Chapter 3

The gate burst open and SG-1 jogged out. Frank brought up the rear, his eyes glowing. He pulled the flashlight from his belt and flicked it on. He pushed through them, looking into the darkness.

"Abigail!" Frank called.

Mitchell slapped his hand over his mouth. Carter grabbed the flashlight and flicked it off.

"Shhh," Mitchell whispered.

Frank pulled away.

Mitchell made hand motions, sending Carter right and Teal'c left.

"Stay close, guys," Mitchell told Frank.

Frank followed close, but his attention was on the darkness surrounding them. Suddenly he tripped and fell. He turned, staring into the lifeless eyes of Colonel Rickes. Frank scrambled away, his eyes glowing brighter. A soft sound escaped, the muffled sound of a scream, and then his eyes stopped glowing. Daniel picked himself up, swinging his rifle around.

"Jackson?" Mitchell asked.

"What?"

"What's wrong with Frank?"

"We have to find Major Whitmore."

"You going to tell me why?"

Daniel turned to him. "Abigail Whitmore is his daughter, and right now he's worried sick she's been killed too."

"Keep down but keep looking."

Daniel turned to leave.

"Daniel."

"Hm?" he turned back.

"I'm sure she's fine. Tell him that."

"He heard you." Daniel walked away.

Mitchell didn't move. That explained Frank's sudden change of heart, but it made him feel awful. He knew full well she was transferred to the SGC and assigned to SG-9, but Landry had made him promise not to tell Daniel or Frank until they had some time to adjust. He was concerned that this might cause them to regress.

Daniel saw the form of a body and stopped. He knelt down next it. The person had blond hair so light it gleamed even in the darkness.

'Black hair. My baby girl has black hair,' Frank told him.

Daniel nodded. "I know, Frank, but I need to see who it is and get their dog tags."

A surge of sorrow threatened Daniel's composure. He pushed it back, reaching for the body and rolling it over. It was a woman in her early thirties and her chest charred from a power blast. Daniel pulled her dog tags off and put them in a pocket.

'Is this... What we do, Daniel?' Frank asked.

"Not always," Daniel whispered. "This is just one of the sadder spots in our life."

'Is this what the Priors do to people?'

"Not normally. This feels off."

'A trap?'

"Maybe."

Daniel stood, his hands tightening on his weapon when Frank felt sudden fear.

'Is this what system lords do?'

Daniel's head dropped and this time his own sorrow threatened to bring him to tears. He remembered Cha're and Skaara, and many others lost to system lords over the years. He nodded.

'No wonder everyone hates me.'

Daniel started walking. "Cameron and General Landry like you."

Frank felt squirmy and Daniel smiled. "I know. You want Teal'c and Carter to like you... For me."

'Yes.'

Daniel didn't say or think anything else. Frank and he spent hours talking about this, he knew that Frank felt bad that two of his closest friends were avoiding him because of him. If they'd just get to know Frank...

Daniel spotted a body lying on the ground. He walked over to it and knelt down.

'Abigail. It's Abigail. Is she alive? Check her pulse? Is she too cold? Daniel, is she--'

"Stop, Frank," Daniel quietly ordered.

"Clear," Carter called.

In the distance he heard Teal'c say the same thing. He looked back when the other three turned on flashlights, surprised to see they were so far away. He pulled a penlight from a pocket and switched it on. Daniel rolled Abigail over. She had a head wound that had matted her shiny black hair against her head and forehead. Frank was afraid for her, concerned. Daniel felt his desire to grab her and hold her tight.

'Is she alive? Daniel, is she alive?'

"Just a minute, Frank." Daniel reached out, putting his fingers against her neck. He and Frank were both relieved to feel a strong pulse. "Probably just unconscious." Daniel put his flashlight back in his pocket and picked her up. He walked back to the DHD and laid her down in the grass.

As light flashed in his eyes, he reached down and stroked her hair.

"Baby, why didn't you tell me you were trying for this?" Frank whispered.

He jumped when he heard dry weeds crunch. Teal'c was standing behind him. Frank retrieved the first aid kit off F.R.E.D. and knelt back beside her. Carefully he began cleaning the wound.

"Who is this?" Teal'c asked.

"My daughter."

"Another goa'uld?"

"No. She's tau'ri."

"Then she cannot be your daughter."

Frank looked up at him. "Does a daughter have to be born of your blood, Jaffa? Can't I love her as if she were?"

Teal'c said nothing for a moment. He knelt on her other side.

"She is wounded here," he motioned to the dark spot on her arm.

Frank moved the first aid kit so he could reach it and bandaged her wounds. Mitchell and then Carter returned to them. Carter glanced at the girl, but didn't say anything.

"Anyone else alive?" Mitchell asked.

"No," the three answered.

Mitchell looked around them. "Let's head back. She needs a medic and we can't do anything else here."

"Are we going to come back for the bodies?"

"Yes, when it's light."

Carter walked around the DHD and began dialing. From out of nowhere an energy burst hit her in the back. She fell against the DHD and hit the ground.

"Take cover!" Mitchell bellowed.

"Where?" Frank demanded.

More energy bursts erupted from around them, pinning them down.

"Jackson, the gate!"

Frank moved to a crouch and moved around to dial. He reached for one of the symbols and jumped back when it was hit. Teal'c and Mitchell laid down fire. Frank looked up at Carter. He checked her pulse and was relieved to find she was alive.

'Dial, Frank! Before we end up like SG-9!' Daniel ordered.

"They are shooting at us!"

'They are always shooting at us. DIAL THE DAMN GATE, FRANK!'

Frank got up and continued dialing. He felt something sting in his back and turned.

"Daniel?" he said, and then fell.

Mitchell and then Teal'c fell, and the Priors stopped firing on them. The six of them walked forward, surrounding them. As one they lifted their staffs and lowered them to the ground. Themselves and everything between them but the DHD disappeared.


There was a dull pounding somewhere nearby and once Daniel was aware of it, he became aware of the headache that hurt from his temples down into his shoulders. He opened his eyes, staring at the wall he was facing. And still the pounding continued. He rolled onto his back, looking around him. There was a table and over it he could just see someone that looked like Carter moving back and forth in sync with the pounding.

'Where the hell are we?' Frank whispered.

"I don't know," Daniel answered. He staggered to his feet, starting to recognize this room. There were high, square, windows, strong double doors, an equally strong table, and a bowl of fruit sitting in the center of the table. Daniel suddenly recognized this room, to his dismay. "On second thought... We're in the City of the Gods and this is the dining room Vala and I were held in."

'Oh. Just an Ori stronghold? And here I thought we were in trouble, DANIEL!'

Daniel grimaced, tried to hold back the memory of the place, but it came forward on it's own. And Frank's fear followed. It was so strong that Daniel thought it would control him, but at the last minute, he grabbed a hold of his courage.

'This is the memory? You two were almost killed? We're going to die, Daniel!' Frank bellowed at him.

Daniel leaned a hand on the table, sighing. "Frank, calm down. I--"

'CALM DOWN? DANIEL, WE ALMOST DIED!'

"FRANK!" Daniel snapped.

The thu'lo went silent. Carter turned, staring at him.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Daniel asked. His voice made his headache flare and he winced.

"Trying to get us out of here," she answered.

She turned back to the door, lifted a five foot candelabra she and began pounding on the door again. There was a small dent in the door from her ceaseless strikes, but Daniel knew from experience it was pointless to keep trying.

'How long do you think we should let her keep wasting her energy?' Frank mused.

"Sam, stop."

She didn't listen. Daniel moved toward her, stumbling as his head began swimming. He and grabbed the candelabra in mid-strike, looking her eyes. She drew a breath and looked away.

'What was that?'

Daniel tried to pull the candelabra away and she pulled back.

"They're going to kill us. We have to get out of here."

"Sam, you can't break the door down."

"You and Frank don't know that."

"Yes, we do. I do. Vala tried this for several hours the last time we were here."

Sam looked back up. "What?" She let the candelabra go.

Daniel put it back in the corner he remembered it was in. He turned back to her.

"Vala and I were brought here by the Priors when we were in Harrid and Sallis. Those are probably the dents she put in the door." Daniel motioned at the door.

Carter looked at the door. Daniel walked over to a chair, pulled it out and sat down. With an elbow on the table, he put his head in his hand. Carter slowly sat down in a chair next to him.

"Are you... Are you two alright?"

He nodded. "My head hurts, but I think we're okay." Daniel lifted his head, looking up at her. "And Frank is fine."

She nodded, looking at the table. A silent, uncomfortable moment passed.

"Sam, do you wish I hadn't joined with Frank?"

She looked, surprised by the question. "If you didn't you'd have died."

Daniel searched for the right words to say what was on his mind.

'Tell her it sort of feels like you did because all your friends are being distant and you don't know why.'

"I get the impression you wish we hadn't joined, Sam. Every time you talk to me it sounds like you're angry with me."

She sat back in the chair. "When I had Jolinar I... I was so afraid at first, and then I was angry, but then our memories started to merge and I learned about her. And then she let go to save my life. I..." Carter looked at the floor. She grimaced. A tear fell onto her lap.

"You what, Sam?" Daniel asked in a quiet voice.

"I wanted more time with her." Carter looked up suddenly. "I have never told anyone that, Daniel, but I wanted more time with her. Her knowledge and her experiences, good and bad, I wanted to share. And now I watch you and Frank... You have no idea how many times I've come to your office and hear you talking to someone. I look in and don't see anyone, and realize you're talking to Frank. Sometimes I just listen and I'm..."

'She's jealous of us. What on earth could make her jealous of us?'

"Are you jealous of us?"

She smiled and she didn't need to answer. Daniel got up and crouched by her chair.

"Is that why you won't talk to me or Frank?"

"You, anyway. I'm still trying to get used to Frank. He's... Unique."

Daniel stood, nodding. "You have no idea."

'Hey! What does that mean, Danny Boy?'

"And I'm getting really tired of you calling me Danny Boy."

'Danny Boy. Danny Boy. Danny Boy.'

Daniel shook his head. "He picks on me a lot; thinks himself something of a joker."

'Joker? Me?'

She looked up at Daniel. "How old is Frank?"

Daniel's eyes flashed with light. Frank laughed, looking down. "Sam, I, uhm..." Frank looked into her eyes. "I came from the goa'uld home world."

She stared unblinking at him.

'Frank... She's not breathing.'

He reached down, squeezing her shoulder. Quietly he urged, "Breath, Sam."

She gasped a breath, looking away. "You're one of the original goa'ulds that left?"

"Yeah. Ra came back after he found a host and most of us left in hosts." Frank crossed his arms over his chest. "That's the reason I volunteered so insistently to be a part of Daniel. I've been here before so I knew I could handle giving up my freedom."

'Most of the time you handle it,' Daniel retorted to him.

She looked up. "So why aren't you a system lord?"

"When it was discovered we could use brain dead hosts," Frank shook his head, leaning on his legs. "The goa'uld split. The system lords you know went their way, we went ours."

"What's stopped the Tok'ra and system lords from going after thu'lo?"

"We outnumber them by a few hundred to one."

"If there's so many, Frank, why didn't the thu'lo do something about the system lords?"

"You really have no idea what they would have been capable of. But we've slowed them down with an occasional wrench in their universe domination plans."

"The thu'lo could have stopped Anubis' attack on Earth."

"You guys were doing just fine without us. You didn't need us."

"We lost pilots in that fight. Good men and women with families."

'She has a point. Better try another tactic,' Daniel advised.

Frank thought for a moment. "Do you like dogs?" he asked.

"What?"

"Do you like dogs?"

Carter hesitated, thrown off by the question.

"Yes."

"How much do you like them?"

"Quite a bit."

"You know that whole pit bull controversy going on in Denver?"

"Yes."

"Have you become involved in that controversy?"

"No. Why?" Sam smirked. "Is that some grand goa'uld scheme?"

Frank laughed. "No. But why haven't you taken part in it?"

"I don't have a pit bull."

"Ah. So you haven't been involved because you share their planet, but not their culture. You recognize that they have differences they must work out themselves. Is that a wrong a assumption?"

"No." Carter sighed. "I see the point. We had to prove to them they couldn't hurt us or they'd just keep coming, and we probably wouldn't have listened to you anyway, since we'd probably have only seen goa'ulds and not allies."

"Exactly. And --"

'Frank, are those footsteps?' Daniel asked.

Frank's eyes flashed as he gave Daniel control.

'This is it, isn't it? Oh God!'

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"I think the Priors are coming," Daniel told her.

"How do you know?"

"We can hear their footsteps." Daniel stood.

Sam stood up beside him, turning to the door.

It opened and two Priors entered.

"You will follow us," one said and turned, going back into the hall. He stopped, waiting for them.

Daniel followed him. Carter hesitated.

"You will go with us now," the Prior informed her.

Daniel turned. She walked out into the hall, walking beside Daniel.