Thor had brought all of the Immortals who were affected to his ship, and allowed Dr. Williams and his research team access to the labs there as well.

Daniel was helping wherever and however he could, as was Sam. Neither of them had any experience in virology, but were willing to do some of the necessary research that freed the team of doctors to work on a cure.

It had been almost twenty-four hours since their return from the planet, and they were both exhausted. Dr. Williams insisted that they both try to get some sleep. Daniel lay on the bed that Thor had provided; his body weary, his heart breaking, his mind racing. Someone had figured out a way to kill Immortals. He kept thinking about the ‘museum’. They had searched every building from top to bottom, and found no sign of life anywhere. Only what had been. SG-6 and two SGA teams had returned there, the UAV was sent up, but nothing more was found. He tried to remember if Jack and Casey had touched any of the ‘exhibits’. He couldn’t recall any of them getting close enough to actually touch the items on display. He rubbed a hand wearily over his face. "Miss you, Angel," he whispered. He curled up, aching, needing to feel her body next to his, closed his eyes. It was awhile before sleep finally overtook him.

"It’s almost like the pathogen that was used to destroy the Goa’uld symbiotes and their hosts," Dr. Williams said, three hours later. He looked over at Sam. "It also seems to have entered the soil recently. I’d say within the past six months, judging from the samples we have. I sent one of the teams back for deeper samples. But I’ll be surprised if it goes any deeper than the first inch or so."

"NID!" Sam hissed. "Those damn bastards are at it again!"

Daniel nodded his agreement. "We need to warn the Council, Gamma itself could be a target."

"I think we should have a talk with the Earth Defense Alliance. You can’t tell me that nobody knows what’s going on," Sam said.

The two Immortals left the room, angry at their findings. Thor had remained in orbit over Gamma, and now the Phoenix would be moved to join it. The NID still had the Al-kesh that they had managed to capture. No doubt it was from there that they were doing most of their work.

With the pathogen finally identified, the medical team was working on an antidote. Dr. Williams was confident that it wouldn’t take more than a matter of hours. Two days later, he dropped down onto a chair. "We’ve tried everything we can think of," he said quietly. "All we can do now is hope that the scientists on Gamma will come up with something we missed."

Thor and the other Asgard scientists were also working on the problem. Teams on both Alpha and Beta were working as well. The hope was that one of these groups would find the answer.

Daniel felt his world toppling, spinning out of control. It had been nearly a week since Casey had died, her body in cryogenic hibernation waiting for that magic cure. He stood in the hold where the tube like chambers were lined up, his hand on the one she was in. "Love you, Angel," he said softly. "They’re all working hard to find the cure to this. Don’t leave me, babe, please, don’t leave me."

Sam came running into the room, a smile on her face. "I think we’ve found the problem! Dr. Williams took DNA samples from all of the surviving Immortals, including Oma. There was a slight difference, only two genes affected. Oma thinks it was done by the group of Immortals who were working in the nursery, an attempt to ‘perfect’ Immortals. Thor is helping Dr. Williams, and with luck we’ll try the ‘repair’ in the next hour or so. Dr. Williams will try it on Duncan first, then Jack."

Daniel looked up, his heart reaching desperately for hope. "Hold on, babe," he whispered. "Stay with me just a little longer."

A  A  A  A  A  A

The test was a dismal failure. The scientists and doctors were pouring over their findings in an attempt to discover what had gone wrong. Theoretically, it should have worked. They could find nothing in their results.

"I don’t know what else to do," Dr. Williams said. "We’ve tried everything, done everything …this seemed to be the answer. I think…I think maybe we should just…maybe we should just admit that we’re beat this time."

"No!" Daniel cried, jumping to his feet. "You can’t quit now! The answer is there somewhere! We just have to find it!"

"Daniel, I know this isn’t easy," the doctor said gently. "Sometimes…sometimes we just don’t win. This…this is one of those times."

Daniel sank back into his chair. He couldn’t lose her! He couldn’t! How was he supposed to live without her?