Story Title: Alone

Author Name: UngoauldedUnas

Story Rating: K+

Warnings: violence, but it's not described in any detail at all

Category: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort

Season: Seven (but before Heroes part 1)

Related Episodes: Singularity, The Gamekeeper, Crystal Skull, Stargate the Movie, Children of the Gods, The Curse, Forever in a Day, A Hundred Days, and an ever-so-slight reference to Legacy

Characters: Jack, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, Hammond, Janet Fraiser

Story Summary: SG-1 finds the survivor of an ambush. Daniel's connection with this young refugee challenges him to think about his past.

Author Notes: I hope you enjoy this story. If you find yourself not enjoying it, then stop reading it! ;o)

Disclaimer: With the exception of Maylin, they don't belong to me. They belong to MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. I'm plotting to steal Daniel, but that's another story... ;o)

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CHAPTER 1

SG-1 was walking through a thick forest by a mountain on a new planet. They walked somewhat spread out in search of some form of civilization.

Jack, becoming impatient, asked, "Carter? How far have we walked so far?"

"A little over a mile, sir," Sam answered.

Jack sighed. "You'd think we'd find something other than trees by now."

Daniel turned to his right, looking around the corner edge of the mountain they had been walking by. "Uh, Jack? I think we just found . . . it."

Jack, Sam, and Teal'c joined Daniel in staring at a clearing that contained a village. It had obviously been attacked. There were bodies lying everywhere.

Jack ripped the hat off of his head and slapped it on his leg. "Whoa. What happened here?"

Teal'c strode forward a little toward the village. He then stooped down, looking at foot prints.

"An ambush," answered Daniel.

Jack glared at him. "I know that! You know Daniel, some questions are rhetorical."

Daniel didn't even look at Jack and just shrugged off the comment. He was too shocked at the sight in front of them to pay very much attention to Jack's smart-aleck remark.

"O'Neill!" shouted Teal'c. Looking up at Jack, he continued. "Jaffa have been here." He looked back down at the tracks to study them some more.

"Why am I not surprised?" Jack sighed. "Alright kids, fan out. Check for signs of life, but keep your eyes open for any bad guys that might still be hangin' around," Jack ordered as he put his hat back on his head. He waved for Carter to go to the right and Daniel to go to the left. They nodded and walked off, pausing at each person they passed to see if he or she was still alive.

Jack walked up to Teal'c. "Can you tell how many were here?"

"At this time I am uncertain of the exact number, but I would say several," Teal'c said, looking up at the Colonel. His concern about the situation was obvious to Jack.

"OK," Jack said, patting Teal'c on the back. "You walk through the village between the very middle and where Carter's looking. I'll check out the parts between you and Daniel."

Teal'c nodded and did as he was told.

All of them stopped at each person they saw lying on the ground. They all had wounds from staff weapons. When they checked for pulses, they found none.

ooOoo

As they were getting toward the end of their search, Daniel walked into the last of the cabin-like homes he was to check. When he glanced inside, as he had with all the others, he had to do a double take. All of the other homes had been deserted, but this one wasn't. He saw a small figure toward the back of the house lying in the fetal position on a bed facing away from him and toward the wall.

ooOoo

"Report," Jack radioed to the others.

"I have found no one that is still alive," Teal'c replied.

"Same here, sir," Sam radioed back, frustration apparent in her voice.

"Yeah, me too," Jack returned with dismay. "Daniel?"

ooOoo

As Daniel half-way listened to the conversation on his radio, he slowly walked closer to the figure in the back of the home.

"Daniel?" Jack was becoming impatient again. And he was hoping the archeologist wasn't touching something he wasn't supposed to.

"Yeah, I think I may have something. Hang on," Daniel radioed quietly.

He kneeled down by the bed. The figure was a young girl, probably around eight years old. She had no obvious wounds from what he could see. Daniel could also tell that she was breathing. 'She's alive,' he thought with relief and surprise.

"I found a girl," Daniel radioed to his teammates, "And she's alive."

The girl made no movements. Daniel wondered if she was unconscious or even possibly asleep. He hadn't dared to touch her yet, for fear that he would scare her if she was conscious.

"Where are you?" Jack asked.

"In the house in the very back corner of the village," Daniel reported.

Daniel very gingerly put his hand on her arm. She still didn't move. "Hello?" he said softly.

"What's her condition?" asked Sam through the radio as she started her way toward Daniel's position.

"I'm not sure yet," Daniel answered. He was still trying to figure out if she was conscious without scaring her. He leaned over her to get a look at her from the front. Her eyes were open and, again, there appeared to be no obvious wounds. Just then he saw a tiny bit of red on the covering of the bed. 'Blood,' he thought. But it was such a little trace that he figured that she was going to be fine. 'It might not even be her blood.'

Daniel kneeled back down on the floor. "Hello?" he said softly again. He decided that he needed to turn her over onto her back in order to assess the situation better. He did this slowly and gently. "If you can understand me," he said in a soothing voice, "I'm just checking to see if you're hurt."

She still made no effort to struggle against him or communicate. She easily rolled onto her back, her eyes still wide open and now staring straight up at the ceiling of the little room. However, it seemed as though she was off in her imagination in another world.

She was a very pretty little girl, Daniel noted. But why was she lying here? Why hadn't she been hurt? Could the Jaffa have not seen her?

Daniel looked her over carefully, checking for wounds. He had a feeling that there was a good chance she was in a state of emotional trauma considering she was non-responsive. 'That would make sense,' he thought, 'especially if she saw the attack. Poor kid.'

"I think she might be emotionally traumatized, but she doesn't have a staff weapon wound like all the others," Daniel radioed in answer to Sam's question.

As he looked at her right arm, the one that had been tucked under her when Daniel had first found her, he saw cuts in her skin. "What the . . . ?" he said confused. These weren't just random cuts. These cuts formed a symbol of some sort. He took his finger and traced over the symbol in the air just above her arm. A look of recognition and then dismay came over his face. He glanced around hurriedly at the bed. And there it was: A small stick with just a bit of blood on the end of it. "Oh, no," he muttered. 'So it was her blood after all.'

Just then Jack and Sam came into the room. Daniel swung around to look at them.

"Where's Teal'c?" Daniel asked with a worried look on his face.

"Outside keeping a look-out," Jack said, wondering what Daniel was thinking. "Why? You need him?"

"No! . . . No." Daniel answered quickly, looking back at the girl.

Jack furrowed his brow in confusion. "Daniel?"

Sam walked over to the bed and leaned over the girl. "So she's not been wounded at all?"

"Uh, well . . ." Daniel started to answer but couldn't finish before Sam saw the markings on the girl's arm.

"Daniel? What's that?" she asked. She seemed to recognize that the wounds formed a symbol.

Jack came over to get a closer look. "What?"

Sam pointed to the markings as Daniel began to explain. "It's a mark of death." He stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. "It appears to be self-inflicted."

"Oh, no," Sam said in surprise. Looking very concerned, she walked toward Daniel as he moved out of her way. She kneeled down where he had just been, getting a closer look at the girl.

"My sentiments exactly," Daniel said in a low voice.

"I'd say she's been traumatized all right," she said as she looked into the girl's eyes.

"Daniel?" Jack said as he backed up and motioned with an index finger for Daniel to come closer.

Daniel moved toward Jack, but he couldn't help just staring back at the girl. He seemed very worried.

As Daniel walked toward Jack, Sam tried to communicate with the girl. "Hi there," she said in a calm voice, trying to smile through her concern. "I'm Sam. My friends and I are here to help you." She rubbed her hand on the girl's cheek. "Can you tell me your name?" No response. "Can you hear me?" The girl just continued to stare up at the ceiling as if Sam wasn't even there.

Daniel stood next to Jack, watching Sam and the girl. Jack gathered his thoughts. "So . . . she marked herself for dead. Why would she do that?"

Daniel cleared his throat. Sam listened from the bed as he spoke. "Well, she's obviously scared. She could have done it because everyone else around her is dead. Or she might have done it because she thinks the Jaffa are coming back and therefore thinks she's as good as dead."

Jack turned to look Daniel straight in the eyes. "Thinks they're coming back? Or knows?"

Daniel's eyes grew wide. He hadn't thought of that. He whirled around and dashed back over next to the bed. "Can I, uh . . . ?" He asked looking at Sam, motioning to where she was kneeling.

"Sure," she said. She moved out of Daniel's way and looked over at Jack. Now he seemed worried.

Jack got on his radio. "Teal'c? You haven't seen anyone around, have you?"

"I have not," Teal'c radioed back.

"Good. Go back to the 'gate. Dial home, but don't go through until Carter gets there. She'll be a couple of minutes behind you. Daniel and I will be along shortly after her. Copy?"

"I understand," he responded.

"Oh, and Teal'c? Hurry," Jack said.

"I will," Teal'c answered. While he wondered what was going on, he felt it wasn't the time to ask and he trusted O'Neill's judgment, so he simply began to run in the direction of the Stargate.

Sam walked up to Jack. "What are you thinking, sir?"

Jack sighed. "I'm thinking that our 'friends' the Goa'uld could either be coming back through the 'gate or are still here on this planet."