Well, this is AU. And I am moving the Stargate start some years just to fit with this timeline. The present time is in italic, past in cursive.

I think I should start by apologizing to anyone out there that has some in-depth knowledge of how the Air Force (or any other military institution) works. I most likely screwed up bad most of the time, but as I've said, it is AU. So let's pretend that my limited knowledge gotten from JAG and SG-1 mixed with my need to create something that could accommodate the history is okay. Please?. :D

I should also add that any grammar screw-ups are all mine.

Disclaimers: I don't own Stargate or their characters. *sigh*

Hopefully, you will enjoy and stick around until the end. I have quite a few chapters almost ready, so at some point, they will be up fast, and then I will probably hit by my ending block… which if you read me before, you know it's terrible.

Well, enough about this!

Enjoy.

M.

Chapter 1–Let's start with that thing.

"We are gathered here today to…" she trailed out. The common words being said for a different reason than one would hope at this point in their lives. She risked a glance to the man by her side, without noticing the curious stares in her direction. She was rarely lost for words, and hearing her dragging a phrase was an enormous surprise to those listening. Her companion received her fleeting look, and he cleared his throat as an answer.

"To tell you some little thingies," he completed, shrugging when he finished. His words were as simple as they could expect from him. He stole a quick look at his companion, worried face. As if it was nothing too much and too self-explanatory, he added: "That are highly classified."

A sigh from her part was all the answer he needed to know his words weren't as profound or enlightening as they sounded for him. It made both of them fall back to the old habit of pressing their jaws. That was a sign that showed those around the table how troubled they really were. It also pointed to the other people that both man and woman would need time to organize their thoughts. Thus, they held their breaths, and bit lips to try not to intervene and hurry them up. They didn't need more pressure added. While the man glanced everywhere except them, the woman fixated her squint on a distant point in the wall while chewing the inside of her cheeks.

"We are kinda in trouble," he said. After a few more seconds, his hand scratching the back of his head accompanied his breathy affirmation. While she just nodded eagerly at the end of his sentence. Her eyes wide and her hair moving uncontrollably, giving her an appearance of being younger than she was.

"You... both… are in trouble?" The oldest man around questioned, not quite believing what he just heard.

"Yes, General," They stated with as much confidence as the situation might allow. The older man sighed, passing a hand through his face knowing that, if it involved both - they already confirmed they were - it was to be a complicated and huge issue, and more likely not something the top brass would like or accept easily.

Believing their statement about being in trouble was not a farfetched possibility. Being in trouble wasn't something they rarely did, at least not if you knew who those two were or how many difficulties they could get themselves into, in short amounts of time. The only shocking thing for the older man in the room was that none of the other ones sitting next to him seemed to know about this matter. He frowned. That was something he wouldn't expect from them.

"So, let me understand this, you are in trouble, so you thought you should let us know about this… situation… outside the mountain, and that's why you brought us here too ..." The other woman in the room trailed, giving them enough rope to hang themselves if they didn't trade carefully. They both thought 'it had to be her,' since they knew that bringing her around could only mean they would get questions that would need answers. They also understood that answering them was exactly what they needed to do.

"Let you know some ... hmm…" she tried.

"Thingies?" He completed raising his eyebrows, trying his best to help her.

They looked at the woman at the table doubtfully, and then they exchanged yet another glance, agreeing with it in a silent conversation. Yes, they needed her in the table not only because she was a close friend, but because she would question them with no fear or doubt. However, that didn't make answering any easier.

"Thingies..." she nodded, agreeing with him, "Small parts of history if you wish."

"A walk down memory lane," that wording caused a surge of strange looks at his general direction. "What? I think it sounds better," he shrugged the weirdness off with a raised eyebrow. She laughed. She knew all too well; he always got this 'poetic side' when nervous, "Way better."

"Those, ahem, thingies are, well… classified, hidden, buried, and pretty much still going on." She continued stalling.

"Jack! Sam! For crying out loud! Can you two just cut the crap and get to the point?"

"Geez! Daniel, thanks! Don't you see it? We ARE trying for cryin' out loud!" Jack exclaimed nervously. He hated interrogations, he despised having to talk in public, and he loathed briefings. But this, this was not an interrogation, nor a briefing, and the people at the table didn't precisely rank in his list as ' public.'

"We just don't know where to start," Sam sighed, looking somewhat lost. They exchanged wary glances before looking at the people at the table. Janet, Daniel, Teal'c, and George Hammond, their friends… their family. A moment or two passed quietly in a blink of an eye.

"I believe it is better if you start at the beginning," Teal'c pointed, crooking his head.

"Can we not start at the beginning?" Colonel and Major pleaded at once, and their friends sighed, confused. The military pair still didn't have the sightless idea of what to say or how to say it, and taking the start out of the equation, didn't help them untangle the issue either.

"How if you start with the… um, thing that gave you this need to tell us whatever you two have to tell us?" Daniel offered.

He knew them well enough to know hurrying them up into talking would only make them build their walls faster. Yes, the only moments in which those two were good under pressure were the almost end of the Earth, and/or life and death situations. In which case, they did their stuff exceedingly fast and precisely. Everything else, it just took a lot of time.

"Sounds good to me, whatcha think, Carter?" She chewed the inside of her cheeks, then nodded. Her short hair moving a little to cover her eyes. The gleam in her eyes made him notice her readiness to speak more than just a short line.

"Well, as Daniel pointed out, this will start not at the beginning. It will start with 'the thing' which made us evaluate your need to know," she left out a sigh. "Here we go, this started a few months ago…"

"Actually, much, much longer ago, but..." he corrected, and she glared at him, making him stop whatever he was about to say.

"The thing which moved the pieces of the puzzle happened three months ago, with the mission to P34XZ0..."

SGC

Three months earlier

"Ready to P34XZ0, kids?"

"P34XZ0 has great soil and is a potential Naquadah mine. Plus, it is sunny, and there's no Goa'uld as far as we…" Sam answered with a smile.

"Ack!" Jack raised a hand to stop his 2IC chatter. She was the most exceptional officer around, but simple answers to his questions? Those were a no-no with her.

"Know…" she finished.

"It was a simple yes or no question, Carter. You understand that?" She nodded and sheepishly smiled, "And?"

"Ready, Sir." She said, grinning, noting she didn't answer with his offered choices. He rolled his eyes at her, and she beamed at him while the ring moved.

The mission briefing pointed to the mission as a "simple recon" mission. They were going to a deserted planet to bring some artifacts from the ruins of a city which wasn't far away from the gate and to study whatever it might be still standing there before returning in two days tops.

Yes, it sounded like the ideal calm mission. But whenever someone mentioned those words during an SG-1 briefing, those would become the worsts missions ever, and they all were very aware of such fact. When the chevrons locked, the 'swoosh' happened, and the event horizon set. They crossed to the other side without a hint of doubt and bantering each other away.

Once on the other side, Teal'c, then Daniel, the FRED, Sam, and finally Jack arrived on a sunny, windy, and beautiful P34XZ0 day. Jack and Teal'c set into checking and protecting the surrounding area. Planting C3 charges in the case, they needed to blow something away to get some cover. Daniel kept Sam accompanied while she checked her gadgets. Once her equipment returned just regular readings, she placed them back on their spot at the FRED, and they set for a short wait. They still needed Jack and Teal'c to return from their security trek before walking to the ruins. As expected, everything pointed out that this was a deserted planet. The only signs of civilization were the ruins; the UAV scan picked up on its way around.

"City ruins are 50 klicks that way," Sam said, pointing south. "Everything looks normal, and as we already knew, there's no sign of radiation or even an unbearable temperature here."

"Already, kids! Let's go for a stroll then," Jack said, taking point, followed by Daniel. Sam took the third position with the FRED moving slowly by her side, and Teal'c took the rear.

As every time the FRED tagged along, it forced them to walk slower than they usually would. They accompanied it with their typical banter and the incredible amount of dumb things they could come up during those strange moments of peace that often ended quickly. As they neared the end of the woods and the clearing separating them from the ruins was getting closer. Maybe it was the training three out of four members had or just the experience.

They all fell silent when the clearing was six or seven feet away from them. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Jack walked out of the woods and stopped as his guts told him there was something odd. Then he shook his head and continued walking. Sam was now behind him. However, it was when Teal'c walked out when he heard something weird.

"Fall back!" Jack screamed and turned around, running towards the woods.

Sam looked at him with widened eyes, a spike of sorts buried in his arm. "Go back to the gate!" Jack shouted as he felt something weird happening with his body.

His warning came a second too late as he heard a second wave of needles being fired. He looked towards the whistling sound, finding nothing. Then ahead of him. He saw Sam was just two feet away from the woods. Without hesitation, he jumped to cover his 2IC back.

A groan and a thud made her turn around. Saying that it shocked Sam when she saw Jack lying in a very awkward position on the floor bed, with some metal spikes piercing his back and arms, was an understatement. She blinked at the sight and heard another wave as the needless pieced the leaves.

This time the sound felt closer to her. Sam didn't need to turn around to know she was not out of their reach. With the certainty of no escape left, she repeated Jack's previous action. Jumping with as much force as she could, she tried to tackle Daniel and Teal'c.

Sam felt her skin being pierced and her body acting weirdly. She felt how the fabric of Teal'c pants grazed the tip of her fingers. She heard another wave before she couldn't hold herself awake anymore, and everything went black.

Unknown Location

When he woke up, he had to blink several times to get his sight fixed. The room was all white and did nothing to help his confused eyes. Using his observational skills, he deduced that, once again, he was stuck in a hospital room. He thanked it wasn't in a sarcophagus as he first thought when he opened his eyes to the blinding white light.

Then his memories were back. He remembered the events previous to this room. He remembered Jack covering Sam and falling to the ground and how Sam's body connected loudly with the ground not too far away from Jack's. Daniel remembered tripping on a root and seeing, from his position on the floor, how Teal'c was still running towards the gate. A prick in his neck was the last sensation he felt before losing all resemblance of control of his body. And then he woke up.

Daniel thought maybe, just maybe, Teal'c got through the gate and returned with a backup team to save them. However, as much as he hoped that was the result, his mind and body screamed at him with facts to make an educated guess. To state, such a thing wasn't possible. The room, wherever it was, was not one he knew from before. It was oddly comforting and downright bizarre at the same time.

"Doctor Jackson, welcome. If you please go this way," a voice said from nowhere. A door he couldn't see before opened. Or rather, a white panel of the wall disappeared in front of his eyes to give space to an equally white corridor.

"Definitively not a hospital," Daniel muttered as he did as the voice said. "Where are you taking me?" Daniel asked. Strolling as he followed the only direction available.

"To the waiting room. So you can be with your friend."

"My friend?"

"Yes, the one called Teal'c. He told us much about you and your other friends."

"Okay. So who are you?"

"I am Aran, we are here."

"Here, where?" Daniel asked. The corridor ended in a wall that soon vanished too.

"Daniel Jackson, it is great to see you well." Teal'c greeted from the back of the new room.

"Teal'c! Are you okay? Did they tell you anything? Sam? Jack?" Daniel asked.

Teal'c only had an answer to his first question. Daniel sighed and looked around. It was yet another dull white room, no doors or windows were visible, but so far their host didn't show traces of being evil.

"Aran? I'm guessing English is not your main language?"

"You are correct, Doctor Jackson."

"So you learned our language. How?" Daniel was intrigued to know more about the voice which was talking with them.

"We accessed your mind to learn your language and test your qualifications as good or evil."

"Ok, so we are with mind readers... nice." He muttered to himself. "What about my other friends?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor Jackson. We can't disclose any information about them. Unless they are related to you."

"Related? I'm their friend! I just need to know if they are alive!" No one answered him back. Frustrated, Daniel paced around for a while under the careful watch of Teal'c. Then he stopped.

"Hey! Aran? How should I prove I'm related to them?" He shouted to the ceiling, feeling somewhat of a déjà vu as memories of him screaming to nothing showed themselves on his mind.

"Your memories must match," the voice announced.

"My memories? How is this done?"

"Concentrate on a memory or a series of memories which confirm your relationship. Or, one of when your relationship changed to the one that makes you related. Then, using the information you present to us. We find corresponding ones in your friend. If your memories match those of your friend, you get entitled to know about the wellbeing of your related friend."

"What kind of relationship are we talking about?"

"You must be brother, sister, mother, father, child, or spouse of the subject."

"I'm his brother." He stated, thinking of a day when Jack told him in his own set of words he was like a younger brother to him. Daniel smiled fondly at the memory. It was one of the weird times in which Jack O'Neill was just sincere.

"I'm sorry, Daniel Jackson. Your memories don't match."

"I'm her brother," he tried then. Concentrating on the memory of the day, he asked Sam to go out on a date with him. She smiled knowingly, telling him he was doing it to get someone jealous and that such a thing wouldn't work because everyone knew she loved him as a brother.

"I'm sorry, Daniel Jackson. Your memories don't match." Maybe she said like a brother? Daniel groaned for him as a brother, and like a brother sounded the same. Perhaps for these people, it wasn't the same. Frustrated, he paced again.

"Be patient, Daniel Jackson. I'm sure they are well."

"But, Teal'c, don't you remember the way their bodies were sprawled on the floor? They probably broke something when falling, and that's even if they are alive," Daniel huffed. It was then when another piece of the wall disappeared.

"If who is alive?" Sam asked, walking into the room.

"Sam! You're alive!" Daniel ran and hugged her.

"Yes, I think I am… or heaven looks too damn similar to a hospital." She joked and frowned when glancing around. "Where is…"

"He is not here, yet, and no, we know nothing about his condition either," Daniel answered before she could ask.

"Did you ask her?"

"Wait, her?"

"Yes, Maya. The Furling's elder?"

"The what? Did you just say Furling?" Sam nodded. "I haven't met her. I heard Aran, and he said nothing about being a Furling."

"I too met Aran only."

"You didn't ask," Aran's voice replied.

"What did he tell you?" Sam asked.

"Wait? You didn't ask about our wellbeing?" Daniel frowned.

"I did! She told me your friends are waiting for you. What did they tell you about the Colonel?"

"I'm not related to him. I can't know his status, which sucks! I tried to convince him I was his brother or your brother. None of it worked. Our memories didn't match," Daniel whined.

"How long has it been?"

"I don't know we have been sitting here with no way to measure time."

"Maya? Can we have our watches back?"

"Sure, Samantha." A small hole appeared in one of the walls, and inside it sat their watches.

"Thanks." She smiled, grabbed hers, and looked at the time. "Well, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe we have four hours before our due report, and then three more before the General sends someone to get us back." Both Teal'c and Daniel nodded.

"Do you know how much time will take us to walk back to the gate?"

"Two of your hours," Aran's voice answered.

"Ok, so we go report this and come back again," Daniel supplied.

"We can't leave him behind," Sam said firmly.

"But we will come back. It is just a report."

"If we report we were attacked and held in an unknown facility, General Hammond will order us to return immediately. He won't let us come back until a full blood analysis comes back clean."

"Indeed," Teal'c said, and Sam slid to the floor.

One hour and a half later, Daniel was still set into carving a hole in the floor with his pacing. Teal'c decided to kel'no'reem, and Sam was staring at a point in the wall. They still had two hours and a half left to give the report and a two-hour walk, which left her with not too many options. Sam sighed, managing with that to stop Daniel. Since, weirdly to him, it sounded like defeat.

"Try mine," Sam whispered, somewhat annoyed.

"What?" Daniel said, looking puzzled.

"According to you, we must have matching memories to prove we are related. We want to know how the Colonel is, don't we?" Daniel nodded, "Well, then try my memories, Maya."

"But what memories, Sam?" She didn't answer. A few seconds passed, another wall disappeared. "Sam? I know for sure you are not his sister, mother, or daughter…"

"Come through this door, please, Samantha." Sam smiled grimly to her friend and walked to the door. As soon as she crossed it, the wall appeared again.

"What the hell?" Daniel said, feeling completely puzzled. Not too much later, the same wall did its disappearing act, and Sam walked into the room again. A smile graced her features.

"Well, Colonel O'Neill is ok. He has a broken knee, hand and ankle, four broken and six bruised ribs. He is still out. They can't help him with the broken things until the drug effect wears out."

"Drug?"

"Yes, you might find this interesting, Daniel. Maya explained that Goa'uld often visited this planet. They didn't have the Nox ability to go airborne. Thus, to protect themselves, the Furling council moved the facilities underground. They created the city ruins we saw by blowing their old city to shambles. By doing so, they recognized that whoever was coming from the gate or space, would move in search of the ruins, which hide the entrance to their facilities. Therefore, they planted a series of artifacts that are auto-activated when Jaffa's are near enough."

"The needles."

"Yes, their artifact throws poisoned needles. That's the reason we weren't attacked when the Colonel and I walked in."

"Because you aren't Jaffa. Then Teal'c came to the clearing after you."

"Their readings went crazy. The artifact immediately marked us as Goa'uld or slaves of them because we are human. It seems the Colonel heard the noises, and as he noticed he was going down, he covered me to give us time to escape. When I felt I wasn't going anywhere..." she waved.

"Yeah, I remember what happened. If those artifacts are in the clearing, why they kept shooting when we reached the woods?"

"Once they shoot, it doesn't stop until everyone is on the floor. Their system recalculates the angles to hit the moving targets. That's why by being the last ones in the line, Teal'c and you got injected with one dose each. As I jumped to cover you, and it set them to reach you, me, and Teal'c. I ended up getting five times the regular dose." She grimaced. "The Colonel, well, he got at least ten times the regular dose."

"Something sounds off."

"No, actually, the poison is for Jaffa. So, a dose is good to bring Teal'c down. It takes double or triple the time to leave the human body. In my case, because of the Naquadah and the protein marker in my blood. The drug has almost the same duration as for Jaffa's…"

"Jack doesn't have it," he added with a sigh.

"They aren't sure how long it will take him to wake up. They also don't know how we both held the effects for so long before going down. They knew the duration of the poison on Teal'c since he is Jaffa. Now, we humans are highly differentiated. They aren't sure if your allergies give you a longer duration under the sedatives or shorter effect. For that reason, you are no comparison point with the Colonel. Adding to my messed up blood, I am a female."

"What you'll you want us to do, Major Carter?" Teal'c asked a few moments later.

"You need to go back to Earth and wait for us there. Ask General Hammond not to send anyone. We'll call once we are ready to cross, send my IDC, and we will wait for instructions before we do."

"But Sam! We can't go without you! We can't leave you behind!"

"Think like this, Daniel. You are not going without us. You are just going first. We just don't know for sure how long it will take for us to return. Knowing how stubborn the Colonel is, he could be awake in some hours, or in two days." The archeologist looked at her warily.

"Look, it's simple, Daniel. If you don't go, and the General sends another group, we could be stuck here for who knows how long, waiting on times we don't know for sure will be short or long. It could go on forever. So, I'm not ordering you. I'm just asking you to trust me and please leave this planet. When Colonel O'Neill wakes up, we will return. We are in good hands, Daniel."

"Sam? Tell me something only you can know."

"I'm not a droid, clone, or hologram, Daniel. I'm just trying to do the right thing. At this moment, that is for you to go home, and for me to stay here and wait for the Colonel. Can you do it?"

"Yes. Aran, can we have the things we brought with us? We are leaving." A door opened on the opposite side from where Sam had appeared. A panel also moved to let them see their packs. A glimmering greenish boy and a glimmering purplish girl no older than nine appeared in the room then.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c. We will take good care of your friends," the girl said.

"You've met the Asgard. You know the Furlings are not a harmful race," the boy said. Daniel nodded. Both he and Teal'c walked outside.

"Daniel?" Sam called as he was about to cross the door that opened. "Don't overthink this, would you?"

"Oh, I'm definitively overthinking it! But I assure I wouldn't say or write anything about my conclusions."

"Thanks."