Daniel came to slowly, realizing he was really sore. He groaned. He waited for his vision to clear. Good, he still had his glasses. How considerate. Finally, he could see he was in a large room, tied to the wall. Jack was ten or so feet away. OK, they'd done this before. Looking around, he saw a few lab tables, a couple of chairs and a small rolling cart. Hey, where was Anna? "Jack," he whispered.

"Huh, Daniel? Ouch! I hate those things. You OK?" Jack pulled at his wrists. "I'm pretty sure I can't get loose. You?"

"I think I'm OK. I might be able to wiggle one hand free. Oh, that can't be good."

"What?" Jack stretched his neck trying to see what Daniel was looking at.

"Uh, a table full of instruments."

"Instruments. You know, this just sucks."

Daniel snorted. "Yeeaah."

The door opened, and Alvarez entered. He was pulling a rope behind him. Oh, that's really, really bad. The rope's other end was tied around Anna's neck, and her hands were bound behind her back. She didn't seem to have any additional injuries, but to Daniel, she looked a bit feverish. Damn, she was probably getting an infection.

"Well, well. I'm going to get a very large Christmas bonus this year. I not only brought Baker back in, I got the two worst pains in the asses for extra credit."

"What do you want?"

"Colonel, that's a stupid question. We want what we always want. We want to pick your brains. Oh, and we want you dead, too. Actually, we expected you to be gone already." He jerked the rope, and Anna fell to her knees. "I'm expecting company soon, so we should get started."

"See, I'm not really dressed for a party." Jack had to say it. He couldn't break the habit of taunting people who held him prisoner.

"Colonel, I'm going to give you the choice. Pick: Dr. Jackson or yourself." Alvarez smirked. "Of course, you don't know what you're choosing, but that's half the fun."

"Bite me. I won't choose anyone."

"Well, we'll have to do this the hard way." He motioned to a guard. "Hook them all up."

Despite their struggles, Daniel and Jack found themselves with their arms tied above their heads, rope hanging over a beam and wrapped around a hook. They watched as the men moved Anna in front of them. The rope around her neck was thrown up over a beam and secured.

"Let's play a game, shall we? I'm going to show you a video, Colonel, then you can make your choice." Alvarez nodded to the same guard. A tv was wheeled in, and the man pressed on. The screen flashed with static, then an image faded in. A woman knelt next to a car, changing a tire. Sara! Oh, God, they were watching his ex-wife. Jack closed his eyes. Choose between his ex-wife and their safety now? He didn't even know what he was choosing, life, death? Niether? God, how could he do this? "Now, choose."

"Alright! Me, I choose me." He really hoped he was making the right choice.

"No, Jack! Wait!" Daniel pulled at his ropes in protest.

Alvarez picked up a box from the table. Opening it, he pulled out two small discs. Hey, those almost looked like memory devices, but one was slightly larger. Oh, not those things they'd used on Baker. He pulled away when the traitor approached, but felt the discomfort of the device as it was attached to his temple.

"You gonna put stuff in my head?"

Alvarez leaned close to Baker. "No, I'm going to put it in hers." He stuck the device on her head. She barely moved. Come to think of it, she was pretty much dazed.

"What's with her? Drugged?" Like me? He wanted to add.

"Hm? Oh, no, I think it's the concussion. She's a scrappy little thing." He laughed. "Let's get started, shall we?" He hit a button on a small device.

Jack could vaguely hear Daniel telling him to keep his mind blank but it sounded far away. He felt a pressure in his head, not painful, just uncomfortable. Memories swirled around his mind, Sara, Charlie, oh crap- Iraq, black ops missions, off-world stuff. Daniel dying, Sam in trouble. His head was spinning. There was too much to take all at once. He could feel blackness overtaking his consciousness. Then he felt nothing.

Daniel watched them attach the devices, and realized what they were going to do. He screamed at Jack, telling him to blank his mind, not think of anything, fight it, but knew it wouldn't help. Anna jerked once then began to shake. Her eyes squeezed shut and her back arched. He knew she was trying to focus on keeping her feet so she didn't hang herself while fighting the pain. After a few seconds her eyes flew open and she began to pant. Daniel kept struggling with his ropes and felt a bit of hope when there was some give. If he could get it loose, he might be able to free the others. If they left them alone. If.

The door flew open. A tall man with dark hair and black eyes stared at the scene. "Alvarez! You son of a bitch!" He walked two steps into the room and pulled out a pistol. Without blinking, he shot the man in the forehead. Alvarez was dead before he hit the floor. The man turned to the gaping guards. "He was told not to start without me."

He turned to Jack and Daniel as he removed the rope from her neck. "I'm Prescott. Major Prescott, NID." He walked to Anna and gently removed the memory device. Jack immediately woke with a mutter. "Anna, love, I've missed you so."

Jack shook his head. He slowly looked around, and Daniel saw when his mind focused. His eyes returned to Anna and Prescott, who was holding her face in his hands like a lover.

"God, that's just so wrong. And sick, did I mention sick?" Jack shook his head.

"Uh, Jack, maybe we shouldn't bait the psychotic soldier with the gun?" Daniel was hoping they could distract the crazy man from Anna. "I mean, he might decide he likes you. Not that you aren't an attractive man, well, not to me, but maybe, uh..."

"Thank you, Daniel. I'm sure you'd be considered attractive, too, in a really smart person kind of way."

"Shut up." Prescott stared at them. "Apparently, Alvarez decided to transfer O'Neill's memories to Anna."

"Does she have all of them?" Jack's cheek twitched.

Prescott smiled slyly. "Yes. Why, does it bother you?"

"Not really." If Daniel didn't know him that well, he might have believed it. "Too bad they don't erase them from my mind. But hey, I don't like Baker anyway, so no harm done."

"No, you don't. But Dr. Jackson is your friend, and he does like her. Don't you, Doctor?" Prescott slid his hand over Anna's thigh. "I bet this bothers you, doesn't it? Seeing me touch her, own her, " he ran his hand over her face, "and knowing you can't do anything to stop me."

"How did you get one of those devices? I wouldn't think the Goau'ld would just hand it over." Jack wanted to derail this line of conversation now.

"I simply stole it. Not as hard as it sounds. Then I made a few adjustments, well, actually, my partner did, God rest her soul.'

Daniel didn't answer. God, he needed to do something to stop this. ""Why don't you just put the memories into your own brain?"

"Daniel!" Jack was staring at him like he'd lost his mind.

"Because it causes brain damage. Or death. And though the thought of all that knowledge is appealing, I won't risk my own life on a slim chance of living through it. And I don't really need her brain in working order." He suddenly grabbed the unconscious marine's chin. "Wake up!" Anna slowly opened her eyes and moaned. "That's it, baby. Wake up for me."

Daniel felt faintly nauseated by the man's obvious insanity. Something clicked. Let me be wrong, let me be wrong. "Hold on. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"Oh, yes, that. I wanted to drop off the radar, so to speak. Didn't need anyone looking for me. I had plans to make." Prescott moved behind Anna. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. "I would have waited until she was alone, but that idiot did well enough to take all three of you."

Anna was staring stoically at the wall somewhere over Daniel's head. This was the guy Janet mentioned. The one she'd been glad was dead. He couldn't imagine how awful it must be, thinking someone like that was dead, then suddenly reliving one of your worst nightmares. No, actually, he could. It was probably like facing Hathor the second time.

Suddenly Prescott snapped his fingers. "Hey, I have a really great idea! I'm going to put Anna's memories into one of you! Won't that be fun?" He giggled. "I think it's only fair that it's you, Colonel, since she got your memories."

Jack swallowed and plastered his dumb Colonel look on his face. "Uh, can you pick and choose which ones? I mean, I don't really need memories of, uh, women things."

"Don't worry, I doubt you'll even notice those with all the other ones. Some of them are pretty nasty. I'd know, since I was there for some of them. But I have other things to do first, so I'll bring her back later to play." He dragged her from the room. Daniel knew by her dazed expression that she was still suffering the effects of the concussion or the memories, or both.

"Jack, we have to get out of here."

"Ya think?" Jack scrunched up his face and bit his lip. He couldn't see any way out with their hands tied the way they were; Prescott's men weren't amateurs. His shoulder muscles started to cramp, and his knees were getting stiff. He was getting too old for this. He looked at Daniel. Oh, crap. He had one of those, "Jack, we need to do something stupid" looks. Damn his self-sacrificing-hero complex! He forced himself to calm down. Irrational rage was not something he needed right now.

"Jack, I might be able to get my hands free. If I can, and I can get yours untied, we can use the, uh, sharp things on the table when the guards come back."

"OK. Sounds like a plan. We can figure it out from there." If Daniel could get him loose, he could try to get them out of here. What if he couldn't? "Hey, you know, uh, I probably need to tell you something. Why I've been acting so...crazy."

"What? Now?"

"Well, just in case. But I need a few minutes to think, first." Jack knew this was bad. He couldn't be sure of his instincts, couldn't be sure of himself.

Unfortunately, they only had a few minutes before the guards returned. Settling against the wall, they each took a swig of water. Daniel didn't think they looked too happy. "Uh, Jack?"

"Yeah? Got your hands free?"

"Nooo. I was thinking-"

"No, don't do that!"

"Well, about what you wanted to talk about?"

"Never mind. We can do that later. Daniel, just stick with the plan...at least until after those goons leave." Jack kept his voice down, but the guards looked their way. Did they hear them?

"Shut up over there!"

"Aw, make me!"

"Jack, what are you doing? I thought we wanted to avoid attention until I got my hands loose!" Daniel wanted to bang his head against a wall, but there wasn't a wall close enough. Didn't Jack just tell him to stick to the plan?

The guards only laughed. "Hey, could we have some water over here?" Jack just couldn't help it. Daniel closed his eyes. The guards ignored him. "Yeah, thanks! Daniel, I'm getting them used to us being noisy and moving a bit."

They remained that way for a long time; Jack would occasionally shout out and the bad guys pretended they didn't notice. Suddenly the door was flung open. Prescott walked in, literally dragging Baker in by her arm. She wasn't conscious, and she was a bloody mess. Daniel winced. He could see bruises forming on most of her face, her clothes were ripped and her hair was matted with blood. He could see her wrists bore finger shaped marks as well. Damn! She'd been worked over pretty well.

Prescott dropped her arm. She flopped limply to the floor. Grabbing a bottle of water, he poured it on Anna's face. She woke, gasping and moaning. He whispered something to her too quietly for the others to hear. She must have answered him, and he didn't like it. He grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet. He held up a small disc. "This one's for O'Neill." He crossed the room and pushed into Jack's head. He grinned evilly. Pulling the controller from his pocket he said, "I added a few new memories for you. Hope you enjoy the show."

Jack's eyes went blank for a minute. Daniel watched his face start to twitch, and then Jack started to scream. Daniel renewed his efforts to free himself, ignoring the pain in his wrists. He could feel blood seeping into the sleeve of his shirt, but kept trying. He had to get them out of here. Yes, he felt the rope slip. His hands were free! He froze when one of the guards stood and walked to him.

"Can't have you running off." And he raised a pistol. Daniel's heart raced. He wanted to move, but felt paralyzed. The man aimed and fired.

"Argh! Oh God!" The pain in his thigh was like fire. He fell to the floor. He could hear Anna's horrible noises of pain and his own moans. Jack was screaming, curses in more languages than he knew before, courtesy of the marine. Prescott's insane laughter was simply more background noise. It was like a horrible chorus for the damned.