To Betray A God
by Bil!

Season: One. Takes place during Children of the Gods.

Spoilers: Children of the Gods, Bloodlines.

Summary: Could Teal'c's betrayal of Apophis have run deeper than we realised? Teal'c-slash.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. Dialogue and events taken from Children of the Gods are also not mine.

A/N: Unbetaed. I've never written slash between non-original characters before, mainly because I've never seen any inklings of it in the characters of the shows I write for. And yet, I was suddenly struck by the somewhat bizarre (to my mind, at least) pairing showcased in this fic. I have no idea where the concept came from – when it hit I was writing an essay on the insect digestive system, for crying out loud!

Teal'c watched stone-faced as Ammaneut chose the dark-haired woman for her new host. Though he spared a sympathetic thought for the terrified woman screaming on the platform, he was concentrating on not looking at Apophis. He dared not look, lest he risk seeing something on the Goa'uld's face that he didn't want to see.

So instead he watched as the woman calmed, her body coming under a new control and her eyes flashing gold. Ammaneut had chosen well, Teal'c knew. The host was strong, healthy, and highly attractive: she would make a fine queen. Teal'c almost twitched at the thought and wished the woman was a thousand light-years away, not only for her sake but also for his own.

He knew he shouldn't be jealous of the woman who had shuddered in fear and revulsion as the symbiote burrowed into her skin. He should not be jealous, but he was. She would stand at Apophis's side at all times, his wife, his queen, his acknowledged lover. Whereas Teal'c would forever stand behind Apophis, guarding his lord and master, silent and ready to serve. Unacknowledged.

Of course, it could be no other way. A Goa'uld couldn't love a Jaffa, not one of those subservient creatures bred to serve that they might live. A System Lord couldn't love his First Prime, it was unthinkable; that was why Apophis had Ammaneut. Teal'c knew this and, usually, he accepted it. But sometimes he wished that he could be proud of his feelings, that he could tell the world that a Jaffa and a Goa'uld could love each other.

For Teal'c loved Apophis the way he didn't love Drey'auc, a deep, unyielding love that was strong enough to survive the secrecy which by necessity shrouded their relationship. And, strangely, Apophis loved him too.

It was hard to love where prejudice forbade it, but they managed it. After all, it was only natural that Apophis and his First Prime should spend time alone together and no one ever questioned it. Drey'auc never mentioned late nights or nights when Teal'c never returned home: he was working in service of his god, what was there to question?

It was harder to love where natures collided. Apophis was Goa'uld through and through, with little regard for the feelings, well-being, or even life of anyone except for himself. Teal'c, on the other hand, regarded every life as precious; he would kill for Apophis when ordered to do so, but only with an eye for saving the greater number. It was hard to love a person so completely opposite to himself, but somehow Teal'c did. He didn't understand it, but he did.

"Kill the rest." The words seemed to echo through the dungeon despite the screams of the prisoners who knew that there was no longer any hope for them. Kill the rest, kill the rest, kill, kill, kill...

Teal'c set his jaw, fighting his reaction to yet another order he hated. How could he love someone who so casually sentenced a hundred innocents to death? How?

But he made no protest as Apophis left with his new queen. There was no point in protest.

"We can help these people!" Teal'c turned to the defiant prisoner with surprise. People had begged him, people had pleaded with him – no one had ever faced him as an equal and demanded he offer respect. There was a fire in this man, a bright flame that would burn its enemies even as it died. "Help us. Please."

Teal'c believed the man could do it, recognised the warrior's soul in the body of a slave, knew that the man would do it. And Teal'c knew he wouldn't do it alone. Apophis... would not understand. It was, after all, their subject of greatest discord: human rights. Apophis would never understand Teal'c's desire to see them safe.

But just because Teal'c loved Apophis didn't make him blind to when Apophis was wrong. And Apophis was wrong. Teal'c would help these people, these bright, shining people led by a man burning with a conviction he envied. He would help them and when Apophis killed him for his betrayal the only things he would regret would be the pain he had given his lover and the wound he was giving his son.

Apophis stared at the mess that had once been a prison cell, at the Jaffa sprawled on the ground, and his first thought was for Teal'c. Where was Teal'c?

The Jaffa nearest him stirred and Apophis stood over him. "Jaffa, kree! Where is Teal'c?"

The Jaffa's eyes didn't open as he spoke, his face creased with pain, but Apophis had no compassion for such a weak, worthless being. "My Lord, Teal'c... he has betrayed us. He... helped the pris—the prisoners escape."

Apophis froze, staring blankly at the hole in the wall. Teal'c? Betrayer? Impossible! And yet... Hurriedly he locked the emotions away, not allowing them to surface on his face, keeping them even from the pathetic mind that was his host's.

So, Teal'c had finally chosen. They had had arguments about this for years, sometimes playful, sometimes serious, sometimes fights; neither of them willing to back down. And now Teal'c had chosen to side with his precious humans.

Hurt and pain crystallised into anger, and fierce, hot rage thundered through him. Teal'c would pay for this.

"Jaffa, kree!"

He would hunt Teal'c down if he had to go to the ends of the universe to do it. He would hurt Teal'c until the man begged for forgiveness, until the former First Prime had felt all the anguish he had inflicted upon Apophis. All that and more.

The Goa'uld do not love lightly and their love is not to be thrown away.

Apophis would have revenge on Teal'c, the betrayer. And he would have revenge on the humans, the ones who had caused him so much pain, the ones who stole Teal'c from him.

He would have revenge on them all.

Fin