Author's Note: Hope you are all enjoying this story, I love the reviews and those who are following me. It makes me giddy that someone other than myself enjoys this story.
Disclaimer: Sg1 is not mine, Zarkina and the Vannas are so please don't take them from me. Much appreciated.
Chapter Thirteen: Symbiotic Death
Jack walked hand in hand with Daniel towards the training center where he was teaching his first class. Daniel was skipping next to him happily and Jack just watched him closely. "You excited about this love?"
Daniel grinned, "Of course. I love telling people about the information I know."
"Yes sir you do."
Daniel shoved him playfully. "Don't make fun."
Jack stopped him, pulling them to face each other. "I remember all those times when you were going on and on about whatever mythology we needed or language that came up and you were always so hot when you talked about that stuff. I never knew what the hell you were saying but I wanted to throw you over the table and have you right there."
Daniel grinned sheepishly "Don't joke."
"Whose jokin' baby? You are a smoking hot man and if you didn't have to go to work right now I would be proving it to you."
Jack watched as Daniel's cheeks pinked and he leaned in to kiss his hot young archeologist. Daniel slipped his hands over Jack's shoulders and pulled the Colonel close as he slipped his tongue inside Jack's mouth. Jack couldn't stop the moan that slipped into Daniel's mouth.
"I got to go to class lover," Daniel whispered into his lips. Jack gripped at Daniel's shaggy blonde hair and pulled him in for another kiss before releasing the younger man.
"I will see you later baby," Jack said and pulled away from his handsome husband. He leaned down to kiss Daniel's hand and with a long look at the young man's smiling face before he started off in the direction of the arena where Teal'c and he were training with some of the young warriors.
"Jack," Daniel called and Jack stopped and looked back at him "I love you!" he called across the distance.
"I love you too Danny, now go to work!"
Daniel's laughter rang out in the sky between them and Jack had to readjust his pants. It was amazing that hearing his husband's laughter could make him hard but there it was.
As he entered the arena after a short walk across well-worn paths, passing peoples every once in a while, he headed straight for Teal'c. He didn't know hardly any of the people who lived on this island because he didn't really go out of his way knowing that most of these people were capable of things he didn't understand nor trust. He barely had the power to deal with the royal family and his students.
"Hey T, how goes it?" he asked his friend as the Jaffa circled around a student. Jack watched the muscular man as he moved around; avoiding hits and Jack realized that his best friend was moving slower than he normally did. Teal'c also had sweat pouring out across his forehead. The last time he looked that bad a bug had made his stomach a breeding ground.
"Are you feeling okay, Teal'c?"
"I am uncertain, O'Neill. I have been feeling very ill this morning," Teal'c responded in his normal calm tone.
"What does Carter say?" Jack asked.
"I thought you were going to start calling her by her name O'Neill," Teal'c said instead.
Jack snapped his fingers and the student bowed to Teal'c before walking away to spar with another warrior. Teal'c walked over to the benches that surrounded the training field and sat down quickly. Jack leaned down in front of his friend, touching Teal'c on the shoulder. "Zarkina has healers, they can see what's going on."
"I do not need them to tell me, O'Neill. My symbiot is dying which means I am going to die as well, you know this."
Jack pulled his friend to stand and they started walking towards the castle. Zarkina was always somewhere in the castle at this time of day because she made herself available to her people just in case they needed something. He led Teal'c into the throne room where Zarkina was standing by her throne and William standing next to her.
"Help please?" he called out and the King and Queen moved to them quickly.
"What's going on Jack?" Zarkina asked.
"His snake is dying, can your healers help him?"
Zarkina frowned before she looked to William, "We need Erica and Alec, they are the strongest." He nodded and took off and Zarkina nodded some of her protectors over and they helped Teal'c up the stairs and into a sterilized room on the other side across from their apartment. Jack nodded to Teal'c and turned to their rooms and opened the door to find Carter inside, looking over some paperwork at the desk. She was curled up on a chair; her hair was getting longer, hanging around her cheeks. She was wearing a long colorful shirt and a tank top. She looked beautiful and happy until she looked at him.
"Sir? What's wrong?"
"Sam, my name is Jack," he said and she stood and walked over to him quickly.
"What's wrong with him? Where is he?"
Jack took her hand in his and pulled her out of the room and into the other where Teal'c was being settled on a large sterile bed. Sam ran over to his side, touching his cheek gently and kissing him on the lips. She spoke softly into his ear and turned to ask Zarkina what was happening. Jack walked out of the room and headed back down the stairs and out the door. He had to let Daniel know what was happening. He took off running towards the training center and it seemed that the distance between the castle and the center and lengthened. His knees hurt from the exertion though not as badly as he would have thought. He felt like most of his aches and pains from old age were diminishing in this place but he didn't really have time to think about it as he walked in through the building finally and listened for his lover's beautiful voice. As he walked, he could hear Danny over the pounding of his heart.
"… So from our time, we had a president and lived in a democracy that sometimes seemed like more trouble than it was worth. I have found since coming here that your queen cares more about you than any president ever did from my time. There were monarchies in our time but they were more well known in the ancient societies like Egypt."
Jack felt bad about interrupting his lover when the man was just getting started but he knocked on the side of the doorframe and Daniel's blue eyes came up from his small group of students and locked on him.
"Jack, what happened?"
"It's Teal'c, his snake is dying for some reason," Jack stated.
"But that means that he'll die too," Daniel said, confusion coloring his words. "I'm sorry everyone…"
"Go Daniel," one of the people said and Jack held his hand out for Daniel to take. They ran back to the castle in record time and came back to the room where Teal'c lay shuddering on the bed.
"Sam?" Daniel asked. The blonde turned and ran into Daniel's arms. There were tears shimmering in her eyes, Jack leaned close and wrapped his arms around the two scientists.
"Why is he getting so sick so fast?" she cried out in frustration.
"Do you know what's going on?" Jack asked Zarkina who was standing next to Teal'c.
She was touching Teal'c on the shoulder, her eyes closed. "I don't know why the creature within is dying, but I believe with a lot of work and even more recovery we can repay the damage that was done to him when they put the creature in."
Sam pulled away from Jack and Daniel, "You can save him?" she asked, pleading with the queen.
Zarkina walked over to Sam, hugging her in comfort. "I believe in Erica and Alec, they will be here soon. He just has to hold on a little longer. We should discuss removing the creature though."
"No!" Teal'c groaned from the bed.
Sam moved quickly to the bedside, "Hey love, what do you mean?"
"If you let it out, it could take a host. Let it die inside me so you will all be safe."
"No baby, I just found you!" Sam cried out. It was hard for Jack to see her like that. "I can't lose you, I can't raise this child alone!"
"What?" Jack and Daniel demanded, shocked to the core about the turn of events.
"They just found out yesterday, because of Zara I can feel when a child is first given that seed of life. She's only a couple days into her pregnancy. They were planning to tell you soon."
Jack stared at Zarkina then turned back to Sam and Teal'c. The Jaffa was touching Sam's wet cheek in comfort, his large and dark hand dwarfing her face and making her appear even smaller than she really was.
Daniel pulled away from Jack and walked over to hug Sam tightly. The woman tucked herself against Daniel's side and cried. "You are going to be okay, so is Teal'c. He's going to survive this whether he wants to or not."
Sam chuckled at that, a watery sound.
Jack turned to Zarkina, "If we leave the snake in until it dies, he dies too."
"Then we shall remove it as quickly as possible. It cannot remain within him when Erica starts to repair his body. We will kill the creature humanely, you can be sure of that."
Jack snorted, "Don't do it on my account, the snakes all deserve to be dead."
Zarkina touched Jack's shoulder, "Stay with your friend, let him know he has much to live for and much to fight for. Erica should arrive soon."
"Why is this great healer not living here anyway?" Jack asked.
"She and her husband have a practice just outside the city, they use their skills to save people. I have many healers here for my benefit but Erica and Alec were meant for more than just to be my personal healers."
Jack nodded and watched as she walked out of the room, all three of SG-1 sat or paced around the room. They took turns talking to Teal'c when he was awake. Healers came in and out every half hour to boost his healing to keep him alive but it was also keeping the snake alive. They needed to get the Goa'uld out so they could begin the real healing before Teal'c was too weak to survive the rebuilding of his immune system.
Jack was sitting in one of the couches close to the bed, Daniel cuddled up in his lap. They were tired and strung out, Sam was curled up against Teal'c on the bed and they were all dozing. Jack rubbed his hands up and down his husband's back. He could feel Daniel's nose rubbing along his collarbone and his lips grazed against his throat as he shifted on Jack's chest.
The door shifted open and Zarkina stood there with a short slender woman. She had golden blond hair all the way down her back and blue eyes that rivaled Daniel's almost. Another person stepped in as well, a tall man with dirty blonde hair and as thin as a reed. He stood close to the woman and Jack could only guess this was Erica and Alec that Zarkina said was coming.
Both the newcomers walked over and placed a hand over Teal'c, avoiding Sam so they wouldn't wake her or need to move her. Jack moved Daniel off of him and the younger man mumbled in his sleepy state. Jack kissed Daniel's head and stood to speak to Zarkina.
The healers soon joined them and the young woman spoke. "We need to get that thing out of him so we can start the healing of his immune system."
"Then do it," Jack stated.
"You all need to step out then, I don't think this is going to be easy for him and we are going to have to concentrate."
Jack nodded, went to Daniel and woke him gently. Daniel stood with understanding and walked over to the bed and helped Sam to her feet. She sat up sleepily and didn't realize Daniel was pulling her out of the room immediately but when she did realize it Sam started fighting Daniel. Jack grabbed a hold of her flailing arm so she wouldn't hit Daniel, "We need to let them do their work, Sam. Teal'c will survive but we need to trust them."
Sam nodded and she let them walk her out of the room, crossing the floor to their apartment. Daniel and Jack settled the blond scientist on the couch, knowing she wouldn't want to be in the bed she should have been sharing with her Jaffa husband. Jack settled into one of the other couches and Daniel climbed back into his lap once more. Jack sighed in contentment and wondered back to the weeks when Daniel had been injured and kidnapped. He hoped he wouldn't have to do that again any time soon.
"I remember the first time we saw Teal'c, in his armor getting ready to kill everyone. I asked him to help me save everyone and he did."
Sam looked over at Jack, "I just think of the care he always had with Ry'ac, he's going to make a wonderful father. We never really thought about having a child but as soon as Zarkina told us I was pregnant, I knew that this place and this new life we are living is the right thing for all of us. I want Teal'c and I to rise this child together."
"You will Sam," Daniel stated sleepily.
"Do you guys think about having children?" Sam asked the men.
"Why would we think about that?" Daniel asked with a laugh.
Jack thought about the fact that Sam and Teal'c were having a child and he thought about Charlie, he wished he'd been able to have his son grow up into adult hood and he wondered what it would be like to have a child again, this time with the knowledge that they were living in relative freedom and harmony. Any child he had now would be safe. "I think about it sometimes."
Daniel snapped up, making Sam snicker a little. "What?"
"Daniel, I want to be a father again someday and I think I want you to be the child's other parent."
"Jack, its not like we would be able to go to a sperm bank or something. You know this would mean finding a woman and impregnating her."
"Maybe we should talk about this later," Jack responded.
"Don't stop on my account, I am going to bed. It will smell like him," she whispered the last part. Jack and Daniel watched her leave the room before they stood and walked to their bedroom as well.
Daniel closed the door and leaned against it, "You weren't serious were you?" he asked.
"What's the harm of finding out what our options are?" Jack asked.
Daniel frowned, "You can't be serious!"
Jack watched his husband, wondering about the fury in his eyes. "Danny, what's got your panties in a twist?"
"We've only been together for a short time, how could you possibly been thinking about this?"
"You don't trust us still?" Jack asked.
"Not to bring a baby into it!" Daniel snapped.
"Danny, I cannot imagine a more beautiful prospect than having and raising a child with you. Will you at least think about it?"
Daniel pulled his hands up in a self-hug and Jack walked over to him. He leaned into Daniel and kissed the younger man. He felt Daniel shift and pull Jack into his arms. Daniel wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders as he slipped his hands around Daniel's waist. He leaned back and grinned when Daniel tried to follow him, "You really want to have a child?" he asked gently.
Jack nodded, "Think about it, lover."
Daniel jerked his head in a nod. They both walked over to the bed and settled on top of the covers together. Daniel settled on top of Jack's chest and Jack smiled as the younger man settled there gently. Daniel still loved to feel Jack's heart beat against his ear.
They were together and they could think of forever and family when Teal'c was safe and healthy again.