Chapter Two

`Colonel O'Neill watched the scene unfold from his hiding spot with his weapon ready. He wasn't sure why it had taken Daniel so long to pass through the mirror after them, but he was sure that Carter could explain at least part of it. The team found a hiding spot just outside of the closet, behind some suits of armor with pointy shoulders. Jack was worried about Daniel, but he didn't want to give away his position. He has seen kids used by the Goa-uld before to do terrible things.

He felt bad about possibly having to zat a kid, but he was not about to let his friend get hurt. 'I have to focus. For all i know, everything's gonna be fine.' Jack thought to himself. Before he had a chance to form another thought, the kid that Daniel had been talking to started doing the most impossible things. The Colonel couldn't believe his eyes. He glanced toward his other hidden team members and saw that they were just as surprised as he was.

"Sir," started Carter, "even if this boy was a threat to us; I don't think our weapons would do any good against him. The monk at the temple on Keb couldn't even do things like this."

"Indeed," agreed Teal'c, "I do not believe this child intends to harm us in any way, Colonel O'Neill. Perhaps we should attempt to communicate with him as Daniel Jackson has." he suggested. He held the same stoic facial expression as always. Even while all of the excitement was stirred up, the only evidence of the Jaffa's surprise was in his singular, raised eyebrow.

Jack weighed the options for a moment then stood up. "Yeah, the kid could have obliterated Daniel if he wanted to; that much is obvious. Lets go chat." At this, the team strode out into the courtyard to join Daniel and Aang.

Daniel was the first to speak. "Aang, these are my friends-"

"I know," Aang interrupted, "I heard them talking in the food closet. Teal'c, Carter and Sir, right?"

Jack smiled to himself. 'He heard Carter call me "Sir" and he thinks that's my name'

Daniel was also amused by Aang's misconception. "Actually," he gestured to jack, "this is Colonel Jack O'Neill." This sort of confusion is not surprising to the group, but it still helps bring a sliver of comedy to a grim situation.

"Well, you guys should follow me. I want to bring a couple friends with me if we are going through the dark mirror." Aang turned and started down a path toward a barn at the end of the courtyard. The barn looked very out of place in the ornate palace courtyard. As they drew closer, Jack spotted a huge, hairy beast sleeping in the hay. Surprisingly, it had an arrow on its head just like the kid did. His initial reaction was to ready his weapon, but when he saw Aang run up to the beast and start petting it he relaxed a bit.

"This is Appa! He's a flying bison." Aang seemed very excited to make the introduction. Jack figured that Aang knew they wouldn't be familiar with the creature.

Jack was sceptical. "You're telling me this thing can fly?" Even after what he just saw this kid do it was hard to believe that this giant, heavy thing with no wings could fly. Then, he saw Daniel getting closer to it and he knew Daniel well enough to guess what he was thinking. "Daniel," Jack started a warning.

"Jack, after what we just saw, I believe him. Plus, if Aang wanted to hurt us, he wouldn't need this bison to do it for him." Daniel never took his eyes off of Appa, even as he was speaking to Jack. "I think he can help us."

Jack was inclined to agree. Even the Jaffa couldn't stand up to this kid.