Title: As the 'Gate Turns: What Once was Lost…
Author: Annerb
Rating: R minor language, violence, death
Summary: Jack and SG-1 find something in the last place they expected
Classifications: Series, Drama, Action
Season: Mid-season 8, up through End Game (AU from there)
DisclaimerThe characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

Author's Note: This one has quite a bit more violence than the earlier parts, but is it really my fault that those Goa'uld are such nasty gits? Just be prepared for some blood, violence and general nastiness. Montage and Triptnx: you are goddesses among false goddesses…:)

Feedback: Always appreciated!

Part 11: What Once Was Lost…

Jack lay on his back staring into complete darkness. He could hear the soft breathing of Sam right next to him. He reminded himself not to reach out and shake her awake. He didn't want another bite for his troubles. Instead, he continued to catalog his surroundings. Just from the feel of the floor underneath him, the slightly stale metallic taste of the air and the constant soft humming sound, Jack knew exactly where he was. He had, after all, spent enough time in Goa'uld holding cells to know one like the back of his hand.

As his sight slowly came back, he was able to visually confirm his supposition. He could hear the others beginning to stir. "Have I mentioned lately how much I miss this?" Jack said acerbically to no one in particular.

"Come on, Jack," Daniel answered gamely from a few feet away, "you can't tell me that this isn't more fun than choosing the type of potatoes to serve in the mess this week."

Jack just snorted before sitting up and assessing what supplies he still had on his person. Weapon: gone. Pack: gone. Secretly stashed knife: gone. Then he looked down at his wrist and cursed. Daniel looked over in askance and Jack grumbled, "Why do they always take the watches?"

"What?" asked Daniel, giving Jack his you-do-know-you-sound-crazy look.

Jack just shook his head and got up to pace around the room. "So we basically have no idea which snake has us?"

"We do not, O'Neill. I have seen no Jaffa since we arrived here."

"Well, I'm sure we won't have long to wait, these guys love to do the bow-at-my-feet, I-am-your-god bit."

"My favorite part," Sam said, finally deciding to join the conversation. Jack could see that she was also taking inventory to spot if the Jaffa may have missed anything that could be useful. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up and shook her head. Jack noted that they took her watch, too. Damn Goa'uld.

At that point, the sound of pounding feet could be heard in the hallway outside. "Not big on stealth, are they," Jack quipped. The approaching Jaffa were marked with tattoos that Jack did not recognize, though they looked like two crossed arrows. He didn't have time to ask if Daniel recognized them, because their guards roughly manacled their hands in front of them and then herded them out of the cell.

They were dragged into the peltak of the mothership. It was decorated in the same overstated gaudiness that was typical of the Goa'uld. A marble throne sat atop a raised dais and lounging regally in it was their Goa'uld host. She wore long soft folds of dark red silk and her face and hair were heavily veiled with gold-accented cloth. Darkly kohled eyes lazily inspected long fingernails.

"Jaffa!" called the symphonic voice of the Goa'uld accompanied by an imperious wave of her hand.

Their Jaffa guards responded to the call by knocking them in back of the legs, forcing them roughly to their knees.

"Kneel before your goddess, the glorious Anat," intoned the First Prime.

Jack groaned quietly at the pain in his knee and squinted over at Daniel. "Anat?" he questioned.

"Uh…sister of Baal, Babylonian goddess of war and sex," Daniel supplied.

"Lovely."

"Enough!" Anat rose to her feet, staring down at the prisoners at her feet. "Hold your tongues, or I will have them removed." Her tone was low and haughty, and left them with no doubt that should would follow through with the threat if provoked further.

Daniel was relieved to find that Jack actually was capable of keeping his mouth shut when he had to, though he could tell he was struggling to hold back his typical smart ass remarks that he reserved especially for pompous Goa'ulds.

Anat languidly strolled past her prisoners, the rich silk of her gown gently whispering against the floor with the sway of her hips. When she reached her First Prime she tenderly touched his face. The huge man seemed to tremble at the contact, too afraid to even meet her gaze. "You have done well for me today," she purred. "You will be richly rewarded."

The man said nothing, but inclined his head as he stepped back, pure devotion shining from his eyes. It was almost more than Jack could handle.

Anat then turned her attention back to her 'guests.' "You have most inconvenienced me by interrupting my harvest. But I must admit that I find you a worthwhile trade for those sniveling peasants. Baal will be greatly pleased when I present you to him."

She slowly walked back down the line and stopped before Jack. She hooked one long fingernail under his chin and forced him to look up at her. "General O'Neill. I believe my brother has a special place in his heart for you. He will greatly enjoy finishing what he started last time you were his guest."

Jack fought the rising bile that always accompanied reminders of his torture at the hands of Baal, even as he refused to drop his eyes from her face.

Stepping past Jack, Anat moved to observe Teal'c. "Ah, the sholva. There are many who would give a great deal to have you to make an example of what happens when you betray your God. I stand to gain much."

Teal'c remained as impassive as ever. Though, if possible, he seemed to be silently correcting her with his eyes, false god.

Anat moved past Teal'c and took a long moment to let her eyes travel slowly over Daniel, a disturbingly predatory gleam in her eyes. "Daniel Jackson. You have been a thorn in the side of many a Goa'uld. I think it would be a shame to waste such a specimen to torture and death, however. You will make a fine host. Perhaps Enki would consider it. You could provide us with much information as well as…other important services."

Daniel's face turned slightly ashen as if he was fighting to tamp down nausea at her insinuations. None of them were eager to see a repeat of their time with Hathor.

Anat finally reached the end of the row and stopped before Sam. Sam looked defiantly up at the Goa'uld, daring her to say or do her worst. Her silent message seemed to amuse Anat. "Samantha," she drawled intimately. "I must say that this is a pleasure. You, I will keep for myself. And when I tire of you, it will only be fitting that you will die at the hands of the one you gave life."

Anat laughed softly at the sharp intake of breath from Sam. Throwing all caution to the wind, but needing to know at any cost, Sam demanded, "Who are you?"

Anat's eyes flashed as she grabbed Sam by the neck and held her aloft. "Don't you recognize me, Mommy?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet voice as she unhooked her veil with her free hand. All color left Sam's face as she hung mere inches from a monster that wore her daughter's face.

After Anat's revelation, they were all taken to a familiar cell to await the arrival of Baal. Sam was struck silent at seeing Haley's face with someone else's eyes staring back at her. And her face! There had been a rough scar covering the left part of her neck and cheek, most likely what the vain Goa'uld had been trying to hide with the veil. How was she still alive? Daniel and Jacob had seen her die. Hadn't they?

But it was now undeniable. Haley hadn't died. She had been taken by Baal and made a host. And they had once again abandoned her to the tender mercies of the Goa'uld.

Jack, meanwhile, had been pacing around the cell. He was the one to finally break the horrified silence that hung in the cell. "She didn't know who I was."

His statement caused them all to look up from their personal ruminations and stare at him. It seemed a strange thing to fixate on, considering everything that had happened in the last five minutes. At first, they thought that he was upset at his lack of reception from his daughter, but then the meaning began to sink in.

"She didn't know who you were," Daniel quietly repeated. "How could she not? Anat should know everything Haley knows."

"Not if Haley is fighting her," Jack said firmly.

"Jack, that doesn't necessarily mean that…"

"No, he's right," Sam finally spoke up. "If Haley has been able to hide who her father was from Anat, who knows what else she is holding back?"

"Haley has been here for months. It is difficult to believe that she could resist Anat that long successfully," Teal'c said.

"Then why haven't we seen major Goa'uld attacks? Why haven't Tok'ra agents everywhere been compromised? If they truly had access to everything Haley knows, consciously and subconsciously, we would have known somehow," argued Sam.

Jack nodded his head, knowing that Sam was right. Haley was strong. She was…alive. "Dr. Warner always was saying that she had strange brain chemistry and whatnot. Couldn't that have something to do with it?"

Sam was now the one pacing around the cell, nodding her head as if puzzling through something.

"She also has at least subconscious knowledge of the Ancients. Maybe she's using that somehow?" offered Daniel, sounding more hopeful.

"We won't really know until we get her out of here," Jack said determinedly.

"That may be a little difficult," Daniel wryly noted, gesturing at their surroundings.

"We've had worse. Plus, she is bound to spend quality time torturing us. It's what they do."

"And that helps us how?" Daniel asked.

"It will give us a chance to try and get to her, to encourage her to fight."

"If anyone can do it," Sam said softly, looking at Jack, "Haley can."

Jack stared steadily back at Sam and nodded. "I have no doubt."

Baal appeared some hours later with Anat hanging on his arm. She gestured widely with a sweep of her arm and said, "For you, dear brother, a gift!"

Baal's eyes gleamed as he took in his new prisoners. He turned to Anat and pulled her close against his body. "You have done well, my Queen."

As Baal proceeded to demonstrate exactly how grateful he was, Jack turned in disgust to Daniel. "I thought you said she was his sister?"

Daniel also looked distinctly sickened to see Baal making out with Haley- no, Anat, he reminded himself, that is Anat, not Haley. "Anat was also his consort."

"Just when you thought the Goa'uld couldn't get any nastier…"

"So, my lord," Anat eventually said, "where would you like to start?"

Baal smiled widely. "I think maybe it is time for me to get reacquainted with an old friend!"

Jack refused to react. There was no way he was giving the bastard the satisfaction.

"Brother," Anat said slowly, as the guards were grabbing Jack. "I had hoped to keep Samantha for myself, if that is okay."

"But of course, my love. You know how important family is to me."

Jack met Sam's eyes as he was dragged out. They could survive this. They had to. Jack tried his hardest to smile at her, anything to let her know it would be okay, but they turned a corner before he had a chance to see her reaction.

The chamber they took Jack to was hauntingly familiar; the gravity wall looked just as Jack remembered it. Anat had followed Baal into the room and now lounged on a chaise at the back of the room. Jack didn't want her here seeing what he knew was about to happen, but at the same time, he realized that if she was here, she couldn't be somewhere else torturing Sam.

"I never did get a chance to thank you for killing Anubis; that was indeed very helpful. But I would like to know how you did it, exactly. So why don't you tell me all about the Ancient weapon?"

"I've only got one thing to say to you, Snakehead: Bite me."

Baal chuckled. "You certainly haven't changed, have you?" Then he began to lovingly set out his various toys and Jack just closed his eyes.

Baal continued to drone on pompously, occasionally punctuating his speech with the release of a dagger. Jack refused to make a sound. Baal seemed more than a little annoyed at his lack of reaction. "A few trips to the sarcophagus should loosen your tongue," he said after a while.

"Anat, my dear. Would you care to do the honors? I find myself bored with him." Jack snapped his eyes open to see Baal handing Anat a knife.

Jack found himself unable to look away as Anat slowly raised her arm, the dagger straining against her grip as it pointed straight at his heart. He looked into her face and she gazed steadily back at him, neither of them moving to break eye contact. 'It's not Haley,' he kept reminding himself. 'I forgive you this, Haley. I know it's not you,' he thought, hoping she could read it in his eyes.

Jack thought he might have seen a flash of something in her eyes. Recognition? Uncertainty? The moment stretched long and she still made no move to release the dagger.

"Why do you hesitate?" Baal asked harshly.

Anat lowered her arm and turned to Baal. "Just savoring the moment," she purred softly as she ran one hand languidly down Baal's arm.

Baal smiled at her with an emotion Jack refused to identify, but that made his gut twist nonetheless. Baal pulled Anat close against his body and warningly circled her throat with one hand. "There will be plenty of time to play later, my pet."

Jack registered the gentle shift in Anat's stance and the flash of light as she readjusted her grip on the blade. Even with these clues, however, Jack was still completely unprepared for the sudden thrust of the dagger up and under Baal's ribs. Another rough twist of the blade quickly followed and Baal sagged against Anat, his expression one of complete disbelief.

"I'm no one's pet," Anat spat in his ear before pulling the dagger free with one ruthless tug.

Baal fell to his knees at her feet and weakly raised one hand, perhaps attempting to turn on his personal shield, but Anat was quicker. She grabbed his arm with a bloody hand and removed the device, throwing it some distance away. Anat then stood back and slowly circled Baal.

"Ah, brother, how it pains me to see you this way," she said, her voice chillingly free of any true emotion. She reached down and carefully brushed back a lock of Baal's hair, leaving a streak of blood on his forehead.

With growing horror, Baal looked up at Anat. "What…I don't understand…" he gasped with difficulty, his hands pressed to the wound that was still steadily trickling blood.

Giving Baal a look of pity, Anat said, "No, you never really did, did you?" She knelt down beside him, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and whispered quietly in his ear.

From across the room, Jack couldn't hear what she was saying, but he could see Baal's face pale alarmingly. He looked more frightened than Jack could ever remember seeing a Goa'uld look before.

Eventually, Anat leaned back from Baal with a sickening grin of triumph on her face. "No!" cried Baal in a hoarse, terrified voice.

Anat just laughed coldly and regarded Baal. "Bet we're wishing we had taken the rules a bit more seriously now, aren't we, brother."

Baal's eyes went wide, darting around the room wildly, probably looking for someone to help him.

Anat leaned down and gently kissed Baal on the forehead. The simple act was such a cruel mockery of fraternal affection that it made Jack's insides run cold. Then, with cool efficiency, Anat took Baal's head in her hands and ruthlessly snapped his neck. His eyes flashed briefly before his body hit the floor with a sickening thud.

Jack closed his eyes, unable to look upon the horrific scene before him any longer. Sure, Jack hated Baal with great passion, but he would wish such an end on no one. He always knew the Goa'uld had no scruples to speak off, but this act was beyond any he had imagined. It wasn't a simple assassination in order to gain power or territory; it was murder. A slow, vengeful act that Anat seemed to take great pleasure in.

Jack had just begun to let himself consider what Anat had planned for him now that Baal was dead, when he heard something that sounded distinctly like a whimper. Jack cracked his eyes open to see Anat sitting back on her heels near the bloody corpse of Baal. She was rocking gently back and forth and Jack once again heard a soft keening sound. This was the last thing he expected from the detached, cold murderer he had just witnessed in action moments before. But the sound of crying was now distinct.

Jack cursed himself for a fool, but before he could stop himself, he heard his voice call out uncertainly, "Haley?"

She stiffened for a moment before slowly turning her head to look at Jack. Wide blue eyes full of tears stared back at him. Then her soft voice reached him, "I couldn't…I couldn't stop it…" The voice was agonized, but so unerringly human that Jack felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Haley. Oh god, Haley."

She was no longer looking at him, but rather was staring at her hands in horror, fresh blood glistening on them. She began to wipe her hands with jerky, near-hysterical motions, the keening sound growing loudly in the back of her throat.

"Haley!" Jack barked, hoping to get her attention back. "Look at me!"

She looked up at him again, her eyes full of panic and fear. "Jack?" she said softly, as if she had already forgotten he was there.

"Yes, Haley, it's me. Now listen. You didn't do that, it isn't your fault." She was shaking her head and seemed to be tuning him out. "Haley! I need to you get me down. Can you do that?"

Haley looked confused for a moment before slowly nodding her head and pushing awkwardly to her feet. She had taken not more than two steps towards the controls when she grabbed her head with both hands, a groan tearing from her lips.

"Haley?" Jack called out, wishing, not for the first time, that he wasn't stuck to this stupid torture wall.

Haley dropped her hands from her head and turned to look at Jack. Her eyes flashed and a low voice lashed out. "Silence!" It was Anat. Jack felt his stomach drop as if the floor had just disappeared under his feet. He was really getting tired of this roller coaster ride he had been on for the last few minutes.

What really confused Jack was that when Anat finally turned around to see Baal sprawled on the floor, he swore he saw surprise and maybe a little bit of panic on her face. She quickly schooled her features, though, and after a moment, Jack was convinced that he had been seeing things. Anat grabbed a zat gun and quickly dematerialized the last vestiges of Baal, as if he had never existed.

She roughly called for Jaffa and gestured for them to remove Jack and take him back to his cell. As he was not-so-gently manhandled out of the room, Jack caught one last glimpse of Anat. She stood very still, staring blindly at the spot that had once held Baal's body.

Daniel looked up as Jack was dragged back into the cell and dropped unceremoniously onto the floor. Once the guards had left, he carefully went to Jack's side. He was groaning softly and as he rolled over, Daniel could see that there were two daggers still protruding from Jack.

"Sam," Daniel called and together they began to assess Jack's wounds, deciding that they could pull the dagger from Jack's thigh with minimal risk. After applying a make-shift pressure bandage, they sat back and surveyed their work.

"How unlike Baal not to finish something he started," Daniel noted wryly.

"Yeah, well," Jack ground out in a strained voice, "he got a little distracted."

"Distracted?"

"Yeah. I imagine getting your neck snapped can do things to your concentration."

"What?" Daniel exclaimed.

Jack drew one hand sharply across his neck and made a crunchy sound effect to reiterate his point.

"Are you saying that Baal is dead, sir?" Sam asked incredulously.

Jack nodded and waved his hands in the air like conducting an imaginary orchestra. "Ding dong, the witch is dead," he sang off-key.

"Not that I don't have faith in your considerable skills, Jack, but I take it that you weren't the one to kill him," Daniel said slowly, eying Jack's various wounds that were currently seeping blood.

"Nope. Anat did it."

"Anat?"

"Yeah, she sliced him, diced him and made julienne fries before she zatted him to hell."

"Oh my god," Sam said softly. "Why would she do that?"

Daniel shrugged. "Power? Territory? Same old Goa'uld reasons, I'd imagine."

"She doesn't like to be called 'my pet,'" Jack whispered conspiratorially, before promptly passing out.

Sam reached out and checked for his pulse, releasing a long breath when she felt its strong and steady rhythm. "None of this makes any sense, Daniel," she said, rubbing at her forehead.

"I know. I still can't quite believe that she is actually here."

"And Baal is dead," Sam said.

"Yeah. The System Lords will be pretty happy," Daniel observed wryly.

"What's left of them," Sam said, before pushing to her feet and pacing the length of the cell.

Daniel watched her for a while. "Sam, what is it?"

Sam stared blindly at a wall for a moment before answering Daniel. "She's already been through so much. How is she going to live with everything Anat has done? I mean, Jolinar was difficult enough for me, and she wasn't a homicidal maniac. Even if we can get her out of here, how is she ever going to live with this?"

Daniel had no answer, so he grabbed Sam's hand, gave it a squeeze and stood by her as they waited to see what could possibly happen next.

"For the death of Baal you will all be executed at the hand of your goddess," Anat's First Prime informed them solemnly some hours later.

"You've got to be kidding," Jack said incredulously. Having just regained consciousness, he wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't still dreaming.

"She's trying to blame us for his death?" Sam asked.

"Why would she do that? I imagine that the system lords would be grateful that she killed Baal. Maybe even make her one of them," Daniel observed.

"It is indeed most puzzling," Teal'c said, eyeing the Jaffa who was manacling his hands.

"Plus, what happened to us being too valuable to kill?" Jack asked. Then he turned to Daniel, "Sorry, Danny, I guess the snake doesn't like you anymore."

Daniel rolled his eyes at Jack as they were led out of the cell.

Once again, they found themselves kneeling on the peltak in front of Anat. Daniel couldn't help but notice that she looked more than slightly agitated.

"You have raised your hand against my brother," she accused, her voice full of barely suppressed fury. "I will show you what happens to humans that do not know their place."

"Um…excuse me your worshipfulness, but you seem to have lost the plot a bit. We didn't kill-"

Jack was interrupted by the back of Anat's hand slamming into the side of his face. He hit the floor with a groan. Daniel could see blood spreading across the bandage on his leg. Jack was going to get himself killed if he kept this up. But Daniel knew what he was trying to do. He wanted Haley to be forced to interfere.

Before Jack could say something again, Daniel looked up at Anat and took in her fury. Well, Daniel thought, here goes nothing.

"She's fighting you, isn't she," Daniel sneered softly. "You're not strong enough to suppress her. Look at how your hand trembles. Some goddess you are."

"Silence, human! You know not of what you speak." Anat's eyes flashed as she spoke, but Daniel could see true terror underlying her arrogance.

"Why don't you make me shut up, then? Go ahead. Kill me. If you can."

"Daniel…" Jack drawled warningly from his position on the floor.

But Daniel ignored him and continued to stare challengingly at Anat.

"Nothing of the host remains," Anat clarified, though she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone. In an attempt to prove her point, however, she slowly raised her hand device and a golden stream of light encompassed Daniel's head. "This is the price for disobedience."

Daniel's face twisted in pain, but he managed to groan, "Haley…" He was vaguely aware of Sam and Teal'c fighting against their restraints. Daniel forced himself to stare Anat in the eyes, trying not to remember a time when another agonizingly familiar face tried to kill him the same way.

Just when Daniel was finally ready to admit that he was going to die at her hands, the stream of light began to flicker. Daniel could see a fine sheen of sweat on Anat's face. The device turned off and Anat grabbed her trembling hand with an agonized cry, "No!" She then began to slowly back up, shaking her head the whole way.

The seeming weakness of their goddess threw the Jaffa in the room into confusion. Restraints or no, Teal'c and Sam were able to disable those closest to them and were soon armed and taking out the rest of the guard.

Daniel, from his position on the floor, continued to watch Anat slowly back away from the fight, her hands still trembling. She looked up once and met his eyes. It was a look of complete anguish. It was Haley, Daniel was sure of it.

After removing their restraints and assuring themselves that Jack and Daniel were okay, they all turned their attention to the figure still moving slowly away from them. She backed into a corner, crouching low, her head lowered into her trembling hands.

"Kill me…" a human voice softly pleaded. "Please…before it comes back."

"No, Haley," Jack said as he slowly limped towards her, leaning heavily against Teal'c. "We're bringing you with us. The Tok'ra can help you."

Haley adamantly shook her head. "No…I can't…please!"

"Everything is going to be okay, Haley," Daniel promised.

"You don't understand," she ground out, before groaning loudly. She then pushed to her feet with surprising quickness and charged towards Daniel, hand device extended.

Halfway to Daniel, Haley's body crumpled mid-step. They all turned to see Teal'c with his zat gun extended. "It is perhaps best that she remain unconscious during our escape," he calmly explained.

Jack nodded, still staring in surprise at the prone body on the floor. "Good plan."

Daniel leaned over and picked up Haley. He stared at her for a long moment before looking up at his friends and saying, "Let's get out of here."

Jack nodded and moved to follow Teal'c out of the room, but Sam stopped next to Daniel and put out one slightly shaky hand to touch her daughter's face. Sam and Daniel's eyes met over her body. "She's real," Daniel softly reassured her, before smiling softly, "but she's also heavier than she looks, so let's get moving."

Sam smiled at his attempt at levity. Together, they all made their way off the ship, a family once again. Consequences could be dealt with later.