SG-1: The Price of Freedom
The three men lay still and silent on the hard-packed dirt floor. The dark one roused first, body twitching and cramping in remembered pain as he struggled to a sitting position. He pushed his palm against his stomach with a wince, and then surveyed the room- or rather, the cell. A solid wood door broke the monotony of gray, dry stone. The floor was strewn here and there with clumps of dried grass, its faint musky odor overpowered by the scent of blood, excrement, and pain. An empty wooden bucket was in one corner, and by the door, a bucket filled with water.
Between the water and the dark man lay two paler men, one silver haired and older, the other younger, with long, dark, almost red hair covering his face. They stirred as he watched, the older man coming almost instantly awake, his brown eyes searching the cell even before he moved. The younger man stretched, rubbing a hand through his hair and yawning, and only gave a casual glance to his surroundings before fixing his clear blue eyes on the men.
"Hello," the younger man said as he sat up. "Where are we?" he asked innocently.
The two others remained silent. The man scratched his head.
"For that matter, who am I?" he asked, looking from one to the other for answers.
"You don't remember?" the older man finally asked, a hard edge to his words.
"Well, apparently not." Sarcasm stained the young man's voice as he stood, arms wrapping around himself.
"Nor do I." the dark man finally spoke, voice deep and rumbling. "Do you?" Confrontation seemed imminent as the large man rose from the floor.
The gray haired man scrambled to his feet. "Well, of course I... don't." His words ended in confusion. "Okay, what's going on here! I should know who I am! I'm Col..." A name almost seemed to come as if by habit, and then an odd collection of numbers... But he could remember nothing. "Damn!" he cursed, kicking at the wall in frustration. "It's right there! If only I could remember!"
The dark one raised an eyebrow at the outburst, but the other took it in stride. "O... kay. Well, I doubt kicking the walls will solve anything, so let's work with what we have. Your name is Cole, at least until you remember something more, and my name will be... Ben, for now. How about you? Do you have a name you would like to be called?" 'Ben' asked the dark man.
"I have no memory of my true name." the man rumbled.
"Neither do I. You see, the point is..." 'Cole' cut him off.
"How 'bout Zack?" Ben looked perturbed, but Cole ignored him.
"That name is satisfactory." 'Zack' agreed.
"Great. Now that that's settled, let's find a way to break outta here." Cole said, instantly impatient.
"Are you sure we want to do that? We don't know anything yet! We... we could be criminals, or, or in quarantine, or..."
"For crying out loud! If you want to stay here, stay! But I'm not gonna just sit here 'till the cows come home!"
"I agree. I, too, will not wait for bovines."
Ben looked from Cole to Zack in frustration, then finally gave in. "Alright, I'm with you." he said, resigned.
"Great! Okay, we've got water," Cole said, sniffing carefully at the full bucket, "no food, yet, the door and walls appear solid," He knocked to prove his point. "and..." Cole's words were cut short as the door opened. He leapt back into a defensive position, crouching slightly.
A giant of a man entered the room, and with him the smell of death. Cole backed away instinctively, fists raised. Zack gave no outward appearance of fear, but also backed away. Ben wrinkled his nose, but took one step forwards.
"Um, hello. Could you tell us where we are, and who you are?" His voice quavered a little as the giant looked down at him.
"You will come with me." The giant thundered, stomping towards Ben.
Ben backed away until his spine touched the stone wall. "Cole..." he said unsteadily, blue eyes pleading.
Cole moved between them, wedging himself between a rock and a soft place. "What if he doesn't want to go with you?" Cole asked belligerently, not quite sure what he could do against the large man. The man's silver-gray eyes moved to look at Cole, their scraping movement like stone against stone.
"What he wants is irrelevant. He will come with me." The man brushed Cole away, sending him spinning across the room to land at Zack's feet.
Ben looked about helplessly as the large man wrapped a massive hand around his biceps, half pulling, half lifting him from the cell. His pained blue eyes were the last thing they saw as the heavy door slammed shut.
Cole struggled to his feet, shrugging off Zack's help. He turned his brown eyes to the dark man, anger burning. "Why didn't you at least try and help him! You could have done something!"
"I would have been unsuccessful. The opponent was too great."
"So what! You could have at least tried!" Cole spat out in frustration. Zack simply raised an eyebrow. The door opened once more. The giant entered.
"You will come with me." He looked towards Zack.
"Where did you take Ben? What are you going to do with them!"
"That is irrelevant. He will come with me." The giant strode towards Zack and wrapped a meaty hand around his bicep. His massive hand had no problem fully encircling Zack's well-built arm. Zack silently obeyed, managing a more dignified exit. He didn't look back.
Now Cole had the cell to himself. He paced.