Fate's Reflection Chapter 24, a stargate: sg-1 fanfic

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Sam jerked, waking up with a start. Rubbing her eyes, she realized she had fallen asleep on top of her desk, the video monitor showing nothing but snow and static as the tape she was viewing ran out.

"Damn it," she muttered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with a fist. She got up shakily, noting it'd been a day since their disappearance. Four days, nineteen hours before the return of Ra. Less than five days before they could contact the Asgards and ask for their help.

It was so frustrating. The wall, simplest in form, yet complicated in function, stood in her way of rescuing her friends. And she saw General Hammond's brooding face with each passing hour. She could tell when he passed by the hallway, by her door, not coming in, but his eyes always glancing inside with a question.

Can we save them?

Sam's shoulders slumped. God only knew where the colonel and Daniel were right now. She saw the Jaffa emerging from all sides as they stood there, and she knew, by John O'Neill's whispered denial and the dark grimace on the colonel's face, that history was repeating itself. On Daniel.

She clenched her fists.

Glancing down at her bunched hands, she dully noted the red outline of the bracelet was already fading. She turned her attention to the lone gold circlet at the corner of the table, a woeful reminder of why she didn't need it. She wasn't there with the rest of her team, in the other reality. She was safe, back in hers. Sam scowled at the bracelet, taking it into her hand.

The bracelet was surprisingly easy to remove. After putting it on to head off to the planet, before Jack and Daniel were lost on the other side, the jewelry had pinched uncomfortably for the first few seconds. When she returned, she had yanked off the circlet out of frustration, not realizing until she calmed that the bracelet was held tightly in her other hand.

Putting it on again, she had Teal'c try to pull it off without any success. Apparently, only the wearer could take it off. It was a small consolation to reassure one of her concerns about the colonel's and Daniel's bracelets being taken off by the enemy. Wouldn't happen unless they voluntarily took them off themselves.

Checking her watch, she noted it was time to head back to try again and toyed with the idea of checking on Dan O'Neill first. But she was afraid of seeing the ill man and seeing her friend's face instead like a morbid premonition. She would rather just throw herself into her work and see if good ole Samantha Carter could pull out another brilliant one to save the day.

Standing, she flicked the remote towards the monitor, shutting down the screen. The VCR popped out the tape, and she grabbed it. Sam stared at the bracelet on the table, grabbing it and hastily putting it on, barely feeling it shrink around her wrist as she headed straight for the door.

A dark shadow blocked her exit, and she stilled.

"Teal'c?" Sam wondered why Teal'c was here. Last she heard, he was keeping Dan company. For some reason, John had been everywhere helping out. Everywhere but near his younger brother. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong with Dan?"

The Jaffa looked strangely concerned as if unsure of something. He shook his head and extended his hand. Sam grinned at the item in his grasp.

Coffee.

"Thanks," she murmured, gulping down the contents of the steaming cup. She could feel the weariness peeling away from her like a cloak. She smiled towards her friend. "How did you know?"

"Doctor Frasier informed me you did not leave this lab," Teal'c said in a mild voice. If she didn't know better, Sam could have sworn she heard disapproval in the Jaffa's voice. "You would be tired before your departure." He bowed his head slightly in regret. "I am not of much aid in such matters of science, and Dan O'Neill requested I remain to assist him. But I thought perhaps I might offer you nutrition before you depart."

"It's exactly what I need. Thank you." She finished the rest of the drink and sighed.

"You are quite welcome."

"And, Teal'c?"

The Jaffa arched an eyebrow questioningly.

Sam handed him back the empty cup with a smile. "You are of great help. More than you ever know." She gave him a pat on the arm, echoing something O'Neill would do. "Wish me luck. Hope I figure this out."

"You will," Teal'c intoned firmly.

Sam blinked at him. She smiled a bit more broadly. "There's that great help again." She squared her shoulders, one more pat to his arm in silent thanks and went out to get ready for heading back to the planet to try again.

"You are quite welcome," Teal'c repeated, watching her leave. He glanced down at the empty cup in his hands. He felt oddly pleased the gesture was well received. He did not know why, but he felt he should be doing something, and if Major Carter said this helped, the Jaffa was glad he'd taken the time a while back to learn how to make coffee, thanks to Daniel Jackson.

His eyes narrowed with concern. There were many more lessons he wished to learn from his young human friend and from Colonel O'Neill. He prayed the gods would watch over them and return them quickly. He did not like the feeling of failing them somehow, unable to help them due to some wall which stood stubbornly in his way.

Standing there with the mug, he decided he needed to do more, and the only thing that came to mind was Dan O'Neill who was sleeping in the guest room, alone with John O'Neill nowhere in sight.

SG1SG1SG1

Janet arrived back to base way ahead of schedule. Cassandra had classes still, and it was a simple matter of dropping her off at school a bit earlier and driving to work a little faster.

Home was often a comfort for her, the duties as a mother proving to be a balm to her soul after each day. She marveled as Cassandra, with all her resilience and natural curiosity, overcame her grief at the loss of her parents to become this wonderful child sharing her home.

This very same wonderful child who asked her last night if Jack and Daniel were still coming over next week for the barbecue.

Janet lay awake the whole night, the question echoing in her mind.

Thus she was up an hour ahead of the alarm clock, bleary eyed and more exhausted than when she went to bed. But Cassandra didn't understand. Nor did she realize Janet was quiet during the drive. She was going on and on about the growing dog Jack had given her and how Jack was going to show her how to teach it a few tricks. Talking rapidly away with the boundless energy of youth, she didn't realize Janet's hands were shaking on the steering wheel.

For such a state of mind, Janet would have pulled another doctor off the roster. The doctor would have been more of a hazard than help to patients acting this way. The doctor would do more harm than good.

More harm than good.

Standing at the front guard's desk, Janet found her hand shaking again over the sensors. The Hippocratic oath rang in her head in mocking tones. An oath she took seriously, one she repeated to the Medical Board with pride and resolve. One her twin broke with every victim she took and gave the monstrous devices to.

More harm than good.

Setting her jaw, she walked to the elevator, gave the card reader a vicious swipe of her ID to let her in and barely managed to stay still enough before the doors closed in front of her. As it descended, she leaned against the elevator wall and took a deep breath.

In a few minutes, she'd be back in the infirmary, watching the clock tick away on Dan O'Neill's life. And all she could do was pull Daniel Jackson's books off the shelves and read them out loud to Dan as he struggled to make use of the time he had left.

John should know.

She always believed in the privacy of the patient, but in this case, she couldn't find herself completely understanding the reason to conceal this from his brother and enforce a wall of solitude in his darkest hour. And she could see John, avoiding Dan but still lingering a moment to make sure he was taken care of before leaving. Dan's plan to push him away was backfiring. She knew, no matter what, that protective streak in the older man would never be truly extinguished.

Apparently, it ran in all realities.

"So...he's okay?" Colonel O'Neill asked dubiously, pacing the outside area of the infirmary, trying to appear like he wasn't. He would stop, hands in pockets, then out again, before he paced once more in a left to right motion. He looked through the double doors' windows, to where Sam and Teal'c were, staying with Daniel.

Nodding, she scanned the readings off her clipboard once more. "The ribbon device she used on him didn't seem to cause any permanent damage, although we will have to run some tests to make sure what the psychological effects are considering his wife was the one who did this to him." She looked through the doors as well, remembering the reddish burn on Daniel's forehead, the dazed look in his eyes as he was guided by Sam's hand on his elbow when they returned home. "I've made an appointment for him to meet Doctor Mac—"

"Doc."

Janet turned to look at the colonel. He stood there, arms crossed, face grim.

"Let's hold off on the 'how do you feel' sessions, all right?" The colonel frowned slightly at her suggestion. Something crossed his face quickly. "Last thing he needs right now is too many people clamoring over him. Give him some time to breathe first, okay?"

Puzzled, Janet gestured towards the infirmary. "Colonel, you are aware of the fact that he just lost his wife? After three years? Surely—"

"I know he lost his wife, Doc. And I also know how he lost her." The colonel looked cross. He frowned at her. "Fact of the matter is, do you? Truly?"

Janet bit her lip, quiet. No. She couldn't possibly imagine how he must feel. She knew grief was too simple a word to describe it.

O'Neill's scowl softened. He looked back at the doors, and her eyes followed. She saw Daniel curling up on his side, back towards Sam and Teal'c, even as they sat close by. She felt a bitter taste in her mouth.

No. She couldn't possibly imagine.

"Leave him alone for now, Doc. Tell the shrinks, especially Mackenzie, to back off. I'll...We'll deal with this ourselves," O'Neill murmured. He stood up straighter as if preparing and walked through the double doors back to Daniel again, not even offering to hold them to let her in.

The elevator doors opened, and she paused, seeing the infirmary down the hall. Squaring her shoulders in the way Colonel O'Neill had, she headed for the ward. At the sight of someone coming out of it, she slowed her steps. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who it was.

John O'Neill.

The captain was shoving his arm through a sleeve of his fatigue jacket, rigid back turned to her as he walked down the hallway in the direction of the embarkation room. She pursed her lips, wondering what warranted a visit to the infirmary. A chill went down her back, and her footsteps quickened as she hastened to the infirmary.

Pushing the double doors open with a quick shove of her hands, she scanned the place quickly.

No Dan O'Neill.

She frowned.

"Doctor Frasier?" One of the nurses walking by stopped at her puzzled expression.

"What was Captain O'Neill doing here?" Janet nodded towards the doors.

The nurse shrugged. "I came in this morning for shift. Saw him dozing off on one of the empty beds off curtain three. When I went to ask, he just got up and left." She gestured towards a rumpled looking bed in the corner.

Staring sadly at the now vacated bed, Janet's shoulders slumped. More and more, her promise to keep silent was pressing down in her heart and throat. The breakfast she had grabbed hastily sat uncomfortably in her stomach.

"Doctor Frasier?" The young nurse stood there, puzzled by the tired shake of Janet's head.

Janet checked the wall clock, noting it was late morning. "Has Doctor O'Neill come in for more blood samples?"

"No. I haven't seen him around."

Studying the empty infirmary, Janet felt the urge to leave the all too clean and neat place. "Hand me that bag, will you, please? I'll go see him myself."

With another puzzled look, the nurse complied without any comment and watched as the doctor grabbed the satchel and left the infirmary only just having entered it minutes before.

SG1SG1SG1

Jack felt the vibrations before seeing the stuff around the room shake. Sitting up straighter in his seat, he saw the small box by the corner shuddering, the duffel bag with all its photos shaking, traveling towards him. Any other person might have thought it was an earthquake. But Jack knew better. He'd seen this before.

Someone was using the Stargate.

Outside the room, he could hear people running by, alerted by the activity, and occasionally he heard a rifle or gun being readied with a sharp sounding click as they ran.

Jack got up, gave a cursory glance over to Daniel before pulling open the metal door. He caught Jolinar heading for their room, hugging the walls closely to let the other men run by.

"What's going on?" Jack scanned the room and heard another hum underlying the sub's background noise. The shaking lessened, only evident with the fainter rattling of the items inside John O'Neill's duffel bag by the corner.

"Machello's naquada shields have activated." She gestured towards the room. "Once the Stargate is activated, the shields turn on to absorb the naquada signature so we are not detected by the enemy."

"Activated?"

"We have someone arriving through the Stargate," Jolinar explained. She was looking inside the room. Jack noticed her gaze went immediately towards Daniel as if checking to make sure he was okay. The archeologist was still sleeping, oblivious to the noise around him.

"Do you guys know who it is yet?" Jack was torn between finding out himself and staying with his friend.

Jolinar understood, waving a passing soldier to stop. Jack nodded, recognizing the nervous soldier, brown hair a mess of curls as he tried to tuck them inside his helmet, readying himself for action. Simmons' familiar young face, one Jack only caught briefly in the communications panel by the control room, froze at the sight of Jack. O'Neill stepped aside for the soldier to enter.

"The signal has not come through yet."

"Is the iris still shut then?" Jack greeted the lieutenant with a tight smile which Simmons returned with a puzzled look of his own. It occurred to Jack that the young soldier hadn't discovered yet he wasn't John O'Neill. Too tired to try and explain to one more person and deciding he'd leave that fun job for Commander Hansen, Jack turned back to Jolinar, dismayed when he saw the perplexed look on the Tok'ra's face.

"Iris?" Jolinar echoed.

"Damn." Apparently they didn't have one. Jack glanced back to Daniel then to Simmons. The young soldier was looking around the hallway, hardly standing still. Probably wants to join the others, Jack surmised.

"Can you stay with him?" Jack asked, drawing his attention. "In case he wakes up. You could let him know where I am?"

Simmons barely had a chance to nod when Jack clapped him soundly on the shoulder as thanks and took off after Jolinar, heading for the top deck to see who was knocking at their door.

As they left, Simmons slowly turned towards Daniel with an odd expression on his face.

SG1SG1SG1

Hansen stood there stoically, watching as each chevron lit up one by one. As the soldiers waited the closest they possibly could to the Stargate, she readied her own rifle, watching for the wormhole to gush out in a garbled roar. Everyone visibly tensed, anticipating the signal.

"Siler," she called. Her words billowed out in icy condensation. The sergeant was rolling the device down below, long cables pulling as he brought it near the Stargate. "Anything?"

The sergeant shook his head. He was saying something about his transmitter, puffy clouds punctuating his words, but she couldn't hear him. The hum of the subs, the Stargate itself was muffling them. But apparently, judging by the way the soldier shrugged and returned back to his machine, it wasn't important enough to be heard, so she concentrated on training her weapon at the Stargate at head level. She'd seen a Goa'uld get plowed down by a half dozen bullets, but the damn snake inside the body kept healing itself. She had found, over the years, one simple bullet clear through the head ensured the enemy that went down, stayed down. Hansen gazed at her men below, nodding to herself with approval when she saw them do the same.

"Who is it?" Jack O'Neill panted as he ran up the steps to the bridge. Hansen shot him an irritated look. The colonel had the gall to look like he didn't realize there were a dozen guns pointed at the Stargate. He was standing on the bridge, looking like he expected the Stargate to look differently, frowning at it, like it didn't meet his approval. Hansen's scowl came back. It was crude, she knew, but it worked guarding the gate like this. But she didn't have the time or the patience to point that out to him and only concentrated on getting ready to shoot the moment she saw any enemy armor coming through.

"We are still waiting for a signal," Jolinar whispered.

The colonel looked over to her for confirmation, and Sammy curtly nodded. She was in no mood for conversation. Let the Tok'ra give him progress reports and updates for all she cared.

"I got a signal, commander!" Siler reported loudly as his equipment beeped. His voice echoed throughout the cavern. "Tok'ra IDC."

No one lowered their guns.

Jack looked over to Jolinar, seeing Sha're's face shaped with heavy concentration. The Tok'ra glanced back at him and leaned closer to whisper, "General Carter and the leaders of this base."

His eyes moved back to Hansen, questioning.

"She is commander of the forces, but the planet Tau'ri had their leaders escape to an unknown location. Until then, there are six major leaders for this planet's rebellion. They have been underground off planet with Jacob Carter for nearly four months."

"Why come back now, then?" Jack whispered back as he watched the soldiers cautiously approach the Stargate, the first line of men taking steps towards it while the next line remained where they were to back them up. His mouth twitched at the sight. No barricades, no heavy gunnery, not even a damn plate of bulletproof glass to give them a few seconds of protection. Just a few fresh faced soldiers in helmets looking too large for their heads, standing out like sore thumbs in the white snow in front of the firing zone. Jack tensed, wondering how accurate their signals were anyway. But no one had emerged out of the Stargate yet. He clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth. "Why are they popping out of safety now after four months?"

"Ra," Jolinar said simply. "Jermak had practically announced the system lord was coming to handle the execution himself. It would have been the perfect opportunity to get him, but when John O'Neill disobeyed orders to rescue Dan-yel—"

Jack turned his head sharply. "You weren't going to get him?"

"We would have...after Ra came," Hansen grated, hearing the question. She darted a stern look over to him. "Do you mind?" She faced the Stargate again, tensing as a figure slowly emerged from the wormhole.

Everyone seemed to still, guns aimed at the event horizon as the thick woven garb of a Tok'ra became visible.

Narrowing his eyes, leaning over the bridge's rail, Jack could make out two other forms in heavy parkas and helmets coming out behind the Tok'ra, whose features were hidden inside the hooded cloak he or she wore over the Tok'ra uniform.

Jolinar leaned forward. "Tel shak Tok'ra?" she called out between cupped hands.

"Chu to pak no," the new visitor replied in return.

"In English," Hansen hissed, nudging her rifle toward the three down on the ice cavern below. "English. We can't read minds!"

Jack gave her a look, but the commander ignored it. Jolinar called out in a louder voice. "Are you Tok'ra or foe?"

"If you need to ask, we're obviously not foe!" one of the visitors behind the Tok'ra replied in a wry voice. "You invited us!" Pulling out a similar globe which was a twin to the one Hansen had before, the visitor waved it. "Now, are you going to let us in or not?" The speaker pulled off the helmet he was wearing, revealing graying cropped hair and small beady eyes that crinkled in greeting. "Hurry it up, commander! I'm freezing here!"

Hansen shook her head, not angry, only amused. She grinned wryly and lowered her rifle a little. The other soldiers did the same. "Welcome back to Beta, sirs," she greeted finally.

"Thank you, Hansen," the other visitor replied, taking off his helmet, revealing the features of General George Hammond. He scanned the base with a satisfied smile. "It's been a while."

"Still could use a bit of a paint job though, Commander," the other commented to Hammond with a smirk. "You know...some curtains, a table here and there..." He waggled his eyebrows at Hammond, then smiled up towards Hansen and the others. "What do you say?"

Jack gawked at the familiar face, the last person he would expect to see smiling so openly. No way, it couldn't be...

Maybourne.

He couldn't stop staring as both Maybourne and Hammond came up to the sub, standing in front of Hansen, waiting.

"Captain O'Neill?" Hammond spoke as he observed Jack standing next to her. His eyebrow shot up, and he looked back to Hansen with alarm.

Sammy just nodded.

"Okay, Commander. I can see now why the urgency." Hammond folded his arms, standing on the icy ground and staring at Jack, working his jaw as he studied the colonel. "We'd better go ahead with the procedure. Get us to X-rays so we can get right on it." He nodded to the sergeant as he went by. "Siler. Good to see you back. Heard you and Ferretti had a hairy moment or two in Dallas."

"Walk in the park, sir," the soldier replied, giving Hammond a quick scan as if to confirm for himself he was not Goa'uld.

"What gives?" Jack muttered after Hansen climbed down the conning tower to greet the leaders. Their voices dropped immediately to keep whatever they were saying private as they walked towards the last submarine for examination.

"They do this with everyone." The Tok'ra woman nodded towards the new Tok'ra visitor still standing in the cavern, staring at Hansen's back as she left with the leaders. "I was told an infiltrator, a Goa'uld inside one of their men, came once before the alliance between the Tok'ra and the rebels. The spy tried to sabotage the Stargate and alert Seth to the base's location. Had John O'Neill not returned from the mines and recognized him, they would have been long dead." She twisted around, gazing at Hammond's and Maybourne's backs. "They may be some of the world's leaders for now, but if they are Goa'uld..." Her eyes glowed. "We would have to destroy them regardless. These bases must be protected. We must be careful now to X-ray them and check the backs of their necks for penetration."

The Tok'ra below finally spoke. "Jolinar." The dual voice rang out in the cavern and lingering soldiers who were resetting the inner track of the Stargate by hand spun around, glaring at the speaker. The Tok'ra took no notice as he pulled down his hood. A narrow face, balding with a sweep of white hair along the sides, Jacob Carter stared back at Jack with mild amazement.

"Damn," murmured Jack. "Let me guess...Selmac?"

Startled, Jolinar could only nod.

"He's also Selmac in my reality." Jack waved weakly down to the former general who contemplated the gesture before returning it. Jacob immediately climbed the tower to the bridge. As he reached them, he paused on the top rung, scanning Jack once more, drifting to the gold ring around Jack's wrist before his eyes snapped back to his face.

Jacob Carter's voice came through this time. "Damn. If you hadn't told me, Jol..." He shook his head, swinging over to the bridge. "Uncanny, I tell you." He straightened up and stuck out his hand. "Jacob Carter."

"I know," Jack said simply, grabbing the offered hand and shook it. "Colonel Jack O'Neill."

Jacob turned to Jolinar, his voice changing even as he still shook Jack's hand. "What news have you of Ra?"

Jack winced. It was easy to forget that General Carter was also the Tok'ra Selmac. He felt the older man drop his grip, and he was more than glad to do the same, forcing himself not to instinctively wipe the hand clean on his slacks.

Shaking her head, Jolinar had no good news. "Dan-yel Jackson does not recall much of his experience on Jermak's ship. We regret our intelligence falls short of detail, Selmac."

Closing his eyes, Selmac appeared disappointed but resigned. Opening them again, the eyes glowed briefly before returning Jacob to the surface.

"Well, that sucks," Jacob commented with a frown. He considered Jack for a moment. "Jackson, huh? So you guys aren't..."

Jack shook his head. "Daniel's part of my team."

"Team?"

"In their reality, Ra is dead. Their threat is the secondary lord Apophis."

"Dead, huh?" Giving Jack a thumbs up, Jacob maneuvered around the tight quarters of the bridge to go down the hatch. "Lucky you. Hoping to do the same here?"

Jack snorted. "If you let us." He followed the Tok'ra, alternating feet and hands over the cold rungs. He raised his head and saw Jolinar doing the same. Jack quickened his steps, regretting it for a moment when his back bunched uncomfortably with the movement, forcing him to slow his pace before he ripped anything open again. It was hard to do. He didn't like being sandwiched in by two Tok'ra. Sure, they weren't Goa'ulds, but a snake was still a snake, Jack thought. Then guiltily, he looked up and saw Sha're's face peering down the passageway, the concern evident in her dark eyes, and he hastily glanced down to see where he was going.

"Where's your friend now?" asked Jacob as he landed on the top deck of the control room and waited for them to join him. Rubbing his hands together, Jacob didn't look happy about the cold. He stamped his foot once and grimaced. "Damn ice box. They're going to be a while. Might as well check on your friend. Jol tells me he got marked?"

Jack's eyes darkened as he darted a glance over to Jolinar, remembering how cool and collected she was when she pulled the re'klya out of Daniel. The reddened circles around the small puncture marks on his friend was a mild reminder of the goosebump inducing screams Jack had heard. Daniel was marked all right. But Jack suspected so was he. He doubted the screams, the image of Daniel writhing under their hands would ever go away, tattooed permanently in his mind. "You could say that."

"Luckily he got them out in time." Jacob fished out a small velvet black pouch and transferred it into Jolinar's waiting cupped hands. "I have more neuar. Should help him a little. Figured your supply might be a little low by now."

Eyeing the blue vials peeking out of a padded pouch, Jack nodded. "They helped him before."

"Well, then. How about this?" Taking out one bottle, Jacob waved it at Jack like a baton. "You give me a little info, and he gets one."

"Jacob—" Jolinar began to protest.

"Fine."

Jacob stopped waving the vial and stared at Jack.

Shrugging, Jack plucked the container out of his hands before the Tok'ra could change his mind. "I was more than willing to share information, and trust me, that's rare. Your people are the ones giving me the brick wall." He pocketed the vial, glancing once again at the faded name on his jumpsuit and wondering if the original owner was still alive.

"The commander has many doubts," Jolinar defended Hansen. "She hates the Goa'uld with great passion. Often, she forgets we are Tok'ra and not Goa'uld." She raised her right shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. "It is not only her."

"If you ask me, she's treating me like I was a Tok'ra myself," Jack grumbled. He blinked, groaning mentally as he realized the two were looking at him funny. This was the very reason why he wasn't in the diplomatic corps. More and more, he was beginning to sorely miss the talkative skill of his linguist. "Damn. I mean...back in my reality—"

Jolinar nodded her head, showing she didn't take offense. "Dan-yel has told me the Tok'ra in your world are not as forthcoming with their intelligence as we are."

"What?" Jacob looked mystified. "How the hell do you guys work together then?"

Griping, Jack patted the vial in his pocket, checking to make sure it was still there. "We don't. They help us when they see fit."

Jacob exchanged a frown with Jolinar.

"It is a very different reality than ours," she suggested.

Jacob shook his head. "No shit. Come on. Take me to him."

Jolinar turned to Jack, who gestured to her to go first, and the three went down the hallway to where Daniel was. Jack couldn't help but notice the soldiers ducking into empty rooms to make way, wary eyes tracking their progress as they passed, only a scant few daring to call out a greeting to them.

SG1SG1SG1

He couldn't get away.

Hands clasped his body, pinning him to ice.

He couldn't get away.

He could hear the screaming, people yelling at him, tossing names at him, a voice demanding questions he couldn't understand- asking him where it was when he didn't even know what it was they were looking for. The fog surrounding him was cold, biting, and painful on contact. He could also see eyes glowing everywhere.

Then everything went dark.

No!

He shifted. Perhaps the light had moved away. He didn't care if the next thing he saw were demons so long he could see something.

Endless night.

That was all there was. All he could do was sit there and be very quiet. The darkness was so heavy it lay over him like a suffocating presence.

And the voices still whispering.

"...of your servant?"

A Greek accent faded in and out as another voice spoke louder than the others. "Will...tell us what we want?"

He couldn't understand the voices. Some sounded like those he knew. Some didn't. They were everywhere, surrounding him while he was alone.

"Doctor O'Neill...where is it?"

They were everywhere.

"We told him we would not fetch him for two days...Already...hungers for another..."

"He has not been...reliable...often...refused to tell you anything..."

The words...they were important. But he couldn't understand.

"The tablet...where is it?"

Snatches of words. Maddeningly familiar, insanely taunting him with their peculiar meaning. They were important. They were. He knew that, but he didn't know why.

"They said you found his...where is it?"

"He told us where...hidden...Tau'ri...For which we told him we would reward...gives us the base."

He couldn't hear it all. He knew he needed to. But he couldn't think. The darkness. The darkness was everywhere...

Daniel frowned in his sleep, brushing away the hands that were on him, roughly moving him around the bunk. He murmured, wondering why was Jack moving him. He was so tired. Jack had told him to get some sleep, and here he was waking him. He stirred, trying to wake, the filaments of the dream clinging to him stubbornly like cobwebs. If Jack was waking him, it must be important.

"I can't find...you have to tell me...Doctor O'Neill..."

So many bad people...

"Tell me!"

Hands that wouldn't let him go, shaking him, hurting him.

"We...this game...break and tell us. He has been away from it for too long. He can barely survive without...an amusing method of control, rather than kill every Tau'ri we encounter."

Daniel moaned, struggling to wake as he felt the shaking increase, fingers digging into his flesh with painful desperation. He flung his hands out and felt something slap against his palms. Someone cursed and held his hands tighter. He couldn't move.

"And then he will die, and we will rule."

"Disagree with us again and your pain will increase tenfold, Beloved."

She was everywhere. And he was alone. He wanted to cry out. He opened his mouth to call for help, finding himself suddenly too weak to do so. A hand clamped over his mouth. He couldn't breathe.

He's coming. He's coming. He needed to tell someone, tell Jack, tell the others.

"...re'klya has finally learned to respect his god."

"You're no god! You're just a monster inside a body you stol-"

"I will question him myself when I arrive in f— days!"

"I'm not your property—"

"...days, General."

"Be ready for me..."

"...Che mar, he comes early."

Something was wrong.

Daniel winced, his hands being held too tightly. He muttered, trying to get Jack to let him go. Couldn't Jack see he was hurting him? He could feel himself waking further. Jack was overreacting, probably thinking he was freaking out when it was only a dream.

"Where is it?"

Where's what? Daniel thought fuzzily as he opened his eyes a mere slit. The redness of his shut eyelids lightened as he let in the outside light. Why was Jack asking him all these questions? Why? Where was what?

Another shake and Daniel started. His eyes flew open the rest of the way, and he cried out as light blazed down on him, battering his senses. Hurt. They hurt. Too bright. He couldn't see anything but the light burning into the back of his head. The vague shadow of someone, a stranger, not Jack, hovered over him, surrounded by the painfully bright halo over his head. Everything was spinning, colors danced wildly in front of him, pulling his coherent thoughts into madness. Daniel's head whipped back, his eyes squeezing shut. He'd seen these warped shapes before.

It was the Linvris. They were here.

Daniel twisted away, trying to break free. No one was listening. He wasn't crazy; he wasn't! They were coming. They were! Couldn't they hear them coming? He could hear the footsteps and Lily's heels clicking outside, trying to get in. The more he tried to break free to escape, the more his wrists hurt as they refused to release him.

"Where is it?" the demons screamed, shaking him until his bones rattled. "Where is it? I need it! I need the tablet! They'll take that instead! Tell me! Tell me!"

No. No, they were coming, hurting him and would hurt his friends. Daniel cried out again, the sound almost shrill as the demons shook him so hard his head banged against the back of the bed. He kicked furiously, but the monsters were stronger. Help. Help! Why wouldn't anyone help him?

Hands, shaky hands were on his face, the demon spoke with a trembling voice.

"Please. Please, Doctor O'Neill. You have to tell me. They want to know about the base. I can't give that to them, but they'll take the tablet. Give me the tablet. Please. Please!" The earth seemed to shake as hands moved from his face to his shoulders. "If I don't go back to it, I'll die! It's killing me right now! I have to go back soon! I need it!"

Leave me alone. I'm not crazy. Don't. Let me go. Let me go. Jack! Don't let them take me! Jack!

Daniel opened his eyes, the light burning his sight, but he needed to see the monster to beg for release. But no sooner than he did, the blurring of the figure was gone, but the white fire remained. Agony ate at the edges of his awareness. All dreams and weariness fled with the first sharp pang striking his body with a stab like an agonizing dagger.

And he screamed.