AN: Oi vay. I am far too tired to go into any real author notes, so I'll just say that the reason this chapter's a little late is because I've been working ... a lot. Thank you so, so much to those of you who read and to those of you who also review! I love ya lots and lots. :) So, enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter Eight:

Kaara scrambles up the stone steps of a large, crumbling temple, trying her best to dodge the staff blast frenzy. She gracelessly stumbles into the main chamber and comes face to face with the barrel of a gun.

She gasps as her heart nearly stops and her stomach drops into a bottomless abyss. Only until she hears a soft, familiar voice does she, finally, look to the owner of the gun.

"K-Kaara?"

She is shaken from her shocked state as she sees a pair of pained, blue eyes staring back at her.

"Daniel!" She exclaims, rushing forward into his arms and sobbing. "When General Hammond told me you were in trouble . . . God, I was so frightened!"

Daniel gently wraps his warm arms around her, creating a safe haven that she so desperately needs.

"God, Kaara, you shouldn't be here! Who the hell brought you?" He asks, his words slurred and slow.

"Janet needed help. She was understaffed today," the young nurse explains.

"And everyone else? Have you seen them? Are they all right?"

Even as Daniel is asking about the others, he looks Kaara over, making sure that she has no injuries.

"I-I don't know. We were separated at the Stargate," Kaara says breathlessly, beginning to examine Daniel as well. "And you?"

"I'm fi- ah!" The archaeologist cries out as she places her hand on his left side.

"What? What is it?" Kaara asks desperately. Pulling her hand away, she finds it covered in blood. "Oh, God! Danny, we need to get you out of here! You need medical attention!"

"Kaara, the place is surrounded. There's no way we can get out of here."

"We need Janet! I'm sure she's nearby! Please, Daniel! Radio them and tell them you're hurt!" Kaara pleads, tears forming in her eyes.

"Kaara, I-" Daniel, suddenly, cannot feel his legs, and they collapse from under him, bringing him face to face with the stone floor. Before he can react, Kaara snatches the radio off of his vest while helping him lay back.

"Jack!" She shouts.

"Kaara! Where are you?" Comes Jack's exasperated voice.

Kaara opens her mouth to speak, but Daniel clamps his hand painfully over hers, and she turns to him in concern.

"Kaara . . ." He whispers in a voice full of liquid, unable to focus his eyes any longer. "I . . . I'm so sorry . . ."

"God, Daniel, not now! We can talk later! You'll be fine! Before you know it, we'll be in the SGC, and I'll be bringing you ice cream and balloons and . . . a-and . . ." Her voice trails off as the tears begin to flow freely down her cheeks.

"Kaara . . . l-listen to me . . ." Daniel fights past the blood collecting in the back of his throat. "I-I'm so sorry . . . That night . . . at the r-restaur-" He closes his eyes in pain, but continues on. "I w-was . . . going to ask . . . a qu-question . . ."

Kaara's heart flutters as she stares down into the pool-blue eyes of the slowly dying man below her. She soothingly strokes her fingers through his hair, feeling his sweat and blood intermingle within the tangles but not caring in the least.

"Kaara . . . W-Will you . . . m . . . m-" Daniel's face twists into a look of pure agony as his back arches off of the ground before his face relaxes into a peaceful look.

"No, no, no," Kaara chants, patting Daniel's cheek in an attempt to wake him. "Daniel! Stay with me! God, please! You can't leave me! Not like this! Yes, Daniel! My answer is YES!"

Her sobs are heard only by the slowly crumbling stone walls that surround them, drowned out by the blasts echoing through from outside.

"Kaara!" She jumps as Jack's voice screams into the radio. "Kaara, what the hell is happening? Kaara, answer me!"

"It's Daniel. He's hurt! I need help!" She yells in response, covering Daniel's head as the entire temple shakes, producing dust and rubble from the ceiling.

"Where are you?" Jack repeats his earlier question slowly, trying to calm the hysteric, young woman.

"The temple! We're in the-"

Suddenly, a large group of Jaffa enters the temple, staff weapons raised and pointed towards the two near the center. Kaara's voice sticks to the inside of her throat, unable to utter another word into the radio, which drops from her hand.

The end of the staff weapons split with a small, electric current, the Jaffa preparing to fire. Kaara drops over Daniel's lifeless body, shielding him as tears stream down her face.

"Daniel!" She screams as a myriad of blasts is heard, and the room brightens with a collage of white light.

0 o 0 o 0

Shit. Oh shit. Oh shit shit shit shit shit.

Not good. Definitely not good.

The temple? The temple is not a good place to be. At the moment, it looks as if a puff of air would knock it over. And with the rate that those Jaffa are storming it, it is a wonder it is still standing at all.

Kaara had cut off abruptly. Too abruptly for Jack's taste.

God, how can this get any worse?

"O'Neill, we cannot hold our position any longer," Teal'c's voice crackles from the radio on his vest. "I strongly suggest we take as many injured and casualties as possible and head back through the Stargate."

Jack roughly grabs the small device and shouts, "Teal'c! Daniel and Kaara are still in the temple! We're not leaving without them!"

"Kaara is here?" Comes Sam's incredulous answer, her eyes barely half open as Janet finishes wrapping the wound on her head.

Jack shoots the small doctor a reproving look before answering, "Yea. Head back to the 'gate with as many as you can. I'll stay and try to get them."

"Sir, you can't do it by yourself."

"That's an order, Carter!"

" . . . Yes, Sir."

0 o 0 o 0

"Colonel?"

Jack shakes himself from his thoughts, looking around the briefing table at the general and his teammates.

"Sir?" He asks quietly, knowing that he has missed something.

"I asked if you would recount the situation from this latest mission for us, Colonel," Hammond replies softly, a very fatherly look in his eyes.

Jack clears his throat of the lump that lies there and says, "Yes, Sir . . . Um . . . When we arrived on the planet, things were relatively quiet. There wasn't any sign of . . . civilization. We set up camp and started the routine. Major Carter did her 'sample' thing. Teal'c and I started scouting the area, and Daniel . . ."

The colonel's voice trails off as he says the former archaeologist's name.

"Take your time, Jack," Hammond nods, seeing the man's difficulty.

"Daniel found a temple," Jack continues on, ignoring the pained feeling in his chest. "I, uh . . . I was just entering a village when he radioed. He said . . ." Jack swallows hard. "H-He said, 'Jack, we have to get out of here' . . . And then I found the bodies."

"Bodies, Colonel?" The general inquires.

"The villagers, Sir," Jack explains with a wince, able to stare only at his tightly clasped hands. "Men, women, children . . . There were dozens. It looked like it had been staff weapons . . . The people weren't even armed."

A silence lingers in the air before Jack takes a deep breath and continues.

"I started back towards the 'gate, but before I got there, Teal'c and Major Carter came from that direction, informing me that Jaffa had taken the 'gate . . . and the temple . . . We managed to secure the Stargate before you sent the teams through, but in the crossfire, we were separated.

"I received a message from Kaara . . . She said Daniel was injured, but we lost contact. We were forced back through the 'gate, and before I went through, I saw a troop of Jaffa entering the temple . . . There was firing, Sir."

Hammond nods solemnly, knowing all too well what the fate of Doctor Jackson and Ms. Whitten had been, and he grimaces at the thought.

"Thank you, Colonel," he says, turning to Sam. "Major, why didn't the MALP detect the village or it's people?"

"From . . . what I can tell, Sir," she starts, her voice cracking, "the village was farther from the 'gate than the MALP's range sensor could detect . . . and as far as the people . . . they were long dead before we sent the MALP through. That's why it didn't detect any life signs."

Hammond nods again, losing himself in the dark shine of the table before him.

Damn it.

Two fine people had been lost. Two people that would have made this world a better place. Two people . . . And the world will never know their greatness.

Suddenly, a bright blue light slides into the room from the ceiling, revealing a small, gray figure that everyone recognizes.

"Thor," Jack greets with a forced smile. "Nice of you to drop by."

"O'Neill," the alien greets with a nod of his small, frail-looking head. "have you been well?"

The lingering silence, once again, takes the room.

"What can we do for you?" The colonel asks, his forced smile trying its best not to fade.

"I believe, O'Neill, that I should be asking what I can do for you," Thor replies quietly, cocking his head to one side.

"What do you mean?" Jack asks, glancing around at the other confused faces.

"It is my duty to inform you that the planet you and your teams visited was protected under the Asgard. The Jaffa that invaded the planet and killed its people were in direct violation of the treaty made between the races."

"Uh . . . No offense, Thor," Sam says quietly, "but if they were protected under your treaty, why did you allow them to be slaughtered?"

"Unfortunately, our attention was occupied elsewhere," Thor says regrettably. "We thought that the people would be safe without our supervision for a small while. We had been watching them for several months, and no problems had arisen. We believe that we were distracted for the purpose of destroying the race you encountered."

"What would the Goa'uld gain my extinguishing such a peaceful people?" Teal'c asks grimly, his heart aching at the thought of his own brethren committing such a horrible act.

"Although seemingly simple, the race that was destroyed was extremely technologically knowledgeable," the alien explains slowly. "They had agreed to assist us in our quest for advancement. But this is not why their extinction is tragic. Loss of any life is sorrowful in and of itself."

"Yes," Hammond nods, "it seems we both share the same sentiments on that matter. We lost two of our own on the planet."

"On the contrary, General," Thor protests.

"I'm sorry?"

"After removing the threat from the planet-"

"They're gone?" Jack interrupts. "The Jaffa are gone?"

"Yes, Colonel," Thor nods.

"Sir, we have to go back!" Jack turns to the general but is cut off by Thor.

"That will not be necessary, O'Neill. While scouting the planet, we managed to round up a fair amount of survivors . . . including two who did not belong."

AN: Questions? Comments? Vague disregard for any or all words written and established in the mind of one who has no sanity?

Yea, I know it's highly unlikely that the SGC would allow a civilian off-world, but I figured desperate times call for desperate measures. And plus I'm writing the damned thing, so . . . there. Anyway, I'm heading to bed before my eight-shift starts tomorrow. Later, Gators! Catch you on the flip side. Stay tuned for more Daniel-and-Kaara-packed action!