TITLE: Underworld
AUTHOR: Ålßã
EMAIL: Alba@currantbun.com
CATEGORY: Angst
SPOILERS: None
SEASON / SEQUEL: None
RATING: PG
CONTENT WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: When Daniel is stranded in an underground city, it's a race against time for Jack to find him.
ARCHIVE: Heliopolis
DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and all related characters are property of Showtime inc. and MGM/UA. But the setting is mine, additional characters are mine and the idea for this story was mine. I make no profit from this, except the satisfaction of writing it.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is the best story I've written yet, but it wouldn't be if Ivanova hadn't Beta'd for me and spotted my typos. Thanx to everyone who answered my request for a Beta, but if I have too many proof-readers things will just start confusing me! If you have any complaints, my email address is here somewhere, so don't hesitate to tell me if you don't like my writing. You can't please everyone, I suppose. Anyway, enough of me babbling away. Read! Enjoy!

"Thuirt m'anam rium, 'Nach teid thu null,
Cuir eallach is cruadhchas air do chul,
Is gun cur an t-aite sealach failte oirnn,
Is bi mi comhla ruit an drasd'"

Translation:

"My soul said, 'Come across to see me,
Put your burdens and hardships behind you,
This temporary place will give us welcome,
And I will be with you again.'"

"Cho Buidhe Is A Bha I Riabh", Runrig.

The full impact of the bitter cold hit Daniel's face as he stepped through the Stargate, and out onto the planet P4D822. SG-1 had been briefed earlier that it would be cold, and had dressed accordingly, but that didn't prevent the freezing air from hitting their faces and hands. Daniel's own warm breath was condensing on his glasses, making vision impossible. He thought about it briefly, and decided that the limited vision he got without his glasses was better than none at all, so he removed them and stowed them safely in one of his pockets. Sam gave him a sympathetic glance. Daniel gazed at his surroundings. The sky was clear enough for him to see, a deep, dull chrome colour, seemingly hanging closer than the anthropologist knew it really was. SG-1 appeared to be in a large, open clearing, surrounded on all sides by tall, ominous mountains, towering high above the dark green smudge that Daniel figured must be a forest. The ground around them was pure white, and it was a moment before Daniel decided it must be snow, judging from the crunching sounds coming from Jack's direction.

Jack bent down and scooped up a handful of snow. He rolled it into a neat ball of snow, and launched it at Daniel. The projectile grazed the younger man's arm, and he retaliated by firing his own snowball. It missed Jack completely, and hit Teal'c full in the chest. The Jaffa gave Daniel a hurt expression.

"Sorry Teal'c," Daniel apologized.

"What is the point of this Colonel O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

"It's a snowball Teal'c. You throw them at people. See?" Jack said as he threw another one at Daniel.

This one missed the anthropologist, as Daniel had just bent down to collect his own snowball. Sam walked away from the two as they started their own head to head snowball fight.

"Men," she muttered, as she pulled an icicle off the DHD and snapped it cleanly in two, "they just never grow up."

Teal'c watched the snowball fight from a distance, having gotten caught in the crossfire several times. The relationship between Jack and Daniel constantly confused him. Sometimes they'd act like they totally hated each other, and then they'd be the closest friends he'd ever seen. And then at times like this, they'd be throwing projectiles aggressively at each other, but in fun. He decided not to think about it, and simply accept it as what it seemed to be: a close friendship between two people who were completely different.

Sam looked around accusingly at her teammates. One of them had hit her in the back with a snowball. Well, it obviously wasn't Teal'c. He was standing like a rock as usual. She regarded Daniel. He returned her gaze with an innocent expression that said 'Me? Throw snowballs at you? I wouldn't dare!'. She glared at Jack.

"Hey! It wasn't me!" Jack said with an indignant expression on his face.

"I suppose you expect me to believe it was Daniel?" she asked him.

"It was!" Jack answered.

"Now, sir. I've heard you say any number of cruel things before, but to suggest that Daniel threw that snowball..." Sam trailed off. She looked at Daniel again.

"Come on kids. We don't have time to play in the snow. We have a world to explore," Jack said, glaring in Daniel's direction. The team fanned out, and walked through the snow. Daniel looked back at the

Stargate, thinking of the warm bed he had left behind. The perspective and angle was just right for the full, golden moon, hanging slightly above the mountain peaks, to be framed perfectly by the Stargate. "Missing home already?" Jack asked.

"No. Just thinking," the younger man answered.

"Now, you know that's very dangerous," Jack said to his friend. Daniel looked at him, as if not understanding. Jack shook his head and continued walking. It's going to be one of those days, he thought to himself.

Daniel felt uncomfortable walking under that sky, deep and dark, hanging so close, and yet so far away. It was disorientating and confusing, distorting all sense of direction. Daniel knew it was miles above him, but it seemed so close, as if he could just reach out and touch it. It was clear, stars could be seen shining down brightly, yet it was so thick, heavy, suffocating.

The evergreen forest arrived sooner than SG-1 expected. The thick, green trees loomed overhead, filling the universe with their proximity. Dense bushes crowded the ground, hiding the soil.

Jack pushed his way through the bushes, followed by Sam, Teal'c and Daniel. The trees covered the sky with their foliage, creating a blackness, darker than the darkest night. The soft pine needles coated the ground, cushioning every footstep. Wild animals called, their haunting cries reverberating through

Daniel's soul. They were the kinds of sounds that had haunted his childhood nightmares. But the creatures always scurried away through the undergrowth if SG-1 approached too close.

A bush rustled balefully. Jack pointed his torch and gun at the guilty bush. It stopped. The soldier watched it suspiciously for a minute before moving on. The team had moved from their exploratory fanned positions, to a defensive huddle as the total darkness began to fill their hearts with the deepest night-time fears.

After an hour of walking, though it seemed far longer in the eternal night, the narrow path was crossed by a stream. Jack only just avoided falling into it, as it was so silent he didn't hear the running water. Teal'c laid a steadying hand on his shoulder. The Jaffa's hearing had always been more sensitive than the rest of the team's. Sam shone her flashlight on the stream. It was black, like crude oil flowing cleanly across the path. She picked up a small twig, and dropped it into the water. She leapt back as it fizzed, and the water started to bubble. Smoke started to rise as the stick sank into the black depths.

"I think we should go another way," Jack suggested in a whisper, a knot of dread settling in his stomach at the thought of his narrow escape. To think he had nearly fallen in that!

Jack forced his way through the bushes, his team following closely behind. They began to walk closer and closer together as the eerie forest became even darker, where even the blackness of night seemed as bright as midday. The thick, all-encompassing night seemed to affect even the torches, their light only penetrating a few feet in front of Jack. The narrow, winding path widened out, so the team could walk two abreast, instead of in single file. Jack led the way down the path, Daniel close by his side. Sam and Teal'c followed a short distance behind them.

Jack leapt backwards as the path crumbled away beneath him, pushing Sam and Teal'c back as well. Daniel's marginally slower reactions prevented him from moving quickly enough. He fell down the black, gaping hole, and cried out in pain as he hit the cave floor twenty feet below. He heard Jack call out his name. The force of his impact caused the floor of the cave to collapse, sending him falling again. He hit the next level heavily on his right side. Before he had a chance to cry out a second time, a few loose rocks gave way, sending him hurtling down a steep slope, which ended suddenly in an underground river.

Daniel was plunged underwater. The strong current dragging him further and further away from SG-1, and so away from those who might help him. He ignored the pain in his side, and paddled towards the surface. The water was warmer than the air above, but because it covered his whole body, not just his face and hands, it seemed much, much colder. As his head broke the surface, he breathed in deeply. The act of breathing sent ripples of agony through his chest and down his right side, so he was careful to only take shallow breaths from then. He used his arms to keep himself afloat, not wanting to waste vital energy.

It was only Sam and Teal'c that prevented Jack from launching himself down the hole to help his friend, when the soldier heard Daniel's cry, followed by the sound of moving rocks and a muffled splash. Jack had been furious that Sam and Teal'c would prevent him from helping Daniel, and was even more angry when Sam sat on him in an attempt to hold him to the ground while he calmed down. The thought of losing Daniel infuriated Jack, but once he had got over the shock, and thought about it carefully it made sense to try to keep himself from ending up in the same situation as Daniel.

"Okay, Carter. You can get off me now," he said.

"You're not going to try to throw yourself in there again?" Sam asked to make sure.

"No," he answered curtly. Sam stood up, and then helped Jack to his feet.

"Okay. We need to get down there," Jack said, pointing to the hole.

"I believe that rope would be useful," Teal'c said.

"So do I. Carter, do we have any?" Jack asked.

"Well, sir, rope is on the essential equipment list. So one of us should have some," Sam answered.

"What essential equipment list?" Jack asked.

"The one General Hammond and I drew up, after taking into account everything that could possibly go wrong off-world. Rope has been on it ever since that unfortunate situation with Lieutenant Black," Sam answered.

"Oh, right," Jack murmured to himself, remembering the 'unfortunate situation with Lieutenant Black'. He rummaged in his bag, trying to locate the rope. It was too dark to really see in the pack, even with flashlights, so Jack used his hands, rather than his eyes in trying to find the rope. Sam did likewise, and shortly discovered the length of rope. It was thin and lightweight, but was made of a material strong enough to hold the weight of three people if secured properly.

Jack quickly located the end, and looped it firmly around a nearby tree. The other end Sam threw down the hole. It quickly disappeared into the black depths.

"Who's going down, sir?" Sam asked.

"I am," Jack replied, using his best 'I've made up my mind and no one is going to change it' tone of voice. Sam knew better than to try to argue with that.

"And you are going to wait here with Teal'c," the soldier stated.

"Perhaps I should go in search of another way down?" Teal'c suggested.

"No. You'll get lost on your own in these woods. You two stay here, and if I'm not back in three hours, go back to the Stargate for help," Jack decided, again using the tone of voice that refused to argue about it.

"Yes sir," Sam said. She hated just sitting and waiting while someone else got to do all the exciting things.

Jack moved cautiously to the edge of the hole, and held the rope in his hands. Gently he slid over the edge and into the darkness, looping his legs around the rope to prevent suffering the same fate as Daniel.

It's all right, Danny, I'm coming, Jack thought to himself.

Pure agony raced across Daniel's chest and down his right side as the quickly flowing water smashed him into yet another rock. Even if he saw them coming, he couldn't get out of the way in time. The knowledge that he was totally helpless was beginning to annoy him. But he couldn't really think about it too much. He had to struggle just to keep his head above the water. His arms and legs were tiring. All he could do was paddle weakly and hope for the best.

At least he could see the rocks coming though, if he faced in the right direction. The rocks beneath, above and around him were luminescent. They glowed with a curious green light. If he looked down, the anthropologist could clearly see his body below the surface, distorted by the rippling water. Most of the rocks jutting above the surface were ordinary, plain, black rocks, so they showed up clearly against the unearthly green, light. Seeing them coming was one thing, but actually getting out of their way was quite another.

The prolonged contact with the freezing water was beginning to affect Daniel. He was colder than he had ever felt before. He was shivering, almost uncontrollably. He knew that eventually he could get used to the temperature, but he could quite probably freeze before that ever happened.

He needed to get out of the water. He knew there were tunnels intercepting the river, but he was swept downstream too fast for him to pull himself up into one. The same with the rocks. He was either pulled past them, or he collided with them, which hurt so much he forgot all about actually holding on to one.

Daniel looked ahead. There were no rocks ahead. But what was that sound? Like rushing water going over a cliff. As realisation dawned Daniel searched for a suitable word to describe his frustration. Several of Jack's more colourful swear words came to mind.

As he was pulled around the corner he looked ahead again. There was a slab of rock crossing the river. A bridge. It was low, barely above the surface of the water.

Daniel caught hold of the rock as the river tried to pull him under it and over the waterfall. He tried to pull himself up onto the bridge. He struggled in the attempt to lift himself, his body made heavier with the weight of waterlogged clothes. His exhausted arms ached, and several times he briefly considered just letting go and hope the fall over the waterfall wouldn't kill him. But each time he decided there was no way he was giving up. Eventually he prevailed, and managed to haul his tired body onto the bridge.

He lay on his back, panting with the effort. The coldness of air hitting wet skin seemed to go straight into his bones, freezing his nerves into numbness. He turned onto his left side. This took the weight off his back, and relaxed the stiff muscles in his injured right side. He was sure he must have done some serious damage there. First the fall from the surface, then the constant collisions with very hard rocks, he suspected he had several broken ribs. He had received few blows to his left side, so it hurt less than the rest of him. He didn't have the medical expertise to judge his injuries more accurately than the simple statement of 'it hurts'. This was all he really cared about anyway. What difference did it make how he was hurt? The fact that he was hurt was enough to concentrate on.

After serious thought that seemed to take hours, Daniel decided that he wouldn't get any medical care by just lying there in the hope that someone might find him. He figured the chances of Jack, Sam and Teal'c locating him were remote, so he resolved to try to make his way to them. Or failing that, if he could get back to the Stargate, he could go home. No, wait, he thought, that's no good. Sam has the remote transmitter.

Daniel attempted to get his arms underneath his body to push himself up, but a sharp fiery pain in the upper part of his right arm told him he wouldn't be able to get up without causing himself a lot of physical agony. He lay still. There would be no possibility of him going in search of help. Help would simply have to find him.

The total blackness of the caves dissolved into the past as Jack emerged from them above the underground river. The rock all around the river were glowing with a green light that illuminated everything in its range. Well, at least he could see now. He looked down. The end of the rope to which he was clinging for dear life was dangling into the water. He noted the direction the water was flowing. Well, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the direction Daniel had gone in. Jack was sure he'd heard a splash. That meant Daniel had fallen in this river. The flow was too fast for the younger man to swim upstream, so he must have been swept down river. Jack didn't want to except the possibility that Daniel had lost consciousness in the fall and drowned. No, he knew the anthropologist was alive. He had to be. The man had survived everything else thrown at him, if only marginally, and Jack himself often teased his friend about the fact it was almost impossible to kill him permanently. Despite the jokes he had made about that, Jack was extremely glad that it was true.

But now Jack was stuck with a problem. He was out of rope, and he didn't really want to go into that river. He'd been in the military long enough to know the effect a dip in cold water and then being exposed to freezing cold air had on somebody. Judging by the speed of the water, Daniel would be a long way ahead of him by now. Jack could never catch up at the speed he was travelling. He had to find another way around the river, and hope that Daniel could get out of the water by himself. That was when the futility of his search hit him. He could never catch up with Daniel, and the chances of finding him in this infinite labyrinth of tunnels, caves and passageways were slim. But he couldn't just give up. He didn't want to lose a member of his team, least of all Daniel, who's innocent ignorance to danger made him vulnerable in a fight, but endeared him to Jack.

He looked across the river. There was a tunnel opposite him. He considered his options, and decided that the tunnel was his best bet. He leapt across the river, landing neatly on the opposite side. He scrambled over a few loose rocks, and moved quickly through the tunnel.

He glanced at his watch. He'd left Sam and Teal'c an hour ago. That meant he only had two hours left before they went back to the Stargate. He regretted his order now. If they went home, he wouldn't be able to get their assistance should it be needed. They would come back with several other teams from the SGC, but that would be hours away. He cursed his decision. Well, now it was up to him, and him alone to find Daniel.

Daniel felt his consciousness floating upwards towards the light, like a bubble in a glass of cola. Instinctively, he called for Jack, and then realised that Jack wouldn't be able to hear him anyway. He opened his eyes slowly. He didn't even remember losing consciousness, but wasn't surprised that he had. He didn't know where he was, but it wasn't on the bridge, or in the infirmary on Earth. This meant, he decided, that someone had found him, but not SG-1, as they would have taken him home.

He shivered. He had not been unconscious long, for he was still wet. The sudden vibrations of his muscles sent waves of agony across his back, chest and right side. He was lying on his right side, the weight of his own body putting pressure on his damaged ribs. He was aware of being in a puddle of water, but was too cold and hurt to bother moving. Since he was soaking wet, if he moved a similar puddle would form around him in his next spot. He was trying not to shiver, but found that impossible. He was so cold. Apparently whoever had found him was not too concerned with his well being, it seemed.

He looked at the view in front of him, for what little of it there was. A wall of rock. He guessed he would be surrounded by similar walls, making up a cave. Having nothing better to do, for he knew he was incapable of getting up, he studied the rock carefully. It was a deep grey colour, almost black. It had tiny flecks of gold and green in it, making it sparkle in the dim light.

He heard the sound of a door being unlocked, followed by footsteps. Two, no three men were entering the cave. Daniel couldn't see them, and knew that turning to bring them into view would hurt, so he lay still. All three had heavy footsteps, suggesting they were large men. One of the men stepped over his body. Two feet appeared in front of his nose. These wore black leather boots. With a slight movement of his head, Daniel could see the man's legs, body and head. He wore dark brown trousers made of a material Daniel had never seen before. A thick black belt was tied tightly around the man's waist. A short-sleeved jacket hung loosely from his shoulders. His face sported a long, deep scar that cut across his forehead and down one cheek. The scar went down the middle of one eye. It was white, indicating the man was blind in that eye. The other eye was brown, contrasting with it's pale counterpart. His thick, square jaw was clenched tight in a grin. He had a long, black beard, which mingled with the long black hair tumbling across his shoulders.

"Get him up," a voice from behind ordered. The voice was hard and cold, full of malice and cruel desires. It seemed infinitely loud, yet was only at speaking volume. It had an edge like a freshly sharpened knife. It sliced through Daniel and the one-eyed man as if they were warm butter. The huge man in front of him bent down, held him by his upper arms and lifted him to his feet. Daniel forced himself to remain standing, fighting the urge to faint as the sharp agony rippled across his chest, back and right side. He whimpered softly, as if the quiet sound would ease the pain.

"Be silent!" the voice shouted at him. A back-handed swipe caught Daniel across the face. He staggered, but the ever present one-eyed man prevented his fall. The anthropologist looked into the voice's face for the first time, taking in the man's features. He was taller than Daniel, but was dwarfed by the one-eyed man. He looked about forty years old. Neatly cut black hair framed the man's face. He was clean-shaven, his lips were curved into a scornful sneer. Eyes of the deepest brown Daniel had ever seen darted around the cave, glinting with malevolence. He was clothed entirely in black, with a long black cloak edged with gold trailing elegantly behind him. Large golden rings circled his fingers, and a long gold chain hung from his neck. He stood with an air of self-confidence, something that Daniel had never been able to do. The man regarded Daniel, meeting his gaze. For a brief moment in time, the two looked directly into each other's eyes. Daniel was forced to look away. The man had watched him as if he were nothing, less than nothing. Almost like he was sizing Daniel up, but for what Daniel couldn't tell. There was an evil gleam in those eyes. A rancorous look designed specifically to instill terror into those the man wished to dominate. He had power. And Daniel knew that power and evil together was the most deadly thing imaginable. The forceful gaze reminded Daniel of the way a cat watched a mouse before moving in for the kill. Daniel knew that his part in this was probably going to be the mouse.

"I am Morgul, the Black Prince. This is my domain. Who are you that you would dare trespass into my great city?" the man asked. His voice had changed from the ordering tone he had used for instructing his men, to the slow, inquiring tone of an interrogator. Even the name Morgul seemed to drop like heavy weights onto Daniel's soul. It was a name that heralded the end of worlds and destruction of cities. It described the atrocities that had occurred in that name. It told of the endless bloodshed and the death of hope.

"My name is Daniel Jackson. I came through the Stargate. I didn't mean to trespass in your city. I fell in the river, and I had to get out before I drowned," Daniel answered, deciding that honesty was the best policy. There was a slim chance that Morgul might believe him.

"Do you think I am a fool? I alone know how to activate the Stargate. Only a few select individuals are even aware of it's existence. I have kept it as such for twenty years," Morgul replied calmly, but his eyes showed his anger. They flashed with a pure, merciless evil. Daniel watched him in silence. Morgul strode across the cave and stood in front of Daniel, glaring into his eyes.

"Now. What shall I have done with you?" Morgul asked, speaking more to himself than to Daniel.

"You could drop me off at the Stargate and forget all about this?" Daniel suggested.

"Be silent!" Morgul shouted. He thrust his fist into Daniel's stomach. The anthropologist tried to double over, but was held upright by the one-eyed man. The unexpected blow had knocked the breath out of him, and he breathed quickly and deeply to regain it. He fought the urge to whimper as each breath brought fresh pain into his injured body.

"I cannot let you go. You are a criminal. Perhaps an execution would set an example to my people," Morgul continued, still to himself, "yes. Garmal, take care of it. Oh, and explain to him that his behaviour is unacceptable." Morgul waved a preoccupied hand at Daniel.

"Yes, Black Prince. You will not be disappointed," the one-eyed man answered.

Morgul turned on his heel and walked quickly out of the cave. Garmal gestured to the second guard.

"Huzel, I believe Seekul has not had the opportunity to 'explain' to a prisoner. He will enjoy it, as will you and I," Garmal ordered. The man nodded and exited the cave.

Garmal released his hold on Daniel, and turned to face him. He brought his fist sharply onto Daniel's right side. Before Daniel could stop himself, he cried out.

"You have no idea of what pain is if you think that hurts," Garmal said darkly.

Huzel returned with another man, Seekul. Both stood to attention in front of Garmal.

"Seekul. You are to explain to this man about the expected behaviour of this city. Huzel, hold him," Garmal commanded.

Huzel removed a length of cord from a pocket in his trousers. As he made to bind Daniel's arms, Daniel ducked out of the way, using the only move Jack had managed to drill into his brain. Although his movements were quick enough to elude Huzel, Garmal grabbed his left arm and twisted it back until he heard the crack of broken bone. Daniel squealed as the pain hit him. He ceased all attempts to escape, and allowed his jacket and T-shirt to be removed and his hands to be tied behind his back. Garmal and Huzel stood on either side of him, and held him still. Garmal twisted his left arm slightly as a reminder. Seekul walked around him. The first Daniel knew of Seekul's intentions was when he heard the sound of the crack of a whip and a stinging pain shot across his back. Another. Again. And again. The three men laughed cruelly.

Just as Daniel felt himself losing consciousness, Seekul stopped. Garmal untied his hands, and let him drop to the floor. The flesh of his back burned like fire. The scorching pain dulled even the agony in his chest and side, and the throbbing ache of his broken arm. As he closed his eyes and let the darkness enfold him, he was dimly aware of the three men walking away from him, laughing.

Jack looked cautiously around the corner of the tunnel. It was lined with flickering torches of fire. Jack knew that he wasn't an expert on human civilisation, that was Daniel's field, but lighting in tunnels was a sure sign that someone, or something was out there. He watched the tunnel until he was sure no one was there. It would do no good to get himself caught by whoever had built the city. He moved slowly around the corner, and walked down the tunnel, trying to keep as quiet as possible.

After several false alarms, Jack decided that the tunnels in that part of the city were rarely used, so he proceeded with less caution and more speed. He could still faintly hear the river in the background, a constant reminder of his chances of finding Daniel. Jack's mind said that his friend would be miles away by now, far downstream. But his heart said that he shouldn't stop looking until he knew for sure. His heart said to never give up, despite what logic said could never happen. In dealing with any military officer, Jack could let his brain take over, his brain could accept the loss of a team member and a friend. But it was his heart that dealt with Daniel, the gentle scientist who didn't deserve half the things that happened to him. Jack and Daniel had been through so much together, that they were almost family. Neither of them had any family, and the soldier knew that Daniel treated him like an older brother. Jack was not prepared to lose a "little brother", so he was determined to find Daniel if he had to explore the entire underground city, and all the tunnels coming out onto the river.

He glanced at his watch again. Sam and Teal'c should be on their way back to the Stargate, Jack thought, they should be, but they won't. He knew that Sam and Teal'c were as protective of Daniel as he was, and wouldn't leave this planet until they had to. Well, so much for orders and military hierarchy. Between Sam, Teal'c and Daniel, Jack knew his team must be one of the worst in the U.S military for obeying orders on all occasions. Sam seemed to have a mind of her own when they actually got off-world, Daniel was civilian, and so didn't actually have to follow orders, and Teal'c was so fiercely loyal, that he'd rarely obey anyone but Jack. Despite all that, SG-1 was the only team on the SGC that hadn't had a team member killed on a permanent basis.

While Jack was going over all this in his mind, he didn't notice that he'd entered a more heavily populated part of the city. Fortunately these people were uninterested in Jack, or were too busy to notice him. Many of them were digging, apparently increasing the city size. Those who weren't digging were loading loose rubble into small carts and pulling them away. All were dirty and poorly dressed. Jack decided that these must be the poorer inhabitants of the city, or possibly slaves.

Jack ducked into a small crevice as he heard the heavy footsteps of two men coming. He watched them walk past. They were large men, wearing brown and black clothing. They walked with an upright manner and an air of importance. One of them stopped and retrieved a whip from his belt. He cracked it, and brought it down on a small woman's back. She screamed and attempted to turn to the man. The other man caught hold of her arm and held her still as the first man beat her.

"Let this be an example to you all that laziness does not go unpunished," he shouted to the diggers who watched with a horrified silence. Just as Jack decided he would do something about the poor woman, the men ceased and let her go. She dashed to the other diggers, and received their full sympathy. Clearly they believed the woman hadn't deserved her beating. The two men walked away laughing and talking loudly to each other.

Jack waited until he was sure the men had gone, and then moved forward towards the diggers. They edged back, trying to get away from him.

"Wait. I won't hurt you. I just want to know something," Jack said. He tried to sound soothing, but really Daniel was the one for reassuring natives. One man from the terrified huddle stepped forward.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm just a visitor from a land faraway. Only I've lost my friend, and I was wondering if he came through here," Jack answered.

"I have seen a man wearing the same clothes as you. Is that who you are looking for?" a woman said, stepping forward to stand with the man.

"Yeah. Which way did he go?" Jack asked. He was surprised that the people were so friendly and ready to help him.

"I saw him climb out of the river at the bridge. He was hurt. I would have helped him, but I was afraid. The guards came then and took him to the dungeon. When they saw me following them I had to go back to work as if it were an accident that I was behind them. He may be dead now if Morgul has seen him," the woman answered.

"Who's this Morgul?" Jack inquired. He wanted to know as much about this man as possible in case he had to come up against him.

The man looked around slowly, as if checking that none could hear him. "He is the Black Prince. He rules this city. We are all his slaves, digging out his new palace," he said.

"Can you show me where the dungeons are?" Jack asked. He didn't mean to sound as if he didn't care about these people, but Daniel was his first priority. He just wanted to find his friend and get out before this Morgul guy turned up.

"No. I cannot go there, but if you continue down this tunnel, turn to your right and follow the tunnel until you reach the fork. Take the left one and keep going. From there you'll see a long corridor to the right. That is the dungeons. All the cells are down there, so just look through the windows on the door to find your friend. I wish you could destroy Morgul for us, but I see that your friend is important to you. I would do the same," the man explained.

"Thanks for your help," he said simply and walked away. He felt guilty that he couldn't realistically help these people, and rescue Daniel, but Daniel came first. If it became necessary, Jack decided he would remove Morgul somehow, but he wouldn't go out to find him.

He followed the man's directions to the dungeons. He managed to avoid the attentions of the guards walking around the city. This became more difficult as he went on. There were more of them, and they were alert, looking for intruders. He reached the corridor where the dungeons were supposed to be. There were two guards standing at the entrance. Jack hid out of sight in a crevice, and thought about his next move. He needed to get past the guards without them knowing. He also needed time to find Daniel and get out, also without the guards knowing. The obvious course of action was to remove the guards from their duty. But if he knocked them out, as soon as they woke up they'd sound the alarm.

He moved back up the tunnel. He placed his cap in the centre of the tunnel. Then he went back to his crevice and fired his gun twice. He watched as the guards ran past to investigate the cause of the noise. He saw them find his cap, and stoop to look at it. He dashed out of his crevice and up the tunnel to the dungeons. With any luck the guards would spend enough time investigating his hat for him to find Daniel and get back to the crevice.

He looked into each cell as he walked past. Some of the prisoners were bound hand and foot, others were left loose. A large proportion were injured in some way. He almost thought one cell was empty, but when he looked again he saw Daniel's still body curled into a defensive ball in one corner.

Jack opened the heavy wooden door with some effort. He left it open, not wanting to be locked in. The smell of water soaked body and clothes, and the sickly sweet smell of blood permeated everything in the cell. He noticed Daniel's jacket and T-shirt by the wall. Worried, he moved quickly to Daniel's side and knelt down. The younger man was lying in a pool of water, now tinged red with blood. Jack located the source as deep gashes on Daniel's back. The soldier realised that the guards who had whipped the woman earlier had also been at his friend. As Jack put a comforting hand on Daniel's shoulder, he felt the rhythmic vibrations of the anthropologist's shivering. At least that confirmed that Daniel was alive. Jack felt his pulse. It was there, but slow and weak. His breathing was shallow, almost inaudible.

"Daniel?" Jack said, hoping that his friend would answer. He waited, calling Daniel's name quietly every few seconds. He shook Daniel gently, remembering his first aid training. This got a response, a groan that Jack had heard often enough before. It was actually the sound Daniel made if Jack tried to wake him up early in the morning, but was just as easily applied to this situation.

Daniel felt someone shaking him. It hurt. All his muscles ached, and the shaking jarred his broken arm. He groaned. Maybe they would go away. Whoever it was was saying something. Daniel tried to focus on the sound. Wait. He knew that word, that voice. It was his name, and the voice was Jack's.

"Come on Danny. I know you're there," Jack said.

"Jack?" Daniel asked quietly. His voice was barely a whisper, and he wondered if Jack actually heard him.

"It's okay Danny," Jack said softly. Daniel personally disliked being called "Danny", but it was okay when Jack did, especially when he was hurt. He also disliked Jack mothering him, but again, it was different when he was hurt. He knew this was ridiculous, and allowing Jack to give him sympathy didn't get him any respect, but when he was in trouble, his pride was the last thing on his mind.

"Sam? Teal'c?" Daniel asked. If Jack was there, then the others must be as well.

"No, they're not here," Jack answered. Daniel was too tired to ask why. There was probably a good reason.

"Wanna go home," Daniel said. As a linguist, he was supposed to keep his speech clear, but he was in too much pain to care what his voice sounded like.

"I know, Danny. We'll go soon. Where does it hurt?" Jack asked. The younger man suddenly felt a flare of anger. He was lying here in absolute agony, and Jack was asking where it hurt. As if that wasn't obvious. Instead of saying this, he said "'vrywhere." The slurred words again.

Jack was furious that not only had the people in the city let him suffer with his injuries, they had added to them. The skin on Daniel's back was in ribbons, and Jack knew that if those wounds didn't get cleaned up soon they would get infected. Daniel was cold, and was shivering uncontrollably. Jack knew he wasn't able to guess even what bones had been broken. He understood all too well that his friend probably had invisible internal injuries

Jack looked out of the cell down the tunnel. The guards were back in place. They apparently weren't worried by Jack's cap sat in the middle of the tunnel. They wouldn't fall for it again, so Jack knew he'd have to find another way of getting himself, and Daniel, past the guards.

Jack regarded Daniel. He was now lying on his left side, stretched out in the centre of the cell. Jack had retrieved Daniel's jacket and wrapped it around his shoulders in an attempt to warm him up. Jack hadn't even wanted to try to get Daniel's T-shirt on over the wounds on his back. That would have caused the younger man more pain than he could have endured.

Jack couldn't help feeling responsible for Daniel's injuries. He knew that his fall into the underground city had been an accident, but he still felt that in some way it was his fault. He hated seeing Daniel in such pain, when he knew that his friend hadn't deserved it. Nothing Daniel could ever do could mean he deserved the things that happened to him. Some of the people in the military that Jack had met had deserved what they got. They had possibly killed lots of innocent people, or committed a court marshal offence, and they had gotten the punishment they had coming. Daniel had never done anything wrong, at least not anything that merited the treatment he often received.

Sam looked at her watch. Jack had been gone for three hours.

"It's three hours, Teal'c," she told the Jaffa. Teal'c remained motionless. She had been telling him the time every five minutes for the last three hours.

"We should really be going back to the Stargate," she said.

Teal'c remained motionless.

"Of course, we can't leave here without them," she continued.

"We cannot. Colonel O'Neill commanded you and I to return to the Stargate after three hours. He

expected to be back by then. Therefore, he may be in trouble," Teal'c said.

"So you're thinking the same as I am then?" Sam asked.

"What are you thinking?" Teal'c inquired.

"That we should go in after them," Sam answered.

"Then I am indeed thinking the same thing as you," Teal'c said.

"We can't go down the rope, because if we get in trouble there'll be no one up here to pull us back up. So we'll have to find another way down," Sam said, thinking aloud.

"Colonel O'Neill ordered me not to go into the forest on my own," the Jaffa said.

"Well, I did say that 'we' should go after them," Sam said by way of reasoning. Given enough time, she could find loop-holes in any order.

With an unspoken agreement, Sam and Teal'c moved around the hole in the middle of the path, and walked through the darkness. The total darkness was beginning to annoy Sam. Being left on the surface was annoying her. Not knowing if Daniel was alive was annoying her. On the whole, she was getting to be very annoyed.

They walked in silence along the path. Both knew that the odds of finding a safe way underground were tiny. But, both, in their own way, were worried about Jack and Daniel, and weren't willing to leave them behind.

Nearly two hours later, they discovered a narrow opening in the bushes. It was actually an accident. Sam tripped over a tree root and dropped her flashlight. The ray of light shone directly into the tunnel. It was mostly concealed by thick green bushes and black rocks, but once these were cut back or moved out of the way, the tunnel turned out to be just wide enough for them to squeeze through.

The tunnel descended steeply downwards, and they frequently slipped on loose stones. They seemed to be heading downwards for only a short time when the tunnel levelled out and intersected another tunnel. From this cross roads, they could see in four directions. In two of them, torches lighted the way.

After a brief discussion, Sam and Teal'c decided to take the left hand tunnel. There was no one around, but signs of civilisation were everywhere. The tunnel was well used, so the floor was smooth. Doorways went off to the right and left, some with closed wooden doors, others wide open caves.

One of these had a large pile of glistening black, rock in it. Further investigation revealed that it was naquada.

"The science team has discovered some interesting things about naquada recently, but they ran out of samples to test on," Sam said as she opened her pack and placed a few medium sized lumps in it.

"The presence of naquada also indicates the presence of Goa'uld, but I do not think the Goa'uld have been here in a long time," Teal'c stated.

"I agree. We should get going. Who knows what trouble the Colonel and Daniel have got themselves into in the past three hours," Sam said. She walked to the doorway, and peered cautiously into the tunnel. She looked in both directions, and when she was satisfied that the coast was clear, she and Teal'c moved out and continued along the tunnel.

"Come on Danny. You could at least try. I can't lift your weight on my own," Jack complained. He'd decided on a plan to get out of the underground city, but it required Daniel to walk. The problem was it turned out that Daniel was too weak to get up on his own, and it was a struggle to do so even with Jack's help. If Jack hadn't known Daniel better, he would have though that Daniel wasn't even trying to get up. At the moment, Daniel just couldn't get the strength together to stand up. Jack was seriously beginning to worry that his friend wouldn't be able to walk, even if he did manage to get on his feet.

Jack had let him sleep for several hours before attempting to move him. The sleep had done him good, but his face still showed the pain he was in. His forehead was furrowed with a frown, and his jaw was clenched against the agonizing pain, but he wasn't giving up. That was part of what endeared Daniel to Jack. He wouldn't give up, and he held onto life with a grim determination that surprised the soldier. Many tough, well-trained military officers wouldn't have been able to tolerate the pain Jack could see Daniel was in now. Jack decided that whoever said that civilians couldn't handle excessive pain should be shot on sight. Colonel Maybournne had once suggested it after seeing how pathetic Daniel looked when he was kept in the infirmary for a long time, but when he came very close to having an up-close and personal look at Jack's fist, he seemed to forget he'd ever said it.

After what seemed like ages, Daniel managed to get onto his feet. He leaned against Jack, not being strong enough to fully support his own weight.

"You know, I'd forgotten how heavy you were," Jack commented. Daniel made no answer to Jack's comment.

Jack put his arm around Daniel's shoulders. The younger man winced as Jack's arm touched the gashes on his back. Even the light pressure of the supportive arm hurt. Jack knew that Daniel would be spending weeks in the infirmary when they got home. The soldier didn't like that. Daniel hated long periods of time in the infirmary. Dr.. Frasier didn't like him there either. If he wasn't allowed to leave the infirmary to collect books from his office and go for short walks, he'd drive Dr.. Frasier nuts, because he'd get bored with inactivity and ask her to get a book for him. But with the rate that Daniel went through books, Dr. Frasier would complain to general Hammond that "he was turning the infirmary into a personal library service" or something of the sort. So he usually had to be released early.

Jack and Daniel moved forwards, slowly because Daniel was unsteady on his feet, and Jack didn't want him to fall over again after all the trouble he had getting his friend up. Jack peered around the door. The guards hadn't noticed that the door was open. Jack left Daniel leaning against the wall, and sneaked up behind the guards. He hit the first one on the back of the neck with his gun. The guard collapsed on the floor. The second heard the noise and turned around. He was about to call the alarm when Jack hit him in the mouth with the butt of his gun. He joined the first guard unconscious on the floor.

Jack returned to Daniel, and let him lean most of his weight against him. This meant that Daniel could concentrate on staying upright and walking, while Jack led them both along the tunnels. Jack retraced his steps back to where he had met the slaves. This took longer than he had expected, but then Daniel wasn't physically able to move with the speed that Jack had. The slaves were still there working, almost in the exact same spot Jack had left them. The man Jack had spoken to stopped work and came out to meet them.

"Hey. I'm back," Jack said as a greeting.

The man was about to say something to Jack when he was interrupted.

"What do you think you are doing? Get back to work!" a voice shouted. The voice was loud and strong, but had an edge to it. Jack recognised the tone as being one designed to terrify. No wonder the slaves wanted to be rid of him, and Daniel was petrified of him. It didn't scare Jack though. He knew how to deal with evil, power-hungry men. The easiest way was to shoot them through the head, but there were other ways.

Daniel groaned. Jack looked into Daniel's eyes. The soldier didn't need to ask to know that the voice belonged to the man who had ordered Daniel's beating.

"Stop right there!" The man ordered.

"Why should I? Let me guess you're Morgul?" Jack asked him, remembering what the slaves had said earlier, he guessed this man must be Morgul.

"I rule this city. I do not treat trespassers kindly," the man answered.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that," Jack inquired cooly.

"I see you have come for your friend," Morgul said, giving Daniel a scornful glance.

"Yeah. I don't leave my best friend to be killed by some power-hungry maniac. I thought I'd just take him home with me," Jack replied.

"You can't. He's charged with trespassing on my land. He is scheduled to be executed tonight," Morgul snapped. Jack could see that he was annoying Morgul.

"I think that the law says you're allowed to shoot trespassers, but you aren't allowed to hold them captive and have them beaten," Jack replied, trying to keep Morgul talking for as long as possible. He didn't have a plan, so he wanted to stall until he could think of one. He didn't like to admit it, but Morgul was smarter than he'd expected. Generally, from his experience, people who got kicks out of having other people hurt weren't particularly intelligent.

"I have never heard of such a law," Morgul barked.

"Didn't think you would have. I think we'll be going now," Jack said as he started to walk forwards,

Daniel close beside him, still leaning most of his weight against his friend.

"I think not," Morgul answered as he blocked Jack and Daniel's passage. His voice was low with malevolence. He advanced on the two, appearing ready to wrestle both to the ground. It obviously hasn't occurred to him to get reinforcements, Jack thought.

Teal'c stopped and listened. He was sure he'd just heard a voice in the tunnel to the left. They had reached another cross road, and were just about to take the opposite tunnel when Teal'c stopped.

"What's the matter?" Sam asked.

"I believe I heard a voice. In that tunnel. I believe we should find out who it is," Teal'c suggested. Sam agreed and they walked down the left hand tunnel. They slowed down and proceeded more cautiously as the voices came closer.

"Didn't think you would have. I think we'll be going now," Jack's voice came from around the corner.

"I think not," said the darkest, evilest voice Sam had ever heard. It was smooth, malicious and uncaring. It sliced through hope like a knife.

Both her and Teal'c knew just from the voice that Jack was in trouble. They moved silently around the corner. Jack was stood in the tunnel, supporting Daniel. Both were moving backwards. A man was walking towards them. The man was dark, and Sam knew from the way he moved that he must be the owner of the evil voice. Sam wondered why Jack and Daniel were backing away from him, and then she noticed the long knife in the man's hand.

Teal'c saw the knife as well. He walked forward and stood behind Morgul.

"Do not harm them," the Jaffa said forcefully as he placed a firm hand on Morgul's shoulder.

The Black Prince swung around.

"You dare challenge me?" he threatened.

"I challenge you," Teal'c answered.

"Fine! If I win, you all die," Morgul shouted for all to hear.

"And if Teal'c wins, you let us all go home, and you leave these people alone," Jack stated, indicating the slaves who were clustered around the group.

"Agreed," Morgul said.

"You know you'll have to change your name from Morgul to Morgue, because that's where you'll be

heading when Teal'c's finished with you," Jack continued.

"I think otherwise. None can defeat me," Morgul argued.

The Black Prince leapt away from Teal'c, and swung his knife at the Jaffa. Teal'c ducked out of the way, and retrieved his own knife. It was shorter that Morgul's, but Teal'c's larger size and greater strength gave him the advantage. He lunged forwards, slashing his knife downwards. Morgul danced out Teal'c's reach, his slighter build and lighter weight making him more agile than the Jaffa. As Teal'c brought his knife arm down from his strike at Morgul, the Black Prince jumped forwards and tore his knife down Teal'c's upper arm. Teal'c switched his knife from his right to his left hand. He'd been taught how to use both arms in a fight, so using his left hand was no great handicap.

The fight seemed to last forever, with first Teal'c, then Morgul getting the upper hand. Both sustained long deep knife cuts to their upper bodies and arms. Then the battle ended as quickly as it had began. Morgul stepped backwards to avoid Teal'c's knife, and tripped over a loose rock. He stumbled, and desperately tried to regain his balance, but to no avail. He fell on the floor, and Teal'c pinned him there. The Jaffa held his knife to Morgul's throat.

"I have won the duel. You must release us, and the slaves," Teal'c said grimly.

"I will not," argued Morgul defiantly.

"You're in no position to argue, Morgue," Jack said, using his nick-name for the Black Prince, "Carter. Tie him up. We can leave him with the nice people here. I'm sure they will have a few things to say to him."

"Um... Colonel? We don't have anything to tie him with," Sam said. She looked around, hoping something would reveal itself. A man from the group of slaves removed the cord he used as a belt. He handed it to Sam.

"Thanks." Sam knelt beside Morgul and confiscated his knife. She then tied his hands behind his back. Teal'c lifted Morgul to his feet and walked him to the slaves. They eagerly took custody of their former oppressor.

"You have our eternal thanks. Please stay with us a while. Eat and drink with us. We have much to celebrate," the man who'd provided the cord offered.

"We'd really like to, but we need to get home," Jack declined the invitation.

"Sir, I think it might be a good idea for us to stay a little while at least," Sam said.

"Why Carter?" Jack asked. He wanted to get Daniel home as soon as possible. The anthropologist was looking very faint. He was leaning heavily against Jack, as if he'd fall over without his friend's support. Then Jack realised what Sam was getting at. Daniel was in no state to travel, and Teal'c had looked better.

"Oh. I see. Do you think we could have a room, or cave or something?" Jack asked the man.

"Yes. I will send someone to bring you food and water. Later, we will celebrate," the man answered. He led SG-1 to a large, brightly lit cave. It had a heavy, dark wooden door, which Sam pushed closed after the man had left.

When she turned around, Daniel was sitting on a large rock, leaning against Jack who was seated next to him. Sam looked closely at Daniel. His jacket was draped lazily across his shoulders, leaving his chest uncovered. His chest, particularly on the right side, was scratched and bruised. His left arm hung limply by his side. Daniel was looking down at the floor, seemingly uninterested in his surroundings. He looked up at Sam. His intense blue gaze almost brought tears to her eyes. She could see he was in a lot of pain, and waiting for her and Jack to relieve that pain.

Sam moved closer to Daniel and started her analysis of his physical health. She was not fully qualified to treat the injuries properly, but her first aid training was more advanced than Jack's or Teal'c's. She probed his arms and chest, searching for broken bones. He flinched every time her hands passed over his right side. She tried to keep her touch gentle, but even the slightest pressure seemed to hurt the anthropologist. Then she looked at his back. The mess of blood and broken skin appalled her. How could anyone do this to someone as gentle as Daniel? she asked herself. It wasn't as if he'd done anything wrong.

Sam took a cloth and dipped it into a bucket of water provided by the now free slaves. She started to clean Daniel's wounds. She tried to be gentle, but by the time she'd finished Daniel was whimpering pathetically. She briefly considered covering each individual gash, and then realised that it would be futile. Instead, she wrapped bandages around his chest and back, which she hoped would stop the bleeding and support his broken ribs. This generated yet more whimpering. Several times Jack accused her of being too rough with his friend, and ordered her to be more careful. In reality, she could only have been gentler by not touching him at all. When she'd completed the bandaging, she made a rudimentary sling for his left arm out of the cloth the newly freed slaves had given them. Daniel was shaking violently from the cold and pain. Sam removed a blanket from her pack and wrapped it around him. He still continued to shiver, but not so violently.

Sam moved to the other side of the cave and beckoned for Jack to follow her.

"How is he, Carter?" Jack asked.

"Not good, sir. He's got at least four broken ribs, and several more cracked. One of them must be grazing his lung because he can't breathe deeply at all. His left arm is broken in three places, and his right is fractured in at least two. I've done the best I can with his back, but I think it's probably infected already. He's been cold so long he can't stop shivering, and I can't even begin to guess what internal injuries he might have. We don't have the training or the equipment to treat him, and he's so weak it could take him days to walk back to the Stargate. Normally I'd suggest that Teal'c carry him, but Teal'c's not exactly in good condition either. To be perfectly honest, sir, in the state he's in now he probably won't last the night," Sam gave her full analysis.

She didn't want Daniel to hear that, with the limited help they could give him, his prospects weren't good. It worried her that Daniel was so lethargic. Usually, if he was hurt, but still conscious, he'd at least try to talk to his team mates. But this time it seemed to Sam that the anthropologist was in a world of his own. He only seemed partially aware of what was going on around him.

Teal'c approached Jack and Sam.

"What is the matter, Colonel O'Neill? Why are we not returning to the Stargate?" Teal'c asked. His wounds from the fight with Morgul had been treated by one of the grateful freed slaves. Some of the knife wounds he'd received were deep and painful.

"Daniel can't," Jack said curtly. Sam briefly explained Daniel's injuries, adding at the end that Teal'c could not carry him when he himself was injured. The Jaffa agreed that his arms, having sustained several nasty wounds, were not strong enough to carry Daniel for any length of time.

"I will return to the Stargate and inform General Hammond of the events on this planet," Teal'c suggested. Jack agreed to this, as he'd hoped that Teal'c would offer to do so.

The Jaffa opened the door to the cave, and asked the man outside to guide him to the surface.

"Where's Teal'c going?" Daniel asked groggily as Jack sat beside him again.

"He's going back to the Stargate to get help," Jack explained. He was pleased that Daniel was taking an interest in his surroundings again, although whether he was fully coherent was another question.

"Come on, Danny. Get some sleep," Jack suggested.

"'Kay," Daniel replied and nodded weakly.

Jack helped Daniel onto the floor, as no one could sleep perched on top of a hard rock. He sat beside his friend on the floor. Daniel lay on his right side, as his broken arm didn't allow him to lie on his left, and he didn't want to try to lie on his back. Jack sat down near him and leaned against the rock. Daniel moved in Jack's direction slightly, and put his head into Jack's lap, the soldier's legs becoming a comforting pillow. Jack would have objected to this had it been anyone else, but when Daniel used him as a pillow, he didn't mind. He was almost honoured, knowing how picky Daniel could be about his bedding. He idly stroked a lock of hair away from Daniel's face, only to watch it fall back to it's previous position. Daniel couldn't sleep at first, but as Jack spoke to him softly, telling him it would be alright, he gradually drifted off into sleep. He whimpered every now and then, a constant reminder to Jack that his friend was still in danger, despite all appearances to the contrary.

Teal'c activated the Stargate, and typed in the SG-1 code.

"General Hammond. Colonel O'Neill has requested assistance on P4D822. Daniel Jackson was injured by the people of this planet. He cannot return to the Stargate. He needs medical care that this planet cannot provide. He was alive, but only barely, but that was three hours ago. I will be waiting here. End of transmission," Teal'c said into the radio transmitter.

He deactivated the Stargate, and waited for the response from Earth.

As Daniel surfaced from the peaceful depths of unconsciousness, he was aware of the now familiar pain all over his body. His muscles were stiff, and ached when he moved them. His back stung like fire, and in general, everything hurt. He wasn't cold, though, which he counted as a definite improvement on when he'd gone to sleep. He could feel a gentle touch on his head, and had to think for a minute before realising it was Jack's hand. He was thankful for that small comfort. He was so tired, but couldn't get back to sleep. He moved his legs, trying to get into a more comfortable position.

"Jack?" he called out to his friend, hoping the soldier would answer. His voice sounded so quiet and weak to him, he was worried that Jack wouldn't hear him.

"Hey Danny boy," Jack's voice was hoarse. Daniel suspected that Jack'd been keeping up the smooth litany of reassurances all through his sleep. There was an undertone of exhaustion and worry as well. Daniel guessed that something may have gone wrong, although what it was he couldn't imagine. he wanted to ask Jack, but didn't know how, nor felt he could manage more than three or four words.

"How're you feeling?" Jack asked him.

"Tired. Hurts," Daniel tried to keep his speech down to a bare minimum. He was so tired, and didn't want to use valuable energy saying words that didn't need to be said.

"Don't worry. Teal'c'll be back soon," Jack answered.

"How long?" Daniel asked. He hoped Jack would understand that he wanted to know how long he'd been sleeping. He just couldn't say many words to a sentence at the moment. It was enough of an effort to say the few he did.

"Ten hours on and off," Jack said. It always amazed Daniel that Jack always seemed to know what he was thinking. If he was upset about something, Jack would know as soon as he walked into the same room as the soldier, "It's a shame you missed their feast. Carter enjoyed it. She came back half drunk, but she remembered us and brought a doggy-bag with her. There's still some left if you want it," Jack offered.

"No, not hungry," Daniel declined. He really didn't feel up to eating anything. Under other circumstances he would have loved to go to the people's feast, but at the moment sleep was the only thing he really wanted to do.

Sam approached the two from where she had been sleeping only a few minutes before. To her, Jack looked exhausted. She realised that he must have stayed awake for the last ten hours, watching over Daniel. She herself had fallen asleep four hours ago in the corner of the cave after returning from the feast. The wine the people had been serving was pretty powerful stuff. Daniel looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks. Even though his sleep had constantly been disturbed by nightmares, he'd still had roughly ten hours sleep. Sam imagined that sleeping curled up in two blankets and being able to use Jack as a pillow would be quite pleasant. But then, she'd always liked camping in the "great outdoors", or more like, in her grandfather's back yard as a child. Despite the comfort Daniel was receiving, he obviously wasn't happy where he was. The problem was, Sam suspected, that when everything hurts, there was no comfortable position to lie in.

"Hey, Carter. Sleep well?" Jack asked her cheerfully.

"Yeah. How're you feeling, Daniel?" Sam asked as she sat down by the anthropologist.

"Felt better," Daniel responded quietly.

Sam and Jack regarded him for a few seconds. They sat in silence, listening intently to Daniel's laboured breathing.

Major Smith slowed and halted the military transport truck, as it arrived on P4D822. The rest of his team, SG-5, walked behind. The truck had been General Hammond's idea. He had told them in their briefing that Daniel Jackson would be wanting a lift home, and Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter wouldn't leave him alone for a second, and would probably have had very little sleep, so the entire team was to have a ride back to P4D822's Stargate. The difficult part had been getting the truck into the 'Gate room. Major Smith hadn't been informed on how they did it, but he suspected the most likelt one was that one wall wasn't solid, so it could be taken down. After all, how did they get the Stargate in? That couldn't exactly be dismantled. Failing that they may have just taken the truck apart and carried it in piece by piece. That still didn't explain the Stargate though.

Smith looked at his surroundings. The sky was a dull orange colour, with a golden moon hanging just above the horizon. Pure white snow covered the ground. In the distance was a dark smudge of forest beneath tall, ominous mountains. The effect of the scenery bothered him, and he sympathised with SG-1 having to explore the planet with it's eerie atmosphere. But then he'd heard that SG-1 were given all the missions that looked exciting or dangerous. That had always struck Smith as being unfair. His team could cope with danger just as well as SG-1, yet they seemed to get all the interesting planets, while his team, and the others, got to explore uninhabited forests. But now it was his team to the rescue, and he decided he wasn't going to leave until he returned with SG-1.

Major Smith saw Teal'c waiting ahead. He jumped out of the truck and approached the Jaffa. Teal'c's uniform was torn in many places, and partially treated wounds could be seen underneath.

"I will take you to Colonel O'Neill," Teal'c stated.

"Right," Major Smith answered. Talking to Teal'c always left him not knowing what to say.

He walked back to the truck and climbed in the driver's seat. Teal'c got in the other side, and gave him the directions to the underground city. The rest of SG-5 climbed into the back of the truck.

Driving across the snow was easy and they covered the ground quickly. The forest Smith thought would be more difficult, but SG-1's path marked the way, and the truck was designed for driving over rough terrain, even if it was thick bushes. The trees were far enough apart for Smith to drive between them. The headlamps of the truck were enough to illuminate the once dark forest.

Teal'c warned him of the black river before Smith drove the truck into it. Smith wasn't sure if he believed it would melt anything that was dropped into it, but he didn't want to try it just in case. Teal'c also warned him of the hole which Daniel had fallen into. Smith forced the truck to drive over the bushes, which as though they had a mind of the their own, didn't seem so thick and foreboding as they had when Teal'c had last passed through.

Only half an hour from when they had set off from the Stargate, Teal'c and SG-5 stopped outside of the tunnel.

"We will have to walk from here," Teal'c said as he led the way down the tunnel. SG-5 followed the Jaffa through a labyrinth of twists and turns. After what seemed like ages after the swift truck journey, they arrived in the inhabited part of the city, with the flickering flames lighting the way.

Teal'c stopped outside a heavy wooden door, and pulled it open with ease. Smith followed him into the cave and gazed around it. The walls were of black rock with tiny, glowing flecks of gold and green. On the walls were suspended more of the torches of fire, leaving the cave brightly lit. In the centre was a fairly large rock. Smith saw Jack and Sam leaning against it. Daniel was lying on his right side, his head resting on Jack's legs. Smith wondered about this, and then remembered the special relationship between Jack and Daniel. The anthropologist was a pathetic sight. He was wrapped in at least two blankets, curled up as much as his injuried body would allow, very much a defensive position. His intense blue gaze watched them from across the cave, his eyes full of pain.

"Hey there! Nice of you to join us finally," Jack called to Smith across the cave.

"Sorry it took us so long, sir," Smith apologized.

"I'm sure you got here as quickly as you could," Sam interrupted before Jack could say something more insulting to Smith.

"Well. . . um. . . we. . .er. . . came to bring you back," Smith said, not too sure of what was expected of him.

"Yeah, I figured that. But, Daniel can't walk back to the Stargate. If he could we would have gone home on our own. We were kind of expecting a medical team of something," Jack answered Smith.

"Sorry sir, but the medical team was tied up with SG-8. They returned just after you left. They'd had a run in with the Goa'uld, and Dr. Frasier and her nurses are still dealing with their injuries," Smith explained.

"Well, how are we getting home then, Smith?" Jack asked him sharply. Smith disliked being on the recieving end of Jack's scorn and insults, but he appreciated that the soldier probably had a good excuse this time. SG-5 wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting be the sound of it.

"I thought the personnel transport truck might be useful, sir," Smith answered, using a touch of sarcasm. He knew he was supposed to respect superior officers, but he really didn't feel like being snapped at when he was trying his best.

"Thank you, Major," Sam said, again interrupting Jack before he could snap at Smith.

"Come on then, Danny. We're going home now," Jack told Daniel.

Jack helped the younger man to his feet, something that took a lot of effort on his part. Daniel was weaker than he'd been the day before, and could barely move without the soldier's help. Jack put his arm gently across Daniel's shoulders, apologizing when Daniel flinched away from his touch. Daniel leaned against his friend, letting Jack bear most of his weight.

The short walk back to the truck took longer than Smith hoped it would. Daniel could only walk at a slow pace, and even then had to stop and rest often. Smith knew Daniel couldn't help it, but he was beginning to feel irritated with the anthropologist. He'd thought this was going to be a quick mission. In, pick up SG-1 and out again.

When they reached the truck, Daniel looked exhausted. As soon as he got into the back of the truck, he collapsed on the floor in the centre, between the benches on either side. Despite his irritation with the man, Smith couldn't help feeling sorry for him. He'd heard from Sam what had happened, and reluctantly agreed that Daniel hadn't deserved the punishment he'd gotten from Morgul.

"We brought some medical supplies with us. Dr. Frasier put some painkillers in there I think," Smith said. He located the heavy box in which the supplies were stored, and told Sam to use what she liked. She removed a syringe, and injected Daniel with a strong dose of the painkillers. He accepted a drink of water, and when the painkillers kicked in, the look of relief on his face somewhat mellowed Smith's irritation. Daniel eased himself onto his right side and slept the whole way back to the Stargate, not noticing the violent bumps that prevented the rest of SG-1 from sleeping.

Smith activated the Stargate, and punched in the code for his team. He watched as one of his team mates drove the truck through the Stargate. He stood and looked back at the planet. The golden moon was hanging in the orange sky, almost smiling down on him as he walked through the Stargate back to Earth.

The End.

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