Ransom
Part 3
Author: Mac
Disclaimers in Part 1

"Braydon, Tye, grab him! We're leaving the area." They picked up Daniel none too gently. Janet was about to say something, but Grentas shut her up with a look.

Grentas never thought that kidnapping these off-worlders would be such a problem. He decided that whoever made a wrong move next, Janet or Dr. Jackson, he'd leave them to die. He glanced behind as if knowing they were being tracked.

"Tye, cover our trail. We don't want any unexpected guests when reach the Twin Lakes."

Tye nodded. "Right away, Grentas!"

Daniel moaned. Not only in pain, but he realized Grentas had purposely left the stronger one in charge of him. His head pounded more and more as they trudged through the forest. The cracked rib and the antihistamines wearing off were not helping his breathing much.

He glanced up ahead at Grentas and Janet. She was beautiful even in the conditions they'd been thrown in. Grentas better not have done anything to hurt her, or he'd kill him.

Janet.

Daniel just wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right. He wanted to see her smile, hear her laughter, feel her warmth. He wanted her to love him the way he was realizing he loved her...

His train of thought was interrupted as he dropped to his knees. He clutched his chest a sharp pain radiated through it. Braydon pulled him up angrily, causing Daniel to bump his head on the man's jaw. That really pissed him off.

"I'm sorry!" Daniel gasped out.

Just before Braydon could hit him, Grentas grabbed his arm. "Leave him. He's a hinderance. Why don't you check up on Tye. I have a feeling he's run into some trouble."

Grentas turned away from Daniel, dragging Janet with him. "Wait!" she cried.

"You can't just leave him out here! He'll die!"

"Such is life..."

"No! Please!" Janet exclaimed, pulling from his grasp and running to Daniel.

He caught her just before she could reach him. Grentas pulled out a knife. "If you do not come with me I WILL kill him now."

Janet looked torn, but realized Daniel would have a better chance of surviving without a knife in his stomach. "Okay, but please let me talk to him before we go."

Grentas nodded and let her kneel next to Daniel. "Five minutes."

"Hey," she said, placing a cool hand on his hot forehead.

"Hey yourself," Daniel replied.

"I don't want to leave you, but I don't think I have much of a choice. Especially since he's threatening to stick a knife in you. Besides, I think Colonel O'Neill most likely has half the SGC looking for us."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Janet, I..."

Before he could finish, Janet's lips had captured his. When she finally pulled away, she smiled and said, "I love you." Then she was gone.

"Love you too, Janet," Daniel whispered as he slowly got up. He would follow her. Thoughts of her filled his mind and he ignored the pain, relying on pure adrenaline.

But first, he had to leave a trail for the others. He knew of a sure fire way that only Sam would be able to figure it out. The pair had been working on a mathematically and linguistically trail marking system. Daniel grinned.

Yeah, everything would work out fine!

Jack looked around for any sign of a Daniel, some kind of trail, but he saw nothing. He glanced back at Teal'c. "Nothing, O'Neill."

"Carter?" She seemed to be staring at something rather intently.

Suddenly her eyes widened. Jack grabbed her arm. "Carter, what is it?"

"A trail."

"What? Where?" Jack asked, looking around.

She pointed. "Right there, Sir. Daniel and I have been working on a trail marking system using mathematics and linguistics. We're still testing it, but Daniel must have remembered so he's using it. Basically--"

Jack put his hands to his ears. "Don't, Carter. As long as you know what's going on, that's fine, I just don't--"

"O'Neill!" Teal'c exclaimed. "Someone is coming."

The three hid in the bushes just as Braydon and Tye came through. Tye was muttering under his breath about Grentas and the kidnapping. "Why couldn't he just let us finish the guy off, Braydon?"

"Because he is weak."

"That's good to know," Jack said as SG-1 surrounded the two men. Braydon swung around to hit Jack, but Teal'c grabbed his arm. "And he's good to have around."

Braydon glared at him. "You would be unwise to detain us."

"We don't think so," Sam replied, searching in her bag for some rope. Tye just stared at them all in fright.

"Carter, let's bring this one with us," Jack said, patting Tye on the back. She nodded as she and Teal'c took care of Braydon. "He might be of use to us. I'm going to have SG-5 pick him up and bring him back to the village."

Sam nodded. "We'll be ready in five, Sir."

By the time they arrived at the Twin Lakes, Janet was exhausted physically and emotionally. Her mind kept going to Daniel lying on the ground, barely conscious. The way she felt as her lips melted into his.

"Here," Grentas said, handing her a canteen.

"Thank you," she muttered.

Grentas watched as she drank. He was starting to feel a little sorry about kidnapping these two. They had nothing whatsoever to do with the people of Malovia.

"Why did you attack Novall?" Janet asked suddenly.

"Because he has been against people like me since his father ruled. Many families, like mine, have been used to farm their lands."

"Like yours? What's so different about your family?"

He turned away. "We are a quiet group and very spiritual. Our beliefs are very different from theirs yet they hold us as slaves instead of equals. It's become more difficult for us to raise families. Novall just doesn't understand us and that scares him."

She nodded. "I suppose you've tried to talk with Novall."

"On many occassions," Grentas replied. "However, he will not listen. We decided to make him." His eyes dropped to the ground. "I am so very sorry about everything, Janet. I never meant for this to so far."

"It's all right, however..."

His eyes widened. "Dr. Jackson! We must find him. Hopefully Braydon didn't decide to go back after him."

Braydon! Janet had forgotten about him. "We should hurry then," she told him.