P7Y-532
1300 Hours
The SG-1 Team stepped through the Stargate and into a temple of gold. The colourful stained glass ceiling let the sun's rays light up the room. Anthropologist Daniel Jackson's eyes were drawn to the beautiful Egyptian Hieroglyphs that adorned the four gold-plated walls.
Colonel Jack O'Neill let out a whistle and looked up at the ceiling. "Nice decor." He said sarcastically as he carefully scanned the room with his military-issue gun. "Where do you think we are Daniel?" He asked.
The young anthropologist looked around the room and turned to Jack. "It appears to be some kind of temple.......but I'm not sure who or what it's dedicated to."
Sam stepped down from the Gate's platform and made her way to the only door in the room. She spoke to Daniel while reading the glyphs upon it. "Daniel, could they be worshipping the Stargate?"
Daniel scanned the walls for any clues that would indicate the purpose of the temple. No luck. The glyphs only explained the workings and description of the Stargate.
"Possibly," He agreed, "In many ancient cultures, the Stargate was considered to be the doorway into the next life. Some Scriptures wrote that sending the dead through the Stargate would bring them new life."
Jack snorted at this, and looked at the Stargate. "I bet the guys on the receiving end were impressed!"
Sam grinned and tapped at the walls, trying to find a way to open the door, "I'll bet they were!"
"Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c, "I have not seen a temple such as this before. Would not the ancient people of Earth have realized that the Stargate was not for the dead?"
Daniel scratched his head in thought before launching into another explanation, "Ah.....the ancients were probably too scared to go through alive, writings from the Books of Babylon suggested possession by demons and evil spirits......kinda like the Goa'uld....."
Sam muttered something to herself and O'Neill headed over to her. "What was that?"
"Hmm....? Oh yeah," She pointed to a hieroglyph on the wall, "Daniel, get over here. Does that look like Hathor's seal to you?"
Daniel looked at the seal and at the inscriptions underneath, "Oh no." He muttered.
"What? What is it?" Jack asked, not liking it when the younger man said Oh no.
Daniel pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Welcome to the House of Hathor." He read.
Sam frowned at the Goddess's name, remembering what had happened the last time they'd met.
"Do you think the natives know she's dead?" Asked Jack hopefully.
Daniel shot jack a look that said 'Ya think?' and Jack shrugged defensively.
"Well, I for one, don't want to be around when they find out." Sam started back towards the Stargate's DHD. Jack nodded and was about to follow, when the door to the room blasted open.
By the time Jack had turned to face the noise, Sam was already in the clutches of four nasty looking Serpent Guards.
"Carter!" Jack cried, firing his gun at the Guards. They took no notice, and started hauling the struggling woman towards the door. Sam managed to free herself for a moment, but was captured again and dragged out the door. "Sam!" Jack tried to follow the guards to the door, but was hit on the leg by a vicious blast from a staff weapon. Teal'c gave a few blasts from his own staff weapon but failed to do any serious damage to the retreating Serpent Guards.
Daniel ran to his fallen comrade as the heavy door boomed closed behind the Serpent Guards. Teal'c tried to get it open again but it had been locked shut from the outside.
The remainder of the team looked up desperately as they heard Sam's faint cries for help from behind the solid door. Teal'c spoke to O'Neill with a faint air of desperation. "Colonel O'Neill, the door resists the blasts from my staff weapon and it is locked from the outside. I feel that we should get help from back at the base to aide us in saving Major Carter."
Jack nodded and limped over to the gate. "Okay Danny, dial us home, we don't know how much time Sam's got, but we'd better get a team down here fast."
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P7Y-532
Estimated Time 1430 Hours
Sam moaned as she came to. She couldn't feel her legs or hands and started to panic as she realised she couldn't move. Her eyes searched the room in fright but could see no-one. A deep voice started to speak just out of her sight.
"The woman is awake." It said.
"It doesn't matter. The exchange has been completed.' Said another.
Sam looked around wildly, exchange? What exchange? Nobody said anything about an exchange!..... Feeling seeped back into her body, but she still couldn't move. From what she could tell, she was no longer in her fatigues, but in some loose garments that had the stomach cut out…if the cool air on her abdomen was anything to rely on......
The surface beneath her back was cold, flat and hard, reminding her of the autopsy tables back at the lab. She shifted her eyes to the left and gasped inwardly in horror. There, lying beside her in cold death was the Goa'uld Hathor. Steam rose slowly from her body and Sam guessed that she had been cyrogenically frozen. The stomach of the female Goa'uld lay open and exposed, her preserved blood oozing gently onto the cold metal table.
Feeling bile rise in her throat, Samantha closed her eyes and tried not to think about what was going on. Where was everyone? Why hadn't they come to save her yet? Had they gone home to get help? 'Oh God guys', she thought desperately, 'please hurry up.'
As if in answering to her plea, the crack of gunfire came from outside. Human voices shouted her name and Serpent Guard armour clattered to the floor. 'They're back', thought Carter in relief, 'with back-up too', more yells and gunfire, 'lots of it.'
The door to her 'prison' was burst open and the doctors, or whoever they were, were overpowered. The familiar thud of combat boots greeted her ears and a man's voice called her name. "Major Carter? I'm going to give you an injection and then we'll get you out of here, do you understand?"
Carter grunted in acknowledgment and the injection was given.
"Sir! We've found her!" Called another voice as the sedative took effect. There was more shuffling and talking as she felt herself being lifted off the table and onto a stretcher.
"Okay, she's safe, dial up boys!" The Colonel's gruff voice was the last thing she heard as she drifted off to sleep under the influence of blessed sedatives.
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Stargate Command
4 Days Later
1648 Hours
"Come in." Jack called, as a knock sounded at the door. He finished buttoning up his jacket and turned to see Carter's head peering round the doorway. "Oh hey Major! How are you feeling?" Jack beckoned for her to come inside.
When the rescue team had brought her back from P7Y-5-something-something, she had been under some sort of drug that had kept her paralysed. Janet was worried and had ordered a full body check up, but nothing appeared to be wrong. Sam hadn't even gotten a scratch from her ordeal, but had remained in the infirmary for three days, Doctor's orders.
"I feel good, I just came by to thank you." She said with a smile.
Jack grinned and turned to the mirror to fix up his collar. He heard her close the door and come towards him. "No need, Major. Think of it as an I.O.U."
There was a soft laugh from her direction, "No really Sir." She insisted, her hand coming up to touch his shoulder.
Jack turned and took a step back in shock. Major Carter stood before him, clad only in a smile, her clothes strewn messily upon the floor. How the hell did she do that?
"Uh.......Major Carter?"
She took a slow step towards him, "Really Jack, I mean it. I want to thank you for saving me."
"Um, Carter are you okay?" He looked nervously at her and then at the door.
She kept on moving towards him.
"Major, what are you doing? You know this is wrong...." He meant for his voice to be stern, but it came out like an adolescent squeak.
Jack turned and faced the other way, "Carter, this is your last warning....uh...." He gasped as her arms snaked around him and stroked his chest, "If you leave now I won't press charges.....oh...."
Her teeth gently raked his earlobe, sending shivers down his spine. Jack tried to prise her hands from his belt, "Sam! I mean Major.....I don't think.....I don't think.....I d....."
His sentence was cut short as his pants slid to the floor and her nimble hands went wandering. He whirled around as best he could and tried to untangle himself from her amorous grasp. "Sam!"
She smiled and ran her tongue over his lips, "Shhhh," she whispered as she tugged off his shirt, "I'm thanking you."
Jack tried nervously to step away, pushing down his growing lust for her, even as he looked over her lithe naked body. "Ah....Sam....." Her fingers stroked his arousal, "Sam, no....ah.....I don't know if this is....."
She pushed him up against a chest of drawers and kissed him passionately. "Mmm, Thankyou." She whispered, rubbing her silken thigh between his legs.
Jack grunted and used all of his will to push her back. It didn't stop her, she was wild, acting just as she had after the mission to the Land of the Touched.
Samantha growled and pushed him backwards onto the bed. "Don't be shy, Jack," she whispered, straddling his legs, "You know you want me."
"Sam, this isn't you...." He tried feebly to push her away, but she had other ideas and crushed her body towards his. "Oh God....ah...we should stop.....unh......"
Sam sat up and for a moment he thought she was actually going to leave, but with a quick lick of her swollen lips she lowered herself downwards and he gasped.
"Sa...Sa.....Sam!"
The Major looked up from his legs and grinned wickedly. He reached down for her but she moved out of his way."Relax," She purred, "I'll make all your problems go away."
Moments passed as she moved her mouth over him, it felt wonderful....forbidden.....dangerous. Against his better judgement he found himself writhing on the bed, egging her on as she made love to him with her beautiful mouth.
After what seemed like years of pleasurable torture, he pulled her up next to him and kissed her. "Enough, Sam, I can't wait any longer." With that he laid her down and started rocking into her. She cried out in pleasure, clutching him tightly and biting at his neck.
They moved together, throwing rules and regulations to the wind, groaning when they passed the final hill, collapsing back onto the bed, sweaty and sated, gasping for breath. The last thing he saw before he went to sleep was the golden glow of her eyes........
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Stargate Command
2052 Hours
When Jack woke up, she was gone. He rolled over to the last remaining warmth under the covers and shook his head. What the hell had just happened? Well, he knew what had just happened but the thought was just too mind- blowing for him.
What the hell had he been thinking? It was against regulations, a Court Martial-able offence. Yet, he had gone and done it, he'd just had sex with his Major, on base, in his own quarters. He punched the pillow in frustration. Talk about playing a Wild Card.
For God's sake, anyone could have heard or seen what had happened, they hadn't even locked the door! Anyone could've just walked in and seen them.....and if anyone had, the two of them would have been thrown so far off the Base that they could've gone into orbit around Chu'lak.
The thought of a possible Court Martial sickened him, but the scent of what had just happened drove him insane. He could smell her delicate perfume on the pillow beside him. He sighed, Sam, Sex. Two words that until now he'd thought could never belong in the same sentence......for him, of course.
There was another knock at the door, "Jack! Open up!" He groaned, wrapped the sheet around his torso and went to the door.
"Daniel. What is it?"
Daniel shouldered his way into the room and stopped when he saw the mess of discarded clothes and rumpled bed. "Oh." He said, and cleared his throat. "Ah, Jack, General Hammond has called a debriefing. He said I should ah..... tell you. Um Jack," He looked at his friend's pained face, "Are you okay?"
Jack nodded, waving his hand dismissively, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be there in a second." He turned and searched for his clothes.
"Right." Daniel nodded and closed the door. So *that's* why Sam looked so dishevelled when she ran down the corridor earlier.
Daniel shook his head and started down the hallway to the debriefing room. "At least someone still gets lucky around here."
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Stargate Command - Debriefing Room
2105 Hours
O'Neill yawned and leant his elbow on the table as he waited with General Hammond and Teal'c in the Debriefing Room. Sam was five minutes late and Daniel had been sent to find her, needless to say, he was taking a while.
Suddenly Daniel burst through the door, looking like Hell was on his heels. "General!" he gasped, leaning over and panting, "It's Carter. Come quick!" he turned and fled.
Jack shot the General a look and they both hurried out after Daniel, Teal'c following close behind.
Daniel led them down to the Infirmary, where Major Carter was strapped to a gurney, screaming and bucking under restraints. An orderly was holding down the Major's arm while Janet attempted to insert a needle.
"Doctor Fraiser, what's all this about?" Asked the General as Sam broke free from one of the restraints. She lunged forward, but one of the nurses caught her in time and pinned her back down.
Janet looked at them worriedly and glanced at the rabid Major. "I don't know. She just went berserk when I tried to give her a check up a few minutes ago....."
"Woah! Look at that!" She was interrupted by Daniel as he jumped backwards. They all turned to see what he was pointing at.
Something wriggly slithered underneath Sam's pale skin and made its way up her ribcage. Frightening the nurses who were holding her down.
"It's a Goa'uld!"
Janet recoiled from her shock and jumped into full Doctor mode, snapping orders left, right and centre. "All right, I need a medical team STAT! We need to take her into surgery now and get that thing out of her before it gets a chance to wrap itself around her spine. Go! Go! Go!"
Nurses bustled about, preparing Sam for surgery and the men were hustled out the door. "You can watch from the viewing room where its safe." Janet told them as she shut the door in their faces.
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Stargate Command - The Infirmary
2300 Hours
Jack rubbed his eyes and shifted in his chair. They had been watching the surgery from the observation room for two hours now and all of them felt tired.
Janet was handed a fresh scalpel as she bent over Sam's open stomach. She sliced through a layer of tissue and stepped back in surprise. "Oh my God.......What the hell is this?"
The General leaned forwards to the microphone in front of him, "What is it Doctor?" He asked.
Janet turned to face the observation window, "I don't know…there are several egg-like objects nestled in her womb......I've never seen anything like this before!"
She turned back to her subject, "Woah," Her voice was filled with morbid curiosity as the egg shaped objects quivered from where they lay tightly packed in Samantha's womb.
A few of the 'eggs' started to crack, "They appear to be hatching......I'm going to take one out for closer observation before we remove the rest."
The Doctor snapped on another pair of Latex gloves and moved to retrieve one of the eggs from Sam's abdomen. An unearthly screech pierced the air just as she lowered her hand inside. Janet and her attendants jumped back in horror as the fanged heads of larval Goa'uld swarmed from the opening in Sam's stomach.
The men in the observation room stood up, pressing their faces against the bullet-proof window to see the frightening scene unfold in the Operating theatre. "Get out of there! Seal the room off!" Hammond ordered.
More Goa'uld larvae wriggled free from the Major’'s womb and spilled onto the sterile tile floor, Janet dropped her tools and ushered everyone out of the theatre before hitting the Emergency button and leaving the room herself.
Janet rushed to the observation room to speak with the General but Jack stopped her with a look of desperation. "We can't just leave her there." He said, pleading with Janet to understand.
There were more screeches as the baby Goa'ulds died from prolonged exposure to the air.
The petite woman nodded and addressed the General, "Sir, O'Neill's right, if we leave her there too long she may suffer shock from blood loss and the risk of infection to her post- surgical wound may be increased. I'd like permission for a bio-hazard team to go in there and retrieve the dead," She looked through the window to confirm it and continued, "Goa'ulds and put them in storage for further examination. After that I'd like to get my medical team back down there to finish the operation and see if we can recover any remaining eggs. Do I have your permission Sir?"
General Hammond paused for a moment in thought and agreed, he ordered Jack and Daniel to contact Carter's Father and the two men left to do their duty.
This night was turning out longer than he'd expected. Hopefully the Tok'ra could help them.
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Stargate Command
0005 Hours
"It's true...." Jacob Carter said as he stared down at his only daughter. The young woman moaned as her sedatives began to wear off.
Hammond had told him what had happened and that the situation looked grave for his daughter. Janet had found no evidence of any remaining eggs.....it was as if the shells had been re-absorbed into her body. Jacob's Tok'ra Goa'uld Selmac suspected that the Major had been transformed into a Queen Bee. An incubator for Goa'uld eggs.
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"Is she really a Queen Bee?" Asked Daniel, his boyish features full of awe and concern.
"Yes," Answered Selmac, "She has been transformed. It probably happened during the time she was captive on P7Y-532. Did you say that the Temple you found was dedicated to Hathor?"
Daniel nodded, "Yes, but she's dead."
"Exactly," The Tok'ra paused for effect, "The Resistance has heard rumours of a plan to transplant the womb of Hathor into another host so as to keep up the production of the Symbiont Goa'uld."
"Why?"
"No reason. The Goa'uld are impatient. They do not want to wait for a volunteer, so they took a host by force. Samantha Carter's predicament is a result of this evil impatience"
Daniel brushed a hand through his hair, "But is there anything we can do? Surely there is some way to save her!"
Selmac raised his brow, "No. We cannot do anything for her. You must leave the artificial womb inside her until the birthing process is finished. It is most likely that she has been taken over by a Goa'uld, if we remove the womb now, it will kill her in anger and take another host. I will not let that happen."
A feeling of despair clouded everyone in the observation room. Things were not looking good.
"But what about after the births?" Jack asked, talking for the first time since the operation. "What then? Do we just sit around and wait for her to feel like breeding again? She's probably a Goa'uld now for crying out loud!"
Selmac shrugged. "I'm sorry Colonel. We will have to wait until the births are done. Only then can we remove the womb...." He paused. "Unless"
"Unless what?"
"Doctor Fraiser, how much of Major Carter's.....I mean Hathor's womb did you see in the subject?"
Fraiser wrung her hands, trying to recall the details. "I don't know....there was no time to investigate."
Selmac frowned, "Well, I was going to say that if the Goa'ulds on P7Y-532 had only implanted part of Hathor's womb, there is a chance that it could be expelled from her body naturally and the remainders re-absorbed into her system......But since we cannot be sure, there is nothing to be done. The Symbioses will turn against their 'mother' if we are wrong, all we can do is wait."
So they waited.
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Stargate Command
0054 Hours
Klaxons blared, startling Jack from a restless doze in his cushy swivel chair. A harried Airman rushed in with a message.
"Colonel O’'Neill Sir, It's Major Carter, she's missing from the isolation ward!"
"She's what!?"
"She's missing Sir."
Jack stood up, "Yeah, yeah, I heard you Airman. We have to find her *now*. Has the General been alerted?"
"Yes Sir. He's in the debriefing room now."
"Okay, thankyou Airman, dismissed."
The Airman left and Jack ran a hand over his brow. This was going from bad to worse. How does a top-rate military facility allow a *very* heavily sedated patient go missing anyway? She couldn't have gotten that far, hopefully she was still on the Base.
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0055 Hours
Debriefing Room
"General Hammond Sir, Major Carter has been located."
"Where?" The General looked up at the interruption to the emergency meeting he had called.
"She's currently in the Embarkation Room. It appears that she is about to go somewhere. The blast doors have been secured and she's set the Auto-Destruct code for five minutes. She's out of control, Sir."
"I'll say." The General rose from his seat at the head of the table and left the room, followed closely by O'Neill and Jackson.
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0056 Hours
Command Room
General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill arrived in the command room where Lieutenant Simmons was typing like a madman.
"General Hammond, the Auto-Destruct sequence has four minutes and twenty-two-point-nine-five seconds left. Carter has placed a lock code on the blast doors and I can't get them open!"
"Well then," said Hammond, pushing the Lieutenant aside, "I need two ranking officers to override the code and deactivate the locking mechanisms," he faced O'Neill, "You're it."
"Yes Sir."
Precious seconds passed. After some fast and furious typing by both the General and O'Neill, the blast doors opened to reveal the scene in the Gate Room.
Carter's lone figure stood unsteadily at the foot of the ramp. Somehow she had managed to retrieve the odd stomach-less garments they had found her in on P7Y-532 and put them on.
The blue glare of the event-horizon lit up the room as she walked unsteadily up the ramp, clutching her abdomen in obvious pain.
Hammond spoke into the microphone connecting the two rooms. "Major Carter, step away from the Gate!"
Sam turned slowly and looked up at them, eyes glowing with eerie Goa'uld light. She said nothing, turned around and continued on her previous journey.
Hammond spoke again, "Major Carter! Stop! That's an order!!"
She didn't even respond this time as she stepped closer and closer to the event horizon.
Hammond sighed. "Colonel, why don't you try....."
The Colonel was not there.
"Where the hell has O'Neill gone?" He asked furiously.
"He's ah, in the Gate room Sir," answered Simmons.
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Gate Room
0100 Hours
Jack stood behind Carter in the Gate Room, hoping to talk some sense into her. "Sam!"
She turned around slowly and looked upon him as if he were scum. "So, you're here to stop me?" Her voice sent chills down his spine, it was the voice of the Goa'uld Hathor.
He clenched his fists, taking a step towards her, "Hathor! You little bitch! Let her go!"
The Goa'uld in possession of Sam's body merely smiled sweetly, ignoring Jack's profanity. "Why Jack, you did not think such things last night when we were 'thanking you'" Hathor trailed a finger down his cheek and across his jaw.
Jack's stomach churned at the thought. So it wasn't really Sam seducing him at all last night.....it was Hathor......how could he have been so dumb? There were so many signs of foul play.....that and the fact that the Sam Carter he knew would never *ever* put her career on the line for a one night fling. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Jack looked into the glowing orbs of Sam/Hathor's eyes, trying desperately to connect with Sam. "Sam, you can fight this." He said, searching for a glimmer of his Major's soul.
Sam/Hathor stood there, the two minds obviously fighting for control.
Jack spoke again, "Samantha, this isn't you. I know it isn't. You're stronger than these snakes! Fight it Sam! Come on! You can win!"
There was a moment of tension as the Goa'uld glow remained.......but not for long, the golden light in Carter's eyes faded back to their normal light blue colour and the Colonel sighed in relief.
"Jack..." Sam's voice was weak, tired. She swayed towards him, tired limbs unable to offer support.
Jack caught her before she fell, hugging her close to his chest. "Sam," he whispered in relief, "I knew you could do it."
Sam's body went rigid and she pushed herself away from him. The golden Goa'uld eyes glowed once more. "Fool!" Said Hathor coldly, "She is weak!" She turned to face the dividing window of the Command room and addressed the men inside, 'You cannot resist the power and might that is Queen Hathor!"
"Shut the Iris!" Commanded Hammond as Sam/Hathor started towards the Stargate. Simmons punched the code in and the Iris slammed shut, preventing Sam/Hathor's escape.
Sam/Hathor whirled around to glower at the people in the Command Room. "Idiots! You will pay for this! You have just sentenced your friend to death!" No sooner than she had said this, Carter's eyes rolled backwards into her head and she collapsed to the floor.
"Carter!" O'Neill rushed to Sam's side, and cradled her head in his lap.
Jacob, who had just recently arrived in the Command room watched the scene unfold as his daughter fell to the floor. He realised what was about to happen.
"O'Neill! Get away from her!" He shouted. Turning to Hammond, he gave the news. "The Goa'uld is preparing itself for a new host."
The General's face fell as he turned back to the Gate Room window and saw Jack tenderly cradling Carter in his arms. 'Colonel! Move away from her!"
Jack looked up in anguish and shook his head no, turning back to the unconscious Carter and stroking her blonde hair with a gentle hand.
Hammond huffed in frustration, 'Colonel! You must move away from the Major! Your life is in danger. The Goa'uld inside her plans to take you as a new host! Get out of there now! That is an order, Colonel!"
Jack looked up at the General in disbelief and then back at Sam. Her eyes opened, pleading with him to go. "Jack," Her voice was pained, "Do what he says. Leave me now."
Jack struggled with himself, he loved her too much to let her go like this. "No."
"Jack, please. I can't hold on much longer."
An unwarranted tear slid down his cheek and landed on her nose. "Sam, no, I...."
A tired smile graced her lips. "I know Jack, I know. But you must go, otherwise Hathor will kill you."
Jack shook his head stubbornly, biting back more tears. "NO! I won't leave you." He pushed a lock of hair from her face. "I won't leave you behind."
Gathering what little strength she had, Sam reared up and pushed him away, "Jack! Go!"
It felt to Jack as if a thousand knives were tearing at his chest as he finally backed away from Carter and left the room. He sat dejectedly in the Command Room with Jacob, Hammond and Daniel as they watched Hathor take control of Sam once more.
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Sam/Hathor crawled her way painfully back up the gate ramp to the Stargate. Sam/Hathor rolled slowly onto her back, clutching at her abdomen as something moved around underneath her skin.
"Holy Hannah," Jacob whispered, "My poor girl."
Sam let out an ear-piercing scream that shook them all to the bone. Even Teal'c, who showed less emotion than a brick wall looked shaken.
The expression on Sam's face was one of unspeakable torture as her mind battled with that of the Goa'uld inside her head. Jacob's heart beat mournfully for his daughter. He hated to see her in so much pain, and the knowledge that nothing could be done did nothing to help. Selmac had said that they had to let her give birth or the Goa'uld would kill her. The damn thing would kill her anyway, at this rate.
Sam cried out again, hot tears of pain flowed down her pale cheeks and into her hair. Hathor was going to kill her, birth or no, she could feel it, Hathor was angry, she wanted to return home. Sam groaned as the evil Goa'uld took over again, golden eyes glaring brightly up at the Command Room.
"Let me go and I shall let her live!" She said, not meaning a word of it.
The men looked at each other, wanting to stop the woman's suffering, but unwilling to let Hathor leave.
Sam twisted, regaining momentary control of her body as she shouted, "NO! Don't listen to it! She's lying! She'll kill me no matter what you do!"
Hathor, psychotic with rage sent spasms of pain up and down Sam's spine, causing her to writhe and scream upon the ramp.
"LET ME GO!" shouted the Goa'uld, "NOW!"
Carter continued to scream as several small Goa'uld Symbioses pushed their fangs against her womb lining, making the skin on her stomach appear to crawl. "Oh GOD!" She cried as they pushed their way upwards. "Leave me alone!"
Her next scream echoed loudly off the walls as scores of Goa'uld larvae forced their way out of her body, splattering blood and muscle tissue everywhere.
Tens were followed by hundreds, which were followed by thousands of Goa'ulds that slithered out of their 'mother' and onto the floor, screeching loudly as they searched for hosts.
Hammond felt powerless, Jacob, guilty. Jack's heart was torn from his chest. Teal'c stood silent, and Daniel turned away to hide his eyes from the suffering of his friend.
There was a third cry from Carter's direction, more blood, more flesh, more Goa'ulds.
Jacob lowered his head and Hammond laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Jacob glanced at O'Neill, the young man was having a worse time than himself, flinching at every scream of pain, every groan of suffering given by his little girl.
Selmac took control and spoke to the Colonel. "She will be okay." He said.
O'Neill faced him, eyes worried, "How can you be sure? Everyone has a weakness Selmac. Sam's been at this for hours. She can't keep on much longer."
"It's almost done. There cannot be that many left."
Indeed, as he said these words the last of the Goa'uld slithered out, screeching with their siblings as they searched in vain for hosts and died from lack of moisture.
All was silent.
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Command Room
0143 Hours
The men looked down at the Major, lying unconscious in a pool of blood. Jack turned to Selmac/Jacob "Selmac, how much time do we have before the next birth?"
Selmac looked worried as he calculated the estimated time. "I do not know for sure, but the Goa'uld inside her will need to recuperate after such a violent birth. We may be able to speak to Major Carter for a short time, But we should...."
Selmac stopped, Jack had already left the room for Sam. "let her rest."
Hammond sighed, looking down at Jack worrying over the Major. "Let them be Selmac. I believe it's best for them."
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Gate Room
0144 Hours
Jack lifted Carter's head onto his lap, tactically ignoring the mess of her stomach. "Sam? Wake up Sam!" He shook her gently, careful not to hurt her. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment and closed again, proof of her fatigue. "Sam, I know you're tired, but you have to stay awake a little longer."
The Colonel's voice drifted through her senses, bringing her back to the land of the living. "Colonel?"
He took her hand and squeezed it gratefully, "Major."
She sighed, "I'm so tired.....it hurts."
He kissed her knuckles. "I know," He soothed, "I know it hurts, but you have to help me help you. I have an idea."
She smiled weakly, "You? An idea? Wow."
Jack laughed, "Funny Carter. Do you want to hear this or not?"
She breathed out heavily, looking into his eyes for strength. "Yeah."
Jack shifted, causing her to gasp. "Sorry. Do you remember Thor's Crystal Sam? The one that the Asguard gave us on P2R-205?"
"no."
Jack looked surprised for a moment, "Oh yeah, you weren't there. Well anyway, the Asguard, a.k.a Thor said that it was a remote beam for Thor's Hammer on Uberwald or whatever it was....."
"Uberwald?"
"You know, the one where Teal'c and I were beamed up by Scottie and got stuck in the maze with the psycho Goa'uld?"
"Oh yeah, that one. I remember that. I thought the Hammer was broken......"
Jack nodded, "Yes, it was, but the Asguard came back and fixed it. They weren't entirely impressed that it had been broken, mind you."
Sam smiled, "I can only imagine.....anyway, about your plan?"
"Okay, anyway, I was thinking we could use the Crystal to teleport you to Thor's Hammer so we can get that Goa'uld out of you.....hopefully it'll work."
Carter smiled again, but her face creased as a wave of pain swept over her. "You're a genius Jack...ah!"
Jack became concerned, "Sam?"
She gripped his hand tighter, "I'm sorry," she gasped.
"For what?"
"All this." She gestured to the mess of blood and dead Goa'ulds surrounding them. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Especially you." She glanced at the bite mark she'd left from their previous sexual encounter. "You shouldn't have rescued me." She attempted painfully to turn away from him, but he held her firm in his embrace.
"Don't say that." He said, "I could never have left you, or anyone else there Sam, you know that." He lightened his tone, "Besides, if I had, who'd be around to beat me at poker huh? I mean, I can't be good at *everything* you know."
He grinned and continued when his last comment earned a soft laugh. "Space Monkey would be broke within the hour."
Sam grinned as best as she could and reached up to stroke the patch of greying hair above his ear. "I know a really good dye for that." She said, referring to his hair.
"Hey Missy," He warned, "That's enough cheek from you. Grey hair is a sign of maturity. Respect you slightly-elders."
Sam made a face. "Right. So why isn't you hair as black as the day you were born?"
Jack bore a look of indignation. "Hey! Well, you can't talk miss Blonde is my Real Hair Colour!"
She smirked and hit him weakly, trying to ignore the stabs of pain in her body. "At least I have hair."
Jack gave her a mock-shocked look. "Low blow!"
She laughed, and they were silent for a moment, smiling and revelling in each others embrace.
A dark thought clouded her mind, causing a tear to well in her eye. She turned her head and spoke into his chest. "Jack, I don't want to die here."
Taken aback, he cupped her cheek in his hand and said, "You're *not* going to die, Sam. I won't let you. You're stuck with me for eternity."
This brought a watery smile. "Oh, great." A spasm of pain caused her to gasp, blood started to seep from her wound once again.
"Sam?"
"Jack...It's starting again." She gasped, gesturing to her stomach. "You have to go."
Jack nodded sadly, understanding. "Okay Sam. You'll be okay. When this is over I'll take you to Thor's Hammer and we'll get this motherfucker out of you. Be strong."
She smiled through her pain. "Okay."
Before he left, Jack pulled her close and pressed a kiss onto her lips and then on her forehead. "You'll be fine. You can get through this."
"I know."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Command room
0152 Hours
The last birth was more violent than the others, spreading more blood and gore than one could imagine was contained in her small body. Somehow, she pulled through. Whenever she felt like giving up, she'd look up at the Control room at Jack, drawing her strength from his concern for her.
His strained voice spoke to her when the pain was at its worst, calming her down and drawing her away from the harshness of reality. Jack spoke to her about anything and everything, her father joined in, and it lessened her suffering somewhat to hear them telling bad knock-knock jokes over the mike.
There was a pause in time as Sam went still. "Sam?" Jack asked, "What is it?"
Suddenly, the young woman began to convulse, Hathor was trying to take control.
"Jack!"
Selmac/Jacob watched and then said, "It is dying. It will most probably take the host, too."
A mature Goa'uld stretched it frilled head from the cavity in Sam's abdomen, unable to fight any longer, the Major collapsed. Everyone waited. In silence.
Jack was the only one to break out of his trance. He raced out into the Gate room to help his friend. The Goa'uld sensed him, and whipped around, bearing its nasty fangs.
"Let her go!" Said Jack, taking a tentative step backwards as the adult Goa'uld slithered across the floor towards him. ""Come on, snakey, You need a new host? I'm your man. Just leave her alone for now, will ya?"
Sam moaned from her position on the ramp and looked up doggedly to see Jack facing off with the Goa'uld. "Jack, no!"" she wheezed. "It's not worth it."
He looked over to her, losing his concentration on the Goa'uld. The creature seized the moment, slithering up his pants leg in a bee-line for his neck.
"NO!" Sam yelled, adrenaline propelling her forwards. She grabbed the Goa'uld as it prepared to strike and brought its head down upon the ramp.
She beat it mercilessly until it was still, all its evil life dashed upon the wire-mesh. A flush of victory swept over her at its death and she promptly fainted on top of it.
"Sam!" O'Neill snapped out of his shock and ran to her, checking her pulse, it was faint, but still there. He looked up to the Command Room. "Get her to the infirmary!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Infirmary
One Week Later
1024 Hours
O'Neill sat beside Carter's bed as she lay sleeping, the steady blip of the heart monitor beside her bed calmed him. She was alive. She was recovering. She was going to be herself again.
Sure, there'd be some heavy stuff to talk about, but they'd pull through. They were a team, built on friendship, or, as Daniel teasingly put it, unresolved RST.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Story Notes: Authors note: A VERY BIG thankyou to 'antropuppy' who BETA this. She did a fantastic job and helped me out and made this story read able. *nikki turns and claps* THANKYOU!!!!
End Notes: The End
HooBoy! That was interesting! Over to Nikki! Our Plot-Deviser Extraordinaire!! Yaaaaay! *clap clap clap clap clap*
Edited by ChestnutMoose chestnutmoose@talkcity.com Don't sleep and write.
HooBoy! That was interesting! Over to Nikki! Our Plot-Deviser Extraordinaire!! Yaaaaay! *clap clap clap clap clap*
Edited by ChestnutMoose chestnutmoose@talkcity.com Don't sleep and write.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]