Tomin and Teal'c lie unconscious in different parts of the hall, the two men having been thrown against walls by the Doci, who had used his telekinetic abilities on them. Daniel and Vala stood next to the Ark, the former having been interrupted from fiddling with the device by the arrival of the Doci. The two SG-1 members exchanged a look of muted panic, and the Doci said in bold and arrogant tones,

"Enim lupin purnum pravus intus."

Daniel sighed in frustration, glancing at Vala to check that she was still okay. "You know, you really need to work on new material."

"You will kneel before your gods."

Daniel closed his eyes in frustration. "I will not! Look!" He opened his eyes. "If you're so all-powerful, then do me a favour and open this damn thing!"

"You deny the power and glory of Origin. You will perish. I will give you one more chance to repent for your sins."

Vala rolled her eyes as Daniel shook his head sadly, his eyes exuding a tapestry of complex emotions. "You're human." The Doci raised his hand, about to send Daniel hurtling painfully against the wall behind him. "You must have had a family. What would they say if they saw you now? Did you kill them too? How many families have you killed? How many people have you taken away from their homes and their loved ones?" Vala grabbed Daniel's arm before he got any ideas about approaching the Doci. The Doci faltered as he held Daniel's gaze, his hand appearing to struggle with itself in staying in a raised position. What else Daniel was about to say was forgotten when the Doci suddenly dropped to one knee.

Daniel and Vala turned to see Adria take corporeal form in front of the wall that had been behind them. As Tomin regained consciousness, Adria said arrogantly, "It's over. You can't win. There is only one path." Teal'c woke up as well as Adria raised her hands. "The power and glory of Origin."

Daniel realised something as he listened to Adria's boast. He looked at Vala meaningfully and then drew his eyes away, glancing in Adria's direction. Vala squinted at him, trying to work out what he was trying to convey to her. A moment later, however, she understood and she stepped towards her daughter. As Daniel slowly approached the Ark, Vala said with a sigh,

"Adria. I'm sorry. I wish things could have been different." She had meant it. She really did wish that she could have succeeded in getting Adria to see the error of her ways. Unfortunately, however, Adria had become increasingly more evil as time wore on, and now there was no turning back.

Adria replied, for much the same reasons but from her own perspective, "Me too."

As a grim looking Teal'c reached for his staff weapon, and Daniel continued to press buttons on the Ark, Vala asked, silently hoping with all of her heart that Daniel was doing something positive behind her, "So, what are you gonna do? We're obviously never gonna agree."

When Adria looked at her with a predatory gleam in her eyes, Vala asked, hoping even harder that they would be saved soon, "Are you gonna kill me now?" By asking that question, she had hoped to reach into Adria's human side, however small that may have been made by the Ori, the mass murdering and the conquests; the human side that would denounce matricide.

Teal'c silently aimed his staff as Daniel worked out the last of the seven symbols that were required to activate the device. Adria suddenly realised what Daniel was doing behind Vala. The now furious Orici used her extrasensory abilities to send Daniel flying into a corner of the room, the Archaeologist grunting as the existing pain in his left arm and shoulder flared up from the impact.

Teal'c then used his staff to shoot one of the legs of the table that the Ark was presently on. Vala moved out of the way as Adria stared in horror as the table collapsed, the Ark sliding towards the Doci. The others stared in horrified fascination as the lid at last fell open. A huge beam of white light shot out of the Ark, engulfing the head of the Doci as he peered into its depths.

Unbeknownst to SG-1 and Tomin, all around the galaxy, staffs lit up with that same light, Priors and people captivated by the sight.

Finally, at long last, the beam disappeared, the Ark appearing to deactivate as the Doci remained in a kneeling position, but looked stunned nonetheless. Adria, now looking scared, helplessly reached out a hand as she screamed with a hint of petulance, "No! You can't take away my power!"

As the Doci looked around himself in confusion at his surroundings, Vala remarked, "I think... we just did."

Daniel rubbed his shoulder as he appeared stunned, unsure of what had happened. Adria screamed, "You will all burn in the fires of eternal damnation!" Daniel thought wryly that had Jack been there, he would have started singing 'Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead'.

Teal'c stood up as Tomin, still seated, looked to the doorway, catching sight of a moving white light in the corridor. The light entered the room, changing into the figure of Morgan Le Fay. The Ascended being retorted in reply to Adria's threat, "Not if I have anything to do with it."

Adria tried to remain arrogant but her fear showed as she realised that the walls were metaphorically closing in. "You're no match for me."

A determined Morgan smiled. "I am now."

Daniel, from his seat on the floor, near to the corner that he had been thrown against, stared as Morgan changed back into white energy, rushing towards Adria. Adria's eyes glowed a red hue, and she in turn, changed into red flames before rushing at the white energy mass. The Archaeologist couldn't help but feel sorry for Morgan, knowing that, like Oma with Anubis, Morgan could remain locked in battle with Adria for all eternity. The two energy masses collided and swirled around the centre of the room before suddenly disappearing, and all became still.

All eyes were drawn to the Doci, who said, trying to look philosophical about his past misdeeds, "Mia clementia denar esto."

Vala frantically asked a kneeling Tomin, "What? What did he say? I don't understand."

As a stunned Daniel translated the phrase in his head, Tomin replied, "He said, 'Have mercy. I was blind, but now I see.'"

The Doci, still kneeling, began to weep as the others gathered around the Ark. The pain in his left arm too intense to ignore now that the shock had worn off, Daniel held his injured limb and said as they all considered what had happened as well as the implications, "It was 'Origin'."

Vala asked, now hoping that the Odyssey had fixed their communications array at the very least, "What was?"

"The keyword that activated the Ark." Teal'c and Vala stared at him in surprise. "I realised while Adria was talking, the Ancient version of the word also means 'truth' in older dialects. I guess the Alteran that built it must have thought it was ironic."

Vala remarked, "You know, I'm starting to think that irony is very overrated."

Daniel nodded in acknowledgement, not feeling like smiling. Vala asked, looking at him in concern, "You okay?"

Daniel neither nodded nor shook his head. Instead, he changed the subject, which disturbed his friends. He gestured to the Ark. "Let's get this outside and see if we can contact the Odyssey." He kneeled at the Doci's side. "And let's see if we can take him home on the way back."

The Doci looked up at him, tears rolling down his cheeks as he remembered torturing the Archaeologist. "Clementia."

Daniel replied softly, looking concerned and trying not to recall the torture that he had received at the hands of the man in front of him, "It wasn't your fault. You were manipulated."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A bloody-faced Cam woke up in the command chair, initially surprised that he hadn't died already. He grunted as feeling returned to every part of his body at the same time. Noticing that his surroundings were as intact as they had been prior to his most recent unconscious spell, he also noticed that the Ori motherships that had been there before were still there. Yet, no-one was firing. Confused at this, yet considerably relieved too, Cam activated the communications control on his chair.

"Sam?"

Sam replied, "Why did they stop?"

"I don't know... but I'm glad they did." He groaned, the Colonel very obviously in pain.

Sam called back, sounding concerned, "Cam?"

"I'm fine... I'm fine." He paused. "We do have wheelchairs on board, don't we?"

"Stay there."

He rested his head back in his chair with a groan. "Oh, I ain't going anywhere..."

A couple of minutes later, Sam and Marks appeared, followed by Binder, the remainder of the bridge crew, and a group of marines. The Astrophysicist and Marks immediately rushed to Cam's aid, Sam ushering a medic over. "Cam?" Cam's eyes flickered closed as he looked progressively weaker and she checked his pulse, the Astrophysicist looking scared. "Come on, Cam. Wake up. Come on."

A medic looked up at Sam. "Ma'am, we're going to have to get Colonel Mitchell to the Sick Bay immediately."

Sam went to a console just as Cam stirred, groaning. He said, looking up at Sam as she turned to look at him, "We need to go and get the rest of the band back." He coughed, everyone dismayed and concerned on realising that he was coughing up blood. "I'm not going anywhere."

Sam remarked, looking at him challengingly, "I'm taking command of this ship. You're going to the Sick Bay. Don't make me make it an order." A faint smile appeared on Cam's face and Sam tapped into a console, calling into her radio, "Doctor Newman, prepare the Sick Bay. I'm sending Colonel Mitchell to you." Sam tapped a few more buttons and turned in time to see Cam and a group of personnel disappear in a burst of white light.

The Colonel approached the chair as everyone else took their positions. Grimacing, she slowly took the seat, feeling uncomfortable at first. She called to Marks, "Marks, set a course for Ortus Mallum."

"Aye aye, Ma'am."

After ordering repairs to vital systems, Sam then activated the communications control. "Newman, keep me posted on Colonel Mitchell's condition."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Vala gaped up at the white towers of Celestis, now having the time to gape unlike the first time she had seen them when she and Daniel had inhabited the bodies of two Ori galaxy inhabitants. As she did so, Tomin watching her as Daniel kneeled on the ground in front of the Ark, running his hands over the symbols as Teal'c repeatedly called into his radio,

"Odyssey, this is Teal'c. Can you hear me?"

Daniel said distractedly, "Maybe comms are down." He didn't want to even consider the much sadder alternative. He suddenly realised something. He looked up at the Doci, who was now looking in the distance at no particular point in particular. He then looked at the staff that the Doci still carried. His eyes still on the staff, he called, "Vala..."

Vala eventually looked at him, about to ask what he wanted when she followed his gaze, and Daniel continued, "I don't think that it works as it once did, but there must be something in there that allowed for transmitting energy and whatnot. We could hook our radios up to it and use it as a transmitter to contact the ship."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Will you be creating plots for a new series of MacGyver?"

Daniel gestured as though he was making a point. "It's something."

Vala looked thoughtful and then smiled, looking a little nervous but willing to give it a go. "I think I can do that." She took her radio off her combat vest as Teal'c did likewise with his. Daniel was about to do the same when suddenly his and everyone else's crackled into life, each of them exchanging surprised yet relieved looks on hearing Sam's voice,

"SG-1, this is the Odyssey. Can you hear me?"

Everyone but the Doci smiled, and Daniel called back, closing his eyes in relief, "Loud and clear, Sam." He took a deep breath as he stood up, ignoring the pain as Tomin stepped forward to help him up. "Five to beam up." Tomin, Vala and Teal'c immediately grabbed the Ark, the Jaffa stopping Daniel from doing the same, and Sam replied, sounding curious,

"Five?"

"As Jack would say, we made a new friend."

"Did you get the Ark?"

"Yes." He refrained from asking about her or the ship, or elaborating on what had happened. Instead, he stood closer to his friends seconds before the Odyssey beamed them up.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sam grinned in relief from her command chair on seeing her friends and Tomin appear with a large dark box. When she noticed the Doci, she, Binder and a group of marines immediately reached for their weapons. Daniel jumped in front of the Doci, saying as he shielded him with his body,

"No! Don't shoot! He's harmless."

They slowly lowered their weapons, staring at the Doci, and Daniel said, eyeing the soldiers cautiously, "He was the first to use the Ark. It worked. He doesn't believe in Origin any more. I was hoping we could take him home. He's already given us the co-ordinates of his home world."

Sam nodded and then said, turning to the soldiers that were around her chair, "Binder, Miller, escort our guest to a holding room. Make sure he gets something to eat."

Daniel frowned. "Sam..."

"Daniel, I'm not taking any chances." She nodded at the soldiers and Daniel murmured something to the Doci, indicating the personnel who were approaching him. The Doci nodded and then approached Sam. As the Colonel ran her hand over the 9 mm strapped to her leg, the Doci murmured something before handing his staff to her. Surprised, she took it, replying,

"Thank you, Sir."

Binder and Miller then escorted the Doci from the bridge and Daniel bent over Marks' console to give him the co-ordinates for the Doci's planet. When he had finished, he stood up, clutching his arm and a worried Sam asked, trying to remain professional,

"What happened?"

Vala said, looking scared, "We can chit chat later. Where's Cameron?" No-one missed the hurt look that Tomin shot in her direction.

Sam replied, "He's in the Sick Bay. We had a Replicator outbreak."

Daniel nodded. "We heard that part of Mitchell's transmission. Are they gone?"

"Yeah, we found the shutdown command."

As they left the bridge, Sam signalling for two of the burliest marines to carry the Ark, Vala remarked, "Well, I'll bet that Merek man will just say that you didn't do it fast enough."

"I don't think so. He's dead. He created a Replicator using the core but it escaped and, well, replicated. It appears that Merek got infested and taken over by them."

She looked at Vala worriedly as Tomin looked grim. She then turned to Daniel as they entered the Sick Bay. "Daniel." Teal'c, Vala and Tomin walked past them to stand around Cam's bed. "How bad is it?"

Daniel frowned, still unconsciously clutching his arm. "How bad is what?"

Her expression saddened. "The arm."

He looked down at his left arm and then said quietly, "Pretty bad. I don't think it's broken though."

She replied in the same volume as a medic approached them, the Colonel touching Daniel's face, noticing the cuts to her dismay, "I just want you to know that I would hug you, but... I'm in command of the ship now." She looked guilty and awkward.

He smiled slightly and then kissed her gently on the lips. "Don't worry about it. It just means you owe me a hug or seven later." She smiled at him as a medic led him away and then she said, patting her pockets,

"Daniel."

He stopped and turned towards her as she pulled a pair of glasses from a pocket of her BDU jacket. She handed it to him. "Here you go."

He smiled as he took them from her, replying, "Thanks." Holding them, he followed the medic into another part of the Sick Bay so he could be checked out, leaving the Colonel to battle with her sense of duty and her personal feelings. Steeling herself, she walked into the Sick Bay, glancing over at Daniel as he took his jacket off, revealing a large and vivid bruise on his arm.

Concerned at that as well as Cam's welfare, she went to the southern Colonel's bedside where only Vala sat, the rest having been sent away by the doctor in charge. Sam took a seat next to Vala. "Hey."

Vala looked at her and then back at the unconscious form of Cam, who lie in bed, dressed in scrubs and looking far cleaner than he had. Sam looked up at the IV that was hooked up to her friend, and Vala said softly, "What happened to him?"

"From what I've heard, Merek beat him up while he was trying to draw the Replicators away from the core. Luckily we found the shutdown command in time otherwise he would have been toast." Sam put a comforting hand on Vala's shoulder. "He did good though... above and beyond the call of duty as always. There's a high likelihood of him getting another medal when we go home."

Vala nodded and then leaned against Sam's shoulder. "I hope he's okay. I should have been here."

Sam put an arm around her. "It's okay, Vala. He's fine. Doctor Newman said that he's stable. Hopefully he won't take too long to heal." She smiled and rubbed Vala's shoulder. "You're going to have fun playing Nurse." Sam's smile vanished on realising that Vala was crying quietly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Once they had taken the Doci home, the Odyssey then began the long journey back to Earth. Vala continued her vigil at her fiancé's bedside, looking for any changes in his condition. She held his hand, feeling guilty and afraid at the same time. She wiped away tears as she contemplated losing him, and only then did she realise how much he meant to her. She drew her chair closer to his bed, resting her head next to his on the pillow as she continued to hold his hand, the alien watching over him.

A few minutes later, her attention was drawn to the foot of the bed and she sat up in surprise on seeing none other than Tomin stood there, gazing at her sadly. She quickly dried her eyes and invited him to sit but he remained upright. Tomin asked,

"How is Colonel Mitchell?"

Vala replied, her eyes moving back to her fiancé's body, "The doctor said that it's going to take some time for Cameron to heal. He went through a lot while we were in Celestis."

Tomin continued to gaze at her, his sadness increasing on allowing himself to admit that his wife was in love with another man. He then said, knowing that Vala loved Cam far deeper than she had ever loved him, "Vala... I can break our matrimonial bond if it helps you."

Vala whipped her head around to stare at him wide-eyed as he continued, slowly approaching her before kneeling beside her chair, "I wronged you, Vala. I did a great many terrible things, to you and to so many others." He asked her to repeat a phrase in his own language three times.

She looked shocked. "Tomin... I..."

Tomin felt as though his chest was being constricted as he gazed up at her. "Just repeat it and you will not have me hanging over you as you continue your life with Colonel Mitchell. While I hate him for one very obvious reason, he is a good and noble man who defended this vessel with no regard of the cost to himself."

She held his hands. "Tomin... look, you're a good man with a good heart. Don't blame yourself. I feel bad because I can't love you the way I should... the way that you deserve. It's not because of the unfortunate events of the past couple of years... well, solely anyway." She leaned forward and hugged him, kissing his temple as he began to cry.

Holding hands with him once again, she gazed down at him sadly and repeated the phrase that he had asked her to repeat. She asked him, "What did I just say?"

Still kneeling in front of her, he said softly, his gaze downcast, "'I wilfully dissolve this union.'"

"Is that it?"

He murmured something else in his language and then said by way of explanation when she looked at him curiously, "'I release you from your marital bonds.'"

Getting tearful again, Vala hugged him tightly, whispering, "Tomin..."

"Do not speak. Let us remain here for a little while longer."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Meanwhile, a troubled Sam, coming off-duty for the night, watched as Daniel sat on the end of the bed in his quarters. He hadn't said anything about what he had been through, but a few words with Teal'c were enough to cause her alarm. She sat down next to him, saying as she took his BDU jacket off, "Let's have a look at that arm."

Daniel, giddy from painkillers, replied with a dopey grin, "I'm fine... it's just some bruising. I can barely feel it anyway. I think I've got stitches somewhere... can't remember where." He frowned as he tried to work out what his injuries were.

She rolled his t-shirt sleeve up to see extensive bruising around his bicep, which appeared to radiate to his shoulder. Taking his glasses off, she took his t-shirt off, pulling it over his head. Putting these items aside, she examined his shoulder, a finger skirting the ugly contusions. She found more bruising and cuts elsewhere on his body and she said, looking worried, "Daniel, take your pants off."

He smirked at her cheekily. "Doctor said I wouldn't be fit for more than cuddling."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to have a word with her about the dosage of painkillers she's given you." She helped him to his feet and he said, frowning down at his feet, "I've still got my boots on."

"Well-spotted." She kneeled on the floor as he sat down, and she undid his boots as he looked up at the ceiling with a fascinated expression. She shook her head slightly as she took his boots off and then stood up again. He grinned at her and she said, an eyebrow raised as she helped him to stand once more, "Pants."

He nodded and undid his trousers, eventually managing to get them off with Sam's help. She looked increasingly concerned on seeing a great many cuts and bruises on his legs, including a long scar on one shin, fresh stitches holding it together. She fingered it and he squirmed. "That tickles."

She got up and said as she moved the sheets back on his side of the bed, "Come on, get in."

He suddenly looked vulnerable. "Are you not going to bed?"

"I am. I just have to change." She touched his cheek tenderly and then helped him into bed. She kissed him on the forehead and he frowned as he watched her put his clothes and glasses away. She went about undressing, getting ready for bed.

"Sam?"

She turned towards him as she pulled on a grey Air Force Academy t-shirt. "What?"

"You won't leave me, will you?"

She frowned as she looked at him, noticing how scared he looked. She dimmed the lights and joined him in bed, getting in on the right side instead of the left as she usually did, silently encouraging him to shift over. She said, looking hurt that he would even contemplate that she would ever leave him, "Of course not. What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I know Teal'c will have said something about what happened, but I don't want to talk about it right now. The Ori are gone... everything that has come to represent them has gone. I don't want to be sad right now."

Tears pricked her eyes, the Colonel knowing that what Daniel had been through had been far worse than what Teal'c had implied, and especially if Tomin's weary countenance earlier had been anything to go by. She propped herself up on an elbow so she could look down at him as she smoothed his hair. "I know you'll tell me when you're ready... but please don't just hide everything because you think I'll be hurt. I'm hurt now... I don't know what those bastards did to you."

"I'll tell you tomorrow. I can't think straight... I think Doctor Newman might have gone a little overboard on the drugs. I want to hold you. It's weird being on his side of the bed."

She gently kissed him. "Daniel... I'm holding you tonight otherwise you'll be in even more pain when everything wears off." She smiled. "I'm glad that you're okay... relatively."

"Likewise." He pouted. "Can't I just ignore doctor's orders for once?"

"For once? You do it all the time." She paused. "No, you can't."

"At least let me kiss you."

She looked at him sceptically as she settled down next to him. "You'll end up rolling on your bad arm."

"Oh, life's too short..."

"No point making it shorter."

He turned to face her regardless of her concern or the pain as she looked at him in disbelief. He kissed her, his hand cupping her jaw as she smiled into the embrace, returning his kisses. She then asked, pushing him so that he lie on his back once again, "Is your arm hurting?"

He shrugged. "A little." He smiled at her. "Totally worth it though." He groaned softly, and he said, looking at her with a proud smile, "I'm proud of you. You took command of the ship. They'll have to give you command of something now."

She made a face. "I had SG-1. That was enough."

He smiled dopily. "You deserve more – you always have."

She kissed his cheek. "Go to sleep." She carefully rolled him onto his right side before holding him from behind, her arm under his to limit the amount of pain he would be in when morning came.

He groaned. "Don't I get a kiss goodnight?"

She groaned too but in exasperation, and muttered, "Give me strength..." She said aloud, "Don't move, Doctor McFuss Pants." She carefully climbed over him and kissed him. "That good enough?"

He grinned. "No."

"You know, Daniel... if you're in more pain than you should be in the morning, you know who Doctor Newman, and then Carolyn will kill... and I'm pretty sure that if I die, I'll stay dead, unlike you."

"Okay, fine... one more." He kissed her with a growing passion as her body started to become alive with feelings and sensations. When the kiss ended, he grinned. "I'm good."

She remarked as she fought to get her breath back, "Some kiss goodnight... that was a lot of tongue." She smiled as she whispered something in his ear along the lines of what she was going to do to him when he was sufficiently healed. With a mischievous smile as he got aroused, she climbed back to her previous position and held him once again, saying as she closed her eyes,

"'night, Daniel."