SGC - 1997

"Mom?!" called Cassie as she suddenly woke up.

Sam, who had been reading a journal while sitting in a chair near the bed, immediately turned toward her. "Hey," she gently stroked Cassie's hair, a small gesture that had clearly become a habit for her. "You okay?"

"I was dreaming about my mom," Cassandra replied.

Sam closed her book and moved onto the bed, taking Cassie's hand in hers. "You miss your mom a lot?" she asked hesitantly.

Cassie nodded, and Sam's heart slowly broke, thinking back to a time in her own life when she had missed her mother terribly. In that moment, she shared the girl's pain.

"I'm tired," the little girl announced.

"You should get some rest," Sam replied with a sigh. "Don't worry, everything's going to be just fine." She added, trying to reassure her. "When you get better, I promise I'm going to show you all kinds of wonderful things about this planet," she finally said.

Sam knew full well she wasn't supposed to make that kind of promise, especially since she didn't even know what would happen to this little girl who had an alien element implanted in her heart. She wasn't supposed to project that far into the future and promise to spend time with her. And yet…

"Promise?" asked Cassie.

"You bet," Sam replied with a smile.

And as the young girl pulled her into a hug with her small arms, Sam closed her eyes and silently promised herself she would do everything to keep that promise.

When she walked out of the room, Daniel was waiting for her, sitting on a chair in the hallway. "How is she?" he immediately asked.

"She's fine. Sleeping," Sam replied without stopping.

Daniel quickly stood up to catch up with her. "Uh, if you want, I can sit with her tomorrow for a few hours," he offered.

Sam stopped and turned to face him. "No, we're okay," she replied instantly.

"Okay..." Daniel whispered, looking at his friend with compassion. He could sense that Sam was emotionally on edge with this little girl.

"I just..." Sam added, "I want to do this."

"Okay..." Daniel murmured as he moved closer to her. "But I guess what I'm saying is, you don't have to do this alone."

"Thanks," Sam whispered, placing a hand on her friend's arm before walking away.

Daniel watched her leave and exhaled a long sigh. He knew Sam, knew how she dealt with things that happened in her life, but it felt like life was hitting her a little too hard at the moment. Even though Sam wasn't aware that Daniel knew about the situation between her and Jack, that didn't stop him from worrying about her.

With a determined step, the archaeologist headed to the General's office, fully intending to ask him to bring Jack back to Earth, because if he knew one thing, it was that even though she seemed to despise him right now, she needed him.

Back in the infirmary after giving herself a brief twenty-minute break, Sam was studying Cassandra's scan, her brain working at full speed.

"The layer of fatty tissue between the two sides of the object is decaying. Very slowly, mind you, but still..." she explained to Daniel as he approached the scan.

"What's the significance?" he asked, looking concerned.

Sam shrugged. "I'm about to do an experiment to find out." She moved toward the computer near Janet. "One side of the object is made up of a combination of iron and potassium. The other side is made of the element that the Stargate is composed of."

Daniel furrowed his brow. "What?"

"I assume it's the Naquadah that was in her blood," Janet interrupted. "The object is collecting it."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Potassium can be one of the most volatile alkali metals on Earth. Combined with even a small concentration of Naquadah and..."

"That doesn't sound good," Daniel cut in.

Sam entered a few commands into the computer and nodded toward the screen. "The room you're looking at is in the subbasement of this complex. It's lead-sealed," she explained. "Let's see what happens when we put the two objects together."

Daniel leaned toward the computer, studying the screen with interest. "Where are the samples?" he asked, concerned about the consequences.

"I'm only using a microscopic particle of each," Sam reassured him.

Focused, she tapped on the keyboard to continue the experiment, her eyes fixed on the screen. However, the reaction was immediate, and the explosion caused them to lose all connection. Sam suddenly felt like her heart was in her throat, as if she were about to vomit.

"The reading's off the scale. Gamma and particle radiation," Janet announced, looking worried.

Daniel turned toward the two women, his face full of concern. "Are we safe?"

"Yeah," Sam answered quickly. "But we have a big problem." She forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to contain the rising panic.

"Well, if two microscopic particles can cause that..." Daniel mused aloud.

Sam exhaled slowly. "Then the object inside Cassandra could trigger a nuclear reaction a million times stronger."

Lowering her head, Sam forced herself once again to focus on her breathing, trying to hold back the tears threatening to spill. She couldn't lose Cassie now. She couldn't lose her, period.