Chapter 3
What's In a Name?
Once Kakashi was certain that the man next to him was sound asleep, he opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. What concerned him the most right now, was that he was actually somewhere that seemed to have no clue about what a shinobi was, let alone what chakra could truly do. The obvious question in his own mind was just what that might mean?
If he was truly honest with himself, when he'd offered to heal Daniel's wrists, he'd meant it to be a test to see if he'd still be able to manipulate his chakra when he was removed from his own world. Thankfully, that test proved to be a success, and now he was fairly certain that he would at least have some means to fight back against these Goa'uld that seemed to be feared or revered by everyone he'd met so far. So now all he had to do was figure out some way to get himself and Daniel out of this place.
The problem was, even though he could access his chakra, it was replenishing itself at a much slower rate than he was used to. Although, in retrospect, he should be counting himself lucky that it was replenishing itself at all. But still, that meant he'd need to be very careful with what jutsu he used so that he wasn't expending more than could be restored in a night's rest. Which meant, of course, that he really should be trying to rest, and not laying here over-thinking things.
Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes, willing his mind to quiet and his body to rest. His breathing fell into a steady cadence, and he felt the first tug of true sleep on his body, when he was yanked up off of the floor and slammed back against the nearest wall. It concerned him more than a bit that he hadn't even sensed the Jaffa approaching, or heard the sound of the door opening. But Kakashi pushed those thoughts to the side as the gloved hand of the Jaffa in front of him threatened to crush his airway. The man continued to squeeze his neck while lifting him up the wall, and soon Kakashi's feet were dangling a good foot off the floor.
Never one to enjoy such attacks...particularly when they were used on him, Kakashi let his instincts take over. He lifted his feet up until the soles of his sandals connected with the wall, and he used that surface to provide him the needed leverage to push his body forward toward the angry Jaffa in front of him. Momentum carried his body, and that of the surprised Jaffa, tumbling to the ground. The Jaffa released his grip on Kakashi's neck as they fell, and that opened up a chance for Kakashi to land a chakra-enhanced elbow into the Jaffa's upper body before rolling off to the side and crouching into a position that would allow him to attack any of the others who were only now getting past their shock over his last move.
By now, Daniel had woken up and by the agitated tone of his voice it was obvious to Kakashi that the man was trying find out just what had prompted the Jaffa's attack. The sound of staff weapons activating drew Kakashi's attention back toward the doorway, where three more Jaffa stood at the ready. He would need to proceed cautiously if there'd be any chance of surviving the night.
"Daniel, is there some reason I was being attacked by these...men?"
Kakashi saw the frown on his fellow prisoner's face and knew he wasn't about to give him good news. "They want to know where you've hidden the hand device."
"I don't mean to sound ignorant Daniel, but why exactly would they think I had such a thing?"
Daniel placed one hand over his other wrist, and just like that, Kakashi knew why they'd thought he had one. He frowned and shook his head at his own stupidity. He should have realized that a place as technologically advanced as this one seemed to be would have cameras watching the inside of their cell. He never should have healed Daniel's wrists. He should have found another, less obvious way to test his chakra.
"Daniel, tell them there is no device. It is just a skill I have."
"Are you sure you want me to tell them that? That's likely to make them more interested in you, not less."
"Just tell them."
He watched as Daniel spoke in the language of the Jaffa, and somehow he doubted they believed him, considering their next action was to basically perform a thorough search of every inch of the cell. The entire time, both Kakashi and Daniel had staff weapons pointed at them, and when no healing device was uncovered, the Jaffa turned the search toward the two men.
Kakashi resisted his urge to attack the Jaffa, if for no other reason than he figured such an action would result in pain or death for his fellow prisoner. So, instead, he allowed the muscle-bound Jaffa to bodily search him, all the time planning exactly how he'd dispatch each and every one of these despicable beings.
Eventually they left, but not before they'd back-handed Daniel for evidently back-talking to them. Once the Jaffa resealed the door, Kakashi crossed over to where Daniel was only just starting to rise off the floor. The man's cheek was already starting to bruise and swell, and his bottom lip was split open and seeping more than a bit of blood.
"Let me take a look at that, Daniel."
The man wiped the back of his hand against his mouth and tried to smile at Kakashi. "It's fine, really. I've had much worse.
Kakashi chuckled as he lifted one hand up to rest on Daniel's injured cheek. "That may be true, Daniel. But they already know about what I can do, so I may as well do it in their full view so they'll finally admit that it's done without this hand-device they keep talking about."
Without waiting for a response, Kakashi fed a small amount of his chakra into his fingertips before molding its purpose into a healing flow. They swelling disappeared almost immediately, and he moved his fingers to the man's split lip and completed his task. When he was finished, he couldn't help but notice the strange look in Daniel's eyes.
"Is something wrong, Daniel?"
The man in front of him let a small puff of air out of his mouth before raising his hand to rub the recently healed cheek. "Kakashi, that's not all you can do, is it?"
Kakashi raised one eyebrow at how Daniel had managed to make that sound like a statement of fact, rather than a question. "What would make you say that, hmm?"
Daniel took his glasses off and made a great show of rubbing the lenses with the edge of his shirt before replacing them onto his face. "You know Kakashi, I'm not as blind and people think I am."
Kakashi leaned against the wall with practiced ease. His arms were folded loosely across his chest, and his bangs fell over his left eye without his headband there to keep them in place. "I would never accuse you of being blind, Daniel. But still, you have yet to answer my question."
Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose in such a way that Kakashi was momentarily reminded of Lord Orochimaru's henchman, Kabuto Yakushi. That slimy little snake-wannabe that had come so close to helping the Akatsuki wipe out the Allied Forces, not to mention having personally tortured Tenzou and forced him to take part in creating Madara's mutated army. Kakashi frowned at that thought. At the moment, he wasn't even sure if Naruto had managed to eliminate that little bastard or not. Or if Sakura, Sai and the others had been able to wipe out the remainder of Madara's forces once he'd managed to remove the Uchiha from the equation...assuming his final jutsu had actually managed to remove Madara. At this point, he could only assume it had worked. But if it had worked, shouldn't that bastard have ended up right next to him on that last planet?
"Are you alright, Kakashi?"
Daniel's voice shook Kakashi out of his spiraling thoughts. He rubbed at the back of his neck self-consciously. "Sorry about that. You were about to answer my question, weren't you?"
He noted a look of concern in Daniel's blue eyes, and that alone wiped away any further comparisons to Kabuto from Kakashi's mind. The exaggerated sigh that escaped the man's mouth was followed by words that made it quite clear that he was nearly as observant as Kakashi was.
"Fine. The way you moved to break out of the Jaffa's grip made it clear that you've been in similar situations before and have likely been trained to deal with it a hell of a lot better than I ever could. Then there was the way you were able to send the Jaffa sailing across the room with your elbow hit."
Kakashi frowned. "Heh, you noticed that, did you?"
"Kakashi, I've been up against Jaffa before. Heck, my team's stacked with power hitters. But I've never even seen Teal'c manage to send one of them across a room with just an elbow before."
"Teal'c? That name's a bit strange."
Daniel smirked at him. "This from the man named after a scarecrow...but, yeah, Teal'c isn't exactly like you or me. He's Jaffa."
Now that definitely caught and held Kakashi's attention. But before he could do more than uncross his arms and tense a bit, Daniel lifted his hands up between them and spoke quickly.
"Whoa! It's not like that! Teal'c used to be Jaffa, but now he's one of us. In fact I count him as a close friend."
Kakashi was about to question Daniel a bit more about his taste in friends, but the door opening pulled his attention away. The sound of words he couldn't understand was all the warning they had before all hell broke loose. They were rushed by six Jaffa, and soon he found himself starting to understand Daniel's surprise at how he'd hit the Jaffa that last time. Every one of the enemy fought with a style and quickness that would rival his friend, Gai. And, considering Gai was an undisputed Taijutsu Master, that was saying something.
Fortunately for Kakashi, though, Gai was forever declaring them Eternal Rivals, and challenging him to countless Taijutsu battles in an effort to prove himself better. Although that man could be a bit overzealous with his challenges, at this very moment Kakashi was thankful for it. He found himself between two of the muscular armored men and dropped into low crouch before spinning in place and sweeping his leg out to knock his attackers off-balance. Before the last Jaffa landed, Kakashi had already dove toward where Daniel was being cornered by two more Jaffa. Without weapons of his own, he was limited in what he could do, so he needed to make every move count.
Kakashi channeled chakra into his arms and grabbed one of the Jaffa in front of Daniel by his armor. With a chakra-enhanced grip, he sank into a crouch taking the enemy with him in a backward tumble. Once he was certain of the momentum and trajectory, Kakashi let go of the Jaffa, letting the law of physics to take over. He allowed himself a moment of satisfaction when he heard his makeshift Jaffa missile slam into the group behind him, but his concentration quickly returned to where Daniel was now face to face with another Jaffa. Kakashi launched himself at the enemy's back, grabbing hold of the Jaffa's head and neck in a vice-like grip. A sharp twist of his arms was rewarded with the distinct sound of vertebrae twisting free of the spinal column, and a moment later the Jaffa crumpled lifeless at his feet.
Kakashi pushed the wide-eyed stare on Daniel's face out of his mind before spinning on the balls of his feet to see just how much more he needed to do to win them their freedom. What he'd expected to see was the remaining Jaffa setting up to engage him. Unfortunately what he did see was the business end of a hand device. He'd just registered the Goa'uld's glowing eyes in front of him when that device was activated, but instead of excruciating pain, Kakashi felt the fight in him fade away, along with his consciousness.
Samantha Carter was doing everything in her power to make sure that the DHD was still fully operational after she'd disconnected her laptop from the power crystals. Not that she'd ever done such a thing in the past, but thanks to Colonel O'Neill's pep-talk earlier, she found herself second-guessing every connection she'd made. She frowned and looked over to where Jack and Teal'c we deep in discussion. Teal'c was leaning on his staff weapon, while the Colonel stood with his arms casually folded across his P-90. As though he could tell she was looking at him, the Colonel turned his head to face her.
"You almost done there, Carter? I'd like us to get to Daniel before he finds himself on the wrong side of a staff weapon."
"Just about, Sir. I just have a few things left to pack up. Give me two minutes and we can head out."
Sam sighed and turned her attention back to the final cable linking her laptop to the crystals. Once that was disconnected, she closed up the access panel and started packing up her equipment. She lifted her laptop off the ground, and was just about to call out to Jack to tell him she was finished, when a flash of silver caught her eye. It had been covered up by her computer up to now, and she stared at the strange swirling pattern carved into the smooth surface of metal trying to figure out just what it might represent. Was it something from whoever it was that took Daniel? Or maybe it belongs to whoever was there with him when he was taken. Either way, it was something she needed to report to the Colonel. She looked up and noticed Teal'c and the Colonel were already heading toward her.
"What's with the frown, Carter? You didn't break something, did you?"
Sam's frown twisted into a scowl. "No sir. But I did find something you might want to check out."
She could see the sarcastic remark hovering right behind the Colonel's eyes, so sent her face in what she liked to think of as her 'business face' and motioned toward the piece of metal that she'd only just discovered.
"I've never seen this symbol before, Sir. Does it look like anything you've come across?"
The Colonel's attention was successfully shifted toward the object while Sam finished packing up the last of her equipment. Jack squatted next to her with his P-90 resting on his knees. He moved his head back and forth to look at the object from different angles.
"Nope. Never seen it. How about you, T?"
Teal'c stood beside her and stared down at the metal plate for nearly a full minute. "This is not the symbol for any of the Goa'uld that I know of, O'Neill."
Sam sighed. "Well, I guess that's a good thing then."
Teal'c frowned. "I am afraid it would only be a good thing if I knew of every Goa'uld."
Colonel O'Neill tipped his head up to look at Teal'c directly. "What are you saying, Teal'c?"
The muscles along the Jaffa's jaw tensed. "I am saying, O'Neill, that for every Goa'uld that is known to me, there are dozens more that I hold no knowledge of. Many of these are lesser Goa'uld, but they are each dangerous in their own ways."
The Colonel rolled his eyes. "Well isn't that just perfect. So we go into this with absolutely no idea of just which snake this swirly-thing represents. That's just great. Do you have any more good news for me, T?"
Sam watched as Teal'c knelt down beside her and picked the metal plate up. A frown creased his forehead as a strip of cloth attached to the plate swung free. "I know of no Goa'uld who do not brand their followers directly. Whatever God this stands for, they do not follow normal Goa'uld practices."
Sam licked lips that were suddenly dry at the thought of Daniel in the hands of an unpredictable Goa'uld. "So what should we do, Colonel?"
Jack pushed himself back up to standing and shrugged. "Let's dial home first and let 'em know the scoop. Then, once backup arrives, we go get our boy back."
Sam frowned. "We're waiting for backup, Sir?"
The Colonel shifted his P-90 to his hip. "Yeah, well, considering the damage done on this planet, and the fact T here doesn't know what we should expect from this snake, I'd rather be safe than sorry."
Teal'c placed his hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry, Samantha Carter. Daniel Jackson is strong. He will survive until we rescue him."
She noticed a small frown settle on Jack's face and she felt her stomach clench. Still, she tried to share in the confidence Teal'c was showing. Not trusting her voice at that moment, she moved to the other side of the DHD and punched in the address for the SGC.
Kakashi woke and instantly knew he wasn't going to like where he was. He had been stripped of his remaining shirt and mask, and was currently lying on his back on a cold stone slab. His arms and legs were being held down by a half-dozen Jaffa, and by the looks on their faces, it was clear to him that there'd be no escaping their tight grips this time.
A rustle of material to his right caught Kakashi's attention, and he turned his head in its direction. Before him stood the Goa'uld he'd truly come to hate. That deep feeling only increased when the man starting speak to him in a tone that, even without understanding the language, made it crystal clear to him that whatever was about to happen would not be pleasurable in the least.
He narrowed his eye and growled low in his throat as the man placed his fingers atop Kakashi's chest, just above his heart, and then trailed the digits possessively down his body until he reached just above the waistband of Kakashi's pants. A light chuckle escaped the Goa'uld before he looked up and barked an order to someone just beyond Kakashi's limited view. A moment later and a second hand, from the other side of the table mimicked the movement that the Goa'uld just completed.
Kakashi turned his head until the newcomer could be seen. It was a man who was just a handful of years younger than Kakashi was. His physique and clothing made it clear that he was not a soldier. His muscles were not as defined as those holding Kakashi in place, and the long gilded robe he wore was nothing he would have been able to fight in. There were golden bracelets all up and down his thin arms, and his dark brown hair was cropped neatly and obviously well cared for. The eyes, however, held the look of blind devotion in them that Kakashi had encountered far too often in his life. It was the look that showed him that, whoever this man was, he had sworn himself, body and soul, to the Goa'uld on the other side of the table.
More foreign words came from the Goa'uld, and Kakashi held his breath as the younger man leaned closer still to him until the upper half of his body leaned over the table. At the same time, the man loosened his long robe until it came free of his shoulders to slide down to the floor. Kakashi now had a clear view of that man's chest, and as he watched, the center of his abdomen seemed to split open. That man's eyes filled with a look that was just this side of ecstasy as something started to push its way free of what Kakashi could only describe as a pouch within the man's body.
Kakashi struggled to keep his heart rate steady when the creature that had been housed within that pouch slithered out of the man and on to Kakashi's stomach. He'd never encountered anything like this in all his years as a shinobi. The creature was as long as his forearm, and resembled a cross between a snake and some of the lizards he'd read about as a boy...the ones with razor-sharp crests around their necks that were reported to feast on human flesh.
Kakashi could not shake that image when the creature continued its path up his torso. He noted that the slime-covered body was surprisingly cold to the touch, considering it had come from within the body of that second man just moments earlier. He tried to break free of the Jaffa holding him, but he was still fighting off the after-effects of being knocked out with the hand-device. His own physical strength was limited, and he was having trouble getting his mind to mold his chakra into anything useful.
The Goa'uld laughed deeply at him, while the creature reached Kakashi's chest and reared up like one of Orochimaru's pet snakes preparing to strike. But unlike Orochimaru's beasts, this creature's eyes held an intelligence in them. The thing's face split into four sections revealing what he could only assume was its mouth. It was as though this creature was sharing in the Goa'uld's glee.
The snake-like thing lowered its head and continued its journey along Kakashi's skin. The Goa'uld continued to spout words that he couldn't understand, until two words caught Kakashi's attention.
"Jaffa! Kree!"
As the creature continued to climb towards where Kakashi's neck met his left shoulder, his Jaffa handlers deftly turned him over until he was face down on the table. He heard the footsteps of the Goa'uld as that man moved to stand by his head. Again, a stream of nonsensical words issued from the Goa'uld's lips, and Kakashi tensed when he felt the man's fingers sink into the hair on the back of his head. That hair was then pulled aside until the back of Kakashi's neck was exposed to the cool air of the room.
The creature's path had continued while Kakashi was being man-handled, and by his estimate, it was now positioned directly between his shoulder blades. There seemed to be a collective intake of breath from all of those around him, and an air of anticipation was nearly thick enough to cut with a kunai. The hand in his hair gripped tighter, and in that very moment a scream was ripped from his throat when he felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck. The analytical portion of his mind noted that the slime-trail from the creature led directly to where the pain was focused. Meanwhile, he could feel something trying to access his mind. No...not access it...it was trying to dominate it.
The screams ended even as that realization crossed his mind. The most frightening thing about the sudden silence, however, was the fact that he hadn't been the one to stop the screams. This went well beyond the mind-possession or the shadow-possession jutsu that he had encountered and trained against during his ANBU days. This felt completely unnatural. But he couldn't seem to stop it from happening. And that did something none of Kakashi's numerous enemies had ever been able to do to him...it actually frightened him.
Naruto Uzumaki had received word of the final victory of the Allied Forces over the Akatsuki while he was visiting Hinata Hyuga in the Field Hospital outside of Tea Country. So when he escorted the pale-eyed woman back to the area where Konoha was, even now, being rebuilt, he was somewhat confused by how every person he'd run into seemed sad. Yeah, sure...he got the whole 'the village was destroyed' vibe that was in the air. Honestly, he'd been expecting that. But somehow there was a thicker layer of something unnameable that almost hung like a dark cloud over the entire area.
"Naruto? Is there something wrong?"
Naruto smiled down at the dark-hair of the woman who'd thrown herself between him and a slew of those weird-looking plant people. She had saved him...in more ways than one...and he planned on making sure she never had to do that ever again. After all, once the battle was over, the two shared the first of many kisses, and Hinata had shared with Naruto the fact she'd cared for him since the first time she'd laid eyes on him.
Naruto, in turn, admitted to Hinata...and himself...that she was definitely one of his most precious people. Of course, once he'd admitted that, Hinata promptly fainted, which led to their second kiss, as the woman woke up while Naruto was trying to give her mouth to mouth.
"I'm okay, Hinata. But don't you think it's a little...I don't know...creepy around here?"
Hinata frowned at his words. "Creepy? Really?"
Naruto scratched at the back of his ear. "Well, maybe creepy isn't the word."
Hinata hummed to herself before speaking again. "It sadness."
Naruto stopped short, Hinata a step behind him. "That's it! Everybody looks sad!"
One slim hand lay on his arm. "Naruto, not so loud."
He felt the heat of embarrassment color his cheeks. "Right. Sorry about that."
They started walking again, this time in silence. Hinata slipped her fingers through Naruto's the closer they got to where Granny Tsunade had set up a tent to serve as a temporary Hokage's office. That vague feeling of sadness seemed to grow thicker the closer they got, so that by the time they had made it to the entrance of the tent, the two of them were almost afraid to walk through the flaps.
A flash of pale pink hair caught Naruto's eye, and as though she had sensed his eyes on her, Sakura turned to face him. A wide smile stretched across Naruto's face and he raised a hand in a two-fingered wave. Sakura's lips quirked into the shadow of a smile, and then her green eyes were cast down at the ground while her hands clasped in front of her. That reaction alone wiped the smile off his face, and a comforting squeeze of his hand made it clear to him that Hinata was as worried for his teammate as he was.
They continued until they were at her side, and when Sakura raised her face to meet Naruto's eyes, it was all too easy to see she'd been crying recently...especially by the look of the red-rimmed eyes and tear streaks staining her cheeks. Hinata instinctively released her hold on Naruto's hand just a moment before Sakura threw herself against him in a bone-crushing hug. The sobs that wracked Sakura's body felt like kunai to his heart, and he held her closer and rubbed his hand along her back, trying to soothe her.
Meanwhile, his mind was going a thousand miles a minute. Whatever happened that had placed such a cloud of sadness over the village must have been very personal to Sakura for her to be in such a state. He needed to find out what exactly had happened while he and Hinata had been traveling back. That thought in mind, Naruto gently pulled back from his friend.
"Hush now, Sakura. Whatever happened, we'll see you through it."
Sakura tried to wipe away the tears with the backs of her hands, but the evasive drops of salt water continued to fall. Naruto frowned, trying to think of just what might have happened to affect her so.
"Sakura, is Granny Tsunade alright?"
The slight bob of her pink hair made it clear the old hag was fine. But if it wasn't her mentor that was causing her such distress, then who was it? Naruto mentally ran down the list of people he knew were close to Sakura. He'd already seen most of the crew from their Academy days on the walk here. Some of them were a little worse for wear, but not enough to have caused Sakura to react like this. He knew it wasn't Neji, Kiba, or Shino, otherwise Hinata would be the one sobbing in his arms.
He was just about to ask Sakura some more questions when he felt Hinata tugging at his sleeve. He turned his head to stare down into her pale eyes and couldn't help smiling softly at his girlfriend. He'd almost forgotten what he was doing the longer he gazed into those pale eyes.
"Why is it that you can never manage to stick to a plan, Uzumaki? You were supposed to return here over three days ago!"
Naruto cringed at the far too familiar voice of the Fifth Hokage. But, before he could say a word, Hinata spoke up.
"That...that's my fault Hokage. Naruto wanted to come straight back...but...well...I asked him to wait for me to be released by the medics."
By this point Hinata's hands gripped the cloth of Naruto's sleeve, and her face was tinged nearly as red as Iruka-sensei's would get when he'd be caught pulling a prank. A sick feeling gripped his stomach and he turned back to where Sakura was still sniffling.
"Sakura, it's not Iruka-sensei, is it?"
Her eyes went wide for a moment before she she emphatically shook her head to let him know that wasn't it. Naruto let loose a long breath, thankful that his very first precious person was still safe.
He grinned as he turned to face the Hokage. "Sorry we're late, Granny Tsunade. But that's what you get for assigning me to Kakashi-sensei's team during my formative years!"
The grin slipped away the moment his eyes locked on the woman. Her eyes actually looked redder than Sakura's did, and she was biting on her lower lip as though she was trying to keep it from trembling.
"Oh, Naruto..." Sakura's shaky voice behind him made him think about what he'd just said that might have elicited such a reaction from them both.
That was when it hit him. With Pervy Sage already gone, there was only one person whose death would cause a village-wide sense of mourning, and affect both Sakura and the Hokage so deeply. He swallowed thickly as he spoke words that he truly hoped Sakura would say weren't true – like she had when he'd asked about Iruka-sensei.
"Has...has something happened to Kakashi-sensei?"
A soft sob came from behind him, while the Hokage gave him one sharp nod while biting her lip a bit harder. It was then that Naruto saw the tears running down Granny Tsunade's cheeks, and the realization of it all felt like someone knocked the wind out of him. He sank to the ground when his legs felt like soggy ramen, and a pained sob ripped its way from his throat.
Not Kakashi-sensei! It couldn't be true, could it? He tipped his head up toward the Hokage, hoping she'd say it was all just a joke...a sick, twisted joke. Instead, the big-breasted woman knelt in front of him and took him into her arms. Her words burned their way into his heart.
"He's gone, Naruto. I'm so, so sorry."
Naruto knew there were more words spoken to him after that. He saw Granny Tsunade and Sakura's mouths moving, after all. But he didn't hear them. He just couldn't get past the fact that the man he'd always looked up to...the man he'd thought was invincible...the man he had secretly wanted to be like was gone.
After they had taken Kakashi away, Daniel was left behind to sit and worry himself sick over just what was being done to the mysterious silver-haired man. And considering the many encounters he and SG-1 had lived through over the years, his mind was able to supply very graphic details for every scenario he came up with.
It had been hours since he'd been left alone, and he wasn't afraid to admit that his hopes for Kakashi getting free and breaking him out were quickly disappearing. He knew better than to think he could break out of this cell, and that meant all he was left with was countless hours spent thinking back on the others in his life that had been forced to be hosts for the Goa'uld.
Images of his wife, Sha're, and her brother Skaara as they were taken from him danced behind his eyes, and he wondered just what he must have done in a past life that was so bad that he had to suffer so much in this life. He closed his eyes and leaned his head into his palms, trying to stop the endless images in his mind.
The sound of the door opening caused Daniel to lift his head, hoping that perhaps Kakashi had beaten the odds and was here to set them both free. As usual, his hopes were wiped away at the sight of a handful of Jaffa glaring at him. The Jaffa at the front of the group stepped through the door and pointed his staff weapon toward him. That familiar hissing sound as the weapon was activated was followed by the usual command to pay attention.
"Kree! You are to come with us, Daniel Jackson."
Daniel frowned. He knew better than to argue or resist when there was a staff weapon pointed at his head. If it had been a Zat-gun, he might have thought differently, but even one hit from a staff weapon could kill if aimed at the right body part. So Daniel stood and slowly walked over to where the Jaffa were waiting for him. He was pushed into the center of the group and then they escorted him down halls that all looked the same. There were no markings depicting what section they were in, and Daniel found himself wondering about just who this Goa'uld was. He'd never met a Goa'uld that didn't mark every inch of their dwelling with gold, or hieroglyphs, or some egotistical reference to their greatness. But this place looked like it was wiped clean. That, or it was brand new and not completely finished yet.
Which, of course, only added to Daniel's uneasiness. This was the first time that he honestly had no clear idea of what might be the driving force behind the Goa'uld's actions. There hadn't been any real signs on that first planet that pointed toward this Goa'uld or anything close to a Jaffa occupation. Which normally would have made Daniel think this had all been just one big coincidence. But what blew that theory out of the water was the fact that these unknown Jaffa targeted him by name.
Daniel had been so preoccupied in his thoughts that he failed to notice that they'd arrived at their destination. But when Daniel heard a familiar voice speaking fluent Goa'uld, his heart dropped.
"Is this the man you told me about, Father?"
Daniel focused on where Kakashi was standing. The man's silver hair had been pulled back and plaited into a tail that sat close to his skull. He wore clothes that were definitely more for show than practicality, judging by the amount of gold threading and bead-work covering nearly every inch of the sleeveless tunic. Daniel mourned for the loss of his new friend, and his sadness was plain in the whispered name that passed his lips.
"Kakashi..."
The older Goa'uld placed his hand on his new son's shoulder. "There is no more Kakashi, Daniel Jackson. There is only my son."
Daniel shook his head, refusing to believe the man's words. "No, he's stronger than that!"
The laughter that came from the two men caused Daniel's blood to run cold. But not as much as what came next. The older Goa'uld handed Kakashi his hand-device and casually waved toward where Daniel was still standing.
"Do what you will with him, child. I know how much you used to enjoy playing with your pets in the past. Just make sure this one is dead when you are through."
A sick grin twisted Kakashi's features as he placed the device on his hand and moved purposefully across the room. Daniel's eyes locked with the man who had once been Kakashi and, in that instant, he saw the anticipation in the man's dark eyes. He refused to look anywhere else, even as the hand device was lifted over his head. Daniel saw the stone in its center begin to glow as it was activated, and he whispered into the silence before the device was fully activated.
"I'm glad I met you Kakashi. You seemed like a good man."
At the last moment, Daniel's eyes betrayed him and closed. His ears recognized the distinctive sound of the fully activated hand-device, and he braced himself for the pain that would surely follow. His last thought was how strange it was that he still had no name to place with this Goa'uld or his son.
