A/N – The email alerts on this site were acting wonky when I last updated, so you might want to make sure that you read the previous chapter before you move on to this one. Extra special thanks to MidKnight Rider for her wicked beta skills here. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

After the last scream, an eerie silence descended on the cell. Despite his unease, Jack made good use of the time tending to Sam. He clothed her as best he could and attempted to examine her injuries, all under the watchful eye of Jacob. Though he was relieved to discover that most of her wounds were superficial, he knew that the real damage was most likely psychological, as evidenced by her reluctance to leave his embrace.

Without warning, the sound of a staff blast and still more screaming echoed throughout the underground structure.

Jacob glanced at Daniel, who was standing closest to the door. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good," Daniel said, looking worried and backing away a bit.

In the far corner of the cell, Sam stirred in Jack's arms. He pulled away from her to examine her face, only to find it covered with tears. Cupping her cheek, he used his thumbs to wipe away the wetness, and she furrowed her brow at him, her confusion apparent.

"Sir?" she asked. Though she was unbelievably relieved to see him, everything was hazy, and her mind felt muddled. When had he found her? Had she been crying? And why was she wearing nothing other than Jack's jacket and a pair of boxer shorts?

"Carter?" Jack grasped her by the shoulders.

"Sam!" Jacob said, having observed the exchange. He crossed the room to stand near his daughter.

"Dad," she replied, still sounding confused. She looked back and forth between Jack and Jacob, trying to remember when they had arrived. Suddenly self conscious, she pulled the jacket tightly around her. "Wha...what happened?"

Daniel, who now had his ear to the door, interrupted. "Ah, guys, we may be in trouble here."

But Jack and Jacob ignored him, their concentration focused solely on Sam. "What do you remember?" Jack asked gently.

"I...Osiris. She was...she was torturing me. With that...stick. I thought she was going to kill me, but then she brought me here. After that, it's just...," she shrugged, "bits and pieces." She shook her head, trying to recall what had happened to her after Osiris had put her in the cell. "I remember a presence. Then a feeling of being cold...and alone." Her next words she spoke quietly and directly to Jack. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Jack stared at Sam, and for a moment it was as though they were the only two people in the room. The pain and loneliness he saw in her eyes threatened to overwhelm him, and he bowed his head while he internally rebuked himself. He never should have run off to Minnesota. He never should have allowed her to leave his house that morning. Hell, he never should have entertained the idea that he could ever live without her, especially not after all that had transpired on P3R-118. And he vowed at that very second that he never would.

He reached up to touch her face, but after a quick glance at Jacob, he thought better of it, falling back on his usual diversionary tactics in an effort to fill the awkward silence.

"Yeah," he said finally, his voice rough. He cleared his throat. "Sorry I didn't have anything else for you to wear." He began carefully buttoning up the jacket she was holding closed around her. Jacob glared at him as his hands reached her chest, and he immediately pulled them away and balled them into fists by his side. "Sorry," he said again.

Sam gave him a small smile and finished buttoning the garment herself. "Yes, well, thanks for the jacket - and the shorts, sir."

"You can thank Daniel for the shorts," Jack replied with a grin. The archeologist had complained mightily that Jack should be the one to give up his underwear until the military man had finally admitted he wasn't wearing any. Of course, the only thing more amusing than Daniel's consternation at having to go commando had been the completely unexpected discovery that it was also the Tok'ra modus operandi.

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "He brought an extra pair?"

Jack winced. "Not exactly..."

"Um, guys?" Daniel tried again. "Far be it for me to intrude..."

"What, Daniel?" Jack demanded, with more frustration in his voice than he intended.

"Something's coming."

Jacob walked to the door to listen for himself but jumped backwards when a staff blast hit the control panel, causing sparks to fly and the wall to glow red hot. The unmistakable sound of the staff weapon being primed for another shot filtered into the cell. Jacob gestured urgently for the others to take cover, and they all backed away from the door, terrified of what might be coming for them.

Another staff blast hit the door, and within seconds a large piece of it was on the ground. As the smoke cleared, the familiar form of their favorite Jaffa could be seen standing in the entry.

"Teal'c!" Daniel exclaimed.

"T, buddy!" Jack added.

Teal'c's expression was stony. "We must hurry."

Daniel crawled through the makeshift exit followed immediately by Jacob. Jack looked closely at Teal'c as he approached the larger man and felt his adrenaline spike when he realized that his friend appeared somewhat unnerved. It was not a sight to which he was accustomed.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you, but how'd you get past all the Jaffa?"

"They have been otherwise occupied, O'Neill." His eyes darted around the cell as if he were searching for something. "We should leave this place as quickly as possible. Something unnatural is here."

Jack turned to Sam, who was by his side. "Can you walk?"

"I think so." Though she was still injured, she realized she actually felt substantially better. "Yes, sir."

Once they were out of the cell, Teal'c handed them zats, and they began to make their way to the ring transporter. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the structure from their current location.

"How did you know to come for us?" Jacob asked Teal'c as they walked as fast as possible through the structure.

He continued to scan the hallway. "I observed a Goa'uld fleet enter orbit. I assumed the worst."

"Pretty much always a safe assumption," mumbled Daniel.

"It's Heru'ur's fleet," Jack said. "Apparently he and Osiris are...friendly."

When they rounded a corner, however, they were met with a horrific scene, and the conversation was cut short. All along the passageway, the dried out husks of what remained of Heru'ur's Jaffa lined the floors, expressions of utter terror still etched on their withered faces. Slowly, the group moved in between the bodies, revulsion warring with curiosity.

"What the hell...?" began Jack, holstering his zat and picking up his P90.

Daniel looked around the hallway. "Call me crazy, but I don't think either Heru'ur or Osiris did this."

"Agreed," said Teal'c. "I have never seen anything like it."

Daniel bent down next to one of the bodies to get a closer look.

"Daniel..." Jack said, his voice a warning.

By then, the archeologist was already reaching out to probe the Jaffa's arm. The moment his hand made contact, though, the entire form disintegrated and turned to dust, and he let out a startled cry. Clumsily, he scrambled backwards and wound up falling on his rear, his hands landing on the body behind him, which also dissolved at his touch.

"I told you not to touch!" Jack yelled, exasperated.

Daniel made a face as he stood and hastily tried to wipe the Jaffa's remains off his hands. "You didn't tell me that!"

"Did too."

"Did not."

"It was implied, Daniel. Always."

"That appears to be the same substance that was in Nephthys' jar," Sam said, more in an attempt to break up the argument than anything else.

"Who?" asked Jack.

Daniel sighed. "Nephthys, Jack. You remember I told you about her? She was Osiris' lover - and sister?"

"Right. Sure. Freaky Goa'uld love triangle." Jack waved his hand in the air. "Threesome. Whatever."

"Osiris brought me here to be her host," Sam continued, "but when she opened Nephthys' stasis jar, there was nothing in it but sand. It looked just like that." She pointed to the decimated Jaffa.

From somewhere in the distance, they heard another scream, and all five of them exchanged anxious glances.

"I believe we should continue moving," suggested Teal'c.

Jack could not agree more.

After passing several more dead Jaffa in the dark halls, they finally made their way to the room housing the ring transporter. Jack held up a fist, signaling for them to stop just outside the entry. Slowly, he peeked around the corner, only to see Osiris and Heru'ur hurriedly making preparations to leave, an air of panic about their actions.

As Jack watched, Osiris hit a button, and a Goa'uld voice suddenly came over an internal loudspeaker.

Daniel looked up. "Oh boy," he said.

"What?" asked Jack, spinning around to face his teammate.

"It's a countdown," replied Daniel. "They've set a self destruct."

Jack swore quietly. '"How long?"

"Ah, about ten minutes."

"We need to get to that ring transporter," Jack said, more to himself than the others. But at that moment, he saw a dark form drifting in their direction, effectively cutting them off from the rest of the base. It didn't take long before the others noticed it as well, and Sam had to stifle a gasp.

With only one way to go, Jack made up his mind. "On three," he said, and he began counting down on his fingers. On cue, the entire group rounded the corner into the transporter room, guns and zats blazing.

With flashing eyes, the Goa'uld brought up their hand devices and fired two bursts of energy into the group. Jack and the others dove for cover, and the shots hit the wall behind them, leaving sizable craters. Jack fired his zat at Osiris, but she simply smirked at him from behind her personal shield, the zat fire dissipating harmlessly around the bubble of the energy protecting her. She was just bringing her hand up to fire at him a second time when she stopped suddenly and stared at the ceiling above his head. Jack followed her gaze and felt his gut clench.

Hovering above the group was the same dark, undefined form Jack had seen in the hallway earlier. The temperature in the room dropped perceptibly, as the half physical, half ethereal being entered, radiating an overwhelming sense of malevolence. Everyone in the room was frozen with fear, including Osiris and Heru'ur, both of whom were wild eyed as they watched the thing ooze across the ceiling. Jack instinctively drew closer to Sam, placing himself between her and the dark being.

With a strangled cry, Heru'ur brought his hand device up and took aim at it, but as if reading his intent, the thing targeted him and in a flash flew into his body. The Goa'uld let out a scream of pure terror, his body convulsing violently. Suddenly, Heru'ur's entire form shivered, then collapsed in upon itself, leaving a dried husk, identical to those they had passed in the hall.

"Well that was...disturbing," Jack muttered.

As they watched, the entity, just as dark but significantly more substantial now, floated out of Heru'ur's body and hovered just above it, as if deciding what it should do next.

Seeing a window of opportunity, Osiris made a move to activate the transporter, but before she could complete the task, the thing was upon her.

"No!" she screamed, just before the entity flew into her open mouth.

"Sarah!" Daniel lunged for her, but Teal'c roughly pulled him backwards.

The team watched, horrified, as Osiris stilled then stared directly at them, a dark substance floating across her eyes, turning them completely black.

Jack raised his gun and took aim, but Daniel begged him not to shoot. "Wait, Jack! Please..."

The military man hesitated, then against his better judgment lowered his weapon. He instantly regretted it, as the being turned its black eyes on Sam and, in a voice that resonated even more bizarrely than the usual Goa'uld timbre, spoke. The sound, like fingernails on a chalkboard, sent a chill down Sam's spine, and she had to consciously fight a rising sense of dread and despair.

"You have a fascinating mind, Samantha. Come with me, and together we will unlock your full potential." It glanced in Jack's direction. "Do not dwell on him further. He is insignificant." It faced Sam once again. "You, however, have no idea the power you possess. Together we could rule the universe."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Can't these guys do anything that's not completely over the top?" he said under his breath.

At that second, though, the thing reached out toward Sam, a move that proved to be the last straw for Jack. He jumped in front of his Second and opened fire. But no sooner had the bullets passed through the being, than its wounds closed up and instantly began to heal.

Roaring with fury, the thing sent the full force of its power through the hand device in a shock wave that hit Jack squarely in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He landed hard against the back wall and crumpled onto the floor.

"Jack!" Sam screamed. She ran to his side, along with Daniel, who reached him first and was already kneeling beside him. Sam looked at the thing with pure hatred, but it just gave her a cold smile.

It then turned toward Jacob and Teal'c for the purpose of leaving them with one final, chilling statement: "Tell the others - Anubis has returned!"

And with that, Anubis activated the rings and was instantaneously transported to Heru'ur's hak'tak, leaving the others staring at the empty space, stunned.

From the loudspeakers hidden somewhere in the ceiling, a prerecorded Goa'uld voice warned them that there were only minutes left before the base was destroyed. And at the back of the room, Sam looked at her fellow scientist, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Daniel?"

But Daniel refused to acknowledge her, either unwilling or unable to speak. Jacob and Teal'c joined them, and they gathered around their fallen leader. Jacob bent down to check Jack's pulse. He removed his fingers from his neck and looked sympathetically at his daughter. With just two words, he brought Sam's world crashing down around her.

"He's dead."

TBC…