Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate or Highlander. If I did, I wouldn't work in the public school system. Any characters from either show what you many recognize belong to their respective owners. Any characters that you don't recognize belong to me. I promise to return the borrowed character once I am done with them, though they will be a bit scuffed.

Warning: Potty language

Chapter 38

They followed Methos down and along the main trail that wound around the base of the ancient volcano. He took them off the well-traveled path and on to a secondary trail, one that was a bit rougher and led them among the trees, concealing their presence. Eventually they came to a clearing in the woods. A stream ran through it, bubbling and gurgling as it wound its way around the rocks. Also, there was a nice drop off; creating a waterfall that ended maybe six to seven feet lower that where it started.

"Perfect," Methos announced and dropped the plastic storage container that he was carrying. The place was still on Holy Ground, plenty of privacy to be had, and best yet, a waterfall. The gods must be smiling on me right now, or at least they want Danil back to normal, he thought to himself.

"Where do you want DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked, his gold tattoo glinting in the pale moonlight.

"Put him over here," Methos directed, pointing to a grassy area to the right of the path. "Just make sure his head is pointing north."

"What can we do?" Sam asked, looking around her.

"I need you to clear a spot about five feet or so from Danil's feet. We need a fire going so I can see what I am doing," he said and tossed her a pack of matches and a small camp spade.

Jack made a motion as if he was going to help her in the task, but she waved him off. "Try to stay off your knee Sir. I might not be able to cook, but I can build a fire."

"What can I do?" Jack asked, favoring the one leg. Walking had been painful experience after Daniel had kicked him. The bastard so owes me after this.

Methos looked over at the injured mortal. "Cut his shirt off, but make sure you leave the knife in him. We don't need another incident like the last one." He then handed over another knife for Jack to use.

Jack busied himself with removing Daniel's shirt, careful to not disturb the knife in his chest. Teal'c stood over Daniel's inert form, ready to strike to prevent him from hurting Jack.

Methos also busied himself by taking out various supplies from the plastic tote and arranging them in some sort of logical order.

"Done," Jack announced.

Next, working together, Jack, Teal'c, and Methos untied Daniel's hands and retied his hands and then his legs so that he was staked out, unable to get any leverage that would allow him to move. They tied him so he looked like he was trying to make snow angels in the grass.

By then, Sam had managed to get a small bonfire going. It crackled and popped as dry timber and leaves caught fire. Shadows were cast all around, dancing in time with the tongues of flames that spewed forth from the inferno. While it wasn't large, it was enough that everyone could clearly see each other and the immediate vicinity.

"What now?" Jack asked, perplexed as to what Adam, Methos, whatever his name was, was going to do.

Methos sighed. Why did people always demand an explanation for everything? "Like I said earlier, the Quickening he took on Holy Ground did not settle properly and caused the other two Quickenings to not settle also. What I, we, am going to do is release the damaged Quickening and re-align him, which will hopefully bring him back to us normal."

"Huh?" was all Jack said.

"Have you heard of Chakras before?" he asked.

Jack nodded kind of vaguely.

"This is kind of related to New Age people claiming to re-align and cleanse someone's chakras, but this isn't New Age, it's not a con or a scam. What we are going to do is re-align Danil and hopefully bring our friend back from insanity."

"Have you done this before and what if it doesn't work?" Jack pressed.

"I've assisted with this before, I've never done it by myself. Another Immortal by the name of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, or at least that was the name he had when he died. I knew him as Anok Sabe. Many things can be said about Ramirez, but the main thing was that he was always full of shit. He never told anyone the truth about his age. When he died, he was telling people that he was only two thousand, four hundred and thirty-seven years old. He didn't want others to know that he was ancient. When I met him four thousand plus years ago, he was already at least five thousand years old. He didn't want head hunters coming after him, wanting his Quickening. It was a lesson that stuck with me and eventually passed it along to Danil. Young ones will sometimes crave power so much they'll deliberately challenge older, more powerful Immortals in hope that the older one will be stupid and screw up."

Jack shook his head, trying to clear it of all that had just been thrown at him. It was like listening to another Daniel. "That's fascinating, but it doesn't really answer my question, now does it?"

Methos grinned; the shadows playing on his face making him look a bit sinister. "A friend of Ramirez went through something like what Danil is going through, though of course minus the whole off-world thing. I assisted Ramirez in the process and he taught it to me so if it were necessary, someone else would be around to help the Immortal and prevent another senseless beheading."

"What if it doesn't work? What then?" Jack asked, fearing the worst. "Is there something else that can be done?"

At this Methos looked very grave. "Not that I am aware of. Our options would be to dump him on some sort of Holy Ground, or maybe in your guys' case to another planet, and pray that time will heal him. Otherwise, I kill him and take his head. Right now he is a threat to any other Immortal that he would come across, not to mention he's a security risk for your program."

"You can't kill him! He's your friend!" Sam protested, horrified that Adam could be so cold about the matter.

"It's because he's my friend that I would take his head. Daniel, the one we all know and love would rather die than live his life as a homicidal monster. Would you rather have him start killing others, starting with Danil's former student, Siler is it?"

"No, it's just we've been a team for so long. I can't imagine doing what we do without him," Sam said, clearly imagining a life without her friend.

"I understand Sam, but believe me; he would rather be dead than go on another rampage like he did over two thousand years ago. You would have hated him back then. Take it from me, Danil was a monster. I know it's like the pot calling the kettle black hearing this come from me, but he was truly out of his mind."

"Okay, so what do we need to do?" Jack asked, putting an arm around Sam's shoulders, offering what little comfort he could to his friend.

Teal'c also came over and placed a hand on Sam's shoulder, offering his strength and support. "What do you require of us Adam Pierson?"

Methos looked at the three of them, then down at Danil. "You really are a lucky son of a bitch to have such good friends Danil," he muttered, jealous and admiring at the same time.

A/N: What do you think? Be a pal and hit the shiny review button and let me know.

Anok Sabe supposedly means "I am wise" in ancient Egyptian. I thought it was fitting for the character of Ramirez. I couldn't remember if he had an Egyptian name from the movie or not.

Yes, I know it's short and I'm not getting to the part where they are going to try to save Daniel from his own crazy mind. It's coming, I promise. Also, I wanted to end the chapter here, since the next one is going to be pretty lengthy and this made a more logical stopping point.

Also, real life is getting in the way again. I would hope I can update next Monday, but I can't promise it. My weekend is jam packed with stuff. We are having a BIG party for my husband. It's a good luck and come back soon party (just guess where he's going – and yes, I am not happy and plenty worried – no sympathy is necessary please) and I have tons of cooking and cleaning to do between now and then. Plus I have to work in a soccer game and watching (repeatedly) Friday's new SG1 episode. I hope I can work in some time over the weekend to shape up the next chapter, but it might be out on Tuesday instead. I hope you all understand. Thank you to everyone for their support, encouragement, reviews, etc. It is very much appreciated.

Cheers!