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Daniel Jackson drove the car over to O'Neill's house. They had stopped by their friend to check on him before leaving, only to find him sleeping. The younger man had a hard time erasing that image from his mind: Jack, aiming the gun at General Hammond.

The linguist pulled into the driveway. "I can't believe this is happening," he said to Teal'c. "He tried so hard to fight this damn thing and they just shot him…" Although he hadn't pulled the trigger, Daniel felt incredibly guilty for not having been able to prevent this.

"O'Neill did what he had to do. So did we. We should be pleased he is not dead, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c tried to reason.

"Yeah, I know." Jackson sighed and stepped out of the car. "Come on, let's see what we can find out here." He searched his pockets and came up with the key to Jack's house.

"I suggest we take precautions, Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa warned, as Daniel wanted to unlock the door.

Daniel staggered back. "You're right. What do we do?"

Teal'c examined the door carefully, looking for signs of break-in. He also checked the windows, searched for footprints around the house and peered inside, trying to detect any possible danger. When he was satisfied, he nodded at Daniel Jackson. "I think it is safe to enter the house now."

Daniel unlocked the door, stepped back and kicked it wide open with one foot.

Nothing happened.

Teal'c stepped inside first, covering his companion with his huge body.

The house was empty. The living room was clear. There were no signs of anything in the kitchen. The bedroom however was a mess. The sheets were all messed up, laying half on the bed and half on the floor. One pillow and a small lamp, which belonged on the table next to the bed, lay on the carpet and a chair was upside down as well.

"Well," Daniel said, taking in the room, "I guess whoever got him surprised him in his sleep."

Teal'c agreed. "I think so, too. The question remains how have they gotten inside?"

Daniel checked the window. It was locked securely. "Do you think they could have had a duplicate key?" he wondered. Something else was bothering him. "How would they have surprised him in his sleep like that anyway? You know how alert he is…"

Teal'c entered the bathroom, searching the place without touching anything, while Daniel used his cell phone to call the General's office. He knew the General would arrange for some experts to search the place for evidence, fingerprints, whatever they could find.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c called out for him and he headed to the bathroom as well. There was a glass on the sink, with a bottle of aspirins lying half-open next to it.

Daniel stared at Teal'c, thinking out loud. "You mean somebody tampered with that? We'd better have Sam take a look at that, then…" Taking his handkerchief out of his pocket, he carefully picked the bottle up, without leaving any marks. He wrapped it in his kerchief and stashed it deep into his pocket. "Let's get back to the SGC. We're done here, I think."

Janet Fraiser was tired. She'd been working for a long time, before allowing herself a brief rest. She decided to take a seat next to the Colonel's bed, hoping he would wake up soon.

His condition was stable after his ordeal with the seizure. His arms and legs were cuffed to the bed, a mild sedative dripping through an IV-line into his veins. Janet had treated the inflamed incision with antibiotic ointment. The wounds where the bullet had grazed him were clean and she didn't expect any complications.

O'Neill hadn't moved an inch since his arrest. He was breathing in a slow, shallow rhythm, his pulse regular. She was convinced he would be fine, however, if it weren't for that damn thing implanted in his head.

Before she sat down, Fraiser wiped his face, checking his temperature. It was still a little too high, but she expected the fever to come down soon.

Janet was reading in a magazine when the Colonel started shifting. She dropped the paper and stepped closer to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

O'Neill opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times, and then some kind of recognition flooded over his face. He smiled wearily at the female doctor.

"Hi, Colonel," she greeted him, "how do you feel?"

The Colonel arched his brows, assessing his condition. He winced as he tried to move his right arm; the fresh bullet wounds sending stabs of pain through his body. "That hurts… what happened?" he croaked.

Janet looked into his confused eyes and wondered how much he remembered. "You were shot, Colonel. No major damage done, you were lucky. But you do need to try to hold still, however. Do you remember what happened?"

"Shot?" O'Neill looked stunned. "Nope… don't remember a thing." He became aware of the restraints, and yanked at them with his left hand, unable to pull them loose. "What's that for?" he demanded, glaring at Janet.

She sighed. "Well, that's a long story, Sir." She checked his pulse, knowing he was getting agitated.

"I'm not going anywhere," he opted, signaling at the restraints.

She smiled. "That's true. Let me get you something to drink first." She gathered a glass of water, added a straw and held it in front of him so he could sip. "Someone implanted some sort of mind-control device in your head, Sir. Apparently designed for you to shoot General Hammond," she started her explanation.

He almost choked in his water and started coughing while raising his upper body up from the bed as far as the restraints allowed him. "WHAT?"

"Easy, Sir. You were able to keep in control somehow. You didn't actually shoot the General…" she soothed, not wanting him to disturb himself.

"Did I hurt anybody else?" he snapped, needing to know.

She shook her head. "No, Sir. You left the safety on the gun. One of the guards shot you, he didn't know that."

Jack sighed in relief and leaned back into the pillows. The guard was not to blame. He hadn't hurt anybody. Yet. "So that thing, it's still in there?" He wiggled his head, trying to detect it.

"Yes, Sir."

"Why didn't you take it out?"

"I tried, Colonel. You seized and arrested, I almost lost you…" She gave him an apologetic look.

He made a face. "Shit…" He looked at the door. "Is there a guard at the door?" He watched her shake her head. "Arrange for one, just in case. Let him shoot me again, if necessary."

Janet winced at the idea, not liking it a bit.

"Go on, do it," he ordered, his eyes determined.

She nodded slowly, turning to head to a phone. Looking back over her shoulder, she noticed how tired he looked. "Okay. You just rest, Sir."

"Okay people, I need answers. What did you find at Colonel O'Neill's house?" General Hammond knew he was pushing his men hard but they had to find some clues in order to help his Second. The investigation team had spent several hours at the house and he hoped they had come up with some useable evidence.

Major Connors, head of the investigation team the General had ordered to the Colonel's house, fumbled with the papers in front of him on the table. He didn't like what he had to tell the General, which was basically nothing. "Sir. Everything was clean. These people covered their tracks. The bedroom was messed up. It looks like they surprised Colonel O'Neill in his sleep, but he apparently put up a fight. We think the Colonel had taken some aspirin; Teal'c and Dr. Jackson found the bottle in the bathroom. Major Carter has examined it in the lab and found out that the tablets were laced with a sedative." Connors looked briefly at Major Carter, who nodded affirmatively.

"So at some point there was an intruder in his house but we found no evidence of burglary," Daniel filled in. "The aspirins with the sedative explain at least how they were able to get close to Jack. Normally nobody would have been able to take him by surprise like that."

"Maybe that's why he was in a fight. It was all a set up, leading to his kidnapping. They obviously knew the Colonel very well, that he wouldn't go to the infirmary for treatment, but would try to shake off the effects of the fight with just an aspirin," Major Carter's face lit up, suddenly understanding a piece of the puzzle. She was still very disturbed by the turn of events. She needed a clue about what had happened, but until now they had only been able to guess and the rest was a dead end.

"General Hammond, who would benefit from your death?" As always, Teal'c asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

The General seemed to be surprised by the question, even though he had also been racking his brain for the answer. "Teal'c, it could be a number of individuals. We need more information to know who they are. Maybe we should concentrate on the Colonel. Dr. Fraiser, has Colonel O'Neill been able to remember anything about what happened?"

"No, Sir. The Colonel woke up but didn't have a clue about what had happened. He was very shocked and ordered me to post a guard outside his room, to shoot him if he tries to escape. General, I've been thinking. Something must have triggered this. I mean, I assume he has been here in the Mountain for a while. Has anyone noticed him acting unusual at all? Daniel, did you guys see the Colonel during your downtime?" Janet knew how close this team had become and would be surprised if they hadn't met during their time off.

"No Janet, we didn't see him at all. We tried to find him on Saturday, we stopped by his house but he wasn't home. His truck was there, but we thought he had probably left with someone." Daniel sighed, guilt evident in his voice, "I guess he did, not by choice though."

Sam ignored the conversation; she was deep in thought. She couldn't believe she had failed to recognize what Janet had pointed out. "She's right, Sir. Something had to set him off. He had been on the base all day. We saw him earlier this morning and he did seem distracted, but he wasn't violent." Carter stopped talking, her face deep in concentration. "The Stargate," she blurted out, "the Stargate activated; that's the trigger! That has to be it." Sam was certain she was right.

"Major, how do we determine if your assessment is correct?" General Hammond knew he wouldn't like the answer to this question but they had to figure out what had happened.

"Sir," she stammered. "We need to activate the Stargate with the Colonel in the Gate room and see what his reactions are. We can take every precaution, Sir."

"What? You saw how hard it was for Jack to fight this. He was willing to sacrifice himself! We don't know what being subjected to this again will do to him." Daniel couldn't believe they would put his friend in this situation again. "There has got to be an alternative, the risk is just too high."

"Daniel Jackson, it will be a controlled situation, I will not allow O'Neill to harm the General. Or himself." With confidence in his voice, Teal'c was trying to alleviate the obvious concerns and fears of the team. He knew their CO would not be able to forgive himself if he harmed the General or anyone else.

"Dr. Fraiser, what do you think about all this?" General Hammond knew what he had to do but he wanted the Doctor's opinion on this before he decided.

"I don't know if Colonel O'Neill will agree to this, Sir. Even if he does consent to this test, I have no way of knowing how this device is affecting him, there is no way to know if it will harm him." Janet was not comfortable with this whole scenario. It was like beating your head against a wall to make a headache go away. She knew the General had already made up his mind and was just following the proper procedure by asking her advice. "Besides, does he need to be close to the Stargate? Or will he hear or sense an activation even in the infirmary?"

"I don't think so," Sam objected. "SG-6 returned home a few hours ago, and I don't think the Colonel has reacted to that, has he?"

Fraiser shook her head, knowing her friend was right.

Hammond had listened to all arguments and made up his mind. "Well, people. I don't think we have a lot of options here. We need to know what activates the device. Dr. Fraiser, make sure Colonel O'Neill gets a good night's rest and prepare all necessary equipment to monitor his condition during this test. We will proceed at 0900 in the morning. I will be in the infirmary later on to talk with him, if we are right about the trigger that shouldn't be a problem. Dismissed." General Hammond stood to leave the briefing room and to walk to his office.

"Janet, would it be okay if we visit Jack?" Daniel desperately wanted to make sure his friend was all right. Jack had been asleep the last time Daniel had visited the infirmary.

"Yes, Daniel, I think the Colonel would like that. Just don't stay too long, he still needs to rest." Janet had no intention of leaving the Colonel; she wanted to be there when the General showed up. She was concerned how her patient would respond to this latest development.

well, well... there is some progress. Is it really the Stargate that is triggering this device, and what will happen when they place Jack in the Gateroom? Will he start killing people? Can he fight it again? Will Teal'c be able to keep everybody safe? Find out in the next chapter!