Yes, believe it or not, there is more of the plotless story…much more

Later that evening, the team was sitting around talking or, in Carter's case, humming. Jack and Teal'c had finally told Daniel about that it would probably be up to him to help them escape. Daniel had, so far, agreed to help as much as possible, but in the middle of their conversation, Anubis walked into the prison.

"Ah, Doctor Jackson. I see you are well enough to discuss things with your friends. That means you won't be upset if I have a little more...fun with you," he said with vengeful pleasure.

Daniel looked up. True, his wounds had begun to heal after a little rest, but he was not, and never would be, ready for "more fun".

"Well, shall we begin? You, Colonel O'Neill, can tell me the address of the Asgard home world, yes? Tell me," he said as he held up a sword to Daniel.

Daniel looked at the sword in fear. Then, he glanced up at Jack. He knew that if he looked frightened, Jack would feel bad for him and possibly give up information to spare Daniel some torture. Daniel quickly tried to hide the expression of fear on his face as his energy shield went down around him. Now, he was vulnerable to outside interference.

Jack looked nervously at his buddy. Daniel sure didn't look scared, but Jack could tell that deep down, Daniel just wanted it all to be over with. Finally, with one last confirming nod from Daniel, Jack said, "I won't."

"Very well. It is your choice."

Anubis took the sword and jabbed it into Daniel's right arm. The archaeologist yelled out in pain as his body's weight was put directly on to only his left arm. He could feel the blood trickling down as Anubis removed his torture device from his victim. Sam looked away in distress as she could not watch her teammate in that much pain. Teal'c looked bravely right at Daniel, though his expressionless face was, perhaps, not so expressionless anymore. Jack felt the worst, though. His face was filled with guilt over what had been done to his friend. Anubis, however was filled with glee over what had happened.

"Now, once again, tell me the address!"

Jack looked at Daniel again. Daniel mouthed the word "no" and Jack followed suit. "No," he said quietly.

Without further hesitation, Anubis took a smaller knife and stabbed Daniel in his right side. Daniel let out a desperate cry. Even the colonel had to turn away from the sickening sight of his helpless friend in so much pain.

Anubis said, "You fools. You would not risk the possible chance that my troops could attack the Asgard in order to save your friend. What have the Asgard done that makes you so willing to protect them at any cost? Do they share all of their technology? It seems to me that they do not need your protection as they are supposedly even more advanced than the Goa'uld. Is not the life of your friend more important than a race of aliens who do not need your saving?"

The room was silent and Anubis' question was left unanswered and he stormed out of the cell, not even bothering to turn Daniel's shield back on, as they were not eating, so he did not need it yet.

The air was filled with an awkward silence in which all that could be heard was Daniel's abnormally slow, painful gasps for air. In the midst of his pain, he gathered all of his strength and lifted his head. Sad blue eyes locked with concerned dark brown for a long while. Then, as he could hold it in any longer, Daniel burst out in pain-filled sobs.

The silence of the rest of the team was broken by Colonel O'Neill's whispered reply of, "Oh, Danny..."

He moved over to Daniel and helped him regain stability on his legs before pulling him into a tight embrace. Daniel continued to weep in pain and sadness as his best friend whispered words of reassurance and comfort to his struggling self.

Finally, Daniel stopped sobbing and was left with only painful sniffles. "Thanks, Jack," he managed to whisper.

"No problem, Daniel. No problem."

Jack looked over to see that Carter and Teal'c were starting to tear up, themselves as they watched the emotional scene in front of them. They saw Daniel's head drop down to the colonel's shoulder as he fell into a deep sleep to escape the pain.

"I think one of us should take watch in shifts tonight. We need to keep an eye on Daniel and try to help him keep his weight off of his arm. It could seriously damage his muscles if he does. His legs have been shot and will probably throb a little, but they've started to heal since yesterday and it' s better than the alternative. I'll take the first watch," said Jack, careful to keep his voice down as of not to wake Daniel from his slumber.

Sam and Teal'c both nodded in approval and went off to get what sleep they could muster. Jack would probably just take the whole night as his shift because there was no way he was going to be able to get to sleep with his friend in such bad condition. They needed to figure out a plan-- and fast.

NEXT SCENE

The next morning, Daniel awoke to the sound of the cell door creaking open. For a minute, he moved around, trying to get his brain back up to speed on what had just happened. Why does my arm hurt so much? Oh yeah, a sword was jabbed in it. What about my left side, right side, and legs? Yes, knife, knife, staff weapon. Now I remember. And now that I remember, it hurts even more! Sheesh!

Then, he remembered the door had opened not long ago. He turned around as fast as his body would let him turn, which was not very fast, and stared at the door. It was closed. He turned to face the rest of the room and found that it had been nothing more than Herak bringing the food in to his companions. This made Daniel realize that he was not hungry. At least, not as hungry as he should be for going 2 days without food. He guessed it was just because of all the pain and blood loss he had recently suffered. His body must be concentrating on other things. Sam might be able to explain it to him, but he figured he was probably better off not knowing.

In the middle of the room stood Sam and Teal'c eating their meals. Where was Jack? For a moment, the possibility that Jack had been taken away to be tortured elsewhere crossed his mind and made him frantically panic. But then, he noticed that he was not standing on his own. Jack was behind him, helping him stand to keep weight off his arm, only, he was sleeping. Daniel smiled. Jack had probably stayed up all night like that and gotten so tired, just fell asleep in the same position. What would Daniel do without him?

However, Daniel's awakening had not gone unnoticed by his other fellow comrades.

"Daniel," Carter said in a soft voice.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said a little firmer, but equally as soft.

Daniel turned around to look at them. He smiled at them. He was feeling better than would be expected of a recently-tortured human being. Probably because he had such good friends that he could always count on, with the occasional exception of Major Carter. But his movement awoke the colonel.

"Hmm, Danny?" he said sleepily.

"I'm here, Jack," Daniel said, weaker than he felt.

"Mm, good,"

"Um, Jack, could you, um, like, let go of me?" Daniel was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with Jack holding him up.

"What? Oh, right. Sure," Jack said as he let go of Daniel. He started to walk away, but was stopped when he bumped into the edge of an energy shield. He was stuck in the shield around Daniel to prevent him from "being fed" because he had stayed with him all night. It must have gone up when they were both asleep, as both of the men were surprised it was around them. Daniel just let out as heavy a sigh as his injured body would allow put all his weight on his feet as of not to hurt his arm any longer. Jack cursed and hit the energy shield with his fist, but immediately pulled it away. "Ow! That hurts!" he said.

Carter and Teal'c noticed and both looked concerned, but neither one said anything because nothing they said could help their two hurting teammates. As Carter gave a sigh, she leaned back on the wall behind her. She was surprised and jumped back when she felt one of the bricks of the cell push in as she leaned on it. Teal'c looked over at her and asked, "What is the matter, Major Carter?"

"I don't know, Teal'c. I just leaned against this wall and one of the bricks kind of moved in a little."

The team exchanged perplexed glances with one another. Then Jack and Daniel said at the same time, "Do it again."

So Carter pushed the brick in. Finally, it got to a point where it would go in no more. She sighed again. It had probably just been a loose brick in the wall. Teal'c and Jack seemed to slump back a little when they noticed Carter could push it no further, but Daniel kept thinking and said, "Try pushing it to either side."

Carter tried pushing left first, but it wouldn't budge. She then tried right, and, sure enough, it moved over to reveal a secret compartment in the wall. The whole team was now watching anxiously as Carter pulled something out of the wall. The team looked at the object. It was somewhat of a thin cylinder with what seemed to be a lid on top. The lid was in the shape of a jackal head, which Daniel realized was the animal form of Anubis. Then he said, "That's a canopic jar."

The rest of the team stared at Daniel, not having any idea what he was talking about. So Daniel explained, "A canopic jar is a vessel believed to be used by the Ancient Egyptians to put the dead pharaoh's organs in. Obviously, they're used for other things..." The others gave confused looks as they were still not following. "You remember when Sarah was taken over? Osiris was in one of the canopic jars. So was Isis, but she was already dead."

The others suddenly remembered, and Carter looked disgusted by what she was holding, so she put it down on the floor. But Daniel protested, "Look, it could be something else! Something the Goa'uld might use to escape from this prison in case they lock themselves in here."

"Or it could be a Goa'uld waiting to take a host, like whoever opens the jar!" said Jack.

Daniel looked exhausted and sighed heavily. They were never going to get out of here. He said softly, "Look... we're not going to be able to escape from here if we aren't willing to take chances. If we don't try something we're all--or at least I am--going to die and be tortured by Anubis forever."

The others looked hesitantly at the jar. Their faces were showing great concern and distress on the decision they would soon have to make.

Daniel continued in his soft voice so that he wouldn't give up all the strength he had left to his lecture, "I can't, and won't, make you open that jar. You guys are the only two in there, and the Goa'uld could take over either one of you. It can't take over me or Jack because we're behind this force field. But if it isn't a Goa'uld, and it's really something that could help us escape from here..." he paused to take a breath. He was getting really tired from lack of proper nourishment. But he continued in a whisper, "...then I say we take the chance."

Carter and Teal'c looked at each other, then they looked at their tired teammate. He probably wouldn't make it through the rest of the day if he didn't get some water at least. As the two were about to reach their decision to open the jar, they heard footsteps approaching. Sam quickly picked up the jar and hid it back in the compartment. She pulled the brick back over and as far forward as she could, then made sure she was standing in front of it to hide it. Just as she finished and turned around, Anubis stomped into the cell.

When Anubis walked in, Daniel looked horrified and turned to Jack, who also looked very afraid. There went their chance of seeing what was in that jar right now. Maybe they could later...if there was a later for them.

"So, Doctor Jackson, have you decided when you're going to tell me how to penetrate your Earth Stargate?" asked Anubis.

"Yes, actually," said Daniel. "I will tell you...NEVER!"

Anubis strolled around the cell calmly. Daniel got more and more nervous with every step the Goa'uld took. What would he do next?

"Well, it seems you have gained some company in your little energy field there, haven't you?" he said eying Jack.

Daniel and Jack glared. Then, Anubis signaled to one of his Jaffa and the energy field was let down. Jack still tried to stay in the same area he had been in previously in order to try and protect Daniel, but Anubis shoved him out of the way. As Jack hit the ground, Carter and Teal'c went over to help him, but he waved them away and stood up to watch Daniel. Anubis noticed how tired Daniel seemed and remembered how long it had been since he had had a drink of water. Anubis smiled, realizing that Daniel's need of food could be his, and his team's, weakness at this point.

"I'll tell you what, Daniel," Anubis said. Daniel shuddered. He hated it when the bad guys used his first name. "I'll give you and your friends as much food and water that they need if you just tell me the first three numbers of your code."

Daniel looked at his friends. The mention of food and water had reminded him how exhausted he was from not having either. His teammates shook their heads no, however. Daniel wondered why. It wasn't as though he was going to give Anubis the whole code, after all. Just a small piece of it. But then he started thinking, that would show he had a weakness, and as Jack told him, "weakness is not a good thing in jail, trust me". Anubis might also have a way of finding out the rest of the code with all of the technology he now obtained. Daniel bowed his head toward the ground in defeat. He couldn't tell Anubis any of the code, no matter what the reward may be. So Daniel said softly, "No."

Then, Anubis got really mad. He had been sure his dastardly plan would have worked. He ordered one of his Jaffa to hand him a staff weapon and he aimed at Daniel's heart. Daniel closed his eyes with not a trace of fear on his face. For he had been expecting Anubis to kill him after he had just foiled his horrific plot to destroy Earth. Anubis fired the weapon and the shot hit Daniel right where Anubis had been aiming. The rest of the team knew that Daniel was dead once again.