Author Notes: Eep. Okay, so I meant to update and well, kinda, didn't. I blame my pathetic writing skills and motivation. Sorry! If you want to thank anyone for this story finally getting updated, thank Jordan, who consistently pestered me:)

Chapter 17: Divinity of Sais

Daniel stirred against the contrasting temperatures of the freezing cold stone floor, and the warm body next to him. He blearily opened his eyes, gingerly touching the gash on his temple; a token from the battle. He pushed himself up from the floor, grimacing as his stiff muscles protested. Next to Daniel lay a still unconscious Maria. Thankfully, as far as he could tell, she was unharmed.

Before Daniel had a chance to try and wake Maria up, the door to their cell creaked open, and light flooded in, making him squint. The Jaffa strode in and hauled him to his feet. Daniel was still too dazed from the effects of the device to struggle - much. He was taken to a room lit by torchlight and his hands were secured above his head.

Detachedly, Daniel looked at the forehead of the Jaffa; what he saw was very worrying. The tattoo was not only gold, but a symbol he had never seen before; a shield-like symbol, with a cross through it. This indicated that either the Goa'uld was either killed off years ago, or never left Earth. Considering the building evidence – the pulse of air, orange glow and freaky voice – Daniel was leaning towards the latter option.

The Jaffa gave the ropes securing his hands a final yank, and then gave Daniel a yellow smirk. Shit. Not good.

Sam shivered. The devastation of the attack was hard to comprehend. It was one thing that they had to deal with things like this off world, but ever since the incidence with Aquiell, events had started happening closer to home; something that unnerved her.

Jack and Sam were in Amin's office, waiting for everyone to return. The wait was unbearable. Ewan had left them there as soon as the Jaffa retreated. The door creaked open, revealing a pale and slightly battered Jonas. Sam immediately got up and hugged him. Jack got up, "Are you okay?" Concern could be heard in his voice. Despite Daniel's assurances that the Jaffa wouldn't get through to the second defence, they had succeeded, resulting in even more casualties.

Jonas nodded, "I'm okay. Where're Teal'c and Daniel?"

Sam bit her lip, "We don't know. There's been no word from the lower levels; we didn't even know if the second defence had been broken through or not."

Jonas nodded again, and if possible, went even paler, "The Jaffa pulled back soon after they broke through the doors. They're doing a count and are burying the bodies…" He broke off, shaking. Sam squeezed his arm. She knew how many young ones had been put in the second defence; the Tau'ri had been over confident.

"Here." Jack gave his friend a glass of water and made him sit down, "Carter, stay here with Jonas, I'm going to find someone who can tell us what's going on."

Daniel raised his eyes to the door as it opened in front of him. A woman glided in and commanded the First Prime to leave them. She was of immense beauty, with dark eyes and hair; the typical host. A golden hand ribbon device snaked up her arm, and it was with this hand that she touched Daniel's cheek. He recoiled, something that did not please her. She smiled, "As you can see, I am no Jaffa, just a human. There is no need to be afraid."

"I'm not naïve. You're host is a human, and you're just a snake." Daniel spat in her face.

The Goa'uld backhanded him across the face, cutting his cheek, then leaned forwards and whispered in his ear, "If you know who I am, then you will know that by the end, you will be begging your goddess for mercy."

"Go to hell."

"No thank you; me and Osiris never got on."

Daniel stared at her in disbelief – that was the weirdest response from a Goa'uld that he had ever got, "Who are you?"

"I am Neith, Goddess of the hunt and warfare. I command the Jaffa tribes of Earth."

"You're a queen. That's how the Jaffa have survived all these years."

"For a human, you have a brain. Of course, until I gained power, I could not let my children reach maturity…"

"Charming."

"How is it that you know so much about the gods?"

"Aren't you meant to be all knowing? My people have killed your kind – Ra, Osiris, Hathor, Seth-"

"Seth was an ignorant fool! He wasted his time with humans when he could have had Jaffa."

"I guess you guys didn't get along then?"

"Enough! You will tell me what I want to know now, or you will wish you had."

Daniel spat out a less than polite phrase in Goa'uld in response, making Neith smirk. She picked up an object from the table behind Daniel, "Then this shall be all the more fun for me, and all the more worse for you."

Daniel screamed.

Jack wandered aimlessly around the tunnels, looking for someone who might be able to help, but everyone was too wrapped up in recovery to even stop to listen to him. Finally, he saw someone he recognised, "Hey!" Jack went up to the teenager who had brought their drinks earlier, "Raphael right? I need help to find my team mates, the ones who were with me earlier?"

"I'm sorry, I need-"

"Look, I don't care, okay? All I need you to do is show me the exit so I can look for them myself."

Raphael shifted about uncomfortably, "It's not pretty out there."

"Show me."

The boy led Jack as far as the hall where the second defence had been. He was about to go outside and look, when a shout drew his attention, "O'Neill!"

"Teal'c?" Jack rushed over. Teal'c was fending off a medic's attempts to bandage his leg. Jack said, "Will he be okay?"

"I will be fine, O'Neill, I can walk perfectly fine."

"Where's Daniel?" the Jaffa looked away, "Teal'c…where is Daniel?"

Before Teal'c could reply, Amin came up to them, "He is not here Colonel. Neither is Maria. They are not accounted among the survivors, but they are not among the dead. We believe they were captured."

"What? Why?"

"We believe they have been taken to Cairo. We leave in two hours. You are welcome to join us."

Jack expression hardened, "We'll be ready."

The door of the cell swung open, and the Jaffa threw in a limp body. As soon as it slammed, Maria scrambled over, "Daniel? Danny! Wake up! Daniel, listen to me, please wake up." Maria shook him, unnerved by the amount of blood that transferred to her hands. "Oh gods."

Daniel coughed, spitting up more blood as he awoke, "Maria?" His voice was hoarse.

"Yeah, it's okay, we just need to find a way to get out."

Panic flew into Daniel's eyes, and he tried to sit up, only to be forced back down, "No, Maria, listen to me. It's not Jaffa, it's a Goa'uld. It was a Goa'uld all along."

"Daniel, you're already running a fever; you're not making sense. The false gods left in the rebellion."

"Look, the SGC over the years have come across Seth, Hathor, Osiris - hell even Isis, but it was already dead- all on Earth. Maria, this is nothing like what you know."

"You're rambling."

"No…" Exhaustion was apparent in Daniel's eyes, and he fell back into a fitful sleep before he could tell her more.

A team had been put together for the rescue. It comprised of as many experienced fighters who could be spared, which was a total of fifteen. This number included Amin and another woman called Lucy who were senior masters; everyone else was under the age of twenty five.

The team of nineteen, plus one man from the Cairo garrison to make four equal search teams, were holed up in a small building while they tried to make a plan. Sick of waiting, Jack stood up and stretched, "I'm going to contact Hammond, let him know what's going on. Call me if they ever decide anything."

Jack went downstairs and, using the satellite phone from their equipment, called up General Hammond. He explained everything that had happened. The General was understanding, "Very well, Colonel. Do you need any assistance? I could have another team out there by nightfall."

"No thanks, General. We can't spare the time to wait. If that's all?"

"Actually, it's not. Jack, there's been an…incident here. I didn't want to, but we really need Mr Quinn back here."

"What? Why Jonas? What happened?"

"It involves him directly. We all know he is the only one who all the ministers will listen to, and one of them is here demanding his presence."

Jack glowered. He really didn't like the Langarans on principle, and considering SG-1's experiences lately, he really didn't want to let Jonas out of his sight. It seemed that every time he let one of them wander off, they almost got killed. "Understood sir."

The General passed over the flight information that Jonas would need, and wished the rest of SG-1 luck in getting Daniel back. Jack reluctantly went back upstairs and informed Jonas that he had to go home.

"What? But Jack, I want to stay here!"

"No arguments Jonas, General's orders. You catch a flight back in an hour. You should get ready."

"Colonel." Amin approached. "We have a few ideas as to where the Jaffa could be. The garrison have been gathering intelligence for many months now. We leave now."

"Be safe Jonas." Sam smiled, and then grabbed her gear.

"You too."

Daniel shivered as he awoke. His mind felt like half-set cement and his vision blurred in and out of focus. At first he couldn't find Maria, making him panic, and then she slid into view, "Danny?" She rested a hand on his forehead, "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap." Daniel murmured. "Where are we?"

"Sometimes I can hear traffic, so I think we're in Cairo, or maybe Alexandria, but it's hard to tell; the windows are boarded up from the outside." Concern laced Maria's voice, amplified by her slight accent.

Daniel found it hard to focus on what Maria was saying. There was something at the back of his mind, something Neith had said before knocking him out by pouring some foul, viscous liquid down his throat; probably what had brought on the fever too. He knew something was weird. Generally, Goa'uld didn't waste time by capturing prisoners who would give them the same information, which meant Neith had other plans for Maria. Unfortunately, Daniel's mind was too clouded from the fever to work out what it was.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: I am dedicating this week to writing Stargate; my other story has distracted me too much. I am determined to at least finish Daniel. Anyway, please tell me what you think:)!