Sorry this chapter's up so late. I went to visit family today. Please review if you approve!

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Jade's small hands trembled violently, her fingers gripping the delicate Asgard crystal containing the successfully downloaded research. She held it close to her chest with one hand, her chin bent over her fist as she nervously watched the sealed door across the room. Her other hand tightly held Daniel's pistol, but she knew perfectly well that it wouldn't do her much good once she was found.

The Replicators had been more interested in the computer panel where she had been working than in her, so Jade had been able to escape out of the room she had been hiding in by slowly backing away, keeping her gun and the crystal out of sight. One of the Replicators had attacked her as she tried to sneak out of the room, going after the Asgard device on her wrist, but she was able to get it off with only a few small cuts on her left arm. She considered herself incredibly lucky, or at least, she had, until she'd been cornered in the large, empty storeroom at the end of the corridor. It was only a matter of time before the bugs got the door open, and the storage container she had climbed on top of wouldn't be hard for them to reach.

She tried to remain strong, despite the fact that she had clearly made an enormous mistake. The order her father had really given her had just been too difficult to follow. She knew that he wanted her to return to the ship if it appeared that the download would take too long, that he had demanded that she let one of the others remain, preferably himself, until the last possible second to get the research. Jade had known from the beginning that it was likely this would happen, and she simply couldn't allow someone else to risk their life while she cowered in safety. She'd gone over the schematics of the Asgard's vessel technology to know exactly how to disable their transport systems, and she had thought it would be a clever plan. All she'd have to do is wait alone until the download was complete, thus not risking the lives of anyone she cared about.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until she was running frantically down the corridor with the crystal safely in hand, but no way to return control of the transport systems, that she realized what a grave mistake she had made.

I should have let them stay.

There was a loud thud from the other side of the door, and Jade tried to steady her breathing, blinking back frightened tears. After all the planning, all the studying, all the work and time and preparation…she had blown the whole thing with one stupid, irrational, emotional decision.

Memories flooded her mind uncontrollably as she waited for the Replicators to unseal the door. She remembered the moment she woke up for the first time, when Sam had held her face in her hands and smiled brightly at her. She could still recall the first words she heard her father say, the moment he introduced himself and explained who she was. Jade could remember every second of every day since the first time she opened her eyes, and all of those moments swirled around in her mind, until one very clear memory surfaced, and she closed her eyes as she let herself go back to that very last day, the last time she would ever see them…

The lab was the same, nothing about the room any different from the day before, but suddenly it was terrifying. The walls were too confining, the equipment piled up in the corners seeming ominous and threatening. Jade had spent most of her life in this room, studying with her parents for hours on end as they went over their plan again and again and again. The six months had flown by too quickly; somehow, she thought they'd have more time. No one had expected the invasion to begin so soon.

The stasis chamber was hooked up to an Asgard computer monitoring system, and Teal'c was waiting with the vehicle outside to take them to Cheyenne Mountain. Jade's stomach churned as she climbed down the familiar set of stairs, holding tightly to her father's hand.

"I wish you were going instead," she said sincerely. "I don't deserve to live more than you, or Mom, or anybody else." Jack kept silent as he slowly walked down the steps beside her. They all knew perfectly well that once the Solaris invaded, there would be no one left alive on the planet. The only chance anyone had was to leave, by one means or another. Jade knew her parents would never give up hope, that they would die fighting if necessary, but she still felt like a coward for leaving, despite the weighty responsibility she carried. She bit down on her bottom lip and tried her best to keep the tears back.

"I don't want to let you down."

Jack squeezed her fingers and smiled. "You won't."

They slowly walked across the room, where Sam's fingers were running over the computer keys on the panel in the corner. She turned and gave Jade a forced smile, her lips pressed tightly together.

"Okay," she said, obviously doing her best to keep her voice cheerful. "We're all set here. You ready?"

Jade tried to keep her head up, to stay as strong as they were, but there were so many fears bubbling up inside of her, she just couldn't bear it. She stopped and gripped her father' s hand with both of hers, panic rising in her throat.

"Dad, when they find out what I am-"

"Hey," Jack interrupted her gently, gripping her chin. "You are Jade O'Neill. That's what you are. You understand?"

She felt tears spilling over, and she struggled to keep calm as she nodded, stepping up to the stasis pod. She reached out to hold tight to Sam's arm, her breathing ragged and her hands trembling.

"Mom," she whispered. "If I do this, everything's going to change!" She let go of Jack's hand and braced herself on the table in front of her. "What if I make a mistake? What if I get someone killed? Or even worse, I could cause someone to never be born!"

"Jade, sweetie," Sam reassured her. "We have absolute faith in you. You've been preparing all your life for this. We know you can do it."

Jack gave her a hand up as Jade crawled into the pod, her entire body shaking.

"Daddy…" she sobbed, unable to let him go. "I'm never going to see you again!"

Jack took a deep breath, and Sam blinked back tears as she helped Jade settle into the chamber.

"Sure you will," Jack said softly. "When you open your eyes, I bet I'll be the first thing you see." His voice broke and he tried to smile. "We'll still be right here."

Sam turned and double checked the figures on the computer behind them, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Jade shook her head, holding her fingers over her mouth to keep back the sobs in her throat.

"But you won't even know me! Please, Dad, I don't want to leave you! Please let me stay! I'm not afraid to die!"

Jack leaned up to her and wrapped both arms around her trembling body, pulling Sam next to him by her sleeve to help him hold her. The three of them stood clinging to each other, Jade's sobs echoing around the small lab.

"Okay," she finally cried into her father's shoulder, nodding her head numbly as she leaned back. "Okay, I can do this." She held up her chin and wiped her eyes. "Tell Teal'c goodbye for me, and tell him thank you for everything. And give Danny a kiss for me. And please…" She stepped back and laid a hand on Sam's cheek. "Please take care of each other…until I see you again."

Jack nodded and helped her lay down in the pod, and Jade could see that he was trying hard to hide his pain from her. "That's my little soldier," he murmured consolingly. "You're so brave. Just close your eyes…it'll be over soon."

Sam gave Jack a nod, letting him know they were ready, and then she leaned over to stroke Jade's hair, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Jade," she said, her voice sounding strangled as she leaned over the stasis chamber. "I hope you know...we couldn't love you more if you really were…"

Unable to finish getting out the words, she turned and buried her face in Jack's shoulder, the sound of her muffled sobs barely audible over the whirring of the machine next to them. Jade took a few deep breaths and nodded to her father.

"Okay," she said shakily. "I'm ready."

She shut her eyes tight, and there was a click as the panel over her slid closed. The pod began to vibrate slightly, and she felt an odd chill for just a moment before everything went black, her whispered goodbye fading into the silence.

There was a loud thud from the other side of the door, and Jade's eyes fluttered open. She reached up to wipe away the tears running down her cheeks, her heart aching at the memory of her last goodbye. She was afraid to think of what had happened to her family in her time, whether they had fought to the end, or escaped to the Alpha Site to find Daniel and little Danny. She thought of how disappointed they would be to know she had failed, that she had single-handedly doomed the entire Asgard and Human race to extinction.

There was an all-too familiar mechanical skittering sound that echoed around the empty room as the door slid up suddenly, and a swarm of bugs poured in across the floor and over the walls, some even making their way across the ceiling. Jade tucked the Asgard crystal into her pocket and tried to aim Daniel's pistol with her trembling hands, but there were so many…she couldn't imagine it would help things to shoot four or five bugs out of the hundreds that had already begun devouring everything in sight. She curled up into a ball instead, squishing her body as far from the edge of the container as possible and trying to find some small shred of hope that she could still cling to.

Daddy, please get me out of here…