Briefing Room, SGC – 1997

"So the Goa'ulds kept SG-7 from coming back to warn us, all part of the plan," explained the General as the whole team, accompanied by Janet, made their way to the briefing room.

"So what are we going to do now?" asked Daniel.

George turned to them, with Janet stopping beside him. "Teal'c, Dr. Fraiser says this device inside the girl is on a timer." SG-1 stopped in front of them. "You're sure it will go off if we send the girl through the Stargate?"

"We should not attempt it," explained the Jaffa, clasping his hands behind his back. "The Earth gate is what the Goa'uld want to destroy."

Sam, who had remained silent until then, couldn't help but intervene. "Cassandra's condition deteriorated when she got near the Stargate."

"Well, I can't risk the security of this mountain," Hammond interrupted. "We'll have to take her somewhere else."

Jack, surprised to learn the little girl's name, offered an obvious solution. "What about the abandoned nuclear facility?"

"Right," the General agreed immediately. "It's just 20 minutes away." He quickly moved to his office to pick up the red phone. "This is Major General Hammond. Get me the Secretary of Defense immediately," he said. "Tell him it's a matter of life and death."

Sam, on the other hand, felt the ground collapsing beneath her feet. There was no other possible outcome; Cassie was going to die, and there was nothing she could do to change it. She wanted to scream, to punch someone, to let out all the rage boiling inside her. Instead, she turned to her team and stated in a voice that left no room for negotiation, bordering on insubordination toward Jack, "I'll take care of it."

Nuclear Facility – 1997

The journey to the facility had been silent, and despite multiple offers from the men with her, Sam refused to let go of Cassie, who was wrapped in a blanket and nestled in her arms.

Jack felt his frustration building. He knew Sam inside out, and the woman standing in front of him now was the same one he had met on Abydos years ago: the one with nothing left to lose but her life. And he couldn't accept that. He couldn't lose her.

"I can take her from here now, Captain," he said as they reached the elevator.

Sam shook her head. "No, Sir, it's okay."

The elevator doors opened just then, and Jack sighed. "This elevator goes down 30 floors through solid rock," he explained, realizing he wouldn't win this battle. "It takes about three minutes to get to the bottom." He paused. "That gives you four minutes to start back up." He sincerely hoped she would follow his orders.

Sam stepped into the elevator, still holding Cassie, and exchanged a long look with Jack. In that moment, she wanted to tell him to say hello to Diane for her. To tell him that he was just as responsible as the Goa'ulds for her current pain. But she said nothing. The doors closed with a deafening silence, and Sam held Cassie a little tighter. The little girl was still unconscious, and Sam allowed herself to close her eyes for a long, deep breath.

But as the floors ticked by, Cassie slowly woke up. "Where are we going?" she asked, looking up at Sam.

Sam held back a sob and pressed her lips to the girl's forehead, breathing in her scent. "Please, go back to sleep," she whispered.

"I'm not tired anymore," Cassie replied, unaware of the gravity of the situation.

Sam set her down on the floor and bit the inside of her lip to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. She had to face the truth: she could no longer be the perfect soldier, not now, not with all the emotions coursing through her.

"Are you crying?" Cassie asked softly, her small face turned toward Sam.

Sam took a deep breath, stopping the tears from falling, and shook her head. The elevator reached level -28, and Sam used her flashlight to illuminate the area. She opened the reinforced door and switched on the lights inside before turning back to Cassie. The little girl followed her into the bunker, still not fully understanding the situation.

"Sit down here and rest for a while, okay?" Sam asked, sniffling.

She knelt in front of Cassandra and suddenly couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "I have to go."

Cassie looked down at her and frowned. "You promised you'd never leave me alone."

Sam took a deep breath, searching for the right words. How could she accept abandoning this little girl here? "I'll come back, okay?" She lifted her eyes to meet Cassie's. "I'll be back." She stroked Cassie's hair as another wave of tears streamed down her cheeks. "You're very brave, remember?"

Cassie nodded. "I'm very brave," she replied in a small voice.

Sam hated herself in that moment. She hated herself, the military, and everyone who was forcing her to lie like this, forcing her to part with yet another child in her life. "I have to close the door," she murmured.

She stood up and left the room without looking back, unable to meet the eyes of the child she was abandoning to her fate. But as she went to close the door, Cassie looked up at her, and Sam froze. She shut and locked the door, no longer holding back the tears as she heard Cassandra calling out for help.

Sobbing uncontrollably, Sam ran to the elevator and pressed the button. The perfect soldier had to follow orders to the letter, and the order was to leave this little girl in the lowest level of this nuclear facility.

Rage filled her as the elevator ascended back to the surface, and she punched the wall in anger. How could she accept this? Throughout her career, she had accepted everything, killed when asked, taken on that damn suicide mission—though she had come back alive—and even refrained from pursuing a relationship with her superior officer because it was against the rules. Her whole life, she had followed the rules and the orders she was given.

But as she slid down the elevator wall, screaming in fury between sobs, Sam realized that none of it was worth it. She realized that she wouldn't be able to keep living, to look at herself in the mirror every day, if she didn't act now.