Two long days later, O'Neill and Burke arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was the nearest town to Butrick's farm, and one of the few cities in the state.

The closer they got to their destination, the antsier Jack became. He couldn't help but remember some, if not all that had been done to him by Hubbard and his goons. He also knew if they got ahold of him again, he could expect more of the same.

Except now his Ancient abilities had grown stronger – at least he was pretty sure they had. He hadn't really tested anything out other than a few times while he and Sam were on the run. The only thing that was consistent was his phenomenal memory and ability to figure things out – things that he hadn't known in the past.

He just hoped these things would help him find and locate Hubbard and anyone else behind his kidnapping.

He thanked heaven for Burke. The man kept his mind off his worries, and off of Sam. Although normally he liked thinking of his wife, during this mission she was a distraction he couldn't afford. She was always in the back of his mind of course, but he had to keep from thinking about her too consciously. If he had, he was afraid he would have turned right around and headed back to their peaceful and uncomplicated life on Thassos.

Right now, shearing sheep – hell, even dealing with old Plato – sounded better than what lay ahead. He snorted softly, thinking about that old ornery ram. Suddenly a wave of homesickness fell over him.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Burke turned his head and regarded Jack briefly, before turning his attention back to the road.

"About Plato," Jack said.

"Plato? The Philosopher?"

"The ram."

"Uh – you're thinking about a ram?"

"Yes," Jack chuckled. "I raise sheep now. Sam and I live on a farm. We raise sheep and chickens – and I make pottery and sell it."

Burke turned his head again, and this time stared at O'Neill, until he was sharply reminded to watch the road. He turned his eyes to the front, although he was obviously still stunned.

"Okay – who are you and what did you do with Jack O'Neill?" Burke whistled. "You're really not shittin' me?"

"Nope. I told you – we ran away. The NID were after me and Sam helped me escape. After we'd been together for a while – in hiding and escaping from various enemies – we realized we were in love and so we got married. We've been keeping a low profile ever since."

"On a farm?"

"Okay, I get it already – you don't see me as the farming type."

At that Burke just raised his eyebrow. "Ya think?"

Jack sighed and settled back in his seat. "Actually, I like it. After years of fighting and chasing down alie – uh – enemies, I was ready to relax a bit."

"And sheep are relaxing?"

"Actually – sheep are a pain in the ass. The pottery is relaxing and so is Sam."

"Well, I still can't see it, but if you're enjoying it, more power to you! But tell me – Sam is a soldier – I'm surprised you didn't bring her with you."

"I couldn't – even if I had wanted to, which I didn"t. They could use her against me - "

"Unlike me?"

This time Jack glanced at the other man, a serious expression adorned his face. "They wouldn't know to use you against me. But I hope you know that I'd do all in my power to protect you, don't you? And I'd never leave you behind."

"Yeah, I know. Ditto. But tell me more about Sam. It's not just about them using her to get at you. There's something else."

"Yeah," Jack sighed, but then smiled. "She's pregnant."

Burke laughed. "Of course she is. You old dog you – congratulations!"

"Thanks," Jack smiled. "Not great timing."

"It never is," Dave agreed. "But babies don't care about timing – or about whether or not you're ready for them. Once they decide to come, that's it."

"Sounds like you know about this," he replied, looking curiously at his companion.

"I have a kid," Burke told him after a long silence. "I haven't seen him in over a year."

"Why not?" Jack asked gently.

"His mother – well, she still hasn't forgiven me for Woods* death and she makes it clear she doesn't want me around."

"You haven't told her?"

"No," he answered softly. "I – wanted to – but I figured it was too late."

"Look Burke – I don't know about your relationship with your ex-wife, but I do know that that shouldn't affect your relationship with your son. He needs you – he needs his father, and you need him."

"Yeah, after this is over, I – guess I'll -"

"No," Jack interrupted. "You can't guess. This is too important. Look, I lost my son and I'd give anything to be able to spend one more moment with him, to hear him say Dad, one more time. You have a chance to see him, to spend time with him, to love him – don't screw that up!"

Burke gave a single laugh but then nodded. "Yeah, okay," he answered, this time more firmly. "As soon as we're done, I'll contact Hillary and let her know I'm coming for a visit."

"That's my man!" Jack answered with a grin. "And you should explain about Woods. She needs to know that the father of her son is a hero, not a murderer."

Burke glanced over at his friend, his eyes suspiciously bright. He gave a single nod and then returned to driving. Everything was quiet in the car for many miles after that.

"God, aren't we there yet," O'Neill asked. He tried to stretch in the tight confines of the car.

"Just another few minutes," Burke told him. "You okay."

"Yes. I just want to get this over." By this time Jack was peering straight ahead, trying to see if he recognized anything. After a few minutes it was clear he didn't. He hadn't been aware enough, when Sam rescued him, to see much of anything.

"There!" Jack suddenly pointed to a lone farmhouse in the distance. It was white and surrounded by trees - looking rather lonely sitting out on the S. Dakota prairie and at the same time totally innocent. He didn't know why, but for some reason he felt a tingling down his spine, and knew that this was the place.

"You sure?'

"Mmm hmm. Is there somewhere you can pull over?"

Dave Burke glanced around – the road was pretty open and there wasn't really any room to park where the car wouldn't be seen. He kept driving, eventually passing the house. Finally, a couple of miles beyond the farm he pulled into a laneway that wandered into a thick copse of trees. Once into the tree line he slowed the car and then came to a stop.

"Okay, so now what?"

Jack turned to him and grinned. "Now for a little recognizance. You up for this?"

The other man rolled his eyes. "I am – but I'm wondering about you. You're the one who's settled down as a farmer. This is going to be a bit rougher than looking after sheep!"

"Ha! You don't know Plato!"

Burke watched as Jack got out of the car and then sighed. A moment later he'd gotten out as well, and was watching the former Black Ops Colonel.

O'Neill was staring off towards the farm, even though he couldn't see it through the trees. A few seconds later he took a deep breath and looked at Burke. "As soon as the sun goes down, we'll move in," he said.

"Great – at least we could have brought snacks!"

The two men waited patiently for the sun to set. Jack found it difficult – everything in him was telling him to move, to go find out what Hubbard was hiding. He knew he could be crazy – that all the NID operative had wanted was him and that there was no other plot. But part of him – a big part of him – didn't believe that. No, Hubbard was up to something much bigger than one Jack O'Neill.

"Hey, we gonna sit here all night? My balls are freezing off!"

Jack pushed himself upright and squinted one more time towards the house. "Time to go," he announced, without fanfare.

"Well Hallelujah!" murmured Burke.

The two men advanced slowly towards the farmhouse – their years of training helping them to move quietly and unobtrusively through the dry underbrush. Once they'd left the tree line they both crouched low and watched carefully.

Jack signaled for them to continue to move forward, but suddenly stopped, his hand held up. He felt something – something different – and knew there was danger.

"What?" Burke mouthed.

Jack just shook his head but then he motioned for Burke to get down and dropped down flat on his stomach himself. He carefully inched his way forward.

He hadn't gone more than ten feet when he saw it. "Damn!" he whispered to himself.

"What?" Burke's voice spoke in his ear and he glanced sideways and back. The CIA soldier had followed him.

"Booby traps," Jack told him. "Farmhouse my ass!"

Burke frowned and looked around. He couldn't see a damned thing and wondered how O'Neill had known. "Where?"

"Every twenty feet or so, although they're not in a regular pattern. Don't think they're gonna kill us, but they may incapacitate us. Follow me."

"Why? Where you going?"

"I'm going to take us around them."

"Around – wait!" he hissed out as Jack took off. "How the hell do you know where they are?"

Jack stopped and grimaced. What should he tell Burke? "Uh – I have really, really good sight and hearing. You've got to trust me. Just follow close and do what I do and we'll be fine."

Burke shook his head and took a deep breath. If it had been anyone else but O'Neill he would have gotten out of there pretty damn quick. But he trusted the Air Force officer more than anyone he knew so … "Okay, but if you get my ass killed O'Neill, I'm comin' back to haunt you!"

"God – that's a scary thought. Now let's go!"

It took them almost an hour as they slunk through the prairie grass. Jack weaved in and out in a random pattern, keeping them as far away from the traps as possible. He was pretty sure they wouldn't have been lethal, but they would have stopped them and alerted their enemies that they were here.

Burke only caught site of one of the traps, but the sight of it convinced him that O'Neill knew what he was doing. It also made his heart rate increase. The last thing he wanted was to get blown up.

"You won't," Jack whispered.

Burke looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"You were thinkin' we're gonna get blown up. We won't. The traps are meant to shock us, not kill us."

"How the hell did you know what I was thinking?"

Jack grinned, although Burke couldn't really see his face in the dark. "You looked like you were about to crap your pants."

"Did not!"

"Did too!" Suddenly Jack thought about Daniel, which made him think about Teal'c, which made him think about Sam, and the grin disappeared. As much as he liked and appreciated Burke, he really wished his team were with him right now.

Jack lifted his hand a few inches off the ground and indicated that they were to stop. They were close to the farmhouse and crossing the next twenty feet was going to be the most dangerous part.

"How?" Burke mouthed again.

Jack looked around carefully. So far they hadn't seen anyone, and the house looked dark. He was pretty sure, however, that the place wasn't deserted. In fact he knew it wasn't. He could feel the presence of people. He just wished he could tell how many and where they were.

He motioned with his head – telling Burke to move towards the south side of the house while he went to the north. He didn't like to split up, but separately they were less of a target.

They both moved at the same time, their years in the field making their movements all but invisible unless someone was looking directly at them. In moments they had reached the house, each one at a separate corner.

Now what, wondered Burke? He watched for the next signal from O'Neill and nodded when it came.

Jack stood slowly and cautiously peered into the window on the side of the house closest to where he was standing. The room inside was the kitchen – a big, country kitchen with an ancient looking stove and fridge. In the center were a table and four chairs. The counter by the sink was loaded with dirty dishes. Jack didn't stop to think how he was able to see so clearly, not realizing that his eyesight had improved beyond what humans normally had.

The NID weren't terrible tidy, he thought. The dishes proved that someone was here. He just wished he knew exactly where.

He checked the window carefully, but could neither see nor feel any kind of alarm or booby trap. He carefully reached into his vest and pulled out a glass-cutting tool. It paid to be prepared.

He cut the pane of glass, while keeping his senses attuned to any possible threats. He knew that Burke was watching out for him, but wasn't going to rely solely on the other man.

With a small grimace he placed two suction cups on the glass and gently pulled. This was the tricky part. If the glass broke it would alert someone to their presence. With a sharp "crack" the glass loosened and came out. He gently bent and laid it on the ground.

Only then did he glance towards Burke, who was watching him with a raised eyebrow, but also with an expression of relief. So far so good.

Five minutes later both men were standing inside the kitchen.

"Where to now?" Burke asked, his voice so low that Jack was sure no one who wasn't within inches of him – or who didn't have Ancient enhanced hearing, wouldn't have been able to hear him.

"We reconnoiter."

"Where is this lab you talked about?"

Jack pointed down. "Cellar."

The other man nodded and then gestured towards the kitchen door. They slowly made their way over and carefully opened it.

The next few minutes were taken up by a search of the farmhouse. They found the first person in the living room. He had his back to the hallway and was staring intently at a computer. Jack slowly advanced on the man and glanced at the screen. He took a sharp breath in – he recognized the long, cold hallway. He remembered having been forced down it into the room where he'd been interrogated.

Unfortunately the guy must have heard him, because he turned sharply. That was the last movement he made. A second later his unconscious body was dropping to the floor. With quick efficiency Jack had his wrists and ankles tied and a gag in his mouth. He dragged him over behind the couch where he wouldn't be easily seen. He then moved to the computer and watched as the screen changed to show different angles of the basement lab.

"Ahah!" he whistled silently. Sitting in a room with two others was his favorite Colonel Hubbard. He vagely recognized one other man, although he couldn't recall his name. He had stars on his shoulder, which made Jack shake his head. The rot went high!

He didn't recognize the other man in the room, although he wasn't in uniform. There was something about him, however, that gave Jack the shivers. Somehow he was pretty sure this guy was important.

Jack continued to watch the screen until he was pretty sure he'd seen the whole complex. There was one more thing they had to do before they moved down into the basement. He gestured for Burke to follow him and headed for the stairs to the second floor where he told Burke to stand out of sight.

With a deep breath Jack reached out and tapped on the door.

"What do you want Smith?" a voice from inside called. "I have another hour until I have to relieve you!" A moment later the door swung open.

The man standing in front of him had clearly been in bed and was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. Jack zatted him without a thought and kicked him aside before he had time to fall. He felt a sharp tingle as he got caught in the last of the zat electricity but it didn't slow him down. Instead he advanced into the room and shot the other two inhabitants who were both trying to leap out of their beds.

"Whoa!" Burke followed him in and looked at the three incapacited men. That was – interesting. "Some weapon!"

"Help me tie them up," Jack told him, not saying anything about the zat. They each took out cuffs brought just for this purpose and preceded to cuff the men to one another. They laid them out beside each other and cuffed two outer men arms to the ankles of the one in the middle. They then moved to the other end and bound the outer men's legs to the middle ones wrists. Finally they gagged each of them and cuffed the two whose outer arms were still free to the footboard.

"Don't think they'll go anywhere soon," Burke said, admiring their handiwork. The men were starting to wake up, so Jack quickly threw a blanket over them. He figured it was best they didn't get a good look at them. He was pretty sure he'd zatted all of them too quickly for them to see anything. It had also been dark in the room.

"Is there anyone else upstairs?" Burke asked.

Jack shook his head. "Nope. Now we go down."

Burke sighed. "I suppose that's going to be a bit harder?"

Jack grinned. "Yup. Now the fun really begins."