Khnum’s Jaffa dumped Daniel Jackson unceremoniously in the cell, the pain in his side bringing him down to the floor. The headache brought on by the ribbon device throbbed in protest as they slammed the door shut behind him. He lay on the floor for a long moment, enjoying the feel of cold metal beneath his freshly battered face. He was really learning to love these little Goa’uld torture sessions. A little too much, in fact. If he could just learn to keep his mouth shut, he might avoid the additional punishment that angry Jaffa could inflict.

Daniel slowly turned his mind to getting up, and to his relief, there were gentle hands pulling at him, helping him to his feet. He swayed dizzily and shut his eyes against the brightness of the room. His arm was soon draped over slender yet strong shoulders. That would be Sam, then. He could always count on Sam.

He let her guide him to the sleeping bench along one of the walls, leaning heavily on her. Daniel gasped at the pain in his side and abdomen as she sat him on the pallet, his back leaning against the wall. She left his side, and he heard a tearing sound, like ripping fabric.

“Sam?”

She shushed him. A moment later, a wet cloth was pressed to his throbbing forehead. Daniel sighed gratefully. That felt good. He wondered idly whether he would throw up. He really didn’t think his ribcage would appreciate it. Thankfully, the wave of nausea passed. Daniel knew he was going to pass out soon, and he wasn’t entirely against the idea.

Her hands gently pressed over his face. He winced as she probed at the bruise on his cheek, and her hands moved away to explore his scalp and neck. Daniel was puzzled for a moment and simply enjoyed her ministrations. Gradually, he realized she was trying to determine the extent of his injuries. He opened his eyes to tell her about his side and found that he really was losing consciousness. All he could see was a long dark tunnel leading to a blurry world. Daniel heard Sam’s sudden intake of breath and wondered what could possibly be upsetting about his eyes. Still, her gasp allowed him to locate her, and he caught sight of her eyes staring back at him. Sam had the most beautiful blue eyes. He really should tell her that someday. Except, these eyes were—

“Purple?”

Pain blossomed as the hands reached his ribs, and the tunnel closed suddenly and completely around him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack O’Neill sat in a Goa’uld holding cell. Again. SG-1 had been captured while on a simple recon mission. Again. Jack was thinking about retirement. Again. Just get the team back from this one and take that nice pension he had coming. Nothing but beer, hockey and fishing for the rest of his life. Let someone else deal with saving the world for a while.

Jack sighed. Nice thought, but it was never actually going to happen. There’d always be one more mission, one more emergency, one more cliche-ridden bad guy. One more of these sweet POW moments.

He watched Sam Carter search the wall near the barred doorway yet again for an access panel she could use to hack into the security controls. He’d helped her look for a while. Then, after two hours, he’d decided there wasn’t one. He was pretty sure Carter had reached the same conclusion, but she hadn’t given up yet. Jack figured she needed to keep busy to keep her mind off what was undoubtedly happening to Daniel. Jack veered away from the thought himself, concentrating instead on how they’d gotten into this mess.

The MALP that had been sent through to P2C-whatever-this-was had shown no signs of Goa’uld activity. What it had shown was a large black obelisk with writing on it. The images had Daniel doing an excited, stammering, hand-waving dance of joy in the control room, prattling something about an Ancient Rosetta stone. It was the first smile Jack had seen from Daniel in weeks, and he’d quickly requested that SG-1 be given the mission. General Hammond knew that the team was still feeling the pain of Janet Fraiser’s death and agreed that an archaeological mission would be good for them. Jack had been prepared to spend his first mission since his recovery being bored to death waiting for Daniel. He just hadn’t expected to be bored to death waiting for Daniel in a Goa’uld cell.

When they’d arrived on the planet, they’d checked the area and found nothing overtly threatening. Daniel brought out his new digital recorder, chattering happily with Carter about the possibility of finally being able to decipher Furling script while he filmed the obelisk. Jack and Teal’c had wandered the perimeter, ostensibly protecting the scientists but in reality, staying far enough away from the conversation to maintain some semblance of sanity.

Then all hell had broken loose. Jack was still kicking himself for not seeing the ambush coming, though he did take some solace in the fact that Teal’c had been just as surprised as he had been. SG-1 had put up a respectable fight, but they were outmanned and outgunned. Jack had returned to the now broken obelisk to find Daniel and Carter disarmed and on their knees and was quickly captured himself. His one hope was Teal’c. He was still free.

Jack had seen his Jaffa friend watching them from the cover of the surrounding forest. He’d caught his eye and nodded back towards the Stargate. Teal’c had glowered from his hiding place but inclined his head in agreement. He’d go back to the SGC and bring help.

Now all they had to do was wait. And wait. And then wait some more.

The enemy Jaffa had brought SG-1 to what looked suspiciously like a mothership. It had appeared that the Jaffa were trying to repair it. One section looked like it had taken extensive explosive damage. Carter had guessed it to be an internal rupture of some sort, based on the blast pattern. Jack was pleased with that. Always nice when an enemy blasted themselves to hell, even if it was by accident. And the longer it kept them grounded, the better the chance that this encounter would soon be just a two line hiccup in their otherwise boring mission reports.

SG-1 had been left to stew in their cell for a while. Daniel had moaned incessantly about the destruction of the big rock he’d been enamoured with as well as the loss of his camera and journal. Finally, the gold-tattooed First Prime of somebody-or-other had arrived and announced with a disturbing sneer that their god would ‘interview’ them one at a time. Naturally, Daniel had volunteered before Jack could stop him, and off he’d gone with the Jaffa Gestapo, leaving Jack and Carter sitting there with nothing to do but wait. And worry.

Jack’s current mental tirade against archaeologists in general and Daniel Jackson in particular was interrupted by the sound of marching. Carter hurriedly backed away from the door and slouched on the bench across the cell from Jack, seemingly in an effort to look like she’d been there all along. The bars clanged open, and three large, irritated-looking Jaffa stepped in.

Jack had never been fond of staff weapons, particularly those pointed directly at his face. He stood up slowly, as did Carter.

“You will come with us.”

“Where’s Daniel?”

The Jaffa didn’t move.

“No, really. Carter, back me up here. Usually in these situations they drag Daniel out, torture him for a bit, then dump him back here semi-conscious and bleeding before dragging out one of us. Am I right?”

“Uh,” Carter’s eyes were on the three Jaffa. “Yes, sir. That seems to be the usual pattern.”

“See? You can’t take me before you return Daniel. That’s how it works. Where is he?”

The commanding Jaffa’s lip curled into a snarl. “Obviously, my lord has not yet finished his interrogation. Or he has executed him. Either way...” The staff weapon opened and charged menacingly.

“Okay. Carter, I’m just gonna go with these guys for a bit. Hold down the fort.”

Carter nodded slowly. As the barred door clanged shut behind him, Jack saw her sink back down onto the bench again. The Jaffa commander jabbed him forcefully with his staff weapon. Any time now would be good, Teal’c. When no ex-First Prime of Apophis swooped in for a well-timed rescue, Jack started walking with his escort towards another meet and greet with a Goa’uld.

Crap. He should really have been concerned for himself and the pain he would no doubt soon be in, yet all he could do was worry about Daniel. It would be just like him to get himself executed. There had better be a sarcophagus somewhere on this tub.

Daniel’s headache had eased somewhat by the time he awoke. The whole right side of his face was tender, and his entire body ached, particularly his left side and stomach. He brought his hand up to feel the bruises on his side and was surprised to find that his jacket and T-shirt had been removed, and strips of fabric tightly bound his chest. How the hell—

“You have two broken ribs. Possibly three.”

Daniel started painfully. He hadn’t expected to hear a stranger’s voice. And he certainly hadn’t expected to be addressed in Ancient. For a moment, he wondered if he was dead again but dismissed the thought. He hurt far too much to be dead. He turned his head toward the voice, wincing as it brought the bruised half of his face in contact with the bench he was lying on.

A woman sat on the bench on the other side of the cell with her back against the wall, her feet tucked up in front of her. He squinted at her. Definitely not Sam. This woman had curly brown hair and somewhat darker skin. She wore the tattered remains of a blue robe, or possibly a dress. She was watching him intently, with an expression similar to Janet’s when she was trying to maintain clinical detachment.

“Your face is battered, but your cheekbone does not appear to be broken. You may have a concussion though it does not seem serious. Apart from your ribs, I believe you to be bleeding internally. I have no way of fixing that.”

Daniel braced himself on his elbow and tried to lever up to a sitting position. The woman stood and crossed the room quickly. With her hands on his shoulders, she helped him pull himself upright. He hissed in pain, and she pulled her hands away as if she had been burned.

“You will injure yourself further. Please stay still.” Daniel glared at her, and her expression softened. She sat down beside him on the bench. “Please.”

Her eyes were purple, of a shade he had never seen before. Almost lilac. Not a human shade at all, though the colour was much more attractive than the mottling along her jaw-line. Apparently, she had also suffered the back end of an angry Jaffa’s staff weapon at some point. In fact, if he was reading her eyes properly, she had suffered a great deal more than that.

“You speak Ancient.”

“I do. You were Ascended.” It did not seem to be a question.

“How do you know that?”

She shrugged. “I can sense it. How are you feeling?”

Daniel considered the question. When was the last time he'd actually looked forward to visiting the infirmary? Well, that was unfair. He usually spent a great deal of time looking forward to Janet and her infirmary. He only hated it when she finally managed to sink her needles into him and refused to let go. Wait. It wasn’t Janet’s infirmary anymore. There was no Janet waiting to bawl him out for getting himself into trouble yet again. Daniel pushed back the renewed grief over the loss of his friend, cursing himself for his momentary forgetfulness. The lilac-eyed woman must be right about that concussion. He leaned back and rested his head against the wall. “Not great, apparently.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“Not just now. I did that myself.”

She sighed. “Good.”

Daniel glanced down at the wrappings around his ribs. “Why have you tried to help me?”

“Several reasons. I would help anyone in pain if I could, and I am not easily fooled by a Goa’uld spy. I sensed you had Ascended, which makes it unlikely that you are allied to Khnum. And...and you remind me of someone I once knew. You have his eyes, though they are the wrong colour.” She stared at him for a long moment. “Who are you?”

“My name is Daniel Jackson. Where are my friends?”

She shook her head. “Only you were brought here, Daniel. I believe the Jaffa may have made an error. I had understood I was to be kept in isolation. I know nothing of your friends.”

That wasn’t good. Mistaken Jaffa would be reprimanded, and reprimanded Jaffa would be angry. Hopefully they’d be angry at him rather than at Sam or Jack. Or this woman. Who he couldn’t keep thinking of that way. “What is your name?”

“I am Jalaena M’Ron.”

“Where are you from, Jalaena M'Ron?”

She smiled slightly. “Our host has been trying to get that information from me for some time now.”

“Ah. Never mind, then.”

“Thank you.”

“I'm from a planet called Earth. The Goa'uld know us as the Tau'ri.”

Jalaena looked at him, her eyes lingering on his watch. “Really? You have done well.”

“You know of Earth?” He lifted his head and studied her face

“I have visited, though not for some time.”

“How long is some time?”

She shrugged.

“Do you speak English?” he tried.

“I don't understand.”

“Are you familiar with the language known on Earth as English?”

“I don’t believe so.”

Daniel was silent for a moment as he pondered how long ago it would have to be for a visitor to Earth to have not heard of English. He decided there were too many variables to make an accurate guess, though it would likely be more than a century. Possibly quite a bit more. “Some time indeed.”

“My race is long lived.”

“How long lived?”

Another smile, this one almost reaching her eyes. “Until we die.”

“Ah. Helpful.” His neck relaxed until his head was once more resting on the wall.

They sat in silence for a moment before Daniel realized that his throat was painfully dry. “You wouldn't by chance have any water I can drink?”

“Oh. Yes.” Jalaena stood up and staggered. Daniel quickly placed his hands on her hips to steady her. She twisted out of his reach and leaned heavily on the wall.

“Are you all right?” How had he missed how fragile she looked? Was he so wrapped up in his own pain that he couldn't see another's? Apart from the healing bruises along her jaw, he hadn’t noticed anything physically wrong with her, and she’d moved quickly enough when he’d tried to sit up.

“I am...not great, apparently.” She pushed herself upright and, after swaying slightly, walked to a basin in the back of the cell.

As she got him some water, Daniel noticed for the first time that a view screen was active on the back wall. It displayed the interior of another cell, or rather a cage. Inside was a small, squat creature covered in white fur. It was difficult to get a sense of scale, but it seemed to be roughly humanoid and about the size of a small dog. It sat huddled in one corner of its cage, staring forlornly out from the screen. No, not staring. Its eyes followed Jalaena as she moved in the cell. It was watching her. Its facial features were more animal than human, but Daniel had the distinct impression that it was in distress. Jalaena rested her hand on the screen for a moment. The small creature did likewise. Jalaena drew a shaky breath and turned from the viewer. She sat back down beside Daniel, handing him a cup of water. “It is neither sweet nor cool, but it is wet.”

“Thank you.” He took a swallow and grimaced at the sulphurous taint to it. Better than nothing. He took another gulp then nodded towards the view screen. “What is that?”

“That is M’Ron. My thelaya.”

“I don’t understand.”

“My people have very strong minds. We need help to process all of the information we take in.”

“How strong?”

Very. The word echoed in his head. Along with the word came a searing pain and Daniel felt his mind...fragmenting. There was no other way to describe it. Thoughts and memories swirled around him and shattered. Some thoughts he recognised as his own, but others were completely foreign.

His wedding. The confusion and wonder he felt when he finally discovered that he was married to the beautiful Sha’re.

Her husband’s bed. The incomparable ecstasy of the mating of telepaths, growing arousal feeding back on itself as bodies entwined and minds merged.

His assault by Hathor. Rage and guilt as he tried to fight her, unable to free himself from her intoxicating breath.

Her planet disintegrating. Terror and pain as the world that birthed her species and countless others was obliterated by the unexpected explosion of its sun.

His wife’s death. The knowledge of his failure to save her hitting him even as his pride in her courage and strength grew.

Her daughter’s birth. The pain of the process eased by her mate, replaced with the joy that their people would continue.

His radiation poisoning. Agony as his body decayed around him, uncertainty that he could be worth Oma’s effort.

Her killing the man she loved. Regret for her choice overshadowed by the emptiness his death left in her.

His failure with Shyla’s sarcophagus. Her first merging with M’Ron. His unlocking of the Stargate. Her destruction of a Goa’uld symbiote. His inability to save Janet. Her. His. Her. His.

Countless images flew past and through each other, until he couldn’t tell where one ended and another began. Through the chaos there was one constant: a brutal, screeching, burning, agonizing pain. Daniel clutched at his head and screamed.

Then it was abruptly gone, like a door had slammed and shut it out. The images vanished, as did the pain. He dropped his hands from his head and grasped at his abdomen. That pain was still there. That pain was his.

Jalaena had folded her legs up to her chest on the bench, her head between her knees. Her breath came in shuddering gasps, and she rocked slightly, her body trembling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come through. That was stupid... childish... irresponsible.” Her voice was raw, a harsh whisper. “Forgive me.”

Daniel reached out an unsteady hand and touched her shoulder. She shrank away, and he withdrew his hand. “What just happened?”

“Do not touch me. I no longer have control. It is easier to hold it in if you do not touch me.” She took a few more unsteady breaths before she looked up into his eyes. “I have hurt you.”

“Easier to hold it—” He hoped he had misunderstood. “You are in that pain? Constantly?”

Jalaena shrugged. “Not yet. I have the ability to block much of it. But the pain grows worse, and my control is slipping. You cannot block it. I should not have touched your mind. It is why I did not earlier. I did not transfer pain when I examined your wounds, so I thought I could hold it back and properly answer your question. I failed.” She lowered her head back between her knees. “I’m sorry.”

“My question?” Daniel thought a moment in confusion. “Oh. Yes. How strong?”

“My species is telepathic. Powerfully so. Normally, I would have touched your mind immediately to see if you were a threat. To learn what I needed. But I could not risk it in my current condition.”

Learn what she needed? He was uncomfortable with that thought. “You would have read my mind? Invaded my thoughts?”

“I would have skimmed your surface thoughts. I would have pulled out knowledge that could help further communication. This English you speak of, for example.” She looked up at him again. “I would not have read further than you wished me to see. Not if I sensed that you were not a threat.”

“Okay.” No, not okay. But perhaps this was not the time for a discussion of the sanctity of the human mind. She was not human. She would have different standards. Sympathy for her swelled in him again as she continued to shiver. “What is causing your pain?”

She looked back at the white creature displayed on the view screen. “M’Ron. From the moment of our birth, each of my people are bound to one of his. My peoples’ minds are no longer capable of dealing with our experiences alone. M’Ron provides order. He sorts my memories. Stores some of them within himself. Without him, I am incapable of processing the world properly.”

“I don’t understand. I’m really trying to.”

“Think of how your people process information. You can survive for a length of time alert and active, but if you do not rest and allow your brains to organize your experiences you become disoriented. Disturbed. Yes?”

“Sleep deprivation. Yes.”

“Imagine the chaos that would result from a mind that processes more information than its physiology is truly capable of handling. That mind would become overloaded. It would not be able to comprehend itself, much less anything from its surroundings.”

Daniel nodded. He’d seen Jack struggle to contain the knowledge the Ancient repository had implanted in his brain. “That is normal for you?”

“M’Ron helps me to process my thoughts, to store them rationally. He keeps those that are not currently needed within himself. In return, my mind allows his sentience to emerge. Together we are strong-willed and powerful. Without me he is little more than a frightened animal. Without him I am vulnerable, confused, and soon, irreparably mad.” She stared at the small creature on the view screen. “Khnum wished to learn what would happen if he separated us, which he did, five days ago. His experiment will soon prove fatal to me. It already has to others.”

“What do you mean?”

Jalaena sighed. “This ship was home to a cell of Jaffa who had come to see the Goa’uld as false gods. I did not know there were such rebels within their ranks, but I am pleased to finally see it. These Jaffa wished to save me and risked sabotaging the Ha’tak to free me. The explosive device succeeded in damaging the ship, but the response was not as chaotic as I believe they had hoped. Instead of reuniting me with M’Ron, it appears they were captured instead. My presence has brought harm to many who could have fought against the Goa’uld in the years to come. I am responsible for their fate.”

So the Jaffa rebellion had spread here, too. Teal’c would be pleased to hear that, though the outcome in this circumstance was not good news. “I’m sorry, Jalaena.” Daniel could hear a distant marching, coming closer. Oh, marvellous. The loyal Jaffa had discovered their mistake.

Strangely, a small smile appeared on her face. “Not as sorry as Khnum will be.”

“Why?”

“If he does not return M’Ron to me very soon, I will lose control entirely. My mind will splinter and reach out to any it can find. He will die along with me, as will all those on this ship.”

Definitely not okay. Very bad, in fact. “Um...I don’t wish to seem self-centred here, but what of my friends?”

She turned and looked at him. Her eyes were vacant and unfocused for a long moment. The marching grew nearer. Then suddenly, she appeared to see him again, those purple eyes focused on his, and her brow furrowed. The cell door clanged open. The lead Jaffa entered and pointed the staff weapon at Daniel, gesturing towards the door.

“Kree!”

No sense arguing with that. Daniel put one hand to his stomach and awkwardly pushed himself upright with the other. He walked to the door.

“Daniel.”

He paused and looked back at her.

“How many friends do you have here?”

“Two.”

“I will...try to shield you when the time comes. I don’t know if I will be successful, but I will try. You will have to protect your friends.”

“How?” The Jaffa jabbed at him with his staff weapon, but he stood still for a moment more.

“Hold them close to you. Concentrate on sharing the shield. It will be painful, but it may allow you to survive. You will have a greater chance of survival if you try to save only one of them.”

“Both of them or none of us, Jalaena. Don’t allow one of them to die to make it easier to save me.”

“You misunderstand. I can only shield you, for I do not know them. It is you who will find it difficult to shield both of the others.”

Two of the Jaffa grabbed his upper arms and roughly pulled him out of the cell. The door clanged shut.

“Thank you, Jalaena.”

“I am sorry, Daniel.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“You had a long conversation with Jalaena, my other guest. What was it about? What language was it in?”

Daniel’s hopes of a quick reunion with Sam and Jack had been dashed when the Jaffa had once again dumped him before their master. He hadn’t been able to keep a groan from escaping as he hit the floor. Well, at least falling right away saved him from having his legs knocked out from under him as the Jaffa forced him to properly kneel before his ‘god’.

“It was Swahili. Let’s see, what did we talk about? We commiserated on the recent bad weather we’ve been having. She complimented my latest haircut, and I tried to get the name of her fashion designer. Sam would love the look. She looks great in blue, and tortured dress shreds are very in this year. Jalaena wouldn’t tell me though. Jealous, I think.” Daniel shrugged. “You know how it is.”

The Goa’uld’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You would be wise to take this more seriously.”

“Yeah. I’m not much for melodrama. Sarcasm is more my style. Blame Jack for my lack of wisdom. I certainly do.”

To Daniel’s surprise, Khnum smiled. “Very well. Let’s begin again.” He held up his hand, and Daniel saw the ribbon device begin to glow. “You had a long conversation with Jalaena, my other guest. What was it about? What language was it in?”

Daniel collapsed onto all fours when the Jaffa dropped him. He clutched at his side with his arm, bent his knees farther and let his forehead rest on the floor. His breath came in shallow, painful gasps. This was getting repetitive, yet strangely worse each time. At least he thought it was getting worse. It was all kind of blurring together.

“Daniel,” said a familiar voice.

“Jack.”

“You look like crap.”

Daniel chuckled, regretting it immediately as it set off a coughing spasm. He spat out a wad of blood. Ugh. That was never a good sign. With effort, he pushed himself up so he was kneeling. Jack was reclining on the bench along the left wall of the cell. He was pale, and his forehead had the telltale burns of a ribbon session. Daniel shook his head. “You’re one to talk.”

Jack got up with a groan, wandered over and sat beside Daniel on the floor. He tilted Daniel’s head slightly towards the light, looking at the bruises on his face. “Well, I did get the Gould Special, but luckily I got to skip the Jaffa ass-kicking dessert this time.”

“Sandwich.”

“What?”

“Jaffa ass-kicking sandwich. Gould, then Jaffa.” Daniel waved his free hand in a vague circle. “Then back to Gould again.”

“Ah, and what did you say that warranted the sandwich treatment?”

Daniel thought for a long minute, and then smiled as the memory came back to him. “I may have called him a half-breed goat who had nothing better to do than play in the mud and be Ra’s chauffeur. Not sure why he took offence. Maybe it was my tone.”

Jack released Daniel’s face and patted his shoulder. “Well, that was colossally stupid. You just can’t resist the snake-baiting, can you? It’s so different from your normal efforts to make friends and influence people.”

“Actually, I did that too.”

“What?”

“I met a woman. Well, not really a woman. She wasn’t human, so I’m not sure she’d refer to herself as a woman. But she was female and—”

“Daniel.”

“Jack?”

“Focus.”

“Right. Sorry.” Daniel glanced around the room. “Hey, where’s Sam?”

“Just noticed, did you? Lost your glasses again, I see. Where do you think she is?”

“Gould Special?”

“I’m guessing.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. She’ll be back soon, I hope. She usually is.” Jack peered down at the bandages on Daniel’s torso. “What did they do to your chest?”

How was that important? Daniel ignored the question and instead posed his own. “What about Teal’c?”

“He’s not here. He got away, remember? He’ll be sorry he missed this luxurious all-inclusive resort, but I’m sure he’ll be here to pick us up soon. I’m hoping to skip out on the bill.”

“Ah.” Actually, Daniel didn’t really remember, but he trusted Jack to know what he was talking about.

“Back to the woman, Daniel.”

“Sam? I thought she wasn’t here.” Daniel looked around the cell again. Nope, still no Sam.

Jack sighed. “No. The other woman. The not-quite-a-woman woman.”

“Oh. Jalaena. She was pretty friendly. Bit mad though.”

“Mad crazy or mad angry?”

“Um. Mad angry that Khnum is making her mad crazy.”

“Khnum?”

“The Gould.” Daniel squinted at Jack. “I thought you met him.”

“I did. Don’t remember an introduction, though. Let’s see. I am your god. I will crush you for your insolence. Yadda yadda yadda. Nope, no name mentioned.”

“He was one of the earliest gods worshiped by the Egyptians. He was thought to be the source of the Nile, and it was he who created human babies out of clay and put them in their mothers’ wombs. He built the boat that Ra used to travel through the underworld each night. He lost prominence, eventually. I can’t quite remember why right now...”

“Okay...” Jack’s voice had that tone that told Daniel his history lesson wasn’t especially welcome. Back to Jalaena, then. Jack had seemed interested in her.

“She fixed me up though, as well as she could. Then she put my brain through a blender. But she apologized afterward, so I think we’re still good.”

“You aren’t making any sense, you know that?”

“Sorry.” A wave of fatigue overwhelmed him. Daniel leaned over and let gravity bring him down so he was resting on his side.

He heard Jack’s pained grunt as the Colonel got up. “Okay. Time to get you up off the floor.”

Daniel closed his eyes and frowned. Someone was pulling at his shoulders.

“Daniel?”

“Jack?”

“Little help?”

Oh. The next time Jack pulled, Daniel made an effort to push with his legs and managed to stand. Jack held him steady as the dark tunnel threatened to collapse again, and then led him over to the bench and sat him down. Daniel stopped fighting his impending unconsciousness and decided to just go with it, but Jack pulled his eyelids open and peered at him.

“Why is your right pupil twice the size of your left?”

“Uh. Being ribboned is bad for a concussion?”

“Wonderful. It all becomes clear. Time to lie down now.”

“’Kay.” Jack helped him down onto his right side. As opposed to his wrong side. Right side, wrong side, left side, deicide. I do not buy this godly scam. I do not buy it, Sam I am. No. That’s not right. Dan I am? Daniel tried to suppress what he knew was an inappropriate bubble of mirth. He didn’t think he was entirely successful, but Jack didn’t say anything. That was nice of him, although it was probably another bad sign. Nice Jack only really showed when Daniel wasn’t doing so well. A little nap would fix that right up. There was something he was forgetting though. Something important. What was it? Oh.

“Jack?”

“Daniel?”

“If I suddenly hug you later, just go with it.”

“What?”

“’Night Jack”

“What the hell does that mean, Daniel? Daniel? Damn it!”

Khnum’s First Prime carried a human woman from the room as Jalaena was shoved to her knees before the Goa’uld. Jalaena eyed the human as they passed, wondering if this was one of the friends Daniel had spoken of. She appeared to be unconscious but not too badly damaged. That was a good but rare thing when it came to Khnum. If nothing else, Jalaena’s presence may have saved the woman additional pain. Khnum was well known for his paranoia and the lengths he would go to prove his suspicions correct. The incident with his rebel Jaffa had just made matters worse.

“You spent a long time speaking to the one called Daniel Jackson.” The Goa’uld sat on his throne and stared down at his prisoner, addressing her in his native language. “He told me much of your conversation.”

Jalaena cocked her head to the side and gave a mocking half-grin. “That one would never be broken by the likes of you.”

“You know this after spending only a few hours with him? Most of that time while he was unconscious? I find that hard to believe.”

“I knew that in the first moment he was pushed through the cell door. You are a fool.” A soon to be dead fool. Jalaena would have killed Khnum long before if she could have ensured M’Ron’s survival. She knew that M’Ron would be killed the instant something happened to this ‘god’ before her. However, she was rapidly approaching the point where there would be no hope of survival whether she attacked or not. At the moment, she couldn’t even work up the energy to get up off the floor.

“What language did you speak to him in?”

“You expected us to converse in Goa’uld? Much as I like having to sully my tongue with this language of yours, I knew of a better one. One with clear advantages. Lesser chance of eavesdropping parasites, for example.”

“I am your god!”

“I have no gods, and if I did they would be far more clever than you. Your Jaffa made no mistake, did they? You wanted to hear what we would say to each other.”

“I wanted to hear you confess to your conspirator. You were found injured and your ship damaged. You forced me to remove and threaten your little pet when you refused to stay out of the minds of my Jaffa. You tricked them into betraying me. You arranged for this ship to have to land on this planet, and you conspired with the Tau’ri to meet you here.” Khnum tilted his head to the side, eyes flashing in what Jalaena thought was a ridiculous attempt to intimidate her. “Were they to rescue you? A last minute plan to escape an unforeseen situation? Or was the entire sequence staged in an attempt to assassinate me?”

“You truly are a fool.”

“You did not answer my questions.”

“No, I did not. And neither did Daniel.”

“Daniel, is it? He is important to you, is he not? You would see him free? Perhaps I should bring him back here, and you can watch as I question him further. You may be right in that it would do no good, but it would be pleasurable for me.” Khnum smiled cruelly. “The hand device may have a limited effect on you, but I assure you, the human finds it quite painful indeed.”

Jalaena used every technique still available to her to control her reaction. With her mind in as much turmoil as it was, she wasn’t sure if she’d managed. She did not know Daniel Jackson well, though her inadvertent mind-touch had shown her that he was deserving of her admiration. She would be sorry if anything happened to him. But she truly wanted to protect him due to his physical and mental resemblance to Tsenalt. She would not allow her mate to die again, even if it was not really him. She wondered idly whether she had seconds or hours remaining and set her mind to preparing the safeguards that would protect Daniel when the time came. Very few of her people had managed to even temporarily protect another when their minds betrayed them. She wished for the thousandth time that Tsenalt was still alive, if only so that he could kill her as she had killed him.

“Distracted, my dear? You do not look well. Perhaps I should make you my host after all. I could heal you and have that mysterious mind of yours at my disposal.” The Goa’uld leaned down and caressed her cheek.

“Feel free. It would amuse me to have you attempt to take control. You would not be my first, though I would be your last.”

He stepped back quickly. “It is unfortunate that I prefer male hosts.”

“Coward.” Jalaena needed to hold on for a few more minutes. If the human woman had indeed been one of Daniel’s friends, it would take the Jaffa a little longer to reunite them. Then she would try to manipulate Khnum into calling for the Tau’ri to be brought before him. It would do no good to successfully shield Daniel from the effects of her death only to have him starve in a locked cell. Perhaps she shouldn’t have frightened Khnum out of taking her as host. She would then have been able to control his Jaffa in his name. But she had never fought off a symbiote in anything close to her current condition; the risk was too great. Instead, she reinforced her defences against the Siege one more time.

“Perhaps I might be persuaded to return your pet to you if you read the minds of the Tau’ri for me? I will know their secrets. If you help me, your Daniel will avoid further pain.”

Jalaena felt a glimmer of hope. “M’Ron must be brought to me first. I can not safely touch their minds beforehand.”

“Then you will have to do so unsafely. Your pet will be brought to you when I have learned something I value from the Tau’ri. That is my offer.”

Not what she was hoping for, but good enough. Jalaena smiled through the growing pain in her head. This would be far easier than she’d anticipated.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam had regained consciousness by the time the Jaffa returned her to her cell. She wasn’t sure being awake was a good thing, but she managed to remain standing when they released her inside the cell. Colonel O’Neill was instantly at her side, supporting her.

“You okay, Carter?”

“I’ll live, sir.” She caught sight of Daniel’s still form on the bench. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t think so. He was acting weird. Weirder than usual, I mean. I think the Gould fried his brain a little too much. Can you walk?” She nodded, and the Colonel led her over to Daniel’s bench. She eased down to the floor beside it, grateful to be sitting.

Oh God, Daniel looked bad. The right side of his face was swollen, with bruises slowly making themselves evident, and his forehead was burned more badly than the Colonel’s. His shoulders were bare, and what looked like the remains of his T-shirt were strapped around his ribs. What she could see of his left side was a swollen mass of angry red bruises from somewhere under the mangled shirt to down below where his pants sat on his hips. Sam ran her hand gently down his side, wincing when his ribs gave slightly under the pressure.

Sam brought her hand up to Daniel’s face and brushed a bit of his hair away from his forehead, carefully avoiding the deepening bruises. “Daniel?” There was no response.

“He’s been out for about an hour.”

“When did they bring him back?”

“Not long after they grabbed you. I couldn’t get much sense out of him. He’s got a nasty concussion.” Jack sighed. “It seems he talked to the Gould twice, managed to get beaten up by some Jaffa in between, and at some point he met a girl.”

“A girl?” Sam had intimate experience in talking to little girls while under the effects of a concussion.

“Well, he called her a not human woman. A Yalayna something.”

So this ‘girl’ was not another Grace. The Colonel was just being...Jack. “An adult, then. Yalayna? Is that her name or species?”

“Huh. Didn’t think of that. I’m not sure.” Jack shook his head. “I’m worried about him, Carter. He doesn’t usually get so...dopey after being tortured. Bad-tempered and sarcastic, yes. Sometimes very quiet. But never dopey.”

Sam decided to keep her opinion on where Daniel had learned to be bad-tempered and sarcastic to herself. She trailed her fingers over the makeshift wrap on Daniel’s chest, uncertain whether binding his ribs like that was good for his lungs. He didn’t seem to be having any difficulty breathing. “Did you try to fix his ribs, sir?”

The Colonel shook his head. “No, he arrived already gift-wrapped. He mentioned something about Yalayna fixing him up, but I’m not sure if he meant the bandaging or not. I think she did something to his head.”

That got Sam’s attention. She felt a surge of anger, and, strangely enough, a bit of jealousy. “What did she do?”

“I don’t know. He said someone put his brain through a blender but then apologized. Does that make any sense at all?” Colonel O’Neill looked suddenly tired and leaned back against the wall, sliding down it until he was also sitting on the floor. “He giggled, Carter. Have you ever heard Daniel giggle?”

“No.” Sam had seldom heard Daniel laugh these last few years, and she didn’t think he’d ever giggled. Probably not even as a child, at least not after his parents had died. “We need to get him home, sir.”

“I’m all for that plan. It’s the execution of it that I’m not too sure of.” He gestured to their surroundings. “Any bright ideas in that big brain of yours?”

“I had a look at the view screen while you were both gone earlier.” She pointed to the blank screen in the back of the cell. “If I can get your help I might be able to remove the panel and find some controls behind it.” She looked around the rest of the room. “There don’t seem to be any other seams in the wall that could lead to door controls or an energy source.”

Colonel O’Neill nodded. “Doing something is better than doing nothing. Let’s get to it.”

Sam stood up and offered her hand to the Colonel, helping him to his feet. “I wouldn’t get your hopes too high, sir. There may be nothing behind the screen at all.”

“Well, then, we’ll just have to hope Teal’c brings that cavalry real soon.”

As soon as the words left the Colonel’s mouth a shudder went through the ship, sending them both stumbling. So much for that rescue through the gate, Sam thought. We’ve just entered hyperspace.

CHAPTER FIVE

With the Colonel’s help, Sam had just managed to pull the bottom corner of the view screen away from the wall a bit when they heard a stirring behind them.

“Jack?”

They turned their attention to their teammate, abandoning their efforts with the screen for the moment. Both sat down next to Daniel’s bench.

The Colonel gave Daniel’s hand a squeeze. “I’m here.”

Daniel pushed himself upright with effort. His eyes opened slowly, the blue just barely visible as he squinted at them. “Hey.”

Sam smiled at him. “Welcome back, sleepy head. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” he said. Sam pursed her lips in irritation. Daniel’s eyes flicked from her face to the Colonel’s and back again, apparently seeing similar expressions on both. “I’ve been better,” he admitted. “Are you okay, Sam?”

Oh Daniel. Sam got up off the floor and sat down on the bench beside him, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Only you would wake up looking like a punching bag and ask if I was okay.”

Daniel ducked his head and turned to the Colonel. “How long was I out?”

“Couple of hours. Nice to see you’re a bit more lucid than the last time we spoke.”

“Um, yeah, sorry about that.”

“Care to clarify what you were talking about?”

Daniel nodded, then winced. He brought a hand up to his face and squeezed the bridge of his nose for a long moment before continuing, a sure sign he had a monster of a headache. “I talked to Khnum for a while. Charming guy, by the way. He wanted to know all about us, who else was around, which System Lord had sent us to attack him. I guess I was a bit too vocal about my opinion of him, as his Jaffa buddies took me out back to chat about how I was to refer to their god.” His fingers left his nose and gently probed at his cheek. “Then they dumped me back in a cell, which I assumed at first was here, but turned out to have another prisoner in it.”

“Ah, your alien girlfriend?”

Sam was somewhat gratified when Daniel glared at the Colonel. “No, my alien acquaintance.”

“Who wanted to know all about you, right?”

“Jalaena wasn’t a spy, Jack. She knew I’d been Ascended. And she spoke Ancient.”

Sam tilted her head. “How did she know you’d Ascended?”

“I’m not sure. She’s telepathic. She said she could sense it about me.”

Jack stood up and started pacing. “She read your mind? ‘Cause that can’t be good.”

“No, I don’t believe so. Not really.”

“Not really?”

“She’s dying, Jack. Khnum has taken her...thelaya, she called it. I don’t entirely understand. It’s a small bear-like creature named M’Ron that shares a mental symbiosis with her. Because of their separation, she’s losing control of her abilities. She tried to touch my mind briefly. It wasn’t supposed to feel like it did.”

“What did it feel like, Daniel?” Sam moved her hand from his shoulder to his forearm. “Was it like how I described Orlin’s sharing?”

“I really don’t think so. It felt more like my head was exploding. I could see chaotic images, but it was hard to tell which were mine and which were hers. She may have learned some things about me. I think I learned some things about her.” Daniel paused for a long moment, a frown creasing his forehead. Sam watched, concerned, but he just sighed and continued, “I learned she would never betray me to Khnum. She loathes him and the Goa’uld in general.”

“She hurt you.” Sam caressed his arm with her thumb, soothing him. Soothing herself. She was being far more tactile than she normally dared, yet somehow it felt right.

Daniel stared at her hand for a moment before answering. “She didn’t mean to.” He looked up at Sam, staring intently at her. “But it will happen again. She’s going to lose all control if Khnum doesn’t give M’Ron back to her. It’s going to get worse.”

“How the hell could it get—” The sound of approaching Jaffa silenced the question and answered it at the same time. Sam spared a glare for the Colonel, wondering why he hadn’t learned not to ask how their situation could get worse after all these years. She stood up to face the Jaffa leader and his subordinates, positioning herself between Daniel and the cell door. The Colonel did likewise.

Khnum’s First Prime stepped into the cell and pointed his staff weapon at them. “You will all come with us.”

“Well, as much as I love a good threesome, I’m not sure we’re in the mood for it right now, boys. I think we’d rather just stay in here.”

“Uh, Jack, I think it might be a good idea to co-operate,” Daniel said from behind them.

“Come again?” the Colonel asked. Sam looked back at the archaeologist, not understanding his reasoning either.

“I’m just getting the feeling that we should go with them.” He tried to push himself up off the bench and failed miserably. In seconds, Sam was there. Once he was on his feet, she looped his arm over her shoulders. He leaned on her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

The First Prime looked at them strangely, but since Daniel was agreeing to his request, it appeared he wouldn’t question the odd statements.

The Colonel hadn’t moved. He just looked at Daniel one eyebrow cocked, a gesture he’d picked up from Teal’c.

“Come on, Jack. I know Sam is capable of holding up most of my weight for long periods of time, but maybe you could help her a bit? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure I can’t.”

Colonel O’Neill stopped his silent questioning and hurried over to them, pulling Daniel’s other arm over his shoulders.

Sam smiled slightly. The advantage of Daniel hardly ever admitting weakness was that when he did, people would do whatever he requested. Well, his teammates would anyway. The Goa’uld seemed immune, unfortunately.

The five Jaffa led them through the halls of the ship, clearly heading back towards the audience chamber. Sam couldn’t imagine why Khnum would want to see them all again so soon, especially together, but she figured it couldn’t be good.

They marched in the middle of the five Jaffa who’d come to fetch them. Daniel leaned heavily on both his teammates. He seemed to be having more and more trouble keeping up.

Their friendly troop of Jaffa was soon joined by four others, with a prisoner in between. Sam didn’t take her attention off her wounded friend until she heard the Colonel say “Oh, crap.” Sam and Daniel both looked up, and the trio stopped, as did their entourage. Crap, indeed.

“Hey, Teal’c,” Daniel said with false cheer. “Escaping through the gate didn’t pan out so well, huh?”

“Indeed it did not, Daniel Jackson.” Their Jaffa friend had plenty of bruises of his own, although he seemed more frustrated than harmed. His face softened in concern as he took in Daniel’s appearance, eyes flickering to both Sam and the Colonel.

“Welcome back, big guy. Where ya been?” Colonel O'Neill’s voice was overly bright as well.

“I endeavoured to return to Earth as you requested, O’Neill, but the Stargate was heavily guarded. Attempting to fight my way through at nightfall led only to my capture. Khnum informed me that you were all dead and has been attempting to convince me that my best course of action lay in pledging my allegiance to him.”

“I assume there was never any danger of that happening.”

“There was not. I am most pleased to see that you live. I do not believe Khnum truly sought my allegiance. He wished only to keep me confused so that his questions might be answered.”

“And now he’s throwing a party for all of us?”

Teal’c looked at his Jaffa escorts. “So I have been informed.”

“Peachy.”

Teal’c’s guards joined the others, and all four members of SG-1 were marched towards Khnum’s audience chamber. Daniel lowered his head, apparently concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Sam half-hoped the trek would end soon, as she didn’t know how much longer Daniel could keep going, but she didn’t think they’d like what happened at the end of the walk any better.

Daniel?

Sam froze at the sudden sound of a woman’s voice. It seemed to come from all around and yet from nowhere. She caught the Colonel’s eye over Daniel’s lowered head and knew he’d also heard it. A quick glance around showed that Teal’c and Khnum’s Jaffa had stopped too. Had everyone heard it?

Daniel muttered something Sam didn’t quite catch, though it sounded suspiciously like a foreign expletive. Then he raised his head and spoke more clearly, “Ecce ego.” At the same time she heard his voice echo strangely in her head, I’m here.

Nothing happened for a moment, and their Jaffa escort motioned for them to continue.

Suddenly, Daniel’s arm jerked against her shoulder. He inhaled in a sharp hiss through clenched teeth. Then his whole body arched in what could only be agony, and a hoarse cry ripped from his throat. Ignoring the staff weapons prodding at them, Sam and the Colonel laid Daniel on the floor, desperately searching for the cause of his distress. As soon as his arms were free, Daniel clutched at his head, rolling onto his side and curling into a ball. Teal’c knelt down beside them; his concern for Daniel as obvious to Sam as Colonel O’Neill’s was. Yet all of them could only watch helplessly as something unseen tortured their friend.

CHAPTER SIX

After a long moment, Daniel’s pain seemed to ease. His muscles gradually relaxed and he straightened, breathing heavily. Sam helped him sit up and searched his eyes for an explanation. “Daniel?”

The next thing Sam felt was a deluge of agony and confusion. She clamped her eyes shut, but the action did not stop the flow of images assaulting her. They flickered by, one right after the other, far too quickly for her to take in or attempt to comprehend. An intense pressure was building in her skull, and she knew she was screaming, though she could not hear it. She also knew without a doubt that she would not survive this assault.

Then, suddenly, it was gone. No, not quite gone. She could still sense the images and chaos around her, but it seemed separated from her, indistinct. Her headache had receded to a dull throb. She opened her eyes.

Sam was surprised to find that she was no longer on the floor of a Goa’uld mothership. She was standing outside, surrounded by hot blowing sands. She felt a hand touch her face and turned around. Daniel stood next to her, his palm cupping her cheek, his blue eyes staring intently into her own. “Sam, are you okay?”

“I-uh, yes, I think so.’ His hand dropped away from her face. His wounds had disappeared leaving his face unblemished, save for dark circles under his eyes. His hair ruffled slightly in the desert wind. He wasn’t wearing his BDU pants or his black T-shirt bandage anymore, but was instead dressed in a cream-coloured sweater and slacks. He looked, well, handsome. Sam looked down at herself. Her outfit hadn’t changed. “Daniel, what’s going on?”

Daniel looked away from her and up at the sky. Sam followed his gaze and gasped. Less than 20 feet away loomed an angry maelstrom. Lightning flashed overhead, and sand swirled in twisters. But between them and the chaos there appeared to be a force field of some kind, a glowing blue dome protecting them from the elements.

Daniel turned back to her. “We have to get Jack and Teal’c.”

“I don’t understand.”

Daniel took her hand in his and closed his eyes. “Concentrate on what is really happening for a moment.”

Sam was confused, but closed her eyes as he had. She became aware of another existence. She could still feel the sand under her boots, the wind in her hair, and Daniel’s hand in hers. But at the same time she could feel the cold hard deck of a ship under her knees, and Daniel’s bare arms wrapped around her shoulders and back, her face buried in his chest. She saw both the storm through the shield and Colonel O’Neill screaming on the floor as convulsions shook his body. The Daniel on the ship reached for him, and Sam helped pull him into their embrace.

Suddenly, the Colonel was in the desert too. His eyes widened as he took in the locale. His gaze went to Daniel, and Sam watched him turn several shades paler. He took a step forward, but stopped. “What the hell?”

Sam noticed that Daniel was no longer holding her hand. She turned and saw him standing a few feet away. His head was thrown back, and his arms were held out from his sides, palms upraised. His whole body was trembling with the effort of whatever it was he was doing. Sam glanced up at the sky and noticed that the storms still raged overhead. She frowned. Was the force field thinner now? It had seemed a brighter blue before.

Daniel brought his gaze back to her for a moment. “Sam, you need to get Teal’c. I can’t break my concentration any more. Get Jack to help.” He turned his attention back to the sky.

“Daniel?” The Colonel looked from Daniel to Sam and back again. “You had better not be—” He broke off and turned to Sam. “What is this place?” His eyes pleaded with her for an explanation.

“I’m not sure, sir, but we need to get Teal’c before we figure it out. Think of where we were.” She took his hand in hers and once again looked out into the hallway of the Ha’tak. Daniel now had one arm around her and one around Jack, just as they’d been when helping him walk. She knew that this time, however, it was somehow Daniel holding them up. He didn’t seem to be aware of anything here this time, his focus solely on that other place. She caught the Colonel’s eye, relieved that he’d been able to focus on being here instead of in the place that she was beginning to think was somewhere within Daniel’s mind.

Teal’c was on his back on the floor not far from them, his normally stoic face a rictus of pain. Sam leaned over, making sure she didn’t lose contact with Daniel. Teal’c was heavy, and with her poor leverage, it wasn’t until Colonel O’Neill helped her that they managed to pull their Jaffa friend into the group.

She opened her eyes to once again to find herself in Daniel’s desert. Teal’c was now there, gazing around in confusion, but obviously now free of the pain he’d been experiencing. Sam sighed with relief and turned around.

Daniel had sunk to his knees on the sand, his head still tilted back towards the sky. His face had gone very pale, and his breathing was coming in laboured gasps. His hands were now by his sides, clenched into fists, the knuckles white. She knelt down beside him. Sweat was beading on his forehead, running back into his hair. He was still shaking. “Daniel?”

He didn’t move or even turn to look at her. “I’m not sure how long I can hold it, Sam. There are too many of us. I’m not— I can’t—” He took another shuddering breath. “I must.”

Sam looked up into the sky. The force field was almost transparent now. She could clearly see the forks of energy pulsing all around them, threatening to overwhelm their shelter. She wanted desperately to support him. To share her strength with him. To just hold him upright. To just hold him. But she didn’t dare touch him. She didn’t know what that distraction might cause.

“Jesus.” She heard the Colonel come up behind her. “Is Daniel powering that shield?”

“I think so, sir.”

“Is there not some way in which we might render assistance?” asked Teal’c.

“No.” Daniel’s voice was a harsh whisper. They waited for him to explain, but he said nothing else.

“Carter? Can you explain to the rest of the class what the hell is going on?”

“I’m not sure, but I think this is all a representation in Daniel’s mind. We’re still on board the ship.” Sam unfocused her eyes for a moment and saw her ‘other’ location. The four of them were wrapped in a sort of group hug. Sam’s arms were stretched around Daniel and Teal’c, the Colonel kneeling across from her, also with his arms around the others. She let herself slip back into the desert, focusing on Daniel kneeling in front of her. “I think the storm above represents Jalaena losing control of whatever it is she can do with her mind. The shield is how Daniel is somehow protecting us all.”

“No,” Daniel whispered. “The shield is Jalaena trying to protect me. I’m just...sharing.”

The Colonel’s eyes narrowed at his friend, “She’s protecting you from herself? Wouldn’t it be easier to just not ruin the weather in the first place?”

Daniel didn’t respond, so Sam gave it a try. “I don’t think she can help it. If what Daniel says is true, if she’s been without this...symbiote,” she winced at her choice of word, “of hers, then she’s probably been trying to hold this back for a while.”

The Colonel, Teal’c and Sam stared silently at Daniel as he struggled to continue whatever he was doing with the shield. Sam had no idea how long it was before the storm abated. One second, lightning was crashing cataclysmically all around them, and the next, the sky was clear with the sun beating down on their heads. The shield stayed in place for a long moment afterwards, and then disappeared. Daniel swayed and would have fallen if Teal’c hadn’t reached out to support him immediately.

“Daniel Jackson, are you injured?”

Daniel stared up at his friend for several seconds, then said, “I think she’s still alive, Teal’c. You have to find her. And M’Ron.” And with that, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed into the Jaffa’s arms.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jalaena lay on the floor in the audience chamber of the ex-deity Khnum. As it was not possible for a god to die, and Khnum was, in fact, very much deceased, the only logical explanation was that he had ceased to be a god at some point. He must have been very disappointed with himself. While Jalaena felt some degree of guilt over the deaths of the Jaffa on board, she felt only a twinge of pleasure at the death of their god. Her brief touch of his host’s mind showed only relief for an end to his long captivity, so his death pleased her as well. She'd also gleaned from the mind of the host a warning of impending danger to her, but since she was in the process of dying, it didn’t matter much at all.

Jalaena thought about this on one level of consciousness. On another level, she simply lay where she was, unable to move or think, resting in the interval between the outbursts of her mind.

This was worse than she had planned for. She had called out to Daniel moments before she lost all control, and he had responded. She’d managed to set up the shield to protect him, and she thought she had been able to hold on to it until the bitter end. She was fairly certain Daniel was still alive, and she hoped he’d been able to spare his friends. Jalaena regretted that he’d probably been forced to choose between them. Normally, a human would not be able to share a shield with two others and survive. If she was in a better condition, she might have taken into account that normally a human would never have Ascended either, but that was not really her current concern.

What did concern her was the fact that she was not yet dead. Throughout the history of her people there had been many whose lives had ended in the Siege. Without a thelaya, it was only a matter of time. However, the vast majority, if not sped to their deaths by a loved one, experienced only one explosion of the mind. A scant few had an elevated survival instinct that allowed them to retreat from the brink of the Siege and live a few hours more. Those few were the truly unfortunate, for the inevitable result of that instinct was a slower and more agonizing death.

Jalaena realized on yet another level of her consciousness that M’Ron was not dead. If she could but reach him, there was some chance that he might be able to repair the damage to her mind. But she was here, and he was locked in a cage elsewhere. She could not move. And she had lost all ability to form a shield for another.

That thought disturbed her the most. Only a handful of her people had prevented the deaths of others around them during the Siege. It seemed Jalaena had the rare strength to preserve another only to have the accomplishment wasted by an equally rare ability to preserve herself. Daniel would die in the next onslaught, and she would have failed Tsenalt yet again.

At the same instant that Daniel collapsed in the desert, Jack found himself wholly back on the Goa’uld ship, kneeling with his team in a broken circle. Daniel had fallen forward into the group, his upper body cradled gently by Teal’c. Jack and Carter helped the Jaffa straighten the archaeologist out on his back.

Jack’s fingers checked Daniel’s neck for a pulse, and he was relieved to find a steady rhythm. He was surprised to see the contusions on Daniel’s face and abdomen, though of course they would still be there. This mental representation thingy took some getting used to. Daniel was also back in his BDU pants and bandages, instead of sporting that Ascension look that had momentarily scared the crap out of Jack. No, Daniel was alive. He had a pulse and he was alive. And he would damned well stay that way, or Jack would kick his sorry ass.

Jack stood up with some difficulty, cursing his knees. Kneeling for any length of time was something he avoided whenever possible. Limping slightly, he walked over to the closest of Khnum’s Jaffa. The man was lying twisted on the floor, his eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling above. Jack checked him for a pulse and found none. A quick glance around the hallway showed him that their entire escort was dead, including the First Prime. Jack took a moment to contemplate the loss and figured he'd get over it pretty quickly. He bet Daniel would mourn for an even shorter period.

Jack glanced over at Teal’c and saw that his large teammate was also checking on the enemy Jaffa. Teal’c bent down and picked up one of the staff weapons, an action that Jack decided was a very good idea. He grabbed a zat for himself, as well as one for Carter and, after a moment’s hesitation, a third for Daniel.

Teal’c also picked up a zat and after a brief period of silence, began firing at the corpses, three times for each one. Jack knew that Teal’c was no doubt wondering how many of the Jaffa on board had been members of the resistance. This was a reasonably honourable way of disposing of the bodies and would also take care of any nasty smell problems that might arise later. Jack helped him finish the grim task.

Carter stayed by Daniel’s side, covering him up with her green BDU jacket. She only looked up when Jack prodded her shoulder with the butt of the zat. She accepted it gratefully, as well as the spare for Daniel.

“All right. Teal’c and I are going to check things out. Gotta make sure everyone on this tub is as dead as our friends here. Then we’ll see if we can fly ourselves back home.”

Carter nodded. “Good idea, sir. Keep an eye out for Jalaena. Daniel said she was still alive. If so, we’ll need to find her and her M’Ron creature.”

“I’m not overly enthused about helping someone who just about killed us.”

“Of whom are you speaking?” Teal’c asked.

Carter explained what Daniel had told them about the alien and her murderous mind, including several details that she’d apparently figured out on her own during their stay in the desert.

Teal’c tilted his head. “If this is true, then it would appear this woman has made a substantial effort to protect Daniel Jackson, and through him, us.”

Jack nodded reluctantly.

“It would also appear that she has rescued us from our captors and given us the means to return to Earth.”

Another good point. Jack nodded again.

“Then we must assist her if it is within our power to do so.”

“Tell me, Teal’c. When did you turn to the dark side?”

“That is not an accurate Star Wars analogy, O’Neill.”

“Why not?”

“I believe Daniel Jackson would argue that my desire to assist this individual would constitute an action of the light side.”

“So what does that make me? Darth O’Neill?” Teal’c’s raised eyebrow was enough of a response. Jack sighed. “Fine. We’ll rescue the princess and restore balance to the Force.”

“Much improved.”

“Thanks so much.” Jack turned back to Carter. “Stay here with Daniel. We’ll be back when we know what’s going on. Then you and Teal’c can get us back home.” He glanced at the unconscious archaeologist. “The sooner, the better.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Carter? Keep your eyes open.”

She nodded. “I will.”

Jack and Teal’c walked some distance up the corridor. They passed several small groups of Jaffa, all of whom were dead. They disintegrated the bodies. After a while they came to the first major intersection and halted.

“This will go faster if we split up,” Jack said.

“Would it not be prudent to remain together, O’Neill? We do not yet know if the mental attack has incapacitated everyone on board.”

“It would be prudent, yes. But I’m worried about the time factor. Daniel doesn’t look so good.”

“Indeed, he does not. Very well. I will ensure that Khnum is dead and then proceed to the bridge.”

“I’ll check out the rest of Alcatraz here and see if I can’t find our missing girl and her pet...whatever. Keep an eye out for a sarcophagus or a healing device. We may need it. Not to mention our gear.”

“I will do so.” Teal’c strode off in the general direction of the audience chamber. Jack watched him go for a moment, wishing they still had their radios, before starting down the hallway that led in the other direction. There hadn’t seemed to be any other occupants in the cells near where they had been held. From what Jack remembered of other stays aboard Goa’uld ships, there should be another block of cells in the direction he was headed.

He found more prone Jaffa, some in groups, some alone. He zatted them all as he passed. It was faster than making sure they were all actually dead. He wasn’t about to leave potential enemies behind him. Jack also systematically searched the rooms he passed, checking for fallen Jaffa as well as for anything to help Daniel.

Jack soon came to another row of cells. To his surprise, several of the locked cells contained Jaffa prisoners. Whatever they had done to upset their master was unimportant now. They were all dead. Jack disposed of their bodies too, this time trying to be a little more respectful. Maybe they’d been Free Jaffa. Or maybe they’d just been incompetent warriors. Jack supposed he would never know.

One of the empty cells had an active view screen showing a cage with a small white...thing. Jack stared at it for a moment. It appeared to be sleeping. The video didn’t give any indication of where the creature was located. Jack looked around the cell. This was probably where Khnum had stored Jalaena, though she obviously wasn’t here now. He did find Daniel’s BDU jacket, along with a damp blue cloth. Jack grabbed the jacket and kept going.

Down the next hallway he found what must have been the guard post. Four dead Jaffa lay around a console which showed a schematic of the cell block. After zatting the guards, Jack tried to make sense of it. He pursed his lips in irritation. He really needed to pick up a few more words of written Goa’uld. Perhaps it wouldn’t kill him to pay a little more attention when Daniel was translating text. He tapped at a few flashy lights and, to his surprise, brought up the same image of the little white fuzzy that had been on Jalaena’s wall. Only this one had a little blinking light indicating where it was on the ship. He hit a few more buttons with the hope of finding the fuzzy’s owner, but all he managed to do was turn the console off. He tried in vain to turn it back on. Ah well, half was better than none.

A few minutes later he came to the room indicated in the schematic. The small creature awoke as he entered. Jack felt immediately unnerved in its presence, though he couldn’t put a finger on why. It certainly didn’t look threatening in any way, cringing in the corner of its cage. It stared at him with bright purple eyes, trembling for a moment. Jack wasn’t sure what had changed, but his unease ebbed away as the critter took a step towards him. Curiosity replaced fear, and Jack tapped out the open sequence on the door of the cage.

The creature stepped out and chattered at him, sounding like a bizarre cross between a monkey and a bird. Jack crouched beside it, only momentarily alarmed when it climbed up his arm and clung to him. Once it had settled into a comfortable position, Jack decided it was time to leave. He’d take fuzzy Junior here back to Carter and Daniel, and then go off in search of Teal’c.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam was getting worried. Daniel was still unconscious, and his breathing was getting faster and shallower. At first, Sam thought he was going into shock. She made sure her jacket was covering as much of him as possible and tried to keep his legs elevated.

Then he started coughing up blood. Sam hastily rolled him over onto his injured side. He groaned softly at the movement, no doubt already in pain from the coughing fit. Sam winced and whispered an apology. She looked critically at the fabric that bound his ribs. Those were definitely not doing his lungs any favours. She removed the bandages and used one of them to wipe the blood away from his mouth. His eyes fluttered open.

“Sam?”

She leaned down so he could see her better. “I’m here.”

“Jack? Teal’c?”

She smiled, knowing what he was asking. “They’re okay, Daniel. You did it. They’ve gone to check out the ship and find Jalaena.”

Daniel nodded slightly. “Good.” His eyes closed for a minute, and Sam was afraid he’d lost consciousness again. But then he said, “This is really...uncomfortable.”

“I know. I think one of your ribs has nicked your lung. I had to put you on your bad side so your good lung would have more room.”

“I don’t suppose you could help me sit up?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Sam, please. I can’t breathe, and this position hurts too much.” Daniel pushed against the floor. He didn’t get very far before collapsing back down in pain. His eyes sought hers with a pleading look.

Crap. Damned, stubborn, bull-headed, blue-eyed archaeologists. Sam felt a burst of sympathy for Colonel O’Neill, knowing he’d had to deal with this sort of thing many times before. She also knew she was going to agree to help Daniel sit up, against her better judgement. Those eyes of his should be illegal. She didn’t know how Janet had stood up to him all those years.

“Fine.” Sam sighed in frustration. “Just give me a second.” He wasn’t going to be able to hold himself upright, even leaning on the wall, which meant she was going to have to hold him up. Sam scooted around behind him and grasped his shoulders. “All right, let’s give this a try.”

Between the two of them, they managed to get him upright, though Daniel did let loose a stream of what Sam recognized as Abydonian. She didn’t need a translation.

“This was your idea,” she reminded him.

“Your objection has been noted,” he said through clenched teeth.

“See to it you remember that part when they’re chewing us out in the infirmary.” She gently manoeuvred him so he was sitting about a foot from the wall and slid in behind, one leg on either side of him. She eased him back to lean against her chest. “I expect you to take full responsibility.”

“Deal.” Daniel took a few progressively deeper breaths. “This is better.”

“Because you can breathe or because I make a better pillow than the deck of a mothership?”

“Both. Thank you.”

Sam smiled and handed Daniel the zat the Colonel had procured for him, keeping her own right next to her hand. He put it in his lap. “Are we expecting a firefight?”

“Let’s just say that our track record tells me it’d be smart to be ready for one.”

“Good point.” Daniel looked down at his hands, which Sam could see were trembling. “I’m not sure how useful I’m going to be.”

Sam gazed down at him. The right side of his face which she could currently see close-up was covered in a large reddish bruise. His breathing was still ragged, and she could see he was squinting, though she wasn’t sure whether that was due to migraine or myopia. “How’s your head?”

“I’m starting to consider decapitation as a viable alternative, but I may settle for passing out again instead.”

Sam winced in sympathy. “A little more sleep would probably be good for you.”

“I’m glad you think so, because I don’t think I’m going to have much say in the matter.” Daniel’s head settled against her shoulder. He shivered.

Sam reached out and pulled her jacket back over him, tucking it around his bare shoulders. “I’ll keep a look out, Daniel. You rest.” She turned her head a bit and brushed her lips across his temple.

“Mmm, careful Sam,” he said, even as his eyelashes fluttered closed. “I might get the wrong idea.”

Sam smiled at his teasing. “I think I can manage to fend you off in your current condition. Besides,” her voice lowered to a whisper, “would that really be so bad?’

Daniel craned his neck to look at her. She met his gaze firmly, wanting him to know she was serious. She wasn’t sure if he understood; he just smiled faintly before his eyes unfocused, and his head lolled across her shoulder. She hastily checked his pulse, and found it steady, if a bit rapid. He’d passed out, as predicted.

Not exactly the response I was hoping for, but that’s what I get for not thinking about the situation beforehand. You have some pretty impractical timing, Samantha Carter. Sam resettled Daniel’s head on her shoulder at an angle she hoped wouldn’t leave him with a nasty neck cramp when he woke up. She adjusted her position slightly and checked her zat. She had no idea how long it would take the Colonel and Teal’c to return.

Pain flared up his side and brought Daniel prematurely back to consciousness. He felt himself tilting forward, out of the safe arms that had held him. He stifled a grunt as awareness returned. Sam wouldn’t have moved if it wasn’t important. He could feel her crouching behind him, one hand on his shoulder holding him up. He heard her zat open. Good idea. Daniel fumbled for his own and pointed it in the direction of the footsteps he could now hear approaching.

An instant later Jack O’Neill stepped around the corner, weapon trained on their forms. He seemed startled to be staring into the business end of two zats, and he quickly raised his hands. “Whoa! Sorry. Wasn’t sure it was you.”

Daniel lowered his weapon, and Sam followed suit. Her hand tightened on his shoulder in what he assumed was an apology. Not necessary, but nice to receive. Sam settled back down against the wall behind him and pulled him back into her embrace, much more gently than she’d pushed him away. He let his head fall back onto her shoulder and closed his eyes. The light in the corridor still bothered his head. Sam tucked her jacket back around his shoulders.

This was nice, in a painful, death-warmed-over sort of way. He wondered for a moment if he’d actually managed to answer her question about whether the ideas in his head were so bad. If he had, he didn’t remember what he’d said.

“Don’t you two look cozy.”

Daniel didn’t bother looking at the new arrival. “Don’t start, Jack.”

“I’m just saying, Daniel, you should be flattered. It’s not every guy that gets to sleep on top of Carter.” Daniel felt Sam’s sudden intake of breath. Evidently Jack realised what he’d said and started back-pedalling. Good self-preservation instinct there. “I didn’t mean...I shouldn’t have...Crap!”

Daniel couldn’t stop the chuckle from escaping him. “Jesus, Jack. You’re a pig, you know that?”

“I-uh.” Jack heaved a sigh. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, Carter.”

“It’s all right, sir.” Sam was probably already suppressing the memory, Daniel thought. “I don’t suppose you found a healing device?”

Daniel lifted his head at that. He’d reached the point where he was more than willing to let Sam have a go at his insides with Goa’uld technology.

“No. I did find Moron here though.” A little creature peered over Jack’s shoulder and chattered at Sam, purple eyes wide. The Colonel sat down next to Sam and Daniel, letting them get a better look.

“M’Ron, sir,” Sam corrected. “He’s cute.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Daniel said, holding a hand out to M’Ron. He felt an almost immediate sense of familiarity. Puzzling. He’d never seen anything like this creature before, apart from on the view screen earlier. The creature shied from the hand, but moved to a position that would give it a better look at the man attached to it. Its eyes widened and its chattering became more insistent. The feeling of deja vu increased.

M’Ron jumped off Jack’s shoulder and clambered across Daniel’s outstretched arm. Thankfully, although it looked a bit like a miniature bear, its hands were quite ape-like and free of claws. Daniel lowered his arm and let M’Ron snuggle into him.

“Hey there.” Daniel murmured. He wasn’t sure why, but he brought his other hand up to M’Ron’s face, settling his thumb under the creature’s chin, and his index and middle fingers on its temple and behind its ear.

Daniel stiffened. He felt waves of emotions coming from the creature on his arm, each one accompanied by an image. Pride, as M’Ron looked at Jalaena during their merging. Pain, as their home vanished in the wake of its exploding star. Love and lust pouring from Jalaena and Tsenalt as they made love, L’Tal joining M’Ron in the ecstasy of twinned bodies and minds. Horror at the sight of L’Tal’s still body, growing deeper at the inevitability that Tsenalt would soon join his thelaya in death. Anguish in looking at Tsenalt’s face for the last time as Jalaena mourned over him, a face that was the source of the familiarity and confusion now washing through M’Ron. Confusion, familiarity and fear.

“Daniel? Are you okay?” Sam’s voice seemed far away.

Daniel ignored her, concentrating on the small form now shuddering against his shoulder. “No, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m not him. You knew I couldn’t be him. It’s alright, we won’t hurt you. Amacus.” He continued for a while longer, soothing M’Ron in both English and Ancient. The fear began to subside and was replaced by curiosity.

“Daniel?”

Daniel shook his head, trying to clear it. “I’m fine, Sam. M’Ron is just...introducing himself.”

Jack leaned closer. “Introducing himself?”

“He’s frightened, Jack. Jalaena is dying. He’s been held in a cage for days, knowing that she needed him, not understanding why they were separated.”

“It’s— he’s intelligent?”

“Uh, sort of. Depends on your definition. He’s self aware. He has emotions, and it seems he’s quite capable of sharing them with others. I think he’s smarter when he’s in direct contact with Jalaena.”

“I see.” Jack glanced around the hallway, clearly indicating that he didn’t ‘see’ at all. “So, why are you so much more appealing than the rest of us? No offence, Daniel, but you’re not looking like the safest bet for a bodyguard. My grandmother could kick your ass right now.”

“Thanks, Jack. You have no idea how reassuring that is to hear.” Daniel rested his head on Sam’s shoulder again, suddenly exhausted. “He doesn’t want me to protect him. Well, maybe he does, but that’s not the point. I apparently look and feel a lot like Tsenalt, who was Jalaena’s, uh, mate.”

“You feel like her mate? Just what exactly happened in that cell?”

The image of Jalaena entwined in passion with a man closely resembling himself popped back into Daniel’s head. He felt a blush flaming his cheeks. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Jack. They’re telepathic. My mind is similar to his. I don’t know if it’s my emotions, or my brainwave pattern, or what, but Jalaena recognized a similarity, and it seems M’Ron does too.”

“You coincidently happen to look like this woman’s old boyfriend, so instead of frying our brains along with everyone else’s, she decided to just saute them a little?”

“That’s one way of putting it. I’d like to think that my talking to her might have had something to do with it, too.” He felt Sam’s hand squeeze his shoulder, probably in an effort to calm him.

Jack looked like he was about to make an irritating comeback when Teal’c’s voice echoed from the walls. “O’Neill, can you hear me?”

“Excellent. T’s found the intercom.” Jack got up and went to the closest control panel, “Carter?”

“Second left, first right, third right, sir.”

Jack pushed the three buttons in sequence. “Teal’c? How’s it going up there?”

“Is the alien in your presence a threat?”

“Not too sure about that yet.” Jack received Daniel’s sudden glare with a neutral expression. “Well, I’m not.”

“I have located the woman Jalaena. I have also accessed the main computer and determined that we are the only remaining life signs on board.”

“Does it show where they keep the sarcophagus?” Carter asked.

“One moment.” There was a brief pause, then, “It appears the sarcophagus was destroyed in the mishap that caused the Ha’tak to land on the planet.”

Daniel closed his eyes for a moment. That figured. “Where is Jalaena, Teal’c? We need to get M’Ron to her.”

“She is with me, Daniel Jackson. She is not fully lucid, though I believe she no longer fears me. Can you bring her companion to the bridge?”

Jack spoke before Daniel had a chance to reply. “Daniel isn’t moving unless absolutely necessary. I’ll bring Moron up to you.”

“I need to go with you, Jack.”

“Why?”

“Um, I’ve got a rapport going with both of them. I speak a language they understand. I’m the one Jalaena tried to protect, and I’m the least likely to be hurt by her.”

“Oh, yeah. She’s done wonders for your health so far.”

Daniel bit back his sarcastic response. He looked down at M’Ron, who was still clinging to him. Daniel knew the small creature did not want to be separated from him. He looked back up at his friend, trying to convey how important this might be.

Jack sighed. “Can you bring her here, T? Daniel should stay put.”

“I cannot. The ship is heading for a system deep within Khnum’s territory. The controls are encrypted. I do not wish to drop out of hyperspace in the midst of his fleet. I must stay here and attempt to re-establish manual control.”

“We’ll be up there as soon as we can.” Jack disconnected the intercom and walked over to his companions. “Teal’c will need your help, Carter, which means you’ll have to give up your La-z-boy gig.”

Daniel felt a surge of disappointment at the thought and viciously clamped down on it. They were stuck in a ship which was likely hurtling towards an entire fleet full of angry Jaffa and probably lesser Goa’ulds, and here he was sitting on the foremost Earth expert on Goa’uld technology and the member of their team most capable of hacking alien computers. Gee Daniel, could you be a bit more self absorbed?

Jack was watching him, no doubt knowing exactly what he was thinking. “Don’t worry, Daniel. Once we get up to the bridge, I’ll be happy to take over.”

“Somehow that doesn’t have the same appeal.”

“Ouch. I’m wounded.” Jack looked at Sam and Daniel’s positions. “Looks like extracting the astrophysicist may take some work if we’re to avoid damaging the archaeologist in the process. Better get started."

By the time Jack and Sam got Daniel up to the bridge and ensconced in Khnum’s command chair, Daniel was thoroughly impressed with their concern and care for him, and thoroughly unimpressed with his ability to retain consciousness for any length of time. The trip had hurt. A lot. Daniel allowed himself another fantasy about the infirmary. A little TLC from the nurses, a little exploratory surgery from Dr. Brightman, and a lot of morphine from whoever would stick him with it and he’d be as good as new. And sweet-talking his way back out afterwards would be easier now that Janet wasn’t there to—

God, what the hell was wrong with him? He had not just found a silver lining around the death of one of his closest friends. Concussion. Blame the concussion. He dragged his attention back to the present.

M’Ron had scampered off of Daniel’s shoulder the second the door to the bridge had opened. He was now sitting on the chest of Jalaena, one paw under her chin, the other on her temple. Jalaena herself was lying trembling on the floor, completely unresponsive when Sam had checked her over. Daniel wished he could get closer to her, but he knew he wasn’t getting up on his own anytime soon. Maybe he could get some help.

“Jack?”

The Colonel turned from where he, Teal’c and Sam were working with the ship’s controls to look at Daniel. His eyes narrowed immediately. “No.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”

“Yes, I do, and the answer is no. You are going to sit there until we get home and Brightman wheels in a gurney for you. Is that understood?”

Daniel did understand and was somewhat touched that Jack was so concerned for him, but that didn’t mean he had to accept the inevitable with good grace. He rolled his eyes and uttered a sullen “Fine.”

Jack watched him for a moment more, and then turned his attention back to the uncooperative controls. Daniel caught Sam’s eye, and while he saw her sympathy for him, he knew he wasn’t going to get any help from her either. Great. He’d just continue to sit here on this gaudy, golden throne and feel completely useless, then. That’d be fun.

Daniel. The sensation of another mind touching his made Daniel immediately tense in preparation for the inevitable onslaught of images and pain, but this time, much to his relief, there were none. He looked over at Jalaena. She seemed to still be unconscious, but M’Ron was staring at him intently.

M’Ron? You can speak now? Daniel stopped, confused. Speech wasn’t exactly the right concept. Communicate with words, um, coherent, complete thoughts? That hadn’t come out right either.

Yes. Daniel thought he felt a hint of amusement coming from the creature. When in contact with Jalaena, I am what you would consider fully sentient.

Is she going to be okay?

It will take time, but she will eventually be as well as she was before Khnum captured us. There was a pause. She wishes you to know of a danger. She is not certain of its nature, but she is adamant that you remain safe.

Oh, good. More danger. Just when there was the slightest possibility that Daniel might become complacent or bored. He sighed, both audibly and mentally. And what danger is that?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“What?” Jack could not have heard Daniel right.

“M’Ron seems to think that Khnum set a self-destruct.”

Jack frowned. “Okay. How is that possible? He couldn’t have done it after what’s-her-face here started her little brain explosion, and he wouldn’t have known to do it beforehand.”

“Khnum was well known for lacking trust,” Teal’c said. “Even his First Prime and Lo’tar were said to be under constant suspicion. It is possible his ship is designed to destroy itself in the event he does not enter the appropriate codes at given times.”

Carter nodded. “A dead man’s switch. His Jaffa couldn’t rebel and kill him without killing themselves.”

“Paranoid bastard. Can we find out if it’s true?”

Both Teal’c and Carter bent over the control panel. After several minutes they brought up a new set of symbols on the screen, a set that looked disturbingly familiar to Jack. They were those lovely Goa’uld digits slowly ticking away. “Wonderful. How long do we have?”

“Less than twelve hours,” Teal’c answered.

“And how far are we from Earth?”

Carter grimaced. “About three days. Assuming we can get control of the navigation system.”

“Oh, well, isn’t that just great.” Jack scrubbed a hand through his hair, staring at the countdown. “Any smaller ships on board we could borrow?”

Teal’c tapped a few buttons. “There are not.”

“How long will it take to fix the steering?”

Carter answered, “The encryption code is complicated, but I think with Teal’c’s help to translate, we’ll manage okay. Then it’s just a matter of bypassing the crystals in the primary control panel. If I can—”

“Ah! How long, Carter?”

“Maybe 4 hours, sir.”

“Okay. You and Teal’c figure that out, and Daniel and I will see if we can find a Stargate within seven hours of wherever we’ll be four hours from now.” He looked at the viewscreen. “What do you need me to focus on first, Daniel?”

“Uh, either finding my glasses or a seat closer to the action. Sorry, Jack, I can’t see that far.”

Of course he couldn’t. Jack looked from the viewscreen to Daniel and then around the bridge. Damn Goa’uld and their inability to provide seating. He needed Daniel’s help on this, but the pallor of the linguist’s skin and the bruising deepening across his abdomen spoke of another impending time limit. Jack knew first-hand what internal bleeding was all about, and he was surprised that Daniel was still even remotely functional. Jack sighed. If they were going to get out of this without being blown to smithereens, he’d have to risk moving Daniel again. “Teal’c, any portable chairs on this thing? Or a nearby viewscreen with seating that we can move him to?”

“That will not be necessary.” Teal’c came over to Daniel’s chair and tapped a couple of symbols on the arm. A smaller version of the display screen popped up in front of the archaeologist.

“Cool.” Daniel reached up and tapped a couple of symbols, bringing up a closer view of the systems surrounding the Ha’tak. “Gotta look into getting one of these for my office. Thanks.”

Teal’c nodded graciously and returned to the helm.

Jack watched Daniel brighten as he brought up the list of nearby gates. He should have known. Daniel didn’t actually need medical attention to feel better. He just needed a puzzle to solve. The archaeologist tapped a few more symbols and then furrowed his brow.

“Uh, Sam? Could you show me where we’re likely to be in four hours or so? My knowledge of Ha’tak cruising speeds leaves something to be desired.”

Carter stood up from where she was kneeling next to the helm and walked behind the command chair, peering over Daniel’s shoulder at the display. She leaned over him and expanded the view of a different region of space from that which Daniel had been looking at, and then pointed a few things out to him with her finger. But it wasn’t her right hand that caught Jack’s attention, it was her left. Instead of resting it on the back of the chair or on Daniel’s shoulder as she’d done often enough when working with him in the past, Carter’s hand was on the back of his neck, her fingers curling through his hair. From the way Daniel’s head tilted back into her hand and his eyes closed momentarily, Jack knew the change wasn’t lost on the archaeologist either, nor was it unwelcome. Well. That was interesting.

The two scientists spoke for a few minutes about speeds and headings until it seemed Daniel was satisfied that he knew what he needed. Carter smiled down at him and gave his shoulder a final squeeze before settling back on the floor by the helm and popping open one of the crystal compartments. Daniel watched her for a long moment, a small smile on his lips, before turning his concentration back to the display.

The four hours passed slowly for Jack. He was dying of curiosity about his teammates’ uncharacteristic interaction, but he didn’t want to distract either of them from their current tasks. Carter and Teal’c worked in silence except for the occasional “Try it now” or “Pass the Goa’uld doohickey”. Daniel gave everyone a scare by taking another unscheduled nap for half an hour but was now back in the land of the lucid and had located two worlds with Stargates that were close enough to be reached within the time limit. He was busily trying to figure out which one was less likely to kill them all. Maybe Jack could help with that. He wandered over to the command chair.

“What’ve we got, Daniel?”

“Um, neither planet is going to make my list of places to buy a timeshare.” The archaeologist brought up a picture. “Option one is a lovely little uninhabited swamp planet, and according to the file, the carnivorous insects grow pretty big. There is a set of rings, but they’re about 20 miles from the gate.”

Another picture appeared on the display. “Option two has a Goa’uld outpost on it. It’s a mining planet. The atmosphere is unpleasant enough that the human miners rarely live longer than a few weeks. The Jaffa do better, but they’re rotated out at regular intervals to keep them healthy. Apparently, Khnum used it as punishment for any slave rebellions on his other worlds. The rings are within a few hundred yards of the gate, but the place is heavily guarded.”

“And those are the only two gates available?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The next nearest is more than three hours out of range.”

Jack blew out a puff of air. “Great.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think?”

Daniel was silent for a few seconds, staring at the screen. Then he turned his head to look up at Jack. “I think you should try the swamp. Bring the zats. You’ll need them as bug repellent.”

“Daniel?”

“Jack?”

“What’s with the ‘you’? Shouldn’t that be ‘we’?”

Daniel turned his gaze back to the screen. “I’m not going to be able to walk 20 miles. I can’t even get out of this chair.”

“Then we’ll go through the Jaffa mines instead.”

“Don’t you dare risk everyone’s life for my sake, Jack.”

“And if it was me that was injured? Or Carter? Would you leave her behind so the three of us could run through a swamp rather than fight through enemy Jaffa?”

“That’s not the same.”

Jack could see the clench in Daniel’s jaw. It infuriated him. “Like hell it isn’t!”

“Jack, please. Risking all of us to protect one isn’t logical. It’s not right.”

Your actions belie your words, Daniel.

Startled, Jack turned to where Jalaena lay on the deck. She still appeared to be unconscious, but M’Ron looked steadily up at him.

I’m sorry? That was Daniel’s voice, yet not. Jack decided he really hated dealing with telepaths.

I have been listening to your conversation. You refused to sacrifice one of your friends to save the other, Daniel. Your denial not only allowed you to save both, but a third as well. The Anqueetas had a word to describe one such as you. Recalcitrare.

How the alien had managed to make one word incomprehensible while the rest were instantly translated in his head was beyond Jack. Didn’t really matter. “Noble?” he guessed.

Daniel pursed his lips. “Stubborn.”

“Ah. The little fuzzy seems to know you pretty well.”

Nobilis would also fit. Your condition worsens, Daniel. You will not be able to remain functional for much longer.

The archaeologist hesitated, and then nodded. I know.

Then perhaps we should discuss how we are to get through the mines. All of us.

Jack grinned. Nothing like an unexpected ally to make an argument with a noble and stubborn archaeologist easier. And in this case, Jack would take all the help he could get.

Sam leaned back and felt her spine crack. That was better. She slid the panel at the base of the helm closed and peered up at Teal’c. “Did that do it?”

Teal’c placed a hand on the controls. “Indeed it did.” The Ha’tak dropped out of hyperspace, and Sam let out a sigh of relief.

“Great!” She turned to the Colonel. “Are we still heading for that mining plan-...” Her voice trailed off as she noticed Daniel’s slumped form in the command chair. When had he passed out again? Why hadn’t she noticed? “Sir?”

Colonel O’Neill gave her a guilty look from where he was seated on the floor by Daniel’s feet. “Sorry, Carter. I needed you to finish without distraction. There wasn’t anything you could do for him.” He looked over at the helm. “Start her up, Teal’c. Daniel said he sent the co-ordinates of the mine to your terminal. We need to get a move on so we can get him home.”

The Jaffa nodded, and after calling up the location of the outpost, he shifted the ship into hyperspace once more. “It will still take several hours at our maximum speed, however that will be well within the time remaining before the self-destruct.”

The Colonel nodded and stood up as Sam came over to them. “Okay. Now that you’re free to keep an eye on Daniel, I’m going to have a look in the armoury and see if I can’t locate some weapons we can use. A few Gould grenades and the like should come in handy.”

“Yes, sir.” She felt for Daniel’s pulse. It was thready and weak, and she didn’t like the cool clammy feel of his skin. “Help me get him down to the floor before you go. I don’t think enough blood is getting to his brain.”

“Oh, God. I should have thought of that.”

Sam bit back an inappropriate ‘Ya think?’ and helped her CO lower Daniel to the ground. She tucked her jacket under his head, and placed Colonel O’Neill’s over his chest. The Colonel took a last look at them before heading out the door.

Sam ran the back of her fingers down the unmarked side of Daniel’s face. “Hang in there, Daniel, please. We’ll be home soon.” She continued to talk to him, reminding him how strong he was, how important he was to the team, how important he was to her. She asked him repeatedly to wake up, but he wouldn’t. Damned, stubborn, bull-headed, blue-eyed archaeol—

You care for him very much.

Sam’s shoulders tensed at the foreign touch of M’Ron in her mind. Hearing words without her ears being involved was disconcerting, to say the least. She swallowed her discomfort and responded as best she could in kind. Yes. He’s my friend.

She could somehow feel the alien smile, though she wasn’t looking at him. Not that he could necessarily smile in the way she was used to. More than that, I think. You love him.

Sam hesitated, and then laughed at herself for it. This being could read her mind. There was no point in trying to hide. Yes, I do. I’d do anything for him.

As would we. This time Sam did look up. M’Ron stared at her with his shining black eyes. Jalaena still lay on the floor, though she seemed to stir in discomfort.

Why would you help him? Why do you care for him? Sam’s own questions confused her. How many others instantly liked Daniel, trusted him? Why did this one occasion trigger jealousy? Was it because she’d suddenly let her feelings for him come to the fore? She’d studiously ignored them for months, but somehow, on this mission, she hadn’t been able to stop herself from touching him, flirting with him. Ridiculous, considering his injuries and pain.

He reminds us of another.

Could you be a bit more vague? Sam regretted her callous response when a violent shudder ran through Jalaena.

M’Ron’s head instantly turned to his bondmate, and his almost panicked voice echoed in Sam’s head. No! I cannot contain another—

Suddenly, Sam was no longer on the bridge of Khnum’s Ha’tak. She tried to look around to determine where she was, but her body wouldn’t obey her commands. She could see that whatever chamber she was in was heavily damaged, but she couldn’t turn her head to see the extent or the cause. Instead, her eyes remained focused on the other figure in the room.

Daniel knelt on the floor, angled away from her, cradling a tiny body. Sam’s view shifted, and she looked down to discover that she was not herself. Her hands, her skin, her clothing were not her own. M’Ron was sitting in the curve of her elbow, and Sam’s other hand rested on her thelaya’s head. Small comfort there, though Sam didn’t know what comfort she needed. The viewpoint turned back to the man on the floor, and Sam realized she had no control over what she now knew to be Jalaena’s body. This was a memory; Sam was just along for the ride.

Daniel was holding L’Tal, the thelaya of Tsenalt. The unfamiliar names floated into her mind. Sam’s vision blurred, and she blinked back Jalaena’s tears. L’Tal’s eyes were dark and wide, staring sightlessly at the ceiling high above. Daniel’s breathing was harsh and ragged, betraying the shock of a Severing. Even as she wondered what a Severing was, the answer came to her: the breaking of the bond between one of Jalaena’s people and their thelaya.

Sam could feel her own confusion and curiosity, and at the same time, she could feel the crystal clear anguish that Jalaena felt at the scene before her. The duality reminded her for a moment of what it felt like to be blended with Jolinar, and the memory frightened her. But then Jalaena’s body was moving, kneeling beside Daniel, gathering him up in her arms, hearing him break and sob uncontrollably. M’Ron moved to perch on Daniel’s shoulder, lending what support he could. But only L’Tal could end this pain, and she was dead. Jalaena, with Sam watching through her, held Daniel tightly as he cried, failing to find words to soothe what could not be made right. The waves of his pain echoed through her mind.

After what seemed an eternity, Daniel’s sobs began to lessen. He raised puffy eyes to meet her own, and Sam got her first good look at his face. It was not Daniel at all, but a man who was eerily similar. His jaw was less square, his lips thinner, his hair darker, and his eyes... Tsenalt’s eyes were a pale lilac, the outer rim of the irises deepening to true purple. Sam was amazed at the intensity of those eyes and knew exactly why Jalaena had been so drawn to Daniel. Apart from their colour, Tsenalt’s eyes were Daniel’s. The agony in them was undeniable, and that was like a physical blow to both Sam and the woman whose body she was living this memory through.

Time passed. The scene changed, and now Sam was in a different room, sitting on the edge of a bed, leaning over Tsenalt’s suffering form. Tremors racked his body, and sweat beaded along the familiar creases of his brow. M’Ron held his head, trying to help him, but it wasn’t enough. It could never be enough. The pain radiated from him, and Sam could sense that Jalaena could have blocked some of it, could have sheltered herself, but did not. Would not.

Tsenalt’s eyes snapped open. Jal?

I’m here, my love. Her hand reached out and cupped his cheek. The pain increased exponentially at the contact. Sam screamed for her to pull away, but Jalaena did not. Tsenalt’s eyes met theirs, and Sam could see that his pain was lessened by their touch. She ceased her protest. Jalaena wasn’t sharing his pain, she was taking it. Sam would do no less for someone she loved. For Daniel, if she could.

Jal, please. M’Ron can’t hold it any more. He’s exhausted. I’m exhausted. You must end it.

The body Sam was in drew a shuddering breath. I know. I just—

It’s not your fault.

It is. If I’d helped L’Tal first—

M’Ron would be dead, and I’d be stealing your pain, trying to put off the inevitable. Please. Don’t let me hurt you any longer. Those purple eyes were so deep with anguish. His mind was betraying him, torturing him, yet his concern was only for her. The eyes Sam looked through welled with tears, and she shared the emotion. This was unbearable.

Jalaena didn’t say anything. Not out loud, and not in the telepathic ‘speech’ they shared. She brought her other hand up to his face, caressed it gently, and kissed him. Her hands were trembling, and M’Ron placed his small paws on top. Sam could feel his sorrow too, yet he also projected a strength that Jalaena leaned on. She would be able to do this because of him, and because Tsenalt needed her to do it.

Tell Chendra and M’Tal that I love them. The meaning of the name floated to Sam. Chendra M’Tal. Their daughter. The daughter he would never see again.

They know, Tsenalt. Of course they know. Jalaena took another ragged breath. Are you ready, my love?

He gave a tight nod and brought down his remaining mental barriers, baring himself for what was to come. The pain in Sam’s, no, in Jalaena’s head increased again as they slipped into his mind.

Long moments passed before Jalaena and M’Ron, with Sam watching, found the place they were looking for, the core of what made Tsenalt what he was. It was a place Jalaena had been many times before, most often in passion. It was a joyful place, used to share the ecstasy of lovemaking as only telepaths could, used to share their very beings. This time it would be different. Jalaena and M’Ron hesitated, unable to force themselves to take that last step, gazing instead into Tsenalt’s beautiful purple eyes. Sam saw an encompassing love in his eyes and could not help but let it affect her, though she did not know this man. She saw pity in them too, and forgiveness, and ultimately, gratitude. Then Jalaena and M’Ron snapped the core, disintegrated it in an instant, and the life in those eyes slid away, gone, even before his eyelids slid shut.

The pain disappeared in that instant, only to be replaced by a terrible ache, an emptiness that was far worse than the pain had been. The bond between Jalaena and Tsenalt was broken. The body Sam was in wailed in agony and curled around the corpse of her lover, trying to pull him as close as possible. She could feel a frantic query at the edge of her mind and knew that Chendra, wherever she was, had felt her father die. But Jalaena could not comfort her now, nor be comforted by her. There would be time for that later. For now, she could only grieve and try to swallow the unbearable loneliness.

“Major Carter? Are you well?”

Sam felt a firm hand grasp her upper arm. She turned her face away from the chest it was buried in and looked through her tears into Teal’c’s concerned face. “He’s dead, Teal’c,” she sobbed. “He’s dead.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Teal’c’s jaw flexed and he reached a hand over Sam to the still man’s neck. He felt for a moment then closed his eyes, his relief obvious to her. “He lives, Major Carter.”

Sam stared at him, then turned back to Tsenalt. No. Turned back to Daniel. She shook her head to clear it and looked again. Still Daniel. Now that she was concentrating on him, she could see the pulse in his throat, feel it under the hand she had on his chest. Oh, thank God. She rested her head on his shoulder for a minute, bringing her breathing back under control. Daniel was alive.

Sam took a deep breath and disentangled herself from Daniel’s unconscious form. It seemed she’d emulated Jalaena and tried to pull him as close as she could, hugging him to her and wrapping her leg over his. Sam sat up and turned her attention to Jalaena. The alien woman was trembling from head to toe. And no wonder. Sam squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the memory. If Sam couldn’t stand to think about it, what must it be like for the one who’d experienced it, who had to live with a loss like that? Who’d had to kill her mate in a more intimate way than Sam had ever before imagined.

Jalaena? she tried. M’Ron?

There was no response, though Sam got a sense that at least M’Ron could ‘hear’ her. He was probably busy trying to get Jalaena’s mind back under control. Sam had the distinct impression that she wasn’t supposed to have been a part of that heart-rending trip down memory lane. In fact, she didn’t think the trip was supposed to have happened at all.

Oh, God. Was that why she’d suddenly been unable to prevent herself from flirting with Daniel? Was this alien’s yearning for her lost mate affecting her feelings for him? She knew those feelings were hers; she’d had them long before this encounter began. But perhaps they were being amplified somehow. Made to seem more...urgent.

“Are you well, Major Carter?”

Sam started. “Sorry, Teal’c. I’d forgotten about you.” She glanced down at Daniel again, reassuring herself that he was, in fact, still alive. She set aside her concerns about the source of her feelings and stood up. “I’m fine. What’s going on?”

“We are approaching the mining planet.” He looked at her strangely, well, strangely for Teal’c. “I did not see what occurred. You were speaking to Daniel Jackson. Your conversation seemed private, and I did not wish to intrude. You then appeared to be in some distress, but did not respond to my efforts to assist you. And you then announced that Daniel Jackson was deceased.”

“I’m sorry, Teal’c. Jalaena’s memories were leaking into me, and I got confused between what was past and what was now. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”

The Jaffa inclined his head into a nod that Sam knew meant forgiveness, and she smiled in relief. “How long before we get there?”

“Not long, less than half an hour.”

“Hey! Looky what I found!” The Colonel was back, and to Sam’s astonishment and relief he had one of their packs on his back. And three P-90s in his arms.

“You found our gear, sir?”

“That I did. Just ours though. Tried to bring everything that might be useful. Didn’t see your stuff, Teal’c. And nothing that looked like it might have been Jalaena’s.”

The Colonel set the guns down on the floor and dragged his pack off. He dug through it for a minute before pulling out the med kit, handing it to Sam.

After searching its contents, Sam groaned, frustrated. It held nothing that could possibly help Daniel. He was bleeding internally and already unconscious. Bandages wouldn’t help and painkillers at this point would not be a good idea. He needed the infirmary.

“We’ll get him home, Carter.”

Sam looked up to see Colonel O’Neill watching her. He rummaged through his pack again before producing a GDO. “Here,” he said, handing it to her. “You’re going to be assigned gate dialling duty in lieu of our regularly scheduled programmer.”

“This is great, sir,” she said, attaching the GDO to her wrist. “Now we can go straight to Earth.”

“Yeah, I was hoping to skip the stopover and get a direct flight to infirmary-land.” The Colonel searched through the pack once more and brought out four power bars. “Here, I don’t want anyone fainting from hunger on the trip out.”

“Jaffa do not faint, O’Neill.”

“Neither do colonels,” her C.O. put up his hands in mute apology as Sam shot him a look, “or majors, for that matter. Just eat the damn thing, Teal’c.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack ate the last of his extra third of a power bar. He hated these things. Hated even more that he’d just split what should have been Daniel’s with a ravenous Carter and Teal’c. But Daniel was beyond their ability to wake up, and the aliens hadn’t responded to offers of food.

“We should depart, O’Neill. We must not allow them time to prepare for an attack.” Teal’c picked up a zat and readied it.

“Can’t we cloak this thing?” Jack asked.

“This ship does not have that capability. When we emerge from hyperspace they will detect us and attempt contact.”

“Right. Let’s get going then.” Jack picked up his gear, checking his P-90 and grabbing a zat for good measure. He watched Carter do the same. Then they split the Goa’uld shock grenades between them. “Not taking the P-90, T?”

“I will not. I will have greater dexterity with the zat’nik’tel while carrying Daniel Jackson.” Jack nodded once. That made sense.

“Sir?” Carter asked. “What about Jalaena? How will we get her out?”

That will not be a problem, said a female voice in Jack’s head.

Jack turned to where the aliens had been lying and was surprised to see Jalaena on her feet, M’Ron perched on her shoulder. Carter looked at them as well. M’Ron had assured them that Jalaena would be able to walk by the time their plan was needed, but Jack hadn’t fully believed it. Nice to be proven wrong. “Are you okay? Good to go?”

I’m fine.

Jack looked at her for a long moment. Yeah, sure. She was fine. That was why her eyes seemed to look right through him, her hands were trembling, and she was wavering on her feet. Clearly, she’d spent too much time messing around in Daniel’s head and had taken his definition of the word ‘fine’ to heart. “M’Ron? Are you ‘fine’ too?”

We are capable of accompanying you without needing to be carried. We are not fine, but we are functional. There was a pause. Marginally.

Jack nodded. That was more like it. He certainly knew which of this strange pair he liked better. The honest one, not the one channelling his archaeologist.

Jack turned and watched as Teal’c gently hoisted said archaeologist over his shoulder. Jack winced. No matter how gentle Teal’c was, this was not going to be good for Daniel. Jack didn’t imagine that a fireman’s carry would do anything less than drive Daniel’s broken ribs directly into whatever innards weren’t already damaged beyond recognition. Good thing the medical staff already hated him for repeatedly bringing home a broken Daniel. It couldn’t get much worse.

They made their way down to the ring room. Jack stepped into the ring and prepared one of the flash grenades. They all had several seconds to stare at each other while they waited for the ship to exit hyperspace. Teal’c looked determined and didn’t show any strain at having a six-foot tall man draped over his shoulder, somehow even managing to check Daniel’s pulse and breathing. Jalaena appeared spacey and weak but looked like she’d stay upright. Hard to tell, since he’d never seen her look well. Carter was fingering the safety on her weapon, but her face was pale. She was looking at something at Teal’c’s feet. Jack followed her gaze. Blood. Daniel was dripping blood, probably from his mouth or nose. Son of a—

The Ha’tak dropped out of hyperspace, and Jack didn’t have any more time to think. He bent down, activated the grenade, stepped clear and Carter hit the controls for the rings. When the cycle finished, all four functional people stepped in back to back, weapons readied. Carter hit the remote and down they went.

They reappeared within a roughly cut cavern. Jack immediately fought the urge to cough as the foul smelling atmosphere reached his lungs. No time to worry about lung cancer at the moment.

There were several unconscious Jaffa around them. Jack could hear others approaching. He motioned Carter forward. According to the ship’s computer, there was a long corridor leading to the Stargate, with only four branches running in between. Hopefully, they could be through most of it before the Jaffa even knew there were intruders.

Carter scouted the first corner and peeked around it. She motioned them forward. Jalaena stepped to her, as did Teal’c, followed by Jack.

Jack checked the cross-corridor and then moved on to the next. The sound of marching Jaffa grew louder. There. Six of the bastards coming their way. Time for another Goa’uld bocce ball.

Jack activated the shock grenade and rolled it down the corridor. He took cover behind the corner and waited. One of the Jaffa yelled a warning, but it was too late. The grenade went off, and the sound of falling bodies could be heard. Jack took a look around the corner as Carter came up behind him.

Crap! Instead of six fallen Jaffa, there were four. And two very angry standing Jaffa. With readied staff weapons. The first of which blasted a streak into the wall not three inches from Jack’s face. “Here we go!”

To be continued...

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sam wasn’t sure how long they’d been fighting. It felt like hours, but she knew it was probably only a few minutes. She and the Colonel had taken out the first pair of Jaffa quickly enough, before even Teal’c could join them. They’d then been bogged down at the next corner, but another grenade had cleared that out quickly enough. She could hear Jaffa shouting, no doubt calling for reinforcements.

Then she saw it. The gate, just ahead. Only one more corridor to pass and they’d be home free. She slammed another clip into her P-90 as Teal’c fired his zat repeatedly, the Colonel protecting him. That was something you didn’t see every day. Teal’c needing extra protection. But then again, it wasn’t really Teal’c they were protecting, was it?

“Go, Carter!” Colonel O’Neill shouted, and Sam made a break for the gate. She shot two Jaffa on her way, and ducked behind the DHD as the Colonel and Teal’c took out the others threatening her.

Sam punched in the coordinates as quickly as she could, cursing as she struggled to locate the point of origin. Daniel could have done this faster. There. That was it. The wormhole opened with its characteristic and incredibly welcome noise. She punched the IDC into her remote.

“We’re coming in hot! We need a med team standing by!” she shouted into her radio.

The response to her call fell on deaf ears as, too late, Sam saw the Jaffa. They came from the left, from a side corridor she didn’t remember seeing on the schematics on the ship. Their staff weapons were charged and she could see them shouting, see their fingers tightening on the trigger. She brought her weapon around, tried to bring it to bear, but she was out of time, despite it having seemingly slowed to a crawl. She tensed, waiting for the searing blasts to kill her, wondering if she’d have time to scream before she died.

Then, suddenly, the Jaffa were the ones screaming. Their weapons clattered to the floor, and they fell to their knees, clasping their heads. Sam felt her mouth drop open, and she had to force her trigger finger to relax. What the hell? She looked over her shoulder to where the others were.

Jalaena was standing very still, her head tilted slightly to one side, her eyes on the Jaffa. M’Ron was also staring at them. Sam shuddered. She’d felt what that mind could do. It was more than a little disturbing that the telepath could wield that power intentionally, but Sam wasn’t about to argue the result.

Time sped up again, and she glanced down at her wrist. The GDO was flashing a blessed green. “That’s it, sir! We’re good to go!”

The Colonel nodded and continued firing. “Go, Teal’c! We’ll cover you!”

Sam joined him in protecting Teal’c as the Jaffa ran through the event horizon. The Colonel motioned her to go next, and she grabbed Jalaena and pulled her through.

Sam stepped onto the ramp and found herself once again at the SGC. Jalaena swayed slightly beside her, and Sam steadied her with a hand. The telepath nodded her thanks.

Teal’c was farther down the ramp. The med team was just arriving, and he lowered Daniel onto the gurney. Good. Now Daniel would get the care he actually needed. He’d be fine. He’d recover, and then they could have a long talk about everything once Jalaena was out of the picture. No more aliens messing with their emotions.

Sam sighed and started helping Jalaena down the ramp as Colonel O’Neill appeared behind them. The iris closed with a pleasant scrape. They were home.

“No pulse!” Brightman called. She hopped up on the gurney, kneeling over Daniel. “Bag him! Starting compressions. Go! Go! Go!” The med team hastily ran through the door of the gate room and headed for the elevator, leaving SG-1 in their wake.

What? Sam dropped Jalaena’s arm and pushed blindly past the SFs waiting at the bottom of the ramp to take her weapon. She didn’t even take notice of General Hammond’s questioning expression. No. This was not happening. Daniel was still okay. He was unconscious. He’d lost a lot of blood. But he was going to be fine. He had to be fine. He hadn’t survived the entire time stuck on that damned ship only to die in the halls of the SGC!

Sam made it out into the hallway in time to see the gurney disappear behind closing elevator doors. The med team was still giving CPR. Oh, God. How long? How long ago had Daniel’s heart stopped? Teal’c had picked him up on the bridge of the Ha’tak. That was what -- she glanced at her watch -- fifteen minutes ago? Surely it hadn’t been that long? No. She’d seen Teal’c check him in the ring room before they left the ship. He’d have stopped them if Daniel wasn’t breathing. So what did that make it? Maybe seven minutes, tops?

Too bad the magic number was between four and six.

“Carter?”

Sam shook her head and realized with a start that she’d reached the elevator bay and was standing with her hand on the door, stupidly staring at it. She turned and watched Colonel O’Neill hit the call button. Teal’c was guiding an exhausted looking Jalaena, who had two armed SFs watching her every move.

“I’m fine, sir.”

“No, you’re not. And neither am I.” The elevator arrived and the six of them, seven if you counted M’Ron, got in. Teal’c hit the button for Level 21. Sam studiously ignored the blood that had dripped all down Teal’c’s back and right leg.

They arrived at the infirmary and were whisked away individually by nurses, though not before Sam saw the controlled chaos that surrounded Daniel in the intensive care unit. Both Brightman and Carmichael were there. Sam heard someone yell “Clear!” just before the door closed, leaving her unable to see what was going on.

“Sorry, Major. You can check on him just as soon as they have him stabilized. In the meantime, let’s just look you over.”

Sam wasn’t convinced by the nurse’s optimistic choice of words. Even if she didn’t know how bad it was, the fact that she didn’t have a physician checking her over would have told her quickly enough what was going on. The doctors were all busy, and she doubted it was because Siler had blown himself across another room.

Sam barely paid attention to her post-mission exam. She answered the usual questions, and figured she must have gotten them right since they weren’t repeated. Major Samantha Carter. December 29, 1968. Stargate Command. Soon to be Henry Hayes.

After insisting on treating and bandaging every little scrape that Sam had acquired in the last two days, the nurse finally released her. Sam peeked into the ICU and stopped dead. Where was Daniel? He hadn’t—? They didn’t—? Surely they’d have given SG-1 the chance to say goodbye before taking him to the morgue?

Sam jumped as a hand came down on her shoulder. “Easy, Carter.”

She turned and stared up at Colonel O’Neill. His lips tightened as he saw her expression. “They got his heart going again. They’ve taken him into surgery. His injuries are too severe for them to wait until he’s more stable.”

“He’s not—?”

“No. He’s still with us.” He didn’t say it, but Sam could hear the silent ‘For now.’

The Colonel led her to the chairs nearest the surgical bay. He watched her for a few minutes. “Want to tell me what that was on board the ship?”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “Sir?”

“You and Daniel. Is there something going on I should know about?”

God, if only there was. “No, sir. Not really. I care for Daniel, more than I’ve ever allowed myself to admit. But it’s one-sided. You don’t have to worry about it affecting the team, sir. It won’t happen again. I would never even have done what I did if Jalaena’s feelings for him hadn’t influenced me.”

Colonel O’Neill raised his eyebrows. “What I saw wasn’t one-sided, Carter. From where I was sitting, Daniel seemed pretty interested in your actions.”

“Only because Jalaena affected him too. His emotions were altered. He doesn’t feel that way about me.”

“And what if he does?”

“He doesn’t. He couldn’t possibly love me the way that I—” She broke off. That was definitely not what she meant to say. She took a deep breath and tried again. “It doesn’t matter, sir. All that matters right now is that he gets better. I can’t bother him with my feelings, not when he’s fighting for his life.” Damn it. Now she was crying.

To her surprise, the Colonel didn’t say anything more. He just put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest. She broke down, and he rubbed small circles on her back, letting her weep into his shoulder. It was exactly what she needed, and that made her cry even harder.

Eventually, the tears stopped, and she broke their embrace, embarrassed, but grateful. The Colonel just smiled reassuringly and let her recover. Teal’c joined them a few minutes later, wearing a fresh uniform. Silently, he sat down and joined their vigil.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack’s racing thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a frustrated nurse from one of the nearby exam rooms. “Please, ma’am. I just need to take a bit of blood and run some tests. The animal will be returned to you after I’m finished. I can’t help you if you won’t let me.”

There was a brief pause, then a clatter. And then a yelp. Jack got up to investigate, Teal’c followed. Even Carter seemed to break herself out of her stupor to join them.

They stopped abruptly at the door to the exam room. The nurse was backed up against the wall, as far as possible from Jalaena, who was sitting on the examination table, clutching M’Ron to her. Scattered on the floor were several empty vials, a needle and a few cotton swabs.

The nurse turned to Jack. “That thing tried to bite me, and she spoke. In my head. Without speaking!”

Ah jeez. Clearly someone had been hiring more medical staff without telling them everything they’d need to know before they started working here. Jack felt another pang of longing for Janet Fraiser.

“Were you attempting to separate them?” Teal’c asked.

The nurse raised her chin. “Of course. She can’t keep a pet in a hospital. It’s unsanitary.”

Jack couldn’t suppress a snort. He stepped into the room. “You do know that we work with aliens, don’t you, Lieutenant...” his eyes dropped to her badge, “Monroe?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Well, working with aliens means you have to set aside some of your assumptions. Aliens have different standards, different societies, and different levels of intelligence from what we’re used to on Earth. The ‘pet’ you are referring to is smarter than it looks and is one of your patients.”

The nurse looked from Jack to M’Ron and back again. “But it tried to bite me!”

“You tried to separate him from Jalaena, which seems to be quite painful and could kill us all. They live in symmetry.”

“Symbiosis, sir,” Carter said quietly.

“Whatever. You have to look at the situation from their viewpoint.” The Colonel frowned, and then waved the oblivious nurse away. She hesitated only a moment before leaving the room.

Carter smiled slightly. “Since when do you try to see things from the alien viewpoint, sir?”

“Since I started hanging around Daniel a little too much.”

The smile disappeared. She nodded once, and then turned and headed back to the seats outside of surgery. Teal’c raised an eyebrow at Jack before following her.

Thank you for your help, Jack.

Jack winced at the contact and familiar form of address but didn’t comment. He couldn’t really object. The only things this woman knew of him, she’d pulled from Daniel’s mind. Scary thought. “You’re welcome. How are you?”

I am improving. I am sorry we frightened the woman. She was not responsive to my attempts at communication.

“Yeah, about that. Could you try the whole speaking thing? I’m not really all that thrilled about you barging into my head, either.”

I cannot unless one of you permits me to learn your language from you. I can make myself understood through your minds. Without your language, I cannot do the same through your ears.

“You seem to understand me just fine.”

I am choosing not to block your intended meaning and emotions, so that I can understand. If we had another way to communicate, I would block everything, as I did with Daniel, though at the time I also did so to protect him.

Great. Jack really wished he’d kept that ability to speak Ancient. Not that he wasn’t glad to have all that stuff out of his head. No way was that ever happening again. Thor could keep it.

He watched Jalaena for a few minutes as she calmed M’Ron down, wondering what else she’d learned from Daniel.

Is there something I can help you with?

“You’ve been in Daniel’s head. Do you know how he feels about Carter?”

Jalaena froze and stared at him, those disconcerting eyes looking right through him. I do.

“You need to tell her.”

She shook her head. It is not my place. Daniel’s feelings on invading his thoughts and privacy were clear. Before M’Ron was returned to me, I could not control what he considered to be a violation. I will not offend him further by sharing what I learned.

“You have to. Carter’s somehow got it into her head that your presence affected her, made her act on feelings she would normally consider inappropriate. She thinks Daniel only responded to her because he was also being affected by you.”

She is probably right. My inability to control my feelings for what Daniel represents to me might have pushed her to act.

“But would it have affected Daniel?

Unlikely. She smiled. He is not in love with himself.

Jack snorted. “You’ve never seen him right after he cracks a new language.”

Jalaena raised an eyebrow.

“Never mind. The point is, Carter needs to know that he loves her or she’ll shut down exactly when he needs her the most. Their feelings for each other can get them through this. Hell, it could mean the difference between Daniel living and dying. You’ve seen how stubborn he is.” Jack frowned and looked from Jalaena to M’Ron. “Well, you have, anyway. If Daniel decides he wants to live for something, it will happen.”

Jalaena looked away from him and stared at the wall. I cannot speak to her like this. I do not wish her to believe I am still affecting her mind. It must be verbal.

Jack hesitated only a moment then tapped his temple with a finger. “If I let you muck around in here and grab some English, will you tell her?”

I will not barter Daniel’s secrets for your language.

“I’m not asking you to barter; I’m giving you the means to help keep him alive.”

The telepath looked back at him, her purple eyes meeting his. You would do this for him? Open yourself up in a way that obviously terrifies you?

Damn. He’d hoped the terror part wasn’t that obvious. Should have known better. He shrugged. “He’s my friend.”

Jalaena nodded. Yes, he is. She grasped his wrist and pulled him down to sit next to her on the exam table. Relax, Jack. This won’t hurt. Much. He felt himself pale, and she smiled. I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. You won’t feel it at all.

Oh, yeah. She’d spent way too much time in Daniel’s head.

“Carter? Excuse me. Samantha? May I join you?”

Sam looked up and saw Jalaena standing next to the row of chairs. M’Ron sat comfortably in the crook of her arm. Sam nodded and rested her head back into her hands, far too tired to argue. She’d heard General Hammond page the Colonel to his office a couple of minutes ago. Teal’c had gone to get them something to eat while Daniel was in surgery, since Sam couldn’t bring herself to leave.

“Is there any news of Daniel?”

“Not yet. It’s too soon to tell.”

They sat in silence for a moment, before Jalaena said, “He loves you very much, Samantha. He’s wanted you for some time now.”

Sam brought her head back up. That wasn’t possible. “No, you’re wrong. He’s never given any indication of that. He cares for me, but only as a friend.”

Jalaena shook her head. “He does love you as a friend, but he wants much more.”

“You can’t know that.”

“Of course I can. I’ve shared his thoughts. As I did yours.” She looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry. I did not wish to cause you pain. Either of you.”

Sam nodded, thinking. Maybe Jalaena did know how Daniel felt. She and M’Ron had certainly known how Sam felt about him. She hesitated for a long moment. “If you don’t mind telling me, what happened to L’Tal?”

Jalaena sighed, and M’Ron buried his head in her shoulder. She stroked his head absently. “There was an accident. We were living on a relatively primitive planet at the time.” She looked at their surroundings and winced slightly. “Perhaps of about your level of technology. Sorry.”

Sam chuckled weakly. “It’s all right. We’ve been called worse.”

“The power unit of our home malfunctioned. Tsenalt was away. He’d gone into town to trade. There was an explosion. I was uninjured, but M’Ron and L’Tal were trapped under the rubble.

“I don’t understand. Why wasn’t L’Tal with Tsenalt?”

“We do not need to be in contact with our thelaya at all times. Several hours apart is not an issue. In fact, such separations are sometimes welcomed.”

“Why?”

Jalaena smiled. “L’Tal and M’Ron cared for one another greatly, as much as I loved Tsenalt. They sometimes found it preferable to spend time with each other without our interference. To be what they were before their species and mine first merged.”

Sam frowned in confusion.

Jalaena’s smile widened. “There are advantages to being able to release one’s higher brain functions with one’s lover.”

Ah. Now Sam understood. She felt her cheeks warm. “You and Tsenalt didn’t mind that?”

“On the contrary, we very much enjoyed it. Even when we are not in direct contact, we are still bonded to our thelaya. Certain...emotions come through.”

Sam cleared her throat and decided to get back to the original topic. “So, what happened?”

The smile vanished. “I managed to dig my way into the area where M’Ron and L’Tal were trapped. The damaged unit was producing poisoned gases. Both thelaya were being overcome. I could only fit an arm into the room they were in and pull one out at a time. My instincts kicked in, and I grabbed what was most familiar to me first. My M’Ron. I reached back for L’Tal almost immediately, but that time was the difference between a survivable and a lethal dose. She lived just long enough for Tsenalt to return home, and she died in his arms. And then he died in mine.”

Sam watched Jalaena as she rocked slightly in her chair, M’Ron cooing softly to her, no doubt soothing her mentally as well. “I’m so sorry, Jalaena.”

“I failed him. He would have rescued M’Ron first, for me. I know he would have.”

Sam gave her a few minutes to compose herself. Finally, her curiosity and desire for a distraction from her worry about Daniel’s current state won out. “Tell me about Tsenalt. Was he really just like Daniel?”

Jalaena smiled sadly. “He was much like him. He had a certain quality that made others respond to him. He was just as stubborn and as selfless.

“But he was different as well,” she continued. “He was less modest than Daniel, much more confident in his strengths and attractiveness. Daniel loves languages and the study of that which is old. Of the pair of us, I was always more of a linguist than Tsenalt. He avoided language entirely whenever possible. And he was in love with all that was new. New experiences, new technologies, new places...” Her voice drifted away, as if caught up in her memories.

“This must be very hard for you.”

“It is. Looking at Daniel is painful.” Jalaena sighed. “But not looking at him is painful as well. He is a chance to reconnect with what I lost.”

Sam nodded, unsure of what to say.

Jalaena turned and put a hand on her arm. “Don’t be foolish enough to lose your connection to him before it has even begun.” She squeezed Sam’s arm briefly before she stood and walked away.

Sam watched her go, mentally weighing her words.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dr. Brightman came out of surgery, absolutely exhausted. She almost blindly stripped out of her soiled scrubs, and put her uniform back on, grateful that her lab coat would hide the creases left from her frantic change earlier.

She’d only been with the SGC for a few days, and she was already glad the post wouldn’t be permanent. Too many emergencies happened here. She loved what she did, loved being able to save lives. But she also loved the ability to sleep. A posting as the interim Chief Medical Officer to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex had seemed like such a good idea at the time, despite the fact that far more was going on down here than deep space radar telemetry. But this was beyond what she’d signed on for.

She left the change room next to post-op and found the remaining members of SG-1 sitting in the hallway. Nuts. She owed Lieutenant Callahan ten bucks. She should have known that cynical old bat wouldn’t have suggested such a bet unless she was certain. Surely they hadn’t all been sitting out here for three hours straight?

Colonel O’Neill straightened up immediately when he saw her, gently shaking the sleeping Major beside him before standing up. Teal’c, the strange alien warrior she’d heard stories about, also rose to his feet, followed by Major Carter a moment later.

“How is he, Doc?” the Colonel asked.

Time for the show. She’d always hated talking to patients’ families, and from what she’d heard, that’s what these people were. “We believe we’ve stopped the internal hemorrhaging, although we’ll have to observe him closely to see if we missed anything. Given his current condition, it wasn’t possible to be as thorough as we would have liked. Another surgery may be required. The damage to his lung was not severe, thankfully, and Dr. Bennett believes he’s managed to save Dr. Jackson’s spleen as well. We’ve got him on broad-spectrum antibiotics, as the risk of pneumonia and other infections is quite high.”

The Colonel and the Jaffa were quiet, apparently trying to digest this information. But the Major spoke up. “What about his...what about his brain? Was it damaged?”

This was the most painful part. And if the gushing of her new nursing staff was any indication, brain damage for this man would be far more tragic than average. She’d have to have a talk with them about forming such unprofessional attachments to their patients. “We don’t know yet. We’re running some tests now, but we won’t know for certain until he wakes up.” If he wakes up, she added silently. “He was down a long time.”

Dr. Brightman watched as Major Carter bowed her head and turned into the Jaffa’s suddenly supportive arm. The warrior’s jaw flexed, though he otherwise kept his stoic expression. Still, his arm went around his teammate, comforting her. This was the strangest field unit Brightman had ever seen.

The Colonel watched his teammates console each other, apparently neither surprised nor concerned by their behaviour. “When can we see him?”

“We’ll be moving him into one of the isolation rooms once we’ve completed his tests, at least until the antibiotics have a chance to get into his system. I can only let one of you in at a time. If he—” Dr. Brightman stopped herself. “Once he is moved to the main medical bay you can all visit him together.”

Colonel O’Neill nodded. “Teal’c, you take first shift. Carter and I are going to go shower and change. We’ll be back in fifteen.”

Shifts? They had this down to shifts? Suddenly Dr. Brightman became very aware of exactly how much time she was going to be spending with SG-1. It seemed she owed Callahan another ten dollars.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jalaena entered the Jaffa’s quarters quietly, grateful that her security escort decided to wait outside. She understood the concern of General Hammond, the cautious but apparently kind-hearted leader of this base, yet she still found their presence disconcertingly similar to her escort on Khnum’s ship.

Teal’c rose from his cross-seated position in the candlelit room as she entered. “I am pleased you are well, Jalaena M’Ron.”

She smiled at him. “M’Ron assures me that I am not yet well, though I am feeling considerably better than I was.”

You will be ‘well’ once Chendra and M’Tal help me heal you, M’Ron insisted privately.

Hush, little one. We’ll go when we are finished here.

“What is it you wished to speak to me about?” the Jaffa asked.

“I want to apologize to you for the deaths of the Free Jaffa on board Khnum’s Ha’tak. I have hurt your cause and brought pain and death to those who wished to help me.”

Teal’c cocked his head. “I was unaware of their presence. Were there many?”

She stood up straighter. “Six that I knew of. Perhaps more. They attempted to free me and were exposed as a result.”

Teal’c seemed to study her. “Were you dishonourable in encouraging their assistance?”

No need to ask what that meant. She had dealt with phobic responses to her telepathy before. “No.”

“And it was the forced separation from M’Ron which released the power that killed them?”

“Yes.”

“Then I fail to see a reason for you to apologize. Khnum’s actions caused their rebellion, and his actions also caused their deaths. They died free, and another false god has fallen.” He bowed his head to her. “You have my gratitude.”

Impressive. The Free Jaffa were certainly an interesting breed. “I am honoured. And humbled. Thank you.”

“You are most welcome.”

Now may we go?

Soon, Jalaena promised. She smiled inwardly at M’Ron’s disgruntled snort, and then turned her attention back to Teal’c. “I am curious, Teal’c. Why were you on the planet where Khnum was repairing his ship? You weren’t to meet with the rebel Jaffa?”

“We were not. We were there to study ruins of great interest to the Tau’ri.”

After touching the mind of Jack O’Neill, Jalaena knew exactly how much the Tau’ri were interested in ruins. “You mean of great interest to Daniel.”

The Jaffa raised an eyebrow. “Indeed.”

Jalaena smiled. If Daniel lived, the least she could do was try to make some of this up to him. “Tell me of these ruins.”

You will be the death of us yet.

I have never doubted that, little one.

Daniel lay semi-reclined in his infirmary bed, trying to concentrate on the game he was playing. It was difficult to do with Sam’s thumb tracing small circles over the back of his hand. Ah, there. She’d made the error he’d hoped for. He moved his knight. “Check.”

Sam squinted at the board. “How did I miss that?” She wrinkled her nose and moved her besieged king to a safer location.

“Distracted?”

“Hmm? And what would I be distracted by, Dr. Jackson?”

Daniel licked his lips to reply when the large presence of Teal’c arrived. The Jaffa smiled at his teammates. “How are you feeling this morning, Daniel Jackson?”

“I’m okay, Teal’c.” Daniel raised his head and his voice. “I’ll be better once I can get out of here.”

Dr. Brightman looked up from where she was examining Siler three beds down to shoot him a glare before turning back to her patient.

Daniel snorted in disgust and resisted the urge to grasp at his side when the action pained him. “A week, she says. At least another week, possibly longer, before she'll even think about letting me get out of this bed. And she won’t let anyone bring me my laptop.” He rolled his eyes. “Two ribbon sessions, a concussion, several rounds with the mind of a dying telepath, extensive internal haemorrhaging, and coding in the gate room didn’t damage my brain, but apparently taking a peek at the images of SG-18’s latest find will.”

“You were severely injured, Daniel Jackson. Dr. Brightman and the others performed several surgeries to ensure your survival. You would be wise to heed her advice and rest.”

“And we all know how good he is at heeding advice.” Jack walked into the infirmary and immediately winced. “Aw, jeez. You look worse every time I come in here.”

“It really is striking now that it’s beginning to turn green, isn’t it?” Sam smiled as she tilted Daniel’s face toward the light before patting him on his unblemished cheek. “Don’t worry. It’ll be a nice dull yellow-brown by the time you get out of here.” She didn’t respond to the scowl he aimed at her.

Jack smirked. “What’s the matter, Daniel? Rocks won’t wait a week for you? From what I’ve heard, they’ve been there for over 5000 years. What’s another seven days?”

Daniel sighed. “This whole thing started because I wanted to study that obelisk. All four Great Races, Jack. Whatever it said, it said it in all four languages. I could have deciphered Furling script, not to mention Nox. Not only did I not get the chance at the time, but my camera was taken, my notes lost, and the stone itself was destroyed. And now Jalaena has gone off before I could learn more about her people, and I’m not even allowed to work on anything to keep my mind off my disappointment.” His head thumped back into his pillow. “This is so unfair.”

Jack stared at Daniel for a few seconds. “Give it to him, Carter.”

“Uh, weren’t we going to let him rest for a few more days, sir?”

“Give me what?’

“He’s only going to continue to whine and torture the medical staff. Might as well let him vent his energy on something productive.”

“Would that not be in direct violation of Doctor Brightman’s orders?”

“Um, guys?”

“I’m just saying he’s going to have it eventually. Better to get it over with while he’s still tied down in the infirmary. That way he can babble incoherently where only the nurses can hear him.”

“Little unfair, don’t you think, sir? We’re talking about his well-being here.”

“And you have an express desire to see him being well as soon as possible, don’t you, Carter?”

“As do I, O’Neill.”

“Um, hello? Guys?”

“I was inferring a sexual reason for her impatience, Teal’c.”

“Implying, sir.”

“What?”

“You were implying. We were inferring.”

“Damn it! Somebody answer me!”

The three other members of SG-1 turned to Daniel in surprise. Sam had the grace to look chagrined. Teal’c raised an eyebrow.

Jack just smiled. “Jalaena left you a present, Daniel. Carter?”

Sam sighed and dug into her pocket, pulling out several folded sheets of paper. “Here,” she said as she handed them to him. “Please don’t hurt yourself.”

Daniel unfolded the papers carefully, squinting at the handwritten symbols “Well, this is Ancient, obviously. Seems to describe a set of rules for a more primitive culture.” He tilted his head to one side. “This...is this what was on the obelisk?”

Sam smiled. “Look at the second page.”

He did. “This is...this is Furling script!” He ran his fingers down the symbols. “This says the same thing as the Ancient does, doesn’t it? I can decipher it from this!” He looked up at his teammates. “You have to smuggle my laptop in here. And my notes on Ancient lingual shifts. And I’ll need—”

Jack smirked. “Take a breath, Daniel. It gets better.”

“What? How can it possibly get better?”

“Carter?”

Sam pulled a small audio recorder from her other pocket. She smiled at Daniel and pressed play. Jalaena’s voice filtered out, speaking words Daniel couldn’t understand. He stared at the notes in his hand in confusion for a moment, before it dawned on him. “She’s reading this, isn’t she? She’s speaking Furling.” He tried to match the sounds to the symbols in front of him. Failed entirely, but it didn’t matter. He’d be able to figure it out in time. Spoken Furling. Daniel grinned. A solid, honest grin.

“It is good to see you smile, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said.

“Yeah, it is. Though I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of it now, if you know what I mean.” Jack nodded his head at Sam, who had taken Daniel’s hand in hers. She blushed a becoming crimson.

Daniel was just trying to decide how to come to her aid without making the situation worse when the end of Jalaena’s speech drew his attention back to the recording.

There was a pause after the final Furling phrase, and then she said “Amantes sunt amentes, Daniel. Aut vias invenias aut facias.”

Daniel smiled and tightened his grip on Sam’s hand.

Sam looked at him questioningly. “She said your name.”

“I heard it as well. Jalaena M’Ron spoke a different language for the final message, did she not?” Teal’c asked.

“She switched to Ancient. It was advice.”

“And what advice was that, Daniel?” Jack asked. “Hopefully something wise and profound?”

“Well, it is profound. I’m not certain it’s wise, but I’d already planned to follow it anyway.”

“And yet we’re still in suspense.”

Daniel ignored Jack and turned to Sam. “She said ‘Lovers are lunatics. Find a way or make one.’”

Jack shuddered. “And that’s my cue to leave. Coming, Teal’c?”

“Indeed.” The Jaffa nodded a farewell and rose to follow Jack.

“And Carter? He’s still delicate. Try not to break him.”

Jack courteously tugged the privacy curtain around the bed on his way out, leaving the two scientists to blush in peace.

“Well, I guess that answers any questions we might have had on how he was going to take this,” Daniel said.

Sam got out of her chair and settled on the edge of Daniel’s bed. “I guess it does.” She smoothed a hand down his cheek and curled her fingers into his hair, before leaning forward and kissing him tenderly.

Daniel smiled against her lips. “Careful, Sam. I might get the wrong idea.”

“I still think I could manage to fend you off in your current condition.”

“And would you?”

“Hmm?”

“Fend me off?”

Sam nipped at his lower lip, and Daniel felt his head tilt back involuntarily in appreciation. But all too soon, she pulled away. “Tell you what. In a week or two,” she paused and looked him over, “or three, when you can comfortably walk around again without a morphine drip, why don’t you give me a reason to decide whether any fending will be necessary?” She settled back into her chair and watched as Daniel tried to get his breathing back under full control.

Sam pushed the small table holding the chess board back between them. She looked at him pointedly, a smile playing on her lips. “Your move, Daniel.”

END