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).
Sam led the colonel to the bed, sitting him down beside their once again unconscious friend. Teal'c had moved to restrain Nirrti, but found that she was gone...
'Good riddance,' Sam thought, her own anger was far from sated, but they had more important things to worry about....
"He's gonna be just fine..." The colonel said, smiling down at Daniel, relief evident in his voice.
Teal'c looked confused. "Was there some doubt of that, O'Neill?"
Sam recognized a brief expression of fear in the colonel's eyes, quickly hidden. "No, Teal'c...I guess there wasn't...."
Sam insisted that the colonel wait with Daniel while she and Teal'c checked out the temple. The colonel was about to argue with that when they heard the sound of transport rings. Sam and Teal'c ran across the hall just in time to see Nirrti and her remaining Jaffa dematerializing within the rings.
"There will be another time..." Nirrti's voice echoed, long after the rings had swept her away.
They returned to the bedroom to find the colonel trying to wake Daniel.
"Come on, buddy...time to get out of here..." The colonel shook Daniel hesitantly, trying not to disturb his injuries.
Daniel came awake with a jump, looking around as if for a threat. "Jack..."
Sam recalled that nightmare look and realized that although their memories seemed to be fading, Daniel's would be a long time going away. The things they had encountered inside Daniel's mind were far too ingrained to be melted away in the space of one fell swoop of 'Dr. Jack O'Neill's group therapy'. Sam only hoped that some of Daniel's self-doubt and uncertainty of his place among them had been healed...
The colonel had put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "It's okay, Danny....Nirrti's gone."
Daniel laid back, nodding, breathing deeply to calm himself. "Dead?"
Sam shook her head, regretfully, "No, Daniel...she transported out."
Jack grinned, "Ran like a scalded dog."
Daniel raised a hand to rub his eyes, smiling a little. "How appropriate..."
Sam laughed at the implied insult in that observation. The colonel smiled as well, turning his attention to their immediate situation.
"Daniel, we need to find that 'gate and get out of here," he said gently.
Daniel nodded, raising himself up slowly and putting out a hand for the colonel to help him up. The colonel started to protest, but Sam saw something pass between the two of them, something that spoke of pride, dignity and seeing things through to completion. The colonel took the offered hand and together they staggered their way down the hall, leaving Teal'c and Sam to stare after them in confusion before following.
Daniel led them slowly down into the depths of the temple; stopping often to rest, but pushing onward under his own steam, leaning on the unsteady support of the colonel. It had been a long difficult week for the entire team, but Sam knew the two men leading them had been through hell and back again in a way that she and Teal'c had only begun to understand.
From her brief experience inside Daniel's mind, Sam knew that there were depths there that she would never know, that Daniel would never allow her to know. Something in the trust that Daniel held in the colonel had allowed Daniel to let the colonel in to those dark, hidden places...believing in his friend enough to trust him with them. Sam had briefly discovered similar hidden depths within the colonel that she would never have suspected. A core of pain and long-disused empathy that only rarely was allowed to come to the surface...she'd only seen brief flashes of it in the time she'd known the colonel...always welcome, aways surprising.
Daniel led them to a door at the end of yet another dark hallway, stopping to lean against the wall as his strength began to fail...
Teal'c offered silent assistance, but Daniel shook his head...that core of steel asserting itself to finish this thing on his feet...
Sam and Teal'c took the lead, opening the door cautiously and sweeping the room with their stolen staff weapons...
There, in the center of the room stood the Stargate....the most welcome sight any of them had viewed in too long a time. Sam moved to the DHD, awaiting the order.
The colonel smiled as he and Daniel moved forward together, reeling slightly in a way that made Sam wonder who was supporting whom...
"Dial us home, Major."