Author Notes: This is not my first fic, but is my first Stargate fanfic, so please be nice! Though I don't think it will be bad or anything. I did quite a lot of other writing before this. I would "love" to get feedback, any fedback! Tell me what you loved, what I could improve, how a scene made you feel, or whatever. I'm just a young writer hungry to know what all of you think! E-mail me or send me a message here on GateWorld. ChristianGateFan is my forum name too.
This story takes place in both seasons three and nine, and involves quite a bit of time-travel and alternate-universe theory stuff, but I do my best to explain everything that happens, via the characters. Also, you probably saw the mention of torture in the description, so yes, it is a bit violent and there is plenty of Danny Whumping. I am a Christian, however, so nothing gruesome or anything, and no language or, uhm, other things, you know.
There is no 'permanent' character death, I should say. The story does involve alternate universes, but is not AU in itself. This story is meant to keep the continuity of the series.
So, anyway, please read and enjoy the story. Part 2 is in progress, and if you all like this and want to read Part 2, let me know! Have a blessed day!
--Kaitlyn Wooley

How Long is Forever?

Daniel Jackson was trapped. He was trapped on an alien world, brought here against his will, by a means he didn't yet understand. He was trapped in a Goa'uld facility belonging to Apophis, the one person-or thing, or whatever-he hated most in the entire universe. He was trapped in the grip of the two serpent guards that held him between them, wouldn't allow him to move even an inch.

Not that he would have been able to move much if they weren't holding him so tightly that his arms hurt. Because not only was he caught between them, but Daniel was trapped in the clutches of a Goa'uld hand device trained on his aching forehead. Pain racked his entire body so harshly that by all rights he should have been trembling violently, but he couldn't move. He couldn't struggle. His knees had given out long ago from the torture, but the two jaffa still held him halfway up, and by now his arms felt as if they didn't let go soon, they would tear from their sockets.

This wasn't right. This wasn't where he was supposed to be. The Goa'uld had been defeated. Except for Baal, they weren't a threat anymore. The Ori were the problem now. There shouldn't have been a Goa'uld trying to kill him, or get information from him, or whatever it was this one was trying to do. Daniel couldn't really remember anymore. This had been going on for too long; his mind was too blurred. But he knew this had happened before, in a way...

But that wasn't it. No, the worst part of it all was that Daniel was trapped in a nightmare that refused to end. Because the face that loomed before him, not quite in focus anymore because of his blurring vision, was too familiar, too precious to him to be the cause of the agony he was feeling.

But it was reality. He knew his eyes weren't lying, hadn't been lying to him since he had been brought here. And the knowledge brought with it an even more unbearable agony, one that tore at his heart relentlessly, one that showed on his face more clearly than anything else as he stared helplessly up at his tormentor, forcing back one of the loud groans of pain that had issued from his mouth so often in recent hours.

Instead the stricken young archaeologist forced himself to speak, even though it only made the pain worse.

"Sha're..." Daniel gasped once.

But of course she did not reply. Amaunet only frowned and increased the intensity of the orange beam leaping from the ribbon device to his forehead, and Daniel shouted, his face twisting in agony as the pain increased exponentially. He hadn't even thought that was possible. *Obviously I was wrong*, he thought helplessly as his vision began to darken quickly. About more than just that...

And Daniel Jackson's world abruptly went black.

------------------------------------------------------

Three Days Earlier (Or six years previously, from his point of view...)

"Hey Sam, wait up!" Daniel's voice called from down the hallway.

Samantha Carter slowed her slightly urgent pace enough to glance over her shoulder at Jackson, coming up behind her. Then she did a double take on him.

*I've got to stop doing that*, she scolded herself as she stopped to comply with his request. She was still getting used to the shorter hair thing.

Seconds later, an out of breath Daniel Jackson caught up to her, and both continued together, their pace a bit slower than either's had been a moment before.

"Thanks," Daniel said, catching his breath. "I thought I was gonna be late-glad to see I'm not the only one running close." He was referring to the mission briefing they were both on their way to.

Sam looked over at him and smiled. "Same here," she admitted good-naturedly.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah...So, where are we off to this time?"

"Um...P5R-316," Carter replied after a pause in thought. "They just sent the M.A.L.P. through, so we should be able to see some of the telemetry after the briefing.

A moment later, the two of them were climbing the stairs to their destination. When they arrived, Daniel glanced self-consciously at the clock on the wall. He was relieved to see that General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill, and Teal'c, who were already present, were simply early. The two doctors were not late, but right on time. That surreptitiously assessed, Jackson and Carter took their places around the table, and the general began the briefing.

-------------------------------------------------

After the briefing, SG-1 sat gathered around one of the computers in the control room that looked out over the Stargate, studying the telemetry the M.A.L.P. probe had sent back about P5R-316.

It seemed like a normal enough world, nothing unusual. From what the probe had been able to see, the Stargate on the planet was surrounded by trees when one reached the edge of the small clearing it sat in. There was no sign of civilization, but then again there could be anything beyond those trees, Jackson reminded them, and they should still look. Teal'c didn't recognize anything in the area, so the team prepared for a run-of-the-mill reconnaissance mission, though still, as always, unsure of exactly what they would find on the other side.

Late that afternoon they parted, all headed for their respective homes to rest before they headed out at 0900 the next morning.

--------------------------------------------------------

What the probe did *not* pick up was the jaffa patrol that watched the Stargate on the planet in question. They were too well hidden, and for good reason.

The moment the M.A.L.P. came through the familiar blue vortex, bounced down the stone steps and stopped several feet from the Gate, the serpent guards sprung into action, though still staying out of sight of the camera that they knew would be atop the device.

Almost immediately the message of the arriving Tau'ri machine was sent quickly to their master, Apophis. He, in turn, relayed the information to his queen, who was more than delighted to hear it.

----------------------------------------------------------

In space around the planet, several large ships surrounded two even larger ones, hu'tack class vessels. Apophis stood with Amaunet on the bridge of one of the two Goa'uld mother ships.

The alien false god turned to the woman beside him. "I must leave on my own business now, my queen, but I wish you well in your quest."

Amaunet bowed her head. "I will not fail you again, my lord. Before I return to you this time, the human will be dead, and I assure you it will be the worst one possible." At the last part, there was a hint of an evil, anticipating smile on the impassive, beautiful face as it rose again.

Apophis smiled and nodded once in satisfaction. "I hope as much."

And then, with a final stroke of her cheek, he left. Moments later he had ringed to his own ship, and the fleet separated. The majority of it jumped almost immediately into hyperspace with Apophis's ship, but two or three remained with their queen. Not long after Apophis had gone, Amaunet gave the order that sent her own ships into hyperspace, but in the opposite direction.

-----------------------------------------------

She was *there*. Sha're was *there*. Over two years he'd waited, begged silently for the chance to rescue her, to bring her back into his life as the wonderful woman she was, not as the evil thing that the parasite that had taken over her body was. He had had her once, a few months before, but she had slipped through his fingers again.

But now she was here. She was standing right in front of him, once again dressed in the simple, brown robes of her home planet Abydos, the planet he had adopted as his own. Once again she smiled warmly, and her eyes looked at him softly, lovingly, not glowing. Her arms were open wide, welcoming him.

For a moment Daniel didn't know what to do. It was too good to be true. But then joy overran his uncertainties, and he ran toward her. But as he drew closer, Sha're began to change. Before he could stop his advance, the brown robes had melted away to reveal the colorful robes of an Egyptian goddess, her warm eyes and smile had disappeared, to be replaced by the cold, impassive stare he had come to hate so much. Worst of all, her arms were no longer open to him. A Goa'uld ribbon device had appeared on her left hand.

Daniel's eyes barely had time to widen in shock and horror, before she thrust out with the hand device, and he felt himself pushed off the ground, blown back across the room he couldn't identify. He landed hard, cried out in pain. And then she was on him, the ribbon device still active. He felt smothered, suffocated, and she was no longer smiling, not even still impassive. That was bad enough. But no, she was...she was laughing at him.

He tried to say something, plead with her, get through to his wife, but it was no use. He knew death was close. If only he had been able to tell her he loved her one last time...

"Sha're!" Daniel shouted, bolting upright in his bed.

Breathing heavily, he looked around. He was still in his own bed. He was still alive. It was the middle of the night, and this was his apartment, not his dream. Oh, that dream...

Daniel buried his face in his hands, trying to return his breathing to normal.

*Sha're*...he thought in despair. It had been months since he'd even seen her, more than two years since she had been taken from him, invaded by the Goa'uld Amaunet, taken over.

Daniel hadn't cried since just after his last encounter with her, since seeing her and not being able to save her. But the dream had awakened so many of the feelings that he always had to keep buried in order to keep himself functioning normally.

And now, Daniel cried. He collapsed back against his pillows and sobbed into them. *I promised her we would be together forever. I couldn't keep that promise. Will I ever get her back?*

Chapter 2

*Daniel smiled softly as his wife snuggled against him in the early hours of the morning on Abydos, which were actually a bit cool. It had only been two months since Jack O'Neill and the other two survivors of the Abydos mission from earth, Kawalsky and Ferretti, had gone back, and he had chosen to remain. Two months spent with his new wife and his new people, her people, 'their' people--months he would never forget.

"Dan'iel?" Sha're said softly, pronouncing his name with her Abydonian accent.

"Mmm?" he replied.

"You won't ever leave me, will you, my husband??" she asked innocently. "Will you someday go back to your planet without me?"

"Of course not," he assured her, wrapping his arms more tightly around her. "We'll be together forever."

In the darkness, her lips formed around the new English word. "Forever? Dan'iel, how long is 'forever'?"

Daniel's smile only widened, as much at her innocent question and the sound of her voice as at his own thoughts of their future together.

"Forever is a 'long' time, Sha're," he assured her quietly, comfortingly. "I'm not going anywhere. I love you," he said sincerely, leaning down to kiss her.

"I love you too, Dan'iel," Sha're replied when they pulled back from the kiss. Then once again she rested her head on his chest, and both fell back into a peaceful sleep.*

----------------------------------------------------------

The memory both saddened Daniel and made him smile through his tears. For several minutes he stared at the ceiling, thinking of her, remembering his favorite times from their life on Abydos before she had been taken, even if it had only lasted one brief year.

Finally he realized that he should really try to get back to sleep, if he wanted to be fresh for the mission in the morning. He closed his eyes and tried, but something kept nagging at his mind. Something told him that something was wrong, or something would go wrong. Daniel tried to ignore whatever it was, but no matter how hard he tried, sleep eluded him for the rest of the night.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Amaunet stepped out of the rings as they deactivated, depositing her and an honor guard of jaffa on a small planet in the middle of nowhere, a hidden base underground base only accessible by rings, or the Stargate that loomed as the center of attention at one end of the main room. The room was huge, the rings at the other end, surrounded by crates of supplies, weapons, and other things. More serpent guards awaited her arrival. As soon as the light of the ring transporter ceased, the goddess pointed her attention to the jaffa most obviously in charge at this facility.

"My Queen," he bowed deeply. "The machine is still alone the planet, but the Tau'ri will undoubtedly send a team through soon, just as you suspected."

"Indeed, and more than likely it will be the infamous SG-1, part of which is the man we want," she replied, nodded. "Very good. Is the virus ready to be sent to earth?"

There the man hesitated. "A version of it ready, My Lady, but it still has a few flaws....Our scientists are still working-and quickly-to produce a better draft for you."

"There is no time," Amaunet stated quickly. "It must be sent before the humans come through the gate. If we miss them, we may not get another chance for a long while."

"But, My Lady," the jaffa faltered. "It is not entirely ready. In its present state, it might not work properly. It is prone to malfunction..."

"I said, *send it*!" Amaunet said loudly, her eyes flaring with the glow of the Goa'uld.

The man backed away hesitantly, bowing low. "Yes, my Queen." He turned to his men "*Jaffa, Kree*!" At the command, all turned to him, and he issued the order for the Stargate to be dialed.

-------------------------------------------------------

A young lieutenant stuck on the graveyard shift in the control room looked up in alarm when suddenly the "Unscheduled Off-world Activation" signal went off. Who would be coming unscheduled in the middle of the night?

Seconds later, the gate activated, but the iris was already activated. The young man waited tensely, but nothing happened-no audio, video, or even text messages, and no impact sounds from the other side of the sealed metal barrier. By the time General Hammond arrived on the site, it had shut down again. The gate had only been active for a few seconds.

Nothing seemed to be wrong. It had just opened and closed again. What they didn't notice because of the lack of presence of more expertise, was the discrete signal that had been sent into their computer system from the Goa'uld base currently commanded by Amaunet. The unnoticeable virus that was to sit dormant until the next morning, when it would be needed.

------------------------------------------------------

O'Neill and Carter noticed immediately that Daniel looked tired the next morning when they gathered in the Gate room for departure. It took Teal'c a minute or so longer.

"Something wrong, Daniel?" Jack asked as the gate began to spin.

"Chevron One, encoded."

For a moment Jackson didn't reply, somewhat spaced out. Then he realized what O'Neill had asked him. "Huh? Oh. No, I'm fine."

"You sure about that?" Carter prodded. "You don't look so great."

"You do indeed look tired, Daniel Jackson. Are you certain you acquired enough rest last night?"

This time Daniel sighed. "No, Teal'c, I guess I didn't," he admitted. "I kind of hardly slept at all..."

"Chevron Five, encoded," came the voice from the control room.

"Should we scrub this and wait until tomorrow? Carter's right, you don't look so hot," O'Neill said sincerely.

Jackson shook his head. "No, it's all right, Jack. Let's go; I'll be fine."

"Chevron Seven, locked!" With those words, the Stargate whooshed open, spewing its deadly wave of particles as the wormhole formed, then collapsed back in on itself, leaving a shimmering, watery blue surface inside the huge gray ring of naquida.

Jack O'Neill look at open Gate, thought for a moment, then look back at Daniel and the rest of his team. "All right. If you say so, Daniel. Let's move out, campers."

Chapter 3

Daniel was about to step through the event horizon after O'Neill and Teal'c, but Carter's hand on his arm stopped him. When he turned to look at her, he realized that she had planned this from the moment she had seen him that morning-letting the others go through first to leave the two of them alone.

"Daniel...you sure you don't want to tell me why you couldn't sleep last night?" she asked with genuine concern.

The young archeologist looked at her for a moment. He knew he wouldn't have been able to say much about it to Jack or Teal'c, but maybe he could to Sam...After all, she had always understood him a bit better than the other two...

Finally he broke her gaze and looked away, sighing heavily. "It was just...nightmares."

Her face asked him to keep going. "I was dreaming about her..." he added quietly.

Immediately Carter's face softened even more in understanding. "Sha're?" Daniel nodded. The major put her hand on his shoulder and moved it to pat his arm comfortingly. "Hey, it's all right. We'll find her again."

"Yeah. I know she's out there somewhere..." His voice trailed off, stopped altogether. A moment later it came back, and it sounded suddenly for all the world as if the conversation they'd just had hadn't happened, like he'd pushed it to the back of his mind to get on with the mission.

"Well, we'd better get going," Daniel said, his voice no longer soft but at normal volume- maybe even a bit louder.

Sighing, Carter nodded in agreement, and the two of them stepped through.

-----------------------------------------------------

Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c's journey was not interrupted. Safely they stepped out of the gate onto P5R-316. The virus had not awoken fast enough. They were allowed to pass to their destination normally. However, it had come to full attention by the time Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson had stepped into the wormhole. Surreptitiously, so as not to alert anyone at Stargate Command, as it had been programmed, it altered their course.

It wasn't so un-noticeable to the two travelers it affected, though. Both noticed the severe jolt, even in their dematerialized state, and when they stepped through the Stargate on the other side, both realized immediately that something had, in fact, gone wrong.

-----------------------------------------------------

As expected, less than a second after stepping through the Earth Gate, Jack stepped through the gate on P5R-316, Teal'c right on his heels. He took a deep breath of fresh air and let it out with a sound of satisfaction.

"Well, kids, seems nice enough here. I wonder how friendly the locals...are..."

O'Neill's voice trailed off when he saw that the only 'kid' present behind him was Teal'c. The others weren't there.

At the look on his commander's face, Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "You should not worry, O'Neill. More than likely, Major Carter and Daniel Jackson were simply later than we were in going through the Stargate."

Realizing that the larger man was probably right, Jack nodded. "Right, just a little slower. We just have to wait." But something annoying at the back of his mind was telling him that maybe that 'wasn't' correct. He'd heard about the off-world activation last night. Maybe something was wrong...But no, just wait, he told himself. They'll be through in a minute. After all, the gate was still active, which meant passengers were still in transit, right?

A couple of minutes later, the Gate shut off.

"Uh..." Jack started. "Hey T...You got an explanation for that one?"

The eyebrow went up again, but this time seemed more urgent, if an eyebrow could look urgent. But of course, O'Neill had become accustomed to Teal'c's expressions, and this one was definitely more worried.

"I do not," he said, which didn't make Jack feel any better.

"Okay...Well, maybe something went wrong and they had to shut it down before they could go through. That's probably it. They'll dial again and send them through in a few minutes. Let's just...wait here for now," the colonel said uncertainly.

Nodding, Teal'c sat down on the stone steps before the Stargate, sure to stay out of the path an opening wormhole would cover, vaporizing anything it its path. Jack sat down next to him, and they waited.

----------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Daniel noticed when he and Sam exited the Stargate was that there were no trees, and everything was the wrong color-not green, but gold.

"Uh...this doesn't look a heck of a lot like P5R-316, does it?" he said in confusion.

Sam shook her head, just as baffled. "No, it doesn't. And where are Teal'c and the colonel?" she said, raising her weapon in caution.

When she said that, Jackson looked around and realized that she was right. Their teammates were nowhere to be found, and neither was the M.A.L.P or the rolling, mechanized cart that had carried all of their extra supplies, which had gone through first, before Jack and Teal'c.

What Daniel noticed next forced him to suppress a gasp. The walls were gold, the writing that covered them was familiar, there was a set of rings at the other end of the room, and many boxes and crates with familiar-looking designs.

"Uh, Sam...I don't know where they are, but I can give you a good guess, because I think we're in a Goa'uld facility." He couldn't have expected the answer he got.

"Your first guess is wrong, Doctor Jackson. Your friends are not here. It seems they managed to arrive at their destination safely. However, your second guess was correct. This base is, in fact, Goa'uld."

Carter whipped her head around in the direction the voice had come from. Daniel started as well, also turning immediately to seek the source. The voice had been clearly Goa'uld, but there was also something familiar about it...

What they saw was a contingent of jaffa entering the room from a large door to the side. They surrounded the one who had spoken.

The moment he saw the beautifully dressed woman in the center, Daniel Jackson's breath caught in his throat, and suddenly he felt suffocated, almost as he had in his dream the night before.

There was so much he should have said, wanted to say...but in the end Daniel was only able to force out one breathless word.

"Sha're."

Chapter 4

Samantha Carter looked back and forth between them, not sure of what to do. Daniel simply stood frozen.

The corner of Sha're's mouth curled upward in a half smile. "No, I'm afraid not," said the deep, duel voice of the Goa'uld inside her. Daniel realized then that it was not his wife. Amaunet was in control, she was speaking. The hopes that had risen when he first saw her came crashing down, but didn't disappear entirely. Sha're was still in there...somewhere...

Jackson gulped hard. "What do you want? What's going on?"

What happened next happened quickly. Amaunet did not answer, but partly turned to one of the jaffa, giving a silent command. The serpent guard raised his staff weapon, and instinctively Daniel jumped in front of Carter, pulling out his zat and preparing to shoot the man with a stun beam, but he didn't get a chance to before the staff blast took him in the midsection. The young scientist shouted in pain and surprise and collapsed.

"Daniel!" Carter cried, catching him under the arms before he could hit the floor. Gently she lowered him the rest of the way to the ground, wincing involuntarily at the bleeding wound in his stomach. Daniel groaned in pain as she set him down. Major Carter momentarily re-directed her attention from her injured friend to the Goa'uld in front of her.

"What was that!" she said angrily.

"*That* was not meant for him," Amaunet said, equally perturbed. "Jaffa!"

Carter's eyes widened when she realized what the alien meant. But she had no time to move before another staff blast cut her down, pushing her backwards.

"No!" Daniel shouted, trying to pull himself into a sitting position. He failed as the searing pain from the wound pushed him down again. Carter crashed to the ground two or three feet back from him, her chest smoking. It was obvious the she was hurt much worse than he was. But she couldn't be...

"Sam!" he cried. No answer. "SAM!" A terrible fear suddenly gripped Daniel, and he all but forgot about his overcome wife and the contingent of jaffa that stood only feet away. Gasping in pain, he pulled himself to her side.

"Sam? Sam, can you hear me? Come on, Sam!" he called desperately. The wound looked horrible, and she lay unmoving, her eyes closed. He held a hand over her mouth, but felt no breath coming from it. He checked her pulse on both her wrist and neck, but found nothing.

Daniel's throat constricted. *No...*he thought. *She can't be...*

He pushed away from her, but was too weak to do anything but roll onto his back and stare up, still gasping. But now the gasps sounded almost like sobs, and tears stung his eyes as his breath became shorter. He felt unconsciousness closing in on him. *Sam...*

Daniel's last thoughts before the darkness swallowed him were his desperate attempts to understand why Sha're would have someone killed, and the last thing he saw was her very unhappy-looking face staring down at him.

--------------------------------------------------------

Daniel Jackson's eyes snapped open. He sat up quickly, looking around. He suppressed a groan when he realized he was in a sarcophagus. *I really don't like these things, but then again, I'd probably be dead if they hadn't used it...*

Expanding the area he scanned with his eyes, he searched the immediate area. He sucked in a breath when he saw was who was standing just a few feet from the sarcophagus, waiting.

"Sha're?" he asked hesitantly.

The smirk she gave him dashed his hopes again. "I am Amaunet, Queen of Apophis, and you are nothing but a human."

Daniel's eyes narrowed at the mention of Apophis. "But he's dead," the archeologist informed her. And he was glad of it, too.

Her smile changed. Now it seemed to be saying *I know something you don't know*. But all she said was. "It does not matter. What matters is that you are here." Daniel was still suspicious of her, but he ventured another look around as he climbed warily out of the sarcophagus to stand in front of her.

"Where is here?" he asked. He had to force himself not to run to her, take hold of her, force Sha're to fight the alien being inside of her, take control back. But he knew that, right now, Amaunet was in control. There was nothing he could do.

She replied to his question. "I had to have you brought to my ship in orbit, where the sarcophagus is kept, in order to revive you. You will be brought back to the surface shortly."

Daniel eyebrows went up, surprised she had actually given him a good answer. She noticed the reaction, and knew what he was thinking.

"Dead men tell no tales, Doctor Jackson," she said simply.

Daniel gulped. "Uh...last time I checked I was alive."

"Not for long."

"Then why did you revive me?"

That Goa'uld smirk that Daniel hated appeared on her face again. "You never died. Besides, I never wanted your death to be that merciful."

Daniel pulled in a quick breath. "And...what's that supposed to mean?" he asked shakily.

"I brought you here to kill you, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel suddenly felt as if he'd stopped breathing, hearing those words come from his wife's mouth. He had to remind himself that it wasn't her. Sha're didn't want him dead. Amaunet did. But why? She answered his silent question a moment later.

"Your very existence is a nuisance to me. My host wants freedom-all of them do-but mine causes me much more difficulty than is normal. And it's all because of you-most specifically because of our recent encounter. She struggles. Of course she fails, but it's uncomfortable for me. I intend to show my host that the reason she wants the most to escape, the man she wants to return too, is a mere nothing."

*Sha're? She's talking about Sha're! She's fighting. I knew she would. Maybe Amaunet's trying to hide it, but she's winning. I know she is. Why else would she bring me here, do something this drastic? I knew Sha're wouldn't give up. I knew she was strong...*

His thoughts were cut off as Amaunet edged closer to him, and Daniel felt his breath quickening at her words. "Your death will be as slow and painful as I can manage. You'll *wish* I had let you die back in the gate room. And who knows? I might even do it more than once. We have a sarcophagus, after all..."

Her voice trailed off, and she moved away. Daniel felt a chill run up his spine, and he shivered, gulping again. Trying to calm himself, he glanced around again.

That was when he spotted what lay on the floor on the other side of the room. It was Samantha Carter's body, dropped carelessly on the ground like so much garbage.

"Sam!" he said. He tried to move in that direction, but two serpent guards stepped up to him and took hold of his arms, holding him in place. "Let me go!" he cried, struggling.

But then Amaunet was in front of him again, much closer this time--close enough to use her hand device. There was a flash of orange light, blinding because it was so near his eyes, and then a beam of energy from the ribbon device had captured him.

Daniel gasped. He tried to keep his feet, but sudden pain from the energy flooded his body, causing him to cry out, and then suddenly he began to feel exhausted. He drooped, and the blackness began to close in again.

The only thing he heard before it engulfed him for the second time that day was Amaunet's voice, something about 'take him to a holding cell in the complex'...

-----------------------------------------------------------

About half an hour after coming through the gate, Carter and Jackson still weren't there, and O'Neill began to get worried. Okay, so he was already worried, but now he was significantly *more* worried. He stood and looked to his companion.

"Come on, Teal'c, we're going back. I'm getting tired of this."

The eyebrow went up. "Are you certain we should not wait longer, O'Neill?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Dial it up. I've got the GDO."

Teal'c nodded and stood as well, moving to the DHD to open a wormhole to earth. In the correct order he pushed the seven symbols of the Stargate address for Jack's home planet, and then pressed the large red dome in the center of the round, tilted control panel they called the Dial Home Device. Jack sent the iris code through, and within minutes they were back at the SGC. Everyone there, to their surprise, seemed shocked to seem them.

General Hammond approached them as they stepped off the metal ramp.

"Colonel, why are you back so soon? What happened to Doctor Jackson and Major Carter?" he asked pointedly.

O'Neill frowned. "They're not here, sir?"

"Here?" the general asked in confusion. "Why would they be here? They left through the 'gate with you and Teal'c."

"But...General, they never showed up on the other side. Are you sure they went through?" Jack said. He could feel himself starting to panic, and he didn't like it.

"Jack, we all saw them go," Hammond replied. Now there was worry on the older man's face as well.

Jack looked around. Surely if Carter or Daniel were here, they would have been in the gate room by now, but sure enough, neither of them were to be found. He groaned.

"This could be a problem..."

Chapter 5

In the seconds before the staff blast had hit her, Samantha Carter had known she would be killed. What she hadn't known was that it wouldn't be the end of her. Only moments after Daniel had been taken from the room, she opened her eyes, and glanced around to find herself in the same sarcophagus.

Sam sat up quickly, and looked for anyone familiar. But Amaunet had gone, Daniel was nowhere in sight--only a few jaffa and serpent guards with their helmets up were in the room. *Why am I alive?* She wondered.

Two of the un-helmeted jaffa pulled her from the sarcophagus. When she was on her feet, she pulled away from them. They allowed her to remain free, but herded her toward the nearest door. She went with them, knowing by now that it was useless to ask questions, because she wouldn't get any answers. She also hoped that, if Daniel was still alive, she would be led to him.

The two guards took Carter to a set of rings, and used them. Then she was led through a series of corridors that all looked the same. They were similar to what she would expect to find on a Goa'uld ship, but different enough to keep her confused. Finally her patience and hopes were rewarded when they took her to a holding cell.

The door opened, and the first thing Sam noticed as they pushed her in was Daniel's unconscious form lying on one of the familiar, wide benches sticking out from one of the walls of the all-too-familiar holding room. As the door shut behind her she went to his side, bent down beside the bench, and attempted to rouse him.

"Daniel? Can you hear me?" When he didn't answer she began to shake him gently. "Come on, Daniel, wake up. It's me." After a moment her efforts were rewarded when her friend groaned, and his eyes slowly opened. When Daniel saw her, they quickly widened.

"Sam!" he said, sitting up.

"In the flesh," she said, smiling as she sat beside him.

Daniel leaned to hug her. "Thank goodness you're alive. I-I thought..."

She grimaced to herself as she returned the embrace, remembering what he was referring to. "Yeah, I know. I was."

Daniel released her and sat back, looking at her, relief still evident on his face. "But...I don't understand. Amaunet told me she had you killed because she didn't need you. She wanted me. Why did she revive you?"

Carter shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't seen her. She wasn't there when I woke up, and no one else has volunteered any information," she said, inclining her head in the direction of the jaffa outside the door.

"Yeah...but what they will or won't tell us is the least of my worries right now."

Sam turned back to him when she heard the emotion in his voice. He wasn't looking at her anymore; he was staring down at his hands.

She gulped. "Daniel, I'm sorry. I know this must be hard for you..."

Daniel shrugged. His effort to keep his emotions in check now that he actually had time to think about what was happening was outwardly obvious. Then, to her surprise, what appeared to be a half smile curled his mouth upward.

"Daniel? What is it?"

Finally he looked up at her again. "I was just thinking. Maybe the fact that you're still alive proves that that monster isn't completely in control of her. I mean, remember what happened just before she left Abydos with Apophis a few months ago? She looked straight at us but didn't give us away."

"Wrong again, Doctor Jackson."

The scientist's head snapped up at the sound of her voice, and Carter spun, both of them standing. The door to the cell was opening; Amaunet stood on the other side, several serpent guards behind her. When the opening was clear, she took a few steps into the room.

Daniel moved in front of her. "Why did you revive Sam? I'm not complaining, but...you said you killed her because she was useless to you. Why did you change your mind? What's going on?"

"My jaffa already had orders to kill anyone else that came through the gate besides you, because we only needed you. But..." She frowned, and it was the first time either SG-1 member had heard a Goa'uld pause in uncertainty. "After more careful consideration it was decided that Samantha Carter was more valuable alive."

Daniel's smile returned, but this time it was to mock the creature that controlled his wife's body. "You made a mistake."

He didn't see the hand coming before the back of it slapped the left side of his face so hard he stumbled backwards and fell to the floor, crying out.

"Hey!" Carter yelped, moving to Daniel's side. She tried to help him up, but he waved her off and stood on his own. The entire left side of his head throbbed, and he glared at the woman in front of him. She glared right back, her stare even more fierce than his own.

One of the jaffa behind her, obviously the highest ranking, stepped forward to bark at the human. "Don't speak to the queen in such a way. Our lady Amaunet is a goddess; she cannot make mistakes. Speak of such blasphemy again and I will kill you where you stand."

Daniel spoke through clenched teeth, and Sam watched on, fearing for his life as she looked back and forth between them. "She's not a god," he said, never taking his eyes from his wife. "Amaunet is a parasite that has taken control of a human body-my wife's human body. She's just as prone to make mistakes as any of us. She just admitted to one!" His frown deepened. "And the biggest mistake she ever made was choosing that body."

The jaffa brought his staff weapon up angrily, perfectly willing to blast this insolent human into oblivion, and Daniel stared him down. But Carter could see the tears that gathered in his eyes.

"Kree Jaffa!" Amaunet said before he could do anything with it, calling him off. At another silent nod from his queen, he opened his zat'ni'katel instead, and promptly fired.

Daniel shouted in pain when the electric-like beam from the zat hit him, sending pain through every last nerve in his body. He collapsed again, shivering. Carter knelt beside him as he gasped, struggling to regain control of his trembling body. Finally, after what seemed an eternity but was really only a several seconds, the pain faded to a dull, residual ache, and he could move again. But by the time he got to his knees and looked up, he and Carter were alone in the cell again.

"Daniel, are you alright?" Sam asked in concern.

He nodded, now rubbing his still stinging cheek. "Physically, anyway-I think. I can't say the same emotionally..." He trailed off, sighing heavily and blinking back tears. It seemed that the resolve he had shown toward Amaunet only a moment before had left with her. She didn't blame him.

Carter rubbed his back comfortingly. "Hey, at least we know where she is. Now all we have to do is get out of here and make sure we bring her with us, right?"

"Yeah, right." Daniel winced, and she could see that a good-sized bruise was forming on the side of his face. "Note to self-it *really* hurts to get hit when they have a ribbon device on their hand. Not to mention the fact that Goa'ulds are strong anyway...owww." She could tell that the humorous comment's only purpose had been to keep himself from crying.

Sighing again, he stood, moved to the bench in the corner of the room, and sat down again. Sam followed.

"Now what?" he asked, too distraught to really consider it himself.

"Well...I could try to hot-wire the door, but that hasn't worked so great in the past. We're just not familiar enough with Goa'uld technology." Carter offered.

"Yeah, I know," Daniel said. He leaned back against the wall, hiding his red-rimmed eyes in the shadow at the edge of the room "I'm sorry, I'm just not going to be much help right now. I need...time...I just-I can't..."

Sam put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I know. It's all right. Why don't you just...tell me what happened before they brought me in here. Did I miss anything? Do you know why Amaunet wants you here?"

Daniel gulped. "Yeah. She wants me dead."

"What? But then why..."

"She didn't want it to be that quick."

Carter's eyes widened. She'd known that seeing Sha're under the control of Amaunet again must have been hard for him, but now she understood why he looked so shaken.

"Oh, Daniel, I had no idea..."

"It's okay Sam. There's nothing you can do about it," Daniel said quietly.

Carter looked at him for another moment or so, concern still on her face, but then she sighed and sat back against the wall herself, hoping that some kind of idea would come to her.

Chapter 6

"Are you sure you're *absolutely* sure, general?"

General George Hammond sighed. "Yes, Jack, I'm as sure as I could possibly be. I've checked numerous times. *Nothing* has been reported coming through the second gate. I'm sorry, colonel, but we'll just have to look elsewhere."

O'Neill sighed. "Yeah, but where is *elsewhere*?"

"They could be on any world between Earth and P5R-316, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "You should remember that this has happened before."

"I try not to," Jack grumbled. "But that was simple-sort of. We were on earth. We have no idea where Carter and Daniel are."

"Indeed, O'Neill, but we must attempt to find them."

"I'm not arguing with *that*, Teal'c. Of curse we have to find them. But I just don't get it. Not that I get what happened last time, but, doesn't there have to be some kind of energy surge thingy for this to happen? I didn't notice anything weird during gate travel, so why did it 'skip', or whatever? Assuming that really what happened."

"We have to assume that's what happened, colonel, no matter how unlikely it seems. Because unless I see proof of the alternative, I'm not going to accept it," Hammond said resolutely. "Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter are out there somewhere, and we're going to do all we can to find them."

O'Neill stood, and Teal'c followed suit.

"Permission to join the off-world search teams, general?" Jack said. "I'm going to find my people."

"Permission granted, colonel."

---------------------------------------------------------

Only hours after they had been left alone, the door to the Goa'uld holding cell opened again, and two jaffa entered. The two ever-present guards still stood outside. Carter was the first to rise to her feet, and Daniel followed, slowly.

"What do you want now?" she said.

None of the aliens said anything, but the two who had come in moved immediately in Daniel's direction. One of them grabbed his shoulder and shoved him toward the entrance, shouting "Kree!" in his ear. The young scientist winced and did as he was obviously being told.

"What are you doing?" Carter demanded.

"It's okay, Sam," Daniel said, following the jaffa out of the cell.

"No, it's not. I heard what you said..." she protested.

"Sam, try to stop them and they'll hurt you. So just don't, okay?"

"But-" she began, but she could get no further, as at that moment the door slid shut in her face, and the serpent guards herded Daniel around the corner, out of her sight. She sighed in frustration. And sat down again, hard.

-----------------------------------------------------

Daniel Jackson gulped as he was led down the corridor of the Goa'uld facility. He was almost certain he knew what came next, and even more certain that he wouldn't like it if he was correct. True to his fears, a moments later he was pushed into another room, larger than the one he had been confined in the past few hours. Amaunet and two more jaffa awaited him and the two that had come with him.

Daniel heard the door close behind them. Then, before he could catch his breath at the site of his wife staring at him coldly, he felt the familiar, though unwelcome sensation of the butt of a staff weapon being rammed into the back of his legs, forcing his knees to give out. He grunted and fell, crying out when his knees slammed painfully onto the cold, hard floor.

Still wincing, Daniel looked up at her, hoping to be able to say something to her, but he didn't get the chance, before once again the hand device was focused on his forehead. But this time she was not trying to render him unconscious, and the ribbon of energy from the device sent paralyzing waves of pain through his body. For several minutes he struggled with it, gasping.

"No..." he choked, tears forming in his eyes again. It couldn't end now. It was too soon. He had just found her again. He couldn't die yet...

Amaunet smiled. "No need to worry, Dr. Jackson. I won't kill you now. Not this time. No, this is going to last a long, long time."

Chapter 7

Daniel gasped when the ribbon device finally shut off, and the hand that it adorned withdrew. Unable to shake off the pain and disorientation quickly, he swayed, moaning, and fell to the floor, struggling to catch his breath.

Amaunet stepped back, out of his way. "Jaffa, Kree! Get him up!" Seconds later two rough pairs of hands clamped around Daniel's arms. The two jaffa hauled him to his feet, and then their queen nodded towards the wall. The young scientist didn't know what she meant until the men dragged him to it and closed chains around his wrists, binding him to the fall, facing away from it on his knees.

Daniel's foggy mind fought to understand what was happening as his mind slowly returned to normal after the painful, paralyzing effects of the Goa'uld technology. He didn't know how long he had been under the hand device. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours. All he had been aware of was the pain, and Sha're's face above him...until finally it had stopped. But now what did she plan to do?

After another moment or so, he felt almost normal again, except for being completely exhausted. He looked around, pulling futilely on the chains. Amaunet, standing only a few feet away, stared condescendingly at him.

"You can't get out of them."

Daniel looked at her, tears forming in his eyes again. "I don't understand. Why are you doing this?" he asked quietly, not only too tired to speak any louder, but not trusting himself too.

"I have already explained that to you. You're a nuisance. You must be eliminated." The corner of her mouth turned upwards. "But no one said I couldn't enjoy it."

Daniel gulped. "Sha're, please, fight it-ah!" He got no farther than that, crying out when the nearest jaffa stuck him-hard.

"Do NOT address the queen in such a manner!" the guard said angrily. "She is not her host; nothing of the host survives."

Obviously this one hadn't been in the room when Amaunet had explained exactly why she wanted him dead. Daniel glared at the jaffa through a wince of pain. "That's what they want you to think."

The archaeologist grunted loudly as another sharp blow to the same side of his face sent pain exploding through his head. The third and fourth blows only worsened it, and he shouted both times. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the man pulling back for yet another strike, and he grimaced, ducking, but Amaunet stopped him.

"Enough!" she said, drawing him off with her words. The man backed off, and Daniel slumped against the wall, gasping, following the jaffa with his eyes. He seemed to derive pleasure from seeing his victim spitting blood, and that didn't surprise Daniel in the slightest.

"There is no need for that," Amaunet said. "Now we can continue." When her attention turned towards the door, Daniel followed her gaze, and his breath caught in his throat when he saw what she was smiling at now.

Daniel hadn't realized that one of the jaffa in the room had left until now, because he was returning with something in his hand. It was one of the Goa'uld energy torture sticks they had seen in the alternate universe. At least that's where he remembered them from most- he was sure they had encountered them elsewhere, but couldn't think of where at the moment. It didn't matter because none of them had actually been subjected to one before, and he had hoped he never would be. But suddenly it appeared as if that was one wish that wouldn't come true, and when Daniel realized it, his stomach tightened, a chill ran up his spine, and his breath unstuck and quickened all at the same time.

Amaunet looked back to him as the guard holding the torture device moved in his direction and handed it to the same jaffa who had tried to beat him up only a moment ago. *Oh, great, just add insult to injury why don't you,* Daniel thought bitterly. He gulped as the man who apparently didn't like him dangled the piece of Goa'uld technology in front of him.

Daniel's mouth gaped open and closed several times before he could say anything. "Uh..." he began shakily, then stopped, gulped, and cleared his throat loudly."You...you don't have to do that..." he said clumsily.

His eyes flicked toward where his wife stood. But of course it wasn't Sha're. She wouldn't let them hurt him. But she couldn't do anything. He was on his own, and Amaunet, standing with her arms crossed and a half-smile, seemed to be enjoying this, watching Daniel stumble over himself trying in vain in to talk himself out of what was about to happen. His eyes pleaded with her to fight, but he didn't say anything to her, knowing that at this point trying to get to Sha're would only make things worse for him. It had already happened once.

With great effort, Daniel calmed his breathing, and spoke to Amaunet. "You're not...really..." he said hopefully, shaking his head slightly and trying to conjure an amused smile. He only halfway succeeded, but then the Goa'uld cut him off, smashing his attempt at hope or humor.

"-And why not? These devices leave no permanent damage," she said, motioning to it, "and yet they cause the victim a great deal of pain. I have no reason to refrain from having it used on you. Aside from the hand device, it is one of most successful smaller inventions of Goa'uld technology."

She was baiting him, trying scare him, and Daniel knew it, but that didn't keep it from working. Jack probably could have come back with some snarky reply in a heartbeat, but he wasn't Jack O'Neill, and neither was he military trained like O'Neill and Carter were.

The smile on Amaunet's face then disappeared, and she backed away a bit more, barking an order to the man in front of Daniel. "Enough games. Begin."

Daniel pulled against the chains again, now with a little more strength because it had been a few minutes more since he had come out from under the ribbon device. "Wait-!"

But he was interrupted again when the jaffa holding the torture stick flicked it on. He heard the energy spike of the power-up, and turned his head just in time to see the active point of the device touch the end of the chain that bound his right hand. From there, the energy traveled almost instantaneously through the chains and into his body through his wrists, and Daniel screamed in agony.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Present

"Jackson!"

Daniel snapped gratefully out of his nightmarish daydream of the past when his name was called-loudly, and right in his ear.

He jumped, nearly knocking the plate and sandwich that sat on the commissary table in front of him to the floor. Samantha Carter reached across the table and caught it before it could fall.

"Thanks," he said, and she nodded, giving him a knowing smile. Then Daniel directed his attention to the man sitting beside him, the one who had shouted his name. "What was that for?" he asked in annoyance, lightly rubbing his offended ear.

Cameron Mitchell shrugged. "Jackson, you've been spaced out since we left the briefing room this morning. General Landry tells us we're going to some old abandoned Goa'uld base you guys have been to before because now we have intelligence that suggests the snakeheads might have left behind some nifty experimental time/space device thingy, and all of a sudden Carter gets tense, Teal'c does the eyebrow thing, and you act like you've been punched in the gut. Now come on, Daniel, what's up?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow as he, Sam, and Daniel glanced at each other uncomfortably. Finally Carter winced and broke the silence.

"Cameron..."

"No, Sam, it's okay," Daniel interrupted. He could see she was going the way of *Cameron, lay off. If he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't want to talk about it.* And he didn't think that was fair. Mitchell was the new member of SG-1 in Jack's absence because of his promotion, its new commander of sorts, and he deserved to know what was bothering him just like Sam and Teal'c knew. Besides, it wasn't as if it was a secret. Carter gave him a look that asked if he was really comfortable talking about it, and he returned one that assured her he would be fine.

Daniel sighed, and Mitchell gave him his full attention. "Cameron, it's just...what happened there the first time. I mean, if you've seen one Goa'uld facility you've seen them all, but this one Sam and I kind of...stumbled across. We were brought there against our will, by some sort of virus that was sent into Stargate Command's computer. We were on our way to P5R-316, but ended up there...and it was Amaunet who had ordered it."

Cameron sat up. "Amaunet? But wasn't her host...?"

Daniel nodded. "My wife, yes."

"Yikes. So...what happened?"

"Uh..." Daniel grimaced. "Well, let's just say it didn't go so well."

"But why would she want you and Carter?" Mitchell said curiously.

"She only wanted me, actually."

When Daniel didn't reply to the other man's still inquiring gaze, Carter filled in a bit. "She wanted him dead."

"Ouch."

"Yeah..." Sam trailed. Then she abruptly stood. "You know, we should probably be checking our supplies and stuff for tomorrow."

Teal'c nodded and joined her. "I agree."

Daniel stood with them. "Good idea."

Cameron stood as well. "Okay, good. You guys do that. I have other things to get done before we leave. Later." With that, Mitchell turned and left, picking up the styrofoam plate that held the scattered remains of his lunch and dumping it in a trash can on the way out. The rest of SG-1 left through the door on the other side of the room.

"Nice save back, there, Sam," Daniel confided to his blonde teammate.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, a small smile appearing.

Carter shrugged and smiled. "What are friends for. I saw that you'd gone as far as you were willing to go on the subject for the moment. I just had to find a truthful way to get him off your back without offending Cameron-or you."

Daniel smiled. "I appreciate it." Then he stopped, bringing all three to a halt. "Wait...you said *truthful*. Does that mean we really have to check the supplies?"

"It has to be done. Might as well be sooner rather than later."

"Darn it."

Chapter 8

Past

Colonel Jack O'Neill and his team stepped through the Stargate to P7X-324, a nearby yet unexplored world in the infamous gate system. This team consisted only of himself, Teal'c, and Dr. Janet Fraiser, who had opted to join them rather than sitting around Stargate Command waiting for her missing friends to be found. General Hammond had gladly given his permission.

Almost immediately O'Neill noticed a strange stench, and took a few steps forward, wrinkling his nose. A second later, when he glanced downward, he jumped back several feet as the gate closed behind them.

"Whoa!" he said, looking at what lay beyond the large stone platform the gate stood on. "The M.A.L.P. didn't show *that*. Yikes!"

"I believe that is an extremely valid statement, O'Neill," Teal'c offered.

"You can say *that* again," Fraiser added.

Once the stone ended, the ground was nothing but gray, extremely mushy-looking, deep, bubbling, *mud*. There were plenty of healthy-looking strange trees sticking up from it, which, at first glance, had made this planet seem not too much out of the ordinary, but he would definitely have to mention to the technicians back home that they should really think about giving the surveillance cameras more maneuverability. For example, it would be really helpful, in this case anyway, if they could look *down*.

"Okay, somebody please tell me that they're not here, because I'd *really* like to save us all the unpleasantness of having to slog through any of that," Jack said.

Janet nodded. "As a doctor, I think I can safely say that, colonel. I don't think they could survive here for very long, and if they could, they wouldn't have gotten very far from the gate by now. We'd be able to see them if they were here."

Teal'c nodded. "And if, for some reason, they were here, yet unable to dial earth, they would have had no reason to venture out into this. Doctor Fraiser is correct."

The colonel sighed. "Yep. I think so too. All, right, let's dial home and get back. No use wasting more time here." O'Neill glanced over at Fraiser, who he knew didn't get off- world much. "Doctor, if you would like to do the honors?"

Janet smiled and stepped up to the DHD. "Thank you, colonel, I'd be happy to."

-----------------------------------------------------

Samantha Carter had begun to worry when Daniel had been gone for over an hour, but now it had been more than two, and part of her mind feared the worst. But surely Amaunet wouldn't have killed him already?

Carter jumped when the door opened and three figures entered. She sighed in relief when she saw that the one in the middle was Daniel, but at the same time her stomach tightened in concern for him when she realized that the two jaffa on either side of him were practically dragging the younger man. They dumped the weakened human on the floor and left, the door slamming down behind them. As soon as they were gone, the major jumped up and ran to kneel down beside her gasping friend.

"Daniel?" she said, rolling him from his side to his back. "Are you all right?"

Daniel groaned and opened his closed eyes, speaking between gasped intakes of breath. "No...not okay...but I'll...live. Uhhhhh...." He moaned.

Carter winced and slipped an arm under his back, helping him to slowly sit up. Once in a sitting position beside her, Daniel's head dropped to her shoulder and rested there, and his chest still heaved with heavy breaths. She kept her arm around his shoulders both for comfort and to keep him in a stable position. After another few minutes his breathing slowed somewhat, and she ventured to speak to him again.

"Daniel, what happened?" she asked quietly. "What did they do to you?"

"Oh, they just used the hand device, and one of those Goa'uld torture sticks--you know, the usual," Daniel said, gulping as he lifted his head from her shoulder and attempted to hold it up himself.

"She had you *tortured*?" Carter said with concern.

Daniel nodded weakly, and then suddenly his head seemed too heavy again and he let it drop into his hands. Sam rubbed him back gently, wishing there were more she could do. She knew it must have been horrible for him-to be tortured like that, and at his own wife's command. No, not Sha're-it was Amaunet, the being that controlled her body. But she also knew that didn't change the fact that it 'was' her body, her face looking at him...Carter shuddered, and sighed.

"It's all right, Daniel," she comforted him quietly. "You'll find a way to get through to her, and we'll get out of this."

"I just hope I can do it before it's too late," he answered.

Carter nodded, then stood and offered him her hand. Daniel looked up and took it, and Sam gently helped him up. On the way up he winced, assessing the damage. Thankfully there didn't seem to be too much of it. Both the hand device and the torture stick had simply left him exhausted and sore. The only real damage was from the blows to the face he'd taken, and the general rough handling. His knees still ached from hitting the floor so hard, and his wrists felt raw from the chains. Sam saw him rubbing them and frowned.

"What is it?" she asked with concern.

Daniel lowered himself onto the nearest bench, and held up one of his reddened, scraped, and slightly bleeding wrists. "What, this?" Carter placed her hands on her hips as if to say *Of course* that, *Daniel, what else would I be talking about?* And she was right. He sighed. "That would be from the chains that kept me bound to the wall while they used the torture stick," he said, letting his arm drop again. He leaned back against the wall, and Carter sat beside him, worry still on her face. She sighed at his response.

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"Nope, that...that's pretty much all that happened."

Sam looked at him, and somehow Daniel knew that she was staring straight at the fresh bruises on his face. He grimaced.

"Okay, okay, so one of the jaffa got a little angry at me. It wasn't that bad, Sam. Really. I'm all right. I promise."

Carter sighed yet again, and nodded. "Okay. Sorry. I'm just concerned, you know."

"I know," Daniel answered. Then he looked around, as if the answer to his next question were in the air. "How long was I gone? I...uh...couldn't really tell..."

The tone and almost imperceptible wince that accompanied the last statement made it easy to realize the implications of it, and Sam winced again as she glanced at her watch. "Um, about two hours..."

Daniel's eyebrows rose at that, and he looked down at his own watch, which he seemed to have just remembered was there. "Oh...Oh, well, I guess it was...Yikes."

"Do you think they'll come back?" Carter asked quietly.

Daniel's lips pursed into a fine, uncomfortable line. "My impression was that they would."

"Perfect. So what are we going to do?"

"Hope they wait at *least* two hours before they do."

------------------------------------------------------------

"Colonel, why are you back so soon? You and your team didn't leave any longer than ten minutes ago."

Jack nodded as he, Teal'c, and Janet stopped at the bottom of the Gate ramp. "I know, sir, but the doc says there's no way they could be on that planet, so there was no reason to waste any time."

General Hammond looked to doctor Frasier next. "Why wouldn't they be there, doctor?"

"It's all mud, sir, very unfriendly mud. I doubt they would be there. You could see for miles, and they certainly wouldn't have gotten any farther than that by now. I can't see why anyone would go out into that in the first place."

Hammond nodded. "All right. I can agree with that. De-brief in ten minutes." The General started to turn and walk away, but O'Neill stopped him.

"Uh, sir, actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to get going again immediately. There's not much more to the de-brief than what you've heard, and it can be done later. Just have Walter dial the next address on the list, please."

Hammond eyed his subordinate. "And what about protocol, *colonel*?" he said, putting some emphasis on the rank.

"With all due respect, general, most of it went out the window the moment two of my people went missing," Jack said, trying to keep as straight a face as possible.

But George Hammond broke into a smile and nodded. "I understand, colonel. Permission to re-embark immediately granted." With that, the general looked up towards the window to the control room, and nodded to Walter Harriman, who began to dial a new Gate address.

"Chevron one, encoded."

Jack nodded to Hammond. "Thank you sir."

"You're welcome, colonel. Now get going. Find *our* people."

Chapter 9

Samantha Carter fought hard to resist the urge to continuously look across the room at Daniel, who was resting on the opposite bench, his jacket off and balled up under his head to create the illusion of a comfortable position. He seemed to be asleep, even though he moaned occasionally, but still...

She sighed, her brow creasing in worry. As Daniel had hoped, the Goa'uld had waited at least two hours before returning for him, but not much longer. They had taken him away again, and he had returned over an hour and a half later, even more exhausted and the worse for wear than the first time, though at least there hadn't been anymore new bruises.

Now, it had been almost two hours since *then*. It was late afternoon, and Sam was silently praying that the jaffa wouldn't come for Daniel a third time-at least not today.

Carter suddenly felt her hopes waver when she heard footsteps in the corridor. Jumping up, she moved to site next to Daniel, and shook him gently. "Daniel, wake up."

"Huh, what?" he said groggily, lifting tired eyes to look at her.

Sam frowned, "Someone's coming."

Daniel ears perked up when he heard the sound, and he quickly sat up, carefully masked fear on his face. Sam rested a hand on his shoulder, hoping it would help some. But all of her hoped shattered yet again when the two jaffa came into view, and one of the already present guards opened the door.

"Great," Carter muttered, and she could almost hear Daniel's own inward groan. Her hand tightened on his arm as the two newcomers stepped into the cell. Daniel, however, brushed it off and stood slowly, knowing he would only be pulled to his feet anyway if he didn't. He tried to keep a passive expression-probably just as much for his sake as for hers, but she could see that already his face was at least a couple of shades paler.

"Daniel..."

"Sam, don't try anything. I don't want anything to happen to you," he said quietly.

"Daniel, for crying out loud they've already taken you twice today-"

As the jaffa grabbed him and began to push him toward the door, Daniel shot her a withering look that quieted her. Sam growled low in her throat when they had led him away. She knew he was only concerned for her, but she wished he wouldn't go with them so quietly, when he knew what awaited him. Even if it got both of them zatted or something, it would be worth it if they would just leave him alone...Sighing, she sank to the bench again.

----------------------------------------------------

Daniel released a final cry as the jaffa guard pulled the torture stick away, leaving him to collapse back against the wall, gasping desperately for air. But his world hadn't even begun to assert itself again when, through the blur of lingering pain, he saw Amaunet raise her ribbon device. His breath quickened even more instead of slowing down, which at the moment was dangerous.

"No, Sha're, please..." he pleaded to his wife, hoping to reach her. Just maybe...Daniel's hopes rose when she frowned and pulled her hand back, but plummeted again at her words.

"You were warned not to call me that again," Amaunet said coldly.

"What..." But she didn't say anything else, only cast a glance toward the jaffa nearest him-the same one who had just finished torturing him, and the one who had tried to beat him up earlier.

Before Daniel knew what was happening, the man was on him, fists coming down hard., and soon the other jaffa in the room joined him, one or two using fists, another kicking him. Their victim was chained to the wall, unable to block any of it, and shouting helplessly in pain.

Amaunet did nothing as Daniel was beaten, standing away across the room, watching. The young archaeologist pulled against his chains despite the extra pain it caused his wrists; he cried futilely to her when he could, but it made no difference. After several minutes, a final, well-placed blow caught his jaw, knocking him into oblivion, and it didn't matter anymore.

-----------------------------------------

Outside, on this world that was *not* P5R-316, the sky had become dark. The few sensors it had shut down for the night, or switched to passive mode, only making light general sweeps of a small area around the small compound. Most of the jaffa serpent guards retired, leaving only a few to play sentry through the night. After all, this was a small, insignificant, back-water planet. It was worthy to house a Goa'uld facility only because of its secrecy. If no now knew it existed, they didn't need to waste resources on large security systems--or so they believed.

The sensors no longer scanning space did not detect the single, incoming enemy mother ship taking orbit around the planet, and no one saw the troops being deployed, hiding away from the base in the forest and elsewhere, waiting until morning, waiting for their chance to strike...

-------------------------------------------------

Sam Carter shot to her feet when the two serpent guards dropped the unconscious Daniel Jackson on the floor and left. She hurried to him, and stifled a gasp when she saw how much worse he looked than either of the times before. His wrists were rubbed raw and bloody; his face was covered in fresh bruises and had several cuts and abrasions, and without his jacket, on his exposed arms she could see more bruises.

Gulping, Sam slipped a hand under his shoulders, starting to lift him from the floor, hoping to move him to the bench and that it would be more comfortable than the floor when he woke up. She stopped, however, jumping in surprise, when suddenly Daniel came to, crying out in pain from the movement and grabbing her arm.

"No, Sam, wait-!" he gasped.

"Whoa!" Carter yelped, putting him down again and nearly dropping him, which only caused him to shout again. "Sorry! Daniel...sorry," she apologized, wincing in sympathy.

"No...it's okay...just...wait a minute...." Daniel said, grimacing and still trying to catch his breath.

"What is it?"

"I just...really don't feel like being moved just yet," he answered, his heavy breathing slowly starting to taper off.

"All right...what happened?" Carter asked.

Daniel sighed. "They got considerably more aggressive this time, that's what happened."

"In other words, she didn't stop them from beating you this time," Sam re-phrased, frowning.

Daniel flinched. "Uh...yeah. I got pummeled." Groaning, he rolled onto his side, obviously finding lying on his back uncomfortable. That set him short of breath again, and brought one arm around his stomach protectively. He moaned again, and Sam sighed, trying to move it away.

"Let me see?" Daniel nodded weakly, allowing her to gently push his arm aside and lift his shirt.

Carter had to stifle a gasp of worry at what she saw. Daniel's his entire middle was black and blue, even with minor bleeding in places, and when she rose up on her knees to glance over at his back, she saw it was almost as bad there. She would probably find bruises all over his legs, too, if she were to look, Sam thought sourly.

"Gosh, Daniel. They really did a number on you, didn't they?" she gulped, glancing at him. He nodded, grimacing. "Do you think anything's broken? Any cracked ribs?" Carter asked quietly, carefully feeling him over. Daniel cried out softly when she hit a particularly sore spot, and Sam winced herself. "Sorry."

He shook his head, but now he was gasping again. " 's okay. No, don't...think anything's broken...Cracked rib or two maybe. Ohhhhh...." Daniel moaned.

"Where?" Sam asked in concern. He indicated an area to one side that seemed particularly bruised, and gently she began to probe the area, to her friend's grunts of pain. "Sorry, but we need to know how bad it is. I'm being as careful as I can, I promise..." Suddenly Sam stopped when she found the damaged ribs and Daniel yelled loudly. She pulled her hands away quickly and gripped his shoulder with one of them.

"Oh! Sorry!" she apologized fervently. Then she sighed. "No wonder that hurt so much. It's cracked all right-lucky it didn't break. A couple more around it might have minor cracks, and it's pretty obvious a lot of them are badly bruised."

"Oh...guess that explains it," Daniel gulped, trying to catch his breath yet again.

"You all right? I didn't mean to hurt you."

Jackson nodded his head slowly. "You're fine. I'll be okay."

"Are you cold? Do you want your jacket? Glasses? You left them here too."

"I want to get off this floor; that's what I want," Daniel replied, attempting to keep the pain off his face as he pushed himself up on his elbows.

"Are you sure?" Carter frowned.

Daniel nodded. "I'm sure," he grunted, pushing himself up farther, trying to straighten his arms under himself. For a moment it seemed as if pain would win, collapsing his bruised, hurting arms and sending the young scientist crashing painfully back to the ground, but before he had a chance to find out if it would Sam moved next to him, allowing him to drape an arm around her shoulders. The major, in turn, wrapped an arm around Daniel.

Once in position, Sam glanced at Jackson. When he nodded that he was ready, she nodded in return and then began to stand slowly, carefully pulling her comrade up with her. Daniel cried out, but helped her with his own legs as much as he could. His grip on Carter's shoulders tightened, and her free hand came up to grip his, giving him something a bit easier to hold onto and pull up on.

Thankfully, once he was up Daniel found that, though it was still painful to stand, move, or much less walk, it wasn't nearly as bad as getting to his feet in the first place. Carter seemed to realize this as well, and seemed relieved for him, but was still as gentle as possible as she helped him to the bench he had rested on earlier. But as careful as she was, she couldn't keep him from hurting enough to groan as they went, and when she lowered him to his seat she saw the pain on his face and wished there were more she could do.

Daniel pulled in a slow, deep breath, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes for a moment as he caught his breath.

"Daniel...?" Carter asked. After another moment his eyes opened again and he nodded.

"I'm fine, Sam," he said hoarsely. Her lips pressing into a thin line, she offered him his glasses, but he shook his head, pushing them away. "No thanks. I think I'm just going to try and get some sleep."

Sam put the glasses down. "That's probably a good idea. It's late, and I know you could use it," she said quietly.

"Yeah..." Daniel trailed tiredly. Grimacing, he lowered himself to his side and rested his head on the balled-up green BDU jacket that still lay in the corner. Lying on his side seemed to be the only comfortable position be could find--or rather, the least painful position for the moment. Nothing was very comfortable in his present state, but the moment he was lying down, and his head hit his improvised pillow, his exhaustion caught up with him and he felt himself drifting of.

Daniel felt Sam's hand on his shoulder again, this time in a purely sympathetic gesture, and looked up to see the comforting smile she offered him. He mustered the best he could find to give back to her before he allowed his eyes to drift shut. The beaten archaeologist fell asleep almost immediately, oblivious to the added danger outside the compound.

Chapter 10

Daniel Jackson woke with a start, crying out in pain when someone suddenly shook him. "Sam! What are you-" he yelped, but stopped when he saw that it was not Samantha Carter, but a serpent guard who stood over him, another right behind him. "W-what do you want?" he gulped, still wincing. He got his answer when the two jaffa grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet.

"Ah! OW! Okay, okay, I'm up!" he shouted, the rough movement sending waves of terrible pain through Daniel's bruised body. Without answering, the two men dragged him towards the door. A moment later, he heard Carter's groggy, but quickly awakening voice behind them.

"Hey! What are you doing! It's the middle of the night!-" Daniel didn't catch much of what she said after that, her voice drowned out by distance and his own grunts and groans of pain. The jaffa didn't seem to care what condition he was in-not that he had ever expected them to. In three years, Teal'c and Bra'tac were still the only two jaffa he had come to trust, and he knew they were different from most. As for what time it was; he managed to verify that by catching a glance of his watch. It was, in fact, the middle of the night, or extremely early in the morning, depending on one's point of view. What did they want with him at this hour?

Moments later, after taking the route Daniel had become accustomed to and learned to fear, they arrived at the same room he had been taken to before. Again Amaunet was waiting, and yet again they dropped him at her feet-though this time it didn't take any persuading to get him down, and it caused him considerably more pain. After catching his breath-not an easy task-the confused scientist looked up at her, his breath still a bit heavy.

"What...What's going on? It's the middle of the night...I don't...I don't understand..."

His voice trailed off as Amaunet smirked. "It doesn't matter, for us. We don't need the sleep that you weak humans require to function. Night, day, it is all the same to us, though granted, some things are more easily done in daylight when planet-side."

"Then why won't you let us sleep?" Daniel asked heatedly. The Goa'uld's cockiness was getting to him easily, as tired as he was. "Any *sane* person would be asleep right now...Ah!" He yelped when she struck him, ducking downward and nearly cracking his forehead on the floor.

"Silence!" Amaunet shouted, her eyes glowing briefly.

Daniel gulped as he sat up again, painfully, rubbing his cheek where she'd hit him with the hand that was covered with the hand device again. "What do you want from me?" he pleaded quietly.

"Before, nothing. I was merely flexing my muscles in what I was doing to you. But now, there are things I want from you," Amaunet answered honestly-surprising for a Goa'uld.

Jackson's eyes narrowed. "What kinds of things?"

She smiled. "You must know that our intelligence on the Tau'ri has been lacking, as of late. I intend to change that." She leaned closer, "And you are going to help me do that. I'll make it easy for you...The code for the devices you have which open that iris of yours on the Earth Stargate would be a good start."

Daniel frowned. "Nice try. I may not be military, but I have just as much responsibility to protect my planet as anyone else. I don't care if you're in my wife's body or not; you won't get anything from me."

Amaunet frowned in return and straightened. "Very well. You should know by now that we have other methods of persuasion..." she said, extending her hand above his face. *No, not that again...*was Daniel's desperate thought before the orange energy beam of the ribbon device activated, trapping him in its clutches. The archaeologist cried out.

The energy pierced his skull, sending paralyzing waves of pain through his body. It began almost subtly, but grew over time as she asked him questions about Earth-about the Tau'ri, as they called the humans and their planet-and he refused to answer. Eventually, to his relief, she became tired of the endless questions being met with no answers, and shut off the hand device, withdrawing her arm. Daniel collapsed, groaning loudly both from the lingering pain of the hand device and from the pain of the impact of his bruised body with the ground.

"Why do you not answer?" she demanded. "You know I cannot let you live, but if you give me what I want I will consider making your death less painful."

Despite himself, Daniel laughed weakly from the floor. "Too late for that..." He immediately regretted it when pain flared in his chest from the sharp movement. He regretted it even more a moment later when Amaunet nodded to one of the jaffa, who gave him a swift kick in the ribs-the same ones that were cracked. Daniel shrieked in agony and doubled over which, being on the ground, pulled him into a fetal position. Amaunet spoke again, and Daniel tried to listen even as he gasped painfully for the air that had been knocked out of him.

"So be it. If you will not tell me anything yet, then perhaps your friend will." With that, the Goa'uld motioned for two of the four jaffa in the room to follow her, and headed for the door.

"What?!" Daniel cried in alarm, grimacing as he pushed himself up on one elbow, ignoring the pain for the moment. "Y-you can't do that!"

But Amaunet ignored him. She did, however, turn to the two remaining jaffa in the room before she left. "Continue to interrogate him. I will be questioning the other prisoner."

"No!" Daniel shouted after her as she left. "Leave Sam alone! Sha're!-" He had more to say, but he was forced to break off abruptly when he received another sharp kick from one of the serpent guards at the last word. That sent more pain just as sharp tearing through his torso, and he wasn't even given time to recover before they grabbed his arms and dragged him to the chains on the side wall, only making his middle hurt worse, and he groaned loudly.

But what was worse was that Daniel felt sick; now Amaunet was going to interrogate Sam. He knew she wouldn't say anything either, which meant that, more than likely, soon she, too, would be caught in the grip of the ribbon device, and he didn't want that. He tried not to think about what else the Goa'uld might do to her, as well. *Please,* he pleaded to no one in particular. *Please, let Sam be okay, please...*

Daniel was pulled rudely out of his thoughts when a sudden new pain was called to his attention. He quickly looked in that direction to see one of the jaffa taking hold of his arm and opening one of the chains with the intention of putting it around his wrist as they had done before. But by now both of his wrists were so raw and hurting that he knew it wouldn't feel very good at all for them to be chained again.

"Do you have to do that...?" he implored hopefully, but was cut off again when the man snapped the cuff roughly closed, eliciting a yelp from Daniel. The scientist winced, "Okay, I guess you do...Ah!" He cried out again when the other jaffa closed the other one. "You know, you could try being a little less brutal for a change..." Daniel tried, but was only rewarded with another harsh blow to the face. "Guess not..."

---------------------------------------------------------

Samantha Carter looked up when she heard footsteps in the corridor, hoping that whoever was there was bringing Daniel. It had been over an hour. It could be him...

A moment later Amaunet came into view, and two jaffa...but no Daniel. Carter stood once the door had opened and the they had entered. "What do you want? Where's Daniel?"

"Doctor Jackson is still being interrogated."

"Interrogated!" Sam cried in alarm. "You never said anything about wanting any information! What are you doing to him!"

Amaunet smiled. "That is none of your concern. You should be concerned for yourself. Your friend is not revealing any information, but things will be easier for both of you if *you* do."

Carter glared at her, standing her ground. "I don't think so."

The Goa'uld nodded to the two serpent guards with her. "Your mistake," she said simply. The jaffa moved forward and took firm hold on Carter's arms, holding her in place.

"Let me go!" the major demanded. She pulled and twisted, but it was no use. Amaunet closed the distance between them, and activated her hand device. The orange beam caught Carter's forehead, and she gasped, her head snapping backwards for a moment.

"This isn't going to help you any," Sam growled through clenched teeth despite the pain that now flooded her body.

Amaunet only smirked and increased the intensity of the beam, drawing a moan from Carter. "We shall see, Major Carter. We shall see."

---------------------------------------------------------

By now, the only thing keeping Daniel Jackson conscious was the excruciating pain that permeated his body as he was dragged along the corridor, leaving a steady stream of moans, gasps, and cries in his wake. The two jaffa he was suspended between still didn't care how much pain their jostling caused him as they brought him back to the holding cell. At least, he thought tiredly, after what must have been another hour or more of interrogation, they had finally decided that it was enough for the moment.

There was something he should be remembering...something very important...but through the haze of pain that had settled over his mind, it was hard to think. What was it...? Daniel cried out again at a sudden bump, and his train of thought was derailed as he sank into the murky mist.

A few minutes later, Daniel was jarred to full consciousness again when he felt himself being dropped face down onto the floor of the holding cell. He shouted and rolled to his side, holding his injured ribs. But then he realized that his shout wasn't the only sound of pain in the room. Another sound of...moaning...was it feminine? His senses were still muted, his mind still murky. Gasping, he squinted as his vision slowly cleared-or cleared as much as it could without his glasses-and his ears slowly returned to normal. *I think this is what I needed to remember...*

After another few moments, the blurred sounds and hazy blobs of color he was seeing asserted themselves, and he found himself staring in horror at the scene before him. Amaunet had Carter on her knees, caught in the ribbon device, and from the brightness and thickness of the beam, the major's pained expression, and the cries that were escaping, it was obvious that the Goa'uld was being rather aggressive with it. Daniel eyes widened. *Sam!*

"Stop it..." he whispered weakly, but knew immediately that it hadn't been loud enough. "Stop..." he tried again, his voice above a whisper now, but not much louder. One of the jaffa glanced momentarily in his direction, bit then ignored him. Clenching his teeth against the pain, Daniel pushed himself up on one elbow, and gathered his strength. "Stop it!" he yelled as loudly as he could.

That got her attention, but instead of stopping, she only turned to look at him.

"Please, don't," Daniel pleaded, still breathing heavily. "She's...she's not the one you...you wanted here. I am. Just...stop it, please..."

Amaunet smiled. "You're right; she isn't. I wanted you...and information. Give me the information I desire, and I will stop."

Daniel stared at her, and looked at Sam, knew how much pain she was in. He could see streaks on her face where unbidden tears of pain had fallen, and almost considered it as he suddenly felt overwhelming anger at the Goa'uld for harming his friend.

"Daniel, don't-" Sam gasped, but was instantly cut off in a scream when Amaunet frowned and intensified the beam.

"No!" Daniel cried, pushing up farther. He looked at his wife desperately, hoping she was in there watching, somewhere, hoping she could help them. "I can't tell you anything now more than I could two hours ago, but please, just leave Sam alone! You can do what you want to me, but don't hurt her!"

"No Daniel!-AHH!" Carter screamed, trying again to dissuade him, but again only being rewarded with more pain.

Suddenly, Daniel could take no more of it. In an adrenaline rush that gave him more energy than he would have ever thought he had left, he leapt to his feet and lunged toward Amaunet. He didn't want to hurt Sha're, only knock her away from Sam, and get that hand device turned off...

But she re-directed the beam--snapping it away from Carter, widening it, and aiming it in his direction--faster than he'd have ever thought a Goa'uld was capable of. The energy wave slammed into Daniel's body and threw him backwards into the wall in a fashion remarkably reminiscent of his first encounter with Apophis--only this time, as injured as he already was, it hurt considerably more.

Carter collapsed, and Daniel howled in agony upon impact with the hard surface, then sank to the floor, gasping in heavy breaths that sounded almost like sobs. Amaunet only smirked, and strode from the cell, the door closing behind her. Once they were gone, Daniel pushed himself forward onto his hand and knees and crawled slowly toward his friend, unable to even think about standing again at the moment. He could barely move as it was without sharps knives of pain piercing his ribs, and if he hadn't been worried about Sam, he wouldn't have even been able to force himself to go that far.

Daniel suppressed another groan as he stopped in front of Carter. He took a moment to catch his breath--somewhat--before speaking, but it didn't help much. "Sam, you...you okay?" he asked with concern, grimacing as he help her sit up.

Carter nodded weakly, but her eyes were red-rimmed, and before she could stop them new tears began to fall. Crying softly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and after a moment of hesitation Daniel put his arms around her in return, offering what comfort he could. Saying nothing at first, he held her gently, trying to ignore the uncomfortable nature of the situation--and the physical pain coming from most of his body--because he knew that Sam needed a friend right now. He did too, after something like this, so he let her cry, her tears falling on his shoulder, where her head rested. But that didn't mean he knew exactly what to do.

"It's okay, Sam..." he said clumsily.

After a moment or two, Carter's tears subsided, and she gave a weak laugh. "Daniel, you're really bad at this," she said, pulling back and looking at him as she swept an arm across her face to dry it with the sleeve of her long-sleeved black shirt.

Daniel smiled despite himself. "Yeah, I guess I am...Are you okay?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah...killer headache, but I'll be fine. And...thanks."

"For what? Being stupid?"

Carter laughed again, louder this time, and it made him feel better to know that she was feeling better. "No, Daniel, for what you did. And just..." she shrugged. "For being here."

"I knew it," Daniel complained good-naturedly. "You're better at this than I am."

Sam looked confused for a moment. "What?"

Daniel shook his head. "I...I haven't thanked you....You've been here the whole time...and..." But he stopped there, not knowing what else to say.

Carter smiled at him softly. "It's all right; I know. And don't worry about it. What are friends for, right?"

"Right...."

Daniel sighed, but that proved to be a mistake when fresh stabs of pain gripped his chest, doubling him over with a gasp--but the additional sharp intake of breath didn't help any, and he cried out.

"Daniel!" Carter yelped in alarm, catching him. He slumped in her arms, moaning; his strength was giving out, the extra energy expenditure of a few minutes before taking its toll, and the pain from his injuries was surging in full force.

"Hold on, Daniel," Carter soothed, gently lowering him to the ground. "Just lay down..." He was gasping in pain, and she winced in sympathy, wishing there were more she could do for him. "Just a minute..." With that, the major jumped up and grabbed Daniel's jacket from the far corner of the room, then knelt beside him again. "Here you go," she said quietly, lifting his head and placing the crumpled jacket under it. "You'll be all right." Daniel smiled at her through a grimace.

"Thanks Sam..." he gasped, and Carter put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're welcome. Now try to get some more sleep, okay?" He nodded weakly, not needing any more prompting to close his eyes.

Sighing, Carter pulled back, not sure where to sleep. Should she go back to where she had been sleeping earlier, or stay on the floor near Daniel? The latter would certainly be more considerate...

Making her decision, she snatched her own jacket from the bench beside her and stuffed in under her head as she lied down a few feet from her friend. Carter stayed awake until Daniel's moaning faded away, his breathing evened out, and she was sure he was asleep. At least that way he couldn't feel any pain--physical anyway. She wasn't sure about emotional, though, because even in sleep, she heard him muttering his wife's name.

Chapter 11

Jack O'Neill sighed in frustration as he and what was left of his team lowered themselves into chairs in the briefing room. Jack was tired. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, he hadn't left the base to do it, and he, Teal'c and Janet Fraiser had all agreed to wake up early to begin searching again. They had just returned from the first planet of the day.

"Planet number twenty-one; bust number twenty-one," Jack grumbled.

"Actually, colonel, two of the other teams that left this morning made it back before you did, so that would planet number twenty-three," general Hammond corrected as he took his own seat.

"All right, planet twenty-three," Janet said with a bit of guarded annoyance. "That doesn't change the fact that we haven't found them yet."

"I know that, doctor," Hammond agreed, his tone level.

Teal'c looked around at them all. "We do not seem to making much progress searching in this manner," the jaffa stated bluntly.

"Thank you, Teal'c, I think I figured that out about twenty-*four* hours ago. And nobody tell me I got that number wrong," O'Neill replied snarkily.

Despite herself, Fraiser smiled; Hammond felt a ghost of one pass fleetingly over his lips.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I simply mean that I believe we should consider other options."

"What other options, Teal'c?" Hammond asked, clearly actually interested in the larger man's reply.

"I believe we should seek assistance."

"From who?" Janet inquired.

"Our only off-world allies who have the resources and willingness to help us in our search..."

All three other occupants of the table registered immediate recognition of who he was referring too, but O'Neill didn't look the least bit happy about it.

"Aww, Teal'c, don't say it-"

"...the Tok'ra."

Jack shook his head and put it in his hands. "I *told* you not to say it..."

"Teal'c has a point, colonel," Hammond said. "If we can contact them, they may very well be able to give us substantial help with our search. They may even have other options. Besides, I think Jacob would want to know about this. Don't you agree.

Jack looked at the general and winced. "That part-yes. The rest-sorry sir, but no."

"I'm sorry, Jack, but that doesn't matter. We're going to contact them whether you like it or not." Teal'c nodded in agreement with the general, and O'Neill glared at him. Fraiser seemed indifferent to the idea.

With that statement, General Hammond rose and headed in the direction of the control room, Janet not far behind. O'Neill and Teal'c rose to follow, the latter reluctantly.

Teal'c finally chose to take notice of his commander's sour expression, and spoke. "I am sorry, O'Neill, but I only wish to find our friends as much as you do."

"Yeah, okay," Jack relented. "But next time I tell you not to say something-don't say it."

The corner of Teal'c mouth tilted upward. "I cannot promise anything, O'Neill."

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I thought you'd say something like that."

-----------------------------------------------

Morning had come; the order was given. The ground forces of the enemy moved, but there were no death gliders. As small as the outpost was, it had been assumed they would not be needed-Goa'uld arrogance at its best-even though the objective in itself was a large one--capture the base, kill Apophis's queen, and thus gain the service of the forces she controlled for their master, Heru-er.

------------------------------------------------------

Daniel shouted in pain as he was kicked harshly in the gut yet again from his prone position on the floor, unable to get up. The force of the blow sent him rolling hard into the wall of the interrogation room, and upon impact the world abruptly blinked out.

When everything snapped on again Jackson found himself screaming, his back arching in agony as the Goa'uld torture stick dug into his neck for lack of chains. The jaffa who held the device pulled it away after a few moments, and Daniel went limp, gasping but trying not to do it too hard so as not to cause any more extra pain than necessary to his cracked ribs. At the moment they were burning quite severely, and controlling his intake of air in any form to keep from making them hurt worse was becoming harder and harder as time went on. Funny--he would have thought it would have been the other way around...

Daniel's thoughts trailed away again, dissolving in pain that seared through his body and mind when two of the serpent guards that had been beating him pulled him up onto his knees at their queen's command. The young scientist was too exhausted to do much more than moan.

Amaunet approached him, her left hand-the one adorned by the ribbon device-lifted, and Daniel bit back a sob. *No, Sha're don't...please...not again. Not that again. I can't take anymore. Amaunet's killing me. Stop her. You have to stop her. Please, please, Sha're, fight it...Come back to me...Stop this and come back to me...*

But none of the words left his mouth before the hand device activated, paralyzing him in agony yet again. Speaking them would only make thing worse, and right now, worse could finish him. He couldn't die yet. He had to find another way to get through to her, or a way to talk to her without any vengeful jaffa nearby. He had to live to save her...

But there was a difference this time in the way the Goa'uld wielded the device, a certain intensity of the pain that again and again ripped tortured groans from his throat, and suddenly Daniel realized that the beam was no longer meant only to torment him. Amaunet really was trying to kill him; she really was ready to finish him here and now. Now he tried to speak, to dissuade her, but it was too late. He was too far gone, held too tightly in the deadly beam, too weak.

*NO! Not like this! It can't end like this! No, Sha're, not like this...I love you...not like this...notlikethisnotlikethisnotlikethis...*Daniel thought desperately, his eyes glistening with tears that threatened to escape.

They might have, but suddenly Amaunet was interrupted by the sound of staff blasts in the background. The hand device snapped off as an alarmed jaffa ran into the room. Daniel collapsed, barely conscious and struggling to breath, and he almost didn't hear the man's report.

"Lady Amaunet! The compound is under attack from Heru-er's forces!"

The Goa'uld spun to stare at her subordinate. "What! That is impossible! The location of this base is not known to our enemies!"

The jaffa shook his head nervously, fearful of the wrath of his god. "They have discovered it, somehow, My Lady. The ground forces broke through our defenses and were in inside the compound so quickly, they are headed this way, and now we are detecting one enemy hu'tack in orbit." Already the other four jaffa in the room were picking up their staff weapons and leaving to join the fight down the corridor, but Amaunet continued to glare at the bearer of the news.

"But we have three vessels. Surely we have sufficiently more forces enough to defeat them easily," she said, her eyes narrowing.

"Yes, My Queen. They took us by surprise initially, but we will soon have eradicated the threat. Still, as a precaution, we should evacuate you to your ship for safety."

Daniel heard the sounds of the firefight between serpent and horus guards coming closer and closer-too close. But Amaunet glanced in his direction and then back at the jaffa. "No. I am not finished here. I am confident they can be quickly dealt with. I will be fine."

The jaffa nodded quickly. "Yes, My Lady."

Amaunet smiled slightly. "Good." And then, before Daniel knew what was happening, she had taken two large strides, closing the distance between herself and the jaffa, and had turned the ribbon device on him. Within seconds he was dead, and slumped to the floor. Daniel stared in horror at the jaffa's body, knowing that now she would come after him again, that soon that would also be him...

The battle was even closer to them now. It sounded as if it was right on top of them; in fact, through the open doorway of the small room, he could see blast bolts and blue arcs of energy coming from around the corner. But Amaunet paid no attention to them, her focus on her next target. With no more jaffa present to pull him up, she leaned over and roughly hooked her right hand in the front of the collar of his black t-shirt, pulling him upright to his groans of pain.

"Sha're, no," Daniel rasped weakly as her left hand rose to his forehead, eyeing the hand device fearfully. "Fight her, Sha're, fight her!"

Amaunet ignored him. Sha're either couldn't hear him, or just as before, failed to break out. But before she could activate the device, a stray blast bolt from the firefight just down the corridor found its way through the door, and took her in the leg.

"Sha're!" Daniel cried, catching her as she cried out and crashed to the ground. But almost immediately the Goa'uld within her snarled at him and pushed away.

"Do not worry yourself about me, human," Amaunet hissed, her voice even more gravely than that of a normal Goa'uld because of her injury, if that was possible.

Reacting more than acting, not thinking as his instincts took over, Daniel pushed himself to his feet, took her by the arms, then swung, pushed her into the nearest corner and crouched in front of her, covering her with his own body, shielding her from anymore stray or purposeful shots that might come their way even though his injured body screamed in protest.

"What are you doing?!" Amaunet cried from where she now sat in front of him, pressed into the wall.

Daniel scowled at her at the same time that he was trying to asses the severity of her wound. "Look," he said, his voice low and weak, yet steady and determined at the same time, "I don't care about you. I don't care what *happens* to you. But I do care about my wife-very much-and I *am* going to protect her." Then he sighed, and his voice softened. "The wound isn't bad. You'll be fine."

"Of course I will be fine. With our superior technology, your human bodies are-"

"-easy to repair. Yeah, I got that. Now would you please be quiet so we won't draw attention to ourselves. I'd rather not get both of us killed. Besides, you should be conserving energy."

Amaunet scowled. Even though the wound was not substantial, she was still losing blood. She was getting weaker and she knew it, so grudgingly, she shut her mouth, but her eyes flared at him for a moment-a short moment. Suddenly the glow died away and her eyes closed, her head rearing back. Daniel's eyes widened, unsure of what was happening or what he should do.

"No-!" the Goa'uld yelped, but for some reason was cut off. A moment later she pulled in a breath, but somehow...it sounded human. Her eyes opened seconds later, and she looked at him with new eyes. Or rather, not new eyes, but eyes that he hadn't seen in so long he had almost forgotten how they took his breath away with their softness and simplistic beauty...

"Dan'iel?" Sha're whispered.

Daniel released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "Sha're?" he said in disbelief.

Sha're gripped the arms that held her back against the wall, gulping. "Dan'iel, I'm sorry-!"

"Don't," Daniel interrupted her, the tears that had gathered in his eyes starting to fall as he released the grip he'd had on her arms and brought one hand up to touch her face. The other took her hand. "It's all right. It wasn't you." Before he could stop it, a sob escaped his throat as he pulled her to him, embracing her gently. "Sha're, I love you. I love you so much..."

"I love you too, Dan'iel," she whispered back softly as she returned his embrace, snuggling into his chest. Staying upright, holding her, it all only made everything hurt worse, but Daniel didn't care. He had Sha're now, and everything would be all right...

Suddenly something slammed into Daniel's back, and he shouted in agony as searing pain ripped through his torso.

"Dan'iel!" Sha're cried in alarm. Only then did Daniel realize he'd been hit. He gasped and sank in her arms, his eyes widening in shock, unable to stay up on his knees anymore. Already he felt his consciousness fading. Sha're's grip on his arms tightened, trying to hold him up, keep him from falling to the floor. She saw how bad the wound was, knew what it probably meant, and he did too. "Dan'iel, no!" she cried, tears forming in her eyes.

Behind them the firefight wound to a close, the serpent guards finally overpowering the horuses, but neither noticed.

"Sh-Sha're..." Daniel gasped, struggling to stay awake. But he was fighting a losing battle.

"Dan'iel, hold on," Sha're answered tearfully. But then she gasped, flinging her head backward as she had moments before. When her eyes opened, they flared orange with the glow of the Goa'uld again. Amaunet had re-taken control.

"No, Sha're-!" Daniel rasped, but before he could continue the Goa'uld snorted in disgust as tossed him away from her. He cried out in pain and hit the floor a few feet away. He watched as she stood, favoring her injured leg and leaning against the wall.

"Stay away from me, human," she snapped, glowering at him.

Daniel felt his heart breaking all over again. He'd had her back, had Sha're back for a moment, but just as suddenly as she had been taken the first time, she had been stolen from him again. "No..." Daniel gasped even as he felt himself growing weaker and weaker, blackness closing in around the edges of his vision. "Sha're, come back..." But that was as far as he got before the darkness claimed him.

Chapter 12

Samantha Carter looked up tiredly when she heard the door to the cell open, and relief crossed her face when she saw that they were returning Daniel. When she'd heard the sounds of a firefight, and the yelled reports and realized what was happening, she had been worried for him. Now, she didn't say anything when the jaffa dropped him facedown onto the floor; she only stood, wincing, glad that he didn't seem to be conscious to feel it. As the guards backed out of the cell, she took another step or two toward Daniel, but suddenly stopped and gasped when she saw the nasty staff blast wound on his back.

"Oh my--what happened?!" she cried, running to his side and crouching down beside him. She didn't expect an answer, much less from whom she got it from.

"Stray staff blast from the attack," Amaunet answered bluntly. Sam glanced up to see her passing the cell, supported by two jaffa because Sha're's leg was injured as well. It didn't seem life-threatening, but it was bad enough that the Goa'uld could not heal it quickly enough to walk on her own. Her face twisted. "The fault is all his own. He chose to shield me."

Carter almost smiled at that; of course he would have. But then she frowned. "Why are you bringing him back here? He could...he could die. You have to do something..."

As she spoke, Daniel suddenly gasped, coming to, but even once he'd awoke, his breath came in short, pained huffs that he seemed to have to struggle for, and his eyes didn't open. Sam's throat tightened, realizing how much pain he must have been in. She wasn't even sure he was aware of what was happening around him yet. Then her attention was drawn back to the Goa'uld.

Amaunet's eyes flared, and she smirked. "I do not 'have' to do anything. I could simply let him die. But then I would not have the satisfaction of killing him myself. So he will be healed, but not now. I must use the sarcophagus first, and then there are other, more important things that need to be taken care of before attending to wounded prisoners."

Carter gulped. "B-but you can't just leave him like this! He's suffering!"

"Then he will have to suffer until there is time to bring him to the sarcophagus," Amaunet replied coldly. She turned to go, and Sam shouted at her back as she went, horror sticking in her throat and making it hard to speak.

"Wait! You can't do this! Don't!...Don't do this to him, Sha're, come back!"

"Sam..." Daniel's voice gasped from beside her knees.

Gulping again before taking her eyes off the retreating Goa'uld, Sam looked down at her friend, unable to hold back a grimace at the sight of the staff blast wound. "Daniel, are you all right?" It was a stupid question; of course he wasn't all right. His *life* was in immediate danger at the moment for goodness sakes.

And Daniel shook his head, his eyes still not open, clenched shut in agony as he gasped out his fractured reply. "No...C-can't...breath...help...roll off...stomach."

Carter's eyes widened as she forced her pure worry to slack off a bit in order to allow her to think, and comprehended that the reason he was gasping like fish out of water was because he was laying on his injured ribs. Nodding quickly, she gently rolled him onto his side, careful to avoid the fresh wound. When he had been positioned better, his breathing seemed to slowly be less of a chore, and Sam allowed herself to relax a bit.

"That help some?" she asked, just to make sure.

Daniel nodded weakly. "Some..." he whispered hoarsely.

"So, did you hear..." she inquired carefully.

"Yeah, I heard what she said," Daniel answered quietly. His voice wasn't comprised of strangled gasps anymore, but it was still thin, weak, and scratchy, with an occasional light gasp of pain--not surprising, when he'd just taken a staff blast full in the back. It was a wonder he wasn't dead already. The shot must have somehow missed all of the important things, leaving him crippled and in excruciating pain. Usually he would have tried to, but there was no way that Daniel could have hidden the fact of how much he was hurting at the moment, and it showed fully on his face as he spoke, along with the dread of having to endure it until Amaunet's jaffa returned for him.

Sam grimaced again and rubbed his shoulder. "It's all right. I'll be here."

Daniel only nodded weakly, but she didn't blame him for not feeling like talking anymore. Opening his eyes and glancing up, across the floor, Daniel stopped his jacket still lying on the ground few feet away. He groped for it, but it wasn't close enough, and trying to stretch only hurt more. Sam leaned over, caught the edge of it with her fingers, and pulled it closer to him. Daniel nodded in thanks and took hold of it, pulling it under his head, though when it was it position supporting his head he still gripped balls of the fabric tightly in both hands. His eyes clenched shut again before she'd gotten much of a chance to see them, fighting the pain.

Sam gripped his shoulder again, more firmly this time. "Daniel?"

He gulped. "It's okay, Sam. I can...I can handle it until they come back--provided it doesn't kill me first." The corner of his mouth curled up almost into a momentary half- smile at the last statement, and she wondered how he could do that when he knew he was dying. Even though the Goa'uld had promised Daniel would be put in the sarcophagus later, that still bothered her. What if he couldn't hold on until they returned? What would happen then? But she immediately pushed the though away, not wanting to dwell on it.

"Are you sure?" she asked in concern.

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Uhm...no, I...I guess not," Carter sighed.

An uncomfortable moment of silence passed, the only sound Daniel's labored breathing, until Daniel finally looked up at her, opening his red rimmed, tear filled, and exhausted eyes again. The bright blue of his irises only made the deep, dark circles under his eyes stand out more. Sam had to resist the urge to shudder at how much more pain her friend's eyes betrayed then the rest of his face, and not all of it was physical.

"Sam...I saw her," Daniel breathed.

At first she just looked at him, and then her own eyes widened. "Sha're? She-"

Daniel nodded slowly. "After she got hit, I covered her, but...Amaunet was weakened by the wound, I guess, and Sha're broke out...for a minute. But then I got hit, and..." He was blinking rapidly now, pushing back the tears that wanted to fall. "And then she was...she was gone...again." Something between another gasp of pain and a sob escaped his throat, and Sam's heart went out to him. "...again," he whispered.

----------------------------------------------------------

The response from the Tok'ra came thankfully quicker than they had expected, and as General Hammond ordered the iris to be opened to let through the Tok'ra representative they were sending, Jack O'Neill found himself thankful they had actually hadn't wasted time, but still hoping that the Tok'ra coming wasn't one of the really annoying ones...

O'Neill's worries halted when Jacob Carter stepped through the Stargate onto the ramp, and he let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding. Then he headed from the control room, following Hammond.

"Jacob! It's good to see you," Hammond said, greeting his friend warmly at the door to the 'gate room with a smile and a handshake.

"Good to be home, George," Jacob smiled back. "Jack," he said, nodding toward O'Neill, who nodded in return. "Selmak says hi, too, but you'll probably get to talk to him later anyway," the older man grinned. "Now what's this about, George?" Then he started to look around for his daughter. "And...where's Sam?"

Hammond sighed, Jack frowned, and that was all Jacob need to know something was wrong. His smile faded. "What wrong?"

"I'm afraid that's what this is about, Jacob. Major Carter and Doctor Jackson are missing."

"Sam and Daniel? What happened?" Jacob asked in concern as Hammond started to herd him and O'Neill toward the briefing room.

"We're not entirely sure, but we have a theory. The only problem is that our search plan is taking too long. Did Major Carter ever tell you how we found the second 'gate on Earth in Antarctica?"

Jacob nodded, frowning. "Yes, I remember something about. You don't think the same thing happened again, do you?"

"That's the only feasible answer we have right now. Nothing's come through the second 'gate here, but there any number of planets it could have jumped to between here and P5R-316."

"So basically, we have no idea," O'Neill offered.

Hammond nodded as the three of them sat down. "Can the Tok'ra help us, Jacob?"

Jacob looked thoughtful for a moment more, then bowed his head to look at his hands folded on the table for a moment. When his head lifted, it was the symbiote, Selmak, who spoke.

"Our resources are always stretched somewhat thing, and right now is no exception, but I believe we could spare a ship or two to help your search, though I will have to speak to the council on that matter, and we will certainly relay any intelligence we may come across concerning your missing people."

Hammond nodded again, this time in thanks. "Thank you, Selmak. We'll be glad for all the help we can get locating them." But even as he spoke, a chill that he could never stop ran up his spine at the voice of the Tok'ra, which was identical to that of a Goa'uld. He liked Selmak, and Jacob was one of the best friends he'd ever had, but it still spooked him a bit. He could see it did the same to O'Neill, who shifted uncomfortably even as he looked happy at the news.

Jacob's head bowed again, then lifted and Jacob spoke. "And we'll offer as much as we can, George. We'll find my daughter--we'll find both of them."

----------------------------------------------

Present

Daniel Jackson woke with a start, his head jerking upward, and he found himself staring down at his folded arms, set on top of his desk. His glasses lay a few inches away, on top of an open reference book, and he picked them up, groggily sliding them onto his face. What...? he wondered absently, looking around, and then remembered that he had stayed on base because he hadn't thought he'd be able to sleep before the mission the next day. Not to mention he hadn't really wanted to sleep; he'd known it would bring the kind of terrible dreams he'd been having.

Daniel shuddered at the memories-turned-nightmares, and not for the first time that day. Of all the places to go after he'd finally gotten rid of Vala, why did it have to be there? Having Vala MalDoran around for several weeks and having no choice but to remain near her at all times had been bad enough; now he was being forced to relive an even more potent nightmare from his past.

Sighing heavily, Daniel picked up the text he'd been trying to translate before he'd drifted off at his desk and attempted to continue. But just as before, he didn't have much luck pushing thoughts of Sha're and what had happened on that planet--now designated P5R- 322--from his mind. He was almost grateful for the interruption when Cameron Mitchell's voice echoed from the doorway.

"Hey, Jackson, what are you still doing here? It's after midnight."

Daniel glanced at the clock and that it was, in fact, almost two o'clock in the morning, and shrugged. "I could ask you the same question."

"Good point," Mitchell conceded. "Can I come in?"

Now Daniel actually looked in his direction. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." He motioned to another chair that sat beside the table near his desk, and the colonel sauntered into the office and lowered himself into the rolling chair, spinning a couple of times on the mechanism before stopping to face Jackson.

"Couldn't sleep?" At Daniel expression, Cameron shrugged. "Yeah, me either."

Daniel snorted. "You're just excited about what we might find there. I'm just..." He trailed off, grimacing, and Mitchell peered at him.

"You know, Daniel, if this is really bothering you that much, you're welcome to sit this one out."

The archaeologist shook his head. "No, you'll need me to read anything in Goa'uld we come across, and there's likely to be a lot of it, considering it was a Goa'uld base. I'll...I'll be fine."

"You sure? 'Cause I can even ask General Landry to assign this mission to another team if I need to...." Mitchell offered generously. "I mean, I know Carter's having a little trouble with this too..."

"Sam? No, she'll be all right," Daniel said, giving a half smile. But it quickly faded and he looked away, not saying anything else about himself.

Mitchell eyed him. "You know, maybe talking about it would help..."

Daniel shook his head slowly. "No...I don't think so. I'd rather not right now," he said quietly, plucking up a pencil, and twirling it between his fingers, hoping that if he took his attention away from Mitchell that he would just go away...

But Mitchell didn't give up so easily. "I don't mind listening, Daniel, and if something's going to affect the performance of my team, I need to know."

Daniel blew air through his teeth. "It's not going to affect anything, Cameron, okay? I told you, I'll be fine," he said forcefully, the edge in his voice clearly telling the colonel to back off, bordering on the irritated. His grip on the pencil tightened, and it stopped spinning.

"Daniel, I'm your commander. I know we haven't known each other all that long but still... If you can't talk to me, who can you talk to? Come on-"

The pencil in Daniel's hand snapped, and so did his patience, stopping Cameron Mitchell in his proverbial tracks. "Look, colonel, when I say I don't want to talk about something, there's usually a really good reason. I was tortured within an inch of my life on that planet, and the entire time I had to look at my wife's face, sneering down at me under the control of the Goa'uld who had taken over her body. It was one of the worst experiences of my life, and I just don't want to say any more than that, all right?!"

Mitchell gulped, raising his hands in the air as he gave up, suddenly knowing he'd gone too far. "All right, all right. Sorry. I wasn't tryin' to upset anybody..."

Daniel slumped, sighing heavily and resting his forehead in his hands on the desk. After a moment he spoke again. "No...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blown up like that. You're...you're right. I should be able to talk to you. But..." He trailed off and looked at Mitchell. Cameron saw pain reflected in Jackson's eyes that had been under the surface for a long time, that he only allowed to surface for a moment before burying it again. "But I can't," Daniel finished softly. "Not about that."

Mitchell stood slowly. "Yeah...sorry, Daniel."

The scientist flashed him one of his famous smiles, if not one that was a bit smaller than usual, before turning back to his work. "It's okay."

Cameron nodded. "Right. Yeah, I think I'll get going now, see if I can get some sleep. You should too..."

But Daniel didn't even look up, engrossed in his work again--or was it his thoughts?

Mitchell sighed and moved off, mumbling to himself. "Or, you could just stay up all night. Knock yourself out."

-------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13

Past

Sam Carter sat with her back against the edge of the bench, rubbing her temples as she kept a watchful eye on her friend. Daniel's pained, labored breathing seemed to drill into her skull at the exact moments the monstrous headache she'd developed pulsed in her head. She hoped someone would return for him soon for both their sakes. She hated to see him suffering. They should soon anyway--it had already been hours.

Unable to sit still anymore and wanting to get her mind away from the thudding pain, she moved closer to Jackson again and touched his shoulder.

"Hey, Daniel, how you doing?"

His eyes opened and looked up at her slowly. "Well, I'm still alive," he said with a grimace. But then Daniel coughed, and the simple grimace turned to an expression of agony. "Ohhhhh, they'd better get here soon," he moaned.

"I wish there was something I could do..." she said softly, voicing the thought for once.

"I know you do. And believe me-so do I." He came up short of breath, and his eyes clenched shut again as he struggled to get enough air in, and deal with the pain it caused. He thought he'd have gotten used to doing that by now, but unfortunately that wa