Teal'c dove forward as the shot rang out. He was too late.

The Colonel collapsed in a heap, rolling around on the floor. Teal'c fell next to him, not able to stop his dive and crawled closer. Sam called for a medical team. Daniel just stood there, apparently in shock. Hammond picked up the gun O'Neill had dropped from his limp arm, staring at it in surprise. The guards gathered around the scene, still ready to respond to anything.

Hammond stared at his fallen Second, sorrow in his eyes as his fingers fidgeted with the gun in his hand. "Stand down," he ordered softly and the guards stepped backwards.

Teal'c had gently turned his CO around, leaning him comfortably against his chest.

Daniel knelt next to them, locking his eyes on Jack's. "Jack, what happened?"

O'Neill bit back a groan, feeling the blood running down his side and arm. The fog was still present in his head, although he did recognize Daniel. He tried desperately to stay alert, to fight off the blackness that was surrounding him at alarming rate. He tried to say something, but the words didn't come out.

Sam dropped on her knees to take his pulse. She took in the blood that was soaking the Colonel's shirt and gasped. She was about to yell for the medics to hurry as when she heard Doctor Janet Fraiser rushing upstairs to reach them.

The diminutive doctor immediately took control, barking out her orders. She'd only needed one look around the room to notice the shocked and confused faces surrounding the Colonel. Knowing a stretcher was on the way, she took O'Neill's pulse and blood pressure, and then examined the bullet wound while listening to Carter's quick update on what had happened. As far as she could see the bullet had grazed the Colonel's chest, leaving a deep groove. The bullet had also grazed the inside of the O'Neill's arm, but she was convinced the bullet had left his body. All the blood soaking the man's shirt and dripping on the carpet made it look worse than it really was. If the shooter had aimed one inch more to the right, it would have been another story, she thought. One member of her staff handed her some bandages and she expertly covered both bleeding cuts.

"Colonel O'Neill, you're going to be fine. Sir, can you hear me?" Janet didn't like the blank expression, the lack of emotion and that he wasn't responding to her at all. "Colonel, I need you to stay awake for me. Come on, Sir! Look at me," she urged, waving one finger in front of his eyes to catch his attention. When she took in his staring eyes, not responding to the movement of her finger, Janet waved at the approaching medics with the stretcher and ordered them to lift the injured man onto it to take him to the infirmary.

Hammond grabbed her arm before she could follow them. "Doctor. I want you to figure out what is wrong with him and I want it fast."

Fraiser looked up at him, taking in his pleading eyes. She nodded slowly. "Yes, Sir. Now, if you'll excuse me…" As soon as he let go of her arm, she rushed to her infirmary. She had a patient to tend to.

The remaining members of SG-1 gathered in the infirmary, waiting for Janet to come out with news about their friend. The team was still shocked by what had happened and were trying to figure out what might have caused the behavior of Colonel O'Neill.

"Oh, Lord!" Daniel paced up and down the room, arms wrapped around his body, his head bent down. "I should have known, I should have known!!! When I visited him in his office, I sensed something was wrong… I should have told you, maybe we could have prevented this…"

"Daniel Jackson, you are not to blame," Teal'c attempted to reassure the linguist of the team, knowing how hard the man could be on himself.

Sam bit on her lip. "If you're to blame then we all are, Daniel. I mean, we saw how he behaved at lunch. Obviously, something was wrong and we let it go…" She also had a hard time forgiving herself. To be honest, she felt like an utter fool for having considered her lab work more important than the Colonel's well-being that afternoon at lunch.

"Major Carter, I do not think we could have prevented this. We need to concentrate on searching for the cause." Teal'c was practical as usual. He understood the guilt the others were feeling. He felt the same way about not having managed to push O'Neill out of the line of fire. Such regrets, however, were of no use.

"You're right, Teal'c," Sam said, trying to sound convinced. "We better start figuring out what happened when he was off duty. He was obviously under the influence of something, drugs or brainwashing, maybe? Something has happened to him and we have to know what."

Daniel stopped pacing, facing the others. "I think Jack also got in a fight or something. Did you see him rubbing his chest, wincing as he moved?" He slowly pushed his glasses back on his nose and ran one hand through his hair. He turned to Sam. "He can't be court-martialed for having pulled a stunt like that, can he?"

Carter frowned, thinking it over. The Colonel had threatened the General, had aimed a gun at the guards as well. "Maybe, Daniel, maybe. But I'm sure the General will find a way out."

"A way out of what?" asked the General in question, as he just entered the room to see if there was any news.

"Err, we were wondering if Jack would get court-martialed for this," Daniel hesitantly explained.

"Let's first wait what Doctor Fraiser comes up with, son," Hammond said. "There must be an explanation for the Colonel's behavior. Then we'll deal with the rest."

They all waited for another twenty minutes. Then, Janet entered with a chart in her hand, frowning deeply. She wasn't surprised to find the General with the rest of SG-1, knowing he needed to know the results of her examinations.

"Doctor? What have you got?" Hammond asked, too impatient to wait for her to start by herself.

"First, the bullet just grazed the Colonel's chest, Sir. It dug a groove in the skin on the right, then grazing the inside of his right arm. The injuries are not serious, although they looked rather messy. He has lost a lot of blood, but it's not life threatening." She looked up from her chart, taking in the relief that overwhelmed the team.

"What concerns me is his lack of response to any stimulation. He appears to be in some sort of trance, or shock. His blood pressure is on the low side, but that is to be expected after being shot. He is also running a slight fever and I have no idea what caused that, so I did another more detailed examination. I found bruises on his shoulders and chest. It looks to me like he took some blows a couple of days ago, but I can't be sure. His right arm has some fresh needle marks, also a couple of days old…"

She stopped briefly. Everybody was staring at her, stunned by her discoveries. "So I ran some tests. His blood is clean. Whatever he has injected ---or has been injected with, has vanished from his system. I can't detect what it was. I did some X-rays and an MRI scan… At least he hasn't broken his ribs this time. But I found this…"

Janet grabbed a photo of the Colonel's head. She pointed at a dark spot, located just behind his left ear. "Something has been implanted here. It's also causing the fever, Sir. The stitches are slightly inflamed. I hadn't spotted this earlier, because it is neatly hidden under his hair." She gave the General an apologetic look.

"Something implanted in his head?" the General said, his eyes widening in surprise. "Well? What is it? Did you attempt to remove it?"

"I don't know what it is, Sir. And yes, I did try to remove it, but I can't. It is in pretty deep, somehow there is a connection to his ear and, more importantly, to his brain. He seized heavily and went into cardiac arrest at my attempt to dig it out, Sir. We've got him back, but I don't want to repeat that procedure without more information."

The General's mouth fell wide open.

Carter inhaled sharply.

Daniel just sank down to the floor, with his back against the wall. He drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them.

"It is some sort of mind control thing, right?" Sam said. "It tries to control him. That's why he aimed at you, Sir."

Hammond looked at the Major. "Are you trying to tell me that somebody wants to kill me and is using one of my men to do the job?" His voice sounded harsh, the new information shocking him.

Carter nodded. "I think so, Sir. Why else would the Colonel point a gun at you? He did try to fight it, Sir," she defended her CO, remembering how he'd hesitated, how he'd forced himself to turn and aim somewhere else.

The General sat down, leaning his head in his hands. "He did more than try, Major. The safety was still on his gun…"

"What?" Daniel looked up. "Jack would never forget something like that!"

"O'Neill must have done that on purpose. He was still in control." Teal'c nodded, understanding.

"Way to go, Jack!" Daniel couldn't help but feel proud of his friend.

"We don't know how forceful that device is, how it activates, what it's doing to him…" Janet summarized worriedly.

Hammond nodded. Taking control over the situation, he stood straight. "Doctor, I suggest you restrain the Colonel for his and our safety. Do whatever you can to treat him and keep me informed. Major, I need to know everything about that device and I need it pronto. Doctor Jackson, why don't you and Teal'c start by examining the Colonel's house? I need to know where he was during his time off, who he met and most importantly, what has happened to him. Whoever did this is not through with me. I'm going to nail his ass on the highest glyph of the Stargate, is that understood?"

"Yes, Sir," four voices firmly responded.

Well. Something has happened to Jack and it is not good. Not good at all...... Are you worried?