Chapter 18: The Big Picture, or Part of it....

The screams continued to grow louder as they continued to get closer and out of nowhere, two men appeared, followed by a backdrop of screams and terrorized shouts.

'This cannot be a good thing.' Jack thought to himself, keeping his eyes glued to the two newcomers advancing on him and Jonas.

"Okay, hold it right there guys, keep your distance huh?" Jack called to them. It didn't appear that they were listening, or if they were they conveniently chose not to comply.

The two came to rest nearby and changed their directions to head towards Jonas who was out cold on the floor. They dropped next to him and began speaking to one another silently.

Jack moved in. "Y'know, it's not polite to whisper." He told them. They looked up, and Jack locked onto one of their gazes. It was an intense green-eyed stare. Jack shuddered as it sent chills down his spine.

These two didn't strike him as good news.

Jonas began to stir, groaning ever so slightly as he fought his way back to consciousness. Jack pushed by the two people and he kneeled next to his waking friend.

OOO

Jonas slowly opened his eyes and came face to face with three different pairs of eyes. Dark brown, that had to be Colonel O'Neill, light blue...he didn't know them, and then he looked into the final gaze and cringed in fear. Deep green, and intense, so familiar, and he knew exactly where from. His previous tormentor was back.

Jonas let out a strangled cry as he went into panic. Images began flashing through his mind accompanied by feelings of fear, cold, and panic. He watched the images closely. Coris was there, her piercing eyes glittering menacingly.

She yelled out in both anger and frustration. She was tied to a stone and forced to the edge of a cliff, her light blue dress flowing about, brunette curls being blown in five different directions.

It was the same cliff that she had taken him to the time she introduced him to the terror her village would face.

He was standing in a sea of people, faces merging into one another, faces filled with fear, with determination and with triumph. It was an odd sort of mix, but he surveyed it fully.

It was dark, he was only able to see from the various torches placed around, but yet it seemed like there was more light than just that.

From the cliff edge, Coris began chanting menacingly, her eyes glinting more than ever. Lightning dashed through the sky overhead, striking a nearby tree and sending it into flames.

A bone-chilling wind picked up, biting into him and he began shivering against it.

"All of you will suffer for this. All of you!" Coris shouted and her gaze locked on Jonas as she broke into a threatening smile.

Jonas backed up slightly, bumping into someone. He turned and was met by the sharp gaze of green that he had been so afraid of before.

"Do it." Called a man over the roaring wind and another man, the executioner, shoved Coris over the edge. Her screams could be heard for miles as Jonas shielded his ears to block it out.

From nowhere the storm picked up with more force. Jonas stared wide-eyed, and open mouthed at what was rising from the cliff ravine.

The sickly feeling groped him again, with more force, and he fell to his knees amongst the crowd of people. He blinked hard, to stop the world from spiraling out of proportion and swallowed the lump in his throat.

Looking up, he saw people shouting in pain and closing in on him. Above the sheet of people, he saw something worse...

OOO

Sam lingered near the forest after receiving the order to leave from Colonel O'Neill. She was reluctant to leave and wouldn't have if she and Teal'c hadn't been pried away and hurtled back into the dark, cold silence in front of the shadow of the looming gate.

"What was that?" Sam asked, shaking her head as the feeling of disorientation passed.

"I do not know, Major Carter, but it would appear we are back to where we began." Teal'c stated.

"So it would seem."

Teal'c looked stoically around the gate area, and when satisfied that there was no call for danger turned back to Sam who seemed to be lost in deep thought.

"Major Carter, what is it that you are thinking of?" Teal'c asked.

Sam jumped at the sound of his voice and turned back to him.
"Sorry, you startled me."

"It was not my intention to do so."

"Don't worry about it. I was just thinking if we should try the gate again to call for backup, or if we should go after Colonel O'Neill and Jonas ourselves."

"Calling for back-up may not be the wisest choice about now, Sam." Came a familiar voice from her right.

Sam turned to face the voice. Dr. Jackson stood there, regarding her through blue eyes, concern etched all over his features.

"Unless we're going to burst in after them, we really have no choice." Sam replied, not missing a beat, as though the appearance of Daniel hadn't even phased her, after all they'd been through on this mission, nothing phased her anymore.

"No, I mean it Sam, don't call for backup."

"Why do you not wish us to call in another team Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"It's Jonas. He's reliving the destruction of this planet's inhabitants and calling for another team would anger Coris and break the link between he and the past. There's no telling what kind of damage that would cause him." Daniel stated, matter-of-factly.

"How do you know Coris?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"Like I said before, I've been watching you guys to be sure you didn't get in over your heads."

"Then why didn't you come sooner? We're already in over our heads. Colonel O'Neill and Jonas were taken somewhere and now you're saying Jonas is reliving the mass disaster. What about the Colonel? What part does he play in this?" Sam questioned.

"He is helping to fuel the disaster, he and Jonas both and they really have no choice in the matter."

"Are you also saying that the child we were asked to help is not as innocent as we first suspected Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Coris, isn't who you thought she was. The innocence, it was an act to gain trust. Once she got the trust, as she did from Jonas, she used it to her advantage to wipe out an entire civilization." Jackson stated.

"Then, we've got to do something to stop it." Sam replied.