Chapter 18

Demon

The demon roared with all the fury of a blazing inferno and everyone ducked away from it, Sam hiding behind Teal'c. Mark shouted, "Awesome!" and tried to get closer until Mrs. Hammond grabbed him and pulled him behind her. Her husband had Theresa and was backing away slowly, as if the fire were merely a wild animal they had surprised. Jack was edging Daniel away as well, though they were on the wrong side to make a break for the car.

"Bad fire!" Theresa shouted at the creature and it turned to face her. The lieutenant backed away more swiftly. A growl rumbled deep within the fiery throat. Hammond stepped back further and his back hit against a tree.

Suddenly, Teal'c was moving again. In one fluid motion he grabbed up the cooler, strode forward, and made as though to throw the entire thing against the beast. He held on, however, the lid flying open, and ice, water, and food rained down over the fire. It hissed, sending up great waves of retched black smoke.

Taking his cue from Teal'c, Jack let go of the wheelchair and stood in front of it, scooping up the earth to pelt over the demon. Mark and Sam ran forward to help, in spite of the adults' protests, and soon the fire demon fizzled and shrank until only the faint glow of embers and an immense cloud of smoke remained. Jack got Daniel back under his control and everyone ran for the car, coughing and gasping for breath.

Everyone wound up in a jumble, this time with Jack sprawled across Sam and Mark with Daniel on top of him. Teal'c was driving and both Hammonds were in the other front seat next to him with Theresa somehow crawled over onto Teal'c's lap. Despite the confusion Teal'c floored it, everyone eager to put as much distance as possible between them and that smoke.

Catching their breath from the excitement proved to be hard. With the exception of Teal'c, the smoke seemed to have caught within their lungs, leaving painful wheezing and harsh coughing in its wake. Slowly, they began to untangle themselves. After some tricky maneuvering, Jack managed to sit properly in a seat with Daniel on his lap and Sam on her brother's. The third backseat was still taken up by the hasty repacking of their supplies, including the now empty, slightly melted chest and Daniel's wheelchair. The Hammonds were stuck in their position but didn't seem to mind too much, considering the way the lieutenant was holding his wife. Theresa was thrilled to get to sit in the driver's seat, especially as her cough began to ease. The smoke had hit Jack and Daniel the hardest.

"What...the hell...was that?" Jack gasped between fits of coughing. Daniel wheezed in his lap, his hands clutching fearfully at Jack's arms.

"Not fun," Mark answered, still coughing a bit himself. Sam held tightly to her alien detector gun, her own breaths raspy.

"Is everyone all right? Mrs. Hammond asked, her tone concerned, "Should we go to a hospital?"

Jack wanted to answer a definite no, that it would be way to risky. He might have answered if he could manage to get in a decent breath. Even more worrying was the way Daniel was gasping in his lap, small hands clutching at him convulsively.

"Did he ever have asthma?" Sam asked, surprisingly docile for being in her brother's lap.

"Just allergies," Jack managed to gasp out.

"What about you, son, how are you doing back there?" Hammond asked, twisting about to look at them.

"Be ok," he managed, before another coughing fit bowled him over.

"Is little Danny hurt?" Theresa demanded from Teal'c's lap and she twisted around to see, her knee prodding against his pouch and nearly sending them all off the road.

"K, Resa," Daniel rasped, speaking for the first time since the fire creature had appeared. The others looked at him doubtfully. Sam squirmed about on her brother's lap to get a closer look.

"Don't look good," she said, frowning, "Not Jack, neither." They were both pale and wheezing, but at least their coughing was finally subsiding.

"That a technical term?" Jack asked. Sam stuck her tongue out.

"Water?" Daniel requested. Unfortunately, most of their water had been used to bathe the fire demon, and the rest was packed securely away at the bottom of everything. Luckily, it wasn't long before they came to a small rest area. Feeling far enough away to chance it, Teal'c stopped the car and everyone got out again.

"Man, sodas are cheap in '74," Jack rasped gleefully, but Mrs. Hammond insisted they buy water or juice instead. Half an hour later, Sam looked over Jack and Daniel again and proclaimed that they looked much better. Though their voices were still raspy, the sound of their breathing was much improved.

"Maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked," she decided.

"Or maybe weird monster smoke is different from regular smoke!" Mark exclaimed, "Maybe they'll start to turn into weird mutants now!" Jack shuddered at the thought.

"If they do, so would we," Sam pointed out, "We all breathed some of it in!" Mark just shrugged and looked secretly hopeful. Then everyone was piling back into the car, this time with some semblance of order. Mrs. Hammond took her turn to drive and Teal'c once more had Daniel in his lap while Lieutenant Hammond took Sam. Jack, for once, had his lap free because they thought it would be easier for him to breathe and so Mark was once more stuck with Theresa. Luckily for him, she was too tired out herself to keep squirming for a better look at Daniel.

"How much farther to Colorado?" Sam demanded from her perch in the front seat. She no longer had her alien detector gun as Hammond had confiscated it once he realized it had an actual, working taser attached.

"By this time tomorrow, you should be home," Mrs. Hammond answered. Sam considered this, her memories at war. Home was snuggled up against her mother, fighting with Mark and waiting for her father to come home and help her on her latest technical project. Home was also science labs and motorcycle parts and team nights with pizza and beer. She lived off of coffee and she hated the taste. Her mother was alive and she was dead. Where was home, really?

"If you let me fix your engine, we'd go faster," she mumbled, sticking to what was certain.

"It will be home always?" Daniel rasped, half asleep himself on Teal'c's lap, "I'll have a family forever?"

"Forever, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered, his voice deep and strong and safe. Daniel allowed himself to fall asleep. The car hurled onwards in subdued silence.