Author Notes: Thanks for the kind feedback - I really appreciate it! Hope you like this next instalment.

Chapter 2

Silence had reigned in the little cell for what may have been more than an hour, but without his watch, Daniel couldn't be accurate. It was a complete stalemate. He and Jonas sat in one corner, trying to be as out of the way as possible, while Vala and Drek sat in another, eyes darting frantically between the others. Renn merely sat as a permanent coiled spring, his sister an odd contrast, as she had been the only one to fall asleep. Beren seemed to have decided a dirty floor was unbecoming of him, and was standing the furthest away, nearer the door, twitching every now and again. All they had been able to exchange was names before the untrusting atmosphere had descended.

Daniel, for one, had had enough, "Perhaps you should sit down before you fall down?" His neutral 'negotiator' voice punctured the deafening silence.

All of them, including Jonas, jumped. Even Kera cracked open an eye. "What is it to you?" Beren folded his arms.

Daniel shrugged, "We're all captives. Correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe we should stop being wary of each other and start working out what the hell is going on?"

"Oh, they are clearly trying to ransom me. You'll see." Beren's superior tone had returned.

"It is far more likely they are slavers." Renn spoke, "Or you would be the only one sitting in this cell."

Daniel began to nod, but the woman snorted, "Oh please, isn't it obvious what's going on? Have you all been living in a hole for the past few months? They fit the description of the Hunters. I hate to break the news to you all, but we're in serious trouble here."

Jonas frowned, "Who are the Hunters?"

"Are you dense, or just living a sheltered life? It is a name circulated by some of the human populations." Drek supplied, "No one knows who they are, only that they appeared three months ago and began snatchin' people, killing those they didn't want."

Vala gave a half-laugh, "Yeah, and no one was seen again. Cliché, huh?"

"So we're not the only ones here?"

"Weren't you listening pretty-boy? We're being divided into cells. Groups. And by the way they were talking earlier, I'd say their cells are almost full." Vala snapped.

Silence reigned once more.

Mistrust combined with a heightened state of worry had kept them awake for the better part of the day – or night, it was hard to tell without any more light than the dim glow from the ceiling – but exhaustion was being to take over. Kera had fallen back to sleep hours ago, while Beren kept jerking awake, having finally succumbed to his fate of sitting on the floor. Vala and Renn were both still relatively alert, although Renn looked drained. Daniel had to note that Drek didn't look that great, although his observation skills were dwindling as his eyes grew heavy. Jonas was not fairing any better. There was only so long a person could stay awake while sitting in a silent, darkened cell.

Just a few seconds, and he'd open his eyes again. Just a few...

Rough hands grabbed him by the arms, and a sharp sting shot through his neck. Daniel cried out. He thought he could hear Vala yelling some profanities, and a dull voice was calling out numbers. Screaming was everywhere – apparently their cell had not been the only one to be woken up. The seven were bundled swiftly down the blurry corridor. There were others, Daniel was pretty sure he bumped into one or two, but whatever they had injected him with had put him off balance, and he found it hard to wake up. He stumbled, and had the intensely unsettling feeling of being in a much larger room than his senses would accept right now. He felt exposed, the lack of glasses only serving to worsen the experience.

"Group 63." A rough voice to Daniel's immediate right grunted out, and he had the vague revelation that the designation must refer in part to him. "All seven fully registered, sir."

"Process them and strip their identifiers. Set them on course." The voice held a mixture of authority and boredom, as if the same words had passed his lips many times already.

Daniel was roughly manhandled to the side, and for a second a masked face swam into view before it blurred away again, to be replaced by a bright light and whirring noise. The rough voice began dictating to someone outside Daniel's field of awareness, "Group 63, Captive 4, male. Acceptable physical health, defective eyes, mild weaknesses in the immune system, recommend rehabilitation on both counts," the voice continued, and it didn't take a genius to know he was being scanned. It was both humiliating and frightening, the drugs only serving to heighten and confuse the experience. Finally, the scan and running commentary ceased. Daniel swayed slightly, "Type A." The last mystifying statement was sealed with a burning pain on Daniel's wrist.

And then Daniel's head was wrenched backwards, and his mouth forced open as a sickly sweet, thick liquid was poured down his throat. He was pretty sure he coughed most of it back up, and was dimly aware of the voice referring to it as his 'daily nutrition ration'.

The rest of the experience passed in much the same way, a blur of colour, sounds and thoughts. He was stripped of his BDUs, and old plain clothes were forced upon him. By the time he was thrown back into the cell, it wasn't surprising that he blacked out almost immediately.

When Daniel awoke, the only other of their little group to have regained consciousness was Vala. She was picked at loose threads from the sleeve of her new clothes, a look of superior distaste gracing her features. He sat up, and groaned, clutching his head. She smirked, "Worst hangover ever, right?"

"Something like that." He muttered in reply, checking on Jonas, relieved to find his teammate simply unconscious nearby.

"I guess they'll all start waking up soon now you have. What do you think of our new presents?"

"Oh, you know, I don't think brown is my colour." Daniel replied lightly.

Vala snorted, "And the body art?" She hiked up her sleeve, waving her wrist at him. An odd black squiggle – for lack of a better term – burnt brightly and inflamed against the inside of her wrist. "Can't say I care for it much myself."

At her words, Daniel winced, the pain in his own wrist coming to the fore. He regarded his mark closely. It was slightly different to Vala's, "Type A. That's what one of them said before they burnt this on." He was muttering more to himself, but Vala heard anyway.

"Type B for me. I've already looked at the others. You, Drek and that big guy over there all have the same mark, I'm blessed enough share one with His Bratiness, while those two have their own. Any bets going on that being Type C?"

"What the hell is this?" Daniel ran a hand through his hair, "It doesn't make any sense."

"I know, for them to think me and that one are in the same league... Talk about insane."

"Vala." Daniel tried, but one look at her face told him arguing was a lost cause.

As the others awoke, tension and confusion only continued to grow. As per Vala's prediction, Jonas and Kera had been placed as Type C, whatever that was supposed to mean. The news hadn't gone down well with Renn, and Daniel had to admit the idea unsettled him as well. Was it a coincidence that the six of them who had come in pairs had been split up? Could they know he and Jonas were from SG-1? None of it was very promising, but at least they hadn't been sold on to any system lords yet – although Daniel was beginning to wonder whether that was a good thing or not.

At some point, he must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing Jonas was aware of was a blaring klaxon, and voices trying to attain some semblance of order. Their door was wrenched open, and two masked men yelled out, "Type A! Move!"

Daniel shot him a glance before standing compliantly. At least they weren't trying to drug them this time. Unfortunately, the reason behind this was quickly realised when Renn tried to tackle one of them, only to be brought to his knees by a sharp electric shock that not only hit him, but the rest of them as well. It stopped almost as soon as it started, leaving them all gasping for breath, and Jonas was pretty certain that if they had been able to see the men's faces, they would have been smiling, "One of you causes trouble, your whole Group pays. It would do you good to learn that quickly." And the three Type A men were dragged out.

Vala's lips were set in a thin line, "Well, this could get nasty very quickly, especially if your brother is unable to keep his temper."

None of them had expected Kera to answer, but she did shake her head, and then shrugged, her sharp eyes regarding each of them in turn. Jonas had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but he supposed Renn might. He hadn't been very forthcoming about his sibling, only mentioning how she had been born mute. She must have had to compromise; not that this helped any amongst people who had only met her a day ago.

The noise had only died down for a few minutes before another klaxon sounded, and Vala and Beren were dragged away. Now Jonas was starting to get nervous.

"Type C, let's go."

The last remaining pair of Group 63 was forced out into a large corridor. Door upon door lined the wall, out of which were emerging more humans in pairs or threes. The crowd was suffocating with bodies and panic, their captors making sure they kept moving. Up ahead the corridor got lighter and narrower before it split off three ways. Only one of the ways ahead was open, and the crowd bottlenecked; Jonas lost sight of Kera in the mass. He had an intense feeling of being part of a cattle herd as they were jostled forwards. The crowd moved slowly, forced through five partitions, or stations, where they were stopped by two more men, and force fed that disgusting concoction from the day before. Jonas had a horrible feeling that soon they would be gulping it down if that was all they were going to be given.

Now the crowd had been divided into five, there was more room to breathe. They kept being forced forwards, until a booming, mechanical voice froze many in their tracks. It echoed nastily, "You are Type C. Your performance is paramount. You fail, your Group fails. Failure is not accepted. Failure will result in removal from the program. You have been chosen. You will not fail."

The voice kept repeating itself, over and over, so monotonous that it took Jonas a while before he realised the procession had stopped, a closed door preventing them from going any further forwards.

With a jolt, he heard a partition slam behind him, and realised for the first time that there were no masked men.

A hissing sound filled the air, almost lost in the booming of the repetitive voice.

His throat began to seize up, as Jonas' whole body began to feel weak, and his vision greyed. The last thing he was aware of before he passed out was that same voice, repeating over and over.

When Jonas awoke, his whole body seemed to be in pain. He tried to sit up, but a hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so, followed by a voice, Daniel, "Lie still. You don't want to be sitting up right now, trust me. How're you feeling?"

"Other than absolute crap, obviously." Vala's voice floated from somewhere nearby.

Jonas cracked open his eyes, shakily using his elbows to prop himself up. A wave of nausea hit him, and he swallowed. Daniel helped him lean against a wall, and he was thankful for the man's continued support, as he was pretty sure he would just have fallen over again.

As the world blinked into focus, he saw that all of them had a drawn aspect to their faces. Kera was lying in her brother's arms, apparently having yet to wake up. "What happened?"

"'You have been chosen. You will not fail.'" Vala parroted, causing Jonas to jerk in fright.

"We all got the same treatment I think." Daniel said quietly. He pulled up one of his sleeves to reveal angry red puncture marks and blisters covering his skin, "They did something while we were out."

"Cowards." Drek grunted.

Jonas ignored him, looking at Daniel, "Any ideas? You've been doing this longer than me." They both knew he was referring to SG-1.

Daniel's normally clear eyes were dark and cloudy, "We'll get out of this. They'll find us."

Jonas wished the conviction he heard hadn't been so forced.

To Be Continued...

Author Notes: Any thoughts?