been unable to retrieve."

"And yet you had the chemical on the base?" Jacob asked, skeptically. "Sam, you really have to work on your cover stories…"

"Dad…Grace was a product of some rather disturbing plots enforced by the Tok'ra High Council."

"I know." He said, looking suitably ashamed. "Sam, I'm sorry that you got involved in that…I would never have…"

"I know. But that's why Grace is suffering from amnesia. She couldn't live like that anymore. She…" Sam's throat constricted with the introduction of her very difficult emotion. "She asked Jack to end it right there in the Gate room."

"Jack?"

Sam looked at the floor. "Grace was harsesis."

Jacob's eyebrows raised. "WHAT?"

"Dad…"

"And you just let her lose her memories?"

"DAD!"

His face was nearly red with fury, and she took a deep breath. "I want to talk to Selmak."

He gave her a look of frustration, but as he did so, he bowed his head and Selmak emerged.

"I am sorry for your father's reaction. The Tok'ra High Council had withheld that information from us. We were simply told that you had been with child at the time of your disappearance. Your father concluded that it had been your time with the Tok'ra that had distressed you so as to force you from Stargate Command and the Air Force, but he had not even considered the possibility of what a Tok'ra Harsesis could mean to the Tok'ra cause."

"Well, I'm not going to apologize for protecting my daughter from that." Sam said, protectively.

"And you should not. However, your father's shock had more to do with his dismay that the Tok'ra High Council would subject something like this upon the Tok'ra with whom you had been entrusted."

"Well, they did. And I…Jack lost eighteen YEARS with Grace because of it."

"General O'Neill is not the only father who lost eighteen years of his daughter's life." Selmak responded, wisely.

Sam took a deep breath. "Dad."

"Selmak!" Jacob reprimanded as he took control of his body once again. "What the hell were you trying to say?"

"That you missed me?"

Jacob looked into his daughter's eyes as he heaved a sigh. "Yes, kid, I missed you."

"Look, Jack and I are trying to figure this out just like everyone else."

"I know. It's just…this is really confusing."

"Tell me about it."

"How did Jack react?"

She swallowed. "Uh…he took it in stride."

"Really?"

"We had an altercation, but…I think it's for the better. It got some things out in the open that needed to be said."

"Like your feelings for one another?"

She turned, trying to hide her tears from her father. "Yeah."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Sam."

She turned tear-stained cheeks toward him. "I got pregnant under his command! Of course it's something to be ashamed of!"

"Was it your fault or was it the Tok'ra's fault?"

"Excuse me?"

"Were you in control or were the symbiotes in control?"

Sam tensed. "I have to see if Grace is okay."

"She's fine." Jacob said, reaching out and taking a hold of his daughter's arm. "She's with her father."

Sam swallowed. "They were in control."

"For how long?"

She took a deep breath. "For all except a few seconds…"

"What do you mean 'for all except a few seconds?'"

"Dad, you're not my commanding officer. I'm not in the Air Force, and I don't have to answer your questions." She said, defensively.

"You're right, Sam. You don't have to answer my questions. But I think you want to."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know you. Or at least I did."

"Dad…"

"Sammy, if you don't want to talk…that's fine. But it's been eighteen years since we talked."

"I know that, Dad!"

Jack walked out into the hallway. "Something wrong?"

"No. Is Grace okay?"

"She's fine…just confused."

"Well, that's a feeling that I understand." Jacob said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to check in with Daniel."

He walked off and Sam closed her eyes in humiliation.

"What happened?"

"He started asking for details."

"Your dad was asking for details about our sex life?" Jack asked, a somewhat shocked and yet amused smile on his face.

"No…yes…he wanted to know if it was the symbiotes' fault."

He stiffened. "Oh."

"I didn't know what to tell him…"

"He shouldn't have asked."

"I know…but…"

Jack put his arms around her. "Sam…no matter what anyone does to take recourse, I'm here."

"I know." She said, her voice muffled by her tears and his sleeve.

"Look, we'll figure this out, but for Grace, we need to stay together."

"No, Jack…for us, we need to stay together." She corrected.

"Yes. For us."