Author's Notes: As always, I want to thank my beta readers for listening to me babble. Thanks also go to Gillian Nuttall that provided the wonderful synopsis that I could send to my beta readers as they haven't seen the episode yet.
DISCLAIMER: All characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters and the actual story are the property of the author. Portions of the dialog were taken from "Serpent's Song" (written by Katharyn Powers).
Daniel Jackson looked at his watch. "Just great, when did it get to be 2AM?" he wondered out loud. He vaguely remembered bidding good evening to Jack and Sam as they had left the base. He had thought about going back to his apartment, but decided to get some work cleared up. Instead he spent most of the quiet evening thinking about the events of the past day.
"AMMONET!!"
Daniel squeezed his eyes closed hoping to block out the image of Apophis screaming for his queen. Daniel's wife.
Leaning back in his chair, Daniel looked around his cramped office, not really seeing what was there. Instead he still saw Apophis, in restraints, lying on the bed taunting Daniel.
"You know my name?" Daniel remembered himself asking, although I shouldn't have been surprised, he mused.
"Because of what we hold in common." Apophis told him.
Damn him! Lying his deathbed and the system lord still had to rub it in that he had stolen Sha're away and made her his queen, a Goa'uld.
Again he heard the words in his mind. "Her name is Sha're. She is my wife."
"They are one and the same." NO! Daniel had wanted to scream. They are not. He had known that since he'd seen Sha're on Abydos, when she had given birth. The emergence of Apophis's host confirmed that the hose could survive and remain separate.
"How much of the host do you think is still around after all this time?" Jack had asked in the debriefing room. Daniel winced at the memory. Thanks to the dying scribe that who served as the host for Apophis, they knew that the host could survive.
All he had to do was find Sha're. He almost laughed bitterly at the thought. "Sure Jackson, just find her. Simple huh."
Daniel recalled leaning over the still form on the bed. "Ammonet possesses her. Sha're is a prisoner. But she is somewhere, I want you to tell me where." What had he been thinking? Apophis would never have told him. But he had to try. For Sha're he had to try.
"Ammonet," Apophis had smiled. "I loved her. You do not believe me."
Only now did Daniel catch the words. "I loved her." Loved. Past tense. "No. Not possible." he whispered to the silent room. "She is not dead. She's not."
Although he could almost believe that what Apophis thought that what he and Ammonet shared could be called love. Daniel thought back to the last visit to Abydos, when Sha're had given birth. Once Ammonet had taken control again, she had to explain that the child had been taken. The Goa'uld lord had not been angry with her. He had simply caressed her face and they left. But not before Sha're had looked directly at Daniel, her eyes filled with sadness. Oh yes, the host did survive.
Thinking back, Daniel could not be sure what came over him. He had leaned closer to the Goa'uld and had almost whispered the words.
"I know where your child is."
He still felt the satisfaction at the shock that had raced across the face of the Goa'uld.
"My son." Apophis said.
Daniel had pressed on. "Yes. I brought him into the world with my own hands, on Abydos." What ever possessed him to tell Apophis that? At the time though, he had been positive that the being would soon be dead.
"He was taken by Heru-ur." Inside, Daniel rejoiced at the words. So either Ammonet had no idea that Teal'c had been wearing the Horus uniform that day, or Sha're had enough control that she wouldn't tell.
"No. By ME!" Rage had mixed with desperation. Apophis had refused to tell Daniel where Sha're was so he had been determined to hurt the dying system lord any way he could. To some how make him feel even a fraction of the pain that he had felt over the past 2 years.
He would never know if he had been successful. He could still see Apophis glaring at him, claiming that he had no use for the child.
"Ammonet. I knew the moment I laid eyes on her she was the vessel for a queen."
Sitting alone in his dark office, Daniel allowed the tears of frustration to come. He had never hated anyone so much in his entire life as he did Apophis. Daniel prided himself on being a peaceful person and had never been comfortable with the military surroundings of the SGC. But at that moment, he hated Apophis, the evil thing that had taken his beloved Sha're and ripped apart their lives.
"If you don't tell me where she is, I'll kill you right here."
Why did Sam have to come in at that moment? No one would have thought a thing about it if Apophis had died right then and there.
Except then he would not have met the scribe. The gentle scribe from ancient Egypt that had been host to Apophis for thousands of years. The Egyptian funerary statue still sat on his desk. First thing tomorrow, Daniel told himself, he would talk to General Hammond about getting time off to take the statue to Egypt. According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the statue now contained the soul of the scribe and Daniel had promised to carry it back to the scribe's homeland. That's the least he could do for the soul that had lived a nightmare for so long.
"You have neither the strength nor the will!"
"I suppose we'll never know, will we?" Daniel mused to himself. At the time, he thought he could have and probably would have. Now though, he didn't know, and he hoped he'd never have to find out.
Hours later, the entire incident seemed almost surreal. More like a nightmare. Apophis was dead, or if Martouf was correct, he was a prisoner of Sokar. Either way, he had taken the knowledge of Sha're's whereabouts with him. As they stood watching Teal'c slowly place the body of Apophis's host into the Stargate, Daniel felt as though he had gone back to square one. He didn't know where Sha're could be and had no starting point for searching. All he could do was pray that his wife had not been taken by Apophis's enemies.
"Sha're," Daniel whispered, "I will find you some day, my love and we will be together." His voice caught and in the silent darkness he wept for his love.