A/N: Sorry for the delay. Just... life. Then I was sick. Then life. -_-

FYI: In canon, Lord Yu was never much for words, but he was sharp enough (in the beginning of the series) to remember what he heard and use it to his advantage. Also, Manannan mac Lyr is a canonical System Lord but I don't think he appeared in the TV show. I think he was relegated to one of the games. Arawn is canonically Manannan's sublord and chief scientist. Anyone ever heard of the Caldron of Rebirth in Celtic mythology? That was all Arawn in SG-1 canon.

Chapter summary: In which Samantha fails. Or does she?

3: Masquerade

Samantha instinctively reached out to catch Nephthys as he fell, but only succeeded in keeping his head from striking the ground. That was something, she supposed. Still, this was not the reaction she anticipated.

"He's alive."

She was right. Someone in that photograph was important. If she could just figure out which person, then she was certain she could cement Nephthys support. Speaking of support, Nephthys was awfully light from someone of his height and build. Maybe she'd been right about ow unhealthy she looked. She worried about calling a medic. She didn't want to potentially humiliate a potential ally, but she also couldn't afford to lose him.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a radio. "I need a medic to the System Lords' rooms. Nephthys has collapsed."

"On our way."

She glanced at the other System Lords' closed doors and added, "Try to keep it down. We don't want to draw too much attention."

"Understood."

True to their word, Dr. Janet Fraiser rounded the corner with a rolling bed. It was silent, but there wasn't any superfluous talk. Unfortunately, their arrival did not go unnoticed. Manannan mac Lyr's door opened first but Lord Yu's opened a second later. Both System Lords seemed surprised by the events, Manannan visibly more so.

"What has happened?" he demanded, his tone making it clear he would not stand for anything less than the truth.

Good thing Samantha wasn't actually sure. "I don't know," she said, helping Dr. Frasier move Nephthys' body onto the bed. "We were talking when he just…" She gestured vaguely to Nephthys' prone form not knowing what to say.

Manannan mac Lyr's eyes flashed gold as his face twisted in fury. He shared a dark look with Lord Yu who also appeared noticeably irritated. Manannan snapped something in Goa'uld to which Lord Yu nodded grimly and replied in kind.

"I will contact Heru'ur," Manannan said, leaving no room for discussion. Without waiting for a reply, he turned and retreated into his room.

Lord Yu's eyes flashed and he turned to Samantha. "Tau'ri," he said in a deceptively calm, cold voice. "I demand to speak to the Asgard Thor immediately."

Samantha frowned in annoyance as she got to her feet, watching Dr. Frasier check Nephthys' pulse while her aids adjusted the Goa'uld's body on the bed. "In case you haven't noticed, we're a bit busy," she said.

"And it is for this reason that I demand to speak with Thor," Lord Yu said in the same even tones.

The Summit. They wouldn't dare-

"I will accompany Nephthys to the infirmary until Thor arrives," the wizened System Lord continued, plowing directly over Samantha's thoughts. "We will not let one of our own alone with such," he sneered, "lower life forms."

Fuming, Samantha bit her tongue. "Fine," she said, stepping aside so Lord Yu could follow after the doctors towards the infirmary. She still glared daggers at the System Lord's back because damn, if it didn't feel good.

"General Hammond, this is Samantha," she said into her handheld radio.

"I heard what happened," her general said. "What do you need?"

"Lord Yu has demanded to speak with Thor," she said, glancing down at the box of CCTV tapes in Nephthys' doorway. Making sure no one was looking, she kicked the box into Nephthys' room and shut the door. "Can you get a message to him? Tell him Lord Yu is in the infirmary with Nephthys."

"I'll certainly try."

"Thank you, sir."

Clicking off the radio, she began to make her way down the hallway when a door slammed shut behind her. Startled, she whirled to see Manannan mac Lyr stalking down the corridor after her. A small, golden globe of an unknown metal glinted in the palm of his hand. It didn't appear to be Celtic in appearance so it must be some type of Goa'uld technology. Before he could rush past her, Samantha stepped into his path.

"What's going on?" she demanded. "What don't I know?"

"Much," Manannan said, his lips curling upwards in a wry grin even though there was a hard tone to his voice. "None of which we have time to discuss now."

"Then make time," she commanded, deliberately side-stepping so she stood in Manannan's path, blocking his way. She crossed her arms and prepared herself to wait. "You are on my planet, under our protection, and one of you just collapsed for no apparent reason." Not really, but technicalities. "I want to know why."

The System Lord cocked an eyebrow and his eyes sparkled with interest and annoyance. "Defending your position now is hard beneficial to any party," he said curtly. "Move."

"And how exactly am I 'defending my position' when I don't know what's going on?" Samantha fumed, barely managing to keep her voice down. She raised her finger and waved it inches from Manannan's face. Something in the back of her mind screamed at her that this was a dangerous move but something else told her to screw it because she was tired of being tread over like dirt. "Do not think for a second that I didn't notice how bad Nephthys looked," she hissed angrily. "I'm not blind. He looks awful and no one will tell me what the hell is going on!"

She braced for the inevitable cuff over the head like what her people had suffered under Apophis' temporary rule here. But it never came. Instead, Manannan mac Lyr grinned. It was worse than she thought. It took the full force of her fury to not retreat a step or two. She wanted answers, damn it.

"Your voracity is admirable," the System Lord said, studying her with a calculating gaze. "I suppose I should not be surprised. Nephthys' worlds are often strong-willed. Such is the nature of the queen."

Not an answer.

Wait.

"What? What do you mean by that?" Samantha said.

Instead of replying to her question, Manannan mac Lyr smirked. "He was right," he murmured thoughtfully, reaching up to scratch his beard. "Fascinating."

"Who was right?"

The Goa'uld chuckled. "Your planet belongs to Nephthys," he said calmly. "It has since Ra abandoned it millennia ago."

Her shock must have been obvious on her face because the System Lord grinned. "Ah, you begin to understand," he said, nodding. "It was never us you had to convince. It is Nephthys who must be convinced. I am not close enough to him to call him 'friend,'" Manannan mac Lyr said, "but Nephthys and my sublord Arawn have worked together on numerous scientific endeavors. He is an… ally of sorts. That said, it is well known that he has never been fond of the Asgard. After an insult like this?" He shook his head. "Pray he does not consider you guilty as well. Experiment or not, he would sooner destroy all of you then let your world out of his control."

That… That just couldn't be! She had been banking on making Nephthys an ally. She had bet everything on convincing him. The Set she knew…

Maybe she didn't know him. She knew Set. She apparently didn't know Nephthys as well as she thought. Or as well as she'd hoped.

She was so caught up in her panicked thoughts that she didn't notice when Manannan mac Lyr slipped past her. Frustrated, she ran her hands down her face as her mind raced to recalculate and reorganize everything she'd had planned. If the Nephthys of her world really was her enemy, then she would need to start working on countermeasures and fast. She turned to head to the infirmary when she noticed the photograph lying on the floor where Nephthys had dropped it.

She picked it up and glared at it. She needed to find out who Nephthys noticed. She had to find out who these people were. She chewed her thumbnail and began plotting. The majority of Earth's infrastructure was still in desperate disrepair thanks to Apophis. At their current rate, it would probably take decades to fully recover. That was time she was beginning to think Earth didn't have.

They were living on borrowed time. In that case, she would jump the gun and pulled some string to get these boys' faces put through whatever facial recognition program was still up and running. If she could find one or, better yet, all of these boys, then she might just have a chance at recovering from this funk. She would be damned before she let Earth be destroyed by any power.

Nephthys was awake when Samantha arrived at the infirmary, awake and not at all pleased with his situation. At least he was talking. Finally.

"I do not require your assistance. I am well."

"The hell you are!" Dr. Janet Fraiser, master of the infirmary and the only one with the power to openly defy General Hammond's orders, snarled. "You aren't fit to be walking let alone doing anything strenuous."

"Sitting and debating the ultimate destruction or prosperity of your pathetic planet is hardly strenuous," Nephthys countered in a bored voice, a sharp contrast to the razor sharp gleam in his blue eyes.

The amount of emotion he was showing now actually caught Samantha off guard. She slowed to a stop and stared at the ill System Lord incredulously. In the cold lighting of the SGA's infirmary, Nephthys really did look awful.

"What's going on here?" she asked directing her inquiry at the doctor despite staring at everyone present.

The room was packed. The infirmary wasn't a small room by any means, but with personalities like Lord Yu, Manannan mac Lyr, Dr. Fraiser, and Nephthys on top of the horde of armed guards, the room suddenly felt crowded. Then Kawalski entered followed closely by General Hammond and, surprisingly, Thor.

"My question exactly," the general said grimly.

"Your physician insists I am unfit to stand," Nephthys hisses, glaring at the righteous doctor who continued to prevent him from leaving the medical bed.

"You are!" the doctor snapped angrily. "Honestly, I'm amazing you can move with any form of balance."

"Practice!"

If anything, Dr. Fraiser's eyes flashed in vicious triumph followed closely by terrible comprehension. "You've experienced this before?" she demanded, her brown eyes narrowed.

Instantly, Nephthys' mouth sealed shut and he leveled the doctor with a formidable glare.

"Nephthys."

Lord Yu's calm voice was a stark contrast to the tension in the room. But it succeeded in grabbing Nephthys' attention. Samantha didn't understand what Lord Yu said next, but she didn't have to speak Goa'uld to know a minor reprimand when she heard one. Judging from the threatening flash of Nephthys' eyes, the queen did not appreciate it. However, before anything could come of it, Lord Yu tilted his head and gestured to the diminutive figure standing next to Kawalski and General Hammond.

The moment Nephthys glacial eyes settled on Thor, his face smoothed over into a mask of calm indifference. He said something in rapid Goa'uld and Thor replied in English.

"I understand my presence was urgently requested," the Asgard Supreme Commander said. "I must confess, I did not expect such a disturbance."

Nephthys said nothing, choosing to visibly dismiss Thor's presence and attempt to stand once more. However, he was once again halted by Dr. Fraiser. Hissing in frustration, Nephthys tried again. This time, Dr. Fraiser frowned and simply pressed two fingers against the side of Nephthys' throat as if to check his pulse. Surprisingly, Nephthys made an odd sound and recoiled violently away from the contact, reaching up and covering his neck with both hands. Interestingly enough, he didn't seem to actually grasp his neck so much as just let his hands hover over it.

"There's something pressing against his spine," Dr. Fraiser said firmly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say it was the symbiote but without an MRI-"

"Which I will not consent to," Nephthys snarled.

"-I can't know for sure," the doctor continued, ignoring the Goa'uld's interruption.

"Is it serious?" General Hammond.

"No."

"Yes!" Dr. Fraiser snapped, meeting Nephthys glare for glare.

She was a formidable woman in her own right. She was the doctor. She wielded needles and regularly set bones. And she could do it with or without painkillers and anesthesia if she wanted to. The soldiers in the SGA long ago learned never to cross her if they valued their sanity.

"Whether it is or not is none your concern," Nephthys said, lowering his hands and bracing himself on the bed.

"You can barely keep your balance and you can barely push me away," the doctor countered. "I'm guessing you're experiencing weakness in your legs and feet as well."

The subtle thinning of Nephthys' lips was the only hint he gave that she was right. It was enough.

"Are you causing this?" Dr. Fraiser demanded.

For a moment, Nephthys said nothing. Then he sat up straight and sighed. "Not of my own volition, no," he said.

"That's a 'yes' then," Dr. Fraiser said.

"I do not understand," Thor said. "Are you unwell?"

Gone was Nephthys' passive mask and in its place was an expression of pure, undisguised disgust.

"Heru'ur has been made aware of the situation," Manannan mac Lyr declared. Nephthys glanced at the other System Lord curiously. "He's waiting your return."

Nephthys grumbled something in Goa'uld under his breath that made Manannan smirk. Then louder and in English, he said, "Then this Summit is over."

"Excuse me?" Samantha cried, horrified.

"Now wait just a minute," the general began.

"This is most unusual," Thor said, concern in his odd voice. "No agreement has been reached."

"There was never going to be an 'agreement' between me and the likes of you," Nephthys said, shifting his weight to stand. Dr. Fraiser moved to intercept him and several things happened in quick succession. First, Nephthys' cold blue eyes flashed a brilliant gold. Second, Dr. Fraiser was no longer standing in front of him. She was sliding down the cement wall several yards away where a group of terrified aids were helping ease her to the floor. Third, every single weapon in the room was now firmly aimed directly at Nephthys.

Ignoring the weapons, Nephthys carefully slid off the bed and stood on his own two feet. He wobbled once before catching himself and straightening.

"What the hell was that?" General Hammond cried in shock. "Airman, watch her."

Kawalsky lowered his weapon and moved to check on Dr. Fraiser. "Fucking bastard," he muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear. "She was trying to help you."

"Debatable," Nephthys said dryly. Turning to Lord Yu, he nodded. "I leave the rest to you. Do as you see fit but I will not sign the Treaty."

The ancient System Lord nodded and said something in Goa'uld. Nephthys actually made a sound that was might have been a laugh. He nodded in return and moved towards the door Samantha currently stood by. She shifted to block his way.

"You can't just leave," she said fiercely.

"I can and I will," Nephthys said in a tone that would not tolerate argument. "This planet is mine by hereditary right and I will not surrender it to anyone. Least of all," he added with a sneer at Thor, "to the Asgard. If they wanted to protect this planet, then they should have claimed it millennia ago. They didn't. I did. They did nothing to protect it, nothing to maintain it, and nothing to preserve it. I did. Therefore it is mine."

"And yet they wish to be free of you," Thor said evenly.

"Do they?" Nephthys countered. "Pity. I won't release this world to you. Try and you will not survive the attempt."

Samantha noticed the subtle way Lord Yu and Manannan stiffened at the other System Lord's threat. The Mirror Reality's SG-1 was right. The Goa'uld really did fear the Asgard.

"You are outgunned," Thor said.

"You may destroy my ship, true," Nephthys stated. "But if you think I will allow myself to die while a threat to what is mine remains, then it will be the last mistake you ever make. As it has been for so many who came before you."

Thor's gray eyelids slid over his large, black eyes. His large, bulbous gray head tilted in quiet consideration. "Why are you so possessive of this particular planet?" he asked.

"I had no advanced weapons, no ship, and no Jaffa. And yet I and mine were able to drive the Supreme System Lord from the planet," Nephthys declared. "The Asgard did nothing then." His eyes flashed. "Now is too late."

For a moment, it seemed like his balanced faltered. But he caught himself so quickly it might have been a trick of the eye. It wasn't. Something was pressing against his spine.

"Besides," he added after a pause, "if you were serious about convincing me to relinquish my control of this planet, then you should not have attempted to torture me into submission. You might have had a chance then."

Torture?

At least Thor appeared just as confused as Samantha did. "We did no such thing," he said sounding offended by the insinuation. "The only direct contact the Asgard have ever had with you until now has been through inter-ship communication."

"And yet you knew of my position and the ceremonies you were interrupting to demand my presence at this Summit," Nephthys said flatly. "Despite my requests to delay by a few days."

Behind him, Samantha watched Manannan mac Lyr's expression darken. Even the venerable Lord Yu appeared disgusted and barked something in sharp Goa'uld.

"You insult us," the ancient System Lord said, his deep voice carrying the weight of years and well-earned power. "You have made the first strike. Insidious." He tucked his hands into his sleeves and lifted his head to stare down his nose at the Asgard. "I, too, refuse to sign the Treaty."

The Celtic Goa'uld hummed grimly. "Nephthys is not my queen, nor I his consort," he said slowly. "However, I will not stand for such an insult to slide."

A cruel smirk wormed its way onto Nephthys' lips. "Perhaps you should have heeded my request," he said. "Manannan," he said, intentionally turning his back to Thor and facing the System Lord by his side, "is Arawn available?"

"He is," Manannan replied. "He has been asking after you. It isn't often he has a partner who understands how his mind works."

"Then we will-"

"Unauthorized off-world activation."

The sirens blared and red lights flashed throughout the base, startling those present.

"Unless I'm very much mistaken," the Celtic System Lord said, gazing up at the flashing red lights, "that would be-"

"Heru'ur."

Instead of pleased, Nephthys appeared mildly annoyed. Nevertheless, he sighed. "Meet me at the Chappa'ai," he told Manannan. "I have unfinished business in my chambers."

Something silently passed between the two System Lords before Manannan grimaced and followed Lord Yu's even stride down the hall.

"Is no one going to stop them?" Kawalsky cried. "He just attacked Janet!"

"She harmed me," Nephthys said, his frigid gaze sliding to the airman. "I warned her to stop. She ignored me. I don't give second chances."

"You bastar-"

"Doctor."

It took Samantha second to realize Nephthys was addressing her. She jumped. "Y-yes?"

"Understand this. I do not know you. Whoever you met who wore my face was not me," Nephthys said, subtly reaching out to press two fingers against the door frame as if to hold himself up. "Do not expect the same things from me as you did from them."

He leaned in close so his lips brushed her ear. "Apophis is on Chulak," he whispered just loud enough for her alone to hear. "You have three days to remove him. Wait, and there won't be anything left for revenge."

Was… Was he helping her? Did he want her to go after Apophis?

"I believe you."

Then he left and Samantha began to wonder if anything she'd seen and heard just now had been true.