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, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
Daniel had an irritatingly familiar feeling that he was walking into a trap. Tel'nat had insisted that these meetings were to be private, strictly between the two of them. One of the Jaffa would be allowed to stand guard outside the door, but only the two of them would be inside. Jack had rankled at the idea, but realized in the end that they had no real choice in the matter. It was what they had come here to do, Daniel had argued...even as his own sense of trepidation grew...and they weren't really in a position to argue with Tel'nat.
So Daniel had left with Teal'c and separated from him at the door with a long look. Teal'c would be alert for any sign of trouble; at the moment it was all they could do. As the doors closed heavily, Daniel tried to compose himself, sitting down at the table across from Tel'nat. The Pal'noor leader looked at Daniel with an expression as unreadable as ever. The physiognomy of the Pal'noor didn't lend itself well to the subtle facial clues and body language that Daniel had come to read so well in the more humanoid species they'd encountered.
"What then does Ra expect to pay us?"
Daniel had attended enough diplomacy classes to recognize this sort of leading question. Tel'nat hoped to gain some clue as to what Ra was willing to pay in order to see how far they would go to appease the Pal'noor. Daniel countered with a question of his own.
"What do the Pal'noor expect as payment?"
Tel'nat nodded. This was part of the game; haggling was an age-old, and apparently universal, tradition. They bandied about for awhile, neither of them giving any ground.
Tel'nat nodded again, his expression changing slightly. "And how does Ra expect to pay at all...when he is dead?"
Daniel opened his mouth to respond, closing it just as quickly as his brain processed the fact that Tel'nat had spoken in English. Daniel felt his breathing stop for a moment and tried to school his expression not to reveal his surprise.
"I do not understand," he answered in Goa'uld.
Tel'nat snarled in sudden derision, asking again, "How can a dead man repay this debt, De'nall?" There was a long pause in which Tel'nat stared deeply into Daniel's eyes. "Or should I call you Daniel Jackson?"
Daniel only had time to register the fact that the word 'trouble' didn't begin to cover their situation before he felt a sudden shooting pain in the back of his head and the world went black.
Jack was pacing the room with increasingly agitated strides. Daniel had been gone nearly six hours and the waiting was beginning to wear thin. A dozen times Jack had started for the door, only to stop and mentally restrain the impulse to march to the meeting chamber and just barge in. Regardless of diplomacy and protocol, Jack was beyond the point of concern for Daniel and edging into full-fledged worry. Only the consideration that such an action might place his friend in even greater danger made him turn around and resume his nervous pacing.
Jack knew that he was beginning to get on Carter and Connor's nerves, but was past caring. Inaction was a foreign concept to Jack, and he was starting to get that itch that told him this situation was about to go from bad to worse. Hearing steadily approaching footsteps outside the door, Jack felt his nerves steel and alerted Connor to cover the door.
To their collective relief, Teal'c entered the room...but Jack tensed again when he realized Daniel wasn't with the big Jaffa.
"Teal'c?" Jack didn't have to ask the question.
Teal'c's expression told Jack all he needed to know. Even as Teal'c began to explain that Daniel was missing, Jack was moving. Gathering the few weapons they possessed, Jack headed for the door knowing full well that his team would follow. As they made their way down the oddly empty corridors, Teal'c quietly explained that he'd heard nothing from his post outside the meeting room door, but when a Pal'noor female had entered the room with food...they'd discovered it was empty.
As they approached the heavy wooden doors, Jack noted with a distracted edge of pride that his team deployed themselves carefully on either side. Teal'c turned the latch carefully and they stormed into the room, weapons at the ready.
There on the table, laid out almost dramatically under the blue cloak, was Daniel.
Motioning for the others to cover him, Jack went over to check out the still form. Daniel was breathing. His face was bruised along the right cheekbone and blood ran freely from numerous cuts on the back of his scalp.... he'd obviously been hit by something breakable. Moving the cloak aside, Jack hissed quietly. It was pretty obvious from his torn and dirty clothing that Daniel had been beaten...thoroughly and for some length of time. Jack could see several knife slashes along Daniel's arm, nothing too deep or life threatening...just enough to draw blood and inflict pain.
Jack tapped the younger man on his uninjured cheek and was relieved to hear Daniel moan as he struggled to rouse himself.
"C'mon, kid. Time to go."
Daniel's eyes flew open at Jack's voice and he sat up, too quickly, falling against Jack's supporting arm. Daniel steadied himself, gathering his strength and his thoughts as Jack tried to help him to the door.
"Jack...Tel'nat knows...."
Jack stopped at the Daniel's tone. "Knows what?"
Daniel finally looked up at Jack then, his eyes reflecting pain and more than a little fear. "Everything."
A voice from the back of the room froze all of them in place. "Daniel Jackson is quite correct, Colonel O'Neill.... I do know everything."
Tel'nat stood behind them with two other Pal'noor. Jack barely had time to raise his weapon as a burst of white light assailed his senses and he felt his grip on Daniel slip, even as he fell.
Connor woke up slowly, aware first of being cold. As more of his thoughts cleared he realized the coldness was probably due to the fact that he was lying on a damp hard surface. The ground. He opened his eyes carefully, realizing the room was quite dark, and sat up, waiting for his eyes to adjust.
A flash of gold to his left was his only warning before Teal'c spoke.
"Are you well, Captain Connor?" The tone was low, but tinged with concern. Connor felt himself oddly touched to be included in what he knew was Teal'c small and exclusive list of people to be concerned about.
"Yes, sir. I'm fine. Where are the others?"
Teal'c motioned with his head. The rest of SG1 was still unconscious, though Major Carter was shifting restlessly already. Connor remembered that Colonel O'Neill and Daniel had been closer to the source of the strange light and would probably suffer more from the weapon's effects.
Connor tried to rise and felt Teal'c's hand reach out to help him. With a nod of thanks, Connor moved around carefully to clear his head before moving to check on the major. She was still a bit dazed, but waking quickly. He anticipated her questions before she asked and informed her of their status. Even in the dimness, Connor could see Major Carter's smile as he helped her up slowly and together they moved to where Teal'c was trying to rouse the colonel.
Colonel O'Neill came awake with his fists in motion, obviously unable to see clearly yet. Major Carter and Teal'c spoke quietly to let him know that although they weren't exactly safe, they were together. Connor watched the relief visibly settle over the colonel, to be just as quickly replaced by concern as he spoke Daniel's name.
They all moved to the last member of the team. Even in the dim light they could see how pale Daniel was, the scrapes and bruises only served to heighten the impression. The colonel moved to raise Daniel's head into his lap while the major checked out the younger man's injuries. Connor knew that Daniel had something of a reputation for accumulating more than his share of injuries...and it certainly seemed like SG1 was pretty practiced at taking care of them.
Even as Major Carter was wrapping up the bloody gashes across Daniel's arm with a piece of cloth torn from the colonel's cloak, Daniel stirred.
"Jack?"
The colonel sighed in relief. "We're here, Danny. What the hell happened?"
Daniel blinked rapidly, trying to raise up...finally managing with only a little support from the colonel. "Tel'nat...he knew..."
"Yeah, you said that." The colonel said, almost gently. "What exactly does he know?"
Daniel sighed deeply, pulling himself together with a visible effort. "You, me, Ra."
"You, me, Ra...? As in...He knows we were the ones who killed Ra?" The colonel looked alarmed. Connor wished he knew the rest of that story.
Daniel nodded. "He knew us by name. Knows about Sha'uri...Apophis..."
The colonel sighed in exasperation. "Like he said...he knows everything."
Daniel nodded agreement, reaching out a hand to use the colonel's shoulder to pull himself up. The young scientist wobbled a little, but started pacing...even Connor knew this was a good thing; Daniel did his best thinking on his feet...especially if they were moving.
"He's either had contact with one or more of the Goa'uld all along.... or he has a source of information...about us. When they were...questioning me.... they seemed more interested in how we'd managed to kill Ra than anything else..." Connor could see Daniel's burst of adrenaline flagging. "I didn't tell them anyth...."
Evidently the colonel had seen it, too...he was in a perfect position to catch Daniel as he swayed and nearly fell. As Colonel O'Neill, helped Daniel to sit down on the cold ground again, he said, "I know you didn't, Daniel. But what I wonder is...where did he find out about us?"
They were all startled by a soft moan from the furthest corner of the cell. The colonel and Teal'c moved forward toward the sound. Connor could hear a soft intake of breath from the colonel, followed by a curse.
"Colonel?" The major asked.
"Dammit...it's Thor."