What?!
By Ldynwaitin
Chapter Six
Uninvited Company
Daniel rolled around through the corridors; he tightly held the vial of poison to his chest as the vine dragged him to the gate room. Once he was in the gate room, he had to get the poison inside of the flower. Unfortunately, the only way that was going to happen, was for Audrey4 to make him her next meal.
Jack stared out the window in the conference room. Audrey4's vines seemed to be more agitated. He saw her flower snapping open, then it would close. Checking his watch, he could see it had been eight minutes since Carter told him they were on their way. He spun around when she entered the room. He immediately realized something was wrong.
"Carter, where's Daniel and Private Peters?" He noticed a blank look in her eyes. Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her. "Carter, wake up!"
Sam blinked her eyes, shaking her head, she saw that she was with Colonel O'Neill in the conference room. "Colonel, what am I doing here?" The last thing she recalled was taking her gun out to help Daniel. "Oh my god, sir. Audrey, she has Daniel. There was nothing we could do, she grabbed him in the corridors."
"What about the poison?"
"Daniel has it with him. She was dragging him to the gate room. The only way to kill her is to get that poison in the flower. That means…" Jack handed Sam a P-90. "Sir, what about the poison?"
"We can figure that out after we get Daniel back. Now let's make sure to let her know she's got a fight on her hands; um I mean vines."
Sam took the weapon, "Yes, sir."
Coming to the doorway that led into the gate room, Daniel took in a deep breath. He held on tight to the vial, as he was being pulled into the room.
Every instinct inside of him told him to fight it, but he didn't. He needed to get to the flower, it was their only chance. He saw the flower sitting up on the ramp. Once he entered the room, the flower began to open and close. He gasped as the vine drew him closer.
"Daniel," he heard on the speaker. "Heads up!"
He saw Jack in the conference room window. Sam, Teal'c and Spears was standing next to him. Standing back, they fired into the thick glass. Daniel covered his head as the glass cracked, then it shattered.
Audrey4 screamed as a hail of bullets fired into the plant. Immediately vines grew up from the floor to try and block the gunfire. Daniel groaned as its vines squeezed him tighter.
Bullets tore into the flower. The vines moved to shield her. Opening her petals, Daniel saw ridges exposed, he guessed to digest him. His eyes grew wide with shock, as he realized he was about to be eaten alive by a plant.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted. "The vines are coming from below."
Jack spun around; he saw vines coming up the stairwell from the control room. "Teal'c, Spears keep those vines away."
Teal'c and Spears dropped their weapons and grabbed two axes. Running to the stairs, they began hacking into the growing vines. Jack and Sam concentrated on keeping Audrey4 from eating Daniel.
Daniel was slowly being dragged towards the plant. The P-90's was tearing into the vines, but it didn't stop them. Audrey4 was hungry, and Daniel knew he was on the menu. The vines dragged him closer to the bloom. As the vines squeezed him tighter, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was trumpeting on the other side of the room.
"Carter," Jack shouted, as he continued firing into the vines. "Tell me that isn't what I think it is."
"Yes, sir," Sam said. "I see it too."
On the other side of the room was a giant mammoth. Its huge tusks cut into the vines. Its large trunk pulled the vines growing up the walls. Daniel knew it had to be Coyotl.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Jack said. "Sam, protect Manfred."
As Audrey4 lashed out at the mammoth, gun fire from above tore into the vines. A large vine snaked up the mammoth's trunk. It quickly changed into a giant bird. Daniel had seen carvings of it before, it was the flaming bird from Aztec mythology. The bird's sharp beak snapped the vines. Cutting more from the mother plant.
Daniel was still being held by the vines, but he could feel its grip growing weaker. The flaming bird screeched as a huge vine wrapped around its wings.
"We are running out of ammo, Sir," Sam said. She grabbed Teal'c's gun and continued firing. She saw Teal'c and Peters was backing up as more vines grew up the stairs.
"Keep firing, Carter." Jack shouted. "We need to give him a chance." He softly whispered, "Come on, Coyotl, do something."
In a flash the bird turned into a giant python. It slithered away from the vines. Audrey4's attack was now focused on Coyotl. The gun fire from above concentrated on protecting him, but they were losing the battle. Daniel could already see the injured vines healing. He saw the vines wrapped around the stargate glowing brighter.
Audrey4 had to be stopped now, before she could grow so powerful not even the poison could stop her. He was surprised to see Coyotl had turned into Dino. He was hopping towards him. He opened his mouth and took the glass vial from Daniel.
"I can't watch you die because of me, Daniel," he heard Coyotl say. "This is my fault. Don't worry, I'm going to fix it." He hopped on the vines until he reached the flowers large blossom.
The bloom opened and swallowed Coyotl whole.
"Coyotl!" Daniel shouted. He saw the bloom shiver. The vines that held him began to squeeze him so tight that he thought he would pop. Then it suddenly released him. The flower opened, and Daniel saw Coyotl falling out of the flower.
The flower's bright red began to darken, its petals withered. Daniel climbed up the vine covered ramp. He quickly picked up Coyotl.
"That…really hurt," Coyotl said. Daniel carried him away from the dying plant. He had to duck as dying vines on the ceiling began to rain down. One large vine fell on Daniel, knocking him down. As more vines began to fall, he covered Coyotl. The last thing he heard as a huge vine fell on top of him, was Jack screaming, "Let's get down there."
Daniel faintly heard Jack say, "No, he's not thinking."
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Jack, Teal'c, Sam and Coyotl standing over him. Coyotl had changed to look like him again. He was thankful someone brought him his clothes.
"Daniel," Sam said. "You're awake."
Daniel painfully nodded. He looked around; he was still in the gate room. The dying vines were falling off the stargate. Audrey's flower had withered to a brown blob. He could see the vines leading into the air ducts were gone. "I guess it worked."
"Yeah, Danny boy," Jack said. "You and your Grady twin did it."
"They were girls," Daniel weakly said.
Daniel saw Coyotl's eyes looking so sad. "I'm sorry, because of me you almost died. Can you forgive me?"
"How can I stay angry at that handsome face."
"You pushed me away, why did you do that?" He really had no idea why Daniel would do that.
"I made you a promise that you wouldn't have to come in here. But you did anyway."
"Your lives are so short, Daniel. I couldn't have you die because of me." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, a small smile parted his lips. "Also, my fear of losing a friend was stronger than being eaten up. I am your friend, right?"
His eyes looked so innocent so pure as he waited for Daniels reply. Daniel knew there was only one answer he could give. "Of course, we're friends."
Jack and Teal'c helped him stand up. "Are you all right?" Jack asked him. "That was a big vine that hit you."
Daniel rubbed his head. "Just a bump on my head, and sore ribs other than that, I think I'm good." He yipped as he tried to stand on his right leg. "Spoke to soon."
"I can fix that," Coyotl said. He placed his hand on Daniel's leg. Daniel felt a warmth go up his leg. When Coyotl stepped back, Daniel tried the leg again. The pain was gone, nodding he said, "Thanks, Coyotl."
Coyotl proudly smiled. "You're my friend, friends help friends."
Jack placed his hands on his hips, he let out a deep sigh. "Now that we averted another catastrophe, we need to decide what to do with Daniel2."
"I promise, Jack," Coyotl said. "I won't cause any more trouble again."
"Now why do I find that hard to believe?" Jack said.
Everyone spun around when they suddenly heard the rings on the stargate start spinning. Looking up they saw no one in the control room. Something was different though, the chevrons were not locking, the rings were just spinning. When they stopped, the giant whoosh flew out, but it suddenly turned dark.
Coyotl quickly turned to Jack. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he sobbed. "I won't cause any trouble, I promise. Please let me stay, don't let him take me."
"Who?" Jack said.
The dark waters began to churn. Coyotl's eyes were filled with tears. "You don't know what it's like, to be locked up in that box, alone. I was lonely, I was so lonely for so long. Please, Jack. I didn't mean to hurt anyone," he sobbed. "I just wanted to have fun again. If I go back in that box, I'll die. I can't go back in."
"Damnit," Jack cursed. "It's hard deciding what to do when you give me Daniels' puppy dog eyes."
Daniel's eyebrows raised. "I got puppy dog eyes?"
"Like a basset."
Sam looked at the gate, she saw the waters begin to change to pitch black then they grew still. "Daniel, does that look familiar?"
The gate was so black and still now, that it appeared to be a mirror. But the room was not reflected in the blackness. There was just emptiness.
"The Quantum mirror," Daniel said. "The one I found on P3R-233. It looks just like it."
The blackness shimmered, then something large moved out of the darkness. Coyotl hid behind Daniel, he tightly clutched his shirt. "Please don't let him take me back, Daniel. I can't go back. Please, please help me, I promise to be good."
The sound of thunder boomed. A strong wind moved through the room. They had to fight to stand as the wind pushed them into a corner of the room. The vines in the room began to wither until they turned into dust. The wind carried the dust through the blackness of the stargate.
As the wind died down, the metal ramp began to change into stone steps. A grey cloud slowly moved down the steps. It slowly changed into a human shape. Once it stopped at the bottom, Daniel gulped hard. Jack could swear he was losing color in his face.
"Daniel, who is that?"
A frail old man dressed in Aztec clothes wearing a feathered headdress stood before them.
"We're in trouble, Jack," Daniel whispered.
"It's just an old man," Jack said. "He looks like a slight breeze could push him down."
"No, Jack. He's not just an old man. That's Itzamna. The equivalent of the Mayan god of gods." Daniel took in a deep breath. "As I said, Jack. We're in trouble, big trouble."