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I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I learned to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come all this way to fool you
Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah
_____________________
The mist was curling back up into the temple, chill grey tendrils wrapping themselves around the feet of SG1 and their guest as they continued to wander through ancient stone archways, exploring the Furlings’ temple in the hope of finding Maybourne’s promised weapons cache.
Jack sighed and fixed Maybourne with a malevolent glare. His feet were cold, his butt was numb; his kids were happy, but he was swiftly reaching zero tolerance point.
“Anything yet?”
Daniel, camera in hand, turned reluctantly away from the altar in the open courtyard and moved back under the archway. His eyes continued to rove, drinking in every aspect of form, structure and markings that were visible. He looked at Jack standing under the arch on the far side of the temple and shrugged.
“The temple seems to have been constructed by the Furlings, Jack. All the carvings are in their script and…” Daniel trailed off in frustration.
Jack pulled a face in commiseration. The Furling’s language was one of a very few that had not surrendered to Daniel’s talents and the tantalizing enigma of the hidden knowledge it must contain was a constant challenge to the SGC’s galactic linguist.
Teal’c wandered in from patrolling the pathways around the temple, the long cold wait for developments beginning to show in his bearing.
Daniel was peering closely at the script carved into the side of the archway. Jack glided behind him and breathed in his ear, “What’s it say?”
“Only the righteous shall pass,” Daniel supplied, his best poker face on behind his glasses.
“Very funny, Doctor Jones.” Jack got the hint and went to stand by Teal’c where it was safe from frustrated scientists.
“Carter?”
Sam turned from the panel she had uncovered over an hour ago. “Sorry, sir. I still don’t have much of an idea how this works. I think we’ll have to use the key.” Her eyes slid to where Maybourne lounged against a wall, triumph lighting up his face.
Jack let loose another theatrical sigh. He’d known it would come down to letting Maybourne activate the field hiding the weapons but was uneasy with the former NID man being the only person with the knowledge. Still, if it got his butt back somewhere warm it was worth the risk.
“Oh, wait a minute. I want to get some black and white shots of the panel before you activate it,” said Daniel. He stepped over to Carter’s side, juggling camera, notebook, pen and the clips on his vest. His pack thudded into the bare earth behind his feet.
Maybourne straightened up and strode over to the panel set into the pillar beside the archway, his patience at an end. Before Daniel could finish stowing his gear and retrieve the still camera, Maybourne was reaching around Carter and with three swift moves engaged the key in the panel.
Nothing happened.
“Wait a minute,” Daniel protested from his position crouched over his open pack.
Maybourne shot a confused look at Jack. “Well, it’s supposed to turn on.”
“Why did I know this was all just a sham? Carter…” Jack gestured with his P-90 for her to take another look.
And from there everything dissolved into chaos. Maybourne stepped back, Carter stepped forward, Maybourne snatched the zat from her holster, fired and she was falling in sizzle of blue static. Maybourne leaned over her before she had even hit the ground, grabbed the key and yanked it from the panel. With a hum and a zing the archway to Daniel’s left lit up a bright golden field of light. As Sam’s body hit the ground, Daniel turned his alarmed gaze to connect with Maybourne and the zat swinging up to point into his face. The look of apology on Maybourne’s face did nothing to help the matter.
Daniel automatically dodged away from the zat, his legs powering him up from his crouch, but almost instantly defeated in the move as his left foot caught in the open pack, sending him lurching towards the shimmering doorway of light. He barely had time to bring his arms up to protect his head before connecting with the field. A violent sucking force gripped him by the head and shoulders and he was swept away, the pack going along for the ride, dangling from his foot.
An outraged howl came from Maybourne: “I am not going to spend my retirement in the company of an archaeologist!” The moment’s pause was his undoing. Remembering the rest of the team, he turned the zat towards them, timed perfectly to catch a zat blast from Teal’c and a bullet in the shoulder from Jack. Off balance from the double impact, he slumped back against the pillar and the remnant energy of the zat blast danced from his body and into the panel.
Circuits left unused for centuries overcharged and fed back on themselves, as zat energy crackled and began to short out the doorway’s inner workings. The golden field flickered, strengthened then flickered again.
Jack and Teal’c were already moving as Maybourne slumped on top of Carter. A look of understanding passed between the two soldiers: of acknowledgement of what Jack was about to do, of acceptance of Teal’c’s duty to stay behind and care for the remnant of his team, of farewell.
Jack took three steps, a huge breath and flung himself at the sputtering wall of light. Giant hands clamped around his body and carried him away.
The field fizzled brightly then snapped off in a shower of sparks. Teal’c stood alone, two unconscious people at his feet, anger and despair in his heart at the fate of his two dearest friends.
oOo
Daniel lay sprawled on his back, head ringing and breath catching on a myriad of unfamiliar scents in the air. He blinked, frowned, then began to push himself up. Overhead, a loud sucking pop heralded the arrival of Jack O’Neill, suspended for a long second in mid-air before plummeting six feet straight down into the not-so-welcoming arms of Daniel.
“Ooof!”
“Ow, damnit.”
“Jack?”
“Daniel. Thank God.”
“What, why, where – what happened, is Sam okay?” Daniel wheezed in Jack’s face.
Jack reached up and patted Daniel’s face gently, a big smile creasing his face. “You’re alright? Not hurt?”
“No. Well, breathing is a bit difficult. Have you put on weight?”
“What? I - NO. Oh, crap.” Jack rolled off Daniel and hopped to his feet, doing a fast three-sixty to threat assess the area. And got trees – flowers – birds – bees – Daniel. They were smack in the middle of a mountain meadow, a carpet of yellow daisies surrounding them. Tall conifers ringed the meadow, and behind them, mountains, mountains and yet more mountains. The sun’s rays were warm, the season looked to be late summer/early autumn. No ancient crumbled temple in sight. They were definitely far, far away from where they had started.
Jack extended his hand and pulled Daniel to his feet. Together they surveyed the meadow in silence. No sounds of civilization intruded on the peaceful summer buzz of insects bumbling through the flowers.
“Damn it, Harry.” Jack secured his weapon and began unclipping the harness, slipping out of vest and jacket, relishing the sun’s warmth on his arms.
“Carter took a pretty close hit from that zat. She’ll have a whopper of a headache when she comes around. Wouldn’t want to be in Maybourne’s shoes when she does.” Jack looked at him, saw the concern filling Daniel’s eyes. “T’s with her, Maybourne was secured, we had no idea where you’d gone and that doorway thingy was starting to fritz out, so I went through.”
Daniel smiled and stared directly into Jack’s eyes.
“Couldn’t leave you here on your own,” Jack muttered.
“Thank you.”
“So, just in case they get the doorway working again, why don’t we move over here a little.” Jack paced a hundred metres away from their landing site. “I really don’t want to be wearing Teal’c if he comes through.”
Daniel picked up his pack and ambled after Jack.
“I’m guessing that there really isn’t a cache of weapons here,” commented Daniel as he dropped to sit at Jack’s side.
“Oh, I’d say that’s a certainty. I knew Maybourne was up to something. Looks like he was just trying to get off-world and I gave him free passage.” Jack did his best to disguise the disgust in his voice.
“Do you think Sam can get the doorway working again?” Daniel asked softly. He started rummaging through his pack.
“I don’t know, Daniel.” Jack flopped onto his back and glared at the beautiful blue sky. “I really don’t know.”
oOo
They sat in the midst of the sea of yellow daisies for four hours. Silence hung heavily around them, underscored by the soft whisper of wind in the treetops. Birds drifted high above, on air currents that lifted them towards the distant mountains. Time ticked by, each minute making it clearer that their teammates were not going to effect a quick rescue.
With the sun on its downward slide, Jack grunted and got to his feet. Daniel scrambled up, shading his eyes to look in the direction Jack pointed – a slight thinning of the scrub at the edge of the field indicating a likely location for a path or trail. Daniel nodded, tied his bandana on his head, and they headed off, shelter, food and survival now their primary goals. Their footprints, side by side in the grassy meadow, were enough to guide Teal’c in their wake.
Yellow daisies gave way to red, feathery tipped stalks, brushing thigh-high in the lightly wooded forest. The trail was little more than a less widely grown strip of grass bearing no real signs of recent use – by animals or humans.
Daniel fell in behind Jack, content to follow, secure in the certainty Jack would find shelter for them. The silence of this place seemed to swallow them; they had barely spoken since that initial flurry of concern. Daniel’s eyelids fluttered shut, his body still following Jack like they were leashed together. He could still feel Jack’s hands patting his face, those strong, lean fingers communicating a wealth of emotion, eradicating in an instant the sensation of exclusion, being cut off from his team – his friends – that had grown silently, unknowingly, yet with insidious, encompassing isolation. How long had this been going on? Why hadn’t he realized? Or, had he realized and been purposely ignoring it – shoring up the defenses around his emotions to ward off the hurt that would be unbearable if allowed free reign to plunder his heart.
He gasped, a softly-drawn breath that fed his soul. He felt like he’d woken suddenly, and that hazy dream he’d tried to ignore was shockingly real. Months of pretending it didn’t hurt when Jack pulled away, denying him those brief touches that had come to mean so much, of biting his tongue and following the team on mission after mission to secure weapons while ignoring the trove of culture surrounding them on each new planet, of going home to a cold, empty apartment and trying not to think of times past filled with team dinners and parties and weekends spent enjoying what it was to be human and free.
Daniel opened his eyes and stared at Jack’s back, still solidly in front of him, guiding the way to safety as he had always done. For a brief moment of unreality he felt as if he were in the company of a stranger. Then the memory of those warm hands on his face returned, and the concern and worry in Jack’s face as he’d checked him for injuries began to push aside the disconnectedness.
oOo
The foliage around them closed in, forcing them to walk closer together. Standing aside to allow Daniel to move ahead of him, Jack absently patted him on the arm, then did a double-take as Daniel failed to suppress his flinch. They looked at each other, both astonished, then Daniel flushed and turned away.
“What was that?”
“What?”
“That.”
“What that?”
“That – that… flinch. Since when do you flinch away from me?”
“Since when do you touch me?” Daniel shot back before he could catch the words. He glanced at Jack for a moment, feeling flustered and embarrassed.
“I always touch you, Daniel. I touch everyone, you know that.”
Daniel was silent for way too long. Finally, sadly, he said, “You used to, Jack. The first couple of years you could barely keep your hands off me. But lately… well you don’t touch anymore. Some days I get the impression it’s all you can do to look at me.”
“No….” The word fell, choked, almost strangled, from Jack’s lips. Daniel’s sorrowful half-smile seemed to cut him to the core. “Oh, crap. Daniel, I’m sorry. I – it’s – I get… too close.” Realization seemed to come with the words. “I’m too close to you, to all of you. I don’t know how… I can’t cope if I lose you now. I – I have to pull back… be… professional….”
Daniel stared at him now, compassion filling his eyes. In response, Jack looked like he’d killed a kitten. “Oh, Jack.”
“That’s how it should be, Daniel.”
“You can’t suppress your feelings to protect yourself, Jack. That’s no way to live.”
“It’s all I’ve got.”
“No. No, you can’t stop caring about people. About us. It’s what makes you… you.”
“Too much death, Daniel. I can’t handle seeing you die again.”
“Well, I promise I won’t die.” Jack’s back was now turned to him, but the faint shake of his head told Daniel those words wouldn’t cut it. “Okay, I can’t promise that, but Jack, don’t you see? That’s why we have to make every moment, every feeling count. Burying your heart, cutting yourself off from everyone – that never works. Believe me, I know.”
Jack glanced back at him. Daniel smiled tentatively and was rewarded with a slowly building, classic, warm Jack-smile. Daniel ducked his head for a moment, then returned the smile. They both nodded and then continued on, this time side by side, again in silence, but now it was a friendly, companionable silence wrapping around them. He felt the shift palpably: the previous sensations were consigned to the past as they vanished in Jack’s smile, and the surrounding natural quiet now felt peaceful rather than threatening.
oOo
The shielding trees gave way to a jumble of broken stone, much overgrown and eroded by the weather. Their pace slowed as the path led under the remains of an archway and suddenly they were in the ruins of a small village. Jack raised his P90 as they both turned in circles. Roofless mud huts, broken cook pots and stools lying scattered in the long grasses, woven mats disintegrating in pools of stagnant rain water, wooden tripods dangling long neglected clothing.
“This has been abandoned for some time,” Daniel uttered softly.
“So much for retirement in paradise,” Jack said.
“What?”
“Something Harry said, when you fell in the gate – field – thing. He wasn’t intending on spending his retirement with an archaeologist.”
“He planned this….”
“Oh, you betcha.”
“Bad plan.” Daniel shook his head. His gaze was drawn beyond the crumbled huts to the lapping water of a lake or inland sea even, upon whose shore the village sat.
The lake meandered through marshy islands, broadening into a sizeable body of water, obviously fed by the mountains gathered all around this valley, ,, ,some of their tops lost in cloud, others snow capped, all heavily treed. The lowering sun kissed the water with golden ripples. A sudden crack of sound made them both start, but it was only a water bird, diving into the lake and re-emerging with a fish in its beak.
“Fish,” Jack muttered appreciatively.
Daniel quirked a little smile. “So, do we stay here?”
“Ready made base camp, lake full of dinner – I’d say that’s a yes.” Jack looked back at the crumbled huts. “A few curtains, couple of pot plants and we’ll be sweet.”
His smile sliding into a grin, Daniel glanced sidelong at Jack. “Thanks for coming after me.”
“In good company, Daniel. Besides, can you imagine if Maybourne had come through? He’d have ended up shooting you in the first week.”
They made a hut secure, fixed the roof, curtained the door, even set perimeter traps with bits of rusted metal poised to jangle if anything or anyone approached at night. By day they explored the lush forest and the marshy banks of the lake. The silence of the place settled over them. The soughing of wind on the water, clacking through reeds and rustling the trees, subsumed any need for conversation to fill their minds. Daniel and Jack walked together, fished and cooked together, sat gazing at the spectacular scenery for hours in appreciative silence. Daniel found, as the days passed, that he and Jack were falling into an almost symbiotic state – reading each other’s minds with an uncanny, but wholly comforting, ease.
oOo
On the sixth day Jack stood staring at one of the burbling creeks running out from the mountain behind the village. He quirked an eyebrow at Daniel and Daniel bobbed his head. An explorative trek to find the creek’s source would fill the day nicely.
Jack set a cracking pace. They strode along the creek’s path, pushed through bushes and grasses, hauled themselves up by branch and tree trunk as the slope sharpened into a mountainsside. Guided by the water crashing down over boulders, Daniel followed Jack along a wide ledge, stepping around his friend as he stopped abruptly.
“Oh, nice.”
A sizeable rock pool lay at the base of a short waterfall, overhanging ferns and tree branches giving it a secluded, welcoming atmosphere. Warm sunshine slanted down, making the pool delicious against their naked skin as, clothes left behind without conscious thought, they waded into clear water only five feet deep in most places. They lost themselves in it for hours, swimming, drifting, having splashy races from one side to the other. They lay on sun-warm rocks in between dips, like two mer-men presiding over their watery kingdom, munching on fruit from nearby shrubs.
Lazy contentment would only hold them for so long, and with midday having passed Jack began climbing the rocks, seeking a way up to the head of the waterfall, naked still and utterly at ease in a way Daniel had rarely seen him. Jack turned and offered his hand, pulling Daniel up the last slippery boulder to stand beside him on a shelf of rock. Water rushed out of the cool, dark recess behind them to tumble down into the pool.
“So, what’s the bet there’s a maiden in the cave waiting to be rescued?” Jack wandered slowly under the rock overhang. If he’d had pockets his hands would have been deep inside them.
“Or there’s a bear in there…” Daniel edged after him, the pale outline of Jack’s body swiftly diminishing in the gloom.
“Leprechaun, maybe?”
“Ogre,” Daniel countered and sped up to keep Jack within reach. Darkness enclosed them and he banged into Jack, stopped and staring at a glint from something ahead. “What?”
Jack reached back, fumbled and caught his hand. Cautiously, he led Daniel forward. A long way into the depth of the cave, a shaft of sunlight broke through a crack in the cave roof, and with uncanny precision, fell upon a vast, golden figure sitting with arms outstretched, gemstone eyes glittering with refracted rays. Awed, they came to a silent halt in front of the statue and stood, mouths agape, still holding hands, staring up.
Like two supplicants – nude and beseeching before their god – Daniel and Jack drank in the sight before them.
The sunlight tickled over the figure and gradually they began to make sense of what they saw: kneeling, the image of a woman, naked slender features, breasts thrusting proudly out at them, long hair encircled by a band bearing a golden Uraeus. The outstretched arms that had first caught their attention supported feathered wings.
A shiver swept over Daniel’s bare wet body and he sneezed, breaking the rapturous hold the statue had over them. Jack released his hand, and turned to frown at him. “Bless. What is this? And what’s it doing here?”
“Thank you.” Daniel sniffed and wandered a few steps closer. “It’s a representation of Isis, Egyptian Goddess, beloved of Osiris. I have no idea what it’s doing here. It is beautiful, though.” The finely-wrought details of the statue spoke of great skill in its creation. He gently ran his hand over the golden knees, entranced by the fine sheen on it.
“Okay…” Jack sounded edgy and unhappy. “I have a couple of problems with this. If it’s a goddess, why does it have a penis? A two-foot schlong, at that? And if she was shacked up with Osiris, doesn’t that say Goa’uld to you? Daniel?”
“A two-foot…? Must you be so crude?” Daniel glared back at him before realizing just what the words implied. “Where –. Oh.”
Well, he could hardly miss it. Rising from the goddess’s lap certainly was a two-foot long penis, erect, circumcised tip, the lot. His eyes traveled up to the breasts, then back down again.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s not a traditional depiction, that’s for sure.”
“So it’s a Goa’uld thing?” Jack’s fingers were drifting around his chest, searching for the gun he obviously wished was there.
“I’d say that’s a given, Jack. But this doesn’t look like a place of worship. The statue has been hidden here, more likely.” Daniel peered into the darkness but nothing else was apparent.
“Let’s go.”
“What? Why? We’ve only just found it. I need to have a closer look.”
“And I need to put something warm on – like my gun.”
“Jack, nobody’s been here, probably for thousands of years.”
“Then it won’t mind waiting one more day. We’ll come back tomorrow with our gear. Make a day of it,” Jack said with a tempting tone. “And leave a note, in case Carter and Teal’c turn up.”
Ah. Right. Good point. They’d look a bit foolish if their rescuers came and went without finding them. Nodding, Daniel followed Jack back into the warmth and light, leaving Isis wrapped in darkness behind them.
oOo
Days passed. They explored the cave and its bizarre statue, coming away little the wiser. The surrounding jungle yielded enough fruit and tubers to keep their fish dinners interesting. Some days they roamed the marshy banks of the lake, others the tangled, varied forest. Each morning and evening they walked back to the daisy field where they had arrived, checking their markers were still in place, pointing their searching teammates toward the camp. Understanding between them had settled into that old familiar ease and they were both content with that.
oOo
Daniel wandered away from where Jack was placidly doing the morning’s fishing by the old archway. He ambled through the long grass, brushing the feathery red tufts with his fingers. Wind soughing through the reeds by the water’s edge created an ambient cadence. It filled him with peace. For minutes uncounted he closed his eyes, let the sound take him away, drifting in perfect serenity.
He felt himself swaying in the breeze like the plants around him, and finally opened his eyes before he fell over. A sheepish smile creased his face and he glanced back to see if Jack was wondering what he was doing.
He wasn’t.
Jack was no longer by the arch. Daniel turned, searching their camp, but failed to catch sight of him. A frown forming, he walked back.
“Jack?”
The cherished fishing line Jack always carried in his pack on missions was lying on the ground, twitching a little as the current tugged at it.
Never leave an unattended fishing line. It was one of the Tenets of Jack, along with Always secure your weapon and Never tell a scientist you understand them. Daniel turned, carefully gazing around while his heart thundered with an adrenalin burst. If something – no sign of animal tracks in the muddy ground – or someone could remove Jack without the slightest sound of a scuffle….
The weight of his pistol on his hip had never felt so welcome. Slowly, he moved away from the bank, intently searching the grass and soil until he found an imprint from Jack’s boot: toe only, smeared to one side as if he were being carried backwards. Daniel walked a little faster and soon found another scuff and then a tuft of grass trampled into a soft patch of mud. Attention swinging between the ground and making sure no one was sneaking up on him, Daniel continued on, heading toward the reedy estuary where the creek emptied into the lake.
The next discovery was hardly down to Daniel’s skills as a tracker; hanging draped over a flowering shrub was Jack’s gun belt – both gun and knife absent. He paused, fingering the webbing, its message loud and clear.
Follow.
Never one to refuse an invitation, he did.
oOo
Ten minutes careful scrambling up the trail led Daniel to pause by a bend in the creek. There, sitting on a boulder waiting for him was one of Jack’s boots, laces neatly tied in a bow, the steel-reinforced cap pointing up the trail. He raised an eyebrow and moved on. Ten feet further on, two green socks tied together in a knot dangled from a branch, whether carefully placed there or simply tossed it didn’t matter. On he went, articles of Jack’s clothing guiding the way and increasing the anxiety he felt with each item found. By the time he was crouched ten feet below the spot where the trail gave out into the clearing by the rock pool, Daniel had accounted for every item of Jack’s uniform, excepting weapons and boxers.
He dropped onto his belly and slithered carefully forward, foot by foot until he had a commanding view of the area beyond. He grimaced in anger. Sure enough, there were Jack’s boxers, laid out in a patch of sun – without their usual occupant. Daniel searched the deep shadows under the trees, desperate to find Jack still in a condition to be pissed at his situation.
A low chuckle drifted from the blackest of the shadows, nearly drowned by the tumble of the water nearby. Something moved… and two figures emerged, one tightly holding the other. His pistol was already aimed, but Daniel knew before he had even identified the men that he would never get an opportunity to fire. Jack’s pale body stood out starkly as he was pushed into a patch of sunlight, his arms tied behind his back, another’s arm wrapped securely around his neck. Jack wriggled and brought up one foot but the move was aborted as his captor simply squeezed his neck further and lifted him off the ground completely. Jack got in one good kick to a kneecap behind him before lack of air left him dangling.
“Doctor Jackson!” The rich, double tone of an all-too familiar enemy floated from behind Jack. “We would be delighted to have you join us.”
Jack’s feet touched down on the ground as Daniel thought furiously for a way out of this. He couldn’t see any others in the shadows, but where there was one Goa’uld, there was almost certainly a pack of guarding Jaffa.
Jack sucked in an audible lungful of air and bellowed, “Daniel, get out of here, that’s an ord–”
The Goa’uld shoved him forward and Daniel had his suspicions confirmed: six and half feet of skirt-wearing, lip-curling, Carmen Miranda-hat-wearing Zipacna. What on earth was he doing on this planet?
“Present yourself, Doctor, before your colonel suffers any further… indignities.” Zippy’s deep voice sneered its way clearly to Daniel.
Odd – the Goa’uld wasn’t ordering his troops to root Daniel out from hiding. Even odder, he was holding onto Jack himself instead of displaying his might by having others do his bidding. Could it be he was alone here, stranded just like they were? Only one way to find out.
Daniel stood up and walked brazenly out into the clearing, primed pistol hidden behind his thigh. Jack was glaring at him, he knew, before he got within ten feet of them. Daniel halted, cocked his head and asked mildly, “Why are you naked?”
“Oh, you know, a little sun is good for the soul,” rasped Jack.
“Hmm, I guess. At least the ozone layer on this planet should be in working order. Might even up those tan lines there.”
“I’ll make a note of it.”
Zippy was getting more than a little put out at being ignored. He pulled Jack to one side and thrust out his left hand, gold finger caps of the ribbon device glinting in the sun. The second his attention was off Jack, the colonel twisted his body, arced his back and jerked backwards, cracking his skull against Zipacna’s shoulder. In the same instance, Daniel brought up his gun and let loose one finely aimed bullet that should have parted if not the Goa’uld’s brains at least the fruit on his head. But the bullet merely spanged off a fizz of orange protective shield and spent itself uselessly in a tree behind Daniel.
Arm tightening further around Jack’s neck, Zippy sneered again. “Our partner has often told us of the insolence of one particular human. We were not surprised to discover it was you. We have not forgiven your behaviour during that farcical trial in which Klorel was robbed of his host. Our partner will be well pleased when we present him with both of you, for discipline at his pleasure.”
Daniel glared at him, frustrated and out of ideas. That one shot had been an instance’s chance and he’d never have done it if he’d had the time to think about it. Now…. Hang on a minute.
“Partner? What partner?”
“Our brother Osiris awaits our return. He shall reward us greatly when I gift him with you.”
“Ah, crap.” Jack’s half-choked mutter underscored the cold shock that clenched Daniel’s stomach.
oOo
“Remove your clothes.”
Daniel blinked.
“Now!”
“Uh. Why?”
“We wish to ensure you hide no other weapons.” Somehow, Zippy’s lecherous smile didn’t sell that statement. “Dispose of your little weapon first, then everything else. Quickly now. Your companion seems to enjoy breathing… for the moment.”
Daniel met Jack’s enraged gaze. Well. This day was certainly turning out to be different.
He secured his gun and dropped it in the dirt. Taking pains to avoid Zippy’s eyes, he bent and unlaced his boots, thoughts clicking over in his head. If he could distract Zipacna and get close enough to pull Jack away, together they might have a chance of overpowering the Goa’uld. He was strong, certainly, and bigger than both of them, but he could be brought down, however temporarily. Teal’c had proved that. Daniel concealed a grin, remembering the look of casual disregard Teal’c had thrown Zippy’s body in the Tollanan council chamber.
Boots and socks off, he decided distraction was the way to go. He stared at Zippy and proceeded to strip off the rest of his clothes, slowly and exotically. He hoped. Belt unstrung, tee shirt pulled loose then dragged slowly upward to reveal a bare chest, nipples rising in embarrassment. Jack was making gurgling protestations as Daniel unbuttoned his fly and let the loose BDU pants slide down his legs. He stepped out of them, casually letting them fall over his gun and hiding it, hopefully. Still capturing Zippy’s gaze, and hoping like hell he was wearing the plain black boxers and not the spare pair that always hid in the bottom of his pack – the ones Teal’c had given him after a dubious shopping trip with Jack, the white ones that looked nice and plain in front while out back was a caricature of a drooping open trap door…. He wasn’t about to turn his back on Zippy, just in case. A smirk twitched his lips. Let the creature think this wasn’t bothering him in the slightest.
Daniel hooked his thumbs into the waist and pushed the boxers down. He caught a flutter of white as he kicked them away. Oops.
“You humans. So obedient. So –” Whatever else Zip was about to offer was lost as Jack struggled furiously again. Tired of holding onto a wriggling, naked colonel, the Goa’uld flung Jack forward. There was a flash of orange as Jack passed through the shield and then he was flying towards Daniel. Daniel leapt forward and caught Jack before he could face-plant on the ground. When he looked up over Jack’s bare shoulder, Zippy was right there, glowing gem in the ribbon device pointed at them both. So much for a surprise attack.
“What do you want, Zipacna?” Daniel steadied Jack and quickly checked him for injuries, relieved to note nothing more than bruises on his neck and face. “There’s no way you knew we were here. You do realize this planet is deserted? There’s nothing here needing you to prance around like a stork in heat for.”
Jack snorted a laugh and tried turning it into a warning, “Daniel!”
“Ignorant as always, human.”
“Well, enlighten us, why don’tcha?” Jack yelled in his face. “I’ve got fish waiting to be fried. We haven’t got all day to waste flashing the wildlife. That includes you, by the way.”
Sarcasm seemed to be catching. Whose ever it was.
“We seek an item. You,” the Goa’uld stared down at Daniel, “will fetch it for us.”
“Can’t you pick your own coconuts?” Daniel blinked up at him. “You’re tall enough, surely. I’d recommend the green ones, down by the inlet. Very sweet.”
The sneer only got deeper. The ribbon device twitched toward Jack and flared red. “We have watched you both enter the cave where the Eye is hidden. You – Doctor – will go now and retrieve it or we shall make your companion suffer most horribly.”
“Hey, believe me, stork-man, being up close and personal with you is sufferance aplenty.” Jack edged slightly in front of Daniel and pugnaciously thrust out his jaw. “Seriously, have you considered toothpaste? The minty kind? For a superior race, I gotta say it’s pretty short sighted of you people not to have stolen toothpaste from someone, somewhere.”
Zippy let out an enraged bellow and walloped Jack with a backhander that sent him flying. The backswing of the blow caught Daniel as he instinctively went after Jack, landing him on his ass in the grass. A large hand in his short hair pulled him upright and Daniel got a first-hand whiff of stale Goa’uld breath.
“Fruit has been known to help with halitosis,” he managed, trying to simultaneously work out if Jack was okay and if that really was a banana in Zip’s hat.
The hand clenching around his throat finally stopped the inane thoughts and focused him on the very real, very angry Goa’uld.
“You will go. Now. Retrieve the Eye of Osiris. Return. We may deliver you to Our brother alive rather than dead.”
“Right. Well. No.”
“No?”
“You heard me. No.” Daniel felt his voice take on that soft, steely tone that always emerged around Goa’uld. “I’m not doing your dirty work for you and you’re not going to hand us over to Osiris in exchange for another mango in your hat.”
The fingers around his throat clenched, forcing the blood in his veins to pound painfully. Through the roaring in his ears, Daniel heard a zing of power as Zippy turned the hand device toward Jack.
“Okay, okay. Just… just tell me what this Eye… of Osiris? What it looks like?” Daniel croaked out.
“It’s an eye.” Jack piped up from the ground. “How hard can it be?” He rolled awkwardly to his knees. “Daniel, you heard Carmen. Go get the damn eye. Off you go. Right now, in fact. Go.”
“Jack…”
“Take the hint, Daniel and get out of here.”
“I need to know what he wants it for before I go anywhere. And why can’t he get it himself, anyway?” Daniel tried his best to look stubborn but Zippy was tightening his hand again and Daniel was counting the seconds left until he either passed out or gave in. “Oh! I know! It’s the water, isn’t it? You don’t want to go in the stream. Why, does it remind you of your home planet? All that nice water calling to you? Afraid you’ll be tempted to hop out and go for a swim? Be kind of embarrassing, wouldn’t – urgh….” The increasing pressure of Zippy’s hand stole the rest of Daniel’s taunt, which was probably a good thing, considering.
“Daniel, for crying out loud, will you go? In fact, run – now!” Jack launched himself at Zippy, managing a shoulder block to the Goa’uld’s thighs. For all the effect it had he may as well have tackled a tree. Zipacna snaked a hand out and wrapped it around Jack’s throat too. The red flush on Jack’s face told Daniel he was being throttled, quickly and efficiently.
“All right! I’ll do it, just let him go.”
Zipacna stared him in the eyes for a gasping moment then shoved him backwards. He released Jack’s throat but clenched a hand in his hair and dragged the colonel’s head way back. “Do not delay, Daniel, or you will have only the company of your God on this planet. Return before the sun stands high in the sky.”
Daniel backed up, one hand held out placatingly. “Just… don’t hurt Jack. If he’s injured in any way, believe me, you’ll never get the Eye.” He glanced briefly at Jack who, despite having his head cranked back, was giving him clear instructions with a darting of his eyes. Run – don’t get the Eye – don’t come back – protect yourself and get as far away as you can.
Daniel nodded and turned away. He jogged over the grass toward the rock pool. Sorry Jack, but one thing you have taught me – we never leave anyone behind. Armed only with his glasses and an unshakeable determination, he headed off on his quest.
oOo
The quickest way to the cave entrance was to swim across the pool and then scramble up the rocks – their original route to the shelf that hid in shadows. The absence of sunlight on his skin caused a ripple of goose-flesh over his body, and he shivered as he ignited one of the palm torches they had left behind on their last visit. Daniel padded through the cave to the statue, now no longer interested in the conundrum it posed. If the Eye of Osiris was here, and was important enough to Osiris himself to send Zipacna to fetch it, then Daniel knew he could not let the Goa’uld leave with it. Somehow, he had to get Jack away from him and at the same time not give up the Eye.
Still. First things first. Where would you hide an eye on a statue?
The two eyes in the Isis statue were huge, faceted green gems the size of dinner plates. They matched each other and Zippy had said Eye, singular. Nonetheless, Daniel hoisted himself up onto the statue’s legs, crabbed sideways up onto a knee and peered into the gilded face. The eyes were deeply set and refused to budge under his prying fingers. He frowned and looked out along the stretch of wings, brilliant in their green and gold enamel. Ancient stories of Isis and Osiris flooded his memory, first told to him by his mother so long ago – one of the most thrilling and romantic stories of the Egyptian pantheon.
Caught in a feud with their brother Seth, Osiris had been betrayed and murdered, his body cut asunder and the limbs and organs scattered across the land. Consumed with grief, Isis determined to revive her lover and sought out his body. Finally she had all his parts except for his penis….
Daniel looked down at the incongruous phallus. This Isis was certainly guarding it, therefore it must be the hiding place. He slid down the statue and squatted in its lap. The phallus was made out of the same solid gold as the rest of the statue. Gingerly, he reached out and touched the tip, sliding his fingers around the glans then down the shaft. The cool metal was unbroken, gave no sign of a hidden foreign body. Puzzled, he sat back, aware that he needed to return quickly and rescue his colonel. So…. What would Jack do?
Shoot it. Snark at it. Snipe at Daniel to come up with a solution so they could go home. He sighed. Even if they got away from Zippy, they were still stuck on this planet. Daniel shook his head, reached out and grasped the phallus, giving it a good hard yank. It fell towards him so suddenly he toppled backward, sitting down hard in Isis’s cold, metal lap.
“Oh.”
The phallus had tilted on a previously hidden spring. Daniel leaned over it, hoping the Eye would be revealed but was disappointed to see only the gold mechanism. He pushed it down further, laying the shaft flat. “Hmmm. Why did you do that?”
He looked up at the statue. Nothing appeared to have changed… except for the Uraeus on her crown, which now seemed somewhat larger. Daniel scrambled up the golden legs again and took a closer look. The snake’s mouth now gaped open and sure enough, a shining disc had appeared between its fangs. “Huh. I guess we’ve hit the jackpot.” He planted one foot on a rounded breast and hoisted himself up level with the face. Keeping an eagle eye out for any booby-traps, he grasped the disc and gently pulled it from the snake’s grip. He slid back down the statue and hopped off it, moving over to the flickering torch to get a better look at the disc.
It was solid, gold perhaps, only six inches in diameter. Carvings over its surface proclaimed it the property of Osiris and cursed all slaves who dared touch it without their god’s permission. Other than that, it gave no clue to its real purpose or why Zipacna would be so intent to retrieve it.
“Okay. Step one. I just hope prying Jack away from Zippy will be this easy.” He extinguished the torch and headed out of the cave. Pausing in the shadow of the overhang, he could see Jack below in the clearing, on his knees, clearly tied to one of the slender trees lining the rock pool. The Goa’uld was undoubtedly not far away.
Carefully clutching the Eye, Daniel slithered down the wet rocks and dog-paddled back across the pool. Splashing out of the water he made brief eye contact with Jack then looked away before the glare in Jack’s eye’s got too scorching. Searching for Zippy, he muttered quietly, “Please. Did you really expect me to leave you behind?”
“I expected you to do as you were told,” Zipacna said, slipping into view from the shadow of the rocks by the pool. He held out his hand imperiously. “Give Us the Eye.”
Daniel cradled the object to his chest and backed up a little. “No. I don’t think so. First, you let Jack go, then you can have your Eye.”
Zippy snarled and lunged toward him. Daniel dodged, twisted and hurled the Eye out into the water with all his might. It fell in a glittering arc and plopped into the water right where the pool gave out into the creek, which flowed down to the lake. Zippy roared with anger and, rather than go after the Eye as Daniel had hoped, he leapt at Daniel, grabbing him by the shoulders and bringing them both down into the pool in a huge splash. Daniel went under, water flooding his open mouth, and for a panicked second thought that Zipacna meant to drown him there and then. Then the grip on his shoulders was gone and he floundered to the surface.
Another huge splash all but drowned him again. He coughed and shook his head, belatedly realizing that Jack had somehow freed himself from his tree and taken Zippy down in a crunching tackle. Legs and arms thrashed in the water. Daniel launched himself off the rocks on the bottom of the pool and tried to get a grip on the Goa’uld’s neck, the ridiculous hat poking him in the face. He wrapped his arms around Zippy’s neck and heaved backward. They both slipped on the rocks and went under, giving Jack a chance to surface, the bindings keeping his hands behind his back only impeding him slightly.
Jack headbutted Zippy in the gut, collected a flailing knee on his jaw and fell sideways as Daniel felt the Goa’uld grab his arm and heave, forcing him under the water with a bare snatch of breath. He kicked and twisted, increasingly desperate to break free and get some air into his lungs. Finally the pressure relaxed and he clawed up to the surface, dragging a huge, wet gasp of air into his straining body. He felt, rather than saw, Jack flung right out of the pool by Zipacna, wincing as his friend hit the ground with a pained grunt. Then Zippy was right in front of him. Daniel’s feet slipped on the rocks and two huge hands had him around the waist, then he was flying out of the water and landing on Jack, the breath driven out of both of them yet again.
Dazedly, they tried to untangle themselves, but Zipacna was there – a large paw on the back of Daniel’s neck pushed his face into the ground, and a knee in Jack’s ribcage kept him pinned, as Daniel’s hands were also tied behind his back. That done, Zippy grabbed a leg on each of them and dragged them over to the nearest stand of trees. Producing their own BDU belts, he fastened them to the trees, then stood back, glaring down at them in disarray – skirt askew, hat now MIA. His smudged eye makeup only added to the terrible anger on his face.
“So,” Jack wheezed. “Best laid plans of mice and snakes.”
“You will rue this day for years to come,” Zippy snarled.
“Yeah, yeah, ruing already, skirt boy.”
Zippy was shuddering with fury, but he pulled himself away from them and stalked into the rock pool to search for the Eye. “We shall rain dire retribution upon your heads! Dire…!”
Breathing heavily, Daniel and Jack watched him for a moment, then eyed each other.
“Daniel.”
“Jack?”
“Y’okay?”
“Well, I could do without the naked frolicking in the spa with the Goa’uld, but yeah, I think so.”
“Great. Let’s bug outta here.”
“Um, how exactly do we do that?”
Jack gave a shimmy and a shake of his arms and the restraining belt fell away from the tree.
“Oh. You must teach me how to do that.”
“Yeah. Not right now, though.” Jack yanked Daniel’s bindings loose.
“No….”
Jack rolled to his knees and Daniel winced at the bruises already forming on his friend’s jaw and ribs. Daniel tipped onto his back, shimmied his tied hands under his butt and with a wriggle got them past his hips. He pulled his legs up, and curling like a pretzel, managed to get his feet through his bound hands. He straightened up and got to his feet, Jack already standing but with his own hands still tied behind him. Jack quirked a grin at him. “Ah, youth.”
“Which way do we go?”
“I think the express elevator is this way.”
oOo
Keeping a cautious eye on Zippy who was now diving around the far side of the pool, they slipped into the trees and began to make their way down the steep hillside. Daniel had to admire Jack’s cat-like ability to keep his footing through the snags and fallen logs that littered the slope. They moved as quickly as they possibly could, trying to keep the noise of their footfalls and heavy breathing to a minimum. Almost in unison, they bounded from rock to log to bare soil, avoiding the scattered dry leaves that would be sure to give them away if crunched upon. Halfway down, they paused, listening in vain for any sign of pursuit.
Jack nodded and headed off once more.
“Uh, what are you planning, Jack?”
“Get to the camp, get the P90, kill that sonofabitch.”
“Er, right. That’s probably a good idea. We really can’t let him get away with the Eye of Osiris.”
“Why? You know what it is?”
“No, not a clue. But if it’s important enough that he came here on his own to get it, without the usual entourage of sycophants, I’m guessing it must have some use that maybe he doesn’t want the other System Lords to know about. And it probably won’t be nice for the good guys, either.”
“Didn’t Ra have an Eye?”
“Uh, yeah. Well, we saw the decorative representations, like the one that hung over the meeting place in Nagada.”
“I remember that.”
“Yeah. Oh. Tiamat.”
“What?”
Daniel collected his thoughts as he followed Jack around a bush on the almost non-existent path. “Remember P… er, the ziggurat! That bug that ate Marduk?”
“Oh, so fondly, Daniel.”
“And the Eye of Tiamat?”
“Which we never did end up with, did we?”
“No. I wonder if they’re related somehow. The Eyes, I mean, not the Goa’uld. Although, of course, the Goa’uld could all be related too, in a way.”
“Well, they all look alike, that’s for sure.” Jack never paused in his run down the hill. Unhampered at all with his hands still secured behind his back, he ducked and dodged obstacles with admirable agility.
“And now we know Zippy’s working with Sa… Osiris, somehow.”
“Yeah. Well, when I’m pounding his brains out I’ll make a point of asking where Osiris is hanging out these days.”
Daniel winced at his feet landed on a particularly spiky clump of vegetation, but smiled at Jack’s bare back as he led them out of the trees and into the grassy marsh surrounding the estuary. “Thanks, Jack.”
Jack winked at him and set off at a cracking run towards their camp.
They were still five hundred meters away when a bellow behind them announced the arrival of Zipacna. Barely slowing to cast a look over their shoulders, they saw the Goa’uld emerge into the open, still in the middle of the creek. He was further away than from where they had left the forest, but catching sight of them, he broke into a run and was out of the water and pounding after them like some skirt-wearing terminator.
Daniel sped after Jack, heart banging against his ribs, breath catching. They were too far away, the Goa’uld running way too fast for them to possibly get to the P90 first. But, still, they had no other option.
“I see he got his hat back.”
Jack snorted and veered toward their bedroom and the hidden P90. Twenty meters to go and there was a high-pitched whine and a blurred red plasma blast flew past their shoulders and disintegrated one of the other huts. Perfectly in synch with each other, Daniel and Jack ducked and angled away, zigzagging madly as Zipacna sent blast after blast from his ribbon device. Grasses, dirt, bits of hut and benches and cooking utensils exploded into the air and rained down on their unprotected skin. With only five meters to go, they could hear the Goa’uld’s cursing over their shoulders. Daniel risked a look over his shoulder and his heart seized as he looked into Zippy’s foaming, snarling face. He raised his hands and shoved Jack to one side, diving after him as Zipacna overshot them.
They rolled into the cover of the archway by the water’s edge. Now cut off from the hut with the gun, the water at their backs and an enraged Goa’uld stalking towards them, Jack pushed Daniel down into as much cover as the archway afforded and shuffled on his knees, trying to shield his friend as much as possible.
Zipacna stopped a few feet in front of them. He straightened his hat – which, Daniel was amused to note, had gained a few extra flowers and stalks – and glared down at them from his full height. He raised his right hand and the smile fell from Daniel’s face as he recognized the Eye of Osiris.
“What is that thing for?” he asked. “At least tell us that much.”
Zippy huffed a laugh at them. “We were entrusted with the retrieval of the Eye by our partners. Its purpose is not for the likes of you humans to know. Had you lived beyond this day you would one day see the might of the System Lords reasserted in our galaxy. Unfortunately, you will perish here and your pitiful Tau’ri will never know your fate.” He lifted his arm, the ribbon device sparking with power.
Daniel clutched his hands over Jack’s, their fingers entwining desperately. All things considered, he could think of worse ways to die.
Jack and Daniel said nothing, merely straightened their shoulders and glared back at the Goa’uld – and then watched perplexed as Zippy dropped his arm and stepped back. The sneer died, replaced with alarm, and he moved further back, no longer focusing on the two naked men on their knees, rather he was staring past them, over the lake….
A low, thrumming vibration filled the air. Jack’s fingers clenched over Daniel’s. Zippy backed off even more, raised his left arm and with a final sneer, slapped the control on the back of the device. From nowhere a ring transporter flew down and enveloped him. In a flash and a zing he was gone.
The thrumming came closer. A wide shadow flitted over them and they looked up, amazed and bewildered as a Tel’tak, flying as slowly as possible, hovered to a halt, pivoted – the two found themselves looking into the front windscreen at Teal’c and Sam.
“Now, that’s what I call a rescue!” Jack let out a hoot of a laugh and turned to grin at Daniel.
Daniel grinned weakly back at him. “Zipacna got away, Jack.”
“Yeah, well, we did our best Daniel. No point in worrying about it now.”
“I guess. Um, you think we can get to our packs before Sam gets down here?”
Jack looked narrowly at him, taking in the bare skin, the liberal coating of mud, dirt, sticks and leaves in his hair, the bound wrists and the smeared glasses hanging skewed off the end of his nose. “That’s what I like about you, Daniel. Always thinking.”
Daniel crinkled his eyebrows modestly.
“Time to go home?”
“Oh, yeah. Let’s go home, buddy.”
oOo
Maybe there’s a god above
As for me, all I’ve ever seemed to learn from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah