Chapter Twenty-four Summary: Calise arrives at the SGC, and Janet and General Hammond get things taken care of as quickly as possible. Soon they arrive at Daniel's home, where she finds that Malek truly is fine…and that Lantash is alive. They know what caused the problems that arose during Lantash's transfer from Sam to Daniel. Sam sleeps, for a while, and when she awakens she is somewhat disoriented, as the first memory surges through her mind…and her heart.

Rating this Chapter – PG-13

Mer Prinekh – My Lifemate, a name of endearment between Symbiote and Host. Can be translated as meaning something like Beloved Lifemate or Sweet Lifemate.

Cor's Trel'li-Mae'tek - Heart's Tear-Mate, the One who Shared your Deepest Grief and Suffered it With You. A strongly bonded mate, brought together by shared grief. Rarely a Lover, however a very Deep Friendship is Shared from that time onward.

"Italics" – Symbiote-Host Communication

Always Be Ours

Chapter Twenty-four

Solved

Janet Fraiser waited at the bottom of the ramp and watched as an incoming wormhole was established. Since the iris opened, she assumed it was the Tok'Ra. It was. The woman stepped through the event horizon and swiftly took in any threats. Although there were soldiers around, none of them were paying any attention to her, so she decided that they were not a problem. Her gaze landed on the woman at the bottom of the ramp, and she recognized her as Dr. Janet Fraiser. She had spent several days with the Tok'Ra going over some of their methods that could be adapted for the Tau'ri, since they did not require Naquadah in the blood to work them. She had seemed very pleasant what little she had seen her. An older Gentleman walked through some large heavy doors and he smiled at her, as had Dr. Fraiser.

It was the Doctor who spoke to her first, though, saying, "Calise, we are very glad that you could come."

The General walked up, as Janet finished her greeting, and looked at Calise, telling her, "Welcome to Earth, Calise. I'm General Hammond. If you'll come with us, we can get you processed. Everything is classified, so our explanations must wait, until we're in a room that's protected from surveillance of any kind." She fell into step between them, still saying nothing. Why were they not taking her to Malek? He was in very critical condition. However, since the General made a point of letting her know that they could not talk here, she kept her questions and impatience to herself.

They turned down a corridor and came upon a soldier leaning against the wall doing nothing, which seemed strange to her, since everyone else appeared to be quite busy. As they approached him, he told the General, "The second one tried to gain entrance to your office again, General. I refused to allow him to enter the room or even get near the door."

"Thank you, Sergeant Davis. I appreciate your diligence."

"Yes, Sir. I'll remain until Dr. Fraiser takes our visitor with her. If you want to leave, and need me to watch your office again, just call me down. I'll be here as soon as I can. We have an extra person on duty today learning how everything is done, so in a way, we have extra help; there wouldn't be a problem."

"Good. I'll contact you, if I need you after the Doctor and Calise leave."

The Sergeant nodded and turning strode down the hall, and then leaned up against the wall. So, he was a guard, which explained his apparent lack of anything to do. However, it was obvious that he was an extra guard not normally here. The General opened his office door and invited her into the room.

As he closed the door on the three of them, she turned back to them, ready to insist on being taken to Malek, when Dr. Fraiser held up her hand and then walked up to her until she could gently whisper, "Calise, I'm sorry that we had to alarm you to get you here. Unfortunately, it was important that the story was the same for you, as it was for Arwanna and Gava. We've decided that this shouldn't be discussed on base at all, not even in here. We've already had two instances of moles attempting to gain entrance to this room."

Seeing the blank look on her face, Dr. Fraiser smiled briefly, and still whispering, told her, "A mole, in the way I'm using the word, doesn't mean a small animal. It's a person who is spying for another agency or department. We know that we have a minimum of two. They're being watched closely, so we know that they were probably sent to set up listening devices in here. It's obvious that something highly classified is going on, and their superiors are no doubt pushing them to find out what it is. That's irrelevant to you and your position." She glanced over at the General, who was talking on the phone.

Turning back to Calise, she continued, saying, "We're getting the Tok'Ra that you'll be joining on the phone, so that you can talk to them, and they can reassure you that there's nothing nefarious going on; that this is a legitimate mission." She lowered her voice even more and then, whispering so softy that Calise could barely hear her, she told her, "Please don't worry, for there's no need. As soon as we reach our destination they'll explain what's happening, I assure you."

General Hammond broke in, saying, "Calise, Per'sus would like to speak to you, and then, if you wish to, you can talk to anyone else you want to talk to that's there."

He held out the phone to her, and she looked at it oddly, before reaching out, taking it in her hand, and putting it to her ear, as she had seen the General do. She was surprised to hear Per'sus, obviously talking to someone else, as he told them to order two extra, at least, no make that three. They could always snack on the leftovers later. He must have turned back to the device, because his voice was suddenly loud and plain, as he asked, "Calise, are you there? Are you on the phone?"

She answered, her voice quiet and almost faint, assuring him, "I am here, Per'sus, but I am confused, as to what I am to do."

"That is why I am talking to you. Please listen carefully and follow my instruction to the best of your ability…Agreed?"

"I, well, yes, I—will do my best, Per'sus. What is it that I must do?"

"Don't sound so apprehensive. It is not difficult, if you will only do as I tell you to do."

"All right. I must assume that this is very highly classified."

His voice suddenly sounding grim, he told her, "It is the highest level of secrecy that we have, and I am well aware that you have held those kinds of secrets before, so I have no qualms about bringing you into this one. Now, we need to be moving on to what must be done. Are you ready?"

"I—yes, I am ready."

"Very well. Please do as General Hammond and Dr. Janet Fraiser ask you to. The General will give you a sheaf of papers. Do not waste time reading them. Sign them. I will tell you what they are and what they contain."

He paused to see if she had any questions, and when she asked none, he told her, "They are non-disclosure forms. You are agreeing not to tell anyone on Earth other than those in the SGC anything about space, the Goa'uld, the war, in short nothing pertaining to Stargate Command or aliens."

As he finished speaking, she nodded, saying, "I understand and, if I have questions, I will ask them later."

Per'sus let out the breath he was unaware that he was holding. Not that he had thought she might refuse, but because it appeared that she truly would wait, until she was with them, to have her questions answered. She would take him at his word and trust him implicitly. He heard the papers being shuffled and very quickly, she was back on the line with him saying, "They are signed. Now, what do I need to do?"

"Good. Now, all you must do is put your trust in Dr. Fraiser. She will now take you to get an I.D. Card, some clothing, so that you will fit in with the population, and some luggage. Then, she will bring you here to us. We will probably see you within the next couple of hours. Just follow her lead. She has helped all of the women here, so that they will blend in, and not stand out as obviously not from Earth. Trust her to obtain the correct clothing, see to the identification, and go with her when she asks it of you. We are in the nearby town. We will see you soon. I must go, as it is my turn to use the healing device."

Calise was confused. "But I thought that he was not injured."

Per'sus paused before telling her, "Someone is. We will see you soon."

"Of course. Good-bye, Per'sus." She handed the 'phone' to the General stating, "Per'sus assured me that all I need to do is follow Dr. Fraiser's instructions and we will soon be on our way. Therefore, what must I do next? I wish to arrive at my destination, as swiftly as possible.'

The General smiled and held out his hand. Not sure what to do, she reached out as well, and when their hands met, he shook hers. The puzzled look on her face, prompted Janet to tell her, "It's what we call a handshake. It's the same as when you clasp arms. Once you meet enough people, and they do it, then it will become almost second nature to put your hand out in greeting or to answer theirs by giving them yours. Don't worry about it."

She nodded her understanding, and then waited, as Dr. Fraiser told the General, "We won't take long, and as soon as we finish, we'll leave for the house, if that's all right with you, General."

He nodded. "Yes, go ahead. I may see you later, but don't be surprised, if I don't make it. You all have enough on your hands and it's not as if I could be any help there. You have my cell number, if you need to reach me for any reason."

"Yes, Sir. We'll be going, then. Thank you." Janet Fraiser walked to the door indicating that they should leave, and Calise followed her. An hour and twenty minutes later, they were in downtown Colorado Springs, and the number of people on this world almost numbed her mind. So did the vehicle that they were in, and the fact that so many of the people owned one. She also decided that everyone who owned one must be in this area at this time. As the vehicles thinned, and then almost disappeared from the roadways they were on, it occurred to her that she had not once asked about Malek and what was happening. It was obvious that Janet, as she had requested she be called, was deep in thought about something. Still she needed to know.

So, taking a rather deep breath, she asked her, "Janet, how badly is Malek hurt? Can we speak of that now?"

Janet looked surprised, and then apologetic, as she answered her, saying, "I'm sorry. I should have told you right away. Malek is fine. Very little of what you've been told is true and you'll get the information about what is really happening, when we arrive at our destination, which," she nodded her head toward some houses, and then continued, "will be very shortly. The stone one is his."

"I see. So, we are going to…Dr. Jackson's home?"

Janet nodded, turned into the drive, and parked next to Daniel's SUV. "We're here." She leaned across and showed her how to undo her seat belt and open her door.

"Thank you, Janet."

"You're welcome, Calise." As they walked up the walkway toward the door, it was opened for them, by Selmak. No doubt, General Hammond called to let them know they were on their way, as it was obvious that Selmak was waiting for them.

Janet didn't even wait for the door to close before she was asking, "Selmak, how are they? Do they know anything, yet?"

Selmak nodded. "They are doing quite a bit better. The blood has almost stopped seeping, and the healing devices are slowly healing the places where the flesh was ripped off, so they are no longer in as much pain. They have slept for a while, and he has regained much of the energy he lost, as he attempted to stop the bleeding."

Remembering Selmak's words, when he came for Arwanna and Gava, Calise caught her breath, before turning to Janet Fraiser and saying, somewhat coldly, "You told me that Malek was fine."

"And so I am, Calise." Malek's voice reached her, from where he stood, near the bottom of a stairway.

Calise turned pale, something rare for a symbiote, and Selmak placed his hand on her shoulder, softly asking her, "Are you all right?"

Drawing herself up, she forced herself back under control, before answering, "Yes, thank you, Selmak, I am fine."

She then turned to Janet Fraiser, but before she could apologize to her, Janet told her, "Don't worry about it. It's my fault. I should have been more specific and told you right away that it wasn't Malek and Dev that needed the help. I'm sorry that I didn't think to state it more clearly."

"Thank you, Janet, but perhaps we were both to blame. I was too caught up in what I was seeing of the area to ask about the situation, and it did not occur to you to tell me something that you felt was not your place to explain."

As she had spoken to Janet, Malek had approached and was talking to Selmak and Jacob. Turning back to them, Calise watched, as he frowned, and then shook his head, as he answered whatever he had been asked, "She is deeply asleep, at the moment, but she is also going through periods of restlessness. Knowing that as soon as she awakens she will ask after them, I thought I would take this opportunity to question you about their present condition."

Selmak nodded, as he told him, "They are marginally better. The blood flow is lessening, and the torn flesh is healing well. They have been asleep, for a time, and it seems to be helping Lantash a great deal. We are hopeful that we may have turned the corner…"

A gasp from the woman standing next to them brought Selmak, Malek, and Janet's attention back to Calise. She looked at them and repeated slowly, "Lantash. Are you telling me that Lantash survived the attack, and you have told no one except for those here?" She frowned harder, before adding, "Something is wrong. You would not keep that type of information from the other Tok'Ra, unless there was a very good reason. What is going on, Malek?" Why have the others not been told, and why the elaborate story from Selmak to get Arwanna and Gava here?"

Malek glanced up the stairs, and Selmak told him, "Go on back, Malek. I will explain to Calise. You should be there in case Samantha awakens and needs you."

Malek nodded his agreement, but turned to Calise, saying, "I am Cor's Trel'li-Mae'tek to Samantha, Calise, and I cannot afford for her to awake without me being there. She is…distraught enough over this…situation, without me being gone from her side," he grimaced, "again."

Calise walked the few steps to Malek and kissed his cheek softly, before telling him quietly, "I know what it is like to need a Cor's Trel'li-Mae'tek, Malek. Go. There are plenty of people to tell me the tale."

He kissed her cheek in return, before agreeing, saying, "Yes, I think that I can safely allow you to hear the story from them. I will no doubt see you a little later." Turning to Selmak, he told them, "I will call Jacob, if she asks for him for any reason. Please keep me informed, as to their condition, so that I can tell her, as soon as she asks." Noticing that Janet Fraiser had left without them realizing it, he nodded to the remaining two, turned, and made his way back up the stairs to Samantha.

Behind him, Calise said, softly, "Perhaps someone would like to explain what has occurred?"

Selmak sighed, "Before I do, let us join the others, Lantash, and Daniel Jackson. It does not take long to tell, and then you can talk to Arwanna, Gava, Dr. Fraiser, and Anise."

Calise agreed. It was as good a place to start as any other was.

Thirty minutes later, Calise had been thoroughly briefed, except on the subject that they would soon be discussing. She had all of the particulars, as to what occurred when Martouf was killed…but Lantash was not. The thought of what Samantha Carter must have gone through, as Martouf died in her arms, caused her heart to ache painfully. That she had taken Lantash was, as far as Calise was concerned, a wonderful, but heartbreaking act, for now Samantha knew of Martouf's emotions as he died. That she was carrying Martouf and Lantash's child would be both a solace and a sorrow. She would need Malek's strength, as she relived those memories, of that there was little doubt. Remembering her own need of Malek's strength, during the time she lost her mates, she knew how important the position he had assumed was. There was no doubt, that the chances of Samantha becoming lost within her own mind were very high. As far as she knew, there had never been an instance where a mate, who became host to a surviving mate, had been the one to kill their mate, and then hold them as they died. They were both emotionally devastating events.

Calise sighed, as she contemplated Daniel Jackson—and Lantash. They, too, would be reliving Martouf's death—his emotions as he died, Lantash's emotions—and Samantha's. She hoped that both he and Lantash could cope with them. Those things were bad enough, but they would also have to cope with Samantha's pain of losing Lantash and Lantash's at leaving her. She forced her attention to return to the activity around her. They had taken a very short break, but it appeared the Gava was almost ready to begin again.

Because Janet Fraiser was also present and wished to become more familiar with the Symbiote's abilities and metabolism, Gava was explaining things in more detail than she would have, if it were only Arwanna and Calise that needed to know. Per'sus, Garshaw, Selmak, and Anise were all interested as well, so she had also gone through the Kelshaqua-Ginger explanation more thoroughly. Janet had been the one to find the chemical similarity between the two substances. While they talked, she was running some tests, and 'computer programs' on the nausea medication that Samantha was taking. She, and they, all believed that something within the medication had caused the increased resistance of the tissue to the chemicals that Lantash released.

Gava stood and then paused, making sure that everyone was ready to begin again, before continuing, "The difference of the tissue was a little more difficult to ascertain. There are very few substances that affect us. You are all aware of that. However, there are some substances that do cause us to have some reaction to them. Kelshaqua," she smiled briefly, "and ginger, are two of them; however, we rarely come across Kelshaqua in quantities large enough to affect or harm us. Even though it works on us, it actually takes a fairly large amount to cause the changes that it does make to us, and which we saw in Lantash. There are substances that are…man-made…which can affect us. Sleep inducing drugs are the first that come to mind, although there are only a few of those. We have found antidotes for them in case of an overdose, as most of you are aware. The Blood of Sokar is another substance that can have a fairly deep, intense, and long-lasting effect on us."

"There are a few more, however, I will not go farther into those at the moment. We will make the information available to Janet, as soon as we can; however, along with the Anatomy and other medical information, we will begin sessions to, ah, 'bring her up to speed', I believe is how she phrased it. Since we will be here for at least several days, it is an ideal time to work on this together."

Returning to the information about the tissue's response to the chemicals, she told them, "I am fairly sure that we will find the difference of the tissue to be caused by some man-made substance. Perhaps it is something that they were giving to Samantha, although I do not know what that would be. Whatever it is, while the change in the tissue caused problems, the tissue itself was perfectly normal. The tissue between the outer body layers, and the blending body, are made up of tissue that reacts to certain chemicals that we release. While the substance did not stop those chemicals from working, it did cause the reaction to be much slower than it should have been. I believe that had we known, the problem could have been avoided by simply having Lantash wait until the tissue had dissolved enough for him to leave safely. Of course, you had no way of knowing what was occurring, and expecting the tissue to dissolve normally, Lantash simply changed hosts as he normally would. We, in all probability, would not have been monitoring him, before he made the switch, so we would not have known to stop him, any more than any of you did. We are very lucky that the tissue remained with Samantha, rather than with Lantash. Otherwise she would have been in a great deal of pain and that would have distressed both Lantash and Daniel, possibly enough to interfere with their blending."

Daniel came awake to the sound of Lantash—humming. Humming? "Ah, Lantash?"

"Yes, my Daniel?"

"Do you, um, hum a, ah, lot?"

"Only when I am busy doing something. Does it bother you?"

Daniel frowned in thought, before realizing that, in fact, it did not. "No. Actually, it's kind of…nice. You have a pleasant voice. Do you sing?"

"Yes, I do. I am told my voice is soothing and that I sing well."

"I think that whoever told you that was correct. I don't know about the singing yet, of course, but the humming in very—soothing, I agree."

"That is a good thing, then, because I tend to do it without realizing it. Samantha found it soothing, as well."

"She was right. Um, I take it that the bleeding is stopped?"

"Yes. It is stopped, and they have decided what occurred. It was the ginger."

"The ginger?"

"Yes. It seems that your spice, ginger, is closely related to a substance that causes our blood to thin. We have been giving Samantha rather substantial amounts of it, as it appeared to help her nausea. And, too, they have just decided that there was some chemical in the nausea medication that caused what we at first believed to be an abnormal overgrowth of my tissue. Actually, it was not an overgrowth, however, the tissue, while not abnormal, did not respond to the chemicals I released, as quickly as it should have, therefore, it did not dissolve, as it should have, before I left Samantha. I never checked the actual composition of the tissue, but they do not feel that it would have made a difference, since it was not so much the tissue as it was its resistance to the dissolving chemicals that I released. Another oversight on my part that should not have happened; had I checked to see how well it was dissolving, before I made the exchange, I would have realized it was not doing what it was supposed to do. I apologize for not taking better care of you and Samantha."

"Don't worry about it, Lantash. As much mental and emotional turmoil as we've all been under, I'm surprised you and Sam are even functioning, let alone being at the top of your game, so to speak."

"Thank you, Daniel. I appreciate your understanding. Now that we are blending, we must hope that a great deal of the stress on both Samantha and I will be lessened, and all that will remain will be the sorrow over Martouf's loss instead of the worry and anxiety over our coming parting."

"I'm sure we'll find that things will be better now. All we have to worry about is finding the culprit behind Martouf's death, getting Sam through her pregnancy and into the next one, and our future 'blending'." Daniel laughed slightly over the thought of the 'lessening' of the stress upon them. Well, Lantash was right, too, though, and this was a lessening of the stress in many ways. But first, they had to get through the rest of their present activity.

"So, have we started to blend deeper yet?"

"I am ready to do so now that you have awakened, Daniel. I did not believe that you would wish to awaken to any of the emotions that we will experience, as we blend, so I have waited."

"That was probably for the best. Thank you."

"You are welcome. Are you ready now, Daniel?"

"As I'll ever be, Lantash. As I'll ever be."

Lantash nodded. "Very well. I will begin now, then. Try to relax and do not fight the sensations."

"I won't…well, I'll try not to anyway."

"That is all I can ask of you. I am beginning now."

Sam jerked awake with a cry on her lips and a sob caught in her throat. He was gone. Martouf. "Lantash? What are we going to do? Lantash? Lantash!" This time the scream was aloud, so hard arms pulled her down into a firm but gentle embrace, and her cries were lost against a hard male chest. One hand was twisted in her hair and one held her clamped to his hard body, in case she fought him, but she moved into the embrace instead, as she recognized Malek and Devlin, as well as the fact that Martouf truly was gone and had been for several weeks.

As she accepted them, Malek pulled Samantha even closer to them; Lantash could not be distracted, and if she cried aloud like that, it was quite possible that he would eventually hear her. He smothered her cries against their chest, and then kissed her temple lightly, as he started murmuring to her. His words made no true sense, but they were not really meant to. They were strictly to calm and soothe. He began to caress her back, rubbing circles, alternating with long strokes down her back and over her hips. If she did not calm soon he would have to step up his efforts.

He sighed to himself, but Devlin heard him. "She is repeating both of their names, Malek. What do you think is happening?"

"She may be reliving Martouf's death. She realized that Lantash was gone a moment ago, as well. I believe that is when she screamed out his name. She is somewhat disoriented from awakening; however, she is moving into and accepting our nearness. We must hope that she will calm soon. I do not believe that she is lost within her mind, and we must hope that she does not become so. That will be the most dangerous time, if it happens. Sometimes…sometimes it takes drastic means to draw them out again."

Devlin pulled in a sharp breath, as he realized what Malek meant. He sincerely hoped that did not happen and, as Malek said, she was not to that point. They could only hope that she would not reach it. Their attention was drawn back to Sam, as she moaned Lantash's name again, and Devlin realized that she was holding onto Malek and him extremely tightly. Almost as if, she was afraid to release them. It took him only a moment to realize that she was afraid to release them. Right now, they were her anchor, the one thing in her world that was not changing. He and Malek were the only things left to cling to in a world that seemingly held nothing, but an endless expanse of pain no matter which way she turned. So she would hold onto the one person that would understand what she was feeling.

Malek turned his attention back to her, and he was not surprised to hear her murmuring a litany of Martouf's name interspersed with Lantash's name, but he was unprepared for the pain that rushed through him and Devlin. He had no idea which of them it came from first, but it was washing over both of them. He had not been a tearmate in a very long time, and Devlin had never before experienced it. He had forgotten how difficult it could be, if the one who was gone was a close friend. And Martouf and Lantash certainly fell in the center of that description. Grimly, he blocked Dev's grief from both of them, and he forced his own grief down, as well, setting it within a place of its own and locking it away, until the two of them could find the time and the privacy to truly grieve for Martouf. Right now, Samantha needed his strength, not his or Devlin's pain, at the absence of their much-missed comrade.

He and Dev both frowned as Sam's breathing became harsh and choppy. She clung to Malek tightly, obviously still afraid to release him. Both of them were fairly sure that it was the absence of Lantash's presence within her mind that was causing the reactions she was having now. She had finally begun to say things besides their names, but she was speaking very, very softly, and with her face pressed against his chest, it was very difficult to understand her. All he could do for now was to continue to hold and soothe her, as much as he could. He was surprised when her arms tightened even more around him. She was certainly quite strong. Of course, as a soldier there was little doubt that she attempted to keep her body in optimum condition.

A sob from her brought him out of his own thoughts and back to the physical reality of now, rather than the mindless abstract thoughts in which he had been indulging.

He felt her arms loosen from the extremely tight and frantic hold from a moment before to a much looser embrace. He frowned as he realized that she was attempting to distance herself from him. Or perhaps to simply move back a little. He loosened his hold on her, knowing that this round of memories was over for the moment, and she leaned back slightly, just enough to look up at him.

"Malek. I'm glad you're here, you and Devlin." She gave him a wan smile, before asking, "Have they found anything out, yet? How are they? What's happening? Shouldn't we go down there, now?"

"Hush, Samantha, slow down. I will answer your questions. Yes, they have discovered the cause of each problem. One resolved itself, and the other is under control and almost stopped as well. It was nothing that the healers could not take care of, and it took them very little time to discover what they wished to know, once Janet Fraiser arrived. They were able to take care of the bleeding, without knowing the cause, though, so it really was not something they needed to know in order to solve the problem. The other, as I stated, resolved itself."

"And what was the problem? And how did you find out? Did dad and Selmak come up and tell you, or did you go check on them yourself?"

"I have checked with them periodically, as you slept; however, this last time, your father and Selmak met me on the stairs. I had known for a while that there was nothing about which to worry, for they have had it under control for a while now, but they wanted me to know that his blood was now clotting normally, and the torn tissue was well on the way to being healed. He felt that it would be no longer than an hour then, and that was about forty-five minutes ago." He felt her go almost completely limp with relief.

"Thank you. And thank you for keeping me from disturbing Lantash and Daniel. I shouldn't have screamed. I knew what was going to happen, so I don't know why I did it."

"I suspect that you were disoriented upon awakening, and the memories that rushed through your mind came quickly upon your realization that Lantash was no longer living within you."

Lying quietly within his arms, her eyes closed she gave him a slight nod. "I suppose that was what happened." Her eyes opened, and she looked at him, as she commented, "I was under the impression from what Lantash told me, that the memories would take much longer to relive."

Malek sighed, before hesitantly telling her, "Samantha, your memory recall may very well not be completed. They could return, perhaps many times, before you can assimilate them, and begin to cope with them without Lantash there to help you."

Sam didn't answer, as she absorbed what Malek was telling her. She finally sighed, telling him, "I see. Well, I can only hope that it doesn't happen too many times, for your sake as much as mine. You can't enjoy doing this."

"It is not pleasant, no; however, sorrow—whether it is your own or someone else's, never is. I do feel your sorrow and grief, Samantha. Martouf was dear to Devlin and I, as well, as you know. Because of that, I am thankful that Lantash asked me to be with you, and I would not be anywhere else, even if I could be somewhere other than here."

Sam smiled slightly at him. "I have to admit that I'm very glad that you agreed to be with me, you and Devlin. It…helps."

He kissed her forehead, murmuring, "Yes. Yes, Samantha, it does help."

They lie quietly for a time, all lost in their own thoughts. Then Sam turned to Malek telling him, "Lantash and I didn't blend completely, since we knew that we would have to part. We—we more or less didn't share a lot of things that probably would have just been common knowledge between us, if we had. So, I really don't know much about you and Lantash other than that you are very close friends. How long have you known one another?" She hurried on to assure him, "If you don't want to discuss it, just say so. Don't feel like you have to keep me entertained. I was just curious."

Malek laughed softly, and shook his head. "I do not mind, Samantha. Lantash and I are clutch mates, so we have known each other from the time that we were spawned. Even as symbiotes, we were close to one another. There were others as well, of course, but many of them have passed, and Lantash and I have always been especially close to one another. At one time, when I had a female host, we were mates. After we were both once more in male hosts, we slowly drew away from that relationship, however, the love between us remained…it was simply changed."

Sam bit her lip, and looking up at him, she softly told him, "I'm sorry if I've dredged up something unhappy."

He smiled at her. "You have not done so. It was not those memories that brought the sadness, it was…"

"What? Is it something that I can help you with?"

"It was the memory of Per'sus telling us that he and Martouf…had passed from us. I found myself wishing that I had made the effort to spend more time with them. I wished that I had tried harder to talk them into becoming my second-in-command and that I had come here to the Tau'ri world with them and met you. When Per'sus told me what you did that day—I almost came then, but he persuaded me to wait, until your grief was less." He gave her a laconic smile, saying dryly, "Of course, now I know why he did not want me to arrive on Earth. It would have been quite inconvenient for everyone involved and would not have helped at all."

Sam frowned, and then, speaking slowly at first, as she thought about Lantash that days and the many after that, she told him, "I'm not sure that's true. Lantash trusts you without a shadow of a doubt, Malek. He would have told you that he was alive. It might have made it easier on him, since one of the things that was bothering him a lot was that you and Devlin thought that both he and Martouf had…passed. He knew you would be mourning them, and he hated that he could not tell you that at least he had survived. That's why Daniel decided to talk to Per'sus and see about having you brought in to help. I did know that he was upset about not being able to tell you especially, and I should have realized then that the two of you were more than just casual friends. I'm even gladder that you're here now."

Noticing that she was frowning, he asked her, "What is wrong, Samantha?"

"Nothing, really." She sighed. "I'm just wondering if everything is still going as well as it was, that's all. I wish I knew what was happening." She gave a sigh, adding, "I don't want to go down there and interrupt anything."

A soft knock on the door brought their attention to it and Malek told whoever it was to enter.

Jacob stuck his head around the door and seeing Sam awake, he smiled at her. He started talking, as soon as he shut the door behind him, "They're fine, Sam. No problems, they know what happened and why, and they pretty much had everything taken care of before they even knew, as I'm sure Malek told you."

Malek and Sam sat up and scooted to the headboard. It didn't even feel strange to be sharing the bed with Malek, which Sam felt was strange in itself. She smiled at her dad, telling him, "I'm very relieved. What did they find out, though?"

"The reason there was a problem with the tissue tearing, instead of dissolving as it should have, was because one of the substances in your nausea medication inhibited the process. Had Lantash known, it would simply have meant waiting before he made the exchange. The tissue was dissolving, but slowly. The other, the bleeding, was caused by the ginger that Daniel and Lantash have been giving you. It seems that its chemical make-up is extremely close to a naturally occurring substance, which, when they ingest it in small quantities, doesn't bother them. In larger quantities, however, it works as a blood thinner. It's no longer a problem; so, all's well that ends well."

Changing the subject, he told her, "Arwanna, Gava, and Calise are taking care of Malek and Daniel, working on saving them, and seeing to it that Malek is up, and able to help them with the antidote and to work on keeping Daniel alive. In reality, they are looking forward to a few days spent on the Tau'ri world, eating pizza, pancakes, and spaghetti, which Per'sus and Anise have assured them are delicious. They're taking turns figuring out how the microwave, the toaster, the TV and the DVD player work."

"So far, they've found a cooking channel, a soap opera, Sesame Street reruns, a fishing show, a golf tournament, a shopping channel, the Weather Channel, the Discovery Channel, CMT, Star Trek the original series, I love Lucy, M.A.S.H., The Munsters, and the pay per view movie channels...including the adult ones. I believe they are particularly fascinated by them, to the point that they seem to have stopped their channel surfing, at least for a while."

"When they found out there are 'movies' they can buy, they started making plans to convert some DVD players and TVs, so they can take them back to the tunnels. Selmak says that they are being corrupted quite nicely and quickly. Per'sus," he cleared his throat, and it was obvious that he was attempting not to laugh, before he continued, "Also seemed rather mesmerized by one of the, ah, 'movie' channels. You may have a rather high pay per view bill, but he assured us that he would pay for it. I think Garshaw and Anise find the entire thing amusing as hell; we keep catching one or the other of them peeking into the family room, watching the others watching the TV, and then after leaving, laughing like crazy."

He looked thoughtful for a short time and then murmured, "We haven't really had time for much entertainment, so far; we'll have to be sure to introduce Malek and Devlin to some of those, ah, shows."

"As for Lantash and Daniel, they are blending and so far, everything is fine. They're monitoring them a little longer, although no one believes that there'll be any problems, at this point. I don't imagine they'll check on them more than a couple more hours, then they'll leave them alone for the most part. They'll check on them every once in a while, but that's it. At this point, they're pretty much treating it as a successful blending, and doing no more than they would in the tunnels…well, they will be treating it that way, after they stop the more frequent monitoring, anyway."

He paused, before looking at her closely and then asking, "How are you doing, Sam? I can tell it's been a little rough at least once already."

Sam nodded and gave him a brief, but warm smile, before assuring him, "I was sort of disoriented, when I woke up, and a few things hit me kind of hard. I'm better now, but I realize that it's not over yet. I'll be okay, Dad. Don't worry about me. Take care of Daniel and Lantash for me. That's the best thing you can do to help me. As long as I know everything is going along normally, then I'll be fine with Malek and Devlin. I'll be fine. Really."

Standing from where he'd been sitting on the edge of the bed, Jacob nodded, telling them, "Good enough. If either of you need us for anything, just com us." He tossed Malek a Tok'Ra communicator. We decided that might be easier than hollering down the stairs."

Malek grinned back at them. "We thank you and Selmak, Jacob, and should we need anything, we will not hesitate to contact you."

Opening the door, he turned back to them, saying, "If anything changes and goes wrong, we'll tell you, Sam. We won't keep it from you, if something else happens. Promise." Before she could answer, he stepped through the door, and closing it softly behind him, was gone.

Sam turned to Malek and he could see the relief in her eyes. Reaching over, he pulled her into his arms, and began to gift her with scenes from their past. "I remember one time that Lantash went against the council's orders, stole the only Alkesh we had, and returned to the world we had been captured on, to retrieve me. It wasn't easy…" He murmured in a soft cadence, and as he felt Sam relax, he lowered his voice even more. He would talk to her, for a time…until the next memory swept through her, and they once more became her only light in the dark.

Sam listened quietly, as Malek continued to lull her into relaxing more. Even with Malek talking to her about Lantash and his past, she was beginning to have memories attempt to return to her. Realizing they were of Martouf, during the weekend they spent together, she tried very hard to listen to what Malek was telling her. It was helping, but it wouldn't last for long.

Malek could tell that some of her memories were trying to surface. He kissed her forehead, telling her, "Let us lie down and relax, Samantha. The headboard is becoming uncomfortable, do you not agree? Once we are more comfortable, I will resume my anecdote about Lantash and I."

She nodded and slid down, just as he did, and pretended that she didn't know that he was getting them into position, so that he could hold her closer and more tightly should the need arise. Sighing, she laid her head on his shoulder, as his arms came around her. At least, she no longer had to worry about Lantash and Daniel. With that worry off her mind, she felt more capable of enduring whatever came next. She settled in to listen to Malek tell her about Lantash's and his escapades…and to wait.

TBC