Rising from the Ashes of Ascension
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: As much as I might wish, I do not own Stargate: SG1, Highlander: the Series, or any recognizable characters from either show. If I did, I wouldn't be working in the public schools system. However, any characters that are not from either show are mine and I will use and abuse them as I see fit. Everyone else will be returned eventually, for I am only borrowing for awhile, but they might end up a bit scuffed.
Warnings: Potty language, violence, and occasional sexual references
After an hour of fruitless searching, Jack checked the one place he didn't want to check, but the most likely place he would find Daniel: The storage room, the one where he had found Daniel in when he had been addicted the sarcophagus. That memory left a particularly bitter taste in his mouth.
"Daniel?" Jack called out cautiously as he slowly opened the door. The light was out, leaving the room draped in darkness. He didn't want to go storming in, scaring Daniel and putting himself in danger. He wasn't sure how Daniel would react to being startled or if it would even be Daniel that he would face. Jack flashed back to when they were faced with Daniel's older, nastier side: Danil.
There was a slight rustling of clothing that came from a back corner.
"Danny, come on," Jack plead with his friend.
"Back here Jack," was Daniel's soft reply.
"I'm turning on the light," he warned his friend and groped along the wall, searching for the switch. Once found, the storage room was lit up, showing that it was now filled with reports from past missions, requisition forms, physical fitness records, and countless other pieces of paper that had been deemed worthy of hanging on to.
In the back corner was Daniel. He was sitting there, huddled, his arms wrapped around his legs. He was breathing heavily, more from panic than any physical exertion.
Jack, after first making sure that Daniel didn't have any weapons (not that that would make much of a difference if he decided to attack) and sat down opposite of him, ignoring the creaking and snapping that was emanating from his knees.
"What happened?" Jack asked, warm brown eyes looking appraisingly at his friend.
"I remembered something," Daniel said.
"I figured as much," Jack said, slipping into familiar sarcasm. "What specifically did you remember this time?"
Daniel shook his head, as if willing the images that danced around in the forefront of him mind to go away.
"I've been remembering a lot of stuff since I came back to Earth. Some of it good, like remembering my year with Shar'ae," at the mention of her name, a smile flashed across her face.
"Okay. I know you've been remembering stuff. Five thousand years of memories will take some time to process. It's probably healthier for you to slowly remember things. Having everything dumped into your head all at once isn't good for anyone," Jack said quietly. "What happened with Adam? When he got inside of your guard and pressed his knife to your neck, you freaked. I know that your neck is the most at risk part of your body. What memory did that trigger?"
"It was more than just realizing that the neck is the most vulnerable area for Immortals. I remembered more details from the time when I did some pretty bad stuff," Daniel said, sounding miserable.
"Which time?"
"There was more than one?" Daniel looked up at Jack with horror.
Jack sighed. "I don't claim to know everything there is to know about your past. I do know that there were a few periods in your life where things got loopy for you. What specifically did you remember?"
"I remember how things were after fighting with Alexander," Daniel sighed.
"Oh," was all Jack could come up with as a response.
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Hooves thundered down a narrow, rocky path. Deinol (or Danil as he was sometimes known as) was in the lead, sitting astride a dark brown horse, sword in hand, looking fearsome and dangerous. He was coated in blood, none of it his. He wore a chiton (two rectangles of linen cloth fastened together at the shoulders that fell to just above knee level), belted at the waist, and over this he wore an armored shirt. While he didn't need to worry about not dying, if he were to die from a stray arrow shot or the like, it would mess up his plans and interfere with his ability to get paid. Also, he went without the himation; cloaks would only get in the way. He didn't need the drama of a cloak flying behind him; the blood, muck, and fire would provide enough drama for today's events.
He led four others, scum belonging to the warlord, along the path. He had been hired by a local warlord that had been a bit pissed that the people of the village resisted against his rule. As a result, he had been hired to teach the villagers a lesson.
They rode into town, setting fire to people's homes, smashing stalls at the market, beating people savagely, killing those few individuals who got the bright idea of trying to stop the raiders.
As they stood in the in town's square, watching the carnage and letting the miserable rain dampen everything, Danil noticed one villager running towards them with a spear in hand. Before he even thought about warning his companions, the man threw it hard, launching it into the air. It flew through the air in an arcing path and came down, impaling the man next to him. With that as the apparent signal, arrows rained down on the remaining raiders, hitting them all.
Danil was luckier than the others, who were killed instantly. While he did get shot, none of them were lethal. He was able to pull out the ones that hit his arms. Unfortunately his horse was also hit. The animal bucked wildly, throwing him off its back and then had the courtesy to run away.
Pissed, Danil looked around for the giant of a man that had launched the attack that had resulted in his fellow raiders' deaths. While he did not care about their fate, for they were only with him at the request of the warlord that had hired him, he was pissed that he had gotten shot and had lost his horse. Horses were expensive after all!
Through the smoke and haze, Danil spied his attacker running towards him with a sword in hand. When he got close enough, Danil could not detect any sort of Quickening signature emanating from the man.
With a savage grin, Danil jumped to his feet, his sword at the ready, prepared to meet this fool head on. He knew that despite the man's size, he was no match for him. He was only mortal after all, as the cliché went.
Having pasted on a savage smile, Danil met the human, their swords clashing. They slashed at each other, moving agilely across the muddy stretch of land. Meeting blow for blow, the warrior and the mercenary fought a battle worthy of the gods' notice. Neither of them was willing to give, no matter how much it took. Tadeo was there to protect the lives of his villagers, his family and friends. Danil was there to satisfy his thirst for battle, blood, and money.
At one point in the fight, Danil slid a little in the soupy mud, allowing Tadeo to strike him, nicking his neck on the left side, just above the collar bone. While it was not a fatal or even dangerous wound, it infuriated Danil, causing him to roar in fury.
He batted Tadeo's sword aside, fueled by rage, rage at him-self for allowing a fucking mortal near his neck, rage that this mere child would dare to stand against him.
After that, it was over in a flash. Danil caught the man with a maneuver that he had learned from the old bastard, better known as Methos and disarmed him. Without hesitating, he drew back his sword and swung cleanly beheading the mortal. While beheadings were the traditional way to kill and Immortal, they worked just as well for mortals. The only difference was that there was no blue lightening once the deed was done.
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"What then?" Jack asked, fascinated and horrified at the same time. "Was that when you finally gave up your life as a merc?"
Daniel laughed, it was a hollow sound. "No, that moment of clarity happened probably five or six years later. I went on to torch the rest of the village and after that I went back to the warlord. Abdon, the warlord who hired me, was pissed that his four men had been killed. He blamed me, which, okay, was partially justifiable, and decided that I wasn't going to be paid," he said, a mocking tone in his voice.
"And?" Jack pressed, making rolling motions with his fingers wanting the story to continue.
"I was pissed, so in order to make myself feel better I killed the bastard and several of his buddies."
"Weren't his other friends a bit upset that you had done that? Did they just let you go?"
Daniel smiled at that. "No. They were annoyed with me, so they killed me back and buried my body in a shallow grave after pissing on it."
"Oh that is gross. You could have left the last part out you know?" Jack said, pulling a face.
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Jack, you don't know what gross is until you've lived in a time before indoor plumbing. People would crap in a pot and then throw their shit, literally, out into the street and if you were really lucky, you'd get hit with it."
Jack groaned. "So what about what happened in the gym? Are you going to be okay?"
Daniel paused for a second, his arms wrapped around his torso, his back pressed up against the concrete wall. "Yeah, I think I will be. Five thousand years is a lot to process."
"No shit," Jack replied. "How much do you think you remember, in terms of years?"
The Immortal sighed. "I definitely remember my time as being the world's biggest asshole of that particular era. I remember probably just about everything from the last five centuries, but there are holes everywhere else. There are so many details that are slowly coming back. I mean right now I can clearly remember my time with Alexander, I remember my serial killer days, the time I spent with the Onondaga, I remember seeing the Coliseum being built. However, there are so many gaps in my memory and they are slowly being filled, but there is no rhyme or reason as to what comes back when. It's so frustrating!"
"Daniel, I can't even begin to imagine what this is like for you. However, you need to relax and let your memories come back without allowing them to overwhelm you. What if something comes back to you in the middle of a fight? Do you think Joe Blow Immortal is going to give you a chance to sit down and process everything? No, he's going to whack your head off and leave us without a friend once again, this time for ever."
Daniel looked over at his best friend and offered up a small smile. "You know, I remember that you once told me to get my head out of my ass when we were stuck on that planet that had a fixation on Gladiators."
"Yeah, and you still don't make for a very good Russell Crowe despite your skills with sharp, pointing weapons, but the advice is still good. Deal with it and let us help you. You aren't alone and at least here, until the Goa'uld decide to shoot our collective asses off once again, you are safe. All of us, me, Carter, Teal'c, Adam, Siler, Fraiser, and even the General will help you."
The newly descended Immortal offered up another small smile. "Do you think Adam will still be up for some practice time?"
"Yeah, he probably would be, but if not, you always have me. I may not be in your guys' league with swords and stuff, but I do have my special-ops training and maybe we could bribe Teal'c to help. He's pretty willing to help with anything if you promise him a Star Wars marathon," Jack said and slowly stood up, feeling his knees pop and crack.
He offered a hand to Daniel who took it gratefully.
"You're a good friend Jack," Daniel said.
"You bet your ass I am," Jack shot back, grinning at his friend.
A/N: Well, what do you think? Crap or not? Hit the shiny review button and let me know what you think.
Thank you for dropping me a review; it really warms my heart (especially after having the kind of days at work that I have been having lately) to see a review alert sitting in my mailbox. Also, thank you for putting me or the story on a list and even for just reading my stuff. I do appreciate it.
Also, the stuff about the clothing from Ancient Greece came from a couple of web sites (I googled it, wondering what people actually wore back then - I had a sneaking suspicion that people didn't really dress like Xena) that I looked at. I don't remember which ones though. Sorry.