The hot shower did wonders for Jack. It caused the tension he had been carrying around to ease up a little; although he was still trying to shake off the terror he'd felt when Gallagher finally faced his demons, or at least one of them. Jack couldn't help but think that there was more to this than Gallagher's failure to save his wife, but until he managed to get his clone to tell him everything, he was at a loss as to what they were facing.

He walked down the familiar halls of the SGC, suddenly glad that he was here and not at the cabin in Minnesota or at Gallagher's house in Colorado Springs. Jack knew exactly what his clone was going through now, and he also knew that once this guy got over the initial stages of grief, he would start in on the suicidal thoughts; that is, if history repeated itself. There were a lot of things in that house that could be used as a weapon of destruction, which is why Gallagher was going to stay here until things settled down in his mind.

Jack really hoped history would not be repeating itself this time around. He had come out of it the last time swearing that he wouldn't allow himself to get to that point ever again. Those days were dark times for him and he had ended up destroying more than his self-esteem. He had lost everything because of his inability to deal with the guilt and shame, including his wife, Sara. She had always been his rock, the light in the window showing him the way home when his life was spiraling out of control. She had left him to deal with her pain alone, because he couldn't be there for her – face it O'Neill, wouldn't be there for her.

Anger built up in him as he thought about those days when he'd let down the one woman who had always been there for him. She was the one who stayed at home waiting for him to return from wherever the Air Force took him. She was there when he returned from Iraq, a broken down shell of a man, and she was the one who brought him back out into the world, her love giving him the ammunition he needed to deal with his failures and to move on.

Then Charlie had pulled that trigger, an event that changed their lives forever. Sara was in just as much pain as Jack had been in, but he couldn't see it through his own anguish. It had been his turn to help her through a dark time and he blew it with his own selfish needs. He had pushed her away and in doing so, he had effectively pushed her out of his life.

Jack stopped walking to stare out at nothing, knowing he had to shake these thoughts from his mind before he met with Dr. Mackenzie. The hallway was empty and for this, Jack was grateful. He took a deep breath, then continued walking down the hall at a slower pace, hoping to give himself some time to calm down, all the while wondering if the thoughts of his failure at marriage had been brought on by Gallagher's problems.

God, Jack didn't even want to think about what Gallagher was going through right now. The man had left his wife behind to face certain torture and Jack knew better than anyone what that thought had to be doing to his clone. He had to be hating himself as thoroughly as Jack had hated Frank Cromwell, the son of a bitch who had left him behind in Iraq. Jack wasn't so sure if he still hated Cromwell, but he had gained a healthy respect for the man who had risked his life to save the world from being sucked up into a black hole and who had ultimately given up that life in an aborted attempt to help Jack.

Cromwell had tried to explain his actions for leaving Jack to the mercies of the Iraqis, but Jack was not willing to listen. He had hung on to his hatred; refusing to believe anything other than what he had convinced himself for all those years. He now wondered if Gallagher was going to ever forgive himself.

He continued walking through the corridors of the SGC, as he worked on calming down. He ended up in the empty briefing room, staring out at the Stargate and wondering what possessed him to even think about helping Gallagher out of this mess he had gotten himself into. He felt like he was in way over his head and he just knew that if he continued working with Gallagher, the kid was going to end up dragging Jack down with him.

His thoughts were interrupted by Hank, who had come up to join him. "Everything going okay Jack?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jack replied with a forced grin. "Just admiring the view."

"Nice view," Hank responded. "So how did it go in there?"

"Okay I guess," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Gallagher definitely has some problems he needs to work through."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"How you are handling all this?" Hank asked, as he waved airily at Jack's bruised chin.

"Just peachy," Jack replied, hoping that none of the panic he had felt while he was watching his clone fall apart showed through his demeanor. "The man caught me off-guard." He smiled then and asked the burning question that was on everyone's mind. "Did SG-3 file any mission reports on their trip to Hulmeshur?"

"Yes, they did. They almost didn't make it back; Handar's men were swarming around the gate twenty minutes after they had arrived there. They had a hard time finding the Lieutenant and when they did, he fought them every step of the way." Landry shook his head at that, then said, "I have to tell you that I was surprised when he insisted on going back."

"Didn't he tell you why he wanted to go back?" Jack ground out. The man had wanted to go back for his wife. How could anyone deny him that?

"He came through that gate fighting his rescuers," Landry responded, "And when I confronted him, all he could do was demand that I let him go back. From the way he was acting, I thought he may have been compromised by an alien entity. I followed protocol and had him put into a cell until we knew for certain he was who he said he was."

Jack couldn't argue with that logic. Landry did do the right thing, but he was still angry on Gallagher's behalf. "He wanted to go back for his wife," he said angrily.

"What?" Landry exclaimed. "I didn't know he had a wife."

"From what I gather, his escape guaranteed her death. He's been dealing with that ever since he got back."

"God," Landry breathed. "No wonder he's been lashing out at everyone he meets." His expression turned thoughtful, then added, "There was no mention of a wife in any of the reports which leaves me to believe that the members of SG-3 didn't know of it either."

"I want to read those reports," Jack told him. "And I want to talk with Reynolds and his men as soon as possible."

"They're off-world right now, but should be back tomorrow afternoon," Landry replied, as he turned toward his office. "I'll let you know the minute they get back."

Jack nodded, then turned to look at the Stargate. That thing had caused him more problems in the last few years than anything he had ever encountered in his entire life. He sighed, then followed Landry into the office. "I'm also going to need to contact my Aide in Washington. Do you have an empty office I can use temporarily?"

"There's one right next to Mackenzie's," Landry said, with a small smile.

"That's not even funny," Jack growled in response.

The grin on Landry's face became broader before he said, "He really isn't all that bad."

"It's obvious you haven't spent much time in his office," Jack said dryly. "Do you have those reports?"

"Yes," Hank responded with a small laugh. He rummaged through a pile of folders until he found the ones he was looking for and handed them to Jack. "There's an office just down the hall that you can use. It's not very big, but it's also not being used."

"It'll do," Jack said, grateful for anything at that point. "Thanks."

Jack spent the next couple of hours making phone calls and reading the reports written by the members of SG-3, reporting what went down while on the mission to find Gallagher. Landry was correct in that there was no mention of a wife. Reynolds' report indicated that once they had arrived in Hulmeshur, they were able to slip through the barrier and had immediately gone in search of Gallagher. They had met several people while searching the area, but the natives were all too scared to even talk to them. One woman finally gathered up the courage to stop and talk to them, and it was she who told them where they would find their missing comrade. They managed to grab Gallagher and tried to get back to the Gate, but their efforts were hampered by Gallagher's refusal to leave with them, not to mention the fact that Handar's men were swarming around the Stargate. SG-3 had to resort to laying down ground fire, causing Handar's men to scatter for cover, while Patterson made a run for the DHD to dial home. Reynolds finally had to tie Gallagher's hands together to drag him through the Gate, which was a trial in itself, considering the fact that the man had fought them every step of the way.

It was Patterson's report that gave Jack another piece of the puzzle. Patterson reported that the woman who helped them find Gallagher gave him a small stone with something etched on it, telling him that she wouldn't need it anymore. This had to be the stone that had set Gallagher off, and Jack was determined to find out exactly what that rock meant to his clone.

He sat at that desk for a long time after reading through the reports, trying to figure out exactly what was going on with his clone. The man had been through a lot, but Jack knew that he had been through much worse. Living as a slave for eight months had to have been tough, miserable even, but not enough to cause him to lose it over a small stone.

There were way too many mysteries in this whole mess for Jack to even try to wrap his mind around. What had happened to Taria? What role did the stone with a bell etched into it play in this whole sordid affair? What was Gallagher so afraid of? Too many questions with not enough answers were giving Jack a headache.

Well, might as well get this over with, he thought, as he got up to leave the office. He didn't go directly to Mackenzie's office, though. He somehow found himself standing at the door to Carter's lab, watching her as she worked. She was too involved in her laser photo thingy to notice that he was there and he grinned at her tenacity when it came to figuring out how the various technologies that entered her lab worked.

"Carter," he said, to finally gain her attention, smiling when she jumped and turned to face him.

"Oh, you scared me," she accused, her hand held over her heart.

"Sorry," he replied, still grinning at her.

She smiled back at him as she shook her head. "How are things with Gallagher?"

"Good, I guess. I think we may have had a small break through." He stopped then, not sure how to tell her what his clone had gone through.

"Yeah?" she replied, her expression clearly telling him that she was waiting for him to elaborate.

"Yeah," he said, as he put his hands into his pockets. He wasn't sure why he'd ended up here, although he supposed it might have something to do with the fact that he hadn't had much time to spend with her since his arrival from Washington. "According to him, Taria is in danger of being tortured and killed because he escaped from that place."

"What?" she asked in surprise.

"He tried to go back to get her, but didn't quite make it," he responded with a shrug. "He left her behind."

Carter didn't respond right away. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at him with a look of horror on her face, as she took in what he was saying. "He must be devastated," she finally said. She stared at him for a moment longer before saying, "Do you think they would hurt her?"

"Dunno," Jack replied. "He seems to think so. Can you contact the Tok'ra or the Asgard to see if they can send a ship out there to find out?"

"I'll try," she said, her expression telling him that she would do more than try. He smiled at the determined look on her face. There was not a doubt in his mind that one or the other was going to come through for them, even if she had to go to them to plead her case.

"Give 'em hell, Carter," Jack encouraged with a crooked smile.

She smiled back at him, before saying, "Yes sir."

As much as he would like to continue this banter, he knew it was time to face the piper. "Well, I'm off to see the wizard," he responded, still grinning at her. "Hopefully Mackenzie will have some tricks up his sleeve that will help me beat some sense into my clone."

"You mean 'talk' some sense into him, don't you?"

"Well, if you insist," he said dejectedly, then gave her another smile when she laughed.

She didn't respond to his remark though. They ended up staring at each other, while Jack entertained the notion of telling her how much he'd really missed her. He even thought of finally telling her what he felt for her. He had cared a great deal for her over the past several years – feelings that at times would be so strong that he wondered if he should just chuck it all, his career and reputation, just to be able to say she belonged to him.

But he didn't tell her. Instead, he reached over and touched her face, tracing the line of her jaw with his finger, deciding at that point that he would indeed tell her. Even though she was still technically in his chain of command, he figured the world owed him more than the stars he had on his uniform. He just needed to convince a certain President of this, and Jack was reasonably sure Thor would be more than happy to help out. With that thought running through his mind, he gave her a smile that he hoped was filled with promise, then turned and walked out of the lab intending to get his visit with Mackenzie out of the way, if only for his own peace of mind.

The grin faded as he neared Mackenzie's office. He really didn't know what Mackenzie had planned for him and this worried Jack as he stood outside the psychiatrist's door. In all reality, they should only be discussing his clone, but Jack knew that meant he was expected to deal with his own past in an effort to get through Gallagher's problems. This was definitely not something he was comfortable with.

Okay, he could do this. He straightened his shoulders, took a deep breath then knocked on the door. "Come in," Mackenzie called out. "General O'Neill," he added, as he stood up to welcome Jack. "Come on in. Have a seat."

"Thanks," Jack said, feeling every bit of his nervousness. "Am I keeping you away from your patients?" he asked in a last ditch effort to find an excuse to leave.

"I agree that working here at the SGC can be traumatic for many people, but most of them are able to deal with the stress," Mackenzie responded with a smile. "Besides, most of my patients see me in my office at the Academy Hospital. I've made arrangements to be here every afternoon for you and the Lieutenant – and my SGC patients, as well." This was said with a smile, guaranteed to put most of his patients at ease, but Jack's mind immediately went into self-protection mode, while red flags started waving frantically as he became guarded and tense.

"Lieutenant Gallagher opened up a little," Jack said, in an effort to get the ball rolling away from his own turmoil. Mackenzie took the hint and sat back in his chair, ready to give Jack his full attention. This caused Jack to squirm a little in his seat. It was certainly not a record; Jack normally started squirming the minute he showed up. The fact that he was somewhat calm up until the moment Mackenzie turned professional on him made him feel just a little more in control.

"What did he tell you?" Mackenzie asked, appearing almost nonchalant in his actions.

"It seems that he had a wife while living in Hulmeshur," Jack replied, knowing full well that Mackenzie's nonchalant attitude was just a show, to put him at ease. "He's dealing with the fact that he left her behind to face torture and death." Aha, Jack thought, as Mackenzie tried to hide his surprise.

"He told you this?" Mackenzie asked in a voice that matched the nonchalant attitude - the guy was good, Jack had to give him that.

"Yeah," Jack responded, wondering what was so surprising about the revelation.

Mackenzie apparently got himself together, as his features slipped back into the nonchalant attitude. "What brought on that bit of news?" he asked, as he made a note on the pad of paper he had on his lap.

"Dunno," Jack said, shrugging his shoulders. "I think it had something to do with a rock Daniel had taken from a member of SG-3. Gallagher got really upset when he saw it."

"Upset? What did he do?"

"He just got antsy," Jack said, trying to remember everything that had happened in the cell that day. "Oh, and he started yelling at me about God only knows what." Jack remembered very well what it was Gallagher had been yelling at him about, he just didn't think it was something Mackenzie had to know.

"What was he saying when he yelled at you?" Mackenzie asked.

Jack frowned at Mackenzie, wondering what he was thinking. He knew it wouldn't hurt to tell the doctor everything Gallagher had said, but he just could not get over the feeling that Mackenzie was analyzing him right along with his clone. While this didn't sit right with Jack, he still wanted to help Gallagher, so he made a conscious effort to work with the man. "He thought that I had already condemned him as insane and was a little angry that he had been left behind." He stopped for a moment, debating on whether he should continue, then decided it may help Gallagher if he did. "He also told me that I would have been in the same shape he is in if it were me in his shoes."

Mackenzie raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Would you have?" he asked quietly.

"Hell yes," Jack responded quickly. "I've been there and done that, and Gallagher knows it. I guess I have a reputation for being a hard nose and Gallagher must have thought that stuff went straight to my head."

"Pretty big shoes to fill," Mackenzie agreed. "He has to earn that reputation all over again. It must be hard to live up to. You do know that rumors are flying around this base faster than an alien plague about his relationship to you. I've heard everything from a nephew, to long-lost son to grandson."

"Grandson!" Jack sputtered indignantly. "Who thinks he's my grandson?" The nerve of some people, he raged inwardly, before realizing that it was a reasonable assumption. He found himself grinning back at Mackenzie, then nodding his head, "If he starts calling me Grandpa, your services won't be needed at all," he promised with determination. "He'll need the services of a chaplain."

"I'll be sure to pass that on if I get the chance," Mackenzie said with a smile. "In the meantime, we should get back to discussing his problems."

"Sure," Jack said, still a little incensed. "His attitude changed from calm to stormy within minutes after Daniel asked him about the rock," he continued, determined to get Gallagher's problems back out in the open. 'I mean, one minute he was talking about seeing the sky and the next, he was pacing back and forth and yelling at me about being left behind and forgotten."

"Forgotten?" Mackenzie asked, as he stopped writing on his pad of paper to look up at Jack. "He thought he had been forgotten?"

"Yeah," Jack answered warily. He was back on guard again, wondering where Mackenzie was going with his thoughts.

The doctor went back to writing his notes, while asking Jack, "How does he feel about being left behind and forgotten?"

What was this? "How should I know?" Jack asked, his eyes narrowed as he watched Mackenzie, who totally ignored the evil looks sent his way – by a General, no less.

"Was he angry?" Mackenzie asked, seemingly unaware that he was about to get his ass kicked.

"From the way he was yelling at me," Jack responded, "I'd say he was royally pissed."

"Why do you think he thought he had been forgotten?"

Jack didn't answer the psychiatrist. He had a feeling that there was more behind the questions than Gallagher's thoughts on being left behind. "What is this?" he asked, watching the doctor carefully.

Mackenzie stared back at Jack with his patented patronizing look firmly on his face. "What?" he asked.

Jack got up from his seat, knowing he was better at thinking while on his feet. "This isn't about Gallagher, is it?" he asked the doctor, as he loomed over the desk. "What are you trying to pull?"

"I'm trying to help him, General O'Neill," Mackenzie replied evenly. "To the best of my ability, that is."

"I see," Jack said, and he really did understand. Mackenzie was trying to prove a point and Jack was determined that it wouldn't make a difference. "Things would go much easier if you were talking to him directly, wouldn't it, Doctor Mackenzie?" Jack asked, as he sat back down to face the doctor head on.

"Of course," Mackenzie said, not the least bit ashamed that he had been caught in a devious, underhanded trick. "I've been doing this a lot longer than you have, General."

"I've known him a lot longer than you have," Jack responded spitefully.

"Which may work to your advantage," Mackenzie conceded, causing Jack to stare at him with surprise.

"Excuse me?" Jack asked sarcastically. "Did my ears deceive me?"

"I must admit that I am surprised that you were able to get him to face his fears so soon," Mackenzie said, ignoring the sarcasm. "You and I normally have to meet for weeks, sometimes months before you finally admit to what's really bothering you."

"Yeah, well it's only one of his fears and I'm not so sure it's the worst one," Jack admitted. "Something happened to him that caused this breakdown – something bad. I just need to dig a little deeper and get through his grief and depression to find out what it was."

"Grief can be pretty devastating," Mackenzie added, thoughtfully. "You mentioned that his wife had been left behind. Is this where the grief comes in?"

"Yes," Jack answered, having calmed down quite a bit. For a minute there, he'd been worried that Mackenzie had been trying to get into his clone's mind by going though Jack's. "Apparently, the family members of slaves who escape are brutally tortured and murdered. Gallagher is convinced this is what happened to her. From what I gather, he put up a fight in an effort to go back for her."

"Which explains why he was fighting his rescuers," Mackenzie theorized.

"Yeah," Jack replied. He fell silent, at that point, having nothing else to add to Mackenzie's words.

"Has he had any more flashbacks?" Mackenzie asked, apparently deciding to move on.

"Yes," Jack responded warily. They were now heading into what Jack considered unstable territory and he immediately tensed up again.

"What happened?" Mackenzie prompted when Jack didn't elaborate.

"I had been pushing him to tell me about Taria and what had happened between them," Jack responded. "He got extremely upset, but he insisted that he was okay. I left him alone for a while after that, then he joined us for breakfast when Carter and Daniel brought it in. Next thing I knew, he was fighting to get away from us." He watched as Mackenzie wrote some notes down on the pad, then continued when the doctor looked up at him. "He dropped his plate, then threw a punch at Daniel, who had gone over to help. It took all four of us to restrain him," he added.

Silence took over when Jack finished speaking. Mackenzie appeared to be thinking, while Jack had run out of words to say.

"Did he say anything during this flashback?" Mackenzie finally asked.

"No," Jack responded, as he tried to think back on that episode. "He just used some language that would have made my drill sergeant proud," he added with a crooked grin. Mackenzie looked up from his notes and grinned back at him. It was apparent the man had his own memories of drill sergeants.

"What happened then?" Mackenzie asked to get back on track.

Jack shrugged, then told him, "He calmed down and snapped out of it, then told us what the guards in his flashback were planning to do. They were going to put him in a torture device he called a vise and he went into great detail, telling us exactly what was involved in the punishment." Jack couldn't help the grimace that flashed across his features when he spoke those words. Those guys must have been extremely sadistic to want to put someone through that.

"What else did he tell you?"

"He told us about his wife, his life in Hulmeshur and what they did to him to force him into slavery. Not a pretty story."

Mackenzie nodded at Jack, as he continued to take his notes. Jack had always wondered what it was the psychiatrist wrote down during their sessions. What key words was he looking for?

"Any other flashbacks?" Mackenzie queried, as he looked up at Jack.

"Nope," Jack replied. "Well, he did wake up swinging during a nightmare last night," he said, as he stroked the bruise on his chin with his fingers. "Took me off-guard," he added defensively.

"Uh huh," Mackenzie said, giving Jack a slight grin. "Did he tell you what the dream was about?"

"I didn't ask," Jack admitted. "It scared the hell out of him, though."

"Why do you say that?"

Jack didn't respond. He was remembering the hopelessness he felt as his clone lay there in the restraints, dealing with the demons in his nightmare, as well as the demon called insanity.

"General?"

"He had to be restrained," Jack finally said. "He was fighting to get away from whatever he was dreaming about. It had to be bad for him to wake up yelling." Jack just couldn't bring himself to telling Mackenzie about the anger and the pain his clone expressed during that nightmare. The man actually whimpered!

"General O'Neill," Mackenzie said, as he stared directly into Jack's eyes. "What do you think Lieutenant Gallagher is hiding from?''

"Something bad," Jack replied with confidence. "It has to do with Taria and whatever it was that happened between them."

"Was it worse than what Ba'al did to you?" Mackenzie asked, as he continued to watch Jack carefully. "Worse than what you went through during your imprisonment in Iraq?"

"This is not about me," Jack said in a voice that was clearly warning Mackenzie to back down.

"Gallagher has those memories, General O'Neill. I'm merely trying to determine…"

"What's wrong with Gallagher?" Jack interrupted, trying to steer this conversation away from his own inadequacies. "Why is he having these flashbacks?"

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Mackenzie replied, as he continued to watch Jack's every move. "It's a condition that affects people who have been involved in a highly stressful or traumatic situation. The patient usually avoids talking about, or even thinking about the event. He will also show signs of anxiety, meaning that he will be on edge and easily angered. It's up to you to get him to open up and talk about what happened to him. Of course, counseling – with a professional, such as myself, General O'Neill – is an excellent option, and one I am hoping you will convince Gallagher to take advantage of."

"He just needs to talk about what's scaring the crap out of him?" Jack asked, thinking that this was too easy. Of course, now that he thought about it, getting the younger version of Jack O'Neill to talk about his feelings and fears really wasn't such an easy task.

"Counseling and medication have worked wonders in treating this disorder," Mackenzie said warily. Jack knew exactly what the doctor was thinking. This guy knew better than anyone what Jack thought about medications.

"We try this my way first," Jack said resolutely. "No drugs."

"I believe you may succeed in this," Mackenzie said grudgingly. "What are you planning to do?"

"Talk to him," Jack replied, thoughtfully. "Of course, I'll have to get him to listen to me first, but I can be as persistent as Daniel when I want to be. Actually, between Daniel and me," he went on, "Jack Gallagher doesn't have a chance in hell."