//More than six thousand years! The Goa'uld had left earth around 4000 BC which means that Daniel age should be around six thousand years, give or take a few centuries. Older than the legendary Methos. He is probably the oldest being on this planet and he still manages to act so that anybody thinks of him as his kid brother!//
Janet regarded Daniel with a long look while he was talking to Teal'c. The big alien had requested some free time outside the mountain. The military was still reluctant to let him wander off alone, and since Colonel O'Neill had some serious catching up to do with his paperwork and no one could get Major Carter out of her beloved lab, Daniel and Janet volunteered to take Teal'c out. The two of them had already planned a night out, they had some serious talking to do, and so they had decided to take Teal'c along and postpone their talk to another day.
Now that the two man were engaged in a vivid conversation, Janet had time to do what she was supposed to: observe Daniel. How did this man managed to seem so utterly harmless and innocent? The typical book worm who knew nothing about real life outside his studying. If she hadn't known for a fact that Daniel was not so harmless at all, he could have fooled her completely. He most certainly fooled Sam and Colonel O'Neill along with the bigger part of the SGC.
But Daniel was not in need of any form of protection. He knew perfectly well how to defend himself, his long life span was the best proof for this. But then you could argue Darius, for example, had lived a whole millennia without even carrying a sword, much less participating in the game, hiding himself on holy ground. Others had done likewise, using their expanded lifetime to study rather than to fight. Daniel didn't do this, at least not for long periods of time. He maybe was a scholar at heart, but he could also fight.
When she looked at him in a situation like now, relaxed around a friend, she could hardly believe this. He seemed so… nice. What was that saying again which made its round in the SGC? Ah, yes: 'little archeologist lost'. When Daniel had heard it he hadn't known if he should laugh or feel insulted, but it seemed to describe the role he was playing perfectly.
For her it was obviously that he was playing at least partly a role, because she had seen him fighting. Early in her watcher days, long before the SGC. An Immortal hunter, looking for an easy prey, had targeted Daniel. Big mistake. After seeing this, Janet had dug through all documents concerning Daniel and had found out that it seemed to be his life motto to appear as non-threatening as possible but defend himself, or friends for that matter, with surprising ability and vehemence.
"Janet? Hello, earth to Jen! Somebody home?"
"What?"
Daniel was ginning at her.
"Where were you? You looked like your thoughts were on another planet."
"It seems to me also that your thoughts were elsewhere, Doctor Fraiser." Teal'c confirmed in his impassive tone, but with a smile on his face. Janet could feel a slight blush on her cheeks.
"It is nothing. Just was just thinking about something."
"I hope it was a nice thing."
Janet wanted to say something back when she realized that Daniel was not listening anymore. He had this typical look on his face, that all Immortals had, when they sensed each other.
Daniels eyes swept the room and remained on an apparently young man, who just came through the back door. The man returned Daniels look carefully, but like an unheard command both began to smile broadly.
"Excuse me, I will be back in a second."
Daniel did not wait for an answer but stood up and walked towards the man. Teal'c gave first the retreating Daniel, then Janet a slightly puzzled look. She just looked a moment at the greeting between Daniel and his friend, then turned to Teal'c.
"Daniel knows the owner of this club. They are both old friends."
//Old friends indeed//, she thought with a slight smile. Richard Harp, a tall but slender man with light blond hair and dark green eyes, owner of this establishment, was an Immortal himself and had been Daniel's student once.
They had met in India, in 1801, during the war between Britain and the natives. Richard had been a common soldier in the British army, without any hope to ever change his position. Daniel had been in India to study, what else, and had acted as an interpreter between the British commanders and the Maharajah's. Not that the British officers had given him much choice in that matter, after declaring him a prisoner of war.
Richard had died the first time in one of those needless battles that occurred all the time in that war. An officer with a lot of money but no brain, bad intelligence and worse morals was responsible for the loss of an whole company. When Richard had woken, disorientated and afraid, surrounded by his dead comrades, the first living being he had seen was Daniel, who had simply told him to come with him.
They had left India behind without a backward glance, Richard happy to get away from the hell called army and Daniel still mad at the British in general had no interest in any other run-ins.
Since this time Richard and Daniel had been friends. And since Daniel discovered who owned this club he came here fairly regularly. Another thing no one would ever connect with Daniel on first sight: clubbing. It was something not even Janet had suspected, until Daniel had invited her along one evening. Just another proof that this man was hiding many things behind his introverted appearance.
Janet sometimes asked herself who the watcher of Richard might be. Until now, no one at the Headquarter seemed to be aware of the fact that she was in much to close contact with her "subject", so no one had reported her. Either Richard's Watcher was totally clueless about that she was a Watcher herself, or he or she was protecting Janet.
Daniel and Richard were still standing in the at the side of the dance floor, talking. Sipping at her drink she wondered what it was about.
*********************
"There have been three deaths in the last week, Daniel. I don't think this is just a coincidence anymore."
Daniel frowned at Richards words. This sounded too much like a hunting trip.
"You think…"
"Yeah! There is a headhunter out there, systematically working his way through the local Immortals. The losers were all fairly young or obviously out of the game for a while."
Daniel did not ask how Richard knew this again. When it came to the Immortal population of Colorado Springs this man was an even safer source of information than the watcher database. The club was fairly known by their kind and even before his first death Richard had a remarkable talent for gathering information. After all, he had at times survived through simple blackmail.
"How serious do you think it is?"
"To serious already for my taste. I'm loosing my customers! The fights all happened near my club. You won't believe it: the police have already been here twice, asking questions. Seems like I should get my papers in order."
Daniel looked sharply at his friend. Getting ones paper in order meant getting ready to leave for good, and taking another identity. Surely it couldn't be that bad, could it?
"Any idea who the hunter could be? Perhaps it is someone with a grudge against you."
"If this is the case he is a damn coward! But I haven't made any enemies recently, and none of the old ones would do something like this."
Richard paused and gave Daniel a long look.
"I would hate to leave this place behind, but if this sloppy bastard doesn't stop killing in my backyard I won't have another choice."
"We'll see. You have an alibi for all three occasions with more than twenty witnesses every time."
"As if the police would believe me…", Richard mumbled barely audible. He had a fundamental dislike of the authorities. Something that came from his childhood as a street rat in England.
"I'll come by tomorrow morning, then we can talk in peace. We will figure out what to do."
In secret Daniel planned pestering Janet into checking the watcher Database to see if she could find out who the hunter could be. Richard nodded mutely with a determined expression on his face.
"Okay! Be careful on your way home, Daniel."
Despise the seriousness of their conversation, Daniel had to smile.
"Do you think our hunter would go after me?"
Richard slowly returned Daniels smile:
"If he does, then he is in for a surprise I am sure"
"Nice that at least one person on this planet is confident in my ability to defend myself."
Now Richard was laughing out loud. You seldom got to meet Daniel when he was in the mood to make such remarks. Normally he did nothing to detract from his harmless air.
"Have a good time with your friends. I will see you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow." Daniel agreed and then went back to the table with Janet and Teal'c. Silently she asked:
"Something happened?"
So she noticed the worried and thoughtful expression he wore. With a denying shake of his head he said:
"I'll tell you later, okay."
Janet frowned at him. Teal'c did not so much as raise an eyebrow about this mysterious talk.
Daniel didn't come out of his thoughtfulness for the rest of the time the three of them stayed in the club. A hunter always presented problems, more so for those who tried hard to stay out of the game.
Finally they decided to call the night an end and left the club. Richard gave Daniel another look, that clearly stated "be careful", which Daniel returned with a slight smile. He didn't think that even a hotshot hunter would challenge him when he was in company of two mortals. The old secrecy rule again.
Walking down the deserted streets towards the place were they had parked the car, Janet told an anecdote about one of Jack O'Neill's antics that had even Teal'c laughing. Something that wasn't easy to do. Daniel, grinning, started with a tale of his own, when suddenly the familiar feeling of another Immortal presence washed over him. Darting his eyes around the empty alley, he didn't have to wait long. Out of the Shadows came a man, sword in hand, smiling wickedly. He was tall, bulky, dressed entirely in black clothes. The way he approached their little group out of the shadows practical screamed overrated sense of self worth.
//Show off//, Daniel thought annoyed. He really did not need this!
Janet immediately understood what was going on here. She cast a short glance at Teal'c who looked rather puzzled about the recent development. She could understand that. Daniel took a step away from his friends, positioning himself between them and the other Immortal glaring defiantly at the man. Teal'c who had figured out that the stranger presented a danger, attempted to move towards him, but Janet held him back with a hand on his arm. Shaking her head she said:
"Don't!"
"But this man..."
Janet cut Teal'c off with an emphatic shake of her head and started to pull him away.
"Whatever happens Teal'c, do not interfere! You understand me? Under no circumstances!"
She continued to pull him away to the side of the street, away from Daniel and the stranger. She only managed it because Teal'c was too surprised at the moment, but she knew this wouldn't last very long. She was right. Suddenly Teal'c stopped, immovable as mountain and looked first towards Daniel, then directly at Janet.
"Why?"
"It's a to long story to tell now, but I promise I... we are going to explain it all to you. But for now, please promise me not to interfere. This is his fight."
For a moment Teal'c looked like he would disagree, but than he bowed his head in acknowledgement.
"For now, I agree."
Janet let out an obvious sigh of relief. That was the best she would get. She turned her gaze back to Daniel and the strange Immortal. The man still came closer, still with this self-confident smile on his face. Daniel just stood there, impassive and seemingly more than a little annoyed. He hadn't even drawn his sword yet.
"So, I may presume you are the new hunter around." Daniel said with an amazing calm. The man before him did not lose a bit a his self-confidence by this. Laughing hoarsely he answered:
"Ya 'presumed' right, kiddy. So ya give'n up or try to fight?"
"Kiddy?"
Daniels obvious distaste for this insult nearly made Janet laugh. The other Immortal seemed to think it funny too, but maybe for a different reason.
"Ya have to be very young, or very stupid to face me."
"Well, I'm neither." Daniel replied and finally drew his sword. It was an long, elegant Rapier, simple design but very good craftsmanship. Every so often Janet pondered the mystery of how Immortals always managed to hide their weapons within their clothing.
"Daniel Jackson."
"Michael Sole" The man replied and without further warning began the fight. Daniel parried the first trusts with ease. The man was good and fast, but Daniel stayed calm and managed to deflect every attack Sole throw at him.
Teal'c, observing the fight minutely, but with ever growing interest growing interest was more than surprised about the recent occurrence. Beside the fact that he had absolutely no idea what was going on here, a fact that greatly unsettled him, he was also a bit fascinated by the duel he was witnessing. He had never suspected that Daniel Jackson could fight this way.
Teal'c respected Daniel Jackson for the scholarship and his proven loyalty towards friends. But he had never seen this mild mannered man this way. Never thought of him as a warrior. It seemed that he had to change his opinion of his friend. Teal'c couldn't do aught but admire the ability of both fighters and as an experienced warrior he could clearly see the difference between their styles.
The man who had introduced himself as Michael Sole put a great emphasis on his physical strength. His attacks were direct and hard to deflect because of the simple force behind them but they weren't very inventive. As soon as Daniel started to take the offensive in the fight Teal'c could see that Sole obviously wasn't used to being on the defensive side. Of course his defense technique was good, but came a bit slow and he had difficulties in blocking some of Daniels blows in time.
Daniels style was completely different. He didn't rely on physical strength but on his fight technique. He was much quicker and fluid in his movements than his opponent and never seemed to use the same move twice, neither defensive or offensive. He didn't give Sole a chance to foresee his next move and kept him off balance this way. He had remained in the defense for the first few minutes of the fight, giving Sole the impression that he could win. Then suddenly Daniel changed his strategy, countering his enemies attacks with ones of his own. He was a fast and graceful mover, strong enough to make it hard for Sole to hold his ground. Several of his thrusts made it through Sole's defense, drawing blood while Daniel remained unharmed.
It was then that Sole realized his mistake. He had thought this man was an easy victim, the appearance and behavior he had observed suggesting a young Immortal without much interest in the game. Sole had been wrong. This man used his sword with the ability and grace of a seasoned fighter. This was unbelievable! How could this geeky looking guy be so good? That wasn't possible in Sole's mind.
He hadn't much time to ponder about this problem.
One quick move, and Sole was disarmed, and in the same fluid motion it was over.
Janet retreated further, knowing what was to come. Teal'c for this matter simply stared at the scene before him. He couldn't really understand what was going on and seemed to be the only one with this disadvantage. Doctor Fraiser and Daniel Jackson would have much explaining to do. Deep in thought and still trying to get over his surprise at seeing Daniel beheading another man, Teal'c was completely unprepared for what happened next.
First a thin blue mist started to rise from the body and then the quickening broke loose. Blue-white lightning bolts wreaked havoc in the alley, destroying streetlamps, car windows, simply everything that got in its way. Daniel, in the center of this storm, couldn't stay on his feet while the energy of the other Immortal was flowing through him. Finally, after endless moments the quickening was over. Daniel remained panting on his knees, trying to catch his breath. His opponent hadn't been very old, but had done a lot of killing.
Suddenly he felt a light hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Janet's concerned look. He also discovered Teal'c standing silently in the background, his gaze betraying his confusion.
"You're all right?"
Daniel nodded silently.
"Will be. We better go, before somebody comes asking what's going on."
She helped him to his feet, he swayed a little, but then stood steady. Teal'c came over, a suspicious look in his eyes. Daniel returned the look for a long moment, then said:
"Come on. I know I have some explaining to do and we should go to a more comfortable place."
Teal'c nodded simply, the slight distrust never leaving his eyes. Daniel swallowed at the sight of this look. It wouldn't be the first time that he lost a friend after he or she witnessed a challenge, but he desperately hoped that he could make Teal'c understand when he explained the situation.
During the short drive to Janet's house, the nearest "safe" location, no one said a word. For Daniels taste the drive did not last long enough. During the whole way he had tried to decide how best to explain Teal'c about Immortals, the game and everything that came with it. And why it was better if no one else knew about this all. The latter part would probably be much easier, for it was rather obvious. By the time Janet turned into her driveway Daniel still hadn't come up with a conclusion. After all these years of his life he still hadn't found the perfect way to tell somebody about Immortals.
Finally they were all seated in Janet's living room and Teal'c looked expectantly from her to Daniel, and back again. Daniel took a deep breath and tried to find a start for the explanation.
*********************
It took him nearly half an hour to tell Teal'c about Immortals, the only way to make an Immortal stay dead, the game, the quickening and the watchers. Janet took the larger part of the last point, but even so Daniel volunteered some information about the beginning of this organization. Teal'c listened to it all silently and with a stoic look on his face. He never once asked any questions, but Daniel could see the suspicion slowly leaving the eyes of his friend.
Finally the talk came to an end. They had covered every angle of this whole mess they could think off.
The big Jaffa regarded Daniel with a long silent look than finally he asked:
"How old are you, DanielJackson?"
//This had to come// Daniel thought. It was the only thing he hadn't told, because he did not exactly know what to tell. The official version, that he was around two thousand years, or the truth, with the added four millennia? He had told the whole truth so far, he would not stop now!
"I'm not exactly sure. The ways to keep track of time changed so many times in my life, that I got a bit confused... Six thousand years give or take a few centuries. I only remember the last two relatively clearly."
Teal'c's face, normally so impassive, showed blank shock.
"Long time, huh?" Daniel said in an attempt to draw his friend out of his shock. He knew that his words sounded like something Jack would have said, but he didn't really care. Teal'c got his surprise under control quickly, his need for more detailed information overriding his astonishment.
"Is your long life the reason why you have such an expertise with languages?"
"Yes and no." Daniel replied hesitantly, "Of course it helps, that most of the 'dead' languages I know were pretty alive when I learned them, but I also had a knack for the spoken and later written word... after all, I taught myself to read hieroglyphs."
Now it was not only Teal'c who was interested. Janet was always looking for such little facts to add to Daniels Chronicle.
"When?"
Daniels already forced good mood started to disappear completely. His face became haunted.
"It was... a long time ago... shortly after..."
Daniel stopped. This was harder than he thought it would be.
"After what?"
If Janet had one serious fault, then it was that she couldn't let a fact rest. She always had to know the complete story and Daniel wasn't so sure that he wanted to tell this particular one.
"What happened, my friend?" Teal'c now said calmly, "What is it that upsets you so much?"
Daniel took a few deep breaths, his eyes closed. Then, silently he started to talk. And to remember.
#####################
Da'yell shadowed his eyes against the bright sunlight and let his gaze roam along the horizon. Wide, open and empty land lay before him. No danger at all.
"Do you really think you could see anything with those eyes of yours?"
Da'yell turned towards his friend, a mocking smile on his face:
"My sight may not be good enough for a hunter, but I'm not blind either."
Chel gave a short throaty laugh.
"Whatever you say, brother"
Laughing and talking they walked down the little hill towards the tents of their tribe. Da'yell couldn't remember how long he had lived with these people now. After he had left his home he had come to the wide grasslands and been taken in by this little nomadic tribe. The shaman of these people had taught him many things. Things about being like he was. It had been a beautiful time. Then one day the shaman had disappeared and never came back and Da'yell became the new shaman. He loved it.
So he had seen more than one generation go by, helping lead the tribe. At some point along the way Chel and his tattered troop of warriors had come to them. The first time he and Da'yell faced each other as enemies, now generations later they called each other brother. The fact that they never aged a day and nothing seemed to be able to kill them, made them the divine protectors of the tribe, a responsibility they took without hesitation. Da'yell looked fondly at a group of children playing between the tents. Sometimes it was a bit disconnecting when he thought about the fact, that he had known the grandparents of these children when they were even younger.
"Do you hear that?"
Chel's words pulled Da'yell out of his thoughts. His friend sounded worried. Closing his eyes he tried to discover what Chel had heard. First he couldn't hear anything unusual but then he noticed it, too. A whistle, sounding very far away, but definitely coming closer. No, it wasn't really a whistle, more a very high pitched howling. Da'yell and Chel looked at each other, both of them had the same thought: Danger. None of them had ever heard such a sound before, and it was just that, that made them both nervous. It couldn't be a natural sound.
Meanwhile it had grown loud enough for everyone to hear. Trying to locate the source of the noise Daniel once again searched the horizon. What he saw nearly took his breath away.
"Chel! There!"
There was something moving through the air towards them, faster then any bird could. Whatever it was, it was gleaming in the sunlight like brightly polished metal. And it wasn't alone.
Chel saw it too and cursed silently in his native tongue. Then he started running the short distance towards the camp, trying to catch up with Da'yell who was already on his way.
They had heard rumors. Rumors about strange but powerful gods, who were walking on earth and whose worriers walked through the sky like the gods themselves. And rumors that whenever the flying servants of the gods appeared they would bring death and destruction.
Their camp was far too much in the open!
"We must split up" Chel yelled towards Da'yell while giving everybody else also orders to move "You take the children and women to the meadow we found yesterday. Perhaps they won't see you if you hide under the trees. The others and I are going to try and lead them away from you."
Da'yell just nodded. It was probably an absolutely hopeless attempt, but they couldn't just stand here and wait until these... things, whatever they were came close enough. He also knew that Chel and the others were going to face certain death. How did you fight against beings that flew like this?
Gathering his sword and his bag of herbs Da'yell started to lead his group of people towards a river and the trees. They were walking as fast as possible, but no one was in panic. It wasn't the first time the tribe had split up like this, only usually they were hiding from scavengers.
Da'yell grabbed a small boy who was getting behind, and carried him in his arms. He was afraid. Not for himself, but for these people, his people.
What if... no, he wouldn't even think about something like this. He couldn't.
Their little group had barely reached the trees, when they heard it: deafening loud, like lightning striking right next to you. The earth shook, knocking most of them from their feet, a burning hot wind rushed over them, then disappeared. Fire erupted towards the sky from the place where the camp had been. Then it happened again. And again.
The children had started to cry the moment it started, and the adults did not look so good either. Da'yell himself could feel his body trembling of fear, but he would not allow this to control his thinking. If he let his fear gain control, he wouldn't be able to think properly and that was something he really needed now.
Again they heard the lightning-noise, this time a little farther away, then screams. The other group had been found. Closing his eyes briefly, Da'yell send a fast prayer to the spirits, that it wouldn't be so bad as it sounded.
He hadn't much time for prayers, because suddenly there was another noise. Rhythmic, a bit like the sound of drums, but more like metal on metal. And the sound was moving towards them.
//Spirits, what now?//
Then he could see them, moving towards their hiding place. A troop of... what? What were these creatures. They couldn't be men, that they were demons. Their bodies were gleaming black and dark silver, and they had the heads of falcons, the eyes glowing deathly red. The beings were carrying long staffs, and Da'yell didn't need to wonder long what they were for. Some of the beings marching in front dropped their staffs, pointing toward the group. The next moment fire shot out of this strange weapon and found its way into the group of people.
Now panic erupted. Everyone was screaming, trying to run away, but the demon-beings wouldn't let them. Circling around them, they killed everyone who ran with their fire-staffs. Women. children, old people, they didn't make any concessions.
One of the falcon headed demons came towards Da'yell, who still stood frozen at the same place. But he wasn't still for much longer. The demon was barely within reach when Da'yell raised his sword in one desperate attempt to fight. The surprise was on his side, because he managed to knock the staff out of his opponents hands and then buried the sword-blade in the less protected side of his enemy. The being fell to his knees and then something happened that Da'yell never would have suspected. The falcon head crumpled revealing the being underneath: a man. Da'yell stared. The falcon head had only been a mask to hide the true nature of these warriors! His thoughts racing, Da'yell captured the look of this man, who seemed barely old enough to be called one. They weren't demons...
Before Da'yell could bring this thought to an end, heat and nearly unbearable pain engulfed his back, and his world faded to black.
*********************
He came back to consciousness with a start. He had the typical tired and disorientated feeling he always got when he had "died". Looking around he saw only bodies. The bodies of the people he had promised to protect.
Da'yell had no time for brooding, suddenly a painfully strong hand encircled his arm and brought him to his feet. One of the falcon-masked warriors held him in a merciless grip and said something in a strange language Da'yell couldn't understand. His hands were bound in front of him, then he was dragged away. Da'yell couldn't get his thoughts away from the picture he just had seen. The bloody bodies of women and little children, barely old enough to be away from there mothers. Why had this beings done this? What had their tribe done to anger them?
He was tossed brutally into a huddled group of people. It was the survivors of the tribe, but they were so few. So very few. They couldn't be the only ones who were still alive, could they?
"Da'yell!"
He heard somebody calling his name, but didn't react. It was like he was paralysed. Someone gently touched his shoulder turning him. Chel looked into his eyes, worry clearly written all over his features.
"Brother, are you all right?"
Da'yell shook his head slowly and whispered:
"I couldn't protect them. I couldn't…"
"Da'yell! Listen to me! It wasn't your fault. Who could win against such demonic beings? You did everything you could"
"They aren't demons! They are man hiding behind their masks and armor..."
A hard blow connected with the side of Da'yell's head bringing stars into his vision. One of these warriors stood above him, the red-glowing eyes glaring down at him, saying something in this unknown language. But the meaning was clear: no talking.
Da'yell and Chel remained quit for a while, until they were sure the guards were out of ear shot.
"What do they want from us?" Da'yell whispered looking around anxiously. Chel followed his look, then answered in a toneless voice:
"slaves"
#####################
Opening his eyes Daniel looked at Janet and Teal'c who had listened to his story very quietly. Even now, after he had ended, they didn't say a word. It was Janet who finally broke the silence:
"You were a slave of the Gao'uld?"
Daniel nodded, then said with a forced smile:
"I'm just happy that none of the Goa'uld or Jaffa spare a second glance to their slaves, or somebody might have realized that I wasn't ageing."
His attempted to lighten the serious mood failed miserably. The silence was back. Suddenly Daniel fixed Teal'c with a intensive look and said:
"Teal'c, you have to promise me, not to tell anybody about what you learned tonight. The less people know, the better."
"Not even JackO'Neill or MajorCarter?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No, not even them. They may be my friends and I trust them, but I learned the hard way, better to keep some things secret. And I really do not want the military to find out about Immortals. Can you imagine what would happen, if somebody like Maybourne found out?"
"It would have highly unpleasant consequences, I'm sure."
"You understand why I don't want anyone to find out?"
"I understand, DanielJackson, and I won't tell your secret."
Daniel breathed a visible sigh of relief. One obstacle less.
"Thank you my friend. I really appreciate it."
Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgment. Janet had stayed silent during this short exchange. Yet another thing she couldn't tell the Watchers.