The colonel regarded Adam sourly. If the man were under his command he would be in corrective custody chained and locked away. But he wasn't, he was a nominal civilian who was way older than him and could kill with freakish ease. Jack scrubbed his face and adjusted the carry strap on his weapon.

"Fine." He conceded and Teal'c helped the bloodied man to his feet.

"I so wish I'd never met you right now." Jack sighed and sized up Adam. He was a mess, his clothing, what was left of it was crimson and shredded. His flesh was whole but smeared with his own blood. His eyes were dark, colorless and fevered.

"So what gives?"

"She's not a Goa'uld."

"What?"

"Look you guys said it yourselves, why write in ancient Egyptian but speak Goa'uld? Why not just write in Goa'uld? And why here?"

"Pierson, we're running very, very low on patience." Jack pointed out.

"Okay, let me help you, other than the Goa'uld, what species do you know about that could have been around to interact with the Goa'uld but could still be around now?"

"Immortals." Carter hazarded. Daniel's eyes lit up.

"Of course, that would explain the language use as well as the book, I think."

"I was not the only immortal who had contact with the Goa'uld, obviously. I didn't know what they were but what if Ra left a trusted servant behind? Someone with unique gifts, someone to lie in wait and study the treacherous Tau'ri on his behalf?"

"This is nuts, if there had been such a person we would know about it." Jack grunted.

"Really? Are you sure about that?"

"Jack it might be possible."

"But why here? There's never been any evidence of Goa'uld in this region of the world."

"This person, this woman was a handmaiden to a god, its not inconceivable that she might have established herself as a god in her own right. Immortals travel, you can only stay in one location for so long before someone gets on to you or you die in a raid or an accident, or an act of god. So we move from town to town land to land. It would have taken her hundreds perhaps thousands of years but eventually somehow she made it to the Americas."

"Okay if we buy that it still doesn't explain how you came to that conclusion." Daniel pointed out.

"Your guys began excavating near the base of the pyramid, the jungle covered the lower levels protecting them from erosion, they uncovered some carvings, traditional and era appropriate for this region and architecture. They depicted a bloody female deity armed with an edged weapon who controlled lightning. An immortal."

"Where?" Daniel demanded. Adam limped to the site of the scientist's excavation and began deciphering the pictographs.

"They built a mighty city here but in the process they used up all the natural resources in the area. The workers began to starve, they died out or fled leaving her alone." Adam explained gesturing at the bloody art work. Daniel read through it himself and nodded in agreement.

"That still doesn't explain what happened to your friend." Carter said bursting their bubble.

"That I'm not so clear on. I've never heard of an immortal with the ability to do such a thing. However, it is possible that it was some kind of booby trap designed to trap an immortal."

"How so?"

"We have . . . unique . . . energy signatures, its possible that whatever projected that light show for Max was engineered to respond only to that signature."

"But, you spent more time in the chamber than Max, and she was only effected after her second or third time." Daniel argued.

"I think it may have been cumulative, she also spent time meditating, it may have left her in a more susceptible state." Adam was so not sharing that he had the ability to dampen his own immortal presence, it helped him to avoid combat with other hostile immortals. Max, being far younger had not achieved that level of power or skill yet.

"Look, this makes far more sense than some random sneaky Goa'uld hiding out in south America thousands of years ago for no apparent reason."

"So what now?"

"I have to find her and kill her."

"Not so fast, even if this is just an immortal she knows about Daniel, and the Goa'uld, she knows about the SGC and she wants that damned book for something." Jack sighed.

"I agree but the safest course of action will be to eliminate her."

"I don't think so, she could have invaluable information."

"She's dangerous."

"Okay tell you what we'll go home talk to the general get some sleep –"

"No colonel it doesn't work that way. This bitch attacked me and mine, I owe her."

"Pierson, I don't know what you and your freaky friends get up to but this is our operation and we're going to do it our way. You'll get your chance for revenge but until then there are bigger things at stake."

"Like what?"

"You aren't cleared to know." Jack growled. The two men were nearly toe to toe, eye to eye.

"O'Neill." Teal'c said solemnly, Jack broke his gaze and glanced at the Jaffa, they could hear choppers approaching. Adam didn't sense the big man move until the butt of Teal'c's weapon crashed into the base of his skull.

"Boy this guy is a pain in the ass." Jack griped. Teal'c slung him over one shoulder and the team began trekking to the choppers. Adam came to just after the choppers gained cruising height.

"Look Pierson we trust you have your friend's best interests at heart but just knock it off okay? Stop fighting us." Jack groused.

"Sorry colonel but I don't trust people I know an immortal is responsible for this and only an immortal can stop her. That means me. All your guns and men are pointless, immortals duel to the death one on one, no guns, no outside help."

"Really?"

"Well, mostly, if you break the rules you make yourself a target." Adam didn't bother to elaborate. He had in fact broken the rules, several times, for the greater good which usually meant saving his own butt, but it was not done lightly. Xavier St. Cloud and Jacob Kells had, eventually learned that lesson.

Once they returned to the mountain Adam was sequestered away and politely guarded. SG-1 cleaned up and prepared for the debrief. Two hours after arrival they trooped into the briefing room.

"Colonel what's the situation."

"He thinks an immortal is behind it."

"An immortal?"

"That's what his . . . species . . . calls itself." Daniel said, resorting to species for lack of a better term. Whether or not Max and Adam were other than human was still undecided.

"How?"

"Well, Sir, he theorizes that the immortal set some kind of trap rigged to respond to the unique energy signature immortals give off."

"Is that feasible?"

"Its hard to say Sir, if she did then she could have removed the equipment before we arrived. We would have no way of knowing."

"So you're saying that there is a hostile non-goa'uld out there who knows about the goa'uld and Dr. Jackson."

"Yes sir, unfortunately."

"Do we know anything about this hostile?"

"No sir, not really." Jack said.

"Well that's not exactly true general, we know for better or worse that this person has an interest in me and this book, we know that she can be killed by decapitation and we know that Adam has it in for her."

"Options?"

"Let Adam go after her, he has a better shot at capturing her than we do." Carter suggested.

"Can you be sure that you can prevent him from killing her? We need to interrogate this being she seems to know more than she should."

"We can always shoot him sir." Jack said.

"Why do you not simply request that Adam Pierson refrain from killing her prior to interrogation?" Teal'c asked.

"Well there is that." Daniel agreed.

"Okay colonel I'll leave the details to you, but I want to know what that woman wants and I want Adam Pierson and his friend out of the SGC as soon as possible."

"Very good Sir." Jack said standing as the General left.

Adam was patiently picking his door lock with a bed spring when Jack breezed in forcing the lean man to jump backwards.

"Whatchyadoin?" Jack asked mildly studying the immortal, bed spring in hand. Jack looked at the scratched doorknob.

"Neat." He said and pulled a chair out of its place near the table and sat backwards on it, resting his forearms on the back. Slowly Adam relaxed. He tossed the bed spring onto the torn mattress it came from and sat down across from Jack.

"Here's the deal. We will let you chase this chick down, you can even fight her if you want but, we have to interrogate her before you kill her."

"What?"

"Look Daniel and Carter both think that you can find her faster and with a lot less fuss than if they went digging through books and scanning things. So, we do it your way except you have to let us talk to her."

"If I find her and subdue her you can talk to her but only if I can listen in."

"No deal."

"Fine hope you have a few hundred years to waste then." Jack looked dourly at him.

"Jack there are hundreds probably thousands of us all over the world, we hide, its what we do, we wander the world posing as mortals and doing our damndest to keep our heads attached. That means we are very, very, very hard to find when we do not wish to be."

"Look, Adam we can find her if we want to, thanks to everything you've told us it might take awhile but we will find her. In the meantime you and Max are going to be stuck here under lock and key because you know too much and can't be trusted not to cause a scene or kill the hostile."

"You're a military man, I thought your whole purpose was to kill hostiles."

"Sure but sometimes that has to wait. I understand you're pissed as hell, can't say I wouldn't be in your shoes but the fact is we need to see what if any information this person has, that means interacting in a less than fatal way."

"Fine but you and your team need to give me enough space to operate. You stay here and do whatever it is you do most of the time and I'll look up a few contacts and see what I can dig up. You do not follow me, if I think you are I'll vanish."

"I'll run it by the general." Jack said mollified. The next morning they released Adam.

"What will you do with Max?"

"She won't be hurt; we'll keep a close eye on her and try to find that damned book she's been looking for." Adam nodded.

Forty-five minutes after leaving the SGC's main gates Adam's blip ceased transmitting. The screen went blank.

"He figured it out." Daniel grunted leaning over Walter's shoulder and studying the blank screen.

Adam changed clothes and I.D. an hour and a half after his tag stopped transmitting. He had manipulated the energy of his own quickening to fry the implant it had hurt, severely but he was free of the SGC's oversight.

He called Joe mentally tallying how long he had been out contact.

"Hey Joe."

"Adam where you been? You're a good two months late, Mac's been burning up the wires looking for you two."

"Uh, yeah we're fine. Look Joe I need any information on immortals with contacts in south American with no first death information, specifically any females."

"Adam, you know I'm not an immortal phone book, I can't just give out information like that-"

"It's about Max Joe." Adam's tone was tightly controlled but his worry leaked out.

"Okay I'll do what I can."

Joe called back with another contact number and thus the chase began. He spent weeks crisscrossing the globe, threatening, bribing, and gathering intelligence. Finally she came to him.

He was in London waiting for a phone call in a seedy room. It was stained from generations of tobacco smoke; the bedding was threadbare and stained. He sat at a rickety table that overlooked a narrow alley; in the alley a drug dealer was plying his trade. He felt her as he sat and his body tensed unconsciously.

He reached for his sword and stood up, shrugging his coat off he faced the door. It opened slowly and revealed a small woman with copper skin and doll like features. She smiled revealing tiny dagger like teeth, her eyes were liquid obsidian. In one hand she held a short stabbing spear fashioned from chert, it glowed dully in the cheap lighting, its brown chipped surface glittering.

"I am Akna." She said her voice was sweet and soft. Adam smiled and drew his own three foot broadsword; the Ivanhoe's surface gleamed coldly.

"You face me with a stone blade." He said.

"I would know your name stranger before I take your power."

"Release my friend and I will not take your head."

She smiled and held the spear before her horizontally. She spoke softly in a language unfamiliar to Adam, the next thing he knew he was outside the window above the filthy alley and falling to the ground. Lighting lanced out of the window impacting his body with enough voltage to fry a herd of cows. He channeled his own quickening, desperately shunting the brunt of the energy out of his body and along the surface of his own energy field. Still, what got through hurt, a lot. He screamed and hit the ground. The loud crack and thud of his body hitting the pavement heralded broken limbs. He moaned and struggled to move before the 'goddess' came for him. Slowly he got to his knees. His Ivanhoe was gone. He shook his head and managed to get to his feet. The drug dealer was long gone.

Akna appeared at the mouth of the alley. Adam tucked into a crouch and forcing his singed and broken body into a sprint he charged her. When he was close enough to touch her she hit him with another blast. It flung him like a rag doll to the opposite end of the alley; he struck the brick façade and felt more bones break on impact. He slid to the base of the wall like a boneless sack of pudding. He struggled to face Akna and managed to raise his gaze to take in the mouth of the alley. She stood stoic and still the spear at her side. Adam decided he was probably going to die. He pondered briefly reflecting on his over long life but decided to get to his feet instead.

He made it to all fours before Akna reached him.

"Will you tell me your name now warrior?" she cooed gripping his hair in one fist and forcing it back, exposing his throat.

"I am Methos." He whispered and spat in her face. She pressed the edge of the spear to his throat drawing blood. Adam/Methos closed his eyes and smiled grimly through broken teeth. He would die defiant.

A burst of automatic gunfire echoed in the tight space Methos's eyes fluttered open. The pressure from the spear was gone. Akna laid on the ground her chest a mass of raw gore. Teal'c and O'Neil stood over her. Daniel was retrieving her spear.

"Adam?" Carter asked leaning into his line of sight.

"Hey Major, good timing." He whispered and passed out.

Jack gave a low whistle. The alley was destroyed. Akna was down for the count and Adam looked like a poorly prepared chicken fried steak. They gathered up the immortals carefully insuring Akna was actually dead. They hauled ass to Mildenhall Air Base and into a secure hangar. Akna was secured to the best of their capabilities including a pressure sensitive auto-injector loaded with enough concentrated cyanide to take down a battalion of Jaffa. If she got frisky it was all over with. Adam was put into a makeshift infirmary. He was given I.Vs and wrapped in cool damp cloths to ease his burns. Within an hour he was conscious.

"Sir, Pierson is awake." The med tech informed the colonel as they watched Akna for signs of consciousness.

Adam looked none the worse for wear, even his hair had recovered from the burns. He did look weary though.

"How you feel?" Jack asked cautiously."

"Not good, is she dead yet?"

"Well she's still dead but her head is still attached so-"

"Haven't you interrogated her yet?"

"Pierson, she literally blew your socks off, it took two MP5s at close quarters to put her down. You wanna go wake her up be my guest." Adam got to his feet shakily and stared down the colonel.

"Her head is mine Colonel; she is a bigger threat to me and my family than she ever will be to yours."

"I wouldn't bet on that." Jack said but let the immortal go.

Adam slugged Akna viciously. Her eyes snapped open.

"Colonel-!" The med techs objected as Jack entered the area.

"Akna, tell me why I should not take your head." Methos demanded.

"I want what you want Death, I want to live, I want to survive, this game wearies me. There are few on this planet who can stand before the might of a goddess."

"What do you want with Max? Why send her after Jackson?"

"You are not worthy." She hissed. Adam hauled off and nailed her again. The blow snapped her head back savagely. Her skull rattled off the steel plating of her support, she bared her teeth and glared at Adam lightning began crawling over her skin. Adam backhanded her savagely drawing blood but the lightning ceased.

"You are not a god here. You are an immortal like me, like Max, like hundreds of others. You've just outlived your usefulness. Tell these people what they want to know or I'll make your death a slow lasting hell." Adam snarled millimeters from the goddess's eyes.

"I know you. Your legend reached even my ears. The people who once prayed to me now read about you and your brethren in their precious tome of lies. You are a foul footnote to my glory, I will reign again." She hissed Adam raised his hand to hit her again.

"We've heard that before lady. Few times actually. Course most of the people who said that are well, dead now." Jack said helpfully. Adam lowered his hand.

"Here's how this is going to work lady, you give us what we ask for and we all live happily ever after."

"Liar." She snapped.

"Well, yeah maybe, a little." The colonel admitted with a shrug.

"You say you've read about me, heard my legend, then believe me when I say it will be great pleasure to hurt you and take your life." Adam said balefully. She smiled frostily.

With almost no warning a sphere of malevolent blue light lanced out from her chest and nailed Adam, it knocked him of his feet and gave him a painful and briefly fatal shock. Adam sat up with a pained gasp.

"This is not working." Jack observed.

"Yeah." Adam agreed and accepted the soldier's help up.

"Can all of you do that?"

Adam winced and shook his head.

"No, I've never heard of it before." Adam said rotating his shoulders.

"Try again?"

"May as well, I'd advise keeping your people clear though, I don't think this will be the only time she zots me."

"Zots?" Jack asked. Adam shrugged.

"Got a better name?"

Jack grinned. Adam sighed and returned to Akna's corner. Twenty minutes later he was on his back again. He picked himself up slowly and returned. The sound of blows rang out and shouts more low toned arguing and insults and more blows before Adam was once again 'zotted' into death. He woke up and saw Sam leaning over him.

"Are you okay?"

"This isn't working. Whatever you want to know, she won't tell me."

"You know we record all these interrogation sessions." She said helping him to his feet. He grunted.

"What does she mean you're in the bible?"

"I'm old."

"No way are you the first man." He arched an eyebrow at her.

"We did genetic tests. You're sterile and you're DNA is only 99.95 human." He shrugged again careful to hide the pain common to immortals, the shared sorrow at their inability to procreate. The ancient had had over sixty wives and hundreds of children, always fathered by another and while he had loved each as long as he had them there was a hollow in his soul, a paternal longing for his own offspring. Something unreadable flickered in his eyes Carter frowned wondering if she had upset the immortal.

"Look why don't you and your people give it a go?" He suggested. He headed back to the infirmary and curled up on the cot for a rest. He slept lightly and fitfully not dreaming but waking frequently.

Finally he woke feeling as tired as when he had laid down. He sat up. An MRE was lying on a tray next to the cot. He regarded the O. D. Green package. It was labeled teriyaki beef. He slipped the package into the cargo pocket on his pants and stood up. Teal'c was patiently waiting for him.

"The prisoner wishes to speak with you Adam Pierson."

"Have you made any progress?"

"Some." O'Neil was also waiting for him.

"Okay so you're called Methos, you were one of the horsemen of the apocalypse specifically death and the goddess Akna a mother fertility type person wants to talk to you." Jack said. Adam blinked slowly but didn't react otherwise.

"Seriously she wants to see you." Adam nodded and entered Akna's area. Jack and the rest of the team followed.

"Ahhhhh Methos." She cooed, in spite of the beating he had given her, she appeared fully healed and flawless. He unconsciously tensed for another lightning impact.

"I will tell your friends what they wish to know. But I require a toll." He waited not rising to her bait.

"Bring my child to me I wish to look upon her face before I spill my secrets and you take my life."

"Why? Why do you want to see Max?"

"She belongs to me. If you kill me she will still long to fulfill my directives she will belong to me forever."

"Colonel, can you bring her here?"

"Let's have a little chat Adam, Methos whatever your name is." Jack grumbled. Adam scowled.

"I'm not moving this character and unless you can guarantee Max won't make a fuss we are not bringing her here either."

"Colonel if you tell her she's being brought to the golden mother she'll damn near fly to get here."

"Fair enough." Jack made the call. While they waited Adam did his damndest to get Akna to talk. She smiled and killed him repeatedly.

"GOD DAMN IT!" Adam roared sitting up. He frog hopped to his feet and slugged the goddess hard enough to break her neck. Rubbing his fist he stomped over to the mess area.

"Kill you again huh?" Carter asked. He sighed and sat down heavily.

"You know, you might try a little more finesse. Wailing the crap out of an immortal while it may be fun, strikes me as ultimately pointless." Daniel added.

"She thinks she's a goddess Daniel, gods don't bleed, every time I knock her teeth in she gets to taste what not being a god tastes like."

"Yes but she's still immortal."

"She's at least as old as I am, and if her life has been anything like mine she's been through this before probably several times. There are no tricks, or tactics or threats that will work except to threaten the one thing she values her life."

"Okay so what will change by bringing Max in?"

"You tell me, you're the ones who want information from the bloody bitch. I just want to kill her. She's obviously dangerous, or is it normal for you lot to allow megalomaniac gods with the ability to control lightning to live?"

"Uh well you don't have clearance for the full answer." Jack said. Adam groaned and scrubbed his face.

"I am so regretting going to that bloody pyramid." Adam muttered.

Jack's radio crackled to life.

"Sir the team from the SGC has arrived."

"Acknowledged." Jack replied and stood up.

"Sounds like the cavalry has arrived kids, lets see if Akna will be a little more talkative after a little worship." Adam grunted and followed after the team.

Max was glowing, she looked like a kid on Christmas, a five foot five cold blooded killer on Christmas. He frowned at her and studied her carefully. As far as he knew the immortal was still hardwired to kill him. She shoved past the security and various SGC personnel.

"Where is the Mother?" She demanded.

He motioned toward Akna's secure area. Max sprinted past the group and into Akna's area. Akna smiled serenely at Max. The SGC personnel hurried after Max.

"Mother I tried –"

"Shh I know you have daughter. They are deceitful and evil creatures-"

"Oh fuck off Akna, no one even talks like that anymore. Max, this is horseshit you know that. You are far too smart for this bull shit. You have a family, you have me, and Mac and Richie, you have Joe. You don't need this lying bitch to coddle you."

Max's eyes flickered at him they were unreadable, blank.

"Max you were murdered and left like a heap of refuse, you were tough enough and smart enough to crawl out of that park, get back to your feet and destroy the animal that took your life, all without knowing your true nature. In a few months of brutal training you pushed yourself to become a warrior equal to any immortal twice your age, are you really willing to throw that away? To deny your own nature in slavery to this pathetic creature? Look at her Max! She thinks she's a damn god; I have lived long enough to know that if there is a god he or she doesn't give a damn about us. She doesn't love you Max, you're a tool no more and no less."

Max shuddered and went rigid for a moment; finally slowly she turned to the mother. She raised her hands to the mother's bonds and began loosening them. Jack began to raise his weapon. Adam shook his head and gestured for the SGC personnel to back off. Jack thought about it for a moment and then nodded and silently ordered them back. Adam gestured for an SF to hand over his weapon, he did and Adam removed the bayonet from the weapon. The bayonet was shaped more like a hunting knife than the older styles.

He palmed the blade and watched Max closely. Max tenderly released Akna's bonds. The Mayan smiled joyfully at her 'daughter' but there was a sense of cold cruelty in her eyes.

"Mother I loved you, I did and I tried to kill my friend, but I didn't try that hard. I . . . knew somehow that you were a liar, but I do love you Mother. Love is a precious and potent thing Mother and I want to keep loving you but . . . you don't love me Mother." Max said softly staring into the shorter woman's eyes. Akna's smile twisted into a grimace of hatred.

"Then die apostate child!" Akna hissed and placed her hands on to Max's chest and brought her power to bear.

Max writhed and twisted away from the contact, as she broke contact Adam hurled the bayonet at her, she snagged it out of the air and drove it into Akna's throat. Lightning filled the corner of the hanger driving back the SGC personnel and Adam. The two women were locked in combat; Max's right fist was locked onto the handle of the bayonet as Akna struggled to force Max to break her grip. Lightning roiled around and through the two figures. Max slowly brought her free hand up and wrapped it around the handle as well. Her whole body tensed with effort Akna gave a strangled blood choked cry as Max dragged the blade out one side of her neck. Abruptly the lightning storm ceased Max and dead Akna dropped to the ground. Max got to her knees and freed the blade from Akna's mostly severed neck. About a quarter of the thickness of Akna's neck remained intact.

"No!" Jack shouted but Max gripped Akna's head, braced her legs and back and pulled with all her strength, tears and blood coated her face as the head came away. The lightning storm returned with a sudden viciousness. It ripped Max off the ground and hurled her into the air. She voiced a wordless scream as all of Akna's great power pummeled and battered her body before sinking into her flesh and settling. She drifted to the ground limp and still.

"Damn." Jack said softly. Adam got to his feet before the others in the cowering crowd and staggered to Max's side. She was breathing easily.

"So much for interrogation." Jack grumbled.

"What now?" Daniel asked giving Carter a hand up.

"Phwew, clean up and head back to the SGC I guess."

"What of Max Holloway and Adam Pierson?" Teal'c asked.

"They come with us." But no one approached the immortals. Adam held Max half in his lap in an unconscious imitation of Mary cradling Jesus only Max was small enough to fit in the lanky immortal's arms. His head was bowed over her and he seemed to be whispering to her.

The team stayed at Mildenhall long enough to confirm that Akna was dead and Max had returned to her relatively normal self.

"Look colonel both our problems have been solved there's no reason for us to stay here." Max grumbled.

"Max, I like you okay? But the fact is you and Adam are dangerous people with dangerous knowledge and the SGC isn't really happy with the idea of you two wandering around maybe getting killed and passing on your knowledge to an even more dangerous immortal."

"So we're prisoners?"

"No."

She gave him a cold look he shrugged and headed onto the transport she sighed and followed after accepting a set of earplugs from the loadmaster as she sat down and strapped in.

Since murdering Akna Max had returned to her former state but couldn't help but mourn the dead goddess, she had truly loved Akna. It was a twisted hypnotically induced love but love nonetheless, and in her hard scrabble life any love was rare. Even now she wondered about her bond with the other immortals in her life, she felt a deep sense of loyalty and trust, but was that love? She shook her head as the rear door closed and the engines powered on.