A/N: Hey y'all. Been busy with good things :) Helping my best friend plan her wedding. And I'm making her wedding dress! Have some Selmak.

"Unscheduled off-world activation." The klaxon and alarms sent a burst of adrenaline through Elle's veins, and she looked over at Daniel. He grinned at her, already half out of his seat. "Come on."

They met Jack and Sam in the process of piling into the control room, Teal'c on their heels. "It's the Tok'ra," Walter said, reading the confirmation code coming through the wormhole. "Jacob and Selmak."

"Open the iris," Hammond said. He looked at Elle. "Any insights?"

"It's a cult," Elle said cheerfully. "A good research one for you, Daniel."

"Yay," Daniel deadpanned.

The iris on the gate retracted, and a single figure stepped through. The wormhole closed, leaving Sam's father standing on the ramp.

"Come on," Jack said, clasping Elle's shoulder. "Let's introduce you to Dad and watch his mind explode. Remember, you're playing up the weirdness, not the accuracy."

"I know," Elle said, putting on her game face. They couldn't afford to let any of their allies know precisely how much Elle knew about everything, which meant...

"Oh good," she said, sweeping into the conference room, where Jacob and Hammond were finishing their greetings. She zeroed in on the holoprojector device sitting on the table. "Good, you brought it. Trying to describe the Goa'uld family tree after a certain point was like trying to draw a circle. Very Charles II of Spain of them."

Behind her, Daniel choked on a laugh.

Both Hammond and their Tok'ra guest were staring at her like she was crazy, which was the point. "Who's this?" Jacob asked after a second.

"Elle Wilcott, civilian mission consultant," Elle said, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you. Glad you won't die on Dakara. I'd stay away from hell, though. It really takes a toll. Selmak, a pleasure. I've heard great things about your wisdom regarding family relationships." She skirted around him and poked at the device.

"What?" Jacob asked, bewildered, turning to his daughter. "Sam?"

"Hi, dad," Sam said, giving him a hug. "Just roll with it."

"Okay." He visibly switched gears, ignoring Elle, who was trying to find the on-switch. "So, you guys are the talk of the Tok'ra water-cooler."

"For what?" Jack asked.

"For kicking some major Hathor behind."

Jack affected a modest smile. "Yes, we do take pride in good work. But that's not why you're here."

"No. We need your help."

Elle activated the device. It produced a holographic rendition of the Goa'uld family tree, a census of sorts, which doubled as the current balance of power in this galaxy. Ra, obviously dead and gone. Apophis, on his way out. Heru-ur, kicking up a fuss, soon to be dealt with. Hathor, recently departed this mortal plane (and good riddance). "You're here for Setesh," she said, pointing the name out. "He's still on Earth."

"How did you kn-"

"She does that," Daniel said. "You'll get used to it."

Elle smiled at Jacob serenely.

He looked deeply disturbed. Perfect. Thank the Great Bird for two ships full of thespians. "Where did you find this consultant?" Jacob asked.

"Uh, preparing to blow up a Goa'uld base," Jack said. "She's a traveler. Stared into the void a little much, if you know what I mean." He waved a hand. "Genius, though, and knows her stuff."

Jacob bowed his head and lifted again, his eyes flashing as the Tok'ra symbiote inside of him took control. "Are you some sort of telepath?" Selmak asked in that two-toned voice that grated on the nerves.

Elle suppressed her shudder. "No," she said. "Well, yes. Maybe."

"Ookay," Jacob said, retaking control. "Yes. Setesh. Have you met him, Teal'c?"

"I have met descendants of his Jaffa."

"All right, who's this Setesh fella?" Jack asked.

Daniel's eyes glazed over, going into his mental archive. "Otherwise known as Setec, Set, Seti, Seth. The ancient Egyptian god of chaos, the embodiment of hostility and…outright evil."

"Sounds fun," Jack said mildly.

Jacob gestured at the hologram. "The Tok'ra Council has been taking a Goa'uld census, of sorts. Where the System Lords have positioned themselves, what domain they rule, who serves under them, that sort of thing. But there's one Goa'uld we've lost track of."

Elle made a mental note to copy that hologram over when Jacob wasn't looking. They'd need it for the plan.

"Our record of him ends when the Earth's gate was buried in ancient Egypt."

"Are you saying he never left?" Sam asked.

"That's our theory. We think he still might be here, hiding among Earth's people."

"How do you know he's still alive?" Jack asked.

"He's alive if he has a sarcophagus," Daniel pointed out. Ooh, another thing to steal.

"Or if he changes hosts every four hundred years or so."

Hammond frowned. "But if he were here, why wouldn't he have tried to get at the Stargate sometime between when it was buried and now? Or, why wouldn't he try to take over the Earth, like Ra did?"

Jacob shook his head. "Seth had a hefty price on his head…he tried to overthrow Ra. Now, the System Lords wanted him dead, as did the Tok'ra. We believe if he's still here, it's because he's using Earth as a place to hide out. He wishes to remain hidden among you."

"Kinda gives needle in a haystack a whole new meaning," Jack drawled.

"Well, I know it's a long shot."

"Not necessarily," Daniel said, glancing at Elle, who made a face of agreement. "Remember, Setesh is a Goa'uld, and not only do they have a constant thirst for power, they do have a pretty common MO for getting that power."

"False religion," Teal'c intoned, scowling.

"Babylon the Great," Elle agreed.

They looked at her.

"What?" she asked. "There's libraries in space. I can read."

"Which shrinks the proverbial haystack considerably," Daniel continued smoothly. "Let me do some homework, see if I can track him through archaeological and historical records. Elle, you can help me since you seem to know what we're doing here."

Elle gave him a thumbs up. "We just need to follow the bodies."

"And on that disturbing note, dismissed," Hammond said.

SG1, minus Sam, left the conference room. "How was that?" Elle asked. "Do you think he suspects anything?"

"I think he suspects you're wacko," Jack said, laughing. "Did you see his face? Poor Jacob."

Elle snickered. "I think I missed my calling on the stage."

"Stick to your day job," Daniel advised.

"Tracking down despots and false gods?"

"That's the one."

"Yes, Dr. Jackson."

"Come on. We can stop and get pie before we start on the search."

"I get to do the Googling," Elle said. "You have never seen Google-fu like this."

"What's Google?"

Elle came to a full stop in the corridor. "What."

"What's Google?" Daniel repeated.

"Nineteen ninety-nine," Elle said to herself, faceplaming. "Right. That probably just came out, huh."

"You've been on the computer this whole time, and you didn't figure that out?" Jack asked, unimpressed.

"I was doing all my research within the government web! I haven't even looked at civilian internet except to look for YouTube, which doesn't exist yet! I really should've paid more attention in pre-Federation history of Earth."

"Going back to the pie," Jack said.

"Right." Elle shook it off. "What is it, like, Yahoo? Some scholar index? Ask Jeeves. That's a good one."

"Who is Jeeves?" Teal'c asked.

"Stephen Fry," Elle said. "Jeeves and Wooster. PG Wodehouse books. And Hugh Laurie playing the piano and making the most goggle-eyed elastic expressions you've ever seen on a man."

Daniel and Jack exchanged a glance. "I don't think we have that here," Daniel said.

Elle frowned. "No Hugh Laurie. No Jeeves and Wooster. This is truly the darkest timeline."

Teal'c rolled his eyes.

-/\-

True to his word, Daniel let Elle do the computer searches. "This is so easy," Elle said, scrolling through the results. "No ads, no sponsored posts, no paywalls. Look at that. Beautiful. Flash player, no. Bad." She scrolled again. "Ah, Times New Roman, my staid friend. Just wait till Calibri gets here."

Daniel raised both his eyebrows, amused. "Are you actually reading, or are you just sweet-talking the computer?"

"I'm reading," Elle protested. "There's a lot of cults around this time."

"I found them in the 1800's," Daniel said sometime later.

"Great! I found them in the nowadays."

Daniel lifted his head. "What."

"I found them," Elle reiterated. "I found a blog post about it and followed it up."

Daniel read over her shoulder. "All right. Let's get a report started. A general timeline, see if we can follow their movements back. And I'll check the watchlists."

"Yes, sir."

He frowned at her. "I thought we agreed you didn't have to 'sir' the civilians."

"Sorry, habit," Elle said. She did an elaborate finger gun and jazz hand combo. "Yes, Dr. Jackson, mighty keeper of knowledge."

He pushed his glasses up his nose. "Better," he deadpanned.

-/\-

"So what's the bad news?" Jacob asked when Elle and Daniel called in the team a few hours later.

"None," Elle said. "All good news. Well, if you like the idea of a Goa'uld having a cult following." She turned the computer monitor to show them the hastily copy-pasted timeline she'd made with Word Art.

"It appears," Daniel said, "there's been a cult of Setesh throughout history, in one form or another, since around 1000 BC."

Elle switched the page to display Setesh's symbol, a funky little animal that looked dopey even in the hieroglyphs. "This is his mascot."

"Mascot?" Jack asked.

"Well, Setesh was represented by an animal that was either fictitious or now extinct. Most likely the former, rather than the latter, since anthropologists haven't discovered any fossils to point to a species like this ever existing."

"It looks like a greyhound and an anteater had a baby," Elle added, squinting at it. "Setesh really was evil, genetically engineering messed-up animals like that."

Teal'c indicated the nose of the creature. "Because the creature represents Setesh, the helmets of the Setesh guard have continued to be a source of many jokes among the Jaffa."

Elle started laughing.

"Jaffa jokes?" Jack and Daniel exchanged an amused glance. "Let's hear one of them."

"I shall attempt to translate one, O'Neill. A Serpent Guard, a Horus Guard, and a Setesh Guard meet on a neutral planet. It is a tense moment. The Serpent Guard's eyes glow! The Horus Guard's beak glistens! The Setesh Guard's…nose drips." He started laughing.

"Nice!" Elle held up a hand. "High-five."

Teal'c solemnly high-fived her, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Ok," Daniel said, sharing another glance with Jack. "Anyways. After Set was supposedly killed in ancient Egypt along with all his minions, a similar god named Typhon showed up in Greece. Similar back stories and another fictitious animal representation. In one of Typhon's last legends, he killed three hundred followers and then disappeared from Greece. Now, at that point, he seemed to vanish from recorded history altogether. Until I found this. A new cult arose in England in the early 1800s, strangely enough near the location of Stonehenge. The cult had an enigmatic leader named Seth. They were constantly under attack by the Christians, then, and this is the important part, Seth's worshippers, all of them, were found dead, having slit their own throats. But Seth's body was never found."

Jack frowned. "Guy liked to leave a lot of dead bodies behind."

"Hopefully, we can stop him from doing it again," Elle said. "We found him on a cult-following website and confirmed it with the ATF site. It's a cult whose leader is named Seth, just North of Seattle. The ATF are investigating him now because they've become so heavily armed and fortified. This guy has about fifty followers, who are all apparently ready to die for him."

Jacob blinked. "You mean to say you actually found this guy?"

"How do we know he's our Goa'uld?" Sam asked.

Daniel leaned over Elle's shoulder to read off the website. "Deprogrammed ex-members of the cult describe Seth as having magical powers and the ability to heal. They also claim he's murdered several members in front of the others. And here's the best part…several independent reports have stated that the cult leader can make his own eyes glow."

Jack nodded appreciatively. "Nice work. I guess we're going to Seattle."

"Rain gear, for sure," Elle said. "And waterproof boots. I would even say waterproof pants if you're going to be hiding in a bush."

"Have you heard of an umbrella?" Jack asked wryly.

"That doesn't do anything if the rain is sideways," Elle pointed out. "Give me a hood and waterproofs any day."

"I thought you were an alien," Jacob said.

"Can't an alien have intense opinions about the use of protective outerwear?" Elle asked, raising an eyebrow in imitation of Spock-I can and will argue with you about every single thing-S'chn-T'gai.

"Fair enough," Jacob said after a second of what looked like an internal discussion with his symbiote.

"Also, I would like to go with," Elle said.

"No," said all of SG1, minus Daniel.

"Probably a good idea," Daniel said at the same time.

His teammates shot him a triple glare.

"If we get into any trouble, we could use a person on comms who can research quickly and get us information," Daniel said, giving Jack a look.

Jack glanced at Jacob. Glanced at Elle. "Fine," he said. "I suppose we should test this new dynamic in a slightly less explosive environment."

"No explosions," Elle promised and laughed at the memory of the episode. "Not on my part, anyways."

Jacob squinted at her suspiciously. "Colonel, a word?" he said.

Jack shot Elle an amused look. "Certainly," he said, and both men withdrew into the hallway.

"-crazy," Jacob was saying in a low tone.

"-not that crazy... good instincts-" Jack said.

Elle muffled her laughter into her sleeve, her shoulders shaking as she tried to stay silent. "His face," she whispered.

Sam shook her head, fighting back her own laughter. "I don't know if it's worth it if they think you're absolutely nuts," she said.

"Crazy but capable," Elle said. "It's a fine line to walk."

"You need to stop using it like a jump rope," Daniel added, smirking.

"Hey!" Elle protested, laughing.

-/\-

"Planes, trains, and automobiles," Elle muttered into Teal'c's arm, already falling asleep as the Air Force plane started to take off. "I miss the transporter. Scramble my molecules any day. Everything on this planet takes sooo looong."

"Indeed," Teal'c intoned. "Perhaps we can acquire some from the Asgard."

Elle perked up. "Now there's a plan..."

"Go to sleep," Jack ordered, tugging the brim of his hat further down his eyes.

Elle did, in fact, fall asleep before they reached cruising altitude.

"Elle."

Elle squinted blearily. "Daniel?"

"Yeah. We're here. C'mon."

"Yup." She stumbled after the others, and Sam put an arm around her shoulders.

Elle inhaled deeply as they walked across the tarmac. It was raining, a light, steady drizzle. She tilted her head up and looked at the grey morning sky. "Ohhhhh, I changed my mind," she said, looking at the waves of evergreens in the distance. "I love this planet."

They got in the SUV. Elle crawled all the way in the back with Sam and promptly fell asleep again to the sound of Jack swearing in the rain as they drove to their hotel. She half-woke up when they got closer to their destination.

"She's a heavy sleeper," Jacob said. "Isn't that dangerous in the field?"

"She doesn't leave the mountain," Jack drawled. "And she's a kid. I don't want her on a hair-trigger if I can help it."

"Fair enough."

Elle opened one eye. "Just because I don't start shooting doesn't mean I don't wake up when people are talking about me," she said, stifling a yawn. She sat up and retied her ponytail. "Sound of rain or warp drives put me right to sleep."

Sam shot her a grin. "We noticed."

"Ha, ha," Elle said.

They got to their hotel, checked in, put their luggage in their rooms, and left again. Elle climbed in the middle with Daniel. "We'll scope out the location and get some surveillance, and then we'll come back for the night," Jack decided. "We're going to take it slow."

"Tell that to the ATF," Elle suggested.

Jack shot her a glance. "If we see them, you betcha."

Elle gave him a thumbs-up. "Oh, trust me, we'll see 'em."

"Are you telling the future?" Jacob asked, craning his neck to look at her.

"No," Elle said, straight-faced. "I have advanced pattern recognition and probability calculations. And I read their reports. They have a team in the field."

Jacob squinted at her. "Okay," was all he said, and turned back around.

Daniel put a hand over his mouth, shaking his head. "While we're in the car, we should practice your Goa'uld," he said once he'd gotten his smile under control.

"May your camels and asses die in the full sun of my discontent," Elle said in Goa'uld.

Daniel let out a surprised laugh. "Rude," he said mildly.

"Hey, the little old ladies have the best life curses," Elle said. "I just learned from the masters of the arts."

Teal'c huffed a laugh. "That is true," he said.

"Daniel," Jack said mildly from the driver's seat. "Are you teaching our intern how to swear?"

"She came like that," Daniel replied in the same tone.

"Self-sufficient, that's me," Elle agreed cheerfully.

Jacob laughed. See? He was warming up to her.

-/\-

They drove through a small town and kept driving onto an old road. Further down the road was a well-fortified, squat set of buildings surrounded by a fenced-off entrance. There was a car waiting for them. Jack stopped the car. "This must be the sheriff," he said. "The one we spoke to on the phone. Elle, stay in the car."

"Yup."

Everyone else got out. The Sheriff got out of his car. "Colonel O'Neill?"

"Yep."

"This is the place. The main building's about three-quarter mile up that drive. I sure hope you can shut these guys down. I've had a lot of parents come into my office…they've lost their kids to this nut. I haven't got the manpower or the, what you call probable cause, that you Federal types do."

"Well, we'll do what we can, Sheriff, appreciate you letting us look around."

Elle heard a garbled voice come over the Sheriff's radio. He excused himself from the group and drove away. As he was leaving, another man hurried out of the bushes and came over. "You people with the FBI?"

"Nope," Jack said, taking his hands out of his pockets. "Who are you?"

"Name's Jason Levinson. Been camping out here the past month hoping to catch a glimpse of my boy Tommy, at least to know if he's still alive." He scrubbed at his scruffy beard. "Been in there nine months now. You folks deprogrammers?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Better be good…the guy I hired got shot in the leg trying to get in there."

"So he's got some armed guards, is what you're saying," O'Neill said casually.

"Lot of 'em. And what's that damned small-town Sheriff do about it? Nothing. Not a damned thing." He surveyed the group cautiously. "You must be here for one of them. How much would you tack on to get my boy out at the same time as yours?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You help us, we might be able to help you."

Levinson nodded sharply. "I'm with you, sir."

Jack shook his head. "That won't be necessary, but we could use any information you might have. What your guy did, where he went in, where he got caught, that kind of stuff."

"You got it. The fence is wide open, and most of the property is open. But I'll show you brush cover…if you want to go in." He started walking towards the perimeter fence, and Daniel and Carter followed him.

Teal'c stayed still. "O'Neill, we are being surveilled."

Jack nodded casually. "Yeah, I saw them. It's probably FBI, maybe ATF." Without raising his voice or looking back in the car, he said, "Elle, stay in the car and keep an eye out. Keep your ID in hand if those guys come down."

Elle knocked on the inside of the car door in acknowledgment.

"Cool." Jack, Teal'c, and Jacob followed the other three.

As soon as SG1 disappeared into the trees, Elle caught movement. The one that Teal'c had spotted and two others cautiously approached the car. She pulled her wallet out of her belt pocket and put it in her jacket pocket.

The first man swung the door open. "Out of the car," he said. "Move slowly."

Elle slid out of the car, landing with a squelch on the wet road. "Good morning," she said, keeping her hands in the open.

"Morning," the man said. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Elle Wilcott," she said. "Air Force consultant. I was told to wait in the car."

"ID?" he asked.

"Left jacket pocket." At his nod, she slowly took out her wallet and handed it over.

They frowned at her ID. "And the others?" they asked.

"My team. They're currently with one of the locals."

"What's your objective here?"

Elle blinked at him. "I don't ask those kinds of questions. Who are you?"

"Special Agent James Hamner. ATF." He handed her his badge.

"Cool," she said. There was an awkward pause. "Are you just going to wait until my team comes back? Because if so, I would like to wait in the car."

He shot her a glance.

"Or I could stand here," Elle said, drawing her hood over her head and zipping her jacket up to the collar. "That's fine too."

"What's your part in this mission?" Hamner asked.

Elle looked at him. "I can't answer that."

"Why not?"

"The Air Force is the only way I'm gonna make it through college without debt," Elle said. "Until my commanding officer says otherwise, all I can do is make small talk."

"Fair enough," Hamner said.

They stood there for another twenty minutes. The misty drizzle was comforting in a childhood sort of way. Elle snuggled deeper into her turtleneck sweater. "Do you guys like hockey?" she asked.

They spent another ten minutes talking about hockey. Then Hamner stiffened. "They're coming back," he said, and three more men melted out of the trees with weapons. One kept watch on Elle, but the rest turned to face the incoming group. "Lower your weapons," Hamner ordered the SG team.

Jack gestured to Sam and Teal'c to lower their weapons. "Was wondering when you folks were going to show," he said calmly. "We got bets. I say FBI, they say ATF."

"Special Agent James Hamner. ATF." That was apparently his signature intro line.

"Elle, you all right?" Jack asked next.

"Yep," Elle said. "Tired of standing in the rain."

Hamner gestured. "Come with us."

They were piled into one of the ATF SUVs, and one of the federal agents drove their car. The two cars headed for the ATF camp.

Hamner looked over at Jacob. "General, want to tell me what interest the Air Force has here?"

O'Neill cleared his throat. "That would be classified," he said when Jacob nodded at him.

Elle looked between the two men, smothering a grin.

They got to a mobile command unit made up of tents. "This way, gentlemen." They were led into a large tent full of equipment. Elle gratefully took off her hood. "You guys Special Forces?"

"Also classified," Jack said.

Hamner raised an eyebrow. "I was talking to your commanding officer, Colonel."

Jacob finally spoke. "He's right. It's classified."

Hamner frowned. "I have top-level clearance."

"Oh, not top enough," Jack said. He was definitely enjoying this.

"You have a rather insubordinate subordinate, General," Hamner said, shooting Jack an annoyed glare.

Jacob smirked. "He's not insubordinate to me. Only to people such as yourself. Saves me the trouble. Now maybe you can tell us what you and your cohorts are planning here."

Hamner sighed and bowed to the inevitable. "This compound is owned by a cult. It's run by a charming guy, goes by the name of Seth Fargough. We've recently acquired intelligence to confirm they have a hoard of prohibited weaponry here," Hamner said.

O'Neill nodded. "That's some mighty fine intelligence you got there."

"Zats," Sam mouthed to Elle.

Jacob gestured to the tent. "So, what do you plan to do?"

"Surround the compound, negotiate, try to get them to come out peacefully."

Elle withheld a grimace. Poor, innocent federal agents. You couldn't negotiate with the god of evil.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with," Daniel said.

"Great, then why don't you tell me?" Hamner asked.

Jack cleared his throat. "Ah, that would be classified as well."

Hamner scowled. "Fine, I'll tell you what. The United States Air Force has not been invited to participate in this operation. Therefore, you're out of your jurisdiction; therefore, I'm ordering you all to leave. Or I'll have you arrested."

Jacob gestured to the telephone. "This is a secure phone, isn't it? Can we use it to place one call?"

"Why not?" Hamner said. He was feeling generous now that he'd thrown his weight around.

Jacob nodded. "Thank you. Colonel?"

Jack picked up the phone and started dialing. "Walter, put me through to General Hammond," Jack said. "Thanks." A pause. "Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Got it in one, sir. Uh-huh. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." He hung up. He looked at Jacob. "We'll be getting a return call in about thirty minutes," he said.

Jacob looked at Hamner. "Do we get those thirty minutes?"

"Fine," Hamner said. "But wait outside. I don't need civilians in this tent."

They regrouped by their car. It had stopped drizzling, thankfully. "Great," Elle said. "What did you see when you snuck in?"

"Lots of guns," Daniel said. "And zats. Definitely a Goa'uld. Jack, based on Seth's history, if these guys go in there guns a-blazing, he's going to kill everyone in there."

"Jacob, can we assume some kind of brainwashing is going on?" Jack asked.

"Yes. It's probably nish'ta. It's a biological compound that, once inhaled, infects all tissue in your body, including your brain. It tends to make your mind extremely pliable."

"That's like what Hathor used?"

"It's stronger, it's more encompassing."

Jack frowned. "Can it be reversed?"

"Well, yes. Nish'ta does have an Achilles Heel. Once its effects are reversed, it can't reinfect a host. They become immune."

Daniel frowned. "Ok, well, how do we reverse it?"

Jacob matched his frown. "There's only one way…an electrical shock. Strong enough to kill the organism, but weak enough not to kill the host."

"Then…we go in with zats," Jack said.

Well, it's not going to be very covert that way," Daniel pointed out. "And like I said, any kind of frontal attack is going to be a problem."

"Daniel's right, sir," Sam said. "Besides, with all the firepower he's got, we wouldn't stand much of a chance anyway."

Jack looked over. "Elle. Any ideas?"

Elle grimaced. "Well, if I had a starship phaser on wide beam full stun, we could go home by dinner."

"You don't have one of those?" Jack teased, half in truth.

Elle contemplated the reach of her phaser and a magnification effect. "I would need three giant TV screens and a portable generator," she said. "And, a clear line of sight to let the energy disperse harmlessly."

"There's small towns all around this place," Jack said.

"That's what I thought. So, nope. Your original plan is our best shot."

"What original plan?" Jacob asked.

"The one you haven't come up with yet," Elle said.

Sam pressed her lips together tightly, trying not to smile.

-/\-

Sure enough, thirty minutes later, the President himself had called back and put Colonel O'Neill in charge of the whole operation. At least it was warmer inside the tent. As soon as they had access to it, Elle found the communication station and took out a set of earbud comms. "Time for a little rejigging," she murmured and found a set of tools.

She had two of the earpieces modified by the time someone asked for her opinion.

"Elle?" Daniel came over. "What are you doing?"

"Problem-solving," Elle said. "Don't touch that. Or do, I need to check it."

He touched one of the earbuds and jolted in surprise as it zapped him. "Ow."

"Sorry. But that should clear the nish'ta's influence from the body," Elle said.

Daniel frowned. "We just figured out that we need to infiltrate."

"Yeah, I know," Elle said. "Here's the third one." She grinned. "Scotty would be so proud of me."

"I have an idea about that electrical shock," Sam said, coming over to the station.

"Too late," Daniel said. "Your idea came out of her hands."

Elle held up the three earbuds. "Is that what you were thinking, Sam?"

Sam stared at her. "How- yes, actually. Do they work?"

"Yes," Daniel said dryly. "Quite effectively."

"Great," Sam said, grinning. "You work fast."

"Hey, once you get hit with lightning, you are great with electricity," Elle quipped.

Jacob eyed her, concerned. "You got hit by lightning?"

"Yeah. Like three months ago."

"And you're fully recovered?" Jacob pressed.

"I found a good doctor," Elle said, straight-faced, but the pun was too much. She burst into laughter.

Daniel cracked a grin. "No pun intended?" he asked.

"Oh, no," she snickered, "pun fully intended." She shook her head with a happy sigh. "Good one. Anyway. How many are going in? I can make another one."

"No," Jack said. "Just Carter, Daniel, and me. Seth would sense a symbiote."

Elle frowned. "Won't he sense the naquadah in Sam's bloodstream, though?"

They exchanged a glance. "How close would he have to be to sense that?" Jack asked.

"Very close," Jacob said unhappily.

"I don't know if I want to risk it," Jack said. "But I'd rather have you on the inside with us when things go south."

"I'm willing to take the risk, sir," Sam said.

Jack nodded. "All right, let's do it."

-/\-

Jacob and Teal'c saw the infiltrator trio to the underground tunnels that led into the compound and then came back to the tent. "I hope Seth likes fake federal agents," Jacob said.

Teal'c made an agreeing noise. He handed Elle one of the spare earbuds.

Elle put it in her ear. The only thing she could hear was Jack and Daniel bantering as they walked through the tunnel. They were fine, then. She looked at the tense line of Jacob's back and went to make a pot of coffee. The ATF had sprung for the good stuff, and she made it good and strong. "Question," she said, mindful of the ears in and around the tent. "I think I already know the answer, but caffeine doesn't kill, uh, your gut parasites, right?"

"No," Teal'c said. "The poison is not strong enough."

"Cool. Coffee?"

"Yes, please."

Elle handed him a cup and made another cup of coffee. "Coffee, general?"

"Thank you," Jacob said and took a sip. His eyebrows went up. "Just how I like it. How did you know?"

"Sam takes hers the same way," Elle said, smiling at him. "I figured the tastebuds were passed on."

He smiled. "You two are friends?"

"She saved my life," Elle said honestly. "I had no idea what I was doing when I came here. She and the colonel took me shopping for clothes. She helped me set up my bank account."

"And taught you how to set up the coffee maker?" Jacob guessed, eyes twinkling.

"Oh, no. Daniel taught me how to make coffee in a carafe."

"Ah." He looked at her for a long moment. "You don't mean any harm, do you?"

"No," Elle said frankly. "I have a vested interest in keeping all of them alive and saving as many lives as I possibly can. Except for the Goa'uld themselves. They can die in a fire."

"Amen," Jacob said dryly. He held up a hand. "Hang on."

"I hate these things," Jack said, and there was the sound of transport rings, a zat, then silence.

Elle winced in sympathy. "Well, they got got," she said. She closed her eyes and listened for three different breathing patterns. "Yeah. They're all okay. Breathing's holding steady. Daniel's gonna start snoring if they don't lift him up. There we go. Now we hurry up and wait."

"A very military saying," Jacob said.

"It's universal," Elle said dryly. "While I have you here, as a rep from, ah, the place you are from, I'm working on building a targeted parasite biotoxin. Do you have your genome typed up?"

Jacob stared at her. "I'm sorry?" he said.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I'm focusing on the genetic memory, which the, uh, black sheep of the family, which you are a part of, don't have in your DNA, so this wouldn't affect you at all," Elle assured him.

Jacob bowed his head and let Selmak take over. "Explain yourself, child."

Elle glanced around and leaned in, lowering her voice. "All the Goa'uld are born with a genetic memory," she said. "All the Tok'ra are missing that genetic memory, thanks to Egeria. She didn't pass it on. You are genetically a different subspecies. If I can work up a targeted biotoxin, we could flood a ship or a compound, and your Tok'ra operatives and our people will be safe."

Selmak stared at her.

"So?" Elle asked. "Do you have that information?"

"Daniel said you were a linguist," Selmak said.

"With a good history in engineering," Elle said.

"This is a medical question."

"This is simple engineering."

"Who are you?" Selmak asked. "The truth, now."

"Classified," Elle said.

"You think you're talking to someone without clearances?" Selmak asked. She sounded amused.

"I'm talking to a foreign liaison," Elle said pointedly. "The Tok'ra are allies, but I won't kid myself that they wouldn't throw the Tau'ri over for a single micrometer edge in their efforts against the Goa'uld."

"Strong words," Selmak observed.

"Am I wrong?" Elle asked.

"You are not," Selmak conceded. "But I will say this. None of the other Tok'ra have children here."

"You would have to take it to your grave," Elle said.

"Which was not on Dakara, you said earlier?" Selmak said. "Interesting. Where will I die, then?"

"Who knows?" Elle asked. "Not me."

"Yes," Selmak said after a long second. "I do have that information. I can provide it once we are done with this mission."

Elle leaned back in her chair. "Thank you."

"You are quite welcome." Selmak leaned back, as well, and a moment later, Jacob spoke up.

"Who are you, kid?"

Elle laughed. "General, you wouldn't even believe me."

Jacob looked at Teal'c.

Teal'c looked amused. "She is correct," he said.

-/\-

It was a couple of hours of waiting. Elle figured being zatted, gassed, and brainwashed must take a toll. She spent the time working on the Goa'uld language modules. Finally, on the earpieces, she heard Sam talking to one of the women.

"They are awake," Teal'c said, his shoulders dropping in relief. "Shall I activate the devices?"

Selmak had taken over for Jacob so the man could take a brief power nap. Useful, that whole having a copilot thing. "No. We must wait to be sure the nish'ta has permeated their tissues before negating it."

"Two hours isn't enough time?" Elle asked.

"No. We should wait about another hour. It's a smart virus. If there's any unaffected tissue remaining in the body, it will give the organism a safe harbor in which to mutate. Then it will overtake the body once again."

Levinson entered the tent. Selmak hastily ceded control to Jacob, who nodded at the man. "How's it going?" Levinson asked.

"Our agents are in, but I'm afraid I can't tell you anything else," Jacob said.

"Yeah, of course. Sorry. I just want to be involved. My son is in there."

"I'm sorry," Elle said gently.

He quirked a sad smile at her. "I had to find out from his college roommate, cause…Tommy and me hadn't been talking for something like six months before they sucked him in."

Teal'c frowned. "I do not understand. How could a father not speak to his son for so long a time?"

Jacob shifted uneasily.

"That's the funny thing about it. I don't even remember why," Levinson said ruefully. "Obviously, something pretty stupid in the scheme of things." He looked at Elle. "When's the last time you spoke to your dad?"

"I was 13," Elle said. "I lost both my parents."

"I'm sorry," Levinson said, looking regretful. "I'll get out of your hair." He nodded at the men and left the tent.

"Do human parents not love their children unconditionally?" Teal'c asked after a second.

Jacob sighed heavily. "Sometimes, things get complicated."

Teal'c looked mystified by this. "Many things are complicated, General Carter. In Jaffa society, loving one's children is not one of them."

"In human society, sometimes it is," Jacob said.

"It shouldn't be," Elle said, resting her chin on her hand. "My dad loved me. And I know all my foster parents loved me."

"You're lucky," Jacob said.

"Not lucky," Elle said, frowning. "They put in the work."

He looked slightly more guilty.

"How's your son, Mark?" Elle asked, digging in the knife a little bit.

Jacob groaned. "You've been talking to Sam."

"Maybe," Elle said, not telling him that her knowledge of his estranged son came from the television show, and she knew that Selmak was bugging him about going to talk to his son. "You live and work in space. One day, eventually, you're not gonna come back, and he's never going to know that you love him."

He winced. "Do you talk to everyone like this?"

"Yes," Elle said confidently.

He sighed. "Okay. Okay. After we're done here, I'll reach out."

-/\-

Elle stirred her coffee. "They've been awake for an hour—enough to do some creepy chanting. I think our window is shrinking. Once he's made them, he's going to try and run."

Jacob frowned. He looked over at Hamner, who was lurking hopefully across the tent. "Agent Hamner," he called. "I would like to have your men posted around. We're getting close to the breaking point, and I don't want this guy to escape."

"Yes, sir," Hamner said.

They decided to concentrate more of the ATF people near the tunnels, hidden, but put enough people ranging around the compound to make a show of threat. "Hopefully, this will funnel most people through the secret tunnel," Jacob said.

Elle successfully squashed her desire to burst out singing "Secret Tunnel" and put her head down, trying not to laugh.

"You were once blended, were you not?"

Elle's head shot up when she heard Seth say that over the comm. She locked eyes with Teal'c, who had the other earpiece. "Uh-oh."

"Blended," Sam said blankly, sounding high as heckins over the comm.

"No entry marks. But still…I sense a trace. Bring me those who came with her."

"Uh-oh," Elle said again.

"General Carter," Teal'c called.

Both men bolted over. "He made your guys," Hamner guessed.

"Oh yeah," Elle said. "He's about to put the pieces together."

"Should we not trigger the shock?" Teal'c asked. "Has it been enough time?"

"Go," Jacob said.

Teal'c flipped the switch. Hopefully, the three members of SG1 got shocked, fork in an outlet style.

"Did it work?" Jacob asked.

On the comm, Jack was saying, "We work for a deprogrammer who hired us to come remove one of your disciples." That was the cover story.

"But now we are enjoying the bliss that is Seth," Daniel added.

"They're good, the Jack and Daniel show is back on," Elle said, giving Jacob a thumbs up.

"How is it possible that you enjoy the bliss…when you are able to lie to Seth?" Seth asked.

"They're made," Elle reported.

The tent burst into a flurry of activity as the ATF agents began to move out. Squad coordinators began to bark out commands and work out a plan of attack.

"Come," Teal'c said, ushering Elle out of her seat.

She grabbed the laptop and radio setup and hustled after him. She got in the truck, and they raced towards the fenced compound. "Uh-oh. They're at zat-point... never mind. Oh, it's Levinson's son. He's fine. Sounds confused."

"How's Sam?" Jacob asked predictably.

"She's-" Elle winced at the sound of feedback. "Zatting people like there's no tomorrow. Yikes. That one sounded like it hurt. They're starting to usher people out through the tunnel. Oh. There's a ring transporter."

Jacob looked at Hamner, who was getting info from his team. "Yeah, we're getting the first ones," Hamner said. "They're disoriented, but they're okay."

"Is that a bomb?" Daniel asked over the feed.

Elle winced. "Ooh, boy, run," she said, wincing.

"What?" Jacob demanded.

"Bomb," Elle said and turned the feed down before it blew out her and Teal'c's earbuds. She could only imagine how Daniel and Jack felt. "Yikes," she said again.

They got to the tunnel entrance and joined the team of agents hauling confused people out of the hole in the ground. "Teal'c, we gotta get in there," Elle said urgently. "Seth's gonna try and come out with the others."

"We shall not let him," Teal'c said and handed her a zat he'd confiscated from one of the ATF agents. "If you allow yourself to be injured, I will be deeply disappointed."

"Yes, sir," Elle said, giving him a grin. She scrambled down into the tunnel, Teal'c and Jacob at her heels. Teal'c stayed at the entrance, and Jacob charged forward to meet up with Sam. Elle stayed with Jacob, checking the ex-cult members who rushed past them. They were kicking up dust, and Elle stifled a cough. She took a deep breath and focused. Where was he?

"Dad!" Sam called just before she was pushed backward by an invisible force.

Jacob yanked another follower's hood down. It was Seth, who looked shocked to be unmasked. They grappled for a brief moment. "Setesh," Jacob growled.

"Tok'ra," Seth retorted angrily and blasted him with the ribbon device.

"Jacob!" Elle crouched by him. "Are you okay?"

"Jacob will be fine," Selmak answered, taking over for Jacob. She pushed another ribbon device into Elle's hands. "Here, give this to Sam. She can use it."

"So can I," Elle said, slipping the ka'ra kesh over her hand. She stood. "Setesh!" Before he could respond, she extended her hand and thought, "Shove."

A blast of power shot out from the ribbon device and shoved Seth backward against the wall. He cursed angrily and began to lift his hand, but his own ribbon device had fallen on the ground between them. Elle lifted her zat and shot him. He slumped, unconscious. "I got him," she said, stunned.

Teal'c came up behind her. "Indeed," he said and shot Seth again with the zat. Then, a third time, and the body vaporized.

Elle gaped up at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not complaining," Elle said. "I'm just saying..."

Jack and Daniel finally caught up to them. "Where's Seth?" Jack asked.

Elle pointed out the dent and the smudge on the tunnel wall. "Dead-dead," she said.

"Oh. Nice one."

"Yeah." Elle held out her free hand, and Teal'c gently high-fived her. "Is Jacob okay?"

"He'll be fine," Sam said, coming over. "Do you think the transport rings survived the bomb?"

"At least part of it," Daniel said.

Jack nodded. "I'll call Hammond. Maybe we can get Area 51 to handle the tech cleanup."

"You might have to pry the zats out of the ATF hands," Daniel observed.

Jack sighed and went to yell at people.

Elle looked down at the ka'ra kesh on her hand. The red symbol glowed, ready to accept a mental command. She shuddered and took it off. "No thanks," she said and handed it back to Jacob when he limped over. "You okay?"

"I didn't know you'd been blended," Jacob said suspiciously.

"I haven't," Elle said. "I've been licking naquadah."

Jacob looked at Daniel, who shrugged. The general scrubbed a tired hand over his face. "Okay."

-/\-

They stayed another three days in the small town near Seattle, helping the Area 51 scientists to contain the alien technology. They gave over all the regular weapons and the credit to the ATF. It rained the entire time, and Elle got to practice using the ka'ra kesh they'd confiscated from Seth to make a force field deflect the rain.

"How are you still bone dry?" Hamner asked, exasperated and soggy after a full day picking through the debris of the main compound. "It's been raining all day."

"I'm rain-repellent," Elle said dryly.

He squinted at her and went to the tent to warm up.

"Don't antagonize him," Jack said.

"Oh, so you're the only one that gets to pick on him?" Elle asked.

"Colonel privilege." Jack patted her on the back. "Come on, we're leaving the rest of this to the ATF. We've got everything we needed."

Elle followed him to the car. "What about Sam and Jacob?" she asked.

"They're going to California," Jack said. "Going to go see Carter's brother, Mark, and his family."

Elle grinned knowingly. "Selmak finally wore him down, then. Good."