Title: Their Seeds Produced Plants
Author: Ev vy
A/N: Info on plants from here: http:carnivorousplant.info/id15.htm. Many thanks to Kres for beta
Their Seeds Produced Plants
Colonel O'Neill stumbled out of the bushes, brandishing his handgun and shouting something intelligible. He didn't have his backpack, nor his sidearm, and all three remaining members of SG-1 were immediately alert.
The Colonel was moving away from them, and Daniel didn't wait for anyone's reaction but darted after him.
"Daniel" Sam shouted. "Wait"
But Daniel didn't look back. Sam felt Teal'c's eyes on her and she returned the gaze, nodding. They both followed Daniel, quickening their pace with each step.
The Colonel looked behind him and started to run, but Daniel was gaining on him and Sam heard him shouting the Colonel's name. She saw him reach out and grab Colonel O'Neill by his arm. O'Neill twisted his arm away, and stopping he turned to face Daniel.
She couldn't hear the words Daniel used, she could only see the placating gestures of his hands, trying to reach out to Colonel O'Neill, but with every Daniel's step forward, O'Neill was moving one step away. From a few meters away Sam could see O'Neill's facial expression, hostile and impenetrable, Daniel's words bouncing off.
"Jack, give me the gun, please." There was fear in Daniel's voice. Not fear for the Colonel, but fear of the Colonel, and Sam had a nasty feeling in her gut.
"Sir"
"O'Neill"
"No! Daniel, no!"
Jack sat at home, drank beer, ate pizza, watched TV. There was nothing else to do.
At least he was away from the mountain, where Carter and Teal'c had avoided him. Even Hammond had avoided him. Only MacKenzie had been hard on his heels, trying to get him talk.
The scratches on his face and neck almost didn't hurt any more. And the hallucinations didn't happen that often at all. Maybe only once or twice, as he mowed the lawn.
On TV, someone was singing about the indispensability of chocolate sponge cake. Taking another slice of pizza, Jack changed the channel.
"Nature has endowed the sundew with the unique ability to capture and digest insects. This carnivorous habit allows these plants to thrive in nutrient deficient soils and supplement its diet with animal protein ..."
Jack munched on his pizza, his other hand holding the remote control. He stared at the screen and watched the succulent green of the sundew's habitat as a heedless insect, lured by the plant, struggled to free itself.
"Insects, upon being attracted to the plant through odour and colour, become stuck to the mucilage. With this stimulus, the tentacles begin to slowly enclose the victim. And later, in about an hour, the entire leaf itself may be bent over its prey..."
His hand clenched around the remote control. He should switch the channel again.
He didn't. He put down the remote and drank some more of the beer instead.
There was nothing else he could do.
He was running. And there must have been something chasing him, as he only turned to see what's ahead of him when it was necessary. He wondered where his team was. Then he spotted them running in front of him, so he was watching their six this time. But he couldn't see Daniel.
The planet was unfamiliar to him, the only sign of habitation was the overgrown road they were running along. It was green everywhere, the bushes thick at either side. And it was humid; Jack was sweating.
He couldn't see what was chasing him, but they must have been in danger, as he had only his handgun, and didn't feel the familiar swing of the sidearm nor the weight of his backpack. He glanced ahead and saw Carter and Teal'c stopping over something lying in the middle of the road.
Jack sped up, his fist clenching around his gun.
Carter and Teal'c were shouting, and he felt his throat tighten. It couldn't be possible. It wasn't. But Daniel was nowhere in sight.
He sped up and halted a few feet from his team. Carter had tears in his eyes, and Teal'c was so tense that he seemed close to explosion. Jack stood, watching them say something, but he couldn't make out a single word.
His hands started shaking. He was sure there was something wrong with his second-in-command and the big Jaffa. Daniel was lying face-down, his arms and legs spread at odd angles, and he wasn't moving. Jack stiffened; they were his enemies. They did something to Daniel, and they'd hurt him too. He pointed the gun at them, but they stood their ground.
They moved behind Daniel's body only when he shouted he'd kill them if they came any closer. Carter was still crying, and Teal'c was staring at Daniel's body. Jack was trying to understand what was going on, but in vain.
Carter knelt, looked at him with something he recognised as fear and hatred. She felt for Daniel's pulse, but the slump of her shoulders was telling. Daniel stirred and she immediately stood up and moved away.
Daniel stilled again, and Jack searched for any wound, but he couldn't see one. Suddenly, Daniel sprung up, like a puppet on strings, and Jack pointed his gun at him. The world closed in on him, and there was only Daniel there, looking at him with his big eyes, wide with surprise and pain. There was a red, gaping wound in his chest, but when Jack tried to get a better look at it, it started closing. The hand with the gun shook.
He had to run away. It wasn't Daniel, and it surely weren't Carter and Teal'c. These were some strangers who impersonated his team. This Daniel impostor was saying something, gesticulating and pointing at Jack's gun.
It was a language Jack didn't know, but Daniel was still speaking when Carter and Teal'c started running away from him and Jack. One on one with the impostor, he stood a chance, so he stepped forward and Daniel backed away. A few steps more and Jack let the hand with the gun fall, and he advanced at Daniel.
They were at arm's length away from each other, and Daniel made a grab for his arm. He twisted his arm away, and Daniel darted away at full speed. Jack followed him immediately, but he couldn't keep up. Carter and Teal'c were far up the road, and Daniel was moving quickly towards them with Jack on his heels.
Daniel reached Carter and Teal'c, so Jack decided to take a different route and ran into the bushes at the side of the road.
The branches were smacking his face and body, some tearing small, bleeding wounds. They burned a little where leaves touched them, but the pain was brief.
He noticed his backpack and sidearm lying under a small tree. He was angry that those impostors had hidden his gear away from him. He decided to take all of it and follow them.