I am determined to finish all of my unfinished stories. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4
Janet, Jack, and Teal'c stepped through the Stargate and made their way towards the makeshift hospital that was currently housing the John Doe SG-1 had found on the seemingly deserted planet. Sam had called them through frantically, refusing to shed any light as to her impatience and Janet was not pleased to be called away so abruptly from the growing numbers of patients in her infirmary.
"Carter?" Jack called as the gate disconnected behind them.
Sam emerged from the tent, her expression fluctuating between joy, relief, and amazement.
"Colonel, Janet, Teal'c." She paused, seemingly lost for words, after several false starts she settled on shaking her head and gesturing them forward, "Just come."
Teal'c moved to follow but Jack held him back.
"Carter, stop playing games and just tell us."
Sam turned back and stared at her commanding officer.
"It's Daniel."
…
Janet was the first to enter the tent after Sam. Jack followed and Teal'c came in after. The tent was crowded but no one paid any mind to the cramped conditions, focused as they were on the occupant of the single bed.
The figure looked marginally better now that he had been divested of the rags he had been found in and his body had been cleaned. His hair had been cut short and his beard shaved off and through the bruises that marred his face Janet could see the familiar features of SG-1's lost member. The occupants of the tent stood in shocked silence as they struggled to take in the knowledge that Daniel had been found; and then the knowledge of how far gone he was caught up with her, and she turned to make her way out of the tent.
"Janet!" Sam called after her, "Where are you going?"
Janet stopped halfway out of the tent and turned around.
"To get together a medical team to move him back to the base. We're bringing Daniel home."
Sam smiled as her friend exited the tent and then turned to the remaining members of her team who had yet to speak.
"Well?" She asked as the silence stretched on.
Teal'c looked up with a pleased expression on his normally stoic face.
"It is good to have Daniel Jackson back with us."
Sam smiled and nodded as tears glistened in her eyes. She turned her gaze to the colonel who was staring down at the emaciated figure of their lost teammate with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Colonel?"
Jack swallowed and looked up at her, eyes hard. He grunted noncommittally and looked back down. Moving slowly, he approached the bed reaching out a hand to grasp Daniel's in his own, lightly as though he was afraid of breaking it.
Leaning down he whispered words that Sam just managed to catch but would forever deny hearing.
"I'm sorry."
…
Daniel had been set up in a spare VIP room and Sam volunteered to stay on as his nurse since no one else could be spared. The rest of the planet had been explored and an alien spacecraft had been found, with an alien being inside that proved to be similarly alive. Communication with the creature had been unsuccessful but since it was assumed that it had been what had captured Daniel, since he had obviously been trying to escape it, the creature had been locked in one of the containment cells until Daniel recovered enough to tell his side of the story. Sam watched it through the security cameras as it prowled its cell. It was insect-like, with large, glistening black eyes. Its body was humanoid, but scaled; with elongated limbs and digits. It wore flowing robs that shifted colour as it moved and it emitted stuttering, clicking sounds that no one had been able to interpret.
It was very alien and Sam felt a rising anger the longer she stared at it. The marks of abuse that Daniel bore were made at the hands of someone or something with intelligence. Something that knew what it was doing. She had seen enough of the galaxy to know slavery when she saw it and she saw it in every whip mark and every protruding rib on his abused body and especially in the bruise pattern they'd found around his neck that Janet had identified as being caused by a collar. Never had she wanted to kill anyone or anything quite as thoroughly as this thing. Which meant Jack was holding onto his temper by the skin of his teeth.
Daniel had yet to wake up. Janet was pumping nutrients and antibiotics into Daniel as quickly as was healthy, but he had yet to gain consciousness.
…
Sam was reading when Daniel woke. She looked up at the sound of a soft moan and jumped to her feet as his eyelids began to flutter open.
"Daniel?" She asked in hushed trepidation as his blue eyes struggled to focus.
As consciousness filtered in, he struggled to remember. Bits and pieces came to him. Fire, crashing, burning, heat, pain, hunger, cold. The ground rough beneath his feet as he stumbled on a broken ankle. The ring, the ring was familiar. The ring would bring help. He cast his mind back further. There was a problem with the ship, had to evacuate.
The ground beneath him was soft. Too soft. He had not felt soft since…he tried to open his eyes. The voices in his head were quiet and would offer him no explanation.
Light. The light hurt. He shut his eyes tightly. He could hear a voice. He tried opening his eyes again. A figure coalesced into a shape he recognized. He felt the soft ground and realized.
Bed, The word filtered down through his muddled consciousness. Forbidden filtered down as well and he struggled to get off of the taboo piece of furniture. Beds were for the Others. If this was a test he, was determined to pass. If this was a punishment…he cut off that line of thought.
The voice was back, frantic tones colouring the still incomprehensible words. He had not used his ears to understand language in so long.
He was off the bed now. The ground beneath him was cold and hard. The figure was moving towards him. He had gotten off the bed, back to the floor where he belonged but even that demonstration of obedience was often not enough to appease them. He tried to keep up but that was impossible when the rules kept changing. He pushed himself into the corner bringing his hands up in a gesture of supplication and to protect his face, curling up into a ball in preparation for the inevitable punishment.
…
Sam watched as Daniel squinted against the brightness of the lights.
"Daniel?" She asked as he began feeling around, trying to get a bearing on his surroundings but it soon became obvious that he was in distress.
"Daniel?!" She said more frantically as his breathing increased and he began shifting backwards off the bed. She rushed around the side to catch him but he was already on the ground by the time she got there, I.V. line hanging off the side of the mattress from where it had been pulled out.
He was whimpering as he scrambled backwards into the corner, his hands coming up to shield his face. He was protecting himself.
Sam felt anger and hatred flood her body at the thought of who had brought Daniel to this state of terror, and how they had done it.
Slowly Sam began moving forward, crawling towards the frightened man.
"It's okay," she said calmly, reaching out a hand, "I won't hurt you."
She gently brought her hand up to rest on his shoulder but as soon as she touched him he jerked away, a high pitched keening noise escaping his mouth, hands tangling in his hair.
Sam moved to touch him again. He didn't throw her off but she could feel his body vibrating in fear.
"Shhhhh." She stroked his shoulder lightly, "It's okay, it's going to be okay."
She hoped she could live up to that promise.
