AN: This chapter contains spoilers for Ex Deus Machina.

The project was coming along as smoothly as expected. They had run into a few dead ends in trying to dilute the gas, but Sam felt they were making great progress. Once a week Major Davis stopped by to give her updates, and she did the same to him, passing him information on how things were going to take back to his superiors. He had been scheduled to arrive that morning, but hadn't shown up. Sam hadn't noticed until after Scott and Vikki returned from lunch. She continued her notes, keeping one eye nervously on the door. About 3pm, another airman joined the one already outside her door. She watched as they talked in hushed tones, and the one on guard opened the door for the other.

"Dr Carter?"

"Yes."

"I need you to come with me."

"Where are you taking her?"

"I can't disclose that information, Sir. Ma'am do you need anything from your office."

"No."

"Sam, where are you going?"

"Ma'am we must leave immediately."

"Vikki, don't worry, I know these people."

"Sam, you need me to call anyone?"

"No Scott, thanks for the concern." She turned to the airman. " How long am I expected to be gone?"

"I do not know Ma'am. We must leave right now. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes. Scott, Vikki, as soon as I can, I'll call you. Don't worry, and don't tell anyone what happened. Remember the agreement."

With that she left the lab, the two remaining, staring at the door, and the man still guarding it.

Sam climbed in the helicopter and watched as it took off, leaving the airman behind. Now what was going on? They flew for just under half an hour, landing at the Pentagon. Sam was escorted down the many hallways into a secure room, with only a desk and a computer inside. She asked her escort what was going on but he couldn't tell her.

"Ma'am, my orders were to bring you here, and instruct you to use the computer."

Sam took a look at the computer, noticing the speakers and web-cam immediately. The airman let himself out and shut the door. Through the peephole she could see him standing guard, but didn't worry, as she knew these rooms were soundproof. She sat in front of the computer and turned the monitor on. Instantly she saw Daniel's face.

"Daniel. What's going on?"

"Sorry about the secrecy Sam, but we need your help. Is the gas anywhere close to being ready?"

"No. Still a ways off. Why?"

"Ba'al."

"I'm sorry, the connection must be bad. I could've sworn you just said Ba'al."

"I did."

"He's still around!"

"Yes. Hang on a sec."

Sam watched as Daniel's face left her monitor to be replaced with a man she didn't know.

"Dr Carter, I'm General Landry, currently in command at the SGC."

"Uh, hi General. What's going on?"

"You've been granted a higher security and this conversation will be recorded, and kept, until you sign the new confidentiality agreement."

"I won't say a word."

"I know you won't. Here's Dr. Jackson again."

During the shuffling of people, Sam could see two other faces in the background. A woman with long dark hair, and a younger man, definitely Air Force.

"Daniel. Where's Ba'al? What is he doing alive?"

"When Anubis was defeated, the system lords fell into disarray. Most of the major players were killed but Ba'al survived. We've been hunting him for the past few years, along with any others that rise up in power. Today we received this."

Sam watched as a face she knew and despised appeared on the monitor. The voice was human, not goa'uld, and it was stating that he wished to live on Earth and abide by their rules. In return, he wanted to be left alone. He added at the end, to ensure their compliance, he had placed a naquadah bomb somewhere in the U.S. and would detonate it, if there were any attempts to find or capture him. As the recording ended, Daniels face popped back onto her screen.

"How long has he been here?"

"We don't know. He could've just arrived recently, or been here for a few years. There's no way to tell right now."

"Any idea where he is?"

"Yes, we have a news report to go on right now. We've got another problem though."

"What."

"Teal'c returned and has informed us that Garek, the leader of the Free Jaffa intends to capture Ba'al at any cost. There has already been one attempt."

"Here on Earth?"

"Yes."

"Damn. So now what?"

"We were hoping that the gas was ready for use, as we don't want to kill any of Garek's Jaffa. That would likely start a war between us. How close are you?"

"Not close. At the earliest, another few weeks."

"General?"

Daniel moved from his chair to speak to the General. Sam could not hear what was being said, but watched the facial expressions of both. Daniel was making a point he felt strongly about, while the General seemed to be listening and possibly agreeing.

"Sam, I want you to come to the SGC and help us find the bomb. We need everyone we can use."

"Sure. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Wait a sec... Walter?"

"Yes Dr. Jackson?"

"Tell Prometheus to go ahead..."

"Daniel, what are you..." Sam was surrounded by a bright light and when it disappeared, she was in the control room at the SGC. "..doing?"

"Asgard beaming technology installed on the Prometheus. Comes in handy."

"Dr. Jackson, fill her in later. I want this bomb found."

"Yes General. Sam, follow me."

Daniel led Sam up to the briefing room, and Sam noticed that the woman and man were following. The table on the briefing room held a large map of the continental US with different coloured stickers in several locations.

"What's this?"

"Dr. Carter, this is were members of the military are searching. Black for completed search, green for current search, and red for areas we think need to be searched."

"It's Sam."

"Colonel Mitchel."

"What about Teal'c?"

"He's trying to get Garek to disclose the location of the Jaffa on Earth." Mitchel jumped in before Daniel could speak.

"Agent Barrett is currently trying to apprehend Ba'al..."

Daniel was interrupted by General Landry entering the room.

"We've just had word of this."

He turned on the TV in the room to reveal Ba'al on a live interview.

"How did he get there?"

"We don't know. Agent Barrett's recovery of the Ba'al that was spotted at the hotel has been aborted. It seems that he's in two places at once."

"That's impossible, even for a goa'uld!" Sam turned to the woman who had remained silent until now.

"Wait, turn it up."

Sam turned the TV up at Daniel's request and listened as Ba'al gave out the location of the bomb, in downtown Seattle.

"Can Prometheus beam us there?"

"Yes. I'll have Walter contact them immediately."

Sam, Daniel and Colonel Mitchel followed Landry back down to the control room. An SF brought three vests and two weapons. Sam automatically reached for one.

"Sorry Ma'am, these are for Dr. Jackson and Colonel Mitchel."

Sam felt like hanging her head at her stupidity. She hadn't fired a weapon since she had left and was astonished at the ease in which she reached for one again. Before she had time to think about it, a piece of equipment was shoved into her hands and a bright light engulfed them once again.

She was standing in the tower where the bomb was. Looking down at the object in her hands, she was relieved to see that she knew how it worked. Turning it on, she started to scan for traces of Naquadah in the building. It didn't seem to matter where she walked, the meter kept indicating Naquadah, leading her to believe it was everywhere. Radioing Daniel she told him her suspicions. The building was laced through and through with the stuff. There was no way to stop this bomb. Meeting with Colonel Mitchel, Daniel and many others she didn't recognize, they discussed their options quickly. An idea struck her.

"Colonel Mitchel. Is this area evacuated?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Who is she?" She heard the unknown voice from behind her.

"This is Dr. Carter, formerly Colonel Carter of the SGC. What do you have Sam?"

"Daniel, could Prometheus beam this entire building off the planet?"

"I don't know. Get the SGC, we'll find out."

After a few frantic minutes, the Prometheus agreed to try. They evacuated the building with not a moment to spare, as Sam watched the entire structure disappear before her eyes. Moments later, a bright flash of light was visible far away into space.

Back at the SGC, Daniel thanked Sam for helping them out. He hoped that her sudden disappearance wouldn't alarm anyone back home. She borrowed the phone in his lab and made a quick phone call to Scott, who was probably home by now. When Vikki answered, she told her she was ok, she would be back soon, and she promised to call once she had arrived home. Laughing she hung up.

"Scott?"

"No, Vikki. I guess Scott was freaked out when I left suddenly and had started to panic."

"That's what friends are for."

"It's just funny as Vikki is usually the one to be pessimistic and worry, where as Scott is always rational, and takes the time to find the reasonable explanation. In this case it was the opposite."

"Well, I'm glad you have friends that care about you."

"Me too. Daniel, how am I going to get home?"

"I think we can arrange it."

"What about the room with the guard?"

"Don't worry about that. Landry will take care of him."

"How is General Landry?"

"Different."

"In what way?"

"Not a bad way. I was used to General Hammond, and Jack. General Landry doesn't have the same sense of humour as Jack did, and isn't as lenient as Hammond."

"He seems to know what he's doing. What about that woman?"

Daniel sighed and gave her a brief overview of Vala. He wasn't sure how much clearance Sam had been given, but he knew that anything he told her would go no further. Besides, she was already on the base, and now she knew about Ba'al on Earth. He was finishing as General Landry entered the office.

"General."

"At ease Dr. Carter." Landry chuckled. Despite the fact she'd been out of the Air Force for several years, old habits were hard to break.

"General, what can we do for you?"

"Actually Daniel, I wanted to than Dr. Carter for assisting us today. It's great to meet the person I've heard so much about." Hank extended his hand, and Sam shook it.

"Sir, it's Sam. Pleasure to meet you."

"I just need you to sign a new confidentiality agreement and then we can get you home." Hank placed a folder in front of her. Knowing what was inside, she grabbed a pen and signed without reading.

"I remember the rules. I doubt they've changed, Sir." She commented as he raised his eyebrows. "Not meaning any disrespect."

"None taken. You have been granted a temporary higher security clearance based on recommendations from the President. You will be notified when the level returns to what it was earlier today."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Now, unless there's anything else you need to do, the Prometheus is waiting to transport you home."

Sam gave Daniel a hug goodbye and followed General Landry to the Gateroom.

Sinking into her couch, she reflected on her day. She had to admit that she had enjoyed being back at the SGC, just for the few hours she was there. It had changed, but was basically the same. There were many new people that she hadn't recognized, and it hadn't felt as bad as she thought it would be. Maybe going back wouldn't be such a bad thing. She picked up the phone and dialed Scott's house to let him know she was home, and safe.

AN: I don't know where this came from! It just jumped out of my fingers so quick I couldn't stop it. Hopefully there aren't too many errors from the episode as I haven't seen it in a while. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!