• WARNINGS:
• SPOILERS: Children of the Gods, Secrets, Forever In A Day, Abyss, and Fallen.
• SUMMARY: Takes place a little after Daniel comes back from being an ascended. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c are begining to worry about Daniel because he still hasn't been able to regain his memories. They decided to take him to Abydos in hopes that it will help trigger his memories, but when they get there, they relize that they got a lot more then what they had bargained for.
• PG-13 [A] [AU] [Hc] [V] [S]

She felt cold, drained, like something had forcefully removed all the energy from her and tried to push it all back in too quickly. She was sick and feverish, shivering like she had been thrown down a very deep well and had sat in the water for hours or days. The air around her was icy cold, like space. Maybe that’s where she was. She hoped to the Gods that she wasn’t. She hoped that this was all some really bad nightmare and that any minute now she would wake up and… What? What would happen after she woke? She couldn’t remember.

‘Daniel!’ she whimpered in pain at the sound of the voice.

It sounded so close yet so far away. The voice was loud and full of panic, like something terrible was happening or had happened, but the name was familiar to her…comforting…

‘Who are you?’ she screamed out at the sound of the voice.

It hurt her head so much, like something was trying to slowly split it open with a dull axe. The voice had been different this time though. A woman, someone who had been frightened, had spoken the last voice. But this one had been a man’s voice. He had sounded hurt… confused… maybe both. His voice had sounded familiar.

‘Oh Gods, I’m so sorry.’

"Stop!" she screamed.

It hurt. They hurt. The voices were hurting her head so much that she wished they would stop. They all sounded familiar, but it just hurt so much, she couldn’t handle it.

‘Sssh, It’s okay,’ there it was again. That man’s voice, except this time he hadn’t sounded hurt or confused. He had sounded comforting. She wanted to hear him again. Even though it hurt when she heard him, she wanted to listen to the sound of his voice. It was comforting.

‘Shee bene wa,’ the voice whispered. ‘Shee bene wa.’

She knew those words. Words that hadn’t been spoken to her in so long she had almost forgotten. He always would say them to her as she would say them right back. ‘It means ‘sleep with beloved.’ ‘Sleep well knowing I am near,’’ she remembered.

An ache developed in her chest as he said the words. She knew who it was now that was speaking them. She would have scolded herself greatly for forgetting if she hadn’t felt so weak and sick. She felt his loss so much that it hurt worse then the headache she had. She realized long ago that she might never get him back.

‘Shee bene wa. I will be here to wake you from your nightmares. They cannot separate us.’

"She is awake, my Lord," a voice said from somewhere above her.

She winced involuntarily at the pain in her head that the voice had caused.

There was a pause, then a dark, deeper voice answered, "Leave us."

The voice sent a shiver down her spine.

‘No!’ she thought desperately. ‘Not him!’

She heard the sound of scraping metal, as a huge door was shut somewhere nearby and then nothing. No sound at all, except for the sound of her laboured breathing and her racing heartbeat.

‘… Hang in there,’ the voice in her mind said again. ‘I will come.’

His voice was comforting, but sad as well. She didn’t understand why he sounded so sad, but she wanted to know. It hurt her to hear that tone in his voice.

‘I will come for you. They cannot keep us apart.’

She calmed herself with the reassurance his voice gave her then slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark, darker then it should be. Even at night, it had never been this dark before. The moons had always provided enough light, but now, there was none.

There was suddenly a glowing white light from somewhere directly above her. She looked towards it, and then shrunk away in fear upon realizing what it was she saw. The glow around those eyes was hard to forget.

He reached out a hand towards her, something glowing brightly in the centre of his palm. She screamed as it started to cause her more pain than she was already in. Her mind felt like it was going to explode and then… darkness.

"Sha’uri!" Daniel screamed, his head bolting up from his paper-cluttered desk, drenched in sweat. His breathing was coming in quick laboured gasps and his heart was racing a hundred miles an hour, as were the images flashing through his mind.

He rubbed his hands over his face trying to will the images to leave him, but they wouldn’t. They just kept coming faster and faster. He wanted them to stop. He couldn’t understand what the hell he was seeing. It was like watching a very quick action scene on fast-forward.

He took in some deep breaths, trying his best to calm himself down. It wouldn’t be good for anyone if he lost himself within his mind at this point. God only knew how much he still had to go through. These nightmares that he had been having for the past week since he had come back kept getting worse and worse, without making the slightest bit of sense to him. They were just flashes of images that he guessed were from his life before he became an ‘ascended’ as Sam had said, but he couldn’t figure them out or piece them together. It was all like some giant jigsaw puzzle that he had to solve but he didn’t have all the pieces.

"God," Daniel sighed in frustration, balling his fists over his eyes as his elbows rested against his desk.

Why couldn’t everything just be simple and straightforward? He would love it if he had just come back with his memories intact, but that wasn’t the case. Sam had said that the ‘beings’ had just wanted to punish him and God, were they ever doing a great job.

He breathed out a deep sigh, rubbed his eyes and pulled a few papers on his desk closer. Reports. What a wonderful thing to be staring at, at what… he glanced at the clock… two am. Not that he had much choice. General Hammond wanted him to review all the missions SG-1 had gone on prior to his whatever it was. The General had hoped that by doing so, Daniel might be able to remember something. It wasn’t helping. Not that the fact that there were over a million reports made any differences at all. No sir. ‘Yeah right,’ Daniel thought tiredly.

He yawned and continued to stare at the report, not really reading it. God was he ever tired. Between the nightmares, the reports, the paperwork he needed to fill out and Janet’s check-ups, he barely got any sleep. The rest of his team tried to help him get through his work, since a lot of the paperwork had to do with missions he couldn’t remember, but even then it still took forever to get done.

He threw the report back down onto his desk after a few moments, stood and stretched. He’d been sitting in that chair for God only knew how long. He needed to walk. Seeing that his mug was empty, he grabbed it and headed over to the coffee machine. When he had first come back, he hadn’t understood why he had one, but once the nightmares and the workload started, he quickly found the answer to his question. Jack had laughed at him one time when he had seen him get up to get his tenth cup. Daniel had looked at him questioning and Jack had only said that it was the normal Daniel Jackson way. Daniel Jackson needs coffee to survive, Jack had said, causing the other members of his team to laugh. Daniel had blushed.

He smiled, remembering that. It had only been, what, two days ago, but it already felt like forever.

‘That’s what happens when you’re up all hours of the night,’ Daniel thought to himself.

He silently filled his mug and turned to head back to his desk only to find Jack O’Neill leaning in his doorway, hands tucked away neatly into his pockets. Daniel was a little startled to see him. It was two in the morning!

"Ah, the great Doctor Jackson is getting his regular dose of caffeine, I see." Jack said, half smiling. Daniel merrily gave Jack a look and took a sip of his coffee.

"What do you want, Jack?" Daniel said, walking over to his desk and placing his coffee mug down.

"Whoa, someone’s grumpy." Jack said, coming into the office.

Daniel sighed and rubbed his face.

"Just haven’t been getting enough sleep. Sorry." Daniel answered sheepishly.

Jack waved him off. "S’okay. I understand."

Daniel gave him a look that said ‘yeah right’, "You do?"

"Sure," Jack answered, flopping down into a chair by Daniel’s desk. "We’ve all had our nights when our demons keep us awake."

Daniel stared at him for a moment. Jack really did know more than he let on. Daniel sighed and leaned back against his desk. He wanted sleep. No, he needed sleep. Too bad his mind wouldn’t let him have it.

"What’s wrong, Daniel?" Jack asked after a few moments of silence.

Daniel shook his head, not knowing what to say. Over the past week, Daniel had learned to trust Jack. He trusted Jack more then anyone else here on the base at the moment. Maybe that’s because since SG-1 had found him on that planet, Jack had barely left his side and he knew he could count on Jack to be there if he needed him. But he just didn’t know how to explain this.

"I’m just…still trying to adjust to everything, that’s all," he answered, pulling his glasses off his face and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Jack nodded, understanding that this was hard on Daniel. Hell, he still couldn’t understand how Daniel was fairing as well as he was. If he were in that position, he would have gone crazy by now.

"I know it’s hard, Daniel. But in time things will be back to normal."

Daniel fell silent and stared down at his feet. He couldn’t believe that. "Jack," he started softly. "What if my memories don’t come back?"

"Daniel, we’ve been over this-"

"I know," Daniel interrupted, "But my memories aren’t coming back. I know you guys said that it would take time, but the more time that passes, the more confused I get. I only have three clear memories. The rest…" Daniel flailed his arms in a display of helpless frustration.

Jack watched Daniel silently for a moment. He didn’t know if there was anything he could say or do that would reassure him. All he could do was be there for him. He had faith in Daniel. He knew that no matter what, the little archaeologist that they had all learned to love would pull through. But Daniel looked so lost and vulnerable right now, like he had when he had been dying. It scared Jack, but there was really nothing he could do. Except be there for him.

"Daniel, I’m really no expert in this stuff, especially since we’re dealing with something that’s never happened before, but I do know that you’re going to pull through this. And we’re all going to be here to help you if you need it. Me, Sam, Teal'c. You’re family to us, Daniel. We’ll help you through this every step of the way," Jack said slowly, making sure Daniel understood.

Daniel stood for a few moments in silence, not knowing how he should answer that. He had never expected Jack to say something like that. Sure, if it had been Sam, then he wouldn’t have batted an eye, but it was Jack. It was different coming from him somehow. It meant a lot more.

‘My Dan’yel, please!’ Daniel winced slightly upon hearing the voice in his head. Now what? Jack saw Daniel wince and was immediately on his feet.

"Daniel?" he said alarmed.

Daniel waved him off, "I’m fine, Jack."

"Really?" Jack said, looking Daniel up and down as though he was trying to see something wrong. "Then why did you just wince?"

"I didn’t wince," Daniel protested.

"Yes, you did. I saw it."

Daniel sighed, "Jack, there is nothing-"

‘Come no further.’

"Ahh," Daniel gripped the side of his head. It felt like something was trying to split his head open.

"Daniel?!" Jack yelled, gripping the younger man’s shoulder, "Daniel, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing," Daniel said, though he knew Jack wouldn’t buy it.

He was standing here clutching his head; of course Jack wasn’t going to believe him.

"Jack, this has happened before," Daniel said softly, rubbing his temples.

"What?" Jack said, wide-eyed, "How come you haven’t said anything?"

"Janet knows. That’s enough, isn’t it?" Daniel asked.

"No! You should have told us. Daniel, you’re clutching the side of your head like it’s causing you severe pain. You should have – Daniel? Daniel!" Jack yelled as Daniel fell to his knees.

The pain was worse now, overwhelming. His mind was racing, filling with images that he couldn’t understand, that he didn’t want to understand. What was happening? He could feel Jack’s hand on his shoulder, but he couldn’t hear him. It was like he was getting further and further away. The memory was coming…

"Daniel! Daniel, can you hear me?"

Daniel opened his eyes to see a very worried Jack leaning over him. He groaned. His head felt awful. Jack helped him slowly sit up.

"What the hell just happened?" Jack demanded, as Daniel leaned back against the front of his desk.

"Flashback," Daniel answered, "At least, I think it was. It’s sort of hard to tell when you can’t remember what happened before it or after it."

Jack sighed in frustration, "God, Daniel, you scared the crap out of me. I was about ready to call Janet up here and get your ass down to the infirmary."

Daniel sighed, "Then I guess I’m grateful I snapped out of that when I did. I’ve seen far too much of the infirmary lately than I would have liked."

Jack chuckled, "So, what happened?"

Daniel placed a hand over his eyes; ‘Too bad I can’t get him off the topic.’ "It’s a long story Jack, one that I really don’t feel like explaining."

Jack nodded, "What’d you see then?"

"Abydos, Kasuf, Teal’c… Sha’uri…" he said simply.

"Ah," Jack decided not to question Daniel on it anymore, as he obviously wasn’t too keen on the topic. Anything that involved Sha’uri was generally a sore topic for Daniel. Not that Jack could blame him. With this whole memory loss thing, it must be like relieving the pain all over again. All fresh and new, just the way Daniel didn’t want it.

Daniel rubbed his eyes, and then forced himself to stand with Jack’s help. He hated it when this happened. It only ever happened with that memory and two others: Him helping Sha’uri while she was in labour and… her funeral.

Jack observed Daniel for a moment before asking, "You sure you’re okay? You’re not going to blackout on me again?"

Daniel smiled. "I’m fine, Jack. That probably either won’t happen again or if it does, it won’t happen for a very long time. Hopefully."

Jack nodded, "Why didn’t you tell us you were having flashbacks?"

Daniel sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, "I didn’t know what they were at first. It only ever happens with three memories. Janet already knew about them and I didn’t see a reason to inform you, Sam, or Teal’c."

Jack rubbed his face, trying to understand what was going on, "It’s okay, Danny. I was just wondering what the hell was going on?" ‘Damn, I shouldn’t be letting him off this easy. Oh but you’re tired, O’Neill and so is Daniel. Why pester him about it,’ Jack thought.

Daniel nodded, "Its okay. I should have told you. I knew you were going to find out sooner or later, but I should have told you so you wouldn’t have been so surprised if it happened."

Jack waved him off, "Nah doesn’t matter. Just don’t do that again around me. It’s bad enough I almost get killed every time we go off world, I don’t need you killing me with a heart attack here on Earth."

Daniel smiled.

Jack clasped his hands together, "Well, I should be trying to get some sleep and so should you. How can you expect Janet to let you come back onto my team if you tire yourself out like this?"

Daniel chuckled, "I’ll try, Jack. Right after I clean up this mess," he said, gesturing to the pile of papers on his desk.

Jack stared opened eyed at him, "My God, what the hell did those ‘beings’ do to you? Daniel Jackson doesn’t clean his messes."

Daniel laughed, "And normally I don’t, but Hammond wants these reports back and I don’t feel like packing them up first thing in the morning."

"Ah," Jack said heading towards the door, "Janet wanted me to remind you that you have that check-up in the morning. Maybe she’ll clear you."

Daniel smiled, "Maybe. Night Jack."

"Good-night, Daniel. And do try to sleep," Jack said, leaving the room.

Once he had gotten a few halls away from Daniel's office, Jack sighed in frustration. Daniel wasn’t getting any better. If anything, he was getting worst. They had all been hoping that what Sam had felt coming off of him was just the aftermath of being an ‘ascended’, but now…

‘Damn, what did those ‘ascended’ know-it-alls do to him?’ Jack thought as he entered the elevator and punched in the number for Sam’s floor. Daniel had told them that they had wanted to punish him for interfering in human matters, but they had thought that taking Daniel’s memories away had been enough. But obviously they hadn’t thought so. Oh no, they wanted to make Daniel suffer even more by messing around with them, making Daniel relive things that he didn’t want to talk about. Like Sha’uri’s funeral.

Daniel hadn’t had to say it for Jack to know. It was written all over his face that he had been reliving the funeral. Especially when he had said that there were only three memories that he had relived. Jack could tell that he was going to say more, but choose not too.

The elevator doors opened and Jack made a beeline for Sam’s office. Maybe if the two of them put their heads together they could think of something. He hoped to God that they did. He just couldn’t stand watching Daniel like this. It hurt. It hurt worse then when Daniel had died and became ‘ascended’.

He reached Sam’s door and knocked, not noticing the two voices that had suddenly stopped talking from within, "Sam, open up. It’s me."

The door was opened a few moments later to reveal a very tired looking Samantha Carter. Her skin was almost as white as a ghost and she had huge bags under her eyes. Jack frowned.

"You alright, Major?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. Just haven’t been sleeping well," she said, sniffling. Jack smiled. Sam wasn’t one to admit that she wasn’t feeling well. "Is there something you want?"

"Yes, actually," Jack said, but paused when he saw movement behind her. It was Teal’c, "Ah Teal’c, you’re here too. Well that’s great. That means I won’t have to repeat myself later."

Teal’c just raised an eyebrow as Sam let the Colonel into her office. She closed the door and turned to Jack, "What’s this about?"

Jack settled himself down into a chair by Sam’s desk and sighed, "It’s about Daniel."

Sam and Teal’c shared a gaze.

"We were just speaking of Daniel Jackson," Teal’c said.

"Oh, so were all on the same page then," Jack said.

Sam sighed and leaned back against her door, eyes closed, "There’s something wrong with him. He still acts like Daniel, but there’s just something… wrong."

"I know what you mean, Major. He’s been distant, even to me. Just a few minutes ago, I watched him collapse from a flashback," Sam and Teal’c tensed in alarm; "He’s alright. He says this has happened before."

"Why did he not inform us?" Teal’c asked.

Jack through his hands in the air, "I don’t know. He says that he thought we didn’t need to know, but I think there’s more to it then that."

"Like what?" Sam asked, crossing her arms, "I mean he must have a good reason."

"I think it’s because of what he’s remembering. He said he’s only reliving three memories from his life, which strikes me as being odd, but what he didn’t say was what those memories were. My guess is that at least one of them is Sha’uri’s funeral," Jack said, watching to see how they would react. Teal’c stayed mostly the same, but Sam’s eyes opened wide in horror.

"Oh God, poor Daniel," she said, covering her mouth.

"These beings must wish to cause Daniel Jackson great emotionally pain, to subject him to that," Teal’c said.

"Sycophants. That’s all they are. You would think that making him forget everything was enough, but then they go and mess around with his mind even more," Jack said disgusted. Daniel didn’t deserve this. He had already gone through that once; he didn’t need to relive it again.

"What can we do about it, sir? I mean Daniel won’t admit to it," Sam said.

Jack sighed, rubbing his face in his hands totally lost, "I don’t know. I really don’t."

There was a moment of silence in which no one spoke, all too wrapped up in their own thoughts. Then finally someone spoke, "Abydos."

"What?" both Sam and Jack said, raising their heads.

"We should bring Daniel Jackson to Abydos," Teal’c said, "There he could be with his family and go to his wife’s grave if he needs too."

"You’ve got to be joking," Jack said, disbelieving, "Daniel’s going through enough as it is. Why bring him to the one place where most of the memories he has take place."

Sam thought for a moment, "Maybe Teal’c right, sir."

Jack swung around to face her, "Not you too."

"No Jack listen," she said, "We’ve taken Daniel everywhere where he likes to go in hopes of bringing his memories back, but we haven’t taken him to Abydos. He spent an entire year there with Sha’uri and all the Abydonians. It may help him if we brought him back there."

"But Major-"

"I know the risks we’d be taking with Daniel, but I believe it’s worth it. If there’s just some slim chance that by bringing him to Abydos, he gets his memories back then I say we do it," Sam said, giving Jack a pleading look.

Jack stayed silent for a moment, thinking about the risks. What if Daniel didn’t want to go to Abydos? What if they brought him there only to find that it was too much for him and he started having those flashbacks constantly? He knew he didn’t want to see Daniel go through that. But what if he did get his memories back? What if by being with the people of Abydos and being able to visit Sha’uri’s grave they got the old Daniel back?

"Fine," he said after long moments of silence, "I’ll talk it over with Hammond in the morning, see what he thinks. But until then, I think we should all get some rest," he stared at Sam while saying this, "cause God knows some of us need it."

***

Daniel sighed as Janet continued to poke and probe at him with her cold stethoscope. He was getting really sick of these check-ups. Even morning, the same deal. Get up, get dressed, and go see Janet. He hoped she would clear him for duty, making this the last time he would need to come here in the morning. Well, until he hurt himself again, that is. He seemed to have a knack for getting himself into trouble.

"Okay, well everything seems to be okay. No trace of your original wounds," Janet said marking something down on a clipboard she had, "How’s the headaches been?"

Daniel sighed, "Not good. They still hurt a lot and come at unexpected times, but I generally get enough warning to do something about them."

Janet nodded, looking up at him, "Well, all we can do about them is just give you something for the pain when they come on. Besides that, I don’t think there’s much we can do. We’ll just have to hope they’ll go away in time. Anything else? Any nausea, dizziness?"

"No, I’m fine," Daniel answered, pulling his shirt back on.

"Okay then," she said, puling off the rubber gloves, "Well, I see no reason why you can’t go back to work," Daniel buttoned up his shirt and slid of the gurney, "When the headaches come on, just try to sit down if possible and wait for them to pass. It wouldn’t do your team any good if you collapse in the middle of a mission."

Daniel nodded, "I will."

At that moment, Jack waltzed into the room, looking a little distracted, "Hey Danny. How’re you feeling this morning?"

"Better," he paused a moment, "Is something wrong, Jack?"

"What?" Jack asked startled. He realized Daniel was scanning him with his gaze, "Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it," he said, earning himself a confused look from Daniel. He walked over towards Janet, looking over her shoulder to read the clipboard, "So how’s our patient, doc?"

Janet moved the clipboard out of Jack’s line of vision, "He’s fine, Colonel. Besides his memory loss and the headaches he’s been having, there’s nothing wrong with him. I believe he’s fit to return to duty."

Jack clapped his hands together excitedly, "That’s great. SG-1 has really missed its little archaeologist."

Daniel studied him for a moment, "Jack, what’s going on?"

"You’ll see," was all he said, "Come on, everyone’s waiting."

He steered Daniel out of the infirmary as Janet smiled. Even with Daniel’s memories gone, he and Jack still got on the same.

"Jack, where are we going?" Daniel asked as Jack shoved him into the elevator.

"Briefing room, Danny," Jack said simply as he punched in the number.

Daniel continued to stare at Jack, wondering why the hell he was being so secretive. But what ever was going on, Daniel could tell that Jack didn’t particularly like it, "Why?"

Jack, with his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth on his feet, said, "It’s a surprise."

Daniel sighed fearfully, "Should I be afraid?"

Jack shrugged, "I don’t know, Danny."

"I’m not going to get anything out of you, am I?" Daniel asked.

"Not a thing."

Daniel closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face, "Great."

Jack merrily chuckled. The elevator doors slid open and they headed off in the direction of the briefing room, passing a few airmen as they went. Daniel wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted to know what was going on. The way Jack was acting was making him feel more nervous as time went on.

"Ah, Doctor Jackson, glad you could join us," said General Hammond as Daniel and Jack entered the room. Sam and Teal’c were also there and if Daniel didn’t know any better, he’d say that Sam looked like she was about to burst with excitement. Teal’c looked… well… like Teal’c except Daniel could swear that he could see something of a smile on that expressionless face.

Jack went and sat down by General Hammond and Teal’c while Daniel slowly sat down in his usual seat next to Hammond and Sam, "Okay guys. What’s going on?"

General Hammond answered, "How would you feel about taking a little trip off world?"

Daniel frowned in confusion, "Okay. Why? It’s not like I haven’t done it millions of times before."

There was a pause for a moment before Sam answered, "But this will be a special trip, Daniel. One just for you."

"Okay," Daniel said slowly, still not getting it, "Where exactly?"

Sam smiled, "Abydos."

There was a silence in the room then that would have scared even a Goa’uld. No one could read the expression on Daniel’s face then. There was no expression. Just a frown.

"Daniel?" Jack asked.

"I’m okay," Daniel finally answered quietly, "I just hadn’t expected Sam to say that."

There was another pause, "We don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Daniel. It’s totally up to you," Jack said.

Daniel nodded.

With a sigh, Daniel pushed himself out of the seat and went to stand by the window over looking the Gateroom. He leaned his head against the glass, staring at the Stargate. He didn’t know what he wanted to do. Did he want to go to Abydos?

"Why?" Daniel suddenly said.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Why Abydos?" Daniel said, still facing the window.

Sam sighed, "Daniel, we’ve taken you everywhere you would normally go, hoping that something might trigger your memories and it hasn’t worked so far. We thought that if we brought you back to Abydos, it might help, seeing as you lived there for a year and you have family there," she stared at him for a moment. He still hadn’t turned around.

Jack ran a hand through his hair, "You don’t have to go, Daniel. We could think of something else."

"There is nothing else Jack," said Daniel, turning back around to face them. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. There was silence for a moment while Daniel thought it over in his mind. If he went back to Abydos, he’d have to deal with all the feelings of loss that he had over Sha’uri. He’d see the places from his flashbacks, be with people who had once known him but now he wouldn’t recognize them. But, then again, he did have family there, like Sam had said and maybe the only way to get his memories back was to face the pain he had been feeling. That meant visiting Sha’uri’s grave.

He finally looked up, "I’ll do it."

"Daniel Jackson, are you sure? We do not wish to cause you more pain if you really do not wish to go," Teal’c replied.

Daniel nodded, "I understand, but I think Sam’s right. We’ve tried everything else. If getting my memories back means facing some of the things I’ve been feeling then I say we do it."

"Okay then," said General Hammond, "SG-1," he said making all of them smile. They were finally back as a group; "You leave for Abydos within the hour."

***

"I can’t believe I agreed to this," Daniel said, watching as the chevrons slowly lit up.

"Chevron Five…Encoded!"

"Oh, it can’t be that bad," Jack said, throwing his gun strap over his shoulder.

"No-" He sneezed. "It’s worse."

All Jack could do was chuckle as Daniel pulled out his handkerchief. ‘You’ll be fine, Danny-boy’ Jack thought to himself as the six chevron engaged. ‘You’ll see.’

"Chevron Seven…Locked!"

The Wormhole burst opened then settled back into the shimmering event horizon. SG-1 gazed at it a moment until Jack slapped a hand against Daniel’s shoulder. "Come on. We don’t want to keep who ever is on the other side waiting."

Daniel, clad in his Abydonian robes, nodded, took a deep breath and started up the ramp towards the Stargate. Jack, Sam, and Teal’c followed closely behind. Daniel reached the edge of the ramp leading into the event horizon and hesitated for a moment before he stepped through the threshold. He felt the familiar jolt he always felt going through the Stargate before emerging on the other side to see one of the places that haunted his dreams: The Abydos Gateroom.

He slowly descended the stairs and looked around as the rest of his team came through the gate. The room was dark, vacant. He couldn’t see any sign that anyone had been here lately. It all remained him of something or some time but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

"Well, this is nice," Jack commented, taking a few cautious steps down from the gate.

"Sir, I thought you said that they always have someone here guarding the gate," Sam said, pushing some cobwebs out of her way as she checked behind the near by pillars.

Jack tightened his grip on his gun, keeping a close eye on Daniel as the younger man ran his hand over the front of the DHD. "They do, Major."

Teal’c also checked behind pillars on the opposite side of the room, pushing cobwebs out of his face. "It would appear that they have not been guarding the gate for some time now, O’Neill."

Jack whipped his head around towards Teal’s. "Ya think."

Daniel gazed around curiously wonder why no one was here. Something didn’t feel right. "Jack?"

"Ya,’ Jack said, coming up beside him.

Daniel continued to let his eyes swept over the room as though trying to see something that wasn’t there. "Something doesn’t feel right here."

Sam joined them as Teal’c moved closer to the entrance to the temple. "What do you mean?"

Daniel, with his hand still on the DHD, just shrugged. "I’m not sure. Something just... feels wrong."

‘This too.’ Daniel winched, bring a hand up to his head while keeping the other on the DHD to steady himself. It was happening again.

Jack immediately placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder to help steady him. "Daniel?"

"It’s happening again," Daniel said, rubbing his temples softly.

Jack nodded and forced Daniel to ground in front of the DHD. He didn’t want Daniel to hurt himself when he got sucked into this memory. "Okay. Just stay here ‘til it passes."

‘What’s this?’ "Jack, it’s different." Daniel said, squinting through the pain.

"Different?" Sam echoed, confused.

‘Drink.’ "Daniel," Jack said, shaking the younger man when he realized Daniel was started to slip. He needed to know what Daniel was talking about. "What’s Different?"

‘Moonshine.’ Daniel held both hands to his head as the pain swept through his head. "The memory," he gasped out. "It’s… different. It’s not…"

"Boy, I can’t say I missed this place." Kawalsky said, gazing off into the desert. I smile. ‘You may not, but if I have to leave, I sure will,’ I thought to myself glooming.

"Dan’yel? Dan’yel?" Daniel blinked a moment, trying to ordinate himself to his surroundings after coming out of the flashback that had seemed so real. He looked up not to see Jack, but to see a young boy with long coarse, charcoal hair staring down at him worryingly.

"Dan’yel, are you alright?" The boy asked.

"Skaara?" Daniel asked confused. When did he get here? And Daniel had thought that the people of Abydos thought him to be dead. Did General Hammond send someone ahead to left everyone know that he was alive and returning?

Skaara smiled. "It is I, Dan’yel. Welcome home."

Jack suddenly entered Daniel’s line of vision and bent down to help the fallen Egyptologist get to his feet. One Daniel was stable, he glance around the room to see a whole group of kids, many of which he had seen in that vision that he had just had, though if asked, he would not be able to say who they were. They were all gazing at him excitingly and worryingly.

Daniel frowned. "Umm, Jack?"

"Don’t worry, kiddo," Jack said. "They came while you were have that flashy-thing. We told them everything while we waited." Daniel nodded, closing his eyes. God, he felt drained. "You alright?" Jack asked.

Daniel glanced at Jack to see the look of worry that was on every single face present. He sighed and nodded. "Ya, I’ll be fine."

"May we inquire as to what happened?" Teal’c asked, stepping closer to the younger man, forcing some of the boys to step away in fear.

"It was just a flashback," Daniel answered, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "But…"

They waited, but Daniel never finished. He just kept his eyes shut.

"But?" Jack prompted.

Daniel sighed and looked up. " It was different. It wasn’t one of the three memories I normally relive."

"What happened?" Jack asked.

Daniel sighed, trying to organize his thoughts enough to form them into words. "It’s hard to explain. I don’t remember all that happened, just a bit. We were here, or at least, you Sam, me and a few other men in military uniform. I can’t remember their names, though I seemed to know two of them. Skaara was offering you a drink," Daniel said, looking up at Jack. "Moonshine, I believe is what you called it. You uh… said it was smooth."

Sam couldn’t help but laugh and Skaara joined her. Jack shrugged. "Well, it was." He said, defensively.

Daniel smiled and then continued. "We ended up talking about a man that looked like Ra and I said he must have come from another gate. You and Sam both seemed puzzled upon hearing that so I said I would show you what I mean. And then… We left." He cut short, noting wanting to got into detail over his ‘little’ kiss with Sha’uri or how he had felt that there was more behind her words then he could understand.

Sam smiled, not noticing that Daniel had left something out, though Jack did. "Well, I guess we made the right choice." Jack gave her a puzzled look. "Bringing him to Abydos, sir." She elaborated. "He’s only been here less then five minutes and he’s already regained another memory."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Captain," Jack said sarcastically.

Skaara watched his older brother carefully, sensing something wrong. His face was pulled into that expression he always got when he thought very deeply about something. "Are you all better now, Dan’yel?" he asked.

Daniel snapped out of his daze and looked down at Skaara. He nodded. "For now," he said simply. He then turned his gaze back to the small group of boys surrounding them. "Where were you all?" He asked. "Why were you not guarding the Chappa’ai?"

‘Chappa’ai?’ Daniel thought to himself curiously. ‘That means ‘Stargate’. But where did I pick that up from?’

Skaara immediately frowned, making Daniel worry a little. He had a bad feeling about this. "Skaara, what is wrong? Has something happened?"

There was a silence for a moment as Skaara gazed suddenly around the room. He did not wish to disappoint Daniel, but he had to tell him the truth. "Yes," he finally answered. "The Elders of the surrounding cities have ruled that there is no longer a need to guard the Chappa’ai."

"What?" Jack and Sam yell. Daniel is too shocked to answer.

"You are placing yourselves at get risk to leave the Gate unprotected," Teal’c replied.

Daniel felt anger course through him. "Why are the Elders placing everyone at risk? They know the danger or leaving the Chappa’ai unprotected." ‘There’s that word again,’ He thought.

Skaara sighed. "There was a change of leadership in many of the surrounding cities. Menes was the opposing house leader in our city, but Father won again. The new leaders though, believe that we are no longer at risk from the System Lords and that there is no longer a need to waste recourses guarding the Chappa’ai."

"Oh, for crying out loud," Jack yelled in frustration, but Sam ignored he and asked, "Why do they believe that?"

There was silence as Skaara gazed sadly back at Daniel. "Because Dan’yel was dead."

Daniel could feel the anger inside of him growing stronger. "So, just because I was dead, they believe that they were no longer at risk!"

"They think that the only reason the System Lords bothered us al all was because we were so close to you. But then, after your death, they felt that the system Lords would no longer have any reason to attack us," he paused a moment, gazing down at his feet. "Father tired to make them see reason, but they would not listen to him. They believe him weak and that he only disagreed with them because he was so full with grief over your death. We have been forbidden to enter here."

The team was silent for a moment, all far too steamed that the new Elders couldn’t or wouldn’t see the danger that keeping the Stargate unguarded posed.

"Why did you enter, if you have been forbidden to do so?" Teal’c asked.

Skaara smiled sheepishly. "We were on our way to…" he glanced at Daniel, "We were passing by when we felt the ground rumble like it does when someone activates the Chappa’ai. We came to see who had come only to find O’Neill and you two," he pointed at Sam and Teal’c, "standing over a very alive Dan’yel."

Jack glanced at Daniel only to see a distant look in his eyes. The look he always wore when thinking of Sha’uri. "Daniel?" Jack said forcing the archaeologist to look at him. "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine," Daniel said quickly. A little too quickly and Jack noticed.

"Come, Dan’yel," Skaara said, tugging on his brother’s arm like a little two-year-old. "Father will be pleased to know that you are well."

Daniel nodded and allowed Skaara to slowly guide him towards the entrance to the Pyramid. The rest of SG-1 and the boys followed closely behind. Then suddenly, Daniel stopped.

"Dan’yel, what is wrong?" Skaara asked, turning around to face him when he felt resistance against his tug. Daniel didn’t reply.

"Daniel?" Sam asked, not receiving an answer from him either. Daniel was standing perfectly still, his eyes unfocused but staring straight ahead. Sam glanced back at he C.O who stepped closer to Daniel worryingly.

"Daniel?" Jack said, shaking him slightly.

Daniel’s eyes suddenly went back into focus and he blinked a few times before meeting Jack’s gaze. There was so much pain with those blue depths that Jack almost looked away but didn’t. Daniel needed to know that he was here. "Daniel, what’s up?" Jack asked quietly.

For a moment, Daniel didn’t say anything, but then he quietly said. "I need to go to Sha’uri’s grave."

Skaara visually paled at hearing this. He mentally slapped himself for being so careless around his brother. It was clear that Daniel was not himself and that any mention of his wife stung deeply. He had almost slipped and said that they had been headed to his sister’s grave, but changed it at the last second. Unfortunately, Daniel caught the slip and recognized what Skaara had meant to say.

"Oh, for crying out loud! Daniel, you-"

"Jack, I need to go," Daniel said just as softly as before, not moving his eyes away from Jack’s. He couldn’t understand why he felt that he needed to go to Sha’uri’s grave now, but he felt like something was trying to draw him there. The feeling had started as soon as he had stepped out of the Stargate and he had only realized what it was that he was feeling when Skaara had almost mentioned Sha’uri’s grave.

Jack sighed, trying hard not to look to deeply into Daniel’s eyes. There was a pain there that Jack really didn’t feel like exploring and he wasn’t sure that he wanted too. He had hoped that he would never have to see that pain in Daniel’s eyes again. It was the same pain that had dominated Daniel’s eyes when Sha’uri died the first time. There had been pain after that, but not like the first time. Not until now.

"Okay, Daniel," Jack said after a moment. "We’ll go."

"Sir?" Sam asked, not sure if the Colonel was making the right decision.

"If Daniel wants to go," he said. "Then I’m not going to stop him." He gave Daniel a reassuring look.

Skaara watched the exchange and sighed. They’d better hurry if they wanted to get back to Nagada before dark. "Come, Dan’yel," Skaara said pulling Daniel towards the entrance again. "We must be quick. Father wants us home before dark."

They all exited the pyramid to be met with the familiar hot desert of Abydos. The Sun was just starting to set make the air fair off looking like an African safari. The sand dunes rose before them like a stilled sea and the second moon was just beginning to rise into the sky.

Daniel gazed around himself in awe. It felt so comforting a natural to be out here in the desert, but besides that new memory he had gained, he couldn’t remember ever being in a desert before. The part of Earth he had seen was dominated by forest as was the planet SG-1 had found him on.

He glanced back at the rest of his team to see them struggling through the sand, particularly Jack. It seemed that for every step the older man took, he would slide two steps back. It was rather amusing to watch and Daniel couldn’t help but laugh, as he wasn’t having any trouble at all.

Jack glared up angrily at Daniel when he heard the younger man laugh at him. "What’s so funny?"

Daniel shook his head, smiling. "Nothing,’ he said, not sinking at all into the sand.

Jack shook his head in disbelief. "This is not fair. Even with his memory gone, he can still move through this stuff a hell of a lot easier then I can."

"It is an automatic reflex, O’Neill," Teal’c answered, also struggling through the sand, but not nearly as much as Sam or Jack.

"A what?" Jack asked.

Sam sighed. "In simpler terms, sir, Daniel’s use to it."

"I knew that, Major." Jack scoffed.

Sam rolled he eyes. "He spent most of his life on digs in Egypt and then he spent a full year here. Even with his memory loss, he body still knows how to move and survive out here."

"Ah," Jack said.

Daniel shook his, bemused. "You still don’t get it, do you?" he asked.

"Not a clue," Jack answered.

Their little conversation was interrupted. "It’s just over the next ridge," Skaara shouted, panting just ahead of them.

Daniel swallowed hard, preparing himself for the sight that lay beyond that ridge. He wasn’t quite sure what types of feelings were going to surface once he laid eyes on Sha’uri’s grave. He was afraid that maybe he’d be sucked into the memory of her funeral. That was defiantly something he didn’t want to happen any time soon.

As they drew closer, that feeling that something was wrong came back upon Daniel full force. Something was terrible wrong. ‘Dan’yel! Dan’yel!’ He could hear her in his head, but he couldn’t understand it. Just like he couldn’t understand it before. The feeling was getting stronger as the approached until finally Daniel stopped, gasping with the realization of what he was feeling.

"Daniel?" Sam stepped closer as Jack placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. "What’s wrong?"

Daniel’s breathing was starting to come in quick short gasps as his eyes widened with a kind of pain none of them had ever seen before. "Oh God," Daniel whispered horrified before he broke into a run up the ridge.

"Daniel!" He heard Jack call out from behind him, but he didn’t listen. He needed to make sure. He hoped to God that he was wrong. That he was only having this feeling because he was nervous about being near Sha’uri, in a sense. But that didn’t feel right. Nothing did. Only that something was wrong with Sha’uri.

He couldn’t explain it, but he could feel that she wasn’t there. It felt like she wasn’t there. But that was impossible; she had to be there. Where else would she be? She was… dead. She couldn’t have just gotten up and walked away.

He reached the top of the ridge and his eyes widen with the horrify reality that lay before him. There was not grave, just a huge gapping hold where one used to be. Sha’uri’s body was nowhere to be seen. All there was to see was a huge hole that was filled with scorched sand and white-hot glass.

"NO!!!" He screamed out before collapsing to his knees. Oh God, she’s gone. She’s gone. How could she be gone?’ Tears filled Daniel’s eyes as he tried to shut out the site before him but he couldn’t. His eyes wouldn’t close. ‘Dan’yel! Dan’yel!’ He had heard her. He had heard her and he hadn’t been able to get there in time to save her. "God, Sha’uri, no." he whispered, his mind drifting again…

"Daniel?" Said a voice from beside him. Daniel’s eyes were unfocused staring at the hole in front of him. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible.

"Dammit Daniel, answer me?!" Jack said forcing Daniel to look at him.

Realization of where he was and what was happening slowly began to dawn on Daniel and his eyes opened widened. "Oh God, Jack," he whispered so softly Jack almost never caught it. "They took her. They took her again."

Jack stared at Daniel regretfully, not knowing what to say to him. He had learned long ago that where Daniel was concerned, you had to tread lightly. Otherwise everything would just fall apart in your lap. "I know, Danny," he said softly, rubbing a hand up and down Daniel’s back. "I know."

Skaara stepped forward, his eyes taking in the sight that lay before them. Sha’uri’s grave was gone. Daniel was trembling violently by the scorched sand. It was not how he had hoped this little reunion with his brother was going to go. "Sha’uri," he whispered sadly, staring down into the hole. Who could have done this? Why had they done it?

Sam tried her best to keep the boys away from Daniel, her own eyes filling with tears and Teal’c analysed the surrounding sand. He bent down and gently ran his fingers over the scorched edges of the pit. The blackened sand was still giving off a lot of heat.

"This was caused by staff weapons," Teal’c replied, quickly scanning the surrounding area with his eyes in search of any Jaffa.

"What?" Jack asked, turning towards Teal’c, but keeping his hand firmly placed on Daniel’s shoulder.

"I don’t get it," Sam said, brushing back her tears. "Why would a Goa’uld dig up Sha’uri?"

There was a pause before Daniel answered in an almost inaudible voice. "For punishment," he said, trying to regain control over himself. They needed to figure this out. "The Goa’uld that did this may have had some score to settle with Ammo’net."

"But Sha’uri has been buried here for many seasons," Skaara replied. "Why take her now and not before?"

"Perhaps they did not know where she was located and only recently discovered where." Teal’c said, rising from his position.

"Skaara," Jack started, turning towards the young Abydonian. "When was the last time someone had come here?" He asked.

"Few days," Skaara shrugged, trying to force himself to pay attention to what was happening around him. "Father comes here often," he answered.

Sam nodded. "Then this must have happened very recently," she said.

"The surrounding sand is still very warm," Teal’c replied. "Whom ever did this may still be here. We can not remain."

"It is getting late," Skaara said, gazing up at the sky. "We must return to Nagada and inform Father."

Jack grabbed Daniel by the arm and helped the younger man to his feet. "Come on, Danny," he said, guided him in the direction of Nagada.

They walked in silence towards the city, all the funny comments gone. The team was too busy watching for Jaffa and keeping an eye on Daniel to think of anything to say. Even Skaara was keeping a close eye on his brother. He felt terrible about what had happened to Sha’uri and knew that if it weren’t for the Elders, nothing would have happened to his sister. She would still be at peace because they could have stopped these… demons from coming through the Chappa’ai. But he knew that what he was feeling was ten times worst for Daniel.

"Daniel?" Jack said softly, just as Nagada came into view. The city still looked as pretty as ever with it’s touch lights flickering to life in the rising darkness and it’s tall walls of sand. "You okay?"

Instead of answering out loud, Daniel just shook his head and stared out all the rising buildings that seemed so familiar, yet… so foreign to him. He couldn’t explain to Jack how he felt at the moment because he didn’t even know himself. Everything was just so confusing to him at the moment and it frustrated him that he couldn’t make sense of it.

"Hasn’t she been through enough, Jack?" Daniel finally asked quietly, still staring straight ahead. " She was finally at peace and now…" He trailed off, his voice filling with too much emotion for him to speak properly. He could feel his eye begin to fill with more tears and he blinked them back angrily. He needed to be strong, had to be strong. If not for himself then for Sha’uri. She was out there somewhere and he had to find her.

"I know, Daniel," Jack said, pulling Daniel’s hood up over his face as the approached the walls of the city. He didn’t want people to panic when they saw Daniel until they could explain what had happened. "But don’t you worry. We’ll find her." Jack knew that the chances of finding Sha’uri were very slim if not impossible, but he was going to help Daniel. He had too. He own Daniel that much. Beside, Sha’uri didn’t deserve this. Daniel didn’t deserve this.

Daniel merrily nodded, not trusting his voice.

They slowly entered the city. It was almost vacant save the night watch as most people were in their homes having dinner. The few people that were out stopped and waved at them happily, realizing that the Tau’ri had returned.

They slowly made their way through the winding street of the city to a little dwelling that resided near the heart of the city. Daniel didn’t recognize it, but Jack sure did. It was hard to forget. It was Daniel and Sha’uri’s home.

Skaara turned round to face them and noticed the look Jack got on his face when he laid his eyes on the home. "Father refuses to have the place emptied and giving to someone else. He feels that this is one of the few places where he could still feel Dan’yel and Sha’uri." He said as way of an explanation.

Daniel winched slightly at hearing his wife’s name and Jack tightened his grip on Daniel’s arm. "And why is he here now?" He asked.

Skaara sighed sadly. "It had been his ritual every night since we were told that Dan’yel was dead. He just goes in there to be alone and to think." Jack nodded understandingly. Hell, when he had thought Daniel was dead, he had done almost the same thing. He would sit in Daniel’s office or the spare room at his house that had been dubbed Daniel’s room and just remember, or forget.

The quietly entered the house to see Kasuf sitting cross-legged on a rug in the middle of the room, flipping through what looked like one of Daniel’s old makeshift Journals. The man looked a hell of a lot older then when he had last seen him, more tired. His robes hung loosely around him and his skin was a pale as a ghost.

Jack gazed around the room as Skaara knelt down beside his father and started speaking in Abydonian. He could still see touched of Daniel and Sha’uri in the small dwelling. Some things were quintessentially Daniel. Little useless trinkets that had some archaeological value were still kept lovingly on a small shelf, scrolls of notes, and some sketches of a beautiful Abydonian woman that had opened the heart of one lonely, stubborn Tau’ri.

Daniel had been happy here and then Apophis had come and ripped that all away from him, starting with his wife: Sha’uri.

Jack gazed back at Daniel, wondering how the archaeologist was taking everything. The younger man stood near the entrance of the little dwelling, his hood still covering his face, but Jack could still see some of his face. From what he could see, Daniel was gazing curiously around the room, but his gaze seemed distant, lost.

"O’Neill," Jack turned back around to see that Kasuf and Skaara had risen from their place on the floor and now stood in front of him.

Daniel got his first clear view of Kasuf in that moment. He didn’t look like what he had remembered. He looked older and wearier. His eyes seemed dulled by years of sadness and pain.

"It is good to see you again," Kasuf said, gazing over the small group that stood at the doorway. He recognized Teal’c and Sam easily, but there was a robed figure in the back he was sure he hadn’t seen before, though he couldn’t be sure. The man had his hood up.

"You too, Kasuf," Jack replied smiling.

Kasuf gazed around the small room for a moment and sighed. "What brings you back to Abydos, O’Neill? As you no doubt have heard, our world is not facing the best of times."

Jack glanced back at Daniel, giving him a look that said ‘You better be ready.’ "We come with good news from Earth, and some not so good news." He paused for a moment, motioning to Daniel. "First the good news. Let me introduce to you someone you have missed."

Daniel slowly stepped forward so that he was directly in front of Kasuf, before raising his hands and lowering his hood. Kasuf took a step back in shock and fear at the face he saw. Daniel raised a hand reassuringly.

"Do not be afraid, Good Father," He said, hoping Kasuf would not reject him. "It is I."

"Dan’yel," Kasuf breathed, hardly able to believe his eyes or contain the joy that was now building up inside of him. "You have returned?"

Daniel smiled. "Yes."

Kasuf immediately stepped forward and embrace his lost son. Daniel embrace him back, feeling for once content that he had found a part of his family. Everyone else in the room stood back to let Daniel and Kasuf have a little room. It was good to see Daniel and Kasuf so happy. Skaara hadn’t seen his father this happy in such a long time and the rest of SG-1 felt the same way about Daniel.

After a few moments, Daniel and Kasuf broke apart, but Kasuf refused to let go of his good son, in fear that this was all some how a dream and that if he let go, Daniel would disappear. He griped Daniel’s arms tightly, and Daniel griped his in return, smiling slightly trying to be happy for a moment before they had to tell Kasuf the bad news about what had happened to Sha’uri.

"How can this be?" Kasuf asked in amazement.

"Were not really sure," Daniel replied. "But we will tell you what we know."

Kasuf nodded while Daniel chanced a glance at his team, wondering if maybe they wanted to start the story. Jack motioned for Daniel to start and the young man sighed, trying to decided how he could start this.

"A few months ago," he began. "I woke up on an alien world with no memory of who I was or what I was. A few travellers from a nearby tribe found me and took me in. They called me Arrom, as they didn’t know my name and neither did I. I stayed with them for two of their moons before SG-3 found me."

"They brought me back to the village where I met up with Jack, Sam, Teal’c and another man named Jonas. They all knew me and called me Daniel, but I didn’t recognize them." He paused, staring down at the floor. "There was something familiar about all of them, but I didn’t know what. They asked me to returned to their home with them and after some serious thought, I agreed."

"And what of your memories?" Kasuf asked.

"Well, I don’t remember much, but I am starting to remember some things now," Daniel said smiling a little. The he motioned to his team. "They thought it may help me if we came back here, see if anything triggered my memories. Unfortunately," He added sighing. It was now or never. "We got more then we bargained for."

Kasuf seemed confused and seeing this Jack wet to elaborate but he stayed silent at the look Daniel gave him. Daniel needed to do this. It was his duty as Sha’uri’s husband to inform their father about what had happened.

"What do you mean?" Kasuf asked.

Daniel sighed sadly. "We bring bad news, Good Father. After exiting the Chappa’ai and meeting up with Skaara, we traveled to your daughter’s grave." He paused; swallowing the lump of emotion that was trying to creep it’s way into his voice. He could feel his eyes filling with tears again, but he refused to let them fall. He needed to be strong.

"What has happened?" Kasuf asked, seeing how hard this was for his son to get out. What was wrong?

"Sha’uri has been taken, Good Father. Her grave has been violently dug open and her body stolen." Daniel’s voice chocked at the end.

Kasuf’s eyes widened and he looked around the room, hoping what Daniel said wasn’t true, but from the looks the others wore, it was the reality. "How has this happened?" He asked turning back to Daniel.

Daniel shook his head. "We don’t know. Someone must have come through the Chappa’ai recently and took her during the night when no one would have noticed."

Kasuf stared at Daniel in disbelief. This was all his fault. He should have fought harder against the Elders to make them see the danger. He should have gone behind their backs and had the Chappa’ai guard regardless of what the Elders had ruled. He was the Chief Elder; they should have listened.

"This is all my entire fault," Kasuf whispered, looking down ashamed.

"No," Daniel said sternly, forcing Kasuf to look up at him. "It was not your fault, Good Father. You could not have known. You did all you could to make the Elders see that the Chappa’ai needed to be guarded and they did not listen. There was nothing more you could have done."

"I should have forced them to see," Kasuf said angrily. "I should have had Skaara guard the Chappa’ai behind their backs-"

"And they would have punished you greatly for doing so had they found out," Daniel interrupted. "Father, do not blame yourself. You did all you could." He reassured.

Kasuf nodded, taking in Daniel’s words. The man was fair wiser and smarter then he would ever be and he was proud to have Daniel as a son, even if he had not sired him. Daniel was right, it was not his fault, but it would be some time before he could finally believe that.

There was a moment of Silence before Skaara spoke. "My shift in the night watch is approaching. I must leave," he said heading for the door. He paused just at the entrance and glanced back at Daniel. "I am glad that you are back, Dan’yel." He said before disappearing into the night.

They stayed silent for a moment longer, before Kasuf started to move again. "You must all be hunger after your travels," He said, trying to get his mind off of his daughter for the time being. Now was a time for making Daniel feel as much at home as possible and to try and take his mind off of his wife. "I will go and get some food. Stay here," he told Daniel in particularly and quickly left the dwelling in search of some food.

The group stayed silent as Daniel watched Kasuf go. He was confused about many things and his feelings about what had happened to Sha’uri we’re weighing down on him more heavily now then they had been before. He rubbed his eyes gently, trying to get rid of the tears that still lay unshed within them before moving to sit on the bed in the corner.

Jack moved to sit beside Daniel and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You did good, Daniel. You held it together."

"But for how long?" Daniel asked raising his head slightly to look at Jack. "I wasn’t expecting this, Jack. I didn’t expect to return here just to have my life crumble down even more on me."

Jack sighed. "I know, and I’m sorry." He said, not quite knowing what else to say. What could he say? Fate, it seemed, had a grudge against Daniel and wanted to keep causing him misery.

"Daniel," Sam said, kneeling down in front of him. "We didn’t expect this to happen either. But a least now we know that someone has taken Sha’uri and we can do something about it."

"Captain Carter is correct," Teal’c added. "Now that we know Sha’uri has been taken, we will be able to search for her. She still may be close by. I don not believe that whom ever has taken her has had a chance to leave."

"What makes you say that?" Jack asked.

Teal’c raised and eyebrow, his arms crossed behind his back. "The Gate room appeared to have been vacant for some time, O’Neill. That is reason enough to believe that they are still present here on Abydos."

"So how do we find them?" Daniel asked, looking up at the Jaffa.

Teal’c remained silent for a moment. "I don not know."

Daniel gazed down at his hands upon hearing that and Jack scowled. "Well that just great, Teal’c." He said angrily. Teal’c should know better then to get Daniel’s hopes up like that only to have them crushed again.

There was silence again, a very uncomfortable silence. No one knew what to say to Daniel and Daniel didn’t know what he could say to them. He felt so lost and alone right now even though his friends surrounded him.

He raised his head slightly room his lap and gazed around the room again, trying to take everything in. He could see imprints of Sha’uri all around him and it comforted him somewhat. He needed to be able to feel her right now; to know that no matter what, everything would work out okay. He needed to know that coming back to Abydos had a purpose and that he hadn’t just come back to feel the pain of losing her all over again.

Kasuf suddenly entered the dwelling again followed by a few women who were carrying trays of food. They did not seem startled to see Daniel there so he guessed they either weren’t paying attention or Kasuf had informed them before they entered. The food smelt good as the trays were laid down on the ground in front of them and the women quickly left them alone to enjoy their meal.

The group slowly moved down to the floor and started to help themselves to some of Abydos’s finest. Daniel found that he liked a lot of the food even though most of it he had never seen before. He had seen some of it, though, in his vision of their dinner in the temple by the Stargate.

They talked about various things over dinner. Daniel asked many questions about Abydos and what had happened since he had ‘died’. Kasuf told him all about how many of the Elders had reached the end of their time in control and he told them all about the change in leadership. It seemed that Menes, the opposing leader in Nagada, had tried to over throw Kasuf as leader by using blackmail. He had tried to make the council see that the attack by Anubis was all his fault and that if he had acted sooner, many lives could have been saved. Luckily the council did not share Menes point of view and they ruled in favour of Kasuf.

Unfortunately, even with Kasuf as Chief Elder, the other Elders still ruled that there was no needed to guard the Gate. They had out numbered him, so it was ruled in their favour. He also told them about the local news. How everyone in Nagada was fairing now a days and what sort of mishaps had been happing within the family. It seemed that Skaara’s cousin, Remerus, had recently gotten married to a woman twice his age. Sam and Jack both protested to this, but Kasuf explained that it was because of an arranged marriage.

Skaara joined them near the end of the meal as his shift had ended and also shared his little bit of news. He told Daniel about how all the children he used to teach were fairing and how many of them could now read and write in both Egyptian and English. Daniel was pleased to hear this, but was also shocked that he had made such an impacted on these kids lives. Jack had just smiled and said, "That’s our Daniel."

It was late into the night before they went to bed. Kasuf returned to his own home with Skaara while Daniel and the others stayed in Daniel’s home. It was almost three in the morning when Jack awoke to the sound of someone moaning. He rolled over in his blankets, thinking he must have heard one to the boys from outside who were on watch when he heard the sound again, but this time it said a name. "Sha’uri."

Jack quickly sat up from his bed on the floor and turned in the Direction of where Daniel was sleeping. He could she Daniel’s figure slightly in the dark room. He was rolled up into a tight ball under his covers, shivering slightly and he kept moaning Sha’uri’s name.

Jack looked around to see that Sam was still sleeping peacefully in the corner of the dwelling, not stirring at the sounds Daniel was making, and Teal’c was leaning against the fair wall near the door in a deep state of kel-no-reem. He also had not stirred at the moans coming from Daniel.

‘Great,’ He thought as he shoved back the covers and crawled over towards the shiver archaeologist. As he got closer, he could hear more then just Sha’uri’s name being uttered by the young man. He was mumbling many things, some of which Jack could pick out.

"No," Daniel moaned. "No… Mom, Dad… the rope."

"Dammit," Jack swore under his breath. Daniel was reliving his parent’s deaths. Not the greatest thing in the world for him at the moment. He had too many things weighing down on him right now; he didn’t need this now as well.

Jack reached Daniel and pulled his shivering form close to him, rubbing his back gently. "Come on, Danny-boy, wake up. It’s just a dream. Come on," Jack uttered quietly, trying to get him to wake so Daniel would know that it was all just a dream even though it had happened many years ago.

"No, mom, dad, move!"

"Daniel, wake up," Jack said more sternly, shaking the younger man slightly.

Daniel awoke with a start, his breathing coming in quite gasps and his eyes wide with fear. Jack continued to rub Daniel’s back in a soothing manner, hoping to draw Daniel away from what he had seen to the here and now.

"Jack?" Daniel said weakly, shivering in a cold sweat.

"I’m here, Daniel. Everything’s going to be okay," Jack said.

"Oh God, Jack," Daniel cried. "I watched them die. I watch my parents die."

"I know, Daniel. I know." Jack said.

Daniel began to cry then, his whole body racking with the sobs. Jack held him close, feeling that Daniel needed the physical contact right now. He needed to let Daniel know that he wasn’t alone in this. That he would be here for him, no matter what.

"I can’t do this any more, Jack," Daniel sobbed into Jack’s shirt. "I can’t keep seeing the people I love die or get hurt."

Jack didn’t say anything to this. He just kept rubbing his hand up and down Daniel’s back. Up and down, up and down. The motion not only soothed Daniel, but it soothed himself.

"Daniel," Jack said after a moment. "I know that there are many things that have happened in your life that have been tough on you and some times I wondered how you ever pulled through them all. I know that as you remember more things, these problems and pains will come right back onto you fresh and new, but you’ve got to remember one thing. You are NOT alone."

Daniel stayed silent for a moment, listening to everything Jack said. "I know that, Jack." He said quietly after a moment. He had calmed down a fair bit and now leaded back away from Jack and looked up into his face. "It’s just sometimes I feel so alone."

Jack nodded. "I know the feeling. But you’re not. You’ll never be alone, Daniel. Even if you’re stuck on some fair off planet all by yourself, you’ll never be alone. We’ll always be there with you. Sam, Teal’c, your family here on Abydos and me. We all care about you, Danny, and we’re going to do all we can to help you through this so you can help Sha’uri, where ever she may be."

Daniel nodded slightly. He still felt somewhat alone and shook up over everything that had happened over the past few hours but with Jack’s help, he was coping. And Jack was right. He needed to get through this so he could help Sha’uri. There was no way he could help her like this.

"Now," Jack said, slapping Daniel against the shoulder. "You wouldn’t be able to help anyone if you don’t sleep."

"Jack, I-"

"No buts, Daniel. I know you’re having nightmares, but you need sleep and so do I," Jack said, waving his finger in front of Daniel’s face.

Daniel smiled. "We’re starting to make a habit of this."

"God, I hope not," Jack said. "You may be able to survive on two hours sleep and three cups of coffee, but I sure as hell can’t. I need my sleep."

Daniel chuckled slightly, careful not to wake Sam or Teal’c though he figured trying to wake Teal’c from his kel-no-reem would be like trying to raise the dead. ‘Oh, bad analogy there, Daniel,’ he thought. It wasn’t that hard to raise the dead. Hell, the Goa’ulds did it all the time. That’s what they probably did with Sha’uri.

"I try to sleep, Jack, and I promise to try and not make so much noise." Daniel said.

Jack nodded and yawned. "Okay. But if you need anything don’t be afraid to wake me up and ask."

Daniel nodded. "I won’t. Good-night, Jack."

Jack yawned again, heading back over towards his makeshift bed. "Night Danny."

In a few minutes, the whole dwelling was filled with the sounds of Jack’s gently snoring. Daniel lay awake in his bed, not wanting o go back to sleep, even though he knew he should. His body needed rest, but his mind would probably just start throwing other bad memories back at him once he fell asleep.

With a sigh, Daniel pushed back the covers and headed for the door of the dwelling, being sure to pull his hood over his head to hide his face in case someone who didn’t know he was back saw him. He stepped out into the dark night to feel that the air was relatively warm, though he wasn’t at all surprised. It was a desert after all.

He then began to walk. He didn’t have any destination in mind. He just left his feet wander as he thought over everything that had happened to him. He remembered thinking when he was still with Shamda and Nomad that he had wanted to know what kind of person he had been, what his life had been like. He used to wonder why he couldn’t remember anything and if it was because he had done something terribly wrong.

He used to think about all the people he must have left behind and he had wondered if anyone cared that he was gone. He now knew the answers to many of the questions he had had back then, but some of the answers he wished he didn’t have. He wished he had never remembered anything from his life and that he could have just stayed with Shamda and Nomad. He had felt safe with them. Here, he felt like he was home, but he never felt safe. He always felt like something was going to jump out at him any moment and try and hurt him, just like they’d had so many times before in his life before becoming an ascended.

Daniel sighed and stared up at the night sky. Many of the shapes he saw were different from the ones on Earth, but he seemed to recognize a few of them. One of them was the Great Cat, which only appeared during the late spring. He wondered how he knew that, but then a voice entered his mind. ‘This one looks like the Great Cat.’ It had been Sha’uri when they had been… where were they… He couldn’t remember. It had been somewhere important. Somewhere where he had spent a lot of his time studying. Studying what, he couldn’t recall.

He sighed, looking down at his feet as they shifted through the sand. It frustrated him that he couldn’t remember some things like that, but, then again, he wasn’t sure he wanted to remember. Many of the things he had remembered so fair were memories full of pain and Daniel was beginning to wonder if he had ever had a happy moment in his life. But he must have, right? It just wouldn’t make sense if he hadn’t. Jack had said that there were times when he had been happy, like when he had seen him with Sha’uri. But that was only some times. Were there more then just a hand full of times when he was happy or was is whole life filled with misery and pain?

Daniel’s foot caught on a rock and he stumbled but he was able to regain his balance in time. He gazed around to find that he had wandered into some sort of cave without realizing it. It was much darker in here and he was having trouble seeing his way around, but he say on old discarded torch lying nearby and hastily picked it up. He then bent down onto his knees and reached a hand inside his robes to try and find that pack of matches he knew he had somewhere inside on of the pockets to his SGC pants.

He sighed with relief as he found then and quickly lit one and held it to the torch, hoping it would catch. Luckily it did and Daniel was grained with light. With the torch in hand, Daniel stood and gazed at his surrounds.

It was a cave, oblivious, but he could see a small opening near him that had been sealed up with many small rocks, some of which had fallen down and where lying by his feet. ‘Well, now I know what I tripped over,’ He thought. He could see another cavern behind the pile of rocks and his curiosity got the better of him. Slowly, he moved forward, setting the torch down between a bigger rock and the wall so it would stay upright, and began to move the rocks out of the way.

As the rocks slowly fell away, he felt that he had done this before, except he hadn’t been alone at the time. He had been with someone. He had been with… Sha’uri. He stopped for a moment. He had done this before with Sha’uri. But why? What was behind this pile of rocks that he and Sha’uri had tried to get to? Had they gotten to it at all? It didn’t look like it. The rocks had all been there for quite some time.

He sighed, not understanding and started to move the rocks again. Maybe he’d find some answers once he got to the other side. If he had been there before, something must be familiar to him. And if not, well, who knows?

Finally, he moved enough rocks out of the way for him to fit through. He grabbed the torch again and slowly made his way through the hole, careful not to fall of trip on the rocks that were still there. He wasn’t exactly sure how fair away this cave was to the others and if something happened, he may not be able to call for help.

Once through, he straightened up and dusted himself off before gazing around the new cavern. The place was dark, except for the light his torch provided. The caravan was vacant, empty except for the long pillars that stood here. No one had entered here in a long time by the looks of it, but there were some old footprints in the sand. Daniel guessed that they had been there for so long, because this cavern didn’t get any wind blowing into it, so the sand would stay in place.

He then glanced at a nearby wall and saw something that made his heart jump. It was the Earth symbol. It was the symbol used on the Stargate to represent Earth. But what was that doing here?

He glanced at the other walls surrounding him and found them to also be covered in symbols, many of which he couldn’t remember seeing before. He recognized a few from when he had been doing so translating back on Earth, but most he didn’t recall. ‘Their ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs,’ Daniel thought. He then paused, wondering how he knew that. He hadn’t translated any hieroglyphs back on Earth since he had come back, so how did he know what they were?

His eyes gazed over them until they landed on a certain symbol that he was sure he had seen before. "Taperiof," he whispered, part of his mind registering the word. He knew these symbols. He had read them all before.

He turned to the wall opposite and saw a symbol of two small men fighting, or so they appeared to be. "Ningit," he said, but then shook his head. ‘No, that doesn’t sound right,’ He thought frowning. "Neda." He tried again and smiled when it sound right. "Tiu." He said, gazing at another part of the word.

He looked higher, running his hands over what appeared to be a much larger word. "Nechru," he mumbled, and then shook his head when that didn’t sound right. "Na-ta-turu." He said smiling. "I know these words." He said to himself.

He wonder slightly how he knew them and why he would say what he thought they said only to shake his head and correct himself. It was as though the part of his mind that knew everything was whispering to him, correcting him on his pronunciation. It was kind of amusing and most helpful.

He wondered a little further into the cave and came across a wall that seems to describe a story of some sorts. His eyes gazed over they hieroglyphs, trying to decipherer their meaning. "A traveler from distant stars escaped from a dying world looking for a way to extend his own life. His body, decaying and weak, he couldn’t prevent his own demise, apparently his entire species was becoming extinct."

He moved his gaze, trying to read with the little light the torch provided. "He traveled or searched the galaxies looking for a way to cheat death. He came to a world rich with life, where he encountered a primitive race… humans. A species with all his powers he could maintain indifferently. He realized that within a human body he had a chance for a new life."

Daniel paused, adjusting his glasses as they had slide down his face. This whole story sounded so familiar. "Now he apparently found a young boy. As the frightened villagers ran, night became day. Curious and without fear, he walked towards the light." The next symbol startled Daniel somewhat. He’d seen this before. He had seen it on the ruins of Shamda’s world. What did Jonas say it meant. Ra. "Ra took him and possessed his body."

Daniel paused again. "Like some sort of parasite looking for a host." ‘Like the Goa’uld,’ He thought.

"And inhabiting this human form, he appointed himself ruler." Daniel moved the torch slightly trying to read the other symbols but it was difficult. His mind was starting to fail on him. "He used the Stargate to bring … thousands of people here to this planet as workers… for the mines."

Daniel rubbed his head gently, feeling a new headache coming on. It was hurting trying to recall what al these symbols meant, but he wanted to know what happened. "The mineral they mined was clearly the building blocks for al of his… technology. With this… he could… sustain eternal life." He moved further down the passages way. "Now, something happened… back on Earth. A rebellion or uprising and the Stargate was buried there. Fearful of a rebellion here, Ra outlawed reading and writing." Daniel stood back shocked for a moment. "He didn’t want the people to remember the truth."

Daniel just stood, staring at the walls for a moment, before he heard a voice in his head. ‘Doctor Jackson, I think you’d better take a look at this.’ "Take a look at what?" Daniel thought to himself, wondering where that voice had come from.

He gazed down the passageway he had come from and slowly traveled back to it, deciding to go down a little further without getting lost. He turned and what he saw made him pause for a moment. Cover stones. There were cover stones here. Just like the ones Sam had shown him back on Earth.

Daniel bent forward in front of them and softly dusted away the sand that had collected in the cracks. Constellations. Theses were the coordinates that took them from here back to Earth. Sam had made him memorize them before coming here in case something happened and he needed to get back to Earth on his own. But the point of origin was missing. He reached down by his feet and found the missing piece to the Cover stone, but the symbol was worn off. Not that it mattered. He knew what the symbol was: a pyramid with three connecting moons over top. It kinda looked like a Goa’uld ship landing over the pyramid now that he thought about it.

Daniel sighed, gazing over the symbols. It had been a long time since their first mission to Abydos. The mission that had given him a life worth living, but then that had all been taken away from him only a year later.

‘Oh well,’ Daniel thought. ‘I can’t change the past. I can only work on trying to make the future something worth living for.’

Thinking that, his mind wondered back to what had happened to Sha’uri. What had they done to her? Who had done it? Was she alive somewhere or was she still a corpse? Daniel rubbed the sides of his head, trying to will that thought away. He hoped that whom ever had taken her had brought her back to life. He didn’t think he could handle it if they found her only to find that she was still dead.

Rocks tumbling to the ground, forced Daniel out of his thoughts. He turned around, looking at the entrance to the cavern. No one was there. He stood; bring the torch up higher to light up the area better. He knew he hadn’t imagined that sound.

He slowly began to walk towards the entrance checking around each corner to make sure no one was there. He didn’t see anyone. He reached the entrance and bent down to glance through the hole. No one there. He gazed down at the rocks, trying to understand where he had heard that sound come from.

It was then that he saw them. Footprints. They went the opposite direction of where he had and they were fairly new. ‘Great,’ Daniel thought as he stood and cautiously made his way down there. The passageway stretched a lot further then the others had and Daniel could she that it had been traveled more recently then the one he had gone down. All the cobwebs had been dusted away as where the walls which sported more symbols, most he couldn’t read as his mind seemed to have gone all mushy from reading the story about Ra.

A light flickered at the end of the passage way and Daniel speed up his walk. He could hear people talking in hushed voices, but he couldn’t understand them. They were speaking in what sounding like Abydonian. ‘Possibly Ancient Egyptian,’ a part of his mind whispered.

He reached a comer and gazed slowly around the corner. The new room was lit very well; the walls seemed to be shinning gold. They where coated in symbols that looked much like the ones on the Stargate. There were thousands of them.

In the middle of the room stood a man, dressed in robes made of material Daniel couldn’t ever remember seeing before. His back was too Daniel and he was speaking to another man that had a weird looking symbol painted on his forehead.

Daniel swallowed hard, thinking he should probably turn back and go tell the others, when the man suddenly stopped talking; his form going ridged.

"Daniel Jackson," The man said and the voice sent a shiver down Daniel’s spine. He had heard that voice before. Where, he couldn’t remember.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back as he was violently shoved forward into the room. He glanced back to see one of the Serpent guards he had seen in his visions. ‘Dammit, what have I gotten myself into now,’ He thought. ‘I shouldn’t have come here. I should have stayed with Jack and the others.’

The man in the center of the room laughed, seeming to sense Daniel’s thoughts. He then slowly turned so Daniel could see his face, but Daniel did not know him. Or at least, he thought he didn’t.

"I knew you would come here," the man said smiling. His eyes flared a brilliant white, before Daniel felt something stab him hard in the back and he fell. The last thing he saw before darkness over took him was a veiled woman standing in the far corner gazing at him intensively with dark brown eyes.

***

"Dammit Daniel," Jack swore, running up and down the streets of Nagada. They had been searching for him for three hours now and had not been able to find him. Jack cursed as he tripped over a discarded bone. He didn’t need this. Dammit, why didn’t Daniel just go to sleep like he had told him to?

Jack had woken up that morning to find that Daniel’s bed was empty and his robes gone. He had immediately gotten Sam and Teal’c up and, after telling Kasuf that they had lost track of his son, started searching for the wondering archaeologist. They had already checked all the places Daniel used to go when he had lived on Abydos. The had checked the council chambers, Kasuf’s house, the school, even Sha’uri’s grave and they had turned up with nothing. It was like Daniel had just disappeared.

"Colonel!" Sam yelled from a little ways behind him. Jack stopped to let her catch up with him. She was panting slightly and had a grave look on her face.

"What is it Major?"

She took in a deep breath before answering. "We can’t find Daniel anywhere sir, but we did find this.’ She held up a smashed pair of glasses that could only belong to Daniel. Jack swore.

"Where did you find this?" He asked, taking the glasses from her.

"In that map room, sir. Looks like there had been a struggle of some kind. Teal’c also found," she paused, not wanting to say this. "He also found a small pile of blood near where we found the glasses, sir."

Jack cursed, glaring down at the glasses. Why did Daniel leave? Why didn’t he just stay where he was? "Any idea who did this and where they might be now?" Jack asked.

Sam shook her head. "No sir. We didn’t find any trace that any one had been there besides what we found in the map room. Kasuf says that it could have been anyone. There are a lot of people here from the surrounding cities that would just love a chance to harm anyone here because of what Kasuf has done."

"Dammit," Jack said. He sighed. "What about the pyramid? Has anyone checked there yet?"

Sam shook her head. "No. Teal’c and I decided that we should go there last because if we didn’t find Daniel we’d need to contact Earth and let them know what’s happened so they could send help."

Jack nodded. "Well we’d better go there then. We’ve checked everywhere else and if his not there, we’re going to need help finding him."

Sam nodded. "Yes sir."

After rounding up Teal’c, the trio headed off in the direction of the pyramid. They all wondered where the hell Daniel could be and if he was all right. Why did this have to happen? All they had wanted was to come to Abydos so that Daniel could spend some time with his family and hopefully regain some more of his memories, but they hadn’t bargained for this. First they find that someone had taken Sha’uri’s body and the next Daniel goes missing.

Jack sighed, struggling through the sand. How many times has Daniel gone missing or they’ve had to leave him behind? ‘Far too many,’ He thought gloomily. Daniel’s been shot and stabbed and brought back so many times. Not counting of course the time they had thought he had been dead and had left him behind. And, of course, there was the time that he did acutely die and stayed that way for a year, which had only ended about a week ago. ‘Okay, so he really only ascended to a higher plane of exists, but he was considered dead as in, he wasn’t with us any more,’ Jack thought. He couldn’t be with them.

Jack remembered the first time Daniel had appeared to him as an ascended. He had though he was just a hallucination at first, but he wasn’t. He even remembered tossing his shoe through Daniel. It was kind of freaky how it just went right through him, but he was acutely there. It had also bothered Jack that he couldn’t touch Daniel. God, how he had wanted to just pull the younger man close and never let go. But he couldn’t. And there was nothing Daniel could do about it. Until, of course, he got himself booted out of happy land.

The pyramid rose before them now and they slowly made there way up the ramp to the entrance, hoping to find some good news within. As the entered, Jack got the feeling that someone was watching them. As he glanced back at Sam and Teal’c, he noticed that they felt the same thing.

"Spread out," Jack said, swinging his gun off his shoulder. He took the right wing as Teal’c took the left and Sam went down the middle. Jack gazed around the pillars, having the strangest feeling that something was just going to jump out at him. He crept slowly down the side of the room, pushing cobwebs out of his face and keeping his gun steady.

He turned and found Sam looking around the back of the Stargate while Teal’c gazed at the ceiling. "Anything?" He asked still not about to shake off the feeling that they were being watched.

"My search revealed nothing," Teal’c answered.

"Nothing back here, sir,’ Sam answered coming out from behind the Stargate.

"Okay," Jack said, gazing one last time down the way he had come. "Carter, dial home. Once we’ve-"

"JACK, LOOK OUT!!!"

Jack whirled around at the voice only to be clubbed in the face by the end of a staff weapon. He landed on the ground with a huge thud and swore. "Daniel!" Jack screamed trying to get to his feet. That had been Daniel. He was here somewhere.

"Colonel!" Jack looked up to see that both Sam and Teal’c had been taken captive. He swore colourfully as the serpent guard behind him pulled him to his knees.

"Great," Jack said, gazing around. "More serpent heads. You do know that your God is dead, right?" He asked but received no response.

"Quite slave!" Said a voice from somewhere nearby. Jack couldn’t see who had spoken it from where he was, but he knew from the sound of the voice that it had been Goa’uld.

"Who are you calling a slave?" Jack snapped back and was rewarded with a knee in the back. He dubbed over in pain.

"Tau’ri cui!"

"Jack, don’t anger them," said a voice off somewhere to Jack right.

"Daniel?" Jack asked, pulling himself up again.

"I’m here, Jack," Daniel said from where he was being held by another serpent guard.

"Where" Jack asked. "I can’t see you."

"I can see him, sir,’ Sam answered. "He’s hurt, but he’s alive."

"Which may not be the case very soon," said that evil Goa’uld voice that Jack still couldn’t see. There was silence for a moment, before Jack heard screaming. ‘Daniel!’ He thought panicky. "Daniel!" He yelled.

"Don’t hurt him!" Sam yelled out, being able to see everything from where she was being held captive.

The screams cist. There was nothing but silence. "Daniel?" Jack called out, but he didn’t receive an answer. He glanced at Sam, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. Both she and Teal’c were staring somewhere off to his left, but he couldn’t see what was happening. A pillar blocked his vision.

There was movement by Jack and he looked up in time to see a zap being pointed at him. "You, Tau’ri will pay for what you have done," the voice said, and then he activated the zat. Jack felt a huge jolt of pain swept through him before he landed with another big thump onto the sandy floor. "You will die very slowly,’ said the voice, but Jack wasn’t paying much attention. His conciseness was drifting, but from his view on the floor he could now see Daniel. The younger man lay unconscious or maybe even dead on the ground a few feet away from him. Jack couldn’t tell if he was alive. He was blanking out.

"Remember this, Tau’ri," said the voice again. "You will never again see that man that you so cherish."

‘Daniel,’ Jack thought, before his mind was over come by a blanket of darkness.

***

Daniel groaned, feeling as though his whole head had been shoved into a wood shedder. He ached all over and there was a sharp persistent pain in his lower back that he couldn’t identify. He moved slightly only to gasp in pain. ‘Okay, moving… bad idea,’ he thought.

His hands were bound making it impossible for him to sit up from his position on the floor. He was lying on his side on a hard cold concrete floor. Or was it concrete? He couldn’t tell and frankly at the moment, he didn’t care.

That’s when it all came back to him. He remembered seeing Jack and the others in the pyramid. He had wanted to warn them, but the serpent guard that held him had kept a hand over his mouth. He couldn’t do anything but watch. He had watched that serpent guard sneak up behind Jack without Sam or Teal’c noticing but he had been able to break his mouth away long enough to shout out a warning. But it had been too late. They had been captured and right now Daniel had no way of knowing what had happened to them.

He slowly cracked his eyes open a little to try and get his bearings. He was in some sort of cell. There were no windows and no doors. Just two concrete seats on either side of him with light pouring in through a lit panel in the wall, but there was nothing to see but a blinding white light.

He risked moving his head up to glance at the ceiling and regretted it immediately because of the pain that shot through him, but he did see something that he would have found very fascinating under different circumstances. There was a hole, what looked like a door and people were walking past him… on the WALL!!!

Part of his mind went haywire at seeing that. Part of him knew he had seen that before. But where? Dammit, why couldn’t he remember? He felt weird about it though. Like if it was a memory, he had been… different at the time. But he had only been different when he had been an ascended, but that couldn’t be it. He was told and he knew that all his memories of the time he spent as an ascended had been erased, as in, they were no longer in his head. But still…

An image flashed before his eyes then. An image of Jack in the same sort of room he was now in except it was much brighter. Here, Daniel only had one small-lit panel and there, Jack had four. He was looking up at the opening with a puzzled look on his face. Daniel had seen this before; he knew that. He concentrated as hard as he could on the image he saw, willing something else to come to the surface. And slowly, it did…

"Hi, Jack," I say softly, waving to him as he turns to look at me.

I shake my head. "No, I’m here. I’m…really here."

"Sure you are." He answers sceptically.

Daniel sighed in frustration, sinking back against the floor. He couldn’t remember it. It was taking to much effort to try and pull that memory forward and right now he didn’t have the time for it, or the will power. He was far too tired and drained.

"Jack, where the hell are you?" He whispered slightly, wondering if he was ever going to get out of this. ‘I shouldn’t have left the dwelling,’ Daniel thought sadly. ‘I should have stayed there are at the very least told someone where I was going. Maybe I should have even brought someone with me.’ He sighed. It wasn’t going to do him any good thinking about what he should have done. All he could do was think about what he could do now to get himself out of this mess. Starting with getting off this cold floor.

With a grunt of pain, Daniel pushed himself up from the floor and leaned back against the wall. His body was now shaking with the effort, but at least he was up. Now all he needed to do was find a way out.

He glanced around the room, seeing if there was anything he could use to cut the ropes that bound his hands. Nothing. All there was were those two built in benches in the sides of his cell. "Great," Daniel said, gazing back up at the opening. "Just great."

He sighed, slouching down against the wall into a more comfortable position. What was he going to do? There was no way out of here, or at least, none that he could see. He appeared to be in some sort of gravity defying room, most likely controlled from somewhere out there.

"Think, Daniel. Just think," He said closing his eyes. There must be a way out. There had too be? He frowned. Ya right. Some powerful Goa’uld controlled this place. It wouldn’t be easy to escape. It was probably a lot easier to gain the whole universe.

He shook his head. He couldn’t think like that, there had to be away out of here. He just needed to find it. Of course finding it would be the hard part seeing as he could barley move and standing was so out of the question. There was nothing he could do right now but sit and wait for his body to recover enough so that he could move. In the mean time, he had to try and figure out what was going on. Who was doing this to them? Was it the same people who took Sha’uri? If so, it would mean that she was some where in this place also.

His eyes snapped opened. What if she was here? God, the thought was pure torture. So close, yet so far away. God, why did this have to happen? Why couldn’t the Goa’uld just leave them alone?

"Okay, think through this logically," Daniel mumbled to himself, gazing around the room again. "The door’s up there and this room has some sort of gravity machine in it. Ba’al used the same sort of thing on Jack, if I’m not mistaken. So… the Goa’uld that we’re dealing with could be Ba’al." He paused for a moment, wondering how he had known about Ba’al. He hadn’t read about him anywhere and Jack had never mentioned him. Maybe, he was the Goa’uld that had locked Jack away in that cell from his vision. But still, how did he know his name. ‘Who cares how I know it?’ Daniel thought angrily. ‘Right now I guess want to get out of here.’ He sighed, shutting his eyes for a moment to try and calm himself down. Then he resumed his train of thought.

"But that doesn’t seem to fit. Why would Ba’al attack us? Maybe he’s still pissed off at Jack, but then how did he know where I’d go and what my name was? Not only that, but why would he care?"

He sighed, rolling his head back softly ‘til it hit the wall. Even that same movement was causing him pain. He sighed and closed his eyes. "No, it couldn’t be Ba’al. His Jaffa where different, they weren’t Serpent guards. Apophis’ Jaffa were Serpents, but Apophis is dead, or so Sam and Teal’c told me." He shook his head slowly as not to cause much pain. "I’m never going to figure this out. At least," he stared back up at the opening. "Not without help."

***

"Colonel." Jack blinked, not understanding what was going on. He ached all over and he felt like he had had one to many drinks.

"Colonel, can you hear me?"

Jack looked up and saw Sam leaning over him, a concerned look on her face. She seemed really pale and he could tell that she was hurt.

"Major?"

Sam sighed in relief. "Thank God. We were beginning to wonder if maybe the Goa’uld had done more to you then just hit you with a Zat gun."

Jack groaned as he sat up. "Great," he said, gazing around the room. They were in a cell. One of those stupid gravity controlled ones like the one he had been stuck in when Ba’al had captured him. He saw Teal’c gazing up at the ceiling trying to find a way out.

"Don’t bother," Jack said. "There’s only one way out and that’s impossible until someone flicks that switchy thing up there." He pointed upward.

"How do you know this?" Teal’c asked turning to face the colonel.

Jack sighed. "Because this is the same sort of room Ba’al had me locked up in and believe me, I spent enough time here to examine every aspect of it."

He winched as he rubbed the back of his neck. God was he ever sore. He gazed around the all to familiar room, taking in everything. But something was missing. "Where’s Daniel?" He asked.

Sam lowered her gaze and Teal’c had that look he always had when he had bad news to tell. "What?" Jack asked.

"Daniel’s not here, sir," Sam said softly.

"Nor was he ever here. I have been awake since we were put in here. Daniel Jackson was not with us," Teal’c said.

Jack groaned and hit his head against the wall he was leaning against. Just what he needed. Not only where they locked up in one of these God-forsaken cells but also Daniel was missing and they didn’t have a clue where he was. Then the last thing he had heard before blacking out came back into his mind. ‘Remember this, Tau’ri. You will never again see that man that you so cherish.’

"Dammit," Jack swore. "Does anyone know if Daniel was still alive? The last thing I remember was seeing him lying face down on the sand in the temple, but I wasn’t sure if he was alive or not."

"The last I saw of him, sir, he was alive. They pulled him off the ground before they knocked me out and I watched him take in a shallow breath." Sam answered, trying not to think to hard about what those Serpent guards had done to Daniel.

"Okay," Jack said, nodding his head. "So we’ll assume he’s still alive, then." Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had wished Carter to say something like that. He didn’t think he could deal with it if they had told him that Daniel was dead… again.

Sam nodded, then glanced up at the opening. "We won’t be able to help him though if we can’t figure out a way to get out of here."

Jack pushed himself to his feet and gazed around the cell. He had stared at these walls so much before that he was sick of them already. The difference was that Carter and Teal’c were here with him now and Daniel was not.

He sighed. "Any idea who’s behind this, Major?"

Sam shook her head. "None, sir. The guards that captured us are Serpent guards, but both Apophis and Hathor are dead."

Jack scratched his head. "Could it be Ba’al? He had these types of cells. The only Goa’uld that does, or so Daniel had told me."

Sam frowned. "When did he tell you that?"

Jack gazed at her in puzzlement for a moment before slapping his head in his stupidity. He had never told her about Daniel’s little visits when he had been captured by Ba’al. He guess now was as good a time as any. "He told me that when Ba’al had me looked up in one of these," he said, gesturing around the room.

Sam’s frown deepened. "He came to you when he was an ascended."

"Don’t take it personally, Major," Jack said, seeing the look that was forming on her face. "Daniel told me that he wasn’t about to just stand by and let Ba’al torture me. From reading between the lines, I figured that he had sort of pushed you, Teal’c and Jonas in the right direction to find me without you realizing it."

Sam nodded slowly, feeling a little hurt that Daniel had visited both Teal’c and Jack, but not her. Maybe he hadn’t wanted too. Maybe he had felt that she hadn’t needed him too, though now, after hearing this from Jack, she wished he had come to visit her. It would have been nice to see him and he could have helped her. How, she didn’t know, but it would have been nice to at least know he was out there somewhere, watching over them.

"We should return to the matter at hand," Teal’c’s deep voice