The Hunted

by ChristyK

Jack and Daniel are hunted by two men on a Earth like planet

The Hunted

Daniel threw his head back and screamed in agony, his body arching out of the chair he was tied to. Ryan shoved the knife in his leg and twisted it enjoying the pain it was inflicting.

"Let him alone!" Jack yelled as he struggled in vain to free himself.

They were both tied to chairs in what appeared to be some kind of hunting lodge.

Ryan only looked at his buddy Gerald and laughed as he continued to twist the knife.

"Oh God!" Daniel moaned, tears of pain glistening in his eyes. "Please stop! Jack please make them stop."

"Damn you bastards, leave him alone!" Jack glared at the men. "What the hell do you want anyway!"

Both men just looked at him and grinned. To Jack they looked like typical Earth hillbillies, except they weren't on Earth. Both had rotten broken teeth and bad breath. Jack immediately flashed to the movie Deliverance. The scene in the woods with Jon Voigt, Ned Beatty, and the two mountain men. He swallowed the lump in his throat wondering if Daniel was thinking the same thing. For some reason these men delighted in torturing Daniel and so far had left him alone to watch. Maybe that's how they got their kicks Jack thought.

The Day Before

They had never visited P3-X408 before and decided to explore the planet, to see if they could fine any resources they could use plus study any life forms they came across. This was their second day here. The planet looked very much like Colorado on Earth, covered with mountains and streams. As of yet they hadn't detected any inhabitants. Everything was going along smoothly as they climbed over a large outcropping of rocks. Sam stood at the top of the formation looking over the valley below.

"It's really beautiful Sir." She said to Jack just as he bent down to examine what appeared to be some kind of tracks in the dirt.

"Yeah well don't get too close to the edge." Jack warned a second before the ledge started to give way.

He, Daniel, and Teal'c all started to run to Sam to pull her back when it collapsed. Teal'c had reached her first and they both fell over the side.

"Sam! Teal'c!" Daniel yelled as he and Jack both dropped to the ground and slowly crawled to the broken edge. Looking down they could see their teammates lying on the hard surface below. Luckily they hadn't fallen very far before hitting a ledge and both were already attempting to get up. Sam held her arm and Teal'c his side.

"Just wait there! Don't move!" Jack said as he took his pack off of his back and removed a length of rope from it. He went back to the ledge and threw the end of the rope over and with Daniel's help managed to pull them both to the surface.

"You okay?" Daniel asked looking back and forth between them.

"I think so." Sam said but then winced when she tried to move her arm.

"You better go back and get that arm looked at Carter." Jack said then looked over at Teal'c "How 'bout you Teal'c, you okay?"

"I have injured my side slightly, but I can continue." Teal'c said.

"Look, nothing much is happening here so I want you both to go back and get the Doc to take a look at you. Then if she okays it, come back. Daniel and I will hang around here and see if we come up with anything."

The planet appeared to be peaceful enough so neither Sam nor Teal'c put up an argument about leaving the two men alone. More then likely they would meet up with their teammates again in a day or so.

Once they had gone Jack leaned down and pointed out the tracks to Daniel, who knelt down beside him and ran his fingers through the dirt. He then looked in the direction in which they led.

"These look human Jack, and they're barefoot. Why would someone be running around these woods barefoot?" Daniel said looking down at the rocks, stones, and thorny plants that covered the ground, then back toward the woods where the tracks led.

Jack stood up.

"Let's see if we can find out." Jack said as he followed the tracks.

Later that day

It was starting to get dark and they decided to set up a camp site for the night. While Jack fiddled with the tent, Daniel had walked off looking for firewood. As he gathered the wood he detected a strange sickening sweet smell. He looked around and spotted a blue object lying behind a bush. He walked over and looked down, then turned away gagging.

"Jack!" He managed to get out before bending over and throwing up. Jack seeing Daniel hurried over to him.

"What's going on Daniel?" He asked as he put his hand on his teammate's back. All Daniel could do was point. Jack instinctively held his gun in front of him as he walked over to the bushes. A man of about forty lay on his back his eyes wide open. Half of his head was blown off and filled with maggots. His eyes were two gaping holes where birds or insects had eaten them out of his head. Jack winced at the sight. The man's body had just started to decay and the smell was sickening. He turned back to Daniel, grabbed him by the arm, and led him away.

"Well I guess we know whose tracks they were." Jack said looking back toward the body.

"Guess so. No shoes, no shirt……….I wonder what he was doing out here?"

"More importantly who blew his head off?"

"Couldn't an animal have gotten to him?" Daniel asked hopefully.

"Daniel, I've seen a lot of gun shot wounds and that definitely is one."

"Ohhhhhhh kay." Daniel said nervously looking around.

Jack knew with the fading light it would be impossible to continue the search until morning.

"We both need to get some rest, but we also need to take turns keeping watch. You go catch a few Zs and I'll take first watch. I'll wake you in about three hours."

"Thanks Jack but I really don't think I'll get much sleep."

"Well try to. We don't know what we might be up against and we need to be alert."

The Next Morning

They had taken turns throughout the night trying to get some sleep, but both only managed to get a small amount laying awake wondering who had killed the man and where that person might be. They packed up the camp early and started to head back to the Stargate.

"Keep alert." Jack warned Daniel. There were only two of them and he had no idea what they might be dealing with. Jack figured they'd go back to the command center and see if Sam and Teal'c were ready to come back, and if they weren't, get another SG group to go with them and see if they could discover who had killed this man.

They had just gotten to the lookout point that Sam and Teal'c had fallen from when Jack heard a noise and put up his hand to warn Daniel. They both scanned the area but could see nothing.

"Maybe it was just an animal." Daniel said hopefully looking around. Suddenly a loud shot broke the quiet and Daniel's head snapped back as he spun around from the impact of the bullet, fell, and rolled down the embankment.

"Daniel!" Jack yelled as he slid down the hill after him. He gently rolled the doctor onto his back. There was a large gash on the side of his forehead where the bullet had grazed him. Jack quickly examined him and could detect no other obvious injuries. He raised his gun and putting his hand protectively on Daniels chest looked around. There was no one in sight. He quickly removed his backpack and took out the small first aide kit. First he took his canteen and pouring water over a gauze pad tried to clean the blood off Daniel's face. He held his breath and tried to stay calm when it wouldn't stop bleeding. He knew head wounds bled a lot no matter how bad they were but it still unnerved him. It was a deep, nasty cut but at least it didn't seem to have penetrated his skull. He knew Daniel was going to wake up with a hell of a headache. If he woke up at all he thought. He shook his head slightly trying to get the thought out of his head. He tossed the bloody gauze aside and then took the antibiotic ointment and gently smeared it over the wound. Then he placed a fresh gauze pad over the wound which was quickly saturated with blood. He kept adding pads to the gauze remembering hearing somewhere that you shouldn't remove the pad once it was soaked with blood but to just keep adding more on top. He was almost out of fresh pads before the blood seemed to have slowed down. He then taped the pad in place. He wiped Daniel's blood on his pants. Jack then stood up and looked around the area. He was sure who ever shot Daniel was out there somewhere watching. Right now he couldn't worry about who shot Daniel or why, all he knew was that he had to get him back to the gate.

"Daniel. Come on Daniel, you got to wake up for me." Jack gently put his hand on Daniel's face and patted it, he moaned a little but didn't wake up. He wasn't sure whether Daniel should be moved or not but he had no choice. He picked up Daniel's glasses which had fallen off of his face, then picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. He outweighed Jack by a few pounds and he knew it was going to be slow going and he would have to stop often. But he didn't know how badly injured Daniel was and knew he had to get medical help for him as soon as possible.

Later

Jack continued making his way back to the Stargate, stopping frequently to rest and check on Daniel. The whole time he kept searching the area with his eyes on the lookout for whoever had shot Daniel. He saw nothing suspicious.

"Where the hell's Teal'c when you need him?" He said to Daniel as he carefully lowered him to the ground. He knew Teal'c would have no problem carrying the young doctor but the further they went the more difficult it was becoming for him. Daniel still had not regained consciousness and that worried Jack. He would occasionally moan but that was all he could get out of him. He checked on Daniel, then raised the canteen to his lips. It was empty. He pulled Daniel under some trees for shade and headed to the small stream not too far away. He was leaning down and filling the canteen when he noticed a shadow coming up behind him. He tried to reach his rifle which was slung over his shoulder but he was too late, the person who had come up behind him had their own rifle pointed at Jack's head. Damn! Jack cursed himself, how had he been so reckless. The thought went through his head that he should attempt to take the gun away from this man but as he stood slowly up and turned around he saw that another man was standing over Daniel, his rifle pointed at the doctor's throat.

"What do you want?" Jack asked as he slowly raised his hands not taking his eyes off of Daniel.

The man, who was dressed in shabby clothes and looked like some kind of mountain man, only laughed and motioned with his gun for Jack to lead the way back over to Daniel. Once there he watched as the other man leaned down and began to examine Daniel. The man took hold of the bandage and ripped it off his head reopening the wound. Jack immediately made a move toward him.

"Hey, wait a minute! For crying out loud, can't you see the man's injured!"

The man standing behind Jack jabbed the gun in Jack's back.

"Shut up!" The man said as he watched his friend.

The other man put his hand on Daniel's chin and began roughly rolling his head back and forth. When Daniel moaned, Jack clenched his fists.

"See Gerald, I told you I just winged him. I told you I could take him down without killing him."

"Yeah Ryan, you sure did." The man laughed.

"Hey I don't know what you have planned but our friends will be coming back shortly and if I was you I'd be long gone before they get here." Jack hoped he could scare them off. He actually had no idea when Sam and Teal'c would be back or if they were coming back at all. Maybe their wounds were a little more serious then he thought. He hoped not, right now he could use a little backup.

"Not before we play us a little game." Ryan poked Jack again forcing him to walk. He watched as Gerald grabbed Daniel by the back of his collar and dragged him easily. These men looked at lot stronger then they seemed. After about an hour or so they arrived at a cabin. They were taken inside and their shirts and shoes were removed. Both were then tied to chairs. Jack looked over at Daniel who was still unconscious and sat slumped over, dried blood now covering the side of his face. Jack was at least grateful that the bleeding appeared to have stopped, but he still had no idea how badly injured Daniel was. Jack looked up at the two men.

"My friend needs a doctor."

"Ain't no doctors around here."

"Well then at least let him lie down."

Gerald walked over and pulled Daniel's head back by his hair and looked at his wound. He then released him and his head once more fell to his chest.

"He'll be okay, Ryan just winged him."

"Look…….what do you want with us. I don't know what kind of money you use on this planet but we don't have any."

Gerald and Ryan both looked at each other grinning.

"It's not money we want from you." Ryan said walking over and putting his hand on Jack's face. Jack jerked his head back. Ryan then walked over and did the same to Daniel. Daniel moaned a little and his eye lids started to flutter. When he finally did open his eyes, they widened when they saw the face in front of him. He tried to pull away but Ryan only grabbed him by the hair and pulled him face to face with him.

"Who……….Who are you?" Daniel asked shutting his eyes as a blinding pain shot through his head. He licked his dry cracked lips wishing he had some water. Suddenly his eyes flew open again. "Where's Jack!"

"It's okay Daniel I'm here." Jack said. "This here is Gerald and I think Ryan if I'm not mistaken." Jack fought to keep calm. He wasn't sure what these men had planned but it wasn't going to be good.

Daniel looked over at Jack trying to focus on his face. What the hell was going on? Then he suddenly realized he was tied to the chair and started struggling to free himself. His head was killing him and everything was spinning, he couldn't think straight.

"Jack what the hell's going on?" He said when he realized he was trapped.
"I'm not exactly sure Daniel." Jack kept his eyes on the two men who now both stood in front of his teammate. If they tried anything with Daniel he knew there was no way he could help him.

Gerald put his hand on Daniel's thigh and looked leeringly up into his face. Jack could see the fear on Daniel's face as he looked back and forth between the two men. Ryan finally grabbed Daniel's face and kissed him on the mouth. Daniel pulled back in shock and spit at the man. He was rewarded with a backhanded punch across his face. He grunted as his lip split open and blood ran down his chin. He fought to stay conscious. Ryan then took out a knife and putting it under Daniel's chin began cutting a shallow path from his chin to his belt buckle. Daniel turned his head to the side and gritted his teeth.

"Leave him alone you son of a bitches!" Jack could think of nothing else but getting his hands around both their throats.

That was when Ryan spun the knife around and shoved the knife in Daniel's thigh and twisted it. Daniel screamed in agony which only excited Ryan more as he continued twisting the knife smiling. What really tore Jack up was when Daniel begged him to make them stop. Jack had never felt such rage in him as he did at that moment.

"Let's have us a little fun with this one." Ryan said as he untied Daniel from the chair and he and Gerald started dragging Daniel to the back room. He struggled to free himself from them , but he was no match for the two men.

"No please! Please don't!" Daniel kept begging. "Jack, can't you do something!" Between the pain in his head and leg Daniel could hardly walk and stumbled between the two men weakly trying to break free. Jack could see that he was terrified.

"Get the hell away from him!" Jack screamed as he rocked the chair back and forth struggling to free himself.
The two men pushed Daniel into the room then turned around and grinned at Jack before entering the room and slamming the door shut. Jack could hear the three men struggling inside and it tore him apart. He concentrated on loosening his ropes. He knew what they had in mind for Daniel and he couldn't let that happen. A little while later he heard a loud thump, then silence, then cursing. The door opened and the two men drug an unconscious Daniel from the room . Jack winced when he saw Daniel's belt had been undone and his zipper was half way down.

"What the hell did you do to him!" Jack tried to turn to get a good look at Daniel, he prayed he was still alive.

"The son of a bitch past out on us, ain't no fun unless he has some fight in him." Gerald said as he and Ryan lifted Daniel back into the chair and retied him. Gerald then looked over at Ryan.

"Why the hell didn't you shoot his knee out instead of shooting him in the head?"

"Ahhh shut up! I took him down didn't I, and he's here ain't he?"

You sick son of a bitches! Jack thought. He then kept his eyes on Daniel's chest praying to see him breathing. He left out a sigh of relief when he noticed Daniel's chest slowly moving up and down. Gerald walked over and stood in front of Jack.

"Who knows when that one's going to wake up. Why don't we do this one instead."

Gerald gave Jack a toothless grin.

"Just try it buddy!" Jack said through clenched teeth. "Let's see how tough you are with someone that isn't injured."

"He might be more fun then the other one. Got a little more life in him." Gerald laughed.

Ryan walked over and stood next to Gerald.

"No. I want this one alive and kicking. He'll give us a good hunt." He looked back at Daniel who had started moaning. "He'll be awake in a little while and then we can get back to him. Right now I'm hungry. They ain't going no where, let's get something to eat. When we come back we can take our time with blue eyes."

They both left the room and Jack could hear the outside door slam. He jumped his chair over to the window and watched as they headed out into the woods. Jack felt like he was in some kind of sick B horror movie. on Daniel wake up."

Daniel moaned and lifted his head a little.

"Daniel, you with me?"

"Jack?"

"Yeah, it's me. You gotta wake up for me. You can sleep later."

Daniel could hear Jack talking but his head was throbbing and he couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Jack………go away………just go away." All he wanted was to slip back into the darkness where there wasn't any pain.

"Come on Daniel snap out of it!" Jack raised his voice a little trying to get through to his teammate. His ropes were finally beginning to loosen up.

Daniel slowly opened his eyes and looked over at Jack.

"Daniel you got to stay with me. They just left and we got to get out of here before they get back."

"What are you talking about Jack?" Daniel's head fell back against the back of the chair and he once more shut his eyes.

Jack knew Daniel was confused due to his head wound and lose of blood. He could see his head wound had started to bleed again and his pants leg was also saturated with blood from the knife wound. When Jack finally managed to free himself he quickly untied Daniel who stayed seated in the chair trying to fight through the confusion and stay focused. Jack redid Daniel's pants and belt for him hoping Daniel had forgotten what almost had happened to him. He then ripped strips from the filthy bed sheets and tied one around Daniel's leg and the other around his head.

"This is going to have to do." He said as he pulled the strip tight around Daniel's head. "I don't know where our backpacks, shoes and shirts are and we don't have time to look for them. All I know is that we gotta get out of here before they get back." He grabbed two blankets from the bed, he knew they would come in handy if they had to spend the night in the woods. He also took the knife they had used on Daniel. He then went over and helped Daniel up. He wobbled unsteadily as Jack put Daniel's arm over his shoulder and headed for the door.

They knew they had to head toward the rocks and the small river that ran through them for cover. But first they'd have to cross the valley leaving them easy targets for the two men. It was only a matter of time before they came back and they knew they had to put as much distance between them and the cabin as they could. When they had almost reached the rocks they heard a whizzing sound and they ducked as an arrow sailed over their heads.

"Damn, they got some kind of high tech crossbow!" Jack said to Daniel as another arrow flew over. Their only hope lay in reaching the rocks for cover. As they reached the edge of the formation Jack suddenly cried out in pain as an arrow cut through his leg. He went down hard pulling Daniel with him.

"You okay!" Daniel said as he rolled out from under Jack.

"Yeah, just grazed me." Jack said checking his leg. "How 'bout yourself?"

"I'm okay." Daniel said, still confused from the head wound he started to get up. Jack reached out attempting to pull him down but he was just out of reach.

"Stay down!" Jack shouted, but his warning came too late. Daniel screamed in pain as an arrow pierced his side.

"Damn them!" Jack keeping low crawled over to Daniel who lay on his back his hands wrapped around the shaft of the arrow protruding from his side. He examined the wound quickly and to him it looked like the arrow had just pierced Daniel's side about an inch in and shouldn't have hit anything vital. He'd have to try and remove it but first they had to find cover. Jack crawled and half drug Daniel to the rocks. At least now they weren't out in the open and easy game. He peaked over the rocks and could see Gerald and Ryan in the distance slowly walking toward them. So this is what they meant by the hunt. They were being hunted by these miscreants. Okay Jack thought. Sam, Teal'c anytime now would be nice…….

Once in the rocks they were a little safer but not much. They both were bleeding from their wounds leaving a trail of blood which would be easy to follow and Daniel was rapidly growing weaker, Jack knew he wouldn't be able to go much further. They had to cover their trail and find a place to hold up and lick their wounds. When they came to the small river Jack led Daniel into it and they walked through it as long as possible trying to put as much distance between them and the two men. At least now Gerald and Ryan would have a harder time tracking them. Within an hour they were both exhausted and Jack helped Daniel out of the water and onto a large rock to rest.

Jack winced as he looked at the arrow protruding from Daniel's side.

"God Jack I didn't think one of these things could hurt so bad." Daniel said, his head back, his eyes squeezed shut.

This time Jack took his time and carefully examined the wound. The arrow had gone straight through and the point of it was sticking out of Daniel's back.

"Jack just pull it out." Daniel looked up at him, tears of pain glistening in his eyes.

"Daniel I've watched enough Westerns and I know you never pull an arrow out you push it through. Pulling it out will only cause more damage because of the barbed tip."

"I don't care how you do it, just get it out!"

"This is going to hurt like hell."

"Just get it over with."

Jack broke off the feathered shaft then pushed it through a little, he then went behind Daniel and grabbed the arrow. He swallowed hard knowing he was going to cause Daniel a lot of pain, but he didn't have a choice, he had to get it out. He reached over and took the blanket and stuck a corner of it in Daniel's mouth.

"Here bite on this……..Okay on the count of three…..one…….two…….."

Daniel braced himself.

"Three!" Jack pulled and the arrow slid through.

Daniel threw his head back as his teeth clenched down on the blanket. Jack quickly grabbed his shoulders to support him.

"Daniel we got to get you back in the water and let the water clean out your wound."

Daniel nodded.

Jack helped him up and back into the water which turned bright red as the blood bubbled out of the wound. While Daniel was in the water Jack cut off a strip of the blanket. He knew the blanket was filthy but at least it would staunch the flow of blood. He helped Daniel out of the water and tied the strip around his stomach. He winced in sympathy as he pulled it tight and Daniel gasped in pain. He hated hurting him but at least the blanket did the trick. He smiled at Daniel hoping to break the tension a little.

"You look like a walking wash line, bed sheets, blankets……"

Daniel gave Jack a small smile back.

Jack knew they had to find a place to hold up for the night, neither one of them could go any further. He splashed water over the rocks to wash the blood away then helped Daniel up and they headed once more through the water. About an hour later they came upon a small cave. It was just in time because Daniel couldn't have traveled any further. The cave was freezing, but at least it provided them shelter for the night. Jack gently lowered Daniel to the floor then knelt beside him. He put his hand up to Daniel's face and could feel that he was burning up with fever.

"Daniel I need to check your head and leg." Jack said as he removed the strips of sheet. He could tell both wounds were infected by the heat radiating from them. He wished he had some hot water so he could clean the wounds properly. He rewrapped them, then sat down next to Daniel putting the two blankets over them.

During the night Jack could feel Daniel shivering. He put his arm around the younger man and pulled him close hoping his body heat would warm him up.

"JJJJaack It's ssssso cccccold." Daniel managed to get out between chattering teeth.

"I know buddy, I know." Jack said as he pulled Daniel even closer. He was worried, Daniel's body was burning up yet he was freezing. He knew it wasn't a good sign.

Soon Daniel's head fell onto Jack's shoulder and stayed there the rest of the night.

In the morning Jack reached over and gently shook Daniel.

"Come on Daniel we got to get moving."

He didn't stir. Jack's heart started pounding as he tried to get a look at his friend in the dark cave.

"Come on Daniel, don't do this to me." Jack started patting Daniel on the cheek trying to wake him up. Finally he moaned and Jack shut his eyes and released the breath he was holding.

"Daniel, we got to get back to the gate before those Neanderthals find us."

Daniel slowly opened glazed eyes and looked at him.

"Hey buddy, we got to get moving. It shouldn't be too far now." Jack said gently.

"Jack……….Jack I don't think I can make it…….just go……..please just go." Daniel said his eyes starting to close. Jack ignored him.

"Look Daniel we got to get out of here. You got to stay with me buddy." Jack said as he put Daniel's arm over his shoulder and pulled him up. Daniel tried to stand but his legs gave out and he crumbled to the floor of the cave pulling Jack down with him. Jack knelt beside him. He could tell Daniel was burning up with fever and needed to get medical attention as soon as possible.

"Jack………..please just go………You can't make it…….if you're dragging me with you." Daniel pleaded with him. Right now all Daniel wanted to do was fall asleep and not wake up. He didn't know when he had ever felt this bad.

"I'm not leaving you Daniel! You need to get to the infirmary, you're burning up."

Daniel knew neither of them would make it to the gate if Jack insisted on taking him with him.

"Thirsty…………" Daniel croaked out from behind dry lips.

Jack knew there was a stream nearby but had nothing to hold the water in. The only thing he could think of was to soak one of the blankets in the water then bring it back to Daniel and squeeze some water into his mouth.

"I'll see if I can get you some." Jack said as he took one of the blankets and headed for the stream. He kept his guard up, they weren't going to sneak up on him this time.

While Jack was away from the cave Daniel looked around for a sharp stone. When he found one he began to slice at his wrist. If he was dead then Jack would stand a better chance of surviving. Jack came back sooner then expected and was horrified to see what Daniel was doing. He grabbed the stone from his hand and threw it across the cave.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" He grabbed Daniel's wrist and examined it. The stone hadn't been that sharp and had only made a minor cut across his flesh, which was bleeding slightly. "What are you trying to do, kill yourself!" Jack said grabbing Daniel's face.

When he saw the look on Daniel's face he felt like he had been struck in the stomach. Daniel was going to kill himself thinking he would have a better chance of making it out of there without him.

"You were weren't you?...Damn it Daniel dead or alive I'm taking you back with me, and it would be a lot easier if you were alive."

"Jack…………please don't die…….because of me. There is no way you're going to make it …….out of here dragging…….. me with you……..You know that." He said between breaths. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.

"Daniel, if you think for one minute I'm leaving you here so those………those bastards can finish what they started, then you don't know me."

"Yes, I know you Jack……… I know you'd die rather then admit defeat." Daniel smiled a little but then turned his head and started coughing softly. When he was finished, he looked back at Jack. "I'm……….I'm dying Jack………I can't make it back to the gate."

"Damn it Daniel you're not dying!" Jack said more to convince himself then Daniel.

"Yeah ………yeah I am Jack……I can feel it."

"Daniel…….."Jack shook his head sadly and turned away not wanting Daniel to see the anguish on his face.

"Do this last thing for me Jack………just go…….please…..just go." The conversation had taken everything out of him and he leaned back against the wall and shut his eyes.

Jack reached over and put his hand against Daniel's cheek, he was burning up. He shut his eyes and shook his head sadly. Daniel was right, he was dying, and if Jack didn't get help for him soon he would die. Jack knew his only option was to get to the gate and bring back help. He took the wet blanket and put it over Daniel hoping to bring down his fever.

"Daniel, I'm going for help…….I'll be back." Jack leaned down and gently turned Daniel's face toward him. "And you damn well better be here." Jack's voice cracked with emotion at the thought that he might not make it back in time to help him.

With his eyes still shut Daniel gave a small, tired smile.

"I'll try Jack………I'll try."

"I'll be back before you know it………I promise." He put his hand to the side of Daniel's face and blinked back tears. He was not going to lose one of the team. He knew he had to hurry, Daniel couldn't hold on for long.

Jack headed out, over the rocks in the direction of the Stargate. He traveled as fast as he could always looking over his shoulder. There was no sight of the two men. Two hours later he could finally see the gate in the distance. As he ran toward it a noise to his left caused him to stop and quickly dive behind some bushes. Two figures emerged from the woods, Sam and Teal'c. Jack stepped out into the clearing.

"Colonel!" Sam exclaimed running over to him. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

"Where is Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked looking around.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you on the way. Right now we have to get back to Daniel, he's been hurt……….bad."

"We found this." Sam held up a gauze pad with dried blood on it. "What happened?"

"Daniel's been shot." Jack began as he led the way back to the cave.

"Shot!" Sam looked worried. "But who……….why?"

"For no reason other then for the pleasure of two……….hillbilly, mountain men."

Teal'c tilted his head, having no idea what Jack was talking about.

"They're out there somewhere, they've been tracking us. They shot Daniel and took us hostage. They also stabbed him in the leg and tried to…………" Jack didn't continue. "I need your spare gun." He said to Sam who immediately handed him her spare.

"Why would someone want to hurt Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked. He knew the doctor was a kind, gentle man and he couldn't understand why he had been shot.

"They're sick bastards Teal'c." Anger flashed on Jack's face. "I swear if Daniel doesn't make it I'm coming back here and those men will pay." Jack meant every word, if Daniel died so would the two men.

Once they got to the cave Jack led the way into it. Daniel wasn't where he had left him.

"Daniel!" Jack yelled looking around, he bent down and picked up one of the blankets. He prayed he hadn't wandered off, or worse. "Daniel!"

They searched the small cave but could find no signs of him. They then went outside and searched the immediate area. Maybe Daniel had wandered off and collapsed some where near by.

"Sir." Sam called to Jack who hurried over. She pointed to a small knife lying near the side of the entrance to the cave. Jack knew it hadn't been there earlier.

"Those bastards got him!" Jack said through teeth clenched in anger. He looked toward the direction of the cabin. "Damn them!"

"Colonel, I think we should go back and get SG3 to come with us." Sam said.

"We don't have time Carter. Daniel………" He swallowed hard. "Daniel was dying when I left him." He had a bad taste in his mouth when he said the last three words 'I left him'. If anything happened to Daniel he knew it would haunt him the rest of his life. In the back of his mind he knew he had no choice but to leave him and bring back help, but his heart was a different matter. He had to get Daniel away from those two men and he had to do it soon. As bad as he looked last time he saw him he knew he could already be dead.

"We will get Daniel Jackson back O'Neil." Teal'c said sensing the turmoil in Jack.

"You're damn right we will."

"Colonel, you need to get some rest. Teal'c and I will go after Daniel, just point us in the right direction."

"I'm bringing Daniel home Carter. Dead or alive, I'm bringing him back."

"Sir……..with all due respect sir, you don't even have shoes, and look at your feet, you're bleeding."

"Carter, Daniel doesn't have shoes either, plus he's been shot, stabbed, and speared with an arrow." He said listing Daniel's injuries. "He's a lot worse off then I am and he's out there somewhere with those two bastards."

"Sir, then let me at least tend to your feet."

"We don't have time for that Carter."

"Sir, it's going to take you twice as long to walk on those feet as it would if I could wrap them for you."

Jack knew Sam was right, time was of the utmost importance.

"Okay, but hurry it up." Jack sat down while Sam opened her first aide kit. She cleaned the bottom of his feet the best she could then put antibiotic ointment on them. She then wrapped them in layers of gauze. When she was done Jack immediately jumped up.

"Okay let's go." Jack headed out of the cave. He had to admit his feet felt a lot better now that he had some padding on them.

"You're welcome." Sam mumbled under her breath as she quickly packed up the kit.

"Thank you." Jack shouted back into the cave after hearing her.

Embarrassed, she hurried out of the cave with Teal'c following her and they started their search for Daniel.

Later

They traveled through out the day and arrived at the cabin at night. Near the back of the cabin they came upon what appeared to be graves. An open grave lay amongst them. They all looked at it in horror, thinking the same thing. Was this grave meant for Daniel? Was he already dead? They quickly looked around the property. The only buildings were the cabin, a barn, and a smoke house. The crept up to the cabin and peaked through the window. The two men could be seen sitting at a table playing cards. Jack signaled with his hand for them to spread out and surround the house. He then went to the front door, counted to three, and kicked it in. Pain shot through his sore foot but he ignored it.

"Hold it!" He yelled as Gerald started reaching for a weapon. "Where is he?" Jack said looking down at the table. Daniel's watch and pants lay on top of the table. Jack swallowed the lump in his throat. The two men were apparently gambling for the items. "Where is he?" Jack shouted again.

"Where is who?" Gerald looked up grinning.

When Sam and Teal'c came in the door, the men's eyes widened as they looked at Teal'c who stood glaring back at them.

"Where is Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said as he lowered his weapon.

"He's………he's not here." Ryan said trying to push his chair further away from Teal'c.

Jack picked up Daniel's watch and pants, both had blood on them. With his other hand he grabbed Ryan by the neck and pulled him out of his chair and slammed him against the wall.

"I'm only going to ask you this once more. Where is he?"

Teal'c stepped toward Gerald.

"If you do not tell us where our friend is, I will rip your still beating heart from your chest." Teal'c kept moving closer.

"Don't touch me! He's out back!" Gerald screamed cowering in his chair.

"Where out back?" Jack said tightening his hand around Ryan's throat.

"The smoke house." Ryan said, his face contorted by fear.

"You better pray he's alive." Jack said through clenched teeth then looked at Sam. "Carter, keep an eye on them, they move, kill them."

"Yes sir."

Jack and Teal'c ran to the smoke house and opened the door. They were immediately hit by thick smoke making it too dark to see anything. Teal'c took out his flashlight. The sight that greeted them was from a horror movie.

Daniel's limp form hung naked by his wrists which were attached to a hook in the ceiling. His body was covered by fresh bruises. Next to him hung another man obviously dead, both his legs had been stripped of their flesh. A large cooking kettle sat on the floor near him, the missing flesh inside.

"Oh God no. Oh please no." Jack said his heart pounding as he walked over to Daniel and reached up touching his neck. He felt a weak pulse. He shut his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

Teal'c cut Daniel down and he fell into his arms.

Jack could only shake his head and wince in sympathy. There didn't seem to be a spot on Daniel that wasn't covered in bruises.

"We need to get him home." Jack said as he and Teal'c pulled Daniel's pants back on him. "We'll need a stretcher or something."

"I will carry Daniel Jackson."

"Teal'c it's a long way back."

"I have carried a friend before many more miles then this. Daniel Jackson is much lighter then my friend."

"Okay, let's get Carter and get the hell out of here."

They headed back to the cabin and once inside lay Daniel on the bed.

"Oh God Daniel." Sam said softly blinking back tears. She quickly administered a massive dose of antibiotics and a shot of morphine to ease his pain. She then reached up and gently ran her hand through his hair.

Jack took out his gun, walked over to Ryan, and put it against his head.

"If you know any prayers you better say them."

These men had hurt one of his team, maybe even killed one if Daniel didn't make it, and he was going to make them pay.

"Don't! Please don't!" Ryan started sobbing.

"You didn't listen to my friend beg when you were dragging him to the back room! What makes you think I'm going to listen to you!" Jack shoved the gun into Ryan's mouth. Sam walked over and stood beside him.

"Sir, please don't do this. You're not a murderer."

"Daniel might die because of these bastards. I'm not about to let them live so they can do this to someone else." Jack glanced over at Sam then looked back at Ryan. "My God Sam you didn't see what they had out in the smoke house. Daniel was tied up by his wrists to the ceiling and some other poor bastard was beside him. Sam………they had started to eat him! His legs were just bone." Jack shoved the gun further into Ryan's mouth. "You want to eat something! Eat this!" Jack started to pull back on the trigger.

"Please Sir don't!" Sam reached over and touched his arm.

Jack hesitated a minute then removed the gun from Ryan's mouth.

"Tie them up. When we get home we'll send someone for them." Jack said as he walked over and sat next to Daniel on the bed. He was pale, the bruises standing out vividly on his face. Jack shook his head sadly remembering all that he had been through.

"Told you I'd be back buddy." He said softly.

Later

They walked through the night stopping occasionally to rest, Teal'c carrying Daniel as he would a child. Once they reached the gate they were all totally exhausted. Sam dialed home and they gratefully stepped through the gate.

Two days later

Jack was sleeping in the bed next to Daniel when he heard him moaning. It was like music to his ears. Daniel had been unconscious for the last two days and had everyone worried. Jack reached over and pushed the buzzer next to his bed. As Daniel slowly began to wake up he began to panic when he felt the wires and tubes attached to him. Jack jumped out of bed and went to his side. He put his hand on Daniel's chest to try to calm him. The nurse quickly came over and took his vital signs, they were improving. She smiled at Jack then walked away.

"Easy big fella." Jack said soothingly.

Daniel opened his eyes slowly and looked at Jack. Without his glasses Jack was nothing but a big blur.

"Jack?" He said softly squinting up at him.

"Yep. Welcome back Daniel."

"What……..what happened?" Daniel put his hand up to his head which was now covered in a sterile bandage.

"We ran into a little trouble back on P3-X408. Don't you remember?"

"I remember……………" Daniel said wrinkling his face up as he tried to think. Nothing came to him, everything was a big blank. "I really don't remember anything………What happened?"

Jack smiled gratefully; maybe it was just as well Daniel didn't remember. Who knew what those men did to him when they had him alone at the cabin.

"Nothing you need to worry about……….Anyway, it's over now." Jack could see Hammond, Teal'c and Sam all gathered outside the door anxious to see Daniel. "And I think there are some people here who would like to see you." Jack said as he waved them in.

Epilogue

Daniel fully recovered from his injuries but had lost all memories of what had happened back on the planet. Gerald and Ryan were both brought back to Earth where they were convicted of murder, kidnapping and attempted murder. Twelve graves were found on the property, the open grave they filled with the body of the man from the smoke house. A brief service was eventually held at the site of the graves attended by SG1 minus Daniel who was still recovering from his wounds. Jack was glad he couldn't make it. He was happy Daniel seemed to have no memory of the planet and knew if he had attended the service something might trigger his memories. During the service Jack had glanced over at the smoke house and he could picture Daniel hanging in there like a piece of meat waiting to be slaughtered. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to block the image. After the service as they walked back to the Stargate, Jack looked around at the beautiful countryside and shook his head sadly. The beauty of this place had hidden true evil.

The End