A/N: Holy crap, the seventh chapter is here! I'm sorry it took so long.
Part Seven: Angel.
Daniel glanced over at Matt and half-smiled to himself. The younger man was absorbed in a sketchbook, pencil darting over the page. Quietly, so Matt wouldn't notice, he stood up and set the book down on the chair, moving across to stand behind him and watch. Matt continued to work, apparently oblivious to the presence of his lover behind him.
Then, as Daniel watched, he flipped to a blank page and quickly wrote something in sloping handwriting and leaned back.
'Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to look over someone's shoulder?'
"You knew I was here all along," Daniel accused as Matt broke down in laughter.
"Of course I did. Forgive me, but you're not exactly a stealth operator, are you?" Matt twisted and looked up at him. "If you wanted to see the sketch, all you had to do was ask."
"Didn't want to distract you," Daniel mumbled, shuffling next to him on the sofa. Matt obligingly flipped back to the sketch and showed him.
"It's based on an old story – almost a myth – that some of the traders used to talk about," he said. "This girl, this angel, was supposed to visit those individuals at crossroads, between two alternate future paths. She was meant to help them decide what path in life to take. Some said she was a blessing; some of them claimed to have seen her. Some of them called her a curse."
"Because you would know there was another path," Daniel nodded. "You'd always wonder." He paused. "What was her name?"
"Depends where they were from. Some called her the white angel. Some would refer to her as a sister of Loki. The one that always stuck with me was Madoka."
"Madoka…" Daniel mused, trying to remember the name. "Never heard of her."
"Doesn't surprise me. These were traders, merchants from the Koratta stellar cluster – probably a few light years from where I was. Not far in a hyperspace ship, but a bloody long way if not." Matt shrugged. "I used to go down to the landings, just to talk to them. I'd help them move crates and boxes for a few stories and some small change. I think if I'd asked them to teach me their language, they've looked at me like I was mad. But if you offer to help…"
"Then suddenly you're their best mate." Daniel nodded in understanding.
"Exactly."
A few days later, on a scientific mission to PX9-366, Daniel noticed something strange. He couldn't quite explain it, but it felt like someone was watching him. He ignored the creeping sense of unease prickling at his spine and carried on reading the carvings on the side of the ruined church walls. They talked about… something really awkward that didn't have a neat translation – a goddess? an avatar? – either way, this female deity/personification was meant to show you the path you were walking, and the alternate way. This way could be good, or it could be bad – all she would do was show you it was there.
It took him a few moments to figure out where he recognised the myth from.
"Matt, can you come over here?" he called.
The younger man stood up from where he'd been helping Sam with read-outs from the various pieces of data-collecting gadgetry.
"What is it?"
"Translate that, and tell me what you read it as."
He quickly skimmed through the text, tracing a pattern over the carvings with one finger.
"You're reading it in the wrong order," was his first reaction. "There's part of the story missing. And yes – I know it. It's about Madoka. She's not a common deity, at least not referred to as such. Should make it easier to figure out who lived here…"
He tailed off, continuing to read. "Hmm."
"What?" Daniel asked quietly.
"Hmm. Okay. On a scale of fine to disastrous, this is seriously not good."
"What's wrong?"
"This isn't a church to worship her," Matt said softly. "This is meant to be her prison. The carving is telling the story of her incarceration by her fellow…" he paused. "The only way to translate it is 'ascended creatures'. Not sure what that means."
"I do," Daniel replied. "It means that she – whatever she is – has evolved to a higher level than humanity, to a higher plane of existence."
"Almost god-like," Matt said dryly. "And she's meant to be trapped here. They put great walls and great forces against her to keep her here. No-one is ever meant to come here at all – I think they tried to destroy the Stargate."
"But if we're here…" Daniel left the sentence hanging.
"Yeah. It means that she's strong enough to fix that, but not to leave. You need a corporeal body to activate the gate…"
"So when we leave, we might be taking a passenger," Sam chipped in, looking at them, eyebrows raised.
"Not good?" Jack asked dryly. "We may be in danger after all?"
"Probably not immediate mortal peril, but yes, potential danger."
"Hmm. Suggestions?"
"We have two options: either we stay here forever and bury the gate, or we go home and maybe take a hitchhiker."
Jack frowned. "I don't know about you, but neither of those options fill me with joy."
"The nearest Asgard outpost is…" Sam trailed off in thought.
"Is a bloody long way away," Matt finished. "This is probably the only planet in this system with a gate. Any ship would never get here in time, even at hyper speed. And they've got enough problems as it is."
Sam shrugged and started packing up the equipment. "Looks like we're giving someone a free ride. Although," she added, "It is possible that we're not the first. She may well have already left."
"When have circumstances ever been that kind?" Daniel asked wryly as they made their way back.
For the next few days, things seemed normal, or at least as normal as Stargate Command ever gets. The carved warning of Madoka's prison was forgotten, and life carried on as the routine dictated.
And then someone started appearing. Never openly and obviously – just out of the corner of their eyes, just insubstantial enough to convince them there was nothing there while simultaneously making them very uneasy.
Daniel was the first to notice. Every so often, he'd look up from a translation after sensing some movement near him to catch a glimpse of a young woman, dressed in white with long brown hair. He checked the surveillance footage, but there was never anything. It was only when Matt mentioned seeing the same person that he realised that he wasn't going mad – or if he was, he wasn't alone.
After the first couple of weeks, though, she started appearing at their homes as well. By now, all five members of SG-1 had seen her at some point – Daniel and Sam the most, Jack unsurprisingly the least.
"What do you mean, 'unsurprisingly'?" Jack asked indignantly.
"You're not the most observant of people, are you?" Daniel replied sarcastically. Jack decided to leave it at that. Daniel was clearly freaked out by this 'ghost'.
That night, she showed up again. Half-past two in the morning. Daniel was – for once – asleep. When a faint white glow started, he blinked blearily and sat up to see the same girl in the white dress he'd been seeing out of the corner of his eye for the past three weeks.
Snapping awake, he stood up and glared at her, striding forward and catching her wrist.
"Who are you, and what the hell do you think you're doing?"
She blinked and tried to step back.
"Please, it is not safe, let me go, please" – she broke off as the white glow enveloped both of them, rising to a blinding glare. When it faded, they were stood in a small room with gold walls. Daniel sighed.
"Oh, not again… I am sick of these places." He looked around the small room for a control panel, any indication of how to operate what was – apparently – a kind of holo-projector, or a transporter of some description. This was Sam's area, not his. The girl stared at him, confused and clearly very afraid.
When Daniel was sure that there were no controls for it within the room, he turned back to the girl.
"Who are you? What's going on here?"
The girl swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "My name is Amira. I am not what you think. I hate the Go'auld. I did not want to do this, but they forced me. My people are afraid of them, deathly afraid – they gave me up to them."
"You're not Madoka, then?"
"No."
"Well, that's a relief. Now I know there's not an angry Ascended after me and my friends, would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"
The girl sighed quietly and sat on the floor, gesturing for Daniel to join her. "You know the legend of Madoka? She is described as a woman, with brown hair, in a white dress. The Go'auld saw you planning to go to Ka'tre – my home world – and went ahead of you. They planted the carvings to scare you, and took me from my people to use to try and slow you down. They thought if you were afraid of Madoka, then you would not be so happy to venture through the circle."
"Slow us down? Why? What are they planning?"
The girl shook her head. "I do not know. They talked little in front of me that I could understand."
Daniel nodded. "Alright. Can you take us back down? I need to find my friends."
She straightened a little. "I think so. They allow me free run of the ship, but I do not know how to activate the transporters. It is only a small vessel. This way."
She opened the door and darted out. Daniel followed, wary of any sign of imminent danger.
They managed to reach the transporter room without detection, but when Daniel activated it, the girl hesitated.
"What is it?"
"I can't go with you. If I do, I will never be able to return home."
"All we have to do is take you through the Stargate. We went to Ka'tre less than a month ago," Daniel replied. "We will not hurt you. We'll get you home. I promise."
She still looked afraid, but stepped over to him.
Needless to say, the techies on duty were less than impressed when they materialised in the Gate room at half-past four in the morning, and they realised they had work to do.
Epilogue
It was a few days later when Daniel had the dream. 'Dream' wasn't really the right word, but 'hallucination' was too strong, and 'vision' made it sound religious.
He was in his office when he glanced up and saw the same girl – he never found out her name. The only thing that had changed was her eyes. They were pure white, no iris or pupils at all.
"Madoka?" he asked softly.
She nodded. "Showing you the road not yet taken."
Pain flared at the base of his skull, and he curled forward, crying out. When it receded, he looked up and saw something that twisted like a blade in his heart.
The deck of a Go'auld mothership.
Matt, crouched on the floor over something – no, someone.
Clutching the amulet in his right hand.
Screaming as he was tortured.
Standing.
Fighting to the death.
Collapsing over the control panel.
The Go'auld letting him go, pushing the lifeless bodies away.
Howling in fury and fear.
The thunder of approaching soldiers.
The pain flared again. When he sat up, Madoka was gone. All he heard was her voice.
"You could end it all. But he must die."