He rocked back and forth like a frightened child in a cold sweat. He gripped his heart and it felt heavy. He curled himself up into a little ball and rolled on the ground. Teal'c seemed unfazed by the ordeal. "You must get up, Colonel Makepeace if you are to continue on this path."

Colonel Makepeace cocked his shaky head up in Teal'c's direction. He tried to move his mouth but it wouldn't budge. He smelled a chemical in the atmosphere of the room but he didn't care very much about it. It could have been processed petroleum for all he cared, he just wanted the torture to end. Everywhere on the outside of his body felt numb. He tried scraping at the dirt and all he felt was nothing. Colours blurred in front of his face and he saw them swirl all around the room. Teal'c stood as stoic as ever, not even noticing the trouble the Marine was in. "You must get up." Teal'c repeated.

Makepeace attempted to open his mouth and speak but a shot of pain akin to electricity shot through his jaw then down his spinal cord and within a second he felt pain throughout the skeletal structure of his entire body. Every muscle tensed around the bones and he could feel his body seizing up. He didn't know what was happening to him. He felt like he was going to die, or maybe having a heart attack he wasn't sure which one it was. It could have been that his mind knew he was going to die because of the heart attack. Granted that he was getting old – he certainly wasn't getting any younger – but he knew that heart attacks weren't common for his age; by all means he was in perfect health.

Yet, the pain and numbness attested differently. He felt hundreds of years older then what he was. In spite of the pain that laced his mouth, he spoke. "What's happening?" He mumbled.

"Your body is going through a state of shock. You need to calm yourself, Colonel Makepeace otherwise the fear will take a hold of you."

Makepeace continued to writhe in pain on the ground. The intensity was only growing. "I am human not Jaffa!"

"Get on your feet." Teal'c ignored Makepeace's complaints.

The stiffness in his bones made it difficult for him to stand. He stumbled and fell. He fought passed the brick walls that lined all the joints in his body and he stood, though not fully as he fell over twice. He crouched in a kneeling position before his body gave out and forced yet another collapse. He exerted a tremendous effort in standing. "Okay," he breathed before he collapsed again. "I'm on my feet."

The strength and will it took to force his body into a standing position made him wheeze like he had asthma. Teal'c's face remained emotionless. "Climb the rope." He stated simply.

"What?" Forcing his jaws apart made them close together in a violent snap but the only pain he felt was the movement from the bones, not the impact. His entire frame was wracked with electricity that was unprecedentedly felt.

"Climb." Teal'c repeated.

Makepeace gripped his chest with two firm arms. He tried to separate his hands but the minute he lost the strength they collapsed back into a locked position. He tried taking deep breaths but the more he breathed in, the worse his condition grew. He collapsed and was once again writhing on the floor in pain. His mouth contorted into a straight line as he struggled to move his hands. He reached into his pockets and deftly tied a bandana around his mouth. He tried to tie it behind his neck but his hands were refusing to budge. After no more than a moment, the numbness on the outside of his body began to disappear. He still felt the pain pulsating throughout his whole body but at least he could feel something on the outside now. He picked up a scrape of dirt from the ground and relished in the texture as his hands shook. It was a good sign; it meant that the blood was going back to his hands.

When his hands began to feel normal again, he tied a knot at the back of his neck then stood on his own two feet expecting another shock of electricity to surge, but receiving only a sense of numbness in its place. He breathed deeply and tiredly. He looked up at the rope that the imaginary Teal'c was expecting him to climb. Anger replaced fear. "You expect me to climb that?"

The rope that Teal'c was standing in front of stretched to the ceiling of the darkened cave. For all he knew, it had no end. "Indeed."

Makepeace glanced at the Jaffa and noticed that his image began to fade quickly. The Colonel squinted his eyes to narrow his focus and as he did so, Teal'c faded completely from sight. "Aw, Hell." Makepeace opened and closed his fists to test for blood flow. The pain had subsided almost completely and the shaking had stopped. "Well, I did one in gym class. How hard can this be?" He approached the rope, giving it a fair tug. Once determining that the rope was secure, he began to climb.

He estimated that he was 20 feet about the ground before he grew tired. There was a small ledge sticking out from in front of him where he chose to stop and rest. Every muscle in his body ached. His breath ran short because of the bandana that he wrapped around his face, but he dared not take it off; the other sort of pain he experienced before was debilitating, what he felt now was nothing by comparison. After five minutes rest, he continued to climb. "It's carry on or turn back. Turn back isn't an option," he said out loud though not even his imaginary friends were present to hear him.

Makepeace climbed and climbed. He thought there would be no end. He looked up and saw that he was no closer to the top then when he started. He grew frustrated at himself for not knowing when it was going to end or if there was an end to begin with. He was up high enough to see that if he fell he was as good as dead. He sighed and heaved, but he kept going nonetheless.

"Keep going, just a little longer." Makepeace looked around frantically searching for the disembodied voice. "You're almost there Colonel. Don't worry."

Makepeace glanced upwards. "Jackson?" He yelled. The boy was looming over the cliff carelessly and happily. The brightness in Daniel's mood irritated Makepeace, just like it always did. He continued to climb.