• SPOILERS: Legacy
• SUMMARY: Tag for Legacy. The road to status quo is a precarious one as SG-1 finds out on their first mission together after Machello's revenge...
• PG-13 for violence [A] [HC] [S] [M] [V]
• NOTES: Formerly published in Gateways 4

With a small sideways glance, Doctor Daniel Jackson watched as one Colonel Jack O'Neill pretended to be looking anywhere but at the cave where Daniel was crouched down near its mouth. Pacing left and right, muttering out loud to Sam about how the samples were going as if he was even remotely interested, the older man was trying very hard not to be conspicuous.

And failing miserably.

Waiting to see when good ole Doctor Jackson suddenly falls off the edge again, Daniel thought sourly, shaking his head as a bitter taste rose up his throat as he watched the telltale signs of Jack O'Neill worried- running a hand through pepper graying short hair. Back and forth, back and forth the pacing went. Daniel hadn't seen Jack like this since Daniel suffered withdrawal from the sarcophagus. He came to after breaking down in the storage closet to find Jack doing the same rhythmic walking around his private room in the infirmary, the older man unaware of being watched. Otherwise, the colonel would have stopped and cracked a joke for his benefit. No, it was surely a bad sign if Jack, who usually would find something to keep himself busy, was suddenly at a loss for distraction. And Daniel knew who the pacing was for.

"Uh...you don't have to walk on eggshells with me anymore. I'm...cured."

He felt his back curve, leaning him forward. His shoulders ached, his neck cramping painfully with each turn of the head; his body finally deciding to choose now to make a protest about his nights of little sleep.

Two fingers up to his right temple, he pressed down, tips going in a tiny circle, but the slowly growing headache refused to leave. It spread around to the front, and the cave wall blurred to a haze of pinks before clearing. Eyes dry, blinking didn't even help, Daniel wanted no more than to curl on the sandy ground and wait for the world to brighten again around him. But there was no luck this being all a dream. He could feel reality pulling down on his limbs, making even the camel haired brush in his hand heavy as a mallet.

Daniel stared at the faint carvings on the cave once more, the writings he was able to salvage under layers of dust and carbon. They were similar to other caves he'd found on the bottom of this slope, only not as well preserved. Daniel normally would have been jumping at the wonderful chance, at the rare find, but all he could manage to dredge up was the thought he should try and work on this wall. He absently dabbed his brush against one slender stroke to tap the grit out, revealing pale pink colorings of a once vibrant painting of what looked like a buffalo. He couldn't uncover all of it. The parts closer to the cave entrance were worn to smooth slate. Deeper in the cavern, the paintings were barely coaxed out of time and erosion. But they were in better condition than some of the others. Listlessly, Daniel tapped the bristles on one carving, applying the chemicals with a soft cloth. A small person emerged, looking like it was running away from the buffalo, spear in hand, pointing to its pursuer behind it. Daniel flashed an image of hundreds of buffaloes, snorting, charging, steering for the hapless painted person, alone with a pathetic stroke representing its weapon.

He could see himself being stampeded by the lone buffalo, hundreds surely hiding under the layers of worn rock and dust, yet to be uncovered by a brush, waiting to thunder over him with their hard hooves. The archeologist could hear the roaring rhythm of hooves pounding on stone, reaching for a fragile body to smash to nothing. He felt a rush of pity for the rust stained drawing and its pathetic stick grasped in its long fingered hand.

"I know how you feel," he murmured to the poor figure, the brush slipping from his own.

"How's everything going here?" came Jack's quiet inquiry, echoing in the shallow cave. The colonel paused at the mouth of the cave, fidgeting in place. "You okay in there?" Daniel flinched, feeling the concern like a slap.

"Fine," Daniel muttered, wiping the dust from his face, feeling his eyes burn as his vision blurred once more. He rotated his shoulders back, sitting up higher and forced his voice to be firmer. "I'm fine," he repeated. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack finally nod before moving closer to Sam instead. Daniel let his shoulders droop, heaving a sigh.

The door slammed shut with such a bang Daniel flinched.

Daniel took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. He could feel the tight tension in his shoulders ease back a bit. He could do this. It'd been two weeks, more than ample time to work the drugs out of his system, for the doctors to run their dopamine levels tests on him and for the scrawl of Warner's name on the report, signing him fit for duty. He could do this. Dreams, night visitors, restless tossing and turning, that was all expected, right? He didn't need to see a psychiatrist about his 'experiences' as Mackenzie named them. He didn't need Jack knocking at his office door every few hours to see if he was still in there with all the work he could manage to find. No. He was fine. He didn't need people knocking on his door hesitantly, asking quietly if it was okay to come in rather than barging in like they usually did. He didn't need this. Didn't need anyone to hover.

All he wanted was to be left alone.

* * * * *

"How do you heal broken trust?"

Colonel Jack O'Neill set his jaw, mouth pressed to a thin line as he realized he hadn't heard more than a "I'm going to check the cave over there" from their archeologist since they'd arrive on P5T-631. Checking his watch again, he realized that meant hours since the Jackson's silent treatment special.

"That should cover the grid, sir," Carter was saying, oblivious to his distracted thoughts. She turned around to a row of miniature satellite dishes, cables snaking towards what looked like to Jack a motorized lawn mower without the driver seat. She waved towards the laptop on top of the equipment. "All set to record as much of the asteroid showers as we can. And if the first team's readings were correct, looks like this is one of many in a series to come in the following weeks." Her words stumbled after each other in her growing excitement. "This is going to give us a lot of information, sir. When SG-11 first surveyed the Stargate area, I don't think they realized the magnitude of their discovery when they took those preliminary core samples."

"Uh...great," Jack said lamely, as he took the glass tubing with a grunt, handing it over to Teal'c who had appeared out of nowhere. The Jaffa barely blinked, accepting the core easily before moving to the gathered backpacks, slipping the rod with the rest of its siblings.

The reddish sands of P5T-631, darkened by the shadows of the maze of cliffs, surrounded him like a very large version of England's Stonehedge, their own equipment standing out with their gleaming metal and black backpacks. A cluster of tent poles stuck on the ground to stake their spots swayed like shivering beings under a wind that only slowed down or pick up, but never went away. The compact space they'd set camp on, basically the size of a modest softball field, seemed even smaller now as he scanned the heights of the cliffs, disappearing into the low hanging clouds.

Carter was still going as she peeled off her gloves and tucked them into her vest. "With so many layers of carbon compacted so close together, there must have been dozens of these impact events within a generation to create such an iron rich environment." Carter was waving her hands across the landscape. "Not even one specimen of what was no doubt a vast wooded terrain remained with the exception of grass." She pointed to the broken cliffs that twisted across the horizon, jagged blades of rock spiking out of the plane like spokes. "Moments of impact must have shattered the continental plates and changed the atmosphere." It reminded O'Neill of a tiger pit with its trap drenched in old blood.

Or a cracked eggshell.

"Uh...you don't have to walk on eggshells with me anymore. I'm...cured."

Cured? Jack pressed his lips together before the growl he felt crawling up his throat could escape.

Cured? Daniel wasn't even sick in the first place.

God damn you, Machello.

"The continental plates must have been forced up and exposed all these caves. They could be pores in the bedrock we're looking at or man made formations, but at least with these core samples we can determine and compare the ages of the sample sites and..." Carter was still going, unaware of the fact Teal'c was her only audience as the Jaffa dutifully took one rod of samples after another.

The gray, murky sky was barely visible between the openings the cliffs allowed, making Jack feel like he was standing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Only they didn't look or feel as majestic. Just bleak with its dull surfaces streaked with gray like dried tears on an old, wizened face.

The major paused mid-sentence as she examined a sample one last time before passing it to O'Neill, who automatically passed it to Teal'c without giving it a look. "The atmosphere is practically just a thick cloud cover, but it was probably a lot worse in the past before we ever came through here. Blocked all UV radiation and heat. The planet must have been systematically been eradicated of all lifeforms, then recycled back. Nothing would have survived the intense drops of temperature or severe cloud covers from the dust debris time to time. It's like looking at Earth after its meteor impact that killed off the dinosaurs although we're lucky the effects are cycling out. Otherwise there's no way we could have come here without freezing." Carter paused to readjust her gloves as if finally feeling the chill herself.

The caves looked like eyes to Jack, spying down on him and his team in such a wicked way that it made him tighten his hold on his rifle. It made his eyes dart suspiciously at every cave he could see, even though SG-11 who'd come before had found no signs of life after they emerged from the Stargate hidden deep in another cave over half a day's walk away.

One cave in particular drew his attention. At the ground level and lit with an electric lantern in the center of the cavern, a solitary figure hunched over a mess of tools.

As if aware of the distant scrutiny, the subject of Jack's observation looked up, tilting back his boonie hat, and O'Neill hastily turned away.

Jack didn't know anything about plates and stuff like that. Despite how "fascinating" Carter was crowing this place was, the stillness of the planet actually held some tangibility and sounded loud. It made the skin on Jack's hands itch. It was kind of ironic. This silent place was actually the nosiest place of them all, the lack of sound of any activity rung in his ears as audible as a drum beating by his head. The place looked dull and potentially uninteresting, but she was going through debriefing the day before prattling about carbon and tectonic shifts and what nots. Carter was literally racing down the long path the moment they arrived through the Stargate, chomping at the bit to punch holes on the planet for her damn dirt samples.

It felt sad though, when Daniel didn't join in on the academic frenzy, trailing behind Jack with his camcorder rolling. Usually, Jack had to separate the two scientists, two brains going on and on like a geek concert in surround sound. At least Carter knew when to pick up her gun and take point. Daniel, on the other hand; would be swinging his head left and right and every which way. Not to keep an eye out for eye glowing bad guys, but for rocks, dirt and temples, oh my.

O'Neill never thought he would miss that.

"Sir?"

Carter peered up at him, her hands still grasped around the top of a tall column of soil samples she was pulling out of a hole dug in the ground. The goggles on her face which shielded her eyes as she drilled her soil samples did nothing to conceal her curious expression. She crouched there, waiting for her CO to respond and when he didn't, darted a look over to Teal'c.

The colonel mentally shook his head. Mind on the mission, O'Neill. Jack tilted his helmet back as he grimaced. "Cold as hell here." He watched his own breath gathering up into a puff of condensation before zipping up his flight jacket. The black shirt underneath and the vest over him were barely enough to ward off the stubborn cold clinging to the planet. He checked his watch and grunted. "Okay, we got some good positions set up. Teal'c, Carter needs some of those sensors up there." O'Neill pointed to the network of caves a story up above where they stood. Even though he didn't see it from where he stood, Jack knew there were hooks set up by SG-11 weeks ago to line a few rope ladders for whoever was on the next rotation. "Think you and Carter can manage that?"

The Jaffa was already gathering climbing rope. "It will be done, O'Neill."

"Great." Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll...uh...stick around here and check those caves again. They all looked like they were buried back there. From the looks of things, they could have gone somewhere, maybe all connected. I better double check them."

"Sir," Carter murmured as she wiped her hands on her pants, pulling back her goggles to the top of her head, bangs of blonde hair sticking out swayed lazily against the cold wind. She looked over to Daniel as well and immediately turned back to the colonel, making the connection. "Daniel said he understood. He didn't blame us for what happened." The major scribbled something on the blank label for the core tubing resting against her thigh, too heavy to carry. With a quiet click of her ballpoint pen, she filled out its location, time and degree across the white writing surface. "He's just...awkward since it's been only two weeks since it...happened." Another click to close her pen, Carter slipped it into her vest pocket.

"Yeah," Jack muttered. "He understood just fine." Like he understood all the other shit life put him through. He caught the look Carter and Teal'c exchanged. It was the same concerned expression the nurses gave each other over Daniel's head before they carted him to an ambulance to take him to Mental Health. "We're going to be okay, Carter. Just needs time."

Carter's eyes again drifted over to the cave where Daniel was and nodded. "Of course, sir."

Jack coughed to get her attention. The major flushed and mumbled about going. He watched as she gathered her equipment, her and Teal'c heading for the shorter cliff a few meters away.

Suddenly he found himself alone with Daniel.

The archeologist didn't look like he noticed the party had dropped to just two now, head pressed inches away from the cave wall he had planted himself in front of since SG-1 had decided to stop here, at the widest valley to set camp. Daniel didn't even acknowledge the plate of food set at the cave mouth, breakfast that Jack knew the young man didn't have when he came running to the embarkation room two minutes late. The archeologist was apologizing over and over again something about oversleeping until Jack was sorely tempted to bark at him to knock it off, but instead, he only herded the kids through the Stargate, grumbling about their schedule. Daniel kept his head slightly bowed as he was putting on his glasses, totally absorbed in whatever dark thoughts he was having. Jackson didn't even notice the chamber the Stargate deposited them in had a spectacular interior, rocks rippling from thousands and thousands of wormholes dissolving its innards, streaking red rock with black, slashed with a milky white. The guy probably didn't even realize the so-called lunch Teal'c brought over to the cave for him was three hours early, too.

Teeth grinding together loud enough to hear, Jack turned away from Daniel, the frustration twisting in his chest making him sorely tempted to use his fist against something. The silence surrounding him made his ears physically ache, the stillness feeling like the somber silence after the death of something. Jack wanted to shout in the middle of the valley. He wanted to scream to the sky or whatever comedian, who wrote this shit into their threads of fates. Wanted to shout to them Jack O'Neill wasn't going to take this sitting down, wasn't going to watch a friendship he valued more than he could care to admit take a hit and be scattered away.

The void surrounding him made his skin crawl, his back stiff with the vibrations of warning bells ringing in his head. It was too quiet. Maybe he should toss something nice and heavy like that laptop across the stretch of land their site was on. Bet it would make a nice bang as it smashed against the cliffs. Bring an end to the unnatural silence like a bell signaling time, and everything could start all over again perfectly fine. But nah, Carter would have a fit. She had been obsessing over the damn thing the past weeks during their enforced standdown, tweaking upgrades and doodads in it until it was what she called "acceptably functional", whatever the hell that meant. Besides, the space was too far away to throw the bulky portable computer across. Now, if he had a hockey stick and puck...

Jack sighed out loud, pausing at how loud his voice was. Stopping as he realized how tired that voice was. He yanked out his cap from his pockets, banging it against his thigh to return its shape before slamming it over his head. There, if he tilted it forward just enough so not to obscure his view, maybe Jack could avoid seeing how lonely and desolate Jackson appeared all the way down there, Jack unable to help out in any way to straighten that slump of the younger man's shoulders.

Two weeks. Jack had literally set a time in his head for those weeks, Fraiser had recommended everyone took to recup from Machello's booby traps. Two weeks to get back into the routine of things as she called it. Fourteen days to forget the bad and get back into the good, or at least the okay.

And this was okay?

"Sir, I just got Daniel's lab results back." Standing center of the door of the briefing room, Doctor Fraiser cast a shadow across the floor. He frowned towards her, wondering why she didn't just come in. She seemed to edge back like she was invading his office.

Apparently not the way Jack was hoping for- a regular run of the mill recon mission, a nice week out in a dull planet, normalcy to the tenth power. No, clearly just pretending nothing had happened was not working. Jack had relied on Daniel's habit of throwing himself in his work to be the cure all for whatever was happening between them. Judging by the way Daniel chose to trail behind Jack and Teal'c instead of matching Carter's eager pace over the dried riverbeds the moment they'd arrived here or trot up to walk side by side with him as usual so he could get a first hand peek, that wasn't happening. Daniel's solitary pace behind Jack was a huge neon sign screaming, "Back off!"

Jack growled under his breath and stole another glance towards the direction of the caves far away where Daniel had meticulously tagged done. White canvas ribbons with yellow tags waved in the breeze on several caves' entrances, telling him how much Daniel threw himself in his work. And Jack knew it was an excuse rather than the usual well of curiosity and enthusiasm burying him in his thoughts. Everyone had given the younger man a wide berth. Days avoiding them telegraphed his desire for space after they practically threw him in the Mental Health ward with the brainy wolves. Daniel might as well have glued himself to a seat in his office. Didn't budge except for one or two cases when food finally became somewhat of a priority, but Jack barely got much of a glimpse, much less a chance to have a serious talk with the younger man.

Then again, even if he had the chance, what the hell would Jack say?

The colonel's shoulders slumped, defeated. Like before, every silent debate with himself each time he'd passed Daniel's office rang pathetic and false. Usually, all it took to wash the bad shit away was to talk about anything else, but the topic that drove the spike between their friendship. Then at some point casually steer to it, them mutually dancing around it with wry jokes and bait each other about Daniel's roc- er artifacts until they ascertained they were both relatively okay about it, then zipping to another topic, case closed.

This time though, Jack took the easy way out- letting Daniel deal with it himself as he always insisted with his patented stubbornness that he could do. Let Daniel handle it, sort it out and when he finally emerged from the hole he burrowed in protectively, signaling he was receptive to his friends again, Jack would then began again to coax some semblance of his friend back out like a groundhog on Groundhog Day. But Jack would have to be careful before any shadow cast made Daniel duck back in again and their friendship went into another long six weeks of winter. He'd figured, no, hoped, their first mission back since the "incident" as everyone has now named it, would be the first step out of the hollow. But it wasn't working. Daniel was at side of the base, inside his mental hole, working automatically like a robot.

It just didn't ring right to see Daniel on one side, Carter scurrying to the other side with Teal'c in tow. It was like going through that weird mirror Daniel accidentally went through over a year ago. The reality before him, looked like it was his, appeared to be his, but something was off. Was this what Daniel felt like back then? To Jack, he was pretty certain it must have. Standing here thinking something was missing, expecting any minute Rod Sterling to pop up and intone Jack O'Neill had officially stepped into the Twilight Zone.

Insert weird music here, he thought.

Normally, Carter and Jackson would be making mad scientist noises together, huddled over something terminally boring the size of a gnat but would equate to an inch thick report for Jack to review after the mission. O'Neill had thought Daniel was bad with his tendency to zone out everything but the strangely fascinating item he was beholding, but after a few missions, the colonel realized the academic half of Carter came out in full force when they join forces. It was like switching the match for a stick of lit dynamite.

And he thought the Goa'ulds were bad news.

Jack glanced over his shoulder to where he last saw Carter ducking into one cavern and Teal'c hefting the heavy drill in one hand, his usual staff weapon in the other. Then he looked back to where Daniel was. His frown went lower and lower as he realized the archeologist didn't appear to have moved since he last checked.

He didn't like it. No. Not one bit. The whole mission's shaky start was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Not that he was expecting everyone to link hands and go la la la down the yellow brick road all happy again. But he had hoped Daniel would be too busy with his archeological finds to retreat back into his shell, Jack was certain he was angry at them for betraying him to Mackenzie.

Standing here made him all the more aware of how quiet it was. Jack paced on what felt like a graveyard. The walking around in a huge circle on the grounds was doing nothing more than adding to his growing headache. He just didn't understand this.

His back hurt from leaning on the doorframe for too long. Finally, Jack cleared his throat and let out a "Hey."

What had gone wrong? Pretend everything was fine, give an apology, then go along with the routine until the real damage faded away on its own with only a faint scar. Why wasn't it working this time?

You didn't believe him.

Jack stopped. Of course he believed him. He came and picked Daniel up from Mental Health right after the call came for him in the infirmary, hadn't he?

Only after putting him there. His inner voice was deciding to play judge and jury today.

"Jack?"

Jack hunched down on the sand, rifle balanced on his lap as he took a deep breath and tasted metal on his tongue.

You left him there, his voice accused. The same one that screamed as he had ducked into the restroom after Daniel struggled with the aides before they sedated him. The same voice that screamed when Jack thought Daniel had died back on Nem's planet, screaming until finally Jack had to bash a hockey stick through Hammond's car window to block it out.

"He's okay now," Jack muttered. Alive, well, and perfectly sane. Jack should be thrilled right? Yeah, right. Ecstatic.

"It's been said and all. Nothing you do can take it back. Just forget about it."

"Guess a steak dinner won't cut it this time, huh?" Jack murmured, eyeing the caves once more, vaguely seeing Daniel stand, stretching out his hands. But rather than step out and head over to the camp for a break, Daniel crouched back down again and went back to his work.

Daniel wanted nothing to do with them. Jack, especially.

"Come on, Jackson," he whispered, getting up as well and going around the scattered packs of equipment before stopping. Jack couldn't even preoccupy himself with guard duty. SG-11 had cleared it. The caves were blocked, no living creature in sight in this barren wasteland, leaving Jack nothing to do but watch a very good friend bury himself in the sand, refusing to ask for a hand up.

Jack wanted to tell Daniel he understood now what he went through, what those things did to him. O'Neill wanted to tell him, draw the younger man back into the circle of his teammates. He wanted to tell Daniel he understood, could relate to the haunted look Daniel had back in the ward when he scooted away, whispering fearfully that they were coming, cowering in the corner at imaginary footsteps. God, Jack understood. He did. And while he didn't hear footsteps, he heard stuff just as unrelenting.

The voices kept screaming and screaming at him, even as he took hold of the mental rope he made himself to anchor reality next to him. But even the rope he wrapped twice around his wrist was unraveling, slowly being gnawed away by the screaming of the dead, echoing gunshots, and demons long ignored finally having their day of recognition.

"Christ," Jack muttered, his mouth suddenly drier than the sand his boots were on. His throat closed with the recollection, the bile taste of hearing and seeing things better left buried in his gut rather than flooding past his barriers to his conscious. He ran his tongue over the inside of his mouth before he fished his canteen out, spinning the cap off and taking a long drink before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced back around the cliffs, a quick look behind him to check on Teal'c and Carter, who were already climbing up to the shorter ledge of another face, and he absently closed his canteen again. He held the container with both his hands and studied Daniel's bowed head meters away in the cave. Jack set his jaw as he saw a hand sneak up to massage a stiff neck. Not good. He knew Daniel was probably not sleeping well. Daniel's late arrival to the embarkation room was clue enough. And Jack had a few nights of tossing and turning himself, filled with elusive dreams of what Machello's devices showed him, waking up from the nightmares soured when he saw the hour was too early to rouse and too late to return back to sleep.

Daniel paused once more, rotating his shoulders and sighed. While Jack couldn't hear it from this distance, the sigh looked loud. The shoulders had gone up really high before dropping. Then Daniel slouched forward as if falling asleep.

That did it. Looking at the archeologist suffering in the gloom of the dim cavern wasn't his idea of fixing things between them. Setting his canteen down with the rest of his equipment, Jack slowly went over to the cave where Daniel was, steering clear of the lone sandwich and apple sitting serenely uneaten on the metal dish by the cave entrance.

The archeologist, engrossed in whatever he was cleaning up with his brush, didn't seem to notice he had a guest. Deep in concentration, Daniel every so often poked at the wall, a stroke here and there before stopping to take notes. A normal every day thing. Jack was accustomed to seeing on every alien planet they ever went. Hell, even on Earth.

"So they...no...maybe he since they refer themselves as...no, that doesn't make sense either..." Daniel sighed, scratching his chin, not realizing he'd marked himself with the chalk he was using.

The colonel stood there, watching as Jackson scratched his ear absently before poking at another crack. And then it hit him.

Daniel was quiet.

Jack studied the younger man, noting the soft clawing sounds of the pencil on paper, the dry bristles making scratching noises against rock, even the wind swirling into the cavern and out with a howl.

Daniel himself was silent.

It didn't feel right. It didn't sound right. And it gave Jack a funny twisting sensation in his gut as he watched. After a few more seconds of it, the utter stillness proved to be too much. Jack cleared his throat and jumped at how loud it was.

Jackson gave a small gasp, dropping on his rear at the sound. The archeologist spun around in his seat, eyes snapping forward.

"Sorry," Jack muttered, opening his hands. "Just me. Uh...came to see how things are going?"

"Fine." Daniel gave a brief smile, too forced looking for Jack's liking before swiveling back to the wall. Kneeling, Daniel brushed a gloved finger over the wall. "These paintings look recent, the colors still well preserved." Jack found himself staring at Daniel's back.

"Uh...new?"

"Within the last few hundred years maybe." The brush was back touching the wall again.

"Oh." Watching as the brush uncovered the misshapen picture of a cow or some kind of large animal, Jack nodded. "Uh...yeah...sounds new to me." It didn't really, but the colonel found himself desperate to fill the silence with something other than the wind's bellow and the activity of brushes against hard surfaces. Jack went from foot to foot, hearing the faint crunching sounds of his boots pressing down on sand grains.

Daniel sighed, lowering his brush. "What is it?"

Jack stopped. "Huh?"

The archeologist gave Jack a sideways look. "You've been..." He shrugged. "You know."

Frowning, his brow forming a wide V, Jack shook his head. "No, I don't know. I've been what?"

"Never mind." Back to the wall again, Daniel murmured, "There are signs of a civilization here."

Jack glanced out through the cave. The valley they were camped in was littered with rubble, sand, shadowed by the tall broken formations. "You mean people were living here?" He made a face as he recalled the dismal rock formations that greeted him the moment they stepped out of the cave the Stargate was in. "Not exactly paradise."

"Probably not recently, but from the signs of these drawings, at least a few generations ago." Wiping his hands on his pants, Daniel then swiped his sleeve across his forehead. The dust left a red mark on his pale skin, but Jack didn't find it funny for some reason. "Apparently, these meteor showers occur every generation or so, maybe within a fifty year period. Probably growing worse each time." The archeologist scanned his surroundings, eyes stilling at the direction of the back of the cavern. "Maybe the natives used these caves for shelter when they occurred. Maybe they were made after the asteroids hit the planet's surface, although some of these look very eroded or almost machine made. I seriously doubt this planet was like this before." Daniel rose to his feet, brushing off the sand from his pants and jacket. "If we could just climb to the tops of the cliffs and take a sample from there, we might know how this planet once was."

"Don't have the equipment for it to go climbing that high," Jack reminded him. "Our UAV flyer reached there but barely saw through the dust clouds."

"Oh." Dropping down to his knees again, Daniel shrugged as he rummaged through his bag.

"Oh?" Jack's eyebrow went up high. "Just oh?"

"It was just a thought." Daniel raised his shoulders and dropped them again as he pulled out his digital camera and started recording the artwork he'd surfaced.

"Usually, you argue the point down the bone," O'Neill pointed out.

"I know when something is a lost cause. No point in trying," Daniel muttered as he swept the camera to the right. A glint of something made him lower the device. It was off his view, black, polished, smooth, as if a piece of it broke some time ago. Daniel squinted at it, hand fumbling behind him as he looked for his chisel.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Jack grated. For some reason, the defeated slump on his friend's back made his gut twist into knots.

Daniel looked back at the soldier. "Nothing."

Shaking his head, Jack pointed a finger at Daniel. "No, you specifically said-"

"Jack, I didn't mean anything by it," the archeologist said tiredly. "Look, I only have a week here. You said so yourself. I really should be getting as much done as I can."

"Daniel-"

"I'm fine," Daniel said thinly. He rose to his feet, chisel at hand. "Jack, you don't need to...I'm fine. Okay? I'm fine." He purposefully strode over to the rock surface with the black mineral.

Jack watched him a moment longer. "Daniel-"

Daniel braced his hand against the cave wall and sighed deeply. "Jack, I've sat in worse places for hours at a time. I don't need a babysitter!"

Bristling, Jack snapped back "Look, we're not-"

Daniel spun around to Jack, the chisel quivering in one hand. "Please. Just give me time, okay? I'm normal. I'm not crazy. Don't keep at me like I'm going to crumble again!"

Taken aback, Jack stared at his friend. "I-"

"Just let me do what I came here to do. Okay?" Daniel lowered the tool. "Jack...please."

"Teal'c left you some lunch over there," Jack pointed to the plate at the mouth of the cave. "That's all I came to say."

Something flickered across Daniel's eyes. "Oh." He gave the meal a quick look. "Uh...thanks."

The colonel cracked a thin smile. "We're breaking in a few hours." He nodded towards the cave mouth. "Carter says days here are pretty short, around twenty hours. Sun sets pretty early." Jack checked his watch. "You got maybe another hour or so of daylight left."

Daniel nodded, lowering his gaze. "I'll get my tent set up before that."

"It's alright. Carter said she'll get it later-"

"I said I'll have it set up."

Jack tensed his mouth, a "Fine" hissing out between clamped teeth. He spun around, walking out of the cave. He tossed a few clipped words over his shoulder as he left. "Going to check the perimeter again. Keep your line open."

Daniel reached out a hand as if to call Jack back. His shoulders slumped, and he lowered his hand. Daniel stared at the lone stick like figure on the cave wall off to the side, defenseless against the rampaging animals yet to be uncovered on the wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw O'Neill stalking away, not even bothering to play stubborn like he usually would until something between them gave like always. The colonel didn't look back. Head dropping, Daniel hunched over the spot he'd fled to and dully started chipping away at the black rock, the tiny taps loud in the cavern.

* * * * *

A few minutes later, Daniel rocked back on his heels and stared at the fossil etched in the slate rock he uncovered. A small bug, barely the size of his palm was shaped like a pear with its rear doubled the size of its head. It laid there in his grasp, legs up in black stone, its many legs in all directions as if it was trying to flee before it was trapped in its permanent tomb.

"A trilobite?" Daniel murmured, finger brushing against the small bumps which were limbs protruding out of rock. Part of the body was smooth, sliced lengthwise when its covering stone fell apart for some reason.

Gingerly, Daniel tapped the chisel around the fossil until finally it fell neatly into his waiting palm. The shorn-off piece felt heavy in his hands, rivaling the weight the size of the prehistoric creature must have weighed.

"Wow." Turning the fossil sideways, Daniel inspected the reverse side, a fissure that made the piece fall out neatly. Parts of the creature were regretfully destroyed. Couldn't be helped when all Daniel had was chisels and brushes. But despite the rough handling, the black marblelike surface gleamed like a slick of oil, showing off the small minuscule workings of a creature that lived millions of years ago on his own planet's ocean floor.

Wait a second.

Daniel frowned, studying the cave floor. He kicked the sand around him experimentally. Grains flew across the area like a wave, scattering in a wide arc before falling back down to join the others.

"Where's the ocean?" Daniel muttered, studying the fossil gripped in his hand. He sat down on the floor, dropping his head back to stare dully at the ceiling.

He couldn't bring himself to draw up the enthusiasm he normally felt when encountering something like this. The bubbling sensation, the urge to run and show the first person he saw what he'd found was flat in his chest. Not even a rise as he hefted the stone once more in his hands.

"That's because it's just stress."

Daniel closed his eyes. Stress? He wished it were that simple. Sitting in the VIP room, pretending it was a normal day, just playing cards, chess as if it was just another night over at Jack's place after a tiring mission, too keyed up to sleep. If Daniel ignored the fact the VIP suite had a guard pacing outside the door and Jack sneaking worried glances at him, everything felt fine.

Then he saw the Goa'uld twisted around Jack's forearm.

And then Jack's eyes began to glow.

Everything after that grew hazy, murky as if under water. He knew he'd attacked Jack, probably freaking the older man as he clawed the back of his neck. Daniel was aware of the sensation of strong hands easing him down to the ground. The next thing he recalled was lying on a gurney, Jack talking soothingly to him before a pair of unfamiliar hands ripped Jack's off his wrist. The terrifying feeling of desolation rushed over Daniel, and he knew he struggled because he heard shouting all around him before needles stabbed him into darkness.

Jack came to see him. Daniel did remember that. Waking up in a white room, unable to move as rough hands rolled him to a bed, some holding on harder than necessary. Those images were vague. He probably didn't even remember them correctly. He was so out of his mind, drugged to the gills, that a touch which felt like a punch was probably nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

But he remembered seeing Jack.

That he remembered. He didn't imagine it. The older man came with Sam and Teal'c and Daniel recalled trying so hard, so very hard to hold back the fury of emotions twisting inside his chest. He tried, tried swallowing back the fear, the sensation of the floor rocking under him without his consent. But it came out anyway and the irrational words, the babbling recognize in some still rational part of his mind, came out.

"Daniel, stay with us!"

God, he'd tried. He wanted to apologize to Jack, tell him he was trying to maintain the tenuous hold on the reality he thought he knew. But he couldn't do anything more than listen to the thump thump thump of demons approaching, wearing faces of people he'd escaped from, faces with glowing eyes, voices that cooed and sneered at him. He tried. He wanted to tell Jack sorry. Sorry for attacking him, sorry for failing him, sorry for everything, but he couldn't. He couldn't! The more he tried, the more his head hurt, the more the reality he thought he saw swirled like a kaleidoscope, red like blood, brown like decay spinning before him.

Then he saw the dead demon behind Teal'c's shoulder. It was coming for his friends, too.

He wasn't strong enough, not strong enough to reach the monster before it could hurt his friends. Teal'c's arms wrapped around him before he could lunge at the monster, and as he was pulled away by the interns, he saw Jack's grim face and felt the disappointment in the colonel's eyes before more drugs pulled him away.

"Uh...you don't have to walk on eggshells with me anymore. I'm...cured."

Daniel laughed bitterly. How apt a word. Eggshells. Everyone was treating him like some fragile artifact, gingerly walking around him, talking slower, softer as if anything could set him off. The condescending words stung more than the hands where groped his body as he was bound to his bed at night in the ward. They hurt more than the punch one faceless intern gave him when he tried to get back his glasses. Daniel could hear the whispering, the dripping pity from every syllable. He'd heard it all before. He knew how pity shaped people's faces. He learned how painful sympathy could be from the moment after his parents were taken from him in a downfall of rock and metal. He knew how it sounded when he visited Nick, the nurses tiptoeing around him as if he would snap like Daniel did-

You didn't snap, Daniel told himself harshly. You didn't! It was Machello's devices, not you! It could have happened to anyone else. And it did.

Daniel dropped the fossil to the sand, inches from his feet and scrubbed his face with both palms. He wanted to just curl up and sleep, let the sand gather around him and smell like Abydos. But it didn't smell like Abydos did with its faint salty sandalwood odor. The planet they were on had a scent rich in iron, the stench faintly like blood as it oozed around him and-

"Stop it," he muttered to himself. "Stop it!" He banged his fist on the ground. He was tired. That was all. All those nights of seeing hands of strangers touching him, pushing him around, as he found himself bound and locked away made Daniel greet the sun with red rimmed eyes every morning. He just needed to get back to his routine, be back to good old Doctor Daniel Jackson, and it'd all go away sooner or later.

Hopefully sooner.

His head drooped. Would it ever be the same? When was everyone going to stop tiptoeing around him like he was a room full of crystal? And his team, Sam, Teal'c and...Jack. When would they stop pausing before him, watching him as if he wouldn't notice before dancing lightly around him, carefully considering each word before saying it. He knew they probably meant well, but their intentions felt like a blow against his back. Their careful treatment of him told him more than the silent agreement they'd all made to never mention what had happened ever again. Unfortunately, with every question they asked about his well being, Daniel wondered if they were seeing him still barefoot and sobbing like some broken doll back in that ward.

Daniel rubbed his arms with his hands, up and down as he could feel every stare, every wary glance from the moment he stepped out of the infirmary after Teal'c woke up healed from Machello's devices. Like scars, the sensation never seemed to go away.

"Thank you, Doctor Jackson," Warner said in a crisp voice as he slipped the syringe from his arm. Daniel turned his head away. The sight of his own blood filling the tube wasn't really what he liked to see at any time. Instead, he stared at the nurses coming and going in front of him, taking clipboards and trays away from the various beds lining the wall opposite of him, huge lightboxes hanging with X-rays aside them. The concrete walls painted in drab gray blurred before him, X-ray charts morphing to squares of simple back as Daniel blinked.

When was it ever going to stop?

Daniel felt his head drop lower until he remembered Jack might be watching outside again, pretending not to, and he forced his shoulders to straighten, lifting his chin up with some effort.

Crick.

Daniel blinked, hearing the faint high-pitched sound. He looked around him, seeing nothing but sand and the fossil he discarded. "Hello?"

The wind howled, spun sand around his legs.

"Jack?" His voice sounded hollow, echoing in the cavern, bouncing back higher than his voice really was.

Crick.

His eyes snapped forward to the fossil by his feet. The trilobite artifact lay there, its smooth surface shining like a gem, legs pointed up. Daniel stared at it for the longest time.

And then it flipped around and walked away from the rock.

"Damn!" Daniel scooted back until he was pressed up against the wall. Chest heaving, he watched the creature drop off the rock, sinking slightly in the sand before scrambling away. Daniel breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the fossil in the rock, just as it was before. Its twin struggled to bury itself in the sand in escape. He pulled his hat off and cautiously crawled on his knees before slamming the hat over the thing.

"Gotcha!" Quickly, Daniel scooped it up, sand trickling off the brim as he flipped it up and peered down the headgear's cap.

The black hard shell did a wiggle as the trilobite tried to climb the sand sliding down on it as Daniel adjusted his hat. As Daniel looked on, it flipped on its back, its many legs frantically flailing in the air.

"Hello," Daniel murmured, a small smile on his lips as he watched in amazement. "My name's Daniel."

The trilobite didn't say anything, its legs still pumping uselessly in the air to get up again.

Patting down his vest, Daniel murmured a soft "Ah ha!" as he found his tweezers. Gingerly, he clamped down on its sides with the small prongs and carefully pulled it out of his hat.

The trilobite stilled, sensing the tweezers and froze as if dead. The only thing that alerted Daniel to its animation was the tiny hairs near its mouth, the size of human eyelashes, twitching in every direction. They stopped too when Daniel gently blew at them.

"W-wow." Gaping at the creature, Daniel wished he had some sort of container for it. His canteen wouldn't even fit this.

The trilobite was at least half the size of his palm, black with a surface like mica, its legs a deep mud color. It was heavy, almost as heavy as the rock its twin was encased in. Leaning closer to it, he noticed there were some differences compared to the fossil that lay by his feet, the shape more proportional top and bottom, although feelers now labeled its head, something similar to a tiny stinger on its rear. Still, it reminded him of the trilobite fossils he'd encountered as a student in the university. He even had one as a paperweight on his desk, marred with a crack when Jack had accidentally dropped it a while back during his numerous visits to his office just to needle him away from his paperwork for some reason. Usually Daniel didn't mind though, the older man's breezy entrance served to remind him to take a break. No more of those any more. No one was going to just walk in just for the hell of it now.

Daniel shook his head, annoyed. What was he doing? Here he was with a fine example of a creature that walked or crawled in his planet's oceans millions of years ago, and he was thinking of his own pitiful problems.

Concentrate. Pay attention.

"I didn't see any ocean around here," Daniel murmured to the thing. "Shouldn't you be under water?"

The trilobite responded by flapping gossamer wings at him, silver strands of spun silk beating against its back.

Daniel's mouth dropped open. "Oh." He turned it slightly to peer below. No gills. "I guess you don't need the water." He turned his tweezers slowly till he saw its curved back. It reminded him of a scarab beetle. "I guess you're not really a trilobite then."

Crick.

He paused as he heard the sound again. Daniel blinked at the creature in his hold.

Crick.

"Please don't tell me you're trying to communicate with me," Daniel murmured, pulling it further away from him. "I don't believe I can pick up the tongue."

Crick crick.

Frowning, Daniel leaned his head closer to it. The beetle like being appeared to be dead. He raised it higher and saw the hair like filaments were still. He cautiously shook his tool, but it didn't move. He must have crushed something vital with his tweezers.

"Sorry," he murmured regretfully. "Didn't mean to." He heaved a sigh, dropping it back in his hat. Maybe Sam could figure it out. She must have a spare glass container she could lend him to store this-

Crick.

Daniel blinked, back down at his hat. The beetle wasn't moving. He looked down at the fossil on the ground and gasped out surprised as he saw another one crawling away.

Slowly, he fumbled around his vest, looking for the radio, eyes trained on the escaping beetle.

Crick.

Another one, shaking sand off its body as it popped out from under the rock. Daniel's hand dropped from the radio before he could open a line as he gaped at it.

Crick.

Another one.

Crick.

And another one.

Daniel gingerly kicked the black rock a little. He jumped when he saw another one pop out. Where were they coming from?

Crick.

Crick.

Crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick.

"God!" Daniel stood up in a flash as more and more scuttled out of the sand, black spots multiplying faster than he could count. Daniel edged along the wall, eyes glued to the creatures as he tried to move away.

More and more popping up, from the mouth of the cave, the center of the cave, under his backpack, under his boots. Daniel shouted, a strangled cry as he twisted away from them. There was so many all of a sudden. So many as they began to swarm around his boots, the tiny sounds of crunching growing louder and louder as a biting smell of vinegar filled the cave.

Daniel frantically kicked at them, hand going for his radio, jerking it back when he felt something hard and warm on the radio. With the movement, a beetle fell and dropped down to its comrades. Daniel kicked at the horde, watching in dismay as his entrance was blocked. His heart hammered as loud as the metallic clicking sounds surrounding him as he slowly backed away to the corner he'd been in. Trapped.

"Help," he choked out, the sour stench growing stronger and stronger. He could hear crunching sounds, like bones being chewed on. He could feel his knees turn to water, his eyes tearing from the vile odor. Shadows twisted and danced before him, the convulsing layer of beetles swaying towards him. The cave suddenly turned to a sea of writhing black. "Help...J-jack..."

Daniel couldn't stand anymore. His knees wobbled, his hands suddenly unable to move. He felt his back landing against the wall, a faint crunch as he struck the vertical surface, and Daniel was sliding despite his efforts. His hands clawed the walls, slid along with his body and he dropped to the ground. He could feel them wiggling under him, crawling, surrounding him, tiny legs tapping against his skin as they scampered up his arms, through his sleeves and shirt.

"No...n-no..." He could see the cave twist, the smells making his stomach churn. He felt the first bite on his back and tried to scream, but the words choked in his throat. Daniel whipped out his hands, but he couldn't breathe now as he began to fall sideways. He couldn't even scream as he landed on a nest of them, cheek scraping against smooth shells as he watched the moving floor swell in the center and the crunching sounds he heard before grew to a roar.

No...no...someone...Jack...no...

"No!" Daniel sat upright, chest heaving. He slammed himself against the walls, feet kicking out towards-

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Hands turned him on his back, then over, pulling at his arms. Touching him, inspecting him like a piece of meat while he was powerless to push them away. He opened his mouth to scream but couldn't and saw a white shadow leaning forward.

Daniel covered his mouth, revulsion filling his throat and threatening to spill out. Gasping, he whipped his head left and right. Nothing. Just his fossil on the sand. Him and his rock.

He laughed, the odd noise sounding strangled, garbled.

A dream. God, it was just a dream. He scrubbed his hands across his face over and over again. He could feel his hands shaking. A dream. It was only a dream. You fell asleep. That's all. He was tired and he fell asleep. He wasn't imagining things, wasn't being attacked. No closets around, people inside with white or dead faces staring at him in malice. It was just a dream, memories of the ward warped from a drugged stupor and hallucinations.

Snatching the fossil, Daniel stared at it, daring it to flip up and crawl away.

The trilobite just lay there, belly up, without a word.

Just a dream. Daniel Jackson wasn't going crazy.

"Dammit!" The rock flew across to the opposite wall and shattered.

Staring at it, Daniel sat there, gulping in air.

Why did he do that?

Shaking, Daniel run a hand through his hair, breathing in and out. His vision was spinning, tilting to the side, then righting itself again. Calm down. He needed to calm down.

The wind whispered as it blew by, and he could have sworn he heard it snicker.

"Daniel?"

"Ah!" Spinning around, Daniel's head struck the wall and the cave flared in a brilliant light before settling back down to the muted shades of reddish brown.

"Are you alright?" Jack's demand came before his face focused in front of him. The colonel shook him slightly until he saw the eyes clear before stepping back.

"Fine," Daniel gritted, hand behind his sore head. He frowned, pulling his hand back in front of him. Didn't he have his hat on before?

Jack held out his boonie cap. "Found this on the floor." He scanned the cave. "Came to see if you were-"

Snatching the hat, Daniel snapped "Jack, I told you I feel fine!" He shook the headgear and watched sand spill out. With a small shudder, Daniel just folded it up and stuffed it in his pockets.

"I was going to ask if you were coming out for dinner!" Jack barked, settling down as he saw Daniel rubbing his head with a wince. "You okay?"

"Startled me," mumbled Daniel as he got up. He paused, looking back at Jack. "Dinner?"

Tapping his watch, Jack nodded. "We're breaking for dinner. I suggest you call it quits for today."

Guiltily, Daniel nodded, suddenly realizing the light outside the cave was dim, darkening to twilight. He must have slept the rest of the day away. "Sorry. I know I said I was going to set up my-"

"Forget about it. Carter already did. We're sharing tents since the night looks like it'll be pretty cold." Jack waved a hand, dismissing the apology. He froze at Daniel's pressed lips. "What?"

Daniel tensed. "I said I was going to do it, Jack."

"Well, you weren't exactly out there. It was going to get dark soon," the colonel pointed out.

Daniel's face fell. "Oh. Sor-"

Brown eyes softened. "Forget it." Shrugging, Jack motioned to the backpack on the ground. "You ready?"

"Sure." Dejected, Daniel grabbed his pack and his notes, walking out of the cave.

"Daniel?"

The archeologist turned around.

Jack pointed to the scattered pieces of the fossil up against the wall. "That wasn't there before. Is it anything important?"

Staring at the broken pieces, Daniel's shoulders slumped. "No. Not any more."

"What?"

"Nothing." Daniel didn't wait for Jack and headed for the campsite.

Frustrated, Jack ground his teeth, watching the scientist walk away. "Dammit." What the hell did he do? He came in the check on the archeologist only to get his head bitten off. It felt like each step he made, Daniel pulled away by his own doing. Jack was beginning to regret leaving Daniel to his devices for those two weeks. He had been glad his friend was occupying himself, but now Jack could see some sort of wall erected upon rejoining the team. Jack didn't know if he could climb it or if Daniel would welcome anyone trying. He kicked the sand under his boots, frustrated. He checked the area, noting with some satisfaction when he saw the plate Teal'c left Daniel was empty. At least the young man ate something. He sighed out loud. It was a good sign. Had to be. Jack began to walk out of the cave.

Crunch.

"Eh?" Jack lifted his boot and winced as he saw black pieces embedded in his sole. The colonel looked back at the black rubble in the distant wall. "Oops." Jack scraped his boot against the sand and hurried out to join the others.

* * * * *

Teal'c eyed the two men sitting across from the fire, both silent, staring at the flames with little awareness of the other sitting next to him or of the scrutiny he and Major Carter were casting towards them. The Jaffa poked a fork into the tin cup where he had his meal, stirring the watery mixture inside, silently noting no one else was doing the same.

"Uh...great meal..." Major Carter spoke in a hesitant voice. Her empty metal container went clink against her canteen on the ground. "Thanks, Teal'c." She raised her container towards Teal'c before taking a drink.

"You are quite welcome, Major Carter," he replied automatically, eyes back to the other men.

O'Neill and Daniel Jackson said nothing. The colonel only shook his own cup, stirring the contents inside before absently taking a sip. He didn't grimace as he normally would at the taste, only taking another gulp of the warm mixture before setting it down on the ground. Only once did he look over to Daniel before averting his eyes back towards the center. The younger man didn't even pick up his meal.

He and Major Carter exchanged a concerned look before the woman cleared her throat and tried again.

"Uh...the telescope we set up picked up some activity quite a distance away in the skies." She kicked the MRE wrapper under her shoe. Rearranging her weapon to hang behind her, she indicated the satellite dishes with a bob of her head. "Could be comet activity. Maybe heading this way."

"Will there be any danger to us here, Major Carter?" Teal'c spoke, noting out of the corner of his eye O'Neill was sitting up at the word "danger"

"Carter?" O'Neill asked, lowering his cup. His brow furrowed.

The woman shrugged. "None that I can tell, sir. The telescope wasn't strong enough to check, but judging the speed it was traveling across the sky, looks to be not for another few weeks or so. We should be okay during our mission and still have enough time to bring in other equipment if necessary to record all of it. SG-11 will be back after us to set up an observatory."

Nodding absently, Jack muttered "Oh", raising his cup to his lips. He grimaced, wiping a drop off his chin with his thumb.

She gave Teal'c another look, before returning her gaze forward. "Uh...er...did you find anything of interest, Daniel?" Carter went on hastily.

Daniel raised half-slit eyes at her. "Huh?" He rolled his shoulders back, eyes fluttering open wider as he sat up higher. "Sorry...what was your question?"

"Are you well, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked quietly, observing the shadows under the man's eyes, the campfire enhancing them in sharp contrast compared to his pale face.

Daniel opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut, changing his mind. He poked at the tin cup by his foot. "Tired..." A faint smile flickered before fading.

O'Neill practically straightened as if seeing Daniel Jackson for the first time. "Look, maybe you should go get some rest. You do look a little peaked."

Glancing sideways, Daniel looked at O'Neill, clenching his jaw. It was visible even from where Teal'c was.

"I should work on the caves some more." The archeologist made a show of getting up, freezing when O'Neill took hold of a sleeve, stopping him.

"No," the older man said quietly. "Daniel, they can wait til tomorrow morning."

Gritting his teeth, Daniel jerked his hand away. "No, they can't, Jack. We've only got a week, and there are a lot of caves I should examine if they're anything similar to the one I was working on today."

"We'll have time for that tomorrow. Hell, we'll pitch in and help."

Daniel shook his head vehemently. "No. I can do that myself. Listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me!"

Started, Daniel took a step back, his eyes huge.

Carter started to stand. "Sir."

O'Neill showed his open palm, his voice calm as he motioned to the archeologist to sit down. The younger man didn't, looking at the team leader. "Daniel, it's dark, and even though we've pretty much eliminated any threat to us around here, I don't want anyone wandering around in the dark." The colonel studied the group around the fire, making a decision quickly. "In fact, I was going to set up watch shifts." His eyes drifted over to Carter, who nodded immediately, backing his claim.

The younger man checked around the area before turning back to O'Neill, eyes wary.

Jack lowered his voice. "That's all, Daniel. I just don't want you wandering around here in the dark. And we shouldn't take any chances, no matter what." The team leader gestured towards the sky. "Not even a visible moon to rely on."

Tilting his head back, Daniel gazed at the pitch-black sky. Barely enough stars to go by. His shoulders dropped.

"Daniel?" Carter stood there, watching as he shook his head.

"Fine," Jackson said wearily, his voice low. "Think I'll head out to sleep. Wake me when it's my shift, okay?"

"Sure," the colonel murmured, watching as Daniel slipped into one tent, muffled sounds of him slipping his boots off. They were all silent until they finally heard the purr of the zipper opening up the sleeping bag. After a few soft rustles, the tent was quiet, and everyone turned back towards the warm fire.

After a few moments of staring into the flames, sipping his soup, O'Neill nodded to the Jaffa. "Teal'c, take the first shift. Carter, you take the second." He paused, his jaw moving left and right as he gave it some thought before finishing with "I'll take the last one."

"Sir?" Waving towards the tent, Carter lowered her voice to a hush. "What about Daniel?"

"Needs his sleep," Jack would only say, his mouth set. "We can split watch up among ourselves. Okay?"

No one argued, although Carter and Teal'c exchanged yet another look before nodding in agreement. Carter murmured good night, discarding her meal into the fire before trudging to the tent left of Daniel's. The flames sparked up on contact with the dinner before settling into its orange tinge again. Teal'c only tipped his head slightly to give his good night, tracking O'Neill as the colonel paused before the tent before going inside. The Jaffa frowned, hearing the team leader sigh deeply, sitting on top of his sleeping bag and not falling asleep. The fire cast its glow over at their dwelling, and he could see O'Neill sitting there, his profile visible as he faced Daniel, watching him sleep.

Crick.

Teal'c turned his head sharply at the sound, but he didn't see anything around them. Nevertheless, he stood up, staff weapon gripped firmly in his hands, scanning the dark looming cliffs. The sky above them was thick, and Teal'c could barely make out the sensors Major Carter and he had set up on the ledges to record the meteors when they fell through the thick atmosphere. Shadows merged into a single cloak of darkness around them and had it not been for the fire in the center of the site, Teal'c wouldn't have been able to see his hand in front of him.

It reminded him of an old child's tale. There were many from his childhood as he trained to be a warrior like his father- tales used to instill fear in a young heart in order to gain the proper respect a Goa'uld false god demands.

There was one of a demon who walked only at night, feasting on the unbelievers, the unfaithful, smacking fanged lips as it devoured rich red organs before scattering the remains to the ground where new demons sprouted- doomed to eternal wandering and morbid consuming. Claws of white, white as bleached bones would reach into darkened homes and grab the wicked, their screams the only evidence of the demon's presence before the white grasp vanished under the cloak of night. It was a legend, an old wives' tale that spread to the children so they would not forget to pray in the temples or forget to bow to the gods as their caravans were carried through their markets. Husbands and wives were to put offerings at the temple and say the prayer at night. Children were taught to speak the prayer before sleep.

Teal'c frowned, his mother's soft whispered prayers hushed in his mind. He had not thought about the prayer in a long time.

The wind howled, driving into the numerous caves, making its cries echo in multiple ways. Teal'c automatically tightened his grip on his staff weapon.

"Back invisible beast," he muttered before scowling at himself. Superstition was for the weakest of men, not for a warrior. He growled under his breath and glared at the caves, daring them to show a white hand before him.

The cables strewn about the floor made a soft sigh as wind pushed them across the sands like silk against silk.

The rover that carried their supplies all the way to this site creaked as a more powerful gust struck its side, but it didn't fall.

O'Neill's tent where he and Daniel Jackson lay, shivered against the wind, metal poles rattling like chattering teeth before calming.

Carter's tent fluttered as a breeze tapped against her dwelling, settling down again without another sound.

Still looking, the Jaffa paid careful attention to the distant caves, the ones the tents were in front of to hide from the high winds and the ones too far away for him to dare and check.

Nothing.

The fire crackled, hissing, snapping at its own fiery tongues as the charcoal bundled around rags jumped. Teal'c observed the fire for a second before relaxing his grip, leaving it braced in one fist as the other stretched out towards the fire.

The warmth of the blaze reassured the Jaffa, and Teal'c settled down in the sand, sitting crosslegged. Staring at the fire, the Jaffa took a deep breath and began kelnoreem, knowing full well the next sound he heard will wake him again.

* * * * *

"Stop!"

Daniel twitched in his sleep, frowning as he turned to his side, kicking aside the sleeping bag cover. Shivering as it suddenly got colder, he didn't hear Jack outside pacing the fire during his last watch.

Crick.

Moaning softly, Daniel jerked, caught between sleep and waking. His nostrils flared as a stale scent of vinegar wafted into the tent, the sand between the two sleeping bags slowly sinking into a small hole and a swarm of black beetles came scurrying out of the newly made well.

Crick crick crick.

More and more scrambled away as the hole widened, sand cascading down the new opening. Daniel scrunched up his face, his forehead lined with worry but he didn't wake.

* * * * *

Crick.

Jack pursed his lips, staring down at the sand where his boot crunched on the MRE wrapper. Muttering under his breath, he picked the plastic up and tossed it in the fire. He watched it burn, dancing until it withered into a black lump as he rested his hands on the rifle.

"God knows if they have any littering laws around here," he muttered. He massaged the bridge of his nose, breathing heavily. Standing watch was a routine thing. He didn't mind the solitary duty, but for some reason, the silence surrounding him felt like a physical mantle, heavy on his back. He squared his shoulders, stretching out his neck left and right to stay awake. He found himself longing for some conversation, despite how frustrating night talks tended to get with this crowd.

"I still do not understand." Teal'c tilted his head to the side, one eyebrow up as he digested what Jack just said.

Looking back at the silent tents, at Teal'c's smaller tent where the Jaffa was meditating, Jack readjusted his weapon to rest on his left shoulder, kicking at the sand with the tip of his shoe. The fire flickered in the breeze and he frowned. Maybe he should add more to the flames before the wind blew it out. He watched, nodding to himself when the wind died.

Crick.

Cocking his head, Jack listened, his hands raising the rifle before he even realized it was off his shoulder. The caves were shrouded in darkness and mocked his inability to see inside them. It was like staring at hundreds of empty eye sockets. He scowled back at the caverns before he heard the rustling in his tent.

Gun up, Jack went around the fire, slowly towards the tent. The rustling grew to a flapping sound of cloth. The winds had picked up a bit, and sand rose in clouds of reddish smoke, obscuring his view of the tents. His nostrils flared as he smelled something sweet in the dust, bile and sour. It made his eyes water, and he coughed. He raised his hand, protecting his eyes, cautiously lowering them when the haze disappeared. For a moment, he stood there, a short step away from the tent, staring around him and the wind that seemed to be fleeing from their site. He heard a faint whisper of its breeze, hitting Carter's tent before it ran away, leaving the area flat with silence. He smacked his lips, the dryness in them surprising him. He looked down at his feet, grunting at the sand blown over them. He gives them a quick shake and smelled something metallic as the sand cascaded down like a waterfall off his boot.

"No..."

His rifle went up again, Jack's eyes narrowing to slits as he could hear nylon rustling inside the tent. Carefully, he pulled back one flap with the muzzle, almost lowering it immediately as he went in, dropping on his knees.

Daniel was twisting in his sleeping bag, the top flap of the gear kicked aside across the area. Shirt bunched around his torso, Daniel was shaking his head, mouthing no, moaning growing louder and louder as he became more distressed.

Jack reached out a hand and lightly touched Daniel's exposed back to rouse him, frowning as he felt the clammy skin. His fingers were thrown off as the younger man groaned, twisting on the floor to get away from whoever was tormenting his sleep. Jack reached up and pressed down, his palm felt hot compared to Daniel's shoulder and gave it a shake. It was like throwing a switch. A soft gasp and Daniel grew rigid, lying prone on the ground as he woke with a violent start. Jack could hear the harsh breathing, the rough sound of air being drawn in was loud inside the tent.

"Easy," Jack said quietly, pulling his hand away. "It's just me."

Slowly, Daniel turned on his back, squinting in the dark. His eyes seem to glow with the shine of the fire outside. Jack swallowed, shifting until he blocked the glare from coming in the tent, and Daniel's eyes returned to normal.

The archeologist squinted at the sudden shadow, hand out, fumbling for his glasses. "Jack?"

"Yeah." Hanging his rifle over his shoulder, Jack slipped a hand under Daniel's shoulder and eased him up. Jack spied the eyewear, strewn across his sleeping bag for some reason and silently handed it over. The younger man slipped them on, blinking his eyes furiously to focus before he shook his head. Almost immediately, Daniel leaned forward, knees drawn to his chest as he rested his forehead on top of them.

Jack rubbed a hand up and down his back, noting he could practically feel Daniel's heart hammering against his palm. "Bad?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Don't...don't remember." Daniel moved away from Jack's hand, wiping a hand across his mouth before pulling the hand away to stare at it. The scientist stilled, fixated on the hand. He flexed it experimentally.

"Daniel?"

"I thought..." The archeologist shivered. He absently tugged down his shirt before moving his hand up to rub his arms. Jack could see the goosebumps riddling the forearm. He frowned.

"Daniel? Thought what?"

"Thought I was back there..." Daniel stopped, clamping his mouth shut as he realized his slip.

Jack squeezed his shoulder. "It's okay, Daniel. Whatever it is-"

Cringing at the soft tone, hearing the patronizing lilt in the usually gruff voice, Daniel pulled away from Jack. "Don't."

Retracting his hand, Jack froze. "Don't?"

"Don't treat me like I'm going to fall ap-" Daniel bit his lower lip. "Never mind." He ran a hand through his hair. "Is it my shift yet?"

Jack studied his friend, tongue rolling in his mouth as he eyed the other man's shaking hands. He observed the ashen pallor, the sheen of perspiration on the forehead and pressed his lips together with disapproval.

"Is it?"

"No," Jack lied. "Not yet. Sorry. Heard you from outside, thought there was some...trouble."

Shuttered eyes turned away as Daniel gingerly set himself back down on the sleeping bag again, pulling the flap over him. "Oh. Uh...I'm okay. Don't even remember the dream at all."

"Uh huh." Crouched down in the tent, Jack waited. Sure enough, Daniel's eyes fluttered back open.

"I'm fine."

Jack casually shrugged. "I didn't say anything." He still sat there on his heels.

Daniel stared at the top of the tent, eyes glazed with exhaustion. "You have nothing to worry about, Jack. Doctor Fraiser cleared me for duty."

"That's funny." Jack scratched his jaw with a finger.

Irritated, Daniel's gaze darted to Jack. "What? What's so funny?" he asked wearily.

"Could have sworn it was Doctor Warner who signed the release report."

"She was busy."

Jack nodded. "I'm sure she was." He considered his friend. "Pretty sure she would have made the time though. Didn't need to go to Warner for the tests."

"Same thing." Daniel rolled to his side, facing the lining of the tent. His hands went up on his forearms and he curled slightly.

"Cold?" Jack pulled at his own jacket, sniffing when he caught a faint odor of something sour. He made a face. Damn winds.

The younger man lowered his arms, but the edge of the sleeping bag went higher. "Not really. Why are you asking so many questions?"

"I'm not," Jack said defensively.

"Sure you're not." Daniel shuffled, burrowing deeper into his bag.

Staring at the top of his head, Jack spoke to that instead. "Daniel, we're just all worried, okay?"

"Don't be," the curt response floated out from over Daniel's shoulder.

Jack sat there, facing the back turned towards him.

"Jack." Daniel's spent voice startled him. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Casually, Jack swept his palm across his own sleeping bag, mentally puzzling over all the sand over it. "Wind's really picking up outside." He crouched between his and Daniel's sleeping bag. "Pretty quiet out there." He continued brushing every grain off his gear with his hands.

Daniel didn't comment, but he did roll back onto his back, blinking bloodshot eyes at the tent before darting them over to Jack. When O'Neill turned his head slightly, the blue eyes snapped back to look at the ceiling.

"Heard the special is pork chops," Carter commented as she jogged up to Jack, a quick bob of her head in greeting.

It was like staring at the shut door again, Daniel not talking, ignoring him as if he wasn't there. Jack wanted to laugh at the irony. Usually it was the other way around- the archeologist rambling on and on and Jack needing to zone out to save his less geeky mind from going bonkers. Looking at the pale cheeks and the dark circles under Daniel's unfocused eyes, the urge to laugh died. Jack shifted away, pretending to clean the rest of the sand off his sleeping bag.

"Jack?"

The colonel's hand froze over his sleeping bag. "What?"

"Back in the labs...um..." Daniel's gaze shifted away. "How much of it do you remember?"

The colonel stilled, blankly staring at his sleeping bag. He didn't need to ask. He already knew what Daniel was referring to. The vague sensation of something twisting inside him before he fell to the lab floor returned. Jack absently rubbed his right ear, almost feeling the stinging burn of those things escaping before the endless screaming, gunshots and faces of the dead finally faded from his own created hell. "Not much. Some things." He paused. "Uh...how about you?"

"I'm not sure what I remember," confessed Daniel.

"I don't get what you're saying." Dropping down onto the sleeping bag, Jack peeled back the flaps to keep one eye on the site. As his eyes checked the area, he kept talking. "What do you mean you're not sure? How much do you remember?"

"Too much," whispered Daniel. Absently, he rubbed his arms, still feeling the stronger hands and the itchy tiny scratches of tiny legs crawling on his skin.

Jack turned sharply back at his friend, the tent fabric dropping as he twisted around. "What?"

Shaking his head with a start, Daniel appeared to have regretted his remark. A flash of blue fleeted before he shut his eyes, turning on his side, the nylon sleeping bag making scrunching sounds as he curled slightly with a shiver. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Sorry," Jack quipped. "I have a pretty good memory." He sobered when Daniel refused to turn back around. "Hey..." He touched Daniel's arm.

"No!" Reeling back, Daniel scooted to the furthest side of his bag, literally spilling out onto the sand. Chest heaving, his eyes were huge.

Stunned, Jack leaned back, palms up. "Whoa! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to spook you. Calm down."

"Calm down. Damn it, don't spook the nutcase! I'm trying to get him in this thing!"

Daniel squeezed his eyes tight. "S-sorry. Was...thinking. You caught me off guard." He forced a smile to widen on his face. It hurt. "Didn't mean to...f-freak out on you like that."

Lowering his hands, Jack couldn't speak. He saw the panic in the younger man's eyes fade away, but the wariness that stiffened Daniel's arms was still present.

Probably thinking you're going to scrub the mission and ship him back to Mackenzie, Jack thought, his throat dry. God, he couldn't blame Daniel not wanting Jack near him. He couldn't even croak out an apology when he did catch the younger man because at every mention of what happened, Daniel's face would freeze to an emotionless mask, and he might as well be talking to a brick wall at that point. So he went back to the same old strategy- don't talk about it. He ended up staring at him back, his chest tightening ever so when Daniel still didn't relax, his breathing actually picking up. After a second, Jack saw Daniel's eyes blink quickly, trying to stay open. Guiltily, Jack realized he was keeping the archeologist up.

"Go back to sleep, Daniel," he said quietly. He saw Daniel nodded sleepily, the yawn breaking free before the scientist could protest. It bothered O'Neill that his companion wasn't even protesting. Jack waited as the younger man shifted position again, murmuring a barely audible "Night". Still, the colonel waited, watching as the man's shoulders slowly lost its rigid edge, slumping down as the body relaxed further in sleep. Watching sadly for a while, Jack gave himself a mental shake before pulling his own sleeping bag up, giving it a little flip to clear off the sand and draped it carefully over his friend. Jack noted with some satisfaction that the shivering Daniel was trying to hide lessened once the next cover draped over him. He reached down to check the forehead, then remembering at the last second, withdrew his hand. He had a lump in his throat as he stood, stepping out of the tent to resume his watch alone.

* * * * *

Eyes heavy, he could only watch as white ghosts floated from the ground. They grabbed him by the arms. How could they grab if they were ghosts? Jack didn't know; he only knew their hands were cold, three fingers digging into flesh, vague shapes of their heads and faces that looked more like paintings in museums he usually dismissed as too weird. Eyes where noses should be, mouths misshapen as they opened like fish out of water, a row of razor teeth biting into his calf, another one on his sleeve over his elbow. Jack couldn't even shout in pain as he fell to the side still curled in position, his rifle falling to his lap as the pungent smell of rotting flesh filled his lungs. He couldn't even move away as he saw more emerge from the ground, lurching towards the other tents...

"Morning, sir."

Jack's head jerked up, the smell of a dying fire mingling with the constant presence of iron filling his senses. His stomach revolted at the smells, reminding him of battlefields, and he half expected to find himself marred with camouflage paint, surrounded by similar faces before they swept in for the attack.

Dream. It was a goddamn dream. Jack shook his head, cursing himself for falling asleep on watch, retrieving the rifle that had fallen during his slumber and slung it back over his shoulder, wincing as stiff muscles groaned. He kicked at the campfire, barely a spark flickering in reaction. Jack gave it another poke before fumbling for matches from his vest pocket, giving a shiver before he tossed the lit match in. Scratching his left calf as he watched the flint jump in the ashes before growing orange with flames, he realized with a start he was clawing at where he dreamt he was bitten. Jack gave a snort, pulling his hand away, and toed the rolled up material they brought with them to make the fire, watching as it slowly sparked back to life. Thank God he had his flight jacket zipped up to the collar, otherwise he would have frozen to death. Already, his hands tingled with the chill. When he saw Carter staggering out of her tent, yawning, making faces as she massaged her shoulder, the bodies vanished and it was only copper tinged sand again under his feet.

"Morning," he managed before lowering his rifle, reaching for his pack to fish out the rations for breakfast. Jack stuck his hands out at the revived flames, warming the exposed fingers from his gloves front and back before beginning to heat up breakfast. He watched, a little amused as the major moaned and groaned before sitting down across from him. "Rough night?" Jack snagged the pot leaning haphazardly by the hearth and poured her what sludge was left in it. She mumbled her thanks, accepting the tin cup between her cupped hands.

"Yuck...the worst." Carter made a face as she tasted the leftover coffee from the cold pot but took another gulp of it anyway. "Couldn't sleep. Well...not the whole time at least." She looked around uneasily at their surroundings and rubbed at her arms absently, chewing her lower lip. She then shrugged. "Had the weirdest dreams."

"Oh?" Not really listening, Jack trained his sight on the other tent. He could hear Teal'c rising as well, already scanning the area before approaching the campfire. But Daniel still didn't emerge from their tent. Absently, he scratched his calf under his pants again before he remembered, making a face and covered the gesture by grabbing the coffeepot.

"Sir?" Tracing the gaze back to where Daniel still was, Carter lowered her cup. " I'll wake him." She started to rise, freezing when Jack's hand came up, aborting the move.

"No...he had a rough night. Give him a few minutes." O'Neill poured the rest of the coffee into his cup, taking a huge gulp before immediately spitting it out into the campfire. "Argh...shit! What the hell is this crap?"

"I believe it is the coffee you made last night, O'Neill," Teal'c observed, standing there looking refreshed and composed.

Jack growled under his breath. "Well, you're looking fresh as a daisy."

The Jaffa merely raised his eyebrow at the comment.

"Uh..." Carter bit back a smile. She stood, mentally groaning as it felt like all her bones popped in concerto. "I'll go get breakfast ready." She stretched out. God, she couldn't believe how tired she was! She blinked in surprise when she saw the colonel rise as well, biting back a groan as well when he straightened up, heading for Daniel's tent. "Sir?"

"I'll go wake Daniel," muttered Jack, stomping through the sandy ground. He didn't catch the exchange Teal'c and Carter gave each other as he made his way towards the tent.

* * * * *

Daniel could hear the faint greetings outside as everyone emerged from their tents to gather around for breakfast before duty called once again. He lay there, staring at the top of the olive green fabric, feeling like all the world was piled on top of his chest. As much as he knew he should, Daniel couldn't find the energy to sit up yet, not even to reach for his canteen lying half buried in the sand inches from his fingers, resting on the tent wall. Thirsty as he was, the effort to grab it and empty its refreshing contents down his throat was beyond him. But tired as he was too, sleep wasn't the best option for him either.

Crunching sounds surrounded him as he felt his body turned around and over, like a slab of meat over a spitfire. He couldn't move, couldn't even struggle as he saw white hands, withered limbs reaching out, grabbing, touching...

"God." He curled to his side, wiggling until he was deeper under the sleeping bag. He covered his mouth, his stomach churning. It was just a dream. Calm down. It wasn't real.

He scrambled out of his bed, heaving, crouched on all fours as his head hung over the top edge of his sleeping bag. His throat tightened, then swelled as if there was anything to let go of, but all Daniel could manage was a few dry wheezes before he twisted around and sat down with his head in his hands.

The dreams were getting worse, sounds of crunching and high pitched squeaks swirling around him like a maelstrom. He shook his head, moaning softly as his surroundings spun without relent. He wanted nothing more than to crawl back into the sleeping bag. But he knew any minute, someone was going to come tapping the tent, wondering why he was lagging behind.

"Sorry, but I was busy being an evolved trilobite's lunch?" Daniel said out loud, cringing at the edgy tone of his voice. He scrubbed his hands over his hair, feeling short strands sticking up like spikes. He could still hear Jack's soft-spoken question, inwardly flinching at the concern and worry he heard in the older man's voice.

Daniel was so tempted to just tell Jack everything. Tell him how every night the memories grew worse, how the sensation of being bound and helpless doubled with every day. He wanted to tell Jack O'Neill, the friend, not the colonel, how the planet felt 'off', how everyone's questions were making it worse. He wanted to tell the older man how Daniel would love to just curl under his sleeping bag right now and not wake up until someone told him it was safe to venture out. The looks as he passed down a hall, the wary glances as he went into the infirmary, the locker room, the labs. Daniel felt every glance, every unvoiced concern, influenced by the image of him being carted away to a Mental Ward. Machello or not, Daniel knew he was branded, as visible a tattoo as when he denounced the pyramids as Egyptian, sending him on an academic exile that to this day still existed. But he could imagine what Jack would say.

Flaky?

Daniel dropped his head to his knees now, hands hanging limply on his sides. Flaky, lunatic, crazy, think out of the box Daniel Jackson. He had heard it all before, but all it cost him before were a few friends who might have only hung around for academic pursuits anyway, mentors who shook their heads sadly at him and peers who laughed and mocked him from the stage. Not too bad, considering his...lunacy got him into the Stargate project and...

Sha're.

His mouth curled down. She didn't think he was crazy. Okay, she first thought of him close to a messenger of God, but after that, she took his eccentricities, sudden bouts of loneliness and hard to break habits to rely on himself as him- as Daniel.

But here...

All there was left of him was the vision of him bounded and belted on a gurney, carted away from SGC, barefoot and sobbing on some damn padded room floor.

Daniel was going to have to start all over again. He could do it. He had to. He couldn't be held back by doubt and wary trust. Daniel couldn't do anything for Sha're or Skaara if he was tied down by people's hesitancy.

Opening and closing his fists, Daniel fumbled for his backpack, pulling out his tools. Maybe he could manage to slip out of the tent and just head back for the caves. Maybe no one would notice him getting an early start on the next cavern. He tugged out the ziploc bag of small tools and his brushes, empty sample bottles tumbling out in his search, charcoal spilling out of the smaller pockets before his numb fingers could catch them.

Crick.

Daniel froze, heart hammering loud in his chest, pounding like ceremonial drums. He clutched the edge of the bag, holding his breath as he turned around.

The sleeping bags were piled to his side of the tent, sand rippling across his sight. Daniel warily scooted on his rear towards the tent opening, training his eyes on the area. He gulped air, in and out. This was ridiculous. It was just a dream. Only a dream. He was overreacting over nothing. No monsters, no hands out of the darkness, no swarm of beetles devouring him.

A hand grasped his shoulder and squeezed.

"No!" Daniel screamed, arms flailing as he twisted around to the front, scrambling backwards to get away.

Jack's shocked face met him through the slit of the tent.

The colonel snapped his gaping jaw shut before managing to sputter out "Shit, Daniel. What was that for-"

"What the hell are you doing?" Daniel shouted before he could stop himself. One hand on his chest, he gasped, reeling from the sudden moves. The tent twisted before him before shaping to its neat compact pyramid again.

"I called you, but you didn't answer," Jack replied, stepping into the tent and eying the mess around the area. His brow furrowed.

God, his heart wouldn't slow down. Daniel could feel himself trembling, silently cursing his stupid reflexes and started grabbing all his stuff and shoving it into his pack to hide his shaking hands. They wouldn't stop trembling, and the bottles just came bursting out again from his bag.

"Daniel, I asked you a question. What the hell just happened here?" Waving a hand towards him, Jack scowled.

"You startled me," Daniel muttered, keeping his eyes on his bag. For some reason, the pack was overflowing, not everything would fit any more. He yanked his jacket folded up as a pillow for the night before and shook it angrily before wearing it. Daniel pushed down on the stuff inside his backpack. It wouldn't close.

"Startled you?" Jack gaped at him with disbelief as the archeologist began repacking again with a vengeance, hands a blur before him. "You acted like I was some monster jumping out of the closet!"

Daniel's hands stilled.

Jack closed his eyes. Shit, smart move, O'Neill. "Damn. Daniel, I'm so-"

"Sorry. Like I said, you startled me." Slinging his pack over his shoulder, Daniel rose to leave, stopping when he saw Jack was blocking his way.

"Daniel, listen to me. I-"

"Jack." Daniel took a deep breath. He averted his eyes. "I have work to do."

"It can wait." Jack motioned towards Daniel, then to himself. "You...I...We need to talk."

"No, Jack. It can't wait." Shaking his head, Daniel took another step closer to the exit. "We only have a week here." He looked over to Jack for a second before tearing his gaze away. "Let me do my job."

Jack stared at the younger man for a long time, but Daniel didn't meet his gaze.

"Jack...Please."

Silently, Jack stepped aside.

"Thank you," whispered Daniel before he brushed past him, not replying to Carter's call and as he fled for the caves behind their tent.

Jack shook his head at the déjà vu and dropped down on his knees to the sand. He looked sadly at the black pieces half buried in the sand, pieces of charcoal Daniel didn't bother picking up in his haste to escape him. Abruptly, he grabbed the cap off his head and threw it down to the floor. It barely made a sound as it landed on the grainy surface.

"Dammit." It didn't make him feel any better. Scowling bitterly at his headgear, Jack picked it up again, brushed the sand off it and rose to leave. Giving the crumpled sleeping bags and the broken charcoal another look, he sighed and left.

Had Jack paused and waited, he would have seen one of the pieces tiptoeing out, shaking the sand off to reveal its broad smooth back and gossamer wings before fleeing under the sleeping bags again.

* * * * *

"Well?" Sam was forcing herself not to turn around as she heard the colonel storm out of the tent, boots audible even on sand as he stomped towards the rover, snarling something about cleaning up.

"Daniel Jackson has left for the caves once more," Teal'c reported. "O'Neill has gone for the water supply on the transport."

She looked down at the pot over a new fire. "Damn." She chucked in two MRE packs in the water and watch the vapors waft up as they cooked. Sam finally dared to look over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of Daniel pacing in a cave a few spots down from the first one he was in, perched on a higher slope to her right. The archeologist stopped, hand reaching up to adjust his hat. Then he vanished as he sat down to begin his work. He didn't even look their way.

Sam heaved a sigh, looking away to stare at the pot. The bubbles heating the MRE packs danced around merrily, unaffected by the dark gloom she could feel pulling her back to a curve. It felt like someone was playing a joke on her, remembering how she herself was tapping her feet, pulling at the standdown orders like a restricting rein, waiting to get back into action. Now, she wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed.

"He appears to be upset," Teal'c observed.

"Which one?" she muttered back. Resting her chin on the heel of her hand, she used the other hand to rub circles on her forehead.

"Are you well?"

"Headache," Carter replied, blinking as she heard a rustling sound before a small bottle appeared below her eyes. She smiled gratefully, shaking the container a little before coaxing two white pills out with a tap of the bottle against her palm. "Thanks."

"You did not sleep restfully," Teal'c declared, not missing the pale streaks across her cheeks. The Jaffa swiveled towards the cave where O'Neill was freshening up. "Nor did O'Neill."

"It just feels strange," Sam murmured, yawning wide before tossing the two aspirins into her mouth. With a dry swallow, she made a face as she tipped her canteen back to wash them down.

"Strange?"

Gesturing towards the caves before her, then behind her where the colonel was at, she shrugged. "Strange. You know, like something is not right."

"They are not speaking with each other," the Jaffa commented. He stood straighter, eyes narrowed as he took a scan of the area, ever on alert before continuing. "Daniel Jackson is upset."

Sadly, Sam nodded. "I guess I can't blame him though. He must feel like we turned our backs on him."

"I am not sure if that is the reason."

Sideways glancing over to him, Sam waited.

"He is upset at what has occurred to him, but not at how it occurred to him."

She blinked. "I don't understand." Sometimes, the alien could be very cryptic. She wondered briefly if maybe she misunderstood what the Jaffa was trying to say.

Teal'c stared at her steadily. "I was Apophis' First Prime."

Sam frowned at the sudden change of topic. "I know," she hedged.

"Many things happened during my duty to him." Teal'c's face darkened. "Many things." He tightened his fist around the staff weapon he held. "But I do not blame him."

"He made slaves of your people," she pointed out.

"I hold him responsible for this, yes. But my service to him was of my own doing enforced by fear of the gods." Teal'c raised his chin higher, eyes narrowing. "I could have rebelled."

"You had no choice at the time. You didn't know if there was a chance to resist," she argued.

"Yet I would blame myself," he added in a gentle voice that made her blink.

"Oh." Lowering her head, she chewed her thumbnail thoughtfully. She raised her gaze towards him. "You think Daniel's blaming himself for what happened to him?"

"Perhaps."

"Wasn't his fault."

"Have you told him this?"

Sam stopped again. She pulled the MREs out of the pot, pouring its contents in mugs, handing one to Teal'c. She spied Daniel getting up, shuffling out of the cave he was in, moving on to the next one. Determined, she wrapped her fingers around the mug handle of the hot meal.

"I'll bring this to him," she said, shaking the pot of coffee brewing besides the other cooking pot. She caught out of the corner of her eye the colonel, armed with a towel, ducking into one of the caves they designed for baths since there was no natural body of water nearby. She winced as she saw a boot fly out, signaling he was toweling off and averted her eyes back to Daniel.

"Be right back," she murmured, cringing as she heard another boot landing outside on top of something metallic. Hopefully, it wasn't one of the satellite dishes. Ripping the MRE pack open, she poured the meal out into an aluminum mug, giving it a shake to mix it up. She grabbed a cup of coffee Teal'c poured for her and nodded. Rising to her feet, she took a deep breath and started walking.

* * * * *

She and O'Neill gave Mackenzie twin glares. Daniel? Agitated? She wanted to snort as they filed into the room quietly. Not counting one or two occasions of anger- due to interference from some drug or outside influence, she had never seen Daniel willingly raise his hand in violence. It just wasn't in him. She could see her CO was thinking the same thing, lips pursed with disapproval. It wasn't Daniel. No, it-

Sam blinked, wondering why her eyes watered. With her thumb, she brushed away the moisture that was surely from sand blown into her eyes by the winds. She stood there, watching Daniel kneeling, working away on one wall, almost with a fevered pace as if racing against a clock only he could see and hear.

Breakfast was balanced in both her hands, but she didn't feel urgent any more to move closer. Hidden behind the shadows her tent made, she watched her friend sigh, rocking back on his heels and lowering his head into his folded arms.

Daniel looked tired, even from this distance, worn with a slouch in his back she hadn't seen since his return from P3X-808 with SG-6. She remembered the archeologist's shock to see the embarkation room in shambles, half a room freshly painted. The Stargate braced with support beams as repairs were underway to erase the damage of the black hole. At the pace everyone worked, it was almost as if they wanted to erase the death of Frank Cromwell as well. And Daniel's shock over the condition of the base grew to full-grown worry when he saw her and Teal'c standing at the bottom of the ramp, sans one.

Finding out the colonel was still unconscious since the explosion that imploded the black hole, Daniel haunted the infirmary with his weary presence night after night. It should have drove Janet up the wall, but instead, the doctor took it all in stride, like how she took everyone's abrupt visits to the infirmary with quiet resignation. The medical facilities were going to be crowded until Colonel O'Neill woke up. Too tired to sleep, too stubborn to find a bed to lie down, Sam seen her friend often leaning against a hallway wall instead, staring off into nothing with a cup of coffee in his hands, looking very alone and lost. She tried talking to him, coaxing him to the commissary, even to the labs, but he usually just gave her a weak smile, a small joke, and was back to his lonely vigil one corridor down from the infirmary, in full view of Janet's office and the infirmary itself. It was something that pained her to see, even though she was doing her own watch herself by working on any project in her lab. But watching him watch the world go by as he paced like a ghost from office to office while everyone else had a job to do and him with too little engineering knowledge to be useful to keep busy was hard to stomach. She'd tried constantly until Teal'c finally told her one night it was no use. Daniel Jackson was always one to worry, and like when she and the colonel were rescued from Antarctica, he wasn't going to rest until everyone was here and okay. It both warmed her heart and worried her at the same time. Something that she professed to the recuperating colonel days after he finally woke, getting only a knowing nod from him before he tossed a half-exasperated glance over to Daniel when the younger man came strolling in to visit once more.

But this was no vigil Daniel was holding this time even though Sam could see the stubbornness that would have her friend rocking back and forth on his heels. His head bowed in the dark cave, Daniel didn't speak, or do his usual monologue as he protected himself from the outside light, refusing to find a place to sleep or admit just how much what had happened to him had bothered him.

When she saw Daniel bring his hand up to massage his neck, she stuck her chin out and strode determinedly up the rising slope into the cave.

"Breakfast!" she announced, setting the tin mugs right next to his left hip before crouching down next to him, peering at the faint lines trying to shine out of layers of dust.

With a soft exhalation of breath, Daniel lowered his hand and looked down at the plate of brown gunk before opting for the steaming cup of coffee. He gulped the hot liquid with one impressive swallow and grimaced. Turning back towards the wall, he lowered his mug to the ground, picked up his discarded brush and tapped at the wall again, muttering "Thanks."

"You're not eating," she pointed out to him, waving a fork at him.

"Not hungry," he mumbled back, not looking. Daniel paused, leaned back and studied the painting critically. "This one's different." He nodded towards the wall. "There are no signs of coloring or paint in these carvings. Why do you suppose that is?"

"Daniel." She pulled at his sleeve, stilling the brush. "You're tired and exhausted. You need to eat if you're going to keep this up."

The archeologist worked his jaw as he stared at the slender strokes on rock. He acted like he didn't hear her. "First one had sketches of hunting, or being the prey, these seem more...older...different tribe maybe? Different visitors?" He gave Sam a look, inviting her to theorize but when he saw her point to the meal once more, he sighed. "Sam, I-"

"Eat." She nudged the mug towards him. "Eat then work if you have to, but eat first."

Reluctantly, Daniel dropped down on the ground, rearranging his legs, crossing them as he took the fork Sam offered him. Slowly, hesitantly, he scooped up a bite and chewed on it. Eyes on the wall, he mechanically took another bite.

The woman studied Daniel as he speared his breakfast. Up and down the fork went, Daniel barely chewing, swallowing as if a dry pill.

Speaking of which.

"Daniel," she checked around his area, not seeing them. "Janet said she issued you some meds a while back to counteract what Doctor Mackenzie gave you. Are you still taking them?"

Stiffening, Daniel lowered his fork. "Why?"

Surprised, Sam blinked. "Uh...no reason. I was just wondering if you were still taking them. Maybe you shouldn't be drinking coffee if you're-"

"I'm not," he said flatly. Daniel lowered his mug, fork tossed into the container. "I should really get back to work."

Sam chided herself as she watched the back go rigid defensively. "Daniel, I didn't mean anything by it. We just want to..." Carter paused as she saw Daniel pick up his tools again, already working on the wall. "Daniel...we're really sorry about what happened."

"I'm not angry," whispered Daniel. "Not at you." He turned to look sideways at her. "I'm just trying to move on."

"I agree." She smiled sadly at him. It faded when Daniel averted his eyes back to the cave wall. "But I think we should talk about it." The young man didn't reply, and she quietly added "I think you need to talk about it."

"Sam..." The brush going harder on the wall, Daniel didn't speak, a grim set of his mouth as he scrutinized the carvings slowly coming to light. "There's really nothing to talk about." He placed his brush down, fishing a bottle out. Shaking the clear liquid inside, he dabbed some on a cloth, the chemical fumes making him wince before he gently swiped it across the surface. He stopped, seeing a small lone figure standing in a valley, what looked like grass or spokes surrounding it. Despite the simplistic etchings, the crudely drawn figure looked upset, frantic, thin carved arms waving above its head in a midst of a field of strokes representing perhaps grass. But there was no animal running wild on the same plane of the figure. Daniel frowned, unable to decipher to pictogram. Tilting his head towards her, Daniel saw she was still waiting. He ruefully shook his head.

"It happened. I understand why you guys did what you did. At the time, I was acting very-" Biting his lower lip, Daniel added softly "I just want things to be back the way they were before." He gave her a pleading look. "I really don't want to talk about it, Sam."

She watched as his hand shook before Daniel realized it and shoved it into his backpack, rummaging around for something. "Daniel...we can't just ignore this. I want to help you. If you can't talk to us, at least talk to someone-"

"No," Daniel cut in sharply.

"Daniel-"

The archeologist suddenly stood up. "Sam...I have a lot of work to do."

Carter gazed up at him before lowering her sight to the mugs below. The half-filled containers stood there quietly, a breeze slowly filling them both with sand.

"I'm...I'll be fine," Daniel murmured. "I really do have a lot of work to do here." He sat down again, wordlessly placing the two mugs in her waiting hands. "And I think I do need some more core samples from other areas." Jackson took the soft rag he was using and started wiping at the wall again.

"Yeah." She rose to her feet. "Um...I'm probably going to check out the caves on the east side, towards the dry riverbed we went through to get here. Keep your radio out and open, okay?"

Daniel bobbed his head once absently, murmuring a soft farewell as she walked away. He stopped what he was doing, looking at her departing back.

"Sam?"

The major froze.

"Uh...thanks for breakfast."

She raised the mugs to show them over her shoulders. "You didn't exactly eat much of it."

"I...just wasn't hungry."

Carter nodded her head, staring at her shadow before continuing on to the campfire to gather her things.

She could hear Daniel screaming before it faded as the drugs began to work. Mackenzie cleared his throat, opening the door wider now, signaling them to leave.

"Major Carter?" Teal'c stood in front of her. She paused. When did she reach the campgrounds so quickly?

"He's working," she said lamely as she caught Teal'c casting a look over her head. Sam stopped herself from sighing, but it came out anyway in a hushed breath, and her shoulders slumped. Teal'c understood and nodded gravely. "Uh...I'm going to go get some more core samples and check on the telescopes." She stopped, stretching out her hand to give Teal'c the mugs. She spied O'Neill storming out of the cave, towel slung over his shoulder, no improvement on the dark face he'd worn before. She called out where she was going, and the colonel just grunted, pointing to the ground to say he'll be standing watch. Sam nodded, quietly gathering up her equipment, nodding to Teal'c to come along.

Silently, the pair left for their designations, leaving Jack to sit by the fire once more, staring at a cave off the distance.

* * * * *

"How about some soup?"

Tap tap tap tap.

Daniel's chisel went along the hairline crack he found, peeling layers of old carbon off like flaked paint. Brushing a gloved hand along the wall, he snuck another look out to Jack, who was again walking back and forth, back and forth at the center of the campsite.

Setting his jaw, Daniel forced himself to look back at the wall, back to his work in coaxing the figure out of the cavern surface.

The crudely drawn figure was indeed a puzzle. Clearly drawn the same way, maybe with a chipped off piece of rock, or a sharp knife, man was represented by a figure drawn with the right amount of arms and legs, but there were no signs of paint used to decorate the artwork. Instead, there were scratches along its torso, along its surroundings to make the textures of the relief.

"Older?" Daniel murmured, flinching at the sound of his voice. He gulped back the rest of his musings, biting his lower lip as he wiped off another layer of carbon. Peeling cracked sections away with his hands, checking occasionally to make sure nothing was damaged at the same time, Daniel realized the carvings were definitely older, buried in more layers than the first cave he checked. Mentally he counted back. Including the first few caves he'd been in, including the one he found the fossil of, that made perhaps five different period drawings so far. Some had buffalo decorating the walls, surrounded by simplistic representations of man. Others had no animals at all, presumably after the planet was plummet with meteors, killing all animal and plant life systematically yet they drew figures running away from something. Running from whom? Did the survivors of this riddled planet stay time and time again after every disaster? So did survivors draw those? Were they hiding in the caves back then?

Daniel scratched his head, a pounding beating behind his eyes. It didn't explain why the drawings without animals were all drawn so differently. Why so many? And was it from the same tribe? If not, where did they all go?

"Odd." The archeologist cringed. He really had to stop doing that. Last thing he needed was for Jack and the others to start popping their heads in and asking once more-

"How's everything going?"

Head heavy, Daniel swiveled on his heels towards the voice. Sure enough, Jack stood at the center of the mouth, light blocked by his body, shrouding the older man in shadow. He couldn't see the expression on Jack's face but knew it was probably the same bated breath look Daniel felt boring holes in his back like in the SGC cafeteria.

Daniel forced himself to shrug, turning towards the wall, blinking rapidly as the ground seemed to surge below him like the ocean. He rotated his shoulders, taking one deep breath after another.

Air must be thinner here, he thought as his chest tightened considerably.

"That looks different."

Lifting his eyes, Daniel saw Jack looming over him, the colonel's gaze on the cavern artwork. "Huh?" Daniel said blankly.

Jack gave him a funny look. "The pictures."

Pictures? Daniel twisted back to the front, staring at the figure on the wall. Oh yeah, the carvings. He ducked his head, searching through his tools for the brush he was using before. Wasn't he using a brush?

"Hey." Now Jack was stooped down to his level. His mouth was crinkled downward as he surveyed the archeologist. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," mumbled Daniel as he pulled out the cloth, staring at it, puzzled. Wasn't he looking for a brush? He sighed, shaking his head. Then he tensed as he recalled Jack was still sitting next to him. He forced his mouth to spread wide into a smile.

"Tired?" Jack asked sympathetically. "You didn't look like you were getting much of a good night's sleep."

Daniel opened his mouth, about to argue that he felt fine, but he could tell from Jack's tight lipped expression it wasn't going to work. He heaved his shoulders, then nodded once. "A little tired."

The admission appeared to make Jack relaxed. "Yeah, same here." He gave his arm a little scratch, making a face. "Feels like I got sand everywhere," Jack groused, stamping his feet to the ground, his left calf itching again. It was almost as bad as when he was in Iraq. Sand used to get in the oddest places, leaving him feel itchy and gritty all the way until he got captured during Cromwell's- Jack stopped, deliberately lowering his hands. His complaints about the desert weren't the issue here. Daniel was agreeing with Jack's comment, his posture a little more relaxed as he too scratched his back under his jacket.

"Used to get sand in my frames," Daniel said vaguely, pushing the eyewear back up on his nose with an index finger. "Back in Abydos." He looked sadder at the mention of the planet. "Never could figure out how that happened. Sha-" He paused before taking a deep breath. "She kidded me saying I must have my head in the sand."

Encouraged, the older man sat down cross-legged on the ground next to Jackson, nodding once more. "Surprised your glasses lasted that long." He quirked a grin. "You had a tendency to go feeding big smelly animals candy and go sand skiing with them."

A soft laugh escaped Daniel, and Jack's smile broadened at the sound, unable to believe how long it was since he heard the archeologist so readily laugh with him and the rest of the team. He twisted around, chuckling as well. It seemed so long ago they were sitting on top of another sandy mound, wondering how to find the seventh symbol to get everyone home, him thinking of the nuke left in the Stargate chamber.

"I think it just wanted more candy," Daniel murmured.

Jack's chuckle grew louder. "Maybe we should have left you a supply?"

"You wouldn't have done me any favors," Daniel scolded, another tight smile flitting across his face as Jack nodded in agreement. "It wouldn't stop following me around." Shaking his head, Daniel pulled off his eyeglasses. "I was scaling the south wall to read the hieroglyphics on the top tier they used as a look out for the sandstorms. It was looking for me, knocked my ladder right out from under my feet as it tried to reach me."

Jack winced sympathetically. "Oops."

"Oops," agreed Daniel. "Fell on my back, broke my glasses frame in the process. Practically terrified her." He fiddled with his eyewear, long fingers tracing the side wires, remembering. "She fixed it up for me again."

Head back, Jack grunted. "Oh yeah. I think I did see some sort of cloth around your glasses."

"Sha're," Daniel said softly. He twirled the glasses in his hands, watching it double to two, then three as his vision blurred. Tired, he didn't notice Jack's scrutiny. "She wanted me to not use them any more. Couldn't understand my explanation that I needed them to see. They don't have the word nearsightedness in their language."

"So she fixed them for you?" Jack asked.

Daniel nodded. "She said she might as well. Didn't want me to hurt myself with my glasses..." He drifted off, staring at his glasses.

"Yeah," Jack commented, smiling. "That would have sucked," he quipped.

Swallowing, Daniel opened the glasses, slipping them over his eyes. He ducked his head. "I was pretty much careful with them after that."

Jack was puzzled why suddenly the wistful expression on Daniel's face turned to something darker, frowning as if a bad taste lingered in his mouth. O'Neill rolled the conversation back a few seconds, wondering what was said that might have triggered it but finding nothing. He cleared his throat, interrupting the silence before it grew too heavy to penetrate. "Been...uh...been quite a day, huh?"

"I didn't really do anything." Picking up the brush, Daniel fiddled with it. "Just been here the whole time."

"Yeah, but..." Jack trailed off, realizing he ran out of small talk.

"It's okay, you know."

Jack looked at Daniel. "What is?"

Waving the brush in a circle in the air, Daniel spoke very softly. "You guys don't have to...watch me like this."

Jack stared at the brush twirling in the air in lazy circles, shaking his head. "We're not."

The brush lowered to Daniel's lap. "It feels like it."

"We're not...watching you, that is. I..." Jack ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Ah hell...this is weird, you know? What the hell happened, Daniel?"

I went nuts, and now you're waiting for an encore performance, Daniel thought. Out loud though, he mused, "I don't know. A lot did, but it's over, right?" He placed a hand on the cave wall, feeling the coarse bumps and cracks of the surface.

"Sure, Daniel. It's over. Past history." Jack sounded more than happy to agree. "Over and done with. We should just move ahead."

"Right." Daniel looked at the wall sadly. "Past history. Nothing can be done to change the past."

Jack nodded. "Yeah."

"And some things," Daniel went on saying in a soft, faraway voice. "Some things..." He pulled his hand away and saw the cracks had run into the cave painting, marring the carved lines like a cobweb.

"And some things can't be fixed ever again."

A cold lump gathered in Jack's stomach, his throat tight. "Daniel-"

"No, Jack," Daniel cut in firmly. Pale hands went up to massage his forehead as his headache returned, spinning the cave in lightheaded dizziness. Swallowing, throat dry, Daniel croaked out, "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Neither do I," Jack murmured, watching his friend take a deep shuddering breath. There was something sorrowful in Daniel's gaze as he turned back towards him.

"Well...that gives us something in common."

Jack's brow furrowed. "Do we need something in common, Daniel? Hell, we're as opposite as two sides of a stick most of the time, and we could still...talk about...you know...stuff." He spread his hands apart. "What's different this time?"

"Me," whispered Daniel. "I'm different."

A bitter taste filled Jack's mouth. "Yeah," he said hoarsely. "I can see that." Daniel wouldn't look him in the eye. It occurred to Jack this whole mission, Daniel wouldn't hold his gaze for too long, breaking contact as if fearful his usually expressive eyes would betray something to Jack he didn't want revealed. Jack leaned forward and grasped Daniel firmly by the shoulders. "Come on, Daniel, what is different? I-" He stopped when he saw Daniel flinch. While the archeologist didn't break free, the involuntary wince the moment Jack touched him was enough. The colonel reeled back, aghast. "What do you keep acting like we would hurt you? Like I would?" The reaction made his hands feel filthy. He wiped them on his vest.

"I didn't," Daniel denied it venomously, but Jack wasn't fooled.

"Damn it, Daniel, you know by now that no matter what we're a team, and we're not going to knock you on your back!" Jack waved his hands, frustrated and caught another reflex from Daniel. He froze. If not them, then it had to be...

"Christ, what happened back in the ward?" Jack whispered.

Daniel's face seemed to pale further, going for transparent. "N-nothing."

Caught. Jack heard the slight quaver Daniel couldn't hide. Exhaustion was wearing the scientist's wall down, and while Jack felt like a heel to take advantage of it, he pressed on. "No, something happened there. I'm right, aren't I?' Alarm grew inside the colonel as he saw Daniel's face pale impossibly further. Jack mentally flipped through every face he encountered back in the ward, his rage bubbling in his chest. "Daniel, did they hurt you?" His hands hidden in his lap bunched into fists. "Did they?"

Shaking his head, Daniel looked positively nauseous doing the gesture. His head swayed and for a moment, Jack thought he was going to pass out. Alarmed, the older man latched on to Daniel's left arm. It startled the archeologist enough to rip a "No, don't touch me!" out of him.

Shocked, Jack's hand hung in mid-air.

Huge stunned brown eyes glued to Daniel. Jack's hand still frozen in place as he managed to sputter out "Daniel, what-"

"O'Neill!"

The two men jumped as both their radios came to life with a shout. Teal'c's voice, normally calm and even, came through their black boxes with an urgency that was clear despite the static. Jack ripped the radio off his shoulder attachment. "What is it?" he snarled, angry at the interruption. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daniel shakily run a hand through his hair, deep breaths rising his shoulders up and down like a seesaw as he regained his composure.

"Major Carter..." The radio crackled some more. "We were retrieving core samples from the caves. Apparently, one of the floors was unstable, and she fell through a crack-"

"What?" Daniel sat up higher. "Is she okay?"

Teal'c heard the question. "She is well, Daniel Jackson. She has reported to me she is uninjured but there is something...I believe you must see..."

The two men looked at each other, baffled. Jack flicked on his radio again. "Teal'c, where are you guys?"

"The ground level caves, the one below where we placed our temperature sensors."

Without another word, Jack got up to his feet, glanced behind him to see if Daniel was following before they ran out of the cave.

* * * * *

Well, she felt stupid.

Lying on her back, Sam stared at the man-sized hole on the ceiling, sand still dribbling down its edges, formerly the floor she was drilling a fissure to gather a core sample. Her drill, now in pieces against her right hip, broke through the layer to her surprise before the crackling sound told her something was seriously wrong. By the time she stood up, barked a warning, the floor bent inward, depositing her into the dank smelling hole.

Considering how many caves were here, you should have expected there was probably more underground caverns we didn't see, she thought sourly as she saw a head shaped shadow poke through the hole.

"Major Carter!" Despite the even tone, she could tell Teal'c was upset, judging how loud that particular roar was. "Are you well?"

"Uh...yeah." She sat up and waved her hand at Teal'c, but the Jaffa didn't see her. "Over here."

"I can not fit the opening. Can you reach my hand?" A dark limb dangled down, inches from her hand.

"No! I think we'll need some rope!"

"Very well." Something fell through the hole and bounced off something but she couldn't see where it landed.

"Teal'c?" she called out through cupped hands over her mouth. "I can't see where it went!"

"I will bring a light."

Sure enough, a flashlight dangled down, a strap tied around its aluminum body so she could grab at it. Reaching for it, she felt her fingertips brush against the flashlight. She staggered, tiptoeing higher for reach, practically wobbling on the balls of her feet left and right as she curled her fingers around its ends.

Before she tripped over something soft.

"Oof!" As she felt her boot strike something, she clutched the flashlight tighter. Luckily, the flashlight remained intact as she landed hard on a surface of sand and rock.

Crick.

She blinked, eyes watering from the sand falling from the opening above her head. Fumbling, she felt the on switch for the light and pressed it. A small spot of concentrated light popped into existence, dancing on the darkness merrily but unable to penetrate the thick murk.

"Do you see the rope?" Teal'c asked, head hovering over the hole, blocking the little light there was to begin with.

"Think I just tripped over it," she muttered, swiveling her flashlight towards her legs when she heard it again.

Crick.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, hushed.

"Hear what?" Teal'c asked, head now lowering into the hole. She gawked at the sight of his head upside down. It was almost a comical sight if the hair on the back of her neck wasn't standing upright. Her flashlight passed by the Jaffa, catching the gleam of his golden tattoo before it swept to the right.

"I thought I heard something," murmured Carter, eyes narrowing as she pulled in her legs, getting up unsteadily.

"Perhaps I should come down," suggested the alien.

Sam shook her head. "You would need to punch a bigger hole, and I rather wait til I'm up there. Place might cave in over my head."

"Very well." Teal'c paused, head still upside down. Carter wondered briefly why the Jaffa wasn't dizzy from all the blood rushing through his head. Teal'c didn't look at all bothered by the awkward position.

"I heard it. I'm pretty sure," Sam said, eyes narrowing as she tried to discern what the light was showing her. She sighed. "I think we need some more lights down here. Let me just get the rope and-"

Crick.

There! She heard little taps against hard rock skittering behind her. Sam spun around, the flashlight already on the floor, scanning up along the plane and froze as she saw what it was that tripped her.

It wasn't the rope.

"Oh...god..." She moved her hand over her mouth, nauseated as she saw the wrinkled, brownish limb lying on the ground next to her rope. Suddenly the strange smells made a connection, and she twisted around to shine the rest of the cavern she was in.

"Major Carter?" Teal'c frowned as Carter stepped away from his sight. The Jaffa wiggled a little, slipping in deeper into the hole so his own flashlight attached to his vest's shoulder can shine a light to track her.

Both shines added to the brightness and widened the scope of visibility in the cave. Carter made a funny sound, stepping back as their combined flashlights revealed what was in the back of the cavern.

"Bring my meter down here, and...c-call...call the colonel and Daniel," Sam whispered, eyes glued to the piles before her. When her light caught the gleam of yellow polished teeth under piles of other gruesome grins exposing yellowed teeth, she turned her flashlight off, preferring the dark instead.

* * * * *

By the time Jack reached the cave Teal'c described, Daniel trailing a short distance away, the colonel caught the glimpse of the Jaffa pulling a rope before grabbing Carter's hand from a hole. He hurried his steps, dropping down carefully on his knees and reached out to grab the other flailing hand, pulling up a very white faced major.

"Carter?" Worried by the pallor, Jack's grip tightened around her wrist. "What happened? How the hell-?"

"Is...is...s-she okay?" panted Daniel, staggering to the cave mouth, gasping for air.

Jack frowned, looking over his shoulder. He didn't like the way Daniel was leaning into the wall, one arm out to brace the surface for support, bent over as if he run miles when they only went across the campsite, barely a few dozen meters away.

"Sir...the cavern..." Carter was gasping as well, but Jack doubted it was the exertion of the climb. Mentally filing Daniel's appearance for discussion later, Jack gripped Carter by both shoulders, hauling her up with him as he rose. She mumbled her thanks, stepping away to wipe the perspiration off her forehead.

"What? What was down there?" Jack demanded, going from Carter to Teal'c. He eyed the dark hole with a frown. "Carter." He looked back at her. "What was down there?"

"Bodies," Teal'c answered for both of them. "There were many bodies, O'Neill."

A sliver of cold stuck into Jack's back. "What?"

"There were stacks of them, sir," Carter was still heaving, gulping fresh air as if she was holding her breath for a long time. "Up against the walls." She pointed to the back of the cave they were standing. Rubble, huge boulders were visible from where they stood. "Went beyond this blockage up here, underneath. The cavern looked about maybe twelve hundred square feet." Carter made a face. She walked around the entire area to be sure of the length.

"And you just went down there like this?" Jack grated out, pointing her attire.

Grimacing, waving down at her dusty uniform, Carter murmured, "I sort of didn't have a choice at the time."

"You should have went back up and went through your procedures," O'Neill went on tightly despite her argument.

Sam winced. "Sir, I know I should have went MOPP 2-"

"You think?" the colonel bit out. "Last thing you need is to get contaminated by some weird...thing!"

"Air was clean, sir. A bit...stale, but clean." She lifted her meter up to show Jack. The older man grumbled.

"N-not everything can be protected just by wearing isolation suits," Daniel stuttered, walking over to the others. He still sounded a bit breathless. After a second of standing without a prop, he exhaled, sitting on the floor by Sam's feet.

Jack stared at the top of Daniel's head with a frown. "You sound a little winded."

"Hard running on sand," explained the archeologist as he peered down the hole. "Sam...how was the interior?"

"Same material as the caves," Carter reported, giving the colonel a nod too. She noticed Daniel was gasping as well. "I could go back down there and get some footage-"

"I should go down there as well," Daniel said thoughtfully.

"Carter and I can go," Jack cut in.

"No offense, Jack, but you really wouldn't know what to look for." Blue eyes gazed up from the floor, narrowing suspiciously. "I need to see the cavern myself."

"There's a lot of bodies down there," Sam warned.

"I know, Sam," Daniel said tightly. "I think by now...I can deal with it. Don't worry, I won't freak out over the sight of a body."

"Hey!" Snapping his fingers, Jack drew Daniel's attention. "She didn't mean it that way! We don't know what's down there!"

Daniel turned to Sam abruptly. "You said the air was okay?"

Startled, Carter nodded. "Uh, yeah...the meter didn't show any signs of radiation or-"

"How do you feel?" interrupted Daniel.

She blinked. "A bit bruised from the fall, but other than that, fine."

Daniel went back to Jack. "Guess it's okay, then."

Jack saw three pairs of eyes on him. He ground his teeth together and forced out a "Fine." He motioned everyone to open their packs, pulling out their masks. "Let's go."

* * * * *

He always thought the air tasted stale behind the gas mask. But then, maybe it was just him. Jack and the others didn't seem to have his problem as they donned the filters, blinking through thick lenses of plastic. Daniel watched as Sam ordered everyone back while she bored another hole parallel to the one that dumped her down the dark pit and let the two holes naturally crumbled together to one large enough for everyone.

Despite what Carter said, O'Neill insisted on everyone going MOPP two, a term that took Daniel a while back then to remember what it meant.

Heavy gloves, a head cloak with goggles and a filtered mask for air, and a poncho draped across their shoulders, were pulled out of everyone's packs. Daniel had to run back to get his pack from the cave so by the time he staggered back, why was he so winded anyway, everyone was already ripping open the sterile packets, although Jack was staring at him thoughtfully when he returned. The stare was unnerving, like Jack had solved some puzzle and looked tempted in announcing the answer. Daniel ignored him, pulling at zippers with his head bowed, Jack's stare burning into his back. But then Jack sighed before finally flipping out his poncho with a quick turn of the wrist. Pretty soon, everyone was ready with the exception of Daniel, still fumbling with the damn wrapper with fingers tingling like needles stabbing the tips. What was wrong with him? When Sam stepped forward to try and help, the bag finally opened, much to Daniel's relief, and hurriedly he donned the required articles to enter the hole.

"Ready?"

Daniel looked up and saw Jack standing next to him, brown eyes through blurred plastic lenses, visibly concerned despite the distorting pieces. Setting his jaw, Daniel nodded. He did it before, and he could do it again. But as he tracked Sam dropping back down in the dark hole on the rope ladder anchored by two spokes Jack hammered on the ground, her light a sharp line of white against black, Daniel couldn't help but shiver.

To Daniel's chagrin, he landed with a stumble from a drop where the ladder abruptly ended. He felt Sam's hand on his elbow, steadying him, and he was about to snap at her when he saw her clear eyes, holding not the pity he thought it would contain, but the anxious concern he thought he saw back in the ward. He wasn't sure then if it was there, vision blurred by madness, by MacKenzie's drugs, but it was here now before him so he couldn't do anything more than duck his head and mumble his thanks. She responded by squeezing his arm before walking away.

"Shit," Jack breathed as his light danced around the cavern with the others. Daniel could see the colonel shaking his head, light scanning the smaller humanoid forms all strewed out in stacks like sacks of flour.

Daniel took a step back, his own light focused on the walls for any writings, trying to ignore the sensation of the possible foul stench managing to seep through despite the filters. Walking backwards as Teal'c dropped down from the hole right in front of him, Daniel's heel struck something, and this time it was the Jaffa whose hand snapped out and caught him before he could fall.

"Watch out behind you, Daniel," Carter said softly. Daniel knew, judging by her voice, what was behind him so he only nodded mutely and attempted to walk away from what his foot had stepped on, while waving a hand to Teal'c and Jack before they asked if he was okay.

They're dead. They can't hurt you. You should be finding out what happened to them, Daniel scolded himself angrily as he glued his eyes on the wavering spotlight, frowning as it seem to vanish from his sight. He tapped the side of his equipment, squinting furiously as the light blurred, then solidified. Scowling at the bright spot, Daniel turned to ask if anyone else was having this problem, but they didn't seem to notice his troubles, Jack and Sam approaching the stacks for closer examination, Teal'c standing guard so he swallowed his questions. Tugging at his collar, Daniel wondered why it was so cold down here.

Daniel shook his head. Stop it, stop it, stop it. It wasn't the same. It wasn't. He forced himself to open his tired eyes wider and deliberately turned around to stare at the body which blocked his path before.

Look at it. Just don't touch it, and you'll be fine. Gulping back on a dry throat, Daniel trained his light on the almost eradicated features, the flesh pulled back, shriveled and distorting its teeth to a hideous grin. Daniel could feel his hands shake. What the hell was wrong with him? He felt nauseous, his stomach cramping uncomfortably.

Jack's voice came out of the blue, causing Daniel to start, his flashlight swinging wildly. "Do they look like Goa'ulds, Carter? Back of their necks got anything?" O'Neill turned slightly towards Daniel. "What?"

"N-nothing." Daniel took a deep breath, metallic tasting air coming through, and he gagged. "Uh...the one over here looks pretty well preserved, just recently in fact."

"Oh?" Jack's voice was as dry as the sand outside the caves. "Like within a few hundred years or so?"

Daniel took another look at the body, noting the light discoloring. Exposed arms through rotting leather tunics showed purplish spots all over its arms like blood vessels had burst. "Actually, um...yeah."

"Really?" The colonel sounded surprised. He cleared his throat loudly. "Great. Uh...these look different though." He pointed back to the stacks on the back walls.

Sam nodded, her hood rustling against her vest. "Daniel, some of these looked fossilized even." She pointed her rifle at one near the bottom without touching it. "Here. I thought it was just rock but it was actually an arm." She indicated the outline of a withered bicep, blackened and gaunt. "What do you think, Daniel?"

What did he think? Daniel wanted to laugh. What he thought was they should pack up and leave. But he could imagine what their reactions would be. Hushed talking, pointing, murmuring until they went back through the Stargate, and he'd find Mackenzie waiting to take him back-

Stop it! Daniel pounded his fist against a thigh.

"Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c took a step forward, stopping when Daniel reacted by taking one back.

"I..." Daniel made himself face the stacks, flashlight adding to Jack and Sam's. The wall brightened considerably, and he felt his throat constricting at the sight before him. He scanned it quickly, trying to discern the clothing from the decay. Something tugged at his mind, nagging him, and he knew he had to step closer. One, two, three steps and Daniel realized. He frowned, scanning the bodies now with a sharper eye.

"Daniel, what is it?" Sam stood up straighter, lowering her flashlight.

The higher levels of bodies had rotting leather, straps dangling from limbs, too worn and decayed to stay intact as the original clothing.

Scrolling down the pile, Daniel bit the inside of his mouth as the light passed over blank stares, making quick comparison with the lighter skin tones, the beaded fabric permanently embedded on flesh, then to the lower half of the stack with the metallic like armor fused to stone like limbs.

"They're different," murmured Daniel.

Jack pointed his light back at the stacks. "Different?" He faced Daniel once more. "How so?"

Waving his flashlight like a pointer, Daniel indicated between the various stacks. "Look at them. They're...we have a few different types of clothing, different levels of..." He swallowed. "Uh...decay."

Crouching, Sam didn't seem bothered by their close proximity as she nodded. "He's right, sir."

Peering at one figure, Jack grunted.

"Perhaps they are of different caste, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c shifted the staff weapon in his grasp. "On Chulak, we were dressed in various articles to indicate our status. I wore my armor as First Prime." The ending rumble in Teal'c's voice showed how unpleasant the memory was.

Crestfallen, Daniel nodded. "That's possible." Then he shook his head. "No, it looked pretty much like these people died in different periods. Clothing aside, the decay factors are too vast here."

Jack swung his flashlight from each member of the team, thinking carefully. Daniel thought he saw doubt in the colonel's eyes but then the light swung back the other way instead, shadowing the dark eyes from view. Something stung in Daniel's eyes as he realized he was probably going to have to provide more proof. As his gaze drifted back to the bodies, he realized he wasn't even sure himself.

No symbols. Daniel swept his light across the floor before swinging up to the walls. The caverns weren't decorated like the other caves he was looking at. He could hear Jack and Sam lowering their voices in discussion, and his ears burned at the thought of what they might be saying.

Concentrate, he told himself sternly, walking along the edges of the walls. The ripples on stone came to clarity as he swept his beam over them. Nothing. The surfaces were smooth as if-

"These were made!" he blurted.

"Huh?" Lifting his head, Jack stayed where he was, holding a jar as Carter carefully peeled an aging fabric from one mummified body. He watched as Daniel's light went left and right slowly before settling on his face. Jack flinched. "Daniel-"

"Sorry." The light lowered. "I'm saying these walls. They're man made."

Carter raised her head as well, pliers in mid air above the opened jar. "You sure?"

"Pretty sure," Daniel replied tightly. "The walls look formed, not eroded away like the others. Nor are they covered with carbon as you might expect with the exposed caves we saw."

"True." Nodding her head, the major gave it some thought. "Most of these caverns could have been naturally there, like pores in bedrock. When the planet had its stellar impacts, the tremors and force could have pushed up the continental plates furthest away from the impact crater like folded paper." She bend her hands downwards into a V sign. "Would explain why some of the caves are exposed. They weren't really caves at all." She rotated her beam around the cavern, catching glimpses of Teal'c and Daniel as she did. "It's like the moon with its various impact craters. Scientists theorize there was probably hundreds of networks of tunnels below we could find with the right sensors."

"Holes?" O'Neill drawled. "Like swiss cheese?"

Carter bit back a smile as Teal'c turned to the colonel. "The moon is made of cheese?"

"Or so some say," Jack said dryly.

Daniel didn't laugh as he stood slightly away from the hole. Carter could only see the glint of his goggles as he spoke dully, "Would explain the drawings."

"They do?" she asked as she gingerly placed the fabric she was retrieving into the sample jar the colonel was holding. O'Neill capped it and gave a quick twist, effectively sealing the lid.

Watching as they took samples, somewhere in the back of his mind told him he should be there doing that as well, Daniel shrugged. "I had wondered about the various drawings I've uncovered so far. The styles and methods differed too much. The last cave I went to didn't use any form of paint."

"Maybe there wasn't any available at that point," Sam mused out loud.

Heartened by the agreeing words, Daniel nodded. "Makes sense." Momentarily forgetting the darkness of the room, he swept a hand across the cavern. "Nothing in here, but the other caves had drawings. They seem to center on the theme of hunting, although we have the same thing on Earth where paintings in Post Ice Age era that were more of a narration of hunting parties, records of nomadic-" He stopped when he realized he was rambling. Flushing, grateful for the mask, Daniel mumbled, "They could have been done by different generations of people or entirely different races."

"Carter?" Turning to her, Jack gestured towards the bodies. "Think they all came through the Stargate some time ago?"

Rising to her feet, the woman shrugged. "Could be possible, sir. I mean, you've seen the chamber we arrived through. SG-11 didn't explore much further than around that cavern, but their observations were relatively correct." She waved a hand around the cave. "The Stargate was housed or maybe buried in rock. There was enough pockets of air I would guess to form the wormhole. Stargate must have been used constantly, and the cavern it was in was disintegrated to the size we saw."

"The Goa'ulds have not occupied this planet," Teal'c spoke. "I do not recall this planet being mentioned. Nor did I see any signs of Goa'uld presence."

"Anything would have been destroyed with the meteor showers if they're as frequent as we think." Walking around in a small circle, Carter indicated the cavern. "Nothing could have survived."

"They did." Getting up as well, Jack pointed to the bodies. Daniel could hear the disgust in his voice as the colonel stepped away, walking back and forth impatiently. "Or...they did until they all died here."

"I don't think they died here, sir."

"What?" Jack's pacing froze mid step.

"Well, if Daniel's correct, they might have been dumped here because they all died in various times or eras."

If Daniel's correct.

Daniel sucked in his breath, the heavy feeling on his chest returning full force. He wanted to argue further but realized how desperate that would sound and appear so he just kept scrolling his light around the chamber.

The ceiling was high, also smoothly carved rock, uniformed streaks of white across reddish stone. Daniel dully noted they too looked deliberately made. Ceremony chamber? He mentally shook his head. There would be some sort of markings noting it as sacred ground.

Not all places would do that, his mind argued, and Daniel absently nodded his head. He kept walking, hearing everyone's voices in the background like a soft murmur as he tried hard to piece together everything in his mind. He tugged at his collar once more. It was a little chilly in here. He distracted himself by examining the ceilings once more.

Ripples like gently lapping water stretched across the surface with its white marks. Daniel fumbled around, swearing softly when he realized he left his pack up on the surface. Why did he do that? Wearily, he pressed his gloved hand to the back of his neck. Odd, it felt like his backpack was still attached to his vest. Shrugging back his shoulders, he tracked the ceiling, feeling his eyes burn. Line after line of white against red, something nagging him that this was odd, not natural. Of course it could be normal for this type of mineral. Some quartz-

At the edge of his beam, Daniel saw black. He stopped, brow furrowing under his hood and backtracked his trail to the spot. He caught a glimpse of black again and shifted left.

A swarm of trilobites were wiggling on the ceiling, piling on top of each other.

"God!" Daniel jumped, staggering back, his flashlight falling to the sand.

Lights zipped left and right frantically near his location.

"Daniel?" Sam called out worriedly, the discarded flashlight turned away from Daniel, concealing him in the darkness.

Heart pounding, Daniel told himself furiously to compose himself. You're tired and maybe you started daydreaming, maybe it's a cluster of fossils. There's a logical reason for this, for what you're seeing. Calm down. Calm down!

Jack was suddenly there, hands on his shoulders as Daniel shook. "What? What is it?" The older man rubbed his hands up and down Daniel's arms. "Daniel, it's me. Tell me, what is it?"

Shaking, Daniel shoved the hands away, hands fumbling for the fallen flashlight. He picked it up, shrugging away Jack's demands as he waved it up to the ceiling again.

Nothing.

Frantically, he swung it to the left. Then right.

Nothing.

There was never anything there.

In the back of his mind, he could hear a Stargate locking its chevrons, and he couldn't tell if it was memory or just his mind finally buckling. Maybe Machello's traps just pushed what was there, maybe like Nick, Daniel was just a tightrope waiting to snap-

"Daniel!" Jack spun Daniel around, bracing him on the shoulders. "What? What did you see?"

See? Daniel wanted to laugh, but was afraid it was going to sound shrill. "N-nothing. I thought..."

Jack tilted his head up as Sam and Teal'c came closer. Daniel was soon surrounded by them. The archeologist flinched as Jack's eyes were visible through the mask.

"What was it?" the colonel asked tightly.

Daniel did laugh, the sound bitter. "Don't worry. There aren't any closets here..." he trailed off as he saw Jack's shock before the older man's hands lowered, freeing him. God, what was he doing?

"I...I need some air," Daniel mumbled, elbowing through the trio. Jack abruptly grabbed Daniel painfully by the left forearm, jerking the archeologist to a halt.

"Daniel, what was it?"

"Nothing! I just thought...Let go of me." Daniel yanked out of the painful grip, stumbling. He avoided Teal'c's stretched hands and clung to the rope ladder. "I just need some air. I'll...I'll be right back." He scrambled up the rope, not realizing he dropped his flashlight as he headed for the light above.

Nothing. There was nothing.

Daniel tripped, staggered, stumbling in sand as he went out of the cave, ripping the hood off his head. Slamming to the side of the wall, Daniel slide halfway before he doubled over and promptly threw up.

Heaving, the retching seemed to pull his insides out. Daniel could only clutch his stomach with one hand, the other on the wall with a claw like grip to keep him upright. What little he'd consumed came out reluctantly, burning his throat. Head pounding, eyes burning, Daniel set himself against the wall, huddled with his arms around his middle.

A handkerchief floated in front of him as a peace offering. Daniel closed his eyes, shoulders slumping. "Jack," he said tiredly "I'm fine. I-" He stopped.

Teal'c stood there silently with the offered fabric, waiting until Daniel took it to wipe his mouth before holding out his canteen to the scientist. Without a word, Daniel nodded and took a swig before spitting it out onto the sand.

"Thanks," Daniel mumbled as he handed back the container.

"You are welcome, Daniel Jackson." Cocking his head to the side, Teal'c watched as Daniel slid to the ground, gasping slightly. "Are you well?"

"If I say yes, would you all leave me alone?" Daniel asked bitterly.

Puzzled, Teal'c's eyebrow went up. "No."

Daniel raised his head. "No?"

"If you said yes, then you would be lying."

Stung, Daniel looked away. "So you don't believe me."

"I did not say that."

Pausing, Daniel peered up.

Teal'c looked across to their campsite. "It is not O'Neill, or Major Carter, or I who does not believe you are well." He turned back to Daniel.

"It is you."

Daniel could feel the Jaffa's gaze on him, waiting for an answer. Rubbing his sleeve across his mouth, Daniel leaned his head back and stared at the gray sky. Why did everything here felt so dead, so dull?

"Teal'c, I'm trying my best to be...fine."

"Perhaps you should not try so hard," observed Teal'c.

Daniel tried to laugh; the sound stuck in his throat. "Everyone asking me if I'm okay, if I feel fine. How are you doing, Daniel? Is everything alright, Daniel? Do you need anything, Daniel?" He waved both hands angrily in the air. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"They are concerned."

"Or waiting," Daniel muttered.

"Waiting?"

With a snort, Daniel raised his eyes. "Oh please. You can't tell me you don't know-" Daniel trailed off at Teal'c's perplexed face. "Oh...I guess you don't." Somehow, it made Daniel feel a little better. He turned away, back towards the sky. He sighed. "Whatever happened to the old don't ask, don't tell?"

"I do not understand."

Back to Teal'c's face before the sincerity of the confusion made him look away, Daniel murmured, "It's like an unspoken...code among the military. Don't ask about something sensitive and awkward and they need not tell." His mouth crinkled downward before another laugh bitterly broke through. "To preserve...balance within the ranks."

"Ah." Nodding, Teal'c made the connection. "Among the Jaffa, there is a similar saying, in order to maintain the trust among the Jaffa without compromise."

Daniel bobbed his head.

"But it is a code for warriors, Daniel Jackson."

Stilling, Daniel gazed up at Teal'c, who surprisingly let out a brief smile at the corner of his lips.

"Not for friends."

Daniel stared at the alien for a long moment before tearing his eyes away. He breathed out loud, dropping his head over his lap. "I'm so tired," he whispered.

A shadow drifted over Daniel before the Jaffa knelt on one knee beside him. "Perhaps you would like some rest?"

"I wish," Daniel muttered.

"Daniel Jackson?"

At the deep voice, Daniel shook his head. "I should get back down there." He started to rise, and a wave of vertigo rattled his knees, dropping him to the sand again. He smiled weakly when he felt Teal'c's hand on his left arm which was throbbing dully for some reason. Daniel moistened his lips, feeling very thirsty, his voice raspy as he whispered, "Um...maybe I will go and take a short nap or s-something...Can you tell...tell Jack and Sam for me?"

Teal'c noted the slight shivers, giving a brief bow of his head in return. "I will."

"Thanks." Rising with some difficulty, Daniel gave another wan smile when Teal'c gave him the canteen. One long drink, a half-hearted swipe across his mouth with his sleeve before returning the canteen, and Daniel lumbered away, towards the campsite, getting smaller and smaller as the distance grew.

The Jaffa watched for a long moment until the slumped shoulders disappeared between the flaps of the tent before heading for the cave to inform O'Neill.

* * * * *

"That everything?" Jack asked quietly, staring at the discarded flashlight Daniel dropped before picking it up. He pressed the power button, shutting it off before slipping it in the backpack Carter had left open to fill with beakers of samples. He swung his own flashlight up towards the opening in the ceiling, tilting it to the left by it, then right, wondering what it was Daniel saw.

The colonel shook his head. Aw hell, Daniel, is that what you think of us? The younger man had sounded panicky, reeling back as if fearful they were going to haul him up and toss him through the Stargate to Mackenzie's claws.

Can you blame him, his snide voice spoke up again, accusing. History tends to repeat itself.

Not this history, Jack said furiously to himself. Out loud to busy himself, Jack directed his question to Carter again. "You got everything you need to make those tests?"

Sam nodded as she carefully parted the crisp layers wrapped around the corpse's wrist, peeling away part of the material before putting it in the jar. "About it, sir. I got every sample I can get without disturbing anything else. Should be able to give us an accurate assessment of all these timelines. I'm thinking if we bring them back to the labs, we should be able to get an accurate carbon date or maybe- sir?" She realized O'Neill wasn't listening, head tilted towards the opening where Daniel and Teal'c had left through. Sobering, she lowered her hand with the tweezers.

"O'Neill." Teal'c climbed down the ladder once more. "Daniel Jackson is retiring to his tent."

"He okay?" the colonel asked quietly.

The Jaffa stood there, his face not revealing anything. "He is...tired."

I'll bet, Jack thought sadly to himself. "I heard...noises before. Was he...?"

"Yes," Teal'c stated flatly. "He was ill outside the cave."

Carter's head whipped up. "What?" She passed a guilty look to the colonel. "Sir, should we..." she trailed off.

Jack shook his head. "No. If he wanted to tell us, he would have told us already. Pushing him is just going to make him retreat."

Glumly, she nodded.

Despite his reasoning, Jack was staring at the rope ladder leading up to the surface. "Teal'c, did Daniel say...uh...did he say anything up there?"

"He is tired," Teal'c repeated. He paused before adding "He believes we are all waiting."

"Waiting?" echoed Carter. Baffled, she turned to Teal'c.

"He is waiting to see what we will do," Teal'c reported, his lips moving slightly like he wanted to scowl.

"Ah hell," Jack murmured, surprising them both. The colonel looked like he wanted to go up the surface after all.

"Teal'c." Nodding towards the ladder, O'Neill waved his flashlight to Sam before it was back to Teal'c. "Carter and I are gonna to finish up in here. Why don't you stand watch of the campsite?" And watch Daniel. Jack didn't speak the last part of his orders, but the Jaffa understood the sentiment that hung in the cave shared between the three.

Teal'c didn't argue. In fact, it sounded to Sam like he was agreeing all too quickly as he nodded an affirmative. "Very well, O'Neill." With another tip towards her, Teal'c was back up at the ladder again and was gone.

Sam felt the lump in her throat growing. She turned on her heels, back to the bodies and concentrated on getting the beaded bracelet off a wrist, swallowing when something broke instead, landing on the ground without a sound. Carter moved to the next available hand rather than pick the other one up. She murmured a soft apology to the damaged body before reaching for another hand.

"Dammit!"

Something shattered behind her. As she spun around, the cavern became significantly darker. Her own light gleamed towards the source of the noise, the colonel's flashlight on the ground by a wall, glass like gems on sand. Silently, she moved her beam towards O'Neill, who stood there staring at its remains through his hood.

"Did that make you feel any better, sir?" she asked quietly, turning back to her work to leave him some privacy.

Out of the dark, muffled behind the mask, O'Neill bit out a, "No."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Hell." Boots shifted in sand. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Sam nodded absently. She swallowed her queasiness, ignored the grisly grins and waved her meter over them. "I guess it probably was."

"What the hell is going on with him?"

She didn't need to ask who the colonel was talking about. "Sir, you probably know better than I do." It was true. She knew the two men were closer than anyone on the base. She wasn't jealous but often did wonder how on earth that ever happened, seeing them often tangle in arguments which swung from mild to full blown yelling. But then when things happened, she seen them play off each other with words, looks, reading each other's mood to the point she had played with the idea of mental telepathy.

"Actually..." The colonel sounded resigned. "I think so, but not sure how to-" He stopped.

She twisted back around to him. "Sir?"

O'Neill shook his head. "Never mind." The hood swayed left and right. "We're heading back first thing tomorrow morning."

"Colonel?" Staring at O'Neill, Carter could only sputter "Why?"

Waving his hand towards the hole, O'Neill grunted, "Isn't it obvious?"

Dejected, she agreed. "He does seem to be a little off."

"A little?"

"It is our first mission back since...since..." She stopped.

"Carter, you can say it." The colonel sounded annoyed. "Since he was commi-" He stopped as well. "Damn."

"Not as easy to say as you thought, colonel," she said sadly.

"No shit." Another sigh, barely audible behind the headgear, and O'Neill went over and picked up the shattered flashlight. "Damn...guess I shouldn't have done that either, huh?"

"No worries," she joked lightly. "They can always dock your pay."

"Ha, ha." O'Neill shook the flashlight at her. "Watch it, Major. I crack the one-liners in this group. Go do your brainy stuff."

"Yes, sir." She turned back to retrieving her samples.

A short period of silence fell over the pair, O'Neill heard briefly pacing towards the hole as if wanting to climb up, the crunch of his boots over the broken glass before stopping, nylon rustling as the hood turned left and right restlessly.

She finally had to ask. "Sir?"

"Yeah, Carter?"

"Are we... " Carter took a deep breath. "We're going to be okay. We'll get past this like we usually do."

The colonel sounded very tired. "Of course, Major."

Sam bit her lower lip. "I mean...Daniel will be fine, right? We just go along like we always do and-"

"You done?" O'Neill interrupted, startling her to silence.

Nodding, she clapped her hands together, cleaning them as she rose. She frowned as her knees groaned in response. When this mission is over, she told herself, I am going to soak in a long hot bath. She winced as she trudged across the chamber to the rope ladder.

Crick.

Her rifle went up, and Sam spun her head sharply at where she thought she heard the noise. The silent residents of the cavern were around her, but other than that...

"Sir..." she said hesitantly, looking over her shoulder and saw the colonel had his rifle up as well, tensed visibly even under the hood and uniform. The flashlight in her hand drifted to him and caught the quick nod from the team leader. She relaxed, but only a little. The colonel had heard it, too. He raised his hand, pointing towards the ceiling. Sam nodded, aiming her beam towards the top. She made a face as she saw what the light revealed, the colonel taking a step away from them as well.

Black spots squirming, wiggling, swarming around one area of the ceiling. As soon as the light shone on their backs, the spots froze and had Carter not seen them move before, would have thought they were just part of the cavern. She swallowed, the gleaming hard shells looked like bumps, feelers sticking out of its borders, and she could have sworn she saw legs, lots of them twisting all over each other like a sickening tangled web.

The colonel stepped back into line with her, gun towards the creatures. She waved her hand, pointing at one, then at her backpack over her shoulder. O'Neill nodded, taking her flashlight, keeping it trained on the beetles.

Hurrying, keeping as quiet as possible, Sam unzipped her pack, pulling out her last spare specimen jar. She pointed to the ceiling once more, then pulled out a roll of gauze. She wadded it up to a small soft white ball. Her CO nodded in agreement, gingerly positioning the flashlight on top of his rifle so both weapon and light were on them. The beetles or whatever they were, still weren't moving.

Carefully, Sam hefted the ball, eyes glued to the arthropod on top of the rest. Muttering under her breath, she grasped the wad with three fingers and gently tossed it at the group.

With a soft plop, it struck the one she was targeting. The beetle twitched, feelers flailing out in the air like hands before it fell on its back to the sand below.

Quickly, she scrambled to the creature, scooping it and the sand it was on, capping it before it could crawl away. She gave the jar a shake, nodding her head as she saw the organism still moving.

"Got it, sir," she said softly.

"Carter! Watch it!"

With a snap, she looked up, jar dropping harmlessly to the sand as she saw the black spots whip out semi-transparent wings before swooping down at her in a single wave.

"Shit!" O'Neill's flashlight swung wildly as he scrambled over to the major just as the spots mobbed over her in a flurry of silver wings and black shells.

Carter was too busy trying to brush them off. Her gloved fingers could feel hard shell, cold, surprisingly stiff like metal, little legs clenching tight at her uniform like tiny sharp hooks.

Oh God, oh God! Frantically, she patted at her clothes, O'Neill's hand joining as well, hollering something she couldn't hear as she tried to brush them off. There was so many, the sound of tips against metal was screeching near her ears like nails on chalkboard. Hands pounding, beating at her back, she and O'Neill tried to get them all off.

And then, as abruptly as they came, one by one, they all flew off, deeper into the dark cavern, zipping sounds combined to a single buzz as they fled. The colonel swung his flashlight towards that direction, but other than a brief flash of gossamer shine reflecting off his beam, there was nothing there.

Crick.

There! Sam got up on wobbly feet, her rifle aimed on the ground towards the back and saw sand sinking in a small hole shrinking before her. She and the colonel stood a distance away, watching as the sand kept falling until the hole covered itself up and was just sand again.

The two stood there, breathing heavily, guns aimed at the ground.

"You okay?" the colonel asked between gasps.

"Think...think so," she breathed.

"Did any of them bite you?"

"Don't think so, sir. They were just...crawly." Sam made a face.

"Remind me to tell you never to do that agai-"

"O'Neill!"

With a yelp, the colonel slammed down to the floor, rifle up at the same moment. Sam gawked at Teal'c's head, upside down once more, staff weapon sticking down like a firehouse pole.

The gun lowered, and O'Neill got up again. "Damn it, Teal'c. Don't do that!"

Teal'c dropped down easily, not needing the ladder. "I heard shouting. Are you alright?"

Sam wordlessly nodded, eyes on the ground where the depression was before. It was now all smoothed out to the ripples of the desert, void of any hint that anything had went through and disturbed its surface just seconds before.

"Yeah, Carter found a pet. Wanted to bring it home to Earth. I told her no, but she just had to- What are you doing, Carter?"

"My jar," she murmured, blue eyes downward going left and right until she found the glass glinting in the glow of her flashlight. Gingerly, she poked at the jar, the sand partially covering it slid away like a curtain, revealing the beetle still running around madly inside the jar. She breathed a sigh of relief, lifting the jar up.

"Next time," the colonel gruffly told her. "Get a puppy." He shook his head, thumbing towards the ladder. "Go. Out of here. Now."

"Yes, sir." Carter took the jar, tucking it under her arm and hand over hand, climbed out of the hole, O'Neill and Teal'c trailing very close behind her.

* * * * *

He felt a hand grab him hard on the shoulder. Daniel cried out, twisting, catching one on the jaw with his fist.

Daniel whimpered, eyes squeezed shut as he fidgeted inside the sleeping bag. His nostrils twitched at a sour scent filling the tent.

He whimpered under his breath as he found he could no longer move. He turned his head, shaking it no, no, but he could hear the cold laughter rumbling in his ears.

"Boo," he hissed, jerking Daniel awake with a quick yank of the strait jacket.

With a soft moan, Daniel's head jerked slightly to the side, eyes fluttering open a slit. Dully, watching as white limbs scratched at the sleeping bag he was in, he couldn't utter a sound as he was moved, the cricking sound rumbling under his stomach as he was flipped over with frigid hands pawing at him.

* * * * *

The sky was turning slightly pink, barely enough color to tell Jack the sun was once again setting in a yet another short day. He tugged his hood off, gulping fresh air, tinged with something tangy that he couldn't figure out as he stumbled out of the cave behind Carter and Teal'c. He began pulling off his gloves, making a disgusted sound as he saw one smashed beetle, its legs still writhing, stuck on his right glove.

"Sir?" Carter shook her head as she pulled off her mask with one hand, balancing the jar with the other. She pivoted around, making a face as she saw the partially decapitated organism on his glove. "Oh."

"That's putting it mildly- Shit!" Jack shook his hand as he felt a slow burn under the spot of the creature. As he tugged at the fingers, Teal'c already yanking at the glove, he could see something bubble out from the beetle's rear, his glove literally stretching thin as it dissolved.

With a snap, the glove was yanked off, Teal'c dropping it to the ground, Jack shaking his hand to cool off the limb as he twisted his canteen off with his teeth, pouring cool liquid over his hand. Droplets overflowed, trickling off the planes of his palm and to the sand below.

"Colonel?" Carter raced over, gaping down at the smoke coming off the discarded glove. She saw O'Neill ripped the other glove off as well, barking to Teal'c to check her out as he shook his arms to make sure he still didn't have any hitchhikers. Two quick pats on her back before spinning her around to check her shoulders and she nearly slumped with relief as the Jaffa reported she had no remaining bugs on her.

"Damn." Scrunching his face in pain, Jack cradled his right hand now, the fingers curling slightly inward. "Christ, that bugger had a bit of bite."

"It did not bite you, O'Neill," Teal'c noted as he tapped at the curled fingers, parting them to examine. "It tried to dissolve you."

"Thanks for reminding me," Jack hissed as he saw the dark fingers pulling at his, opening the aching palm to reveal a blistered palm, red skin cracking the moment he moved. He grimaced.

"You're going to need more water on it," Carter exclaimed, already setting the jar down, grabbing her own canteen hanging off her backpack dropped on the ground. Water gushed out of the sprout, flooding the wound.

Jack's left eye twitched as the pain came full-blown, spreading out to his arm, even up his elbow. "Damn, I barely felt the burn before I started taking it off."

"Some sort of fast acting acid," she murmured as she gently probed the wound edge with a corner of her shirt. "I think we better leave it open and let it breathe since we don't know what type of acid it is."

O'Neill gazed down at the sand, his glove already a puddle, the fingers melded together in a lump. Another twitch of his eye and he grated out a "Yeah." He glanced across the encampment to Daniel's tent. "I think this is a signal to leave. Teal'c, get Daniel up. Tell him we're moving out. Normally, I'd wait til morning since it's already getting dark, but I don't know what these things are capable of-"

"Ow!"

Turning sharply to Carter, Jack saw her shaking her hand. "What? What happened?"

She showed her hand to him, slightly pink. "I tried to pick up the jar, see if we could figure out what sort of acid it was and it-" She stepped back, pointing at the ground.

Looking down, Jack tensed as he saw the beetle crawling out of what was left of the bottom of the glass jar gingerly, wings trembling, shaking off the sand. It scampered across the space between O'Neill and Carter, legs blurring as they carried the organism away in an attempt to escape.

"I think I can still catch it," Carter began, grabbing her hood that she discarded, lunging for it before it could bury in the sand.

"No, don't!" Jack took a large step forward to stop her.

The creature stilled, suddenly twitching, its wings spread wide. Carter skidded to a halt inches before it.

"O'Neill! Major Carter! Move away from-"

Crick.

With a whisper, the beetle shivered and let out a mist from its rear. Jack grabbed the major by the collar to jerk her back, two fingers into the fabric when the sour scent came over him before he took take a deep breath and hold it. With a start, he realized he'd smelled it before but just when he was about to say something...

He suddenly found himself staring at the sky.

"O'Neill? Major Carter?"

Jack could hear Teal'c as if he was far away, heard a whine of the staff weapon. It sounded distorted, elongated like echoing through a long tunnel. Jack tried to raise his head, to see what he was shooting at, but he couldn't move. He wanted to frown but even his face was frozen, stiff, his fingers twitching on its own like they were possessed.

Not good. No, definitely not good.

For some reason, he expected something more to happen, expected something like...he didn't know, but in the back of his mind, something told him there was supposed to be another thing occurring here.

Whatever it was, Jack was glad it didn't happen. Whatever it was.

"Oooneeeall..."

Crap, that sounded really bad. Jack wanted to make a fist, since making a fist was always good, especially if it was needed to lash out at the enemy, but all he could do was wiggle his toes inside his boot. Okay, now a foot. Wait, maybe his knee, his bad knee. No, that was his good knee. No, wait, both knees were bad. Dammit.

It was annoying. No, make that frustrating. Knowing there was something bad happening and all Jack could do was stare at the graying sky. Wasn't it pink before?

Hold on. Jack could feel a whole hand moving. Great. Jump for joy. Well, when he could move, that is.

"Oooneealll...arrr ooou aaalll wiiiiteee..."

Christ, Jack could have sworn he saw a shadow, but it stretched beyond the scope of his vision then twisted before swirling like a tornado before, flash of gold, flash of browns. Jack could feel the rest of his hand moving, fingers curling into a fist, and when he felt his shoulder bunch under his command, he tightened the numb fist and threw it.

Right at Teal'c's jaw. The Jaffa didn't even budge, the blow glancing off his jaw as Teal'c crouched next to Jack.

"Ah damn!" Shaking the fist, Jack found he was sitting up now, the world steadying back to the reddish sands, gray sky, Carter flat on her back a few feet away from him. Shaking his hand, the sting of the burn return, Jack stiffened. "What the hell happened?"

Teal'c glanced to Carter before looking back at Jack. "Are you well, O'Neill? You did not response for forty seconds."

"I didn't?" Jack got up shakily. He cradled his head, swallowing back a groan. "So what the hell happened?"

The Jaffa sounded surprised, even went as far as putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. The colonel stared at the dark hand numbly.

"That bad, huh?" he asked wearily.

"Do you not remember?" asked Teal'c.

Jack scrunched up his face, recalling. "Uh...we were in that underground cavern, Carter got a new friend, but the other guys didn't like that." He shook his head, smacking his lips at the dryness clinging inside his mouth. He looked up blearily at Teal'c. "You were hanging upside I think."

The alien tilted his head a bit, nodding. "That is correct. You returned to the surface with Major Carter and I."

"Yeah, yeah and then..." Jack stiffened, Teal'c's hand dropping away as the memories returned with a roar. "The bug!"

"It retaliated by dispersing some sort of chemical towards you and Major Carter," Teal'c confirmed.

Remembering, Jack glanced over to the still form a few inches away from him. The woman stirred, hands twitching, then stilling. Jack flexed both his hands, wincing as he forgot about his burn. "What about Carter?" he grated out as he held his right hand and checked the wound, grimacing at the angry red flesh. He tested his fingers experimentally, relieved to see them wiggling back at him.

"She appears to be wakening as well." A brief tug downward at the corners of his mouth was the only indication on how worried the Jaffa was. "I tried calling to you, then Major Carter. Your eyes were open, but you did not move or respond."

Jack cradled his head again. Teal'c's words felt like a hammer to his skull. "All from one bug?"

"It would appear to be more than a mere bug, O'Neill."

Both hands kneading his shut eyes, Jack gritted out "What about you? You okay?"

"I was momentarily disoriented," Teal'c admitted. "But I was still able to move. My Goa'uld larva may have protected me from the worst of its effects."

"That's a good Junior," Jack murmured wearily. "Remind me to put him on my Christmas card list when we get back." He rapped a fist to the back of his head. Everything was still blurry. And his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. "The bug...Where...where is it?"

Silently, Teal'c pointed to a charred spot a few inches above Carter's head. Jack gawked at it, remembering the distorted sound of the staff weapon.

"Uh...kinda overkill, don't you think, big guy?" Jack murmured as he grind the heel of his left hand to his eye, trying to rub the fatigue out and see better. His body was screaming for him to crawl into a sleeping bag and sleep until next Thursday. "I mean...Carter did want to take it as a sample."

"It was dangerous," Teal'c said stiffly.

"Gotcha. Big meanie bug. Yeah, okay," Jack groaned, shaking his head. "Damn, I haven't felt this crappy since that frat party in the...never mind." He frowned, looking across all the way to the site, where the tents were. While a distance away, he half expected Daniel to be stumbling out of there. As heavy as a sleeper he knew the archeologist to be, never a morning person, something like this wouldn't have gone past Daniel's attention. Daniel has been in this team long enough to jump a few inches at the sound of gunfire and learn to pull out his own weapon under cover in decent amount of time. Something like this should have gotten the archeologist out of his tent in a hurry.

"Go," Jack waved wearily at the tents before bracing his hand on his head again. God, his head was pounding! "Wake Daniel. Make sure he's okay. We're packing it up. I'll stay with Carter til she's awake."

Teal'c studied him for a moment, then the major. Satisfied they would be fine here, Teal'c rose to his feet swiftly and ran down the sand dunes, heading straight for Daniel's tent.

Jack watched the Jaffa go smaller and smaller until he reached the other side of the base grounds. Looking back to Carter with a frown, he contemplated his options since getting horizontal right now would probably end up him vertical again, both of which held no appeal to the woozy colonel at this point. But he could see her fingers twitching as she struggled to rouse on her own and he heard a strangled groan from her. That made the decision for him.

His knees seem to protest loudly as he got up shakily, crawling practically on hands and knees until he reached Carter. Dropping down onto the sand, Jack took a deep breath, wiggling his fingers, rotating his shoulders, pleased to see movement came more easily again. At least the effects weren't permanent. Unfortunately for Carter, she was closer and had a hefty dose of whatever it was the beetle sprayed them with.

Rubbery hands tapped at Carter's cheek. "Come on, Major," Jack said weakly, still blinking to see better. He could see the woman's eyes shuttered under her lashes, darting from side to side. He could guess her alarm and tapped her shoulder now. Last thing he needed was for her to bite his hand. "Come on, Major. This is your commanding officer speaking. Up and at them. Nap time over."

With a soft moan, Carter came to, body twitching slightly, eyes fluttering open then closed.

Jack sat back, gulping in air. "Carter, you're okay. Come on." He absently shook his sore hand. He just wasn't sure if it was sore because of the burn or the failed punch.

"S-sir?"

"There you go." Jack braced his left hand against her shoulders, pushing Carter until she was sitting up. He grunted sympathetically as he watched her held her head.

"Where is it?" Carter asked faintly, squinting as she turned carefully, biting back a moan as the world tilted.

Jack wordlessly pointed to the blackened spot of sand. The woman gawked at it for a moment before nodding wearily.

"We must have forced it to use its self defense reflexes." Sam leaned back, bracing herself with both arms extended back. She took deep breaths. "We must have provoked it."

"Hitting it with some bandages, trapping it in a jar, then some big human giants about to run after it when it finally escaped?" Jack arched an eyebrow. "Oh, I think it was very provoked. Pissed off with a capital P."

"Its acid is pretty powerful," she mused. "You think it might have made those caves?"

Jack rolled his eyes. At this point, he didn't feel like hazarding a guess. "Carter, it was one bug."

"But we saw a swarm of them below the surface."

"Don't remind me." Jack got up, reaching out to help Carter up. She took the offered hand, getting up slowly before mumbling her thanks, backing away to lean on the cave's edge. She rubbed her arms up and down. Jack frowned, realizing he was feeling a bit chilled as well. He wondered if this was a side effect, opened his mouth to ask when he heard his radio crackle.

"O'Neill."

"We're here," Jack tapped his radio. "You've got Daniel?" He veered his sights on the tents, frowning when he saw no one emerging out of them. "Teal'c?" he repeated, pulling the mouthpiece of his radio closer as he realized the Jaffa could have easily came out of the tents to shout across. "What is it?"

"There is something wrong with Daniel Jackson."

A chill crawled down Jack's spine. He shook his head to clear it as he gripped his radio tighter with his good hand. "What? How is he? What's wrong with...never mind. Carter and I are heading over to you." He gave her a quick look. "You okay to walk?"

Carter was already grabbing her pack, nodding as she stepped away from the cave. "Yes, sir."

Grimly, Jack flexed his hand, barely giving the charred ground a glance as he walked over it, heading for the tents.

* * * * *

The tent vents flew open as O'Neill beat Carter to it, yanking one flap back with a gasped "What?"

Teal'c was kneeling over Daniel, head up with a snap at the intruders, relaxing minutely when he saw who it was. The worry line barely showing before was now carved into the dark warrior's face as he moved slightly to give Jack room.

"I can not wake Daniel Jackson," was all the Jaffa would say, the growl vibrating under the words.

Jack took a good look at Daniel, his gut twisting as he took in the ashen pallor, the eyes sunken with dark circles, the body curled to the side. Shirt bunched up around the torso, hinting the sleep Daniel attempted to get was again a restless one, the young man lay senseless, shivering on top of the sleeping bag. He looked pitiful lying there, and Jack instinctively shuffled closer to his friend as he tried to find some way to ease Daniel's pain. The horrible rasping the younger man made filled the tent with its sound as Jack carefully rolled him flat on his back, the sleeping bag making crunching noises as the younger man was moved. The panting grew until Jack settled Daniel's head and shoulders against his thigh, elevating him. Thankfully, the wheezing lessened, and Daniel breathed easier.

"Carter," O'Neill began, aware of the major sitting next to him. "Could those things we saw out there have done this?" He brushed his good hand against the throat to check him out. The breathing rattling under his palm didn't do much to reassure him. The lethargy clinging to him before shattered and he could feel his own heart hammering loudly at the newest possible threat to his team.

"I don't know, sir," she murmured as she took Daniel's hand, timing his pulse. She swallowed as she felt how cold the limb was and rubbed her thumb over the wrist bone as if to warm him. Daniel didn't even react to the touch. "Pulse a bit slow." She flicked out her own wrist, revealing a watch. The frown she tried to hide when she counted out the beats told Jack enough. "Looks like he's in shock."

"But from what?" Jack demanded as he carefully swept his hands across the arms and legs, checking to make sure there wasn't any broken bones, finding no acid burns that would indicate Daniel having any encounter with the same bugs. Frustration sharpened his voice to a harsh snap. "Damn it, he was just coming in here for a nap!" He sat back. Jack wasn't sure if he as glad he didn't find any injury or worried he didn't see anything visible.

Carter peeled back one eyelid to check his pupils. "Dilated," she murmured, fumbling for Daniel's wrist again. She was about to report the pulse rate again when she looked up and saw the tight expression on the colonel's face and decided against it.

Daniel moaned, mumbling "Get away..." before trying to roll back on his side.

"Sir," Carter said, her hand flat on Daniel's chest, the rise and fall a reassuring pattern under her palm. "We should wake him, keep him awake. He's in shock. We can't let him fall asleep until we know what's causing this."

Jack set his jaw. This was more than lack of sleep and haunting memories at work. It irked him- no, scratch that, it frustrated him to realize how much guesswork they were doing here. In the back of his mind a little voice was screaming he needed to fix this, to cut this threat off by the knees before he lost this man.

Not going to happen. Not on his watch.

"Sir?"

O'Neill pulled his friend up, braced Daniel by the shoulders and gave him a shake. "Daniel!" he called loudly.

The archeologist gave a soft moan, eyebrows twitching as Jack shook him once more. His head lolled back, striking Jack's inner elbow, revealing a pale face, dark circles cast under tightly shut eyes. The colonel felt a wash of guilt for the rough treatment and paused when he saw it wasn't enough to wake him. He shuffled closer, allowing Daniel's head to rest within the crook of his elbow as he scanned the tent.

Nothing was out of the ordinary. No signs of blood, of a struggle. Nothing. Daniel's backpack was still back in the cave, but the man's journal was open to a blank page and his pen almost completely buried in the sand were a bit off from the head of the sleeping bag. Jack remembered and turned to Teal'c.

"Teal'c, did you hear anything...weird when you got here?"

The Jaffa looked puzzled. "Weird, O'Neill?"

Jack adjusted his hold until Daniel was half slumped against his right shoulder, wincing as Daniel's uniform brushed harshly against his burns as the younger man shivered with a chill that paralleled Jack's own cold lump settling in his gut. "Weird, like it didn't belong."

Dark eyebrows knitted together as the Jaffa shook his head. "I did not. I was standing watch when I heard you shouting in the caverns."

Jack traded a worried look with Carter. "Guess we were loud enough to be heard that far then."

"And Daniel didn't come out of the tent when Teal'c came to help us. So it must have happened right after he went inside the tent," she agreed as she stretched out her hand, parting the fringe of light hair and feeling Daniel's forehead. "No fever, sir," she reported.

Nodding, Jack glanced around the tent. "I don't smell that...whatever it was the bug sprayed us with in here." He cautiously gave the air around him another sniff before he felt Daniel sliding off his shoulder and readjusted with a tightening grip around the torso.

"It could be anything, sir." Sam brushed her hand across the hair again, feeling for any bumps. Nothing. She swallowed, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Daniel was feeling poorly this whole mission. He...he might have been sick rather than just-"

Avoiding us, Jack finished the unspoken words. He shook his head as he thought about it. "No. Feeling crappy and being a night owl doesn't do this to you."

"Then it is something from this planet," Teal'c rumbled. The staff weapon in his hand suddenly stood straighter.

"Do you think it's the same thing that killed all those people we found?" Carter asked anxiously. Suddenly she flinched as she heard her own question.

Jack glowered at her for even suggesting the possibility. His eyes swept across the tent once more, desperately searching for anything out of the ordinary other than his friend lying senseless next to him. Then, it occurred to him. "What about those bugs?" He raised his burnt hand, wiggled his fingers briefly before he winced and lowered the limb. "They could have been in here and left the way they did in the cave."

Shaking her head, Carter showed her palm, the slight singe fading to a flush of pink. "It looked to be their offensive instinct was to spray us. The acid itself might have carved those caverns. But the mist they used on us was like a paralyzing agent, and we shook it off after a while." She glanced back to Daniel, eyes dark with worry. "It shouldn't be taking this long."

O'Neill looked doubtful as he compared his hand to Carter's before going back to Daniel. The archeologist's brows twitched, a frown fleeting across his face.

"Then what killed the people in the cave?" Teal'c rumbled. "If not by these creatures, then by whom?"

Flashes of wrinkled, withered bodies as if they were dried up in the desert sun flashed in Jack's mind. He growled low, arms going tighter protectively. The added pressure made Daniel fidget, releasing another moan as he stirred. Jack looked down and saw a sliver of blue peering dazed around the room.

"W-wha?" The archeologist tried to sit up, but Jack kept his grip on him, keeping him leaning against Jack.

"Hold still," O'Neill ordered as he saw the confusion making Daniel's eyes go wider, hands twisting around his jacket as he tried to sit up anyway. "Daniel, Teal'c tried to wake you up before-"

"'M-up," Daniel mumbled, slipping away from Jack's grip to prove it. He stiffened, suddenly slumping forward. Teal'c caught him from behind before he could fall face down on his sleeping bag. The Jaffa gently eased him back up against O'Neill.

"Daniel?" Sam cupped a hand against his cheek, alarmed at how cold and clammy the jaw felt. Her index finger stroked the profile of his cheekbone. "Daniel, it's me, Sam."

"Sa-" mumbled Daniel, making an effort to rouse, moaning softly.

"What happened?" Carter asked, pressing her palm against his jaw. "Daniel, do you remember-" She stopped, seeing Daniel was out again and withdrew her hand, darting her dismayed expression to the colonel. O'Neill's eyes narrowed.

"Okay. Enough's enough." Jerking his head towards the tent flaps, O'Neill kept one arm around Daniel, keeping him upright. "Pack it up now. We're leaving this instant. Teal'c, you and Carter take down anything from FRED we can spare leaving behind. Empty that water tank. Just keep enough to last the trip back. I want that thing light to transport Daniel for the distance we're going." With a grunt, Jack pulled Daniel closer. "I'll get sleeping beauty going here, and we'll move."

Teal'c paused briefly, gazing down at Daniel before he slipped out of the tent, appearing glad for something to do. Carter rose to follow.

"Carter," Jack called her back. She twisted around halfway questioningly. "Check if we have any more coffee, too and bring it here. Maybe we can use it to wake him up if he still doesn't by the time we're ready to go."

A quick nod and she left the tent.

Jack stared at the activity already happening before the flap floated back down again. He turned back to Daniel, who was feebly trying to move away, hand raising up to his head, only to have it flop down on his lap.

"How do you feel?" Jack asked quietly, frowning as he realized the younger man was getting paler.

Daniel lowered his head, shaking it as he sagged, before Jack caught him again, sighing exasperated.

"Damn it, Daniel. Don't be stubborn." Jack tapped his cheek. "Stay awake, okay?" He grew worried when he saw the scientist was obviously trying to comply but failing as his own body shook with the effort. He steeled himself and struck his hand on the cheek harder. Daniel weakly brought up his hands to fend him off. "Pay attention here," Jack forced the words to be a command. "You with me?"

"So tired," came the paper-thin voice.

"I know. I know, buddy." Jack glanced around the tent, spying the sleeping bag pinned under Daniel's outstretched legs. O'Neill tugged the flaps of Daniel's jacket closed, yanking down the shirts bunched up around Daniel's torso. The archeologist shivered. Jack could practically hear the teeth chattering, and he pulled harder at the jacket to keep the warmth in, folding over the collar ends over the throat. He pressed the back of his left hand against a pale cheekbone, feeling the dry chilled skin. No fever, just like Carter said. Jack tapped with his fingers against Daniel's jaw.

"Come on. Stay with me, here," he ordered as he saw a hint of blue before the eyes shut again. Jack gave Daniel another shake. The archeologist stiffened.

"No!" Twisting, arms lashing out, Daniel struggled. "D-don't...don't touch me..."

A hand smacked Jack by the jaw. While the glancing slap didn't hurt, it did surprise him, and Jack instinctively held tighter. The younger man tensed, arms swinging now, his gasping louder as he fought.

"No!"

"Calm down, buddy," soothed Jack as he pushed down the flailing hands. He snapped his head back as he nearly caught another hand close to his eyes. Setting his jaw, Jack grabbed Daniel by the forearms, pinning them to the archeologist's sides, turning so the arms were wrapped around Daniel's middle, Jack seated behind him. Bound by his own limbs, Daniel struggled, grunting, eyes shut as he fought whoever it was in his dreams.

"No..." The next denial was a moan now, cracking at the fading vowel. "N-not...not...c-crazy..."

Jack swallowed, feeling something burning in his eyes. "God damn it, Daniel."

"D-don't go...s-stop..." Daniel's pleas grew higher in pitch as the archeologist weakly fought his restraints. Finally, spent, Daniel slumped forward, only Jack's arms across his chest stopped him from completing his descent.

"S-sorry..."

"I'm sorry."

Jack gulped hard. He shook his head as well, short wisps of hair scratching against his cheek. "No...don't be...you're not, Daniel. You're not..."

The young man hung his head, dropping low to his chest as he began to shake more violently. Over and over again, he repeated his pleas for someone, something to let him go.

The doors flew open, and Jack looked up from his spot on the carpet, stooped over a semi-conscious Daniel. The younger man opened his eyes wearily, pupils dilated to huge spots of black and barely reacted as men slipped arms under the armpits and knees, lifting him up to the gurney.

"Sh..." Jack didn't realize he was rocking Daniel. "It's okay...just stay with us here...come on...wake up..."

Little sniffled sounds accompanied the shivering Daniel made, head still shaking left and right. Jack caught a whimper, and his arms tightened, the rocking increasing. "Not going to let go this time, Danny." He swayed along with the trembling body, eyes closed as he willed Daniel to wake up. Somehow, it didn't feel weird to do this, didn't feel too intimate, too close for his own comfort.

It felt like it was too little too late.

Jack sighed into the back of Daniel's hair. "Wake up. Wake up."

The winds outside sounded lower, more sorrowful, grieving with Jack as the younger man didn't rouse from the nightmares plaguing him. Jack could hear catches of pleading, soft gasps of remembered pain, and he had to remind himself to calm down as well before his anger tightened his arms too painfully around his friend. He wasn't angry at Daniel but at the ones who he wanted to direct two fists and his rage to were planets away for now. The idea of him going to the ward, slamming a certain shrink up against the wall to make him tell him letter for letter what exactly happened in there, made him grimace with anticipation, showing teeth. But then Daniel moaned again, and all thoughts of vengeance fled with the wind blowing outside against the tent.

"What the hell happened to you?" Jack murmured as he felt the archeologist shudder. "What did they do, Danny?"

"D-don't..." Daniel whimpered, shaking his head. "H-hurt..." He flinched as if someone struck him. Jack doubled over slightly, feeling the blow he couldn't see.

Another whimper and Jack shushed him again. For some reason, Jack felt like it was five years ago, him cradling a body up in the bedroom. Jack blinked furiously, snarling at his mind to shut the hell up. This wasn't the same!

So why did it feel the same? Even if there was no gun Jack should have kept under a better lock and key, the thought that this could have been prevented seeped through every conscious thought in his mind.

"I'm sorry."

"God damn it all, Danny. I'm the one who should be sorry," Jack whispered.

After a few seconds, whether from the soft repeating words Jack was chanting in Daniel's ear or simply the body was too drained to fight any more. Jack could feel Daniel falling against his chest, sliding down bonelessly until Jack released his hold before Daniel's head went thump against his chest. A quick grasp on the arms again and Jack had him lying flat on the sleeping bag once more.

"Daniel?" Jack whispered, left hand cupped against the cheek, feeling the chill more pronounced. Brow furrowed, the colonel checked the beat thumping under Daniel's jaw. The brow deepened even more as Jack pulled his hand away. "Damn." He shot a glare at the tent flaps, wondering briefly where the hell Carter was with that coffee before he turned back to Daniel. He tapped Daniel's cheek with the tips of his fingers, increasing in pace and strength when the archeologist didn't rouse the instant Jack tried. "Daniel? Daniel!"

Eyelids twitched before opening a crack. Then they closed again.

"Oh no you don't." Another insistent tap earned Jack a soft moan. The older man, encouraged by the response, rapped his fingers against the face. Daniel just groaned again, rolling to his side, face pressed against the nylon padding, his glasses tilting crookedly.

Jack rolled the head back, two fingers on the bridge of the eyewear, and he slowly pulled them off before they got bent out of shape.

And Daniel lurched. "No!"

The glasses got knocked out of his hand, and Jack swore under his breath.

"I was just making sure you weren't figments of my...mind...they took away my glasses in case I broke the lenses and try to...hurt myself."

"Daniel!" Jack shouted inches from his friend's face, arms gripping Daniel's shoulders, giving him another hard shake.

With a gasp, Daniel's eyes flew open.

"Jesus." Sagging back, releasing his grip, Jack's breath exploded out with a whoosh.

"J-jack?"

"Yeah." Sitting forward again, Jack waited until Daniel's eyes focused and saw him. The archeologist's eyes were half shut, but at least they were tracking Jack as the colonel moved slightly left then right to make sure he was alert.

"Dream..." A soft moan, followed by an arm going up to cover Daniel's eyes was all Jackson would provide before the eyes began to glaze over again.

"No. Don't go back to sleep," Jack ordered, one hand on Daniel's shoulder, giving it a shake. "Stay awake, Daniel."

Blue flashed in front of Jack before they were hooded in shadow again. "'appened?" Daniel asked faintly.

"That's what I would like to know." Glancing out between the flaps, he saw Carter and Teal'c yanking the tarp off the rover. "What do you remember?" Jack asked, looking back at his friend.

Wincing, Daniel moved his arm away. "D-dream...so strange..."

Jack slipped his arm under Daniel's shoulders. "Daniel...listen to me." The colonel grunted as he got Daniel sitting up. "We have to go."

"G-go?"

O'Neill didn't like the sound of the faraway quality of Daniel's voice. He shook Daniel briefly, his good hand rubbing up and down Jackson's arm before he crouched, arms under Daniel's to haul him up. "Yes...argh...going...like adios, see you later-"

"Adieu, hasta la vista, da..." Daniel continued dreamily, sagging under Jack's arms as his knees wobbled. The colonel yelped as his burned palm curled, muscle igniting in pain once more.

"Damn!"

Daniel stiffened, head tilted back, staring at Jack upside down. "'Kay?"

Gritting his teeth, Jack pulled Daniel up, staggering as the archeologist's full weight collided with him. "No, not okay. Burnt my hand. See?" He stuck his right hand out in front of Daniel.

"Ow," Daniel said faintly, his hand reaching out to touch it, only to flop back down uselessly to his side.

Jack agreed with a grunt. He finally got one arm around Daniel's waist, swearing as the archeologist's uniform rubbed against his aching palm. But he kept it there when it became apparent it was the only thing holding Jackson up. He eyed the sleeping bags on the ground, remembering the shivering Daniel had before.

"Hold on," he murmured as he hooked the toe of his boot to the edge of the sleeping bag, lifting the corner up. They were going to need every padding they could get. He could already feel the night air's temperature dropping even though the sun must have only just set. "Can you stand for a second?"

The archeologist nodded. "I'm okay..." He staggered as Jack stepped away. The colonel lunged forward, catching him as the younger man started swaying.

"Stay put," Jack commanded. "Don't move, okay?" He leaned Daniel against the supporting pole of the tent, who immediately pressed his forehead on the metal staff, eyes shut. Jack pressed his left palm against the clammy forehead. Daniel barely stirred under the gesture.

"You stay awake, okay?" Jack said as sharp as he could, hoping the tone filtered through even if the words didn't. "Daniel, keep your eyes open. No naps."

Daniel murmured something, nodding a little.

"I didn't hear you!" Jack barked, feeling a twinge when the younger man twitched at the loud volume, but he was heartened to hear a fading "'Kay" from him. It would have to do. Jack wondered briefly how the hell he was going to get Jackson from point A to B by himself. But he knew they needed padding, sleeping bags for warmth if they were going to leave here for the Stargate in the middle of the night. One more look to make sure Daniel wasn't going to fold over, and Jack reached for the sleeping bag, lifting it up.

Crick crick crick crick crick.

"Oh...shit..." Jack froze, sleeping bag in midair as he gaped at the nest of black beetles in a little depression made by Daniel's body over the sleeping bag. The beetles, their hiding place found, froze like statues among the reddish sands.

"Daniel...Get out of here," Jack whispered, eyes glued to the organisms. When the young man didn't respond, he hissed out again. "Daniel!"

The archeologist wearily lifted his head. He turned towards where his sleeping bag was and squinted. Black spots danced before him, and Jack immediately heard his breathing quickening. "N-no..."

"Just get out of here slowly before they-"

"No...no...they're not r-real..." Daniel whispered, releasing his death grip on the tent pole.

"Daniel?"

"N-not real...God..." With a choked gasp, Daniel stumbled away from his support before Jack could warn him, lurching as he bumped into Jack, skidding in the sand, kicking grains to the beetles before he fell out of the tent clumsily.

Jack threw the sleeping bag over the beetles as he heard them moving, snagged his rifle and raced out of the tent, tumbling over the prone body on the ground in his haste.

"Colonel!"

"O'Neill!"

Jack raised his head, slumping as he realized the things weren't following. He whipped his head towards Daniel, hearing the frantic breathing and scrambling on hands and knees.

"No...no, no, no, no..." Daniel was whispering, his distress translating to shivers that wouldn't stop, racing down his spine. They...they were there. He didn't see them. Daniel shook his head, a whimper stuck in his throat. What was wrong with him? He couldn't think, couldn't even stand long enough to see clearly, and his head spun maddeningly. Daniel curled tighter, hands to his head. It hurt. Everything hurt in fact. Hard to think. Spinning, thoughts like water slipping between fingers, and now he was seeing things again. Any minute, he'd hear a Stargate activating in some closet. God...

Hands were on his back, and he tensed before Jack's voice washed over him.

"Easy. Easy."

Flashlights bobbed up and down, burning through his eyelids. Daniel groaned, shutting them tighter. "Sir? Daniel? Is everything okay?"

"Carter, the rover ready?" Jack sounded so calm, as if he didn't see Daniel just freak out over nothing. Daniel leaned towards the voice and was rewarded by the hands rolling him until he was sitting. His head was still bowed as Daniel was afraid to see what was on their faces.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Uh...no...don't go in there."

"Sir?"

"Get your sleeping bag and Teal'c's instead. Give them a very good shake. I mean it."

Sam sounded puzzled, but she didn't ask any more questions as she murmured, "Yes, sir." A long pause and Daniel could physically feel her gaze on him. Another pair of hands, this time on top of his head, but Daniel didn't open his eyes.

"It'll be okay, Daniel," she whispered. Something sloshed behind him. "Here's the coffee, sir. I heated it up while we packed."

Something metallic pressed against Daniel's lips as a hand cupped the bottom of his chin, forcing him to look up. Daniel turned his head away.

"Daniel, open your eyes." Jack's gruff voice rung over his ears. The metallic thing pressed harder against his mouth, and Daniel could taste something lukewarm against his lips, the bitter aroma wafting up to fill his nose with its vapors. Cautiously, he opened them a crack and saw the dark brew in a mug.

Jack still had a one hand braced on his shoulder. "Coffee," he said still in that calm, steady voice, the cup tilted back towards him. "Drink it. All of it. I need you alert before we get going."

Obediently, too tired to argue or lie that he felt fine any more, Daniel parted his lips, drinking the rich brew. He suddenly realized how thirsty he was and pretty soon, his own hands were weakly batting at the mug, trying to drink the whole thing down.

"Slowly."

The command was serious, deep, and Daniel cringed, wondering if there was anger or maybe wariness sharpening that edge he heard. But then, Jack sighed, sounding just as tired as he felt, and the mug pulled away.

"Daniel. Look at me."

With a small shake of his head, Daniel stared at the blurring shades of sand on the ground.

"Daniel, I saw them, too."

With a snap, Daniel's head shot up. "Wha?"

Jack nodded towards the tent, pulling away from Daniel as he offered the mug to the archeologist once more. "Saw them. The bugs. I saw them, too."

No. They weren't real. Daniel dropped his gaze, feeling his lower lip trembling. He bit it to still his mouth. They weren't real. They were produced out of a weary mind. He was tired. God, he was so tired. Surely that was why-

"Daniel...I wouldn't lie to you just to make you feel better." Two fingers on Daniel's chin, Jack steered the face towards him. "Look at me, Daniel. "

Blue eyes raised up warily at him.

Earnest brown ones met his gaze without flinching.

Daniel's voice shook "You mean you-"

Jack found himself at a loss for words. The disbelief, the utter shock rocked him. Did Daniel really think...? He couldn't stop the rise in his voice.

"You saw them...the whole time we were here?"

"T-thought...c-cra-" Daniel swallowed, unable to finish.

Jack saw the chin sticking out, knowing it was more to hold back the panic than for stubbornness. He reached over and gripped Daniel's arms, staring straight at him. The archeologist swallowed, not looking, gaze cast far away at Carter who was coming out of her tent with something rolled up in her arms. She was running to the rover for some reason.

"Daniel...look at me..."

He shut his eyes. He couldn't. He didn't want to see the-

"Do you trust me?"

Eyes snapped forward. "Huh?"

Jack looked very desperate for an answer. "Daniel, I asked if you trust me?"

Do you trust me? Daniel wanted to answer with a question of his own, but instead he mutely nodded.

For some reason, the response didn't satisfy Jack, but the hands over Daniel's arms lessened its hold as he nodded.

"Listen to me. Those bugs? They're real."

Daniel stilled, eyes growing wider as he listened.

"They're as real as you and me. Saw them down in the cavern before. Nearly got my hand turned to pudding, and they gave me a parting gift before leaving." Jack gave Daniel a small shake. The young man's head swayed back and forth. "They're real, Daniel. You didn't imagine them; you didn't hallucinate them. They...were...real."

With a shudder, Daniel folded within himself. Heart hammering, Daniel couldn't figure if he was glad or now just simply terrified that the rest of his dreams were really true. "I-I..."

Jack saved him from further embarrassment by pressing the mug into his shaky hands. "Drink."

Raising his head, Daniel saw the mug again, Jack's small smile over the edge of the cup. Weakly, sitting up, Daniel took the cup in his hands and drank every last drop. While his arms still trembled, holding the mug as if it weighed a ton, his head did clear a little, and Daniel recalled what Jack had said before.

"W-wait a second...going? Go where?"

* * * * *

Daniel almost sounded normal when Sam turned around and saw him protesting, one arm slung over the colonel's shoulders, leaning heavily against a red faced O'Neill as they made their way across the site to the rover, cleared and ready.

"B-but we need to find out what those things are," Daniel went on in a wisp of a voice, stumbling before the colonel grunted, hauling him back up again with some difficulty. "J-jack...we should...we need to find out more about them." Sam winced. While she did agree they should try and identify what exactly the creatures were, the idea of them crawling around her arms and legs again biting her and-

Biting her?

Carter examined her own hand. No teeth marks. She frowned. Why did she think they would bite her? There were no signs of that in the beetle she saw in her jar before it dissolved the glass and escaped.

A soft sigh from the colonel told her this argument has been ongoing. "Daniel, you're not exactly up to Indiana Jones standards right now." O'Neill stopped in front of FRED, tossing his backpack on the carrier. "Geez...If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you had bricks for lunch," he grumbled lightly.

"W-we should..." Daniel went on sleepily, scrubbing his eye with a knuckle. He made a visible effort to stand straighter but ended up colliding into the colonel with a mumbled apology. "The c-caves...they might h-have something..."

O'Neill groaned out loud, staggering until he finished the last few inches to the rover. "No, we're going back so they can check you and poke needles in us to make sure the bugs didn't give us anything. Now doesn't that sound fun?"

"I guess..." Daniel relented, arriving at the rover breathless. He leaned heavily on the side of its carrier platform, nodding to her.

Carter gave the colonel a worried look. If Daniel was giving up so easily, the young man was feeling a lot worse than he was letting on. O'Neill returned the gaze with narrowed eyes, picking up on the very same thing. Sam nodded towards the rover. "Sir, it would be a tight fit, but we could all get on."

"Huh?" Blinking with glazed eyes, Daniel didn't get it, leaning on his arm set on top of the rover, looking very much like he was going to sit right down on the sand again.

"We're going to ride on the rover," Jack said patiently, grasping the scientist by the arm, steering him towards Teal'c, who was already on top. "Those bugs were burrowing themselves in the sand. They could be coming out of the sand. We need to stay off the ground to be on the safe side."

"Trilob-bites." Daniel swayed on his feet, staring at the edge of the rover, wondering how he was going to climb on. He could barely feel his feet at this point. Everything felt numb, and he was cold. Why was he cold?

"Huh?" Jack nudged Daniel, grunting as he pushed Daniel closer to the rover.

"They're trilobites..." Eyes opening then closing, Daniel saw a pair of dark hands slipping under his arms, a glint of gold before he found himself flying. His eyes flew open again. "Huh? Wha-?"

"Easy, Teal'c," warned Jack, watching as the Jaffa picked the younger man up with little effort, hauling him up to the rover.

Daniel felt himself set down on something soft, although the rumbling of the rover's motor beat under his aching back despite the padding. Fidgeting, he was so cold, he felt the hard backing of the front rail of the rover's platform bumping him on the skull. His vision cleared, and he saw Sam and Teal'c staring down at him with twin frowns. He waved weakly. "H-hi."

"Hello, Daniel Jackson," came the rumble. It sounded like thunder.

Daniel craned his neck and saw Jack upside down, looking like he was climbing to the sky. The rover shifted at the added weight.

"Carter, how fast will this thing move?" Voices echoed and beat with every syllable. Daniel didn't even try to track who was saying what. It all sounded the same. He was just so tired. He felt Jack gripping his shoulder, and he grudgingly opened his eyes wider, remembering Jack told him to stay awake. Awake. He needed to stay awake. No closing eyes. He couldn't figure why, but Jack sounded serious about it so he needed to keep them open.

A gentle pat on his chest told him he did good before Jack's voice, first sounding far away then near, asked someone off to his left. Or was it right? "Rough estimate, how soon can we get back to the Stargate?"

"At top speed without stopping? Perhaps cut an hour off our time. Maybe more. I'm not sure. It was never meant to carry people, sir."

"Well, I rather that than get some tribble-"

"Trilobite, sir."

A sigh that sounded like thunder boomed over Daniel. He turned his head and felt something over him, smelling vaguely like iron or blood. Daniel struggled feebly, not wanting it over him.

"Easy, big guy, just the sleeping bag. You have to rest, stay warm." A hand laid on top of his chest and the material draped over him, keeping him from sitting up.

The sky looked dark, some spots of light dancing and zipping over a gray cloud cover. People were talking, but they sounded like thunder booming across the sky.

"Looks like rain," Daniel mumbled, shifting around until he was on his side. He saw someone's boot there and wondered why they were standing around him.

Jack heard Daniel muttering and paused as Carter fiddled with the remote controls for the rover. "What did he say?" Jack turned to the rest of his team. Teal'c and Carter shook their heads, and Jack waved his hand. "Never mind. Let's get moving." He gave the base grounds another glance, the tents stripped down for the fabric, most of the heavy equipment discarded. Tent poles waved farewell to them, looking lonely in the sand.

"Starting it up, sir," Carter reported.

"Okay. Teal'c, stay in the back. Keep an eye out. Make sure none of those trilobites," O'Neill drawled out to Carter, "Aren't following us. Carter, stay up front and keep your eyes on the road. Get us back in one piece."

"Yes, sir." The remote flat on her hand, Sam went up front, a few short steps, maneuvering around Daniel, bundled in the sleeping bags they'd recovered from their tents. She watched the colonel gingerly sit down next to Daniel, squeezing in next to her, rearranging his rifle strap to hang behind him, before she pivoted back to the front, designating the center spot of the front end as the driver's seat. O'Neill brushed back the short bangs, calling Daniel's name, but the younger man didn't respond, sinking deeper into sleep. Sam looked across to the end of the rover, meeting Teal'c's narrowed eyes. The Jaffa indicated he was ready with a short tip of his head before turning to face the rear of the rover, staff weapon held high on alert. She nodded to the colonel as well. "All set to go."

"Move out," O'Neill ordered.

The rover rumbled in response, the weight of the SG team unnoticed by the machine as it rolled its tracks over sand, moving sluggishly back towards the way they'd come.

* * * * *

White faces leered at him, fingers clasping down on his ankles and wrists as they grew taller and taller before him. He couldn't move. He couldn't scream. He could only watch as they came closer, mouths open before they clamped down on his throat with a surprising burst of speed.

"Easy..." Hands pushed down on his chest, keeping him from sitting up. "You had a bad dream, Daniel. It's okay."

No it wasn't. Daniel opened his eyes at the tapping by his cheek and saw Jack sitting there, rifle balanced on one shoulder, his hand withdrawing from Daniel's face, going down to grip his arm. The warm presence was oddly reassuring.

"You awake?" Jack asked casually, but the brown eyes darting from his face and back front again betrayed him. "You were out for a while again. Couldn't wake you."

Daniel swallowed, feeling incredibly thirsty and croaked, "Yes."

Hearing the raspy words, Jack reached for something beyond Daniel's sight and shook the canteen before him. Daniel wet his lips, staring at the container. He felt Jack's arm slip under his back, easing him up against the front railing of the rover before the canteen came to him.

It seemed to end too quickly when Jack pulled it away again. Daniel swayed, bobbing back and forth with the shaking the rover made as it went through the narrow valley they'd treked through the first day they'd arrived through the Stargate.

Jack caught the archeologist before he fell sideways to the floor, slipping between Carter and Daniel so the head could rest on his shoulder for support. He watched the top of the sandy head sway with a frown. He shook his own when he saw Carter pause, looking like she was going to stop the vehicle and check on him. But the major straightened her back and kept her eyes forward, hands gripping the remote tightly as she veered down a path barely brightened by the rover's headlights.

"How is he, sir?" she asked though, eyes riveted to what she could make out from the headlight's glare.

Sitting there crosslegged, staring at Teal'c's profile, Jack wished the rover was moving faster. "In and out." He caught a few words Daniel was muttering before, the young man pleading for someone to help, to stop. His teeth clenched tightly, grinding molars in an audible crunch.

"Sir?"

"Carter, I could really use a theory right now on what's going on with him," he bit out. He could feel the shivering from Daniel, propped up against him. Jack tugged the sleeping bag up around the shoulders, patting one arm and watched as the younger man relaxed. "You said shock. I agree, but from what? Those bugs?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Damn it, that's not the answer I was expecting!"

Sam flinched before she heard the colonel sigh.

"Sorry...give me a guess then." O'Neill paused. "Could he...could he be allergic to what those bugs had?"

"Wasn't really a typical reaction," she pointed out as she carefully steered the rover around the boulders strewed across the valley. There was barely enough room to turn. When they arrived, she had to steer the rover in front of her since there wasn't enough room to walk aside it. The camping site was the largest area they had seen in the entire place.

"Right, no fever," Jack muttered. He glanced over to Teal'c. "Anything?"

"Nothing, O'Neill." Teal'c didn't lower his staff weapon though, eyes trained to the dual track marks stretching behind them, taillights blinking red against the tracks imprinted on the sand. "I do not see any sign of the insects."

"They're n-not insects." Daniel's half slurred voice floated out. "They're-"

"They're tribbles. Yeah, we know, Daniel."

Daniel sighed. "Jaack-"

"Okay, okay. Trilobites." Jack made a face. "Things in rocks." He remembered picking up Daniel's piece in his office before it slipped out of his grasp and landed on the floor. Now a huge crack ripped across its face, and Jack had to endure the exasperated glare over the edge of Daniel's glasses every time the archeologist happened to glance over to his fossil now made paperweight.

"That's fossils," Daniel garbled. His eyes blinked rapidly, sliding sideways until he met Jack's shoulder and jerked up.

"Yeah, and those things we saw were fossils last I checked!" Clucking, Jack tugged at Daniel until he was leaning against him again. "Want to lie down instead?"

"T-thought you wanted me to s-stay awake."

"Yeah." Jack stared at the reddish cliffs lurking in the darkness as the rover rolled by them. "Daniel...do you remember anything, anything that might have gotten you sick?"

Daniel watched at the landscape blurring, not really seeing the cramped rover or the faces turned towards him. Jack gave up getting any response from him when Daniel huddled within himself, murmuring "N-no..."

Jack frowned. "Those beetles we saw in the tent. You said you saw them the whole time. When?"

Closing his eyes, Daniel swallowed, looking very ill. "Not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Jack insisted. "Did you see them or not?"

"Thought..." Daniel wrapped his arms around himself, pulling the sleeping bag over himself closer with a shiver. "Thought I was d-dreaming."

"Paralyzing agent, sir," Carter reminded O'Neill.

Jack nodded. "We saw them down in that underground cavern, Daniel. Right after you left. One of them...sprayed us."

Turning his face up towards O'Neill, Daniel studied the colonel.

"I'm not kidding, Daniel." Giving his friend a wan smile, Jack nodded towards Teal'c. "We're not lying to you. I ended up watching the sky, which I can tell you right now was pretty boring. Couldn't move, not even to scratch my nose."

Swallowing convulsively, Daniel lowered his gaze. "I thought I was...maybe..."

"You thought you were going insane once more," Teal'c intoned, not turning around, otherwise he would have caught Jack's smothering glare.

Daniel laughed strangely. "Leave it to Teal'c to just say it right out."

"Yeah." Muttering under his breath, Jack gave the Jaffa another scowl, figuring Teal'c probably sensed it anyway and was not bothering to turn around.

The rover jumped slightly as it went over something Carter missed in the darkness.

"Damn," Sam muttered as she played with the toggle, coaxing it to steady.

"Watch it, Carter. My car insurance doesn't cover this." The colonel sounded annoyed.

"J-jack."

O'Neill looked at Daniel turning grayer with exhaustion. The archeologist wiped an unsteady hand across his brow, gawking at his own palm as it shook.

"W-what's wrong with m-me?" Daniel swallowed, squinting towards Jack in the darkness.

"I don't know, Daniel," Jack answered honestly. "I mean...we just found you in your tent. I was hoping you could tell me."

"C-cold." Daniel shivered to empathize.

"Lie down." Jack pulled at Daniel, tugging at the forearms to set him back down again.

"Ow," Daniel commented faintly, batting weakly at the arms holding him.

Jack's brow creased. "Daniel?"

Shaking his head, offering a thin smile, Daniel whispered "Just a little sore...Must have slept on my arms the past nights."

"When you had sleep," Jack muttered. He pushed at Daniel's sleeves, rolling them up despite the younger man's protests to check. Tapping at the flashlight he'd attached on his vest's shoulder earlier, Jack hissed when he saw the elongated bruises midway across Daniel's arms under the bright light.

"Sir?" Carter spared a glance behind her and stiffened.

"Daniel, who did this?" Jack asked in an urgent voice. He pressed down on the bruises, the purplish red flesh stretched around the thickness of Daniel's arm, four long strips with one spot in front.

Daniel looked confused, raising his head up to stare at them. "I don't know..." His forehead wrinkled with lines, puzzled. He looked back at Jack. "I-"

"How could you not know?" Jack pointed at the marks, frustrated. "Daniel-" He reached out to grab the scientist by the arms. "Think-" Jack froze.

Teal'c noticed the pause and twisted slightly to him. "O'Neill?"

"Sir?"

Daniel looked at Jack, hesitantly asking "Jack?"

Jack turned his hands towards him, one pale, one flushed with his burns. He rotated them back in position and slowly reach out and clasped Daniel by both arms. "Damn."

His fingers matched the marks perfectly.

Carter frowned. "Sir? Are you suggesting-?"

Jack remembered grabbing Daniel by the arms a few times the past day, still recalled how his hand curled tightly around one arm in the underground cavern to stop Daniel from escaping their questions only to have the young man yank away. Jack stared at the bruises again.

Even Daniel appeared confused. "Jack wouldn't try to...I mean..." He swallowed, hooded eyes up towards Jack.

"Sir?" Carter's voice grew higher now.

"Damn it, I...you saw me...I grabbed him by the arms a couple of times, but I didn't try to rip his arms off!" Jack gestured at the marks, upset. "What...how..."

Daniel pulled the sleeves down over the marks, concealing them from Jack's view. Like fingers snapping, it broke Jack out of his trance, and the colonel sat down on the rover, working his jaw.

"Daniel," Sam asked all of a sudden. "How do you feel?" She turned her head slightly, managing to keep one eye on the land before her, hands gingerly making adjustments on the joystick.

Daniel pressed his lips together over the question.

"The truth, Daniel," Jack said tightly. "How do you feel?"

"Fine." The automatic answer came out before Daniel could stop himself. He flinched at the sight of Jack's mouth.

The tight features softened a little, and Jack clasped a hand over Daniel's knee. "Hey, I know it's hard for you to believe right now, but you can trust us. We...I did some things, made some decisions we shouldn't have and I know there's not enough time to say sorry, but you gotta believe you can trust us."

"It's true," Sam murmured, kneeling down and nudging Daniel with her hip as she keep her eyes trained on the trail. "Daniel, I need to know. We need to know."

Daniel studied Jack, then looked up at Sam before his eyes wandered to Teal'c. They all returned his gaze earnestly, turning back around to their posts with the exception of Jack.

After a few seconds, Daniel slumped back, dropping his head with a sigh. "Pretty awful," he reluctantly admitted. He gathered the sleeping bag around him once again, huddling deeper into the warm folds.

"Cold?" Carter asked quietly.

Daniel shuddered again. "Very. Can't stop shaking." He blinked when he saw Jack unroll the tents they had stripped down, plopping a folded layer over his legs.

"Lightheaded?" she went on.

Daniel wordlessly nodded.

"And thirsty," Jack added, recalling how Daniel literally gulped down the coffee before.

"Still am," Daniel said hoarsely, running his tongue over cracked lips. He gratefully accepted the canteen Jack immediately dropped on his lap, tilting it to his mouth, gulping down the lukewarm water. Reluctantly, he returned it, realizing it was barely half full now.

Jack didn't look upset as he shook its contents. "Very thirsty," he amended.

"Add that and bruising much easier, sir," Carter said softly. Jack couldn't see her face in the dark but could see her rigid back as she knelt there next to Daniel, facing forward to steer.

"What?" Daniel asked, craning his neck to see Sam.

"It sounds like he's suffering from shock due to blood loss."

Teal'c turned sharply to Daniel. "Did you cut yourself any time during this mission, Daniel Jackson?"

"N-no...I would have remembered if I did." Daniel's teeth were starting to chatter.

"Sir, I'm only reading the symptoms," Carter said quietly. "I could be wrong."

"Or you could be right," Jack grated out, forehead lined with worry as he studied Daniel.

"I don't understand." Daniel shook his head, bewildered. "Cut myself? I was tired," he said quietly, reading Jack's frown and knew the colonel had suspected all along. "Had some weird dreams, but other than that-"

"Dreams?" Now Sam turned around completely.

"Carter, I really hope that isn't how you drive back home," Jack groaned, taking the remote from her and squeezing between her and Daniel, kneeling down on his knees to steer with a grumble. He sobered. "Daniel, what dreams?"

"Weird ones..." Daniel's eyes fluttered shut, then snapped open again. "I thought I was..." He stopped. They couldn't be important.

"What is it?" Sam took Daniel's hand to check his pulse again, rubbed gently in the inner wrist with her thumb. She moved her fingers down to his hand, tiny lines across her forehead as she saw the chalky white tips. She tried giving them a squeeze, her mouth tight when the fingers remained just as white, not healthy pink. She didn't need to tell the colonel either for when she met the older man's gaze, she saw the same grim expression on his face.

"Daniel," O'Neill spoke up again, quiet and serious. "Were these the same ones where you saw those things?"

"Yes." Daniel said in a small voice.

Jack braced the remote on the siding edge so he could drop one hand on top of Daniel's head. He gave the light hair a gentle scratch with his fingers before pulling away. "Then I think it's pretty crucial, don't you?"

"I thought I was just remembering again." Jackson's voice was barely a whisper.

Jack forced himself to keep his eyes forward. He didn't need to ask and judging by how Carter sucked in her breath sharply, she didn't either.

"But...there was s-something different." Daniel sounded far away, distant as he fought to recollect the hazy images that refused to stay still long enough to shape them to solid form. "Things...white faces...I..." Jack could feel the shudder against his hip and lowered his hand over Daniel's head again, frowning when he felt the head bumping against his thigh as Daniel struggled to stay awake. He froze at the next sleepy words drifting to him from Daniel. "Seemed to come out of the ground..."

Eyes heavy, he could only watch as white ghosts floated out of the ground. They grabbed him by the arms.

O'Neill's hand curled at the filaments of a memory of his own, forgetting his hand was over Daniel's head. The archeologist made a pained sound, and Jack jerked his hand back.

Carter sounded choked. "You...you couldn't move, right?"

Jack couldn't even shout out in pain as he fell to the side still curled in position, his rifle falling to his lap as the pungent smell of rotting flesh filled his lungs.

The remote rattled in Jack's grasp. "Hands," Jack bite out. "Teeth..."

Their hands were cold, three fingers digging into flesh...Eyes where noses should be, mouths misshapen as they opened like out of water fish, a row of razor teeth biting into his calf, another one on his sleeve over his elbow.

"We've been having the same dreams," Carter said in a hushed voice. "Teal'c?"

"I do not share the same visions, Major Carter," Teal'c's calm voice came from the back, sounding a little bothered that he had been oblivious to the three's plights.

"But that's three out of four," Jack calculated grimly. "That's too high odds to be just a coincidence."

"Same dreams?" breathed Daniel. "God...what does that mean? Do you think someone is doing this to us?"

"I don't know," Jack said tightly as he spied another large boulder lying in the middle of the trail. He gauged the slopes on either side of the path and pulled the joystick on the remote to the left, moving the rover to the shallower of the two sides, avoiding the rock. He grimaced as the right track scraped along the rock with a shriek, unable to steer completely clear. "Carter, what do you suppose-" Jack jerked forward as the rover jumped once, then twice. "What the hell?"

"Did we hit something?" Carter demanded, scrambling for the right side of the rover, dipping her head lower and stared at the tracks under them.

"I don't think so. I went around that last one," Jack called out, grunting as another jump rammed his hips against the front siding of the rover. "Come on, don't do this to m- oof!"

"Jack!" Daniel started as the rover halted abruptly, and the colonel slammed harder against the short side, tumbling out of the vehicle and onto the sand in front. The younger man gritted his teeth as he felt himself slam into the front railing but thankfully didn't go over it.

"O'Neill?" Teal'c jumped off the machine, already heading for the colonel.

"Is he okay?" Daniel asked anxiously, a white face poking out of the bundle of covers around him as he struggled to sit up, only making it when Sam gave him a gentle push towards the railing for support. He leaned over the front siding and watched as Jack got up unsteadily, brushing sand off himself. FRED's headlights flashed at the team leader's very unhappy face, shining on the gleam of his rifle and strap twisted around his neck.

"Sir?" Carter hopped off the rover as well.

"Seatbelts," Jack wheezed. "We need seatbelts for this thing." He nodded gratefully at Teal'c, who silently handed him back his cap. Shaking off the sand, Jack gave Daniel a reassuring grin before tugging it over his short crew cut. The archeologist was still staring at him worriedly but he sat back down at least, exhausted.

Relieved to hear the colonel joking, signaling he felt fine, Carter grabbed one of the flashlights from her pack and slid down to her knees on the right track. "I heard something crack on this side. We might have ripped something when we past that last obstacle." She waved Teal'c over for some help. Apologetically, she shrugged towards O'Neill. "This could take a while, sir."

Jack grumbled, glaring at the rover. "How long?"

"I don't know."

"That's not really an answer, Major," Jack griped, but he shooed the woman when she popped up her head again to give what could have been a lengthy explanation. "How far away from the Stargate are we, at least?"

Teal'c had one hand on the staff weapon, but he raised the other with the tracking device. The item beeped and chimed in his hand. "Perhaps another two hours from here, O'Neill."

"We did cut a third of the time it would have taken, sir," Carter said as she poked at the tracks. Jack could hear rattling and clanging, and he winced. He didn't want to know what the heck she was doing to FRED.

"Not enough," he murmured. He scrambled back on the rover, giving Daniel a slight push on his chest, silently commanding the archeologist to lie down. Daniel didn't argue, sliding down to stare at the sky, then at Jack with barely hidden worry. Jack nodded, agreeing. He didn't like sticking around either. "Alright, Carter. Just get it done soon as you can. Teal'c, you stay with her with all the flashlights she needs. I'm going to turn off the rover and conserve power til we get moving again." Jack slid one of their backpacks under Daniel's bundled feet, elevating them higher than his head, adjusting the covers around the body, ignoring Daniel's faint protests he could do that himself. Jack would rather have something to do so he ignored his friend's indignation. He pressed two fingers against Daniel's inner elbow, mentally counting the pulse before giving the younger man a crooked smile. "Lights out?" he said softly to Daniel, who nodded, indicating he was fine. Jack then flipped the power switch, watching the headlights flickered then vanished. The area suddenly flooded with darkness save a small spot of brightness on the right side of the rover where Carter hunched over, already engrossed in working on the problem at hand. Teal'c stood over her with his staff weapon gripped tightly in one fist, the other holding the flashlight above her head for better visibility.

Scanning the dark sky, Jack wished there were at least a few stars out to guide them. The endless cloud covering, interrupting with patches of openings only to reveal more black, looked ominous. He knew walking wasn't an option. It was too dark and too long of a hike to try especially for one of them. He studied the darkness, seeing the darker shape of a body next to him. Somehow, he knew Daniel was looking right back at him.

Jack dropped down, one hand out to feel his way, bumping into Daniel's outstretched legs before he sat down with his back towards Daniel, eyes facing the left side of the rover with his rifle aimed at the gloom before him.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked quietly.

"Better." The barely audible answer came out of the murkiness.

"The truth."

Daniel sighed, the sound hushed, subdued in the thick of night. "I feel tired, still thirsty. And..." He paused. "Everything feels sort of...unreal."

"Lightheaded," Jack concluded.

"I guess."

The two men fell silent. The wind replaced the void, punctuated by Carter's busy repairs. Jack took comfort in listening to the activity, focusing on a reassuring rhythm of breathing behind him.

"Jack?" Daniel's hesitant voice sounded loud even though it was hardly a whisper.

Jack scratched his left calf again. Damn thing was driving him nuts. "What?"

"Should I even be going home?"

Jack twisted around just as he saw Carter's head, haloed by the flashlights, pop up as well.

He couldn't see Daniel's face, but he could guess in the expression when Daniel shifted uneasily, wrapped tightly with the sleeping bags.

"Whatever's making me...sick...I might spread it to everyone else," Daniel said softly, his reasoning while making sense, made Jack's chest rumble with a growl.

"I'm not going to leave you behind here until we know for sure," Jack said more harshly than intended. "Besides, if you were...contagious, wouldn't you think we were infected as well by whatever it is?" He directed it to Carter.

The major was doing her repairs again, but called out "Yes, sir. Definitely. We would probably have to be quarantined along with Daniel. Maybe even have to remain here together as a precaution."

Jack grinned at Carter's response. He reached down and patted Daniel's knee again. "See? Nice try, Jackson, but you can't get rid of us that easily."

"Oh." Daniel sounded both relieved and pleased. Jack's smile broadened before he sobered, feeling the shudder under his palm, heartbeat racing, beating against the ribcage frantically.

"Still cold?" he asked as Daniel's inhaling and exhaling grew harsh, and the archeologist struggled to sit up to ease his breathing. Jack caught him as he fell forward. "Daniel!"

Carter's head popped up again. "Sir? Is he-"

"Don't waste any minutes. Get that fixed, Carter," Jack barked. He wrapped a hand around Daniel's back, murmuring reassuringly as Daniel shook with chills, rubbing a palm briskly up and down the quivering back. Shock. Carter said Daniel was going through shock. Understandably, even reasonable if Jack knew what the injury was. Bracing Daniel so he wouldn't tumble off the narrow rover surface, Jack gritted his teeth as he felt his calf itch again. Dammit it, not now. The itch he shouldn't scratch was not real or probably sand that decided to make his clothing a new beach.

Jack stilled. He supported the semi-conscious scientist against the front short wall before switching on his shoulder light attachment again, this time pointing it towards his leg. He studied the pants edge doubtfully. No way. Couldn't be.

"O'Neill?" Teal'c peered over the rover and saw the colonel yanking up his pant leg, clawing at his boot, practically ripping the laces as he pulled the footwear off.

Jack froze and then swore softly.

Sam frowned, giving Teal'c a look. "Uh...sir?"

Spinning around, Jack pointed to his leg, pants rolled up high to his knee. Sam squinted, raising her flashlight to see and stilled.

Small welts barely the size of mosquito punctures, went around in a semi-circle on the fleshy part of the back of O'Neill's calf. The colonel looked grim.

"I don't suppose tribbles usually have teeth, huh, Carter?"

Sam handed her light over to Teal'c and hastily yanked up her sleeves, checking. She groaned when she saw a similar mark in her inner elbow. "Damn."

"Look."

She lifted her head and groaned again, this time for Daniel. The colonel had propped Daniel against his chest, head lolled against O'Neill's left shoulder, muttering as her CO gently pulled up the jacket and T-shirt to reveal a few reddish welts- one between the shoulders, one near his spine and one halfway visible below the waistline.

"J-jack?" Daniel sounded dazed, only vaguely aware of what they were doing. He struggled feebly. "H-hey...what are you doing?"

Cupping the back of Daniel's head with his hand, Jack murmured "Easy, buddy. I think we've solved your mystery."

Daniel tried to sit up, blearily struggling to discern features in the dark. He flinched as Jack shifted, the shoulder light beaming into his face.

"Sorry," Jack apologized as he settled Daniel back down again. A few quick tugs here and there, and Jack had Daniel wrapped up effectively again.

"Jack...w-what mystery?" Daniel snagged a corner of Jack's sleeve.

The older man pointed at the mark on his leg, knowing Daniel probably couldn't see it. As he straightened out his pants leg, redoing the laces, Jack looked over to Carter.

"Think it's blood loss still?"

"Could be, sir." Carter rubbed at the welt in her own arm. "I do see puncture marks in here." She gently squeezed at the wounds. "Dry scabs, sir. Doesn't look like we were injected with any venom."

"Swell." Jack made a face. "Damn place." He gave it a sniff. "Even smells like blood around here now that I think about it."

"So you think they're real then?" Carter didn't elaborate on who "they" were. She circled her finger around the welt.

Jack grunted, hefting the rifle higher in his arms. "I don't have any other explanation, but I'm pretty damn open to new ones right no-"

Crick.

Everyone froze. Daniel's breath caught as he heard the sound.

"Uh..." Jack's voice was hushed. "That wasn't what I thought I heard was i-"

"Jack!"

Daniel's scream would have normally jerked his head towards the direction of the voice. But the hair on the back of his head rose like a shot, and he spun back towards the left side of the rover just as he heard Carter shouting about masks, smelled the sour stench once more and caught a flash of white.

"I see someth-" Jack started to say when the smell floated up to the rover. He could hear Daniel coughing, wheezing, his own eyes watering. It was worse than what he'd encountered before with only one bug. The cricks of dozens chimed all around them, his limbs turning to water as the eerie choir rose in volume. Another flash of white, and he saw a hand snake out of the darkness and grab his ankle.

"Gur-" Jack garbled out, trying to tell Carter to get everyone else out of here, but then he felt himself yanked by the caught ankle and dragged off the rover. As he slammed to the sand with a painful crash, he heard Daniel screaming his name, Carter's rifle firing at something on the other side and then heard a hiss as a cold slimy hand slapped at his shoulder. His light attachment caught the glimpse of many patches of white mottled flesh before the slap ripped the light off and shrouded him in darkness. He felt the first bite, a burn of pain on his collar and then nothing.

* * * * *

"Jack!" Daniel's shout nearly drowned out the telltale warning of the creatures' arrival.

Teal'c barely got to his feet when the scent came. He gripped Major Carter's shoulder, and she understood.

"Daniel, the gas masks!" Sam lunged up, slamming down halfway on the rover, one hand over her mouth, coughing. The mist rose from under her feet, but she didn't dare look as she felt the sand give beneath her. She ripped her pack open, the zipper tearing off at its hem, silently relieved she had considered repacking the masks just in case. Yanking one out, she threw it towards Daniel before tugging one over her face, one hand already frantically searching for two more. "Teal'c! Do you see- ugh!" She fell to the ground, her legs gave way, something crunching under her knees, feeling her flashlight roll off from her toolbox, another flashlight shattering.

Crick.

Something crawled up her leg and Carter reeled back, scraping the butt end of her rifle across her calves, feeling the weapon handle strike small objects and heard them scatter like falling coins. She kicked savagely at them. "Daniel? Colonel?" She coughed again. The masks weren't blocking it all out, they had already absorbed a good deal. Already, the view through her goggles blurred. It wasn't a face full of the chemical, but she could feel it creeping into her mask anyway, the hood a pathetic shield against the gases.

"I see someth-"

Crick.

A body thud against the rover, and she clawed back up onto shaky legs, feeling Teal'c's hand gripping the back of her vest. She saw a flash of white streaking across the darkness near the left side of the rover, Daniel half crawling, half snaking across feebly on his belly, hand on his hip holster. She could see the colonel's light flashing on his shoulder, the hint of glow highlighting his back as he faced the darkness across from her and Teal'c.

Crick, crick, crick, crick, crick.

She could hear things surrounding her, Daniel and Teal'c. Spots of shadows flew across her lights as more scattered out of the sand, swelling around her boots, scratching, and clawing as they went.

"Gur-"

O'Neill didn't get to say anything else. Carter felt her knees buckle as what little they had absorbed ran rampant through her systems, making her eyes water, her limbs shake. So she couldn't react in time with anything more than an outstretched arm when she saw the colonel fall to his back, then dragged into the darkness without a sound. His light attachment perched on his shoulder blinked once, streaking across to the left side of the rover, went up as O'Neill was pulled over, then vanished.

Sam heard a snarl. She spun around and fired wildly. She didn't know why she did that. Heart racing, her knees locking in place as she slowly froze under the mist's spell, her fingers twitched and fired again.

And her flashlight broke.

Everything went dark.

"Jack!"

"Da-" she garbled out, feeling herself falling forward. She could hear Teal'c's grunt as the Jaffa tried to reach the other side of the rover. She could hear Daniel's shout, a gun firing in rapid cession before a few more snarls drowned out Daniel's cry. She saw white patches, spotted flesh, sinew muscles pulsing as they converged on top of the rover, features blurred and shrouded by the darkness. Carter grit her teeth, trying to rise, but her hands stilled, feeling like they were encased in concrete, and she felt herself crashing against the rover's tracks, landing on the sand. A lone flashlight shone on her face through thick goggles, and she saw trilobites scampering across its beam, joining the others emerging out of many small holes in the sand surrounding her.

* * * * *

Back invisible beast, thyself be gone, and will not Unas see. Come not to where Unas dwell, lest he pronounced against thee this by the name of the son of Nemyt.

"Che tok!" Teal'c snarled as he saw the beetles swarm under his feet. The mist they sprayed swirled into a haze, making the murkiness even darker, shrouding the rover in a drugged fog.

The Jaffa heard Major Carter's rifle fire and lurched around the rover. He knew he needed to reach O'Neill first, who hadn't been heard at all.

The desensitizing fog was affecting him, despite his efforts. The Goa'uld larva squirmed in his belly, and Teal'c gripped his staff weapon tighter, using it as a cane now to keep him upright. Lurching, limbs stiff and straight, Teal'c staggered to the left.

Someone cried out, and he tried to turn but his body betrayed him, quivering under the strain to fight the drug. Teal'c plowed on, following the hisses and snaps behind the rover's left side.

The staff weapon blossomed open after a few clumsy tries at the switch. Teal'c heard the head of his weapon hiss and spark as he slammed into the rover. He could hear the invisible beasts scrambling over the rover, slaps of bare skin on metal, Daniel Jackson struggling weakly. Teal'c roared to them to be gone, but it came out hardly a sound, and he tripped over sand as he reached the left side, staff weapon shaking towards the darkness that swallowed O'Neill.

White. All he could see was white and gray, the edges of his vision eating away colors and pulling darkness to conceal his sight. Teal'c growled and saw the drab colors freeze, one of two looking up, pulling back with growls of their own, revealing O'Neill sprawled gracelessly on the ground, eyes wide open towards the sky.

Rage didn't equal what he was feeling. Sounds of his fellow comrades muffled and weak, sounded as loud as the gods' thunder crashing down on a village who wouldn't pay homage to Apophis. Teal'c couldn't feel his hand, but the staff weapon shivered within his grasp and spat out an energy bolt.

Whites and grays screamed, scattering away from O'Neill and from Daniel Jackson up on the rover. The energy bolt collided with one, and it flew, smashing against the rover, sparks jumping to a backpack. It howled and lurched forward again until another energy bolt took out its head and igniting it to flames before it even landed beside the rover's tracks.

More screeching, hundreds of metallic tapping as beetles buried themselves in the sand. Whites and grays followed after in a flurry. Pop, pop, pop, and they were all gone.

And suddenly it was quiet.

Rasping sounds, ragged breathing and the snapping of fire as it burned one of the white shadows and a backpack punctuate the night air. The combined noises echoed in the valley as a new scent took over the area, overcoming even the smell of burnt flesh and fabric.

Blood.

Teal'c could barely get his mouth to work. He used the staff weapon, stabbing it into the ground and pulling himself to it to get closer to O'Neill. He could hear Major Carter and Daniel Jackson's breathing, but his hearing faded and went, the Goa'uld larva he protected inside him still twisting with discomfort, making his back cramp. Inch by inch, Teal'c came closer and dropped to his knees, spent.

O'Neill's eyes still stared upwards towards the sky.

"O'l," Teal'c choked out. He could feel his body failing to fend off the effects, dropping him further. "O-"

Teal'c thought he saw something. Movement, the chest rising and falling. But Teal'c couldn't reach out to confirm. Instead, he toppled forward and landed over O'Neill.

As he tumbled into darkness not of his doing, the only reassuring thought he had was that under him, he could feel O'Neill's heart beating faintly.

* * * * *

"Teal'c...Teal'c..."

Sam stirred, staring blankly at the sand clinging to her gas mask goggles before the voice filtered through her hood. Carter turned until she was on her back and saw the gray sky over her head. She could hear Daniel's weak voice, like a fading breeze, calling out over and over again to someone.

"Da-?" she croaked, trying to get her voice to work. The breeze paused.

"S-sam?" Rustling above her head and seconds later, she saw a hood pop up over the side, blue eyes peering through plastic lenses anxiously. "S-sam? You okay?"

She gave a weak thumbs up. "Da...col..." She grimaced, running her tongue over her lips. She tried again. "D-" Frustrated, she tried to rise, only dropping down to the sand again.

Daniel apparently understood what she was trying to ask. His voice was unsteady as well, and he had to speak slowly. "Think I saw T-teal'c over there...He's not moving..." Daniel watched Sam crawl on her knees before reaching out to grab the side of the rover, pulling herself up. Daniel batted at her arms weakly, trying to help her. It took what felt like an eternity before Sam was able to lift up on the edge. With a loud plop, she dropped half her body on the platform, legs dangling awkward over the side still.

"I don't see J-jack..." Daniel pulled his hood off, revealing his worried face, wheezing horribly. Daniel nodded towards the backpack at one end of the rover, still burning. The shadows it created made his face drawn out, eyes sunkened to weary hollows. "Is he over there?" He gestured tiredly on her side.

Sam, still unable to speak, shook her head.

Daniel bit his lower lip. " I didn't see him. Only Teal'c. Where is he?" Sam lowered her head, mimicking Daniel's gesture as she mulled over it as well.

"That's because he's on top of me," came a weak and very annoyed voice from the left side of the rover.

Heads jerking up, Daniel and Sam gawked at each other. Carter fumbled around her side, found the flashlight that was shining at her face before and rolled it over to Daniel. The archeologist crawled, walking on hands and knees to the other side as she clamored the rest of the way over the top of the rover.

"Jack!" Daniel yelped.

When she finally managed to reach the side, bumping and swaying next to Daniel who was crouched over the edge with the flashlight in one hand, chin on the edge, she hunched down, resting her chin on the rover edge as well, gawking at what she found.

Barely visible under Teal'c's prone body, O'Neill waved an arm from under his hefty burden. Hoarse, the colonel looked white, transparent even as he grunted, trying to shove the Jaffa off.

"Sir?" Thank God, she could speak again. "Are you okay?"

"C-carter, I was just made a buffet for a bunch of weird naked monsters, half buried in the sand, and got a Jaffa doing an imitation of Sleeping Beauty on my chest," Jack grumbled, heaving as he tried to rouse Teal'c. The Jaffa appeared fine, frowning even when Jack tried to elbow him off, but didn't move, his bulk effectively pinning Jack to the sand. His head was able to move, but other than that and his arm, Jack couldn't do anything more than glare wearily at the pair of wide eyed stares peering over the rover like children who just found Santa Claus pissing on their Christmas tree.

He forced all his irritation into one annoyed bark. "For crying out loud, how do you think I feel?"

The two heads wordlessly nodded in sympathy, both wearing twin expressions of drained exhaustion. They looked like how he feels.

"So there," Jack grumbled before his eyes rolled back and thought to hell with this, and receded back to the darkness, ignoring the calls of his name.

* * * * *

Whites, blurs of grays, eyes black as the sky and huge all swooped wildly at him, yellow little teeth flashing, hands cold as ice on his limbs. He couldn't move, couldn't do anything as he heard the others screamed for him to help over and over again. He could only despair as the cries for help abruptly ended with slurps and smacks drowning the fading echoes. Then, he watched as more of them emerged and came closer to him for a final feast.

Jack groaned, feeling something piled heavily on top of him. He shifted, rolling to his side, grumbling as he felt someone rolled him back on his back. Annoyed, he waved a hand, telling them to come back tomorrow when he was more coherent and rolled back to his side.

"He okay?" A whisper to his right.

Okay, that sounded like Daniel. For some reason, Jack felt like he needed to listen, fatigue garbling the words around him.

"Pulse was steady. I don't think they drained him too much. Reflexes are good," someone was saying before a brief pause. "They did take a lot out of him."

Great, he became some alien's Kool-Aid.

"How's the rover? Is it working? Or do we have to walk?" Daniel didn't sound like he was looking forward to that. Jack grimaced, eyes still shut, silently agreeing.

"I think I got it working again. The connectors were practically eaten away, maybe by the trilobites," the person went on saying. "Don't know if it'll take us through out the entire trip, but we only got maybe two hours left of the journey." Another stop before adding "I'm hopeful though."

Hopeful? Well, that didn't sound good.

"Are you s-sure you didn't get bitten, Sam?"

"No...I'm a little woozy, but they didn't get me. I don't know why though."

"They were targeting Daniel Jackson and O'Neill," a deep timbre voice replied.

Well, well, well, Sleeping Beauty awakes. Jack grimaced wondering who woke him up.

"They had us all down," Carter was muttering as she ripped open something, water guzzling out of a canteen. It struck Jack how parched his throat was. But he didn't feel inclined to get up and ask for a drink yet. "Daniel, drink this."

"All of it?" For some reason, Daniel didn't sound too happy.

"You need to replace the fluids you lost and I don't have coffee to kick start you to last the last leg of the trip." The Major was firm.

You tell him, Jack cheered, unable to lift his head up to check, but he could hear the quiet sipping.

"Daniel..."

The sipping stopped.

"What was that thing?"

"I don't know...But they seem to have a symbiotic relationship with the trilobites." Daniel paused. "I guess we shouldn't be calling them trilobites though."

"Symbiotic?" Teal'c's question came from the right of Jack. Cracking an eye open, he saw the Jaffa or at least a hazy version of him, crouched down by him, the tip of the staff weapon standing on the platform inches in front of him. "They are not Goa'ulds."

"No," Daniel agreed. Some rustling told Jack Daniel was leaning forward, hip bumping against Jack again. "No, but not all parasites live inside an organism to survive. We can't even refer to those...things..." Jack could literally hear Daniel shuddering. The older man's brow knitted. Didn't sound good. "They both serve a purpose to each other."

"They killed all those people."

A sudden rush of wind followed after Carter's comment, howling through their bodies, but the shiver Jack felt vibrating on his back by the nearby body was not from the cold. He shifted uneasily himself.

"Yes," Daniel whispered. "Most likely they were all travelers here from different periods of times, came here to this wasteland only to be...hunted down one by one." Nylon whispering as they folded and rubbed against each other. Daniel swallowed, his voice cracking. "They probably didn't even know what hit them."

"The bugs," Carter guessed.

"Yeah." Daniel fell silent, slurping sounds filling the void as he drank whatever Carter gave him.

"How do you feel, Daniel?" the Major asked quietly.

Jack shifted in his comfortable spot, straining to hear.

A slight cough and a body bumped against his as it struggled to sit up better. Jack could feel the shivers going through the dual layers of padding to him. "F-fine."

Jack snorted.

"Sir?" A hand touched his arm briefly.

"What is it?"

"I think he's waking up. Sir?" The hand shook him and Jack felt the world rattle.

"'M awake," Jack groused, turning on his back, arm over his eyes. He sensed the flashlights blaring down on his face and waved them off. "Knock it off," he groaned. The brightness scaled his eyes through shut lids.

"Jack?" A hand hesitantly tugged at his arm and Jack begrudgingly put down his arm. Blinking away the spots from the lights, he found himself wrapped like a cocoon in a sleeping bag, propped up next to Daniel on the rover. The archeologist was leaning closer, face taut with worry. When he saw Jack peering back at him, he relaxed, sagging against the rover's front siding, eyes half shut.

The cobwebs in his head cleared away the moment Jack saw Daniel's ashen face. He sat up with a start, regretting it when everyone's faces spun in a kaleidoscope. Jack grit his teeth together, willing his brain to lay anchor and hold it steady. "What the hell happened?"

"How much do you remember?" Carter asked quietly, handing over a mug.

Jack took a deep breath, making a face as he smelled something burnt. "Not much. Impressions. Remember I couldn't move then became a snack for some thing," he grumbled as he took a sip of the contents balanced in his hands. He grimaced, tongue out in disgust. "Geez!" The overly sweet liquid sloshed in the mug.

"You need some sort of stimulant to keep you alert and a little energized. The pack with the coffee and first aid supplies are gone, so that option was out. All I had left was the orange mix from the MREs," Carter explained, nodding behind her to a charred lump on the rover. "When Teal'c attacked one of them, it collided with the rover and the pack caught on fire."

Jack strained to see her, eyes scrunching up to bring things out of their shadows and into focus. "It?"

Carter shifted a bit and next to the charred lump at the back was one covered with the stripped down tent material, an almost fluorescent white arm flopped out from under the cover. Jack's nostrils flared as he caught a whiff of what suggested to be burnt flesh and blood.

"Crap." Jack raised his hand to massage the back of his neck and saw the welt on the back of his right hand. "Uh..."

"Two on your back, one on your shoulder," Daniel said faintly, swallowing as he watched Jack pulled at his shirt, eyes narrowing as he saw the sores over the right joint.

"Damn, explains why I feel like I just had my face near an exhaust pipe," he wheezed, slumping down at the rover. Jack eyed the team speculatively. "You kids okay?"

"I'm fine, sir. They didn't bite me," Carter hastened to say. "And Teal'c recovered from the drug they sprayed us with without any ill effects."

Jack glanced over to Daniel, who merely shrugged. "They might have gotten me once," Daniel mumbled. Head sagging down before snapping up again to fight the weariness. O'Neill tossed a concerned look towards her.

"You're both going into shock, sir," Carter said quietly, reading the worry. "We have to get you back right away."

"Yeah," Jack didn't argue, zipping up his jacket as he watched the Major wiggled off the rover, jumping off the right side. "We set to leave?" He had to press his lips together to keep his teeth from chattering out loud.

"Just about." Scanning their surroundings nervously, Carter ducked back down to the rover.

Jack sat there, gulping the sweetened drink, looking sideways at Daniel, who held a simple mug, staring at the rear of the rover. Tracing his gaze, Jack tensed when he saw Daniel's troubled eyes were on the tent draped over the body that was shoved all the way in the back next to the charred backpack. Why did they keep it up here anyway? If it were up to Jack, he would have torched the damn thing as well.

"Needed to take a look at it," Daniel said quietly. "Just in case they had venom in their fangs, but luckily, there was no signs of it."

"You saw it?" Jack grimaced, remembering the distorted twisted faces. "You got a better name for it that calling it 'it'?" Sourly, Jack thought they might as well call them walking slugs, judging how small and elongated the body looked under the tent draping. "How about mutant bloodsucking slugs?" he grumbled. He pressed his fingertips to his temples. His head was pounding, the rover swaying left and right like crazy. "Geez...what the hell they do? Drained me two pints short of a liter?"

"It was...close..." Daniel commented. "Teal'c said there was quite a few...feeding on you." He lowered his head, hunched forward with exhaustion. "I thought..." Shaking his head, Daniel swallowed the rest of what he was going to say by guzzling down the syrupy drink. Jack made a face, peering down his cup.

"When you give blood, they give you a cookie," Jack griped half-heartedly. He tilted the mug back. "Somehow, this doesn't quite make up for it."

Daniel didn't laugh. Glumly, Daniel stared at the empty mug in his hands, shivering within the sleeping bag.

"Was that what you saw? In your dreams?" Jack asked sobering. "Those white things?"

"Sort of."

Jack made no comment, finishing his drink. He winced as his joints ached. He glared at the left side of the rover, remembering being dragged off like a slab of meat over the sides. "Daniel, any ideas what those creatures were?"

"Huh?" Daniel seemed surprised at the question.

Waving at the covered corpse, then towards the side of the rover where Jack was before, O'Neill made a face. "They looked..." He frowned, brow drew together to think, "They looked almost human. Got arms and fingers...didn't see the torsos though."

"They might have once been human," Daniel said absently as he rubbed his arms. His head bowed.

"What?" Jack shuffled closer, shaking his head at Teal'c when he saw the Jaffa turn questioningly towards Daniel.

Daniel was barely discernible in the darkness, one side of his face glowed from the lights Carter managed to fixate over her and the tracks. The rover hummed, its own headlights on now to dispel the shadows a bit more, setting Daniel's back a glow. Jack could feel the warmth of the lights on his back as well, but like Daniel, couldn't stop shaking with an internal cold. His hands went up and snagged the sleeping bag closer to him.

"They looked like worms with eyes. The body was short. Sam said maybe it was a baby, or a pup or something. Teal'c swore the others were taller, to our height even. T-they...their muscle structure I felt was denser and their hands are definitely sharp."

Jack snorted, disgusted. "Okay...I guess not all aliens can walk around on their feet."

"They must have lived underground since there is no real shelter up on the surface and the sharp appendages would have served to dig their way out to the surface. They felt like they were stronger," Daniel went on. "Teal'c barely got one off you."

Nodding, Jack rubbed at his ankle where he was grabbed at. "No kidding. Knocked me on my ass before I even knew what hit me." He nudged Daniel with an elbow. "How about you?"

"There was so many." Daniel's breathing quickened. "Wouldn't...couldn't get them off of me...couldn't move. I tried, Jack, but I just-" Daniel drew his legs up, dropping his head on top of his knees. "God, I hate feeling like that."

"Like what?" Jack kept his eyes on the dark side of the rover.

"Like there was nothing I could do, like everything was taken out of my hands."

Jack nodded. "Me, too." He paused. "Sort of...sort of like when they-" The colonel couldn't finish.

Like when they locked you up in Mental Health.

"I thought I was going c-crazy."

Even Carter's head snapped up again, but Jack shook his head at her, aborting what he knew was her intentions. Biting her lower lip, the Major ducked back down again. Even Teal'c pressed his lips with displeasure, but deliberately turned his shoulder away from the pair.

Daniel rubbed his head against his arms, trying to concentrate but felt like he was floating away. "Thought I was seeing things...really thought they were just part of some...dream..."

"Daniel, I thought it was a dream, too." Jack snorted. "Some dream."

"Yeah..." Daniel's muffled voice sounded bitter. "Some dream. Couldn't move, couldn't tell them to stop. Everything h-hurt and they just laughed and laughed..." His breathing hitched, words falling silent.

Jack's mouth went dry. Why did he have the feeling Daniel wasn't talking about those creatures any more? He hastily cleared his throat, hiding his discomfort by putting the mug to his lips, only to find it empty.

Teal'c silently pushed a canteen towards him. Daniel looked up, startled as Jack leaned over and poured more of the mix to a mug. Jack didn't bother asking as he refilled Daniel's mug.

"Drink up," Jack told him, finishing his up with a gag. "Damn." He shook the canteen ruefully. "Well, this thing's a bust. You'll never get the taste out of your canteen now, Carter."

Behind the lights cast over her and the rover, Carter forced a lightness in her tone. "It's your canteen, sir."

"Ah crap." Jack pretended to glare at the top of her head as she rose, looking a little better then when he saw her when he first woke up. Wiping her sleeve across her forehead, she nodded.

"Looks good, sir." She climbed on the rover, shining her flashlight towards the left side, then right. "Think we're all set."

Jack studied Daniel's bowed neck, pursing his lips. The archeologist left his mug by his side, resting his eyes within the circle of his folded arms over his knees. Jack wanted to say something, ask something, but he could feel Carter and Teal'c hovering over them and knew now wasn't the time.

"Let's go home," he said, hearing the rover sputtered then hum in response. With a lurch, it moved in a slow pace and Jack silently told it to hurry.

* * * * *

Daniel could feel everyone's stares again, as physically felt as the jolting lurches the rover was making as it went over sand and rock to reach the far away cavern where the Stargate lay. No one was speaking, Teal'c standing guard at the rear once more, Sam perched up front to his left, staring intently at what the headlights could reveal as she drove, determined to not have another delay. Jack was resting fitfully, tossing and turning before finally giving up and ended up sitting next to him shoulder to shoulder, head tilted back to stare blankly at the sky. But Daniel knew, could sense them turning around every so often to give a quick look on top of his head. It was like being back at the commissary, everyone just waiting to see what he'll do or say.

"Finish your drink," Jack said wearily out of the blue, his mug rapping at his arms.

"Not thirsty," Daniel mumbled back.

"Like hell you're not. I feel like I swallowed half of Nevada so I know you're feeling a lot worse." The mug tapped against him more insistently.

Images of Jack zipping past him, caught by limbs of white made Daniel swallow. He could feel nausea flooding up his throat. So he just tightened his sleeping bag around him, trying desperately to ignore the canvas covered body all the way in the back of the rover, it's view concealed by the last two remaining backpacks Sam and Teal'c had brought with them. He nearly jumped with a shout when he felt Jack's hand on the back of his neck, squeezing gently.

"That bad?" the older man asked gently.

"A little." Daniel just wanted to stop thinking. Hands, human and otherwise, swarmed around him, pinning him down. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. He wanted to scream to them to let him go, he wasn't crazy, he-

"Easy, easy." Seeing the shoulders shake, Jack rubbed the curved neck reassuringly, not sure of what to do. It felt like everything he says triggered something else. Daniel turned his face slightly towards him, the haunted blue making Jack's hand stop. Realizing he was open to Jack, Daniel turned his head back into his arms, taking a deep breath.

"Talk to me," Jack murmured, dropping his arms on his lap. Despite how whipped he was, Jack felt his heart pounding as he scanned the murky landscape. The headlights didn't penetrate the darkness as well as he would have liked.

"About what?" Daniel sounded suspicious.

Jack kept his voice casual, well aware of the other two standing over them. "Oh, I don't know. How about baseball?"

A small snort was Jack's only answer.

"Okay...how about giving me a guess about what are those things are?"

"I don't know." A small shrug emerged from the mound of sleeping bags, but nothing more.

"You won't even take a guess?" Jack arched an eyebrow at Daniel. "You used to ramble on and on about a rock every single time."

"I have nothing to talk about them or...ramble about them," Daniel said bitterly. "I thought they were just a dream, Jack."

"Never stopped you from telling us about it before," Jack pointed out, gauging Daniel's reaction carefully. "Usually, you wouldn't stop at the chance."

"You make it sound like I come running to you guys every time I have a bad dream," Daniel muttered angrily.

Jack raised up a hand when he saw Carter and Teal'c turn around again. "Now, I didn't say that."

"I really thought they were part of my dreams," Daniel whispered wearily. "I didn't want to come running like some raved lunatic, screaming about the sky was falling."

"Hey!" Jack barked before he could stop himself. "No one said anything about you raving like some-" He couldn't get the word out.

"Lunatic?" Daniel murmured softly. "Crazy person? Nutcase?" He laughed sadly. "Why can't you say it? You think it'll make me upset or agitate me?"

"Daniel-"

"Sir," Carter sounded regretful for interrupting and Jack would have snapped at her if he didn't feel the rover shudder to a halt, squawking. Both men looked up and saw the narrowing trail they took when they arrived, tapering off under the headlights to what Jack recalled was a wide mouth cave, the Stargate waiting serenely inside.

"I can't drive it up there. The track I fixed isn't capable anymore to manage that slope." Carter pointed to the incline rising up with the narrowing path. She pressed at the remote, coaxing it to move but the rover merely groaned instead.

Jack studied the ground, sand stretching for what looked like miles when he knew it could only be a few meters.

"Fast acting," Carter murmured, reading his mind. "Even if we managed to run fast enough, the moment the beetles strike, we would be pretty much helpless." She frowned, rubbing her arm where she saw the welt. "The gas masks didn't help much before."

"Cave's pretty wide," Jack said thoughtfully. "We could spread out. Didn't before when they struck. We literally got a whiff of that stuff in our faces."

"Good thing Teal'c was able to shake off the effects long enough to kill one and scare the others off." Carter nodded gratefully to the Jaffa, who only tipped his head down in response.

"Took two shots," Daniel murmured. He sat up, biting back a moan, hands up to brace his head upright. Not looking up, Daniel whispered "I saw the body before, remember?" He grimaced at the memory. " Took Teal'c two shots."

"That is correct, Daniel Jackson."

"So guns might not cut it." The colonel didn't look too happy about that.

"Wait, if it took two shots, why didn't the others came forward and attacked while the other was down?" Carter asked, mystified. She rummaged through a pack, handing bullet clips out as they prepared. The sounds of weapons clacking into position drowned out the wind picking up once again around them. "I mean, they could have rushed us since they're invulnerable at a certain extent to even Teal'c's staff weapon."

Jack frowned as his hand shook trying to slam a magazine into the rifle's chamber. "Carter, I'm not really complaining."

"No, sir, think about it." Sam stopped, worrying her lower lip with her front teeth.

O'Neill groaned out loud. "Do we have to?"

Ignoring him, she went back to the corpse at the back of FRED, about to peel the nylon fabric back when she saw the colonel narrowing his eyes. She looked over to Daniel, gulping, letting the corner drop back over the white body.

"They attacked by using or letting the beetles come first to subdue us. Sort of like a first line of offense." The Major pointed to everyone, then herself. "I don't know about you, but I barely was able to get up before they struck. They pretty much know they can overcome us, so why leave?"

"They had another appointment to meet?" Jack muttered. He hefted his weapon in his hands. When did it become so heavy?

Daniel made a sound like he was going to say something, but when Jack turned expectantly, the archeologist clammed up immediately.

"Daniel?" Sam asked gently. "Did you have another theory?"

Jack rested his rifle on his lap, waiting. "Any ideas?"

"N-not sure..." Daniel bit his lower lip.

"Daniel." Jack gripped the younger man's knee and squeezed gently. "I could really use some input here."

"It'll sound crazy."

Jack forced himself to shrug casually, despite feeling an ache in his chest at the small voice. "So does Carter at times, but I still listen to her." He caught the Major's disbelieving stare and amended "Sometimes."

Daniel peered up at Jack. Without his glasses, his eyes were unshielded by any barriers and Jack caught the uncertainty that faded Daniel's eyes to a pale blue. O'Neill could see his own reflection in the eyes before they blinked. Daniel shut his eyes away from plain sight and took a deep breath.

Jack didn't know how would it be taken. He gave the knee another pat, leaning forward so only Daniel would hear him clearly.

"Machello did this to you. Not yourself."

Eyes widening just a little, Daniel tentatively looked at him.

Sam couldn't hold back, dropping a hand on Daniel's arm. She didn't say anything. Perhaps it was enough. When Daniel looked across to Teal'c, the Jaffa didn't move, but he gazed back with an intensity that spoke volumes.

"I...I have a question."

"Shoot," Jack said instantly. To his surprise, Daniel cracked a shy smile.

"Uh...actually...to Teal'c."

The Jaffa cocked his head. "What do you wish to know, Daniel Jackson?"

"Back when they...attacked..." Daniel appeared queasy at the memory. "I thought I heard them shouting or...shrieking."

"That is correct." Teal'c bowed his head. "They were alarmed when I fired my staff weapon towards them."

"Uh...do you remember if they screamed before or after you killed one?"

Teal'c's brows knitted together. "I do believe it was before, Daniel Jackson."

"Are you sure?" the archeologist pressed.

Jack couldn't keep silent anymore. "Daniel, what are you thinking?"

The young man flinched until Jack tightened his hand over his knee again. "You know what I mean. Daniel, I'm a few quarts low right now. Literally. You have to spell it out for me."

Daniel nodded, taking a deep breath. "They're not afraid of Teal'c's staff weapon." Daniel reached out, snagging Sam's flashlight. Fumbling, the tool jumping in his shaky hands, he turned it on.

"They're afraid of this."

"The flashlight?" Jack pulled the item from Daniel, peering down at the bright bulb until his eyes couldn't take it any more. He was about to joke about how scary it looked when he saw Daniel biting his lower lip, uncharacteristically worried about how they would react to his theory. Jack wanted to do something, shake Daniel, tell him they weren't going to reject what he said. Daniel used to ramble in a gush his ideas, his suggestions, but now, he was as quiet as the planet had suddenly gone. Jack gritted his teeth and focused back on the flashlight.

Carter, quick to draw the dots together, practically leaped at the conclusion. "You mean the light?"

Nodding slowly, Daniel carefully continued, eyes darting back and forth to measure their reactions. "I was trying to recall when they might have first attacked. I think..." A guilty expression came over his pale features. "It may have been in one of the caves. I was at the back of the cave, pretty dark there. If there are similar underground caverns like the one Sam found..." Daniel poked at his sleeping bag, swallowing convulsively. "They may have gotten to me f-first." Avoiding Jack's gaze, he dropped to a mumble. "I woke up a few hours last I recall. I thought...I thought I just fell asleep and dreamt it all."

Jack sighed. "Daniel, you mean-"

"The chemical we were sprayed with would have confused us," Carter defended Daniel immediately. "We had a small dosage and we barely remembered anything. The last attack, I can't recall what repairs I did before they came up the surface." She smiled at Daniel sadly. "If you had a large dosage and hadn't realized it, everything would have been a blur for you."

It didn't look like her explanation made Daniel feel any better. He cast his gaze downward, nodding.

Jack gently prompted him to go on before Daniel's thoughts get darker and gloomier. "So you thinking these things don't like the light?"

"Maybe just uncomfortable by it," Daniel corrected him awkwardly.

Carter looked out to the murk, faintly making out the trail in the fast fading headlights. She frowned, realizing the battery might be running low. It was never meant for such endurance, going at its top speed for so long without stopping. "But if we go out there..."

"We're sitting ducks," Jack finished grimly.

"We could run to the cavern quickly," Teal'c calculated. "If they fear the brightness of the staff's energy blasts, I can remain behind you and hold them back."

"If they're coming from underground, using those bugs to open the way to the surface," Carter surmised, folding her arms in front of her, thinking. "They could pop up from right under you, Teal'c."

"Maybe if we had some garlic," Jack grumbled, rubbing at the right shoulder joint, wincing at the soreness welt aching underneath his jacket. He felt everyone's stare at him. "Never mind."

"If we could get some lights," Daniel said thoughtfully, "Something more than the flashlights we have. Maybe we could surround ourselves with that and discourage them to fall back. At least until we have time to dial out."

"Could work," Jack agreed. He frowned slightly at Daniel's surprise. "Daniel, it's a plausible idea."

"Oh."

"Sir, I think it could really work." Sitting higher, Carter yanked the folded tent material off O'Neill's legs.

"Hey!" Jack pretended to grumble. He grimaced as his legs tingled with the chills.

"If we ball up several wads." Sam pulled out her blade sheathed on her hip and made a quick slice on the tent fabric. With a tug, she ripped the material into a long strip. "We could roll them up, leave a part out like a fuse-"

"And we torch them like great balls of fire!" Jack agreed with a grin. "That'll work. We light a way and follow that. Maybe it'll be enough to hold them off until we get inside."

"Precisely." The Major nodded. "Then we could get some and form a barricade around the cave once we're inside. Should give us some time before they dare to past the fires to reach us."

"Would not the creatures still be able to attack from in the caves?" Teal'c wanted to know. The Jaffa attached one of the backpacks onto his vest as he studied the darkness up ahead. "The beetles had a very powerful acid."

Daniel nodded, crestfallen. "They were probably used to make those caves and tunnels."

"I doubt the Stargate cavern would be accessible," Carter said doubtfully. "The Stargate needs a solid stable ground to be perched on."

"But still probable," Jack pointed out grimly.

Carter nodded regretfully. "The small trail of fire to the cave might not be enough to work either, sir."

"We could also leave on the rover's headlights too. They're brighter and maybe give us a running start," Daniel added hesitantly. He relaxed when Jack clapped approvingly him on the shoulder.

"Boys and girls," Jack said with a broad grin. "I think we just got ourselves a plan."

* * * * *

Daniel kicked aside the sleeping bag wrapped around him, closing his eyes briefly to regain some sense of control as the world spun, his ears roaring with the wind growing in fury around the team. He raised a hand to his eyes, taking a deep breath. He could do this.

"You okay?" Jack asked haltingly as he slung his rifle over his shoulder.

Daniel opened his mouth to reply yes when he saw the colonel studying him solemnly. Daniel knew what he saw wasn't good.

"Not really," Daniel admitted. He in turn observed Jack's grayish complexion. "Neither do you."

Jack shrugged. "Had worse." He faced Daniel. "We both had."

Daniel paused, thinking. He then slowly nodded.

"We're going to be okay then." Gripping Daniel's arm, Jack grinned crookedly. "And remind me when we go back, to kick SG-11's asses."

"Huh?" Daniel blinked.

"They rated this damn place four stars for boredom," Jack griped. "Here I was thinking it'll be a perfect mission for us to-" He trailed off. O'Neill coughed into a fist, suddenly unsure.

"To fix things," Daniel finished softly.

Jack scratched his jaw with a finger sheepishly, looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Did it work?"

A shy smile graced Daniel's lips. "Maybe..."

It looked forced to Jack, but the older man was glad to see it anyway, nevertheless.

"Although," Daniel went on in the same quiet tone, "Considering what I've seen so far..." He shivered, automatically tugging at the edges of his jacket. "Next time...I'll just stay home." He pretended to grumble. "Even fishing is better than this, Jack."

"Fishing," Jack drawled, perking up. "Now there's an idea..."

Sam groaned out loud as she finish twisting shredded tent material to coils of rope, some in wads. She used up everything she could spare, even raiding their first aid kit for the gauze. She pretended to glare at Daniel, gentling the look with a light comment. "You know once you get that idea in the colonel's head, you'll never hear the end of it."

"Indeed," Teal'c declared. "O'Neill will mention this again for many, many, many hours."

"No appreciation for the finer things in life," grumbled Jack. Inside, he was smiling despite the situation. Their chatter had a pleasant tone surrounding him and he actually felt the fatigue stretching his back taut, actually easing up. Glancing over to Daniel, who was making sympathetic noises in reaction as he struggled to get ready, wrapping material around anything straight and long he could find to serve as a torch, the younger man lost some of the slump on his shoulders.

Finally, Jack thought, satisfied. Out loud, he said "Let's move out. Teal'c, you and Daniel head first. I want you to be dialing soon as we hit that cave, Daniel. Carter and I got your six."

Daniel looked around him with apprehension, seeing the similar drained faces on Jack and Sam. But he nodded, pushing across to Sam and Jack two makeshift torches, gingerly sliding off the rover. He had to hold the edge of the platform for a few seconds, hiding in the shadows to steady himself. When the torches lit with a quick flick of someone's match, he murmured an affirmative, nodding when he heard Sam calling out worriedly.

Jack didn't sound annoyed at the delay, but his voice was brisk anyway as he got off the rover, staggering before he could recover, glancing left and right warily on the ground. He gave a thumbs up and Carter passed around the gas masks. One by one, everyone wore them without saying anything. Jack checked around the group, satisfied they were now ready. He silently motioned Teal'c and Daniel to move out. With one more look around, Daniel gingerly took one step at a time, eyes on the sand, taking his time as he felt the ground tilt and heave under him. He knew any given moment, his body was going to finally say this has gone far enough and drop him to the ground without his permission. But silently, Daniel begged his feet to take one more step.

"Slow and steady, Daniel," Jack's muffled voice came from far behind, sounding just as exhausted as Daniel felt.

Shadows stretched in front of Daniel as Jack and Sam dropped more and more lit balls of fabric on every footstep Daniel and Teal'c made plowing ahead. The dark shades danced with each new light source, writhing under a cold wind, twisting in front of Daniel's eyes as his vision blurred.

Exhaustion was told to stay back, yet it stubbornly poked at Daniel's awareness. Daniel merely grit his teeth and moved on, hearing the shuffled steps of Teal'c and the others behind him.

"Almost there," Teal'c said, matching his steps now, his staff weapon extended to the front of the yawning cave mouth.

One foot. Two foot. Daniel calculated another four steps. He could get there. He staggered, stumbling and felt Teal'c on his elbow and straightened up. The Jaffa didn't offer to help him, sensing the archeologist's need to do this under his own power.

"Almost there," Daniel muttered.

Crick.

Daniel froze. Oh God, not now.

"Crap," Jack muttered behind him, clear despite the hood over his head. Daniel agreed as he spun around and saw sand sinking into a depression before him. Two more, a few feet away from the edge of the rover's distant headlights, dropped into small holes in front of Jack and Sam. The two didn't bother marking a fire trail any more and scrambled up to the cave, Teal'c already herding Daniel inside.

The Stargate stood quietly at the back of the long cave, the DHD center of the space, the MALP probe still lying on its side by the right wall. Daniel forced himself to hurry towards the Stargate, glued to their way home, but the ground surged once more and he staggered into Teal'c, who steadied him with one hand, guiding him to a wall in a dark corner. Daniel couldn't stop his knees from buckling, sliding him down to the ground.

"They're here!" Carter shouted, jumping clear of the growing pool of beetles forming near the entrance of the cave, all fleeing from the enlarging hole in the sand. She waved her torch towards the hole and could have sworn she heard something shriek. It reminded her of nails on chalkboard. She waved her torch madly over the new depression forming to her left, more bugs skittering away.

Jack barely grunted as he backed away as well, waving his torch, eyeing the dimming fire. "I can see that!" He skidded in the unstable ground, scrambling to get clear of the trilobites spilling out of the holes that were popping up out of nowhere. He was half tempted to drive his torch on the little swarming creatures instead, but that would be wasting their own trump card. "Teal'c! Spread them out!"

The Jaffa didn't say anything, already scattering the tents, shredded and bound into thick coils, making a circle at the entrance of the cave, sealing him and the rest of the team within the naturally formed Stargate chamber.

"I am ready, O'Neill!" Teal'c stepped away from the inverted semi-circle.

Jack grunted as he practically shoved the flame deep into a wide pit forming inside their shelter. "Light them!"

Carter tossed over her matches as she brought her torch to the circling coils. She nodded to the colonel and with Teal'c, lit the opposite ends of the material.

The fire flicked, hissing at the material, too stubborn to heat up immediately. Carter shot Jack a concerned look before casting another one a few feet away behind him, over to Daniel, who was shakily getting up on his feet.

"Come on, come on," muttered Jack as he ripped his left sleeve with his right hand, looping it off his wrist carefully. He bunched it up, lit the fabric with the fading torch and tossed it down the small hole developing an inch from his foot.

The hole screamed.

"Got it!" Carter announced as the material finally caught fire, slowly burning. She saw Teal'c was already moving to the center, lighting the area as well. Just in time too as she could see more and more sand dropping, forming holes just inches from their fiery shield. She clutched her torch tighter as she could see white limbs emerging in some, others just had flashes before retreating from the light.

Jack didn't reply as he stuck his torch near the border, spinning around to catch Daniel in time when the younger man's knees buckled. He swore softly, feeling the minute trembling in the body, Daniel's face white to the point of transparency.

"You going to make it?" Jack shouted above the sudden rifle fire. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Carter firing her weapon at something outside their boundaries. Something squealed. Jack turned his attentions back at Daniel, who was still struggling to stand. "Daniel, are you going to be okay?"

The archeologist's red-rimmed eyes were dull through the thick lenses, but they were on his face, trying hard to focus as they blinked furiously. "The DHD. Get me to the DHD."

"Never mind that." Jack fumbled around Daniel's vest, swearing softly as he couldn't find the archeologist's notebook. "Where's your pad? The symbols?"

"O'Neill!"

Jack's head spun around again at Teal'c's warning and saw a hole sinking rapidly by their feet. He growled, hauling Daniel up on his feet, arm wrapped securely around the scientist's waist as he moved them away.

A white limb, thin and blotched with grayish spots, shot out of the hole and grabbed him on the ankle. Jack fell forward, landing hard on Daniel. The younger man groaned, struggling feebly to crawl out.

"Sir!" Carter paused, her rifle towards O'Neill now, but she couldn't dare fire. The arm with its yellowing nails was dragging the colonel closer and closer.

Teal'c barked something in his language, staff weapon trained at the hole. The alien rushed over, pointed it at the hole and fired point blank.

The hand let go before sinking back into the hole.

"Teal'c!" Carter pointed to another depression forming. She watched in horror as three more appeared, the stale sour scent of the paralyzing agent already misting inside the cavern.

The Jaffa fired his weapon on the ground between the three new holes and only one hand appeared before plopping lifelessly on the ground.

Jack shook his leg, jerking away from the hole. He gripped Daniel's shoulder tightly before pulling him back up. One more glance at the pockets on Jackson's vest and he half dragged the archeologist towards the DHD. He glanced behind him, saw white fingers clawing out several holes and prodded Daniel with a slight push towards the dialing device, barking a "Go!" before he spun around, firing wildly at the new depressions. White limbs flailed, then disappeared as they abruptly pulled back. Heaving, Jack stood over the holes with his rifle aimed downwards but the humanoid creatures didn't surface.

Stumbling, heart hammering loud in his chest, Daniel could see the DHD close, then far away. He fell to his knees, then got up again, arms dangling because he simply didn't have the strength to wrapped them around himself to stop the chills racking his body. God his body ached, limbs stiffening as if he was ninety years old, tripping his efforts as the DHD tantalizingly veered further away.

So it came as a shock when he slammed into it, the edge butting him on the abdomen. Daniel doubled over.

"Daniel!" Jack heard the gasp, but didn't dare turn around. He had a hard enough time trying to concentrate, the familiar stench of the paralyzing drug the creatures used was beginning to fill the cavern. Thankfully, the cave was huge, taking longer to surround them and the barrier of fire was burning a lot of it, the winds that grew to full force rushing in and scattering most of it in the air. But still, his arms grew heavy and the rifle lowered then jerked up again as Jack bit the inside of his own mouth to stay alert. He stamped his feet to keep the circulation going. "Daniel! Dial up!"

The young man didn't respond, but sure enough, the first chevron light up and sounded off sweeter than any bell Jack ever heard. He would have hollered in relief.

If an arm hadn't shot up and grabbed his ankle.

"Colonel!"

With a sudden yank, Jack found himself on his stomach, staring at a huge hole in the sand, a glimpse of white spotted flesh approaching. He growled, yanking at his numbing leg, but the hand in the sand was strong, iron strong and squeezing painfully tight around his ankle and even that discomfort was fading fast. Too close, he was too close to the openings and the gas. Jack turned his face away, gulped in fresh air and pulled his weapon close to his body.

Then fired point blank at the white patch he just saw.

The hand around his leg twitched, claws digging deeper. Jack fired again and again as he felt sharp talon like fingers tearing boot leather before it flopped down.

The patch of white now spotted with red.

"O'Neill!"

Damn, damn, damn. What now? Jack sat up, heaving as he tried to clear his lungs of the poison, eyes tearing as he saw Carter and Teal'c also caught like he was. More and more holes were forming, the howling and shrieking outside their cave was gone as the underground creatures went below the sand to surface on their side.

"Hurry up with the symbols!" Jack shouted over his shoulder as he heard the third one lock and engage.

Daniel couldn't see. He tried, the panels blurring, then sharpening inches from his nose. Wheezing, he slapped a hand on the next symbol, staggering back as he had to reach the lower circle for the fifth symbol.

Locked.

He could hear his friends screaming, shouting, their voices mixing together into one unified, horrific sound. He whimpered, his head pounding, his chest hurting, heart beating in time with the screams- both human and inhuman. Monsters everywhere, they have to leave. They have to leave.

"Colonel!"

Daniel's head shot up and he turned to see, tensing when he saw Jack and Teal'c pinned on the ground, blurry white limbs wrapped on their legs, the sand around them vanishing as more of the bodies connected with the arms emerged.

Monsters. They weren't real, but they were. God, Daniel wanted to throw up. But instead, he slammed his tingling hands over the sixth symbol.

Locked. One more.

Daniel lurched, his head spun and the platform faded to black, then to its golden hue. Daniel gritted his teeth. He could do this. He couldn't fail. He couldn't! He reached for the last symbol, the inverted V at the second row.

And slammed face down to the ground. The lenses on his mask cracked.

Daniel gasped, pushing up on his elbows scrambling for the DHD, screaming as he saw a rubbery white face inches from his, the goggles' crack warping the face to appear broken into two. A pair of black pupil-less eyes half hidden by a brow hanging over them shone angrily, pincer like teeth snarling with white froth at him. Daniel jerked, twisted and grabbed onto the DHD, palms brushing downward for the last symbol, but felt a icy hand on his thigh, dragging him down slowly into the hole that had formed unknown to him right under his heels.

It was instinct. Daniel didn't even think as he filled his lungs and burst out screaming "JACK!" when he felt himself sinking, claws digging into his leg as his fingers slipped downward across the DHD panels.

* * * * *

"JACK!"

O'Neill spun around, half expecting the walls to be golden, hieroglyphics adorned the surfaces, Daniel on the ground with a smoking shoulder. But instead, he saw Daniel clawing the edge of the DHD, one symbol left to go, cut off at the knees as white hands were wrapped at his calves, dragging him down.

They were going to pull him under, suffocate them all before draining them dry.

Just like the others.

Jack fired at the sand at random, bullets sparking sand up into dry splashes. Trilobites fled, mist trailing behind them billowed to thick puffs as they escaped, diving for the sandy ground as Jack lurched towards his friend. Carter and Teal'c threw down their jackets, letting them burn as well, dragging the snapping fire on clothing across any hole they spied. Seeing they were handling their side, Jack twisted around to get to Daniel, skidding to a halt when he saw a row of pits trickling wider, blocking his path.

Pulling, Daniel gritted his teeth as he felt something slash through leather and into flesh. Another tug and the sand turned red, but he kept pulling, gasping as his chest tightened. The cavern darkened again.

No, not now, he thought urgently as he stretched his hand, fingertips scratching at the last symbol. The inverted V looked so far away. Another sharp pull and Daniel slammed against the DHD, chin knocking on the surface so hard, he saw stars exploding in front of him. Dropping his hand, Daniel fumbled out his sidearm. Desperately, he pointed it at the sand rising up to grab his thighs to pull him deeper.

Panting, Daniel squeezed off a shot. He kept on sinking.

Another.

He could feel nails on his calves now.

"Daniel!"

The Stargate. He needed to open the Stargate. He couldn't screw this up. He couldn't let them down again! Daniel cried out in pain as he felt a bite below the ground and fired off another shot, then another, and another.

The claws let go.

With a gasp, Daniel stretched, pulling himself out by clinging on to the dialing device. It gave him the reach he needed and with all his strength, he brought a fist down to the last symbol.

Chevron seven locked.

With a gush, a column of sparkling energy shot out vertically towards everyone before reversing. The vibrations, the sudden burst of light had the creatures reeling back with mixtures of shrieks and hisses.

Daniel flopped over the DHD, spent, heaving. He could hear more gunfire behind him, but couldn't move to help. His own weapon fell from his hands. He was so tired. His arms quivered with the strain and he wondered fuzzily if the mist had penetrated through the masks once more.

Resting his cheek on the warm thrumming red crystal, Daniel barely reacted as he felt Jack stagger up to him, grabbed him by the shoulders and was dragged towards the wormhole.

Jack thought his heart stopped when he saw Daniel sink further and further. The colonel hollered to Carter and Teal'c to get moving before he ran across the small depressions before they grow too wide to jump over. A slip and he was down on the ground again. Already weakened from before, Jack couldn't kick off one stubborn grip on his ankle, rifle all but empty. Jack was force to resort to swinging his rifle like a bat, cracking them down on whatever white limbs daring to rise above the sand.

Rapid gunfire rung behind him and Jack whipped his head back. Daniel had one hand clutching the DHD, one hand waving a gun wildly at the ground, eyes huge as he emptied his entire clip on the sand around him. The wild expression made Jack flinch, but he didn't complain as Daniel wrenched free and staggered to the device and stomped in the last symbol.

Home.

The sound of the wormhole coming to life never sounded sweeter. Jack could see the relief in Carter's face as she spun around, firing wildly at the ground like he did, before shouting to him she was punching in the codes.

Teal'c thrusted his staff weapon down on the sand, bringing it back up with its tip red and glossy. He raced over, grabbed Jack bodily off the ground and pulled him towards the Stargate. Jack could see Daniel shaking on top of the DHD. Grabbing one arm, Teal'c the other, Jack wanted to tell his friend they were going home. But instead, he just dragged the senseless archeologist close to the wormhole, knowing the bright pool would deter the sand dwellers, he honestly didn't know what else to call them.

"Go!" Carter shouted as her GDO turned green. She staggered to the wormhole, looking like she was going to fold over, shoved through with an urgent hand by Jack. Then, not even giving the cavern another look as the cricking sound grew, the predators bolder now, Jack and Teal'c with Daniel framed between them, leaped through the Stargate.

The sudden switch from running to be pulled in a long stretch as stars flashed by left Jack a little breathless by the time he came through to the overwhelmingly welcomed SGC walls, slamming down onto the ramp amidst startled shouts and sirens. He heard his own voice wheezing about closing the iris. The soft spin of metal shutting behind him sounded so sweet. Even the alarms sounded like chimes.

"Medics report to the embarkation room!"

"Major Carter, are you alright?"

"What happened here?"

"Colonel? Sir? Can you answer me?"

Then again...

"M okay...quit pulling...Daniel...is he okay?"

"Get the stretcher over here!" Jack heard way too many voices for his head to take. He groaned a protest, feeling hands pulling him up to his feet. Head drooping, he saw Daniel being lifted onto a stretcher, Teal'c staggering to his feet. The archeologist didn't react to all the activity around him.

"Colonel." General Hammond's solemn face blurred, then sharpened in front of Jack. "Glad to see you're all alright."

Jack straightened a bit, trying to speak, but Hammond interrupted him again. "It can wait, colonel. Go get your men checked out first."

Drifting over to the stretcher with Daniel being carried away, Jack's shoulders slumped a little. All of the sudden, he felt exhausted, drained-literally, the past days finally making themselves known. With a brief nod, Jack followed the procession out with a hobble, shaking off the medics' hovering with a snarl, following determinedly behind Daniel's stretcher with Teal'c and Carter straggling behind him wearing the same resolute expressions on their faces. No one tried to ask them to lie down on stretchers either. Everyone just backed away, letting the team pass.

* * * * *

Heavy.

His eyes felt heavy, like someone was sitting on them. Come to think of it, his chest felt heavy, too. Heavy, weighty, being dragged down some deep tunnel with no end in sight.

Wrinkling his nose, Daniel felt the pull to wake, a voice inside insisting he did so right away, but he was reluctant to leave the warm wrappings around him, snug and secure. However, he could feel his body moving under thick covers grudgingly, so he opened his eyes and saw the bright lights. Immediately, he turned his head to avoid the painful brightness.

And found himself staring at the IV pole, a cord of red snaking down to his arm.

Fuzzily, he looked at the plastic tubing filled with something red inside, for the life of him, unable to figure out what it was and why was it attached with a small piece of white tape to his inner elbow. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he trailed the tubing back up to its source- a bag of blood hanging off the top of the IV pole.

Tentatively, Daniel touched the tubing hanging inches from his hand and winced as it jiggled both ends, rattling the IV stand, pulling at the needle on his arm. He blinked, seeing the bag become twins and wondered if he was just seeing double and gave the tubing a tentative touch again. The stand did its dance once more and he now realizing there were two bags after all.

"Watch it," a tired voice complained to his left. "Don't spill the drinks."

Turning his head took a little effort, his neck felt so stiff, but pretty soon, Daniel met a pair of tired dark eyes looking back at him.

"Hey." Relieved to see Daniel finally awake after so many hours, Jack cracked a grin at him.

Daniel kept staring at Jack for a moment.

The colonel's smile faded. "Daniel?"

Lashes hooded over blue and then the eyes widened again, fighting the fatigue. Daniel broke the contact, towards the ceiling again. He thought of the past days and shut out the outside light, feeling the glare beating against his eyelids. He could hear Jack waiting, not speaking, but waiting all the same. For one fleeting moment, he could hear Jack's voice, asking him if he had saw those beetles the whole time. Jack didn't sound upset. Then again, everyone sounded warped and distorted with the way he felt floating through the whole ordeal. Daniel sighed out loud.

"I'm sorry..."

Jack barely heard the soft stutter. He raised his head off his pillow a few inches before he had to drop it again, panting, bewildered. "What? What are you talking about?"

Too late, Daniel fell back asleep.

* * * * *

He could feel their hands gripping his arms, yanking them back to wrap ties around wrists, laughing as he lost his balance and slammed onto the padded floor.

Hands braced down on his chest. Daniel arched his back, screaming, arms whipping out to defend himself, a sharp prick on his elbow warned him they were going to drug him again, to shut him up, to keep him buried under layers of mental fog. He wasn't crazy! He wasn't! They had to believe him!

"It's okay, it's okay!" The surface he was on leaned in, lowering as a warm body drew closer, grabbing his wrists, but not too tightly. A firm squeeze around his fingers to still his flailing arms. "Come on...wake up...it's over, Daniel."

No it wasn't. Why didn't this person understand it was never over? They always wait and watch for him to succumb to a madness he never had. Always waiting to lock him away again. Daniel struggled, not wanting to feel coarse fabric around his arms, or feel hands forcing him still before the needles came to steal away his thinking. He whimpered as he felt the arms go around him, over his shoulders and he drew up what strength he had and twisted free.

Voices were talking above his head, footsteps pounding loud towards him. No, not this again. Daniel rolled to his side, crawling to escape.

Arms wrapped around him once more, pulling him up. Daniel twisted, told the stranger he wasn't crazy in a frenzied scream. It was Machello. Machello! Why wouldn't they listen?

"I am. I'm listening now, Daniel. Sh..."

Lies. All lies. He could hear them lurking in the background to get him, to tie him down. God he thought they were gone! They said he was cured, he was fine. They let him leave that place. Why can't he move?

Jack. Call Jack. Tell Mackenzie about Machello. And tell them to call Jack. He'll help him. He has to.

"I'm here. Daniel, listen to my voice. Come on, listen to me. It's okay. I swear, it's okay..."

Daniel bit back a frustrated whimper. So tired. The drugs. The hands that wouldn't let him go, pulling and tugging him to binding straps, sneering as he fought to explain when he pounded at his door, screaming for Mackenzie. Hurt. Everything hurt...

"What's going on?" More voices, more footsteps. Garbled, loud, then quiet, then loud again. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew they were bad. Very bad.

"I don't know! He started yelling. We tried to go and check on him, but the colonel wouldn't let us come near-"

"Colonel, I'm going to need you to step away first and let me check on him. He's still a bit disoriented."

"You get those things away first. He doesn't need them-"

"He's become agitated. They're for his own good."

A panicked whimper escaped his throat, the sound uncaring how it would make him look. Daniel turned, and felt a wall blocking his escape. A hand pressed against the side of his head. It felt strong and reassuring, compelling him to calm down and wait to hear what unfolds.

"Good, my ass. You take those restraints away before I shove them up where the sun doesn't shine!"

"What's going on here?"

"Doctor Fraiser, he-"

"Doc, tell these pinheads to back off."

"Colonel, they're just trying to he-"

"I said tell them to back...off."

No one was talking any more. Daniel heard all the voices stop. He wanted to open his eyes, but it was hard, so hard. His head pounded with the rapid beat of the heart he could feel thumping under his left ear, telling him it was a chest he was pressed against not a wall as he'd first thought. He shuffled away, or tried to, but the strong hand was back, moving down to the curve of his neck to rest there. Daniel held his breath, wondering who and why this person was even bothering.

"Go, I'll handle this myself."

"But Doctor Fr-"

"I'll deal with it."

Daniel tensed as he heard footsteps, muffled taps on a floor, but they were going away. He slide his head against the chest, straining to hear, to be sure. Sure enough, they were fading away. But the hand remained.

"They're gone now, buddy."

He couldn't quite make out who was talking, but the voice sounded assuring and he relaxed a little more.

"Colonel, he's a little disoriented from the mild sedatives we gave him to help him sleep. They were only trying to-"

"I know, I know, but the last thing he needs is to...wait, hold up. Daniel?" Fingers tapped at his cheek. Daniel uttered a sleepy sigh, opening his eyes a crack, but it was too difficult to keep them open and the world became dark again. The fingers rapped on his cheek once more. The sensation felt familiar. "Looked like he was coming to, Doc."

"Possibly. I need to check his blood pressure again."

"Wait. He uh...ripped his IV off."

"Damn. Okay...why don't you hold this over his elbow first to stop the bleeding? We'll get this in him again. He needs this transfusion..."

Voices. So many voices again. Some far away, some sounding so close. He felt like he was surrounded. Daniel swung his head left and right, trying to break free. The darkness lurched and twisted around him.

A hand, soft with wrappings around it, came on top of his head. Daniel flinched, expecting the blow to come any minute, but instead, received a gentle scratch on his scalp before the hand pulled away.

He paused.

Who...?

"That's it, buddy...come back..."

Daniel wrinkled his nose. That voice...

Knuckles rubbed against his left inner elbow. "Shouldn't go pulling out stuff you need in you, big guy." The voice paused. It continued on in the deep, gruff voice. "Doc went through all that trouble to get you your blood type and you go yanking it off the stand."

He felt his head rolled back, unable to stop himself. So tired. It felt like he hadn't slept in a long, long time. No, wait, he hadn't. Maybe that was why everything felt out of phase.

"Come on...enough with the silent treatment already." The speaker didn't sound annoyed, rather, the timbre had an odd accent to it, something he couldn't grasp.

Gentle swaying shifted his world and Daniel relaxed. He didn't know why. He's still waiting for the needle prick, for the heavy straps that hurt his arms, for the men to beat him down because they said he attacked him. Like he attacked...Jack.

Daniel moaned. Maybe he belonged here. Maybe he deserved getting locked away.

"Sh..." The hand was back on top of his head again. "It's alright. We're all back, mission over."

He was crazy, perhaps always had been as many said behind his back, speaking too loudly to be suspected on being kind. Daniel fumbled, trying to leave the speaker who was insistent on him staying where he was. He felt thin clothing, the solid form of an arm before he felt someone tapping at his cheek.

"Wake up, Daniel."

He opened his eyes once more.

And saw gray hair and deep shadowed eyes that lightened the moment he blinked.

Jack.

"Bout time," O'Neill quipped. He eased Daniel back down on the bed, grinning crookedly at the younger man, who was still staring at him debating if he was real. Jack pulled at the covers up to Daniel's chest. "Had us going there."

"What?" Daniel asked faintly, shutting his eyes tightly as the room spun crazily.

"We got out of there. Remember?"

Flickering images of him having a death grip on the DHD, white limbs pulling him under made Daniel tense.

"Whoa. Relax. We got out. You got us out."

Jack sat down on the nearby empty chair, shrugging when Daniel finally focused and saw the similar hospital gown on the colonel. He started to run a hand through his hair before wincing, lowering his right hand bandaged in spidery layers of gauze. "Doc just likes to see her infirmary filled, that's all," he quipped when Daniel shot him a silent question.

"Makes for good business?" Daniel whispered, smiling wanly as the older man chuckled. His grin wavered when he caught a glimpse of white bandages under the colonel's collar, concealing a welt he knew was there. He swallowed, looking around the area of his bed, realizing.

"Sam? Teal'c?"

"Got tested and were discharged yesterday." Jack nodded towards the IV stand down by Daniel's feet. "You and I were a little running on empty. Got a special invitation by Doc to stay longer." O'Neill scowled, never liking to stay here. It was then, Daniel noticed that the curtain was shut around his bed and an adjacent empty one.

"Didn't think you wanted an audience while you had your...reruns," Jack explained, catching the eyes wandering towards the hanging drape. Daniel turned back to him.

"Thanks," Daniel murmured, sinking back on the bed. He blinked in surprise as Jack quietly fiddled with the bed controls, easing the bed up halfway until Daniel was eye level with the colonel.

"You were out for quite some time," Jack told him.

Daniel scrubbed his hands over his face, grimacing as he realized he could use a shave. He looked over and saw the same five o'clock shadow on Jack. "H-how long?"

"Almost two days."

Startled, Daniel lowered his hands. "Two days?"

The thin frown on Jack's face said it all. "Doc said you needed the rest. Apparently," he drawled, "She thinks you need a lot more rest, considering you haven't been sleeping well recently."

"I sleep fine," Daniel muttered.

"Sure. I can tell," Jack commented dryly. He watched Daniel pick at his covers, not commenting, and sighed. "Daniel, can I ask you something?"

Cautiously, the younger man raised his eyes.

"When we first got here, you sort of...uh...woke up for a second there..." Jack rubbed the back of his neck ruefully, looking incredibly uncomfortable, mouth twisted to a grimace. "You said..." He hesitated, taking a deep breath before he continued on. "You said you were sorry."

Daniel turned slightly away and watched the shadows of the carts against the curtain.

"Daniel?"

"I didn't do anything," Daniel whispered. "The whole time we were there. I should have said something sooner." A bitter taste rose in his throat. "If I had said something sooner, we would have left before they hurt any of you."

"Hold up there," Jack gripped both armrests as he tried to interrupt, but Daniel didn't hear any of it.

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut. "I kept thinking I must be dreaming all this, imagining it. I...I didn't want to lose what I had left of what you guys thought of me. I...I..."

Jack's voice, while quiet, cut through Daniel's with sudden clarity. "I'm the one who's sorry."

Startled, Daniel gaped at Jack. "E-excuse me?"

"We went about this all wrong." Jack waved a hand from him to Daniel. "I was hoping...hell, this mission was going to set things right again, you know?"

Daniel shook his head. "Uh...I still don't understand."

The colonel pursed his lips, struggling to find the words. Finally, he leaned forward, staring right at Daniel.

"I never should have left you there." Jack didn't elaborate on where "there" was. He knew Daniel would draw up the same place in his mind.

Daniel closed his eyes.

"That wasn't a place for you. I told you everything was going to be okay and-"

"But everything did turn out okay," Daniel said softly. "I mean...I'm not there anymore."

Jack looked at him seriously, sadness making his eyes look older, appearing every year of his age. "Did everything really come out okay?" He nodded towards Daniel. "If so, why didn't you tell me about those bugs when you first saw them?"

Biting his lower lip, Daniel shrugged.

"That's it?" Jack imitated Daniel. "Is that how it's going to be like in this team from now on? Just..." he shrugged again. "This?" He leaned back into his seat, massaging his neck tiredly.

"Daniel...you could have told me."

"Would you have believed me?" Daniel blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Yes," Jack answered without hesitation, eyes dark with certainty.

Daniel tilted his head slightly, staring at Jack with wide disbelief.

The colonel arched an eyebrow. "Why would you think I wouldn't?" He sobered. "Didn't you think I would?"

Lowering his eyes, Daniel didn't say anything.

"Daniel," Jack said quietly. "I'm going to ask you the same question I'd asked before..." He paused, waiting for the young man to raise his head and face him. Slowly, Daniel reluctantly did. "Do..." Jack stopped again. Staring at Daniel, he said it out in a rush.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Daniel didn't have to stop to think about it at all, mouth partially opened as if the question was ridiculous to ask in the first place.

The older man studied him with sharp scrutiny, gaze boring through him, peeling back the layers of false assurances Daniel grew accustomed to uttering on cue. Daniel inwardly flinched at the uncomfortable study but forced himself to not break contact.

A smile broke out of Jack's lips.

Daniel couldn't bring himself to return it as he felt the fluttering of another ill feeling inside him. "I just...don't trust myself," whispered Daniel as he sank down deeper into the cushions after the confession.

The colonel's smile faded.

"Why?" Jack asked softly.

Daniel didn't answer, biting his lower lip as he stared at his legs under the covers. He dropped his head back on the pillow, closing his eyes briefly.

The colonel could be heard sighing, shifting in his seat, not leaving. For a moment, Daniel toyed briefly with the idea of maybe pretending to fall back asleep and would be left alone again. He didn't want to think about it anymore. His back ached from sitting up too long, from keeping his dignity as stiff as his posture. He just wanted to sleep and hope for better dreams this time around.

"Not going to work, buddy boy."

Daniel refused to respond.

"Hate to tell you this, but I ain't going away." Jack's chair creaked. "You're stuck here and I sure as hell ain't going to sit back for another two weeks and watch you analyze every single rock just to avoid talking about this anymore."

"I'm-"

"And don't give me that I'm fine line. Kept feeding that to me so much I'm gonna have to go on a diet."

Breathing out tiredly, Daniel opened his eyes. Jack was right there still in his chair.

Satisfied, Jack folded his arms in front of him. "That's better." He sobered when he saw Daniel wasn't laughing. He wasn't even smiling. Jack studied the younger man for a moment, rolling the possible things he could say, mentally discarding them as quickly as he drew them up. Finally, he spoke up again.

"Daniel...do you think I'm crazy?"

Started, Daniel gaped at Jack. "Huh?"

Patting himself on the chest, Jack repeated "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"W-what...w-why would you think that?" Daniel was still staring at Jack.

O'Neill shrugged slowly, casually. "Oh...you know...back in the labs, I had those things in me and sort of went...psycho." Jack grimaced, remembering how cramped he felt when he finally came to curled up tighter than a square knot, Carter's anxious face and the huge needle she stuck him with the first things coming to view.

"That didn't make you crazy," Daniel protested, pushing away from the bedding with his hands to sit up higher. "Y-you...I mean, Machello had those things and they w-went in you."

"And made me nuts," Jack reminded him. "Or catatonic if you wanna get fancy." He scratched his chin with his finger. "I can go bonkers any time again." He waggled his eyebrows at Daniel. "Any minute I could be coming at your throat. Doesn't that make you nervous?"

"No, because you wouldn't because you were never crazy in the first place!" Daniel argued, mind reeling. What was Jack thinking? "Just because you had those things in you doesn't label you as certifiable." That took the last of his ability to stay upright and Daniel went flop back on the bed, drained.

"I see." For some reason, Jack sounded very smug.

"What?" Daniel asked tiredly, arm up to his eyes. His head was pounding again.

"So, Machello's booby traps made us crazy, not us being crazy ourselves."

"Yes, yes," Daniel muttered, wondering what Jack was getting at.

"So technically...we're not crazy at all."

Daniel lowered his arms, staring at Jack. The colonel shrugged, still looking very smug, like a cat who just had all the cream.

"Okay...maybe...eccentric." Jack leaned into his seat, waiting.

Daniel opened his mouth then snapped it shut. "It's not the same, you know."

"What? All rules of the universe apply with the exception of Doctor Jackson?" Jack drawled, arching an eyebrow high above his brow.

"It was different for you," Daniel blurted out. "You didn't attack anyone!"

"I have to get this Goa'uld out of you!"

The amusement drained away from Jack's expression. Sober, he shook his head. "You didn't attack me, Daniel."

"I jumped at you! I tried to-"

"Tried to help me."

Daniel stopped.

Jack sat forward, looking at him earnestly. "I should know, Daniel. I was there."

Biting the inside of his mouth, Daniel said nothing.

"Daniel, you thought there was a Goa'uld, right?"

"I saw it," Daniel whispered. "It went right in you."

Jack's mouth soured. He remembered a snake going into him as well, the pain so hot e thought it boiled him from the inside out before the sensation of being smothered by another presence collided with his conscious. He had to fight just to think of his own name every step of the way.

Daniel caught the brown eyes clouding with the memory and murmured regretfully "Didn't mean to...remind you."

"S'okay," Jack waved him off. "Deal with. Over and done with. We had a few beers over it and got past it."

"I remember," Daniel said softly. He could still see Jack slumped down on his couch back at his apartment, their beer bottles rolling empty across his floor. They didn't really get much talking down that night, but somehow waking up to hear Jack snoring like a freight train on his couch made the bad lingering taste he always get with Hathor ebb away like water through his fingers.

"Too bad we can't do that here." Jack smiled wanly. "This is going to take some working on." He pointed to Daniel. "But we will get past this" He set his jaw, determined.

Daniel studied Jack carefully. He saw nothing but concern. Daniel dropped his gaze. "You don't need to lie to me to make me feel better, Jack. I know what happened. They told me-"

"Who told you?" The older man sat up higher, claws over the armrests again.

Brow knitted together, Daniel tried to recall. "Don't know...faces...the people who were taking care of me."

"If you can call it that," Jack muttered angrily.

"Huh?"

Jack shook his head when he saw Daniel's worried look. "Daniel, those guys back there who helped, and I'm using the term loosely here, were lying." Jack gestured towards his own body. "See? Perfectly fine." Jack caught Daniel's pointed look at the bandages over his right hand and shoulder where the welts are. "Okay," Jack corrected, "Going to be fine." He tilted his head towards Daniel. "Like you will be."

Daniel stared at the ceiling. "They told me..." He frowned. "No, I sort of remember they said...I...I attacked you and tried to harm one of them. That's why they put the jacket on me-" He stopped.

"I see," Jack said tightly. "And who were these people again?"

Daniel blinked, puzzled. "I don't know...aides for the ward. Why?"

Drumming his fingers on the armrest, Jack muttered "No reason". He debated on whether or not if he could manage to sneak out of the base for a little side trip and investigation without Fraiser snapping at his heels with a huge syringe as she's been always threatening every time he got up to check on Daniel. He paused, seeing Daniel yawn. Jack shook his head as he saw the archeologist try to stay awake, shifting on the bed wincing. "No, we can talk more later about this." Jack rose from his chair, shuffling over to Daniel's bedside. He surprised the younger man by pulling the covers up higher on Daniel. He started to turn to head back to his bed when Daniel shot out his hand, catching his left hand with a startling spurt of strength. Jack stopped mid track and pivoted around again.

"You trust me?" The edge of surprise in Daniel's voice sounded so sad to Jack, the hand curling tight around his wrist felt anxious.

Smiling, giving the hand a reassuring pat, Jack nodded. "More than I trust myself at times, Daniel."

Apprehensive eyes stayed on his face. "And...you don't think I'm cr-"

Jack didn't let him finish the thought. "No," he said firmly. "I don't. Neither does Carter or Teal'c. Don't ever doubt that."

Daniel's eyes fluttered shut, then back open again. Darting around the colonel's face, Daniel tried to scope out the answers he so wanted to believe. Jack schooled a certain expression, letting his words reflect out of his eyes.

Whatever Daniel saw made his eyes lighten with relief, his fingers lax, slipping out of Jack's grasp. Even the smile he gave Jack was genuine. While a small one at best, considering how they were before, Jack took what he can get and slap a mental sticker bellowing "Progress" all over it.

"Get some rest, big guy," Jack murmured, standing there watching as Daniel nodded sleepily, eyes already half shut. With another yawn, Daniel turned on his side, muttering "Night, Jack" before falling silent.

It took a few seconds, but Jack could see the rigid back finally easing, relaxing to a deeper sleep. He stood there, waiting, making sure no nightly visitors came and rip his sleep to bloody shreds. When the archeologist slept on comfortably, Jack folded his arms across his chest. He looked over his shoulder at the curtain, snorting.

"Just how long were you planning to stand there anyway?"

After a moment, Doctor Fraiser slipped between the curtain shielding the two beds, IV bag in hand. She appeared apologetic. "I was only there for a few minutes. Didn't want to interrupt."

Jack nodded towards the IV bag she brought over to replace the one Daniel inadvertently destroyed during his nightmare. "I thought you said he needed that, Doc."

She indicated back to the sleeping archeologist. "It looked like he needed the other thing more."

Shrugging, Jack muttered "Yeah, well, this isn't over yet by a long shot..."

"But a start," Fraiser offered.

A smile cracked through and the colonel nodded. "That it is."

The doctor made a point to walk behind Jack, pause for a few seconds, before completing the loop to the IV stand where she hung the last bag of blood. "Colonel," she said softly.

Jack scratched his arm, avoiding another bandage over it, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Off my feet." His voice lowered to a grumble. "I feel fine now."

"You had a very low blood pressure figure and while the transfusion helped, I am concerned about those bites. I rather you two rest while we monitor them carefully," Fraiser said. She paused before adding "But that wasn't what I was going to say." She cleared her throat delicately. "I would suggest, no, recommend, that you get back into bed before Major Carter comes back from her checkup to see you two."

"Eh?"

Fraiser cleared her throat again. "Uh...I could ask one of the nurses to get a robe for you, if you like, sir."

Suddenly Jack became very aware of the draft behind him. His ears flushed a brilliant red as he reached behind him and grabbed the flaps shut. "Doc! Why didn't you say something sooner- Oh for Pete's sake..."

Fraiser tried not to smile when she heard the colonel ducking back into his bed, flinging covers over him just as twin pairs of eager footsteps came through, Sam chiming out "Sir! How are you and Daniel feeling?", the colonel muttering "Swell, swell, a little drafty but swell..." before drawing up his covers high up his chest, shooting a glare at the doctor's failure to hide her amusement from him.

* * * * *

He could feel them crawling over him, metallic clicking and screeching that grew louder and louder. Again, he couldn't move. Couldn't even shout if he wanted to. When the first white deformed shape solidified before him with teeth and claws, he could only watch as them descend over him, the screams of his teammates echoing around him.

Nightly episodes of how screwy his head can be during sleep were nothing new to Jack. So waking up from them barely needed more than his eyes flying open to quickly dart left and right to make sure it was a dream.

White pillowcases, cream-colored blankets tucked into neat corners met his wary gaze and Jack remembered where he was before he relaxed. That's what it usually took to get him settled back on reality, zoning in on a familiar item until it sharpened to view. Sleeping with one hand on a gun under the pillow tend to make a person edgy enough to drop off and wake up at the snap of a finger. And the few seconds it takes to settle back on two feet can cost a life or more.

Lying on his side, staring at the wall with his shadow illuminated by the overhanging fluorescent lights, Jack vaguely heard someone creeping into the curtained off area he and Daniel were resting in. At first, his left palm slipped into his pillow, hidden by the blankets his curled up form made into a burrow, finding nothing. He rolled his eyes at himself when the newcomer sat down gingerly at his seat by Daniel's bed. The light footsteps already told him who it was. He was about to sit up, ask why the person wasn't resting or finishing the reports when he heard the bed next to him creak.

"Hey," Carter said softly.

"S-sam?" Daniel, never the kind to snap awake, sounded groggy still. Jack wished he had his watch, but they took it off before jabbing him with as many needles and poke him with as many icy cold stethoscopes Fraiser could think of. But judging how quiet the infirmary is, it sounded like the night shift to him. He frowned.

"Didn't mean to wake you." Still whispering, probably so she wouldn't wake Jack, the Major made a shushing sound as Daniel tried to sit up, the bed making the squeaky noises as the mattress shifted over its springs. "No, no, stay down."

"Something wrong?" Daniel slurred, growing more alert.

"No...just came to see how you were doing. See if the colonel was ticking off any more nurses as usual." The tone was light and teasing.

Hey, Jack groused, but kept quiet as he shifted on his pillow, turning his right ear above his covers to hear. Carter paused, listening for a second before relaxing when Jack stilled.

"I uh...also came to give you this."

A low thud as something landed on Daniel's covers. Jack eavesdropped, the sound of plastic clicking open before Daniel murmured "That's right. Left my glasses back...back there. We were kind of in a rush to leave from what I gathered." Wire frames parted and Jack could hear Daniel slipping on the glasses with a whispered hush. He could imagine the archeologist peering through the lenses, blinking as he adjusted to the new pair.

"Yeah, the colonel sort of mentioned that when I came before to see him."

"He...h-he did?" Daniel was audibly surprised. Jack could imagine him blinking blue saucer plates at Carter.

"Colonel kind of mentioned you may want the same pair again and me and Teal'c sort of..." Carter's chair squeaked. "We wanted to get you the replacement pair. Took a few days to track down your prescription and get it filled though."

The plastic clicked again as Daniel must have slipped his new pair back into the case. "Uh...that's okay. Not that I needed them right now." The bed shifted and rustled again. "I'm told...make that ordered, to stay here until my blood pressure levels out okay." The frown was audible in his tone. "And she forbade anyone from bringing anything here for me to do or read."

A quiet chuckle. "Still lightheaded?"

"Very."

Jack frowned. Daniel didn't mention anything like that before. Seconds later, he winced. Then again, they weren't talking about his medical condition either at the time.

"I could get someone-" Carter rose from the chair, the wheels quietly whirring back the seat as she moved.

"No. I'm fine."

There's that "I'm fine" thing again, Jack thought.

Carter's shadow stood straight on Jack's wall before she sat back down again. "You don't look fine."

"Well...neither does Jack."

Carter laughed as Jack grumbled to himself. Get no respect here.

"But honestly, I do feel fine."

A long pregnant pause hung around the room.

"Or at least," Daniel finally admitted. "I will be."

Jack smiled to himself. Like I said to Doc...it's a start.

"It's a start," Carter said, unknowingly echoing O'Neill's sentiment. She stopped, clearing her throat. Their conversation must have bordered uncomfortably on emotions no one wanted to admit yet. "Uh...I still had some of my samples from back...you know...there."

"And?" Daniel asked quietly.

"You were right. Different periods. Some spanning at least a thousand years."

Give or take a hundred, Jack thought amused.

"Give or take a hundred," Daniel joked weakly.

Jack clamped his mouth with his bandaged hand to stop from laughing. Typical.

There was no laughter audible in Daniel's voice thought as he went on. "So...I was right?"

Jack frowned again. Why did he sound so unsure?

"Yes, Daniel," Carter said very gently. "You were."

"Oh." Daniel didn't sound very happy about it.

"We...found some hard shell pieces in the only backpack we had left." The chair squeaked once more as Carter pivoted in her chair. "Looks like those beetles or trilobites were sort of descendants of the kinds we had here." A long pause and she was heard moistening her mouth nervously. "I had smaller beakers of soil samples, one core sample that was in the pack and we found...bone shards in those."

"Where were they from?" Daniel asked, nothing revealed in his voice.

"Samples from the caves."

Oy, Jack thought with a grimace.

"So," Daniel began, "People came through the Stargate, camped out in the caves and then they were...taken...one by one." He sighed. "And we were there the whole time."

"We got out of there," she reassured the archeologist.

"Barely," Daniel bit out.

"Daniel...you're not blaming yourself are you?"

"I should." Falling silent, Daniel could be heard opening and closing his eyeglass case. "Sam," he asked in a small voice. "If I had said something sooner...would you have believed me?"

Carter paused. "I don't know."

God damn it, Jack grumbled, tensing to sit up.

Hurtful silence filled the room.

"But I wouldn't have dismissed the possibility."

"Huh?"

"Daniel, you know me. I would have needed some sort of...evidence to support this."

"Oh." Daniel sounded disappointed.

"But," she added with emphasis. "Had you told me, I would have gone and find what we needed to prove it." The chair squealed as she rolled it closer to Daniel. "I wouldn't have dismissed it like we did before."

"Before?"

"When you said you felt something brush by you." Carter sighed. "At the time, I think we didn't think much of it. Then Janet and Doctor Mackenzie came up with all those facts and files..."

"It's okay, Sam."

"No," she said fiercely. "It's not okay."

Daniel whispered "But it will be."

Jack nodded to himself. Damn straight it will be.

Soft rustling could be heard, the bed and chair creaking. Jack arched an eyebrow, wondering what they were doing, turning his head over his shoulder. He smiled as he saw the two hugging, settling back into the bed waiting as they parted with a few sniffs.

"Why don't you go back to sleep?" Carter whispered. "I'll stay here until you do."

"Thanks, Sam." The bed shifted as Daniel slide back down on his back.

"Daniel?"

The bed stilled.

"The colonel believed you."

Jack could hear the smile. "Yes, I know." Daniel took a deep breath. "That's why it will be okay."

The chair squeaked again as Carter leaned into her chair. "Night, Daniel."

"Night, Sam."

Jack laid there, feeling some of the tension seeping off his back finally. He smiled, remembering Teal'c had come in before as well, while not talking, had been standing like on sentry duty by the curtains. He saw the Jaffa in the shadows of the dim room during a particularly restless hour, turned on his side and caught Daniel staring at Teal'c solemnly in the dark. No words were exchanged, but Jack suspected it helped all the same.

"Night, sir," Carter said out of the blue.

Jack's grin broadened. Why am I not surprised? Out loud, he drawled "Night, Carter." He pressed down on his pillow again. Jack suppressed the chuckle as he drifted back to sleep with the full knowledge everything was going to be just fine.

* * * * *

A few days later, Daniel took a deep breath and swung his legs down to the infirmary floor.

Nothing.

Smiling now, grateful the room no longer spun, Daniel finished up putting on his shoes. He took the hard case on the end table and carefully unfolded the eyewear. Staring at them for a moment, his smile grew and he slipped them on, the earpieces snug behind his ears. Blinking owlishly through them, he finished buttoning the warm woolen shirt the nurse left him along with the grey slacks neatly folded by his bed. Eager to leave before Doctor Fraiser changed her mind about the discharge again, he fumbled with the last button before standing up.

"All set?"

Daniel turned and saw Jack leaning casually against the doorway, only a small bandage peeking out from under the collar of his favorite green plaid shirt hinted at his injuries. The colonel shoved his hands stuck in his pockets. "Came to get you."

"Uh...I thought General Hammond had us all on stand down," Daniel hedged.

"He did." Jack tossed up a set of keys up and down in his left hand, the other still taped up.

Daniel arched his left brow as he saw the right hand not only had a bandage, but also the knuckles were bruised, reddish over the hard bumps. "I didn't remember that happening. When was that?"

Jack froze. "Eh?"

Pointing to the hand, Daniel frowned worriedly.

To the archeologist's surprise, Jack shuffled his feet, sticking his hands back in his pockets. "Uh...that was something...eh...I'll tell you about it later."

"Later?"

Jack grinned broadly suddenly. "Funny story. Some guys ran into my fists."

Daniel peered over the rim of his new glasses. "Ran into your- Jack?"

The smile faltered. "Uh...Honest, it was an accident."

Shocked, Daniel gaped at him as he made the connection. "Y-you d-didn't?"

Face of pure innocent, Jack leaned at the doorframe. "Didn't what?"

"Jack, don't tell me you went back there and-"

"Need to talk to you later," Jack said quietly, the jovial tone abruptly dropped. "About filing a complaint."

Daniel fell silent.

"What they did wasn't right, Daniel." Jack scowled. "Something should be done officially. A bunch of punches isn't going to fix this."

Daniel looked over his glasses at him again. "I thought you said they ran into your fists."

The colonel waggled his eyebrows. "Well." He cleared his throat before Daniel could fumble around the increasingly uncomfortable topic. "Anyway, General Hammond granted us leave for a week. We decided for the sake of the team, we should go do something together."

"I was going to check my office and see if-" Daniel stopped. "Wait a minute...We?"

Sam popped up her head around Jack. "Hi!" She stepped aside, waving a duffel bag Daniel recognized came from his office while allowing Teal'c to reveal himself as well.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c greeted, his voice deep with approval. "It is good to see you well."

"Guys..." Daniel was baffled. "Where are we going?"

"Road trip," Sam said cheerfully.

"Fishing!" Jack chimed in at the same time.

Everyone stared at O'Neill.

"Uh...fishing?" Sam sputtered. "I thought we voted on a road trip, sir!"

"Indeed," Teal'c rumbled as he took a speechless Daniel's jacket from his hands. "We had all voted on the other venture."

Jack turned to Daniel. "What say? Road trip or fishing?"

"Uh, well, I ah..." Daniel stuttered, still trying to piece together the conversation he felt he walked in the middle of. "Listen, I really should go to the labs and catch up on-"

Jack shook a finger at him. "I'm going to take that as a vote for fishing, then."

"Sir!"

Snickering, Jack draped an arm around Daniel's shoulder, leading him out of the room, following after Carter and Teal'c.

"Honestly, sir, if I knew you were going to-" Carter grumbled as she ran ahead to get the elevator.

Walking slowly, trailing behind deliberately, Jack looked sideways at Daniel, who was deep in thought. The younger man was chewing his lower lip. Sobering, Jack slipped his arm off. "Hey."

Daniel turned towards him.

Jack's hand circled the air. "It's okay, you know...if you don't feel up to it." The older man shrugged as if no big deal. But he studied Daniel, waiting expectantly.

"I still say road trip, sir! And I'm driving!" Sam hollered down the hallway, impatiently gesturing to the men to hurry up.

"No way!" Jack shouted back, ignoring the pained winces of soldiers passing by the hallways. "I've seen you drive back on that planet, Carter! Forget it!" He looked back to Daniel as he stepped into the elevator car, brow furrowed. "Daniel?"

Daniel stood there, staring at the three in the elevator. Jack kept his finger on the open button.

Sam sobered. Teal'c waited with an unreadable expression. And Jack...

He stood there, watching Daniel. He then raised his hand, and waved him to come in.

"Can't stand out there forever, Danny boy," Jack said softly.

Daniel blinked. He nodded and took the last step into the compartment. He looked at everyone and smiled shyly. "Actually," he began at their expectant faces just as Jack lifted his finger off the button. "I'm kinda hungry."

Jack traded knowing grins with Carter. "Oh really?"

Daniel's smile grew. "Yeah." He stared right at Jack. "I was thinking maybe...steak?"

"Hey, that's good!" Sam jumped in, ignoring Jack's glare. "O'Malley's should be empty around this time." She looked at the colonel, waiting for his response.

Jack turned to Teal'c.

"It seems agreeable to me, " the Jaffa would only rumble.

"Fine." Jack threw up his arms, exasperated. He watched the doors close in front of him. He smiled, watching as Daniel and Sam started talking about some rock SG-5 brought back. He casually drawled out "But Carter's paying."

The outraged yelps and replying laughter was heard even as the elevator doors shut and whisked them away up to the surface together.

AUTHOR NOTES: Like all fics, words come from somewhere. For me, they came from the wisdom and experience of my editor and beta reader. Gatejunkie steered me to the world of fanfic and fanzines. Doc guided me into making sense of my words. Thank you for helping me find my voice among pages.

Dedicated to Cathy for helping me pull this one out of the hat, sitting through countless late nights of IMs, and for being a friend. Also to Joyce and Paula...just because. Thank you guys for all your wisdom. None if this could ever have been possible without you.

© 2002 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.