Hi, me again with another chapter.

Disclaimer - Looked under my pillow but there was nothing there, so still don't own.

Please don't sue - All my money went on tickets to see Bryan Adams :oD

To all those who reviewed - thank you for your sunshine xxxxx ;o)

Anyway

But oh Lord we've got to fight
With the thoughts in the head with the dark and the light
No use to stop and stare
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

George Harrison - Any Road

======

"Welcome back SG1," General Hammond said, as all members stepped through the light beaming into the infirmary.

"Sir," O'Neill nodded and handed him Olmec's key.

"Is this the key, Colonel?" Hammond looked from the diamond to O'Neill.

"Yep, one that could open many doors," Jack replied.

"I would like to run some tests on it, sir," Sam asked.

"Not before you and Jonas go and get out of those wet clothes, Carter. Then get the Doc, here, to check you out. Daniel you're up first," O'Neill said shepherding his friend to an empty chair.

"Trouble, Colonel?" The General enquired.

"Oh, nothing we couldn't handle sir, isn't that right T?"

"Indeed, O'Neill," came the Jaffa's response.

"I'll look forward to your report." Hammond said smiling.

=====

Jonas shut the door to the small room assigned to him and rested his eyes in the dark. He rubbed the furrows from his brow wanting to be alone with his thoughts but that was not to be; the universe was always there, pushing him closer to the abyss.

He sat on the utility bed and put his head in his hands in an effort to block out the feelings that were kneading his spine and wrenching his stomach; something was coming, something bad.

He undressed in a daze, leaving a trail of discarded clothes and turned the shower on high until steam filled the tiny bathroom. He stepped under the jet of water and let the heat sting his skin as a reminder that he was still human, still breakable.

He pressed his head against the cool, white, tiles as the water ran down his back cleansing and warming his naked flesh. He swallowed deeply, emotion building in his eyes, he was not ready, whatever plans the universe had for him, he was not ready; there was still so much he wanted to do, so much he hadn't experienced. Tears raced down his cheeks, mingling with the scolding spray in an effort to escape the torture of his soul. The shower was a good place to cry.

He rubbed the salt from his face with his hands and smoothed back his hair to the nape of his neck. His body began to shiver as an apprehension grabbed at his heart with ominous fingers, constricting his chest until all he could hear was the echo of his own breath. He grabbed at the walls of the shower to steady himself but a violent pain pushed from within him forcing him to his knees.

"It is close," the universe whispered, "it is coming, we must prepare."

He put his hand to his heart as an immense power surged through him numbing his senses and scraping his soul.

He lay in the shower basin his mind separated from the tremors of his body and watched the water run scarlet around him. He thought about standing, wondering if anyone had ever drowned in a shower before but found he could not move.

"We must prepare," came the whisper carried on the falling water like a mother's lullaby.

Jonas shut his eyes and oblivion draped her soft velvet cloak around him.

======

Sam watched the Kelownan's eyes unknot as he slowly came back to them.

"Hey, hero," she said softly waiting for him to focus.

Jonas tried to talk but his throat felt like broken glass.

"Here," Sam placed a plastic cup and straw near his lips which he drank from slowly.

"How, how long, was I out?" He asked, hoarsely.

"Two days," Sam replied stroking his head, "you had us all worried."

She looked at him, as the soft light illuminated is face; he did not look well. His skin had become drained and translucent revealing a network of veins, which added a blue tint to his pallor.

"Two days! I must." He tried to move but he was too weak.

"Hey, hey," Janet laid a restraining hand on his shoulder, "where do you think you're going, mister?"

Jonas fell back onto the bed without much pressure, "the key," he murmured, gazing at the ceiling lights.

Janet looked across at Sam who mirrored her concern, "Jonas you need to rest," she reiterated, "that's an order!"

Jonas looked between the two women, "the key, we must, there's something, something coming," he breathed.

Sam glanced at Janet, "do you know what?" She said gently, touching the heat of his forehead.

Jonas began to shake, "no, I can just sense, there's, there's, a joining, a meeting of two paths. Sam," he grabbed her arm pulling himself up from the bed, "Sam tell Daniel, Olmec's key, he must, he must, use it with the parchment, tell him," he collapsed back onto the pillows.

Sam continued to stroke his hair, "I will Jonas," she said.

He closed his eyes, his face twisting momentarily before sleep took control of his being.

Janet sighed and ran her fingers through her hair deep in thought. She pulled the covers over her charge in an effort to keep the young man safe and touched his burnished cheek. She exchanged a quick glance with Sam who got to her feet and laid a reassuring hand on Janet's arm before leaving.

Janet sat in the chair Sam had vacated and watched Jonas's body wrestle with an unseen foe. She took his hand in hers and held it tight, medically there was nothing wrong with him, she had run every conceivable test but her gut feeling was, this 'Olmec power' whatever it was, was killing him.

====

Daniel placed the 'baseball' diamond, as Jack had named it, on the centre of the scroll and looked up at O'Neill with apprehensive eyes.

Jack shrugged and stepped back, quickly followed by Daniel who was trying to balance a pad and pen in his newly 'slung' arm.

An orange light radiated from inside the stone illuminating the small office they were working in, "Sam," Daniel whispered "could you turn off the lights?"

The Major hit the switch and the room fell into a mystical twilight.

"That's one expensive nightlight," Jack whistled through his teeth.

Sam nodded in agreement as the blush from the 'key' bleached into a brilliant beam of sunlight projecting the text into the air.

The ancient symbols and images drifted around the room like a flotilla of tiny boats trying to break the ocean. They stretched and turned, dancing around each other in set combinations until their meaning was complete. Daniel touched the first inscription with his finger, his mind running, "Hagalaz - hail, disruptive or changing forces at work." He followed the path of the symbols and illustrations, "arrow-storm, crashing wind, game of iron, fog of blood, they're all kennings, um a riddling reference, to, to an item or concept used in Norse and Anglo-Saxon poetry."

"Right," said O'Neill, "a riddle, figures."

"What does it mean?" Sam asked.

"The first part seems to be about a battle, and death, 'seven day journey' and 'corn of ravens', which refers to dead bodies."

"Nice," Jack said with a twitch of his eyebrow.

"There's a reference to 'shooter against one', which is an enemy and also the 'hooded one' which I think, is a reference to a snake."

"Or Anubis?" Teal'c stated.

"Yeah," Daniel nodded, "that would make sense."

"So there's going to be a battle with Anubis," Jack reiterated, "well I could have told you that!"

Daniel glanced at O'Neill sternly then looked at the next collection of floating symbols, "Algiz, protection and Gebo, balance. Against that we have, 'staff of sword, man, redbeard, which usually means Thor."

"The Asgard?" Sam offered, moving closer.

Daniel nodded again, "maybe," he traced the next letters with his finger, "prince of battle, warrior and the 'ancestor of many'"?

"So," Jack began, "we have man, Asgard, warrior, and a great-great grand father but no 'Ancient City this way', some key."

Daniel looked again at the text, muttering the words quietly to himself, over and over, "that's it," he cried excitedly, "man, that's us, the Asgard, the warrior is the Jaffa, the 'ancestor of many', the Tok'ra."

"An alliance." Sam said frowning.

"To, to protect the balance, Gebo," Daniel whispered in a spread of understanding. "See here, this inscription, 'earth rings linked by corpse drink and swoop of swords will hear whispers of the glowing-ice."

"And that would mean?" Jack asked exasperated.

"Um, hands linked by blood and battle will hear the secrets of the diamond, the, the key. I think what it's saying is that the doorway to the city can only be opened by an alliance."

"So we have to share," Jack offered.

"Maybe the Ancient ones decided that their weapons were too powerful for one race to control, O'Neill," Teal'c said examining the symbols.

"Wait, I've missed something," Daniel exclaimed, looking deep into the mass of words, "there, the letter Tiwaz, victory, justice."

He started to pace the room holding his wounded arm as he did so, looking back every so often at the display.

"Daniel?" Sam enquired.

"'Ancestors of many," could just as easily refer to a Goa'uld, right?" He murmured, waving one finger about in the air.

"I suppose Daniel," Sam said, "why?"

"And Anubis has many Jaffa and humans under his command," Daniel continued.

"Yeah, but no Asgard," Jack said in understanding and then, "yet," remembering Thor's earlier visit.

"So, Anubis could form the same alliance and enter the city if he had Olmec's key?" Sam summarised.

"No, I don't think it's that easy. I don't think it's just about forming an alliance," Daniel added.

"Care to share Daniel?" O'Neill said leaning back on an untidy desk.

"Jack, I think it's whoever wins this, this battle gets to enter the city."

"To prove themselves worthy of such advance technology," Teal'c added.

"Great, you guys don't make it easy," Jack said shouting up at the ceiling, he then looked towards Daniel, "I'm beginning to wonder just how 'advanced' these people, were. Why all this cloak and dagger stuff? Why riddles and keys and, and big snake-dragons?"

"This text, this key, was made thousands of years ago when myths and legends (and dragons) were still a real part of our lives."

"So what you're saying Daniel, is these higher beings didn't update."

Daniel smiled, "I guess it's all a part of their master plan."

"Yeah, well, a map would have been useful," Jack said looking up at the ceiling again.

Daniel nodded as he removed the diamond from the parchment and the projection of light merged with the darkness of the room.

"There's something inside the key," Sam said noticing a fluorescent, blue- white glow, trapped in the stone's centre.

Daniel studied the cloud his head tipping slowly to the right on doing so, "Pertho", he whispered."

"Pertho?" Sam echoed.

"It means, hidden mysteries or transformation," he replied, turning the stone in his hand, "wait there's something else. Something," he removed his glasses and looked deeper into the key.

"Two crossed swords, whoa," Daniel put the diamond back on the desk and stepped back as it began to glow again.

Four images soared from its core and burnt through the darkness of the room.

"Fire, earth, water, air," Daniel chanted, following their journey.

"The elements," Sam said letting the icon for water flow through her outstretched fingers and disappear.

The other images vanished at the same time leaving SG1 in darkness once again.

======

The hour was late when Cassie slipped into the infirmary. Janet had fallen asleep at her desk and the young woman smiled at the figure of her sleeping mother.

She crept over to where Jonas lay and placed her palm on his forehead; he woke instantly.

Did you get it, he whispered in her mind.

Yes, she answered bringing Olmec's key into view, I just called and it materialized in my hand.

Good, Jonas fell back on the bed and covered his brow with his hand.

Cassie put the key back in her bag and sat on the bed, Jonas come with me, she pleaded.

He looked at her and smiled, I cannot, he replied, I have to stay.

She closed her eyes to stop the tears, she knew the truth in his words, I, I don't want to lose you.

He took her hand in his and held it to his heart, I don't want to die either, he replied, brushing a stray hair from her face, but there's no one else to fight this, you know that.

Cassie felt the weakness in his soul as the power fed on his energy, a large tear fell from her and spread across the bedclothes.

I will fight this Cas, he said, we can win, all of us, everything will be okay, you'll see.

She shook her head wishing she could believe his words.

Jonas unfolded his fingers across her cheek and wiped the tears away with a thumb, you must go, he said finally.

She drew back but not before meeting her lips with his, stay safe Jonas Quinn, let the light guide you, she said clutching his hand until it sparked.

You too, he replied watching her go.

=====

Take care, until next time x

:o)