Hangin' 6
Rating: K+
Set: Season 7
Spoilers: Watergate, Abyss, Changeling, Fallen, Homecoming.
Disclaimer: SG-1 belongs to MGM, Gekko and the actors who so wonderfully portray the characters. I just get to play with them for a short while.
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"So. Hang out here often?"
Sam shot a surprised look at her teammate, taking in the strained, drawn face, the blood seeping steadily through his sleeve, and the way he almost plastered his lean frame to the rocky wall.
"Um, no, not really. You?" she asked, staring down into the chasm below.
A laugh almost like a sob was the initial response.
"Oh, so-so. You know - every now and then!"
"You mean when chased by Jaffa who are not supposed to be here?"
"Yep! That'd be it!" Daniel replied, leaning his head back and trying to stop the tremors that were coursing through his overtaxed muscles.
'Yeah. View's good though!" Sam added, a note of worry for her friend creeping into her voice.
"Can't say I'm all that appreciative ... sorry!" Daniel said tightly, gaze fixed straight ahead. "Seems when I descended the Others reset the vertigo to full strength! I haven't had it this bad since we had to jump out of that plane over Russia."
"Really? I thought you had it under control by then. You didn't seem too worried! I remember the Colonel saying you took to it like a pro!"
"Um, that would be No! I just wanted to get one up on Teal'c! Opportunities like that don't come around often!"
Sam giggled, "I heard he really didn't want to make the jump!"
"Oh you don't know the half of it! Jack was using his best coaxing and cajoling to no avail. I thought maybe if I jumped without causing a scene he might take heart from it and follow."
"Well it worked. He survived without any problems."
Daniel gave a small laugh. "I don't know about the problem bit. Haven't you noticed that whenever he watches a movie with parachuting in it he finds a way to be out of the room when the character has to make the jump?"
Sam looked interested. "No. How did I miss that?"
"He's quite subtle about it, but I've seen him retreat to the kitchen a number of times, and once I came across him sculling down a Gatorade, almost in a panic! I swear I saw him also wipe sweat from his forehead before returning to the room."
Sam grinned at the thought of the large, stoic Jaffa being traumatized by anything to that degree.
The grin faltered when she saw Daniel sway away from the safety of the wall and she grabbed his arm, eliciting a groan of pain from the contact.
"Maybe you should try to sit down, Daniel. I should really have a look at your arm, it hasn't stopped bleeding yet and you don't look too steady - not that I can do much without our packs!"
Daniel peeked at the drop before him before closing his eyes tightly.
"Nope! Don't think I can, Sam. Not sure I could've even without the injury. Too high, too narrow, too unsteady!" he said, clutching at the satchel slung across his chest. "Maybe it would have been better to fight it out with Ba'al's guys."
Sam shook her head whilst inching carefully over to him. "No. If we had stayed we would either be dead or prisoners, and I don't fancy being at the mercy of Ba'al for any length of time. It didn't seem to do the Colonel much good."
"I wouldn't know Sam! My memory's still fuzzy on some of the mission details." Daniel said, leaning his head back against the rocky wall, trying in vain to ignore the pain.
"Just the missions?"
Daniel slowly turned his head to look at her. "Is that a leading question, Sam?"
Sam debated with herself the wisdom of getting into this particular topic of conversation at this point in time. On the one hand, it would definitely serve to divert Daniel's attention from the problems of his injury and the height. On the other hand, she wasn't sure she could keep her emotions under sufficient control to not damage their friendship - if the discussion became heated.
"Sam?"
Sighing, she turned to meet his gaze. "I don't know, Daniel. I don't know. Seems to me that your 'memory' was somewhat selective, even before you descended."
"What do you mean?"
Sam sighed and looked away again. "Nevermind."
"No, Sam, No! You don't just leave a comment like that just hanging out there and expect me not to bite! Something has been bugging you for a while, since before I resumed missions, but I have no idea what it is."
"Don't you?"
"See! There it is again! Deeper meanings behind your words. What is it, Sam? Tell me!"
"There's no point. You don't remember your time as an ascended being!"
At Daniel's persistent stare she sighed and elaborated. "You read the mission reports for the time you were gone, right?"
"Right …?"
"So you'd have read the one about our capture by Nirrti?"
"When she experimented on you? Yeah! That was a bad one."
"Oh believe me, it was much worse being there!" she shuddered, "That's not something I'd want my worst enemy to go through!"
"No, I don't suppose you would." Daniel replied, looking out over the drop before them.
"So I want to know, Daniel; during that whole incident, where were you? Why wasn't I 'worthy' of your support when Teal'c and Jack both were? Why did I have to work through it on my own without your help or encouragement?"
Daniel closed his eyes briefly before taking in a deep breath.
"I don't know, Sam! I still have no memories of either of those events. I can only surmise, from what Teal'c and Jack have told me since, that although what you went through was horrendous, you had your team there to support you, to lend you their strength, to help plan an escape."
He paused before continuing in a tired voice, "Neither Jack nor Teal'c had anyone else to rely on. They had no way of knowing if there would be any rescue or even if anyone would ever know what had happened to them! They would have died alone, in agony, without any comfort. I couldn't let them go through that without letting them know someone was there with them! - At least, I think that's what I would've been thinking!"
Sam was quiet for a long time, thinking through what Daniel had said.
There was a major difference between her experience and those of their other two team mates, and it was now completely clear in her mind. The hurt she had been feeling for the past month or so because of Daniel's 'neglect' had eased with his explanation.
A part of her wondered why she hadn't worked it out for herself. Daniel - even ascended - was not the sort of person to leave a friend to suffer alone.
"Still, it would have been nice to have seen you, even if just to let me know you were thinking of us."
"I honestly don't think there would have been a time when I wasn't there, Sam - even if you couldn't see me. I get the feeling that that was one of the problems the Others had with me - the inability to let go of my past life - of those I cared about."
She glanced over at him, noticing the white knuckles of his injured hand as it grasped the strap of the satchel holding the artifact they'd been sent to retrieve. She could see the tremors that wracked his body now, even in the failing light of the late afternoon. She wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to endure standing there.
She watched as he carefully drew the strap over his head and turned to look at her.
"You'd best keep this, Sam. It's too heavy for me at the moment, and if something were to happen …"
"Nothing's going to happen, Daniel! We'll get out of it soon, I promise!"
"…if something were to happen to me …" he continued as if she hadn't said a word, "then this needs to get back to the SGC or the Tok'ra for evaluation."
He waited until she had it firmly in her grasp before continuing; "Teal'c and David Miesner from SG-5 will have the best chance of deciphering the inscriptions," he panted weakly, "let them try first before calling in the Tok'ra, or we'll never get a chance with it again."
"Daniel!" Sam yelled at him, as his eyes slowly closed and he swayed out from the rock face.
He jerked his eyes open and looked tiredly at his friend.
"Can't stay up here much longer, Sam." He gave a short laugh, "I think three hours is my limit!"
"Don't you give up on me, Daniel Jackson! I won't let you go again! You have no idea how hard it was for us the last time, we won't lose you again so soon! Hang on just a little bit longer. I'm sure the Colonel and Teal'c will be able to work out the concealed catch to the passageway!"
Daniel just gave a tired nod of his head and locked his knees once more.
Sam looked back in the direction from which they had come. She hadn't heard any sound from the Jaffa for over half an hour now. If they were lucky, Ba'al's force had retreated, leaving only a token guard at the entrance to the passage. That, of course, depended on just how desperately Ba'al wanted the device. With a lot of luck and some accurate shooting, she might be able to force the Jaffa back away from their proximity to the ledge, allowing the two of them access to the body of the chamber.
However, all that was next to impossible to accomplish with Daniel between her and the passage, and he was in no condition to shoot anything, even if his glasses hadn't taken a tumble into the chasm when he got hit.
She glanced over at Daniel to find him regarding her seriously, obviously following her train of thought.
"I think I should just stroll back to the passage and look out for the Jaffa," he told her gamely.
"You can hardly stand, Daniel! Even if you make it back along the ledge, how are you going to fire your side-arm with your right arm basically useless?"
He slowly handed her his Beretta and started carefully edging his way back in the direction they had come hours previously.
"They haven't fired at us for a while, so they're probably not in sight. I can create a diversion. If I make my way around the corner, their attention will all be on me, so you should be able to have at least a few quick shots."
He smiled, "Who knows! We may get lucky - we're due for some luck!"
Sam grabbed for his arm, "Daniel, don't be stupid! You'd be a sitting duck! In your current condition you won't stand a chance!"
"In my current condition I won't be able to stand much longer at all! At least this way we have a slight chance, and if it doesn't work, you can retreat around the curve in the ledge again and wait for the others."
"Daniel, I …"
/Carter can you read me, over/
"Oh, Thank God! … Sir, this is Carter, do you copy?"
/Roger, Carter. What's your status? Over/
"We're stuck on a ledge overlooking the chasm that abuts the main chamber, Sir. We're pinned down by Ba'al's forces. Daniel's been hit in the arm and has lost a lot of blood. He's not very steady and if we don't get off this ledge soon, he may not make it!"
/Tell him to hang on, Carter. SG-2 & 3 are about to enter the main chamber now. We'll be there soon/
"Copy that Sir".
"Did you hear that, Daniel?"
"Yep!"
"Think you can hang on a bit longer until the Colonel arrives?"
"I'll keep working on it!"
Sam patted his shoulder. "Good. I would have hated to see you do something stupid after we finally had a heart-to-heart about your ascended visits!"
Some of the tension in her friend was reduced as the onus for rescue was taken up by the rest of the SGC teams.
"I'm sorry if my absence hurt you, Sam. I wish I could remember whether I was around you guys more than the anecdotal evidence suggests, but there's nothing there, no matter how hard I try to remember!"
Sam reached over and grabbed his uninjured hand where it lay pressed against the rock. "No, Daniel. You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry I ever brought it up in the first place. I should be grateful we have you back with us again, not worrying over imagined slights!"
She squeezed his hand lightly to get his attention. "Friends?" she asked hopefully.
Daniel gave her one of his full, warm smiles as he squeezed back.
"Always!" he said to the accompaniment of weapons fire in the background.
"You know, we should do this more often!" Sam added, her own smile lighting the encroaching darkness.
"What? Get stranded on a ledge by enemy Jaffa, three hundred feet above a chasm, slowly freezing to death while evading hostile fire?"
Sam giggled, "No! I mean just hang out - like we used to do years ago before this all became so life-and-death."
Daniel smiled at her, "What? Go to the Mall for a soda, or hang out on a Saturday night to paint nails and gossip or something?" he teased.
"No just…hang out! No work, no pressure to be someone who solves all of life's mysteries, just two friends doing things that neither of them take the time to do any more."
"Sounds good to me."
"So it's a date?"
"Yep. When and where?"
"How about Saturday at the Denver museum. I read they have a new exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci which has had some really good reviews."
"You're on! I'll pick you up at 10am, then?"
"Brilliant."
"Carter, Daniel. Wotcha doing?" Jack asked as he watched his two geeks continue their conversation long after the cessation of hostilities.
Daniel snapped his head around towards Jack in surprise before replying with a grin, "Oh nothing much, Jack. Just hangin' around …!"
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