What Hurts the Most
Ch2 Descending
Major Samantha Carter sighed as she trudged through the mud. This planet was so dreary; no wonder it was hardly inhabited, except for the Ori's minions; the bad guys. She couldn't believe it. The Ori were part of the ancients, abusing their power to make themselves appear as gods to unsuspecting people of different cultures. She knew that Daniel would have known more of their culture from his studies at the SGC, but since his death, she had never felt so alone.
Jack had assigned a man from the battle at Antarctica as their new C.O. She didn't mind at all. Colonel Cameron Mitchell was as good as they said he was, and a fast study at that. Though she was still in a slight depression because of Daniel, but the knew General back at base, General Landry, had allowed her to go back to work, heading off-planet to study and save the world.
Up ahead, Teal'c watched as many of the Ori believers walked by his position, never noticing the former jaffa of Apophis. He would not fire on them, preferring to finish the mission than to engage in a full battle. He kept a close eye on Sam, knowing that she still felt bad about losing Daniel. He had learned the news when he had stepped through the Stargate after the mission with the Tok'ra had been completed and had witnessed the body of Daniel Jackson being loaded on a stretcher. The linguist had been too still and too pale, hinting the jaffa at what had happened. When he had watched the tape that O'Neill had been so kind to record, he understood fully what had happened. He sympathized with Sam, never having to say good-bye to his wife before she passed on.
Colonel Mitchell snuck up behind a guard and punched the butt of his P-90 on the base of the guard's skull, knocking him unconscious. Dragging the still body into the shadows, he draped the body on the wall, positioning him as if he was sleeping on active duty. He jumped when he saw a man in brown robes appear before him, a sword held solidly in one hand. Aiming his gun up, he realized that the sword was aimed at his neck.
" You're here to free Vala, are you not?" The stranger asked, lowering the sword a bit.
" Yeah, and this is what to you?" Mitchell asked.
" I know where she is. Follow me," the stranger replied, leading Mitchell into a building that looked suspiciously like a jail house.
Vala looked up from her place in her cell. The guard was busy checking her out instead of doing his duty. Behind him, she saw the figure of Colonel Mitchell and Mr. Glowy. Who ever the stranger was, she had felt comforted by his presence after her torture sessions. He calmed her down, let her sleep, like he was a personal guardian angel.
" Hey, boys," she said, smiling. Confused, the guard turned around, only to be punched in the face. " Finally, thought that I would never get out of here."
Muttering something about the woman never being able to stay out of trouble, Mitchell yanked the keys off of the guards' belt and unlocked the cell door, letting Vala out of confinement.
Back at the Stargate, Sam's eye caught a figure moving through the trees. Aiming her P-90 at it, she fingered her radio, sending a communication. " I have incoming on my three. I advise caution," she whispered, keeping low to the ground.
A prior listened in on the woman's warning through the radio. He knew that it would be too late for her friends to get there. His work would be done, a plague spreading across the world of non-believers of Origin. " Hallowed are the Ori," he said, startling the woman, and clubbed her with his staff before she even was close to transmitting on her radio.
At the jail house, Mitchell, Vala and the stranger had made it across to the forest where Teal's hid without being detected by any sentries. Cocking his head at the man in brown robes, the jaffa shrugged off a familiar feeling as he turned to head back to the Stargate. Arriving, they didn't see Sam, but the prior, who stood defiantly in front of the Stargate.
" Um, excuse me, but you are blocking our way home. Oh, you haven't seen a woman with short blond hair around here, have you?" Mitchell asked, becoming the usual humor part of his self he was when faced with danger, wondering how in hell he hadn't gotten any further communication from Carter after her warning.
" Hallowed are the Ori," was all that the prior said.
" You have seen her. You hide her from us. Where is she?" the stranger asked, his sword held steady at neck level.
" You are not welcome here, unbeliever," the prior said, staff aimed at the stranger, Sam floating up from where she had lain unconscious.
Using his own power, the stranger pushed the prior away from the gate and activated it. " Go through and don't look back," he shouted, charging the prior, pausing for a fraction of a second to check on Sam. Satisfied that she was all right, he continued on, hoping to kill the prior before he attacked.
Vala watched as the stranger attacked the prior. Something told her now that he was an ancient, an ascended being. Rushing to Sam's side, she helped the astrophysist get to her feet and hobble to the Gate, sending her GIC before anything else.
Mitchell ushered Teal'c through, waiting as the stranger pushed the prior away and ran as fast as he could to the Gate. " Go," he cried breathlessly, reaching the stairs of the Stargate. As he reached the event horizon, he felt the prior slam into his back, driving them both through, only to land on a metal ramp, where they fought with renewed vigor and burning anger.
General Landry stood and the control room window, staring in fascination as a prior and an unknown man in brown robes battled. He blinked when the stranger killed the prior in cold blood.
" Where did they take her?" the stranger demanded.
" To the infirmary," some one answered the question, backing away from the strange man with the sword still dripping the prior's blood.
As the stranger made his way through the corridors and up to the infirmary, personnel avoided him when they glimpsed the blood-streaked sword. He had to see if Sam was all right. For all he knew, she carried the plague the he had heard about in circles of those he knew.
Entering the infirmary, he sheathed his sword and immediately went over to Sam's side and laid his hands on her, checking to see if she had any trace of the plague. She did have it. Concentrating even harder, he searched out each particle in her body and destroyed them. Once he had finished, he looked up, exhausted from the feat.
Sam had been startled when she saw the man place his hands on her and close his eyes. Once he had opened them, she knew who he was, though she had thought that he was dead.
" Daniel?"
The man named Daniel looked up sharply, blue eyes regarding her face, trying to place it. " Sam?" he asked, unable to hide a smile that came to his face.
" How? I mean, you were dead. There's a stone monument on the mountain with your name on it. You died in front of me. You didn't ascend then," Sam said, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.
Teal'c and Mitchell watched from the doorway. Glancing at the jaffa, Mitchell decided to press ahead with a question that had been bothering him.
" So, what she is saying is that that man is actually Daniel Jackson, the man who opened the Stargate, ascended after being poisoned by radiation, returned with no memory, married Sam and died in her arms because of some ass who killed him on his wedding day?" Mitchell asked, hiding his surprise when Teal'c nodded his answer. " Wow."
" Indeed," Teal'c answered Mitchell. He, too, was surprised when Sam had uttered the name of the man she loved. Watching in fascination, the jaffa kept a close eye on them as the stranger threw off the hood of his robes, revealing it was indeed Daniel Jackson.
" I can touch you," Sam whispered, running a hand along his jaw. " I've got to tell Jack. He'll want to know that you're ascended. After all of these years and hearing him blame himself that he somehow let you down, he'd be glad to know that you are all right."
" Go ahead, Sam. Call him. I'm not going any where. Just don't tell him why, only to come here," Daniel said, waiting patiently as Sam made her phone call. Once she was done, he grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes. She was even more beautiful than when he had last seen her, and that was after the monument had been built. He remembered that day clearly. Jack had come along to console her, bribing her with chocolate cake, telling her that Teal'c would eat it all. He had been relieved when Sam had taken up on the offer.
" He'll be here within the next two hours," Sam informed him, leading him away from the infirmary. Together, they made their way to General Landry' office, nodding a hello to anyone who called out to them, or ignoring anyone who gawked at the archeologist who had returned from the dead. The man was writing up a report that would go straight to the President and inform him of what the latest news at the base was.
" Ah, Carter, come in. Now how about telling me who this man is, doctor?" Landry asked, leaning forward to listen more carefully.
" Sir, this is Daniel Jackson, my husband," and with that opening sentence, Samantha Carter launched into the tale that told of how everything had been before Daniel had died, and a bit past then.
" Well, that is good to know. For a moment when he came through the Gate with the prior, I thought that we may have needed a hell of a lot more people guarding the gate room," Landry said. " Son, you haven't said anything since Carter told the story. I would like to know what you are thinking about."
" I can tell you when Jack gets here. Otherwise, I don't think that you need to know anything right now," Daniel said, getting up to stand at the large window that overlooked the entire Gate room. " It has been so long since I stood here. The last time was when Jack and I were speaking with Jacob and told him the news about Sam and I getting married. Of course he had a mission to do and had stopped by to see if we had any personnel to help the Tok'ra. By the way, how is your father?"
" He died a couple of weeks ago. Selmak had begun to shut down. Dad understood that, and decided to die with the symbiote. He always understood, and I knew that he wanted to die with Selmak," Sam said in a low voice, head hanging low.
" I think that I have seen them. I thought that I saw someone I recognized a week or so ago, but I couldn't be sure. Now I know. When I see him next, I'll tell him that you miss him, and that he should visit," Daniel told his wife softly. " I never told you this, but the ancients have agreed to help you all fight the Ori. They realize that their uncontrolled behavior has been going on too long. They will stop them."
" All right, now why was I called here? Carter, you had better have an explanation!" General Jack O'Neill shouted as he entered the office. " Who is this?" Jack asked, pointing to a man who sat in a chair, clad in brown robes.
" Don't tell me that you can't remember and old friend, Jack, after all that happened, starting at Abydos," a strangely familiar voice said, sending shivers up and down his spine.
Staring, Jack realized that the stranger was actually Daniel Jackson. " How?" was the only word he could say, wondering why this had happened again.
As I forgot to mention in the first chapter, I own nothing of Stargate SG-1. I wish I did, but hey, keep on dreaming girl. Please review. I will have other stories up in various categories, such as misc and tv shows, but they are still in progress.