The gate closed with a quiet swoosh and the SG-1 team stepped carefully down moss covered stones and surveyed the area. The Gate stood high on a neglected stone platform, in the shade of enormous alien Cypress' reaching hundreds of feet into the periwinkle sky. Moss coated everything, including the DHD that sat several feet away half-buried in the fragrant soil. The air was moist and scented with mildew. The damp clung to their skin and made it feel hotter than the 78 the MALP assured them it was. The oxygen rich air caused heads to feel light and floaty. It would take some getting used to. It usually did.
Daniel loved this part. The first steps into a new world ripe with possibilities. The raw beauty of virgin landscapes gave him goose-bumps every time. He felt honored to see something so pure. So untouched. The team made a broad sweep of the area while Daniel stared up at the canopy several hundred feet above his head. He stared, mouth agape, eyes wide with awe. He ran his fingers over the rough bark of a cypress measuring at least twenty feet wide. They walked for nearly ten minutes with no visible change in the landscape. Trees and more trees for as far as the eye could see in the shaded forest. Daniel spared Jack a glance and noticed the scowl. With a shake of his head, Daniel turned his attention back to the beauty of the woods untilthey came to a stream and spread out along it's length.
Daniel watched Sam and Teal'c go off to the left while Jack went off to the right. On his own, Daniel zeroed in on a monstrous cypress with an odd fungus clinging to its side. He stepped over wild berries as large as his palm and wild magnolia. However, he couldn't define or begin to explain the glossy, reflective fungus clinging to the side of the tree.
The sickly yellow substance covered a five by five foot area and didn't appear to affect the tree. Curiosity winning out, Daniel reached out a tentative finger.
"Daniel." The hand snapped back and a guilty flush spread across Daniel's face.
"Don't do that!" Daniel turned to see Jack standing behind him, fingers tapping on his firearm and rocking back on his heels.
"Do what?" The innocent look was hard to pull off yet Jack still gave it a shot.
Daniel didn't buy it and glared at his friend. "Did you want something?"
"We're doing a broader sweep. Stay here and don't touch anything." Jack turned and retreated into the towering wood with Daniel calling after him.
"You know, I'm not five years old! I've been able to take care of myself for years now without assistance. I'm a big boy, Jack."
"I know how old you are. Don't touch anything." Jack raised his hand in a salute and disappeared without looking back.
Daniel stood with hands on hips, staring at the now empty path. With a frustrated stomp, he whirled around toward the tree and mimicked Jack at his yellow reflection. It took only a few seconds, however, before his frustration melted back into curiosity. Leaning forward, bracing his hands on either side of the fungus, Daniel stared at the substance from every angle. Pushing back, he pursed his lips and tossed a quick glance over his shoulder. Holding his breath, he extended his index finger and gently caressed the glossy shell.
And the world exploded.
Daniel watched the shell crack and splinter before his eyes, disintegrating into a dusty cloud. He stumbled back, shutting his eyes against the debris, choking on the dust he inhaled. The log to his left exploded then with a deafening boom and sent him to the ground.
The radio squawked to life with Jack's commanding voice. "Fall back, get to the gate. Daniel, dial out. Copy."
Daniel rolled to his side, nursing his leg, fumbled for the radio as a coughing fit racked his body.
"Daniel! Do you copy?" Through the radio he heard the staccato report of gunfire. Forcing himself to a kneeling position, he found the talk button and rasped out a 'copy'. Bits of dirt and grass flew into the air from behind him and was all the incentive he needed.
Daniel ran through the forest toward the moss covered gate, hoping he outran whatever pursued his teammates. His thoughts centered on getting them all home. Pressure built in his chest until he thought his lungs would burst and was forced to pause against a tree to draw in oxygen. His radio cackled to life once more only no words came through, only the snarls and grunts of something frightening and a broken scream he couldn't identify. The sound had his skin crawling with a cold chill of dread. Someone was hurt. He didn't know who but someone was down. Pushing off the tree, Daniel continued racing through the darkened forest trying to remember the path back to the gate. He cursed himself for becoming too absorbed in the scenery upon arrival. He staggered around trees wider than his kitchen and jumped over some logs and crawled over others. At last he saw the gate looming in the distance.
Sinking to his knees, moisture leaked through his pants where he kneeled yet he ignored the damp. Frantically, he pulled vines and moss from the DHD that sat half submerged in the soft soil. Dirt rained down on him from a crater in front of him, fueling him on. Relief rushed through him at the familiar kawoosh and he sent through his ID. Turning, Daniel saw Teal'c break from the trees , running headlong toward the gate with Sam slung over his shoulder. Fear washed through him as he watched them vanish through the blue pool. Next he saw Jack, running backwards, firing at foes still unseen by Daniel.
With the last of his strength, Daniel ran for the gate then pulled his own weapon to provide cover for Jack. Moments later, they were in the mountain, watching Sam being wheeled away under Janet's protective gaze as Teal'c watched with concern etched on his face.
Daniel braced his hands on his thighs and tried to catch a solid breath. To feel something other than pressure within his lungs. Sensing that Jack was staring at him, Daniel forced words through his mouth. "I'm fine."
"I'm sure you are."Jack used his most condescending tone.
"Good." Daniel should have know that wouldn't be the end.
"Oh. Just so you know." Daniel glared one eye up at Jack from his bent position while Jack paused for effect. "You're ass is bleeding." Jack headed out while Daniel tried, without success, to get a look at his rear. After completing a full circle he decided to let the sudden pain radiating from his right cheek be proof enough. With slow, careful steps, Daniel headed towards the infirmary.
"Daniel?" Janet tried to convince him to speak. A muffled refusal came from the depths of Daniel's arms where his head was currently hidden. "You're being ridiculous." His head came up then. His face red and his eyes dancing in the sudden light.
"I can't talk to you like this. It's, it's, it's. It's just not possible. That's what it is." he quickly returned his head to his crossed arms and tried to shut Janet out.
She merely smiled, before returning to the patch of skin exposed through a square of blue cloth. Holding in a chuckle, Janet began stitching Daniel's behind.
Daniel sat on an inflated donut and tried to recount the events as they happened on P3x-492. It was difficult considering his thoughts were on Sam and fear that she wouldn't wake up from her unconscious state which was now nearing two hours. "And then it exploded into dust."
"It just exploded. There was no external cause that you could see?" Janet scribbled into a notebook and missed the widening of Daniel's eyes and the dismissive look he tried to adopt.
"Well. Um." he evaded.
"Daniel?" Janet gave him her full attention now.
"I may have touched it." Daniel shifted on the donut and wished for the thousandth time the throbbing would go away.
"This is after the Colonel ordered you not to." It wasn't a question. Janet knew how things were far too well to actually be shocked by this.
"Yeah. But it was a really light touch and I'm not sure I was responsible for it exploding. It all became confusing with the dust and coughing and then the log exploded without me touching it, and then Jack was ordering me to dial out." Daniel gestured wildly with his hands and fidgeted with his glasses while his head started to pound.
"Why were you coughing?"
Daniel cringed at Janet's direct question. Of all the things she could have picked up on, she had to zero in on that tiny detail. Engaging evasive maneuvers, Daniel answered her.
"Dust."
"You inhaled the dust!" Janet set her pen down and stared at Daniel who began staring innocently at her.
"It's just dust. I'm fine."
"Daniel."
"Janet."
She rubbed her temples and thought, not for the first time, that Daniel was picking up some of the Colonel's more annoying qualities. "You inhaled particles from an alien substance."
"Sure. When you put it that way." Daniel shrugged off Janet's concerned gaze.
"We're going to have to run some tests." Janet picked the pen back up and began scribbling again so she missed the defeated look creep over Daniel's face. Though she heard it in his voice.
"How long?"
"What?"
"Am I stuck here for?" Daniel pulled at his cuffs and stared at Janet, waiting for his sentence.
"We're going to have to wait and see."
"Great." With a pitiful pout, Daniel hung his head while Janet continued scribbling his life away.
Daniel stood in the doorway and stared at Sam as she slept. She looked small and fragile while she slept. It was wrong. She'd be the first to tell you that. Only she wasn't saying anything. Her face was one large bruise, several different colors of purple with a hint of black throughout. Her head was wrapped with gauze and blood peaked through from the laceration on her scalp. It was bad. They all knew it. One of two things could happen now. She could wake up, a little worse for wear but okay nonetheless. Or. Well. Best not to think about the or.
Stepping into the room, Daniel stood next to the chair Jack occupied. It had now been four hours and still nothing. He knew that Jack would continue watching and waiting for as long as it took. It's all he could do but do it he would. "Teal'c said it picked her up with one hand and just tossed her." Daniel hadn't seen the enemy and from what he heard, he was glad.
"How's your ass?" Jack changed the subject with the grace of a gorilla and Daniel accepted it. Jack took the safety of his team seriously. He took Sam's safety seriously.
"It's fine. Although Janet gets this smile on her face whenever she see's me now." A ghost of a smile shadowed Jack's lips before fading into a blank stare. Daniel sighed and left the room.
They stood outside Sam's room and waited for Janet to emerge.Daniel studied the floor while fidgeting with his thumbnail. He could hear Jack pacing and knew that Teal'c was impatient to know Sam would be fine as well. He knew Teal'c's guilt at failing to protect his friend had had him secluded in his room, in Kelnoreem to ask for forgiveness and seek atonement. Daniel also knew Sam would be quick to ease Teal'c's fears. He only hoped she would be able to. They had been shut out of Sam's room nearly twenty minutes now and had yet to learn anything from the cloistered Janet.
The door swung open and the three men froze as Janet quietly closed the door behind her. She turned and met there eyes and smiled. "She needs her rest, but she's going to be okay. There's no permanent damage from the swelling and she's alert and aware of her surroundings."
A collective breath was released at the news and Daniel felt as though they had lucked out again. He always worried that one day, they would no longer be a foursome. The danger they dealt with in the course of their job almost guaranteed that one day someone would not come home. He hated thinking it but it was always there. Tickling at the back of his mind. Every time he stepped up to the gate he thought 'was this it?'. And every time they all made it home he thanked God.
He watched Jack and Teal'c step into Sam's room yet he lingered in the hall for a moment longer. Janet had informed him his tests appeared to be normal but he would be staying overnight anyway, just in case. He really hated just in case. He seemed to get the short end of it all the time. It was never here's an extra hundred dollars for you, just in case. It was always, let's quarantine you for a week or let's take you off active duty or no caffeine, just in case. And here it was again. Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to will the throbbing in his head and ass to cease.
With a sigh, Daniel pasted on a smile and stepped over the threshold and was proud his smile didn't falter when Sam looked up at him with her battered face and bloody gauze. She was alive. They were still a team. It was enough for now.
It would have to be.
To be continued . . .