Well, moving forward here...and I know how things look, but just rmember I like happy ending...just keep reading. ;) Please. And please do let me know what you think. Thanks! hugs everybody

Chapter 12

By the time Daniel was able to get the whole story out, he was sobbing in Vala's arms, and she had tears dampening her own cheeks. Their friends had been gathered close the whole time, offering as much support as they could.

Daniel sat up, but his head stayed down in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees as he shuddered while he tried to compose himself again. Vala had settled into an easy rhythm of rubbing his back; the repetition helped to keep her from thinking too much about what he had just told them. She drew in a quaking breath of her own.

She glanced up at the others. Sam was crying, Teal'c was grim and misty-eyed, and Jack, typically, looked like he was ready to cry and kill something at the same time. Vala looked to him, and he swallowed back the emotion and made a questioning jerk of his head toward the door. She nodded just a little in response, and he stood, gathering his wife up with him and motioning for Teal'c to follow. The jaffa nodded and stood, but he paused to lay a hand on her shoulder for a moment before retreating with the others, leaving Daniel and Vala alone for the first time.

Daniel must have been paying more attention then it had seemed, because he spoke only seconds after the other three had withdrawn into the back of the house.

"I'm sorry." His voice cracked, but he wasn't crying anymore. He let his hands fall from his face and hang off of his knees, but he didn't look up yet.

Vala swallowed hard and turned his head herself, to face her. It took everything in her to not break into uncontrolled sobs then and there, but she had to get out what she needed to say. He needed to hear it, even if it was a repeated message.

"Daniel…listen to me. I love you. You know that, don't you?" He nodded slowly and started to open his mouth as if to respond, but she held up a finger. "Wait, just let me finish. Please?" He closed his mouth again and looked at her through moist eyes.

"I love you, and I-I don't blame you. I'd already told you that, if not in so many words. It was not your fault, Daniel." He tried to look away again, but she held his face in place with her hands. "You did everything you possibly could have, and I know that because I know you. It doesn't matter what you think. You did. You did. It's true, even though I know it's hard to accept. We're human, Daniel. We second-guess ourselves. It's in our nature. That doesn't mean you should, or that it means it would have turned out better if you'd done something different. You have to believe me on that."

Daniel looked at her for a long moment, then reached out and pulled her to him again. "I know," he whispered. "In my head, I know it. Thanks to all of you I'm starting to believe it…just give me a little more time."

She nodded against his shoulder, letting a few more tears squeeze out then, too. When he let go he pulled back some and looked at her. "What about you; are you all right…?"

Vala puffed out a breath of air. "Of course not. You aren't either." She looked at him with care. "But we can be," she amended after a moment. Daniel looked satisfied with that then, but then he seemed to think of something else.

"What about the boys--?"

"They know," she told him, wincing. "There's…nothing else we can really tell them, really. Not until they're older, anyway…"

Daniel swallowed, and stared at the floor for a second. "Right…" They fell into silence for a minute or two, until he broke it again.

"I should come home with you," he said quietly. "Today. Right now what they need is both of us, and I've been ignoring that responsibility. I'm sorry."

"You had things to work out on your own--"

"That's not an excuse. A reason, sure, but not an excuse," he sighed, looking up again.

Vala put her arms around him again, from the side. "Nobody's perfect, Daniel. Everyone makes mistakes. Even stubborn previously-ascended archeologists."

Daniel didn't seem to know what to say to that but to wrap her in his arms again. Vala didn't mind at all.

The guards dropped her on the floor of Osiris's hut. Janet barely grunted, and she didn't move. She'd managed to come up with something of a plan, at least, when she could concentrate at all. It had been another week…or two…she thought. But she'd been focusing on trying to act weaker than she was, hoping he would let up some, so she could gather her wits more. It had worked a little. She could think more clearly than she'd been able to too several days before, at least.

She'd been trying to get her strength back, too. Right now, when no one was looking, she could walk back and forth across the inside of the prison hut a few times. But she didn't do it much, to save energy, she hoped. As far as Osiris and his native goonies knew, she couldn't even stand on her own. Hopefully that would count for something later--help her somehow.

Osiris just glared down at her. It seemed like he was losing patience again. Usually, that wasn't a good thing. When he got too frustrated, he went wild, and usually she ended up really unable to move for a couple of days. Janet tried to squash the fear, but it stuck in her throat.

"This is getting ridiculous, ya know," she whispered in a scratchy voice--maybe just for something to say, to keep her from thinking about what he might do this time.

The Goa'uld scowled angrily. "What is ridiculous is your silence. Do you not understand that you will die if you do not give me the code for those devices of yours?"

"It's ridiculous you ever thought we'd tell you," she coughed.

"You humans are ridiculous! Pathetic! Do you care about your own lives at all?"

Janet shrugged just a little, making sure it looked like it hurt. Not that it didn't. A little. "Sure…but there are billions of other lives at stake he--AHH!"

That landed her a foot in stomach, which sent her into a coughing fit that set her chest burning in agony. Her eyes were wet by the time it stopped, and Osiris was circling her prone form on the floor.

"You have been spoiled, being kept in that hut and fed every day--even if it is only a little. Maybe it's time to leave you out in the storage pit for a while--see how your attitude is after that."

Janet cringed to herself, but she forced her mouth not to protest. She sensed the guards moving in, felt them grab her arms, made a production of trying to struggle but being too weak too. In reality, they were underestimating her at the moment and she might have been able to jerk right free if she'd decided at a sudden moment to try, but she wasn't going to do that now, with Osiris right here. Maybe once they were out in the woods…

The more she thought about it, the idea seemed plausible. She could break free outside the natural stone walls of the valley surrounding the village, then run to the storage hole and hide there. No one would suspect she was taking cover where they were going to put her, anyway. If she could get far enough ahead of them to get in without anyone to see her, it would work.

She wouldn't have to worry about not being strong enough to run too fast or too far. She just had to get to that storage pit, and then when they stopped looking for her, she could get farther away during the night.

One of the guards threw a coil of rope over his shoulder, and between them the two burly men dragged her out of the hut and toward the outside of the village. After she stopped attempting to struggle, Janet remained limp but for a weak pull every now and then.

Once they got to the hills that led up to the stone passage exit from the valley, they stopped, and one of them picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. She couldn't help but let out a scream then, because her ribs were still incredibly sore. They carried her up, through, and out, but now she worried how she would break free from this position.

But then, once they were out in the woods, he swung her off, either to trade with the other guard or so they could drag her again. It didn't matter. She bolted.

She broke away from them. For several exhilarating, short seconds, she was free, but they recovered more quickly then she'd thought they would. They caught up, grabbed her at once and wrestled her to the ground again. Not that it took much wrestling. The two of them were more than a match for her. It was no more success than her last escape attempt while in the woods.

Keeping her pinned to the ground, they turned her over roughly, slammed her back into the ground again, and the bigger one started yelling at her in the native language she'd heard around the village. It was theirs. Though, she'd heard a few of them speak in broken English with Osiris. Never among themselves, but to Osiris. He must have taught it to them--or to a few of them anyway; the ones who served him most closely.

At the same time, the other one pulled the coil of handmade rope off of his shoulder, and uncoiled a few feet of the end. The bigger one shoved her back onto her stomach. She struggled.

"Stop it! Get off me!"

She didn't quite realize what the smaller one was doing until the rope bit into her back through her shirt. It didn't offer much protection, and her jacket had been taken away long ago. And the rope didn't work nearly as well as a whip might, but it stung enough.

Janet jerked. "Hey! No!" She tried to move, roll over, away, something, but the bigger one was pinning her arms to the earth, and the smaller one with the rope in his hands was standing now, with a foot pressing her ankles down. She twisted her head around to protest, and the second blow caught her cheek sharply. She shrieked and twisted her face down again; she felt blood on her face trickling from the cut.

"Stop it!"

The blows after that didn't really cut--her cheek was softer and had been caught by the very end of the rope--but they hurt. A lot. They weren't satisfied until Janet was sobbing into the dead leaves under her face, and they didn't give her any time to recover, either. When the one above her stopped, they picked her up from either side again and proceeded to drag her on toward the storage pit.

Both Charlie and Adrian were in the living room early that afternoon, not really paying attention to a movie playing on the TV, when Vala got home. Hank looked up from where he sat on the couch with the boys, and gave a satisfied expression when he saw that Daniel was there, too. The too kids jumped up from either side of him and ran over into the entryway as soon as they saw their father.

"Daddy!" they called together, more in relief than joy. "You're back!" They stopped in front of him at the same moment, and didn't run into their parents' legs as they might have under other circumstances. Daniel knelt down immediately and wrapped an arm around each of them, drawing them close so they wouldn't see the tears leaking from his eyes again.

"I love you guys," he said softly, and kissed both of them on the head gently.

"Mommy too?" Adrian asked as Vala crouched down beside them. She put her arms around the boys from the other side, and managed to take one of Daniel's hands in hers, too.

"Mommy too," Daniel reminded them with a nod, swallowing.

Charlie snuggled in closer to his brother and his father. "We love you too, daddy."

Hank slipped around them unnoticed and left silently, leaving the healing family to themselves.

When they reached the storage site, the natives held Janet tightly while they bound her ankles and tied her wrists behind her back. They didn't bother cutting the ropes in two pieces, either, which left a length of it between her wrists and ankles. One of them swiped a leg under hers, knocking her to the ground and driving the breath out of her while the other one opened the storage pit.

"W-wait!" she gasped, struggling to get words out before they pushed her in. They stared at her. "Wait…"

The bigger one spat something at her in his native tongue. "Would you stop that…I can't understand you." He said something else, a little more angrily this time. "Stop it! I know you can understand me!"

Both hesitated for a moment, until the bigger one that had been talking narrowed his eyes. "Yes. Can understand you."

Janet pulled in a breath. "Thank you…please listen to me."

"You speak language of gods."

Her eyes almost rolled by themselves. "Oh for--it's called 'English', thank you…" She had to pause for air, and she pushed up on her elbows, though she was still on her back on the ground, and that wasn't so comfortable right now. "And Osiris isn't a god."

The smaller one still didn't say anything, but he kicked her, and she rolled over with a shout. They tried to push her in while she was distracted with the pain, but she yelled at them until they stopped shoving at her, and they backed up a couple of steps, eyeing her warily, as if to say what do you want.

Janet caught her breath somewhat, and glared at them. "If…he's a god…and this is a god's language…then why can I speak it perfectly?"

The larger one was still the one talking. "You are evil god. Against Osiris. He tell us so."

"I'm not an evil god! I'm just…I'm just a human…I'm just like you."

"Could not speak gods' language well if not a god."

"He's not a god!" She jerked. "Don't kick me! Just listen…" They glared at her, but let her keep going. "If I…was an evil god…then why can't I fight back very much…when he hurts me? Why can't…I make my voice and eyes do what…his do? Why can't I do anything special?"

They looked at each other, and she knew she had them.

But then there a soft whistle, and the big one dropped with an arrow through his heart. Janet screamed. The smaller one--and that was arelative term; he was still big--spun, looking, as he pulled an arrow from a quiver on his own back and drew his bow, while his foot stomped down on her arm to keep her from trying to get away. Janet bit her lip and glanced around worriedly, looking for where the arrow had come from.

She heard another whizzing sound, a grunt, and the man's foot was off of her arm. She looked up and saw that he'd been hit in the leg.

Then a small swarm of different natives swarmed from the undergrowth.

Their hairstyles and the basic designs of their clothing were slightly different than the people she'd been seeing for weeks in the village. These people must have been a different tribe.

A rival one at that, from the way they acted.

They kicked the bigger one's body into the storage pit, and knocked the injured smaller one into unconsiousness before beginning to drag him away. Janet tried to slip down into the hole unnoticed, but they saw her.

These new natives, all speaking a language she didn't understand at all, dragged her off, too, looking please that their added prize was already tied up and ready to go for them.

Janet kicked and pulled and screamed. If she let herself be taken by this new tribe, her people wouldn't know where she was when they came. Since her position with SG-1 was only temporary, and it was unclear if she would work at the SGC later in life, it hadn't been approved to implant her with a subcutaneous transmitter yet. They would never find her. She might never get home.

But these new people obviously wanted to make a clean getaway with their prisoners. When she started to make too much noise, one of the men quickly hit her over the head with the butt of his spear, and her world fell into darkness.

When Janet woke, her head hurt, and she was flat on her back--which meant that her back hurt, too, thanks to the bruises from the rope beating earlier. She kept her eyes closed, almost not wanting to know where she'd ended up. The surface under her wasn't as hard as the floor of the prison hut, and in fact it was…soft. Sort of. A little rough, but soft.

But at the same time, she could sense something just at the edge of her hearing, something almost far off. It was…shouting…screaming…pain…shouted questions in that language she didn't know. A few words she picked out, from hearing the language from being here for a little while. Tell…leader…plans…It was someone from this tribe…questioning the man from the Osiris's tribe…and they'd captured her too.

Gasping in sudden fear, Janet sat straight up, and her eyes snapped open, her chest heaving.

She was in another hut.

But this one was different.

She looked around in confusion. There was a fire burning in a fireplace in the center, and there was a hole in the middle of the ceiling for the smoke to escape through. She was lying on a wood cot, and her tattered BDU pants, t-shirt, and boots had been exchanged for a simple, brown, rough spun dress that was sleeveless and reached just past her knees, she noticed as she pushed back the thin blankets. There was nothing on her feet. But then again, it was summer.

When she looked harder, she saw that a middle-aged woman knelt by the fire, cooking something. It smelled good; she wondered if she would be allowed to eat any of it. Probably not though. Prisoners of war--or tribal disputes--or whatever this was--in primitive setting like this…probably not so much. Her stomach growled in protest.

Unsurprisingly, the woman heard it. Or she'd heard Janet move. But it didn't matter; she looked up--and smiled kindly.

What?

The woman must have seen the fear on her face, because she stood, and came closer, saying something in a comforting tone. She sat beside her and gave her a pat on the leg. Then Janet had another thought.

The men of this tribe had to have seen her situation when they attacked. Her skin and hair were lighter than anyone else's, too. Maybe they realized that she had been a prisoner of Osiris's tribe. They wouldn't hurt her anymore. Maybe they could help her find the stargate.

Eyes widening, Janet jumped up and headed for the door quickly, ignoring the lingering pain in her back, chest, stomach…She didn't bother saying anything yet. She had to figure out how to make herself understood, first. The woman grabbed her arm and spun her back around, and she pointed toward the door frantically.

"The stargate! The ring! I need to get to it. Can you help me? I need to go!"

The woman scowled now, and held her back, shaking her head and pointing firmly down as if to tell her to stay put.

"No, no I have to go!" She lunged for the door, and the woman grabbed for her. She jerked free and kept going--but ran right smack into too big men right outside the door. "Not again," she groaned. They hauled her up and much too kindly nudged her back into the hut with the woman, and this time more visibly blocked the door. The woman had her hands on her hips, and she didn't look happy. She started talking again, and Janet talked over her.

"No! Listen to me! I have to go home! I have family! I have to get out of here!"

The woman ignored her, took her by the shoulders, and steered her back to the beds, where she pushed her back down to sit on the one she'd woken up in.

"Let go of me! I can't stay! Please just let me go…Please! Listen! Can you understand me at all? Please!!" She tried to get up again, and this time the woman shoved her back down hard. She was stronger than she looked. Janet's head hit one of the hard beams in the wall, and she sat up, rubbing it and grimacing.

The woman made some type of threat with a finger in Janet's face, and it was obvious that they didn't want her to go anywhere, even if she couldn't answer questions about the other tribe or help them. Janet felt her hope fall under the feet of these new people and be stomped to peices.

She was still a prisoner.

The Jackson family had been given two more weeks in peace, just to be with each other and to help each other, before there was any type of memorial service--so that Homeworld Security could come up with a cover story. There was always a cover story. And then, there had to be two of them. A small, short service in the 'gate room at the SGC, where the truth could be told, and then a more typical funeral service at a church nearby to the base, where the rest of those that had known Janet could come.

The story was simple. It just so happened that the week of the mission had been the week of a visitation day for the incoming freshman of that fall at the college she would have attended, and there was also heavy rain; visibility had been horrible. As far as the Jacksons' other friends knew, Daniel and Janet had been on the way to the airport. Their car had hydroplaned, gone off the road, flipped a few times--Daniel had made it with serious injuries, and Janet hadn't survived. The body hadn't been presentable for viewing.

They buried an empty casket that no one ever saw the inside of.

Travis didn't quit the SGC. With the help of his own team, he was pulling through, as much as it hurt that she was gone. He still talked to the Jacksons. They were still his friends. But for a while he left them mostly alone, not wanting to interfere.

Daniel and Vala tried to help Charlie and Adrian as much as they could. It wasn't easy. They missed their sister. For a couple of weeks or so after Daniel came home, they both slept with their parents. Charlie, ever trying to be tough, had left first. Adrian stayed for a while. He was just starting to try to sleep in his own bed again, but he would still run in in the middle of the night. Neither adult minded much.

Now that the formalities were over, and they were facing starting life again…it helped to have a reminder right there between them that they still had family to live for, that they still had two little boys that loved them.

The people of the new tribe treated her all right, but they wouldn't let her go. The man they captured must have either refused long enough, or given them information they wanted, because a few days after she'd been brought to this village, she saw several men dragging his body out and burying it at the edge of the village.

Janet didn't know what to do. She wasn't even sure what they wanted of her. She stayed in the hut she woke up in. There was another cot in the hut, and that was where the woman she'd first seen slept. The door was usually guarded, though of course the woman could come and go as she pleased. No one would give Janet her things back--not even her boots. No one would tell her anything more than what to do from one moment to the next, in the few words she understood. Body language conveyed the rest. It seemed she was mostly expected to follow the woman around, and do what she was told by her.

It all felt so cliché. She was beginning to feel like she was in another of those captured-by-Indians novels. Except these natives were on another planet. Were they planning on keeping her forever, like those stories? Planning on making her one of them? Janet was horrified just at the thought.

She didn't want to live a story from a book! She wanted to go home!

But…what if she tried to escape? If she remembered those stories at all, she didn't think the consequences would be lenient. What was she supposed to do? Two weeks passed, four…more…she lost track. Where were they? She knew it would be harder for SG-1 to find her now, but were they even looking? Why hadn't they showed up before this had happened in the first place? Where were they!

More often than not, Janet spent any time to herself she was allowed sitting curled up against the wall on her cot, sobbing until she was above and beyond the point of having no more tears to cry.