"How's the coffee?"

Her quiet voice made him jump. "Uh...enlightening."

"Want a refill?" She waved the pot in her hand.

"I haven't drunk-" He cut off as he realized his cup was empty. He would have sworn he hadn't taken a single sip, let alone downed the whole cup. "Um...sure."

With a bright smile she poured the coffee. "Give a holler when you're ready for more."

"Right, thanks," he replied vaguely, his eyes once again drawn to the dark liquid swirling in the china bowl. Another memory emerged from the fog of his mind. They were in the armory...

"We've only got two prototypes." Doctor Lee held up two vests. "Who wants them?"

Jack immediately gestured to Daniel and Annika.

The moment he did so, two letters danced across Annika's vision. "Nuh uh." She stopped Daniel from taking one. "Jack, you should wear it. The other should go to Janet."

"Doc's not going off world."

Annika shrugged, finding the second allocation as bizarre as the rest of them. "That's what I've been shown. Two letters, JJ."

"It could mean J for Jacksons," he pressed.

"I don't think of Daniel and myself as 'Jackson'." She tilted her head in puzzlement. Not over the vision but at the colonel's tone.

"Show Daniel, maybe you missed something."

The memory device McKay had altered was working, however it only had limited usage. They'd discovered through trial and error that Annika's visions could only be transferred to the device as the vision was happening. Once it was over, the only way for her to share a vision was for her to pass it on to Daniel in the 'usual' method.

"What's to miss over two letters? There's no emotion or inflection with it, just the letters."

"Humor me."

Bewildered and a bit hurt by the unprovoked questioning of her ability and her judgment to interpret her vision, Annika raised her hand to Daniel's forehead. The blue eyes that locked with hers were just as confused as her own.

Daniel closed his lids to receive the vision. A moment later they blinked open. "JJ, like a neon sign." He spoke quietly, tampering down his irritation at Jack for making them do this. "No emotion, just like Annika said."

Without a word, Jack shrugged out of his standard issue vest and took one with the ceramic polymer inserts from Doctor Lee. Waved his hand at the second. "Make sure the Doc gets that."

When no one made a move Jack scowled at all of them. "Come on, people. Finish gearing up." He grabbed spare clips and shoving them in his pocket he strode out.

Doctor Lee hovered for a second. "Er...good luck on the recon." Clutching the vest to him he disappeared.

"What was that about?" Daniel frowned, staring after his best friend's stalking figure.

"No idea." Sam was as baffled as the rest of them. "He was fine at the briefing."

"It's like he's doubting me." Annika wasn't entirely successful in keeping the hurt from her voice.

"There is no logical reason for O'Neill to do so." Teal'c filled his tac vest with spare ammo.

"Maybe he didn't mean it the way it sounded," Sam hesitantly suggested, feeling compelled to defend her fiancé. For two weeks there had been no word on the location of Anubis and his thousands of Kulls. It was like they had vanished into thin air. The tension of waiting for the inevitable attack had made not only Jack but all of them antsy.

The others gave murmurs of agreement though they lacked conviction. Something had put a bee in Jack's bonnet in the twenty minutes between the briefing and now, and it obviously was something to do with Annika. The really confusing part was that Annika hadn't been with Jack during that time. She, Daniel and Sam had been talking with Siler about a small void that had mysteriously shown up on the scans of the mystery weapon, speculating on what it could be and how to get to it. Perplexed, they took the final items they'd need and headed for the 'gate room.

When they entered, Jack was leaning against the sidewall in his customary slouch. His eyes scanned them all to make sure they were prepared, then he pushed off and gave a winding motion to Walter in the control booth.

Four members of SG-1 barely noticed the sergeant begin the dial up sequence. Gathering at the base of the ramp they covertly studied their team leader. Sam wasn't quick enough to dodge his returning gaze.

"What, Carter?" he snapped. "I suddenly sprout two heads or something?"

The major stiffened slightly. "No, sir."

"Jack, is everything okay?" Daniel asked, adjusting his glasses.

"It's just peachy, Daniel."

The wormhole billowed out and they strode up the ramp.

"O'Neill," Teal'c blocked the colonel's path with his P-90. "If there is nothing wrong, might I suggest leaving your unwarranted demeanor in the wormhole." Without a backwards glance the Jaffa followed Sam, Daniel and Annika through the event horizon.

Jack gave another scowl that was still on his face when he emerged on the other side into a courtyard-type area.

The others had already spread out looking for any threats. Though they knew the shipyard had been abandoned for only two weeks, they all felt the sense of complete desertion of the structure. Once they cleared the immediate area they regrouped near the 'gate.

"We split up." Jack began delegating assignments. "Teal'c and Annika take the east side. Carter, Daniel, you're with me on the west. Keep your eyes peeled for any clues of what Anubis has planned."

Daniel, Sam and Teal'c nodded. Annika however was a bit slower, her head partly cocked.

"Are we boring you?" Jack clicked his fingers in front of her face to get her full attention.

"Oh, no," Annika gave her head a small shake. "Don't you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Daniel asked.

"Music. Orchestral...like Beethoven if you can believe it. Like a radio turned down really low."

All of them listened intently. The only sounds they heard were the wind and their own breathing.

The redhead's shoulders lifted up and down. "Must be a psychic thing."

Jack motioned with his head at Daniel.

The archaeologist knew what was being asked of him, however he hesitated. What had gotten into Jack that he needed to verify Annika's visions? Slowly he stepped closer to his wife, then swallowed at the burst of anger beneath his heart.

Annika stepped sharply away. "What’s with this validation crap, Jack?"

Daniel didn’t need their bond to know she was royally pissed. Truth was, he was getting pretty irate himself.

The colonel reacted with sarcasm. "I’d like a second opinion, if that’s alright with you?"

"No. It’s not. If I need help interpreting, I’ll ask for it."

"Hearing Earth music on a snake planet doesn't strike you as odd?" Jack demanded.

"Yes, it does," she fired back. "But transferring it to Daniel isn't going to enlighten us anymore than now."

"I just want to know…"

"What? If I’ve suddenly gone nuts?" Annika interrupted bitterly as she absently covered an ear. The music had changed from a soothing melody to something akin to the screeching theme from ‘Psycho’. "Will you stop that racket?" she demanded of the surrounding air. "I’m trying to have an argument with my CO." Immediately the orchestra dropped down to a whisper. "Thank you." She turned back to the object of her frustration. "I realize I’m the fifth wheel in your smoothly running team, but I think I’ve earned the right to be treated with a smidgen of respect."

"I do respect you…"

"Bullshit. When have you asked for a second opinion on Sam’s theories on mechanical gizmos? Or on Daniel’s translations? If I say this planet is bursting at the seams with musical interludes it is! I haven’t been wrong once with my gift since joining the SGC and I resent you double guessing me." Annika spun on her heel and stormed off.

"Where are you going?" Daniel hesitantly called after her.

"To search the eastside as ordered," she yelled over her shoulder. "So we can do what we came for and get off this damned planet."

Teal'c shot a disapprovingly glare at Jack, making it clear what he thought of Jack's behavior, then silently strode after the psychic.

The silence in the courtyard was deafening. Daniel and Sam exchanged determined glances then rounded on Jack.

Sam got in the first and obvious question. "Where is this doubt coming from?"

"I'm not doubting her. Just want a different perspective, is all," Jack replied giving a shrug like the last few minutes were nothing. "Annika has the habit of hiding things."

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "She's done that once, Jack. And that was months ago."

"Yeah, well, I found out she's done it again."

"Annika held back information about a vision?" Sam asked in disbelief. She clearly remembered the fall out from that episode and knew Annika wouldn't risk that again.

"Not precisely. Something else."

"What?" The question was asked simultaneously.

"It doesn't matter what." Jack tried to brush the whole matter aside.

"Yes, because obviously you're totally unaffected by it." Daniel's sarcasm was biting.

The colonel changed the subject. "Reassignment. Daniel you stay and guard the 'gate."

"Why? So you can avoid having this conversation?"

"No," he denied, though in truth that was precisely what he was doing. Carter he could pull rank on, even if once they were off duty he'd be in the doghouse. Daniel would keep nagging and picking until he got the answer from him, and Jack wasn't ready to talk just yet. "Because this is a snake planet and I don't want Jaffa sneaking up on our asses."

"Oh, and that's more of a threat now, than it was five minutes ago when we were all going to search?"

"Daniel," Jack warned.

"I'll guard the 'gate, sir," Sam jumped in.

Jack glared at her.

The major coolly held his gaze. She could probably wheedle out whatever was bugging Jack, but her methods would have to wait until they were off duty. The quickest solution was to sic Daniel to the job, for he'd do whatever it took to get to the heart of the matter. A best friend, and a civilian best friend at that, could get away with it while they were on a mission. She hid a smile of triumph when Jack heaved a resigned sigh.

"Fine." He stalked off towards one of the side passageways.

Sam gave Daniel an encouraging thumbs up for good luck and took position in the shadows of an ornate archway.

The archaeologist sucked in a fortifying breath and hurried to catch up to Jack. "This information Annika is supposedly hiding, was it work related?"

"Let's pretend I'm the team leader and you're supposed to do what I order." The colonel had his gun poised as he quickly checked the first of the antechambers. Found it empty of both equipment and people, and moved on.

"Yes," Daniel gave a derisive snort, checking the room on the opposite side. "Because that logic has worked so well in the past." He paused, double checking no one was hiding behind a pile of empty crates. "So, was it?"

"Was what?" Jack peeked into the next room. Taking in the sight of smashed control consoles, he motioned for Daniel to follow him in.

"Jack, don't be an ass. You know what." Daniel's eyes swept the room for the console with the least destruction and made his way over to it.

"Yes and no." The colonel had pried open the panel of the nearest device, and was searching the crystals inside for any that were intact.

"Congratulations for giving the vaguest answer in history." Daniel pressed a few buttons on the control board. A holographic screen flickered, but the information that blinked on and off was either corrupted or encoded. Daniel changed tactics for both his assignments. He crouched down opening the control panel, hoping to find a way to manually bypass the damaged component. Out loud he mused, "If it was work related, you would have called her on it. You wouldn't have let us step through the 'gate."

"Daniel, let it go." Finding nothing of use, Jack shut the panel with more force than necessary.

"No." With a headshake of disgust at the mess the crystals and wires were in, he yanked one of the crystals free and examined it in the light for any cracks. "You've accused someone who you have never doubted before of lying, without giving any evidence and not allowing her to offer an explanation. All you've got are snide comments."

For a long moment there was only the sound of glass cracking underfoot as Jack stomped over to the next trashed console. "Annika didn't lie," he eventually admitted. "She omitted."

Now they were getting somewhere! On both counts! Daniel switched two of the crystals and the hologram solidified. He stood up scanning the symbols. "Then it's possible she forgot."

"Nope. She knew." The colonel gave up on the console he was at, determining it was beyond repair and turned his attention to the screen Daniel had jerry rigged. "Whoa, back up," he said, as the screen skipped twice to the next pages of data after only a second.

"The control's sticking," the archaeologist muttered. It took a moment for him to be able to jump back. "For God's sake, Jack. What is this terrible transgression?"

Trying to delay his answer Jack scrutinized the screen that appeared to be a star chart. Recognized the configuration as the galaxy they were currently in. Automatically he searched for the date stamp before remembering he wouldn't be able to read the Ancient script. "Date?"

Daniel translated and converted the time. "Fifteen days ago." At Jack's hand wave to move on, he flicked to the next screen. Didn't miss that his friend kept silent. "Jack!"

"She's got pictures, okay?" The colonel kept his eyes on the screen, even though the data was now only Ancient script. "Photos."

"Of?" Daniel skimmed the next few pages. It was information they either already had or was too old to be of use.

"Of the futzed timeline." Suddenly restless, he prodded a tipped over crate with his boot, more to avoid looking at Daniel than expecting to find anything beneath. "Of that night on Balls' ship...of your folks and hers and Carrie, and...and Charlie."

"Are you mad because she took the photos or because she didn't mention it?" Daniel asked, shutting down the console.

The colonel motioned with his head to move on to the next room. Taking those few moments to figure out the answer to Daniel's question for himself. "I don't want to have a memento of that. I want to forget."

"Funny, I'm the exact opposite." The archaeologist trained his gun around the room that was lined up with empty incubation pods. "I want to remember every single second."

Jack picked up on a hidden inflection in his friend's tone and stopped short. "You knew!" he accused.

"Yes, I knew. I was the one who had the camera in my pocket, remember?" Daniel shrugged. "Annika took the photos using the Nox trick and her telekinesis. She wanted a picture with her dad. A memory of something good from that timeline. She took photos of everyone else for the same reason. Those few hours were a precious gift."

"And a few hours after that we had to kill them."

Daniel turned back at Jack's bitterness, meeting and holding his gaze. "No, we had to let events play out the way they originally happened. There's a difference."

"Not really. They're still dead." Jack didn't try to hide his grief from his voice.

"Yes, but we were given bonus time with them." Daniel's own pain at the loss of his loved ones echoed Jack's even as he tried to look at the positive.

"It wasn't enough."

"It was more than we had." Daniel sighed. "Annika didn't show you the photos because she knew it was too soon, the events too raw for any of us right now, even her. Why do you think they were stuffed in the back of the drawer?" Jack was silent, but Daniel could see the shock of stumbling across the pictures that had resulted in his anger, slowly ebbing away.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Jack gave a weak smile. "I'll eat crow with Casper when we regroup."

"Hope you've got a healthy appetite," Daniel replied dryly.

They moved on to the last room of the corridor, when Daniel was struck by a question. "What were you doing rifling through my desk anyway?"

Jack looked slightly embarrassed. "Ah, Walter gave me a heads up there was a mix up with the supply order of the MREs and there wasn't any of the meatloaf left." He paused wondering if he should go on and reveal what a softie he was.

"And you expected to find meatloaf in my drawer?" Daniel didn't try to hide his bafflement.

"No..."

"But you don't like the meatloaf."

"I don't. But Carter does...well, more to the point she likes the M & M's that come with it. I knew you had a chocolate stash. I was gonna take one and replace it when we got back."

"Oh." Daniel blinked, barely hiding his smile at the rather sweet admission that Jack was sneaking candy for the woman he loved. "Just for future reference, I moved the stash to the bottom left drawer."

"Thanks for the tip."

The two friends shared a smile, both knowing that Jack's gratitude referred to more than the relocated candy.

Annika trained her gun around the room, silently daring there to be a Kull left behind. She'd really love to shoot something right now. It didn't help that the music was still playing in her head, albeit so softly that she had to really concentrate to hear some of the notes. She felt more than heard movement behind her and she swung around, lowering her weapon instantly as she recognized Teal'c. A wane smile touched her lips.

The Jaffa gave a nod of acknowledgement. He'd been watching her back as she cleared the first two side rooms following SOP and it gladdened him that she wasn't letting her anger at O'Neill cloud her training. "The adjacent room is also empty."

Teal'c waited until they had cleared the next two rooms before speaking again. "Are you still hearing the melody?"

Annika nodded, touched by the unwavering support in his question. "It's very soft, and I don't recognize the tune, but it's there."

"Is it drawing you to a particular area of the facility?"

"No." She shrugged helplessly. "It's just...there."

"And you did not hear it when we were at the SGC?"

Annika shook her head. "It didn't start until we exited the wormhole."

"It is a puzzlement." Teal'c motioned to move on to the next room.

"Thanks, Teal'c."

He turned back to her in surprise. "For what?"

"For just accepting what I can explain of my visions." Annika's lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. "Not just for today...from day one you've never questioned my ability."

"You have never given me reason to." Teal'c paused then pointed out, "Daniel Jackson and Major Carter have not doubted your abilities either."

"No," she confirmed. "But they didn't spend decades believing in false gods, who used trickery to make them appear to have omnipotence and godly powers."

"It is because I was fooled by the false gods that I know your gifts to be true," he replied quietly. "It gave me insight on how to identify charlatans."

"Oh, well, I just wanted to say your faith in me means a lot."

"As does yours in me."

"Huh?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"I do not doubt that through your gift of sight you have witnessed the atrocities I committed during my years as First Prime." The guilt that Teal'c usually hid so well, but was in fact his constant companion, seeped into his voice. "That you can put those acts aside and still find it in your heart to consider me a friend is gratifying."

"Auras don't lie, my friend," Annika clasped his hand in hers. "I may have seen the acts, but I also saw your loathing and self-hatred at being forced to do them." The pair shared a warm smile, their hands tightening in a comforting squeeze. Then Annika, sensing a need for a switch of topic, changed her smile into a mischievous grin. "Speaking of auras, I must say I'm loving this new little purple light that is surrounding you lately."

Teal'c raised a wary eyebrow. "And what is the significance of this hue?"

"It's love, Teal'c."

The Jaffa reclaimed his hand and safely tucked it around the grip of his P-90. "It is too soon to identify what Keelah and I share, as love."

"Call it what you will, but all anyone has to do is mention Keelah's name and it sparks like a firework." She chuckled as the purple flashed brighter, proving her point. "Yep, and there it goes!"

Teal'c cast her a sharp look, concerned by the comment. In planning his contrived relationship with Keelah, he had somehow forgotten about her ability to see auras. His teammate seemed in earnest about what she saw, and yet that was not possible. He was not in love with Keelah, theirs was a strictly business relationship.

Annika misread his frown. "That's a good thing, Teal'c. Romance is always good."

He did not want to suggest that Annika was misinterpreting his aura, not after O'Neill's unjustly accusation, however the suggestion that he was in love was inconceivable. He would admit to being mildly sexually frustrated since Keelah had moved in, but that was merely an adjustment period that he expected to end any day now. Accustomed to living alone in his quarters at the SGC, it was taking time to adapt to having a woman in such close proximity. Perhaps that was what Annika Jackson was picking up on. "Romance may always be good, but it is not always convenient."

"You can't pick and choose when Cupid's arrow will strike, that's what makes it so special." Annika ran her hand over one of the incubation pods and images flashed before her eyes. "Uh oh."

"What is it?" Teal'c recognized the glazed look to her eyes.

"Anubis has managed to extend the lifespan of the Kulls."

"Do you know by how long?"

Annika sifted through the images in her head. "Approximately triple." As Teal'c reached for his radio to inform Jack, she wished that they could find physical evidence of what her second sight had shown her.

Teal'c understood her unspoken plea and refrained from mentioning where the information came from. "O'Neill, we have discovered that Anubis has been able to triple the lifespan of his Kull warriors."

"Peachy. Not exactly the news we were hoping for." The colonel paused. "Was it from a data bank or a hocus pocus dump?"

Annika gave an angry, disbelieving shake of her head. "Why the fuck did I even bother coming on this mission?" she muttered under her breath.

"Does that matter, O'Neill?" Teal'c demanded shortly.

"Of course it matters. One's trustworthy, one's not."

A gasp hissed from Annika's lips before she could stop it. She felt like a knife had been stabbed in her gut and she turned away from Teal'c to hide the sudden sheen of tears.

It took a few seconds before Teal'c was able to respond. Fury had constricted his voice box. "The information is reliable."

On the other side of the facility, Jack frowned down at his radio at Teal'c's angry reply. Okay, he knew Teal'c was miffed by what had happened earlier but that was just down right cold.

"What was that?" Daniel eyes were wide in bewilderment.

Jack shrugged. "No idea what's got into Teal'c."

"I wasn't talking about Teal'c. What's got into you?"

"What?" Jack blinked in confusion

"You just called Annika's visions untrustworthy."

"I did not," he denied. "I called Anubis's data banks untrustworthy. They could be filled with disinformation."

"That's not how it came out, Jack." Daniel gave an exasperated shake of his head. "She already thinks you're doubting her. How do you think that sounded to Annika?" Daniel already knew the answer to that. The burst of hurt beneath his heart had been immediate.

"Aw, crap." Jack ran a hand through his hair. Because he had sorted out his 'issue' within himself, and intended to apologize to Annika as soon as they were face to face, he'd momentarily forgotten that he hadn't actually done it yet. And with Teal'c reporting in, he'd automatically slipped into 'Colonel mode' without thought to how his questions would be interpreted. He quickly depressed the speaker button on the radio. "Casper, I didn't mean that the way it came out."

The only response he got was silence.

"Annika, I don't doubt your visions."

There was a second's pause then the radio crackled to life. "No, Colonel, you just doubt my interpretation of them."

"Casper, I-"

"Forget it, Colonel." The ice in her voice was tangible. "At least I know where I stand."

Before Jack could try again to set things right, Sam's voice came through.

"Sir, we've just got a message from command. The Alpha site's under attack. The general's asked us to switch to channel four."

"Roger that." Jack immediately changed the dial on his radio. Saw Daniel do the same and heard three more clicks of static indicating the rest of his team had also switched in. "General, we're all here."

"Just after you left, we got an emergency message from Alpha. At least ten ground troops of Kulls and Jaffa have surrounded the Alpha site. Aerial assault of alkesh and gliders. We've sent in five teams as reinforcements and will be sending in another five in less than four minutes."

"You want us to follow in?" Jack's hand slipped to the energy weapon designed to kill the Kulls that was draped over his other shoulder. He knew the base only had a limited supply of the 'slug guns' and his team currently had one each.

"Yes, unless you think you'll get any useful intel where you are?"

"We're not getting much here, sir." Jack shrugged out of habit even though he knew the general had no way of seeing the action. "The place is a write-off."

"We did discover that Anubis has tripled the lifespan of the Kulls," Daniel added, checking his own energy weapon.

"Good intel if Alpha turns into a siege situation," was Hammond's reply. "I'll forward it on to the troops."

"Annika Jackson and I are moving back to the Stargate," Teal'c's voice crackled over the airwaves, indicating their agreement to their change of plan.

The general was silent for a moment catching the tension in the Jaffa's tone. That Major Carter had used a similar tone when he had first made contact had alarm bells ringing in his head. The colonel and Doctor Jackson had also an underlying current, although he sensed it was slightly different. It hit him that Annika had been unusually quiet. "Annika, have you been given any insight?"

At least General Hammond isn't doubting me. The psychic reined in whatever anger and hurt she was feeling, defending the Alpha site took priority over whatever personal problems she was having. Instead she channeled her anger to her third eye, hoping to get some sort of heads up. Visions of battle flashed before her eyes but whenever she tried to focus on a specific scene the music in her head exploded loudly in her head, making her lose concentration. She told what she could. "Bloody, vicious...a dangerous game of hide and seek."

"Hide and seek?" Daniel immediately honed in on the reference that had popped up during that bizarre incident after their lovemaking. Perhaps it hadn't been a relapse due to her reduce abilities. "From last night?"

Annika frowned. "I don't see how. That was a memory of my childhood, at least I was thinking like a child, and there was no sense of battle."

"So no reservations besides the obvious?" Hammond prompted, partly surprised that the colonel didn't try to fish for more details from the couple about their rather cryptic comments.

"No, sir," Annika replied promptly. "Just the overwhelming urge to shoot something."

"Colonel?" Hammond was sure there was a double meaning to her words.

Jack pretended not to hear the puzzlement in his CO's voice. "We'll be ready to 'gate out in five, sir."

As much as the undercurrents worried hum, he didn't have the time at the moment to try to sort it out, the next set of teams were already lining up in the 'gate room. The fact that SG-1 had immediately stepped up as a team to join in the defense, made him hope that the tension wasn't a big thing. "I'll send word of your arrival."

"Roger that, sir."

Hammond disengaged the wormhole.

While they had been speaking, all four of them had been making their way down the twisting corridors back to the Stargate.

"Sorry for being such a bear, Sam." For a moment the military man was gone, replaced with her lover.

She gave him an accepting smile as she double checked her P-90. "I'm not the one who needs an apology."

He grimaced, "I'm starting with the easy ones."

They all turned at the sound of approaching boots. Teal'c seemed to take in a glance that Jack was no longer in the aggravated mood of when he'd last seen him. The guilty tinge to the colonel's face was enough of an apology, he didn't need an explanation of why. The two men exchanged nods and then Teal'c turned his attention to assuring his weapons were ready for combat.

Annika wasn't so easy. Her face was deceptively calm as she approached, giving Jack a wide berth to take her usual position next to Daniel. She ignored the gentle tug from her husband beneath her heart, a plea from him to let Jack at least try to explain and make amends. She was still too hurt and angry to even begin to think about listening to whatever excuse Jack had come up with, let alone forgiveness.

"Casper..."

"Colonel," Annika cut him off coolly. "As long as you're not also doubting my ability to point and shoot, we'll sort this shit out later."

Jack considered forcing the issue. However, ordering her to listen to his apology wouldn't exactly be conductive to earning her forgiveness. He hated the idea of leaving things unresolved, but he knew his explanation and apology would take time. Time where his comrades were under attack, waiting for SG-1's backup. Personal issues would have to wait. "No, I've no problem with you watching my back." With a sigh he nodded at Sam, waiting by the DHD to tap out the Alpha site coordinates. "Let's go kill us some slugs."

The sound of safety's clicking off was drowned out by the wormhole billowing out. Doing a final check to make sure all of his team was ready, Jack gave the nod and they all stepped through to the war zone of the Alpha site.

Ferretti fired his P-90 taking down a Jaffa. "Brooklyn, two o'clock!"

The captain was already raising his 'slug gun' from where he was crouched on the other side of the two medics and wounded soldier. The energy bolt struck true and the super soldier collapsed dead. Between the two of them, they were prepared to fight both Jaffa and super slugs. Dodger and Nyan were similarly armed to lay down protective fire for Janet and her nurse. For the last hour SG-2 had been assigned to evacuating the wounded. Had already made three trips back to the Stargate and were working on the fourth.

"We have to get him back to base." The lead medic hadn't looked up from his emergency treatment of his patient, trusting in the skills of SG-2 to keep them safe. "He needs surgery ASAP."

"Roger that." Ferretti radioed his teammates whom he could see attending to another wounded man near the base of a rock outcropping. "We're heading for the 'gate. Back in ten." He saw Dodger nod even as his voice crackled through acknowledgement.

The medics had efficiently field dressed the wound and transferred the soldier to a stretcher. Again the primary medic spoke. "Ready, Major."

"Let's move out." Ferretti took point with Brooklyn bringing up the rear behind the medics. Scanning for any hostiles, the major's ears picked up a shrill whining. "Aw, shit." He turned around, his eyes searching not the immediate terrain but the sky above.

A small black dot was growing larger by the second.

"Glider! Everybody down!"

The medics dropped to the ground, using their own bodies to protect their patient. Brooklyn took over the ground sweep. Ferretti clipped his P-90 to his vest, while raising a second weapon draped over his shoulder; the movements fluid, born of too much experience of these situations. He knelt, resting the modified bazooka on his shoulder for support and took careful aim. Waited a few seconds until the alien craft was in his sights. He fired and the small rocket shot from the canon.

For a moment it looked like the glider was going to dodge it, but then the rocket's heat sensors kicked in and it directly hit the engine. It exploded and what was left of the glider careened wildly out of control.

"Take cover!" Ferretti ordered his immediate crew, his hand depressing the radio also sending the message to Dodger. Ducking flying wreckage, Ferretti made sure Brooklyn and the medics were okay, then his mouth dropped open in horror as his gaze darted to the second half of his team.

An instant assessment on their part that the glider was heading straight for them, had Nyan and the medic immediately dragging the downed soldier to the right, Dodger and Janet scrambled to the left. The glider impacted the rock shelf and the fiery wreckage split in two, the larger piece shooting sideways shattering the rock.

A yell erupted from Ferretti's throat. He didn't know which of his friend's names actually made it out as he was thrown to the ground by the resulting shock wave.

Brooklyn, however, heard it. Firing in quick succession at two more super slugs who hadn't reacted to the chaos around them, he spun around. Fuck! The Doc was down! Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Not just down, she was buried beneath a mountain of rock and twisted metal. Nyan and the medic seemed okay if more than a little shaken. Dodger was nowhere to be seen. Fuck!

Annika skidded to her knees to dodge an energy pulse, firing her weapon at a Kull that had risen from nowhere from the underbrush. It took two shots before the warrior admitted he was dead and collapsed to the ground. Well, no one had ever accused super slugs of being quick witted.

They'd arrived a little over two hours ago; it seemed like ten. Courtesy of well aimed glider fire, the cave entrance to the Alpha site facility was now a mass of crumbled rock. They were hoping that it was only the upper level that was destroyed and the subterranean caverns where they had been setting up command were still intact, and the people inside merely trapped and not crushed to death. The temporary quarters topside were completely leveled. Thankfully Colonel Pierce had been running training drills just before Anubis attacked, so most of the teams had been spread out away from the main hub and had escaped the first strike.

It had been pure fluke of circumstance that Hammond had been able to send any reinforcements at all once the cavern entrance had been blocked. Due to the 'easy' manipulation of the DHD made apparent by the Avenger virus, a super computer similar to the one at the SGC had been built to ward off any future tampering. The installation of the computer had begun the previous week. While the Stargate below was out of commission, they had set up a second Stargate topside, 'borrowing' it from an uninhabited planet. So far they had managed to keep control of the 'gate but it was a tenuous hold at best.

Using the rubble of the collapsed cave as a large foxhole, Pierce had set up an emergency command station, which was where SG-1 had reported in and then been dispatched to the east quadrant to fight off the Kulls and Jaffa. They had made good progress, systematically taking down dozens of warriors, when just above a rise, out of range of their weapons, another troop of Kulls were ringed down, followed by a load of Jaffa.

"Casper, stay put!"

The redhead followed Jack's order, though her instinct was to move from her rather vulnerable position. To the right of her she caught a flash of Jack's energy weapon, the bolt of energy zinged over her shoulder. From the left was the yellow flash of gunfire from Teal'c's P-90, and the bullets whizzed above her head. As she heard two bodies behind her hit the ground, Annika spied a Jaffa peeking out from behind a tree, aiming his staff to her left where Daniel was. She fired her P-90 instantly. Her first round wounded the Jaffa's hand by fluke, her second and third were aimed perfectly, hitting him directly in the symbiote pouch.

"Clear."

Jack's bark had her scurrying to take cover behind a tree. From her periphery vision she saw Sam take down a Kull before ducking behind a log to reload.

They all took the precious few moments of the lull in the fight to visually check on each other.

A glance at Daniel, who was little more than a meter away, and Annika saw he had a small graze across his cheek, probably from ricocheting bark or stones from a dodged staff blast. Other than that he was unscathed. She was too far away to see any such minor wounds on the others, however they appeared unhurt. The music that had been a minor annoyance since the abandoned shipyard, was still playing in her head and now was joined by a second melody. This one she did recognize as a Golden Oldie, though she didn't have the time to figure out why a Sheb Wooley hit was blaring in her head. Both tunes seemed to be vying for top position, each one getting louder with every passing second, making it difficult for her to concentrate. Annika gave her head a shake in a vain attempt to clear her mind. Nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand close over her shoulder.

Her head jerked around to see Daniel looking at her with concern, even more bizarrely his lips were moving but she couldn't make out the words. All she could hear was the psychotic orchestra pounding her skull. She placed a hand to her ear, silently telling him of her predicament, not trusting herself to speak, because her first instinct was to try and speak louder than the cacophony only she could hear, which would undoubtedly give away their position.

Daniel's hand tightened around her shoulder in alarm, but she jerked herself free. One of the fingers that were ripping through her had broken off and was trying to snake its way through her and Daniel's bond. It took every ounce of her strength to slam down a mental block to stop it. She staggered back clutching her head, the scream of agony still howling from her lips. She didn't think it possible but the pain increased. The last thing she saw was a double vision of Daniel's scared blue eyes as he tried to break her fall, a crash of cymbals bursting in her eardrums before she lost consciousness.

The sudden silence was almost as deafening as Annika's gut wrenching scream.

Daniel was quick enough to catch his wife before she completely hit the ground. Heart thumping with fear, he half carried half dragged her to the relative safety behind a fallen log. He called out to Jack and the others, explaining what he could. He'd felt for the briefest of seconds the 'presence' snaking through their bond before Annika had blocked it. But it was all he needed to recognize the foul being, for he'd experienced it before. "Anubis is attacking her mind!"

Everything happened so fast. Jack didn't remember a situation going to hell so quickly and in so many ways at the same time. After that god-awful scream from Casper with her clutching her head before crumbling to the ground, a troop of super slugs had appeared from nowhere.

Daniel was yelling something about Anubis mentally messing with Annika as he began dragging her still body towards a fallen log for cover. Sam, Teal'c and himself were providing cover fire. Jack saw a black figure step out from behind a tree but was a fraction of a second too slow in firing off a round. The super slug managed to fire once before Jack's energy weapon took him down. "Daniel! Down!" Even as the words left his mouth he knew it was too late. The blue fire of the super slug's weapon hit Daniel squarely in the back. His body jerked, the glaze of death instantly descending over blue eyes and he dropped in a heap on top of Annika.

Jack fired at two more super slugs, taking them out as he began to make his way to his fallen people. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam doing the same. Above them the air shimmered and a teltak de-cloaked. Over the sound of gunfire was the familiar whine of a ring transport. Simultaneously there was a bright blue-white light emanating from behind the log where Daniel and Annika lay so frightening still. It seemed to rise up into the rings as they descended.

Teal'c who was alternating between shooting at Jaffa and Kulls, turned before the bodies of his victims hit the ground, saw the rings finish their return ascent and immediately the teltak cloaked. The gust or air that spun up the dirt and leaves around them, momentarily blinding them, was a clear indication that the ship had accelerated away. Swiping a hand over his face to clear his eyes he saw three more of the enemy skulking towards them. "O'Neill, behind you!"

Jack ignored the grit making his eyes water, his trigger finger already hard at work as he spun around, shooting another of the Kulls that was aiming at Sam. He missed the Jaffa that was firing at himself. The energy bolt hit him point blank in the chest. Pain ripped through him and he felt the hard impact as his back collided with the rock and dirt of the ground and then he knew no more.

There was a roaring in Ferretti's ears. He didn't know the sound was his own voice calling to the now buried people. He was sure he couldn't breathe. Air didn't seem to be filling his lungs, but it must have been, because by the time he'd sprinted to the mound of debris, his chest was heaving.

"Doc! Dodger! Do you read me? Janet?" He pressed the radio to his ear and waited. All he heard was the rapid thump of his heart. The radio waves were eerily silent. Some of the dust cleared, and amidst the rubble he saw the underside of a boot peeking out. He scrambled over and began pulling some of the smaller chunks off. Just as he realized it wasn't a military issue boot, the foot jerked and from the cluster of rocks a Kull warrior sat up as though the rocks covering it were nothing more than feathers. "Oh, no fuckin' way!" Ferretti growled. The major didn't think, just reacted. His main focus was to get to his people.

Brooklyn tried not to gape as he saw the Kull go flying through the air to crash to the ground ten feet from Ferretti. Holy shit. He'd heard of adrenaline causing above human strength, but this was the first time he'd witnessed it. Ferretti had tossed the three hundred pound dead weight like a rag doll. The super slug stirred and Brooklyn was quick to fire, ending its sorry excuse for a life, then he dashed over to his team leader. "Major, you've got to stop."

Ferretti was scrabbling with his hands at the boulder chunks. "Gotta get to her...them!"

Brooklyn's eyes widened at the verbal slip. Ooh, boy. What a time for that revelation to come out. He yanked on Ferretti's vest, pulling him out of harms way as a boulder, loosened by the major's erratic digging, rolled free towards them. "Major, stop!" Cringed at the wild fire in his friend's eyes. Ferretti fought against Brooklyn's grip, desperate to get back to digging, but the stocky man didn't let go. "You dislodge the wrong rock and it could make Janet's," he emphasized the name, "situation worse."

It had the desired effect. Ferretti froze, his gaze shooting down to his feet. His body tensed like the rocks he was standing on was eggshells. Gingerly he stepped off and away from the rubble. "She...they," he hoarsely corrected, "aren't answering their radios."

"There could be a whole slew of reasons for that." Brooklyn relaxed his grip, shifting his hand to a comforting shoulder squeeze, his other hand pulling the trigger in the direction of another Kull that had appeared. "We'll get the combat engineers out here pronto."

Ferretti couldn't meet Brooklyn's eyes. He'd just been king hit with a blow that had nothing to do with falling debris. A revelation which had also been exposed to his teammate. He didn't know what to say.

"Lou," Brooklyn said quietly. "We need to get the medics back to the 'gate. We'll get the engineers, dig the Doc and Dodger out, kill a few more slugs along the way and then you can sort out whatever it is you're feeling."

The major seemed to pull himself together. "Right." He glanced around, noticed that Nyan and the medic had carried their patient to the others. "Let's go."

They started to move out. Ferretti wasn't the only one to take a final look at the newly created mountain of rocks and steel, worry creasing their faces. The major let Brooklyn take point, and as they carefully made their way back to base, Ferretti opened a secure channel on his radio, relaying the position of their fallen teammates to the command hub in case they didn't make it all the way either.

The major dodged a fire bolt, diving into a roll behind a tree, shooting at the Kull and hitting her mark. Having her left side now clear of the enemy Sam started to rotate to take care of those in front of her. It was almost in slow motion that she saw one Jaffa fire at Jack. Her gun spat out a rain of bullets, killing both that Jaffa and the one next to him. Her heart constricted at the sight of the staff blast throwing the colonel off his feet and him collapsing like a rag doll. "Sir!"

Scrambling to his side, her gun shooting randomly to keep what remained of the Jaffa back, she dragged Jack behind a tree. Teal'c took down the last of the Kulls and joined the military pair, keeping a watchful eye out for anything that moved.

"Jack, can you hear me?" Sam ripped open his smoking tac vest, ignoring the burning heat that coursed through her fingers from the smoldering webbing. Nearly sobbed in relief as she found his shirt and skin beneath to be intact and of normal temperature. The new ceramic polymer of the vest had worked. Jack wasn't boiling from the inside out from the plasma of the staff blast.

The colonel let out a low groan. Sam's frantic examination was making his bruised ribs cry out in protest. "Did anyone get the number plate?"

Sam shook her head, for at the moment the power of speech eluded her.

"The tic-tac?" he wheezed hopefully.

Another headshake, her gaze darting to the now barren spot where Daniel and Annika had been.

The colonel gingerly sat up, taking shallow breaths to begin with, then deeper ones to determine if he had cracked ribs or just bruising. Didn't feel the sharp knife stab indicating anything was broken. The sigh that blew from his lips was slightly guilty as he closed the tac vest once again snugly around his body. "Guess Casper was right." If he had been wearing the standard issue vest then his body would be roasting like meat in an oven right now. Glanced at the spot where Daniel had taken that mortal round. "Half right."

"O'Neill, we should return to the Stargate to inform of the Jacksons' abduction." Relief of knowing the colonel was alright was overshadowed by the dire situation of his missing teammates.

"Of Annika's abduction," Sam quietly corrected, helping Jack to his feet.

The colonel's gaze locked on the major's for the briefest of seconds, grief tingeing both of their faces at what they had witnessed, then he stubbornly shook his head. "They were both ringed up."

"But, sir..."

"Don't want to hear it, Carter." He double checked his weapons. "Let's move out, double time."