Samantha and Daniel held hands nervously inside the spaceship-time-travel thing that Jack O'Neill was flying with his thoughts. It was pretty trippy, really.
At first, Samantha and Daniel had tried to hide that they were lovers, despite being caught in bed by General Hammond. No way would he allow them to go on possible life-threatening missions to other planets if he was aware of their personal relationship.
But that concern had ended up being a moot point, when Jack had arrived on the scene and been convinced by Daniel and Samantha that it was vital to have them on board. And no Jack meant no activation of the ship, which could only be flown by someone with very rare genes – which Jack happened to possess.
Daniel couldn't help but rubbing McKay's nose in it. Just a little. The doctor's nose was well and truly out of joint that, not only had the history geek succeeded with the sexy librarian where McKay had failed, but that the two of them had then contrived their way onto the first mission.
He had pressed the importance of not having two such inexperienced people on the team – not to mention that they were so obviously infatuated with each other, which was such a military no-no – to General Hammond, but with Jack supporting them, there wasn't much the General could do about it. The mission either went ahead with Daniel and Samantha, or not at all. The most the General had done was emphasise that Jack and the rest of the team had been instructed not to put themselves in danger on Daniel and Samantha's account – if they got left behind, they got left behind.
Daniel and Samantha had been happy with that condition. After all, it wasn't every day you got to go to a different universe.
So here they were, ready to take-off – or whatever you called it. Jack quickly got the hang of it and they were through the Stargate.
Being on Chulak was surreal, especially since it looked so much like earth – well, a rather pristine earth. Daniel didn't even mind the walk, although he still complained a little. After all, what was the point of having a cool ship if you couldn't park it exactly where you wanted to be?
He gave an affectionate little glance at Samantha, and she slipped his hand into his. For a moment he thought about how foolish they must be, dressed in army fatigues and armed to the teeth while holding hands like the infatuated lovers they were. Then he forgot about it. He did his best to focus on the mission – getting Teal'c – but part of his mind was always with the blond walking next to him, her fingers threaded through his.
It had been barely a week since they'd ended up in bed together, but what a week that had been! Thinking they were being discreet, Samantha and Daniel had snuck off at every opportunity for half an hour in bed, exchanged caresses when they thought no-one was looking and longing glances when they were. Of course, everyone had known about it – and the General hadn't been impressed. There was, after all, a reason why fraternisation between members of the military was forbidden – if one of them got into trouble, the other rarely had the objectivity to know when to try and save them and when it was a lost cause – most of the time, you ended up with two causalities instead of just one.
But for some reason – his so-called 'gut instinct' – Jack O'Neill had decided they were worth having on the trip, and he'd insisted on including them. Hammond had told him not to try to bail them out if they got into trouble if it meant putting the rest of the team in danger, hoping that he could rely on someone to be objective, but he had a sinking feeling Daniel and Samantha's inexperience with the military and infatuation with one another was going to prove the undoing of one of them – or both.
But neither of them was concerned with that possibility here on Chulak. It was a pretty heady experience, being on an alien planet – if your ignored the whole Jaffa- Goa'uld-race-wanting-to-destroy-the-humans thing, it was almost as if they were new lovers on an afternoon stroll through a lush park. Who just happened to be in army fatigues armed to the teeth.
The bliss didn't last long, as the team were soon knocked out by some kind of anaesthetic bomb – technology way beyond humans. They woke up in what resembled a jail cell with no idea of how much time had passed.
A small group of Jaffa headed by Teal'c came for them not long after they came to. Expecting the Teal'c of the video, Daniel launched into an enthusiastic explanation of Teal'c-as-their-ally that earned him a reeling blow to his head before Teal'c hauled him off to Apophis.
Samantha instinctively leapt to her feet. " Daniel! " she screamed after him, attempting to run after him despite the obvious futility of it. Sighing, Jack stepped in and restrained Samantha with ease.
" Let me go! " Samantha shrieked, struggling against Jack although common sense should have told her she couldn't go after Daniel. The cell was shut again, and there were too Jaffa guards just outside. But her heart filled with dread at what they might do to Daniel. She'd rather be with him through it then separated in the comparative safety of the cell while Apophis was doing God-knows-what to him.
With the ease of someone who has done it dozens of times before, Jack slipped his fingers around Samantha's neck and pressed down on the pressure points that would make her pass out. " Remind me never to trust my instincts again, " Jack said to Kawalsky.
" I already did that, when you insisted on bringing those two along, " Kawalsky couldn't resist replying. " What do you think they're doing with Jackson? "
" I don't know. But I don't think it's good, " Jack replied sourly.
At least, with some convincing, Jack and Kawalsky managed to make Teal'c believe His Way was with them. They made arrangements for Teal'c to break them out. Now they had to get Daniel back. Hammond had said to leave them behind if they became a problem, but it went against Jack's nature. Maybe that was why he'd insisted on bringing the two of them along. They reminded him of what often fell like his fading sense of humanity.
Apophis was determined to get information out of Daniel. He was impressed the human resisted his torture for so long when he was clearly in great agony. A specimen such as that would make a fine host…
" Thankgod, " a tearful Samantha murmured when Daniel was returned to them, exhausted but alive. Fearful that if she became hysterical, Jack would knock her out again, for the last few hours she had cried silently, fretful of what he was going through – and that he was going through alone.
She placed glued herself to his side and laced her fingers through his. He was so weak, but he squeezed her fingers slightly. " I'm OK, " he said weakly. " It's good to see you again. "
Samantha kissed his forehead. She smiled through her tears. " It's good to see you, too. "
Over the next few hours, Daniel grew strong quickly – too quickly. He knew it was because of the thing they'd put inside of him. He could feel it claiming his human side, gradually eroding him and replacing it with… a monster. And he couldn't do anything about it. He knew he would succumb eventually.
Curled up in a corner, he called Samantha to his side. He took her hands in his, looked her in the eye and said, " If something happens to me, I want you to know – I love you. "
Samantha looked at him with fear. " What's happening, Daniel? " she asked.
He gave her a reassuring smile that belied his internal fears. " Nothing's happening, " he lied. Nothing she could do anything about, anyway – so why concern her? " I just… it made me realise the situation we're in, that anything could happen to us at any moment. To you, to me, to Jack or Kawalsky – and I want you to know, in case something does happen, that I love you. "
Samantha gave a small smile, only partly pacified by Daniel's explanation. It sent a shiver down her spine, the reality of their situation put so baldly. It was such an experience, exploring the unknown, but they were taking huge risks, too. And the thought that she might lose Daniel – she hadn't realised how much he meant to her until now. " I love you, too, " she replied.
They kissed. Samantha felt the urgency in his embrace, but chalked it up to his near-death experience. He hugged her tightly and said, " I love you so much, " as he felt his humanity slipping away…
They made their escape the next day. Everything was going well until Teal'c suddenly turned and fired at Daniel. Samantha ran to him. " Why did you do that? " she screamed at Teal'c, waving her gun at the Jaffa.
" He was a Goa'uld. Apophis implanted him with a symbiont in order to gain access to the knowledge in his mind, " Teal'c replied dispassionately.
" How do you know? " Jack asked.
" I can sense it. Your friend did not give in to torture, " Teal'c explained.
Suddenly Daniel rose partially and managed to shoot one of the team members dead. Then he turned the weapon towards his nearest target, Samantha. His eyes were glowing. Then suddenly his eyes faded to his human eyes and he whispered, " Sam… " He reached out his hand, and Samantha grasped it.
Teal'c shot him dead and Samantha started screaming. " Why did you do that? " she sobbed. " He was Daniel. "
" He was a Goa'uld, " Teal'c said calmly. " Come now. We have to go before we are caught. " He picked Samantha up easily and slung her over his shoulder.
They made it back to the ship, but not before Kawalsky was hit. So now Jack was down his entire experienced team – and one civilian – and all he had to rely on was a hysterical woman who'd just seen her lover die after being impregnated with an alien life form, and an alien who two days ago had been their enemy. Well, at least Jack could be assured that he'd been through worse, and survived.
And to be fair, Samantha wasn't actually hysterical. If Jack was honest with himself, he'd have to admit she was a lot calmer then he'd be if he'd just seen his ex-wife (the closest he had to someone he loved) go through what Daniel had gone through.
When they started being hit by Goa'uld death-gliders and it became apparent they weren't going to make it to the Stargate, Samantha pointed out they could make it to the Stargate – so long as there was a Stargate on Chulak, say, five thousand years ago. Not knowing what else to do, and seeing's thinking had gotten the damn ship to work in the first place, Jack imagined himself five thousand years in the past – and there he was.
Even he was impressed.
" Check it out, " Jack said to Samantha. " Dial Earth." Which put the three, and their ship, in Ancient Egypt.
" Daniel would have loved this… " Samantha said sadly as she peered out the window to a view of the pyramids.
A disagreement broke out between Samantha and Jack over weather they should skedaddle back to their own time (which Jack was all in favour of) or try to fix the past to create the future that the original Jack, Daniel, Samantha and Teal'c had known. " Maybe a world where Daniel is still alive, " Samantha added.
Jack rolled his eyes at that, but secretly it was that comment that made up his mind. He had loved, once, before he life had gone to hell, his son had died and his wife had left him, and he kind of liked the idea of love even beyond death – or alien impregnation. Besides, he didn't have much of a future to go back to, and they could always go back if this whole ancient Egyptian thing didn't work out.
By good fortune more then anything else, Jack, Teal'c and Samantha ran into an Ancient Egyptian who spoke English. He name was Katep, and he knew the three – or rather, the three from the alternate timeline – which was why he knew English.
" Five years ago you came, " he explained as he took them to his tent. " You were witness to the death of my brother at the hands of Ra. After you were trapped here, we planned an uprising together. "
" So much for causality!" Samantha commented wryly.
" Ra is still here. We have seen his ship, " Teal'c pointed out.
" Our first attempt at gathering forces for the rebellion did not go well. We had to expose ourselves to those who proved still loyal to Ra. You were captured and executed long before the plan could be finished. "
" Really? All of us? " Jack asked, disappointed. It would have been very cool to speak to another version of yourself.
" All but one," Katep confirmed. " Come, he will be happy to see you. " He grinned knowingly at Samantha.
A tall figure walked into the tent, his head covered with a hood. He threw back his hood, his identity revealed.
Samantha screamed and then fainted dead away, the shock of watching her loved impregnated with an alien, killed and then presented before her, alive and well, proving too much for her.
