Chapter Sixteen:

The intense white light faded and I found myself lying on a patch of soft green grass under a large tree. I sat up, completely bewildered. Hadn't I just been in the corridors of the SGC? And where exactly was this?

I got to me feet and walked out from under the tree. Surprisingly, nothing hurt. I had half expected for the world to start to spin as soon as I stood up, but nothing happened. And then I recognised where I was.

Well, damn.

It was Jack's house. Dad's house. The house had I visited in my childhood. The house that had been sold two years after his death to a couple who had renovated it and painted it pink. And it wasn't pink now.

I wandered up the creaking steps to the porch and looked around. I couldn't see anyone, and that worried me. If I was here, then there was a good chance Anubis was too.

Something weird was going on here, and I had no idea about what it was. So I did the only thing I could think of to do and tried the front door. It opened as I twisted the handle and swung open. When I saw what was inside, I almost cried. This really was my Dad's house…everything was just like I remembered.

I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as I remembered some of the things I had gotten up to here. And all of the sweets Dad had snuck me when Mom wasn't looking – and then joined me in eating.

"You cannot defeat me, child." A cruel and inhuman voice mocked from behind me.

I spun, my heart hammering loudly in my chest and saw Anubis standing in the doorway. "Anubis." I said, trying to keep my face expressionless. I couldn't afford to give him any advantage.

"You truly are weak and pitiful." He continued, looking around.

I looked around with him, now really confused and scared. What the hell was going on?

"Where are we?" I asked.

Anubis laughed cruelly. "Your weak mind." He said. "Somewhere you believe is safe. But I will remember this place so that I can wipe it from existence!"

"You're big on the whole "destruction" thing, aren't you?" I asked him. "But it doesn't matter. You can't destroy this place."

And he couldn't. My father's house was gone, only remembered by those who had been there. And it wasn't the house that was what I found safe about this place, anyway. It was what it represented. My family.

"And how are you going to stop me, Ancient?" Anubis sneered.

"I don't know yet." I answered truthfully. "But I'll think of something."

Anubis laughed cruelly. "You cannot stop me!"

As he was speaking, if you could call it that, anyway, he had begun to glow. I frowned at him, my scientific mind whirling as I tried to find some way to stop Anubis. "This is my mind, right?" I asked him.

"Your puny, defenceless mind." Anubis snapped, which I took to mean, 'Yes, it is.'

I had to smile as an idea came to me. "That means you're in my mind, doesn't it?" I didn't bother to wait for an answer. "I guess that also mean that I get to set the rules."

Anubis paused, his glow fading. "And that means rule number one: no superpowers." I said.

"You cannot do this!" Anubis roared.

"I think I just did." I said. "Hmm, rule number two: no insubstantial forms. You're made of flesh just like me."

I watched in amazement as Anubis' form began more outlined and heavy-looking. "Rule number three: no cloaks." I continued.

The cloak disappeared, revealing a dark-haired man with the swarthy skin that I'd come to associate with the Egyptian people. His eyes were coal-black and glittered with bitterness and cruelty. He didn't look like a man anyone would want to mess with. Except me, it seems. Oh, well.

"You truly defy me." Anubis said, his tone almost amazed. "No one has defied my in millennia. Not truly. Fear does not control you like it did them. Why?"

"Because I won't let you control me or destroy everything I care about." I said.

"You would sacrifice your very existence for this?" Anubis snapped.

"Yes. As the saying goes, I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees." Then I narrowed my eyes. "Stop trying to distract me. Rule number four: no alien technology."

"Enough of your petty games!" Anubis snarled.

"Rule number five: You're human." I snapped back.

"No!" Anubis bellowed. "You will pay for that, Ancient!"

He lunged forward towards me, knocking me off balance as I scrambled away. I stumbled and fell to my knees, jolting pain running up my legs from the impact. I tried to quickly stagger to my feet and get away, but Anbuis was too fast.

His hand shot out and grabbed my hair, pulling my backwards. I cried out in pain and frustration, the back of my scalp feeling as if it were on fire. "You are not even worth the effort it will take to kill you." Anubis growled.

"Then let me go." I said.

"No."

Anubis spun me around until I was staring into his eyes and the evil that was soul-deep – if he still possessed a soul, that is. "You will beg for mercy before I'm done." Anubis snarled in my face.

Then he leaned back slightly and backhanded me across the face. Pain exploded behind my eyes and half of my face felt numb from the force of the blow – until the numbness wore off and red-hot pain replaced it. Anubis hit me again and again, pain washing over my in blinding waves. Pain so intense that I found myself screaming.

Then my foggy brain remembered one of the self-defence lessons from the training camp. Dredging up every single ounce of strength I had left, I twisted my body and sent my legs kicking upwards. I rolled out of the way as my feet hit something soft. I heard Anubis grunt in pain and knew I had hit him.

I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could, my heart pounding in my chest and ran forward, trying to clear my head. I reached up a hand to my mouth as I did so and it came away sticky with blood. No wonder I hurt so much.

I heard Anubis getting up behind me as I dodged around a table. I had to get away from him! Every instinct I had was telling me to run somewhere – anywhere – that would get me away from him. I surged forward, fear giving me new strength and dulling the pain a little.

"You can't run from me!" Anubis screamed from behind me.

His tone sent a shiver of fear down my spine. My eyes darted around the room, searching for anything that could be used as a weapon. My hands found some books that were lying on a nearby table. I turned and hurled them at Anubis, pleased at the thumps they made when they hit him. I grabbed the lamp that had been beside them and threw it too. It shattered as it hit him.

I bit my lip as I looked around for more weapons. I needed something stronger if I was going to beat Anubis. "Your attempts will not stop me." Anubis snapped.

I glanced behind me at him and noticed with some relief that he was bleeding from where the shards of the lamp had cut him. It wasn't much, I know, but if he could bleed, then I could stop him.

I ran forward again, trying to put some more distance between us, but once again I wasn't quite fast enough. Anubis grabbed me from behind, before picking me up and throwing me against a wall. I slammed right into a mirror that was hanging there and my reflection distracted me for a moment as I took in my battered and bleeding image. And then I realised something – I was still wearing my BDU's.

And my Beretta.

Anubis picked me up again, this time slamming me against one of the bookcases. I grunted in pain. "See how weak you are?" Anubis whispered in my ear.

Using the last bit of my strength, I pushed away from the bookcase and spun, forcing Anubis to stumble backwards. Then I drew my Beretta with a shaking hand. I pulled the trigger before Anubis could regain his footing, sending him stumbling backwards again. The gunshot sounded loud in my ears and seemed to echo around the room. This was the first time I had ever used a gun on something other than a paper target and it scared me.

Anubis looked down at the blood blossoming on his chest with a sense of disbelief. Then he looked up at me with anger glittering in his eyes. "That will not stop me, little one."

Panic was beginning to grow in my mind so I shot him again. The force of the bullet made him stagger backwards – but he didn't fall. Tears of pain and fear were streaming down my face by now. I had to stop him. I couldn't take anymore. This time when I fired, I didn't stop until I heard the empty click that meant there were no more bullets left. I stood there staring at Anubis, shaking in fear and my breath coming out in short pants.

Anubis stared at me in shock before he crumpled to the floor. As I watched, his body began to fade until it was gone completely. "What..?" I began, my voice still hoarse from fear.

"Anubis is destroyed." Said a voice from behind me.

I spun, my heart pounding in my chest and tried not to panic. The words sunk in as I came face to face with Oma and three of the oldest Ancients standing behind me. "Well done, child." Oma spoke again.

"Indeed." A man with snow white hair and piercing blue eyes said. "You have done what we could not."

"So he's really gone?" I asked. "For good?"

"Oh, yes." Oma told me.

The white-haired man stepped forward, staring at me curiously. "I see strength, endurance and loyalty." He said. "Not only that, but I sense a strong ability to persevere."

I blinked in surprise at his words, unsure of how to reply to that. "I believe we have greatly underestimated humanity." The man continued. "And we are not the only ones."

"True." The silver-haired woman said from beside him. "Humanity has much to show us about the meaning of courage and determination."

The white-haired man nodded. "We have left the Universe in good hands." He said. "We will be watching over you, child, and will do all we can to help. You have shown us what we are lacking and what you are not."

I smiled at them, surprised at the tears gathering in my eyes. I had a sense of just how much it had cost them to admit that. "Thank you." I said. "More than I can say."

The man smiled softly, before inclining his head. "Now I think it is time to go." He said. "Your family is waiting."

As he spoke, a white light began to fill the room until it was almost blinding. And then it faded leaving me back where I had started – an empty corridor in the middle of the SGC.