Sorry, sorry, sorry! My muse went to play with the Line of Duty characters for a while on my AO3 account… but i'm back! struggled with this chapter as its like a filler chapter with little action… but i needed it for later… anyway, apologies for the delay!

As always, these characters & their world(s) aren't mine & I'll try & play nicely with them. Having said that, there is dubcon/kinda noncon in the next chapter so please don't read if it might trigger x

Chapter 5

The team approached the structure carefully, O'Neill & Teal'c sharing worried glances over the heads of their teammates, something about the whole situation just wasn't right. The colonel cast a glance at his second in command, she was going through the motions, textbook recon, but he could tell it was all muscle memory, she wasn't paying her usual close attention. Given the circumstances barely 30 minutes earlier, he couldn't say he blamed her. He shifted his gaze to Daniel, the younger man was studying the approach to the building intently, searching for clues to its use. As they got closer, O'Neill realised it was bigger than he'd first thought, more garage sized than garden shed he decided.

"Woah," Daniel exclaimed, and as O'Neill approached he understood what had excited him. The external walls were covered in carvings; symbols covered every inch of its surface, some patches were clearly worn and weathered but on the whole, the icons were discernible. His heart sank slightly, knowing the tough time he'd have dragging Daniel away in the not too distant future. A glance at the sky told him they only had a couple of hours until sunset.

The archaeologist had put down his day pack and was approaching the nearest wall, hands raised in reverence, astonishment on his face. He reached out to trace the carving on the rock with his fingers. "Daniel!" snapped the Colonel sharply, yet again frustrated by Daniel's continual 'touch first, deal with the consequences later' attitude. This place was putting him on edge.

Daniel's hands returned to his sides as he meekly replied "Sorry Jack, it's just..." he gawped for a second, "it's unbelievable!"

O'Neill relented slightly, "Just give us a moment to check it out first, ok?" Daniel nodded mutely and crouched a few feet from the wall studying the symbols before rummaging for his notebook. O'Neill cast a glance at Sam, who was also examining the wall, then indicted to Teal'c and the pair of them did a swift circuit of the building. Seeing nothing amiss, they entered through the open archway, weapons raised in readiness. But there was nothing to see other than more carvings. 'Damn,' he thought, disappointed that there was no apparent technology for Sam to investigate. He'd be considerably happier once they worked out what the scanners did or at least how to disable them.

Satisfied there was no imminent threat, they returned outside. O'Neill gave a theatrical flourish towards the wall, "knock yourself out," he announced. Daniel immediately darted towards to the wall. "Not literally!" the Colonel added with a slight shake of his head. He turned to survey the valley, they were still only part way up it, he couldn't see the top on either side thanks to the continuing bank of cloud. It was depressing; nothing to see at all really, just the gate and their camp down below.

Behind him, Sam and Daniel had completed their circuit of the building and were avidly discussing the carvings. O'Neill took a moment to appreciate how normal they both sounded given recent events; he could listen to Carter sounding excited all day, no matter what she was talking about. He pulled himself together though, now was not the time to go down that road.

It was about an hour later when a sudden "I've got it!" exploded from Daniel and he leapt to his feet from his position in the dirt. He pointed excitedly at a group of characters, waving his hand around them, "Here! Oh, why has it taken me so long?!" he exclaimed.

"Because you wanted to test the limits of my patience?" O'Neill asked dryly. He felt justified in his answer when he saw the faintest trace of amusement ghost across Teal'c face.

"You've heard of the Rosetta Stone, right?" Daniel continued excitedly, completely ignoring Jack's comment. Sam & Teal'c nodded but he plowed on with his explanation on the assumption their team leader was ignorant, "it was a large stone, discovered in Egypt in 1799, and engraved…"

O'Neill waved his hand, "yup, heard this one, the same message in three languages, translate one and you know the others…"

Daniel looked momentarily startled at his input but readily agreed, "Exactly! I've just found the equivalent for the engravings here! What I though was a subdialect of ancient Coptic, I can now see…" He caught sight of O'Neill's expression, and tailed off; in a rare moment of self preservation he said "Well, I won't go into details, but I think I get it now!" Hurriedly riffling back though his notebooks, he found a page of interest and slid his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"So… this place, and the circle down there," he waved his arm in the general direction of the clearing in the valley as he spoke with increasing speed, "it's all about the blending of two beings, and something about testing the blend, or maybe that means join? And, and, and the stronger making the weaker… damn, I can't quite get that bit yet, but I think it's something to do with failure and hurt and anyway, the important thing is that given a bit of time, I think I can translate it!"

O'Neill looked doubtfully at the slowly darkening sky & at Carter, who was doing her best to look fully recovered & alert, but not quite pulling it off... "How much time are we talking?"

"Erm…" Daniel cast an eye around him, quickly calculating how long it would take him to look at the remaining walls, "a few hours?" One glance at Jack's unimpressed expression made him back track, "ok… an hour… but I'd like to return in the morning…"

Jack hated himself for what he was about to do, splitting the team earlier hadn't exactly gone well, but he wasn't having Carter hanging about up here in the damp while Daniel fawned over engravings. Translation was their ticket out of there though, so he couldn't demand Daniel leave it for today. He couldn't bring himself to be alone with Carter just yet though; the whimpers & cries his touch had caused were still fresh in his mind. Decision made, he addressed his team in a tone that left no room for arguments. "Right, Carter & Teal'c return to camp, Danny & I will join you in exactly an hour."

Sam opened her mouth to argue, but realised she didn't actually want to, camp sounded a much better prospect than hanging out on a damp hillside for an hour. "Thank you Sir," she said quietly instead, which was the closest she was ever going to come to admitting she still wasn't feeling right. O'Neill nodded once at her, then caught Teal'c's eye, the Jaffa knew exactly what was expected of him, keep Sam safe until the team were reunited.

"Right, space monkey, your time starts…" O'Neill glanced at his watch, "now!" Daniel practically scampered back to the ruins while Sam & Teal'c gathered up their belongings. "We'll be with you before dark," the colonel called reassuringly after them as they set off down the path towards the camp. It took him a second to decide who he was reassuring, and came to the conclusion it was himself.

—

Sam was quiet as she walked, glad that it was Teal'c accompanying her as opposed to the others. Whilst she loved both their company, (for different reasons that she didn't want to examine too closely right now) Teal'c unquestioning acceptance of her silence was just what she needed.

With every step, she could feel her headache returning, not quite the agony of earlier, but an increasing ache that she could do without. She didn't mention it to Teal'c but she was sure he knew as her steps slowed, he hovered close enough to catch her should she collapse again. Once they reached the camp, he didn't complain as she lowered herself down near the tents whilst he busied himself unpacking MREs; by the time he was off collecting firewood, she felt almost human again.

The return of the rest of the team a short while later further reduced her anxiety, although she was worried to hear that Daniel had cut his research short due to a wave of dizziness. He seemed fine now though & O'Neill's report to General Hammond sounded full of progress, raising her spirits if not her energy levels. Sitting beside the fire Teal'c had built, she listened in with interest as they discussed Daniel's findings and the day's events.

"So, are we going with snake detector then?" O'Neill asked as they speculated on the scanning technology.

"Maybe…" Daniel replied cautiously. "It's certainly something to do with testing & blending of beings but I keep coming across phrases like triad or three of something & there are mentions of being alone; definitely references to betrayal & pain though…"

"Sounds snake like to me…" said O'Neill darkly, Teal'c nodded slightly in assent.

Daniel considered this for a moment, then gave a hum of agreement, they were right, most of what he'd translated so far could apply to a Go'uld & a host, although he wasn't quite convinced the scan should have affected him as it did if that was the case. He resolved to keep an open mind when he continued his studies in the morning…