Title: beneath the sky of my birth
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: spoilers for up to season 3; takes place sometime during that
Pairings: none stated
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 360
Point of view: third
Prompt: Yellow
It's been a month and a half since Daniel saw the sun he was born beneath, the sun that toughened his skin on the ancient sands of Egypt. A month and a half since he left on a mission with SG-7, since Jack said don't get lost in some ruins, and Sam wished him luck, and Teal'c cautioned him to keep a weather eye on the sky. Daniel had grinned and waved, then followed someone else's team through the 'gate. A month and half since he saw SG-7, since Saul died saving his life, since Mike was pulled away yelling, since Les went down bleeding. A month and a half in a hole, only seeing and hearing anyone when his captors visit to demand information he doesn't have and wouldn't give if he did.
Whoever they are, they know he was Hathor's beloved and they think he has gou'ald secrets in his brain. And they think Earth is the key to defeating the goa'uld. For some reason, they believe broken bones, ripped skin, and soul-deep bruises will have him spilling everything he's buried away.
A month and a half, and he hasn't said a word since that first day. He's screamed and wept, whimpered and groaned, but he hasn't told them a thing. When he has the strength, he's proud of that.
He's buried everything about Earth, about stargates, about the various allies probably looking for him, if he knows Jack. He's hidden in his mind anything that could compromise his friends and his home.
He remembers his name. He clings to it. And he thinks about the sun, high in Egypt's sky, and he feels it baking him in comfortable heat.
And when the Tollans come for him, when they bring him to the Nox, when they send a message home, and he sees Jack for the first time in a month and a half, he whispers I want to feel the sun before sleeping for a week.
Jack and Sam and Teal'c take him outside on the mountain and he sits on the grass and he lets the sun warm him.
And he knows he's home, he's safe, he's free.