Catch and Release

"Proof once again that IQ and common sense don't go hand in hand."

"He did save us, sir."

"Yeah, Carter, by revealing his location! He should have hot-footed it to the 'gate and brought back reinforcements. What is it with this guy and his lack of self-preservation?"

The quarantine room Daniel currently occupied, just off the main infirmary, was small and perfectly square, and he'd paced every single inch of space, stopping only occasionally to examine his hands before starting off on his trek again. Jack didn't need to be up close and personal with Daniel to know that his pupils were dilated saucers, courtesy of some whacked-out drug Ba'al's Jaffa had fed him in the name of extracting information. It was a distinct change from their normal modus operandi of shoot first, capture, and, if possible, bring bowed down and subdued before their god. How Daniel had got away and made it back to the 'gate was still a mystery.

Jack presented his back to the viewing window to block out his view of Daniel and his endless pacing. "What did Fraiser say?"

"The toxicology report isn't back from the labs yet, which is why she has him in quarantine. As a precaution."

An explanation that didn't sit well with Jack. "Why him and not us?"

"We weren't exposed to the drug or to Daniel after he was captured."

"And Daniel Jackson made it back to the Stargate alone," Teal'c added, from his seat on the far side of the small viewing room.

"Yeah, about that. Ba'al isn't the type to catch and release."

Sam shrugged and pulled up a chair next to Teal'c. Below them, Daniel had stopped his pacing and was quietly examining his hands, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath that the microphones in the room couldn't pick up. "He was okay letting Janet take blood, but got agitated when she tried to put him into the MRI. In the end, she decided to wait for the blood results before chancing a sedative."

"That bad?"

"Yes, sir. Broke Lt. Burrow's nose when they tried to strap him down."

"It is possible that Ba'al deliberately returned Daniel Jackson to us in this condition." Teal'c turned away from the window and rose up onto his feet. "He was able to use his GDO to return home."

"What are you thinking, Teal'c?" Jack asked. "Some type of mind control?"

"Lord Ba'al is known among the System Lords for favoring the use of acquired technology to further his unique torture methods. It would not be beyond him to have manipulated Daniel Jackson in some way."

"Well…" Jack turned back to the window and down to Daniel, who had resumed pacing the room at a now frenetic pace, "something has done a number on him."

"And I can tell you exactly what it is." Janet Fraiser stepped into the room, clutching a patient chart to her chest, which Jack could only assume was Daniel's. "His blood stream is saturated with a type of organism that at first glance looks like red blood cells, and would have gone unnoticed except that his cell count was way beyond what it should have been, causing us to look a little closer. The isolated samples we had went dormant within a short time after being extracted from Daniel, but activated once introduced to adrenaline, releasing a compound that can cause over-stimulation of certain regions of the human brain."

"Causing what?" asked Sam.

"Primarily sensitivity to touch and other stimuli, as well as making the victim more open to suggestion. I won't know to what degree until we get him under the MRI scanner."

"Sounds like some type of date-rape drug."

"Whoa…" Jack turned abruptly away from the window to face Janet. "You're not saying he was…"

"No, sir. Only that the organisms cause a reaction similar to what we see in victims of date-rape drug exposure. I found no sign of any other suspicious activity when I examined Daniel."

"Okay," Jack said wearily, scrubbing a hand through his hair in frustration. "What are we looking at here? Bottom line it for me."

"Bottom line? The organisms go dormant and eventually die in the absence of adrenaline, or at least reduced levels of adrenaline. Now that I know what we're looking at, and that it's safe for us to use certain types of sedatives without risking his health any further, we can artificially lower his adrenaline levels until the organisms are clear of his system."

"And he'll be okay after that?"

Janet shrugged, tilting her head from side to side as though undecided about something. "I would like to get him into the MRI before we set about lowering his adrenaline levels… if he'll let us. I'm hoping with his lowered reasoning levels, he'll at least be open to me taking another blood sample…"

"You're going to slip him a Mickey?" Sam asked, with a sly smile on her lips.

"You've been spending way too much time in the infirmary, Major Carter," Janet teased lightly. "But yes. The MRI will give us an exact map of what the organisms are doing to the affected regions of his brain. Handy in case we come up against this type of attack again."

Jack grimaced and turned to look back down at Daniel, now sitting with his legs over the end of the bed and fidgeting almost uncontrollably. Occasionally, he looked up towards the two-way mirror, but if he had any sense the rest of his team was there, he didn't show it. "Do it."

The End