lien planets always looked the same to Colonel Jack O'Neill, who had yet to be impressed by the towering trees and lush green landscape that always greeted the team through each Stargate arrival.

eing sarcastic by nature, he did not expect to find anything different about the landscape on P4X669, having viewed the preliminary reports from the MALP, and was shocked by the shifting, surrealistic view that greeted them as they stepped onto the planet surface.

"ack away from that edge, Daniel." Jack said sharply as he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the young scientist was peering curiously over the cliff edge near the Stargate, "We don't have enough rope to haul you back up if you take a header down there."

ourse Danny Boy didn't listen as usual. "Hey Jack, come look at this", he called out as he leaned even further out over the edge of the cliff. The next thing he knew, he disappeared over the edge.

aniel found himself hurtling down the rock face until, abruptly and painfully he slammed into a ledge thirty feet below. Pain exploded in his chest and then darkness.

"xactly what part of back away did he not understand?" Jack muttered worriedly as he hurried over to the cliff edge. "Daniel, are you okay?" Sam and Teal'c ran over to the colonel as soon as they had saw Daniel fall.

"or cryin' out loud," Jack said when he reached the edge of the cliff, or what had been a cliff, for even as he watched the gorge he'd seen moments before shifted and solidified into a gently rolling valley, and Daniel was no where to be seen.

"reat! Just great!" Jack was beginning to believe that getting out of bed this particular morning had been a bad idea. "Teal'C, have you ever seen anything like this?"

"aving never been upon a planet that was being terraformed, I can not say with certainty, but this seems to be happening according to stories told by those who visited some of the first worlds... Goa'uld technology is capable of such changes to the surface of planets!" Teal'c answered nervously.

's this really what I wanted to hear? * O'Neill said to himself. ' I've got a nervous Jaffa.' He sighed. 'That's like having a scared Rottwieller.' "O...kay." The Colonel turned toward Captain Carter. "Okay, Captain. Snap out of it. We need info so we can find where Daniel is this time. You got any ideas what may be going happening on this 'Fun House' planet.?" Sam Carter nervously nibbled at her lower lip as she look around her.

n the meantime, Daniel woke up to darkness and he panicked as memories of his parents being buried alive under a ton of rock prophetized his current situation. He reached out and felt hot air surrounding him but when he tried to stand, his entire body tensed up and pain flared, rivaling the heat around him.

ack was about to start calling out once more for Daniel when he spied a glowing light off the distance where the newly developed valley tapered off to a plain. Before he could bark out a warning, that light flew right by them and an agonizing jolt ran through the team's bodies before they collapsed lifeless on the ground.

'illing the aliens was always such sport', thought the Unas as he padded on huge feet towards his prey.

imp and lifeless, two of the bodies were tossed over the Unas' shoulder while the bigger one was dragged by the leg as it strode off to include these strange trophies in its' collection.

eanwhile, deep with in the planet, Daniel had finally made it to his feet; leaning heavily against the cave wall desperately trying to ignore the pain surging through his battered body and the stifling heat that threatened to suffocate him.

o handholds and no footholds meant no way out, so Daniel knew he had to find another way to join up with his team-mates.

pening his eyes seem to radiate pain into every nerve of his body, but the sight of his arms dangling behind some huge beast, slung over its broad shoulders like a sack of meat made Jack opened them wider anyway.

ropping himself against the wall in front of him, he tried to force his mind to think of any possible means of escape. Little did he know that with both Sam and Teal'c captured and Jack missing, Daniel was *truly* the only hope the team had of getting out of this mess.

'uixotic, why am I so damn Quixotic sometimes. Always have to be charging in to see what new windmill I can find to tilt at' Daniel berated himself as he felt along the walls once more as if doing so would make a hand hold or escape route magically appear. 'Jack probably thinks I'm dead..AGAIN and it would serve me right if he didn't bother to come looking for me this time!'. but even as he thought this, Jackson had the uneasy feeling his fellow SG1 members were in some sort of trouble of their own. 'God it was weird how the four of them were starting to form a link to each other.' Jackson mused and he was so lost in this thought he was hardly aware of the gradual whay in which total darkness was shading to grey and things were changing around him...

'eally strange...these Tau'ri' the grey shadow thought before approaching the shivering man again. Daniel didn't look up as the mist caressed his hair and then pulled back in wonder. 'How unusual. Must have this one for the tests...' Daniel, now sensing the chill that had come about the place, was about to turn around when he felt a jolt of pain and then...more darkness.

ilence, and pain. Teal'c felt it roll over him as consciousness slowly returned. Opening his eyes, he discovered that he was hanging upside down along with his teammates. A very large and strange alien held a knife to Sam's throat, blood starting to well up as it moved the blade along her neck.

owering ten feet over Carter, the alien was muttering to himself as he stroked the blade along her throat, not yet realizing that Teal'c was right now trying to free himself. As the Jaffa spied the strange alien goo that attached his feet up towards the ceiling, he realized that O'Neill was also beginning to stir. The colonel opened his eyes in a flash, took survey of the situation and was about to whisper to Teal'c when a pain filled scream shrilled out. With a start, the two men realized that the scream....came from Daniel.

"NAS!" a commanding hiss echoed through the alien's lair, making it hesitate and turn from its task of removing the life substance from the smallest captive. "You will assist us with this subject… it refuses to submit to insertion of the test probes. You must subdue it!"

'ena,' Sam thought as she craned her neck to find the colonel; hisshouting and Daniel's pain filled screams had jerked her back to full awarenessfrom whatever netherland jolt of energy had sent her. 'Why could I just beXena , just give that weird yodel of hers and send those monsters scramblingfor what ever rock they climbed out from under and leave him alone!!!'

"ield to the tests, human!!" roared the Unas, ignoring Jack's offer of sacrifice. He touched the tool in his hand to Daniel's body, wrenching yet another agonized shriek from the man. As it worked it mumbled to itself,"Miserable humans...if this one does not submit, they will not let me finishplaying with my new toys."

ombie-like, Daniel stared transfixed, silent… as the probes were now properly inserted, deep within his brain. He no longer felt theintense pain… he could feel nothing at all. "Good… Unas…," those in darknessvoiced their pleasure, "Now we shall remove all of its knowledge … so unusual…so interesting!"

nguish rolled over Jack as he watched the aliens torture his friend. 'Aw...Danny...' Unable to watch any longer, he glanced around the chamber. 'Come on Jack, think! How the hell are you going to get out of this...'

leeding and dizzy, Carter could see Daniel's body go limp as machinery began to hum soflty and Unas turned back to her, the blood stained knife once again sliding deeply across her neck as she screamed in pain.

"arter!" Jack shouted. Swearing, he struggling against the alien goothat was tacking his feet to the ceiling. Behind him, he couldn't seeTeal'c had managed to unlace his boots freeing himself from his bonds. Bootless,the Jaffa charged the Unas with an outraged bellow.

angling still from the ceiling, Jack saw Teal'c hit Unas with a forceborn of fury and desperation. Seeing Teal'c's bootless feet, Jack followedhis example and quickly began to untie his own boots. His hands, shakingfrom exhaustion and fear for his team, fumbled with the laces untilfinally the boots were loose enough for him to slip out of them and go to Teal'c'said.

ffortlessly, Teal'c picked up the Unas. With muscles bulging, he lifted it over his head and threw it against the cave wall.

rantically, O'Neill undid the laces of Carter's boots, her blood flowing over his hands, no heartbeat beneath the hand laid over her chest.

"od, don't do this to me, Carter." the colonel muttered as the woman, now freed, fell into his arms.

e laid her down and with shaking hands, began compressions to restart her heart. He didn't even notice Teal'c make his way toward the aliens still working on Daniel.

"t is not necessary to resort to violence," the beings spoke calmly to Teal'c, "your companion is free to leave at any time - we must thank you for his thoughts and knowledge, they have been most stimulating to us. His mind will require reeducation however. We apologize for the Unas, he is primitive and may have caused permanent damage to one of your group, this was not our plan."

ack sat back in relief when Sam suddenly gave a gasp and air filled her lungs. She was alive, if just barely. Jack turned to see Teal'c walking back toward him with a very limp Daniel in his arm, the look on the Jaffa's face however didn't set well with him.

nitting up contusions and lacerations was not Jack's strong point... he thought, with just the edge of a hysterical giggle slipping out Jack never thought he was one to succumb to hysteria, but with Daniel AND Carter down, he was beginning to wonder if he was going to be able to get them out of this.

aboriously, Carter's chest rose and fell as she struggled to breath, Daniel lying unconscious next to her while Jack and Teal'c desperately tried to find a way out of the room which seemed to have no signs of entry points.

"other?… Father?… What have you done with them?" the imploring tone of a lost young child emanated from the scientist. Daniel's eyes darted fearfully from Jack to Teal'c, and recoiled in horror as he saw Sam's condition, then he turned and fled from the chamber - effortlessly activating a mechanism which opened a hidden doorway to the corridors beyond.

ot realizing the situation he was in, Daniel stumbled through the doorway, away from the people he no longer remembered were his friends.

"h, for crying out loud! Daniel!" Jack looked from Sam to the place where Daniel had disappeared in indicision. He knew he needed to go after Daniel but he couldn't leave Sam...

"lease go after him, Sir", Sam gasped as she opened her eyes. "I'll stay with her, O'Neill," Teal'c offered. "We'll follow after you if, and when, Captain Carter can move."

uickly Jack jumped up and ran after Daniel, but when he got outside, the man was nowhere to be seen. Only his footprints were on the ground, Jack started to follow them, running as fast as he could.

eaching deep within himself, he put all his remaining reserves of energy into trying to catch up with the fleet footed anthropologist, knowing if he was to have any hope of catching up with Daniel Jackson, it would be in the next few minutes.

kittering to a stop, Jack could hear muffled sob from just up ahead. Slowly, Jack crept around the corner as saw Daniel, hunched over and squeezed into a small hollow in the rock wall like a lost, frightened child. Heartbroken sob shook the younger man's hunched shoulders. 'What did they do to him?' Jack wondered as he cautiously crept forward.

urning his palms upward to show he was no threat, Jack slowly made his way toward his huddled friend. Gently coaxing Daniel out of his hiding space, Jack suddenly stiffened, not knowing what to do as Daniel wrapped his arms around Jack's waist in a desparate hug.

seless as it might be, Sam asked Teal'c to help get her on her feet. He thought she might be too weak to be up but she said, "Help me get up. I want to be on my feet when we face these new aliens and find out what is going on. I can't believe they just sat there and allowed us to be tortured."

ery cautiously, realizing that right now, Daniel possessed the mind of a very small child, and unsure of the other man's reaction, Jack put his arms around Daniel and whispered to him reassuringly. " Mama, papa, where are they?" Daniel whimpered, his head pressed tightly to Jack's chest. "Don't worry Danny, we'll figure this all out and get you back home," Jack replied softly, hoping the words he'd just spoken were not a lie.

atching from a remote place, the aliens whispered among themselves. "These Tau'ri handle mental and physical distress in most unusual ways. Perhaps we should further experiment on them."

erophytic shubs scattered the ground on the planet's surface. Sam, who had recovered enough to walk without Teal'c's support scanned the barren landscape. She followed the Jaffa as he pointed to the footprints etched into the ground, obviously belonging to Daniel and the Colonel.

"ou stay away from me!" Daniel cried out as he saw the shadows approached Jack. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered as the soldier paid no heed to the intruders, only to Daniel as he placed one hand on top of the sandy hair and pressed the face to his jacket to shield him from the sight.

ealously, Jack brought his weapon up and turned to face the threat. All without losing hold of Daniel. Shadows, all he saw were shadows. How could they be this awful threat Daniel was so afraid of.

'lbuterol?' Jack thought as the smell slowly registered in his mind. He had a friend when he was nine named Jimmy, who had asthma. They had been fooling around one day playing truth or dare. Jack had been dumb enough to take a dare from him. He had to take two puffs from Jimmy's inhaler. It made his head swim and almost take a swan dive. The smell had stayed with him all these years. Jack shook his head to clear it of the memory. That was when he noticed how hard it was getting to concentrate. The gun dropped from his hand just before he slumped onto the ground, dragging Daniel with him. He never felt the shadows as they wrapped around him and Daniel to carry them off.

© September 20,1999 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the authors.
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