"Where's Daniel?"

This was not a good way to wake up. Particularly when he was fairly sure he hadn't intended to go to sleep, and if he had, he definitely hadn't done it in a cramped stone cell with Carter on one side, Teal'c on the other, and no sign of their wayward archaeologist. At least Carter and Teal'c were already awake and might have some idea about what was going on, though Carter's question made this doubtful.

"Daniel Jackson was not present when I awoke," Teal'c answered, a statement that was worrying in itself. That Teal'c 'awoke' implied that Teal'c had been asleep. Jack searched back into the dark recesses of his memory, trying to remember what had led up to his waking up upon a cold stone floor sandwiched between a Jaffa warrior and his second in command. He remembered purple trees. Daniel was sneezing and glaring at him for no particular reason. As if it was his fault the trees' blossoms caused Daniel's allergies to flare up. And Jack was sure his comment to that effect was in perfectly good taste designed to distract his teammate from an otherwise distressful situation. Then...nothing. One moment he had been staring into watery blue eyes and the next he was here.

"At least there's not headache this time," he remarked, "No blindness either." He sat up and instantly regretted his former words, as a pain lanced through his head like white fire.

"Whatever you say, sir," Carter mumbled, wisely resting still. Teal'c was already sitting up, looking smugly serene and pain free.

"Didn't we do this already?" Jack demanded from his surprisingly comfortable position on the ground. In fact, he thought he might just lie there a while longer, at least until the flashing lights lancing through his eyeballs receded a bit.

"Which part, sir?" Carter demanded, seeming equally happy to lie motionless, "The being knocked unconscious and waking up in a cell part or the losing Daniel part?"

"Both, generally at the same time," Jack answered. Slowly, he risked raising his head. Teal'c reached over and helped him to a sitting position. He found that if he didn't rise to quickly, the pain didn't overwhelm him and after a minute or two it was practically gone. Finally, he got a better look around. They were in a small stone room, as he had already determined, completely closed in except for the wall directly before them, which appeared to be missing. Beyond the room was a hallway and directly opposite them was another cell.

"Is it just me," Jack asked, "Or does this cell seem to be missing something...important?"

"Major Carter believes there to be a force field of some sort," Teal'c answered, "We have not yet tested her theory."

"Well don't you think we should? I mean, I'd feel stupid to sit in this cramped room and find out the door was open all along."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, and removing one of his shoes, he tossed it towards the opening. The shoe sailed through the opening and struck the wall on the far side of the opposite cell before clattering to the floor. Belatedly, Jack did a rapid search through his clothes, finding out quickly that he had been stripped of everything but the clothes themselves.

"Perhaps it lets inorganic matter through," Carter suggested hesitantly as she slowly pulled herself upright.

"Right," Jack said, before he began to scramble to his feet. He could still feel a dull ache in his head, but it didn't grow any worse through his actions. Cautiously, he stuck out a hand. When he met no resistance in front of him, he shuffled slowly forward, expecting to be thrown back by a jolt of electricity at any moment. None were forthcoming and finally it was obvious that his hand was sticking out beyond the confines of the cell.

"Maybe it also lets organic material through," Carter finished, sheepishly.

"Uh huh," Jack answered, "So we have an invisible, undetectable force field here that lets all matter in and out."

"Exactly," Carter agreed, before reaching out a hand for Jack to take. Jack hauled her to her feet while Teal'c rose more gracefully to his own and managed to give off an aura of regal calm, despite the fact that he was missing a shoe, and apparently wearing orange socks with pink polka dots. Jack considered Teal'c's grave face and decided now was not the time to comment. Instead, he turned and stuck his head out into the hallway. Carter's force field failed to make itself evident, as did any sign of another person. He stepped all the way out into the hallway.

"I do not understand this," Teal'c remarked, his expression foreboding, "What is the use of putting us into a tiny room when there is no way to shut us in?"

"Does anyone remember anything about who grabbed us?" Jack asked, feeling uneasy himself.

"Sorry, sir," Carter answered, "The last thing I remember is you telling Daniel his sneezing is proof the trees are evil."

"And I was right!" Jack insisted, "Look what happened after that!"

"We do not know that this was the last occurrence," Teal'c pointed out, "It is simply the last occurrence that we have any memory of." He then made a move to retrieve his shoe. There was a sudden, brilliant flash of energy and Teal'c was lying crumbled back in their cell.

"Ha!" Carter explained triumphantly, and then looking slightly guilty she added, "You okay Teal'c?"

"I am fine," Teal'c answered, sitting up slowly with a slightly dazed expression.

"Fine fine, or Daniel fine?" Jack asked, moving to give him a hand up. Luckily, whatever force field was covering the opposite cell didn't seem to effect theirs.

"I am well, O'Neill," Teal'c insisted, accepting Jack's help to stand up, "However I believe I must remain shoe-less."

"Not necessarily," Carter insisted, "If the shoe could pass through, then maybe..." But looking around she couldn't see anything that looked like it would be helpful in drawing the shoe out.

"Leave it," Jack ordered, "And let's go find Daniel." Reluctantly, she agreed. Now they only had to figure out how to find him. Jack hesitated, looking in either direction down the hallway. Each way looked the same; row upon row of open cells ending in a corner. Jack was just about to turn and ask the others their opinion when he felt something. It was almost like an odor, or a sound in the distance that was somehow distinctly labeled as 'Daniel' in his mind. He knew that Daniel was in that direction.

"Um...this way," he said, and started forward, deciding not to question it for now. Maybe he could call it intuition.

"Sir..." Carter began, her voice sounding vaguely troubled, "Do you...smell something?"

"I too am having strange senses," Teal'c remarked, "Perhaps we are experiencing repressed memories."

"Sure, that could be it," Jack agreed distractedly. All of his senses were now honed onto that one, elusive feeling. There was a smell like blood, like fear, and he didn't like it. Not when it came from that sense that was Daniel. He began to walk quicker, until he was jogging down the hall and around the corner without even pausing to check for hostiles. As before, there was no one there. Carter and Teal'c shadowed him, sending off their own waves of unease that ran over his skin in a way that would have been disturbing if he hadn't been too worried about Daniel. He could feel him closely now, distress and fear rolling thickly down the hallway in bursts of dark clouds behind his eyes. He didn't even realize he was in an all out run until Teal'c pulled him back, his solid presence rooting him and reminding him of the need for caution. Carter stood next to him, her breath laborious but not gasping and there was no breathlessness to her voice when she spoke.

"We need to get to Daniel." Jack agreed, but Teal'c also had a point. They shouldn't throw out years of training just because they were getting weird vibes. Low to the floor, Jack edged his way around a final corner, peering into a room at the end. This one didn't open onto a tiny stone cell but into a large, clinical tiled space, complete with a surgical bed. Lying whimpering in the bed, naked and glistening with blood lay Daniel.

Caution left Jack and instinct took over. He leapt into the room, running to Daniel's side, his eyes searching frantically for injuries. Despite the blood, there were none that he could see.

"I feel that he is weak, but unharmed," Teal'c said, his voice puzzled. Feeling the overwhelming need to touch, Teal'c put his hand over Daniel's stomach. Jack was already stroking Daniel's cheek, crooning softly. Carter joined them, her own hand resting on his knee for a moment before she noticed the restraints holding Daniel down to the table. They appeared to be made out of leather, or the planet's equivalent, and were simply buckled on. Sam quickly started to undue the ones at his ankles. Seeing what she was doing, Jack and Teal'c started on the ones at his wrists. As soon as he was free, Daniel curled up into a ball. Jack pulled him towards himself until his head was nestled against Jack's shoulder. Jack ran his fingers gently through his hair, still crooning softly. Finding Daniel like this, so upset and obviously not himself, disturbed Jack to the bottom of his soul.

"I will carry him, O'Neill," Teal'c said, "We must leave and find the stargate." Jack looked up defensively, his teeth bared before he realized what he was doing. "I will carry him," he growled back, his voice low and dangerous. Teal'c looked startled, but he bowed his head in acknowledgment.

"Sir?" Carter asked, sounding confused and unhappy. All she knew was that she didn't want to let go of Daniel, and that those feelings couldn't be natural. Of course she cared for Daniel, but it had never felt so...desperate before. And surely, Jack had never been able to scoop the archaeologist into his arms quite so easily before. Was it just her or was Daniel smaller? Or perhaps Jack had grown. Either way, something had definitely happened to them.

"Let's just get to the gate," Jack insisted, his arms clutching Daniel's body defensively. It felt right to have him secure in his arms. He knew that something was off about his team, but he couldn't deal with that until they were all safe in the SGC. Then Janet could run tests to her heart's content and figure out what had happened.

Teal'c led the way from the room. Jack followed holding Daniel and then came Sam. At least Daniel had stopped making that distressing sound, almost as soon as he was in Jack's arms. He lay quietly, pressed against Jack's chest. Jack wasn't even sure whether he was awake or not, despite the hand clutching tightly to Jack's shirt. As before, they ran into no trouble. This in itself was disturbing. Why go to all the trouble to knock them out and do...whatever it was they had done, only to let them run free? When the final doorway led them into sudden sunlight, no one was reassured. They hesitated to leave.

Finally, after Teal'c had looked about as carefully as possible and still found nothing of worry, he led the way out of the strange facility. The stood in a forest of purple trees. When Jack turned to look behind them, he saw the gray, wrinkled surface of another tree. There was no sign of a doorway or the building from which they'd come.