Dr. Montigue had been in contact with Earth. There had been an article about nanotechnology, which had listed several scientists who were working in that area. He had hoped to get the head of the research to Gamma. Instead she was sending her assistant. A biologist. Dr. Betsy Harris. He hurried to tell Duncan to expect her within the next few hours.

Jack was in Duncan's office when the doctor knocked on the door, and announced that the woman would be arriving shortly. "Oh, hell no! That bitch caused trouble between Daniel and Casey. She tried to claim she was pregnant by him just before I had her ass shipped off to Adak, Alaska. Bring her here, and she'll see to it that Casey doesn't survive!" Jack said.

Dr. Montigue shook his head. "She's been working with Doctor Sherry Talbot, one of the leading experts on nanotechnology. She doesn't need to know that Casey is one of the patients. Let her think it's for Colonel Carter."

Duncan shook his head. The doctor had just sedated her again. After the trauma of having Lilith invade her mind, the virus had restarted. A bath with the water from the cavern had helped stop the nanobots, but she was still affected. Both women were being kept in a special room set up to handle biohazards. "I don't think that would work. I'll see about getting someone else here. Just make sure she understands that she does her job, and does it well," he said darkly.

Jack nodded. "I think she can be persuaded."

"For all you know, she may not even be a problem," Dr. Montigue said.

"Doc, you don't know this woman!" Jack declared.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Daniel was furious when he was told. "You're bringing who here? Are you out of your freaking mind?"

"It's just until Duncan can pull some strings and get somebody else here. Evidently Dr. Harris has been working with one of the leading experts in the field," Jack told him.

He shook his blonde head. "She'd like nothing better than to see Casey hurt, or dead!"

"We don't know that, it has been seven years. Maybe she's obsessed with someone else now," Jack said.

"She'd damn well better be! And she stays away from Casey!" Daniel grumbled.

"I'll post a guard on the door," Jack promised.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Dr. Betsy Harris had followed Daniel's career faithfully. If anything, the seven years since she had last seen him had made her all the more obsessed with him. She had visited all of the websites dedicated to him, and she had mourned the fact that that skinny blonde bitch had been able to give him children; apparently with help from the serum developed to help Immortals become pregnant. She hadn't known he was an Immortal when she had tried to claim he had gotten her in the family way. If she had, she simply would have threatened to expose his little secret, would have turned that skinny blonde bitch over to the NID. Now, of course, it didn't matter. He was a hero. As well as publishing scientific papers once again. He was being hailed as the most brilliant archaeologist of the century.

She stood nervously at the bottom of the ramp in the belly of Cheyenne Mountain. The only thing she knew about this problem was that a virus based on nanotechnology had been found. And that her input was needed to 'shut the little buggers down', according to Dr. Montigue's message. Sherry thought this would be quite easily done, and so had allowed her only two days to go to Gamma. She was hoping that it would take a bit longer. She wanted to see Daniel, and spend time with him. She had even thought of the perfect way to do so. She would become friends with his wife. Then, when the opportunity presented itself, and it would, she would get him into her bed.  She was certain he would fall in love with her then.

"You're clear to go, Doctor Harris," a voice called down to her.

She shivered slightly. She had never been through the Stargate, not even when she'd worked at the SGC. With a deep breath, she walked up the ramp and through the event horizon. When she opened her eyes, she looked directly into the scowling face of General O'Neill. Well, this is just ducky! The one man she never wanted to see again was here to greet her. The thought that he had been ordered to do so crossed her mind, and made her smile genuine. That would explain why he looked so pissed off! "Why, General O'Neill, what a surprise!"

"I'll bet. Come on, I'll show you where you're going to be working. I'll fill you in on the rules on the way."

She swallowed. Something about the way he was standing, his hands on his hips, told her that he was in charge here. Ducky. Absolutely ducky! "Of course."

"There are two patients infected with the virus. Right now they're down to about eight hours before the nanobots completely take over their systems. Doctor Montigue says that if that happens they'll be nothing more than organic robots. You'll help Doctor Montigue in every way possible, you will not withhold any information that might be important."

She smiled smugly. "If my expertise is needed here, just how would you know I was withholding anything?"

"Because Duncan called in some favors owed to him. Doctor Talbot will be here in three hours."

Betsy stopped, looked at the man slack-jawed. "You can't be serious! There's a very important meeting about nanotechnology in Boston tomorrow. That's why she sent me! She doesn't want to miss that conference!"

Jack gave a grim smile. "It seems she's more interested in studying a real live nanovirus up close and personal. Duncan decided to give her all the information we have on this problem."

The redheaded woman began walking again. Well, maybe this would work out after all, it might give her more time to seduce Dr. Daniel Jackson.

The general took her into a laboratory. There were several pieces of equipment that were totally alien to her…probably were alien! 

She smiled. "Yes. You must be Doctor Montigue."

"That I would. I beg your forgiveness, but we don't have time to stand around exchanging pleasantries. Come, let me show you what I have found so far." The doctor led the woman to a nearby computer.

Jack watched for a few moments, then went to join Daniel in the observation room. It was the only way they were able to 'be' with their wives. Neither woman was conscious. And both men were terrified that they never would be again. Daniel had his elbows on the desk in front of him, his hands against his head, his eyes glued to the still figure of his wife.

"She's here?"

"Yeah," Jack replied. "Duncan pulled off a miracle…the head of this whole shebang there on Earth should be here in three hours. I made sure to tell Betsy that."

"She doesn't know who the patients are?"

"Nope. Duncan told the doc to keep that quiet as long as possible."

Daniel nodded. "Good."

"Now I think I know what you and Sam went through when we died," Jack said quietly.

"Do you think we'll ever go on a mission that doesn't leave half the team dead or dying, or one that isn’t pulling Case and me apart?"

Jack smiled. "Hopefully. The good news is that you and Casey always manage to land on the right side of that line. I know it's been rough for the two of you. But you're doing okay. You always will."

"Came damn close to falling right over the edge on that mission with Methos," Daniel admitted. "It was my own fault, I know that, but…" he shrugged. "Case says that the Fire makes our tempers…our anger…burn just as hot as our love."

"I think she's right," Jack said. "Just between you and me, if it had been Sam, I would have been just as pissed. I'm just lucky she doesn't remember the guy who was screwing her. She doesn't even remember leaving the place."

"Yeah, lucky," Daniel said. "Casey told me that the only reason she remembered…him…was because he looked like me."

"I can understand that."

The men fell into companionable silence. Teal'c joined them sometime later, and the three men kept silent vigil over the women of SG-1.

Daniel had decided to go to the mess hall for a cup of coffee. He was sitting alone at a small table, where he and Casey usually sat at whenever they took a break, or ate lunch here. He was staring into the black liquid, a frown on his face, when she sat down.

"Hello, Daniel."

He looked up, but said nothing. She had tiny creases around her eyes, two deep ones from her nose that ran down around her mouth that had not been there the last time he saw her.

Betsy examined him carefully. He looked exactly the same as he had the last time she had seen him. Still handsome, virile… and he was still working out. "You look…well."

His gaze became cold. Again he said nothing.

She cleared her throat. Obviously he was still angry over that pregnancy thing. "How's your lovely wife?" She didn't miss the flash of pain that filled his eyes. Hope sprang up in her heart. Were they separated? Divorced? She knew that the bitch wasn't dead…but maybe, just maybe…another thought filled her mind. She's one of the patients! Oh, no! How could she work on a cure to help…her? She couldn't…she wouldn’t do it! Oh, she'd play the role of the dedicated scientist, and when it was all over, she would be around to comfort poor, grieving Daniel.

"She's still the only woman my eyes will ever see," he said coolly.

Until she's dead, Betsy thought gleefully.

The klaxons began to wail. Daniel rose to his feet, and without saying another word, he headed for the 'gate room. He wanted to meet the woman who would be saving Casey's…and Sam's…life.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Dr. Sherry Talbot was a tiny woman with short gray hair and laughing brown eyes. She had a firm handshake, a big smile, and immediately assured General O'Neill and Dr. Jackson that their wives were going to be just fine.

"I did some thinking on the flight to Silver Springs. I have a theory that Doctor Montigue may be able to help me with," she said, as they led her to the laboratory. "If they're Immortal, their… uh…Quickening should be trying to deal with the invasion. If this nanovirus works the way I suspect it does, it needs a living host. If we…uh…"

"Kill them," Daniel said gently.

Dr. Talbot smiled. "I hate that word, but yes…it might buy us more time. If we're lucky, it will cause the nanobots to die as well."

"They would just reanimate in a matter of minutes," Daniel pointed out.

"Which is where Doctor Montigue comes in. Surely there is a way to keep them…deceased…long enough."

Daniel frowned. "The only way would be to put them into an environment where they couldn't live."

"Such as water, perhaps?" Dr. Talbot said. "I also want to run some tests on that water that he mentioned in his report. I'm wondering how diluted we can make it, and have it still work."

"I'll send another team after more," Jack said. He gave the two scientists a wave, and turned back toward his office.

Dr. Montigue was busy working alone when Dr. Talbot arrived. She wasn't interested in small talk, and went directly to work. She paused long enough to ask where Betsy was. One of Dr. Montigue's assistants went in search of her.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Betsy Harris was standing in his office. The credenza behind the desk was crowded with photographs of that skinny blonde bitch and those two brats. Although the baby was kind of cute. Looked just like Daniel. She crossed her arms in front of her. The little girl would have to go. She was the image of her damnable mother. Hmmm…hadn't she read somewhere that the bitch's parents…her mother…babysat for them? Well, Grandma could have the little girl. She would give Daniel a beautiful little girl who looked just like her, with red hair and brown eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

She jumped, turned around to look into blue eyes filled with anger…hatred. "I just wanted to talk to you, Daniel."

"What makes you think I want to talk to you?"

She walked slowly to where he stood. "Because deep inside you know how good we could be together. This is our chance! No one will fault you for moving on after your wife dies…I can transfer here, we could build a wonderful life together. Or we could go back to Earth. Oh, Daniel, you're a hero there! You could do whatever you wanted: research, teach, write…the world is your oyster, my darling."

"You're delusional." He walked to his desk, picked up the telephone and called security.

She ran to his side, grabbed his arm when he backed away from her. "Daniel, admit it, we're so right for each other, we were meant to be together. I've thought about you every day, dreamed of you every night, made love to you in my dreams. Tell me you haven't thought about me!"

"Doctor Harris, in all honesty I can say that since you were transferred to Alaska, you haven't crossed my mind once," Daniel replied. He waved the just arrived guards into the room. "Take Doctor Harris to the lab where Doctor Montigue is working. And tell him to keep an eye on her, she's liable to try and sabotage their work. Tell him that I recommend that she be sent back to Earth immediately."

"Yes, sir, Doctor Jackson." The guard took the woman by the arm and led her from the office.

Daniel dropped into his chair. At least Casey wasn't awake for this! He wasn't sure how she would handle seeing the biologist again. At least she didn't know about the pregnancy thing! He picked up the phone. He wanted to make sure that someone was keeping a close eye on Dr. Betsy Harris.

Daniel wasn't the only one worried that Betsy would do less than her best, and would try to hold back the research. Jack had talked to Dr. Montigue. That man had had a visit with Dr. Talbot. She agreed that under the circumstances, to which she had just been introduced, it would be better to keep Betsy working on the non-critical areas of the research.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Betsy was livid to be relegated to doing nothing more than simple research, becoming a glorified go-for. She made her way down the corridor toward the room where the two women were being kept unconscious. She had heard Dr. Montigue and Dr. Talbot discussing the merits of killing the women, and letting their Quickening help fight the virus. Like most people of Earth, she knew about Immortals, she just didn't know that there was a way to kill them…forever. She did, know, however, that a quick injection of the virus that they had been working with would speed Casey Jackson along to her robot status. Dr. Talbot was afraid that if the nanobots did take over the body completely, there would be nothing left of the mind. She slipped into the room where the containment suits were kept. She pulled the syringe from her pocket, laid it on the shelf while she pulled on the heavy suit. She put the helmet on, grabbed the syringe, and headed for the door.

Two armed guards greeted her. "Just another injection to keep them sedated," she said calmly.

The guard looked at her, then nodded. He opened the door.

Had Betsy looked up, she would have seen Daniel watching his wife. She didn’t. She looked at Colonel Carter for a few moments. Then she moved to the bed were Casey Jackson lay; helpless, defenseless against her attacker.

Daniel sat up straight. Casey wasn't due to get another injection for two hours. He had the schedule, the routine, memorized. When Betsy glanced over at Sam, as if to make sure the woman was still unconscious, he caught a glimpse of her red hair. "Touch my Wife, and I'll kill you with my bare hands," he said into the microphone. His voice was cold. He had already hit the alarm button.

Betsy jumped, looked up at him, then grabbed the blonde woman's arm. All she had to do was get the needle into her, the nanobots would do the rest.

The door flew open and two people in hazmat suits rushed in. "Drop that needle, or I will shoot," a male voice said.

She looked around. As much as she wanted this bitch dead and out of the way, it wouldn't do her any good if she were locked up. "I believe there's been a misunderstanding. I’m just here to give Mrs. Jackson another injection of sedative."

"Inject her with it," Daniel's voice said. "If it's just a sedative."

"No! No! Oh, god, no!" Betsy cried out in panic.

"Drop it lady, I'm not going to tell you again."

One of the guards approached her, and took the syringe from nerveless fingers. She looked up at the observation room, her eyes filled with anger. "I was doing it for us!" she hissed.

Daniel shook his head. Then he turned his back until she was safely out of the room. Duncan sent her back to Earth immediately, didn't even allow her time to gather her belongings. They were sent through an hour later.

Dr. Talbot apologized for her assistant's behavior, sincerely shocked that Betsy would do such a thing. She wondered how many of her own experiments, experiments that should have worked…had worked according to computer models…the woman had sabotaged. She decided that when she returned to Earth, she was going to redo some of those experiments; and Dr. Betsy Harris would be looking for work elsewhere.