Rescuer

Rescuer

When Harry woke up, he had been moved. He was in his bed on the ship, and he had a very familiar headache. He groaned; he really hoped that he wouldn't have to do that ever again. He got out of his bed and made his way to the galley, hoping to get a glass of water. He couldn't remember being more thirsty in his life. Three glasses of water later, his thirst slaked, Harry went up to the control room, where he finally found Sarah. She was looking out the window at the wilderness.

"Um, hi," he said, his voice still scratchy.

She turned around, startled by his voice. "Oh, thank God you're awake."

"Mmm, how long was I asleep?"

"Two days; you just wouldn't wake up."

He nodded, and she crossed the room to him before continuing.

"I just... thank you for coming back for me. I can never repay you for what you've given me. I thought I would spend the rest of my life trapped in my own body." She paused. "And I don't even know your name."

Harry realized that in the months that they had been together, neither of the two goa'uld had ever mentioned it. He shrugged. "My name's Harry," he said. "Harry Potter. Er, pleased to meet you."

Sarah went on. "I still can't believe that you came back for me. I don't even know how you did what you did. After you killed Isis, I tried so hard to take back control of my body, but I just couldn't."

"Oh. Well," said Harry. "I'm different, actually. I've um, I've got a power inside of me, and I used it to push them out."

She looked confused. "I don't understand; how can you have a power inside of you?"

Harry grew uncomfortable; he hoped this woman wouldn't think badly of him like the Dursleys had. "Oh. Well, I don't know, I just do, I guess. I think it's always been there." He didn't want her to think that he was unnatural, but what else could he say?

She laughed though. "I suppose I shouldn't let anything surprise me anymore. I'm just glad that you were able to free us." Her face became sad though and she sighed. "But I wish that you hadn't had to go through all of this. You must miss you family so much right now."

"Hm? Oh. Yeah." He put a hand to his head, which was still aching as it had when he had first woke up. "Ugh. I need to sit down."

Sarah became concerned. "Oh, what's wrong?"

Harry sat down in the one of the two chairs. "Osiris was a lot smarter than Isis was," he said, "she was a thinker."

"I don't understand." She had taken the chair next to him. "Should you be laying down still?"

Harry shook his head, "I'll be okay. Um, when I pushed them out of us, something connected them and me. I don't know if it was the pushing, or connecting with them with my power like that, but everything that they understood, or knew, went into me."

Her eyes widened. "You have their memories?"

"Er, no. I know the things that they knew, like that Isis' last host was left handed, and I can speak goa'uld and understand their technology. But I don't remember events that happened to them, or what they felt about things. I think that that would have been a lot worse."

"Oh, it doesn't sound good at all, Harry. I don't imagine having all of that in you could be all that pleasant, especially all of a sudden."

Harry shrugged. "I got used to it, the headache will go away." He rubbed his hands on his face, trying to make himself more alert.

She changed the subject slightly, "Harry, what happened to your arm, I tried to take your hand device off when I put you to bed, but…"

"Um, it happened when I tried to push Osiris out of you the first time. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt." He looked out the window. "Um, what are they doing out there?" There were people standing at the edge of the clearing, watching the ship.

"Oh, they've been there since I've been awake. I suppose that they're from the village. Some of them were throwing rocks at the ship, yesterday, but they gave up on that. But Harry, we should be talking about your arm, that doesn't look good at all."

"It's not getting any worse," said Harry dismissively. "Did any of them approach the ship?" Harry was thinking of the hand device and zat'ni'katel that had changed places with Sarah and him when they had first ringed up.

She seemed reluctant to change the subject. "Not that I've seen, they've kept their distance."

Harry nodded and activated the rings, pushing the buttons instead of going through his hand device. He got up wearily to go check if the two devices and the knife had come aboard. Fortunately, they had. He picked them up and stowed them away in the living area. Sarah followed him as he did all this.

He wished that he hadn't gotten up though, as he found himself swaying on his feet. "Um, Sarah? I'm just going to lie down here, okay?" he said, already getting down onto the floor, groaning as his head touched the ground.

Sarah was by his side in an instant. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"

"'m just light headed. Don't worry, I'll be alright."

She felt his forehead and then his pulse. "Well, you don't have a fever, and you're pulse is okay. Oh, but you shouldn't be lying here on the floor." She reached under him and picked him up.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled.

"I'm carrying you to bed."

"Why?" he mumbled as his world went black.

!

Back at Stargate Command, Jack and his team were again seated in the briefing room with General Hammond. The General had ordered their original mission scrubbed, and for them to return to base.

Jack knew that Daniel, who was sitting next to him, was eager to get down to business, due to the prospect of getting Sarah back to Earth. The guy had been antsy since Isis, or Harry, had broadcast his transmission over their radios. Jack wished that he'd calm down, seeing as they had two weeks to wait.

General Hammond started the meeting. "Jack, you're the one who came in contact with him. What's your opinion?"

Jack considered his words. "Well, sir, on the one hand, I don't think he noticed me to begin with, and he sure wasn't acting like a goa'uld."

"Explain," said the General.

"Well, he was crying for one," said Jack, "and, well, I think he was contemplating killing himself for a moment."

"What made you think that?" asked the General.

"Well, the standing at the edge of a cliff with his arms out, followed by the crying tipped me off." Jack had almost blown his cover at that point, but the kid had sat down before he could reveal himself.

"I see," said the General, pensive.

"And he didn't talk like a goa'uld," said Jack, "or behave like a goa'uld."

"And on the other hand?" prompted the General.

"On the other hand," Jack continued, "he had a pretty good grasp of goa'uld technology, and I don't see how the kid could just be free of a symbiote."

"In other words, you don't know one way or another." Jack liked his way of saying it better.

Carter spoke up. "I actually have a theory about what could have happened, sir."

General Hammond nodded to her, "Go on."

"We know that those two goa'uld were kept in stasis for thousands of years. Now, it appeared as though they came out none the worse for it, but it may be that their bodies degraded over time. It's possible that Isis did just die."

"Does not a goa'uld symbiote release a deadly toxin into its host when it is dying?"

Sam nodded. "And presumably the same would have happened, but we don't really know what's happened to them in these past five months."

General Hammond sighed. "I am not comfortable with how little we know about this situation.

"But General," Daniel interjected, "we can't just ignore this. We have a chance here to retrieve two abducted US citizens, and maybe to capture a goa'uld. I think that's worth taking a risk on the unknown."

The General addressed him. "Son, are you saying that as a member of the SGC, or as someone who wants to rescue a person they have feelings for."

Daniel was silent for a moment. "Both."

General Hammond nodded. "I have no intention of ignoring this opportunity, but I don't plan on playing by the rules of either a goa'uld or a nine year old boy."

"Sir," Jack spoke up. "There is something else. I don't know how he did it, but the boy seemed to have telekinetic abilities. He disarmed me twice with a gesture of his hands. I haven't seen anything like it before."

General Hammond looked to Sam. "Major, do you have any theories?"

Sam shrugged. "Off hand sir, it's possible that this is some technology that was popular eight thousand years ago, and has since fallen out of favor. Or, it could be technology known only to Osiris and Isis, which stayed buried for the eight thousand years that they were in stasis."

"Or," supplied Teal'c. "They have turned the boy into a hoc'tar."

"Which could also explain what happened to Isis," said Daniel. "Maybe their experiment got away from them."

The General nodded. "Now, I'd like to hear some ideas on how to do this without falling into a trap."

Jack had been thinking of what to do since receiving the boy's message. "I think that our presence on the planet should be by remote only. We can leave a MALP and a radio by the rings, waiting for her. We'll keep an outgoing wormhole to the planet to send signals through. We watch as she comes down, and we tell her what to do. We direct her to another planet, where we'll set up a temporary base to check her out. If we can get the tok'ra to help, then all the better. We can bring her back to Earth when we're sure she's safe."

Sam looked at him. "You keep saying 'her,' sir. If Harry is free somehow, then don't you expect him to come as well?"

"He said that he'd be dropping her off, both times," said Jack. "He never mentioned himself. If this is Harry, I don't know that he intends to come home. He certainly doesn't have much of one to go back to."

They were all quiet while they pondered what he had said. George spoke up.

"If we are dealing with a nine year old boy who doesn't want to come home, how do we make him?" he asked.

"I don't know that we can, sir," said Sam. "If he stays in his ship, I don't think we can force him to do anything. Presumably, he won't just send Sarah down without checking to see what's on the ring platform first, so we couldn't send anyone up to the ship."

"We could try talking to him," said Daniel.

General Hammond nodded. "That may be the best we can do now, but I'd like for you to think of other options until then. Now, I'd like you to iron out all the details of this plan of yours. I want the proposal on my desk in the morning. Anything else?"

No one had anything to say.

!

As he became conscious, Harry marveled on how much nicer it was to wake up in a bed, as opposed to chairs and floors. He was feeling much better than the last time he had woken up. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. Sarah was sitting next to his bed. He rubbed his eyes.

"Mmm. How long have I been asleep this time?" he asked.

"Only a few hours. How are you feeling?" she asked, leaning over to him.

"Better," he said, sitting up.

"Now don't you get up. You haven't eaten in at least two days, and you aren't leaving this bed until you do."

"How am I supposed to get food if I can't leave the bed," asked Harry, entirely perplexed.

"I'll get it for you, of course," she said, as though Harry had asked a very silly question.

"Oh. Um, okay." He sat back, momentarily surprised that she would, in effect, be bringing him breakfast in bed. When she brought him back a plate with fruit and cheese, and a goblet with milk, he accepted them before saying, "You know, you don't have to be so nice to me just because I rescued you."

She looked at him, surprised. "Harry, I can never repay you for what you did for me."

"I only did what I should have done-" he started, but she interrupted him.

"What you should have done was go back to Earth. You're, what, almost eight years old?"

"I'm nine and a half," said Harry, defensive about his size.

"Nine and a half, then. Harry, I'm an adult. If you had died rescuing me… You should have stayed safe, and sent adults to get me."

Harry protested. "Earth was five months away, and another five months back. Osiris could have unburied the gate by then, and then who knows what could have happened to you." He didn't know why she was making such a big deal out of this. She knew that he wasn't a normal boy.

She shook her head. "Still, what you did went beyond any obligation you had to me."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't wanted her to feel indebted to him. "Still, you don't have to be so nice to me."

She smiled at him. "Even if you hadn't rescued me, this isn't anything special. You're a kid who's under the weather, and I'm helping to take care of you. At the moment, we're all we've got. Now, I expect you to eat all of that."

Harry looked down at his plate. It was more than he was used to eating recently (more than he usually ate at the Dursleys too). Then again, he hadn't eaten in two days. He started eating, still unsure of whether or not she was just being nice because he had rescued him.

She made conversation with him while he ate. She told him about her work as an archeologist, and about her friend Daniel's theories about the ancient pyramids which she now knew to be true (Harry remembered the man from the tomb). She also asked him about his own life, and Harry wound up giving her vague answers. He told her that he lived with his aunt and uncle, how he did academically, what games he liked to play during physical fitness at school. He thought that she could tell that he was holding back.

He did like listening to her talk though. Aside from the man on Oberdad, Harry hadn't spoken to anyone in months (his conversation with the two goa'uld firmly did not count). She was nice, and he liked hearing about some of the interesting things she had done with her life. When he was finished with his breakfast though, she wanted to talk about what their plan should be.

"I suppose we should turn back to Earth now."

Harry shook his head. "That wouldn't be safe. Obviously, the Americans have been toying around with a Stargate. We don't know what technology you've taken back to Earth. I don't know what technology is open to them. For all we know, they have defenses that will shoot us out of the sky as soon as we get there. Same goes for the Stargate, we can't just dial Earth and walk through, and if they're smart, they won't let us if we ask to. Don't worry though; I already know what we'll do. I went to a planet named Oberdad, that's where I got the zat'ni'katel. I made contact with some people from Earth, they think I'm still a goa'uld, but I told them that we'd be showing up. I think that they should have figured a way to take you back to Earth without risking anything."

Sarah was obviously surprised. "You've thought of everything, haven't you?"

"Oh, well, I was lucky. I didn't know that I'd meet anyone from Earth there. Besides, I don't even know what's going to happen when we get there, especially if they think we might still be goa'uld."

"Well, anyway, you've done magnificently. They must be proud of you at home."

Harry changed the subject. "We don't have to go back right now, if you don't want to," he said. "We've got a week and a half until they expect us."

"Well what would we do until then?"

Harry realized that he hadn't thought about that part. Truthfully, Harry wasn't planning on going back to Earth with Sarah. He knew that he had no home to go to there. At least here he had a ship and a bed, he was no longer at the mercy of the Dursleys. But he liked Sarah's company, and he didn't want to be alone again. Even if she did only like him because he'd rescued her, at least she was nice to him.

He thought about where they could go and remembered that the planet had three ring platforms, one of which was nowhere near any human populations.

"We could go camping, on the other side of the planet. No one lives there, we could just relax for a little while, get off of the ship before we have to go back. Think of it like a vacation, I mean when you get to Earth, it's just going to be tests to make sure you're not a host, and questions and who knows what. I'm sure you want to get back to your life, but couldn't we just take a little time to catch our breath?"

She considered him. "You're not ready to go home, are you?"

Harry felt bad for letting her think that he was planning on going home. "I'm not."

Sarah nodded. "All right then, we can take a little time to take a break."

Harry grinned. "Cool."

!

As Sam stood waiting in the gate room for her father, she wondered on how she had grown closer to her father, now that he spent most of his time light years away. Jacob was coming to Earth at the General's request; they were hoping that the tok'ra would be able to help them with the upcoming situation.

Her father stepped through the active stargate and walked down the ramp towards her.

"Sam," he greeted her.

"Hi Dad," she said, stepping forward to embrace him.

"How have you been," he asked, taking a step back to look at her with the searching look of a father.

"I've been well, how about yourself?"

"Selmak and I have been fine. We've just come back from a recon mission."

"Well, I hope it was fruitful."

"It was. Now tell me about what's going on with Osiris."

They started out through the blast doors, making their way to the briefing room.

"Actually, most of this is to do with Isis. Four days ago, Colonel O'Neill made contact with either Isis or his host on P3X-279. Whichever he was, he claimed that Isis was dead. The Colonel confronted him and he ran away in the ship they got in Egypt. Before he left though, he promised to bring Sarah back to the planet, with or without Osiris."

"You think he might be what he claims to be?"

"I think it's possible, but if he isn't, I think he may have underestimated what we're capable of."

Her father nodded. "What's your plan?"

"Well, we're hoping that you're going to be a big part of it. We don't plan to be on the planet ourselves. We'll leave a MALP and a radio, and instruct her to go to another, unpopulated, planet. That's where you'd come in. We could X-ray her to see if there's a symbiote or not, but that might not reveal any traps left in her body."

"You want us to scan her," her father surmised.

"We'd also like a za'tarc detector, to verify her story," said Sam.

Her father nodded. "That's all doable, but what about the boy?"

Sam sighed. "We're not sure about him."

!

The boy in question was reluctantly beaming back up to the ship as Sam and her father were speaking. He and Sarah had spent a day and a night exploring the planet's surface, and sleeping under the stars. Sarah had speculated that the ring platform that they had used had been placed there solely so that people could beam down and enjoy the landscape. Harry was skeptical that a goa'uld would be so sentimental, but he couldn't say otherwise. It had been wonderful though, to spend time off of the ship doing only what they felt like doing. There was no mission, no life or death situation, just each other for companionship and the world around them. Harry got to climb up trees and rocks, and for the first time, no one was chasing him.

Now though, it was time to go. Harry knew that Sarah wanted to go home. Oh, she had enjoyed taking a little time to relax and explore, but she had been gone for over five months. He knew that she missed the people that she had left behind. Once on the ship again, Harry made his way to the living area with Sarah. He told her to take a seat.

"You'll need to brace yourself for the acceleration." He reached through his hand device and told the ship to make the journey to Oberdad.

Her eyes widened as the ship accelerated. "That was a lot faster than I remember."

Harry thought that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell her that he had been meddling with the ships systems. "Yeah, I set it to go faster. The inertial dampeners have a hard time keeping up though." He changed the subject. "So, I bet you'll be happy to getting back to your old life."

She laughed, almost bitterly. "I'll try my best to go back to everything, but nothing will be the same again, I don't think. Not after all this. I- Osiris killed my mentor, Doctor Jordan. I'm scarred of going back to that office, and facing all of the people I work with. What they must think about all this…"

Harry looked down and didn't say anything. His thoughts turned to the unnamed boy.

She looked up at him. "Oh, Harry, I'm sure they'll be happy to see you when you get home. They must think you've been kidnapped, or something of the sort."

Harry shook his head, and she realized that he was thinking of something else.

"Oh, Harry. That boy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say- Harry, you mustn't blame yourself for what Isis did."

Harry stood to leave, he didn't want to have this conversation, to have to admit his guilt.

"Harry, wait. Please, don't leave," she pleaded, and Harry stopped for the pleading in her voiced. "Harry, that wasn't your fault. I know that it was horrible; I still remember it so clearly. But Harry, you couldn't control yourself."

Harry shook his head and closed his eyes. "I should have pushed him out already. I could have, but I was scared. I just... I didn't want to feel that pain again. It's my fault that kid's dead. 'Cause I was a coward."

He felt Sarah's hand on his shoulder. "Harry, I know that pain that you're talking about. Osiris made me feel it, just to show me that she could. I never fought her after that, not until you escaped. I can't blame you for that, Harry. You're nine years old, a grown man wouldn't want to do that again."

"I still should have done it!" cried Harry.

"No, Harry. You can't expect that of yourself. Do you blame me?"

He tuned to her. "No, you couldn't have stopped her."

"But I'm the one who let her go, I opened her stasis jar, and started all of this. I was responsible for my own actions, you weren't. If you can't blame me, then you can't blame yourself."

Harry sat down. "It's just, I can remember it so clearly: the feel of his… neck in my hand. His face...The sound…" He trailed off.

"I know. Believe me, I know. But Harry, you beat Isis, and to me, you were a hero. If you blame yourself for his actions though, if you can't let this go, you'll be giving him a victory over you. Blame Isis; hate him even, but don't blame yourself."

Harry felt a few warm tears run down his face. "I just don't want to feel like this."

"I know, and you won't, not always. Trust me, Harry. You're going to get better, just remember that none of this is your fault."

Harry nodded, and he felt her arms go around him. It was the first hug he could remember receiving. Unsure of the motion, he threw his arms around her and held on.

"You'll be okay, Harry," she whispered, "just you wait and see."

!

Back at the SGC, Sam was walking her father down to the gate room so that he could return to the tok'ra base on Revanna. They had gone over the plan to the last detail, and both Jacob and Selmak were confident that it was a good one. They were skeptical, of course, that either Isis or Osiris would be dead.

"I'll stay longer next time, of course," he said. "But I'm expected to be in a meeting soon."

"I understand." She knew that she'd be seeing him soon anyway.

"And the next time I see you, you'll have to tell me more about this suitor from another plane of existence."

Teal'c really did have a big mouth sometimes, for all that he was a man of few words. To her embarrassment, she felt herself blush. "I don't think you have to worry about my virtue from this guy. Past sneaking into my house, he was quite the gentleman."

Her father scoffed. "If I ever get to meet this guy, I'll have to give him the 'what are your intentions towards my daughter' speech."

Sam rolled her eyes, just as the alarm went off, signaling an unscheduled off-world activation of the Stargate. She and her father shared a look before changing course to the control room.

"What's going on?" she asked of the gate technician on duty.

"I'm not sure, ma'am." He put in a command on his computer. "I'm getting a signal from the MALP we left on P3X-279. Here's visual."

One of the scenes changed to show the area around the planet's Stargate. Or, it would have if there hadn't been a large ship in the way.

"That's a goa'uld ship," she said. Her father shook her head.

"That model hasn't been seen for thousands of years. I'd say it's a good bet that this is Osiris's ship."

She nodded. The gate technician spoke up as the General walked into the room. "I'm getting a radio signal through the Stargate. I'm putting it through."

A child's voice came over the speakers.

"Um. Hi. My name's Harry Potter. Is this Earth?"

The General went over to a microphone and pushed the button to turn it on.

"This is General Hammond of the United States Air Force. Do not step through the gate. If you do, you will not rematerialize on our side."

"Oh. That's okay. I just called because, I know that I said two weeks, but I got done super fast. I have Sarah with me, so I'm ready whenever you're ready."

The General turned to her father. "Jacob, how soon can you have the necessary items ready for us?"

"One, two hours at the most," answered Jacob. "I don't think that I'll be able to go, but Freya and Anise would be happy to have another test subject for their za'tarc detector."

"Hello?" the voice called through the speakers.

"Yes," answered the General. "You'll need to give us two hours to prepare. I hope you understand that we cannot know yet whether you are still a host or not. As such, we will have to take certain precautions, in order to guarantee our safety."

"I understand," said Harry.

"Very well. When the wormhole closes, we expect you to send your ship back into orbit. We will send certain items through the gate momentarily. When we activate the gate in two hours, we expect you to use the rings to transport down. Do not return before then, we will know if you approach the gate. When you ring down, follow all instructions given to you. Do you understand?"

"I understand. I'll take off now." He ended the transmission. On the monitor, the ship began to rise, and the MALP's camera followed it until it went out of sight."

When the gate shut down, they quickly dialed Revanna so that her father could get them what they needed. The General turned to her.

"Have Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson returned to base yet?" he asked.

"No sir," she replied.

"Then I want you, Teal'c, and SG-3 to go to P4X-122 to set up," said the General. "You need to be ready in two hours."

"Yes, sir."

"And have Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson return to the base," said the General. "They may both be useful."

!

Harry had calmed down by the time the ship reached Oberdad. He had landed the ship in front of the Stargate control device, in case the people from Earth had left someone to watch for them. He didn't want to get shot at again. He ringed down to the planet only long enough to dial the coordinates to Earth. Now, the two hours was up, the sensors had shown the Stargate activating, and it was time for Harry to say goodbye. Or, it would be if he had any intention of telling Sarah that he wasn't coming with her. He didn't think that she'd cooperate if she knew.

"Well, time to go," she said. They were standing by the ring platform. Both of them were apprehensive of what was about to happen, though for different reasons.

"Ladies first," Harry gestured to the rings.

She laughed and walked into the center before turning to look at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry Sarah. But I don't think I have a home to return to."

Her eyes widened and took a step towards him. "Wait, Harry-"

"Goodbye," Harry said as he activated the rings.

And then he was alone.

!