Teal'c saw the Ha'gell hesitate as their quarry ran into the cavern mouth, then resume the chase. As one of them opened fire again on the fleeing men, Teal'c stepped out of the shadows in which he had been lurking and fired his staff weapon, hitting the lead Ha'gell squarely in the chest and taking the others by surprise.

On the ledge leading to the entrance to the cavern system, the Ha'gell were rather short on places to go to take cover. They had two obvious choices; retreat or hit the water. Neither option seemed to appeal to them, however, so they opted for a third choice and kept right on coming, returning Teal'c's fire.

************************

From his position just inside the mouth of the tunnel leading through to the Gate cavern, O'Neill heard the unmistakable sounds of staff weapon fire echo across the cavern from the tunnel leading to the lake. He picked up the radio that rested on the ground beside him. "Mac...Don’t want to pressure ya’...but I think it’s time...we were duckin’ out the back way," he said tersely into the device. "We got company...knockin’ on...the front door - loudly."

Without waiting for a response, he set the radio down and fished out the hand-weapon that was tucked inside his sling. He leaned back against the tunnel wall behind the rocky outcrop he had slid down behind shortly after Daniel had reluctantly left him perched on it and closed his eyes for a moment. Then, awkwardly, he disengaged the safety catch as he listened to the increasing intensity of staff weapon fire that was echoing across the cavern. Taking some steadying breaths - as deeply as his badly bruised, probably cracked rib-cage would permit - he fought down the myriad pains nagging at him from almost every part of his battered body, tried to shake off the dizziness that was coming in waves and braced himself to wait for the action to make its way towards his hiding place.

*************************

"Start dialling!" MacGyver ordered, hopping clear of the Stargate on the side furthest away from the D-H-D, his running repairs to the defective chevron completed.

Carter switched the power back on and Seeba started depressing glyphs in the same sequence as before. The inner ring of the Gate began to spin. One by one the chevrons locked into place and the wormhole established itself with a deafening and spectacular roar which shook the entire chamber and brought a shower of debris and dust down from the cavern roof.

As Seeba had intimated they would, the four animals hitched to her wagon took it all in their stride and hardly flinched. The other draught animals were much less composed about the racket - despite their assorted blindfolds - and there was quite a lot of scuffling before their handlers were able to calm them and restore order.

"Daniel! Get these people movin' outta' here!" MacGyver yelled across the cavern long before the dust had even started to settle.

"Where are you going?" Daniel yelled back, coughing and catching a glimpse of the other man moving away from the Gate area towards the rear of the cavern.

"To help cover your backs!"

"I think I'd better go with him," Carter said, reaching for the MP-5 that rested on top of her pack beside the base of the D-H-D. Seeing Daniel's expression she reminded him, "The Colonel is unarmed and without that brace, who knows how long his knee'll hold up."

"Go!" Daniel told her, nodding, sharing her concern for the other man's welfare.

*************************

Carter reached the tunnel opening ahead of MacGyver. She frowned as she noticed he was carrying two lengths of some kind of metallic tubing which had strange attachments duct-taped to them. "What are those?" She asked, curiosity overcoming urgency.

"Little artillery I threw together," MacGyver answered with a slight shrug and a little smile as he stepped past her.

Carter's eyebrows arched. So much for unarmed, she thought.

"Artillery...Of course, sir...I should have realised..." she murmured before hurrying after him.

*************************

The two men responsible for leading the Ha'gell right to the cavern system hurtled into the cavern that had been home to the encampment of wagons and skidded to a messy halt, clearly surprised to find it deserted.

O'Neill saw them as he peered around the side of the rocky outcrop behind which he was hiding. Despite his vision being a little blurry, courtesy of the pain nagging at him, the Colonel recognised the pair. They were two of the threesome who had expressed concern about Seeba allowing him to leave the cavern system: their objection being that he would bring the Goa'uld down on everyone's heads.

For a moment he was strongly tempted to shoot them both himself. That, or leave them to figure out for themselves where everyone had gone. The temptation passed as Teal'c came into view, firing repeatedly down the tunnel he was retreating from.

It was an effort, but O'Neill managed to get himself off his butt - literally - and onto his knees. "This way! Over here!" He did his best to yell at a volume that would carry far enough to be heard by the bewildered duo, wincing as his rib cage protested.

The men must have heard him. Either that or they noticed that a normally dark tunnel had burning torch brands illuminating it. They began to sprint towards where the injured Colonel was hiding out.

"Teal'c! C'mon!" O'Neill summoned the energy to attempt another yell.

Teal'c turned and began to run across the cavern floor, dodging and weaving to avoid the hail of staff weapon fire that sizzled around him. En route he paused every so often to loose off a return blast.

O'Neill readied himself to start firing as the two men who were the cause of the Ha'gells' visit hurtled past him and kept right on going without so much as a hasty 'thank you'. The Colonel muttered something colourful under his breath and tried to stay focused on the retreating Teal'c. The way the Jaffa was dodging about, O'Neill didn't dare risk firing at the Ha'gell emerging into the cavern. His Special Forces training meant he could fire a hand-weapon as accurately with his left hand as his right, but the way his vision was blurring again he didn't trust his aim right at that moment. The last thing Teal'c needed was to take a hit from 'friendly' fire.

The Jaffa needed help though. Urgently. O'Neill balanced his left wrist on the top edge of the rocky outcrop and aimed over everyone's heads. The several shots he loosed off in rapid succession didn't stop the Ha'gell, but it gave them momentary pause for thought that was long enough for Teal'c to put some extra distance between them and himself.

Even as he fired, O'Neill was aware of movement coming up behind him and of some of the light behind him fading.

"Hey, Jack, can always count on you for an eventful field trip." MacGyver hit the ground right beside where O'Neill unsteadily knelt.

"Well, I’d hate...for ya’ to get bored." A great sense of relief washed abruptly over O'Neill with his cousin's timely arrival. He fuzzily saw the tubular object MacGyver was fiddling with. "See ya’ brought some...artillery..." he observed painfully as Carter, who had taken up position at the other side of the tunnel, opened up with her MP-5.

"Yeah," MacGyver answered before rolling away from his cousin to come up on his good knee near the middle of the tunnel and slam the tube on its duct-taped struts into the deep sand there. "TEAL'C, HIT THE DECK!" He yelled as he struck a match and touched the flame to a dangerously short bit of jury-rigged fuse.

Teal'c heard the commanding bellow and dove into the dirt even as Carter kept right on firing and MacGyver rolled swiftly back over to O'Neill.

"Cover up!" Mac yelled at his cousin, who - familiar with some of the other man's creativity when it came to things explosive - promptly ducked away from the device and brought his good arm up to protect his head.

An instant later the 'artillery' went off in spectacular fashion. A hail of MacGyvered knockout darts erupted across the cavern in a wide dispersal pattern, straight over the top of Teal'c, dropped three advancing Ha'gell in their tracks and scattered the remainder.

"Teal'c! C'mon!" MacGyver yelled, scrambling across the cavern mouth to where Carter was huddled up as close to the rock wall as she could get and who was letting rip with another burst of gunfire.

As Teal'c rose and sprinted the remaining distance towards his human comrades, MacGyver grabbed the second length of tubing which was lying at Carter's feet and rolled back out into the near centre of the tunnel mouth. The scattered Ha'gell saw him and remained scattered. They weren't falling for that one again.

"Aw nuts..." MacGyver breathed as the Ha’gell seemed to decide that if they were going to shoot at anyone, it was going to be him. Hanging onto the tubing, MacGyver threw himself back in Carter's direction since Teal'c had taken up position beside O'Neill. The Jaffa was busily firing back at the Ha'gell, who had all dropped flat so as to make themselves harder targets to hit.

Reaching Carter, MacGyver pushed himself to his feet, ignoring a strong objection from his bad knee and keeping as flattened to the wall as he could.

"Got any smoke left?" He hissed at the woman just loudly enough to make himself heard by her over the racket going on around them.

"Yeah, just one. Here." Carter ceased firing just long enough to snatch a smoke grenade from her equipment vest and hand it to the Phoenix operative.

Ha'gell heads started to come up, but a burst of rapid-fire from O'Neill's hand weapon, combined with continuing fire from Teal'c soon had them hugging dirt again.

MacGyver lobbed the smoke canister. "Fall back! FALL BACK!" He yelled as smoke billowed up, obscuring the Ha'gells' view of the tunnel mouth.

Teal'c moved swiftly, reaching to haul O'Neill to his feet. The injured man grunted in pain and swore darkly, but looped his left arm up over the Jaffa's shoulders and did his best to be a help rather than a hindrance as they began to retreat, Teal'c half-supporting, half-carrying him.

"Go, sir!" Carter hissed at MacGyver as she let rip with another burst from her MP-5 that emptied its clip.

MacGyver wasn't about to leave her behind. He grabbed her arm and hauled her after him as he began to hurry swiftly after Teal'c and O'Neill. "C'mon, Captain. That's an order."

*************************

"Sam, keep going and knock out the rest of those torches on your way," MacGyver instructed once they had retreated only a short way down the passageway. They had already doused the torches along one side of the tunnel on the outward trip.

"What?" Carter looked up and round in surprise.

"Just do it. Go on," MacGyver instructed urgently. He had come to a definite halt and was fiddling with the metallic tube he still carried. "Better leave me your torch. Might need it."

"Sir, I can't just - "

"It's an order, Captain," MacGyver told her. "I can slow the bad guys down, buy Teal'c more time to get Jack to the Gate. You cover me from other end of the tunnel."

"But, Colonel..." Sam was clearly horrified by the man's clear intention of waiting in darkness to ambush the Ha'gell, alone and with a leg which she suspected could give out on him at any moment. She had not failed to notice he was developing a distinct limp.

"You always give Jack this much trouble?" Mac questioned. He gave the woman a gentle, but quite firm shove in the right direction. "Get goin', Captain. I'll be right behind ya'. Promise."

Carter was reluctant, but military discipline won out. She did as she had been told.

MacGyver melted into the shadows of a slight hollow he'd spotted in the wall as Carter hurriedly dowsed the few remaining burning brands in her wake.

As the section of tunnel he was in went dark, MacGyver moved. Dropping down and wincing at the pain in his right knee, he slammed the support struts of the metallic tube into the dirt floor and fished out a couple of matches. Then he waited.

His wait was not a long one. He saw the advancing Ha'gell quite clearly silhouetted against the still-illuminated section of tunnel behind them, plus what light filtered in from the cavern in their wake. He adjusted the set of the metal tube slightly, realigning the field of fire, waited until the aliens were well within estimated range, struck the matches on the cavern wall, lighted the device's short fuse, rapidly discarded the matches and abruptly threw himself in the direction of the opposite wall of the tunnel.

The Ha'gell fired their weapons in the direction of where the match-flare had been.

MacGyver hit dirt and rolled into the wall as his second piece of artillery fired in as spectacular a shower of fireworks as the first had. This time the ammunition was a hail of small stones. It dropped some of the Ha'gell and sent the rest diving for cover, by which time MacGyver was already on his feet and bolting for safety just as fast as he could, his knee threatening to fold on him with every increasingly painful step of the way.

*************************

There were two wagons still to go through the Stargate when Daniel spotted Teal'c approaching with O'Neill. Automatically the young archaeologist ran to assist as he saw that the Jaffa seemed to be supporting most of O'Neill's weight and that the injured man seemed to be barely conscious.

"Where're the others?"

"They delay the enemy," Teal'c answered grimly. "But I do not believe they can do so for long."

Between them, Daniel and the Jaffa propelled O'Neill to one side of the foot of the Gate platform as the first of the remaining wagons disappeared into the wormhole and the last one started up the ramp. Seeba, who had been standing on the platform, descended the steps to the SG-1 trio.

"Take Jack through the Gate," she instructed.

Struggling to stay conscious though he was, O'Neill was having none of it. "We don’t leave...without...the others..."

"No, we don't," Daniel agreed absently, soothingly.

"Then wait for them by the Gate," Seeba instructed as if she were in charge of the situation.

"Can do...that..." O’Neill murmured as Daniel and Teal’c hauled him up the steps and the final wagon disappeared through the Stargate. "Teal’c...go help...the others..."

"It's okay, I've got him." Daniel nodded in response to the look the Jaffa cast at him.

O'Neill nearly collapsed and a gasp of pain was dragged from him when Teal'c let go of him and moved away, but Daniel managed, just, to hang onto him and steer him over to the brink of the still shimmering Stargate. Once there he carefully lowered O'Neill so the man could sit. Dropping to one knee and staying close to the injured Colonel, he allowed O'Neill to lean into him, supporting him.

"Reload..." O’Neill requested, weakly trying to raise his left hand in which he was still resolutely holding the sidearm borrowed from Carter.

"Sure, Jack," Daniel said, taking the weapon and slipping the safety on before he attended swiftly to the request, glancing anxiously towards the tunnel to the other cavern as he did so. The archaeologist did not hand the weapon back though.

He saw Carter hurtle out of the tunnel, skid to a halt and take up a defensive position to one side of it at the same moment as Teal'c reached it.

"Where...are...they...?" O'Neill weakly wanted to know.

"They're coming, Jack, they're coming," Daniel answered, trying not to sound as worried as he felt, acutely aware that the fact O'Neill was actually still conscious was probably due more to sheer bloody-mindedness and willpower than anything else. The Colonel looked ghastly and was clearly in a great deal of pain again.

*************************

Right at that moment, O’Neill was not the only one operating on sheer determination and willpower. MacGyver was too as he shot out of the tunnel and endeavoured to dive sideways to avoid the staff weapon fire that followed after him. His knee, however, had finally had enough and went out from under him with a vicious stab of pain that he was only too familiar with from his skiing mishap of a couple of years before.

"Ah...God..." he gasped as he went down awkwardly, frantically twisting to try and roll clear of the enemy fire. He was aware of Carter hopping neatly over him as his roll took him clear of the tunnel exit and of her opening fire with her reloaded MP-5.

Pale faced, MacGyver scrambled upright, but his right knee gave out again the moment he tried to put any weight on it and sent a surge of burning pain shooting up and down his leg. He collapsed in a heap with a gasp of pain and clutched at the damaged joint, struggling to will the pain to go away or at least subside. Refusing to give in to the hurt, he hauled himself upright again and resolutely set about making his way as best he could under his own steam towards the waiting Stargate.

Out of the corner of her eye, Carter saw the Special Forces Reservist was in trouble by the way he was frantically hopping and dragging his bad leg. "Teal'c! Get the Colonel!" She called across to the Jaffa who had taken up position at the other side of the tunnel mouth and was returning the enemy's fire. "I'll cover you!"

Teal'c glanced over at Carter, then saw MacGyver determinedly hauling himself in the direction of the Stargate. He let rip with a rapid succession of blasts from his staff weapon as he sprinted across the opening and went after the Phoenix operative.

Carter expended her entire clip down the tunnel, then swiftly reloaded and resumed firing, wishing desperately that she had some grenades left. She glanced after MacGyver, saw that Teal'c had reached him and that the two were making good progress.

The Captain waited until her colleagues were almost at the foot of the Gate platform before she loosed off a final burst from her MP-5 and started to sprint after them.

"Daniel! Get Jack outta' here!" MacGyver yelled, realising that his cousin and the archaeologist were lingering. He saw that Seeba was standing at the top of the platform and was making no attempt to leave. "Seeba! Go!"

Just as Daniel moved to haul O'Neill through the Gate, the system shut itself down.

"Aw rats!" MacGyver groaned in pain and frustration before starting to snap orders. "Teal'c, grab Jack, get him clear. Daniel, REDIAL! NOW! Seeba, get outta' the way!"

Teal'c released his supportive hold on MacGyver and went to help Jackson who had already started to haul O'Neill to one side of the Gate. MacGyver managed to stay upright and hopped, under his own steam, to get clear of the burst of quantum particles he knew would erupt from the Gate as soon as it was reactivated.

"Daniel! DIAL! NOW!" MacGyver bellowed as, behind him, he heard the distinctive sound of Carter's MP-5 in action again.

The young archaeologist was already at the D-H-D. He hesitated for the briefest of moments before he started rapidly depressing symbols. As the Gate began to spin, MacGyver hauled himself over to O'Neill.

"Mac..." O’Neill rasped, vaguely registering the presence of his cousin beside him again as he lay semi-sprawled on the stone steps where Teal’c had put him. The Jaffa stood protectively over the pair of them.

"We'll be outta' here in a minute, Jack. Just hang in there a little longer," Mac told his cousin. Then he looked up at the hovering Teal'c. "We're okay, Teal'c. Cover Sam!" MacGyver instructed. He noticed that Seeba had moved down the steps in front of the Stargate and had gone a few paces further forward. "Aw man...where the heck’s she goin’?" He muttered, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how to get her out of there.

Everyone - Ha'gell included - froze as Seeba's voice echoed commandingly around the cavern above the noise of weapon fire. "ENOUGH!"

"Seeba...What are you doing?" Carter wanted to know. She was facing the Ha'gell ranged across the cavern, but was standing slightly forward and to one side of where the blind woman stood.

"Join your friends, child," Seeba instructed calmly as the crystal in her staff began to emit a blue-white glow just as the Stargate roared to life again with the same earth-shaking effects as before.

"Oh fer cryin’ out loud..." O’Neill rasped weakly at his cousin. "What the hell...does she think...she’s doing...?"

"No idea," MacGyver admitted as Carter dubiously began to back up, slowly, to the foot of the steps. The Phoenix operative was not in the least averse to taking advantage of the sudden thrall that the Ha'gell seemed to be held in however. Frantically he gestured to Daniel Jackson, who edged over to the two cousins while keeping a very anxious eye on the aliens on the cavern floor, the gun he had taken from O'Neill still in his hand.

"Daniel, take Jack through the Gate," MacGyver instructed as Carter continued backing up towards the stone steps.

"Not goin' without - " O'Neill began to object. The objection was cut short and turned into a hiss of pain as Mac and Daniel began to haul him to his feet; Daniel doing most of the hauling since MacGyver had enough problems trying to get himself to his feet.

"Oh yes you are, Jack," the Phoenix operative said determinedly. "I'm runnin' this one. Daniel, GO!"

"C'mon, Jack, be a good Colonel and follow orders," Jackson said as he half-carried, half-dragged the barely conscious O'Neill into the wormhole.

"Time to leave, folks!" MacGyver had managed to get himself up onto the Gate platform and follow Jackson and his cousin over to one side of the Stargate. His knee was giving him hell and he was feeling distinctly light-headed. He kept himself upright by the simple expedient of leaning a hand against the Gate itself as he turned to regard the scene before the platform area. He saw that the Ha'gell still seemed to be in some sort of thrall. "Now might be a good time!" He added tersely, when none of his own group moved. "Sam, c'mon! That's an order, Captain!"

Carter moved, backing carefully up the Gate steps.

"Seeba!" MacGyver called impatiently. The blind woman turned and made her way to the top of the steps, where she turned to once again face the enthralled Ha'gell. The crystal in her staff continuing to glow brightly.

"Go! I will follow when you are safe!" Seeba said calmly over her shoulder.

"Sorry...can’t leave without you," MacGyver responded with a shake of his head.

"And we can't leave without you, Colonel," Carter added. She had, by then, backed up until she was standing defensively beside MacGyver.

"Yes, you can," MacGyver contradicted. "Get going." His patience was evaporating, rapidly. Balancing on his good leg, he reached out, grabbed the young woman and unceremoniously shoved her into the wormhole. Taken totally by surprise, Carter departed with a strangled yelp of surprised indignation.

"Teal'c, get outta' here," MacGyver told the Jaffa, who cast him a look. "Oh for cryin' out loud," MacGyver complained with an irritable impatience that strongly reminded Teal'c of O'Neill. "Do I have to throw you in as well?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. There was no way MacGyver would be able to throw him anywhere he did not choose to go - even without the bad leg - and they both knew it.

"Follow quickly, MacGyver," the Jaffa said levelly, then he turned, stepped into the wormhole and was gone.

MacGyver blew out a breath and fought down another wave of light-headedness. Now all he had to do was get Seeba through the Gate. He swivelled round on his good leg and froze as he saw that two Ha'gell mounted on dragon-headed equine-like beasts had arrived and were advancing down the cavern. Unknown to the Phoenix operative one of the newcomers would have been painfully familiar to O’Neill had he still been present to see it.

"K'Rin'sha, you interfere where you should not!" The Ha'gell who had been responsible for O'Neill's torture announced angrily as it halted its mount. Its eyes glowed as it spoke.

"And you venture where you should not," Seeba's response was coldly calm. Her staff continued to emit its eerie blue-white glow. "And do what you should not."

"That is ours!" The Goa'uld raged, pointing directly at MacGyver, its eyes glowing fiercely.

"No, he is not. Nor is the other. Pursue either again and you will know the full wrath of the K'Rin'sha," Seeba's tone was one of calmly controlled fury and command. Abruptly she rapped the base of her staff on the stone at her feet. A pulse of energy shot forth from the crystal and spread out like an expanding wave, rolling forward towards the Ha'gell. Those nearest the platform suddenly dropped their weapons and doubled over, clutching at their heads or their bellies and yowling in pain.

Those further back turned and began to run. The wave slowly overtook them and they too collapsed, screaming and writhing.

"We are not finished!" The Ha'gell raged, eyes glowing furiously as it spun its beast and spurred it in an attempt to out-run the energy wave.

An icy shiver ran down MacGyver's spine as, just for an instant before the Ha'gell spun away, it made eye-contact with him and its glowing-eyed gaze seemed to bore right into him. It was as if its threat was somehow directed at him personally.

Seeba turned abruptly on her heel to face the shimmering Stargate and stepped forward until she was only a pace from both it and from MacGyver. She held out her hand to him, but the man was staring at the sight of the writhing, screaming, Ha'gell, a look akin to incredulous horror spreading across his ashen face.

"What...what did you just do to them?" He asked as the energy wave or whatever it was, caught up with the two fleeing Ha'gell and they fell, shrieking, from the backs of their mounts, which seemed totally unaffected and kept right on running.

"A small taste of their own medicine, old friend," Seeba answered calmly. "Perhaps they will learn from the experience, although unfortunately I doubt it. Now come. It is time to go."

*************************

Jackson stumbled out of the event horizon, still grimly hanging onto the injured O'Neill. The stresses of the reintegration process had exhausted what little remained of the older man's strength though and with a soft groan, he passed out. His sudden dead-weight threw the already off-balance Jackson totally off-balance and also broke the younger man's hold on him. The two men consequently ended up in a sprawling heap at the top of the ramp that descended from the small platform immediately in front of the Gate.

"Jack?" The young archaeologist's concern for the other man was plain to see as he scrambled on hands and knees to the side of the prone form. His relief as he checked for and found a very weak pulse was just as apparent. Hurriedly he rose to his feet, bent and carefully dragged the still form away from in front of the Stargate, down the ramp and off a little way to one side so that the others wouldn't accidentally land on top of the injured man when they came through.

Kneeling at O'Neill's side, Daniel quickly shrugged off his jacket. Folding it, he placed it carefully under the other man's head. Only then did he begin to look around at their new surroundings.

He discovered that they appeared to have emerged into a modestly sized white, circular, domed chamber, which was brightly illuminated. Just precisely where the illumination emanated from was impossible to say. It simply...was. The floor was as white as the rest of the chamber. The floor was pristine in its whiteness. Too pristine to have just had a load of beast-drawn wagons trundle across it only minutes before. And where could said wagons have gone anyway? There was no immediately visible sign of a doorway anywhere.

A nasty knot began to form itself in the pit of Daniel’s stomach and a sense of panic started to set in. He was sure he had dialled the right co-ordinates; the same co-ordinates that Seeba had previously dialled...But where were the wagons? Where were the people? Where had he just dragged the badly injured O'Neill to?

The knot in Daniel's stomach tightened. He looked frantically around with a rapidly increasing sense of panic. The chamber was definitely empty. He and O'Neill were all it contained apart from the Stargate.

You really screwed up this time, Danny-boy. He could almost hear O'Neill's voice caustically uttering the words as the thought flashed through his panic-stricken mind.

It was then that something overhead caught his attention. He looked up and noticed, for the first time, the large ovaloid crystal that was suspended from the very centre of the domed ceiling by...well...Nothing. It just hung there, in mid-air. Only it was starting to move, starting to spin very, very slowly.

Daniel stared, suddenly fearful, but also fascinated. Especially when the crystal began to emit a blue-white glow. He edged closer to the unconscious O'Neill, automatically placing himself between the possible threat and his helpless comrade.

Suddenly a pulse of blue-white light shot forth from the crystal. Daniel's reaction was instinctive. With a loud cry of "NO!" He threw himself across the prone O’Neill, seeking to protect the other man from...whatever. He felt a gentle tingling sensation permeate his back, his entire body, his very senses. Felt it pass through him into the friend he was trying to protect.

"We mean no harm!" Daniel yelled desperately, looking up and round at the crystal. "We didn't mean to trespass! My friend's hurt, he needs help. Please!"

O'Neill stirred slightly, but remained unconscious.

"Please...!" Daniel pleaded, still looking up at the crystal as he hesitantly elevated himself to a sitting position, but remained protectively close to O'Neill. "Help us!"

A startled yelp drew Daniel's attention away from the crystal. He looked towards the Stargate in time to see Carter land in a somewhat undignified heap on her butt in front of it.

"Sam!" A surge of relief flooded through Daniel at the Captain's arrival.

"Daniel?" Carter swiftly picked herself up onto one knee, turning as she did so to glance rapidly and observantly round at her new surroundings, her MP-5 poised and ready even though it was doubtful that its clip had more than a few rounds left in it. "The Colonel?" She questioned, as she took note of the still form beside which Daniel knelt.

"Out cold," the archaeologist answered, staying put at his friend's side.

"What the-?" Carter began, startled as the still glowing crystal emitted a pulse of blue-white light at her. Her gun came up reflexively.

"Sam, DON'T!" Daniel yelled the warning. The pulse that had flowed over and through O'Neill and himself hadn't done the two of them any obvious harm, but then they'd offered no threat. He had no idea what would happen if Carter took a pot-shot or two at the crystal.

Carter held her fire and her breath as the pulse washed over her, through her, sending an odd shiver up her spine. She yelped a protest though as her MP-5 abruptly disappeared into thin air and all her senses tingled in a very unnerving manner.

"I think it might be something similar to that Goa'uld detector device on Cimmeria," Daniel said swiftly, his mind racing over the possibilities conjured by such an idea.

Just at that moment Teal'c stepped from the still-active wormhole. In an instant he took in the sight of Jackson kneeling beside the prone O'Neill on the chamber floor to one side of the Gate's ramp and of Carter on one knee just a few feet in front of him on the Gate platform. He further noted in that one swift, alert glance, the fact that Carter no longer had her MP-5 and that she had a rather astonished expression on her face. Even as he began to react to all of this, the floating crystal pulsed once again.

"NO! Teal'c's a friend! He's with us!" Daniel yelled in panicky desperation, remembering only too vividly what had transpired the last time Teal'c had encountered one of Thor's scanning devices and terrified of what might befall the big Jaffa this time around.

As the pulse washed over Teal'c, the warrior's staff weapon vanished and the Jaffa himself crumpled bonelessly to the ground with a loud groan.

"Teal'c!" Carter and Jackson both yelled, almost in unison.

"No. NO! He's our friend!" Jackson yelled angrily up at the crystal as he shot indignantly to his feet. "He won't do you any harm! He's not with the Goa'uld anymore! He's with us now! He's one of the 'good' guys!"

"He's alive!" Carter announced in open relief, having dived to the Jaffa's side the instant he collapsed, to check for signs of life. Sitting back on her heels she looked up at the still-floating, still glowing crystal, then looked over to Daniel. "Daniel, where are we?"

"I have no idea," Daniel confessed, sinking back down to one knee beside O'Neill, not daring to leave the other man's side despite the fact that there was no sign of anyone other than his SG-1 team-mates in the chamber. "I thought I dialled up the same address that Seeba did. In fact I'm sure I dialled the same address that Seeba did."

"Then where is everyone, Daniel?" Carter asked tautly.

"I don't know," Daniel admitted. "Guess maybe I...misdialled."

"Great," Sam commented, casting her alert gaze around the chamber once again, desperately seeking some sign of a way out. "And the D-H-D?" She questioned. She saw Daniel's contrite expression. "Great," she repeated. "So we're stuck here, wherever 'here' is."

"This is all my fault. I'm sorry. Guess maybe I should have dialled up the Argosian co-ordinates like you suggested... " Daniel sounded beside himself with guilt.

"Be sorry later, Daniel. Right now we need a way out of here that'll get us home and get proper medical attention for the Colonel!" Sam snapped irritably.

"Maybe Mac'll have- " Daniel began, only to break off as sudden realisation struck. "Sam, where's MacGyver?" He questioned anxiously, the knot in his stomach adding new knots to itself. "Why hasn't he followed us through the Gate yet?"

Alarm washed over Carter at the sudden realisation that the team's temporary C.O. was indeed conspicuous by his absence. She looked round at the Gate and bit anxiously at her lip. Oh, God, she thought. Please don't say we've rescued one Colonel only to lose the other one in the process. Please...no...

Relief flooded through her and Daniel too as, at that very moment, a very ashen-faced and shaken-looking MacGyver suddenly emerged from the shimmering event horizon. Disorientated by the trip through the wormhole, he automatically attempted to use his bad leg to try and regain his equilibrium. It folded under him and he dropped to the platform with a pained exclamation, clutching reflexively at his wrecked knee joint.

"Colonel?" Carter was at the stricken man's side in an instant. "Sir...?"

"Ah, God, that hurts," Mac gasped through gritted teeth, continuing to clutch at his knee even as the floating crystal let loose with another blue-white pulse - this time in his direction - as Seeba emerged composedly from the Stargate which closed down almost immediately in her wake.

The pain in his knee rendered MacGyver oblivious to the sensations that washed through him courtesy of the floating crystal's 'pulse'. Acute though the roaring fire in his damaged knee joint was, it did not succeed in totally distracting the Special Forces Reservist from the responsibility he had taken upon himself for the well-being of SG-1 however.

"Everyone alright?" He demanded to know, his teeth still gritted.

"Colonel O'Neill's unconscious. Probably the result of the trip through the wormhole on top of everything else," Carter reported, moving to help MacGyver sit up. "Teal'c's out cold too, but I think that's a side-effect of the pulses sent out by that that device up there." She indicated the floating crystal as MacGyver continued to clutch at his knee and rock gently with the pain emanating from it.

"Er...guys..." Jackson’s anxious voice intruded. "Guys...I hate to interrupt you over there, but I think maybe you oughta take a look at Seeba..."

Carter turned slightly to look over her shoulder and MacGyver shifted slightly to peer past her.

All three still-conscious members of the temporarily expanded SG-1 team stared at the figure that had emerged from the Stargate in MacGyver's wake. Seeba was standing serenely only a few paces away from MacGyver and Carter, bathed totally in blue-white light which seemed to flow back and forth between herself, her staff and the large floating crystal overhead. There was a warm and delighted smile on her face.

"Whoa..." Carter breathed.

"Can't hardly argue with that," MacGyver agreed through still-gritted teeth, his hands still clamped firmly to the agonizing source of fire that was his right knee as he stared in something akin to awe and fascinated curiosity at the spectacle he was witnessing.

Then, quite abruptly, the lightshow was over, though the overhead crystal continued to glow in a now much reduced and gentler fashion than before, as did the crystal mounted in the head of Seeba's staff.

"You have good instincts, young one," the woman announced, aiming her words at Daniel, who stared back at her, totally dumb-founded.

"Seeba, I have no idea where we are right now, but we need to get back to Earth and fairly quickly," MacGyver spoke up, fighting off a wave of light-headedness again. "We have people who'll be in major trouble in a few hours if we don't."

"Do not be concerned, old friend. I know where we are. Daniel has chosen well. This is a safe world for Tau'ri and K'Rin'sha alike," Seeba responded, turning and moving to stand beside the Phoenix operative and the Air Force Captain. "You and the other should remain here for a while. You can both be more speedily and effectively healed here than can be done for you on the Tau'ri home world." Seeba then 'looked' at Carter and continued. "I will see that you are sent on ahead so that you may prevent your comrades walking into the dangers from which you yourselves have just escaped. You should take your Jaffa friend with you. It would be no kindness to him to allow him to remain here. Because of the Goa'uld he carries within him, he would be unable to step forth from this chamber when he awakens. This is a protected world. It is best he go with you."

"Now wait a minute," Carter began to object.

"Daniel may remain if he so chooses. He is young, but he will be welcome here," Seeba continued, totally ignoring Carter's attempt at interrupting. "Before you go I will give you the means by which you may communicate with him while your friends heal so that you and your people can be assured that we tend them well."

"I'm not leaving anyone behind," Carter said determinedly.

"That one will not survive another journey through the doorway at this time." Seeba indicated O'Neill. "His will remains strong, but his physical strength is gone. He must heal before he journeys again." She spoke calmly, but her determination on the subject was clear. She 'looked' to MacGyver and said. "You know this."

And somehow MacGyver knew that he did. Even though he was too far away to accurately assess his cousin's condition, some deep instinct told him that what Seeba said was the truth. Another Gate trip right now would finish O'Neill.

"She's right, Sam," MacGyver wearily told the Captain as he fought down another of the increasingly frequent waves of nausea and light-headedness that were slowly sapping his own strength courtesy of the fire burning intensely in his wrecked knee.

"And this one will not leave without the other," Seeba directed this statement at Carter, indicating MacGyver and smiling as she spoke.

"Sir, you can't seriously expect me to just- " Carter began to object indignantly to MacGyver.

"I can and I do," MacGyver cut in. He had reached a decision. "You're taking Teal'c and you're going back to the SGC to stop SG 2 and 3 from going to P4X-994. And you're going to do it just as soon as this Gate's fired up." His tone held a steely determination that Carter recognised. It was a C.O.'s tone. It both demanded and expected obedience. "And that's an order, Captain. The rest of us'll follow just as soon as Jack's up to it."

Carter's reluctance was written clearly on her face, but she kept her objections to herself. She had just been given a direct order by a superior officer after all. She took a deep breath and said, "Yes, sir."

"Glad we got that settled," MacGyver blew out a breath and gathered himself together. Extending a hand to the young Captain, he asked. "Think ya' could give me a hand up?"

"Of course, sir," Carter responded and proceeded to help him to stand. "Sir?" She questioned, eying him a little dubiously and automatically ducking under his right arm to steady him as he swayed discernibly. "Are you-?"

"Just a bit dizzy," MacGyver admitted, accepting the woman's support. "Be okay in a moment," he added in tones intended to be reassuring and giving her a wan smile.

"Yes, sir," Carter said, not looking or sounding terribly convinced. Composedly however, she went on. "Colonel, we may have a problem...I don’t see any sign of a D-H-D."

MacGyver tried to concentrate on the situation at hand and shake off the light-headedness that was continuing to plague him as Carter's words sank in. He began to look rapidly around the chamber. His gaze alighted on a white robed and hooded figure which stood directly under the still slowly revolving crystal that continued to hover near the centre of the domed ceiling. The figure carried a staff similar to Seeba's, but distinctly larger and heavier. A surprised and slightly bewildered expression appeared on Mac's face.

"Where the heck...?" He began, then, "Guess maybe we could try asking for directions...?"

Carter followed Mac's surprised gaze and her expression mirrored his. Daniel saw their reactions and promptly looked to see what had captured their interest. Even as he did so, Seeba stepped gracefully down the ramp towards the robed figure. "Greetings, old friend. It is good to see you again," she said, delight apparent in both her tone and her whole manner.

"S'Baya!" The robed figure sounded equally delighted and raised a hand to throw back its hood, revealing itself to be a kindly-looking, elderly man with long white hair and a wispy white beard. "It is good to see you also. It has been some while since you last walked these lands."

The members of SG-1 exchanged looks as Seeba and the silver-haired man advanced on one another and exchanged warm hugs. As the twosome broke apart, they conversed briefly and quietly before Seeba stepped aside and turned to face the others while the robed man looked towards MacGyver and Carter.

"You and your people are welcome to this land and may have sanctuary here from your enemies for as long as you have need." As the robed man spoke, several green-robed and hooded figures literally appeared out of thin air behind him. "Our Healers will tend to your injuries and to those of the other." At a gesture from him, two of the green-robed figures hurried towards Daniel and the unconscious O'Neill, while a third headed towards MacGyver and Carter.

"Appreciate that," MacGyver responded. "Jack needs help right now," he went on, inclining his head slightly in his cousin's direction, "but I can wait. If you have some way of operating this Gate," he gestured over his shoulder at the Stargate behind Carter and himself. "I'd appreciate it if ya' could send Captain Carter here back to Earth as soon as possible." He glanced at his wristwatch. "We have people who are going to be in a lot of danger very soon if we don't stop them from going where we've just been."

The grey-haired man nodded and listened to Seeba as she leaned close and said something quietly to him. Then he addressed MacGyver again. "This will be done." He gestured and the two remaining green-robed figures behind him hurried forward towards the ramp. "The Jaffa is your friend?" He asked.

"Ya' mean Teal'c'? Er, yeah. Teal'c's with us," MacGyver nodded, ignoring the green-robed figure that was hovering at his left side and was gesturing to him to lean on it instead of Carter. The other two coming up the ramp hurried towards Teal'c. Mac watched them out of the corner of his eye, his concern about their intentions towards the Jaffa clearly visible on his face. "He's part of our team."

"Teal'c joined us to help us against the Goa'uld," Daniel interjected from where he stood hovering watchfully over the two robed figures who were fussing silently over the unconscious O'Neill.

The white-robed man nodded, an oddly pleased, oddly knowing expression crossing his face as he smiled at SG-1 in general. "Then he shall be returned unharmed to your world along with your young Captain," he informed MacGyver. "If you will move clear of the Gateway, I shall activate it for you now."

Out of the corner of his watchful eye, the civilian-come-Special Forces Reservist saw the two green-robed figures that had gone to Teal'c start to haul the senseless Jaffa clear of the mouth of the Stargate. Another wave of dizziness, stronger than the previous ones, washed over MacGyver. Had it not been for Carter's support, he would have keeled over.

"Colonel?" He heard her anxious query as he momentarily closed his eyes and sucked in a couple of deep breaths to try to steady himself.

"Be okay...Just gimmie a moment...Sam," he murmured, glad of her support as he opened his eyes and, blinking a little fuzzily, smiled wearily at her. God, but my knee hurts.

"You going to make it, sir?" Carter questioned dubiously, looking up at him and noting that he looked like he would be joining O'Neill in the land of the unconscious at any moment.

"Yeah..." Mac nodded, finally accepting help from the green-robed figure still hovering at his left side and allowing it and Carter to assist him in negotiating the ramp to the floor of the chamber. As they cleared the ramp, he heard the sound of the inner ring of the Gate starting to spin and was aware of Carter looking over her shoulder at it, watching it. He heard her gasp and his alarm bells started to ring. "What?" He questioned, adrenaline surging.

"I didn’t notice before, but this Gate...It has a whole lot more glyphs than it should have.. " Carter answered, turning and manoeuvring MacGyver so that he could see for himself.

The Phoenix trouble-shooter blinked at the Gate and shook his head, trying to clear his blurring vision in order to see for himself what the young astrophysicist was telling him. He had not missed the astonishment in her voice.

"Does it have the right glyphs?" MacGyver questioned. He could see the Gate, see the inner ring spinning and pausing as glyphs locked, but despite his best efforts and the surge of adrenaline, he couldn't quite persuade his vision to clear enough for him to make out the sigils on the ring, never mind do a quick count of them.

"Yes, sir." He heard Carter say and was aware of her nodding as she spoke. "It's encoding the right address for Earth."

MacGyver blew out a deep and relieved breath. "Daniel," he called.

"Yes, Mac?"

"If you want to go back through with Sam and Teal'c- " MacGyver began, blinking in the archaeologist's direction.

"No. Ah, no. No...I’m staying here with you and Jack," Daniel interjected in a tone that suggested MacGyver was going to have a major argument on his hands if he tried to order him to leave with Sam and Teal’c.

MacGyver nodded acknowledgement, inwardly glad of the answer he'd received. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep himself conscious and it was a relief to know that Daniel would be around to watch both his and Jack's backs. It wasn’t that he sensed any hostility from the robed figures around them; it was just...oddly reassuring to know that Daniel would be around to keep an eye on...things.

"Sam...You’d better leave your radio with Daniel before you go," Mac spoke quietly in Carter’s ear.

"Yes, sir," Carter responded as the Stargate roared to life with a 'whooshing' that was almost even more spectacular than it usually was at the SGC. She felt MacGyver sway again and quickly tried to steady him. "Sir?" She questioned, suddenly alarmed.

"‘Mm, okay...Don’t worry... "

"Sir, maybe you should come- "

"No, Sam. I need to stay," MacGyver responded with as much firmness as he could muster. "Jack stays, I stay. We'll all follow you as soon as we can."

Carter looked as if she was about to say something, but apparently thought better of it and settled instead for, "Yes, sir."

"Child."

Sam and MacGyver both looked at Seeba. The blind woman stood but a couple of paces from them and the green-robed figure that was helping Carter to keep Mac upright.

"Take this with you." The blind woman held out a cloudy-white, spherical crystal, the diameter of which was about 3 inches.

"What is it?" Carter questioned, eying the sphere, while continuing to prop Mac up.

"It will enable you to communicate with Daniel while this one," Seeba indicated MacGyver and threw him a warm little smile, "and the other," she indicated O'Neill, "are healing."

"How?" Carter frowned, staring at the crystal.

"In approximately two Tau'ri hours, the Gateway will be reopened, then you will see. Just keep this within the general proximity of your Gate. It will function only when the Gateway is open." She paused as Carter reached out to take the crystal. "You should leave now. While the Jaffa remains here we cannot remove these others," Seeba indicated O'Neill and MacGyver again, "from this place to tend their injuries properly."

Carter nodded, then looked a little anxiously up at MacGyver.

"Get goin', Sam," Mac smiled wanly at her. "We'll be okay." As he spoke, he shifted his balance, transferring his weight so that he was being propped up by the green-robed figure to his left and freeing Carter to move away from him. He saw the way she looked at him and reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder for a moment. "Go on," he encouraged. Before I keel over here, he added silently to himself.

Carter nodded, slipped the crystal into a pocket of her equipment vest and hurried over to Daniel. Pulling her radio from its place in her vest, she handed the device to the archaeologist, then pushed up her left sleeve and used the G.D.O. strapped to her forearm to transmit the codes necessary to open the Earth Gate's defensive iris.

"Look out for them, Daniel," she said earnestly.

Daniel nodded sombrely. "I will, Sam," he promised.

Carter nodded, turned and made her way towards the active Stargate. The green-robed figures who had hauled Teal'c clear of the Gate prior to its activation, had hauled the Jaffa back in front of it again and had him propped up between them. He seemed to be stirring slightly. They carefully relinquished him to Carter and steadied them both.

"Sam..." MacGyver called out as something suddenly occurred to him.

"Colonel?" Sam looked awkwardly round. The green-robed figures continued to hover, supporting her hold on Teal'c.

"Tell General Hammond...If Pete Thornton tries to get hold of me...tell him to tell Pete that Mary’s lamb is grey."

"Sir?"

"Pete'll understand."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, go, Captain."

"Sir." Carter responded and stepped forward into the event horizon, taking Teal'c with her.

It was at that point that MacGyver finally lost his battle to stay conscious. He collapsed gracefully to the chamber floor, despite the best efforts of his green-robed supporter who was unable to do anything about it other than soften his landing.

*************************

General George Hammond stifled a yawn, picked up his half consumed cup of coffee, sipped at it, pulled a face as he discovered it had gone distinctly tepid and set it back down on his desk. He sighed, rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands and rose to his feet.

Leaving his office, he went into the adjoining briefing room and crossed to the big observation window. Looking down into the Gate room he watched the engineers who were still busily making rather more permanent the initial temporary repairs that had enabled stage one of the rescue mission to P4X-994 to be initiated when it had.

Hammond sighed and checked his watch. A few more hours and stage two of that rescue mission would be commenced. The General rubbed at his eyes again. He was tired. He'd tried grabbing a few hours sleep, but hadn't really been able to settle, hence he had come back down to the lower levels, to his office, to busy himself with some of his never-ending paperwork.

The General always worried when SG-1 was off-world. Of all the SG teams under his command it was the one he worried most about. Not that he didn't worry about the others. It was just that SG-1 seemed to have a much greater propensity for finding trouble...

A familiar sound began to echo up from the Gate room, followed an instant later by the Duty Controller's voice sounding over the P.A. system.

"Unscheduled off-world activation. Security teams to the Gate room. Repeat. Security to the Gate room."

Hammond snapped out of his reverie. There was currently only one team off-world...

His tiredness suddenly forgotten, Hammond hurried to the stairs leading down to the Control Room even as the stand-by security team thundered into the Gate room to take up their assigned positions.

"Is it SG-1?" He demanded as he skidded to an anxious halt at the Duty Controller's elbow.

"No ID as yet, sir," the female Controller responded crisply.

Hammond tried not to fidget as he eyed the defensive iris which, in accordance with standard operating procedures, had been closed the moment the incoming wormhole had been established.

"Sir, we have SG-1 codes!" The Controller announced as the relevant information flashed up on one of her monitors. There was an edge of surprise and anticipation to her voice though she outwardly appeared quite calm and composed.

"Open the iris!" Hammond ordered. He reached for the microphone linking the Control Room to the Gate room. "Heads up down there, people. This may or may not be SG-1 coming home on their own."

The iris opened.

Everyone waited.

Hammond tried not to fidget as the minutes ticked slowly past and nothing happened. Tension practically dripped off the walls.

Then, abruptly, a dusty, dishevelled Captain Samantha Carter emerged into view, staggering visibly as she propped up a discernibly disorientated Teal'c.

"Get a medical team in there NOW!" Hammond ordered as he headed off at top speed for the Gate room.

He arrived in time to see Carter helping Teal'c to sit down on the ramp, about halfway down it. The Jaffa looked a little punch-drunk. The young Captain looked stressed out.

"Captain Carter? What the hell...?" Hammond began bewilderedly. He looked past her at the still-active Stargate, hoping to see the rest of SG-1 come through with their temporary C.O. at any second. Instead, an MP-5, a couple of Beretta handguns, and a Jaffa staff weapon were spat out and clattered onto the metal ramp. "Captain Carter?" He began again as a medical team hurtled into the Gate room and dodged expertly around him to thunder up the ramp to fuss over Teal'c, who was beginning to look a bit more aware of his surroundings. "Where is the rest of SG-1?"

"It’s a long story, General..."

*************************

Daniel paced restlessly and cast an anxious glance towards the door that separated him from his injured SG-1 colleagues. He glanced at his watch for the umpteenth time. It was well over an hour since Sam and Teal'c had gone through the Stargate and it had swiftly shut down in their wake after his and Carter’s side-arms, plus Carter's MP-5 and Teal'c's staff weapon, had mysteriously reappeared and had been tossed in after them.

Within moments of the Gate's deactivation, the white chamber had vanished and Daniel had found himself and everyone else in a large, almost medieval-like hall. Whether they had all somehow been transported from the chamber to the hall or whether they had been in the hall all along and the chamber had simply been a very elaborate and convincing illusion, he had no idea.

Whichever was the case, more robed figures had arrived, armed with stretchers onto which O'Neill and MacGyver had been carefully placed. No-one had attempted to prevent Daniel from following his injured comrades as they were carried from the hall and down a corridor. He had, however, been prevented by Seeba from entering the room into which the injured cousins had been taken. Protestations had done no good. Seeba had been adamant and a robed figure had taken up guard at the doorway to discourage him from disobeying her instructions to wait.

Thus Daniel fidgeted and fretted and paced. He had tried engaging the 'guard' in conversation, but that had gotten him nowhere. The other had simply regarded him in almost serene silence. Daniel had tried several languages on the off-chance that the guard simply didn't understand English. The guard had merely continued to regard him silently and had gestured towards one of the padded benches set into the side of the small, lobby-like anti-chamber that separated the main corridor from the doorway through which O'Neill and MacGyver had been taken.

Finally, the door opened.

"What's happening? How are my friends? Can I see them?" Daniel shot the questions in rapid and anxious succession at the white-haired, white-bearded, white-robed figure that appeared in the doorway.

The robed figure smiled a kindly smile, nodded, and stepping back and opening the door wider, gestured to Daniel to enter.

The young archaeologist needed no further encouragement. He hurried forward and immediately observed that the room into which he was at last admitted was semi-circular in shape. He scanned it swiftly, automatically absorbing a myriad of details about it. A low, semi-circular dais was set against the centre of the room's only straight wall, which also held the door through which he had just been admitted, and a second door at the far side of the dais. Upon the dais a modest fire danced, the smoke disappearing up through a hooded, stone-like affair which protruded from the wall a few feet above it. Some padded seating curled around the edge of the dais.

Two floor-to-ceiling windows were set into the curving wall and were framed by heavy but cheerfully coloured drapes. Brilliant sunshine streamed in through these windows, flooding the room with natural daylight. Two beds were set against the curved wall, head-ends against the wall, foot ends pointing towards the fire dais like the spokes of a wheel.

Both beds were occupied.

One glance quickly told the young archaeologist which of his colleagues occupied which bed. MacGyver's longish, shaggy, sun-bleached hair made the determination easy. The trouble-shooter appeared to be still out cold, but he was visibly a much better colour than he had been immediately prior to his finally passing out in the Gate chamber. A green-robed figure sat quietly at his bedside, a hand resting on his right wrist as if monitoring his pulse.

Three green-robed figures were hovering over the occupant of the other bed, who was quite discernibly also still out cold and was still very unhealthily pale-looking. Seeba stood near the foot of the bed. She too seemed pale and tired.

"Um...How are they doing?" Daniel questioned, his attention focused more on O'Neill than MacGyver, his initial glance over both having told him that if either needed to be worried over, it was the former rather than the latter. "Will they be okay?"

"That one," the white-robed man gestured in MacGyver's direction, "has accepted our help. He now sleeps a deep, healing sleep. It will be some while yet before he awakens from it. The other..." The man gestured towards O’Neill and hesitated a moment before he continued. "The other is very weak from his many injuries. We have tended him as best as he will allow."

"'As he will allow'?" Daniel blinked puzzledly at the man at his side. "What does that mean? 'As he will allow'? He's unconscious for heaven's sake! He can't exactly stop you from treating him."

"He does not trust easily and because of this is resisting much of that which we could do for him. He has accepted some little help from S'Baya, but that strength has been re-lost resisting those others who would aid him."

"Are you saying he's not going to make it?" Daniel stared at the white-robed man, a slightly horrified look entering his blue eyes.

"He will. It is not yet his time." This came from Seeba/S'Baya who had turned away from the foot of O'Neill's bed and had approached Jackson and the elderly man. Though she sounded tired and looked it there was quiet confidence in her voice. "Do not give up on him, young one. And when you speak to your people, tell them not to give up on him." She placed a hand on Daniel's arm and squeezed it. "He will live." She assured, before she said. "Now you must excuse me. I must rest for a little while, then I will again give him what help he will accept from me." She squeezed his arm again before moving past him and heading for the door. One of the green-robed figures that had been hovering around O'Neill hurried after her.

Daniel looked at the white-robed man, an unspoken question written quite clearly all over his young face.

"We will do all that we can," the man said, his manner kindly and reassuring, "and what will be, will be."

*************************

After being briefly but rapidly apprised of the need to cancel the second stage of the planned rescue mission to P4X-994 by Carter, General Hammond ordered her to report to the infirmary along with Teal'c. After Doctor Fraiser checked the pair out thoroughly and gave them a clean bill of health, they cleaned themselves up, donned fresh fatigues and reported back to Hammond for debriefing.

The expression on the General's face as he sat at his usual place at the head of the conference table and listened to Carter's 'long story', was one of tight-lipped fury. The Captain had just reached the part about SG-1 finding the missing O'Neill and the condition the Colonel had been in at the time.

Hammond knew only too well that everyone he sent through the Stargate ran the risk of capture or death or worse at the hands of hostile forces. Intellectual and military acceptance of those risks however, did nothing to lessen his instinctive gut reaction when any of those things actually befell any of 'his' people. Right at that moment Hammond's gut reaction was in full swing in response to his learning that his second in command had been wounded, captured and tortured by the Ha'gell Goa'uld.

As his subordinate continued with her report, Hammond listened intently and for the most part, silently. His eyebrows rose somewhat when Carter described MacGyver's usage of a paper-clip to free O'Neill from the Ha'gell pain device. They rose again when he learned of the jury-rigged blood transfusion. Then, when Carter got to the bit about the Phoenix operative's rather novel method of effecting an emergency repair to the defective Stargate chevron, Hammond's eyebrows went in search of his non-existent hairline and his jaw dropped.

"A knee-brace and duct tape?" The General stared at the young astrophysicist. "How in the Sam Hill do you repair a Stargate with a knee brace and duct tape?" He demanded incredulously.

"To be honest, sir, I haven't quite figured out exactly what he did myself yet," Carter confessed. "I can only surmise that some of the pins in the locking mechanism must have been damaged somehow and- "

"Thank you, Captain. I'm sure the Colonel's explanation will be quite fascinating," Hammond interrupted before Carter could launch into what would undoubtedly be some highly technical and totally incomprehensible, to him at least, theorizing.

"Ah...yes, sir," Carter agreed. It was an explanation she was rather looking forward to herself and she was quite determined that when MacGyver returned to the SGC he wasn't going to get off the base without providing it in detail.

She continued with her report and by the time she reached the end of it, she was acutely aware of the unhappy expression that was back on her superior's face.

"Are you telling me that you have no idea of the co-ordinates of this other world you Gated to?" The General questioned.

"I'm sorry, sir," Carter looked contrite. "But even if we did have the co-ordinates, it wouldn’t do any good. As I said before, the second Gate on P4X-994 had six glyphs that our Gate doesn't. And the address Seeba dialled used three of the new glyphs. And if we assume Daniel attempted to redial that address and if we also assume that the apparent misdial wasn't out by more than one glyph, we still couldn't dial it up from here. We would need to find another Gate with glyphs matching those on the second Gate on P4X-994 and the chances of that are slim to say the least, sir."

Hammond sighed. He was not a happy camper.

"Sir," Carter went on. "I don't believe the rest of SG-1 are in any danger where they are. Seeba clearly recognised the place. She said it was a 'protected' world and she was greeted like a long lost friend by the old man who seemed to be in charge."

"A 'protected world'. Protected by whom?" Hammond questioned. "And from who or what?"

"Well, I'm thinking maybe it's protected by the Asgard, General. That device that scanned us when we arrived through the Gate...It was a sensation very similar to being scanned by that Goa’uld detector on Cimmeria and Teal’c was the only one to be affected in any way by it."

"Was not O'Neill unconscious?" Teal'c interjected, a slight frown on his face as he recalled what he could remember of the quick glimpse he'd managed of the white chamber on the unknown world before he'd been rendered unconscious himself.

"Yes," Carter nodded, "but I think that was more probably due to his existing injuries than the effects of that scanning device." Carter turned back to Hammond. "Sir, I didn't like the idea of leaving the others behind, but Colonel MacGyver ordered me to- "

"It's alright, Captain," Hammond held up a hand to forestall whatever else the young woman had been about say. "Someone had to come home to stop SG 2 and 3 from being deployed on a fool's errand." He regarded the young woman pensively. "Just how bad was the Colonel's knee?" He asked.

"Pretty bad I think, sir," Carter answered honestly. "He couldn't put any weight on it at all when Teal'c and I left and I think he was hurting a lot more than he was letting on."

Hammond sighed grimly, but he understood why MacGyver had chosen to remain with Jackson and O'Neill despite his own injuries. However much the trouble-shooter might insist on being 'just a civilian', the man's background was in Special Forces and the General knew just how seriously Special Forces personnel took their unwritten rule that no-one got left behind on a mission as long as they were still breathing. And Hammond had read MacGyver's various files from General Morris, the DXS and the Phoenix Foundation quite thoroughly.

"Alright, Captain. What about this...this so-called communication device you brought back with you?" Hammond questioned, changing tack and gesturing towards the crystal sphere which rested on a small tripod on the briefing room table.

"We've not had time to do more than a few preliminary scans so far, sir," Carter answered. The scans had been run while she and Teal'c had been having their medical check-ups. "It's definitely of alien origin. The crystalline structure is quite unusual and there seems to be a mesh of fine filaments running through it which appear to be composed of Naquadah and something else that we've not yet been able to identify."

"Naquadah? The Stargate element?" Hammond frowned and stared at the sphere.

"Yes, sir," Carter confirmed.

"Do we know how it works?" The General continued, still frowning at the sphere.

"No idea as yet, sir," Carter admitted. "Seeba said we'd find out when they re-open the wormhole from their end." She checked her watch. "And that should be almost any time now. She said all we have to do is keep it within the general proximity of the Gate and it will work."

"Uh-huh..." Hammond was still frowning. Then he looked directly at Carter and asked. "You're sure it's not dangerous? It won't blow up in our faces or anything?"

It was Carter's turn to frown. "As far as we can tell it is harmless, sir," she said.

It was at that moment that a familiar sound started up in the Gate room, followed an instant later by the eruption of warning klaxons and the standard alert announcement over the P.A. system about an incoming wormhole.

"That may be Daniel checking in now, sir."

"Well, let's find out." Hammond rose to his feet. "Teal'c, stay here and keep an eye on that thing." He indicated the crystalline sphere. "I don't want it anywhere near the Control room just in case it's not as harmless as it looks."

Followed by Carter, Hammond hurried towards the stairs leading down into the Control Room below. They had only descended a few steps when a call from Teal'c brought them both up short.

"General Hammond! Captain Carter! Something is happening."

The two Air Force officers ascended again and saw that the crystal sphere was glowing softly.

"Captain?" Hammond questioned of Carter.

"I don't know, sir," the Captain confessed as she began to move away from the stairs and back towards the conference table.

"General Hammond, sir! We're getting SG-1's iris code!" The yell came up the stairs from an airman who had just rocketed up to the halfway landing and had spotted his superior hovering at the top.

Hammond looked down towards the airman and ordered. "Open the iris, but tell security to stay alert."

"Yes, sir!" The airman acknowledged before clattering swiftly back down the lower set of stairs.

Hammond's attention returned to the glowing sphere sitting on its tripod on the conference table. He saw Teal'c had risen from his seat and had retreated a couple of paces. Carter on the other hand had gone right up to the table, had both hands flat on its surface and was leaning inquisitively towards the sphere, frowning pensively at it.

As Hammond's order to open the iris was obeyed in the Control room below, the crystal sphere's glow brightened quite dramatically and abruptly.

"Whoa!" Carter exclaimed, jerking back, warily.

"Captain?" Hammond questioned dubiously. He had approached the general proximity of the table to stand behind his swivel chair. "Should that thing be doing that?" He demanded as the sphere began to rise into the air above the table.

"I...ah...have no idea, sir," Carter confessed as she eyed the sphere in surprised bewilderment, then frowned at it with scientific curiosity as she tried to determine how it was doing what it was doing.

The sphere continued upwards until it had almost reached the ceiling, where it hovered. Without any warning whatsoever a beam of blue-white light shot down from the sphere and began to spread rapidly in a conical fashion the instant it touched the tabletop. As the circumference of the beam dropped off the edges of the table, the sphere began to float sideways, the conical beam moving with it, washing over the furniture until it was completely on the floor and some distance from the table and chairs.

A fascinated expression on her face, Carter kept out of the way, stepping further back as the circle of light on the floor expanded. Then, as abruptly as the conical beam had appeared, it vanished again, but the sizeable, glowing, circular pool of blue-white light on the briefing room floor remained.

Barely a moment later a familiar image appeared in 3-D form within the circle as if it had just stepped forth from thin air.

"Daniel!" Carter exclaimed, her tone a mixture of surprise, relief and delight.

"Doctor Jackson?" Hammond questioned, blinking a little incredulously at the figure which was looking about itself with intrigued fascination. He could see Jackson appeared to be saying something to someone, but he heard nothing and could see no-one else.

"This is amazing..." Carter had begun to walk slowly around the exterior perimeter of the glowing circle. She began to wax lyrical about the technology required for the projection of what they were all seeing.

"Why can't we hear what Doctor Jackson is saying?" Hammond demanded to know, interrupting Carter's flood of incomprehensibly technical awe and appreciation.

"Perhaps it is necessary to enter the circle," Teal'c suggested, walking around the table to the side where the circle and its apparition were.

"Could be," Carter nodded pensively. She looked a question at Hammond. "Sir?"

"If you think it's safe, Captain, but be careful."

Carter nodded. She looked at the warily approaching Teal'c and warned. "Maybe you'd better stay back, Teal'c. I've no idea how this technology might react to your Goa'uld larva, especially if it is of Asgard origin."

The Jaffa halted and inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment.

Cautiously Carter extended her hand across the perimeter of the circle. She felt a slight tingle in her fingers and witnessed the image of Daniel Jackson turn towards her as if catching sight of her out of the corner of his eye. The archaeologist gestured encouragingly at her. Carter took a deep breath, steeled herself and stepped forward.

"Whoa...! Daniel, this is amazing!" She exclaimed, suddenly finding herself in what appeared to be the pristinely white Gate chamber of the world she had left nearly two hours earlier.

"Isn't it just?" Daniel agreed enthusiastically, gesturing expansively about him. "It looks so real. It's like I'm right there with you in the briefing room."

"The briefing room?" Carter echoed, her eyebrows rising. "But this looks like the Gate Chamber on the planet where you are!" She exclaimed.

"It does?" Daniel cast a very surprised look at his SG-1 colleague.

"Yeah..." Carter confirmed, turning slowly and looking at their ‘surroundings’.

"Ah...It looks like the SGC to me, Sam. I can see Teal'c right over there and General Hammond there." He gestured appropriately as he spoke. "The conference table's there and the window overlooking the Gate room is- "

"You can actually see all that?" Carter blinked in confusion. She looked around again. "No," she shook her head. "I'm definitely seeing that all-white chamber we Gated to from P4X-994. And I can see the man in the white robes...The one who was there before... "

"That's ah, N'lrem. He's, ah, apparently one of the senior elders or something around here," Daniel said helpfully.

"Oh boy, this is weird..." Carter shook her head incredulously.

"Captain Carter?"

"Yes, sir?" Carter turned as she heard General Hammond's voice. It was eerie to be able to hear her superior so clearly, yet be totally unable to see him.

"Are you alright, Captain?"

"Yes, sir. I'm fine, sir," Carter answered. "It's as if I'm back in that white Gate chamber again. I can see it quite clearly around me. It’s...it’s amazing..."

"Can you communicate with Doctor Jackson? We still can't hear him."

"Er...Yes, sir. He and I can talk as if we're standing together in the same room." A thought occurred to Carter. "Daniel, can you hear General Hammond?" She saw the Egyptologist frown slightly and shake his head. "Sir. Daniel can apparently see you, but he can't hear you. General, this technology is incredible. If we could- "

"Captain," Hammond interrupted before Carter could get herself engrossed in waxing lyrical again. "You can theorise about the technology later. Right now I'm more interested in our injured personnel. What can Doctor Jackson tell you about them? How are they? Where are they? Are they alright?"

"Sir," Carter responded crisply, snapping sharply out of 'engrossed scientist' mode as she was reminded about O'Neill and MacGyver. She looked to Jackson, anxiety spreading across her features as she asked. "Daniel, the Colonels...How are they?" Her anxiety level rose as she saw the sombre expression that appeared on the Egyptologist's face as he too snapped out of 'awed and curious scientist' mode. "Daniel...?" She questioned dubiously.

"Ah...Well...Mac passed out right after you and Teal’c left, but I think he’ll be okay." Knots began to form in the pit of Carter's stomach as she saw the mournful look that entered her team-mate's blue eyes as he went on. "Jack’s...ah...Jack’s not doing too good right now, Sam. Looks like he’s hurt worse than we thought..." Carter saw him gesture vaguely but expressively at his own body. "Inside...Internal injuries."

"Oh, God..." Carter breathed, her features paling. "But he is going to make it, isn't he?"

"I don't know, Sam." The mournful expression in the Egyptologist's eyes remained. "Seeba seems confident, but everyone else is...well...hedging...They seem to think it depends on how much fight Jack’s got left in him."

Sam saw her team-mate glance over his shoulder and realised that the elderly man in the white robes was saying something to him. She saw Jackson nod before looking back at her again. "Listen, Sam, I gotta' go. I’ll contact you again at..." She saw him glance at his wristwatch. "Say around midday your time."

"Daniel, I..." Sam began, trying to keep a lid on the emotions that were welling up inside her. Emotionalism was un-military and she hated being un-military, but dammit O'Neill wasn't just a C.O. He was a team-mate, a much-respected team-mate and within the limitations allowed by good military protocol, a friend. And she didn't like not being able to do anything to alleviate the situation he was in.

"I know," Daniel answered sombrely. "Me too."

Carter watched her friend and colleague as he turned and walked the few paces to the edge of the circle, where he halted and looked round at her again. She saw many of her own feelings mirrored in his blue eyes and for a moment it looked like he was going to say something more, but it was clear the words were eluding him. A slightly helpless air seemed to settle around him before he turned, stepped from the circle and vanished; along with the circle itself, the waiting white-robed man and the white Gate-chamber.

It took Carter a few moments to adjust to the realisation of being abruptly 'back' in the briefing room at the SGC with her very anxious superior officer firing questions at her and demanding answers.

*************************

Returning to the room housing O'Neill and MacGyver, Daniel observed in an instant that nothing seemed to have changed in the short space of time he had been absent. Both cousins were still quite clearly out of it and a green-robed figure sat quietly at the bedside of each.

A wave of weariness and depression washed over the young archaeologist as he walked over to the foot of O'Neill's bed and stood there for a moment, looking at his badly injured comrade. He felt so helpless. He sighed and pushing up his glasses, rubbed at his eyes with both his hands. Letting the glasses resettle on the bridge of his nose, he moved around to the side of the bed opposite to that at which the green-robed 'Healer' sat.

"Any change at all?" He asked of the raven-haired young woman. The 'Healer' looked up at him, her expression sombre and shook her head.

Daniel sighed and rubbed at his eyes again before he reached out to O'Neill's neck to check his pulse for himself. It took him a few heart-stopping moments to find it, but it was there - just.

"C'mon, Jack. C'mon. Don’t quit on me now..." the archaeologist murmured quietly, staring intently at the injured man, willing him to live. He was not entirely surprised when there was no detectable response. If only there was some way of getting Janet Fraiser here...

Daniel turned abruptly to look at the white robed man who had introduced himself to him as N'lrem.

"If your Healers can't help him, what about our Healers?" Daniel said with rapid urgency as the idea took firm root in his mind. "There must be some way of Gating from Earth to here, even if it needs to be by several Gates. Let me speak to our people again - now - let me bring our Healers here. They may be able to save him if yours can't."

N'lrem said nothing, but regarded the young human intently.

"Please..." Daniel pleaded. "You can’t just stand by and let him die..." He gestured expressively as he spoke. "I can't just stand by and let him die. He's my friend. Help me to help him. Please.." The anguish in his blue eyes was plain to see. "Please..." he repeated.

"I will summon a Circle of Elders and we will consider your request to bring Tau'ri Healers amongst us," N'lrem responded with quiet calm, still studying the younger man intently. "But it will take time."

"How much time?" Daniel demanded, distress and some anger quite apparent in his whole manner. "I don't think Jack has a lot of time."

N'lrem inclined his head slightly in response to that before he promised. "I will do what I can, young one."

*************************

A light touch on his shoulder registered distantly on Daniel’s senses. He blinked bewilderedly, then straightened abruptly in the high-backed, winged chair in which he was seated, startled by the sudden and slightly alarming realisation that he must have dozed off. A wave of self-anger and recrimination roared through him. He hadn't meant to doze off when he had settled himself into the chair that had been brought for him just after N'lrem had departed to summon the Circle of Elders. He was supposed to be watching over his injured comrades, not falling asleep on the job. Tired though he was, it was unforgivable...

His attention switched abruptly to the deathly pale, unmoving form that lay in the bed beside which he sat. "Jack?" He questioned, reflexively reaching out to check O'Neill for a pulse as the man's pallor sent a ghastly thought rocketing through his mind. As before, it was several heart-wrenching moments before he found what he sought; it was still there - barely.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to startle you." A gentle female voice apologised contritely as Jackson's shoulders slumped in relief at the discovery that his ailing comrade was still hanging stubbornly - albeit barely - onto life.

Daniel looked up and found himself blinking at a strikingly pretty young teenage girl who regarded him with gentle, deep chocolate eyes.

"I thought you might like this..." The girl offered Daniel a cup containing a dark liquid from which steam gently wafted.

"Ah...Thank you," Daniel sighed deeply, offering a slightly weary smile in return. The aroma that wafted from the cup tickled at his nostrils and seemed elusively familiar. He blinked at the brew, trying to place the aroma.

"It will help you to stay awake while you watch over your companions," the girl offered. "If you will pardon my rudeness, you look like you need it."

"Yeah...I do," Daniel confessed. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes again. It felt like someone had dumped a quarry-full of gravel in them. He sipped at his drink and frowned, blinking at it again. It tasted like something he'd sampled on one of the numerous other worlds SG-1 had visited some while before, but stronger, sharper.

"Is it too bitter?" The girl asked, visibly concerned. "I can sweeten it if you- "

"Huh? Ah, no. No...It’s fine," Daniel responded quickly. He looked up and smiled reassuringly. "I was just trying to remember where I've had this before, that's all. Ah, I'm Daniel, by the way. Daniel Jackson."

"I am called Alaeya," the girl responded. Jackson saw her look at O'Neill and then over in MacGyver's direction. "You are people of the Tau'ri?" She asked.

"Yes...Yes, we are," Daniel answered. Before he could slip in a question of his own, the girl asked.

"You are all warriors of the Tau'ri?"

"Ah...Yes. Well...Ah, yes and no," Daniel responded. He saw the quizzical tilt of the girl's head. "Ah...They are," Daniel gestured at his unconscious colleagues with his free hand. "Well Jack is. Mac's..." He floundered for a moment, trying to find some succinct way of describing the Phoenix operative. "Mac’s...well...he kind of makes things out of nothing and I’m an archaeologist." He saw the girl's quizzical expression. "I ah, study the languages and artefacts left behind by ancient peoples and their cultures," he explained, then sipped at his drink again.

"You are a 'Keeper'?" Alaeya's dark eyes widened and her expression changed as if she'd just received a startling revelation of some kind.

"A 'Keeper'?" Daniel ventured dubiously, frowning.

"You preserve the knowledge of Tau'ri who have gone before you," the girl said.

"Ah...In a manner of speaking," Daniel conceded cautiously. He saw the girl stare at him, an almost incredulous look entering her deep chocolate eyes. "What?" He questioned, a little bewildered by her inexplicable reaction to their conversation. "Alaeya?" He questioned as he saw her gaze switch to O'Neill, then shift towards MacGyver, then flit back and forth between the two injured men for a moment. "Alaeya...?" He tried again.

"Then you may be the ones..." The girl’s gaze returned to Daniel, who was growing increasingly bewildered by this point. "The Tau’ri Warrior...the Keeper...and..." Her gaze switched back across to MacGyver and she stared, wide-eyed in the Phoenix operative’s direction, her jaw dropping.

"Ah...I’m sorry...but I don’t understand..." Daniel frowned as the girl began to back away as if she was stunned by her own realisation - whatever it was. "Alaeya?"

Before he could do anything to stop her, the girl suddenly spun on her heel in a swirl of her long skirts and was gone from the room, leaving Daniel staring in total mystification after her.

*************************

Daniel was still pondering on Alaeya's odd behaviour and continuing to fret over O'Neill's condition when the tap of brisk footsteps, the rustling flap of long robes and the sound of a familiar voice speaking in an unfamiliar tongue distracted him from his thoughts.

Looking round, Daniel blinked at the two figures which came to an abrupt halt a few paces short of the foot of O'Neill's bed. Despite the familiarity of her voice, it took Daniel a moment to recognise Seeba. Gone were the colourfully embroidered skirts and blouse she had been wearing the last time he had seen her. In their place were long, flowing robes of a rich yellow-gold hue. She had about her the aura of a woman with a purpose and the tone of her voice was unmistakable. It was a tone Daniel had become familiar with courtesy of his association with O’Neill. It was the tone of someone with authority exercising that authority and brooking no arguments.

The blue-robed man who accompanied the woman did not look at all happy. In fact he looked rather as if he had just been invited to jump into a live volcano. He attempted a protest only to wilt visibly seconds later under the curt response it earned him from Seeba. His hands coming up in a placating manner, he backed off, nodding vigorously at the woman - despite her being blind - then turned and hurried from the room as if someone had just lit a very short fuse under him.

"Ah...What was that?" Daniel ventured with curious caution. He'd been listening to the unfamiliar language, automatically trying to get a handle on it, but not really getting anywhere with it.

"Oh...Bureaucrats!" Seeba cast a dismissive wave in the direction of the door as she moved round to the side of the bed where the green-robed Healer sat 'monitoring' O'Neill. She spoke briskly to the seated woman, who cast her a rather startled look before leaping out of her chair as if it had suddenly become electrified and stepping hurriedly out of Seeba's way.

Daniel stared across O'Neill at the blind woman, trying to determine what precisely was going on. Something was most definitely up, but he had absolutely no idea what.

"Seeba...what’s going on?" He questioned as he watched the woman reach out a hand which she laid flat on the centre of O'Neill's chest. Daniel tried to quash impatience as Seeba's free hand came up in a distinctive gesture for him to be silent. He fidgeted restlessly, just watching the blind woman and noting the slight frown of concentration which spread across her features. His patience was on the verge of expiry when he saw her nod in a very positive fashion, retrieve her hand and level her blind gaze in his direction.

"I know now how we can best help this one," she announced.

"You do?" Daniel blinked, shooting to his feet. "That's great," he enthused in open relief. Then he sobered quickly. "How?" He asked, frowning.

"Our Healers have failed to win his trust," Seeba answered, "therefore we need to use a Healer he will trust. We need to- "

"I already asked N'lrem about bringing one of our doctors, ah, one of our Healers here from Earth," Daniel cut in, the words tumbling forth in a rapid, eager torrent. "He said he'd speak with your Circle of Elders. I mean there must be some way of getting here from Earth. There have to be other Stargates with the right symbols we can use. If we could bring Doctor Fraiser here- "

"There is no time to wait for the Circle to debate the matter. We could grow old and die ourselves before they reach a decision on what day of the week it is never mind something of this importance." Seeba's tone betrayed she did not exactly hold the Circle of Elders in high esteem. "No, young one, we do as the other would and make use of what we have." She moved away from O'Neill's bedside, gesturing to the green-robed 'Healer' to resume her seat, which the figure swiftly did.

"I’m sorry..." Daniel frowned, watching Seeba go to MacGyver’s bedside. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"It will delay this one's healing to wake him now, but if we are to help Jack we have no choice," Seeba said, almost as if she were talking to herself. "Come, Daniel," she continued, her manner business-like, as she gestured to the archaeologist. "When this one is awakened, he may initially be a little disorientated, you should sit with him." She gestured to the 'Healer' seated at MacGyver's bedside to move. "Come, young one, sit." Seeba 'looked' round at the confused Jackson and gestured to him again.

Daniel moved. "I still don't understand," he said as he settled into the chair the 'Healer' vacated. "How does waking Mac up help Jack?"

"These two are Old Souls," Seeba answered, settling herself on the edge of the bed opposite to where Daniel was sitting. She gestured at both cousins as she spoke.

"You told me that before," Daniel said, frowning.

"Then understand that they are also inextricably bound together. It is their destiny to be so bound. It is that bond which currently keeps that one holding to this cycle of life," Seeba gestured at O'Neill as she spoke. "But, unless conscious use is soon made of it to strengthen him, it will be lost to them and they to each other for the short time which would remain before the other followed."

Daniel stared at the blind woman, his jaw dropping slightly as his mind raced over the implications of what he was being told.

"Are you saying that if Jack dies, we'll lose MacGyver as well? But you said, you said they would be more easily healed here than.... We trusted what you said. Mac trusted what you said...If they’re both going to die anyway, then what was the point in our remaining here? We might as well have gone back with Sam and Teal'c. We- " He broke off as a commotion at the doorway distracted him.

Daniel looked round in time to see a tall, imposing woman in sapphire blue robes sweep into the room. Three people trailed in her wake. Daniel recognised one as being the man whom Seeba had so disparagingly described as 'a bureaucrat’. The other two - a man and a woman - were also dressed in blue, but in paler hues.

The imposing woman was in the midst of a tirade that sounded as if she was every bit as ticked off about something as she quite visibly looked. The bureaucrat appeared to be struggling to get a word in edgewise and the other two also looked a little harassed.

"Stay here," Seeba told Daniel as she rose purposefully to her feet and turned to face the new arrivals.

"S'Baya, what is the meaning of-?" The imposing woman demanded as she came to an abrupt halt that nearly had her entourage colliding into her back.

Daniel blinked as he saw the woman's expression change suddenly as she broke off mid-query and stared at the occupants of the room's two beds, then looked at him, then back to the injured men.

"By all the Wise Ones!" She exclaimed. "Guardians! Tau'ri Guardians!" The woman sounded and looked a little stunned. "It is as I was told."

"It is," Seeba/S'Baya said, inclining her head in a formal and respectful manner to the other woman.

To Daniel's bewilderment, the blue-robed woman imperiously snapped what sounded like orders at her entourage, who were all looking as stunned as she herself had done only seconds before. They all snapped to life and practically fell over each other in their rush to leave the room.

"The crystals will be brought immediately, S'Baya," the woman then said, addressing Seeba. "I apologise for F'Ray's failure to implement your instructions. He will be severely reprimanded." Her tone suggested F'Ray would not enjoy the reprimand that he was marked for.

"Thank you," Seeba acknowledged. Then she made introductions, her hand moving in graceful gestures as she spoke. "T'Vella, this young one is called Daniel. These others are Jack and MacGyver." She paused for a scant heartbeat before continuing. "Daniel, this is T'Vella. She is a Guardian Mage here." Even as Daniel began to frown in response, questions quite visibly whirling through his mind at dizzying speed, he was aware of T'Vella regarding him with an intensity that he found unnerving. Then suddenly it struck him. She was looking at him, through him, into his very being in much the same way as Seeba despite her blindness had done with both O'Neill and MacGyver.

"Er...Excuse me...Guardian Mage?" Daniel began, wanting to give voice to his questions.

"You have potential, young one," T'Vella said, her gaze remaining intently fixed on the archaeologist.

"Ah...Potential?" Daniel began. "I don’t understand..."

"Understanding will come with time and experience, young one," T'Vella told him. She held up a hand to forestall the tirade of questions Daniel was quite visibly bursting with. "For now, be content to watch and learn and aid these..." she indicated his injured comrades and Seeba, "as they require."

"I still don’t understand..." Daniel began, visibly floundering, his mind still in overdrive with questions as T’Vella said something briefly in the unknown tongue to Seeba before retreating towards the fire dais.

"Daniel."

Seeba's quietly commanding voice captured the young archaeologist's attention away from T'Vella. He looked at her, confused bewilderment vying with a burning desire to ask questions and get answers.

"Understanding will come, Daniel," Seeba smiled at him in an understanding manner. Then her expression became more sombre. "But now we must waken this one if we are to help the other," she said as she reached out to place a hand flat on MacGyver's chest.

*************************

The expression on Jackson's face as he sat in the chair at MacGyver's bedside was one of anxious curiosity. His gaze flickered back and forth between Seeba and his unconscious colleague. Seeba had been standing for some time at the other side of the bed, a hand resting flat on the centre of MacGyver's chest and a look of concentration on her face. Nothing appeared to be happening.

Gradually, as Seeba's expression of concentration deepened, Daniel realised that MacGyver's breathing was altering, deepening, but remaining steady. Then the injured man began to stir restlessly, almost as if he were dreaming and his respiration became more rapid. Daniel shifted uneasily. If the expressions that were beginning to flit across the Phoenix operative's face were any guide, then whatever he was dreaming was far from being tranquil or pleasant.

"Easy, Mac. Easy," Daniel urged gently as he leaned a little nearer. He frowned as he heard the other man mutter something that was barely coherent and which wasn't English but which the archaeologist recognised as bad Russian. Russian? Daniel's frown deepened. He looked up at Seeba as she withdrew her left hand from MacGyver's chest and moved it up to brush straying strands of hair back from the man's forehead.

"He will be with us again in a few moments," the blind woman announced quietly, "but he will be disorientated. He returns from another time, another place."

Daniel frowned at the woman. What? The question was written all over his face. Another barely coherent mutter from MacGyver distracted him. He looked back to the Phoenix operative as he stirred restlessly again. Then Daniel saw his eyes blink open. He was a little startled by the expression of utter confusion that shone in those dark eyes and which spread rapidly across his face as MacGyver blinked up at Seeba.

"Welcome back, old friend," Seeba smiled warmly at the discernibly bewildered MacGyver. She gently stroked his forehead one last time before she unhurriedly retrieved her hand and then quietly stepped back a few paces from his bedside. The 'look' she cast across at Daniel made it clear that she expected him to take over. Daniel duly focused his attention on the Phoenix trouble-shooter.

"Mac?" The archaeologist questioned a little dubiously as he watched the other man just lie there, blinking confusedly for a moment. "Mac?" He ventured again, only to be taken totally by surprise as MacGyver shot abruptly bolt-upright into a sitting position, his right hand going swiftly to his upper left arm in a manner that could only be described as panicky investigation, while questioning in agitated, but quite comprehensible though pretty bad Russian.

"Where the-? How did I get-? What happened? What the heck-?" The frown that spread across the Phoenix operative's face as he checked out his arm was one of total bewilderment. "Not even a scratch...But that’s not possible...It was...I was..."

"Ah, Mac, relax. It's okay. You're okay. We're quite safe here, even if I still haven't figured out just exactly where 'here' is yet." Daniel decided to jump in, in Russian, although his was rather more fluent than Mac's. He saw MacGyver's head snap round and saw his totally confused gaze fix on him. "You, ah, passed out in the Gate Chamber. Remember?"

"Daniel?" A deeply quizzical frown accompanied the question.

"Yes," the archaeologist confirmed with a reassuring smile and a nod.

"What's with the Russian? You're not- " MacGyver began to question, this time in English. He was still quite visibly perplexed as he blinked at the archaeologist. "But there wasn’t any Gate Chamber in...And you weren’t..." He began to look around and Daniel saw comprehension suddenly dawn as the proverbial light bulb clicked on. Confusion was replaced in an instant by panic. "Jack! Where's Jack?" The Phoenix man demanded to know.

"Easy, Mac, easy," Daniel cautioned, reaching quickly to grab hold of the older man's shoulder as MacGyver made a sudden move to try to leap out of the bed with the transparently clear intention of searching out his cousin. "He's here too. He's right over there in the other bed." Jackson inclined his head in the appropriate direction.

Jackson's rapid reaction combined with a sudden twinge of acute discomfort from his damaged knee which, Mac belatedly and rather absently realised, seemed to have been somehow totally immobilised, brought the Phoenix man up short. As did the sudden realisation that he was clad in little more than his birthday suit and that there were several assorted strangers - most of who were female - in the room. His cheeks flushing an interesting shade of red, MacGyver hastily snatched at the bedcovers in an attempt to keep his modesty intact as he muttered an embarrassed, "Aw man..." Then his attention switched again, going towards his cousin. "Jack...?"

"Take it easy, Mac," Daniel cautioned. "He can't hear you, he's still out cold."

"How is he?" MacGyver demanded, his anxious gaze focused totally on the unmoving form occupying the room's other bed. The anxiety radiating from him was almost palpable.

"Ah...Not too good, Mac," Daniel confessed reluctantly. Awareness of the return of T'Vella's entourage momentarily distracted him and he cast a swift, brief glance in their direction. He noted the female was carrying a quite bulky-looking bundle, while the two men were each carrying much smaller ones. Directing his attention back towards MacGyver, he saw that Seeba was returning to the immediate vicinity of the man's bedside, although she seemed to be quite deliberately keeping clear of Mac's line of sight to O'Neill.

"The other has need of your help, old friend."

Daniel observed the woman grab MacGyver's attention with that pronouncement.

"We...know each other, don’t we?" MacGyver's tone was a mixture of conviction and uncertainty as he stared at Seeba, a distinctly unsettled frown beginning to spread across his face.

"Er, that's Seeba, Mac. We met her on P4X-994. Remember?" It was Jackson's turn to look perturbed as he eyed the frowning Phoenix operative. Certainly Seeba had warned him that the older man would be disorientated when he awakened, but he hadn't expected MacGyver to be this disorientated and it was beginning to worry him a little.

"No..." MacGyver’s frown remained as he shook his head slightly. "Not from P4X. From...somewhere else."

"Yes," Seeba smiled in return. It was a warm, knowing smile. "But that is not important just now, old friend. The welfare of the other is what is of concern at this time. He will not accept the help of our Healers and because of this continues to weaken."

"What?" MacGyver was instantly distracted from pursuing the elusive memory that he'd been trying to dredge up from the depths of his mind.

"You accepted our help and have started to heal, but we have had to waken you prematurely in order that you can help the other."

MacGyver frowned and looked at Daniel, who shrugged helplessly.

"I have no idea," the archaeologist confessed with a certain amount of ill-concealed frustration. "Everything anyone says around here concerning you and Jack is cryptic."

"Time is running short. Will you help?" Seeba questioned MacGyver.

"Of course. How?" MacGyver's response was immediate.

"First, I think perhaps you should get dressed," Seeba smiled as the female member of T'Vella's entourage came up beside her to silently set down on the bed the bundle which Daniel had previously spotted her carrying into the room. "If you need help," Seeba continued as the blue-robed woman moved away again. "I am sure Daniel will assist you."

"Aaah...yeeaah," MacGyver agreed dubiously, blushing slightly again as he glanced around and took note of the increased number of people in the room.

"Ah, maybe some privacy...?" Daniel suggested hopefully to Seeba, recognising MacGyver's acute discomfort at the situation and glancing around at the room's various occupants himself. The thought of having to get dressed from stark-naked in front of a bunch of complete strangers was not an idea that appealed much to him either and he fully sympathised with the other man's predicament.

"Of course," Seeba nodded with a smile, then moved away, clapping her hands and speaking rapidly in the tongue that Daniel had yet to make any clear sense of. The room began to clear of people, with the exceptions of Seeba herself, T’Vella, and the Healer who was ‘monitoring’ O’Neill. T’Vella turned her back to the room in general and busied herself with something at the fire dais. Seeba moved to join her and the two were soon in quiet conference with each other.

"You want to check on Jack for me?" MacGyver inclined his head slightly in O'Neill's direction as he addressed the still seated Jackson.

"Okay..." Daniel responded, rising to his feet and beginning to move away. "But if you need any help..."

"I'll sing out."

"Right." Daniel adjourned to O'Neill's bedside.

MacGyver examined the bundle that had been set down beside him on the bed and pulled out an item that looked like it was some kind of a warm tunic that was quite long in length. He donned it quickly, discovered that it was indeed quite long - probably almost knee-length in fact - though it was split to nearly hip level at either side seam. Confident of being able to maintain some semblance of modesty in the garment, he pushed the bedcovers aside and eased his legs out of the bed. The manoeuvre was a little awkward since his right knee was, as he had absently realised earlier, totally immobilised.

The joint was, he quickly discovered, encased in an odd, dark green substance which was quite solid, but which was also considerably lighter in weight and much thinner than any conventional 'cast' he had ever previously had experience of back home. His investigation of the 'cast' led him to check the healing wound in his thigh. He discovered that the stitches appeared to have been removed and that a dark green substance - rather like a second skin to the touch - had been liberally applied over the whole ragged length of the injury.

Turning his attention to the remainder of the clothing bundle, MacGyver found underwear, trousers, a sash-like belt, a warm over-robe that looked like it was even longer in length than the tunic and warm, fur-lined, lace-up, calf-length, almost moccasin-like footwear. Being unable to flex his right knee even fractionally made it awkward to don the underwear and trousers, but he had had experience of coping with a totally immobilised knee before so he managed without needing to request any assistance.

"You okay there, Mac?" Daniel presently questioned over his shoulder from where he hovered worriedly at O'Neill's bedside. He glanced discreetly over his shoulder and saw the Phoenix man perching on the far side of his bed, clearly managing to dress unaided.

"Yeah," MacGyver absently answered the archaeologist's concerned question as he slipped one of the moccasin-style boots onto his left foot and began to lace it up, tucking his trouser leg neatly inside as he did so. "How's Jack doin'? How's his arm?"

Daniel checked O'Neill's pulse before he answered. "He's still with us." Just about, he thought anxiously. But I'm really not sure for how much longer. "His arm’s...ah...about the same as before I think."

The sound of gently swishing robes made MacGyver look up as he picked up his other moccasin-boot. He found Seeba approaching.

"May I assist you with that?" She inquired, her head tilting quizzically to one side.

MacGyver hesitated a moment before answering. "Appreciate it, thanks."

Seeba advanced to where MacGyver perched, drew the nearby chair closer and settled herself into it. MacGyver rather gingerly rested his damaged leg on her knee and relinquished the moccasin-boot he had been about to fight with.

"So, how do I help Jack?" He questioned as he watched Seeba ease his foot into the moccasin-boot and deftly begin to lace it up his shin, neatly tucking the material of his trouser leg inside the boot as she did so. "I don’t know that I can give him any more blood..." he pondered dubiously, "but I’m willing to give it a shot if that’s what - "

"Mac, you can't!" The almost indignantly horrified protest came from Jackson, who spun around, a torn expression on his face.

"Do you know anyone else around here who has blood we know for certain is compatible?" MacGyver looked sharply over his shoulder at the younger man, a sudden flash of anger in his dark eyes.

"No, but you've probably already given him more than you should have. It's too risky for you to give him any more so soon after last time." There was grim determination in Jackson's eyes as he moved rapidly around MacGyver's bed in order to face him. "It's bad enough we could lose Jack here. I'll be damned if I'll just stand by and let you kill yourself into the bargain too!"

"It is not your blood we must give to the other, old friend," Seeba interjected swiftly as she put a hand on MacGyver's arm to distract him from exploding at Jackson, which he was quite visibly on the verge of doing. "It is your strength."

Both MacGyver and Daniel looked at her as they both voiced the same question almost in chorus.

"What?"

"You and Jack are Old Souls, my friend," Seeba levelled her penetrating blind gaze directly at MacGyver. "You are bound together by more than just the blood that flows within you both." A faintly knowing expression graced her features. "I think you already know this." MacGyver looked distinctly unsettled. Daniel frowned as he stared at the woman, his mind clearly racing. The hand she had touched MacGyver's arm with now resting on the man's immobilised knee, Seeba continued. "It is that bond which presently keeps the other holding to this cycle of life and which you must now use to give him strength and to assist him to heal."

"I have done what little I can to aid him and though he has some trust in me, it is not enough. His trust in you, however, is implicit, as is yours in him." Seeba 'looked' suddenly up at Daniel. "As it becomes in you also, young one. Your bond with these grows and your Second House, like this one's," she indicated MacGyver, "is of the Healer, but you are yet too young and do not have the experience necessary for what must be done here this day."

As Daniel gawped at her, Seeba's attention went back to MacGyver, who was staring at her with a totally dumbfounded expression which seemed to suggest he was beginning to think either she was insane or else he was caught up in some nightmare from which he fervently hoped he would awaken at any second.

"The crystals have been brought," Seeba went on as she gently removed MacGyver’s injured leg from where it still rested on her knee and lowered his foot to the stone-flagged floor. "You must choose now. There is little time left before the other weakens beyond the point where even you can help him." She 'looked' at Daniel. "This one will need your help now. He has only just begun to heal himself. His knee will not yet support his weight."

"Crystals?" MacGyver questioned, bewilderedly.

"Ah...Some sort of healing device maybe?" Daniel offered as Seeba rose and began to walk towards where T'Vella was standing by the fire dais. He looked at MacGyver. "The Goa'uld have a healing device that seems to be based on a technology that incorporates a crystalline structure of some kind. We've not figured out how it works yet. We've got one back at the SGC. We picked it up on P3X-974 just a few weeks back. Of course it may not actually be Goa'uld technology originally. The Goa'uld have a nasty habit of stealing technology from other races and then adapting it for their own purposes, most of which are pretty nasty by anyone's standards."

"And if that's what they've got here, maybe we can use it to help Jack," MacGyver’s mind was racing over the possibilities raised by the information Jackson was giving him. "Give me a hand here, willya'?" He requested, manoeuvring himself up off the bed. Daniel moved swiftly to help him balance as he tentatively tried putting some weight on his bad leg. The bolt of pain that shot up and down his leg from his knee made him gasp sharply and discouraged him from trying the move a second time.

"You okay?" Jackson questioned with alarmed concern.

"Yeah," MacGyver answered through gritted teeth as he waited for the fire in the damaged joint to subside a little. "But Seeba's right... leg won't take my weight."

"Okay. Lean on me," Jackson instructed shifting position at MacGyver's side to allow the older man to loop an arm over his shoulders.

With Daniel supporting him, MacGyver awkwardly made his way over to where Seeba and T'Vella waited. They found several crystals of fairly uniform shape and size laid out on a long length of soft, white, velvet-like, material on the generous rim of the fire dais. The majority of the crystals were lightly opaque and faintly tinged with colour. Of the two that weren't, one was a distinctly cloudy white and the other was quite startlingly clear.

"Ah...what are these?" Daniel questioned dubiously. None of the crystals bore any resemblance whatsoever to the alien healing device that SG-1 had so recently retrieved from the Asgard protected world of Cimmeria.

"K'Rin'sha crystals of course." The expression on T'Vella's face as she issued the statement indicated that she thought that fact was obvious to anyone with half a brain.

"K’Rin’Sha..." Daniel frowned. "K'Rin'Sha..." he repeated slowly, pensively.

"Mean something to you?" MacGyver asked as he cast his gaze over the assortment of crystals and wondered how the heck any of them could possibly be of any use to anyone as anything other than perhaps paperweights. He always tried to keep an open mind about things, but this was beginning to stretch open-mindedness to beyond the limit. Detaching himself from Jackson's support and resting a hand on the fire-dais instead in order to help maintain his balance, he eyed the crystals closely, trying to determine just what they were made from. Almost look like differing forms of some sort of quartz unless I totally miss my guess, he thought.

"I'm not sure," Daniel confessed. "In the 'Land Of Light' they have a word ‘Heelk’sha’ that means 'Evil Gods'. It's similar to a word on Abydos that roughly means Lords of the Earth, of the Underworld." His expression suddenly changed. "K’Rin’sha...Magic!" He exclaimed.

"What?" MacGyver questioned, his attention shifting away from his study of the oddly captivating crystals to the man hovering at his side.

"K’Rin’sha - magic...Lords of Magic..." Daniel began to slip into enthused-linguist mode. "There's a Goa'uld word that's -"

"K'Rin'sha... That's what our friend with the glowing eyes called you," MacGyver looked sharply in Seeba's direction as the vivid memory suddenly flashed into the forefront his mind.

"What?" Daniel blinked in surprise, distracted from the linguistics lecture he had been about to launch into. "When was this?"

"Just before Seeba and I followed the rest of you through the Gate," MacGyver told him, but his gaze still rested on the blind woman.

"It is what those Dark Souled Ones call us," Seeba conceded with a gesture that generally encompassed the world around them as she said 'us'. Her manner was almost dismissive of the subject however as she continued. "There will be time for such discussions later." Her blind gaze seemed to focus on MacGyver. "Now you must choose and swiftly." She gestured at the crystals.

Daniel saw MacGyver incline his head slightly in a quizzical manner, before he turned his attention back to the crystals. After a moment he saw MacGyver look back to Seeba, then over at T'Vella who had withdrawn a few paces, but who was watching him with undisguised interest as if curious to see what he was going to do.

"Does it make a difference which one Mac picks?" Daniel asked the question which he sensed MacGyver was already thinking. "I mean...on the surface there seems to be very little difference between them all. I mean they're all pretty much the same size and shape. Or is the colour variation significant in some way?" He was about to fire off several more questions only to fall silent as he saw MacGyver reach out with his right hand towards a blue-tinged crystal, only to stop mid-motion before actually touching the stone. Daniel saw a pensive frown appear on MacGyver's face.

"What is it?" Daniel's curiosity was stirring.

MacGyver merely shook his head slightly, a perplexed expression spreading across his face. Daniel watched intently as the Phoenix man's hand moved in the direction of another of the crystals - the totally clear one - hovered momentarily over it, before sweeping abruptly over two others with barely a pause towards another, which was tinged a faintly green hue. The expression on MacGyver's face changed to one of intense curiosity and fascination as he moved his hand back towards the first stone he had reached out for, then floated his hand briefly over some of the other stones before returning to the second stone that had attracted his attention. He was about to pick it up when, again, he visibly paused.

"Mac?" Daniel questioned, the expression of fascinated curiosity on his face by then matching the one already on MacGyver's. He watched MacGyver shift his balance slightly, withdraw his right hand away from the stones and rest it instead on the edge of the fire dais, then reach smoothly with his left hand to pick up the crystal that he had moments earlier been about to touch with the other hand. It was the crystal that was totally clear.

"What?" Daniel looked towards T'Vella as he heard her emit a quiet, sharp gasp that seemed to be of surprise. "He pick the wrong one?" He saw the woman shake her head and witnessed her stare at the Phoenix operative in a manner which could best be described as deeply impressed.

"It is a Prime Guardian crystal," Seeba said quietly, a little smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "It will choose only one who is a Prime Guardian."

"It will choose...?" Daniel stared at the woman. Her smile deepened, almost with amusement as she regarded him with her blind eyes and told him.

"The choosing is a two-way thing, young one."

MacGyver looked up and saw the way in which Jackson was gawping at Seeba and a slight frown crossed his face. He had been so caught up in studying the crystal which now nestled in the palm of his hand, so caught up in the odd sensation of feeling that the crystal somehow belonged there, that he had missed the brief interplay between the archaeologist and the two women.

"Daniel? You okay?"

"Uhh...Yes...Yes, I'm fine."

MacGyver took Jackson at his word, turned his attention to Seeba and asked.

"So. What now?"

*************************

O’Neill blinked exhaustedly into the darkness. He was in big trouble and he knew it. This was the edge of Death's domain and Death was trying to drag him across that threshold. He could feel it pulling at him, relentlessly. And he was losing ground. Inch by stubborn inch. But he'd be damned if he was going to just up and quit. He wasn't about to let Death win without a fight.

But he was running out of fight...

*************************

MacGyver gasped, more in surprise than pain as the crystal nestling so comfortably in his palm seemed to suddenly fuse itself into his flesh.

"What the - ?"

"Mac?" Alarm crossed Daniel's face. He reached for MacGyver's hand even as the other man frantically tried to prise the crystal free himself.

*************************

O'Neill felt his grip slipping on the piteously thin strand of rope he had been clinging desperately to for an unnervingly long time. Rope? No, it wasn't exactly rope. It was...He had no idea what it was exactly. All he knew for certain was that while it hadn't stopped his slow slide into the darkness, into the black quicksand nothingness, it had slowed his descent. And it glowed faintly against the all-encompassing darkness; glowed an odd blue-white or was it white-blue?

With an effort, O’Neill struggled to tighten the failing grip of his left hand; his right hand and arm were useless. He couldn’t quite figure out why either. He was just too tired to think straight. It would be so easy just to let go...Just to give in...The outcome was inevitable...Why fight it? Let the darkness win. Be finally free of the nagging pain that seemed to permeate every fibre of his being. Surely being dead would be better than this?

But...

O'Neill wasn't quite ready to quit yet. Resolutely he forced his grip to tighten again on that 'rope' that was the slimmest of life-lines; a 'rope' that seemed to somehow be growing a little thicker even as he clung desperately to it...

*************************

"What is this?" MacGyver demanded of Seeba and T'Vella as he realised the crystal that had embedded itself in the palm of his hand was not going to be prised loose without surgery or...something.

"Look inside yourself and you will know." Seeba was calm in the face of both MacGyver's and Daniel Jackson's disconcerted agitation. "And you will know how to use it to help the other."

The 'Healer' who was sitting at O'Neill's bedside called out something in an urgent tone.

"You must hurry," Seeba told MacGyver, gesturing towards O'Neill in a manner that matched the urgency in the Healer's voice. "Daniel, help him," she ordered as she herself began to move towards O'Neill's bedside.

"Mac?" Daniel regarded the Phoenix operative with anxious uncertainty as he noticed the slightly distant aura that seemed to be settling around him.

"Help me over there," MacGyver requested, his attention focusing on his injured, dying cousin as a barrage of odd sensations began to assault his senses. Suddenly he 'knew' O'Neill's already tenuous hold on life was failing. He didn't know how he knew it, but he knew it. "Hurry!" He snapped at Daniel even as he began to push himself away from the fire dais that he had been leaning against.

Jackson reacted quickly and supported much of MacGyver's weight as he helped the older man over to O'Neill's bedside. The Healer who had been seated at O'Neill's left, moved out of the way at a command from Seeba as MacGyver freed himself from Daniel's support and settled himself on the edge of the bed; his bad knee making the manoeuvre a little awkward.

"Seeba...How do I...?" MacGyver looked up and across at Seeba, who had gone to stand at the other side of the bed. There was panic and desperation in his eyes.

"It has been a long time, but you have done this before and your Will is strong. Be calm and go with your instincts," Seeba answered calmly. "Let them guide you, old friend."

MacGyver's distraught gaze lingered on Seeba for a moment longer, then switched to O'Neill, who lay deathly pale and still and who appeared to be barely breathing. A tingling sensation centred in his left hand made MacGyver turn his palm upwards. He started slightly as he saw the crystal embedded in his flesh had somehow become opaque and was starting to emit a very soft blue-white glow. Behind him and to his right, he heard Daniel's quiet gasp, but he ignored it as something stirred deep in the recesses of his mind. Whether it was some long-forgotten memory surfacing, or whether it was instinct kicking in, he had no idea, but he took Seeba's advice and allowed himself to go with it.

Reaching out, he drew back the warm blanket covering his ailing cousin and grimaced slightly at the sight of the green-coloured 'second-skin' substance that was much in evidence all over the various wounds that had been inflicted on Jack by the Ha'gell. He was vaguely aware of Daniel muttering something in tones of worried alarm, but he was too focused on O'Neill to pay attention to the archaeologist.

After hesitating for a moment and after making a slightly helpless motion with both his hands, MacGyver found himself extending his left hand with its embedded, softly glowing crystal, towards the centre of his cousin's chest...

*************************

O'Neill felt his grip failing despite his desperate struggle to maintain it. The 'rope' to which he clung was sliding with increasing speed through his failing fingers. His strength was gone and he was sinking inexorably into the black quicksand. Death was winning this battle.

//NO!// he screamed silently as his slide into icy cold oblivion continued and his grip on 'the rope' finally failed.

Suddenly he jerked to a halt and cried out in surprise.

It took him a moment to realise what had stopped his descent. It was 'the rope'. Somehow it was now wrapped around his left wrist and even as he blinked bewilderedly at it in the darkness, it was snaking up and around his arm.

What the hell...? The thought floated fuzzily through his numbed brain.

*************************

Arms folded, Daniel chewed at his lip as he stood a pace or so from MacGyver and watched the ball of blue-white light that seemed to be forming around the hand which Mac was resting on the injured O'Neill's chest. He was acutely aware that the Phoenix trouble-shooter seemed to be...somewhere else into the bargain. His dark eyes had an unfocused, distant look about them.

"What's happening?" Daniel questioned, looking round at both Seeba and T'Vella. Seeba was still standing at the other side of the bed. T'Vella was standing at the foot of the bed. The archaeologist's worry factor rose as he saw that both women also seemed to be 'somewhere else'.

"Sshhh..." Daniel looked round at the quiet admonishment which came from the Healer who stood behind the vacant chair she had previously been occupying at O'Neill's bedside. He saw her raise a finger to her lips in the universal sign for silence, then gesture him to accompany her as she moved unhurriedly a few paces away.

For a moment Daniel hesitated, then after casting another anxious glance over MacGyver and O'Neill, he retreated after the Healer.

"You must not disturb the Mage Focus," she whispered quietly at him as he joined her. "This is going to take some time. If you wish to remain, you must not interfere."

"But I only- " Daniel began to protest mutedly and a little indignantly, only to break off mid-protest as the Healer repeated her gesture for silence. Her gesture was impatiently emphatic this time and accompanied by a withering glare. Daniel raised his hands placatingly. The woman gave him a final frown before she turned and went back to where she had earlier been standing behind the chair at O'Neill's bedside. Daniel saw her gesture sharply at him and at the chair.

He got the message. Quietly he stepped over to the chair and settled himself a little hesitantly into it.

Focusing his attention on MacGyver and O'Neill, he saw that the glowing ball of light around MacGyver's left hand had intensified...

*************************

O’Neill offered no resistance as the blue-white 'rope' began to slide around him; not that he actually had any strength left with which to offer any. He simply accepted it and waited.

Gradually he became aware of an odd sensation of energy filtering into him from somewhere and of the 'rope' thickening as it continued to entwine itself around him.

Still he waited and accepted.

Awareness of a familiar presence somewhere out there in the darkness reached him, touched the very edges of his senses, but he couldn't quite identify it. All he could tell was, that unlike the other 'presences' he had sensed from time to time in the darkness, this one was familiar. This was a 'presence' that he did not need to defend against, or hide from.

//Jack?//

What? Puzzlement washed over him, along with a surge of hope. He recognised the very faint voice that seemed to have echoed deep inside his head.

//Mac?// He questioned.

//Hold on, Jack. I'm coming.//

O'Neill sought the odd blue-white rope with the fingers of his left hand again and with some effort managed to clamp those fingers around it. His right arm was still useless and there was still a sense of pain throughout his being, but somehow it had lessened and he felt a little stronger. Strong enough to make an attempt to pull himself a little way up out of the black quicksand that still engulfed his legs and most of his body up to his arm-pits. The quicksand resisted his effort, but at least he sank no deeper into it.

The glowing 'rope' however, seemed to have no qualms about delving into the black quicksand. O'Neill felt it slide down his body, wrapping itself around him almost as if it were fashioning a cradle-harness. Then it emerged up out of the black pit to snake upwards and fasten to itself, merge into itself. The section wrapped around his left arm loosened its stranglehold on that limb and un-entwined itself, then re-merged itself into the section supporting the 'harness'.

This is insane...O’Neill found himself thinking. I’ve been in some crazy situations before, but this...This is truly insane...

//Jack? C'mon! Can't do this all by myself. You need to help me out a little here!//

His cousin's voice sounded a little tersely within the depths of his mind.

O'Neill shook his head. This could not be happening. It could not be real. Yet...Something stirred in his mind...

Taking a deep breath and gritting his teeth, he tightened his left hand's grip on the 'rope' and resolutely pulled.

//That's it, Jack!//

There was encouragement in the voice that echoed in his mind.

The quicksand was unrelenting in its glue-like hold. O'Neill's struggle to extricate himself sapped at what little strength had returned to him.

//Mac! I'm kinda’ stuck here!//

//It's okay. Rest a moment, then try again. Don't worry about falling, you won't. I've got you.//

O'Neill rested. He felt strength seeping into him again from...somewhere. He waited, resolutely quelling the impatience - his own - that stirred. He wanted to get the hell away from this place and the sooner the better. A wave of calm washed over him, a wave of calm that wasn't his own.

//Easy, Jack. We can do this. Just be patient, okay?//

//Patient; right. You're not the one dangling in Old Nick's cesspit here.//

A familiar quiet chuckle echoed in the depths of O'Neill's mind, followed by a comment of,

//Eloquent as ever, Jack.//

//Just get me the hell outta' here, Mac!//

//Okay, we'll try this again. On three. Okay?//

//Just get on with it.//

O'Neill resolutely tightened his grip on the 'rope' again as he heard his cousin's voice count off to three in his head. On three he gritted his teeth and tried again to haul himself free. The quicksand did not release him, but he felt it give a little.

//That's it, Jack! Keep it going!//

His determination reinforced by his cousin's urging, O'Neill kept on pulling, aware of the 'harness' around him exerting a pull on him too.

The quicksand gave way - fractionally and reluctantly. Very reluctantly.

//Rest again, Jack. I've got you.//

O'Neill did as he was instructed, but as he rested, he adjusted his grip on the 'rope' that was his lifeline, moving his hand further up it. Strength flowed into him again from that same external source as before and he had the odd sense that 'the presence' which was his cousin was growing closer. Looking up, he saw a bright glow in the darkness and realised that it was the source of the lifeline that cradled him and which was keeping him from sliding back down as he rested.

//Mac? That you up there?//

//I think 'up' is relative here, don't you?// was the remark that came back. //You ready to try this again?//

//Oohh yeaahh.//

//On three.//

As before, MacGyver's voice seemed to count off inside O'Neill's mind. On three, O'Neill tightened his grip on the 'rope' and pulled. The quicksand fought back, but O'Neill felt its hold on him start to slip, start to give. He felt the 'harness' pull on him, aiding his struggle, matching it, supporting it.

O'Neill managed to snatch his hand further up the 'rope', once, twice, three times before exhaustion forced him to halt. He was still partially entrapped in Death's quicksand but not as deeply as before. His body was now almost free, but the pit still sucked relentlessly at his legs, trying to pull him back. Were it not for the 'harness' holding him, he would not have been able to fight off that inexorable pull.

//Mac...//

//I know. Rest as long as you need. When you're ready to go again, we will. I'm right here.//

//Don't know how the hell I'm gonna' write this one up. Hammond'll have me tossed in a padded cell...//

//Hey, don't know what you're worryin' about. I'm the one has to write this one up. 'Til this mission gets home, I'm supposed to be the one runnin' the show. All you gotta' do is report you were out cold, missed the excitement, then woke up. I'm the one got the short straw here, Jack.//

//Well, you're supposed to be the 'creative' one; should be a piece of cake.//

//Some cake.//

O'Neill couldn't help but chuckle at his cousin's wry comment. Looking up again, he saw that the blue-white glow above him seemed to have more form to it than before. Instead of being just a ball of light, it now had a vaguely humanoid shape to it.

Yeah...You can write this one up, Mac...he decided. He wasn't going to touch this one with a barge-pole. Hammond would have him ear-marked for a session or two of 'counselling' with Dr. McKenzie - the base's resident shrink - as soon as they got back to the SGC and Hammond got wind of what had happened to him on P4X-994. O'Neill hated shrinks. With a vengeance. And he wasn't about to provide McKenzie with any ammunition that might get him 'grounded' if he could help it and this lot was...Well this was something it was probably better McKenzie never got to find out about. Ever.

//So I get certified instead; thanks a lot, Jack.//

//Hey...// O'Neill attempted a shrug. Then a thought occurred. How in the hell did he know what I was thinking?

//I have no idea.// Came back loud and clear and was accompanied almost simultaneously by 'thoughts' which echoed in his brain, yet which O'Neill knew were not his own; had not originated there; were external yet at the same time from a source that was familiar. Himself, yet not himself. This sorta’ used to happen when we were kids...Always seemed to know what the other was thinkin‘...Like we could ‘hear’ each other sometimes. Always got stronger the longer we were around each other. Especially after that time he fished me outta’ Hiller’s pond...It was kinda’ spooky back then and it -

//Isn't any less spooky now.// O'Neill interjected, an odd shiver running up his spine.

//Hey, you eavesdroppin' on me or what?//

//You're the one dabbles in science, you tell me!// Jack responded dryly. Oh man, this is gettin' just too weird...

//Yeaahh...Let's get outta' here before it gets any weirder, whaddya' say?//

//Fine by me.//

With that, Jack took a deep breath and began to haul on the odd, blue-white, 'rope' again. As before, the black, quicksand pit was reluctant to release its glue-like grip on him, but slowly, aided by the strength flowing into him from...wherever...and by the pull of the encompassing blue-white ‘harness’, O’Neill slowly dragged himself, inch by painfully slow inch, upwards.

He tried kicking out with his feet in an effort to loosen the pit's hold on him. It didn't work. It just seemed to increase the clinginess of the black...goo.

//Don't waste energy, Jack.//

O'Neill heard his cousin's caution and heeded it, for he was tiring again, despite the energy that was flowing into him from the mysterious external source. He knew he was burning up that energy as fast as it was being given to him, as fast as -

Anxiety for his cousin washed over O'Neill in a rush as the sudden realisation struck him. And if it’s coming from Mac, he has to be about as exhausted as I am by now...He was hurt too...

//'S'okay, Jack, I'm okay. Just keep comin'. You're almost in reach now. Keep comin'.//

O'Neill looked up again at that. The vaguely humanoid shape in the blue-white glow was even more recognisable than before. And much, much closer. It extended a hand towards him...

Grim determination filled O'Neill. It was partly his own and partly his cousin's, yet it was all one; individual yet combined. With the bone-headed stubbornness that was a trait that both he and his cousin shared in equal quantity, O'Neill dug deeply within himself, seeking out whatever scant shreds of his own much-drained strength remained in an effort to spare his cousin, then he reached upwards, clamped his hand higher on the 'rope' and heaved...

The pit that was Death's domain tenaciously held on, unwilling to give him up.

//Jack, grab my hand!//

O'Neill continued to try to haul himself upward.

//Jack! Don't go all-stubborn on me now dammit! Take my hand!//

O'Neill directed his gaze upward. He saw again the hand that reached towards him. It looked like it might be in grabbing range, but in order to grab at it, he would have to completely let go of the lifeline...Entrust himself entirely to the strange, glowing ‘harness’ if he failed to make contact with that waiting hand.

//Trust me, Jack...//

With that thought, O'Neill gathered himself and lunged for his cousin's oddly glowing, out-stretched hand...

*************************

Surreptitiously Daniel checked his watch. Nearly an hour had passed since he had settled in the chair at O'Neill's bedside. During that time nothing much seemed to have happened; except that the glow of blue-white light around the hand that MacGyver still rested on O'Neill's chest had grown steadily brighter for a little while, then had maintained the slow, pulsing intensity of its brightness.

It was almost hypnotic to watch.

Daniel gave himself a mental shake, trying to dispel the odd feeling of being drawn into that eerie light and also trying to shake off the tiredness that was trying to creep up on him. It had been a long while since he had had any decent sleep and things were starting to catch up on him a little.

He snapped abruptly alert however, his tiredness immediately forgotten, when suddenly O'Neill's left hand shot up off the bed and at the same instant MacGyver's glowing hand moved to intercept it. The blue-white light flared almost blindingly as the two men's hands met and clasped tightly.

"Whoa!" Daniel automatically raised a hand to shield his eyes, but the flare was gone almost as quickly as it had erupted. It still left him a little dazzled and blinking furiously for a moment though. As his vision returned to normal, he saw that O'Neill's dark eyes had opened and appeared to be focused totally on MacGyver.

Daniel stared, a little stunned by the depth of trust which he saw radiating from the Air Force Colonel's eyes as he regarded his cousin. Daniel had seen trust in the man's eyes before, but it was often accompanied by a certain indefinable guardedness. This time there was no guardedness. Not even a hint of it. The trust that was visible right then and which was being directed at MacGyver, was total and absolute.

A little shaken, Daniel made to speak, but something held him back. A strong sense that there was a conversation of some kind going on between the two men, washed over him; a conversation that only they were privy to. Then he saw the faint and totally exhausted smile that crept onto O'Neill's face as Jack murmured critically, "You look...like shit, Mac..."

"Yeah? You too, Jack." Was MacGyver's weary but slightly wry response. "What say ya' grab some sleep now? Know I could use some, an' Daniel's got our backs."

Daniel was a little surprised to see O'Neill nod slightly before closing his dark eyes without so much as a hint of protest or objection.

"Mac?" Daniel ventured after a moment or two passed and nobody in the room either moved or spoke. He was about to rise from his chair when a hand descended on his shoulder, stopping him. He looked sharply around and saw it was the Healer. She shook her head at him.

"Not yet," she told him very softly. "Watch."

Daniel watched.

The now-gentle blue-white glow encompassing O'Neill's and MacGyver's still clasped hands was changing colour, shifting to blue-green. Odd little flecks of red flickered in the light - briefly - then vanished as the hue subtly shifted to green. A deep green.

As Daniel continued to watch, he saw MacGyver gently lay O'Neill's hand back down at Jack’s side, then move his own still-greenly-glowing hand over to the Air Force officer’s green-cast-encased arm. The glow then seemed to recede from being spherical to being focused from the crystal embedded in the trouble-shooter's palm. It flowed forth over O'Neill's arm, slowly spreading out and encompassing the man's entire forearm.

This lasted for several moments. Then MacGyver's hand moved again, not actually touching his cousin, but moving to hover over O’Neill’s belly. The green glow followed, spreading across the injured man. Daniel wasn't sure, but he thought he detected a slight change in the green-ness, a deepening, an intensifying....

Then, without warning, the glow was suddenly gone and Daniel saw MacGyver sway alarmingly. The young archaeologist reacted swiftly, shooting out of his chair just in time to intercept the Phoenix trouble-shooter as he toppled off the edge of O'Neill's bed. He wasn't able to stop MacGyver's abrupt descent, but he was able to break his fall and prevent him from hurting himself.

"Mac? Mac?" Daniel questioned worriedly, urgently.

"H'mm okay, Daniel...Just tired...C’n tell the others...Jack’ll be...okay now..." Daniel heard MacGyver murmur exhaustedly before the man passed out in his arms.

*************************

"Are you sure they're both alright?" Daniel questioned dubiously, hovering at Seeba's back as he watched the woman pull a blanket over MacGyver, whom he had just picked up off the floor and settled on the room's second bed.

"They will be fine," Seeba responded. "They will both sleep deeply now for as long as each needs. When this one wakens in a few hours, he will be extremely hungry and when he has eaten, he will likely sleep again." She reached out to gently stroke MacGyver's shaggy hair. "Probably until some time tomorrow."

Daniel did not miss the affectionate manner in which Seeba touched the sleeping man or the warmth in her tone. He refrained from commenting on it, although he filed it away in the back of his mind with the intention of pondering on it later. He had a rather more pressing query. "What exactly just happened?" He asked, observing out of the corner of his eye that the green-robed Healer who had chastised him such a short while earlier, had resettled herself at O'Neill's bedside and looked as if she was preparing to be there for quite some while.

"This one gave the other the strength that was needed and initiated the other's healing," Seeba answered. "Such is the bond between them that he would have continued to give and would have kept nothing in reserve for his own healing. His crystal recognised this and protected him from himself."

"You mean that crystal thing in Mac's hand knocked him out?" Daniel was dubious. "But...how?" He saw Seeba shrug with the expressive acceptance of someone dealing with an immutable fact.

"It is a K'Rin'sha Prime Guardian crystal."

"Which doesn't really explain anything," Daniel pointed out, beginning to grow a little frustrated. He seemed to be hatching questions by the score with every moment that passed in this alien place and getting very few answers. Sudden awareness of a presence behind him made him glance over his shoulder. He started slightly as he found N'lrem standing there.

"My apologies. I did not mean to startle you," the man said. "I have come from the Circle of Elders."

"What did they say? Will they let me bring Doctor Fraiser here?" Daniel questioned immediately.

"No. They will not permit it. I did not expect they would," N'lrem answered. Then he smiled benevolently. "But it is now a superfluous request, is it not? Both of your companions now heal, do they not?"

"Well...I don’t know actually. I’m not that kind of a doctor," Daniel responded a little tersely. "If I were, I wouldn't have asked you to allow me to bring our Healers, here."

N'lrem seemed unperturbed by Daniel's flare of temper. He studied the younger man intently for a moment before he observed. "You are tired, young one. You should rest now yourself while your friends sleep. I will have another bed brought in for you. You would prefer to remain here with them than be quartered elsewhere, yes?"

"Yes. Definitely," Daniel responded swiftly. "If it’s not a problem...?"

"It is not. While that is being done, perhaps you would like to freshen up and change into some clean things?"

"Ah..." Daniel glanced down at himself. Grimy, he decided, would probably be a tactfully polite way of describing how he realised must look. A wash and some clean clothes, followed by some shut-eye was certainly a very appealing thought, but... He glanced at his two prone colleagues and chewed at his lip.

"Do not worry, they will both be closely watched over. No harm will come to either," N'lrem smiled in a kindly and reassuring fashion. He turned slightly and gestured to a figure which was hovering by the room's main door. Then, to Daniel, he said. "Alaeya will show you where you may bathe and will see that fresh clothing is brought for you."

Recognising the name, Daniel looked past N'lrem and saw the teenager who had introduced herself to him earlier with a welcome hot drink. The girl smiled at him, almost self-consciously this time, as she approached.

"Hello again," Daniel addressed her amiably. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Seeba's head tilt quizzically, so he explained. "Alaeya was kind enough to bring me something to drink earlier."

"She is my daughter."

"Oh..." Daniel looked a little surprised by this revelation. He found himself looking at the teenager and thinking that that must have been why he had thought there was something oddly familiar about her that he hadn't quite been able to put his finger on before. Then several questions popped into his head. "Your daughter? Ah, but I thought those kids back on P4X-994 were..." He floundered a little. "Aren’t they...?"

"No. They are orphans of that world," Seeba told him.

"Oh..."

"And now that these," Seeba indicated O'Neill and MacGyver, "have been tended to, it is time that I went to fetch them."

*************************

By the time Daniel had finished availing himself of the bathing facility to which Alaeya had shown him and had donned the fresh clothing which his hosts provided, he found that the promised extra bed had been set up in his colleagues' room. A quick check of the two injured men assured him that both were still deeply unconscious.

After some gentle urging by the lone Healer who was seated at O'Neill's bedside, Daniel went to settle on the edge of the third bed and pulled off his boots. He then set the alarm on his wristwatch to waken him in plenty of time for his next scheduled check-in with the SGC and, after stowing his glasses safely on a small table that had been placed beside his bed, he lay down. Within moments of his head touching the pillow he was sound asleep. So soundly asleep that he was oblivious to the Healer rising to her feet to step over to his bedside and drape a warm blanket over him before she returned to her chair at O'Neill's bedside.

*************************

MacGyver was, as Seeba had predicted, ravenous when he awakened and discovered someone had put him back on his own bed and covered him with a warm blanket. He was, however, more concerned about his cousin's state of health than his own stomach and was out of bed and hopping to his cousin's bedside within moments of wakening.

"He sleeps quietly." The Healer who still sat at the other side of O'Neill's bed looked up and smiled reassuringly as she looked across at the visibly concerned MacGyver. She raised a hand and made a slight gesture with it. The dully-glowing 'light stick' that was set against the wall above O'Neill's bed brightened, casting a stronger light over the sleeping man.

It was at that point that MacGyver belatedly realised that the room was in partial darkness. The heavy drapes at the windows had been closed and what light there was, was being provided by the flickering fire on the dais against the flat wall, the 'light-stick' above O'Neill's bed and one above his own. Despite that, MacGyver could see that O'Neill looked a much healthier colour than he had done before and that he was breathing easily and regularly.

A little cautiously, wary of disturbing his cousin and of losing his own balance, MacGyver reached out with his right hand to check O'Neill's neck for a pulse. For the first time in longer than he liked to think about, MacGyver found that pulse easily; it was slow but steady and stronger than before. A strong sense of relief washed over the Phoenix operative. He sighed a deep, but quiet sigh.

MacGyver's stomach chose that moment to rumble. Loudly. A little embarrassed, he automatically put a hand to his complaining belly.

"I will have a meal brought for you," the Healer announced, rising to her feet.

"Thank you. Guess I am a little hungry."

"You should sit and rest," the Healer advised. "You are still healing and your energy levels are still very low."

MacGyver inclined his head slightly in response as he watched the woman reach to pick something up from the unit beside O'Neill's bed. The 'something' proved to be a shorter version of the 'light-stick' affixed to the wall above the bed and it illuminated the moment it was picked up.

As the woman began to move away, MacGyver blinked past her into the darkness as a sound caught his attention. It sounded like material rustling and bedsprings creaking gently.

"Your young companion sleeps. Shall I wake him?" The Healer paused to look over her shoulder at MacGyver. She raised her 'light-stick' a little higher so that its glow spread a little further afield, enabling MacGyver to see that a third bed had been set up and that Daniel Jackson was comfortably sprawled on it, tangled in a blanket, sound asleep.

"No. Let him sleep," MacGyver shook his head as his stomach rumbled loudly again.

The Healer nodded and continued on her way to the door. MacGyver remained where he was and regarded O'Neill for a few moments longer until he was distracted by an odd tingling sensation in his left hand. Raising his hand and turning it over, he found that the crystal still firmly embedded in his palm was glowing gently in a soft blue-white hue that seemed to shift towards green even as he stared at it, both fascinated and disconcerted by it. Then, without really thinking about it, he shifted his balance and extended his hand towards O'Neill's right shoulder. As soon as he touched his cousin, a softly glowing greenish-white ball of light formed around his hand and the light began to spread down the Air Force officer's damaged arm.

"Whoa..." MacGyver murmured both a little distracted and a little startled by the flood of odd sensations that danced rapidly on the fringes of his awareness and the sudden rush of images that began to flash through his mind. At first he couldn't make any sense of the images at all until the scientist in him kicked in and recognised what he was seeing in his mind's eye; it was as if he were watching cell-regeneration through a powerful electron microscope.

Totally focused on the impressions flowing through his senses MacGyver was, at first, oblivious to the gently urgent voice that tried to intrude, tried to gain his attention. The voice persisted. Abruptly his concentration shattered and the images and sensations that had held him captivated all vanished to be replaced by a sudden wave of disorientation that totally swamped him.

It was a few moments before he realised where he was and that the lone Healer was at his side, was manoeuvring his right arm over her shoulder, had her left arm supportively around his waist and was preventing him from keeling over on the spot.

"Whoa...Think I need to sit down..." MacGyver confessed, accepting the woman’s help to traverse the few paces back to his own bed.

"You should not have attempted that," the woman scolded as she helped MacGyver to sit and to manoeuvre his injured leg up onto the bed. "I know it is your natural instinct, but you don't have the energy yet to attempt deep monitoring never mind further healing of the other. You must eat and sleep again and replenish yourself first," she continued, deftly adjusting pillows as she helped MacGyver to lean back against the bed's thickly padded headrest. "Food will be here shortly. Until it comes, just sit there and do nothing but rest quietly." Mac's stomach rattled loudly almost as if in response to the mention of food. The Healer went on. "You need to heal too."

Questions were milling around in MacGyver's brain by that point, but somehow he couldn't quite find the energy to give voice to them. A little reluctantly he decided they would have to wait. Settling for doing as he had been told, he sat quietly, just resting and allowing his mind to drift.

MacGyver was actually beginning to slip into a light doze when a couple of brown-clad figures arrived with the meal he had been promised. It was hot and steaming and there was plenty of it. Mac attacked it with relish and his stomach rumbled appreciatively. He was in the midst of spreading something resembling honey on a thick slice of dark coloured, fresh-baked bread, when Daniel surfaced from his slumbers, roused by the aromas that had been wafting across the room.

"That smells good," Daniel observed, sniffing appreciatively as he approached MacGyver's bedside, having paused en route at O'Neill's to speak briefly with the Healer seated at the Air Force Colonel's bedside.

"Dive in," MacGyver invited, gesturing in the general direction of the extra plate and cutlery that sat on a nearby table along with several covered bowls and dishes. "There's plenty and it should still be hot."

Daniel 'dove in' and presently settled himself into the vacant chair that sat beside MacGyver's bed, a loaded platter in one hand and a fork in the other. "Hmmm...This is good..." the archaeologist remarked enthusiastically around a mouthful of what tasted like vegetables of some sort.

"Yeah," MacGyver agreed, watching the younger man with a certain amount of amusement as Daniel attacked the plateful of food with obvious relish. After demolishing several forkfuls of his meal in rapid succession, Daniel regarded the watching Phoenix operative intently and began to speak.

"So. How're you feeling now? You certainly look a lot better than you did a while ago. How's the knee? You know, Jack's looking a lot better too since you did whatever it was you did with that crystal. Do you think that's permanent? The crystal, I mean." Daniel gestured vaguely towards MacGyver's left hand, having noticed the crystal still embedded in his palm. His expression became pensive. "Doesn't that hurt at all?" He asked. Then, without giving Mac a chance to answer, he continued pensively. "Maybe Doctor Fraiser can remove it when we get back. It's certainly nothing like that Goa'uld device we brought back from Cimmeria. I don't know if anyone else would be able to use it though. Seeba said 'it' picked you as much as you picked it. That must mean it's some form of biotechnology. Maybe it even has some form of artificial intelligence. I've not had a chance to have a proper look around here yet, but if that's a sample of the technology they have here, these people are way ahead of us. You realise what this could mean, don't you? Think what we could do with technology like this back on Earth."

Daniel finally paused for breath and to devour another couple of forkfuls of food so MacGyver made the most of the opportunity.

"Tired, not too bad, yeah he is, no idea, but I hope not, no, hope so, I'm beginning to and yeah, I've been thinking about it."

Jackson blinked and paused with a forkful of food in mid-air. "Huh?"

"Just catching up on your questions," MacGyver offered in response to the blank look being levelled at him.

"Oh. Guess I was getting a little carried away, huh?" Daniel apologised. The look and the little half-shrug he received in return reminded him strongly of O’Neill. "Sorry..."

"It's okay, I know you were just thinking out loud," MacGyver answered with a certain degree of amusement. Scientists who lapsed readily into 'distracted scientist' mode, thought aloud and barely allowed anyone else to get a word in edgewise, were something he was quite used to. He'd dealt with enough of them over the years since he'd first followed Pete Thornton to the Phoenix Foundation. It was even something he'd been accused of doing once or twice himself.

A tingling in his left palm distracted him, drawing his attention to the appendage in question. He turned it over. The crystal was glowing softly, very softly, emitting a muted blue-white, green-tinged glow.

"What is it?" Jackson abandoned his forkful of food back onto his plate and absently deposited the plate on the unit beside MacGyver's bed. "Why is it doing that?"

"I have no idea," the Phoenix operative answered, eying the crystal a little apprehensively. Something tickled the very edges of his senses. He recognised it - more by some deep instinct than anything else - and to Daniel's bewildered surprise, rapidly shoved his tray with the debris of his meal aside, shot off the bed and hopped the few paces to O'Neill's bedside, questioning worriedly as he did so. "Jack?"

"There is no need for concern," the Healer watching over O'Neill responded calmly. She had a hand under O'Neill's head and was carefully allowing a trickle of liquid from a cup held in her other hand to dribble into the injured man's mouth. "He may be drawing the energy he needs for his healing from you while he sleeps, but his body still requires fluids. That is what your crystal is telling you, that is all."

MacGyver relaxed, then frowned and asked. "How?"

"It is K'Rin'sha and you are linked Prime Guardians," the Healer replied, the greater part of her attention clearly remaining focused on O’Neill. "I will continue to attend the Warrior for now and another will attend him later through the night. Tomorrow you can attend him yourself if that is your wish." Then she glanced across at the Phoenix operative and advised. "For now though, you should rest again and sleep. The quieter you are, the more quietly this one will sleep and the quicker you will both heal."

"Yee-aah...Right..." MacGyver commented slowly. His attention was partially focused on O'Neill and partially focused on the numerous questions that were rattling around in his brain, but he was aware that Daniel was hovering concernedly at his elbow.

"You both okay?"

"Guess so," MacGyver responded, though he neither looked nor sounded too convinced about it as he watched O'Neill reflexively swallowing the liquid the Healer was very slowly dribbling into his mouth. "Do we have any of our equipment here?" He asked, turning to the archaeologist.

"No. Why?"

"I was just thinking that if we did, we might be able to jury-rig a saline drip. Be a lot easier to get fluids into Jack that way."

"But I thought you used all the saline?"

"Did, but boil up some water long enough to sterilise it, then cool it, and the right amount of salt into solution..." MacGyver began, visibly pensive.

"Maybe when Seeba gets back," Daniel suggested. "Some of our gear was still in her wagon, including that med-kit you had." He saw the look MacGyver aimed at him and hurriedly told the Phoenix operative about what Seeba had said about the children who had been in her care on P4X-994 and that she had gone to retrieve them.

MacGyver immediately demanded to know when the woman would return and how long she had been gone. Daniel checked his watch, responded that Seeba had been absent for some time and that he had no idea when she would return.

"There must be some way of contacting her," MacGyver said pensively. He looked across at the Healer tending to O'Neill. "Excuse me...How can we contact Seeba? It's important we get hold of her right away."

"You would need to speak with N'lrem," the Healer answered, glancing up.

"And where would we find this N'lrem?" MacGyver wanted to know.

"He's the guy from the Gate chamber, Mac," Daniel said, "and I think I know where I'll be able to find him in about fifteen minutes." He saw the look MacGyver levelled at him again and explained. "I'm about due to meet him in the Gate chamber so's he can open the Gate for me and I can talk to our people back at the SGC again." Just as he finished speaking, his wristwatch alarm sounded. He swiftly switched it off. "I'll ask him about Seeba and about contacting her if she's not back already."

"Okay," MacGyver nodded. "Let's go talk to him."

"Er...Mac, I think maybe you'd better stay here with Jack. It’s a bit of a hike to the Gate chamber from here and..." Jackson gestured expressively towards MacGyver’s injured leg. "Besides, one of us probably ought to stay just in case Jack wakes up...Don’t you think?"

MacGyver considered the younger man's words and realised Jackson was right. "Okay, you go talk to him. I'll baby-sit."

Daniel nodded and began to move off.

"Ah, Daniel..."

"Yes?"

"Before ya’ go...You ah, wouldn’t happen to know if they’ve got a rest room around here anywhere, would ya’?"

"Sure. It's over there." Daniel answered with a smile as he gestured into the gloom in the direction of the doorway to the right hand side of the fire dais. "You want a hand getting over there?"

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it."

*************************

O’Neill awakened slowly to a feeling of total well-being and to the discovery that he was sprawled comfortably on his right side. The deep-rooted pain that had plagued him before was gone. There were just a few dull aches here and there, which were easily ignorable. He sighed deeply and shifted slightly, unusually content just to wallow in the comfortable warmth that cocooned him.

The sense of contented lethargy evaporated abruptly however, as his sleepy gaze began to focus on the strange greenish-grey substance that appeared to firmly encase his right forearm from his elbow to the knuckles of his right hand.

"What the hell...?" Automatically he rolled onto his back and began to elevate himself up onto his left elbow, wincing a little as his left side protested the abruptness of his movement. It was about then that he realised something was securely affixed to his left arm; a needle with a length of fluid-filled tubing. He allowed his gaze to track it. It went up to a bottle-like contraption which bore evidence of bits of string and duct tape and which hung from something that resembled a make-shift hat-stand. A slightly bemused smile crossed O'Neill's face. He knew his cousin's handiwork when he saw it.

"Jack? S'okay, Jack, take it easy. We're quite safe here."

O'Neill looked reflexively in the direction of the familiar and openly concerned voice of his cousin. He saw MacGyver rise to his feet from some padded benching beside the room's fire and limp swiftly and a little awkwardly towards him with the aid of a stout stick.

"What happened to you?" O'Neill was immediately more concerned about the other man than about his own state of health. "Are you alright?"

"Blew out my knee again, but it's mending. Don't worry, Jack, I'm okay," MacGyver answered. "Question is how're you doin'? Ya' had us kinda' worried for a while there."

"I’m..." O’Neill considered his reply for a moment before settling for a truthful. "Better...A lot better..." His movements were slow and deliberately careful however as he manoeuvred to sit up. "Aw hell...not again..." he complained in mild exasperation as he realised someone had removed his clothes again. "This is getting to be a seriously bad habit." Then he noticed the streaks of greyish-green on his chest where the Ha'gell had viciously lacerated him with their claws. "What the hell...?" He rapidly began investigating further and found that his left side, which he knew had had major damage done to it, was covered in more of the stuff, as were his other assorted injuries.

"It's some sort of healing compound," MacGyver offered helpfully, a slightly amused expression on his face as he watched the expressions flitting across his cousin's face as the slightly younger man, apparently with few concerns about his modesty, did a quick self-inventory. O'Neill looked up at him. "So they tell me," MacGyver added in the same helpful tone, his amused smile still in place as O'Neill pulled the warm bed-covers back over himself.

The Phoenix operative had, by that time, perched himself on a chair at O'Neill's bedside, his right leg sticking out at a slightly awkward angle since he was unable to bend his damaged knee. He rapped his knuckles on his right knee and O'Neill heard an odd, almost metallic sound. Mac saw his cousin's puzzled frown.

"They do an interesting line in casts around here too," MacGyver said. Then, gesturing at O'Neill's damaged arm, he went on. "Apparently when that finishes going from green to a sort of pale grey colour and starts to flake off of its own accord, you're cured. Same with that other stuff." He gestured expressively at his cousin's torso.

"Wonderful...Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘little green men’." O'Neill remarked dryly as he began to investigate the odd green 'cast' on his arm. He found it gave off the same metallic sound when he tapped it as he'd heard when Mac had tapped at his bad knee. The material didn't quite have the cold feel of metal though. It was warmer, more...organic, somehow. O'Neill dismissed it and turned his attention to more pressing matters. "Unless they redecorated while we were gone, this isn't the SGC," he observed, looking around at their surroundings. "Where the hell are we, Mac? And where's the rest of SG-1?"

"Well, even Daniel's having trouble getting his tongue around what the K'Rin'sha - "

"K'Rin- who?" O'Neill questioned blankly.

"K'Rin'sha," MacGyver repeated, then elaborated. "Our hosts. Seems Daniel misdialled. Anyway - "

"Misdialled?" O'Neill managed to look incredulous and outraged both at the same time. "Daniel misdialled?"

"Yeah, an' we ended up here instead of the planet we sent everyone else to. Anyway, the nearest loose and apparently it's a very loose translation of what the K'Rin'sha call this place, is 'Sanctuary'." Mac answered, watching the way in which O'Neill was surveying their surroundings. He knew his cousin was instinctively conducting a threat-assessment of the brightly sunlit room. "Daniel's currently out exploring an' Sam an' Teal'c are safely back at the SGC."

"Uh-huh..." O’Neill said then he asked. "So...How long have we been here?"

"Oh, going on for the best part of three days," Mac answered in a totally unperturbed manner. He saw the disconcerted look O'Neill levelled at him and the temptation to get his own back for Jack’s teasing of him when he'd been in the infirmary back at the SGC, was just too much. Grinning broadly, MacGyver added. "Welcome back, Sleepin' Beauty."

*************************

The 'MacGyvered' saline drip had been dismantled and O'Neill was just finishing tucking ravenously into a meal of a fine broth of some sort - he had elected not to enquire too closely into the nature of its contents, even though it tasted delicious - and some fresh-baked, dark-coloured bread, when Daniel arrived accompanied by Seeba and little Melia. Actually both O'Neill and MacGyver heard Jackson before either saw him. The archaeologist was enthusing volubly about the various things he'd been seeing during his most recent explorations of the surrounding area.

"Hey! Jack! You're awake!" Daniel looked delighted as soon as he was alerted to the fact by little Melia, whom he was carrying. The girl wriggled in his grasp and as soon as he set her down, she ran over to O'Neill's bedside.

"Jack! Jack!" The youngster cried delightedly. Without ceremony and before anyone could make a move to stop her, she clambered onto O’Neill’s bed and threw her arms around his neck. MacGyver only just managed to whip away the tray with the debris of O'Neill's meal on it in time to prevent everything from being sent flying.

"Hi, sweetheart," O'Neill winced visibly under the enthusiastic onslaught, even as Daniel dove to rescue the seated MacGyver, who was trying to find somewhere to dispose of his cousin's tray without struggling out of his chair.

"Gently, child, gently," Seeba chided. "Jack's healing, but he's still a little fragile. Be careful or you'll hurt him."

"It's okay. I'm alright," O’Neill insisted gently as the child suddenly pulled back from him with a look of wide-eyed concern, clearly upset at the thought that she might have inadvertently hurt him.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she told him contritely.

"I'm alright, honey. Really," O'Neill assured the youngster with a smile. He ruffled her hair with his good hand and she relaxed, smiling happily back at him.

"Looks like you've been adopted, Jack," MacGyver observed, a smile on his face as he watched the youngster settle herself contentedly. He had become quite fond of the little girl since Seeba had brought her 'home'. She had proved herself to be a persistently determined visitor, tip-toeing on numerous occasions into the room to ask about O'Neill, her concern for the man transparently clear for anyone to see.

"The O’Neill charm...what can I say?" O'Neill shrugged, tactfully tugging at the bed-covers to ensure his modesty stayed intact.

"Jack, you have to see this place." Daniel was exuding enthusiasm and excitement as, having disposed of the tray he'd relieved MacGyver of, he hovered at the foot of O'Neill's bed. "It's amazing. It’s primarily an agrarian culture, but they also have a technology way, way more advanced than anything you'd expect to find on a world like this."

"Daniel- " O'Neill attempted to forestall the archaeologist. All the signs could have been in ten foot high, flashing neon and they couldn’t have been more obvious. Daniel was in his element on this alien world and full of scientific enthusiasm for anything and everything concerning it.

"Actually, from what I've seen so far," Jackson was working up a good head of steam, "I think a lot of it could well be Asgard in origin. Or maybe even 'The Ancients'. There are books in the library written in several different languages and some of them seem to be very similar to those we found on Heliopolis. You should see the library they have here, Jack, it's- "

"Yeah, yeah, Daniel...whatever," O’Neill endeavoured, again, to head off the imminent flood of information he just knew the archaeologist was about to deluge him with, whether he wanted it or not. The man was most definitely in 'enthused scientist' mode and O'Neill didn't quite feel up to even attempting to keep up right at that moment.

"Daniel," MacGyver jumped in at that point, manoeuvring himself to his feet and reaching for his stick as he did so. "Why don't ya' come give me an update an' I'll give Jack the edited highlights when he's feelin' a little more up to it? Okay?"

"Well...I..." Daniel floundered for a moment, then caught the expression in the Phoenix operative’s dark eyes. "Ah...right..." He said and began to follow MacGyver as the older man headed towards the fire dais and the seating which bordered it.

"You know, I hate to sound like a broken record, but I don't suppose you could scare me up some clothes?" O'Neill looked at Seeba. "Again. There's nothin' Daniel likes more than a captive audience when he's on a roll an' Mac can't keep runnin' interference for me."

Seeba smiled with some obvious amusement and observed. "Your young friend seems quite fascinated with this world."

"He's a scientist. He can't help himself," O'Neill responded with a slight shrug before changing tack. "Mac tells me the people of this world are the K'Rin'sha and that you are K'Rin'sha."

Seeba nodded. "This is so."

"He also told me you laid out a whole bunch of those Ha'gell all by yourself with some sort of energy pulse," O'Neill went on. "You care to explain how you did that?"

"No," Seeba answered succinctly.

"I was hoping for a slightly more positive answer," O'Neill pointed out.

"I know," Seeba smiled. She inclined her head slightly, then moved and settled on the edge of O'Neill's bed without so much as a by-your-leave. She seemed to study him with her sightless eyes for a moment, then spoke again. "You would not give a live explosive weapon to one such as she, would you?" She gestured at Melia, still sitting contentedly at O'Neill's side.

"What? Of course not," O'Neill responded instantly, indignation flaring in his eyes at the suggestion. Then the penny dropped. "You’re saying it would be too dangerous to tell me how you took out those Ha’gell..."

"I am saying that to give the knowledge to the Tau'ri would be too dangerous. You and the other already possess it as do the handful of other Guardians who, like yourselves, still walk your world," Seeba answered, "and protect it."

"Ah, you're losing me here. Are you trying to tell me Mac an' I are aliens on our own planet?" O'Neill looked both bewildered and sceptical. "Hey, I know Mac tends to work way, waaay out on left field sometimes but- "

"No. You are both very much Tau'ri as my people once were," Seeba seemed a little amused. "Genetically, our two peoples are still very close despite the passage of time. Probably because we visit your world and...walk among you from time to time."

"How? I think we'd notice if anyone was waltzing back and forth through our Stargate. And you can't be using the other one. It's only just recently been dug up out of the ice in Antarctica and it's all safe and securely tucked away under armed guard."

"We used the Stargates on your world at one time," Seeba confessed, "but more recently we have visited the Tau'ri by other means."

"Hitched a lift on a passing Asgard ship maybe?" O'Neill ventured.

"Daniel keeps speaking of these Asgard, but I do not know if the 'Wise Ones' who enable my people to travel between our two worlds are they or not."

"Short guys, about so high." O'Neill demonstrated with his partially 'plastered' right hand. "Grey all over, apparently. Speak in riddles a lot an' the Goa'uld are scared of them."

Seeba tilted her head slightly and smiled with some amusement as Melia giggled in response to O'Neill's attempt to describe the Asgard.

"The point, my friend, is that there are some things which many of the Tau'ri are not yet ready for. Would you not agree?" Seeba said. "Your friend, the Jaffa, Teal'c for example. How many of your people know of his presence on your world? And of those who know of him, how many do you have to protect him from? How many would do him harm? Either from fear of what he is or out of curiosity about what he is?"

O’Neill blew out a deep breath as he regarded the blind woman and considered her words, recalling the intentions certain factions had had regarding Teal'c when the Jaffa had first arrived on Earth from Chulak with SG-1. He knew some of those factions still entertained thoughts of 'studying' his alien friend and colleague. He knew the woman was making a lot of sense, but he was still curious. If the K’Rin’sha had the means of knocking out Goa’ulds...Ha’gell or otherwise...

"So...You’re not gonna’ tell me, are you?" He observed at last.

"I see little point in telling you something which you already know, my friend," the woman responded cryptically. Then, smiling, she unerringly extended a hand to gently rest it on O'Neill's left arm as she told him. "Now I think you should rest, Jack. You still have much healing to do." Removing her hand she rose to her feet. "Come, Melia, it is past your bed-time. Say goodnight to Jack now."

"Do I have to?" The child asked reluctantly.

"Yes, child," Seeba's tone was firm but kindly.

"Aw..." Melia wasn’t happy.

"Go on, sweetheart. I'll see ya' around tomorrow," O'Neill told the girl as she made no attempt to move away from his side.

"Promise?" Melia asked, discernibly perking up.

"Yeah...Promise," O’Neill nodded and promptly found himself on the receiving end of a hug again.

"Goodnight, Jack," Melia said happily.

"'Night, sweetheart," O'Neill responded as the youngster let go of him and clambered down off the bed. She then took hold of the hand Seeba held out to her.

"Rest now, Jack, and I will speak with you again tomorrow," Seeba told him.

"With some clothes?" O'Neill reminded hopefully.

"If your Healer thinks you are strong enough," Seeba smiled the evasive response, before turning and moving away, little Melia holding firmly onto her hand. As she went, Melia looked back and waved. O'Neill gave her a little waggle-fingered wave back, left-handed, blew out a breath and then, sliding down the bed slightly, rested his head back against the padded headrest and closed his eyes for a few moments, feeling a wave of tiredness suddenly wash over him.

Thus he failed to see Seeba pause near the fire dais to gesture to MacGyver, who excused himself to Daniel, rose and limped the few paces over to her. The two spoke briefly and quietly, MacGyver glancing briefly in O'Neill's direction as he listened to Seeba, before nodding and saying something to her in response to what she had said to him. Then Seeba wished both he and Daniel a 'goodnight' before she moved off, Melia at her side happily waving 'goodnight' at both Mac and the still seated Jackson, who both smiled and waggled fingers back at her. By the time O'Neill did look in the direction of his companions, MacGyver had resumed his seat beside the archaeologist and seemed to be engrossed in whatever 'lecture' Jackson was bestowing upon him.

*************************

Daniel blinked into the gloom, wondering what had awakened him. Shifting slightly, he looked around and saw a tall figure standing by the window between his and O'Neill's beds. The figure was leaning a hand against the side frame of the window, keeping the heavy drape open and allowing the light of the planet's three moons to flood in.

"MacGyver?" Daniel questioned, sitting up and rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Go back to sleep, Daniel," came the quiet response.

"What are you doing? It's the middle of the night," Daniel yawned.

"Couldn't sleep," came the subdued response. "Guess maybe my internal clock hasn't quite adjusted to the 30-hour time cycle here yet." MacGyver continued to stare out at the unfamiliar night sky and the slightly eerie, snow-covered mountain landscape that gleamed brightly in the moonlight, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. "An' for me, three moons takes a little getting used to," he commented. Then he was silent for a moment before he said reflectively. "Ya’ know, when Jack an’ I were kids an’ he used to come visit with us for a while durin’ the summer vacation, Harry’d sometimes take us campin’ up in the mountains..."

"Harry?" Daniel questioned, curious. O'Neill had never spoken of his upbringing. Daniel knew the Colonel was from Chicago and that was it. Zip, nada, nothing about the man’s family other than a little about his dead son and even less about his ex-wife...and most of that had been gleaned one evening when Jackson had been staying at O’Neill’s house shortly after first returning from Abydos and the Colonel had had one or two beers too many.

MacGyver had proved to be an equally closed book on that particular subject since his arrival at the SGC; politely elusive and protective of both his own and his cousin's privacy. Daniel had quickly realised that even subtle questioning would prise nothing out of MacGyver concerning O'Neill - except for what little was already public knowledge around the base - and had refrained from any further enquiry. He knew that when O'Neill was ready to talk he would and it would be then and only then, that MacGyver's reticence on the subject would disappear.

"My grandpa," MacGyver answered a little absently as if lost in old memories, "on Mom’s side... Jack an’ I’d lie there in our sleepin’ bags just lookin’ up at the stars an’ wonder what was ‘out there’. Harry always used to say we'd find out someday."

"Guess he was right, huh?" Daniel offered with a smile.

"Yeah...I guess." Was the slightly distant response. "Never figured he meant this though..."

Daniel tilted his head slightly and frowned, sensing that the older man was in an odd mood. "You sure you're alright, Mac?" He asked cautiously after a moment.

"Yeah..." came the sighed response. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep, Daniel."

Daniel was unconvinced, but lay down and endeavoured to get himself comfortable again. Must be the implications of Gate-travel catching up on him, he thought. Does kind of take some getting used to I guess and Mac did kind of get thrown in at the deep end. He's been through a lot the past few days too, what with Jack and everything...

He watched the Phoenix operative for a little while before his eyelids started to droop. He was on the verge of dropping off to sleep when the sudden blood-curdling cry snapped him abruptly to full, startled, panicked wakefulness. Rapidly tracking down the source of the disturbance, he looked over to see O'Neill struggling violently in a tangle of bedcovers while MacGyver tried to both restrain and waken him. Shooting out of bed Jackson went to try to help.

"Jack! Wake up! It's only me, Mac! C'mon, Jack! Snap out of it!" MacGyver was urging. "Daniel! Look out!" He warned an instant too late. O'Neill's left fist made flailing contact with the young archaeologist's jaw. Daniel went flying and landed on his butt on the floor beside his own bed. "JACK!" MacGyver bellowed forcefully. "WAKE UP!"

O’Neill stilled suddenly. His wildly staring dark eyes began to blink as he sat looking around at his surroundings with no sign of recognition, while MacGyver reached up and made a motion with his right hand that increased the low illumination of the light-stick that was above his cousin's bed.

"Mac ?" O'Neill sounded confused, bewildered.

"Yeah, Jack. It's just me. You're okay now. It was just a nightmare," MacGyver answered with soothing calm, or at least as much soothing calm as he could manage while sucking in lungfuls of air to steady himself. O'Neill had put up one hell of a fight.

"Oh, God..." O’Neill’s hands came up and he buried his face in them as he drew his knees up to his chest.

"Yeah...I know," MacGyver said, blowing out a breath. He kept a hand on O'Neill's trembling shoulder as he looked around for Daniel. The archaeologist was still on the deck, but was showing signs of life. "Daniel? Daniel, you okay down there?"

"Wh-what happened?" The younger man began dazedly, rubbing gingerly at his jaw as he pushed himself up onto an elbow. He blinked bewilderedly at the robed figure perching awkwardly on the edge of O'Neill's bed.

"I'd say it was a left hook," MacGyver answered. "You okay?"

"Er...I think so...I’ll let you know after they finish wiring my jaw back together..."

"Jack. Stay put. I'll be right back," MacGyver told his cousin. "Okay?" There was no response. "Jack!" MacGyver spoke sharply.

"H’mm okay..." The response was mumbled and O’Neill’s face remained buried in his hands.

"I'll be right back. Okay? Just need to check on Daniel a moment. Be right back," MacGyver assured and gave O’Neill’s shoulder a confirmatory squeeze before he rose awkwardly to his feet and went to help the still-dazed archaeologist up off the floor. "Sit," MacGyver told the younger man. Jackson sat on his own bed. "Let me take a look," Mac went on, activating the light-stick above the bed before he proceeded to check the state of the other's jaw.

"Oouww..." Jackson winced, automatically bringing a hand up to push Mac's gently probing fingers away. "That hurts."

"Be sore for a while, but you were lucky. Don't think it's broken," MacGyver told him, his manner sympathetic. He knew the damage O'Neill could do with a left hook; unintentional or otherwise. He glanced over his shoulder as he heard movement. O'Neill had shifted and was huddled on the far edge of his bed, his back to his companions, his head bowed and his face still buried in his hands. MacGyver looked back to Daniel. "Think maybe ya' could rustle us all up a hot drink? You up to that?"

"Yeah...I think so," Daniel nodded, rubbing a little gingerly at his aching jaw.

"Appreciate it," MacGyver responded and made his way around to where O'Neill sat, his movements made a little awkward by the flaking alien 'cast' on his right knee.

As Daniel rose to his feet, he saw MacGyver rescue one of O'Neill's tangled blankets and drape it around the other man's shoulders before sitting quietly down beside him.

Daniel watched the two silent cousins for a moment before he went to see about the hot drinks MacGyver had requested. He suddenly had an uneasy feeling it was going to be a long night.

*************************

"Here, Jack, drink this," MacGyver spoke with quiet calm as he lifted one of the gently steaming cups from the tray Daniel was holding.

Daniel frowned at O'Neill's lack of reaction. The Air Force Colonel seemed to have withdrawn somewhere deep inside himself, shut out everyone and everything around him. MacGyver, he noted, didn't seem particularly fazed by the situation, seemed patiently accepting of it. He watched the Phoenix man place the cup into O'Neill's left hand and then gently nudge that hand in the right direction, while urging with calm but firm patience.

"Drink it, Jack."

O'Neill drank, but it was like watching an automaton.

"That's it," MacGyver's tone was encouraging as he watched his cousin. Then he reached for one of the other cups and glanced up at Daniel as he did so. "Thanks, Daniel."

Daniel nodded, took the remaining cup from the tray himself, turned and deposited the empty tray on MacGyver's unslept in bed where it would be out of the way. He then reached for the high-backed chair that MacGyver had spent so many long hours sitting in and keeping watch over O'Neill during the time the latter had spent unconscious. Pulling the chair around a little, Daniel sat on the edge of it and regarded the two cousins worriedly.

Presently Daniel became aware of MacGyver's dark-eyed gaze on him.

"Is...he alright?" Daniel asked, inclining his head slightly in O'Neill's direction, his voice mirroring the concern that was written all over his young face. He had seen a number of aspects of Jack O’Neill since he had first met him. He had seen the hard-nosed military commander side of the man; he had seen volcanic fury; he had even seen him engulfed in black and suicidal depression. In contrast he had also witnessed and often been the target of his wickedly sharp and scathingly dry sense of humour. He had also seen the gentler, protective side of his nature and glimpsed the deep compassion he was capable of, but he had never seen O'Neill just plain 'not there' before. And Daniel was finding it more than just a little scary.

"Ah...No, not really. Not yet, but...he will be," MacGyver answered, nursing his by then empty cup, turning it slowly in restless fingers. He looked to his cousin. "Been down this road before, haven't we, Jack?" He murmured before wiping a hand over his face and sighing. Then he regarded the quizzically and worriedly frowning Jackson again and told him. "Listen, things should be quiet for a little while now. Why don't ya' go grab some shut-eye? There's nothing else ya' can do right now an' there's no point in us both losing sleep here."

So saying, MacGyver held out his empty cup.

Daniel stared at him for a moment, but got the message. He nodded, took the cup, rose to his feet and turned to place both his and Mac's cups on the tray he'd earlier left on Mac's bed. Picking up the tray, he turned back and watched worriedly as the Special Forces Reservist tried to prise the remaining cup from O'Neill's grasp. O'Neill didn't seem to want to let go of it.

"It's alright, Jack, you can give me the cup. It's me Mac. Okay?" MacGyver spoke with gentle patience.

Jackson saw O'Neill blink vaguely at MacGyver. He also saw the very pale glow of greenish-blue that pulsed slowly from the alien crystal still embedded in the Phoenix man's left palm.

"The cup, Jack," MacGyver encouraged gently. "Please...?"

O'Neill relinquished the cup. Daniel saw him frown a little confusedly at MacGyver as if not quite recognising him.

"It's alright, Jack," MacGyver smiled a patient smile, passing the cup to Jackson, but his attention remaining focused firmly on O'Neill. "Think maybe you're ready to try getting some sleep now? Huh?"

Daniel saw O'Neill nod vaguely, detachedly, as if he were still lost somewhere in that distant inner place into which he had earlier withdrawn.

"Okay," said MacGyver, rising to his feet. "Let's get ya' settled then."

Daniel retreated out of the way and stood watching in worried silence as MacGyver persuaded his cousin back into bed, pulled the blankets up around him and then perched a little awkwardly on the bed edge, the crystal in his palm still emitting the soft, rather soothing greenish-blue glow. Quietly, Daniel turned away and went to set the tray down on the dais ledge around the room's low-burning fire. He looked sharply round as he heard O'Neill's voice question with puzzled clarity.

"Mac?"

"Right here, Jack."

"What happened?" O'Neill sounded confused, but quite lucid.

"You had a nightmare, is all." MacGyver was calm, matter-of-fact.

"Oh." Then. "Sorry."

"'S'okay. Don't worry about it. Just go back to sleep - huh?"

Daniel remained where he was and watched as MacGyver rose to his feet and just stood silently at O'Neill's bedside for several moments. Then he realised MacGyver was looking round at him and that the glow from the crystal in his palm had subsided.

"You too, Daniel. Get some sleep," the Phoenix operative said.

"What about you?" Daniel wanted to know.

"Oh...Think I’ll just watch the moons for a while," MacGyver responded, moving to the section of window between his own and O’Neill’s beds.

*************************

Daniel stared at the ceiling. He'd returned to his bed a short while earlier as MacGyver had suggested, but was finding it impossible to sleep. His mind was just too active and he was just too worried about O'Neill. He knew the Air Force Colonel had nightmares sometimes. There had been more than one occasion when SG-1 had been camped out and he'd been aware of O'Neill's sleep being restless and of the man waking abruptly, then taking over an unscheduled watch from whoever was on guard at the time.

Like the rest of the team, Daniel had wondered at those occasional incidents, but O'Neill had never offered any explanations and the man's responses to any inquiry - subtle or otherwise - had actively discouraged pursuit of the subject. Daniel knew that O'Neill blamed himself for the death of his son and suspected that it was that which sometimes haunted the his dreams. Of course some of the missions they'd shared since the formation of the SGC were enough to give anyone nightmares from time to time. Daniel had had his own fair share of those. Still did.

Jackson listened as he heard O'Neill start shifting restlessly and start muttering something incoherent. He also heard MacGyver's quiet voice, its tone soothing, patient.

"Easy there, Jack. Easy. I'm right here. Everything's fine, Jack. Easy, big guy."

O'Neill's restlessness subsided for a while, then began again, only to diminish once more in response to MacGyver's quiet, soothing voice.

Daniel looked over to where the other beds were and saw that MacGyver had moved away from the window he'd been standing staring out of and had settled into the high-backed chair at O'Neill's bedside again. An odd feeling washed through the archaeologist, realisation stunning him.

The thought had no sooner flitted through Daniel's mind than O'Neill let out an anguished yell loud enough to waken the dead on ten planets as he shot bolt upright in his bed, fighting off something only he could see.

"Jack?" Daniel exclaimed worriedly, scrambling out of his own bed in a hurry even as MacGyver moved swiftly to grab O'Neill's shoulders again and attempt to wake him.

"JACK! JACK! It's me, MacGyver. C'mon, wake up!"

O'Neill showed no sign of waking from whatever nightmare had him in its grasp this time. He fought MacGyver and cursed viciously.

Daniel waded in to help.

"Jack! Jack, it's only us. C'mon now... It's just a bad dream."

The door of the chamber opened and two robed figures hurried in, openly alarmed by the racket that was going on.

"Daniel, get them outta' here!" MacGyver snapped as he struggled with his belligerent cousin. Jackson hesitated. "DO IT!" MacGyver fairly bellowed, startling Jackson into action.

The robed Healers wanted to get to O'Neill, but Daniel firmly ushered them out, despite their protests, insisting that if they were needed they would be summoned and closed the door on them. Leaning on the door, Daniel sighed deeply, wondering if he'd just done the right thing or not. He looked round sharply as O'Neill's eloquent stream of obscenely vicious curses suddenly subsided. As he moved away from the door, Daniel heard another sound: that of someone retching.

Daniel had no idea where MacGyver had produced the bowl from, but produce one from somewhere the Phoenix trouble-shooter had and it was into this he discovered O'Neill was being violently ill. The archaeologist halted a short distance from the foot of O'Neill's bed, uncertain as to what to do for the best in the situation. He saw MacGyver look up at him.

"Damp cloth and a glass of water please, Daniel," he requested.

Daniel nodded and hurried to fulfil the request.

When he returned he found O'Neill sitting with his eyes closed and breathing deeply, a blanket once more wrapped warmly about him. MacGyver was perched - a little awkwardly because of his knee - on the edge of his cousin's bed again, talking quietly to him.

"Ah, thanks," MacGyver said as he took the damp cloth the archaeologist had fetched, put it to the back of O'Neill's neck and held it there for several moments.

O'Neill's lack of reaction surprised Daniel as he hovered with the glass of water, just watching silently as MacGyver then took the cloth and wiped down his cousin's face with it. He knew just how fiercely independent O'Neill was and his tolerance of MacGyver's actions threw him. O'Neill had a tendency to make life hell for anyone attempting such liberties, as most of the medical staff at the SGC could attest to.

"Okay, Jack, you'll do," MacGyver remarked after a moment or two as he handed the cloth back to Daniel and took the glass of water from the younger man. "Coupla' sips of water now, okay?"

Daniel witnessed O'Neill sigh deeply and nod slowly, his eyes opening. In the combination of the bright moonlight streaming in from outside, the flickering light provided by the room's fire and the glow from the light-stick above the bed, Daniel could see the distant, haunted look in O’Neill’s dark eyes as he took the glass MacGyver offered him. Daniel hardly dared to breathe. Something told him O'Neill was oblivious to his presence and that same 'something' told him it would probably be best if it remained like that; that as long as O'Neill was only aware of MacGyver's presence, however vaguely, things would somehow be okay.

"Helluva' field trip, huh?" He heard O'Neill murmur quietly as he sipped at the water.

"We've had worse, Jack." MacGyver's response was equally quiet, but quite calm and relaxed.

"Maybe we should try somewhere quiet an’ relaxing next time. Bosnia maybe..."

"Good idea. Sam says it's real dull an' boring out there just now."

Jackson saw the flicker of a smile that crossed O'Neill's face at that and watched his eyes close again as he handed the glass back to his cousin.

"Insanity clearly runs in the family. Your side of course." Daniel heard O'Neill mutter.

"Oh, I don't know. Reckon it's spread pretty evenly if ya' ask me."

Daniel saw the ghost of a smile cross O'Neill's face again.

"Listen. I'm just gonna' go take care of a few things here, okay? Then I'll be right back," MacGyver said, rising a little awkwardly to his feet and setting the glass down on the shelf beside his cousin's bed.

O'Neill merely nodded - distantly.

Daniel backed up out of MacGyver's way as the older man retrieved the bowl he'd put on the floor, discreetly out of the way, and moved away from O'Neill's bedside.

"Keep an eye on him willya', Daniel?" Mac requested quietly. "But just let him be. Think he kinda' needs some space right now."

"It’s...ah...This is a delayed reaction to what happened on P4X-994, isn’t it?" Daniel asked quietly. "Some sort of post traumatic stress sorta' thing? Right?"

For a moment MacGyver didn't answer, then he glanced back at his cousin, regarded Daniel levelly and said. "Unless you're a masochist, Daniel, torture is not a fun experience, believe me. Jack may have some odd quirks sometimes, but a pain fetish sure ain't one of them."

Daniel nodded, watching MacGyver as the man went to dispose of the unpleasant contents of the bowl he was carrying, then he frowned pensively as he looked back towards O'Neill. The Air Force Colonel was still sitting quietly, his eyes still closed and the whole aura around him that of a man shutting himself off from the world around him again.

Sighing quietly, Daniel decided he might as well get himself properly dressed. He'd been sleeping in his shorts and T-shirt and was beginning to feel a little chilled by the night air. No matter how the rest of the night went, he really didn't think he was going to be able to get back to sleep again.

As he pulled on the light charcoal-grey, loose-fitting tunic and pants he had been provided with as clean alternatives to his grimy Air Force issue battle dress, he kept a wary eye on O'Neill as Mac had requested. He froze as he heard the older man mutter a deeply sighed and rather anguished, "Aah, God..." and then rub at his face with both hands before sinking slowly back onto his bed with his left forearm over his eyes.

"Jack? You okay?" Daniel called over, anxiously. He didn't know whether O'Neill either didn't hear the inquiry or whether he had heard it but was choosing to ignore it, but O'Neill just silently rolled over onto his right side, putting his back towards his younger team-mate and curled up.

A little nonplussed, Daniel hovered uncertainly where he was, not knowing quite what to do. After all, MacGyver had said just to let O’Neill be, just to give him space, but O’Neill was his friend; possibly the best friend he’d ever had. He wanted to do something to help him. The barest sound of slightly uneven footsteps made him look round and a sense of relief washed over him as he saw it was just MacGyver returning. As he intercepted him, Daniel absently noted that the trouble-shooter was bringing the newly washed out bowl back with him.

"MacGyver, Jack's my friend. I want to help him..." Daniel floundered a little, hands gesturing helplessly. "But I’m not sure how... "

"I know, Daniel," MacGyver responded. He brought his free hand up to rest it on the archaeologist's shoulder. "There's not actually a lot you can do right now, except be patient and give him the space he needs. Okay?"

Daniel nodded hesitantly, but he really didn't feel any less helpless as MacGyver made to move past him. "Mac...You said something earlier about you and Jack having been down this road before... What did you mean exactly?"

MacGyver halted and blew out a pensive breath in response to that question as he turned and regarded the younger man. He didn’t want to lie, but on the other hand there were things that it was not his place to disclose if O’Neill had not voluntarily done so already and knowing his cousin as he did...well, O’Neill had probably said nothing at all on what was, for both of them, still a pretty painful subject even after the amount of time that had elapsed since... MacGyver found himself wincing at some of the unpleasant memories that leapt vividly to the forefront of his mind. He gave himself a mental shake.

"It's a long and pretty unpleasant story, Daniel," he finally said. "And probably still has 'classified' stamped all over it." Mac knew it was an evasive answer, but it was also basically the truth.

"Mac..." The exasperation in Daniel’s voice matched the expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, but you're just gonna' have to go with me on this, an' trust me."

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies?" Daniel ventured shrewdly. He saw the slightly whimsical little ghost of a smile that appeared on the trouble-shooter's face at that remark and the way he inclined his head slightly.

"Yeah...Something like that."

Jackson sighed with deep exasperation, then questioned. "Are all you Special Forces types just naturally evasive or do they run a course for it?" He saw MacGyver smile again and heard his soft laugh before the latter ducked the question by looking him up and down and saying.

"Since ya' don't look like you're planning on hitting the sack again any time soon, ya' might want to see if ya' can crank that fire up a bit." MacGyver inclined his head slightly in the direction of the room's flickering fire. "Place could use some heat. I'm getting too old for these sub-zero all-nighters."

Jackson's jaw dropped and he just stood gawping as MacGyver resumed his original course in O'Neill's direction. The archaeologist shook his head slightly as he watched Mac slide the clean bowl under his cousin's bed and then stand regarding him for several moments. Daniel sighed and went to adjust the control setting of the room's fire. Then he sat himself down on one of the padded benches that curved around the fire's dais with his back to it, not knowing quite what else to do with himself since sleep was most definitely out of the question right then. He heard MacGyver's voice inquire composedly.

"Jack? You still awake?"

"No." The reply was curt, dismissive. It positively screamed: Go away. Leave me alone.

"Good. Shove over. Need to rest my knee."

To Daniel's ill-disguised astonishment, he saw O'Neill shift slightly, allowing MacGyver room to settle himself reasonably comfortably at the top end of the bed at his back and rest his still-healing leg on the bed.

"Ahh...That's better." MacGyver appeared to rub at his still-immobilised knee for a moment, before he leaned back against the thickly padded bed-head, tilted his head back to rest it against the wall above and then just sat there, silently. The crystal in his left palm glowed again, softly, for a few moments, then appeared to extinguish itself.

Jackson wasn't sure how much time crept slowly past, but it was quite a while, before he heard O’Neill's voice speak quietly.

"Mac?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd ya' persuade Hammond?"

"Oh... Ya’ know... Took a leaf outta’ your book.. Exercised a little charm... tact... diplomacy... That sorta’ thing."

"Mean ya' went ballistic on him," came the slightly amused-sounding snort.

"Hey, Jack, ya' know me...I just go with whatever works." MacGyver almost sounded faintly amused himself.

"Ooh yeeaah..." O'Neill's tone suggested much experience in that particular regard.

Daniel found himself smiling at the interchange between the two cousins and at the realisation of just how well each clearly knew the other.

Silence descended again, but for a shorter period this time. Again it was O'Neill who broke the silence. "Figured I'd had it this time."

"No-one gets left behind, Jack."

"I was."

The anger and bitterness O'Neill injected into those two simple words grabbed Daniel's attention big time and brought the archaeologist abruptly to his feet. Before he could utter an indignantly defensive protest, he saw MacGyver's hand come sharply up in a gesture warning him to hold his tongue. He also saw the warning shake of the man's head.

"I know."

"Four months it cost me! Four months of sheer hell in that stinking bloody rat-hole!" Cold, venomous fury dripped from every word and sent chills down Jackson's spine as he listened. "I saw them pull out. They just left me. Nobody even checked whether I was still alive or not. Just high-tailed and bloody left me there!"

Stunned and more than a little horrified by what he was hearing, Daniel was rooted to the spot, his mouth open.

"They thought you were dead."

The calmness of MacGyver's response in the face of O'Neill's fury did nothing to lessen Jackson's growing sense of numbed horror. O'Neill sat up sharply and swung his legs over the side of the bed, his back to his cousin.

"Well I wasn't bloody dead, was I? I was full of bloody shrapnel! An' the 'other side', being the wonderful, caring people that we all know them to be, weren't about to be bothered with a minor little thing like anaesthetics when they dragged me into that stinking shit-house of a prison an' pulled it out of me one slow piece at a time!" The Air Force man positively radiated cold fury with every venom-laced word he spat.

Daniel, his knees suddenly seeming to turn to jelly, sank back down onto the padded bench, not daring to utter a sound as he heard O'Neill's next vicious utterance.

"An' that was just their warm-up technique!"

Jackson felt sick.

"Cromwell wanted to go back in after ya' when he found out, ya' know. From what I heard at the time and since he raised all kindsa' hell trying to get clearance."

"Didn't do me any bloody good, did it?" Acid positively dripped from every word O'Neill uttered. Daniel saw him wipe a hand over his face, then sit with his head bowed, his arms resting on his thighs. "Damn' Brass just wrote me off. Left me to rot in that stinking hellhole."

"I know."

Jackson heard MacGyver's deeply sighed response; heard the depth of feeling in it; heard the anger it contained.

"You were the only one who didn't, Mac."

"I wasn't bound by orders and red tape."

Daniel rose to his feet and quietly made his way to the door. He had heard enough. More than enough. Too much. He needed to get out of there, take a walk, get his head straight. As he reached the door and opened it, he heard the ill-concealed pain and profound regret in MacGyver's voice.

"I just wish I'd've known sooner, Jack. Ya' wouldn't've had to go through what ya' did."

"Not your fault. At least you came."

Daniel Jackson gently closed the door behind him.

*************************

The two Healers whom Daniel had earlier ejected from the quarters he was sharing with MacGyver and O'Neill, rose from the bench-like seating in the anti-chamber. He wasn't entirely surprised to find them still there. There was always at least one 'on duty' day and night in case their services were required, despite MacGyver having voluntarily taken on the bulk of the responsibility of caring for and watching over O'Neill a couple of days previously.

Daniel wasn't really in the mood for any hassles and the Healers must have sensed it for they quietly accepted his assurances that all was well on the other side of the door and that he was merely stepping out for a breath of air. As he made his way out into the main corridor he was aware of the duo settling themselves back on the bench, clearly intent on maintaining their unsolicited vigil.

The Egyptologist had no clear notion of where he wanted to go. He just roamed aimlessly with no sense of time or of direction. Presently he found himself in one of the three large halls that comprised the impressive alien library he had discovered shortly after MacGyver had 'suggested' he start checking out their temporary abode, its surroundings and their hosts. It hadn't exactly been an order, but it had been as close to one as made little difference. Truth be told, Daniel hadn't needed much urging and he suspected his restlessness had been getting on MacGyver's nerves. At least on the upside, MacGyver had shown genuine interest in hearing the more scientific side of Daniel's ensuing reports.

Daniel wandered through the library halls, the rooms being illuminated by the moonlight that streamed in through several tall windows and which cast long, slightly eerie shadows across the numerous solid tables and desks that were scattered throughout among the shelves, upon shelves of alien books. Unable to help himself, Daniel ran a hand over the spines of a shelf load of particularly thick books, his mind seeking comfort in the thought of all the knowledge that had to be contained upon the pages of those books and the myriad others the library contained.

He drew a book down, went to set it upon a nearby table and opened it. The moonlight was strong enough for him to be able to scan the book's contents without too much difficulty. He recognised the language hand-written on the pages as being akin to one of the alien languages that had been found on the walls on Heliopolis. Sitting down, he attempted to focus his mind on the alien words, to try to attempt the beginnings of a translation, however basic. His mind, however, refused to oblige. It kept straying back to the interchange between O'Neill and MacGyver and to the horror he had felt as he had listened.

It was with some disgust that Daniel eventually gave up and closed the book. Returning it to its place upon the shelves, he began to wander aimlessly round the halls again until a faint sound caught his attention. At first he wasn't sure he had heard anything. Then he heard it again, but couldn't quite identify it.

A flicker of light through a partially open doorway caught his attention. Drawn toward the light almost like a moth to a flame, Daniel approached the door. As he drew closer, he realised that a fire was flickering in the room beyond. Cautiously he pushed the door a little further open and was greeted by the sight of a small, cosy, wood-panelled room that contained a large, ornate, almost gothic fireplace within which a proper wood-burning fire roared. He heard again the sound that he had previously been unable to place; the crackle and spit of wood splitting and burning. To either side of the fireplace were two massive, well-stuffed, bat-winged chairs.

"Come in, Daniel."

Daniel jumped at the sound of Seeba's quiet invitation. "I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to disturb you.. " he apologised.

"It is you, young one, who is disturbed, is it not?" As Daniel blinked, a little taken aback by that unerringly accurate observation, Seeba invited. "Come and sit with me a while."

"I...ah..." Daniel floundered for a moment.

"Sit with me," It was part request, part instruction.

Daniel blew out a breath and advanced, looking around the fire-illuminated room as he did so. He noted the heavy drapes indicating the presence of a window beyond at one side of the room and the wall of filled bookshelves on the other.

"There is charl..." Seeba said. Daniel saw her hand emerge from the shadows of the chair in which she was ensconced and indicate towards a large jug that sat on a stand by the fire where it would readily be kept warm. A large hand-thrown pottery mug rested on an adjacent stand with a thick, folded cloth sitting beside it.

"You were expecting company?" Daniel questioned with some degree of surprise as he took up the woman's invitation and used the cloth to pick up the heavy jug and pour himself some of the steaming, dark liquid it contained.

"I am a Seer," was the cryptic answer. Seeba said nothing further as Daniel set the jug back on its stand, returned the cloth to its place and straightened up to stare into the flames of the vigorously burning fire. Absently Daniel sipped at his drink. ‘Charl’ was a thick, sweet, chocolate-like drink he had already been introduced to since arriving on 'Sanctuary' and he found it quite pleasant in limited quantities. He didn't quite share MacGyver's enthusiasm for the brew. The Phoenix operative had been drinking it in copious quantities since first wakening and using the K'Rin'sha crystal that had embedded itself in his hand.

"What do you see, young one?" Seeba's voice presently intruded on Daniel's awareness. The woman's tone was quiet and kindly.

"I see..." Daniel began, continuing to stare into the flames. "I see...To tell you the truth, I don’t know what I see," he sighed. His mind had been wandering in an aimless haze.

"The shared pain of your companions perhaps?"

"Perhaps..." Daniel confessed. He turned and regarded Seeba in the firelight. She was curled up comfortably in her chair and had about her an aura of calm patience that reminded him of...of the way MacGyver had handled O’Neill. "You knew, didn't you?" He accused suddenly. "That's what you were talking to Mac about just before you left with Melia. That’s why he stayed up, why he was waiting like that..."

"He did not need me to warn him it would happen, but he did need to be warned that he would feel the intensity more greatly than before because of the amplification of their bond which the K'Rin'sha crystal causes."

"Oh God...Are you saying Mac somehow ‘shared’ Jack’s nightmares?" Daniel looked horrified.

"They are linked Prime Guardians, Daniel," Seeba said calmly, patiently. "They share much. It is inevitable."

Daniel turned away and stared into the fire again.

Seeba allowed him the time he needed before she spoke further.

"You did not know, did you?"

"Did not know what?" Daniel asked.

"You did not know," Seeba asserted, changing her question to a statement of fact. Then she said pensively. "No. He would not have spoken of such things to you. You are his friend. He would see silence as protecting you. And to one such as he, such things are not easily spoken of, even to a friend."

Daniel did not speak, he just continued to stare into the fire.

"What do you see, young one?" Seeba repeated her earlier question after some time had elapsed in silence, except for the crackling of the fire.

"Some things that start to make a lot more sense now," Daniel said slowly and pensively as several previously disconnected things began to fall into place in his mind; among them O'Neill's attitude on the prison planet Hadante and his reaction to the question about having been in prison before; O'Neill's persistent habit of being 'last man out' when evacuating 'his' people from a dangerous situation

No-one gets left behind.

It was Special Forces' unwritten cardinal rule. Breaking it was the ultimate sin.

Even MacGyver had quoted it - well a variation of it - to Hammond back at the SGC in automatic response to the mere suggestion that there might not be any attempt made to rescue O'Neill from P4X-994. It seemed to be a creed ingrained into Special Ops personnel to such an extent that it never left them; even when they ostensibly no longer had any connection whatsoever with the military.

Suddenly Daniel had a much deeper understanding of the look that he had seen in O’Neill’s eyes a few short months before when they had been on the Goa’uld mother-ship that had been part of Apophis’ failed attack on Earth and he, Daniel, had been mortally wounded, had told O’Neill to leave him behind, that he would watch the rest of SG-1’s backs...O’Neill’s reluctance...

The man had known from all too bitter personal experience what it was like to be hurt and left behind to the enemy's mercy - or lack of it - by team-mates.

No-one gets left behind. The words floated again through Daniel's mind.

"Oh God..." Daniel murmured, suddenly realising just exactly what it must have cost O’Neill to leave him behind, still alive - albeit barely - even though staying behind had been his own choice; even though they had both thought they were all as good as dead anyway.

He was aware too, of some of the various stories that floated around the SGC from time to time regarding some of O'Neill's activities with Special Forces over the years prior to the Colonel’s assignment to the Stargate project, and how the Colonel had come to earn the chestful of medal-ribbons that graced his dress uniform.

Daniel had always assumed a lot of the tales were just pure speculation, given that much of O'Neill's work had been in what the military termed 'black ops' and was therefore highly classified and was still considered classified and actual cold hard facts were therefore far and few between. Any attempt to separate fact from fiction by quizzing O’Neill, either directly or indirectly, only met with a brick wall and some few well chosen, acid comments. Daniel had seen one or two people - usually unsuspecting civilian scientists unacquainted with the niceties of military protocol or of O’Neill’s opinion of scientists in general - try it once or twice; only to regret it. Big time.

"Oh God..." Daniel repeated, moving to and sitting in the vacant chair as the sudden realisation hit him that there might be a lot more truth to some of the stories than he had ever imagined; one story in particular...

He sat staring into the fire again.

Four months... Daniel shook his head at the thought. Four months of...torture. How could anyone survive that?

"What do you see now, young one?" Seeba's voice presently intruded on Daniel's thoughts again.

"I think I'm beginning to see something of why Jack is...Jack," Daniel answered, tearing his gaze away from the almost hypnotic dancing of the flames to look across at the woman curled comfortably in the other chair. He saw the smile that crossed her face as she nodded slowly. It was a smile of knowing approval. Then she moved and held out the mug she had been nursing all the while.

"Would you pour me some more charl please, Daniel?" She asked.

"Of course," Daniel responded without hesitation. Seeba was silent as he fulfilled her request.

"Thank you," she said as he presently placed her refilled mug carefully in her waiting hand.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Daniel asked, inclining his head slightly as he regarded the woman.

"Because you have a young soul, my friend," she answered, curling herself comfortably up in her chair again, "compared to those of the others."

"Oh...I see." Daniel wasn't entirely sure that he did see, but he let it slide as he moved to top up his own drink.

"Tell me of your life-mate," Seeba invited as Daniel resettled in his own chair.

"What?" Daniel blinked, caught off guard by the request.

"You have a mate, do you not?"

"Er...Yes. Yes, I do. Her name is Sha're...." Daniel smiled with fond reminiscence as he spoke his missing wife's name.

"Tell me of her."

"Why?" Daniel frowned, a little bewildered by the total change of direction the conversation was taking.

"Why not?"

Daniel considered for a moment and sipped at his replenished drink as memories of his abducted wife began to fill his mind. He sighed softly, losing himself in those memories as he stared once more into the dancing flames of the fire.

Then, presently, he began to talk.

*************************

The need to answer a call of nature roused O’Neill from the exhausted sleep he had, at some point, finally lapsed into. Sitting up, he noticed that sunlight was streaming in through the part opened curtains and that MacGyver was stretched out on the bed to the right of his own. He frowned a little at that discovery. The last thing he could remember of his cousin's whereabouts, Mac had been sitting on his bed, at his back and they had been talking, exorcising some old memories, old pain and newer memories, newer pain, that both would have much preferred never having to have had in the first place.

O'Neill shuddered slightly. He knew that when he got back to the SGC, some of those unpleasant memories would get dredged up again. There would be the mandatory debriefing, but he knew Hammond was well acquainted with his personnel record and would probably therefore not push too hard for all the gory details and would likely allow him to gloss over certain aspects of events on P4X-994. On the other hand he would probably be ordered to see Doctor McKenzie, the base shrink, because of events on 994. That was something he was not looking forward to. McKenzie would undoubtedly drag up things O'Neill would much prefer were left buried.

Talking about personal things was not something O'Neill was good at. He knew it. It was also something he hated. The sessions with the shrinks that he had been ordered to attend after Iraq... It had been like being back in that hellhole again. Talking with Mac was one thing; talking with Mac was relatively painless somehow... He and Mac had never really needed words, they somehow just instinctively knew. And after Iraq... Mac had stayed around the military hospital in Saudi, had defied all the military’s best efforts to throw him out, had flown back to the U.S. with him on the military flight. He still didn’t know quite how MacGyver had pulled that off, then he had tactfully made himself scarce when they had touched down and Sara had been there at the airbase to meet the plane.

Mac was the one who had gotten him through the immediate aftermath of Iraq, not the shrinks. They had just made the nightmares worse.

O'Neill shuddered again as an unpleasant flashback surfaced abruptly out of nowhere and the vividness of it shook him. He fought it down, swung his legs over the side of his bed, tugged a sheet around his waist and rose to his feet as the growing pressure in his bladder reminded him of what had awakened him.

He glanced at MacGyver as his cousin shifted slightly but appeared to remain asleep. A frown crossed O'Neill's face as he noticed that the strange alien crystal embedded in his cousin's left hand glowed gently, emitting an odd, blue-ish green light that seemed to pulse slightly a couple of times, before fading.

The call of nature, however, would be denied no longer. O'Neill hurried in the direction of the doorway to the right-hand side of the fire dais to attend to it.

MacGyver cranked an eye open and watched his cousin as the Air Force officer disappeared speedily through the opening, closing the door quickly but quietly behind him.

*************************

Closing his eye again, MacGyver stretched slowly, easing the kinks out of stiffened muscles and yawned. It had been a long night. A very long night.

After O'Neill had finally fallen into an exhausted and relatively quiet sleep, MacGyver had continued to just sit with him for quite some time before eventually moving to lie down on his own bed. Even then it had been a while before he had been able to drift off himself, his mind just too alive with painful memories, old and new.

MacGyver stretched again before sitting up and manoeuvring his legs over the side of the bed. He yawned again, rubbed both hands over his face, then let his right hand sweep up through his hair, pushing the unruly tangle back out of his eyes and away from his face.

Really must remember to get a haircut when I get back, he thought to himself. A sudden image of an impossibly shaggy Old English Sheepdog suddenly flashed into his mind, catching him totally off-guard and startling him somewhat. He realised almost immediately where it had come from.

//Thanks a bunch, Jack.//

//I know a good barber.// The helpful and unrepentant response came swiftly back. It echoed inside MacGyver's head as clearly as it would have sounded in his ears had O'Neill been sitting beside him and speaking audibly.

//When I want scalping, I'll let ya' know.// MacGyver directed the thought/reply back equally swiftly. Then he changed the subject. //You okay in there?//

//Yeah, but this damn' powdery stuff itches like hell.//

A sensation of general itching washed over MacGyver. Reflexively he began to scratch at his chest through the warm tunic he was wearing.

//Take a shower, Jack. It'll wash off where you've finished healing.//

No reply was forthcoming to that. MacGyver rose to his feet and fully opened the drapes at the window between his own and his cousin's beds. He squinted at the brightness of the glare which greeted him.

Whoa! Snow!

Piled up about three foot high against the floor-almost-to-ceiling window, was a gleaming whiteness that was unmistakable.

//What?// The slightly cranky question resonated inside MacGyver's head.

//We got a whole heap of snow outside. Musta' come down during the night.// MacGyver responded, rubbing at the still persisting itchiness across his chest. //Guess that explains why the temperature dropped the way it did.//

//Knew I shoulda' packed my skis.//

MacGyver smiled with some amusement at that, then sent back. //You wanna' get outta' my head an' into the shower before ya' drive us both nuts, or what?// As his stomach rumbled softly, MacGyver added. //Meantime I'll see if I can rustle us up some breakfast.//

There was no response, verbal or otherwise, but Mac heard the unmistakable sound of running water start up.

"Okay..." he murmured, nodding slightly and starting to make his way across the room towards the door to the left of the fire dais.

************************

Keeping his 'plastered' arm carefully clear of his body and slightly elevated to keep it dry, O’Neill stood under the stream of gloriously hot water once he'd finally figured out how the alien system operated. It felt quite wonderful as the flaking, grey, powdery remains of what his cousin had so cheerfully described as some kind of 'healing compound' was washed off his chest, not to mention various other parts of his anatomy. The stuff had been starting to itch almost intolerably. His arm was itching too, but the 'cast' still had a slightly greenish tinge to it and hadn't yet started to 'flake'. He guessed he was just going to have to live with that particular discomfort a bit longer. At least he still had the limb. He knew his cousin had, for a while there, harboured serious doubts about whether it was save-able or not. He wriggled his fingers. Yep. Plenty of life there and the colour looked good.

Shifting slightly, he stuck his head under the steaming deluge of water, rubbed at his scalp with his 'good' hand for a moment, then came up for air, but remained in the shower, just enjoying the feel of the water on his skin.

Eventually however, he figured he'd better quit before he grew scales and turned into a fish: albeit a tropical one given the heat of the water. He tracked down a large, clean towel, which hung on a stand with several others and dried off. Checking himself over as he did so, he was surprised to find that where the grey residue of the 'healing compound' had been washed off, there were no visible signs of scarring left behind; not a mark, not a blemish that hadn't been there prior to his unpleasant experiences at the hands of the Ha'gell Goa'uld.

"Whoa...We gotta’ take some of this stuff home for ole’ Doc Fraiser to play with," he muttered with heartfelt approval.

His left side was not yet completely free of the compound, which still clung to his flesh like a second-skin and which, although definitely in the process of adopting a grey hue, still showed evidence of a greenish tinge. O'Neill sighed, realising he was going to have to live with that particular tingling itch a little longer too. At least it was relatively ignorable.

Hauling the towel around his waist and securing it, he returned to the main sleeping chamber to find that 'breakfast' had arrived and that his cousin was already making inroads into a platter of something that smelled considerably better than it looked.

"Was beginning to think I might need to send in a search party," MacGyver commented as he glanced over his shoulder upon hearing the door of the bathing facility open. "You okay?"

"Fine. The green stuff works."

"I know," Mac nodded. He cast a quick, observant glance over his cousin's tall frame, noting that where the K'Rin'sha's healing compound had been washed off, there was no sign of the physical injuries that the Ha'gell had inflicted on him.

"What the hell is that?" O'Neill dubiously eyed the food his cousin was attacking. It looked a bit like scrambled eggs, but the colour was off. Way off. Who the hell ever heard of blue - ?

"Eggs," MacGyver finished on his cousin's behalf. He saw O'Neill's expression and read it like a book. He shrugged, smiling slightly. "Yeah...That was my initial reaction too, but they’re actually not bad. Try some."

"Think I'll pass," O'Neill said and reached for a piece of bread that had something spread on it that looked fairly innocuous.

"Had them bring you some clothes," Mac changed the subject. He gestured towards O'Neill's bed. A couple of neatly folded bundles sat on the bottom end of it. "Combats are mine but they've been cleaned."

Munching on the wedge of bread, O'Neill went to investigate the two bundles. One was 'native-style' clothing very similar to that which his cousin was currently wearing, just different in colour. The other bundle was much more familiar; U.S. Air Force issue battle camouflage and boots. Reflexively he opted for the latter and dressed quickly, discarding his towel on the bed. Then he returned to where MacGyver sat at the fire dais and began to investigate 'breakfast', quite pointedly avoiding the blue 'eggs'. As he loaded up a plate, a thought suddenly occurred to him and he looked around the room, a frown appearing on his face.

"Where's Daniel?"

"Ahhh..." MacGyver shifted a little uneasily. Then he looked up and met his cousin's dark eyed gaze. "He didn't know about Iraq, did he?" He asked, but it was really more of a statement than a question.

"No, of course not, that's all still classi- " O'Neill began instantly, defensively. Then the penny dropped as a rush of memory of the previous night flooded into his brain; of what had been a very bad night; of a night filled with nightmares; of horrors he had never really been able to speak of with anyone other than his cousin. Daniel must have heard... He wasn't too sure just exactly what Daniel must have heard, but he could well imagine the younger man's reaction to even just the general gist of...

O'Neill's expression was eloquent as he briefly closed his eyes and murmured.

"Oh crap."

*************************

TO BE CONTINUED

In The Next Instalment