I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter. I think it's the longest one so far, and I still had to cut it off earlier than I had wanted to and leave it for the begining of the next chapter. Oh yes...and only one review showed up for the last chapter, from the ever faithful devianttart! Thanks girl! Please review. I know you all must have been busy as it was July 4th weekend, but it's not anymore so I hope you all can read and review. Reviews help so much! Not to mention that the way this chapter is...I definately need to know what you think. :)

Chapter 22

Something told Danny he was doomed.

"L-Look, you-" his breath clogged in his throat when he saw her pull a dagger from her robes. "You d-don't have to do this," he stammered, pulling harder on his human restraints. The jaffas' grip tightened and moved closer to him, keeping him from moving much at all.

The Goa'uld gave him a condescending stare. "I see no other alternative. You will continue to bother me until I am out of this host or one of us is dead, and my host will continue to trouble me until you are dead. This is the only way to rid myself of my problem." She smiled again, "And I see nothing wrong with it."

Well I do. Panic started to edge its way into Danny's thoughts, but he shoved it aside for another matter. "What about Sam?" he asked shakily.

"She will remain alive--for now. We still have use for her; she has information we need--the information you would not give us."

Danny stiffened. No. "No," he said aloud, through gritted teeth. "Leave her alone."

Amaunet's eyebrows rose at his audacity. "You cannot prevent me from questioning her if you are dead."

Jackson had no argument to counter that, but he would not back down from her. "Let me talk to my wife" he demanded, his teeth no longer grinding together but his jaw still clenched, working in fury. He should have been feeling fear much more strongly at this point, but the anger overrode it. He didn't want to die, only to leave Sam to be tortured as he had been, with the possibility of Jack and Teal'c being captured as well.

"No!" Amaunet said loudly, her eyes flashing again. "She has done enough talking in the past two days--no more!" Her fingers clenched around the hilt of the knife in her hand not covered by the ribbon device. "It is your time to die, Daniel Jackson, and may Osiris have you thrown to Ammut in the underworld!"

At the mention of the characters of Ancient Egyptian myth, the anthropologist in Daniel automatically began to wonder if the Goa'uld had not only taken on the personages of the gods of Egyptian mythology but had begun to believe it, or if the expression was just that--an expression, but his thoughts quickly stopped when he realized exactly what she had said and the intensity with which she had said it.

"No, wait-!" he cried, trying to back away, but of course failing.

Amaunet's smile returned. "Goodbye, Doctor Jackson."

Danny pulled again, desperately, at his captors' grip, but it was useless. Seconds later the Goa'uld had thrust forward with the dagger, burying it hilt-deep in his abdomen with skilled precision.

Jackson gasped in shock as pain ripped through his torso, and grunted loudly when Amaunet slipped the knife out. His face contorted with pain, and his knees crumpled as blood began to blossom out from where she had stabbed him, staining his jacket. But the jaffa on either side wouldn't let him go down, and held the gasping archaeologist up. Oh no; she's not going to do that again, is she? The thought alone made him groan aloud, which Amaunet seem to enjoy.

When the Goa'uld drew back as if to stab at him again and Danny flinched, and with the movement he was able to gather that he was already losing strength.

"N-No…" he stammered, but in didn't prevent the knife from being shoved into his stomach again. This time Amaunet gave the weapon a brutal twist before removing it, bringing a scream from her victim's throat and tears to his eyes. Then, nodding to her jaffa, they released him, letting the young scientist drop to the floor.

Danny cried out again upon impact, and, gasping, curled into a protective ball, his arms going around his stomach and tightening even though it was painful in what he already knew would be a futile attempt to quell the bleeding. Tears stung his eyes as through a haze of pain he heard Amaunet order all the jaffa to leave her, to send word to begin the assault on the Tau'ri and Tok'ra forces that were invading her stronghold. The guards' retreating footsteps pounded in his head in time with the throbbing agony in his torso.

Jackson heard Amaunet start back toward him, but he didn't dare open his eyes for fear of being hurt more if she knew he was conscious, though the fish-out-of-water breathing was probably a giveaway…

Amaunet's footsteps stopped. The low gasp of the Goa'uld sounded as he also heard a clatter that he assumed was her dagger hitting the floor. But to his surprise a moment later he heard Amaunet's gasps of surprise and what might have been pain fade to human breaths--disoriented, but human.

His breath catching in his throat, Danny forced his eyes open to see his wife staggering away from the wall, surprise on her face--he assumed the surprise stemmed from actually being in control of her body again, and not in pain this time, thank goodness. Jackson pulled in a shaky breath at the sight of her, struggling to gulp back the tears that had gathered.

"Sha're…" he gasped.

Danny's voice brought her attention quickly to him, and she bit back a sob.

"Dan'iel!" she cried, hurrying to his side and kneeling beside him. Without hesitation she slipped an arm under his shoulders and gently pulled his upper body off the cold floor and into her arms. Streaks of intensified pain shot through his abdomen from the movement, and he moaned, his eyes clenching shut. When he was secure in her grasp Danny went limp against her, welcoming the warmth, which helped to counter the overwhelming coldness slowly taking over his body as he lost blood. "Dan'iel, I am sorry. I-I could not stop her. I tried Dan'iel, I tried, but she did this. It's my fault, Dan'iel, I'm so sorry…" she sobbed, holding him.

Danny's eyes opened gain and he looked at her, comforted just by the fact that she was there and she was herself, even if she could do nothing for him but hold him. He brought his hand up toward her face. His arm trembled, but he managed to cup her cheek. He was able to speak, but his words were broken every few seconds from his heavy breathing.

"No…Sha're, you have to…stop blaming yourself for…for what Amaunet does…I don't care what…s-she's done to me; I-I love you…" He choked off his words, frustrated with how shaky his voice was. He gulped. "I love you."

Sha're swallowed another sob and stroked his slightly sweat-dampened hair with her free hand that wasn't supporting him. "I love you, Dan'iel…Please hold on. The…the sarcophagus," she said. "If I can bring you there…"

Danny shook his head slowly as he realized the situation and suddenly realized what he had to do. A lump formed in his throat. "No…" he said quietly.

"But why, my husband? You-you're dying, Dan'iel! I won't lose you…" she gulped.

"Our friends are here…remember? Amaunet has her jaffa attacking them, which…which means security will be that much tighter everywhere…else with invaders in the compound…" Jackson said, sounding much calmer than he would have expected himself to be when signing his own death warrant. "There's no way you could…get me there; they would know it was…you, not her. It's too risky…I can't let you. Besides, I don't…I don't really want to…use one of those things again…And…we can't just leave them here…."

He nodded toward Sam and his older self; both were still unconscious…or otherwise. Then he looked into her sad eyes, feigning a small smile even as tears threatened to escape. "It's okay…r-really." He brushed at her hair. "I'm just glad I saw you again…I love you, but you…you have to go, Sha're. Take Sam with you, find Jack…and Teal'c, and get out of here. They'll help you…" Trailing off, his eyes drifted shut and his hand drifted down from her cheek to her shoulder. The pain was clouding his mind, and he was getting weaker. It was slowly becoming harder and harder to speak, to think straight; his body was growing colder, more exhausted, as his blood left it.

"N-No, Dan'iel," Sha're sobbed, now crying again, and shaking her head. "I won't leave you. I will not let you die. I won't…Dan'iel? Dan'iel, hold on, please-!"

Danny moaned and pried his eyes open again. "Sha're, I'm sorry," he gasped, gripping the fabric of her robes tightly between his fingers.

"I will not leave you, my husband," Sha're said quietly, holding him tighter, offering what comfort she could from the pain. It was becoming harder to keep the tears back, and the lump in Danny's throat started to hurt.

"S-Sha're, please," he pleaded weakly, his voice faltering. "Please, just…go before it's too…too late, before Amaunet takes control…again or you can't get out…please, Sha're. I love you; I want you to be…safe. I want you to be free-" His voice broke completely there, not wanting to say goodbye to her for good, but finally, at least, it seemed that she was giving in. It seemed she realized that she wasn't going to change his mind.

Nodding in defeat, Sha're leaned closer to him. His lips found hers, and as Danny kissed her, the tears began to spill from his eyes and down his cheeks.

Jack O'Neill stiffened when he heard the faint, familiar but unwelcome sound that the teams could just now pick up as they progressed silently through the corridors of the Goa'uld facility.

"Jaffa approach, O'Neill," Teal'c advised quietly.

"Yeah, I hear them," Jack whispered back, his hands tightening around his P-90.

"Perfect," Fraiser mumbled.

"Is there any way to avoid them?" Jacob asked quietly.

Teal'c shook his head. "Not here. I do not believe we have any choice but to engage them should they continue in this direction."

"You sure about that, Teal'c?" O'Neill questioned. "Which direction are they coming from?"

The larger man tilted his head for a moment, and the raised an eyebrow. "Virtually all, O'Neill, except from behind us."

"Darn it," the colonel spat. He remained silent for a moment and then looked to Jacob Carter. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do, Jacob. We're going to split up. Teal'c and I will go this way with our people," he said, nodding in one direction, "and you take yours the other way. Maintain radio silence as a general rule so as not to give away the others position, but whoever finds Daniel and Carter reports immediately. All right?"

Carter nodded. "Sounds like as good a plan as any." The ex air force officer threw off a lazy salute. "Good luck, colonel."

"Good luck to you too, you crazy old snake head you," Jack grinned, starting to move off and motioning the SGC personnel to follow.

The Tok'ra smiled back. "Why thank you, O'Neill," Selmak replied, but the twinkle in his eye was Jacob's.

Shaking his head at how well the two got along--human and symbiote--even though they had not yet been joined for a full year, Jack continued along his chosen route as Jacob and his few Tok'ra colleagues went the opposite direction. Behind O'Neill Teal'c, Janet, Colonel Makepeace and the rest of SG-3 followed, all steeled for a battle if it was necessary, but Jack hoped they would reach their friends before the jaffa reached them.

Sha're pulled back from the kiss, and Danny looked up at her as she tried to give him a smile. But his eyes grew wide when her face faltered, snapping back as she gasped. He knew by now what was happening.

"Sha're, hold on!" he rasped weakly, but urgently, gulping back the tears again to speak. "Stay in…control, just a little longer…please!"

Her free hand went to her head as she cried out in pain as the Goa'uld pried its way to the surface, pushing her down. "Dan'iel, I cannot!" she choked. "I-I'm sorry, Dan'iel; I love yo-" Her sobbed words cut off before she could finish, and suddenly her eyes glowed again.

Danny barely had time to feel a reaction before Amaunet pulled away from him, removing her hand from behind his back and letting him drop back to floor. He groaned loudly, and looked up at her, gasping in pain again, as she stood.

"No, please," Jackson begged, too weak to care if he sounded pitiful or not. "Please, let her come back…"

"Silence!" the Goa'uld shouted, lashing out with her foot. She caught him in the chest, avoiding the bleeding wounds in his abdomen but still succeeding in knocking the wind from him and causing him to shout and double over in agony.

Amaunet sneered at the dying human, writhing on the floor as he struggled to bring air back into his lungs despite the searing pain from his middle. "Within minutes you will be dead," she smirked. "And then my troubles will be over."

"N-No they won't…" Danny gasped through his sobs of pain, his voice barely above a whisper. "They've just begun."

The Goa'uld said nothing, but stared in disbelief at the defiant human as he weakly turned his head up from the floor to look at her, tears streaming down his cheeks as he squeezed his words in between the heaving of his chest. "She'll still …fight you….Maybe I'll be…gone, but…she still…has a father…and her brother…is out there somewhere…and…her child…. You've accomplished…nothing…"

Danny felt the hot tears on face, warmer than the rest of his body, and the excruciating pain almost felt away for a moment as he spoke, forcing out what would probably be his last words as his emotions tumbled out and stumbled over each other. He knew he was dying, and in that one moment as he spoke to Amaunet, telling this Goa'uld what he thought of her and at the same time assuring himself and Sha're that she would still be free someday, if not with him, he felt like laughing, crying, shouting in anger and screaming in pain at the same time.

"She won't give up," he said vehemently. "Sha're is…strong. If…if anything, this will…will make her fight…harder. She'll defeat you…someday. She'll win. And this…this will be…worth it-" Jackson's voice chocked on the last words, but it didn't matter, because he was finished. His eyes slipped shut again, and he bit back another sob, determined not to cry any more in front of the Goa'uld as he concentrated on bringing in oxygen.

Amaunet glared down at him. "I do not have to listen to your foolishness, human," she said. "Both of you will soon be gone." That was when her attention veered to back of room as she remembered the older Daniel.

Stepping around the dying younger man, she approached the un-moving body of his older self. She frowned when she saw that he was still alive. He struggled to breath through a broken rib cage with closed eyes, barely conscious and near death, but he was alive nonetheless, even though he wasn't aware of her standing over him. For a moment she pondered reclaiming her dagger and using it to assure his death, but quickly deemed it an unnecessary expenditure pf energy, as he would cease to exist the moment his younger self died, if not before.

Amaunet then stepped out of the holding cell, but stopped at the door and turned, a smirk on her face. "Goodbye again, Daniel Jackson. I look forward to never seeing you alive, again."

With that parting sentence, she touched the door controls, and as the opening closed she spun on her heel and quickly left without looking back.

Danny was left on the floor, fighting for his life, and as she disappeared from view, out of his reach once more, he broke into tears again. Sha're, I'm so sorry, he thought once again, sobbing pitifully. I tried to save you. I tried, but again I failed. And now it's all over…. Please forgive me, Sha're, I love you…

Samantha Carter groaned as consciousness returned, bringing with in a splitting head gained from being knocked out by Amaunet's ribbon device. Grimacing, she pulled one hand up to her forehead, trying to get past the pounding and remember why there was an impending sense of doom hanging over head. A moment later her eyes snapped open. Daniel. Sitting up as quickly as she dared, she looked around for him.

Carter saw Danny first, curled on the floor with his back to her, sobbing quietly. She pulled in a breath as a sudden streak of panic flashed through her as she wondered how badly he was hurt. She quickly pushed it down, however, promising herself that she would get to him as soon as could, once she checked on Daniel. After all, the last time she had seen the older Jackson, he had been lying motionless on the ground, beaten down by Amaunet's jaffa, and she hadn't known whether he was alive or not. She had to find out. Turning, she saw that he was still laying in the same spot, and quickly crawled over to him.

Sam had been afraid that she was going to check his pulse and find nothing, but before she had a chance to his labored breathing told her he was still alive, and she slumped beside him, sighing. The hand that had been going toward his neck went instead to cheek.

"Daniel?" she said quietly, trying to wake him without moving him because she knew he would be hurting. "Daniel, can you hear me?"

The older man moaned, and a moment later his eyes fluttered open. It took a few seconds longer for recognition to register in his eyes.

"Daniel?"

His eyes closed again, and she was afraid she hadn't seen the recognition she thought she'd seen in his expression. But then he spoke, though his voice was barely audible. "I'm St-till here...Sam…" he rasped. He moaned again, and Sam used her other hand to take his for a moment.

"Hold on, okay?" she gulped, her chest tightening. "I have to check on Danny. I don't know how badly he's hurt. But I'll still be close, okay? Don't die on me, understand?"

Daniel nodded weakly, his eyes still closed, but when she started to move off again his hand suddenly gripped hers more tightly.

"Daniel? What is it?" She looked back at him to see his eyes open again and on her. "Daniel?"

After another few seconds he spoke softly, his eyes intense. "Sam…I don't know…what she…did to him…," he gasped. "But you have to…to keep him…alive. Or…or we're both dead. I'll…cease to exist."

Sam nodded, but couldn't respond. Daniel's eyes closed again, and she slipped her hand out of his and turned to the younger Jackson, in the middle of the floor not far from her. Scooting up behind him on her knees, she touched his trembling shoulder and carefully turned him toward her. "Danny, you okay-?"

She stopped in mid sentence, the words clogging in her throat when saw all the…the blood. It took a few seconds more for her eyes to find the two wounds in his middle, one larger than the other, take in his pale skin, shallow breathing, the amount of blood that soaked the front of his jacket and half the sleeves where he'd had them wrapped around his abdomen…and could easily gather what Amaunet had done to him.

Carter blanched, chocking back a sob. "Oh no…" Putting an arm under his limp shoulders, she gently pulled him up, letting him rest on her knees. He moaned pitifully, but made no other sound, and didn't open his eyes. "Darn it, Daniel, no," Sam cried in alarm. "Come on, Danny, look at me." She took his hand with one of hers and squeezed, and wiped her other hand across his sweaty forehead. He was trembling, probably going into shock, and tears still rolled down his cheeks.

"It's okay, it's okay," she soothed, though not all of her believed it. "I'm right here, Danny, it's all right. Please, talk to me…"

Finally she got a response when he opened his eyes and looked at her. "S-Sam, I couldn't…I couldn't help her," he gasped. "I saw…Sha're again, but I…couldn't do anything. N-Now I'll…I'll never get another chance," he cried.

Sam held onto him tighter, hoping to give more comfort. "Don't say that," she said quietly, swallowing hard. "You can make it. The colonel and Teal'c are here now, remember? Just hold on until they find us and we can get back to the SGC. Janet will take care of you, okay?"

Jackson's tears slowly subsided at that, sensing the glimmer of hope, but at the same time all knew the chances weren't the best. A moment later Carter heard a sound beside her, and looked just behind her to see that Daniel had pulled himself over to them. Reaching out a hand to him, the older Jackson took it, pulled himself up her arm and leaned against her, gulping for air as he grimaced in pain. It almost made her smile, seeing how stubborn he still was even in the future, even here, even after what he'd been through the past couple of days, even though he probably wouldn't even be alive much longer, if even in existence…

Sam stopped herself there, not wanting to think about the possibility that she might lose Daniel twice in one day if the rescue team didn't hurry, that it might already be too late.

"This is…really bad," Daniel voiced from his perch on her shoulder, when he saw what had been done to his younger self.

"Ya…think?" Danny replied weakly.

One arm around Daniel, her other hand still holding Danny's, Carter squeezed gently, reassuringly, she hoped. "Just hold on, Daniel—both of you," she urged quietly, blinking back tears.