The Doc told him they were going to release him tomorrow. There was really no reason to keep him longer, he said, other than the fact that they couldn't figure out why he was still so tired, or why he couldn't speak.

They'd done so many tests on him that he felt like a human pincushion. His blood had been tested, his brain had been scanned and he'd been looked at from every angle and – nothing. He was a walking mystery, as far as the medical profession was concerned, although in the end they all agreed that his brain had been damaged by lack of blood and that it would eventually get better – or not.

He had immediately wanted to throw something, preferably the doctors, but he'd restrained himself. He'd made a promise, even if a silent one, to be good – at least while still in the hospital. If he wanted to go home and throw a tantrum well, he'd damn well do it.

He was actually more depressed than angry and acting out was just too much effort. The exhaustion that he still felt also made it more difficult to be pissy with people. For the most part he slept and tried to ignore the fact that his career and probably his life was pretty much finished.

On that lovely note he decided to have another nap, a small part of his mind wondering if this was all he had to look forward to. He was out in seconds.

"Hey J -" Daniel stopped himself as soon as he saw that his friend was sound asleep. He then let out a deep and very worried sigh and pulled up a chair. It felt like Jack did nothing but sleep these days. He knew the doctors couldn't figure it out and that Janet and all of them were concerned. There was something very wrong but no one knew what it could be.

He sat there watching his friend for a long time, the silence not doing anything to soothe his anxiety. Even the steady breathing, the good color, the signs of returning health in the other man didn't alleviate the unease he felt as he watched him sleep.

Without warning Daniel noticed that his sleeping friend's lips had begin to move. Jack appeared to be trying to talk in his sleep, even though no sounds were coming out. God - even in his sleep he couldn't talk.

"Pl – aduv – me", the other man unexpectedly muttered, putting the lie to Daniel's thought about his inability to vocalize.

Still, it wasn't really any better because now he was just speaking gibberish. It was rather bizarre, Daniel thought, that he could make sounds and speak nonsense words, but couldn't manage more than simple English words.

"Adu – may."

Daniel frowned. What the hell was he saying? Adu? The 'may' sounded almost like the Spanish or Italian word for 'me'. He snorted softly – yeah, as if Jack would be speaking either of those. As far as he knew, the only languages Jack spoke were English and a little Russian. And then there was the little bit of Ancient he probably retained from the time - ! He froze.

"Oh my God!" he whispered. "Ancient." He moved his chair closer and observed the sleeping man carefully – the man who continued to mutter a number of words.

"Hab – exire."

"Hab?" Daniel thought. Could it be Hab- eo? Habeo exire? What the hell are you saying Jack? Habeo exire means – let's see – it means I have to go." Daniel frowned and continued, speaking softly to himself. "And before he was saying something like Adu – aduv – aduv may. What – damn it! Aduve me – help me!" He sat watching to see if he could decipher anything else, but by this time Jack's lips were moving but no sounds were emanating from his mouth.

What the hell does this mean? Daniel was now even more worried than he'd been before. Had the accident somehow rebooted the Ancient download? But Thor had said he'd taken care of it. He had said it was gone. Why then was Jack speaking Ancient?

It had to merely be words and phrases he'd learned during the time loop. That was it – it couldn't actually be the download. For one thing, Jack continued to understand them when they spoke and that wasn't what had happened before. He'd slowly lost the ability to both speak and understand. No – it was just things he was remembering, that's all.

"Quod hic agis Daniel?"

It took him a few minutes to realize that Jack was awake and had spoken to him – in Ancient. This was bad, very bad. He groaned. "Jack?"

"Sic?"

"Okay – I'm assuming you meant to say 'yes', right?"

Jack cocked his head to the side and gave Daniel a strange look. "Huh?"

"You do realize you were speaking Ancient, don't you?"

The Colonel's face went instantly blank – although Daniel could see the stark denial in his eyes. "No!"

"I'm sorry Jack, but you were. You were even talking in your sleep in Ancient. Uh", he grimaced slightly. "Can you understand me?"

Jack licked his lips nervously and then nodded. He could understand Daniel right now, but suddenly he thought back to the times, over the last few days, when he'd felt like he'd blanked out and missed what people were saying. He'd told himself it was just that he was tired – or that people were talking too softly. But now – now he wondered if, in fact, he was beginning to lose the ability to communicate in English.

Crap – don't tell him that that whole thing was starting up again! He let out a strangled groan – he did not want to go Ancient.

He lifted his eyes to the concerned face of his friend, his eyes asking a question he knew the other man couldn't really answer. What the hell were they going to do?

Daniel pulled the chair right up to Jack's bed. "We'll figure this out, don't worry. I expect it's just your brain trying to pull out a bunch of stuff as it heals – and right now it's probably thinking back to the time loop. That was a pretty intensive few months for you and Teal'c, and it was all about learning a new language. Maybe your mind equates equates its need to heal with learning a new language".

Jack gave him a skeptical look, although It sounded as plausible as anything else. But then there was the fact that he was having trouble understanding English – although thankfully not all the time. He motioned for the paper and pen and started scribbling madly.

"Sometimes I can't understand", he wrote. "Maybe going Ancient?"

"No – I doubt it Jack", Daniel answered, although he didn't sound 100 percent sure. "I mean – the download was wiped from your mind so there's no way it would be affecting you, not now. Tell me, is your understanding getting worse or is it – sporadic?"

Jack thought for a moment and then wrote on the pad. "Sporadic. I can understand you now."

"See, that's good. So I bet this has something to do with the accident. It'll probably go away after a while.

Jack hoped so, but if that was the case, why wasn't his language improving as his health improved? Why couldn't he talk for God's sake? All he could manage were grunts and a few simple words. It was frustrating as hell.

"I'll ask General Hammond to see if he can get in touch with Thor and have him come and check you out, just to make sure. Oh – and I meant to tell you – we just heard back from the Tokra."

Jack perked up at that – not because he had any love for the bastards, but because he was hoping that Jacob would come bearing gifts – or one gift, at least - a healing device. Normally he hated alien technology (at least the technology that was used on him) but in this case he really wanted to get better and get on his feet.

"Unfortunately Jacob's busy so they're going to send someone else."

Jack looked at him suspiciously and when Daniel grinned he let his head fall on the pillow. "No!" This time he managed to actually croak out a word, although that was pretty much because of desperation.

"Yes, I'm afraid Anise/Freya is going to come and use the healing device on you. Come on Jack", the archaeologist and traitor said, laughing, "you've got to admit that she's one fine looking Tokra!"

The Colonel rolled his eyes. He had no interest in the woman – women – whatever. In fact as far as he was concerned she could take her big – her attributes and stay away from him. Still, if she brought the healing device he'd be grateful.

The next day Daniel and Teal'c came together to collect him and take him home. He was rather disappointed that Sam hadn't come, until the guys told him she'd gone to his house to get it ready for him and she'd be there waiting for them.

Cheered by that thought, he was able to deal with the final tests and advice from Dr. Benjamin. He had to continue his therapy – as useless as it appeared to be – and was given a whole list of do's and don't's. Finally he was given an appointment to come back to see the doctor in a week. With a final nod and a handshake – to signify his honest thanks – Jack turned and headed home.

The moment the sunlight hit his face he could feel himself relax. He hated hospitals and there was nothing he wanted more than to collapse on his own bed, in his own house, and have Sam and the guys there with him.

He laughed, which caused Daniel to glance over at him, but he simply shrugged and shook his head. Sometimes not being able to speak was a blessing.

"Daniel Jackson informed us that you are now speaking in Ancient O'Neill." Ah Teal'c – always one for subtlety.

"Mmm hmm", he nodded. He actually didn't know if he was speaking Ancient, at least beyond a few words. It seemed to him he didn't have much more luck with Ancient than he did with English right now. Hey, maybe that was it. He'd grown so frustrated with being unable to speak English that his brain had decided to try something new. Once that didn't work out he'd switch back to – hell, what if he suddenly started speaking Russian? Crap – this could be bad.

As it was, he was going to refuse to open his mouth to try and speak, at least until he was sure he was better. He was somehow convinced that if he didn't talk, he wouldn't turn Ancient.

"Have you said anything else Jack?" Daniel instantly got to the issue, like he always seemed to do.

He shook his head. He was not going to open his mouth. And anyway, how the hell would he know? He couldn't tell when he was speaking Ancient, English or nonsense – it was all the same to him when he spoke.

"Come on Jack – say something."

He shook his head, refusing to even open his mouth in case something sneaked out.

"Daniel Jackson, you must stop bothering O'Neill. He will speak when he wishes and not before."

There ya go Teal'c! Jack kept his lips pressed tightly together but smiled at the big guy. Just then they pulled into his driveway – he had rarely been so happy to see his house.

He walked in using the crutches, followed closely by Daniel and Teal'c. He opened the front door, anxious to get in and lie down. He was ready for another nap even though …

"Sir!"

He practically jumped out of his skin when Sam's face appeared in the doorway. He cursed silently. What the hell was wrong with him that he was so jumpy?

He breathed deeply and then smiled, instantly wiping away her guilty look. After a pause she seemed to realize she was in his way and gave a self-conscious laugh.

"Sorry", she muttered, stepping back. "Come in."

His eyebrow went up at her inviting him into his own house, which naturally added to her embarrassment. He had a terrible urge to laugh.

"Sorry", she repeated. "I mean – I'll just get out of your way. Welcome home Sir."

He nodded and slowly limped his way into his hallway. He stood for a few seconds and then decided he really wanted to take a nap. He debated whether to try for the couch or his bed. But suddenly, the thought of that soft mattress was too appealing. He turned as quickly as he could with crutches and hobbled his way up the few stairs to his bedroom. At the top he turned around and looked down at his three friends, frowning and not quite sure what to do.

"It's okay Jack", Daniel finally spoke. "We'll just make ourselves at home. Have a nap and we'll fix something for dinner."

Jack nodded gratefully and made his way into his bedroom. In a matter of minutes he was sound asleep.

"What are we going to do?" Daniel ran his hands through his hair as he looked out the window into Jack's back yard. He turned and faced his two companions, both of whom were sitting with a drink in their hands.

"We wait for Anise", Sam said calmly. "Hopefully the healing device will heal him."

"Maybe but I think this may be a Thor job."

"A Thor job?" she asked, her brows raised.

"Yeah – cause I'm sure this has something to do with the Ancients."

"God – I hope not."

Jack took in a deep breath and relaxed. He knew he was home – it smelled right – and felt right – and he could feel himself start to relax for the first time since he'd landed in hospital. Surely he'd get better being home.

He slowly opened his eyes, feeling hungry as he remembered Daniel's promise that they'd make dinner. With another breath he turned to kick his legs over the side of the –

"Aaargh!" he let out a short scream. What the hell? Two eyes were peering at him – two eyes attached to a voluptuous and scantily clad woman. Anise/Freya! Damn – so much for relaxing.

"Colonel O'Neill", the Tokra woman said formally. "We have been waiting for you to awaken."

He scowled at her and continued to move until he was sitting up. He was just grateful that he hadn't stripped naked before going to bed. He'd been too tired and had simply fallen in after only removing his shoes.

"I am here to attempt to use the healing device. Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter told me to come and see if you were awake."

He rolled his eyes. He was going to have to punish those two! He just hoped his friends had explained –

"I understand you cannot speak. However, if you will lie back down I will use the device."

Well, she certainly got to the point! It was clearly Anise talking. Too bad – he preferred Freya. Although he stopped that thought when he remembered that Freya preferred him. Nope – didn't want that or need it.

With a mild sigh of exasperation he managed to turn himself until he was again lying flat. He regarded her suspiciously, wishing that one of his friends was here.

"Hey Jack?"

Speak of the devil. He smiled at Daniel and waved him over. He felt better knowing a team member would be with him.

"I thought you might want one of us to stay with you?"

He nodded vigorously, not concerned whether he was offending the Tokra woman or not. He frowned briefly. He wondered if it was possible to offend her – them. Damn it, he hated dealing with the Tokra.

"Okay. I'll just – uh – stand over here then. Let me know if there's anything you need."

Jack nodded although he wasn't sure if Daniel was speaking to him or to Anise/Freya. In the end it didn't matter because all he had to do was lie there while the Tokra passed the healing device over him.

He sighed and closed his eyes, sure that Daniel would watch out for him. He was just so tired …

"Is he sleeping?" Daniel asked in surprise, stepping closer to the bed.

"I believe so. Please Dr. Jackson, do not speak. I must concentrate if I am to do this."

He nodded and stepped back again, although he kept his eyes on Jack. Soon Freya had picked up the healing device and closed her eyes. It took few short seconds, but soon she had it working and she began to pass it over the Colonel.

By the end of the session – almost fifteen minutes later – Freya stopped, clearly exhausted.

"Did it work?"

She lifted her eyes. "I was able to heal his leg", she told him, "and a few other minor things. I do not think I was able to do more."

"You don't think?"

Freya turned her eyes on him – and this time it was she who spoke. "I am sorry Dr. Jackson – it is not an exact science. As Anise has said, we were able to do something, but whether we were able to cure him it is hard to say. There was something -"

"Something?" Daniel asked softly when she stopped. "What do you mean?"

"I mean – his mind – there is something that is either protecting it or keeping us out. It felt as if there was some – power – pushing back. We have never experienced it before and I do not know what effect the healing device will have had."

"Damn", Daniel spoke softly but fiercely. "Well, at least we can get the cast off so he can get around. What about the tiredness? Any idea about that?"

She shook her head. "No. Again, I believe it might be related to something in his mind, but I cannot discover what. I am sorry Dr. Jackson – I wished I could have been of more help."

"No, no – we thank you for coming and trying. It's not your fault – not at all."

She smiled at him – and he wasn't quite sure who was in charge, until the Tokra turned to Jack. It's Freya, he realized then. He could tell from her face that she was clearly smitten with the Colonel. "Uh, would you like something to eat?"

"That would be excellent, thank you", she replied formally. Anise was back.

"Uh Jack?" Daniel approached the bed. "Jack – time to wake up?"

Jack opened his eyes and immediately knew. "Stercus!", he swore. His head felt like it was going to explode – and he knew he was going Ancient – again.