Sorry this one took so long, but Daniel had a lot of processing to do over the fact that his parents were really alive and so wasn't in a very talkative mood for a while.

Is there something you want to tell us, Dannyboy?

Oct 29, 2001

The gate shut off with a woosh, as SG-1 stepped onto the surface of P6X547. This was their first mission back together, since Daniel had gotten rid of his cast and finished physical therapy.

The linguist had been kind of quiet and a little moody, since the departure of the Potters on their quest to find their son. All attempts by his friends and co-workers to try and cheer him up and get him interested in what was going on around him, while not exactly a failure, hadn't exactly been a rousing success either.

Jack figured that what Daniel needed to get himself back to normal was a few days on some alien world poking around some interesting ruins. So once Janet had declared the archeologist fit to go off-world again, he'd started looking for a likely world. When the MALP and UAV flyovers had revealed the unusual ruins on this planet, Jack had spoken to the General and convinced him to let SG-1 have the mission.

As Daniel started to head toward the hill that the ruins were on the other side of, Jack couldn't resist saying, "Remember Daniel, the General only gave us a couple of days for you to play with your rocks."

Glaring at his friend, Daniel strongly resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at the older man.

"Teal'c, I'll take point." O'Neill smirked as he moved quickly to get in front of the archeologist, before Daniel could get too far ahead.

While the MALP and UAV hadn't shown any potential sentient life on this world, Jack swore that sometimes Daniel could find trouble in an empty room. He didn't do it deliberately, Jack was certain of that, but no matter how innocent looking a situation was, it was like the universe had decided to make Daniel a magnet for whatever disasters happened to be lurking in the area waiting to happen.

General Hammond had commented to him more than once that the rest of SG-1 was just as bad as Dr. Jackson. And when he was being honest with himself, Jack had to admit there was a grain of truth in that statement, but Daniel was far worse at attracting trouble than he, Sam, and Teal'c put together.

It took about an hour to reach the ruins, and Jack was pleased to discover on the outskirts of the complex of ruins that there were still a couple of building that were intact that they could use for shelter. And from either one they had a good view of the area, leading up to the complex from the gate.

He looked over at Daniel and was pleased by the expression on his face. The younger man looked like a kid in a toy store, not knowing where to go first. He nudged Carter, and gestured with his head toward the archeologist, who was oblivious to them.

Sam smiled, relieved to see that expression on Daniel's face. She knew very well that the Colonel had gotten this mission for Daniel, to try and get him out of his funk. She had no doubt that O'Neill would be bored out of his mind for the next couple of days, but he was willing to endure it for Daniel. Sometimes, at least in the privacy of her own mind, Sam thought the Colonel considered Daniel like a cross between a younger brother and the son he still missed even after the time that had passed since Charlie's death, and he would do almost anything for him as long as it didn't compromise the safety of Earth or the team.

"Daniel." Jack called and when the other man didn't respond he repeated the call a little louder, "Daniel!"

"Huh," he could tell the archeologist was only half listening as he looked at the carvings on the pylon nearest him.

"Daniel, we need to set up camp." Jack told him. "There's a building over here that's intact and we're gonna use it."

"Ok," Daniel agreed, not turning his attention from the pylon as he got out his camera, so he could record the carvings.

Not having the heart to drag the younger man away, since this had been the whole purpose in coming to this world in the first place, Jack just said, "Teal'c..."

"I will keep any eye on DanielJackson, while you and Major Carter set up camp." Teal'c correctly interpreted his request before he had a chance to voice it.

Oct 31, 2001 3:00pm

Daniel popped the tape out of his video camera and put in a new one, so he could finish recording the carvings on the walls of the temple, at least that's what he assumed this building was. Jack had already been by twice to remind him they were leaving at 6pm.

Before starting on the final wall, Daniel shook his head at O'Neill's antics. The Colonel must have been bored out of his mind for the last two and a half days, given that so far there had been nothing here for him to shoot at or blow up. He was still amazed at his friend's thoughtfulness some times. While he may have only been going through the motions over the last couple of months since the Potters left, Daniel knew that O'Neill had chosen this mission solely because of him. Only a real friend would choose to do something that would bore them to death, in an effort to try and cheer someone else up. Even after all this time in this universe and at the SGC, it still surprised Daniel when someone actually went out of their way to do something for him, without thinking about what they were going to get in return.

When he was living in the Wizarding world, with very few exceptions, the people he came into contact with and those who befriended him fell into the category of either users or 'fair weather' friends, who disappeared the moment he was labeled Dark or evil by those in power. Ron had been a prime example of a user. The youngest Weasley son had been his friend as long as he could share the spotlight or gain something from being Harry's friend. Daniel conceded that Ron's friendship with him had put the other boy in danger and that Ron had followed him into danger, but doing so still kept him in the spotlight. Ron had shown his true colors during the first part of the Triwizard Tournament, when it appeared that Harry was trying to get the spotlight to himself, by not even being willing to listen to him.

Unlike those in the Wizarding world, who viewed him as either hero or the next Dark Lord, depending on their own warped standard or what those in the press or power had to say, Jack, Sam, and Teal'c had stuck by him through the good and bad. And, he acknowledged, some of the bad had been pretty bad, like when he was addicted to the sarcophagus. In fact, the whole of the SGC had stood by him at one time or another, even when he had done things that angered The-Powers-That-Be, simply because it had been the right thing to do.

As he continued to video tape the 3 different sets of carvings, Daniel mentally thanked the Founders, yet again, for the Portal spell. It was thanks to them that he now had a family, not one of blood true, but it was one of spirit. Those families were by far the strongest and most enduring.

Over the last few months he had been very grateful for the undemanding presence of his 'family' as he tried to work through the knowledge that: A) his parents were really alive and B) had left him to fend for himself in the wizarding world with one of the darkest wizards out to kill him. While none of them had pressured to talk about what had made him go quiet and moody most of the time, his teammates had silently let him know that they were there if he wanted to talk and that they would stand by any decision he made regarding his problem. Daniel also knew that as long as introspective mood didn't start affecting their teamwork, they would never pry into it. Their belief seemed to be that he had a right to his secrets as much as they had a right to theirs and that was the exact opposite of how his former friends Ron and Hermione would have acted. They seemed to feel they had some right to know everything he was thinking and feeling while they could keep secrets from him, because they weren't the-boy-who-lived. From the summer of his fifth year at Hogwarts on, Harry had had the feeling that Ron and Hermione regarded him as more of an icon or maybe possession would be a more accurate term. One that had little or no right to keeping his own thoughts and feelings private and that they and the rest of the wizarding world had the right to decide how he was supposed to act and what he was supposed to do.

The sound of an explosion pulled Daniel's thoughts quickly back to the present. He heard the distinctive sound of several staff blasts, followed by the crackle of the radio in his vest.

"Daniel," He heard jack saying through the sound of gunfire and staff blasts, "we're pinned down by Jaffa. We didn't hear the gate, so they must've come in a cloaked ship. Get back to the gate…"

Jack's voice was suddenly cut off by a whine and Daniel saw a bright flash of light from the doorway of the temple. Having heard that whine and seen that flash in conjunction with it a few times before, Daniel knew that his teammates had been taken out by a Goa'uld stun grenade. Given that he and his teammates were very well known by all the System Lords, unless they'd been living under a rock, he knew it wouldn't be long before the Jaffa started looking for him. If Jack was right, and they hadn't come through the gate, then they undoubtedly had a ship in orbit. He needed to get to his friends, before they could be moved off-world, but he needed to do it without being seen.

Daniel quickly gathered up his pack and cast a quick notice-me-not spell and a silencing spell so hopefully they wouldn't see or hear him and got out of the temple before they could head this way. While the spells he'd cast would prevent the Jaffa from detecting him, he didn't know if they would work with the symbiotes they carried or a host.

Since becoming Daniel Jackson, he had only done small bits of magic and then only when absolutely necessary. He used spells that didn't require obvious gestures and that worked just as well if it were muttered instead of said out loud. He'd continued this practice upon joining the SGC, especially when he was around the Goa'uld, or someone he didn't know that well at the base.

To a certain extent, it was because he didn't want to become dependent on using magic to solve every problem they were confronted with, but the main reason was he didn't want to attract the attention of either the NID. If the NID or those in power found out what he could do, he would be whisked away to a hidden lab somewhere to be poked and prodded til they figured out how he could do it. And God help him if the System Lords found out what he could do. He knew if that happened, he would instantly become the most desirable Tau'ri to have as a host. He supposed that after Shifu's visit he could have done more visible magic, and passed it off as stuff the boy had taught him, but he hadn't wanted to. If the General had known what he could do, the man would never let him off-world, except in the direst emergencies and he loved visiting other worlds and meeting other people.

Daniel made it out of the temple just a few minutes before the Jaffa reached it. While he was fairly certain the Notice-Me-Not spell would hold, Daniel still moved slowly between the ruins that made up the temple complex. There was no point in taking foolish risks while trying to get to his teammates. Given that the Jaffa had used a stun grenade, he felt fairly confident that their master had given orders to capture rather than kill anyone they found and that meant they were going to be taken off-world, wither through the gate or to a ship.

He couldn't help wondering why the Jaffa had come to P6X547. It couldn't have been because of them, not matter how much the Goa'uld wanted to get rid of them, they couldn't have known SG-1 would be there. This planet was off the beaten track as far as the System Lords were concerned and as far as the SGC's sweeps with UAV and MALP had been able to determine, there were no other signs of habitation, except these ruins. The only thing Daniel could assume was that they had come looking for something, and given that at least part of the text carved into the walls had been in the language of the Ancients, he would bet a month's pay, that the Goa'uld these Jaffa worked for was probably Anubis, or one of his underlings.

No one at the SGC had reported meeting Anubis yet, but after that Goa'uld summit earlier in the year, they knew he had managed to somehow get back into the ranks of the System Lords. From what information the Tok'ra had been able to provide and rumors that were out there, they knew the other System Lords were acting very cautious about Anubis' return and that this as yet unseen Goa'uld was absolutely obsessed with locating technology left behind by the Ancients and in some cases an absolutely uncanny knack for finding those sites.

He reached his teammates, who were sprawled unconscious on the dirt with two Jaffa standing guard over them and their packs. A quick glance at the symbols on their foreheads confirmed his guess that these Jaffa worked for one of Anubis' underlings; Osiris, and one of them was her First Prime.

The first Prime pulled out a communicator and spoke, "My Lord Osiris, we found intruders in the ruins and have captured them."

"Are they natives?" Daniel shuddered at hearing the harsh tone of a host in Sarah's voice as she responded.

"No, my lord," The first prime told her, "They appear to be Tau'ri. And given that the shol'va who was once First Prime of Apophis is among our prisoners, I believe we have captured SG-1."

"Indeed," Osiris sounded interested. "Do you have all four?"

"Not yet, my lord," Osiris' First Prime sounded regretful. "From the descriptions we have been given, we have captured O'Neill, Carter, as well as the Shol'va. I have men out now looking for the one called Jackson."

When there was no scathing remark from his god about failing to capture the fourth Tau'ri, he breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to die just now, especially not for failing his god. Far better to die in battle for the glory of Osiris. That was the way a Jaffa should die.

There was a few more moments of silence and he began to get a little worried, when Osiris spoke again. "I trust you already have the Chapa'ai guarded?"

"Yes, My Lord," the First Prime was quick to assure her. "I sent sever Jaffa to secure it, as soon as I realized it was the tau'ri we were facing."

"The Tau'ri, Jackson, is known to us. He is almost as much trouble as the others combined." Osiris told her First Prime. "So I will be sending down additional Jaffa to help in the search. Once they arrive, send the three prisoners up, then concentrate your search on finding Jackson. He may have already found the Sola Inga."

Daniel felt a little offended by Osiris' comment. It wasn't true. Jack caused way more trouble than he ever did, simply by not listening when he or Sam tried to tell him things.

His argument with himself was interrupted by the sound of rings descending. When the rings had finished transporting down the additional troops, he thought that there were at least twenty additional Jaffa awaiting orders. In a way, he felt absurdly pleased by the unintended compliment Osiris had paid him. She considered one archeologist enough of a threat that she would send down that many Jaffa, just to find and contain him. He couldn't help wondering what the Goa'uld would do if she knew just how dangerous he really could be if he put his mind to it. Not that these Jaffa would have the chance to find that out, since he intended on ringing up to Osiris' ship with his teammates.

The rings would normally only hold three or four adults at a time. If he was going to have any chance of getting on that ship he was going to have to go up with the smallest group where there would be less chance one of them would bump into to him. The notice-me-not charm only prevented them from seeing him. It didn't mean they wouldn't be able to feel him, if they got close enough. In the end, he transported up with a single Jaffa, who was bringing up the gear they had taken from his teammates.

He quickly moved away from the rings and checked the area out. His friends were nowhere in sight, but he hadn't expected them to be. He had a good idea of where they were being held, given that they'd spent a lot of time on Goa'uld ships, he was pretty familiar with the layout. One thing he knew about the System Lords, for a parasitic race with delusions of godhood, most of them were very slow to change what worked for them in the past.

Daniel followed the group of Jaffa that were taking the team's gear away. He needed to know where they were going to store it. They would need it once he'd gotten the others free. If nothing else, he needed to make sure he got the GDO's out of there.

Daniel waited in a corner out of the way until the Jaffa had left the store room, then with a quick wave of his hand, he sealed the store room door, so he wouldn't be disturbed while he got the most important equipment, out of the packs. Grabbing some granola and protein bars out of his pack, that he kept there for emergencies, Daniel quickly transfigured them into non-working GDO's. He didn't want the Jaffa or Osiris figuring out they'd picked up an unexpected passenger too soon and they would if any of the equipment went missing, before he had the chance to get back here with the others. Once he had the GDO's, Daniel collected a few of the zat's from Osiris' stores. He wouldn't have to worry about running out of ammo with these.

Once he felt sufficiently armed, Daniel debated for a moment on whether or not to leave the store room by the vents, but that decision was taken out of his hands, when the door started sliding open. Quickly ducking behind a storage container, Daniel recast the notice-me-not and silencing spells, before moving out into the corridor, behind a pair of Jaffa who'd come into get one of the containers.

Even with the spells in place, Daniel still moved slowly and cautiously through the corridors of Osiris' ship. The way his luck usually ran, if he got cocky and counted on those spells to get him through everything, they would wear off right when he was next to a large group of Jaffa.

It took him the better part of an hour to locate his teammates. It surprised him that Osiris would only have a couple of Jaffa on guard. Surely she knew the reputation SG-1 had among the System Lords. She must be extremely overconfident, if she thought that two Jaffa would be able to contain the unpredictable Tau'ri group known as SG-1. He quickly raised the zat and fired twice at the Jaffa guarding the cell door, then fired it a third time toward each corpse, getting rid of the bodies. Quickly dispelling the silencing and notice-me-not spells, Daniel turned his attention to the keypad by the door. After studying it for a moment, he touched several keys in sequence. The cell door opened to reveal a hand raised to strike.

When Teal'c had come to, he had found himself alone in the cell and worried about the fate of his companions. He hadn't heard the sound of weapons fire, but he had heard two thuds, and quickly realized that something was up. He had no idea what was going on outside his solitary cell, but he prepared himself, in case this was his chance to escape. As the door slid open, he raised his hand for a killing blow. As the person on the other side of the door back-pedaled, he realized who it was and pulled the blow before it could reach its intended target.

"DanielJackson!" Teal'c stared at the archeologist, stunned. He looked around, trying to see if the other two were with him. "Are O'Neill and Major Carter also free?"

"Aren't they in that cell with you?" Daniel asked.

"No, they aren't," Teal'c told him. "I woke up in the cell alone."

Daniel groaned. It would seem that Osiris had learned something from the failures of other System Lords: If you capture the Tau'ri team known as SG-1, do not leave them together in the same cell or disaster will befall you when they escape. The rescue had gotten much more difficult, because unless they got very lucky there was no way to get the other two, before someone found out one or more were free and figured out he had to be on the ship and not the planet.

"How did you manage to get on the ship, DanielJackson?" Teal'c wanted to know. "I heard no alarms indicating a prisoner had escaped."

Daniel knew he had to come up with a good story and fast. "I wasn't captured Teal'c. After I got Jack's warning, I spent some time avoiding Osiris' goons before getting lucky enough to take out one of them. They'd already sent you guys up and he had one of the ring controls on him." He reached into his pocket and quickly transfigured his money clip into one of the ring controls and pulled it out of his pocket. He'd have to make sure to lose it somewhere along the way, since it was a non-functional one. "So I it to get to her ship and real fortunate there was no one in the ring room when I ringed up. Inbetween avoiding Osiris' Jaffa, I've been looking for you guys. You're the first one I found and we need to find the others, before Osiris starts to get bored and wants to have some fun torturing you."

Teal'c looked at the archeologist carefully for a few moments. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was, but something about the archeologist's story did ring true. The only thing he did know for certain was that Daniel wasn't a host. He didn't feel like the Goa'uld. He put the mystery aside resolving to come back to it later and said, "I concur."

"There were only two guards here, so I don't think the others could be in cells in this area." Daniel told him, handing over one of the zats he taken. "And I've already checked out the rest of this level and there are no more holding cells in it."

Teal'c took the lead as the two men set out for the level. They had to go down another two levels before they found another guarded cell. This one held only O'Neill and he too had awoken in his cell alone and wondering what had happened to the others. They wasted no time on explanations, because all three men knew time was running out. They needed to find Sam and get off this ship before Osiris realized they were loose. They had just started searching the next level, when an alarm started sounding and a voice started speaking in Goa'uld.

"Daniel, what is he saying?" Jack wanted to know as they continued to move through the ship.

"Teal'c escape has been noticed, and they've ordered the Jaffa guarding the cells containing the two Tau'ri prisoners to check in." Daniel replied after a few moments.

A few minutes later there was another order given in a strident, demanding tone.

Without being prompted Daniel reported. "Sam's guards have checked in but yours have not, so Jaffa are heading this way to check on you."

"It won't be long before they use the ship's internal sensors to try and locate us." Teal'c advised O'Neill.

"I know," O'Neill agreed. "Teal'c, what's the quickest way to the peltak, from here?"

"That way, O'Neill," Teal'c pointing to a corridor going off the right after he checked their surroundings.

"Why the peltak, Jack?" Daniel asked.

"Because if I was Osiris, I would have my one remaining prisoner to where I could keep an eye on her, especially if I knew her companions would not want to leave with out her." Jack told him. "Osiris will undoubtedly be on the peltak, overseeing the search."

"Sound thinking." Daniel commented.

"Besides which, she'll definitely have the ring room guarded, so we're going to need a hostage to get out of here and if we can get the drop on Osiris..." Jack's voice trailed off.

Their pace through the corridors of the ship was reduced to a crawl as they started having to dodge the Jaffa who were searching for them. They couldn't afford to get pinned down in a firefight, just now.

They were still a short distance away from the peltak, when they encountered a large squad of Jaffa, led by Osiris'. Standing almost directly in front of Osiris, was Sam with the Goa'uld's hand gripping her throat. There was no way that they fire at her, without risking her final muscle spasm be the one that crushed Sam's throat.

"Ah, Dr. Jackson, I see you decided to join your friends." Osiris commented as if they were discussing the weather. "You have always been more trouble than you are worth. However before I kill you, I would like to know how you got on board my ship without being detected."

"Well, I don't feel like enlightening you." Daniel countered.

A quick glance behind confirmed that they were surrounded.

"Rather imagine, I can persuade you to talk," Osiris disagreed. "It all depends on how much pain you are willing to endure before you do. Now, since you are currently surrounded, I suggest you co-operate by putting your weapons on the deck, or I will kill Major Carter. There is no way for you to escape."

O'Neill glanced at his companions and nodded. As he was kneeling down to put his weapon on the deck, Daniel silently cursed the fates for putting him in this position. Before he could change his mind, he quickly extended his empty right hand and hollered, "Accio, Sam."

Osiris was surprised as an unseen force attempted to pull the female Tau'ri out of her grasp and her attempt to retain her hold on her prisoner resulted in them both being pulled to the ground. As her grip on Major Carter's throat came loose, the unseen force pulled the woman toward her companions.

Before the Jaffa could make a move to fire on them, Daniel shouted, "Crucio!" his hand pointed at Osiris.

The Goa'uld began writhing in pain, but it took several minutes before screams could be heard and they sounded strange in that double-echo voice. Daniel hated having to do this to Sara's body, but there really was no choice, if they were to get out of here. At least here, he didn't have to worry about being sent to Azkaban for casting an Unforgivable.

"You said something about pain and how much someone was willing to endure." Jackson's voice sounded like ice. "I wonder how much pain a parasite like you would be willing to endure."

"You will pay for this." Osiris just managed to grate out. "Jaffa attack!"

"I wouldn't do that," Daniel advised them calmly, "unless you want your god to be reduced to a vegetable."

"I'm.... your.... god... and... I... command...!" Osiris screamed again as the wave of pain intensified in the host body, faster than he could overcome it.

The Jaffa quickly recovered and raised their weapons to fire.

Daniel raised his hand from Osiris, then quickly turning sideways pointed his hands toward both groups of Jaffa and shouted. "Expelliarmus!"

SG-1 watched as the Jaffa were flung down the corridor, by an invisible force.

O'Neill just stared at his archeologist in stunned amazement, but before he could say anything, he saw that Osiris had gotten to her knees and swaying, the Goa'uld raised her hand. The crystal in the hand weapon was glowing and aimed right at Daniel. Seeing that Daniel's attention was focused on the Jaffa and not the Goa'uld, he shouted, "Daniel! Osiris!"

Returning his attention to the Goa'uld, Daniel pointed his hand at Osiris and said, "Incendio Astrum."

The anger behind the spell created a ball of fire so bright that they had to close their eyes as it flew toward the kneeling figure, engulfing it. The flames didn't last very long and what was left when they were done was a pile of fine white ash and melted depression in the deck.

"Is there something you want to tell us Daniel?" Jack inquired. He didn't like surprises. In fact he hated them and finding out one of your team had the power to turn a Goa'uld into a pile of ash and melt part of a ship's deck while they were at, was something he felt should not have been kept secret.

"I suppose." Daniel commented resignedly, then as more Jaffa appeared in the corridor, and they began firing their staff weapons, he added. "I think this discussion should wait til later, when people aren't trying to kill us, don't you, Jack?"

Firing their zats, the four members of SG-1 retreated toward the ring room.

Incendio Astrum - Star fire

(AN: Answers to questions asked in the reviews can be found in the Loprogue. Usually after the next update.)