Setting: Between Threads and Avalon, before SG-1 gets split up. Slightly AU because Janet. I refuse to write a fic in which the doctor is not Janet. Otherwise canon. Can follow Red Sky at Night but is not a sequel.
Pairings: Sam/Jack recently established. Possible hints of Daniel/Janet later.
Summary: A routine mission turns sinister for SG-1 while, back at the SGC, Jack awaits an important decision.
Disclaimer: If I owned anything would I be writing fanfic? Yeah, didn't think so. Okay, I do own the Ampelou, and Eisette has kindly leant me her OC's: Anders, Maycomb, and Steele.
A/N: Sorry, it's been a while! Here's another chapter, in which we meet the bad guys! And SG-11!
Sam woke groggily, becoming increasingly more aware that she was not in her bed at home, at her desk, or at Jack's house, but in a very strange cell. She started, sitting bolt upright, when she saw where she was. Taking a look a look around, she assessed for danger, keeping an eye out for the creatures that had stunned them. To her relief, there weren't any in here with her and Daniel, who was still unconscious. She took the opportunity to nudge him awake, kicking him in the shins when that didn't work, before turning her attention to the cell itself.
It was roughly circular, with no visible doors and a single hole – just big enough to put a hand through - about 6 feet from the ground on the section of wall opposite from them. It was rounded, like a knothole in a tree. Exactly like a knothole in a tree, she realised, as her eyes adjusted to the light and she saw that the walls and floor were, in fact, lined with bark.
Her hand went to the knife she kept on her belt, and she noted as it did so that her radio was gone. A quick glance at Daniel told her his had been taken too, along with both of their guns. He hadn't woken up yet – maybe he had a lower tolerance to whatever drug had knocked them out – so she shook him by the shoulder.
"Daniel!" she hissed, her knife in hand lest she was heard by one of their captors.
"Wha?" Daniel pulled himself up from the ground, looking around with bleary eyes until he saw her. His eyes widened when he saw the knife, and he cleared his throat before looking around the cell. "Sam," he said, as he turned back to her, "What's going on? Why are we in a tree?"
She almost laughed at his summary of their current situation.
"I don't know, Daniel, but take a look at this." She gestured to the nearest bit of wall. "I was just about to see what's underneath the bark." She flicked the blade of her knife out to cut a section of bark away. Daniel leant in, blocking the little light that was filtering through the knothole. She put a hand on his chest to push him away a little as she gouged a chunk out of the wall. There was only wood underneath – living wood, as if they actually were inside a tree. A hollow tree with bark on the inside.
"Whoa." She removed her hand from his chest so that Daniel could take a closer look, whilst she peeled a little more of the bark away with the other.
"Yeah," she replied.
They both stared at the hole she'd carved for a couple of seconds. Sam still felt a little weary, and she could tell from the way Daniel's eyelids kept drooping that he did too.
"Daniel, we have to find a way out. Can you lift me up a little so I can see out of that hole over there? There's light coming through, so it looks like our best chance of escape." She strode over, eyeing the bark-covered edges of the gap, looking for any weak spots. Daniel stumbled over too, and got down on one knee, without protest, so she could use him as a step. That was definitely a sign he was still somewhat out of it; normally he'd have grumbled at least a little, even though she was obviously the lighter of the two, and he'd gotten a lot stronger since he'd joined SG-1...
Peering through, she saw the back of one of the vine creature's heads.
Holy Hannah! She thought, Is it made entirely of vines?
As if it had heard her, it turned suddenly, moving fluidly to the slit and blocking the light. She found herself looking into its face – or what passed for a face in these creatures, anyway. The eyes were just wide oval pupils fringed in golden irises, surrounded by a mass of moving, green and wheat-coloured vines. They were writhing and twisting all over its body like snakes, and she could see they were paler and more golden closer the the skin, and graduated to first light green for the majority of their length, then dark green on the tips, which flicked randomly out of the wriggling mass. She took an involuntary step back, tumbling off Daniel's leg and falling to the ground. Daniel looked from her to the slit, then froze. For all their trips to other planets, they'd never come across something quite this alien before.
Then something else made Sam gasp as she struggled to pick herself up off the floor.
"Humanss. Calm. Ampelou will not harm."
The creature seemed to be speaking directly into her mind. A look at Daniel's shocked face told her he'd heard it too. He was mouthing something to himself that she thought might be 'ampelou'. The creature spoke again, and this time she could see nothing that might be a mouth moving.
"Humans safe. Ampelou will not harm. Meet senate now."
Daniel seemed to shake himself out of his shock enough to say aloud.
"Ampelou. Is that you? Is that your name?"
The creature said nothing, just turned as thudding footsteps could be heard from somewhere near it. A second face appeared at the hole, peering in briefly, and then cracks appeared around the edge, spreading downwards, in a way that could only have been controlled, to form a rectangular door shape. One side split completely, while the other maintained a little bark to form a sort of hinge, on which the new door swung inwards, revealing the two creatures towering over them at over 6 feet in height. More speech formed in her head, and Sam could sense somehow that it came from the newcomer, which seemed to be slightly darker in colour than the original creature, with flecks of brown in its facial vines.
"Follow ampelou. Humans meet senate now. Nour-ish-ment."
It turned to lead them along the tall, wide corridor they now found themselves in, which appeared to be composed of the same kind of organic material as the cell, with windows at the sides that let in a greenish light filtered through the leaves of the trees outside.
The original creature gestured for them to go ahead of it in such a human way that Sam began to feel a little more at ease. They had said that she and Daniel were safe, after all... but what was this 'senate'?
Jack paced along the length of the briefing room, staring at the floor; he only glanced up as SG-11 filed in. The team saluted first at Hammond, and then at him, and sat at the table. With a sigh, Jack took his place at the head of the table and looked around at them. Major Steele was looking straight at him, solemn and respectful, but she glanced over at Colonel Anders, who was sat opposite her and who gave a slight nod of solidarity when Jack also looked over at him. Next to Anders, furthest from Jack – bar Teal'c, who was stood at the other end of the table looking serious - sat Lieutenant Maycomb, who seemed to be avoiding his gaze. He vaguely recalled seeing her at one of Daniel's compulsory lectures on how to speak Goa'uld – actually taking notes, to her credit. His eyes flicked to Major Lorne, sat to his left, next to Steele. At one point there had been rumours that those two were involved, but since they were both the same rank and Anders said he hadn't noticed anything on missions, Hammond had let it slide. They seemed to be just friends now, anyway. Lorne's eyes met his, and the major smiled reassuringly.
Jack couldn't have returned the smile, even if he'd wanted to. With a nod of acknowledgement, he cleared his throat to address all of them.
"I'm guessing you've all heard about SG-1?" he paused, though it was rhetorical, and there were a few tentative glances exchanged before he continued. "They went to, ah..." he glanced at the notes in front of him "P5S398 at 1500 hours yesterday. Teal'c came back alone at around 1430 today after being knocked out by..." he looked directly at Teal'c. "Tree people, right?" It came out sharper than it was meant, but Teal'c simply bowed his head.
"Indeed, O'Neill. Or rather, 'plant people', to be more precise. They seemed to be humanoid in stature, though they had what appeared to be plant-like vines covering the surface of their skin. When touched by certain vines, Major Carter, Daniel Jackson, and myself were rendered unconscious. When I awoke, I found myself alone, and retreated to the Stargate." He looked at Jack when he stopped speaking, awaiting further instruction.
"Right. Vine people." Jack feigned nonchalance. "You said they attacked after you found this well thing, right?"
"Indeed. It appeared to be wired into the ground in some way. It is possible these creatures are somehow connected to it."
"We'll keep that in mind, thank you, Teal'c." Anders spoke, nodding his thanks to the Jaffa, before Jack had managed to find a suitably disinterested-seeming response. Jack shook his head with a smile, in mock disbelief.
"You know your mission, then, Colonel?"
"Yes sir. Rescue the remainder of SG-1, preferably peaceably in order to maintain potential trading links."
Hammond chuckled slightly to Jack's right. Jack checked his watch.
"All right, we embark at 1600 hours exactly. Dismissed."
"Wait, you're coming?" Though Anders shot a mildly disapproving look at Lorne for his outburst, Jack only nodded, his eyes fixed on the gleaming gate, just visible over Lorne's shoulder.
"I'll be leading this mission, Major."
"Yes sir." He barely saw Lorne's salute and exit as he stared blankly at the gate for a moment - wondering what had happened to Daniel and Sam, what the hell was up with these plant aliens, and what decision had actually been put into that letter. It still lay unopened on his desk, its contents a mystery.
Well, they'd be staying a mystery until he got Sam back.
A/N: Some quick grammar; Ampelou with a capital 'a' is the name of their race, ampelou is both the singular and plural for individual creatures.
