A short time later, Vinnet found herself confined to a room near a wall-hanging with the mark of Apophis. What she assumed to be a security contingent had arrived only minutes after she had, placed a strange device on her chest, and escorted her here. Finally, she saw someone approach her doorway and enter.

"What is your purpose here?" he asked sharply.

Play Goa'uld or do you think they've heard of Tok'ra? Sarah wondered.

*I will speak until we know where they stand.*

"Alrighty," Sarah replied, accidentally speaking aloud.

Vinnet quickly surfaced, trying to cover the inconsistancy with a coughing spell. "I demand to know why I am being detained."

The man stared skeptically. "You do not need to pretend she did not speak; the device you are wearing indicates who has control."

She frowned as the implications of his comment sank in and glanced to the device, which now showed red. "My request stands."

"A recent triad brought to light the point that many Goa'uld hosts do not care to be hosts. Lya requested to hear your host's point of view," he explained calmly.

As she considered what she might say, Sarah suddenly found herself in control. "All you had to do was ask," she insisted. "How's Mr. Hartman?" He frowned, confusion playing across his face. She continued, "We came here with a very sick man, and I need to know how he's doing."

"He is stable." The Tollan frowned, still confused. "You are not happy for the opportunity to speak?"

She shrugged. "It's just something you take for granted. I mean, Vinnet didn't really change my life or anything. Much. After a while..."

"So you volunteered to be a host?" he inquired.

"Not really, but I didn't object, if that answers your question." She paused for a second, and her eyes flashed, the device's indicator flickering to red momentarily. This repeated twice, the light staying red a few seconds longer the last time before finally staying blue. "Um," Sarah mumbled, "can you take this thing off now? Vinnet's having troub--" Her eyes flashed again as the symbiote tried to cut her off.

The red light flickered only once this time, but it finally stayed on. "My host agreed to the blending," Vinnet insisted, her pride still partially intact. The thought that she might not be able to take control of her host, even in the presence of a foreign device, disturbed her; it was her only means of communicating with the galaxy. On top of that, she didn't need her host to go asking someone to help the symbiote.

The Tollan frowned and took a step back from the symbiote. "You should not have been able to speak before she had finished..."

Sarah's cheeks blushed slighly. "She did not mind."

(As opposed to studying for a math test....)

Vinnet sprinted away from the Tok'ra base, the last one to leave the facility. Ahead of her ran one tired gentleman, who reached the Stargate moments before she did. Gasping for breath, he leaned on the DHD while she smacked seven of the symbols. A burst swept forward from the Ancient device, and the two wordlessly ran full-force through the deceptively calm event horizon.

Moments later, they arrived in a clean, bright city square, but Vinnet payed it little mind. She caught up to the other. "Are you well?"

He shook his head, finally allowing himself to collapse to the ground. Almost immediately, a group of four people in uniforms rushed in to help him.

Confused but seeing they meant him no harm, Vinnet tired to step back out of their way. In doing so, she bumped into another person. They both spun to face each other. Vinnet studied her, unfamiliar with any group who wouldn't object to having twigs in their hair. "Where am I?" she asked after a moment, too embarassed to admit aloud that she had misdailed.

"This is Tollana," the other replied in a quiet voice that help just a slight edge.

(Yes, I'm procrastinating anything related to real work.)

Jolinar stumbled out of the gate after O'Neill and Jackson, more than aware of how unceremoniously her hands were bound. They had not yet arrived on the planet with the Tok'ra base, but this SG-1 was unaware of that fact. Except for Samantha, of course.

"Colonel," she called, sounding more than a little tired. "This isn't the right planet."

One of Daniel's eyebrows flicked skywards. "Why would he give us the wrong address, Sam?"

She shrugged as much as she could with her hands bound behind her. "I think he didn't want us to keep the address in our dialing computer."

"But we'll still be able to remember it," the archeologist argued.

Jack caught on, nodding knowingly. "But Hammond won't be able to send anyone after us," he explained, "unless we leave a note."

Carter's eyes flared, and Jolinar took one step away from Teal'c, who stood behind her. "You must not. If the Goa'uld arrive here, they will find it and follow."

Jack blinked. "You are a Goa'uld. What do you care?"

Her eyes flashed again. "I am not a Goa'uld. As Captain Carter explained earlier, I am Tok'ra."

The colonel took a few menacing steps closer, reminding himself all the while that he was talking to the snake, not Carter. "Why don't you want to be followed?"

"Why do we have an iris, Jack?" Daniel inquried from behind him. "To keep out unwanted guests."

"If these Tok'ra oppose the Goa'uld as the legends say they do," Teal'c began, "security and defenses are indeed necessary."

"Thank you," Jolinar acknowledged. All this to return home, she thought, and perhaps stay there if that Nassyan man really was the Ashrak.

I'm sure that really was him, Carter consoled. I mean, there was something weird about him. He was burned so badly, he probably should've been dead.

Just as Jack was deciding to let the "Goa'uld" have it his way, the gate began dialing. As quickly as possible, the four hid behind some convenient bushes off to the side of the faint trail to the gate. The kerplundge shot forward and settled back into a two-story circle of watery event-horizon. A single figure walked through, and the Stargate shut off behind him. Even while two of the other three team members had their weapons trained on the lone figure and Teal'c had his trained on Jolinar, she was suddenly overcome with and obedient to an urge to run up and hug the figure, though the closest she could come was to be hugged by him. This surprised SG-1 to the point where they could do about nothing.

"Rosha?" the figure questioned, having hardly gotten a look at who had "attacked" him.

Tears began to streak down Carter's face. "She's gone, Martouf. The ashrak almost killed us, and she's gone."

He began to cry as well, but when he noticed SG-1's approach, his eyes flashed. He pulled Jolinar ever so slightly closer, and raised his zat to point at the approaching humans.

"Easy," O'Neill commanded. "It's three to one; put your weapon down."

"Do it, Lantash," Jolinar whispered. "They only want this host back." He looked at her now, studying the new face by his side and hesitating. "Do it, Lantash. They're Tau'ri."

His eyes widened in surprise, and he slowly, reluctantly set his zatn'katel on the grassy ground.


O’Neill swooped in and collected the weapon, returning to his original vantage point before asking, "Who are you?"

The newcomer didn’t answer as he carefully unbound Carter’s hands, but Jolinar did. "He is another Tok’ra: Lantash."

"Uh-huh." Jack glanced to his other teammates. "This feel like an ambush to anyone else?"

"Jack," Daniel scolded. "Not everything is an ambush; coincidences do happen. Besides, aren’t we the ones ambushing?"

Jolinar allowed her host to speak. "Colonel, this planet is special to both of them."

O’Neill flinched, instinctively turning his P-90 away from his 2IC. After a frown and some thought, though, he turned it back. "Carter?"

Frowning, she took half a step away from Lantash but did not come nearer to her friends and teammates. She blushed a little. "It’s kinda personal, sir."

Lantash smiled affectionately in her direction, the implied closeness digging into Jack’s heart. "No, it’s alright. This was Rosha’s homeworld. I came to see if she and Jolinar had escaped the ashrak or come here to avoid leading him to the base."

Both Teal’c and Daniel looked surprised. "Hunter," the translated for Jack’s benefit.

"As in bounty?"

Teal’c gave a single nod. "They serve the system lords by eliminating particular individuals."

Sam tried to divide her attention between her CO and Lantash, but since that was ineffective, she turned to Lantash. "We think he’s dead." She turned back to the colonel, knowing the next would make more sense to him. "Jolinar killed one of the Nassyans at the hospital."

Jack’s eyes widened. "What? Why?" he yelled.

"She thought he was a Goa’uld." She didn’t try to explain further. He didn’t need to be confused by the sensing and the details about his injuries.

"Great. Now what?" he wondered, looking around for ideas.

"Rosha’s home was always a refuge for us. We can stay there the night," Lantash suggested.

Carter glanced to the other Tok’ra then to the trail leading away from the Stargate. "Sir, it’s just on the edge of town. It’ll be like most of our other recon missions."

" ‘Cept that you’re a Goa’uld," he mumbled, motioning the others to move out.

Lantash’s eyes flashed, and now that the P-90s were directed elsewhere, he caught O’Neill by the arm. "Jolinar is not a Goa’uld!"

Jack jumped, extremely startled by the Goa’uld-ish behavior. "Just like I suppose you’re not?"

"I am not."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Jack, from what Teal’c’s told me, they’re resistance fighters." He turned to face Lantash. "You fight the Goa’uld, right?"

"Yes!" he replied.

Daniel nodded, trying to make a point to Jack. "Why?"

Lantash thought for a moment. "They do not respect their hosts. We believe that a host’s body should be shared equally between the symbiote and the host."

Before Daniel could reply, Jack commented. "Oh, yeah, shared equally. We still haven’t heard from your host."

Sam took particular interest in this, as did Daniel and Teal’c. All eyes turned to Lantash. He closed his eyes for a moment, but when he spoke, it was still clearly Lantash. "We… Martouf is not yet ready to speak. We are glad the ashrak is dead and Jolinar is here, but we loved Rosha as well."

"Rosha, Rosha, Rosha," Jack snarled, not catching on to the emotion in the Tok’ra’s voice. "You still sound like a Goa’uld to me."

Lantash glared at the colonel but remained silent. He quickly passed the others, leading them quickly toward the village. Carter shrugged to her CO and followed. "Lantash," she said as she caught up. "Lantash, slow down."

He paused and waited for her, checking to see that the rest of SG-1 was fairly far behind before he allowed Martouf to speak. A single tear spilled from his eye. He started to say something, but didn’t get very far.

Sam shook her head. "You don’t need to say anything."

He sighed. "I do." Catching her totally off-guard, he pursued a different subject. "Jolinar says she needs a new host."

She blushed. "I… I never volunteered to be a Tok’ra. We’ve never even heard of you until after Jolinar… I have a life back on Earth. I can’t just up and leave; they need me."

He frowned as both symbiote and host felt a chill run through them. "You didn’t volunteer?"

"It was a misunderstanding. I was trying to do CPR to save her host, and… And she thought I was trying to help her," Carter explained.

Martouf felt a weight settled in his stomach, but he was unsure whether it was due to disappointment or a further sense of loss. "Perhaps another on this world will volunteer to host Jolinar."

Carter glanced back to see that her CO and friends were out of earshot. "I don’t know if that’ll be necessary." Martouf looked expectantly in her direction. "We’re kinda reaching an understanding."

He grinned. It was the same expression he’d had the night before the mission that had taken her to Sokar’s moon. Wait, I’ve never been there! Why do I remember that?

Blending allows us to share more than just thoughts, Jolinar told her. Feelings, memories, everything is mutual.

As night fell, the group came upon a small cabin on the outskirts of a pleasant town. All four members of SG-1 slept in the common room. Hours later, Carter was still awake, arguing with Jolinar. I can’t go. I’m sorry. You know Colonel O’Neill would never let me, anyway.

But fighting the Goa’uld… I can’t give up on my own people.

Just coming back to Earth doesn’t mean you’ll stop fighting the Goa’uld, Sam reminded, thinking of some of SG-1’s various encounters with them. We just go about it a little differently. Please, Jolinar! Imagine everything you can teach us and all that an alliance with the Tok’ra could do for both the Tok’ra and the SGC!

Martouf… Lantash…

They can visit, can’t they?

As you say, long distance relationships don’t usually work out.

That’s when the people have been together for a handful of years, not a century.

And the typical long distance relationship is a few hundred or a few thousand "miles;" we will be worlds apart.

Connected by the Stargate, it’s probably not going to be more than maybe fifty klicks until there’s a Tel’tak involved. It’ll—

"Carter?" Jack O’Neill’s voice cut into the room’s silence like a shot.

"Sir?" she whispered back.

"Aren’t you going to get some sleep?"

She shrugged, though she knew he couldn’t see it in the darkness. "I don’t know. Jolinar—"

"We’ll get it out, Carter, don’t worry.," he replied, trying to sound reassuring.

She gulped. The middle of the night was a good time to break what he would consider bad news, right? "Sir, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she stayed."

"What?" he snapped, his voice considerably louder. Daniel rolled over in his sleep, but neither of their teammates awoke.

"We’ve been talking."

"We?"

"Me and Jolinar."

"You have?"

"Fine. We’ve been thinking back and forth. Do you think General Hammond would approve an addition to SG-1?"

"Do you think I’ll approve?" he countered.

"Sir," Carter began, "if she tries to leave, she might die."

"That bugs you?" he replied sarcastically.

"Yes, sir." She closed her eyes, though her view of the world changed little with the motion. "We have no right to risk her life just to feel better."

O’Neill began to reply, but Carter’s eye-flashing effectively shut his mouth for him. "There is still disagreement about this," Jolinar told him. "I’m willing to go."

He frowned. "She’s arguing for you to stay?" he exclaimed, this time trying to keep his voice down.

"Yes." Jolinar shook her head and rolled on her side so that her back was to him. "Good night, Colonel."

"Night." He lay back, puzzled, then pinched his arm. It hurt. So he wasn’t dreaming or, rather, "nightmaring." Maybe he was hallucinating, though. Because there was no way Carter just told him she wanted to stay a Goa’uld.

The ultimate question for Tok'ra fans is: What if Jolinar hadn't died? *evil grin* Thanks to Meushall for the great ideas I'm trying to build on. Note: ever notice how Jolinar walks right up to the Ashrak and doesn't do anything, even though she has to be able to sense that he's blended? Yeah, me too.


Jolinar paced back and forth in her cell, several things weighing in on her mind. She hoped she had done the right ting in killing the Nassyan man at the hospital. She was sure she had felt a presence in him and fairly certain he wasn't a Tok'ra; they knew the dangers in coming near her were far too great. So she had killed him in one quick stroke to the back of the neck.

Jolinar sighed, again wishing she could have told the difference between a willing host and a compassionate giver of first aid. I will not harm you, she thought to her current host again. Please believe me.

No, you're a Goa'uld! Get out! Go away!

I did not know! I am sorry!

The host didn't reply but thought back to the Goa'uld-removing procedure a Major Kawalsky had once undergone. It had been unsuccessful, and this drove Captain Carter further into dispair.

I will leave as soon as I find another host, Jolinar promised.

You won't. I know that. You're a Goa'uld.

Her insistence stabbled deeply into Jolinar's heart, and she again wished she had not had to separate from Rosha. Talk to them when they come. Just know whtat if we are allowed to leave, I will take us back to the Tok'ra base, where I can find a new host.

Just as she thought that, Colonel O'Neill entered, and Jolinar gave her host control.

"You know, you really screwed up this time," he began.

"Colonel!" Sam replied. "It's me. Please, get it out!"

His eyes widened. "Carter!" Then he closed them and shook his head, remembering Teal'c's advice. "Why are you doing this?" he whispered.

"Colonel," she repeated, shomehow managing to keep her calm. "He says that if we let him go, he'll go back to his base and find a new host."

"I'm not buying it," O'Neill replied, referring to the Goa'uld's obvious act of playing Sam.

"Me neither, sir," Carter responded. "But maybe if we all go together--"

Her eyes flashed, a sure sign of Goa'uld take over. "What'd you do that for!" Jack shouted.

"Three unblended humans would not be allowed to leave. It would be a huge breech of security," Jolinar answered.

"A Goa'uld worried about security? Isn't that what you think Jaffa are for?"

Jolinar paused, not wanting to say too much. Then she figured she might as well explain a little. Trust had to be built; it was rarely given freely. "We have no Jaffa," she admitted.

"Not much of a Goa'uld, are you then?""

"No," she agreed.

O'Neill stood back. What happened to this guy's pride? No Jaffa? Not much of a Goa'uld? Seemed to have let Carter talk? "Who are you?"

The Tok'ra frowned and broke eye contact. This simply wasn't something she wanted to share. She retreated, leaving Sam in control. "Jack, I don't think he's a Goa'uld... At least, not the kind we know. A normal Goa'uld would never let its host talk..."

That's right! That's right! Jolinar praised. A Goa'uld wouldn't, but Tok'ra do all the time!

"Tok'ra," Sam blurted, latching onto the word. "Ask Teal'c about Tok'ra."

Jolinar flinched. There goes security.