Thanks again for the lovely reviews.

Previously:

Gen. Hammond walked up to the group. "I just want to thank all of you for taking this risk. I wish…well I guess that's not important right now." The gate activated behind them. "Come home safely, Samantha. Godspeed."

He was not having a good day. In fact, in the life of Jack O'Neill, the past few days were definitely going down as the worst he had ever had. Or ever would have. Because if they actually got worse, he really didn't want to stick around for them.

Since coming to this stupid planet, he'd seen a friend get "Goa'uld'ed," another be executed, and he had no idea what had happened to the third. He had died, twice, and now he was back in the – dungeon, for lack of a better word – chained to the wall. Jack was beginning to wonder if he would go insane before Apophis had killed him for the last time.

Jack sighed, long and deep, and shifted on the cold, damp floor. The Jaffa didn't even give him the courtesy of chaining his arm to the floor. Rather, his right wrist was shackled over his head at such an angle that it was above his head when he was sitting, but too low for him to stand fully. Clever little bastards, he mused. Every so often, he had to stand up to get the feeling back in his arm. It had become a very subtle torture.

The Colonel's thoughts strayed to Samantha. He wished he knew where she was. He was pretty sure that she was alive…and free…Apophis would have wanted him to know if she had been captured or killed. The System Lord had made Jack bury Teal'c's body right after his first round in the sarcophagus. He wanted to rub Jack's face in the fact that everything had gotten so screwed up. Unbeknownst to Apophis, however, the burial had also strengthened Jack's desire for revenge. He would see Apophis dead for everything that had happened. And Jack had not forgotten his promise to Daniel. Maybe it was too late for Teal'c, but he would get Daniel out of this. Somehow. And he would find out what happened to Sam.

Jack's eyes started to close. He was so tired, his mind kept drifting. Death had been a relief the first time. He had felt Daniel's blood on his hands, had felt all three staff blasts. But he had known nothing but relief. Sam was safe; he'd seen her run. Apophis was dead and Daniel was free. His promise was kept. Waking in the sarcophagus had been a profound blow. The doors opened and Apophis had been staring down at him. The Goa'uld face was impassive. He did not need to smirk or gloat. The fact that he still was was enough to drive home Jack's failure.

Not long after Teal'c's burial, Jack had been summoned for his first "session." It had been endless. Questions, questions, so many questions. Jack suspected that Apophis's hold on Daniel's mind was tenuous. Some of the questions the System Lord asked should have been in Daniel's mind. And Jack was sure that he had heard Apophis mumbling to himself. Never again was Daniel forced front and center. Jack believed that it was Daniel's interference that had sabotaged the ribbon-device. This time, Apophis stayed with more reliable methods of pain. Broken fingers, staff weapons in non-critical areas, blunt force trauma. And mind-games. Apophis had learned some things from Daniel's mind. He knew all about Daniel's fears and Jack's promise. He used that knowledge ruthlessly. The first session had ended with Apophis shooting Jack point-blank in the chest with a staff weapon. Again, Jack woke in the box.

Hmm, Jack-in-the-box, Jack-in-the-box, Jack mused. He was starving. He couldn't remember when he had last eaten. He wondered how long this would go on. The Iraqis were actually better at torture than the Goa'uld, but the Iraqis had never killed him. This whole dying twice thing could really wear on a person's nerves.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. "Once more unto the breach, men." What was that from? Oh yeah, Shakespeare. One of the Henry's. Daniel had given Teal'c a book of Shakespeare's play and he had developed a love of the historicals.

Apophis's guard entered the cell, unchaining O'Neill and dragging him to his feet. They frog-marched him up to the main room. Apophis had his back to them and Jack thought he heard humming. He didn't see any staff weapons around.

Then Apophis turned to face him. The Goa'uld didn't look good. It was still hard for Jack to look at the monster that wore his friend's face. But now, Apophis managed to look even more like Daniel than before. Although the clothes were the usual Goa'uld gaudiness, there was no eye make-up, no headdress. The Goa'uld hair was messed and there were bags under his eyes. Most disturbing of all, he had adopted that peculiar Daniel mannerism of the self-hug. Apophis had his arms wrapped around himself. Jack had never seen a Goa'uld look uncertain before.

"I punish him," Apophis said. "I punish him, I hurt him, I make him see things. And still, he fights me. He hides, I find him. I make him do things, terrible things! And still, he keeps his secrets. From me! I am his God and still he defies me! And now, now that I am almost there, now that I almost have everything I want from him, all I can hear is singing!"

"What?" Jack had no idea how to respond. "Daniel sings?"

"Daniel is not singing! There is no Daniel Jackson anymore!" Apophis screamed with such fury that spittle flew from his mouth. "He sings!" He began to claw at the front of his robes. "Over and over, the same cursed song!"

"What's he singing?" Jack asked.

Apophis pulled Jack to him by the front of his shirt. Getting nose-to-nose with the human, he ground out, "This is the song that never ends. It just goes on and on my friend."

Jack could not help himself. He burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Apophis shook Jack like a rag doll. "What is this, some form of human torture?"

"It's a children's song, you blow-hard freak! It's a song human children sing to make their parents crazy. Works pretty well, don't it?"

Snarling with frustration, Apophis released Jack. He paced away clutching at his hair. With a sudden roar, he came back and grabbed Jack by the throat. Lifting him in the air, Apophis screamed, "Stop singing!"

Gasping for air, Jack saw a look of sudden relief on Apophis's face. He abruptly dropped Jack to the ground. His knee gave and he landed badly. Jack propped himself up on his elbows and watched Apophis compose himself. Jack was on his guard. An evil enemy he knew how to deal with. An evil enemy who was taking a one-way trip to Crazy Town was a whole different matter. That made him unpredictable.

Apophis turned and looked at jack. Now here was a look Jack knew. Arrogance and cruelty. "He does not like to see you hurt," Apophis stated. "He knows that I can kill you again, anytime I want and he does not want it to happen."

"Next time you kill me, you'd better make it stick. Neither of us will stop fighting you until you are out of that body!"

One of the Jaffa lifted Jack to his feet. Apophis walked over to his throne and picked up a wicked looking dagger. "You may have noticed that there are no staff weapons. I did not want there to be any irreparable mistakes from me or my guards." He walked back over and placed the knife at Jack's throat. "But knife wounds heal easily. Now, tell me what I want to know, or this one bleeds." There was a long pause. "I am serious, hide from me again and I will peel the skin from his body. I will do it over and over until you tell me what I want to know!" Apophis's gaze went inward while the dagger scratched a faint line from Jack's throat to right above his heart. Apophis focused his eyes on Jack's. "He does not know. He does not know if you are real, if this is real, or not. If he should obey me or not. He has to learn. Real or not, it does not matter!" Apophis plunged the knife into Jack's heart.

Through his cry of pain, Jack thought, Oh, god, here we go again!

TBC