Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or anything connected to them. I only own the plot.

It's over. This is the last chapter. Finally! I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart, you made this story a success and I thank you. This chapter is dedicated to everyone out there who enjoyed any part of this story. I enjoyed it all, because of you. Thank you. Now all I need is a new idea so I can hopefully thrill you guys again! Well, enjoy this last chapter.

SG-1 returns to the safety of the SGC to find something is wrong. The power is out, the gate room is a mess and everyone is missing.

Empty Halls: Final Thought

Carter, Teal'c and Daniel heard the blast when they were two floors above. They raced down the last sets of stairs and reached the infirmary to find it unrecognizable. The floor was heaped with concrete pieces, the walls were charred black and it looked as though the floor of the level above would fall through at any moment. The room was illuminated by a few small fires that glowed using whatever they could find as fuel.

Carter carefully made her way through the doorway and called out. "Colonel!" Her voice was drowned out by the snapping and popping of a broken power line. She called again and her voice seemed to trigger another piece of concrete to fall to the floor. The whole team entered the room and began scanning the debris. Finally a groan that could only be the colonel was emitted from a pile of concrete. Teal'c made his way to the pile first and quickly removed the pieces. The last and largest piece was too heavy for him to move so he shoved the end of his staff weapon under it and using another piece of concrete as the fulcrum, levered the piece up and Carter and Daniel grabbed the colonel's shoulders and pulled him out. Teal'c then let the piece fall again.

"Sir, are you OK?" Carter asked as she removed his gas mask so he could breathe easier. The colonel continued to lie on his back with his eyes closed. He was bruised and battered and his uniform torn in many places but he appeared to be in decent shape. There were no broken bones anyways, maybe a few cracked ribs and a concussion, nothing new to the colonel.

"I need a vacation." The colonel finally muttered.

"Yes sir."

"Carter, next time, let's use plan B."

"Yes sir."

"O'Neill, what became of the creature?" Teal'c asked after checking around for any danger. The colonel simply pointed over his head to the far wall. By the doorway remained a few smouldering piles of whatever and a few small remnants of the creature.

"That would appear to be a very effective weapon O'Neill." Teal'c commented.

"Well." The colonel sighed. "Let's go help our people. Something tells me the showers are going to be pretty busy for the next few hours." With the nimbleness of someone half his age, the colonel leapt to his feet and shook the dirt from his tattered uniform. "What are you waiting for?" The colonel asked from the doorway. "I'd suggest a written invitation... but you know how much I hate clichés." The colonel then disappeared from the doorway. Sometimes his ability to bounce back from anything shocked the rest of SG-1, but he was their colonel, and even the Asgaard recognized his obvious abilities.

A few hours later SG-1 and General Hammond were standing in the control room which was again buzzing with life and power. Siler had hooked up portable generators to the primary systems and now things were getting back to normal. The infirmary was out of commission however, and would be for a long while.

"General, care to fill in a few blanks for us?" The colonel asked. "Like how did that thing get through the Iris?"

"We had an 'off-world activation' and no IDC. Two objects hit the iris before a pulse was sent that disrupted our computer equipment. Then that thing came through." Hammond began. "It came through the gate and our bullets did nothing. It pried open the security door and was off into the halls." There was a pause as the general conferred with a tech behind him. "People started seeing things, slowly going crazy, and then the power went out. The men started turning on each other."

"And yet there was no loss of life?" Carter asked.

"No, before people actually pulled the trigger something would come over them and they would just turn and run away."

"That makes sense." Daniel began. "It couldn't learn from us if we were all dead."

"People started disappearing, so we set up a defense on level fifteen, but we never even saw it coming." The general paused and signed a report. "When you were due back, we sent a team down to meet you, lead by Captain O'Malley."

"I just talked to O'Malley. He said he made it to the control room, and held it for about half an hour before that thing came after him. He said when he was left alone he hid in security station alpha and doesn't remember anything else." Daniel chimed in.

"That would explain the hot coffee." Carter added. Suddenly the 'off-world activation' alarms sounded; all available soldiers rushing into the gate room.

"Sir, receiving IDC. IDC identified. It's one of us." Davis said from his chair.

"Open the Iris." The Iris swirled open at the general's order. Seconds later Major Spencer walked through, followed by Lieutenant Stonewall and the other two members of SG-13. SG-1 stood flabbergasted in the control room.

"Welcome back SG-13." The general announced over the intercom.

"Looks like we missed some fun." Major Spencer said as he motioned to the beat up gate room then he and his team headed to get cleaned up.

"Wait a minute. SG-13 is just returning now?" O'Neill asked.

"Yes sir, and right on time." Davis answered from his seat.

"Then who did we..." The colonel looked toward his team.

"A hallucination maybe?" Carter suggested. The team stood contemplating in the control room. They were beginning to wonder how much of their recent adventure was real, and how much was only in their minds.

"Wait a minute! Why would that thing create a hallucination of SG-13? They helped us!"

"Did they colonel?" The major asked. "They filled in a few blanks, gave us an entity to fear and in the end when we heard them get taken out over the radio, it stirred up some unpleasant emotions."

"So it was all a ploy? Damn that thing was thorough!" The colonel added.

"So how much was real?" Daniel asked quietly.

"We can assume the creature was because the goo still remains and so do some... pieces of the creature." Carter answered.

"How much else?" O'Neill asked.

"We may never know."

"Maybe we don't want to." The colonel replied, very philosophically causing a look from his team. He however just stared out toward the Stargate, then suddenly turned toward the general. "General, I guess now's as good a time as any to report on our most recent mission. Well... most recent actual mission." He said with a smirk. The rest of the team finally remembered they had brokered a deal for raw trinium.

"Sounds good. Briefing room in ten minutes." Hammond, Daniel and Teal'c left the control room but the colonel stopped the major.

"Yes sir?"

"Carter... about those glo-sticks..."

"I remember sir." Carter offered him one of her trademark smiles.

"Oh... just makin' sure. Thanks." And with that, they headed to the briefing room.

And the scene fades out to the credits we all know and hate (because they mean the show's over!).

Please Review! It's over! It's over! (Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?)