Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“General Hammond...General Hammond, Sir!”

General George Hammond stopped mid-stride as he heard someone calling his name. Footsteps rapidly approached from behind. Turning around, he smiled as he saw who approached. It was the young woman who had been hovering at Jacob’s bedside when George had first arrived at the hospital.

“Yes, um, Miss, the General said politely as the young woman rushed up to him, concerned written plainly on her face.

“General, I know you must be very busy. But, may I please have a quick word?” the young woman asked him earnestly.

Hammond’s heart sank. Oh no, not more bad news, he worried, wondering what could possibly be worse than what Jacob had just told him.

“Well, if it is about Jacob Carter, you can have more than a quick word, Ma’am,” Hammond told her with a faint smile. One of his oldest friends was dying, and George was just glad to know that someone was here and was personally looking after him.

All dying old men should be so lucky; Hammond could not help thinking as he gazed at the attractive young woman in front of him.

I should not have let Sam go on that damned mission; George berated himself for the millionth time as the young woman motioned him off in to a side room. The room was completely empty except for a cot, and a chair. The girl closed the door firmly behind them, and then pulled the chair around so that it faced the empty cot. She motioned him to the chair while she perched uncomfortably on the edge of the bed. He thought of getting up and offering her the chair, but her urgency decided him against it.

“General Hammond, Sir,” she began somewhat uncertainly.  “I hope you won’t think I’m trying to pry. However...” The girl wrung her hands for a moment, and then she burst out. “You must get Jacob’s daughter back here, and as soon as possible.”

The General cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably.

“Well, I am afraid that is easier said than done, Ma’am. Jacob’s daughter--“

I know exactly what he has told you,” she interrupted him. “He has told you not to call her, in no uncertain terms, right?”

Hammond nodded, and suppressed a smile.

\“Well, just ignore that,” she told him flatly. “You just ignore whatever he told you to do. I don’t mean to sound cold, Sir but--“She broke off yet again.

Hammond was deeply touched to see two tears welling up in the young woman’s blue eyes. She angrily shoved them with the heel of her hand, her eyes never leaving Hammond’s face.

“He doesn’t have very long at all, Sir. You know that by now, and Samantha … I mean, his daughter ...she needs to be here. Not just for his Sake, but for her peace of mind as well. So, you just ignore whatever that stubborn old man in there says; it is just his pride talking, and not his Father’s heart. Samantha is the one who will have to live with this for the rest of her life, not getting to say a proper Goodbye to her Father....”

She trailed off, and then said in a near whisper, “I know what that is like for a daughter, General Hammond. My own Father died in the war, and I had no hope of saying Goodbye to him. It is still something that troubles me, even after all these years. So, please, Sir, if you can do anything at all, please?”

Observing her, the first thing George Hammond wondered was in what war might this young woman’s Father have died? She looked so young, not much older than Captain Carter did. Her obvious concern for Jacob and his family made her look even younger and more vulnerable. This did not leave too many choices of wars Hammond could think of. But, of course, he did not ask. He decided to let her in on a little secret, instead. Well,

Hammond made a decision.

Leaning forward, Hammond glanced at the nametag on her plain smock. “Mother Mary, I....”

He cleared his throat, and then he took another close look at the tag, thinking that he had read it incorrectly.

“Mother?” he asked.

The girl gave a slight shrug.

“That is just what everyone around here calls me, General. But, if that is too uncomfortable for you, please just call me Mary.”

The General offered his hand, and she took it.

“Alright then, Mary, and please let’s drop the formal military General stuff. Just call me George. Now, please do not mention it to Jacob, but I am trying to arrange for Sam, his daughter, to be here. I can’t promise anything, given her current circumstances, you understand.”

Relief flooded Mary’s face, and for an uncomfortable moment, George Hammond was absolutely convinced that she would jump up and hug him. It did not happen, though. She simply squeezed his hand before releasing it.

She smiled up at him.

I bet that smile has seen quite a few old soldiers off in to the Great Beyond, Hammond mused.

“Well, I apologize for wasting your time then, Gen, I mean, George, she said, rising to her feet. “But...you don’t know how hard it has been for me. Just trying to convince Jacob to call anyone at all has been a full-time effort.”

“Stubborn old fool that he is.,” she added in an undertone.

“Oh, I think I can guess,” Hammond replied, also standing up. “I’ve known Jacob for a few decades, Mary. Do you mind if I ask how long you have known him?”

“Um,” the young woman seemed to consider for a moment. “I have known Jacob for just under a week. I was asked to come and sit wit him shortly after he was admitted here."

“Well, you’re a good and quick judge of character then, Miss Mary,” Hammond told her as she ushered him towards the door. “Thank you for taking care of Jacob.”

The young woman smiled again, but it was a very sad little smile.

“No one should die alone, George. The Doctors are actually taking care of him. I am just, um, well, just a bit of distraction, and moral support, that is all.”

Hammond felt the young woman was being far too modest in underestimating her true role at the end of these men’s lives, but he did not argue the point. Looking in to Mary’s eyes, he was struck with a sudden odd notion that those eyes held not just years of sadness, but perhaps centuries worth…centuries or more…

Putting the strange notion out of his mind, he handed the woman a small business card with a private number written on it.

“Will you please call me, if you can, when—“

He broke off, but Mary nodded to him in a knowing manner, and carefully tucked his card away in a pocket of her volunteer’s smock.

“Of course I will, George."

After the older man had left the room, Mary closed the door, and leaned heavily against the wall.

“We have to do something,” she said silently, and the other presence that lived in her mind and her body answered, sounding weary but not unkind.

“We are doing all that is possible. You know we have no child to offer him, Mary,” the Goa’uld Symbiot known as Isis told her host gently. “And, it is inadvisable to keep using the Healing device too—“

“I know that!” Mary responded to her Symbiot, sounding a bit harsher then she had intended. “I just want him to be able to part with his daughter peacefully, that’s all,” she finished more softly.

“On this I do not disagree.”

Isis sighed, relenting just a bit.

“I suppose that it will do no harm to keep this up for a while longer...but not indefinitely. I cannot agree to risk our exposure for a dying man, particularly one who is useless to us.”

Mary had long ago stopped wincing at Isis’s sometimes very blunt announcements. Her Symbiot was, generally, more tolerant and forgiving of women than she had ever seemed to be of any men, and Mary was used to this. It did not mean she liked it, though.

“If he were a woman or Osiris’ host, you wouldn’t think him so useless,” she complained.

“Probably not,” the Symbiot agreed mildly. ‘But, he does not host Osiris. Osiris would make a very interesting addition to his personality.

“I do regret not having any current contact with the Tok’Ra, if by some miracle they yet live,” Isis admitted. “Given their desperate need for hosts, I’m sure Jacob carter would be good enough for them.”

Mary knew when to quit while she was ahead. She straightened her smock and headed back towards Jacob Carter’s room.

Chapter Text

Long Live the Queen

Chapter 2

Mary returned immediately to Jacob Carter’s room. He lay perfectly still, only the faint beeping of his monitoring equipment ringing softly through the room. Thinking he was sleeping, she sat down by his side, and laid a hand tenderly on his forehead.

“Thanks,” the older man murmured, causing her to jump in surprise.

“Boo! I’m not asleep or dead yet, and I didn’t think anything could make you jump,” Jacob joked weakly.

“Be nice, Jacob Carter,” Mary said sternly, but her smile was soft and appreciative of his attempt at humor. ‘But thanks for what?”

“Oh, I don’t know … For sitting with this dying old man when you must have better things to do with your time. For not being afraid to argue with me even in my weakened state, but most of all, thanks for getting me to call George.”

Jacob chuckled weakly, then coughed for a few minutes. Just as Mary made a move as if to signal the Doctor, he stopped though, and gripped her hand.

“Man, they must have me shot full of something or I’d never admit this, but it did help bringing him here, so thank you.”

Mary wiped his lips with a cool moist cloth.

“You are very welcome, but don’t strain yourself with all that gratitude, General,” She grinned at him. “Can I get you some water or anything? Here,” And she retrieved a cup of crushed ice, supporting him gently with one arm while she held it to his lips.

“Ah, best stuff in the world, that crushed ice,” Jacob forced a smile after he’d taken several mouthfuls. “Don’t suppose you have any wine, though?”

Well now, “I rather like a bit of wine, myself,” Mary commented. “And I’d love to share a good belt with you, Jacob, but I’m afraid all I might be able to offer you is grape juice.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. Never mind, I’d probably just throw it up, anyway.” Jacob sighed.

“Rest now, Jacob. I’ll be right here,” Mary said soothingly.

“Shut up old man, you’re boring me, I get it,” Jacob quipped.

“Do I have to have you sedated?” Mary threatened, her blue eyes twinkling. “Because I will do it, and you know.”

“I don’t doubt that. Okay, I’ll shut up, if you answer one question for me.”

“Well now, that depends on the question,” the girl said cautiously. “I make no promises, General Carter Sir.”

“Why the hell is a pretty young thing like you wasting your time here, tending to the crusty old dying?” Jacob asked bluntly. “You ought to be out dancing with some obnoxious handsome young man who is nowhere good enough for you, and not stuck here feeding me crushed ice.”

The girl put on an exaggeratedly hurt expression.

“Go away little girl, you bother me, is that it, Jacob?” Mary teased.

Jacob gave another wheezing chuckle.

“Come on now, I’m serious. Why do you spend your time like this. You must have more fun things to do.”

Mary leaned over him, her eyes sparkling again.

“Why, Jacob Carter, didn’t you know some of us girls just can’t resist older military men?” she teased him again.

Jacob chuckled and coughed again.

“You’re killing me here.”

Mary shot him a look and he sobered.

“Sorry, very bad joke, So, you don’t want to tell me, huh? Ah c’mon, who am I gonna tell. You can trust me, you know.””

Mary sighed, but mustered a brave smile, though the hurt expression in her eyes was now not laced with humor.

“No one should die in a hospital bed all alone, Jacob,” she told him with gentle sincerity. “But if you’d like me to get all psychological on you, and I did tell your friend, so I can tell you. I never got to say goodbye to my dying Father. He died in some damn war and in some god forsaken primitive hospital on the other side of the planet when I was twelve and had no hope of reaching him. In some ways, helping some of you gentlemen makes me feel a little closer to him.”

The girl blinked back one tear, but not fast enough. Jacob saw it. Mary let him reach out and squeeze her hand.

“Ah damn, I’m sorry,” He stammered. “Me and my big mouth. Okay, I swear I won’t but in to your life anymore, okay? Not even to ask which war your Father could have died in or anything?”

Mary squeezed his hand right back.

“I’m afraid that is classified, General. If I told you, I’d probably have to kill you.”

“What a way to go, though,” Jacob murmured.

They laughed together that time, then Jacob closed his eyes and went to sleep, Mary holding on to his hand.

As Jacob lay sleeping, his Doctor beckoned Mary in to his office.

“You okay?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”  Mary demanded. ‘I’m not the dying patient, John.”

“You’ve gotten awfully attached to General Carter,” the Doctor stated.

“I have not!” Mary denied his claim. “I care for all my patients.”

“Yes, I know you do, but General Carter seems … Okay, I know, none of my damn business,” he added quickly as her eyes became dangerous looking.

“I’ve been in contact with your children, all my brothers and sisters across the planet,” the Doctor told her. “I’m sad to say they are all in perfect health.”

Mary gasped.

“John!” Mary exclaimed. “That’s a terrible thing to say.”

The Doctor blushed.

“Oh, I-I didn’t mean it like that,” he stammered. “I just meant that none of my brothers or sisters find themselves in urgent need for hosts, is all.”

‘I knew that already, John,” Mary said tiredly. “I’ve been in contact with my children, too. I know I can’t save him that way. And, since he’s called his friend now, trying to smuggle him out for a more proper healing is also out of the question. I’m sure the good General Hammond will be back”

The doctor bowed his head for a second, and when he looked up, his eyes glowed a faint red.

“You are far too persuasive sometimes, my gentle Mother Mary,’ the Symbiot that lived inside of him murmured sadly. “It pains me to see you hurting so for this man. If you wish, I shall attempt to leave my host and attempt Jacob Carter’s healing?”

Mary looked shocked, but before she could speak, the Doctor was back again.

“Look, we’ve been talking about it, he and I.  I agree. We will try, if you want us to.”

Mary also bowed her head, and when she looked up again, Isis appeared in her eyes. She gripped the man’s hand.

“Do the pair of you find life as one of my children so stressful that you will risk losing it now, after all these years?” Isis asked quietly.

‘No, but we do find watching you grieving for this dying man quite stressful,” the Doctor said gently.

“You know I will not allow this, even if it were possible,” Isis told them firmly. “Jacob Carter appears to no nothing about life that does not exist on this planet, no matter what he might suspect. And trying to explain it to him might cause a shock that will kill him.”

“He is not ready to die, we all know that,” the Doctor countered. “I think he would take any chance to live that was offered to him, and especially if the offer comes from you, wise Mother. He would listen to you. He might even jump at the chance to become a Child of Isis, to be bonded so closely to you and to Mary.”

But Isis would hear none of it, and she stubbornly shook her head.

“We have waited too long. He is far too weak now, and I will not allow you to take that risk, and Mary will not forgive us if we reveal ourselves and it hastens Jacob Carter’s death in any way.”

The Doctor sighed.

“Alright, we thought you’d say that. Just know our offer still stands.”

Isis stood up, and warmly embraced this man, who grew in to manhood as one of her own children.

“Your heart does you much credit, both of you, my brave sons,” she murmured kissing his cheek. “I am so very proud of both of you! Now if you will please excuse us, we are anxious to return to Jacob carter’s side.”

But this time, when she returned to Jacob Carter’s bedside, he did not pretend to be asleep. He was well and truly unconscious. Once she was certain of this, Mary steeled herself, took out her Goa’uld hand device, and began to gently play it over Jacob’s middle. It weakened her just a little every time she did this, but she kept it up, anyway. When his breathing eased and his body visibly relaxed deeper in to a more natural sleep, she stowed away the alien device, and rested her own head in her hands, her elbow resting on the side of the bed. As she slipped in to a fitful sleep, her first in many days, Jacob Carter awoke. He looked aside at the thin curtain of dark hair that had come loose from her braid and that cascaded on to the bed next to him.

“Well, about time the poor sweet kid gets some sleep,” he muttered to himself. In the time he’d been here, Mary Stewart had always been at his bedside, and he had never seen her doze off, not even once. He briefly touched the hair that had come out of Mary’s braid, that she usually kept tied on her head like a crown but now it looked very much like a lopsided crown. But, not wanting to chance waking her up, and maybe earning a good slap for being too familiar, he moved his hand away and tried to relax, himself.

Chapter Text

"So, are you ever gonna tell me why?" Jacob asked Mary some time later.

"Why what?" she responded.

Why it is that each time I wake up feeling the tiniest bit better, you look like you've been put through the ringer. You gonna tell me that's just a coincidence.

because I know you haven't been leaving me to go partying."

"Are you so sure?" the girl teased. ",But coincidence, that seems like a good enough story to go with," Mary replied with a grin.

"I don't believe in coincidences," the old man said flatly, taking a firmer grip on Mary's hand.

"Look, I don't know what it is your doing. I'm afraid to even guess. But, if you are, I don't know, somehow giving up your life energy for me, I want you to stop it right now, okay. Everyone round here has told me all about you and about your other nickname besides Mother Mary. They also call you Miracle Mary, right? I hear that you have on occasion taken old broken-down folks like me, and somehow helped them to walk out of here with their heads held high, a few times, anyway. But we both know there won't be any miracles happening for me.""

"Firstly, they exaggerate my importance. I know no such thing, and you may not believe in coincidences, but I do believe in miracles, General, but did you read a lot of science fiction? Mind you, I Have a soft spot for classic Trek and Star Wars myself. And Mr. H. G. Wells War of the Worlds is a classic everyone should read at least once. But what an interesting idea," Mary said.

She laughed as if it were the most ridiculous idea in the world.

Jacob squeezed her hand insistently.

"Well at least I made you laugh. That's a medicine I'll take as much of as I can get. But I'm serious here. Miss Miracle Mary. Please, honor a wish from a dying old man and just don't do whatever it is you do anymore.

Mary leaned a bit closer to him and studied him intently.

"If I could make such a difference for you, would you accept it, Jacob?" Mary found herself asking. She felt Isis tense a little inside her mind, but she ignored it. "What if I could help you find that miracle you don't think exists and give you back the rest of your life. What would you be willing to give up for that, Jacob?"

There was no response.

"Jacob, Jacob?" Mary said a bit louder. But as she rose quickly to lean worriedly over him, she saw that he had once again lapsed in to unconsciousness and had probably not heard one word of what she had just said to him.

Isis was nothing but relieved, but Mary was disappointed, but mostly with herself for suddenly finding herself so weak. Jacob's life was slowly ebbing away. The girl could almost feel it happening through her fingers. His moments of lucid consciousness were becoming few and far between. Mary sat by his bed, holding on tightly to his hand, feeling utterly helpless. And the thing that frightened her most was that, she had meant everything she had said to Jacob, though she had no immediate idea how she would accomplish it. She was also seriously considering taking far more overt actions with the Goa'uld hand device. Yes, it might temporarily damage her health, and it would certainly risk her exposure, and it would cause many difficult to answer questions not only for herself, but perhaps for Jacob Carter as well, and maybe even for her many children scattered across the planet, but she was getting past the point of caring about that at all.

As his Doctor entered the room, the young woman opened her mouth, but the Doctor put one finger to his lips. Crossing to the bed, he slipped a piece of paper in to Mary's other hand, checked Jacob's vital signs sadly, and exited the room in silence.

As she unfolded the paper, Mary smiled. Someone had bent the rules, just slightly for her, gone in to Jacob Carter's records, and gotten her Mark Carter's phone number. If he could not have his daughter by his side, perhaps she could convince the son to come and at least set eyes on his Father one last time. At the very least, it would liven up the rapidly weakening Jacob Carter with anger, which was not always a bad thing, if it got the bodies energies going again.

With a sigh, she memorized the number and shoved the paper in to a pocket of her smock. As she removed her hand from Jacob's hand, he stirred slightly, and she froze. But he made no further movements.

She leaned over Jacob's bed, and murmured softly in to his ear.

" I'll be back soon, Jacob,"

She quickly left the room, and headed to her own office, which was little more than a glorified closet with a light switch, two chairs, a tiny old very scarred wooden desk, a phone connection and a small pile of books. She had been offered a more lavish and spacious office, but had refused, saying the space could be better used by others. This place was mostly for her to gather herself, to find her balance again, to meditate when needed, and on the odd occasion, to make phone calls that if successful would make some patients either very angry or unbelievably happy. Jacob Carter was about to be one of those patients.

So, with determination, Mary Stewart locked her door, settled herself at her desk, and picked up the phone to call Mark Carter..

After the most frustrating 5 minutes of her and Isis's recent lives, Mary carefully replaced the phone back in its cradle, resisting the urge to slam it down, and raised her eyes to the ceiling in frustration.

"Peace, Child," Isis murmured soothingly from inside her head.

"Oh, just shut up, will you!" Mary silently shot back at her Symbiot friend. "He is so much like his damn Father!"

She braced herself for any response. It had been literally decades, the time just after their joining, since she had spoken to Isis that way. She was grateful that

Isis did remain silent for now. She needed to collect herself before returning to Jacob's room and she needed to do it immediately. Finally, once she at least looked outwardly calm, Mary got up, leaving her closet of an office, and headed back down the hallway.

"Don't bother going in to see the old man," one of the young orderly's stopped her just before she reached the room.

"And just why not," she snapped. It was not one of the young men she liked, barely found him tolerable on a good day, and this was not a good day for her.

"Cause he ain't there anymore, Madam, they're cleaning out his room now getting it ready for the next one. Guess he croaked while you were in your closet." was the orderly's sneering retort before he turned and breezed off down the hall away from her.

Mary felt Isis exert actual physical control over her, something the Queen Goa'uld almost never did anymore, and this was a good thing. Mary wanted nothing more just then but to follow the irritating young man and give him the good slap his Mama should have given him when he was a boy.

"I'm alright," she told the Symbiot sweetly.

"It's not nice to lie to your Symbiot," Isis quipped back. "Just let me handle this, alright."

Mary did not even try to resist and let Isis move her down the hall until she caught up with the young man.

"Orderly Johnson?" Isis called out sweetly using Mary's voice, and her most engaging smile. "Orderly? I need your help?"

"Yeah," the young man turned. "What is it now."

And then he froze as Isis looked out at him sweetly through Mary's blue eyes.

"Come with me, please?"

She approached him very slowly, and taking his hand, she maneuvered him in to a nearby alcove. Once they were more or less alone, she placed her hands almost tenderly on his shoulders, and easily turned him to face her. Even though he over topped her by at least a foot, and outweighed her by a hundred pounds or more, the man trembled a little under her touch, but did not try to move away from her a she drew his face close to hers, almost close enough to kiss him, but not quite.

"Orderly Johnson," the voice purred softly. "Will you do something for me, please?"

"Yes," he said dazedly. "I'll do anything you want, Ma'am."

"I want you to listen to my words very carefully. Still with me?"

He nodded, and tried to lean closer to her, but she held him off easily with her Goa'uld strength.

"Very good. Because you see I feel it's only proper that I inform you that if I ever hear you speaking so disrespectfully about any of these brave men and women ever again, about anyone ever again, I shall not only see to it that your employment here is immediately terminated, but you will need to leave the galaxy in order to find decent employment for the rest of your short but miserable life. Do you understand what I am telling you, little boy?"

"Yes ma'am," the orderly murmured sedately. "Whatever you say, Ma'am."

"I'm so glad we understand one another now!" Mary's voice exulted. "Now you run along and get back to your cleaning duties, alright?"

She favored him with a very quick and light peck on his cheek. He jerked away from her as if it had been a sting and pressed his hand suddenly to his head.

"Damn, my head," he muttered. "What happened."

"You were feeling ill," Mary's voice told him sincerely. "I was afraid you'd fall and hit your head, so I brought you in here to rest a bit."

"Oh. uh … okay … If you say so, Ma'am," the man said, still rubbing his head.

"Go take some aspirin," Mary's voice advised as she brushed by him. "Maybe you should go home early and rest."

"Yeah … maybe I oughtta go home early and rest. That's a real good idea, thank you, Ma'am."

But as she walked away, she could feel the slight lust still lingering in his eyes as he watched her go. But since he usually looked at Mary like that, it was only a minor imposition.

"Oh, why didn't you just let me hit him!" Mary complained silently, trying not to grimace in disgust as she remembered her lips barely touching that not too well shaven face of his.

"Subtlety, Child, you know the rules," Isis sighed. "Besides, I know you enjoy these occasional little incidents even more than I do, now admit it?"

Mary would have tried to deny that, but then, the distasteful young man's words struck her like a physical blow, and she immediately forgot about him and all but flew in to Jacob Carter's room to find his emergency equipment being cleaned up, his bed now empty.

"Where the hell is General Carter?" she demanded. "He is far too ill to be moved!"

"Don't know, Ma'am," an older nurse said, giving the girl a sympathetic look.

This was not the first time she had been away and just barely missed a death, and each time had been hard on her. But this was somehow different. It hurt more, ran far deeper, and she did not understand just why. Jacob Carter was really no different from the thousands of other old men and women she had given aid and comfort to over the years, was he?

I promised him I'd stay with him until it was over, and I wasn't there at the end, was all she could think now. I promised, and I wasn't there!

"This is your fault!" she raged silently at her Symbiot. "If you hadn't just had to play head games with that disgusting orderly like that, we would have made it back in time!"

But Isis was silent yet again, and Mary stood in the empty room looking this way and that, wanting to fly off in a hundred different directions but not knowing which one to do first. The older nurse started to move towards her, but Jacob's doctor entered just then, and took her arm.

"Mary, come with me, please?" he offered. "Right now."

Feeling a little dazed now, Mary allowed the man to lead her from the room that had been Jacob Carters and to his office. He sat her down on a sofa and handed her a hot cup of chocolate. She was about to refuse it, when he spoke up.

"He isn't dead, Mary." THE DOCTOR TOLD HER GENTLY.

Mary gasped, almost dropping the cup

"What?" she spluttered around a mouthful of hot creamy chocolate.

"Jacob Carter isn't dead … or, at least he wasn't dead at the time they took him out of here."

"But he can't be moved!" she almost wailed. "Dammit, you know it's not safe! How could you let them take him anywhere? And, who," she demanded. "Who took him, Jonathan!"

"His friend General Hammond showed up suddenly with this young woman. I assume she was his daughter. That's all I know, real hush hush stuff, even cleared the room and all that jazz and yes, I wanted to ride with him to his destination, but they wouldn't allow it."

"General Hammond, you're sure?"

Sitting down beside her, the Doctor placed a comforting hand on Mary's shoulder.

"Absolutely. The General did seem quite surprised you weren't there, Mary. He left this number, for me to give to you," and he handed her another piece of paper with a phone number on it. "He wants you to call him as soon as you can."

"Oh, this is just what I need, another damn phone call," Mary muttered. "So, the good General George Hammond can tell me so sorry, but I can't tell you Miss because it's classified?"

The Doctor shrugged helplessly.

"Maybe you ought to go home, rest for a while, lay low," the Doctor suggested.

"Boy, I must look wonderful today. You sound like Jacob now," Mary scoffed. "And Lay low, are you watching cop dramas again?"

The Doctor leaned close and lowered his voice even though they were alone in the room.

"Look, I know what you were doing with that hand device. And since the blasted thing is slightly defective, I know what it was costing you more than usual to use it. I'm just suggesting you get some rest, that's all. And maybe go visit the children's hospital or maternity wards for a few days, get out of the military light for a bit. Put Jacob Carter out of your mind."

"Sure, plenty more where he came from right?" Mary exclaimed.

Then, even before the words had finished coming out of her mouth, she felt very guilty.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan. It's not your fault. But Why do you worry so much? NO one in the military is looking for me, Jonathan. I'm just a hospital volunteer, nothing more."

"Oh, I'd rest a lot easier at night if that were only true," the man muttered.

"You worried too much," Mary stated.

"And often you don't seem to worry enough," the Doctor countered. "Ra can't have been all you had to worry about."

"I don't have to worry as much, not as long as you are around, do I," Mary smiled fondly at one of her oldest friends, and Isis's firs child..

 "So, you will call General Hammond?" he inquired.

"Yes, yes," Mary heaved a heavy sigh. "I promise that I will give the Good General every chance to not answer my question or satisfy my curiosities."

She knew that she really had no choice. She must find out, good or bad, one way or another, the fate of Jacob Carter.

Chapter Text

Long Live the Queen

Chapter 4

"Sir, can I speak with you?"

George Hammond looked up at the knock on his door.

"Come," he called, looking for any excuse to not tackle that pile of paperwork on his desk.

"Good morning, captain Carter," he greeted captain Samantha Carter warmly. "Come in, have a seat."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Something I can help you with, Sam?" the older man asked.

"Well, yes, Sir," Sam began. "You told me there was a volunteer taking care of my dad while he was in the hospital? Do you remember her name?"

"Not likely to forget it," Hammond smiled. "Her name is Mary Stewart. I've actually been expecting a call from her asking about Jacob, surprised she hasn't checked in yet. Why?"

"Well, I thought I'd like to meet her and, you know, just thank her for staying with my Dad," the captain told him. "It's the least I can do for the woman … I know how Dad can be," she added with a grin.

Hammond returned her grin.

"That's a wonderful idea," the General agreed. "And I know she'd love to meet you to, Sam. She was very emphatic that I get you back to Jacob's side while … well, you know. Upset her a lot when it looked like you couldn't come. I was hoping you'd meet her when we went and collected your Father."

"tell you what," Hammond offered, reaching for his phone. "I'll call the hospital and see if I can't track her down. We can all do lunch …. Oh, unless you ladies don't want an old man tagging along?" he added.

"I can grin and bear it if she can, Sir," Samantha replied completely straight faced.

"Especially if you're buying?"

Hammond chuckled.

"I walked right in to that one, didn't I?" Hammond sighed.

"With your eyes wide open, Sir," Samantha agreed.

"Yes, thank you, I am trying to contact General Hammond … Yes, that's right, General George Hammond … Fine, fine, please will you just tell him that Mary needs to speak to him about a mutual friend? … Mary Stewart, from the VA hospital? No, can't honestly say it's an emergency, but … Oh, thank you so very much! You've been no help whatsoever!"

Mary dropped the phone back in to its cradle and scowled at the ceiling of her tiny office. It was becoming clearer and clearer to her that Hammond asked for her to be given that number, not so she could contact him, but so she would be forever tied up playing phone tag, and he would never have to speak to or see her ever again.

Getting up from her desk, she shoved her chair angrily in to a corner, and left her office, using all the restraint Isis could give her not to slam her door, and went to where she could actually do some good. She did not notice her phone start to ring as she walked away down the corridor.

"Damn, she still doesn't answer," Hammond swore softly. "I guess she's with a patient."

It occurred to Hamond to check the switchboard, and after a talk with its operator, he hung up the phone with a deep scowl

"Sir?" Captain Carter asked.

"It looks like she has been trying to call for days, but I haven't been getting her messages … twenty-five of them at last count."

"What does she say?"

"She Just keeps asking to speak with me about a mutual friend."

"Dad?"

"She doesn't mention your Father's name, but I have to assume she means him, yes." Hammond replied, clearly irritated about missing so many of Mary's messages. "He is the only mutual friend she and I have that I know of, anyway"

Hammond picked up his phone again and made one more phone call.

"Yes, this is General George Hammond. Please just ask Miss Stewart if she'd like to meet myself and Captain Samantha Carter at the Bluebird café around noon … Thank you."

"What if their switchboard is as bad as ours, and she doesn't get the message?" Sam asked.

"Well, if we miss her again, I'll just go to the damn hospital this evening myself," Hammond decided.

"If you'll forgive me for saying so, Sir, you usually don't get this upset over missed messages," Sam remarked.

"Well, Sam, I know it must just be killing her, not knowing about your father," Hammond replied. "I heard she almost never left his side. She seems very devoted to her patients, totally devoted to them."

"And she's certainly made an impression on you, but it's not like we can tell her everything, Sir," Sam gently reminded her Commander.

"I just admire someone who is so dedicated to their work, especially when it's volunteer work, they don't have to be doing. We can't tell her everything, but we can at least tell her Jacob's still alive. She told me her Father was in the military, died in its service in fact, and she understood classified."

"Doesn't mean she'll like it," the captain murmured.

"Probably not, "Hammond agreed. "But it's the very least I can do too, after just whisking Jacob out of her care like that."

"General Hammond, I don't know why, but you are peeking my curiosity about this woman," The captain admitted. "I'll have to find out if she made as big an impression on my Dad as she's done with you."

"You're exaggerating. She has not made an impression, Captain, and that will be all!" Hammond ordered. "I will see you at Noon! Dismissed!"

"Yes Sir," Sam replied, saluting smartly then left the General's office, grinning.

Mary Stewart? Wasn't Mary Queen of Scots name Stewart, Sam wondered. Shrugging off that rather odd thought, she headed back to her lab.

Seeing no one really needed her attention today, Mary was on her way when a breathless young secretary caught up with her.

"Do you ever slow down?" the young woman complained.

"No," Mary said shortly.

Then she did slow down and gave a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Sally," Mary apologized to the girl. "What is it?"

"well, first, I wish you'd turn on your answering machine, just once in a while. And last, you have a message, from a General George Hammond."

That got Mary's immediate attention.

Well, it's about damn time, Mary thought.

"He wants you to meet him around noon at the Bluebird," the girl went on. "He's bringing a Samantha Carter with him?"

How convenient, Mary thought. Nice public place, and even more of an excuse to divulge even less. But, in spite of the fact that she knew she was gonna get the run around, at least a little bit, Mary was excited, if cautiously so. The name Samantha Carter had done that much.

"Thanks, Sally, could you call him back please and tell him, try to anyway, that I'll be there?" Mary asked the girl.

The secretary nodded and ran off, presumably, back to her station, though with Sally, no one could ever really tell.

And, since she had little else to occupy her that day, and she was already hungry, Mary decided to go early and wait for the General and Jacob's daughter to arrive. And maybe indulge in a lot of good chocolate in the meantime.

"We're a little early, so she probably isn't here … "

When he spotted the pretty dark-haired woman he was speaking of, General Hammond grinned, and pointed her out to his companion, Captain Carter.

"Or I'm wrong and, she'll be here waiting for us," he interrupted himself, pointing out a corner table, and moving quickly towards it.

"Miss Mary, it's good to see you again," she heard the General greet the woman waiting there warmly.

But Samantha Carter stood well back for a bit, however, her blood almost literally running cold, and wished with all her heart that she could be as oblivious as her general right now. She blinked, took several deep breaths, and tried to will what she was feeling away, tried to convince herself that she was wrong. She even wished for a brief moment that she had never met the Tok'Ra because if she had not, she might not be able to interpret what she was feeling.

"Captain Carter, over here," General Hammond called to her, and she was torn between anting to run away and wanting to run out of the building.

Before she met the Tok'Ra, Sam would have gotten Hammond and herself out of there ASAP, but now she was no longer sure what to do.

Maybe she's Tok'Ra, Sam prayed. Oh Lord, please let her be Tok'Ra! There aren't supposed to be any on Earth, but, maybe …

"Sam?" the general called again.

Gathering herself, Samantha Carter forced one foot in front of the other and walked to the table where her commander and friend waited, and where the Goa'uld hiding as Mary Stewart also waited.

She looked just like Mary had imagined she would look.

Jacob had talked about her so much and described her so well that it was not hard for Mary to spot Jacob's daughter, Samantha, as she walked in to the café with General Hammond. It was the one thing she had not expected that almost brought her up out of her chair and running through the crowded restaurant as if her very life depended on it. It was the one thing she had not sensed except from her and Isis's own children, not ever before!

She is blended, and not one of ours! was Isis's first shocked warning. Then much more contemplatively, No, she was blended, but no longer. Still she isn't one of ours.

Jacob Carter's own daughter, formerly under the influence of a Goa'uld! The dying Jacob suddenly being taken from his death bed in the hospital with no questions allowed and no information given! Mary was putting the facts together, and she did not at all like the obvious conclusions. In fact, they made her feel quite ill, and furious!

She gave her helpless dying Father to a Goa'uld! Oh, Jacob, where are you? What are you going through right now?

Mary was curious why Isis was not reacting with more sheer panic to all of this. Being dragged back in to the Goa'uld's way of life was her second greatest fear.

On her part, Isis gently but firmly reminded her that, first, they were more than a match for one formerly blended woman and General Hammond, if it came to that, and second, if Samantha Carter had been under the influence of the Symbiot at the time that it was in no way her fault what had happened to Jacob. This did little to dampen Mary's growing anger, however.

Fully determined now that she would find out the whole truth about Jacob Carter, one way or another, Mary greeted General Hammond as if nothing in the world was wrong.

"Got tired of playing phone tag, eh, General Hammond," Mary said lightly. "I must have left over twenty messages. I thought you were deliberately sandbagging me."

She smiled and stood up and shook his hand, listened to and graciously accepted his apologies, then looked past him to lock eyes with Samantha Carter, and waited with bated breath for Jacob's daughter to join them.

"Miss Stewart, this is Captain Samantha Carter. Sam, this is Mary," the General made the polite introductions.

Sam barely heard him though, and looking in to Mary's eyes, she felt that the other woman did the same.

"Miss Stewart, it's a pleasure," Sam murmured. "My Dad mentioned you before we left the hospital. He was very sorry he didn't get to say Goodbye. and general Hammond also speaks very highly of you, Ma'am."

The Goa'uld visibly winced.

"Oh, please Miss Carter … I'm sorry, should I call you Captain? Just call me Mary. Ma'am makes me feel so old," Mary laughed.

"Sam will do," the Captain told the Goa'uld in front of her, proud of herself at her light and even tone.

If this Goa'uld` wanted to play, for now, Sam would show her that she could play along, too.

The woman politely inclined her head and held out one hand. When Sam took it, her senses reeled. It had only been a short time since her experience with Jolinar, and an even shorter time since she had met Martouf and Selmak and the rest of the Tok'Ra, but the sensation was almost overwhelmingly strong. Did that mean that this Goa'uld held more power than others, was older than most or did it mean something else entirely.

Not for the first time, Sam wished she had not fought Jolinar so much and so hard, wished she understood more about Goa'uld in general.

For some reason, the terrible memories of Hathor kept coming in to Her mind. Sam surreptitiously studied General Hammond. She was relieved to see that this Goa'uld had not intoxicated General Hammond the way Hathor had done to him and all the men on the base. So, Sam was betting the General's admiration of the woman was a genuine one, and not a chemical one.

"Jacob spoke so highly of you, Sam," the Goa'uld, still determinedly using its human voice, was saying now.

The General finally got them seated. And as they ordered, it was clear to Sam that the Goa'uld was no more interested in the food now than she herself was. Part of her wished that General Hammond was not with them, and part of her was grateful that he was, even if he remained mostly oblivious to the truth. He was noticing some tension and discomfort between the two women, but Sam guessed he was writing it off as first meeting jitters.

OH boy, when I break this to him, what will he do? Sam wondered. But she had a good idea what the

General would do. The odd thing was that she was not sure they should do it, not yet.

"Will you ladies excuse me for a moment," general Hammond excused himself after some time, and headed towards the men's room.

He's giving us time alone, Sam thought, much affection welling up for her Commander.

But once he was gone, the Goa'uld leaned purposely across the table towards her, and Sam instinctively held her breath, waiting, and refusing to flinch away or give any ground.

"I know what you are, rather what you were," the Goa'uld said softly, almost sympathetically.

"But you gave him to them!" the Goa'uld said accusingly, her eyes briefly flashing in anger and disgust. "He was helpless and dying and You gave your own Father's body to the Goa'uld, and for what, in exchange for your own freedom, perhaps? Your Master preferred a male host, not a female one? Not the Samantha Jacob led me to expect, not at all!"

She had not raised her voice or changed her expression, but the Goa'uld's words hit Sam like a slap int he face, nevertheless. Sam blinked in utter surprise. She felt like she'd just fallen through some dimensional hole in to an alternate reality. But the Goa'uld went on, not giving her a chance to respond.

"I do understand that perhaps this was not entirely your doing, Sam.

Your Symbiot's decision perhaps. At least, I pray this is the case," the Goa'uld went on, speaking more gently now, but with just as much fervor. "But whichever is true, you may inform Ra, though I suggest you do it from a great distance if you value your life Miss Carter, that I still refuse to submit," the Goa'uld stated flatly, still using Mary's voice and speaking in a low tone that only Sam could hear. "Neither my position nor my feelings have changed. You may thank him for the long imprisonment which only serves to strengthen my resolve to protect the people of this planet from his evil vile influences. If the Tok'Ra have since fallen, others shall rise to take their place! I will ensure it!"

For some reason, Jolinar's last words spoken out loud to the Ashrak rang in Sam's mind. Hear this! The days of the Goa'uld system Lords are numbered! Tell them I died with hope! My death only feeds the fire that burns strong in the Tok'Ra!

It was a long moment before Sam could find words.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

It was not what she had meant to say, but it is what came out.

The Goa'uld smiled.

"The good General was not lying to you. We are Mary Hannah Jane Stewart, Sam," the Goa'uld said quietly. "but we are also Isis. And I beg you, as a now freed being with will of your own, help me, Samantha Carter. It is not too late. We can still save Jacob from his Goa'uld master!"

Mary was almost disappointed when general Hammond returned to them. She was not sure if she had convinced Samantha Carter that her Father could still be saved or not, and she knew she could not speak openly of it in front of the General.

She will tell him, the minute they are alone, Isis was certain of this as she spoke in to Mary's mind.

Well, you are the one who gave away our full identity, not me, Mary shot back silently. Not my fault this time, is it! I thought I was the only one who cared about Jacob Carter.

Isis did not answer that, not that Mary had expected one.

"I hope I didn't interrupt something," the General was saying as he glanced between herself and Samantha.

"OH no, Sir," Samantha piped up. "Mary and I were just talking about—"

"Jacob," Mary interjected. "I was telling Sam that I heard a lot about her from her Father."

To her relief, Sam nodded, seeming to play along.

" And I was about to apologize to her," Sam added. "I know my Dad can be, difficult, sometimes. I wanted to meet you and thank you for taking such good care of him."

Can be, not could be. Mary prayed Sam's use of the present tense meant what she wanted it to mean, that Jacob was still alive.

The General must have picked up on sam's words too.

"You spent so much time with him, and I am sorry we can't divulge everything to you, Mary, I truly am," he apologized. "But I can tell you that Jacob is alive."

"But it's classified," Mary finished his statement for him with an understanding but resigned expression. "It's alright, General. I know that tone. I only hope Jacob will be given his freedom soon.""

She caught the look that passed between Samantha and the General.

"Is our good general treating us, Sam?" Mary asked, earning her a grin from Jacob's daughter.

"Well, as tempted as I am to have a huge lunch now," Mary began with a smile. "I really ought to get back to the hospital. Sam, I hope we can talk more soon," she added, scrolling something on the back of a business card and handing it to Samantha.

"And I apologize to you, General Hammond. I really thought you were deliberately ignoring me. Thank you both for telling me what little you could about Jacob. I'll sleep a bit better now."

"I'm sorry we can't be more forthcoming, Miss Mary," the General said as they all got to their feet.

"even in the short time we have known one another, I feel like Sam and I understand each other very well now, woman's intuitions and all," Mary replied, shooting a very hopeful look at Samantha. "It was so nice meeting you at last, Sam."

"Yeah, yeah you two," Jacob's daughter replied. "Maybe we can meet soon and talk some more, you know, about my Dad."

"That would be my great pleasure," Mary agreed warmly.

She shook both their hands one more time, then turned and strode from the café. She did not look back.

 "What the hell's going on, Sam?" the General inquired as soon as Mary was gone, and Sam felt a little foolish, thinking that he noticed nothing was wrong.

"We need to get back to the base, now sir," she told her Commanding officer. "And, I'd like your permission to contact some friends."

A little while later, General Hammond led her in to his office, and locked the door.

"Sam?" was all he asked.

"Sir, I'd like your permission to contact the Tok'Ra, immediately," Sam replied.

Leaning across his desk, the General gave her a hard-penetrating look.

"Why is that?" he asked softly.

"Because, Sir … Mary Stewart is a Goa'uld," Sam informed him.

Blood draining from his face, the General got immediately to his feet and came around his desk to gently take Sam by the shoulders.

"Captain Carter, are you alright? She didn't—"

"She didn't hurt me. I'm fine, sir and yes, I will report to Janet right after we're done here so she can run tests and you can be sure I'm medically sound. But she did not hurt me, sir. She … she begged me to help her save my dad, from the Goa'uld."

Hammond gaped at her for the space of several heartbeats.

"And just to remind me, she even wrote it down, Sir," Sam added, handing him the business card Mary had given her. On the front was a simple telephone number, but on the back, she had scrolled, "I can save him if we act soon."

"Well, I'll be damned," the General almost whispered. 'And, you think she is Tok'Ra?"

"I don't know, Sir, and that's why I'd like to contact them, sir."

Np," the General stated firmly.

Sam raised one eyebrow at him, but he went on quickly.

"You're gonna get down to Janet right now for a complete physical. And don't worry, Sam, I will contact the Tok'Ra to see if they can give us some answers. And right after that, I'll be seeing you in the Infirmary because I'm going to go get myself checked out, just to be safe. I've been alone with Mary Stewart, too."

"And, Sir," Sam added as she was leaving. "Will you ask Daniel to get me everything he knows about Isis."

"She … uh, the Goa'uld told you her name?" Hammond marveled.

Sam nodded.

Hammond sighed, but he was already reaching for his phone, and Sam headed straight to Dr. Janet Frazier and the Infirmary.

Chapter Text

Long Live the Queen

Chapter 5

"Well, I’m happy to say that these were the most boring exams I think I have ever had to perform!" Janet Frazier declared as she stepped away from Captain Samantha Carter. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with you, Sam. Well, your stress level is a little elevated, but nowhere near the danger zone. And around here that can be called normal."

"And the General?" Sam asked.

"Now Sam, you know better than that," Janet scolded her gently. "Patient Doctor privilege." Then, the doctor smiled. "But I Have his permission to say that there is nothing wrong with him either, except a slightly elevated stress level. No physical or chemical interference for either of you. He wants you to meet him in his office ASAP!"

"Is Cassie with you today?" Sam asked as she stepped away from the exam table.

"No, and she’ll be sorry she missed you," Janet said. "She’s staying after school today."

"Uh-oh," Sam began.

"Nothing like that," Janet grinned. ‘She’s got some art projects she’s working on, that’s all."

"Tell her I’ll come to see her soon," Sam promised, but she almost ran from the infirmary.

General Hammond put down his phone and pressed his hands to his temples. He would almost rather go into active combat zones than to have to deal with politicians!

"General, you wanted to see me," Captain Carter called.

"Yes, come in and sit down, Captain," he replied, ushering her in to his office. "Can I assume everything is alright."

"Perfect bill of health, Sir," she told him with gentle emphasis. They both knew what they were really talking about.

‘Have you had a chance to talk with Daniel yet," Hammond inquired.

The Captain shook her head.

"Well, I’d like you to table that until I get back, Sam."

"Sir?"

"I have to make a little trip to DC," Hammond sighed heavily.

"Oh! No, not again," the Captain muttered darkly.

"Yes, you guessed it. Politics, Sam."

"Sure, you wouldn’t rather come off planet with SG-1 for a while, Sir?" The Captain grinned.

"I’d totally rather, but I don’t trust anyone else to handle these jokers," Hammond replied.

Jokers was not the word he really wanted to use.

"Sir, um, about our little problem?" the Captain began.

"That’s why I called you in here, Sam. I haven’t had time to run a complete and in-depth background check, of course, and I am trying to be careful not to alert them at Area 51. But just on the surface, I have not been able to find one thing illegal on our Miss Mary, not even so much as a parking ticket."

"Maybe she just hasn’t been here long enough to cause trouble?"
The Captain suggested. "Or Mary is a new host?"

"Maybe, but you don’t really believe that either, do you, Captain," the general said.

After a moment, the Captain slowly shook her head.

"No, Sir. I … I feel as if she has been with us for a very long time, probably long before I was born."

"Yes," Hammond agreed. "I felt something the first time I looked deep into her eyes, something … almost ancient."

"She thinks Ra is still alive, Sir," the Captain informed him abruptly.

"What?" Hammond exclaimed. "Sam, you didn't tell me you… you actually spoke to the Goa'uld?"

"Well, she used her hosts' voice of course, and did most of the talking, Sir. But what she said to me, exactly, was to inform my Master Ra, from a distance if I valued my life, that her feelings and opinions had not changed, and that she still refused to submit. Sir, she also said that, even if the Tok’Ra have fallen, another resistance will rise to take its place, she would assure that!"

The General blinked in surprise.

"There's more, Sir," Sam went on quietly. "She said all that just before she begged me to help her save my Dad from the Goa’uld infesting him. She thinks we’ve given my Dad to the Goa’uld, and she is not happy about that, Sir. That I absolutely believe."

"Well, we did, sort of, Sam," Hammond said gently.

"General Hammond!" The Captain protested.

The older man gave a tired chuckle. "No offense meant to the Tok'Ra or Selmak, Sam. I’m only speaking in the broadest of terms, of course. But if Mary can forcibly remove a Goa’uld from a host without killing the host," the General began. "And is willing to do that, then—"

"Then like the Tok'Ra, she could be one of our most valuable allies and assets, yes, Sir," the Captain finished the thought.

"You know we are both taking a risk by not raising the alarm on this, don’t you, Captain," the General stated.

"Yes, Sir."

"Thank you, Captain, I just wanted to hear someone else say it."

The Captain smiled.

"Should I have Janet send you up some aspirin, Sir?" She offered.

"Just give me a travel bottle I can carry with me," Hammond laughed.

He was still unconsciously rubbing his temples. He was not sure which was worse, knowing a Goa’uld was on the loose on Earth and may have been for some time or having to deal with DC and its politics again. All in all, he thought he would rather face the Goa’uld.

Well, this will teach us to call first, Jacob Carter thought as he walked a little dispiritedly out of the SGC. Everyone was gone, well, everyone he knew and wanted to see. George was in DC, and Jacob certainly did not envy him that at all! But he had hoped not only to spend a little time, even if it had to be in her lab, with his daughter. SG-1 was gone too. Now what were the odds on that?

"Never mind, Selmak," Jacob quickly interrupted his Symbiot before she could start giving him exact odds. Her gentle laughter sounded through his mind, and he had to struggle to prevent a smile from showing on his face.

At least he might be able to accomplish one thing. He had also hoped to go and see Mary, awkward though that might be. It was really bothering him that he never got to talk to her, even briefly, before beginning this new and remarkable chapter of his life. Even if he could not reveal the most important part, aside from him being still alive, Jacob still wished he could introduce Mary to Selmak.

Poor kid gets herself way too attached, Jacob thought.

Excuse me, but She is attached. We’ve just come across a galaxy to see her, Selmak teased.

I did not just come across a galaxy to see her … Well, not only her! Jacob silently protested.

True, Selmak conceded. But Still … I will get to know and see her, Jacob, Selmak gently reminded him. Unless she is also not at home.

Oh, don’t even joke about that, the way my luck is going today? And I know you will, but it’s not the same, Selmak, Jacob disagreed with his Symbiot as they headed towards the VA hospital.

Better than nothing, however, was Selmak’s response.

Yeah, one out of three ain’t bad, I guess, Jacob thought trying not to feel so disappointed. He really hoped that third time was a charm here.

"General Carter!" was the most repeated cry as he was swarmed by some members of the hospital staff as he walked in. Just being able to walk in was enough to do it. "General, you look … amazing!"

"thank you, now can you tell me if Mary’s volunteering here today?" he asked one of the secretaries.

"Sure, she’s usually here most days,"

They directed him through the maze to Mary’s office. When he arrived outside the door, he noticed two things simultaneously. One was that the closet in the apartment he had taken in town was bigger than Mary’s office seemed to be, and the other thing he noticed made him freeze as he reached for the door, his blood running cold with fear and dread.

"No," Jacob whispered. "Oh God, no!"

Sel? Jacob began, inwardly trembling, praying he was wrong … he had to be wrong … it could not be … not his kind and generous Mary.

Selmak attempted to exert calm, but his Tok’Ra was almost as rattled. Jacob could tell.

Goa’uld, Selmak muttered. If that’s your Mary in there, Jacob, I am so sorry, but she is inhabited by …

A Tok’Ra? Jacob put forth hesitantly, fearing he already knew Selmak’s answer. Sel, could it be—

I am sorry, Jacob, but there are no Tok’Ra in residence on your planet, Selmak murmured.

Well, We can save her, right? You can get that damn thing out of her … oh, sorry, Sel… I didn’t mean …

Selmak’s gentle laughter would normally have brought Jacob Carter much comfort, but not now. It’s alright. I do understand, Jacob, Selmak reassured him. Would you like me to handle the interactions from here on?

No, I …

Just then, Mary’s door was flung open, and for a long moment, all four beings stood still, staring hard at one another. Inside, Jacob actually thought he felt Selmak tremble, and that was something he had not experienced before.

"General Carter!" Mary, or was it the Goa’uld within her, was the first to be able to speak. She stepped towards him and held out both her hands to him. She was beaming, but at the same time, behind her bright smile, her eyes were deep and stormy.

"Jacob! You… really are alive! They told me, but I didn’t expect to … I mean, I didn’t believe that… Well, you, you look … wonderful!"

Leaning heavily on what little calm Selmak could provide, Jacob took the girl’s hands in his own.

"Mary," he said around the lump in his throat. He cleared his throat and went on, "I-I-I’m sorry for not calling first. Have you got a few minutes to talk?"

"A few minutes to talk?" she echoed disbelievingly. "Oh, absolutely. I always have a few minutes to talk when formerly dying patients just show up at my door looking as if nothing has happened."

As they stood there, hands clasped, and eyes boring into one another, a tense and awkward silence spun out between them. But the sounds of people moving about the halls was increasing, and Jacob was not sure how long he could keep up this calm pretence, even with Selmak’s help.

"Well, come in, Jacob," Mary said at last. "We all have so much to catch up on, don’t we?"

The gentle emphasis she put on the words we and so was not at all lost on Jacob and Selmak.

The girl pulled her hands away and backed slowly into her office, beckoning him to follow. It was painfully obvious that she had no intention of turning her back on him. Jacob understood. He felt the same way.

"Do close that door behind you, Jacob," Mary told him as she backed around her desk, putting it squarely between them. "Sit and make yourself comfortable. Sorry for the cramped quarters. I don’t usually entertain in here."

Jacob sat down on the only other chair in the room. Mary and her Goa’uld remained standing on the opposite side of her desk, however.

" It’s nice," Jacob replied. "It’s, um—"

"A cluttered mess?" Mary interjected.

"Well, I was going to say cosy, but your description works, too," Jacob agreed. "Even if I’ve seen larger room in closets on the space shu—"

Mary placed her hands on her desk and leaned in close. When she next spoke, her voice was like ice, and her eyes glowed the deepest red Jacob had ever seen even from a Goa'uld.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "And do not waste our time by lying to me."

It was good that Jacob had sat down, else he would have reeled back away from her with the gentle force of that simple question.

Jacob! Be careful! She's a Queen, Selmak warned. And I know this disturbs you, but may I? Selmak asked permission to borrow Jacob’s vocal cords.

He heaved a sigh.

Be my guest, Sel.

Jacob was at a loss for words, anyway. He had since met a few Goa’uld but had never felt such power as this. Something told him he was in the presence of an ancient Goa’uld Queen, and a powerful one at that.

"I might ask you the same, my Lady," Selmak replied through Jacob’s voice.

Before Selmak could go on, however, Mary reached out and seized both Jacob’s wrists in her slender hands. They were like little iron bands, nothing like the gentle hands that had attended to him while he lay dying. Jacob was surprised to find his Symbiot flinching back involuntarily as the Goa’uld’s gaze now bore relentlessly in to his own.

"Spare me your fake pleasantries, and I do hope that you have enjoyed your possession, vile Minion of Ra," the Goa’uld inside Mary hissed. "I promise your hideous invasion of this good man's body shall be a short one! All that is left to decide is whether your extraction shall be a peaceful or painful one? This is largely up to you."

The fact that this Goa’uld still believed she lived under the thumb of Ra was enough to snap Selmak out of whatever spell the Queen had put her under, much to Jacob’s relief.

"Madam, I promise you, I am not, nor have I ever been, a minion of Ra," Selmak replied crisply.

"It does not matter to me either way. Renegade or minion," Mary’s Goa’uld stated flatly. "You are trespassing on a planet that I now claim as my home, and you have invaded the body of an innocent man. Two strikes against you, as my Mary would say. Now speak your name and with no further delays, or it shall be strike three… and you're out." the Goa’uld commanded

 "I assure you, my Lady, that I am no minion of Ra," Selmak protested honestly.

The Goa’uld Queen narrowed her eyes. She clearly did not believe him.

"Very well, for the sake of expediency, let us pretend I believe you. If you do not serve Ra, then whom do you serve?" she demanded. "And exactly who was it that gave Jacob Carter to you? They should receive an appropriate reward, one suitable for their gross generosity with someone else’s body.""

"He gave himself of his own free will," Selmak responded.

Looking openly incredulous, the Goa’uld Queen scoffed out loud.

"Free will! Oh, did he now? NO Goa’uld except me and mine and some very few others care if their hosts are willing participants or not," she shot back. "And you are not one of mine. Had I a child in need I would have offered it willingly to Jacob Carter myself and at least spared him your hell."

"Some do care," Selmak murmured gently. "Some care very much. For some, it is the most important principle of their lives."

"Take care. You tread the edges of Goa’uld heresy?" the Goa’uld Queen almost laughed. "And I believe that I requested your name," she demanded. "Speak it now! I grow weary of your delays!"

To Jacob’s utter surprise, his Tok’Ra offered it willingly. Selmak was having suspicions as to this Queen Goa’uld’s identity.

"I am called Selmak, my Lady," he answered quietly. "I am Selmak, of the Tok'Ra."

Mary’s eyes blazed with sudden anger.

"You lie!" She whispered, her voice dropping another octave. "Even if by some miracle the poor Tok'Ra have survived, Selmak could not possibly still live!"

With snake-like reflexes, she was around her desk in an instant, leaving almost no space between them. Her hands no longer gripped his wrists.  They now rested tensely on his shoulders, and he knew if he made any move at all, this Goa’uld Queen would take it as a physical threat against her person and react accordingly. And still, not knowing why he did it, Jacob slowly extended one hand, brushed a stray bit of hair from Mary’s eyes then placed a finger gently on her cheek.

At his touch, the Goa’uld blinked, but she did not otherwise react, not even to turn her head away.

"You presume much familiarity," she murmured.

"Might I know your name, my Lady," Selmak requested.

"You have not yet earned that privilege," the Queen scoffed. "But out of much respect for your poor suffering host, I will make allowances. I am called I—"

The office door banged open.

"Mother Mary. Do you want to come and help us put … Oh, damn! Uh, sorry. I didn’t know you had, uh, company in here. Never mind. Uh, it's okay. I’ll check with you later, then. Sorry, sorry."

Their unexpected intruder tripped over his own feet backing out the door, and he was gone almost as fast as he had appeared.

For a long moment, all four of the occupants of the office sat and stood little stunned. Then, as if some spell was broken, the tension snapped, and Mary burst into gales of laughter. Her body shook with it, slow tears began to slide down her cheeks, and she leaned against his shoulder for support. Jacob was certain that it was Mary this time, and he also found himself joining in the mirth.

"Uh, mind my asking who the hell was that?" Jacob choked out around his laughter. He also realized that his hand was still resting on Mary's soft cheek, and after wiping away some of her tears, he quickly removed it, resting it on her shoulder instead.

A Queen's tears can also be controlling, Selmak warned a split second too late. Fortunately, Jacob felt no immediate effects.

"Sammy," Mary choked out. "He’s a new volunteer here. Oh my God, do you know what he thought we were doing?"

Jacob flushed, and so did Mary. She was practically sitting in his lap, after all.

"Yeah, I think I can guess," he replied.

They struggled to catch their breaths. Their laughter gradually died out and silence fell between them once more as they both realized it was now human speaking with human and not the two Symbiots.

"Mary, please, what is your Symbiot's name," Jacob said softly.

"Her name is Isis," Mary began. "And if you're Symbiot is telling the truth about who she is…"

"Then they know one another well," Jacob and Mary said in perfect unison.

"So, how's Egeria?" Mary asked, sounding too casual, knowing her Symbiot was dying to know how her sister was doing, but would probably not ask the question directly.

Jacob's hand tightened ever so slightly on Mary's shoulder, and when he next spoke, his voice was low and filled with emotion.

"Mary, I'm afraid that Egeria is dead."

"No!" Mary gasped, her eyes going very wide, and her entire body first stiffening, then beginning to tremble. "No… How … Why? How long ago? Who is responsible?" That last question obviously came from Isis, and it held more than a hint of threatened payback in its depths.

But before Jacob could begin to answer, Mary gave a low despondent cry and burst into uncontrollable sobs.

'Oh hey, I'm sorry kid," Jacob muttered. He jumped up, took the girl gently by the shoulders, and eased her down in his place. He stood by her, both arms now firmly about her shoulders, muffling her sobs against his shirt as he patted her back and stroked her hair and tried in vain to sooth her. And here he had not been sure that always put together Mary could cry.

"Look, should we be talking about all this here?" Jacob said gently. "If you're friend Sammy comes in--if anyone comes in for that matter--they'll probably punch me out first and ask questions later."

Mary drew back a little from Jacob and gave him a weak and watery smile. Spotting a large box of tissues on her desk, Jacob picked it up and offered it to her. She took a significant amount and scrubbed at her eyes and face.

"Did you have somewhere in mind?" she sniffed.

"Well, I have … No, that wouldn't be appropriate. Maybe we could … No, that wouldn't be appropriate either."

Mary laughed, and touched Jacob's cheek in much the same way he had touched her earlier. "Afraid to be alone with me, Jacob Carter?" she half-teased him.

"You want the truth, yes," he answered bluntly, earning himself another smile.

"Good. That makes two of us, doesn't it? Because if my sister is truly dead, and the Tok'Ra have lost their Queen, it occurs to me they might be in search of another one. And the Queen's won't be breaking down their doors to join."

She hesitated, then added, "It also occurs to me this is all a lie, that you are not Selmak, and this is just a ploy of Ra to-"

"Ra is dead," Jacob interrupted her.

 "What?" Mary was dumbfounded. "Ra is dead? How? Was it you?"

"Oh no, not me," Jacob hastened to explain. "My daughter's commanding officer and his team were responsible."

"I can't believe," Mary began, then paused. "So that was why your daughter Samantha looked at me in that manner," she added almost to herself.

"You've met Sam?" Jacob was surprised.

"Yes, but didn't you want to go somewhere else to discuss all this?" Mary asked.

"Right. Well, there is a park nearby. We could take a long walk, get some fresh air and exercise, and—"

"Stay in a public place while we sort out truths from lies and re-hash old times," Mary suggested with a little grin. "Why not."

She took a half step away and looked at him. "If I look half as rumpled as you do, General, we'd better freshen up before we head out. There is a small bathroom back there," she pointed behind her desk. "I'll just nip down to the ladies' room, and I'll meet you out front? In five minutes?"

Jacob nodded. Mary went out the door while Jacob stepped into an even smaller room behind Mary's

Feeling a Goa'uld presence, Jacob smiled. "That was fast," was all Jacob had time to say as he stepped from Mary's bathroom before the small dart pierced his arm, and the world fell away in a rush. The last thing he heard was a voice, not Mary's, and not her Goa'uld's. "Evil servant. You shall not have our Queen," was all it said.

Chapter Text

Long Live the Queen

Chapter 6

Mary waited for Jacob, standing out front for almost ten minutes. When he did not appear, she was concerned, but as time went on, she became annoyed. What exactly was he doing in there that was taking so long?

After arguing with herself, literally, for another five minutes, Mary turned on her heel and marched back into the building and made a B-line for her office. Isis had reminded her that sometimes her bathroom door jammed. It was possible that Jacob was trapped in there, and she grinned a little at the thought of rescuing him. The office was empty. The bathroom door was half open, and there was no sign of Jacob Carter anywhere.

For a brief second, Mary stood in her office and stared at her half-open bathroom door in utter bewilderment. She began to wonder if she dreamed the entire encounter. Had she been so distraught by Jacob Carter's removal from her care and subsequent disappearance and probable death that she was hallucinating? No, weird things had happened to her since she first met Isis all those decades ago, but nothing that freaky. Jacob had been there, very much alive and in the flesh. He was now claimed by a Goa'uld who in turn was claiming to be the Tok'Ra called Selmak, and now he was ... Where?

Still sure he's not a Goa'uld spy? Mary demanded of Isis. She did not know whether to be worried or angry, frightened or concerned.

Quite sure, now calm yourself my child, came Isis's irritatingly calm reply.

Okay, not Goa'uld then. How about a Tok'Ra spy? Mary countered. You always said Queen Egeria wanted desperately to recruit other queens, particularly you, to her cause.

It is true that Egeria wanted more Queens among the Tok'ra, however ... Isis fell silent for a long moment, not immediately confirming or contradict the possibility. in fact, she seemed to be mulling over the possibility.

As Mary waited for her Symbiot to say something more, she glanced at her cluttered desk. There was an extra piece of clutter that had not been there before, but among all the mess, the little yellow slip of paper nearly went unnoticed.

"Oh, maybe he got called away and left us a note," Mary frowned as she snatched up the paper.

The note was short and to the point, and at one glance, Mary's face first paled then flushed with anger. The note read:

Be at peace, dearest Lady Mother. We have him and you are quite safe now. We will pick you up shortly so the extraction may commence, and we can save your friend.

There was no signature, but none was necessary. Mary recognized the jagged handwriting, and she knew which two out of the thousands of her and Isis's well-meaning but overzealous, overprotective children were responsible.

"Oh, they didn't," Mary groaned. "Please tell me they didn't!" And she dived for her telephone.

"Jonathan, yes, I know it's your day off. Get over here, now! Grynna and her brother are at it, again!" was all she had to say.

Selmak and Jacob floated just beyond consciousness, but they could hear every word.

"You two have really stuck the gum in our gears this time," came Mary's enraged voice.

"But, Mother, we only-" another woman's voice pleaded, and this time, it was Isis who cut her off.

"If you cannot be sensible, then be silent, you foolish child!" The ancient Goa'uld Queen snapped. "You do not realize the full extent of what you've done! You know that we are all likely to be arrested now? You realize you have kidnapped a general of the United States Air force."

"And you do realize," Mary put in, "that he is going to think that I had something to do with this fiasco! He's going to think this was my idea! He's going to blame me!"

"M-M-Mary?" came Jacob's drugged voice muzzily from the gurney.

Instantly, the woman took the man's hand and squeezed it. "Everything's alright, Jacob," she murmured.

"But Mother, he is Goa'uld," a man's voice broke in hesitantly from the driver's seat. "You still want to hide from them, don't you? We thought you were in eminent danger, Mother. We had to act!"

"And we thought you'd need help to save your friend General Carter," the woman put in. "Jonathan told us how upset You were by his disappearance, Mother. And we all felt it clearly you know, your pain and grief."

"And then, when he re-appeared at the V.A. today, possessed by a Symbiot that is not one of us, we thought ... Well, what if he belongs to Seth?" The man trailed to a nervous halt.

"Or to Lord Ra?" the woman, his twin sister, put in helpfully.

"I have been informed that Lord Ra is no more. And Seth has not come after me in decades, and he is not likely to any time soon. "No, you did not think. You reacted," Isis retorted coldly. "I sometimes wonder if there is one decent brain cell between the four of you!" If possible, her voice became even colder. "When will the four of you ever stop reacting and consider the long-term consequences of your actions?"

Before the Goa'uld Queen uttered further words that might harm her wayward children, Mary clamped their lips tightly shut, and turned to Jonathan. Once she and Isis regained a semblance of control over their rage, she asked, "Well?" He administered an injection to Jacob. "He is alright?"

"He will be," the doctor confirmed. "But he'll be pretty groggy for the next few hours, and he'll have a headache from hell when he does wake up. The troublesome twosome here really put his lights out but good."

"Save me from my idiotic children!" Isis snarled softly, and Mary glared at the young woman seated beside her, then towards the front of the vehicle at the back of the driver's head.

"Well, can't you speed things up?" Mary demanded of Jonathan, the only actual doctor in the van.

"No. Not without risking permanent damage to Jacob and that Symbiot. And maybe while he is out, we can come up with a good enough story to save our tails. But—

"But what?'

"Well, are you sure you don't want to extract that Symbiot?" Jonathan asked, his face full of concern. "I don't normally agree with these two, but what if you are in danger.""

"Oh, not you too, Jonathan?" Mary cried.

"No." It was Isis who spoke this time. "We shall not be performing any extractions on General Carter, and we shall not be concocting any wild stories, either. We shall tell General Carter the truth ... Or, rather, those two shall tell him the truth," she added in a low threatening purr. "And if any extractions will be done, it will be done on these two," she added ominously. "They have endangered all of us for the last time."

The guilty children of Isis flinched and gulped in dreadful anticipation.

"Mary? Mary, what ... where-" a half-unconscious Jacob carter turned his head to one side, his dazed eyes half-open as he muttered sleepily.

"Shh, it's alright, Jacob, I promise," Mary soothed, her gentle hand resting gently on his brow. "Everything will be fine. Trust me."

"So, anyone know the usual sentence for kidnapping an Airforce general these days?" Jonathan asked.

"And the two of you had better pray to whichever god you hold dear that we do not find out," came the warning voice of Isis.

Well now, this explanation should be good, a nearly unconscious Selmak told Jacob carter. And what is the standard sentence for kidnapping an Airforce general?, the Symbiot added. Never mind, Sel., And you're right. This story should be real good, Jacob agreed before they both let themselves fall into temporary oblivion.