Immortal's Legacy
Nyeran, or Daniel Jackson as he went by these days, drove through the back roads of Hazzard, Georgia. He drove slowly, knowing that this county had a crooked law system. Of course, being around for about ten thousand years like him taught him how to blend in and how to hide his presence. He knew of the other Immortal who was half his age, and everyone else thought that he was the oldest of his kind. Nyeran smiled at the thought of young Methos being viewed as the oldest.
He was assaulted by the buzz of a pre-Immortal only seconds before an orange Dodge Charger shot by, shortly followed by a police car. Following his instincts, he followed them. It was then that Nyeran heard the crash. Stepping hard on the gas pedal, he arrived just as the sheriff got out of his car and stared at the wreckage that was starting to burn. Yanking his keys out of the ignition, Nyeran ran to the passenger side and helped the dazed young dark-haired man out of the car, bringing him to the sheriff's side before returning to the vehicle. The driver, a young blond man a few years younger than his companion, was waking up from a broken neck.
"Shit," Nyeran hissed as burning oil landed on his arm. "Come on, boy. I'll explain everything to you later. Just don't tell anyone about it."
Before the young man could answer, the Charger exploded. Through ringing ears, Nyeran could hear the other young man call out to his companion as he used his Quickening to hold back most of the heat and flames at bay. He could do nothing about the flames on his back as he concentrated on keeping the younger man from dying so soon after his first death. Dragging the fledgling Immortal with him, Nyeran escaped unnoticed in the ensuing confusion.
After running for half a kilometre through the forest, Nyeran dropped his burden and extinguished the flames on his back. When he raised his head, he noticed that the young man was completely aware of his surroundings and staring wild-eyed at Nyeran.
"Don't say anything to anyone. I know your questions. Yes, you did die. You're an Immortal and you won't die until another Immortal takes your head. You can't go back to your family; they won't understand. My name, my first true name is Nyeran, though I'm going by Daniel Jackson," Nyeran said. "We need to get across the county line and onto holy ground where it is safe, and teach you how to defend yourself with a sword. Now, tell me, what is your name?"
"Bo Duke," came the answer as the boy fell in step with the man that he had never met, but felt safe with.
Nyeran stepped through the event horizon, alone and angry. The teams he had been with had been killed and he couldn't help them. When General Landry had activated the Stargate, Nyeran had told him what had happened, and he refused any other help from the base, knowing that if they stepped through the Gate, they would be killed. Once the Gate had shut down, Nyeran had taken his sword and he hunted down the murderous natives, killing them one by one until they finally figured it out and attacked him, but he had won the battle in the end. Taking a breather, he slowly made his way back to the clearing, dialling home and pushing the corpses through before he himself went through.
"Welcome back, Dr. Jackson. Report to the infirmary," Hank Landry said, noting the angered look that was reflected in the ancient Immortal's blue eyes as Nyeran stalked off to the infirmary to be checked out.
After Dr. Carolyn Lam had finished taking the tests and some blood, Nyeran headed to his office to grab his coat, running into the General as he left the room.
"General, I'm requesting a few days off," the Immortal said before Landry could even open his mouth.
"I understand, Dr. Jackson. You have a week off. I'll inform the rest of SG-1," the General said and turned around.
Nyeran took the stairs to the surface. As he drove away in his truck, he could sense that someone was watching him. He couldn't see anyone paying particular attention to him, so he shrugged it off, but he knew that he was probably being followed. Deciding that he still needed to ride, he headed off to Safe Haven, a public stable twenty-five minutes away from the base.
"Hey, Daniel," the foreman called out.
"Hi, Joe. How's Di?" Nyeran called back.
"She's been pining for you. You'd better get your ass over there and see to your lady," Joe said.
Nyeran entered the barn and headed over to the last stall where his lady waited for him. Standing at the door was a white, pure bred Arabian with blue eyes, which was kind of rare for a horse, sometimes depending on the breed. This animal was the latest Nyeran's line of Arabian. He had made a specific document a very long time ago, as a last will and testament, stating that the finest horses he owned would be passed down to each of the 'Jackson' generation.
"Hey Diamond. Good girl. Let's go for a ride," Nyeran said, saddling the horse up and heading out after grabbing a warm and comfortable cloak from his truck, heading back towards Cheyenne Mountain. The few riders that he passed admired his horse and the man, noticing how he rode with the air of royalty or pride.
Staying hidden by the trees, Nyeran slowly approached the base, only having to change his pace when he heard the gunshots that echoed through the air.
At the complex, the Immortal Kronos held his captive in front of him, making sure to keep the gun in sight. He was lucky; he was able to grab an officer as she left the base, shooting the guards if they came too close. As he was backing out of the fenced in area, the sound of pounding hooves shifted his attention to the woods. Rushing towards him was a pure white horse, its rider hidden by the hood of a cloak. The only thing that Kronos was sure about was that this newcomer was waving a sword, and it certainly looked real. The only thing that threw him off was that he could feel no buzz emanating from the figure.
"Who are you?" Kronos screamed out in a raspy voice.
"Your executioner," the hooded rider said in a low voice that chilled his blood as the horse slowed to a halt. "Let her go."
"You're not one of us," Kronos hissed at the man as he got off the horse, watching it walk away before the man approached him with his sword raised in an attack position.
"Oh, but I am," Nyeran said, removing the mental barrier that hid his signature from other immortals. He watched as Kronos winced in pain from the assault, giving his hostage the time she needed to escape.
"Methos?" Kronos asked, confused.
"No, I am not Methos. I am Nyeran, five thousand years his better," Nyeran replied, attacking and scoring a hit on his opponent's arm.
Kronos retaliated, firing the gun into Nyeran's body, all the while reaching for his sword. This fight would be short, he thought, preparing to run his blade through the one who claimed to be older than Methos when Nyeran's broadsword came up, severing his head from his neck, killing him for good.
Backing away from the corpse as the man's Quickening approached him, Nyeran felt the first strike hit him. Crying out from the pain that it cause, Nyeran collapsed once all of the other man's power had been absorbed. The gunshot wounds were healing now, but it was taking a bit out of him, so he closed his eyes, intending for just a moment of rest.
"Oh my God," exclaimed Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, the sight of the unknown man laying in a pool of blood burned in her mind. She made her way to the figure, a hand reaching to remove the hood so she could see who it was who had saved her. The sight made her pause. "Daniel! Get a medical team up here, stat!" She yelled, only to scream as a hand grasped hers, the digits digging in deep for a moment.
"Hey, Sam," Nyeran said. "I'm okay." He grimaced as he sat up, revealing smooth skin were the bullet holes should have been. He sighed as his friend and teammate ripped his shirt open to check for any damage. "You won't find anything, Sam. I'd explain, but it is hard to understand."
A grey muzzle was shoved between then, blue eyes watching with worry. Diamond snorted and shook her head, her mane floating before settling. She stood still as her master used her saddle to get to his feet, swaying unsteadily. Snorting again, Diamond patiently waited as Nyeran mounted just as the medical team arrived from deep within the bowels of the mountain.
"Hello, Dr. Lam. I'm sorry to have brought you up here for no reason," Nyeran said, turning when he felt the familiar buzz of an Immortal. He heard the gasps from his teammates as they took in the same thing that he saw. Nyeran could see they familiar figure of his most recent student, Bo Duke. Unfortunately, the boy was covered in blood, though he seemed to be steady on his feet. Seeing his current C.O., Colonel Cameron Mitchell, head off to intersect the boy, Nyeran turned to dismount. He heard the whistling sound of an arrow speeding through the air seconds before the shaft struck his back. Another arrow struck Diamond's back, just behind the saddle. Rearing the mare dislodged her owner and bolted a short distance away. Lying on his back, stunned and in pain, Nyeran tried to get up when a third shaft bore through his forehead, placing everything in darkness.
Mitchell led Diamond back to the scene. The sight of one of his team members lying on the ground with an arrow between is eyes stopped him cold. Feeling his stomach churn, he turned and watched as the young man was escorted in from where he had collapsed from the violence in front of him. He noted the blood that covered the youth's clothes and the recognition that dawned in those baby blue eyes as the doctors covered the still form of his teacher.
"Oh, God! Nyeran!" he shouted, struggling in the guards' grip. "Please, let me see him."
Everyone was surprised when Diamond broke loose of Mitchell's hold and scattered the guards that held Bo in place. He ran to Nyeran's body, the horse pacing right behind him, keeping the others away from them as Bo yanked out both arrows, patiently waiting as his teacher woke up.
Mumbling in a different language alerted him that Nyeran was awake. Sitting up, the Immortal groaned as he checked his shirt. "Damn it. I liked this shirt, too," he murmured, pulling himself to his feet and looking at the minor wound in Diamond's back, channelling a bit of his Quickening to heal it.
"Who the hell are you?" Mitchell asked from where he stood, his gun drawn and aimed at the man he had thought of as his friend.
"Something that you may never understand," Nyeran said sadly, mounting the mare. "Come on, Bo. I'll drop you off somewhere."
Complying, Bo hopped on behind his teacher just moments before the elder Immortal urged his mount into a run, avoiding the guards as they started to react to the sudden departure. Diamond rolled her eyes in fear as the air started to echo with the sounds of gunshots. A few bullets whizzed by them, giving the horse more motivation to lengthen her stride in order to get away from the sounds that frightened her. She refused to stop after covering half the distance back to the stables, but a sharp word from her master had her obeying and slowing to a stop.
"Thank you, Nyeran. I'm sorry that your friends found out about your Immortality," Bo said as he got off Diamond.
"It's not your fault, you know. It would have happened anyways," Nyeran said. "I'm moving east. I've always wanted to become an officer of the law. I want you to go home. Change your name, color your hair, and for God's sake, stay close to holy ground."
Leaving Bo to his own devices, Nyeran hurries to Safe Haven. There, he took off the bridle and saddle and brushed Diamond. He was in the middle of putting the brushes and tack in the trailer when Joe walked up.
"You're leaving?" Joe asked.
"I have no choice. My friends found out about my secret," Nyeran explained. "I won't be coming back here for a couple of years."
"I wish you well, Daniel," Joe said as he and the Immortal closed the trailer up after securing Diamond for the ride. He watched as Nyeran pocketed a bunch of new Ids in his wallet.
Nyeran's new cover identity was Charlie Jackson, a former police officer from the Los Angeles area. Hopping into his truck, Nyeran waved a final goodbye to Joe before pulling out of the drive and left Colorado Springs behind him without ever looking back.
A week later, Nyearn gave a small smile when the sergeant of the police force in Cincinnati, Ohio told him that his transfer had been accepted and that his reminder training had come out perfect.
"It's good to have you on the squad, Charlie," Sergeant Donald James shook Nyeran's hand. "You're scheduled to come in next week so I can introduce you to the boys that'll be on your shift."
"Thanks, Sarge," Nyeran looked at his watch and whistled. "I'm sorry, though. I have an appointment to go to right now. You have my cell phone number. Call me in case there's something that comes up."
Once he had bought some groceries, Nyearn headed for his house and put the food away. Then he tacked Diamond up and took off through the woods, following a nearly invisible trail. He didn't need to check a map. He knew where he was going.
Julia Jackson tended to the flowers in the garden, using her mutant power to give the plants some water. The eleven-year old couldn't wait to see her father again, especially when she learned that he was moving to the state.
"Don't give those flowers too much water, Julia," Nyeran said in Russian as he got off Diamond, entering the back yard by a gate in the fence.
"I won't, Dad," Julia replied in the same language, letting a big smile cross her face at the sight of her father standing in the middle of the yard with Diamond nibbling on a few flowers that were just tall enough for the horse to reach with her neck stretched over the fence.
"That's good. But that's not what I came here for. I wanted to know if you wanted to come and live with me," Nyeran asked, switching to English.
"Really? Yes, Dad, I want to!" Julia cried out.
"Al right then. Come on, Diamond will take us back so I can get my truck to get all of your things in order. I already told Mrs. Edwards that you'd probably come to live with me," Nyeran said, helping his daughter on to Diamond's back.
Six years later, and a month after celebrating Julia's seventeenth birthday, Nyeran wandered the streets in his patrol car. Julia had just received her driver's permit, and he was looking for a second-hand car to get her. But lately, there were reports of abduction cases, and all of the victims were dead of sudden organ failures. He knew that this came from Nirti's tests. There was a system lord here on earth and the SGC had no clue.
Stopping the car, Nyeran sat and watched as a bunch of kids headed into an alley. He could pick out some of Julia's friends, including his daughter. Just as he was about to turn the wheel and continue his patrol, a bright flash came from the alley. Most of the kids ran out, all except for Julia. Reporting the incident, Nyeran requested back up at his position. Gun drawn, he walked up to the mouth of the alley, peering around the corner of the brick building. There he saw his daughter, her arm held by a familiar stranger as he pulled her to an abandoned building.
"Ba'al!" Nyeran shouted down the side street. "Let her go!"
"It is good to hear from you, Dr. Jackson. It has been a while, has it not?" Ba'al asked in a collected tone. "Jaffa, bring him."
The alien soldiers, dressed in rags, advanced on Nyeran, dragging the Immortal bodily into the building. There, they bound his hands to his belt with his set of hand cuffs and gagged him with a strip of material. Bringing him to a small platform, which Ba'al activated nearby from the consol, Nyeran couldn't move, but he could clearly feel what was happening, and it was painful. Once it was done, minutes or perhaps hours later, the Jaffa strung him up by his legs using industrial grade steel chains and manacles.
"Blind fold him and leave the girl," Ba'al ordered. The orders were carried out proficiently and then they left.
It was mid morning when a SWAT team swept the building. The first person they found was Julia, who informed the team that her father was still somewhere in the building once she was free of her bindings. After she was accompanied out by a black clad SWAT member did the ground continue its sweep. Heading deeper inside the building, the team was about to give up when someone gave a shout.
"I found him. I need bolt cutters and a gurney in here. Location, top floor on the west side," Officer David Ryans spoke into his radio. He gently took out the gag and took of the blind fold. "Hey, Charlie. Are you trying to scare us all into having premature grey hair?"
"Not really, Dave," Nyeran said. Suddenly, he remembered the Ba'al had taken his daughter as well. "Julia! Where's my daughter? Is she safe?"
"She's okay, if a little shaken up. She's being checked out by the paramedics right now, okay?" Davis said, calming his friend down while easing his head up on his shoulder to ease the pressure of blood rushing to his head. As another team member cut through the chain that he the Immortal by his feet, David tried to Keep Nyeran's head up and to keep him awake. With a final snap, Nyeran was free and placed on the awaiting gurney.
Julia watched as her father was wheeled out of the building. He was unconscious and had a light sheen of sweat on his face. But she knew that he would be okay soon.
A week after the incident with Ba'al, Nyeran wasn't feeling so good. He told Julia to get Firewing, Diamond's foal, loaded into the trailer. He missed Diamond, the mare having died six months after giving birth to the black colt.
"He's loaded into the trailer, Dad," Julia said as she came back into the house to grab the two bags by the door.
"Okay, then. Let me make a call and we'll be on our way," Nyeran said.
Deep underground in her lab, Samantha Carter was studying an alien artefact when her phone rang. Picking it up, she spoke into the receiver. "Hello?"
"Sam?" the voice that she identified as Daniel's sounded in her ear. Grabbing a tape recorder, she started recording what he was saying.
"Yeah, it's me.'
"Listen. I had a recent run in with Ba'al a week ago. He did something to me, Sam. I'm feeling it now. He wants me to be a Hoc'tar. I called you to ask Landry if I could get a clearance pass for two people. I'm leaving for the base as soon as I hang up," Nyeran stated, trying his best to hide the pain from his voice.
"I'll do what I can, Daniel," Sam said and hung up. She ran down to General Landry's office, playing the tape for him. Once he had heard the entire conversation, he granted the requested passes.
It was a long ride to Colorado for Julia, but it was even longer for Nyeran, but they finally made it. As she pulled up at the first security checkpoint, she looked over to her father and noticed that he wasn't breathing. "Dad!" she cried out, immediately started CPR as a guard called for a medical team. She ignored his voice as she breathed for him and compressed his chest fifteen times. When the team arrived, they took over without a word, gently shoving her aside. Julia stood outside the truck, stunned as she watched the gurney being rushed inside until a large black man walked up to her and steered her inside, following the gurney with her father.
Inside the observation room, Nyeran was shocked again. This time, his heart started to beat as he struggled for a breath as the doctor adjusted a few I.V. lines.
Methos, or Dr. Adam Pierson as he was known by these people, watched as Nyeran began to shift uncomfortably on his back. Acting on a hunch, he and a couple of nurses swiftly turned the man on his stomach, watching in amazement as bones in his back shifted positions, stretching the skin almost to the breaking point. "I need blood samples, DNA samples and the works. Something's changing this man, and we need to know what's going on," Methos ordered, injecting a mild sedative into an I.V. line.
Thirty minutes later, and another two doses of morphine later, the samples came back. They were mostly clean, except that the DNA sample showed that there was a mutated strand in the genetic sequence. Methos carefully regarded the results until a cry of pain from his patient could be heard through the glass divider of the observation room, even though the audio had been turned off.
Nyeran woke up confused and in pain. Jumping off of the bed, he cried out in pain as something in his back suddenly shifted. He had to get his shirt off, screaming violently as more pain exploded from his back once the restricting material was gone. Through pain-blurred eyes, he watched as Julia entered the room and walk to his side. He saw her pause briefly, confusion and awe written over her face before she started concentrating. A cool breeze flowed in the room, despite that it was underground. That was Julia, no doubt, trying to help him as he panted from the feverish heat he was experiencing. Doubling over in pain, he heard people's frightened exclamations.
Continuing to cool her father down with her powers, Julia's eyes widened as the white angel's wings finished growing out of his back. "Dad..." she trailed off, not sure what to say to him.
Feeling something in his mind trying to take over his body, Nyeran pushed Julia away from him. "Get away from me, please," he pleaded, grabbing his sword from its hiding place and laying the sharp edged blade against his neck.
"He's acting like Mac's dark Quickening," Methos muttered to himself in a low tone so no one could hear what he said. Silently entering the observation room, unseen, he cleared his Ivanhoe from his white lab coat. "You cannot bow down to the false one, Nyeran. You are much stronger than they are." He said to his teacher in ancient Babylonian.
"Then help kill me so I won't!" Nyeran gritted out in the same language as he removed the sword from his neck.
"Your Quickening is too powerful. You told me that if I killed you, the Quickening I would take would either kill me or make a vegetable of me. Do you remember?" Methos countered. "Relax, my friend. You can do this. Do what you taught me so long ago, and purify yourself and fight the control that it seeks."
Moments later, Nyeran's face had relaxed, no longer showing the pain that he had been in. He was no longer fighting for control over his body. Whoever, or whatever, was trying to do so was gone. "Thank you Methos," Nyeran said, slipping away into the blissful confinements of unconsciousness.
"What happened in there?" General Hank Landry demanded over the audio communications.
"General, with all due respect, I won't tell you who or what we are until Nyeran wakes up," Methos answered. "Though I would like to speak to Colonel Carter concerning her test results."
An hour later, everyone was assembled in the briefing room. Methos, after having delivered some bad news to one of his patients, allowed his teacher to explain everything.
"I lied to you. My real name is Nyeran, not Daniel Jackson. We, Methos and I, are Immortals. We cannot die, until another of our kind takes our heads in a challenge. To us, our safe place, our Sanctuary, is Holy ground," Nyeran managed to briefly sum everything up in those few sentences before continuing. "We fight with swords, though others have been known to use axes. We are always catalogued. There is an organization out there called the Watcher's Council. They do not interfere with our lives. When I Killed Kronos here six years ago, I'm sure that his watcher had a fit since he never found me in their database. The boy who came staggering to the gates that very same day was my most recent student, Bo Duke."
"Just how old are you?" Mitchell asked, only having to attend this meeting from General Landry's order.
"I, myself, am about a thousand years old, while Methos is about half my age," Nyeran answered, staring at the Stargate as everyone except for Methos and Julia made sounds of amazement or disbelief. "I was here when Ra occupied Earth. I was the one who organized the rebellion. I ordered the Stargate to be buried."
"That's just bullshit," Mitchell said.
"I'm not lying to you, Mitchell. I was alive for ten thousand years. I have witnessed many things in my life. The reason I couldn't come clean with you all is because I had a lot of bad reactions in the past. I was burned at the stake, accused as being a worshipper of the devil too many times to count, hung because people thought that I was a spy. I was crushed to death, buried alive, and I suffered through almost every punishment that man has come up with to torture people except for cutting off my head. All of that just because someone found out about my secret and hoped that killing me would solve all of their problems. If the Trust found out about me and my kind, what do you think would have happened? I would have become their guinea pig, one that they could cut open as many times as they wanted to, and I would always revive after. Do you see why I had to keep this a secret? Do you?" Nyeran harshly whispered as he looked at every person in the briefing room.
Shocked, Mitchell could only nod in understanding and in agreement. Who could endure all of that and still remain sane? He hardly heard what Nyeran said next, the Immortal speaking a little too low to be heard.
"I am the only Immortal to have children. Usually, immortals are sterile, so imagine my surprise when she was born. I had her DNA tested against mine a while back. It matched up to mine. There will come a day when I will have to tell my little girl good bye," Nyeran turned back to the window overlooking the embarkation room, trying to stop the tears from coming. He felt a small hand on his shoulder and he turned right around, engulfing Julia in a hug.
"But that's not now, dad. I still have a full life ahead of me," she whispered to him, letting her tears fall and soak into his shirt.
The next day, Sam sat in her lab. Her eyes were red from crying. Methos words haunted her as soon as they actually hit her after the meeting yesterday. All she wanted to do was hide from reality. Her best friend was ten thousand year old, and he had a daughter. The base doctor was half of that. And she had terminal cancer.
Terminal lung cancer.
A knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts. "Come in," she called out, trying to calm her racing heart. She sighed when she recognized Nyeran standing in the doorway.
"What's wrong, Sam?" Nyeran asked when her tear stained face registered in his mind.
Instead of answering, Sam pushed the file that Methos had given her over. She watched silently as his face darkened. "Now you know," she said.
"I'm sorry," Nyeran told her, bringing her trembling form into a hug, consoling her when she broke down. "I came here to tell you something. I don't know if it will bring you any comfort or not, but maybe you would like to hear it."
"What is it?" Sam asked him.
"You're an Immortal candidate. A pre-Immortal is the correct term that is usually used. If you die tragically, you'll come back to life in perfect health. But if you decide to live on like you are now, the cancer will take you and you won't revive after you die, because it will have been a peaceful death," Nyeran softly said.
"A tragic death? Like, if I died in a real combat situation, I would come back to life?" Sam wanted to know.
"Yes. I wanted to tell you since we had first met, and I thought that you had the right to know. It didn't kick in when we died on the Nox home world because they revived you before your Immortality could start and take effect. It was put on hold," Nyeran responded. "It's your decision to make, Sam. Let me know when you've decided, okay?"
Sam watched as Nyeran left her lab. Now she had a choice to make. But would she rather live on or would she rather die with her mortal friends?
There it is people. The first Instalment of a five part series. I'm sorry that this took a little longer than I first thought, for those who are actively reading my stories. I was busy with school work, my dog being put down and my ex-neighbour dying.
Next time, Nyeran gains a hitchhiker and gets captured by the Trust.
And if you're confused, email me. I'll do my best to answer your questions.