Sam sat in her usual seat in the briefing room with SG-1 while General Hammond sat in his office talking with Andrew. Seeing him in the office, having him with in reaching distance, was like having hope. Somehow Andrew's simple presence soothed Sam's lingering anger. Truth be told it had smoothed over once she and Daniel had talked but every once in a while she would have a flash back and her anger would be too grate to contain. She had never physically attacked anyone but, she had done a number on both her home and her office. Because of the occasional outbursts Sam wasn't cleared to go back to active duty; and, in all honesty, she wasn't sure she was ready to go back through the gate yet. She wanted to but, she wasn't sure she could put the memories aside just yet.

Sam's musings were interrupted by Hammond opening the door to escort Andrew into the briefing room. They guys all eyed Andrew cautiously but he essentially ignored them as he made his way to her. "It's good to see you Samantha," he offered as he leaned down to give her a hug.

"You too Andrew."

"Andrew," Hammond interrupted. "This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c. Gentlemen, this is Dr. Andrew Phillips." Andrew shook all of their hands and raised his brow in greeting to Teal'c but, said nothing.

Andrew took a seat by Sam and took her hand in his. "So, George had me sign the disclosure statement why'd you call me in Samantha?"

She smiled sadly at him as she patted his hand. "Same reason as last time."

"Well, it can't have been as bad as last time." Sam licked her lips as she looked down at their joined hands and immediately felt Andrew's ire. "Samantha?"

"It was worse ..."

"How could it have been worse? You were only missing for eleven weeks! How is that worse than being a POW for those six months? Or the year and a half that you were missing before that?"

"Andrew ..."

"How in the hell could it be worse than that? Samantha," Andrew chastised.

"I'll explain Andrew, I will. But, right now we need to explain why you had to sign the disclosure agreement." Andrew was silent but he never moved his hand from hers and finally she started to explain about the Stargate. She didn't get far before Daniel took over and she gave him a grateful smile for it. It took a long time to explain, it always did. When they raised the blast doors so that he could see the Stargate Andrew still didn't move from her. She had to get up with him and walk over to the window.

"That's what you were working on at the Pentagon?"

"Yes," she smiled as he squeezed her hand and she held his arm with her free hand.

"I think I need a drink."

"You'll have to settle for desserts in the commissary," Sam offered with a soft smile. "They have jell-o."

Andrew sighed in defeat as he rubbed the back of his head. When they turned back to the rest of the group Sam caught the looks of concern both Jack and Daniel were giving her. "Teal'c –"

"I will escort you Andrew Phillips."

Andrew looked to Teal'c with no particular expression. "And you're a Jaffa?"

"I am," Teal'c offered with a bow of his head. Andrew shrugged as he followed Teal'c leaving Sam standing in front of Jack, Daniel and Hammond.

"POW," Jack asked.

Sam bit her bottom lip; this was not how she wanted to tell her team mates. She never wanted them to know ... "Sir," Sam asked as she looked to Hammond.

With a nod of his head he slid out two folders from under the agreement Andrew had signed. "You'll have to sign these."

"Disclosure agreements," Daniel asked. "Sam, what happened?"

"Sign it Daniel." Without another word the two signed the agreement while Sam took her seat across from them. Once the folders were handed back to Hammond she took a shaky breath. "When I was working on my Ph D I met an exchange student from North Vietnam. He was kind and very intelligent. What I didn't know at the time was that he was here to recruit spies; he was trying to flip Americans. I didn't talk about being at the academy; it was never something that was received well among the others so I kept it to myself. When the CIA learned that he was friends with the daughter of an Air Force general they approached the academy CO. They wanted me to go along with him, pretend to be ignorant to what was going on. They had kept him from knowing of my Air Force status and as he had never talked openly of his intentions they suggested I play along. He wanted me to come to Vietnam, learn what they could offer in regards to my field.

"I went with orders to discover what Vietnam wanted spies for. They never told me directly. I was the eager theoretical astrophysicist who was supposed to be fascinated with what they could teach me and willing to make improvements. About three months into the mission I discovered that they were trying to learn about our nuclear defenses and any other improvements we'd made in weaponry that they could use for themselves. Problem was I got caught snooping around." Sam licked her lips to force a pause. She needed the moment it gave her to collect her thoughts.

"They didn't let on that they knew right away. They started poisoning my food and in a matter of weeks I was deathly ill. They hospitalized me but, they kept me sick or, he did. He wanted me to suffer slowly, very slowly. After awhile the higher ups decided they wanted answers then and there. They tortured me and held me prisoner for nearly a year and a half."

"Sam," Daniel offered in disbelief. She knew he wanted to offer her comfort but, it was so long ago and ... there was more.

"Carter," Jack offered. She knew the question he couldn't ask. Too often female POW's were raped as a form of torture, hell, even the men were.

"No Sir, they never even tried." With that soft reply he let it go with a short nod. "Dad raised holy hell and so did the Air Force. The CIA hadn't told them I was captured till eight months after the poisoning. It didn't really help the tension between the branches." Sam hesitated again, this time looking to Hammond. She could talk about her POW time if need be but, this next bit ... that was ... difficult.

"Major Carter earned a reputation after her time there," he offered, knowing full well this was somehow the strangest part for her. "She never broke and she never told them anything. Even the CIA commented that she handled herself better than some of their own agents. It earned her a spot in black ops."

"What?" The question had come from Jack and she knew he would have the hardest time understanding.

"I wasn't on many missions but I did get 'loaned' out when they thought a single female spy would be the best operative. I hadn't been on a black ops mission in months when the Gulf War went to hell. I told you I clocked over a 100 hours in the air," both men nodded and she too another breath. "I had barely even touched the surface of my service time when I went down. There were a lot of us there; I was the only woman in that particular prison though. I know what happened to Rhonda Cornum (A/N: got that name of Wikipedia) , we're friends and it was the first thing she had asked me when I met her after our release. They did torture me and they did try to force themselves on me but the soldiers I was with were able to save me each time. They're great friends and I owe them a lot."

"Sam, why didn't you tell us?"

"I couldn't Daniel. The Air Force locked my record up tighter than Alcatraz after the mission with the CIA went to hell. They were afraid of the implications it would bring for the simple fact that they messed up. There were clear problems with the CIA plan that even I objected to but, the Air Force essentially threw me in the ring. And Dad raised holy hell; he got every general he knew to put force behind it. I recovered but he was afraid of the rep I might get if too many people knew. Rhonda had a hard time adjusting to new assignments for a long time because everyone knew, people whispered about her at every new base and it took her a long time to prove the rumors wrong. It was decided, 'as a result of my ability to perform above and beyond the call of duty in the face of such extreme conditions', I was an asset to be 'tapped' later."