619 The Changeling
Teal'c had met up with Bra'tac and together they went to the secret meeting of Rebel Jaffa. The attack was sudden and merciless. The Rebel Jaffa were slaughtered by the Goa'uld's loyal troops and to ensure none would survive their symbiotes were removed. Somehow as Teal'c lay seriously wounded by Bra'tac's side he was overlooked. As they lay on the edge of the lake, Teal'c tried his best to save his mentor, the father figure in his life.
He had given part of himself to save Bra'tac, sharing his symbiote, but even that was failing. The old man told Teal'c to save himself, even in his dreams. This old man's life was precious to Teal'c and he was willing to risk all for him.
He knew O'Neill would come but was it possible for the two of them to last that long. As he grew weaker his mind drifted off.
When Teal'c thought about it later he thought how strange it was that his hallucinations were both in the world of the Tau'ri. Had he been among these people too long? Was he absorbing too much of their culture? Was he yearning for a normal life and the only one his mind could conger up was a life of the Tau'ri.
And yet Apophis kept showing up. And he couldn't tell which of the hallucinations were real. Was it that his life among the Tau'ri didn't seem as real as his service to his former god?
And then of course Daniel Jackson showed up.
O'Neill reflected on Teal'c choice to risk his life for Bra'tac. Jack had made many choices that might have cost him his life. His former service was fraught with danger and he suffered because of it but continued to serve. He went to Abydos the first time out of despair, accepted Kanan out of necessity, and Kanan strolled back to Ba'al's fortress for Shayla. Was that for love? Jack chose to stay with Carter, separated by a force field on an exploding ship. He thought they both would perish. Was that for love too?
Now Teal'c and Bra'tac had no choice. They were both severely ill and the only symbiote between them was dying too. Jacob Carter brought hope in the guise of the drug Tretonin. They would live but chained to the drug. Was it better than being dependent on a symbiote, perhaps. But they had no choice.