Chapter 4

Samantha Carter looked back and forth between them, not sure of what to do. Daniel simply stood frozen.

The corner of Sha're's mouth curled upward in a half smile. "No, I'm afraid not," said the deep, duel voice of the Goa'uld inside her. Daniel realized then that it was not his wife. Amaunet was in control, she was speaking. The hopes that had risen when he first saw her came crashing down, but didn't disappear entirely. Sha're was still in there…somewhere…

Jackson gulped hard. "What do you want? What's going on?"

What happened next happened quickly. Amaunet did not answer, but partly turned to one of the jaffa, giving a silent command. The serpent guard raised his staff weapon, and instinctively Daniel jumped in front of Carter, pulling out his zat and preparing to shoot the man with a stun beam, but he didn't get a chance too before the staff blast took him in the midsection. The young scientist shouted in pain and surprise and collapsed.

"Daniel!" Carter cried, catching under the arms before he could hit the floor. Gently she lowered him the rest of the way to the ground, wincing involuntarily at the bleeding wound in his stomach. Daniel groaned in pain as she set him down. Major Carter momentarily re-directed her attention from her injured friend to the Goa'uld in front of her.

"What was that!" she said angrily.

"That was not meant for him," Amaunet said, equally perturbed. "Jaffa!"

Carter's eyes widened when she realized what the alien meant. But she had no time to move before another staff blast cut her down, pushing her backwards.

"No!" Daniel shouted, trying to pull himself into a sitting position. He failed as the searing pin from the wound pushed him down again. Carter crashed to the ground two or three feet back from him, her chest smoking. It was obvious the she was hurt much worse than he was. But she couldn't be…

"Sam!" he cried. No answer. "SAM!" A terrible fear suddenly gripped Daniel, and he all but forgot about his overcome wife and the contingent of jaffa that stood only feet away. Gasping in pain, he pulled himself to her side.

"Sam? Sam, can you hear me? Come on, Sam!" he called desperately. The wound looked horrible, and she lay unmoving, her eyes closed. He held a hand over her mouth, but felt no breath coming from it. He checked her pulse on both her wrist and neck, but found nothing.

Daniel's throat constricted. No…he thought. She can't be…

He pushed away from her, but was too weak to do anything but roll onto his back and stare up, still gasping, but now the gasps sounded almost like sobs, and tears stung his eyes as his breath became shorter. He felt unconsciousness closing in on him. Sam…

Daniel's last thoughts before the darkness swallowed him were his desperate attempts to understand why Sha're would have someone killed, and the last thing he saw was her very unhappy-looking face staring down at him.

Daniel Jackson's eyes snapped open. He sat up quickly, looking around. He suppressed a groan when he realized he was in a sarcophagus. I really don't like these things, but then again, I'd probably be dead if they hadn't used it.

Expanding the area he scanned with his eyes, he searched the immediate area. He sucked in a breath when he saw was who was standing just a few feet from the sarcophagus, waiting.

"Sha're?" he asked hesitantly.

The smirk she gave him dashed his hopes again. "I am Amaunet, Queen of Apophis, and you are nothing but a human."

Daniel's eyes narrowed at the mention of Apophis. "But he's dead," the archeologist informed her. And he was glad of it, too.

Her smile changed. Now it seemed to be saying I know something you don't know. But all she said was. "It does not matter. What matters is that you are here." Daniel was still suspicious of her, but he ventured another look around as he climbed warily out of the sarcophagus to stand in front of her.

"Where is here?" he asked. He had to force himself not to run to her, take hold of her, force Sha're to fight the alien being inside of her, take control back. But he knew that, right now, Amaunet was in control. There was nothing he could do.

She replied to his question. "I had to have you brought to my ship in orbit, where the sarcophagus is kept, in order to revive you. You will be brought back to the surface shortly."

Daniel eyebrows went up, surprised she had actually given him a good answer. She noticed the reaction, and knew what he was thinking.

"Dead men tell no tales, Doctor Jackson," she said simply.

Daniel gulped. "Uh…last time I checked I was alive."

"Not for long."

"Then why did you revive me?"

That Goa'uld smirk that Daniel hated appeared on her face again. "I never wanted you death to be that merciful."

Daniel pulled in a quick breath. "And…what's that supposed to mean?" he asked shakily.

"I brought you here to kill you, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel suddenly felt as if he'd stopped breathing, hearing those words come from his wife's mouth. He had to remind himself that it wasn't her. Sha're didn't want him dead. Amaunet did. But why? She answered his silent question a moment later.

"Your very existence is a nuisance to me. My host wants freedom-all of them do-but mine causes me much more difficulty than is normal. And it's all because of you-most specifically because of our recent encounter. She struggles. Of course she fails, but it's uncomfortable for me. I intend to show my host that the reason she wants the most to escape, the man she wants to return too, is a mere nothing."

Sha're? She's talking about Sha're! She's fighting. I knew she would. Maybe Amaunet's trying to hide it, but she's winning. I know she is. Why else would she bring me here, do something this drastic? I knew Sha're wouldn't give up. I knew she was strong…

His thoughts were cut off as Amaunet edged closer to him, and Daniel felt his breath quickening at her words. "Your death will be as slow and painful as I can manage. You'll wish I had let you die back in the gate room. And who knows? I might even do it more than once. We have a sarcophagus, after all…"

Her voice trailed off, and she moved away. Daniel felt a chill run up his spine, and he shivered, gulping again. Trying to calm himself, he glanced around again.

That was when he spotted what lay on the floor on the other side of the room. It was Samantha Carter's body, dropped carelessly on the ground like so much garbage.

"Sam!" he said. He tried to move in that direction, but two serpent guards stepped up to him and took hold of his rams, holding him in place. "Let me go!" he cried, struggling.

But then Amaunet was in front of him again, much closer this time-- close enough to use her hand device. There was a flash of orange light, blinding because it was so near his eyes, and then a beam of energy from the ribbon device had captured him.

Daniel gasped. He tried to keep his feet, but sudden pain from the energy flooded his body, causing him to cry out, and then suddenly he began to feel exhausted. He drooped, and the blackness began to close in again.

The only thing he heard before it engulfed him for the second time that day was Amaunet's voice, something about 'taking him to a holding cell in the complex'…

About half an hour after coming through the gate, Carter and Jackson still weren't there, and O'Neill began to get worried. Okay, so he was already worried, but now he was significantly more worried. He stood and looked to his companion.

"Come on, Teal'c, we're going back. I'm getting tired of this."

The eyebrow went up. "Are you certain we should not wait longer, O'Neill?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Dial it up. I've got the GDO."

Teal'c nodded and stood as well, moving to the DHD to open a wormhole to earth. In the correct order he pushed the seven symbols of the Stargate address for Jack's home planet, and then pressed the large red dome in the center of the round, tilted control panel they called the Dial Home Device. Jack sent the iris code through, and within minutes they were back at the SGC. Everyone there, to their surprise, seemed shocked to seem them.

General Hammond approached them as they stepped off the metal ramp.

"Colonel, why are you back so soon? What happened to Doctor Jackson and Major Carter?" he asked pointedly.

O'Neill frowned. "They're not here, sir?"

"Here?" the general asked in confusion. "Why would they be here? They left through the gate with you and Teal'c."

"But…General, they never showed up on the other side. Are you sure they went through?" Jack said. He could feel himself starting to panic, and he didn't like it.

"Jack, we all saw them go," Hammond replied. Now there was worry on the older man's face as well.

Jack looked around. Surely if carter or Daniel were here, they would have been in the gate room by now, but sure enough, neither of them were to be found. He groaned.

"This could be a problem…"

Please nobody panic about Sam! I don't do deathfic. I hate deathfic. I like happy endings, or endings that turn out as well as they can under the circumstances. I don't do alternate stuff. I like to keep continuity. (As long as you forget the Apophis fumble) :) Anyway, so please don't panic, or kill me, just keep reading it'll be okay, I promise, lol. Please review! I need feedback to keep going:) :) :)