BAD BLOOD (PART 3)

Disclaimers: I don't own Stargate SG1 or any of the characters within. I am only borrowing them to write this fanfic and then I will wash them off and return them.
I also want to say this. I read a graphic novel of 'The Authority' and it had a line I really wanted to use. If you're a fan you'll recognise it.

Spoilers: I going to be nice and 'try' not to do any but be warned, I have seen right up to the fourth season episode 'Watergate'.

Thanks to Becky for her review of PART 2. Yes he was a character in Aladdin but I was going for the sound more than anything else.



Sg-1 stepped out onto the ramp leading to the SGC and Earth. The act was so familiar that they didn't see the people at the bottom, waiting for them. It was only the sound of them coming to attention that made Jack O'Neill look down into his own eyes.
He heard Carter's exclamation when he saw who was standing beside his double. It was her, in every way Samantha Carter, except this Carter was carrying an infant, a child barely out of the delivery room. The two members of SG-1 stepped forward slowly and then with more resolution as SG-6 and their Vampyr escort came through the wormhole behind them.
"Thanks for your help, Jack."
The alter-Jack's face split with a grin.
"No problem, Jack, anytime. May I introduce you to my staff?"
Jack waved his hand in acceptance and the General began.
"This is my Executive Officer, Colonel Dimitri Sergeivich Ivanov."
The Russian returned to attention and saluted. Jack gave another wave-salute and the Russian grinned, thinking that this man was exactly like his boss.
"Beside him is my Operations Officer, Captain Ackerman. And this is my Head of Research, Doctor Samantha Carter-O'Neill. And I believe you haven't met Daniel."
Jack's grin faded as his gaze fell on the baby that his double was smiling at. The kid couldn't be more than a few months old and looked a lot like his namesake.
Then it hit him. He was looking at something that could be for him and the Major standing behind him. He could feel the discomfort that she was going through at the moment but it was easier for him. But to his Sam this was something she had never really thought about. Motherhood. It was a portion of her life that she had turned away from for the moment, probably something to be considered if the SGC was no longer a part of her life and only then.
"Please, call me Sam. And its not Carter-O'Neill, its just O'Neill whatever my father might have to say about it."
Samantha, that is to say, Major Carter stepped forward and interrupted the happy moment.
"Sir we don't have much time."
Jack broke off from looking down at the child he might have had and glared at his second in command for a second before realising that she was right.
"Thank you Major. General, I'm sorry to break up the festivities but..."
"I understand totally. We know that you have approximately forty hours before that quantum thingy..."
His wife interrupted.
"Quantum schism."
"Thank you dear. Before the quantum schism kicks in you need to be gone back through the Mirror. We have communicated with two agents on Chulak and have Doctor Jackson's position location pinned down to three possibilities. Within an hour we should have..."
One of the chevrons lit and the Stargate symbols started to spin. A klaxon started to blare and a voice cut in over the shriek.
"Off world activation. Incoming traveller."
Security ran in through the opening blast doors and split up. One group hustled all the officers and the guests out while the rest covered the forming wormhole. Jack and General O'Neill fended off the soldiers as the iris closed over the blue vertical puddle. Reaching for an intercom panel, the General slapped his hand down on a button.
"Do you have anything yet?"
The Gate Room technician's voice came out over the speakers.
"Yes sir. It's SG-14's signal, sir. Secondary signal indicates that its Alpha Company. Opening the iris."
A group of battered men staggered into sight, rippling the pool of blue light as the came through. Two staggered forward, walking straight for the General while more men stepped through. The leader saluted.
"Major Nathan Keller, sir. We're all that's left of Alpha Company. We were on P6X-448 when we ran into hostiles, both native and Jaf'far. We have two prisoners, most probably Goa'uld..."
Two hooded forms fell forward through the Gate and landed hard on the ramp.
"... that surrendered to us."
That came as a shock to the General.
"Goa'uld don't surrender."
Major Keller was watching the General and heard his voice but didn't see the man's lips move. A form came into focus and suddenly he was looking at another Jack O'Neill. The doppelganger walked past his commander and up to the prisoners.
"They don't look like Goa'uld."
The four soldiers standing over the prisoners were uneasy with this guy, obviously not their boss, messing with the prisoners. That uneasiness deepened when he muttered a curse and turned to the door.
"Carter. Take a look at their clothes."
The Major stepped forward and saw what he saw. The clothes of the suspected Goa'uld were plain homespun tunic and pants with flaps sown in the front. A simple sash crossing the chest was the last piece of the puzzle. The female had a small sack sewn into her sash, hanging it from the back like a carry all.
"They're Tok'ra!"
The head of the male came up and the double toned voice of a Goa'uld infested host filled the room.
"You know of us."
The four guards raised their weapons and aimed at their captives as everyone stepped back. Everyone except SG-1, that is.
Jack came forward and knelt beside the male lifting his hand to grab and take off the hood. One of the soldiers charged his weapon, switching his aim from the Tok'ra to the Colonel. The voice of General O'Neill shattered the silence.
"AT EASE SOLDIER! LOWER YOUR WEAPON!"
The soldier, a sergeant, let his commander's twin lift the hood and everyone saw who it was.
"Martouf."
The Tok'ra turned to Major Carter and squinted against the sudden intrusion of light. His eyes fell on the Major and then the Doctor and there was nothing but confusion in his eyes.
"Do I know you?"
Jack stood and snorted.
"Talk about your déjà vu!"
Sam couldn't restrain a smile as the moment hit her. They had been the first words that she and Martouf had ever exchanged.
"Yes and no. I was once a host for Jolinar."
Martouf looked even more puzzled and his gaze shifted to the hooded woman beside him. On impulse, Jack lifted the second hood and revealed a beautiful woman's face. It was clear to Jack that she was angry but something was wrong. He saw something in her that reminded him of someone.
* Carter might know. *
"Carter, do you know...?"
He glanced over his shoulder and saw his Carter was just standing there, gob-smacked. She was totally unable to say a word and their eyes were fixated on the host's face.
"Um, Major, is there something wrong?"
Major Carter shook her head and looked down at the ramp, shifting her gaze away from the woman's face. She had seen that face a thousand times in her dreams and it was always attached to her. It was almost as familiar to her as her own. She raised her head and met the woman's eyes again but this time she had control of her emotions.
"Sir, this is Jolinar."
Jack stood back from the Tok'ra and regarded the woman himself. She was beautiful, he had to say that but she had one of those worms in her head. It was the same story with Martouf and that made them both untrustworthy. Taking his eyes off the Tok'ra he saw that the soldiers in the room were wearing expressions of contempt on their faces. He remembered that these people, even though they were so similar, they had different rules for dealing with Goa'uld.
"General, could we talk? And can you put these two somewhere safe for the moment?"
General O'Neill went emotions went from contemptuous to shock to anger.
"Colonel. We have ways of dealing with their type."
Holding up a placating hand, Jack spoke again.
"Yes I know, sir. But these two have some difference to Goa'uld. Not many but..."

******

Replaced by double their number in SGC security, the four guards from SG-14 left to go down to the Infirmary. These new soldiers roughly manhandled their two prisoners up the stairwell and into the conference room. Jack followed with Teal'c and Carter while the General asked his wife to go home and get some rest. As much as she was intrigued by the 'Tok'ra' she was still tired and the baby needed feeding.
His family duty done, the General went to carry out the duty to his world.
He sat at the head of the table, motioning SG-1 into the seats nearest to him. Major Ang and Colonel Ivanov took the next two. Planting his elbows on the table, he steepled his fingers in front of him and fixed Jack with a steely gaze.
"Who are these Tok'ra?"
Martouf went to speak and one of the guards thumped him in the kidneys with a clenched fist. The Tok'ra fell to his knees and the guard roughly dragged him upright. The General didn't stop him and Jack didn't stop him, even when Carter stared at him. He indicated that she should explain. If he said anything he might bias these people and they'd just shoot the two out of hand.
"General. The Tok'ra are of the same species as the Goa'uld but they don't share the same practises. They don't use the sarcophagus to prolong their life and they only take willing hosts. Also the host shares the use of their body."
O'Neill was shocked to say the least. Stabbing his finger out in the direction of the prisoners he looked at his twin.
"You're telling me that they do it willingly."
Jack gave him his trademark O'Neill shrug.
"Holy Hannah!"
Jack didn't even bother reacting to that one.
"Do you mind telling me where Teal'c is?"
"Sorry. He's in one of our guestrooms doing that Kel'no'reem thing. If you need him I'll get his escort to call in on him."
"No bother. Let him sleep... or whatever that is."
The General smiled for a second and went back to the matter at hand.
"How do you know these Tok'ra?"
"They're our 'allies'. We met them a while ago and we share intelligence. Well actually they tell us what they think we should know and screw us every now and then."
"You don't like them."
It's not a question of 'like'. It's a question of trust and I've never trusted them. They have a snake in their head and that's it."

******

Carter heard every word that the two O'Neill's were exchanging but her mind wasn't fully on the conversation. She was too busy thinking about Jolinar. Every few seconds her eyes flicked up and caught the Tok'ra's and she'd go back to staring at the table again. It was hard enough that she'd only been bonded with 'her' Jolinar for a few days but to see her here and alive like this, with Martouf...
Two people, a part of her life beyond anything the SGC could ever be and she'd seen or at least felt both die. Martouf had died in her arms and by her hand and yet his passing had been nowhere near as bad as that of Jolinar's. She had been a part of her and feeling death touch a part of you is painful beyond belief. It was like reaching for something and it's just a little too far away. And the more you strain to reach it the more pain you feel but you have to keep trying to get it. And once you give up it's gone.
Forever.
At least this reality's Carter didn't have to go through the anguish that she had.
"Carter."
She felt reality kick back in and focused on her Jack.
"Sir?"
Her Jack pointed to General O'Neill.
"I'm sorry sir. I was just thinking..."
"No problem. My Sam goes off on tangents all the time. It's just that Jack was telling me you have first hand experience of the Tok'ra. Care to enlighten us about it?"
She looked up at the Colonel and saw from his expression that he thought this necessary,
* I hope to hell it is. *
"I had a Tok'ra in me for a short time. Only a couple of days in all but I found out a lot about them."
The emotion drained out of her as the words were spoken. She knew her Colonel and his ways and this knowledge made it easy for her to see the General's reaction. It was a cross between horror, pity and disgust. Turning her head away, she looked directly into Jolinar's eyes and this time held the Tok'ra's gaze.
"Okay. Then my next question is this: do you trust them?"
She kept her eyes on the Tok'ra and answered his question.
"I don't know."
"Not good enough, Major. Just to make this easier, I'll let you in on a little secret. When we capture a Goa'uld, we ask them a simple question: do you want to make it easy or hard? I'll demonstrate."
He gestured to the guards and pointed to the other end of the table. Martouf was lifted and pushed into the seat, directly facing the General. Taking out his sidearm, General O'Neill placed it on the table and waited until the Tok'ra acknowledged its presence by staring at it.
"Very simple situation here. There are ten bullets in this gun. I can fire the entire magazine and make sure that the tenth bullet is the one that kills you. Or it can be the first. But no matter what happens, a bullet from this gun, or one like it will kill you. Today. It all depends on how much you tell us and how truthful you are."

******

Martouf stared at the gun and heard the Tau'ri's words but ignored them for the moment. Death by torture was always a factor when on one of these missions, but never by an unknown force. The Tau'ri were such a force because their motives, apart from keeping their world safe, had never been discovered. And an unknown anything can kill as well as a known force.
The worst part of this so far had been the capture. Their team of four had arrived in Hallinash to meet with an operative who had urgently requested a meeting. And once they had arrived he couldn't see them because his schedule was too heavy. Jolinar had spent six weeks working in dire conditions as his personal servant before hints about their mission had filtered down to them. And everything had happened so fast. The information that they had stolen had consequences for everyone in the galaxy. Including the people of the Tau'ri.
Ne'erti had obviously found out about something but how she found out was of no consequence. At the time the only thing that mattered was getting the information out. Jolinar and he had split from their other two team-mates and tried to draw off their Jaf'far pursuers. And they had succeeded.
The world they had Gated to had once been populated by a great people, now long dead. The Jaf'far caught up with their forces just inside a nearby village and it had been a running battle to the nearest city. The last few yards to cover and certain escape was taken from them, a flat stretch with no cover that would have left them open to fire. And then the Tau'ri had hit the Jaf'far and then them.
And now the fear he felt was more for his people than he was for himself.
* What should I do, Lantesh? Without this information, the System Lords are doomed to fall and then the Tok'ra will be next. *
The two thousand year old symbiote had no answer. Martouf, using his own intellect had seen all the possible outcomes. If what he knew happened, the System Lords would fall and all their assets, their Jaf'far armies and their weapons and technology would be in the hands of a triumvirate that could easily conquer the galaxy. And any force that had no factions could and would destroy any opposition to its rule.
* We can both see the same outcome to this, my host. To do anything else but co-operate would most likely doom both us and the Tau'ri. Give them what they need. And no more. *
Martouf lifted his head and looked his chief captor in the eye.
"We of the Tok'ra have operatives who feed us information at regular intervals. One such operative told us of a conclave between three Goa'uld that was to take place sometime in the next few days. This meeting will outline what each Goa'uld will give to the alliance and their targets. The Tau'ri will probably head the list."
General O'Neill smiled.
"And why is that?"
"Ammonet is hosting the meeting on Chulak. The others are Ne'erti and Hathor."
Both O'Neill's ducked their heads.
"Oh boy!"
General O'Neill threw off the discomfort of his memories and stared at Martouf.
"Why and when? And if you give me good information we might just let you live until tomorrow. Both of you."
Martouf ducked his head and let Lantesh take over.
"Agreed."

******

The mission planning was done in record time. The objectives were simple by anyone's standards. Capture or kill the three Goa'uld, rescue Doctor Jackson and then get the hell out of there. But the rules of military science still held true. The simple is hard to do, the complex is just a little harder.
It came down to time. The two Tok'ra went on for half an hour, jabbering on about this and that on what would happen on Chulak and occasionally they came up with a gem. But digging through ten tons of crap wasn't worth it. General O'Neill cut to the chase.
"Let me put it very simply. Both of you know the position in Chulak. That means that only one of you needs to be alive to tell me. Now I'm not going to be a complete bastard and make you choose who lives, I'll take care of that."
He unclipped his holster and Martouf talked.
"Ne'erti is going because she needs the others. She lost heavily in a battle over a world owned by Heruer. Hathor is going because Ammonet promised her something 'most loved'. Ammonet will receive the use of their transport ships for her armies. Most of her ships have been destroyed by unknown forces, most probably the Tau'ri."
When he said this Martouf looked up at the General with respect in his eyes. A couple of reports that he had seen came to mind, all describing raids on Goa'uld resource planets leaving no trace of the attackers.
"You have been cutting off Ammonet's sources of power."
General O'Neill ignored this.
"Get this one fully debriefed. If he gives you any shit, kill him."
"We can be of use to you. Both of us are familiar with the castle design of the Goa'uld and the measures they use to protect themselves."
General O'Neill leaned forward and smiled.
"We have one person in Chulak already who has lived in that place their whole lives. We have a former first Prime of Apophis who worked in the palace. You are redundant unless you prove otherwise."
Martouf grimaced and felt his senses fade as Lantesh took over.
"We have the knowledge of the Goa'uld and you can use this to aid you in your battle."
The General stood and fixed the Tok'ra with a hard stare. He pointed to one of the guards.
"Get Mulcahy in here!"
The guard ran out and brought back an officer with Major's leaves. A blood red disc was sewn onto his sleeve.
"Major, these two will be going with you. They'll have collars on them but I just want you to show them the penalty for fucking with you."
The Vampyr bent down and easily lifted the Tok'ra from the ground. He reached down and snapped the cuffs binding Martouf's hands and then stood still.
"Hit me."
The Tok'ra saw that the guards had all backed off and had smiles on their faces, some hidden and some not. There was something about this man that must be different.
Martouf took his chance and lashed out. The Vampyr easily dodged the blow and grabbed his fist. Levering Martouf's arm behind him he pushed the Tok'ra hard and sent him flying across the room. Jolinar tried to get up to aid her mate and was pushed down by the guards. Martouf got to his feet and readied himself, settling into a martial arts stance as Mulcahy walked across the room to him. The Tok'ra kicked out and met with fresh air as the Vampyr dodged again and kicked his leg from under him. This time the Vampyr didn't settle with playing around. As Martouf hit the ground, Mulcahy wrapped his arms around the helpless man's neck and started to squeeze.
General O'Neill walked over.
"As you can see, fucking with Tony here is a fatal mistake. You'll be fitted with explosive collars and if you give his team trouble, boom. Either that or he'll play with you again and next time he'll take his sweet time. Do you understand?"
Martouf's face was mottled red from lack of air but he had head every word that the General had said to him. Using what freedom of movement he had he nodded.

******

"What happened?"
The General looked up from a pile of paperwork to see Jack staring at him.
"What? I didn't catch that?"
Jack wanted to smile at the lie but couldn't.
"What happened to you? I could see myself giving the same order but not so easily. And probably only under combat conditions."
The General sat back in his chair.
"SG-1 went through a hell of a lot in a very short time. We lost Daniel and Teal'c but worst of all was the fact that the one place we thought was untouchable was destroyed. When Sam and myself stepped off Klorel's ship there was nothing left of most of Colorado. I went by my old house and found Sara and her Dad. A Death Glider had killed them both.
It was that and coming back here. You haven't seen outside but your Teal'c has. Once you leave the main elevator, there's no tunnel anymore. When Apophis came down he blasted away half of the mountain and NORAD with it. Then he sent down the better part of a division of Jaf'far and they'd come in firing, killing everything in sight.
All that's left of a lot of good friends is a pillar outside with some names on it. And now every decision that I make has consequences for all of Earth.
And my kid. And Sam.
And because of those reasons, there are no more rules regarding the enemy. I'll kill their fucking pets if I have to."
Jack nodded.
"Fair enough."

******

Sam could tell the time to almost the second now. She'd needed to take off her watch to stop herself looking at it every few seconds. As it stood she had fifteen hours, seven minutes and change left before the Quantum Schism started to hit. The last thing that she or the Colonel needed right now was this hitting them during a mission.
"Major Carter, can you call your Colonel now. We're ready to start the pre-mission brief."
Sam walked out the door without a word and made her way to the General's office. By right she should just call them, time being as precious as it is, but she needed to get out of that room before she started to stare at the wall mounted clock again.
Stepping aside for a team of red sleeved men, all Vampyr, Sam thought about John for the first time since she had got to this world. She knew that he'd made it back all right but even Teal'c didn't know what had happened to the Vampyr. Turning the corner she followed the Vampyr for a minute and caught up with them. She tapped the trailing soldier on the shoulder.
"Sorry to bother you. Do you know where John Kelly is?"
The rest of the Vampyr stopped and listened to her question. Puzzled looks and a few mumbles were exchanged for a second until one of them seemed to remember something about the name.
"Jan Killy. He kim drew da Stargate wid in inimal-creker?"
It took Sam a second to cut through the accent but it finally clicked.
"Yes. He came through with Teal'c. Do you know where he is?"
"His up in da Infirmry. Do ya know whir da is?"
"Level 15."
She'd been given a grand tour of this new SGC.
"Dah's raht! Ya okay noo?"
"Yes. Thank you."
The Vampyr walked on and Sam swore never to stop a Vampyr again without a translator at hand.

******

John sat at the table and lifted a half-empty tube of sunblock. Squeezing out a pea sized drop he rubbed it between two fingers and then started to rub it into his cheek.
"Clockwise, please."
He sighed at moved his fingers clockwise, lifting his face to let the nurse see every movement. He'd been down here three hours, getting painful iron injections and a full check up before the doctor cut him loose. But not before he was scheduled for a refresher course on Vampyr medicine. For the most part Vampyr don't need medicine or medical treatment. Lots of sunblock but no pills.
And the US military machine had, in its infinite wisdom, decided to create a course for Vampyr on how to apply sunblock to prevent them from sunburn. There wasn't a Vampyr in creation that didn't know how to apply sunblock and refresher courses were considered to be nothing short of a punishment.
Which explained why the room was full of extremely pissed off people.
John heard a knock at the door and prayed for whomever it was to be taking him out of here. It wouldn't matter if it were a firing squad coming to take him away, he just wanted 'out'.
The nurse gave a 'hum' of disapproval and opened the door. A single soldier leaned forward and whispered to her for a second, every Vampyr in the room straining with their enhanced hearing, all of them trying to hear their name being spoken. She turned and beckoned to him and he couldn't help himself. Jumping out of his chair he yelled 'WOO-HOO' and made a beeline for the door. He didn't even spare the rest of the poor fools a backward glance as he ran down the hall and around the first turn. Once out of sight of the nurse he waited for the soldier to catch up.
"You have to report to the General."
* This is not good. *
Now that he was out of the room, life felt better and a meeting with the General didn't sound too promising. In fact it sounded like something to be avoided. But he couldn't do something like that, not even as a joke. The SGC represented what his life was about at the moment.
The anger of losing his families had driven him to volunteer. Like most of the Vampyr he had joined the civilian side of the program and not the military. The regimentation and discipline was not something that attracted any of their kind but their abilities made them brilliant warriors. That reason was probably the only one that allowed them through the Stargate.
Running at nearly full speed got him to the General's rooms in short order and gave him plenty of time to cool down. The orderly seemed to take his sweet time in telling the general that he had arrived but that was an orderly for you. Their proximity to greatness inflated their own sense of importance. The only good thing about this one, if you could call it a good thing, was that he was half-afraid of John's kind. There was some story about him hitting on one of the Vampyr women that comes through here and a subsequent visit to the Infirmary for an ice-pack.
The daydreaming ended when the General stepped out of his office with SG-1 trailing behind. Standing at an attempt at attention he waited for the bomb to drop.
"John Kelly, right?"
John could only nod before the General went on.
"SG-1 and especially my counterpart have sung your praises since they got here. So I'm letting you off the refresher course..."
The Vampyr sighed in relief.
"... and you'll be accompanying them on their mission to Chulak. Your brief is simple. Assist them in rescuing Doctor Jackson. Get them safely off of Chulak and back to the Land of the Light and then destroy the mirror. As much as I would like to keep it as a permanent bridge between our worlds it is too much of a temptation. Good luck."

******

The Goa'uld nature helped the SGC's team to gain access to Chulak. Keeping the Stargate in an area that was both off limits and far from the nearest city made sure that Jaf'far reinforcements would be some time in coming. The normal routine for Ammonet was to keep a good dozen Jaf'far and Serpent Priests in front of the Gate, more as a welcoming committee than actual guards against an attack.
The first part of the plan was simple: kill the guards. Waiting inside the Gateroom, forty men and women got themselves ready to launch an invasion on an enemy planet. All of the men and women of the team were Vampyr except for SG-1 and the two Tok'ra. The Vampyr had been chosen for their abilities and experience and most importantly their experience. At least with their healing factors, speed and strength they stood some chance of surviving this escapade.
Their leader was a man that Jack had only spoken a few words with and only understood a few of those. The only things that he really knew about the man were that his name was Mulcahy, he was a Vampyr and he'd been through BUD/S SEAL training as had most of his team. And he had met his Carter.
Jack heard a slurp come from behind her and saw John and another two men finishing off cans of coke while they waited for the Gate to start up. When the first chevron lit the three chugged down the last few dribbles and stepped to the head of the ramp. The General was shocked. The commander was always the first to enter the Stargate, especially during a dangerous mission like this one. But what really got to him was what the three were doing.
The two oldest Vampyr, Mulcahy and Murphy from their nametags, pulled out the chemical grenades that would be the first things through the Gate. But all three Vampyr emptied a little water into the cans and started swinging them between two fingers. When the third chevron lit another Vampyr stepped up and faced all three.
"On the sixth, release your weapons. Anyone who misses has to swap his good gungetubes for the winners bad ones. In the event of a tie, all bets are off."
The sixth chevron seemed to come only after a age of waiting and the three slung their cans high into the air, towards the Gate. The seventh chevron locked and the wormhole whooshed into existence. The cans were coming down and all three disappeared into the outwash, vaporised by the wormhole's birth.
"Aw crap."
A collective groan went up from the crowd and the two with the grenades stepped up. As they took care of their appointed task, Jack pulled John to the side.
"What the hell was that?"
"A little competition. Every time a Vampyr team goes out we throw cans into the 'hole as it forms. If you miss you get all the crap food in the group or buy the drinks when you come back. The bet is usually decided at the briefing."
The grenades sailed through, on their way to complete their deadly job. The Vampyr moved up past SG-1 and took station, counting off the seconds. When they hit ten they raced through.
SG-1 ran after them, shocked by the speed that their support showed. All thirty-five men and women had covered the short space in the blink of an eye. The trio pulled on their gas masks and entered the wormhole, bracing themselves for the familiar disorientation as their molecules sped on their way to another world half a galaxy away.
They came out to a darkened world and saw red. The gas from the grenade was bleeding off and the forms of Jaf'far and Serpent priests were lying strewn across the ground. Pools and sprinkles of blood stained the ground around some of the helmeted guards. One of the Vampyr was sitting on the edge of the Stargate's stone ramp and a couple of his friends were checking a wound on his leg.
"What happened?"
John came over and stood beside them.
"A few of the guards had their helmets up when we came through. The gas never got to them and as soon as they saw us they opened fire and managed to clip Sean's leg. It'll be fine but he has to go back. There's no chance of him going any further. Come on."
The ramp was cleared and the Stargate fired up. The injured Vampyr dialled in his code on a GDO and stepped through to safety. Once he had disappeared from sight the Gate was powered down and the whole team got ready to leave.

******

Chulak, the main city of the planet, was built like many of the medieval villages of Earth. Nestled beside a river that was both a source of water and a barrier against attack, it was also a weakness that the SGC team was fully prepared to exploit. The current wasn't fast and it wasn't hard going, cutting down the time allotted to cross the water.
Carter kept looking at her watch, counting down the seconds until they could safely enter the palace. And she was counting down the hours that they had left in this universe.
* Nine hours and change. *
She whispered the words to herself and caught warning glances from the Vampyr around her. Then she remembered that their hearing was far greater than an average human's and her face warmed. Raising her weapon, she checked her surrounding, an alley just off the main thoroughfare that led to the castle's main gates. They were waiting here just long enough to spot the usual patrol and count the guards at the front gate. Their operative had said that there were only ever two on duty and that another two would be in the hall just off the doors.
Four shadows moved along the walls and Sam moved forward to catch a glimpse of the attacking Vampyr. They split into pairs and moved silently, far quieter than any human could. The pairs stopped short of their soon to be victims and blurred. The Jaf'far were hit hard and fast. She saw both guards go down hard, one Vampyr holding it down while the other did the knife work. The team moved forward, as quickly and as quietly as they could with their human and Tok'ra baggage. The four killers waiting by the doors used their Zat guns on the dead guards, shooting three bolts into each and erasing them from existence.
The worst part was still to come.
The guards inside were an unknown factor, something that is never welcomed in Special Forces warfare. They were totally reliant on their operative, a person whose loyalty was divided at best.
In short, a traitor is still a traitor, no matter whose side they work on.
They heard a noise on the other side of the doors and moved back. Swinging open quickly the massive gold encrusted doors showed a woman with a basket, flanked by two helmeted guards. The SGC team didn't wait for a second chance. Seven of the Vampyr used Zat guns, firing repeated blasts. The Jaf'far twisted in agony only for a second as blue energy cascaded across their bodies before it vaporised them. Within half a second the woman was the only one left of the three and she froze as all the teams weapons pointed at her. She threw the basket to the side and gestured to the team, beckoning them in. Running as fast as they could the entered the building and shut the doors.
Being inside the building didn't help to ease the tension that they all seemed to fear. Waving his hands to both sides, the group split into two formations, one on each side of the hallway. As they crept forward with the guide only slightly ahead of their group the got ready to fight or run, whatever was needed at that moment.
The woman, clad in her tattered work clothes, stopped at the next intersection. Mulcahy came up beside her and they whispered for a minute. Jack moved up from his position and joined the Vampyr and the spy.
"Where are they?"
"Chel'eya sis dat Ammonet and de udder two are meting in a rum on de west wing of de top flur. Doctor Jackson is with dem. Apparently he's bin offered to Hathor is a bargaining chip."
"Oh yeah. They have history. I bet he's real happy about that."
"De rum dat dey're in isn't de best for us ta try an hold. She sis it's got a few entry points, too many for us ta hold. De only ting we have going for us is dat de Goa'uld gest quarters are in da south wing about a hundred yards away. If we get trapped we can use de Goa'uld as bargaining chips."
Jack nodded. He understood most of what Mulcahy had said but that was all right. He'd got the important parts. "How many guards in all?"
The woman answered, using her knowledge to their advantage.
"There will only be a dozen in the meeting chamber, four for each Goa'uld. Others guards will be stationed around the palace to prevent any one Goa'uld from trying an assassination."
"What's the safest way up?"
She pointed to the left, in the direction of the west wing. Moving ahead she walked to the end of the corridor alone and checked for guards. When she saw none she waved to the team who came running at full speed and then froze when they heard the familiar clank-clank of approaching guards. Mulcahy gestured frantically to the sides and the team disappeared behind the pillars lining the walls. Seconds later the guards came into sight and disappeared down the direction that the team needed to go.
The Vampyr and Chel'eya conferred for a second and then she led the way to a door that was down the hall the guards had gone. Before entering the Vampyr leader waved to two of his men and held up three fingers. The two men separated one disappearing behind the pillars again and the other running back to the door, pulling free a small package from his backpack. Carter saw the flash of silver paper that meant that whatever they were doing it involved explosives.
Mulcahy caught the direction of the look and smiled.
"Jist a bit of a pre'caution. If we nead ta lave in a hurry, we can clere any unwinted comp'ny outta da way."

******

"We can easily clear those guards, O'Neill."
Jack didn't know if he should be shocked or happy. Those had been the first words that his friend had spoken to him since this whole mission had started. Maybe it was because that he had been too absorbed in everything that he had seen since he had come to this reality. Admittedly it had been a shock to see the baby Daniel and all, and to know that most of his friends on this world were dead, including Sarah.
They had been looking into the room using a fibre optic camera and what they saw didn't help them any. The room's layout was simple. Large and square it had a door at each cardinal point. The three Goa'uld were arrayed at the North, East and West doors, facing the centre. The South door was where the SGC team was positioned and Ammonet was directly across from them. From what they could see on their little screen everything was quiet in the room at the moment.
"How?"
Mulcahy came up and listened as Teal'c explained the lay of the land.
"There will be four guards for each of the Goa'uld, twelve in all. Any more would be a breach of protocol. I do not know if any more would be allowed to be positioned nearby..."
"I do."
Mulcahy stared at the female Tok'ra as she elbowed her way into the conversation.
"I was a servant on Cronos' staff when he had such a meeting. There will be no guards on this floor in accordance with protocol but the individual Goa'uld's Primes may come and go as they please. They can call for reinforcements easily."
"But how about the guards on the other floors? How many will there be?"
Jolinar shrugged.
"There are few precedents for a meeting such as this and nearly all have ended badly. Ammonet will have a large Jaf'far presence here, watching the other Jaf'far and guarding against treachery."
"Why didn't they spot us then?"
"They would not be looking for the actions of a third party. If treachery was detected the Jaf'far would have to move quickly and viciously against their counterparts. That would mean that they would have to overwhelm the other Goa'uld's Jaf'far with as much of their own forces as possible."
Mulcahy stifled a muttered curse. Having a roving patrol was one thing but having a trio of Jaf'far wandering around was too much. Especially Jaf'far Primes who could call on any one of three armies at a moment's notice.
"Get ready, we move in hard. Seamus, go left and take Ne'erti. Marcus, go right for Ammonet. I'll take my section for Hathor. Colonel, you take your people and de Tok'ra and get your Doctor Jackson."
The orders given, everyone got ready for hell. Mulcahy took a deep breath and stood, everyone following his action. He held one hand up, all his fingers extended. As each second passed he folded a finger back into his fist and when the fist was closed he bulled forward and into the door.

******

Jaf'far guards are trained to react quickly and they did, levelling their staff weapons and firing into the team as they flooded into the room. Vampyr went down as yellow pulses of fire hit their bodies but a Jaf'far never got to make a second shot as Earth weapons chattered and cut them down. The fire died as the Vampyr's better reflexes and aim made short work of the guards. The Goa'uld were another story.
Ne'erti and Hathor activated their personal shields and raised their hands to unleash their own fire. A few Vampyr shot at her with their machine guns in vain, watching their bullets flay away without causing harm. Smarter Vampyr pulled their Goa'uld killing tubes and fired, scoring hits on their enemy and saving their own lives in the process. SG-1 ran across the room, crashing into Ammonet just as her own shield went up. Jack whipped his weapon's butt across the Goa'uld's head, stunning her long enough to rip off her glove, killing any chances of her getting away.
Carter and Teal'c looked around and saw that the other two Goa'uld were lying on the ground, their gloves also stripped off and Vampyr standing over them with shaky grins on their faces, They were entitled to grin now but the butchers bill had been high. Major Mulcahy was checking six bodies on the ground, killed instantly by Jaf'far shots. Another two were injured and barely able to move. She turned and saw Teal'c bent over a figure on the floor, Jack sitting beside him, ripping the figure's clothes to get at a wound on a bloody leg.
It was Daniel. She ran to help.
"Seamus, get your team outside and ready to repel attack. Give us enough time to prep these bitches and then we'll be with you."
The Vampyr ran out the door, his men following. One of them was a Vampyr that Sam recognised, one of the sappers that had placed charges below. He pulled a detonator from his pocket and threw it to Mulcahy as he ran by. The Major waited for all of a second before pressing the button. Dull thumps came from below and dust showered down from the ceiling.
"Kelly. Get them up and wired."
John turned from guarding SG-1 and the Tok'ra and pulled off his backpack. He tore it open and took out three loops of detcord, detonators and triggers. He reached in again and brought out chains, similar to those used to shackle prisoners on Earth. Grabbing Ammonet, he cuffed her hands and then her feet. The Goa'uld was still groggy from Jack's attack and gave John no resistance as he wound the detcord around her head and tied it off. A small pat of C-4 went at the back of her head and he carefully jammed the detonator into the grey putty like substance. A heavy roll of silver duct-tape wound a few times around her head and his job was done.
It took longer to do Ne'erti and Hathor because they were only wounded and not stunned. If it had been up to him he would have shot them with a Zat a couple of times and left it at that. But these three were needed alive for the moment.
A barrage of yellow staff weapon fire came from the hallway, spattering across the wall and tearing chunks of masonry free. Everyone dived to the floor and heard the answering hail of fire from the Vampyr outside the room.

******

Tony Mulcahy was fairly worried. They'd expected that the Jaf'far would react quickly but not this quickly. The original idea was to capture the Goa'uld and use them as shields against attack. But that wouldn't pan out because the Jaf'far considered their Goa'uld to be gods and therefore immortal and untouchable. They'd keep attacking until their god was free.
"Teal'c. Cin I borrow you for a sec?"
The Jaf'far got up from his position on the ground and ran across the room. He'd been helping John restrain and booby-trap the three false gods, admiring the way that these Vampyr treated those he despised for enslaving his race.
"How can I be of service, Major Mulcahy?"
"Is dere any way we cin stop or at least slow dese attacks?"
Teal'c understood what the Major really meant meant. How do they get away without the Jaf'far chasing them halfway to hell and gone?
"We must show them that the Goa'uld will die if they attack. The only way to do that is talk to their Prime. Only he has the authority to stop them."
"How cin we git his attention without gitting killed?"
Teal'c stood and walked to the door of the corridor. He took a quick look out into the hall leading up to the room and saw the bodies of at least three of the team lying dead in the open. But there were a lot more Jaf'far dead further down the hall and a lot more dead from the charges that the Major had ordered placed. Standing straight he held his staff weapon as if at attention and stepped around the corner.
"JAF'FAR KREE!"
Teal'c shout was deafening and the fire slackened. The Vampyr in the corridor pulled their wounded to safety as a tall gold armoured Jaf'far stepped into view and matched Teal'c's stance.
"Sho'vah! How dare you show your face here?"
"I am no Sho'vah! I have betrayed no one. I do not kneel at the feet of these false gods like a vak'nar, Malen'k."
The Prime raised his weapon to fire and Teal'c didn't move as he saw a dozen guns cover the man who now held his position.

******

Daniel came to in a world of hurt. The pain from the bullet wound was more than mildly vicious. He'd felt someone sticking him with a needle and the pain had ebbed but not by much. Maybe it was time to open his eyes and demand more drugs.
Whoever owned the hands that exposed his wound would never win the prizes for Warmest Hands or Softest Touch. Once he saw the guy, depending on his eyes ever opening, he'd sue for assault.
* May as well get it over with and see how bad the damage is. *
He leaned his head forward first and waited for the dizziness to ease off before he let the light touch his eyes.
"Come on Daniel, Stop moving around and let me do my job."
The archaeologist shot up to a sitting position and nearly puked his lungs up from the wave of agony that flooded his body.
"Jesus Jack. Don't do that."
Awareness slowly seeped into Daniel's mind as his brain went to twenty-percent power.
"Jack is that you."
"Who'd you think it was? The tooth fairy?"
"But how?"
Jack freed one hand from bandaging his friend and let Carter take over.
* She's a lot better at the first care anyway. *
He pointed his hand behind him and Daniel made out the features of John Kelly sitting on the back of Hathor as he wrapped a load of some silver tape around the Goa'uld's mouth.
He had never seen a more beautiful sight.
"What happens now?"
"We're going to try and get out. Are you all right to walk?"
Daniel remembered the last couple of days. Ammonet had first had her Jaf'far beat him beaten half to death a couple of times and healed in the sarcophagus after each time. The old addiction never had time to surface because every time he got pulled out the Jaf'far would be waiting to beat him again. Then Ammonet had realised he was more valuable as a bargaining tool and offered him to Hathor as a plaything.
* I'd prefer the beatings. *
The last half-hour had been bad. The three Goa'uld had hammered out a plan to attack Earth and use it's surviving population as a new form of Jaf'far than as normal slaves. He knew that they'd be able to pull it off if they played it right. One of the worst things was the occasional look that he'd get from Ammonet. She would let Sha're surface for a second and knew that everything that the Goa'uld did to him was focused on hurting her. And by giving him to Hathor, a known defiler of all things, it would break Sha're's spirit altogether.
"I'll bloody well walk out of here!"
Daniel tried to get to his feet and was thrown down when Jack knocked him over. The fire from the Jaf'far was bad but not dangerous to everyone inside. And then Teal'c ran over, talked with some guy for a second and then walked out as if on parade.
Crawling over he reached Mulcahy's side and heard the beginning of the exchange. He looked through the Jaf'far's legs and saw Malen'k, Ammonet's First Prime, standing facing his friend. He felt hands grip him from behind and crouched down as Jack and Sam took hold of him. The Irishman turned to the archaeologist and smiled.
"Nice ta see ya up and about. I don't want ta bring up business but wha' da hell does vak'nar mean?"
"Basically, asshole would cover it but it loses in the translation."
"I thought that. Teal'c."
The Jaf'far turned his head slightly to show that he had heard Mulcahy.
"Tell them that if they attack we kill Ammonet."
Daniel answered for his friend the Jaf'far.
"They won't believe that. You'd have to show them."
Mulcahy stared at Daniel for a second and then waved John over. They whispered for a second and the younger Vampyr stood and walked over to a small ornamental pillar and pulled off the ball that rested on it's top. Then he walked out into the line of fire.

******

John wasn't exactly scared by the turn of events. If push came to shove he'd top the three Goa'uld and leg it out the nearest window. At the moment he was wondering what his insurance broker would say about this.
"Teal'c. Which of these is the Prime?"
The massive Jaf'far nodded to the ornamented guard at the end of the hall. The Vampyr needed to really get his attention.
"Yo, golden-arse. Get a load of this."
Walking forward a few steps he placed the ball of stone on the ground and wrapped the detcord around it. He copied the moves he'd made in readying the Goa'uld and soon there was a silver band around the ball with a white line running up to a green handle gripped in his fist.
"Watch what happens when I let this go."
John let go and the ball blew apart as the C-4 detonated. Dust and silence filled the hall for a few seconds and then John spoke again.
"You're god has the same harness around her head and that'll come apart a lot easier than stone. If you attack again, she loses her head. If you don't let us by, she loses her head. If you mess with us in any way, she dies. And I doubt that you'd be able to revive a headless corpse in one of those coffin things."
The Prime trembled for a moment and it looked like he was going to fire at John. And then he stopped.
"You will release our Lady when you reach the chappa'ai."
John nodded and shouted out.
"SIR. READY TO ROLL."
The Vampyr poured out of the room with the three Goa'uld in tow. Their going was slow because of the chains but it was necessary. Without the chains the Goa'uld would most likely try something stupid and fatal. As the whole group entered the hall the Jaf'far at the far end stood and readied to fire. Mulcahy pushed the three Goa'uld to the front and shouted at the Prime.
"Try something stupid, ya gold plated shite, and these die!"
The Jaf'far lowered their weapons at a mumbled order from the Prime and stood aside. Mulcahy pushed ahead and the Goa'uld returned to the centre of the group and away from the only help that they could ever have.

******

It took ten minutes to get down to the front door. The massive portal had been blasted open and scarred black by the Vampyr's bombs and were totally useless. Outside, rank and rank of Jaf'far stood in the street, ready for an attack that could never take place. Jack stood ready outside the group, aiming at one Jaf'far and then switching to another as they moved down the street. Something caught his eye for a second and then he realised what it was.
"Teal'c. Who do they belong to?"
He pointed his gun at a group of light blue armoured Jaf'far with odd markings on their armour and foreheads. He'd never seen Jaf'far insignia like these. His friend stood beside him, his own weapon pointed out and aimed. He took in the sigils and surprise showed on his face.
"They are Hathor's Jaf'far O'Neill. I know nothing of their prowess in battle."
Jack looked at Hathor's men again and something didn't strike him as being right. Then he saw that all of the guards had their Zat guns off and in their hands.
Now he had a problem on his hands that could be a disaster. If he called out a warning all the Vampyr would open up on those Jaf'far and all the Jaf'far, Hathor's, Ammonet's and Ne'erti's would return their fire. After five minutes there'd be nothing left except a pile of bodies, the SGC team's at the bottom.
"Mulcahy."
The Vampyr came over to stand by Jack and saw what he saw. He didn't acknowledge the danger and walked over to two of his men and whispered into their ears. Once he had seen that they had understood their orders he returned to Jack and whispered to him.
"Deal with it. Use him."
He pointed to the First Prime. Jack caught the eye of the Jaf'far and tilted his head. The golden guard looked at him quizzically and followed his gaze until it fell on Hathor's men. And he saw the drawn weapons.
"JAF'FAR HATHOR KREE!"
He levelled his staff at the blue clad Jaf'far and triggered a blast into Hathor's Prime, killing him. The other Jaf'far in Hathor's ranks returned fire and the street dissolved into a blaze of weapon's fire.
The Vampyr ran. Three of the SGC team picked up their prisoners and ran like hell, covering ground at a pace that would have made an Olympic class athlete cry. The rest of the team followed, the members of SG-1 also slung over their shoulders. A few ofthe Jaf'far reacted quickly and fired after the Vampyr but only hit fresh air. And then they looked down and saw the last of the Vampyr's plastic explosive sitting in a pile in the street.
Then it exploded.

******

The team was the better part of half a mile away from the castle when the sound of the explosion reached them. As the echo of the blast went through the hills, they slowed and stopped. The Vampyr let the members of SG-1 fall to the ground where they rolled around in agony for a minute. The fireman's lift that each of them had been thrown into and then carried roughly had nearly cut holes in them. And Daniel's wound was bleeding again. Jack got up form the ground and staggered over to Mulcahy. He was supervising a couple of his men as they lay sheets on the ground and rolled the Goa'uld into them. Another sheet was put aside and the two Vampyr minding it were eyeing the injured archaeologist.
"How long do we have?"
"I don't know. If da Jaf'far git dere fingers out, de can be here in a few minutes. But we won't be. Come on."
Daniel's bandage was changed and then he was bundled into the open sheet. The Major checked that all of his people were ready and came up short in his count.
"Where are the Tok'ra? Did anyone see them fall?"
A chorus of 'no-sirs' came back to answer his question.
"Fuck dem den. We're gone."
Two minutes later the whole team was moving quickly toward the Stargate and safety.
But the Jaf'far still had one card to play.
The first of the Death Gliders flew overhead when the team was within a four hundred yards of the Stargate. Jack looked up and felt the first twinges of fear. The Jaf'far could literally act as a human barricade and hold them at the Gate.
"Teal'c, how many Jaf'far could fit in one of those."
Teal'c was watching the craft fly overhead and land out of sight.
"Nearly a hundred in one such craft, O'Neill. And four such craft have gone by. They will not let us pass easily."
The third Glider was going into land when a streak of fire shot up from a nearby copse of trees. Then another from less than tens yards away. The craft wobbled on the first strike and then flipped over as the second blast clipped off its port wing. It rolled over twice in the air and slammed into the ground with deceptive slowness. A massive ball of fire and a wall of sound washed up out of the valley and the team dropped to the ground.
The fire died to a rush of warm air before reaching their position and the Vampyr got up and ran for the Stargate. A second explosion rocked the ground beneath them and the sight they behold in the valley stopped them in their tracks.
The first two craft were sitting side by side on the ground to the left of the Stargate, while the skeleton of the third lay burning to the right. A pillar of smoke and flames came from the burning craft as the fuel and people within burned. The bodies of a hundred of more Jaf'far were tossed around like so many toys, strewn in grotesque positions of death. Others lay on the ground, still except for the rise and fall of their chests.
There was a rustle of movement from the trees and the team froze and turned, pointing their weapons as a group of Vampyr burst from cover. One of them came over and saluted Major Mulcahy lazily. Jack recognised him as the SGC's Operations Officer Captain Ackerman.
"How you doin', boss? The General sent us through to help your egress."
Mulcahy smiled and pointed down into the valley.
"Lets get the fuck out of here."

******

The Major dialled in the co-ordinates of Earth and the wormhole billowed out as he slammed his hand down on the centre orb. He stood back and watched his men run by at full speed on towards their safe haven. The three Vampyr prisoners were dragged over to the Major as all of SG-1came to stand by his side.
"When the others have left, we'll dial out for the Land of the Light. Once there you can use the Mirror and go back to your own reality. Then John and I'll destroy it."
Daniel smiled at the thought of going home and then caught sight of Ammonet glaring at him and the others.
"What about them?"
Mulcahy smiled coldly at the Goa'uld. The officer that commanded the backup team answered for him.
"The General has given specific orders about these three. We know that Ne'erti and Cronos have never really got on so he's in store for a very nice little package. Hathor can answer a few questions for us."
"You do know about her..."
"Her little love touch deal. Yes we know. Vampyr are slightly more resistant but just in case only women will be guarding her while we ask her about her intelligence network."
"And Ammonet?"
"That's something else entirely."
The last of the Vampyr stepped through taking Ne'erti and Hathor with them and the wormhole shut as Mulcahy hit the orb again.

******

Ammonet hopped around, trying to guess why she had been left behind. From what she had seen of these Tau'ri they were far from likely to let her go easily. But it was only a matter of time before her guards arrived and rescued her. Then the deaths of these dogs would be measured in days.

******

Seconds after the wormhole to Earth disappeared Mulcahy was hitting the sequence for The Land of the Light. A metallic shriek sounded from behind them as the wormhole came into existence. They looked back and up into the sky and saw the outline of a Death Glider against the blue sky.
"MOVE!"
Ackerman grabbed Daniel by the arm and helped him through the Stargate as the Glider began its attack run. Mulcahy grabbed Ammonet and threw the Goa'uld over his shoulder. Sam ran ahead and grabbed Daniel's other shoulder, helping him to safety while Jack, John and Teal'c fired in the direction of the Glider. The wormhole rippled as Daniel and his bearers stepped through with Mulcahy and then the three remaining men ran, jumping the last few feet into the shimmering blue light. As they entered the wormhole they heard the crack and thumps of weapons fire cutting into the ground behind them.

******

Jack rolled into darkness as soon as he hit the other side, cushioning his fall with his shoulder. Teal'c landed beside him and rolled to the side as soon as he got to his feet. A blast of energy cut through from Chulak and tore a massive clump of sod from the ground, showering everyone with dirt. Another blast tore through and then another.
The wormhole cut out before a fourth blast could come through and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Except Mulcahy. The darkness of the woods was gone, lit by a hundred little embers and fires from the Jaf'far attack. They could clearly see the form of Ammonet as she struggled to get up and then they saw the man who had been carrying her. Major Mulcahy had tossed Ammonet aside as the last blast had cut through and it had landed at his feet, tossing him aside in bloody tatters. Sam ran to his side and slapped compresses on the two biggest wounds that she could see but she didn't hold out much hope. John came up beside her and calmly placed an IV line into the injured Vampyr's arm and connected a bag of plasma.
"That won't help him."
She slapped another compress on and searched in her kit for more bandages.
"Major. He's Vampyr. If he survives the next twenty minutes he'll be fine. We have to leave and get you to your home. You've only a few hours left by my reckoning."
She looked at her watch and saw that he was right. But she didn't want to leave an injured man behind.
"What can we do for him?"
John grabbed the injured man under the armpits and pulled him under a tree stump. They'd burn out soon and have to rely on the only Vampyr they had to guide them. But they had an idea of where the Mirror was this time.
Moving as quickly as they could with the shackled Goa'uld slowing them down they were halfway to their destination when the Stargate opened up behind them. They stopped to listen for a second and heard the familiar clank of Jaf'far and then the leisurely walk ended. Stepping to the side Ackerman waved to John.
"Pick that bitch up and get her and SG-1 to the Mirror. Colonel, it was a pleasure to meet you and your team but you'll have to go now and as quickly as possible. Here."
He handed Jack a letter that had his own handwriting on it. Bemused, he stuck it in his pocket and saluted the Captain.
"Will you be all right?"
"I'll lead them on a wild goose chase and John can back me up once you're clear. Once you're gone we'll take care of them."
He waved them past and crouched behind a large rotting tree not too far off the trail. Sg-1 moved past and John stripped the bomb from her head and then flipped Ammonet onto his back. He spared one backward glance for the Captain and moved off.

******

Johnny Ackerman felt like a prize asshole.
He was an intelligence officer with a terrestrial career like none other. A friend of his, a former schoolmate from West Point, had heard an admiral say that he'd be the youngest flag ever. If he survived his stupid move.
He'd read every mission report from every SGC team since the command's inception and he'd forgot that the Land of the Light was one of the darkest places that you could ever go to. He had known that the Vampyr used this place as a training facility to get used to night operations and he forgot.
He mentally kicked himself and felt his belt where the pouch for a set of NVG's would be. At least he had one up on the Jaf'far. If they used their serpent masks to find their way, he'd see the red eyes long before they'd see him. One quick burst of fire and he'd leg it along the trail and spring another ambush.
There was a noise from somewhere ahead and he braced himself to fire.
He never even heard the Jaf'far step up behind him.

******

Malen'k stood over the body of the Tau'ri and sniffed the air. The human had posed no serious challenge but those other Tau'ri were a different story. He would have to recommend wiping out that race once he had liberated his goddess.

******

John knew there was a problem when he heard the one blast from a staff weapon. If there was no answering fire it meant that the Jaf'far had been very lucky or very good. If he was good it probably meant that it was a Master Jaf'far out there and not just any Goa'uld guard. He hefted Ammonet higher on his shoulder and moved faster along the trail.

******

Jack heard the blast and knew that the kid he had just left behind was dead. As much as he wanted to go back and kill whoever had killed the Captain, it wouldn't do any good. He didn't have any NVG's and the killer had come up on a trained soldier in a really dark place, which meant that he did have NVG's.
"John how far?"
The Vampyr turned his head but kept moving along the trail.
"A hundred yards. You can see the light ahead."
Jack looked past the Vampyr and saw a glimmer of light. The trail was lit against the backdrop.
"Right we'll run for it. Can you carry her?"
John shrugged and looked at SG-1 for a second. Daniel was struggling to stand while Carter and Teal'c were having a hard time helping him along. He dumped Ammonet on the ground and grabbed Daniel, slinging him over his shoulder.
"Teal'c you grab her and hurry. She's lighter than Daniel any day of the week."
The Vampyr started running for the Mirror's clearing. Teal'c took up the Goa'uld and ran after him letting Sam and Jack follow as quickly as they could while still covering their backs.
John made it into the clearing in no time and gently lowered the archaeologist to the ground. The wound had clotted, which was a good sign but he was still weak. Major Carter came into the clearing with Teal'c and began to care for Daniel. Boxes of medical supplies, munitions and otherwise were still clustered about and she tore into one, finding the bandages and plasma she needed. Once he had made sure that Sam was doing all right he got the hand device for the Mirror and started dialling through the alternate realities. If he was lucky it was already close to the original setting.
He was lucky.
The faces of SG-6 came into sight and John shouted in delight. The men of the other reality started to move about when they saw that like John's Mirror, it's face had cleared to show a picture.
"Major Carter. Get Doctor Jackson through now, before the Jaf'far get here."
Sam didn't wait for a second. Dragging Daniel along the ground she stopped just short of the Mirror and looked at John for the last time.
"Thanks, John."
"No bother."
She held Daniel close and touched the Mirror, disappearing from sight and reappearing in a flash on the Mirror's face. Members of SG-6 clustered around her and helped her with Daniel. Teal'c stepped up and looked at John.
"Warriors of your calibre are rarely found in our reality. Be well."
The Jaf'far stepped up to the Mirror and went through.
Jack bounded into the clearing and stood over Ammonet.
"What happens with her?"
"She goes with you!"
Jack looked over at John in shock.
"I was told to tell you that she goes with you but not why. I'd say the reason is in that letter. Now go."
Jack pulled Ammonet to the Mirror and saluted. The Vampyr was too busy opening crates to see the gesture and Jack turned to go, tugging his prisoner close to him. That act saved his life.

******

Malen'k jerked his weapon high and saw his shot miss the Tau'ri before he could touch the statue. The pitiful human fell back, pulling his Lady to the ground and shielding him from another shot. He switched to the other Tau'ri and saw that this one was fast but not fast enough. The Jaf'far let loose with another shot and hit the human's discarded gun, destroying it.
He shot another blast and the human jumped high into the air, higher than any human could. Cursing he raised his staff and it tangled in the leaves before he could bring it on target. The Tau'ri landed on him, ripping down through the foliage with a scream of rage.

******

Ammonet started to struggle the second that Jack fell back and it took all of his strength to keep the stupid woman lying down. He pulled his sidearm and swiped for her head, trying to stun her. His first lunge missed and she made a grab for his hand. She raised her knees to her chest and used the extra length of chain to loop over his wrist. He felt the chain bite into the flesh of his arm and knew that the weapon would fall out of his hand and into hers if he didn't do something.
Rolling hard, he pushed the Goa'uld off of him and trapped her body under his. He leaned forward and pushed her face into the broken sod so she couldn't see what she was doing. It wasn't much but it was enough. The Goa'uld stopped tugging on the chain for a moment and started to push her legs out straight.
Jack felt himself rise up and saw that she was angling to get further away from the Mirror. As he got further off the ground he felt the Goa'uld begin to shift her weight, he dropped the pistol and looped his right arm around her throat and pushed hard towards the Mirror reaching out with his left hand. And then he heard the safety come off his gun.

******

John came down hard through the trees and landed hard on the Jaf'far. He caught a glimpse of the golden armour and just started throwing blows when he landed. The Prime dropped his staff and leapt backwards, using a retreat to buy him enough time to pull his Zat. John saw the move and jumped again, driving both feet into the Jaf'far's chest and knocking the weapon free from his grasp. The kick threw the Jaf'far up against a tree and the Vampyr heard something break in his opponents body before he went limp. He came forward again to make sure that the Jaf'far was dead and heard a shot come from the clearing. He grabbed the fallen Zat and ran.

******

Ammonet twisted like Jack expected her to but it was only to give her some room to fire at him. She pulled the trigger of the gun and he felt fire bloom in his side as her first shot grazed him. He pushed forward and felt her loose balance before he fell off. She rolled again and came up firing, her knees tucked against her chest and the gun extended, sights lined up on his chest.

******

John sprinted out of the forest and saw the Goa'uld aim for the Colonel. Running hard, he knew he had only a few seconds to act and threw the first thing at hand to distract the creature from killing his friend. He didn't have time to stop and aim because a wild shot might set off something in one of the crates so he just threw the Zat gun.
The throw was lucky, hitting the Goa'uld's clasped hands just before she pulled the trigger. The shot went straight into the ground and spattering the Colonel with dirt. John landed on her and kicked the gun from her hand before throwing her hard against the Mirror. She folded around the device, her breath billowing from her body with an almighty exclamation of pain before she disappeared.
"You can be SG-6's problem from now on."
Once she had gone from sight, John went to help the Colonel who was revelling in his own private universe of pain for a few seconds. Gently shaking Jack's shoulder his only response was the human grabbing him by the tunic to stop the Vampyr shaking his body anymore.
"Colonel, can you stand?"
"...no..."
"Okay then. I'm going to lift you to the Mirror and put you against it. You'll fall back into your own reality then."
The Vampyr gently lifted the Colonel and moved him over to the Quantum Mirror. He began to put him down when a crash came from the forest and the Jaf'far came into sight. Blood was streaming from his chest and face, his features pale from loss of blood. The staff weapon in his hand wavered as he aimed at the two men.
"In the name of Ammonet, die!"
John let go the Colonel and dove for the gun or at least tried to. Jack still had a firm hold of his tunic as he fell against the Mirror and pulled both of them into the Colonel's reality just as the Jaf'far fired.

******

Sam sat back and watched the medic work on Daniel. It was easy to see that whatever damage the bullet had caused it wasn't too bad. She guessed that most of Daniel's pain came from the bruises that she had seen under his Goa'uld gown. The archaeologist was out of it for the moment, sleeping in a blessed drug filled haze for a while.
Teal'c was still watching the Mirror and something made him tense and shift forward. She stood and looked around him, seeing what he saw in the surface of the Mirror.
She saw the Colonel struggle for a moment and flip the Goa'uld over and saw the flash of the gun as it went off. He rolled free and the Goa'uld aimed the weapon and Sam jumped forward ready to leap through the Mirror and riddle the Gao'uld. Teal'c stopped her and she saw a blur as something hit her in the arm. There was another blur that landed on her, knocking the gun out of her hand. The Major recognised John and saw him pick the Goa'uld up before throwing her. Sam flinched as she saw Ammonet coming straight at her.
SG-6 ran forward and dragged the Goa'uld away from the Mirror. One of the soldiers flipped her over and sat on her back, pinning her down. Then they went back to the Mirror.

******

Teal'c was the first to see something wrong. He could spot the blood on the Colonel's vest and knew his friend had been wounded once again. But that was not what caught his attention. He saw John Kelly's head turn in surprise at something and then dive for a weapon, releasing the Colonel from his grasp. A second later there was a flash and both men were here in front of him.
A yellow flash of energy floated by the Mirror and then another. A third shot bit into a crate by the Mirror and then the image disappeared. And Teal'c knew why.

******

John dived and rolled but his hand came up empty and there was no target. He searched for a second and saw only SGC uniforms and realised that he had come across with the Colonel. He went to the Mirror and stretched his arm forward to return to his reality but Teal'c stopped him. The Jaf'far looked him in the eye.
"The Jaf'far who fired at you hit the crates that lay beside the Mirror. I believe that one of them said C-4."
John sagged to the ground and went limp. If what Teal'c said was true then he couldn't go back.
"John."
The Vampyr turned and saw Jack looking at him, a letter in hand. Getting to his feet the young man walked over to the injured Colonel as the medic worked on him.
"It's only a flesh wound sir. Doctor Frasier will want to take a look at it when we go back but its nothing."
Jack ignored the words. As far as he was concerned the wound was nothing at the moment. Sure if he moved it would become the only thing in his universe but he needed to help the Vampyr.
"We'll ask others we know if they can find us another Mirror. Until then we have a place for you."
John nodded and walked over to Ammonet. The marine sitting on the Goa'uld got off and the Vampyr scooped her up into his arms.
"We'll need to get the two of you to the Infirmary."

******

TWO MONTHS LATER

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news son but we've had word back from the Tollan. They knew of the location of four Mirrors and each of those has been destroyed or lost to the Goa'uld. The Nox and the Tok'ra were also unable to help us. I'm afraid that for the moment, you're stuck with us."
John sat down at hearing the General's news and looked at the tabletop for the moment. He wasn't able to meet anyone's eyes for the moment because he felt as if he'd freak if he saw pity in anyone's eyes.
The last two months had been easy enough. Jack had read the letter that his counterpart had sent him and laughed his ass off for some of it. The rest of the letter made him solemn as hell and once he had finished reading it, he burnt it. The only thing he said was that Ammonet was a gift of sorts for Daniel.
The archaeologist had gone nuts, railing against his friend and commander, saying that this was just a copy and not his wife. Jack had said that it was a chance at a new beginning. The last that John had heard of Daniel was that he was enjoying his second honeymoon on Abydos with Sha're. It had apparently been fairly hard explaining to her father that she was and wasn't Sha're.
His life hadn't been to hard either. He didn't have a lot of technical knowledge but what he did have made Major Carter disappear into her lab for six days and come out with a prototype plasma bomb. An active one. It took John ten seconds to disarm it and two hours in the brig to stop him from killing the scientist.
Everything else had been pure vanilla. A new identity, moulded over the events in his life in his reality as well as a new house and car. The only thing missing had been his world, the one he had been used to and that was out of reach. And after two weeks it hit him. This was his home if he wanted it. If he had the chance he would go back to his reality but until then he could be happy here.
"General. Thank you. If you hear any more of a Mirror's location I'd like to know. But until then I'd like if possible to join this SGC."
John stood at attention and looked the General in the eye.
"O doubt that I'll find much objection to you joining us here Mister Kelly. Welcome to Stargate Command."

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THE END
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Okay. Very simple. If you liked the story get back to me or give me a review. Good or bad, I don't care but I hoped that you enjoyed it.