What could've happened

by mak5258

Right afteralternate ending to threads: Jacob doesn't die when Slemac does, then Earth falls under attack by Ba'al... yeah, that summary kind of sucks. mild language if you care

5. Chapter 5

1Sam shivered as his fingers traced the scar on the back of her neck. She could practically feel the disgust rolling off of the man who was now lying on the floor. Jack had put up a fight when Ba'al had taken Sam by the neck, and had been knocked flat on his back by one of the jaffa. Ba'al smiled at the distress in his opponent's eyes before turning to look Sam in the face, "Come now Colonel Carter, there must be some pleasure in his," he smiled evilly. Sam would've broken his fingers if her hands weren't tied securely behind her back. He laughed when this though flashed against her eyes.

Daniel and Teal'c were tied similarly, and being held at zat point to the let of the General on the floor. He was having trouble getting up due to his own shackles. "You were once my queen..." he smiled at the memory, "Nothing has to change."

"That goa'uld is dead," Daniel spat, not any more comfortable with Ba'al's current position than Jack, only he didn't have the rage that jealousy and unspoken and repressed emotions could bring about.

"Yes, but all hearts move on," Sam's eyes clouded over and she attempted to get a hold of his fingers and do some damage. All she managed to do was ink her teeth into the fleshy part of his hand. He backhanded her and she landed awkwardly on top of her CO. Ba'al didn't want his snake of a mate back, now he wanted Sam.

Ba'al laughed again, obviously taking pleasure in the plight of SG-1, "Take them away," he motioned to the three men, picking Sam up by her connected wrists. She winced at the pressure this put on her elbows and shoulders, quickly regaining her feet. "We are going for a walk..." he put his face uncomfortably close to Sam's, taking in her scent. She got her face as far away from his as possible, which wasn't far because he was still holding her wrists.

The jaffa frog marched the rest of the original SG-1 out of the control room, using the palms of their captives to open the doors that stood in the way. Ba'al smirked and used Sam's palm to do similarly, bringing her in the elevator and heading for the surface.

Ba'al's troops, made up of human slaves as well as loyal jaffa, had flooded Colorado Springs; they had killed most of the police and armed forces that had come to defend the city, though there were still small pockets of resistance. One such pocket was located in the parking lot of the SGC. Sam recognized Pete, her ex-fiancé, and a group of uniformed police officers firing at a squad of jaffa.

"Cease fire!" Ba'al called out to the police officers, holding a pain stick dangerously close to Sam's chin. She struggled slightly, unwittingly pushing herself closer to the goa'uld in an attempt to escape the torture device he was brandishing. He smiled at this, still approaching the group of men now at a stand still. All of them were pointing their weapons at each other, though none were firing. "Lower your weapons, tauri, or I shall kill her."

Pete's eyes gave everything away even to somebody who didin't know him nearly as well as Sam. He tipped his gun on its side, beginning to raise his hands. Sam struggled again when it was apparent Pete wasn't going to try to save her. She spun herself around, getting behind Ba'al and pulling on his neck with her restraints. He was tipping over backwards on her, she sagged under his weight but didn't stop pulling. The goa'uld gasped for breath, "Jaffa!" He called out desperately, "Kree!"

Pete finally came to his senses, taking out a jaffa before they knew that they were fighting again. The firing immediately stopped when Sam screamed out in pain. In the course of the last few seconds, Ba'al had remembered that he was holding a pain stick and had jabbed it into her thigh. This had brought both of them to the ground, though Ba'al had already risen and was jabbing it into her again. Sam cried out and Pete fired three shots into Ba'al's right shoulder.

Ba'al spun around, not amused. He sent Pete flying backward with the hand device. Sam kicked him in the shins from her position on the ground, getting a few good kicking in before he redirected his attention, and his pain stick, to her.

She was sure he'd decided to kill her. She couldn't breathe anymore. He hadn't removed the pain stick from her skin for more than a minute. Her entire body was screaming in protest, her mind was despairing. The familiar sensation of dematerialization enveloped her, and she suddenly found herself on an alkesh. Ba'al ignored their change of scenery, assuming it to be his own alkesh, until a fist connected with the side of his head so hard that it sent him flying across the width of the cargo ship.

Sam was almost unconscious when the pain finally stopped, she struggled against it. There had to be a reason for Ba'al to stop, and now they were on an alkesh, she had to get back to the SGC to get the others. She struggled to get to her feet, attempting to throw off the nausea that threatened to overcome her. She managed to get to her knees before she felt a familiar hand on her back.

"Sam, honey..." It was her father. He was hovering over her as any father would, she could feel the trace amounts of naquadeh that Selmak had left in his blood. Somehow it was soothing. Without a word she collapsed in her father's arms, out cold.

Jacob lay his daughter on her back, carefully straightening her out; she looked peaceful, like she was just asleep. He turned his attention back to the fallen system lord, who was still reeling in the corner. Jacob removed the pain stick from his hand, pushing it into Ba'al, who cried out in pain. Jacob quietly finished with h im, using a zat to disintegrate his body before returning his attention to his daughter.

Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c had all been locked in different containment cells in the bowels of the SGC. Well, it wasn't really the bowels because the stargate took up most of the lower level, but the brig was the most obscure place on the base. Jack was pacing his cell, furious with Ba'al for what he had done to Sam, even more furious about what he'd been doing to Sam than what the system lord had been doing to him.

He couldn't have been more surprised when Sam burst through the door of his cell, unaccompanied by even a jaffa. "Sam?"

"Sir," she was still a little woozy from her bout with the pain stick, but it was passing. It was her turn to be surprised though; a suddenly emotional Jack pulled her into a fierce embrace, pulling her into he cell and holding her close. "Sir?" She repeated, a little softer. He couldn't say anything, he was just glad she was okay. "Sir, my dad's right outside getting Daniel and Teal'c..."

Jack immediately let her go, knowing how uncomfortable everything would be if her father happened to walk in on them. They were only hugging, but even that wasn't really supposed to be happening. He cursed the military, and his part in it, and wished that they were someplace safe and alone where they could talk... among other things.

"Hey Dad!" He said happily as they stepped out of the cell, coming face to face with the three men coming around the corner. If any of them were confused why Sam followed Jack out, or was even in the cell at all, they didn't get a chance to express it. A group of jaffa came around the corner and began firing- they all ran for their lives.

They split up after meeting another column of jaffa in the next corridor.

Sam ended up in her lab, surrounded by familiar things; her laptop, various experiments, deemed 'doohickeys' by the General, but nothing she could arm herself with. She looked down at herself, still dressed in pajamas and a sweatshirt. Her cell phone was ready to fall out of her pocket, but the bullet-proof vest was holding it in; Ba'al had confiscated her zat and hand device.

There weren't even any experiments in the lab that she could use to harm her attackers, and they grew closer every second. She hid behind her desk, eyes still searching the room.

The jaffa were at the door, looking in; looking for her. Her gaze became more desperate- at this point she would've settled for a frying pan to hit them with. Then, there it was. The small white stone completely covered in Ancient writing. Daniel had found it on P3X-who knows what; it was a transporter. It would bring her to the same docile planet that it had been found on.

Sam sprinted across the room just as the commotion started outside.

The jaffa in the door fell at the same moment Sam was enveloped in a bright greenish light, "SAM!" Jack yelled, thinking the jaffa had hit her with something. Then she was gone.

Sam appeared in the field, her knees feeling like jello. She quickly regained her composure and looked around; she hadn't landed far from a small farmhouse, deserted by the looks of it. Looking around she found that much had changed since her last visit. A great battle had taken place.

Ships were strewn over the field, most of them looked damaged beyond repair. That was when she noticed the stargate. It was on the ground, half sunk into the ground, the DHD was sitting in its usual spot, looking normal. Sam didn't want to get her hopes up.

She wasn't able to find any suitable clothes in the farmhouse, but she did find clothes that weren't blood-soaked pajamas. It was mostly leather; knee high boots that tied up the front, and soft leather pants that tucked into the boots, the shirt was more like a sleeveless bodice, compressing her uncomfortably; whomever usually wore these had a smaller chest. Sam loosened the laces on the front of the shirt so that she could breathe, ignoring the sexual statement she'd be making when she returned home.

She searched the rest of the house after she was dressed, looking for any weapons she would be able to use to defend herself, even though she'd return with a ship. Nothing stood out; she found a frying pan, chuckling to herself, but she left it where it lie.

Jack looked around the room; Sam was definitely not there. A white stone was sitting where she had been standing when she disappeared but nothing else. "No, Jack, don't!" He heard Daniel say from the doorway as he bent over and picked it up.

"What?" He asked, spinning around to look at Daniel, rubbing the smooth edges of the carvings on the stone. Daniel was no longer there, though, instead he saw a field of something that resembled corn, littered with ships. He looked around him and saw Sam heading toward a ramshackle farmhouse. The stone was no longer in his hand, so he figured he might as well follow his 2IC.

He entered the house to find that she had disappeared completely, something was moving around upstairs though. He went to investigate, as he neared a window he heard the front door slam. Looking down he saw Sam making her way back to the ship-ridden fields, wearing a lot of leather. He looked down at her, appreciating the open bodice, and not leaving the window to run after her until his 'view' was out of range.

"Sam!"

"Sir?"

"Hi..."

"Sir, how did you...?"

"That stone thing, I didn't know what it did but I picked it up to put it on the table and I ended up here."

"If you'd read my report you'd've known what it does."

"Yeah, well, I only read the exciting ones," Sam rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, c'mon, Carter; that's most of them."

"True, sir," she smiled. He should have scolded her for rolling her eyes, he was her CO, but he hadn't. That was one of the reasons she liked him so much. She decided to stop thinking about why she liked him and start thinking about how to get them off the deserted planet.

"So, where's the 'gate?" Sam jerked her thumb toward the half buried ring a few hundred feet away. "Guess we'll be taking a ship then."

"Yes, sir. It'll be helpful when we get back anyways; another ship is always a good thing."

"Lets not crash it, okay?"

"I thought we'd agreed on that last time we crashed a ship."

"Well, I guess we did, but I wasn't really..." her chuckle and gentle smile cut him off. He didn't trust himself to speak when she was smiling at him like that.

Daniel was sure that Jacob was going to give himself a heart attack. He was extremely worked up about his daughter's disappearance. "What do you mean its only a matter of time?" Jacob was glaring at him, not quite yelling, but a vein on his forehead was pulsing dangerously.

"They have a stargate where they were sent, its only a matter of time before they 'gate home."

"How do you know where they went?"

"The stone transported them to a planet that we visited recently, it's a quiet, farming planet. Nice locals, they like Sam. They'll probably just say hi, 'gate home, save the world..." Daniel knew he was making light of the serious situation, but somebody had to calm Jacob down, now that Selmac was gone.

Their conversation was interrupted by a number of jaffa as they attempted to retake the control room. Thus reminded of their situation, Jacob and Daniel returned to the fight, hoping Sam and Jack would be able to figure it out for themselves.

It looked as though Ba'al had attacked this planet on his way to Earth. Their evidence; Ba'al's corpse.

"How is that possible?" Jack asked her, upon seeing the dead system lord.

"I don't know- Dad killed him after he ringed us aboard his cargo ship..."

"Can we say he cloned himself and get back to Earth?"

"If you say so," they hauled his body and those of several jaffa off the ship, removing their weapons. Sam reluctantly took this Ba'al's hand device for herself.

The ship they had found the dead Ba'al on was relatively intact; Carter cannibalized another ship to get extra hyperspace crystals, and to fix the control panel. After only an hour of work, they were ready to take-off.

"So, how long of a flight are we looking at?" Jack asked, settling in the pilot's chair; Sam had slumped in the other chair, exhausted from the events of the day.

"Almost 24 hours, sir."

"What!"

"It's one of the closest planet we've 'gated to yet, sir! Stop complaining..." She was doing it again, chastising her CO. She shut her mouth, slumping further into her chair.

"Fine, fine..." He took off, following her directions to get them pointed the right way, and set the auto pilot as soon as they were in hyperspace.

Four hours later Jack was bored out of his mind and Sam was soundly asleep. Unlike his 2IC, he had gotten more than enough sleep last night, and he'd spent most of the afternoon locked in a cell in the 'bowels' of the SGC.

He stopped pacing and settled down to watch her sleep. He would never admit how wonderful it was that she trusted him enough to sleep through a spaceflight, especially when earth was under attack. He knew he was staring, but it couldn't be helped; there was nothing else to look at on the ship, and she was wearing a lot of tight-fitting leather. Nobody would guess what she was capable of if they looked at her now; she was curled in a ball in her chair, her knees pulled up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them. A sword hung from her belt, obviously not her sword. She'd mentioned not being able to get it off the belt when she put the clothes on, and had complained about it while she had made the necessary repairs to the ship. He smiled to himself.

She stirred in her sleep and Jack quickly became entertained with the color playing against the window in front of him. Sam smiled as she came around, knowing the look on his face even though he wasn't looking at her anymore.

"How long was I out?"

"Four hours, thirteen minutes, and... nine seconds," he said, glancing at his watch.

"Really?"

"Carter, I don't know..." He said, smiling. "Four hours-ish."

"Oh, it felt like a lot longer," she realized that he had been joking. It wasn't fair to joke when she wasn't properly awake. "Anything interesting happen?"

"Well, this rushing space thing is still blue. It's been blue for four whole hours... I"m starting to get the feeling that its never not going to be blue," he motioned to the window in front of them. Sam chuckled.

"Only twenty hours to go, sir."

"Well, I can think of much more interesting things to be doing..." he cut himself off, he hadn't meant to say that aloud. Sam's mind instantly flew to the incident earlier when he had pulled her into his cell. What was that all about anyways? It had been years since their feelings had been so close to the surface.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Jack needed another distraction. "So... why do you have a sword?"

"Because its stuck, sir," he raised an eyebrow. "I can't get the scabbard off the belt and I figured that if I had to wear the scabbard I might as well have the sword that goes along with it.

"If you say so," she scowled at him.

"If you think you can get it off, be my guest," she unbuckled her belt and handed it to him. He pulled the sword out, setting it next to him on the floor and began pulling on the scabbard. Sam picked up the sword to keep herself occupied, swishing it around. She had tried fencing at the Academy as an extracurricular activity, one that she had given up as she had come closer to completing her studies. Still, the sword felt remarkably familiar in her hands.

Jack watched her swinging the sword around out of the corner of his eye. At first he was worried she'd send it flying and it would end up in some vital system, or him, but after a moment he realized that she looked comfortable with the metal thing. He reminded her of Ishta, all dressed up in leather, waving weapons around.

Both of them were interrupted when something on the control panel started beeping. Jack handed her back the belt, scabbard still attached, and went to check it out while she put the belt back on.

"Sam!"

"What?" She came up beside him, pressing in close so she could see. It was the little things like that that were the proof of their emotions; pressing closer than necessary when it was excusable, brushing her wrist when she handed him a report, keeping eye contact a moment longer than needed.

"I think the hyperspace crystal thingies are about to fail."

"Yeah, they are."

She sprinted back into the engine room yelling over her shoulder; "Sir, can you bring us out of hyperspace so I can fix this without killing myself?"

"Sure thing."

They slowed, dropping out of hyperspace as Sam reached the proper control panel. She pulled it open and began her investigation; one of the crystals was black and burnt out. Swearing under her breath, Sam searched the spares she had taken from the other ships. Finding the one she needed she began fitting it in place. "It should work now, sir," she walked back to the control board where Jack stood.

"Yeah, but it doesn't," groaning, Sam walked back to the panel, looking it over and switching a few crystals around.

"Now?"

"Nope."

"Dammit..." She began looking for other, less obvious, problems. Jack joined her after a few minutes, watching her work. "Why do you always do that?" She didn't look up.

"Do what?"

"Watch me."

"You're much more entertaining than all those boring stars going past incredibly slowly out there."

"Sir, even though we're not in hyperspace we're still moving faster than the speed of sound."

"Yeah, but I'm used to moving faster than light, therefore this is slow."

"If you say so, sir."

"I do," he smirked, he'd missed chats like this in the year that he'd been in charge of the SGC.

Sam continued with her work, but his gaze was distracting. She was very aware that her butt went up every time she bent down to deal with some little problem she found; and very aware that he was probably looking at said butt. She smiled to herself, surprised that she didn't really mind that much.

Sam pulled out another compartment, the last one she had to check before she was out of ideas. This seemed to be the right compartment, sparks were flying out of it, a few different wires seemed to have crossed themselves after the crash and the strain of hours of hyperspace travel wasn't helping Squatting carefully, she reached in and untangled the needed wires, flinching at the spark that shot up her arm. "Sam?" He was worried- the spark that had traveled up her arm was visible, though painless.

"I'm fine, sir."

"If you say so..." A moment later he caught her as another, less harmless, shock shot up her arm. She flung herself away from the panel, slamming it closed with her foot. He held her carefully, getting a slight shock when he first grabbed her. The small hairs on her neck and arms were standing on end, and the hair on her head was disheveled. "You okay?" He asked, looking down at her. She took a mental inventory of herself.

"I think so," she winced when she tried to sit up and pull away from him.

"I'm afraid I disagree..."

"Let me sit for awhile, sir... check if the hyperspace with work now."

"You're sure?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine..." She gave him a look that made him move, even if she was his subordinate.

A few seconds later Sam felt the familiar tug that meant that they had entered hyperspace. Knowing this, she allowed the darkness that had been pulling at her to take over.

"How do we always get ourselves into these situations?" Daniel wondered out loud to Teal'c. The pair of them were standing at the only entrance to the SGC that hadn't been completely locked down by the Asgard. Only the small escape hatch on the top of the mountain would be able to open or close until Thor came and removed the shields and safeguards he had installed.

The world was still in chaos, but the disappearance of their leader had caused some jaffa to loose faith. A few motherships had turned around and fled; with this drop in numbers, the Tok'ra, Asgard, and the Promethius were gaining the upper hand. Cheyenne Mountain was no longer the direct target, the jaffa were choosing sights at random, and his helped those in the air.

Both of the men guarding the SGC were worried about their friends, not only Sam and Jack but Jacob, who had taken his Alkesh and gone to fight. They were both feeling a bit helpless, but they were far from bored. Plenty of jaffa were still around to try and get into the SGC.

Jack had panicked as soon as he saw Sam lying flat on her back, eyes closed. She never did that, not even in sleep; she had slept on her side on every single mission they had ever been on, he knew because he didn't let himself sleep until he saw that she was asleep.

"Sam? Sam!" He was shaking her shoulders, tapping the side of her face, he tried pinching her forearm but she wouldn't wake up. He checked her vitals again, she was definitely still breathing, and had a steady, normal pulse. "C'mon Sam, you've got to wake up," desperation tinted his voice.

Without warning, she woke up. Sitting straight up and nearly knocking heads with her CO. He pulled back just in time to avoid a concussion. "Whoa, slow down there..." She didn't seem to be able to hear him, she grabbed his forearm in a vice grip, staring straight ahead. He looked where she was looking but couldn't see anything. "Sam?" No response. "Colonel Carter?" He tried, barking it like he had so many times in the past. Still, no response. "Sam, what's going on?" He waved a hand in front of her face. That got her attention, her eyes followed the hand and eventually made their way down the arm and up to the face, he smiled reassuringly.

"Jack...?" Never had somebody saying his name caused such a stir of emotions inside of him. She hadn't said 'sir', or 'General', she had said 'Jack..' Just saying that name instead of any other name was enough permission for him to pull her close. She didn't hesitate, and for the second time in twenty-four hours they clung together in a hug that wanted to be more.

"Are you all right?" He asked, holding her away from him and looking her in the eyes. She looked all right, but she had looked all right when he had left to put them back in hyperspace.

"I think I'm going to be okay," she smiled, trying to hint that she wanted him to hold her again without actually pulling him back towards her, or saying some dumb line. It seemed to work because she was pulled close again a few seconds later.

The hug slowly turned into something more. They were awkward about it at first, their minds screaming that it was illegal and that they would be court marshaled and thrown into separate jail cells. Jack, however, wasn't about to let the opportunity pass him by twice in one day, and this time her father was miles away. He kissed her, tenderly at first, seeing how she would react. When she didn't shove him away or protest, he explored her lips more intensely and was surprised when she was the one who first sought entrance to his mouth.

They dropped out of hyperspace unexpectedly, they autopilot telling them that they were in stable orbit around their home planet. Jack and Sam had been busy with each other for the entire ride, refusing to worry about not being able to do anything on their trip home, and enjoying the time that would've been spent in complete boredom otherwise. They smiled at each other as they stood up, finding picking up various items of clothing from various spots. They had twenty hours together to come to terms with their relationship and the levels they had taken it to; no decision had been reached concerning where they would progress to, but they had bigger fish to fry anyways.

Explosions and debris rained around them as Jack carefully piloted the cargo ship closer to Cheyenne Mountain. It was apparent that Ba'al's forces were making their last stand a few miles up and away from the base.

"Who approaches?" They were hailed by the goa'uld vessel; the voice sounded hopeful of reinforcements. Jack responded by blowing the ship that had hailed them out of the sky. This time they were hailed by the Asgard ship.

"Who approaches?" It was Thor.

"Thor, buddy, it's us."

"Who is 'us', O'Neill?"

"Carter and me."

"Where did you go, many people were very worried about your disappearance."

"Doesn't look like you needed to worry about it."

"We were more concerned about the repercussions of your disappearance after we have defeated Ba'al's forces."

"How do you mean?"

"There will be much to tell the Earth people once this is all finished, and the pair of you play a major part in the explanation."

"Right," if he didn't sound happy it was because he wasn't.

The last of Ba'al's ships exploded in a huge flash of light. It was completely destroyed by the explosion, leaving only small bits of flaming debris to fall to the ground, not big enough to break any roofs in. The fleet of ships made its way to Colorado Springs, two Asgard motherships went into orbit before Thor beamed himself down next to Daniel and Teal'cthe Promethius came to orbit nearby, waiting for repairs. All the Tok'ra alkesh disappeared after dropping Jacob off on the ground. "Jacob?" Daniel had asked at this.

"They need to get the ships back for repairs, I'll be joining them after things have settled around here."

"Just wondering," Daniel smiled at his friend before looking at the alkesh that had just landed down the hill from them.

They were all surprised when Sam and Jack walked down the ramp of the alkesh. Sam was wearing leather garments that didn't cover her well at all, and the general was wearing a satisfied grin.

"Jack! Sam!" Daniel greeted them.

There was a commotion nearby and a herd of policemen, reporters with cameras, and people who lived in the Springs came running up the hill. Sam saw Pete and tensed, but Jack was close enough that the sight of him didn't affect her as much as it had in times past. She looked around at the faces of her friends, they were all haggard, tired; compared to them she and Jack looked great. "What happened to you?" Jacob asked, noting his daughter's clothing and her much more rested appearance.

"Went to a lovely planet and found a farmhouse that had some good clothes," she glanced down at herself, she hadn't laced the bodice as tightly as she had the first time when she put it on, mostly because Jack had had trouble getting it off when she laced it up too tightly. She flushed at the thought. "The 'gate was half embedded in the ground, we had to cannibalize a few of the other ships to get this one to work."

"And even then we had some problems getting here."

"I'm glad you're okay," he gave his daughter a hug.

"You shouldn't have worried."

"What else is a father supposed to do?" He got a smile out of that.

The group of them turned to face the onslaught of reporters. Pete was at the front, yelling at Sam at the top of his lungs. "Why wasn't I told! I have clearance! This is unacceptable!"

"Shut up, Pete," Daniel warned, but not before Sam had slugged him, making solid contact with his jaw.

"Shut up, Pete," Sam repeated. Daniel was suddenly very glad that she was on his side, and Jack's smile couldn't have gotten any wider; seeing Pete had brought jealousy and dislike to his face, and seeing Sam hit him had made everything better.

The reporters were ridiculous. They had abandoned their families and homes to come and report 'the story of the century.' Of course, this story would be all over everywhere in a matter of hours and there was no way that anybody could claim to have the first 'scoop.'

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jack heard himself yelling at them. "Don't you people have families to go to? Homes to fix?" There was some mumbling among the reporters but then they started asking questions. "We will not be answering any questions right now; there will be a press conference tomorrow night, any interested just show up in the parking lot down there..." he glanced at the parking lot, it had a huge hole filled partially by the death glider that had made it. "Until then I'm going to have anybody found on this property shot; you have thirty minutes to get clear."

His point was made, the reporters high-tailed it off the property. Most of them left strategically placed handheld video recorders behind or sound equipment, but the soldiers who patrolled the area for the slackers found the cameras and destroyed them.

The 'gate wouldn't connect a stable wormhole between the Alpha site and Earth. Something was wrong at the Alpha site. Unfortunately, everybody was busy on Earth, trying to get things to settle down. They hadn't wasted any time; it hadn't been an hour since Ba'al's forces had fallen, and everybody was already high-strung. This was the last thing they needed just now. "Chevron Seven will not lock," Sam repeated for the hundredth time that afternoon. They'd been trying nonstop. "Sir, permission to take the cargo ship and go to the Alpha site and fix the problem?"

"Permission granted," he said reluctantly. He didn't want her to go alone, but it was one of the things he'd have to live with; nobody could be spared. Sam was the perfect one to go, she'd know how to fix the problem and be able to defend herself if need be.

"Thank you sir."

"I wish I could come with you," he muttered under his breath as she passed, she turned around and gave him a shy smile.

"It's only a five minute trip after I get into hyperspace, sir... there's no time for any... fun," her smile turned a little more flirtatious as she walked out of the briefing room. Jack clenched his teeth to hold in a groan.

People were crowded around the ship, but they made room for Sam when she emerged from the mountain. She hadn't bothered changing out of the leather, it was surprisingly comfortable, she was also very aware of how uncomfortable it made Jack. She smiled to herself; most of the people gathered around the ship probably thought she was an alien. "Ma'am!" A reporter asked, running towards her. "Ma'am, could we have a word!" Sam looked at them, trying to look intimidating, her cell chose that moment to ring.

"Carter."

"Sam! Smile, you're on national television!" Jack was smiling on the other end and she could tell.

"What?" She looked back at the reporter that had just asked her for information.

"Smile for the camera!" Jack laughed, Sam responded by smiling brilliantly at the camera, she heard Jack's breath catch in his throat. "Not fair."

"Yes, sir."

"Carter, give them a little reassurance, answer a few questions, nothing more."

"Yes, sir."

"Ma'am could we have a word?" The reporter asked again.

"Very well," she said folding her phone closed and tucking it back in the pocket near the scabbard she'd been keeping it in. As soon as she had responded about twelve microphones were shoved in her, and another four dozen camera lights blinked to life.

"Are you an alien?" One of the reporters from the back of the crowd asked, sounding a bit nervous.

"No," Sam shook her head calmly, casually saluting the camera's. "Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, USAF."

"Air Force?"

"That's what I said."

"Where's your uniform?"

"Well, I woke up this morning when a ship crashed into my driveway, spent most of the day in my pajamas, and ended up light-years from here where this was the only change of clothes," she said, not attempting to hide the sarcasm.

"Who attacked us?"

"Ba'al."

"As in, bocce?" Sam chuckled to herself, expecting her phone to ring again with her CO on the other end.

"No, as in a fallen goa'uld system lord out for revenge."

"A what?"

"The goa'uld are parasitic life forms that take unwilling human hosts. They ruled over countless worlds for thousands of years until recently, when my team and our allies... caused an upset," she said, not wanting to go into the entire story. "There'll be a documentary running soon and it'll tell you all about them."

"So we were attacked by an evil race of parasitic aliens and we defended ourselves with the help of another alien race?"

"Yes," Sam started walking back up to the ship.

"Colonel!" A few yelled out in protest.

"I'm sorry, I can't give a full interview now, I've got to go get the President..." She mentally kicked herself; all of the reporters had started asking questions at once.

"Can I come with you?" It was Emmitt Bregmann, camera crew in tow, Sam looked at him for a minute before pulling out her cell phone again.

"Yes Carter, he can go with you."

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes, we might as well get footage of how well our backup plan works."

"Yes, sir."

"And Carter?"

"Yes?"

"Hurry back, Dad's really not happy that I sent you all by yourself," in the background she could hear her father chastising her CO. She chuckled.

"I'll try, sir," she closed her phone again. "Mr. Bregmann, you and your camera crew can come with."

"Really!" He didn't look like he had expected to get approval.

"General O'Neill figures we might as well get some nice footage of the Alpha site..."

"General?"

"He was promoted..."

"Fine, you three, get on the ship." The camera crew didn't look like they had planned on visiting any alien planets in the near future. "Fine, I'll go myself," he took one of the cameras from one of the men, and eagerly hopped around Sam and onto the ship. She just shook her head before following him.

"I'll need everybody to stand away from the ship," she instructed before closing the hatch.

Bregmann looked like he was having the time of his life- until Sam powered up the ship and he discovered that there weren't any seatbelts. "Major! Where are the seatbelts! What are you doing! We can't take off without seatbelts! What about the turbulence exiting the atmosphere?" The poor man was sweating, his camera was sitting on the floor, getting a lovely shot of Sam's heeled leather boots.

"Mr. Bregmann, this is an alien ship. There is no need for seatbelts when we have inertial dampeners and artificial gravity."

"You're the scientist," he said, remembering the camera. The view was as shaky as his hands, as he sat as far back in his chair as possible, still managing to get a shot over Sam's shoulder looking out the front window. He gasped slightly as they shot through the atmosphere and Sam opened the hyperspace window.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Jacob was really mad, and Jack wasn't happy that this anger happened to be directed at him. Can't wait till he finds out what we did last time we were on that ship...

"Jacob, she's a Colonel in the Air Force, she can handle going five minutes in hyperspace to fix a 'gate."

"YOU SHOULD'VE ORDERED HER NOT TO GO." He wasn't calming down.

"C'mon Jacob, you know Carter, you can't talk her out of anything once she sets her mind to it..."

"YOU COULD'VE STOPPED HER, YOU'RE HER CO, SHE HAD TO LISTEN TO YOU!" Jack sighed, the change in their relationship was already affecting their work; there was no way he could expect her to follow an order when he knew she was perfectly capable of doing what he would be ordering her not to do.

"Dad..." he sighed, unwittingly setting Jacob off again.

"Don't Dad me, Jack."

"Sorry," he looked at his feet, feeling very much like the disliked boyfriend even though Jacob had no idea what was going on.

Sam had found herself a distraction; it was one of the training tools they used, making its wearer's voice sound as though they were goa'uld. She'd tested it, trying to see if it still worked, and scared the shit out of Bregmann.

"Sorry, settle down!" She said, pulling the thing off her throat. Bregmann had his camera trained on her, not missing a moment. "It's just a training voice simulator."

"Why do you need that?"

"It's the way goa'uld sound when they talk- we use these to train cadets how to react when their teammates become hosts."

"And this happens on a regular basis?"

"No, actually its only happened twice."

"To who?"

"Whom."

"What?"

"It's whom. 'To whom.'" I've been spending too much time with Jack... no, not Jack. Too much time with the General.

"To whom?" He repeated, rolling his eyes.

"Myself and General O'Neill, only he wasn't ever completely taken over, we cryogenically froze him, killing the goa'uld before it could take over."

"You were a host to a goa'uld?" Bregmann stepped back. Sam looked at him for a moment.

"Didn't you read that in the reports when you made that documentary?"

"No, I didn't get to read half the mission reports; no clearance."

"I suppose."

"So... you were a host?" He wasn't to be distracted.

"I was host to a Tok'ra called Jolinar. She died while she was in me; I was left with her memories and her protein marker."

"Tok'ra?"

"They are the same as the goa'uld so far as that they need hosts to stay alive, but they only take willing hosts. Tok'ra literally means resistance in goa'uld; they've been rebelling for long than the jaffa."

"Jaffa?"

"Teal'c."

"Oh yeah," he looked like he was trying to remember what they had been talking about.

"How long were you a host?" Sam was saved from answering when they came out of hyperspace and were faced with two motherships and a small fleet of alkesh.

"Who approaches?" The radio crackled in goa'uld. Sam knew enough goa'uld to know what they were saying, but didn't want to answer. I wish Daniel were here.

"What was that? What did it say? Why are there ships here?" Bregmann's camera scanned Sam's face before going to the window and capturing the fleet in front of them.

"There's no way we're getting down there... unless..." Sam grabbed the voice box, glad that she hadn't changed out of her leather. "Bregmann, sit down and shut up."

"Yes, ma'am."

Sam hid the voice box under her shirt, shivering when the cold touched her skin. "You're goddess." She replied in goa'uld, reminding herself to thank Daniel for all the goa'uld lessons he'd given her.

"The goddess was killed by the Tauri..."

"Choulva! Your goddess cannot die!" Sam tried to put as much anger and authority in her voice, which was difficult in the foreign tongue. The jaffa on the other end seemed to buy it, their weapons powered down and the ships parted to let her land on the planet. She visibly relaxed, turning off the radio before turning to Bregmann.

"What did you tell them?" He got up close with his camera, something Sam did her best to ignore.

"A few months ago Ba'al captured me and I was implanted with another goa'uld- his queen."

"Ba'al as in the system lord that attacked?"

"Yes."

"His queen?"

"Yes," Sam didn't look at him or the camera.

"So what did you tell them?"

"I told them that I was their goddess returning."

"And they fell for it?"

"They didn't have confirmation on my death, and they know my voice.."

"How would they know your voice?"

"SG-1 has been bothering Ba'al since we met him- we've had a price on our heads all that time too. We've been kidnaped by bounty hunters specifically for that price."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they don't like us much."

"Why would he make you his bride's host then?"

"To get back at us for various grievances; what better way to get your enemies than making them one of your own unwilling slaves, trapped in their own mind, and you don't even have to pay the bounty," her voice was packed with repressed emotions. The journalist didn't seem to want to press her, and he didn't get the chance. Sam mastered her emotions, turning the voice box back on and facing him. "I need you to hide in the engine room... Don't touch anything." She told him, leading him to the room as the auto pilot landed.

Bregmann did as he was told, turning off his camera and making himself as small as possible in the hiding place she showed him. Satisfied he would be hidden, Sam turned on her heel and walked out of the room and down the hatch. As soon as she was out of sight he flipped the camera on and snuck up to the doorway, shooting whatever he could get without being seen.

Sam stood with false authority on the ramp of her ship. "Jaffa," she said in goa'uld, looking down at them. "Where is my Lord Ba'al?"

The Jaffa immediately parted, revealing a surprised looking Ba'al. "Kehlan?" He asked, looking up at her as though he wasn't sure how it was possible that she was alive. Sam tipped her head hoping it was the correct response. She made a mental promise to kill him as soon as she was in range; then they brought out the President.

President Hayes was silent, he looked unharmed, as did the flock of important people behind him. "I am, my lord," she responded to Ba'al's question.

"Was the attack on the Tauri planet successful?" He asked, pretending as though he'd been expecting her to show up.

"Of course, my lord. They were no match for your lordship." His eyes flashed with pleasure at that thought.

"And my clone? How did he fair?" Apparently this was the original Ba'al.

"Killed. At the hands of this host's father."

"To be expected; a clone is weaker than a true Goa'uld." He was covering all his bases.

"Indeed, my lord." The President finally noticed who it was that was approaching and relief was evident in his face. So far he'd failed to notice her voice or the fact that she wasn't speaking English.

"Colonel Carter!" He called out, the other dignitaries behind him jerked to look at her. She glanced over at him in a condescending fashion. Trying to appear amused by his attempts at contact.

"The host does not survive," she informed him in English, Ba'al smiled at her and came nearer. Sam grew increasingly nervous. He'd be able to sense that she no longer had a symbiote, he'd know as soon as took another step. That step came and he didn't seem to notice. Maybe it's because two have been in me now. Maybe the naquadeh is strong enough to fool him. Still, she didn't want to take any chances.

"Jaffa: escort the good tauri to the mothership," Ba'al said, looking lovingly at Sam. She shivered unnoticeably, edging away from the goa'uld. "My queen, you will escort them back to our conquered planet," he said with pride.

The President and the leaders of the world were the last to be loaded onto the ship; they stood and watched as scientists and other geniuses were paraded onto the ship under Sam's watchful eye. The jaffa began to push the President towards the ship at the same moment that the Alpha Site's self-destruct went off, taking most of the jaffa with it. Ba'al reacted immediately, pulling Sam and the President with him onto the ship. The hatch closed behind them, locking out the rest of the jaffa.

Sam took this as her moment of opportunity, there were only about a dozen jaffa on board, and Ba'al. Sam followed the jaffa escorting the President, mostly to make sure that they didn't harm him, but also to know where he was being taken. The President silently glared at her as they walked down the halls.

As soon as they reached the holding cells, all as full as they'd ever been, Sam made her move. "Jaffa!" She said suddenly, they all looked around to see what was wrong. She used the hand device to push the jaffa away, they hit the wall hard, landing unconscious at the base of the wall. As soon as they were all down she took a zat and vaporized all of them before turning to the President. He swung his arm up, aiming the punch at her face, but she twisted out of the way easily. "Sir, I need you to get into the cell until I can kill Ba'al."

"Your lord," he sneered, taking another swing. She pulled the device out from its hiding place.

"No, sir. There was no other way to get close enough," understanding crept into his face and he stopped trying to hit her.

"Sir, please..." she motioned toward the door to the holding cell. He walked in amiably after a few seconds. "I'll be back as soon as I can," she replaced the device and closed the door behind her.

Not two minutes later Sam was thrown into the cell, nearly landing on the Chinese Ambassador. "Colonel Carter, I am afraid you have just made things worse for yourself, as usual," Ba'al said, pressing a pain stick to her flesh. Why does he like that thing so much? She wondered to herself, barely able to feel anything by the time he stopped. She curled in on herself, instinctively protecting herself from whatever harm he may do her next. He turned and exited the room, "SG-1..." she heard him mutter under his breath.

As soon as he was out of the room she popped up to her feet, immediately regretting the popping part. She stumbled sidways, leaning on the door for a moment before looking at the faces in front of her. It was a very familiar room, the largest holding cell on any mothership; she smiled when she realized she'd been there before. She walked over to one of the side walls and traced the scratches that Jack had made during a particularly long stay in this extra-large jail cell. 'I wuz here' was crudely etched into the panel by the door, she'd remembered watching him use the edge of his watch to create the marks.

"Colonel?"

"Yes, sir?"

"What're you smiling at?" A scientist she could almost recognize asked, then it hit her; he had been one of her professors at the academy. Astrophysics, if she recalled correctly. She gestured to the scratch in response to his quesiton.

"We've been in this cell before."

"I must say that you have the oddest lifestyle of anyone that I have ever met, by far..." it was the Prime Minister of Great Britain. She shrugged.

"Good news is, I know how to get out of this particular cell," a few raised their eyebrows. Ignoring them, she went to the magnetic panel on the wall and demagnetized it; it had taken her almost a half an hour to get the trick to work the first time she'd tried, but now she knew how it was done.

Pulling the panel into the room with her she peered out, looking for stray jaffa. The hallway was clear. She easily slid out of the horizontal space and jogged around the corner to the door. She took out the pair of jaffa left to guard it and armed herself before opening the door to let them all out.

Sam led the way down the hall, towards the peltak, cautioning them to stay back a ways. Half of them were retired soldiers, and all of them outranked her in their own rights, but none of them complained when she took charge of the situation; she had the most experience aboard alien ships fighting with aliens.

The fight inside the control room was brief, Sam managed to kill all but two jaffa before losing her weapon; she remembered the sword at her side just in time, running one of the remaining jaffa through. The other was soon to follow, Ba'al was much more difficult to kill. He used his hand device to easily throw her across the room, winding her. By the time that she stood up again she found that he was surrounded by the older men that had been following her around. "The colonel needs the help of old men to defeat..." he didn't finish, the 'old man' behind him clenched his hands around his neck in warning. Unfortunately, Ba'al was goa'uld, and he had much more strength than the Admiral holding his neck. He threw he man down onto the floor, taking hold of the first thing that reached his hand- a pain stick. The aging man cried out as the hard tongs cut into his flesh, and light came out of all the openings of his body.

Sam was behind Ba'al in a flash, she pulled his head sideways, breaking his neck and killing the symbiote at the same time. The Admiral slumped to the ground, and Sam threw Ba'al out of the way, helping the fallen man into a sitting position.

"That thing hurts like hell," he announced to the rest of the room. Sam only nodded in agreement, making sure he was okay before going to the controls- they hadn't left orbit yet.

"Thank God," she sighed; she'd never flown a mothership before and it would've been ten times worse if she'd had to turn them around in hyperspace.

Bregmann was in a panic. First she had told him to hide, then she'd gotten aboard the mothership that took off after the base exploded, and now he was left with a field full of jaffa with no way home. He'd retreated to the engine room, pulling himself into the hiding place she had suggested as soon as the mothership had disappeared from view, Nice going, Emmitt, he told himself. You just had to come along to the alien planet- had to get the best footage ever. Well good going! Now you'll never go home! He jumped and shoved himself further into his corner when he heard shooting from above outside.

He had just come to true despair when he heard the angel's voice come from the other room.

"Bregmann, we're back! You can come out now, we're going home," Sam walked into the engine room looking a little worse for wear but perfectly fine nonetheless.

"Thank Goodness!" He cried, rushing out of the ship and straight into the field where all the jaffa had been; no sign of them was left after the shooting he'd heard.

So yeah, my computer is officailly broken. I'm sending it to the wonderful campus tech-people tomorrow. This'll be the last installation until I get it back; could be a same day thing, could be a few weeks (I hope not, i kinda need it for papers and stuff...) Anyways, I hope you like it! I promise i'm not done yet... :) please forgive any errors in the last half, its late and i wanted to get this up so i didn't proofread quite as thoroughly as i usually would.