TITLE: The Lost Ones

AUTHOR: Cyn(di)

EMAIL: custardpringle@yahoo.com

RATING: PG-13 for weird evil happenings and general suffering/pain on the parts of all concerned. Also language, as always. And "thematic issues," whatever the hell they are.

CATEGORY: supernatural, drama

SUMMARY: Daniel is having terrible nightmares. And the worst thing is, they're not only in his head . . .

SPOILERS: I'm too lazy to keep track, so let's say anything up through "Grace."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was really hard to write. I don't know why.

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Despite Daniel's best efforts, he had fallen asleep and found himself somewhere else again. He thought he was still on P3A-476, but he wasn't sure, largely because, whatever the place was, he seemed to be a couple of miles above it.

More urgently, he also seemed to be alone. Well, not precisely alone, for there were already a few of the Perii there, and more were appearing. However, there were no other Ancients in the vicinity, and Daniel couldn't feel any on the way. Listening more carefully, he discovered why: there was another, much larger conflict taking place a few galaxies away which was occupying most of the attentions of both sides.

Now completely surrounded, Daniel was just estimating how many he could take down with him (about half, with a little luck) when the first bolt of energy struck from behind. He whirled on the attacker and dispatched it with relative ease, but the others were now assailing him as well. Daniel absorbed part of the energy and used it to shield himself from the assault- the action had already become pure reflex-but there were still over a dozen of them, and only one of him.

There was one thing he was sure of, though-there was no way he could let them get at the base. Daniel knew quite well that, if he died up here, the Tok'ra-along with the rest of SG-1-would be the next to go. And they, unlike him, had no way to defend themselves.

Unfortunately, that knowledge, no matter how imperative, wasn't going to help him win this. Neither, it seemed, were any of his allies. Daniel could tell that they were faring quite well in their battle. By the time anyone else came to his aid, however, it might well be too late. He just had to hold out as long as he possibly could, and hope.

Stop thinking about that, Daniel told himself sternly. Ignore the others. Concentrate. There were still eleven Perii left, and his improvised shield was getting weaker. It took time to reinforce it, and he simply couldn't afford to pause in his offensive.

Fortunately, however, the Perii seemed to think differently. They did stop their attack on him for a moment, bit it was not a respite by any means. Daniel took an opportunity to blast another of them out of existence, but the remainder were tangibly gathering power. Remembering the enormous collective blast they had sent last time, he waited . . . waited . . . and popped out of the circle at the last possible instant. The explosion, which would almost certainly have killed or at least severely crippled him, went off harmlessly, causing the enemy to recoil slightly. Daniel, though, still came out worse despite having dodged the worst of it; the recoil from the blast, against which the Perii had screened themselves, struck him, destroying his defenses entirely and bringing with it a brief wave of searing agony.

-----

Three miles below, without an inkling that their lives were at stake, Sam and Jack both flinched at hearing Daniel cry out in obvious pain. "Not again, for crying out loud." Jack said angrily.

"Did this happen last night?" Sam asked anxiously.

"Worse." O'Neill shuddered at the memory and buried his face in his hands. "He was screaming," he said finally. "Sounded like he was being tortured. If that's all we're going to hear tonight, we should be glad."

-----

There were nine Perii left now, and they were not pleased.

Not that they had been to begin with.

Daniel didn't know what had happened to the other one, but the saner, doctorate-endowed side of his brain was telling him that, while nine was less than ten, it was also odd, making it an immensely powerful number according to most mystical traditions, which essentially meant that he was in big trouble. The less sane, more optimistic side of his brain was still looking for something good to point out.

What was left of the circle had reformed around him. Daniel could feel the Perii gathering energy again, and he didn't think he was going to be able to escape this time.

Then another of them-the ninth little Indian, Daniel thought randomly- exploded. Literally. And a very familiar, very welcome indeed voice rang out: *Dan'yer!*

*Skaara?* Daniel asked in disbelief. *What are you doing here?*

*Helping you, of course.* The boy's grin was practically audible. *Are you not pleased to see me?*

*That would be a major understatement.* The Perii had been thrown into considerable confusion for a moment by Skaara's dramatic entrance, and Daniel took full advantage, hastily pulling up a fresh shield. It grew steadily stronger as he spoke. *Especially seeing as you just saved my life. Thanks.*

*You are my brother,* Skaara reminded him, sending a quick bolt at a Perius. It began to flicker wildly. *Besides,* he added gravely, *I once tried to kill you, while the demon Klorel possessed me. I must still make amends for that.*

*You don't have to apologize for anything,* Daniel told him, hastily finishing off the wounded Perius as it showed signs of strengthening. *That wasn't your fault. I'm just glad that you came when you did.*

*And I am glad to be fighting alongside you once again, Dan'yer.*

The two of them moved closer together, pooling their energy in imitation of the tactic the enemy had used, but sent it out in all directions in a constant flow instead of a single flash. The ploy was successful-two Perii who were already somewhat weakened wavered and disappeared almost immediately-but it was incredibly energy-expensive and Daniel didn't know how long it could last.

*Got any ideas?* he asked. *We can't keep this up forever.*

*I know,* Skaara answered. *But if we are able to eliminate-* he paused to count- *perhaps two more by doing this, we will be able to take on the remainder fairly easily.*

*Sounds good.*

-----

Teal'c, who was still watching the enigmatic lightshow above, found it one of the most oddly attractive things he had ever seen, rather like a silvery version of the aurora borealis he had heard of on Earth. However, he was still constantly mindful of the potential threat they posed to him as well as everyone else on the planet, and thus he had been careful to observe as carefully as possible.

When he had first emerged from the Tok'ra base, about an hour ago, and looked up, the lights had been nearly all silver, with only a small portion of white near the middle. However, as time passed, the silver had dwindled gradually, and the white had suddenly brightened a couple of minutes ago. Now, although it had increased very little, the white was nearly all that was left, and the last of the silver disappeared even as Teal'c watched.

A moment later, the white also dwindled into nothingness, and the guards watching with him let out an audible sigh of relief.

-----

"Thanks, Skaara," Daniel repeated , glad to be able to speak aloud again, when the last Perii-for the moment, anyway- finally guttered out of existence. "Don't know what I would've done without you."

"I have great faith in you, Dan'yer," Skaara smiled, also heaving a sigh of relief. "I hope to see you again soon." With that, he tipped a sloppy salute and left.

Daniel found himself alone again, and more tired than ever. "Sleep," he muttered wistfully to himself, and promptly fell into it.