Italics – dream sequence

Lyrics featured are Don't Know Much by Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt

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Vala stared at the young woman before her. A part of her still considered this flame-covered monster to be her daughter, something which she had trouble reconciling with whose side of the war she was on. She wanted to believe that she could bring out the human side of Adria, even after all of the time that had passed since she had given birth to the Orici. The desire – no, the instinct – remained to take care of her daughter, to make sure that she didn't make the wrong decisions in life. Unfortunately, however, Adria was beyond saving, as much as Vala was reluctant to admit that to herself.

Adria circled the hall, materialising and walking around a tired Vala and the Ark, taunting her mother, boasting that she now had all of the power of the Ori since their demise thanks to the Sangraal. Vala fought with herself not to reach out to the monster, to be strong. Adria wasn't her daughter. She, or rather it, was a monster taking human form; a monster that had caused and would go on to cause unimaginable pain, oppression, and death. A monster who had come from her womb.

Vala tore her eyes away from the Ark and turned to face the brat. "Not wanting to give you any ideas, but why can't you use the Ark?"

"It's just not the same. People need to be convinced to see me for what I really am."

"A spoiled brat with a god complex?"

Adria chastised Vala with a smile. "Now, mother."

Vala became even more curious as to why Adria wouldn't even touch the Ark. "The Ark can only be programmed to make people believe what is true." Surely, knowing its potential, its power, Adria would have used it to her own means? Perhaps the Ark was useless, and Daniel had had them following a red herring after all.

"Once the Ancients have been destroyed, I will be a being of unchallengeable power, worshipped by all those beneath me. A true god by any definition, wouldn't you say?"

Vala smiled. She realised why Adria wouldn't use the Ark. The monster had tried to cover up her insecurities with talk of a war for supreme godhood, but she was scared. The Ark must be far more powerful than her in her present state. Vala put her hands on the Ark, which was on a table in the hall. She then turned to Adria with a slight smirk. The monster had underestimated the five people in the galaxy that she shouldn't have – SG-1.

Despite her faith in her friends, Vala couldn't help but try to give Adria another way out. "Why do you need to take on the Ancients? Seriously. How many human worshippers do you really need? Can't you just live with what you have and be happy?" Vala moved away from the Ark, walking towards her daughter. "I mean, my own mother used to say to me, 'Vala, happiness is not something you can buy.' Or in my case, steal... but I think the point is...'"

Adria replied grimly, "They are a threat to me."

Vala faced her daughter, the urge to save her rising. "From what I understand, they don't even care about you. They saw the Ori as a threat, and they did nothing about that."

"That's what you chose to believe. They gave you the means to destroy the Ori. They'll stop at nothing to destroy me. I will not rest until they are all wiped from existence."

Vala sighed quietly in defeat, seeing some of herself in the monster. "I wish you hadn't inherited my determination." Vala had to wonder what else Adria had inherited from her.

The flames that had surrounded Adria's body flared up in intensity before she turned and walked into the oval shape in the wall at the head of the hall. Flames appeared in the oval and then disappeared once Adria had gone. Vala made a noise of exasperation, annoyed that Adria only seemed to be getting worse. On hearing a rumbling noise, she turned from staring at the wall to look at the Ark. Buttons on top of the Ark had lit up, the unit emitting a humming noise before the buttons dimmed. Vala, worried, turned to look around the room, looking for whoever or whatever might have activated the device.

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After several hours or perhaps days – he didn't know – of unimaginably painful torture, his mind having been pillaged by the Doci repeatedly until he was a heartbeat away from renouncing his 'heresy' just to stop the pain, Daniel lie on his side in his cell, battered and broken. He rested his head on his hand as he managed to get some sleep. His subconsciousness offered him what little comfort it could offer in its fragile state.

Daniel was seated in a diner that he recognised from when he had Ascended the second time. He stared around himself in shock. He then looked down at himself, seeing that he was wearing the blue sweater that Sam had given him as a Christmas present. He slowly stood up, scared that he had Ascended once again. Being Ascended wasn't what was scaring him... because he could have more of a chance to help defeat the Ori if he could get the Others to listen. What scared him primarily was that Sam would be alone, and he had made a promise to her that he would never leave her.

He shouted, looking at the ceiling, "I know you can hear me! Unless you do something, the Ori will take the Milky Way! Earth will fall... Atlantis too. And you know what? You're next." He frowned, looking annoyed as he noticed that, like the last time, the other diners ignored him and continued going about their business.

He slumped back into his seat, waiting for whichever Ancient would show up to talk to him. As he continued look around the diner, the Archaeologist looking defeated, he almost leapt in surprise on feeling a hand squeeze his. His gaze immediately jumped to the seat opposite him, to see Sam, dressed in civilian clothes, her hair down. He stared at her in surprise and then in fear.

"Sam? What are you doing here?"

She continued to hold his hand in hers. "I'm not here, Daniel." She smiled sadly. "And you're not Ascended."

He frowned. "I'm not?"

She shook her head. "I think it could be a dream."

"So I'm lucid dreaming?"

"Something about this being a safety valve to limit the pain you're in." She paused as she gazed at him. "I don't want you to give up, Daniel. It's important. This isn't the end."

He closed his eyes and exhaled, looking utterly defeated. "Oh Sam... it is. It's all over. There's nothing I can do... the Ancients won't help. The universe is going to be overrun in a bloody crusade. The Ancients will go next, and then there will be nothing that anyone can do." Anger flashed on his face as he opened his eyes. "The Ancients' rules won't save them when the Ori come for them." His anger faded into anguish as he found tears running down his cheeks.

She disappeared and then appeared in the seat next to him. She rested her hand on his thigh as she snuggled up to him. "It's not over. There is always a way." She looked up at him. "You remember how the Goa'uld used to be when we started out?" He nodded. "We are so very close, Daniel. So close. I can't have you giving up now... not now. You've just got to be strong."

"I'm trying."

She shook her head. "No you're not. You didn't question my presence."

He frowned."I should have?"

"Daniel, if the Ori were probing your mind, who do you think they would use to extract that information? I could be a trick." She rested her head against his shoulder with a sigh. "Just seize the moment. You're going to wake up and you're going to be back in that cell, and I can't help you."

He sighed tiredly as he looked down at her. He remarked bitterly, "Yeah, like I helped you when Nirrti was torturing you. I wasn't there. Why are you here for me now?"

Her gaze met his. "Because I will fight for you. You've always known that. I'd do it whether or not you'd do the same for me."

"But I would."

"I know."

He gazed at her for a moment and then put an arm around her. She leaned into his embrace and he held onto her tightly. "I'm scared. I won't see you again."

"All the more reason to keep fighting, Daniel."

"Look at this face I know the years are showing.
Look at this life I still don't know where it's going.
I don't know much but I know I love you.
That may be all I need to know..."

He smiled as he heard the refrain, not knowing where it had come from, but not caring. It was the first song that he and Sam had sung together on a very special day in the past. He felt his surroundings shift and he held onto her tighter, whispering as tears burned his eyes,

"I don't want to go back."

"Look at these eyes they never seen what matters.
Look at these dreams so beaten and so battered.
I don't know much but I know I love you.
That may be all I need to know..."

She disappeared, his surroundings fading from view like dissolving paint. He still felt her in his arms despite not seeing her. His breaths grew more shallow as his surroundings darkened considerably, and then came the overwhelming pain which felt as though it was burning his soul so many times over.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Daniel woke up in great pain, the Archaeologist back in his cell, and still in black BDUs. His eyes still closed, he tried to breathe through the pain, trying in vain to hold onto the fragments of his dream that were left in his mind. Fresh tears burned his eyes as he felt as though he had given up. He wanted it all to end. He couldn't take any more of this. There was no escape. The Ancients weren't going to help. His friends were helpless, and the Doci no doubt had the Ark.

"It's not over."

He opened his eyes on hearing Merlin's voice. He then groaned, wondering why whoever it was felt it necessary to be in disguise. He raised his head a little to see the glowing figure of Merlin sat near his feet.

"Don't give up."

Daniel sighed wearily. "You're not Merlin."

"I'm here to help you."

Daniel closed his eyes and laughed bitterly. The Ancients had refused to help in the past. They had taken Morgan Le Fay away when she was about to tell them something vital about Merlin's weapon. Why would they want to help now? But he also knew that Merlin had never Ascended. Merlin's consciousness had died inside of him.

Daniel retorted, his eyes still closed, "Then help me."

"You must find the strength."

Daniel slowly opened his eyes and groaned as he turned to lie on his back, his BDU jacket falling off a shoulder. More pain flooded his body during the movement and he grimaced, not wanting to give any nearby Priors the satisfaction of hearing tortured screams that he really wanted to utter, along with far more colourful expletives than they would have ever heard. Daniel bitterly remarked to himself that at least whoever this was, they were speaking relatively concisely, rather than speaking in riddles like Oma Desala had had a habit of doing. The whole situation nonetheless filled him with more anger and frustration.

"No." Daniel struggled to sit up. "No." He managed to rest on an elbow. "No, I've had it. And, I'm not really in the mood for games right now." His already weak voice thickened with tears, his sinuses blocked up from his previous bouts of crying. "You're not a figment of my imagination and you're not... Merlin." He felt frustrated that this Ancient had tried to trick him into thinking that he was hallucinating again. He faced the Ancient. "You're Morgan Le Fay."

"You're delirious."

Daniel refused to back down. "Merlin died. He didn't ascend. His consciousness left me. It's... it's gone. The Ancients must be able to see through your disguise. I know I can, I just don't know why you think it's necessary."

After a moment's hesitation, the glowing figure of an old man turned into one of a younger woman, with dark hair that had been clipped up. Morgan said softly, her inner conflict showing in her eyes as she tried to make him see how hard it was for her, "You were once Ascended. You know how complicated it can be." A tear ran down Daniel's cheek as he smiled sadly. He knew all too well.

She proceeded to explain to him how hard it was for her to appear to him and to help. She explained further that she had stopped Merlin from stopping the Ori the first time around, but had long since seen the error of her ways. When Daniel pushed her to help, to sort out a mess that could have been prevented long ago, she revealed that Adria now had the Ori's power, and was too strong to be defeated by a single Ancient.

As Daniel lost hope once again, the Archaeologist feeling not for the first time that he was facing insurmountable odds, she told him that he needed to use the Ark on only one Prior. However, she didn't tell him how to do that, leaving him even more frustrated and at the end of his tether. He demanded to know what to do and how to do it, feeling that the Ancients owed their continued existence and more to SG-1.

But Morgan had disappeared seconds before a Prior appeared on the other side of the bars. Daniel slumped to the ground in defeat, resigned to another torture session. The Prior slowly removed his hood, to reveal not an albino, but Teal'c, who looked at his friend in concern, noticing his dishevelled and weak appearance. Lifting his staff weapon, he aimed it at the lock on the cell door, blasting it open.

Daniel stared up at Teal'c, trying to work out whether he was hallucinating or not. Teal'c cast his Ori staff aside and kneeled at his friend's side. "DanielJackson."

Daniel released a sob. He really wanted to believe this was Teal'c. He whispered weakly, "Teal'c."

"Where are you hurting?"

Daniel remarked with the faintest of smiles, "Everywhere." Teal'c, looking grim with concern, slowly helped Daniel to a seated position and held him close as he wondered just what the Ori had done to the Archaeologist, who now bitterly sobbed in his arms.