As the dim light fell across the features of the two men standing in the hall, a smile lit up Jack's face. "Hey guys!"
Teal'c and Daniel remained quiet. But Daniel gave him a sarcastic smile. When Swush opened the door, Teal'c stepped in willingly. Daniel assumed it was best to follow his lead, joined him.
"Well, it's nice to have the team back together again." Jack gestured to the ground. "Pull up some floor, make yourselves comfortable. Our cell is your cell, while you tell us the plan."
Sam stood and wrapped her arms around Daniel, he felt her shivering and wondered how long they had been here. He knew that wherever they were, it wasn't the happiest place in the galaxy, assuming they were in their galaxy. He had been hopeful that after this break she would be more of her old self. He had expected Jack to take her fishing, not abducted. She gave him a small smile, then went to hug Teal'c, who responded stiffly.
Jack clapped Daniel on the shoulder, "Tell me you've got a plan."
"Sorry, I'm not even sure why we're here." He sat down next to Jack on the cool rock. Eyeing his face concerned he asked, "What happened to you?"
"Had a little misunderstanding with our... um, friend. It's not a big deal."
"Oh." Daniel was not surprised at this news.
Jack changed the subject, not needing the winces from Daniel. "So, you haven't heard about our crime?"
"Crime?"
"Oh yes. We seem to have broken one of their laws, when we were here the first time. It seems that it was a crime against their people."
Sam chimed in, "One punishable by death."
"Did you say we were here before?"
"Yeah, we met a group of Re's followers and we led them in some kind of revolt or something. That was when we spoke in the *temple of the God.*" He added sarcastically, "That was a mistake.
"P4X 275."
"How do you remember that?"
Ignoring the question, Daniel went on. "But that was nearly a year ago. Why are they coming after us now?"
"Well it seems they celebrate anniversaries."
Daniel shot a questioning look at Sam.
She explained, "It will be the exact time of the crime in a little less than five hours. That's when they're going to kill us."
"Great."
Swoosh-swoosh. Swoosh-swoosh.
Jack went to stand by the door. "Our friend's coming."
Swush showed up with four bowls of the mush. He slid them into the cell and swooshed off again.
Jack watched him step around the corner, "He's a cheerful fella. He then turned his attention to the contents of the bowls suspiciously. "Not this again."
Sam passed Daniel the 'food,' "Don't listen to him, it's not that bad." She offered some to Jack, but he simply turned up his nose. "Fine, miss your final meal."
"That is definitely not what I would choose for my final meal. And it even doesn't matter because we *are* going to find a way out of here." He stopped to stare at Teal'c, who was greedily lapping at the mush. "Hungry?"
Jack side-stepped to the other two. "He's acting a bit strange don't ya think? I mean he never was a man of many words, but this is ridiculous. He can't even spare a feeble hello for his buddy?"
Daniel explained that Teal'c had not spoken to him much either. "Maybe he's sick."
Jack and Sam raised their eyebrows.
"It's just a thought." He turned back to his mush.
* * * * *
"So, how long have you been here?" Daniel asked ten minutes later.
Jack checked his watch. "14 hours, 21 minutes, and 4, no 5 seconds."
"Wow. I was only here 2 hours before they threw us in here with you." He looked at Teal'c who remained silent. "He's been here for nearly two days I think. They must have picked him up on Chulak first." Teal'c said nothing. They had been trying to get Teal'c to speak, to no avail. Daniel decided to change the subject. "What have you been doing all this time?"
Glancing over at the very visible games of tic-tac-toe on the floor by the door, Jack responded, "Oh, keeping busy."
"I bet."
Jack looked at Daniel. "You know, we still need to get out of here."
"We can't."
"Whatcha mean, we can't?"
It was Teal'c who had spoken. Jack was surprised by the sound of his voice, higher than usual, though not startling. It had a growl that had never been there before. "We must not leave."
"Don't even tell me that we deserve this."
Teal'c said nothing more, Sam spoke for him. "We have no hope of escape."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this, especially from you two." Jack stood and walked over to the door. "You don't agree with them, do you?" The question was directed at Daniel.
"No. Of course we have to get out of here."
"We can not!" Teal'c growled at Daniel. He had stood up and hovered over Daniel, seemingly poised to attack, when something inside of him realized what he was doing. But before Teal'c had changed his mind and backed off, Daniel had seen it. His eyes, something strange had happened. The pupils had dilated and become a perfect square. 'What the hell?'
A/N: As a first time writer I really want to know what you think, good or bad. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. I look to you great people out there for writing inspiration.