"Level 28"

SUMMARY: A powerful stranger from the future seeks asylum at Stargate Command. What will happen when SG-1 discovers she's the daughter of one of their own and wants to kill her parent before she can be born? What will Daniel's feelings for her develop into when he realizes who and what she is? READ and REVIEW!

MAJOR 'SHIPS: Jack/Sam, Daniel/Adrienne.

NOTE! Forgive the delay. I've been working on a few chapters ahead, and believe it or not, I do have a life. But I promise the wait was not pointless. This is by far one of my favorite chapters. We welcome to our list of characters the infamous Dionysus.

And now…

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PART SIX: Behold Dionysus

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Adrienne walked through the trees carefully, Daniel following her every step.

"So what's the story on this Dionysus? Is he a Goa'uld? An Ancient? Old buddy of yours?" Daniel asked, still refusing to look up at anything other than her boot prints in the sand.

"It's not a person, Daniel. It's a part of a weapon. If I can destroy it, I won't have to kill anyone to stop the onslaught from coming."

"Onslaught of what?"

And so Adrienne began her story:

Ancients called Ori are coming to destroy the Anquietus. And you're going to lead them to our galaxy. Millions will die. My father is one of them. I was created after his death and after the collapse of the Ori nation. Earth had been mostly left alone. But the rogue agents were not simply happy with this. They had to ensure that even the lowliest Prior had no power. And that they had a weapon in case the Ancients turned against us. So they built me.

Before Mother saved me, I was unstable. My mind was too immature despite the accelerated aging. I couldn't take the information put in my brain. They took out my parents' memories but I was already going insane. I was 4 years old when it happened. I already had the body of a 25-year-old and the mentality of a 50-year-old… Jack.

The Goa'uld DNA in me, and there was much, was slowly taking over. When Mother rescued me, that was the first thing she erased. I had no memories of what I'd done, of who I'd killed for them. So many people…

So Mother built a failsafe in my DNA, like the one in Jack. The Asgard tried to help her but they still died out. I was not their salvation. Quite the opposite in fact. A few million stem cells later and I died anyways. When I was reborn, I had no memories, and no feelings. Mother taught me to feel. Taught me the ways of the military, and of humanity. For decades, I fought to preserve and expand our nations, even as we warred with ourselves.

And then they came and pulled her away from me. They locked me up in a cage beside her and made me watch as they tortured her for two whole months. I asked her every day when it would be ok to escape but she only answered, 'Not yet. They have not received my call. When they do, they will come.'

Our 65th night in captivity, the Gate woke me up. It called to me, I thought. I could sense it turning and moving and it beckoned our saviors. I told Mother of the Gate's call and she told me to go to it, to escape and find my liberator. But I couldn't leave without her and her rescue slowed me down. The 38-minute window was almost up and I had to leave her behind.

When I reached the Gate room, my saviors were waiting for me… waiting to take me to Sanctuary, a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. They seemed to think the future was meant to play out. They didn't want to interfere. But I couldn't leave her there. I knew she was probably already dead but I went back to the ruins of the SGC nonetheless.

Sadly, I was right. She was moments from death when I reached her. There was nothing I could do, with all the powers at my disposal. She still died. But in her hand, I found a note. It had a date and a time to make my escape. I spent 3 days hidden in the overrun ruins of Cheyenne, waiting for that moment to come. And it did.

After that, I ran back to the Gate and dialed Sanctuary, just as it said. I pass through a solar flare and here I am.

"So you knew it would take you back in time?" Daniel asked.

"Oh yeah, I've read all the reports remember? 1969, I believe was the year."

Daniel smiled but when he looked up at her to reciprocate with a joke, there she was standing before a grand palace, mid-10th century Middle Eastern.

"Is that? That looks like…" Daniel stuttered.

"The Taj Mahal? Nah not even close. But it looks like it, doesn't it? Let's just hope it won't hold our coffins."

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Sam was frantically going through her office for things she'd need on the rescue mission. That's what they were calling it but she knew Daniel went of his own accord. Why Adrienne left was the actual mystery. There must have been something, a realization that made her want to leave at this time and from this place to this planet.

Sam's hand trembled as she went for a small pad on the table. She withdrew it and examined it. Was it fear? Was it anxiety? Was it stress?

It's got to be stress, she thought. Damn it, Daniel. I hope you're ok.

"Hey," she heard coming from her doorway. "You ok?"

"I'm fine Janet," she responded to Dr. Frasier. "Just a little tired is all."

"You don't collapse for no reason, Sam. Anybody else I could understand but you don't," Janet said, entering the lab and sitting on the metal stool across from her.

"What's up, Janet? What did the test results say?"

Janet didn't answer right away. She looked down at her resting hands then closed her eyes. "This is the part of medicine I hate. We found… a discrepancy."

"With Adrienne's results?"

"No, with yours."

Sam froze, her blue eyes open wide in even greater, trembling fear. "Tell me," she said in a very small voice.

"You're dying."

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Jack was getting changed in the men's locker room when he looked up at the inside of the locker door. A picture of the team at one of his future birthdays had been pinned up to the metal door a funny but obscene magnet.

He raised an eyebrow and looked around before taking it off the door. He was indeed alone, as far as he could tell. He brought it closer and smiled. Sam had come to him that day and asked what was going to happen to them, as blunt as daylight in early morning's wake.

He'd looked at her seriously and leaned in to kiss her but she refused. She only wanted to know. But that he could not give her. Any answer he was tempter to give her would surely hurt more than any good it would do them.

She'd walked away after a few moments of silence, looking into each other's eyes. His face had said it all.

"The world is more important than us."

And Sam, more than anyone, understood. If either of them were lost to the SGC, the safety of the planet could suffer. People would surely die, but what could they do? Jack felt the need to hold her overcome him every time she was near, the need to kiss her every time she spoke…

But there he was, staring down at that picture, and he couldn't help think not only who had put it there but how great she looked sitting on his lap as he blew out his candles. Daniel was clapping in the back in great glee and Teal'c had a plate already out for the chocolate cake to come to his rescue.

There were days when things were simple, he thought. I'd be surrounded by smelly, hairy men all day, jumping over Baghdad in black ops, killing faceless enemy soldiers. How is it I can't handle the thought of a single, leggy blonde.

He smiled to himself and went to pin the torn picture back on when he noticed the writing in the back.

"For your collection" had been written in large letters resembling his own.

He looked around again and reached down to the base of the locker, taking out an old cigar box. Inside, he kept a large array of old photos. His own, his old family, and even quite a few of his new one. He carefully placed it on top of the small pile and wiped away his smile.

Now that they knew the truth of their future, he couldn't hide from his feelings anymore. If she felt the same way, that meant they could have a future together. Even if he died so prematurely. Even if he was too old to enjoy like he wanted.

Suddenly, the door to the locker room opened and SG13 came in to change for a recon mission and he quickly hid the box again. But he knew he couldn't hide it much longer. He didn't want to. He had a family again.

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Teal'c had heard the news of the mission but had not bothered to protest why he wasn't going. He had other plans, after all. He had to find that wife of his. It brought a simple smile to his face but he was still fearful. What if whomever he found was not the woman of his future? Was if he was destined for someone else?

He desperately wished Adrienne would tell him but he knew that if she did, he would always wonder what might have been. Besides, he had other things to worry about. She had entrusted on him quite a few things that he wished he could keep. But the world depended on it and her confidence had to be betrayed.

He replayed in his head her icy words: "Should anything happen to me, I want you to carry on this information. Do you understand? They cannot know anything until the situation arises."

He'd promised but he had not truly meant it and he thought she knew that. So he trusted her long enough and when it came that Sam and Jack were leaving for the planet, he went to find them and tell them the truth.

But it was too late. They were already at the Gate. He stood on the control room floor and waved goodbye, resigned of all need. They would find her and she would get them through it. The situation did not require for them to know the truth.

He saw them walk onto the ramp in their diving masks and gear after a rather disturbing MALP read and step through, hand in hand.

He turned to face a very worried Hammond and said, "General Hammond, I believe we have a great many things of which we must converse."

Hammond tried not to smirk but Teal'c choice of words always made him laugh and it was a welcome change after sending his two best officers into the middle of an ocean, most surely to their deaths.

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Daniel took a weary step into the palace only to find Adrienne's hand upon his chest, stopping him from going any further.

"What?" he asked.

"Let me go first. It will try to kill outsiders."

Daniel did not like this. "What! What's it? There was no mention of killing anyone back at the Gate."

She laughed a bit, completely ignoring him and going on, her wet boots slipping slightly on the marble floor. It looked as if it had been carved from a single slab a hundred yards long.

"Dionysus… where are you, love? Come out, come out… wherever you are…" she taunted, cautiously walking on her toes. "I know I'm early honey but I need your help."

Daniel felt the cold wind blow the door to the palace wide open. The wind rustled past Adrienne, encircling her and lifting her a foot above ground. But she only smiled, embracing the wind with open arms as it became corporeal.

Before her now stood a little boy no older than 5 dressed in white robes, holding onto a sprig of lavender.

"Ariadne? Is that you?" he asked sweetly.

Adrienne's eyes began to water as she knelt down on the cold marble floor, her arms open wide. The little boy dropped the sprig and ran to her gleefully.

"It's ok, Dionysus. I'm here. I'm here…" Adrienne whispered.

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Jack and Sam stepped out of the ocean and onto dry land. They took off their mask and discarded their air tanks in a safe bush by the shore. Neither dared speak. Neither dared to so much as glance at each other.

"Where do we go from here, Carter?" he asked.

Sam looked up at him with weary yet startled eyes. For a second, she thought he'd meant where they'd go in their relationship but she snapped out of it and looked away. She took out the pad she'd been working on and began to fiddle with buttons and screens.

"That way," she said, pointing to the trees. Jack threw his gun over his shoulder and like a good little soldier made way for the castle.

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Daniel stood frozen at the doorway, his hand trembling. This was the infamous Dionysus? A 5-year-old boy? He wasn't sure how long he waited but there he was in the doorway, his mouth slightly ajar.

And worst of all, he was an Ancient.

"Adrienne, what's going on? What is he?" Daniel asked with deep fear and slight jealousy. He went to take a step forward but remembered her warnings and stopped.

"Don't move, Danny," she called out to Daniel and then said to the boy with a calm and soothing tone he'd yet to hear from her, "Dionysus, can you lift the wards, please?"

The light-haired boy nodded and walked towards Danny, sliding atop the long edges of his robes over the slippery marble. He grabbed Daniel's hand and they began to walk hand in hand toward Adrienne smiling in the middle of the room.

"Ree… explain this to me," Daniel said through gritted teeth.

The boy ran to her and hugged her legs, looking at Danny in fear. "Daniel, meet Dionysus. Dionysus, this is a friend of mine. He's going to help us get back to where we need to go. Is that ok?"

The boy nodded by her thigh and Daniel watched as she smiled down at him almost motherly. Daniel picked up the sprig of lavender from the floor and knelt down by the boy, handing it to him with a sincere smile.

The boy took it warily and said, "I know you. You were one of us… I am not to relate with your kind."

"You can trust him," Adrienne assured. The boy did not respond but look Daniel over.

"Where do we have to go?" Daniel asked, getting up from the cold marble.

"We need to reach the other Stargate. It's at the other end of the palace. Dionysus can take us but I'll need your help to decipher the keys to the entrance. He can't read it. They erased it from his mind."

"Who are they? And why did he say us?"

"I'm part Ancient, Daniel," Adrienne said. "I died a hell of a long time ago."

"Well you'd mentioned that but how can a clone be Ascended?"

Ree smiled but didn't respond.

"Lead the way," she said to Dionysus and they began to go deeper into the palace.

Adrienne fell behind so she could hold onto Daniel's hand with an enthusiastic if not dreadful grip. He looked at her questioningly but she only looked down at their hands and inhaled sharply, trying for dear life to hold back tears.

He didn't inquire further but he had to know one thing, "Ree… why did you ask if I knew where Dionysus was?"

She sighed and answered in whispers, "Where I come from, an SG-team finds him here in 2008. When they found out he wasn't human, they began to experiment on him like you tried to do on me and they found the gene that allows for me to be born. After years of incarceration thanks to our happy little sons of bitches at the local rogue organization, he freed himself and came to find me. By then, his body had aged. The Others had abandoned him and he had no one… except me. Mother and I took him into the SGC and it wasn't long before we realized what he really was. A weapon…"

"He's who I remind you of, isn't he?" Daniel asked timidly.

"Yeah, he has the same signature as you. You were both exiled from Ascension. When I first saw you, I thought it was you because of that signature."

"You loved him didn't you?"

"I still do."

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To be continued in PART SEVEN:

--What does Adrienne plan on doing with Dionysus?

--How far did Adrienne and Dionysus' relationship go?

--Will Jack and Sam catch up with them?

--If Adrienne didn't fall from Ascension, does that mean she's still an Ancient?

--What did Adrienne tell Teal'c?

--What of this plan to kill one of her parents? Is that her mission still?

--What are the drawbacks to Ree's immorality?

--And finally… Is Ree really a clone?

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Keep tuned in! It gets a little scary for a while and then someone dies. We finally understand the natural abomination that is "Ree." The snogging begins! Someone retires, someone gets married, someone dies, and someone goes all the way down the rabbit hole… REVIEW!