Summary:

"He takes a deep breath. 'You got hurt again,' he mumbles. 'Except, this time…'

'This time what?'

Jonas squeezes his eyes shut. 'This time I think you died.'"

OR

Present-Day AU. A malfunctioning time travel device and a harrowing mission force Sam and Jonas to finally confront what happened in Florida. But they're running out of time to clear the air before Jonas' latest vision comes true - a vision of Sam's impending death. Sequel to "band-aids don't fix bullet holes."


A/N: Hello again! So the last chapter was sort of a prelude to things getting crazy - now this is where things are actually going to get crazy. Brace yourselves, you've been warned 😂 As always, thank you to everyone following along and reading, I really appreciate it!

CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER
-reference to trafficking
-violence


Chapter 7: i will follow you into the dark


His head is pounding when he wakes up.

At first Jonas thinks he's dreaming. Everything around him is a dark, hazy blur, and he can barely make out his surroundings. There's a cool blue light shining up above him, and he can hear the sound of trickling water somewhere nearby. He tries to move his hands to get a feel for where he is, but to his horror he finds that they're tied behind his back. A jolt of panic shoots through his body, and he starts to struggle against his bonds.

"Easy, xenosh," an unfamiliar voice says. "It's not worth it."

Jonas blinks, and the world slowly comes back into focus.

He's sitting by the wall of a cavern, this one different from the one they explored earlier. It's somewhat bigger, with a narrow stream weaving through a scattered field of stalagmites. Overhead, a number of stalactites jut out from the ceiling, covered in clusters of glowing blue worms.

His head starts to swim again, so he leans it against the wall to steady himself. "Who…who are you?" he croaks.

A tall, shadowy figure settles itself on nearby rock. From what he can make out in the dim light, it's a woman in her early fifties, sporting a tangled mess of greying hair and wearing a ragtag assortment of dark clothing. Camouflage. No wonder they were so hard to spot.

"You fellas have been calling us bandits," the woman says, flashing him an unnerving smile. "Which I suppose we are. But I prefer to think of us as entrepreneurs."

Jonas isn't sure what to make of that, but right now it's not the most pressing issue. "What have you done with my friends?"

"Relax, xenosh," the woman replies. "Your girlfriend's just waking up."

Jonas turns his head in the direction of the woman's gaze and feels a swell of relief when he sees Sam sitting a short distance away from him. She's alive. Groggy, but still alive.

"Sam," he whispers.

Sam stirs, groaning when her eyes flutter open. "Jonas?"

"I'm here," he says, scooting towards her.

"Isn't that touching," the woman interrupts, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I was in love once. A long time ago. Nice fella. Pity I had to kill him when I found out he was stealing from me."

Jonas' blood runs cold. "You killed your partner?"

The woman shrugs. "Like I said, he was stealing from me. Skimmed funds off the top and thought he could hide it. I don't take well to being cheated, so he had to go."

Dread seeps into his bones. "Your business," Jonas says slowly, already guessing the answer, "what exactly is it?"

The woman grins again. "We're in trade, so to speak," she replies. "It's a bit of an underground network that stretches across the entire archipelago."

Jonas bites back a wave of nausea. "Trafficking," he growls."You're kidnapping people and selling them to buyers on other islands."

The woman's grin only widens. "If that's what you want to call it," she says. "I like to look at it as the exchange of a valuable resource." She pauses a moment to adjust her position on the rock. "A xenosh like you - an outworlder if you will - can sell for an especially high price."

Jonas grimaces. "You've been scouting out the 'gate," he mutters. "You've been watching us this whole time."

The woman nods. "You're a smart one," she muses. "But yes. This island used to be more populated, but most of the major settlements emptied out once the reef here started dying and all the good fishing dried up. The major ports are all located on neighboring islands now. Our best bet for nabbing a shipment was to wait for outworlders to pass through."

Jonas scowls. "That's taking an awfully big leap of faith. There was no guarantee we'd ever show up."

"True," the woman says. "But the rarer the gem, the better the profit."

Jonas looks away, no longer able to stomach the sight of the woman's unsettling grin. His eyes roam over Sam's body, checking for any injuries. Aside from the weariness on her face, she looks unscathed. Still, he wants more than anything to break free of his bonds and hold her close. That is, after he's knocked the living daylights out of their captor. "Where are our other friends?" he asks.

The woman frowns. "After we took you two out, your friends put up a good fight," she explains. "The young one knocked out one of my men, the big one shot two others, and the tough one managed to throw one more off the cliff before escaping."

Alya, Teal'c, and Cressida. "What about the rest of them?" Jonas prods.

The woman's smile reappears. "The other three weren't so lucky," she chuckles. "The other half of my crew - or what's left of it - is keeping them in another part of the cave system. That way you won't get any ideas about teaming up and trying to escape." She chuckles again, this time more to herself. "Not that you'd be likely to anyway. Not without a map. But we figured it was worth it to take some precautions."

All of a sudden, Sam winces and lets out another groan. Jonas' heart seizes in panic. "Sam, what is it?"

"Nothing," she chokes out. "Just…really dizzy."

"Ah, yeah, sorry about that," the woman cuts in. "Just another precaution to make it harder for you to make a break for it."

Jonas turns back to her. She's holding something in her hand now - a short, thin rod with a small plume of feathers at one end. Jonas' gaze flits up to the worms on the ceiling before once more landing on what he can only assume is some kind of dart.

"Venom," he says softly.

"You really are a sharp one, aren't you?" the woman laughs. "Yes, venom. Harvested right from the deadly blues themselves. Now, if you took it straight it would kill you, but these darts have a diluted version that only knocks you out for a bit."

Jonas frowns. "Must be hard to extract from the source."

"Oh it is," the woman replies, "but our people have been doing it for centuries. In the old days, the pure venom was actually used as a method of execution." She leans forward, twirling the dart between her fingers. "You see, contrary to what you might believe, the venom of a deadly blue doesn't kill you right away. It takes a little while. First, you get woozy. Then, it paralyzes you. Then, you experience the most excruciating pain you've ever felt in your life. Then, your lungs stop working and you can no longer breathe right. Then, you start coughing up blood. It's only after the coughing that all that agony finally comes to an end."

Jonas swallows back the bile rising in his throat. "You don't want us dead, though," he points out. "You need us alive if you're going to make a profit."

"Oh, I know," the woman says, her eyes twinkling with glee. "I just like a good scary story."

Jonas lets out a huff. "Any other scary stories you've got before you pawn us off to the highest bidder?"

The woman stuffs the dart into a pouch on her belt. "Just one more," she answers. "A long time ago, it's said that these islands were ruled by a cruel and vicious king. Anyone who crossed him, anyone who got in his way, anyone who so much as looked at him wrong would be thrown into these caves to die."

Jonas holds her gaze. "Sounds pretty barbaric."

"Oh it was," the woman affirms. "Even now, our people call this place the Labyrinth, because if you get lost in here, you'll wander around until you either go mad or starve to death. These caves are littered with the bones of poor souls who never found their way out. Many of whom were victims of the king."

Jonas keeps his face blank, trying not to betray his mounting anxiety. "Is that it? They all died because they got lost?"

The woman shakes her head. "No," she replies. "You see, the king's cruelty knew no bounds. It wasn't enough to toss his enemies in here and let nature do the rest. No, he wanted those he punished to suffer. So he gathered skilled artisans to build traps and place them all around the Labyrinth. If you didn't die from getting lost, you died because one of the traps got you."

Jonas inhales. "So what's the moral of the story?"

"The moral," the woman hisses, her expression growing cold, "is that if on the off chance you still think you can make a run for it, don't bother. If the caves themselves don't kill you, one of those old traps will. Your only way of making it out of here alive is to stick with us until we transport you off the island."

Jonas grits his teeth. "Good to know."

The woman's face breaks into another unsettling smile. "Glad we have an understanding," she says, rising to her feet. "Now, I'll leave you two lovebirds to catch up while I go check on my crew. I trust you won't be going anywhere?"

Jonas keeps his mouth shut.

"Good," the woman chuckles, taking his silence as assent. "And don't you worry. You won't be stuck down here much longer. We'll be moving you out soon enough."


"I'm sorry."

Sam sighs. It's been some time since their captor left them, and most of her dizziness has subsided by now. "It's not your fault, Jonas," she whispers. "You couldn't have known they were spying on us."

"Still - "

"Stop," she interrupts. "This is not your fault, okay?"

He nods, but she can tell by the wounded look in his eyes that he's still silently blaming himself. "We have to get out of here, Sam."

"You heard that woman," she says. "There's no point. We'll just get lost. Our best bet is to wait to make our escape until they bring us back outside."

Jonas shakes his head. "We can't wait," he argues. "For all we know they'll drug us again, and the next time we wake up we'll already be on a ship in the middle of the ocean somewhere. By that time it'll be too late to make it back to the 'gate."

"Maybe Alya, Teal'c, and Cressida already made it out," Sam counters. "They could come back with reinforcements." She glances at her boots before continuing. "Besides, if these bandits weren't planning on making us walk out of here, then why did they leave our feet unbound?"

Jonas looks down at his own boots, his brow creased in thought. "I don't know," he murmurs. "But there's no guarantee that they won't change their minds later and stick us with a couple of those darts again."

Sam bites her lip, considering his words. She has to admit he has a point. "So what would you suggest?" she asks. "We don't have a map, and they've got eyes on us."

Jonas surveys the group of bandits milling about by the stream. The woman is there, talking with a younger woman and a younger man. Another, slightly older man is perched on a boulder nearby. He's stolen one of their guns and has it pointed straight at them.

"The stream," Jonas says quietly. "It empties into a tunnel at the end of the cavern, see? It has to lead outside somewhere. If we can create some kind of diversion, then maybe we can follow it all the way out."

Sam sweeps her gaze around the cavern. "Create a diversion with what?"

"I'm not sure," he whispers.

Sam bites back another sigh. She doesn't like the look of the man with the gun. She knows the bandits need them alive, but that doesn't mean he won't at least try to injure them if they attempt to escape. "We need to get rid of him," she says, tilting her chin at the man.

Jonas nods. "Yeah," he agrees. "Question is, how?"

Sam looks around again. With their hands bound, there's not much that they can do. Her heart begins to sink, but then she catches sight of a cluster of stalagmites next to where the gunman is sitting. A few loose rocks lie on the ground next to them, and hanging just in front of it is a cracked stalactite swarming with blue worms.

"Sam?" Jonas asks, having noticed the change in her demeanor.

Sam takes a breath. "You see that group of stalagmites near the gunman?"

"Yeah," he answers.

"That stalactite above it. There's a pretty big crack in it."

Jonas' eyes dart to the stalactite and then to the gunman. Thankfully, the man seems momentarily preoccupied with inspecting his new weapon. "What are you thinking?" he whispers.

"There's a bunch of rocks sitting there," Sam continues. "I think if I ask to…relieve myself…I can hide behind the stalagmites. That bandit will want to stand close to keep guard, so if I can grab one of those rocks and throw it at the stalactite - "

"It'll come loose and land right on top of him."

Sam nods. "If that stalactite is unstable enough, I think it could work."

"What about the others, though?" Jonas asks, eyeing the woman and her companions. "I'm guessing our warden isn't the only one who stole one of our guns. Plus, they still have those darts."

Sam frowns, thinking. "There's a hell of a lot of worms up there," she says. "I'm hoping that if they're disturbed they might scatter. Cause just enough chaos to give us time to get out."

Jonas takes a breath. "That still doesn't give us much of a chance," he sighs. "But I guess it's the only one we've got."

Sam glances over at him. "He'll have to untie me to let me do my business," she points out. "That'll give us an advantage in case one of the others tries to grab us."

Jonas meets her eyes. "And the worms? What if they scatter towards you?"

"I'll just have to be fast," she replies. "I'll signal you to run and then head for the tunnel."

Jonas is silent for a moment, holding her gaze. His face is tight with both fear and determination. "Okay," he says at last. "Let's do it."

Sam moves her hands behind her back and brushes her fingers against his. "This will work," she whispers. "Trust me."

"I do," he whispers back.

Before she can stop to think, she leans forward and presses a kiss to his cheek.

"What was - "

"For good luck," she interrupts.

She doesn't give either of them time to process that before turning her head and signaling the gunman. "Hey!" she calls, her voice echoing across the cavern. "I need to take a leak."

The gunman stands up and lumbers over to her. He's taller than he looked on the boulder, sporting broad shoulders and muscled arms beneath a worn buckled vest. "You're gonna have to hold it," he growls.

Sam looks him dead in the eyes - or eye, since the left one is covered with a patch. "I can't," she insists, unable to help the bitterness in her voice. "Do you want your merchandise to piss her pants?"

She hears Jonas choke back a snicker.

The gunman glares at Jonas before returning his attention to her. "Boss!" he yells. "The blonde one says she needs to take a leak."

"Yeah, I heard," the woman replies. "Let her go. I don't want either of them soiling themselves before we hand them off."

The gunman leans down and yanks Sam up by her arm. She aims one last glance at Jonas before she's dragged away. "Over there?" she asks, tilting her head at the cluster of stalagmites.

"Fine," the gunman grunts, steering her in that direction. When they finally approach, he shoves her ahead of him.

Sam turns around and wiggles her arms. "Can't really do much if I can't unbuckle my belt."

The gunman rolls his eye and pulls a knife from his own belt. He then leans in close, so close that Sam can feel his breath on her face. The smell - one part alcohol and one part something awful she can't identify - nearly makes her gag.

"If you try anything," he hisses, stroking her cheek with the flat of his blade, "your boyfriend might just get a nasty scar on that pretty little face of his."

Sam shivers as the metal caresses her skin. "Won't that lower the price?" she says coldly.

"Not if he's a laborer," the gunman sneers. "Nobody'll care what he looks like as long as he can work."

Sam swallows. "Fine," she mutters. "I won't try anything."

The gunman flashes her a wicked grin, displaying a row of crooked teeth. "Good girl," he croons, reaching around her and cutting her ties loose. It takes all of her strength not to punch him in the nose. "Now hurry up."

Sam rubs her wrists and rounds the cluster of stalagmites. To her relief, there are even more loose rocks scattered on the other side. She peeks over the top of the stone spires and is relieved to see that the gunman has turned around and is now facing away from her. She fiddles with her belt buckle to keep up the ruse, then grabs the largest rock she can find. She glances up at the stalactite overhead. She can see the crack more clearly now, peeking through the shifting sea of glowworms. All she has to do is aim the rock just right -

"Oi!" the gunman snaps. "You finished yet?"

"Sorry," Sam pretends to splutter. "My hands are a bit shaky from the venom dart."

The gunman sighs. "Well move it along," he grunts.

I'll move it along, all right, she thinks. And with that, she takes a deep breath, pulls her arm back, and hurls the rock at the ceiling.


It doesn't take long before the cave descends into chaos.

Jonas watches with bated breath as Sam disappears behind the stalagmites. At first, nothing happens. But then he hears a loud thunk, followed by a horrible cracking sound, followed then by the gunman whipping his head around and letting out a strangled yelp. He jumps out of the path of the stalactite as it plummets towards him. But he doesn't have enough time to run before it crashes to the ground, releasing a hissing swarm of very angry glowworms that immediately pounce on their closest target.

"Jonas, now!" Sam shrieks.

But Jonas is already on his feet, sprinting towards the stream. The gunman's agonized screams echo across the cavern as a glowing blue wave surges over him and skitters towards other bandits. Sam is just ahead, splashing through the stream in the opposite direction. Jonas gives the worms a wide berth as he runs to catch up with her, hearing the terrified shouts of the remaining bandits cut through the air behind him.

It worked! he thinks as he nears the stream. It actually worked. We're going to make i -

"Jonas!" Sam cries as a bullet whizzes past his ear. He spins around just in time to see the grey-haired woman aiming a pistol at him. Without stopping to think, he dives behind a nearby boulder. The next bullet ricochets off the rock and lands in the water.

Jonas' elation is instantly swallowed up by a storm of panic. He glances across the stream, frantically searching for any sign of Sam. But she's disappeared, most likely hiding behind another rock.

"That was very stupid of you," the woman growls. Jonas can hear her splashing closer. "I told you there was no point in trying to escape."

Jonas swallows hard and presses his body up against the boulder. The other bandits are still screaming in the distance.

"I'd prefer it if I could make a profit off of both of you," the woman continues, her voice cold. "But even one outworlder will still fetch a good enough price."

Jonas holds his breath. The woman splashes even closer. She pauses a moment to listen for any movement.

Finally, she gives up. "If you don't come out now," she snarls, stopping just beside where Jonas is hiding, "then mark my words, one of you is going to die!"

BANG!

The gun goes off again, but this time, the bullet whizzes up towards the ceiling. Confused, Jonas peers around the side of the rock and is met with the sight of Sam tackling the woman into the water. The gun clatters onto the opposite bank. The woman struggles in Sam's grasp, clawing her way towards the weapon. Jonas cries out and rushes towards it. But the woman grabs his ankle as he passes, causing him to stumble and collapse facedown in the stream. He inhales a breath of water before pitching sideways and rolling over onto his back. He comes to, coughing and spluttering, just in time to see the woman clamp her teeth down on Sam's hand. Sam howls in pain and jerks back, giving the woman the opening she needs to shove her aside and pull free.

Jonas cries out again as the woman staggers towards the shore. He kicks his legs wildly in an attempt to right himself, cursing the fact that his hands are still bound behind his back. The gun, the gun, he needs to stop her from getting the gun - but just as he's able to bring his knees up underneath him, the woman lunges.

All at once, it feels as if time has stopped. Jonas, still struggling in the water, watches in horror as the woman finally grabs the weapon. Her hand curls around its grip. Then, in one swift movement, she whirls back around and aims the barrel straight at Sam's head.

"NO!" Jonas screams.

He launches himself upward, and in the split second before he falls, the air around him explodes.


A/N: YES I'M SORRY for that cliffhanger but I'm mean and I had to 😂

The title of this chapter is taken from the song "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie.

"Xenosh" is a word I made up as a native Asterion term, but it's based off the word "xenos" which is Greek for "stranger." On that note, the story of the king and the Labyrinth is based off the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. As mentioned in an earlier fic, Asterion was the King of Crete and the stepfather of Minos, the later king responsible for sacrificing victims to the minotaur.

I really enjoyed finally getting the chance to write Sam and Jonas brainstorming together, since that's one of the things I love about their friendship. We didn't get nearly enough of it in canon so I was happy to include a scene of them plotting their escape. It also gave me the opportunity to showcase Sam using that big brain of hers, which is always fun to see.