"Are we there yet?" Jack moaned, lying sideways over a chair in the cargo ship.

"It'll only be about ten more minutes." Jacob answered.

"That's what you said ten minutes ago." Jack retorted. Sitting in the small ship in his thick blue uniform had done nothing for his mood.

You did not need to wear it.

Yes I did. You think I'm gonna let Baal see me at anything less than my best?

If you would rather only I speak to him-

No, I'll do it.

I believe it would be healthy for you to confront your fear. But perhaps it would also be prudent for me to speak to him.

Why?

Because I understand now what happened to you there. I feel it is my duty to be here for…moral support, as you would put it. Jack wasn't sure how to respond to this. His angst at having been taken as a host, again, melted away for a moment and he was grateful to have Kanan there so he wouldn't have to go through this alone.

"We're here. Hop up on the platform Jack; we'll be listening, so just let us know when we should send down the map."

"You're not gonna send a message or something?" Jack asked. Jacob laughed somewhat.

"No, I've given up being courteous to Goa'ulds. He'll just have to deal with it when you drop in." After a hearty laugh, Jack stepped onto the platform and waited a few seconds. He felt nothing, but a light shone in his eyes and he was suddenly somewhere else. The walls were covered in Goa'uld hieroglyphs and torches were dancing in the corners.

He turned around and sitting in a throne before him was Baal, looking extremely perplexed. Two jaffa on either side of him fired at Jack, who just rolled back and forth on his heels while the blasts zipped through him, causing his holographic figure to muddle up for a moment.

"That's not gonna do you any good." He announced. The look on Baal's face was replaced by a nasty smile.

"A hologram, how creative of you. What do you want?" He questioned.

"I'll talk to you, and you alone." Jack said coldly. Baal waved a hand and the jaffa left, closing the doors behind them.

"I did not think you had the courage to face me alone." Baal said hotly.

"I'm not alone." Jack informed him. "Nice place you've got here. I might have gone a different way but-" Jack said. He had time for small talk. "Not that it matters, it's just gonna be destroyed with everything else once Anubis is out of the picture."

"I have heard threats from my enemies before. They have yet to act on them." Baal retorted unceremoniously. Jack dropped his head. When it came back up, his eyes glowed, positively driving the smile from Baal's lips.

"I have a new threat for you." Kanan said. Baal lifted his head superiorly.

"O'Neill has another symbiote? So he is Tok'ra after all. Who is it this time?"

"The same as it was before." Kanan said; Jack thought only a Goa'uld could have sounded more evil than he did now.

"So you are the infamous Kanan. I'm surprised O'Neill allowed you take him as a host even after all the pain you have caused him." Kanan didn't try to hide the fact that he wasn't proud of this, but he wasn't going to let Baal talk down to him.

"The pain you caused him. Him and so many others; I wish for you to know that it was the Tau'ri that revealed the position of your secret base to Lord Yu. And your former slave Shayla has joined the fight against all Goa'ulds."

"This is supposed to disturb me, frighten me even?"

"No. But it is something you should consider. If your most loyal and trusted servant could be convinced to overthrow you, who can you trust my lord?" he said scathingly, glaring at Baal. "It is my sincere pleasure to tell you this: there is a universe of enemies that have bonded against you and your kind; if one of us falls, rest assured, the others will destroy you." Kanan had said what he wanted to say and dropped his head allowing Jack to take over.

"Why have you come before me?" Baal asked, the humor leaving his voice. Jack stopped for a moment, considering the Goa'uld in front of him.

"Straight to business then? Fine. Anubis has got a bunch of jaffa and ships on a planet called Othialsgoth and we need the combined force of you Goa'uld types to help us blow them all to hell." Jack paused for a moment to let this sink in. Baal laughed, looking Jack up and down condescendingly.

"What is the source of this fantasy that I'm going to help you?" He asked with a cruel smile on his face. Jack only smiled back.

"We thought you'd say that. Why should you bother blowing up some ships and jaffa for us, what's in it for you?" Baal cocked his head somewhat.

"I'm sure you are about to tell me." Jack smiled even more broadly.

"Anubis is gonna be there, and he's not coming in a ship." This wiped the sadistic look from Baal's face. "Jacob, map." Jack said, looking up pointlessly. A few seconds later, a 3-dimensional, holographic map was floating in front of Jack. Baal looked at the map and then Jack again.

"Show me." He said standing up and walking towards him, his eyes speeding over the map.

"We're gonna blow this middle ship. It's got some naquadah stored in it so the explosion will immobilize these two." Jack said, pointing at the other two mother ships.

"Are you confident the reaction will be strong enough to disable the other ships?"

"Positive. And since Anubis will be coming through the gate, he won't have anywhere to run." Baal considered this for a moment.

"These canons will pose a problem." He said, gesturing toward the slew of ion canons that Anubis had stolen from the late Tollans. Jack thought how odd it was for him to be so comfortable making battle plans with a Goa'uld he hated so much. It reminded him of the days when he commanded a black-ops team under a commander that was nothing short of evil.

"They'll be gone by the time you get there."

"What guarantees do I have of that?" Baal asked, eyeing Jack.

"None." He retorted callously.

"Then it is fortunate I am willing to risk it." He replied with a slight smile. Jack tilted his head a bit.

"Why are you so willing?" He asked, an edge present in his voice. Baal smiled.

"As much of an irritation as the Tau'ri are, I am inclined to believe that you are as sincere in wanting to rid the galaxy of Anubis as the system lords. Even the worst of foes can unite under one banner to defeat their common enemy."

"Well, then we can both rest assured that after Anubis is dead, we can go right back to killing each other." Baal narrowed his eyes.

"We can indeed."

"And you have my promise, that when that time comes…we're coming after you first."

"That went well." Jack said after Jacob had shut off the holograph machine. He stepped merrily off the platform and slid back into his seat. Teal'c was obviously pleased at how Jack had dealt with Baal; his smile was likely to consume his ears at any moment. Even Jacob had laughed aloud at Jack's words.

"He says he'll be there?" he asked after he had caught his breath.

"Yep. He did this weird head nod and said he'd bring four mother ships. That's enough right?" Jack replied. Jacob nodded and took them back into hyperspace.

"It would take a minimum of two mother ships to do the job in time, so three is even better." Jack smiled again and went to the cargo bay to switch out of his dress uniform.

Hey, thanks for sticking up for me in there. Jack thought to Kanan.

It was the least I could do. I certainly wasn't just going to sit by like-

Like last time?

I suppose.

I already forgave you for that, you asked me to forgive you; that's enough. Kanan transferred his gratitude silently and Jack felt even better as he walked back out to the peltac.

"So, how long until we get back to Heunalla?" Jack asked.

"About forty-five minutes. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I'm not." Jack replied, a grave look coming over is face. "I just want to know how long we have to live…"

"You do not believe we will survive this mission O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, tilting his head towards his staff weapon.

"I'm dunno Teal'c. I've just got a bad feeling about this one." He said for the second time in four days.

You are not worried about surviving the mission. Kanan said.

No.

You're concerned that Major Carter will be in danger.

Yes.

More than usual…

Definitely.

Because of her affirmation to you?

I guess. But I know it's got something to do with you.

The blending has increased your physical strength and sensory functions, but it has also amplified your capacity for emotion.

Is that supposed to mean I was insensitive before?

I should rephrase myself. You have the same capacity for emotion as before the blending, but now, you can more easily tap in to these emotions.

Right. Can we talk about something else? The ride back to the Tok'ra base was long and quiet. All four passengers knew that they might not survive this mission, and no one wanted to talk about it. They sat in silence, each preparing himself for what lay ahead.