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Daniel sits in the pit and listens to the agonized wailing that seems to be coming from all sides. His back is propped up against one of the iron walls of bars, which is not the most comfortable seat he’s ever sat in. Then again, nothing on Netu is supposed to be comfortable. He’s aching everywhere, bruises from being pushed around and the fiery burn of breathing in Netu’s poisonous atmosphere. But he can’t help but think that is being done to Sam must be worse.
She had been taken before Apophis about thirty minutes ago, and Daniel knows she must be being tortured. He wishes there was something, anything, he could do to help her, but he’s as helpless as Jack and Martouf are. They are all stuck waiting for her to be returned to them, ruminating on what state she’ll be in when they do.
Jack, Jacob and Martouf have drifted off to sleep by the time the door to the pit is thrown open. Daniel doesn’t wake them, knowing they need the rest, and goes to meet the incoming guards on his own. They’re dragging Sam between them, and they throw her roughly into the cell. She stumbles on the rough ground, but manages to catch herself. He rushes to her side, offering his shoulder to support her. She takes it, wrapping an arm around him and leaning on him as she limps towards the small corner of the pit they’ve claimed as their own.
Daniel asks, his voice shaking more than he’d like it to:
“Are you okay?”
She struggles to breath, her mouth stained red by something, her skin pale and sweaty. She blinks heavily before she manages to reply wryly:
“As well as one can be after torture, I suppose.”
Daniel laughs weakly and helps her sit down next to her dad, keeping an arm wrapped around her as he sits next to her.
“What did he do to you?”
She sighs and wipes at the sticky red substance crusted around her mouth.
“He gave me some drug, called the blood of Sokar, and then activated the memory device. It made a memory so real I almost couldn’t tell it was fake. He almost had me, he wanted to know the Iris codes, but I didn’t tell him.”
Daniel nods and waits. She seems calm now---strong even---but he knows it must be a facade that will come crumbling down soon. She can only stay strong for so long. Sure enough, he hears a quiet sob and she curls deeper into him, burying her face in his shoulder to hide her tears.
“God, Daniel. That’s not even the worst part. The worst is the memories from Jolinar. I know Bynarr is dead, but I still feel his hands on me. I just feel so...dirty, even though it wasn’t me.”
Daniel sighs and wraps his arms around her tighter, pressing a kiss to her forehead before responding:
“I understand, Sam.”
She laughs sadly.
“I know you do. I just want it to stop.”
Daniel begins to rock her gently, feeling her tears slow as he keeps up the comforting motion.
“I can’t promise it will go away, but it will get better, I swear.”
She sniffs and finally looks up at him, wiping at her tearstained cheeks. Then she smiles weakly and leans in for a quick, chaste kiss.
“Thank you, Daniel.”
He smiles and squeezes her into a tight hug, trying to enclose her in his body as protectively as possible.
“Nowhere I’d rather be, Sam.”
She laughs and snuggles into his shoulder. He brings a hand up to gently card through her hair. She entangles their legs together and makes sure both her arms are wrapped around him before relaxing into him. He sighs and whispers:
“Go to sleep, Sam. I’ll keep watch.”
She breathes out shakily before she whispers back.
“I’m afraid to go to sleep. I’m afraid of what I’ll dream of.”
He hums empathetically. He knows exactly what she means. There’s nights he can’t sleep without waking up screaming. She has helped him through his nightmares before; now it’s his turn to do the same for her.
He rests his head on top of hers and replies:
“I’ll be right here, my love.”
He feels her startle at the term of endearment, but she smiles at it. She whispers it, as if she’s rolling it over her mouth and tasting the word:
“My love...”
Then she falls silent and soon enough, her breathing deepens and slows. Daniel cradles her close as he listens to the pained screams and groans around them. Even here, in the depths of Netu, he feels content as long as he can be with his team. He feels a pang for Teal’c; separated from them, orbiting somewhere around the moon. He hopes they don’t die here; not just because he wants to live, but because it would feel wrong to die without all of his teammates at his side.
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