And all of these moments
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight
But I know that they'll be gone
When the morning light sings
And brings new things
For tomorrow night you see
That they'll be gone too
Too many things I have to do
But if all of these dreams might find their way
Into my day to day scene
I'd be under the impression
I was somewhere in between
With only two
Just me and you
Not so many things we got to do
Or places we got to be
We'll sit beneath the mango tree now – Jack Johnson.

-------------------------------------------------

Teal'c watched the young man on the make-shift bed struggle against the flares of emotion burning through his vulnerable mind. The cot was no more than an old sprung mattress thrown on the floor in an improvised and over run infirmary. Medical staff from all three nations tried vainly to patch up the various injuries with what little supplies they had. Their efforts were hampered by the incessant screams of those who, lost in the paranoia of Naquadria poisoning, scurried in and out of the many shadows thrown by the artificial light, trying to find the pieces of their once cogent mind. The Jaffa was thankful, at least, that Jonas had been given a small alcove to himself away from their fretful ramblings.

A young woman came over to check on them. She handed Teal'c a small jar full of water before pressing a palm to Jonas' forehead; he stilled under her touch. She smiled at the Jaffa, gesturing towards the receptacle. "Sorry, we have to make do with what we have," she said apologetically.

"It is fine," Teal'c informed her, taking a drink of the ice-cold liquid as if to prove the point. He swallowed, letting its clarity quench the sand of his thirst.

"His temperature seems to have come down," she advised, folding a blanket near the young man's feet. "I will need to re-dress the wound though." She looked for approval and Teal'c nodded in response.

While the woman busied herself, Teal'c's eye was drawn to the delicate frosting of crystals that decorated the walls. The elegant needles made rainbows of the faint light that came courtesy of an old generator rattling in the corner.

"This whole cave system has many different types of crystals," the woman remarked, seeing where his gaze rested, "but I have to admit a fondness for the gypsum."

She inclined her head, "maybe it's the way they trap what little light we have and make it dance with all the colours of the outside world." Looking back to the Jaffa she gave a fleeting smile.

"I should warn you that there are also some pretty astounding life-sized forms that look almost human. In fact, I heard, that the first unit down here shot at a few thinking they were some kind of ghostly cave dwellers." She let out a small laugh which showed a chip to her front tooth.

The Jaffa's lips twitched slightly as he took another drink. "There are other chambers. These caves stretch for many miles," she informed him. "But we keep mainly to this cavern. It's less steep for both the elderly and infirmed and there's a fresh water source nearby." She nodded in the direction of a large body of water that was so glassy and translucent, the crater it filled seemed empty.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The woman whispered seeing the flicker of wonder cross his dark features as he viewed the ethereal lake.

"I would not have known it was there," he remarked turning back to her.

She met his gaze, pausing from binding Jonas' hand and nervously brought her fingers through the short sweep of her tawny hair. She pointed to her forehead. "Your symbol, it's not the same as the others." She gave him a hesitant look, hoping her observation had not given offence.

"No," he replied softly, "I was First Prime to the false god Apophis," he answered, lowering his head. "The Jaffa on your world serve the Goa'uld known as Ba'al."

"What happened to Apophis?" She asked quietly.

"Like Ba'al, he too is dead." Teal'c replied, his face giving away nothing.

The woman nodded. "Your news gave us hope that we can now defeat Ravel but…" She looked away and began tying the dressing to Jonas' hand.

"But?" Teal'c invited gently.

"My, my life-partner was taken by, by those who serve this Ba'al." Her gaze wandered again to the glistening waltz of colours.

"The Jaffa." Teal'c prompted gently.

"Yes," she replied. "They took him away for experimentation, he…. he was, is an athlete." She looked back at him.

"Do you know for what purpose they took him?"

She nodded, carefully laying Jonas' arm back onto the mattress. "I hear rumours and half-truths but I believe Ba'al was trying to create some kind of super soldier from those…." "You were aboard his ship, were there any other prisoners…" She broke off.

"Ba'al would not conduct an endeavour such as this on board his Ha'tak. Is it most likely that these individuals were taken to one of his strongholds."

"On another planet?" She questioned.

"That is correct." She waited, willing him to say what she already knew in her heart. Teal'c looked into the melted chocolate of her eyes. "It is doubtful that Ba'al's demise will stop the quest for a more powerful warrior. Those taken would have already been utilized into the service of the Goa'uld; there would be little left of the person they once were."

She gave him a brief smile for his honesty. "I think, I always knew he would not be coming home, in body" she added, looking to her hands in thought. "My people believe there are many different levels of freedom, death being just one more open door that releases the stone of our inner being."

She paused, taking a deep breath. "When he was taken, my Leo, I was put to work in the mines. My blood tested positive for Naquadria, I have little time left to train new nurses before I too become trapped in my own delusions." Her gaze rested on those torn individuals wrestling with their broken thoughts. "I've heard that you fight against these Goa'uld, to liberate all those under their rule."

Teal'c bowed his head. "If, by chance, you come across this stronghold, would you free those trapped in the service of the Goa'uld, even if it means their death?"

She looked up and Teal'c saw, in her face, the young woman she was before war had stencilled its number on her. He gently reached over and squeezed her hand as a silent promise.

She got to her feet and placed a kiss on his cheek before going to her next patient.

Teal'c spread his hand on Jonas' chest wishing he could somehow comfort his friend.

"You can," a voice whispered like a summer breeze through grass.

Teal'c turned and found himself, once again, surrounded by a rich pall of patient poppies. He smiled, inhaling their happiness, letting his hand trail in the reel of their plush heads.

"How can I help him?" He asked, directing his question around the fertile pasture. "I am no doctor."

The sun smiled down at him. "You have it within yourself to guide him and help contain the emotions of those around him. You can heal what is broken."

He inadvertently looked down at his palm, squeezing it shut. "How?" he asked again.

Teal'c felt the touch of a higher benevolence soften his skin as the sun's transcendent arms blessed each of the cardinal blooms. The poppies joyfully bobbed under her light, unfurling their vibrant petals to become a host of butterflies. These venerable insects flickered against the air, their delicate flight composing a sonnet of scarlet around the Herculean figure of the Jaffa. Teal'c followed their dance as they formed a snake-like chain around him, mimicking a symbiote; his symbiote.

Realisation kissed his lips as they twisted and fell to the ground.

"Kel-no-rim", Teal'c whispered to the fading meadow.

"As one being," came the soft reply.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonas removed his t-shirt and lay back on the exam table as Janet started to gently press her hands along his ribs. Her touch was patient and soft, waiting for him to relax when she located a point of tenderness. He watched her work, wanting to say the hundred and one things that were surfacing and spinning in his head but the words just seemed to crash on his lips without a sound.

He sat up so she could examine the contusions smeared around his neck. He tried to focus on something other than the delicate rhythm of her breathing melting into his skin but he found it impossible; he stood up abruptly.

"Jonas?" Janet cried, not finished with her examination but he looked away.

She placed an urgent hand on his shoulder, a plea for him to look at her. He turned and their eyes locked. There was a moment, he could feel it, time was waiting on a hesitant drip from a tap and his mind and heart conflicted. He bent down and tenderly brushed his lips against hers as the fire in his heart won.

He pulled away, "I'm, I'm sorry," he said cracking the silence but Janet was gone.

The examination room evaporated into the whiteness around him and he was left cloistered in his own thoughts.

Isolated.

Alone.

And safe from the swollen mix of emotions that buffeted the walls of his mind.

"But you're not safe," came a flirtatious voice of throaty pampas.

Jonas turned, "Izzie?" He questioned.

Two dark eyes shone through the thumbprint of her image. "In spirit and in your dreams," she reflected, an engaging smile bringing her body through the haze.

She reached out a hand and caressed his cheek without brushing the skin. "Jonas," his name swayed on her bewitching lilt. "Look around you, even now the shadows creep into your refuge."

He could sense them but chose to ignore the clog of their colour in his thoughts. He shook his head, "I can't do this any more." He confessed as quiet tears fell from the pathos surrounding him.

He looked down into the folds of his empty palm; his life reflected on each ridge and disjointed line. He could feel past events weighing on his soul as they leached every last ounce of his being. "I have no fight left," he whispered.

Izzie reached out and took his hand in hers, watching the tears slide down the silk of his skin. He fell into her gaze as she moved closer, placing her lips in the salt of their misery. Tasting their depth, she kissed them away.

Izzie wrapped her arms around him, feeling the wild beating of his shattered heart next to her own. "Ssh," she cajoled, resting her head against him. "Jonas you're stronger than these shadows. Your strength is in here," she brushed her long fingers against the movement of his chest.

"And here," she took his hand and placed it over her own heart. He felt its rhythmic twitch under the tantalising veil of her raised breast. "And here," she guided his fingers through the surrounding walls to touch the outside; Jonas felt Teal'c's friendship overwhelm him.

She nuzzled close to his ear, her breath rousing the fine hairs on his lobe. "This is your strength," she whispered, the low pitch of her voice enchanting his senses.

Jonas shook his head, breaking away, running his fingers through his scalp to make pyramids of his hair.

Izzie's lips sparkled as she spoke, moist with both light and truth. "You think love and compassion are weak emotions?"

Jonas turned his head slightly. "They've been used against me too many times." He flinched against the memory of his words.

"And they've saved you too." Her sable eyes flared. "We're nothing without them Jonas, they're the cord that binds our hearts to one another. You can't cut yourself off from them, just as you can't stop breathing; they're a necessity, a part of who you are. Pity those soulless creatures that will never experience these emotions." She turned her gaze to the nebulous cloud slowly enveloping the light.

"I can't play their game any more Izzie, too many people get hurt, people I care about. It would be easier on everyone…."

She stopped his words with a kiss, cupping her hands around the side of his face to bring him closer. Jonas could taste the desire for life upon her sumptuous lips tempting him to drink more of her. He brought his own hands to the back of her head and neck, pushing himself onto the merry dance of her mouth, not wanting to break the spell.

They breathed; a moments pause and Jonas lost himself in her scent floating across their divide.

He grabbed at the strings of her hair, pulling her back to his willing lips, needing to quench the thirst of his desire; needing to be loved. He felt the surge of her passion galvanized his abandoned heart, fuelling its spirit to beat once more and be satisfied. Their kiss deepened, stimulating the light within to saturate the void and send the encroaching darkness to the outer reaches of the soul.

Izzie released him, keeping her long fingers against his face. Jonas gasped for air, reaching for her again, wanting to savour her vivacity and surrender himself to the pulse of his body. Izzie stopped him, bringing their foreheads together, lips a fingertip apart, breathing as one. "My time is short," her words melted in his mouth.

He held onto her, not wanting to let her go, his breath playing a light tempo on her cheek.

She pulled him, once again, into the depths of her gaze, biding him to concentrate on her words. "It's not going to be easy Jonas," she said softly, shaking her head a little, "but you already know that."

She paused, her breath whispering against his lips. "You're not alone in this, remember that." She drew round his wounded lip with her nail. "You have your friends around you, their strength will safeguard you."

She let her touch glide down his neck; he let out a soft moan that fluttered across her lips. "Like a rainbow amidst the darkest storm," she quoted, remembering her grandmother's words as she rubbed her thumb and forefinger over the obsidian pendant. A of purple, green and gold bands jumped from the stone's inky heart.

"This will protect you too. It will help you find the insight you seek. Use it Jonas," she stated. "Let it aid your self-development and purge you of any negativity." She kissed the stone, closing her eyes a moment before returning her gaze back to the young man.

She toyed tenderly with his hair, drawing her words from another place. "Jonas," she whispered, "know whatever happens, I'll be waiting for you." She gave him a gentle smile that held no judgement, yet she looked away.

"Izzie?" He enquired as the bond between them unravelled and she faded from his mind.

Jonas watched the place where she'd stood, her essence still visible in the embers of his thoughts. He felt the emptiness return like a cold wind heralding the winter months. He wrapped his hand over the stone and closed his eyes. He felt the sheen from the colours swirl around him, beckoning him to follow their path. The jumble of emotion that encircled his being parted and he heard the gentle trickle of Teal'c's voice as it called across to him. He reached out and was rewarded with the Jaffa's firm grasp taking hold of his own hand.

Teal'c smiled as the young man's eyes fluttered open. "Welcome back Jonas Quinn," he said softly.

------------------------

Izzie let her fingers rest against her lips, still sweetened and balmy from Jonas' kisses. She breathed in deeply letting herself, slowly, awaken to her surroundings. She stretched and smiled, her dark eyes intoxicated by the senses still warming the honey of her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself and waited for her heart to settle from its pleasurable flit. She got up and loosely tied an old bathrobe around her, pulling at its collar to smell its welcoming scent.

She walked across to an unfinished canvass that waited on its easel and touched the mix of blues that coloured its partial story; her fingertips pulsed with the vision of its completed picture.

Izzie longed to understand its narrative.

She had always seen possible futures but never had she witnessed the past so vividly.

AN: Thanks to CT and SR for their help with this one. Sorry it's been so long getting to you but I've been on my holibobs. Take care.