The Iris opened and Jacob stepped through the Gate, a grim expression on his face. They'd sent word that he needed to come to SGC immediately, and that was it. They hadn't told him they had found Sam because then they would need to explain everything and that needed to be done face to face. "What have you found?"

"Jacob," Hammond stepped closer to his friend. There was no one else in the gate room with them, an unusual thing. The two of them stood there quietly until Hammond found his voice again. "I need you to listen to me very carefully … We've got Sam but, it's not good."

If it was possible Jacob's face grew even grimmer. "Is she –"

"She's alive," Hammond offered. "But, it's not good." Jacob gave a sharp nod and he let Hammond lead the way. They had just turned down the hallway that lead to the Iso room when Sam's scream erupted, letting Hammond know that she was having a stronger convulsion. Jacob rushed down the hall and as he reached the room he could hear Sam's pleas.

"Please … please …"

"I can't," Janet cried as she looked down at Sam.

"We are not going to kill you," Jack barked. "We're going to figure this out. You just have to hold on Carter!"

Jacob stepped up to her bedside and gently placed his hand on hers. "Sammie?" He could see the pain it caused her just to turn her head to look at him and he wanted to cry. She tried to smile but it turned into more tears as she squeezed his hand as if her life depended on it.

"Dad …"

"Sam, it's gonna be okay. I swear … we'll fix this." Her only response was to cry harder as another large convulsion ripped through her. Once again Jacob heard her scream at the pain she was experiencing and simply held her hand.

As the convulsion ended there was a bright flash of light and the group looked up to see a woman standing in the room. "Oma," Daniel offered.

Jacob looked from the new comer down to Sam to find her eyes closed but, her face still showing signs of pain. "Janet," he asked concerned.

"She's alright," Oma offered. "I'm sorry; I can't stop her pain or what's to come. But, I can postpone it."

"What do you mean? 'What's to come'," Hammond asked.

"As you know the technology that has been implanted in Samantha is designed to keep her in pain, to keep her from healing. It was designed to keep a prisoner in constant torture. The larger convulsions are a way to progress the torture."

"We know that," Jack yelled. "What are you postponing?"

Oma stepped closer to the foot of Sam's bed. "The implants in her brain were designed to record everything that has happened. I can't stop what's going to happen to her …"

"Will Major Carter be forced to experience what the devices recorded," Teal'c asked gravely.

"Yes," Oma offered gently. "When it happens she's not going to know she's here. She'll think she's back on Ba'al's ship and, she'll relive every moment of torture she has already been through."

There was a moment of silence until Daniel spoke. "Why would Ba'al use such a device? His torture methods have proven effective before."

"Like I said," Jack offered, taking Sam's other hand in his. "He must not have had a sarcophagus."

"In fact he did not," Oma offered with a hint of a smile.

"Oma," Daniel asked as he stepped closer to her. "You could help, you could help Sam ascend."

Everyone's head shot up at that moment, now focused on the being in front of them. Some hoping she could help Sam and others afraid of losing Sam to the ascension. Oma smiled sadly as she looked to Daniel. "I can't do as you ask Daniel. I offered that to Samantha weeks ago; she refused."

"It would take time, I know but –"

"No Daniel," Oma offered. "Samantha has the ability to ascend whenever she chooses. She does not require my assistance. She chooses to remain. Samantha knows exactly what she wants; she wants this life, not to stand on the sidelines for eternity."

"Sam can ascend without help," Daniel asked. This news confused him but, he would have to revisit this later.

"She could take human form later," Jack offered as he looked from Oma to Sam and back. His heart wasn't behind the statement. They all knew it. It had been hard enough when Daniel had ascended.

"But to do so would mean she would have to leave you Jack." Oma only had eyes for him as she offered a knowing smile. "Like I said, she knows exactly what she wants. Samantha loves you Jack. She loves you enough to stand on the sidelines of your life; to let you pretend that there is nothing between you two, she'd even let you live your life with another but, she would never willingly leave you. Even now, when the torture continues, she still fights. She's not capable of leaving you. It's why she asked for you to end her life and stop her pain. She's asked you to let her go because she can't.

"Will you let her go, or will you fight for her?"

The group looked from Oma to Jack, unsure of what to do. "I won't let her die," Jack growled.

"And if you succeed, if you save her life, what then? She has left everything to you Jack. Will you make her spend her life on the sidelines? She refuses to leave the sidelines of your life for the sidelines of the universe, even if it would end her pain. She can't make that step Jack. You have to decide – will you let her go, or will you fight for her?"

When Jack didn't answer Oma moved to Jacob's side of Sam's bed and gently placed her hand on Sam's arm. "I will be close if you change your mind Samantha." Even in her state of sleep she turned her head away from Oma and those closest could hear her mumbled 'no'. Oma looked to Jacob with soft eyes. "When I leave she will wake again. It will happen then; she will not know who you are Jacob." Jacob nodded his head as he continued to watch Sam in her few moments of reprieve. "I doubt you want to know what she went through," Oma offered softly. "But if you need to, you need only project her memories with your memory recall device."

Jacob's eyes flashed and he spoke as Selmak. "If you wish us to project her memories General we can do so, we have the device on us."

Hammond looked from Selmak to Sam before his eyes flitted to the others quickly, settling on Janet. "She won't tell us anything. If we're going to attempt to take Ba'al we need to know what we can. We also need to know what she's told him."

"Very well," Selmak offered. He pulled out the small disk device and the corresponding instrument used to project memories. Just as Selmak pressed the small device into Sam's temple there was a flash of light and Oma was gone.

At first nothing happened. Then, without warning, Sam curled into a fetal position as she pulled her hands to her head. She screamed at the pain as she continued to hold her head as if to fight off the pain. The memory device showed flashes, nothing understandable until it settled on Ba'al. After a moment the screaming subsided and Janet quickly checked her vitals before returning her attention to the scene before her, watching everything from Sam's point of view

Ba'al was looking down at her, smiling at her. "Painful aren't they?" He reached out, pulling her up to a sitting position and he traced her cheek with his finger. "I do hate to cause you such pain my dear. Someone so lovely shouldn't suffer so. You know you could stop this – you just need to tell me what I want to know."

"Go to hell," Sam offered.

"You are so feisty," Ba'al offered as he wrapped his hand around her throat. "Don't worry; I'll break you of that soon enough. After all, no one, not even your team knows you are here. My Jaffa did an excellent job of retrieving you this morning. You'll tell me everything. O'Neill resisted the torture for quite some time but, even he succumbed to the effects of the sarcophagus. I'm merely interested to know if you'll succumb to that or if my little trinkets will be more effective."

"I'll kill you before I tell you anything."

Ba'al merely laughed. "We'll see about that." Ba'al ordered the Jaffa to carry her across the room and they placed her on the same gravity device Jack had been on, held against the wall by an invisible force. "I'll show you what I did to O'Neill before I send you off to your cell. I think I would like to test these little trinkets before we start with the sarcophagus."

Ba'al slowly let daggers and acid hit her before he decided he needed to stop. "I don't want to kill you just yet. Besides, I need to implant a few more trinkets." The Jaffa placed her back on the slab. Ba'al and his First Prime stood over her as they implanted her with a new 'trinket' at every wound. She didn't scream as he worked but, it clearly caused her pain.

Janet looked down at Sam, still lying in a fetal position, holding her head. She had winced every time Ba'al had made an implant and now she was fighting her tears.

"There's no point in fighting my dear," Ba'al said as he moved over her. "There will be many more tears; you shouldn't waste your energy." He leaned down and forcefully kissed her.

Sam cried harder as her memory showed her trying to fight Ba'al off. The pain clearly limited her ability to fight but, as Ba'al ordered the Jaffa to take her away the machines calmed, showing that Sam's pressure was returning to normal as her memories took her to the quiet group continued to watch as Sam was left in her cell alone, to experience the convulsions for the first time. There was no way for them to track the amount of time that passed but, after a while Sam fought through the pain and made her way through the cell.

"Pathetic Tauri," one of the Jaffa offered as they passed the cell. "This was designed for you. Lord Ba'al has made it impenetrable. You will never escape and your people will never come for you." Sam didn't say anything as she watched the Jaffa leave her.

Time seemed irrelevant as Sam's memories continued. They were passing quickly, like a movie, especially when she wasn't doing anything or being actively tortured. Every time her memories showed the 'trinkets' working Sam convulsed on the bed but, she still remained curled up in a tight ball.

She had played with a panel in her cell and in the blink of an eye the force field was down and the door of bars opened. As soon as she stepped through the doorway a siren sounded. She ran down the hall the Jaffa had carried her down, finding her way back to the 'torture room' quickly. There were only two Jaffa there and she fought them both. She fought the staff weapon away from the first Jaffa before shooting the second, killing him. As the first scrambled to his feet she aimed the staff at the sarcophagus and fired until the Jaffa tackled her.

Jaffa hurried into the room and the Jaffa that had attacked her pulled her up before throwing her to the ground in front of Ba'al. She looked up to him and he hit her hard across the face. "You have killed my Jaffa!"

"And I escaped your 'impenetrable' cell and destroyed your sarcophagus. I'd say that's a good day."

"You will die for your actions."

"If you kill me then you'll never know if your trinkets work. You are not a god. You don't have any power. If you did you wouldn't need a sarcophagus, that machine, to bring me back to life. We both know you can only kill me once if you don't have a sarcophagus. Some god you are."

Ba'al zatted her and then came to straddle her as she lay on the floor after the hit. "I will make you beg me to kill you."

"Probably," she said. "But you're deluded if you think I'll tell you anything."

Ba'al grabbed her by her hair and then slammed her head against the floor.

"Sir," Jack offered as the screen was black. "I'd like to request sending a MALP through to Ba'al's last known location, that planet I was on. Until we know more we should assume he's still there."

Hammond nodded his head as images flickered on the screen. "I'll get Siler working on it. Keep me posted," he offered before turning to leave the room. The others stayed. They all thought that they should leave; no one needed to know exactly what she had been through but, no one moved. Jacob and Selmak refused to leave his daughters side, Janet knew this would be the best information she could get about Sam's injuries, Teal'c knew any information they could gain could be valuable, Daniel simply couldn't bear to leave her alone, and Jack stayed because he wanted to know it all. He was going to go to war against Ba'al, he wanted to know whatever he could to help him fight for Carter.