The alarm was continuously beeping. And it was obvious that Selmak was the only one who heard it as no one else had the decency to turn it off yet. With no sign that Jacob or Janet were waking, Selmak reached and searched for the alarm clock not even bothering to open her eyes as she knew exactly were it was.

Or where she thought it was.

It took a moment but her hand finally found it. Only then she couldn't find the damn snooze button or the off switch. She then remembered that Janet mentioned she had bought a new clock. Frustrated and angry, Selmak sat up and yanked the cord from the back of the clock. Jacob could afford to buy Janet a new one.

Silence at last!

Selmak snuggled back under the covers and fell back asleep. She knew that whenever Jacob stayed over at Janet's house those two enjoyed waking each other up. Selmak wasn't at all surprised that neither of them had woken up yet as last night's intimacies were exhausting even for a symbiote.

Both she and Jacob, especially Jacob, missed Janet. They hadn't seen Janet all week because she was sick with the flu. They wanted her to have a chance to get better in time for their weekend getaway. And the only way Janet could heal quickly was with Jacob and Selmak out of the way.

Of course, Janet missed them just as much. She was rather playful and aggressive with them. The last thing Selmak had heard was Jacob whispering his affections to Janet. Content and satiated, Selmak had immediately fallen asleep. Or more accurately, the evening's activities in combination with the large amount of wine she and Jacob drank had caused her to pass out.

Normally, Selmak would never have consumed such large quantities of alcohol like she'd done last night. But after yesterday's climatic blow up with Jack O'Neill she figured…what the hell. She really needed a drink. It didn't matter that Jacob had stood up for her or that Janet was ready to castrate O'Neill on her behalf. Selmak simply felt…hurt and rejected…and truly alone as she was no longer with her kind any more.

The past few weeks had been stressful. Trying to blend in with the Tau'ri had proved more difficult than she had imagined. Jacob helped to guide her as much as possible as she had done with him when he first joined the Tok'ra. Selmak found it both ironic and depressing to be in such a position. She never liked taking orders. Least of all from a man who was a tiny fraction of her age…about 2.95 percent of her age to be exact.

But it really wasn't the taking orders that bothered her. She had been called many things during her lifespan but for someone that she considered a friend to call her a snake and to top that by saying that she was arrogant really hurt. She knew O'Neill could be juvenile at times and she was accustomed to him using the snake term when referring to Goa'uld symbiotes. However, she was not prepared for him to turn against her. The first time she thought it was in jest as O'Neill liked to joke around a lot. But the name calling continued and grew more insulting until finally yesterday she just couldn't take anymore of it.

She had to defend herself. Thus, she had stooped to Jack's level and threw a punch. Well, she threw several. The first blow had done the most damage. And of course, Jack threw an equally damaging blow back. Jacob wasn't too happy about the welt on his forehead. Selmak made it a point to heal it quickly before they arrived at Janet's house so fewer questions would be asked.

Then when Selmak thought she could feel no worse, Daniel had gone and accused her of being patronizing. Her! One would have thought that saving Jackson's butt a few times, he might be just a little appreciative of her. You know maybe he'd even defend her. But no…he thought she was arrogant, pompous, patronizing! What else did he think of her? What did they all actually think of her?

She couldn't take it. Nothing could console her so hid from the outside world. She felt bad for being treated like a Goa'uld by Jack and she felt worse for resorting to physical violence. And she knew drinking wouldn't resolve anything but something needed to dull the pain. At least Jacob and Janet were understanding and had stopped discussing the Jack incident with Selmak. They did try and include her in their other conversations and love play last night. They had made enough of an effort that guilt made Selmak come fore. She apologized to both of them, enjoyed their intimate pleasures and then retreated just before passing out.

A phone rang.

Again, Selmak was awakened but her host and their lover was not. Selmak ignored the phone knowing it would eventually stop ringing. A few moments after it stopped a cell phone rang.

'What does a girl have to do to get some sleep around here!' she muttered in her mind as she sat up, flinging the covers off. 'What the…'

At first glance, Selmak didn't recognize anything in the bedroom. Even the bed covers were different from the ones she and Jacob covered up with last night. And more importantly, Selmak was in bed alone. Janet was gone and the vacant side of the bed looked like it had not been slept in.

'Jacob, did you and Janet have a fight after I fell asleep?' she asked, noting that the cell phone finally stopped ringing now. 'And when did you start wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt to bed?'

Selmak waited for a reply.

'JACOB!' she shouted at him from within her mind.

Still, no response.

In fact, Selmak realized it was like her host wasn't even there. She couldn't feel his biorhythms. Shit, she couldn't even feel her own except for the pounding in her head. As more of her external senses awakened, her eyes were burning somewhat and she had this nasty taste in her mouth.

Last time she had that taste was the day after St. Patrick's Day. Jacob had been drinking large quantities of green beer the entire evening. At the time, Selmak couldn't understand why he insisted on the green beer when it tasted exactly the same as the regular colored beer. He simply said it was tradition and told her to enjoy herself. Which she did as she didn't complain one bit about Jacob not wearing green! Some very lovely ladies had pinched his ass on a number of occasions. Yes, even though she was blended with a cranky, stubborn man, he at least still had sex appeal! This was an incredible ego boost for both of them. Jacob even had to politely decline a few offers as he was officially off the market having committed to Janet as his girlfriend a month prior.

Only…Jacob and Janet were drinking wine last night and Selmak drank more than enough for the three of them put together. She was able to prevent Jacob from feeling the effects from what she had drank, only allowing the wine he had drank to affect him. But that still didn't explain that nasty beer taste in her mouth.

Nor does any of this explain why she woke up in a strange bedroom, why her host wasn't communicating with her and why she couldn't get rid of her hammering headache. Wanting to get to the bottom of the matter, Selmak moved to get up.

'Ow!' she thought to herself, feeling a dull ache in the knees. 'What's going on? Jacob doesn't have bad knees. He never did until his arthritis kicked in. Then I took care of that.'

Selmak gingerly flexed one leg, then the other. The second knee popped when she did so. Deciding that was enough exercise, she got up, headed for an open door and stepped out into the hallway.

Nothing there was familiar. Nor was much of the rest of the house. It was tidy and clean though as she walked through the rooms. She ended up in the kitchen and opened the refrigerator thinking maybe that some cold water would help with the nasty taste in her mouth.

Only there was no water in the fridge. There were about four bottles of Guinness, several box containers of Chinese takeout, and a couple of Tupperware containers that looked like they were growing some kind of fungus inside. And there was an odor emanating from something in the fridge. Probably from one of the Chinese takeout containers.

The smell was repulsive so Selmak closed the fridge. Her headache wasn't getting any better nor was the taste in her mouth. From the memories of her host she remembered that such ailments had remedies in the bathroom medicine cabinet. There was a door in the bedroom that looked like it belonged to a bathroom so Selmak headed back there.

After turning on the light to the bathroom, she was aghast at the state of disarray it was in. What she assumed were dirty clothes were on the floor, the hand towel was in the sink, the bath towel was draped over the shower curtain rod, and a single sheet of toilet paper hung from the depleted roll. There was however an unopened package of toilet paper on top of the toilet tank. However, the toilet seat was up.

That was odd how the bathroom was a mess when the rest of the house…with the exception of the refrigerator…was well kept.

Ok, forget the fact that Selmak didn't recognize anything for a moment. Her host, Jacob Carter, was a gentleman and a courteous guest in anyone's home. His wife had trained him well as he never left the toilet seat in the upright position. Nor did he leave things in such a mess. If anything, Jacob was a tad anal about keeping the place clean and spotless.

Not wanting her host to have his reputation tainted, Selmak quickly set out to straighten up the bathroom. To be safe, she gathered all clothing articles including the towels. At least the mess was kept to the bathroom and it was easy to find the laundry hamper in the bedroom. However, she was at a loss as to where the clean towels might be.

Selmak scratched the top her of head trying to figure out again just what the hell was going on and why she couldn't figure out where she was.

'What the…!'

There was hair! Hair on top of Jacob's head!

What the hell was hair doing on the top of Jacob's head? She never wanted him to wear a hairpiece because she loved him just the way he was…a bald grouch. Selmak pulled on it…hard thinking it was fake.

"OW!"

Ok, so it wasn't fake. Selmak should have known better. Jacob would never wear a hairpiece. The man was quite comfortable with his baldness. He never once asked Selmak if she could take care of it for him. Not that she could; after all, a symbiote could only do so much for their human host. And really, hair was a minor cosmetic issue rather than a life and death disease such as cancer.

Selmak moved back into the bathroom.

"AAHH!" she shouted when she saw her reflection in the mirror.

The image reflected was not Jacob. It was Jack!

Selmak opened and closed the medicine cabinet. The image was still Jack's.

This was…impossible! Or it had to be a bad dream. There was no way in Netu she would blend with Jack. Not even if he was a last resort. Selmak would rather die first than blend with a man who had no desire what so ever to have a snake in his head.

It had to be a dream. Had to be.

Selmak turned the water on and splashed cold water on her face. Her hands felt the bristly stubble on her face and her nose hurt when she rubbed it. Looking closely in the mirror she could see the short stubble, the bruise on the bridge of the nose and the purplish discoloration underneath her eyes.

If this was a dream why was she in pain? Why was she unable to heal her host or even feel his biorhythms? And the stubble…Selmak was able to control a host's metabolism among other things, including hair growth. Jacob only had to shave once or twice a week once she had blended with him.

Her mind worked to answer her own questions as she continued to stare at the reflection. She went over everything she had done yesterday with Jacob, including the fight with Jack. From there Janet had called and Jacob had raced over to her house. He had really missed her. Selmak normally would have teased him for acting like a horny teenager but she wasn't in the mood at the time.

Instead, Selmak remained quiet as Jacob had spent some cuddle time with Janet on the living room couch listening to music and telling her about what had happened with Jack. Both Janet and Jacob tried talking to Selmak, tried consoling her, and even promised to seek some form of revenge on her behalf. But still Selmak remained silent.

After that, Jacob had made dinner and Selmak drank lots of wine. Her host had done nothing to stop her. But Janet and Jacob continued to reach out to Selmak. Janet had magic fingers that were hard to ignore when they massaged the back of Jacob's neck where Selmak lay. They had drawn Selmak out of her shell and she participated in the act of making love…the three of them becoming one for a few hours until they finally fell asleep.

Then Selmak woke here. It didn't make any kind of logical sense for her to be here where her knees had a dull ache, her mouth had a terrible taste, she had a pounding headache, stubble and a battered face.

"Oh…my…" she gasped, covering her mouth.

It suddenly dawned on Selmak. She wasn't in Jack. No way, not ever! She was Jack! That was the only logical explanation. Even if she had blended with him she would have been able to keep the stubble from growing, she would have been able to take care of the headache, the pain in the knees, the nose, and the disgusting taste in her mouth, even while sleeping.

"Crap!" she exclaimed, scrambling out of the bathroom.

Selmak hurried to the phone and desperately dialed a number. If she was Jack… that meant that Jack was…