Chapter Eleven

"Could you tell me another story?"

Sam smiled, but at the same time she had to blink away the acid sting of tears. Daniel was laying on his stomach on the bed with his chest propped up on a couple of pillows. His blue eyes were reddened once again by tears that he had already forgotten about.

He had regressed again and along with his young age had come the terror of being alone in an unfamiliar place. Jack was exhausted and Teal'c made Daniel nervous, so Sam was doing what she could to put him at ease. Daniel put his chin down on the pillows he was hugging and watched her expectantly.

"Please?" Daniel asked sweetly. "Just one more."

"Alright," Sam smiled and sat down on the side of the bed "one more. Once upon a time there was a brash Air Force Colonel and his rag-tag team of misfits fighting against an evil creature who claimed to be a snake god, but was really just a slimly snake bent on destroying the Earth..."

As Sam retold Daniel a story of his own exploits he hung on her every word. He was so enthralled that he lost his anxious edge and began to truly enjoy the tale. He kept quiet as she told him of their defying of orders to take on Apophis, but his changing expression betrayed what he was thinking. Sam wasn't sure if it was just her own imagination, but Daniel actually looked younger to her than he ever had.

"So now our hero is stuck on an alien craft that is about to explode." Sam made a hand signal that seemed appropriate for an explosion. "However, the young archeologist wasn't going to go down without a fight. He had a plan."

"He used the Gate, didn't he?" Daniel said excitedly.

"That's right." Sam smiled. "He out foxed the nasty Goa'uld with their own Gate."

"What about his friends?" Daniel asked with genuine concern. "How did they get away?"

"Well, Colonel O'Neill just happens to be one of the best pilots in the whole Solar System, maybe the Galaxy." Sam chuckled. "While in the belly of the other ship they stole a fighter plane and high tailed it out of there just as the ships were bursting into flames. And thus the Earth was saved."

"You tell the best stories." Daniel announced.

Sam smiled and stood up as Daniel stifled a yawn.

"All right Mister, bed time."

Daniel rolled his eyes, but didn't look like he was going to put up a fight. He rolled over onto his back as Sam pulled down the sheets. In an act of grace that Sam didn't usually associate with Daniel he somersaulted so that he was at the proper end of the bed and then wriggled under the sheets.

Sam pulled the fleece blanket up to his chest. Daniel smiled gratefully but suddenly his eyes were full of sorrow again. It broke Sam's heart to see the tiny spark of happiness he'd just had flicker out. She reached out and gently brushed back his hair.

"What's wrong?"

"I...I wish I could part of a team like that." Daniel whispered.

Sam was speechless.

"They sound..." Daniel paused "they sound like a family."

"I guess in a lot of ways they are." Sam replied softly. "Get some rest, Daniel."

"Could you stay until I fall asleep?"

"Of course."

Daniel smiled as his eyes slowly closed under the weight of sleep. Sam leaned forward and kissed his forehead. She didn't have to wait long before Daniel's chest was rising slowly in sleep. When she turned to leave she jumped a little as she discovered she had company. She looked back to make sure that she hadn't woken Daniel and then joined Jack in the hall.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." Jack replied with a sad smile.

"We have to help him, Sir."

"We're going to."

"Is Dr. Mackenzie here?"

"Yup." Jack looked Sam over for a minute. "You know you don't have to go through this hypnosis thing again if you don't want to."

"I want to."

"Alright, let's go."

Sam followed Jack down into the bare, distractionless room that they had used the last time when her memory had been scrambled by Nem. Dr. Mackenzie smiled at her reassuringly and helped her get comfortable in the lone chair beneath the pulsing light. Jack stood a few back with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Colonel, I want you to relax, as deeply as you can."

Sam listened to Dr. Mackenzie's soothing voice. She didn't have the same fears and doubts about hypnosis as Jack did. She allowed her mind to relax, she let her memory flow freely without trying to remember any one thing.

"Now then...I want you to go back. You're on your last mission..."

"There is a city in the distance..."

"Tell me about it."

"It looks abandoned, but we can't tell."

"What do you do?"

"We decided to try and reach it."

"But the journey is too far, right?" Mackenzie lead Sam through her memories.

"That's right...we make camp."

"Then what?"

"Teal'c takes watch, Dani... No!" Sam suddenly cried. "No, wait!"

"What is happening?" Dr. Mackenzie asked calmly.

"Someone...someone is taking him."

"Taking who?"

"Daniel." Sam replied vacantly. "Someone's taking him from us."

"Us?"

"Teal'c is with me. He's angry. He can't help. Neither of us can."

"Why not?"

"I...I don't know. We just...can't. It's cold, and dark."

Sam furrowed her brow, trying to concentrate on why she can't get to Daniel. Her memories of it made no sense to her. She simply couldn't move forward, even though nothing seemed to be in the way. Then she was no longer even trying to get through, she was just staring at Teal'c in horror.

"What happens next?" Dr. Mackenzie pressed.

"Screaming..." Sam whispered as tears slipped from her aqua eyes. "Daniel's screaming."

"Is he asking for help?"

"No. His voice just slices through the cold air...but their are no words."

"Can you see him?"

"No. But they're torturing him, I don't know why...but they are. They must be."

"Who are they?"

"I don't know."

"Are they human?"

"I don't know." Sam repeated in a monotone.

"Is there anything you can tell me? Anything that you know?"

"Daniel is going to die." Sam whimpered. "He can't possibly survive whatever they're doing to him."

"But that doesn't happen." Mackenzie points out. "He lives."

"Yes." Sam nodded slowly. "They bring him back...I expect him to be bloody."

"But he isn't?"

"No. There isn't a scratch, and yet..."

Sam stopped and gasped sharply. Her eyes lost all of their focus as she began hyperventilating.

"Colonel Carter, you are safe here. What is happening now?"

Sam didn't answer. Jack stepped forward as her frame tensed. He reached out to touch her, but Dr. Mackenzie stopped him. Sam weld her eyes shut and let out a blood curdling scream that half of the Base must have heard.

"Carter!" Jack cried.

Sam collapsed to the floor in a fit of dry heaving. Jack dropped down beside her and rubbed between her shoulder blades. She continued retching until she spat bile. When her stomach seemed to calm Jack helped her sit up. She instantly rubbed away the tears that were tracing down her face.

"Carter?"

"I'm sorry, Sir." Sam panted. "I'm so sorry..."

"For what?"

"I...I told them. I told them."

"What did you tell them?"

"Everything...literally."

"Literally?"

"Everything I know, everything I've ever known."