Darkness Hides the Hunter – Part Two


Night

Teal'c rose, lifting his staff weapon from where it lay across his knees. He just had time for another perimeter sweep before waking O'Neill for his watch.

The breeze that had risen earlier in the evening had died, leaving the forest still and silent. He walked to the far side of the tents, hearing the soft snore of Daniel Jackson as he passed. Here, the trees loomed only a few metres away and he stopped, peering into the foliage, before entering the undergrowth.

Something felt wrong.

The movement was fleeting, but it was enough to turn his head and see the figure swiftly disappearing into the forest. Without thought, he hurried after it, pressing the button on his radio as he did so, calling his CO for backup.

"O'Neill." He kept his voice to the barest whisper.

No answer.

Dropping his hand to brush aside a bush, he just managed to glimpse the dark shape vanish behind the thick trunk of a tree. He moved on, trying to keep it in sight, but finding it more and more difficult as he got deeper into the blackness under the trees.

He tried the radio again. "O'Neill."

"Teal'c?" Major Carter's voice came clearly from the instrument.

He spoke quietly, falling back a little as he did so. "I am following someone in the forest to the south west of our camp."

"A native?"

"It is hard to tell in the dark. Where is O'Neill?"

"Daniel's checking."

"Understood."

In the pause that followed, Teal'c took the chance to try and gain some ground on the figure. The other person was moving at a rate that spoke of some familiarity with the terrain, and the Jaffa was hard pressed to match it.

The blow came as a complete surprise, the large branch hitting Teal'c on the head, and causing him to drop to the ground with its force. Almost as soon as he felt the soil under his knees he was rolling, pushing the hard wood off himself and twisting to one side. He lay still, listening.

It was the click that warned him, just enough to fling his body to the left. The stone hissed past him to bury itself in the earth less than an inch from his head. He was up and moving just as the next stone hit where he had been.

Ducking into the cover of a clump of bushes, he knew the tables had been turned.

He was no longer the hunter.

He had become the prey.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Night – The Hunter

As he moved away, the sound of his prey's hissing breath receded into the distance, and once again the forest was silent. He liked it that way.

It meant he was alone.

There had been no need to finish his victim. He would be dead soon enough, and not only would it have wasted time, deep inside he enjoyed hearing the sound of death approaching.

He took a moment to wipe his knife, tucking it back clean into its sheath, before he moved on.

He knew where to find the others.

Then the fun would begin.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Night

"Teal'c?" Only a hiss from her radio greeted Sam's attempts at communication. "Damn! I can't reach him."

"Sam!"Daniel's worried voice called out to her, and she hurried over to where he stood. "Jack's not in his tent. There are signs of a struggle." He looked up at her, as if suddenly realising that the missing Colonel wasn't their only problem. "Teal'c?"

"He's not answering." She refused to give any credibility to any of the scenarios that were popping up in her head. She brushed past Daniel, and made her own inspection of her commanding officer's tent. The contents of the Colonel's pack were strewn across the ripped sleeping bag, everything pointing to a struggle.

Damn.

"Do you think whoever Teal'c's chasing has Jack?" Daniel's worried tone echoed her own, and grated on her nerves.

"I'm sure if he had, Teal'c would have said something, Daniel." Sam frowned as she tucked her radio back in its pocket. "But whoever he's following may not have been alone."

"Surely we would have heard something? Jack must have been woken up. Look at his tent." Daniel waved his hand in the air in frustration. "I'd say he put up a fight. I don't understand how we didn't hear anything."

Sam nodded, already starting back to put out the fire. "Whatever happened must have been very sudden to have taken the Colonel by surprise." She gave the radio another try, without success, the same static sounding across the airwaves. "Come on, let's get packed up. We'll go in the direction Teal'c reported he was heading." She was calm, controlled. She couldn't afford to be anything else.

It didn't take long to mobilise, years of practise making their movements almost instinctive. Daniel took a quick look around as they left the camp, checking they had everything they needed. They had already agreed to leave the tents behind, opting to travel quickly without any extra weight.

"Hopefully Teal'c will have an answer for us when we reach him." Sam gave her friend a reassuring smile. "Let's go."

Together they entered the forest.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Night – The Hunter

They were there, right in front of him, totally oblivious to his presence. It was almost a pity, no thrill of the chase here. Much too simple.

The woman was the more dangerous of the two, holding her weapon ready, and moving relatively quietly. Her eyes flashed back and forth, watching for any movement.

The man was tall and well built, but it was obvious from his actions that he was not a soldier. He did not do as the woman did, check behind them, he kept his eyes fixed ahead as if searching for something.

They halted, the woman talking softly into her radio, and he took his chance. The man turned away again, peering into the darkness, and he moved, his arm around the woman's neck, pulling her back and into the undergrowth. A slight increase in pressure and her body flopped. He let it fall.

It had been the work of seconds, and he was back to the other man before the woman was even missed. He used the handle of his knife as a club, rendering the man unconscious with no effort at all.

It was too quick.

Where was the fun in that?

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Night

Daniel groaned his way to consciousness, every muscle screaming in protest. He was tied up, his arms behind his back and his ankles bound tightly. He could feel every stone and twig pressing into the side on which he lay, tiny pin pricks of pain that added up to one giant hurt. He blinked his eyes, trying to clear his vision, then realised his glasses were gone and the fuzzy view he had was as good as it was going to get.

He was in the process of raising his head to look around, when he was jerked violently backward by his arms. He cried out.

"Hey!" He gasped out another breath, scrabbling with his bound feet and trying to stop his progress across the ground. "Wait. What are you doing?"

As suddenly as it had began, his motion stopped, his back slammed against the trunk of a tree. He twisted, trying to see his assailant but got no more than a blurred glimpse of a hand before the pressure on his arms made him shut his eyes in pain. A few swift movements, and Daniel found himself crouching, unable to raise or lower his arms from their excruciatingly painful position, wrists tied together hard up against rough bark. They were held too high to let him kneel, too low to allow him to stand completely, and he hunched, bent at the waist, trying to relieve the pressure on his shoulder blades.

"Can't we talk about this?" He tried the only thing left to him. "I'm Daniel Jackson. We are peaceful explorers. Please release me so we can talk."

The soft laugh was unexpected, coming as it did from so close to his left ear. He turned his head, and gasped. The moonlight showed Sam lying on the ground near him, unmoving. He barely had time to take in the sight before his legs were tugged out from under him, another rope looped around his ankles and his body stretched out diagonally towards another tree. As his feet were pulled and the ropes around them tightened, his arms were stretched back until the agony from his shoulders made him scream. It seemed ages before the pressure was released and he found he could stand, albeit uncomfortably. His arms were now extended back like wings, and with his feet held tight by the rope to the other tree, he had no way of moving back to ease them.

He shifted on his feet, peering around, straining to see what was going on. The blurred figure of a man was bending over Sam.

"Hey, leave her alone!" He knew it was a pointless thing to say, but he couldn't help it. He was completely ignored, and could do nothing but watch as an obviously awakening Sam struggled in the other's arms. Her efforts didn't seem to bother the man at all, and she was soon tied to a tree beside him. Her bindings were the same as his, with the addition of a taut rope dangling from a branch above her head and tied noose like around her neck. Even without his glasses, Daniel could see that she would have to remain as still as possible to avoid strangulation.

"Sam?" There had been no sign of their captor for several minutes, and Daniel took a chance. "Are you okay?"

"What...um.." mumbled Sam. "Damn, what's going on?"

Daniel was glad to hear her voice regaining its strength. "I don't know what happened to you, but I was knocked out before I had a chance to fight back. Are you sure you're okay?"

Her voice came much clearer now. "Yes, I'm fine Daniel. What can you tell me about our captors? Who are they? What do they want?" Then he saw her try to turn her head. "And do they have the Colonel?"

"I don't know, Sam. I've only enough of a glimpse to know there only seems to be one man. Other than that I don't know anything. I tried talking to him, but he didn't say anything. Maybe he doesn't understand English. If he said something I might be able to work out his language. This could all be a misunderstanding."

Sam interrupted his words, an air of irritation in her voice. "What about the Colonel, Daniel? Have you seen him?"

'Ah, no, Sam. Sorry."

"Well we can only hope that he's out there somewhere with Teal'c. They'll find us."

Daniel couldn't help the sigh that escaped him. His shoulders felt like they were dislocating inch by painful inch. "I hope they don't take too long."

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Night – The Hunter

He listened, standing in the shadow of the trees, as they talked. So much information. So much he now knew about them and their companions. Their tongues were as loose as their brains, giving away secrets they should have known better than to speak.

There were two others. He knew that now.

One he had dealt with.

The other could wait.

He needed to know more, and they were going to tell him everything.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Dawn

"I should kill you, you begin to bore me."

He walked around to stand in front of them, arms folded, his stance relaxed. The dawn's dim glow gave his features a reddish tinge as if he burnt from within. The light didn't reach his eyes. They were lifeless.

"Perhaps you can think of a way to keep me interested in keeping you alive?" He lifted his knife. "You could try talking to me. Although it may be more pleasurable if you don't"

"Colonel?"

It was as if he hadn't heard.

"I know about the other two, so why don't you tell me how many more I need to deal with, and where they are."

Daniel strained to see – to be sure of what his ears were telling him. It couldn't be. Sam must be wrong.

But there was something so familiar about the assured stance of the other man. Then he came closer.

Oh god! His friend's face stared at him from out of the gloom, his eyes hooded into mere slits.

"Well? I'm waiting. Where are the rest of your troops?"

This couldn't be happening. It was a joke. It couldn't be real. It had to be a bad joke.

He couldn't help the indignant tone that crept into his voice. He squinted again. "Jack? What the-? Jack, what are you talking about? What...let us go."

Jack's eyes narrowed even more, and he stepped forward, stopping only a foot from Daniel. "I'm talking about you giving me information. I thought I'd made that clear." The knife flicked up, cutting a long scratch into the other's exposed neck. "As for letting you go – not going to happen."

Daniel let out a yelp, unable to believe his friend had so cold bloodedly hurt him. It sounded so much like Jack, and yet was so different. His familiar voice had none of the warmth Daniel was use to, none of the humour. It was cold and unemotional.

"Jack – it's me, Daniel. Sam and I are your friends." He tried reasoning once again, still unable to believe what was happening.

The knife slashed again, this time ripping his uniform at the shoulder, leaving a shallow gash several inches long.

"Oh shit!" Daniel jerked forward, trying to pull away, only to have the pain in his arms bring him back to reality. "Jack, what the hell are you doing? You don't want to do this."

"Oh, but I do. It's been a while since I had two playmates at once."

"Look at him, Daniel." Sam's voice broke into his words. "It's no good. He doesn't know who we are."

Jack straightened, a smile coming to his lips. Very slowly he turned and moved over to Sam, leaning in to her and whispering.

"You're wrong. I know as much about you as I need to. You're the enemy and as such I can do what I want with you." His smile got broader as his whisper got softer. "And I can think of lots of things I'd like to do to you."

"Sir, stop! Look at me. You know me. I don't know what's wrong, but let us help you." Sam's voice was desperate, and for a moment Daniel thought she had gotten through. Jack stepped back.

Then the knife came up once more, and Sam cried out as it sliced a line down the side of her neck identical to the one dripping blood onto Daniel's collar. Jack took a long step forward, pressing his body against hers.

He put his lips to her ear, and Daniel could just make out the softly spoken words. "Nothing's wrong, except you aren't saying anything I want to hear." Then Sam's head jerked, held in place by the noose around her neck, as he bent into her neck and stayed there for a long moment.

When Jack straightened, Daniel felt like throwing up. His friend's lips were smeared with Sam's blood. He smiled as he licked them.

"Sweet!" He turned, including Daniel in his grin. "See, I knew we could have fun together."

Daniel pulled his gaze away from the smiling man and caught Sam's eyes. She turned, facing away as much as the ropes holding her would allow, and he saw a slight shudder run down her frame.

Then she turned back, her gaze filled with determination as she once more looked at Jack. And Daniel shivered at the steel in her eyes.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

She could still feel the moisture tingling on her skin, the trail left by his tongue still warm.

Her gaze caught his eyes, and their darkness, bracketed by a cold sneer, told her, that this man, this soldier, was not the Colonel she knew.

And her determination turned to fear.