Hello! Welcome to the story. This is a cross over, Stargate and Angel Sanctuary. Neither of which are my property unfortunatly. Please forgive any mistakes in terms of continuity, I do my best but I'm not afraid to just casually ignore things if they get in the way of my stories. Enjoy!
Chapter One
A thick pine forest stood, silent except for the occasional sounds of invisible animals deep within, as it had for eternity, stroking the wind with its many green fingers. It stretched across the landscape, a sleepy cat, growing and shrinking over the years as fires, floods and winds picked at its borders, idly attempting to challenge its dominance over the landscape. But none succeeded, the forest stood, paying no attention to time, to anything, just existing. The forest did not live, it was too static for that, it simply was. Even it's few animal inhabitants did not really live there, they simply stayed a while before moving on to more hospitable lands. The forest was old, it was magnificent so much so that nothing could make its home there unless it was a tree or some hardy floor dwelling plant. With one exception.
A stone ring. Not in the centre of the forest, not in a clearing, not anywhere of significance, just among the trees, in the tiniest of gaps, in what was almost a dent in the landscape there stood a stone ring. Strange simples adorned its surface, clogged now with ivy, moss and the fallen leaves of the overshadowing trees. A few feet in front of it a fat, toad like structure sat, its symbols, which corresponded to those on the circle, barely recognisable. The structure was old, the ring was old, as old as the forest if not much older and it was as unloving as the forest. It simply was. The red stone in the centre of the structure was dimmed; the light and life had faded out of it many years ago.
As always happens in these cases, such a status quo can not be maintained. Where there is normally silence there must eventually be sound, where there is normally death there must eventually be life and where nothing has occurred for centuries, something truly remarkable must come to be.
It is impossible to say what the forest noticed first, was it the sound of the ring jerking awake as if hit by lightening? Was it the enormous flash of light as the centre of the circle filled with and projected a tongue of bright blue liquid several feet forwards into the trees? Or was it the sudden invasion of four, very alive human beings.
"Well this is different," Jack O'Neil. Colonel of the U.S air force was not a man of habit. No matter how much he yearned for the quiet solitude of a day fishing and the predictability of knowing that he would never catch anything, that was not what he wanted when he came to work. He had become tired of stepping through the gate and finding himself in a sunny clearing with a forest in the distance, or into a desert, or a room in some ancient civilisations laboratory. There was a certainty that it would be one of those and that bored him. So to step into a thick, oppressive forest that blocked out the sun completely was a pleasant change. "Keep your eyes open people. We have no idea what could be hiding around here."
"The plants here could have amazing potential. Sir, I don't recognise any of these. One of these planets could hold the key to curing something like cancer."
"Carter. You can collect samples once we figure out if anyone lives here and if they're friendly."
"Yes Sir," was the slightly dejected response.
Jack suppressed a chuckle, "Let's move out."
O'Neil, Carter and their two colleagues Daniel Jackson and Teal'c set out from the gate picking a careful path across the overgrown forest floor. Teal'c moved with a grace seemingly incompatible with his large size, his feet found dry hard ground at every step avoiding the cackling of leaves and the swish of clothes against grass and ivy. He was a man at home with nature, a man who had grown up in a place where ancient forests were still very much a normal part of the landscape. It marked him out as different from his companions as alien, which is what he in fact was. O'Neil and Carter were military to the core, that was obvious, they both avoided noise just as Teal'c did but their avoidance was not as natural, they looked for where to place their feet, they did not instinctively know. Daniel looked for where to place his feet, but as often as not he placed his feet on the crunchy leaves or, misjudging how close he was to a tree and brushed against it sending a scattered noise into the silence.
Eventually, they became aware that the light slope they had been walking up was turning into a rather steep hill and that as they moved up, the trees were starting to thin out, clinging more precariously to the hill side, fighting for space and nutrients, twisting themselves into unusual shapes to anchor themselves in he hill side.
"Hopefully, when we get to the top of this, we'll be able to see if there are any settlements near by. Or at least get an idea of how big this forest is," said Carter, hopefully as she paused for breath, holding onto a sturdy pine for support.
"Hopefully," Jack echoed, adding "but whatever happens we'll have had a lovely time climbing it" in sarcastic tones.
Daniel would have sniggered, but he didn't have the breath, Carter just about managed to smile weakly.
Up and up and up they went. It seemed like forever before the land started to even out, heralding an end to their climb. The trees were much further apart and the sun occasionally succeeded in forcing its way through, striking the floor and breaking into a thousand shards. The floor was also much more sparsely populated, no plants, just the yellowed needles that had fallen over many years, piling up on top of each other.
The transition was very sudden. One moment, they were luxuriating in their new, open, cheerful environment the next they were standing on the top of a rocky ridge staring out across a sea of greenery in all directions. But it was not the vastness of the forest that drew their eyes or inspired their awe. It was the city.
"Holy…" Daniel bit off the end of his explanation, what he was seeing was beyond description.
It was enormous. At it's core a cluster of huge, white, tubular buildings thrust their way into the sky, their domed tops partially obscured by the clouds. They stood at various heights, each with a slightly different metallic colour running in a strip up their sides. Around this central cluster there floated smaller settlements. They were each attached to the central buildings by a thin white structure, almost like a branch, from which in some occasions smaller branches emerged holding smaller settlements. These islands were clearly covered with buildings, with life. There were more than could be counted. Some in the clouds, some at tree level and obviously some below tree level, possibly even some at ground level that were invisible.
"Don't get too excited Carter, they might not want to share."
"I really hope they do Sir. I mean, look at that. It's amazing. They look advanced enough to have space travel, they could be at a stage where they've abandoned using the gate because their space travel is so efficient."
"Carter," Jack repeated, warningly, "They might not want to share."
"But Sir…"
"Jack's right Sam, we should actually find out how advanced they are and if they're even friendly before we start planning the benefits. Anyhow, perhaps we should show an interest in their culture before we start asking them for their technology."
Jack shook his head as the constant battle between technological interests and cultural fascinations surfaced again. Daniel and Sam never would see eye-to-eye on which was more important. It didn't really matter to Jack; he would simply follow orders, if he were told to only be interested in culture then that would be exactly what he would do, but his orders were rarely along those lines. This could lead to conflict between himself and Daniel, Daniel did not understand the military mind and could not understand why Jack's need to follow orders would stop him following his own beliefs.
"Have to agree with you Daniel. We're going to take this one slowly and carefully. We know how touchy these advanced types are, the Tollan, the Tok'ra."
"Yes sir."
It was decided that attempting to make their way down the steep slope that descended directly from the ridge was almost suicidal. So they proceeded along the ridge to where they could see it starting to gently sweep round in a natural ramp towards the forest floor. The descent into the thick forest was a fairly traumatic experience. It closed in with a threatening suddenness and the light was again blocked out by thick foliage.
"It's so quiet," Sam said, softly, after all glimpses of light had vanished. She felt the atmosphere had changed, the forest felt more like an entity and it did not feel welcoming, "Where are all the animals?"
"Major Carter is correct O'Neil. I have not seen or heard a single living creature since our arrival."
"Yeah Teal'c, I noticed that too. Keep your eyes open people. Something about this place doesn't feel right."
Crunch. Swish. Crunch. Swish. Crunch. Swish. O'Neil's militarily tuned sense of danger started to prickle as he realised that the sounds he was hearing were greater than and further away than the small noises made by Daniel's slightly clumsy movements. The crunching of leaves, the ripping sound of plants being torn out of the soil marked the approach of something big.
O'Neil gestured to his team, indicating that they slow down, progress warily to intercept the approaching unknown. Teal'c raised his staff weapon, crouching lower, becoming more animalistic in his movements. Sam and Jack clicked into military mode, raising weapons, seeming to become more alert in all ways through there was no physical change. Daniel, typically, just flushed and looked more awkward. They edged forward slowly, the approaching being did not take any such care, it seemed oblivious to their existence. Tension built in all of them, the noise increased; it was irregular as if something was lurching through the wood, some injured animal, flailing in the foliage. The noise climaxed into a sudden burst of noise, then silence.
Jack increased his speed, he had a sudden feeling that the approaching creature was not a threat; it needed their help more than anything. He did not have to go far to find himself proven right. The cause of the noise was lying on his side on the forest floor breathing heavily and rapidly, dark blood stained his clothes across his abdomen welling up through the fingers that desperately tried to contain it. He appeared to be in his early teens, small, very thin with lightly tanned skin, long blonde hair hitting his shoulders and falling into the large brown eyes that stared out of his terrified face at them.
"Please…" he gasped, the effort of speaking wet his lips with blood, "Please…" the second effort was too much and he coughed convulsively blood spraying the forest floor.
"Oh shit, Carter," Jack was capable enough when it came to administering first aid in the field, an inability to handle core was not compatible with his job. But this was a child; Jack had never felt particularly comfortable with children and even less comfortable with teenagers and in a situation where one was hurt, in pain and desperate for some kind of comfort he did not know what to do.
Carter on the other hand, did have a maternal streak as well as having more medical training. She knelt by the injured boy, without hesitation, hands gentle as they pulled back his blood soaked clothes to investigate the wounds beneath. "He needs urgent medical treatment sir. His injuries are too serious for me to make any difference, I can't stabilise him."
Jack sighed, "Hey kid, is there any way we can contact your people? Or a quick way we can get to the city?"
Jack did not expect his words to have the effect they did. The boys already pale face seemed to turn several shades whiter, his eyes widened even further and filled with dread.
"No. Please…"
"What's wrong?"
"You can't," he choked, "You can't take me to the city. Please!"
"For crying out loud, why not?" Jack demanded.
"You can't!"
"Sir, we have to get him to a doctor and we have to do it now," Sam was cradling the boy's body in her arms, struggling to contain the most obvious bleeding while painfully aware that there were more injuries that she couldn't see, Each time he spoke, he attempted to pull himself out of her grip as if their refusal to grant his request would result in him attempting to continue his journey alone.
"Jack…"
"Yes Daniel?" was the irritable response.
"Think about why he might not want to be taken to the authorities. This could become a political nightmare if we're not careful…"
"I haven't done anything!" The exclamation was sudden, aggressive, with a touch of hysteria, "Just….can't go to the city."
"I really don't think this is a good idea Jack."
Taking a deep breath the boy pulled himself away from Sam. Surprised and not wanting to hurt him she let him roll onto his hands and knees. Using the tree, he started to pull himself upright, "If you're not going to help me…" his breath came in huge gasps between words shortening and tightening to the point where he didn't have enough breath to finish the sentence.
Sam tried to take his arm, to support him but he shook her off, pulled away. "Sir," she exclaimed in frustration, "If we let him leave now he will die."
Jack looked at her, and then looked at the stubborn teenager next to her. He was shaking, so badly that he could barely lean against the tree trunk. There was so much blood, which the boy was studiously ignoring, staring defiantly into Jack's eyes instead, using every scrap of energy he had to maintain his dignity and pride.
"Ok. We won't take you to the city. You can come back with us." The boy hesitated, Jack sighed in frustration, "What now?"
"Where…"
The limits of his strength had clearly been reached, his legs gave way and he slumped, would have fallen but for Teal'c's intervention. "We should leave now O'Neil."
The return journey was a nightmare. Navigating the forest had been difficult enough when the group consisted only of able-bodied members, with a severely injured person to transport it became nearly impossible. Roots rose out of the ground to grab at their feet, dips and slopes took them by surprise and they tripped and stumbled supporting their limp burden. Initial attempts to spare him the pain of the bumps and jolts were abandoned as it became clear that just getting him to the gate was more important than anything else though the occasional groans and muffled cries that he allowed to escape filled them with guilt. He was barely conscious and they were all painfully aware that his death was not an unlikely scenario.
**********
General Hammond had, over the years, learnt to dread the sound of an unscheduled off world activation. He had also learnt that it did not matter whether or not the activation was accompanied with SG1s activation code or not, it was likely to bring him a serious headache. Sighing to himself he made his way towards the gate room, troops passed him in the corridors, running in case SG1 were bringing an unfriendly force through the gate or had been replaced by an unfriendly force as had occasionally happened in the past.
He reached the gate room just in time to see SG1 arrive. They were not alone. Supported between Teal'c and Daniel there was someone that should not be there, a clearly severely injured teenager. "Get Doctor Frasier down here immediately. Will someone kindly tell me what is going on."
"Nice planet. Really big city, looks kind of cool. We were gonna visit but we bumped into this kid. Didn't seem too keen on coming with us, so we brought him here."
Dr Frasier's arrival prevented Hammond from responding immediately, "What's the boy's condition Doctor?"
She shook her head, "He's a mess. I won't know anything for sure until I get him to the infirmary."
"Very well. Keep me informed. Colonel O'Neil, I'll see you and your team in the briefing room as soon as you're ready."
"Yes Sir," came the subdued chorus of responses. Hammond shook his head, SG1 might bring him endless headaches and problems, but they did make life interesting.
Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcome.