Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM and SciFi Channel, not me.
A Not-So-Hapi Day...
Jack sighed and once again went to check on his comrade, for what was probably about the 15th time in 10 minutes. As he inspected him, he tried, unsuccessfully, to tear his gaze from the gaping wound in Daniel's stomach. It still gushed with blood, though the amount was small, now, compared to earlier. Still, Jack couldn't help but worry because the knife had been driven into his friend over one hour ago. The bleeding wasn't constant, but it was enough to keep Jack concerned. He kneeled protectively over Daniel's body when he heard the nearby fire. He could make out the sounds of the energy emitting from the staff weapons, and then crash into the body of an innocent victim. Jack certainly hoped that Carter and Teal'c had victoriously made it to the 'Gate. He still wasn't holding out for a rescue team, though. In fact, he was hoping they wouldn't send reinforcements. If General Hammond issued a rescue team for he and Daniel, he would probably just be sending them to their deaths, which is something he knew the general would never agree to. Carter and Teal'c would apprise him of the situation and, hopefully, point out that a rescue mission would result in nothing but doom. Yet, if he and Daniel didn't get out of this place soon, he doubted the archaeologist would make it through the night. So, listening hopefully to Daniel's shallow breathing, Jack thought back to earlier, and tried to figure out if he could have predicted this outcome.
"Well, Daniel, do you think we should stay?" Jack asked needlessly. He knew that, since they had found evidence of a civilization, Daniel would most certainly "need" to stay and find out more about their culture.
"Oh, uh, yeah, Jack," Daniel said absently, examining the ruins of a temple they had just come across.
"Um, sir," Carter said, "Look over there." She pointed to a hilltop and Jack directed his view toward it.
On the hill was a group of people. At least, Jack assumed they were people. You could never really tell from a distance. But, since most of the civilizations they had encountered had been human, he figured these guys probably were, too...hopefully.
"Howdy, folks!" Jack yelled across the way, assuming the people could hear him. He got no response at all, just the everlasting stare of the indigenous people.
"Tough crowd," he mumbled to Carter.
"Maybe they just can't hear you, sir," Carter suggested.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Hey, Daniel--" Jack started to say, but was interrupted by an unexpected action from the sky. The villagers were scrambling and screaming, running aimlessly for shelter as their planet was bombarded with energy weapon blasts from a Goa'uld mother ship.
"Take cover!" Jack yelled to his team. They rushed into the temple, anticipating that it would hold out. Several of the villagers came into the temple, also, to escape the assault from space.
"Uh, oh. Um, Jack..." Daniel said as they all huddled in a corner.
"What, Daniel?" Jack said, irritated and trying to keep his voice down in case the Goa'uld decided to...
"Rings" Daniel said. That one word didn't make a whole lot of sense by itself, but it was all that Jack needed to tell him that this was definitely the wrong place to hide.
"Crap. Let's get out--" he said, but was stopped as the rings in the temple were activated.
There wasn't enough time to escape, as several Jaffa ringed down into the temple, SG-1 readied their guns. The Jaffa, upon seeing SG-1, lifted their staff weapons and the fight commenced.
"Jack?" Daniel barely managed to whisper Jack's name, ripping him from his thoughts.
"Daniel! Don't talk, okay. Save your strength." Jack tried to reassure.
Daniel exhaled quickly, a laugh? Small groan of pain? "What strength, Jack?" he whispered back. Yeah, it had been a laugh.
"Daniel, you're hurt, bad. I need you to stay awake, okay? We've got to get out of here," he whispered, hoping he was keeping his voice at a good range so that the Jaffa couldn't hear him, but Daniel could.
"Jack, I don't..." Daniel began, but ceased as a wave of pain coursed through him. He squeezed his eyes shut and his back arched off the ground. Luckily, he didn't scream or make a sound that a Jaffa could hear, just groaned quietly, and then fell limp. He was unconscious, again. Jack relaxed after noticing the faint rise and fall of Daniel's chest. At least he was still alive...for now.
SG-1 gave it their best shot at fighting the Jaffa, but they just kept coming, beaming down through the rings until they were eventually outnumbered about 20 to 1. The fact that they had to reload their guns had them at a disadvantage, also. Thus, ultimately, SG-1 was captured and taken to the ship as the attack on PJR-27J continued.
The foursome was taken to the throne room of a Goa'uld named Hapi. Of course, Jack couldn't help but remark that the overdressed female looked anything but happy. He was, naturally, punished by a slap across the face.
"Oh, look," she said, a smirk on her face, "at what we have here. If it isn't the infamous SG-1 of the Tau'ri. It seems that you are not so hard to capture as they say."
"Really? They say that? Cool!" Jack said, and was, again rewarded with a smack.
Hapi ignored him. "Indeed, I could learn much from you. Who should I start with for questioning?"
"Me," all four members of SG-1 chorused together, none wanting the others to be subjected to any kind of torture they might be put through.
"Hmm," she semi-laughed, "Such honor and bravery you exhibit, now, but such pain, suffering and weakness you shall show when I am through with you. You will be begging for my mercy."
"Oh, I don't think so," Jack tried her patience once more and got a staff weapon in the gut, this time.
"Insolence," she yelled. "Take them to the prison. I will have my fun with them, later, when I am through with the annihilation of this pathetic world." she said with a glow in her eyes (literally).
As they walked out of the room, Jack couldn't help but notice that she had had her eyes on Daniel almost the entire time they were in the there, except, of course, when she was directing her attention to Jack and his snide remarks. The younger man glanced over at Jack uncomfortably, signaling to his team leader that he had noticed, too. Oh, drat.
Jack was once again driven out of his fantasy. He was startled to hear Daniel's coughing in the middle of his thoughts. Daniel's coughs were loud and genuine. Jack ran over and put his hands over Daniel's mouth so that the Jaffa couldn't hear them. The coughing racked Daniel's entire body, and when Jack pulled his hand away, he could see blood. Crap. Daniel must be bleeding internally. Jack ran his hand over Daniel's chest to check for cracked ribs. Oh, yep. There were at least two. One must have punctured his lung. Jack had been reluctant to check for such injuries for two reasons: one, he already knew that Daniel had been stabbed in that area, and he didn't want to make it worse, and two, he hadn't really wanted to know. It would just show how much more helpless his situation was, for he could do nothing for internal injuries. Daniel would need professional care for that, and that was something Jack couldn't give to him right now.
"Jack, what are you doing?" Daniel managed to ask.
"Um, I'm, uh, checking for injuries," Jack answered vaguely.
"Look, if your talking about the cracked ribs, I know about them. I can feel it," Daniel whispered in pain.
"Yeah," Jack sighed.
There was a short moment of silence, then Daniel said, "Jack, I think you should just--"
"NO!" Jack said a little too loudly and harshly. He knew what Daniel was going to ask of him and he just couldn't do it, no matter how hopeless the situation might seem. "I'm sorry, Daniel." he apologized quickly.
Daniel sighed and said, "Jack, it doesn't make sense for you to stay. You need to go while you have the chance. Listen," he said, and there was silence.
"What?"
"Exactly. This is the first time all day that I haven't heard a staff weapon. You should at least go see if the coast is clear."
"All right, but only if you feel up to going with me."
"JACK!" Daniel said as loudly as he could, which wasn't even normal speaking level for him, but at this point, it was all he needed to get Jack's attention. "Jack, you know I can't move right now."
"Okay-dokey, then, we're not going anywhere. There's no point in seeing if the coast is clear if we can't go."
Daniel sighed heavily. He didn't have the energy for arguing right now. He needed something to keep him going. Rest, food, water. Something to convince Jack that it wasn't worth staying, just for Daniel. He was as good as dead, anyway.
"Is there water?" Daniel asked quietly. He decided he had had enough rest for today, and staying awake, hard as it may be, ensured that he was still alive.
"Yeah, sure, hold on," Jack said, sounding relieved that they were off of that topic. Daniel should know by now that Jack O'Neill did NOT leave ANYONE behind, let alone Daniel. But, somehow, Jack had been expecting that Daniel would make that argument, it was just his nature.
"Here you go," Jack murmured as he held up the canteen to Daniel's mouth, lifting his head with the other hand. At first, he started to drink too fast, and sputtered it out with a cough. But, eventually, Jack managed to get the canteen at the correct angle for Daniel to drink.
"Thanks, Jack," Daniel said drowsily.
"Daniel, please, try to stay awake," Jack said, a little panicked. But he was too late. The younger man, despite his efforts to stay alert, drifted slowly into the beckoning slumber.
And once again, Jack was left alone with his thoughts and silence.
Jack lay on the cold, golden bench that adorned the wall of the cell that SG-1 had been put into. He cringed at the sounds of zats, staff weapons, and the helpless pleading of the inhabitants of the planet below. Occasionally, he would steal a glance of Daniel and see that the archaeologist was just closing his eyes and trying desperately to block out the noise. Carter was in much the same mode as himself, as a seasoned military officer, it wasn't uncommon to look detached when you were really feeling torn inside. Teal'c did a much better job of hiding his emotions, emotions that Jack knew were there. After so many years of working with someone, you can just sense how they feel.
In the midst of the silence, the cell door opened and Hapi came in with three Jaffa at her side. She scanned the room, as if trying to find something extremely important. Finally, her eyes landed right where Jack had expected they would: on Daniel.
"Bring him," she said, her eyes flashing as she pointed a meticulously decorated finger at Daniel. Two of the Jaffa went over and grabbed Daniel by the arms. The man put up a fight, futile as it may have been. Half way across the cell, Jack yelled out.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? He doesn't know anything. I'm the leader. Take me, instead."
He caught Daniel's eye and noticed that the blue orbs widened at Jack's proposal. He was afraid for him. Just when Daniel was about to give a counter-argument, Hapi chimed in.
"I have no desire to inquire you at this moment. I know you are lying when you say he knows nothing. This is Daniel Jackson. The brilliant scholar on your team."
"Hey! I'm famous. Cool." Daniel tried his luck at sarcasm and was repaid with a punch in his stomach by a REALLY big, strong Jaffa.
Hapi smiled a little at his comment, though. A very different reaction than the one she had when Jack made a similar remark. Definitely not good, Daniel thought.
Hapi proceeded in walking slowly in a circle around Daniel. This made Daniel extremely uncomfortable.
"You have some...qualities that the others on your team don't have."
Hapi looked back at the rest of SG-1, noting how uneasy they all looked at her endless circling of Dr. Jackson. She smiled maliciously.
"The female, we have no use for at all. She can be disposed of. But, first, I believe that it would be more rewarding to see her reaction after she finds out what I have done to you in the course of the next few hours."
"The colonel, O'Neill," she said, ignoring him when Jack muttered, 'Yippee, I'm famous, too.', "he is most...intriguing. But he is so...old."
"Hey! I'm not that old. It's just the hair. It makes me look...old," Jack argued.
"And the Shol'va, Teal'c. I will make a most profitable trade on him. I have no interest in the him, of my own, but I know that there are many others who would gladly trade the largest of their mother ships just to get their hands on him."
She slowly moved her eyes to the man in front of her.
"You, however, Dr. Jackson, have many endearing qualities that I would like to get to know first hand."
"Oh, I don't think you really want to get to know me that well," Daniel said. "Most of the girls who have…well, have died."
Hapi laughed wickedly. "I don't believe we will have that problem here, will we, Dr. Jackson?" she said and she pushed him out the door and down the hall with her guards. As the doors close, Jack caught Daniel's gaze and saw complete and utter fear.
"...Jack..." Daniel breathed heavily, finally awakening from his long sleep.
"Hey... Daniel," Jack said, trying to choke back the tears that threatened to emerge. He hated seeing Daniel like this. More than that, though, he hated seeing Daniel like this and not being able to do anything about it. Daniel's condition had continued to deteriorate over his doze. His breathing had become more labored, and when Jack had felt for his pulse a few times (just in case), it had been extremely rapid.
"Jack...I think...it's time...for you...to go..." Daniel whispered.
"Daniel, no. You know the golden rule. We don't leave our people behind." Jack said.
"I'm already...dead...you know...I can't make it...Jack..." Daniel said.
"That's where you're wrong, Daniel. I know for a fact that you of all people can make it. You've been through worse than this." Jack wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure Daniel or himself.
"...Jack...take my zat...and try to...get out of here...I think that...if you go now...you could make it to the 'Gate...please, Jack...go..." Daniel said desperately.
"Daniel, I already told you, no!" Jack said.
"Jack, I--"
"Shhh. Did you hear that?" Jack said very quietly.
"A ship? I thought...the ship...had stopped attacking."
"It must've started again. I'm not going anywhere until you are able to come with me." Jack said with defiance.
"Or until...I die," Daniel whispered.
"Daniel, would you stop being so overly dramatic? You are NOT going to die. You can NOT leave me here like this." Jack said. He was sorry he had to hurt Daniel's feelings like that, but he knew the only way to convince Daniel not to give up was by giving him the guilt treatment, something Daniel had a weakness for.
Daniel was crying by now, tears streaming down his cheeks, partly as an after-shock of the torture he had recently endured, the pain he felt now, and the feeling of utter vulnerability he felt as he lay there, endangering Jack's life as well. He really didn't want to die, but he didn't want Jack to die because of him, either. He hardly had the strength to talk anymore, let alone help Jack to escape. But, as Jack had said, he didn't want to leave Jack here alone. Jack would, Daniel knew, beat himself up inside if Daniel died here. Jack would blame himself, even though it was not his fault at all. Daniel had to survive, for his friend. Suddenly, the unconsciousness that he had been drifting on the edge of claimed him, again, and he dreamed the same terrible dream as he had before.
"Come, now Daniel. Trust me. I will use them only for good. Tell me the codes." Hapi taunted Daniel.
She had beaten Daniel so badly that he was basically in his subconscious mind. He could hardly tell which way was up, and he couldn't tell what the Goa'uld was asking, although he had a pretty fair idea of what it was.
"Fool! Tell me the codes!" She screamed.
At Daniel's silence, she picked up one of those dreaded cow--prod things. She put it squarely in the middle of Daniel's chest, and he cried out in pain. He could feel his eyes and mouth glowing as the energy exited his body. He sank to his knees, being kept completely off the floor only by his Jaffa captors, who were still holding his arms.
Just then, he heard the door to the throne room open. He couldn't see, but his eyes were closed, anyway, so it didn't matter. All he heard was Hapi saying, "WHAT?!? How did you escape?" Then, he knew his friends had found a way out. How, he might not ever know, but it didn't matter. They were free. Safe from all of the threats that the Goa'uld had been making to their lives as she tortured Daniel endlessly. There was weapons fire, and he became disoriented beyond comprehension. He opened his eyes to try to get a better grip on things. He saw his friends at one end of the room and Jaffa at the other. They were firing their zats at the Jaffa, who, in turn, were firing staffs. Miraculously, SG-1 got the upper hand and defeated all of the Jaffa. But when they turned to Daniel and Hapi, they froze.
Daniel felt himself being turned over (when his Jaffa holders had left to go fight, he was left lying on his stomach on the floor). He turned to see that Hapi had a dagger held directly above his chest.
"If you come any closer, I will kill him," She threatened.
SG-1 stood glancing around nervously, as though something would come into the room and help them.
Daniel stared until he caught Jack's eye, then he mouthed, "Shoot."
He saw the pain that marked Jack's face, but he knew it was his only option. The blue swirls of electricity came quickly. When they reached Hapi, she had already begun to plunge the knife into Daniel's chest, but the electric shock caused her to move her arm, just slightly, and it hit Daniel's upper stomach.
Daniel screamed in agony. He could feel the knife digging deeper into his flesh, and the blood running freely from the wound. Then, SG-1 came over.
"Daniel, are you okay?" Jack asked as he pulled out the knife.
"...DUMB QUESTION!...but, I think I'll live for now," Daniel answered, obviously in pain.
"I'm really sorry," Jack said.
"It's okay. Let's get out of here before the Jaffa come back," Daniel suggested, gritting his teeth.
"Good idea," Jack said. Then SG-1 started for the ring room.
Jack had really started to worry, now. Daniel had been out for almost 6 hours, and he wasn't showing any signs of waking up soon. Jack didn't want to disturb him, he knew Daniel needed rest, but the longer he stayed asleep, the less likely it was that he would ever wake up again.
He heard the ship firing, but he didn't feel the ground rumble anymore. It was almost as if the ship was firing at something else in the sky. Jack was tempted to go see, but he didn't want to leave. He wanted to be there in case Daniel...
No, he wouldn't think about that. That was the last thing that he wanted to be on his mind. Jack didn't want to consider the possibility that he might actually lose his friend this time. He wasn't prepared for that to happen. Daniel had too much life ahead of him to die now.
Jack hadn't heard any Jaffa ground activity lately, so either they moved elsewhere, in which case they were probably still guarding the Stargate, or they retreated to the ship for some reason. Either way, he couldn't get out of here without either Daniel's miraculous recovery, or some help from others, which given the circumstances, was highly unlikely either way. Maybe his command decision earlier had been the wrong choice to make.
When SG-1 reached the ring room, Jack and Teal'c were sharing the wonderful burden of being the ones to carry Daniel. Carter activated the rings, and they beamed down to the temple.
When they got there, they saw the planet was in complete destruction. Fires were burning everywhere and staff weapons and zats could be heard discharging.
They saw the extremely large amount of Jaffa outside, and they headed for the forest, which seemed mostly calm. They got to a small cave and went as deeply into it as possible. They lay Daniel down and he groaned in misery. Carter had just begun to administer a bandage to his wound when they heard footsteps at the front of the cave. All four of them froze. Then they heard a Jaffa give a command at which Daniel and Teal'c both jumped nervously.
"What did they say?" Jack asked.
"They were ordered to search this cave," Teal'c replied solemnly.
"Shoot. What do we do, now?" Jack asked.
"We could go, sir," Carter offered.
"Oh, yeah, and get killed?"
"There are most likely a very limited quantity of Jaffa who are searching this cave. We could, potentially, take them all," Teal'c offered.
"Yes, sir. And it would save you and Daniel for now. They would think we were the only ones in here."
Jack thought about it. He hated missions like this, but he really had no options.
"All right. Take them out, and then hide them. If you have to in order to get through the 'Gate alive, take their outfits and dress like them to get through. Carter, you're smart, you'll think of something. Get back to the SGC and apprise Hammond of the situation. Daniel and I will get to the gate as soon as he starts feeling better, or when the Jaffa leave. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are you to send reinforcements back through that 'Gate, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" Carter said, and she and Teal'c went off to their duty.
Daniel and Jack stayed very quiet as they heard the firing of zats and staff weapons. They waited anxiously. Finally, their radio crackled to life.
"Sir, we got them and are headed for the 'Gate. Radio contact from this point on may be impossible."
"Roger that, Carter. Good luck."
"Thank you, sir. You and Daniel take care." she said, and that was the last they heard of Carter and Teal'c.
"Well, Danny, looks like it's just you and me," Jack said quietly.
But, Daniel was already asleep. And he would stay that way for some time.
No, now was not the time to be second guessing himself. He had been choiceless.
"...Jack...?" The smallest sound that Jack wouldn't even consider a whisper came from Daniel.
"Howdy, welcome back to the land of the conscious," Jack said softly.
"You're...still...here...?" Daniel said so softly that Jack had to lean in to hear him.
"'Course. I told you I wasn't leaving," Jack said.
Daniel muttered what Jack thought was a curse or two, but he couldn't tell.
"The...ship...and ...Jaffa...?"
"Oh, uh," Jack said. Actually, he hadn't heard any sounds other than Daniel's painful, ragged breaths for quite a while. "I, uh don't know. I haven't heard them," Jack said.
"Jack...I...thought...I...heard..." Daniel started, but stopped when both he and Jack heard rustling at the mouth of the cave.
The footsteps got ever-closer, and Daniel and Jack stayed as quiet as possible. If some Jaffa were coming into the cave...
Jack held up his zat gun, and he grabbed Daniel's from its place. He doubted Daniel had the strength to hold a zat, let alone fire it. He thought they had been so safe earlier. Maybe Carter and Teal'c's little distraction hadn't been enough to convince the Jaffa that they were the only ones in the cave.
The footsteps sounded as though they were just a few feet away, now, and he saw a light. He held up his zat and readied it for fire.
He stood up and held his gun to the face of...
Samantha Carter.
"WHOA! Jeez, Carter! Don't scare me like that! What in the world are you doing here?" Jack asked, flabbergasted.
"Sir! Good, you're still here," She said, ignoring his question. Then, Teal'c and SG-3 came into the picture.
"Carter, I thought I told you NOT to send reinforcements through the 'Gate!"
"You did, sir," she said with a mischievous grin, "but you didn't say anything about sending a rescue team by ship."
Then, it clicked. "Oh! That was you shooting at the other ship! No wonder there wasn't as much noise, anymore," Jack said.
"Yes, sir. The minute we got back, we briefed the General about the situation. He agreed that it would be unwise to send reinforcements through the Stargate. But, I suggested that we could contact the Tok'ra. Luckily, we were fortunate enough that they had a captured Al'kesh. Then...we came here!"
"Well, I'll be!" Jack said, smiling. Then, he remembered Daniel. "Carter, you didn't, by any chance, bring a medical team, too, did you?"
Carter looked worried. "No, sir. I didn't think Daniel's situation was that bad. Besides, all of the medical teams were deployed when we got to the base. You know, SG-11."
"Well, Carter, it is that bad," Jack said, concerned.
Carter went over to see Daniel. At first, she had no idea what the colonel was talking about. There was still the dagger wound, but it appeared to be no immediate threat. Daniel was most certainly going to have a black eye tomorrow, and there were bruises all over his face and arms. But, there didn't seem to be any need for immediate concern.
She went over to him and placed her hand over the bandage. She was surprised when he groaned at her gentle touch. Perhaps the gash was worse than she had thought. She lifted his shirt somewhat to see what was the matter, and then she saw why the colonel was so worried.
On Daniel's upper chest were gigantic bruises. She ran her hands down them to check for cracked ribs. Daniel moaned the entire time and she needlessly mumbled apologies. She counted three total. Then, she noticed the small amount of blood trickling from the side of Daniel's mouth. She turned him onto his side, so that he wouldn't choke on it. He definitely had a punctured lung.
"Oh..." She said slowly.
Jack winced at the pained noises Daniel made, just from Carter's tender inspection.
"Well, if you've got the ship, we should get out of here, now," Jack suggested quickly.
"Indeed," Teal'c said stoically.
He and Jack went over and lifted Daniel, who groaned in protest to the action.
"Daniel, it's okay. Carter and Teal'c are here to help us. We're going to get back home. Carter, can't we just go through the 'Gate?"
Carter looked back apologetically, "Sorry, sir. The Tok'ra really want their ship back, if you know what I mean..."
"Ah, okay, then. Let's move!" Jack commanded.
The group moved as quickly as possible, considering they were still carrying Daniel. However, when they got to the ship, they were met with a new challenge.
"Uh, oh, sir," Carter said worriedly. "There are Jaffa around our Al'kesh. They must have figured out where we landed and deactivated the cloaking mechanism."
Jack sighed in exasperation. "Okay, so what do we do, now?"
"Well, sir, I'm sure the Tok'ra won't be very pleased with this option, but it's probably the safest, now. I say we get back to the 'Gate. We don't have enough time to take out all of these Jaffa," she said, looking at Daniel, "and the 'Gate would be faster, anyway."
"Danny, what do you think?" Jack asked softly.
"...I...really...don't want...to make...the Tok'ra...angry...but...whatever...you guys think...is safest...for you..." he whispered breathlessly.
"Okay, the Stargate it is, then. Come on, kids. Follow the yellow brick road," Jack said.
Again, the team moved as swiftly as possible. When they reached the 'Gate, they found that no Jaffa were there at all.
"Okay, let's go!" Major Cows said.
"Wait! Doesn't this seem just a little too easy? Maybe it's a trap," Jack cautioned.
"Well, sir, what are we going to do, then? Maybe we should scout the area first," Carter suggested.
Just then, Daniel started coughing uncontrollably. Blood spattered everywhere, and Jack held onto his shoulders to keep him upright. Daniel groaned, but it sounded unnatural and bubbly.
"Never mind, Carter. We don't have time. Let's get to the 'Gate!" Jack commanded.
The DHD was in the open, surrounded by trees. Carter went to the DHD to start dialing, while SG-3 held their guns at the ready, pointing them toward the trees.
However, just as Carter dialed the first symbol, several Jaffa sprang out from well-concealed positions in the forest area. SG-3 fired their guns and staff weapon blasts rang out in the air.
"Carter!" Jack yelled over the fire. But, just as he said that, all 4 members of SG-3 went down at, seemingly, the same time. Carter immediately stopped dialing and reached for her gun, but she was interrupted.
"Cease your fire!" A horrible female voice said over the loud firing of weapons.
All four members of SG-1 stood close together as Hapi emerged from the crowd of Jaffa.
"So, you tried to escape, did you? You know you could have, if you hadn't been so weak-minded that you couldn't leave this one," she practically spat in Daniel's direction.
"Yeah, well, that's why they call us the good guys," Jack said.
Hapi turned up her nose pompously. "I will make you a deal. I will allow you to live and to return home, if you give me Daniel Jackson."
"Hmm, let me think about that, uh, NO!" Jack said
"Come, now, you can't possibly believe that he will live once you get him back to your base on Earth."
"You'd be surprised," Jack said.
"...Jack..." he heard Daniel say.
Turning his attention from the Goa'uld, he acknowledged Daniel, "What, Danny?"
"...Jack...you...should...go...I...promise...I...won't...tell...her...anything..." Daniel tried desperately to convince Jack to leave. He didn't want anymore people to die because of him.
"No way, Jose," Jack said.
"Very well, then," Hapi said, then she signaled to her Jaffa to bring the prisoners. The Jaffa dragged SG-1 to the temple that they had originally been studying when the whole ordeal started. There, Hapi ordered them to bring Daniel forward.
"You will tell me the codes, now, Tau'ri, or suffer more pain," Hapi demanded.
Daniel sat calmly with his eyes closed, tying not to show his weakness. The pain that he felt was almost unbearable, but he would hold out for now, for the sake of his team.
"Did you not hear me? I said TELL ME THE CODES!!!" she repeated.
This time, Daniel gained the strength to look her in the eye, "No matter what...you do to me,...my friends...and I...won't...tell you...anything."
Hapi glared down at him in frustration, but then turned her gaze to the other 3 members of SG-1. She smiled, noticing their helpless fear at watching their friend in pain. She slowly brought up her hand to Daniel's head and turned on the ribbon device.
Daniel just scrunched up his face in pain, as the device basically prohibited the victim from making any sort of protest. He knew that he wouldn't be able to last as long as he had with Sha're or with Sarah and their hand devices. For this time, he was already near death, and he knew it.
"Stop it!" Sam yelled, but Hapi seemed not to notice her. She kept torturing Daniel, and she could see Daniel starting to slip away. His eyes were slowly drifting shut and he didn't look as though he was in pain anymore, even though Carter was sure he was.
Suddenly, a troop of Jaffa came into the temple, causing Hapi to lose her concentration. Daniel slumped to the floor. At first, they thought he had died and a wave of panic rushed over SG-1, but a few seconds later, they heard a faint and shallow breath. He was still alive, but for how long?
The Jaffa whispered something to Hapi and her eyes glowed maniacally at SG-1. Then, the team heard weapons fire coming from outside, but they weren't' from zats and staffs...they were P-90's.
Hapi yelled in outrage and left the temple to see what was going on. The Jaffa holding SG-1 back became uneasy, so Jack tried to use this weakness to escape their grasp, but it was to no avail. Even though the Jaffa had become worried, they were still 10 times stronger than him.
Jack looked over at where Daniel was and was shocked to discover that he was no longer there. He panickingly scanned the temple, but couldn't see him anywhere. Hapi must have taken him.
Suddenly, SG-8, the medical team, came into the temple and shot at the Jaffa, who were helpless because they were carrying SG-1 and SG-3, not weapons.
"Where's Daniel?" Doctor Fraiser asked, helping SG-1 to their feet.
"I don't know! He was just here a little while ago, but..." Jack began, but was cut off by a terrible shriek coming from the outside. They looked at each other and then ran as quickly as they could to where the sound had come from.
When they got to the scene, they saw Hapi and 3 other Jaffa lying on the ground. It was hard to tell whether they were dead or just unconscious, but they were at least immobile, and that was all that mattered.
Perplexed, SG-1 searched around for their assassin, and were surprised to see Daniel, covered in blood and lying on the ground with a zat held in his hand.
"Daniel?!? How did you...?" Jack asked in complete shock.
But Daniel either did not hear, or just did not answer. Janet bent down to check his pulse and held a look of horror on her face for quite awhile.
"He's alive," she said, "but his pulse is so weak and slow you can hardly tell. We've got to get back through the Stargate now!"
Jack and Teal'c picked up Daniel and rushed him to the gate. Carter dialed and as soon as the gate was open, they stepped through.
Hammond and a small medical crew that always stayed at the SGC was waiting. Apparently, the general had noticed the team's lateness and had worried about Daniel's condition. Jack once again found himself admiring and in awe of his leader.
"What's his condition, Doctor?" he asked Fraiser as she strapped him to a gurney and attached a heart monitor.
"I don't know yet, sir, but I have to start setting up in here to make sure he's still with us." she said absentmindedly, watching the monitor.
The look of terror on the medical staff's faces told Hammond and SG-1 that Daniel's heart had stopped.
"I need the defibrillator!" yelled Fraiser as she quickly ripped open Daniel's shirt. At first she froze, unable to prepare the paddles because of the severe bruises all down Daniel's chest, but realizing that that wouldn't matter if he wasn't even alive, she took the paddles and sent a jolt through Daniel.
She put them down and checked his heart rate. Slow, but steady for now. She instructed her team on what to do and they rolled Daniel down the corridors to the infirmary.
SG-1 stood still, frozen in shock and fear as they watched these events transpire.
"SG-1, I think you all need a little rest. We'll debrief at 0900 tomorrow morning. I would normally wait until Dr. Jackson was better, but seeing as..." Hammond stopped, not wanting to put his lead team in any more anguish than they were already in. He just nodded and left the room.
All 3 remaining members of SG-1 went to go take showers. When he was done, Jack went to go check on Daniel's status. However, when he got to the infirmary, he found the doctors were all involved with an intense surgery. Jack swallowed, knowing full well who they were doing surgery on. He couldn't stand around and watch it, though. He would be back if-- when Daniel got a little better.
Daniel awoke to the sound of something--no, someone--familiar.
"Ah, Doc, why can't you just let me take him on ONE darn fishing trip? I just know it'll do wonders for him! The great outdoors, some fresh air..."
"I'm sorry, Colonel, but I have to make the decisions that I think are best for my patient, and I highly doubt Daniel would really want to go on a fishing trip right now, after all he's been through..."
"Hey, guys. Nice to see how well you get along without me!" Daniel finally said.
Jack and Janet both stopped and stared at Daniel for a few seconds before breaking into huge grins.
"Daniel! I'm glad to see you finally decided to wake up!" Jack said.
"Yeah, um, how long have I been out?"
"About a week."
"A WEEK!!!" Daniel asked, horrified.
"Don't listen to the colonel, Daniel. You've only been out for about 2 days. You took quite a beating." Janet corrected.
Daniel swallowed hard, remembering all that had transpired on the planet...Hapi and all the torture...pain. His whole body still ached, but it was nowhere near as bad as he had felt, sitting in that cave, for so long. He was sure he was going to die. The pain had begun to recede, after a tremendous amount of time, he remembered. He thought he was losing feeling in his body because, well, he wasn't going to be in his body much longer!
"By the way, Jack, I never got to ask you. How did you guys escape from that prison cell?"
"Oh, that. Well, it was easy once we told the Jaffa we wanted to admit everything to Hapi. They believed us and came to unlock the doors...so Teal'c got them!"
"Wow. Jaffa are really gullible."
"Well, ya know...after that, it was just a matter of stealing their zats and finding you."
"Good job. It worked," Daniel said.
"Yeah. But you sure gave us one heck of a scare, Daniel. You almost..." Jack stopped, knowing Daniel was thinking the same thing.
"Yeah. I'm glad I didn't," Daniel smiled up at his friends, relieved. Everything was going to be okay.
"Me, too," Jack said softly, as he let Daniel retreat, slowly back into slumber. Jack knew his friend was going to be alright. "Oh, by the way, Daniel, we're going fishing next week..."
THE END