Disclaimer: Still not mine. What a shocker there (since I just said it wasn't mine like *checks watch* a minute and a half ago). Jea'fron is mine (YAY!) Now I just hope I don't have to kill him. All characters, places, and ideas belong to their respective owners.
A/N: Ok, so I felt really bad about not updating for so long. So I went ahead and wrote chapter 6 while in the car too. And am now posting it. Because I love all of you guys, and want to make it up to you. Hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 6: A Change of Heart
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Jea'fron awoke slowly, fighting his way free of the tangling tendrils of darkness. He was first aware of the fact that he was laying on something hard and cold; likely the floor. This didn't make any sense at all, seeing as he didn't even have guard duty at all this week. The second thing that he noticed was that his head hurt; his entire forehead throbbed, the pain radiating from a very tender spot on his right temple.
The Jaffa sat up slowly, blinking as stars popped in his vision. He looked around himself, trying to make sense of the scene before him.
He was sitting in the midst of one of the main corridors in Lord Belenus' primary base. The lights were all lit, and the faint smell of smoke and blood filled the air. The hall was deathly silent, not a single thing moving except for him.
Where was Hak'tien or Vint'al. Or even Lord Belenus?
And then, it all came crashing back as if the floodgates of a dam had been released.
"Vint'al, Hak'tien, guard the prisoners. Ubra'fen and Jea'fron attend me."
Jea'fron had hurried after his master, walking only slightly behind the older First Prime. The sounds of fighting echoed through the hallways, pumping Jea'fron full of adrenaline. He had expected to turn towards the battle, but they had, instead, continued straight.
The finally stopped outside of Belenus' personal quarters. "Hold the door," he had commanded before opening the door and sweeping inside.
The two warriors left outside nodded at each other and took up sentry positions on either side of the door. Ubra'fen had his staff weapon, Jea'fron only his Zat'nik'tel. They both armed their weapons, awaiting an attack.
It was not long in coming. After hardly enough time to prepare themselves for a fight, the telltale rattle of Tau'ri weapons was drawing nigh. They only had a second's warning before the first man exploded around the corner, opening fire immediately upon seeing the two Jaffa.
The flying projectiles slammed into the door to Jea'fron's right and he ducked away from the missiles, ensconcing himself behind a pillar. Ubra'fen was not so lucky, however.
The second person to round the corner also opened fire, dropping to one knee as he sighted through the small piece of transparent material atop his metal weapon. Sparks flew as the flying pieces of metal embedded themselves in the First Prime's chest, punching through the metal armor. Ubra'fen fell, blood pooling out of the jagged holes torn in his chest. The light of life died from his eyes, and Jea'fron threw himself into action.
As he rounded the corner of the pillar, Jea'fron opened fire, hitting one of the men with the undulating energy beam fired from his Zat'nik'tel. As he passed, he grabbed the staff weapon from the limp hand of his former teacher.
He turned once, quickly, firing the weapon haphazardly over his shoulder. To his surprise, he heard the sound of the energy blast hitting flesh and the agonized cry of a man in pain.
Taking the chance, Jea'fron threw himself toward the door, hitting the control pannel beside the opening. The door slid open and Jea'fron dove inside, tucking and rolling as he hit the floor. He reached up frantically, triggering the door to shut.
He stood shakily, searching for his god.
The room was empty.
Jea'fron shook silently, a fresh wave of anger coursing through him. His god had abandoned them, had caused the death of his First Prime and risked Jea'fron's life as well. He had abandoned his people, who had desperately needed his guidance and strength under the onslaught of the Tau'ri forces.
And his god had abandoned them.
No true god would do that, Jea'fron remembered thinking. And that had been the moment he had forsaken his beliefs, deciding that he would rather die fighting against lies and slavery rather than hide in fear behind a façade.
He had helped Samantha Carter and her father, Jacob Carter, escape from their holding. And then? Jea'fron strained his memory to remember what had happened just before the darkness had claimed him.
Jea'fron was still practically carrying the Tok'ra, supporting nearly all of his weight. Then, suddenly, the man had seemed to come alive, rising up and slamming his clenched fist into Jea'fron's temple.
Jea'fron had let go, falling to the floor, unconscious before he hit the ground.
"No," whispered Jea'fron, worry flooding through him. He got up, looking up and down the corridor frantically. "No!" he said again, this time louder and more forcefully.
He began a frantic run down the hallway, then stopped, not entirely sure which way to begin looking for them.
If Samantha and her father were no longer on the base, then this was bad. Very, very bad, in fact.
The sound of boots tramping up the corridor halted Jea'fron for a moment. He looked around for someplace in which to hide, but he was too late.
A large, dark-skinned Jaffa, an older man with silvering hair and lively brown eyes, and a shorter, skinny young man with glasses that framed sparkling blue eyes, walked around the corner, the two Tau'ri were armed with their own kind of weapons, while the Jaffa was holding a staff weapon. Jea'fron recognized the two Tau'ri as the two prisoners that had been taken along with Samantha, but the Jaffa he did not recognize, at least not at first.
Jea'fron raised his hands, showing that he was unarmed. "Do not shoot," he said hurriedly. "I have knowledge that I think you will want to hear." The silence of the group encouraged him. "Samantha Carter and her father have disappeared. I was attempting to bring them to you, aid them in reaching you safely, when I was attacked by the father. He rendered me unconscious. When I awoke, I was alone in the hallway. I am afraid that he has taken her and left the base."
The silver haired man and the man with glasses glanced at each other, sharing a look.
The older man shook his head, looking back at Jea'fron, a slight smirk twisting his lips. "See, now we know you're lying. Jacob would never kidnap his own daughter."
Jea'fron attempted to open his mouth to explain the situation further, but the man cut him off. "You are a Jaffa, and Jaffa are always trying to find ways to suck up to their snakehead of a master. I highly doubt you are any different," he snorted.
"I serve no false god," spat Jea'fron. "They are falsehoods, gaining loyalty from their servants by pretending to be gods."
The dark Jaffa spoke up for the first time. "You are of the Free Jaffa?" he asked, his tone deep and rich.
"The Free Jaffa?" Jea'fron asked, slightly bewildered. And then he remembered the stories, told by fellow Jaffa that had been working out in the field, about a group of rebel Jaffa that had forsaken their gods and renounced their loyalty to them. The entire movement had been started by the former First Prime of Apophis, who had defected to join the Tau'ri, a Jaffa named-
"Teal'c?" Jea'fron asked tentatively. "Are you Teal'c, who works with the Tau'ri and began the rebellion?"
Teal'c nodded, the golden emblem seared onto his forehead catching and refracting the light that illuminated the corridor. "I am," he answered.
"Then I would like to join the Free Jaffa," Jea'fron said hurriedly, momentarily forgetting everything else. "Can I?" he begged, temporarily the mere boy he still, truly, was. "I have forsaken Belenus, renouncing the fact that he, and all the others like him, are gods."
Teal'c nodded a second time. "Any Jaffa may join the ranks of the Jaffa Rebellion if they are willing to die fighting for freedom."
"So if you're joining the Jaffa Rebellion, then help us out," snapped the older man, who seemed to be the leader. "Where is Carter?" he asked, his tone dark and slightly menacing.
Jea'fron shrugged his shoulders, taking in a deep breath. "Like I said, I'm not sure. When I awoke, neither she nor her father were in the hallway. I am sorry to be the harbinger of doom, but I don't think she's going to be in the base any longer. Which means she's in trouble," he said, his voice becoming quieter and quieter.
"And why is that?" the man with glasses asked.
Jea'fron shifted from one foot to the other nervously. "I don't know exactly what causes it, but there's something that makes one go…crazy. Belenus was working on something to be used as an assassination technique. He would cause the person meant as the assassin to go insane and kill his target, while not affecting the assassin's temperament towards anyone else. I-I'm afraid that Belenus was testing his latest prototype on Samantha and her father."
"So you're saying that Jacob is going to try to kill Carter?" the silver-haired man asked, his tone dead and his eyes strangely empty of emotion. Jea'fron could only nod.
The man turned and punched the wall, splitting open his knuckles, before sinking to the ground, his head between his hands. "Dammit," he whispered.
"We have to find them and stop Jacob from doing something we'll all regret. How much time until he kills her?" the man with glasses asked,
Yet again, Jea'fron shrugged. "I honestly don't know. It depends on how he goes about killing her. It could be anywhere from a few minutes to days."
"Then we can assume that he will fight against this insanity, and attempt to keep his daughter alive for as long as possible," Teal'c said solemnly. "We will find them," he assured the other two.
"We have to," the bespectacled man said quietly.