Author's Note: So AthosionWarrior definitely gave me something to play around with, with that last chapter. Here is what came out of that :)

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far; and PLEASE review more! Seriously, this is how I feel right now :'(, So please review and change that sad face to a big cheesy grin! LOL

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Chapter 9

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Sheppard and Vala entered the village, to the surprise of all of the "Athosians". They strode through the center of the village, looking for Desreck.

"Hey!" Sheppard called. "Desreck! We want to talk to you!" The Athosians scattered at his shout, a few of them running off to hide while a couple of others ran off in a different direction with purpose.

"Are they going to get him?" John wondered. Vala watched the retreating figures.

"I don't think that he's here," she said, frowning. "Did you see how they reacted when you said his name?"

"If only I could understand what they were saying..." John groaned. "Oh, I wish that Teyla were here!"

"If Teyla were here, we wouldn't have to be," Vala reminded him. "Why didn't you bring Daniel along to translate? He knows a bit of the language."

"Because you came along with me to complain about him, remember?" Vala paused, running their conversation back in her head.

"Oh, right," she giggled nervously. But then she straightened.

"They're coming back," she said, sounding more nervous still, a fact that bothered John more than he cared to admit.

By the time the Athosians had reached them, John had pasted on a halfway civil expression.

"Where's Desreck?" he asked.

"We will show you," a young man---more of a kid, really---said to him in halting english, motioning for them to follow him. "Come, this way."

They followed the kid, wary of a trap but not truly believing that the villagers, at least, had anything to do with Teyla's kidnapping. They walked down the dusty street, trailed by several of the more adventurous people, until they came to a dark tent where think black smoke rose from a tiny hole in the top.

"In here," the kid said, lifting the flap and motioning only John and Vala inside. They ducked to enter the doorway, and straightened up slowly in the smoke-filled space.

"This is... new," John muttered, looking around and noticing think bundles of herbs hanging from the ceiling and piled up to the sides of the tent like kindling, almost. It reminded him a little bit of a healer's tent, but he didn't think that that was what this place was.

"It's a death tent," Vala whispered, daring to draw little breath in the smokey tent. "Do you think that it's a trap to kill us?" she questioned.

"Doesn't feel like a trap... look." He pointed across the room, and almost afraid, Vala followed the direction of his gesture until her eyes rested on a low bed, upon which lay a still body, naked from the waist up, with a charred black hole in the chest.

It was Desreck.

In spite of all of the things that she had seen and done and endured, the sight still made her stomach turn in revulsion.

"So he's dead," she whispered sadly. John gently took her arm, and led her out of the tent.

"What happened to him?" John asked the kid who had brought them there. He shrugged.

"I don't know; we found his body on the ground by the stargate. They must have killed him and brought him back here." John and Vala didn't need to ask to know who "they" included.

"Why was he with them?" John asked. The kid shrugged.

"He left sometimes with them; stayed with them for a few weeks. He always came back."

John frowned thoughtfully.

"Do you know the gate address that he goes to?" he asked. The kid shook his head.

"No, I don't know..." John swore under his breath.

"I bet Colonel Carter could pull the last few from the DHD," Vala murmured. "I probably could, too..."

"Why don't we call her then, and see if she can help you?

"I don't need help," she informed him. "Maybe not; but I'd feel better if the both of you worked on it, okay?"

"Fine," she huffed. "Let's go call her."

"Why do you need the gate addresses?" their young guide asked, following them back towards the gate. Jon glanced at him.

"If we know where Desreck's body came from, we might have a better idea of where Teyla is."

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Daniel tossed and turned restlessly, ordered to bed but unable to fade into the deeper seep that was necessary for him to be able to function when he awakened. He was in a sort of dream-state, where he was not quite asleep and therefore still aware of everything that was going on around him---not that there was anything going on around his quarters; all the good stuff was happening off-world, and he was stuck here, trying to sleep.

He was angry, too; angry at a lot of things. He was angry that they hadn't found her yet, he was angry that Ba'al was torturing her---hurting her---and that his team-mates had forced him to come and rest and do nothing to help her.

He shifted restlessly, irritated that neither sleep nor waking was complete or satisfying. He wished that his radio would come alive with noise, and news that they'd found her and they knew exactly how to get past Ba'al to get her back.

"What are you doing?" Daniel moaned at the voice, covering his head with his pillow. "Unless you came to tell me that we've found her; go away." he mumbled into the fabric.

"Get up, Dr. Jackson."

"Go away!" he moaned again.

"You will not rescue Teyla laying around feeling sorry for yourself." Daniel began to realize that he didn't recognize this voice. He flipped onto his back and moved the pillow off of his face.

Standing just inside the door of his room was a tall man with an odd-looking cane, and a familiar face.

"Do I know you?" he asked, trying to figure out if he was awake or dreaming.

"Not me, personally," the man admitted. "But you know my daughter; you have feelings for her, no less." Daniel frowned.

"Your daughter... Teyla?" the man nodded.

"And yo know who has her and what you have to do to get her back; and yet you sit here and do nothing."

"What do you want me to do? I don't know where she is."

"You need to find her; you have all of the tools, everything that you will need. Go rescue my daughter, and bring her back." With that, he disappeared, leaving Daniel to wonder.

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After the odd but encouraging visions that Teyla had experienced of her friends and her father---which was a little confusing---she drifted into an uneasy sleep, unable to attain a deeper level of rest. The pain screaming out impatiently from her broken wrist was painful especially, too.

She was rudely awakened by light hitting her face as the cell door was opened. She winced and raised her good arm to shield her eyes.

"Bring her," she heard Ba'al's cold voice, and shuddered. A moment later, in a routine that was becoming uncomfortably normal, rough hands grabbed her and hauled her to her feet. Teyla didn't even fight, she was so used to it. Not by any means didn't she ignore her father's words; but whether it was a dream or not, she still didn't know. It wouldn't help her if her escape got her killed---again---in the process.

After so many stints in the darkened cell, she found that the lights hurt her eyes; even the soft, warm, gently light from the torches that lined the walls. She was going to have to figure a way around that; it wouldn't help her fight any when she needed to.

She was brought to a different room than usual, where Ba'al waited with a woman, who Teyla could feel was at war with herself, like two minds were trapped in the same body...

She was slightly shocked to realize that she could sense both the hostess and the gua-ould inside; especially since it was only with this one woman and not with Ba'al. She wondered if this was to be her new symbiote; and how long it would take for the creature to switch hosts, and how much it would hurt.

Ba'al answered two of her questions.

"This is your new symbiote," he said, gesturing vaguely towards the woman. "Her name is Diana. In three days time she will move from this body into yours," her stroked the woman's arm gently, and Teyla got the impression that the two were more than merely acquaintances.

Teyla regarded the woman before her curiously. She had obviously once been very beautiful, though her looks had been shadowed and hidden with age and scars. She figured that the gua'ould inhabiting the dark-haired girl must have decided that she wanted a younger, stronger host.

"Who is she?" Teyla asked, turning to Ba'al.

"I already told you her name."

"Not the worm," Teyla said deliberately, easing her mind in closer to try to see the struggle that went on between host and symbiote; trying to contact the girl. "What is the name of the host; who she was before?"

"She is Lianea Emmagan...

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A/N: Haha, weren't expecting THAT, were you? (Lianea was Desreck's wife, if you go back to the third chapter... she's mentioned there.). The plot thickens! And since you're already here at the bottom of the page, how about a review to make my day? :D