Her Memory
Disclaimer: Only my stuff is mine. The rest is I'm just borrowing. Frick.
A/N: Okay, third SG-1 fic…deep breath. Let me tell you something, writing Sg-1 fic is nerve-wrackingly hard. I am very nervous about writing them, but I love the characters too damn much. My stories could never be as good as the real thing, but…it gives me 'closure' to write them.
So, here goes…please R&R! But no flames…they hurt my feeling. Not plural. My feeling is very sensitive.
Spoilers for (in the order they appear)—'Solitudes,' 'Into the Fire,' 'The Serpent's Venom,' 'In the Line of Duty,' 'Divide and Conquer,' 'Beneath the Surface,' 'Metamorphosis,' 'Descent,' 'Secrets,' 'Entity,' 'Jolinar's Memories,' and 'Grace.'
I embellished the scene from 'Jolinar's Memories' a little bit. Nothing else is different.
Set sometime in the seventh season.
ENJOY!!
The temple was in ruins. The stone walls that once stood tall, now lay crumbled and broken. The parts still standing were jagged excuses for a sidewalk. However, further back in the ruins one wall stood whole. On it were the remnants of the language of a long forgotten city. Symbols adorned the stone that, to the inexperienced eye, would just look like pretty pictures.
Good thing Dr. Daniel Jackson's eyes were experienced.
"Jack, do you know what this means?" Daniel asked staring in awe at the wall.
Jack looked at him. "Uh…no." He felt Carter shift beside him. "Carter? Do you?"
Sam looked up at the wall and ran her hand over the symbols. She shook her head slightly and glanced at him. "They look…familiar, but…I don't know what they mean." She looked at Daniel who was kneeling down running his fingers over the pictures. "Daniel?"
"Huh? What?" Daniel looked up startled. "Oh, right…sorry." He said sheepishly. "The writing on the wall resembles the writings we found on P4A-997."
When both officers just stared at him he clarified. "Well, 'we' meaning me and SG-5. P4A-997 was a deserted planet that we went to about three years ago. We found ruins just like this and writings that match these."
"Goa'uld?" Jack wondered aloud.
"No." Daniel paused looking back at the ruins. "We never figured out what culture these writings belonged to."
"Ah." Jack said leaning back on his heels. "So…?"
"So," Daniel said with a hint of exasperation. "Maybe there will be more clues here."
"And that would mean…?" Jack prompted.
"It means, maybe we can figure out who built this place." Daniel smiled his 'kid in candy store' smile.
"Okay." Jack said sounding like he couldn't care less.
"Sir," Sam jumped in, catching onto what Daniel was alluding to. "Maybe these symbols can help us defeat the Goa'uld."
Jack met her eyes and raised his eyebrows. "Bit of a long shot, don't cha think?"
Sam closed her eyes briefly. "Sir, we should take any help we can get."
"Doesn't it say something that the temples are in ruins? Like maybe they couldn't fight the snakes?" He pointed out still looking at his second in command.
"Or maybe they found themselves in a similar situation to ours." Sam said looking back at him. "Maybe they pissed off the Goa-uld because they found something that would be effective against them."
"Then why didn't they use it?" Jack questioned.
Carter bit her lip. "Maybe they didn't have time to. The Goa'uld could have taken them by surprise."
"In which case, their ideas for defeating the Goa'uld could still be here." Daniel finished looking between Sam and Jack.
Jack sighed considering them. "Alright. You've got two hours. Whatever you don't translate here, we'll translate back on the base. Teal'c and I will keep an eye out. Keep in radio contact."
"Yes sir." Carter said turning back to the ruins.
"Have fun…" he said sarcastically as he turned and walked out of the ruins.
Daniel gave Sam a slightly exasperated look and Sam smiled. "You can't blame him for thinking this is a waste of time. It is a long shot."
"I know, but it's fascinating." Daniel said smiling at the wall again.
Sam grimaced good-naturedly. "Yeah…that's the word I'd use." She teased.
"Now you're starting to sound like him." Daniel said lightly, though he knew the impact of his comment. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam duck her head and blush. He also noticed the small smile that tugged on the corners of her mouth. After knowing those two for seven years…he could read them like a book.
Collecting herself, she pseudo-glared at him. "Thanks Daniel. I appreciate that." Her voice was ripe with sarcasm, but there was a thread of truth as well.
"I know you do." He said seriously turning to face her.
Sam stared at him, her eyes wide. "Daniel…"
Daniel smiled. "Relax." He said. "Forget I said anything." Sam nodded.
Daniel turned back to the wall and a comfortable silence fell over them. Daniel was muttering to himself, consulting his texts, then the wall. Sam was walking around the ruins, making sure to stay close to Daniel. She didn't want any surprise attacks.
Something glinted to her left. Turning, she saw a small pedestal half buried in rubble. Sitting on top was a delicate red sphere, catching the sunlight. "Daniel?"
"Yeah?" he called, sounding distracted.
"I think I found something." She heard Daniel shift and walk over to her. She picked up her radio. "Sir?"
"Yeah, Carter?" came his staticky reply.
"We think we've found something." Sam said, eyeing the ball suspiciously.
"A big honking weapon against the Goa'uld?" he asked sarcastically.
Sam smiled. "Don't know, sir. Maybe you and Teal'c should come take a look."
"Understood. We'll be there in about five minutes." Sam was about to reply when the colonel spoke over the radio again. "And Carter?"
"Yes sir?"
"Don't let Daniel touch it."
Sam smiled again and looked at Daniel, who rolled his eyes. "Understood, sir."
"Always assuming the worst, isn't he?" Daniel smiling with a mixture of frustration and understanding.
"Well, you do have a habit of touching artifacts that cause something bad to happen." When Daniel looked at her, confused, she scrunched up her nose. "Need I remind you of the whole crystal skull incident?"
Daniel flinched. "Thanks for that."
"Anytime." Sam smiled then jumped back. "Whoa!"
Daniel stumbled back as well. The sphere was glowing. "I didn't touch it!" Daniel held his hands up.
"Sir?" Sam said into the radio. "Whatever we found…it's active."
"And I didn't touch it!" Daniel yelled into his own radio.
"Alright, I want you two out of there. Meet us back at the gate." His voice held a slightly gloating undertone, but mainly it was concern.
"Yes, sir. We just need to--," Jack heard Sam start to say before the radio went dead.
"Carter?" he said into his radio. He was met with silence. "Carter?" he said considerably louder.
"Jack!" Daniel's voice erupted from the radio.
"Daniel! What happened?" he demanded.
"I don't know! Sam…Sam's been hit!" Daniel shouted.
TBC