I felt a cold hard surface under my palm as my brain came back to life. Darkness greeted my eyes.

My team!

Adrenaline pumped, neurons fired. I could already feel myself rising.

Crap!

Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. I couldn't move.

My breath came fast and hard, burning off the chemicals my body was unable to use. I ruthlessly squashed an edge of panic.

I sensed movement in the darkness. I was helpless.

Above me a glimmer built rapidly to a burning blue sun, illuminating a fleeting impression of four spindly dark fingers housing it. Two large shining black eyes mirrored back images of my friend's bodies arrayed around me. The blue built to white blinding my senses. I fell back into nothingness.

Disturbing dreams.

Fields of dead, heaps of lifeless bodies, mountains of copses, seas choked with bloated forms.

Warriors burned into stick figures. Women sprawled naked in pools of their own blood.

Children. Eyes glazed in death reflected terror. Their curiously untouched faces a shock against their savagely mutilated precious bodies.

Everywhere I looked slaughtered children lay.

One small body curled against another drew my attention I reached out to touch the small shoulder. The boy flopped toward me and lay face up. I staggered back in shock my mind gibbering with horror.

Charlie!

A figure forced itself past my fear-locked mind. Coming ever closer until I could see the imperfections in the skin of the man's cheek, that face became my universe until...

His eyes flashed white.

I jerked awake with that image in my mind. I felt rough rope on my wrists.

A moan brought my head around.

Daniel bound in ropes -- and Jaffa. Lots of Jaffa.

My head jerked up to scan the area. Teal'c. Carter. Relief flooded me.

We lay upon the stone pavement surrounding a Stargate that stood dwarfed by towering trees.

I began to struggle to loosen the rope, to free my team. To escape. I got a kicked in the ribs for my efforts and then was forced to imitate a sack of potatoes.

It was a long painful journey with a fine view of the ground and a Jaffa's ass.

The Jaffa dumped us all in a palace, a Goa'uld palace. All that gold ya know. Ya think!

I could only watch as one at a time my team was taken to 'meet' the local snake. I shouted, yelled, I needed to protect my friends. Nothing worked.

Daniel returned, black and blue -- but pissed. Good for you Danny!

Teal'c returned as he had left, proud and seemingly unmarked. Scared them did ya Rocko!

Carter. Carter looked dazed. Ribbon burn. Damned snake!

I was last.

Dumped before the local snake that would be a god, a knife wielded by a lone Jaffa released my ropes. I looked up from my knees into the face from my dreams.

Without thought, I exploded into motion.

My leg spun outward and cut the legs from the Jaffa.

I twisted back to go for the snake but crashed to the floor. Tripped by the Jaffa.

He rolled across the floor toward me.

We grappled. I tried for his knife; a blinding pain in my chest galvanized me. With both hands, I forced his hand around. The knife rested against his neck, I leaned my whole body on his arm. I felt the knife slip home as the massive man's struggles died with the spread of his blood across the white marble floor.

I rolled off the cooling body to lie on my back only to have a small sun attach itself to my forehead.

The Snake! I took too long in dispatching the Jaffa.

The beam of the Ribbon Device bored into my head.

As I lay pinned to the floor I felt a hand roam over my body searching. The snake examined everything he found before flinging it from him. Until, my wallet.

"A souvenir, I believe that is the correct phrase. Now die O'Neill. With your death I gain fame and power."

My wallet!

through the haze and pain the eyes above me flashed white. I remember that face.

Bodies, death, carnage.

Charlie!

My blood slick hand still held the knife. Fueled by images of death I pushed the blade into the heart of the body above me.

Again the eyes flashed, but in shock as he fell on me. The pain abruptly gone, I pulled myself out from under the warm shuddering body bringing the knife with me.

I knew the snake still lived. I needed to correct that and fast.

Crawling onto the snake's back, I brought the knife down hard onto host's neck and head.

And again. And again. And again.

My body reverberated with the force of each blow.

Endlessly I struck the knife deep.

A blow for each body I had seen, for each dead child this monster would have caused.

Finally, I slumped over a very dead body -- exhausted.

The children were safe.

Charlie was safe.