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.
In a shorter time than Marne thought possible, the SGC teams were traveling into the night. Vraxas was still among the missing when they left, but Tiamon had assured the group that the man would be found, and brought to trial, as the old ways demanded. Daniel had politely accepted the thanks of a grateful Euloean High Council, but even that body would have been blind not to notice his desire to be elsewhere. For once, it was Sam who ensured that the proper parting words of trust and friendship were spoken before they left the walled city.
The group moved through the darkness in silence, each member lost in their own thoughts. Ferretti kept a close eye on his team, as well as on the SG-1 members. He knew how little real rest his men had had since arriving on this world, and he suspected that the SG-1 team was working on even less.
Teal'c studied what little could be seen of the terrain in the torch light. The group had traveled for only a few miles, relatively undisturbed by the Redcaps, when he spoke. "Marne, this is not the way we came."
Stunned voices near him cried out "What!" as the Euloean replied. "No, it is not. In the preparations to leave, I did not have time to tell you that your 'gate is not in a direct path to the old city. We will save almost two hours travel time on this trail." He paused. "Unless you wish to return to the 'gate first?"
"No."
"Oh, no, not at all."
"That will not be necessary."
Two more creatures lay dead at the bottom of the stairs, and Jack took advantage of the lull in activity to reload his weapon. With the ease born of years of experience, he released the empty clip, which rattled loudly in the darkness as it hit the stairs. He froze momentarily at the sound before his pain-addled wits reminded him that the beasts didn't know about guns.
Dropping the gun to his lap, he fumbled with a fresh clip, and after much silent cursing, managed to slid it into the gun. Sighing with relief, he pulled the weapon back to his chest, and waited.
"This is very odd." Marne looked around nervously.
"What's wrong, Marne?" Sam inquired, the expression on the man's face causing her stomach to lurch.
"I have seen no sign of the Redcaps. We should have been attacked by now."
"Well, we saw enough last night by the 'gate to last us a lifetime."
"You killed a lot of them, too." Daniel broke in quietly. "I saw the bodies when I came north."
"Perhaps they are waiting for the Goa'uld."
Daniel laughed bitterly. "Why would they be doing that, Teal'c? They're wild animals. Nothing more."
"You are mistaken, Daniel Jackson." All eyes but Sam's turned to the Jaffa.
"What?"
"The Redcaps were a race who opposed the Goa'uld millennia ago. The two cultures were at about the same level of technology when they went to war. They did not win."
Daniel's eyes widened with horror. "You mean the...they're actually people?"
"Not any longer. The Goa'uld infected them with a biological agent which made them what they are today ... creatures of the night. They are doomed to roam the darkness, reduced to the animals we have seen."
"I'm not so sure, Teal'c." Sam spoke up as the Jaffa's explanation ceased. "If they are around the 'gate, then they may be looking for the Goa'uld to appear. Nothing else makes sense..."
"That's a real bad tale, Teal'c," Ferretti interrupted. "Is this something the Goa'uld talk about, or is it a Jaffa tale?"
"I have heard Apophis mention this tale myself, Major Ferretti. However, I can understand your reluctance to believe it."
"Not that I don't buy it, Teal'c, but it is kinda hard to swallow."
"I have not offered you food, Major Ferretti."
"NO, uh, not food. I was thinking more on the order of a myth."
Daniel smiled wryly. "You mean like our myths of Ra, Hathor, and the others?"
Ferretti gulped. "Uh, yeah, point taken."
Sam turned back to Marne, who still stared nervously into the darkness. "Marne? How much further?"
The Euloean turned to face her. "It is not much further now."
The gun exploded twice more in the darkness, sending a another beast to its death. From the padding of their feet, Jack could tell they'd retreated ... for now. That made, what, four since the sun had gone down. More than last night, but, he reasoned, the creatures didn't know about them...him then. He'd give almost anything to be able to sleep. He was so tired. More tired than he could ever remember being ... except when Charlie... This was the same kind of mind-numbing tiredness. He felt very little anymore. No pain, no fear. Only a deep penetrating loneliness and exhaustion which were rapidly turning into despair. His team was gone. He knew that. So why was he trying so very hard to survive? Maybe, just maybe, he should just stop trying. There was no reason not to, was there? 'It'd be so easy,' he thought tiredly, while somewhere in the back of his mind, a little voice warned of company coming.
First light was peaking over the horizon when the rescuers arrived at the edge of the abandoned city. Daniel threw down his torches, and sprinted toward the buildings, heedless of the potential danger to himself.
Ferretti lunged for the younger man's pack, missing it by mere inches. "Dammit Daniel!"
Teal'c and Sam exchanged quick glances before taking off in pursuit of their errant teammate, Marne hard on their heals. Ferretti slapped his head in frustration, before turning to his team. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on!"
Despite his lack of sleep, Daniel outdistanced his startled companions easily. Only Teal'c's sudden burst of speed allowed the Jaffa to be in time to see which building the younger man chose to enter.
As Daniel fumbled with the catch on the sarcophagus, visions of what lay below raced through his mind. He hit the steps and froze. Too many corpses littered the bottom of the stairs, and for a moment Daniel could not focus on anything else. Then his eyes found their goal, and he half-fell, half-ran down the steps to drop fearfully by his friend. The older man lay so still that Daniel was not even certain he was breathing. Ignoring his own trembling, Daniel laid a gentle hand on his friend's neck, feeling for a pulse, his plea of "Jack?" barely more than a whisper.
Chocolate eyes shot open as a hand tightened convulsively around his handgun.
"Oh God! You're alive!" Daniel's voice shook with emotion as he absently pulled the weapon from his friend's fragile grasp.
"Daniel?"
The younger man nodded absently, too overcome with emotion to speak.
The inquiry came again, more urgently than before. "Daniel?"
Realizing that Jack was fearing a hallucination, Daniel forced himself to speak. "Yes, Jack. I'm back. We're all back. We're all okay. All of us."
As Sam and Teal'c slid to halt just above their friends, Jack's reply could barely be heard. "Never doubted it for a minute, Spacemonkey, not for a minute."