Evolutionary Branches
By Keaira
Bad News


"Do you have a minute, Carter?"

She glanced up from a straightening of her workbench. It was immediately obvious that something was wrong.

"What is it, Sir?"

"Feel ready for your first command of a mission through the Stargate?"

"Sir?" she asked in confusion.

"There's been a complication with getting the device in Central America. Something that requires my special brand of expertise."

She considered that as she looked down and continued working. His tone was light, but if she was asked what his special brand of expertise was it wasn't something to be discussed in a light tone. Black Ops weren't generally casual matters after all.

"Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, you know Daniel. Wandered a little off course and needs someone to remind him which way is home."

She managed a smile and looked up. "And it has to be you?"

"If you're not ready-"

"Not at all. I just think it's kind of . . . weird."

"Why? I have an excellent sense of direction."

Now her smile was genuine if wry. "I'm not going to comment on that. But what I actually meant was that Janet's got an internal compass that would make most migratory birds jealous and she can always find her way if she's been there before. I don't know if she's capable of getting lost."

Their eyes met and Jack sighed internally. He really thought he was better at lying.

"The State Department got a report from the Honduran government. Two Americans are being held hostage by some rebels hidden in the jungle."

"Only two?"

"I know. The numbers aren't right, but it's close enough to the location to make us nervous and it might require an exrtraction team to go in and fish them out. I'll be staying here just in case."

He didn't mention that Daniel and his team hadn't checked in recently. He didn't want to worry her. Bad enough the report had actually said the other two were dead. Their guide was local so he was probably one of the casualties, but that still left one of their coworkers that wouldn't be coming back to Colorado alive.

"Then I guess it'll just be Teal'c, Dad, and me. Don't worry. I think we can manage."

"I'm sure you can," he said and followed her out of the room and down the hallway. He was quite proud of the fact that he kept the worry and doubt out of his voice.

If only he could keep it out of his head.

———

It was another long night without sleep, something Daniel couldn't change if he tried.

He was exhausted, the toll of the last few days showing in his slow movements, but whatever his body was suffering, his mind would not slow down.

He prayed, he talked to Janet, he plotted and planned, preparing mentally for any chance that might come to escape.

She was unconscious through the night, but she seemed to be doing okay so he let her sleep.

Shortly before dawn the nightmare started.

It began with little twitches, a scared whimper every now and again.

Before long she was tossing and fighting his grip on her.

He'd have released her but he couldn't bear to do so as she sobbed and plead with the demons that plagued her sleep. Not that he could have anyway

Instead he held her tightly and continued murmuring to her, letting her know he was there for her the best he could.

Her thrashing grew more violent and then he gave up and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her as he called her name.

Her eyes flew open and she stared at him, her breathing harsh and ragged.

Then she realized who he was and where she was and she went limp again, fresh sobs tearing free as her head dropped. He felt the small wet spots of her tears on his pants and pulled her in close again, tucking her head under his chin as he held her, one hand gently rubbing the skin of her back under her shirt, one of the few unmarked spots on her.

She clung to him, unable to do anything but cry as the terror and fear and embarrassment and humiliation of the previous day finally came out, all her suppressed words and reactions releasing in a rush.

His heart constricted painfully in his chest as she cried, each sob tearing a chunk of his soul out to be washed away with their mingled tears.

When finally she cried herself out it was past sunrise, and she still lay with her head on his chest, one fist clutching his shirt.

He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her shoulders.

"We're going to get through this, Janet," he promised and she sniffed.

"I don't know how much longer I can last, Daniel," she answered, her voice hoarse from the sobs and from the raw emotions still pulsing through her.

"Just a little longer. Someone has to be looking for us. Jack or Teal'c or Sam or someone. We're days overdue for a report. They'll come."

"Okay."

She said the words, but there was no hope in her voice. The strong, brave Janet that walked out the day before was gone, a shattered shell of a woman in her place.

But he knew that the Janet he loved was still in there. He just needed to get her away from here and back into her life and she'd come back out.

He refused to give up on that. It was the one thought that kept him from giving in to the despair himself.

They fell silent then, just taking comfort from each others' presence. Words were no longer necessary and required too much effort.

Just being was enough.

Until the sun had completely risen above the horizon.

Then the door was thrown open and Janet flinched and tightened her grip on Daniel. They no longer cared about appearances. It wouldn't stop the torture, the abuse, and it was the only thing they had to fight back.

To say, We're not beaten yet.

Two guards entered and one reached for Janet as the other came for Daniel.

He tightened his grip and fought back, deciding that he'd fulfilled his promise and it no longer applied. This was a new situation and he wasn't going to give her up the way he had the day before.

Janet fought too, her arms focused on retaining her grip on Daniel, but her legs free to kick and injure.

It took two more guards to finally drag Daniel away, leaving Janet behind, but they managed it and he was pulled out the door, the wood protesting as it was slammed shut once more.

———

Janet watched him go with some trepidation.

She could still hear the leader as he promised that things would get worse if he didn't like the answers to his questions.

But they couldn't give him the answers he wanted.

National security aside, the artifact had the potential to be very dangerous indeed on the wrong hands. And except for the Goa'uld, she couldn't think of worse hands than some guerilla forces in the Central American jungles.

But worrying about what might happen wasn't helping.

She needed to use the time she had to find a way out of here if she could, or at least figure out what she was going to do when her turn came again . . .

———

After being pulled out of the shed and directed across camp, Daniel found himself in one of the other crude sheds across the way from their little prison. He used his walk over to get the best look he could at the surrounding area, but without his glasses there was little he could see that might be of use.

The first thing he noticed upon entering the shack was the sweet scent of fresh fruit, but he only allowed his eyes to flick over to the table at where the chunks of pineapple lay on a plate.

He was familiar enough with the routine of being kidnapped that he knew there were a few rules.

Rule number one was to not let your enemy know how well his tactics might be working.

So with a little extra effort on his part, Daniel managed to keep his eyes on Raphael instead of the food that he wouldn't be able to have.

He stopped in the center of the small room and a chair was pulled over before a hand on his shoulder pushed him down to sit in it.

"You've not had water or food for two days," Raphael said and took a drink of the water he'd just poured into a glass.

Daniel kept his eyes down as long as he could, using the excuse of rubbing at his nose to distract himself.

Rule number two was to not avoid eye contact all the time. It was another indicator of how well the tactics might be working, not to mention it was the most basic of body language and it meant you were intimidated by your opponent, not something you wanted to reveal.

Finally he lifted his eyes and then his head as Raphael picked up a chunk of fruit and took a bite, exaggerating how good it was for Daniel's benefit—or detriment as the case may be.

"Mmm. Muy delicioso. Pick of the season."

Daniel glanced at the plate. Silently he told himself that he wasn't really hungry and it didn't look that good anyway. It was a lie on both accounts, but if he said it enough he just might believe it eventually.

It was almost even working. Except now that he was looking at the food he couldn't tear his eyes away.

"This is very good," Raphael declared and then threw the rest of the chunk away. He straightened and nailed Daniel with a hard look. "Today," he announced as he circled around to where the artifact could be seen partially hidden under a burlap bag, "we start slow. I'm going to ask you again." He tossed the bag laying on the artifact off.

"What is this?"

Daniel still couldn't take his eyes off the fruit, but he was consciously remaining silent.

"And this is the part where you do not talk," Raphael said. "Okay." He snagged a piece of fruit off the tray and took a bite as he walked over, then waved in front of Daniel's face and even touched it to his lips.

"For you and your friends . . ." he taunted.

It took every ounce of self control Daniel had at that moment to not lick his lips. But he managed it and cheered the small victory in his head. It was by no means the war, but in this situation every battle won was a victory to cherish.

Raphael turned away, returning to the artifact.

". . . if you tell me what this is."

Daniel finally tore his eyes away from the fruit and let his eyes wander a bit, but Raphael continued, undaunted by his silence.

"I don't know how long someone can go without food," the rebel said as he rested a hip on the table. "But I believe the human body needs water every . . . three or four days." He punctuated his sentence by taking a few swallows of the water he'd poured previously.

Daniel knew that spilling everything wasn't going to get them out of this mess even if they could tell the man what he wanted to know. But he also knew that Raphael was right about needing water. And in the heat of the day when they lost as much moisture as they did through sweat it was even more important to replenish that necessity of life.

The trick to surviving a hostage situations like this was to give enough information to your captors to get what you wanted or needed to survive without giving them anything of real value.

So he started talking.

"It's an ancient artifact."

That got Raphael's attention, the cup coming down as water dribbled down his chin. He wiped it away and then repeated, "An artifact."

"Yeah," Daniel said. "I'm an archaeologist. It's what I do. I look for artifacts." He couldn't stop the small smile or laugh that escaped. "Found one."

Great, Daniel, just what you need. This is not the time to prove you spend too much time around Jack O'Neill.

Raphael wasn't laughing.

"Seriously I'm an archaeologist," Daniel continued. "You guys can look me up on the internet if you want." He paused and then looked at the others and added, "Do you have a computer?"

No one else laughed and he winced.

Yikes. Tough crowd.

"It all makes perfect sense," Raphael said. "You're just an archaeologist. And you find and study artifacts."

"Makes perfect sense," he agreed, his eyes back on the fruit.

Yup, still there. Nope, still not gonna get any.

"I'm going to ask you one last time," Raphael said, his voice low with menace and annoyance as he pulled the artifact into view. "What is this?"

Daniel met his eyes briefly, but refused to open his mouth. At the rate he was going so far, he wasn't going to get anything but maybe a kick to the gut or, if he really pissed them off, a bullet to the head.

Those were not what he was aiming for. No pun intended.

"And again you're not so talkative."

Keeping his mouth shut, he nevertheless brought his eyes up and held the man's gaze.

"What gives you the right to come into our country and steal valuable artifacts?"

And you were really going to treasure them for their historical value, Daniel silently responded as he broke the staring contest and bit his tongue. He really needed to stop hanging around Jack.

Raphael was on a roll now. "You call yourself a scientist? You're nothing but a thief." He snorted in disdain. "And you think you are better than me. At least I have reasons for what I do."

"I don't doubt that," Daniel agreed, his tongue getting the better of him momentarily.

It was a mistake he would soon regret.

"Chalo," Raphael said, his eyes locked on Daniel still.

One of the men off to the side crossed behind Daniel's chair to another table covered in a tarp. Whipping it back he revealed a setup that made Daniel's blood run cold.

There were very few uses in the middle of the jungle for a car battery, jumper cables, and a lot of wiring after all.

It appeared Raphael's patience had run out and since the psychological effects of raping Janet hadn't worked, apparently the next step was to try a more physical approach.

The man touched the two leads together and the arcing electricity sizzled and spat as a shower of sparks rained on the ground.

Daniel instinctively turned away at the display and clenched his hands into fists.

He might not be special ops trained like Jack, but he'd faced down more than one pissed off Goa'uld with a hand device. How much worse could this be? he wondered.

A LOT, the cynical side of his mind insisted. But he pushed it aside and began mentally preparing himself as best he could. He had no intention of doing anything to cause Janet or Bill to worry by screaming or something like that.

"Now here's something else you should not doubt, compadre," Raphael said as Daniel forced his eyes away from the battery and jumper cables and back to the man before him, the fear lurking in the back of his mind coming forth to coil in his stomach and tie it in knots. The butterflies already in residence didn't appreciate the suddenly close quarters and protested by trying to thrash free.

"You will tell me what I want to know."

Knowing he couldn't talk his way out of this one without giving in—not in his grand plan of survival—he simply prayed that he'd survive long enough to see Janet one more time.


"The manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured. " - Dean Gooderham Acheson

Keaira