What Hurts the Most
Chapter 5: Cure
On board the Daniel Jackson, Daniel had been transferred to the infirmary there. It was odd, having an ascended who had become violently ill. As soon as the ancients had learned about Ba'al's deception, they had entered the ship and tore it apart, piece by piece, saving the system lord for last. They eventually brought him to a nearby, young, hot star, where they let him orbit it without any protection. Baked by the star's intense heat, Ba'al stayed a toasted object.
" Damn. Remind me to never piss off an ancient while I live," Mitchell told Teal'c as he watched the archeologist sleep uneasily inside the confines of the strands of metal that held him upright.
" Indeed," Teal'c agreed. He had no intention what so ever of doing such a thing, even if he wasn't in his right mind or under some one's control. The thought of what could happen would stop him dead in his tracks.
" Colonel Mitchell, do you read?" Samantha Carter's voice came over the speaker of his radio.
" Go ahead Carter. What's wrong?" Mitchell asked, suddenly on guard. He didn't want her to know that her husband was dying, again.
" What's wrong with every one? They're all acting funny and looking at me sadly when they think I'm not looking," Sam said.
" We'll tell you at the SGC, Carter, now forget about it," Mitchell said, trying to give her an order.
" No. I need to know now. Does it have something to do with Daniel?" she asked, trying to get every bit of information out of him.
" Carter…" Mitchell started to say, but he was cut off way before he could even try to finish his sentence.
" Colonel, if I don't get an answer, I will rewire these controls and beam myself aboard that ship right now," Sam said, her hand resting on the control panel, ready to reroute the power crystals and beam herself on the Daniel Jackson.
" Okay, but please don't storm onto this ship," Mitchell said, giving in quite reluctantly. " Teal'c and Daniel are all right. Well, mostly all right. Daniel's contracted some kind of virus that's deadly to any ancient who is exposed to it."
" What?" Sam asked, not all too sure that she heard him right the first time.
" He's dying, Carter. I'm sorry," Mitchell said softly.
" Oh, my God," Sam exclaimed in a low voice, sliding down a wall on one of the Prometheus's levels. Some people who were passing her at the moment realized that she had learned the truth about Daniel's illness. " I'm coming over."
" Carter, don't…" Mitchell said, before he realized that she had beamed over. " Be stupid. Now you've run the chance of infecting yourself." He finished, starting to get angry at the Major.
" There is no threat to humans. I've finished testing and found that it will not kill humans, or is it in any way harmful to them. The ancients will contract it, but the virus avoids contact with mere humans as it dies with exposure to them," Thor said as he entered the room.
" Can I go see him?" Sam asked, her grey eyes never leaving the sight of her ascended husband from across a pane of window.
" Of course," Thor replied. " He has sentimental meaning to Major Carter, does he not?" he asked once Sam had left.
" Yeah. They were married, or were in the process of being married, before some idiot killed him. I don't really know why or how, but we found out who wanted Daniel dead not all that long ago," Mitchell said, still trying to figure out the true reason as to why Kinsey had decided to off Daniel. He left, leaving Sam with her husband to have a moment alone, with Teal'c and Thor following him.
Entering the room, Sam's breath hitched at the sight of Daniel. His skin was pale and covered with beads of sweat. He was so cold to the touch of her palm as she held his hand. " Daniel, what have you gotten yourself into now?" she asked under her breath. Reaching out, she caressed his face, ignoring the warm sweat that touched the palm of her hand.
" Sam?" Daniel murmured before his eyes opened. " What are you doing here?"
" I came to see you, silly," Sam answered, trying to keep her voice from cracking up in front of him. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but these strands of metal, whatever they were, surrounded him too much, restricting her from doing so. Instead, she gazed at him, unable to hide the tears in her eyes.
" Don't cry, Sam, please," Daniel whispered. It hurt him more than the pain he was feeling from the serum to see her sad. " It'll be all right."
" No it won't. Daniel, you're dieing again, and I can't do anything but stand around and watch, like last time," Sam said. " I really don't want go through that again, no matter what."
" What happened to Ba'al?" Daniel asked, his curiosity peaking when he thought about the system lord.
"We tore his ship apart to get to him, and brought him to a young blue super giant, unprotected, might I add. He's toast," came the answer, but not from Sam. Whipping their heads around, they both watched as Jon walked forward from the shadows of the room.
" Jon, what are you doing here?" Daniel asked, worried. " You're infected now, you know."
" Yes I am. This is a plague ship for the ancients. The elders know how to heal you and taught me, being the only volunteer who agreed to do this," Jon said, stepping closer to the two. " Besides, you have other things to do. It is your duty to stop the true Ori from going to Earth and destroying it. You also have a life and a family to live for on Earth."
" Jon, I won't let you do this," Daniel argued.
" It is too late for that. You must become the rampaging river to be at one with it," the ascended being said. Changing into his energy form, Jon placed a tendril of himself on the sick one in front of him. It took a while before Daniel cried out in pain, his back arcing up in an attempt to escape the pain. Jon grimaced. The virus was stronger than he had first thought, but he continued, knowing that he had to do this. Soon, he too, cried out in pain as the healing process finished.
Mitchell and Teal'c had hurried over when they had heard the screaming. They were amazed to see that there was another ancient on board, other than Daniel. Not too long after arriving, the other ascended being collapsed, twitching out in his final moments of life before disappearing completely from existence. Looking up, they watched as the metal strands holding Daniel upright fell away, letting the linguist drop to the ground, unconscious.
" What happened?" Mitchell demanded. " That was an ancient, right?"
" Yes, sir. Jon healed Daniel," Sam replied as she knelt down by her husband, stroking his head to comfort herself and keep Daniel calm incase he woke up and was disoriented.
It took nearly an hour for Daniel to wake up, and in that time span, the Asgard ship had reached Earth. Thor had come in once he had woken up and delivered the news that the archeologist was virus free. Sam was so happy that she hugged Daniel, forgetting about his bruised ribs until she heard him call out her name.
" Sorry Daniel," she said, apologizing to him.
" Please don't do that again. I almost passed out then," Daniel chided softly.
" Ah, Carter, Dr. Jackson. You should be glad to know that we are now in Earth's orbit and ready to be beamed down to the SGC," Mitchell announced as he walked through the open doors. " Come on, down to the beaming room you two go." He said and gently helped an unsteady Daniel to his feet and over to where Teal'c was waiting with Thor.
" I have just finished scanning the entire ship. I am glad to say that there is no trace of the virus any where on board this vessel," Thor said, moving away to activate the ship's beams.
Down on Earth, Generals Hank Landry, George Hammond and Jack O'Neill waited in the Gate room when the four were beamed down from the Asgard ship.
" Daniel, good to see you again," Hammond said.
" Good to be seen, General," Daniel said, accepting the hand that he offered, the other wrapped protectively around his ribs.
" We heard what happened up there. Care to explain, Danny boy?" Jack asked as he gestured to the briefing room located above the control room to the Gate room.
As they sat around the briefing table, Landry called up his daughter, Dr. Carolyn Lam to examine Daniel's ribs. While she was on her way up, Daniel started on his story, pausing only when Dr. Lam located a pretty sensitive spot that caused him to nearly black out. Once the story was done being told, much to mostly every one's shock, Dr. Lam revealed her prognosis.
" All bruised ribs, no broken ones. Dr. Jackson, you should count yourself as lucky for getting off that easily, especially after all that happened," Lam said.
" We have a problem. Before Jon healed Daniel, he said that the Ori were coming to Earth, and that it was up to Daniel to stop them," Sam spoke up.
" We don't have a lot of time before they arrive," Daniel added.
" That's why I was sent here," a new voice spoke up. Every one watched as a ball of light transformed into a very familiar face.
" Dad," Sam whispered.
Jacob Carter stood in a corner of the briefing room, acknowledging the attention directed to him with a nod. " Daniel, I was sent to give you all the support you needed. Oma told me that you know how to defeat the Ori," he said.
" I do. Do you have it with you?" Daniel asked.
" Oma wouldn't send me here without it," Jacob replied, pulling out a silver katana with an ivory hilt from his robes.
" Thank you. Tell Oma that I appreciate this a lot," Daniel said, taking the weapon's hilt in his hands, testing its balance with experimental twirls, fancy moves and mock slashing. " Perfect."
Sam watched as her father disappeared from sight and Daniel working with his new sword. " What are you planning on doing, Daniel?" she asked, slightly mesmerized by the sword show.
" I have to fight the Ori at their strong hold, Sam. This is something I have to do on my own," Daniel said, knowing that she would be shocked and worried at the news. " I will come back to you, don't worry." He had to do something, and kissed her, placing a hand on her stomach as he did so.
A golden light filled the room as Daniel kissed his wife. He was giving her what they both had wanted for a very long time, even before his death years ago, and that was a child; he was impregnating her without having sex.
" Take care of her," he whispered in her ear before heading to the Gate room and telling an air man on duty to dial the home address of the Ori. He knew that SG-1 had followed him, and he turned around as the second symbol on the Stargate lit up. " You guys can't come with me, you know."
" To hell with that. You'll need some help, and if you take the fall, some one needs to tell the others and help to coordinate the retaliation," Mitchell said, boldly stepping forward. " I'm a fast learner, and I will go with you, even if it's not my place. You can't stop me."
" Fine, but only you. Sam, Teal'c, I'm afraid that I can't let you come with us," Daniel said, turning back to the Gate as the final chevron lit up and the device activated with a splash. He walked up the ramp without hesitation, Mitchell following right behind him. He didn't look back once, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stand Sam's upset face.
Across the event horizon, Daniel walked right through the main town, knowing on instinct where to go. The people of this planet stared in wonder and fear as they realized who these strange people who had walked from the great stone circle of the non-believers, were. They followed them until they reached the town square, in which stood a stone structure.
" They burn the non-believers here, using molten metal," Daniel explained to the army man when he saw Mitchell's puzzled expression when he looked at the thing, then turning to the crowd. " Where is your prior?"
The man in question walked up from the lengthening shadow of a building, grey robes billowing slightly. " Hallowed are the Ori," he said, the people of the town bowing down on the ground and repeating the phrase. " Welcome, the Ori greet you." The man said in a different tone of voice.
Daniel's head perked up. " The Ori have chosen you for their vessel. That much easier for me to kill you and not waste my time looking for you," the linguist said, hefting his sword up and rushing in to attack, knowing that Mitchell had his back by keeping the people off his back.
The fight lasted around five minutes, Daniel ending the battle by killing the prior, his sword in his heart. As the corpse fell to the ground, he stumbled into the stone structure, wincing when his knees barked against the rock. He was winded, too winded to even notice that the chains, which had been enhanced with a spell a long time before, creeping towards him. By the time he did, it was too late. He was tied to the structure, and he noticed that there was some liquid metal slowly heading towards him.
What a cliffhanger. I need reviews to see if Daniel will die or not. I know I said that the Ori would be heading to Earth, but I decided that Daniel would head to the home planet to avert the visit.
Thanks to every one who gave in reviews. And future thanks to those who will.
I need suggestions to what will happen to Kinsey. Please e-mail me your ideas at black fire dragon yahoo.ca.
I still own nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch.