A/Ramble: Don't particularly want to talk about my absence, but I will apologise for it and thank those willing to return to the story after such a long delay. Enjoy!
~ 37 ~
"Bring them."
The gold caps of his ribbon device tapped and clicked together in a rhythm, making out a melody he was sure only he knew. The only other sound to keep him company was the hum of the engines and jingle of his armour whenever he moved. The life of a God was a lonely one. Within a few seconds of the door sliding shut, they opened again to allow his guards to drag the human prisoners into the room. Tick, tick, tick...
The weak, abused and bruised bodies fell to the cold floor.
Silence.
Hanson coughed a sticky, warm wad of bloody spit onto the floor as he choked and panted, barely able to keep his shoulders up and collapse entirely. His formerly green uniform was slowly turning black with stains of blood and grime picked up from the floor and the boots of the Jaffa. Craydon and Tyson were just as worse for wear, though Tyson more often succumbed to abyss during the interrogations.
They'd been admirable in their persistent silence; the only sounds they made were grunts and groans when they couldn't take any more. The pain sticks were the worst. The Jaffa had been creative in their tortures, but it was the sticks that burned into their minds.
"Have you had enough?" he asked them, leaning forward on his throne and resting his chin on his knuckles softly.
The humans hissed and winced in pain, puffed loudly and tapped their foreheads on the ground, but gave no reply. Fine. Klorel looked up to Teal'c and nodded slightly at Craydon, who was shaking with the exertion of keeping his head up. Teal'c understood the order, bringing his staff weapon to life with a loud fizzle. The head of the weapon lowered slowly to point at the back of Craydon's head.
He only had a second to gasp when the weapon touched his back before it slammed forwards onto the floor, the back of his skull shattered and charred from the point blank execution.
The human next to the body, Hanson, growled and clenched his fist and muttered something.
"Now, are you ready to talk?"
As soon as the humans were captured, they realised they were Tauri; a revelation in itself. Unfortunately, the address to the Tauri homeworld had been lost in time for many years. According to legend, the Tauri didn't even exist, as all past attempts to dial or find the planet failed.
"Go to Hell..." the other human groaned. Teal'c dropped his weapon on Hanson, a threat to the human who'd finally spoken. Teal'c was ready to pull the trigger when;
"Hang on..." Hanson opened a hand waving it behind his head. Pain, he could handle, but he wasn't yet ready for death.
"Shut up, Lieutenant," Fleming warned, still eyeing Klorel.
"You shut up," Hanson muttered back.
"They ain't gonna let us go."
"But maybe they won't kill us today..." Hanson stared at Klorel, a silence falling between them.
"Bring him to me." Klorel lazily beckoned for Hanson to come forth. He was suddenly lifted off the ground by a pair of hands under his arms. The Jaffa threw him onto the stairs at Klorel's feet, which was painful in itself, not counting the long list of injuries his abuse afforded him. A flick of Klorel's fingers summoned a priest carrying an SGA-issued laptop to his side. Hanson wished, in a sudden change of his betraying heart, that he could honestly say he didn't know one of the passwords to unlock the computer. But that was not so. And what did it matter, anyway? He'd put his foot in it with that one moment of cowardice.
But, hey, even if these idiots knew Earth's address, they wouldn't get past the Iris.
"Unlock the device."
Hanson looked between the laptop and the Mardi-Gras king with the dreads. Fleming was right; they were going to die either way. Look at what happened to Craydon. But to prolong the inevitable and maybe, just maybe find a way to make a break, or spit on the shiny, gold shoes and take a blast to the face.
Hanson closed his eyes and bit his tongue.
~ SJ ~
Sam wasn't sure if this was one of those awkward moments, but neither she nor Jack had said a word since he stopped in the back door and lifted his eyebrow at her.
It wasn't the fact that she was sitting cross-legged on the kitchen counter. Nope. Nor that she had her tongue mid-lick in a cake bowl. She was getting the evil eye from the hardened General because it had been a long established understanding that the cake bowl was histo clean up. Sometimes she'd turn her back for a second and he would ninja past and grab the bowl, leaving only a brief vision of him walking away with his finger swiping the inside of it. But really, a woman could only bake a certain number of cakes before the temptation to revisit her childhood and ease the cleaning up process overcame her.
"If this is going to be happening on a frequent basis, I don't think it's going to work out."
Really? He couldn't even let her have one damn indulgence without sulking about it? With a very obvious roll of her eyes, Sam held the bowl out to him, looking impatiently to the roof.
"Five seconds... Four...Thr-"
"Thank you!" And that lovely chocolate batter was gone. She should probably be grateful; while they lived together, she'd never gain weight from desserts. Pftt... Yeah, right. And the man just walked out of the room.
"I've decided to quit the SGA and go freelancing in private research firms!" she yelled out, folding her arms. Three... two... one...
"What?" Jack was back in the room, a frown on his face and his beloved cake bowl forgotten in his fingertips. Until Sam snatched it from his hand.
"Though that'd get your attention..." she mumbled, turning her attention to her hard earned prize. "Compromise: for every five, I get one."
"I'll compromise you."
"Promises, promises,'' she teased, clearly not aware of the seriousness of his threat. "Besides, the cake'll burn."
"Or our pagers will go."
"Don't you dare jinx it. Every time you say something like that, the phone rings." Jack must have given up on the bowl; he sighed and leaned back against the bench
"What's that?" She pointed with a wooden spoon. Jack looked behind himself and twisted to pick up what Sam now saw was a small, lumpy something carved out of wood.
"I'm not sure yet."
"Uh huh..."
~ SJ ~
"Am I interrupting?" Bra'tac asked slowly and quietly upon entering Teal'c's private quarters. Even if he were in a deep state of Kel'no'reem, he would always have time for the older Jaffa.
"You are not." Teal'c reached across a sprawling of candles to grasp the tattered brown singlet top and slide it down over his body. Really, Bra'tac was the only one who ever dared enter his room. Apophis did once, a very long time ago, but he understood that a God should never lower himself to enter a Jaffa's dwelling. Even if it is his First Prime.
"I have word that your interrogation was very successful."
Teal'c quirked the corner of his lips in a wry smile. "Indeed. The human decided it may be in his best interest to give us the address to his planet."
"Was it."
"It was not. We attempted to connect to the planet through the Chaapa'ai, but as the human said, the contingent we sent did not survive. The human was punished."
Bra'tac paced the room in his usual sandy robes, looking at the ornaments he'd seen dozens of times before. Though he normally bore a frown and a thin line for a mouth, in the surrounding candlelight, he looked far older than his years and quite disturbed. He was a master amongst Jaffa, but Klorel was much more secretive about his strategic plans. Unless expressly advised to keep something a secret, Teal'c still conveyed any information Bra'tac wanted; he'd never taken liberties before and seemed to use what he learned soundly.
"Are you well, old friend?"
Bra'tac sighed, something he did not often do. "My body is sound, but my mind is burdened with heavy thought." Teal'c said nothing but followed his former master with wary eyes. "What of the remaining humans?"
"Lord Klorel does not see a need to revive them."
"But how many are still alive without the use of the sarcophagus?" Bra'tac snapped, suddenly spurred by a burst of fiery energy. Teal'c head canted a fraction to the side.
"One."
"Who holds claim over the Tauri? I believed they no longer existed; that they were wiped out many years ago." The quick turn of conversation proved even less agreeable than the previous topic. The mutterings that bordered upon sacrilege were always excused as old age catching up on Bra'tac, but Teal'c felt a more direct form of heathenish claims would soon tumble from his teacher.
"They claim to have never heard of the Goa'uld."
"And you do not find this prospect... interesting?"
"What 'prospect'?" Teal'c snarled, an unusual reaction towards such a highly-regarded companion such as Bra'tac.
"That the Tauri have thrived long after Ra left the planet. That they have become a threat to a god such as Apophis - and Klorel - without the assistance of another god? Why can you not see as I do?"
"I cannot listen to the wisdom of a Hasshak..."
"And yet you accept the wisdom of a liar!" Now it became clear. Bra'tac had been left to his musings for too long. "You do the deeds of an imposter who has never shown true godly power! Surely Apophis' death made their mortality clear?! You are the fool to bow to the man that has enslaved our people; your family!"
Inside, something that was already tautly drawn, snapped sharply.
"Shol'va!" Teal'c roared, gripping the elder's robes and, with a powerful turn, threw the man that taught him all he knew into the thick brace of the golden wall. The loud crack and thud of Bra'tac's head hitting the wall and his limp body falling to the ground met his ears. Teal'c crouched down and blindly grasped his staff weapon. Bra'tac was struggling to lift his head, blood streaming down his cheeks and forehead, blinding one eye.
"I..."
Teal'c stepped over his candles, fuelled by the surging fury of a man who felt deeply betrayed. He aimed his weapon, cradling it in his hands with his finger twitching on the trigger.
"I die... free..."
A loud blast was the last thing his older friend heard.
~ SJ ~
*Grimm dives for cover*
Protests can be issued below! Now, I really, REALLY have to write the endings (after updating VRW of course.)