Sorry! tried to get this done fast but then dad kept hogging the computer...ugh. Anyway, here ya go. Please tell me what you think. reviews help so much and thanks to all of you:)

Chapter 10

Jack stood silently next to the cot where Carter was strapped down, not at all looking forward to conversing with the snake inside her.

Fraiser stood and put away the empty syringe she'd just injected. "She should wake up in a minute, sir."

He nodded and tightened his grip on the zat in his hand. If he had any other choice he wouldn't be doing this. He didn't want Carter awake to be controlled, but he knew she'd want him to if it meant helping Daniel. At least Daniel was asleep right now and didn't have to see...hear this.

Sure enough, it had been a minute or so, and she was coming around. Jack felt himself tensing as her eyes flickered open...and he saw Carter in them.

It was only for a moment, but it was her. He was sure of it. She looked up at him in confusion, and perhaps a plea for help, before her eyes flashes orange-white and the Goa'uld took over. Sekhmet glared at him.

"Where am I?" The voice was that of a Goa'uld; deep, gravely, and inhuman.

With some difficulty, Jack swallowed back the anger in his throat and retorted. "Well, gee, if you're a god don't you know that already?"

Her scowl only deepened. "You are called O'Neill." It wasn't a question. She'd obviously done her homework in Carter's head. That didn't make him feel any better.

"Yeah; what's it to ya?"

"What do you want?"

Jack slowly lowered himself onto the crate that sat in between Carter and Daniel's beds. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll lay it out for you: I want Daniel's sight back, and I want Carter back--in that order. You don't have to worry about the second one, cause we'll do that for you once we get back to earth whether you like it or not. You're going to do the first one for us, though."

"What makes you think that I would do such a thing for you?" Sekhmet smirked.

Jack glanced back at Fraiser, who was watching from a few feet away with a rather worried look on her face. Thank goodness the Goa'uld couldn't see her.

"Not for me, for Daniel, and you'll do it because if you don't things are going to get really unpleasant for you after you're removed. At least, I'm pretty sure death is unpleasant…" he trailed off ominously for effect, but unfortunately it didn't seem to do any good.

"Your earth government will not allow you to kill me."

Crap. The snake had done too much homework.

"That doesn't mean people don't break rules at times."

Of course, he would never cross Hammond and risk court-martial on something as stupid as whether the Goa'uld was killed or not, as long as it got out of Carter. If saying he would had a chance of saving Daniel's eyes though, he had no qualms with lying about it--especially to a Goa'uld.

Beside, if the snake really had done enough homework, she would know that carter knew that what he'd actually said had been true. He did break rules at times. Goodness knew he and the rest of SG-1 had defied orders more than once.

But her face remained hostile. "I will not help you."

Oh for cryin' out loud…

"However, if you were to release me, I might consider it."

"Not a chance," Jack glared. "You're not going anywhere in that body."

"Then find me another."

"I don't think so. I wouldn't wish that fate on my worst enemy."

Sekhmet smirked again. "Then your friend will remain as he is."

Jack stood. "No, he won't. You're going to fix it, or the minute you're out of that body you are going to die. Do we understand each other?"

Her eyes flashed at him again, and he winced inwardly at the sight of Carter's eyes looking so unnatural.

"You will not kill me, O'Neill; I will not do what you ask. Only if you release me will I help Daniel Jackson. Those are my only terms."

"You know I can't do that," Jack spat angrily.

Sekhmet laid her head back again and closed her eyes. "Then I have nothing more to say."

Jack stood where he was for a moment scowling down at her. He was so entirely and purposefully focused on being angry that he couldn't get help for Daniel that he didn't notice almost until it was too late that Sekhmet had moved. Without warning, her arms pushed upward and popped the straps, and she jumped to her feet.

"Colonel-!" That was all Fraiser got out before Sekhmet activated her hand device and blew both of them across the room. They landed in the pile of crates of medical supplies, knocking several over and even more open.

Airmen spilled into the room seconds later, and one zatted her down before she could cause any more damage. Carter's body crumpled backwards over the cot she'd been confined on only a few moments before, and the men moved quickly to secure her again.

Jack grimaced and got to his feet, carefully avoiding the spilled contents of the crates that were rolling across the floor. "You okay, doc?" he reached down to offer a hand in helping Fraiser up and she took it. He pulled her to her feet.

"I'm fine, colonel," she said, rubbing at her back a bit. "A little bruised, maybe, but fine. I'd better get some more sedative injected," she sighed.

"Yeah…" Jack nodded, wincing to himself. There was no reason for her not to now. They weren't getting any help from Sekhmet.

Jack wandered into the cockpit of the Al'kesh, where he found Teal'c. They would be home by morning, but just now it was the middle of the night. Walter was sleeping, so Teal'c was driving. O'Neill shuffled over to the other unused seat at the front of the ship next to his friend and dropped into it.

Teal'c glanced at him. "I take it that it did not go well."

Jack shook his head. "Nope, not really…should have expected that. Well, I did, really, but…" He sighed. "I was kinda hoping that Sacked Cat back there would agree to fix what she did to Daniel, he'd be fine, we'd get her out of Carter, and this would all be over…"

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed quietly. "But Sekhmet has not agreed to reverse it."

"No, she hasn't. Apparently the only way she's even going to think about fixing it for him is if we let her go."

"That we cannot do."

"No, ya think?" Jack rolled his eyes and sat back, pushing a hand through his hair. "I just wish I didn't have to be the one to tell Daniel all this."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking if I will perform that duty?"

"What? No. No, I'll do it…I'm just not happy about it—not happy about what I have to tell him, I mean…" O'Neill trailed off and stared out the window at the purplish blur of hyperspace, his thought taking over. Somehow his mind always seemed to conjure up the worst-case scenario; right now the worst case being Daniel left blind for the rest of his life, and Carter probably feeling all the guilt for it.

That just wasn't acceptable.

"We will find another way, O'Neill. Daniel Jackson will not remain blind," Teal'c said firmly. His voice carried all the confidence Jack wished he had at the moment. Stubbornness that he wouldn't give up until he found a way, he had. Confidence that he would actually succeed, he did not.

Jack looked over at his friend again and smiled. "Thanks, T."

Teal'c nodded, and then for several minutes more the two sat, doing nothing more than watching the stars go by. Then finally O'Neill stood again.

"Guess I'd better go talk to Daniel…"

"Do you wish for me to come with you, O'Neill? The ship is on course for earth. It is not necessary for me to remain here at all times."

Jack shook his head. "Nah, it's okay. Besides, this is…something I need to talk over with him myself." Teal'c looked at him for a moment and then nodded in respect for his decision and turned back around in his seat. Jack thanked him silently and headed back to the Al'kesh's impromptu infirmary, where the mess Sekhmet had made had finally been completely cleaned up.

Daniel was still sleeping, head on a single rather lame pillow brought from the infirmary. This ship didn't have all the comfort of home, and he was still in his disheveled BDUs sans boots, jacket, and glasses. His head and wrists had been bandaged and cleaned as well as they could be here, but another think they were lacking in on the Al'kesh was an abundance of water and a place in which to use it to shower even if they had it, so a good deal of the dried blood that wasn't right around the wounds was still there. Aside from that his forehead still looked terrible and his face was rather pale. In short, he looked awful.

Jack didn't even want to think about how much worse he might look once he'd heard what he had to say. O'Neill was battling with himself over whether to wake Daniel or wait until he woke up himself when he stirred and the choice was taken from him. O'Neill lowered himself onto the crate again and sat forward, elbows on his knees.

"Daniel?"

Daniel shifted again and groaned a little before his eyes finally slid open. Not that that mattered, but at least it was solid evidence he was awake.

"Hey…how ya doin'?"

The archaeologists rubbed at his eyes for a moment and then sighed. "I'm all right….you?"

"Oh, I'm fine….just sitting around twiddling my thumbs and watching the stars go by, that's all…the usual."

But Daniel Jackson, of course, could see right through him even without his eyes. "What's wrong, Jack?" he asked quietly.

"Ah…"

"Just spit it out, Jack," he said tiredly.

O'Neill sighed. "Sekhmet's not going to help us."

Daniel snorted. "No surprise there…"

"Yeah….but we're not giving up."

Daniel smiled a little at that. "I know."

He didn't say anything else, and Jack didn't quite have anything else to say yet either. He sat in silence for a moment, until he finally thought he had the courage to suggest the only thing he could think of at the moment.

"We could always give it more time…maybe if we put enough pressure on her she'll agree…"

"No." The answer came immediately and decisively. "Get that thing out of Sam as soon as we get back. It doesn't matter if I can see her or not; I just want her back."

Well, Jack didn't like the idea either--he wanted Carter back soon too--but what other choice did they have right now?

"But what if…" he trailed off, not willing to say it aloud. What if there's no other way? What if we throw away the only chance you'll ever have to see again by acting too quickly?

Something O'Neill couldn't quite identify flickered across Daniel's face, but whatever it was told him that his friend was thinking the same thing. "There's another way, Jack. I'll be fine. Just worry about Sam for now."

Jack sighed. "Are you sure? Cause you know that Carter would agree if--"

Daniel's hand shot out and caught his jacket, the first thing it connected with. "Jack…" he pleaded quietly.

O'Neill fell silent again and studied his friend. Yes, it was obvious that he was scared as heck that he would end up stuck this way, but it was also obvious that he still wanted the best for his friends first. He wanted Carter free and herself again. He wanted her back just as Jack did, and sooner rather than later. And it was bad enough for Jack….he had no idea how terrible it must have been for Daniel to be trapped on that planet for the past couple of days being tortured by that snake in her body…

"All right," he agreed quietly.

It wasn't like there was no chance at all of finding another way to fix whatever was wrong with Daniel's eyes. They had their few acquired technologies, and their off-world allies. In fact, if anyone could do it, it would be Thor…if they could get a hold of the little grey guy. But even then there was no guarantee.

And they both knew it.

Daniel nodded minutely, telling him it was all right; he would be all right. Jack just hoped that was true.

"How much longer until we get to earth?" Daniel asked a moment later.

Jack glanced down at his watch. "Oh…about two hours. Why?"

He shrugged. "No reason…" And then right before O'Neill's eyes he fell asleep again in the space of five seconds.

Jack sighed.

Jacob Carter couldn't remember the last time he had actually paced, but he was sure doing it now. As soon as the Tok'ra had gotten the message from George about what had happened to his daughter he had been at Stargate Command in a heartbeat, thankful beyond words that he hadn't been somewhere else on a mission currently. Granted, a couple of other Tok'ra had come with him to actually perform the removal procedure, but he wasn't going to let Sam go through this without him.

His first reaction to the news that his daughter had been forcibly taken as a host to a Goa'uld had been mortification, but that had quickly given way to worry and anger—mostly worry. He knew that once Jack and his team got her home and they were able to remove the symbiote she would be fine—with the use of a hand-held healing device there wouldn't even be a scar—but that knowledge didn't seem to help quite as much as he'd thought in would.

Therefore Jacob was, in fact, pacing along the wall at the side of the storage room where the SGC kept a ring platform. SG-1 would arrive and ring down any minute now, and he wanted to be here. George was on his way, but being the commander of the entire base he didn't have time to wait around for an entire half-hour before his people were scheduled to arrive. And there wasn't anything wrong with that, was there? Hyperspace was a bit unpredictable; they could have gotten here earlier. In the end they hadn't though. The scheduled time was only a minute or so away now, and it had been confirmed that their Al'kesh had entered a solar system not long ago.

That was when George Hammond made his appearance.

"They're about to ring down, Jacob," George informed him, stepping into the room.

With some difficulty, Jacob forced his feet to stop moving and turned to face his friend. "Thanks George," he said, giving Hammond a brief smiled before focusing his attention on the ring platform. Sure enough, it activated a moment later.

When the light died away and the rings disappeared, Jacob saw that the first to ring down were SG-1 and Janet Fraiser. Daniel was on his feet, at least, which was good news considering how bad the news about him had sounded. He wasn't standing completely under his own power unfortunately; he was leaning heavily on Teal'c, whose shoulders he had an arm over. Janet hovered near them, obviously not entirely approving of Daniel being up. Knowing Jackson though, he wouldn't have had it any other way. Even with his eyes staring blindly at nothing…

Jacob suppressed a sympathetic shudder at the disturbing sight and shifted his attention to the two remaining members of the initial party: his unconscious daughter and Jack O'Neill, who was carrying her.

"Would've gotten this crazy dress off already, but we didn't think to bring anything else," the colonel apologized sarcastically. Trust Jack to try to lighten the mood with humor.

Jacob offered a slight smile and moved toward them. "It's all right," he said, bringing up a hand to push the hair from Sam's eyes. The shadow of a smile quickly faded as he looked at her, and was replaced with a worried frown.

"She'll be all right, Jacob, just tell me where to bring her so we can get this thing out," Jack assured him.

"Get her to the OR," Janet answered for him, stepping forward. Then she looked at Jacob. "Are you ready for her in there?"

Jacob nodded quickly. "Yes; the others are waiting. We can perform the procedure immediately."

"Good, let's get going then," O'Neill answered, starting for the door with Sam.

"Jack…" The voice was Daniel's. Jack stopped and turned to him.

"Yeah, Daniel?"

"What about us?"

Teal'c looked to O'Neill. "I will bring Daniel Jackson to the infirmary."

Jack nodded. "Good idea. If any of you need me, you know where I'll be." Of they did. They knew he would be in the observation room right above the OR being used for the removal procedure, and they all knew that nothing would keep him from being there.

Jacob sighed; there were times when he wondered about those two…

"But Jack, I want to--"

"Oh no you don't, Daniel. You're going straight to the infirmary where you belong," Jack interrupted him.

Daniel was in no condition to be anywhere but the infirmary, and they could all see it. Jacob admired his determination to be there for his friends though, especially considering the one he wanted to be there for now was his daughter. Even if he couldn't see what was going on, his desire to be present was practically emanating from him."

George stepped forward, his eyes heavy. "He's right, son," he advised quietly.

Daniel seemed to take a little bit more stock in what Hammond said, and sighed, agreeing, but obviously reluctantly. "Yes sir…"

Janet put a hand on his arm. "Sam will be all right, Daniel." He nodded absently.

With that settled, Jacob bolted from the room, Jack right behind him with Sam. They were going to get that snake out of her, and they were going to get it done. Now.