

Nick Isaacs turned out to be a friendly person. He lived alone with his young son in a large farmhouse, so there was more than enough space for all of his guests.

It was early morning when they arrived. Isaacs was on his way to work, and his son would be leaving for school, so SG-1 and the others would have the place to themselves until afternoon.

Isaacs invited them to eat breakfast with him and his son. Since the child was present, they did not discuss anything about the night's activities, but chatted about normal, daily life events.

After Isaacs and his son had left, SG-1, Martouf/Lantash, Jacob/Selmak, and Argent decided to take a bath before looking into the material they had found during the night's mission.

They were really tired, but it was important to go through the files and data they had recovered immediately. A bath would hopefully wake them up, so they would have the energy to do what they needed to.

Sam towel-dried her hair, then pulled a clean t-shirt on, before running a comb through her short hair. She studied herself in the mirror. She looked about as tired as she felt, but a shower had been very nice. She just wished she could go directly to bed and sleep for ten hours straight! The night's mission had been exhausting, particularly emotionally. She had felt terrified when Martouf and Lantash had been captured, despite knowing very well they had been in dangerous situations before.

All the others had bathed already, and they were probably waiting for her right now. They intended to spend several hours going through the data they had recovered, and come up with a plan. Then they could rest.

By now Ba'al and his accomplices knew without doubt that someone was on to them, and that those someones had gotten their hands on material which might be a danger to their plans.

Their enemies would already be searching for SG-1 and the others, and it was only a matter of time before they were tracked down if they stayed in one place for long.

It would probably also be safest if Argent could convince his friend to go somewhere else for the time being - since someone might track them to his home.

Sam threw a last look at herself in the mirror, and stepped out of the bathroom, yawning mightily. Thus she was not paying attention to her surroundings, and did not notice Martouf until it was too late. She walked straight into him.

"Oops, sorry!" she exclaimed.

"I am unharmed, Samantha," Martouf said, embracing her, and giving her a quick kiss. He smiled at her. "You look beautiful."

"I look like Hell, but thanks anyway." She gave him a small smile, and returned the kiss, embracing him tightly.

"Being tired detracts nothing from your beauty," Martouf assured her.

"You're sweet." She leaned the side of her head against his. "I am so relieved you got away safely - and that your injuries healed so quickly." She pressed a kiss against his neck. "Great work, Lantash."

"Thank you, Samantha," Lantash said, taking control. "I assure you, we are both relieved to have escaped." He stroked her hair, before pulling her in for a kiss.

He let his hands slide down over her back, as his lips moved slowly against hers. Sam closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, deepening it. Lantash made a small sound and pushed his tongue into her mouth, eagerly caressing her back, then sliding his hands lower, grabbing hold of her ass.

Sam felt his shaft harden, and she rubbed herself against him. The kiss grew more passionate, as she pushed him up against the nearby wall.

A few moments later, Lantash broke the kiss and stepped back, breathing heavily.

"Lantash?" Sam looked at him, suddenly nervous she had done something wrong.

Understanding her worry, he shook his head and spoke, his voice hoarse, "You did nothing wrong, Samantha. Martouf... Martouf reminded me we had come here to fetch you. The others are waiting, and... would no doubt have interrupted us very soon. Knowing how you feel about such things, we did not want you to feel uncomfortable."

The door at the other end of the corridor opened just then, and O'Neill appeared. "What's keeping you, kids? We're only waiting for you!"

Argent had downloaded the photographs of the maps he had taken, and printed them out so they could all study them.

"I've made an extra copy. We can pack that up with all the other stuff we've found, when we've finished studying it. My sister will come pick it up and take it to a hiding place we have," Argent said.

"Sounds good." Sam smiled. "Martouf and I should probably begin by taking a look at the data we downloaded from the labs first. It would be good to know what they are up to. Much of it is in Goa'uld, and that's suspicious in and of itself."

"Who's looking at the stuff we got from the office of the Goa'uld? Daniel? Jacob?" O'Neill asked.

"Both of us, I guess? There was a lot of it that was in a dialect I had a hard time reading." Daniel looked at Jacob, then at Teal'c. "Teal'c? Are you helping us too?"

"I believe I already promised Argent to answer a number of his questions about the Goa'uld - and the Stargates. However, if my assistance is needed, that takes precedence, of course."

"No, that's fine - we can handle it. It's probably a good idea to get any questions out of the way anyway," Daniel said.

"Good, then let's get to it!" O'Neill smiled. "I'll be taking a nap on the couch if you need me!"

"Okay, so what did you find?" O'Neill asked.

"We have an entire list of everyone involved, who is at a level above foot-soldier," Jacob told him.

"As well as a list of organizations that have been infiltrated by Ba'al... and the places he and his immediate underlings are hiding," Daniel added.

Jacob smiled, pleased. "Which mean we should be able to take down most of the organization - we just need to get Ba'al."

"That's great! What about the data from the labs?" O'Neill wondered.

"Did you find any proof that they're involved in creating werewolves?" Argent asked, interested.

Sam nodded. "Yes - or more correctly, Ba'al is working with Nirrti to 'improve' on her original creation. The goal is not explicitly finding better hosts anymore, but creating powerful warriors, as well as spies who can hear and see at a distance and under conditions that others can't. However, it would seem the Goa'uld Joh'lan has a werewolf host."

"So symbiotes can't cure it?" O'Neill asked.

"Yes, they most likely can, but not if the host is already completely transformed." Martouf said.

O'Neill nodded. "Understood. Since it sounds like we got what we need, we should hide the data and go after Ba'al - as quickly as possible."

"I agree," Jacob said.

"All right. I'll call my sister and tell her to come pick up the things that needs hiding." Argent looked at his watch. "I'm guessing she can be here around 8 PM."

"Another thing - I'm not sure if Ba'al and his people will be able to track us here, but it's possible. He can certainly find your sister and your kid. You should tell them to go somewhere safe," O'Neill said.

Argent nodded. "That sounds like a sensible precaution. I assume you think Nick and his son are in danger too?"

"Yes. The Goa'uld will stop at nothing to get to us, so it would be best to have them hide somewhere too."

"Nick won't be happy - especially since I can't tell him any of the details," Argent said.

O'Neill shrugged. "I'm sure he won't, but that can't be helped. At least they'll be alive."

"Right." Argent sighed. "I'll go call my sister."

Martouf yawned and looked unhappily at the clock on the wall. It was late afternoon, and Isaacs and his son would soon be back.

They had only gotten a couple hours of sleep in the last 34 hours, and they were all exhausted. They could not stay here and get some rest, though, and as soon as Argent's sister had picked up the intelligence they had on Ba'al and his co-conspirators, they would have to leave.

Teal'c and O'Neill were watching television in the neighbouring room, while Jacob, Daniel, and Sam had gone to buy food in a Chinese restaurant a few blocks away.

Argent smiled at Martouf. "So, being a host doesn't protect you from getting tired?"

Martouf shook his head. "No. While we can go without sleep for much longer than a non-blended person, we still get tired. Lantash can keep us functioning for several days without sleep, if it is absolutely necessary. It would not be pleasant, though. We can also take turns sleeping, but it's much to be preferred to sleep at the same time. Much more restful."

Argent nodded. "I guess that makes sense." He was quiet for some time. "How is it to be a host? To have... someone else in your head, all the time. Your thoughts are never your own."

"I suppose it takes a little while getting used to, but not as long as you may think. Host and symbiote become closer than anyone else. Lantash is my best friend - more than that. Closer even than a mate. It quickly became irrelevant that he can hear my thoughts, and read my memories. Yes, it's possible to not listen to everything, of course, and if you have memories you do not want to share, he will not look at them."

"But he's an alien... a being like those... those Goa'uld, you have described. He can take anything he wants from your mind..." Argent looked uncomfortable.

"Yes, biologically he is like the Goa'uld, but that is the only way he resembles them. While he could suppress me, impersonate me, and take my memories against my will, he would never do that. The Tok'ra truly are not like the Goa'uld!"

"You trust him?"

"With my life. Sometimes quite literally." Martouf smiled wryly, thinking of some of the dangerous situations they had been in.

"I believe you - it's just... yesterday I didn't even know aliens existed, and now I've met several of them... and learned that some other aliens are trying to take over my planet!"

"I understand. It is a lot to accept, quickly."

"Samantha Carter's dad is a host too - how does she feel about that?"

"She was the one who suggested it to him, and he is very satisfied with his life among the Tok'ra, so I believe she has only positive thoughts about that."

"Interesting." He smiled. "She did a great job with the scientific data we got from that lab. She seems to be very intelligent."

"She is, yes. Very intelligent." Martouf confirmed. The doorbell rang, and he got up from the couch he had been sitting on. "I believe that may be her and the others, returning with the food. At least I hope so."

Chapter 23: A Motel