Three months after the bonding ceremony sirens sounded throughout Kemet. Sirens that no one had ever heard before. It was the dead of night and people were thrown from the comforts of their dreams by the horrible noise. No one knew what to do besides gather in the main chamber and wait for Ma'at to appear and give them directions. Most were still in their daily clothes since going to bed fully dressed was easier to do than to change into something for bed.
Ma'at appeared and she wasn't very happy. She began to bark out orders to her Jaffa who left only to return fully clothed in their armor. They began to pass out staff weapons to the men and zats to the women. "Hear me, my people. Our world is under attack. A ship approaches with people who wish to destroy our way of life. Who wish to destroy your Goddess. You must fight for your homes and the ones you love." She looked around before stopping her eyes on Daniel and Sam who looked ready to fight to the death. She smirked as she touched a device on her hand and transport rings appeared around her and several of the Jaffa that were close to her. Then she was gone.
Daniel looked around at the stunned people. Ma'at must of retreated to a ship or someplace safer. She was going to let her people do all the fighting for her knowing that they would fight to the death. "Alright. Lets get into position." He found himself saying as he began to separate the people into groups. He was trying to remember everything that Jack taught him about military tactics. But he relied heavily on Sam to help him.
"Come on. Come on. This is your lives." She yelled, while slipping into Major mode, as she ushered some of the younger women and children into the meeting room. While the old were ushered into the Goddess's private chamber. She then appeared back at Daniel's side, ready to fight.
So they waited. And waited. And waited some more before two sparks of light could be seen in the black night sky. And they were getting closer. The people clutched there weapons as they prepared for the attack but nothing came. The lights got brighter and brighter until two forms of ships could be made out. The wind began to pick up as the ships landed nearby. The people were knocked off their feet but soon regained their composer.
Daniel nodded to Sam as they walked across the main chamber towards the area where the ships landed. They both ducked behind stone pillars and listened but no sound was made. Daniel motioned something to Sam and she nodded. Both silently counted to three and stepped out from their hiding places, weapons aimed. What they saw shocked them. Exiting the two ships weren't Goa'uld or even enemies. Daniel gave Sam a confused look but didn't lower his weapon. "Why do you seek to disturb the peace here on Kemet?" Daniel's voice was loud and commanding. He waited.
Teal'c unstrapped himself from the glider and slid out followed by Jack O'Neill. The next glider revealed Jacob Carter and General George Hammond. Jack gave the General a glance before he began to speak. "We do not...wish to disturb anything. We have reason...ah...to believe that two of our friends are being kept here." He called out but at the same time kept his hand resting on the gun strapped to his upper leg.
Biting his bottom lip, Daniel once again glanced at Sam. He could see the different emotions running through her face. "Everyone is a friend on Kemet. We all serve our Goddess in peace and you wish to destroy that." He called out again his voice not as loud as before. He stepped closer with Sam at his side.
Jacob could swear that he heard that voice before but he couldn't place it then he saw the two people advancing on them with weapons aimed. "Sammy?" He asked in shock when he caught the face of the women.
Sam stopped in her tracks hearing her father speak. "D...Dad?" She sounded uncertain or maybe unwilling to believe that he was here. That any of them were here. Her hand holding the zat faltered and she lowered it.
"What are you doing?" Daniel asked seeing Sam's actions. His staff weapon was still trained on them. "Why should be believe they are here? It's been three years, Sam. Three long years." He sounded tired and soon his weapon also lowered and he dropped it to the floor.
Jack eyed them. "Well...how touching. Wait. You called her Sam? Carter?" He looked towards the woman and tried to see the resemblance and sure enough. It was Sam Carter. He grinned. "I knew we could count on the Tok'ra to find them." He gave Jacob a slap on the back.
Daniel raised his chin and stepped up to Jack and looking him squarely in the eye, punched him in the nose. "Took you long enough." He mumbled and moved over to Sam who took his hand and runs her thumb over his knuckles which were turning red.
A very stunned Colonel O'Neill sat on the ground with his hand cupped around his nose as Teal'c attempted to assist him.
Smiling Sam stepped away from Daniel and into her fathers waiting arms. "I missed you dad." She mumbled as tears began to run from her eyes. The first real tears that she shed in the three years that they were slaves. She cried for all that she missed. She cried for the time that had been lost. And she cried for herself.
Daniel looked down at his open hand. He traced a finger over the jagged scar that was still present from the bonding ceremony. It remained on every ones hand as a reminder. Snorting he shook his head. For three short months Sam had been his. But now...Now things would go back to the way they were. The last three years will tried to be forgotten. He didn't even see the General approach until he heard him begin to speak to him.
"We should have Doctor Fraiser take a look at that hand. It looks like it was painful." The General placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. "How are you holding up, Doctor Jackson?" He asked with a tiny smile.
Daniel gave him a tiny smile back. "Being called Doctor Jackson is going to take some getting used to. I'm holding out fine besides the last three years being a mixture between heaven and hell. We were servants. Slaves to our Goddess but she never mistreated us. She was fair and just in all matters and if punish was dealt out then it was deserved. I don't know if I should be happy that you've finally rescued us, angry for it taking three years or sad to be losing all this." He swept his hand over the area behind him. By now all the other people had put their weapons down and were looking confused.
George Hammond looked at him with a cross between confusion and bewilderment. "I don't..." He just shook his head and removed his hand. "Will you be ok, Colonel?"
Before Jack could say anything Teal'c answered. "O'Neill will appear to live. And it's good to have you back DanielJackson and SamanthaCarter." He gave them a bow of the head before turning his attention back to Jack.
Daniel leaned his bare back against the cool surface of the stone pillar. "Ma'at is gone. She transported to a ship or elsewhere on the planet before..." His eyes were now focused on Sam who was giving Jack a look that was driving Daniel beyond crazy. He could swear it was look of love. Gritting his teeth he continued. "Before you arrived. She armed us, took her Jaffa and left." With those words out he turned and headed into the crowd which followed him. He returned to his room and the others did the same. He motioned for several of the men to tell the elderly what had happened. Looking around the room he sighed. "Nothing every happens to me that is worth it." He mumbled as he began to pack his things, steering clear of Sam's. He couldn't touch her things. It hurt to much. He had to admit to himself that he was happy here besides the praying to a false God and working as slave labor. He was actually content. Glancing down at his right wrist he frowned. The bonding bracelet lay mocking him from his wrist. It was made of gold and had a blue jewel in the center. Sam's was matching. Each couple had received them the day after the bounding. Each having a different colored jewel depending on the people. Running a finger over it's cool surface he thought back to the night after the ceremony. After the feasting was finished they all retired to their rooms. Their bellies full and wine having gone to their heads. They all made love. Daniel could still taste Sam's skin on his lips. He could still feel her touch on his skin. Closing his eyes he fought back the tears that threatened to spill over. He flexed his hand, feeling the scar stretch. It was a reminder of that night. So was everything else. Maybe he could take something to repress those memories. Or even have them removed. He didn't want to remember. Sighing he stood and began to shove his things into the sack that they all where given. He needed to get out of there as soon as he could. So finally he stepped out and held his head high. Weakness wasn't something he was going to show now. He didn't smile when Sam approached him.
"Did you get my things too?" She eyed his bag with a smile on her face. A real smile. Not a half-hearted one that she could muster over the three years. But what she didn't know was that was hurting Daniel too. Knowing that she wasn't smiling like that for him. She laid a hand on his arm.
"No. You things are untouched. It would not be appropriate for me to touch them." Daniel yanked his arm away from her and stepped around her, heading back to the others leaving Sam confused.
Frowning she entered their small room and noted that he didn't touch anything of hers. Not even things that were theirs. Their bonding gifts still laid in the same places where they had been put after the ceremony. She swallowed and shook her head before gathering everything else that he had left behind. "Why is he acting like this?" She asked the silent room before stepping out without a final glance. A hand resting protectively on her stomach. Her father had given her his jacket after seeing her nearly naked dress but it felt rough and uncomfortable against her skin. Her eyes widened feeling a small movement in her stomach. She rushed to the others and dropped her sack to the floor. "Daniel. Daniel. You've gotta feel this." She attempted to grab his hand but he yanked it out of her reach and stepped to the other side of the General to whom he continued his conversation with not noticing the stares that they both were getting."
Daniel looked away from Hammond and straight at Sam but it was almost like he was looking through her. He was gritting his teeth once again. "I decline the bond." He surprised himself at how steady his voice was.
Sam felt as if her whole world dropped out from under her. "W...what? But...Daniel." She was near tears. She was confused. They had known of the baby for two months now and Daniel had been ecstatic up until now in which he was denying their bond and in turn refusing that the child was his. It was the greatest insult that anyone on Kemet could say. She couldn't deny the tears now as she looked into his cold eyes. Sobs were ripping through her slight frame as her father stepped up and wrapped her in a tight embrace and lead her off so that they may speak.
Cold eyes that belonged to Daniel watched them go and somewhere deep inside of him, he felt a spark of joy at seeing her cry. But another part of him was disgusted that he could ever act this way but he had to. She wasn't his anymore. "Not anymore." He whispered as he took a deep breath and looked at Jack who was now on his feet staring at him.
"What did you do to her? What does I decline the bond mean?" O'Neill was just as confused as anyone else but he had his suspicions even in the short time that they had been here.
Clearing his throat, Daniel began to speak. "It doesn't mean a thing. Not really. Just something that was forced upon us three months ago. I thought she would of been happier at my words. I am as confused as you are at her actions." He sounded so normal. So believable that Jack and the General only nodded. But so far he had gotten away without mentioning anything about the child that he just denied or the marriage that would have to be annulled as soon as they reached Earth. This was his way of dealing with pain. Blocking it out.
Forty-five minutes later Jacob returned with a much calmer Sam but he wasn't looking to happy. He was looking fit to kill and that is what he was planning on doing. "You son of a bitch." He was addressing Daniel who was leaning lazily against one of the gliders arms crossed over his chest.
Daniel's eyes darted from Jacob to Sam then to Jacob again. They narrowed. So she was getting her father involved. Well that wouldn't change anything. "Pardon me?" He was putting on a very good innocent act. Something he used to be before these three years happened.
Jacob stepped up to Daniel and eyed him. The other mans calmness was making him madder. "How dare you?" He was shaking with anger. That bastard had hurt his daughter beyond repair. "I thought better of you, Daniel. I thought you were a man." His eyes narrowed.
"Excuse me?" Daniel took a step back. He truly was frightened of Jacob. "I really don't..." He didn't get to finish that statement since the first blow fell to his mouth and another to his nose all within thirty seconds. He dropped to his knees holding his broken face. Blood was running through his fingers and he lowered his hands to look at it. There was so much of it. He could hear Jack and Teal'c trying to restrain Jacob while Hammond was trying to calm him down and get him to explain his rather abrupt actions. Daniel didn't understand the actions of a angry father since his own had died when he was a child. His foster parents never showed him any interest and took him in to collect a paycheck. He never resisted as he was hauled to his feet and a hanky was pressed to his nose. He then caught that eye of Jack who was helping him. We're even, their eyes spoke silently. "I got it." He held the hanky to his nose and sighed. Truly, inside, he was a mess. He didn't show any real emotion to the last three years besides a contentment which was misplaced. A happiness that was obviously not real. "Have you ever messed things up so bad that you wished that you were dead?" He asked Jack, his words muffled by the hanky and he was dead serious.
Jack leaned back against the glider beside Daniel. "Actually, I have. Remember our first mission together? I thought I was volunteering for a suicide mission and I was perfectly ok with that. I still look back and tell myself that I would of still done it." He lets out a dry laugh.
Daniel leaned over and spit out a mouthful of blood and tooth onto the floor. He winced at the pain that was running through his face. "Ironic isn't it?" He asked no one in particular. "Ironic that I would of been happy staying here until the Goddess called me into her services in the after life. But at the same time my life would of been nothing but a lie." He pulled the hanky down since the bleeding had stopped but a bruise was beginning form on the side of his face. His nose and mouth were stained red with his blood. He felt eyes on him and looked around until his eyes met Sam's. She seemed to be sending him glares that could kill a Goa'uld but he sent them right back. He had a enough of this. He could still hear the General trying to figure out what was going on. "General, three months ago Samantha and I went through something. Not by our choice. The Goddess Ma'at commanded it and we were forced to do it." He licked his lips which still tasted like blood. "I'm sorry but I had to do it..." Again he was interrupted but this time by Sam.
"Yes. But your leaving out the facts, Daniel." She hissed out. She wanted to see him squirm. "Three months ago Ma'at commanded that we go through the bonding ceremony with everyone else. Did we think to deny her? No. That thought never crossed my mind and I know that it sure in hell didn't cross Daniels. And for everyone that doesn't know, the bounding ceremony is basically marriage. We got married. But that isn't the purpose of this ceremony. The purpose is to create life so that the people wouldn't die. If the two people involved are compatible then a child will be created." She looked at Daniel who was staring at his hands. Again she was fighting back tears. "A child WAS created." She marched over to Daniel and grabbed his scarred hand before he could protest and held it to her stomach. She wouldn't let go. "You feel that, Daniel. That is OUR child. Not mine. Not someone else's. Ours. We created it together. The Goddess willed it to happen and it did. We were blessed and now you wish to deny it." She kept a death grip on his hand. She knew that he could feel the child through the scar on his hand. It was like a connection that they all shared. She watched him.
Daniel gritted his teeth. She was making him look like a fool. He stood up and pushed her away from him, reclaiming his hand. "No. No." He shook his head and rubbed his hand. He felt the baby. It knew who he was. He could feel it. "No." He was shivering now as he backed up. "I'm doing what is right." His teeth were chattering. "Moving on and forgetting about the past. That's what always happens. This way we all have a clean start." He now had his back against the glider and he slid to the ground, wrapping his arms around his legs letting the sobs escape from his throat.
"Daniel, you were so happy when we found out. I know you were. I could feel it. I could see it in your eyes. Please don't take that feeling away." Sam was watching him, a pain expression was plastered on her face. She knew the risks of forcing someone to feel a bound that they didn't want to feel. It brought out emotions that they kept hid but she had to risk it. Her baby deserved to have it's father. And she deserved to have her bondmate. She was by his side as long as he left her on the way back to Earth. After being sent up in the gliders they met up with a Tok'ra ship and then they left space and headed back to Earth. More Tok'ra ships were on their way so that the others on the planet could be returned to their home planets.
Daniel was unresponsive to Sam the whole way. He didn't say anything to her. Only ate when Jack forced him. All he did was stare straight ahead of him with a pained look on his face. This is the only way, he thought to himself as he avoided looking at anyone. He knew that Sam was at his side. He didn't have to see her to know that. But he kept his focus was a section of bulkhead.