Title: What Remains

Author: Rude's Mom

JD and Anise were unable to locate Garshaw and decided to split up to cover more ground. Moving between small clutches of people, JD came upon one face that he recognized.

"Excuse me. Major Haley, I am in need of your assistance."

The woman paused her conversation with her companion, turning to the Tok'ra. "Actually, it's Colonel Haley, retired."

"Of course. Forgive me. It has been a quite a few years since we last met."

She looked closely at the Tok'ra. "I'm sorry, I don't recall..."

JD smiled. "I was a child at the time. You knew me as Ja'dee."

"Ja'dee?" She was still drawing a blank.

"It is of no consequence, as I said, it was a long time ago. I am trying to find Garshaw. Have you seen her?"

"No, I'm afraid I haven't. She couldn't have gone far though, the base isn't that large."

"Perhaps not, however, I am worried."

Haley stiffened at his words. JD noticed and backpedaled quickly. "I meant no offense, it is that is unlike her to just disappear. She did see someone she recognized earlier, an elderly man with crutches. She called him Daniel I believe."

Haley's companion made his excuses and headed towards General O'Neill. As he passed by a couple of old gateroom technicians he was heard to mutter something about the shit hitting the fan. One of them made a comment that "Disaster" Davis must be having a flashback.

It had been nearly thirty minutes and he still hadn't found the missing pair. Daniel had been using crutches for crying out loud. They couldn't have gotten far. Of course, most of that time had been spent dodging reporters and old colleagues.

"Jack, we need to talk."

O'Neill turned around to see General Paul Davis (ret.).

"Can't this wait? I need to find her."

"Garshaw?"

"Did you know?"

"No, but we need to talk now. Alone."

"My office, you have five minutes." O'Neill led the way.

As Paul shut the door to the general's office, he asked "Do you still have that bottle of scotch? We're going to need it."

O'Neill reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out the bottle. He then grabbed two mugs from next to the coffee pot. He poured two fingers into each mug.

"Jack, I thought she was dead. Everyone did."

"What the hell happened? Haley told me that the mission went bad and only Daniel made it back. I tried to find out more but the records were sealed. They still are."

"Daniel barely made it back. Jack sent a couple of retrieval teams. Teal'c was found next to the DHD. When they got to Sam's last known position, there was nothing but a crater and part of her second. They had apparently taken a direct hit. We didn't find out until months later that she had survived and been take prisoner." Paul really didn't want to tell him the rest. The Joint Chiefs had buried this for a reason.

"And..." O'Neill prompted.

"You have to understand, Jack was under orders. There were to be no further rescue attempts at that time."

"What?"

"Jack was involved in an undercover operation attempting to root out compromised members of the SGC. You see, the rogue element of the NID had been slowly infiltrating the SGC for years. George suspected some members of the SGC had been suborned but didn't have the resources to do something about it until he became the head of Homeworld Security."

"Are you telling me that he suspected Carter? Because if you are, this conversation is over."

"No, of course not. SG-1 was above suspicion. The plan was to use them as a lightning rod for finding the malcontents. Jack slowly withdrew his support from the team. It became safe to criticize them. George had a CIA agent posing as an analyst sent in. She was his direct contact with Jack. She also helped build the illusion that Jack no longer gave a damn about SG-1 or Colonel Carter."

"Kerry?" O'Neill was appalled. "The marriage was damn fake?"

Paul nodded and took a large sip of scotch. "When word came from the Tok'ra that Sam was being held prisoner, he didn't break his cover."

"He wouldn't have done that. He wouldn't have left her behind."

"There was no way to tell if their information was any more accurate than their last bit of intel. If it was good, Sam had already been a prisoner for months and considering the Goa'uld in question, Jack was certain she was dead. The investigation was winding down and he couldn't jeopardize it, not for a woman who was probably long-dead. The investigation was too important."

"The records that I have gotten access to never mentioned which Goa'uld had her."

Paul stared at the mug between his hands.

"Paul. Who had her?"

"Ba'al."

An ashen faced O'Neill downed the rest of his drink. Some of his worst inherited memories were of Ba'al. How could he have left her with Ba'al if there was any chance that she was still alive?

"He intended to send a retrieval team the moment the investigation was over just in case but he never had the chance. A week after they first contacted us, the Tok'ra sent us a message that Sam had been executed the month before."

"Those lying snakeheads." The anger and bitterness in his voice were tangible.

"Maybe they didn't lie. They could have gotten it wrong."

"Then why the secrecy? Why didn't they tell us she was alive? Why didn't they send her back? They made her a host, Paul. A goddamned host." Jack grabbed the scotch and poured more into his mug. "And to then waltz back in here, as if they had done nothing wrong."

"Jack, it may have been her choice."

"What?" Jack stared at Paul in disbelief.

"I spoke with Jack shortly before he retired. His guilt was eating him alive. When he withdrew his support from SG-1, some rumors about Sam began to surface. You know the type that can start when an attractive woman rises through the ranks as fast as Sam did. He didn't stop them, he couldn't without blowing his cover. Just before that last mission, Sam tried to talk to him about what was going on. He shut her out. As far as she knew, her career was on the skids, her CO wasn't going to back her up, and her team was dead. There wasn't much for her to come back to."

"She would have come back. They didn't let her."

"Jack, you don't understand how bad it was for her back then. The paperwork to bring in a new CO for SG-1 had been started and Sam knew it."

"What?"

"It was to maintain the illusion. The plan was to bring in the new guy and temporarily transfer Carter to Area 51 for the remainder of the investigation but as far as Sam knew, her command was being taken away, effectively ending her career."

"So you think she chose to stay with the Tok'ra."

"And Jack thought she had died believing that he betrayed her."

"Paul, he did betray her."