CHAPTER ELEVEN

"He's gone," Janet murmured to the occupant in the chair.

Dan nodded, hearing the hum of the Stargate disappear. "I know...the vibration's gone. Thanks for bringing me back."

The doctor didn't say anything as she moved the chair around the technicians, glad the man couldn't see the stares at his unseeing expression, gawking at the silver devices peeking through his long bangs. Then, as if sensing the attention, Dan lowered his head a little, and the hair draped forward once more, concealing them.

General Hammond blocked her way out as he looked down at Dan O'Neill. "It may be quite some time before they return, Doctor O'Neill."

Shrugging, Dan nodded behind him at Janet. "Well, after they finished sucking my blood for more tests, I thought I would drop by and see him off." He laughed sadly at his choice of words. "I would like to hear more about your initial encounter with Ra. If...I mean...if its okay." Dan tilted his face towards Hammond with a hopeful expression.

"I think we can share a few details," Hammond found himself smiling down at the scholar. "That is, if Doctor Fraiser doesn't need you any more."

Janet shook her head. "We're done, although I would prefer if he remains in the infirmary. His blood pressure is a little low."

Sighing, Dan folded his arms in front of him and shook his head. "Well, if you don't mind the smell, General Hammond, would you like to drop by my office later?" he joked.

Hammond patted Dan on the shoulder. "I'll see you there in a few minutes, Doctor O'Neill."

Sobering, Dan nodded. "Please. I really would like to find out more about who's destroying my home. Anything at all."

Silent, Janet wheeled Dan away, leaving Hammond staring at their departing backs before he went upstairs to his office.

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"Oh yeah," John said in a tight voice. He stared at the four bodies now laid out on top of bags. "Those are Ra's tattoos on their foreheads." He scrubbed his face with one hand, the other clenched into a fist. "Damn. They must have been closer than we thought." Surveying the chamber, he made a face. "They were that close to reading our symbols. They would have known we were heading back to a Stargate on Earth." The idea made John swallow hard. "Shit."

Lightning flashed, peeking through the cracks on the ceiling, lighting the bodies like a spotlight. Teal'c silently stepped forward and zipped up the body bags over the Jaffas' faces, sealing their tattoos branding them in Ra's servitude away from view. The zippers purred shut, and John looked back grimly at the somber plastic bagging.

"I don't see another Stargate here, sir," Carter reported. "Everything looks the same as we left it with the exception of those four bodies."

Daniel lifted his head from his crouched position beside the DHD platform. He stopped his rubbings of the symbols on the coverstone and frowned.

Carter swung her counter back and forth at the wall. She turned to Jack with a brisk nod. "Readings are definitely higher now." She gazed up at the towering surface. "It's active, sir. This wall has something to do with it, I'm sure."

"Can you tell me what?" Jack drawled, leaning against one of the statues, hands resting on the top of his hanging rifle. He glanced over sideways and made a face at the statue providing him the support, its metal face stretched out in contortions as if screaming, arms on the sides with circlets clutched in its fingers. "Better yet, tell me what the hell does this thing mean? Gives me the creeps." Teal'c arched an eyebrow at the object but hazarded no guess.

Standing, Daniel calculated the height of the wall with his eyes, head going up and down. "You know," he mused, "this could be like an extra large mirror." He spread his arms wide. "We keep thinking it's a quantum mirror, a small thing, like the one we found on P3R-233. But what if..." He got closer to the polished surface.

"Don't go any closer!" Jack and John both barked, and Daniel jumped.

"Now that was scary," Carter commented, amused when the two O'Neills glowered at each other while Daniel stuck a finger in his ear, trying to shake out the ringing.

"Surround sound Jack O'Neill. Great," the archeologist muttered. He sighed, deciding not to get the two men more upset and backed away from the wall. "I was trying to see—"

"Lay one finger on that thing, and I'll have you chained and tied to the MALP probe so fast your glasses will still be standing there without you!" Jack grated out, and the young man jerked back another step.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," John muttered as he looked down at the dead Jaffa on the ground.

"This may be a larger version of the quantum mirror." Teal'c spoke up from his guard post by the rooms. Tossing a brief look back at the rooms to make sure no one was there, he went on. "Perhaps to transport larger groups of people?"

"Why need something this large though?" John insisted. He swept a hand across the span of the wall. "This thing is huge; it could probably even transport death gliders…" He paused.

The rest of the group had the same grim face.

"Sir, you don't think—" Carter began.

"We don't know for sure," Jack said carefully, eyes on Daniel as he paled further. "Let's see what we can find out first before we start touching stuff." He glanced over to John, half surprised the man agreed. He'd expected the captain to push for returning back to his reality.

"Jack?" Daniel was in front of him, peering at him worriedly. The colonel started. When did the guy creep up on him?

"Huh?" Jack fumbled as Daniel pushed up his glasses, puzzled at Jack's flustering.

"I said I was going to go to those rooms there," Jackson pointed to the half-hidden rooms to his left, "and see what I can find. Okay?" Head tilted to the side, Daniel studied the older man. "Are you okay?"

Am I okay? Jack regarded the shiny wall to his left, realizing how it was the only barrier between his world and the disaster that fell on John O'Neill's version.

"Jack?"

Waving a hand, showing it was nothing, Jack nodded. "Good idea. I'll take the center rooms. Teal'c, you and Carter take the ones to the right. Radio every hour, okay? Captain, do you want to go along with…" He trailed off when he saw his answer.

John looked right at Daniel, who blinked in return and pointed to himself with a finger before mouthing "Me?" in surprise. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Okay kids and...ah...Captain." Jack made a face. What was he supposed to call himself? "Let's go to work."

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"So...I...I mean...Daniel went through the Stargate to the symbols found on the cartouche?" Dan sat on the hospital bed, fascinated. He leaned forward, legs crossed at the ankles, his hands bracing them as he pressed for more information. "Just like that? Colonel O'Neill didn't object?"

Hammond coughed awkwardly as he thought about what he'd read in the original mission's report. "I wasn't there, Doctor O'Neill, but from what I understand, Doctor Jackson wasn't...asked to join the first recon mission to Abydos. He...volunteered, stating he could find the symbols for the team to return home."

Nodding, Dan mused out loud. "Of course. You need a new set of symbols and point of origin to reach Earth. Too bad there weren't any listed on the same cartouche. When we...I mean...the resistance first started to use the Stargate on our side, it took a lot of guesswork from what I heard. I taught a few team leaders how to read the point of origin, but..." He saddened, shoulders slumping slightly. "Some never came back. We had to chalk them off as either dead or soon to be. We didn't dare send anyone back for them, especially if there was a suggestion there was no way to return." Dan lowered his head, one hand massaging the nape of his neck wearily as he sighed.

Hammond felt a chill thinking about all the men and women left behind. He cleared his throat. "Where did you get the addresses?"

"Machello," Dan replied simply. "We had symbols where he hid the dampeners and the reactor. Machello's map...There were already symbols listed on his map. Safe havens. Places Machello hid before they caught him in Shyla's mines."

Hammond started. "What?"

Puzzled, Dan didn't understand why the general stilled, the rustling of uniform fabric comforting in a room filled with the beeps and chimes of medical machines. "Shyla. I take it you know her majesty as well?"

The general grunted as he considered the empty gurney next to Dan's. "You might say that. We've encountered her and...excuse me...did you say...majesty?"

Coughing, Dan darkened. "Yes. Apparently, from what Machello told me, she was a good queen, but for some reason after her father died, she...changed. Got greedy and joined the Goa'uld system lords, power in exchange for what she had in the mines. Probably the power got to her head."

Nodding solemnly, Hammond tore his sight away from the empty gurney. "She must have." He kept silent on what he thought might be the reason.

"What ever happened to her?" Hammond wondered out loud. Daniel had gone back and helped the princess overcome her addiction. He had been impressed with Jackson's compassion and understanding, but if it were him, Hammond would have just destroyed the sarcophagus and let the woman writhe in her own agony. A notion he suspected O'Neill had toyed with as well.

"To Shyla?" Dan scratched his cheek. "I think Machello mentioned she held a treaty feast on her planet, and one of Ra's generals came. She wanted to offer her resources to the Goa'uld in exchange for more control over the system her planet was in. They agreed...or so she thought."

Puzzled as to why the scholar stopped, Hammond asked, "Then what happened?"

Shrugging, Dan looked unsure. "Machello just laughed when I asked him myself and said she was given to another god as a gift and became someone called Amonet." He frowned. "I know the name is referenced in Budge once or twice, but I wasn't sure what it meant in her case."

"She was made a host," Hammond spoke up. He felt his chest tighten. How strange everything can turn out so differently. "They must have taken her as a host and took over her planet instead of bargaining. So she ended up with nothing at all."

"More than she deserved," Dan said in a flat voice. "She sold Machello to the generals before he could bomb the the meeting room with seven major generals. She stopped one of the best ways we could have fragmented their power."

Hammond was getting a light-headed feeling as he listened, and he sat down on the bed. As the mattress shifted, Dan paused.

"Uh...is everything okay, sir?"

"Fine, son." Hammond replied as he wearily massaged his temples. His gaze wandered over to the silver discs on Dan's temples, and he lowered his hand. "How are you doing?"

"I hate waiting."

The older man chuckled. "A side I take it coming from your brother."

"Sort of. John's a bit more patient now. Too patient at times when it is almost scary." Dan grinned. "He's mellowed out."

It contradicted what Hammond saw of the captain. Mentally, he suspected John was only patient with his brother Dan.

"How long do you think it'll take for Doctor Fraiser to come up with the results?" Dan asked. "She took enough blood out of me to refill a good sized cat." Wincing, he rubbed the inside of his elbow, bruises from the needle marks purple and red. "Are the marks still there?" he asked softly.

"Yes." Hammond looked sadly at Dan. "My wife had cancer. She had the very same marks. They don't go away as quickly as before."

"Yeah," Dan started to rub at them again but stopped. He folded his hands and set them on his lap. Hammond noted they were shaking a little before Dan clasped them together tightly. "They seem to hurt more. The needles, I mean." Sighing, he rounded his shoulders, hand reaching back to massage an aching muscle.

Silently, Hammond found the controls and turned it on, adjusting the bed until the upper half was parallel to Dan like a chair.

Blinking in surprise, Dan leaned back into it and smiled. He closed his eyes and blew out a breath of relief as he sank into the support. "Thank you. How did you know?"

"I've stood around for long periods of time and sat on enough chairs to know when a back needs a break," Hammond said in a light voice. Seeing the lines around the scientist's eyes deepen in pain, he briefly considered getting a nurse.

"You're a good man. Here and in my reality."

Silent, Hammond considered asking Dan about his own counterpart.

Dan heard the pause in the older man's voice, the shifting restlessly on the bed, and understood. "You're on the rebel base with Sammy. You and Harry had to take over as adjunct leaders for the US."

"What?" Hammond stared at Dan. "What about the President?"

The scholar paused as if unsure if he should say anything.

"It's alright, son. I know that information must be privileged. I shouldn't have asked."

Dan shook his head. "It's not that. I know they were the first to go through the Stargate on what symbols we did have before they took over the Cheyenne base. The leaders from thirteen major nations were waiting by Cheyenne, but when they struck DC..." The young man appeared nauseous and he stopped to take a deep breath. "All the world leaders went through to any set of symbols we had so far along with a small unit, and the only man who knows where they are is dead." His voice lowered. "He was forced to bomb the base around him and bury the Stargate before the Goa'uld could storm the place and maybe track where they had gone."

"They can't," Hammond told him sadly. "If they don't reach the DHD in time, the symbols fade out. There's no way to know where they went."

Dan looked upset. "Then...then he...died for nothing. Jo...oh God..."

Getting up, Hammond went over to him, setting a hand on his thin shoulder. "I could be wrong, son. They might have been right over his head. The person may not have had a choice at the time. I would have done the same thing."

"Yeah...you're probably right." Sighing, Dan folded his hands together, drew his legs up, rested his elbows once more on his knees, and sat there on the bed. He perked up when he heard footsteps.

"Doctor Fraiser," Hammond greeted. "What news do you have for us? Were the tests successful?"

Dan sat up straighter when he didn't hear an immediate reply from the doctor. "Doctor?"

Janet pulled out a folder she had tucked under her arm and silently handed it over to Hammond. Turning to Dan, she sat down on the edge of the bed and placed one hand on his shoulder.

Dan closed his eyes. "No, huh?"

"I'm sorry".

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Sticking his head into the lab, John called out, not bothering to knock. "Yo, they're serving meatloaf at the canteen, and it actually looks like it so hurry it up before they run-" John stopped when he realized Dan wasn't even looking up.

Rolling his eyes, he walked over to the bowed head and gave it a tap. Startled, Dan looked up, hand to his head as he yelped.

"What the hell was that for?" his brother demanded, glaring at John over his glasses. "Geez, I was writing my notes when you jumped me!"

"Jumped you?" John echoed. He glowered at his brother, crossing his arms. "I was trying to get your attention."

Dan grunted, waving his hand at John. "Well, you got it. What do you want?" He went back to writing his notes, one hand on the object of attention, a large semi-translucent paper with charcoal rubbings on it.

"What do I want?" John repeated.

"Is there an echo here I don't know about?" Dan muttered. His eyes on his notebook, he didn't bother to look and see John standing there tapping his foot.

"It's two o'clock," John told him.

"Goodie for you. Glad to know you can finally tell tim- ow!" Dan put down his pencil and bellowed, "Dammit, John! What the heck is your prob- oh!" He flushed as he checked his own watch. "Two? Oops."

"Yeah...oops." Shaking his head, John pointed to the door. "You almost missed..."

"I was supposed to get a fax from London on their Egyptian..." Dan, not realizing he'd interrupted his brother halfway, got up and went around to the fax machine. He cried out triumphantly when he found his fax, waving it in the air like a trophy.

"...Lunch," John finished lamely. He crossed his arms, glaring at his brother who'd gotten so absorbed in reading the fax, he didn't even return back to his seat, standing inches away from his chair. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, yeah, uh huh..." Dan waved another hand at him, gaze glued to the sheet of paper in his grip.

"I was thinking of you and me grabbing a bite to eat. I'm on detail until late so..." John gave up trying as Dan muttered to himself, fumbling for a pencil on the desk without looking. John yelped as his brother's fingers, during its searching, skimmed close to the scalpels some idiot had left out. Lunging forward, John grabbed the wrist and shoved the first pencil he found into Dan's hands.

"Thanks," Dan mumbled as John steered him back to his seat, giving him a gentle push so he would promptly sit down without falling on his ass.

"Welcome...ah...are you going to eat?" John asked in a dry voice.

"Sure..."

John wasn't convinced. "I don't think you're listening to me."

"What makes you say th-" Dan trailed off again as he found something interesting and circled it with the pencil John had given him.

"No reason...I wanted to tell you me and Kawalsky fell madly in love with each other, and we're going to run away to Hoboken and get hitched."

"Congratulations...I'll let Sara know..." Dan suddenly looked up, grinning wickedly, and John shouted.

"You idiot! You were listening!"

"Well, duh!" Dan rolled his eyes as he waggled his pencil at him. He turned back to his reading again as John grumbled.

"Then if you're listening, you might as well scoot out with me and grab lunch, because you said you owe me a lunch anyway for that bet we made about Connors and the barmaid Lucy and..." John sighed when he saw he'd lost Dan's focus again. Giving up, he patted his brother on the head, which got a barely audible grumble from him, another wave of the hand shooing him off, and headed for the door. Glancing back, John noted Dan hadn't looked up yet.

"Ah hell," he murmured, as he left the office. He might as well bring both their lunches up or Dan was going to forget to eat again...

"Daniel..." the radio in Daniel's backpack chimed in Jack's characteristic drawl.

John leaned against one of the many funny faced statues that cluttered the room like a junkyard, arms crossed, watching the archeologist as he scribbled something down in a little notebook. He glanced up at the walls; rows and rows of pictographs lined the surface of the huge inner room like a giant stone tablet. None of it made any sense to him but apparently held some significance to Jackson.

"Daniel...God damn it...Daniel!" Jack's tone began to sound irritated.

He wondered when Daniel was going to notice the colonel had been calling him on the radio for the past minute or so.

"Jackson, if you don't pick up this radio right now, I swear I will go over there and tie the damn thing to your butt!"

"Aren't you going to answer that?" John asked casually, wincing as the colonel's ranting made the radio squawk painfully.

Daniel looked up, puzzled. "Huh?"

"Daniel!"

Flushing, Daniel tapped the mike. "Uh...hello?"

"Hello? What the hell took you so long to answer! I had the damn thing on for five freaking minutes, and I said every hour, not every millennium! I swear you keep doing this every single time just to see how loud my voice can go! Don't make me go down there..."

As the voice went on and on, Daniel winced, glad he didn't have his earpiece on and had opted to just use the walkie-talkie instead.

John decided to let Daniel off easy and clicked on his radio. "Colonel O'Neill, why don't I do the reports instead?"

Grumbling, Jack agreed, the radio crackling a response. "Might as well...otherwise I'll be running over there myself every hour."

John snorted. "That was nothing! Dan can go on without noticing a rock concert behind him!"

"Oh yeah?" Jack taunted. "For how long?"

John mentally calculated. "His best was...uh...an hour. Give or take a minute."

"Hah!" Jack crowed. "Jackson's best was hour and fifteen!"

Carter's voice piped in on the line. "Actually, sir, I've seen Daniel do two hours."

Jack laughed out loud, and John shook his head. Bunch of crazy nuts, he thought as he glanced over to Daniel. Sure enough, the young scientist was back at work, oblivious to the debate he'd started.

"Teal'c, what about you, big guy?"

The Jaffa sounded stiff. John was surprised he'd even answered.

"I do not make it a habit of stalking Daniel Jackson for prolonged periods of time, O'Neill."

Jack sputtered, the radio squeaking as he did. "Stalk? I don't stalk!"

"Then how do you know it was an hour and fifteen?" Teal'c questioned. John could have sworn he heard a smile in the Jaffa's voice.

The colonel sputtered, making the radio creak and groan. "Never mind! Get back to work!" And then the radio became abruptly quiet.

John shook his head. "Bunch of goofs." He scowled.

"Oh, they're not always like this," Daniel suddenly spoke up. As he pulled out a small bag of tools, he went on, "Jack's joking might seem a bit inappropriate at times and like he's not taking it seriously, but on the contrary, he takes it all seriously. Sometimes too seriously." Daniel stared at the piece in his hand, not really seeing it. "Too much serious stuff happens," he added in a softer voice as if it wasn't meant for John's ears. Lowering his eyes, the archeologist searched through his bag for paper. "I'd rather hear him joking...because then...it really is...bad when he doesn't." Daniel shyly smiled. "But don't tell Jack that."

John shrugged. "I didn't mean for it to sound...you know...so...doubtful."

"I know." Daniel shrugged as he pulled more stuff out, the tiled area around him soon cluttered up with brushes, chalk and rolls of paper.

"You have enough paper to do rubbings?" John asked gruffly.

Daniel looked up startled.

The captain looked uncomfortable with the scrutiny. "Dan carried around wads of paper to do that. When we went to Egypt..." He stopped, looking unhappy for some reason at the memory.

"Must have been nice. Did you go on a mission there?" Daniel inquired as he untied the scroll of paper he'd brought with him. He picked the curled corners for a moment.

"No...just a...promise I made awhile back with him," John smiled to himself, not seeing Daniel studying him with curiosity.

"How did you like it?"

The captain blinked as if he came to a revelation. "Actually...it was surprisingly...nice. I complained it was a lot of sand, but Dan—" He paused. "Anyway, he kept stopping everywhere making rubbings, taking pictures of artifacts. Finally, he somehow got me carrying around his stuff like a donkey."

"I'd rather have a sample of the writings I'm observing...to compare when I recopy my notes," Daniel explained. He pulled out a roll as he spoke, his voice growing stronger as he ventured onto a familiar topic. frowned when he realized he hadn't taken a piece of charcoal with him as well. "Nuts, I forgot to—"

"Here," John said gruffly, a piece on his palm.

Staring at the item, Daniel took it without a word and proceeded to trace out the contours of the graphics with the side of the charcoal, the symbols slowly forming on his sheet of paper. He felt John staring at the back of his head, and he shifted in place.

"Dan was a professor at the University of Colorado," John said out of the blue.

Looking up, charcoal pausing mid stroke, Daniel didn't say anything. The captain motioned towards the wall and what Daniel was doing. "I mean...surely you could do stuff like this in a safer environment, rather than on some alien planet."

"To be honest, I've been on much more dangerous digs," Daniel mused as he sat on his heels, looking up at the wall.

Daniel scratched his chin with a finger, flushing as he stared at the rubbed sketch on the floor, curling up again to the shape it had been before. "Back then, I was worried about grants, proving to my colleagues I was right, publishing papers when I should have been working on a site just so the universities wouldn't write me off as a waste of time." His voice hitched over the last word. He swallowed and continued. "Here, I have a much bigger concern. The Gou'alds."

"But it shouldn't be your concern," John blurted. "This shouldn't involve you. I don't get it. I mean...I can understand wanting to find your wife, but she's gone now." He stopped when he saw Daniel lower his head. The captain cursed to himself. "Aw hell, I didn't mean it that way."

Shrugging, Daniel went back to making more rubbings on the adjacent panel. "Sha're's gone...but...I promised her something. I promised her I would keep fighting. Sha're would have wanted that."

"Sha're wouldn't have wanted you to paint a bullseye on yourself, either," John pointed out in a sharp voice. "She wouldn't want you to risk yourself."

"She knew I'd be okay. And I can't turn away from all this. I told you before." Daniel stood, gathering the scrolls. He glanced over to John, his face serious, determined. "I can't go back to the life I had before, not after knowing what's out there, constantly threatening to destroy us. They have to be stopped and not just because of any promise. They simply have to be...stopped."

"But you're not—"

"Not military?" Daniel cut in, his voice flat. "Not a soldier?"

John bit his lip.

"I've said it before. I've been in much more dangerous digs. I've handled guns. I prefer not to, but sometimes there really isn't any choice when all you have to rely on is a professor who's more interested in which name will be on the paper, and native tour guides more concerned with saving their American dollars than your skin." The archeologist stuck his hands in his pockets as he gazed up at the walls, his lips a thin line as he recalled his past with an obvious lack of fondness. "Peru, Turkey, Jordan, Israel...they all have wonderful sites, but there were times..." Sideways, Daniel looked over to John before returning his attention to the walls. "Let's just say...if I had a team like the one I'm on now, a team I know will be next to me no matter what is thrown at us, back then...it wouldn't have been so...nerve wracking."

Sighing, he pulled back his hat, letting it dangle behind him with the straps around his neck and ran a hand through his hair. He frowned as he fingered one of the designs on the wall. "Hm...this looks familiar..." Daniel poked another symbol. "So does this one...almost...Sumerian... although the strokes look a bit off like-" He paused when he saw a shadow covering the area of interest. Over his shoulder, he found John standing there, crouched down with his head over him, staring at the symbol as well.

"Looks like the symbol for sun." John saw Daniel's startled look on his face, and he tensed. "What? I picked up a few things from Dan."

Embarrassed, Daniel nodded. "Jack usually zones out when I start doing my," he waved his hand in the air and drawled, mimicking Jack, "thing, as he would say."

"So he leaves you to do all the translations and symbols?" John grated out. "And what, pray tell, does he do?"

Daniel grinned sheepishly. "Makes sure I don't get myself killed." He chuckled, clapping his hands together to brush off the dust and sneezed. "So far, that system works."

John settled himself by the numerous statues lining the center of the room. Glaring at the shadows tucked in the many corners, the captain found himself listening to Daniel muttering to himself, translating what he could.

Dan mutters to himself, too, John mused. A fond smile crept over him without realizing it. It was oddly reassuring, watching the young scientist hunched over in a posture sure to haunt him hours later in cramps, gawking at symbols with the same fascination he held for Sara when she placed her pale, slender hand in his and said "I do".

The smile faded away.

God knows where the owner of that perfect hand was now.

If only he hadn't left and made the deal with Ra like countless able men and women had after the first year of the invasion. It never did him any good. A year of sweat and tears in the mines, clawing his way up in the ranks, and all he had to show for it was a broken house.

And a broken brother.

John shot a glance around the room, not liking how the vibrating from slight tremors made the statues hum like tuning forks. Lightning crackled, making his ears ring with the booming noise. He thought he heard something else, but with all the background noise, he couldn't be sure. The captain wondered if he should tell Jackson to pipe down, but the soft mumbling was soothing in a weird way, and he hadn't the heart to say anything.

I don't want to distract him while he's working, John reasoned with himself.

Click.

John turned around as he heard something again. He fingered the flashlight in his vest pocket, pulled it out and turned it on in one fluid motion. Sweeping it at one suspicious corner, he saw nothing.

"What's wrong?" Daniel approached the captain as the soldier swung the flashlight to the back, cursing softly as the flashlight wasn't strong enough to reveal the end of the deep room.

"Shh." John gripped Daniel's shoulder, telling him to be quiet. Glaring at the room, the statues and columns that littered the place, his eyes narrowed. He didn't like it.

"What is it?" Daniel whispered, his eyes wide.

"Thought I heard something. Go...get the colonel in here," John whispered as he slipped the flashlight back in his pocket and snaked an arm around his rifle, readying himself.

John gave Daniel a shove towards the door, which led to the first main chamber. He shot Daniel a burning look, and the young man nodded, stepping back towards the exit. The captain cautiously approached the center of the room, towards the dark corner where he thought he saw something.

A shadow dashed to his left, and he whipped his head, alarmed. "Jackson!"

Daniel spun around at John's shout, but before he could see the captain pointing to the darting shadow, he felt a thick arm wrap around his throat, tightening immediately on contact. Jerked up abruptly, toes dangling above the floor, Daniel's hands flew to try and pull the arm off.

Daniel could feel hard metal, armor perhaps, digging into his back. He stilled, hair rising on the back of his neck as he realized it was a Jaffa. No doubt a fellow comrade to the other four dead in the chamber outside.

"Chem nok tra?"

Daniel swallowed and felt the lump unable to go down as the arm tightened. Spots began to dance around John O'Neill's grim face as the captain stood there, rifle aimed at his attacker. He choked and let one hand drop. The other drifted to the communicator still attached to his shoulder and clicked it on.

"Chem nok tra?"

"He said what magic is this?" John translated, sight glued to the enemy standing behind Daniel. He darkened, rifle steady as he barked. "Jaffa kree! Chu lo yon tok. Kree!" His knuckles turned white as he gripped the weapon tightly.

Daniel wanted to tell the captain he understood, that he just didn't have the time to do any translation right now because he was busy trying to breathe, thank you very much. But instead, he sputtered, coughing as he felt his face burn with the failing efforts.

"Let him go," John said in English now. He took another step closer, but froze when the archeologist gasped as the offending arm tightened. A dark face, gleaming gold tattoo, was half hidden behind Daniel's head, the broad shoulders donned in gray armor outlining Jackson's body like a frame. "I said let him go!"

The Jaffa snorted, dismissing the different language and stayed with his own tongue. "Chem nok tra?" Another hand went up to Daniel's head and painfully, tilted the man's head back. A finger roughly scratched at the temple, leaving a reddened streak of skin in its path. "Chem nok tra?"

John froze, pale as he realized the Jaffa was demanding to know what happened to the devices.

The guard thought he was Dan.

Dan was a wanted man. Dead or alive.

"He's not who you think he is. Jaffa! Neet chok re'klya. Kree! Neet re'klya!"

The guard laughed, not believing it for a moment. His other arm wrapped around Daniel's waist and squeezed. "Nok Ra shem!" He shook the young man like a doll.

Daniel stiffened at the word Ra. When he felt himself being dragged towards the door, to the chamber outside, he knew the Jaffa wanted to take him back to Ra. And even if Ra didn't exist here, he would surely die once the guard realized Ra didn't exist in this realm of reality.

Twisting, Daniel tried breaking free, coughing as the grip wouldn't let enough air pass through to his lungs. As he saw John's anxious, white face waver, Daniel was about to pull his sidearm out when he heard another voice.

"Hold it right there, bucko."

"Ja'k," Daniel tried to croak out when he felt the guard freeze, his grip loosening in surprise.

The colonel's voice was dry. "Daniel, now what did I say about playing nice? I said no pointy objects, and that includes Jaffa armor."

John only glowered at the Jaffa. He didn't even acknowledge Carter and Teal'c silently coming up behind the colonel. He kept his eyes on the Ra tattoo instead.

Clearly outnumbered, the guard shifted uneasily. Daniel could feel the metal mesh of his armor rubbing against his back like nails. He winced, hearing the guard's breathing pick up.

"Shem mak tal sho...che wei ko tak... re'klya...Ra shom...Ra...con da ro..."

Motionless, Daniel caught a few words, the speech too low to understand all of it. Something about Ra's pledge. Something about purging. He found himself turning his head a bit to hear better, but John had heard enough. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guard's other hand reaching for his hip. The captain turned red, veins in his neck bunching as he roared suddenly and headed straight for the guard.

Jack was taken aback and barely got out of the way as his double collided with the pair, sending them into the giant chamber with a loud crash. He heard Daniel crying out, more in surprise than in pain as the captain roughly yanked him away from the guard. Spinning around, he found Daniel sitting on the floor, dazed. Teal'c was barely able to pull the captain off the Jaffa guard.

"Son of a—" John shouted, kicking and twisting as he felt himself being yanked back. Glowering at the Jaffa on the floor, he swore softly. Carter kept her gun aimed at the Jaffa, darting a worried look over to the colonel who was kneeling beside Daniel.

"You okay?" Jack asked, one hand on Daniel's shoulder.

Breathless, Jackson nodded and motioned towards the guard. "What was that all about?"

John snarled, jerking his arms away from Teal'c and stalked over to their prisoner. The Jaffa guard tried to twist away, but at the click of Carter's rifle, he froze.

"Bastard wanted to commit romna," John growled, reaching down for a half sphere dangling off their enemy's hip. He ripped it off the belt, the Jaffa cursing at him in Goa'uld.

"Romna?" Jack echoed as he helped Daniel up.

Daniel swallowed. "Death...death call?"

"To bring to death your enemy," Teal'c translated for the young archeologist. He turned towards the other Jaffa with a frown, his eyes narrowed. "He wished to kill himself and take his god's enemy with him. It is a practice I have heard of, but it was in the days when Ra was in power. We do not consider this tactic any more."

Carter breathed. "You mean like kamikaze?"

Jack turned sharply towards the major. "What?"

Holding the device like a baseball, John hefted it in his palm as if weighing it. "This can take out almost a whole city block. You wouldn't even get a warning before it goes. Maybe less than two seconds."

"Oh boy," Daniel murmured, rubbing his throat with a grimace. He took a step back.

John looked over to the archeologist. "How're you doing there?" the captain asked quietly.

Daniel shrugged.

"And how did you get there so fast?" John asked Jack as Teal'c hoisted the Jaffa up. Carter quickly bound the guard's wrists with the strap from her rifle, ignoring the alien's strong words spitting at her face. She backed away, leaving him sitting on a broken stump of a statue. When Teal'c and Carter steadied their weapons at him, the Jaffa finally understood and shut up.

Nodding towards Daniel, the colonel grinned. "He turned on his radio. I thought he was reporting in, but heard that...lovely radio drama and knew something was up." Staring at the guard, Jack frowned. "I take it he's from the same group as those guys?" He pointed to the lined up bodies next to the coverstone.

"Probably." Running a hand through his hair, John breathed out in a whoosh. "I don't know if he had a chance to let Ra know where we are."

"Maybe not. The wall is the key," Daniel remarked, dropping his hand away from his neck. Making a face as he heard his own raspy voice, he pointed to the mirrored expanse. "I don't think they even know they're in an alternate reality. So they didn't try looking for a way back and thought the wall was just part of the decor." Walking to the center of the room, he looked wistfully at the polished surface. "If only we could try it-"

"Look out!" Sam shouted as the Jaffa kicked out, knocking Teal'c in the knees. Surprised, Teal'c staggered back and couldn't do anything when the guard tackled Carter. Jack whipped up his gun, swearing when he couldn't get a clear shot without risking the major. John raced towards him as soon as he realized the Jaffa had yanked a knife out of his boot with his suddenly freed hands, but before the guard could get in a slice, Carter shoved hard, pushing the Jaffa away.

"Ra shom! Ra...con da ro!" the Jaffa howled and abruptly spun around towards Daniel. The archeologist had his gun out, but he was caught off guard when the alien ran right towards him. Stepping back, Daniel fired a warning shot towards the ceiling.

"Ra shom! Ra...con da ro!"

"Shit!" It all happened so fast. Jack barely blinked, and the Jaffa was right in front of his friend, and again there was no good shot. "Daniel! Get out of his way!" He took off after them.

Daniel fired, and it struck the guard in the shoulder. It didn't even faze the enraged alien as he slashed the air with his blade.

"Watch it!" Someone was shouting, but he was too busy to figure out who it was.

"Daniel!" Jack screamed, jerking up his weapon to get a clear shot. Nothing.

The guard got within his personal space before anyone could stop him, the blade lashing out like a whip, slicing the air. Daniel barely had time to jump back before the tip nicked him in the vest, getting caught on the pockets. He felt a fist grabbing him by the collar, and he yelped as they both fell back. Smacking into the floor, inches away from the polished mirror, Daniel could vaguely hear Jack and John rushing towards him.

But the knife coming down caught his attention more.

"Ra shom! Ra...con da ro!"

Doesn't he know anything else to say? Daniel thought as he felt the guard on top of him, rolling away, one fist on his collar to keep him down. Daniel raised his gun, thankfully still in his grip. The guard shook him as he stood, lifting Daniel to his feet, using him like a human shield, knee ramming into his stomach, and his hand flinched. The gun never sounded so loud when it fell to the ground.

The knife flashed.

Daniel heard a gunshot.

He saw the back of the guard's head explode.

And suddenly, the guard was on top of him again.

"Get the guy off him now!" Daniel heard Jack ordering as the heavy weight was pulled away. He heard something like a hiss, and he remembered the larva that must be inside the Jaffa's pouch. As he sat up, breathless, he felt Teal'c slipping arms under his armpits and dragging him away. For once, Daniel didn't protest the protective treatment as he heard the larva snap before a whoosh. He saw Sam's face appear in front of him, asking him something, but he looked over her shoulder to see.

Jack and John stood over the guard's dead body. John's rifle still smoking from firing, and Jack's hand still extended after having thrown his knife.

At the Goa'uld larva. It was severed completely in half.

"Nice," John commented, eyebrow rising at the neat slice.

Jack shrugged. "I like knives. Much neater." He turned around, eyes settling on Daniel. When the young man nodded, his shoulders visibly relaxed.

"I guess," Daniel managed between gulping for air, "I'm not very popular with Ra right now."

The colonel frowned, about to say it wasn't Daniel but Dan, Ra was a little peeved at, but with one look at John's scalding expression, he decided for once to keep his comments to himself.

"Sir," Carter spoke reluctantly. Squeezing Daniel's hand, heartened to feel a responding strong grip in return, she got up and walked over to the dead larva. Swallowing the bile she tasted flooding her mouth, she bent down beside it, fighting the urge to take her boot and stomp down.

"Major? What is it?" Jack asked when she took too long to answer.

"The larva, sir." Sam pointed to the dead carcass.

Daniel got up shakily, nodding at Teal'c gratefully for his support. Heading over, he saw the two parts, one pinned by the edge of Jack's hunting knife.

The other part pressed against the mirrored wall.

"It was trying to escape, perhaps using the wall as a guide to lead it somewhere safer. It touched the surface," Sam murmured.

"It touched the wall..." Daniel concluded, "And it wasn't taken to the other reality."

John froze. "Then...if that wall isn't it..." He turned to look at the Stargate. "How the hell do we get back?"