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Casey woke when she was jerked to her feet. For a second she was confused. When she finally focused her eyes on the Jaffa who stood in front of her, the events of the preceding hours came crashing down on her.

"Kree!" the Jaffa barked, pointing at her. She followed, aware of the two Jaffa who fell in behind her.

"Leave her alone! Take me instead!" Methos was saying. He was roughly pushed back, and the force field was raised in the cell. "Casey!"

"It’s okay Methos," she called back to him. "Everything will be okay, trust me."

Osiris was waiting in the opulent room that Casey was shoved into. "I am told that you are now the wife of Daniel Jackson."

"No kidding? Your news source is certainly slow. I was his wife the last time we tangoed," Casey replied.

The Goa’uld’s eyes flashed. "My host was once very close to Daniel. She was his lover for several years."

"I don't think it was quite that long, cupcake."  From what Daniel had told her, the affair he had had with Sarah hadn't lasted but a few months. "Daniel told me all about Sarah. And you. He told me enough that I know Sarah would rather be dead than living with you inside her head. We intend to grant that wish." The slap wasn’t unexpected.

"Kneel before your god," Osiris growled, her eyes glowing.

"Oh puhleeze! Can’t you people get a better line than that? Try something original for a change." Casey replied. She fought to remain on her feet until the grip on her shoulder caused too much pain to resist.

"It will bring me great pleasure to kill you," the Goa’uld hissed.

"Then do it already." Casey looked the woman in the eye, never backed down. After several tense, silent moments, her captor signaled, and Casey felt herself yanked to her feet. She was surprised to be led back to the cell where Methos waited.

She had just sat down when she looked over at him, and saw the anger in his eyes, and then the flash. She yelped with surprise, and then a grin spread across her face. "Methos, you bastard! You’re the answer!"

He looked at her, astonishment on his face. "Me? What? Huh?"

She stood up, took his face in her hands. "Methos, listen to me. Olmack’s memories. Can you still access them?"

"What? Well yes…I suppose…ah…" he said, grinning when he began to understand where she was going. Since the ‘experiment’ that had left him with the memories and knowledge of the Tok’ra symbiote that had ‘joined’ with him, he had done what he was so good at doing with things that bothered him, such as Olmack’s unexpected and quite unpleasant death. He had forced it all into the back of his mind, and refused to think about it.

"You should be able to speak Goa’uld…tell Osiris that you and Framone quarreled over me. Tell her that you have taken me, and that I’m to be the host for your…wife. Yeah, that should do it."

"And who should I say that I am?" Methos asked.

Casey frowned. "At the rate minor system lords have been popping up, just use your real name. She won’t have heard of you, but if you can convince her that you’re ready to swear loyalty to her, and her alone, her ego will have her eating out of your hand."

"And where do I need to take you, if you’re to be the new host for my wife?"

"I don’t know…pick a place with a 'gate, and we’ll just gate home."

"Just to let you know, we don’t have a GDO."

"Don’t mess me up with details right now…we’ll figure out something. Now, go to it!"

Methos nodded, and then called to the Jaffa, his voice taking on the odd dual quality of all symbiotes.

Two hours later, hanging in manacles in what could only be described as a dungeon, Casey glared at the oldest Immortal. "I can’t believe it!" she groaned. "You just had to say PX3-695, didn’t you?"

Methos shrugged from where he sat, his legs and arms bound. "It was the first thing that came to my head."

"Next time, I give you the whole script. Can’t trust you to improvise," she grumbled.

"How was I supposed to know that the System Lords know about that planet and its link to Immortals?"

Casey chose to ignore him. The pain in her arms was beginning to bother her. She tried to raise up, offer some slack, but her feet were barely touching the floor as it was.

"I really am sorry, Casey," Methos said.

"I know. It’s not your fault."

The door opened, and Osiris entered, flanked by Jaffa. She marched toward Casey, stood in front of the young woman. "I will have answers, Tau’ri, or I will kill you." The Goa'uld turned to Methos, grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked his face upwards. "You will tell me all that I wish to know, or you will watch her die. Slowly. Answer my questions, and I will release her."

"Don’t believe it, Methos!" Casey cried out. A look from Osiris and the nearest Jaffa shoved his fist into her stomach. She gasped in pain.

"Now," Osiris said. "Tell me the codes to enter your gate."

Methos shook his head. "Those codes were changed the minute Casey and I were taken prisoner."

"I do not believe you."

The young/old man shrugged. "It’s true. We’ve been compromised. It’s SOP to change codes as soon as anyone with access has been taken hostage."

Another look from his god, and the Jaffa began to beat Casey, the blows falling like rain on her slender body.

"No! Stop it!" Methos cried out, fighting against his restraints.

"Don’t…you…dare…" Casey managed to gasp, blood trickling from her mouth.

Methos’ eyes began to glow. "The codes you seek are no longer valid." The dual voice echoed in the room.

Osiris studied the prisoner. This man was Tok’ra…he was a traitor. He reached out and slapped him, the ribbon device on the slender hand of his host catching the flesh on man's face, ripping it nearly to the bone. He watched, fascinated, as tiny blue sparks began to flow across his skin, and the wound began to heal. The Goa'uld turned to look at Casey, grey eyes going wide to see that no marks from her beating remained. The implications of this sat in, and as he prepared to kill them both, soft light filled the room.

When the room returned to normal, both prisoners were missing, and Osiris bit back the scream that struggled to get out. Something was happening, something that he had no control over. Something that terrified the ancient parasite that infested the innocent woman's body.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Daniel stared at Jacob, the room spinning around him. "Destroyed? You’re sure?"

The older man nodded somberly. "I’m sorry Daniel. Before our ship could get close enough, Osiris destroyed Framone’s ship."

"She’s still alive," Daniel insisted.

"Daniel, the ship was destroyed, blown into little pieces," Jacob argued.

The young archaeologist shook his head stubbornly. "Oma said we’d be together again."

"It is customary for a System Lord to board the ship of an enemy to take whatever that enemy may have. Any prisoners would be taken as slaves," Teal'c said quietly.

Daniel sat back, a smile on his face.

Selmak nodded. "I agree with the Jaffa. I believe that Casey and Methos are still alive. However, now being prisoners of Osiris has put them at greater risk."

"How so?" Jack asked.

"Framone has approached several Goa'uld in an attempt to create an alliance. When it was learned that he was Immortal, those System Lords began to hunt for him."

"Why?" Daniel inquired, although he had a hunch that he already knew the answer.

"Immortals have been the enemy of Goa’uld for millennia. The Ancients created them to protect the ‘innocents’ from the Goa’uld."

"Now ya see, that’s more of that information that would have been handy to have had before now," Jack said bitingly. He didn’t mention that they knew this, now, because of the tablets that had been found and that Methos and Daniel had translated.

Jacob shook his head. He was aware of the tablets, and the fact that the SGC now employed every Immortal left on Earth. "You didn’t know about Immortals, and we were led to believe that Ra had managed to rid the system of them."

"Well, except for here, and the few that work for Framone, it seems that he has," Daniel admitted.

"So this means that Methos and Casey are in bigger trouble," Sam said softly. She winced when she saw how Daniel’s already pale face whitened farther.

"I am afraid so. As long as Osiris doesn’t know, or even suspect, then they will be nothing more than prisoners-" Selmak started.

"But the first time they're tortured, and they heal…" Jack said.

"The Goa'uld will destroy them," Selmak finished. Jacob looked around the room. "So far Osiris doesn’t seem to be anxious to go anywhere. If we gate to Ravanna, we can meet up with one of the Tok’ra ships. Maybe we can ring them off the ship and be out of the way before she can react."

"Let’s go people," Jack said, standing to his feet. "You head out in fifteen minutes."

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