A/N: I just reread this story yesterday and I realized I made a pretty big error. At one point I have Sam saying that Cassie had been only gone three hours when she was kidnapped by the Trust previously, and at another I have Jack saying that she had been gone three weeks. My solution is this: both of them are wrong, she was gone for three days. I'll go back and fix that shortly.

And yes, I'm quite aware this is far behind schedule ... The cookies made me do it? Tehehe

Cassie did take a nap once released from the company of Parker and Hardison. She took a nap wrapped securely in the arms of Eliot Spencer (who was still refusing to let her out of eyesight and earshot). Truthfully, she was astounded at how much easier sleep came to her when she was lying next to a warm body. When she'd tried dating in college, it had never felt like this. The only other time human connection had made it easier to sleep had been when she had first come to Earth all those years ago and had refused to let Sam leave her alone.

Her body may have been at rest, however, as before her mind was taken to a once familiar place on a planet far, far away.

She looked down and saw that again she was shown six months pregnant, in a yellow dress as she stood in what used to be her childhood kitchen.

"You've grown up so beautifully," an unfamiliar female voice said behind her.

Cassie turned sharply and came face to face with an unknown woman. Her hair was the color of gold shut tight in a dark box for years and unused to sunlight, like her skin, which seemed as if it would burn if exposed to the sun for any length of time. It was the eyes that gave her away, though.

A hand went out as if to touch those eyes that she saw in the mirror every day. A nose that could have been her own ...

"Mother?" Cassie asked tentatively, her hand suspended in the air between them. A frown furrowed her brow, "Are you my mother?"

A nod was her answer. "My name is Nimue," a small smile flickered across her face, "But your father would call me Nim unless he was upset with me."

Cassie found the ability to make words extremely trying and difficult. Her throat constricted like a boa was tightening around her neck. "My father?" she choked out.

Nimue looked distraught and led Cassie to the table, now devoid of the bowl and spoon Cassie had seen with Ganos Lal. "I'm so sorry, my darling. This wasn't what any of us wanted."

"What you wanted?" Cassie could feel tears springing to her eyes and blinked them back as she stared at the woman she never had the chance to know as a mother. "Didn't you want me?"

Nimue looked appalled, "Of course I wanted you! But I was sick," she brought her hands up to rest on Cassie's shoulders, "Putting you in stasis was the only way to save both of our lives. I had to ascend. I made sure you were left in the care of good people, though. Every day of your life I was there to make sure you were as safe as I could make you."

"And my father?" Cassie asked, trying to come to grips with this new version of her life.

She shook her head, "His work was much to important. I couldn't risk the outcome of that by telling him about you."

A tear fell down Cassie's face as she put the facts together. "Merlin?" she whispered.

Nimue nodded, her own eyes bright with unshed tears, "Merlin."

They sat there in silence for who knows how long before Cassie shook her head and asked, "Why now? What's so important about now?"

Nimue looked down at Cassie's stomach. "Your child will be the first Alteran born on this planet in almost a thousand years, Cassandra.. It's vital that she survive."

"Vital? To whom?" Cassie wasn't sure she liked where this was going. She didn't want her daughter to have to be a superhero or world savior or anything like that. That was a burden she'd seen other bear and it was always too great to bear alone.

"To the continued survival of this planet and this evolution of humans," Nimue replied with all the severity that truth inherently holds.

"Why me?" Cassie demanded, "Why my child?"

Nimue rose quite suddenly, looking around as if someone would catch her and reprimand her for being there. Who knows? Perhaps they would have.

She looked at her daughter frantically, "The man you have chosen has a good heart, Cassandra. You can trust him and he will not betray you. Or your child."

With one last pained look, Nimue said, "I always loved you," before everything around Cassie vanished and she was left in darkness.

She woke slowly, as if from a long, restful sleep, to find that Eliot wasn't by her side. Looking at the clock she discovered that somehow she'd managed to sleep straight through the night and it was now close to eight in the morning.

Cassie rubbed her eyes as she stretched like a cat, bringing her muscles back to life after so long without very much movement. There was something on her wrist that hadn't been there the day before. Cassie brought her hand to her face and examined it with a frown. While it didn't look like any sort of tracking device the SGC used, she supposed that could be accounted for in that Hardison didn't have access to that kind of technology. She mentally shrugged as she let her hand fall back to her side. An odd feeling of peace had filled her while she slept and spoke with her mother.

There were plenty of question she still had that remained unanswered, but she finally knew who she was, and could put a name and a face to her biological mother. A part of her had always known Hanka wasn't where she was meant to be. At least now she knew she was on the right track.

She got up and looked around the room Eliot had put her in the day before. There were some clothes piled on top of the dresser, so she got up to investigate.

A note was on top of them,

"Didn't know your size, so Sophie guessed. She says we'll go shopping later to buy you more after the meeting today. Go to Nate's when you wake up. - Eliot"

A small smile appeared on Cassie's face as she put the note down and investigated the clothes Sophie had chosen for her.

There were two pairs of jeans (designer labels that made Cassie's eyebrows raise as she realized how much each pair cost), one of which refused to accommodate the curves she'd inherited from her mother. The second pair fit well enough, and she was quite excited to find clean underwear folded neatly underneath them, leaving her to deal with the top Sophie had chosen. The sweater Sophie had paired with the jeans felt like cashmere, and when she looked at the label Cassie found herself pleasantly surprised that she was correct. The light green fabric had some button detailing on one arm and fit like a glove, leading Cassie to wonder if Sophie had superpowers that let her guess what size clothing others wore.

Either way, Cassie was glad to be surrounded by clean clothes, even if her bra smelled slightly of sweat from the past few days.

Running her fingers through her hair, Cassie slipped on her shoes and went off to find the others.

She didn't have to go very far to find Eliot -- he was still tinkering around with something or other in the living room.

As soon as he caught sight of her she lifted her arm with the tracking device on it and tilted her head to one side, "Afraid I'll make a break for it again? No bad guy worth their weight would be taken in by this."

Eliot smirked as he put down the book he'd been reading and picked up another, "Yes, but they'll be so busy trying to get it off that they'll hopefully forget to check behind your ear for the real tracking device."

Cassie reached up with a frown and felt behind her right ear. There was nothing there, but when she felt the back of her left ear there was the distinct imprint of something small and foreign. She frowned, "How'd you get it in without me waking up?"

"Novocain," he replied simply.

She blinked at him as her arm dropped. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

Eliot checked his watch, "Let's go. Nate's waitin'."

As they headed out the door Cassie asked, "You guys got a 'job' to do?"

Eliot snorted at her sarcastic tone. "People always need savin'. There's a meet with the client today -- Hardison was workin' background on the mark for the past few days. After the meet we start the con."

"Sounds ..." she searched for the right word and came up empty.

"Illegal?" he offered.

"Fun," she countered. She shrugged as he opened the door to Nate's apartment, "Like you pick up where the law leaves off."

Eliot gave her an odd look at her statement as Parker popped her head in from the kitchen in Nate's apartment, "That's what Nate says."

Cassie snorted at that, "Then he's a smart man."

Parker came out from the kitchen fully, revealing a plate loaded down with a massive piece of the cake she had successfully completed yesterday.

"I'm a little surprised you didn't finish that yesterday," Cassie commented as Eliot moved into the kitchen.

Parker shrugged, looking as gleeful as the cat that ate the canary, "This is the last of it. It was too big and too good to eat in one night."

"Glad you think so," Cassie smiled as Nate came stumbling down the stairs that apparently led to his bedroom.

"Where's Sophie?" Nate asked the room in general as Eliot handed him a cup of coffee and went to plop down in one of the lounge chairs in his living room.

"Must be running late," Hardison mumbled into his computer screen, his fingers flying a mile a minute.

Nate sighed as he looked at his watch, "We have a meet in half an hour."

Parker's eyes lit up, "Ooh! I'll go if she doesn't get here."

Eliot look up at Nate, shaking his head, "Don't do it, Nate."

Parker attempted a pout and asked, "Please? You never let me meet the clients."

Nate let out a forced sigh and motioned with his free hand, "All right. Fine. If she's not here on time, you can come with me."

"Yay!"

Colonel Reynolds surveyed the barber shop around him. His team was scoping out the place, making sure there were no nasty surprises left for them to find. There had been a recording device left on one of the counters in the shop, but other than that there were no indications of a struggle or anything out of the ordinary. Just a pail of hair clippings and a broom -- as if Joe had whisked away in a hurry.

Reynolds growled low in his throat as he thought about what this all meant, especially the eye-witness testimony claiming a flash of light filled the shop before Joe disappeared. He pulled out his cell phone and hit 3 on the speed dial.

"O'Neill," the voice on the other end was clipped and sounded as if its owner was swiftly losing control over his temper.

"Sir, it's Reynolds," the other man replied. "I'm here in Spencer's barber shop. It doesn't look good, sir."

"What is it?"

"There was a recording device left. It looks like a melding of Asgard and Goa'uld technology, sir."

"And?"

Reynolds sighed. He hated giving his boss bad news, "It's Hera, sir. And the Trust. Apparently they think Joe is a big enough bargaining chip for us to give up Cassie."

"Why would she think that?" Jack mused aloud.

Reynolds cleared his throat before nervously saying, "Apparently Joe Spencer is Eliot Spencer's cousin."

"Shit."

"How's the prisoner?" the woman asked in the same cold, disinterested tone she always used.

Malichi bowed to the woman he served for the time, "He is still unconscious, my queen. However, that can be remedied quickly." He rose his hand, motioning to one of the humans behind him, but the unknown woman stopped him.

"No, let him sleep," she ordered. "I have no wish to listen to platitudes and screams at the moment. You can torture him later." She eyed the Goa'uld next to her with contempt, "How did you manage to escape the Tau'ri without being followed?"

Malichi grinned maliciously, "That was the easy part. The Jaffa I had with me created a wonderful distraction while I subdued my guards and made for the hanger." His eyes sparkled with humor at untold crimes he committed getting off the ship. "The Tau'ri are no match for our greatness, Hera."

Hera raised a flawless eyebrow as her eyes flashed, "Our greatness? You overstep your bounds, Malichi. I am the only thing of greatness in this pathetic little star system." She flexed her right hand, which was covered in the web of metal known as a hand device, "You would do well to remember that."

He bowed his head in submission while he seethed inwardly, "Of course, mistress."

A/N: I like ending scenes with the one word response. Shit is also one of my favorite ways to end a scene. ... Don't know why and don't really want to hazard a guess as I'm about to start class in four minutes. Ta!