"Sam's pregnant," Mark repeated in disbelief. Daniel couldn't blame him. There was a lot to take in.

"Almost a month. Not even she knew. We didn't know what would happen if we told her," Daniel explained. "At the moment she's a little unstable."

"Apparently, no thanks to us," Jack interrupted.

Mark sat down on the nearest gurney. Even with the sedative, his head was pounding and his heart was racing. He knew he'd begun in the middle of a huge story, so he needed to catch up. As much as he hated to, he had to drop the mystery of his sister's pregnancy and go back towards the beginning. "Can you explain to me . . . . Can you tell me what that thing Sam went through is?"

Everyone looked to Daniel. "You're up, Danny," said Jack.

Daniel sighed. "But General Hammond was working on getting Mark clearance to read our reports."

"But you can still explain about the 'gate, right?"

"I can."

Jack put his face in his hands, groaning. "How 'bout this: Can you listen to and obey me for once?"

"Why are you being so insistent? Shouldn't we wait for General Hammond anyway?"

"Look. Daniel, in the long run—and I'm just saying that in the long run—it's my fault this entire situation happened in the first place."

"Not entirely," said Janet, looking over a file. "This is Sam's latest blood work. The general needs to see this."

"What is it?" Daniel called to the retreating doctor.

"Something that'll save her a courtmarshal if we ever find her," was the answer.

"Well I won't argue with that," Jack grunted. "C'mon. I suppose we'd better find out what it is." The foursome proceeded to the general's office.

"—levels in her blood indicate a drug of some kind," Janet was saying.

"What's this now?" Jack interjected innocently.

Janet sighed and explained again, "The blood work indicated some sort of drug in Sam's system. I've never seen anything like it. Remember when you told me Sam reacted to the symbiote poisoning? I think it was the chemical in the poisoning negating the effects of the drug."

"Wh-why?" Daniel asked, furrowing his brow.

"It involves what the drug was made of. I was able to figure it out on the way up."

"And it was . . . ?" Jack began expectantly.

Janet grimaced, looking mildly queasy. "You really don't want to know, sir."

"I'll take your word for it," the general conceded. Jack nodded. If Janet was disturbed, then he really didn't wantto know. "And Mark, I'll need you to sign some papers and you'll be able to read the reports. I'm assuming they've been mentioned?"

Mark nodded and approached the desk as George pushed a small pile of papers and a pen in his direction. "Thanks," he mumbled. He hoped the reports would explain what the heck "symbiote poisoning"and the "stargate" were. He was also curious about something Jack had said earlier. That it was his fault in the long run. If nothing else, that piqued his interest. But still, he assumed it had been his forcing Pete on Sam that caused her to leave. He had no clue what possessed him to suggest a boyfriend for Sam so soon after coming home. Initially, it was so Sam wouldn't be alone, but he knew his reasoning was crap. All he had to do was look at the result. But he had to know what Jack meant.

In a spilt decision, he asked if he could talk to Jack later. The older man nodded before turning his interest to Daniel, who had opened his mouth to speak again.

"Wait, if the effects of the drug were negated, then why was Sam so . . . Goa'uldish, for want of a better word?" he asked.

"I wish I could tell you," Janet replied sadly.

In silent, mutual agreement, the "meeting" was ended. Only Jack and Mark stayed back. "What's on your mind?" Jack drawled.

Mark brushed his hair back with his fingers; it was an old habit that meant he was uncomfortable about something he was going to say. "When you said it was your fault this had happened . . . what did you mean by that?"

The colonel's eyes became cooler. "I left her behind," he simply said and joined the other two on their way out.

"But what does that mean?" Mark muttered to himself. The reports had better explain.


Barely a month of searching for a suitable planet in a cargo ship, Sam realized a couple things. The first was . . . unexpected, to say the least. After a second missed period, she had to admit to herself that she was pregnant. She guessed that that was one reason her friends acted like they needed to walk on eggshells around her.

The second was that she couldn't go back. Kinsey would surely have figured out how to convince the president she should be locked up for treason. Even without being in prison, she didn't know how she could look the others in the eye again. Not after the way she behaved. She would never say it, but she was ashamed of herself.

After she left the SGC, she traveled to multiple planets, knowing the DHDs kept a sort of record of the planets dialed. Using the pieces of Jolinar's memories she could gather, she gated to the nearest planet with a black market. Once there, she somehow managed to trade for a cargo ship and scant supplies. Over the past month she'd been forced to steal what she needed to survive. Her ultimate goal was to fly to one of hers and Zeus's planets.

Even a month later she was no closer to the furthest of Zeus's territory. If it was still Zeus's territory. The System Lords worked fast when it came to getting new planets to conquer.

When she'd been on the ship for a very uneventful two months, she found herself on the outskirts . . .

And face-to-face with a ha'tak vessel. Ba'al came on her screen.

"Maia, it's wonderful to be graced with your prescence. Now tell me, where's your charming husband? It's been a long while."

"Go to Netu," Sam spat, shaken to have been snuck up on so easily.

"My dear, is that how to greet someone in their home territory? With Zeus's death, I have full rights to his system."

Sam blinked. How would he have full rights? Then the truth hit her. She wasn't a System Lord; had never been close. Only Zeus's status kept the others from destroying her.

"I can see you're thinking. Am I right in guessing you didn't know that I knew of your husband's fate? I highly doubt he would allow his wife and child to travel unaided in a cargo ship coming from enemy space, let alone without him." He smirked. Sam scowled back. Too bad for him he wasn't quite as smart as he gave himself credit for. "I'm in a good mood today and will allow you a twenty-four hour headstart out of my territory. You were aware that we were neighbors?"

Not waiting for an answer, his image blinked off. He fired a couple of warning shots in her direction. Sam was brave, not stupid. She knew when she was out-numbered and out-sized. But instead of jumping directly into hyperspace, she merely turned her ship around and flew away. Hyperspace wouldn't be an option until her day was almost up.

Son of a bitch, she thought angrily. Practically every region of space was overseen by a Goa'uld. She'd never been liked or respected by the System Lords. How would she find a sanctuary safe from Goa'uld clutches? An answer almost immediately emerged. Kheb was a possibility. It was protected by Oma Desala. Mother nature. You can't be much safer than when mother nature herself watches over you, Sam thought wryly. She knew that she'd probably have to meet Oma half way if she and the baby were going to be safe. If anything, she was going to have to follow enlightenment, or whatever it was Daniel talked about when they were on the planet before.

She set the coordinantes and settled back for another long wait.

- oOoOoOo -

In reality, the way to Kheb was much shorter than it was to Zeus's—now Ba'al's—territory. Sam jumped to hyperspace as soon as the day was up and reached Kheb in a matter of hours. By the time the cargo ship reached orbit, she was nearly sick with exhaustion. After she landed, she cloaked the ship and crawled over to her make-shift bed, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

When she finally woke up she saw the sun peeking sleepily over the trees. She soon assessed that she was in serious need of food, water, and relief. After the latter was taken care of, she scrounged through her supplies and found both food and drink.

Her stomach didn't rebel and she was grateful. It was nice not to have to worry about loosing meals. She stood up, ignoring her protesting ankles, which had seen too much standing in the past couple of days.

Because she'd landed near Kheb's stargate, she quickly found the path to the temple. The journey was torture. Her calves and ankles throbbed and sweat coated her face, plastering her hair to her head. Determined, she refused to stop until the temple was in sight.

As soon as it came into her line of vision, she hesitated, panting heavily. The place certainly didn't look like it had been abandoned for nearly two and a half years. If fact, it was quite to the contrary. There was absolutely no sign of SG-1's small battle from their previous visit. The plants looked well trimmed and watered, though it was hard to tell from the distance Sam had stopped.

She hesitated, unsure of whether or not to continue. On one hand, it might be unfriendlies that had kept the place in order. On the other hand, Oma didn't strike Sam as someone who'd abandon a planet where someone may have still tried to find..."enlightenment," hadn't Daniel said it was?

Still absorbed in indecision, she didn't hear the soft footsteps approaching behind her.


"Died?" yelped Mark, reading the report on the Nox's planet. He, along with the rest of SG-1, had taken refuge at Jack's house. He was comfortably seated at one end of the couch with a stack of reports, while Daniel and Teal'c lounged in two chairs. Jack was scrounging for beer.

Daniel jumped and a loud thunk resounded from the kitchen, followed by a swear word. "What the—" Jack growled, his face appearing over the bar.

"Th-the report says you died," Mark explained lamely, his face taking on a reddish hue.

"Which time?" Jack asked testily.

"Wh-the first time. The Nox. How can you sound so casual about dying?"

Jack shrugged. "Let's see . . . from the time Daniel opened the 'gate up until now, it's close to five. Including Car-Sam, it'd be just over that, I'd guess." No one missed how his voice became frosty when he said Sam's name. Mark didn't push the subject, so he went back to reading after nodding his thanks. He'd barely read a couple paragraphs when someone approached him. Jack offered him a beer, which he took. "Hey," Jack said. "You don't mind if I turn the TV on, do you?" Mark shook his head. Daniel and Teal'c followed suit, albeit reluctantly.

"Cool." He hit the power buttom and "The Simpsons" theme immediately came on. Jack sat on the other side of the couch and stretched out, completely relaxed to all appearances. Mark suspected he was still a little sensitive about broaching the subject of Sam.

It wasn't until he'd finished that and another report that he thought about something else. "What about Dad?"

"Wha—?" Jack asked, still engrossed in the TV.

"Ja-ack," groaned Daniel.

"What?"

"Can't you hit mute?"

"'Kay." Jack aimed the remote in Daniel's direction. "Say something."

"Why?"

"Damn. It didn't work."

Daniel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Very funny."

Seeing every eye was on him, Jack hit the mute button with an unintelligible grumble. "What?" he asked, glaring pointedly at Mark.

"I asked about Dad. I know he's involved with this project somehow. What does he do?"

Jack leaned forward and shuffled through the pile of unread reports. With a triumphant "Ha!" he handed the report to Mark. "I'm making you skip a bit, but you'll catch up." With that, he turned the volume back on and Daniel exhaled loudly in frustration.

As Mark began to read, he recognized Sam's style of writing. He was a bit lost at first with whoever Jolinar was, but when he found out, his gut clenched. Sam had been a Goa'uld. He recalled a time about three years ago when Sam had called in the middle of the night. She'd sounded petrified and upset, so Mark had done his best to console her. That had been their first conversation in five years. Initially, he suspected Sam had been involved with another guy like Jonas Hanson, but dismissed it after more conversations with his sister. She must have called because of a nightmare the Goa'uld's memories caused. He didn't understand much about the Goa'uld, but he knew the important details.

The more he read, the more the mystery surrounding his father began to clear.


"We here on Kheb mean you no harm."

Sam whirled around, adrenaline surging in her veins and giving her a huge spurt of energy. In front of her stood a short, sweet-faced young woman.

"Are you here to follow the path of enlightenment?" she asked innocently. The shrewdness behind her eyes said that she may be innocent, but she was by no means a weak simpleton. Sam narrowed her eyes as she felt a sense of familiarity stir. The woman had waist-length brown hair tied back in a loose braid, gentle green eyes, and a soft, tan, round face. She carried a hand-woven basket filled with various articles of clothing. Sam sensed no immediate threat.

"If it means my baby and I can have protection from the Goa'uld," Sam responded, unsure of whether the woman would invite her in or send her back.

The woman's eyes found the ever-so-slight curve of Sam's stomach. Understanding, radiated from her face when she met Sam's eyes again.

"We will not talk about this out here. Please. Dine with me and my sister. I would like to see how true you wish to be to the path." She offered an arm and helped Sam limp into the temple. "I am Shoshanah." Another woman, bearing a sharp resemblance to Shoshanah approached. "This is my sister, Raevyn."

Sam observed Raevyn as a second, stronger sense of familiarity struck her. It was in the way her darker green eyes shone with a mild interest and in the shape of her face. In fact, Sam thought, stunned, the two of them look almost like . . . . But it wasn't possible.

"S-Sam," she stammered, shaken by her possible discovery. "Hey, by any chance . . . you wouldn't happened to be related to someone I knew. He was tall, like you," she motioned to Raevyn. "Come to think about it, you could almost be twins."

The sisters exchanged surprised glances. "You've seen Jaesin?" Raevyn asked, her eyes lighting up eerily like Zeus's would on rare occasions. The occasions reserved especiially for Sam, making her feel loved in a way Jonas never did. It struck Sam as ironic how like a Goa'uld Jonas was.

"Jaesin? I-I didn't, ah, that's not the name I knew him by. He-he was Goa'uld."

Raevyn and Shoshanah's eyes filled with a strangely detached sorrow, thought Raevyn looked the most distraught. "You speak as if about the past," Shoshanah observed softly.

Sam fought the grief that threatened to overwhelm her once more. "I'm sorry," she whispered, unable to speak any louder as her throat constricted so tightly it hurt.

"Let's go inside," Raevyn said.

They entered the same room Daniel and the monk had conversed in. Shoshanah and Raevyn sat down and Sam noticed they were barefoot. Wanting to show that she was still interested in the path, she removed her boots and socks, and gratefully sank to the floor.

"Please tell us what led our brother to his fate," Shoshanah said gently.


A/N: Because of the long delay, my muse decided to think up more things for me to write. I'm pretty sure that I can finish this up in two to four chapters. But don't take my word on that because my muse is too unreliable.