Disclaimers: Nope, they still aren't mine so… thank you to the creators of Stargate for allowing me to play with their creations for a while.
Rating: PG-13 (due to a few swear words)
Spoilers: Small Victories, Upgrades, Divide and Conquer, Tangent, The Curse
Summary: Sam and Jack struggle to regain common ground after the events of Divide and Conquer while gating to a new planet to discover the secrets of an ancient civilization and unveil the threat of a new Goa'uld dominance.
Author's Note: Thank you to those who reviewed. I am starting a 2 week vacation in which I am hoping to sit down and write. My goal is to get most of this story knocked out but we'll have to wait and see how it goes.
It wasn't long after the ship had dropped out of hyperspace that Daniel and Teal'c felt everything come to a complete stop.
"We must prepare ourselves Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said as he made his way toward a stack of crates that were nestled in the corner nearest the glider he had chosen.
"If by 'prepare' you mean hide then I'm right behind you," Daniel said nervously glancing toward the doorway. The young archeologist looked as if he expected to see a squadron of Jaffa heading his way at any moment. Squatting behind the crate he reached for his weapon as Teal'c lowered his staff and trained it on the doorway. If Osiris's guards did decide to tour the Glider bay then it would be the last stop they made.
Meanwhile Sam and Jack took their places on opposite sides of a small room filled with a few pieces of oversized furniture. From their vantage points they could view any activity that took place between the lift and the control room and hoped to be able to tell when the Jaffa made their way back to their own ship.
'That is IF they make their way back to the other ship,' Jack thought to himself amazed at the position the team now found itself. Moving his radio a little closer to his face he called Daniel and Teal'c to confirm they had managed to prep the gliders and move out of sight. Assuring himself that things were still going according to plan and both men were in position he turned his attention across the room toward his 2IC. Giving her an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up sign he indicated that everything was good to go.
Nodding her head she returned his smile and then sharply turned toward the doorway. Jack could see her body visibly stiffen and her eyes grow wide as she stared out at the hallway and readied her zatniktel.
Wondering what had sent her into a very obvious defensive position, he looked out at the hallway while grabbing for his own weapon. And then he heard it…. Boom… Boom… Boom… as if someone were steadily beating a base drum. Boom… Boom… Boom… their rhythm in perfect sync. Faint at first but growing steadily in crescendo until the noise was almost upon them. It was the sound of many feet hitting the floor all at once in a twisted cadence. It was the sound of a Jaffa squadron marching down the hallway. It was a sound that SG-1 knew all too well.
Dropping as low to the ground as she possibly could, Sam looked toward the doorway as a sudden wave of dizziness mingled with déjà vu slammed into her consciousness. Taking a deep breath to steady herself she glanced at the Colonel and shook her head to let him know that the passing Jaffa were not the last of the threats they currently faced. And then suddenly everything fell into place. Turning her attention back toward the hallway she spied the reason for her trepidation. 'As if the Jaffa weren't reason enough' she thought to herself with a wry grin and a small shake of her head. Passing in front of the doorway was a woman with long blond hair that fell in gentle waves around her face. Her dress was one of white fabric that reminded Sam of gauze. The airy fabric billowed around her feet as she strode past the room in which Sam and her commanding officer hid.
Breathing a small sigh of relief that the woman didn't seem to be aware of their presence, Sam looked to her CO and saw him relax his grip on his weapon ever so slightly. And then she felt it. The presence became stronger and seemed to invade her being. Looking up she saw the woman step back in front of the doorway and quietly survey the room as if she was expecting to find something.
'Wow' Jack thought to himself as he took in the sight of the blond woman. Sitting back quietly he allowed himself to wonder if this was the woman Daniel had told him about. The one he had left behind when he held true to his own beliefs of ancient Egyptian culture. He realized that Daniel had given up much to pursue his ideas only to find in the end that he had been right in his beliefs all along. Only to discover that those beliefs must be kept quiet from a world that wasn't ready for the knowledge in which the truth would bring.
The woman took another step towards their position and surveyed the room as if sensing something wasn't quite right. She had a look of confusion on her face but both soldiers could see the glint of determination in her eyes as she stopped and turned her head towards Sam's hiding spot. Seeing that the woman was about to make her way toward her, Sam readied herself and prepared for the fight that would inevitably come. Fearing they had been discovered, Jack also prepared himself to begin firing at the most opportune moment.
Suddenly, a Jaffa appeared in the doorway and the woman turned to face him as he stood waiting to escort her to the control room. With a final glance back towards Sam's position she allowed herself a small smile and her eyes glowed with a golden light as she turned and followed the Jaffa out of the room.
Jack and Sam both caught their breaths realizing just how close they had come to being found out. Instinctively they each knew that they were not in the clear and that they had only gained a brief respite from things to come. Instinctively they both knew that they had just gazed into the face of the enemy.
"That was… strange" Jack said as he quickly made his way over to where his 2IC had been hiding. "I take it that was Daniel's friend?"
"Osiris. Yes sir. I just hope we can get off the ship before Daniel catches sight of her. He's already been through enough during our last encounter and this just dredges up his memories of what Apophis did to Sha'ure."
"I know. I'm guessing she honed in on you because of the whole Jolinar thing?" he asked remembering how the Goa'ulds could sense one another just as Sam had so obviously sensed Osiris.
"Yes sir. I'm sorry, I should have thought of that before. Maybe we should split up. I could stay up here and radio back to you when the failsafe has been deactivated and you could go to the hangar and get things ready with the others…"
"Absolutely not Carter!" Jack said holding his hand up to stop any further musings of his 2IC. "No one gets left behind and I'm not leaving you up here to sacrifice yourself so the rest of us can get away."
"But sir, I…" she began and Jack angrily cut her off in mid-sentence.
'Aah not another word Carter and that's an order. I am not leaving you here to act as a decoy and that's final," he stated emphatically knowing her well enough to figure out what she was thinking. "Either we both head back to the hangar or we both stay here. Either way, you're stuck with me so deal with it. Understood?"
"Understood sir," Sam said sighing in defeat. She recognized the tone his voice had taken on and knew there was no arguing with him once he made up his mind. He was in full Colonel mode. "We should find another place to hide until the Jaffa leave. I'm sure Osiris is aware of our presence, or mine at least, and may come back with a contingent of guards."
"That would be bad," the Colonel agreed as he glanced around the room to make certain they hadn't left anything behind. "Let's move out."
Making their way to the lift they headed down a level and took up positions nearer the hangar. "Teal'c, Daniel, do you copy?" the Colonel whispered into the radio.
"Jack, are you and Sam alright?" Daniel asked. "We heard Jaffa walk by earlier but everything has been quiet since."
"Yeah, we saw them too Daniel. We've had to change our positions so we're a little closer to you than before. I want you to stay put until you hear from one of us. Understood?" O'Neill asked.
"Understood. Be careful" Daniel cautioned. Something in his friend's voice wasn't quite right. Something had happened that Jack either couldn't or wasn't going to go into at this point in time.
"Right, radio silence from here on in" the Colonel ordered as he concluded the conversation.
"Teal'c," Daniel questioned as he turned toward the towering Jaffa "is it just me or did Jack sound a little… off?"
"He sounded as he always does in the heat of battle Daniel Jackson" the warrior replied.
"Maybe but…" he paused for a moment shaking his head lightly from side to side. "I don't know Teal'c, I just have a bad feeling about this."
"Indeed" the man replied as he raised one eyebrow and concentrated his gaze on the doorway before them. "Indeed."