Chapter 2: Part 2

The Embrace: The act of a vampire draining and replacing a victim's blood, with a bit of their own, to pass the curse of vampirism to a mortal

Sam opened her eyes to look out a dark window. Night, why was she awake at night? Suddenly she sat up letting the blanket fall away from her. Looking down she saw that somehow she was wearing a clean with t-shirt. "What…"

"Good, you're awake."

Startled Sam spun around tangling herself in the covers to see a dark figure in the doorway to the room. It took a second but she remembered who he was and what was happening. For all of a second she had hoped this was just a dream and she would wake up for real but that didn't happen…and deep down she knew it wasn't going to. She closed her eyes holding back tears – why am I crying, I don't cry?

"Fledgling, how do you feel?" Sage's voice was a bit softer but not much. It wasn't the sound of someone that cared. "You slept latter than I would have expected."

Sam looked up. She sucked in a breath and felt better holding the air in her chest. One, two, three, four, she counted, five, six, seven. Slowly she realized that she wasn't feeling the need to let it out and take another breath; twelve, thirteen, fourteen…Sam let the air out and did not take another in.

Sage continued to stand in the door just watching, and saying nothing. Sam slowly twisted out of the sheets and saw she was wearing new underwear as well but no pants. Looking up she knew that Sage must have changed her. That should have made her mad but out of all of this it didn't even register as a violation. "What," Sam had to struggle to speak. "What is going to happen now?"

Sage didn't hesitate. There was a certainty in his voice that was strangely comforting. At least someone had a plan. "The Prince is working on making it possible for you to return to the SGC. In the meantime you and I need to start working on bringing you up to speed." He moved to the edge of the bed and sat. His black cloths seemed to blend right into the dark room. And his sunglasses were impenetrable covering his eyes. "I am to assume the role your sire would have had. I will instruct you in the traditions and rules of the Camarilla sect and help guide you as you develop in our world."

He didn't waste time. Sam wasn't sure she wanted this. Their world…what was their world? Sam had seen many monster movies. She knew syfy, and fantasy. Vampires were monsters. The Undead. And now she was one too. What was there to learn; to drink blood from people's necks? How could she go back to her life and if she could why wait? It made more sense to go now and tell the government what happened. But that wasn't going to happen, she knew. Hell, she didn't even know where she was now. Who was she going to tell and even then who would really believe her?

Sam was in her own head and ignoring the steady stare Liam was giving her. When she came out of it he was still there and hadn't moved an inch. There was something very alien about that. Then just as if it was nothing he changed positions, scooting off the edge and standing straight again without any stiffness or any sign that he had lost motion. "You must have questions. Why don't you get your pants on and meet me in the living room." He turned and silently left.

Same came out of her room into a larger space much better lit. Looking at all the brown and earthy tones she realized this was a cabin. One window was open and she could see out into the dark lightless night. Turning she saw Liam sitting at a large wooden dining room table in the center of the larger room. The overall design reminded her of a hunting lodge of sorts.

Sam came down one step and walked into the main area. Liam nodded to her to join him. There was a fire in a large fire place and it cast flickering shadows over the lit room. That didn't make a whole lot of sense till Sam looked around and counted, only 3 wall lamps on. That didn't seem to be enough to eliminate a space this big – then her mind caught up. Vampire - able to see in the dark. She didn't voice her discovery, just turned back to face Liam and sat down.

"How do you feel?" was Liam's first question.

Simple enough. Sam was going to say how crazy this all was but she didn't. Thinking a moment she felt a tightness in her stomach. "Hungry I guess."

Liam stood up went around a railing to a kind of open kitchen space. He disappeared for a second around a corner and came back with a large pitcher and two plastic cups. He set them down on the table and started pouring a thick liquid into both. Finishing he gave one to her and took the other resuming his seat. Without a word he touched his to his lips and took a sip.

Sam held the cool cup and looked at the dark liquid that didn't look like blood. It kind of looked more like cool-aid than blood. But she knew it wasn't sugar and flavor mixed with water. Slowly she lifted it to her lips. One part of her brain said no don't do it and the other was silently ignoring it. The cold liquid touched her lips and she opened them setting the cold coppery, sweet taste fill her mouth.

Sam placed the empty cup back on the table. She looked from the cup to the pitcher and back. She had just drunk blood, real human blood, from a cheap plastic cup. The wrongess was indescribable but she couldn't react any other way. Liam poured another and she drank that too. When she finished Liam started to speak.

"Let's hold off on the rest a bit. I don't want to let it go to your head." He pulled the pitcher a bit closer to him. "So you have questions, go ahead and ask. I will answer what I can and what you need to know." Sam picked up on that last part. What she needed to know. So there was stuff she didn't need to know.

What could she really ask? There were thousands of questions that she wanted to have answered. But she picked a specific one, "Is there a cure?"

"No," Liam answered simply. There was silence between them for a moment. Sam didn't ask another question. Liam started talking. "There is a great deal about our physiology that is still unknown. Modern science and Medicine have only just started trying to answer the questions a lot of Cainites have about what we physically are and how our bodies work. Some of the greatest alchemists and mages have tried to figure us out as well. But no, there is no cure for this."

Sam had hoped maybe he would say yes there was a cure but that had been stupid. If there were wouldn't they have given it to her by now? It had been at least two days. If they didn't want her they would have given her back, right?

"And even if there were what would be the result?" Liam went on, "You are dead, Samantha Carter. Take away what makes you kindred and what is left but a dead body?"

Dead, Sam let that word ring in her head. She looked down at her hands. Her skin was really, really pale.

Liam was calm and cold. His words chilled her to her core. Her spine locked up. How? She put a hand to her neck and felt for a pulse. There was none, and earlier she hadn't even been breathing. Sam wasn't a medical doctor but she knew enough about how the body worked. The brain needed oxygen to survive, hearts needed to pump. Take away these things and there was no way to survive. But she was alive, she was here, now thinking, feeling. How could she be dead?

"I see you are overwhelmed. That is understandable but it is not acceptable. You need to take the information and work with it. There isn't time to stop and sulk." He was talking to her like she was a kid. Sam stared at him anger plane on her face. He didn't care. "Ask another question," He calmly told her.

Sam's anger seeped into her voice. "What happened to me exactly?" She squared her shoulders off with Liam. "I need to know everything. Why did this happen to me, my crew, my ship?"

Liam nodded approvingly, "Good, alright I'll start from the beginning."

Liam started telling her about the war between the Sabbat and the Camarilla. He didn't go into too many historical details focusing more on the overall picture he was trying to paint for her. Roughly before the year 2000 the Sabbat had conquered all of the east coast of the United States and much of the South. There were few pockets of resistance one being in New York City were the island had been for the most part kept under Camarilla control and a "Tremere Chantry" in Washington D.C. It was unclear when they found out about the Stargate Program. The Camarilla had known since its activation in 1994 but hadn't paid much attention since. As far as he knew anyway.

Sage didn't go into why the Program was ignored. He pressed forward telling her that Intelligence from Camarilla spies in Europe and Mexico had confirmed that one of the Sabbat Cardinals was going to try and get control of a space faring warship. The actual plan for which ship was unknown and the purpose was only speculated. Information sharing was inconsistent with who knew what and when. It was also unclear who had the resources to act.

The Justicars, the leaders of the Camarilla as a whole, didn't know how to defend against what they thought would be an orbiting weapon that would fire down on any Camarilla held city. Ultimately Prince Hadrian was the one who acted out of the confusion with the most organized plan. He sent a proposal to Justicar Lucinde and at the same time a direct proposition to the Prince of Colorado Springs that involved infiltrating the SGC directly and then forcing key leaders to smuggle Camarilla agents onto all five Daedalus-Class warships in supply crates. The Toreador Prince refused.

Hadrian invaded Colorado Springs in a surprise attack and enacted his plan anyway. Five teams were dispatched and made it to the ships. What happened next is only known from the survivors.

"There were four kindred sent to the 'George Hammond'. Only two survived and you. They managed to get to the rear of the ship before it…landed. The auto landing sequence was not as accurate as it could have been. They also were able to hide you and themselves in cargo containers. The Camarilla retrieved them and brought you back here."

Sam blinked. It all sounded too fantastic to be even remotely real. Vampire Clans in a global war for hundreds of years and no one knowing. Even with all they had learned about the ancients and the galaxy there had been all this going on right under their noses. It was beyond belief. But here she was. Her crew was proof.

"What about the other ships; did they get attacked?"

"No," Liam stated, "Only the 'George Hammond' was boarded. We still don't know how the Sabbat got on and the other kindred are still there as far as I know just in case."

"What…what happened to the Sabbat vampires? Did they die also?" Sam remembered the two she had seen. The woman would have been amazing if she hadn't been so…so inhuman and the other thing…could that ever have been human.

"We don't know." Liam stated. "The two agents said there were at least three Sabbat on the 'George Hammond' and they think four ghouls but they couldn't be sure. In the end they managed to take back the control of the ship but they didn't know what to do with it or how to work it. It was all they could do to get somewhere safe when it entered the atmosphere. I heard that inertial dampeners were only at 15 percent, enough to keep the ship in one piece…more or less, but everything inside was shaken to the point of being destroyed. They could have survived. If they were as good as the agents the Prince had sent than there is a good chance."

Sam didn't know how she felt about that. She wanted to be angry but at the same time she was relieved that there was a chance to get some answers from…that woman. That led her mind to her next question. "Why did she turn me?" Sam looked at Sage straight in the face and wished she could see his eyes. "Why? I don't see how I was that important enough to…" She couldn't go on.

"I don't know, Samantha." There was a change in Liam's voice, but it went right back to being steady and cool. "One of the Sabbat's favorite tactics is to knock someone out embrace them then beat them senseless. It is a way they create first wave shock troops quickly and easily. If they survive they are often killed by the Sabbat." He took off his sunglasses and let her see his whole face. He had deep hazel eyes. "Sometimes there isn't a reason. Or it just seemed like a good idea at the time."

"No, she said – they said they had been looking for me. She knew who I was and…" Sam stopped talking. She didn't know if Liam knew that, and if he didn't how would he react. The woman had known by site. I had to be their target? She wondered.

Liam was sitting back in his chair, staring at her. "Samantha," He said slowly, "what do you remember about the boarding party?"

Sam hadn't planned any of this. If she had she would have come in with the intent to get questions answered, not answer them herself. "I – don't remember all of it." It wasn't a lie, at least not all of it. "There was a woman. Blond, young looking, she was dressed in some kind of leather warrior outfit and she carried a long sword. The other I saw was huge and had horns and spikes all over it."

Liam waited for her to go on. When she didn't he asked a question instead, "Was it the woman that embraced you?"

Sam thought back. She really didn't know how any of it worked. But she had to answer him. "She bit me, I know that but afterwards, it's all fuzzy."

"Did they say anything? Did the spiked one say any names?"

Sam suddenly had a gleam of insight. Could Sage know who had attacked her ship? That had to be a hard mission, even for humans with government backing. Could the Camarilla have suspects, maybe names of Sabbat that could pull something like that off?

"Um – I heard the woman call the - ," she wanted to say alien but there was a word the woman used, what was it, "She called the Tzimisce, Darius. He was huge with a giant horn coming out – coming out of his stomach."

Liam nodded his head, "Anything else?" His voice was still cool but Sam could almost see him filing away that name in his head.

"Ah…she also said something like, La'sombre or something like that. But I know he called her – something to do with 'black hand' I think. No I'm sure, he said black hand."

Liam didn't stop his stare. Another second passed then he nodded. He pushed the pitcher back towards her. He then got up and was taking steps to move away.

"Hey, wait, that's it!" Sam stood up from the table ignoring the pitcher. "Who is that, Black Hand, who were they?"

Liam turned his sunglasses back on. He was pulling out a cellular phone. "I don't know, Fledgling."

"Bull shit!" Sam took two steps to follow him but Liam turned fully squaring off to face her and she thought better of it. He wanted her to ask questions, Sam, remembered. "What do you know?" She asked.

Sage didn't move or speak. Figuring she wasn't going to move he turned slightly away from her. "The Tzimisce are a clan, one of the primary clans in the Sabbat."

"And 'Black Hand'? Who is she?"

"The 'Black Hand' isn't an individual. It's a sub sect inside the Sabbat." Liam then turned and left going outside through wide sliding doors. Before ducking out he spoke loud enough for her to hear, "Don't leave the lodge." Then he was gone.

Sam woke up in the backseat of her car with her uniform blouse over her head and hands crossed up around her neck. Something was buzzing in her hip pocket. Slowly she turned. Her muscles should have been stiff from laying down like that but they didn't. She didn't remember getting into her car. Slowly she sat up and noticed the fading light out the car window. It took a moment for her brain registered the meaning.

"SHIT!" Sam grabbed at her pocket pulling out the cell phone. The buzz stopped just as she opened to answer it. "Damn," she looked at the listing. CASSANDRA was on the screen. The small corner clock display was up as well, 7:23. Sam scrambled to get out of the car. She hit the ground and stood up straight. Looking around she saw she was still in the Gym's parking lot.

I must have fallen asleep. She figured to herself. Damn. Almost six hours of the day gone. She redialed the phone for Cassandra.

"Sam?" Cassie's voice answered.

"Yeah, hey there." Sam said. "Uh, what's up?"

"Sam, I've been calling for hours. Are you alright? I was about the call General Landry or Daniel."

"Oh, uh, I'm fine. I just pulled over to take a nap and well I guess I just fell asleep. My phone was off. Just turned it back on." Sam hastily lied. It felt bad but what else could she do?

"But you're okay?" Cassie sounded really worried.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just had to do this meeting and was on the road and felt tired. No big. I'll see you in a bit."

Hadrian looked over Colorado Springs from the one of the many office buildings. He had a pensive look on his face. The office was dark with only a few lights turned low. "A month. She has been under your care for a month and she refuses her Prince." He turned and looked into the darker part of the office. There was the outline of a sofa in the dark and a figure sitting in it. "You know I could kill her for that. I would be justified if I did."

The shadow didn't move. Hadrian continued to speak. "Her loyalty to the US Government is honorable. But it is not practical. A Kindred cannot serve humans over her own kind. She didn't even accept that helping us would protect the humans as well."

The darker shadow slowly got out of the seat and came out where it could be seen. Liam Sage was dressed all in black with a heavy leather duster draped down to the back of his knees. He didn't have his sunglasses on and watched the Prince of two cities. "The mistake, Sire, was in turning her over to the humans. The fledglings are immersed in our culture. They are separate and the last regime was intent on isolating them from their past lives. Samantha was thrown back to her human past. We can't expect her to just let it go when she is faced with it every day."

"I know. But I had no choice. Selling her as a possible spy in the Stargate Program was the only way I could persuade Lucinde to let her live. The Justicars didn't want any of SG-1 to be embraced." Hadrian turned back to the window looking out. "I remember the debate over 10 years ago."

"Why wasn't SG-1 embraced?" Liam's voice showed genuine curiosity. "The humans anyway. Three healthy, intelligent, vigilant soldiers; they seem to be exactly the stock we look for to embrace."

Hadrian smiled. "They were. The Prince before my predecessor was going to sign off but there was difficulty choosing a clan. The Nosforatu made a big deal of it. It soon threatened to be a rebellion and an archon was sent. From there it blew up. By the time the Justicars were involved SG-1 had cemented their reputation as being "too heroic". They decided that the humans would resist too much rather than fall in-line. That ultimately made them too much trouble."

"Hm. Lucky them." Liam commented.

Hadrian nodded.

"I have to return to Denver soon. I must oversee the distribution of resources and material between the two cities and the shipping lanes must be secured."

"Where will you get the manpower?" Liam asked.

Hadrian shrugged. "I have no choice. I'll draw from Colorado Springs new Kindred population. They are experienced enough with pushing the Sabbat back."

"That's a stretch," Liam stated. "They are little better than a militia of street gangs."

"True. But I have little choice. Not since Maryland have there been so many kindred so coordinated and that means we need space or soon infighting will be inevitable. But it will also leave Colorado Springs open for a short time to more Sabbat incursions. The Toreador never built it up the defenses as they should have. They depended too much on a wall of bodies to man their borders."

"I will do what I can, Sire. Samantha should be safe for the most part."

"Safe isn't good enough, Liam." Hadrian turned to look at him. "Samantha Carter is a drain of resources and we are not seeing return."

Liam smiled just a bit. "Am I so valuable a resource?"

The Prince ignored him. "Get her to where she needs to be. Do what you have to."

"I don't think it is necessary for a fledgling to get into Nod mythology and lore. But there is a gathering of Ventrue for the Primogen's child's birthday. Samantha has the right to meet and be among her clan."

Hadrian nodded. "So few Ventrue are worth meeting these nights. But you might be right. A sense of family would be good for any young kindred."

"And with your permission I think sending her on patrol with the other fledglings would be a strong step forward in bringing Carter into the fold."

Hadrian scowled. "It is risky. She has potential to be far more useful than them. I wouldn't be happy if a lucky Sabbat bullet were to send her to final death."

"More valuable because she is Ventrue or because of her placement." Liam said. There wasn't any judgment in his rhetorical question. "Right now as you said, she is getting you nothing. On the front lines she will see the Sabbat in a way she did not on her ship. And she is a leader. Leading humans has connected her to them. Put some young kindred under her protection and we may see a sudden shift in priorities."

"Hm. Interesting idea. Normally giving power to a kindred is the first step to seeing them try to usurp you. Perhaps the opposite will work for her." Hadrian mused over that.

"That would be my theory sire. And we wouldn't be giving her power. I think the young kindred will fall under her naturally. There is a pull that even I feel. If she lives she could rise high. Not unlike another Venture many thought would fall."

Hadrian smiled a bit. "Keep poking and see what happens." He said lightly. Turning and walking into the office he went to the door to let Liam out. "I have a meeting with the Primogen." Liam walked with him and stood in front of the door waiting to let Hadrian dismiss him. The Prince didn't.

"Liam, the Sheriff came to me last night. It seems that the Scourge, James Banks, has gone missing. And he thinks you have something to do with it."

Liam smiled just a bit. "I don't suppose he has any proof."

"That's not an answer."

"You didn't ask a question, Sire." Liam was looking into Hadrian's eyes. "But if I had done something to the Scourge there wouldn't be any evidence that the Sheriff could bring to charge me."

"Banks was old and strong. Not many locals could have taken him. If he is dead that is." Hadrian was staring at Liam's face. "And as we both know the absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence."

Liam shrugged. "Survival of the fittest." Hadrian opened the door wider and Liam stepped out. "Oh, Sire," he turned looking back into the dark office. "Did the investigation ever conclude who it was that killed your predecessor?"

Hadrian closed the door. Liam smiled openly and walked away.

By the time Sam got home it was fully night. Sam got out of the car and let the cool night air brush against her cheeks. It felt wonderful. She felt so much better now. The moment was soon over when she rememberd Cassie was waiting for her. She went straight inside and looked around. Her mind had to make a pause when she realized a bunch of things at once. First, there was the smell of food very distinctive in her house, second the lights were on and were really, really bright and there was a living breathing person sitting on her couch, Cassie.

"Hey," the girl said turning around to see her. "How you do'n?"

"Just fine. Sorry about me running so late. What's that smell?"

"Oh I ordered Pizza." Cassandra held up a plate. "It's in the kitchen. You want to watch a movie with me?"

"Sure," Sam said. That actually sounded really good but then her cell phone went off. "Ah, one sec." Sam reached into her pocket and fished it out. Looking at it the ID read SAGE. Damn, Sam, thought to herself. Why know?

"I need to take this. Can you turn the TV down just a bit." Sam then went up the stairs to make sure the TV wouldn't carry over the phone. She opened and answered the call. "Carter, here,"

"Good evening, Fledgling." Liam's cool voice came over the phone. "How did your meeting with the Prince go?"

"Well, not very well. He asked something that I couldn't do." Sam actually felt a bit guilty saying that. It technically wasn't true. But also she wondered why Liam wouldn't already know. It made the most since that the Prince would have contacted him, considering Liam was kind of her guardian.

"Couldn't or wouldn't?" Liam countered.

"Ah, it was complicated." Sam deflected. "I'd have to go into details."

"Sounds interesting. We can discuss the details later tonight." Liam said

Sam blinked. "What? What do you mean?"

"Put on something appropriate and come meet me at "The Devil's Bar". I'll text the address."

"But, its late, I just got home and…"

"It's closing on ten. Sunrise isn't till six. What do you have to do, sleep?" Sam could clearly hear the sarcasm coming over the line. "You are a vampire, this is our time."

"I…I kind of had…"

"Plans," Liam finished for her. "Fledgling, if you have a social life I would be very disappointed in you. Whatever the excuse deal with it. Put on something casual and stylish and go to the bar. I'll meet you there."

"Why? Why out of the blue like this?" Sam said. She now was wondering if this was some kind of punishment. Maybe Liam and the Prince had talked.

"It's the weekend, Fledgling. You work all week. When else am I going to have time to introduce you to your peers?"

That stopped Sam Dead. Was he talking about other Vampires? Sam had sometimes wondered about the other clans and would she even notice them on the street. Liam had said that the cities were full of vampires and that you never would notice one right next to you. That was kind of the point of this thing called the Masquerade. The law that told vampires to hide in plain sight of humans.

Since Sam's embrace she had only seen a handful of vampires, Liam being the most prominent. But most of her time had been spent going to the mountain than going back home. She never really got to see if she could see other vampires or if they really did just walk down the street.

"Fledgling, are you still there?" Liam was still speaking.

"Oh, uh, yes, sorry." Sam came back to reality.

"It's time you started mingling with your own kind."

Note: I'm sorry this took so long. Trying to figure out how to get the action in but also enough time for back story. Finding it hard to get back into the normal Stargate Chracters but they must be shown or else this isn't a crossover. So please hang with me.

I've also been getting a lot of traffic about my Buffy story so I think I need to start some work on that as well. Hope you all can hang in there. Thanks for the reviews.