He tried not to think about the weapon. Weapons, he corrected. Wouldn't let himself wonder if they'd be able to decipher 'their' weapon and whup Anubis's half-Ascended butt before he was able to use Dakara's weapon. He had to focus on the situation at hand. He saw the First Prime make a course adjustment and noticed he was covertly watching his passenger. Nice to know the tin can is just as uneasy as I am.

Both were wary, like two wolf pack leaders circling each other, waiting for the other to let their guard down for an opening to pounce.

Carter and Teal'c had gone with Jack to Ba'al's former home world, Hammond unwilling to send the colonel in alone until it was absolutely necessary. When they'd stepped through the wormhole the Jaffa had already been waiting at the entrance of the teltak parked about twenty feet from the base of the 'gate. His staff weapon had been charged, but he held it across his body, the firing end pointing to the side; non-threatening yet clearly a display of being ready to do battle if required. SG-1 had been no different, the noses of their P-90s had been the first things out of the rippling event horizon.

The Jaffa had tensed, but didn't shift his stance. "I have orders for escorting only one."

Jack stepped forward.

"Leave your weapons."

The colonel hesitated a moment, then decided it wasn't worth the argument, and handed over his P-90 and nine mil to Teal'c.

"All your weapons." The Jaffa had released the switch on his staff so that it was no longer charged, and gestured with it to Jack's waist.

He unclipped his knife from his belt and passed it to Sam. "Happy now?"

The Jaffa didn't speak, just lowered the staff tip so it pointed to Jack's right boot.

With a sigh Jack bent down and removed a smaller blade hidden beneath his BDU pants.

"Now I am happy." He'd motioned for Jack to board.

"Be careful, sir," Sam said quietly, squeezing his fingers as he gave the second knife to her.

"When am I not?" His mouth twisted into his customary smirk, belaying the serious tinge to his brown depths. He glanced at Teal'c including him in his parting comment. "See ya' soon." Then spun on his heel and entered the Goa'uld ship. "Let's get this bucket of bolts moving."

Stepping aside the First Prime tapped at the door control, making sure he still had all three members of SG-1 in his sights until the door had completely sealed shut. He then motioned for Jack to sit in the passenger seat.

Jack, surprised that he wasn't going to be restrained but not questioning his 'freedom', slipped his pack from his shoulders and did as asked.

The Jaffa took the primary chair, placing his staff within easy reach on the furthest side from Jack, and in less than a minute had fired up the engines and jumped into hyperspace. The ride had been silent, filled with uneasy tension.

"We shall be docking presently."

Jack cleared his throat. "Yeah, before we meet up with the welcoming party, what can you tell me of Annika's condition?"

"I assume Lord Ba'al has given you the details." He made a few more adjustments to prepare the ship for deceleration.

He shrugged. "Just want a second opinion."

The view screen changed from the blue-white streak of hyper-speed to the still blackness of normal space. Looming before them was Ba'al's ha'tak.

"It is disturbing." With practiced ease he directed the teltak to the glider bay.

Jack already knew that by the fact that Ba'al had ever even made his 'request'. "You're not exactly a vine of information."

The Jaffa hesitated. "I was present for your last...visit, to My Lord's ship."

"Thought I recognized ya'," the colonel quipped. "But you guys all look the same to me. Have you thought about name tags?"

The warrior ignored the wisecrack. "To have witnessed how the seer was, compared to her current state...it is disturbing."

"You seen anything like it before?"

"Punishment of the Gods is often physically debilitating, but this is dist-"

"Disturbing," Jack cut him off. "Yeah, I got that."

The Jaffa gave a barely perceptible shrug. "You shall see for yourself in a few moments." He landed the teltak with barely a bump on the bay floor.

Retrieving his pack, Jack took a steadying breath, and followed the First Prime. The door opened to reveal Ba'al with a half a dozen Jaffa by the entrance to the ring room. Personally Jack thought the armed escort was a tad excessive given that he himself was unarmed. "Greeted by the false god himself." He sauntered across the room. "Gee, don't I feel special, there should be cake."

Ba'al ignored the sarcasm. "She regained consciousness minutes ago. For the moment my Jaffa has managed to keep her away from the cell shield."

"Lead on," Jack fell into step with the Goa'uld, doing his best to look nonchalant at being surrounded by his enemy and his minions. "Any change in her behavior?"

Four of the Jaffa moved with Jack flanking him on all sides as he stepped beside Ba'al.

Jack toyed with the idea that perhaps this really was just a huge hoax, which lasted just until the rings deposited them one level down. Even from this distance he could hear the hollering. It was definitely Casper's voice, and yet it wasn't. He'd been witness to Casper blowing her stack in the past, her biting sarcasm was usually smoothly delivered and witty. What he heard now was anything but. It was immature, almost as hysterical as it was petulant; a typical child's tantrum. Though his first instinct was to pick up the pace, he held off, listening to what the psychic was saying and how. Drawing closer it was easier to make out the words.

"If you don't take me to Daniel I'm gonna scream!"

"You can scream all you wish, it will not get you what you want."

"Really, really loud!" she emphasized as though it would make a difference.

When Jack stepped in front of the cell, it was to see Annika with her hands on her hips, clearing gearing up to let loose with her threatened scream. She caught sight of Jack and the breath she'd been drawing in abruptly huffed, (blessedly silent for the most part,) from her lips. She blew a raspberry at the Jaffa and her temper instantly melted away, replaced with a delighted smile.

"General Jack! What are you doing with the mean old snake?"

Jack tried to focus on the positive. At least she recognized him, sort of. Right name, wrong rank. Half right wasn't bad given the circumstances. "I came specially to see you."

"Really?" She clapped her hands in glee. "Did you bring Daniel?"

"Um...no, I didn't."

"Can you find him for me please? I need to see him. He," she pointed accusingly at Ba'al, "is hiding my Daniel from me." She took a couple of steps forward.

With her only a few inches from the force field, Jack considered how to stop her from moving any closer. If it had been anyone military trained, he would have barked in his best Colonel voice an order to stand back, relying on the ingrained response drilled into them from day one of enlistment to kick in. But Annika, even in her right mind, didn't respond well to that kind of command, and clearly it hadn't worked for Balls either. If Annika had regressed to a childlike state... "Daniel and you are playing hide and seek, remember? It's Daniel's turn to find you."

"I love hide and seek!" She smiled brightly.

"Why don't you go and hide?" Absently Jack wondered where that idea had sprouted from. The memory of the cryptic conversation between Daniel and Annika on the abandoned planet sprang forth. Had Casper unknowingly had a premonition about this crazy predicament?

Annika gave an eager nod and skipped around the cell looking for the perfect hiding spot.

Jack watched her for a moment with a troubled look, then stepped away from the transparent doorway. Keeping his voice low so as not to draw Annika's attention, he rounded on Ba'al. "Is it Anubis that has done this to her or the repeated electric shocks?"

"She's been in this infantile state since she first woke."

Jack studied the Goa'uld hard for any signs of deception but found none. "How do I get in there?"

"You can't."

"Excuse me?"

"If the force field is lowered, she'll be exposed to Anubis's mind."

The colonel scowled at the opulent decor of the cell. "Clearly you didn't set this up for just a couple of hours capture. How were you planning to get food to her?"

Ba'al sighed. "Anubis launched his attack before the finer details of my plan were completed. The barrier hadn't even been tested until today."

"Oy." Jack rubbed a hand over his face. "I have to get in there to be with her."

"Can you simply not speak to her from outside?" When Jack vehemently shook his head he frowned. "I do not understand."

"That's right, you don't understand," he hissed. "You don't get one thing about Annika and her hocus pocus. Just trust me when I say I need to be in there with her. Lower the force field for the second it'll take for me to step in."

"Once in, you cannot come out," Ba'al pointed out needlessly.

"Never thought I'd say this, but I have no intention of trying to get out." At least not until this whole screwed up situation was sorted out, he added silently.

Ba'al moved to the control panel, his hand paused over the glyphs. "Despite what you think my motives are, harming Annika Jackson in this instance is not one of them." Realizing how uncharacteristically caring that sounded he added, "She is no use to me in her current state. You are aware of the risk of lowering the force field even for a second?"

Jack nodded. "Any...consequences, will be on my head. I can't help her out here."

"Ready?" The Goa'uld quirked an eyebrow.

Another nod.

Ba'al typed the code in, the moment the shield flicked off Jack jumped in. Before his boots hit the floor, Ba'al was already reentering the code and there was a low buzz of reactivation. Jack winced at the effect that moment had on Annika. All he could see was one of her boots peeking out from the side of the bed as she 'hid'. Her foot jerked but it was the earsplitting scream that echoed off the walls that made his blood run cold. It lasted just a second until the force field was back in place and then there was an eerie silence.

Jack was across the room as fast as his feet would take him, crouching down to Annika's prone body on the floor. Carefully he placed his fingers to her neck, searching for a pulse. Drew in a shaky breath when he found one. His relief was short lived as he turned her on her back and saw the blood trickling from her nose. Annika had already been on the floor 'hiding' when he'd entered, so the blood nose wasn't an external injury caused from falling when she became unconscious. Gently he tilted her head to the side, checking that there were no other bloody surprises coming from her ear canal, indicating brain injury. Her left side was clear. The right had a small trail, but it was caked. This one hadn't happened now, it probably was a result of the original attack but had been hidden by her hair. He tore open an antiseptic swab taken from a pocket in his vest and cleaned both blood trails away. Took heart that no fresh blood seeped out.

"What is her condition?"

Jack pretended not to hear the trace of worry in the Goa'uld's tone. He picked up Annika from the floor and laid her on the bed before answering. "Unconscious again. When she wakes up, it'll probably be best if she doesn't see anyone on the outside of the cell."

Ba'al hesitated at the idea of leaving them unguarded.

"Look, if she sees your Jaffa, she's gonna focus on them. Just keep them outta' sight. It's not like we can go anywhere."

Ba'al nodded and motioned for his men to step away from the entrance. "I will check in shortly on your progress."

Jack waved him away, his attention fully on his teammate. He dropped his pack to the floor and sat down, undoing the clasps to dig out the gear he'd brought. Before he'd undone the first buckle, Annika stirred.

Violet eyes blinked open, recognizing him instantly. "General Jack!"

He considered pointing out that he wasn't in fact a general, then decided to let it lie. It was enough that she comprehended that he was military, and what was jump in rank between friends? Jack smiled at her from his place on the floor. "How are you feeling?"

"Head hurts." She rubbed at the lilac star on her forehead.

"I've got something that may help with that." He rifled through the med kit and pulled out a packet of extra strength Tylenol. When he held the pills out to her, she cringed away, her eyes focused on the air around him.

"You is mad at me."

"No, I'm not."

"You were."

"But I'm not anymore." He gave her hand a squeeze and pressed the pills into her palm. "Here, sit up and take these."

She obediently did as she was told, swallowing the pills down with a gulp of water from the bottle he handed over, then slid back down so that she was lying on the bed again on her side. "Why was you mad?"

"We'll talk about that later, Casper."

She gave a giggle. "Casper." Her eyes took on a faraway look and she began humming the theme music to the cartoon show.

Jack felt his chest constrict at seeing her like this. Time to start working on getting Casper back to normal. He opened a side pocket of his pack and removed a small oil burner and a tea light.

The humming broke off. "Has Daniel found me yet?"

"Not yet." He placed the tea light in its prescribed nook.

"I must be hiding really good, huh?"

"You certainly are," Jack agreed, striking a match and lighting the wick.

"Watcha' doing?" she asked curiously.

"Setting up this oil burner." He glanced up to see she had rolled on her stomach and had rested her chin on her hands. He could see her boots swinging up and down on the mattress behind her head.

"Why?"

"I thought it might make you feel better." Jack poured a generous amount of the vanilla oil into the bowl, added a capful of water and sat back.

Her legs stopped swinging. "Why? Am I sick?"

"Well, you're not yourself."

"I'm not sick," she said confidently. Her boots began tapping together.

"You're not?" Jack raised an eyebrow. Annika looked like a kid who was lounging in her room, bored by the confinement.

"Nuh uh. Ya' know how I know?"

"Enlighten me."

"If I was sick, you woulda' brung me blue jell-o," she replied with a child's logic. "You always bring blue jell-o to the person who's sick in the infirmary."

"You remember the infirmary?"

"Of course I do."

"I didn't bring blue jell-o, but how about blue water?" He pulled out a bottle of Gatorade from his pack. "The doc thinks you should have some."

"Cooool! Pretty color!" She reached for the bottle before he could break the cap's seal. Fingers closing over the drink she winced, her face screwing up in a grimace of pain. The palm of her free hand slapped at her skull. "The doc..." It came out barely a whisper.

Jack couldn't tell if she was trying to clear her mind or simply trying to replace one pain with another.

Then violet eyes glazed slightly over and she cradled the energy drink in her arms, absently began singing. "Miss Polly had a dolly, who was sick, sick sick." She swung the bottle back and forth like a baby. "So she called for the medic, to come quick, quick, quick." Annika paused for a second, giving another grimace. When she resumed the nursery rhyme, the words she trilled had further changes to the traditional lyrics. "The Doc she came with helmet and kit. And she knocked at the 'gate with a rat-a-tat-tat." Instead of making a knocking motion on an imaginary door, the bottle dropped from her arms and her hands pretended to be shooting a gun.

Jack had mixed feelings about that little number. It pained him to see Casper like this, reduced to the mentality of a child, and yet her alteration of the lyrics made him cling to the hope that on some level she was aware of what had happened, that somewhere in her mind, the woman he knew was still there. "What sort of gate you singing about?" he asked, picking up the Gatorade and opening it for her. "A little wooden one connected to your fence back home?"

"No, silly, the Stargate." She took a swig of the mineralized water.

Another good sign! Jack waved his hand over the oil burner, wafting the vanilla around the room. "Do you like that smell?"

Annika lifted her nose, sniffing the air. "Who doesn't like the smell of cookies?" She took a few more deep breaths.

"Casper, are you hearing any other voices besides you and me?"

"You ask the funniest things, General Jack."

"Yeah, I know, I get that a lot. So are you? Maybe inside your head?"

She tilted her head quizzically. "Ya' mean like a con-sense?"

"No, like someone who is not supposed to be there."

"Nope, my head just hurts really bad." She swished the bottle in her hand, more intent on making little waves in the blue liquid than drinking.

"Casper, why don't you take a few more sips, huh?"

"Not thirsty."

"Please, for me?"

"'Please' didn't work when I asked to see Daniel," she replied stubbornly. Her mood switched to almost sullen.

He could see her carefully mulling the question over. Eventually she spoke. "We could play tea parties."

Jack blinked blankly at the woman-child staring back at him. "Tea parties?"

She nodded. "You can be the butler called Alfred, 'cause butlers are always called Alfred, and you can show my guests to the table and we can have tea."

"Okay," Jack dug through his pack and pulled out a couple of the candy bars Jenkins wanted her to eat. "And how about some snacks to go with it?"

Her head bobbed up and down, her eyes lighting up at seeing the chocolate. "Alfred, you come prepared!"

"It's a butler's job, Ma'am," Jack grinned, giving a formal half bow from his place on the floor. With a flourish he produced a tin mug from the pack. "Some fine china for your tea?"

Annika gave a delighted giggle that he had immediately stepped into the pretend role. "But of course."

Jack took the Gatorade and poured some into the mug, waited for her to take a sip then held a hand playfully to his ear. "I believe I hear your guests arriving."

She took another sip. "Then please, show them in, Alfred."

With a smile plastered on his face, showing none of the worry or concern that was gnawing at him, the colonel showed the first 'guest' in.

The coffee stopped its second hypnotic swirling. Because it was still half full, he waited a few moments, hoping that it would reveal more. He'd only been shown his own memories up to his 'exit' from the Alpha site. He had no idea if the others had survived the battle. And Annika, had she been strong enough to fight off Anubis's mental attack? There was a horrible hollow feeling where their bond should be. That magical connection was gone, severed completely. But was that because he was now dining in this no mans land or because Annika was dead?

The dark drink remained obstinately still and he gave a sigh. The coffee was now just coffee. He took a tentative sip. And cold coffee at that. Daniel looked around the diner hoping to see Oma to get some answers, however she was nowhere to be seen. He inadvertently made eye contact with the demanding businessman.

Taking it as an invitation, the businessman picked up his newspaper and strolled over, wagging a finger at him. "Hey, I know you."

"Really?" Daniel studied him intently, hoping for a glimmer of recognition. He came up blank.

"Yeah. The guy from the paper, Doctor Daniel Jackson." He dropped the newspaper to the table pointing to the front page.

Daniel looked at the paper. His first thought was surely such an enlightened race could come up with something more original than 'The Ascended Times'. The thought was replaced with surprise to see a large photo of himself beneath the headline, 'Jackson Still Undecided'. His heart sped up. This was a to the minute update of what was going on in the galaxy. Would it have details about what had been happening since he got shot? His head lifted back to the businessman, who answered his question before it even formed on his lips.

"It's okay, keep it. I'm done."

"Thanks," he replied absently, already scouring the headlines. He found it oddly disturbing that his indecision to Ascend was bigger news than 'Anubis Plans To Retake Dakara' and 'Mortal Plane Under Galaxy-Wide Attack'. His eyes were drawn to a small headline at the bottom of the page, 'MISSING! Have you seen this Tau'ri?' Beneath it was a small picture of Annika. Heart thumping he quickly read the article, hoping for a clue to what had happened to his wife. There was no mention of where or how she went missing, but it gave him hope that she had survived Anubis's attack, which was immediately replaced with a new worry. Where was she? And who was powerful enough to hide her not only physically but mentally from the half-Ascended being? The Nox were a possibility, they were 'family' after all. But if she was with her kin, then she wouldn't be considered missing. Or had she been taken by someone or something worse than Anubis?

Pushing that worrying idea aside, he turned his attention to the other articles, the ones that focused on Anubis. He did not like what he read about the weapon at the Ancient site. What was with the Ancients and their total lack of sense of responsibility? To leave a weapon of such massive power intact was beyond stupidly reckless. Hopefully he'd be able to get the information to his team, somehow. He didn't hear Oma until she slid his order of waffles onto the table. Flipping the paper around he showed her the Dakara headline. "You know about this?"

"Yes."

"And you're not going to do anything about it?"

"You know I can't." Her face was impassive.

Same old argument, he thought bitterly. Why had he thought that would have changed? "Well, I'm certainly not going to just sit here and let this happen." He got determinedly to his feet and started for the door.

"You can't leave," Oma called him back. "You're not Ascended yet."

That pulled Daniel up short and he turned back to her, his expression un-amused.

"You walk through that door, you're choosing the alternative."

His head tennis matched to the door and back again. "You're saying I'll be dead."

Oma nodded with a grimace. "Pretty much."

"Okay." Daniel came up with an instant solution. "Ascend me." He held his hands out from his sides, waiting.

She didn't move. "It doesn't mean you'll be able to help your friends. You know the rules."

"Yes, but once I'm Ascended, I can choose to take human form again, just like last time," he countered.

"Technically, yes," she agreed, then gestured to the newspaper, "but you can't take that paper with you. You won't have any of the knowledge that you've gained here, and good luck ever Ascending again. I'm certainly not going to help you a third time."

Daniel caught the warning beneath her calm tone but didn't care. "So you're saying I can know Anubis is plotting to destroy all life in the galaxy and all I can do about it is stay here and contemplate my own enlightenment?"

"You can eat your waffles," Oma shrugged and walked away.

A huff of frustration blew from his lips. "No syrup?" he sniped sarcastically. Watching her retreating figure, he asked himself what the hell was he doing here? Why had Oma brought him here? He may not remember much of his last trip to the Ascended plane, but he was pretty sure he was off the Ascended's Christmas list. He'd caused waves, unsettled their calm, non-interference waters. Why bring him back? He hadn't changed. Essentially he was the same person, his principles were the same, his attitude was the same...Well, that wasn't precisely true. The more 'enlightened' he became in the ways of the Ascended the more frustrated he became. He couldn't, wouldn't, just sit around as the silent observer, he was never one to stick to the rules... Wait, was that why? Because he hadn't changed? Because he would make waves? Not particularly caring if he was being used as a pawn, he decided to try to get some answers. And if Oma wouldn't give them to him, he had a diner full of people he could try to charm, not that he was in a charming mood at the moment. He quickly scanned the rest of the patrons making an assessment of who would be the easiest to draw into conversation. Decided on a woman, sitting by herself at the counter, eating a stack of pancakes with a book in her free hand. A reader, someone who shared a common interest...

He strode up and planted himself on a stool next to her. "Hi, how's it going? I'm Daniel Jackson." He held up the paper and tried to put a smile on his face. Not that his efforts were noticed. The woman totally ignored him. He put the paper down on the counter to try to draw her attention. "Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to know if I could borrow your syrup."

The only response he got was the woman turning the page of her book.

"Although technically, I know it's not going to be borrowing, 'cause I'm not actually going to give back what I've used." He smiled then grimaced when she continued to ignore him. He sighed, okay, so much for the scholar. "Enjoy your meal." Grabbing the paper that was his only link to plane he knew, he moved on. Maybe he'd have more luck with a group. He stopped at a booth with three men and slapped the paper on the table hoping to get some sort of reaction, even if it was a scowl of irritation for his intrusion. "Hi guys! How's it going?" Like the woman, the men gave him a healthy dose of silence. He waved his hand in the face of one of them. The man didn't even blink.

"They're not going to talk to you." Oma's quiet voice came from behind him.

"Why not?" Glad that he'd at least got some sort of response he twisted back around. "Who are they?"

"Others," she said simply. "You're not one of them yet."

He cocked his head. "You mean Ancients?"

"A couple of them," she confirmed.

"What are they doing here?"

"Watching."

"Me?" He phrased it as a question, but he already knew the answer. If they weren't watching him, then they wouldn't be here.

"Me too. I told you before, they're always watching." Oma held up a small jug of syrup, still playing the role of the perfect waitress. "You wanted some motor oil?" Without waiting for his reply, she handed him the jug and once again walked away.

Daniel looked down at the syrup, then at the statuesque beings who were doing an admirable job of completely pretending he wasn't there. This was going to turn into a very, very long day, he just knew it. With another sigh he went back to his booth, to pour the imaginary syrup over his imaginary waffles, and hoped maybe he could imagine a way out of this place.