"I am sorry Major Carter, but I must ask that you step back now." Lyna stared into her eyes with deep regret. She wished there was something more she could do to help Sam, but knew the battle was her's alone to fight. What made it more difficult was the knowledge of her pregnancy. Although Lyna herself had not yet determined the paternity, she had a feeling she knew exactly who it was.

Sam nodded in understanding, but was still reluctant to step back. Instead, her father held her and slowly moved her body away from the casing as Lyna moved to the controls. The monitors paused, and the glass casing slowly began to retract. He was covered only by a thin blue sheet. Silence fell upon the room, not even a single gasp for air could be heard. Once the screen had gone black indicating that the device was fully detached from him, several men came forward to remove his body from the chamber. The whole process seemed almost ritualistic, each of the men took extreme care not to disturb the body as much as possible. They were showing great respect for the body as they moved it onto one of the beds in the main healing chamber. Finally, when all was done, the men all turned to the face body and bow before leaving the room. There was nothing but a simple platform covered with soft sheets and comfortable pillows, a far cry from the infirmary they all were used to seeing at the base. The flat surface was only for keeping the body still as a symbiote worked to repair whatever damage the body would endure throughout missions.

Lyna moved toward the bed, placing two fingers upon his neck she informed, "His pulse is very weak, but he is alive."

"What now?" asked Daniel.

"We wait. If they are still alive after a day or so there is a greater chance that they may yet live. There is no way to tell at this point."

"That's it? You just leave him here like this? No, no way of monitoring his condition, no fluids so he doesn't dehydrate? Nothing? "

"Major Carter, Tok'ra have no need for the technology of which you speak. In most cases the symbiote is able to heal the host when given enough time. In extreme cases the suspension chambers are used. Even then the symbiote still must do the majority of the healing. We will use the healing device from time to time, but that is all we can do. To be honest, the only guarantee at this point would be to use a sarcaphougus, and we all know how Martouf and Lantash felt about that, how all Tok'ra felt about it. I am sorry, but the only other thing I can do is provide some herbs and medicine that lessen the pain. Lantash is strong, if any one can carry them through this it is him."

It made sense, most of the equipment used in a regular hospital setting wouldn't be needed when there's a symbiote involved, usually. But Lantash was so weakened at this point that any amount of help would greatly increase their chances. Sam's mind flooded with worry, what if they were getting dehydrated, their body was quickly running out of nutrients and if they didn't pump anything into him soon both Martouf and Lantash would run out of whatever reserves they had left, assuming they even had any. They already looked as if they were losing quite a bit of weight. And what if Martouf's heart suddenly stopped, or began to beat abnormally? What if he suddenly stopped breathing? They couldn't do anything to help him, not here anyway.

After some time everyone began to leave the room one by one. Soon all that were left keeping watch were Sam and Lyna. Lyna kept her distance, trying to stay busy by counting the supply of medicine and herbs, keeping the room clean should someone come in needing her assistance. Thinking that Sam wasn't in the mood for talking, she was surprised to hear her name being called.

"Samantha, what is it?"

"I need your help. I want to bring them back to Earth with me."

"What?! Samantha I…"

"Before you object, just hear me out." Lyna didn't say anything, an indication that Sam should continue on. "You said if they survive the coming day, they'll have a greater chance. But if you leave him here like this it's likely that they'll just get weaker anyway right? With no nutrients going into their body how can Lantash keep fighting like this?"

She sighed, "What did you have in mind?" Samantha was right, they were fighting a losing battle, and a slow and painful death was not what she pictured for a great Tok'ra warrior such as Martouf and Lantash.

"If we bring him back with us, we can pump more nutrients into his body, we can monitor his condition… we can help Lantash heal, please Lyna. I'm begging you." Lyna thought for a moment, she seemed to be having an internal conversation as Sam waited impatiently for an answer. They needed nourishment, they needed more scrutinizing care.

"It may work." And just as Sam began to smile with a glimmer of hope…"But, we must carefully approach the council with this proposal. If they approve of the idea we will begin plans for transferring his body to your world. Still, I worry that they may not agree to it. Even the transfer itself could be hazardous to their health."

"I understand, thank you Lyna, this means the world to me." She gave Sam a sympathetic smile, but just as she was about to lead her out of the room into the council chambers, she caught sight of Sam's hand upon Martouf's. It was a tight grip, as if she was afraid to let go.

"I will call them in here immediately."

As Lyna left, Sam placed a soft kiss upon Martouf's forehead. "Everything will be ok. I promise, I'll fix this, for us. Just hang on ok."

Sam was surprised that the Council actually approved her request to have Martouf and Lantash moved to Earth, but she wasn't about to complain. Everyone had helped to persuade them, even Colonel O'neil argued on his behalf. SG-1 had been on the Tok'ra home world for four days now, almost five and she still hadn't left Martouf's side, unless of course it was absolutely necessary. Even when she felt a strong urge to go to the bathroom, she was afraid that if she left them alone even for a moment… She didn't want to think about it. Tired, she was so tired now, she slowly rested her head by his side.

It had been a month since Martouf's body was moved to the SGC. His condition remained constant, not deteriorating, but then again not improving either. SG-1's work load became less, Daniel was going with other teams on archeological digs off world, Sam was focusing on technology brought back by other teams. The team had been reduced to one off world mission a week.

Sam spent her break hours in the infirmary sitting by Martouf's body, talking to both him and Lantash about anything and everything, from her theories on wormhole physics, to her days as a young girl, to little drabbles about her day to day life. Slowly but surely she was gaining more hope. Though she still felt terribly depressed from time to time, it was never as often, or as severe as it had been before. It was as if she was drawing strength from them, for them and their baby.

Janet didn't mind having her friend around loitering. It gave her the opportunity to monitor Sam's pregnancy more accurately. She worried that her friend's fluctuating emotional state would endanger the life of the child, so she constantly kept a close eye. So far so good, Sam and her baby were perfectly healthy. Her morning sickness was waning down. In several months she'd be giving birth, Janet only hoped that Martouf and Lantash would be better by then.