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 "Death Knell."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: All right, Frisha, you've got your wish. Stuff is happening. Have fun. But if somebody ends up dead, I'm blaming you.

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There was an awkward silence for a moment. Finally, Daniel said, "You know, it might make it easier for me to explain if I knew exactly what I'm explaining."

"All right." Jack took a deep breath. "Carter and I wanted to make sure you were actually resting like the doc told you to, so we decided to come over here and check."

"Wait a sec. Sam came with you? Then where is she?"

"That's exactly what I was hoping you could tell me," Jack said tiredly.

Daniel stared. "I don't understand."

"Along the way," he explained, "we met this Aurel person. She said she was a friend of yours-" Daniel grimaced at that choice of words-"and could read people's minds. Woman wasn't kidding, either. I could hear her talking inside my head. Creepy friends you have, Danny."

"Definitely the Aurel I know."

"Anyway," Jack continued, "she turned into sort of a dark moving cloud thingy and ate Carter."

"Aurel ate Sam?" Daniel gaped in shock.

Jack gestured vaguely. "Well, didn't eat her, per se. Kinda dissolved her. And then they both disappeared. Oh, yeah, Aurel left you a message, too. Wanted me to tell you she's sure you'll make the right decision now."

"Oh, no." Daniel shook his head. "Anubis is even more desperate than I thought. This is not good at all."

"Ya think?" Jack snapped. "Now would you like to tell me exactly what you've gotten yourself into?"

"Well, to be brief, Aurel is an Ascended servant of Anubis-called a Perius- and she's trying to get me to tell her where the Ancients have hidden Shifu . If she finds out, Anubis can get information from him to help in a war against the Ancients. I don't even know where Shifu is right now, actually, but Aurel doesn't seem to have picked up on that for some reason."

"So kidnapping Carter is their idea of motivation?" Jack asked. "Can't you just get Oma to find her for you?"

"Jack," Daniel explained patiently, "the Perii-especially with Anubis behind them-are pretty damn powerful. If they can't find Shifu once we've hidden him, what're the chances of us being able to find Sam if they've got her safely locked away somewhere?"

"Point taken." Jack nodded, and then did a double take. "Wait a second, Daniel. Please tell me you did not just refer to the Ancients as 'we.'"

"I did say that was the short version," Daniel reminded him.

"You didn't die again and forget to tell me, did you?" Jack poked his friend's shoulder experimentally. "Seems solid enough . . ."

"I'm not dead, Jack. But I can Ascend in my sleep."

It was O'Neill's turn to gape. "You're joking, right?" Daniel shook his head. "How long has this been going on?"

"Only a couple of days," Daniel assured him. "First time was while we were watching the hockey game."

"You were that bored, huh?"

Daniel smiled weakly. "You know those lights on P3A-476 you wanted to blow out of the sky?"

"Yeah . . ." Jack's voice trailed off as comprehension dawned.

"The silver ones were Perii; nobody with any sense would've ever missed them. But the white bits blasting them were Skaara and I. You might've regretted that later on."

Jack shook his head. "The situations you get yourself into, Danny . . . it boggles the mind." Abruptly, he switched into full business mode. "So, what do we do now?"

"You're going to go in the kitchen and call General Hammond," Daniel told him. "He needs to know what's going on."

"And what are you going to do?" Jack asked, already getting up.

"I need to see if I can get hold of Oma."

"Didn't you say she couldn't find Carter?"

"She can't. But I might be able to, and I'm going to need to talk to her first."

Jack rolled his eyes. "I don't even pretend to be able to understand what you're talking about."

"Jack," Daniel said quietly, "remember Lorrin and Tolrak? I tried to save them. I tried to get them out of the way, but I couldn't, and I had to watch them die. I'm not letting the same thing happen to Sam."

"I understand." O'Neill swallowed hard. "I'm still not sure I quite understand what's going on here. But I have faith in you. Whatever you're going to do, Daniel, just try to come back out of it, okay?"

Daniel smiled, appreciating his friend's rare candor. "Okay. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon," Jack repeated, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Listening for a moment, Daniel heard the phone lifted out of the cradle and the sound of the SGC being dialed. Then he concentrated, focused as much mental energy as he could, and called at the top of his figurative lungs.

Oma Desala didn't answer.

Oma, he thought angrily, I know you can hear me. I need to talk to you. Now.

Within seconds, he was back in the briefing room. Oma was standing across from him, arms crossed across her chest, looking none too pleased at the urgent request. "What is it, Daniel?"

-----

Meanwhile, Jack was issuing a similar, equally curt command to a very young SGC technician who sounded utterly terrified of him but who nevertheless dashed off to find General Hammond before the frantic colonel on the other end exploded entirely. Poor kid, Jack thought absently as he waited, hate for him to end up with MacKenzie because I threatened him.

Within a few minutes, though, he was gratified to hear Hammond himself pick up the phone, sounding rather bleary. "Colonel O'Neill, do you realize what time of night it is? This had damn well better be important."

"Believe me, sir, it is," Jack promised, and proceeded to tell him all about it.

There was silence on the General's end for several seconds afterward. "And you're quite sure about this, Colonel?" he asked finally.

"Of course, sir. I know Daniel's story seems pretty out there, but it does explain the deaths of those two Tok'ra."

"That it does." Hammond considered for an instant. "All right, Colonel, I'd like you and Doctor Jackson to return to base right away. If there's anything we can do about this situation, that'll probably be the best place to be."

"That might be a problem, sir," Jack said reluctantly. "Daniel's talking to Oma Desala right now, and I don't know how long that'll take."

"Very well. Just try to get here as soon as possible."

"Understood, sir." Jack hung up and headed back for the living room. "C'mon, Daniel. We've gotta-" he stopped dead in his tracks, taking in the sight in front of him-"go. Oh, shit . . ."

Daniel was slumped over on the sofa, obviously unconscious and completely limp. Somehow, this total inertness was even more frightening than the violence Jack had seen before. He checked immediately and found a strong pulse, but to all other appearances Daniel was wholly lifeless.