Disclaimer Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

He slipped through the lax security of the base, his thoughts torn between anger at how easy it was and joy that, thus far, his presence had been unchallenged.

This was always the fatal flaw of too much security and a 'need to know' attitude. It increased the chances that a person would just accept and not question something odd.

Squaring his shoulders, he strode down the corridors, taking comfort in their familiarity. He knew where he needed to go, as long as they hadn't moved it. No, they wouldn't. It was too big, too bulky to move.

Using a forged pass card, he accessed the secure wing, his eyes easily noting the presence of surveillance cameras in the darkened corridor. He would not have much time, he knew. The guards would notice his intrusion eventually, and seek to eliminate him.
Seeing the large door at the end of the corridor, he picked up the pace.

'Stop,' Zadok said, sensing a feeling that he hadn't felt for so long.

'What?'

'In there,' he directed.

'No. It's at the end of the hall.' Bert insisted.

'In there!' the voice said more forcefully, exerting control to make his host do what he wanted him to do. His body turned and he stood outside the door. He forced the lock, stepping into the room. The only illumination was a pair of aquarium lights over two large, but heavily shielded tanks. Recognizing the creatures imprisoned, he walked over to them, his eyes fixated on the undulating figures.

'Who are they?"

'Children. I do not know from whom they spawned. Why are they here? They cannot communicate in this form."

'Experimentation. Bioresearch,' his host supplied, drawing upon his own memories of participating in such activities.

"Who are you?" a voice cut through the darkness and he spun, frowning as he saw a man imprisoned in a large steel cage. The bars were open on all sides and he could see the most basic of amenities, a cot and sanitary facilities.

"Kree Jaffa. Who do you serve?" Zadok demanded, moving to stand in front of the cage, but staying out of reach of the occupant. He studied the man closely, seeing signs of a lengthy imprisonment in his pale, haggard face, the way the Tau'ri clothing hung on his frame.

"Release me," the Jaffa demanded.

'No. It cannot be.' Zadok stared at the tattoo on the man's forehead, barely visible in the pale blue light.

'What?'

'He is gone, banished.'

'Who?'

"Where is your lord?" The Jaffa stared at him, his eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Tell me, I command you!"

"Release me and I shall take you to him," he bargained.

'He is not on this planet. We would have heard tales of his greatness.'

'Who's not on this planet?'

'Leave this hassock. He is kek.'

'He can help us," Bert insisted.

'He will hinder us. We must attain our goal.' He turned, abandoning the Jaffa in the cage and turning a deaf ear to the man's words as he called for help. Only the weak would beg in such a fashion. That act alone convinced him that he was right to abandon the Jaffa. He needed allies, not burdens.

They left the room, returning to their original goal of the double doors at the end of the hall. Behind them, they could hear the Jaffa still yelling and they ran, briefly regretting not killing the man.

Just as they opened the door, alarms began to sound and Bert cursed under his breath. He closed the doors and pulled a desk in front of them to delay the pursuers. "No," he said as he turned, his eyes seeing nothing but empty space.

'Where is it?'

'I don't know. It's supposed to be here.'

'It is not here,' Zadok said, unable to hide his frustration with his host's continued ineptness.

'They must have moved it then.'

Zadok cursed, rage racing through him as he realized that his goal was once again slipping from his grasp. Seven years. For seven years he'd been trying to find a way off this cursed planet and back to his brethren among the stars.

In the beginning when he'd first sought refuge in the body of his host he'd been too young to exert control upon him. He'd spent the next couple of years struggling to survive. Forced to blend before his time, he lacked not only the ability to control, but to also sustain himself efficiently in the hostile environment of a host. Time and again over the next few years, he'd found himself under attack from the host's body, years of trials that he knew had weakened him.

He'd survived by using the man's body against him, building up layers of scar tissue to protect him from the antibodies of his host. That survival came at a price. He was now imprisoned in his host's body, unable to exert complete and total control all the time and likely unable to ever leave this body and survive.

His only hope was to get off this planet and seek more of his own kind, and hopefully find help in leaving this body and finding a newer, better host.

He was careful to keep those plans from Bert, however. His host knew that he wished to leave Earth, but had no knowledge of what his fate would be once that goal was attained.

'Where would they move it to?' Zadok asked, trying to remain calm as he cursed himself for his mistakes. Perhaps he should have revealed himself to his host earlier. Maybe that would have kept the man from making the errors he'd made, the greatest of which had been when he'd come into contact with the Tok'ra and been exposed as a goa'uld.

That revelation was why they were now outcasts, hunted and chased. His inability to leave his host meant that he could not seek a newer, unrecognized face. And it also prevented them from using any means of mass transit and that they had to limit their contact with other humans. Which was why it had taken them nearly three years to make their way to Russia, seeking to use the stargate there to get off-world.

They'd missed their opportunity, arriving mere weeks after the base had been dismantled and the stargate packed away, buried so deeply that no one knew where it was.

And so they'd turned around, abandoning Russia and seeking to return to the United States and the stargate there.

'The SGC maybe? Maybe something happened to their gate and they needed it,' Bert suggested.

He heard a noise in the hall and Zadok knew that they were out of time. His eyes scanning the room, they settled on a couple of items sitting out on a work table. Unable to believe his good luck, he hurried over, gladly picking up the alien device.

'What is it?'

'A weapon. One that is far superior to your guns,' Zadok said, sliding his host's hand into the device. Even though he had never used the ribbon weapon, he knew how to use it, the knowledge a gift to him from his ancestors. He shoved the other item on the table into his pocket and turned to face the doors, his arm at the ready.

The door burst open and he activated it, the force pushing the surprised guards off their feet. They crumpled to the floor and he hurried past them, making his way out of the building.

He heard a sharp crack and was thrown to his knees, a searing pain cutting through his back. He forced himself up, pushing the pain away in his desperation to escape. He got outside and ran into their parked car, the doors hanging open. He drew upon his host's knowledge, getting into the vehicle and putting it into gear. He drove quickly through the base and left the facility, the fact that he was thought to be one of the security force no doubt aiding his progress.

Driving off into the desert night, he turned off the car's headlights and manipulated his host's eyes to better see in the darkness, all thoughts of leaving Earth temporarily put aside in his desperate struggle to survive.

<><><><><>

"I need to go," Sam said, despite her words, remaining where she was, leaning against Eric's side.

"It's early," he protested as the credits rolled on the movie they were watching.

"Yeah," she agreed, sighing as she sat up. "But I have an early lecture."

"You do?"

"Yeah, 0800," she confirmed, gently pushing away and getting to her feet. She felt for and slipped her feet into her sandals, stretching a bit to relieve the stiff muscles in her back.

Not in the mood to go out, they'd decided to have a night in, ordering a pizza and watching a movie on pay-per-view. They'd been doing this a lot over the past six months, their dating moving from dinner in a restaurant to evenings in, alternating between his and her place. They took turns cooking or ordering in, taking time to get more comfortable around each other.

She still felt guilty lying to him so much, her hectic mission schedule of late leading to some creative stories on her behalf. Fortunately his job demanded some odd hours and frequent travel as well, so they were nearly even on cancellations.

"I thought school was out," he said, getting to his feet.

"A lecturer's work is never done," she said, shooting him a smile, wishing for a minute that she'd come up with something better for her cover story. Then again, she hadn't exactly been looking to set things up for the long term at the time. "How about tomorrow night?" she suggested as he escorted her to the door. "Maybe a movie?"

"The mall on a Friday night?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Do you have a death wish?"

Sam laughed. "Not lately. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen opens tomorrow."

"Aah." He nodded. "That Sean Connery fetish of yours."

Sam shot him a devilish look. "Of course," she said, slipping into a bad Scottish accent.

"Sure, sounds good," he said, opening the door for her. "Give you a call about six?"

"I'll talk to you then," she said, leaning in to give him a slow kiss. "Good night."

"Night," he said, returning the kiss then standing back, watching her make her way down the flight of steps from his second floor apartment to the parking lot below.

She got in her car, seeing him close the door as soon as he saw that she was safely ensconced in the silver Volvo. She put her car in gear and backed out of the space, making her way into traffic and towards her own house.

<><><><><>

The next morning, Sam walked into the briefing room, not surprised to find Teal'c already seated at the large, oak table.

She nodded good morning, and then made her way to the credenza, pouring a glass of water before taking her seat, setting her folder down in front of her. This briefing should be rather short, she thought. They weren't scheduled to ship out to P3Y834 for another two days. Which would give her plenty of time to come up with some story to tell Eric. Unless the fates decided to be truly kind and he'd get sent on a business trip as well.

"Major Carter," Teal'c acknowledged.

"Teal'c. Sleep well?" she asked conversationally. Although he'd never be called a chatter, she knew that he was working on learning more 'small talk'.

"I did," he answered. "I have noticed that you have not been working as many hours as you once did," he said after a second.

"What?"

"It used to be quite common to discover you working in your laboratory until quite late in the night. Now there are many such nights when you depart the SGC before even Colonel O'Neill."

Sam stared at him, surprised that he'd even noticed. She had been going home earlier in the last few months, largely because she had a reason to go home.

Her work hadn't suffered, she'd made sure of that, and there had been more than one occasion when she'd had to stay late, not to mention the odd overnight mission. All in all, she'd thought she'd done a pretty good job of juggling everything, although it shouldn't have surprised her that Teal'c had noticed. He was usually the most observant among them now that Jonas was gone. She'd have to tell him, she knew. Tell all of them.

She'd just been putting it off after telling Janet, justifying her decision with the fact that she didn't know how things were going to work out. And why open herself to uncomfortable explanations if they broke up.

Then as the months went on, she'd meant to invite Eric to the colonel's annual Memorial Day picnic, which was cancelled by a mission. Then the General's Fourth of July party that she'd went to alone after Eric had been called away at the last minute to do something at a station in Alaska of all places.

Now she knew she couldn't put it off much longer. The months were adding up and she needed to introduce Eric to the other men in her life, or there would be some very hurt feelings all around.

"Really?" she asked. "Has aah, has anyone else noticed?"

He stared at her for a second, and then turned his head just as General Hammond's office door opened. Almost on cue, the colonel and Daniel walked into the briefing room and Sam got to her feet, smiling at the general.

"As you were, people," he said. The rest of her team took their seats and the general sat down, his expression grave. "I'm afraid your mission to P3Y834 has been reassigned," he said, handing O'Neill a folder.

"Why, sir?" Jack asked.

"Last night, at approximately 0145, there was a security breach at Area 51."

"I don't see why that's our problem," Daniel said.

"It is because of the nature of the breach," Hammond said. "Last year, Teal'c and Jonas captured three Jaffa off a Hatak ship in Earth's orbit. Those three men were sent to Area 51 for study and interrogation. All of but one of them has since died, their symbiotes matured and lacking a replacement, they perished."

"Couldn't they do the tretonin thing like they did for Teal'c and Bra'tac?" Daniel asked.

Hammond shook his head. "They refused the drug. And since we have extremely limited quantities, the decision was made to preserve our supply for Teal'c and the other renegade Jaffa that wish it."

"What about the breach, sir?" Jack asked.

"Someone attempted to free the last Jaffa, and take custody of the two symbiotes," the general reported. "The attempt failed, all he managed to get away with is a ribbon device and a healing device."

"Is not Area 51 a high security area?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes," Hammond answered. "However, the scientists working on the two devices thought that three locked doors were enough of a deterrent. And the assailant used an Air Force uniform to gain admittance."

"It doesn't make any sense," Sam said. "Both of those things are worthless to anyone that doesn't have or has had a symbiote. Unless it's some reporter trying to make a name for themselves."

"Or a goa'uld," Jack said, causing the others to turn their heads.

"Samuels," Sam said flatly, remembering all too well their past two run-ins with the former Air Force officer.

"I'm afraid so," Hammond confirmed. He pulled pictures out of his folder and handed them out. "The security cameras got a good picture of him. He's changed a bit, but is still recognizable."

Sam studied the 8x10 print out of a digital picture. It was taken in a hall of one of the buildings of Area 51, obviously at night. It was a bit grainy but she could still make out the features on the man's face.

His hair was longer, slightly more so than regulation, and his facial hair was definitely not up to par. He was dressed in an Air Force uniform, although, unless her imagination was playing tricks on her, it was a decidedly ill-fitting one.

"I thought he'd conveniently dropped off the face of the Earth," Jack said, not bothering to hide his dislike of the man. Sam knew a lot of that had to do with her. The last time Samuels had surfaced had been to use a nurse assigned to the SGC for some research, and Sam as the subject. She'd nearly died from the drug the woman had injected her with, technically did die enough that she ended up on the autopsy table. That little run-in had left her with a scar on her shoulder and a near phobia of anything medical, one that even years later, she hadn't quite been able to shake. To this day, she refused to go down to the level the morgue was on.

"It appears we haven't been that lucky," Hammond said.

"I don't get it," Daniel said. "It's been years, why resurface now? And why break into Area 51? Isn't that sort of like robbing a donut shop?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Samuels' goal has always been to gain control of the SGC," Teal'c said.

"Or the stargate," Sam said.

"What?"

"Colonel, what's the one thing a goa'uld trapped on Earth would want?"

"To go home," Daniel answered.

"Right. And if he's been as out of the loop as we think he has, he wouldn't know that we don't have a spare stargate anymore. Or even if he did, he could be trying to infiltrate the SGC via Area 51. I mean, we transfer stuff back and forth all the time. And since Area 51 is a secure facility, it could be easy to smuggle something from there to here," Sam said.

"Unless he has some backing that my sources aren't aware of, he's totally alone," Hammond said. "The NID's just as interested with catching him as we are."

"Well, if he wants to get off-world, he'll have to come here," Daniel said. "Unless there's a third stargate somewhere that no one's noticed."

"We want to be pro-active on this. The simple fact that he's now armed with classified weapons eliminates our choice to wait and see," the general said. "We have evidence that places Samuels in or near Las Vegas so our theory is that he'll be making his way from there to here. Our plan is to capture and if necessary, neutralize him as soon as possible. I don't think I need to tell you that his very existence is a security risk, made worse by the weapons he's carrying and his possible desperation to get off Earth."

"It won't be easy to track someone over that kind of distance, sir," Jack said. "Hell, as long as he doesn't use a credit card, he won't leave a track."

"And it's not like we can put out an APB and plaster his face all over America's Most Wanted," Sam said.

"We do have one ace in the hole," Hammond said. "I just got off the phone with the CIA. They have a satellite that is capable of detecting radiation from space, it was used to spy on other countries, and probably still is," he said, muttering at the end. "The point is, naquadah exhibits a very distinctive radioactive signature."

"The amount of naquadah in a person's blood is negligible," Teal'c said.

"But not when you combine it with the ribbon device and the healing stone," Sam spoke up.

"That's what we're hoping," Hammond finished. "The problem is, the satellite is only over head for a few minutes each day, and the data needs to be analyzed, so we won't have the ability to track him in real time."

"But we should get a daily update," Jack said.

"That's what we're hoping," Hammond confirmed. "I've made arrangements for transportation to Area 51. The plane will leave in three hours. Since this will be an undercover operation, you're to be in civilian clothes and try to keep as low of a profile as possible," he warned, shooting them a glare.

"Yes, sir," Jack acknowledged. Hammond got to his feet and they followed suit, watching him make his way back into his office. Jack looked at his watch. "Three hours puts the plane leaving at 1100. Carter, Daniel, why don't we go pack. Teal'c, you pack too. We'll meet back here at 1000, check out our weapons and get to Peterson."

"Yes, sir," Sam answered. Making an allowance for traffic, she figured she had to leave the mountain in less than an hour to have time to pack and return. Barely enough time to shut down the experiments she had running. At least she couldn't ever call her job boring.

<><><><><>

Eric opened the door to his apartment, cursing softly as he struggled to juggle the take out dinner and some other groceries he'd picked up. He knew he was being a bit presumptuous but he was pretty sure that Sam would agree to his plans, grabbing dinner at home then catching the movie. He put the food down and moved towards his answering machine, whistling between his teeth and he crossed the room. The red light was flashing and he hoped that it was a message from Sam, especially if she'd gotten the little surprise he'd ordered earlier this morning.

She wasn't one for romantic gestures, which made it all the more fun for him. They got along well in that respect, neither of them being the type to enjoy clubbing or hitting the bars. In fact, they both seemed to prefer quiet time alone with each other, usually watching TV or checking out some of the area's natural wonders like Garden of the Gods or the Royal Gorge Bridge. They'd even gone to Cripple Creek a couple of weeks ago, spending the evening visiting the casinos and walking up and down the main street.

Pressing the button on his machine he rolled his eyes as he listened to a couple of telemarketers and hang-ups. Finally he heard the voice he was waiting for.

Eric, I'm sorry, something came up at work. I've got to take a trip out of town and…well I don't know how long it'll be, probably a few days. I'll give you a call when I can. Sorry about tonight.

Listening to the machine rewind the tape, he made a face and sighed. Well, there went his plans up in smoke. And not a mention of his surprise, which also meant that it was a waste.

Slightly dejected, he went into the kitchen intent upon putting the groceries away. Oh well, he thought, at least he'd have dinner and lunch…and maybe breakfast if he was in a really odd mood.

The phone rang and he went back into the living room, snagging the cordless receiver from between the couch cushions. "Anderson."

"Look who's home," a familiar voice said.

He silently groaned, plopping down on the couch. "Whit, I am not in the mood," he groused.

"We got a lead on our runner," his contact said.

"Like your last 'lead'" Eric shot back. "Do you know that it's still snowing in Siberia in July?"

"This one's rock solid. We've got visual confirmation. I've got a courier on the way over right now. He's got the information and your plane ticket."

"Whitlow, has it ever occurred to you that maybe I'm tired of being at your beck and call?" Eric groused. "That I just might have something else to do other than sitting around the house, waiting for the phone to ring?"

"You going soft on me?" Whitlow asked.

"No."

"Eric, I'd assign it to someone else, but you've been on this case for the past couple of years. I thought you'd want to finish it."

"I do," Eric said. "I just…I want to take a break after this one," he requested.

"You sure? You're not gonna get bored hanging out in the mountains, playing with the bears?"

"Bears are more fun than humans," Eric shot back.

"Ok," Whitlow agreed. "You bag this one, and I'll lose your number for a while," he promised.

"Thanks," Eric said. "I'll call you when I get there." He hung up the phone and tossed it beside him on the couch. Sighing he leaned back, his eyes catching the still full sacks. Now why the hell couldn't Whitlow have called BEFORE he bought groceries.

<><><><><>

Zadok heard the distant sound of an helicopter and crouched down, trying to maintain as low of a profile as possible. He cursed his host's choice of uniform, the blue color not adequate camouflage for the browns and tans of the desert, even after he'd coated the material liberally with dirt and dust.

They'd abandoned the vehicle within miles of the base, once they'd realized that it was easily tracked in the open territory and set off afoot, the darkness of the night aiding their flight.

Now the sun had risen providing a dual obstacle of making them more visible and weakening his host with its oppressive warmth. Zadok knew that they had mere hours to escape this desert or his host would be too weak to continue.

The sound faded and he got to his feet, his host struggling and stumbling, weakened by the physical injury. The guard had shot them, fortunately the bullet had passed through the flesh of his host's side, producing a non-fatal but no less painful and draining injury.

His weakness was augmented by his lack of ability to fully control and heal his host, the most he was capable of doing to deaden the pain and try to stave off infection.

His host was not fighting him at the moment, instead cowering in the corner of his mind, curled up like a small child. He'd been afraid of this happening, of his host being unable to withstand the privilege of being one with a god.

Some humans were not suitable hosts, and this one seemed to be one of those weak creatures.

'God?' Bert asked softly, acknowledging the physical world for the first time in hours.

'Yes, I am a god,' Zadok said.

'I saw gods once. They were so beautiful, big and powerful.'

'Where did you see gods?' Zadok asked, intrigued. His host had always told him that Earth lacked physical gods.

'They were pretty and white, they sang to me, danced for me,' Bert remembered, his body relaxing with the familiar and obviously pleasant memories.

'Where were they?' Zadok asked gently, knowing from past experience if he pushed his host too hard, the man would retreat totally.

'There,' he said, directing his eyes towards the battered green and white sign. 'They live in Las Vegas.'

'Then we shall go there,' Zadok said, forcing his host to his feet. He would go to these gods, throw himself upon their mercy and seek rescue from the untenable position he now found himself in.

<><><><><>

Jack dropped his luggage off in his office and headed towards the briefing room, belated remembering the one thing he forgot to tell his people, where to meet. He knew they were somewhere in the facility, he'd recognized both Carter's and Daniel's cars in the lot as he'd parked his truck.

Feeling slightly out of place in his khakis and leather jacket, he summoned the elevator, riding it down to level twenty-seven. Whistling between his teeth, he walked into the briefing room, the voices of the rest of his team telling him that they'd had the same idea about a meeting place.

"Wow, Sam. Those are gorgeous," he heard Daniel say.

"I have not known you to receive such a gift before," Teal'c said.

"How did they get down here?" Jack walked into the room as Daniel asked his question, pausing for a moment at the unfamiliar sight of his team standing there, all admiring a large bouquet of fresh flowers that were sitting on the table.

"They were delivered to the Air Force Academy. General Kerrigan was nice enough to have them sent over here," Sam said, opening a small envelope.

"Got a secret admirer, Carter?" Jack teased.

"No, sir. Not quite," she answered, quickly reading the envelope and shoving it into her pocket. He could see that she was embarrassed, her cheeks were flushed and she looked slightly uncomfortable.

Glancing at his watch, he fought the urge to tease her further, they needed to be at Peterson in less than an hour. "You don't have enough time to run those home before we have to leave," he said. "And I doubt Hammond would like a centerpiece."

"I can take them down to my lab, sir. I need to get my luggage anyway," she said.

Jack nodded. "Hammond's got us a staff car. Let's meet up top in fifteen."

Sam picked up her flowers and left the room. Jack, Daniel and Teal'c followed her to the elevators, sharing a look at the amused and interested glances from the personnel they passed. The SGC grapevine was going to be buzzing in a few minutes. Hell, if he'd have known they'd get this much enjoyment out of a mysterious bouquet of flowers, he'd have sent some years ago, just to be ornery.

<><><><><>

Sam stepped off the airplane, automatically reaching for her sunglasses in her jacket pocket and taking a deep breath of the dry desert air. Thanks to the vagarities of time zones, they'd actually arrived in Nevada about the same time they'd left Colorado. And Nevada in late July was definitely not a place for shrinking violets, or those that couldn't take bake oven heat.

She saw Jack stop at her side, his eyes too shrouded by dark glasses. "I see Area 51's up to its usual level of coordination," he groused, meaning the lack of the promised vehicle to meet them. "I'm gonna go check at the hanger," he said, setting down his luggage.

"Yes, sir," Sam answered, watching him walk away. She turned to see Daniel and Teal'c also deplaning. She set her bag down beside Jack's and stepped away a bit, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. She dialed Eric's number, still not sure if she should thank him or give him hell for wasting his money.

The flowers were absolutely gorgeous, and a total surprise. She honestly couldn't remember the last time someone had sent her flowers, she just regretted that not only had it taken extraordinary measures on General Kerrigan's behalf to get them to her, but also if the good general hadn't interfered, she may have never gotten them.

As beautiful as they were, they also stood for the lies that were between them. Lies and secrets that were so much a part of her life that she didn't know if she'd ever get away from them.

They were the same secrets that had nearly cost her father his life and, prior to his cancer, only served to be a convenient excuse not to attempt to breach the differences between them.

She heard his voice and opened her mouth to talk, only to snap it shut when she realized she'd gotten his answering machine. Waiting until the end of his greeting she glanced over, grimacing at the sight of the colonel walking back from the hanger, a car in the distance speaking to his success at solving the transportation issue. Realizing that she was nearly out of time, she impatiently waited for the tone. "Eric, hi. I'm sorry I missed you. I got your flowers, they're absolutely lovely. Thank you." The car pulled to a stop and the colonel waved impatiently. "I gotta go. I'll call you later on." She hung up the phone and hurried forward as Teal'c picked up her luggage and stowed it in the trunk.

Grateful that the driver had at least turned on the air conditioning, she slid into the back seat. Knowing that the driver likely knew nothing about why they were here, she let the boys carry the small talk and contented herself with looking out the window as the desert flashed by.

<><><><><>

Eric checked his watch and sighed loudly, taking no small measure of satisfaction when the secretary looked up, giving him an uncomfortable look. It'd been like this for the past two hours, ever since he arrived at the base and been shown into the general's office, only to find, instead of the welcome he'd expected, a distinctly cold, star-clad shoulder.

He guessed there was some sort of clearance issue and he'd tried to call Whitlow to clear it up, only to find more frustration when his contact was out of contact. Damn the military and their obsessive need for secrecy. This crap was exactly why he'd gotten out of the army.

This whole thing frustrated him to no end. He'd spent the better part of the last three years on the trail of a traitor, following the man across the Russian continent, nearly catching up with him a couple of times, but never quite being able to take him into custody before he vanished again, slipping into the faceless world of the homeless and downtrodden.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had an annoying need to finish what he'd started, he'd just write the man off. Yes, he'd went AWOL and defected, but there was no sign that he'd made contact with anyone, pretty much eliminating the speculation that the man was a spy and making it look more like he was simply an officer who'd snapped and decided to leave the Air Force without bothering to fill out the right form in triplicate.

Reaching the limit of his patience, he got to his feet. To hell with this. He'd go find a hotel and contact Whitlow. Maybe he'd come back tomorrow, if Whitlow could promise that he'd actually get in to talk to the good general.

The office door opened and he stood back, watching a tall, lanky man walk into the room, trailed by two other and…Sam?

"Colonel Jack O'Neill. We've got a meeting with General Martinson."

"Yes, sir. He's expecting you," the receptionist said.

"Sam?" Eric asked, stepping forward.

She turned, her eyes going wide as they focused on him. "Eric? What are…I thought you were in Colorado," she stuttered.

"Obviously not," he said, looking at her appraisingly. She and the others were in their civvies. Not how folks usually dressed when the visited other bases. Her companions were a mixed bunch. Colonel O'Neill was an older man, a fact confirmed by his salt and pepper hair. Tall and thin and with an air about him that spoke not only of command, but also of an officer who'd put in no small amount of time in active service and probably combat.

Standing behind him was a large black man, his ball cap pulled low on his forehead, in blatant disregard to normal etiquette. Eric could see hardy muscles under his leather jacket and his very demeanor spoke of quiet danger and silent strength.

The third man had a different image, capable and intelligent, but not as physically intimidating as the black man.

"Carter?" O'Neill asked, stepping forward. "Friend of yours?"

"Sir." She glanced at him, discomfort plain on her face. "This is Eric, Eric Anderson. I aah, I know him from the Springs."

"Really?" the colonel said, frowning. He looked Eric from head to toe, blatantly studying him. Refusing to be intimidated, Eric met his gaze, staring him down.

"Sir, the general will see you now," the receptionist said, breaking the eye contact.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," O'Neill said, looking away. The quartet moved towards the door to the general's office and Eric followed them, stopping short when the lieutenant stood up.

"Only them, sir," she said apologetically. Sam shot him an apologetic look as she followed the three men into the general's office.

The door closed behind them and Eric sat back down, crossing his arms across his chest as he stared at the closed door, his frustration growing by the minute.

<><><><><>

"Any idea where he's headed?" the colonel asked, his sharp look pulling Sam's thoughts from the man outside and to the one in front of her. General Martinson was a portly man, his slightly florid face and the near arctic temperature of his office hinting that he definitely wasn't in Nevada for his health.

"Unless he had a death wish, he headed towards Vegas," the general said. "There's nothing out here but gilas, rattlers and rocks."

"He'd be able to blend right in with the tourists," Daniel said.

"Yeah. And if he needed money, he could just roll one. A drunk tourist with a pocket full of cash is an easy victim."

"I still don't understand why he bothered with the Jaffa," Daniel said. "He could have made it out clean if he hadn't have taken the time to chat."

"He likely sought an ally," Teal'c said. "A potential First Prime to be employed as a body guard."

"Or even host," Sam said, feeling that she really needed to contribute to the conversation.

"Like K'Tano," Jack said.

"Yes, sir."

"It's possible," Martinson said. "All the Jaffa would tell us is that he asked Samuels to help him escape and that Samuels refused."

"Forging an alliance would be a most efficient way to gain intelligence," Teal'c agreed.

"You said they'd been a prisoner for over a year," Daniel reminded.

"Samuals' goa'uld has been out of touch for seven," Sam countered. "A little advantage is better than none."

Jack looked at his watch. "We've got about two hours until the satellite is in position," he said. "Hopefully it'll give us a clue."

"We'll give you whatever backup we can," the general promised, his willingness to help no doubt aided by the embarrassment of his facility being breached. "But aah, bear in mind, the local PD's a little touchy about us stepping on their turf."

"We'll remember. Thanks," Jack said.

The general stood up, signaling the end of the meeting. "If my men were right, they think they winged him, so maybe that'll slow him down for you. I do have teams combing the desert. If he's out there, we'll find him."

"Sir, a goa'uld has more endurance than a normal human. If the injury was minor enough, it could be healed by now," Sam said.

"Well, regardless, I hope you catch him," the general said.

"We do too, sir," Jack said. "We've got a score to two to settle with the good colonel.
We'll let you know what happens," he promised, shaking the man's hand.

"And I'll do the same," Martinson promised.

Sam followed her team from the room, not surprised to find Eric still in the waiting room.
He gave her an odd look, then started to walk past them, obviously still intent on talking to the general.

"Sir, I'm sorry. The general is in the middle of an important phone call," the lieutenant said, deliberately pulling the door shut.

"There's a big surprise," Eric quipped, his tone anything but cheerful. He knew he was being stonewalled, anyone with half a brain could figure that one out.

The rest of SG-1 filed out of the office and Sam paused in the doorway, torn between following her team or finding out what he was doing here.

"Carter? You coming?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Sam, wait," Eric said, stepping towards her. "We should talk."

"Yeah," she agreed. "But not here."

"Why not here?" he countered. "You're here, I'm here. General Martinson has been ignoring me for two hours…what's a little longer?"

"Two hours?" she asked. "You've been here for two hours?"

"At least."

"And you flew commercial I would imagine."

"So?"

"So, were you going to tell me you went to Nevada before or after you stood me up in…three hours?" she asked softly, keeping her voice low. So that's what the flowers had been, a 'gee, I'm gonna blow you off' gesture. And what kind of lies were he going to tell her this time? How many times had he lied to her in the past? How many of his business trips did he really go on?

"Sam-"

"Excuse me, sir. The general will see you now," the lieutenant interrupted. Eric shot her a startled look, then turned back to Sam.

"It's really not a good thing to keep generals waiting," she said, turning on her heel and walking out of the room, not even acknowledging Jack as she walked by him.

She could see Daniel and Teal'c down at the end of the hall and she deliberately took a few calming breaths. She could hear the colonel's footsteps coming up behind her and she slowed a bit, waiting for him to fall into step beside her. She knew he'd say something and figured that she might as well get it out of the way before they rejoined the others and she had even more questions to answer.

"Umm…tell me to butt out if this is none of my business but…"

"Butt out, sir, please," she interrupted. "I apologize for what happened in there. It won't happen again."

"There's nothing to apologize for, at least I don't think so. Who is he?"

She stopped walking, running her hand through her hair. "A friend." He raised his eyebrow. "A good friend," she clarified.

"Mister Flowers good friend?"

"Yes, sir," she answered, cursing the slight flush she could feel staining her cheeks.

"Ya know," he said after a second. "Technically you stood him up too."

Sam shook her head. "I called before we left."

"And he didn't?"

"And he left before we did."

"You don't know that."

"Unless he's invented a time machine, if he's been here two hours then he had to have left Colorado two hours before we did," she countered, not willing to let the argument go.

Jack sighed. "Hammond'll be contacting us with the satellite report pretty soon," he said, changing the subject. "Why don't we go find some food before then?"

Sam nodded and they continued down the hall, meeting up with Daniel and Teal'c, before they left Area 51 and headed towards Las Vegas.

<><><><><>

Zadok coldly stripped the clothing off the unconscious man and stood up, scanning to see if he'd been observed. They'd been most fortunate in encountering a solitary driver, and even more fortunate that the man was the type to stop and give aid to bedraggled strangers. Foolish weaklings like him deserved to perish.

He dressed, after using a first aid kit he'd found in the man's trunk to dress the gunshot wound on his host's side. Getting into the stolen car, he drove off, the city visible upon the horizon. And attainable goal now that he had a means of conveyance.

<><><><><>

Daniel scooted his chair in, allowing Teal'c to get out behind him and head to the buffet for the fifth time. In contrast, Sam was still working half-heartedly on her first plate of food. He looked to Jack who shrugged slightly, either having no idea what was wrong with their friend, or not in the mood to share his knowledge.

"I'm gonna go check in with Hammond," Jack said. "We should be getting that report pretty soon." He got to his feet. "Don't let Teal'c eat them out of house and home," he said. "I'll be back."

He left them alone and Daniel fiddled a bit, glancing at Teal'c who was still filling his plate. "I met him before, didn't I?" he asked, startling Sam a bit.

"What?"
"We ran into him in Manitou."

"Yeah," she said, abandoning her pretense at eating.

"How long have you been seeing him?"

"We, aah, we met last September, when we saw him in Manitou, that was the first I'd seen of him since then," she confessed, the flush on her face telling him that this Eric guy wasn't just a casual acquaintance.

"Good for you," he said.

"What?" she asked him, clearly surprised.

"Hey, it's not like we expect you to be a nun or something," he said, kind of enjoying the embarrassed look on her face. "I am surprised that you didn't say anything, though," he said as Teal'c sat back down, his plate heaped with items from the dessert bar.

Sam shrugged. "At first, I didn't want to say anything. We only met once so…what was the big deal," she said, seemingly growing more comfortable with discussing it.

"This is the reason you do not labor ceaselessly in your laboratory?" Teal'c asked, taking a large bite of a rice krispy bar.

Sam shrugged. "You didn't know he was going to be here," Daniel said, figuring out the reason for the tension.

Sam shook her head. "No. I thought he was still in Colorado. And I have no idea what he's doing talking to the commanding officer of Area 51," she admitted.

"Neither does Hammond," Jack said, startling all of them. They'd been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't noticed him returning to the restaurant. He reclaimed his seat, scooting in so they could talk quietly. "Whoever your friend is, he's got pull. Martinson's been ordered to tell him about Samuels."

"Everything?" Daniel asked.

"Not quite," Jack answered. "Everything but the little parasite issue." He turned to Sam. "Carter…what do you know about this guy?"

"Jack," Daniel protested.

"Daniel, it's ok," Sam said. "As far as I knew, he designed software for TV stations. I don't know what interest he could have in Samuels."

"We need to know," Jack said seriously.

"Colonel?"

"He's hunting a snakehead, Carter. We need to know if it's just a coincidence or if he's involved in something he shouldn't be."

"Sir, I don't even know where he is," Sam protested.

Jack pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket. "He left contact info with Martinson. It's about two blocks down the strip." He handed the paper to Sam. "Do you want one of us to go with you?"

"No, sir. I'll be fine," she said, getting to her feet.

Daniel watched her leave then turned back to Jack. "That's not fair, Jack," he said.

"Daniel?"

"You're using her."

"He could have used her first," he said.

"Jack."

"Daniel, I don't want it to be true," he said earnestly. "But the simple fact that he knows her, and he's showed up here, with the same objective as us, is a little fishy."

Daniel shook his head. "I don't think so. Sam said she's been seeing him for almost a year."

"Which is about how long Conrad tried to get her medical information before he took matters into his own hand," Jack said.

"Your gut is wrong this time," he insisted. "I don't know what he's doing here but I think his relationship is just a coincidence."

"I hope you're right," Jack said.

<><><><><>

Eric lay back on the hard bed and pulled one of the thin pillows up to cushion his head. He grabbed the remote and changed the channels on the TV, trying to find something to entertain him, and to take his mind off the events of the day.

He still didn't know what in the hell she was doing in Nevada. He'd tried to get information from General Martinson, but had hit a three starred brick wall. Evidentially, the general had finally gotten a hold of Whitlow and gotten the clearance to tell Eric about Samuels, but the man hadn't told him anything more than he already knew, that the Lt. Colonel had breached security then run… with no indication as to why he'd risked capture.

He picked up his cell phone and stared at it. If he knew Sam, she had it with her. He should call her, find out where she was, and find out what she was doing here. His phone rang and he dropped it, cursing as it bounced across the carpet.

He fumbled for it, trying to pick it up and answer it before it went into voice mail. "Hello?" he said, his voice more harsh than he'd intended.

"Eric?"

"Sam," he said, recognizing her voice.

"Yeah. I aah, I was wondering if I could come up?"

"You're downstairs?" he asked, instinctively getting to his feet and going towards the window, as if he could actually see her. How had she found him? There were hundreds of hotels in Vegas? And he wasn't in one of the casino hotels, but a small national chain.

"Yeah. I umm…unless you'd rather come down and maybe we could go for a walk or something," she suggested.

"I'm in 532," he said, sensing that whatever they were going to talk about, it was something not quite suited for public display.

"Ok, I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

He hung up his phone and quickly looked over his room, his unease at the impending conversation making him feel like he needed to straighten the already tidy room.

In a couple of minutes, there was a knock at the door and he opened it. "Hey," he said.

"Hey." She stood there, one hand clutching her wrist in front of her. "Can I-" she nodded and he stepped back, letting her walk into the room.

He closed the door behind her and stood there for a second, watching as she walked across the room, looking out the window. "Nice view," she quipped, talking in the construction zone across the street. In a couple of years he knew the view from the room would be yet another fantastical casino.

"Yeah, well, not here for the view."

"Why are you here?" she asked bluntly, turning to face him.

"Who wants to know," he shot back. "You or your CO?"

"Both," she said honestly.

"I'm working."

"I'm not up on Area 51, but I don't think they're starting their own TV station," she said.

"Sam-"

"Eric," she interrupted. "I need to know what you're doing here."

He crossed his arms across his chest. "Or what? Gonna sic your friends on me? Or is it now a Federal Offense to visit an old friend?"

"You're not visiting an old friend," she said. "What's your interest in Lieutenant Colonel Samuels?" she asked.

"Ex-Lieutenant Colonel," he corrected. "I would say that after three years of being AWOL, his career is pretty much over."

"Why are you looking for him?" she insisted.

"Why are YOU looking for him?" he countered.

"I asked first," she shot back.

"I was here first."

"Damnit Eric," she cursed, raising her voice. "You have no idea what you're getting into!"

"Why don't you tell me."

"It's classified."

"Oh that's convenient," he said sarcastically.

"Maybe a lot of things have been convenient," she said bitterly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you follow me or was it just luck that you bumped into me last year?" she challenged.

"What?"

"Who are you working for? Zetatron? The NID?" she asked. "Was sleeping with me part of your assignment or just a fringe benefit?"

He stared at her for a moment, shocked by the hurt and bitterness in her eyes. She wasn't just being dramatic, she honestly believed her accusations. "I'm an independent contractor," he said softly. "My assignment is to find Albert Samuels and return him to the Air Force to face charges of desertion and possibly treason. I've been looking for him on and off for a couple of years. My source had a report putting him at Area 51, which is why I was there," he said.

She stared at him for a minute, her eyes narrowed and appraising, like she was trying to determine if he was telling the truth. "I don't know who Zetatron is, but I don't work for the NID," he said. "What do you know about him?" he asked.

"More than you do," she shot back cryptically.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. How does a lecturer from the Air Force Academy end up chasing down a deserter?"

"It's my job."

"And this is my job," he replied, his voice just as angry as hers.

"Eric, you have no idea what you're dealing with," she warned.

"Then tell me," he demanded.

"I can't."

"And I can't just let him go. I have a job to do, and unless you can give me a damned good reason why, I'm gonna do it."

She stared at him for a few more seconds, then crossed the room, coming to stand right in front of him. "Leave Samuels be," she warned. "You're messing with things that you have no idea about."

"I can take care of myself," he said, frowning at her warning.

"I hope so," she said, staring at him for a second before she turned on her heel and walked out of his room, closing the door quietly behind her.

He stared at the closed door for a minute before sitting down on the bed, her words echoing through his brain. What in the hell was she so worried about?

<><><><><>

Sam walked down the strip, not noticing the fading warmth of the afternoon sun, or the throngs of gawking tourists around her. Instead, her mind was centered on the man she'd just left, and all the things he'd told her. Independent contractor. What the hell did that mean? What was he, some sort of mercenary? And who was he? Was Eric even his real name? Or was that a lie too?

Someone bumped into her and she turned, her hand instinctively reaching for her cell phone and wallet, the warnings about pickpockets still fresh in her mind.

Finding her possessions safe, she frowned as another feeling crept down her spine. Feeling her heart lurch, she fought the urge to reach for her gun as she scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face. He was here. She could sense him, feel his presence.

Her eyes skittered from face to face trying to recognize the Lieutenant Colonel she'd last seen in person five years ago.

If he was still in Samuels and hadn't hopped hosts in the past few hours of course. Her cell phone trilled and she jumped, reaching for it as her eyes continued to scan. "Carter," she said.

"Carter, you ok?" she heard Jack ask.

"Sir?"

"It's been two hours. We were just….getting a little concerned."

"Really? Yeah, um, everything's fine," she said absently, cursing internally as she realized that the feeling was gone, he'd slipped back into the crowd.

"Can you get back to the hotel?" he asked. "Hammond finally sent us the information."

"Yes, sir," she said, hanging up the phone. He wasn't the only one with a story to tell.

<><><><><>

"You're saying you sensed him?" Daniel asked as his friend sat down cross-legged on the bed. They'd booked a room in one of the small motels not for a place to sleep, but to have somewhere private to discuss things.

"Unless there's another goa'uld running around Las Vegas, yes," she confirmed.

"Maybe there's some truth to those rumors about Wayne Newton," Jack quipped, claiming one of the chairs. "The bad news is, Carter's spider-sense might be all we have to go on."

"Is the satellite image not performing to expected levels?" Teal'c asked.

"Depends on what we expected. It picked up a naquadah signature in South Las Vegas, but it's not more specific than that."

"So, no exact location?" Sam asked.

"No," Jack confirmed. "Where were you when you picked him up?"

"Outside the Mirage."

"That's South Las Vegas," Daniel said.

"Perhaps he is attempting to gain access to the airport?" Teal'c suggested.

"They've been put on alert," Jack said. "Same with the bus and train depots."

"What's our plan, sir?" Sam asked.

"Well, we can hang around and wait for any word of a man with glowing eyes." Daniel shot Jack a glare. "Yeah. I think the best thing we can do right now is to canvas the hotels, see if their security guys can help us out."

"There are thousands of tourists out there, Jack. It'll be like a needle in a hay stack."

"A needle in many haystacks, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c corrected.

"Well, we know that as of an hour ago, he was still in town," Jack said, nodding towards Sam. "I think the best thing is for us to pound the pavement. If Carter sensed him, chances are he picked up on her too. We gotta get him before he tries something radical.
We'll go casino by casino, starting at the Mirage. Daniel and I will check in with security. Carter, you and Teal'c do a walk through, see if you can get a bead on him."

"Yes, sir," Sam agreed, as Teal'c nodded.

"What about Eric?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know what kind of information he has," Sam said. "He thinks he's tracking down a deserter."

"Will he get in our way?" Jack asked.

Sam paused for a second. "Yeah," she said. "Sir, the only thing I could tell him that might convince him to stop, is the one thing I can't tell him. He's having a hard enough time buying that a lecturer at the Academy is searching for an AWOL officer."

"Lecturer?" Daniel asked, raising his eyebrows at her flimsy cover story.

Sam shrugged. "It was a good idea at the time."

"OK," Jack said, the expression on his face telling them that while he wasn't too fond of how things were playing out, he also recognized that there wasn't too much he could do about it. "Las Vegas is a big city. Let's just hope he stays out of our way."

<><><><><>

Teal'c walked beside Sam, his eyes scanning the teeming crowd. It was early evening in the casino and the crowd was growing by the minute as more and more of the local work force sought the gambling establishments for entertainment. He knew that the crowd would likely continue to increase throughout the evening, something that would make their task even harder.

It was moments like this when he deeply regretted the loss of his symbiote. Without its presence, he was unable to sense the proximity of another goa'uld, leaving that burden resting solely on Major Carter's shoulders.

He could see that she was trying. There was a slight frown between her brows as she struggled to push herself, to force her ability to its very limits. "I'm starting to think this is a bad idea," she said, pausing beside a large bank of gambling machines. "If I sensed him, he had to have picked up on me. If he was smart, he high-tailed it out of town."

"If he was wise, he would never have allowed himself to be seen," Teal'c said. A flash of movement caught his eyes and he turned, watching as an inebriated female lost her balance and stumbled. She caught herself on a stool, then took a moment to regain her equilibrium. A handful of coins spilled out of the large cup she was carrying and skittered across the carpet. "Perhaps he sought something different," Teal'c said, drawing Sam's attention to the woman. She staggered off, oblivious to the fact that a few bystanders were happily collecting her discarded winnings.

"An easy mark?" Sam asked. "Maybe. But with as many tourists that are around here, he's got no shortage of a new host. All he needs to do is borrow someone's identity and hop on a plane."

"I do not believe a new host is his goal," Teal'c said softly. "He could have attained that any time in the past three years."

"Good point," she agreed. "Let's make one more pass before we meet back up with the colonel and Daniel." She continued making her way through the casino and he followed, ignoring the raucous jangle of the machines that seemed to mock the seriousness of their search.

<><><><><>

Zadok walked through the groups of revelers jointly disgusted and amazed at what he was seeing. These were the Tau'ri? This was the home world that his kind only spoke of in myth and legend?

These people were no threat, he thought, staring at the teeming mass of gaudily clad men, women and children. They wouldn't be good workers, most of them looked too soft to do any sort of manual labor.

He had been many places on the planet and this was by far the most frivolous. The desolation of Russia and many of the places he'd been had been during his internment here had been expected. It spoke of a wealth of resources and a lack of people, making it easier to subjugate the planet.

He felt his disgust grow as he walked, striving to pull any helpful information from his host's mind. During the past few hours, his host had continued to retreat, his mind withdrawing into childhood memories.

It was from those memories that Zadok sought to glean further information about the gods his host spoke of. He could see fragments of images of smiling figures and echoing voices. There was a court here, a place where the gods lived and held audiences for their worshippers. A court of high colonnades and elegant fixtures. A place of echoing grandeur and stately elegance.

He would seek assistance from these gods, if he could find them. His host's memories were fragmented and faded, like trying to read a shattered tablet or a broken crystal. He had not been to this town in many years and his recollection was quite different than what he was seeing now. Buildings were gone or had changed, others seemed to have moved, something Zadok blamed on the extreme passage of time, the human mind being nowhere near as refined as his own.

He walked past a mock volcano and stopped, his eyes fixated on the vision before him. He ignored the irritated words and outbursts from the people around him. 'Is that it?' Receiving no response from his host, he prodded him. 'Is that it!' he demanded. Feeling an affirmative response from Bert, Zadok started walking again, his eyes taking in the grandeur of his surroundings, the pristine white statues among the manicured greenery and glistening fountains.

It was an oasis of peace and dignity in the tawdry bustle of the rest of the city. This was a place for a god to live.

<><><><><>

Eric walked down the Strip, his stomach full from a trip through one of the town's many buffets. This whole trip was a waste. Yes, he'd gotten a bead on Samuels, yes, he had confirmation that the man was back in the states and evidentially interested in the Air Force again. But beyond that, unless he did something to draw attention to himself again, the ex-Lieutenant Colonel was gone, vanished into the anonymity of the human population.

It was time for him to check in with the local PD one last time then go home. Oddly enough, he felt none of his normal eagerness at the idea. He didn't want to go home, not when his usual reason for going home was right here in Las Vegas.

What was she doing here? And who exactly were her friends? They sure didn't look like any teachers he'd ever seen. Well, maybe the one man, but not the colonel and definitely not the black guy. Those two looked more like body guards or bouncers than teachers.

They were looking for Samuels, it had to be. That was the only reasonable explanation for them being in Las Vegas, and the easy with which they'd gotten in to see General Martinson.

Which suggested to him that she was something far more than just a lecturer. She'd lied to him, from the very beginning most if not all, of what she'd told him had been a lie. Or maybe not. What if she was like him? Not a mercenary, but…classified. That's what she'd tossed up in his face when he'd tried to talk to her. Her life was classified. And Whitlow had his fingers in more classified pies than Eric could count. Maybe it was about time to call in a couple of markers.

He reached for his cell phone, his hand stopping mid action as his eyes caught sight of a figure making its way up the wide walk leading to Caesar's Palace. Son of a bitch.

Not quite sure if he was seeing things, he stared for a second, then reached for his pocket, pulling out the folded picture Martinson had given him. His eyes darted back and forth, comparing the two images. It was him.

Filled with eagerness at having his quarry within his grasp, he quickly looked both ways and jay-walked across the street, jogging up the walk to keep the man in sight, careful not to get too close and spook him.

So intent was he upon his goal that he failed to notice the people who recognized and followed him into the casino.

<><><><><>

Sam followed the rest of her team into the casino, jogging slightly to keep Eric in sight. "I'm gonna go let security in on what's going down," Jack said. "Carter, Teal'c, keep him in sight. Let's try not to make a scene. Daniel, you're with me."

The two men split off and Sam and Teal'c continued on their way, struggling to navigate through the crowds of oblivious people while not drawing too much attention to themselves. "We've got to get him away from these people," Sam said. "The last thing we need is civilian casualties."

"Agreed," Teal'c said.

Much to their relief, Samuels seemed to want to avoid the crowds as much as they wanted him to. He made a bee line through the casino and into the Forum shopping center that was attached to the casino.

The mall was slightly less busy than the casino, and definitely quieter, the clang of the slot machines was replaced by the muttering of elevator music and the chatter of the ambling shoppers.

Afraid to lose sight of them, Sam picked up the pace, only slowing when Teal'c put a restraining hand on her arm. "You must maintain your distance, Major Carter or your presence will alert Lieutenant Colonel Samuels that we are surveying him."

Acknowledging the wisdom of his words, she slowed, craning her neck to keep sight of Eric's plaid shirt. Samuels was walking forward, totally ignoring the crowds around him, reminding her of a man on drugs, suffering from a tunnel vision that blinded him to all but his goals.

A shrill alarm cut through the air and Sam looked to Teal'c as a calm voice began to announce the evacuation of the shopping center. "It's gotta be the colonel," she said, ignoring the instructions and instead moving with her friend as they closed ranks around the fugitive. The other shoppers were filing out of the mall, their own panic and fear blinding them to the quartet that were ignoring the instructions from the loud speaker.

Samuels was standing in front of one of the large fountains, staring up at the animatronics statues. She could see Eric moving closer, his hand going to the small of his back as he drew a pistol. Drawing her own gun, she crept closer, the absence of a crowd hampering her own attempt at stealth.

Samuels turned, a look of utter desperation on his face. Eric drew his gun and she heard him challenge Samuels. Almost in slow motion, she saw Samuels raise his hand, an unseen ribbon device glinting dully in the muted light of the mall. "No!" she yelled as Samuels fired his weapon, throwing Eric across the mall. He crashed into a heavy bench and slumped to the marble floor.

Enraged, she aimed and fired, one shot striking Samuels as Teal'c tackled him from the side, both men crashing to the ground. She heard running footsteps and saw the colonel and Daniel out of the corner of her eye, both running forward. Trusting them to cover Teal'c, she lowered her gun and rushed forward, kneeling at Eric's side.

He was unconscious, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Her fingers fumbled for his pulse, relaxing a bit when she found it faint but steady.

She looked over her shoulder, seeing Teal'c and the colonel take off at a run, chasing Samuels as the goa'uld broke free with an unearthly roar. She started to get up, then stopped as she felt Eric stir. Daniel stared after his two teammates, then turned and made his way back to her. "Sam? Is he ok?"

"I think he's just unconscious," she said, eyeing the two security guards that were headed her way. She reached down and picked up Eric's gun, slipping it to Daniel. "We need some medical assistance here!" she called out, secreting her own weapon away. One of the approaching guards acknowledged him and reached for his radio.

"Should we go help Jack and Teal'c?" Daniel asked.

Sam shook her head. "There's no way we'll catch up to them now. We need to know what he saw," she said softly, stepping back so the paramedics could get to Eric.

"Are you going to follow him to the hospital?"

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"I'll go with you," he offered.

<><><><><>

Zadok ran through the cavernous halls of the structure, pushing his host's body to it's very limit and beyond. Fool. He was such a fool. Damn his host. Damn his faulty Tau'ri memory. He should have known better, should have known that there was no way a god would go unnoticed, even on this primitive planet.

The heavy footsteps of the Jaffa pounded behind him and he tried to run faster, tried to escape. No. They couldn't do this. He couldn't let them catch him. They'd take him away, lock him up. Lock him up in a cage. No. Not when he was so close. So close to going home. That's all he wanted, to go home. To take his rightful place among his brethren, to travel among the stars, to rule, to live.

The red letters of a sign beckoned him and he ran faster, spurred on by his desperation. Exit, outside. He had to get outside. Outside was freedom, he needed to get free. So close, he could see it so close. Just a little bit more. All he needed was to run a little faster, stay ahead for just a few more seconds. Then he could be free. He needed to stay free. Freedom was life, he had to stay alive.

A heavy weight slammed into him, pushing him to the ground with a bruising force. Trapped inside a non-responsive body, he screamed, fear, desperation, terror overwhelming him, crippling him. Trapped in a morass of inaction, he could do nothing but be a silent witness to his own condemnation.

<><><><><>

Jack walked into the hospital, following Daniel's instructions by memory. All in all, they'd been lucky. Martinson may have had problems with the locals, but, so far, Jack hadn't. Of course, Martinson also didn't quite have the red phone connections that Hammond had either.

Jack still wasn't quite sure if the security people from the casino bought the story he'd spun, but they were smart enough not to question too much, so it appeared that he didn't have to worry about a security leak from the casino's end.

Now all he needed to do was find out about Carter's friend. So far, Hammond hadn't been able to dig up too much on the man, the commonness of his name not helping the search. He really wanted the whole thing to be some sort of coincidence. Maybe the guy was legit and was just a bounty hunter or something like that. For Carter's sake, he hoped so.
After asking a couple of nurses for directions, he found Carter and Daniel in the waiting room outside of the emergency department. "Sir," she said, moving to get to her feet.

Jack waved her back down. "You two ok?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Daniel said. "Samuels?"

"Teal'c's got him. We're taking him back to Area 51. How's your friend?" he asked Sam.

"I don't know. They won't tell us anything," she said.

"It's dumb luck he wasn't killed," Daniel said.

"How much do you think he saw?" Jack asked softly after looking around to make sure no one was within ear shot. Fortunately the waiting room was mostly deserted, despite it being relatively late on a Friday night.

"Samuels threw him across the room with a hand device," Daniel said. "So he saw at least that much."

"Or thinks he saw," Jack said. "He hit his head, who knows if his memories are accurate."

"General Hammond needs to know what he knows, doesn't he?" Sam asked, her voice resigned.

"Yeah," Jack said, deciding not to tell her that Hammond was also digging into the man's past. If everything turned up clean, there was no need to tell her what they were doing. If not…then he'd deal with it later. No need to add insult to injury.

"They won't let me in to see him," Sam said. "Family only."

The large double door opened and Jack looked in, seeing the topic of their discussion standing beside a doctor at a large counter. "Looks like someone needs a ride," he said, nodding towards the doors. He got to his feet, pulling the keys to the car out of his pocket. He tossed them towards Sam who caught them reflexively. "Car's in the garage, level 4. Daniel and I will catch a cab."

"We will?"

"Take your time," Jack said, ignoring Daniel. "Plane's not leaving until 0900." She shoved the small ring of keys into her pocket and walked away, making a bee line towards Eric and the doctor.

"He's not gonna get to keep Samuels, is he?" Daniel asked.

Jack shook his head. "No."

"I don't think he's going to take that very well."

"He won't." Jack started walking, leading Daniel out of the waiting room and towards the outside door.

"Whoever's paying him isn't going to take it very well either."

"We're sorta counting on that," Jack said cryptically, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. Daniel listened as he called Area 51 and summoned another staff car to replace the one he'd just loaned to Sam. He hung up his phone and found a bench, sitting down with a sigh.

"I thought we were getting a cab?"

"I'm not paying for the ride out to Nellis."

"Why are we going to Nellis?"

"Teal'c is there. He delivered Samuels. We gotta go get him then we can go back to the hotel."

<><><><><>

Eric followed the doctor out of the exam room, groaning softly as bruised and abused muscles made their presence known. He was definitely getting too old for this crap. And to make matters worse, he didn't even get Samuels.

He heard heels clicking on the tile floor and looked over, frowning when he saw Sam walking towards him. He rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to turn and walk away from her. Of course, if he didn't hang around and fill out the forms the ER doc was getting out for him, he could end up stuck here for lord only knew how long.

"If you experience any of the symptoms on this list, you should come back," the doctor said, handing him a sheet of paper.

"Yeah," Eric said, taking it and shoving it into his pocket. This certainly wasn't the first concussion he'd ever had.

"You shouldn't drive either," the doctor warned. "I can have the nurse call you a cab."

"I can give him a ride," Sam said, coming to stand by his side.

The doctor frowned, then shrugged, obviously happy to be handing over responsibility for his patient. "Give these to the nurse and you're free to go," he said, giving Eric one last piece of paper.

He took it and shot Sam a look, deliberately not talking to her as he followed the doctor's instructions, making his way to the nurse. He finished the paperwork and signed himself out, still pretending that Sam wasn't standing at his side.

"The car's this way," she said, shepherding him towards the parking garage.

"My hotel's just a few blocks away."

"Then it won't take us long to get there," she said, refusing to accept his excuses. He gave in, following her as she made her way to the parking garage and found the Air Force issued car.

"Where is he?" he asked as she got into the car and stuck the key in the ignition.

"Who?"

"No more games," he requested. "Where's Samuels?"

"In custody," she answered, putting the car into gear and backing out of the space.

"Whose custody?"

"The United State's Air Force."

He snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm not lying," she said.

Eric sighed, squinting as they drove out of the garage, the bright neons of the Strip setting off the lingering headache he'd had since waking up fully in the ambulance. "What do you really do?" he asked her.

"I really do lecture," she said. "But not all the time," she said, glancing at him. "I work in Cheyenne Mountain. Analysis of Deep Space Radar Telemetry."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"Lecturer sounds better?" she suggested.

"What do you want with Samuels?"

"He used to be stationed at Cheyenne Mountain. That's why we were trying to catch him, he was one of our own."

He stared at her, trying to see if he could determine if she was telling the truth this time. Samuels had been at Cheyenne Mountain, that much he knew, but that had been years ago. If she'd served with him…or maybe it was the Colonel who'd served with him and she was just helping out a friend.

"So, you aah, you remember anything?" she asked, glancing at him again as she navigated the heavy traffic.

"About?"

"Before you got knocked out," she reminded.

"Oh," he said.

"HOLD IT!" he yelled, pulling his weapon. He saw Samuels turn, the man's eyes narrowing, almost seeming to glow. "Don't move. There's nowhere to go."

"Hataka," Samuels growled, his voice resonating oddly. He raised his left hand and Eric's finger tensed on the trigger, relaxing a bit when he didn't see the telltale ebony glint of a weapon. "I will not be a prisoner," he said as his palm glowed. A heavy force slammed into his chest as two gunshots echoed sharply off the marble walls. He saw Samuels stagger as he landed with a sickening crack and felt the world go black around the edges as he struggled to breathe.

He heard footsteps and voices as he felt cool fingers at his throat. "Sam? Is he ok?"

"I think he's just unconscious," he heard Sam say. What was she doing here? And where was Samuels? "We need some medical assistance here!" she called out, the noise making him cringe.

"Should we go help Jack and Teal'c?" a man asked, he had to be one of her friends.

"There's no way we'll catch up to them now. We need to know what he saw," she said softly, as he felt her move away from him, her presence replaced by the impersonal touches of paramedics.

She needed to know what he saw. What had he seen? What did Samuels have in his hand? That was no normal weapon, it was like nothing he'd ever seen before. And his voice…something about his voice chilled him to the bone. It was…almost other worldly like something out of a horror movie. "I don't remember a thing," he said, schooling his face as he looked her in the eyes.

"Really?"

He shrugged. "I thought I'd been shot at first. I have no idea what happened. One minute I was yelling for Samuels to stop, the next I was waking up in the ambulance," he lied, watching her face as she processed his words.

"That's gotta be spooky," she said.

He shrugged. "Doesn't sound like I missed much."

"What?"

"You guys caught Samuels, cleared it with casino security I'm assuming. What more is there to have seen?"

"Right, nothing more to have seen. Pretty boring actually. You've seen one arrest, you've seen them all," she said, her voice artificially bright as they pulled up outside his hotel.

"I may need to sic my CO on your CO," he said, reaching for the door handle.

"Huh?" She shot him a startled look.

"My orders were to bust Samuels, I can't do that now. Your boss may need to tell my boss why I can't do that."

"Yeah, right. I can, I can do that. Umm, just let me know who your CO is and I'll have him call him. That's no problem. It's not your fault about what happened."

"I'll call you," he said, getting out of the car and stepping away.

He heard her put the car into park and her door open. "Eric?" He turned back. "Do you want me to come up? I mean you probably shouldn't be alone or…."

"I'm fine," he said, wanting anything but to be alone with her any longer. It'd be easier for both of them. She wouldn't have to keep making up stories, and he wouldn't have to keep pretending to believe them. "I'll call you when I get back to Colorado," he dismissed, turning his back and walking into the hotel.

Fighting the urge to turn back and see if she'd left yet, he kept walking, pushing the elevator button with far more force than was necessary. Maybe it was a good thing that they'd gotten Samuels in custody. He wouldn't have the distraction now that he had a new mystery to solve.

<><><><><>

Sam tiredly trudged up her walk, a combination of a trying couple of days and jet lag making her feel like she'd just finished a ten mile hike, with a full pack. As it turned out, the colonel had been wrong, they hadn't returned to Colorado the next morning like he'd thought. Instead General Hammond had wanted Colonel O'Neill to perform the preliminary interrogation on Samuels and determine exactly how badly the SGC had been compromised, obviously either not trusting General Martinson to do it, or afraid that once the ex-Lieutenant Colonel vanished into the shadows of the NID, he'd never be seen again.

For some strange reason, General Martinson didn't take too kindly to them hanging around, seeming to resent the implication that the security of his base was found to be lacking and that he wasn't trusted to conduct the interrogation himself.

After six rather tense and uncomfortable hours, she'd been ready to hijack the plane herself just to get away from it all.

The colonel had finally been satisified, sharing with them on the plane that Samuels was 'fruitier than a nutcake' and that his goa'uld, Zadok, wasn't much better. Five hours, one turbulent flight and one debriefing later, she was finally home, nearly twenty-four hours after the showdown at the Forum. And nearly twenty-four hours since she'd heard from Eric.

She'd tried to call him this morning before they'd headed out to Nellis to question Samuels, but had discovered that he'd checked out of his hotel and he wasn't answering his cell phone either. She'd left him a voice mail and thought she'd been playing it cool, until Daniel noticed her checking her own voice mail every hour on the hour hoping for some message.

Maybe she should have run by his apartment on her way home, made sure that he'd made it home ok and that he was feeling ok. He had taken a hard knock on the head last night. Or maybe not. What kind of reception would she face? The way he'd acted in Vegas, she half expected to never hear from him again.

Her eyes caught sight of a small box on her stoop and she walked up the steps, bending over to pick it up. She gathered her mail and unlocked the door, automatically turning on the hall light.

Dismissing most of the mail as junk or bills, she made her way into the living room, sitting down on the couch. She opened the box, pulling aside a small pad of cotton to reveal a familiar round shape. She picked up the golden coin and held it in her hand, running her fingers over its smooth surface as she remembered the first time she'd seen it.

He laughed and walked in the other direction, stopping and kneeling down. "Well, whatta ya know?" Eric said, picking something up and brushing the dust off of it.

"What have you got?" she asked, moving towards him.

"Old Spanish coin," he said, tossing it to her. "Worth a pretty penny if that's what I think it is."

She studied the coin, trying to decipher the faded writing. "It's gold," she said. "I have no idea how old it is, but I have a friend that might know." She tossed it back to him. "He's no archaeologist, but one hell of a quick study. And persistent. He'll wear the internet out until he finds out who that is."

Eric tossed it back to her. "Ask him them."

She caught it, looking down at the glittering coin in her hand. "This is yours."

He moved towards her, standing just a couple of feet away. "If you have it, then I have a good excuse to call you," he said softly.

Smiling slightly, she set the coin back into its box and got up from the sofa. Suddenly a little less tired, she made her way back to the bathroom, a tub of steaming water beckoning her forward.

~Fin~

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