Despite the way his thoughts kept floating away from him, Daniel was very sure he didn't want to be there anymore. After Colonel Attison left, Daniel tried to pull away from the arms holding him. He was stopped by a sharp blow to the stomach, followed by a vicious jab to his side. The man holding him was whispering in his ear, though Daniel's mind no longer seemed able to translate the words. For a moment, everything seemed to be sliding further away; their words, the pain, the dark feeling of being trapped in someone's arms, and then, suddenly, it was just too much.
Without thought, Daniel twisted himself in a classic move first taught to him by Sam and later perfected in training with Teal'c. It was meant to let someone physically smaller than their opponent escape their hold. Despite the fog in his head, Daniel's muscles remembered what his brain could no longer quite grasp, sending the man holding him flying over his shoulder and, coincidently, straight into the other man. They both crashed to the floor with a look of utter astonishment while Daniel stood over them.
Daniel blinked for a moment, gasping slightly as he recovered from their attack, then walked around the men tangled together on the floor to finally take up the alien box for himself. While the two men were still struggling to get up, he twisted the top of the box, slid around some of the symbols, and watched, fascinated, as it started to hum.
"Hey!" one of the men shouted, his face contorted with rage as he stumbled to his feet. His partner was only just sitting up, rubbing the growing knot on his head. Frowning slightly, Daniel turned to face them, still fiddling with the box. Before either man could move further, they were both enveloped in a blue light. The humming increased.
"Let me out of here, I'm going to find Jack," Daniel announced, and then the light and the humming ceased. Daniel waited. Now neither man was looking at him, as though they were no longer even aware he was there. They looked around puzzled for a moment before turning and opening the door. Daniel walked out, carefully shutting the door behind him, and walked down the hall.
He walked at random for a long way, alternately humming to himself a happy little song that was all about escaping the bad hands and finding Jack, and whimpering to himself because it hurt to move and he still hadn't found Jack yet. Finally, he managed to piece together the idea that he should ask for directions. So far, everyone he had passed had either completely ignored him or he zapped them with the box, told them to go away, and he was left alone. Now he looked for someone to stop, finally spying a small man in some sort of lab coat.
"Excuse me," Daniel said, getting his attention. The man stopped, then jumped a bit when he saw who he was talking to. When the man didn't say anything, Daniel continued. "I have to find Jack," he explained, "Where is the exit to this place?"
"You do know you're bleeding?" the man finally asked, after pausing so long that it didn't seem like he would answer at all.
"Am I?" Daniel asked, considering this.
"Just a bit," the man answered nervously, "From your nose. And your shirt." Daniel blinked at him.
"Shirts don't bleed," he finally said.
"Yes, well, yours is rather red now."
"I think its reopened," Daniel explained, after trying, unsuccessfully, to get a proper view of his own chest, "Can you take me to the exit now?"
"Do you want to go to the hospital?" the man asked, sounding concerned. Daniel considered this. While he was still considering, the man apparently decided that Daniel must be injured worse than he looked, because he took hold of his elbow and started to guide him down the hallway.
Daniel got even more stares this way, but as the small man in the lab coat apparently had him in hand, no one bothered them. As they walked, Daniel started to explain all about how he really wanted to see Jack, but he would go to a hospital if Jack was there, though really he didn't like hospitals and he was tired of them. Finally, they arrived at a what seemed to be some sort of military check point. The man in the lab coat showed his id badge, explaining how he thought Daniel must have hit his head.
"What's his name," the guard asked in a bored tone. The lab coat man looked a bit startled, as though only just realizing that he hadn't thought to ask.
"Jack O'Neill," Daniel announced suddenly, and the guard accepted that as his name, trying to do a search in the computer.
"Hey," the second guard said, as Daniel attempted to move forward with the box, "You can't take that out without the proper permits." Daniel glared at him for a second, and when the guard made a move to take the box, he turned it on. Both guards and the man in the lab coat were enveloped in the light.
"Let me out!" Daniel shouted, getting impatient with everyone, and when the light vanished he was allowed to pass through the doors without being challenged. The man in the lab coat followed, seemingly not even aware that something strange had just taken place. When they reached a second check point, they had even less trouble as the guards assumed they had both already been searched and allowed them to leave almost immediately. They stepped outside.
Daniel looked around in sudden confusion as it occurred to him for the first time that he didn't really know where he was, or how to get to Jack from there. The lab coat man tugged at his elbow, wanting to guide him to his car so that he could get him to a hospital and Daniel finally allowed himself to be led. They walked around the side of the building, towards the garage, but before they could get there a dark form suddenly arose from the shadows. The man in the lab coat shrieked, jumping back. Daniel squinted, frowning slightly.
"Daniel?" the form asked in a surprised tone, and then Daniel leapt happily into the figures arms with an excited cry. He had found Jack.