Hey! Here's the next installment. Had to get it done before I go incommunicado on vacation next week. Yellowstone! Yay! Volcanoes and bears, family fun for everyone :D So enjoy, and I'll be back in a couple of weeks.
...
Vala figured she must have blacked out at some point, because the next thing she remembered she was laying on some soft ground with Daniel's arms wrapped around her. Well, that's it. I have finally died. I have died and am reliving my fantasies. It was the only explanation her groggy mind could come up with when finding herself in the very position she had been dreaming about for the past two years. .
Then someone did something very rude to her leg and popped her nice little rose-colored bubble. Vala bit the inside of her cheek to keep from yelping out loud as Sam poured disinfectant into the deep wound above her knee. She reflexively tried to lash out as her self-preservation instincts kicked in, but Daniel tightened his arms and keep her in place. She reached up and squeezed his forearm tightly as the burning pain washed over her. She must have been digging her nails in a bit, because he slipped his hand under hers and let her grip it instead.
She looked up into deep blue eyes as Daniel smiled down at her. "Welcome back."
Vala was still trying to get herself under control, but managed to return the smile, if a little shakily. "How long was I out?" She swept the area with her eyes. They had holed up this time in a thick stand of low limbed trees. The ground beneath them was covered in a deep bed of old leaf litter, which explained the softness. The trees were very close together, close enough that one of the huge hunters would have a hard time passing between the trunks. The position of the sun filtering between the leaves suggested it was about midday, so she hadn't been out too long.
Sam glanced up from where she was wrapping Vala's knee in a bandage and gave her a rueful smile. "Not long enough. I was hoping I could get done with this first. Sorry about that, but if these guys are anything like cats, their mouths are incredibly dirty and full of bacteria. A wound like this could turn septic fast. I've got it pretty well scrubbed out, but it looks like one of the canine teeth got under the patella. We need to get you home and on some IV antibiotics. You too, Daniel."
Vala was distracted from her own discomfort by Sam's last comment and whipped her head up to peer at the man she was still leaning against. He was quick to reassure her. "It's just a scratch," he said as Sam moved over to his right side and began cleaning a deep, messy cut on his bicep. She felt him shudder as the disinfectant entered the wound, but he remained his usual stoic self and didn't react beyond that.
Guilt washed over Vala in a hot sickening rush as she watched Sam bandage his arm. "Oh Daniel. I'm so sorry."
He cocked his head and scrunched his brow, giving her one of his adorable confused looks. "For what?"
"If I hadn't froze up back there none of this would've happened. Now I'm going to slow you guys down and you got hurt. Mitchell asked me if I still had issues with fire, and I just played it off like it was nothing and now look what happened."
She felt him sigh. "Vala, how can that possibly be your fault? I know what it's like, to be afraid. All of us on this team have had experiences that will affect us the rest of our lives. Were all scared of something Vala, trust me, you're not the only one. You were burned to death. I was there, if you recall. That's going to leave some marks, psychologically speaking."
"Well, you never act like it. I'm the one who froze up, while you had to come to my rescue and got hurt in the process."
Daniel snorted, but there was no humor in the sound. "Vala, you have no idea how much just being in this jungle is making my skin crawl. Four years ago Dr. Lee and myself were captured by militant extremists in Honduras while we were looking for the technology that ultimately helped us defeat Anubis's drone army. They thought the artifact was valuable, so they tortured us for information on it."
Daniel closed his eyes, and it sounded like he was forcing the words out.
" They starved us, beat us, and burned us with jumper cables and car batteries. I still have some scars. I didn't break, and it went on for what seemed like hours, then days. Then, when I finally managed to get us out of there, they chased us through the jungle like animals, then shot me like one. The last thing I heard before Jack gunned them down was the leader threatening to skin me with a machete. Now I get tense if I walk through any forest with trees taller than I am. Bill's the same way. It's something I've learned to deal with. Among other things."
He looked down at her with a sad smile. "Every time you see a fire, you will be taken back to that time where you were hurt, but with some more years between you and it, it will get easier. Trust me."
Vala was stunned. She had heard references to the event that he was talking about, mainly from Cameron and his eerie encyclopedic knowledge of past SG-1 mission reports, but she had no idea how bad it had really been. She looked over at Sam, who had been listening to the exchange quietly. The pained expression on her face told Vala that there were some parts in that story that even she had never heard before.
Vala was just glad he finally felt comfortable enough with her to tell her these things. Of all the horrible thing that had happened to him, it had been the hurts caused by his own people that had left some of the deepest scars. It was very like her own experiences. It made her feel closer to the person who had quickly become the best friend she had ever had. She squeezed his hand in thanks, and was thrilled to get a squeeze in return.
Comforted, and now that the pain was ebbing slightly, she was suddenly unable to keep her eyes open. She dozed off to the sound of Sam and Daniel talking.
When she again opened her eyes, the sun was shining through the trees at a different angle and the grove was silent. Sam was propped up against a tree nearby, gun cradled in her lap, whittling the end of a stout pole into a point. She glanced over at her and, seeing she was awake, gave her a quirky smile. Confused, Vala then realized that she still had her warm backrest. Soft, even breathing was coming from just over her head as Daniel slept with his arms supporting her, his chin resting on his chest. Since he seemed content with her laying against him, she was more than content to do so. Moving was something she wasn't looking forward to.
"Don't we need to get going?" she asked Sam quietly. "How long have I been sleeping?"
"Don't worry. It's only been about an hour, and I have the feeling that we're going to need the rest. They're going to be hitting us harder the closer we get to the compound, so I decided to make some force field proof weapons. "
She held up the spear she had been making and made a face at it. Vala supposed a pointy stick would seem ridiculously low-tech for the scientist.
" That, and I make it a point to let Daniel sleep for as long as possible if he nods off like this. He doesn't sleep well, and I don't think he got too much last night."
"No, he didn't." Vala shook her head in amusement. "What is it about him that makes you guys want to mother him? You and General Jack. Even Teal'c. He's a big boy, you know."
"Because I'm on a team of mother hens, and Sam is the head high hen," a humor filled voice rumbled behind Vala. Daniel's eyes were still closed, but his mouth was twisted in a familiar smirk.
Sam snorted rudely. "How many times have you forgotten to eat when we're not around?"
"Humph. You can talk miss" All I Ate For Every Meal For Three Days Straight Was Blue Jell-o""
Vala giggled as Sam stuck her tongue out at him.
Daniel just rolled his eyes tolerantly. "And how are you feeling?"
It took Vala a moment to realize that he was talking to her, and she did a bit of a self analysis, finding her knee to be a vague ache Well, that would change as soon as she tried to move. "Not too bad at the moment." She tried to lever herself up in preparation for getting to her feet, but as soon as she tried to flex her injured joint, it betrayed her. "Nope, that's not going to work. Damn, " she snarled in frustration. "This is so stupid. I'm sorry for slowing us down."
Daniel eased out from under her and stood up, stretching until a vertebra in his back popped. "Don't worry, we'll think of something. The easiest thing would be for me to carry you."
"Daniel, we're going to be going uphill a lot, and you're probably going to have to fight. You should just leave me here and come back for me when you two beat this stupid hunt."
Sam made an exasperated noise, and Daniel echoed the snort. "Okay, there's two problems with your little plan. One, there's no way in hell we're leaving you here. Two, it's not like you weigh as much as Teal'c, for crying out loud. If you ride on my back, I'll still have my hands free." He gave her that over-the-glasses look she found impossible to resist. "I'm not leaving anyone behind in this jungle."
Now knowing where he was coming from, she just nodded. Not that arguing with him was ever easy anyway.
Getting an idea, Sam helped him redistribute some of the contents of his pack and put it on, not to the shoulder clips but sideways around his waist, the straps snug tight just above his hips. She then helped Vala to stand and gave her something to lean on while Daniel crouched down. Vala draped herself across his back and wrapped her arms securely around his neck as he stood. She hissed in pain as she got her legs situated, but the pack took her weight and made a secure seat. Once her knee realized this, the pain subsided again.
Daniel asked her if she was comfortable as Sam handed him a second spear, and Vala could honestly say that she was. His broad back was warm and he moved smoothly as he and Sam made their way out of the grove, Sam taking rear guard. Vala, tired despite her nap, rested her head on Daniel's shoulder. Not that she liked being hurt, but she could definitely get used to this.
...
As the afternoon wore on, Sam started to get used to the murmur of quiet voices ahead of her as Vala and Daniel talked quietly. Since all the two of them usually did on missions was argue, this was a pleasant change. It also seemed to be a positive sigh that he was finally letting the cheerful woman in a bit. It was about time. If anyone deserved some happiness in their lives for once, it was those two.
That, and she had a lot of money riding in a certain base pool concerning her two teammates.
The trees began to thin as they reached the slope that signaled that they had finally reached the far cliff. The strange habitation perched far above them on the cliff like a vulture, its windows glinting like eyes in the late afternoon light.
"Look at that. It must be built right into the rock. Probably into the cliff itself. These has to be some kind of entrance at the base for the hounds to get in and out."
Daniel glanced back at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "So, do we just go up and ring the doorbell, or what?"
"I'll ring the doorbell. With a missile," Vala muttered, her chin resting on Daniel's shoulder.
"Well, first we have to get up there. That's a long way to go with no trees to climb." Sam could see that the slope was a horrible place to be, tactically. Going up an almost vertical hill with no cover was not her idea of a good time. And while Daniel was strong, and was holding up well, Vala's weight would handicap him in the long run, especially on the steep slope.
And they needed to be ready for anything. She had the feeling that their captor disliked losing. He would probably up the ante now that they were so close to their goal. She gripped her spear tighter, alerting at every sound coming from the surrounding vegetation.
It was this hyper alertness that saved her life.
A scrape of claw on stone was their only warning as a hound launched itself through the air directly at her from the top of boulder it had been hiding behind. Luckily, Sam was already moving. Swinging her spear around, she jammed the butt of it against another rock, the point zeroing in on the charging animal. Unable to stop for its momentum, it landed on the point with all its weight, knocking Sam violently to the ground. She rolled automatically, pulling her knife from its sheath as she did.
Coughing growls filled the air as the hound dragged itself away, the spear jutting obscenely from its chest. It had happened so fast that had been no time to think, but now that it was over, Sam found herself shaking with reaction. That had been too close. A moment later, she felt Daniel's hand on her arm. "Sam. You in one piece?"
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks." She stood and worked on slowing her breathing. She glared at the boulder strewn slope. " So now what? There could be dozens of the damn things hidden on that slope."
Daniel looked thoughtful as, by unspoken mutual consent, they made their way back into some heavier cover. "I don't think he has that many, actually. He's been sending them after us either singly, or in pairs. He could have just mobbed us and gotten this over with a while ago. Part of it is the entertainment value, I'm sure, but I think some of it is that his stock of hunters is limited." He glanced in the direction the mortally wounded hound had gone. "And getting more limited by the minute."
"Let's just sharpen some more sticks and kill them all, then." Vala's voice had a certain grumpy edge to it, and Sam studied her friend. The woman's face was flushed slightly, and perspiration matted her bangs to her forehead, but she was shivering.
Crap.
Daniel met her eyes and nodded slightly. Of course he had noticed, considering the way Vala was pressed to his back. Vala was sick. Sam didn't have to undo the dressing on her leg to know that the wound was probably red and angry looking. Sam wondered if the bacteria found in the mouths of their hunters was extra virulent, like a Komodo Dragon's. It kind of made sense. It made the hunt that much more interesting if every bite became almost instantly septic.
"Sam!"
Sam jerked her head up at Daniel's yell. He took a step forward and hurled his spear at the black shape rushing through the grass at them. The spear grazed it, she heard the angry yowl, but the animal kept coming. There was a tree only a few feet away, and she made for it, Daniel right behind her. He gave her a boost into the branches, the lower ones small enough to creak alarmingly beneath her weight. She got a bit higher onto something a little sturdier, then reached down for Vala. The other woman reached both hands up to her, and Sam hauled her up, knowing that this had to be hurting her injured leg, but there being little she could do about it.
Sam looked down just in time to see the hound land on Daniel, bear him to the ground, and reach its fangs toward his throat.
...
As he watched Sam pull Vala into the tree, Daniel knew with a certainty that he wasn't going to make it this time. The thud of paws and the crackling of twigs announced the hunter's arrival, and he had just enough time to throw his hands up in a pitiful attempt to ward off the massive animal as it hit him like a ton of bricks. The breath was knocked out of his lungs as he hit the ground with bruising force, the hound on top of him. He dimly heard Sam and Vala's voices screaming his name as he gripped the loose skin of the jowls, desperately trying to keep those snapping jaws from his neck. He poured every ounce of strength he had into the effort, only to feel the huge head inch ever closer. With surprising clarity, he felt blood seep through the bandage and down his skin as the slash on his arm broke open from the strain.
Then fate staged one of those little interventions it liked to do for him every once and awhile.
Just as he felt the very tips of those fangs brush the sides of his throat, a shuddering impact from the side threw both he and his attacker across the ground. Thank god for Sam, Daniel thought even as the air was driven from his lungs once again. But when the grayness finally cleared from his eyesight and he looked over, he saw it wasn't Sam that had interfered, but a second black beast. It and the first were rolling together in a bundle of fangs and claws, and Daniel scrambled to get out of the way of two huge predators having a serious difference of opinion practically on top of him.
The first thing he noticed as he rolled to his feet was that the new hound wasn't wearing a harness. So, not bullet proof. Daniel brought up his P90, miraculously still clipped to his vest, and focused his aim on this new, defenseless, enemy. He could see Sam doing the same from the tree.
"Jackson! Hold your fire! Gun down! You too Carter!"
Daniel nearly dropped his weapon, more in shock than from the order. There, trotting down the slope, was one Cameron Mitchell. The pleasure, mixed with no little confusion at seeing his missing CO here of all places, was replaced by horror as a long, low shadow materialized out of the grass directly behind him. "Mitchell, look out!"
"Cam, behind you!" Sam yelled at the same time.
Daniel swung his gun up at the hound stalking his friend, but by that time the younger man had reached him and pushed the muzzle toward the ground firmly. "Jackson, damnitall, I said gun down."
"But-" Daniel's confused and adrenalin hyped brain was having issues sorting out what was happening around him. The brawl going on behind him had ended, and the unfettered animal was chasing his attacker off. It paced the perimeter of the trees, its low growls almost sounding like disgruntled mutters.
The hound that had been following Mitchell had calmly walked up to them and seemed to be, for lack of a better word, listening. There was something different about it. When Daniel looked into its eyes and met a warm intelligence in its brown gaze, rather than the cold yellow orbs of the hunters, he relaxed marginally.
"Have we been making new friends, Mitchell?"
"Yup." Mitchell sounded inordinately proud of himself. "Just good old southern charm."
Daniel tensed as brush crackled nearby, but it was only the welcome sight of Teal'c entering the clearing. By this time Sam had dropped from the tree and reached up to help Vala down. Daniel started their way, but Teal'c beat him to it, gently lifting the injured woman down and cradling her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a firm hug, which Sam echoed a moment later. As soon as the trio made their way over to where he and Mitchell stood, Sam hugged Mitchell until his eyes popped. Not wanting to be left out, Vala reached out from Teal'c arms and ruffled Cam's hair fondly, making the young Colonel blush with pleasure.
Teal'c juggled Vala around until he could get a hand free to clasp Daniel's arm in a warrior's greeting. "It is good to see you well, DanielJackson."
"Likewise buddy, likewise. We've been pretty worried. How-?"
Mitchell raised a hand. " Aht. Let's save the story time for a place a little more secure." He looked down at his silent companion who had been watching their exchanges with interest. "There a place like that nearby?"
Fluffing its whiskers, the animal made a peculiar chirping noise and sauntered off in the opposite direction from the compound. When it reached the tree line, it paused and looked at them over its shoulder expectantly. "Yeah, yeah, we're coming." Mitchell gave them all a mocking bow. "You heard the lady people, let's go."
Daniel strode next to Cam as they followed their guide. "Lady?"
"Yup. The old guy only uses the males to hunt. The ones that are helping us are the females, and they're not too happy about the way things are run around here. They seem to think we have a better chance than most at helping them. "
"You can communicate with them? They're sentient?"
"Well, our communication so far has been somewhere along the lines of "What's that girl? Timmy's in the well?", but these critters are damn smart. I think talking is the only thing they can't do." He grinned. "You should see them open doors."
Daniel was starting to feel the ache in his stomach that always came when he took a life, now that he knew the two beings he had just killed were more than simple animals. The guilt must have been evident on his face, because Mitchell reached over and clasped his shoulder as they walked. "You didn't have any choice, and you know it. The real bad guy is the dude upstairs calling all the shots. There's some kind of mind control thing in those harnesses that makes the hunters do what he wants. If we do this right, we can help them."
Daniel was still deep in thought as they followed their guide down into a shallow ravine with thick, shady trees overshadowing it. She signaled they were there by laying down on the smooth dirt, panting.
Daniel sat down with his back against the cool, moist earth of the ravine wall. Oh, that felt good. He couldn't wait to get out of this sauna. As hot as it was, though, Vala was still shivering as Teal'c lowered her to the ground next to him. She gave him a wan smile that did nothing to hide her misery. Teal'c sat on the other side of her and in silent agreement, he and Daniel sandwiched her in between them, until she was almost off the ground. Surrounded by their warmth, Vala relaxed against Daniel and quickly fell asleep.
"How's the princess doing?" Mitchell kept his voice low.
"She's pretty sick. She was bitten when…"
"I know," Mitchell interrupted. "We saw the whole thing. "He gave Daniel one of his sudden grins. "Sure you've never played football, Jackson? 'Cause that was a hell of a tackle."
Daniel and Sam shot glances at each other. "What do you mean you saw everything?"
"Just what I said. Ok, let's start at the beginning here. What happened to you guys after you went through the 'gate?"
Sam and Daniel took turns filling their two teammates in on what had been happening before and during the hunt. Mitchell listened closely, asking a few questions here and there. When they were done he sat back and shook his head. "You know? There's going to come a day when we all decide we're getting to old for this."
Daniel rubbed a hand through his hair. He'd been finding a few grays lately. Now he knew where all of Jack's had come from. "No kidding. So what about you two? I have to say, we were pretty worried. We knew an iris of some sort had gone up on the 'gate, we just didn't know how far you were behind us."
"Landry probably saved our lives with that little delay, "Mitchell chuckled. "By the time we got to the top of the ramp, Walter had noticed something squirrelly about the signal, and hit the emergency deactivation."
"Good old Walter."
"Yup. Buying him a weeks worth of real food for lunch. Anyway, to make a long story short, Teal'c and I hitched a ride on the Odyssey, got here, got captured, got released, and found you."
They sat in silence for a while, listening tom their guide snoring a few feet away. Daniel involuntarily jumped when a second hound emerged from the bushes above them and leapt gracefully down into the ravine., but relaxed when he saw it was one of the un-harnessed females. The first one woke and the two conversed. The linguist in Daniel automatically started listening for familiar sounds.
And to his great surprise, found some.
The aliens language seemed to be mostly made up of various growls, moans, and hisses, but every so often the sounds would string together to form what almost seemed like a word. Not in English, but something else that sounded tantalizingly familiar. Until it came to him.
Egyptian. They were speaking Ancient Egyptian.
TBC