Chapter 3

As Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c drove up to the house a few minutes later, it was with some trepidation.

Daniel parked the car, and they all sat there in silence. "He may not be too happy to see us here, Sam," Daniel repeated, an argument they had already hashed and rehashed.

"I know, Daniel," Sam said, and she sighed. "That's why we waited for a few minutes, so he at least wouldn't think we followed him straight home."

"Teal'c, are you on board with this?" Daniel asked.

"I am not," Teal'c said, "I believe we should not interfere in O'Neill's affairs."

Sam sighed again and ran a hand through her short hair. "Well, we can at least go in and invite him to come watch a movie or something. That way we could at least make sure he got home okay."

Daniel sighed and nodded. He opened his door and waited while Sam and Teal'c also got out of the car. "Well, let's do this," he muttered, "though I'm not looking forward to being chewed out."

As Daniel rang on the doorbell, he was surprised as the door burst open to reveal the brunette they had seen earlier looking wild-eyed and shocked. "Are you friends of Mac?" she asked, her voice a bit shrill with shock.

"Uh, do you mean Jack?" Daniel asked.

The woman shook her head. "No, I mean Macgyver, the guy who lives here!"

"In that case, yes," Sam said, as she and Daniel exchanged looks that spoke volumes about the woman's sanity.

Teal'c though, had sensed the urgency in the woman's tone, "Has something transpired with O'Neill?"

The woman seemed puzzled by his odd choice of words and they she said, "That's what the man called him too! Come quick!" Then she turned and ran back into the house.

The three outside exchanged glances. "This can't be good." As one, they ran into the house. The sight that greeted them was not one they had expected. Several pieces of furniture had been knocked over, one lamp had been shattered, and there were quite a few dark stains in the carpet.

Teal'c dropped next to one and stuck his finger in it and brought it up to his nose. "It is blood," he proclaimed solemnly.

Then he wheeled on the brunette woman and said, "Where is O'Neill?"

The woman glared and folded her arms across her chest, "That's what I've been trying to tell you. They took him and drove away."

Sam stared at the carnage in the living room and then turned to the woman. "We need you to come with us to answer some questions." The brown-haired woman looked a little unsure, but finally nodded her agreement.

Jack woke up wishing he hadn't. His head and limbs ached with the residual effects of the drug and he groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. He tried to move, but found his ability to do so was limited.

"Good morning, Colonel O'Neill," a heavily accented voice greeted him. Jack quickly placed the accent as coming from Germany, and he managed to crack his eyelids open to view a woman dressed in medical white.

"My name is Patty Scholden. I'll be the doctor in charge of you today. Don't try to move too much, Colonel," the woman continued. "They overshot you with tranquilizer. The amount they gave you was a fairly dangerous, high dose, that might have possibly killed you, but luckily you survived with minimal damage. Isn't that wonderful?"

Jack glared at her and managed to gasp out, "Where am I?"

The doctor clapped her hands in delight. "Marvelous! You have regained control of your ability to speak far quicker than anticipated. This should allow us to begin shortly."

"Begin what?" Jack asked, half-hoping the doctor wouldn't tell him.

"Why, the interrogation of course," the doctor said, looking confused, "what else would I be talking about?"

Jack sighed and against his will slipped back into unconsciousness. The doctor looked disappointed as she realized her patient was no longer with her, but then she shrugged it off and began humming as she readied several tools around his unconscious form.

December 1993

"Sara!" Macgyver yelled as he ran into their bedroom and began to frantically pack.

"What is it, Mac?" she asked, coming in from the other room, holding a six-month-old Charlie.

"We've got to go, right away! Place a call to Sam, and tell him to get out of town for the time being."

Sara nodded, put Charlie on the ground where he happily began to play with his toys, and picked up the phone. "What is it, Mac? What's wrong?"

Macgyver looked up from his frantic packing and she felt a jolt of fear hit her at the look in his eyes. "It's Murdoc, Sara, he's back. And he'll use anyone to get to me. I can't risk you or the kids."

Not fully understanding the danger, Sara knew enough to know that Macgyver NEVER seemed to get scared. However, with his family on the line, he was now terrified.

The phone began to ring in her ear, but after the tenth ring, there was still no response. She looked with horror at Macgyver, and he slowly stilled as he felt her gaze on his back. "What is it?" he asked tersely.

"Sam's not answering his phone," she said, and Macgyver's frame froze like an icicle.

Jack once again rose to the land of the living. He felt much better, and was determined to learn as much about his circumstance as possible before giving away that he was awake. He listened and heard at least two other people in the room with him. He could feel that he was strapped down to a table at a slight incline, and very carefully he tried to test his binds without giving away that he was awake. However, the movement must have been too much, because he heard a most unwelcome voice greet him.

"Well, good morning, Colonel O'Neill," Simmons said. "How nice of you to join us."

Deciding the playing dead wasn't going to get him anywhere, Jack snapped his eyes open and immediately regretted it. The tranquilizer had made him photosensitive, and the sudden glaring light caused pain to slice through his head like a hatchet. He stifled his groan though, unwilling to show weakness in front of Simmons.

"Who's your new friends, Simmons?" Jack asked, after slowly opening his eyes once again.

"Oh, we're not new friends. We go way back, don't we, Patty?"

The nurse grinned and said, "Certainly, sir."

Jack pulled a little more forcefully at his restraints and wasn't surprised to see that they didn't even budge.

"What do you want?" Jack asked.

"Never one for pleasantries, were you, Colonel?" Simmons asked. "Always right down to business. Fine, we'll do it your way." Simmons motioned for a third person to step into the room. Jack was briefly surprised to realize it was someone he recognized. As he took in the face of the once powerful Adrian Conrad, he turned his head back to Simmons in shock.

"You're letting a Goa'uld in here? Are you nuts? Do you know how fast he could kill you and be on his merry way?"

Simmons smiled, "Well, you see, this particular Goa'uld has more to gain by keeping me alive. Beside the fact that, if I die, this room will be sealed and gassed. Therefore, killing me would be rather foolish."

Jack shrugged and briefly gave Simmons a tiny bit of credit. "I suppose there is no question of who shot me now, is there?" Simmons shrugged and Jack asked the next question on his mind, "So, what is he doing here? I highly doubt you invited him in for tea and crumpets."

"He is going to join us in our experiment, Colonel O'Neill. An experiment I'm sure you will find absolutely fascinating."

"And that would be...?"

Simmons motioned for the female doctor to come forward.

"Do you remember the experience with Hathor, Colonel O'Neill?" the woman asked.

Jack rolled his eyes and drawled, "Which time?"

The woman smiled and said, "The second time, when she tried to implant you with a Goa'uld."

Jack did his best to look nonchalant and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Colonel Simmons snorted, "Please, Colonel," he said, "don't try and play the fool with me. I've read your reports. We could even read to you your account of that situation. I know you remember it."

Jack glared at Simmons and said, "So? What's your point?"

Colonel Simmons gestured for Patty to continue. "I was most intrigued by the fact that you were able to resist the 'blending' as long as you did. From all accounts it was several minutes before you were frozen, and the Goa'uld had still been unable to establish control."

Jack shrugged as best he could again. Those weren't his favorite memories, and he would be happier to not bring them up. "And? So? Therefore?" he said.

Patty smiled winningly, "Well, Colonel, I'm sure you're aware of this, but your case is the only situation I have ever heard of where a host was able to resist being taken over. Mr. Conrad confirms my assessment as well."

Adrian Conrad's eyes glowed briefly and then he admitted reluctantly in the hollow tones of the Goa'uld, "There are no hosts in my genetic memory that had the ability to resist. There were a few subspecies of humans whose bodies rejected the joining, but this experience proved most painful to both the host and the Goa'uld. From what Colonel Simmons has described to me, your circumstance was most irregular."

Colonel Simmons butted in at this point, "We thought at first it might be part of your Special Ops training, but I'm sure you recall Major Kawalski."

"What about him?" Jack asked, his face revealing nothing.

"Well, even though he was taken over by a Goa'uld who was not quite ready for a host, it still instantaneously gained control of him, if only for a few moments. Major Kawalski had also received special ops training."

"So, Colonel," Patty broke in, "what we have here is an enigma of sorts. And it all centers on you."

Jack decided he didn't really like where this conversation was going.