Author's Note: Thanks again for the wonderful reviews! It's neat hearing the bits ppl like from the story. Helps me to refine what stays and what gets rewritten, which happens the more times I edit each chapter. Lol.

Author's Note2: Managed the extra chapter this week, and because it was a special request (Happy Birthday AuroraDannon!) I'll post another on the 2nd, but after that I'm going back to my once a week standard unless I can get really ahead in my writing. :)

Author's Note3: Anyone ever notice Goa'uld is both the name of their race and their nationality? And because of that I couldn't decided whether or not to capitalize it, so that may vary depending on context. :P

Well, enjoy, hope everyone had a good holiday weekend, and if what's going on is confusing, it'll all come clear in time, trust me. :D

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Carter felt a surge of panic rise as the dust cloud settled to reveal the newly blocked passageway. What if it had buried the Colonel and Daniel?

"They are fleeing," Teal'c stated coming back to join her with his Zat'nik'tel in hand.

Nodding, Carter shifted some of the loose rock from the pile hoping to find a hole. "Colonel?! Daniel? Can anyone hear me?" But there was no response.

"I do not believe the chamber beyond has collapsed, but it might if we start digging." Teal'c said in his unfathomably calm voice.

Sam pursed her lips thinking it over, but it didn't take much thought to know Teal'c was right. "There's hope then," she stated with renewed determination. "Let's get back to the Gate. We can get help and come back."

Teal'c nodded assent and turned. But they didn't make it to the gate before another group of jaffa appeared. This one containing at least twice as many as the first, although dressed just as oddly. Sam had never seen jaffa like this before. Usually jaffa were clad in metal armor, not leather skins, with a goa'uld not too far away.

They surrounded the two members of SG-1, biting out the strange words of their native tongue. "Teal'c?" Sam asked keeping her weapon trained on the nearest jaffa.

Teal'c shook his head. "If it is goa'uld, it is of an odd dialect." And he tried responding in goa'uld but that only agitated the group of natives that much more.

At least they weren't firing yet. Sam knew the odds were too good against them, and there wasn't any good cover out here, they had to try something else. "Put down your Zat Teal'c." Sam stated, raising one hand and carefully putting her gun down on the ground in front of her. They needed to remain alive if they wanted to help the others. Teal'c looked disconcerted, but did as she ordered.

******

O'Neill stood at the back door to the SGC. Actually, it was more like a free falling tunnel with a cap and a padlock on top. There were some sensors as well now, this back door had been used far too many times in the past, but Jack knew how to disable those without anyone the wiser. He just hated the climb down. 25 or so levels was a long way to go.

"I guess I better get started," he said to no one in particular. It didn't take more than a meters worth of sliding down his rope before O'Neill realized it'd be even harder than he thought as the ache in his side became suddenly quite painful. "Oh, this is going to be fun!"

By the time he reached the level he wanted Jack was breathing in heaves and ready to collapse. Trying to rest for a moment and yet stay suspended, Jack worked at burning through the bolts on the door latch. He'd picked a normally unfrequented level to make his break in, but only luck would get him in unseen. Slowly, Jack cracked the panel open to find the hallway empty and a camera in the corner but facing the other way. There was just enough space for him to squeeze out and into one of the science labs still unseen by the electronic eye.

After that Jack worked his way carefully over to a computer and slipping in a disk began accessing the security systems. Several keystrokes later, Jack pulled up views of the cameras, just as security was seeing them, and then activated his program. Along with that he pulled out something the look very much like a car alarm.

He hadn't really tested it out before, but now seemed as good a time as any. In theory the clicker would send a signal to his program, identify the camera id, and freeze frame that particular camera's image till the second signal was sent. Clicking the small device in the direction of the camera Jack got up and slowly moved into the camera's view but where he could still see the screen on the computer. It showed nothing more than an empty room.

"Sweet!" Jack grinned and moved back, clicking the second button on the remote that would reset the camera back to normal. That part wasn't so easy to test without giving himself away, which he wasn't willing to do. But it meant he could move about any empty hallway or room unnoticed.

He wondered briefly how Carter would react if she knew he could do this. It wasn't like he knew how to hack into a computer, and he still had the occasional problem formatting his reports, but you didn't spend half your life in covert ops and not pick up a thing or two. Chuckling, Jack checked the hall and slipped out of the room.

Fifteen minutes later he was dressed in his usual for off-worlding, minus his cap. Mac had left it behind in the locker, and as tempting as it was, Jack knew he had to be even more careful now not to make a mistake. He was still kicking himself over the call to Hammond. Even now as he crouched in the empty hallway just outside the gate room Jack wondered how exactly he'd be able to cover this up. Only Davis was at the controls, on station in the event of any unexpected off-world activity but there'd never be a moment when someone wasn't there.

Mentally shrugging, Jack pulled out the Zat gun he'd opted to bring as extra and with a click of his 'car alarm' to ensure the camera would continue to show Davis sitting patiently at the station, O'Neill aimed and fired. The airman sat up with a jerk as the energy encompassed him then sank over unconscious.

Jack hurried in, putting his Zat gun away and patting Davis on the back as he murmured, "Sorry about that buddy." Working quickly, Jack accessed another program. This one he'd actually stolen off of Carter's laptop and tweaked for personal use about a year ago. Hopefully it would completely erase any log of his next set of actions from the computer. Finally ready, he fired up the stargate's dialing sequence hoping SG-1 had been sent to P5X-239 as planned. If not, he was screwed.

With a grin, Jack waited till all seven chevrons were engaged and the program was already erasing what they were from the screen before he dashed down to the gate. There'd be no way he'd be able to cover up the use of the gate, but he could at least leave them wondering who it was and where they went.

To the SGC's credit, Jack could hear the alarms sound right before he disappeared through the wormhole.

*****

MacGyver coughed a few times to clear his lungs of dust. Under him Jackson was also coughing, followed quickly by groans as the man reactively tried to shift. "Hey, Jackson, you okay?" Mac asked, automatically taking a closer look at the man's wounded leg.

The upper portion of the legged looked a little scorched and red, but at least it wasn't bleeding horribly. It was comparatively different than burn wounds or explosive wounds that would have taken the leg right off, which it hadn't. In fact, the blast hadn't done much more than burn away the top epidermal layers over a sporadic area, and even the burning had self-cauterized the wound. It was a lot less than MacGyver would have expected considering what a blast did to the walls and ceiling in the hallway. The energy must affect animate and inanimate objects differently, he reasoned. Certainly the greatest damage seemed more from the energy itself, like being hit by lightning, rather than the physical damage of the burn.

Jackson groaned again, his eyes fluttering open, but he was still looking pretty hazy. Mac leaned closer, wondering if there was a flashlight hidden in his vest's pocket that he could use. The light coming from cracks in the ceiling was enough to see by, but not terribly well. "You okay?"

"Jack?" Jackson questioned, and then seemed to come more awake as he struggled to sit up. He looked at MacGyver with blurry eyes. "What happened?"

"The ceiling collapsed," Mac told him, then turned to get a better look at the room they occupied and the amazingly tall pile of rocks sealing them in. "I'm pretty sure the others weren't caught in the collapse, but I don't think the passageway would hold up to any digging right now." It was strange. The hallway had been made solely out of stone, and a good portion of this room was the same, but the rest of it, the lower half of it was made from a dusty gold looking kind of metal, even the floor. MacGyver rapped on the ground hearing the thickness in the sound, but hearing more than just solid ground, too. He had a suspicion these 'ruins' lead down rather than up.

Beside him Jackson sighed, half closing his eyes from the pain in his leg and an obvious exhaust of energy. "So we're stuck here."

Giving the man a grin, MacGyver warmly chastised, "You need to be more optimistic Jackson, there's always a way out of every place!"

Jackson just raised his eyebrows not commenting.

*****

Carter was a little surprised at how big the ruins really were, and just how far around them they were walking. The jaffa natives who'd taken them captive had taken their weapons and vests and tried burning them in a pit, treating the items as if they'd been cursed. It hadn't gone so well.

After the small explosion that had resulted, Carter and Teal'c were treated as that much more dangerous and were now being led with twice as many fanatic guards in close attendance as before.

"Why do you suppose they're taking us around the ruins?" Sam asked Teal'c quietly as they walked.

"I believe they believe the place to be cursed. As I believe they believe we are." Teal'c responded. He'd been listening to the natives as they talked on almost a continual basis, but had told Carter he'd only been able to pick out a few of the words.

Cursed. Sam though about that. "Because we came from the ruins." One of the jaffa opened his staff weapon and gestured with it adding several angry words to his motion. Most likely 'be quiet,' but Sam just turned to him saying insistently. "We didn't come from there. We came from the stargate. The chaapa'ai." The native just repeated his threatening gesture and Carter sighed giving up. Communication was Daniel's front.

On the other side of the abandoned ruins they entered a small town, but the construction didn't fit anything else they'd seen so far on the planet. Where everything before this had been made from stone, all the buildings here were made of wood. Simple in structure, but covered in elaborate carvings.

They were led through the center of the town, the natives who lived there shying fearfully out of the way of the procession. They were all dressed simply in soft leathers or cloth, and they all had the tattoo on their forehead that marked a jaffa's allegiance to a particular goa'uld. The people here wore a symbol of a flower of sorts as best Sam could figure, but neither she not Teal'c recognized it. Then, as they passed two men without shirts, Sam realized something. It startled her so much she actually stopped and had to be prodded back into motion by one of her guards.

She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before, but she'd just assumed…Sam silently chastised herself and then whispered to her teammate. "Teal'c. Do these guys feel like jaffa to you?"

The look on the big man's face said he'd just realized what had been before them the whole time. "Indeed they do not MajorCarter."

"That's what I thought," Carter affirmed. There wasn't a single goa'uld symbiote in any of these people! They were human!

*****

Daniel watched with open curiosity as Jack moved about the room rapping softly on different places along the wall. He'd abandoned half his gear beside Daniel as 'too bulky,' which oddly happened to be every one of his guns, and now seemed to be searching for something.

With his leg safely bandaged Daniel leaned back against the wall. He'd noticed, as Jack had, the change in the structure materials, and an idea had been rummaging in his mind trying to explain it. "Do you.." he began, detracted momentarily by his own thoughts before continuing. "You know this could be a goa'uld ship. Crashed here a long time ago and they just built up around it."

"Ya?" Jack returned with more interest than Daniel would have expected. He looked over to see the Colonel crouched before a section of the wall. He pulled out a little red object from his pocket and began using it to fiddle with the cracks in the wall.

"What's that?"

"I think I might have located a possible door, but there has to be some sort of mechanical switch for it here somewhere."

"No I mean…"

Jack looked up, then suddenly understanding grinned and waved the small red object telling Daniel, "It's my Swiss Army Knife. Never leave home without it!"

Swiss Army Knife? Daniel frowned, he didn't remember seeing Jack ever use it before, but the Colonel was already focused back on what he was doing and much to Daniel's surprise had successfully found a way to unlatch the panel from the wall.

"How did…?" But Daniel let the sentence fall short, confused, as Jack pulled yet a second panel off next to the first. The inner workings of the wall were covered in circuits and wires, and even the kinds of crystals Daniel had seen multiple times within both Ancient and Goa'uld technology.

Jack was giving it a good look over, a thoughtful expression covering his face. Then he carefully pulled out one of the crystals to give it further scrutiny. "These don't look much like a source of energy as they do a memory storage of sorts. There's conduits running from one crystal to the next, but it's not set up right for this to be the power source." He put the crystal back and again looked up the wall. "There's an amazing lack of rust here. I wonder what exactly these wires are coated in to protect them so well. The fuses look tampered with, but I think I can get the door open."

"You can do that?" Daniel asked with open surprise. He was starting to wonder if the shock to his system had messed up his sense of reality, too.

Jack just grinned at him. "You'll be the first to find out!"

*****

O'Neill jogged through the broken tunnels of the ruins moving further and further into the structure's heart. He could see signs of disturbance to the right, but his instincts were tugging him elsewhere. If he was going to find Mac he would have to trust his instincts more now than ever before.

Pretty soon the interior changed and Jack stopped to examine the differences. Little to no writing anywhere and not a single hieroglyph in sight but it was still similar enough to a goa'uld ship that Jack couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity. Normally these pyramid shaped monstrosities were well visible from the ground. This one had to be buried…or smaller than most, much smaller.

So far he hadn't come across any natives but nonetheless he moved carefully through what felt like abandoned hallways. His instincts tugged at him again and Jack entered a room to his right, the outline of a door visible on the opposite wall. He moved over to it, standing to the side as he hit the only button visible. The door didn't budge.

Grumbling, Jack stubbornly banged on the control and was quickly rewarded with a 'swoosh' as the door reluctantly opened. On the other side kneeling on the floor with his hands half raised was Mac. And further in was an extremely shocked and confused looking Daniel. That wasn't quite what he'd expected. "Damn!"

Daniel's reaction was far quicker as he raised a gun at Jack and frantically demanded. "Who are you?!"

Jack raised his hands and stepped into the doorway trying to look as innocent as possible. "This isn't what you think Daniel. Just put the gun down and we'll talk it all out." He took another step closer, just stepping through the doorway.

Mac jerked, crying out, "Jack, no!" But it was too late; he'd already passed through the open doorway and quite suddenly the panel MacGyver had been working on sparked and flared like fireworks on the fourth of July. Much to their chagrin, the door once again slid shut blending neatly in with the wall it was a part of.

"What the hell was that?!" Jack demanded to Mac quickly recovering from the shock of the wall spitting flares at him.

MacGyver made a face. "I tried to warn you!" He was trying to get a good look at the circuitry, but it was still sparking and he quickly retracted his fingers for his own safety's sake.

O'Neill looked at the wall noticing the bent bits of silver in amongst the wires. "Where'd you get the paper clips?"

"They were in the briefing room."

"Excuse me!" Daniel exclaimed catching their attention. "Hysterical anthropologist with a gun here! What is going on?!"

Jack looked at his friend, worry briefly coloring his emotions as he noticed the injury to his teammate's leg. "Daniel, this is all just a bad dream."

"Ya right!" Daniel bit out, but in the next minute stated a little calmer. "You're Jack aren't you?" Then looking at Mac asked. "So who are you?"

O'Neill exchanged looks with MacGyver. They'd been keeping the secret for so long to even admit that the secret existed was hard. But it was already obvious something wasn't right. What could they say, that they were twins? Somehow Jack didn't think Daniel would believe them and even if he did, how do they convince him to keep it quiet?

Rising slowly, MacGyver looked over at Daniel saying casually, "My name's MacGyver. And you're right, that's your Jack. I'm sort of his brother."

Daniel looked stumped…and exhausted. "Brother? Twins?"

Stepping a bit closer, Jack smirked replying, "Something like that, ya." So the twin cover it would be. Daniel's hold on his gun was wavering and Jack wanted to make sure his friend was all right. From here he could see the signs of a staff weapon blast on Jackson's pant leg. The leg itself was wrapped with white gauze, but he still needed to be sure Daniel was okay.

"Jack, I don't understand," Daniel said as Jack approached and crouched down at his side, gently taking the gun from Daniel's hands. "Why didn't you tell us you had a twin?"

"Well Danny," Jack said, taking a breath and placing the gun on the ground next to the pile of others, probably Mac's. "It's classified."

"Classified?" Daniel wearily questioned with a frown, but automatically let Jack check the bandaging.

MacGyver slowly approached from the other side then similarly crouched down next to Jack. He smiled slightly embarrassed at the anthropologist. "Sorry for deceiving you earlier. It wasn't intentional."

"No, no, that's okay," Daniel automatically replied then frowning deeper grabbed at Jack's arm. "Why would it be classified?"

Jack stared at those penetrating soft brown eyes and simply didn't know how to answer. After a minute of silence, MacGyver coughed, then, coming up with an explanation told the anthropologist, "There was a mix up and we were separated at birth. From there I ended up in a government program and was raised to be a DXS agent. I've left them, but they're not too happy about it. They don't have any control over me but if they knew I knew about my real family that would change."

It was a complete lie, but it was a lie Daniel seemed to be believing. "Do you understand Daniel? These guys are worse than NID. They've got sweepers everywhere, so it's absolutely vital that no one knows Mac was ever here," Jack reinforced.

Nodding slowly, Daniel didn't look too happy about it, but he agreed anyway. "Were you the guy from last night?"

"Yep, that was me," MacGyver confirmed. "Needed to loose some pests for a day or two. Never expected to end up on an adventure like this, I just didn't know what to do when your friends found me at Jack's and thought I was him."

Again Daniel nodded excepting the story, but he looked quickly at Jack concerned. "Then what happened? Why didn't you show up this morning?"

Glaring over at Mac, Jack growled, "I was dealing with his pests! Speaking of which, you and I are going to have a long discussion later." Even MacGyver wasn't impervious to the famous Jack O'Neill Death Glare.

"Sure," Mac hesitantly agreed, and then added, "After we get out of here."

"Can you hotwire the door?"

MacGyver shook his head. "Not once you came through it."

Confused, Daniel interrupted, "I don't understand. What would Jack coming through the door have to do with fixing it?"

Jack exchanged another look with Mac. O'Neill knew what it was MacGyver was referring to, and he hated it, but he hated explaining it that much more.

Again, it was Mac who was able to cover for the slip. "The circuits are completely fused together, no matter how much rewiring I do, it's not going to open. But I do think I found the power source, and it channels in two directions."

"So there's something else here," Jack finished for him. Mac nodded and Jack wanted to sigh, why couldn't life be nice and simple? Just once? "All right. Let's find out what it is."

******

Flexing her hands, Carter again tried to pry at the knots. They'd been taken to the center of the village where two wooden poles had been erected in the middle of a circular clearing. Wooden poles they were currently tied to. Most of the natives of the village had come to see what was going on and several small fires had been erected at the edge of the clearing.

For a moment, Carter wondered if these people were planning on setting them on fire like they had their stuff, but after the natives started up some sort of dancing ritual that no longer seemed to be the plan.

"What do you think they're doing?" Carter called to Teal'c.

"Dancing."

For a brief moment something witty and completely sarcastic sprung to mind, but it only served to remind Carter of the Colonel. They had to get out of here, they had to get back to help them, but right now she couldn't really see how.

Then the dance ended and someone new showed up at the edge of the clearing. He was old, likely the leader in town, and dressed almost ornamentally compared to the rest. The old man stood before them, and despite his obvious years called out to the crowd with a reaching voice.

"He is calling us demons," Teal'c said, attempting to translate as best he could. The jaffa cocked his head slightly as he listened, a slightly perplexed look on his face. "He says the demons come from the ship, but I believe he is referring to the ruins. Other demons have come from the ship, he is going to send us back."

"To the ruins?" Carter asked, equally confused, but before Teal'c could answer, something they'd never expected happened. With a bright flash of light, transport rings suddenly rose up out of the soft dirt to encompass them amidst the wild cheering of the natives. Within the rings, Sam and Teal'c were transported to a place deadly silent, musty in smell, and completely devoid of any light.

"Teal'c?" Sam cautiously questioned, hearing a grunt beside her. She automatically tried turning to the sound, but realized her mistake a second too late. The log she was still tied to was no longer embed into anything to keep it upright. With a small cry of surprise Carter felt the sensation of falling flood through her a moment before the sharp crack of impact as the log hit the ground, taking her forcibly with it.

Beside her, there was another sound of something hard hitting the ground and even a small grunt of pain.

"Teal'c?" Sam questioned again into the blackness.

"I am fine."