DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable 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 purposes 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, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.  Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).

Daniel's gone.

I'm trying not to get too worried here...I don't think he'll go running off again. So where the hell is he?

My pack is still here and the fire's been stirred up, so I figure he's gone off to use the um...facilities. I get up and dig a bottle of water out of the pack, taking a big swallow to wash the cotton out of my mouth...

A twig snaps behind me....

I start to turn around to talk to Daniel and...

Something hits me across the face...hard...

I'm down on my knees, seeing stars, but manage to turn around enough to see Daniel, tied up and being held by some ugly red-headed guy in full camo...there's another one standing over me...

*Great! Just totally, thoroughly, damnably great!*

What have we gotten ourselves into now?

The red-head pushes Daniel down and he falls against me.

I grab onto him, looking him over quickly to see if he's okay. There's a scrape across his cheek; I don't know if it's from the fall or if they hit him, but he nods to me that he's alright. I take a good look at the two guys standing over us with two very real-looking assault rifles...the kind not generally available to the public at large. The red-headed guy is every bit as big as Teal'c, he looks at us with a kind of cold anticipation that I don't feel a bit happy about. The other guy is smaller, dark-haired and, if anything, his eyes are even colder than Red's...Red may be dangerous, this guy definitely is. Whatever these guys are up to here...it's not going to be good for us...

I remember the gun on my hip and try to angle around so that Daniel blocks their view...if only they didn't notice it...

Daniel looks emotionally and physically exhausted, but his brain's working as well as ever and he moves to help me conceal the gun.

Red's talking to the other guy in some foreign language...Spanish, I think...and I wonder if that's one of Daniel's twenty-three. From his barely perceptible nod, I'm guessing it is. I keep one eye on the guys with the guns and another on Daniel...after all these years I can read his most minimal facial expressions...when he starts to look worried then I'll start getting worried.

Red and his pal are arguing and even I can tell they're arguing about what to do with us...a little frown from Daniel tells me I'm right. My own instincts tell me that the dark one wants to kill us outright, Red seems to be arguing for another option...God knows what...

Daniel looks over at me, his eyes a warning...and I go for the gun, yelling for Daniel to roll away. I shoot to wound, not to kill and they're surprised enough to take cover after I wing the dark-haired guy..

I grab up the pack and turn around to find Daniel already on his feet and ready to go. We dive for the cover of the boulders and I throw back a couple of more shots as a warning and keep going...

*It's not bad enough we have to deal with this kind of stuff off-world...?*

Daniel's having a little trouble keeping his balance with his hands tied behind his back and I fish out my pocket knife as we go. We stop at the next available cover and I cut the ropes. He nods his thanks to me, trying to catch his breath. I'd really like to know what these guys are up to here, but we don't have time to talk about it now.

I spot some better cover off to the left and point to it. Daniel nods and breaks cover at my signal. I'm right on his heels. We conceal ourselves in the deep scrub and hold our breath until Red and the other guy pass us at a dead run...

"What the hell is going on, Daniel?" I keep my voice low and my eyes in the direction the two sleazes disappeared.

He shakes his head, "Something about drugs...They think we saw something we shouldn't have..."

Great.

I glance over at Daniel, looking nearly lost in my jacket. He looks okay for now, but his eyes still have that distant look; he's here and I know he will be for as long as I need him to be, but he's barely hanging on. He's exhausted, probably weak from not eating for at least a couple of days...not to mention everything else he's dealing with....

*Life just sucks on general principal...*

Daniel catches me watching him and shakes his head. "I'm okay, Jack..." His eyes say differently, but I can see that he's in no way ready to talk about it...not that we have time right now anyway. "Don't you think we should be trying to get out of here?"

I can't think of anything to say to that, so I nod and we move out.

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