Additional Warning! Please Read!: In this part there will be semi-graphical descriptions of the physical and psychological aftermath of torture. It isn't too graphic but some people might think that it scrapes the edge of PG-13. So please, if you think you can deal with it, just skip the flashback-scene (Its beginning and end is indicated by ####)!
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always thanks to Shedoc for beta-ing for me! THANK YOU!
Additional thanks goes to Lime-chan for nagging and pestering me to write more
and giving (more or less) constructive criticism to my ideas.
Now have fun reading and don't forget to review ;-) Every comment is much appreciated!
Part 7It was rather cold outside and a strong wind blew through the city, but the sun was shining, a real treat after the gloomy, cold and wet autumn weather of the last few weeks. Daniel looked out of the window at the nearly empty trees and suddenly missed his beloved desert, missed his home where cold winters were unknown.
These little bouts of homesickness weren't such unusual occurrences. After being born in a warm and dry climate and spending most of ones life under such circumstances (most of all such a long life), the cold weather of Colorado still felt strange sometimes.
Shaking off his gloomy thoughts, Daniel turned back to the task at hand. At the moment he was busy composing a manageable breakfast out of what he had found in Jack's kitchen. Even if he tended to live on coffee and sweets, he sometimes liked to eat healthy. (If Janet would have agreed with his personal definition of a healthy meal was a different question entirely and not the point here). Besides, when Jack woke up he would most likely have a royal hangover and would need something for breakfast that wouldn't agitate his stomach in any way.
The reason why Daniel was here at Jack's house this early in the morning with Jack still sleeping of the beer from last night was that both Jack and Daniel were on leave for a week and had grabbed the chance to discuss the newest developments a bit more privately.
Daniel had come over to Jack's house yesterday afternoon and with enough pizza and beer to last the rest of the day they had talked. Meeting like this was nothing new for them; ever since Daniel's forced return from Abydos it was a tradition to get together on their leave. The familiarity of meeting like this, of drinking and eating unhealthy stuff had helped both of them a great deal to open up to each other.
Jack had admitted to his reasons for reacting to the stunning news about his friend like he did while Daniel revealed some more concrete reasons why he had so many problems with trusting people, even his friends, with his true nature.
He had told Jack how he had once fallen in love while living as a healer in one of the more remote areas of Europe. He had loved the woman dearly and as far as he had known back then, she had loved him back with the same intense. They had married and lived happily in an average sized village, well accepted and respected.
It sounded like a fairy tale to Jack until Daniel had come to the crux of the matter. Believing that a married couple shouldn't keep any big secrets from each other, Daniel had one day taken his wife aside and told her everything. Nothing held back.
She hadn't taken it well apparently. Before the day was over she had gone to the missionary, who had come to the village a few months back to preach his belief's to the poor pagans (Daniel had sounded distinctly sarcastic at this point), and had denounced her own husband as a sorcerer, as being allied with the devil the missionary liked to talk about so much.
The missionary had lost no time. Preaching fire and damnation he managed to turn everyone in the village against Daniel. They had all chosen the preacher's side over a man they had known for years.
It had ended with Daniel finding out close and personal that burning on the stake was far from being a humane way of killing.
After hearing this Jack wasn't sure if he wouldn't be happier if he had never heard this particular story, even if it had helped him a great deal to understand some of his friend's mannerisms. After such a betrayal it had to be hard to find the ability to trust again and if Jack understood this correctly, then this hadn't been the only time that friends had turned their back on Daniel after finding out about his true nature. Jack was more than a bit ashamed that he had nearly become one of their number.
But they hadn't spent the whole time on gloomy topics like this. After a few beers the atmosphere had lightened considerably and soon they were laughing again together.
Daniel's stories had been different than the explanations he had given to Janet. They were more personal, littered with little anecdotes of lived history. It was amusing to listen. But the biggest laugh Jack had gotten when they had, in order to relax a bit after heavy talking, turned on the TV. It was just their luck that the first thing to come on screen was a documentary on the history-channel. Under normal circumstances Jack found these things rather boring, but not this time.
Daniel, being in a funny mood this particular night, had started to not only comment the show but had at one point started to rant at it. Listening to Daniel bitching about the absolute hoax, and that he should now since he was there, damn it made Jack laugh hard. He would have never expected that a historical documentary could be so amusing.
Daniel had just grinned and winked at Jack.
At one point, the evening had long ago turned into night, Jack had asked Daniel why he, when he was six millennia old, was still acting like 30 something. Daniel's answer had been thoughtful:
"Age doesn't equal wisdom, Jack. I think the Nox forget this when they call humanity too young. I accumulated much knowledge during the centuries but does this make me wise? I have plenty of experiences but I'm not all knowing. In the end I'm just human."
"A six-thousand years old human." Jack had returned with slight irony. Daniel had grinned at him cheekily and said:
"Which just means I had many more opportunities to make mistakes."
At the end of their impromptu party it was clear that their friendship had not only been salvaged, but was also stronger than ever before.
Daniel had stayed the night (or, more correctly the rest of the morning) and thanks to his Quickening awoke without any trace of a hangover. After several cups of strong coffee he even felt human again. And now he waited for Jack to make an appearance.
A sound from the door made Daniel look up from his in depth investigation of the content of his coffee cup. Jack was leaning in the doorframe, blinking at Daniel as if the light was too bright and looking completely bedraggled. In addition he moved like a man in pain.
There was no doubt about it: he had a hangover.
Slowly Jack made his way over to the kitchen table and sat down. A moment later Daniel put a glass of water and two pills in front of him.
"Take them, they'll help."
Doubting somewhat that those tiny little pills would be able to battle this magnitude of a headache but way too tired to argue with Daniel, Jack swallowed the pills. Companionable silence reigned between the two friends. After a cup of coffee of his own Jack was awake enough to note the suspicious cheeriness of his friend. Hadn't Daniel drunk as much as he himself last night?
"Why don't you have a hangover?"
"Speedy healing can be a wonderful thing in such situations." Daniel replied grinning widely. Jack glared with menace, which sent unsuspecting soldiers running in the opposite direction. Daniel was pretty much immune to it.
"I hate you, you know." Jack mumbled, turning back to coffee and bland toast. Daniel just smiled about Jack's grouchiness. It wasn't that bad if you knew his other moods. Of course, rumour was that no one who had ever experienced Colonel Jack O'Neill in a really pissed off mood had ever lived long enough to tell the tale. All speculation of course, Daniel knew. The last soldier who had annoyed Jack to this critical point had only been transferred. To the Antarctic.
"Say, Jack, when was the last time you stocked up your fridge?" Daniel asked after Jack had finished his toast "There's nothing in there safe for a Tupperware-box and I think the contents could rate as biological warfare."
"Laugh it up, Danny." Jack returned mock angry "I've seen the biotope you are cultivating in your kitchen between missions. When there is nothing left in the house we'll have to go shopping for some food. And we better do it together so there won't be too many leftovers we'll have to send to the CDC after we come back from the next mission."
"It's okay with you that I stay here for a bit? I can go home, you know…"
"Danny, do you have any doubt that I would put up with you if I didn't want to?"
Daniel had to grin. No, he couldn't doubt that. Jack was pretty straightforward with his likes and dislikes.
"Of course, if you stay here that means you'll have to cook…" Jack added trying (and failing) to suppress a smile. Daniel didn't even try to glare at him; he just nodded his okay. It wasn't as if Jack couldn't cook, Daniel was just better at it. Several lifetimes as a bachelor had seen to that. And Jack really loved taking advantage of it.
About two hours later both of them were awake, not too hung-over anymore, the shopping-list had been made and remade several times and finally they were ready to go. Much to both their surprise nothing bad happened while grocery-shopping: no car-accident, no nut that decided today was the day to rob the store, no strange people trying to convert one to some strange religion, no bad-camouflaged spies from some agency following them. They should have become suspicious at this. Nothing, absolutely nothing ever went without a hitch for the members of SG-1. This was a fact.
Thanks to the cold weather and the time of the day not many people were in the store. Sadly there were repair-works going on in the parking-lot which meant that they had to take a two minute walk from the car to the store. Daniel shivered in the cold wind and pulled his coat tighter around him.
They were chatting happily on their way back to the car when suddenly Daniel stopped dead in his tracks. Jack looked at his friend with clear worry.
"What is it?"
"The worst case scenario." Daniel muttered as reply, looking around, searching for something. Jack looked at him with a clear question in his eyes so Daniel clarified:
"Another Immortal, Jack."
"Oh for crying out loud, can't we get a break?"
"Apparently not." Daniel answered with a tight smile on his lips, still looking around. Suddenly he glanced over to Jack, looking at him intently:
"Jack, if it comes to a fight, you must not interfere! Is that clear?"
"But Danny…"
"No. Once the fight has begun no one is allowed to interfere with it in any way. These are the rules and they are not debatable."
"But you said yourself, that this rule is broken from time to time."
"Yes, but I can't afford the reputation as somebody who doesn't play by the rules, so please keep out of it, will you. It's unlikely that there will be a fight now, this area is much too open."
"What if it is Chel?"
Daniel swallowed hard. This was a scenario he didn't want to think about to hard. He hadn't seen too much of his brother-come-arch-enemy in the last week, a fact that had started to seriously worry him. Chel just wouldn't give up in his quest for revenge so easily.
"If it is him and if he is really going to risk a fight, you are going to get out of here, understood?"
"I can't just leave you alone!" Jack protested, clearly shocked that Daniel would even suggest something like this.
Daniel turned his full attention over to Jack, glaring:
"You will stay out of it, Jack. It will not be the first time I fight, nor do I plan it to be the last time. You will not get involved."
Daniel spoke slowly and clearly, his tone of voice leaving no room for debate. But Jack was as immune to this as Daniel was to his glare, so he tried again:
"I can't do this, Danny…"
Daniel's patience was starting to grow thinner with each passing second. He could still feel the other Immortal nearby, but couldn't see anyone. And Jack was refusing to see reason.
"Damn it Jack, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself. You don't need to protect me, most of all not in this case."
"Do you even have a sword with you?" Jack asked, still clearly concerned, and still clearly not intending to leave his friends side anytime soon. Daniel glared at him:
"Of course I have. I never go anywhere without it."
Jack stared and looked Daniel up and down. Try as he might, he couldn't think of a way that his friend could be hiding his sword somewhere on him. Daniel returned the incredulous look with a tight smile, feeling the familiar weight of the sword on his back.
"You go everywhere with your sword?"
"It's the safest way to stay alive." Daniel answered simply, shrugging. He cast another nervous look around, still feeling the presence. Whoever it was, he was watching them. Hopefully he or she wouldn't do anything more.
"What about the base?" Jack asked, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact he had just learned.
This time a truly devious smile blossomed on Daniel's face.
"The next time you come to bug me in my office take a real careful look at the artefacts I have lying around. I think you'll notice the rapier on one of the walls."
"How the hell did you get the thing past security?!?"
"I told them it was decoration…"
Daniel's innocent look was spoilt by the grin tucking at the corners of his mouth. Jack shook his head in exasperation.
"The other one still around?" he finally asked. Daniel's eyes glazed over for a second before he nodded.
"He's watching us, I think."
Daniel turned his look his look to his friend:
"Let's get out of here, before he changes his mind."
Jack couldn't agree more. He wasn't particularly keen on seeing his friend fighting for his life. He got enough shit like this on missions and at least there he could try to protect him (not that he needed it, apparently). Jack still wasn't sure how he would react if he ever witnessed a duel between Daniel and another Immortal. Could he really just stay at the sidelines without even trying to help his friend?
*********************
Jack O'Neil was mumbling rather unprintable things under his breath when he stepped through the Stargate. Another mission. This alone wasn't a bad thing, but it was a mission that had been proposed by the Tok'ra, which put the whole affair in a completely different light. Being close to a whole contingent of these supposed allies for any prolonged space of time put Jack's nerves on edge. And he knew that he wasn't the only one. Major Carter may be convinced that this version of snakes were great allies and Teal'c did his usual observing and waiting bit, but Jack knew for sure that Daniel did dislike the Tok'ra about as much as he himself. Perhaps even more. But asked about the reasons why, Daniel would never give a straight answer. The next time the archaeologist would have to change his career he could try press liaison for the pentagon. His ability to give non-answers that took whoever had asked hours to figure out that absolutely nothing had been said would be a great reference.
Jack had argued with General Hammond that it shouldn't be SG-1 going on this mission. They were the first contact team and this mission was nothing else but playing servant for the Tok'ra. Daniel had tried to protest, too, with various arguments. But Hammond hadn't listened. The Tok'ra had expressly asked for SG-1, the devil only knew why, and feeling the need to indulge their allies the General had agreed. So the team had kissed the rest of their leave good bye, Daniel had spent another all-nighter trying to get anything akin to useful information out of the Tok'ra representative (with about as much luck as he had had with the General) and then they had gated to this little back-water planet on the other side of the galaxy where SG-4 had found this little device the Tok'ra insisted was from Thoth (but were still unable to crack the code of. So much for superior intelligence and technology.). They wanted to see if they couldn't find some more stuff of this late Goa'uld.
//Hopefully late…// Jack thought apprehensively. It wouldn't be the first time that a supposedly dead snake showed up suspiciously alive. On the other hand, Danny was pretty sure that Thoth was well and truly dead and Jack trusted his friend's assessment in this matter.
From the few bits of information Jack had been able to gather from the books in Daniel's office the mythological Thoth had been one of the major gods in ancient Egypt, which translated that the Goa'uld had probably a major player among the system-lords. Perhaps the Tok'ra hoped they would find a Ha'tak or something similarly useful on this planet. Fat chance.
But his misgivings against the Tok'ra in general and this mission in particular weren't Jack's only reason for being in a particular bad mood today. The look on Daniel's face, quickly hidden behind a frightening blank expression, when he had found out what this mission was about exactly, wouldn't leave Jack alone. Daniel, who under normal circumstances would love a chance to play Indiana Jackson (a role he was very good at, thank you very much), had looked positively ill for a minute at the mention of the mission directive. There was something about this Thoth that made Daniel more nervous than any other Goa'uld out there. Thinking about it, Daniel had never seemed to be overly afraid of any snake of the known galaxy, a fact that was responsible for more of Jack's grey hair than the Colonel liked to admit.
So Jack had to look out for his best friend in addition to being on edge because of being surrounded by damn snakes. Just peachy! Some days, you really shouldn't get out of bed at all.
Daniel had vanished from view as soon as the camp had been set up, keeping himself busy in one of the various ruins, translating the script on the walls. Jack went looking for him every now and then, making sure Daniel took breaks or ate something from time to time. A hard job, but somebody had to do it. Jack was sure that even an Immortal needed semi-regular feeding to function. A fact that Janet had confirmed when he had asked.
Every time Jack had been to visit Daniel, the man had been muttering to himself and sending glares towards the Tok'ra guard not too far away which, if looks really could kill, would have been dead ages ago. But every time Jack tried to get Daniel to tell him what it was about Thoth and him, the Immortal clammed up and steered their talks to other topics. The only thing Jack knew was that Thoth had been the Goa'uld who had held Danny in slavery all those millennia ago. That alone could account for the obvious reluctance to have anything to do with any reminders of this snake, but Jack couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it. But Daniel didn't talk. Not that Jack would give up any time soon but he knew he would have to change strategies to get anything out of his friend.
Sam was off using the chance to spend time with her dad once again and Teal'c was wandering around, doing his own security sweep and therefore annoying the Tok'ra. Always something good in Jack's opinion. But this situation also left the Colonel with nothing to do, so he decided to make his hourly visit at Daniel a little bit sooner. The archaeologist was alone in his ruin; the Tok'ra scientists were going through the others. Actually they had said that they didn't think that anything of interest was likely to be found at this part of the old palace. Perhaps this was why Daniel had gone there, just to spite them?
"Hey Danny, found any interesting rocks lately…" Jack started to say when he entered the old building. Then he stopped dead in his tracks and stared open mouthed. Daniel looked over his shoulder at him with a wide (and in Jacks opinion slightly feral) smile on his face and answered:
"I think so."
Jack had to agree: Daniel was holding some kind of ribbon device in his hand, activated, and the wall behind him had opened. There was no other way to describe it. The stones that had appeared to be ages old suddenly were smooth and had moved around to reveal a great doorway. The script on the old stones had disappeared and instead the relief of two Jaffa-guards with eerily glowing eyes showed on either side of the door. Some quick tampering with the device and lights went on on the other side of the doorway, showing a long, sloping hallway.
"It seems I found what our allies are so desperately looking for, don't you think?" Daniel asked with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. Jack nodded dumfounded before finally finding his voice to ask:
"How did you find this? Better yet, how do you know how to use this thing?"
"I lived under the first Goa'uld reign on earth, Jack, and I know the way Thoth thought. Some of the things Sam is struggling to get working I saw in every day use…"
Daniel took a deep breath before continuing:
"Thoth was always a fan of riddles and secrets. Judging from the layout of his palace on earth I had the suspicion that this little remote should be around here somewhere. I just had to find it."
Jack looked closely at Daniel, waiting for more information, but his friend wasn't forthcoming. Another piece of the puzzle presented itself to Jack: Daniel had lived long enough in Thoth's palace to learn about the location of secret passageways and how to use them.
Before Jack had a chance to inquire further, the Tok'ra guard came around the corner and started to make the expected racket. Minutes later the whole contingent was assembled, Daniel surrendered the controlling device and everyone was getting ready to go into the discovered room. The Tok'ra who had taken the controlling device from Daniel had kind of figured it out by the time everyone was ready (after killing the lights twice and nearly closing the door again).
The hallway ended in a big room full of gold-gleaming stuff, rolls of parchments that looked as if they would fall apart from even looking at them and some gadgets that looked typical for the normal Goa'uld: A treasure cave.
Looking around again, making sure that there were no dangers, Jack cast a quick glace to his teammates.
//Wonderful! It'll be a minor miracle if I can get Sam and Daniel out of here anytime soon.// Jack thought before a booming and clearly snakish voice nearly gave him a heart failure.
"Ya wan, ya darn!" (Kneel before your god!)
Whirling around his weapon raised Jack came face to face with… a fifty centimetres high hologram. His only consolation was that everyone else in the room looked about as scared as he, even Teal'c. Well, as scared for Teal'c.
"Kree'tall! Ke'i!" (Obey! On your knees!)
The hologram wasn't shutting up and sounding pretty impatient. The voice sounded loud and seemed to come from everywhere at once. Who knew that the Goa'uld had invented dolby-surround?
"What does he want?" Jack muttered to Daniel who looked a bit pale but after the question the shock somewhat vanished from his face:
"He proclaimed that he's our god so we should kneel. Since nobody made a move that could be interpreted at kneeling he demanded that we should obey him and kneel already."
"You know this guy?" Jack asked. Daniel nodded absently and said:
"This is Thoth…"
Before Daniel could say much more the hologram seemed to focus on him and started shouting:
"You damned traitor! You dared to defy the gods; your punishment will be terrible! I will not tolerate my slaves betraying me…"
Jack did not understand one word but he couldn't shake the impression of a ranting child in the middle of a temper tantrum. Thoth, or better his hologram, went on and on and on getting more agitated by the minute. When the mini Goa'uld stamped his food, obviously frustrated about the lack of reaction he got, Jack could hardly contain his laughter. The rant was interrupted suddenly mid-word when the hologram simply vanished. Sam was standing at what seemed to be a control-panel. Obviously she had found the off-button. Good!
The look of every Tok'ra was glued on Daniel for about a minute, before common sense won over fantastic and speculative suspicions. Whatever any of them thought, none of them believed for a minute that Daniel Jackson really was a run-away-slave of Thoth. The last six-thousand-years probably fried a circuit or two inside the machine.
"You're all right, Daniel?" Sam asked, carefully approaching the archaeologist who was still staring intently at the spot where seconds before the hologram had stood. He was alarmingly pale.
For a second it looked like Daniel wouldn't react to Sam's question, then he whispered:
"Excuse me."
With this words Daniel turned on his heel and left the room with fast stride.
"You better follow him, O'Neill!" Teal'c said quietly, stepping up to the Colonel. Jack looked at him shortly before nodding and leaving the room, too. He just couldn't shake the feeling that Teal'c once again knew more than he, but Jack didn't need any additional knowledge to see that something was wrong with his friend.
*********************
Daniel was sitting outside, on a fallen pillar, trying very hard not to hyperventilate while muttering under his breath:
"He wasn't real. He wasn't real. It was just a hologram. AI. Not real. He's dead…"
#####################
-FLASH-
Da'yell walked around Thoth's semi-private quarters, trying hard to ignore the looks of the Jaffa-guards while going about his tasks. The fact that he couldn't see their faces was making him nervous.
Thoth had gone for a meeting with Tefnut but should return today. Da'yell would have been happier if his master had stayed away a little bit longer.
As far as he could figure out Tefnut was Ra's daughter and very unhappy with her father's way of reigning. Thoth hated her. He would express this hatred every time he returned from one of these diplomatic missions.
Suddenly Da'yell could hear rapid footsteps coming towards the room. He knew that it had to be Thoth. Nearly on instinct Da'yell sank down to his knees, eyes cast down, assuming the typical posture of a slave. Inwardly he wanted nothing more than to run. But there was nowhere he could have run to.
The door swished open and Da'yell peeked up to see who was there. Thoth stalked into the room looking absolutely furious. Da'yell swallowed hard. This didn't bode well at all.
"Leave!" Thoth barked towards the two guards at the door who hurried to comply the order. Da'yell remained where he was, eyes tightly closed, trying to keep his breathing even despite the raising fear.
"Come!"
Da'yell gracefully rose to his feet but kept his eyes fixed to the ground. He followed Thoth to an adjoining room where he helped the Goa'uld change from his heavy official robes into something more comfortable. Then he went back to his knees awaiting new orders.
Thoth left the room for a while and Da'yell eventually began hoping that perhaps this time his master wouldn't take out his frustration on him.
A false hope.
After a minute or two Thoth returned. He walked slowly around Da'yell, then suddenly he grabbed his slave by the hair and forced him to look up. Da'yell's terrified blue eyes met with Thoth's gold-flashing ones. A smile showed on Thoth's features, a smile that sent uncontrollable shivers down Da'yell's spine.
Thoth raised his other hand and trailed a finger down Da'yell's cheek and neck. It took all his self-control for Da'yell not to flinch away. Thoth's smile grew even more sinister and colder and he said:
"Come with me, slave!"
With these words he yanked Da'yell to his feet and led him to yet another room. Da'yell didn't even try to keep his terror under control anymore. He knew what was about to happen and he was afraid. Very afraid.
-FLASH-
Da'yell sat backed away in the far corner of the room, making himself as small as possible. He had his knees drawn up to his chest and his face buried in his arms, which were resting atop of his knees. His shoulders heaved with strong sobs, but no sound was heard while Da'yell cried.
Another session was over. Thoth hadn't been happy today, not at all. He had been called away by Ra and when he returned he had been livid. And his slave suffered for it.
The wounds had healed already, but the memory of the pain still lingered, creating a strange kind of phantom pain. Da'yell wished nothing more than his fast healing would take away the pain equally fast but it only made it harder to escape into unconsciousness. In the end, Thoth always managed to drive Da'yell over the edge into oblivion. He would wake up some time later, exhausted beyond belief and haunted by the memories of the passed hours.
Afterwards he usually went to find a hidden corner and cry freely about all the pain and humiliation.
No one had ever found him like this, of this Da'yell had made sure. He wouldn't give Thoth the additional satisfaction of seeing him breaking down completely.
Slowly the tears of pain started to change into tears of helpless rage. He hated being at the mercy of this creature. Helplessness wasn't past of his nature and he hated it with a passion. But he hated those beings that had destroyed his life even more. Sometimes the intensity of his feelings scared Da'yell himself. He had never hated this strongly. Not even the scavengers that had killed his parents.
Breathing deeply Da'yell tried to stop the tears. He had to get back before anyone went looking for him. He really didn't want to draw Thoth's wrath towards him again today.
-FLASH-
Breathing was pure torture. His chest hurt like fire every time he drew a breath, but the pain didn't even register to Da'yell anymore. His whole body hurt too much to pay attention to such a detail. The only part of his body that hadn't joined into the confusion of pain, were his legs. Those he couldn't feel at all; couldn't move them.
Da'yell didn't know how long he had been lying here already, on the cold floor, broken and battered, unable to do more than breathe. Somehow Thoth had managed to keep him conscious then had walked away without a backwards glance.
After some time, when he was able to think again somehow, a never known fear took possession of Da'yell. Why wasn't he healing? Could it be that Thoth had finally gone beyond the limits of Da'yell's healing? Or had he lost them completely? After all, Da'yell had never been sure why the Spirits had granted him this gift in the first place.
No, Da'yell decided looking at his arm, his healing abilities were still there: his arms had been decorated with bloody welts when Thoth had left. Now, there were only colourful bruises. So he was healing, but so much slower than normally.
His breath hitching with strangled sobs, Da'yell desperately tried not to think about the past hours. Better not to remember this horror.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his naked shoulder and terror flared anew inside him.
//Please, no more//
Trying instinctively to move away from the hand and make himself as small a target as possible, pain raced through his body, reminding him why it was a bad idea to move. A pitiful whimper escaped him, but he didn't care. He knew without a doubt that he would break if Thoth had come back for more. His body might heal, but his mind would stay shattered.
Panicked shivers racked his body and Da'yell closed his eyes tightly, sending a pleading prayer to the Spirits he didn't know he believed in anymore.
"Hush! I won't hurt you."
Da'yell didn't recognize the voice and wasn't sure if he should believe the claim. He still refused to open his eyes.
Surprisingly gentle hands pulled a blanket over his still naked body, then lifted him up. Da'yell let out a short gasp of pain and surprise, before he became deathly quiet again.
"You don't need to be afraid"
Finally he dared to open his eyes. At first his sight was blurred and unfocused but after some rapid blinking his world regained it's focus. He looked up, straight into the impassive face of a Jaffa.
For a moment panic took over and Da'yell tried to struggle. But his battered body protested against the movements and he went still again very fast. The Jaffa meanwhile was doing his best to calm the terrified slave in his arms.
"Don't be afraid, there is no need to."
Da'yell didn't know why, but he believed him. His body relaxed and went nearly completely limp. Like a small child he was carried through the palace's hallways, Da'yell didn't know where to.
Finally he was laid down carefully onto soft blankets. With infinite gentleness the Jaffa started to take care of the various injuries. Da'yell didn't take his eyes of him for a second, not knowing what he was supposed to think. The Jaffa were as evil as their masters in Da'yell's experience, or at least indifferent to a point that they didn't care what happened to someone else.
But there was nothing cruel or indifferent in this behaviour.
A calloused hand gently stroked a bit of hair out of Da'yell's hair and the eyes of the two met for a moment.
"Why?" Da'yell managed to whisper. He was shocked how terrible his own voice sounded. So weak and raspy.
"Because you did nothing to deserve such a treatment." was the simple answer before the Jaffa turned his attention back to Da'yell's injuries. By now his healing had finally kicked in, letting some of the minor wounds disappear.
"You heal fast."
More the Jaffa didn't say, his face impassive as ever. With his wounds treated some of the pain had started to ebb away and Da'yell could feel his body relaxing more and more. He was so tired.
"Sleep!" murmured the Jaffa's soothing voice, but Da'yell refused to surrender to his exhaustion just jet.
"What… is… your… name?"
"Jahi. Now sleep, you're safe."
Da'yell looked at Jahi for a second more, before giving into his body's demands and closing his eyes and escaping into the world of sleep.
#####################
"Danny?"
Jack was kneeling in front of his friend looking worriedly at him. Daniel didn't even react, just continued rocking back and forth, a strangely vacant look in his eyes. By now Carter and Teal'c had both shown up, too, both looking as worried as Jack felt.
"What's wrong with him?" Major Carter asked, sounding scared. Jack did not take his eyes off Daniel's face for a second but answered:
"He's having a flashback. I've seen this with some veterans of the covert ops missions. We have to wake him up, somehow, he's panicking!"
"Be careful, Colonel. When Janet tried to wake him one time, he went for her with a knife."
Jack filed the information away for later at the moment he was way too worried about Daniel. Taking his friends face in his hands he looked directly in his eyes.
"Come on Danny, look at me. Wherever you are right now isn't real. It is only a memory. It can't hurt you anymore. Come back to us, please. Do you hear Danny…?"
Jack kept up his litany while at the same time keeping body-contact. His patience was rewarded. At one point Daniel blinked and turned his eyes towards Jack's.
"Jack?"
A relieved smile started to spread over Jack's face.
"Welcome back, Danny."
Daniel didn't return the smile, but continued to look around disorientated. Despite his reaction, he obviously still wasn't sure where and when he was.
"Daniel?" Sam asked worried, kneeling down beside Jack to look at her friends face. Daniel looked at her without really seeing her.
"Are you all right?"
Daniel remained silent for a minute or two, then said so softly that his friends nearly missed it:
"no"
That one word was enough to let his friends worries rise once again. But before either of the three could comment Daniel finally seemed to shake off his daze.
"It's nothing. Just a few memories."
"From the look of it, those aren't any good memories." Jack said with a strange mix between his usual sarcasm and deep concern. Daniel sent a strained smile towards his friends and shook his head:
"You're right. They aren't good."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not really, no" Daniel answered Jack's question while shaking his head "I… I just had forgotten how much I actually feared Thoth. Seeing him, even if it was only a ridiculous hologram, shook up some memories, which had better stayed buried."
"So you're going to be fine?" Sam asked with a trace of doubt in her voice. After seeing Daniel not once, but twice in a nearly catatonic state because he was overwhelmed by his memories did nothing to reassure her that he was well.
Daniel took a deep breath before answering. He could have lied, or played the situation down, but that wouldn't work long with his friends.
"Not immediately. There are some things lurking in my mind concerning Thoth that I'm not sure I ever want to rediscover. The things I deal with are hard enough. But you don't have to worry, Sam, I won't suddenly suffer a breakdown because of them. These things happened long ago and I had nearly four millennia to come to terms with them before I blocked everything."
"But" Sam protested, "I am worried. It can't be normal for you to completely shut everything out when you remember."
A bitter smile played around Daniel's lips when he said:
"You'd be surprised. It isn't so unusual for an Immortal beyond his first century to space out now and then."
"You weren't spacing out, Danny" Jack declared, "You were having an all out panic attack!"
Daniel locked eyes with his friend. Something in the blue depth of his Immortal friend's eyes drove a shiver down Jack's spine. For a second he thought he could actually see how old Daniel was.
"The Goa'uld aren't known for their kindness, you know that Jack, and Thoth wasn't an exception. I lived near him way longer than a normal person would have survived…"
Daniel fell silent and swallowed hard. An uncomfortable silence had taken over the members of SG-1. Jack just wanted to say something, anything to lighten the rapidly darkening mood around, when he heard Daniel whisper to himself:
"… Sometimes I wonder how Thoth could have missed my healing abilities. Or was he just too careless to notice that he should have killed me many times over…?"
Now it was Jack's turn to swallow. He really did not like the implication of this statement. For a second he didn't know if he should be happy or sad that Thoth was already dead. He would have loved to kill this snake himself.
Judging the looks of Sam and Teal'c he wasn't alone in this sentiment. Again silence reigned which was rudely interrupted suddenly:
"Doctor Jackson, I believe your help is needed."
Jack glared daggers at Anise, but the Tok'ra either didn't notice or ignored him. Daniel shook out of his gloom, burying his turbulent emotions deep within until he would have a chance to sort through them in peace.
Standing up, and sending a reassuring look to his friends, he followed Anise back to the chamber.
*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#
tbc (hopefully soon)
Additional Disclaimer: Lime-chan adopted the Holo-Thoth after I got the idea in a looooooooong chat-session with her. Now she is thinking up crazy plots for him…