Sorry again for the HORRENDOUS gap between updates. RL and University have a habit of dragging you away, what with assignment deadlines etc. Thanks as ever for the reviews! I can't make any promises about when and how often I'll be able to update, but I do intend to finish this story, no matter how long it takes! Enjoy this next installment!

Chapter 10: Reunion

Several days previously……

"Wake up."

Jonas' body twitched slightly, but his grogginess kept him tethered in sleep.

"I said, wake up!"

A swift kick in his side was more than enough to cut that tether. Jonas blinked as the midday light burned his eyes. He groaned, instinctively pulling away from the direction of the dull blow. He mentally took stock of himself. Aside from a little stiffness, his arm was the only injury. It looked like it had been bandaged hastily.

"Finally… I was almost concerned," the voice commented.

Jonas blinked fearfully and looked towards the voice.

It was an Innarim. It looked fearsome, and not just from the stern expression. It had scars riddled across its uncovered arms and its muzzle, and it stood very confidently over him, arms crossed over its chest. Unlike the Innarim he had seen in the complex, it sported an earthen-coloured, ragged tunic and a belt holding a sword of some kind in its leather scabbard. Yet, it also wore Vapenvulv bracers typical of his race.

"Now, you have some questions to answer…"

The creature grabbed a fistful of Jonas' shirt, making sure to emphasise the fact he was wearing a uniform with the SGC emblem on it.

"Who exactly are you?" it narrowed its eyes. "This patch means a member of SG-1. I have met them before, and you are not one of them."

"Tell me about it…" Jonas muttered sadly.

"What?"

"N… nothing," the Kelownan stuttered.

"Well, speak up! If you are not a member of SG-1, why do you wear this uniform?"

Jonas stayed quiet as he was asked the question several more times. Colonel O'Neill had refused to allow Jonas to join the team without basic military training. At the time he'd happily agreed – anything to carry on where Daniel left off, in his personal quest to atone for that day on his home planet in which he still believed he should have died in Daniel's place. Part of the training had been instruction about interrogation, and he aimed to prove he wasn't a coward by following it well. He kept his mouth shut.

The wolf seemed to lose patience, and grabbed his other arm. Pain shot up the injured limb, and he was forced to suppress the cry of pain. Before long, being so unused to this, he gave in.

"I am a member of SG-1, but just recently…"

"Recently?" He sounded intrigued. "Who have you replaced!"

"Dr. Jackson…"

"And why is Jackson no longer on SG-1?"

Jonas hesitated a second too long in his unhappy reflection, and received another nasty jolt of pain.

"Why?"

"He's dead…"

"You lie…" Was that disbelief?

"I wish I was… but he sacrificed himself to save millions of other people." Jonas wheezed. "The others told me he ascended, so he's not completely gone, but…"

"Not a meaningless death, though…"

The voice of the Innarim had lost its malice, and Jonas felt the stinging grip on his injured arm release. He cradled the limb protectively, but managed to witness the look of sadness on the creature's face mirroring his own.

Jonas sat motionless as the Innarim fashioned a makeshift sling, and tied it securely around Jonas' arm. The change in attitude from threatening to subdued was enough to ease some of Jonas' fear, and he sensed from this – and the alien's confession that he knew SG-1 – that this creature was friend rather than foe.

After thanking him for rescuing him from the self-destructing complex, he related the recent events to the Innarim, describing the trouble the SGC and Earth was now in.

"So Deimos really could attack Earth, ignoring the treaty? That is not encouraging."

"So where exactly are we now?"

"The hills above the complex. I stay out here since the complex seems to draw visitors, as you know," the wolf replied. "Well, come on. Can you walk?"

"I think so… but where are we going?"

"The gate, of course. You've been unconscious for about a day. That arm of yours needs treatment – you don't want to get it infected do you? And Deimos will probably be sending more Jaffa to see why his forces haven't reported back yet. Better to head back to Earth."

"Wait," Jonas pulled himself up and started after the Innarim.

The Innarim took a sudden dive into the undergrowth on the path back to the gate, dragging the startled Jonas with him.

"What's wrong," he whispered.

"I hear Jaffa… they must be either Deimos' or the rival Goa'uld's, come through the gate."

"I don't hear anything…"

"Maybe you don't."

"Who exactly are you?"

"Questions later, you fool, not-"

"You know all about why I'm here; only fair to return the-"

Jonas was cut off as the creature clamped a clawed hand over his mouth, using the other arm to hold Jonas down. The silence was gradually broken by the encroaching clang of Jaffa armour. Through the random tapestry of the tall grass and low branches, the pair watched the twin ranks of Jaffa march past hastily. The Innarim only released him when the noise had long since receded.

"My name is Einar. Any further explanations can be kept until we get to Earth. Understand?"

Jonas nodded, the knowledge of his name alone telling him much more than Einar imagined.

"They'll be guarding the gate, and I can't fight them all without risking your life. Even if you stayed behind here, without heightened senses you could be discovered by the other Jaffa around here."

Einar had insisted that they lie low a safe distance from the gate, until all the recent activity had died down and the Jaffa had left. It took a few days. In that time Jonas has pointed out more than once that they had no GDO to get back to Earth with. Einar had simply smiled cryptically each time and told him not to worry, tapping one of the pockets on his tunic.

Outside of the talk that was necessary – reports about what was happening near the gate, water and food supplies, decisions about who took watch at night etc. – Einar said little. Jonas had tried to strike up conversations with the Innarim warrior (about his race, his culture, his own experiences both before and after meeting the rest of SG-1), but Einar just chose not to reply for most part, remaining in a kind of glum moodiness. Jonas felt a little rejected by this screen of silence, but consoled himself with the reasoning that Einar probably didn't know or trust him enough to give him that information.

When they were sure the coast was clear, they trekked back to the gate. When Jonas brought up the topic of the GDO again, Einar simply dialled Earth's address, pulled an electronic device out of his tunic pocket and activated it. After waiting for a minute or so, Einar beckoned Jonas forward. The Kelownan hesitantly stepped up to the event horizon with Einar, only to yelp in surprise as the Innarim shoved him through the gate first.