Daniel attempted to walk as two of the thugs from his apartment dragged him from his makeshift cell, but his battered body refused to cooperate. He found himself being dragged back before the three members of his so-called tribunal. Through bruised and swollen eyes Daniel saw pieces from his weapons collection spread before him on the table. He also noted the extra guards in the room or maybe they were here merely to witness the trial. Stephen sat stiffly between two such men. There was a look of fear in Stephen's eyes now, Daniel noted. 'Good,' Daniel thought. 'Idiot got us both into this. He'd better be afraid 'cause when we get out of this, I'm going to murder him.' Daniel was pushed roughly into the wooden chair that was now stained with his blood. One of the guards then immediately cuffed his hands to the rungs of the chair.
"So you are not Immortal," Paul mused with the cultured accent of a British aristocrat.
"Was there some doubt before?" Daniel snapped straightening as best he could though the burns on his torso and his broken ribs protested every movement. "I would have thought your errand boys had already settled that question," Daniel pointed out. Daniel took a moment to study the man while he waited for him to respond. The man Julia had introduced as Paul was approaching sixty, Daniel guessed. His portly figure showed evidence of a sedentary lifestyle. Daniel guessed he was, as Jack would say, some desk puke whose closest experience to field work was reading the reports sent to him.
"Yes, well" Paul temporized looking at Julia and the other man, Ivan, for direction.
"There was the matter of these, Dr. Jackson" Julia said pointing to the weapons arrayed in front of her on the table, "and your involvement in James Horton's activities."
"I bought those at auction," Daniel told her. "I'd show you the receipts or the documents establishing provenance, but since I wasn't allowed to pack for myself..."
"Cheeky bugger!" Daniel heard one of the thugs say just before his head was snapped around with the force of the blow he hadn't seen coming.
"Enough!" Julia commanded with a shout. "And what of your activities with your foster father?" she asked in a quieter voice.
"I haven't seen him since I left," Daniel informed them. "He's the reason I did leave."
"Were you helping him?" the third judge finally asked in heavily accented English. "Are you a Hunter, Dr. Jackson?"
"No, I didn't help him," Daniel said. "He wanted me to help him find the old ones...the lost ones. He was obsessed about it really. It freaked me out. I left to get away from him hoping he'd lose interest. I just wanted to be done with him and with the Watchers."
"And what did he wish to do with that information?" Paul questioned.
"I don't know," Daniel lied because he did know and he had done something. He'd warned the one Immortal he felt safe approaching with the information, Darius. He'd even given the ancient priest one of the chronicles to help convince him. Before joining the Stargate program, Daniel would have probably told them the truth. Now he knew better. This tribunal was looking for an excuse to kill him. So far, he'd given them nothing, but telling an Immortal, even Darius, about the Watchers would definitely give them the excuse they wanted. "I didn't stick around to find out."
"You're lying," Julia stated then nodded to the man with the jumper cables.
"I'm not lying," Daniel whispered hoarsely minutes later as the thug moved away from him. "I swear."
"Then we shall tell you," Paul said. "Horton was hunting Immortals...killing them."
"I had no idea," Daniel reiterated. "I didn't know."
Before any of the three could respond there was a commotion at the door. Guards were pushed out of the way as an older man limped in leaning on a cane. "What the HELL do you idiots think you're doing?" Joe Dawson demanded as he stormed towards the tribunal at the table.
"This isn't your concern, Joseph" Julia told him as she rose to stand.
"The hell it isn't!" Joe retorted stopping next to Daniel's chair. "Daniel, you still live in the States, right?"
"Yeah," Daniel answered immediately still shocked to see the other man here. A second later, Daniel remembered where he was and what was going on. "Get out of here, Joe" Daniel commanded. "Don't risk..."
"Shut up, Danny" Joe snapped. He seemed surprised when Daniel actually obeyed, but he'd sounded so much like Jack when he was in command mode that his reaction had been automatic. "As the North American supervisor," Joe stated. "Daniel is my concern."
"You are too close to this, Dawson" Ivan attempted to sooth Dawson. "We will handle this matter."
"Like you wanted to 'handle' me a few years ago?" Joe demanded. "I don't think so!"
"You really have no choice in the matter," Ivan told the older man as he snapped his fingers to the men stationed around the room.
"Yeah, actually, I do," Joe disagreed as he pulled a small object from his pocket. Joe yanked the pin then tossed the canister away toward the small crowd of Watchers. "Close your eyes!" Joe commanded Daniel as he toppled both Daniel and the chair falling on top of both himself.
