A/N: Long story short: wedding dress, finished. Friend, married. Coworker, had a baby. Close family friend, passed away. It's been an interesting few weeks. And those last 3 only happened in the last week and a half. Things have finally stopped happening, for now, and I managed to scrape together two brain cells to finally close out this chapter. Thank y'all for your patience :)

"Do you have dress clothes?"

Elle looked at Hammond warily. "My 'go see the president' clothes," she replied. "Are we going back to DC?"

"No. The Secretary of Defense is coming here tomorrow, and we're having a small ceremony to thank those who took part in rescuing SG1 and defeating Hathor," Hammond said. "So please dress appropriately."

Considering that Elle's day-to-day clothes mainly consisted of jeans and a thick hoodie with a frog on it, that was fair. Then the timing clicked. "Oh," she said. "You're promoting Sam."

Hammond sighed. "So you knew about that, huh?"

"Yes, sir. Uh, also, the Asgard are coming to visit. Possibly spirit Jack away in the middle of his speech. Or at some point during the day. Dramatic timing in television versus real life, you know, isn't quite a one-to-one ratio."

The general looked at her for a long moment. "This is regarding the treaty you warned us about? The planets protected by the Asgard from the Goa'uld?"

"Yes, sir."

"And how do you think it'll go, given our new and improved mandate?"

"Since we're not telling them anything, it'll be great," Elle chirped.

Hammond smothered a grin. "I understand," he said. "Don't say anything about tomorrow to Captain Carter."

"Yes, sir." Elle watched him leave and went back to her study of Goa'uld tenses. If they were going to be hosting Goa'uld in the near future, she wanted to brush up on her future continuous tense.

-/\-

Elle wrangled herself into dress clothes, this time with slacks instead of a skirt. She put her hair up in a neat bun and took out two tasteful face-framing strands. "Cool. Let's go." She met up with Daniel and Teal'c in the hallway, and the three civilians went to the gate room and took their places in the front row, off to the side. Everyone (in this case, most of the active SG teams, the department heads, and a few of the civilian scientists)looked very snazzy in their assorted uniforms.

General Hammond stepped up to a podium at the top of the Gate ramp. "You have fought with valor and courage, sacrificed for each other, for this country, for this planet. To honor the men and women of the SGC, I present Arthur Simms, the Secretary of Defense for the United States of America."

The Secretary of Defense took his place with a smile. "Since the re-inception of this program, I have eagerly awaited every word of every mission report stemming from this base like a wide-eyed child waiting for his next bedtime story. Not actually being here, or seeing your faces, or this Stargate here behind me, it is sometimes easy to forget that it's all really happening. The President regrets not being able to be here, but I'm glad because it gives me the opportunity to congratulate you on your recent effort in defeating a formidable enemy and rescuing SG-1 captured in the line of duty. You risk your lives every day in a way more dangerous and fantastic than any of us could have ever dreamed. Understand that I represent every person of this great nation when I salute your ongoing heroic spirit. You should be proud."

Hammond retook his spot at the podium and cleared his throat, his eyes twinkling. "Before we finish today, I have one other small bit of business. Please come to attention."

There was an audible creaking of spines as everyone snapped to attention. Hammond produced a piece of paper. "From the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. In recognition of Captain Samantha Carter's outstanding work, I hereby authorize her immediate promotion to the rank of Major. Captain, step forward."

Sam's face was hilarious in its surprise as she stepped forward. Elle grinned as everyone clapped, and General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill each pinned a new rank to her shoulders.

"The United States Air Force has recognized that you have fulfilled tasks and duties well beyond the responsibility of Captain. It is with great pleasure that I bestow upon you the responsibilities, the respect, and the rank of Major." Hammond shook her hand, and they saluted each other.

"Thank you, sir."

Jack nodded. "Well done…Major." They repeated the same shake and salute.

Smiling, Carter came back to stand with Elle and Daniel. Elle jostled Sam's shoulder and whispered, "Congrats."

Hammond consulted his piece of paper. "In closing, Major Carter's supervisor, Colonel Jack O'Neill, would like to say a few words."

Everyone clapped again as Jack took the podium. "Normally, I'm a man of very few words…" He disappeared in a flash of light.

"Code 9!" Hammond barked.

In the chaos of alarms and security personnel taking up stations, SG1 looked at each other. "Definitely Asgard," Daniel said.

"Definitely Thor," Elle agreed.

"Did you know that was gonna happen?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Elle said. "No need to panic." A moment later, a bright flash filled her vision. She blinked to clear her watering eyeballs and found herself in a sleek silver room, Jack on one side and a small, grey figure on the other. She straightened. Maybe a little panic. "Commander Thor, I presume."

"Eleanor Wilcott," Thor said in return. He looked at Jack. "This is your civilian consultant?"

"Well, yes, but you can't just go kidnapping people," Jack said, moving closer to Elle.

So Jack had mentioned her. "Trying to pass the buck, sir?" Elle asked wryly.

"No," Jack said unconvincingly.

Thor looked at Elle. "You are aware of our current difficulties?" he asked.

"The Replicators," Elle said.

"Consultant," Jack warned, shooting her a look that said 'You-better-pipe-down-mister-you-signed-a-500-page-NDA.' His speaking looks were only matched by Kirk and Spock.

Thor waved a hand. "We are well aware of your consultant's scope of knowledge."

"How could you possibly know-" Jack started, the vein in his temple starting to throb.

"They have all your DNA tagged. Do you think they don't have the Pentagon?" Elle asked dryly.

Jack frowned. "That was not in your report."

"Pure speculation," Elle said, "and you can't wrap the whole Pentagon in tinfoil."

"True," Jack admitted.

"Why did you bring me here?" Elle asked Thor, who seemed amused at the humans' banter.

"To consult," Thor said simply. "Do you have any suggestions for us, consultant?"

Elle blinked at him, surprised. She'd made an entire report for the Asgard on defeating the Replicators, but giving it to them... she'd been counting on Daniel pleading her case with the Asgard to even consider looking at it. But to have been offered an opening... "I do have some suggestions," she said, ignoring Jack's hissed warning. "You ever heard of Dakara?"

Thor made an interesting face. "I have," he said. "You mean the Ancient superweapon that is rumored to exist."

"If you have a stargate connection to your home galaxy, you can use it to wipe out the Replicators in both galaxies," Elle said.

"Dakara is firmly in Goa'uld territory," Thor said. "You would have us break the treaty so brazenly by taking a sacred planet?"

Elle lifted her chin. "I refuse to believe that the Asgard don't have the ability to run a stealth operation after all these years."

Thor inclined his head. "What is the file name of your plan?" he asked.

"Point Break 2 underscore Hammer Time," Elle said.

Thor choked on a cough. "You, what?"

Jack facepalmed elaborately behind her.

"I had to name it something that would only make sense to me," Elle said. "It's a Thor reference that nobody will get for a while."

Thor sighed deeply. "So human," he muttered and turned to his console.

"Hammer Time?" Jack asked. "Really?"

"Well, I wasn't gonna call it Asgard versus Replicators TKO," Elle said, exasperated. "The NID and future Homeworld Sec have access to our files."

Thor made a pleased sound. "I have obtained a copy of the file," he said. "We will begin work on our plan. In the meantime, say nothing of this. We will focus on negotiating with the Goa'uld to protect Earth."

"Great," Jack said.

There was a flash of light, and Elle and Jack were back in the SGC, in Jack's office. "Not one for extended pleasantries, are they?" Jack asked.

"Nope," Elle said.

"I can't believe you just handed them a whole unsecured plan."

"Technically, Thor stole it," Elle said.

"You literally gave it to him."

"I am anti-genocide," Elle said primly. "Except for the Replicators. They aren't alive, and they can die in a fire. And they will." She exited Jack's office. "We better go tell everyone we're gonna be hosting Goa'uld."

They found the rest of SG1 with General Hammond in the conference room, talking about 'reorienting satellites.' "No need," Jack said. "We're back."

"What did they want?" Daniel asked.

"Uhh." Jack looked at Elle.

"They want to include Earth in the list of protected planets treaty they have with the Goa'uld," Elle said. "If they don't, we're facing likely annihilation."

"What will the Goa'uld want in return?" was Teal'c's question.

Elle consulted her mental index. "Our Stargates."

As one can imagine, that did not go over well. Elle leaned back in her chair and contemplated the ceiling as all of SG1 freaked out.

Hammond finally leaned back in his chair. "But we know very little about the politics out there. How do we know the Asgard truly have our best interests at heart?"

Jack offered a shrug. "Well, I suppose we don't. But if they have any other agenda in mind…"

A bright flash announced the arrival of Thor.

"Colonel, do we need security?" Hammond asked, doing a very good job of staying composed.

Jack held out a hand. "No, I'll vouch for him, sir. Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson, you remember Thor? Uh, Thor, this is Teal'c and Major General George Hammond. He's the leader of our facility here."

Thor gave a nod. "The System Lords have agreed to negotiate."

"That's good news."

"They will arrive in four days."

O'Neill's eyebrows went up. "Here?"

Thor regarded them mildly. "It is customary for such negotiations to take place on the planet in question. Three representatives from the System Lords will arrive by Stargate. You must be prepared to speak on behalf of all the inhabitants of Earth."

"Uh, well, maybe not me personally…" Jack started uncertainly.

"We have chosen you, O'Neill, to represent your planet at the proceedings."

Jack cleared his throat. "All right, now see, that could be a mistake. You see, Doctor Jackson here is an extremely educated and articulated man, very well versed in all the languages…"

Thor continued, unfazed, "You have led your people into the galaxy through the Stargate. You are our choice, O'Neill. Further instructions to aid you in preparation will follow." Without further ado, Thor disappeared.

Everyone looked at Elle. She gave them a double thumbs-up. "As long as you listen to the little voice in your ear called Doctor Jackson, who's gonna be feeding you diplomatic pressure points, it's gonna be great."

"Well, there you go," Jack said.

Teal'c raised the most incredulous eyebrow.

-/\-

The official briefing for the upcoming treaty talks meant a full conference room. Elle sat in between Sam and Jack, Teal'c across from them. Ferreti, Dr. Frasier, and the command structure of the MPs were also present.

"All right. We're expecting three Goa'uld." Daniel clicked to a picture of an Ancient Greek god. "Cronus was among the earliest Greek gods, one of twelve Titans who eventually ascended to supreme domination. He was the God of Fate and eventually became father to Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and Hades. Now this last relationship may indicate a connection to the Goa'uld Sokar."

Teal'c spoke up, looking solemn. "Cronus is the most influential of the System Lords. It was he who originally banished Sokar. Cronus was also a mortal enemy of Apophis."

"Which may indicate why the System Lords didn't join in Apophis' attack on Earth," Daniel added. "The System Lords reluctantly banded together to defend Goa'uld territory against outside threats such as the Asgard and the Reetou. However, they still battle amongst themselves for control of their individual domains." He clicked to another picture and looked back at his audience. "Uh, the second Goa'uld representative we're expecting is Yu."

"Me?" Jack said, startled.

Elle couldn't help but laugh. "Who's on first?" she cackled.

"Yu is the name of the Goa'uld," Daniel said flatly.

Jack snickered. "Oop."

"Also known as Yu the Great, he did not assume the role of a god per se but may have been one of China's earliest Emperors. Legend says he possessed great mythic powers and sprang into the world from a dragon's body. Ancient scrolls say he founded the first recorded dynasty whose advances came about under harsh rule. However, it should be noted that Yu did account for a number of notable positive influences."

"Yu's pretty chill," Elle agreed.

"According to Thor's message, Yu is the most likely to favor this treaty as his interests no longer reside in this area of the galaxy."

"And the third Goa'uld, Doctor Jackson?" Hammond asked as Daniel fiddled with the PowerPoint controls.

"Another one we haven't met but have a certain…familiarity with. For those in the room who don't know, Nirrti is the Goa'uld who wiped out all but one survivor of P8X 987, along with four members of the SGC, in an attempt to destroy Earth's Stargate."

"Cassandra's planet," Sam said, with a scowl.

"Little is known about Nirrti from Earth's perspective. In early Hindu reference, she was a destructive goddess of darkness."

"You can say that again," Elle muttered.

Sam's scowl worsened. "So we're going to let these Goa'uld just…walk in here?"

Hammond sighed. "There are a number of aspects of this situation I'm not comfortable with, Major." He glanced at Daniel and nodded. "Thank you, Doctor Jackson." He looked at the clock. "I'm going to brief the president. Make a plan, people. That's all." He left.

"Daniel, hang on a sec," Jack said, waving Sam and Teal'c away. "Elle, you too."

"Sir."

Jack and Daniel kept her with them, going over the protocol for hosting enemy representatives, the changes they'd have to make, and the tentative talking points for the actual treaty.

"Another thing," Elle said. "The first thing they're going to try and do is rip out the cameras."

"Why would they-"

"No one tells a god what to do," Elle said. "So if we have tiny spy cameras we can set up, now would be the time."

Jack made a phone call to Sam. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Yeah. Teal'c."

"Ah."

"You can't ask him to be here at all," Elle said. "His betrayal scared the whole empire. If a First Prime can turn to the enemy, they're not safe. Bad enough he's here, but seeing him here? Nuh-uh."

They didn't look convinced.

"And," Elle continued, "it would be cruel to put Teal'c in a position where he has to defer to them in any way."

Daniel's frown softened to concern. "What about you?" he asked. "Are you okay helping prepare for this?"

Elle had not asked herself this question. She had been fine with confronting Seth. That had been five minutes of internal panic, her brain going "eeeeeeeeeeee" and then he was gone. But sustained, steady presence, to see to their needs, to talk to them, to have to sit there and listen to them talk about enslaving and destroying. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I don't want to."

"Okay," Jack said. He and Daniel exchanged a glance. "Field trip?" he asked lightly. "You and Teal'c can stay at my house while the base is locked down. You can go to the zoo, get some hiking in. You can have my truck. Maybe drive out to Denver, do some shopping."

Elle blinked at the rapid concession. "What?"

Jack met her confused gaze and raised a calm eyebrow. "If you think I will allow our highest-priority asset to remain on base with our enemies, you've got another think coming."

Elle, obstinately, felt like arguing for half a second. Then she wilted. "Yes, sir," she said, and in Vulcan added, "I bow to your logic." And then she said, "But we're not leaving till the day of, right?"

"Nope," Jack said. "We're gonna need your help."

-/\-

"F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for Yu and me, N is for never gonna go by the plan, down here in the bunker letter 'C'," Elle sang, as she put up the wall sconces. Some poor airman had driven to Denver and back for furnishings and decorations that would hopefully minimize the amount of brattiness in the next few days.

"We're in bunker B," Jack said, without lifting his head.

"Yeah, but B doesn't go with it," Elle said.

He lifted his head. "Yes, it does."

"Noo," Elle said. "I'm trying to make a Spongebob joke, and you're making it very difficult."

"Elle, please," he said.

She grinned.

-/\-

Teal'c was happy enough to take a few days away. "You would make a killing on AirB&B," Elle told Jack, as he was handing over the keys to his truck and his house.

"I don't know what that is but I'll take your word for it," he said. "No wild parties, you two."

"No promises," Teal'c deadpanned.

They made their escape as Jack was still sputtering.

Teal'c was a good driver, and to Elle's amusement, he cycled through the radio stations until he found the pop Top 20. They stopped at the house, dropped their stuff off, and went grocery shopping. Going up and down the aisles of the grocery store with an alien was a surreal experience. They got a family-size bag of cocoa puffs. "Human breakfast foods are a mystery," Teal'c said.

"Tasty, though," Elle said.

"Indeed."

They got two different kinds of ice cream. Teal'c was fond of chocolate mint. So far, cocoa did not grow anywhere other than Earth. If they leveraged it, they could get quite an export going. Elle made a mental note to bring it up to General Hammond later. That would be a future project, maybe season seven or eight.

They filled Jack's fridge with fruits and vegetables. It gave Elle a strange sense of Deja Vu. She hadn't seen a real refrigerator that wasn't the size of a shoebox since she was thirteen.

"Elle Wilcott?" Teal'c asked.

She shook her head and closed the fridge. "Sorry. I, uh, was thinking about my mom."

"The memories of our loved ones can be equally painful and comforting," Teal'c said.

"Yeah," Elle said and turned away with a sigh. "Uh. Sundays were grocery days. We'd get all the food and put it away, and then order a pizza because we were too tired from the grocery run to cook."

Teal'c inclined his head. "Do you wish to order a pizza?"

Elle smiled. "I think we can muster up the energy to grill some chicken, don't you?"

In response, he pulled out a cutting board.

-/\-

They watched Star Wars after dinner. A New Hope. The actors were all different, no surprise there. The plot points were all the same. "An archetype story," Elle said when Teal'c asked her thoughts. "The oldest one. Good versus evil. It plays out in every story, every variation. Even here. We're a tiny force against the slavery of a galaxy, even if not all of us are in this for the altruism."

"And we do not have lightsabers," Teal'c said.

"Disgraceful," Elle agreed. "We're the good guys. We should get lightsabers."

"Perhaps Major Carter would have some ideas about that," Teal'c said.

"Can you imagine Jack with a lightsaber, though?" Elle asked, giggling. "Anyone opens their mouth, and bam, shish kabob."

"Our negotiations against the Goa'uld would truly be brief," Teal'c said, his lips twitching in amusement.

They put their popcorn away and started getting ready for bed. "Would you like to meditate together?" Teal'c asked.

Elle nodded. "That'd be nice."

Teal'c brought out the candle, and they sat across from each other at the coffee table. Elle took a deep breath and imagined Spock's voice coaching her through the process as she stared into the warm flicker of the candlelight. The nostalgia lay heavy on her heart, and she shuffled gently through the emotions that rose, thinking of good versus evil and the mentors who had shown her how to be a good person with good principles. Her contemplations made her think of this galaxy, this universe, and the fight here. Good versus evil, the Ancients versus the Ori. Even now, they were meddling in all the pies, because the Ancients couldn't do anything for themselves, and the Ori still needed to be defeated. It was in the future, but Elle could feel the pressure on the team, on the SGC, on their new initiatives. It all hinged on Daniel, on Jack, on Vala, on a child that had a mother from this galaxy, something that could be called a weak spot, something that the Ancients could use, once they got their heads out of the sand. What was a stargate to a god? Nothing, in the grand scheme of things. If only they would listen...

A shiver ran down her spine, and the flame burnt brighter in her eyes. Speak, and the willing will listen, a voice said.

Elle jerked back as the candle flickered. "What?" she said.

Teal'c opened his eyes. "What?" he asked.

"Did you, hear that?" Elle asked, pressing a hand over her suddenly-racing heart. "Someone spoke."

"I heard nothing," Teal'c said slowly, looking at her cautiously. "You were not asleep?"

"No," Elle said, "I, was looking at the candle, and-" She looked around, the heaviness over her shoulders feeling like a mental presence. "I- hello? Oma Desala?"

The candle flickered again, and extinguished itself as a chill ran through the house. The mental presence was gone.

Elle stared at the candle, the thin curl of smoke that rose into the air. "Okay," she said, taking a shaky breath. "Okay, so they're around. And they're listening. And I'm ruining all their plans... okay. So when I'm ready to bargain... she'll listen to me. At least." She gave Teal'c a shaky grin. "Great. That answers that question."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Of whom do you speak?"

"The Ancients," Elle said. "The energy beings. I'm pretty sure it was one of them. Felt like talking to Sargon. Or Q. If Q decided to be cryptic instead of just annoying." She paused, waiting to see if the jab would summon him. Nothing. She shook her head. "I think I'm going to bed. Too much crazy."

Teal'c looked troubled. "If any more of this, voice, appears, let me know," he said.

"I will," Elle said.

Thankfully, nothing and no one interrupted her dreams that night.

-/\-

"I wonder what they're doing right now," Elle said.

"Causing trouble," Teal'c said.

Elle glanced up at him. "The team or the Goa'uld?"

"Both," Teal'c said, a hint of amusement in his tone.

Elle giggled. "Well, let's hope that they cancel each other out."

"Unlikely," Teal'c said. "Do you have your water bottle?"

"Yup." Elle slung her backpack over her shoulders. "I can't believe we're going on a ten-mile hike, and under our feet, they're bargaining for our planet." The inaction itched at her.

"It's the way of things," Teal'c said calmly. He gestured for her to set the pace. "Did you not experience much the same on the Enterprise? You could not have always been on the bridge during high alerts or battles."

"True," Elle said, hopping over a log. "But it was different. I was there, you know?"

Teal'c hummed in agreement.

Elle looked up at the clear blue sky. It was crisp and cold, but it was like nothing else. She took a deep breath and centered herself. You've done all you can. Kaiidth. She blew out her breath, releasing her stress. A squirrel ran across the path, and she smiled. Nice.

-/\-

"Sooooo," Elle said, bouncing on her toes. "How'd it go? We're not dead, so either you totally rocked it or I gotta remake my will."

"Well, Cronus tried to kill us all, but we did all right," Jack said. "We're keeping our Stargates."

"Nice!" Elle held up her hand for a high-five. He obliged. "I told you, everything'd be fine."

"Yeah," Sam said. "We just lied our faces off to the Goa'uld."

"I mean, they did the same thing," Daniel pointed out.

"True."

Jack looked at Teal'c. "How'd your staycation go? Did she get enough walkies? Or did she chew through the furniture?"

"Hey," Elle complained.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "We watched Star Wars," was all he said.