The rest of the night goes off without a hitch, and the next morning I awake to Sam shaking my arm to wake me up. "I'm up, I'm awake." I mumble, yawning and stretching my back. "Hey, I'm awake. You can let go now."
"The horse is fidgeting." Sam says, apologetically.
"Oh, okay." I say, not quite getting what a horse has to do with anything, until I realize that she's standing on my horse's back. "Can you get down?"
"Oh, yeah." Sam says, and proceeds to slowly get off the horse, while I simply drop out of the tree.
"So, what are we doing now?" I ask, as Daniel hands ma a piece of fruit.
"It's still half a day's ride to the Snake Warrior's encampment." Moke says, situating the horses.
"Half a day's hard ride to the fortress." Vep says, feeding Teal'c's horse a carrot.
"The return trip won't have any stops, no unnecessary stops, anyway. They would probably be following us. It would be wise to take great care to get in and get out without being spotted." Moke says.
"Right." Jack says.
"Hate to bring this up, but it seems inevitable that we are going to be seen." I say.
"Would seem that way, sir." Sam tells Jack.
"What would you suggest we do, then? Climb in a window?" Jack asks me sarcastically.
"Hardly, but if we're going to be spotted anyway, why avoid the fight." I say, ignoring Jack's tone.
"Go on." Jack says, rather begrudgingly.
"Well, we're walking in the front door, but that doesn't necessarily mean we have to give up the element of surprise. Two go in to take the guards out, and we just keep fluxing our numbers until we're ready to leave. Then, on our way out, we split into two groups. One group following the other, the first only partially seen and the second not seen at all. Once we get out, we should be safe once we reach the tree line again."
"How do you figure?" Sam asks.
"Obstructed vision, and new friends in odd places." I say, noticing Dalarek is standing behind Jack.
"Or allies, at least." Dalarek says, startling Jack and Vep.
"Who are you?" Jack asks, after drawing his gun.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, Teal'c, Major Samantha Carter, this is Dalarek of the Lar'Thinanali." I say, standing to greet him.
"We met him in the forest." Daniel says, as Jack lowers his weapon.
"Oh." Jack mumbles.
"Well met." Dalarek says to me.
"Are you and yours in?" I ask, assuming that he's heard our plans so far.
"I am, but it would still be a hard ride into town."
"Yes, well… Would you see what you can do? It looks like we have a few things to do if we're going to stay one step ahead of the, um, Snake Warriors." I say.
"Of course. I should return soon." Dalarek says, and he jumps to climb up into a tree.
"What do we have to do now?" Jack asks.
"Firewood should be a top priority, I think we have enough food for a while now. We really shouldn't stop for anything more than food and rest on the return trip."
"Wouldn't the smoke from the fire let them know where we are?" Daniel says.
"Yes, but so would the tracks from the horses." Sam says.
"So what will we do to throw these people off?" Moke asks.
"My family has a few tricks I've been taught, I keep the most amusing as a last resort usually, but doesn't the Air Force have some protocol or training or something for this type of thing?" I say.
"I think you're thinking of the Marines." Sam says smiling.
"Oh? I doubt it, but whatever you say." I say, attempting to repress my impulse to argue with her. "Either way, no one else can create a false trail?"
"Not in the woods." Sam says.
"I wouldn't know how to hide a real trail." Daniel mutters under his breath.
"Could, but it would take a while." Vep says.
"I see." I say, slightly frustrated, and seeing no other answers forthcoming. "Well, I don't really see the good in splitting the group. How 'bout we just set up some traps and post some extra guard?"
"You know how to set traps?" Jack asks.
"You bet." I say, smiling a little.
"All right. Sam, help Moke ready the horses." Jack says.
"Sure." Sam says.
"Daniel, you and Tyler gather firewood. Vep, you get to tell me and Teal'c about the interior layout of the fortress." Jack says, and Daniel and I nod and head South out of the camp.
"You all right?" I ask as we gather firewood a few minutes later.
"Yeah." Daniel says distractedly.
"Really? 'Cause you seem a bit stiff."
"Yeah, I think I slept on a rock."
"Oh, well, you wanna try riding in front? It might be more comfortable."
"No, that's all right." Daniel says, as I pick up a few more sticks. "Uh, Alia, I heard you talking with Sam the other night."
"Oh-kay." I say, turning back to him. "Is there a problem with that?"
"No! No, I just want to know why you were talking about me?"
"Oh. Well, you have some good friends. Sam was just trying to look out for you." I say.
"Well that's odd." Daniel mutters to himself under his breath.
"What is?"
"Hm?" Daniel asks, not realizing that I heard him.
"What's odd?"
"Just Sam getting involved in my personal life."
"Oh, I see. Either way, she has nothing to worry about." I say, turning from him.
"I know." Daniel says, as I pick up a few more sticks.
"Good. Think we have enough?" I say, comparing my small bundle to his four sticks.
"Yeah." Daniel says. I give him some of my bundle as we head back to camp. "Alia, wait." He says a minute later, stopping where he is.
"What?" I ask, vaguely surprised that there was more to talk about.
"What are we doing?" Daniel asks smiling as I turn to him once more. "We made a dinner date for 'sometime', we wind up sleeping in the same bed, we kiss in the forest, and we ride the same horse. What does that make us? Are we even an us?"
"Well, we have had a few meals together, I won't discount them just because we weren't alone, it's not like anything really happened at the inn, you said you wanted to ride with me, and that kiss was impulsive. Very nice, but impulsive, just the same. So the only real question is; what do you want to make of this? I refuse to chance hurting you by saying the wrong thing." I say, keeping my voice low, as I draw close to him.
"I don't know." Daniel says, as we stare into each other's eyes. "The kiss was very nice?"
"Yes, is that unusual?" I say playfully. He kisses me in response to my question.
"Hey, did you two - "Jack says, coming within sight of us as we kissed, then turning right back around and going back the way he came. We end the kiss for appreciation of oxygen and we just look into each other's eyes.
"So we're on the same page." I say. Daniel smiles and I kiss him shortly, and we head back to camp.
"Got the wood?" Sam asks, I hand her my little bundle and Daniel - his mind a million light-years away - stops. I take the dry sticks from him, hand them to Sam as well, and, in the process, snap Daniel out of his stupor.
"Ahh… maybe later." I say, before Sam can even ask the question on her face.
"Okay." Sam says, slowly, as I sit down.
"So, do we have a handle on the interior?" I ask, as Daniel sits down beside me.
"Yeah." Jack says rather shortly, as Moke tries to build the fire.
"Good things." I say, ignoring his tone.
"Hey, where'd my horse go?" Sam cries suddenly, upon discovering that her blonde mare isn't where we left her.
"I'll find her." Moke volunteers, Jack nods and he starts off. I start to brush down my horse while Jack and Teal'c just sit and wait, Sam packs away the firewood, and Daniel leans agents a tree. I notice Vep is no where in sight when I go to check the horse's bridle, and that Daniel is watching me as I move back to check the saddle bags so it doesn't surprise me when he walks over to me.
"Alia." Daniel says, as I finish up brushing our horse down.
"Hey, wanna give me a hand?" I say smiling as I turn around.
"Sure. Are you ready?" Daniel asks, taking a brush and starting to uncertainly brush down Jack's horse.
"Yep. Just waiting for Sam." I say.
"Good, but not what I mean." Daniel says, and I give him a curious look. "Do you thing you can fight the Gao'uld?"
"Well… I'm fairly certain I can find a way to inflict some damage somehow, and I know I'm going to stay alive." I say. "I do so want to take you out for a ride." I whisper to him as I get on the horse.
Daniel gets on the horse behind me and kisses me quickly as he gets settled. Teal'c, Moke, and Sam get onto their horses quickly and Sam calls for Jack to get a move on. Jack hops onto his horse and we all start off towards the East.
"Cheshire, Daniel, Sam." Jack calls, since we are all behind him. "Just wanted to let you know who's going where."
"All right." Sam says, after she and I ride to either side of Jack.
"Daniel and I will take Moke and find his mother. Sam, you and Cheshire are with Teal'c. Any problems with that?" Jack says.
"No." Sam says.
"How long do we wait if one group gets out first? I don't like leaving people behind." I say.
"Twenty minutes." Jack says.
"Good deal." I say.
"Let's go!" Jack says, kicking his horse to a faster pace, we all follow suit and the rest of the day goes by quietly.
We spot the base shortly before dusk and stop behind an outcropping of rock to regroup. We get as close as possible to the building without being definitely identified and split into the two groups. Sam leads Teal'c and I through the front while Jack, Daniel and Moke go around to the side. I take out my knife and set my mind to hunting while Sam and Moke hide behind pillars. The Jaffa we heard come around the corner just as I was moving behind a pillar. They pass as if we didn't even exist. "All right. If I was an evil warlord with delusions of intelligence, where would I keep my prisoners." I mumble under my breath to myself, as we continue down the hall.
We roam the compound for a while until we hear cries of pain coming from a passageway to our left. As we get closer I realize that they are masculine cries of pain mixed in with interrogation.
"Wait! Sam, Moke. Listen closely." I say, just before we reach the doorway of the room the screams seem to be coming from. I focus my hearing on the chatter from further down the hall. "I can hear Jack." I whisper.
"That's Daniel in there!" Sam whispers.
My mind freezes at that. When it starts working again a quarter second later my thoughts are fueled by a savage rage I have always kept in line without question. "Teal'c, go down the hall. Tell Jack where we are and that I'm gonna go in and distract him for a minute." I whisper, Teal'c nods and heads off. "Sam, I'm thinkin' to stall him for a while, keep Daniel alive for a little longer while you guys come up with a more solidified plan. If you guys take too long you'll miss the fun."
"Kelly, I don't - "
"I'm not putting it up for debate. I'm allowing you the courtesy of letting you know what I'm thinking. I can handle myself, don't worry." I am dashing through the doors before she can speak one word of objection.
I burst into the elaborately decorated room with my eyes lit up by the fires of rage, startling Daniel's tormentor and throwing him off balance. "Who are you to be charging into my private chambers?!" The man starts to cry, as Daniel slumps to the ground unconscious. However, he only gets as far as "Who are you to - " before I am across the room to slam one heel into his face and the other foot lashing out to kick him in the stomach. I jump up and back-flip away from him. He snarls and raises a hand - palm out - towards me as I stand poised to attack across the room. I've flipped out of the way before the fool can fire his little hand weapon thingymabob at me. He proceeds to keep shooting at me and I continue to be two steps ahead of him, meanwhile I'm figuring that throwing my knife at anything this technologically advanced would be incredibly futile, so I keep searching for openings. He pauses his attack just long enough to yell some threat or another at me and I run right up, throwing my cloak - wide out - around my front, and slice my knife right through his neck. His head falls off his shoulders, spraying the inside of my cloak with blood, as Jack, Sam, Moke, and Teal'c charge through the door.
"No guards?" Jack asks, glancing at the decapitated body at my feet as Sam hurries over to check out Daniel.
"None that I saw." I say, stepping away from the body as Teal'c aims his big staff-like weapon at it. He fires twice and it vaporizes right in front of me.
"Are you okay?" Jack asks, as I toss my cloak away, after wiping my face with a clean portion.
"Yeah." I say, easily taking Daniel's vital readings.
"Is he?" Jack asks.
"He'll be all right." I say, standing up to go retrieve my jacket. "We should get out of here soon."
"Is it safe to move him?" Sam says, failing at her attempts to hide her controlled anger at me.
"I didn't appreciate any skull or neck trauma, so I'm sure it's just fine to get him the hell out of harm's way." I tell her impatiently. "Can we go? We don't know how many guards are on their way."
"Right." I say, as Teal'c hauls the still unconscious Daniel to his feet and Jack helps carry him as we head out. We join up with Merrique and Vep, and haul ass out of the fortress. We pick up the horses here we left them and pause to see if we are being followed.
"There are binoculars in your pack." Jack says, as I stare in the direction of the fortress.
"I'm good. They've sent out quite a few guards. My count is twenty-four, none with horses, though."
"Four to one." Jack says.
"At least. We should get moving, they're gaining fast and I think you would want to fight on favorable ground."
"Right." Jack says, turning around to face everyone else. "Saddle up."
"Daniel's still out." Sam says, as I turn around.
"Hey," I say, moving over next to her and taking out a little flashlight I'd found in my pack earlier. She moves over quickly and I check Daniel's eyes to make sure his brain isn't fried. "Pupils equal and reactive, but he is out cold, sluggish response to painful stimuli. We can move him if someone puts him on the horse."
"Let's do it." Jack says, as I stand up. I get on my horse and Teal'c and Jack semi-carefully put Daniel on the horse in front of me before getting on their own horses, and we take off into the forest.
We ride hard until well after Daniel wakes up, at which point I help him into a more comfortable position in front of me and once I get him holding the reins straight he steers and rides like a natural with only minimal help from me. We dismount in a suitable glade and Sam helps me set traps away from the parameter while Jack and Moke ready the camp, and Daniel and Merrique rest. Once the traps are set - including one especially nasty one involving a length of rope and a spare knife from Moke, - Sam and I head into camp to have dinner and lay plans for a quick defense.
"So what precisely are we going to do? Hand to hand, long range artillery, mix and match, or what?" I ask, as we finish our meal.
"Mix 'n match." Jack says, finishing his coney and biscuit. "Tyler, Moke, you can take hand to hand. Carter, Teal'c and I will shoot at 'em."
"Okay." I say simply.
"What about Merrique and I?" Daniel asks rather suddenly. "I don't think I'm up for a fight, but there's no where to hide."
"Who told you that?" I ask, grinning in pure amusement. "This is a forest, you have a wide variety of places to hide. Pick one; behind or above."
"Above, I guess." Daniel says, after a moment's thought.
"Merrique?" I ask.
"Above. I'll take no chance of being taken again." Merrique says nervously.
"All right, and Vep?" I ask.
"I'll find somewhere to fit in, in either battle or in the trees." Vep says.
"Sounds good, let's get moving." Jack says, standing up.
"Trees?" Daniel asks me, after I stand up.
"Didn't climb many as a kid eh?" I say teasingly, half smiling. "Don't worry about it."
"Yeah, right." Daniel says slowly, as I get some rope.
"Merrique, you first." I say, as I look up at the boughs of the trees to figure out which way to hide her. I choose to take her West and lead her that way. I stop us near a tree and jump into the lower branches I swing back down to help Merrique into the tree behind me and - once she's in the tree beside me - lead her higher. I settle he into one of the higher branches on the South side of the tree and tie her to the tree trunk, loosely but still securely. I quickly descend though the boughs and drop out of the tree. I make my way back to the camp quickly, passing Jack on my way without his noticing.
"Daniel, your turn." I say, surprising him, I think, as he leaned on a tree with his eyes closed.
"That was quick." Daniel says.
"Think you can keep up?" I ask.
"Well, yeah. I can keep up with Jack…" Daniel mutters to me as I start to lead him South.
"Kelly, wait." Sam says, as we pass her.
"What's up?" I ask, pausing when I see that she's holding a longbow and quiver full of arrows.
"Dalarek dropped this off for you." Sam says, holding the bow and quiver out for me. I take them and test the draw of the bowstring.
"Nice." I say, truly appreciative of the old fashion longbow. "Any problems with me using this?"
"No." Sam says.
"Cool." I say, slinging the quiver over my shoulders. "Thank you for the bow, Dalarek."
"He left…" Daniel says, as puzzled as Sam, as we walk out of the glade.
"That's what you think." I say cryptically.
I find a big tree not too far off the South side of the camp and jump into the lower boughs. I swing down to help Daniel into the tree.
"You're kidding me." Daniel mutters disbelievingly.
"No, but we should hurry so let's go." I say impatiently.
"There's no way that would work."
"Yes, it will, has never failed me before, would you please get up here?" I say, a bit more sharply than I intend, but he jumps a bit and wraps his arms around my waist tightly. I wrap my arms around his wais and lift us into the tree. I lead him up into the tree, helping him along the way, and settle him into a sturdy branch on the Western side of the tree. "I'm sorry I was so short with you a minute ago." I say, tying him just as I had tied Merrique to the trunk. "I don't wait well."
"Oh, it's all right." Daniel says, slowly. "Where's your uh…"
"Quiver? I hung it on the lower boughs with the bow." I say. "I'll be back soon, stay quiet." He starts to say something and I kiss him on the mouth quickly. "For luck." I whisper, and drop down to the next bough before he can regain his thought pattern to respond. I pick up my new bow and quiver and immediately head North towards the camp. I drop out of the tree next to Jack, landing in a crouch, looking over his shoulder at the diagram of the glade that someone had drawn in the dirt. "Slight change of plans." I whisper, clearly startling the living daylights out of the guy. "I'll pick one or two off from the trees, okay?"
"Fine, whatever." Jack says, and we hear some of the traps as they're sprung as I jump back into the trees, and move over to the West a little bit as I notch my first arrow, readying the second and third arrows. The first three Jaffa soldiers come into the camp, it takes under four seconds for me to drop all three, Jack and Sam getting off a few shots at the same time. I decide to drop out of the tree when I see the next eighteen soldiers not far from the edge of camp, and Moke about to rush all of them. The soldiers take aim at me mostly, a few shoots, so I flip and dodge the shots to get closer to the soldiers. I knock a soldier out with a few punches and take his partner's quarterstaff type weapon. I turn to the rest of the soldiers - expecting to see sixteen not engaged soldiers, - and am surprised that only four remain standing. I shrug as I continue to spin the staff weapon end over end in front of me as the other guy I was facing looks for an opening. I slam one end into the guy's stomach, stabbing downwards as he doubles over, breaking the guy's neck. Two of the final three decide that I am the lesser enemy, so I slam them both in the face at the same time, breaking their noses, and hitting them again at a different angle to drive the shards of broken bone into their brains.
"Did they even get any shots off?" I ask, throwing the staff weapon like a javelin at the guy that almost has Moke down. The thrown weapon caves in the back of the soldier's skull upon impact and he collapses.
"Silly question Tyler," Jack says, walking over to me as I make sure the three I fought hand to hand aren't just unconscious. "How many this fight?"
"Seven, not counting the three caught in the traps." I say somberly.
"That's seven and a half, you deserve credit for the last one." Moke says, while he tries to catch his breath.
"Okay." I say, grabbing a piece of wood and a bit of cloth to make a torch.
"We should head back to town." Sam says, inspecting the overall damage.
"Good call in keeping the horses Southwest, by the way." Jack says sarcastically.
"Sir, the soldiers came from the Northeast." Sam says in my defense.
"I know." Jack says. "Why don't you go get Daniel and Merrique so that we can leave?"
"Not till I know what else is ahead." I say, lighting the torch.
"No one else follows you this night." Dalarek says softly from behind me.
"All right." I say, tossing the torch into the fire. "Back in a bit." I go retrieve Merrique first, heading East and taking my own sweet time making my way back to camp so that Moke can clean up for his mother a little bit.
"Dalarek, I almost forgot." I say, when I return to camp again, before he can leave. "Thank you for use of these." I hold out the longbow for him to take back.
"You're welcome, but those are gifts, I cannot take them back." Dalarek says.
"Oh. Then I'll keep them in good condition." I say, replacing the bow on my back.
"And I'll take my leave." Dalarek says, and jumps into the nearest tree.
"Tyler," Jack calls.
"I know, I'm going." I say, heading South. I find the tree I put Daniel in and climb it quickly. "Hey."
"Hi." Daniel says.
"How are you feeling?" I ask, cutting the rope I tied him with.
"Better than you, I think." He says, touching the right side of the top of my forehead, I wince and immediately come to the conclusion that there's a cut there.
"Nah, that's nothing."
"Oh is it?"
"Yeah, you should see the other guy." I say jokingly.
"What did who do?" Daniel asks, now serious.
"You mean what I call 'final score'?" I ask, suspecting that I am right. "Vep got one, Moke gottwo and a half, Sam and Jack got five apiece, Dalarek got three, the traps got three, and I gotsix and a half."
"There were twenty-six?"
"Yeah, and Dalarek says there aren't any more in the forest." I say, matching his disbelief with my amazement.
"I still can't figure out how we got out." Daniel mutters softly.
"I'm not sure, we didn't really encounter much trouble on the way out." I say quietly. "C'mon." I start to lead him down.
"No, I mean," Daniel says hesitantly as he follows me down, "why am I not dead?".
"Because the guy with the hand-doohickey is."
"Oh." Daniel says, as we reach the lower boughs. I drop out of the tree and he's not so quick to follow.
"Don't try to show off, just get down here." I say softly, as comfortingly as I can while trying very hard not to giggle.
"Okay, uh…" Daniel murmurs, a second later his legs swing down rather wildly. "Help?" He gasps.
"Here," I say, grabbing his ankles. "Keep your grip." I pull gently to ease him down, adjusting my grip accordingly whenever necessary. He loses his grip when I grab him by the hip, probably startling him, which throws me off balance, and we tumble to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Daniel asks, a moment later as we gaze at each other, and while he is still lying on top of me.
"Yeah, you?"
"I'll be fine, as soon as you move your arm."
"Hey, at least I didn't drop you." I say teasingly, and we share a chuckle at that. "All right, up. I can't feel my left arm anymore."
"Did you hurt it in the fall?" Daniel asks, rolling to my right.
"No, you just cut off the circulation." I say, smiling as I flip back to my feet. I help him to his feet and we start to head back to camp.
"What's wrong?" Daniel asks, as I slip my arm around his waist.
"Hm? Oh, nothing."
"You sure? You seem a little reflective."
"And you seem a little presumptuous. No. It's just that… I don't really know how to put this, it's totally new to me."
"It's okay, take your time."
"Well… when I realized that you were the one being hurt I completely flipped out. I've never reacted quite that strongly to anyone before."
"Oh, and this is a problem?"
"Not - precisely… I'm just not sure how to handle it. I mean, I know I don't want to get rid of the source, but with what I'm capable of I think I need to - "
"I understand." Daniel says, sounding completely heartbroken.
"No, you don't." I say, slightly annoyed at being interrupted. "I need to find a new way to control my temper."
"Oh." Daniel says, his voice full of relief. "Wow"
"What?" I ask softly.
"We really are on the same page."
"Well, I thought so."
"You did?" Daniel asks.
"Girl can dream, right?" I joke, Daniel smiles and I kiss him on the mouth shortly.
"You must've been your parents' worst nightmare as a teenager." Daniel says, laughing softly.
"Nah, that was Dae's job." I say smiling. "Hey people."
"Well you two look cozy." Jack says sarcastically. "Do I even want to ask?"
"I kind of fell out of a tree." Daniel says.
"Twisted ankle." I say.
"Oh, well let's go." Jack says, motioning over towards the horses.
"Wanna ride in front again?" I ask Daniel, as everyone heads for the horses.
"Sure." Daniel says slowly. "Are you sure you're not concussed?"
"Yeah, I'm all right." I say, as we approach our horse. "This is nothing."
"Oh." Daniel says, getting on the horse. "So what's been your worst injury?"
"Oh, I don't know… I've been shot three times, once with a bow and arrow, and stabbed twice." I say, my hand subconsciously drops to the spot just above my left knee, where I have a scar from my first knife wound. "I've dislocated my shoulder a few times, too."
"Woah." Jack says, riding to one side and in front of us.
"Who shot you with a bow?" Sam asks, riding up beside Daniel and I.
"My sister, by accident, in the arm." I say, tapping the faded scar on my left arm.
"How old were you?" Daniel asks.
"Fourteen." I say.
"Your parents must be insane." Jack says.
"Yeah. Kinda." I say, making a mental note not to fall asleep until Dr. Fraiser checks me out. "Nothing clinical, they're both just wildly imaginative."
"Very interesting. Let's go." Jack says.
We pick up the pace, ride into town, return the horses, make sure Merrique and Moke get home safely, and head back to the Stargate.
"Daniel, dial us up." Jack says as we approach the grove.
I watch him walk over to a circular pedestal with an orange globe of glass in the center and panels with runes on them surrounding it. He pushes down a particular seven panels and the 'gate activates.
"Do you think I'll ever get used to that?" I ask Daniel quietly.
"Maybe." Daniel says softly.
"Hm. Bummer." I say, as Jack, Sam and Teal'c walk through the 'gate and Daniel and I start to follow them.