The woman died in Elliot's arms long before any paramedics had arrived. He had known it was futile, but couldn't stop himself from trying.

When she was gone, he pulled his sidearm back out of its holster. Waving the two uniforms over, he dropped down into the tunnels. How they were lit without any signs of a light source, he couldn't understand, and didn't bother to spare it another thought. Elliot set a brisk pace, eating up the distance with long strides.

When the tunnel split off into two directions, he struck left. It continued straight nearly a hundred feet. The corner was sharp, and when he reached it there was no one laying in wait on the other side. All he saw was smeared blood on the wall and floor, a puddle of vomit, and two discarded guns. The smell hung heavy in the air.

"Damn it," he hissed.

Continuing down the hallway revealed an exit into a subway access shaft. Peering through, he saw a ladder to the street above. The manhole cover was firmly in place. He didn't think that they had gone through it, but it had to be checked out.

His radio refused to work in the tunnels, which was hardly surprising, so he pointed to two of the officers. "Go up there, let 'em know that our suspects may have taken to the streets. Possibly with hostages."

The remaining uniform followed Elliot back into the tunnel, continuing down the long hallway. He found three more guns, and finding that the tunnel looped back upon itself. He was at a loss. While there was no way to confirm it, Elliot was sure that the guns belonged to Olivia and the others. And he was also sure that there would be no sign of where they went.

How then, did you take five hostages onto the street in broad daylight, and not get noticed?

*

Olivia had always prided herself with being able to keep her cool under dicey situations. Her current predicament, however, had her thrown for a loss. That man had just stood there as she fired, and not one damn bullet had hit him. A faint orange curtain had rippled with each shot, and she simply didn't know what to make of it. She was equally at a loss to explain how he had flung Sam into the wall with a simple wave of his hand.

Between that, and the blinding flash of light that had changed her venue, Olivia figured it was perfectly reasonable if her cool had decided to take a break.

She hadn't run when Sam had told her to. A voice in her head had insisted it was pointless; he could just do to her what he had done to Sam. And there was no doubt in her mind that he was perfectly capable, and quite willing, to kill. So she couldn't make herself leave Sam there like that.

Wherever she was now—assuming she wasn't in the middle of some sort of psychotic break and hallucinating everything—had golden walls, and black floors that sucked in light like obsidian. Two men in heavy metal body armor escorted her down the hallway, one with Sam's unconscious form draped over his shoulder. Their foreheads bore the same tattoo that they found on the dead women, and Olivia mused that it was a ridiculous place to get a tattoo. Her nerves made her want to laugh at the absurdity, but it didn't seem like a very good idea.

An odd staff, inscribed with intricate patterns, was shoved roughly into her back when she wasn't moving fast enough. Olivia stumbled a few steps from the force. She turned her head and fixed him a look, but took the hint. They turned down the corridor.

"Stop," the jaffa said. She watched him step to the wall where there was a pad with six buttons on it. If she knew better, she'd say the symbols looked a lot like hieroglyphics. He pressed a sequence of buttons, and a section of the wall slid away. It revealed a moderate sized room, with Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, and Daniel Jackson inside. They lay in unconscious heaps... at least she hoped that they were just unconscious. Loitering earned her another prod, and Olivia reluctantly entered. Before she could react Sam was dumped on the floor beside her, the door sliding shut with a heavy thump.

The first thing Olivia did was roll Sam flat on her back. Fortunately, she seemed to be breathing ok. Her pulse could be stronger, but at least it was there. She turned Sam's head and examined the wound. The blood was still tacky, but it had stopped bleeding on its own. Remembering how Sam had thrown up and been unconscious since, Olivia had no doubt she had a concussion.

Olivia felt the enormity of the situation begin to pierce through her shock. She was a prisoner, a hostage, of some crazy Halloween freaks that could do things she had no way to explain. And the walls were so golden, so bright, she just wanted to bash them in while screaming at the top of her lungs. Tears started pricking at the backs of her eyes. Olivia kept them from pouring forth, purely out of pride.

She needed to keep busy, so she moved over to where the guys lay in the middle of the room. Teal'c was closest, so she stopped at him. His hat was gone, and Olivia paused as she saw the tattoo on his forehead. Like the others, and yet entirely different. It was raised, golden in color, and a completely different symbol. Two ovals, one inside the other, surrounded a wriggling serpent. The outer oval was open at the top, the lines tapering off rather than ending abruptly.

At least, she thought, that explained the hat.

Her fingers went to his neck to feel for a pulse. As soon as she made contact, Teal'c's large hand shot out and grabbed her arm just behind the wrist. "Let go!" she screamed in shock, jumping back and trying to pull away. All she managed to do was wrench her shoulder.

His eyes opened, and took in Olivia in her half-standing position. Her eyes were opened wide, pulse racing and breaths coming in ragged gasps. With just a little more pressure he could really hurt her, and Olivia wasn't entirely certain he wouldn't.

"Detective Benson," he said after a few moments, recognition dawning on his face. When Teal'c let go of her arm, Olivia took several steps back, almost to the wall. She cradled the limb, surprised to have gotten it back so easily. Teal'c rose fluidly to a sitting position, bowing his head in contrition. "Please forgive me, I hope I have not caused you harm."

Her eyes narrowed skeptically as she idly rubbed at her wrist. "I'll live."

"Oye!" Jack rolled onto his back as he grabbed his head. "Will NEVER get used to that."

"Are you injured, O'Neill?" Teal'c said. Olivia simply watched the interaction.

"Ya think?" Teal'c's gaze hardened, and though Jack wasn't looking at him, he shrunk away from the impatient expression. "I'm fine."

"You two have to be so loud?" Daniel groaned as he sat up beside the others.

"Wouldn't want to offend your delicate sensibilities, now would we?" Jack rolled his eyes. His gaze roamed the room, taking in Olivia as she stared back, and Sam lying beside the door. He winced, looking at the clot of blood in her blonde hair. "How is she?"

Olivia was at a loss for words. They were joking, perfectly calm, and yet she could see that they were all on guard, studying their surroundings. It was as though they found this situation to be perfectly normal, whatever this situation was.

And just how did she explain what had happened without sounding like a moron? "Um, this guy did something and she flew into the wall and cracked her head. She was conscious for a moment, and then she threw up."

If Sam hadn't acted, she'd be the one unconscious on the floor. Or worse.

"Ouch," Jack said.

The three of them got up. Jack and Daniel went to Sam, while Teal'c stood at the door. Though there was nothing to grab onto, he tested its strength. And found it to be sound.

Olivia shook her head. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

Three heads looked over at her in unison. Daniel spoke. "Excuse me?"

"You're acting like this is normal. This is NOT normal. Actually, it can't be real, so who cares how you're acting."

But her shoulder throbbed dully, and she was starting to tremble from the shock.

Jack clasped her shoulders without Olivia realizing he had even moved. "Detective." The command in his voice had her standing up straight. His eyes showed sympathy mixed with authority. "This is a lot to take in, I know. But it's very real. I'm not going to explain it all right now, because that's more Carter's thing and it's a long story. All you really need to know is that we're prisoners, and those guys we were after are card-carrying members of the Intergalactic Badass Association. So, you need to keep calm, and be ready to get the hell out of here the first chance that comes."

Olivia just nodded her head slowly, not sure what else to do.