Parallels(formerly entitled "PT2571")


Author's Note: I have changed the plotline of this story a bit and so I have done some pretty large revisions in this chapter. There are some new and changed scenes! And for you Tolkien-savvy people out there, I would consider several elements of the LotR side of this fic to be AU (not everything that happens in the Trilogy or in Tolkien's other LotR-related books is considered to be absolutely true in this fic… that is just what makes this particular story idea work the best!). THIS FIC TAKES PLACE DURING 5TH SEASON OF SG-1.

This is my first crossover fanfic ever. In fact, I never really liked crossover fics until I came up with this idea. Anyway, I will apologize now for any technicalities you might find throughout the course of this story. It would be possible for me to research and look up all of the millions of details that could be in this thing, but since I don't have months worth of time to spend doing that, I'm going to have to go with just skimming over some of the stuff that would be cool (but not absolutely necessary) to go into. Sorry. I will do my best though. And by the way, if there is anyone out there who has a working knowledge of Welsh or Egyptian hieroglyphics, I could really use your help for parts of this. The R rating is for language and violence, and although romance is not a main part of this story, it might slip in for a guest appearance…


Chapter One: Arrival

Daniel Jackson sneezed explosively, then wiped his hand on his pants and sniffed, looking around with growing dismay at the wide variety of flora and fauna that covered the forest floor.

"Bless you," Colonel Jack O'Neill muttered, passing by Daniel to check on the probe they had sent through the Stargate before them.

"Thanks," Daniel returned, joining the Colonel beside the probe. But after a quick inspection of the machine O'Neill waved a hand dismissively.

"It's fine," he said. "Just a little tangled in the underbrush."

Daniel nodded but said nothing in reply. He looked nervously to the trees looming above him, not sure he felt entirely comfortable in this forest. Things seemed too quiet. Of course, maybe this planet didn't have birds... His gaze drifted right, focusing on the dark mountain range that rose sharply out of the earth a few hundred miles away. The peaks of the mountains reached far overhead and despite their distance from the 'Gate they seemed to darken the sunlight. Daniel wondered if he was the only one who thought the sky over the mountains seemed unnaturally gloomy. But then something else caught his eye.

"Hey, um, guys," he said, moving over to peer more closely at the base of PT2-571's Stargate. "Come look at this."

Jack was the first one to reach him, followed by Major Samantha Carter and the Jaffa Teal'c. They gathered around Daniel as he ran his free hand over the roughly hewn rock that held the Stargate upright. "This isn't the Stargate's original base," he said, frowning. "This is just a boulder with a hacked out indentation for the gate to sit in."

Teal'c moved closer, glancing over the crude cradle with expert eyes. "It appears Daniel Jackson is correct," the Jaffa confirmed, his voice low and deep. "This base appears too primitive to be either Goa'uld or the original makers' technology. And it has no stairs."

"So I noticed," Colonel O'Neill commented, rubbing the bruised shoulder he had landed on after being spat rather unceremoniously from the mouth of the 'Gate. The lack of stairs had also been the reason for the probe's rough tumble. "But what exactly does that mean, the fact that this isn't the original base? I mean... is that bad?"

Daniel shrugged, turning around to face the Colonel. "It could mean a couple of things, actually. But most likely it means the 'Gate has been moved from wherever it was originally to here. Although why they'd want to put it in a place like this is beyond me." He looked again to the mountains beside them.

"Perhaps the original location became unreachable," Teal'c suggested. "Much like your Earth's second 'Gate location."

Daniel nodded. "Well, that's definitely a possibility. And they did bring the Dial Home Device here too, so..."

"Whoever moved it wanted to use it," Carter spoke up.

Daniel nodded again. "And the fact they took the time to cut out the rock... it couldn't have been a quick decision. The moving of the Stargate had to have been planned ahead of time." He craned his neck to look up at the tree branches above the gate. He pointed for the others to look as well. "And look at these branches. They're big and reach right over the Stargate's current position. It would be easy to make up some kind of pulley system here to lift the gate and set it into the rock base."

"Uh huh," Jack mused, obviously not quite following Daniel's train of thought. "And this is all important because...?"

Daniel blinked. "Well because one of our primary objectives is to make contact with people of other planets, right?"

"Yah..." the Colonel drawled impatiently.

"So..." Daniel gestured back at the Stargate and the boulder it sat in. "This set up suggests cooperative intelligence. Obviously they aren't technologically advanced, but they seem to know what the Stargate does, and they moved it on purpose."

Colonel O'Neill raised one eyebrow expectantly.

"There're people here, Jack," Daniel elaborated. "And they weren't Goa'uld or they would have made a better base."

"Ahhh. Well," Jack sighed, "you could have just said that in the first place."

Daniel looked to Major Carter in exasperation, but she just smiled and shrugged.

"All right," the Colonel said casually. "Since the inhabitants of planet PT2-571 didn't see fit to send out a welcome party, I guess we'll just have to go and find them." He smiled dryly at the rest of his team. "We've got six hours before our first report back to General Hammond is due, let's see if we can have something to say by then." He turned and led the way deeper into the woods. "This way, kids. Keep your eyes and ears open, though. If these people turn out to be hostile, I don't want to find out the hard way."

The others fell into line behind the Colonel. Daniel motioned for Sam to go ahead of him and she gave him a nod as she passed. He followed her and Teal'c silently took up the rear. The four cautious visitors made their way as quietly as possible through the forest, weapons held at the ready and eyes constantly scanning their surroundings.

But the woods around them remained still.


Jack slowed his pace, bringing his weapon up and straining his eyes to look ahead through the many tree trunks and half grown saplings. He cursed under his breath, wishing for once they had landed in a nice, open area. It was impossible to see more then a few feet ahead in this underbrush, and he could have sworn he heard something…

A twig snapped somewhere off to his right and immediately the muzzles of four rifles swung in that direction. Jack didn't have to order the others to freeze and take up defensive positions, they had already done so. The forest around them plunged into deathly silence; the only sound penetrating the stillness was the quiet breathing of the four motionless people beneath the trees. A slight breeze rustled through the branches overhead, loosing a few green and yellow leaves which twirled in lazy spirals down to the ground and settled silently on the dirt.

A sour smell suddenly filled Jack's nostrils and he wrinkled his nose, grimacing in disgust. He tried to breathe through his mouth, wondering what the hell could make such a smell, but then the sharp snap of released twine and a cry from Daniel brought Jack's attention back to the task at hand. He whirled to face Dr. Jackson only to see the man fall to the ground, his gun forgotten and his left hand going to the arrow shaft protruding from his right bicep.

"Damn," Jack hissed, but then rifle fire exploded through the quiet as Teal'c and Major Carter opened fire into the brush where the arrow had come from.

Shrieks and grunts answered their shots, and Jack joined his fellow team mates at last, the gun bucking in his hands as he emptied a clip, aiming for vague movements of dark shapes among the green foliage. A few more arrows flew out from between the leaves, but all went wide and missed their targets.

Then Jack heard them coming from behind him, and he swung around and filled a leaping figure with bullets before it could land on him. He jumped back as its lifeless body hit the ground, making a face at the sight of it close up. It was ugly. Humanoid for sure, but ugly as hell. He brought the gun up again as two more of the creatures charged at him and Carter, and cut them down before they could get within arm's reach. The rest of the things, whatever they were, scurried off from their semi-hidden spots and vanished into the brush. The panicked sounds of retreating footsteps faded, and then the woods were quiet once more.

Jack did a quick visual sweep of their surroundings, then, satisfied they were alone for the moment, went to Daniel and knelt by the man's side. "Hey," he said softly, wincing at the sight of the spreading blood stain on Jackson's sleeve. "Were those the, uh, "cooperative intelligence" people you were talking about earlier?" He cracked a smile, trying to lighten the mood, and to his relief Daniel grunted, one corner of his mouth lifting in amusement.

"I don't know…" the archaeologist mused, "… possibly."

Jack frowned at the sound of Daniel's voice. He sounded slurred, almost like he was drunk. "Daniel… are you all right?"

Daniel opened his mouth, but it took him a moment to reply. He looked in Jack's direction but his eyes didn't seem to focus. "Um… no. I don't think… so. I think… it's a drug… poison… something…"

"Great." Jack looked up to the concerned faces of Carter and Teal'c. "We need to get this arrow out of him now. Major, get the first aid stuff. Teal'c, I'm gonna need your help to pull this out."

The Jaffa nodded, coming around to kneel beside the Colonel. He grasped the arrow shaft, bracing himself to pull it out, but Daniel grabbed his wrist suddenly.

"Wait…" Daniel croaked thickly. But then his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp, sagging back down to the ground.

"Damn," Jack swore. "Is he alive? Please say he's still alive…"

Teal'c checked Dr. Jackson's pulse and nodded gravely. "His heart still beats regularly. I believe he has simply fallen unconscious."

"Yah," Jack agreed, breathing a silent sigh of relief. "Carter, we need that first aid!"

"Right here," Sam replied, dropping in between the Jaffa and the Colonel. She swiftly cut the sleeve away from the injury with a small pair of scissors and peeled back the blood soaked material. "All right Teal'c," she said, opening a sterile gauze package. "Go ahead and pull it out."

The Jaffa nodded, then grasped the thick wooden shaft firmly.

"At least now he won't feel it," Jack mumbled.

Teal'c did not answer, but with one quick tug the arrow point came away easily from Daniel's arm. Teal'c balanced himself against the ground with his free hand, looking surprised at the ease with which the arrow had come free. Carter moved in immediately, putting the gauze patch over the bleeding wound and pressing down firmly. With her other hand she began to unwind some gauze wrap to hold the patch in place, and she nodded for Colonel O'Neill to tear off some medical tape from the roll.

He did so obediently, readying two short strips and handing them to Sam when she asked for them. After she had secured the wrap Sam sat back, surveying her work and sighing heavily.

"Well," she said, "that's all I can do. The wound doesn't look infected… at least not yet. But we have no idea what was on that arrow… it could be a slow working lethal poison for all we know."

Jack nodded. "We need to get him back to the SGC as soon as possible."

"I agree." Carter turned to Teal'c. "Teal'c, do you still have the arrow…" she trailed off as the Jaffa handed her the bloody projectile. She took it gingerly and inspected the metal tipped head. "Look," she said, pointing to the shoulders of the arrow head. "It's rounded on the wide end. It wasn't made to stick in the flesh, that's why it came out so easily. It's not meant to kill or maim… just to poison…"

"Wonderful," Jack commented sourly.

"We'll take it back with us," Carter said, pulling out a small Ziploc baggie from the first aid kit and dropping the small arrow into it. She sealed it back up carefully. "Janet might be able to analyze the poison from it."

Jack nodded. "All right. Let's get him up and get out of here, shall we?"

"Sounds good to me," the Major replied.

The Colonel stood and picked up Daniel's rifle, slinging it over his shoulder. "Teal'c, will you be able to carry him?"

"Yes," the Jaffa answered. "I believe I can manage."

"Good." Jack bent and picked up Teal'c's rifle as well, putting it over his other shoulder. Then he hefted his own weapon and motioned for them to move out. "Let's go. But be careful, those… things… might decide to come back."

"I'll be ready," Sam assured him.

Teal'c crouched down and carefully slid his arms beneath Daniel's neck and knees. The Jaffa stood slowly, lifting the unconscious Dr. Jackson, and then took up a spot between Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. "I am ready," he said.

Jack gave a final nod and once again led the way back through the woods, this time making a beeline for the Stargate.

But they hadn't gone very far before another figure moved out in front of Jack, holding a long curved bow with a strung arrow pointed right at Jack's nose. The Colonel raised his rifle but hesitated in pulling the trigger. This person was not one of those creatures… in fact he looked completely human, and he was dressed in a simple earth colored tunic and a long green cloak.

A movement out of his peripheral vision made Jack turn and he realized with sudden dismay that more cloaked people had surrounded his team within a circle of long arrows. He cursed himself silently, wondering how in the hell he could have let the SG-1 team be ambushed twice in one day.

"Sir…?" Carter's voice was full of apprehension, but the Colonel didn't answer her. His eyes were fixed on the person in front of him, obviously the leader of the band of strangers. The man was fairly tall and broad shouldered. His face was clear but lined with years of experience, his light blue eyes were hard and calculating and his dark blond hair fell freely to his shoulders. He glanced over Colonel O'Neill's group, and then, to Jack's surprise, asked a question in a strange language.

O'Neill blinked, having no idea what the man had just said. The Colonel looked over his shoulder to Daniel, but the Dr. was still unconscious. Great. The language expert among us is out for the count just when we need him the most. Okay then… He took a deep breath, then took a gamble and lowered his rifle. "Um… hi," he started awkwardly. "I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill. From Earth. We… come in peace."

The leader stared at him for a moment, and Jack felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. They don't understand me…

But then the strange man lowered his arrow and tilted his head. "You… speak the language of Belegrandir?"

Jack raised his eyebrows, shocked to hear the man speaking regular English. "Um, yes," the Colonel said at last, figuring he might as well go with it even if he didn't have the faintest idea who Belegrandir was. At least they could understand each other now. "We do indeed speak the language of… of… Beleg… whoever."

The man nodded, but his face looked troubled. "You say you are from Earth. I am not familiar with this realm. Tell me, in what direction can this Earth be found?"

Jack squinted at the question, not sure he fully understood. He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, trying to think of a simple way to explain things. This was usually where Daniel stepped in… Jack made a mental note to give Dr. Jackson a good, swift kick as soon as he recovered. The man's timing was impossibly bad. "Well," the Colonel began, "Earth is… it's…well it's…" he glanced back to Sam. "Carter?"

Sam stepped up eagerly, picking up where the Colonel had left off. "Earth is very far away from here," she supplied. "The only way to get there is to go through the Stargate. That's where we came from. We're explorers; we use the Stargate to go to other… realms… and make contact with the people there."

"Hopefully make friends with the people there," Jack muttered from behind her, his eyes pointedly going to the arrows that were still strung and aimed at him and his team.

The man in front of them was silent for a long moment, frowning. "Star… gate?" he repeated uncertainly.

"The cha'paa'ai?" Sam tried.

The man's frown only deepened.

"You know," Jack put in, "the big round stone ring with a bunch of funky symbols on it?"

Sam tossed a glance to O'Neill, but the stranger before them all at once seemed to realize what it was the Colonel spoke of. His blue eyes went wide, and then he put his bow and arrow away and bowed low.

Sam and Jack looked at each other uneasily; Teal'c raised one eyebrow in question.

The man straightened again, motioning for his men to lower their arrows. "I see now how you can speak the language of Belegrandir," he said. "And I welcome you, Colonel Jack O'Neill of Earth, and your companions, to the land of Ithilien. I am Barahir, son of Elboron, Steward of Gondor and Prince of Ithilien."

Sam lifted her eyebrows at the impressive title.

"Wow," Jack commented quietly. "Sounds important."

Barahir smiled briefly, but then his face became serious again. He looked over Sam's shoulder to the limp Daniel in Teal'c's arms. "I see you have one who is injured."

Sam nodded, but Jack stepped in front of her before she could reply.

"Yah. We were attacked by some big, ugly, smelly things. Look… we appreciate your welcome to Ilium, but we really need to be heading back to that big stone ring. We need to get our injured friend back to our realm so he can get help."

Barahir smiled sympathetically, shaking his head. "I am afraid you cannot do that."

"And… why not?" Jack asked slowly, feeling his fingers tighten around the grip of his rifle. Hospitable or not, he wasn't going to let these people get in the way of saving Daniel's life.

Barahir sighed heavily, casting a quick glance at the forest around them before answering. "Those creatures who attacked you, the Orcs… they attacked because they are looking for your… Stargate. They are always lurking around these parts… it would be too dangerous for you to leave now; you could lead them to it. They will be watching."

"Watching what?" Sam asked.

"You," Barahir replied. "They watch even now. I can feel their evil gaze upon my back. Can you not feel it also?"

Jack paused a moment, listening, smelling, "feeling", but he could detect nothing out of the ordinary. He started to wonder if this Barahir guy might have a few screws loose… "Sorry," he said aloud into the sudden quiet, "I don't feel anything."

"Yet they are near," Barahir insisted. "It is not safe here. You must come with me. This way." He turned on his heel, walking toward the North. The other cloaked strangers stood waiting, watching the SG-1 team expectantly.

Jack stared after the man, not liking this idea. He didn't yet know if these people were really "friendlies" or not. For all he knew this could be some kind of trap. But the other strangers around him didn't look to be the patient type, and Jack didn't really want to run into any more of those ugly creatures while Daniel was still incapacitated and Teal'c's shooting arm was unavailable. He sighed, shrugging helplessly at Sam's curious look, and began to trail in Barahir's footsteps.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Carter asked quietly once they were on their way.

O'Neill shrugged again. "I don't know," he answered, trying to keep his voice low. "But I don't think we have much of a choice given the circumstances."

"Sir, what about Daniel?"

Jack's brow furrowed. "Right." He took a breath, then called up to Barahir at the front of the party, "Hey! We still have a hurt man back here, you know. He needs medical attention as soon as possible! Like right now."

"You have no reason to worry, daug-randir," the man said over his shoulder. "Your friend is only sleeping; he is in no danger of death. We will travel to the home of the elves. He can be healed there, and the rest of you will be safe from the Orcs for a time."

Jack frowned, his steps momentarily slowing as he processed what Barahir had said. He turned to Sam, who walked beside him. "Carter," he asked, "did that man just say something about elves?"

Sam nodded. "Yes sir."

"Oh boy." Jack took off his baseball cap, ran a hand through his graying hair, and then pulled the cap over his head again. "Now I know these people are nuts."

"Barahir?" Sam called out suddenly. "Pardon me for asking, but… how do you know Daniel is only sleeping? How do you know he hasn't been poisoned with something that could kill him?"

Barahir turned to look over his shoulder again, his face grave. "The same thing that has happened to your friend has happened to my people many times. We are quite accustomed to the venom those Orcs use to poison their arrows. I can not discuss it now, but when we reach our destination I will tell you more. We have many things to talk about between us."

Colonel O'Neill snorted derisively, looking around at the woods they walked through to try and locate markers by which he might eventually find his way back with. "You got that right," he muttered.


Thoth looked up from the old and weathered parchment resting in his lap as the double doors leading to his audience chamber opened. He rolled the parchment quickly and stood from his throne, drawing himself up to his full six feet, five inches, and sighed irritably as his chief scout entered the room. The tallish, broad shouldered creature bowed before the wizard and then straightened, waiting for permission to speak.

Thoth nodded, wondering what would cause Gurtog to risk disturbing his Lord.

"My Lord," the Orc began, his guttural voice forming the Westron words with ease and speaking fast. "We have spotted strangers in the South… We believe they may have knowledge of the Rind i Galad."

Thoth felt a shock of disbelief course through him, his spine stiffening and holding him rigid. His crystal blue eyes flashed at his subordinate as he asked the question, "How long ago were they seen?"

The Orc shifted uncomfortably. "Not long ago, my Lord. We tried to capture them but they evaded us."

"They evaded you?" Thoth's fist tightened around the roll of parchment. "Explain yourself."

Gurtog bowed his head; swallowing visibly. "They carried strange weapons and wore armor such as I have never seen before. Their weapons killed half of my regiment by the time we could retreat. But we followed them, my Lord, in hopes of having another chance to ambush them. They were met by the Steward of Gondor… and I heard them talking…. My Lord, the strangers speak the language of Belegrandir! And they mentioned the Rind i Galad, but they used your name for it, my Lord. They called it… the Stargate."

Thoth felt his heartbeat quicken, the blood rushing past his ears. How could this be? After all his endless years of searching… could these strangers be the answer to all his troubles? Could it really be so easy? "How many of them were there?" he asked the scout, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I counted four of them, my Lord," Gurtog answered. "Three males, one female. One of the males went down under our arrows, but we were unable to get to him. The other three took him with them when they moved on."

A sudden sense of urgency gripped the wizard. "Where are they now?" he asked eagerly. "I hope for your sake you did not leave them alone to wonder the forest?"

"No," Gurtog assured him quickly. "No, my Lord. I left the other scouts behind to track them. But I did not wish to act further until I had informed you of their presence..."

Thoth smiled. "Very good. This is indeed good news, Gurtog. Continue to track these strangers. See if they return to the Stargate. If they do, you will report back to me immediately with the location. If they do not return to the Stargate by the close of this day, do whatever is necessary to capture them, but I want at least one of them alive. The information they carry could be very, very useful."

Gurtog nodded obediently and then, after bowing low to the wizard, the Orc turned and exited the room, closing the doors behind him.

Thoth eased back down into his chair, a broad smile spreading across his face as he unfurled the ancient parchment in his lap once more and studied the map that had long ago been drawn on its surface. He had marked off many areas of this continent over the years, keeping careful track of the places his men had or hadn't searched. His eyes now drifted south. A great portion of that country was yet unsearched, but after this most recent news Thoth determined to change that immediately.

If these newcomers were in fact who Gurtog thought them to be...

Thoth's smile widened even more, bearing his teeth in a feral grin. They will lead me to the 'Gate at last, he thought gleefully. I will at last have my freedom. I will at last have the means to seek my revenge...


TO BE CONTINUED...


Notes:

Daug-randir: Sindarin Elvish "warrior-wanderer"

Rind i Galad: Sindarin Elvish "Ring of Light"

Cha'paa'ai: Abydonian word for the Stargate