Chapter Two

Janet was having trouble sleeping. It wasn't often that she found herself off world. As a result she never truly felt safe while visiting other planets. Sitting up in the bed that had been brought in for her Janet looked around at the floor to ceiling book shelves. It was easy to see why Daniel felt so at home here.

Glancing across the room Janet watched Daniel sleeping. Splashed in silver moon light from the near by window he looked restless. Grinding his teeth together he twitched spasmodically. Getting up from her bed and crossing the room Janet looked down on him. Daniel was breathing quick and shallow in the throes of some nightmare.

Janet thought briefly about waking Daniel up, but decided against it. His nightmares were his own demons to fight and she had already learned long ago that he was not interested in help. Daniel's breathing slowed down as he fell out of REM sleep. Smiling sadly Janet left him to sleep.

Wide awake Janet decided to hunt out a drink of water. The marble floor was cold against her bare feet as she quietly made her way through the large library. There was a decorative fountain in the front lobby that Daniel had assured her was safe to drink out of.

Reaching the fountain Janet's attention was instantly drawn to the large wooden front doors. They were slightly ajar, not enough to let in the moonlight, but certainly not fully closed. Stepping up to them she pushed the double doors till the mechanism in the lock clicked. The hair on the back of Janet's neck raised as she began feeling that she wasn't alone in the dark room.

Holding her breath so that she could hear better Janet scanned the shadows in the room. She jerked back as he eyes picked out the figure of a man, but she quickly determined him to be nothing more than one of the many statues in the ornate library. Feeling increasingly uneasy Janet decided that getting back to Daniel was probably the best course of action.

On high alert Janet started walking swiftly back the way she'd come. When a flash of moon light off steel caught her eye Janet instinctively turned to face it. The moment she had her back turned there was a surge of motion from behind her.

"Da..."

Janet's cry was cut short by a heavy hand clamping down over her mouth. She tried to twist out of the man's grip, but he proved too strong. Four more men slunk out of the shadows and joined their friend. Gaius with his unnaturally red hair stepped forward. Janet froze as he leaned in to put his lips against her ear. A chill ran down her spine as his hot breath brushed against her neck.

'Where is your Master?' He whispered.

Janet had absolutely no idea what he had just asked. The man holding her eased the pressure he was placing over her mouth so that she could answer. Thinking about her options Janet took a deep enough breath to cry out for help. Before she could do so Gaius pressed a sharp knife blade against her throat.

'Cry out and I'll slice you open. Where are the doctors? Answer me quietly.'

"I don't understand you."

'She's so afraid she's speaking gibberish.' The man holding her chuckled quietly. 'Let me break her neck and we'll go get what we're looking for.'

'No, we can use her as a reward and leverage.'

"Please, let me g..."

The man holding Janet clamped down on her mouth again and pressed her against his chest. Once Gaius took the knife away from her throat Janet faked passing out from fright. When her frame went slack the man at her back relaxed his grip. Taking the opportunity Janet twisted around in his arms and brought her knee up between his legs.

Her attacker was faster than she anticipated and also skilled enough to defend himself from her blow. Enraged that she would dare fight against him he grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her far enough away to give her a powerful back hand. The wash of pain was accompanied by a flash of light as he struck her temple hard. A ring he was wearing caught her skin and there was a hot gush of blood that streaked down her face.

Momentarily knocked senseless Janet shook her head slowly to try and clear it. The men had come prepared and she quickly found a piece of rough cotton forced between her teeth. Janet made a muffled sound of protest as the gag was tied tightly behind her head. Even though she couldn't make herself understood with the cloth between her teeth Janet was sure she could still make enough noise to wake Daniel. Reading her mind the man in charge of her brought out a knife, wrapping one arm around her waist to control her he used the same hand to press the blade against her stomach.

Getting the feeling that he wanted nothing more than an excuse to kill her Janet cooperated. One of the men scouted out ahead as the others followed. Janet was amazed by the stealth with which they moved. During the whole ordeal they had barely made a sound above a whisper. When the man in front came to the room where Daniel was still sleeping he stopped and signaled to his partners.

The other four men crept into the bedroom while the man holding Janet just stepped into the doorway. Daniel was sleeping on his back, fighting another nightmare, unaware that there was true danger to worry about. Janet was about to try and warn him when the man holding her made it clear that to do so would be a fatal move.

Daniel had a habit of sleeping with his arms raised up over his head. This oddly vulnerable position to rest in was about to prove costly. The men circled around him like sharks. On a silent command from Gaius two of the men pounced on Daniel. One man pinned Daniel's arms down with an iron grip. The other jumped up on him and straddled his stomach while clamping his hand down on Daniel's mouth.

Jolted awake by the assault Daniel bucked violently to free himself. He was able to give the men a better fight than Janet, but with one of the men sitting on his stomach there was only so much he could do. Gaius stepped up and pressed his knife against Daniel's throat to get him to stop struggling. Daniel froze for a moment before risking looking over in Janet's direction. His eyes widened with fear as he caught sight of the knife against her stomach. Glaring up at Gaius he spat some unintelligible demand at him.

'Hello, Doctor.' Gaius greeted 'where is the other one?'

'There is no one else here.' Daniel answer, having been given just enough air to do so. 'There must be a mistake, we're here on a peaceful mission.'

'Don't make me repeat myself again, where is the other doctor?'

'Please let her go...'

'Gaius,' the scout called 'I've checked every room...there is no one else here.'

'Fine, your source must have been confused. He must be the one who saved that filthy General.'

'Yes, it was me.' Daniel lied. 'Please let her go, she has nothing to do with any of this. Plea...'

Janet automatically fought to free herself when Gaius struck Daniel hard enough with the hilt of his knife to knock him unconscious. Janet didn't know what they had asked Daniel or what he had told them, but she knew a plea when she heard one. She barely noticed the blood dripping from her own temple as she watched the place where Daniel had been hit start to ooze crimson. They bound his wrists together with a length of hemp type rope. As almost an after thought they walked over and tied Janet's wrists together as well.

One of the men lifted up Daniel while the others ransacked the room for anything they deemed useful. Daniel's sidearm along with his radio were hanging from a holster on the back of a near by chair. Gaius picked the holster up and inspected it, deciding to take it with him. The others ripped apart Daniel's journals before coming to the medical tackle box that Janet had brought along.

Chattering in excitement they closed up the box and brought it with them. Janet was forced down the hallway and out onto the empty moon lit street. Outside were several horses including one that was pulling an enclosed cart, like an old fashion paddy wagon. Still senseless they laid Daniel in the back of cart and forced Janet to follow him.

Gaius had already secured Daniel's holster around his waist even though he clearly didn't know how the gun worked. Janet hoped that they would place her medical supplies in the back as well, but they had no plans of giving her any weapons. When they slammed the door shut what little moon light she'd been seeing by was cut off. Plunged into darkness it wasn't long before they were moving.

Since they had tied her wrists in front Janet was able to reach up and work the gag free. She thought about crying out for help, but she doubted that anyone who cared was going to hear over the clattering of the horses' hooves. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the tiny amount of light leaking through the boards of their wooden cage Janet turned her attention to Daniel.

Laying on his back Daniel was still unconscious. It worried her that he hadn't come to yet. She worked the gag that she was wearing like a necklace off over her head. She used the cotton cloth to stop the bleeding over Daniel's eyebrow. He moaned under her touch and fluttered his eyes open.

Jolting awake it was Daniel's first instinct to attack. He surged forward and pinned Janet to the far wall of their small enclosure. With his hands restrained behind his back he simply crushed the air out of his opponent with his body. Pressed up against the boards, struggling for breath Janet tried to push him off, however he proved too strong. Daniel snarled in blind fury and pushed against her harder.

"Da...Daniel!" Janet managed to gasp.

Daniel reared back so violently that he slammed his back into the opposite wall. Disoriented he shook his head and squinted at Janet in the dark. She realized that he didn't have his glasses, meaning that anything more than three feet away was going to be out of focus to him. Even without the glasses he finally recognized his friend.

"Janet...I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Daniel."

Janet took a deep breath and looked around at their situation. When Daniel started to pull at his bindings Janet held up her bound hands to offer to untie him. Daniel turned around and allowed her to work at the knot. Once he was free he released Janet as well. He checked the door, but it was securely locked. Even if it hadn't been they were moving as fast as the horse could pull the cart and jumping out would probably result in broken bones. When Daniel gave up on the door Janet moved in to work on his injury.

"Janet, what are you doing?"

"You're bleeding."

"So are you."

"Yeah, but I wasn't hit hard enough to be knocked out for a full ten minutes." Janet replied critically. "You on the other hand most likely have a concussion. I wish I had my pen light."

"I wish I had a gun or a radio."

"One of the men who took us has them. Here hold still..."

Daniel followed orders while Janet tried once again to stop the bleeding on Daniel's forehead. Daniel reached up and tore off the sleeve of his black cotton shirt. Janet smiled as Daniel used the cloth to soak up some of the blood that still oozed from the gash in her temple. He did his best, but the injury continued to bleed.

"Janet, you need stitches."

"Hey, who's the doctor around here?" Janet teased.

"As far as they know I am."

"I take it whoever these people are they weren't impressed by my intervention yesterday."

"One of them called the General 'filthy' so I took it to mean he wanted him dead."

"If they're so angry about it why didn't they just kills us?"

"I've found in the past that executions like this demand an audience."

"Oh joy."

"Don't worry it won't be long before SG-4 notices we're gone. They'll find us." Daniel said without much conviction. "I'm sorry I got you into this, Janet."

"It's not your fault, you didn't know there were risks."

"There's always risks and if I hadn't been so busy looking into these people's past perhaps I would I figured out that their present wasn't as peaceful as it looked."

"I'll tell you what, get us back to the SGC and I'll forgive you." Janet smiled. "I might even agree to treat you the next time you wander into my infirmary with some bizarre alien disease."

"It's a deal." Daniel chuckled. "You look like your ready to pass out."

"I'm coming down off the adrenaline rush."

"There's no sense in you not getting some sleep if you can. I'll keep watch."

Janet was going to protest, but she was on the verge of collapse from exhaustion. The rocking of the horse drawn enclosure was actually starting to lull her further into sleep. Admitting to needing some sleep Janet went to curl up on the hard wooden floor. Daniel reached out and guided her to put her head in his lap for a little more comfort.

Despite not being able to sleep back in the seeming safety of the library Janet was asleep in moments. Daniel looked down her as she slept. The angry gash in her temple continued to drip blood. He applied a gentle pressure to the wound with the torn piece of his sleeve and sighed heavily.

"I won't let you pay for my mistakes...I swear I'll get you home safe."