Disclaimers: Please see chapter 1.

To all those who reviewed chapter 1, thank you I wasn't expecting such a fantastic reception for this story.

AN: Please do not presume anything, I try to make sure everything is covered and explained by the end of the story.

Chapter 2

Jack was bored.

They had been stuck on the Galactica for five days now and he had nothing to do. Daniel was absorbing the Colonial's history and culture through Admiral Adama's personal library. Carter had been splitting her time between their CIC and the maintenance deck learning how their FTL drives worked and trying to find a planet with a gate that they could get to with little fuss and Teal'c had taken to spending all his time in the Gym.

There was also the fact that they were tailed everywhere by guards and that irritated him a little but then again if these people turned up on Earth their positions would be reversed. They weren't trusted just yet and Jack got that he really did, but he really didn't like his every move being watched, it made him nervous.

Standing in the middle of the corridor, Jack looked each way contemplating his options. He could join Teal'c in the gym, Carter with the knuckle draggers (how they came up with that particular nickname was beyond Jack), going to see Daniel was out of the question he wasn't quite that bored yet or he could take Starbuck up on her offer to learn about the Vipers.

He was still contemplating his options when Saul Tigh's voice came over the ship wide speakers.

"Prepare to jump the fleet."

This was his fourth FTL jump and he still hated it. Jack didn't think he would ever get used to it.

"Civilian Vessels are away… jump in 5…4…3…2…1"

As the countdown occurred Jack reached out and grasped the wall, clenching his eye's shut. It kinda helped.

"1252 to go"

---------

"So?" Laura looked at Jack Cottle expectantly.

"It's strange; mostly they come up as human." Jack mumbled around an unlit cigarette as he searched his pockets for a lighter.

"But…" Bill prompted him at the same time as Laura growled "Mostly?"

"There's some extra bits in there I can't identify. Teal'c's is just plain weird, but they told us from the outset he isn't from Earth so I wasn't expecting it to be our version of normal." He finally found the lighter and paused long enough to light the cigarette. "It's Major Carter's blood work that I'm having trouble with, her DNA reads her as human but blood tests reveal an odd protein marker and some type of heavy metal in her blood."

"Is it Cylon?" These strangers had done nothing threatening yet but Laura was still concerned.

"According to Athena unless it's something they've developed since she last downloaded and retrieved Hera it isn't. I showed her everything I found in their blood and she didn't recognise any of it being of Cylon origin"

Laura nodded, the Cylons had made leaps and bounds in technology developing and evolving faster than she thought was possible so it was entirely conceivable that this was a Cylon trap.

She was well aware that there was a great many things that these people weren't telling them, so far she had been fine to leave it that way but with what she was being told Laura didn't want to leave anything to chance.

"Call Colonel O'Neill down here, I want to ask him myself"

From the looks on their faces she knew the two of them were about to argue but she had been running the fleet from Life station on and off for four years now. Why should this be any different and while they had not informed the visitors of her illness she knew they weren't stupid, they had eyes. Laura knew they were well aware that she was sick and saw no point in hiding it. It wasn't as though she was on her death bed just yet; Jack was merely being cautious and wanting her on IV fluids for a few hours.

Nodding in resignation Bill went over to make the call.

They chatted quietly while waiting for the Colonel to arrive mostly about what they knew of their visitors so far, different observations that the three of them had made.

As Colonel O'Neill strode into life station it once again struck Laura how at ease he seemed. No matter what was thrown at him he still managed to exude this devil may care aura as well as insulting as many people in his general vicinity as possible, but she had little doubt beneath that was an extremely intelligent and dangerous man. The likeness between him and Starbuck was a little scary, and Laura was a bit worried about what would happen should the two of them decide to put the heads together and cause havoc.

Jack himself was a little surprised at being summoned to life station of all places, actually no he wasn't, he'd been expecting it since the Colonials had insisted on his team all having check ups by their physician. He wasn't sure what stage their medical technology was at so had made the decision to let them ask about any strange things they found.

What he was surprised at was when he was ushered to a curtained off area to find President Roslin attached to an IV. They hadn't confirmed or denied that she was ill even though it was fairly obvious and he hadn't expected to be allowed to see her in such a vulnerable state.

"I'm guessing you found some stuff in our blood work you can't explain?"

They nodded, slightly shocked that they didn't even have to ask.

"Major Carter's specifically" The Admiral confirmed.

"You're better off talking to Carter; she's the one who understands all the mumbo-jumbo Doc Fraiser spouted off over the years."

Nodding Bill went over to the wall to request Carters presence in Life Station.

"Oh and if there is anyone else you want knowing this get them here now, we're only explaining this once"

Exchanging a look with Laura, Bill thought for a moment, it was obviously something they didn't want being known by the general population.

"What about during combat, could it affect anything then?" He finally asked.

"At this moment no" Jack scowled at them for making him answer a question he didn't want to "but possibly in the future depending on your relationship with earth and her allies".

'Nice diplomatic answer Jack' He patted himself on the back.

"Get Colonel Tigh and Starbuck then" Laura suggested.

The silence was uncomfortable. Jack was really not happy with where the conversation was going to go; he didn't like the idea of giving away so much information on his team.

After 10 minutes of the only sound being Laura's pen scratching across paper as she signed off on reports, the other three they were waiting for strode through the curtains. Tigh and Starbuck curious as to why their presence was required and Carter nervous about what her presence here meant.

"They found the Naquada?" She queried her CO.

"And the protein marker. I would have gotten Daniel down her but he tends to go down the philosophical road with it all."

She nodded knowing that her CO wanted her to go over the basic facts. No extra's who's where's why's and abilities.

"Is anyone else joining us?" She asked the cubicle in general. Receiving four no's she took a deep breath and let it out slowly in an attempt to keep calm.

She hated this part.

"We told you about the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra. The first time we came across the Tok'ra was during a Goa'uld attack on a village, we were evacuating the villagers through the gate when I stopped to help a severely injured man. We didn't know he was a host, until after it left his body for mine and took control of me for several days. The symbiote died inside me, leaving the protein marker you found and as its body broke down it left a heavy metal we call Naquada in my blood, this allows me to work Goa'uld technology."

As she listened to the Major's explanation Laura's gaze was drawn to the younger woman's hands, the thumb and forefinger of her left hand were being rubbed together. At first Laura found it odd that while Carter's voice was controlled, professional and almost detached during the explanation her hands were involved in such a nervous gesture, but then she remembered…

Laura had seen this type of gesture in countless people, from traumatised children she taught back on Caprica before the holocaust to people like Tom Zarek when they spoke about their time in detention on New Caprica. She knew they weren't getting the whole story, but they were being told what they needed to know and nothing more. None of the personal or emotional issues were mentioned, just like when she told their visitors about New Caprica, Laura told them that detention existed but she never mentioned how she still had nightmares about being stuck in that cell, that she hated bright lights even three years later, that her joints ached at the mere thought of cold concrete.

There are some things you can't fake.

So instead she nodded her acceptance and let Bill ask the questions.

Back and forth it went for about a half an hour, some answers were long and involved the two of them talking animatedly about certain things, but giving curt yes or no answers unwilling to expand on certain aspects. Especially when it came to weapons capabilities, Major Carter wouldn't even look anyone in the eye as the Colonel answered that question.

---------

Bill was worried, not about what was being said but what wasn't. When he asked them about weapons the non answer he got…

Well it worried him.

He didn't have much time to expand on the thought or line of questioning as the ships loud speakers crackled to life.

"Admiral Adama, report to CIC"

Laura sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, even though Doc Cottle had removed the IV some 15 minutes before she hadn't bothered moving, she watched worriedly as Bill asked to be patched directly through to the CAP. Hoping she'd managed to save enough energy to stand under her own power Laura gingerly slid off the bed and onto her feet. Unfortunately her legs immediately buckled underneath her, being the closest to her Jack lunged forward and wrapped an arm around her waist to stop her from hitting the floor just has a bright white light engulfed him and Carter.

When the light receded the three of them had disappeared.

---------

"What the FRAK" Laura gasped trying to get out of O'Neill's hold as she attempted to work out what just happened. She didn't care that she would be kissing deck if he let her go; she just wanted to get away from him.

"Thor, you have to send her back" She could vaguely make out Sam Carters voice in her panic.

"Hey hey hey, calm down" O'Neill said to her, one arm still wrapped around her waist holding her upright, the other grasping her jaw gently forcing her to look at his face.

"It was an accident, Thor just meant to grab us, and he's not going to hurt you. He's a friend, President Laura Roslin of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol meet Supreme Commander Thor of the Asguard."

None of the noticed the startled look on Thor's face when Jack mentioned her title.

He turned her head so that she was looking at a small grey being, a small naked grey being with big black eyes.

Laura let out a small squeak of surprise as her eyes widened slightly then rolled back in her head as she passed out.

"She is ill" Thor stated unnecessarily before moving one of the stones on his command console causing Laura to disappear in a flash of light. "It is very advanced, I do not know if the medical pods will be able to help her."

"Umm, how long will she be in there?" Daniel queried nervously.

"The damage to her system is great and she is very weak, it will take some time to verify if it is reversible or not."

"Crap" Jack groaned "Ok, there's a ship over there that's going into a massive panic because we just beamed away with their President, and we can't send her back because you're playing the good Samaritan and trying to fix her."

"That is a correct assessment of the current situation O'Neill."

"Hey Thor, there were four others with the Colonel and I when you beamed us over, can you bring one of them over so that we can explain and prove that she's still alive?" Sam asked.

"Yes"

---------

Not that he would ever admit it to anyone but Bill Adama was panicking.

He'd been standing there listening to Hot Dog describe the massive ship that had just appeared among the fleet when two of their visitors and the President had disappeared in a flash of light.

He stood there mouth gaping, as Saul grabbed one of the other phones and started screaming at CIC to find out what the Frak was going on and Starbuck stood there eyes darting between the spot where the three of them had been standing, trying to comprehend what was going on.

Through his shock he could only really make out one thing that Saul said "What do you mean they're missing as well?"

He was startled out of his shock when the light re-appeared surrounding Starbuck. Bill didn't think he'd ever seen Saul move as fast as he dived towards her in a vain attempt to stop the light from taking away their best Pilot but to no avail, before he even blinked they were both gone as well.

---------

Over on Thor's ship Jack had to smother a laugh as Thor's transport beam receded just in time for him to see Saul Tigh hit Kara Thrace in a fantastic tackle and the two of them to fly to the ground.

"Frak me!"

Jack wasn't sure which one of the said it but it pretty much summed up his reaction the first time Thor beamed him up.

Without giving them a moment to completely get their bearings, Daniel walked up to them and offered Kara his hand.

"Sorry about that, Thor wanted to talk to us and President Roslin was accidentally brought along."

Kara took his hand and yanked him to the ground wrapping and arm around his neck and using him as a personal shield while pushing her pistol to his temple.

"Greetings" Thor walked through the others to stand directly in front of Kara, Saul and Daniel. "I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asguard Fleet. When I detected SG1 on your ships I was concerned for their well being, so I brought them aboard. I did not intend to bring President Roslin with them and I assure you she has come to no harm."

Kara looked the alien up and down trying to asses the kind of threat he could be, deciding he couldn't be much of one she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"You're naked!"

From where he was crouched Saul looked around the room.

"Where is she then? You say she hasn't been harmed, prove it."

"Please release Dr Jackson and I will take you to her."

Looking over her shoulder Kara waited to see what Saul would do, not that they really had a choice, if they wanted to get Roslin back they would need to at least know where she was.

Releasing Daniel the two of them slowly got to their feet wary of their surroundings, not wanting to be jumped by anything that could be lurking in the corners.

"When President Roslin first beamed aboard my sensors noticed several advanced tumours within her body. Complete system failure would have occurred within the next week, so I have placed her within one of our healing pods. It remains to be seen as to whether we can do anything to help her."

"Healing Pods?" Kara queried nervously as she and Saul followed the diminutive alien through his ship.

Daniel was trailing along with them while the rest of the team waited back at command.

"The Asguard are an extremely advanced race." He interjected gently "If anyone can help her they can."

There wasn't much else to say after that so they continued their journey in silence, after several minutes they came to the end of a long hallway, and entered a small room. Embedded in the far wall was a clear pod containing an unconscious Laura Roslin, without preamble Thor went up to the pod to check the readings.

"She is stable for now" His large eyes turned to Kara and Saul taking in their shocked expressions "and some of the degeneration has already been removed and will soon be completely gone, however we cannot stop the cellular degeneration from occurring again. I have detected a genetic predisposition to this particular type of tumour."

"Stop" Kara couldn't believe she was saying this as she blinked back tears, "take her out."

Thor blinked at her in surprise but did not move to stop the pod.

"If what you're telling me is true then no matter what cancer is going to kill her, this is the second time she's been through this." Kara continued emboldened by the fact that no one had interrupted her yet "at least give her the choice, because if I were her I wouldn't want to be healed only to go through this again in another two years. You can always restart right?"

Thor nodded and started to manipulate the controls.

"As I stated previously the pod has already started to heal the cellular degeneration in her body, by my estimates it has extended her life expectancy by approximately two months."

Kara and Saul both nodded and without consultation automatically took a place on either side of the pod, unconsciously protecting their President from any unseen enemy.

Having retreated to the far corner, Daniel merely watched, forgotten and entranced by what he was seeing in these people. He had spent the last few days studying what was left of their history and culture, speaking with people about their lives on the various colonies, Daniel was entranced, he couldn't wait to learn more.

After the cover slid back Kara reached out and took the older woman's hand squeezing gently "Madam President?" She whispered. Laura's eyes started to flutter and she winced at the bright lights.

Saul, being one of the few people to understand her hatred of bright lights looked at Thor.

"Can we dim the lights a little please?" Accordingly the room's lights dropped.

Kara turned her gaze to him, a knowing look in her eyes "Detention?"

"I overheard her and Tory the other day; she still won't let the lights be turned up to full."

Kara nodded, "Same reason I won't lock a door and Zarek won't sit with his back to anyone."

Daniel had known that there was a lot these people weren't telling them, just like SG1 had kept things to themselves, but the hushed conversation shed a lot more light on their situation. On that first day back on Galactica, President Roslin and Starbuck had given them a brief overview of the last four years including their time on a planet they called New Caprica and the resulting Cylon occupation. The Team had suspected that it had been bad but suspecting and knowing were two entirely different things.

A slight cough from the pod caught everyone's attention; Starbuck leaned forward hoping that Laura wouldn't panic if she saw a friendly face. Her eyes fluttered again, this time opening fully and focusing first on the ceiling then on Starbucks face.

"What…" she cleared her throat and tried again "What's going on?"

"A friend of SG1's showed up and…" She shook her head in wonderment "beamed them aboard their ship, you got brought along for the ride."

Kara's eyes darted up and she looked at Saul who nodded, they were doing the right thing.

"Thor says he can heal you, says he's already started." She swallowed nervously.

"But…?" Laura knew there was always a but in this kind of scenario.

"But it might not be permanent. He can reverse the damage done so far but he can't stop the cancer from returning."

Laura nodded taking in her words, she had already used up her second chance, did she want a third? She used to think that the answer would be no, but that was before she knew there was an option, a way out even if it was just for a little while. A way out that wasn't ethically questionable.

Looking over Kara's shoulder directly at Thor she asked the only question's that really mattered right now.

"Why would you do this? Help me? Heal me? What's in it for you?"

"There is nothing 'in it' for me, and I am helping you because I can and because the first time I encountered the people of Kobol 3 millennia ago, I did nothing and they did not survive. I could have helped them find Earth but instead they were destroyed by the Goa'uld"

Laura nodded her mind overloading by this small amount of information, wanting to hear more but knowing she wouldn't be able to comprehend it properly just yet she smiled and said "Thank you" Then turned her attention back to Kara "I'll take whatever time the Gods give me. If it works it works, if it doesn't I'm not going to lose anything by it."

She turned to look at Saul "Make sure Bill knows this is my choice. He probably won't understand." Saul nodded, not really looking forward to explaining this to the Admiral but knowing it had to be done.

"I'm ready" Laura nodded at Thor "See you on the other side"

The Pod reactivated.

---------

Back on Galactica the entire crew were avoiding having the Admiral's ire directed at them. No-one was really sure exactly what had happened, they did know that their visitors had disappeared in a flash of light and that the President, XO and Starbuck were no where to be seen.

That is until a bright light appeared in CIC right in front of the Admiral and when it was gone Saul Tigh, Jack O'Neill and Teal'c were standing there as though nothing had happened.

"I'd order you to be taken to the Brig but somehow I don't think that'll stop you from leaving whenever you want to" he groused, absolutely livid by the days events.

"Can we talk in private?" Jack asked.

Scowling at the trio he beckoned them to follow him up to an enclosed area of CIC.

"The President and Starbuck?" He asked Saul first.

"They're fine, but Jack should start at the beginning."

"That big ship you're deciding on whether or not to attack belongs to one of our allies. The Asguard are currently the most powerful race in this part of the Universe, and they owe us one or two favours so please don't piss off their Supreme Commander while he's healing your President free of charge."

Everyone in CIC heard him bellow.

"WHAT!"

---------

Starbuck hadn't moved from her place beside the healing pod, merely sat there back against the wall, knees pulled up to her chest, gun in hand and ready to be used at a moments notice. Sam had wandered in not long before and sat herself down a few meters away; making sure that Starbuck was between herself and President Roslin. Daniel had told her about the exchange between the two Colonial officers and Sam knew instinctively that Starbuck would use deadly force if she thought that the President was being threatened.

Even with what Thor was doing for the President they weren't trusted yet, the Colonials had been burned too many times. They had lost too much, Sam figured she knew how it felt to lose your faith in life and the universe, for them to overcome the distrust it would take a larger step from them and now was time to open up a bit more. So as not to startle the other woman Sam kept her voice low.

"We didn't know the difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra that first time, and I certainly didn't care that there was one. All I knew was that I was trapped inside my own body; I had to watch as a child's trust was shattered while my own voice threatened to kill her. It paraded around my home, spoke to my friends and team mates all the time pretending to be me. It tried to kill them, it used my own voice, thoughts, feelings and knowledge against me while I screamed and screamed and screamed." Sam's voice was shaking with the effort it took to voice an event from nearly 6 years before but had changed her life and herself so intrinsically.

"How did it die?" Starbuck asked her eyes now focussed solely on Sam.

"She had been hiding from an assassin when we came along; the Goa'uld attacked the Nasyins in an attempt to find her. Once my team realised that I'd been compromised they shipped me straight off to the Brig. I was a sitting duck in there, the Assassin found me and well… I would have died but Jolinar, the Tok'ra, let go so that I could survive. She died for me and yet, I hate her."

Silence descended over the room once again while Starbuck digested what Sam had just shared with her.

"I spent four months locked in an apartment with a Cylon that wanted to play happy families. I killed him he downloaded and came back, I don't remember how many times now…"

---------

Unexpectedly the pod started beeping startling both women from their intense conversation. They had been swapping stories on the types of planes they had each flown, Kara was grateful that Sam had told her about what had happened with Jolinar, up until now she had been finding these people a little bit two dimensional, telling stories with no real passion behind them but now she had a common ground. That and when it came to death defying, adrenaline inducing sports Kara had found a kindred spirit.

Kara was on her feet instantly as Thor walked through the door and over to the console and checked the readings.

"The healing is complete" he intoned unnecessarily as the cover slid back. "It will take some time for her to regain her true strength back. While the cellular degeneration has been reversed the residual loss of muscle and fatty tissues has not."

"What does that mean?" Kara looked over at Sam for a translation.

"The cancer is gone but the side affects such as weight loss etc aren't"

"Ok" Kara muttered to herself while nodding her head "Ok"

She watched as the cover of the pod retracted once more revealing the President, for the first time in Kara's recent memory she looked rested.

Kara watched the President closely waiting for the older woman to come around, Thor had lowered the lights without having to be asked this time so when Laura opened her eyes it was to a quite comfortable setting.

"How are you feeling?" Kara asked.

"I'm…" Laura took stock of her body and the different sensations it was emanating "I've felt better and…" she wiggled her toes and flexed several muscles throughout her body making sure it all still worked "I have most definitely felt worse."

Kara chuckled at that "I told you'd that you'd die old and decrepit surrounded by fat Grandchildren"

---------

"It's been over two hours now" Bill was really not happy and it was taking all of his self control to keep from yelling, he was also still trying to comprehend all that Jack had told him about what was happening. He took a breath to continue on his tirade but stopped abruptly when he saw a light shimmer appear next to Saul, it flickered for several seconds before solidifying into a slightly see through version of Daniel Jackson.

"Hi Guys" he waved jovially "Thor wants you to know it's finished, and Admiral your presence is required over here. Whenever you're ready give a shout and Thor will bring you over"

Exchanging a quick glance with the Admiral Jack grinned at Daniel "We're ready right now. In fact The Admiral here was just telling us how much he was looking forward to seeing Thor's ship"

Without replying Daniel's image shimmered out and the transport beam activated around Jack and Bill, sending them over to Thor's ship.

"So how come you got left behind?" Saul queried Teal'c

"As a measure of good faith, O'Neill would never leave a member of his team behind, for as long as there are members of your fleet with Thor, there shall be a member of SG1 here."

---------

Looking around the command centre as he was beamed in Jack was immediately worried. Sitting off to one side Carter was entertaining The President and Starbuck with a story of some kind, hopefully it wasn't anything that would compromise security, knowing Carter it wouldn't be but he was still worried, there were some damn embarrassing stories about him. From the sounds of it though she was telling a story about one of her childhood escapades that had actually been the cause of Jacob's hair loss over the years.

Glancing over at the Admiral Jack couldn't stop the grin from taking over, the man looked as though the weight of the world had been removed from his shoulders as soon as he saw that the President and Kara were in fact alive and well. Without stopping to be introduced to Thor, Bill strode over to where the three women were sitting giving Starbuck a quick grin he focussed most of his attention on the President.

"You're going to give Jack a conniption with these last minute miracle cures you keep getting." Laura chuckled at the thought of Jack Cottle's face when she got back to Galactica "Not to mention I don't think my heart can keep taking this."

Laura gave him a disbelieving look as she accepted the hand he offered and rose shakily to her feet.

"Bill Adama you're in better shape than most of the 20 year olds we've got on Galactica" She scolded him. "Now I believe the Supreme Commander was going to explain how he came across our ancestors three thousand years ago."

"Wait a second" Kara interrupted "how do you know how fit the Admiral is?" She looked between the two a little leery of the answer.

"Bill can still beat Lee in the boxing ring, and when was the last time one of your Nuggets beat Lee?"

"Ok" Kara nodded "That's understandable, but how do you know that?"

It was Bill's turn to smirk "Cause Lee went and complained about how Daddy kept beating him up. Ever since then your esteemed President has been showing up at the gym and watching us spar whenever she can. She also seems to take sick pleasure in watching Lee get beaten by 'The Old Man'. I'm not sure if his ego can much more of the laughter."

Kara broke into a fit of giggles at the image of the President of the Twelve Colonies heckling the Adama men while they boxed.

"So Laura, you want some company next time?"

---------

After several more minutes of banter much to the amusement of SG1, as they'd yet to see the lighter side of these people. Things started to settle down and everyone looked at Thor expectantly waiting for the promised explanation.

"Three thousand years ago I cam across a small fleet of ships not unlike the one you have now." Thor started.

"There is not much to tell, we have always had the practice of leaving less advanced races to grow and develop on their own, and this time was no different. I managed to ascertain that they were searching for a planet called Earth, although there was no planet known by that name at the time, their destination was clear. They were heading for the sector of space that was controlled by Ra. We left them to their own devices and their fleet was caught in the crossfire of a battle between Ra and Apophis, it was decimated though they fought and did large amounts of damage to both of the System Lords. The last we knew by the end of the battle there was nothing left of the Fleet, and no survivors."

All through his story Laura had been unable to tear her eyes away from Thor, even now in the silence she sat there watching him as tears spilled down her cheeks.

It was over they had nowhere to go.

End Chapter 2