Outside there was a chime, like a bell, from the building.

Still standing on the steps, Jack turned and raced back inside. What he saw made his blood run cold.

There at the temple's edge, both Daniel and Michaels were imprisoned in some sort of force field, holding them like flies in amber.

Jack heard footsteps behind him. "Sir, we heard this bell-like…" Carter's voice died when she saw caught sight of Daniel.

He was teetering on the edge of the temple floor. Surrounded by the bluish haze of a force field, it was plainly all that was keeping him from falling to the valley floor thousands of feet below. Beside him, Michaels was also trapped, his arms outstretched. It was hard to decide if he was reaching out to grab Daniel before he fell, or reaching out to push him.

"What the hell is happening here?" Jack growled moving toward his friend. He needed to get a hand on Daniel before the field let him go and he plunged to his death. He was stopped just short by yet another force field. "No!" He pounded a fist on the electronic wall in frustration. It crackled with energy, but held firmly in place.

Then, with a flash of light, the team was no longer alone, they were surrounded by people. There were hundreds of people now in the temple.

A woman stepped forward from the crowd. She was tall and graceful, dressed in diaphanous robes of white. Her long brown hair seemed to float around her face; stirred by a breeze that none of Jack's team could feel. "Colonel," when she spoke it was if he could hear silvery bells, "we are honored to be in your presence for the Test."

"Where in the hell did you people come from?" He growled. "And what have you done to my men?"

"We have always been here Jack O'Neill, if you only had the eyes to see." The people around her bowed. They were human, and not. They had an otherworldly quality about them Jack couldn't quite define. They were nearly translucent, as if they weren't quite in the world. The woman continued, "As to what has happened to your friends, this was not of our doing."

"Not your doing? Daniel's hanging over a cliff and you're not responsible? Then who the hell is?" He was shouting, he knew he was shouting, but he couldn't seem to help himself. He was so afraid the thing holding Daniel was going to shut off and there'd be no one there to catch him.

The woman frowned at him, "It was one of yours who wished to harm the other. We are only here now to witness the Test." She gestured with one hand to Michaels. The Colonel followed her gaze. It did almost look like the other man… Oh, God, no...

"The Test of Cain, sir. Daniel was talking about it before," Carter whispered behind him.

"Indeed Captain Carter is correct." The ethereal woman bowed her head to the blonde captain.

"What the hell is this test?" Jack gripped his weapon tightly. He didn't dare shoot anyone with Daniel hanging over the edge of the temple, but he didn't rule it out as an alternative for later.

"It is the first Test and we are honored to witness it. None must be allowed to interfere." The woman clapped her hands. The force field that separated them from Daniel formed a cage, surrounding the team. Jack's weapon vanished from his hand. Looking around, Carter held up empty hands; her weapon was gone also, along with Teal'c's staff weapon.

"Carter, what is happening here?" He hissed under his breath, "There aren't supposed to be people here."

"I know that, sir." She was at least as frustrated as he was. "And I don't know what's going on, but at least they've stopped Daniel from going over the edge."

They watched helplessly as the woman approached the two men. Turning, she addressed the crowd, "Children of Enoch, I present to you today, our celebrants. Daniel Jackson and Jonathan Michaels. Only one will leave our Temple." The people all bowed again. The woman held her hands to heaven as if in prayer or supplication and then she clapped her hands, "I give you the Test of Cain." With a flash of light, both men disappeared.


Daniel had never been so terrified in his life, teetering on the edge of the cliff, looking straight down. They say you see your life flash before your eyes in life-and-death situations; his had gotten stuck in his throat.

He couldn't believe that Michaels hated him enough to kill him. It was inconceivable. No matter what happened to Daniel in his life, he could never understand that kind of hate. What had he done to Michaels to engender that much hate? Did he just want Daniel's place on SG-1, or was there more? His mind swirled with questions and his stomach lurched. He was afraid he was going to be sick.

Unable to stand looking down at the sheer drop, he squeezed his eyes shut. Behind him, he heard Jack speak and then there was a new voice. He listened intently as the woman spoke to his team and things began to click in his head. If he could only speak to her… then he heard her clap her hands. The field holding him safe was released. He felt himself falling into blackness.

--SG-1--

Michaels couldn't believe it. Just at the moment when he was going to be rid of Daniel Jackson forever, something had intervened. Did the man have a pact with the freaking devil? Shit!

There he stood, stuck, his sins revealed for the whole world to see. He would never be a part of SG-1 now, but he didn't care. Daniel Jackson was going to die; he was going to pay for causing him to suffer a lifetime of always being number two. The alien woman was right, no matter what else happened, one of them would be staying on PY2-443.

When the woman clapped her hands, there was a flash of light. Without warning Michaels found himself somewhere else. He spun, automatically taking in his surroundings.

He was in a forest, dark and green. The sun was setting and the shadows around him were getting long. Somehow he knew that Daniel was close by and alone: Daniel, without his team to take care of him and watch over him.

Quickly he dumped his pack out on the ground to find out what he had inside. What did he have, what did he need?

--SG-1--

With his eyes still squeezed shut, it took a second for Daniel to convince himself that he really hadn't fallen; that he was alive and well, with his feet on solid ground. Slowly he opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of a forest, night almost upon him. It pressed in around him like a living thing. The forest rustled with the sound of the small creatures venturing out to hunt.

"Jack?" he called out softly.

He had to be careful. He didn't know what else might be out there, hidden in the shadows of the night; but he somehow knew that Michaels was out there and he would be hunting Daniel Jackson.