A/N: Sad one now. Rated for a death, and mentions of serious grief/mourning.
Part Five: Alien.
"Alright, this is going to be a weird one," Jack commented, throwing the mission brief back onto the table. "What kind of Go'auld lives peacefully?"
"Well, there are the Tok'ra," Sam pointed out, shrugging.
"Yeah, but apart from them. I mean, according to SG-9, this one isn't even the ruler, he's like their wise man or something."
"Shaman," Daniel corrected. "And maybe there are more than we think. We might just not have met them."
"Regardless, I believe we should investigate further," Teal'c replied.
"Investigate, yes. But what are you going to do?" Matt asked. "If he's not actually hurting anyone, are you just going to ask him to join the fight?"
Jack nodded. "Yep, that's about the size of it."
"And obviously learn whatever we can about the technology," Sam added.
"And any other useful stuff we pick up on the way."
Right. Just a little mission, then, Matt thought wryly.
"According to SG-9, the settlement is about half a mile that way, the other side of the hill," Sam called, checking the readings from the scanner. The world they met was cold and grey; winter was apparently setting in.
"Anything?" Jack replied.
"Nope. Just the usual wildlife, nothing out of the ordinary," she replied.
"So we're not in immediate danger of getting fried," Matt muttered to Daniel. "Always comforting."
Daniel just grinned. "Welcome to my world."
They decided to wait at the top of the hill and watch the shaman for a while to see what he did, rather than walking straight to the settlement ("blundering in" as Daniel put it, or "being boring" as Jack explained it).
"That's him," Sam muttered, looking through the binoculars.
"Let's have a look," Matt said. Sam passed the binoculars over, and Matt squinted down at the people moving around in the shadow of the hill.
"Is that him? Dark robes, can't see his face?"
"Is he wearing a belt?"
"No."
"That's him."
"Can't see him…" Matt mumbled, half to himself. "Come on, turn around…"
He dropped the binoculars in surprise and swore. "No. It can't be."
"What is it?" Daniel asked. He and the other three members of SG-1 were looking at Matt in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I think I have," he replied. "I have to go down there."
"Alone? No way," Jack stated. "You go down, we all go down."
"Fine. But I need to speak to this shaman alone," Matt snapped.
"Why?" Sam asked. "Who is he? Why is it so important that you talk to him?"
"Because I know him," Matt hissed. "I've met him before."
Daniel leaned over and grabbed the binoculars, squinting at the figure. He was tall, with dark hair and hazel eyes. His own mind was drawing a complete blank, but something Matt had said hinted who this 'shaman' really was.
First real friend. First person to care about me since my parents. First person I fell in love with who didn't call me a sick freak. First person to try and understand.
He glanced over at Matt, who was pale and angry. It didn't surprise him. He didn't like taking orders at the best of times.
"Jack, you're going to have to let him go down there," he said quietly to the colonel.
"The hell I do! He's under my command, he'll follow my orders."
"No, he won't," Daniel said calmly. "He'll follow them when it suits him. The rest of the time, he's probably quite happy to sneak off alone and take the consequences."
"You've been a bad influence on him, Daniel," came the reply.
"And I've been around you too long," the archaeologist countered. "I think the best you'll get is one or two of us going down with him and the others watching from here."
Jack glared at him and turned to Sam. "Carter, have you scanned the settlement for any energy signals?"
"Yes, sir. Nothing unusual."
"No energy weapons, generators, anything like that?"
"No, sir."
"See? If anything happens, we'll be able to defend ourselves, and you guys can warn us if anything nasty's headed our way."
"Fine," Jack muttered. "You and Carter will go down with him, and you'll stay in radio contact at all times. Clear?"
"Crystal," Matt replied coolly, standing up. "Let's go."
"Who is this guy?" Sam wondered aloud as they walked down the hill towards the village.
"No idea," Daniel replied. "I think his name's Rath. He was…" He tailed off, not sure whether to tell Sam the truth or not. It wasn't really his to tell, he decided. Let Matt explain if he wanted to. "He was a friend of Matt's. He disappeared a few months ago."
"Kidnapped?"
"Looks like it now. How he managed to get away, I don't know." He paused. "I think Matt thought he was dead."
"Why?"
"When do the Go'auld ever kidnap people? They usually just kill them, maybe torture them. I guess that's what he thought had happened." He shrugged at Sam, and jogged ahead slightly to catch up with Matt.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Silence.
"Alright, stupid question. Talk to me."
"I – I thought – he was – dead," Matt whispered. "I thought they'd – they'd – killed him–" He broke off and angrily scrubbed his face with his sleeve.
"I'm here," Daniel murmured, mentally cursing the regs that meant he couldn't just hold him. "It's okay."
Matt took a couple of shaky deep breaths, then went on: "I thought he'd been murdered because of me. Because we dared to defy the Go'auld. That's what happened to the rest of my family. But what they've done" – he dug his nails into his palm to stop himself crying again – "What they've done is worse. They've destroyed him."
They found the shaman sat outside his hut, stirring something cooking over a fire and talking to one of the people. The conversation ended as they approached, as the villager muttered hastily, "May the gods be with you," and departed. The shaman looked up at them, curious.
"Who are you? How did you get here?"
"We're peaceful explorers, from a planet called Earth," Sam said quickly. "We came here through the Stargate."
Matt stood back, watching him. The shaman held his gaze for a moment, then looked back to Sam.
"You are not servants of our great god Wotan, may his light shine forever?"
"No, we're not."
"Good! Never had much time for him anyway. Always going on about immortality and sins and such. I ask you. What do I want with immortality?"
Matt smiled faintly. "Rath?"
The shaman looked back to him, squinting, as if he couldn't quite see properly. "Who are you?"
Matt looked like he'd been punched. Daniel quickly took over. "Where are you from?"
The shaman frowned. "I'm not sure. Not here. I've been here for many years, and yet it's never felt like home. Too cold. The light isn't right. The food tastes strange." He shrugged. "Maybe I'm just getting old."
"You don't belong here."
The shaman laughed. "And who are you, exactly, to tell me where I do or do not belong?"
Matt stepped forward, out of the shadows. "Angel."
The shaman laughed again, but this time it rang hollow. "You're not Angel. Angel's dead, long dead. He wasn't even real. I made him up, years ago. I was mad. How do you know about him?"
"I'm Angel," Matt replied. "Not dead. Not imaginary. Just on the wrong side of the galaxy." He reached forward and gently pushed down the shaman's hood. "Rath, what happened? What did they do to you?"
The face looking back wasn't the Rath who had disappeared just a few months ago. This Rath was old long before his time, his dark hair streaked with grey and his eyes milky and unfocused. The shaman was staring at Matt as if seeing him for the first time. "But you can't be…" he muttered. "They said you weren't real… that none of this was real…"
"Trust me," Matt whispered. "I'm here, I'm real, and I'm not leaving you behind."
Rath was shaking as he spoke. "Not even… not even after I left you behind?"
"It wasn't your fault. You were stolen." Matt's voice could have cut steel. "And I will get them back. Just watch me." He sighed sadly, and gently brushed away a lock of greying hair from Rath's eyes.
The old man smiled faintly. "I'll be gone before I see your revenge."
"Don't talk like that," Matt said quietly. "You're coming with us. There must be some way to reverse the process." He looked back to Sam and Daniel. "Right?"
Sam didn't quite meet his gaze. "I don't know."
"Angel, I can't." Rath took Matt's hand, forcing him to pay attention. "I am not myself any longer. They gave me a parasite. I am fighting it, but some day it will win. It will take over me, and I will be lost." He looked the younger man straight in the eyes. "I do not want to die that way. Please. Remember what we promised."
"No! Rath, no," Matt pleaded. "There has to be another way."
The shaman shook his head. "I'm sorry. I never wanted this to happen."
"Me neither," Matt said wryly, despite the tears forming in his eyes.
Daniel and Sam looked at each other, frowning in confusion.
"Matt, what are you talking about?" Daniel asked hesitantly.
"A suicide pact," Matt replied. "Well, voluntary homicide. We promised each other years ago, when we first met, that if either of us were ever taken as a host, the other would kill them."
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Because we wanted to die on our own terms, as ourselves," Rath said calmly. "And because the parasite is usually vindictive enough to seek out former friends and torture or kill them. It was our way of trying to save each other." He stood slowly, wincing in pain. Matt scrubbed his face with his sleeve and pulled Rath into a hug.
"I will never, ever forget you. And I will never, ever forgive them for what they've done to you," he told the old man as he pulled away. Rath smiled tiredly.
"If I know you, you're going to annihilate them, aren't you?"
"Oh yeah," Matt muttered softly. "Count on it." He took a breath, and spoke a little louder.
"I'm sorry we had to end like this."
"Yeah," Rath said sadly. "Me too."
Matt fired the zat gun twice, catching Rath's body as it convulsed from the energy. He was almost cradling the body, shaking with unshed tears. Neither Sam nor Daniel said anything, until the radio sparked into life.
"Carter, what the hell's going on down there? I just saw someone get shot!"
Sam sighed. "Sir, it's a long story, I'll explain later."
Matt stood up carefully, carrying Rath's body in his arms. He was deathly pale and shaking, but the tears had gone.
"We need to dial my home world," he said, his voice dull and empty. "He was my friend. He deserves a decent burial."
The three of them walked back up the hill in silence. Daniel and Sam stayed back, almost afraid to speak and break Matt's concentrated stillness. Jack and Teal'c were waiting by the gate – mission accomplished, just a short detour on the way home. They buried the body in the woods outside the city where Rath had grown up, under a willow tree. The message carved into the bark simply read: Never forgotten.
That night, Daniel barely slept. He was terrified; Matt just seemed so broken by his loss. All he could do was be there, and hold on.