W00t, next chap, done and up now, not quite double but close. That's to you who reviewed and who faved and such, glad you like. Next chap should be up within the week.

Chapter 20
Is There An Extra Charge For Long Distance?

Son of a bitch…

Jack O'Neill was having another bad day. Or, at least, he thought it was pretty bad so far, he couldn't really tell 'cause he had just woken up. He had woken up, however, with a pounding migraine and his head stuck in some weird…he wasn't really sure what, but it connected to a vest that currently seemed to be suspending him about fifteen feet above the ground.

He pulled his head back, disconnecting the band and the harness, and looked around; about half of the base was in a similar condition, minus the consciousness, and he twisted, trying to see more.

His leg brushed someone just below and to his right and he looked down to see General Hammond, out cold and similarly strung.

"General?" he tried, shaking his shoulder. Nothing,

The colonel gave up, glancing up at the webbing that connected him to pulsing magenta…things on the ceiling. He tugged at it, feeling where it ran down and attached to the vest.

Uneasiness filling him, he ran his hand over the entire harness, seeking out any weak spots or possible releases. He didn't find any. Twisting in the harness, he tried to get a better look at other vests, seeing if there were and obvious things on the backs.

Once more, he swung into Hammond, sending them both rocking, and he steadied them with a hand on the older man's chrome dome.

"Sorry, sir," he muttered and went back to his previous occupation.

A moment later, however, someone behind him gasped loudly, breaking the bridge between headband and vest with a snap.

"What the…?" the newly-conscious guy said, shifting audibly.

"Who is that?" Jack called; it sounded familiar.

"Major Davis," came the reply. That explained it.

"Colonel O'Neill," he offered, catching sight of a comatose Dr. Frasier. The incident in the infirmary flashed through his mind. So this is where the real Doc was…

"What's going on? How'd we get like this?" Davis asked and the colonel snorted.

"You're asking me?" He grabbed the webbing again, but froze when clanging reached his ears.

Praying that wherever Davis was he would see and follow his lead, Jack went limp, fitting the headband back into the vest and closing his eyes just as the door opened and several people came in.

He snuck a look and was rather startled to see another Dr. Frasier, this one awake and accompanied by a few airmen, a gurney and a hideous looking thing, walk into the room. The MPs fed the gurney into a weird device that glowed as it went through and, when it was finished, the fake CMO took two small devices off the bed, sticking them to the ugly.

A second later, he was the spitting image of the man on the bed. Jack raised his head a bit, not quite believing what he was watching.

"Hook him up," 'Frasier' ordered and the unconscious airman was lifted into the throng already suspended from the ceiling.

They all began to file out, the doctor bringing up the rear. The doctor stopped, however, and turned towards the hanging humans.

The colonel quickly closed his eyes and dropped his head, feigning sleep. A few tense seconds later, he heard footsteps moving away and looked just in time to see the fake Frasier go through the door.

Almost the second it shut, a voice sounded in the colonel's head.

Jack, you there?

TTSGTTSGTTSGTT

After Victoria had taken the smallest of the alien gadget, Maybourne went to the cockpit to reassure the pilot that everything was mostly alright and explain the major's engine noise theory. The pilot-a Lt. Todd, he believed- agreed and began to shift the plane to vary the frequency.

When the colonel returned to the rear, Major Carter was playing with the two disguising devices and the green adolescent was cross-legged and hovering several feet above the floor, eyes closed.

He had some doubts about whether the oddly-coloured girl was actually who she said she was, but that was another issue for another day.

An issue for now would be why said the teen had the smallest of the alien things stuck to her forehead.

"Major..." he said unsure of how to address the girl.

Carter looked up, noticed his staring and followed his gaze.

"She's seeing if she can communicate with Colonel O'Neill," the blonde explained before returning to her new toy: possibly dangerous, totally unknown alien devices.

"Why's it in the middle her forehead?"

"Because," Victoria replied without opening her eyes, sounding a little irritated. "The Ajna is the chakra point most in tune with the mind and psychic force, therefore it should help enhance the efficaciousness of my own mental abilities in combination with this doodad."

"Ah…" Her explanation just served to confuse him more and she sighed.

"The middle of the forehead is where psychic energy is strongest. Because I put the thingy there, it should help it work better with my own powers."

That made sense, he supposed. Thinking it wise not to disturb either female at their tasks, he went back to staring down the alien to ensure it wouldn't try anything.

TTSGTTSGTTSGTT

"What the…?" Jack nearly jumped out of his skin at the familiar voice of Victoria echoed through his mind. "V, is that you?"

No, it's the boogie man, she muttered dryly. Yup, definitely her.

"Where are you? Don't tell me you're hanging from one of these godforsaken lung things." He glanced up at the pulsing glowing ceiling growth.

Okey, I'm not hanging from a godforsaken lung thing.

"Who are you talking to, sir?" Major Davis asked behind him, once more trying to get down.

"An old buddy of mine," O'Neill responded, words laced with sarcasm. "Seriously, where are you?"

Sam and I are on a plane flying back to Cheyenne Mountain from D.C. Who's there with you?

"Major Paul Davis, Pentagon. What were you doing in D.C.?" He began tugging at the harness once more. Behind him, Davis decided to ignore the odd behaviour in favour of getting out.

Tryin' to get some help in taking back the SGC. And trying to avoid a couple of look-alikes of you and Daniel.

"You two alright?"

We're fine. Sam had to shoot you, though. This gave him pause.

"She did now?"

Um…yeah.

"Was she sure it wasn't me?"

Considering you don't generally try to body-check her for no reason, yeah.

This reassured him and he went back to feeling the suit up.

"Hold on a sec, Squirt. I think I found the—argh!" He found the release and subsequently dropped to the floor, grunting as he landed hard on the reinforced concrete.

What happened? Are you okey?

"I found a way down…" Jack groaned, getting to his feet. He turned, looking for the major amongst the human piñatas. "Davis…the latch for that thing is—" The younger man fell to the floor with a thud a few paces away. "You found it."

Where on base are you guys? Twenty three, still?

The colonel ran a hand through his hair, jumping when it hit the alien band still stuck to his head.

"Yeah," he grunted, prying the thing off. "It looks like the secondary power room."

Silence met his answer.

TTSGTTSGTTSGTT

Victoria's eyes snapped open and she dropped to the floor abruptly as her concentration snapped. She groaned in pain and Sam quickly looked up from the device.

"Are you okey?" the major asked, rushing to her side.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"I don't know…" the teen murmured, rubbing her butt. "It's almost like the signal cut out, but I didn't do anything. You don't think…?" She looked up at Sam.

"I doubt anything happened to Colonel O'Neill," the blonde answered quickly. "He probably just touched something and shorted it out."

The changeling sniggered. "Probably…. But how are we going to call him back if he did that?"

The two women lapsed into though for a moment before Victoria perked up.

"Wait, he said someone was with him. Major David or something like that…"

Sam raised a brow, then turned to the dead alien near the cockpit. "That's who that one was disguised as."

TTSGTTSGTTSGTT

"V, you there?" Jack called, a little unnerved.

He still got no response.

"Sir, what's wrong?" Major Davis asked, coming up beside him, his headband still firmly stuck to his face.

The colonel frantically searched for a plausible explanation; 'a green teenager was talking in my head' probably wouldn't cut it.

Suddenly, the younger man jumped, looking around frantically as he yelled "Who's there?"

Jack raised a brow; that was odd. Odd, but explainable.

TTSGTTSGTTSGTT

Major Paul Davis wasn't crazy. He really wasn't. Which meant there couldn't possibly be a voice in his head asking is he was Major Davis of the Pentagon.

"Who's there?" he yelled, looking around for the source of the voice.

Um…My name's Victoria, I'm new to your planet, and I'm a friend of Colonel O'Neill's.

The major turned to face him, his earlier words coming back: An old buddy of mine.

"Why aren't you talking to him, then?" he asked, ignoring the odd looks from the topic of conversation.

I was, but something happened. We were cut off abruptly. Can you see anything that might indicate why?

Davis did as she asked, noticing the alien doodad in the colonel's hand. He lifted his own, feeling an identical deice on his own head.

"Well, whoever put us here put these strange things on our heads; Colonel's taken his off, but I still have mine on."

Could you tell him to put it back on, please? If he asks why, just say it's Victoria and I'll hide his copy of the first five seasons of The Simpsons if he doesn't.

"Colonel O'Neill," he said, somewhat puzzled but complying none-the-less. "Victoria says to put your headband thing back on or she'll hide your Simpsons tapes."

Thank you, Major Davis.

TTSGTTSGTTSGTT

"You'll what?" Jack snapped the second he had the band back on.

Relax, will you, I was kidding.

"Don't joke about that stuff, kid."

Okey, don't take off the headband while I'm trying to talk to you!

"How was I supposed to know this was different then your usual mind-meld, thing?"

Jack, I'm probably over a hundred miles away, I can't cast that far on a good day.

He rolled his eyes; technicalities. "Well, we are on 23 with what looks like half the base, including General Hammond and Dr. Frasier."

And they're all KO marionettes?

"Yeah, basically." He looked around, eyes lighting on a rolling metal set of stairs. "I'm going to try to wake the real Doc Frasier up."

Be careful. I have to go; we're landing soon. I'll give you a heads up when we're on our way back with the cavalry.

"See you soon, V. And when am I not careful?" Jack swore he could hear her chuckling as he wheeled the stairs to the CMO, their connection fading completely.