The Virus

Chapter 26

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Once SG-1 was settled around the briefing table General Hammond nodded towards Jack to begin. It almost felt like it had before... arriving off world and bringing back exotic tales for the General.

"Teal'c and I spoke to Simon. He's sixteen and helped Lucy escape the facility they - and the other kids - were being held in." Jack looked over at Teal'c, who just raised an eyebrow as if to say 'continue'. "The children were kept locked in rooms that sound a lot like modern jail cells... so I'm wondering if this is where the 'adults' as Simon called them - were holding them. He didn't go into detail on their escape but he did seem to think that everyone escaped apart from one group. Their room had been empty when they unlocked it." He sighed. "Apparently they were taken one at a time and had lots of medical tests done... blood tests, x-rays, MRI's... and lots of honking big needles. They were given what the adults just called 'medicine' via injection every day. As far as Simon knows not one of the kids that we brought back contracted the virus. Sam what did you learn from Sophie?" He turned to face her and she suddenly felt guilty for not asking Sophie more questions. She had little to add!

"I learned nothing more than you did. Sophie is only eight and she was pretty upset... from Lucy we learned the kids were transported from elsewhere in the country. My question is... what is so special about these kids? Daniel? Did Cameron say anything?"

"He doesn't really understand. He didn't get sick, he just remembers being taken to the 'scary place' and getting lots of needles which hurt. He did say he heard the word 'jeans' and he wondered if they were talking about his pants." Daniel finished with a smile.

"Maybe he meant genes as in - genetics." Sam mused, her brain suddenly speeding up. "Maybe the children have a specific gene that helps them become immune?"

"Anyone else thinking Niirti right now?" Jack looked pissed off. "She's definitely dead right? Those Goa'uld have a penchant for coming back from the dead..."

"I believe she is dead O'Neill." Teal'c looked amused, as amused as the stoic Jaffa got anyway. Sam felt a shiver run through her at thoughts of the creepy Goa'uld named Niirti. She would never forget the feeling after being put in the Goa'uld machine that messed with their genetics. She was sure she was going to die a horrible death like Evanov.

"Obviously Niirti had nothing to do with this but we should probably look onto Goa'uld interference. When I first heard about the virus I heard it was developed in a lab... I had assumed being on Earth it meant humans..." Daniel trailed off looking thoughtful. "We need to find this facility."

Sam knew they could sit there for hours theorizing but what they needed to do was get out there and find out what the hell was going on. If the people - or aliens - who designed the virus were still out there then they needed to be stopped. There was a chance another deadly virus was being designed right now.

"So the kids were either being tested on to find a cure… or produce a vaccine... or the people who designed the virus were trying to find out what prevented it from being 100% effective in killing off the population on Earth by finding out how they survived." Daniel sighed and fiddled with his glasses. "You are right Sam, we need to get out there." SG-1 all seemed to be in agreement and turned to General Hammond. Ultimately it was up to him.

"Alright, you have a go. You can head out tomorrow. Dismissed." He waved his hand at the door. "Enjoy your night SG-1."

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Before doing anything else, Sam headed up to the first level to check on their new arrivals, Lucy in particular. She was loathe to go through the decontamination process again but thankfully it would only be seven days until the children would be out of quarantine.

"Major Carter," Doctor O'Malley greeted her at the entrance a surprised look on his face. "Miss me that much did you?" Sam laughed lightly and stepped through.

"Of course, Doc." She teased and took a seat on the nearest cot. "I wanted to check in on Lucy actually." The procedure didn't take as long this time. She only needed a cursory look over since she wasn't coming in from the outside. She had received a call earlier to say the kids had all come back clean which meant she wouldn't even have to wear a hazmat suit when visiting them.

On entering the corridor she heard children's laughter and followed the sound to Dana's room. She found Lucy seated on the end of the girls bed, Tinkerbell snuggled next to her and a boy and girl she did not know standing at the top of the bed by Dana's head.

"Hello," She stepped into the room and five pairs of eyes turned her way, all laughter ceased the moment they said her. Apart from Lucy and Dana the others wouldn't have seen her face until now, due to the hazmat suit.

"Hi Sam," Lucy smiled first and turned to the others. "It's okay guys, Sam is cool." Sam could count on one hand the amount of times she had been classed as 'cool' and she found she was quite pleased Lucy had chosen that word to describe her. She knew it was a common word used by teenagers and merely meant she was 'okay' or in this case trustworthy… but she decided to take it as a compliment anyway.

"Dana is feeling a lot better I see," the girl in question had the pink blanket she had been given wrapped around her shoulders and a plate of food on her lap.

"I feel much, much, much better." Dana gave her a shy smile.

Sam took the time to tell the children about life on base. She received a collective groan when she told them they would have "school" still... but enjoyed the excited look when she told them about the other children and Cassie's movie theatre.

Tinkerbell remained silent throughout but Sam felt the little girl's big brown eyes on her the whole time. Something about the kid pulled at her heart strings and she felt her maternal instinct kick in. It wasn't often she felt like this, but when she looked at Tinkerbell, she thought of Cassie all those years ago…

"You must be Tinkerbell." Sam stepped closer and bent to her level. The little girl nodded her head vigorously, her dark red curls bouncing with each nod. "I'm Sam I hope we can be friends."

"Okay." Tinkerbell answered simply and gave Sam the most adorable smile she had ever seen. She felt her heart melt at the sight.

"Good!" She reached out and ran a hand over the girls head and over her hair. She was surprised at how soft and clean her hair felt compared to the other kids. The older kids had been taking good care of their youngest charge. The Tinkerbell outfit was looking worse for wear though and the little white ballet shoes she wore were grey with dirt and had holes in them. She would have to see about finding fresh clothes for all of the children and possibly a fresh Tinkerbell costume for their youngest survivor since it was unlikely she would wear regular clothes. The stores may have been looted when the virus hit and everyone panicked but she was pretty sure children's clothes and costumes wouldn't have been totally cleaned out of the stores.

..xx..

She found General Hammond before heading to the commissary for food and asked about finding the time to go and get clothes and toys for all the children on base. He was fine with her plan… up until she asked if Cassie could come with her.

"I assumed you would take Jack with you as back up..." He frowned. "Cassie has little to no training..." He trailed off, his eyes widening in realization. "But you wouldn't put her at risk, so obviously you want to take the rest of SG-1?"

"I'm hoping I can convince them to accompany us... otherwise no, I won't consider taking Cassie."

"Well you have asked to do this in your down time... and if you can get the rest of SG-1 to go with you, then yes go ahead." The General gave her a smile. "Now go – eat – you need to be ready for your movie. I hear Cassie is insisting everyone dresses up for the occasion?"

"Ah, I hadn't heard that. I guess I had better find myself something nice to wear then!" Sam chuckled. It would be nice to wear something other than her BDU's for once.

TBC.

Authors Note: Okay so I might have a little favouritism going on here. I know most young women that are living on base currently – and don't have military training – wouldn't be allowed to go on a "mission" no matter how innocuous it appeared… but I think it would do Cassie good to see the outside of the base… She's a smart cookie, and resourceful… Plus c'mon… Sam needs a girl to go shopping with! In saying this, I'm unlikely to put their shopping trip in this story as I still have so much to fit in… I might do a little one-shot about it.