Defiant: One plus one is three?

By Demon Faith and Stephali

TITLE: Defiant: - One plus one is three?

AUTHORS: Demon Faith and Stephali

EMAIL: rosabeth@hotmail.com and stephalij@hotmail.com

CATEGORY: Sam/Daniel, Romance, Series, Angst, Drama

PAIRINGS: Sam/Daniel, Jack/other

SPOILERS: Major spoilers for Defiant 1 and 2. Minor for: The Movie, Fire and Water, Tok’ra, Fair Game, The Devil you know and Upgrades.

SEASON/SEQUEL: Third in the Defiant series. There will be a sequel.

RATING: PG-13

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual situations and violence.

SUMMARY: More secrets are revealed, as the legend of the Defiant unfolds…

DISCLAIMER: Anything that looks familiar i.e. SG1, SGC etc belongs to MGM/Showtime. Anything original-looking i.e. Aurora, Sasprai, Eliza etc belong to Demon Faith and Stephali

AUTHOR’S NOTES: Various types of telepathy appear in this story. There are unique symbols for everyone communicating telepathically:

*thought* - Daniel

[{(thought)}] – Sam

///thought/// - Anise

‘/’thought’/’ – Sasprai

The Saphyr people communicate in speech marks, even though it is on a telepathic level, because that is the only way they can communicate. Confused yet? Good!

Oh, so that blame can be placed accordingly, most of the strange names came from Stephali’s imagination and most of the ‘questionable’ scenes came from Demon Faith’s imagination.

Thanks go to SDR (especially the Musketeers), Slug, Meloko, Tash and Nic – for listening to our ramblings and being patient through our confusion.

"Oh God, I'm Defiant!"

The words didn't really sink in at first, despite the exclamation. She, Sam, was one of the Defiant, chosen to be hunted for eternity by the Goa'uld, chosen by an alien race who bought their lives with this promise. She was everything she never wanted to be. Her thoughts flashed at once to fears of not being able to travel through the Gate anymore. If a Goa'uld caught her or Daniel then surely they would know the possibilities open to them. And that surely led to only one possibility open to the SGC... Then suddenly she noticed Daniel's gaze upon her. It was full of understanding and wisdom, but tinged with bitter sadness. He knew what she was going through, what she was thinking. She felt guilty. Terribly guilty.

He had only learnt what she now knew by being host to Apophis, and to Ra. He only found out when it happened to him, nobody had even heard of the Defiant before then. He had not been himself for several weeks whilst Apophis planned his attack on Earth. He had had to watch himself hurting his friends and colleagues, and her. Though why she counted herself special was a mystery really. She had finally opened her heart to him in the desert, on the planet she gated to. And she remembered the utter joy she had felt when he had told her that he loved her. It wasn't even him saying that though, it was just Apophis exploiting her to get back to Earth.

She felt outraged, and confused, and a tremendous volume of emotions and feelings that she couldn't begin to comprehend, but overwhelmingly all she could feel was love. Love for the world, love for her team, love for Daniel; there was no love left for herself.

Daniel gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "I'll be there for you, you know that."

"I should have been there for you."

They both looked away from each other, not wanting to meet the other's gaze.

Daniel broke the silence. "Perhaps we should go and see Janet."

Sam edged towards the door, "You're right, as always."

He grinned, albeit slightly nervously, and headed off back down the corridor.

~

Janet just stood there in disbelief, desperately trying to comprehend what her friends were telling her.

“You’re…you’re…no, you’re not…really?”

Sam and Daniel smiled at each other, and Janet almost did a double-take. Okay, they never used to look at each other like…that.

“Janet, I cut my palm on one of Daniel’s knives. The wound instantly healed, and there’s not even a scar.”

Janet’s eyebrows raised and she started pacing round the infirmary, rambling about all the theories that came to mind.

“How on earth…she could’ve…but no, surely…however, she might…no, no not from then…maybe then…yes, perhaps…no, maybe not…when the…yes, a possibility…”

Janet turned to them both, smiling, and they immediately cringed. They knew what that meant.

“I need to run some tests.”

~

Jack stood outside the door, eyes widening by the second. He had just been on his way to see if Teal'c had stopped by the infirmary as he definitely wasn't in his office. They had arranged to meet up, but it hadn't quite worked; maybe they got their wires crossed or something? But anyway, now that had all changed. Sam and Daniel Defiant? That would make his job of commanding SG1 one hell of a lot easier if they had their 'powers' and Teal'c had Junior. So, wait a minute, where did that leave him?

Then he heard the dreaded word: 'tests'. He knew Janet would have to have a 'human' test subject as well, and he was guessing that meant him. No way. Not a chance. He sneaked off back down the corridor to avoid suspicion. He just risked having a single glance back towards the infirmary when he heard a loud crash and found himself flat out on the ground.

Lifting himself up again he saw a large metal box with the words 'Dr. Janet Frasier' printed neatly on the side. He apologised to the airman he had walked straight into and started to pick up some papers which had drifted to the floor. Then he heard the door opening. He tried to run, but he was caught in her tight, malicious grasp. Janet then hauled him into the infirmary, with him protesting all the way.

~

Teal'c was confused. He was at the designated spot at the designated time and there was no sign of O'Neill. He may have been bewildered by human behaviour before, but one constant was that they always met with their friends when they promised to. He wondered if there had been an emergency briefing that O'Neill had been summoned to, but thought this was unlikely. A better bet would be the infirmary he figured, as that was where SG1 spent a great deal of their time. He left the office, shutting the door behind him.

~

Janet thanked the Airman who brought the test results, and stared. She had taken tests from Sam both now and before she went off on her Danny-hunting expedition, but there had been a fire in one of the labs, and she’d only just got the results back.

Most of them were as expected, but one…

“Sam…”

Janet looked up and her eyes met Sam’s, and the woman gasped before collapsing down onto a nearby bed.

“No, it can’t be…”

Daniel looked from one shocked face to the other, completely confused. And then he indulged in telepathy…

“Oh my, you can’t be serious!”

Jack heard this little half-conversation from behind the cubicle curtain, and had had enough. He drew it aside and stood up to face them.

“Right, seeing as I haven’t got that psycho-link thing, someone please tell me…”

Jack caught Daniel’s expression, and his eyes widened. Then, Teal’c walked in.

“There you are, O’Neill.”

Janet knew this was one person who couldn’t guess, then realised she looked like the only one to tell him.

“Teal’c; Sam’s pregnant.”

~

"What?!" Jack said, then he looked around at all their expressions. "Sorry, couldn't help it."

Janet leaned over and pulled on his arm, "I think it's time we went to do your tests somewhere else, don't you think?"

"What a good idea. Teal'c, you're coming with us."

The Jaffa stood confused (again) for a second, but then realised that Dr. Frasier wished for Major Carter and Daniel Jackson to have some time alone together. He agreed with the suggestion, so followed them out without complaint.

There was silence. Neither Sam nor Daniel could find anything to say, nothing that the other couldn't already guess anyway. Daniel slowly moved to sit by her and placed his head in his hands.

"God, Sam, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen."

She lifted his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Tell me you don't mean it."

"Of course I do. I let Ra do all that to you. I just watched him do it; I couldn't fight him any longer."

She gazed at a mark on the wall, swallowing hard. "Listen Daniel. I've always wanted a child. But I couldn't...... I always put my career first. But now it's happened, and nothing's going to change that. I want this baby. And I want the father to be you."

"The father's Ra, Sam! Ra. You're having the child of a Goa'uld."

"No I'm not!! It's yours Daniel. It's the most precious thing I could ever share with you, please don't throw it away."

He said nothing.

She began again, "Just tell me this. Do you wish this had never happened? Because I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

"Of course I wish it had never happened." He took in her pained expression. "I didn't mean it like that," he added apologetically.

Sam's eyes flashed with anger, "What? Are you telling me your promises to me were all a lie? That our relationship didn't mean anything?"

Daniel stood up to leave. Just before he reached the door, he spoke, his voice raw with emotion. "No, I'm not saying that. I just wish I could have said it all before. When it would have meant something."

He turned his back, and went out.

~

Daniel ran towards his office, blinded by tears, roughly shoving whoever stepped in his path. He dived for his sanctuary and shut the door behind him, sinking slowly down the door.

“Oh, why all this pain?”

Suddenly, a bright light assaulted his eyes and a beautiful young woman appeared, and smiled at him.

#You are the Defiant. I am pleased#

Daniel was getting a bad feeling about this. Here was a strange woman who was Goa’uld who knew he was Defiant and was pleased about it. Oh, a very bad feeling.

“What do you want? How do you know?”

The woman smiled, held out her hand and his pen sailed straight between her fingers.

#For I am Defiant. Or, at least, my host is. And what I want is you#

Daniel was more than a little confused and not afraid to say so.

“Excuse me?”

The woman smiled, and knelt down in front of him.

#I am Eliza, Queen of Belos, Great Conqueror of Babylon. My husband’s host died in battle, and he now resides in stasis. He requires a new host, and your legend has just reached us. I made all haste here and I have found you. Together, we shall make a Defiant child, and offer him to Cronus in exchange for my husband’s lands. And you, Daniel Jackson, are the key.#

As Daniel drank all that in, he began to make several sudden realisations. Ra had made Sam Defiant: and Daniel had just found a reason. A Defiant child: perhaps stronger than it’s parentage. Ra could’ve started a whole new race of Defiant, a whole Jaffa army of Defiant…Daniel shuddered at the thought. And, now he was being taken to create one of these children…but why him?

“Wait: you said you were Defiant. Why don’t you just make another Defiant; I know it’s possible.”

#You know of the blood bond, how interesting. Only when true love exists between a human and a Defiant can the blood bond be performed, entwining their souls and allowing the blood to flow freely. But only where there is love: it is another ‘trap’ in you Defiant. There are many; So far, I have found 37, yet I am sure there are more.#

The woman grabbed his chin, staring at his eyes for a moment. Then, she let go, stood and lifted her right hand.

#See you in hell#

The device activated and Daniel was lost to darkness.

~

Sam had sat motionless for a few minutes, only breaking her stillness to rub the tears away that were drowning her eyes. She was not sure what she was feeling or why, but she knew that it had hurt like nothing ever before and that her soul seemed to be disappearing down an endless vortex. She supposed it wasn't that much of a shock: being pregnant and all. She vaguely remembered Ra telling her something about his plans, and she was sure they included things that didn't bear thinking about. But she was also sure that the child within her was created for a reason, a purpose. Something far greater than even the Goa'uld could have predicted.

She knew how desperate she sounded, surely it was every mother's wish.

She was suddenly aware of a movement outside the closed door. Drying her eyes, she went to open it, hoping against hope it would be no-one other than Janet.

She was relieved, when she saw her friend's slight figure waiting for her. Sam opened the door and allowed Janet to draw her into a hug.

"What's up Sam?" She knew it was almost the worst possible thing to say, but there was nothing else to be said really.

"He.. he... doesn't want it."

"Oh Sam I sure he didn't mean it," Janet patted her on the back gently, trying to calm her friend down.

"No he told me. He said that he regretted it ever happened and that nothing meant anything any more."

"Listen, I know Daniel," Janet said trying to reason, "And I'm sure he's just shocked and ..... oh my god, Sam, it's Ra's and he knows it, isn't it?"

She slowly nodded and then shook her head, as if in confusion.

"Then that's what he's come to realise Sam and he's angry. Not at you, not at the child, but at himself, for letting this happen. I'm sure once he's collected himself together, he'll be back full of apologies and guilt and then you'll just have to be there for him, you know?"

Sam looked more peaceful now, "I suppose I keep forgetting how hard it must be for him," she said contemplatively.

"See, there's nothing that you could have possibly done to make him act like this. It'll just take time Sam, that's all, for him to realise that he's not at fault."

"What would I do without you Janet?"

Janet smiled appreciatively, "Thanks Sam, how about I get you a coffee? And a chocolate muffin? You're eating for two now."

"Sure, it's better than staying here."

"I hope you didn't mean that."

"Of course not."

~

Jack was getting impatient. How long did decision-making take? Unless they were doing much more than talking…Jack shook his head, wondering if Janet had just walked in on something she shouldn’t have.

Jack was getting angry. All it took was a supposedly-dead System Lord, another Goa’uld with a grudge and some aliens who decided to save their race with exactly the wrong people to bring SG1 down. Actually, that made a certain amount of sense. But, his team, the very people he was supposed to protect, had got hurt, injured, and would bear the mental scars for life. He had failed them.

Janet walked out, and pulled him to one side.

“Daniel’s upset. He’s gone off somewhere. Find him, please.”

Her voice was pleading and Jack nodded gravely. Sam had told them everything while they were waiting for Janet to wake up: the ‘Defiant’ story, Ra’s master plan for the universe and Apophis’ own destruction plan. Daniel had suffered so much recently, and now Jack had to make it right.

He headed for the archaeologist’s office, knowing Daniel would be there.

~

Or not. In fact, Daniel didn’t really know where he was, but for a split second it reminded him horribly of the place Apophis had used as a hideout. It was almost as if he was back there, reliving those terrible days when all he could do was watch. And dream, and have those strange visions, which told of the history of the Defiant. More and more of those images were coming back to him, as if in warning, as if to dispel some greater evil in the universe.

Not that he wasn’t concerned with his present situation. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around at that particular moment, which he wasn’t sure was a good or bad thing. One thing he was sure of though was that his head hurt, his vision was swimming and that he would much rather be somewhere else.

#You are awake. Belos awaits you#

Oh, most definitely somewhere else. Daniel edged towards the wall, using the hard surface to push himself up. Once he had regained some sense of balance, and he was sure the room wasn’t really spinning, Daniel ventured a step forward and held out his hands to Eliza, and with typical Jack-like sarcasm said:

“Take me to your leader.”

~

Sam munched her way through the chocolate muffin, constantly wondering where Daniel was and what he was doing, how he was feeling and whether he was upset with her.

She was just about to order a second one, when Jack burst in, an unusual expression of panic on his face.

“He’s gone!”

“Daniel?”

“Who else?”

“What do you mean gone?”

“Gone. As in nowhere here. As in nowhere to be found. As in gone.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I’ve checked everywhere, asked everyone....…”

“What?” Sam asked, “Why did you stop?”

“Unless he doesn’t want to be found. I mean, can you people do that kind of thing? You know, hide from the rest of us?”

Sam thought about it for a second, then ‘went’ to ask Daniel. Only, he wasn’t there. She stood up then: something definitely wasn’t right.

“Sir! He’s gone…I can’t sense him…like before…there’s nothing…what’s happened…not again…”

“Calm down, Sam! One thing at a time!”

Jack gently pushed Sam back onto the bed, where she tried to calm herself.

“He’s not there…I can’t touch his mind…there’s just emptiness inside me…he’s really gone…”

Jack nodded slowly, trying to catch every other word. Daniel-gone…okay, got it!

“Right, Sam, I’ll alert the General. You try and work out why you can’t sense him and I’ll…”

“Proximity. But then he can’t be on this planet…at least, not in the solar system. Oh Jack, what could’ve happened? Is he…is he…”

“Sam, Daniel IS NOT dead! You hear me? We haven’t come this far to lose him! Okay? Okay?”

Sam nodded glumly and he nodded to her, rubbing her shoulder. He moved towards the door.

“Just stay here, okay?”

Sam nodded, and he left. Then, she got up and closed her eyes. He had told her how to do this, if she were ever in trouble. Now seemed like the right time. She opened her eyes again and looked down at her hand. Only, it wasn’t there. She moved towards Janet’s office and the wall mirror. No reflection.

Satisfied that she could not be seen, Sam headed for the Gate Room.

~

There was a small, plain, unfurnished jar lying on a heavily decorated table. It looked out of place, as if someone was trying to cover up the importance of this chamber, but was failing. The very atmosphere was that of torture and fear, its mood was darkness. The stench of death flew freely, with no attempt made to cover it up.

Into this room stepped Eliza, her steps measured, her head held gracefully. Behind her stumbled Daniel, trying to break away. She needed no Jaffa, no weapon to bind him to her. Her Defiant capabilities were strong, having had decades of practise and he was struggling to concentrate on anything, unfit to resist.

Her husband had never had a Defiant host before, and as such, had always been envious of her. Her power outshone his in everything she did and he sorely regretted it, when Cronus attacked his territory. But now it was time for an uprising. Together they could fight back and reclaim what was theirs. Together. Although before that was possible, Belos would need time to adjust and dominate his next host.

Eliza had decided Belos' implantation must take place as soon as possible. She turned to Daniel, smiling sickeningly.

#Meet my husband#

She picked up the jar, and reached inside with her hand, whistling eerily. She slowly withdrew her hand, a hissing Goa’uld in her grasp. She walked towards Daniel, eyes fixing him literally to the spot. Eliza placed the Goa’uld on his bare neck, and leaned close to him.

#Witness the might of the Goa’uld…#

Daniel closed his eyes tightly, as the Goa’uld slithered over his skin.

~

Sam moved quickly through the SGC, careful to avoid physical contact with anyone. She wasn’t totally sure how she was doing this but it felt right so she kept going. She kept her senses alert for Daniel, but there was still no ‘sign’ of him. She sighed quietly, and made her way into the Control Room, narrowly missing Jack talking to General Hammond. She took a spare keyboard and quickly typed in every locking code she knew.

“Sir! The computer’s locked me out!”

Sam hurried now, as everyone gathered around the technician. Then, the Gate began to dial.

“I don’t understand it, sir. The Gate is dialling out!”

“Trace it!”

Sam blocked that too, working her way through the chevrons. She reached the seventh just in time, glad she had remembered to block the iris too.

“The iris won’t shut, sir!”

Sam smiled to herself and walked past Jack, and plucked his GDO from his waist.

“Hey! Who took my GDO?”

Sam ran quickly before they realised who had dialled out. She ran straight at the Gate, aware that the ramp was banging with her heavy footsteps.

“The ramp is moving…”

Jack stared in wonder, as he watched the ramp vibrate. Sam had a few more paces and she jumped straight through the event horizon. Jack saw it ripple, but nothing go through.

“Oh my, they’re invisible…it must be Sam…”

The Gate shut down. Jack quickly traced the codes, specifically overriding SG1’s privilege codes. And Sam’s code flashed on screen.

“It was Carter, sir. She dialled out from the console right behind us, took my GDO and jumped through the Gate.”

“Jack, don’t talk nonsense. We would’ve seen her…”

The General trailed off as he realised what Jack was implying. He motioned to the computer.

“Dial the Tok’ra.”

~

He felt the Goa'uld, or Belos, as it would prefer to be called, edge away, as if tensing itself to spring. Knowing that that would be the end, Daniel made one last desperate attempt to throw the Goa’uld to the floor. He grabbed it, and felt it lashing in his hand. Then suddenly it fell still and limp, as if weakening. Eliza watched with interest, she had seen this scenario play out many times before and every time, her husband had won. As she saw Daniel momentarily relax, Belos leapt to strike again and this time Daniel was taken completely by surprise and had no time to react.

Belos burrowed harshly into the back of his neck.

Eliza clapped her hands together in joy.

Daniel screamed with pain. It was sliding through him, violating him – and it was different. Not like Apophis, not like Ra – something very different was happening. This Goa’uld had something very positive about it. Suddenly, he just relaxed, and let the Goa’uld finish. He felt the jaw latch on, the sudden pain and then a voice entered his head.

///Daniel Jackson, we meet again///

*And who the hell are you?*

///Why, Doctor Jackson, I am Anise///

~

Sam jumped through the Gate, careful to maintain her invisibility, or Aksam, as Daniel had liked to call it. There were soldiers everywhere – very confused soldiers. They had seen the event horizon ripple but nothing come through – or so they thought. Sam smiled to herself and walked straight past them, not able to resist hitting one over the head. The soldiers degenerated into confusion, as she calmly walked into the Pyramid of Sol.

She wasn't entirely sure why she had come here. It just seemed like the right place to be. She had been unable to download the co-ordinates last dialled through the Earth Gate, even though she knew that whoever had taken Daniel had used it. But she'd been having visions, day dreams, whatever. There was a pyramid, standing high and golden in the sun and all around it, soldiers fighting an invisible creature. She relaxed into her surroundings and found the creature was her, and this planet was waiting for her arrival.

Sam wasn't given to following dreams, but she had nothing else to go on and was desperate. The glyphs sprang unbidden into her mind and she just dialled. And hoped.

Inside the pyramid she found a temple of some sorts, or so she guessed. A large graven image of a powerful sun goddess was covering the far wall, and even the dust seemed to sparkle in the light. The scientist part of her wanted to find out how this place was lit, but the human part of her said no: she was on a mission far more important.

She wandered further through the labyrinth of corridors and dead ends until she came across a young woman, apparently asleep. Beside was an old man, his eyes glittering dangerously, as he formed a protective stance over her.

"You will not take her! They have already taken her sister, please spare her life!"

Sam was confused, "Sorry, I don't understand. Take her where?"

The man's face wrinkled into a hopeful smile, "Then you are not with them?"

"No I'm not. I'm here because I'm trying to find my friend."

"Was she taken by them too?"

"He actually, and yes, he was. Do you know where her sister was taken?"

"She knows, but ever since that day she has slept. It has been so long now, I cannot remember when it began. I have prayed for her to awaken, but my prayers have failed, the gods have not listened."

"Do you mind if I take a look? I might have medicine that can help her."

Sam took a look at the sleeping woman and saw her face glistening with tears. She whispered fervently, as if suffering from a great fever, though still she slept.

"If we take her back to my home world, then we may be able to save her life."

"Are you sure you are not with them?" he asked suspiciously.

"Of course, I only want to help her, and to get my friend back. Please let me do that."

The man looked into Sam's eyes, searching her soul. He saw the conviction in her stare and the sorrow in her heart and believed her. "We should go at once, my name is Luigi, and I offer you my trust."

"With great honour I accept it and keep it. My name is Samantha Carter. I'll help you carry her; the Stargate isn't far."

~

The Gate began to dial, Jack began to get worried. Funny, that: Sam would be awaiting some new scientific miracle to present itself, Daniel would want it to be a diverse culture to explore, but both Jack and Teal’c feared danger and another battle to be fought. Now, Jack was a worried some Defiant army or angry alien spouting gibberish would charge through, and their Defiant, and highly qualified, friends would be unable to help them. Or, worse still, news that either of their friends was dead. Jack couldn’t cope with that right now.

“SG-1 Iris…”

“Open it!”

Jack ran down the stairs, ready to confront Sam. An old man backed out of the Gate, carrying the head and shoulders of a young woman. And the rest of her body seemed to float in mid-air.

“Why do you conceal yourself, child?”

“I’m gonna be in enough trouble. I might as well delay it.”

She said that loud enough for Jack to hear her though, so he responded. “Carter!”

He reached out to grab the rest of the woman, who was apparently floating, and helped lift her onto the stretcher that Janet, with all her natural instincts, had already prepared.

When he was doing that, he bumped into nothing. Or maybe it was Sam, as she figured that there was no use in hiding from Jack. She relaxed her concentration and allowed herself to become visible again. As she did so, she realised how much of a strain it was putting on her and how much tension had been building up inside her.

She anticipated what Jack was going to ask her, so answered it anyway. “I think she has information that could help us, sir. It’s obvious she needed medical attention, and….”

“I understand,” he said, as Janet whisked her off to the infirmary. “Wanna come?”

Sam just nodded, before feeling herself relax completely and thud to the floor.

~

Daniel had very mixed feelings about this. Great, I’m stuck with Anise! Oh, can she pick up on this?

*Can you hear my private thoughts, or just what I share with you?*

///Just what you choose to share///

Thank goodness for that, thought Daniel.

*Um, how’d you get here?*

///Later. I must convince Eliza I am Belos///

#My dear Eliza, I am whole again#

Eliza smiled beautifully at him, then pressed herself against him and kissed him deeply. Daniel was completely thrown, but apparently Anise had anticipated this.

*Oh, you have got to be joking…*

///Daniel Jackson, you are helping to save the universe from a hostile takeover. Unfortunately, to do this, we have to make some sacrifices…///

*We? Exactly what sacrifices are you making?*

To Daniel’s surprise, Anise gave a mental giggle.

///I’m sure it won’t be too…tedious for you///

Daniel didn’t quite know how to answer that.

~

Sam drifted back to consciousness, feeling she had a lot to answer for.

“She’s back, Janet!”

Sam groaned and awaited the light. And there it was, shining way-too-brightly in her eyes.

“Janet, put the damn light away!”

Janet flicked it off and smiled.

“Oh, definitely with us, Jack.”

“So, how are you feeling?”

Sam took a double take: shouldn’t Janet be the one asking the questions, not Jack? Never mind. “I’ve been better. I’ve been worse. How’s she doing?”

Janet flicked a glance in her direction. “Well, I’ve tried a few basic treatments, but she hasn’t responded. I haven’t dared try much more, in case her physiology is different.”

Sam suddenly was made aware that ever since she had been conscious, she had been feeling scared, for no reason. She looked at the still unconscious woman and realised the focus of her fear was radiating from her. She stood up and leant over her. “Janet, she’s Defiant.”

“Can you wake her?”

“I don’t know. I suppose I could try.”

Sam slowly got off the bed and then felt strangely weak. Jack grabbed her before she swooned to the floor again.

“Sam, are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine. Just a little off-balance.”

Jack glanced sceptically at Janet, who just shrugged. Sam pulled Jack’s arm off her and moved towards the woman. Drawing on her ‘inner knowledge’, as Daniel had called it, she placed her two hands, clasped together, over the woman’s head, as her father looked on. A strange light seemed to flow from Sam’s fingers and into the woman’s eyes. They burst open and the woman’s hand shot to Sam’s neck.

#You are Defiant!#

Sam had a feeling this meant trouble.

~

“General Hammond, no matter what you just said, I am sure you did indeed hear O’Neill’s words correctly.”

“Thank you Teal’c.” Hammond had to admit that he wasn’t quite sure if he was hearing things right anymore, in any case, he was glad for Teal’c confirmation of his sanity. Jack had walked in and told him that the woman was awake and had told them something of great importance. Now, George had to go and find out.

As Teal’c and him entered the room, they were greeted by the woman still holding Sam in mid-air, but this time, without the aid of her hand.

“About bloody time,” she managed to gasp.

Teal’c marched up to the young woman and waved his hand before her eyes. Sam dipped slightly, but then recovered quickly. Teal’c tried another tactic. He grabbed Luigi.

“Release her, or he will die.”

The woman panicked and her ‘grip’ failed. Sam plunged towards the ground and hit it before anyone could reach her. She just lay there, unmoving. Janet came up to her and checked her pulse and breath.

“She’s breathing and has a pulse. I think she’s just knocked out for a while.”

“She feels great pain.”

A sweet, musical voice rang out, as Teal’c released Luigi. The young woman ran to him and hugged him.

“You are well, Father.”

“Indeed, Child. This man never meant to hurt me. No one here wishes to hurt us.”

The woman nodded, closed her eyes and then opened them again.

“I am Aurora. You wish for information on the Defiant named Daniel?”

Jack nodded quietly, making a change from his loud sarcastic comments. Aurora had a powerful influence, something tangible on the air. It was freaky.

“A Goa’uld named Eliza learned the secrets of the Defiant. She took my sister, Sasprai, as a host. She needed a Defiant host for her husband, Belos, to make a Defiant child, to offer to Cronus in exchange for Belos’ lands. She tracked your Daniel through Apophis’ message to the System Lords. I believe I can take you to him.”

That long and thoughtful speech made everyone suck in a breath. Then, Aurora looked at Sam pitifully.

“My sister’s demon has cursed your friend. She can direct her energy through me, a gift only available to very close people. She can possess me at any time and use my sister and I to her own purposes.”

Jack had lifted Sam off the floor and onto a bed. Her features were drawn and pale, and her face looked haunted.

“God help you, Danny,” he whispered, “Come home to her.”

~

And at that precise moment, Daniel would’ve liked nothing better. Anise was having great fun, pretending to be Belos.

*You really mean to go through with this, don't you?*

///Listen, all she wants is a child, then we can get out of here///

*Why can't we get out of here now?*

///Because she still thinks you'll be able to fight back. She won't let us out of her sight until she's sure I'm Belos///

*And how exactly are you going to do that?*

///By giving her what she wants///

*Oh God.... Listen Anise. Please. Okay. I can't do this. You understand don't you?*

///Do you want to survive? Or would you rather she killed us both here and now?///

*She won't kill me, she'll kill you.*

///How about we make a deal? I'll do this for you. You don't even have to watch! Just pretend to be somewhere else and I'll take over///

*Thank you. Hey wait! Don't go doing anything I wouldn't do.*

///I'm Belos now. I'll do what I have to///

Time had barely passed since this conversation began. The communication was instant, the sentences flashing past like streaks of lightning. This was not like the telepathy he shared with Sam, this was much better, purer, wholesome. That was it. He was blended with Anise now. They were each other.

*Anise? What happened to Freya? And where's Belos?*

///I will tell you. Now is not the time. I think right now, you had better look away, or you might experience something you would rather not///

Anise hadn't given him much warning. Now the fun was really going to start.

~

Aurora took a large sheet of paper from a nearby shelf and began to draw. Her hands moved quickly and skilfully across the paper: it was obvious she was not human. After a few minutes, she held it up.

“This is a complete map of Belos’ palace. You should be able to take it from here.”

Jack took the map and observed it with scepticism, while trying to hide his awe. Wow, this girl can draw! Jack eyed the beautiful young woman, wondering what she was doing for dinner.

“We must leave now.”

“Wait! Come with us! We might need you.”