Aware distantly of the sound of an event horizon blinking out of existence, Teal'c felt cold moisture dripping onto his face and pooling slowly in rings around his sealed eyelids. Lying on his back, he was aware that the material below him was soft and yielding. However, the sucking noise which accompanied it assured him that regaining both full consciousness and immediate verticality would prove most wise at this moment.
Almost forcing himself awake, he felt the ground below him resist momentarily before releasing him. As the water drained away from his eyelids, they slowly parted. A blurry world came into view as the moisture that had peppered his face now dripped onto his scalp instead. After a few moments, he ascertained that the blurry nature of his vision was only partially due to his newly-conscious state; it was also due to the thick layer of raindrops that flew down from the sky above and created a curtain across the world behind it.
His current position seemed to be under an alcove of some description which at least afforded him some protection from the downpour. Shifting himself back against the rockface, he carefully pulled himself fully-upright; balancing against the wall as the abrupt postural change nearly caused him to land on the muddy ground again.
There were some things a Jaffa did not like to admit: weakness of any sort, for example. However, he had found that human males often showed the same reticence to admit to certain... inadequacies; specifically, uncertainty over one's present location. However, to a human male, it was merely a matter of pride; to a skilled Jaffa tracker it was tantamount to the greatest dishonour.
However, right now, he had to at least admit a degree of uncertainty concerning his present location. The weather and general environment suggested clearly that he was again on the planet but his current location was one with which he was not familiar. He wondered if, this time, he was the only one to travel here. None of his friends appeared to be anywhere in close proximity to him.
He had known that something had gone wrong before he had woken up here. Earlier, keeping to his pledge of silence, he had been a passive observer throughout O'Neill's ‘day off'. As O'Neill ran on the treadmill, his own thoughts had remained with his silent friends and he had wondered what their reaction was to O'Neill's rejection. As he had accurately predicted, O'Neill was not dealing well with his role as host. Perhaps it was that prediction that made it easier to accept that the rejection was not intended to be personal. He had doubted Daniel Jackson and Major Carter had seen it as anything but a most personal attack upon them. However, as he had contemplated this, something had occurred which he had not expected. Slowly, almost without his realisation, his connection to the body had begun to weaken. As he had finally realised this, he had fought to regain his portion of control but found that he had realised too late.
That was when he had awoken here to the sound of a wormhole ceasing - although, to his knowledge, this place was not in close proximity to the Stargate of this world.
Teal'c tried to think. To some extent, at least, he understood Daniel Jackson and Major Carter's belief that this place was merely a representation of their earlier battle to emerge. Why then had he travelled back to this place? The other time he had appeared to travel here, he and Daniel Jackson had strayed too far into Kel'noreem. He had been most careful not to enter anything approaching a meditative state since. Perhaps, he considered, simply relinquishing all control of the body for such an extended period was sufficient to create the same effect.
At the thought, his instant fear was for Daniel Jackson and Major Carter. They had been silent for as long a time as he and could also have been transported back here as a result. Experimentally, he called their names but there was no reply. If they were indeed present, they were, at least, not in the immediate vicinity.
Remembering the last time he had found himself on the planet, Teal'c braced himself for a moment before sending his hand slicing viciously into his cheekbone. The pain blossoming quickly, he rubbed at his self-inflicted injury. Unfortunately, the pain was apparently the only result of his attempt to awaken himself. He still remained in this place.
He would, he decided, attempt to locate the Stargate once more. Though he did not fully comprehend how, he was aware that his first journey through it had led to his presence in O'Neill's head.
Aware that his current location was uncertain, he knew he would have to elect to travel in a direction he was unsure of. Selecting the one to his right, he set off.
As he travelled, he saw a red dot up ahead. Intrigued, he moved closer to it. It appeared to be a campfire and, yet, the rain above him made that seem almost impossible. At the very least, the fire ought to be dying if not already extinguished and, yet, it appeared to be healthily flickering away as if there was a clear sky above.
Tramping closer, Teal'c found the muddy ground becoming more solid beneath his feet and, slowly, he became aware that the rain falling upon him was lessening. As he walked closer still, he could make out another figure approaching the impossible flames from a different direction. Though he could not be certain through this downpour, it appeared to be Daniel Jackson. However, upon calling the name of his friend, his attention was distracted by another fact.
The rain no longer fell upon him. This would not have been so curious but for the fact that the rain still appeared to be falling all around him. Looking round, he saw that, for a radius of around six feet from that campfire, the rain appeared to have ceased to fall. He also, realising this fact belatedly, was completely dry.
He turned to where his friend should now be standing to inquire if he knew how such a thing could be possible when he realised that the figure had now disappeared. However, he had little time to ponder this fact as he noticed a figure in green dappled with brown rapidly moving towards his location. The wall of rain prevented accurate identification but he could believe with some certainty that it was Major Carter.
That belief was proved accurate when she came within feet of the wall of rain. Slowing, she moved forward with trepidation as if unsure what would occur when she neared the impossible campfire. As she crossed the border of the drops, Teal'c found it almost like watching an individual emerge from the event horizon.
Wearing a look of puzzlement no doubt similar to his own, she said, "Teal'c, what the...? What is this?"
"If I was aware I would most assuredly inform you, Major Carter."
Presumably reading his request to explain how such a thing as this was possible, she slowly contemplated their situation.
"Okay... well, obviously we've returned to the planet somehow... but I'm assuming the one inside the Colonel's head. This fire... I'm not sure exactly what it could represent but it seems like some sort of safe haven."
Then, her contemplation ending, she focused on more urgent matters.
"So are we the only ones here?"
"I am uncertain, Major Carter. I had believed that I saw Daniel Jackson moving towards this place but he was not here when I approached it."
"That's weird. I'd thought I saw him moving towards here too. From over there."
As she pointed, Teal'c realised that that was, in fact, the opposite direction from the way he had come. It could not be the same figure that he had seen. However, as he went to voice that puzzle, he realised, in the direction she had pointed, he could make out a blob of green lying in the mud.
Abandoning their haven without a word of explanation to Major Carter, he strode purposefully towards what he could now determine was a prostrate figure. Swooping down towards it, he pulled the figure up into his arms. As he had guessed it was, indeed, Daniel Jackson. Almost sprinting back towards the campfire, he ran straight into a confused Major Carter who had also left the haven after his inexplicable departure from it. Seeing the burden he carried, her expression fell to one of concern and she quickly shifted to let him back into the campfire's strange aura.
Setting Daniel Jackson down, he crouched by his side and, wiping the suddenly-dry mud from his face, saw that he was incredibly pale again. Glancing up to see Major Carter hovering beside him, he shifted to allow her to examine Daniel Jackson. As he straightened up, though, Teal'c swore that he could see Daniel Jackson staring at him from beyond the curtain of rain. Aware that Major Carter would not abandon the pale Daniel Jackson even if he disappeared without explanation again, he quickly dived out into the torrent to try and apprehend this strange doppelganger.
The rain lashed down upon him as he followed the figure. It was odd as the figure himself seemed able almost to dance between the individual drops and appeared to still be completely dry. Eventually catching him, he grabbed him by the arm, "Daniel Jackson."
Almost inaudible above the tempest, Daniel Jackson said, "The shadows are coming." Turning with repentant eyes, he added, "Stay with them. It's all I can do."
Then, suddenly, all he appeared to be holding was air. He had not been aware of Daniel Jackson vanishing before his eyes as such; only of a reality where Daniel Jackson stood before him one moment and a reality where he had never been there the next.
After a few moments of contemplation, he headed back towards the fire and his friends.
Daniel's eyes flickered uncertainly open but, instead of the customary ‘where am I', he felt compelled to say, "Shadows."
Then, taking in his friends' confused expressions, he added, "We should stay away from them, right? The shadows are dangerous."
Then, taking in his friends' even more confused expressions, he asked, "Do you know what I'm talking about?"
As Sam shook her head, he continued, "Funny, cos neither do I. How come we're back on the planet again?" Taking in their current surroundings, he added, "...and, apparently, sitting round a magic campfire?"
The two of them shared a look. Obviously things had been discussed before he'd woken up to which he was not privy.
Sam merely said, "We don't know. We're guessing we somehow lost our share of control of the Colonel's body by giving it up for so long. Your guess is as good as ours about the magic campfire, though. I mean, I could go on about how it's not physically possible but... well, this place doesn't exactly need to obey the rules." Pressing the back of her hand to his cheek, she said, "You're starting to feel a bit warmer now. Your colour's improved too."
"Was it bad before?"
"Daniel, you were borderline cyanotic for a moment or two. Then you suddenly seemed to improve again. What happened?"
"I don't know... I mean, I found myself back here and it was like all my strength just disappeared."
He felt so... tired. Like some parasite was leeching the strength from him. Now, it was barely noticeable but, when he'd first arrived here, it'd felt like having his insides sucked out.
After a pause, he defeatedly said, "Seems like Jack gets his wish after all."
Reactively, Sam replied, "Daniel, don't. You know he didn't mean..."
No, he didn't. Of course, he didn't. Jack had never meant for this to happen anymore than Sam had meant to get them into this situation but he couldn't help feeling the sting of Jack's rejection.
After all these years, he and Jack had finally reached an understanding about a lot of their ‘issues'. Okay, sometimes, he still felt like he was fighting an uphill battle when it came to their relationship... but at least he wasn't fighting an uphill battle on a treadmill anymore...
Like for example, he remembered a meeting there'd been during the recent Unas debacle. There'd been the military-types (and their ‘shoot what we don't understand' attitude) on one side and him, as always, pretty much alone on the other. A soldier was dead; an extremely promising naquadha mine was in jeopardy and the people Daniel was trying to protect... well, they weren't exactly ‘people', were they? Guessing every military mind's view on this was going to be ‘shoot them', he'd been prepared to do what he'd done a thousand times before - go it alone.
Facing a trinium wall of opposition to his attempts to persuade them of his viewpoint, he'd turned to where Jack sat amongst them. He'd known that his friend knew more about the Unas than the others did but, as he'd quietly requested his assistance, a sudden fear had hit him like he was back at school and the soldiers were bullies and Jack was his friend but, wanting to be in the bullies' gang, was going to disown him.
Then, so offhand its deep significance was lost on all but him, Jack had said, that he was ‘usually right about this stuff'. Not only had his back-up made him feel like he was fighting a battle he could win there but the choice of words had reminded him of one of the conversations he and Jack had had recently that they should have had long before he ascended. Hurtful words Jack had carelessly thrown about on Euronda had haunted their relationship for a long time and one phrase had been that ‘...there's always gotta be something with you! It's always the same damn thing...' And, in their discussion, the phrase had come up.
Wincing slightly at the memory, Jack shrugged with affected nonchalance and, taking a sip of his beer, replied, "What can I say? You've gotta admit I was right on that one. Cos, well, there does... and it is..."
The wounds from Euronda weren't raw anymore (barely a scar left, really) so he'd merely chuckled at the reply until Jack had broken eye contact with him and looked firmly past the porch and out to the horizon - always a sure sign he was about to get deep and make himself uncomfortable in the process.
"Thing is... I might have been forgetting that, well, you're usually right about that stuff..."
He was about as good at taking a compliment as his friend was at expressing feelings so his eyes, too, got mysteriously locked on some distant point as Jack, squirming slightly, continued, "Daniel, I've gotta admit that there was a long time there where I was keeping score..."
Talking to his distant point, he said, "I know."
"...and damnit if you weren't winning."
There was a long pause before Jack finally told the horizon, "Took me too long to realise that you'd never won once... because you were in my team. And when you were right and I was wrong for the thousandth time... we'd still succeeded..."
Needing this to come back up from the deep before his friend suffered terminal emotional overload, Daniel lightly quipped, "Where's a Dictaphone when you need one? I could have Jack O'Neill on tape saying..."
Acknowledging the attempt with a quick sideward glance, he retorted, "Never gonna happen, Danny-boy."
After that meeting on the Unas world, he'd wondered if even Jack knew the significance of what he'd said. Eventually, he'd decided it didn't matter. What mattered was the display of trust...believing in him.
Anyway, it'd taken a lot longer than it should but, recently, he'd finally learned that Jack might not always understand him, or relate to his viewpoint, but that didn't mean he valued him as a team-mate, or friend, any less.
And then they'd been shoved into his head... an experience that had been giving him, personally, nightmarish flashbacks to the Stromos incident... and really had tried their best to get back to their own bodies. Okay so maybe they hadn't been the perfect guests but it wasn't like they'd been there by choice and they were tired and just trying to cope the best they could. And then Jack had done what he'd promised never to do him again. He'd shut him up.
Teal'c broke the silence.
"I do not believe O'Neill's actions were driven purely by inconsequential irritation. I believe, in part, he feared us."
Sam and he both replied, "What?"
"We took his control from him... and our knowledge began to alter him into something he was not."
Sam nodded.
"Remember that stuff about him not being sure of the ‘him' in his head?"
"Major Carter, to be blended with a Tok'ra who then seizes control of you..."
An experience both Jack and she had been through. After a pause, she said, "I guess on an instinctive level, this has a similar feel; a sort of constant sensation of an encroaching consciousness. It'd be worse from the Colonel's point of view, though; his is the mind all the connections have been made through."
"And that gave him the excuse to evict us when we had nowhere else to go?"
But Daniel's retort was devoid of anger. More than anyone, he knew what blending with Kanaan had cost Jack. In Baal's fortress, he'd had to look into the eyes of a Jack O'Neill who had lost all hope for anything but a way to die and escape the torture of endless resurrection. Mentally, that had to have left scars... and this had, no doubt, torn them open again.
Neither of the others responded to his reply. Instead, they just shared a look with each other and then looked out beyond the wall of water.
His eyelids were feeling heavy now but he resisted the urge to close them. Noticing, Sam said, "We're gonna have to stay here a while whilst we figure this out, Daniel. You should get some rest and try and get your strength back."
Nodding slowly, he felt the tug of his heavy eyelids again and, this time, he allowed them to close. He wondered if Jack had yet realised that they weren't there anymore... Not that it was Jack's fault, exactly... All he'd wanted was a little time for himself... he wasn't to know that his mind was going to try protect itself from the invading forces by pushing them back down to this place. He wished he knew why it was this place made him so weak and useless. It seemed to have something to do with the connection to Jack but why was it only him that it seemed to affect when, clearly, Jack had been gleaning information from the others as well? The warmth of the fire licked across his cheek and he was aware of Sam and Teal'c's voices fading into the distance.
He wasn't aware of actually losing consciousness but, slowly opening his eyes, he saw that the sky was beginning to grow lighter. Sam and Teal'c sat on the other side of the waning campfire in deep conversation.
Tuning in, he heard Teal'c saying, "...and when last we gained consciousness in the outer world... it followed immediately from our entry to the Stargate of this world."
Nodding, Sam replied, "Yeah, makes sense. The Colonel would naturally identify the Stargate with escape. So we need to make our way back to it again."
Announcing his consciousness, Daniel raised a half-hearted hand.
"Slight problem. Anyone have any idea where the Stargate is from here?"
After a pause, where both Teal'c and Sam snapped their heads round to look at him, Sam shook her head briefly and a slightly shamefaced Teal'c said, "I fear I do not."
"We're all agreed that this planet isn't real, though?"
"Yeah, it's in the Colonel's head."
"Which means that it doesn't have to stay the same. If this storm is some natural defence to keep us from taking Jack over then how do we know his mind hasn't plugged the leak since we escaped last time? I mean, we don't know for sure that the Stargate is here anymore... or that it still works."
Meaningfully, Sam said, "Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?"
Teal'c inclined his head in agreement and both he and Sam turned towards him.
Coughing as he sat up fully, he wearily said, "Okay, just to be clear, you do realise we are now talking about doing a recon mission inside Jack's head?"
Sam locked eyes with him.
"I know... but do you have a better plan?"
A part of him insisted that they should stay here where they were safe but he knew they couldn't huddle round the dying embers of the fire forever so he replied, "No, just wanted to be clear."
Teal'c said, "I believe we should attempt Major Carter's plan."
Daniel shrugged, "Might as well, I guess."
As he, unsteadily, got to his feet, Sam amended, "If you're feeling up to it, Daniel..."
"I'm all right."
Pressing her hand on his forearm, she looked into his eyes.
"I wish I knew why it is this place affects you so badly."
"I'll be okay. I'm feeling better again now. Let's just get out of here, okay?"
Nodding slowly, Sam turned to look out past the campfire's perimeter. After a few moments, she said, "Okay, well, I think I can make out a river over there. If it's the same one that got diverted into the cave then we must be a fair distance upstream of the gate. We'll follow it and see where it takes us. All right?"
Her eyes locked meaningfully with his again so he nodded to assure her he was up to this.
Paraphrasing his earlier words, she said, "Recon mission in the Colonel's head... Let's move out."
Jack stared down morosely at the inactive device. Gizmo's words had been echoing through his head since he'd awoken in the infirmary.
You have dominated and soon we shall soon see you reap the rewards.
Rewards? This was a punishment. A punishment for trying to shut his friends out. They were the only ones who could fix this and he'd shut them out just because even they weren't allowed to get that far inside his head. And now, thanks to him, they were all gone. He kicked the ground aimlessly. All he'd had to do was share his head with them for a little longer and they would have solved this thing. Instead, he'd banished them to... somewhere... or nowhere... or everywhere... He hung his head lower. He hadn't the first idea what had happened to the consciousnesses of his friends. But, from the sounds of Grelmin, wherever they were, they were as good as dead.
Fury growing, at both himself and Grelmin, he got to his feet and stepped towards the device. Activating it, he flicked on the neural link and shut his eyes again. His friends weren't going to be there when he opened his eyes, of course, but there was always a chance that...
He opened his eyes to see nothing but the curious scientist peering at him. Feeling his whole body sag, he said, "There must be a way. You must be able to bring them back."
"I have told you. Such a thing is not possible, my Ha'ranas."
Equal measures of inspiration and desperation grabbed him as he said, "Then swap me! Give my body to Carter! You already said I lack intelligence. Well, Carter's got IQ coming out of her ears!"
She was their best bet and he knew it. Daniel would be useful too but if it could only be one of them then it had to be her. She could figure out the pedestal and bring the rest of them back.
But Grelmin's shaking head told him that his last-ditch attempt to save his team wasn't going to work.
"Assignment of dominance is entirely beyond my control. You do not understand. But you shall... and then you shall appreciate the gift you have been given...
The screens showing the output of the naquadha reactor started flashing. Turning to look at them, he saw the energy level was spiking. Before he could do anything about it, a pulse of white energy shot from Grelmin's device and into him. Crumpling to the ground, he said, "What have you...?"
But Grelmin's device was dark and he was nowhere to be seen.
Sam strode confidently along the river's edge as if she actually believed she was going the right way. In all honesty, she hadn't the first idea if she was headed the right way or was so far off course she'd have to circle the whole planet to reach the Stargate again.
She glanced over her shoulder to where Teal'c was assisting Daniel. Her pale friend didn't appear to be bouncing back from whatever this planet had done to him this time. More than once he had stumbled in the deep mud and had to be dragged back to his feet. He was trying to carry on despite this weakness but it was obviously hard-going. The dubious bright side was that he didn't appear to be growing worse, at least.
Before Daniel had woken up, Teal'c had told her about the other Daniel that he'd chased out into the rain. He believed it was the same Daniel that he and ‘their' Daniel had encountered when they strayed back here for that brief time. His considered opinion was that that Daniel Jackson was trying to help them but, as to his true nature, he could offer no opinion beyond his concerned observation that his presence seemed to hurt and weaken ‘their' one.
Sam sighed. To be honest, all this representational stuff was making whatever was currently passing for her head ache. All she knew for sure was they had to make it to that gate and get back into the world outside the Colonel's head. They couldn't figure out a way to get back to their own bodies whilst trapped in here.
Suddenly, she was aware of a blindingly bright light and, instantly, the storm clouds split apart and the world around them was again the beautiful garden world she had looked upon when she'd first stared wistfully at that MALP image and tried to work out how to ensure she got a first-hand look at the mineral deposits there. She also appeared to have had a whirl through an invisible Laundromat because she was completely dry and free from mud again.
Then, arising from her reverie, she saw a figure walking towards them. It was instantly recognisable and she heard the two men behind her say, "Grelmin."
He looked a bit different here. In the same outlandish outfit he wore in the pint-size projection, he looked somewhat grander than he did in the various other guises he had adopted. He also seemed a little taller here - although that was maybe just the way he was carrying himself.
Upon reaching them, Grelmin looked upon them.
"I have come to assist you all."
Obviously doubting that, Daniel said, "You have?"
"But of course. You are obviously finding it difficult to make progress. I have come to explain so that we all may help the Awareness."
After a short pause, he explained, "You all failed to become the Awareness. You are defeated. You must now terminate your existence so that the Awareness may increase his mental capacity."
The three of them looked at each other for a moment before Daniel said, "You want us to kill ourselves?"
Grelmin's face lit up, "Yes! You understand!"
"I understand what you meant but I don't understand why you think we'll willingly kill ourselves."
"You were defeated."
"No, we weren't."
"The original awareness prevailed."
"Original aware... you mean, Jack?"
"That is what you refer to him as."
"Jack defeated us?"
"Yes, he was able to reclaim full control of his mind and become the Awareness."
"You don't understand. We let him take control. We didn't even know there was a competition."
"Your ignorance is no excuse for this continued obstinance."
Darkly, Teal'c rumbled, "We shall not accede to your request, Grelmin. We desire only to be restored to our own bodies. We wish no part in this process of Ha'ran."
Annoyed, Grelmin said, "But that is not a choice available to you... and it will be so much less pleasant this way. If you would only permit me to assist you..."
Sam had been making use of Grelmin's magic stormbreaking powers to look to the horizon in every direction. She knew where the gate was now. They needed only to adjust their course a little to the right and they'd be there within quarter of an hour or so.
Catching the eyes of the others, she began to walk in the right direction. Grelmin shuffled alongside them with a look of disappointment on his face.
"I understand that, like me, you are perhaps displeased to find that the one with the least mental capacity has come to dominate but that is something decided by the process; not by me. It remains only that we all make the best of this situation. And you should not be disheartened. I believe that if all present obstacles can be overcome, you shall make the finest Ha'ranas I have ever created. So little of what you are composed of shall prove redundant. You shall be lateral and logical in thought and deed; intuitive and wise; the knowledge..."
Teal'c cut him off, "We shall not submit to you. O'Neill has no desire to be a being such as that you describe."
Looking even more exasperated, Grelmin threw his hands in the air.
"But this shall take so much longer if you do not."
Sam halted where she was and turned to him. Even holding his head high, he was barely taller than her. Staring right into his eyes, she growled, "We are going to get out of here and back into our own bodies. You're not going to stop us."
But even as the words left her lips, an odd shadow shifted past her and she heard Teal'c cry, "Daniel Jackson!"
Her first thought was that her friend had stumbled again but, as she turned, she saw a white shoot of that organic ‘cable', from the cavern, had sprouted beside them and was quickly curling itself up around his leg. Teal'c released his grip on Daniel to reach for his knife. But Sam saw the faint blue glow around the pale white vines, "Teal'c, don..."
Teal'c was thrown back several feet by the shock this time. Unbalanced by the vine tightly wrapped around his leg, Daniel's arms wheeled frantically to try and keep him upright. As she rushed back to help them, she saw that another shoot had begun climbing up his other leg.
"Daniel!"
Looking even paler than before, he turned frantic eyes towards her.
"Sam, I can't...!"
As the vines began to wrap around his torso, she saw, to her horror, the ground beneath him had turned to mud again and, slowly but inexorably, he was being sucked down into it. Reaching to grab a hold of him, she tugged fiercely but could feel that the pull from the vines was powerful.
Turning to Grelmin, she screamed, "Stop this! Stop it!"
Unperturbed by the sight, he merely replied, "I cannot..."
With that, he turned and began to walk away. As he did so, the storm reappeared in all its ferocity. As the rain battered down from the sky, Sam felt her now-slick grip lessening until, suddenly, it was joined by a far stronger one. Looking round, she saw Teal'c had recovered his footing and was now endeavouring to help her keep Daniel from sinking into the mud. The cables seemed to have grown as far around him as they were going to and they began winching him further and further down into the bog beneath his feet. Daniel didn't appear to be conscious anymore but hung lifelessly between their desperate grips. She and Teal'c exchanged frantic glances above his head. They both knew they were fighting the inevitable here but they had to keep on fighting.
Then, suddenly, something odd happened. The rain that battered them ceased to touch their unconscious friend. And, eyes snapping open, he looked up at them. His voice seemed to echo from everywhere around them.
"It's too late. The other shadows are coming. You have to go!"
Tightening her grip in defiance, she found herself pushed backwards onto the ground. Teal'c appeared to have succumbed likewise to the invisible force. They looked up to see that they were both in a small pocket of impossibility again where the rain about them failed to reach. They both looked out to see Daniel's still, white form dragged down until only his head, arms and torso was still visible above the ground. The visible cables crackled with blue energy around him. God, her friend looked dead.
"Daniel, no... Daniel!"
She rushed forward to leave the bubble and help her friend when Teal'c grabbed her.
"Do not!"
She turned with venomous eyes towards her captor and snarled, "Let me go! Daniel..."
"We cannot help him."
As her eyes locked with his, she saw the deep loss and hurt in those eyes. And, suddenly, she knew that standing here doing nothing was costing him as dearly as it was her. Then, tightening his grip on her arm, he said, "We must make haste to the Stargate."
Yanking herself free, she said, "We can't just leave him here!"
"We must. We must reach the surface. If this is truly the mind of O'Neill then only he can assist Daniel Jackson now."
Fixing his eyes upon her, he continued, "Reach the Stargate at all costs, Major Carter. Hesitate for no reason or all shall be lost. One of us must reach O'Neill."
She turned to look at her fallen friend again. She half reached a hand out towards him.
"Daniel..."
She could feel the tears building behind her eyes. The way his head lolled looked so... so final. But how could she leave him behind?
Then, pushing all her emotion down as far as it would go, she turned to Teal'c and nodded slowly. With a final backwards glance at Daniel, she turned and sprinted from their small island of safety.
The pull of the wind was worse than before and, without her friends to anchor her, she was swiftly blown off-course. Teal'c had already vanished. Despite the bitter loneliness that hit her, though, she hoped, for all their sakes, he was somewhere ahead of her and striding forward on the right track.
A strange darkness passed across her and, instantly white shoots sprang from the ground before her and she was forced to leap and roll forward to avoid them. Racing in what she hoped was the right direction, she saw something up ahead that made her heart stop altogether.
She breathed, "Teal'c, no..."
Sprinting forward, she saw that it was indeed her friend that was quickly sinking into the mud with vines all about him.
Obviously, he'd spotted her and groaned, "At... all... costs..."
It took everything... everything she had not to halt in her sprint to try and help him but she didn't. Continuing on, she was almost sure she heard Daniel's voice echoing through the landscape again.
"Sam..."
Then, almost like the parting of the seas, the curtain of rain ahead of her parted to reveal a narrow passage of undisturbed air. Diving down it, she barrelled toward the gate. Her lungs protested at the continuing pace but she ignored it and sprinted on. At all costs, Teal'c had said. She had to reach the gate. She had to reach the Colonel...
As the passage ended, she burst back out into the rain. She could see the DHD stood just feet before her and she was right on top of it before she could even brake. Barrelling into the mushroom device, she began slamming down chevrons before she'd even gotten her bearings back.
Somehow, in the middle of a storm that blocked out the sun, a shadow fell across her again. Ignoring it, she pressed down the final chevron and slammed the orange centre of the DHD.
She turned to head towards it when she realised that something had caught her ankle. Turning, hopelessly, she saw that the white cables had found their third victim.
Just then, her radio began to crackle static and a faraway voice said, "What... doing... Gizmo...? Tell... doing..."
She'd know that voice anywhere. Kicking desperately in an attempt to free her snared ankle, she pressed down the button on her radio and screamed, "Colonel! Colonel!"
There was an unbearably long pause before the Colonel's voice reappeared, "C... Carter?"
Her leg was well and truly snared now and a white shoot caught round her other ankle. She screamed down the radio, "Colonel! We're still in here! Help us! Help us!"
Then she had to abandon pressing the radio to grab the DHD as the vines began to pull her down the way they had her friends. She felt herself weakening but kept her obstinately firm grip upon the sides of the DHD. It was idiotic but the Stargate was their connection to home. Somehow, keeping herself attached to the DHD felt like keeping their lifeline open.
The last thing she heard before the lights went out was the Colonel calling her name. But, then, right on the point of utter blackness, she heard the ghost of Daniel's voice on the wind that brushed over her.
"I'll keep... safe, Sam... but... have ...trust me..."